With her new determination, Hinata walked to class the next day, immediately looking for Sasuke as soon as she entered.
He was already seated, hands under his chin with an aloof expression like always. There weren't a lot of kids yet, early as it was, so he was alone, without any of his usual fangirls rounding him yet.
Hinata nodded to herself, hands around the handles of her backpack, and made her way towards him. Painting a happy smile on her face, she pulled out the chair next to him and sat down.
"Good morning, Sasuke-kun" she said softly, taking down her backpack and putting it down under the desk next to her feet. She saw him visibly stiffening, before slowly turning towards her, an expression of disbelief that he probably had no idea was even there appearing on his face.
They stared at each other for a while, before the boy straightened and glanced around.
"…what are you doing here?" he asked, finally, once he saw and confirmed there were other kids around and that they were not alone. Something gripped at her chest at this, and once again she thought of what Sakura said and how right she was. Sasuke truly wanted to be able to call himself her friend with the whole meaning of the word. How had she not realized it before?
"I thought we could sit together today… unless that's not agreeable with you?" she couldn't help but ask, feeling slightly self-conscious at the way he kept staring at her as if she was something strange that he couldn't comprehend.
Sasuke blinked, and then shook his head, before opening his mouth. Whatever it was he was going to say died on his lips before it could even be born though, and he closed it, instead staring at her with a tense expression that Hinata couldn't place.
After almost a minute of this, that felt more like hours, Hinata couldn't take it anymore. "Sasuke-kun, please tell me if I'm bothering you. It was not my intention to make you uncomfortable, and I just wish you could tell me if that's the case so I can…"
"Are you sure you want to sit next to me?" he said, interrupting her, almost as if he hadn't heard her at all, seeing the way he frowned pensively, lost in his own thoughts. Hinata gulped, and then nodded.
"I understand why you were so angry with me" she said, holding her hands together in front of her chest. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but he let her continue, this time. "Sasuke-kun, you are my friend, and I'm sorry if I ever made you feel as if you were not. The reason I didn't spend any time with you in public… it wasn't because I was embarrassed of you or anything. It simply never occurred to me… with the way I am so comfortable with you…"
She bit her lip, staring at him anxiously, waiting for his answer. Sasuke kept frowning, his face severe, but only due to the confusion she could see dancing behind his eyes.
Finally, he spoke. Slowly, tentatively.
"I never thought you were embarrassed of me… you believed that was the reason I was angry with you?"
"I… well, not exactly embarrassed but… you were angry because we never spent any time together while others were around, no?" she asked, sounding a little unsure now that he posed such a question.
Sasuke pursed his lips. "That's not… I mean, maybe it bothered me, but not because of me specifically, rather in regards to…" he stopped, closed his eyes and sighed through his nose. As he was talking, more and more students entered the classroom, among them some of the girls that were always around him. They looked at them with frowns, especially at Hinata, but didn't approach them… yet.
Hinata fidgeted nervously. "I… I don't understand…"
That made him look at her again, an exasperated grunt coming out of his mouth. "Of course you don't" he complained, but it wasn't as before. He sounded lighter, less annoyed… it gave Hinata hope.
"Excuse me, but I believe that is my seat."
Hinata looked up, finding Ino standing before her, hands on her hips and a hard to read expression on her face. She frowned.
"I… I didn't know we had designated places…" she responded, uncharacteristically, but when it came to Ino, her patience had been slowly drawing thinner with time, ever since that first time she ambushed her because of her friendship with Sakura.
Ino scoffed. "We don't, but I've been sitting here since almost the beginning of the school year, therefore…!"
"There are plenty of seats over there" Sasuke said, cutting what seemed to be building up to be a whole spiel.
Ino gasped, before clamping her mouth shut. She looked at Sasuke, eyes soft and vulnerable, but he wasn't paying attention to her anymore, instead looking at Hinata with his usual indifferent pose. Or, it would seem like his usual indifferent pose, to anyone who didn't know him as well as she did.
"Stay here if you want, but don't think too much of it" he reclined his chin on his hands once again, and proceeded to ignore her as well as Ino.
Hinata looked up, catching the eyes of the blond girl. Was that resentment she saw there? There wasn't any time to ponder, as before she could even thought of asking or saying anything at all, Ino gritted her teeth, pushed back her long hair, and stomped off towards the back, where she would usually sit.
She could feel the eyes of all the other girls on her, and even some of the boys. She glanced down, concentrating on the intricate designs of the wood desk in front of her, but she could hear the whispers anyway. Maybe not the exact words, but the tone was clearly one of surprise and indignation.
What have she gotten herself into?
However, she couldn't come to regret her decision. Not when, looking once more at Sasuke, she saw him relaxed, shoulders pushed down and brows loosened, in a way she hadn't seen since that day they fought.
Only that was enough to make any possible consequence of her decision worth it.