Hinata spends some time with Naruto, but it gets derailed.

Chapter 35: My heart is looking the other way

Hinata was in the greenhouse with Ryota keeping her company as she tended to her plants when Ko found them.

"Hinata-sama, you have a visitor," Ko said.

Ryota pouted. "But Hinata-sama is spending time with me!"

Hinata smiled, reaching out to clean a smudge of dirt from Ryota's chubby cheek. "Sorry, Ryota-chan. We can continue later." She looked to Ko. "Who is it?"

Ko made a sympathetic face. "Naruto-san."

Hinata's lips parted in surprise. "Oh. Um, I'll go meet him then."

Ko nodded and took Ryota's hand in his. "Come, Ryota. Let's go find your mother."

Returning Ryota's enthusiastic wave as he and Ko left the greenhouse, Hinata hesitated for a moment before putting away her tools. She could see her grandfather in the distance by a cluster of white hydrangeas. She'd been too preoccupied with her plants and with Ryota to notice him. Now, she wondered how long he'd been there.

Despite his age, his mere presence was as intimidating as Hinata always knew it to be and the sight of him still inspired anxiety to rise up within her.

Internally scolding herself for the reaction, Hinata prepared herself to walk past him to exit the greenhouse.

"Grandfather," she murmured demurely with a deep bow. When she chanced a glance up, she saw that he had turned to her with an impassive face. A single nod was all she received for acknowledgment, but it was a relief. Hinata escaped with a deep exhale.

After speedily stopping by a restroom in the Sōke House to wash up, Hinata made her way to the Hyuuga compound gates.

Naturally Hayate was strolling near the entrance, flanked by Wataru and Shigeru. Hiding her discomfort, Hinata greeted them politely.

"Hinata-sama, I see you are coming from the greenhouse," Hayate said with a pointed glance at her hands.

Knowing she had washed up thoroughly, Hinata resisted the urge to check her hands for a stray smudge of dirt. "Yes."

"Your little pet project, along with the rest of the reconstruction," Hayate said, just a hint of condescension curling around his words. "You must be grateful it's reached its completion. There should no longer be a need for the planning committee nor reconstruction updates at the council meetings. You will have so much more time on your hands for more important matters."

"Such as the young man waiting on you as we speak. I may be mistaken, but it seems we see more of the Uzumaki now than we did when you were courting," Wataru tittered.

"Although the work on the new undivided living quarters and the rebuilding of the gardens is complete, there is still the matter of adapting the Sōke House into a more communal area," Hinata reminded them.

All three men frowned at this, though Hayate was by far the best at masking the expression.

"The Hyuuga have worked hard to ensure living arrangements for all our clansmen are now settled. It would be good for them to have a rest. The remaining plans are not so urgent," Shigeru commented.

Hinata smiled thinly. "We Hyuuga are not the type to rest so easily when there is work to be done."

Shigeru scowled. "…It is as you say."

"Oh, but Hinata-sama, we have kept you too long. Do give our greetings to Uzumaki Naruto," Hayate cut in, effectively ending the conversation.

Hinata nodded and left first, back straight, feeling the eyes of the Hyuuga elders on her.

She found Naruto attempting a conversation with the guards at the gate. Though their faces would appear blank to any other villager, Hinata could see they seemed rather bewildered by his energetic attitude. It was so different from Sasuke's silent demeanor whenever he stood by these same gates. A smile curved her lips as she waited for a pause in Naruto's story.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata interjected softly.

"Hinata-chan, hey!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'll catch up with you guys later," he said to the guards, receiving no change in expression from them.

Tilting her head, Hinata asked, "Did you need something, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto ran his fingers through the back of his hair. "Do you wanna come for a walk with me?"

Hinata blinked. "Um." She paused, but the nervous edge to Naruto's grin had her softening. "Sure."

They walked side by side down the street. Naruto asked after her day and she returned the favour.

"Actually, I had a pretty late night yesterday, so I could wrap up a bunch of things this morning and free up the rest of my day," Naruto said. "I was hoping we —"

"Naruto-senpai!"

A gaggle of girls cried out upon catching sight of them. Hinata recognized the usual group and allowed herself to fall back as the girls eagerly crowded around Naruto. She took note of the gifts in their hands.

"Please accept this, Naruto-senpai!"

"I prepared this myself, Naruto-senpai, please enjoy it!"

"Nauro-senpai, don't forget to take mine as well!"

Taking in the gold-coloured packaging, Hinata was stunned to realize the date.

"Shūmatsu no reimei," she whispered to herself. The end of the dawn. In the last month of winter, said to be the eve of the battle at the valley of the end. Stemming from the tradition of giving favours of good luck before battle, it had become a day for girls to present gifts to the boys in their lives, especially those who caught their eye. The gifts were often, though not always, homemade, ranging from food to clothing to weaponry, but the one element that hadn't changed over time was that it should involve golden colouring. A representation of the girl's wish for a new dawn, and a piece of it for the boy to carry with him.

There had been so much going on, Hinata had completely forgotten. She'd been making Naruto good luck charms for years, though last February had been the first time she'd successfully delivered one to him.

This would be the first year since meeting Naruto that Hinata hadn't made him anything.

Looking at other girl's gifting Naruto with their own good luck charms and the way he accepted them with an embarrassed chuckle, Hinata expected the pang in her heart. She didn't expect for it to feel so light, however, like an echo of a feeling rather than the feeling itself.

Somehow the situation brought to mind another boy. She wondered with mild amusement if this had been Sasuke's reality every shūmatsu no reimei prior to leaving the village. Hinata was sure he would have handled it a lot less graciously than Naruto was. Undoubtedly, he would have been scowling. Such an expression on a twelve-year-old Sasuke would have frightened twelve-year-old Hinata, but the thought of it now made eighteen-year-old Hinata smile.

"Sorry about that, Hinata-chan," Naruto said, startling Hinata out of her thoughts. She shook her head; this was the second time Sasuke had crossed her mind.

Glancing behind him, Hinata saw the girls were still there and unabashedly observing the two of them. She shifted uncomfortably. "It's fine, Naruto-kun." Noticing Naruto's empty hands, Hinata asked, "Where did the charms go?"

Naruto sent her a confused look. "I made a clone take them back to my place."

"Oh."

"Anyway, let's keep going," Naruto said, starting to walk again. "If you haven't had lunch yet, I was thinking we could stop by Ichiraku's?"

Hinata faltered in her steps. "Um…"

"Oji-chan has a special menu for the day!"

"Naruto-kun…"

"Naruto-san! And Hinata-san too!"

Once again they found themselves encircled, this time by a handful of middle-aged men and women rather than young girls.

"Naruto-san, how good to see you!"

"Naruto-san, you have to come by Lightning Burger and try the new special named after you — on the house of course!"

"Naruto-san, we're looking forward to the succession party!"

"Naruto-san, we didn't realize you had rekindled your relationship with Hinata-san!"

"Naruto-san, Hinata-san, are you celebrating shūmatsu no reimei together?"

The rush of questions reminded Hinata of attending the Fire Daimyo's party as Naruto's fiancé. It was a very particular type of attention, different from the sort she received for being a Hyuuga, whether as the Hyuuga failure or the Hyuuga heiress.

She wasn't oblivious to the whispers after their breakup of course, but no one had approached her while alone or with friends. Something about Naruto's inviting presence had emboldened the villagers.

There was no room to gracefully escape, so Hinata held her head high and bore through their nosy, if well-meaning, questions while Naruto tried to address each person individually. After a few minutes of idle chat where Hinata did her best to give short, noncommittal answers to stray questions directed at her, they were finally able to extricate themselves from the group.

"Oh man, is it always so busy around this time? I guess I've been spending too much time at the Hokage Tower," Naruto said with a dramatic sigh.

Hinata tried to smile, but it felt like a grimace.

"So, like I was saying, Ichiraku Ramen's got a new dish just for today! And it's not tsukemen, I checked." Naruto stopped abruptly. "Oh! There's Shikamaru and Chouji. They look kinda upset," he mused, before making his way towards them. "Hey, guys!"

A bit taken aback by the change in topic, Hinata paused for a moment before following and greeting the other shinobi more quietly than the blond had.

"Oh, it's Naruto and Hinata-chan," Chouji said. The frown he had been wearing eased at the sight of them.

Shikamaru only offered them a lazy nod.

"What's with the faces?" Naruto asked.

"Ino and Sai just had a big fight in the middle of the street," Chouji explained.

Shikamaru sighed. "It was pretty one-sided. Ino yelled a lot and stormed off. Something about a dinner reservation."

"Sai just walked away quietly," Chouji added with an expression of pity.

"Oh man, we gotta fix it!" Naruto said.

Chouji and Shikamaru exchanged a look.

"It's usually better to let Ino cool down," Chouji said kindly.

"And it's none of our business," was Shikamaru's blunt input.

Naruto threw his hands in the air. "What do you mean? Our friends are in trouble, of course we've gotta help them!"

Chouji crossed his arms, thinking. "Even if we want to help, I'm not so sure we should meddle. It's not the first time they've fought. They'll figure it out."

"But it's a special day!" Naruto insisted. "What if they don't make up till tomorrow?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "It's just like any other day, Naruto."

"Well if you guys don't want to help, I'll do it myself!" Naruto turned to Hinata. "Hinata-chan, could we meet up a little later? I'm gonna check up on Sai and Ino." He seemed fired up by the situation.

Hinata looked between Chouji and Shikamaru's unconvinced faces and Naruto's determined expression. Making up her mind, she said, "Um, Naruto-kun…maybe I could talk to Ino-san while you talk to Sai-san?"

Surprise flickered through Naruto's blue eyes and then he grinned. "That's a great idea, Hinata-chan! I'll see you in a bit!" he shouted as he sprinted off.

Hinata blinked before turning to Chouji and Shikamaru to ask them to point her in Ino's direction. As she hurried down the street they had indicated, Hinata took note of the romantic decorations and signs on the shop fronts. Not too long ago an interrupted date, especially a on a day like this, even for a noble reason like helping a friend would have resulted in a pinch of disappointment that she would have swiftly pushed away. But now Hinata felt no such disappointment and it reassured her that she had made the right decision in ending their relationship. It was better than the guilt of such a selfish feeling.

Naruto was Naruto. He would always help a friend in need. It was what Hinata loved about him. Feeling even slightly negative about that made her feel like the worst person in the world.

Catching sight of Ino stomping down the street in a huff, Hinata quickened her pace. "Ino-san!" When Ino didn't turn around, Hinata called out louder, "Ino-san!"

Either Ino was too wrapped up in her thoughts or Hinata's voice was too soft. In any case, Hinata soon caught up with the other girl and lightly tapped her arm.

Ino whirled around, irritated. "Oh, Hinata." She let out a deep breath, calming down.

Hinata fiddled with her sleeves, realizing she hadn't thought of how to approach the topic. "Ino-san, you look…upset."

Ino let out a noise of distaste. "I guess you heard the shouting. That Sai, he can be so frustrating!"

"Did something, um, happen?"

"I've been telling him about this restaurant that I want to go to and he was supposed to make a reservation for shūmatsu no reimei. Then he told me a few minutes ago that he forgot! How could he forget something like that and only tell me about it on the day of?" Ino ranted. "And the worst part is how he didn't seem to care at all!"

"Ah, I'm sure that's not true. Sai-san cares a lot about you."

"Obviously not that much if he couldn't remember to make plans for today! Or feel bad that it upset me…"

Hinata frowned sympathetically. "Sai-san…he expresses himself differently than you do. That doesn't mean that he didn't feel upset as well."

"I know," Ino admitted. "But I've gotten better at figuring out how he's feeling."

Hinata worried her bottom lip. Ino and Sai were so dissimilar. "It must be difficult when your partner isn't able to tell you how they feel…"

"It takes effort, but I wouldn't say it's difficult. Loving someone —" Ino cut herself off sharply, a faint blush colouring her cheeks. Then, quieter, she continued, "Loving someone isn't hard."

There was a softness to Ino's face that she didn't normally show to the world. A sureness to her words that conveyed the depth of her feelings for Sai and her dedication to understanding him.

"But I didn't see any of Sai's normal signs that he was upset. Actually, I didn't see any tells at all…" Ino trailed off and then smacked her forehead. "He was hiding something!"

"Hiding something?" Hinata echoed.

Ino didn't clarify, only shouting a quick "I've got to go, Hinata!" before racing off.

Hinata stared after her friend a little confused, but certain that everything would be okay. As she debated on going to find Naruto or heading to Ichiraku Ramen, a chocolate shop caught Hinata's eyes, the impressive display luring her inside.

In the years he had spent as an avenger, Sasuke had to beat back whatever altruism and sense of duty his family had instilled in him. It didn't do to be distracted from gaining strength. Besides, acts of kindness were at odds with the life of a nukenin, especially one under Orochimaru's tutelage and, later, the Akatsuki banner.

At times he slipped, human compassion making itself known, loose bonds beginning to take shape.

His journey of atonement had been about breaking that habit. About encouraging whatever small part of him was capable of doing good, that nearly dead instinct that saw something unjust and wanted to act. Unselfishly. For someone else.

So when Sasuke noticed a slight disturbance as he was heading back to his apartment, grocery bags looped around his wrist, there were two warring desires in him: ignore or intervene.

Sai was standing with his back to Sasuke at the entrance of a restaurant. He was speaking with what looked to be the owner or manager, a large, middle-aged man with an ugly sneer contorting his face. The civilian man's body language projected hostility whereas Sai's read as resignation.

Annoyed, Sasuke approached.

"I told you before we're fully booked."

"I was made aware that more tables were booked after I asked four days prior. And I overheard one of your employees confirm a cancellation when I arrived. Surely I could take the cancelled table?" Sai said. He seemed to anticipate the answer before it came.

"We don't take reservations for your kind here," the man said snidely, arms crossed against his chest.

"And what kind is that?" Sasuke asked calmly.

"ROOT scum," the man spat, eyes fixed on Sai. Then he looked to Sasuke and immediately paled. "Uchiha," he whispered fearfully.

Sasuke cocked a brow.

The man gritted his teeth, but didn't look nearly as self-assured as he had a second ago. Still, he was daring enough to say, "We don't serve your kind here either."

Sasuke's voice was bored when he spoke, but he released enough chakra that even a civilian could feel it. "Again. What kind is that?"

The man gulped as Sasuke stared him down. He opened his mouth and then closed it and then opened it again to splutter, "I-I don't have to answer to you! This is my restaurant and I get to decide the business we take."

Sasuke grunted in mock agreement. "I see. Maybe you should put a sign up. Explain the kind of business you do or don't take."

The man flushed an unattractive red. "Maybe I will! No one would fault me for it. Traitors to the village, the both of you, one from an entire family of traitors! You're not welcome here!"

Sasuke's vision narrowed to the man, each spray of spittle released with his shouting traveling through the air in slow motion. He could feel the buzz of electricity in the air. Or perhaps underneath his skin.

"Sasuke…"

Naruto's booming voice overpowered Sai's. "Sai! I found you!" He crashed into Sai's back, taking him by the shoulders and shaking him. "What's going on with you and Ino?"

Sai's wince was nearly imperceptible. "We had a disagreement."

"I don't think Ino has disagreements. Just fights."

The restaurant owner recovered from Naruto's sudden appearance and bowed. "Naruto-san, good afternoon! Did you have a reservation? I think I would remember seeing your name in the books." His voice had taken on a much more friendly lilt.

Naruto blinked. He turned from the restaurant owner to Sasuke and then back to Sai. "Were you guys getting lunch or something? Do you hang out without me?!"

Sasuke ignored him, unwilling to play along.

Naruto bulldozed ahead even without a response. "Well then can you make it three? Just adding a chair shouldn't be too much trouble?" he asked the restaurant owner.

The man looked flustered. "I — well, you see, we are quite busy today. It's a special day after all."

"But I see some empty tables," Naruto said, pointing through the windows. "We can come back later then. Oh! Sai, you should take Ino here for dinner! She'll forgive you for sure!"

"A-As I said, Naruto-san, we're quite busy today. All our tables are booked for dinner."

"Oh man, nothing like shūmatsu no reimei! You know Ichiraku's is the same? Not just on holidays, though. The old man says it's because I'm good advertisement, but it's all him. Quality food and excellent service will always win in the end. They were pretty much the only restaurant that would serve me when I was kid. Never worried about it costing them business. And now look at them!"

The man had gotten progressively sweatier during Naruto's speech. "Ah, yes, I know the place," he mumbled.

"One of Konoha's treasure's, I say." Naruto grinned with all his teeth. "I'm real grateful to them. Thankfully stuff like that doesn't happen in Konoha anymore." The shrewd glint in Naruto's eyes told Sasuke he knew exactly what was going on.

The man chuckled nervously. "Of course not…you know, Naruto-san, I'm sure we can find an extra table for you and your friends after all."

"That's great! Can you put Sai down for two at seven o'clock?" Naruto said, clapping his hand on Sai's shoulder. "I have other plans though," he added apologetically, "But I saw your restaurant applied for a permit to set up a stall at my succession party, right? So maybe I'll see you there!" With an energetic wave, he hooked an arm around Sai and Sasuke and dragged them along.

When they were a few streets away, Naruto slowed down. "Man, what a jerk. You should have said something, Sai, we could have gotten this figured out earlier."

Sai frowned. "I didn't want to upset Ino."

"Seems like she's pretty upset anyway," Naruto pointed out. "You should tell her stuff like this. How're you gonna be in a relationship if you don't tell each other when something's bothering you?" He wasn't looking at Sai anymore and instead was staring off into the distance with a glum expression.

"Ino's a kunoichi. She should be able to read a situation without Sai needing to spell it out for her." Sasuke didn't know why he said it, but as soon as the words left his lips he knew he wasn't talking about Sai and Ino at all.

Naruto knew it too. Narrowed blue eyes turned to Sasuke. "You can't treat a relationship like a mission."

"Because you have so much experience in romance."

"And you do?"

"If you can't put the time and effort into understanding your partner, then why even bother?"

"Just because you never learned how to talk about your problems —"

"You may talk a lot, idiot, but that doesn't mean you actually say anything."

"Coming from you, that's rich!"

"I'm unsure if I'm expected to mediate or leave. I am clearly being ignored, but would it be a greater show of friendship if I stopped you from brawling in the middle of the street?" Sai mused. His flat voice was a wet towel on the heat of Sasuke's ire.

Sasuke bristled, embarrassed about taking part in such a petty and public argument like he was still a genin letting Naruto goad him into fights. He was an adult. He should have a better hold over his temper by now.

Naruto was still glaring, but some of the tension left his body. He turned away from Sasuke. "Sorry, Sai. This is about you and Ino."

"If you say so. I'll take both of your advice into consideration. Perhaps I should work on more clearly communicating my feelings to Ino. And also ask that she be patient with me if I am not always able to do so," Sai concluded. "Also thank you for your help at the restaurant."

Sasuke scoffed. "Not sure that I helped the situation."

"You're right. You didn't help the situation. That was Naruto," Sai said freely. "But it was…nice, to have your support."

Sasuke averted his gaze. "This village never changes."

Heads kept turning to watch them, people stopping in their tracks to stare for a few seconds. Sasuke wondered if there would ever be a day he could walk down the streets of Konoha without garnering this much attention.

Sai made a noise of disagreement. "I'm not so sure about that. After all, you are part of the village, Sasuke-san, and you chose to step in. Is that not change?"

Sasuke couldn't find anything to say to that. When he looked back, Sai was smiling placidly. Naruto's frown had been wiped away, anger forgotten.

"He's right," Naruto said. "Anyway, I was going to grab lunch at Ichiraku's." He paused, eyes darting back and forth between Sasuke and Sai. Seeming to make up his mind, he continued, "Do you guys want to join? I saw Chouji and Shikamaru around too, we should bring them along."

"You say it like a question, but it seems like you've already made up your mind."

Naruto shrugged with an easy grin. "I'm a decisive guy."

"More like hardheaded," Sasuke muttered.

"Don't start," Naruto shot back without much heat.

The argumentative spark had been extinguished and they were back to their usual banter. Sasuke met Naruto's gaze and saw only the usual clear blue of his friend's eyes.

Sasuke broke eye contact and began to walk. "My treat," he said, not bothering to see if Naruto and Sai were following. "That was impressive back there. You might not be completely hopeless at politics." Though he saw it coming, Sasuke allowed Naruto to shove at his shoulder.

"Bastard. You need to work on your compliments."

"I agree. I was surprised Naruto was capable of pulling off this type of ploy."

"…I don't think I like it when you guys get along."

It wasn't a surprise, exactly, to see Hinata waiting at Ichiraku Ramen. She was sitting at the counter, back to the door. When they entered, she spun around gracefully in her stool and her eyes immediately caught Sasuke's. They held for a moment, a smile blooming across her face, before sweeping away to take in the rest of the group.

Along the way they had picked up Chouji, Shikamaru and Ino, and then had promptly lost Sai and Ino to a dramatic reconciliation.

Sasuke was already at the counter while the rest were still piling into the restaurant. Having waved to acknowledge the others, Hinata angled herself in Sasuke's direction. She was dressed in civilian clothes, fitted tan slacks and a thin, powder blue sweater. Curious lavender eyes were trained on the bag around his wrist.

"No peeking," Sasuke chided, biting back a smirk. He tried to buy a variety of groceries, testing the limits of Hinata's culinary knowledge and instincts. It was interesting to see her survey the contents of his fridge, eyes lighting up as she thought of how best to use the available ingredients.

The only things that didn't make it onto his grocery list were crab and shrimp.

Hinata gave him a wide-eyed look. "Aren't you being too mysterious?"

"I'm an enigma."

Hinata tilted her head as if considering his words and then nodded. There was a hint of a smile on her lips, but Sasuke could tell she was half-serious. His brows creased.

The arrival of Naruto and the others put an end to their conversation.

"Hinata-chan, sorry to keep you waiting! I ended up bringing the rest of these guys along. It feels like we haven't had a chance to hang out all together in a while." The blond shinobi said, hopping onto the stool on the other side of Hinata.

Swiveling away from Sasuke to face forward, Hinata said, "It's alright, Naruto-kun, I wasn't waiting very long. And it's nice to have lunch with everyone."

"Right? That's what I thought!" Naruto agreed with a grin. "And Sasuke even said he'd treat, so it's our lucky day."

Sasuke huffed. "Whatever."

Hinata shot him an amused glance out of the corner of her eyes.

"Sasuke-kun's paying? I guess I can skip my diet today."

Ino and Sai had finally caught up, hands clasped tightly together.

"Seems you two made up," Shikamaru observed dully.

"Were you able to get the reservation after all?" Chouji asked.

Ino made a derisive sound. "I've heard terrible things about that restaurant anyway. I'd rather eat at home. You know girls love a man that can cook. Sai-kun's going to make me a romantic dinner."

Sai looked a little nervous as he nodded. Sasuke would wager real money that he didn't know the first thing about cooking.

Turning to Hinata, Sasuke met her sympathetic expression with an entertained smirk.

"Do girls really care about that kind of stuff?" Naruto wondered, leaning towards Hinata.

"Um."

"I suppose girls do like being taken care of," Chouji said.

Shikamaru grunted and raised a hand to flag down Ayame. "I'm staying out of this."

Ino shook her head. "All of you are hopeless. No wonder you don't have dates."

"Ouch," Chouji said lowly.

"Long distance has its benefits."

Hinata gasped, hopping off her stool.

"Oh, Hinata, I didn't mean you!" Ino said apologetically.

"Eh?" Hinata blinked. She fished a bag out from underneath her coat where it had been hanging on the back of her stool. "I just remembered this." She carefully sorted through the bag before pulling out a small box and holding it out to Sasuke.

Sasuke stared for a moment before accepting it. Hinata then proceeded to hand out similar boxes to the rest of the boys more quickly.

"I'm sorry it's not homemade this time. It slipped my mind this year," she apologized.

Chouji made a disappointed sound and then yelped when Ino elbowed him. "T-Thank you, Hinata-chan!"

"I've never received an obligatory gift before. Thank you for this new experience," Sai said, eyeing the pink and gold box.

"Thanks, Hinata-chan," Shikamaru said simply, stuffing his own box into one of the many pockets of his flak jacket.

Holding his own box between both hands, Naruto smiled warmly. "I'm sure they'll be great no matter what, Hinata-chan."

Sasuke turned the small box around in his one hand. "It's green." While the rest of the gifts Hinata had handed out had been packaged in gold and pink, Sasuke's gold was intertwined with pastel green.

Hinata tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Mm. It's matcha flavoured. Since you don't like sweet things…"

Sasuke wasn't oblivious to the stares of the others. Neither was Hinata, if the blush that lit up her cheeks and the nervous fingers curling into her sleeves were any indication. Ignoring the pair of blue eyes boring into him, Sasuke gave a simple nod and then turned decisively to Ayame. "One miso."

Later, when everyone was occupied with ramen and loud conversation, Sasuke ducked down to Hinata's ear and said a quiet "Thank you".

Hinata didn't respond except for her cheeks rising into a smile.

Satisfied, Sasuke returned to his own ramen.

More of an ensemble chapter and not a lot of direct SasuHina interaction, but you've got to look underneath the underneath.

Thanks as always to everyone who continues to read and leave reviews ^^

MVH