"Sasuke's mine!" A girl stood in the middle of the pavement, her long blonde hair tied up into a ponytail as she shouted, tapering her brows in annoyance.
"No, he's mine!" Sakura responded, expressing her confidence in claiming the boy she had always had a crush on.
"Ha! Like hell he'd ever fall for someone with a giant forehead!"
"Like hell, Sasuke would ever fall for a pig! Ino-pig! Besides, my forehead isn't that big!"
"Um...g-guys..." Hinata finally emitted after another moment of silence. Her voice soft and rather shaky attempting to break the scene.
She had been keeping her attention at the two yelling at each other, nervous from the possible chance of them escalating into a fight. Her palms curved into a ball in front of her and her eyes expressed a hint of fear as she frantically watched the two continuously fight over a boy.
For a while now, she'd been attempting to inform them that the rest of the group was finally heading in their direction and that maybe it was best not to be quarreling since she caught a glimpse of the person of interest making their way over along with the rest. However, after many attempts to break them, it wasn't enough to stop the two.
As someone who also had a crush on a boy, she imagined how embarrassed she would be if Naruto were to have heard her declaring him as hers and in their case, loud enough to be heard several meters away.
"Whether you like it or not, I'm going to marry Sasuke!"
"You can keep dreaming, Ino. Plus you're just jealous that I get to see him all the time!"
"Jealous?! Ha! You wish!"
With their hands now gripping onto each other's collar, Sakura and Ino both pulled themselves closer until their faces were mere inches away. Their sharp glares at one another now intensifying even more.
"...guys..." Hinata uttered once again with a bit more volume this time, however, with their growing hatred for one another at this current moment and their irritation to even the tiniest bit of disturbance, Sakura and Ino both immediately turned their heads to face her, their angered expression now pointed in her direction as they both responded.
"What?!"
Hinata jumped, closing her eyes from the heated word that traveled through her. But instead of reacting in a way that looked as if she was truly intimidated, she softly smiled and replied to the matter at hand.
"Um...th-the rest of our teammates are heading this way." Hinata pointed to her left, eyeing the group of guys slowly making their way over to where they had all planned to meet up before heading up to the top of the Hokage monument for a special hangout.
A couple of days prior to their special hangout, all team captains of 7, 8, and 10 had all encouraged their team members that forming bonds outside of their own team can also be beneficial. That it was a great opportunity to get to know each other and understand each other's goals as the next generation of ninjas in the Hidden Leaf.
Sasuke walked alongside Naruto before drifting slowly behind him, still pondering on whether he should turn back around and leave the rest.
He did not initially intend to join the special hangout in view of it being another waste of time, however thinking back to what Kakashi had said earlier about it not hurting to do something different once in a while, Sasuke eventually gave in to the idea just this afternoon.
Plus, with his arm still in its remedial stages, it was best not to do any vigorous activities for a short period of time until it heals up a little more.
He had only realized soon after that he might've over-exerted himself during his training with Hinata that by the time he arrived back in his apartment, the blood from his wound had already soaked through the bandage wrap, causing him to reapply a new roll on himself.
"Hinata! We're sorry!" Both Sakura and Ino sincerely apologized, their palms glued and held out in front of them as they shut their eyes, hoping to be forgiven for accidentally shouting directly at her.
"It-it's fine!" Hinata responded, surprised and flustered by their immediate apology. Wanting to express her regret even further, Ino unexpectedly jumped at the timid girl, hugging her from the side.
With Ino's arms wrapping themselves around her, Hinata was reminded of the bruises that existed on her body. The pain now resurfacing from her grip.
Despite it lingering, Hinata maintained her smile, making sure to conceal any signs of uneasiness. After all, it did feel somewhat nice. The only other sincere hug aside from her own mother's that she'd ever received would actually feel really nice.
Noticing Hinata's slight discomfort upon Ino's unexpected hug, Sasuke had guessed that her reaction must've been from their training session. The bruises he imagined were still in the process of healing.
As Sasuke's figure comes into view of the two, both Ino and Sakura jump in excitement. Their cheeks blushed into a tint of pink, surprised to actually see his presence for an occasion like this.
"Sasuke!" Both exclaimed before exchanging a piercing glare back at one another once again.
"Can't you two ever give the guy a break?" Sighing from the sight of the two being head over heels, a boy with black hair tied up into a spiky ponytail stood with one hand inside his pocket, holding his head with the other as he yawned from his earlier nap.
"Beat it, Shikamaru! Like you would ever understand." Ino narrowed her brows before lifting them up to smile at Hinata. After letting go of her, she followed Sakura who had already made her way over to where Sasuke was standing with the rest of the group.
Both girls stood inches from him, observing his features the way most other girls would stare at him.
"Hey, Sakura! I'm here too you know!" Naruto waved in her direct, unhappy about the fact that Sasuke was getting all the attention like usual and annoyed that his one and only crush was once again giving all her interest to him.
"Um...Hi...Na-Naruto." After noticing him react with such a downhearted expression, Hinata couldn't help but provide him the attention with means to distract him from feeling down. But now that his attention was directed at her, Hinata had lost the courage to say more.
"Huh?" Naruto turned his body around until he noticed a small figure had been standing right behind him, her eyes averted to the side, shy from meeting his gaze. "Oh, hey Hinata. I didn't notice you were standing there." He smiled shifting the metal piece of his headband up and down in a cheerful manner.
"Alright, I guess this is everyone," Shino uttered as he glanced around making sure everyone from the three different teams had made it and surprisingly enough, everyone had ended up being present.
"I brought some snacks in case we get hungry when we're up there." A boy with brown hair separated by a peculiar headband held out a bag filled with various goods. His chubby figure stood next to Shikamaru as he munched on a bag of chips.
"Hehe alright! Nice one Choji." Kiba sniffed around the bag with Akamaru who had been resting on his shoulder while being held by his hoodie.
With all three teams now present at the meet-up, everyone nodded their heads and began heading up the path that would lead them up to the summit of the Hokage monument.
Upon reaching the summit, Hinata took notice of the Sun's setting moment. Its bright orange hue on the horizon from up high left her with a sense of warmth and comfort. Of the world taking its own moment to finally rest.
Everyone else had stood to take a look at the sunset. Their gazes in awe at how beautiful it looks subsiding its last bit of light before darkness overtook the skies.
It was agreed upon by the rest that doing a bonfire on top of the Hokage monument would be much more fun than eating out at a hotpot or at a ramen shop. Eating out would have to require money anyway so instead, they settled for something rather free.
By this arrangement with everyone encircling the crackling fire in the middle, it was easier to see each other while talking to one another, and while being able to see the stars more clearly above them.
A few hours of non-stop talking across the group had passed and Hinata was not one bit tired like she had expected herself to be. Even though she didn't speak as much as she would have wanted, it was nice to get to spend this evening with people she considered friends. People that made her feel unalienated.
Though it was nice to be dwelling in this moment, Hinata decided to take a short break from all the chatter, excusing herself from the rest of the group. She was planning to sit alone for a while to gaze at the stars near the cliff of the monument. A moment for her to ease the overwhelming feeling of joy inside her.
Sasuke hadn't really spoken much either unless spoken to. It felt like it would consume too much of his own energy to be talking about random and what he considered boring things.
"Sasuke? Where are you going?" Sakura reacted to his figure standing up from the side. Ready to follow him wherever he was planning to go, Sakura had also stood up from her sitting position, keeping her focus on the boy who looked back at her with a composed yet smirking expression.
"Trust me. You wouldn't want to be following me around where I'm going." Sasuke responded, trying to hint that he would be heading somewhere away from the group to use the bathroom.
There were no public bathrooms at the top of the Hokage monument unless you visited Konoha's archive library. But even at this hour, the library itself would have already been closed.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Sakura replied, genuinely confused by his words.
"He's going to take a leak. Right, Akamaru?" Barking and wagging his tail, the little canine jumped back onto Kiba's shoulder. Having just come back from using the bathroom themselves, Kiba couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Sakura's confused expression across the flames dancing in between them.
"Oh, you mean..." Blushing from the embarrassment and the thought of following him when he would be doingthat, Sakura sat herself back down, keeping her gaze back over at the mini sparks from the fire in front of her.
Hinata could feel the cold air brushing through her cheeks as she sat at the edge of the cliff, staring up into the vast skies painted in tiny bright lights. The distant stars were now shining even brighter than they were before.
Somehow whenever she watched the stars at night, the thought of her own mother would appear in her mind, as if she was watching her from above, protecting her, guiding her. A yearning to be connected once again.
With her eyes sucked up into the darkness, Hinata jolted in place, immediately turning her head to the side after hearing the sound of someone's footsteps getting louder and louder as they approached her direction.
As the figure came closer and closer to where she had settled herself, Hinata relaxed her muscles, bringing her mind back to its previous state of peace.
"Oh, it's just you...S-Sasuke." Seeing that it was just him, Hinata attempted to calm the rapid beating of her heart from his sudden appearance. She didn't expect anyone else would be heading in her direction.
The Hokage monument was wide enough so it was slightly surprising that anyone else would find her at that specific spot, considering it was also really dark with the moon being the only source of viable light.
Startled to see her figure in that particular spot, Sasuke stood in silence, thinking about whether he should find another spot on the monument, however with the distance he'd already covered, he would much prefer to just sit down.
"Um...what are you doing here?" Hinata asked, smiling in the dark.
"It's too loud," Sasuke replied as he took a spot right at the edge of the cliff, several feet from where Hinata was sitting.
Sasuke had also wanted to be alone. He actually didn't have to use the bathroom at all. It was just an excuse to remove himself from the crowd and find some peace and quiet after all the continuous flow of words traveling through his ears.
Hinata and Sasuke sat in silence without exchanging any more words. The quietness provided both a sense of tranquility. Even with the awareness of each other's existence, the exchange of silence between them rather provided them a sense of comfort through the night.
Without the intention to break the peace that had developed between them, Hinata suddenly uttered a sound with the curiosity running through her like a rush of adrenaline. The thought had just crossed her mind that it was appropriate to check up on someone who was withstanding an injury.
"Y-your arm...h-how is it doing?!"
Sasuke stared down at the village, viewing the dot of lights that provided a sense of liveliness from all the darkness surrounding the Leaf before calmly responding to her.
"It's...getting better."
Remembering how serious it looked before, Hinata couldn't help but feel relieved as she softly smiled to herself hearing that his wound was finally healing and that it was in a better state than it was before.
"Your body...is it getting any better?" Sasuke asked, his voice soft yet stern after another silence played between them.
He had been curious before and had thought that maybe he shouldn't have gone too hard on her that time. That maybe he could've been less assertive with his hits, seeing that her body would often tremble.
"It's recovering just well." Hinata turned to face Sasuke. Even though his face wasn't clearly lit up, she could see the faint smile on his lips. A piece of his expression she'd never seen before that even he wouldn't have noticed himself.
After exchanging another long moment of silence, Hinata and Sasuke impromptu stood up, both startled by the other who had motioned the same way.
"Are you...headed back too?"
"...I suppose," Sasuke responded. His expression betraying any sign of emotion. Quite frankly, this was the best opportunity to leave the hangout, but now it wasn't all that bad.
By the time the brightness of the bonfire had come to view and multiple voices were now being heard, Sasuke halted himself behind Hinata, watching and hearing her slowly notice him stop his trail. His voice low and serious.
"By the way...would you mind keeping the training ground a secret between just the two of us?"
Hinata paused, understanding Sasuke's request to keep the training ground a secret. After all, they both needed it and there was really no need to include anyone else. It was like their own little sacred place. A place where they can both hone their skills. To learn from one another and become stronger.
"...s-sure..." She responds, nearly startled by his sudden words, but her gaze softens in acceptance.
"Also...with these eyes and that Byakugan of yours. How about we train them against one another." Maintaining his stoic gaze and a firm tone to his words, Sasuke narrowed his brows as he proposed the idea.
Hinata smiled as she nodded in response. She knew she would eventually confront Sasuke with his Sharingan during one of their trainings. Although the idea seemed too advanced for her with her current level of skills, it had also piqued her curiosity to see how her own Kekkei Genkai would react to his in a match.
Sasuke and Hinata picked up their feet again and as they finally made their way back, the group sat in silence. A hint of interest played on their expressions like they had wanted to question their sudden re-entry.
Not that there was anything odd between them individually, but at the fact that they had walked back together somewhat casually before splitting back into their original spots around the bonfire.
"You guys are back. It's been like ages." Choji pulled another handful of chips from his bag, shoving them inside his mouth.
"We were starting to get worried. We thought you guys might've lost your way in the dark." Sakura stood up, looking concerned for the both of them.
Seeing that they'd both made it back, her mind was now relieved of the anxiety, however, she couldn't help the slight bit of uneasiness spreading across when she caught a glimpse of the two briefly conversing just moments ago.
It was just unusual to see the two interact at all. But, they must've had their own reasons too. Besides, Sasuke wouldn't be the type to take an interest in any girl anyway, and Hinata had always shown signs of liking Naruto. All these thoughts had circulated inside her as she relaxed herself into the flames flickering against the cold of the night.