Sasuke stared at the plushie she had given him, expression hard to read.
"You… don't like it?" she asked, fidgeting nervously.
It was her birthday, and Sasuke had surprised her by coming up unannounced to bring her a present and drink tea. He had been greeted by Hiashi as well as Hanabi, who was around, and the four of them had enjoyed a small moment of peace at the drawing room meant specifically to receive guests.
After the tea was over, the boy had asked if he could speak with her alone, and the two had walked over to her bedroom, no doubt their figures being followed by a hundred pair of eyes that could see through walls.
Despite that, it was as private as they could get, and after Sasuke had given her his present, a tasteful scarf of pure white, she had decided to give him hers.
He frowned as soon as she took it out of the closet, and continued to do so even after almost five minutes had passed.
"It's not that…" he finally answered, still staring at the plushie in his hands. "It's just… it's very unexpected. What brought this on?"
Hinata glanced away, not sure why she was feeling shy all of a sudden. "I saw it at one of the stalls in the Rinne festival. I remember you used to have a pencil case that had a dinosaur design on it… I guess it reminded me of you, so I won it…"
"A dinosaur pencil case?" he glanced up momentarily towards her in confusion, before his eyes widened slightly. "Ah, yes… I forgot about that" he said, words becoming a bit softer there at the end, as if he was lost reminiscing about the past. Hinata pursed her lips, quickly speaking up to prevent him from taking any painful trips back memory lane.
"You like dinosaurs, no? I thought… I thought that it would be nice, bringing you something you liked since you didn't go to the festival with us…" she explained, hands on her lap. As she didn't have a desk in her bedroom and it would've been most improper to sit together on her bed, hundreds of eyes on them or not, they were both sitting on the floor, backs leaning against that very bed.
Sasuke frowned even more and looked down at the dinosaur again. He turned it one way, then another, examining it. Hinata twirled her thumbs, waiting for his verdict.
It came after a sigh. "It's your birthday today, what's up with you giving me presents anyway? You should be the one receiving them."
"But I already received one from you, and as I said, the plushie is just something that reminded me of you, so…"
"I'm not a little kid. Plushies are for babies."
With those simple words, Hinata deflated.
"I… understand. I'm sorry I gave you something you don't like…" she started, sounding despondent. Sasuke made a sound of confusion.
"I never said anything of the sort. I just think it's not the kind of thing to give a boy…" he looked down, towards the plushie again when she turned to look at him with surprise. "It doesn't mean I won't accept it…"
"…so, you like it?" she asked with hope. Sasuke scoffed.
"I guess it's well-made. Wouldn't something like this fit Hanabi better though?"
"I think Hanabi-chan prefers cats" she said thoughtfully. Then, she scooted closer. "What are you going to name him?"
"Name him?" he asked, incredulous. Hinata nodded.
"He looks like a boy, no? And all plushies should have a name too, otherwise it would too lonely."
"I'm not going to name an inanimate object" he countered, as if the very idea was ridiculous to him. Perhaps it was, but Hinata didn't care. She lifted a hand and tapped her chin with her index finger, eyes glancing up as she thought about it.
"What about Meno?"
"Are you even listening to me?" the boy said, expression becoming even more bewildered.
Hinata nodded to herself. "Meno sounds good. Let's go with that, ok?"
"I don't even know why I bother with you."
The companionable moment continued for a while, until they were interrupted by Hanabi bursting through her door, demanding Sasuke-nii-san to play with her before he went back home.