Day 4: First touch

Hinata came to in the infirmary.

She wished she could have forgotten everything, but, unfortunately, all was fresh in her mind as soon as she opened her eyes.

Sasuke told everyone she was his girlfriend. He told everyone. She had wanted to keep it a secret, and part of her had assumed that Sasuke wouldn't tell anyone either. That was her plan, lay down until he finally broke up with her, but that was impossible now.

Everyone knew… including Naruto. She was aware she had no chance with him, but it seemed that, despite the logical part of her mind being aware of it, her heart wasn't. The disappointment was sitting there, heavy in her chest. There was no way Naruto would ever look at his best friend's girlfriend, right?

"You're finally awake" someone said from her side. Hinata gasped, turning to look at Sasuke, who was sitting next to her bed with his arms crossed and a look of pure boredom on his face. "Classes were over more than an hour ago" he complained.

Hinata bit her lip, sitting up and clenching her hands on the sheet covering her. "Mmm, you didn't have to wait for me…"

"Of course I had to. We have training after class, or did you forget?" he scoffed, leaning down to take something from the floor. He placed her backpack on the bed, before grabbing his and standing up. "Do you feel better now?"

"I…" she was slow as she pushed her feet outside the bed, testing her weight before standing up completely. She took her backpack and looked at Sasuke timidly. "I feel better, but…"

"Then let's go. Even the nurse left already" he turned to walk away, but just then she cleared her throat, stopping him. "What is it?" he asked, looking over his shoulder.

Hinata played with her fingers, feeling a bit annoyed all of a sudden. Not only did he announce to everyone that they were together without consulting her first, but now he was acting impatient with her? The only reason she fainted was because of him!

"I… I don't feel like going…" she said with as much strength as she could. Sasuke turned around completely with a frown on his face, making Hinata squeak and fight not to shrink under the weight of his glare.

"You already said we were going" he complained, almost pouting. But she had to be wrong. Why would Sasuke pout? It didn't even sound like something he was capable of doing.

"B-But I just woke up from fainting, and… and you didn't even…!" consulted me before telling everyone we're dating! she wanted to say, but she was, once again, interrupted.

"And why did you even faint? You need to check with a doctor or something, this is the second time in less than two days that happened to you" he crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow while looking at her like she was something he had to decipher. Hinata resisted the temptation to huff in annoyance.

"I fainted because you announced to everyone that we… we…!" she couldn't even say it. Her face was becoming warmer, the words trapped in her mouth.

Sasuke understood though. "We are dating, what's wrong with telling everyone?" he scoffed, before his face turned grim, "…or did you want to keep it a secret? Because there is no way I-!"

"I wanted you to at least ask me before you did something like that!" she raised her voice, for once talking over him. "A-Anyway, if you want to train, then let's do it tomorrow! I don't feel like doing anything with you today!"

And with that said, she adjusted her backpack and ran to the exit. Sasuke called after her, voice high and angry, but she didn't look back, or slowed down until she was halfway to her compound. Only then did she stop, leaning against a wall and breathing fast, sinking to the ground when she realized the absolute mess she was in. And all because she didn't clear up this misunderstanding as soon as possible.

Tomorrow would be hell, and not only because of Sasuke.

Ino and Sakura would demand an explanation that she didn't know if she could give.

Sasuke was fuming. He arrived home and threw his backpack to the ground in anger, kicking it for good measure.

How dare Hinata cancel their plans like that? She already promised!

"Stupid Hyuuga" he slumped on his bed, glaring holes at the ceiling. What was her deal, anyway? She should be happy he announced to everyone the two of them were together! Wasn't that what all girls wanted?

He covered his eyes with one arm, replaying the whole thing inside his head. It was her fault anyway, who told her she could look at Naruto like that? And why would she even look at him like that? Other than being the Hokage's son, there wasn't anything particularly impressive about him.

He heard movement outside his room, and he quickly sat up, thinking it must be Itachi coming home early from work. He ran to the door, but stopped abruptly when, instead of his older brother, he saw Izumi standing outside, bewildered expression on her face when he pushed open the door with such force so as to almost bounce it off the wall.

"Hello, Sasuke" she greeted with a soft smile once the surprise wore off. The boy's shoulders slumped.

"Hello, Izumi-san. Are you looking for Itachi?" he asked, stepping outside and closing the door of his bedroom behind him. The woman shook her head.

"I'm waiting for him. He should be home soon. We're taking a little stroll in the park today" she said with a happy smile. Sasuke nodded. He looked at Izumi for a while more, his brow furrowing in thought.

Despite the fact Itachi kept insisting he and Izumi were not dating, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that they were. Even now, they were going on a date. Then again, Itachi himself had admitted most of their encounters were initiated by her, so…

And then it occurred to him.

Of course! He had been going to his older brother for advice all this time, but what he needed was a different perspective. Someone who could tell him exactly what Hinata wanted. With new, shining eyes, he looked at Izumi, who only quirked an eyebrow at the display of emotion coming from the young boy.

"Izumi-san! I need help!" he announced, walking towards her. Izumi tilted her head to the side, curious, before nodding slowly.

"Of course. What is it?"

"What do girls want?" he asked directly, confusing her. He clarified; "I mean, let's say, hypothetically, that I'm dating one… would she be angry if I told everyone she's my girlfriend?"

Izumi took a moment to simply stare at him. She remembered that Itachi had told her, just yesterday, that it seemed his little brother had acquired a girlfriend, but she hadn't believed him until now. And it was because, Sasuke was so similar to Itachi sometimes. The kind of guy that didn't care about romance at all. She was sure that, if a girl didn't actively pursue him, he wouldn't ever become interested enough to ever be in a relationship with one.

Just look at her, for example. Almost eight years going after Itachi and he still refused to admit he liked her back.

Shaking her head to concentrate in the present, she hummed, lifting a hand to her chin. "I don't think so. In fact, she should be really happy if you announce it to everyone" she knew she would.

Sasuke huffed. "Right? She shouldn't get angry and complain that I didn't consult with her first. She should be celebrating!"

"…does the girl know she's supposed to be dating you?" she asked, a bit confused by the way he phrased it.

Sasuke frowned. "Of course she knows! She's the one that confessed to me!"

"Ah, but I thought you said this was all hypothetical."

"…" Sasuke clicked his tongue, glancing away. Izumi giggled. "It's not funny. Fine, so maybe I'm dating someone" he finally admitted, "and she got angry because I said in front of the whole classroom that she was my girlfriend so she cancelled our plans to go out today. But I don't understand. Why is she angry? It makes no sense" he crossed his arms, not quite pouting, but close to. Izumi sighed.

"I don't know, Sasuke. You should ask her yourself. The best way to keep a relationship going is communicating. Girls like it when they're listened to."

"I see…" he nodded.

"And? What were you going to do after class?" she asked, curious and a bit giddy for this new gossip. After all, Sasuke dating someone had to be one of the cutest things she'd seen in a while, especially when he became so sulky over his little girlfriend cancelling their date.

The boy shrugged. "We were going to train" he said simply.

Izumi stared at him without blinking. "You were going to train…" she repeated. Sasuke nodded, not understanding the reason for her vacant expression.

"Yes. It was a date" he confirmed.

Izumi bit the inside of her cheek. "And who proposed this date? Was it you?"

"Yes…" he said, unsure. "We don't have a lot of things in common, so I asked Itachi what I could do about it, and he told me to propose an activity so we could find some common ground. Training sounded good enough" he explained.

Izumi dragged a hand down her face. Training. It felt like she was twelve years old again, hearing Itachi inviting her to the training grounds when she implied she wanted to go out somewhere with him. This was the reason she always chose what they were going to do.

She sighed. "Ok, I'll talk with your brother later. First, we need to fix this, and fast."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, before being dragged by, basically his sister-in-law, to the living room, where thankfully, neither of his parents were.

It was a long afternoon for the boy.

The next day, Hinata was nervous. She gulped, fidgeting with her hands as she waited for Sakura and Ino to arrive.

She needed to explain everything to them. But where could she even begin?

Finally, the two walked inside the classroom, and she practically jumped from her seat in her haste to reach them. "Ino, Sakura!" she called. However, the girls ignored her, walking past her without even glancing at her.

"Did you hear something, Ino?" Sakura asked, examining her nails as she put down her backpack on her desk. Ino flipped her hair, huffing.

"Perhaps a mosquito. It's rare for this time of the year, but you know how pests are" she said, voice low and clipped. Sakura nodded.

"Completely agree."

"This… girls…" Hinata tried again, but they continued to ignore her. Her heart broke. It was true she started dating the boy they liked behind their backs, but it was all a misunderstanding! If only they would let her explain…

"This mosquito is really annoying" Sakura groaned, closing her eyes. "Why can't it understand we don't want to talk to it? Who would want to speak to a mosquito that goes behind its friends back to give a love letter to the boy they like?"

"Right? At least if the mosquito had said something before, but noooo, it had to wait until the same boy told everyone, not even giving the friends the benefit of knowing first" Ino practically spit out. Hinata felt her eyes getting warmer with repressed tears.

"I didn't… it was a mistake, the love letter wasn't for…"

"Hinata!"

The three girls gasped, turning around to see Sasuke entering the classroom, making a direct beeline towards Hinata. The girl shrunk, wanting to disappear, but it was too late. He had already seen her.

"What are you doing here? I told you we would sit together from now on" he took her hand, actually intertwining their fingers. Hinata could practically feel the jealousy, not only at her back from her friends, but also from pretty much every single girl that was already in the classroom. "Come on, class is about to start."

He dragged her without another word, and although Hinata tried to protest and disentangle her hand from his, his hold was too strong. She was feeling heat accumulating on her face, threatening her with unconsciousness. Never before had she held hands with a boy. Despite still being a child, she could feel the difference in size with her own hand, how warm it was, enveloping her completely and turning her mind to cotton.

She fought hard against the lightheadedness the mere contact brought. She wasn't going to faint again because of her boyfriend.

"Here. It's not so difficult, right?" he said, sitting down and pulling her with him, apparently unwilling to let go of her hand. She squeaked, glaring at him for his brusqueness.

"Please try to be gentler…" she asked. Sasuke frowned, as if not understanding, and before Hinata could explain further, Iruka entered. Only when it was time to take notes did Sasuke finally release her, though her hand tingled afterwards.

The rest of the class Hinata sulked, unable to do or say anything while Iruka explained something or other at the front that she honestly wasn't listening to. She couldn't concentrate with her mind full of grim and sad thoughts, with the occasional fumbling one every time she remembered the heat still seemingly possessing her hand. Ino and Sakura were so angry with her… how could she get them to forgive her? Regardless if her love letter was really intended for Sasuke or not, she had still accepted being his girlfriend.

Maybe she should break up with him. She had thought to let the situation be until he got tired of her, but…

"I'm sorry about yesterday" Sasuke said in the middle of the lesson, surprising her. She looked at him, but his gaze was at the front, and for a moment she wondered if she had imagined his voice or not. But then he spoke again, so low, she had to struggle to hear him. "I talked with my brother's girlfriend… she told me I should apologize to you for inconveniencing you. It wasn't my intention to put you in a bad position" he looked down to write something on his notebook, but he still didn't turn to her.

Hinata could only stare.

"She also told me that training isn't a proper date, so, today after class, I'll take you out to eat something you like, ok?"

He finally looked at her, his eyes inquisitive as if waiting for her approval. Hinata didn't know what to say. She should say no. She didn't actually like Sasuke, and in order to recover her friendship with Ino and Sakura, it was best to break up.

Instead she said. "Let's invite Sakura and Ino."

Sasuke frowned, obviously not pleased. "Why?" he asked between gritted teeth.

"Because they both like you, and now they're angry at me because they think I purposely hid the fact we were dating from them. I want to properly explain everything to them, and I want you to help me."

The boy pursed his lips, unhappy with her suggestion. For a moment she thought he would say no, and braced herself to argue, but then, after many excruciating seconds, he sighed through his nose and glanced away, nodding reluctantly.

"Naruto will come too. No way I'll be the only guy in that strange group date" he added his own condition. Hinata smiled, unbelievably happy, and nodded, before returning her attention to class.

Hopefully this would fix things.