Day 8: Talk to me

Sasuke arrived early that day.

It was the day the genin teams were officially going to be announced, after all.

He didn't quite care for it, if he was being honest. He was fine with whomever, as long as they were not a fangirl or Naruto. Naruto was his friend, alright, but he knew him and he just knew that he would not be able to stand him if they were on the same team together.

The fangirl part was a little more difficult. Not a single girl he knew fit into the category of not a fangirl. Once upon a time Hinata might have, but she was his girlfriend now and…

Not that she behaved like a fangirl at all. In fact, it was exactly because of that reason he had decided to date her, among other things, but at the same time, wouldn't it be awkward to be in the same team as your girlfriend? It wouldn't be very professional either. Of course, being with a fangirl would also be unprofessional, so maybe it would be better to be with Hinata after all…

So much for being fine with whomever.

"Hey, bastard! What's with that face?" Naruto bounced up to him, for once appearing before the bell sounded. He sat down heavily next to him, lifting his legs up on the desk.

Sasuke pushed him away, the blond falling to the ground, chair and all.

"Oi!" he shouted.

"Don't put your feet on the desk. People write here" he said before glancing to the front again, chin held up by his clasped hands. Naruto snorted, standing up and putting his chair back in place.

"No one's writing anything today. Anyway, don't change the subject! Why are you sulking more than usual, huh?"

"…I'm not sulking" he said, controlling his mouth when he realized he was about to do just that.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You're never honest man. Whatever. Hey! Who do you think we're going to be with? I want to be with Sakura-chan and you, you know? I'd have my best friend and the prettiest girl in class in my team! How awesome would that be?"

It sounded like something straight out of his nightmares.

"Ugh, I don't know. Why are you speculating now? We'll know for sure within the next hour" he rolled his eyes, completely dismissing the fact just a few minutes ago he was doing the same.

"Wow, look who's too cool to even talk to today."

"That's not…" he turned to Naruto, but whatever he was going to say was forgotten when the door to the classroom opened, and in came Hinata, along with Ino and Sakura. She was talking animatedly with her friends, so much she didn't even spare a glance for him. This made him frown.

Naruto followed his gaze, before a slow grin formed on his face. "Ohhh, problems with Hinata?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows. Sasuke glared at him.

"Of course not, you idiot. Actually, what are you doing here? I told you this was to be Hinata's place from now on."

"Oh, come on! It's our very last day at the academy! Can't you…?"

"No. Hinata!" he stood up, hands on his desk, and called his girlfriend's name while he looked back to where she had taken a seat with Ino and Sakura. As always, the whole classroom stopped whatever they were doing and paid attention to them, while Hinata stiffened upon being the center of attention once again.

"Y-Yes, Sasuke-kun?" she asked shyly.

"I told you to sit with me. Hey, loser, get lost" he kicked Naruto's chair with enough force to rattle him, but not to send him to the ground, and Naruto complained aloud about being mistreated again.

"What's your problem? It's just a stupid seat!"

"I don't want you here. Scram."

"You're such a shitty friend. And boyfriend as well! Can't you see that Hinata wants to be with her friends? Stop trying to drag her everywhere you go, that's obsessive behavior and it's not cool, man!"

"Excuse me?!" his eyes widened at Naruto's words. He could feel his face getting warmer at the implication. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me loud and clear bastard!"

Sasuke grabbed Naruto from the top of his horribly fashioned orange jacket, pulling him up to his level. But whatever he was going to do was interrupted when the door of the classroom slid open, causing Naruto to jump in surprise and lean a little too close to him.

Iruka entered with a tired expression that only worsened as he saw the two. "Naruto, Sasuke, it's the last day, can't you cut it out just for to-? What are you two doing" he deadpanned when he saw that they were not moving at all. That's when he noticed the rest of the classroom staring with their mouths open at the two boys.

As he moved closer, the angle allowed him to see that, for some reason he couldn't understand, Naruto and Sasuke were kissing.

He cleared his throat. "Alright, whatever, if you want to do that then wait until after I'm done calling your names for your teams, ok? The academy is no place for intimate demonstrations so can you please just sit down?"

This finally woke them up, and they jumped away from each other, putting as much distance as they could between them. Iruka raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he put down his folder and asked them once again to sit down, so he could finally do what he was supposed to do.

They did so with strained expressions, faces pale and eyes vacant.

Hinata was biting her nails by that point.

No one dared say anything as Iruka called up their names, but the tension in the classroom was palpable. Or maybe it was just her. No, looking at Ino and Sakura, who bore similar expressions to her, she could tell it was definitely not just her.

Naruto and Sasuke had kissed.

It was, of course, an accident, but the deed was done anyway, and she was sure she, along with every single girl in the classroom, had the same thought.

His first kiss… wasted just like that!

Of course, in Hinata's case she was thinking of Naruto, not Sasuke, even though she was the only one here who had the right to be devastated at Sasuke's first kiss going to Naruto, being his girlfriend and all.

"Team seven" Iruka announced loudly, and Hinata made herself pay attention. Her name hadn't been called yet, right? Oh no, what if it had? She hadn't heard at all! How embarrassing would it be when Iruka reached the end of his list and she had no idea which team she belonged to?

"Haruno Sakura" he began, and her friend perked up at this. "Uchiha Sasuke" he continued. Without thinking, Hinata turned to stare at Sakura, who looked thrilled but also apprehensive, as if she didn't know if she should celebrate or not with her present. "And Namikaze Naruto" Iruka finished, looking up at the three of them. "Please, please don't cause too much trouble, ok?"

"What does that mean Iruka-sensei?"

"Naruto, please don't…"

The two began arguing, while Hinata glanced down at the desk, rather shaken. So she wouldn't be in the same team as Naruto. Well, there wasn't really anything she could do about it, and besides, it wasn't like that would have changed anything. Not with her dating Sasuke.

Speaking of which, she glanced up, searching for her boyfriend's figure. From behind, he appeared unaffected, but if she concentrated, she could see the way his shoulders trembled, just a little. He didn't appear happy with the team selection, despite having his best friend with him.

A best friend he had just accidentally kissed. Maybe he was a bit disappointed he wasn't with her as well.

"Team eight" Iruka said once his argument with Naruto was over. The boy was sitting with his arms crossed, and even though she couldn't see his expression, she was sure he was sulking at being called out again by their teacher. "Hyuuga Hinata" she blinked, glancing up towards Iruka. "Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino."

The wild boy with the triangle tattoos looked up from his seat and gave her a big smile that she immediately returned. She saw him trying to do the same with Shino, but the other boy ignored him, earning a huff of annoyance from Kiba.

So, Kiba and Shino. This was fine. The two were nice, as far as she knew. She only hoped they would be patient with her, and that she wouldn't drag them down.

As she was having these thoughts, she suddenly felt something heavy piercing into her face. She glanced around, her eyes quickly finding Sasuke's, who looked… well, angry wasn't the word. Baleful, maybe? But why? What had she done?

"And finally, team ten: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji" Iruka closed his folder, giving them all a big smile. "With this done, I wish all of you a good and successful career. Your jounin senseis will come by after lunch, so please don't be late. Dismissed."

Sasuke was fuming.

"Where do you think you're going?" he gritted out as he saw his girlfriend all but run away from the classroom.

She flinched, he could see it even from where he was. He made his way over to her, hands in his pockets and the most neutral expression he could muster.

"I… I'm going to eat lunch with my team, to get acquainted with them" she answered when he was right in front of her. She poked her fingers together, her gaze sliding away from him. "Sasuke-kun should do the same…"

"I already know the idiot" he scoffed, not counting he didn't even want to be anywhere near him at the moment. That… thing would forever haunt him, he was sure of it. "And I have no interest in getting all chummy with Sakura."

"Ah, mmm, well…" she twirled her thumbs now, and Sasuke lost the last remaining shreds of his patience.

"What? If you want to say something just do it already! It's so annoying how you can never get two words out without blushing or glancing away" he practically snarled.

This seemed to have caught her attention. She looked up at him, eyes wide and hurt, and for a moment he felt bad. He was just frustrated, because of the accident and the fact he ended up with the last people he wanted to be with in the same team. But that wasn't her fault.

The pretty smile she gave the Inuzuka was her fault, but nothing else was.

But before he could open his mouth to try and apologize or dismiss his own words, something steely took over her eyes, and she pulled down her hands that fisted at her sides, before replying; "maybe you already know your teammates, or don't want to get close to them, but I don't. I want a good relationship with Kiba and Shino, because we'll be together until we can all make chuunin, and for that reason I'll go eat lunch with them. Now, if you excuse me."

And with that she turned around, leaving him with the word in the mouth.

…what was that?

Since when did she have a spine?

"Sasuke-kun!" he heard Sakura calling from behind him, while he was still processing what had just taken place. She stopped at his side, holding her bento box and smiling wide, her face rosy and eyes glittering. "Sasuke-kun, shall we… shall we eat lunch together? Since we're a team now and all" she asked, getting all shy out of nowhere.

He wanted to blow her off right there and then, and he was about to, but then, Hinata's words resounded in his head, and, despite his wishes, he let his head hang in defeat, a heavy sigh falling from his lips.

"Call the idiot, we'll all eat together" he said, before walking away. A moment passed, with Sakura standing there in stunned silence, not having expected him to accept, but then she shook her head and yelled Naruto's name, who came running at being called by her.

After waiting for hours for their sensei to arrive –some lazy ass called Kakashi or whatever– and being dismissed after barely telling their names and a little of themselves, Sasuke was all ready to just go home and fall face first on his futon, allowing the tiredness of the day to drag him under, but before he could do that, there was something very important he had to do first.

He had to talk to Hinata.

He realized that what he said was… well, not wrong, because he thought he was right. It was annoying how insecure she was at times. But it certainly wasn't the way to say it.

But, where to find her? At this time of day she should be at home, but he couldn't go look for her there, because their relationship was supposed to be a secret from her father. Of course, he could go as a mere classmate, but what explanation would he give?

In the end, he was lucky, as he found her on his way to his district, apparently walking to her own home. It was already getting dark, and he wondered for a moment what she had been doing out until this time, but he dismissed that question easily from his head as he quickly approached her, calling out her name before she could disappear behind a corner.

She halted, her body visibly tensing, and something in her posture caused a bout of discomfort to sit in his stomach. "Hey" he said as soon as he reached her. "I didn't expect to see you here at this hour."

She looked at him, her lower lip trapped between her teeth. He glanced at it for a moment, before rapidly staring at her eyes again. That was a gesture she liked to do a lot, he noticed.

"So, what were you doing out so late?" he asked when she didn't say anything. It was an exaggeration, of course, as it wasn't too late, but it was still past a certain time when he supposed her family would want her back at home.

She still refused to speak.

"…who did you get as sensei? Mine is someone named Kakashi… I think he was Itachi's captain when he was still in the ANBU" he commented, before crossing his arms and frowning. "He came pretty late today, almost three hours, and then he dumped some info about an extra test that we have to take tomorrow to officially become genin, and that if we don't pass we'll return to the academy… Itachi never told me anything about a secret test."

"Hmm" she hummed, barely using her voice.

"Did your teacher tell you anything similar?" he asked when she didn't add anything after that. He wasn't used to be the one to keep a conversation going, but he could tell that if he didn't, then they would get nowhere.

They might still not get anywhere, as her lips remained firmly sealed, a short nod his only answer. "Ah, so maybe you were training with your team then, right? For tomorrow, I mean."

Another nod.

This was not working. Why wouldn't she talk to him? Was she really that mad at him?

"Hey, listen" he started, rather awkwardly. She hummed again, showing she was listening. "About today… I… I didn't mean what I said…"

He looked at her, waiting for her to simply tell him it was alright so he could be done with it, but she didn't, instead just staring as if waiting for something more.

He groaned in his mind. She wasn't going to make him say it, was she? But she didn't relent, and so, he stilled himself and, with a big sigh, added; "I'm… I'm s-so…" he halted, closed his eyes, and then truly groaned out loud.

"If you have nothing to say" she began, talking to him for the first time since he found her, "then I shall leave now" she walked away, but before she could take two steps, he stopped her by grabbing her from the wrist. When she turned to look at him, she was frowning. "Sasuke-kun, please release me" she asked calmly.

He shook his head. "Alright, hear me out. It was wrong of me to treat you that way, and while it's true you annoy me sometimes, what I said today was uncalled for and not true. I… I think you're pretty great, for a girl I mean…"

She stared, her eyes examining his face, making him nervous for some reason he couldn't fathom. After a long while, she gave a small nod, and Sasuke couldn't help but sigh in relief.

"Good, then, will you finally talk to me again?" he asked, and this made her frown once more. Not in annoyance, but rather… bemusement.

He didn't like that.

"Please never treat me like that again" she asked before he could say anything about it. He nodded, thinking it was the least he could do. "And if there's something that bothers you about me, you can just tell me. Talk to me like a normal person. I'll listen."

"I know, and I will" he promised.

Hinata stared a bit more, before pulling at her arm again. That's when he noticed he still hadn't let her go. When he did, she cradled her wrist to her chest, making him wonder if he had hurt her unintentionally. But she didn't give him time to ask, because she was already taking a step back.

"I guess… I'll see you around" he said.

Hinata hummed noncommittally. "Yes… see you around."

And then she turned around and this time she did almost run away. Despite the fact Hinata had apparently forgiven him, Sasuke was left feeling rather bereft after the interaction.

It doesn't matter the universe, it is Sasuke and Naruto's destiny to share their first kiss together. I've spoken.