Hinata had decided she would leave Neji alone.
She was sad, and she wanted so much to get closer to him, but she could see there was no point in trying anymore, at least for the time being. Neji had made his feelings known in more than one occasion, and she had blissfully ignored it in her selfish and self-absorbed mission to recover a friendship only she missed. It would be better to give him space, and then come up with another idea.
They were both still young, after all. They had time.
"Sakura-chan invited me to the Rinne Festival" she told Sasuke as they were waiting for their teacher to arrive. It was the afternoon, right after lunch. As it had become usual, she had eaten with Sakura and Naruto, and the pink-haired girl had come up with the idea after Naruto complained about the cold, noting they were reaching the end of the year.
She had also asked something of Hinata, something that she was glad to do, even if Naruto had become unusually quiet afterwards.
"Ahh, that's nice" he said, cheek leaning on one palm, the other hand absentmindedly doodling on a piece of paper. There weren't any specific forms, just spirals and circles on the edge of the page, as if he wasn't concentrating on getting anything done, simply doing it to have his hands occupied.
Hinata nodded. "It's the first time a friend has asked me out on this date… I'm pretty excited to go with someone other than my family members… not that I don't like going with them!" she assured quickly, waving her hands in front of her even if Sasuke's only reaction was a raised eyebrow, eyes still on his doodles rather than on her. "But… it's different. It's different because… well, with my family it's a given that I'll go, but with a friend… Sakura-chan chose me, because she specifically wanted me to go with her… am I making sense?"
"I guess? I wouldn't know anything about that stuff though."
"What do you mean by that?" she asked, head tilted in confusion.
Sasuke smiled, a minute thing on one corner of his mouth, full of irony. "Can't really compare the experience of going out with family or friends if you don't have either" he said, the trace of his pencil becoming a little deeper at the last word.
Hinata frowned. She looked down, towards her hands resting on the desk, and unconsciously started to pick at her nails.
"I… get it. But Sasuke-kun, I wish you wouldn't say you don't have friends…" she decided not to touch the subject of his family, as this wasn't the time or place, no matter how bitter he sounded about it. "After all… we're friends, aren't we?" she asked, looking back at him.
It was Sasuke's turn to frown.
"I didn't mean…" he stopped, sighed, and then finally glanced at her. His eyes were sharp as always, but softer than they had been a moment ago. "Yes, we are… we are friends" he admitted, nodding.
She smiled at that, although it was a small gesture. "And, since we're friends, and we're on the subject…" she started saying, preparing herself for what Sakura had asked, and what she truly wanted as well, even if Naruto's dejected face kept popping up in her mind. "Would you like to come as well? To the Rinne Festival, I mean. Together with me and Sakura-chan…"
And Naruto-kun… she was going to say, but she saw Sasuke furrowing his nose before she even finished, which was a bad sign from the get-go.
"I don't really enjoy going to festivals… and I don't really talk to Sakura in the first place, so…"
"It's fine even if you don't talk!" Hinata said quickly, voice chipper. "The important thing is to spend time together… there are plenty of games I've never tried before, that I couldn't try before because I was always accompanied by my family… it's a good chance to experiment new things, don't you think?" she asked with a small smile.
Sasuke frowned, thinking about it. The teacher finally entered and the whole classroom turned in his direction. Hinata thought she wasn't going to get an answer until the end of the class, so she was very surprised when, midway through an explanation from the teacher, Sasuke spoke; "after all, I think I prefer to stay home. Have fun with Sakura, alright?"
Hinata was disappointed, but she accepted his answer. She thought it might have been a good thing too, because she had totally forgot to tell him Naruto was going too, and the ugly surprise of discovering that once he had accepted would have made things worse.