first

Originally written February 1, 2014 for femslash february. I don't think I've written any more for this pairing, but I should. I enjoy it.

Peeping from under the beanie that limited her vision, Tayuya made sure to keep her distance and her flustered face from being apparent. If it were any other scenario, she would hit and shove her way into the sea of classmates, preferring to blend in instead of standing out like a bruised pickle.

But she only saw the blue-haired beauty once a day. The shy, blue-haired beauty with the pale eyes, who fled at the slightest hint of confrontation, burying her head under her hoodie. When Tayuya had first infiltrated Sarutobi's ninja academy, she thought the girl wasn't cut out to even be a Genin. She always immersed herself in books or tagged behind her stupid cousin or the guy with the dog marks. Tayuya thought of her as insignificant, a bug to be squashed or flushed into the toilet.

But as the weeks passed, she realized that maybe the girl's frailty was something positive. Growing up in a dysfunctional family of dumbass "brothers", she never experienced that gentle influence, and although she never really experienced it here, either, she noticed her schoolmate's daily acts of kindness. Every lunch the girl would give her stupid cousin a homemade bento, and he would brag about how superior it was to everyone else's lunch. (To someone who had just rice every day, the lunch looked especially amazing.) The girl would usually share her own lunch with the nearby animals as well, which included her other slobbering friends. And after every lunch the girl would make sure that everyone was tidy, wishing them good luck in their classes.

As the weeks passed, Tayuya wished she could dismiss the girl's quirks as cheesy or weak without any weight on her conscience, but her resolve quickly faltered. Seeing that shy, blue-haired beauty warmed her heart, similar to how passing gas warmed that fatass Jirobou's heart, though she imagined her warmth smelled nicer. She had to admit she even craved more than playing the role of idle spectator. One day, she kept telling herself, she would quit being a pussy and force her way into the girl's lunch circle. She would be the girl's first stupid girlfriend, and she'd make sure they'd hold normal conversations instead of conversations involving burping, and she would hold her stupid little hand and protect her from all those stupid assholes that talked shit.

That day, she decided, would be today, as she stomped across the cafeteria and knelt on the floor, taking the girl's small hands into her own, ignoring the surprised looks from the girl's stupid friends. "Hyuuga-san. Let's eat lunch together today," she mumbled gruffly.

She expected the girl to blush, but for her to smile and move her backpack from the bench's empty space, murmuring a soft "Okay", made Tayuya feel incredible. As she sat next to Hinata Hyuuga and unpacked her rice bowl, she felt that perhaps one day she would be redeemed for the betrayal she would inevitably perform. Just for this short time, she wanted to be the first to love and protect the girl from danger until she became danger itself. A tragic first love, one that would make the girl hate her and love her back…