Author's Note:

So sorry about the wait for an update. I will be on a schedule from now on, since I will be using this fic to promote my new website Alabaster Shinwit. Where I will start off posting a NejiTen fic. Try to keep in mind that I started writing this as a junior in high school, and that's when most of this chapter was written. I am now twenty years old and a slightly different person. That being said, I will try to stick as true to my original plans for this fic as possible. I really, really hope you enjoy, I remember hacing a lot of trouble writing this one, especially the character of Hinata, I realize some characters may be OOC as the story progresses but as I did not create them I cannot help but rely on my own interpretation of them to better fit my story line.

So, anyway, ciao! Read on my lovelies!

Chapter 2: Them

By the time lunch rolled around Sasuke was fiending for his next fix of Hinata. The Dobe had been rather quiet today, and he didn't say anything to Sasuke as they made their way to the cafeteria.

It was… odd, it put Sasuke on edge.

The worst part was that the idiot actually looked like he was thinking! Like blonde's like him were actually supposed to do things like that!

Sasuke was busy contemplating his friends strange behavior when he walked into something soft. He heard an "Oof!" and the sound of a bunch of books tumbling to the floor. He looked down at the head of Hyuuga Hinata.

She bent to retrieve her books and he stood there, his brain taking it's time responding to the situation. Help her with her books, you idiot! He knew he should, but for some reason his limbs weren't moving and is head was swimming. Suddenly he felt a hard elbow slam into his side and bring him back down to Earth.

He leaned down to retrieve her books but she already had most of them gathered, he only managed to save one.

"I-I'm sorry about that, I couldn't see over the books," she said.

"Uhh… Er, Do you need some help with those?" he asked.

She halted in her movement, she stopped just as she was raising herself up off the floor, settling in an awkward half-crouch. After what seemed like an eternity, but was really about two-tenths of a second, she shook her head and continued moving until she was standing before him.

"There's no need, Uchiha-san, I was just bringing them to the cart right over here," she said, gesturing with her head to a library cart sitting directly behind her.

"Oh…" he could hear Naruto snickering in what his idiotic friend thought was a hushed tone behind him. "Well,… are there any more you need to bring out?" he asked.

"No, this is the last of them," she smiled.

There was a silence that seemed to dong in Sasuke's head, Stupid, stupid, stupid! What was he supposed to say now? He was mentally knocking his head against a brick wall. At this Naruto cackled even louder, that asshole! Some friend he was!

"Well, err… I gu-ess I'll see you around then," he said, damn he hoped she didn't hear his voice crack.

He turned and walked away then, Naruto following behind him. "Bye, Hinata-chan!" called the hyperactive blond as he waved to her before turning to face the direction Sasuke was walking. "I-I gu-ess I'll see you around then," he squeaked so only Sasuke could hear, over-exaggerating the hiccup in Sasuke's parting words.

The Uchiha's face flashed a bright red and at the smug grin on his friends face he put more force than was really necessary into a jab at the blond's right shoulder. "Guaaahh!" he winced, clutching his shoulder.

"Prick!" his temperamental friend shot back.

Naruto couldn't help but laugh through his pain at that. The duck-butt was really such a priss sometimes!

His friend's laughter earned him another hit to the shoulder which immediately stopped the giggles. "Aug! Teme!" he growled, "That's gonna bruise!"

Sasuke couldn't help but crack a grin at that, and seeing the blond continue to glare at him and rub his shoulder actually had his lips twitching upwards. This blond idiot… I hope it does bruise.

"I'm serious, you asshole!" yelled Naruto, "You know I have the skin of a cantaloupe!"

At this the Uchiha really did let out a dry chuckle. Skin of a cantaloupe my ass!

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When she looked back at him and saw him laughing so naturally like that, she couldn't help but wonder what it took to be seen as a friend in his eyes. For even if the Uchiha boy thought he was nothing more than a bundle of nerves in front of the Hyuuga, he actually came off much more aloof.

Sasuke was always cool and collected towards almost everyone, the only exceptions where his close-knit group of friends. These were people that the entire school knew about, they were practically famous in the eyes of her peers.

It seemed like everyone was always tailing them around, the girls trying to get one of the good-looking boys to take notice of them or to be accepted into Sakura's circle of friends, and the boys wanting to harvest some female attention for themselves.

Hinata couldn't help but sigh aloud… high school was such a complicated place, full of equally complex and vindictive teenagers, she herself occasionally included.

Oh well, it's not like she had any business worrying about such things anyway. She wasn't exactly striving for popularity, it actually seemed quite the hassle. Who wanted to be the subject of hundreds of teenagers weekend conversations? Certainly not her.

Even hearing the rumors spread about others could make her flinch, well the few that surpassed mere high school cruelty did. It stung to hear how some of her peers spoke about others they had never really had a significant conversation with. The real kicker though, was that some of these kids didn't even care what these rumors were saying as long as they were a part of the in-crowd that they were revolving around.

She could feel her stomach twirling in odd directions now, sometimes the bitter truth could be so nauseating.

She put a hand to her clammy forehead and took a deep breath, Maybe she was coming down with something? Something told her this wasn't just the stomach churning aspects of teenage life getting to her.

After another deep, slow, and cooling breath she began to push the cart of books forward, these weren't going to deliver themselves to Mrs. Yumichika.

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In the cafeteria Sasuke could still feel the dobe's relentless 'stupid stare' as the Inuzuka dubbed it. He was beginning to get highly annoyed, if the dobe didn't shape up soon Sasuke wasn't going to hold himself accountable for his actions. Really, the blond had been acting weird all day and now he had the other two in on it.

Inuzuka he could understand, he wasn't far behind Naruto in the realm of idiocy, but Nara? He wasn't an idiot by any stretch of the imagination. So why…?

They were all watching him with varying levels of the same expectant stare, like they were waiting for a sign. Naruto looked eager and just about ready to burst, Kiba looked oddly calculating, like he was trying to figure out what the best plan of action as to not set off the Uchiha was, his animal instincts were screaming for self-preservation. Shikamaru looked like the whole thing was troublesome, and Sasuke was starting to agree.

The staring didn't stop…

"Naruto." he ground out, this was pissing him off.

Finally his numb-skulled companion decided to start his assault, "That was one smooth number you pulled back there on Hinata, dreamboat."

His eyes flashed red as he spun his head to glare at his friend, he was on the verge of crushing his skull in when the Inuzuka cut in, "Oh come on Sasuke, it's not as if we didn't already know." So much for self-preservation.

Sasuke switched his attention to the dog-boy now, inwardly seething at the truth of his statement.

"You're staring is just about impossible to ignore," Shikamaru sighed.

Sasuke never tried to hide his staring, at least not while at the lunch table, so he supposed it was only natural that they'd come to this conclusion on their own. "What's your point?" he asked bitterly.

"Well, you see Sasuke," started Naruto, "We couldn't help but notice you were having a little bit of trouble there, what with getting her to notice you and all…" the Uchiha shot him another deadly glare at that, "and we couldn't help wanting to offer our assistance."

"What assistance?" he ground out menacingly, his eyes narrowing. The entire debacle had the stench of Naruto's handy-work undulating throughout the table.

Kiba sighed, not only did he think upsetting the Uchiha was an extremely dangerous thing to do, he also found the idea incredibly girly and stupid.

Meddling into the Uchiha's private affairs and love life? What were they? A bunch of Sakura's mindless clones? Or, worse yet, the pinkette herself? But when asked to provide a better solution to their problem he came up blank. And so here they were. Meddling.

"Look, do you have a better idea? We're tired of having our lunch period plagued by your unpredictable Hinata-induced mood swings." he piped up.

And while that may be true, "I don't need any help." his tone was final.

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"I told you this was a bad idea," Shikamaru drawled.

"There's no way that ignorant prig would've taken our advice! The day that happens is the day hell freezes over!" Kiba yelled.

Naruto sighed, "Harumph…" he growled, "I just wanted to give him a heads up, you know help out a friend…."

"Heads up?" Kiba asked.

"Troublesome…"

The Uzumaki's face split into a wide grin, "That's right, we're gonna help our boy Sasuke whether he likes it or not!" He'll thank us later, Naruto was sure of it. "But! We'll need some help of our own first!" he yelled, "We're off!" he said turning and marching down the hallway, one fist pumped in the air, and knees coming up and out, almost touching the side of his hip with each enthusiastic step.

Shikamaru could feel a headache coming on, as he leaned his head back and looked toward the ceiling. Why couldn't he just take a nap…

Kiba was at a loss for words, "Where are we going?" well… maybe not.

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Sasuke decided he actually didn't mind them knowing of his feelings for Hinata, he wished the whole world could know, that way he'd be free to crush any guy that dared look in her direction without good reason. But he couldn't start up rumors about her being his girl without her permission, and he couldn't even bring himself to tell her…

But there was another reason he had always kept his feelings secret. He knew that if Hinata were to turn him down his feelings for her wouldn't just go away, to be honest he wasn't sure if they ever would, and if she wasn't his girlfriend, if he didn't have the right to be around her all the time, to protect her, then there's no telling what those crazed fan-girls of his would do to her.

But… if she said yes. Oh, if she said yes, he wouldn't have to worry… but what were the chances of her saying yes to him? He'd been trying to get her to fall for him for two years now and still, nothing.

It was the end of the school day now and Sasuke was on his way to kendo practice, as co-captain he was expected to be there early, along with the captain Hyuuga Neji, though as the coach's favorite he usually was exempt from punishment on days when he failed to do so, like today.

When he arrived in the A-building's dojo he immediately began his exercises, he and Neji then began to further instruct the team, who were finishing up with their warm-ups as well. Though Kisame was an extremely tough coach, he often let the two take charge, as he believed the show of leadership would inspire more fighting spirit within their teammates, most of which he referred to as slackers.

As Sasuke began sparring with Neji, which was a rare occurrence, since the captain was expected to divide his time equally amongst his teammates, he heard a blood-curdling shriek. "Sassuuukkkkeee-SAMAAA!" wonderful, he thought. "Hyuuga-kun!" another yelled, he noted the slight twitch of an eyebrow on his captain's face and smirked.

Hyuuga Neji was no more welcoming of the fanatic and slightly obsessive attention that was showered upon him than Sasuke. As student-body president, valedictorian of the senior class, captain of the school's nationally ranked kendo team, and recently-deemed heir to the vast Hyuuga fortune, Hyuuga Neji was the most sought-after boy in school, and the only one Uchiha Sasuke came in second to. At least until he garduated at the end of the year that is.

Unfortunately for the entirety of the school's female population, he was taken, and his girlfriend was a feisty one. The younger girl wouldn't stand for any clinging, though she secretly preened at the envious glares she received and the looks of longing those responsible shot toward the boy she so ruthlessly held in her clutches.

The two heart-snatching teenagers continued with their spar. Sasuke mentioned nothing of his captain's incessantly twitching eyebrow, and did his best not to crack a smile at the ridiculous pet-names being thrown his way. He made it a habit not to tease Hyuuga Neji. In fact, he spent the majority of his time in the club proactively pursuing a friendship with the boy. This was not considered customary behavior for the young Uchiha, and Neji took note of this.

He just couldn't figure out what the boy would have to gain by becoming his friend. It baffled him for a long while. Sasuke was skilled enough with his shinai, very skilled in fact, Neji was sure one day soon he'd surpass him. And, besides, he was already co-captain, so he couldn't be trying to jump rankings. The Uchiha's were a very powerful, well respected, and wealthy family on their own, and though their lineage could not be dated as far back as the Hyuuga, they were still formidable. So, increasing high-class social status by association was out too, so was mooching, attention from females, and popularity. Neji almost cracked a smile at that. The youngest Uchiha boy had a fan-base that could rival even his own, he was sure it was actually larger than his. He had his own money, his own, very popular, friends, and his own strength. So… what could the boy be after? Did he really want to just be friends?

Neji wasn't ready to believe that. He came from a family of scheming serpents and he wasn't ready to trust anyone just yet. His family, and the entire world he came from taught him to always be on guard. Uchiha came from this same world, so he was even more wary.

But… as time went on he found the boy growing on him. Most people thought Neji to be some heartless iceman, looking down on all around him; the truth is, he was actually a big softie. At least… according to Hinata and his girlfriend he was. That ice-like demeanor surrounding Hyuuga Neji was just for show.

Whether Neji believed that or not, he was becoming aware of his waning offensive forces when it came to his co-captain. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand to see the boy flounder about.

Well, to be fair, he didn't flounder. Uchiha's didn't flounder.

All he really did was offer a few sarcastic remarks here and there, usually referring to their slacker teammates or their ridiculous fan clubs, and maybe even a smirk. But it was obvious that Sasuke was putting much more effort into interacting with Neji on a more personal level than he did with most people. In fact, from what Neji knew. This was the most effort the Uchiha had put into forming a friendship ever.

On that note, Neji decided to rest a bit easier, and let the chips fall where they may. His girlfriend would be proud of him, he thought. After all, it was her influence that led to this sort of laid back thinking in the first place.

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When Naruto burst into the Home Economics classroom there was only one person sitting at a desk on the far side of the room, by the window. A low lamp light lit her lap since the sun was setting and her work required a great deal of detail, effort, and concentration.

She looked up when she heard the door smack against the hollow wall., her bangs somewhat framing the side of her face. He was breathing hard, and Kiba could be seen standing behind him, looking off down the hallway, along with another figure she couldn't yet identify. "Naruto?" she asked.

"Ino!" he hollered, "Boy! Am I glad to see you!" he beamed in casual relief.

She quirked an eyebrow at that, "What do you want?"

At that moment he clamored forward, Kiba, and who she could now confirm as Shikamaru, in tow. "We need some help, and you're the only one we can think of for the job."

At this Kiba scoffed and it looked as if Shikamaru wanted to roll his eyes, but was struck by some reasoning that he found to validate Naruto's words.

Now, that was interesting.

"Flattery will get you nowhere Naruto, spit it out."

"It's about Sasuke!" he stated. Or rather, thought he was stating but in actuality it came out more like a booming declaration, as did all of his thoughts.

"Sasuke?" the girl asked. Now this was confusing. Ino hadn't paid any mind to Sasuke in years. Sure, they met at social gatherings to which their mutual friends attended, but that was it. She didn't have anything against the Uchiha boy, he was her childhood crush after all, but she didn't understand how she could be of any assistance with something concerning Sasuke.

Naruto just grunted in agreement and nodded his head in a very quick movement that Ino thought should have snapped his neck. Interesting.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"Well, see it's not totally about Sasuke… it's about Hinata too!" he stated his left hand moving forward as if to prompt her to respond.

"Hinata?"

"Yeah!" he said, both of his hands swishing to the top of his head. He almost knocked Kiba in the nose, Ino noted, luckily dog-boy took a step back. Naruto's hands were moving in a whirlwind motion now, as he continued to explain the situation as best he could. "Ya see, Sasuke, well, Sasuke sort of needs your help, all of our help really, he needs to get Hinata to notice him. And not just like say 'hi' notice him, but really really notice him. Like give him the time of day and really look and talk to him notice him. And-"

This was getting confusing. Why would Sasuke need Hinata to notice him? Unless… Suddenly a bright grin broke out across Ino's face. Naruto continued trying to explain, struggling over his words and faltering a bit over the best way to put it. He wasn't sure how Ino would take Sasuke's feeling for Hinata. Sure, he knew she was over him by now, but Sasuke didn't exactly have a reputation for being the nicest guy around. And, well, Hinata did. The nicest girl around that is. Besides Ino had become quite protective over the sweet Hyuuga in recent years. As Naruto continued to contemplate this, he continued trying to get it all out, the right way. He was still spewing off nonsense and waving his arms back and forth when he looked up and saw that Ino was beaming.

He stopped his incoherent babble then.

Ino laughed softly. "Well isn't this unexpected? The great Uchiha Sasuke has a crush on our darling little Hyuuga Hinata."

Naruto didn't know what to say to that. For some reason, he felt that Ino was now much more involved in this than he ever thought she'd be. But, then again, he should have known better. This was Ino after all.

She smiled again, this time it was more of a Cheshire grin, and her eyes glinted deviously. He gulped.

"Now, Ino," Shikamaru cut in, "We didn't come to you so that you could throw things out of proportion and torture the poor boy," he stated calmly.

"Oh, please Shikamaru, I know my boundaries!" she sassed. "I'm not fourteen years old anymore; I can control myself!"

"Let's hope so," he grumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" she quipped.

"Nothing," he muttered a little more clearly.

?

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Neji lay beside his girl, contentedly breathing in her scent. She lay half on top of him, their legs knotted together on the sofa, her loose hair fanned across his right shoulder and arm. His eyes wandered the ceiling of the family room in his wing of the very large and traditional Hyuuga Estate. He felt her small, slender fingers pick at his cotton T-shirt as he allowed the warmth of her body and the lamp light to lull him to sleep.

"Neji?" her womanly voice called.

"Hm?" he asked with his eyes still mostly closed. He waited a moment for her response.

"Hinata has grown a lot don't you think?"

Confusion started to jumble his peaceful state of mind and his eyes crept open further. "What?"

"I'm just saying," her fingers continued their gentle caressing of his torso, now getting gentler and more persuading in their perusal. He could tell she was trying to seduce a satisfactory response from him. He also knew that the truth of the question was not simply asking him to acknowledge his cousin's maturity. "She has come a long way since the shy girl we used to know. She's becoming a woman."

Fully awake now, Neji lifted himself up slightly and rested his weight on his elbow, allowing his beautiful girlfriend to slide onto the cushion below him. "Where is this going?"

Her pretty eyes sparkled up at him, her lashes framing that imploring look she gave him, the one that pulled his guts out and served them to her on a silver platter. "Don't you think it's time she started exposing herself to more social settings? You know aside from just the literary magazine and the hikes in the park she goes on with her friends looking for bugs?"

"I think she has come a long way, enough to know how to get herself into whatever situation she wishes to be in-"

"Neji-"

"-and she doesn't need you, nor I, telling her what to do or who to hang out with."

The sounds of the coming night were all that could be heard in the room as they lie there. The crickets beginning their song in the gardens outside, the wind blowing in the cooler night air, even the distant humdrum of servants scuttling about to prepare a late dinner for the returning master.

"I'm sorry," her eyes weren't beaming now, they were darker with her heavy conscience. She should have known better. Hinata's well-being was always a touchy subject for him, especially after... after the incident. She knew how painstakingly Neji shouldered the blame, too much of it really, and the burden often caused him to lash out at any change in continuity. In the safety of stasis.

Neji's tense muscles relaxed slightly, and he forced his temper to calm and his eyes to soften on his companion. "It's alright, I don't mean to make it hard for you to talk to me, I just..."

"I know." He looked down at her and she smiled at him, a little of that light back in her eyes. "Say my name. You never say my name when you are mad at me, and it's been missing this whole time."

His gaze truly melted then, and the heat in his heart and at the backs of his eyes made him relent. He never wanted to deny her anything, and he hated that he had brought rise to her long buried insecurity. He settled in on the couch again bringing her in close. Their eyes met and his voice was soft.

"Ino."

They were once again happy and resting. He was about to pass into his long awaited slumber when he heard her voice again.

"What do you think of Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Ugh," he mentally rolled his eyes so she could not see. He just knew this was going to be a long night.

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Sorry to Saph-fire, I know I'm years late. Literally. I'm not overly happy with it, but it was a relief to get it out there. Thanks for all your support! I love all you readers and reviewers! Tell me what you thought of my Hinata and everyone else too! Please stop by Alabaster Shinwit! We are working very hard to get the site up and running in the next few weeks and it would be a huge help to get some feed back from you guys on how it's going, what's working and what isn't. Thanks!