Since Neji passed away, Hinata felt alone. The Hyuga mansion seemed so big and empty in her eyes. Even if her little sister would stay and train with her, she couldn't replace the special presence of Neji. Oh, how she missed him. She shared a special relationship with her cousin. They were way more than simple cousins, they were brother and sister, ready to die for the other. Every time she was scolded by her father, he would comfort her and train her twice as hard. Even if there was a time where he had wanted to kill her, he had changed for the better, and moved on from his father's death.

But he had found a similar death. And she could not prevent it. Because that was how the Hyuga clan's rules were. The branch members had to die to protect the main branch members. She thought that these rules had changed during the war. That whatever branch you were from, they would die for one another. But nothing had really changed. She didn't do anything to change it. And now, she had her cousin's blood in her hands. Oh yes, she felt so guilty.

A soft rain was falling on Konoha. The blue sky was hidden by deep-grey coloured clouds on that Sunday evening. She thought it matched her mood perfectly. That is why she took her lavender umbrella, and slowly made her way into the village centre. There were few people on the streets due to the weather, and most of them were eating joyfully inside the restaurants. Her lavender umbrella covering her head from the rain, she stopped at the Yamanaka's shop. She could see her friend preparing bouquets inside. Folding her umbrella, she stepped inside and greeted her blonde friend.

"Good afternoon, Ino-san."

"Oh, hi Hinata! I've prepared the bouquet you requested." The young kunoichi presented her carefully a magnificent bouquet of purple flowers. "A bouquet of purple hyacinth."

Ino knew the language of flowers since she was born. And she also knew who this bouquet was for. But she didn't say anything about it, as she respected Hinata's mourning.

"Thank you, I'll get going." Hinata respectfully bowed, and took the little bouquet into her hands.

"Please tell him that we miss him." Whispered the blonde kunoichi, her blue eyes reflecting sadness.

Hinata nodded and offered her a little smile, before exiting the boutique. Neji was deeply missed by his friends. He didn't talk a lot, and was sometimes arrogant, but deep down, everyone liked him. The Hyuga heiress finally arrived in front of the tall silver gates, guarding the village's cemetery. The war had caused a lot of families to mourn people who joined the heavens too early, and as a consequence, the cemetery was sadly extended. And every time she would stand in front of this big gate, she would remember the funeral. It was probably one of the most, if not the most horrible day of her life.

The Hyuga heiress took a deep breath, and pushed the gates to enter the cemetery. She slowly walked in between graves, and reached Neji's one. Hinata saw a bouquet of white orchids delicately laid down next to his name. It could only be Tenten. The heiress carefully placed her bouquet next to Tenten's, and glanced at the grave in front of her.

"Neji-nii-san… I hope you are happy where you are. I…" She could feel her tears falling down. "…I miss you. I'm…I'm so sorry…"

She suddenly sensed the energy in the air shifting. Someone with a tremendous amount of power had entered the cemetery. She slightly turned her head to look at that person. She was surprised to see the last Uchiha. He had returned to the village after the war, despite the fact that a lot of people held him accountable for it. He was now part of the ANBU elite, and helped Naruto run the village from the shadows. It was rare to see him, as he always was on E-class missions. The last time she had seen him was at Naruto and Sakura's wedding, which was one year ago. She immediately hid behind the tree bordering Neji's grave. She felt like she invaded the Uchiha's privacy. But she still observed him, curious. He was clothed in his ANBU attire, and let the rain pour down on him. She saw him walking towards a particular grave. Her Byakugan allowed her to read the name written on it: "Mikoto Uchiha". It was the first time that she saw Sasuke's features soften. She never had seen him laugh or even smile. But right now, she was looking at a completely different person. He stood there for a good fifteen minutes, staring at the grave, before leaving the cemetery. Hinata held her breath until he left. Finally coming out of her hiding, she picked a hyacinth from Neji's bouquet, and slowly walked towards Mikoto Uchiha's grave. There were no flowers, and the gravestone was dusty.

The heiress bent down on her knees, and taking a tissue from her bag, started to clean the late Uchiha's grave. She remembered Mikoto Uchiha as a really elegant, beautiful and soft-spoken woman. She used to see her in old clans gathering, and she would always smile at Hinata and pinch her cheeks. Sasuke only inherited her beauty but not her smiles or her warmth, she thought. The heiress placed a hyacinth for the late Uchiha.

"It was you."

Hinata froze. This icy voice and this sudden presence that gave her goosebumps were too familiar… she slowly turned around to see Uchiha Sasuke, hands crossed, watching her. She gulped. She hadn't even felt him coming, although her sensory senses were one of the best in Konoha. This man was really something else. She slowly got up, and respectfully apologised:

"I was in the cemetery before you came in. I did not want to invade your privacy, that is why I hid behind a tree." She didn't dare to look at him in the eyes. She felt so stupid.

In front of him stood the Hyuga heiress, wearing an elegant night blue dress, holding an umbrella to hide her eyes. She was literally trying to avoid his gaze. He also noticed a bit of mud on her dress, as she had bent down to clean his mother's grave.

"Why did you clean her grave? It's raining." He asked, ignoring her apologies. Why would one clean a grave while the rain can do it? Was she stupid?

"The… the rain does not clean moss or certain engraved dirt in the cracks…" His stare made her feel uncomfortable. "And I… I knew Mikoto-san…I started cleaning as a sign of respect. Oh and… I also brought some extra flowers, so I thought I could leave one."

Sasuke looked down on the delicately placed flower on his mother's grave. He couldn't bring flowers this time because he came straight from a mission. He felt relieved that someone else gave her flowers. But of course, he didn't show it.

The way his eyes would soften when he looked at his mother's grave was noticed by the heiress. Today, she was discovering a new Sasuke. He seemed much more… approachable. She felt the urge to see more of his unveiled facades.

"I came for Neji-nii-san's birthday." For the first time since the beginning of their conversation, the heiress held his gaze, not covering half of her face with the umbrella anymore. "He… he left us during the war, trying to protect me and Naruto." Maybe, she just needed to confide into someone. Or maybe, she was just crazy, talking about her personal life to THE Sasuke Uchiha, renown to not care about anyone (except for Naruto).

The last Uchiha looked again at the purple hyacinth. "Regrets, grief and sorrow…" He then looked at the Hyuga heiress. He remembered Hyuga Neji, as one of the strongest of his classmates.

Hinata blushed a little when he uncovered the meaning behind these beautiful flowers. She didn't reply, feeling tears rolling down her cheeks again. Grief and sorrow… yes, that was exactly what she was feeling. Feeling ashamed of crying in front of the Uchiha, she quickly covered her face with her umbrella and used her sleeves to wipe her tears away.

Sasuke didn't expect her to cry but didn't show any emotion. Purple hyacinth expressed perfectly his feelings towards his mother. He regretted not coming earlier from school that day. Hell, he regretted that whole day. He regretted so many things he did in his pathetic life. He should have been the one crying. Not the Hyuga heiress who always conducted herself rightly.

"I do not think that Neji Hyuga would want you to regret his sacrifice." Sasuke surprised himself. He didn't expect himself to comfort a stupid girl crying. "At least, he sacrificed himself for someone who was worth it." He spat.

Hinata showed her face to Sasuke, putting her umbrella down, surprised. She didn't expect him to reply like this. She could see the self-disgust and the pain in his dark eyes. And it hurt her to watch him. He lived such a difficult life. He saw his parents' lives stolen by his own brother, only to find out that he was ordered by the village to do so. She stared at him silently for a few minutes. They were both drenched by the rain.

"Uchiha-san… you have made many mistakes in your life, so did everyone else in this village, even in this world. But… whatever you did before you returned to the village is not important. What is essential is what you are doing with your life now. And you are protecting every single one of us. And I am thankful for that." Hinata held his gaze, smiling at him. Every single word she had said was genuine.

Honestly, Sasuke didn't know how to react. He felt a warm feeling deep inside his heart, but at the same time, he was a bit confused. He never expected Hinata, or anyone in the village, being thankful to him. And he could see in her lavender eyes, that she was not lying. She was sincere. He remembered her as the quiet, weird, shy girl, who had a creepy crush on Naruto. He knew of her stalker tendencies as he had caught her watching the blonde several times. But he had also thought of her as too kind and therefore… weak. Just a plain weak girl. But in front of him was standing that same weird girl, looking at him straight in the eyes, and talking some sense into him with kind words while being genuine. Maybe, she was not that weak.

Hinata could see in the dark eyes of Sasuke that he was slowly processing what she had said. It was strange how she could tell what he was feeling just by looking at his eyes. The heiress felt a bit ashamed as she had always thought that Sasuke was incapable of feeling emotions. She just never got to know him. She wondered what their relationship would have been, if they had known each other when they were younger? It's not too late, whispered a small voice in her head. She slightly blushed at the thought before chasing it from her head. And suddenly, she broke the silence by sneezing. She had completely forgotten that she was not holding her umbrella above her head.

"Take this." Sasuke offered her a tissue, and took the umbrella from her hand.

Hinata studied him, surprised, and hesitantly, took the tissue he was offering, As she was discreetly blowing her nose, she felt the rain stop. She looked up, and saw Sasuke towering her, holding her umbrella above her, as he still stood in the rain.

"Uhm… how about we share the umbrella, Sasuke-san?" Hinata, despite the fact that her heart was pounding in her chest, asked him as she didn't want him to be sick.

He stared at her for a few seconds, surprised that she proposed to share the umbrella, and with a little bit of hesitation, drew closer to the heiress.

"I will accompany you to your house as it is already dark." He said as they started to walk out of the cemetery.

"T-Thank you very much, Sasuke-san."

They didn't share any word until they arrived in front of the Hyuga mansion. The heiress was feeling a bit uncomfortable being this close to a man, but she actually liked his company. She smiled at him, and stepping out of the umbrella zone, slightly bowed:

"Thank you for bringing me home, Sasuke-san."

He nodded as a sign of acknowledgement and started folding her umbrella.

"Oh no, please keep it. Return it to me when you don't need it, Sasuke-san."

He stopped, and then, for the first time, offered her an amused smile. "Thank you, Hinata. I'll…see you around." And holding her umbrella above his head, he continued walking, leaving her at her front door.

And the heiress couldn't stop thinking about how her name sounded so…sweet when he pronounced it. She secretly hoped that they would be meeting again. Maybe, that was why she left him her umbrella.

Hello there!

This is my first attempt at writing an English Sasuhina one-shot! I'm sorry for all the grammatical/vocabulary mistakes. As I just moved to the UK, I have to improve my writing skills. So I thought that one of the best way to do it was to try writing about one of my favourite couple. It is short, but I hope you liked it!