Rain - ...

Rain

"Oi Hinata," a feminine voice called.

She paused and turned, a slight etch appearing between her eyebrows. "Sakura," Hinata answered unenthusiastically.

"You wouldn't have an umbrella would you? I need to get home and I can't afford to have my hair ruined," Sakura stated, flicking her pink hair.

Her pale lips pressed together disdainfully as she observed Sakura silently. "You already look wet though," she pointed out.

Sakura flapped her hand dismissingly, "Yea, I only let my clothes get wet... because they tend to stick, you know? And Sasuke-kun was in my last class," she fluttered on.

Hinata gave an absent nod, barely registering the name Sakura mentioned. She had given up trying to remember which boy was which, since Sakura had a crush on almost every second guy.

"-though he wasn't even looking at me, though I was flaunting in front of him," Sakura finished crossly.

"Uh-huh..." Hinata answered dully. "Well I got an umbrella but I need to walk home as well..." she trailed off.

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest in impatience. "Yea, but your hair only took five seconds to you, mine took me over half an hour," she scowled.

Hinata winced at that statement. "It isn't that hard to tie your hair up. I mean Ino tied her hair up all the time and it looks quite nice," she offered weakly.

"Doesn't your cousin go to this school?" Sakura asked, not even listening to Hinata. "Why don't you walk home with him? I am sure he has an umbrella, so then I can borrow yours," she decided.

"That's true...but..." her voice died off as Sakura had already unzipped her bag and took out her umbrella.

"Thanks Hinata," Sakura muttered as she hurried off.

Hinata sighed as she shrugged one strap off her shoulder so she could swing her bag to her front to zip it back up. Damn that Sakura. Neji no doubt was going to walk TenTen home... and she wasn't keen to hang around those two whilst they were together. She turned to look gloomily at the rain that was like a reflection of her current mood.

She was going to get wet.

Hinata sighed once again, not even bothering to keep count of her sighs anymore, as she wrung her jumper to get out some of the water. This was not good.

"For someone that gets such high marks, I'm surprise you didn't have the sense to bring an umbrella, Hinata-san" a unfamiliar voice commented, at the same time the water stopped falling on her head.

She turned her head slightly to see who the speaker was, but apart from recognizing the uniform she did not know the dark haired male… but he had used her name meaning… she was meant to know him?

"Ah… um… yea…" she agreed absently, half trying to remember who he was, half trying to think of a way to get away from him. "My friend has it," she hastily added when she realized her previous answer seemed rude.

She glanced at his face, to see whether or not he looked annoyed by the rudeness of her previous answer when she caught the slight flicker of a smile on his face. Her gaze dropped quickly when his eyes met hers and noticed his tie. He looked like a senior, but that tie was a junior tie, which gave him a higher possibility of being a year ten just like her, or either that or a very tall year nine. Her mind dismissed that thought quickly as she still didn't recognize him and the idea of walking with a stranger did not please her.

"That's nice of you to lend your umbrella to your friend, whilst you yourself get soaked," he spoke, probably to break the silence.

"Um… not really. Sakura taking the umbrella wasn't really my decision," Hinata answered, the gears in her mind spinning quickly in an attempt to at least keep up her part in the conversation.

Despite the fact she was no longer looking at him, she could hear the grimace in his voice, "You know that pink haired siren?" he said appalled.

Now she looked at him in him in confusion. His words sounded like he was one of the types that found Sakura attractive but the tone of his voice clearly stated the opposite. He stared back at her blankly, before realization dawned on his face.

Hastily, ever so hastily he added in, "I don't mean a dangerous alluring women, but a device that makes a loud wailing noise as a warning."

Her lips twitched into a smile and she ducked her head to hide it. "Warning for what?" she couldn't help but ask, but kept her tone as nonchalant as possible.

"A warning for me to get away from her ASAP," he answered seriously, as they continued walking.

"I see..." she answered hesitantly, edging away from him after bumping into him several times.

"Still, you aren't so smart to let your umbrella get taken away if you were going to walk home," he frowned.

Hinata shrugged, "I never said I was smart. Anyways you must be one of the current males Sakura is infatuated with," she remarked.

"What gave you that idea?" he questioned.

"Well Sakura only acts-" she paused for a moment to find the word, "-siren-ish to guys if she has a crush on them and she takes a fancy to any half good looking guy," she answered.

"Are you referring to me as a good looking guy," he asked in a slightly amused manner.

"A half good looking guy I said and that basically means you aren't ugly," she stated defensively, all willingness to talk gone. Figures. All males Sakura liked were no good ones. All were self obsessed ones.

He gave a slight smile but changed the subject, asking her which way to head.

"It's okay, I can walk home myself," she said, her tone somewhat cold. After all, her house was a mere ten minutes from where she was and she didn't want him knowing where she lived. She turned to step out of the cover when a hand gripped the sleeve of her damp jumper.

"Did I do something to offend you?" he enquired, his tone neutral.

Several replies sprung to mind but only after a long moment of thought, she spoke in equally neutral tones. "I was taught to not converse and walk with strangers."

He stared at her blankly for too long a moment, and she began to feel awkward. "I'm in your maths class," he finally said.

"Oh…" she could feel her cheeks turn warm with embarrassment. "Sorry."

He gave a shrug. "You sit at the front and you spend your time working, so I wouldn't blame you for not noticing someone who sits in the back," he said nonchalantly.

"Yea…" she agreed vaguely.

"Well I won't stop you from walking to your house alone but," he paused as his cold hand contacted her own.

She flinched at the coldness before looking at him curiously, almost warily. She couldn't read his expression, which remained unchanged whilst he passed the umbrella to her.

"Ah no I can't take it, you'll get wet," she protested.

He gave a shrug. "I live only two minutes from here," he shrugged before stepping out of the cover of the umbrella and walking across the road.

"But-" she began in protest but he merely raised his hand in farewell before disappearing down another road.

"I saw you walking home with some dark haired boy," Hanabi stated, tucking stray strands of her hair behind her ear.

"Hm?" Hinata said absently as she capped the water bottle and placed it back on the table.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Hanabi asked interested.

"Who is your boyfriend?" Neji cut in.

"No," she answered Hanabi's question. At their disbelieving looks, she decided to explain. "Today it was raining, and Sakura borrowed my umbrella and I met with him on my way home and he shared his umbrella with me. That simple," Hinata hastily said, hoping the two wouldn't absorb anything she had just said.

"Is he hot?"

"Did he try anything on you?"

Both Hanabi and Neji asked, almost at the same time.

"No he didn't try anything on me," Hinata answered, appalled that her cousin would ask something like that.

Two pair of similar pale eyes exchanged a glance before turning back to her.

"Is he hot?" Hanabi repeated whilst Neji remained silent.

"Well he's not exactly ugly," she answered, cringing slightly.

"I want to meet him," Neji decided, acting like a brooding mother.

"I don't even know his name," Hinata sighed.

"You didn't ask," Hanabi asked in suspicion.

"He said he was in my class but I didn't recognize him," Hinata answered uncomfortably.

"He's probably a criminal then," Neji stated.

She rolled her eyes, "Stop worrying to much," she insisted.

"Hinata!" a high pitch voice shrilled, despite the fact she was only one seat away.

"Ah Sakura-san, have you come to return my umbrella?" Hinata asked politely.

Sakura shifted over in her seat, narrowed green eyes in a glare. "Someone told me they saw you walking home with Sasuke-kun," she accused.

"Not you as well-" she began automatically, still remembering Neji's and Hanabi's interrogation, "Wait. Sasuke-kun as in Uchiha Sasuke?" Hinata asked in surprise.

"No duh," Sakura exclaimed sarcastically.

"But isn't Uchiha-san the one with blonde hair and blue eyes?" she asked quizzically.

Sakura looked appalled. "How could you confuse Uchiha with Uzumaki? That's like comparing a god to a lowly peasant," Sakura screeched on.

"Oh... right..." Hinata said vaguely, deciding not to mention that at one stage she did find Uzumaki-kun relatively… good looking.

"That doesn't explain why you were walking with my man," Sakura shrilled.

"It was raining," she said simply, resisting the urge to cover her ears unlike many who had already resorted to that option. "If you remember, you borrowed my umbrella and he happened to be walking along the same route as me so he offered to share."

"Still, how could you agree when you know he's mine," Sakura glared.

"I didn't know it was him," Hinata sighed, getting tired of this conversation.

"How could you not? He's in our class," Sakura said disbelievingly.

"He is?" Hinata echoed, remember he said he was in her maths class but none of the others.

She turned around in her seat to look around in the class and located him in the back, sitting next to Uzumaki. By the amusement dancing in his eyes despite the straight face, she knew he had heard the conversation between Sakura and her. Who could not? Well more likely they could only hear a one-sided conversation... but... He silently mouthed a single word before turning to listen to Uzumaki speak. She turned back to Sakura, attempting to keep her face neutral. Siren. That definitely suited Sakura.

She waited until the end of the English lesson, letting Sakura rush to the bathroom to check on her hair, and instead she waited outside the classroom to wait for Sasuke to walk out.

"You should have told me you were in my English class," she accused sharply, as soon as he stepped out.

He gave a shrug. "It never occurred to me that you were that blind," he shrugged.

She felt a swell of indignation "My vision is perfectly fine," she said defensively as she turned to glare at him.

"Of course it is," he agreed patiently, taking her arm and tugging her out of the way of another student. "What do we have next session?" he questioned.

She took a moment to think about it "Maths," she said somewhat begrudgingly.

Sasuke gave a slight nod in response, and still holding onto her arm although his grip has transferred to hold onto the fabric only, tugged her through the crowd and up the stairs. The grip didn't release as he walked into the maths room and moved to the back row before he let go of her jumper to sit down.

"Sit," he said absently, taking his book and pencil case out of his bag.

She sat down, not regretting not sitting in her usual sit. She never did liked sitting at the front as the teacher would ask questions on those at the front, but before she never had anyone she could sit next to in the further rows.

"Oh yea," she remembered, reaching into her bag and taking out an umbrella, "Here."

He glanced at it for a moment before taking it and putting it away. "Did Sakura give you your umbrella back?" he questioned.

"Not yet. I'll have to ask her when I see her," she answered.

"If she doesn't return it just let her keep it," he shrugged, flipping open his book.

She stared blankly at him as he continued flipping until he reached the right page. "Why?" she finally asked.

His dark gaze met hers, "Because when it rains, I get to walk with you," he answered.

She stared at him in confusion.

He sighed. "Seriously, for someone who gets so high in tests, you sure lack common sense," he muttered.

Realization was something that was not willing to dawn on her yet, and that was something he realized.

"Did you realize how long I waited for it to rain and for you to actually forget your umbrella?" he questioned.

"Oh."

The End

2007-05-15 - Rain published.
2011-02-13 - Slight update to replace line breaks. Oddly, the most popular out of my lot... prob cause it's fluffy.

-Demeterr