Sasuke

"Please?"

"no."

Pwetty Pwease?"

"NO"

"I'll give you a kiss-"

"Goddammit NO!" Uchiha Sasuke shouted for the 50th time.

"Come on. It's my birthday," Haruno Sakura begged.

Sasuke growled in annoyance. Wasn't it enough that he was even coming to her party? Now she wants him to go as HER date?!

He flashed her a Do-I-look-like-I-care look. Perhaps that would scare her off.

She wouldn't back down.

"I'll go with you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto piped up, casting a pleading look at his crush.

Sakura's fist met with Naruto's cheek, knocking him back a couple of yards. "No one asked you, moron!" Naruto was making her look stupid in front of Sasuke-kun! "Sasuke-kun, plea-"

"No!" Sasuke snapped before glaring at Naruto. An idiot, moron, loser,….what in Kami's name does Hinata see in him anyway? He mentally punched himself. He had thought of Hinata again, even though he had sworn to think only about revenge against a certain sibling.

"Itai! I was only kidding, jeez," Naruto complained, "besides, I'm already going with Hinata-chan."

Sasuke snorted. Who would be stupid enough to go with Naruto? …the word "Hinata-chan" finally registered into his brain.

"Nani?!" The words came out of both Sakura and his' mouths.

...Flashback...

"Hey, Hinata-chan! Wanna go to Sakura's party with me?" Naruto asked casually. Sakura had just rejected him five eminutes ago for the fifth time, leaving him with yet another bruise. Maybe Sakura-chan would get jealous if I asked someone else as a date. Someone like…Hinata-chan!!!

Hinata's eyes widened at his words... A dream perhaps, or maybe she died and went to heaven.

She opened her mouth to say 'yes', to say that she would love to, to say how she really felt about him…but no words came out as her throat had suddenly become dry. Hinata cleared her throat to try again.

Naruto frowned at her hesitance. Was it that hard of a question to answer? "It's okay if you don't want to go with-"

"Yes!" Hinata yelled at the top of her voice, earning a couple of stares from others. "I-I mean y-yes…I'll g-g-go with y-you," she stammered in embarrassment, her voice returning to its usual volume.

...End Flashback...

Sakura, obviously, was overjoyed at the news. Naruto going out with Hinata meant more time for Sasuke and her to have some 'alone' time. "Really?! That's great!" She chirped with too much enthusiasm.

Sasuke, on the other hand, had his fists so tightly clenched that it actually hurt. He wanted to protest, to laugh at Naruto's 'joke', to insult him once more, but his brain had stopped functioning.

Poor Naruto, oblivious to what was going on, found himself knocked unconscious on the floor by a certain Uchiha's fist.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed in shock. She rushed to help him, but Sasuke grabbed hold of her wrist.

"If I be your date, …will you leave me alone?" he asked, his voice void of emotions.

It only took a split second before the girl was all over him, squealing, hugging his arm so that he could feel her chest, which had gotten noticeably larger since last year.

All girls Sasuke ever met were like that: obsessive, annoying, loud,…except for the Hyuuga girl. Though she wouldn't be counted as hot, unlike Haruno Sakura or Yamanaka Ino, Hinata had her own type of beauty,…something that made even the 'Great Uchiha' want to protect her. But because of the plain baggy pants and hoodies she always wore, no one ever really noticed her. But for some reason, Sasuke noticed. The truth then hit him like a torpedo….he was in love.

Hinata

"Achoo!" Hinata sneezed for 5th time. She rubbed her nose thoughtfully. Maybe someone was talking about her. Perhaps…Naruto-kun…

'Don't be silly,' she scolded herself and pressed her palms against her burning cheeks.

Instead of the plain hoodie and baggy pants she always wore, Hinata was in a light-blue dress she made herself. Her hair, which had grown a lot longer over the years cascaded past her shoulders and she smelled of sakura blossoms. For the first time, Hyuuga Hinata felt…pretty?

She walked nervously towards the street where she and Naruto were supposed to meet.

Naruto was there, looking impatiently at his Rolex wristwatch. For once, he wasn't wearing orange.

Hinata smiled timidly. So he'd been waiting for her. She reaised her hand and prepared to call out to him-

"Naruto!" Sakura's screech stopped Hinata immediately.

"Hmm? Oh, hi Sakura-chan!" he yelled back happily as Sakura stomped over to where he was.

She sighed, looked down, sighed again, and cracked her knuckles.

"Sasuke-kun was supposed to be my date, but he said he got called on a mission," she clasped her hands together, stars twinkling in her eyes, "how heroic!"

"Yeah, so?"

Hinata realized with a sinking feeling what Sakura was going to say next.

"So just go as my date today, bakka," Sakura growled, reluctant to ask out such a loser, but all the other guys were taken, with the exception of Rock Lee, but there was no way she would go out with 'fuzzy eyebrows,' "I mean, Hinata probably won't come anyways. She isn't to type to party."

"Naruto's eyes widened. He mentally gave a thumbs-up to his rival. 'Good job Sasuke-teme!' …But…what about Hinata-chan? He pondered over it. It wasn't like Hinata was going to come anyway. As Sakura said, she's not the type to party.

Hinata glanced hopefully at Naruto. He wouldn't…he wouldn't.

" 'kay! Let's go then," Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand and marched off, dragging her behind.

"Bakka! Don't grab my hand," Sakura whacked him on the head, "someone might see and tell Sasuke."

The beautiful peaceful world Hinata thought she had been living in…it cracked.

Naruto…you…you…bakka! Tears flowed down her cheeks. She wiped them with her hand, but still, they kept flowing. Her heart…it hurt. It hurt a lot. She read a lot about people having heartbreaks in various shoujo mangas, but she never thought it would hurt this much.

Then, Hinata was running blindly. Twice, she tripped on her high-heels, muddying the bottom part of her dress. Third time, she threw off her shoes and tore off the muddy part of her dress in anger.

She wanted to go somewhere alone, where she could let out all the frustration within her. Unknowingly, she knocked over a beer bottle on a man, causing her to fall once more on the cold ground.

"Hey, watch it punk," the man growled and picked her up by her arm forcefully. The man paused and stared at her. Even in his drunken state, he could tell that this girl was attractive.

Hinata's eyes that were once filled with anger and tears now had 'fear' written all over them.

"Gomen-nesai!" She managed to squeak out, "I'll pay for the laundry bills."

He smirked. "I have a better idea. How 'bout you pay with your body?"

Hinata felt herself being dragged to an empty alley. Terrified, she kicked, scratched, bit, screamed for all she was worth, but in the end, she was pushed to the ground with the stranger on top of her.

'Nobody's going to come' Hinata thought as she found herself crying again.

And the man was forcefully yanked away. Finally,…someone had come to her rescue.

She bit her lip furiously and sniffled. She hated herself for being weak.

Her rescuer finally finished beating up the stranger and the man fell back, unconscious.

"E-excuse m-me," she stood up, "you…you s-saved me. A-arigatou g-gozaimasu(Thank you very much)."

Her rescuer, turned to look at her, his red eyes flashing even in the dark.

Hinata blinked back tears and focused her eyes to get a better look. "S-sasuke…"

"Hyuuga,…" he merely said.

She was confused. "B-but…you-….Sakura-chan said…mission-"

Sasuke frowned. Stupid Sakura and her big mouth.

"I lied."

"B-but.." 'Sasuke-kun got called on a mission so just go as my date today.' Those words were still ringing in her head. Then…it was his fault. Everything was his fault.

"Where's Naruto?" That idiot should've been there to protect her! Sasuke swore to beat up that loser the next time they meet.

Hinata swallowed hard, preparing to answer. "H-he went with Sakura."

He held back a look of surprise, disguising it with a yawn. "Well, it doesn't really matter to me." That was a lie. He did care. Curse his hypocrite self!

She lowered her head, hiding her face with her bangs. Probably crying.
Sasuke looked sadly at her. He wanted to say words of comfort but they would just be misinterpreted as insults. "Tch!" He growled in annoyance. Why did girls have to be this sensitive, even though it IS his fault.

"You…You JERK!" Hinata took him off guard by lunging at him. She pounded at his chest with her fists, crying. "JERK! JERK Jerk jerk jerk."

It didn't hurt. Sasuke was surprised at how weak she was. It only made him want to protect her even more.

He grabbed her chin with his index finger and thumb, making her look up into his face. His cheeks were a faint shade of red. Hinata stopped pounding. "Stupid," Sasuke murmured, "You only care about your own feelings."

He leaned forward and kissed her.