Hinata trudged along in the muddy streets trying to stay as close under the umbrella that the unreasonably stubborn boy next to her was clutching. An uncharacteristic scowl crossed her normally pleasant face; she couldn't imagine how she had willingly been caught up in this whole situation. The rain was driving down relentlessly, she was drenched, his strides were too long for her to keep up to, her socks were wet, the umbrella above the two of was hardly large enough to shelter the both of them; the silent complaints were endless.

She hated rain storms. She hated Uchiha Sasuke.

She drummed her fingers on the desk and stared out of the window dismally. Rain, just as the forecaster had predicated. Except, he had neglected just how much there would be, it slammed against the windows loudly and left absolutely no dry spots within sight. Wasn't winter supposed to be snowy, fluffy and white?

She snapped her head back to her computer, pretending that she had been working when she felt her shoulder being tapped. Slowly turning her head like a guilty child she faced the man who was trying to claim her attention and relaxed her tensed shoulder seeing who it was.

"Hinata," Naruto yawned, "Don't forget that tonight's your turn to do accounting." He reminded her and stood up from his comfortable swivel chair which was located at the desk next to her, stretching from the balls of his feet to the tips of his fingers.

Cringing and groaning inwardly, Hinata nodded. Once every two weeks there were one or two people from the office who had to stay behind and finish up some accounting. Tonight was hers.

She rested her cheek in her palm and watched as Naruto and Sakura left together, laughing and flirting shamelessly. Hinata sighed; they were probably going back to his apartment to have hot, steamy—

"Hyuuga, stop ogling, will you? It's embarrassing. I want to go home as soon as possible, so start already." Sasuke snapped at her and tossed an eraser at her, breaking her train of thought (that actually, she was ashamed to have even started) and jolting her into a proper sitting position.

She look behind her and frowned at Sasuke while rubbing the part of her neck that the eraser had made contact with. It seemed that she would be spending the next hour and a half to two hours alone with this insufferable man. Damn.

She didn't even know what she had done to spike the irritation in him; he was always so rude to her. Normally, he would stay silent and only glower at his other coworkers, but no…it was always Hinata he was picking on. He was always snapping at her when she asked for simple things like an extra pencil or highlighter, or when she gave simple remarks about the extraordinarily delicious coffee on that day, he would angrily glare at her as if she had just said something remarkably offensive to him.

He looked back up at her and gave a small apathetic shrug before looking back down at his screen and typing furiously.

Hinata resisted the urge to bare her teeth like a wild animal and growl like an indignant cat which had been dunked in water. Luckily, her father had raised her better than that, so she merely stuck out her tongue at him when she figured he wasn't looking.

"I saw that, you know." He remarked without removing his eyes from the computer screen before him and twitched his lips into a near smile of amusement.

Hinata flushed a deep red and swivelled back around in her chair.

Two and a half hours. Two and a half freaking hours. That was how long she had been stranded along in that office with Sasuke for. The Uchiha had actually been remarkably well behaved throughout the whole duration of their time, not even once provoking her to the point of losing her cool.

But still, she better be paid damn well for all of that overtime she had just put in there.

She shivered from underneath her thin coat that was not made for weather like this. She wished she had a car instead of always having to take the bus (which she was sure she had missed, meaning she'd have to wait around for another half an hour until the next one arrived); it would be so much more convenient.

"You know," Sasuke tapped her from behind, "It's dangerous for you to be staying out by yourself in the dark. On an empty street. By yourself."

Hinata turned around and closed her coat around her tighter, hoping more heat would be contained this way, "Th-thank you for your concern, but I have a bus to catch." She said through chattering teeth.

Sasuke shrugged, "It's your choice. I'm walking back home."

Hinata scrunched her face and looked up at him, he was nearly being nice. She was about to refuse his offer, but realised he had a valid point, at this time of night some Creepy Guy was bound to be up and…well, creeping. Also, the fact that Sasuke's apartment was only three blocks away from her own made what he was subtly suggesting all the more convenient.

He had already put up his umbrella and began walking away, Hinata took quick strides to catch up with him, "Do…do you mind if I come with you? Seeing as you live so close to me?"

He gave a small snort that Hinata was sure may have been a chuckle in his own, strange way, "I thought you might see it my way."

Hinata frowned at her feet, not daring to actually direct it to his face, not after already being caught pulling such a childish face towards him.

The umbrella that Sasuke held over them was much too small for the both of them to stay totally dry under, as a result, Hinata's entire right side was uncomfortably drenched. She leaned in towards Sasuke, hoping it may keep her at least a little drier. It worked…sort of. She sighed, at least Sasuke was warm, warmer than her own coat was keeping her, the heat radiating off of him was enough to keep her from shivering further.

Sasuke, surprisingly enough, hadn't done anything to physically pry her away from him like she would have expected from such a female hating man. He had left her sudden closeness nearly unacknowledged except for a small hiss of breath that he let out, Hinata guessed because of her wet and cold shoulders or (like mentioned before) his aversion to females.

They took a left and Hinata's posture went rigid, "Sasuke…our homes are in that general direction," She pointed down the street, "This way would take us in the opposite direction."

"So you have walked to work before," He said, bemused. Hinata blushed, she didn't like his tone, it seemed so condescending and only made her suspicious of his reason to go in the opposite direction of their respective homes.

Sasuke must've sensed her distress, so amended quickly, "I'm not about to go off and do anything inappropriate to you if that's what you're worried about, I'm just not in any rush to go home. I like being out in the rain." He added with a touch of embarrassment like it was a secret he saved for himself.

Hinata stared down the street that she normally took longingly, he may enjoy being soaked to the bone, but she did not. It would be quicker yes…but it may also be risky walking alone by herself, not to mention she preferred to at least keep her left side relatively dry. Hesitantly, she nodded at Sasuke and instinctively gripped his arm, she supposed she could trust him, rude as he may be, he had done nothing make her distrust him.

"It's not that much further, I promise. Only another ten minute detour." He assured her quietly and let his tensed muscles finally relax from underneath her loose grip.

"Sasuke…" Hinata began after nodding in affirmation, "Could you tilt the umbrella over here? Please?" Sure, she was a little drier now that she was clutching his arm, but it wasn't that much of an improvement.

"No." He responded, deadpanned.

Hinata let out an indignant gasp, it was bad enough that he was making the two of them walk an extra couple of blocks to get home in the relentless rain, but now he was depriving her of a small, harmless request and possibly her health? She had worked so hard not to catch a cold this past season too.

Gritting her teeth to prevent any profanities from slipping out, she stomped angrily on the sidewalk; the sooner she got home the better.

Sasuke chuckled, "You are amusing, you know. Your childish behaviour makes you interesting, I suppose." He pulled his arm that she was clutching onto closer to him, dragging her in along with it.

The evident blush powdered her cheeks, ears and nose, "Glad to be of service." She said quietly, trying her hardest to cool down her annoyance and frustration.

"Didn't think you had it in you to be witty either."

"I could say the same to you." She agreed with him though, normally she was too shy to ever say anything remotely scathing.

He said nothing to this and Hinata was grateful for the silence that was brought on. It left her to pretend that Sasuke was not next to her and that he was not being a royal pain in her ass. Soon, her mind began to wander to what he had said to her.

I like being out in the rain.

It struck her as an oddly romantic thing to like, he struck her more as a…well…she wasn't sure what he struck her as. She didn't know anything about him other than he was her age and sat in the desk behind her at the office, and she definitely did not know his likes or dislikes. Rain, when she thought about it (and was not receiving the brunt of it) seemed like a gentle thing that gave life to flower, plants and animals. When she thought of rain, the famous scene from the movie, The Notebook, always appeared to her.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He was remarkably handsome with damp hair clinging to his face and small droplets of rain falling from his eyelashes and the tip of his nose. She knew he was classically gorgeous and on the verge of pretty, but she hadn't ever given it a second thought.

"We're here now." Sasuke said and stopped suddenly, making Hinata jerk forwards, then spring back against his arm.

"Oh." She hoped he hadn't noticed her ogling.

"Do…do you want me to walk you to your door?" He asked her awkwardly.

She blinked. It seemed a very gentlemanly thing to do. Yet again, not something she had expected from Sasuke. Without thinking, she nodded and was jerked forwards again with his long strides.

Once at her front step, she fumbled through her purse for her keys and pulled them out without too much of a hassle. She brushed away her bangs that were sticking uncomfortably across her forehead and looked up at him, suddenly realising just how close the two of them were, she could tilt her head upwards just a slight bit and her lips would touch his chin.

"Th-thank you for walking me home," She thanked him breathlessly and was mortified that she couldn't back up; her back was already pressed against the door.

He nodded, but didn't back away like Hinata had hoped he might. She bit her lip, "W-would you like to come in and have some coffee?"

He looked at her, then her door. Finally, he shook his head, "Thank you though."

Hinata realised how much of a pest she had been during the whole walk; she turned a deep crimson shade and was ashamed of her previous behaviour. "I really do appreciate you walking me home. A-are you sure there's nothing I can do for you?"

Sasuke gave an actual grin, "Hinata, you have no idea how long I've waited for it to rain when it was our turn to do accounting."

Hinata blushed and drew a look of confusion across her face, "For what?"

He raised an eyebrow, "You really are amusingly childish, in a naïve sort of way this time." Hinata opened her mouth to give an angry protest, but was stunned into silence as Sasuke bent his head down and press his lips against her forehead. She was still standing with her mouth agape as he took a step back, grinning impishly.

"So, I'll see you at work tomorrow." With that he walked down her driveway whistling pleasantly.

That man really was full of surprises.

So…this is my entry for DateMe's contest. I'm pretty happy with it.

Ciao,

MissLe