Disclaimer: The author does not own the animation series Naruto, and is merely borrowing for use in entertainment.

Bend and Not Break Chapter One: Learning to Breathe

Hello, good morning, how you do?
What makes your rising sun so new?
I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new
So this is the way that I say I need You
This is the way
This is the way that
(Learning to Breathe, Switchfoot)

There are times that he hates school.

"Kya! Sasuke-kun!"
"Oooh, it's the Prince!"
"Out of my way, girls, Sasuke-kun wants to see me!"
"Ha, as if, Forehead girl!"
"What did you say, Ino-pig?!"

With an irritated sigh, 15 year-old Uchiha Sasuke extracted himself from the mob and slipped away, unnoticed, to his classroom. It was always like this every day, every morning. He stepped into the school grounds – just one step – and he was immediately swamped by girls. Really, it was getting old. Tomorrow, the dark-haired teen resolved, he'd go to school earlier. At least that way, he could get to his class in peace.

"Yo, Sasuke-bastard! Girls bother you 'gain?" A boisterous blond bounded up to him, grinning. "You're a bit early today though. Slipped away early?"

A grunt was his only answer, and Uzumaki Naruto laughed. "Keh, Sasuke, I don't know why you hate 'em so much - the girls, I mean. Most of us would kill to have at least one homemade lunch by a girl, and here you are, hating your own fanclub."

"Hn."

"I could do without the morning chase, though." Naruto continued, thoughtfully scratching his chin. "I mean, I get into enough trouble with Principal Tsunade, so I could definitely do without the being late for school because of girls part!"

"Naruto."

"I like the lunches, though. Maybe when I get a fanclub, I could say that I'd like to have ramen everyday!" A manic giggle. "Yeah, ramen!"

"Naruto."

"I like ramen! Maybe I should get some before I go-"

"Naruto!"

Innocent blue eyes blinked at him. "Yeah?"

"Shut up, you're making my head ache!" Sasuke growled as he hooked his bag to the side of his table, sitting down. "It's too early for your idiocy, dead last."

The blond merely flashed a grin at him, not at all frightened by his glare.

Yes, sometimes, Sasuke reflected, I can really hate school.

- - -

Sasuke bent and stretched, clad in his PE uniform. Today they had to go run laps around the school oval – which, of course, meant that their gym teacher for today was Gai. Pfft, what's with all the "burning youth" that idiotic teacher spouts? Any why do we have to run? the teen thought sourly to himself. Never mind that it's in the middle of summer and it's actually too hot to run.

It's a good thing he liked running. Well, just not the sweat.

"Ready, set, go!" Gai blew his whistle and pumped his fist into the air. "Go, my youthful students! Burning!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but started to run anyway.

As usual, Naruto shot forward like a rocket, Kiba not far behind. And as usual, the two started lagging behind as soon as they lost their energy, having forgotten to pace themselves – leaving him in the lead. Sasuke snorted under his breath. Stupid idiots – they never learn. As usual.

He slid his eyes to the girl running next to him. As usual, the same girl ran next to him, matching him step by step. Hyuuga Hinata – a delicate looking girl, with pale eyes and long, blue-black hair held back by a ponytail. She wore glasses that did nothing to hide her eyes, and spoke only when spoken to. At least, that's what most of their classmates said.

Sasuke didn't know what to think – after all, he'd never spoken to her. Even if she did sit in front of him, and was kind enough to offer her spare pencil silently when his own ran out of lead. He frowned, suddenly noting her pale face, and the sweat beading on top of her lips.

"Hyuuga. Are you alright?"

Startled pale eyes flew to him. Sasuke noted with slight alarm that they were slightly glazed underneath the think lens. He ran a bit closer to the girl. "Oi. Hyuuga. Are you alri – "

"Y-yes,U-uchiha-san." The girl interrupted, blinking and diverting her gaze. She stumbled and righted herself quickly. "I-I'm f-fine."

Of course, right after saying that she was fine, the girl stumbled again, and would've fallen if Sasuke wasn't quick enough to catch her. The moment he touched her, the teen almost reeled back in shock. She was burning up! Foolish girl, why run when she was obviously running a fever? Shaking his head, Sasuke hefted the girl up his back, putting her on piggy-back despite her weak protests.

"Oi, Sasuke – what's wrong with Hina-chan?" Naruto's panicked voice interrupted his musings, and he turned to see his classmate stopping right next to him. He laid a hand on the girl's forehead, and bit off a curse. "Hina-chan, you're burning up! Didn't we tell you not to go to school yet?"

Silence was his only answer, Hinata having fainted on Sasuke's back, feverish breaths feathering his neck.

Sasuke shifted to have a better grip on the unconscious girl. "I'll bring Hyuuga to the clinic. You tell Gai-sensei what happened."

"Right." Naruto turned to go, and then wheeled back. "Oi, Sasuke-bastard – where's her glasses?"

Crunch.

Almost slowly, Sasuke raised his foot to see aforementioned glasses, now scrunched on the ground. The two boys stared at the twisted mess of metal and glass.

"…shit."

- - -

Hyuuga Hinata slowly opened her eyes, vision blurry. She rubbed at her eyes, dislodging a wet towel from her forehead. She dropped her hand in surprise. The last thing she remembered was running – and Uchiha Sasuke's voice asking if she was alright. She blinked slowly – she must have fainted. She really should have listened to her cousin and stayed at home.

"You're awake," came a male voice, and Hinata turned her head to see someone sitting on a chair next to her bed. While she can't see the face – her eyesight was shot when she didn't have her glasses – she knew instinctively that it was Uchiha Sasuke. At least, nobody in their class had that rich, dark voice. He moved to stand up, and replaced the towel back into her forehead before he turned to go. "I'll get Shizune-sensei."

He took a few steps, and then turned back. "Oh, I forgot – you can't really see much without your glasses, can't you. It's Uchiha Sasuke."

He left before Hinata could say, "I know."

She closed her eyes. It was a few minutes later when the sounds of footsteps roused her, the silence of the clinic having put her into a light sleep. The girl opened her eyes and tried to discern the tall, white blob in front of her – Uchiha Sasuke-san, she deduced. "Uchiha-san?"

"Hn." Wood creaked as the teen settled himself back on the chair, crossing his arms. "Shizune-sensei's out. I'll be watching you for the meantime."

"B-but our classes…"

"Don't worry about it." Sasuke looked out of the window. "Dead last would've told Iruka-sensei about what happened, so we're excused."

"O-oh."

Silence descended. Sasuke didn't really mind. After all, when someone had a fanclub full of shrieking girls and an annoying Uzumaki Naruto as a best friend (at this he grimaced – but well, there's nothing that could or would stop that idiot when he got his mind into something), you'd tend to treasure silent moments like this.

"Oi, Sasuke! Psst!"

Sighing, Sasuke looked up to see said idiot brandishing a leather bag – probably Hyuuga's, he deduced. "Quiet, before you wake her up," he ordered as he stood to take the bag. He arched a sardonic eyebrow. "Did you tell Iruka-sensei?"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto peered over his shoulder, taking in the sleeping classmate. "How's Hina-chan?"

Hina-chan, is it? Shrugging, Sasuke sat back again. "Fever's down. She's resting."

Naruto shook his head as he tugged the sheet properly over Hinata. "Typical Hina-chan, to overwork herself like this. You really shouldn't have gone to school," he scolded the sleeping girl lightly. "…but then again, I guess you can't help it. It's not as if your father would let you take a day-off, anyway. Tch, insensitive bastard."

Sasuke's brows shot up at the spite threaded through the blond's usually light tone. "You know her that well?"

"She used to be my neighbor, so yeah, I guess you can say we grew up together," Naruto replied as he fiddled with the wet cloth over the girl's forehead. "Her schedule's really hectic. Not only does she go to school, but she has to take martial arts classes after that. And well, Hina-chan's also part of the gymnastic club and Calligraphy & Tea club here, plus the cram school… Her father's really hard on her."

"Hn."

"Ah well Sasuke-bastard, Iruka-sensei says you can go back to class when Shizune-sensei's here." Naruto straightened. He pouted. "I volunteered to stay here, but Iruka-sensei said I had to stay for Math. Ugh."

"Math's your worst subject, dead last. It's only natural that Iruka-sensei doesn't want you to miss it," Sasuke muttered absently. He looked up to see Naruto lingering by the door. "Well?"

"Just… just you know, take care of Hina-chan." The blond shuddered. "It's a good thing he isn't here yet."

He? Sasuke merely frowned. "Go, dead last."

"Yeah, yeah, going."

- - -

Hinata opened her eyes, and for the third time, stared straight unto the clinic's familiar white ceiling. The burning sensation she felt earlier was gone, as well as the punishing headache she had. Maybe I shouldn't have overdone it with training, the girl bit her lip. But Father wouldn't like it…

"Oh, you're awake!" Shizune's voice broke her musings, and the girl jerked, startled. The nurse laughed as she bent to take the now dry cloth off Hinata's forehead. "Sorry for surprising you, Hyuuga-san. Looks like your fever's gone – you probably only needed rest."

Hinata's mouth opened, and closed in confusion. She blinked, vision still shot as she looked around the room. "Uhm… Where's Uchiha-san?"

"Oh, that boy?" Shizune helped the girl sit up. "He left when I arrived."

"O-oh." Hinata paused, and then continued shyly. "U-uhm... Can you please tell me where my glasses are? I-I can't s-see much without them…"

"Sorry, Hyuuga-san. Apparently they fell off when you fainted," Shizune replied apologetically. "We'll have to call your parents to come and pick you up."

"N-no!" Hinata panicked, and scrambled to stop the nurse. "I-I have a s-spare, in my bag. So please, don't call Chichue. I-I can go home alright."

Shizune blinked. "Well, if you say so. Here you go," she said, holding out the leather bag

With a sigh of relief, the girl took the bag and rooted through it, finding her spare glasses and putting them on. Her vision immediately cleared, and it was then that the girl spied the time on her watch. Hinata gave a surprised cry. "Oh no, the aprons! I forgot to give one to Uchiha-san! And it's almost 5 in the afternoon!"

Almost leaping off the bed, the girl shoved her bag closed and hurried towards the door, intending to catch her classmate before he left school. Before she reached the door though, Hinata turned around, and bowed to the amused nurse. "Uhm, thank you for taking care of me, Shizune-sensei."

"It's no trouble. Go before Uchiha leaves school, I heard the club activities end early today."

With a nod, the girl rushed out of the room, as though she never fainted in the first place.

Shizune shook her head, smiling. "I hope she realizes that she's still in her gym clothes…"

- - -

"Uchiha-san! Wait up!" a lilting voice stopped Sasuke in his tracks, when he was about to reach the school gates. He turned to see Hinata running towards him, her leather bag in one hand, a swath of black cloth in the other. Blue-black locks danced around a pale, oval face slightly tinted pink in exertion. The picture she made had some of the male students stop and stare in appreciation as she ran past them.

"Hyuuga." Sasuke nodded in greeting when she reached him. The girl merely gave him a small smile, intent on catching her breath. He frowned, moving to tug her bag away. "You shouldn't be running around like that, idiot. I don't want to carry you back to the clinic again."

"I-I'm sorry," the girl gasped, hands on her knees as she gulped in air. "I-I wanted to catch you before you left school, you see."

Heaving an inaudible sigh, the teen took the girls elbow and steered her towards a nearby bench, making her sit down. Sasuke himself leaned back against the bench, linking his hands behind his head as he stared up into the gently swaying leaves of the tree. After a while, he spoke. "Well?"

"Uhm, yes." Hinata gulped and pushed her fingers together. "Thank you for bringing me to the clinic earlier. Naruto-kun told me that I f-fainted and you carried me to the clinic, so…"

"Like I said, don't worry about it."

"Oh, and – here." The girl shoved the swath of folded black cloth in Sasuke's general direction, unable to look at him."I-I forgot to give it to you, during class."

Gingerly, Sasuke took the cloth and shook it out, studying it. "…An apron?"

"Uhm, yes. It's for the school festival on the day after tomorrow."Hinata opened her book bag and rooted through it, voice muffled as she searched for the paperbag she stowed inside earlier. "We're going to have a coffee shop, if Uchiha-san would remember. Naruto-kun volunteered you as one of the waiter the other day, and most of our classmates agreed. Didn't Naruto-kun tell you?"

Sasuke shook his head, warily studying the apron as though it would grow fangs. "No. Dead last didn't tell me."

"O-oh." Biting her lip, Hinata looked down at her lap and timidly offered, "If Uchiha-san didn't know about it, t-then it's okay if you don't p-participate."

"Naruto is doing it as well, right?"

"Uhm, yes."

"Then I'll do it." Folding the apron haphazardly, the teen stood up. "That's all I'm going to do, right?"

Hinata visibly brightened, smiling at the Uchiha. "Yes, Uchiha-san, all you have to do is wait on customers and take their orders." Standing, the girl took the apron and folded it neatly, tucking it into the paperbag. "Please try the apron at home and see if it fits. If it doesn't, then please give it back to me so that I-I can make the necessary adjustments."

"Sure." Amusement flickered through Sasuke's black eyes as he took the bag from the girl. "That's the most I've ever heard you speak, Hyuuga."

Hinata promptly flushed. "Uhm…"

"Never mind." He paused. "Anything else?"

"O-oh, no, that's all, Uchiha-san." Taking a deep breath, the girl bowed, glossy black hair spilling forward as she did so. "T-thank you, and see you tomorrow."

Sasuke nodded in farewell. "Ja."

And with that the girl jogged away, free hand coming up to wave at a waiting figure standing a few yards from them. Linking hands with the male, the two walked towards a black car, climbed in and drove off. It was only then that Sasuke moved from his place, leaving school.