A/N: Okay, this is the final instalment for Ice Cream And Sake :) I'm so glad a lot of people liked this, it really made me happy to read all your reviews! So please continue reviewing, especially this last chapter because I want to write a full length story as a sequel to this in a week or so and it will contain a little Sakura and Neji as a side pairing. Hehehe, the summary is at the bottom if you're interested! Please let me know!

Now! On with the story! (It's hella long just so you know)

Ice Cream And Sake

"Will you please calm down, I'm not doing to burn you," Sasuke commented blandly as he skilfully flipped a piece of meat in the air and allowed it to land back on the grill in front of them.

Hinata looked at him apologetically. "Sorry. I-it's just that you're flipping them too close to yourself. Y-you could splatter th-the oil."

He frowned, affronted. "I have more skill than that."

"Oh I know! O-of course y-you do! I-it's just that…I…I mean…" Raising a brow and feeling immensely insulted, he left her to her struggling and continued to cook the food. The Korean Barbeque had been his idea and he had all but dragged her here when he saw her round the corner from the road to her home. He waited silently and patiently by another house, leaning against the wall with one leg propped up and upon seeing her, virtually yanked her unsuspecting self by her sleeve and grumbled all the way to the restaurant under his breath.

His day hadn't been particularly good considering he had had to avoid Naruto, Sakura and Sai who wanted him to join them for dinner at Ichiraku's. Politely refusing – which surprisingly hadn't happened much these days – the three had immediately got onto his case, begging him – on Naruto's part anyway – and trying to force the truth as to why out of him. Of course he had managed to evade them long enough but when Sai had jokingly suggested – if Sai could joke – that they stalk him and find out where he was going, he had suddenly felt a strong surge of paranoia.

'Those bastards had better keep to their original plans or I'll rip their throats out!'

When his companion had asked, bewildered at his state, why they were rushing, he had merely shot her his best 'don't-ask-or-I'll-kill-you' look which efficiently resulted in her closing her mouth in both fear and compliance. It was for her own good as well of course. Hell, if she found out that Naruto was curious as to his whereabouts, she'd probably have refused to come.

'Ha! You wish! I'll strap you to your seat if you try!...After I get the straps…Maybe the noodle dough will be strong enough…'

Mumbling a few ideas to keep her here with him under his breath, just in case, he gave the meat a final toss before splitting the share between them, and landing a few slices onto both their plates. Hinata said a short "thank you" before smiling and raising her hand to order them tea and after catching the resigned and drawn look on his face, shot him a sympathetic look and added a bottle of sake to the list. The Uchiha looked up after she had made her order, mild surprise behind his onyx orbs.

She answered the unasked question with consideration, not stuttering, which pleased him somewhat. "You look like you need it." He merely nodded – a sign which he assumed she knew to be of appreciation. He noted the blush on her cheeks when she asked rather awkwardly, "Uhm…has it been a long day…or something?"

Their drinks chose to arrive at that time and they took their cups of tea, leaving the sake untouched in the meantime and Sasuke had to say he was quite astonished to find that the girl had taken on his habit of not even acknowledging the waitress, her soft, concerned gaze directed solely at him. Despite himself, he had to ask as he lifted the cup to his lips.

"Why do you ask?"

Tightening her fingers around the cup, the Hyuuga fidgeted and looked at the table, "You seem on edge…and…well you've been listening to me these past few days and I've hardly returned the favour…so…"

'Having someone to talk to who won't try to dominate every single conversation is thanks enough. Ugh…I wish she brought ice cream. I would have asked her to bring the banana one…with the walnuts…what was it called again?'

"Uchiha-kun?"

'Crunchy…crunchy what…? I think it was an animal…Oh that's right! Chouji was talking about his favourite flavours! Damn…where's the bottomless pit when you need him?'

"Are you…alright?"

Hm…crunch- wait! No! Chunky! That's it! Chunky…chunky…what the hell rhymes with chunky?

"…Sasuke-san?" she tried this time, nervous as she spoke his name through her lips.

'Hm…donkey? Chunky Donkey…? What the! That sounds nasty. Chunky Ass…Ha! Wait…no…'

"Sasuke-san…you've been staring at the food for the longest time. A-are you okay?"

'Ah ha! I've got it! Chunky Monkey! They don't call me a genius for nothing! Take that you chunky ass!'

Sasuke smirked internally, doing flips and pounding his fists in the air victoriously in his mind's eye and it wasn't until he noticed the tense silence that he blinked and stared into the slightly unnerved lavender eyes of his companion. Was she actually speaking through his mental monologue? Whoops.

"Come again?" he asked casually as if he hadn't been staring intently at his food with narrow, conquest-filled Sharingan orbs. He could tell Hinata was deeply anxious by his temperamental state.

She began with a squeak. "Uhm…are you sure you're al-alright? B-because if you're feeling ill…w-we could leave…"

"Out of the question," he cut in smoothly, raising a piece of beef into his mouth and chewing it, satisfied and content at the flavour. It had been while since he had had a decent meal. Those past few evenings of ice cream could most definitely not be considered healthy. Especially since he always ended up drinking too much sake and he was pretty sure the mixture was dangerous judging by his occasional lapses in judgement and self-containment.

Thank the heavens that this young Hyuuga – okay so she was a few months older than him but she hardly acted like it – wasn't the type to go blabbing to everyone that she had seen Sasuke lose his mind in front of her because of ice cream and sake. Hell, Naruto would be on his case in a second, worried out of his blond little mind and probably ready to perform a lobotomy even though the idiot had absolutely no idea what it involved in the first place.

'Maybe I'll be the first to survive open-head surgery performed by a ditzy blond boy with whiskers…It shall be named the "Survival of Uchiha Sasuke With No Thanks to Uzumaki Naruto Day." …it should be a holiday too…'

Noticing that his mind was running away with him again, he cleared his throat and took a sip of his tea. "I'm quite fine, Hinata. Stop worrying and just eat your food before it get's cold."

She blinked and nodded slowly, "R-right…" before eating her already half eaten plate. He almost didn't notice that she had been eating all the while that he'd been talking to himself. Holy crap! Was he really silent for that long? Hm…perhaps he'd take Naruto's yet to be offered offer of a lobotomy after all.

Sighing, he realised just how callous he was being. And he really didn't want a continuation from the first night so, directly staring at her, he droned, "I apologise."

The surprise showed clearly on her face and she turned defensive. "Everyone has their off days. It's completely fine."

He almost smirked. She hadn't stuttered much this evening at all and he was beginning to – albeit slowly – understand what she was saying without having to replay it in his mind. He felt almost content that she was feeling more and more at ease around him. Although having never talked to this girl in his life, he was sure that if their friends were to find out, it would spark not only surprise but perhaps over-protectiveness on her part. And he wasn't sure how a certain blond boy would take it. He may fight with the guy to kingdom come but when it came down to it, he was still his best friend and he couldn't put the boy in such limbo.

"Hinata," he called, in a stoic voice, his expression slightly curious and considering as he regarded the girl in front of him. Now would be as good a time as any to ask the question. After all, it would be extremely troublesome if her family was starting to become suspicious of her nightly escapades. He vaguely wondered if they were watching them this very moment. And in all honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if they were. The Hyuugas were notorious for their spy work.

Suppressing a shudder and his eyes secretively observing his surroundings, he turned to the girl expectantly. She tilted her head to the side and considered him somewhat.

"Yes?"

He paused for emphasis before continuing. "Does your family know you're out with me?"

Lavender orbs widened in fear as she gasped and shook her head furiously. "O-oh, no of course not," she exclaimed in a loud whisper. His lips quirked slightly at the corners. Only she would be capable of producing a loud whisper.

"What did you tell them?" he asked, lifting his sake up to his lips, most of his plate bare of food.

The dark haired girl bit her lip nervously and retreated to the back of her seat, turning away from him with a rosy blush on her tanned cheeks. She had pulled her hair up in a twist and even pinned her bangs up, not the usual style she'd been known to don. However he felt strangely pleased that she took the effort to look nice with him tonight. His mind when back to her ex and he thought to himself how he'd like a nice long chat with the guy about his choice in girlfriends…Of course he would probably have to torture it out of him but the more pain, the merrier!

He was so caught up in thought that he almost didn't catch her mumbling an answer under her breath, rather guiltily too. Raising the infamous Uchiha brow, he lifted his nose in the air and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Pardon me?"

Throwing him a desperate and uncomfortable look, Hinata finally relented, her fingers curling around the hem of her white t-shirt. He wanted to laugh at her discomfort but refrained from doing so after thoughts of Naruto and Sakura also being on his case plagued his mind.

After seconds of silence during which her expression pleadingly asked him to drop it – and he responded with a blank look and a smirk that even she could see behind his dark orbs – she sighed and said, defeated, "They think I'm with Ino-san and Sakura-san."

He blinked. "You lied to them?"

Fidgeting and turning away, she mumbled softly, "Only to Neji-niisan. My father…I d-don't think he knows…or cares…" she added, a hint of hope in a voice that was riddled with bitterness.

This time Sasuke shook his head, a small ghost of a smile playing his lips that could only be discerned by looking close enough. Even after three very interesting evenings with him, Hinata immediately saw it and, sensing his knowing gaze on her, blushed and turned away when he spoke.

"Of all people, I never expected you to lie to someone about me. I'm almost flattered." He lifted his glass up as a toast before sipping it, humour sparkling in his dark eyes as he regarded her – flustered and slightly dishevelled – over the rim of the cup. With a satisfied sigh, he set it down again and this time, shot her a disapproving frown. "However, being referred to as a couple of females is quite insulting to my manhood."

Staring at him for a few moments before bursting into soft, melodic laughter, Hinata nodded apologetically and sipped her sake slowly. A few minutes of comfortable silence later and one empty bottle of sake, Sasuke flatly demanded that their table be cleaned and the bill be brought as quickly as possible, while Hinata tried her hardest to stifle her giggles at his cutting personality.

The man came back with the bill and the young Uchiha pulled out his wallet and was about to pay before a thought suddenly struck him, causing him to pause and round on her swiftly. "I told you last night that dinner was one me."

She nodded, not really understanding since she didn't have her own wallet out. The boy cleared his throat and added, leaving no room for argument, "Yes well dessert is still on you."

'Hell, like I can afford to pay for everything every single night! We should take turns. I'll do the even days of the week, she'll do the odd. That way…I only have to pay three times a week. Heh, she's loaded anyway.'

Startled as he suddenly stood, Hinata stumbling after him out of the restaurant, she blurted out, "D-dessert?"

He snorted. "Did you think tonight was over? It's not even nine. We have plenty of time."

'Plus, if I go home now, there's a chance Naruto and Sakura will be around…probably with rope and lots and lots rubber bands. Ouch…' He mentally winced and rubbed his arm which was still recovering from last time.

The last time he had been interrogated by his teammates had been when he disappeared one evening to go grocery shopping – and been bribed into buying the latest release of Icha Icha Paradise for Kakashi – and when the two had found him outside the dodgy looking store, had tackled him and brought him back to Naruto's home and tortured him for half an hour straight…that time they had used staples…and that really left a mark.

'Hm. I suppose I could always ask Hinata to heal me…' But he froze mid-step at the spontaneous train of thought only to have the girl crash into him from behind. He stumbled forward, surprised and caught off guard and turned around to shoot her a glare only to stop at what he saw.

She stood there, eyes squinted as she rubbed her red nose, a small squeak emitted from her mouth. She stood a good foot below him and for those few awkward moments, his mind went black and he just looked down at her, a strange feeling, both foreign yet familiar, bubbled in his chest and made him hold his breath. Stygian eyes blinked and when she finally looked up at him, the apology that sprung from her lips wasn't heard by him and he simply turned away, still a little unsettled as he led her away from the restaurant.

'What the hell was that?…I didn't even drink much sake…I bet it was that lousy waiter…' he thought with a scowl, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his jeans and glaring at nothing in particular as they walked. He sensed the girl next to him tense and slowly move from his side to behind him but, rolling his eyes, he looked slightly over his shoulder and all but grabbed her arm, pulling her forward again, muttering in annoyance,

"I won't bite."

Not really knowing what to do with her hands, the dark haired girl awkwardly kept her mouth shut and placed her hands together in front of her, playing with the beads that were around her wrist. He watched her discomfort in boredom until they stopped outside a convenience store where he motioned with the tilt of his head, for her to enter without him.

"I'll wait here."

She stared at him, unsure and biting her lip. "What?" he demanded flatly. When she opened her mouth to answer, all that he was rewarded with was silence and had to refrain from groaning out loud. Seriously, was it so hard to walk into a store, ask for some ice cream and walk out again?

"F-flavour," she managed out finally.

'Oh.'

"Oh," he uttered curtly. He felt rather embarrassed at what he was about to ask her but knew he had to if he was going to be able to try the supposed "food from the heavens" according to Chouji. Figuring that choosing with her would be less mortifying than actually speaking, he went in with her to her obvious relief. They walked over to the freezer immediately and Sasuke, for the first time, was confronted with shelf after shelf and row after row of ice cream flavours. It was all he could do not to stare in dumb silence.

He looked at her then. "And this is what you're confronted with every time you buy a pint?" He was quite surprised. He didn't think most girls were that decisive. Well, Ino and Sakura surely weren't. He remembered once when all four teams had gone out for dinner and it had taken the girls a full forty-five minutes to choose their meal. He had hardly noticed Hinata at the time, him and Naruto having been in a rather cold argument with the two kunoichi's, trying to get them to hurry up. They had managed to barely avoid being whacked on the head by two very annoyed women.

She smiled a small smile, and looked up at him through the corner of her twinkling lavender eyes. "It's a lot easier if you already know what you don't like."

"Hn." He stared at the fridge again. "Such as?"

"Orange sorbet," she said immediately, leaving Sasuke to throw her an amused glance. She countered it and told him truthfully, "Really, it's…quite horrible in m-my opinion."

He would have laughed let his personality allowed it but the boy simply stood there, arms folded, leaning back slightly, going through all the names and mentally grinned triumphantly when he found what he was looking for. "This one." He pointed.

Hinata followed his finger and leaned forward in surprise. "Oh. Th-this one is good." She looked up at him and smiled innocently. "Have you had it b-before, S-Sasuke-san?"

He snorted at how she used his name, his lips twitching to break into a grin. "No, Hinata-sama." She blushed and stood back up as he opened the fridge and pulled the pint out, making sure to pick up two wooden spoons from the container stuck to the wall. "However, one should always try something new." He walked past her and casually dropped the carton into her hands before walking over to the drinks and running his eyes over the many flavoured bottles of sake.

"Take your pick."

Seeing what he was looking at, the girl tried to reason with him. "B-but we just had s-some."

He cocked his hip, not bothering to look back at her as she walked to his side. "And your point is?"

'Seriously, just take a damn bottle, I've been waiting for my ice cream and sake fix all evening damn it!' He tried not to growl at the time she took to ponder on whether she should pick one or not but finally settled for a bottle of plum flavoured sake. Grimacing at the bottle and looking to him for approval, Hinata sighed dejectedly and went to the counter to pay. He admired her restraint, he wondered if she'd ever break under his pressure. It would indeed be something interesting to see.

It was just as they left the store to go find a place to sit quietly when she spoke, her voice shy and almost scolding. "Uhm…I…I hope you won't be finishing this entire bottle…Sasuke-san…"

"Of course not." She relaxed only to gape when he said his next words. "That's why I have you. You didn't have much at dinner."

'And besides, if I'm going down, I sure as hell am taking you with me. Looking like an idiot is one thing…looking like an idiot by yourself is an entirely different matter.'

"B-but I don't want any-"

"Yes and you said that the last few times too. I didn't exactly see any restraint from you Hinata," he drawled, sitting himself down on the grass near the training area. They sat under a tree, Hinata too lost in her own thoughts to really ask what time she'd be allowed to go home. But he didn't need his Sharingan to see that she appeared to be somewhat relieved that she wasn't going home. In fact the entire night she had not said one thing about where they were going or why. She had simply followed.

"Why don't you want to go home?" he asked finally, pulling the pint of delicious looking Chunky Monkey banana ice cream towards him and digging into it with his spoon.

Her gaze showed surprise and perhaps even nervousness at being found out. She fidgeted and picked at the grass at her knees. "I-I never said…"

Dark eyes rolled as he took a spoonful, his mind processing the taste. 'Not bad. Not bad at all. I'll have to remember this one.'

Fixing her with a stare as he leaned back against the tree, he popped the lid of the sake open with one hand and took a swig before shoving it forcefully in front of her face. "Have a drink." His voice was almost dangerous. "And then tell me the truth. It's not like we have anything better to do." But then he added as an afterthought, "But this is strictly between us. I don't do counselling on a regular basis."

'And even if I did, I wouldn't want the whole damn village to know about it. Rotten bastards…'

Reluctantly taking the bottle from him, he swore he heard her mutter something about being destroyed for marriage before lifting the bottle to her lips and taking a sip. What stunned him however was just how long that sip was. Damn, maybe he really was becoming a bad influence on the innocent little Hyuuga girl. Strange images of a drunk Hinata as the Head of the Main Branch fluttered around his mind. He almost released a chuckle at the mental image. Maybe she'd do him a favour and stuff Neji's head down a toilet as her first decree. Hey, she did owe him for getting him to act like a box of tissues and sugar bunnies. He shuddered mentally at the thought, his lips curling downwards dryly.

Hinata put the bottle down and lowered her head to her knees which she had drawn up to her chest. "I…"

He waited patiently for her to continue.

"I l-like it," she spluttered.

'Well, so much for articulate.'

"Like what?"

"Being here," she forced, her cheeks turning a magnificent shade of red, even in the darkness of the evening, "with you." He nearly choked on a walnut. "You've been very kind to me these past few days. And…and I enjoyed it…"

Well, he wasn't expecting that although it did leave him with an odd sense of happiness. Maybe it was the way she said it, with her face all red and her voice diminishing with every syllable but he couldn't help himself when he released a breath of a laugh and handed her the carton of ice cream, resting his hand on top of her head endearingly. Lavender eyes sprung open at his actions and he could feel the heat of embarrassment radiating off her.

'…I hate cute things…crap! Stop the fluff! Stop it I say!'

He smacked himself mentally, thinking about how his friends would react to seeing him acting chummy with a girl he had never spoken to in his life. He could almost see the row of disgusting tonsils being shown off for the world to see. 'Hn, they'd be the ones needing sake after that. Heh, not if I finish off Konoha's supply before them! Let's see how you like that! Assholes!'

When her small fingers finally took the freezing pint out of his hands – thankfully for him, his fingers were seriously starting to go numb – he relaxed back and closed his eyes, taking the bottle from her and taking a long drink, his hand still laying atop her head. His fingers actually took on the desire to touch her soft hair but he managed to prevent them…barely.

He couldn't help it this time though as he said slyly, "I'm glad you enjoyed my company. Now pay up."

She jumped and turned to him, wide eyed. "P-pay…up…?"

He snorted. "Of course. You didn't think this came for free did you? I did buy you dinner…and I paid for the sake yesterday and the day before…"

"I didn't want the sake in the first place," she mumbled wryly only to realise she had said it out loud, and therefore brought her hands up to her mouth. "I-I didn't mean-"

He blinked at her, a nerve twitching somewhere in his cheeks. As much as that should probably have been insulting, he couldn't help but be extremely amused that she would let something like that slip past her. Knowing her, he could only imagine the guilt leaking out of her at that moment that she sat there looking up at him with teary eyes. But, being unable to let himself revel in a few moments of internal laughter, he sobered and took another drink, asking her more out of necessity than actual interest.

"Why are you crying?"

Somehow, even that question sounded more like a blank statement coming from his lips. A part of him assaulted him at being so insensitive and needing to learn something about the versatile and mercurial feelings of women, especially this Hyuuga by his side.

'Screw women and their overactive feelings!...Okay…not literally…Although…' He almost turned beet red at the images that drew themselves up in his mind at that point and nearly choked on the burning liquid in his mouth.

"I'm…I'm sorry, I just…" she spluttered, closing her eyes and wiping away the few drops that escaped.

'Thank the stars for that diversion!'

He sighed and patted her on the head, aware of how belittling the gesture was, but finding it adequate to the situation. To him, it was the same as ruffling someone's hair.

"Relax, you don't have to answer…even though I'm quite sure it's about Naruto but that's another story."

She jumped and gazed up at him. Bingo, he thought, pleased with himself and proceeded to probe her some more.

"I mean, I understand how important he was – and probably still is – to you, but if you're going to think about him when you're with me," he paused for emphasis and looked at her sullen face. Her lavender eyes were cast to her knees and she looked near helplessness. So he did the only thing he could that was appropriate for the time and place: he allowed a small smile to grace his lips and just a touch of warmth into his voice.

"Then I'll just sit here pretending I'm interested while you tell me all your problems."

Stunned, lavender eyes met dark, cheeky ones. "You mean…y-you're not upset?"

He shrugged and snorted. "No."

"B-but I thought-"

"Stop thinking," the boy barked in annoyance.

She shut her mouth and just stared at him.

The boy looked down at her, all seriousness and calm as was his usual tendency. He had shown her a fraction of his personality these past few days and although it disgusted him and how much he lost himself to drink, he couldn't help but be grateful that she was there to witness it. That added one more person to his list of people who didn't deserve to be blown up. So far, there were only four others, although that in itself was a little unstable, considering how little he knew of Sai and how many time he actually did want to blow Sakura and Naruto and his former sensei up.

But right now all he wanted was for her to stop thinking…like he had. That would probably be the best thing she could give him. He was glad to have Hinata there as a means to counteract his boredom and it had worked brilliantly. But for the love of the Hokage – or lack thereof – the girl needed to stop thinking and worrying! How was anyone supposed to be calm when the person opposite you was like a bubbling pot, ready to scream and bubble with emotion every second of the day?

He fixed her with a hard stare.

"Seriously. Stop. Thinking." He took another drink and then added, in a tone that was almost as drawling as Kakashi's, "It's bad for your health."

'Seriously, I won't be surprised if you die of a heart attack the next time someone asks you out. And hell if I'll be there to take you to the hospital!'

He continued to drink his sake, occasionally switching with her for the ice cream and letting her mull over her thoughts in the uncomfortable and not so uncomfortable silence that followed his words. He was sure he might have gone a little too far with her this time, but in all honesty, he didn't like how he was always treading on bloody light bulbs every time they had a conversation. He should have the right to say what he thought!

'Damn straight!'

And he should be able to be honest with her when she was being over sensitive!

'Totally!'

AND he didn't constantly have to feel bad about himself whenever he made her cry!

"Exac- wait, actually…it's not that nice to make someone cry…crying is a disgusting process after all…I mean with the red nose and the puffy eyes and the eye excretion and NOSE excretion. Shit, it's damn gross!'

"Sasuke-san?"

He looked up at the sky.

"Yes?"

Her fidgeting and silent berating could be heard by him through the silent night. He didn't mind, he had a feeling she had something quite epic on her mind, although what gave him that idea, he didn't really know.

"We should…do this again some time."

'Holy crap, that really was epic!'

Upon looking down at her, he was met with a very sublime smile that made him catch his breath for a moment.

Well damn, but Sasuke never thought he'd ever lose himself, even for a second, over a kunoichi such as Hinata. But here they were and in the moment, he couldn't agree with her more.

With a breath of a chuckle, he leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes contentedly, the empty carton beside him as he handed the last few sips of the sake to a smiling girl who, over the last couple of nights had really become a very interesting person to sit and idle around with.

"Keep in touch." He smirked and allowed a sidelong glance at her flustered and bothered face. "And we'll definitely do this again some time."

THE END….sort of

--

A/N: *SCREAMS* OKAY! I am finally done with this chapter! HOLY CRAP this was difficult to write and I know I sort of veered off the humour part of it all but I think that was necessary for the final chapter :D I hope you all like it! And I must of course give a BIG and HUMUNGOUS THANK YOU to all my readers and reviewers who made these last two chapters possible. I was seriously considering leaving it as a one-shot but I just couldn't after all of you asked me to continue! :D

And for those who want to get their ENTIRE story, I've got a new story planned which could very well be a sequel to this. And it'll be a little more fun than this and of course it'll contain all the other characters as well, so don't fret.

SUMMARY: Hinata has been sneaking out to meet a certain someone, Sasuke is trying to make sure her cousin doesn't come after them and now Sakura is willing to lend Neji her Tangerine Splash shampoo and tell him about Hinata if he'll date her. Oh crap…

WELL! If you're interested, drop me a wonderful REVIEW please and tell me what you think and if you have any ideas for this new story (as well as a title because I suck at thinking them up -_-) then please let me know in a review or in a PM :D

And just so you all know, I TAKE REQUESTS so check my profile for more info. Mostly crack pairings of course. Now REVIEW! AND NO FLAMES!!!

Peace out!

Rex