Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed and let me know the first chapter wasn't too boring. :) I apologize to Esteriana if I end up writing a cliché or two (I chalk it up to an evil-but-not-so-creative imagination and pretty lame writing skills. D:)

Uchiha Sasuke was not a very patient being.

Sure, he could handle sitting stealthily for a long while better than most of his peers and could stand listening incessant chatter for hours until said chatterbox grew quiet if necessary (heck, he even managed to put up with Sakura, Ino, and Naruto's love-confessions-subsequent-catfights-or-idiotically-pointless-challenges on a daily basis.) It wasn't the waiting part of patience that Sasuke had a problem with.

Patience, he had been taught by his mother early on in his childhood, was a virtue. Patience, he had heard from his father, was one of a ninja's greatest assets.

Patience, he had learned from his older brother before he went on a psychotic killing rampage, was for idiots who could stand by and quietly accept other idiots' idiocy.

And so it was the having-to-tolerate-other-people-acting-like-morons part of patience that Sasuke really couldn't stand. Consequently, he refused to suffer through any of his classmates' stupidity patiently. Especially on Valentine's Day. If he had to put up with girls' company and attention on Valentine's Day, he would snap. So there was really only one solution: playing hooky. After all, it was getting to be a yearly tradition, what with him having skipped school on February the 14th for five years in a row now. In exchange for successfully avoiding his female classmates on the worst day of the year ever (except maybe White Day), Sasuke only had to show up to school the next day and fake a cough or two. Although he was pretty sure Iruka suspected something was up, Sasuke trusted the teacher realized that, without him being there to bombard with chocolates, the girls could actually concentrate on schoolwork.

As for him? Well, if he was going to skip school, he might as well do something productive that went towards improving himself as a ninja/Avenger, which is how he ended up training outside his compound for five straight hours.

Which is also how, consequently, he answered the door coughing, red-faced, and the epitome of sickly-looking when Hinata came to visit.

"What are you doing here?" he asked unpleasantly.

"A-ah…Iruka-sensei said that w-we covered a-an important jutsu today," Hinata explained uncomfortably. "H-he s-said we won't be reviewing it either, s-so I should hand y-you th-the scroll for it so you could practice on y-your own."

Stupid Iruka. "Oh. What's the bag for?" Sasuke asked tonelessly, staring down at the large, stuffed bag Hinata was carrying with her.

"He also said I should see if you were really sick," Hinata admitted, "and make sure to take care of you if you were."

"Why you?" he asked bluntly.

"H-h-he said he th-thought you were going to be absent again this year, so he made sure to give you a partner that could check on you."

Stupid sneaky Iruka. "…and?" Sasuke scowled.

"And since I-I don't like you—well, I m-mean, like you—he said he t-trusted me not to c-cover for you. A-and i-if you w-were sick, I could take care of you," Hinata said embarrassedly, looking down at her feet.

"…so what if I'm making it up?"

"H-h-he said h-he'd h-have to b-bring it up with the H-hokage…"

Stupid sneaky overdramatic Iruka. It wasn't as if he played hooky all the time. Just the first day of school…and April Fool's Day…and Valentine's Day and White Day and his birthday…and Uchiha month…still. Stupid sneaky overdramatic Iruka.

"A-although I-I think you should sit down," Hinata said quietly. "s-since you seem a little sh-short of breath."

"That's right," Sasuke said sharply, "I'm sick." Although under normal circumstances, he would never allow any of his classmates—even a not-so-annoying one—enter his compound, knowing Iruka (stupid sneaky overdramatic Iruka), he really would take his refusal for help as a sign he was playing hooky. And while he wasn't particularly afraid of Iruka—or the Hokage—he sure as heck didn't have the patience to put up with whatever guardian or shared housing they would assign him if they thought he "needed it."

And if that meant that he had to put up with Hyuuga Hinata while pretending to be sick—well, he would.

--

"I don't listen to radio," he said stiffly, seeing Hinata pull out a small portable radio.

"A-ah, r-really? I th-thought you might b-be bored, laying in bed all day," Hinata explained disappointedly.

"Fine. Leave it, then."

Although Sasuke was 100% non-sick (and even if he was, he doubted he'd appreciate a radio anyway), he didn't have the patience to waste time arguing with Hinata. At some point she'd empty out that (extremely large) bag she was carrying, exhaust her resources, and then leave.

Takng a deep breath, Sasuke coughed absentmindedly, completely missing the small frown on Hinata's face.

--

"Maybe you should lay down," Hinata suggested worriedly the 34th time Sasuke coughed.

"…"

"A-a-are you hungry? I b-brought food just in case, so I c-can make you s-soup if you wan—"

"No. You might want to leave. Since it might be contagious," Sasuke hinted carefully.

"I-It's alright," Hinata said quietly but firmly, "I don't mind."

"Because we're partners?" Sasuke asked dryly.

"M-maybe," Hinata replied. "B-but…it's mostly b-because I l-like being useful. I-I wanted to be a m-medical-nin when I w-was little…th-this is really the closest I'll get."

Oh. Somehow, knowing she was helping him out of her own agenda rather than some misguided sense of sickeningly sweet moral good made her seem less dislikeable.

A little less, anyway. Sasuke paused to think about it then coughed loudly for the 35th time.

"Maybe you should lay down," Hinata repeated.

--

It might have been the five hours spent on nonstop intense training, but by the time Sasuke got to the bed, he collapsed with a tiredness that was completely genuine.

"A-ano," Hinata spoke softly, breaking the silence awkwardly, "is th-there anything else I can do?"

"No," Sasuke replied bluntly, half-grateful that if she was going to be annoying, at least she was quiet about it.

"A-ah…I see," Hinata said, clutching her large bag (which, after pulling out the radio, fresh food to store in his refrigerator, and the homework scrolls, was still ridiculously huge), having refused to let it go throughout the entire visit.

"I-If you don't mind," Hinata squeaked after a second, "I-I…that is…d-do you want to hear a fairy tale?"

"Huh?"

"M-m-my mother u-used to tell me fairy tales w-when I was sick. B-b-because she said it h-helped chase the fever away."

Sasuke paused to consider the outlandish idea. "…and then you'll go?"

Hinata nodded earnestly. "I-i-it'd make me feel better leaving y-you alone if y-you're asleep and r-resting," she admitted.

"Fine," Sasuke agreed, a slight scowl on his face at the thought of having to listen to a fairy tale. "Go ahead."

Hinata smiled and cleared her voice, while Sasuke was already squirming with boredom. He didn't really know her, of course, but he knew enough about predictable Hinata to know that her favorite fairy tales probably revolved around a golden-haired knight in shining armor (and although Naruto's hair was only a messy shade of blonde, he supposed that the ugly orange jumpsuit he always wore did stand out. Perhaps Hinata thought blazing-lack-of-color-coordination-and-blindingly-bright-colors equaled shining armor?) and a timid but still pure princess. But he still found himself agreeing to the fairy tale, because it's classroom duty after all, and it could be considerably worse, so he thanked Iruka-sensei somewhere in the back of his head that it's at least his quiet partner and not someone else that's visiting him.

Hinata starts the story and it's nothing like what he thought—it's something about how a ninja from a covert clan wants to develop a jutsu and ends up giving up everything in his life only to get it despite his fairy's sad protests; the story ends happily, though, although he can't remember exactly how because Hinata has a surprisingly lulling voice and he's tired as heck, and—

"Sasuke?" Hinata asked, pausing the story.

"Ahh?" he answered almost groggily.

"…y-you're not really sick, are you?"

That woke him up like a flash. "What are you talking about?" he said stiffly.

"Y-you haven't c-co-coughed a single time and your organs don't seem to have any tension or s-s-tress on them either," Hinata replied calmly.

"Oh."

"I-It's alright," Hinata said quietly, "I won't tell. Y-you really did cough…a-and I really did my b-best to take care of y-you…so I can tell that to Iruka-sensei, right?"

Oh. So that was why she'd wasted her time taking care of him so thoroughly, to be able to lie to Iruka with a straight face.

"A-ah, b-but…p-please do me a favor," Hinata added pleadingly.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"U-um…actually…please take this," Hinata said, pushing her large bag towards Sasuke.

The large bag was full of chocolates of every kind, shape, and color.

"T-they told me to g-give it to you," Hinata admitted. "—and to m-make sure you eat it, so…please eat at least one."

Normally, Sasuke had no patience to fulfill a random stranger's request—especially a girl's.

For Hinata, however, he figured he'd make a one-time exception. (At least because with this out of the way, she really would go home this time.) Chewing on the sickening chocolates with a frown, he escorted Hinata out and relaxed, once again in the pleasantness of solitude in his own house.

--

But he had to admit, even if he didn't have the patience to put up with girls (much less on February the 14th)—if he had to put up with a girl's company and attention on Valentine's Day, spending it with Hyuuga Hinata…wasn't too bad.

He, however, had no patience to put up with her on a daily basis. (Definitely not.) But as for a partner—even for Valentine's—she was okay, he decided with a small smile.

Author's Note: Yeah. I realize it was a while since I updated, but…yeah. I have the plot vaguely in my mind now, so it'll probably go quicker next chapter.

Thanks to sanriochica333, DarkennedFlower, BookWorm, and Murasaki Shikibu for their reviews. Sorry I didn't reply to you…but by the time I'd rechecked my inbox, I'd already written Chap 2, so I figured thanking you this way was easier. ;)

Because I really don't like writing cliffhangers, I really didn't leave much of a preview for the next chapter so here it is: Sasuke's eating chocolate will have serious consequences later on. XD

Reviews as always, are appreciated. :)