Wow! A new story after a long time! But Grade 11 is haaard!

My first real SasuHina, I'm so excited! I've always been too nervous to write my favourite pairing in fear of screwing it up, so I hope that this one is up to your expectations, dear reader. For some reason drawing is easier than writing about them. (Check out my dA account if you want - midnightsviolethaze)

Anyway, without further chatter, the disclaimer then the Halloween-flavoured story!

Disclaimer: Naruto = not mine

A Different Kind of Halloween Scare

:In Which Sasuke Develops an Interest:

'What am I doing here?' the black-haired youth slumped in a chair at a deserted table, couldn't help but think.

And really, that same thought was running through the mind of every single person in the building. What was Sasuke Uchiha doing at a lame high school dance?

The group of girls hovering nearby was particularly interested in the answer, though none had managed to work up the courage to get it…yet.

Sasuke ducked his head lower, trying to hide behind his over grown bangs, but still managed to see a pair of tan hands slam down on the table.

"TEME! I DIDN'T DRAG YOUR ASS FROM YOUR LONELY SCARY MOVIE MARATHON SO YOU COULD SULK IN YOUR EMO-CORNER!" Sasuke's (self-proclaimed) rival/best friend, Naruto, shouted, "So get out there and have some FUN!"

Sasuke sneered at the blond. "Have fun? You mean like you? Because apparently your idea of having a good time is dressing up like a loser and making awkward small-talk with the girl you like, since you're too afraid to ask her to dance. Did I sum that up about right?"

Naruto growled, "Hey! I'm getting there! I swear I'll ask her to dance by the end of the night! I mean, a coward could never be president, right?"

"Really?" Sasuke asked, leaning forward conspiringly. He looked past Naruto's shoulder and whispered, "Then you'd better get on that or Rock Lee might beat you to it."

"WHAT!" Naruto jumped up and ran, "HEY SAKURA-CHAN! I HAVE TO ASK YOU SOMETHING!"

Sasuke leaned back, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "I can't believe he fell for that," he said aloud to no one in particular.

Knowing that Naruto would probably be preoccupied enough that he wouldn't chase after him, Sasuke decided that it was about time he ditched.

He stretched slowly and then slid out of the chair. Looking down distastefully at his costume, Sasuke frowned. When Naruto had come over earlier and basically kidnapped him, he had forced Sasuke into the most ridiculous costume. Who'd ever heard of a cowboy Uchiha?

'At least it's better than Naruto's ramen bowl costume…'

Ripping the hat off of his head, Sasuke headed towards the back exit, only to stop at a noise.

Th-dunk

He looked around, but realized that everyone else had abandoned their own tables to get out onto the dance floor to do what they called dancing or the refreshments table to drink the (most likely spiked) punch. Even his fangirls had given up after two hours of stalking.

Th-dunk

'There it is again! What is that?'

Sasuke made his way to the direction the sound had come from.

Th-dunk

Sasuke blinked. His search had led him to a table at the very end of the room, right against the wall.

Th-dunk

Flinching, Sasuke backed away from the table that had just…moved on its own?

'Creepy...Maybe I should just forget about it and leave, if I've learned anything from 16 consecutive years of scary movie marathons…'

Sasuke shook his head before that train of thought could go any further. He was an Uchiha! And Uchihas didn't run away from anything, especially not something as stupid as a haunted table. Even if it was Halloween.

Th-dunk

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke kneeled down and flipped open the long, black table cloth.

Th-dunk

"Don't think about it-don't think about it- STOP THINKING ABOUT IT!"

Th-dunk

'It's just…a girl'

It was a girl. A small, waif of a girl too. With long inky blue hair, scrunched up in her fists as she held her head like it was about to explode. Her face was screwed up in a painful expression and her eyes were shut tight.

"Hyuuga?" Sasuke murmured, recognizing the girl. After all, Konoha was hardly a big town and in its only high school there were only maybe 50 students of which only 9 were 'rookies' or freshman, including Sasuke.

Th-dunk

Hinata Hyuuga jumped, startled, and smacked her head against the wall again; making the sound Sasuke had been hearing.

She looked up at him in a frightened manner with watery, pearl eyes and Sasuke felt like a bastard for no reason (that he could think of).

Sasuke panicked. "D-Don't cry!" he told Hinata, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her for good measure.

Hinata simply looked confused. "Cry? I'm not crying…"

Sasuke blinked, examining the face that was suddenly so close to him.

Complete dry.

Releasing her, he coughed awkwardly. "Right, sorry, it was just the crappy lighting in the gym," he said, looking away to hide the slight blush of embarrassment. Being the Sasuke Uchiha, he rarely had to deal with such embarrassing situations.

"Uchiha-san? Hinata intoned, questioningly.

"What are you doing down here anyway?" Sasuke asked, changing the subject so he could have the upper-hand like he always did.

Hinata blushed, fumbling with her fingers in a nervous manner. "Ah…well, that is…" Clearly he had reminded her of whatever it was that had gotten her frustrated enough to slam her head repeatedly against the wall and she was now returning to that frustration.

Out of boredom, Sasuke decided that he would rather have her coherent enough to entertain him, so he stepped in before she went back to her previous activities (i.e. Introducing her head to the wall).

"Are you trying to give yourself brain damage? Who else will I compete with for the number one rookie ranking if you lose too many brain cells?"

He was exaggerating, of course. Hinata had never come close to actually dethroning him from his top position in the rookie class.

Hinata knew this.

"There's always Sakura-chan or Shikamaru-kun," she mumbled weakly.

"The Nara's too lazy. As for Sakura…she doesn't study as hard as you do," he told her matter-of-factly, not intending to compliment her.

Hinata knew this too, but she still blushed a pretty pink. "Thanks…" she said to her knees.

Sasuke shrugged. "So if you weren't trying to put yourself in a coma, what were you doing?"

The attractive coloring on Hinata's cheeks intensified to the point that one could believed that she'd dressed up as a fire hydrant for Halloween.

'What is she anyway?' Sasuke thought. He took advantage of Hinata's flustered state to give her a once over.

Black leather high-heeled boots, leggings and fingerless gloves paired with a formfitting black mini-dress and a loose, silver studded belt would look intimidating on anyone, but paired with a black pair of fluffy ears perched atop her indigo locks, Hinata looked nothing short of adorable, yet sexy.

'C-Cute! Who knew Hyuuga had a body?'

Even Sasuke thought so.

Mentally slapping himself for thinking such a thing, Sasuke escaped embarrassment by taking control of the conversation.

"Or maybe you're scared," he suggested, startling Hinata out of her own embarrassment.

'Hm, it seems the only way to break Hyuuga out of her embarrassment is for someone elseto take control…'

"Really, Hyuuga," he continued, reaching up to the table top to grab a fake spider, "They're only decorations. Bad ones, at that." Sasuke flicked the rubber insect at her and watched in amusement as she squeaked when it hit her on the nose.

Tossing the fake spider away, Hinata huffed, apparently having had enough of Sasuke's teasing. "R-Really, Uchiha-san," she mimicked, "don't y-you have better things to do than bother me? B-Besides, I thought you h-hated these 'lame' high school dances."

Sasuke was surprised, but his expression quickly melted into a smirk and his dark eyes glinted.

'Seems that this kitten has claws. Why haven't I talked to her before? She's...interesting.'

Still, he decided to back down when it came to the teasing. He didn't want her mad at him. 'O-Only because then I'd be bored again!'

He shuffled under the table and maneuvered his way beside a stiff Hinata. "Relax," he said, leaning against the wall, "I'm just getting into a more comfortable position." Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke could see that Hinata was still extremely tense. Sighing, he said, "I'm just sitting next to you Hyu…Hinata. I'm not going to do anything inappropriate."

He smirked when she blushed at that. Holding up his hands for show, he tucked them into his lap in an exaggerated movement, "Hands to myself, I promise."

Hinata flashed him a reluctant grin and he surprised himself by returning it. She then settled down next to him, copying his posture.

"Because of Naruto," Sasuke suddenly stated. At Hinata's confused expression, he elaborated. "The dobe dragged me here to the dance. That's the only reason why I came. I'd much rather be at home."

Although he knew that Hinata was different than other girls, much quieter and kinder, he expected her to at least share their love for dressing up and going out, if her outfit was anything to go by.

Instead, Hinata offered him a sympathetic smile. "My little sister, Hanabi, forced me to go. She's also the reason I'm wearing such an embarrassing costume," Hinata explained, drawing her legs closer to her body, newly conscious of her revealing attire.

Sasuke nodded, this scenario making much more sense for a girl who actually obeyed the official uniform skirt-length.

'Too bad little sister hasn't gotten her hands on Hinata's uniform…'

Th-dunk

Hinata let out a startled squeak when Sasuke abruptly smacked his own head against the wall.

'I've really got to stop thinking such stupid things…'

Sasuke's head shot up when he felt a soft touch on the top of head. He looked up into Hinata's smiling face as she patted his head gently.

"You should be more careful with your head, Uchiha-san. After all, when I finally get that number one spot, I want it to be because I beat you fairly and not because you'd given yourself brain damage."

Stunned, Sasuke felt a smile creep onto his face, paired with a hot blush.

'Ah, screw it. It's too late'

Sasuke turned away from Hinata's sweet face, suddenly feeling awkward for no discernable reason.

He was disappointed when Hinata shifted next to him and her hand left his hair.

They sat in silence for a few moments, Sasuke unable to think of anything to say and Hinata finding comfort in not needing to speak.

Still, while Hinata was quite calm, Sasuke was becoming increasingly agitated.

'Gahh! This has never happened before! Why do I feel so nervous! Why can't I think of anything to fill the silence? And since when do I actually want to talk to someone?!'

Though Sasuke gave absolutely no outward signs of his annoyance, Hinata was very sensitive to other people's feelings and could sense his inner turmoil coming off in waves.

"Y-You a-asked b-before…" she started unsurely, not used to instigating conversations. Sasuke's head whipped towards her so fast she was surprised he didn't get whiplash…

'Ouch, whiplash…'

Hinata cleared her throat and tried again, more strongly this time. "You asked before…why I was hiding down here…"

Noting Sasuke's curt nod, she continued, "Well…if you promise not to tell anyone…I could tell you the reason…"

To Hinata, Sasuke seemed to digest this slowly, weighing the options in his mind.

In reality Sasuke was counting to ten like he always did when trying to appear cool.

"Alright," he said finally, "I promise."

Hinata pursed her lips and then stuck out her pink, "You have to swear it."

"It's really important!" Hinata insisted at Sasuke's raised eyebrows.

Smirking, Sasuke decided to indulge her and slowly linked his pinky with hers. "I swear, Hinata, I will never repeat whatever you are about to tell me," he said, holding on a little longer than necessary before releasing her hand.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Hinata didn't seem notice his lingering and if she did, she thought nothing of it. In fact, she leaned in closer to him, oblivious to his slightly flushed features.

"I managed to escape Kiba-kun and was going to leave. I thought I might be able to sneak over to Shino-kun's and have our annual scary movie marathon there without Hanabi-chan finding out…"

Sasuke bristled at this, both because of the mention of her two male friends and because he'd found a girl after his own heart, at least when it came to Halloween.

"So I went to the coat closer to get my jacket and I saw…I saw…" Hinata stalled here, cheeks bright red.

"What did you see?" Sasuke urged.

"IsawNeji-nii-sanandLee-kunkissing!" she spat out, covering her face with her hands.

Sasuke blinked stupidly and then burst out laughing.

"No way! Now that is scary!" he spluttered out through his chuckles, holding his sides due to the pain that comes from sudden laughter after many years without. "I can't wait to tell everyone at school!"

Hinata quickly removed her hands and pouted. "U-Uchiha-san! You promised to tell anyone! You swore!"

Sasuke let out a few last snickers before straightening his figure. "Damn," he swore weakly, tired from the unexpected laughter, "I did say that, didn't I?"

Hinata nodded vigorously.

"Well, I guess I can't tell anyone then. No matter how much I want to," he assured her. "But damn, Hinata. I finally get some dirt on Mr. Perfect himself and you make me swear to secrecy."

"I'm sorry," Hinata muttered, looking away.

Even though Sasuke really was disappointed at missing the chance to embarrass the older Hyuuga whom he had come to blows with before, he hadn't meant to make Hinata feel bad.

Sighing, Sasuke scooted out from under the table and stood up. Hinata peeked her head out to gaze at him worriedly.

Brushing off her concern, Sasuke smirked and offered her his hand, but Hinata only furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Come on," he said, "If I'm going to keep my promise, it'd probably be best that I don't remember this at all, to avoid temptation. And from what you trying to do to that pretty little head of yours earlier, you obviously don't want to keep the memory either. So the only logical solution that I can see is to drink as much spiked punch as we can and hope that we wake up tomorrow with no recollection of what Neji Hyuuga likes to do in coat closets."

Flushing at the 'pretty' comment, Hinata cautiously took Sasuke's hand.

"I think it was Kiba-kun that spiked the punch," Hinata told him.

Sasuke nodded, "I could see the dobe helping him. Either way, Kami bless them because that stuff is going to save us from a horrible mental image."

Hinata smiled shyly and allowed Sasuke to pull her towards the refreshments table.

Squeezing the soft hand in his own, Sasuke couldn't help but grin, despite how irritated he had been at the beginning of this dance. He even stopped at his old table and plopped the cowboy hat back onto his head, reveling in Hinata's giggle at the action.

'Cowboy costume or not, it was definitely worth it…I can only hope that when I forget the Neji-incident, I'll at least remember to disinfect my coat…'

End

Ahh, this was kind of crappy! I think I moved too quickly here...

What do you think? Too much progress in too little time?

Please give me some feedback!

Also, I'm thinking of making this into a 'Holiday Series', but I'm not completely sure if that's a good idea, so if you review, please give me your honest opinion on that too!

Thank you for reading! (I can only hope it doesn't make you throw up all that Halloween candy -_-')

Happy Halloween,

Midnight's Violet Haze

HS