Someone New | A SasuHina Story (completed)

chapter twenty two | someone new

Sasuke leaned away from the girl in front of him. He looked into her eyes, locked in an intimate gaze.

"You kissed me." Hinata said breathlessly. She raised her hand over her mouth, lightly touching her lips.

"You kissed back." Sasuke said matter of factly. He was right, she had kissed back.

"I did. I guess all that talk about just being platonic friends isn't exactly true anymore." Hinata said jokingly. "This changes things a bit."

Hinata's voice slowly faded out. She wanted to ask something but wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

There was a long silence before she finally decided to speak her mind.

"What did it mean?" She said quietly, just above a whisper.

"What did it mean, indeed." Sasuke repeated, sighing. His shoulders sunk as he let out a deep breath. He felt stifled, suffocated by the air around him. He'd never felt like this around a girl before. Sure he was experienced, but it wasn't very often that the girl elicited any real emotions. This was new, very new.

"I can't give you a definite answer. All I can say is what I feel. I wanted to kiss you, so I did." He explained. Hinata nodded, getting the idea of what he was saying.

"Did you like it?" Sasuke asked bluntly. Hinata's face heated up, taken aback by the abrupt question.

"I-I didn't mind it. It was...nice." She said flustered. Her eyes were downcast, trying to hide as much as she could from the peering Uchiha.

Hinata was stuttering. Sasuke noted it as something she only did when really nervous.

"Then lets start from there." Sasuke stated simply. Hinata looked up puzzled. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You liked it, I liked it. I'm guessing that means something, right?" He said. Hinata nodded in understanding.

"If you don't want to go any further, that's fine of course. We can just stay friends." He said sheepishly, scratching his neck. Hinata could make out a small tint of red on his cheeks.

She thought about it seriously. It'd been about two months since things ended with Naruto. Although she felt completely neglected while dating the Uzumaki, he was still her ex. Would it be safe to hop back into a relationship so soon? She pondered it for a while. Sasuke wasn't just anyone. He was there when she needed a friend the most.

"Let's try it." Hinata said, resolute. She wanted this. She truly liked Sasuke's presence. He brought out a different side of her.

Sasuke smiled. It was small and for a very brief moment, but she caught it.

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"Okay so now you're dating Sasuke Uchiha?" Neji said, sighing while violently messaging his temples.

It had been about a week since Sasuke and Hinata had went on their midnight stroll to the hokage heads.

Sasuke advised Hinata to tell Neji as soon as possible, as to avoid misunderstanding and possible mutilation from the elder. Hinata agreed, not wanting Sasuke to get hurt as a result of Neji's overprotectiveness. Although she knew what she had to do, it took her a few days to gather enough courage to sit down with her cousin and explain that she'd be entering into yet another high risk relationship.

This evening, Hinata invited Neji over assuring him that the news was important and he absolutely had to make it. However, now that Neji had arrived Hinata was slowly but surely drained of all her built up bravado.

Hinata was currently pacing the room, ignoring Neji's question and biting her thumb nervously.

"Hinata." Neji said in a calm tone. It was too calm and Hinata became increasingly shaken.

Neji got up and grabbed his younger cousins hand. He lead her to the couch and then sat down next to her.

"Hinata listen." He said, voice and face devoid of all emotion. "I'm not mad at you. You're old enough to make your own decisions. Sasuke is definitely not my first pick in line in regards to guys for you, but it's not about me. I believe in your judgment of character. If you think Sasuke has changed, and is a good match for you, than so be it. Even I've noticed how much more easier it is to be around him. I accredit that to you." Neji confessed.

Hinata froze and took a minute to process her cousins words. He wasn't mad. He even kind of praised her.

A smile spread across Hinata's face. It was big and lopsided, showing her genuineness.

Hinata tackled Neji, enveloping him in a tight, long hug.

"Thank you." She said into the crook of his neck. Neji patted her on the back. He got up and explained to Hinata that it was getting late and he had to get back home to Tenten.

Hinata led him to the door and with one last hug Neji started the trek to his home.

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"Hinata, you're stamping the wrong paper." The said girl jumped, startled out of her thoughts by the looming man above her.

"Sorry lord sixth." Hinata said sheepishly. Lately, her mind had been constantly consumed with thoughts of the lone Uchiha.

"I told you, just call me Kakashi-sensei. No need to change the way you address me just because of the new title. Not like I'll be keeping it for much longer anyways." Kakashi said, mumbling the last sentence.

Hinata ignored it, deciding not dwell too much on the fact that Kakashi would be resigning soon. Naruto was nearly mature enough to assume the role of hokage, despite his young age.

Kakashi had only taken the position in order to let Naruto live out the rest of his youth as free as possible. At first, Naruto was reluctant, his life long dream being just within his reach. But Kakashi was stubborn, and insisted that Naruto take some time to just be a regular young man before going into a position of such high power.

Hinata sighed, shaking her head to refocus her attention on the documents in front of her. It'd be hard to volunteer knowing she'd be working in the same room as her ex boyfriend.

"Sorry Kakashi-sensei." Hinata corrected. Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder, slightly squeezing it as a way to say 'don't worry about it.'

"I'll excuse a mistake or two due to your dazed, overly excited state. I'm sure anyone would be hopelessly love struck if they were dating THE Sasuke Uchiha." Kakashi said, smirk evident even with the mask.

Hinata blushed a deep red. There it was, Kakashi's bad habit. He loved teasing people, especially those who couldn't hide their facial expression.

"But-how..do you-" Hinata stuttered out.

"I'm the hokage, I know everything." Kakashi stated. Just before leaving the office, he stopped at the door frame and turned to face Hinata.

"I'm glad you found someone new." He said, turning and walking out of the room.

Hinata recited his words in her head as she fumbled with the papers in the pile in front of her.