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No One Knows I'm Famous by antilogicgirl

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Chapter notes: This is me just getting some stuff out of my system, in a way. But, I think that I'm getting into a Hinata phase. I hope it turns out better than my Sasuke fixation. That was just scary. Here, we have Hinata, who writes under a penname, and is one of the most popular up-and-coming authors in the world. Only, no one knows that she is actually Hester Aldridge, that famous writer. Until her loving cousin realizes that his favorite author is none other than...(gasp!)...his little cousin...

Warnings:

FL
--Foul Language (mild)

Legal Stuffiness: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters therein. Kishimoto Masashi, sole proprietor.
No One Knows I’m Famous

--

Chapter 1: Who Told On Me?

--

November 24

No one knows, but I’m actually famous. I sell thousands of books, but you wouldn’t know it. No one does. Now that I think about it, does anyone really know anything at all about me? Most likely, the answer would be a resounding “No!”

You see, when I walk down the street, people just sort of don’t really see that I’m there. They’ll bump into me, smack me with briefcases, backpacks, and I think someone actually tried to run over me with a baby stroller once…but it’s okay. I’m famous. I’m the girl that you don’t see. When I walk into a room, I just fade into the background.

Not too tall, not too short. Not fat, not skinny. The only time that people do notice I’m there is to make some kind of sarcastic remark about either my hair or my eyes. My hair, according to some, is the color of blueberry pie filling, and they think I dye it that way. And my eyes? They just creep people out, being white. No pupils, either. Doctors have identified my family as a genetic anomaly. We all have it, and we try to keep to ourselves. Maybe that’s how I became the wallflower that I am today…who knows?

But, the reason why I’m writing this is because right now, I’m bored. I’ve been waiting for my cousin to come over and pick me up, since he claims that I have an important meeting with my father.

Oh, that’s another thing. My father. He doesn’t like the fact that I write books for a living. He hates it, actually. The last three meetings I have had with him consisted mainly of me doodling in a little notebook while Neji stood next to the window of the fortieth floor and father just blustered on about how I needed to be sensible and work for the family company like Neji and Hanabi do. In the end, I just made an excuse and said I would think about it.

Yeah…I’ll think about it…right before I tell him no.

But you know, I never really do. Maybe I’m just passive-aggressive? Actually, there’s no “maybe” about it. I’m completely passive-aggressive. When things get me angry, I never lash out at anyone. Everything gets bottled up inside me until I can get to a notebook, or my computer. Then, I take whoever it is that made me that way, and think of some way to take my revenge in print.

A few examples of published revenge-taking might be helpful. Once, when my father decided that I needed to go to a high-school dance like other “normal” seventeen-year-old girls, he actually had the gall to set me up on a blind date with someone. It turned out that the guy was six years older than me, and we just ended up sitting at a table in the back of the room the entire night while he griped about his classes in University. I wanted to hang myself. When I got home, I started my first novel. I’ll be the first to admit that it was rough, but the publishers liked the raw emotion and anger that the main character had, so it went into print after only six rounds of edits.

Oh…I just heard the doorbell. I’ll have to finish this later.


---

Hinata’s jaw hurt from clenching. “I don’t need an agent, father.” One thing she would heartily love to know was how on earth her father found out that she was, in fact, Hester Aldridge. Ms. Aldridge was Hinata’s penname, and on the dust jacket, she was a middle-aged woman from Britain with a bun and half-moon glasses, rather than a twenty-two year old woman from Japan with navy-blue hair and eyes so light most people asked if she was blind. No one was supposed to know. But, here she was.

The leather conference chair swiveled around, her father’s white eyes staring blankly back at her over steepled fingers. “Hinata, be reasonable. Neji is quite capable—“

Small hands slapped down onto the black lacquered tabletop, levering Hinata to her feet. She was through with being passive. “You know, I think I can see through all of your little games, father. This is just another way to control my life, isn’t it?” From the time she was three, she always seemed to be doing the wrong thing. Nothing she had ever done or accomplished ever made her father happy. He was constantly trying to make her better. She wasn’t a damned robot that you could just tune up! For God’s sake, Hinata was a human being, and she was not going to change because he thought she had to!

Hiashi’s mouth opened to speak, but Neji silenced him. “Hiashi-sama, may I speak with her in private?” Hinata had to fight to keep her eyes from widening. Neji never took the time to look at her, let alone speak with her in private. Even when he had come to pick her up, he had kept his eyes glued to anything other than her. The last time Hinata had looked in a mirror, she wasn’t repulsive to lay eyes on, so it couldn’t be that. What could make her so unworthy of people’s attention?

During her self-deprecating thought process, she had failed to notice that her father had indeed left the room. That was why when a hand was placed on her shoulder, she jumped, and slammed her knee into the underside of the conference table. “Owwwww…” she groaned as her hand went down to massage the hurt, and her eyes glared balefully up at her cousin.

Her cousin…her perfect cousin. He never did anything wrong. Neji was perfect. Neji was a genius. Just like Hanabi was a genius. Neji was perfect. Hanabi was perfect. Hiashi was perfect. And Hinata? She was just the blight on the family name. The less-than-exceptional girl who wasn’t even worthy of anyone’s eye-line, let alone their consideration.

“Hinata, sit down before you hurt yourself.” That order was accompanied by him shoving her into the chair she had been sitting in a moment earlier. Hinata pulled up her pant leg and glared at the bruise that had already begun to form, right over her patella. She sighed, and then turned her ineffectual glare onto Neji again. He, in turn, looked away. She hated the fact that he never looked her in the eye. “I don’t want to do this either.” That surprised her.

“Oh, really?” It was all she could think to say.

“Yes, really.” He seemed to be studying the cloud patterns in the eastern sky.

“Why not?” Hinata asked, still rubbing absently at her bruise. Neji shifted in his seat before he leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling, but he didn’t answer right away. Hinata was sure that there was something in her morning tea, because she was feeling like she wanted to bite someone’s head off. She was never like this! Nothing had ever made her lash out! “Am I not worthy of your time, O, Great One? That is the only explanation I can think of. You won’t even look at me!”

Neji’s face made a flinching motion, but he still didn’t look at her.

“What is that? What the hell did I ever do to you that you can’t even force yourself to look at me? Stop sighing like that, Neji, and just tell me why. I want to know what it is that you—and everyone else in this world—seem to think is wrong with me.” Hinata shoved herself back into her seat, her hair flopping into her face and crossed her arms under her breasts. Neji had his eyes shut tightly now, and he brought his hands up to rub his temples.

Still not looking at her, his eyes closed and obviously trying to stave off a headache, Neji sighed, “I don’t find anything wrong with you, Hinata.” He seemed to finish his little massage, and opened his eyes, finally letting them fall to rest on her face. “And the reason I don’t want to be your agent has nothing to do with you being unworthy of my time or not. The fact is that I have no experience. I would not be of service to you. But as things stand, both you and I have little choice.”

She stared blankly at Neji. “You always have a choice.”

He didn’t hear her, though, because he kept on talking, right over her (this was another thing she hated, since she was interrupted frequently, or people would just plow right over her words). “My fate seems irrevocably linked to yours, so I suggest that we just deal with it.” What? What was he talking about? Fate? Irrevocable links? Was he on some kind of drug that made him wax poetic? Badly?

It was Hinata’s turn to sigh, though she wanted to groan. “So what is this? You’re doing this against your will?”

“And against my better judgment.”

“But I don’t need an agent…” Hinata could feel her anger melting in the face of his stubbornness, and her ill-ease began to grow along with her tendency to just allow things to happen around her. Whatever spell she had been under, whatever had been affecting her temper was now gone.

“I don’t think that’s true.” Hinata blinked in surprise at this, and it didn’t really stop, since he kept on surprising her. “Your work is getting better with each piece you publish. Critics love you, and sales are on the rise. I have heard talk of award nominations. You will need someone to manage the business end. I might be more of a business manager in that case than an actual agent, but it doesn’t really matter.” Well…that answered her question as to who had told her father. It seemed that Neji was a fan. Hinata was very confused. Wasn’t her main market in the upper teenage range? She just blinked again at him and bumbled on.

“N-Neji…”

“What?”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” This was her last ditch attempt at getting him to give it up. And it failed.

“No, Hinata, I might not want to do this, but you need it, whether you know it or not. Whether you like it or not.” She sighed in resignation, and leaned back, slumping in her seat. “I expect you at my apartment no later than six thirty tomorrow night.”

Again, Hinata was caught off guard. “What for?”

“A meeting. Dinner, actually.” He smiled slightly, and Hinata was not a little frightened. “Wear something more appropriate.”

Hinata looked down at herself. What was wrong with how she was dressed? She had on a pair of comfortable gray slacks, a black shirt, and her favorite jacket. Nothing ostentatious…not too frumpy, either. So what was his problem? Instead of being confrontational about it, she said simply, “Define ‘appropriate’.”

“I’ll have my secretary go with you to find something.” Leaning over to the middle of the table, he pressed a button on the conference phone. There was a loud buzz, then the secretary asked what she could do for him. “Tenten, can you please come in here?”

A moment later, a woman walked in looking like the very picture of “the” elegant business woman. She wore a charcoal gray pinstriped skirt, with a jacket to match, and a crisp white dress shirt underneath, along with a tasteful red tie to add a splash of color. Her dark brown hair was held back in a bun at the base of her neck, and she had very friendly eyes. Until she saw Hinata. “Tenten, I would like you to meet my cousin, Hyuuga Hinata.” For a long moment, the two women simply stared at one another. Hinata in awe, and Tenten in obvious but mild disdain.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms. Hyuuga.” Her small nod was enough, so Hinata neglected to stand. The fact that she remained seated also afforded her a little bit of an edge in the little power struggle that seemed to be going on in the room.

“Hinata will be joining me for dinner at my apartment tomorrow night. I would like it very much if you could help her find something more appropriate, and less…” Neji glanced over at Hinata, who sat up a bit straighter in her chair, “…mannish to wear. Can you handle that, Tenten?” The tall woman nodded and moved to gather Hinata up. She found herself being swept out of the room without a word from Neji. Her blood boiled. She had not been so thoroughly dismissed in close to ten years.

---

Hinata pulled at the neckline of her dress. Did she really have to wear this? The full-length mirror revealed parts of her that never saw the light of day. How was this appropriate?

“Hinata…stop that!” Tenten slapped her hands away from the cloth she’d been tugging. “Really!” Her exasperation burst forth, and Hinata cringed. In the day and a half that she had known this woman, Hinata had discovered that Tenten was, for the most part, rather kind, and not a little witty. However, if one were to get on her bad side, she had a tendency to throw things. That, she had discovered when they had taken her dress to be tailored. The seamstress had ended up with a pincushion bounced off of her head on three separate occasions.

The dress that Tenten had picked out for her was not anything that she was used to wearing. For one thing, it was long, and formal. Another problem was that it was a few shades lighter than her hair, and a bit more on the purple side. Hinata had always hated that dusty range of purplish-blue, since she felt that it made her look like a giant bruise. Then…there was the neckline. It dipped down to show (gasp!) cleavage—though this was covered by a sheer fabric that was strewn with small dark rhinestones—which made her exceedingly uncomfortable. The back of the dress was no better. The dratted thing was backless, and the cut-out was framed in the same stuff as the neckline. To make matters worse, Tenten had also taken the liberty of finding jewelry for her. The small black pearls in the necklace were not what bothered her. What did make her nervous was that interspersed among these were several sapphires that looked to be of about a carat and a half each. She was a walking target for thieves!

“Tenten, I don’t think I can wear this.”

“Nonsense! You don’t know what you’re saying, Hinata. You look beautiful. If I was blessed with your skin, I would certainly not be hiding it under all of those layers you seem to like!” Hinata blushed. No one had ever given her a compliment like that before. She wasn’t ugly, and no one had ever dared to say that she was. But…it wasn’t as if anyone had ever said that she was pretty, let alone beautiful. With Hinata momentarily pacified, Tenten took advantage long enough to get her into the strappy heels that went with the dress, and shove her bag at her. “Now! Let’s get you downstairs. There’s a car waiting.”

The ride to her cousin’s apartment was uneventful. Tenten had taken a cab back to her own flat, and Hinata was left to herself. For what had to be the hundredth time, she wondered why she had to sear a formal gown to a dinner with just her cousin. Then, her stomach lurched. Maybe this was some kind of trick? Were they trying to make her get into the family business again? Hinata certainly hoped not. The last attempt to do anything of the sort resulted in the poor girl passed out cold and falling off of a six-foot-high platform onto a very frail ninety-six-year-old woman. Luckily, the lady survived without serious injury. Hinata’s dignity did not.

When she arrived at Neji’s penthouse, she looked around doubtfully. There wasn’t much noise from within. Maybe he wasn’t ready? Should she leave? Hinata had already turned around and started walking back up the hallway when the door burst open. At the sound, she whirled around guiltily, prepared to face her cousin’s wrath.

Instead, she was met with…someone she had never laid eyes on. The man was tall, half a head above her (even with her three-inch heels), with bright blonde hair, a nice tan, and the most brilliant blue eyes she had ever seen. He was wearing an immaculate black tuxedo, which he moved gracefully in. Hinata couldn’t help the blush that sprung to life on her face. “Um…I-I—“

The man waved a hand rapidly to dismiss her nervousness, and smiled brightly. “You must be Hinata. Please, come in! We’re almost ready to start…” When he ushered her into the apartment, she noticed that the place was dim. All around, there were hundreds of candles. They littered the floor in corners, covered nearly every flat surface, and hung from the wall in sconces that were filled with glass globes to refract the light into shattered patterns on the floor. The effect was stunning. And she saw, also, that there were close to thirty people in the room. Her eyes narrowed. What was going on?

“Please, come this way, Ms. Hyuuga.” The man was being very formal, which she did not think suited him at all. He led her into the large living area, where there were several groups of people chatting quietly. Music played softly throughout the room, violins and a piano being piped through the place through small speakers that were cleverly hidden. The blonde man stopped and tapped a dark-haired man on the shoulder. “Hey, Uchiha…”

“What, do you want, you moro—“ The dark haired man said as he turned, but stopped abruptly when he saw Hinata. Clearing his throat and surreptitiously straightening the lapels of his Armani tuxedo, he seemed to regain his dignity and calm. “That is…who is this young lady?” Hinata nearly frowned, but stopped herself. She was at a loss, since she still didn’t know the name of the blonde man next to her. And what was more, she didn’t really like the way this…Uchiha…was examining her.

Taking on a more formal tone once again, the man said, “Uchiha Sasuke, I would like you to meet Hyuuga Hinata, the guest of honor.” Leaning close to her ear, he said in a hushed tone, “Uhhh…sorry for not introducing myself before. I’m Uzumaki Naruto. Just pretend that we know each other, okay?” Hinata was confused. No…she had been confused. Now, she was utterly flabbergasted. “And smile, please.” It didn’t take much to smile, actually, since she was trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

--

The Uchiha raised one thin, shapely eyebrow at the…familiar way that Naruto seemed to be treating this new arrival. It wasn’t often that the idiot beat him to meeting someone important. And this woman was, he thought, the most important person in the room. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms. Hyuuga,” Sasuke said as he bowed deeply. He watched her through the hair that fell over his eyes as he did so. She seemed flustered. In fact, she was blushing quite prettily. He allowed the left corner of his mouth to curl upward in a half-smile. Interesting girl…

--

Bowing lightly so that her dress didn’t reveal more of her than she would like, Hinata took a moment to look over the man before her. In a way, he was quite spectacular to look at. He had striking dark eyes, skin that was nearly as pale as hers, but seemed a bit less translucent, and finely chiseled features. But, this was all spoiled by the way he held himself. In contrast to Naruto’s easy manner (with the exception of the false formality he was using at the moment), he seemed to be trying very hard to stay within the confines of a rigidly arrogant exterior. Hinata wasn’t at all certain that she liked the man.

“Hinata, Sasuke is the editor in charge of five or six of the better suspense novelists that your publisher deals with.” Naruto jabbed a thumb at the taller man, “He’s an uptight bastard, just so you know.” Sasuke seemed rather offended, and squared his shoulders against the insult. He was obviously not used to keeping his apparently sharp tongue in check. “Hehe. But…I guess he would have to be. Some of those guys can try to get a bit out of hand. Me, I like being a children’s book editor. The people are so much nicer.”

Hinata smiled. That was something she could understand. She never really had much contact with her editor. He was pretty lazy. Though she had looked around for a moment, she didn’t see him. Then, something that Sasuke said caught her ear. “Then why are you switching?”

When Hinata looked at Naruto again, he smiled sheepishly. “Well…you see, I was asked to. There are some pretty important people in the publishing house that want me handling some more mature material. That’s why they gave me the job of editing Hinata’s new stuff.” If she had not been taught to do nothing of the sort, Hinata would have gaped at him. For once, she thought her father would have been proud of how she kept her face studiously straight.

Sasuke snorted. “Well. We’ll see if you can read the big words now, won’t we?”

Before she could help herself, Hinata’s eyes narrowed. No, she couldn’t say that she liked Uchiha Sasuke at all. He seemed to take pleasure in belittling Naruto, who was a very nice man. She coughed lightly, and said, “Excuse me. You wouldn’t happen to know where my cousin Neji is, would you, Naruto?”

A broad smile appeared on his face again, and Hinata couldn’t help but return it. “Of course. Last I saw him, he was on the terrace. Let’s go and see if he’s still there.” He took Hinata’s arm, and gently tugged her toward the sliding glass doors. “Later, Sasuke.” When they were well away from the man, Naruto seemed to sag in on himself. He looked at her apologetically. “Sorry…he’s not really a people person.” Hinata nodded.

“I see.”

When the doors to the wide terrace opened, Hinata was met with a rush of cold air. She shivered, and hugged herself, wishing for her old gray jacket. Before they had taken three steps toward where Neji stood looking out over the city, she felt something being draped over her shoulders. Looking down, Hinata saw a black jacket. Naruto’s voice came softly near her ear. “We can’t have you freezing, now, can we?” Hinata smiled. If he was going to be her editor, she thought that she could certainly get used to it.

Shikamaru had been lazy, barely there, and about as far from chivalrous as a taxi driver. Naruto seemed to be the very image of a perfect gentleman.

--

Upon hearing footsteps approaching, Neji turned. He found Uzumaki Naruto standing before him with Hinata, who wore the jacket of his suit. Neji really did feel a bit happy at seeing Hinata smile. It was so seldom that she actually did. Most of the time, she was either lost in thought, or frowning. Maybe Hanabi’s idea to have him work with Hinata was a good one after all…

--

“So, what do you think of her?” The tall man asked, his silvery hair falling into his left eye. He scratched his cheek. Sasuke cocked his head to one side.

He pursed his lips for a moment, thinking. “She’s…interesting.” His old mentor grunted, obviously unsatisfied with his answer. Sasuke’s eyes rolled before he elaborated. “It isn’t often that I meet someone who seems to be so genuine, Kakashi.” Dark eyes watched every move that the woman made through the glass doors. She seemed to be talking with Hyuuga Neji, her cousin. Sasuke’s eyes caught her body language, which told him that she was not at all comfortable around the elder Hyuuga. After a moment, he was sure that she edged sideways toward Naruto. The blonde, in turn, made a motion toward the indoors, and after a curt nod from the host, they all re-entered the penthouse.

Kakashi’s elbow connected lightly with his. “You’re going to try something, aren’t you, kid?”

“Don’t call me a kid, Kakashi. You know how much I hate it.”

Smiling innocently, the elder man said, “Oh, but Sasuke, you look so adorable when you pout…I can’t pass up the opportunity to see you look like you’re five years old again.” It took everything in his power not to simply haul back and deck Kakashi for that. Really, his self-restraint had come a long way for him to have held back. “You still didn’t answer me.”

Turning his eyes away from Hinata, who had just handed Naruto’s jacket back to him, he glared up into Kakashi’s oddly mismatched eyes. “That,” he ground out, “is none of your damned business.”

Blinking slowly, Kakashi let his smile fade. “You need more anger management classes.”

“That may very well be,” Sasuke said, smirking triumphantly, “but you can’t make me take them anymore.” With that, he walked away. The old man could really get on his last nerve whenever he wanted. That was to be expected, really, since he had practically been raised by the guy. Kakashi knew every button, and six different ways to push them. Sasuke moved to the wet bar. He needed a drink.

---

November 27

I am so very tired. And I don’t even know why I’m writing this again. Hope it doesn’t turn into a daily gripe session…

But anyway. I had such a long day! First, I had to go with Tenten to get a pedicure and a manicure (can you see my eyes rolling?). That took a couple of hours. Then, she insisted that I have a facial. I don’t understand how women do that! I mean, you get an entire LAYER of your face scraped off! Once I was done with that, I was only allowed to have a salad for lunch. If Tenten is going to be my dietician, I’ll waste away to nothing, I swear.

After that, I was left to myself until Tenten came back to “beautify” me. That was a horror in itself, of course.

The so-called dinner turned out to be a meet-and-greet for all of the people at the publishing house. There were several very nice people there. One was a very strange man named Jiraiya, though I think he might have been a bit too friendly, if you get my drift…and then there’s my new editor. He’s really sweet, and an absolute gentleman! I could get used to working with someone like him. One of the other editors was looking at me like I was an insect, though. I really did feel like an ant under the magnifying glass, just before the mean little kid burns it to death with the sun. Lucky for me, Neji doesn’t seem to like that guy, so he steered me away from him for most of the night, and the only other time I ran into him was on my way to the bathroom.

He was way too polite, which made me think he was up to something. That didn’t make sense, of course. How could he be up to something? And for that matter, what could he be up to? We just met! I don’t like the way he looks at me. It’s really like he’s trying to look through me or something.

Okay. That’s it for tonight from the Peanut Gallery. Whatever.


---

Neji leaned back against the door. All of the guests had gone. There were only three people in the apartment, now: Uzumaki Naruto, Jiraiya, and himself. The old man leaned against the wet bar, sipping at his final cup of sake for the evening, while Naruto was putting out candles with his fingers. “You know,” the old pervert mused, “she’s quite pretty.” His already flushed cheeks brightened momentarily as his thoughts undoubtedly turned to less than wholesome contemplation of Hinata’ physical form. Neji wanted to hurl something at him, or at least castrate him. But was that the way you treated the head of a publishing house? No, he supposed it wasn’t, especially when his only client worked for the man.

Before he could make any kind of reprimand, Naruto’s voice came from across the room as the sound of glass clinked, two candle-glasses having collided. “Jiraiya…keep your mind out of the gutter for two seconds, will you?” The blonde editor growled, his back stiffening as he refused to look at the drunk at the bar. Neji smiled. At least someone had morals. “Whether she’s pretty or not has no bearing on the current situation.”

A low grunt, followed by a snort came from Jiraiya, who slapped his white china cup down onto the bar. “Actually, it has everything to do with it. I want the world to see that pretty face.”

Neji’s eyes widened painfully. “Jiraiya…sir…I do not believe that it would be prudent to do anything of the sort…she’s agonizingly shy.” He hated admitting it, but Hinata had even been timid at the small gathering here tonight, so it was difficult to ignore.

Jiraiya straightened to his full height (all six feet, eight inches of him) and looked down with all the seriousness of a well-respected publisher, “Hyuuga, I hope that you don’t misunderstand. I do not want to cause her pain. But she is the best thing to happen to young adult literature since J.K. Rowling. I will not allow the greatest asset Konoha Publishing has to be kept in the dark.”

It took a lot of self-control for Neji to keep himself from wringing the old fart’s neck. “But—“

“Jiraiya,” Naruto was suddenly standing next to Neji. His voice was steely. “I want your word that you’ll give me a little time to break her out of that shell she’s in.” When Neji turned to see him, Naruto was looking up at the older man with a challenging glance, one thin blonde eyebrow raised. Jiraiya studied the young man’s face, searching for his reasons, but apparently finding none.

A large hand came up, raking through unruly hair that had turned prematurely white. “Humph. I’ll give you two months, kid.” Pushing himself off of the bar, he started walking to the door. “You two had better at least get her to stop stammering in that time. Remember: two months, then there will be a press conference.” Jiraiya turned back to look at both men, a smile filled with mischief spread over his lips. “A big one.” The door closed behind him with a heavy thud, and Neji groaned.

Naruto’s hand was on his shoulder in an instant. “Hey, don’t worry. Hinata’s a good kid. We’ll get her to be more social.” Neji had to wonder at that. How were they going to make her social? Hinata was the most nervous, shy person he knew. She had been stuttering since she was five. How were they going to get her to stop in just two months?

Then, his thoughts went back to the day before. It had only taken her father’s interference in her personal life to make her livid enough to stop stuttering for a time. Maybe that was the key. Trigger emotions that gave her confidence? It was obvious that anger was one. Perhaps if they tried others, it might have the same effect? For now, he supposed it would be prudent to try sticking with anger for a bit. He decided to share his theory with Naruto.

“Uzumaki, you wouldn’t happen to know if Uchiha Sasuke is free for lunch tomorrow, would you?”

---

It was nearly eleven o’clock when Hinata heard a loud banging on her door. She opened one eye sleepily, pulling the thick coverlet back just enough to peek out. The banging continued. Groaning, she got out of bed and shoved her feet into her pale blue slippers, and tugged on her fluffy white bathrobe over Christmas-tree print pajamas. When she entered the hallway to her kitchen, she glanced in the mirror. Hinata’s lips twisted into a smile. Her hair was sticking up in several different directions, and she looked very much like one of those kids who slapped gel into their hair and spiked it every which way just for effect.

“Hm…oh well.” Hinata shrugged. Whoever was trying to see her was just going to have to deal with it. Her shuffling soon brought her to the door of her apartment, where she looked through the peep-hole. A gasp escaped her mouth before she could help herself. Naruto was at her door! Closing her eyes and trying to think fast, Hinata raked fingers through her hair, but grimaced when her right hand got caught in a rather large knot at the back of her head. After shaking her hand free of the mess, she hesitantly opened the door and peeked out. “Ah…Naruto?”

He stared at the small crack in the door, and Hinata had to try very hard not to shut it completely. “Hinata, I’m here to pick you up. Neji’s arranged a lunch…meeting…thing.” Hinata squeaked. She pulled the door open and hesitated for only an instant before grabbing the front of Naruto’s brown suede jacket and yanking him inside. “H-Hey!” He exclaimed as Hinata’s hand took hold of him. She pulled him into the small entry hall, and shut the door, engaging all three locks. He seemed to see her for the first time now, and he stammered, “Y-You’re not even dressed!”

Looking away and coloring slightly, Hinata said, “Late night…needed to sleep in…um…” Realizing suddenly that she was fidgeting with the belt of her robe, she dropped the fuzzy cord and said quietly, “I’ll go and get dressed now…” As she turned slowly to go back to her bedroom, she felt a hard shove from behind. It didn’t take long at all to realize that Naruto was pushing her down the hallway. “Eep!” was all she could get out.

“Hehe. You go and grab a shower. I’ll get some clothes out for you.” Naruto ignored her protests, since they were barely intelligible, and just kept on pushing. Hinata eventually gave up, allowing him to escort her to the bathroom. As she turned on the shower, she heard him rifling through her closet.

In a quiet but disbelieving voice, she said, “Neji…what have you gotten me into?” Naruto was nice, yes, but he seemed to have a bit more spunk than Hinata could easily handle. Once she had hung up her robe on the peg behind the door, she worked on the mess that was her hair before throwing her pajamas into the hamper and getting into the shower.

After about ten minutes in the steamy water, Hinata was glad that she hadn’t simply gotten dressed. The water really did wonders for helping her wake up. When she emerged from the bathroom, swathed in her robe (just in case), she found clothing laid out on her bed, which was made. Her eyebrows rose. What was he? Superman? Hinata hardly ever had the willpower to make her bed, since no one ever saw it but her.

Turning her attention to the clothes he had picked, she thought that his taste was strange. She never would have paired those things together. He’d found a pale gray long-sleeved t-shirt, her black leather jacket, and the knee-high black leather boots that she’d never really had the courage to wear. With these, he had taken out a knee-length, dark blue denim skirt, and her white crocheted scarf and beret. Skeptical, but not wanting to hurt his feelings, she hurriedly got dressed. By the time she had everything but the jacket, hat and scarf on, her hair had already dried into a tangled mess again. A few moments of attacking it with a brush surely tamed it, though, and it just barely peeked out of her hat when she jammed the fluffy white thing down over her ears.

It didn’t look bad, but Hinata frowned anyway. She didn’t look like herself.

“Are you done yet?” Naruto yelled from the living room.

“C-Coming!” she called, and grabbed her favorite black messenger bag to get out of the door before Neji skinned her alive for being late.

---

Sasuke leaned back in his chair. Why had he agreed to this meeting? He had three chapters to edit today. Naruto had called him at six in the morning, waking him from much-needed sleep. Now, he sat waiting for the blonde numbskull, the uptight bastard, and Hinata, wondering if three people could stand one person up. A small bell tinkled at the door, alerting him to the arrival of a new patron. Dark eyes flicked to the entrance, and he saw the tall, pale form of Hyuuga Neji, who was already making his way over to the table where Sasuke sat.

Raising one eyebrow, Sasuke smirked. “Where’s your date, Hyuuga?”

Pale eyes narrowing in obvious distaste, Neji glared. “My cousin will be along in about twenty minutes. She’s not a morning person.” Sasuke snorted. Few authors were. He wondered for a long moment…what was it that Hinata wrote again? Mystery? Science fiction?

The conversation was minimal for the entire fifteen minutes before Hinata arrived…with Naruto by her side. It seemed that he could not be around her with out chaperones. That thought was not altogether pleasant. If he wanted to get to know someone, he just did, and there was nothing that anyone could do to stand in his way. But…this was a special case. Hyuuga Hinata was not only the most profitable asset that the entire Konoha Publishing house had (even out-selling the founder’s porn novels), but she was also the heiress to controlling stock in six major corporations. He couldn’t simply shove aside the guard dogs that Jiraiya and her family had set.

That’s what Naruto and Neji were, in truth. There was nothing wrong with Nara Shikamaru’s editing. The only reason that Naruto had been put on this job—Sasuke’s theory, anyway—was that he was much more aggressive than the lazy man. Neji…well, he was sure that Neji had some kind of uber-big-brother complex when it came to Hinata. So if Sasuke was going to get closer to her—and he would—then he was going to have to get around the mine field set up for him.

These thoughts were interrupted by Naruto clapping him on the back. “Oi, Sasuke! You look kinda spaced out today! Are you hung over?” A muscle under Sasuke’s eye twitched. What was it about this little twit that got his goat so much? Was it because Naruto was loud? No, he could deal with loud. Was it because he was obnoxious? That couldn’t be it either, since he had a cousin who was even worse, and Sasuke had found ways of dealing with her, too. No, it was neither of those things. It was because of those rare moments of crystal-clear perceptiveness the Naruto seemed to have, combined with his loud, hyperactivity that drove Sasuke to distraction.

“Shut up, idiot.” He grumped.

Naruto laughed lightly (tee-hee!) and pulled out Hinata’s chair for her. “It’s okay, jerk…you should think about how bad off Jiraiya will be when he wakes up.” Sasuke clamped his lips together. There was a laugh trying to claw its way out of his throat, and he’d be damned if he’d let it out. Naruto always did that! One minute, he would be angry with the little bungler, and the next, he would wish that the idiot would shut his mouth because he could split his sides from holding in the laughter that always threatened to drive him insane. Come to think of it, there were few moments when he was in Naruto’s presence that he wasn’t nearly driven to the brink of his own sanity.

When Hinata sat, she draped her hat, scarf, and jacket over the back of her chair before doing the same with the scuffed black messenger bag she carried. Raising her eyes in a somewhat hesitant fashion, she said in a quiet tone, “Good afternoon Neji, Mr. Uchiha.” She was being carefully polite, he knew, and it was a far cry from the near indignation he had heard threading itself through her voice the previous night. Somehow, he wondered if this shyness was what she was truly like.

“Hinata,” Neji began as he made a show of looking over the menu, “Good to see you up at this early hour.” His voice was sly, and the young woman nearly started as she sipped her water.

“N-Neji…did you just make a joke?

A tiny smile formed on Neji’s face. Sasuke was feeling left out. This feeling grew when Naruto poked Hinata in the ribs, eliciting a startled little squeak. “Hinataaaaa…show Neji what you brought!” Both Sasuke and Neji frowned. What was the blond nut-ball talking about? Hinata’s lips curled into a little grin, and she reached for the beat up bag she’d had slung over her shoulder. From within, she produced a sheaf of paper and handed it to her cousin.

Her smile widened when Neji took the pages, and began to scan them eagerly. “That’s Chapter 1.” She said simply.

As Neji looked over the sheets he held, Sasuke fought to keep his eyes off of them. Instead, he asked, “What’s this?” as he pointed to the apparent first chapter of Hinata’s newest book.

Her smile faltered when she looked at him. “It’s…a…”

“Well?” he asked, his voice rising expectantly.

Hinata sat straighter in her chair, and he thought he heard cloth rustling. What was she doing? When she spoke again, she had no hesitation, no stammer. “It’s a story about a boy that grew up as a servant in the house of one of the great Samurai. He comes of age, and decides to leave his comfortable life in the stables, and become a soldier. Things do not work out as he planned.”

Sasuke blinked. “Is that all?” That was the strangest summary he had ever heard. She gave away so little of the plot that he couldn’t help but want to know more. And that, he supposed, was what she had intended.

Her glance turned into a blank stare. “That’s all you need to know.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. Was she playing with him? He hoped that she wasn’t. People that played with him, toyed with his mind…they never ended up happy. Just then, the waiter arrived to take their orders. He watched Hinata covertly, trying to figure her out, but to no avail. She would be a tough one to crack, he decided.

But tough or not, he would get the job done. Uchiha Sasuke was always up for a challenge.

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A/N: Well...what do you think? I hope you like the angsty-ness. But there are some funny parts, too, so I hope those weren't overpowered by the angst.
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