Chapter 25

-Hinata's POV-

By the time I finished bathing, Sakura had locked her bedroom door and even went as far as ignoring me when I knocked to ask if she was alright.

Tonight, the night we've been dreaming of before even meeting one another, was supposed to be nothing but celebratory. We should be overcome with joy and excitement, but instead half of our group isn't speaking to one another. One of those two is even nursing a black eye!

At least the swelling of our redheaded friend's injury went down quickly so it could be hidden with makeup when he's out in public. The last thing we needed was for rumors to go around that our group's members like to fight. Especially when the one who was sporting the hypothetical proof was one of the calmest among us.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Gaara. Even if he might've gone over the line with Sakura's mother, he didn't do a single thing to deserve being hit like that by Garrett. If things hadn't gotten so out of hand afterward, I would've liked to ask him personally if he was alright, but didn't get the chance.

After realizing Sakura wasn't going to give in and at least reassure me that she wasn't going to do anything drastic for the rest of the night, I retreated to my room with a heavy feeling weighing on my chest. As we were jogging off-stage directly after our performance earlier, high on life, I sincerely thought we'd spend the rest of the evening together as a group, but that wasn't the case.

Either way, when I threw myself onto the bed, the sounds of the crowd cheering our group's name, the sweat and adrenaline, and the euphoric happiness that'd flooded my entire being was all I could think about. My heart was pounding at just the memory of how it all sounded, how it all felt.

My phone suddenly vibrated and I lifted it up to see a message from Sasuke, taking me totally and completely by surprise.

"Hyuuga, wanna hang?"

What the hell? Did I accidentally save someone else's number under his name or something? Not only was this the first direct message he's sent me where it's not in a group chat, but even trying to imagine him wanting to "hang" with me seemed unbelievable. Either way, I responded after a minute or two, not wanting to come off as too eager.

"If you want to, sure. Your room or mine?"

After a moment of waiting, he replied. "The door's unlocked. Just come in."

For some reason, I immediately worried about what I look like. My hair was still damp from bathing and I wasn't about to put makeup on after having just done my skincare routine for the night. With a sigh, I forced my anxiety to take a backburner and headed over with my phone in one hand and the other running fingers through my hair to try and tame it just a bit even though I knew it wasn't messy.

When I shut the door behind me after entering their dorm, I turned to see Sasuke staring down into a glass of what looked like alcohol, an unreadable expression on his face as he rested his elbows on the kitchen counter. I wordlessly came over and sat on one of the stools across the counter from him, face warming slightly. Now that I had a closer look, there was an almost full bottle of whisky sitting on the counter next to him.

Gesturing at it wordlessly, he asked if I'd like a drink as well. I nodded and watched with my chin resting on my fist as he poured it and slid it over to me. We softly clinked our glasses together before taking a sip. My face threatened to cringe at the bitter taste, but I fought it as I swallowed with a frown.

"I-Is Gaara alright?"

Sasuke shrugged, spinning the ice in his glass around with a furrowed brow, "He locked himself in his room."

My eyes naturally danced to the hall that leads to their bedrooms and bathroom, but the Uchiha man made a negating sound deep in his chest, "Don't bother. Unless Sakura herself comes over to yell at him some more, he's not answering."

I gave him a warning glare, "Don't be like that, S-Sasuke. We shouldn't take sides."

He rolled his eyes, nodding toward the hall with his head to signal that I should follow him to his room before grabbing the bottle of whiskey and heading that way, "I don't care who did what: nothing pisses me off more than being yelled at. I can't blame him for storming off like that."

So he'd overheard their argument as well, then. I followed him, feeling guilty as I recalled raising my voice at him after that horrible date with Naruto when he found me in the hallway mid-panic attack. Did he say that so I'd remember how awful I'd been? It didn't feel like he had, but then again Sasuke was acting very out of character right now so who knows.

After I awkwardly sat at the foot of his bed, I jumped slightly when a game controller was tossed into my lap and looked over to see him sitting cross legged on the floor with his back against the bed almost directly in front of me as he clicked on the tv mounted to the wall above his dresser.

"S-Sorry again, about before…when I, um…"

Some racing game queued up and I panicked when he didn't hesitate to start it, tossing back the rest of my drink before sitting the empty glass down on the desk nearby and fumbling to figure out the controls of the game.

"Shut up, Hyuuga."

My face warmed as I crashed into a wall and struggled to get back on the track, annoyed with how rudely he so often speaks to me. We played the game for an hour or so, drinking and sometimes casually making comments, before it got old and he opted to turn on a movie. We moved to sit against the pillows on his bed, sitting up on top of the covers so things wouldn't seem more than friendly.

"Oh, God, Sasuke no!" It was the sequel to that terrifying horror movie he'd forced all of us to watch last night.

"Don't be a pussy."

I swiftly elbowed him in the ribs, making him snicker as he rubbed them. The alcohol was calming my anxiety quite a bit and it felt easier to simply hang out without feeling bashful.

Despite mocking my fear, he turned on an action movie instead without mentioning it. I made it through about half of it before my eyes began to droop and it became harder and harder to keep myself upright. With a sigh, I moved back a bit so I could rest the back of my head against the wall like Sasuke was, hoping it'd make it a bit easier to focus on making it through the rest of the movie so I can go to bed afterward.

-Sasuke's POV-

My focus snapped when I felt a sudden soft weight hit my shoulder and I looked over to see Hinata had fallen asleep. Rolling my eyes, I took another drink before focusing back on the tv and deciding to just leave her alone for a bit.

It was embarrassing enough inviting her over here, but the way I see it, the two of us shouldn't have to give up celebrating our debut just because the others are beefing. Of course, I didn't tell the Hyuuga that because she'd undoubtedly think I'm some sentimental asshole, but I knew she'd want to so I'd bitten the bullet and sent the text.

If we're going to be stuck together for the next two years, minimum, then we'll need to all make an effort to get along. That's why I went out of my way this time. It'll be her turn, next, the shy idiot, and she'd better not be annoying about it.

A floral scent met my nose and my eyes tore from the screen again to look down at the black hair running over her shoulders. I think it's her shampoo.

Feminine hands, smaller than mine, loosely rested in her lap as she crossed her legs and caught my eye. My brow twitched in annoyance as I recalled grabbing one of them onstage right before the show started hours ago. I don't know what the hell came over me. It was like my body acted on its own and before I knew it, her soft fingers were intertwined with mine to offer some reassurance. As if I needed her, the most timid one of us all, to give me courage.

Like always, my subconscious fought with my active thoughts. The way she danced with me tonight…that wasn't timid in the slightest. Where in the world did that come from? Up until today, we've been borderline tense as partners and I'm not so prideful as to pretend I'm not also at fault. She's just so nervous all the time and it throws me off. …Okay, so that's not all that throws me off, but regardless of the reason, we've never come anywhere close to what happened during that performance.

The way her soft hands would grab or touch me so firmly, as though it was her right to do so, was completely out of character. What was even more dangerous was the way she was staring at me without awkwardly looking away or faltering. I've slept with and dated my fair share of women and none of them have ever felt so threatening. I thought maybe she'd finally overcome her fears, but to my surprise she went right back to being shy once we all returned to the dressing room.

My teeth grit and I looked away from her lap to focus back on the movie, but didn't really see it as my mind continued to reel.

Speaking of backstage, what Itachi said to her made me both curious and uncomfortable. Growing up, our father didn't have the same expectations of me as he did my older brother because the first born is to inherit the family business, everyone knows that.

Naturally, I took every possible opportunity to avoid company get-togethers and events, if only to piss off my old man. As a result, the famous first daughter of Hiashi Hyuuga was someone I'd only heard about via gossip and occasional conversation at dinner when Itachi and Father would bring up work.

All I knew before actually meeting her was that while she was apparently very attractive and intelligent, her introverted personality made many question whether her career prospects were set in stone. I distinctly recall my father saying he foresees her being demoted to an arranged marriage candidate because she wasn't suited for the corporate world but still has an obligation to help her family's success grow.

That being said, I never really thought twice about her because there wasn't a reason to do so. So when she ran into me and fainted the day we met and I saw her name on the papers she'd dropped, I was stunned. The rumors had been completely true.

While I couldn't make a judgment on her intelligence in that short amount of time, I immediately thought she was beautiful, only to hypothetically take several steps back when I realized she couldn't even get a sentence out without stuttering. For the first time in my life, I thought I agreed one hundred percent with something my father said.

She immediately began proving me wrong, though.

Each day since then, she's gotten more confident in herself. Over the past few weeks, despite my best efforts, I've come to respect her for her strive for success and even consider her a friend. Not only was her drive admirable, but she and I have suffered so many of the same things growing up that it felt incredibly natural for us to understand one another. I'm pretty sure she unconsciously felt it, too, even if neither of us said anything out loud.

That day in the hospital when we watched her and her father arguing, I realized how similar we are. The only difference was that I began going against my father's orders before I could turn ten years old while she was just starting.

I grabbed my phone off of the nightstand and glanced at her once more before biting the bullet and looking up some articles on the Hyuuga family. Just the headlines told me all I needed to know and I didn't bother actually clicking any to read. It was no wonder she was so withdrawn before now. She'd been bullied into a corner by both her family and the public from a young age.

For some reason, the fact both pissed me off and made me feel bad for being so rude those first few days after meeting her. The fact that I could get so angry on behalf of this dumb girl just made it worse.

I don't want to care about her.

I didn't even want to be her friend to begin with, but she somehow worked her way in. Don't ask me how because I don't know. Not only does she annoy me, but Sakura only made it worse by teasing me about it whenever the Hyuuga can't hear. "Shy little Hinata's got you whipped! Poor boy!" That's what she said a few days ago. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Like hell she does!

-Hinata's POV-

My eyes crept open a bit later and it took a few moments for the fog in my mind to clear so I could realize I'd fallen asleep in Sasuke's room. The screen of the tv was playing the idle video, likely having been left alone for too long.

I suddenly realized my head was resting against Sasuke's shoulder and his head was resting atop mine. His breathing felt slow and steady so I deduced he'd also fallen asleep. Face red, I carefully climbed off the bed and went to retreat back to my dorm so I could die with embarrassment, but glanced back at the last minute and stopped.

Tomorrow we're supposed to film our first music video. If I left him sitting up like that, he'd be so sore in the morning.

Sighing, I took a strengthening breath before cautiously moving his empty glass from where it sat in between his crossed legs, sitting it on the nightstand so it wouldn't spill. Then I reached up to shake his shoulder, only to freeze before my hand could even touch him, blush warming further.

The man looked so unguarded and peaceful as he slept that it made him seem at least a couple years younger. A small smile tugged at my lips and an odd, soft feeling rose to my chest. My hand moved before I realized what I was doing and I cupped his cheek as I whispered, "Sasuke!"

His jaw flexed and he turned his head to the side, eyebrows furrowing as he swallowed and squeezed his eyes closed more firmly, "Hm?"

It took everything in me not to giggle at how cute he was accidentally being, but I somehow kept it together, "Lay down, Sasuke. H-Here, get under the covers." I tugged lightly at the corner of the blanket he was sitting on and he surprised me by moving his weight just enough in his barely half-awake state that I could get it out from under him.

He groaned when I hesitantly guided him to lie down and I bit my lip to stop myself from grinning widely in amusement when I laid the blanket over him and he turned to cuddle a pillow against his chest. After making sure I had my phone, I stole one last glance at his cute sleeping face before heading back over to my own dorm.

When my head hit the pillow, I turned to plug my phone into the charger before pausing. Then, I googled our group's name to see if there were any posts going around about our debut, only to be stunned completely. We were trending on Twxtter and Xstragram and hundreds of articles popped up that covered the performance. There were photos, gifs, and even reaction videos posted about us!

Glee shot through me and I sent a screenshot of some of it into the group chat before calling it a night and going to bed.

-Sakura's POV-

It took hours to calm myself down and cut off the waterworks as I lay in my bed. A thick, depressive lethargy washed over me soon after and I waited impatiently for sleep to take over, only for it to continue avoiding me.

Hinata left and was gone for a few hours before coming back. I wondered where she'd gone, but didn't have it in me to talk to her, or anyone, right now.

My phone vibrated loudly on my nightstand soon after she went into her room and I grabbed it, eyes burning when the bright light of the screen blinded me for a moment. Once they adjusted, I saw my roommate had sent a screenshot in the group chat showing we were the top trending topic on Twxtter. Despite my current distress, a small smile tugged at my lips. I saved the photo.

Then, hoping she was still awake, I attempted to call my mother. It was almost four in the morning, so I don't know why I felt even worse when she didn't answer. Rather than leave a voicemail, I sent her a text. The last thing I wanted was for her to hear something off in my tone and worry even more.

Gaara's face earlier, when he desperately tried to mask how hurt he was that I said he wasn't my friend anymore, blurred my vision as the memory came up once again. That damn image was the reason I couldn't fall asleep. The moment I began to relax, it'd pop right up and put a guilty ache in my chest.

Now that my blood pressure's had a chance to come down and I've had some alone time to reflect, I'm so ashamed of my words and my actions. I was just so angry and hurt and wanted someone to know how I felt. Of course, at the time, I hadn't realized that's what I was unconsciously doing, trying to make Gaara feel as awful as what his actions had made me.

It wasn't fair of me at all. None of it was. Yelling at him, demanding he match my level of ire, and blaming for the entire mess was so unforgivable. The entire time that we've known one another, he's never been nasty to me in the slightest. Rather, he's been a constant force of calm that I knew would be there to support and reassure me should I need it.

Gaara's been a wonderful friend and colleague this entire time and I treated him like that.

Sure, he did something that led to me being put in a tough position, and at the time I was too taken off guard to realize that it wasn't his intention to do so, but the only thing that was on his mind as he confessed my secret to my mother was my safety. That's what he said in the hallway when I demanded an explanation, but I'd ignored it fully. He was being completely honest, too. He knew how upset I'd be with him when those words left his mouth, but he did it anyway because that meant I wouldn't be in danger anymore.

That selfless passion was one of the things I liked so much about him, one of the things that made it difficult to see him as just a friend. I'm such a bitch, a moron. This whole time, I've been keeping my distance a bit so I wouldn't potentially ruin our friendship by getting too close, but I went ahead and ruined it anyway.

Tears began welling up in my eyes again and I rubbed my face in the pillow in an attempt to wipe them away before they could even fall. The phone in my hand vibrated again and I pulled back to click the notification, hoping to see my mother's name across the top of the screen only to frown when I saw Garrett's instead.

"You're a fucking narc. Just wait until I get my hands on you."

If I scrolled up to our previous conversations' messages, most of them were similar: threatening and scary. I responded anyway, knowing he'd begin to blow my phone up if I wasn't quick enough.

"You attacked Gaara in front of everyone! Did you think no one would ask questions? What the hell is wrong with you?"

The little envelope showed open under the message just moments later, signaling that he'd read it, but he didn't reply even after multiple minutes. Finally, after hours of wallowing in my sorrow, my body finally let me fall asleep. My mother and soon-to-be step-brother hadn't responded by that time.

-Hinata's POV-

When I woke up, my alarm hadn't even gone off yet. In fact, I was almost two entire hours early. It couldn't be helped because I was just too excited about filming our first ever music video. Honestly, I thought I'd be more tired after staying up late hanging out with Sasuke, an odd concept even now, but that wasn't the case.

So, knowing it'd be futile to try and fall back asleep, I decided to get up and prepare a nice breakfast for Sakura in hopes to cheer her up after what happened with her family last night. Even if she refused to talk to me when we got home, I know she hadn't done so to hurt me. She was probably too upset to speak with anyone and wanted some alone time. I could understand and respect that because I've been there, too.

Over the past couple weeks, Sakura and I learned so many things about one another and one of those things was our favorite foods. Her favorite breakfast meal is pancakes, so that's what I wanted to make. When I checked the kitchen, however, we didn't have many of the ingredients needed to prepare them.

With a glance at the clock on the stove, I realized I had plenty of time to run to the store. There were plenty of twenty-four-hour shops in Konoha, too.

After brushing my teeth and hair, I tossed on a warm hoodie and leggings to battle the chilled early morning air. Then I grabbed my keys and stepped out into the hallway. My eyes widened when my eyes landed on a sweaty Sasuke stepping out of the elevator in gym clothes. The memory of his adorable sleeping face met my mind and a blush began to warm my cheeks.

I offered a smile and a wave, "G-Good morning!"

He glanced at me as he walked past, lifting his hand in a tired half-wave, but seemed to still be too sleepy to offer much more of a greeting. As he searched his pocket for his keys, he grumbled out in a voice that confirmed my suspicion that he was barely awake even after working out, "Where are you going?"

I busied my hands with putting my keys into my little cross-body purse, "Oh! I'm headed to the store. I want to make pancakes."

When I looked up, he was searching his keyring for the right one for his dorm with a frown. Feeling a bit awkward, I pointed behind me with my thumb, toward the elevator, "D-Do you want to come with me? I'll make some for you, too."

His lips lifted into a line rather than falling downward as his dark eyes came up to meet mine, head tilted inquisitively, "Are you gonna poison me?"

My blush reappeared, having faded once I got used to his presence again, "Only if you keep teasing me like that."

His eyebrows raised, "Are you trying to be sarcastic, Hyuuga? Hm…" My eyes narrowed, making him smirk with an amused expression, "Give me a minute to change."

I shook my head and leaned my back against the wall to wait for him to reappear.

Once he came back out, we stepped into the elevator and wordlessly left the building to get into a cab. Neither of us said anything until we were in the store with a shopping basket.

"How'd you sleep? D-Do you have a hangover? We can get something for it while we're here if you'd like." I spoke softly behind my mask so only he'd hear. We both wore them, the ones that only cover the bottom half of your face, just in case. Our debut was only last night and there were only a few other people in the shop, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

The Uchiha tore the basket out of my grasp after I placed a small bag of flour into it, "We didn't actually drink that much."

My hands clasped together in front of me as we continued down the aisle. It was silent for a minute or two as we slowly searched for our ingredients. To my surprise, he tossed a small carton of cherry tomatoes into the basket, rolling his eyes at me when I gave him a curious look. He couldn't see the small smile on my lips behind my mask and I was glad because he'd probably get annoyed.

Sasuke likes tomatoes. I'll remember that.

I recalled how casually we'd hung out last night and gasped, making him jump slightly as it broke the silence, "Oh, I meant to ask! Do you play the guitar? I-I saw the one in your room."

He scoffed, running his long fingers through his messy hair, "Why would I have it if I didn't know how to play? Idiot." I shot him a glare, making his eyes warm slightly as he obviously smirked behind his mask, "I'm not gonna serenade your ass so don't ask."

The heat on my face skyrocketed and I turned to fully face him, embarrassed, "T-That's not why I asked! I was just curious, that's all."

He chuckled before grabbing a carton of blueberries and tossing it into the basket, "You play the piano, right?"

Feeling a bit brave, I retorted under my breath as I mocked his tone of voice, "I do, but I'm n-not gonna serenade you either." He snickered, but didn't say anything else.

After a moment, my curiosity got the best of me yet again, "Where'd you learn to play? Did you take classes?"

The amused glimmer in his eye seemed to start fading and I bit my tongue. It wasn't my intention to make him uncomfortable or overstep any boundaries, but it suddenly felt like I had. He responded, anyway, in a much less playful tone than before, "My mother taught me when I was a kid."

Mikoto Uchiha, the famed ex-wife of the Uchiha family's leader and CEO. I wasn't overly familiar with the woman, having never met her, but knew she was the one who filed for divorce when I was around two or three, meaning Sasuke was somewhere around five or six at the time. From what I understood, Sasuke's parents haven't been on good terms since.

It was undoubtedly a sensitive topic and I desperately wished I hadn't asked if only to bring back the light-hearted feeling that'd been here just moments ago. My eyes fell down to the tiled floor and I forced a reply out so the aura wouldn't get too tense, "T-That's nice. It must've been fun!"

"What about you?"

I looked over to see him tossing a bag of chocolate chips into the basket and wanted to ask him why we needed them when we already had blueberries, but decided against it. The man must like variety and I'm not one to judge.

"What about me?"

He turned and began walking further down the aisle, "How did you learn to play piano?"

My brow furrowed and I wanted to slap my cheeks when I stumbled over my words, "I-I-I taught m-myself."

He glanced back at me and I could tell just by the look on his face that he understood why I was suddenly uncomfortable. The Hyuuga family has much more than enough money to pay for top-notch lessons and teachers, but my father would never in a million years approve of me spending so much time on something unrelated to the family business.

"Y-You should play for us sometime. I think Tenten would love that." I desperately tried to change the subject from our families since it was a topic both of us didn't like.

Sasuke scanned our items at the self-checkout register, "What did I just say? I'm not serenading you, Hyuuga."

Sighing in defeat, I shook my head and nudged him out of the way when he tried to pay, swiftly pulling out some money before he could argue, "I'm not asking you to sing, you jerk. I just didn't expect you to play an instrument so it'd be kind of c-cool to see."

Just as I'd nudged him out of the way to pay, he nudged me out of the way to carry the two bags, "I'll tell you what. I'll play for you guys if you do, too, but I get to pick the song. Deal?"

My face warmed as he glanced back to make sure I was following him before heading toward the exit. We got into a cab and remained silent until arriving back at the agency. I glanced back at him as I tried to unlock the door to my dorm as quietly as possible in an attempt to not wake Sakura if she was still sleeping, finally responding in a voice barely above a whisper, "I-I thought you'd argue a bit more."

He smirked, his mask pulled down under his chin since we didn't need to hide our faces within this building, "Does that mean you agree? I'm not gonna pick an easy song for you, Hyuuga."

My lips formed a firm line as I glared at him, holding the door open for him to enter first once I finally had it unlocked. Something about this Uchiha man just gets under my skin sometimes, but it made me much less nervous around him so maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. "F-Fine! Tell me when you pick it and I'll start learning it."

He helped himself to the kitchen, unpacking the bags as I kicked my shoes off and went into the bathroom to find a ponytail holder so I could pull my hair back while cooking. Once it was up, I came out and paused to stick my ear to Sakura's door to listen for sounds of life. It was completely silent, meaning she was likely still asleep. Sasuke stood with his hands in his pockets and a cloth headband pushing his hair back out of his face as he leaned against the counter.

A small laugh managed to escape my lips before I could cover them with my hand and he shot me a glare, but only responded to my previous statement, "You're being awfully trusting of me, don't you think? First you owe me one wish and now I get to pick a song for you to embarrass yourself trying to perform for us. You're a real idiot."

That's right. He promised to tell me what I'd done while drunk and drugged the night we all partied at Masquerade if I complete one wish, but he's yet to tell me what it was. I rolled my sleeves up to my elbows and started washing my hands in the kitchen sink with a glare on my face, but chose to ignore his taunts. He rolled up his own long sleeves and seemed to wait for his turn to use the faucet.

My hardened gaze softened instantly. Does he intend to help me cook?

Sure enough, once the Uchiha finished drying his hands, he pulled a large mixing bowl out from under the sink and started whipping together pancake mix without even having to look up a recipe. My mouth hung open as I watched his hands work with ease, face focused.

Words were leaving my lips before I could stop them, "Have you made this before?"

Sasuke seemed to snap out of his trance and looked surprised by his own actions for just a fraction of a moment before shrugging, but didn't offer a further explanation. Instead, he turned his back to me to add both blueberries and chocolate chips to the batter. He wasn't quick enough for me not to notice the red tint that'd risen to his cheeks, though. My own face burnt in response.

This Sasuke was a million times more attractive than the sexy bad boy he tried to be any other time. I like him this way.

In an effort to avoid annoying him by talking too much and causing him to retreat to his own room, I didn't say anything else and turned to preheat the stovetop with a hand to my cheek in an effort to cool the warm skin there. The smile on my face refused to falter.

Ever since our debut performance yesterday, he's been incredibly cute whether it was intention or not. The Uchiha couldn't find out I thought so or else he'd likely curse me out and close me off once again. So, I kept my lips sealed and enjoyed this new side of him in silence, appreciating his unexpected efforts to open up a bit with me.

Before long, a tall stack of pancakes were placed onto a platter in the middle of the dining table, just waiting to be devoured. All that was left was to wake Sakura and retrieve Gaara from his room. We didn't really decide to invite our redheaded friend out loud, but it'd be awful of us not to when the rest of us were in here. Besides, Sakura wasn't the only one who had a rough night last night.

Sasuke left to get him and I knocked lightly on the pinkette's door. After a moment, she opened it with a groggy frown, eyes still noticeably red from all the crying she'd undoubtedly done before bed, "Hey Hinata. Good morning."

It was all over her face, her guilt. I grinned reassuringly at her, letting her know without having to say that I wasn't upset with her for ghosting me last night. Her nose raised slightly into the air as she caught a whiff of the food sitting on the table and her expression perked up a bit, "Pancakes?"

A small laugh left my lips as I nodded, "Blueberry chocolate chip." I was too surprised by Sasuke's cooking abilities to stop him from preparing the pancakes how he saw fit. Most people choose one of the two ingredients, but they'll still be tasty either way.

She hurried into the bathroom to wash her face before throwing herself into a chair at the table and adding some food to her plate. I'd set the table before waking her, so a hot mug of coffee sat by her as well. Sakura gave me a sheepish grin as she reached for the syrup, "Thank you for this, Hinata."

Before I could reply, the door to our room opened once more and in came the two boys. Gaara and her met gazes before both of them averted their eyes awkwardly. She took a bite of pancake into her mouth and chewed quietly with wide, panicked, eyes staring down at her plate.

I tried to ease the awkwardness, "Y-You can thank Sasuke, too. He did most of the cooking."

That distracted her and she looked at him in surprise as the rest of us sat down at the table. Once Sakura swallowed her food and took a sip of coffee, her tone accurately depicted her disbelief, "No way! Sasuke Uchiha knows how to cook?"

She gave me a stunned look before shrugging and cutting another piece of her food onto her fork and mumbling under her breath, "You learn something every day, I guess."

The man in question rolled his eyes, barking at her as his eyebrow twitched in irritation "You have no room to talk, idiot." She flipped him off since it'd be rude to talk with her mouth full. A couple days after I arrived at the agency, she'd tried to make cookies and made the fire alarm go off.

Gaara stayed silent and seemed content to just listen to the conversation around him. When he reached across to grab a pancake once it was his turn, my eyes widened in realization and gasped. He froze, looking at me as though he'd done something wrong.

"W-We forgot to get Tenten!"

I rose to do just that, but Sakura waved a hand at me and took another swig of her coffee before getting up, "Let me get her, you eat." I sat back down and nodded, finally getting a pancake onto my plate as everyone else had gotten theirs.

Once she was out of earshot, I gave Gaara a reassuring smile, "Are you doing alright?"

He nodded with a soft pink dusting his cheeks, but didn't raise his gaze from his plate which told me he was likely at least sort of lying. Sasuke and I met eyes across the table and he shook his head at me, warning me like last night not to butt in.

Sighing in defeat, I relented, "W-Well, if you need someone to talk to, don't hesitate to ask one of us."

The door to the dorm reopened before he could respond and Tenten stormed into the room like a hurricane, flopping down in between the redhead and I. "Pancakes! Thank you lord baby Jesus!"

Sakura followed her in a much calmer manner, grabbing the young woman a plate and utensils and handing them to her before going back into the kitchen to also get a cup of coffee for her. Once she rejoined us, we began eating, only to pause and stare at Tenten when she took a massive bite and moaned loudly.

When her eyes opened and realized we were all watching her, she complained through a mouthful of food, "What? I haven't had carbs in almost a month, don't judge!"

Various sounds of amusement came from the rest of us as we returned to enjoying the meal.

An hour or so later, after we finished eating and cleaning the dishes, we all showered before loading into one of the company's large SUVs and heading out to the location where our music video was to be shot.

Evolution owns multiple off-campus warehouses that are used for these types of things. They're all filled with top notch equipment so almost any concept can be met without having to travel too far or spend too much money doing on site filming.

The moment we arrived, we were ushered off to hair and make up. The artists were already waiting there and greeted us politely before getting right to work. My hair was straightened, just like it was for our performance last night, but the middle-aged woman doing my makeup was taking a heavier, sexy approach with the concept today. Tenten had warned us to expect more dramatic looks for music videos and it's not like I hadn't heeded her words, but I still wasn't familiar with how this type of stuff looks on me.

As a deep maroon lipstick was being applied to my lips, a boisterous voice suddenly erupted from near the entrance of the large building. It made me jump in shock and the makeup smeared off track and onto my cheek.

I apologized swiftly, but she simply shook her head with an understanding grin, "Don't worry about it. This happens all the time when that man comes around."

Once she fixed the error, my makeup was soon complete and I was given freedom to get up and stretch my legs while I waited for someone from styling to retrieve me so I could be outfitted. An older, more muscular version of celebrity stylist Rock Lee was approaching Tenten, who seemed to be badly hiding her panic.

Gaara rose, also finished with hair and makeup, to stand next to me and see what I was staring at. We glanced at one another and stifled laughs. That man could only be one person: Might Guy, the world famous personal trainer to the stars. The look on our mentor's face said it all. She wasn't supposed to eat carbs even though she'd binged this morning at breakfast.

"Good morning, my beautiful Tenten! I trust you're well this morning?" His and Rock Lee's speech patterns were nearly identical.

I bet Sakura was experiencing ptsd in the dressing room across the room because the man's voice carried easily throughout the building.

Tenten gave her trainer a sheepish grin once he was close enough, "I'm good, Guy. How about you?"

The bowl-cut sporting man stared at her with a blindingly bright smile, but didn't respond. Their stare-off lasted almost an entire minute before the brunette popstar let out a loud and defeated groan, "Gah! I cheated on my diet! How the hell do you do that?"

Guy shot her a wink and a thumbs up with both hands, "One word, my dear Tenten: intimidation! Now, to make up for your lapse in youthfulness, we're going to run twenty laps around the outside of this building. Let's go!"

Tenten let out another groan, even more defeated than the last one, as she pulled her arms from her thin jacket and tossed it onto a chair nearby. Then she stomped her way out the exit to do as told, Guy following her whilst shouting encouraging words. Kakashi laughed lightly at their antics as he picked up the woman's discarded jacket and crossed the room to hang it on the large coat rack by the door.

"We're ready for you, Hinata. Please come with me!" I turned to see a petite and curvy woman gesturing in the direction of the dressing room and gave Gaara a small look before turning to follow her.

Sakura stepped out from behind the curtain as we approached and the breath left my body at how incredible she looked. The outfit screamed pop star. It was a white bodysuit that was so short it could barely be considered shorts. The cloth came up to inch-wide straps over the shoulders, but you could barely see it with how much detail and decoration was added to it.

Glamorous diamonds bedazzled dramatized shoulder pads, the entire bust of the outfit, and some asymmetric lines and hearts ran down the torso to the hips, where long tassels fell around like a skirt. The tassels also fell from the shoulder pads. The ones at her waist fell to seemingly random lengths around her legs, ending somewhere between her knees and shins.

Tall white boots were on her feet, coming up to her mid-thigh, and white gloves came up past her elbows. The outfit altogether gave off a vibe of popstar meets punk meets battle armor, but still managed to look incredibly sexy. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, the thick pink strands curled into loose and seductive curls as they ran down to her middle back.

The girl glanced at me when I got close enough, tearing her attention from the aide who was slipping rings and bracelets onto her fingers and wrists, "Ooh, Hinata! Your makeup's amazing!"

My eyes probably looked like they were about to bug out of my head, but I somehow managed to reply with a bright red face, "Y-You look stunning!"

A shy grin rose up to her lips and her voice became a bit softer, "Do you think it suits me alright?"

I nodded, not resisting when the stylist who'd been leading me gently grabbed my arm to continue guiding me toward the dressing room, "Absolutely!" I didn't get to glimpse her response because the curtain closed behind me and was forced to focus on putting on my own outfit.

I turned to face the room and felt my heart drop into my stomach. Hanging in a clear garment bag was the exact same outfit Sakura was wearing, only it was black rather than white. It took me an entire minute to snap out of my stunned stupor before I begrudgingly began undressing.

Not only was the outfit provided, but so were special undergarments and shoes. Upon closer inspection, everything was perfectly my size and I realized this was likely why they'd gotten all of our measurements shortly after I signed my contract and instructed us not to gain or lose weight if possible.

Glancing at the curtain behind me to make sure it was still completely closed, I removed my undergarments before slipping on the provided ones with haste. Being completely nude when I could hear dozens of people around, just outside this small room, was extremely uncomfortable. Then, I unzipped the garment bag and let out a sigh of relief when I realized the outfit zipped up the back and wouldn't be all that difficult to get in or out of.

Just as I expected, it fit like a glove.

After pulling on the black gloves and thigh-high boots, I took a calming breath before taking a step over in front of the mirror to see myself for the first time. My heart either stopped or began beating so quickly that I couldn't tell each pump of blood apart. That girl in the mirror looked nothing like me, not at all. She looked like a celebrity, someone confident and drenched in luxury.

Healthy black hair fell down to her middle back and over her shoulders, bangs sitting perfectly to contrast her pale skin. The revealing outfit accentuated her curves, making the good things look better and the bad ones less noticeable.

The only thing that didn't match was the panic-stricken look in her eyes. The dark and sexy makeup made them pop, for sure, but the emotion couldn't be masked. My fingers cautiously raised to touch my face and a breath got caught in my throat as I confirmed it was, indeed, me standing there.

A voice came from directly outside the curtain, "Is everything fitting you, Hinata? Do you need any help?"

"A-Ah, no! I'm finished, sorry!" My face warmed as I realized I've been in here for well over ten minutes and was probably putting everyone behind schedule.

"Please come on out, then, so we can put on your jewelry."

My brow furrowed as I forced one foot to move, then the other, then repeated the process until I finally stepped out past the curtain.

"Oh shit!"

My eyes lifted from the ground to see all three of my bandmates staring at me with wide eyes and immediately moved to try and hide behind the curtain again, "W-What? Does it look bad?" The stylist blocked the way and I awkwardly clasped my hands together in front of my body with nowhere to run or hide.

"You look so hot, Hinata! How have you managed to hide that body all this time?"

I met Sakura's eye and she stepped forward to grab my hand and pull me a few steps closer to her before holding my arms out from my sides so she could get a better look. I was so embarrassed and my face was so hot, I couldn't manage to say anything and simply focused on not fainting. I sensed Gaara enter the dressing room after his stylist placed his outfit inside.

"Face this way, Hinata. Does everything feel comfortable? Nothing's too loose or too tight?" My body obeyed my stylist's directions and I shook my head as she expertly began placing jewelry on my hands and wrists.

Sakura moved to stand next to Sasuke and I saw her pull out her phone in my peripheral vision, "I gotta have a photo of this."

My eyes glazed over as my anxiety rose further.

"We're about to record a video, why would you need to?" The Uchiha man sounded more annoyed than usual.

Once I was completely finished, I was set free to wait around with Sakura for the boys to get finished. Gaara stepped out of the dressing room before either of us could say anything and both of us sucked in shocked gasps.

The sweeter of the two men in our group looked anything but in those clothes. He wore flattering black pants with a black button up long-sleeved shirt, but the sleeves were rolled up to his forearms and harness-like belts were around his waist and over his shoulders.

I heard Sakura's voice whisper just barely loud enough for anyone else to hear, "What the fuck."

The redhead's face was almost as red as his hair as he was pulled along by a couple makeup artists so they could put some fake tattoos on him. Sasuke wordlessly disappeared behind the curtain when instructed to do so.

I glanced at my pink-haired friend as her eyes followed Gaara away, "Sakura?"

She snapped out of it with a pretty blush on her cheeks, meeting my eye with a frown, "Sorry. I know we've all seen each other dressed up and stuff, but this is an entirely different level!"

A sheepish grin met my lips and I nodded, "I-I know what you mean."

We were instructed to get onto set while Sasuke finished dressing. Since the video was for Familiar, Gaara and Sakura were partners for most of the song, leaving Sasuke and me together as well. The two dancers of our group stood silently side by side, both refusing to look or talk to each other as Kakashi approached the set.

My limbs were pretty much trembling with anxiety and I couldn't stop myself from adjusting my hair or my clothing every couple seconds. This was more uncomfortable than performing on stage yesterday.

"Can we get someone to fix Hinata's hair? Hinata, you look great so stop fidgeting, okay?"

I looked up in shock at our CEO, frowning with a nod when I noticed the reassuring smile on his lips as he stood a couple yards in front of us as we continued to wait for the fourth and final member of Prestige to arrive. The makeup artist from earlier came out with a small comb and a tube of lipstick and wordlessly began fixing whatever I'd managed to mess up in my fussing.

"There you are, Sasuke. Take your place by Hinata and we'll start in a moment." I tried to look over and catch a glimpse of the Uchiha man, but couldn't because it'd mess the helpful woman up in her attempt to reapply a layer of maroon lipstick. Once she was done, I gave her a grateful smile before swallowing nervously and focusing on Kakashi again.

"Alright, people, let's get focused! Your debut went well, but your work's far from over. Give it your all today and I'm sure your fans will be able to see how hard you've worked. First, we're going to record all of you at the same time, as many times as it takes for us to get the shot. Let's do this!"

Almost immediately once he was out of the multiple cameras' view, Kakashi shouted out an order for us to get into our beginning pose. I felt Sasuke's hand on my waist as I took a step back to stand at his side, bending back as he aided me in lifting my leg up. When my eyes met his, I would've toppled to the floor if his hold on me wasn't so firm.

His outfit was the same as Gaara's, but his sleeves weren't rolled up and it was white rather than black. The belt/harnesses were still black, though. The clothes added to the flawless hair and makeup, not to mention his natural good looks, were nearly unbearable. It was hard to look right at him, he was so gorgeous.

His lips were parted slightly as he helped me regain my balance and my eyes danced frantically between them and his eyes, continuing to panic.

"You're gonna faint if you don't get it together." His voice was quiet enough that only I could hear it, but loud enough to snap me back to my senses. Mortified, I nodded and focused on smoothing my breathing out, slowing my heart rate.

Eyes closed, I whispered back, "I-Is it okay if I do the same thing as y-y-yesterday?" On stage during our debut, both of us went all in, but the adrenaline wasn't quite as high this time around so it felt odd to be so brazen without permission.

He whispered back, sounding amused, "Just do it, dumbass."

My eyes shot open so I could glare up at him, but the music started and then we were moving. And I did it as closely to how I'd done it last night as possible, not limiting myself in the slightest just because it was Sasuke and he makes me nervous. The Uchiha didn't hold back, either, so it was fine.

I was on fire, full of determination to do well and irritation that he was so damn attractive. The longer filming went on, the easier it got, and my annoyance with my dance partner faded to the point that we were laughing and joking around between takes.

I don't know what happened that caused the change in his character in the last twenty four hours, but I'm not one to look a blessing in the eye and question it.

-Sakura's POV-

Six hours later, we all piled into the back of the same SUV we'd arrived in. Our hair and makeup was still done flawlessly, but our energy levels were lower than the basement. Personally, I was a little mad that I wasn't allowed to keep the outfit I wore because the boots were undeniably cute, but I'd just have to order them online once our album drops and we start getting paid.

Before today, I thought the process of recording a music video would be interesting and exciting, and it was…for the first two hours. After that, it became a bit tedious having to perform the same song over and over until Kakashi and the creative director felt satisfied they'd be able to craft a trendy and award-worthy product.

My entire being was painfully aware of Gaara for the entire day, especially since he's likely angrier than hell while looking unfairly handsome. A large part of me expected our dancing to suffer from our tense feelings, but that wasn't the case. Our performance was the same as usual: precise and fluid.

Somehow, that made me feel even worse than before. How much effort is he having to put into keeping his composure? I know I'm struggling. Every time we touched, which was at almost all times, my heartbeat would quicken.

I stole a glance at his stoic face as he stared out the window at the passing buildings. The guilt from losing my temper and acting like a fool in front of him was eating me alive, but I also meant it when I said it wasn't his place.

After seeing how hurt he was and how closed off he's been all day, I've already come to forgive him because he means more to me than some petty argument, but now I have to figure out how to make things right. We still need to have an actual conversation rather than me yelling at him while he refuses to stoop to my level.

My phone vibrated in my purse, tearing me from my agonizing, and I eagerly fished it out since I still hadn't received a response from my mother. Just like last night, Garrett's name crossed my screen rather than hers and I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the annoyed groan from leaving my lips.

I peeked around to make sure no one had seen my screen and then opened the message with my phone's screen tilted away from the others, "That red headed prick needs to keep his hands off of you. He's lucky all he got was a black eye. Next time he won't be so lucky."

My fingers were moving on the screen, typing a response angrily, "Don't call him names and stop texting me unless you're going to apologize. If you even try to talk to him, I'll press charges."

"Are you alright, Sakura?"

I slammed my phone down against my lap in shock and looked up to see a tired Tenten giving me a curious look. That running Guy made her do must've really taken it out of her because she looked as though she'd been up there dancing with us for those six hours. I nodded quickly, "Of course! Why?"

She raised an eyebrow, "You were angry texting."

Dismissively, I shook my head, "Oh, that. Ino wants me to go out with her tonight and I keep telling her no, but she's relentless." I lied through my teeth.

Tenten seemed to buy it and chuckled, "You guys are gonna be pretty busy for the next few weeks so she'd better get over it."

My phone vibrated under my hand and I was anxious to read it, but decided to wait it out until we were back to the agency where I could be sure no one would see it.