DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.

A/N: No excuse for the late update. Sorry, oh-tangled for not updating my other stories. You know how I am still grieving over Naruto's ending, just the fact that it is over. Maybe I'll have my other stories ready for you next year. I'm halfway done rewriting it. ;)

Naruto let out an exasperated sigh. He was tired. Who knew that matchmaking would be so hard?

"I think she likes him," Sai said with one of his signature smiles as he walked next to him.

"You're kidding, right?" Naruto asked, but he couldn't decipher Sai's emotionless expression.

Perhaps it was Naruto's own fault for seeking help from someone who was socially inept like Sai. It was a terrible mistake. Sai didn't know simple emotions like happy, sad, anger, inappropriate. How much more for the complicated ones like love?

"You should have kept quiet," Naruto answered back.

"I don't understand," Sai began, "I thought I was helping."

Naruto understood Sai's deficiency in understanding emotions. At least Sai tried to help. Shikamaru, the lazy genius of the class, said it would be too troublesome and that it wasn't worth the effort. Suigustsu laughed and Juugo said he was busy. Sakura wouldn't believe him neither would Ino or his cousin, Karin. It was just him and Sai playing cupid.

Hinata wasn't like most girls that fawned over him. She appeared to be repulsed by him. Perhaps that's why Sasuke-teme likes her! Naruto reasoned. Sasuke found a girl who didn't swoon over his charm. Sasuke was a challenge and this girl challenged him. Plus, Sasuke did tell him that he did like girls with long hair and Hinata did have really long hair. Or was that a rumor?

"You were trying to make Sasuke appeal to Hinata, am I correct, Dickless?" Sai asked.

"You caused her to run away," Naruto stated.

How could such soft-spoken and kind girl have such dislike towards Sasuke. Naruto knew that Sasuke was rude, blunt, sour-faced pretty boy, his rival, a stupid perfectionist, and an irritating guy - and there was a bunch of other crap - but Uchiha Sasuke was still Naruto's best friend.

"She probably saw the error of her ways and ran back to him," Sai suggested. Naruto shook his head. That wasn't even close to what he witnessed. "Did you do something wrong?"

"Me?!" Naruto cried. "This is all your fault!"

"How?" Sai asked with a confused expression."Dickless, but it seemed like you needed help making Sasuke seem desirable."

"That's no reason to talk about Sasuke's penis in front of Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Was it wrong of me?" Sai asked.

"Yes!" Naruto affirmed. "You shouldn't talk about things like that to her or to anyone."

No matter how much the pale teen read about emotions by people who have their doctorates, Sai couldn't quite comprehend or apply what he learned. Naruto was simply helping him and Sai thought it was a good idea to help Naruto play matchmaker. He read about it in books. He couldn't understand what he did wrong. Didn't he make Sasuke seem manlier? Apparently, you weren't supposed to talk about that. Sai jotted down theses notes on his notepad. Emotions were complicated and love seemed to be more complex for Sai.

"But Karin and Sakura don't seem to mind," Sai reasoned.

"It's because Sakura's a closet perv," Naruto stated.

"Sakura, the Pink Pervert," Sai said. It did have a better ring to it than Ugly. He wondered if it would be more endearing.

"Let's go to the cafeteria," Naruto suggested, "matchmaking is so tiring."

Hinata Hyuga was running through the halls. What did she do to deserve such treatment? She just wanted to give Naruto, her crush, some freshly bakes cookies from her home-ec. class. It was the first time ever she had made cookies on her own and they smelled so good. She was going to offer Naruto the cookies she made but Sai, the pale teen, insisted in talking about Sasuke and love. Hinata didn't want to be reminded of him. However, when she politely tried to change the subject, Sai went into some things that she didn't want to know about the Uchiha. The subject of Sasuke's manliness made the pink rush out of her face and replace it with a ghastly complexion. There were so many things that she wished she could un-hear. She was afraid that she was going to faint from all the information she was getting so she ran away covering her ears.

Maybe she should try to talk to Naruto again. Naruto invited her to a group date, well it wasn't really date. It was a get together that was happening tomorrow. However, she couldn't waste a perfectly good batch of cookies freshly made. It was true that in two months, Hinata hadn't made that many friends because of her timid demeanor. She had only talked to Naruto and he already referred to her as a friend.

Hinata began to retrace her steps back to Naruto. When she had met him, it was in the science wing in Kabuto's Anatomy class. Maybe he was still there. Once she arrived, she looked for her blond friend but couldn't find him. However, she did find a blond girl in the classroom who informed her that Naruto had left and gone to the nurse's office. Hinata made her way to the nurse's office where Shizune pointed out where Naruto was staying. She was about to enter the infirmary when she heard a voice that accompanied with Naruto's.

"You're such a great friend for coming to visit me," Naruto joked.

"What did you do this time?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata didn't like the Uchiha at all. He was mean, rude, self-centered, cruel, negative, inconsiderate, and plain out mean! She found it difficult to believe that Naruto would befriend such cruel person. She understood her cousin completely when he told her not to be involved with such bad blood.

"It's not even my fault," Naruto muttered with his arms across his chest.

"So I guess the rumors are true," the Uchiha began, "you got beat up by Sakura, again."

"No!" Naruto shouted. "I fell down the stairs running from Sakura after Sai called Sakura the Pink Pervert."

"Hn." Sasuke said. He didn't have much words to say for that. It would explain why Sai was unconscious next to Naruto.

"You're taking her side!" Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke began to walk towards the door in which Hinata began to panic for she was on the other side. "You're leaving me here, alone in this infirmary."

"You have Sai right next to you," Sasuke pointed to the pale boy next to him who lay unconscious. "I have to get to my afternoon classes. Lunch break is almost over."

Naruto's stomach let out a ferocious growl. "Could you get me something to eat?" Naruto asked sheepishly.

Sai and Naruto had gone to find Hinata and invite her to eat lunch with the whole gang, but it wasn't as productive as he thought it to be because of Sai's attempt to make Sasuke appear manlier. Sakura had gone to find them since it wasn't like Naruto to be late to lunch. Then Sai called Sakura a new nickname that she did not like and that was when chaos erupted.

"I have ramen in my locker. I'd get it myself but Shizune-san won't let me leave until after next period is over," Naruto informed.

Sasuke let out a sigh for his more than helpless friend. He dug through his book bag and pulled out a box covered in a pink handkerchief. "Here." Sasuke handed him the box.

Naruto instantly recognized it. It was Sakura's. Sakura was excited for her baking cookies that she worked hours beforehand to be able to make the perfect batch and be able to replicate it in their cooking class and be able to prove her superiority to Ino.

"Sakura gave that to you," Naruto stated. "You should eat it."

"I don't want it," Sasuke answered back.

"But she worked so hard to ba-"

"I hate sweets," Sasuke deadpanned.

"You know, Sakura really likes you," Naruto informed. "She put so much time and effort into making this for you. She says she even lo-"

"Just take the damn box or it's going in the trash," Sasuke stated. "You know my disdain for sweets."

"Fine," Naruto said as he swiped the box away before Ssauke could toss it in the trash. Something like this deserved to be cherished and admired. However, it wasn't meant for him.

"If you're going to stare at it, then I might as well get you your instant ramen," Sasuke told him in which Naruto beamed and Hinata panicked.

The little Hyuga was still behind the door. She froze as she began to think of what to do. She heard the Uchiha's step come closer and closer. If she was to sprint out, the Uchiha would notice her and there were not that many places to hide. The Uchiha would surely catch her eavesdropping, and it would affirm that she was indeed a creepy stalker and she did not want that. However, she would prove him wrong. With a new spirit, she swung the door open.

"Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed in her soft voice.

"Teme!"

Naruto's little outburst in laughter made the little heiress cringe. That's when she noticed that there was a person behind the door. Hinata blushed in embarrassment.

"Are you alright?" Hinata asked out of courtesy. She didn't mean to but the evil side of her was glad that she did hit him.

Sasuke revealed himself as he clutched his nose. "Ecstatic," he said to humor her. He dusted himself off. It seemed like every time, Sasuke would run into this girl something bad always happened and it always happened to him.

"Teme!" Naruto exclaimed. "Your nose is bleeding!"

Sasuke looked at his hand, and sure enough there was red liquid. There were a few drops on his uniform too.

Hinata went through her bag and shuffled for a handkerchief. She found the her white one. The one that she wrapped around the box she was going to give to Naruto. Hinata gave it to him and Sasuke took.

"Thanks, Hyuga," he said sarcastically as he began to clean himself up.

Naruto snickered. "You gave teme a bloody nose."

"I didn't mean to," she stammered. "It - it was an accident."

"Don't worry, Sasuke-teme won't hold it against you," Naruto said.

Hinata looked down at her feet as she began to play with her fingers. She was so embarrassed. She hurt one of Naruto's closest friends.

"Cheer up," Naruto said with an assuring smile. "You can have one of Sakura's cookies. They're really good."

When their eyes made contact, Hinata couldn't help but look away and her cheeks began to flush a shade of red. "What are you doing here, Hinata?" Naruto asked. "Are you sick? The flu has been going around."

"That's not it," Hinata answered. She understood why Naruto thought she was sick. Her cheeks were burning bright out of embarrassment and being with her crush made them flare. "I heard that y-you were in the infirmary. I wanted to make sure you were okay, N-Naruto-kun."

"Thanks, Hinata," Naruto said. "I can assure you I am fine. I just fell down a few flights of stairs."

Hinata debated whether or not she should give Naruto the cookies she made from class. She knew what was inside the pink box that Naruto held. Sakura Haruno made the best chocolate chip cookies in her entire class. Anko-sensei said so herself. Hinata's paled in comparison to the pinkette. However, she had gotten this far. She wouldn't stop. She wouldn't be intimidated by perfection.

"Actually, I wanted to give you something," Hinata confessed.

"Really, what is it?" Naruto asked.

She dug through her book bag and clutched the box that held her sweet treats. Nothing could stop her now... except for the bell and Shizune checking up on Sai.

"I must have forgotten it," Hinata lied. "I guess I'll give it to you later."

"Okay then," Naruto said. "See you around."

Hinata waved good-bye and exited the room. She mentally cursed herself. Why had she given up the last second. She pulled out the brown box that contained her chocolate cookies. Maybe it was for the better that he did not try her cooking. Something like this belonged in the trash.

"Liar," a raven haired teen accused.

"Uchiha-san!" Hinata exclaimed. "You were eavesdropping." He had been eavesdropping on them. Then again, she was eavesdropping on them too.

"I wouldn't have to, but someone gave me a bloody nose," Sasuke professed.

"S-Sorry," Hinata apologized.

"Why didn't you do it?" he asked her as he pointed at the brown box.

Hinata didn't answer right away as she made her way to the nearest trash can. "Sakura-san."

"Whatever happened to not giving up?" Sasuke asked.

"Excuse me?" Hinata looked at him in confusion. Had she heard him correctly? Last week, he had told her to give up on the blond Uzumaki. He was mean, rude, blunt, self-centered, probably narcissistic too. Why would he help her?

"I thought you said you were going to try despite Naruto being head over heels for Sakura," the Uchiha stated.

Generally, Sasuke enjoyed the silence. This he did not like. The way her white eyes looked at him. It was... weird. It was a puzzled expression. One, that no one had ever gave him. It was like she was trying to see through him and not in any perverted way. He broke her gaze when he grabbed the brown box.

"Look, it can't be that bad," Sasuke said as he grabbed one and plopped it in his mouth.

"Well?" Hinata asked with hopeful eyes.

"What the hell is it supposed to be?" he asked. He had eaten it without knowing what it was.

"Chocolate chip cookies," the indigo haired girl answered.

Did Uchiha Sasuke just eat a chocolate chip cookie but wait, weren't cookies supposed to be sweet? Perhaps, the Sasuke lost blood from his head during his nosebleed. Sasuke had better as a child but the Hyuga's cookies weren't exactly the worse. Deidara had cooking that can literally kill with how explosive he was with the ingredients, but perhaps Deidara had a rival in that title.

"Bitter," the Uchiha answered as he tried to swallowed the rest of it. It was very bitter. "You forgot sugar."

A/N: I've read so many fics where Hinata is an amazing cook. I can see her being a good cook when she's an adult but not when she's younger. I picture her being a terrible at first like getting flour everywhere, forgetting a few things because she gets overexcited and overzealous, and being clueless because she's an heiress and never has to worry about making food because she's always had food accessible to her. Does that make sense? Happy New Years!

Special thanks to Yudoku Kabe-no-Hana and DUH BOMBfor PMing me to continue.