Chapter Text 章節文字
Day 2: Knowing me, knowing you
第二天：了解我，了解你
Sasuke took Hinata to the infirmary, thankful that all the girls had already left and the nurse was still there. As strong as he was, he didn’t really feel like carrying her all the way to her compound and have a million Hyuugas looking at him and asking him why he had brought back their heiress unconscious. She was going to be fine even if he left her in the infirmary.
佐助帶雛田去了保健室，感激所有女孩都已經離開，護士還在。儘管他很強壯，但他並不想把她背到她的住所，讓無數日向家人看著他，問他為什麼把他們的女嗣帶回來時昏迷不醒。即使他把她留在保健室，她也會沒事的。
However, now that everything was said and done, Sasuke had a new problem in his hands.
然而，現在一切都已經說過且做完，佐助手上又出現了一個新問題。
Namely a girlfriend. 即女朋友。
Why had he told her that? It made no sense. He was going to reject her, and yet, when the moment came he said the exact opposite. He didn’t need a girlfriend. He didn’t want a girlfriend. As soon as he saw her the next day, he was going to tell her it was all a mistake and to forget about it.
為什麼他告訴她那個？這毫無意義。他本來要拒絕她，但當時機來臨時，他說了完全相反的話。他不需要女朋友。他不想要女朋友。第二天一見到她，他就會告訴她這一切都是一個錯誤，讓她忘記這件事。
But when he came home and found Itachi sitting on the engawa looking at the back garden, a rare sight considering he was always gone on a mission or another, the first thing Sasuke did, after greeting him of course, was ask him what you did with a girlfriend.
但是當他回家發現鼬坐在縁側上看著後花園時，這是一個罕見的景象，考慮到他總是在執行任務或其他事情上不在家，薩斯克問他的第一件事當然是問他和女朋友做了什麼。
“…excuse me?” the older boy asked, eyebrows raised and eyes opened wide. Sasuke huffed, glancing away.
「對不起？」年長的男孩問道，挑起眉毛，睜大雙眼。佐助噓了一聲，扭頭看向別處。
“You heard me. What do you do with a girlfriend? You should know, you’re always together with Izumi-san…”
"你聽到了。有了女朋友你該怎麼辦？你應該知道，你總是和泉小姐在一起…"
“Izumi isn’t my girlfriend…” Sasuke snorted, and Itachi narrowed his eyes. “It’s the truth. But enough about that. Why do you want to know that, little brother?”
"泉不是我的女朋友..."佐助哼了一聲，伊太希瞇起了眼睛。“這是事實。但不要再談這個了。你為什麼想知道這個，弟弟？”
“…curiosity.” "好奇心。"
Yeah right. 對啊。
“Is there anything I should know, Sasuke?” Itachi tried again, smiling softly. The boy pursed his lips and crossed his arms. “Could it be my little brother finally has a…?”
"佐助，有什麼事我應該知道嗎？" 鼬再次試著問道，微笑著。男孩緊縮嘴唇，交叉雙臂。「難道我的小弟弟終於有了…？」
“It’s just a stupid girl that left me some dumb love letter. It made me curious what would happen if I said yes, not that I plan to, and that made me wonder what you do with a girlfriend” he lied smoothly, or would have, if it weren’t for how obviously red his face was. Itachi hummed, but decided to be a big brother for once and let the matter go.
“只是一個愚蠢的女孩給我留了一封愚蠢的情書。這讓我很好奇如果我說是會發生什麼，雖然我沒打算這麼做，這讓我想知道有了女朋友你會做什麼。”他輕巧地說謊，或者應該說，如果不是他臉上明顯泛紅的話。伊太希哼了一聲，但決定這次做一次好哥哥，不再追究此事。
For now. 暫時。
“It depends, really.” "這取決於情況。"
“Depends on what?” Sasuke asked impatiently when Itachi didn’t elaborate.
“取決於什麼？”當鼬沒有進一步解釋時，佐助不耐煩地問道。
“Well, what the two of you like, for example. Normally, couples would do activities together that the two enjoy” he said. Sasuke frowned, pondering over it, before nodding slowly.
“嗯，比如你們兩個喜歡的事情。通常，情侶會一起做兩個人都喜歡的活動。”他說。佐助皺著眉頭，仔細考慮後，慢慢點頭。
“So… training together could be considered an activity for couples?”
"那麼...一起訓練可以被視為情侶活動嗎？"
“If the two of you think of it that way…” Itachi tilted his head, studying his little brother. “Do you know what this girl likes?”
「如果你們兩個這樣想的話...」伊太希歪著頭，凝視著他的弟弟。「你知道這個女孩喜歡什麼嗎？」
“What girl? This is all hypothetical!”
“什麼女孩？這都是假設！”
“Yeah… forgive me little brother” he smiled placatingly at the sputtering boy. “Hypothetically speaking, I would also recommend talking to the girl in question and asking her what she likes and doesn’t. Talking is key in any relationship.”
"是的... 原諒我，弟弟。”他和善地對著那個噴著口水的男孩微笑著。“假設地說，我也建議與那位女孩交談，問問她喜歡什麼，不喜歡什麼。溝通是任何關係的關鍵。”
“I see…” Sasuke nodded to himself, looking pensive. Then, he glanced up and said; “you’re not really good at that then, nii-san. Izumi-san told me the other day that you forgot about…”
"我明白了…"佐助自言自語地點點頭，神情沉思。然後，他抬起頭來說：“那麼，兄長，你對這方面並不擅長。泉美小姐前幾天告訴我你忘記了…"
“For the last time, Izumi isn’t my girlfriend.”
"這是最後一次了，泉不是我的女朋友。"
Hinata gulped, afraid of what would happen when she stepped inside the classroom.
日向緊張地咽了口口水，害怕踏進教室後會發生什麼事。
After finally gathering her courage to write Naruto a love letter… how did it end in Sasuke’s shoe locker? She didn’t understand it. She was sure she had the right one.
終於鼓起勇氣給火影忍者寫了一封情書... 為什麼最後卻出現在佐助的鞋櫃裡？她不明白。她確信她找對了。
The worst thing was that Sasuke thought the letter was meant for him. That was her fault, because she was too shy to even write Naruto’s name. The only son of the Hokage had caught her attention during their early academy days. With amazing and powerful parents, the boy was expected to exceed and become a prodigy; however, it wasn’t long until it became obvious that Naruto was a bit more challenged than others when it came to learning.
最糟糕的是，佐助認為這封信是寫給他的。這是她的錯，因為她太害羞，連寫出鳴人的名字都不敢。火影的獨子在他們早期的忍者學校時代就吸引了她的注意。擁有驚人和強大的父母，這個男孩被期望能超越成為天才；然而，很快就明顯地看出，當涉及學習時，鳴人比其他人更有些挑戰。
It wasn’t that he was bad… well, maybe he was a little when it came to studying, but he wasn’t worse than any other student out there. He didn’t learn things fast but he always managed to get there. The problem was that, with the Hokage as his father and the Jinchuriki of the nine tails as his mother, people expected incredible things out of him, and whenever he showed to be just as normal a boy as any other… people got disappointed.
他並不是壞人…嗯，也許在學習方面有點差，但他並不比其他學生更糟。他學東西不快，但總能夠掌握。問題在於，作為火影的兒子和九尾人柱力的母親，人們對他期望極高，每當他表現得和其他普通男孩一樣時… 人們就會感到失望。
It was unfair, and Hinata could see it every time in Naruto’s eyes when people would talk behind his back about how he wasn’t as good as his parents. But he never gave up, he always did his best even when having everyone against him, and that was something that Hinata had always admired about him.
這是不公平的，日向可以看到每次人們在背後談論他不如父母時，納鳴托眼中的表情。但他從不放棄，即使所有人都對他不利，他總是盡力而為，這是日向一直欽佩他的地方。
She didn’t have any hope of Naruto ever reciprocating her feelings, and as the day of their graduation approached, she was suddenly filled with fear that she might never see him again. Something stupid and unfounded, she knew, but there nonetheless. And so, she had pushed herself to write that letter, hoping that he would at least know of her and what she felt, and, just maybe, consider her too for the future.
她沒有任何希望鳴人會回應她的感情，當他們畢業的日子臨近時，她突然充滿了恐懼，擔心自己可能再也見不到他。她知道這是愚蠢和毫無根據的，但仍然存在。因此，她鼓起勇氣寫了那封信，希望他至少知道她和她的感受，也許，甚至考慮將來也考慮她。
But that wouldn’t happen now. Because the one that received her letter, for some reason, was Sasuke, not Naruto.
但現在不會發生這種事了。因為收到她信件的人，出乎意料地是佐助，而不是鳴人。
Hinata didn’t have a negative opinion of Sasuke, her crush’s best friend. She actually didn’t have much of an opinion of him. He was the second son of the Uchiha clan head, and considered far and wide a genius like his brother. He had the attention of every female at the academy and the favor of all their teachers. For Hinata, he was someone untouchable and unreachable, and so, someone she would be better simply not paying attention to. He received enough from everyone else to need hers after all.
日向對於她心儀的男生的好友佐助並沒有負面的看法。事實上，她對他並沒有太多看法。他是宇智波家族家主的次子，被廣泛認為像他哥哥一樣是一位天才。他吸引了學院裡每一位女生的注意，也贏得了所有老師的青睞。對於日向來說，他是一個高不可攀、遙不可及的存在，因此，她最好只是不去理會他。畢竟，他已經得到了其他人足夠的關注。
At first, when he showed her the love letter, her heart had sunk believing Naruto had given it to him. Believing her feelings were worth so little even if she already expected a rejection hurt. But then, it turned out she had actually put it in his locker and she was so confused, she could barely form a word before she was being asked about the truthfulness of what she wrote and then promptly declared the boy’s girlfriend.
起初，當他給她看那封情書時，她的心沉了下去，以為是由鳴人給他的。相信自己的感受如此微不足道，即使她已經預料到被拒絕會受傷。但後來，事實證明她其實是把它放在他的儲物櫃裡，她感到非常困惑，幾乎無法開口說話，然後被問及她所寫的內容的真實性，然後立即被宣布為那男孩的女朋友。
Uchiha Sasuke’s girlfriend.
宇智波佐助的女朋友。
Just why?! Her mind screamed. Why would Sasuke make her his girlfriend? It made no sense at all!
為什麼？！她的心在尖叫。為什麼佐助要讓她成為他的女朋友？這一點都毫無道理！
The boy with the entirety of the female population of the academy after him, who likely received hundreds of love letters a month… the only reason she could think of was that he actually lik-but no, that was impossible. But what other explanation could there be? In any case, and regardless of the reason, she had to make sure to clear the misunderstanding as soon as possible.
整個學院女生都對他傾心，可能每個月都會收到數百封情書……她唯一能想到的原因是他可能真的喜歡她，但不，那是不可能的。那還有其他解釋嗎？無論如何，不管原因是什麼，她必須確保盡快澄清這個誤會。
But to do that she first needed to enter the classroom, and she couldn’t do that, still too nervous to even take a step forward.
但要做到這一點，她首先需要進入教室，但她無法做到這一點，仍然太緊張，甚至無法向前邁出一步。
“Hinata!” 日向！
The girl squeaked, turning around just to see Sakura running towards her, a big smile on her face.
女孩尖叫一聲，轉過身來，只見櫻花朝她跑來，臉上掛著燦爛的笑容。
“S-Sakura…” “櫻……”
“Hinata, what a surprise! Did you come late too? That’s weird because you’re always so early! What are you doing just standing there? Come on, let’s enter!” Sakura spoke a mile a minute, breath coming out shallowly due to her run. She pushed Hinata playfully from behind as she sputtered and tried to make excuses, but to no avail. Soon, they were inside and Iruka was scolding them and Hinata didn’t even raise her head to look at the seat on the middle row to the left, where Naruto and Sasuke usually sat.
“雛田，真是個驚喜！你也遲到了嗎？這很奇怪，因為你總是這麼早！你站在那裡幹嘛呢？快點，我們進去吧！”櫻花說話快得像是在說方言，因為她跑得氣喘吁吁。她從後面開玩笑地推了推雛田，雛田結結巴巴地想找個藉口，但無济於事。很快，他們進了教室，伊魯卡正在責備他們，而雛田甚至沒抬頭看到左邊中排座位，那裡通常是鳴人和佐助坐的地方。
The day passed by and soon after it was time to eat lunch. Hinata ducked and practically ran away, worried Sasuke might want to talk to her in front of everyone, with Ino and Sakura quickly following her after exchanging a confused gaze.
這一天過去了，很快就到了吃午餐的時間。日向低下頭，幾乎是跑著離開，擔心佐助會想在大家面前和她說話，伊諾和櫻花交換了困惑的眼神後，迅速跟在她後面。
“What happened?” Ino asked, seeing her simply picking at her food with her chopsticks. Hinata shook her head, and was thankful when her two friends decided to simply let her be for the moment.
「發生了什麼事？」伊諾問道，看到她只是用筷子玩弄食物。日向搖了搖頭，當她的兩個朋友決定暫時讓她獨處時，她感到很感激。
This was another problem she had not seen coming.
這是另一個她沒有預料到的問題。
It had been so difficult for Hinata to make friends, so when Ino and Sakura started hanging out with her she had been so happy. But the two of them were in love with Sasuke, and although they had both come to terms with that between them, if they knew the boy they liked had unilaterally decided to make her his girlfriend, she was afraid of what their reaction would be.
對日向來說，交朋友一直是件困難的事情，所以當猪鹿和櫻開始和她交往時，她感到非常開心。但是她們兩個都喜歡上了佐助，雖然她們已經彼此接受了這一點，但如果她們知道她喜歡的男孩已經單方面決定要讓她成為他的女朋友，她擔心他們的反應會是什麼。
She didn’t want to lose their friendship. Another reason to clear things up with Sasuke as soon as she found a moment alone with him.
她不想失去他們的友誼。另一個原因是一旦她有機會獨處時，立即澄清與佐助之間的事情。
At the end of the day, she slowly packed her things, nervous for what she was going to do. She kept an eye open for Sasuke, who was talking to Naruto, hoping he would somehow understand she wanted to talk to him alone. As the two boys made their way out, she quickly followed them, looking for an opportunity, but this never came, as Naruto never once strayed from his friend’s side.
天黑之前，她慢慢地收拾好自己的東西，為即將要做的事情感到緊張。她留意著佐助，他正在和鳴人說話，希望他能明白她想單獨和他談話。當兩個男孩離開時，她迅速跟著他們，尋找機會，但機會從未出現，因為鳴人從未離開他朋友身邊。
That would be a problem.
那將是個問題。
Then, finally, when she was about to turn around and make a plan to try again tomorrow, Naruto waved Sasuke goodbye and ran down an alley to the left, leaving the black-haired boy alone.
最後，當她正準備轉身制定計劃，準備明天再試時，鳴人向佐助揮手告別，沿著左邊的小巷跑去，留下那位黑髮男孩獨自一人。
This was her chance.
這是她的機會。
“I know you’re there. How much longer are you going to follow me?”
我知道你在那裡。你還要跟著我多久？
Hinata squeaked. 日向尖叫了一聲。
Sasuke turned, frowning. “So? Are you coming or not?” he asked when he finally ran out of patience, waiting for her to approach. Hinata winced, feeling her face becoming hot, and made her way to him slowly.
佐助轉過身來，皺著眉頭說：“怎麼樣？你來不來？”當他終於失去耐心，等不及她靠近時，他問道。日向扭曲了一下，感覺臉變熱了，慢慢地走向他。
“S-Sasuke-kun, I wanted to talk to you. You see, yesterday…”
"佐助君，我想和你談一下。你知道，昨天…"
“Ah, yes, speaking of which” he interrupted, reaching inside his pocket. Hinata bit her lip, annoyed, but she couldn’t say anything else as he kept talking. “I actually wanted to ask you a few things. Let’s see…” he took out a piece of paper, and opening it, read aloud. “What’s your favorite color?”
「啊，對了，說到這個」他打斷了，伸手進口袋。日向咬了咬嘴唇，有些煩躁，但他一直在說話，她也無法說什麼。 「其實我想問你幾個問題。讓我看看...」他拿出一張紙，打開來，大聲朗讀。「你最喜歡的顏色是什麼？」
Hinata was taken aback. “…what?”
日向感到吃驚。“...什麼？”
“Your favorite color” he repeated, slowly, as if she was too dumb to understand. Hinata frowned.
他重複說：“你最喜歡的顏色”，慢慢地，好像她太笨了無法理解。日向皺眉。
“Why… why do you want to know that?”
為什麼... 你為什麼想知道這個？
“I made a list” he showed her the paper, and there she saw question after question written, confusing her. “I talked to Itachi, and he said that we should get to know each other if we’re going to date. So I made a list of the things I think might be important. So” he said again, pulling the paper back towards him, “what’s your favorite color?”
他拿出一張紙給她看，上面寫滿了問題，讓她感到困惑。“我跟鼬談過，他說如果我們要約會，就應該先了解彼此。所以我列了一張可能重要的事項清單。那麼” 他再次說道，將紙拉回自己身邊，“你最喜歡的顏色是什麼？”
Hinata didn’t answer for a while, too stunned to say anything. Sasuke quickly became impatient.
日向沉默了一会兒，太震惊了，无法说话。佐助很快变得不耐烦。
“It isn’t too difficult for you, is it?”
"對你來說並不太困難，對吧？"
“I… i-it’s violet, but…”
"我... 它是紫色的，但是..."
“Good. Second question: what’s your favorite food?”
"好的。第二个问题：你最喜欢的食物是什么？"
“Cinnamon buns… Sasuke-kun, listen...!”
肉桂卷...小櫻，聽著...！
“Ugh, sweets? Should’ve known, you look the type. Ok, third question…”
"啊，甜食？早該知道，你看起來就是這種類型。好吧，第三個問題..."
“Sasuke-kun!” Hinata raised her voice. She wasn’t quite yelling, but she was close to. Because… he was really getting on her nerves like this! Sasuke looked up, eyes wide in surprise before he frowned. Hinata ignored that. “Sasuke-kun, I wanted to talk to you about something… can you stop interrupting me and let me speak?” she asked, pleaded almost. At her tone, the boy softened his face, and glanced down, looking like a scolded child.
「佐助君！」雛田提高了聲音。她並沒有完全大喊，但已經接近了。因為……他這樣真的讓她很惱火！佐助抬起頭，眼睛驚訝地睜大，然後皺起了眉頭。雛田無視了這一切。「佐助君，我想和你談一些事情……你能停止打斷我，讓我說完嗎？」她問道，幾乎是懇求的口吻。聽到她的語氣，男孩柔和了臉龐，低頭看著地面，看起來像一個被責罵的孩子。
“Geez, alright, no need to get like that…”
"哎呀，好啦，沒必要那樣…"
Patience Hinata told herself. “About the letter… I think there has been a m-mistake…”
日向耐心告訴自己。“關於這封信…我想可能出現了一個錯誤…”
“What do you mean?” Sasuke asked.
「你是什麼意思？」佐助問道。
“The letter… that is… because I didn’t put the name…” you thought it was for you, but it was actually for Naruto-kun is what she was going to say.
“那封信…那是因為我沒有寫名字…” 你以為是給你的，但其實是給鳴人君的，她本來要說的。
But then, Sasuke again interrupted her. “Yes, I noticed. That was a bit weird, but it doesn’t matter. You know, your letter is actually the first one ever that… I don’t know, sounded deeper? What I mean is…” he scratched his nape, and Hinata couldn’t help but stare when a bit of color found its way to his cheeks. Sasuke was… blushing? What had the world come to! “I was thinking about it, and I wondered why would I be an inspiration for you. I don’t consider anything I do to be special, but the way you described it… I guess I like that you see the effort I put in and acknowledge it. Everyone else is always acting as if everything comes easy to me, but it’s nice that at least someone realizes it’s not like that. I guess… I feel seen.”
但是，接著，佐助再次打斷了她。“是的，我注意到了。那有點奇怪，但沒關係。你知道，你的信其實是我收到的第一封…我不知道，聽起來更深刻？我的意思是…”他挠了挠脖子，雛田不禁凝視著，當他的臉頰泛起一絲紅暈時。佐助在…臉紅？這是怎麼了！“我在想著這件事，我想知道為什麼我會成為你的靈感。我不認為我做的任何事情都特別，但你描述的方式…我想我喜歡你看到我付出的努力並予以肯定。其他人總是表現得好像對我來說一切都很容易，但至少有人意識到這並非如此，這很好。我想…我感到被看見了。”
…that… that was the most Hinata had ever heard Sasuke talk. On top of that, what was this sudden heart-to-heart? And why now of all times? This way, she would only feel bad when…!
…那…那是日向聽過的薩斯克說話最多的時候。再加上，這突如其來的心靈交流是怎麼回事？為什麼偏偏是現在？這樣一來，她只會在…時感到難過！
“Ah, I interrupted you again. What did you want to tell me?” Sasuke asked, oblivious to the inner dilemma Hinata was now facing. Gulping heavily, she played with her fingers, trying to come up with a way to tell him the truth without making him feel bad.
「啊，我又打斷你了。你想告訴我什麼？」佐助問道，完全沒意識到日向現在所面臨的內心困境。她大口吞嚥，玩弄著手指，試圖想出一種告訴他真相而不讓他感到難過的方法。
“I… I’m sorry I didn’t put your name in the letter, Sasuke-kun… I was too shy…” and a coward too, it seemed. “W-What is your favorite color?” she asked, to change the subject.
"對不起，我沒有在信中寫上你的名字，佐助君...我太害羞了..." 似乎也很膽小。"你最喜歡的顏色是什麼？"她問，想轉移話題。
“Blue. But ask your questions later, it’s my turn now” he looked at the list again. “Ok, third question…”
“藍色。但等會兒再問問題，現在輪到我了。”他再次看了看清單。“好的，第三個問題…”
It shouldn’t be long until he got bored of her anyway; the shy, weak ex-heiress of the Hyuuga clan with nothing to show for it. Surely, at one point or another, Sasuke would break up with her, and until then, she only had to pretend to be his girlfriend.
他應該不會太久就對她感到厭倦；那個害羞、軟弱的日向家前女繼承人，一無所有。想必，薩斯克遲早會和她分手，而在那之前，她只需要假裝是他的女朋友。
Pretty easy, right? 相當容易，對吧？
…right? …對嗎？