hey y'all. this is my very first story on ffnet. please be kind with reviews. i hope you like it an i'll try to update as quickly a possible. oh yeah sorry about any future spelling or gramatic errors. Dami-g

Disclaimer:- i dont not own Naruto (dont really know who does though).

enjoy!!

Chapter 1

As the light filtered through her lilac curtains, signalling daybreak, she blinked her eyes open until they adjusted to the streaming sunshine. For that moment with the sun bathing her pale porcelain skin in the warmth she forgot about the rest of the world, the torment her heart was in and then like a bolt of lightning struck directly at her chest she remembered.

Hinata remembered why she had cried herself to sleep quietly so as not to alert her cousin Neji.

Sweat dripped down her forehead as Hinata continued to train relentlessly at the old Chunnin training ground, she wouldn't have noticed someone running towards her if not for her byakugan.

"Hinata?" Tenten's voice rang out shakily but loud. She had ran as fast as she could to her best friend to break the news as gently as she could. "Hinata!"

Noticing that something was wrong with her normally calm and collected friend, she turned around only to see the pity and concern filled in Tenten's eyes.

"Tenten?" pausing to catch her breath. " What is it?"

"I-II don't know how to t-tell you this" Hinata was very worried by this stage. The woman who'd managed to stop her from stuttering was now doing so herself. "Naruto… he proposed to Sakura today. About an hour ago. I would've told you sooner but I couldn't find you…Hinata?"

Hinata was frozen with shock, a thousand thought racing through her head. "Erm, Thanks Tenten. I think I'll go home now. I'll see you tomorrow?" how she managed to say that sentence with a calm voice she would never know, but she wasn't feeling that way at all on the inside, she just wanted to go home and cry her sorrow into her pillow.

"Yeah, sure. I'll come see you in the morning. Take care Hina."

"I'm so stupid" she muttered into her pillow. Hinata had liked Naruto for as long as she could remember and even though she had never had the confidence to admit this to him, she had hoped that Naruto would realise this and they would have ended up together, even when Naruto had started dating Sakura about a year ago, she had still had faith that one day they would end up together. Now all those hopes and dreams were shattered.

"Well, I'd better get out of bed and start training again." Training was the only thing she could do now to put Naruto out of her mind and the quicker that happened the better.

After having her shower she put one her new training gear that consisted of a tight black tank top and black knee length shorts. Although she had discarded her baggy jacket earlier on in the year with the help of Ino and Tenten, she still wore the same blue sandals but how tied her Konoha band around her arm.

Hinata loved the new look assembled by her two closest friends because she was nineteen now so she needed to dress the part. She had also grown her hair since the chunnin exams and it now wisped around the base of her back.

As she was about to depart from her room to begin her daily training when Neji knocked on her door.

"Hinata-sama. May I enter?" since the chunnin exams Hinata had found agood friend in Neji, he wasn't just her cousin or bodyguard. They had developed quiet a strong relationship as they confided in each other quite regularly.

Sighing, Neji placed himself on the neatly laid bed at the centre of the room. "I heard about Naruto and Sakura"

"Oh" was all Hinata could say. She didn't want to think about them at all.

"Are you okay?" pearl eyes boring into pearl eyes.

"Neji-sama I'll get over it."

"But?" Neji knew she was holding back

"Its just that I hoped that he would realise!" Hinata could feel the tears she been holding back since Neji broached the subject finally emerge, leaving a salty trail in their wake.

Holding her awkwardly in a hug, he replied sympathetically "I know you did." He let her cry her pain out until he could feel her tear soak through his top. "So what are you gonna do now?"

Pulling herself together, "Train and try to get over it. I'll be fine, its just gonna take me a bit of time, that's all." She said as the walked out of her bedroom.

Smacking himself for forgetting, "Tsunade requested for you at the Hokage's tower. I think it's a mission."

"Thanks Neji, for everything." She wiped the last of her tears away as she made her way to the Hokage's tower. Hinata was feeling slightly anxious as she hadn't been on a mission in a while and a mission was what she needed then to get Naruto out of her mind and if possible, her heart.

Sasuke winced as he was rudely awakened from his dream by a loud knock on his door. After trudging down the stairs and ferociously opening the door, he was ready to beat the crap out of whoever it was on the other side.

A man with brilliant blue eyes and shaggy blonde mane stared back at him. "Baka. What do want?" he asked Naruto angrily. Naruto had managed to make it into jounin level around the same time as himself and Hinata and it continually frustrated Sasuke that Naruto was on the same level as himself.

Speaking of Hinata, Sasuke didn't know when he started developing feelings for the pearl-eyed kunoichi but when he had returned to Konoha defeated and unable to kill Itachi, she had been assigned to care for him for a few weeks. He had realised in those weeks that he didn't hate her like he did the rest of the fangirls. for as long as he could remember he couldnt think of a time when she had drooled over him like other females and now she was etched into his mind forever. Her smile, her blush. Sasuke always watched Hinata and it was amazing how strong she had become since the chunnin exams as she had made into jounin along with himself, Naruto and Neji, but he knew that the feelings he felt for the kunoichi weren't returned as everyone in Konoha knew she still liked Naruto, another reason he had to dislike the blonde ninja, but he couldn't do that. Naruto hadn't given up on searching for him and was his best friend.

"Good morning to you too!" Naruto grumbled. "I guess I won't be telling you my big news then." he turned to walk away.

"Let me guess. You finally asked Sakura to marry you and she said yes" Sasuke replied as if the conversation couldn't get anymore uninteresting.

"How did you know? Who told you?" Naruto asked dumfounded.

Sighing, he replied "Dobe. I guess I'm happy for you."

"Thanks man. We wanted the wedding to be as soon as possible so were thinking like the end of next month. So, I guess, would you like to be my best man?" Naruto asked with that big grin of his, rubbing the back of his hair.

"Sure." Not that Sasuke wasn't happy for Naruto, he was but he couldn't help thinking back to Hinata and hoping he would someday be able to tell her how he felt.

"by the way, Sakura says that the Hokage wants you at her office. It's probably a mission.

Sasuke wondered what the mission would entail because the stronger he seemed to get, the more dangerous the missions were as he made his way to the Hokage after having his shower and suiting up. Well, he had to get stronger if he was going to get his revenge on his brother and he would get his revenge; that was a promise.

As Sasuke walked along the corridor before Tsuande's office, he saw Shizune sitting at her desk.

"Hey Sasuke, go right in. Tsunade-sama is already waiting for you." She winked a Sasuke who just scowled at walked into the Hokage's office.

Looking him over Tsunade replied tersely, "Don't you ever knock?"

Sasuke didn't reply because he just noticed that Tsunade and himself weren't the only one in the room. Hinata was standing about five meters to his left and she looked seductively curvy and alluring in black. After realising that he had been staring at Hinata, he tore his eyes away and reluctantly focused them on Tsunade.

Tsunade had witnessed Sasuke's reaction to Hinata and was beginning to wonder about his feelings towards to pale skinned woman. Maybe this mission wasn't going to be too bad she thought as she had heard first hand from Sakura about the engagement last might. It would be good for the girl if she knew that she was loved, or maybe it was just wishful thinking.

"Okay well, as you know I have a mission for you. It's a rank A mission, which is why I've assign the both of you to it." Tsunade sighed before continuing because she knew that it was going to be a difficult mission for both of them especially Sasuke. She could have given it anyone else but if she had done that then Sasuke would surely have assassinated her upon finding out.

"Your mission is to go out of the Land of fire into the Land of rain. It is known that after the civil wars Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki is residing there is now leader of the small land and is training new members for the organisation. I want you to go undercover to find out information about what they're planning to do. It's a dangerous mission because many of them including Itachi will be able to see through weak kage bunshins."

Sasuke was numbed when he discovered he' be going on a mission where he could finally avenge his family and finally kill Itachi, but he didn't want Hinata getting involved. Sure she'd gone on many missions before but this was the Akatsuki they were very dangerous. A muscle in his jaw twitched as he realise how dangerous this mission really was. Looking over to her, he wondered how Hinata was feeling.

Hinata was shocked to say the least. A mission to spy on the notorious Akatsuki was perilous to say the least and she was going to spend a month at least on the road with Sasuke! The thought was enough to bring a blush to her cheeks. Casting her thoughts away from the raven haired man she realised that apart from being scared she was also excited and proud that Tsunade thought she was capable of going of on such a dangerous mission. This was what she had been training herself for so that she would no longer be seen as weak like during the chunnin exams.

Tsunade was confident in both of the shinobi she had chosen, but she was still feeling cautious. "If you need any assistance, do ask. You'll be leaving tomorrow morning and if you work fast, you should be back for Naruto and Sakura's wedding. Hinata turned her head away from the Hokage knowing hse woul be able to read the pain in her eyes. Sasuke witnessed her reaction to the mention of the wedding but kept any emotion of his face.

After leaving the Hokage's office, Hinata suddenly felt very tired and weary and after saying goodbye and arranging what time they would be meeting at dawn, she disappeared into the trees.

End of the first chapter. I really hope you like it. I love writing but I'm not sure if I'm good at it but that doesn't matter. I love writing and that's all that matters. So as all writers on this site say: please review. I don't really mind harsh criticism although I might reply with something harsher, please be nice. It is my first story after all (Cute puppy dog face). Thanks for reading.

Dami-g