Hey guys. Wow, it's been eons since I've made a new one. Sorry. Lol. Since I'm a bit rusty, this fic is kind of a warm-up exercise. This story jumps around at times a lot. Not everything happens perfectly in sequence. I'll try to mark it every time there's a skip. Also, please be reminded that this will ultimately be a NaruHina, with only slight SasuHina. I guess either way someone's unhappy D: Try to bare with the many grammar and spelling errors my poorly-caffeinated body has undoubtedly made. Without further ado:

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But oh, the possibilities….

Chapter One: What you want

Hinata's hair covered her eyes as she bowed her head in defeat. She watched helplessly as Naruto begged Sakura to dance with him. Reluctantly, she consented as an ecstatic Naruto dragged her to the dance floor.

It was like a knife, slowly being thrusted into her chest. She could feel the pain every waking moment, no matter how much she busied herself. Oh, the things she would for him to ask her to dance. But, she was always ignored. Always overlooked. Let's face it: next to a girl with delicate pink hair and striking green eyes, there just wasn't anything spectacular about her.

Obviously, the girl took modesty to a whole new level. She easily overlooked the simple, subtle elegance that radiated from her smooth, round face. From the warm, knowing eyes to her naturally flushed complexion, she excited a certain childlike grace that had survived the test of age and maturity. Her long, sleek locks were fastened into a knot in the back, with a few stray strands fanning the soft arcs of her neck.

She tried to keep a straight face as Neji asked Tentn for a dance, leaving her all alone. Hinata retreated to a chair pushed against the side of the wall. It was perfect for her lonesome situation; there were no other chairs around it.

Uchiha Sasuke watched with indifference as his two teammates clumsily danced through a few songs. Yeah, right. He simply turned his head away, deciding that he would not partake in such ridiculous affairs.

"I hate these stupid formal balls," the two dark haired youths muttered in silence.

Sasuke didn't even bother looking up as Nara walked towards him and took a seat at his table. "Have you danced at all yet?" He sent him the go-away-lazy-ass-bum glare.

"No."

"Well...you should ask someone."

Sasuke grunted in response. "Why don't you?"

"Because it's much too troublesome for me." Inside the sanctity of Sasuke's thoughts, he mouthed the genuis's words with a rather sour expression. "Look to your left."

He turned to the left and winced; Tsunade was quite red in the face (obviously drunk), leaking all sorts of unidentifiable fluids like mucus and drool. Shikamaru sighed. "The other left."

As he saw her sitting by herself on an isolated stool, he immediately took in the look of vulnerability written on her face. It was a truly saddening sight as Hinata fussed with the hem of her silk black embroidered dress. Sasuke merely turned back and shrugged.

Shikamaru snorted. "Or you can just keep on watching the baka and Sakura dance out of the corner of your eye, acting like no one can see you."

Hinata looked up as she felt a shadow envelop her. Sasuke offered his hand with a blank expression. "Care to dance?"

Just as they awkwardly walked out onto the dance floor, the orchestra slowed down, filled with violins and Chellos. As the deep, rich sounds poured into their ears, they uncomfortably faced each other. Sasuke looked around at the other dancing couples for inspiration. He placed one hand on her waist and clasped hers with the other. Thankful for the dim lights, she blushed slightly and clasped her small, slender fingers over his. Starting slow, they eventually quickened the pace as the music picked up.

Sasuke's mind was in a different place. He was lost in a reverie, not taking much note of his surroundings. He didn't take note of the fact that he thought she looked "okay" in her dress, or how small her waist felt under his hands. His thoughts, however, were broken as her soft voice reached him. "Was it that obvious?"

"Hn?"

"Did I look so hopelessly sad that Uchiha Sasuke had to offer someone a dance?" He shrugged and looked away, gliding her across the slick floors. "Thank you."

From her tone, Sasuke rejoiced inside that she wan't one of those girls to misinterpret things. She knew he didn't mean anything by this; he was just pressured into being nice. "No problem." Because it really wasn't.

Naruto stood at the gates, looking back at the small group of friends gathered to see him off. Sakura looked down at her toes and frowned. "So…you're really leaving for three years?"

"Yeah, but don't worry Sakura-chan! When I get back, I'll definitely bring him back! Because that's my way of the ninja!" He did that stupid good-guy pose. Sakura made a mental note to maul Gai and Lee after this.

She ran over and hugged him, picking him up from off of the ground and twirling him like a little boy. "S-Sakura-chan, I'm supposed to do that!"

"Yeah right, I'm older than you, squirt!" After she put him down, Kakashi came from behind and patted them both on the head, causing them to growl. "Ah, my cute little subordinates. Don't miss me too much, Naruto."

"Like I would miss you, you pervert!" Tenten, Neji, and Lee said goodbye too him. Ino and Choji also waved. When Shikamaru failed to, she elbowed him in the ribs.

"Well, Naruto, saying goodbye would be too troublesome, so see you later, baka." Ino shrugged. "Better than nothing I guess." Shino nodded in acknowledgement, while Kiba just hmphed and looked away. Hinata tried many times to open her mouth, but it just wouldn't obey her.

Tenten kicked her in the shins. Just when Hinata was about to speak, Naruto turned around with a big, silly grin on his face. "Thanks for coming, guys. I'll see you in three years! Bye Sakura-chan!" Tenten sighed in misery as she waved to the stupid boy.

Hinata, however, stood there, glued to her spot as she watched him disappear from view altogether. They wouldn't see each other for three years, and she didn't even share any parting words with him?

"Bye Sakura-chan!"

"Bye, Sakura-chan!"

"…Sakura-chan!"

"…Sakura-chan!"

"Sakura-chan!"

She grabbed her temples and rubbed them, trying to rub away those words. They continued to course through her brain, as if shoving it in her face. "All I wanted to say…was that I'd miss you. But you say bye, Sakura-chan…"

Kiba looked at his distraught teammate and rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her. She relaxed somewhat, but he could sense that trace of tenseness in her back. As they walked home together, Kiba was nerved by her silence. Usually, she would chatter on and on about her latest addition in her flower collection, or something of that nature. But this time, even the air around her was quiet.

"Hinata."

"Hm, Kiba-kun?"

"Smile…"

"Smile?"

"Yeah…even when it hurts. A frown just doesn't suit you." She metally hit herself for bringing his mood down and tried to muster up her signature "Mona-Hina" half-smile, as he called it. He smiled at the effort, and they finished their walk home in silence, but a more comfortable one.

Jiraiya looked at the mock happiness spread over his young pupil's face. He tsked. "Youth is wasted on the young." "So, brat. I noticed you didn't say bye to that Hyuga girl." He smirked victoriously when he saw Naruto's face pale considerably.

"Y-yeah, so what's your point?"

"What? Nothing. Who said I Have a point…unless there is a point to be made! A-ha!" He quieted down at Naruto's rarely used solemn face. "You know she likes you."

Naruto shrugged. "I hope so…" Jiraiya stroked his chin in deep thought. Two blue eyes rolled. "Are you thinking about your next issue in that stupid perverted series?"

"Surprisingly, no. But I will be in a few minutes." Naruto sighed. "Hey Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"If you like the Hyuga girl, why do you keep following around Sakura like a stray dog?"

He waited for the shouts, the yells, the protests, and possibly the pain. When he felt/heard nothing, Jiraiya poked one eye open. "I don't know….I guess it's because it's easier. Hinata's so mysterious…I know Sakura like the back of my hand. Probably doesn't make sense."

Jiraiya just shrugged. They continued walking off in thoughtful silence.

Two Years Later…

Sakura snuggled under her covers, almost at peace in the utter, sheer darkness. She looked up at the ceiling, and smiled despite herself. Painted on the ceilings, in green glow in the dark paint, were chibi figurines of Team Seven (do they have glow in the dark? Oh well, this is Nurrrna's story, it is now 8D).

Flashback

Sakura was literally shoving her fists into her eyes in a sad attempt to keep them focused. As Naruto approached their meeting place, he strongly suspected that if it weren't for the bridge she was holding onto, she would've slid to the floor.

"Ohayo-Sakura-chan!"

"What…? Oh…Yeah…hey."

Naruto skidded to a stop. Up close, she looked positively terrible. The bags under her eyes could more accurately be called craters. Her hair was disheveled, from lack of preparations, and her clothes were wrinkled, as if she had slept in them.

"Sakura-chan, you look…"

"Awful. I know. Ino-pig didn't hesitate to fill me in about that."

He cocked his head to the side as he looked at her carefully. "Don't admire my char and good looks too much," she muttered n a flat, sarcastic voice.

Naruto just gave her a weird look. "Sakura…did you get any sleep last night?"

"…A little."

"Liar!"

"I am not." Even though she so was one.

"What's the matter?"

"STOP INTERROGATING ME AT THIS UNEARTHLY HOUR!"

After her short outburst, she looked ten times more exhausted. Sakura was now hanging onto the bridge for dear life. Naruto looked through the careless way she simply ignored her exhaustion. "Sakura…"

She slid down, collapsing onto the floor. Naruto sighed; this had to be the fifth time this week that he would have to haul her sleeping form back to her house. As he reached down to pick her up, he was surprised to see that she wasn't sleeping. Rather, her knees were drawn to her knees. Her tired body shook as a few sobs escaped her.

Naruto patted her back gently and waited for her to finish in her own time. After a few minutes, Sakura at up and looked at Naruto. "It's dark…at night."

He heard what she said; he just didn't understand what it was that was dark; her room, or her mind."

End Flashback

Sakura smiled up at his drawings with watery eyes. His solution, it appearded, remedied a little of both situations. The pink-haired kunoichi felt such bitterness inside her that she threw her lankets off, trying to let it escape into the air.

"Uchiha Sasuke…you never give me peace." In his absence, no one said anything about it, but she was a complete and utter mess. She caught another glimpse of naruto' attempts to cheer her up, looking down at her from her ceiling. "I don't want to be sad anymoe…I won't be."

Sakura stood firm in her decision. Who was Uchiha Sasuke to her? As of now…nothing but a memory. A long, forgotten memory. "I won't be annoying…and you'll leave me alone."

"We both win…right, Sasuke-kun?"

And she was able to tell herself, for worry that she would change her mind the next day, that it was really what she wanted.

Kinda short chapter. Next one will be up soon. Probably tomorrow. Bye for now! O yeah, if you're ShadowDragon N63, you said there were a few thigns you didn't get in my other fic,a nd since you put it as anonymous, I can't really respond. So, if you leave me an e-mail, I'd be happy to clarify a few things. Later!