{| SASUxHINA: Both characters by Masashi Kishimoto. :3 |}

It was a dark and solemn night when Hyuuga Hinata quietly crept out of her house and scurried down the street. She was having those nightmares again, and whenever she did, she would always sneak out and take a short walk around the village. When she was sure she was far enough from the Hyuuga house, she breathed a sigh of relief and started walking at a slower pace. It was colder than usual that night, and she pulled her jacket closer to her skin. Her breathing slowed and she was at peace.

When she heard the sound of footsteps coming from ahead though, her breathing suddenly stopped and she could feel her pulse on her fingertips. No one was ever out this late at night. No one.

Against her better judgement and her throbbing head, she walked towards the footsteps. It could be an intruder, and if it was, she was going to have to report to Hokage-sama immediately. It was no intruder though. It was someone who she didn't expect to see out alone.

"U-Uchiha-san?" She said softly.

The young raven-haired boy, Uchiha Sasuke, continued walking. She tried a little louder this time.

"Uchiha-san?" She said again, surprising herself for she abandoned her stutter.

The boy stopped short, but didn't turn around. He was simply standing still there, probably waiting for what he had been expecting to hear if anyone caught him running off. There was a long period of silence, and the boy suddenly spoke.

"Well go on," he said in his arrogant tone. "Tell me I can't or shouldn't leave the village or you'll report me to the Hokage." He turned his head ever so slightly, trying to make out who followed him in the dark. It didn't work, it was too dark out already.

Hinata was taken aback with his response. That wasn't what she was expecting, and furthermore, she had no idea what he was talking about or what his plans were.

"You-- y-you're leaving the village?" She asked, her stutter coming back.

At this, he around completely to face her. For a split second, his face showed slight surprise. He was kind of expecting the person who followed him to be Sakura. Then again, he thought, she would have screamed. Or, at least, she would have been balling her eyes out.

"Hyuuga Hinata," he exclaimed.

She held her breath, waiting for the worst. She was in his way now, she was sure of it, and it was best that she probably left before he laid a finger on her. But she couldn't, and the most frustrating part about it was that she didn't know why.

"S-Sasuke-san," she hesitantly said, trying but failed to mirror his tone.

"You should be in bed right now," he stated. "Sleeping. Like everybody else."

Hinata started shaking as the boy perfectly mirrored her father's tone.

She would be done for if she didn't run away now. He would tell Hiashi-sama or Neji-oniisan and she would be locked in her bedroom every night, unable to run away from her nightmares. But then, if she ran away she would look weak. She didn't want to be that anymore. And no shinobi would let a fellow shinobi become a missing nin. That would be irresponsible.

"U-Uchiha-san," she started, going back to using his surname. "I-If I tried to s-stop you from leaving, what w-would you do to me?" She waited for his response. She waited and waited for what seemed like hours due to her anxiety, but it was actually just a few minutes later when he responded with a cocky laugh.

"What are you talking about Hyuuga?" he said, smirking, obviously enjoying this. "If you think I'm going to waste my time trying to kill you, you're sadly mistaken, and like I could go up to your cousin or your father and tell them you snuck out tonight. Like they'd believe me."

A violent red crept over Hinata's face as she realized her mistake. Sasuke was an Uchiha, and the Hyuuga clan didn't like the Uchiha clan very much when they were still around. How stupid of her.

"I-I don't think it would be… w-wise if you left," she told him.

"Why do you care?" He quickly retorted.

"Because… we're both leaf shinobi and we're supposed to look out for each other," she said, sure of herself. "A-And we're also supposed to be l-loyal to our village." She wasn't too sure of herself when she said that though.

Sasuke scoffed. "You Hyuugas are all the same. All you care about is the village's pride."

"Is there something wrong with that, Uchiha-san?" She asked.

"You don't know pain."

Her eyes widened at his remark. How could he possibly think that she didn't know pain?

"I'm sorry Uchiha-san, but you are sadly mistaken," she said, her tone sounding grim. "It seems like you… you don't know me at all."

Sasuke scoffed. "Of course I know you. You're Hinata, the daughter and heiress of the Hyuuga clan, whose father doesn't think she's fit to be given that title at all," he said, a little too arrogantly. He heard the girl start to cry softly, but he continued. "You have no idea what it's like to lose your whole clan, your whole family, to your brother of all people."

"I lost my dignity, I think that's pain enough!" She shouted as her sobs grew louder and her tears flowed harder. Her volume shocked even her. "The likes of you and Hiashi-sama will never accept me, and people will only befriend me simply because they pity me. You, Sasuke-san, are accepted by everybody in this village as a prodigy and everyone wants to be your friend. I can't believe you're taking all this for granted when you don't even know what it's like to truly be frowned upon."

She was shaking after she'd said all this, and a liberated feeling rushed through her as she realized she'd let out everything that's been bothering her since day one. The tears kept coming though.

A pair of warm arms embraced her, and she jumped slightly. She squeaked as she looked up and saw that the arms were Sasuke's. She had never been this close to a boy before, and this was Sasuke.

His hands rubbed and patted her back, trying to calm her down, and he rested his head on hers as she buried her face in his chest. She succumbed to his warmth and immediately felt safe.

"Shh," he whispered softly. "quiet down, Hinata, breathe."

Her sobs started to slow and her breathing started to pick up the pace again. He never let her go though, even when she was completely quiet and perfectly still. He spoke.

"I was wrong about you," he said, squeezing tighter. "You do know pain."

She nodded. It was all she could do with her numb head at the moment. Sasuke gently took her chin with his fingers and raised her head so he could look directly into her tired, yet beautiful eyes.

"And," he said, his voice low. "I will make sure you never feel it again."

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{| Update: Made a sequel. :3 |}