Disclaimer! I do not own naruto! Chapter in dedication to WannaBe-Temari for being the first out of a hundred to review!

Chapter Three

Headstrong

Hinata blinked her eyes slowly coming out of the blackness of her mind; the first thing she realized was that it was warm. VERY warm. The second was that two arms were encircled around her waist, two very strong arms.

She almost passed out with the amount of blood rushing to her face, but she then remembered last night's events. The elder uchiha had been struck by some sort of nightmare, making him CRY.

She slowly removed his now limp arms from her petite frame, and once she was free she quickly but carefully jumped off the bed. She ran to the bathroom and quickly changed her clothes, with what occurred it was a great possibility of his waking.

She needed to stay on guard as if she hadn't been already, she thought dryly. When she entered the room she listened for the breathing pattern and was pleased that it was deeper, if not more relaxed.

She was almost done with her mission then, she was supposed to grab either uchiha for interrogation. If they were too injured to be moved she was to heal them to the point that one of the two could travel, sadly she only managed to get the elder.

It was clear that she try to get sasuke but… she hadn't known which one she had grabbed at the time. But then again if she hadn't taken the elder he would have died, for she had overheard some AnBu stating that they disposed of their members even if they were still half alive.

In fact the only one that they hadn't managed to get to was the man that had killed asuma-sensei, the one shikamaru had killed.

Shikamaru had told her of his abilities and she was glad that she wouldn't face him in the future. She didn't think she could have avoided being hit since her fighting style was close ranged, more over she wasn't as strong as shikamaru's shadow control jutsu yet and this man was able to keep moving.

The akatsuki were an elite group for sure, something that she couldn't take on. Something she shouldn't even be in charge of HEALING even if it was just one member with severe injuries.

She sipped the lavender tea as the soothing effects calmed her frazzled nerves. She would have to feed the uchiha breakfast soon she was aware so she left the tea brewing so its scent could fill the air.

She would have to make a more solid broth, considering the reaction made to last night's broth. Maybe she could dice some potatoes? Yes that would work but they would be better if they were smashed down.

She sent her clone out to find some fresh potatoes and she started on the broth boiling the water and adding in some herbal leaves. It was the fourth day that she had been here; she thought absentmindedly taking the potatoes from her clone.

When she was done with the broth she realized how much the lavender and broth smell had mixed together, it reminded her of home. She poured the broth into the bowl and grabbed a spoon. She couldn't just have him drink it, nothing would get through.

When she got to the other side of the room she set the bowl down and set him back onto the pillows, it was almost like a habit now. She grabbed the bowl and sat down almost in front of him yet not quite.

She dipped the spoon in the bowl and brought it up to his mouth and put it in his mouth, it closed on reflect.

She was right; it shouldn't be long before they headed to Konoha.

She repeated the process until the bowl was empty and went to the sink washing the bowl, she then grabbed a glass. Silently debating weather it would be better with tea or water, water was naturally good for the body but tea had herbs in them making them more effective.

She chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully; Lady Tsunade said water was best for an unconscious person.

"Tea…would be fine." She jumped up a good foot in the air at his voice, she turned to him.

His onyx eyes were watching her studying her carefully, looking for any sign of a threat. Yet she couldn't get it out of head how faded they looked, almost clouded.

She nodded and filled the glass with the steaming tea, again he watched her. With unblinking eyes that seemed to point out her every flaw, eyes that seemed to know all that was needed to know.

When she held out the glass he grunted, only then did she understand he could not move.

She blushed heavily as she held the glass to his lips, he drank slowly and the tea was soon gone.

"I am dead?" he questioned her sounding not the least bit ashamed or worried if he was.

"N-no uchiha-san, you are v-very much a-alive." She said stepping away he stared at her sharply, as if not believing her. Angry with her yet not worth the time to glare at.

"You are from Konoha." This was stated she knew not asked yet she nodded all the same.

"Kill me." she jumped up at the request, no DEMAND. The same tone her father used belying his voice, yet why did he want death?

"G-gomen Uchiha-san. But I will not harm you." She said her voice betraying how she really felt. Her voice showed that she was confident and stern.

Yet inside she flinched under his gaze and was withering slowly but surely as he continued to stare.

It was so much easier to help him when he was unconscious, she thought dryly.

"I am akatsuki. Enemy of the village, it is your duty to kill me. You are scared of me, how pathetic." He said with no emotion at all, it infuriated her but she refused to budge.

"Yes you are the enemy. But my mission was to bring one of the uchiha's back to Konoha. That it what I plan on doing do not make this more difficult then it needs to be Uchiha-san." Her tone was even as if she had picked up some of her father's and neji's bluntness.

"Hn." He turned his head away and stared at the wall, Hinata sighed internally.

Time that day passed very slowly for the hyuuga and uchiha, it wasn't until pass noon that Hinata decided to voice something.

"I need to change your bandages uchiha-san." She said sternly, he only grunted in response.

She walked over to the bed and removed his shirt, quickly noticing how he tensed she paused reaching for the gauze.

"Uchiha-san I am trained in the arts of healing. There I-is no need to w-worry." He didn't move so she proceeded to remove the bandages.

The skin was an angry red and was slowly starting to stitch itself back together; the wounds were at most a couple of inches deep. Her eyebrows furrowed together the type of wounds he has been impaired with should not be causing so much as to where he can not move.

"Byakugan." She whispered as her bloodline trait became visible, she could feel his eyes on her but she efficiently ignored that. The chakra paths were built up in the area around the heart.

His eyes also had a dangerous level of chakra behind them, it was a wonder he wasn't blind, he was probably losing sight. But that wasn't all, if the chakra continued to build it would cause too much pressure in the brain.

Causing hallucinations and for lack of a better word insanity, lost of mind returning the body to its primal state. She had seen this with only a few people, the only way to stop such a thing was to release the chakra build up.

Although it would cause a severe migraine for a few days and that most of the days would be spent unconscious.

She looked at his chest pathways and followed the way the chakra paths were tightened, almost like a pull had been stationed at the small of his back.

Slowly causing the pathways to constrict the already damaged lungs, which would swell at the most unexpected of times. In turn the heart is injured further and with the chakra constricting the area it was only worst.

She released the hold she had in the area around her eyes and the byakugan was released from her control.

She scooped the gauze in a warm cloth and rubbed it into the wounds trying not to blush under his gaze.

When that was done she quickly wrapped the bandages and propped up his leg, it had been hit with a large shurikan.

She did that as fast as she could, failing to notice that she had let that be far too noticeable.

"You say you are skilled in medical areas. Yet you are afraid to heal the common male." He pointed out.

She blushed in embarrassment, always with the blushing and stuttering. She thought angry despite herself, but what was important now was...

How was she to tell the uchiha that he would be rendered unconscious if only for moments in the day, in the journey to the village?

'Simple. Do not tell him.' Her rather merciless part of herself taunted, she didn't respond to the notion.

When she turned to speak she found he was already in uneasy repose, she lay him down and covered him. Knowing that tomorrow would be a long one.

Never did she see the blood gaze from the darkness.