Chapter 3 Confidence

Hinata and Sasuke did not return to class the day Naruto left. They instead, talked with the Hokage. Sasuke received few answers but was satisfied that the Hokage was not one of the people of the village who hated Naruto. He received very few other clues over the length of the conversation and he had left unsatisfied. Whenever Sasuke looked to Hinata during the conversation, he gave her a nod promising her he would explain what he saw and knew so far. The two students were dismissed the same time class would have been over at their school and exited the tower.

They both started walking towards the western side of the village. When their paths branched, Hinata said happily, "Thank you Uchiha-san. I have to go now but can we talk tomorrow?"

"That will be fine. Just find me; I am usually inside the school during lunch break." Hinata waved and ignored the look several girls from her class gave her when she ran home.

The next morning, the news that they had skipped class together spread throughout the school. Before the end of the first class, Hinata was on the verge of tears when no one would even acknowledge that she was in the room. The boys didn't care but if the girls were angry, they wouldn't want to stick up for the pale six year old. Kids talking about the previous day were immediately silenced at a glance from Sasuke but Hinata's timid nature would only fuel the whispers and the glares she had been receiving.

At the end of the first class Hinata looked up from her scroll and saw the two girls who had fawned over Sasuke glare at her. Hinata's eyes were wide and after several kids moved away from the frightened girl the two walked up to her and the blonde haired girl slammed her hand against Hinata's table making her flinch.

"Where were you at during the last half of school yesterday?" Several other girls had taken up spots around the three girl's argument.

Hinata gulped but said, "W-with the Sandaime Hokage. I had some things I had to talk to him about."

Both girls relaxed slightly. "So you didn't go out with Sasuke?"

"He escorted me." She said in a small voice. The two leading girls were split between saying that was sweet and glaring at the Hyuuga.

"That all?"

Hinata nodded. "We both said goodbye to a friend of ours and then talked to the Sandaime until school got out."

The pinked haired girl looked at Hinata shrewdly. "You have to be lying."

Hinata began to stutter out an argument, but the other girl started into the conversation. "She's right, I have never seen you two even talked to each other! And who is this friend of yours? How would you know anyone he would know? Stay away from Sasuke-kun!"

"W-we just wanted to say good bye to Naruto-kun." Hinata said quietly. She looked at her lap.

"Naruto? The looser?" The blonde girl asked. Suddenly the whole class began to laugh. "Why would Sasuke-kun say good bye to a looser like Naruto? He is too cool to be seen even being near him. You are so lying." Hinata stop the tears that were ready to burst from her eyes.

"Enough!" The girls turned and said. Each squealed out 'Sasuke-kun.' Sasuke looked at the group of girls and then to Hinata who was crying. He twitched his eyebrow remembering the last time he saw her cry and gave a slight exhale of air. "What are you trying to do to the poor girl?"

One of the girls blocked off Sasuke's view of the crying Hyuuga. He gave an irritated groan. "But Sasuke-kun, we just want to make sure you get the best girlfriend and she is not it, she just likes to cry."

Sasuke thought back to the times he had ever seen the small Hyuuga, and nodded his head. She did cry a lot. The girls saw the nod were relieved that their Sasuke-kun had he finally came to his senses. When he looked at the girls his face was impassive. He started walking around them. "I was wrong." The girls started to smile. "You girls are not annoying." Sasuke finally saw Hinata. She was scared and she looked to Sasuke for help but she feared him now with what he was saying. Sasuke gripped his hand. The Uchiha looked away from Hinata to the group who were picking on her. His voice was cold. "You girls are pathetic."

There were sudden gasps from the girls and more of the guys were looking at Sasuke too. "I am friends with Naruto, which is more than I can say for any of you. Say one more sneering comment about any of my friends and you will regret it. Get out of here; I never want to see you again." The group of girls looked stunned for a moment before someone in the back let out a whimper. Slowly the group ran away each one crying.

Sasuke sat next to Hinata and placed a hand on her back. "Are you alright?"

Hinata wiped the last tear and looked up at him with a smile. "Thank you Uchiha-san."

Sasuke nodded back. He looked around the room and noticed that it was now empty. He smirked and nudged Hinata. "I think I scared everyone off."

Hinata let out a giggle. "You can be scary when you want to be."

Sasuke though about that and then laughed quietly. "I almost feel sorry for them. I wonder how they are going to survive through the next class, it starts in three minutes."

Hinata let out a long quivering sigh. "Um, U-Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke looked from the room and back to her. "What is it Hinata?"

Hinata felt her face redden when Sasuke said her name. "C-could you sit up here with me for today." Her face turned a deeper shade of red and she felt the fear grip her chest from the other girls. "I-I don't know if I c-could go through those girls again."

Sasuke stared at her for a moment before nodded and patted her shoulder. "Yeah. I'll sit up here with you." Hinata smiled widely and muttered a thank you. Sasuke tilted his head and smiled at her. "Hinata?" She looked up. Her eyes were still wide and he repressed a laugh. "Call me Sasuke. Friends?"

Hinata slowly nodded. "Friends, Sasuke."

- - - - - -

The rest of the day ended quietly. The students would not go near Sasuke or Hinata, and the girls who had harassed the timid Hyuuga were subdued. Hinata started walking home with her head down. Sasuke ran as soon as the bell rang. She thought he had decided that he didn't want to be her friend anymore and walked by herself. The other kids ignored her and walked around her. "Hinata!" Her back tensed and then relaxed when Sasuke waved at her. She waited for him to catch up to her and they continued walking. "I am going this way too. I live a little farther than you do." Hinata smiled and nodded shyly.

"So what did you do after class? You ran out the door as soon as it was over."

Sasuke nodded. "Sorry about that. I wanted to ask a teacher something about Naruto. He hated him a lot too I guess. He kicked me out of his class room as soon as I asked." Hinata nodded in understanding.

"So it's true for all over the village then. All of the adults hate him. I wonder why our class doesn't like him."

"It might just be because he was a clown."

Hinata looked at him and laughed at the simple answer. "You are probably right. I-I am not interrupting anything with you for walking with me right?"

Sasuke looked at her and shook his head. "No, I have nothing to do and no one to go home to. I am an orphan." Hinata gasped. He simply waved it off. "It's fine, I loved my family and think of them all the time. But I can keep going. Just like Naruto right? Neither one of us can just give up."

Hinata smiled widely thinking about Naruto. "Un." She said in agreement.

- - - - - -

Hinata dodged another blow from her father and brought up her palm to his forearm then her opposing palm to his chest. The man slapped the hand away and bent his knee and made solid contact with her stomach. Hinata was launched onto her back and she slowly got back up breathing hard.

"Something good happen in class today Hinata? You are more focused than usual." The clan leader commented.

Hinata smiled at the not given complement. "I made a real friend."

Her father kept the smile from his face. It was encouraging if a single friend can bring about this much focus. "As long as your friend does not interfere with your training." He took one step into her stance and she stopped his hand before it launched to attack her. Hinata was still a child and could barely reach her fathers chest. When her father thrust he left hand to counter she grabbed it and used it to vault and aimed for his lung. The older man smiled and caught her in mid air.

"I think that is good enough, we are running late, and your mother has been testy ever since she found she was pregnant." Hinata pouted but nodded. She was set down and then bowed to her father before leaving to clean up. The adult Hyuuga looked at her run off and sighed. She had talent. She was just so timid. He silently prayed that this friend of hers will give her confidence where he could not.

The next few days followed in the same fashion. Hinata went to school, talked to whoever her friend was and then returned to her father to train. While she did not improve at all, her attitude made a difference in how she handled the training. It was Friday and HInata's father, Hyuuga Hiashi, stepped back to watch the two youngest Hyuuga fight. Hyuuga Neji was an advanced student even though he was only one year older than Hinata. He learned quickly, had precision and was looked on as the pride of the branch family, the clans' second class citizenry.

Hinata dodged one blow only to receive three more. Her cousin was fast and she always felt each hit he made. All of the readiness she had from the past few days was slowly taken apart by her cousin and his sneering comments. "It is your fate to be weak." He had said when she countered and hit him with a clean hit. The comment was enough for her to loose concentration and then she began to fall apart during the fight. At the end of the lesson Neji scoffed at her. "You will always be weak Hinata-sama." Hinata was still on the ground when he left. She refused to cry and stood up. Her eyes were normal and she bowed to her father before leaving to her room. Hinata went to her room and collapsed on her floor mat. She clutched her sides and whimpered from the pain. She rolled onto her side and quickly fell asleep. Neji's voice was still on her mind.

Hinata arrived at school the next morning and slumped into her chair. "You o.k? Hinata?"

Hinata jerked her head up and saw Sasuke standing over here. She slouched back down and sighed. "Bad day in training last night. Neji-nii-san always beats me. And he says I am weak." She paused and felt her voice shake. "It is true sometimes. I just fall apart while fighting. Even after I know I can do it. But he says one word or my father gives me one look and then I start to fall apart." She closed her eyes and just breathed. She hated crying, and hated even more since it seems to be all she does in front of her friend Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at her and sat down. He saw how depressed she was. He smirked when he thought Naruto would do. He did not know the boy well outside of him being in class, but the kid never did back down, shut up or give in. "Let's train a little after school I might be able to help."

Hinata looked at him and smiled but let it go when she asked, "What about Naruto? This is the only time we can talk about what he meant."

Sasuke sighed. He had been going over what he learned with no luck. "I have been trying to figure it out. I'll tell you what I know while we train. I know I am missing something but I can't figure out what it is."

Hinata nodded and she felt better. The classes went by quickly and Hinata and Sasuke were in the forest and had a small clearing. "It looks like no one will be able to interfere with us here. So let's spar a little. I don't want you to be thinking of just Naruto while we practice."

Hinata turned bright red but nodded. She closed her eyes and let her blood limit take over her vision. "We will start slow Hinata."

Sasuke walked up to her and went into his fighting stance. Hinata was the one who started the exchange of blows. Sasuke dodged and looked at where she was having problems. She was fine when she was fighting him. She had no real weaknesses. She was agile and knew when to counter and when to dodge. He looked at her in confusion and pressed his attack. He finally hit her and then it seemed to change. Hinata would make mistakes she would not have made moments before. She struggled with her self now that she was aware she could get hurt. It got worst when she hit him. It was actually an accident when she pulled back her fist his arm batted it away and her counter which would have missed, actually landed.

Sasuke finally raised his hand to stop her. "I think I know what your problem is."

Hinata looked nervous. She knew she was fine in the beginning but really failed soon after. "What is it?" She feared there was something really wrong with her and would fail her father.

"You are afraid of being hurt and hurting your opponent."

Hinata looked at him confused. "As soon as I hit you, you started to loose focus. And it got worst when you hit me. There is nothing fancy that is wrong. You are a good fighter. You are just afraid. So we are just going to drill until it becomes second nature. Pain is pain Hinata, when we are practicing we know what we are expecting. And when fighting, everyone knows on both sides that it is going to be worst than just pain, people will die in battle. And not even in that." Sasuke paused there and swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. "Now sit so we can rest." Hinata felt shaken at the revelation. She was both happy and embarrassed that if could be something so simple. She sighed when she sat down.

"So what did you find out about Naruto."

Sasuke looked at her for a moment before he told her from after he left her that night what he found. How the people of the village hated Naruto, to how a few tried to kill him, to the people who stood around to watch. He left out nothing on what he found. Hinata slowly nodded she felt fear for Naruto. How had he lived such a life?

"We need to figure out why they hate him." Hinata finally said.

"Naruto said we had all the information we needed. But I can't figure this out. I was wondering if it would be better to simply not try and find out."

Hinata shook her head. "What ever the secret is, he wanted us to know, even if it meant that we wouldn't be friends anymore. He wanted to be completely open with us. He just couldn't' tell us what the secret was."

Sasuke smiled and stood up. "We'll figure it out. We have a few years to do this so there is no complete rush."

Hinata struggled to argue with that logic with out just saying she wanted to see Naruto now. Sasuke laughed at the look. Indignant does not really suit her face.

"Let's go back to training. No Byakugan. We are going to drill basics into you until you don't have to think, just do. You are not used to being hurt so we are going to fight until we are both sore so we can both get used to fighting while in pain."

Hinata cringed but nodded. "O.K. Sasuke."

The two spared for the rest of the day. They both gave yips of pain through it all, but Sasuke looked satisfied even if Hinata was still a little jumpy from the training. Returning back to the village, Sasuke sported several nice swelling bruises on his temple and his shoulder. Hinata had several on her cheeks fore arms and stomach. Neither one of them had been in so much pain from fighting. When they were near the Uchiha compound Sasuke stopped. He looked at Hinata and hmm'ed to himself. "I am going to go with you. I need to talk to your father."

Hinata stuttered out that he couldn't but Sasuke smiled at her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. He squeezed it slightly and Hinata just reddened then remained silent.

By the time they reached the Hyuuga Clans home, the sun was already down and the guards simply let Hinata and her guest pass. Sasuke felt them both tense when they saw the bruises on her face but noticed that boy had a few as well. Neither could dismiss the smile on the girls face.

Sasuke stopped just before they entered torch light at the entrance to her home. "Go get him. I should wait here. Hinata looked as if she wanted to argue but she saw the bruises on his face and understood why he was going to speak to her father. She went inside to retrieve her father. Sasuke could hear her foot steps against the wood and after a moment of murmuring he heard heavier steps follow Hinata's light ones. The man was tall with long hair. His eyes were furrowed and he looked as if he was suppressing anger. Sasuke bit back a smirk. "Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga-dono." He introduced himself with low bow. He looked to Hinata who was trying to hide the fear she had. It was for her friend not for her.

"Hinata, go back inside I believe I need to have a discussion with your friend."

"I need to have a private chat with your father Hinata." Both father and friend looked at each other. Hinata nodded and walked inside. "I have been sparing with your daughter."

The man grounded out. "You call that sparing?"

Sasuke raised a hand to quell the rage that was slowly building up in the man. "We found that Hinata's greatest weakness is her fear to hurt others as well as getting hurt her self. We started drilling in basics and intentionally not blocking each others blows so we both can get used to the pain of contact." Sasuke stepped forward once he realized he was not in the light of the touches. The Hyuuga mildly lowered his temper. There was no denying the bruises on his face that equaled the intensity of his daughters.

"I came here to ask a favor for your daughter."

The man glared at the boy but finally asked. "And that is?"

"To have her train with me for the next few months. You can monitor her progress with tests once a week, but I want her to exclusively train with out the aid the Byakugan. She is training with it too early. She has talent, but it is not with her blood limit."

The father slowly nodded at the boys' assessment. He knew that the small confidence had made a tremendous difference for Hinata. If the boy can give her the kind of self acknowledgement she needs, he could not begrudge her daughter the chance to grow.

"One question. Why would you be willing to help my daughter? You do not need her help to train."

Sasuke smiled. He raised his head to meet the Hyuuga leader eye to eye. "Because she is my friend."

The man closed his eyes in defeat. "Very well. I will test her every Thursday. The rest of the evenings and Sunday, she is yours to train with. But if I see she is crippled or hurt beyond anything reasonable…" Sasuke bowed and then walked away.

Hinata sat on the roof and smiled at her father then looked back to Sasuke. No one had stood up for her like he had. Now she saw him proudly proclaim her as his friend. She smiled at his shadow when it crossed the gate a few hundred meters away. She could live with pain if she had friend who could help her be happy.

- - - - - -

Pants and yells were heard daily from the forest. People would walk by a certain section but could never see who was making the noise and few had the curiosity to look. Hinata was bruised again but the grin on her face was enough to show Sasuke that she could keep going. Her eyes were normal and true to Sasuke's word, Hinata never utilized her blood limit and practiced strictly with the basics. There were no more break downs in concentration after the first week. After the second, Hinata would be sore but happy with the days work. Sasuke was invited several times to eat with the Hyuuga's but he had only accepted once. And that was with Hinata begging him.

He laughed at the memory and brushed off his clothes. They were covered in grass. "You ready again Hinata?" These past three months met with Hinata no longer stuttering around others. The smile that graced her face never wavered. Sasuke and Hinata both quickly became the top two students in the class thanks to their daily training till late evening. The skills they studied together after classes were of what they would need to know for when they graduated.

It had been three long months since Naruto left. They both could not find the clue they were missing and it was frustrating them both. They would ask people around them carefully but when they were getting odd looks for being curious they both stopped asking for a month and did it again with nearby villagers.

Hinata sighed. She was thinking of the past few months then got back up. She had been lying on the ground to catch her breath. Sasuke was sitting up from resting at the trunk of a tree and faced her. She nodded and they both charged in.

Hinata was getting faster than the Uchiha and he did not really know what to do when her blows rained on him. He quickly dodged one set of fists and felt three more connect against his face and shoulder. He snapped his head to look at her and he felt he knew where her fists were about to make contact. He pressed one hand away and caught the other and pressed his fist against her stomach. Hinata coughed and almost fell over. Sasuke swore and caught her. "Are you alright Hinata?"

Hinata slumped against him and nodded. "I think- you- just -knocked the wind out of me." She took quick short breaths until her breathing returned to normal. She looked at Sasuke. She was about to ask how he did that but noticed something. "What are you doing with your eyes?" Sasuke let her go when she could stand on her own and didn't think of the slight breath of disappointment that escaped both their lips.

"My eyes?"

"They are red."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He ran to the small stream that ran through their training ground. They had both at one point or another fallen into that stream while fighting and they tried their best to not fight around it. He looked at his reflection and laughed. He ran up to Hinata and gave her a hug. Hinata blushed but smiled back. "I activated my Sharingan! Hinata do you know what that means? Most are not able to activate it until they are close to thirteen! The most brilliant of geniuses of the Uchiha clan could not do it until they were eight or nine! The only other person who I know activated their Sharigan so early was…" His smiled failed for a moment before he smiled back at Hinata. "Someone who was very important to me." Hinata smiled back.

Hinata grinned suddenly. "That makes us on even turns." She raised her hands and she activated her blood limit that was able to see the Chakra system of the human body.

Sasuke snorted. "I don't think this means we are still on even terms Hinata, you still know how to use your blood limit." He raised his open palm and closed fist to his side and towards her chest and charged in towards Hinata.

From that point on they concentrated on learning their blood limits. Sasuke laughed when he couldn't use his arms anymore and Hinata would laugh at how tired she was of being blocked all the time.

Hinata returned home and noticed that many of her clan were gathered at the front gate to her home. "What happened?"

Two older men looked at her. "Hinata-sama, please go on inside. Your father is waiting for you."

Hinata nodded and ran in. She kicked off her shoes and ran bare footed. She didn't know why she felt something was wrong but knew she had to find her father. She ran through several rooms and finally found her father and aunt outside his parent bedroom. She slowed to a walk and looked at her father. His eyes were closed and eye brows were low. "Father?"

The clan leader, Hiashi looked at his daughter and lifted her up to hug her. "Your mother had her baby today." Hinata smiled and was about to say something when her father held her tighter. "Something went wrong when she was giving birth and she died Hinata." Hinata gasped and started to cry she tried to push her father away to see her mother. "I am sorry Hinata." He held her while she fought him. After a few minutes he set her down. "Come, you should see your new sister. Your mother loved you both. Remember that."

Hinata nodded and walked into the room where a shroud was over her mother and the sleeping new born was taken care of by a woman Hinata never met.

The next day Sasuke walked to school while trying to ignore the girls who were staring at him. It seemed when ever he was not with Hinata they would think that he was a piece of meat. He shivered at the thought. He looked over his shoulder expecting Hinata to show herself. Sasuke found himself disappointed when she didn't show. He pushed the thought out of his mind. He admitted he had become friends with the Hyuuga after the first day they had met at his front porch. The meeting was a strange combination of curiosity over Naruto and his understanding that no one should cry for long. It created a bridge to his heart that he did not understand was closed off to the rest of the world.

He thought back to the times before Hinata, and shuddered at the memories. He hated being alone. Now that Hinata was by his side he always felt better. These thoughts ran through his mind while trying to understand exactly how that happened.

Class started and Hinata did not appear in class. Sasuke had asked his teacher if he knew anything and the old man shook his head. Sasuke sat in between classes and sighed. The girls were talking loudly. They kept looking in the raven haired boys direction. Just as if the girls were getting ready to try and walk over to talk to him, he pushed his seat back and walked out of the class room. He had no interest in talking to those girls. They simply wanted to 'fawn over him' as his teacher had said it.

He had enough of that from the villagers, he did not need it from his class mates. At least most of the leaf ninja left him alone. He walked down the hall and sighed when one of the teachers was at the doors. It looked like they were waiting for something to arrive. She had a clip board in her hand and was looking through the window that was centered in the door.

Sasuke turned around and walked up to the second floor and found an empty class room. There were no trees to jump on to this time, and he grunted at the complication. Sasuke looked out the window and down to the ground, it was two stories to the ground. His eyes lowered in irritation. He wanted to check on Hinata. He looked along the wall and saw there was nothing to grab onto near by to slide him down. Finally he decided on just scratching school property. He took out a Kunai and jumped out the window and slammed the Kunai into the wall and securely placed the soles of his feet against the wall. He slid down fast but the traction from his feet and the knife slowed him enough where he could jump from the beginning of the first story where the windows started again and land with out hurting himself. He saluted the school with one lazy hand before darting off towards the Hyuuga compound at a dead run. It had been bothering him all morning why Hinata failed to show up. She was healthy yesterday and had never missed a day of class, even if she was sick.

He slowed and came to a dead halt in front of gates to the Hyuuga district. The guards let him past and they looked subdued. He picked up his speed again when he found that there were not many people out this time of day. He stopped when he finally made it to Hinata's house. Two men were the sentries.

"Kid, isn't it a little early to be out of class?" Sasuke ignored him and started for the gates. One of the men placed a firm hand on his shoulder. He said sadly, "No one can see the main family today."

Sasuke looked up at the hazy eyed man. "Is Hinata alright? She did not appear at school today."

"It is not my place to say anything that is not announced." The first sentry said stiffly.

The second scowled at him. "This is Hinata's friend; he is entitled to know at the very least." He other man grunted. "Lady Hyuuga died in child birth last night." Sasuke gasped. "They are in mourning. Please, turn back. We can't allow you to seem them today." The man was deeply sad. Sasuke saw the other one was just as depressed. Sasuke nodded.

In Sasuke's mind a mantra kept running through his head. He needed to make sure Hinata was alright. She has cried enough. He never wanted to see her cry again. "Thank you for your time." Sasuke said while looking at the floor. When he looked at the two men again his eyes were bright red. They both nodded and started looking forward and slowly towards the main gates. Sasuke smiled and walked through the front gate. He was glad he could use the Sharingan now. He had made the two men see a shadow of himself walk back out of the area.

He glanced up at the sun and notice that it was about noon. He slipped around the house being as careful as possible. He did not want to get the two men in front in trouble, but he needed to see Hinata.

He glided across the roof as low as possible while hiding among the shadow of the trees that surround the house. He glanced inside carefully and grunted in disappointment when he didn't see Hinata or anyone else.

He finally heard muffled breathing and Sasuke recognized it as Hinata sobbing. He stopped right over the window and lowered his head slowly to see if she was alone. He saw her with her father and a new born baby. The baby was asleep and Hinata clung to her father. He held the new born in the crook of his arm and had an arm around the six year old. His eyes were closed but Sasuke felt that the old man could see him. He quickly pulled his head back onto the roof and sighed. He sat there for a few minutes and decided he would wait.

Hiashi smiled inwardly at the boy on his roof. He had expected him to leave when he saw that his little Hinata-chan was not alone. But the shadow seemed to be content to sit on the roof and wait. Finally Hinata had fallen asleep. Her father laid her down gently with one arm and stood to leave. The new born girl gurgled for a moment before Hiashi coughed softly and left.

Sasuke had been lying on the roof and grimaced when he heard the cough. He laid down on his stomach and hanged off of the edge of the roof and lowered his head down to the window. Hinata's father was gone and Hinata was sleeping. His arms gripped the edge of the roof and he flipped himself over and dangled for a few moments before he let go and caught the window sill and pulled himself up through the open window and sat next to Hinata.

He didn't want to wake her so he sat next to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Hinata sighed and leaned into it. Sasuke soon found himself in a similar position to Hinata's father. He sat there and thought about why he was there.

He knew he was her friend. They had learned to be completely comfortable with each other. But now he found himself going out of his way now to make sure she was alright. He knew what it was like to loose someone important to him. Maybe that was why he was so happy when she asked to be near him. Not in the way those girls at school did, but in the way of a person who knew they were important to each other. Sasuke had no one to believe or trust in. Hinata gave him that the moment he felt sympathy for her.

There was a creak at the door and Sasuke looked at Hinata's father. He nodded once before walking away. Sasuke turned back to the girl who had become his best friend. He smiled and promised himself he would make sure she would cry as little as possible.

He left late that evening. Hinata never did wake up. She was just too exhausted. Sasuke carried her to her room and bowed low to the Hyuuga Clan leader for allowing him to visit her. He nodded his head in dismissal and Sasuke returned back to his empty district where no one save his breath moved through the air.

The next day Hinata appeared next to him when he walked to school. Her face was bright and here eyes were happy. He asked her if she was alright. Hinata nodded and only murmured a 'thank you'. Sasuke smiled and muttered a 'you're welcome'.

Neither one spoke of his visit the night before. They had both attended her mother's funeral and Sasuke was surprised he was the only non-Hyuuga. He bowed low to the casket of Hinata's mother and laid three yellow roses for friendship and love.

He joined Hinata and they stood quietly while the procession carried on. The next day their training continued if only now more focused than before. They had found they trusted each other more now than ever and each never held back.

Four months past since the funeral, it was summer break and the two had lain lazily next to each other. They had trained all day and both were too exhausted to continue.

"What do you think Naruto is doing now Sasuke?" Hinata was looking at a cloud and she could make out two half circles that reminded her of Naruto's grinning eyes.

Sasuke shook his head. "If anything the idiot is pranking someone. I feel sorry for the teacher who has to make sure he learns something." Hinata nodded, smiled then finally laughed. Sasuke turned to her. "What's so funny?"

Hinata shook her head while she was laughing. "I just had an image of Naruto dropping a pile of erasers on a teachers head." Sasuke smirked. He remembered when Naruto had actually done that to one of the teachers the brat hated. But to be fair that teacher picked on Naruto a lot. Most adults who were older than their teens seemed too…

"Hey Hinata, I just thought of something. There is a certain age that kids and adults know about the secret. Then there are all the people like us who have no clue."

Hinata sat up. "What is the youngest person you seen who hated Naruto when we asked them about him."

"I would think around twenty. Actually I know its then. I asked one guy who was going to become twenty and he only heard that the kid was a brat. But when I asked one of his friends who was one or two years older and he knew. He said never to mention that name to him again."

"Let's go to the library, we can look to see if there is any news of what happened around six years ago." Their search left little information. There was nothing mentioned about Naruto's birth or something that had happened to the Uzumaki family. There was an enormous amount of information on the death of the Kyuubi who had attacked then. But there was nothing about Naruto or any kind of reason as to why such resentment would be created out of his own birth. Both children were disappointed. When they left the library one of Hinata's older cousins found them.

"I am sorry to disrupt you Hinata-sama, but your father has requested your appearance for a demonstration of your training tonight.

"Thank you Kaji-nii-san." Hinata bowed to the man before he left.

"Did your father tell you anything about this before?"

Hinata looked upset and shook her head no. "He never tells me anything and then wants me to be like my cousin. I really don't like that."

Sasuke nudged her. "It will be fine. Just show him what you have learned. I am sure he will be surprised." Hinata grinned at him and they both headed for the Hyuuga compound.

The two drank tea with the Hyuuga father and cousin Neji. Sasuke tried not to size up Neji, who Hinata said was really strong. After tea they sat and discussed what Sasuke drilled with his daughter. "We have gone over basic tactics and learned traps. Right now we are finally starting to learn Kawarimi no jutsu and Bushin no Jutsu." There was a soft scowl from next to the Uchiha and he saw a pair of cool eyes look back at him. "Did you want to say something?"

Neji scoffed at the black haired boy. "Hyuuga do not need to know those weak basics, the Jyuuken is enough to conquer any opponent. To learn those techniques simply shows how weak you are not to be able to perform the family style." He smirked at Hinata and She looked at the floor.

"That is enough Neji. The basics of ninjutsu are not to be scorned. Ninja outside of the Hyuuga clan must learn to work with those skills to compete with us, and we should not look down at their own lack of ability." Sasuke looked at the man impassively. He caught Hinata's mouth quiver in anger and her fist shook slightly. The implied insult to Sasuke was almost reason enough to cause an outburst. Sasuke was forced to look back to Hinata's father when he continued. "I decided it was best to now see how far she is progressing with the seven months of training she has been having with you. Her Jyuuken is falling behind farther than I would expect and I need to see for myself if the time away from the family technique is worth the while." Sasuke and Hinata nodded. Hinata's father stood and the two followed him with Neji trailing behind.

Inside Hinata was frustrated and angry. Her father had never considered her when making decisions that would affect her life. She was young but she knew that her fathers controlling nature was hurting her. She hated when he made these situations and thought of ways to get through this with out showing disgrace to her father.

Sasuke looked at Hinata as they were walking. Her face was blank and her eyes were tired, but it was the corner of her mouth that showed she was angry. Sasuke thought he was a little annoyed too. He might not be able to talk to her much and not train at all with her if she did not show something in this demonstration. He looked at Neji and then he understood why Hinata was upset. Her father had chosen the strongest child for Hinata to fight against. He wanted to ensure that Hinata would go back to training with him. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the back of the Hyuuga. He felt the man tense but continued to walk. Sasuke smirked remembering that the Hyuuga have an almost three hundred and sixty degree range of sight. The old man saw Sasuke glare at him. Serves him right.

They entered the courtyard that was encircled by the Main Branch's home. It was completely sealed off to those who were not of the Main family and Sasuke was told by Hinata that he was the first foreigner to be here that she could remember. Sasuke nodded his understanding at the privilege of being here.

Hinata was nervous. She had only recently started using the Jyuuken fighting style again and her byakugan was a little rusty as well. She looked over to Sasuke who was sitting next to her father. He smiled at her with a nod and she smiled back.

"It has been a while Neji-nii-san."

"Hinata-sama, give up now and accept to simply go back to training. You are far too weak to compare your self to me."

Hinata smiled and they both turned to their blood limit the Byakugan. Hinata surprised her cousin by charging in first. She started by making contact with his chest, and hit his left shoulder. Neji was surprised by the force of the blow; it hit his lung as well as hurt his actually shoulder. He dodged three more consecutive hits and stepped into her hitting several chakra points. Hinata allowed the hits and returned several hits along Chakra points over Neji's arms. He gasped before he pulled back and looked at his hands. Very little Chakra was coming out of his left hand and his right felt no power from the blow to his shoulder moments before. Neji sneered and charged at her. Hinata felt her heart race before she side-stepped his charge. She batted away his hand to her heart and hit the remaining points of Chakra along his right arm.

Hinata smiled and looked at her cousins Chakra system. She could not see the points very well in the human body, but the arms and legs were easy. She turned off her Byakugan and looked at Neji with her normal eyes. "I am sorry Neji-nii-san. But you are about to loose." She changed her stance and she felt Sasuke smile at her in encouragement. She charged and instead of using Jyuuken she used fist, elbow and knees to score hits to Neji who could not properly do damage with his arms disabled.

Neji made several tries to counter and finally hit Hinata hard across the brow. She stumbled and Neji took the chance to continue to attack. Several chakra points were nailed shut now that his arms were slowly recovering and Hinata gasped from the pain in her stomach, liver and kidneys. She raised her hand and slipped her Chakra filled fingers across Neji's arm. His arm became numb and she punched his left arm at the inside elbow joint. She started to attack, using open palms and pushed Neji back. There were several high-speed repeating pops every time Hinata made contact with Neji's body. There was a startled gasped from behind her and she smiled. Look at what I can do father. Each hit was similar to the Jyuuken. But the pops changed how it was being used.

The Hyuuga clan leader muttered. "How?" He activated his Byakugan and saw the chakara flow of his daughter.

Sasuke gave a smug grunt but said proudly. "It's because of my Sharingan." The man looked down to Sasuke. Sasuke had activated his Sharigan at the beginning of the fight and had been watching the fight several steps ahead of where it was leading to. "Since I can predict movement, Hinata had to find a way to continue to deal damage even when she misses an opponent. What she came up with, were high speed chakra bursts from the hands. Each burst goes along the length of her hand and spreads to anything that is near enough to it. Her normal flexibility and speed make up for my predictions. Even if I dodged her hits she was flexible enough to move her hand close enough to hurt me. Neji is not as fast as me and he can't predict Hinata's movements." Sasuke looked at Hinata. But instead of precise hits to the chakra system each hit spreads through the system forcing chakra to speed and slow at random intervals. The stress is hurting both Neji's body and his chakra system. Even while Neji dodges, he still receives damage of the jyuuken as if he just stood there and took the hits.

Hinata did one final chakra burst fist to Neji's neck and he collapsed. Hinata was panting hard and she turned to her father and bowed. When she looked up she saw a smug Sasuke and a passive face over her father. He stood up and walked over to Hinata.

The six year old made no move but felt her nervousness show. "Do you have a name for your new fighting style?"

Hinata shook her head. "I am still trying to find everything I can about it before I want to use if for fighting. But I wanted to show you what I learned so far father." Her face was pointed at the ground and she bit her lip. Hiashi exhaled silently in disappointment. Well done Hinata, although I wish I could return to training you, you need this young man more than I want you. Her father stared at her and smiled.

She never did see it. He patted her shoulder and walked past her to the boy on the ground. "You may continue to train with Uchiha Sasuke-dono." Sasuke looked at the man in surprise. He was never given such a high honorific. "You two have progressed far beyond what I could have imagined in such short of a time." He knelt next to the boy on the ground and picked him up. "I will tend to Neji. You may go now." He left the two outside the court yard. They both looked at each other and they both grinned widely.

"I DID IT!" Hinata shouted before she covered her mouth and looked around. No one was there to see her un-Hyuuga-like behavior. Sasuke finally laughed loudly. Hinata smiled back at him. It was the first time she had seen the sullen boy laugh so carefree.

"Congratulations Hinata. Let's go get something to eat to celebrate."

"That sounds like a good idea, but let me change and get cleaned up. I stink." Sasuke gave his usually silence but smiled at her. He walked back to where he was watching the match and waved his hand for her to go hurry up. She smiled and left.

Sasuke sighed and wondered where they could go eat. He actually saw a Ramen shop a few blocks down. He had never been to one and now was a good time as any to celebrate. He smiled at the thought of Hinata eating ramen. The quiet girl really did not seem the kind of person to shout, be determined or even eat ramen. He wondered if she actually would eat it and how clean she would be while eating. There was a tap on his shoulder and he smiled at the girl. "Sorry was thinking."

Hinata stuck her tongue out at him. "You are always thinking. What was it this time?"

Sasuke stood up and stretched. He grew stiff while he had sat and wondered how long he had been resting there. "I was thinking Ramen to celebrate."

"Ramen?" Hinata's nose turned up at the idea. Sasuke laughed again. There were times when she was a snob. But it was at things that did not really matter.

Sasuke's eyes were convinced. "Yes, we are eating ramen."

"But its all.. soupy."

"So is soba."

"I like soba! Don't you dare compare it to Ramen!"

Sasuke grabbed the cloth of her kimono and started walking dragging her behind him. "We are going to eat ramen and you will like it. I promise."

Hinata did not look convinced but followed him as he left the compound. They walked and chatted about the practice match with out the anger and stress they both experienced during her fathers lecture until they arrived at a ramen shop.

Sasuke moved the curtains and allowed Hinata to enter first. The ramen shop was one near where Naruto used to live. The Ichiraku was owned by a nice middle aged man. "Shrimp Ramen!" Sasuke ordered.

Hinata looked at what was written on the board over the counter. "I'll have some Beef Ramen please." Sasuke smirked at her and sat at the counter. Hinata looked at the counter to make sure it was clean before she rested her arms on it. She sat up strait and was conscious of her feet dangling beneath her.

"See? It's not that bad Hinata."

Hinata nodded and didn't look at him while feeling slightly embarrassed. "Well, father said we can keep training together, but I don't know what we are going to be doing in school soon. We are going to graduate soon if we keep this pace up."

Sasuke smirked. "That's not a bad idea." The old man gave them their ramen and started cleaning the counter. "Thank you."

"Thank you." Hinata echoed. "What? Graduating early?"

"Sure. Naruto would be impressed wouldn't he? And we are going fast through everything. I am starting to wonder if Shikimaru knows all that stuff we are being taught in class already and is just sleeping because he is bored."

Hinata bit back a laugh while slowly eating her ramen. She wiped her mouth and snickered. "I thought you were sleeping in class. Your head does tend to roll to the right when you are sleeping."

Sasuke suddenly turned red. "How would you know?"

"Training. You always sleep under that tree."

Sasuke didn't know what to say to that and returned to his ramen. A few minutes passed and Sasuke began drinking the last of broth. He set it down and sighed. "This is good ramen."

"It should be! I had the most practice making shrimp and beef ramen, my favorite customer always ordered those two the most."

"Who was that?" Asked Hinata. She had to admit that it was very good.

"This little blonde haired kid named Naruto. I always thought it was hilarious him eating naruto." The man laughed and shook his head. "What?"

Both Sasuke and Hinata stared at him. This was the first person they had met that was openly friendly about Naruto. "How did you know Naruto?"

The man looked at the kids and smiled. "Are you joking? He used to come in here all the time! I wondered how he could keep paying for it but the Hokage made sure the boy was able to work to support himself and did that by doing odd jobs for a few jounin. Not much, but delivering a message or two. They over paid the boy since they understood his situation." Sasuke looked at Hinata. Had the two not known that Naruto had a secret they would have assumed he was referring to Naruto being an orphan.

"Me and Hinata were there when he left, we saw him off on a carriage to the sand village."

The old man nodded. "That's good to hear, he didn't have many friends. You are both welcome here." The man waved the good bye when they left the shop.

"What do you think Hinata?"

The Hyuuga looked over her shoulder and thought about what she heard. "He liked Naruto. It's the first person I heard being nice to him that is over our age line." Hinata stayed silent after that.

"We will have to go back there a few times, maybe the man will slip something to us."

Hinata nodded and smiled. She looked up to the sky and sighed half defeated. "I like ramen."

Sasuke started laughing loudly and the two sat under a tree. "So what do you think about graduating early?"

Hinata thought about it. It would be great to be a genin, but how old would she be when she graduated? There would not be many children their age to work with. But they had been training together for so long it would not really make a difference. "I wouldn't mind graduating, but when do you think we can finish learning all that stuff? We just barely started Chakra control."

"When ever we learn it all, if its two years or three, who cares right? We will still graduate together."

Hinata reddened slightly but nodded with a smile.

- - - - - -

Very slowly the eleventh month went by for the two children, they both celebrated their seventh birthdays, and argued over what Naruto's secret could be. The beginning of the next month would mark a whole year of Naruto's absence and their becoming friends with the mystery boy and each other.

Hinata started walking to the school and was slowly loosing the resolve she had a year ago about finding what Naruto could not tell them. She had been growing quieter over the week and Sasuke said at one point he was talking to the sad Hinata all over again.

"Hey Hinata!" Sasuke ran up to the girl. They two started walking and there were few nods of greetings from the other boys. All the children walked to the school and did so by the main roads. When Sasuke caught up to Hinata, she was among half a dozen kids from different classes and grades.

"Sorry Sasuke, I just…" Sasuke nodded in understanding. Their dead ends were getting to him too. He had gone back to the apartment that Naruto used to live in for the first time in eight months. The apartment was rebuilt, but no one would live in it. When he asked the owner he said it was cursed since that brat Naruto used to live there. He recognized the hate in the man's voice but it still did not give any clues to why he did hate the blonde boy.

"Well let's go out for the Kyuubi festival. We both need to get out of this lull." Sasuke decide.

Hinata turned bright red. "Go out?" Several other kids near them stopped walking to stare.

"Yeah, we need to do something other than train. We are still kids we should have some kind of fun besides the normal ever day training ritual. Why? Did your family have plans?" Sasuke asked innocently completely oblivious to the people around him for the first time.

Hinata gave out a slight eep. "Nothing. O.k. lets… go… out…"

Sasuke smiled. "Alright, lets get going to class I want to get a head start on my nap." He smirked at her before speeding up slightly. Hinata watched his back before coming to her sense and jogged to catch up.

Class proceeded as normal. The teacher would explain something about Chakra that Sasuke didn't listen to and slowly began to nod off. When the teacher threw a piece of chalk at Sasuke to wake him up, Sasuke immediately reached and caught the offending white rock.

"Uchiha, if you are such a genius that you can sleep through class can you explain to the rest of the class why Chakra depletion is so dangerous?"

Hinata giggled at Sasuke half-asleep face. He glared at her before thinking back to the question. He knew of course he felt it during training. "Chakra depletion is dangerous because the human body is reliant on Chakra in even slight amounts to help run properly. For a ninja, the need for chakra is so important that depleted reserves can actually injure a person and make several internal organs shut down. The easiest organ to damage this way is also the most important, the heart." Sasuke sat back down and the teacher looked at the kid dumbfounded. "Thank you Uchiha, but next time, please stay awake in class."

Sasuke waved his hand and was asleep again in fifteen minutes. The teacher grumbled but could not do anything to punish the boy. He was ahead of the class in every subject and had dragged the Hyuuga girl along for the ride. The Chuunin glared at the Uchiha on his way out. Sasuke and Hinata decided to skip training tonight so they would not be so tired in the morning. Sasuke said he would meet Hinata tomorrow in the morning in front of her family's district. He was happy that the festival landed on a Sunday this year. It would allow them to both enjoy the whole day. He felt himself smirk at the thought of Hinata pointing out that it would also be a whole day with out training.

Sasuke woke up early the next morning and scowled at his eagerness. He showered and dressed. He had forgone the usual shorts and black shirt for black pants and a dark blue shirt. He was not sure if he should eat anything but finally decided against it. He pulled out the money from his family's vault in the office that used to be his fathers'. Then he walked to the Hinata compound several blocks away. She stood in front of the compound with a floral print Kinmono. She smiled at him and Sasuke scratched the back of his head in greeting.

"Let's go Hinata." She smiled and nodded.

Sasuke never remembered having such a good time out of training. The two had gone through several blocks of stands and games when they decided to rest for dinner. It was only mid afternoon but they had both begun to get hot from the running around they did.

"Hey mister, two teriyaki!" The man chef grunted and immediately started placing beef on his grill.

Hinata sat after much eyeing the gnarled wooden table. Sasuke had to laugh. "It's a table Hinata."

"I know, it just… doesn't look comfortable." Sasuke stuck his tongue out.

"Today was fun so far, where would you want to see the fireworks?"

"I think from Kage's mountain would be good." Sasuke looked at her funny. It was a long walk, and the place was most likely filled by now, even if the fire works would not start for three more hours. Hinata saw the look on his face and giggled. "Fine, where do you think?"

Sasuke thought about it for a moment. "There is a group of roofs we could see them from. It's not far from Ichiraku."

Hinata smiled and nodded. They both heard the call for their food and ate while walking towards the last shops. Neither felt like playing any games. Hinata had mentioned she wanted to get a new baby blanket for her sister Hanabi. So they both steered to a section of the festival that were selling clothing. Hinata was grinning widely at the small blanket she had chosen. It was light blue with images of bamboo on it. Sasuke saw a large soft brown blanket that was thick and warm. He bought it immediately. Hinata asked why and he just smiled at her. It was finally close to the time the fireworks would start and Sasuke led the way with his oversized blanket on top of his head. Hinata had to laugh a few times when the folded souvenir Sasuke bought was a little too much of a burden when he almost fell over from being too top heavy. He finally stopped and he tilted his head back to the top of a building.

They both looked at the building and new this would be the best spot. Sasuke grimaced when he started jumping up the fire escape with the heavy blanket on his head. Hinata followed with no real trouble. When they landed Hinata looked at the roof and wondered where they could sit, the roof had a rocky surface to reflect heat and there were a few leaves ono the places they could sit.

Sasuke solved the problem when he unwrapped the blanket and folded it so it was in half. They sat down on the roof and sighed contentedly. Sasuke fell onto his back and looked at the reddening sky and the clouds as they turned orange. Even when the blanket was folded in half it easily was larger than the two children, so it was with little effort that Hinata found room to do the same.

The fireworks finally started and they both clapped at a combination firework that started a chain that lit the sky. They were both torn away from the sky at the noise in the alley below them. They both walked to the edge and looked down. Several drunks stood there talking and singing. Hinata kept a giggle from falling out. They were horrible singers.

"Hey Sano, we got enough of this crap. We should go and do something." The speaker took his sake bottle and drank some more. The other men grunted.

"It's the Kyuubi festival, they should have brought that demon back here for us to finally do away with him." Shouted another drunk. They all stopped and someone vomited.

"Those ANBU bastards and their laws." Another man grunted in agreement.

"Living-seal my ass! I know evil when I see it. That kid should have done us the favor of letting his blonde head get burned." Shouted another one as the group walked through the alley. They finally passed and the only noise was the fireworks above the two children.

Hinata and Sasuke stared at the Alley for a few long moments. "Sasuke, did they…"

"Yeah. It makes sense now." Sasuke sat on the hard roof. He was in shock. "Everything does. What did we not think of it Hinata?"

Hinata started crying. "He was attacked on the anniversary. I knew that. I just never…"

Sasuke stood up and hugged her. A full year of investigating on their own was finally resolved by a few drunks. "We know now. So what do we do?"

Hinata looked at Sasuke and gave him her firm determined face. Her bottom lip was a little pushed up when she did this and Sasuke tried hard not to laugh. That face always made him laugh. "Naruto is Naruto. He was never evil. I believe in him."

Sasuke smiled and nodded. He had to admire the boy. To stand to all the hate they had both seen for years.

"So how do we send him a letter telling him we know and believe in him?"

Hinata smiled. "I think we can ask the Hokage. Not many people seem to know where he left to." Sasuke nodded and they returned to their blanket. The fireworks lasted for another hour and the two children felt the year had finally ended for them and a new one was starting.

- - -End Chapter 3 Confidence- - -

A/N: Arg! On the first draft of this I actually made it through the whole story without breaks. After that spoot. Oh well I wanted to see if I could make the transitions with out the breaks. Wow, it's all I can say to all the reviews from the last chapter, thank you so much. I still haven't responded to any of them but should have that posted on my yahoogroup on Monday when I can get back online. Check my profile if you wanted to look at the last chapters review responses.

Oh, there is one response I do want to answer here since I just got the review and its still fresh in my head. I was looking through the manga, and the episodes, and I Itachi, Sasuke's brother started at the ninja academy when he was 6 years old, and graduated that same year. I assumed that since Sasuke would be starting the same year as Itachi, that he would be six years old too. In this chapter I don't mention Sasuke birthday until the very end ,but that was just as a narration. I am assuming he had his birthday shortly after Naruto left. This would have made Sasuke six years old when Itachi murdered his clan. Thanks for Dreakon for opening that up. Any other comments feel free to put in reviews, email me or put it in the yahoo group.

Meh, no trailer for the next chapter.