A/N Apologies for the OOC-ness. If Sasuke wasn't a little bit OOC, this story wouldn't work as well…Anyways, here goes:

ONE WEEK LATER

Sasuke was moodily flinging kunai at a wooden dummy set up for training. He was barely even paying attention to what he was doing, though every kunai hit the dummy directly where its heart would be. At another section of the training grounds, Hinata was trying to practice honing her byakugan, but kept getting hindered by Naruto.

"C'mon, babe, you've been practicing for ages!" Naruto whined. He wrapped his arms around her neck, causing Sasuke's heart to perform an angry little skip. "Why don't you take a break, huh? We can go rent a movie! And then," he added naughtily, "not watch it." He gave a wink that made Sasuke throw a kunai so forcefully that it embedded itself in the wood. As he went over to tug it out, he heard Hinata's soft but exasperated reply.

"Sorry, Naruto-kun, but I really need to train. So do you, you know!" She smiled at him. "Don't you want to be an even better ninja?"

Naruto laughed.

"Ha! There's time for training, Hina-chan, but now is the time for something else." He flashed what he clearly thought was a winning smile. Before Sasuke had the chance to look away, Naruto had pounced on Hinata and was kissing her, not so much with passion, but more like an animalistic hunger. She pushed him off with a struggle.

"Naruto-kun! I told you, I have to train! And I'm getting tired of you…attacking me like that!" Hinata wasn't looking at him. She was looking at her fingers shyly, but her tone was firm and honest.

"Heh, you know you like it!" He lunged at her again, but she was too quick for him. She was jogging around to another part of the field before he knew it.

"Gomenasai! I'm sorry, but I can't do that right now! I'll see you at dinner, Naruto-kun!" she called back.

Sasuke felt his spirits lift a little. It was clear that Hinata wasn't that happy with Naruto getting so…physical. This wasn't the first time she had hinted at that. But it was also clear that she liked being with him, at least when they were talking. Sasuke sighed, but then smiled to himself. He could tell that Naruto hated it when they were just talking.

Speak of the devil… Naruto was walking over to Sasuke, who kept throwing kunai like he didn't see him coming.

"Sasuke?" Naruto looked frustrated. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." What else could he say? Sasuke pocketed the kunai and followed Naruto to a nearby bench. "What's up?"

"Well, I've been having some…thoughts about Hinata," Naruto began.

Oh god I don't think I want to hear what kind of thoughts he was having! Sasuke thought frantically.

"If this is something—erm—private, I don't think I really need to--" Sasuke held up his hands in a perfect imitation of Kakashi. Naruto shook his head.

"Nothing like THAT! Well…kinda, I guess…" Naruto looked away. "It's just that, well, being with her is fine, you know. She's nice and pretty and all. But I don't know, she just always wants to talk!"

Sasuke laughed inwardly. He had had a feeling that this was coming. Still, he pretended to be clueless.

"That's what you're supposed to do when you're going out with someone though, talk. I mean, what else do you do?" He stuck a fake blank expression on his face. Naruto nudged him and gave a nervous chuckle.

"C'mon, you know what I mean, dude! When you're going out with someone, you…you know…do stuff!" Sasuke looked taken aback.

"Stuff? You mean like…wow, Naruto, I think we're a little too young for stuff…"

Why do you need to do "stuff" with her, you idiot?! Why can't you just be content with being with her? Why don't you let the relationship go at a pace she's comfortable with? Why can't you just talk to her, about what she likes, what she wants? That's what I would—Sasuke tried very, very hard not to let these thoughts show on his face. He was treading in dangerous waters here…

"I don't mean going too far, Sasuke!" Naruto reassured. "I just mean that I kinda would rather have, you know, a little less talk, a little more action!" He somehow didn't notice that Sasuke's fists were clenching and unclenching madly at Naruto speaking like this.

"So what you're saying is, you're going to try and get her to give you more action?" Sasuke fought to keep his voice steady.

"Well, yeah…or else just end it with her and find someone who's gonna be a little more willing…" Naruto's eyes were already directed at an ice-blonde girl with a ponytail who was practicing techniques in the next field. At these words, Sasuke's heart lept, though he did feel a pang of irritability at Naruto's short attention span.

"Well, if you're not happy with her, I say go ahead! Find someone else, someone who makes you happy!"

You don't deserve her.

"Yeah, you think so?" Naruto's face brightened in relief.

"Of course, man! End it as soon as possible!" Sasuke said. Then he thought about how Hinata would feel. "Oh, but…be gentle. Seriously."

If you hurt her, I'll kill you.

"Huh? Yeah, sure, whatever you say…" Naruto was already poised to walk over to Ino.

"Naruto!" Sasuke grabbed his arm. "Seriously." Naruto looked back at him and grinned.

"Seriously, seriously. Yeah." He started to walk over to Ino, but Sasuke cleared his throat. "Fine, fine, I'll do it now!" He headed to where they had seen Hinata disappear. "Thanks!" he waved.

Sasuke sat back and grinned, pleased with himself. The next thing he knew, the grin faded from his face.

Did I just tell Naruto to break up with her? He's never been gentle in his life! She's going to be heartbroken! What have I done?

Panicked, he got to his feet and jogged after Naruto. When he finally caught sight of the two of them, Hinata's eyes were full of tears and questions. Naruto gave her a pat on a shoulder and an encouraging smile right before he strode away towards Ino. By the time Sasuke reached Hinata, she was kneeling on the ground crying quietly.

What have I done?