A/N

So, I'm not getting many reviews =(

If you like the story so far, please let me know! Thanks a lot =D

I wasn't really sure where to go with this story, because it was originally a one-shot I put up on another site, but I've really enjoyed writing it so far. Again, please let me know if you've enjoyed reading it .

Chapter Four

Hinata awoke to the sunlight streaming through her open window and falling across her face, making her blink in the brightness. Her whole body felt heavy from the amount of alcohol she'd consumed the night before, and she stretched her arms above her head, arching her back deliciously. Only then did she become aware of her legs, and how they were tangled up in someone else's. Kiba lay on his back next to her, eyes closed, mouth slightly open. He was snoring softly, his bare chest rising and falling slowly as he slept. Hinata slipped her legs out from under his, trying not to disturb him and hot-footed it to her en suite, stepping into the shower and switching on the water. Standing under the stream of hot water let her think a little; sometimes she believed she had all her best thoughts in the shower. Her mind wouldn't stop skipping back to last night, to the party, to the kiss... And every time she thought of Sasuke's face after their dare, her mind had a nasty habit of forcing an image of Kiba in front of her, Kiba undressing, Kiba kissing her shoulders in the moonlight. And she couldn't stand it. She hated it. It took a few minutes for her to realise she was crying. She switched off the shower and stepped out, grabbing a fluffy towel from the rail next to the porcelain sink and wrapping it around her. Wiping the steam from the mirror, she looked at her reflection as the tears rolled slowly down her already wet cheeks.

She still looked the same: wide, pale eyes, small rose-bud lips, pale skin – flushed now from the heat of the shower, long blue-black hair sticking to her head with the moisture. So why did she feel so different? Why did she feel like the worst person alive?

*

Sasuke felt elated, he realised, for the first time in a while. He was training with Naruto, sparring with a number of the blonde ninja's shadow clones, each one calling him name after name. The Uchiha smirked as Naruto finally called a time out for lunch, and plonked himself on the ground in the shade of a huge, old tree. Sasuke joined him, wiping his face with a towel and grabbing his lunch from his bag: two rice balls and some cold noodle salad, packed by him that morning. He began munching on the food straight away, as if suddenly remembering an incredible hunger he'd had. Naruto had already finished by the time Sasuke started on the noodles, and was eyeing up one of the black-haired boy's rice balls hungrily.

"Have it, bakka..." Sasuke gave in, chucking the almost empty bento at Naruto, who grinned widely.

"Oi, Sasuke-teme?" Naruto said, his mouth full of rice. "About last night, you and Hinata-chan."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He'd known this would be coming, and had been waiting for it all morning.

"What about it? It was a dare."

"Yeah, it was a dare Sasuke, but come on! Did you have to kiss her like that?" Naruto stared at his best friend incredulously.

Sasuke shrugged, a response he usually gave to Naruto. But the Uzumaki's question had got him thinking. Why had he kissed her like that? I mean, it was true he'd been thinking about her a lot recently, but he'd always known she'd never return his feelings. Would she? The way she'd responded last night had been... well, unexpected seemed too small a word. Unprecedented.

"Hnn. It was a dare." Sasuke repeated, more to himself than to Naruto, "Had to do it right, I guess."

Naruto's shoulders shook with laughter.

"'Do it right?'" He snorted, "You may as well have gotten a room to yourselves... and dog-boy's reaction! Priceless!"

Sasuke threw a twig at Naruto, jumping to his feet again and grabbing his bag.

"Come on, enough about me. Let's get back to training."

*

Kiba was sat on the edge of the bed, struggling with his socks when Hinata eventually emerged from the bathroom. He grinned up at her, his eyes sparkling. She smiled weakly back at him, giving in when he grasped her wrist and pulled her to sit by him.

"You know, Hinata-chan, how you're my best friend?" He asked in a husky voice, his arm encircling her waist.

"Mhmm..." Hinata didn't feel like she could form words right then.

"So last night was... It was..."

"Kiba-kun-" she started to say, but he cut her off with a finger to her lips.

"I love you Hinata, and you know that. But we can't do this again... I can't do this again, unless... It means something. Not that it didn't mean something... I'm not doing this too well am I?" He smiled wryly at her, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"Not really Kiba-kun, but I think I know-"

He cut her off again, this time with his lips on hers in a light peck.

"I'm happy to take your mind off things. I'm happy to spend all my time with you. I'm happy to be around you, share your bed, fall asleep stroking your hair, and wake up when you have nightmares – which, by the way, you have a lot of – and most of all I'm happy to kiss you. I could probably kiss you forever. But Hinata-chan, I don't want to fall for you. Do you understand? I just can't be that person."

Hinata looked at her best friend, drinking in the details of his face; his big, brown, puppy-dog eyes, his full lips, his cute, pointy canines, the red triangle tattoos adorning his cheeks. And she realised she didn't want him to be that person. She just wanted him to be Kiba, her Kiba, forever. She wanted to see him smile, and laugh at his mishaps with girls, and go fishing with him, and all the other things they did together. This... This dance they'd been doing around each other for the past two years just couldn't work anymore. There was no way either of them could be close to someone else if they always fell back into each other's arms every time they sought comfort. And the guilt she'd felt this morning was something she'd never experienced before, after a night with Kiba.

Why had she felt like that at all? Was it really because of a shirt kiss she'd shared with a boy she barely knew? How could he affect her like this? After all, hadn't she hated Uchiha Sasuke for years?

*

It was early evening, and the sun was just sinking behind the hills around Konoha. Sasuke sat under a tree overlooking the village, his back against its worn trunk. He spun a kunai on one finger, backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards, barely paying attention to it. Birds twittered above him, going to roost. Far below him, down the steep hill he sat at the top of, he could hear children laughing, getting one last play in before bedtime. Lights slowly turned on in the houses as the sky dimmed with the approaching night. He sighed, feeling the air around him drop a few degrees. Standing slowly, he dusted himself down and headed down the pathway, back to the Uchiha compound. That was when he spotted her. Hyuuga Hinata, walking on the same pathway, heading towards him. He shook his head. Not towards him, he thought. Towards the Hyuuga compound, which lay on the other side of the hill.

Her arms were laden with books. She must've been to the library to study, he realised. Well, her cousin was a genius. Anyone would want to try to catch up with him. Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully as she approached, noticing the way the twilight that has fallen made her skin an unearthly pale. Her hair flowed down her back like an inky waterfall, and he longed to touch it, just for a second. He cleared his throat as she drew level with him, and she looked up from the floor, noticing him for the first time.

"Yo." He said, raising a hand in an impression so like Kakashi, he wanted to smack himself.

*

Hinata felt like she might drop the books when she saw him. He seemed to come from nowhere.

"U-Uchiha-san. Good evening." She said formally, her cheeks heating up as she blushed.

He seemed amused at this, and stopped in front of her, looking as if he wanted to say something. She paused in her steps too, looking at his face expectantly. His cheeks were slightly pink, as if he'd been running, or... Maybe he was embarrassed? No, there was no way Uchiha Sasuke could get embarrassed, especially not because of some stupid dare...

He cleared his throat for the second time, looking at the floor, and then at some point on the horizon behind her.

"So, Hinata-chan... Been to the library?" He said, still not looking at her.

"Ano... Yes, I had to read up on some... some things..." Looking at Sasuke suddenly made her forget what it was exactly that she'd been reading up on.

His dark hair was getting long now, she noticed. He needed a haircut before it totally impeded his vision. His lean form was taller than she'd really noticed before. He stood, hands in pockets, looking up at the sky now, his face illuminated by what little light the sun had left in the sky. Everything around them had the eerie, bluish glow of twilight, and his black eyes reflected that, flashing blue as he turned to look at her again. She blushed even deeper, as if she'd been caught out peeping into the boy's locker room.

"Well, goodnight, Hinata-chan."

His voice was barely a whisper as he headed along the pathway behind her, leaving her standing stupidly on her own in the gathering darkness.

*

Sasuke lay on his bed, face-down, hoping to suffocate himself with his feather pillow. It was to no avail though, and so he rose from his position, pacing the room for a few minutes instead. What the hell was wrong with him? This girl clearly hated him, and on top of that she probably had something going with the Inuzuka kid, judging by how angry he'd gotten last night when they'd...

The kiss. The feeling of it tormented him as he got into the bathroom, bracing the sink with his hands, staring at his reflection, wild-eyed and messy-haired. A madman. And certainly not the right person for Hyuuga Hinata.

A/N

Okay, so there's another chapter for you =)

Please review!

This chapter was fuelled by the bands Brand New, Lower Definition, Dashboard Confessional and Jack's Mannequin, chocolate and last week's Shippuden episode.

Ja ne!