Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Enjoy!

Chapter 4

My Ninja Way

~7:50

"So, what is the big news?" Kurenai jokingly teased as Asuma had blindfolded her ever since he told her of a place he wanted to show her.

"God, you are an impatient woman." He replied with a chuckle. As Asuma had arrived at their destination he removed the fabric. Kurenai stood before an apartment, very plain-looking at that.

The velvet eyed kunoichi side-eyed her lover. "So, what did you want to show me?"

"That hurts, Kurenai. It's my new home. I finally got a space for myself." He gently followed her hand to gesture her inside his home. "I only got 1 room, and I still in the process of putting together the living room and bathroom. I finished the kitchen last night." He casually explained as he pointed to the said rooms during his home tour.

"That's why you CANCELLED our date yesterday."

He nervously laughed. "All for a better dinner date at my house the next time I ask you out."

She scoffed. "If there will be another time."

~8:00

That damn Sasuke-teme. Naruto lightly pushed the pebble from his path as he sighed. Sakura put the blame on Naruto for ruining her and Sasuke's "so-called moment". The Uzumaki once again conveyed the feelings of irritation through his scoff. It wasn't my fault that that jar of milk was too high for my reach. Besides, what does she see in a guy like him anyway?

Naruto's inner monologue came to a halt once he laid his eyes on a familiar face ahead of him. Isn't that that girl from yesterday? Sasuke's fangirl.

Naruto was ready to continue with his stroll until he noticed the distressed expression on her face. It was then Naruto remembered the last time he saw her; she was dragged away by Sasuke. And for all he knew, and knowing how Sasuke was the definition of bastard, he was probably the cause of her troubled mood. Naruto approached Hinata in an attempt to cheer her up.

"Yo!"

Hinata had been lost in her thoughts ever since the chilling sensation had left her nervous system. Hinata had never been much of a fighter, in fact she was not interested in fighting. But she would not want to be a burden to her designated team. That is why she kept going even when situations got tough.

The young nin took deep breaths. I'm a pathetic excuse of a ninja. A voice exclaimed. It was followed by another voice that pointed out how irresponsible of a Guardian it was. The voices became increasingly louder, and Hinata succumbed to each and every statement by closing her eyes to shut the voices off. The silence did not last for long as she heard a familiar voice from a distance.

"Yo!"

Naruto-kun?.. The boy, since Kurai's apparent death, had been an inspiration to continue moving. She had never engaged in any conversation with him because she was hindered by the thoughts of making a fool of herself in front of him. But, his drive to run through his obstacles without looking back, doubtless, was what Hinata admired from behind.

The sound of his voice gave way for a tiny smile on her face. She slowly raised her head, rubbing the dried and now marked tears off her face. "N-N-Naruto-kun?"

"Hey Hi..." The tiny smile turned into a low grin. "Hinsata?"

Hinata awkwardly tipped her neck to the side from his failed attempt. She could not blame him, though. She never gave her name. "I-I-It's Hinata."

Embarrased from that fiasco, Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, Hinata. I just wanted to know if you were okay."

Hinata lightly gasped from the thought of her long-time admirer's concern for her. "I-I'm o-o-okay. Why would you ask that question?"

"I saw you crying and thought that it might've been that teme Sasuke's doing." At the mention of Sasuke's name, the tiny grin faded in a matter of nanoseconds.

"I knew it! When I get my hands on him I'll-!"

"N-No...!" She yelped. Strong yet fragile.

"But that little teme can't get away with hurting you like that! You had bought him food and then he just takes you away and makes you cry. That is unforgivable."

"Pl-Please give it up, N-Naruto-kun..."

"I won't give anything up-" Her eyes were locked on his ocean-dyed globes, "-because that is my Ninja Way!"

In that moment Hinata could see nothing but Naruto with the wind dancing through his golden locks. Ninja Way?... Her mind expressed her thoughts through her mouth, and Naruto repeated with: Yes, my Ninja Way.

"If there is something I can't do, there is no point of becoming Hokage." Hinata once again took his last word and whispered it herself.

"Sasuke will pay for making you cry like this, and I will make him apologize to you!"

"Y-Y-You would do that... for me?"

He nodded, beaming her the brightest smile he could muster. After a few moments, D-shaped grin retracted into a lesser extensive smile where the corners of his mouth pointed upwards.

"Naruto-kun..."

This was the first time Hinata had felt such a pure aroma radiate from the Uzumaki. The smile was caring, but it simultaneously maintained the goofy aspect of Naruto. The moment between the two nins seemed to have lasted forever, and Hinata was fine with it. However, she was pulled down to reality from Naruto's light pat on the shoulder. The touch was too sudden for Hinata to process and before she could react to the situation Naruto was meters ahead of her, slowly becoming a part of the crowd.

Hinata ruffled through the pockets in pants and jacket to pull her crystal out. Naruto-kun's Ninja Way.. She slowly clutched onto the tear-shaped piece before heading back to Kurenai's home.

~ 8:36

Hinata knew that without this crystal she would still be a Hyuga, the bond between her and her teammates would be more solid and substantiated and she would have never met... Sasuke. Although, the mystery surrounding Kurai's death was solved because of this crystal. Truthfully this crystal has done more harm than good to the life of the former heiress. But... She looked down on her crystal and for a moment she saw a flash of Naruto's smile from earlier.. that doesn't mean all is lost! Starting from...

2 days. Training grounds.

Neji-nii-san

I give you 2 days to prepare.

I... My Ninja Way... will start from you! She looked down at her crystal once more, this time she saw Sasuke's face flash before her. I won't bother you anymore, Sasuke-kun. I will grow stronger and one day... will move on. Just like you did...

She could hear Kurenai from a distance - she was close to home. However, as she got closer the sound of Kurenai in distress made her title her head. Asuma was there as well. She saw a van by the entrance of her sensei's house with men lifting boxes from the house and onto a vehicle. She jogged over to the scene and asked of what was happening.

"I don't know! I came back from grocery shopping with Asuma, and the next thing I see these men taking all our stuff away! This is my house. You can't do this!" She yelled at the men in his uniform and cap.

"It's not your house anymore." He said, looking at the clipboard in his hand.

"What do you mean 'not anymore'?"

He looked at her with a sigh before showing her papers that Hinata could not clearly see. "A woman by the name Kimiko purchased the house yesterday."

"Kimiko?!" Asuma and Kurenai gasped in unison. Hinata felt a sudden uneasiness rush over her. If the house had been sold, where was she and Korean-sensei going to live now?

"Oh, Kurenai!" Said a high-pitched and whiney voice, "like my new house?" Asuma held his former teammate by the shoulder to calm her down. "Oh, hey Asuma, didn't see you there either?" Kimiko eyed Hinata and asked who she was.

"I'm Hinata Hyu- I'm Hinata." The kunoichi replied.

"Oh, you are the Hyuga that got disowned!" Hinata's lips quivered from the insensitive tone in her voice. "I didn't know you lived with Kurenai. Boy, had I known I would've thought things through before buying the house. Sorry about that." She said in that same monotonous voice before turning around waving them goodbye in the most unfriendly way ever.

Buying the house?...She looked over at Kurenai and then at the men moving the boxes and leaving them on the ground. Does that mean Kurenai lost her house? Where are we supposed to live now?. She ran over to Kurenai.

"Kurenai-sensei, what is going to happen?" Kurenai inhaled all the air her lungs could possibly muster. She exhaled in defeat.

"I don't know, Hinata. This is totally unexpected, and as of now, we don't have a place to stay."

"N-No way... all because of..." Hinata was at loss for words. It seemed as though an obstacle was building on top of another obstacle until it collapsed. But the question was, had it collapsed? Was this the climax of it all, having not place to stay, sleep and eat? Hinata thought so. Nothing could possibly get worse than this.

"So, Kurenai? Now you know who not to mess with the next time!" The entitled ninja mocked, while she snobbishly laughed her way inside her new house and Kurenai's former home.

"I have a proposition." Asuma said, looking at Kurenai, and her only. "Since I have a new apartment, I thought that maybe..." He continued the rest of his offer through gesturing hand signs. Kurenai smiled to herself.

"You would do that for us?" As she uttered the last word, Asuma's hand mimicking came to an end, following a frowned expression.

"Kurenai... the problem is," he guided her eyes to Hinata and Kurenai rejoice quickly resided.

"Asuma, there must be some space for Hinata at your apartment." Kurenai, knowing full well that there was space for Hinata, looked at Asuma in pure hopelessness. To answer her state of denial, Asuma shamefully looked down, shaking his head in the most unnoticeable manner he could do.

All while this was happening, Hinata did not need Asuma to explain the problem with his deal. She could sense from both of the ninjas that she was going to be the problem. Instead of sobbing, she gave Kurenai a smile. It was a tiny smile, but she did not want to bother Kurenai any more. Her sensei had done more for her than she could have asked for. And therefore, it was time for Hinata to take the next big step on her own.

"Oh Hinata, I am so sorry!"

"It's fine, Kurenai-sensei. You have always been there to support me, and on top of that you let me stay with you when there was no other place for me to go. For that, I thank you." She bowed as a sign of gratitude. She stayed in the same position for a while as a sign of mental growth. The mental growth that Kurenai had helped her achieve when the road looked blank from her point of view.

"Hinata..." She felt an overwhelming rush of emotions from her student. Her mind delved back to the first day she laid her eyes on Hinata, and it played a motion of Hinata and the struggles she faced up until this point. The bundle of heartbreak, misery, joy build a pool of tears that Kurenai allowed to pour down her face. The second she saw Hinata raise her petite upper-body, she snatched her into her arms. Tight, her arms were tightly wrapped around her small figure. "Hinata..."

~ Training grounds - 8:49

Team 7 had been ordered to meet at the training grounds once they had settled their belongings at Sasuke's apartment. Sakura, being the punctual ninja as always, was there as the first one. She looked around in disappointment. *Even when we are under another major threat, he is still late*

Her thoughts came to an end as she saw Sasuke ahead of her. She shyly yelped Sa-Sasuke-kun! The last time she saw him was when he stormed out because Naruto had broken the jar of milk. Rightfully so, he simultaneously ruined a potential moment between her and Sasuke. Naruto followed suit a few moments later. She raised her arm to wave at Sasuke with her usual greetings. Sasuke, as usual, scoffed at her.

"TEME!"

Both ninjas flinched and directed their attention towards the loud, yet familiar, voice coming from the trees. It was none other than Naruto. But this time, something was different this time. There was no usual goofy grimace on his face. No, his eyebrows were knitted closer to each other in a more downward manner, his teeth were gritting against each other in a frown. Naruto was mad.

Sakura would have defended Sasuke against Naruto's burst of anger any other time, but the tone in his voice as yelled "teme" was more fierce and aggressive than usual. What happened between them? She thought as she saw Naruto walking over to Sasuke and stopped when there was a decent distance between the two.

"Apologize to her."

Sasuke, knowing full well who he was talking about, felt his eyebrows raise by the sudden demand. And now for Naruto, his mind dwelt back to the lavender-haired kunoichi. From her face, to the time she ran over with those tomatoes and tripped, to their final talk, to the time he saw her confronted by another ninja with the same eyes as her and lastly the moment he saw the Uchiha crest at the back of her shirt when he helped her after her fall.

"Apologize? Apologize to who?" Sasuke confusingly asked, switching between Naruto and Sasuke. She undoutbly, yet hoped to be wrong, knew that it was about Hinata. The girl whose name has been reoccurring since her and Sasuke's fight against Yoroi.

"Mind your own business, usuratonkachi." Sasuke finally replied. He turned to his side, avoiding Naruto's glare.

"Enough is enough, Sasuke! All she wanted was to gift you tomatoes for your discharge. You could have at least thanked her! How could you make a girl who was simply being nice cry like that-!"

"That's none of my business."

"If it weren't for her in the Forest of Death, you would be dead!"

The eyes of obsidian widened by the word 'death'. That word buzzed through the mind of the young Uchiha. It nearly sent shivers down his spine, thinking back to his near fatal moment in his fight with Orochimaru. He knew Naruto saw his reaction, and he was right. Had it not been for Hinata, he would have been gone.

The thoughts were chilling and Sasuke was about to rewind memories of him and Hinata in that forest - from their fight due to his curse mark, the fatal blow he landed her, to her revival, and lastly, to the chuckling and tiny smile they exchanged as a sign of acknowledgement. They acknowledged that Mitsu and Kurai were never gone, their paths got separated from each other. He was interrupted by Naruto's voice.

"I might not know what happened between you two, but you could at least show her some gratitude for what she did for you, dattebayo."

Sasuke frowned for a short second before he stared Naruto into the eyes with the utmost soulless expression he could muster. "She means nothing to me."

Sasuke's cold demeanor fueled Naruto's anger. It had reached a point where Naruto just wanted to yell down at Sasuke until he succumbed and went to apologize. And yet, that simple but crude reply took Naruto aback. Naruto speechlessly watched as Sasuke began walking. Sakura attempted to talk him out of it, reminding Sasuke of the new threat they were under and how Kakashi was going to prepare them until the time came.

"The mysterious guy gave us 48 hours before he would attack. We should be careful and stick together, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke stopped in the midst of his next step. He thought carefully of what Sakura said. She was right. They had to be careful now that a new threat had showed up, and Kakashi had been acting weird when the topic of the scrolls were brought up. Nevertheless, his feet began moving while Sakura's plea continued. As her voice diminished to the point where he could not here her, his steps gradually slowed down.

Saskue's hand turned into a fist in his pockets, staring into nothingness as he let his thoughts succumb to the memories of his past. Naruto did not know anything. Sasuke had one goal; to kill Itachi. Sasuke decided from the day of the massacre that everything in the past will remain in the past because they would only serve as a distraction. This meant that the hobbies, activities and people that he grew attached to would remain in his past. Sasuke faced the sky. The memories of their last encounter swirled through his mind.

Don't get the wrong idea.

I have my own goals that I must achieve, and until I have achieved that goal, I won't let anything or anybody distract me from it.

He took a deep breath. It's not only killing Itachi that's my goal. For a second a picture of the former Uchiha clan flashed before his eyes. I want to revive the Uchiha clan. His mind then flashed back to the moment where he, in return of befriending Hinata for Nana, would claim Hinata as his wife once they grow older.

He took another deep inhalation. For now, he thought with the smile of Hinata in his mind. I will have to say goodbye to you.... One last memory from when they were Kurai and Mitsu played in his mind.

Mitsu is always worrying. Don't worry, I got perfect eyes in the dark.

I'm scared, Kurai-kun

Don't worry, I'll get us home.

Sigh

Just don't let go of my hand

H-Hai...

Sasuke exhaled before he decided that heading home to cool off and plan his next step with the new threat on the radar was best fitting. I could really use some tomat- A flashback to his fight with Naruto stopped him in the middle of his thoughts. Never mind. I will buy new milk since that idiot spilled everything.

~ 9:01

Asuma had informed the Hokage of the situation Hinata was in. Hiruzen had ordered Hinata and her belongings transported to the Hokage building as he searched for a place where Hinata could live. After everything Hinata had been through, Hiruzen saw it as a duty to find a place that would best accommodate Hinata. A place that featured traits similar to that of the former Hyuga: tidy, quiet, peaceful but most importantly, welcoming. A place where the fellow resident would warmly welcome Hinata into their new apartment. Hiruzen's pen and stream of thoughts worked in union, and as he thought of the last trait for Hinata's place Hiruzen pinpointed the apartment with a thick dot.

Hinata slightly flinched from the sound of light jab from the pen onto the paper. Hiruzen had given the coordinates to the jonin that stood by his side the entire time. Hinata saw it as a signal to leave as well, so she stood from her seat and bowed and thanked him.

"Hinata," Hiruzen gently called.

"H-Hai?"

"I'm sorry that this had to happen to you. And I'm sorry that you are going through all this at once. So if there is anything that you need to talk about, anything I can do to help, please, tell me." Hirzen could not find anything better to say to sooth the situation. He knew that Hinata must be going through inexplicable pressure right now. The way she held herself up and continued to send him a smile of insurance was what Hiruzen admired.

"I have one question, who am I going to l-live with?"

"Ah, it's a fellow student from the Academy. She, along with all other academy students, should be preparing for this Chunnin Exams so you will have space for yourself. I hope you can bear with it."

"Y-yes Hokage-sama. Thank you very much for your help." She bowed and headed out to the jonin who escorted her to the van.

"Hey, isn't it the Hyuga that got disowned?" The driver said while sipping his drink as he watched her on her way to them.

"Hey! Don't say that so casually! I heard she had to live with Uchiha Sasuke ever since then." The Jonin, who had received the coordinates from the Hokage, said.

"Oh well, let's just get in." The driver responded, carelessly placing his drink on the car stand. The Jonin gave the coordinates to the driver, and the driver again placed it on the car stand. He turned on the engine. "Huh?" His mind must have been fooling him for a second for he thought he had spotted a squirrel on the pedals.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, noth- Aw!" His yelp for pain from a sudden bite on his shin made him step on pedal, pushing everything and everyone forward.

"What the- Why did you do that for?!"

"Something bit me! I-" He was about to defend his action until he noticed dripping liquid from the car stand. His eyes followed the trace until they got glued to the piece of paper that was now drowned in the water he was drinking earlier. "Oh uh." He hurriedly picked the paper, fanning it dry. But the attempt was futile as the numbers had now been smeared.

"Oh no. Look what you did!"

"Don't panic! I can still read the numbers." He said with a shaking voice. The numbers were still readable. Although he couldn't quite make out whether the last number was supposed to be a 6 or 9. He flipped the paper in panic to decipher the remaining letters. He sighed in defeat and placed the paper down. Just my luck.

They arrived at the destination and asked for Hinata to stay in the van until they were done with the unloading her boxes. She nodded and waited patiently. It took a few moments until they told her to come down. She bowed and thanked them for their service before walking in. Boy, do I hope there wasn't a mistake. The driver thought.

She took a deep breath as she finally had some alone time. This place was quiet, tidy and peaceful. She thanked God that she did not have own many things. She was emotionally exhausted. She thought that the most sincere thing to do right now would be to greet her new roommate and perhaps wish her good luck in her Chunnin Exams.

"What..."

She flinched from the sudden voice behind her. She looked back and was paralyzed from the figure in front of her. Out of all people, it just had to be. "S-Sasuke-kun."

Hello everybody! It has been waaay too long since I last updated this story, and I sincerely apologize for that. School has really not been kind to my schedule and I had to put my story on pause (which I could've written in the summary but never thought of it ^^;) But I can safely say that I am back and am "cured" off my writer's block. I hope you will continue reading the romantic turbulent rollecoaster between Sasuke and Hinata and the rest of the Konoha 12 (Or should I say Guardian 12?... No?... No.. OKay...)

See you till next time :3