Hinata stared at her first and only love, feeling the heat of her red cheeks. She cursed her timid nature and looked fondly at his face, memorizing everything. She had watched this young man age from an arrogant little boy to the compassionate man he was today. She admired Naruto for the way he cared about everyone in the village. Despite the way he treated them as a child, he wanted to protect them even if it cost him his life, as he'd proved time and time again.

She couldn't read his expression. In his eyes was the friendly tenderness that was always there but there was also something else. Something he clearly wanted to remain hidden which just wasn't like him. As they stared at one another in comfortable silence, she felt the air between them change. He shifted uncomfortably and stood.

"Well, I should probably head home." He turned to leave and she grabbed his hand. This could be their only chance to be alone like this.

"Naruto, please stay and talk with me a while. I don't care what about. I'm just not ready to be alone yet." His blue eyes showed confusion and conflict.

"I don't know if I should. There's something going on in my head that I don't quite understand." She wanted so badly to ease his troubled mind.

"Do you remember the Chunin exams? When I fought Neji?" They shared a moment of grief for their fallen comrade before he responded.

"How could I forget? He almost killed you." They was a brief flash of anger that shone like a lightning bolt in his blazing eyes.

"Yes, he almost did. I didn't care. I hurt so bad I didn't think my body would let me stand. Then you were there. You were encouraging me, convincing me that I could stand. Because of you, I fought Neji. Because I fought Neji, I gained confidence. Even though I lost that fight I trained long and hard. I became worthy of the title of Shinobi. Because of that, I was able to stand beside you in the Fourth Great War. You have played a major part in my life and I'm not sure you know it." In a moment of courage, she released most of the words her mouth had refused to form. She still couldn't force out the last three words, more because of her upcoming nuptuals than her shyness.

"Hinata." That one word, breathless and full of admiration, struck at her very heart. She had wanted so badly to tell him those things.

"I just thought you should know, Naruto. Also, I wanted to thank you. Without you, I wouldn't be where I am today." Her breath caught in her throat when he sat back down beside her. Her heart felt like it would explode when he pulled her into a hug.

His arms wrapped around her shoulders, Hinata sat still for a moment to absorb what was happening. Reluctantly, as if he might pull away, she eased her arms around his waist. She rested her cheek on his chest and listened to the strong beat of his heart. He smelled faintly of sandalwood, likely from whatever soap he used. She was growing uncomfortable from the awkward position when he lay back on her bed, pulling her with him.

She felt her heart threatening to jump out of her chest when he kept her held tightly to him. The strong, steady beat of his heart soothed her. He gently stroked her back as he thanked her for her kind words. He assured her he would stay and talk as long as she wanted and he did.

Until the sun came up, they lie in each other's arms sharing stories. He told her of his many different trainings and she listened intently, not wanting to miss a single word. She was in awe when he told her of his meeting with the Sage of Six Paths and his battle with Kaguya. Her heart went out to him when he told her of the battle between Sasuke and himself that caused the loss of his arm. They talked and laughed and comforted one another until the first signs of dawn lit the sky.

"Thank you for staying with me Naruto," She was carefully keeping all sadness from her voice and expression.

"The pleasure was all mine. We should do it again sometime." She nodded her agreement and he grinned at her before jumping back out the window he came in.

She tried to swallow past the lump in her throat knowing they could never do that again. As innocent as it may have been, after this day, she'd be engaged. She changed into her clothes for the day and was preparing to go talk to her father when there was a knock on her bedroom door. She opened it to find Sasuke, very sullen looking on the other side.

"I was wondering if he was going to leave or not." Sasuke looked past her to her bedroom window and she couldn't help but notice how angry he looked.

"Sasuke, we weren't-" He held up a hand to silence her. She couldn't guess why he was upset when it seemed like he didn't even like her.

"May I come in?" His mannerisms were polite but there was a darkness in his eyes that made her want to say no. Against her better judgement, she stepped to the side, allowing him to enter.

He sat on her floor, cross-legged by the foot of her bed. He motioned her to sit down beside him and she did, not wanting to anger him further. Much to her surprise, when she sat down he formed a series of seals that she didn't recognize and a barrier formed around them.

"Now we can talk." His eyes revealed nothing about what he felt and she didn't get the feeling that she wanted to know anyway.

"Sasuke, Naruto and I weren't-" She was really hoping he'd let her finish that sentence but she didn't have to.

"I'm not worried about that. You're a smart woman. I'm sure you've figured out that there's more to this proposal than meets the eye." His mood seemed to sour though relief washed over her. She didn't want to talk about her night with Naruto. That was something she deemed private.

"I had assumed something of the sort, yes. I was just about to tell my father that I accept." He looked at her then, surprise registering on his face for the briefest of moments before being replaced by his stoic expression.

"So you were going to marry me without even knowing why I proposed to you?" His voice seemed to have a hint of admiration to it.

"I'm not stupid. You definitely didn't propose to me out of love or even attraction so that leaves few possibilities left. Knowing that you probably proposed out of desperation for some purpose how could I refuse? You go out to seek redemption just to come home and propose to me. Something was definitely wrong. So I have to accept." She kept her gaze locked on his, refusing to cave in to her timid size.

Sasuke smiled a genuine smile before laying everything out for her. The somewhat cryptic letter left her reeling. How could her father do such a thing and not tell her or even mention it to her? Some kind of Hyuuga uprising because of the last Uchiha? How absurd.

"There must be something we can do." Desperation had taken hold at the thought of her clan fighting the rest of the village.

"There is. We can get married. I don't like it any more than you do but by the time we think of something else it could be too late. The only reason I'm telling you this is because I don't want there being anythig hidden. I want you to go into this knowing exactly why you're doing it." She couldn't help but smile at him. Even if there was no love between them, at least he seemed to care about her feelings.

"I understand, Sasuke. And I will agree to marry you." At those words she felt the sense of dread wash over her.

She had to marry Sasuke. She hadn't realized that she'd been holding onto a small sliver of hope until it was gone. If she married Sasuke, Naruto would be forever lost to her. If she didn't, she could lose her entire clan and, quite possibly, her own life. As much as she hated to do it, it was time to say goodbye to her love. He would always remain in her heart, but he would forever hover outside of her grasp. She felt the tears sting her eyes and turned away from Sasuke, not letting him see the sign of weakness.

My posts on this story are going to have no pattern, just so you guys know. I'm going to just upload them when I write them and I'm just going to write them whenever I have time. Send me feedback if you see fit.

Lycantora out.