Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Crawling


Sasuke was avoiding her.

She knew it.

Hinata watched him silently from the sliding, paper doors leading to the Uchiha training grounds.

Ever since that dinner when she had asked his opinion, he'd managed to keep contact and conversation between them minimal.

Hinata couldn't help feeling as if it was her fault. As if she had done something to upset him.

But, it had seemed like they had started to grow closer. So, why was he making such an effort to distance himself again?

Uchiha Sasuke was one puzzle Hinata couldn't solve.

She wanted to, but with every passing minute, it seemed more and more impossible.

He was unbelievably complicated. He was the most complicated person she knew. He was walled off.


"And who are you to break down those wall, huh, Hinata?" Ino demanded over the phone.

Hinata sighed. She couldn't express how she felt in words. She just had the real desire to get through to Sasuke. His life was so empty and void of anything, and it pained her to see him day after day, with nothing to look forward to.

Everything he had ever wanted had been robbed from him. And whatever was left was destroyed by his own mistakes.

"I don't know. I feel sorry for him." Hinata replied.

She could feel the blonde's disbelief through the phone.

"Hinata, he's not yours to worry about. You have a marriage coming up, and a new life – what you've wanted for so long. Naruto's finally left your life completely and everything's headed in a pleasant direction. Don't ruin it for yourself. Sasuke's got Sakura to worry for him." Ino said.

Hinata knew that. Sasuke was Sakura's. No matter what, he was hers to care for, love, and worry about.

Hinata had no place in his life to try and be the one to save him. She was no one to him, and he had been making that clear as of late.

But then, why wasn't Sakura visiting him? Of course, she knew Sakura was upset with her after the incident with Naruto. And perhaps, she was busy comforting him and trying to raise his spirits.

However, Sakura had some duty to Sasuke, too, didn't she? She claimed to love him more than anything else, right? So where was she? Where was her support, her love and her company when Sasuke needed her the most?

"Sakura hasn't visited Sasuke in a while, Ino." Hinata mentioned.

"I'm sure she wants to. You know the circumstances better than anyone else. How do you expect her to choose between the two most important people in her life? Naruto's been through a lot with her and he needs her. But trust me, I've seen the girl for a long time. She could never forget about Sasuke. He's her life." Ino explained passionately.

Hinata remained silent for a moment; pensive, thinking about what Ino had said.

"Look, I'm not trying to stick up for her for nothing, I –" Hinata cut Ino off.

"I'll leave then. I'll specially request that Uchiha's house arrest ends this week. Then, Sakura can visit as much as she pleases and he'll have the freedom to go meet her." Hinata said.


"…so I'm leaving. When I spoke to Tsunade-sama about it, she's allowed you to finish your house arrest upon my departure." Hinata finished.

Sasuke nodded, and was about to turn when Hinata called out,

"What did I do?"

He looked back at her,

"What are you talking about?"

Hinata fidgeted a bit under his intense gaze, but continued to talk anyway,
"When I asked you your opinion about what I did, you suddenly seemed upset. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I did anything to upset you." She explained hurriedly.

He stayed quiet for a moment, his lips set in a firm frown.

"You never made me upset. Bye, Hinata." He turned and left without another word, leaving a confused Hinata behind him.


Hinata sprinted through the forest.

Father would be very angry if she were late to dinner – the dinner where she would finally meet the man she would spend the rest of her life with.

Of course, she knew she shouldn't have taken that extra shift, considering it cut so close to the time her Father had told her to be back at the Hyuuga Manor.

But the junior medic-nin had looked so desperate, Hinata couldn't help but say yes.

Hinata paused for a moment, resting against the trunk of a tree to catch her breath.

The air was cool, and the sky was beginning to darken into a deep purple shade.

She took a few seconds to admire it, before continuing along. Being a medic-nin had definitely gotten her out of shape.

Passing along, she caught sight of the Uchiha Manor.

It was funny. She had left just days ago, yet it felt like an entirely different lifetime when she had lived there.

She smiled. She could hear the faint sounds of Uchiha training.

He was always training.

She shook her head a little, hoping that he was doing well and that Sakura was visiting him.

Hinata bowed politely, giving a shy smile to the dark haired, Hyuuga a few years her senior – her future husband.

They sat down, along with the Elders and his own parents.

Hinata took small bites of her food, sneaking glances at the man she would be soon married to.

He looked a little scary. His face was strict looking, much like her father's.

Her thoughts floated over to Sasuke.

She knew what Ino would say if she told her that she still worried about the dark-haired Uchiha.

She would say that Hinata was much too attached to him.

And to some extent she was. He was so incredibly broken, she felt like it was moral responsibility as a person to help him.

"You are a medic-nin?" Her fiancé asked, his voice was deep and low.

Hinata nodded.

"I plan to quit after the marriage." Hinata explained. He only nodded with mild interest.

"What was your most interesting case?" He asked.

Hinata was somewhat surprised at the interest he was taking in her career.

"Um…I drained someone's chakra. That was interesting." She replied.

"Oh, wouldn't that have some nasty side-effects?" He asked.

"How do you know?" He was surprising her.

"My younger sister is also a medic-nin. She mentioned chakra draining had many long-lasting side effects." He explained, taking a bite of his food.

Suddenly, the Uchiha Manor reappeared before Hinata's eyes.

Sasuke had been training when she had headed over to the dinner.

How had she missed it? How had she not realized.

"Excuse me Jin-san, I'm afraid I must leave." Hinata said, panicking internally but trying to keep her composure.

"Surely nothing would take precedence over this dinner, Hinata." Her father said sternly, from the over end of the table, his face set in a disapproving expression.

Hinata was caught for a moment. Her duty to save someone's life or her duty to uphold her family's honor?

"I'm incredibly embarrassed by this, but I'm afraid I really must leave, Jin-san, please forgive me. It has been such a pleasure to meet you and your family." Hinata said kindly, hastily leaving.


Author's Note: Warning! I didn't proofread! Forgive me?? Sorry to all my readers who have been waiting a while for an update!! Hopefully, you've enjoyed this chapter…please review!! Your reviews mean the world to me.