Standard disclaimers apply.


Chapter Six


He woke up to see the blue sky slowly turn into a soft shade of orange.

'Where the hell am I?'

The steady sound of the river flowing answered his question. He was thankful that the pain on his shoulder had subsided. Apart from the fact that he was cold and still dripping wet, he was fine. He sat up and vaguely recalled the events.

Hinata…

He heard a barely audible cough beside him. There she was, lying face down on the ground, without a jacket, and slightly shivering. She was now a display of complete vulnerability, of utter weakness…

And yet she looked strangely serene. Peaceful. Almost beautiful.

He felt his heart skip a beat. Why was he suddenly feeling like this? He shook his head. They should probably get a move on before night completely sets in. Not that he had any problem with that, but of course, somebody was bound to notice their -- or more accurately, HER absence. After all, she had a family waiting for her, right?

He knitted his brows at the thought of the F word. 'Now's not the time to think about that.' he said bitterly to himself. He inched closer to Hinata and moved her up his back. He put his arms under her legs and stood up without a hitch (much credit going to her light weight). He shifted her body in a more comfortable position and then proceeded to walk back to Konoha.


'Where could she be?'

Hyuga Neji had asked himself that question for the third time that night. Usually, his cousin would be home way before sunset but now, she was late. The sun had already disappeared three hours ago. He tapped his foot impatiently at the concrete floor.

"Nii-san?"

He turned to see Hanabi standing beside him, holding two hot cups of tea. The moon shone brightly above and made her look paler than usual. She offered him a cup and then sat down. They were silent for a few more moments until she finally spoke up.

"I'm not really worried."

At this, Neji smiled but said nothing. He knew that Hanabi was equally worried as he was. It was just that her pride wouldn't let her admit it out loud.

Another half-hour had passed – both cups now empty of its content -- when they finally heard distinct footsteps from beyond the wall. Hanabi stood up and ran to open the gates while Neji sighed and calmly followed. As he neared his younger cousin, however, he noticed her take a step back. He placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Hanabi, what's wrong? Who is it?"

He opened the gates and saw somebody whom he did not expect.

Uchiha Sasuke was standing outside, carrying a sleeping Hinata in his back.


"Uchiha."

He noticed the hint of iciness and suspicion in Hyuga Neji's voice. 'So this was the welcoming committee? Well, seems like the lack of people skills runs in the family.'

He bit back the urge to snort at his own private little joke. He maintained the stoic and stony expression on his face and replied with the same amount of distaste he received.

"Hyuga."

The latter narrowed his eyes. "What did you do to her?"

"What are you talking about? I'm just dropping her off."

"And why is she with YOU, of all people?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "It's none of your business."

"Don't play dumb with me," Neji growled. "You aren't exactly the best of friends."

"Hyuga, the fact that you hate my guts doesn't exactly mean that she does too."

"Why you—"

"Ugh, can't you two just go and hate each other in the morning? My sister's already freezing!"

It wasn't until he heard her high-pitched voice did Sasuke notice the younger Hyuga's presence. He looked at her then back at Neji, who also seemed to have temporarily forgotten about her. They stood there unmoving until the male Hyuga took a step closer and took Hinata off his back. He glared at him for a few more seconds and then abruptly turned to bring his cousin inside.

Sasuke stood there, not quite expecting to be left alone with Hyuga Hanabi. From his initial impression, she seemed brash and aggressive. A complete contrast of Hinata. He shoved his hands at his pockets and shrugged.

"Well, that's that. I'm leaving."

He was about to walk away when he heard her say something he did not anticipate.

"Thank you, Uchiha-san, for bringing her home."

He turned to see her staring at him. She didn't give him a smile or a frown. She simply gave him an acknowledging nod then turned to go back to the house. Halfway through, she tilted her head back at him.

"But for the record, I don't like you very much."


She could still feel the sensation of waves lightly crashing into her, back and forth.'What happened?'

She didn't feel so cold anymore. Maybe her skin became numb while she was unconscious.

Or…

Did she drown? Was she dead?

Sasuke…

She remembered being washed into the riverbank. She tried to dig her nails into the damp earth for reassurance but instead, she found herself holding a fistful of cloth. She immediately opened her eyes. She was now back in her room in the Hyuga manor. She sat up.

'How did I get in here?'

She wondered if it was all a dream. It all seemed so real… Too real.

She got up from her bed and went into the shower. She dressed into her typical knee-length leggings and black undershirt, then reached out to grab her jacket. Her hand froze in midair when she realized that she left it on the top of the cliff.

"So it did happen." she said to herself. She lightly shook her head, took off her shirt and dressed into a purple Chinese-style shirt that Ten-ten once gave to her. 'Now we can pass off as sisters!' she had told the shy Hyuga jokingly.

Hinata smiled at the memory. With one last glance in the mirror, she silently walked downstairs for breakfast. As expected, Neji and Hanabi were waiting for her at the table and before she could even sit down, she was already bombarded with questions.

"What happened to you last night, nee-chan?"

"And why were you with Uchiha?" Neji immediately followed.

Hinata blinked, a little overwhelmed.

"I saw him at Ichiraku's yesterday. Then he asked for a sparring session after. I guess we just lost track of time."

"And?"

"Nothing more, Hanabi-chan. But," Hinata looked confusedly at her sister. "How did I get home last night? The last thing I remember was being wa-- falling asleep after the sparring." 'Maybe I shouldn't mention about the river.' she thought to herself.

"Well, that's the exact reason we're interrogating you, nee-chan. Uchiha-san carried you here."

The shy heiress felt heat rise to her cheeks. "He did?" 'Then I have to thank him when I see him.'

"Yes he did." Neji affirmed then continued on. "So you mean to say, that after all this time you two spent not communicating with each other, you both suddenly decided to be sparring buddies?" His voice betrayed suspicion.

Noticing that her older cousin was on the verge of exploding, Hinata held out both of her hands to reaasure him.

"Please nii-san, don't antagonize him so much. He's not as bad as you think."

Neji gave her a long, hard look then sighed. He leaned back on the chair, with his hand on the bridge of his nose. Hinata sounded like she knew what she had gotten into.

"Forgive me, Hinata-sama." He said, his hand reaching for his teacup. "It's just that I do not trust Uchiha very much."

Hinata smiled. "I understand."

Things would have been fine if it weren't for Hanabi suddenly asking, out of the blue, "Nee-chan tell me, when you were sparring, did he hit on you?"

Neji nearly spluttered out the tea that he was drinking. He and Hinata looked bewilderedly at the younger Hyuga, hoping that she was only joking. She wasn't. She was looking at her older sister with her most serious face, patiently waiting for an answer.

"Pardon me?"

"You heard me, nee-chan. Did Uchiha-san hit on you?"

"Hanabi," Hinata said, controlling the raging blush that was forming on her cheeks. "Why in the world would he hit on me?"

"Just a feeling. And because, like what nii-san is trying to say, I find the 'sparring buddies' scenario a tad bit suspicious."

"Well, he didn't violate me if that's what you mean." Hinata said exasperatedly, rising to her feet. "Now if you'll excuse me, Hanabi-chan, Neji-niisan, I have a few errands to run."

And before her sister and cousin could speak, Hinata was already out the door. She was more than glad upon doing so. Things were certainly getting embarassing back there and to think, her little sister had the crazy idea that THE Uchiha Sasuke would ever put the moves on her. For a moment there, Hanabi made him sound like he was some suave Casanova or something.

It was just too silly to even think about.

'And after all,' she silently thought. 'Why would he take interest in me when there are more beautiful girls around like Ino-chan?'

She was about to turn at the corner of the street when suddenly, a voice called out from behind her.

"Hey Hyuga."

"Sasuke-san!" Hinata exclaimed, surprised to see him casually leaning on a wall a few feet away. It was as if he was waiting for her. "Anou, how are you feeling?"

The brunette merely shrugged. "I should be asking you that question."

Hinata blushed. "Oh, right. By the way," she hesitated a bit. "My sister told me that you brought me home last night."

"Yeah. So?"

"Thank you."

The Uchiha remained immobile. He turned to the direction where he came from and proceeded to walk. After a few steps, he looked back at her. He seemed terribly annoyed at something.

"Are you coming or not?"


She found herself following him up to the northern part of the city. It was once where the great Uchiha clan lived. She was extremely curious as to why they were there.

"No offense, Sasuke-san, but do you still live all the way out here?" she asked.

"I don't. I just come up here when I need silence."

"Oh, is that right?"

They stopped at what seemed as an old shrine. It was abandoned, just like the rest of the houses nearby.

"Here."

Hinata looked back just in time to catch a familiar object.

"My jacket!" she exclaimed. "How did you—"

She stopped in mid-sentence. She closed her mouth and gave him a tiny smile instead. She realized that it must be awkward for Sasuke to be in this situation. After all, he wasn't exactly known for being a thoughtful and sweet gentleman, right?

"Anou, would you mind if I didn't wear the jacket right now?"


Sasuke now hated the fact that blushing was an entirely involuntary movement. He was known for being an enigmatic loner, for crissakes! And yet, she's here looking at him in a way that was annoying and at the same time, irritatingly cute. And it was all for her stupid jacket. Why did he even bother to wake up early just to get it back from the cliff, anyway?

He shrugged, trying to look cool. "Why are you asking me for?"

Hinata shook her head. "Nothing." She took the jacket and tied it around her waist. She turned her back and proceeded to examine the shrine. Meanwhile, Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"You look better without it anyway." He muttered under his breath.

He mentally slapped himself. He did not just say that. He felt the blush on his cheeks deepen. His ego had already suffered a beating when she 'saved' him from the river yesterday, but now he was muttering compliments. He couldn't do anything but blame her for it. And besides, he had one more thing to clear with the heiress.

He cleared his throat to catch her attention. She looked up from where she was kneeling and gave a questioning look.

"Yes? What is it, Sasuke-san?"

"You kissed me." he said, his voice dead-pan.

Hinata did a double take. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, you kissed me. On the river. When you were 'saving' me." He emphazised the word 'saving' by using air-quotes.

"...It was a violation of my personnal space."


She felt her adrenaline rush quickly as she swam. Sasuke wasn't that far from her now. All she had to do was reach for him and…

Where was he? She stopped and frantically looked around. She couldn't see him anymore. She had no choice but to dive. It was the only other way he would've gone. Down.

Sure enough, she saw him slowly sinking and losing consciousness. She quickly swam back up the surface, took a deep breath then dove back down to him.

'Please Kami-sama,' She prayed. 'Please let this work.'

She placed her hands on the sides of his face, crashed her lips unto his and gave him a lungful of air.


Hinata blinked, not quite sure if she was hearing Sasuke correctly. Was he out of his mind? "Well technically, it wasn't a kiss, Sasuke-san. And besides, if I hadn't done that, you wouldv'e surely drowned." She pointed out.

"It was only a matter of time before I got out of that predicament."

"A-a..." Hinata's lower lip quivered. She couldn't think of anything to say. The awkwardness was becoming too much to bear. She wouldn't be surprised if smoke came out of her ears. Her face must be red as a tomato right now.

"Well," He said, taking a step towards her. "I guess this calls for a payback."

Without warning, Hanabi's voice echoed back in her mind.

"You heard me, nee-chan. Did he hit on you?"

Hinata's head shot up. She was on the verge of panicking. She wanted to run as fast as she can but she felt as if she was rooted on the spot. And before another rational thought could enter her mind, she felt something moist and sweet lightly pressed against her lips.

It didn't take her long enough to figure out what was happening.

He, Uchiha Sasuke, was now kissing her, Hyuga Hinata.

And what's more surprising is that she isn't minding it so much this time anymore.


Yuri-chan's Note: At long last, an improvement at the "romance" area. I hope you guys enjoyed that. Please tell me what you think.