As Hinata walked up to the dark Hyuga gates, she couldn't help but feel a little worried. Her father... wanted to actually see her. This was bad.

Slowly she took a deep breath, steadying herself for the meeting which was certainly going to be anything but friendly. She willed her foot to move forward... willed, but her fear kept it rooted into place on the pathway. It was perfectly understandable, she reasoned to herself. After all, her father had disowned her... and the Hyuga compound did look pretty freaky at night...

"Hey, are you going to just stare at the door or go in?" Sasuke interuppted her thoughts, a smirk on his face. Quickly however he saw the fear in her eyes, and his smirk faded, "Whats up?" He asked, concerned.

Hinata looked up at him, considered lying, and then decided against it. After all, hadn't she said that day that she was always her true self around him? But Hinata's feelings were so hard to explain at the moment... and not entirely sure how to describe the rising panic, sense of fear, and slight guilt and paranoia swirling around inside her, she went with the simple option.

"I- Im scared," She admitted sheepishly, and Sasuke took note of the fact that she was stuttering.

Cripes, He thought. She is scared... What should I do? Immediately Sasuke had to supress an inward groan. He didn't even know how to comfort a girl... pathetic. He immediately pondered over what to do. When he couldn't think of anything, he nearly had to physically stop himself from hitting himself. Immediately his thoughts got more agitated.

How the heck did normal people who shared their feelings respond to these types of things? He thought, and then when it felt like all hope had run out...(regrettably) how would Naruto handle this situation? Hmmmm.... A HUG! He suddenly mentally exclaimed in his head. Yes. Naruto, being the emotional lummox that he is would give the scared person a hug...

Now Sasuke glanced at Hinata from the corner of his eye, seeing that luckily she was still preoccupied with steeling herself for the upcoming meeting with her father. Good. This meant he had time to think about this 'hug' idea. Immediately a million doubts rushed through his head. Sasuke frowned.

What if Hinata didn't accept his hug?And even if he 'gave' her a hug, could she return it? Wasn't returning gifts bad- Holy crap did I just hear something rustle in the bushes? Sasuke immediately wiped his memory of that last one. Okay... he thought. A hug. Who cares if the last time you gave a hug you could hardly tell the time? Giving hugs was a cinch. If that dumb Kiba (hiss) could do it, so can I... Sasuke thought as a last resort.

Consiously blanking his mind, he bit the bullet and made his move. Immediately, a little squeak was heard from Hinata, as he wrapped his arms around her tightly in an all-out bear hug. As he flinched from her squeak, he hoped he hadn't scared her too badly. After all, as Sasuke had learned, sometimes a hug was an extremely terrifying experience, heck his fangirls- But Hinatas response shocked him.

"Thanks," She simply said softly, as she wriggled round so she could face him whilst still wrapped up tight in his arms. Immediately both their eyes widened. Her turn around had considerably narrowed the distance in between them. Wow... Sasuke thought... their faces were really close... and suddenly, without realsing it, he felt his face moving closer to hers, and surprisingly, Hinata was doing the same thing. Slowly he closed his eyes, trying to ingrain every second of the upcoming moment into his mind. He wanted to remember this moment forever... their mouths were nearly touching...

"HINATA YOU SLUT!!!" They heard nearby bush exclaim, Hinata and Sasuke jumping away from eachother, "YOU KEEP YOUR GRUBBY LITTLE DELICATE HANDS OFF MY SASSY- EEK!!!" The bush screeched. Sasukes eyes narrowed as he saw the blur of a girl run off into forest. Immediately he was consumed by rage. That girl... had just ruined what Sasuke was sure was going to be a 'moment' with Hinata... He clenched his fists, then dashed after the girl. Oh it was on now, he thought viciously... That girl was going down...

Hinata just stood on the path, dumbfounded. After a few minutes of just staring, she suddenly remembered why exactly she was at the Hyuga compound in the first place. Steeling herself against the almost certain pain she was undoubtedly going to feel, she gingerly opened the gate.

CREEAAK... Hinata jumped. Who knew that gates could be so loud? Immediately, a maid appeared at her side.

"Hyuga Hinata," She stated, emotionless, "Your father has been waiting for you," Suddenly Hinata remembered her manners so she politely bowed, and tried to control her shaking as the maid lead her to her fathers solemn looking house. Timidly, she popped her head around the corner of the already open sliding door. She quietly took a deep breath. Well... she thought, here goes nothing...

"You wanted to see me- Hyuga Hiashi-san," She bowed deeply and politely, not daring to look upon the face that she used to call 'father'.

"Enough with the formalities," He said pleasantly, "I am your father after all..." Hinata had to force herself not to let her jaw drop. Hiashi- her father had greeted her pleasantly? Something was definately wrong.

"Now Hinata," He added, more serious. Hinata found herself relaxing. Now that was more like it... "I understand you have something you aren't telling me about..." Hinatas face turned red, "I think you know what I'm talking about..." Oh no... she thought, and then unable to answer: ohnononononononononono.... wait- maybe it wasn't to do with Sasuke! She suddenly thought, perking up, "Something to do perhaps," Her father continued, "With a ninja from the UCHIHA CLAN?"

Hinata gulped.

"Do you by any chance mean Itatchi?" She replied nervously. Her father sighed.

"No."

"Madara?" She asked, knowing she was pressing her luck.

"No."

"Sasukes parents-"

"YES! The Sasuke boy..." Hiashi interupted, being unnaturally pleasant again. He now sat down at his table, (as he had been standing while talking to Hinata) and beckoned her to come closer. She sat down quietly, " Now you see Hinata..." Her father began, and Hinata could not believe her ears as she heard the words that were coming form her fathers mouth.

Meanwhile, not too far away, Sasuke Uchiha was leaning against a powerpole. Damn... He thought, huffing a little, that girl was fast! Immediately he became angry with himself. He could not believe he'd been outrun by a girl... that brown haired menace... and then abruptly, he remembered something and sighed. In his anger, he realised, he hadn't had a chance to say goodbye to Hinata... he hoped she'd be okay... Suddenly he gave start. Hey, wasn't that-

"Hey Ino!" He called out, "What are you doing here?" Ino turned to him.

"Oh Sasuke!" She exclaimed, "Im so glad I found you!" Sasuke let out a frown. Ino looked a little panicked.... and she had been looking for him. That couldn't be good.

"What is it?" He asked suspiciously, "Whats wrong? And hey- whos that behind you?" He pointed, if somewhat rudely.

Immediately, the person who Sasuke had been pointing at steped out shyly from behind Ino.

She was a pretty girl, her wavy shoulderlength hair a sandy blonde colour. As she blinked her eyes, he could tell they were a deep blue, and very big and expressive, making her look... well, cutesy. Now normally, Sasuke would have thought she was acceptable looking (Sasuke speak for attractive), except that Naruto (who was a dobe) also had blue eyes and blonde hair, so the combination had always given him a negative vibe. (Which may have been why he used to not be able to stand Ino) Sasuke gave her a once over. Was this girl some kind of family of Inos? He thought. No. She couldn't be. Then who was she?

"This is Naimi Otana..." Ino suddenly explained quickly, as if reading Sasukes thoughts.

"Pleased to meet you," She bowed.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, unsure of what to say.

"Well, Sasuke..." Ino continued, looking worried, "I was just talking to Naimi, and she told me some stuff that I think you should know... Can you tell him your story Naimi?" Ino asked gently.

The girl nodded, then sat down on a seat where she beckoned Sasuke to sit down next to her. Sasuke grudgingly complied.

"Well, I have do have to tell you something, "Naimi answered his unsaid question, "Its about my friend Mikura..."

And Sasuke listened to her story, feeling more and more dread. When she finally reached the end, he found himself standing up quickly. He had to leave. Questioning, he looked towards Ino and Naimi, another question on the tip of his tongue.

"Of course you can go. GO!" Ino flailed her arms, as Sasuke set off running back towards the Hyuga compound. Exhausted, Ino slumped. Man, being in the middle of so much drama was hard.

She sighed.

"So do you think everything will turn out alright in the end?" Naimi couldn't help but ask, even though she wasn't sure if Ino would really know much more than her.

"Of course," Ino said pleasantly, "Don't worry, Hinata is strong, she'll know what to do."

Naimi looked out towards the direction Sasuke was disappearing in.

"Its not Hinata I'm worried about..." She managed to mumble, before Sasuke dissappeared completely.

Okay, you guys just NEVER stop amazing me... SIXTY-EIGHT REVIEWS!!!! :D

Sorry if this chapter isn't as good as the others... I have a nagging feeling my layout for this chapter is terrible :(... maybe im just tired. Or lazy. Or both. :)

BUT I ADDED A TALKING BUSH!!! YOU KNOW YOU LOVE THE TALKING BUSH!!! :D so will that make it betta? :)

Hehehehe... Mikura was going to say 'Sassy-kun' before she screamed XD as you can tell, I just love to make fun of Sasukes name... :D

Weelll.... anyways, tell me what you think, review!! :D