Me: Wow...it's been...wow

Sasuke: You kept all of them waiting for this?

Me: Well I had things going on -turns to readers- But now that I'm finished with my other story I'm directing all my attention to this one

Sasuke: Did you at least get far in writing it while you were away?

Me: Actually, I did. I have the next few chatpers already written: just need to proof read them and they should be out in a few days

Sasuke: Should I thank you?

Me: Hey!!!

Chapter 9 And so convinced and just too cool…

Sasuke's P.O.V.

I haven't been to school for over two days, but an odd urge to come today brings me to my current spot.

I hide in the small forest-like area behind the school grounds. Luckily, no one has seen me throughout the day, and I manage to complete my goal: Watching Hitomi. At the end of the day, I watch Hitomi disappear with Neji inside the science room. In a few minutes, they reappear and Lee and TenTen come into my sight. They say something embarrassing to Hitomi as she turns a dark shade of red. Neji seems to get annoyed, and the two new-comers speed away from them.

A small smirk comes onto my face.

Maybe Neji isn't so bad after all.

When I look back, Hitomi and Neji have already left the building and are going their separate ways. Was this what my head had wanted me to see? This is the perfect opportunity to see where Hitomi lives, and possibly the only chance I'll ever get.

I run out of my hiding place and discretely follow her.

She looks a little out of it; either she is thinking very hard about something, or her give-a-damn is completely off today. She continues to make turns; wandering through the trees and roots, barely dodging any low cut branches in the path.

Where is she going?

I look at our surroundings; noticing similar trees and marks that have been embedded in my memory. Then my heart stops.

She's going to Hinata's old home.

My breathing becomes erratic; sweat dots my forehead. I can't return there: I can't. Not after what happened last time.

As soon as I try to run and leave, Hitomi turns around. I let out a sigh of relief, thinking that she changed her mind about going there, but my relief is short-lived as she returns to her original stance and runs to the house.

I can feel all the color drain from my face as I watch her enter the door.

Does she live here?

I think thoroughly for a moment. No. The look on her face was one not of doom, or even sadness. It was more of an astounded or surprised expression.

I have no choice but to wait for her, and I just lay against a tree in silence. Until I hear a scream emit from the house.

I rush through the small amount of space that separates me from the front door, and I open the gateway that leads me from the rest of the world to my own living hell.

I run across the front room; noticing that everything is in proper order instead of the chaos that it once was.

I look around for any trace of Hitomi, and I'm about to run upstairs until I hear a small voice coming from the kitchen.

"Sasuke, please help me."

"Hitomi…"

I run into the kitchen and glide to a halt next to Hitomi's fallen figure.

Blood continues to seep from her mouth and it is already pooling around her feet.

"Hitomi, what happened?" I ask her gently, not expecting an answer in return. Instead, I tenderly pick her up, so as to not wake her, and run as fast as my legs can get to the front door.

xxxxxxxxx

When I reach my house, I rush to my room and place Hitomi gently on the bed.

I look over her; shaking my head in disappointment at seeing her blood-stained clothes.

I walk quietly to my bathroom, and retrieve a wet washcloth. I rub the material to rid the blood on her face, then feel her forehead. No, she doesn't have a fever, but something had to have made her collapse like that, but what?

I stand to rinse the cloth, when the memory of Hinata lying in the same bed flashes through my mind.

It all feels so much like last time; when, instead of Hitomi, it was Hinata laying down, covered in blood.

My eyes and heart sadden.

I don't know what's worse: having Hinata beaten because of her mother, or having Hitomi possibly suffering a strong illness, bleeding from the inside.

I come to think that Hinata's case was worse, mainly because I was the cause of her pain. But then Itachi's words ring through my head as if he was saying them right in my ear.

`You can't save anyone.`

I look back to Hitomi and halt my movements to concentrate on her. `Who can say that Hitomi's condition wasn't the cause of something I did?` I shake my head and continue walking.

When I come back, I am relieved to find that some color has returned to her face.

I place the cold cloth on her forehead, but before I remove my hand, I run my fingers through her silk-like blue/black tresses. An old feeling returns to me as I slowly remove my hand.

Hinata used to always massage my head when I had trouble headaches before, and it was always soothing and managed to bring me peace. But nothing since then has been able to do that.

I sigh, and completely bring my hand away. But, unfortunately, that small movement wakes up the sleeping girl.

I stare into her pale-lavender eyes as she looks curiously at me. Then, she screams and scrambles away from me. "W-what's happening? W-why am I here?" I look coolly at her; eying the obvious fear she holds with minor interest.

Finally, she calms down enough to think straight. "Sasuke…this is your house right?"

A look of surprise comes across my face. Then I school my mask into one that is impassive. "What makes you say that?" She looks somewhat startled, but answers me anyway after some time. "It…it just seems familiar."

"You've never been here before." There is no question, just a statement that is directed to Hitomi.

"I-I know that. I just feel like I-I've been here before." Hitomi seems frightened: I can see it in her eyes. But before I can comment on it, she asks me something I'm not prepared to answer. "Sasuke, who was Hinata?"

I must look as surprised as I feel because she starts to fidget. "I-I mean, what was s-she t-to you? I asked Neji already, but he didn't answer."

Neji, so he was the one that brought this to me. I consider my response for a few minutes, then sigh. "If you asked Neji, you probably already know that Hinata was his cousin." She nods her head to signal she already knows that, but her eyes look impatient. "What else do you want to know?"

She pauses hesitantly, then, in a small voice that I have to strain to hear, she says, "What was she to you?"

I'm reluctant to answer: talking about myself personally was something reserved solely for Hinata, but there's a glint in her eyes that somehow makes me tell her the truth. "…She was the most important person in my life…I can honestly say that I loved her." Hitomi looks startled, most likely because she never thought that I could use the word `love`.

"What was she like?'

I stare her in the eyes, seeing nothing but curiosity and quiet awe. "…She lived with an abusive mother."

Hitomi's mouth opens a fraction, but she does not say anything for a small time. "She really-"

"Her father died trying to save her from his wife, but it was in vain and Hinata was still caught in her mother's web. The first time I really noticed her was probably no more then…8 or so months ago, and when I did see her for the first time…it was not under the best conditions.

"I followed her after school the day I met her, and I saw first hand what she lived through. She was beaten and bloody, and I took care of her from that moment on, but I think that was what tied the noose around her neck."

Hitomi's engulfed in the story, and I inwardly chuckle at how innocent she looks. So much like…

"So what happened?"

I look away, feeling guilt and sadness creep into my heart.

"Her mother found out; if she didn't already know from the beginning. When Hinata moved in with me, she was kidnapped by that women and was almost at the point of death by the time I got to her... But when I tried to save her, I was shot in the arm, and when she aimed to finish me off, Hinata took the blow head on and died in front of me."

Tears fall from Hitomi's eyes and I have to restrain myself from wiping them away. "We had her cremated and buried behind my parent's house, where the rest of my family is."

She tries to wipe her eyes, but the tears continue coming non-stop.

"B-but then…"

I stand up and walk over to my desk to pick through my drawers to find the thing I'm looking for.

When I find it, my fingers wrap around it, and I walk slowly back to Hitomi.

"This," I hand the paper to her, "is what Hinata looked like."

She gasps at the picture; her eyes searching the image as if her life depended on it. "She-she l-looks like me."

I nod my head. "That's why when I first saw you, I thought that you were her."

Her eyes continue to skim the image, until she looks up at me. "How can you tell if I'm Hinata?"

I stare into her eyes and see a look of fierceness that I've never seen before. "Since you have no memory of your past, you can't answer my questions…unless…"

I remove my gaze from her eyes and drift them to the window.

"I gave Hinata an amulet when she moved with me. It was my promise that I would always be with her."

Hitomi's expression changes from sad, to surprised, then hesitant in the blink of an eye.

She slowly reaches for her shirt collar. Rubbing the fabric between her fingers, she slowly pulls out a chain.

"I-is this what you're looking for?"

She pulls out a small silver locket that gleams her reflection as it lightly swings from side to side.

I hesitantly reach for the silver and hold it against my palm.

"Hinata…"