Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

Special Thanks: goes out to MuffinMan9223, Shahar Mystral, ariannaisgone, Guest (1), xXYour DoomXx, CallMeSenseiKuchiki, Honeyee, Kia-B, Breezy2319, wolf-enzeru, Guest (2), unknown90s, April, farahb, orangemystery, miaandB, patheticnemesis, nuriiko, Kibachow, emired, 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10, rao hyuga 18, Toadettegirl2012, Tamani, shalei, ZukiShi, and Saki-Hime for all your wonderful reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this story to their favorites and follows lists!

Author's Note: And a common question from you all is finally answered in this chapter: what happened to Sasuke to make him blind, and how was Naruto involved? I've been looking forward to posting this chapter so I could finally answer your questions. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

*~Chapter X~*

~Truth~

The silence over the breakfast table stretched tensely between them: tight as a rubber band, sharp as the blade of a kunai, unbreakable as a chakra thread.

Hinata felt sure if one of them didn't say something, anything, to the other soon, she was going to go crazy. She felt sure her father - and the rest of her clan, for that matter - would very much disapprove of that happening.

Of course, after the night she'd just spent reliving - and trying not to relive - that kiss, she felt on the thin edge of sanity anyway.

Guiltily glad Sasuke's eyes were still swathed in bandages, Hinata stole glances at him from under droopy eyelids as they ate. He looked as though he'd swallowed a lemon sometime during the night, his attention focused grimly on his food, the darkness in his nature very evident. Had he also had a restless night, distubed by the intensity of what had passed between them, and was trying not to show it?

She took a listless bite of her cinnamon roll, finding not even that able to bolster her mood. Now if it were Naruto sitting across the table from her, she thought, turning to the old game she played with herself to lift her spirits: And froze in shock when the expected emotional response did not come. No glow warmed her heart. In fact, the most she felt was a distant fondness. She sneaked another peek at the man who actually did share the table with her, and felt an immediate attraction smoldering deep within her. Putting down her half-eaten roll, she gripped her sticky fingers together in her lap. How could one kiss - just one kiss - have turned her world so completely upside down? Unconsciously she relaxed her hands enough to start tapping the ends of her index fingers together. Her infatuation with the self-proclaimed future Hokage - and she saw clearly now that was all it had ever been - was over. The pull she felt for Sasuke, however, was very real, very strong, very much there.

Which led her to wonder: Did he not feel the tension, as palpable as a living creature, between them now? Or had she merely traded one unrequited love (though could she really classify what she'd thought she'd felt for Naruto as genuine "love"?) for another, if more painfully real, one?

For the first time, Hinata considered the situation in a different light. Perhaps she had been the only one to feel anything with that kiss. Maybe she was letting her emotions get away from her, and Sasuke was just feeling awkward this morning because she was treating him differently.

But would he have kissed her if he didn't feel - at least even a teeny bit - attracted to her?

Hinata didn't know, and had no idea how to find out without asking him. And that was something she really didn't want to do. Partly because she was afraid of the answer. And partly because it was just a really, really awkward question to ask.

Sasuke cleared his throat so loudly and suddenly Hinata jumped in surprise and fright. Her knee impacted the table, rattling its contents, further startling her. She just barely kept herself from falling off her cushion, an embarassing consequence she was glad Sasuke couldn't have seen, if she had.

"We doing therapy this morning?" He took another bite of his rice, his sullen expression unchanged.

"H-Hai." Hinata gulped down half her tea as she tried to regain her ability to speak in full, coherent sentences. "After b-breakfast." So much for complete sentences. At least it was coherent.

He grunted acknowledgement and went back to his food. Hinata stared down at her own barely-touched plate and wondered if it would be acceptable behavior to slink back to her room, tail between her legs. Since that meant he'd have to clear the table and do the dishes himself, she decided it wasn't the best idea.

So she stayed, picking at her food until Sasuke finished. Then Hinata cleared the table and did the dishes, lingering over the chores until she had no further excuse for not going out to the main room to meet Sasuke.

Why can't he just say something about last night? Hinata wondered. Why is he pretending it didn't happen? I know he's not really an emotional sort of person, but really, is he such an ice block he didn't feel anything during that kiss?

As was becoming the norm, it seemed, they descended to the basement in silence. Sasuke sat stiffly on his cushion, looking like a very lifelike stone statue. He didn't speak or move as she unwound his bandages, only the sound of his breathing indicating any sort of life in him.

Hinata concentrated on Sasuke's therapy for a few minutes as the silence continued to stretch between them. He even felt like a slab of rock beneath her fingers, tense and cold.

At last, she couldn't take it any more. "What happened?" she blurted.

She felt one of Sasuke's eyebrows twitch upwards. "What do you mean?" he asked, tone casual, on the verge of sounding bored.

Biting her tongue against the urge to scream, Hinata took a deep breath before speaking again. "I mean-" she chickened out "-your eyes. If you don't mind my asking, how did this happen?"

Some of the tension eased out of him, which surprised Hinata. She would have thought her question would have prompted the opposite reaction. "You mean you didn't read a report or anything?"

"No." Lady Tsunade had only given Hinata the nature of Sasuke's injuries, not the details of how he'd obtained them. "Lady Tsunade didn't tell me, and I didn't ask." She knew, at least at the time, she was only meant to heal his eyes. But now, after all that had happened, she wanted more than that. She wanted to heal him emotionally and mentally, too.

Lady Tsunade had warned her not to get involved. But how could she not?

"Hn." Sasuke sat silently for a minute, as if gathering his thoughts. "I suppose," he said at last, grudgingly, "since you're going to all the trouble of healing my eyes, you deserve to know."

Their mission was simple, a B-rank to Tea Country. It was usually a peaceful place, but the feudal lord had sent a message to Lady Tsunade about rogue ninja activity in the area. She'd dispatched Team Kakashi to investigate and take care of the problem in any way Kakashi saw fit.

The team had barely passed the border when they ran into the ronin in question. There were seven in total, all wearing headbands from different villages, with the distinctive slash through each indentifier. Upon being attacked, Team Kakashi went into action, working together like the well-trained comrades they were.

Until Naruto decided to take the lead and play hero.

Sending in several shadow clones as a distraction, the original had charged into battle with his usual headlong fight-first-think-later (if at all) gusto, trying to take on three ronin at once. Even with his improved battle skills, learned from Jiraiya with later refinement by Kakashi, it soon became clear he was very outmatched.

Kakashi, battling with the leader and what seemed to be his right-hand-woman, had things well in hand. Sakura was busy turning her opponent into a bloody, begging pulp, and it hadn't taken long for Sasuke to dispatch the water-style user he'd been fighting. Within the space of a comprehensive glance, he saw two of his teammates holding their own - and one very close to being defeated.

He'd joined Naruto, peeling off one of the three ronin, who looked to be the strongest of the three. With the balance tipped, the hyperactive blond created a couple more clones and got things on his end evened out again.

Sasuke, on the other hand, faced a truly tricky opponent. Another fire style user, the ronin was fast, throwing a combination of fire jutsu and steel weapons at the Uchiha. He'd not been so challenged in quite a while, and he had his hands full dodging attacks while interspersing as many of his own as he could launch.

It had all happened in a life-changing instant. Naruto's remaining opponent neatly drove him back into a trap: right into the oncoming fire style attack from Sasuke's opponent, who turned at the last second to aim at the Uzumaki.

He reacted on sheer instinct, without thinking or considering the consequences. Grabbing Naruto's sleeve, he thrust his teammate out of the way, trying to twist his own body so the attack would miss him, too. But he hadn't moved far enough quickly enough, as the searing heat and blinding flash of light across his eyes attested.

Sasuke forced his fists to relax. Naruto had fallen for the trap set up for him, but he couldn't completely blame his teammate. Sasuke hadn't seen it, either - and he had the benefit of his Sharingan.

"I suppose I got out of the way just enough that the effects weren't permanent," Sasuke concluded. "But still, it was enough."

At some point during Sasuke's narrative, Hinata had finished the therapy session without him realizing it. He had to fight the urge to open his eyes, since she hadn't said he could or should. Now he was this close to having his sight back, he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize it.

Hinata made a soft noise deep in her throat, what sounded like a cross between a moan and a sigh. Sasuke tensed, wondering what she was thinking. Would she feel sympathetic? He hoped not. Sympathy was the last thing in the world he wanted, especially from her.

Especially since he kissed her that way last night. What had he been thinking? He was beginning to wonder if he had been at all.

"Three days," she said suddenly.

"What?" He'd been expecting her to say one of many things, but not that, which didn't even make sense.

"In three more days of therapy, we'll leave the bandages off." There was a distinct smile in her voice when she spoke this time, her cheerfulness restored.

Now her seemingly random comment made sense. She was reassuring him, letting him know that though the damage had seemed horrific and irreversible at the time, it wouldn't be long at all until he was better. It was just the thing he needed to hear after sharing his story.

All he had to do was make it three more days. Then, just maybe, he could finally get a good night's sleep. Any time he tried now, he could still feel the terrible, searing heat of those flames, and see that blinding flash of light. But once his eyes were better, he would hopefully be able to sleep without worrying about negative side effects, as long as he didn't try to activate his Sharingan.

As she replaced the guaze pads and wound the bandages around his head again, Sasuke cleared his throat. "I appreciate your doing this for me."

Hinata's gentle fingers stilled against his temple, and he heard her draw in a sharp, surprised breath. "It's nothing," she said at length. Slowly, she tied off the bandages before going on. "I had an ability that would help you. It would have been very unfair and selfish of me not to try, at the very least."

Perhaps that's what drew Sasuke to Hinata the most, her selflessness. Not once had he heard her complain about anything she did for him. He knew using the Healing Touch made her tired - he could hear it in her voice when she spoke, in the rhythm of her footsteps, how much slower she moved doing everything else throughout the rest of the day. But never once did she complain or blame him, which was different and unexpected. He wasn't sure he knew a single other person who would do so much without at least complaining a little.

"I feel like I owe you something, some sort of compensation." Even though he was the sole heir of the Uchiha clan fortune, and made a tidy salary as a ninja, he had a feeling she didn't want money. As the Hyuuga heiress, she had plenty of that. So what else would she want?

And would he be able to give it?

"That's not why I'm doing this," Hinata replied promptly, sounding vaguely insulted.

"So why are you doing it?" Sasuke asked. "Don't tell me it's simply out of the goodness of your heart?" He hated the sarcasm which crept uninvited into his tone at the question.

The sharp rustle of clothing and rush of air across his face let him know Hinata had shot to her feet abruptly. "And what if it is?" she challenged. Her voice sounded stronger than he'd heard it to date. "Am I to lie, then? I will not do that. It is entirely up to you whether you believe me or not." Her tone made it clear she felt he would lean toward not.

Had it been anyone else, he might have. But he'd had a lot of time to consider the situation, and to be honest, he couldn't think of a single possible motive for her to do it other than out of the goodness of her heart. She was too guileless to have done it just to get close to him, as other women might have. She already had plenty of money, so it wasn't for that reason, either. And really, what other reasons were there?

Reaching out, he managed to catch her wrist before she could get away. Tugging sharply but not painfully, he pulled her back down onto her cushion, where she landed with a squeak. "Whether you're doing it for that reason or not, I don't like being in someone's debt. I feel like I owe you a favor now, and I want to do something tangible to pay it back. So what do you want?" Surely there had to be something this girl wanted, even if it was just as simple as a box of pocky from the corner market.

"Ano..." Her hand twitched against his. He let go of her wrist since he was pretty sure she was going to stay put this time.

The reaction made him think it was something more along the lines of flowers-chocolates-and-candlelight. He was not that kind of man. Despite his desire to get out of her debt, he wasn't so desperate he'd do that sort of thing. "What is it?" he asked impatiently.

"Really," she whispered, voice low and slightly agonized. "I don't want anything."

Impossible. Unfathomable. Beyond comprehension. "Nothing? At all? No chocolate, no flowers, no money? No night on the town, not even something as simple as a bowl of ramen?"

"No." He felt pretty sure she was shaking her head pretty hard right about then. "Can't you just accept it as a simple gift?"

Resisting the urge to slap his palm over his face in frustration, Sasuke sighed. "You don't have to tell me now. Think about it a little while, all right? There must be something, even if you don't know what it is yet. We have three more therapy sessions before you move out, so you've got time to give it some consideration." He got to his feet, more than ready for this strange conversation to be over.

It was, however, he reflected, better than what they could have been discussing.

"I won't change my mind," Hinata told him as they ascended the steps back up to his flat.

Yeah, Sasuke thought sourly. That's just what I'm afraid of, too.

Honestly, the nerve of him!

Hinata resisted the urge to slam the pan down on the stove, feeling tired and cranky and more than a little insulted. For Sasuke even to suggest she was treating him for some sort of payment was beyond the pale. Like she'd told him, he had a problem, she had the solution, and wasn't it the logical, not to mention nice, thing to do? Maybe she should have mentioned the fact she was basically assigned to do it by Lady Tsunade. Maybe he'd have accepted that.

Only three more therapy sessions, and then she could move back home. Hinata would make her return triumphantly, knowing she'd done a good job, and for no other reason than because it was the right thing to do. Regardless of what Uchiha Sasuke thought.

Guilt pricked sharply at Hinata. She sighed, bowing her head over the carrots she was busy washing in the sink. Okay, so she wasn't doing it just out of the goodness of her heart, and darn him, he'd picked up on that hesitancy. But how could she explain to Sasuke the fact she was desperate for approval, to prove she wasn't useless and weak? That she had talents; that even if they didn't lie in the area of being a ninja, she had a gift and was quite skilled in using it?

She hadn't mentioned it because Sasuke couldn't give it to her, anyway. She wasn't looking for his approval, or even Lady Tsunade's. She wanted her father's approval, along with that of the elders of the Hyuuga clan. She wanted to prove to them - every single doubting one of them - she had what it took to be a good leader when Hiashi stepped down. Hinata knew perfectly well everyone thought Neji - despite his branch status - was a better choice for clan head. Even she thought he was a better choice. And though she planned to make him one of her closest advisors, the main voice of the branch houses, she still felt a small spark of rebellion deep inside her at the thought of handing over complete control to him.

It was her birthright. Her duty. Her responsibility. She knew, deep inside herself, she had what it took to do it, and do it right. Now all she had to do was prove it to everyone else.

Clenching her teeth, Hinata attacked the freshly cleaned vegetables laid out on the cutting board. Her knife flashed through them with surgical precision, neatly slicing each vegetable into the perfect size for stir fry. Though exhaustion pulled at her even more than usual, she kept going, determined she wouldn't be a quitter. She wouldn't skimp on dinner; she wouldn't go to bed early; and she wouldn't give in to Sasuke's ridiculous demand that she ask him for some sort of compensation for what she'd done.

Sweeping the vegetables into a bowl, Hinata set to work on the chicken. Hating the feel of the raw, slimy meat against her fingers, she turned her thoughts to other things. It would feel good to return home: to sleep in her own bed, to roam the gardens with Neji discussing meditation techniques, to stay up late and talk with Hanabi simply because it had been a good day.

She'd missed her home and her family more than she'd realized. Knowing the prickle at the back of her eyes had nothing to do with the onions she'd just chopped, she sniffed and kept at the chicken. Only three more days. And then she'd only have to see Sasuke for a couple hours every day for therapy on his Sharingan until it was fully functional again.

The memory of their kiss the night before seared through her mind, and Hinata jumped. Slamming down the knife before she cut herself, she furiously scrubbed her hands in the sink, wishing she could as easily wash away the memories. Sasuke's hands had fit so perfectly around her face, his lips had been so warm, his strong body the perfect support...

Stop it! Spinning to the stove, she flicked some moisture off her fingers into the wok, relishing the sizzle of the dancing droplets which let her know it was hot enough. After drying her hands, Hinata went to work on making the stir fry, keeping an eye on the rice steaming at the back of the stove.

What she didn't want to admit was the fact she'd miss Sasuke when she left. She'd been in extremely close proximity to him so long now it would feel strange not waking up in the bed in the guest room. She knew she'd expect to see him around every corner, at least for a few days after she left, and the fact annoyed her.

She didn't want anything from Uchiha Sasuke, let alone his company - which wasn't even that good, anyway!

Yes, and you don't want another kiss, either. But you haven't done anything to safeguard your lips yet.

Growling deep in her throat, Hinata snatched up the bowl of vegetables and tossed them in with the nicely browned chicken. She agitated the wok over the heat as she stirred in the sauce she'd made earlier, folding her lips tightly, stubbornly. There. Safeguarded enough for you? If only she could shut off her mind.

Only three more days, she told herself firmly. And then you can move out and pretend this never even happened.

If only she could convince her heart that was a good thing, she might be able to believe it.

*~To Be Continued~*

Author's Ending Notes: Poor Sasuke. And poor Naruto. And things are awkward again... But it'll work itself out eventually. I've been looking forward to posting this chapter for a while now, so I could finally answer your questions about how Sasuke went blind, and why Naruto feels guilty. Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update!

Q & A: One reviewer said in a review they thought the romance aspect of this story was moving way too fast. I wanted to post an explanation of why that seems here. Even though there've only been ten chapters, and what feels like only a few days, several weeks have in fact passed. These two people have spent nearly every waking hour of every single day in very close proximity to each other, and the attraction has very subtly been growing from the beginning. Granted, Sasuke's urge to kiss her was spur of the moment, but there have been little signs here and there in the past chapters where his attraction to her has been growing, leading to that point. As far as Sasuke's thoughts in the last chapter, I wrote them that way for several reasons. One, Sasuke has repressed the part of himself dealing with attraction in general and love in particular for so long, when it finally does rear up, it's in quite a spectacular way. Two, if you'll notice, Sasuke thinks of her as a little housewife - because she's been going about the flat doing things a normal housewife would do (laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc.). And his attraction to Hinata (perhaps not love yet, but definitely growing in that direction) is very strong - surprisingly strong - and it surprised even him when his thoughts wandered down the marriage path. And, finally, he feels very insecure right now about himself - as a man and as a ninja - and he's concerned about having to face Itachi. Part of him is perhaps looking for an excuse, though he'd never accept it, to keep from doing it. I really hope this helped explain things, answer your questions, and ease your concern a bit. Thanks for reading, and for your well-thought out and written review!