Hi, it's me again. Guess what? I'm eighteen now yay! Not that it makes much difference. I feel no different and to be honest, my birthday sucked. I went to a friend's baby funeral(though I didn't mind), it rained and even though I got two new pets that's another chore to do what with cleaning and feeding them- it's a good thing those budgies are cute.

I'm sorry about this late update. I would have updated on last Friday, but my internet went boom because my modem needed updating- sounds funny, doesn't it? Anyways, it was pure hell to live without FF lol. I made this chapter about 1,000 words longer than intended from the wait, but don't expect it too often ;)

Anyway, let's get on with the story. I hope you like it.

Excuse any errors and R&R!!!


xx

Chapter 11: Held Close in the Dark

-------

The impact sent her into shock.

Hinata woke up surrounded by darkness, her body shivering. She had been dreaming and the dream had seemed so real that she could still hear the wailing of ghosts in her ears. She whimpered softly.

"It was just a dream," a soft voice said, soothing her. "A bad dream that's all."

"Sasuke?"

Thunder rolled, shaking her right down to the bone and it rattled the ship. A bolt of lightning lit the room for an instant- long enough for Hinata to see Sasuke's look of concern as he stared down at her.

"I'm here," he said.

"I was sinking in the sand!" Hinata cried out. She was trembling and was having trouble catching her breath.

"You fell out of your hammock," he told her, his voice soft and comforting; a complete change to what she was used to even though the roughness was still there, making his voice husky. "Are you aright?

"I fell?"

"Hai, you did."

Hinata had not even realized she was on the floor.

"Are you alright?" he asked again.

"Hai… I… I think so," she replied a little dazed, and continued to shiver as the wind howled in her ears.

She sensed, rather than saw, that he reached up and pulled the blanket from her hammock. It fluttered down on her and he spread it out around her better, tucking her in just parent would tuck in a child.

Another bolt of lightning lit the room.

He was shirtless. The realization came to her at once. The ship was tossed unexpectedly, sending him sprawling over her. "Gomen," he said and got up.

"It's ok," said Hinata, stuffing her hands under the blankets. "Arigatou." She didn't know why she suddenly felt so cold and her teeth chattered. Sasuke slipped an arm around her and Hinata could not care less about their little arguments at the moment; she was grateful for the reassuring embrace that came from him.

"It's cold," she said. It almost sounded like a complaint.

"It's the storm," he told her. "I'd put you back in the hammock, but I think it would be safer down here because you might only fall again."

Hinata had to agree.

"I was sinking and the sand was sucking me down; I tried to move and ask for help!" Hinata said still terrified.

Sasuke chuckled softly. "No sand here," he said. "But you hit the floor so hard I swore you'd gone right through; it woke me up from one of my heaviest sleeps. Are you sure you're okay?"

Hinata felt guilty for waking him up. When the ship rocked again and she slid a bit in the opposite direction, she knew it was not her fault entirely. And had Sasuke not caught her, she felt she would slide away. "I think I prefer the floor," she said as her stomach churned with the motion of the ship. "I don't feel too well."

Sasuke actually laughed, the sound music to her ears. "Would it make you feel better if I told you that I don't either?"

Hinata didn't think so. She shook her head and tried to steady herself, taking deep breaths.

"It feels worse than it really is," he told her.

That did nothing to ease her or her stomach. She groaned, glad that the room was dark because she could feel her head spinning.

"Naruto has it all under control," said Sasuke. "He says Shikamaru said it will be all over by morning."

"That long?"

"I'm afraid so." He shifted next to her and Hinata thought he was going to leave.

"Iie!" she said panicked. "Don't leave me. Stay please!" she begged.

She knew she was being silly, but Hinata couldn't help it. She never liked storms anyway but it was far worse to be caught in the middle of the ocean during one.

Sasuke squeezed her arm. "I'm not going anywhere," he said. It was as though he had changed completely from earlier. "I'm just going to get another blanket."

Iie! You can share mine!" Hinata offered immediately, lifting the blanket for him to climb in but he hesitated.

"Maybe that's not such a good idea, Hinata."

"It's alright," Hinata said. She really wanted someone close. Her chest felt as though someone was pressing on it, still having the aftershocks of the nightmare and the ship's tumbling only made it worse. "Just… please don't go."

The usually cold Uchiha still seemed unsure, something else radiating from him. "Hai," he said finally and slipped under the covers.

Hinata tensed at the feel of his bare chest against her arm and Sasuke noticed. "I did say I could get another blanket."

Hinata swallowed. "It's fine," she assured him, and hoped that it didn't seem like such a bad thing that she didn't want him to leave.

"Are you sure?" he asked, lifting the covers.

"Iie…" her plea sounded weak even to her own ears and he lifted the blanket even higher, shifting to get up.

"Iie!" she said a little stronger. Sasuke dropped the covers and settled in next to her again.

Her nervousness eased up the moment he put his arms around her. Outside the storm continued but it didn't seem so bad before, making Hinata wish it would rain like this everyday to bring about such a change in Sasuke.

For a long time there was silence between them. Hinata lay still in his arms, listening to the rumble of the thunder and the waves slapping the sides of the ship. It was not long before her stomach felt better because he was keeping her steady.

"When I was young," he began, and seemed to know that his voice would calm her, "I used to climb out of my window and ride out the storm in the tree outside my room."

Hinata felt relaxed, her heartbeat slowing down. She imagined him clinging on to a tree branch in excitement and was amused by the thought. "That was not a very safe thing to do," she told him, but she was smiling. "I'm sure your mother told you so."

Sasuke held onto her a little tighter and laid his head down beside her. Hinata could feel the heat of his breath on her cheek and it sent a shiver through her.

"My parents died when I was around eight," he said. "But before that she did tell me it was dangerous. My father too, but since he was always away and my mother was busy with the house work, it was just me and my brother back then."

"Oh, gomen," said Hinata.

"Don't be," he told her. "My father was always away on clan business. My mother was there but the bond could never be as strong as a father-son one. My brother was nice to me then."

Hinata smiled. "Especially since he let you ride out the storm in a tree."

"Hn," Sasuke hummed in her ear. "Even better, because he would sometimes sat out there with me when he had nothing else to do."

"Wow!" she exclaimed. She could not imagine anyone in her family doing that. Neji was the closest she had to a brother and she highly doubted he would sit out on a branch with her in the middle of a thunderstorm. Kiba would have probably done it.

In fact, she could more see the fun-loving Kiba do it than Sasuke but thinking about Sasuke attempting it was far better. Hinata was still imagining what it must have been like for Sasuke when he whispered in her ear. "Your hair… it smells nice."

She thought she had misheard him. "N-nani?" she asked, trying to see him in the darkness.

"Your hair smells nice," he repeated. "I love the scent," he murmured and inhaled deeply and then seemed to be nuzzling it lightly.

A quiver went through her at the realization and her heart began to beat faster. She couldn't even speak, and Sasuke must have mistaken her silence.

"Gomen," he said, but Hinata was not the least bit offended by his words or actions. She tried to speak past the knot in her throat to reassure him that he had not offended her but she could not get her mouth to move. No one had ever done that to her before. No man had ever made her want things she didn't even know about. She had never had any thoughts of Kiba or felt this way around him; so heated just from the nearness.

Her mouth tingled in memory of when she had kissed him all those days ago and she somehow was brought to wonder what it would be like to kiss him again… only she was not the first one to make the move this time.

She wanted him to want her so much. She wanted him to look at her with more than distrust like before without all of the unpleasantness.

"Hinata," Sasuke whispered. His voice was husky but as confused as she was feeling about the situation… except one thing.

She closed her eyes, feeling heat flow through her so much that she no longer shivered. "Hai?"

Silence met her reply. The scent of him drew her closer and her breathe because became erratic as she tempted him in the dark, tilting her head back for his kiss, if only he would take it.

She wanted him to...


Sasuke wanted to kiss her; the scent of her skin intoxicating him.

The air around them charged with more electricity than the lightning and Sasuke held her closer against his better judgment. He was wearing only his pants and they were already becoming too tight.

Was she feeling this way too? The electricity in the air? It was surging through him and he was drawn to her in a way he hadn't ever felt towards a woman before.

He blamed it entire on the current in the atmosphere.

His skin burned and his nipples were on fire for her tongue. What would it feel like to be inside her? To have her legs wrapped around his waist and her licking at his chest?

She had no idea how close he was to forgetting her status and remembering that he was not a gentleman. He was a pretender at behaving like one when he needed and her kind of people never let him forget. Never in his life had he felt so uncertain around a woman. He did not hate females, just the annoying ones that would try to cling to him because of his name and looks. He had never felt so attracted to anyone before; so confused.

He had never considered the word no before now. At least not in this way because he never needed to. He was al3ways ready to accept the outcome, whatever it was, but for the first time he was dreading hearing it.

Hinata was from a world he could never be apart of- even though many thought that he was somehow. He had the skills and had had the money, just not the right name. That was why he had to buy this ship himself and fund his own missions.

He held back, looking down at her and telling himself that he had been a fool to get mixed up in something that was set up against him from the start.

She was off-limits and it didn't take a genius to know that. Except that he had never before let anything like that get in his way.


Hinata waited with hitched breath for him to speak again but he didn't.

She wanted nothing more than to forget all that had passed between them. She wanted to start over.

Daring to press herself closer, she closed her eyes, hoping that he would respond. Her body tingled where her skin met his and she ached to reach out and explore; move her fingers on his bare chest.

"Hinata," Sasuke began his voice hoarse and low. "I'm going to kiss you."

Hinata's heart hammered at what he had said. She swallowed and whispered back, sounding more hesitant that she meant to, "I would r-really like that."

She felt him lean closer, though he didn't close the space between them. She longed for the feel of his mouth on hers.

"Are you sure?" he asked her, and she could tell that he was making sure that there would be no regret.

What was there to regret from a kiss? She was very certain she wanted him to kiss her. Couldn't he tell how much she wanted to kiss him by the sound of her heartbeat? It was so loud in her ears that her body thundered in time to it. She nodded and to further assure him, Hinata took her hands from under the covers to find his face in the darkness. She touched his face and heard his hitched breath.

His hand covered hers just an instant before their lips met and the shock of it sent Hinata reeling. He held her close, kissing her passionately, but with restraint. It was like Hinata knew instinctively that he was holding back- but she didn't want him to.

He kissed her like he was supposed to, like a gentleman. Not because he was one she figured, but because he chose to be and that knowledge left her breathless and excited in a way she had never experienced before. His kiss was nothing like the little pecks on the lips that Kiba had given her.

He cradled her face in his hands, pleading with her. "Open for me, Hinata."

For a moment, Hinata didn't understand what it was he was asking and her senses hit high; she pressed her eyes closed tighter.

Taking her hands once again, he put them behind her head and shifted so that he was on her, pinning her under his weight so that there was no escape. The thought of it made her body ache in places she had never known could ache before.

Sasuke parted for the briefest moment. "Give me your tongue," he whispered in her ear. "I want to taste you, Hinata."

Hinata shuddered in anticipation of his forward request. She parted her lips as he had asked and the first touch of his tongue on hers sent her heart banging against her chest. She clung to him and in response, he deepened the kiss. He held her hands behind her head and moved against her with such deliberate, slow delicious undulation that her body instinctively moved with his. She arched into him, trying to free her hands, but he held them securely, refusing to let them go.

"So sweet," he murmured, and Hinata felt a heady rush to hear him say so. "Kiss me back, Hinata."

She tried to obey but she had never kissed a man like this with open mouthed passion before. Tentatively, she offered her tongue to him and nearly fainted when he took it, sucking on it gently. Hinata whimpered under him, writing in pleasure as she urged him deeper. She wanted more; she wanted him to show her more.


Sasuke groaned with satisfaction over the taste of her mouth. Brief as their kiss had been the last time, he had remembered and the taste had haunted him from them and he had craved for her lips again.

His hands needed to touch her body, to feel her and make love to her, but he held back, knowing that she had not given him that much permission. But he wanted to more than anything else.

He put her hands behind her head because if she touched him, or so much as urged him further-unknowingly even- he would give her more than she asked for gladly.

He parted from her, before he was tempted any more; before his hands could slide down over her soft, smooth, and very curvaceous body to lift the hem of her flimsy night gown. If he did that, if he dared, she would need a far better armor than what she was wearing.

He stared down at her, very aware of his arousal between them. His body twitched and ached. Did she have any idea what he wanted from her?

More than anything, he wanted to be inside her beautiful body, between those shapely legs and although he could not see her at the moment, he imagined her lying under him, her midnight blue hair spread like the sky, only he was able to touch it, around her cute face. And those eyes, icy but blazing from her name. He cursed the dark because he would have liked nothing more than to see those eyes and see her expression.

Was she regretting it already? He certainly didn't. Couldn't. Wouldn't.

She was silent, and Sasuke decided it was best to tell her. "Do you know how long I've wanted to do that, Hinata?"

She sounded breathless, the same as he did. "How long?" she asked.

Sasuke had to smile at the question because he didn't remember a moment when he had not wanted to kiss her senseless, and yet he couldn't give her the exact instant he had first realized.

"Since you first kissed me," he lied. He knew he wanted her long before then.

"Oh!" she replied. He wished he could see the color in her cheeks. And then she added, holding back an embarrassing giggle, "I don't suppose I should apologize then?"

Sasuke almost grinned. "Not really," he said and laughed.

There was silence between them then, and after a moment she said, "I'm very sorry about your reports, Sasuke."

He did not want to think about that just yet, didn't want to remember who she was. "It's alright. I managed to save most of them anyway."

"Gomen. I didn't mean to."

He wanted to believe she had nothing to do with Kiba, other that the obvious. He wanted to believe her when she had said that she missed her fiancé and only wanted to see him…and yet a part him at the though because he wanted her for himself.

"You don't really believe that I would steal from you, do you?" asked Hinata and she sounded hurt to think that he suspected that of her and it was then that reality hit him.

She was another man's fiancée and was engaged to be married to someone other than him.

On top of that, he was not entirely sure he could trust her. His answer was honest when he gave it. "Iie."

He couldn't believe she would kiss him like that if she could so easily turn around and stab him in the back. And still, she was not being honest either. There was no way a woman in love with someone else could kiss another man so deeply.

At least he hoped it was true,

x

"She's not what you think," Naruto said, coming up behind him.

Sasuke glanced up from his work at him, annoyed that the only thing Naruto ever seemed to talk to him about was Hinata. "Iie?" he asked, though he was beginning to sense that much himself.

"Iie," Naruto answered, and came to sit on the desk. The picture of Kiba caught his attention and he picked it up, his usual squint of confusion in place as he inspected it.

Sasuke tried not to notice the picture, as much as it irked him. In fact, he would have liked to send it flying across the room, and would have happily let his desk burn down just to get rid of it. But it belonged to Hinata and so he just ignored it.

"You know something I don't, dobe?" Sasuke asked Naruto, sensing it was true. Naruto never kept anything from him, but somehow Sasuke felt this time it was different and the other's response only itched him more.

"Maybe."

Sasuke studies his friend. "You like her, don't you?"

Naruto flipped the picture down on his thigh and grinned at him. "Everyone likes her, Sasuke."

Sasuke knew that was true.

"Everyone except you, teme!"

"I like her just fine," Sasuke countered, and it was a hell of an understatement. He liked her more that 'just fine,' he liked her too damned much.

"Do you," Naruto pried.

Sasuke sat back in his chair, studying the smug expression on his best friend's face. "What was it you're trying to tell me, Naruto?"

Naruto stood again, took another look at the picture and said, "If you're too blind to see the truth then you don't deserve to know." And then he set the picture down facing Sasuke and walked away. Boy was Naruto acting all-knowing lately.

Sasuke watched him go with narrowed eyes, thinking they had known each other far too long. He sighed deeply and his eyes caught the sight of the picture of Kiba. His brows knit as they focused on the picture, and he reached out to grasp it in his hand.

"Well fuck me," he said, and then he chuckled.

The artwork was surely not his. Kiba had two horns on his head and a third on his chin, and his eyes were filled with yen symbols. The look suited him.

Sasuke shook his head and laughed out loud. He glanced back at the door and thought about calling Naruto back to hound him for whatever information he had gotten out of Hinata, but he knew Naruto well enough to know he wouldn't give in- not if he had made up his mind not to, and it seemed he had.

"I'll be damned," he said and set the picture down facing him, so that he could enjoy it while he worked. His mood, as he sat again, was lightened considerably.

It was then that he heard the shouts and he nearly knocked the desk over in his haste to find out the reason for the commotion.


"I'm perfectly alright," Hinata said to Shikamaru, who was trying to get her to come down before the noise brought Sasuke. It was not as though it was windy or anything. The sea and sky calm and clear after last night's storm and Hinata didn't see why she couldn't manage a simple repair. If a man could do it, so could she.

"Hyuuga-sama," Shikamaru sighed at her, his voice raised. "Come down, onegai!"

Hinata ignored him, climbing higher up the ladder. Apparently the sails were damaged due to the storm and there was a tear in the canvass so big it could be seen from the deck. She didn't want it to get any worse so, be careful, she would try to fix it and she would not be stopped.

She wanted to do something nice for Sasuke. They had woken up earlier embraced on the floor. He had held her though the night while the storm raged and she had pretended to sleep when he woke up, tucking her in before leaving. He had brushed the hair from her face so softly that it had made her heart wrench with longing.

"Hyuuga-sama," Shikamaru protested, and then he was joined by Naruto, who, thankfully, remained quiet while just staring up at her as though she was mad.

Maybe she was, because all she could think about was Sasuke. Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. What was wrong with her?

A crowd began to gather on the deck, but Hinata ignored them, determined to be of use. She had found a needle and some thread in storage and by the enormous size, she was sure they were needed for this reason. She may not have known how to repair the sail, but she was going to try.

Once she reached her destination; however, the size of the rip made her second guess her decision. From below, it had looked small, but up close, she had to wonder if she could really get it fixed. It didn't hurt to try so Hinata took the rope she had coiled up on her arm and tied it around the mast and then around her waist to keep her as safe as possible incase she slipped. When she was done, she braced herself and then took the needle from her kimono. She had threaded it already before coming up and if she needed more, she had some around her wrist.

Everything was fine until Sasuke shouted up at her, nearly scaring her to death.

"Dammit, Hinata! Get down from there!"

Hinata dropped the needle and she glared down at him. "Look what you made me do!" she shouted back, her throat sore from the unusual strain on it.

"I don't care! Get down now, Hinata!"

His tone of voice irked her. "I will not! Hinata shouted. "How dare you yell at me like that!" If he was concerned about her, there were better ways to show it than treating her like some child. She was just fine anyways, except that now she had no needle to work with and irritation welled up.

"Do you have any idea what the hell you are doing?! He asked her. He set his hands on his hips as he glared up at her. "Or do you like running around making trouble? I've never met such a strong-headed, hot-headed, undisciplined girl in my life!"

If anyone didn't know what was happening, they would certainly know now.

Undisciplined girl was she? She was the same age he was.

Anger struck her. If she were a man up here, Hinata doubted Sasuke would have acted this way. A man would have been considered constructive.

"I'm fixing the sails!" she shouted down at him and tried to look as threatening as he did. Everyone was watching. "Not that someone like you would bother to appreciate that," she continued. "Ungrateful man," she said under her breath.

"I see," he said. "So that's what you are doing up there."

"Hai."

"And you planned to just stitch it up with needle and thread?"

"Hai," Hinata responded. "Isn't that how you mend torn cloth?"

Sasuke was silent a moment in what she had said, though his anger was very prominent even in the way he was standing. And then he said, "I don't know how the hell you fix it anyway, but any idiot would know not to try when the wind is so strong!"

"It's not windy!" Hinata argued. It was just a light breeze and nothing should have gone wrong. "You are being silly, Sasuke."

"Hinata," he continued, sounding harassed. "If you don't come down from there, I'm going to come up there!"

She bristled at his threat and it made her feel like a child and her father was angry with her even though it was rare because she made sure she hardly did anything for him to reprimand her.

Hinata refused to be shaken. She was no five-year-old girl with a muddy kimono to be scolded. She was an adult, and a free-thinking one at that.

She smiled down at him, challenging him with her eyes and tone of voice. "You can do that, Sasuke. And while you're doing that, bring me the needle you made me drop." And before she could finish, the men on the deck began searching for the needle.

"Hinata, dammit!" Sasuke shouted.

"I think it's near Shikamaru," she told him, ignoring his yelling. If he wanted her down, he could ask nicely and politely. She had no reason to stay up there now without the needle, but she was not going to give him the satisfaction after he shouted at her like that.

Shikamaru muttered a 'troublesome' which was carried to her ears and began to look around for the needle as well and Hinata doubted he would find it, because truthfully, she had no idea where the needle had gone since Sasuke jumped her when she dropped it. Damned man!

"That's it," Sasuke said in obvious rage at her and practically lunged at the mast before taking hold of the ladder and climbing up way to quickly without using chakra. Hinata bit her lip, frowning at him. He couldn't drag her down against her will. After all, it would not be safe to pull her down after him.

Instinctively, Hinata tightened the knot at her waist and then she tied another knot just to be certain and tightened it with all her might. She didn't want to fall victim to his anger.

"I was only trying to help!" she said, panicked when he was halfway up. She tested the rope again, getting more anxious the closer he got.

"You're not helping."


"I don't understand why you are so angry!"

Neither did he, really. Sasuke couldn't explain the fear that welled up in him the instant he saw her up on the mast. She was blasted mad!

He was no longer concerned that she would sink the boat. If she kept up the way she was going, she was going to wind up severely hurt or worse. Sasuke was going to have to lock her up to keep her from trouble.

He climbed up quickly, thinking only about reaching her, not questioning the unexplainable feeling at the thought of her being up there. He almost had her, and she was within an arm's reach, when he placed his foot a bit too heavily on the ladder step and it gave way.

"Sasuke!"

He reached out for the mast, embracing it as he went sliding downward, forgetting about using skill to stay put when he felt a sharp tug on his scalp and then it was gone. He landed heavily on the step below it but that snapped too. Down he went again, holding in his groan of pain and all he could think about were his jewels down below.

There was no way to protect them on his slide down and he went black with the pain. The next step didn't give away, and he stood still, hugging the mast and becoming aware of the burning in his hands.

When reason returned to him, he peered up at Hinata and saw her horrified expression. She held her hand outstretched and in it she had some strands of his hair.

Sasuke's brows drew in shock at seeing them and his first instinct was to reach back and see if he had a bald spot, but his arms were wrapped around the mast and there was no what he was letting go.

Hinata looked down at it and then at him, her eyes opening. "Gomen, Sasuke! I tried t-to stop you."

Sasuke couldn't even bring himself to say anything. In his mind, he imagined tying her to the hammock, wrapping miles of rope around her to cocoon her away from the world as she pleaded to be released, but he ignored her then to silence her with a brutal kiss, before turning and walking away, then locking the door.

He should have just followed his gut and not let her on board in the first place.


And on that note, the chapter is finished. I hope you liked it and enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it for you. Most of you have asked for more 'action' between Hinata and Sasuke and I'll try to deliver. Sorry to my Beta, but I wanted to send this out as soon as I got the internet back.

If you have not read Hinata the vamp or Hina hime, please do.

Until next update…

Ja ne!

Please review, I love it when you do!