Chapter 12

Hinata let out a small squeal and looked up at a young man with raven dark hair and Sasuke's eyes. She was frozen in fear.

Why… did I have to find… him… the one Sasuke wants to defeat…? Hinata looked into the man's eyes and shivered… She knew at first glance that this was Sasuke's brother, Itachi. The one who had hurt Naruto-kun, and Sasuke as well. The eyes had given it all away.

He was staring down at her with a bored expression. Apparently he wasn't affected by how close she had been to crashing into him, as he stood in the exact same spot as always. He was still facing her, and she began to wonder, if he had always been facing her… If he had been watching her… She knew at once that it was his chakra Karin had sensed and the chakra flow that Hinata had seen before. She shut her eyes tight in fear, as if waiting for death itself.

I don't want to die yet… I want to fix everything…

Hinata opened her eyes when nothing happened and found Itachi still unmoved. Is he even alive?

He was still staring at her and then he smiled, kneeling down in order to be face to face with her.

"Wh-what do you want?" Hinata squeaked and shut her eyes, in order to avoid looking into his. She knew what Itachi was capable of, and she would rather avoid it. She had heard about his technique, the Mangekyo Sharingan, which would allow her to see an illusion for seventy-two hours. And all it took, according to what she heard, was one look into his eyes.

"Look at me…"

His voice was deep and calm. It didn't sound threatening at all, in fact, Sasuke's sounded more menacing that his did.

Hinata merely shook her head no and kept her eyes completely shut. His smile faded and he placed one hand under Hinata's chin, tilting her head upward so she could face him. Tears began to spill from Hinata's shut eyes and she began to whimper softly. This is it… He's trying to cast genjutsu on me…

"Look at me…" he repeated, this time more softly.

Hinata kept her eyes shut and stuttered "wh-what do you w-want?"

Itachi put his face close to hers and waited for a second for her to listen to his command. She never did. He looked down and then looked back up at a tearing Hinata. This is useless... She definitely knew all about him already... Itachi formed a seal with his hand and got closer to her, whispering into her ear "You know... I don't need to look into your eyes... pointing at you is sufficient..." With that Itachi's hand seal took effect and he was gone.

Hinata kept her eyes closed until she felt him completely gone. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Nothing. No Itachi…She quickly activated her Byakugan and looked around… to find no chakra flow either. She couldn't sense him at all anymore either… How?

She deactivated her Byakugan and let herself sprawl on the floor. She could feel the moisture seeping through her clothing as she breathed softly, trying to calm down… How could he disappear so suddenly? Was I dreaming, no…. Is he just that powerful? I hope not… I don't want Sasuke-san fighting someone he doesn't have a chance against… Should I tell him about my meeting with Itachi-san? Why didn't he kill me?

Hinata opened her eyes and breathed in, her heart rate was beginning to sound normal again. She sat up slowly and got up, facing where their tents were resting, or where Suigetsu was still assembling them. Hinata smiled weakly at the view of the forest. It was completely dark by now, and the forest was extremely dense. The variety of the plants was unbelievable. Hinata smiled nervously and decided to begin walking towards where Sasuke was either being angry or sleeping… or… maybe, just maybe wondering where she was… Hinata blushed at this thought and dismissed the idea right away, not wanting to gain false hopes. She wasn't sure what kind of affection she felt for Sasuke, but she was sure something was there. So thinking he feels the same way would only lead to her hurting later on. It had happened once with Naruto-kun… He had told her he liked people like her. Apparently, she had thought too much of it and as time passed, she saw that Naruto-kun liked people like Sakura-chan a lot more… So that was that…

Hinata looked down and smiled at the memories she held of Naruto. Was is really that kind of love? Or was it just an endless amount of admiration? Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure anymore…

Hinata kept walking, her pace becoming slower and slower as she began fiddling with her fingers and smiling subtly to herself.

Then she stopped and realized that her meeting with Itachi hadn't had as big an impact on her as she had thought it would. For some reason, he didn't alarm her so much. She wondered why, and realized that the only reason she had gotten scared was because of the reputation Akatsuki had around Konoha. Itachi didn't seem so dangerous to her, and she had no idea why.

Maybe it was because he could've cast genjutsu on me anyway... but was he being honest... to cast genjutsu without even having to look at you... It was unbelievable.

He didn't seem like a brutal, blood-thirsty, S-ranked criminal that had ruined Sasuke's life. To her, he seemed like a person who just kept to himself. Someone who didn't like bothering anyone.

She was wondering if she had gone crazy... It was Uchiha Itachi, after all... and he had just left... disappeared, was more like it. And she was fine. He had spared her. The shock had worn off immediately. Her head tilted sideways and she looked up with a confused expression on her face. I wonder what he did to Sasuke... There's no way Sasuke would hold so much hatred towards Itachi for nothing...

Sasuke... I wonder if he's still mad at me... She didn't want to go back if he was just going to tell her to leave again. What was the point? She stood still, facing down, trying to decide whether to go back or not. Hmm... I guess I'll go back and just stay out of his tent... besides... Itachi-san might still be out here...

Hinata looked up and her eyebrows shot up in confusion... Did I just call him Itachi-san?? She realized it wasn't the first time in the last twenty minutes either. Then she shook the thoughts away, and began pacing back to the tents. She walked slowly back through the gorgeous vegetation, not noticing anymore. She was really hoping Sasuke would let her come inside the tent, at least.

She knew that greeting a Sasuke with open arms was too much to hope for... and maybe she wasn't really ready for that, anyway. She looked down and smiled blushing lightly and began playing with her fingers thinking about Sasuke ever hugging her. Her smile faded and she became dizzy holding her head as she reached the tents. Suigetsu was sitting outside besides Juugo, who was sitting nearby waiting for Suigetsu to finish up with his tent. Suigetsu's face was red by now and he was smacking down at the stakes with a rock with tremendous force.

He looked back with a frown at Hinata and she immediately jumped up to help him out. His expression softened a bit and he kept working, now with an indifferent expression on his face. He eyed Hinata, who was now kneeling beside him helping him ground the stakes down into the ground. He smiled at her goofily and then got up when he was finished with Juugo's tent.

Juugo completely ignored both of them and walked straight inside.

"Oyasumi... Juugo-san..." Hinata's voice trailed off when she noticed Juugo was already inside his tent. Suigetsu smiled at her again and then turned to face Juugo's tent.

"YOU'RE WELCOME!!!" Suigetsu screamed loudly and then smiling after hearing a couple of grunts.

"Hah, good enough, ne?" he looked at Hinata with one eye closed, the other eying her sad expression. Then he looked down and sighed heavily.

"Hey, stop worrying about it... go over there and just stomp right in there and demand your hostage rights." He grinned widely at her, showing off his sharp whites, and then just smiled, when he finally got her to giggle lightly.

He looked up at her and moved towards her. When he approached, Hinata just stood there looking at him with confusion until he turned her over and began pushing her towards Sasuke's tent.

"S-Suigetsu-kun... I-I don't w-wwant to bbbother S-Sasuke-san..." Hinata struggled to hold her stance, but failed miserably in doing so. When she was only an inch away from Sasuke's tent, Suigetsu stopped and said softly to her ear "This is it..."

"Suigetsu-kun, p-please stop..." Hinata said weakly with her eyes shut tightly.

"Nope... You're going in there alright.."

"Ok, I-I'll go... j-just let me re-relax for a moment... please..."

Suigetsu merely looked at her in suspicion, one eyebrow pulled up, the other down. He put his hand up to his chin and stood in thinking pose for a second before coming to a conclusion.

"Alright... but you gotta promise... you'll go in... soon..." He said with one finger swaying back and forth, lecturing her.

"H-hai..." She said and smiled nervously.

Suigetsu turned around quickly and looked back at her one more time, pointing a finger accusingly at her and then finally disappearing into the tent.

Hinata breathed out a sigh of relief and stepped hastily away from Sasuke's tent.

She then stumbled down and sat in learning position. She breathed out and then sighed again, louder this time. What am I gonna do?... She stared outside Sasuke's tent and looked down again. Ok, this is it...

Ok... what am I gonna do... ? Hinata sat outside... half an hour later still wondering what she was going to do about Sasuke... At least she had eliminated one of the options...

OK, so I can't go inside Sasuke's tent... but... I don't want to sleep out here, either... She looked around, and all of a sudden the imagery turned into a scene out of a horror movie. She was getting restless... or maybe she was just sleepy. Her eyelids began to get heavy and she began blinking rapidly. I'll just go ask Suigetsu if I can sleep with him and Karin... She slowly stood up and straightened her legs out... She felt as if she had no sense of balance for a second. When she finally caught her balance, she began walking towards the tent Karin and Suigetsu were sharing. She kneeled right outside the tent and whispered Suigetsu's name softly.

Suigetsu shook for a bit, grunting moodily and finally looked up. He moved his hand up to his forehead and ran his fingers through his hair, leaving them there. He opened his eyes extremely slowly.

"Hinata?" His voice sounded really gruff, as if he hadn't used it in ages, but everyone who knew Suigetsu, knew that wasn't the case. In fact, if you knew him, you'd think maybe he had used it too much.

"S-suigetsu-kun... d-do... i mean... do you mind if I-I sleep in here... with you...?" Hinata looked up at Suigetsu, who was completely awake now...

Her eyes widened when she realized what she had sounded like. "I-I m-mean..." Hinata's face reddened heavily and her arms flew up to cover her mouth.

Suigetsu interrupted her and grinned widely. "Sure... you can sleep right here, Hi-na-ta-chan... " He said jokingly and patted the ground right beside him.

"E-eto...I d-didn't want it to sound-"

"Hinata..." Sasuke appeared behind Hinata and placed a hand on her shoulder... Then he motioned with his head outside the tent and turned around to leave. Hinata merely looked back at a blank-faced Suigetsu and turned around to follow. By the time she stepped outside, Sasuke had already disappeared into the tent.

Hinata paused a moment before going in, taking a deep breath. She knew she was going to feel awkward hiding something like a meeting with his brother from him, but she didn't want to tell him... He'd only get mad at her for not telling him sooner. She breathed out softly and finally walked in to see Sasuke sitting on the ground looking up at her with a serious expression.

"So... Naruto, huh?"

Hinata's face sank and she looked down to the ground in shame. Hinata had no idea how to reply... What was she supposed to do? Nod, and tell him that it was all done for Naruto...? Or tell him the whole story... at first it was for Naruto, then she began caring for Sasuke too much..."

Can I ask why? Why that moron? I can't ask her that... Sasuke had no idea why he was so jealous all of a sudden. Maybe it was merely because he never wanted Naruto to beat him with anything. He never wanted Naruto to have more attention. I mean, there were so many girls that liked him and not Naruto, and the one that he is even slightly interested in, is in love with Naruto himself. Not only that, but she had also used Sasuke to help him. Damn you... Hinata...

Hinata looked up with an ashamed expression. This is soooo awkward... I don't know what to say...

"A-e-eto... "

"Never mind... don't worry about it... you can use us to get to Naruto's heart as much as you please..."

"S-sasuke-san... I-I'm not u-sing you..." Hinata said doubtfully. She didn't even know if what she had done was considered usage... She didn't know because what she had done was all for Naruto, the person she cared mostly for, and not for herself, but she, in a way, had taken advantage that Sasuke was already going after Itachi.

"I said don't worry about it..." Sasuke said laying down and turning away from her.

"A-ano... Sasuke... I'm sorry..."

"So you admit you did use us?" Sasuke asked with a frown, turning slightly to see her eyes watering. His face softened for a second and then it just turned back into a frown and he turned, giving her his back.

Hinata didn't know what to say. She laid down with one hand under her cheek. Tears began to roll down across her face and onto the tent floor. She felt horrible. She had used Sasuke, and she was still doing it. Hinata looked up to see Sasuke was still giving her his back and then looked down once more, shutting her eyes, and crying herself to sleep. Except, she couldn't.

She opened her eyes and looked at Sasuke once more. She wanted to tell him everything... She didn't care about Naruto anymore... Well, she did, but her main purpose now was to make sure Sasuke made it out alive. She couldn't bring herself to do it, though and all she did was think about it.

I have to do this. Without thinking anymore, Hinata sat up and crawled over to where Sasuke lay angry at the world.

I'm going to do this...

(A/N: Hello guys! I'm really glad you guys are enjoying my story so much, and I'm trying to update for you as often as possible. Sorry most of my chapters end in cliffhangers, but I think it has the right effect on you all. Thank you for all the awesome reviews you all have provided. They really help. Lol yeah, most of you guessed it was Itachi... and it was! This isn't the last time he's going to show up for her either. But you need to keep reading. Anyway, for the next chapter, you're going to find out wether or not Hinata will actually tell Sasuke her true feelings... or if she'll just chicken out... Thanks again to all of you! And see you on the next chapter! Oh and by the way... I never changed the title... lol it still says working title... if any of you have suggestions please let me know on the reviews or just message me... maybe i wont even change it. Does it matter? Heh, well bye.)