Hi readers! Time for another chapter. I'm sick again, damnable time-of-month. I hope you like it. I realize I made a mistake when talking about Karin's father and put brother instead at first, forgive me.

Currently looking for a Beta-reader. My former one has stepped down from issues with school and stuff.

Excuse any errors and R&R!!!


Chapter 14: Want

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Hinata spent the entire time the next day trying to piece together Sasuke's reports. She worked while he was away, wanting to surprise him. The next day she began copying them exactly as they were, or as she remembered them. Her eye for detail helped her to get them as perfect as possible and Hinata was glad for her ability. Once she was finished, she went back to fill in the details of each map and diagram, using her imagination to sketch them as accurately as possible.

The finished product was not her finest work but she was glad that she had done her best to replace them and make them better. She left the completed drawings on the desk and then went to wash her hands, feeling very proud of herself. But after finishing them, she was left wanting to see the originals. She would have loved to draw from real-life pieces and see the places he went in order to draw up those maps.

Maybe Sasuke would let her go with him when this was all over so that she could help him on a regular basis? Or maybe she would just try out to be a jounin since she was a chuunin when she started to train to become the leader of the clan. When she returned, she could probably step down and pursue her dream of being a medic Nin or become ANBU just like Sasuke.

She would have to speak with him. But first things first, Hinata could scarcely stand herself. She did not even think about why Sasuke kept his distance from her. Given the choice, she would too.

After more than a week in the same two kimonos, Hinata felt dirty. There was no other way to put it. She couldn't even stand here own company. She's washed as best as she could, braided her hair out of the way, but her clothes were grimy from her attempts at cooking and she had only the two kimonos to choose from, thanks to her own carelessness.

She looked around the room, searching for something she could wear. The man Fatty had left his clothes onboard but the pants were too big in the waist area. At least the shirts could be of use. She took of her kimono and threw it aside, not planning to wear it again and took Fatty's shirt, pulling it on as she kept an eye out for the door. She found a belt and she drew it around her waist and looked around again. Surely Sasuke had more than enough pants that he could spare her some. Going over to his side of the room and looking in his closet, she found what she was looking for; some of Sasuke's pants. She was right, he did have a lot.

Hinata hurriedly wiggled into his pants. She was just a little shorter than he was so the length was fine, but he was a lot thinner than she was because she had to put lots of effort into buttoning the pants.

She stood there, staring down at herself, grimacing at the sight that must have presented. It was a very good thing that she was not vain. As it was, Sasuke was ignoring her, though when he did speak to her, he was not mean or rude. He simply seemed far too busy to talk to her, that's all. In fact, she felt invisible around him, and almost wished she could go back to arguing with him. She could deal with his sarcasm far better than his silence.

His lack of attention disheartened her and left her feeling empty in a way that she had never felt before, not even with Kiba gone as long as he was and neglecting her, she did not feel this way. In fact, she had not even realized that Kiba was neglecting her before. She had simply thought that Kiba was devoted to his work. She had gone on with her life and did not really think about him except when she was asked about him from time to time.

"He's doing well," she would say. "Working quite hard."

Working hard carving notches in his bed post!

Hinata now understood the little smirks she had so often received at her replies to questions about Kiba. She wondered if everyone knew about what he was doing. How many women had he been with since they were engaged? Were the same women who asked about him simply mocking her? She remembered one particular smug expression, and it left a bitter taste in her mouth. But she did not care about Kiba any longer so it did not really bother her- that much.

To her surprise, the only reason she was able to summon any anger at all was for her father's sake, and because he had made her look like a fool. Her pride was wounded and she wanted it back. Otherwise, she felt nothing at all at the thought of him with some other woman. I truth, she couldn't even imagine Kiba doing for anyone what Sasuke had done for her.

Her heart wrenched a little at the thought of him. Sasuke, not Kiba.

It had only been a little while since Sasuke became so involved with his mission but Hinata missed him already. It seemed impossible that a person could miss someone when they slept in the same room but when Sasuke came in late and then woke up early, so despite the size of the ship, she was lucky if she caught a glance at him.

She had gone searching in Fatty's things to see what she could find to wear and had brought back some stuff with her to the cabin. She pulled out some socks, shirts and some sandals as well and others things in his stuff. She knew now that Fatty's pants couldn't fit and held up a heavy blue pair, shaking it out to refold when something shiny fell out. Something about it seemed familiar to her as it rolled across the room and under the curtain. She followed it and took it up, shock running through her as she stared at the piece of jewelry.

It was unlike any other ring she had ever seen- a rare design of a ruby fang encrusted in the white gold. Anger went through her. The thing was, this was not the first time Hinata had seen this ring. Hinata first noticed it in an old shop. She bought it for Kiba right away as it reminded her of him and she was sure he would have liked it as a going away gift to Suna to remember her by.

Knowing it was there, she turned the ring to look for an inscription, but found that it had been polished away. It did not matter because she knew what was supposed to be there. From Hinata with love.

She stood up, her face burning with sudden rage and fixed her shirt, tightening the belt. It was not as though she was angry on Kiba's behalf, but she did not like thieves. She did not care what she looked like at the instant and did not care if he was avoiding her. Someone had to give her answers about this. She had no idea how Fatty would come upon the ring but she was sure it was not by honorable means and not just a mere look-alike.

Ready to do battle to get answers, Hinata went in search of Sasuke.

He was not in a good mood.

In fact, he was in a rotten mood and it was getting worse by the minute.

Sasuke's shoulders were stiff and his body was tense, and he could not stop thinking about Hinata. Every time he closed his eyes, her shadow materialized before him, beautiful and sensual, moving and undulating like the waves. He tried not to think about it, block it from his vision, but her soft cries and whimpers filled his ears, tormenting him as the echo played over and over.

He had not been able to face her since that night because if he did, he felt her would grab her and kiss her foolish regardless of the fact that she was Kiba's. He could no longer deny it; he wanted her more than he had ever wanted anything in his life. What would he not give for just a single night with her, to hear her cry out his name in ecstasy? She was so curious and passionate that he wanted to share that with her.

If she would allow it, he would show her everything, share with her all that he had and was. He wanted Hinata at his side. He wanted her to be there when he came back from a big mission and have her run to hug him in welcome. He wanted to carry her to the bed in celebration of them having their first child. He wanted her there always. Damn, he sounded like some love sick little girl.

But there it was. This was the first time Sasuke had thought about having a child seriously. It was his goal to rebuild his clan but he never actually wanted that because he always saw it as a duty he had to perform. Now it was something he would like with her. Could he be a good father with the life he had chosen though? His father wasn't great at all. He wanted to try, nevertheless and imagined having a little girl, just like Hinata with midnight blue hair like both of them but with her eyes and cute nose, running around and being what he and Hinata never were when they were children. He would make sure she chose their life and it was not forced on her.

Muttering under his breath, Sasuke tossed down his clipboard and supply list, his mood going down. He was never going to get through what he had to do with these thoughts bouncing around in his head. They were driving him crazy. Hunger left him weak and thoughts of Hinata made him hungrier. Even worse, Naruto's grin was beginning to get under his skin.

"You've got it so bad," Naruto said to him and then laughed.

Sasuke cut him a glare, but said nothing. What was he supposed to say anyway? He did have it bad. He wanted something that he could not have.

"Tell her," Naruto suggested.

Sasuke raked his hand through his hair and shrugged. He gave Naruto an agitated look. "Why bother?"

Hinata was engaged to be married to the only man Sasuke found himself hating since his brother. Kiba was more her kind. He came from her world, having been with her from young. Sasuke had nothing to offer her if she wanted all the things she already had. He had fended for himself after his clan's death and Itachi's.

One thing Sasuke did have to have was the memory of his mother who loved him very much and Sasuke was not the least bit ashamed to say that he loved her just the same. His mother had given him everything his father could not- even the courage to roll up his sleeves and fight for the things he wanted. It had been his mother who praised him and told him that his father talked about him all the time and reminded him to go after what he needed.

Every part of him wanted to fight for the woman he was falling in love with- yes, he was in love with Hinata but everything in him that screamed conscience said that he should walk away before he caused her or himself pain for getting too close. She was not his to love. She was promised to someone else, and it did not matter that he did not like Kiba and thought he was a son of a bitch. What mattered was that Hinata had made her choice, and Sasuke would be the worst kind or rat to encourage her to fall in love with him.

And he thought he could; he could see it in her eyes that she did. He could hear it in her voice… or was it his own eyes when he looked in the mirror and his own voice when he spoke to her? Kami, he couldn't tell.

"You can't avoid her forever," Naruto interrupted his thoughts.

"The hell I can't."

"Look," Naruto argued. "You're stuck with her from now until the times comes for her to go to Kiba."

"Yea, well…" Sasuke's mood was not in the least danger of improving over that remark. "Thanks for pointing that out"

"You made her a deal," Naruto continued, ignoring his sarcasm. "And even if you did not, it's not like you can just take her off the boat in Suna and point her in the right direction and say go. Anyway, I know you, Sasuke, and you are not the kind of man who would let her go alone. Even if you aren't going to go in the same damned direction she is, you are still going to take her, Kiba or not."

It was true but if Sasuke didn't care anything about her- and he did- he would not have cared if she got to where she had to go but he felt responsible for Hinata now. He accepted her money, and he had allowed her to stay and he was responsible for her while she was there- at least until he handed her over to someone else.

Kiba was a lazy idiot. If he cared about Hinata as much as he cared about whatever else it was he did, she would be lucky not to suffocate in her tent if it happened to fall on her, because he doubted Kiba would try to help. Sasuke swore he would kill the bastard if he hurt Hinata.

"Anyway you look at it, Sasuke, you've got another week or so to spend with her, so you better find a way to deal with whatever it is you're dealing with."

A week was not nearly enough time and his insides wrenched at the reminder. No more that five more days and she would be gone from his life completely. The most he could hope for would be to catch a glimpse of her with Kiba now and then- while she remained in Suna. After that, once she returned to Konoha, as he knew she would… what would happen?

The thought that he might never see her again made him feel ill.

"I still say you tell her the truth."

Leave it to Naruto to call the shots when you needed it most. Sasuke had not told Naruto what he was feeling, but he did not bother to deny it. As much as he hated to admit it, sometimes Naruto knew him better than Sasuke even knew himself. At times it annoyed the hell out of him- like now.

Naruto seemed to be studying him. "You don't still believe she's spying for Kiba, do you?"

It would certainly make things better if she was. He could tell her take a long walk off the short pier and wave goodbye. He didn't answer Naruto though, didn't want to.

"We're through here for today," he told Naruto and began to replace the canvass over their supplies. They would need to keep back a few more things once they reached Suna and then hire a guide, but otherwise everything was pretty much in order. "Grab the other end of this and tie it, will you."

Naruto shook his head. "You're going to lose her, teme."

He never had her to begin with. Sasuke shot him a glare. "Someone put those letters in the stove to be burned," he reminded his best friend. "They did not just magically appear there and if you've got a better explanation then I'd love to hear it."

Naruto shrugged and then shook his head. Without another word, he began to fix the canvass while Sasuke secured the end, and then picked up the clipboard to write down what he had and waited for Naruto to finish.

"You think Motosu will take us out to the site again?

Motosu was Karin's father, their guide on previous missions. Sasuke sure hoped he would agree to guide them, but there was no telling what Karin might or might not have told him. For all Sasuke knew, Motosu would attack him as soon as he saw him, but the man was damned good when it came to the villages of Wind- especially Suna, so Sasuke intended to brace himself for the worst, and ask.

When Naruto was done, Sasuke tossed him the clipboard. "When we get to Suna, you can go after the items left unchecked and I'll deal with Motosu."

Naruto grinned. "Whoa! I almost forgot about Karin!"

Sasuke threw up a hand. "Don't start, dobe."

"I'm not starting anything! You go deal with him," his friend said, and began to laugh, as though Sasuke choice of words had struck him as hilarious. "You and your women!"

Hinata was not like the few others that Sasuke had been with. He rolled his eyes and turned to leave Naruto to his amusement. He was not in the mood; Hinata was different and he loved her. He had been younger and stupid once, but it had never really mattered. Now, finally, he had met the one woman he truly wanted and she was out of reach.

"Where is he!" he heard the object of his attraction shout from the opposite end of the ship. "Where is Sasuke?"

She had obviously come up from the mess hall and was upset about something. It was not difficult to read her mood, particularly when her voice was raised more than he ever thought he would hear it go. Good, he needed an outlet.

"He's working with Naruto, Hyuuga-sama. Over there. Demo… I wouldn't disturb him if I were you."

"You are not me!" she answered immediately.

Sasuke couldn't hold in the smile at her saucy response.

"Hyuuga-sama!" Shikamaru said a little louder. "I don't think that's-"

"Let her go," Sasuke heard someone say. He glanced over at Naruto warning him without words to keep his mouth shut.

Naruto's brows lifted, and he shrugged. "I didn't say anything," he protested, but he didn't have to. His expression was enough. H e was between amusement and the need to see what was wrong with Hinata.

She brought that out in a man; somehow made him want to take care of her, though she seemed fine taking care of herself.

"Stay out of it," Sasuke warned again. She was his.

"Sasuke!" she called out, coming nearer. She was ready to nail him for something. Sasuke could hear the attitude in the stomp of her feet as she marched across the deck. If anyone was going to protect her from his present mood, it was going to be him, but Hyuuga Hinata didn't need protection from him- most of the time. She was stubborn, and had a temper that he never thought he would ever see in her.

And Sasuke was ready for. Something like birds' wings took off in his stomach as he braced himself to see her and the electricity in her icy eyes. But he was not ready; nothing could have prepared him for the sight of her.

All done! I really hope you liked this because I was hanging on by my fingers to the keyboard as I tried to write. Not much to say since I'm going to sleep right this minute. I'm so sorry if there's lots of errors.

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!