A/N: Hi again! I present you chapter 14. Some Sasuhina interaction, some drama, some crying, some mending... you know, the fun stuff.

Thanks again to all the fabulous reviewers and a special thanks to Nibinlotwen who provided me some names for the fic. I already used one in the first chapter of the third arc!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

CHAPTER 14: Unmatched Truths

The shutting of a door woke her from her deep slumber. Her eyes drew open and scanned the surroundings, she still was not home, but in contrast she was lying on a bed situated in a windowless room with bare clay walls. To her left across the room sat an empty chair, it was the chair she had seen Sasuke seated in yesterday. Actually she could not say for certain it was yesterday seeing as she had been sleeping for prolonged periods of time in a windowless room, she had no indication of how much time had passed.

Hinata pulled off her sheets and seated herself of the edge of the bed, contemplating her next actions. She didn't know where she was nor did she know what lay behind the door, would it be foolish to leave the room? Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted when the door knob turned, her body tensed tightly and fear engulfed her mind. She found that suddenly she couldn't move, too afraid of whom or what would enter. A familiar face stepped in and although her nerves calmed ever so slightly she was still on edge. There in the doorway was Sasuke; his face remained stoic and indifferent.

"You're awake" he stated monotonously and she nodded weakly, "are you hungry?"

Was she hungry? She wasn't too sure about that but nodded anyway, she needed food to regain her energy.

"I'll go get you something to eat, if you need to wash up, the washroom is just outside to the left" he gestured with his hand pointing down the hall, "I'll be back in a bit."

She acknowledged him with another nod and watched him leave the doorway to the right. Eyeing the door suspiciously she stood to her feet and took slow and steady steps, when she reached the doorway she popped her head out and looked in both directions. When she was certain there was no one around she edged out and walked down to the left until she reached the one and only door, she cautiously turned the knob and pushed it open, it was a small cramped washroom built from clay like the room she awoke in. The shower though had been tiled with plain cream coloured tiles.

She swiftly shut the door behind her and walked up to the mirror. Her skin had become paler than it had been before if that was even possible, her eyes were puffy and dark like she hadn't been resting though she probably had been sleeping for days. Her usually smooth and shiny hair was in clumps and knots, it needed a good wash. She turned to the shower and considered it but reasoned that it would be too soon to get her wound wet. Searching the small space she found a towel, it would suffice, she checked to make sure the door was locked before stripping down and wetting the towel generously. She rung out the excess water and began thoroughly wiping down her skin, removing the dirt that had built up while on her mission.

Rinsing out the towel for the second time she brought it to the area of her wound and wiped away the dried blood. Once she finished that she quickly dressed. Lastly, she turned the shower head on and bent over so that her hair could soak, she grabbed the bottle of what she figured was shampoo and lathered it into her hair. She then rinsed it out and grabbed the other towel and quickly dried off. There was no hair brush so she settled on unknotting her matted hair with her fingers though she did so unsuccessfully. Her stomach let out a loud growl informing her of its hunger, she sighed then made her way back to the room where Sasuke said he would bring some food.

Sure enough, there he was, seated on that seat with two meal boxes on the floor beside him as he read a scroll.

"Do you feel better?" he asked, not looking away from his scroll.

"Y-yes… t-thank y-you" she replied nervously.

Sasuke rolled up the scroll he had been reading and handed her one of the boxes then motioned for her to take a seat in one of the other chairs. He picked up the other one for himself and pulled off the cover. She watched him from her seat not making any move to start her own meal, it only took him a second to notice and put the cover back on his.

"What is it?" he looked her straight in her pale lavender eyes.

She broke the contact and stuttered out her response, "It's… j-just I n-need a h-hairbrush…"

"I don't own a hairbrush" she sensed from his tone that he was slightly annoyed.

"Umm… ok… i-it's ok t-then"

He let out a deep sigh and stood from his seat, "I'll go get one from Karin."

Hinata watched as he placed his meal back on the floor and left. She was a little surprised at the kindness he was showing although his manner remained cold and detached. Who's Karin? she wondered. He returned quickly and handed her a hairbrush then took his place again. After carefully brushing out the knots of her hair she thanked him and started on her meal.

They ate their meals together in silence much like they did when they were younger, both stealing glances of the other when they felt they could get away with it.

Hinata broke the silence when her curiosity got the best of her, "S-Sasuke…" she looked at him to see that he was giving her his full attention, their contrasting eyes meeting "W-why… um… why d-did y-you save me?"

He grunted before replying, "why does it matter?"

"it… I…" she broke their gaze. She couldn't look at him; he just seemed so unsympathetic, like he wanted to make her cry.

"Well, tell me. Why does it matter?" he continued his ominous glare, "aren't you grateful that I even bothered to save your life?"

She quivered at the tone of his voice, he's mad now… he's going to kill me… she thought.

"Say something Hinata" he got up from his seat and walked over to kneel down in front of her. With one hand he pulled her head up to face him; her eyes were wet with tears that were threatening to fall. "What do you want me to say Hinata? That I care about you and maybe that I even love you and that's why I saved you? Is that what you want to hear?!"

Her paled eyes widened in horror as he brought his face closer to hers, his voice sent shivers through her body as the tears fell. His words hit her hard, what was he implying? Those thoughts never even crossed her mind. Come to think of it, she didn't know why she needed to know, nor did she know what she wanted to hear him say.

"NO!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, "get away from me!" she brought her arms up to push him away. Sasuke complied and took his arms away and stood in front of her, his onyx eyes glaring down at her quivering form.

Outside the drama infested room, curious footsteps stop briefly at the door before leaving.

"Y-you… I w-would never e-expect you… to s-say something like t-that!" Hinata stuttered through deep breaths, "you s-said i-it yourself! You said y-you h-hated me! So why then would you s-save me?!"

His face softened slightly from its threatening gaze to his usually apathetic look, "I do hate you, don't mistake that for anything else" he paused, momentarily lost in his thoughts, "you betrayed me and you betrayed yourself. You made me a promise and you broke it, I could only feel hate for you" when her eyes met his again he turned to look away "as for the reason I saved you… I don't have an answer; I don't know why I saved you."

Hinata continued to look at him with a perplexed expression, "p-please leave… I d-don't w-want you h-here… please."

He turned to take once last glance at her "gladly" he seethed before picking up his meal and scroll, leaving her in her own solitude.

The instant the door shut behind him she crumbled, the tears she tried desperately to hold back grew in intensity and loud sobs accompanied them. On the other side of the door, Sasuke's face showed nothing but indifference though an awkward feeling emerged in his heart. He ignored it and swiftly left only gaining a sympathetic expression from Juugo who was seated at the end of the hall where it led out to the living area.

It was not long after Sasuke left her that she crawled into bed and wept until she fell asleep. When she awoke nothing had changed, everything in the room remained untouched, he had not returned and that relieved her.

Hinata's emotions could only be described as chaotic. She was scared and angry, not entirely sure what she should do. She certainly did not want to stay here anymore, the man Sasuke had become was so much worse than she could ever imagine and she wanted nothing to do with him. She wondered how someone like him was so important to Naruto, how could Naruto risk his life to bring the treacherous cold hearted Uchiha back to Konoha. The Uchiha would bring nothing good to the village; he should just be forgotten by everyone including Naruto. Uchiha Sasuke is a lost cause.

Hinata did not care that her wound was nowhere near healed or that leaving would run the risk of getting attacked. It did not even cross her mind that getting herself captured would not only dishonor her family but it would allow the secrets of the Byakugan to lay in the hands of another. At this point the only thing that mattered to the Hyuuga heiress was getting as far away from Sasuke as possible.

She went to grab her clothes which have yet to have been washed when she was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Frozen on her spot, Hinata eyed the door nervously, she was fearful that it was Sasuke and she wanted more than anything to never see him again. There was another knock but this time it was accompanied by an unfamiliar voice.

"Excuse me Hinata if I'm interrupting you, my name is Juugo" there was a brief pause, "umm, may I come in? I've brought some warm soup for you and your bandages need to be changed."

She was taken out of her daze when the man knocked again. Hesitantly she walked to the door and cautiously slid it open, coming face to face with a tall blonde man.

The man smiled at her, "are you feeling better?"

She made a small sound and nodded.

"So may I come in?"

Hinata continued to look curiously at the man, not sure if he could be trusted but eventually she let him in. Something about him was calming and instinct didn't tell her to shoo him away.

"This is just miso soup, something to warm you up and hopefully make you feel better" he placed the tray on the table, "it's still hot so it's probably best to let it cool down a bit."

"A-alright, t-thank y-you" she replied meekly.

"Now if you don't mind, your bandages need to be changed" he pulled out a roll of new bandages.

"B-but… b-but" she said anxiously while a soft blush tinted her cheeks.

The man arched an eyebrow at her and let out a soft chuckle, "I understand if you're uncomfortable, but it'd be much better to remove your dirty bandages. It's just your waist and I'll be fast."

"I c-can d-do it myself" she squeaked.

"Alright, if you insist" the blonde handed her the bandages and turned to give her privacy.

Hinata lifted up the robe she had on and quickly removed the dirty bandages, wincing slightly when a part of it that was caked on with her blood pulled at her skin. Once the dirty bandages were fully removed, she began on the new ones, starting at her stomach she wrapped it around. After about the third lap around her waist she noticed that she had made it too loose and it was a little lopsided. It was difficult bandaging herself while trying to hold up the robe. She sighed in defeat and turned to face Juugo's back.

"Umm… I t-think I n-need help"

"Alright, is it ok for me to turn around?" he asked respectfully.

"Y-yes"

"Don't worry, I'll make it fast" Juugo turned around and walked over to assist the young Hyuuga heiress.

Minutes later he was complete and ushered her over to have some of the soup. While she ate, Juugo cleaned the room, disposing of the dirty bandages and other items, even taking her dirty clothes to be washed. He returned shortly before she finished the soup and took the seat that Sasuke usually took.

"So… you and Sasuke are friends?" he asked her inquisitively.

She was baffled, where in the world did he get that idea, "N-no" she answered.

"You're not friends?"

"No, w-we're not f-friends"

"How do you two know each other?"

"W-well…" she wasn't sure if she really wanted to say it but she did anyway, "w-we used t-to be f-friends when we w-were younger."

"Used to be?"

"Y-yea, it ended a l-long time ago" she dropped her head guiltily.

"Oh… that's unfortunate, but it seems Sasuke still cares deeply for you"

She blinked at the man in bewilderment, "w-what?"

Juugo laughed at her reaction before responding, "he brought you here, then tended to your wound, and then sat in the room with you for a day and a half until you awoke."

"Sa-Sasuke did that?" her eyes were wide with surprise.

"He might not show it or maybe he doesn't know how, especially after living with only hate for so long but I do believe that he genuinely cares about you Hinata"

"B-but, he… w-what he s-said before-" she was cut off.

"Don't take it too seriously, he's hurt" Juugo tilted his head to eye the indigo haired kunoichi, "I believe I overheard something about… a broken promise?"

"Y-you heard?"

"I was walking by" he paused and gave her a reassuring smile, "he's still angry about it apparently but don't worry about it, he'll come around."

Hinata blinked at him, unsure how she should respond to his assurances.

"Just give him some time, Sasuke's not such a bad guy and if you happen to be the one to capture his affection don't let him go" he grinned at the thought, "apparently there are many women vying for his love, but in all honesty there's something different about you."

Hinata's cheeks burned as a florescent red took over; does Sasuke really care about me?

"Anyway, since you're done your soup let me take it out and I'll leave you so you can rest"

Hinata nodded and watched as the man removed the tray from in front of her, "t-thank you f-for taking c-care of me" she smiled brightly at the blonde.

"It was my pleasure; if you need anything don't hesitate. There's only three of us here so it wouldn't be hard to find me if you need anything"

"Three?"

"Yes, Sasuke, Karin, and I are the only ones that occupy this place"

"Oh alright" Hinata replied as the man moved to leave but she stopped him before he walked through the doorway, "will you c-come back a-again? I e-enjoyed your c-company."

"I would love to but until then get some rest… and by the way, if you get antsy from sitting in here you're free to wander as you please just watch out for Karin" a small smirk crept onto his face as he contemplated his choice of words, "she's… the jealous type" he finished.

"Jealous type?" she questioned curiously, "jealous of what?"

"Um, nothing, never mind I said anything" he lightly chuckled before making his way out the door, the two said their 'good-byes.'

Juugo walked towards the kitchen to dispose of the tray into the sink when he nearly walked into a brooding Uchiha. He knew why Sasuke was being exceptionally gloomy today; he had heard Sasuke's words directed at Hinata not long ago.

"I've fed her and changed her bandages" Juugo said but only got a grunt from his teammate, "will you still be checking on her?"

Sasuke thought intently about the question before answering, "I suppose so, but you can take care of her tomorrow I've got plans to train all day."

A/N: In terms of writing, the first half was pretty poorly written, I tried to fix it, I really did... -sigh-
Does Juugo seem OOC? I wouldn't know cause we don't see enough of him! Hear that Kishimoto?! We need more Juugo! -shakes fist- forget Suigetsu and Karin... eghh... whatever, I like my Juugo.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed and please remember to review.

P.S. I wrote a Hinata centric AU sports related fic, hockey related specifically.
Summary: A hockey team of cocky boys encounter a spectacular goalie. How will they react when they find out the face behind the mask is that of a girl? The timid Hyuuga heiress to be exact.
Click my profile and give it a read!