I don't own Naruto.

"Why are you here again?" the Uchiha asked, watching the diamyo's son down another cup of sake.

"Must be your sparkling personality," Shiro gave him a half-smile.

Sasuke raised a brow.

"No, I mean it," Shiro threw back another shot, "you're just overflowing in friendly vibes."

Sasuke'e expression didn't change. "You can tell me the truth, or I can kick you out."

Shiro shifted his position on the patio of the Uchiha's home. "How pushy. If you must know, there are only so many who know about the current situation, four to be exact. You're the only one of them I can look at or listen to without hurting."

"How genuine of you," Sasuke replied dryly.

Shiro didn't reply, just stared off into the twilight sky. The two stayed in the silence for a while. Shiro pondered aloud why he had come to the stoic man, "Star would definitely sympathize with me. She'd be a lot nicer to me than you."

"How did you even find my house?"

"She'd probably let me bawl my eyes out, too."

"And why are you drinking? It's barely even five o'clock."

"It's five o'clock somewhere."

"I swear to Kami, if you don't start making sense-"

"I don't really feel like crying tonight," Shiro's voice took on a very serious tone. "I feel like doing you a favor, though."

"Like going home?"

Shiro ignore him. "You've got a thing for the pink haired chick, right?"

Silence.

"I take that as a yes," he took another swig of sake, "so what's the deal? Why reject her so much?"

"Don't you have woman problems of your own?"

Shiro barked out a laugh, "You mean my 'fiancé' and her lover who's vowed to steal her away?"

Sasuke took a sip of sake and nodded. Shirt replied sourly, "Thinking about the two of them hurt my head, but I'll figure out something."

Seasick raised an eyebrow.

"That's why I'm using you to avoid them."

Sasuke just shook his head.

Shiro shrugged, "Maybe its the five stages of grief. Stage One: Deny, deny, deny."

Sasuke examined the diamyo's son. Shirt's amber eyes were unfocused, and he was only half paying attention. "How drunk are you right now?"

"Drunk enough!" came a shrill screech.

Sasuke was about to consider moving. Star was damn near running in her impossibly high heel, a certain pink haired kunoichi not too far behind her. Shiro groaned, "Star, anyone ever tell you your voice is like a premature hangover?"

As she came closer, it became apparent that she had been on the verge of tears. She stood just a foot or so from where Shiro sat. She glared at him, trembling with what Shiro assumed was anger. In his drunken state he felt more amused than frightened though. Her voice shook and lowered in pitch, "Do you think this is some sort of game?"

Shirt actually felt a shiver down his spine. He had never thought Star could sound so serious.

Star turned to Sakura for a moment, "Thank you for your help Haruno-san," then to Sasuke, "I'm sorry if he's been a pain."

"It's an honor to have the diamyo's son here," Sasuke replied flatly. A response that he was sure fit the situation.

"I don't wanna go," mumbled Shiro.

Star turned the full force of her glare back to Shiro, who visibly flinched. "First you leave without telling even one of your retainers. Hell, a fucking note would have been nice. Then, when we finally do find you, you're drunk off your ass! Do you have any idea how worried I've been? Do you understand how hard it's been to search for you without setting the whole village on alert? Better yet, DO YOU EVEN CARE!"

Shiro felt like child being scolded by his mother again. He looked down at his lap. Kami knows why he was being so docile about this. Any other time, he'd have grilled Star by now. It probably had to do with the alcohol in his system. (What he didn't know was that Star was beginning to find this unbearably cute on his part.) He mumbled a guilt-ridden, "I'm sorry."

Star's eyebrows knitted together, and she crossed her arms. She sighed, "I know you're feeling troubled right now, but that's no excuse to forget how important you are."

Shiro was only half paying attention to her words. He had just realized how crazy Star looked. For the first time since they were young children, Star wasn't wearing make-up. Her usually flamboyant curls were just barely there, and sweat plastered her bangs to her forehead. Despite wearing an expensive western style outfit and heels, tracks of mud had ruined the shoes. Her loose blouse was torn on the side. She jumped a little in surprise when he rose to his feet. He came closer to her. Star started blushing when he hugged her (well more like leaned on her), "You must have looked really hard. You look like you've been through hell."

"Who- whose fault do you think that is?!"

"Ah, but now I feel less guilty, though," Shiro sighed, "Cuz you look cuter without the make-up."

Star's blush was beginning to rival one of Hinata's. She silently began praising every brewery and alcohol producer in the world. Drunk Shiro was so affectionate! Unfortunately, he was also sleepy. Luckily, Sasuke was close enough to notice and help before his weight pinned Star to his porch. The blonde girl looked like she could have cared less whether or not he had crushed her under his sleeping form.

When Star finally collected herself, she cleared her throat, "Thank you. Would you mind helping me get him back to his hotel? If not, I'm sure we can get one of his guards to come get him."

"There's no need for that Star-san," Sakura spoke up, "I might be a woman, but I'm really strong. We don't need to bother Sasuke-kun anymore."

"I'll do it," Sasuke spoke up.

Sakura regarded him with surprise. His face remained stoic, "It's late, and if Sakura's busy holding onto Shiro, I doubt she'll much use if you run into any trouble this late at night."

Sakura pursed her lips, trying to find a reason to say no to Sasuke's help. She could find none. Even if she could have, Sasuke had already lifted Shiro onto his back and started walking towards the village. The trek to the village was uneventful. Sakura made light conversation with Star, which was more or else Star complaining about Shiro's rash behavior. The conversation continued like that even when they had handed Shiro off to his retainers.

Sakura giggled, "You really care about him, don't you?"

Star smiled softly, "I can't really help it. For me, I've only always seen him."

"I see."

"What about you, Haruno-san?" Star said, eager to move the conversation from herself. "Surely, there's someone who's caught your eye?"

Sasuke found himself eavesdropping.

Sakura sighed, "I won't deny I've felt that way, but I like to think I've grown out of such childish things."

The two women failed to hear the sharp intake of breath from the man standing in front of them. However, he didn't miss the sudden tension. He turned to see that the two women had stopped talking. Star was giving Sakura a serious look. Sakura's back was to Sasuke, so he couldn't see her face. Star took a deep breath, "Take that back."

"Excuse me?" Sakura asked, baffled.

"It's not childish," Star's fist clenched, "to love someone with all your heart."

"I'm only saying that I wouldn't want to be holding onto a silly little crush."

Star's eyes widened in fury, "Are you trying to belittle my feelings?"

Sakura's silence was answer enough for Star.

"I can't believe you!" Star shook her head. "How dare you! You have no idea how I feel!"

Sakura's voice shook with anger, "I KNOW MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER KNOW!"

Star took a step back in surprise.

Sakura continued, pointing a finger at Sasuke, "See that asshole over there. For fifteen years, I wanted nothing more than to be with him. Fifteen years. I followed him around like a lovesick puppy, and what did I get for my efforts? 'Annoying, annoying, annoying.' Even still I wanted him to love me like I loved him. But he never wanted me, and I got sick of it. I got sick of holding onto something that would never amount to anything more than a stupid girl's crush."

"Who ever said that girl was stupid!" Star screamed. "That girl- no that woman, was a thousand times stronger than you or anyone else could ever give her credit for! She knew what she wanted in her life and didn't let anything stop her."

"She was always crying and pathetic," Sakura returned, "because in the end she couldn't do a damn thing to help the one she loved. As much as I said it, as much as I believed it, it wasn't enough. I couldn't-"

Sakura stopped turning away from Star. She brought up a hand to stifle the sob that cut her off. Sasuke could hardly know what to make of this situation. He wanted to be able to say something to comfort her, but he also didn't want to risk making the situation worse. He clenched his teeth when he came to the conclusion that he should just say nothing.

Star didn't look shaken this time, "You were just being human."

"I was weak!"

"After everything we've seen and been through," the two women jumped at the calm and deadly tone. They had almost all-together forgotten about the Uchiha's presence. "You still think that cutting off your feelings makes you strong?"

Sakura was silent as her green eyes found his. Her eyes widened when she saw the fury and frustration in them. Sasuke scoffed, "Ever battle we ever fought was against that very idea. It was the first lesson we ever learned. We don't throw away the people we care about, our comrades-"

"You are the last person who needs to talk to me about cutting ties!" Sakura rebutted. "You left the village. You turned your back on us. You tried to kill the one person who never gave up on you. You tried to kill me. THREE TIMES! Don't you dare try to chastise me."

"I'm not saying you don't have every right to cut me out of your life, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep the same type of feeling in your heart," he sounded almost pleading.

"What does it even matter, Sasuke-kun?" she defended, "Even after everything you've done to me, I still love you. I still feel like the one that failed you. I couldn't stop you from stumbling down the wrong path. I selfishly relied on Naruto. Even though I tried so hard to get stronger, I still couldn't do anything to bring you back. I even turned my back on you. When I heard you had been labeled a missing nin, I actually planned to betray you in the worst way. I just couldn't do it anymore."

"Couldn't do what?" he was scared to hear it.

"I couldn't stand loving you like I did," she sobbed, "knowing you were an enemy, knowing you didn't want me, knowing that I didn't even deserve you. It was just too much. Loving you in spite of all this just hurt too much."

Guilt and pain ripped through Sasuke's chest. Why did he always end up hurting her? He had forced himself to do everything possible to separate himself from her. He knew that what he had done was unforgivable in every right. He knew if either of them didn't deserve the other it was him. She deserved someone who would protect her, someone who actually knew how to make her smile. All he ever seemed to cause her was heartache. "I am truly sorry, Sakura. I-"

"Stop," Sakura laughed with dark humor. "I already know this one. 'We're not right for each other.' You wish you could be the person for me. I've heard it, and I don't need to hear it again."

Before he could attempt to say anything else, Sakura turned and ran. However, she was not head toward her own home. She needed to get out of there. She needed to resort herself. And she knew the first place she needed to go if that was going to be a possibility.

Sasuke watched her retreating form as a lump grew in his throat. He grit his teeth, and when she was out of view, her lashed out with his fist, creating a crack in the concrete of the building. He would have started cursing if Star's squeak of terror hadn't reminded him he had an audience. He cleared his throat and avoided looking her in the eyes, "Sorry about that."

Star just stood there for a moment. He had just hurt a building. A fucking building. She had heard rumors about shinobi strength, but this was just ridiculous. When she finally did find her voice again, she whispered, "I'm just gonna go and pretend this never happened."

As she left, he heard her mutter to herself, "A fucking wall. He broke the fucking wall."

Sasuke would have found her shock and fear amusing if he wasn't in the middle of feeling like the world's biggest douche.

Hinata was still asleep when the sun set on the Konoha skyline, and Naruto had no real intention of waking her up. He enjoyed gazing at the serene beauty of her face. He loved the feeling of her even breathing against his body. He especially loved the way she curled into him and the smile that came with it. He wanted to run his hands through the silk threads on her head, but he didn't want to wake her up by moving too much.

He settled for pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, "I swear I won't let you go."

Despite his efforts, Hinata began to stir. Her eyes fluttered open to reveal her gorgeous pearly eyes. Her voice was still heavy with sleep, "Naruto..."

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Naruto took the opportunity to stroke her hair like he had wanted to earlier.

She smiled brilliantly at him, snuggling into his chest, "Not at all. How long have you been up?"

"Not too long." He was lying. He had been just been staring at her for the past two and a half hours, but there was no reason she needed to know that. He decided to change the subject. "You must be hungry. How about I treat you to something? That cinnamon bun place you like might still be open."

Hinata's ears perked up at the thought of the yummy dessert. She gave a mock gasp, "Why, Naruto, this is the first time you've suggested we eat someone that not Ichiraku's! Are you feeling alright?"

Naruto chuckled. Since they were so close, Hinata could feel the sound reverberate in his chest. "Is that a no?"

Hinata was about to answer him when she heard a tap on her bedroom door, "Lady Hinata."

Hinata sighed, "Yes, Mirria?"

"Haruno Sakura-san is here to see you."

Naruto felt Hinata stiffen in his arms. He knew about the incident at the party. Even if Hinata hadn't told him the night of, there was no denying the buzz amongst their fellow leaf shinobi. In the course of a single night, Hinata had gained a reputation outside of the quiet, unassuming heiress everyone had once painted her as. She was now just as feared as her protective teammates. And yet, she was also even more admired.

The word was that her "secret" fan club had gained more female members in the past couple of days. Many of them joined because they were impressed with the backbone she had shown that night. Naruto found it silly that they had only just now seen her as strong. For him, that had been a given from the moment he had first seen her fight in the chunin exams.

He watched the young heiress think with furrowed brows. She was clearly remembering the unpleasant events for herself. He unwillingly released her as she moved to stand in front of her mirror. Naruto did his best to keep his voice down, "What do think she wants?"

"The Hokage must have sent her for something," Hinata tried to brush off this strange unease she felt in her gut. Sakura wasn't the type to apologize when she felt wronged nor was she the type of woman to come looking for a fight. And yet... Hinata still felt like this was some battle ahead of her. "I'll go talk to her, but I think you should go. The last thing we need are more rumors about me."

Naruto gave her a conflicted look, "Are you sure?"

Hinata turned and smiled at Naruto, touched by his concern, "I'll be fine. I promise."

He smiled back, then pressed another kiss to her forehead, "If you need me, I'll come running."

Hinata beamed, "I know."

He smiled at her once more before he began heading out the window. Hint turned her attention to Mirria. She cracked open the door, "Where is she?"

"She's waiting in the courtyard. I tried to invite her inside, but she insisted on sitting outside," Mirria frowned, "should I try again?"

"No," Hinata smiled. "You've done enough for my sake, Mirria. Thank you. I can take it from here."

Mirria nodded and left. When Hinata entered the courtyard, Sakura was sprawled out in the grass, looking into the stars. The pink haired kunoichi didn't make a move to say that she acknowledge the heiress's entrance. Her emerald eyes were glued to the now night sky. Hinata waited in the covered walkway, watching the pinkette and wondering what she was doing.

Suddenly, Sakura spoke up, "How did it come to this?"

Hinata remained silent, mostly out of confusion.

"How is it that Uzumaki Naruto's number one and, until recently, only fangirl has given up on him?" Sakura leaned her head further back until the grass tickled her forehead. "I never thought I'd see the day, you'd stop loving him."

"I don't think that day will ever come," Hinata replied, "he'll always be in my heart."

"And yet, you're less than a month away from pledging yourself to another."

Hinata didn't answer. There was a lump forming in her throat. "Haruno-san, do you have a purpose in coming here? Because if not-"

"I just want to hear your answer."

"I doubt my opinion on the matter makes that much of a difference."

"I need to hear it!" Sakura shouted, bolting up. The two kunoichi made eye contact, lavender wide with confusion and emerald filled with desperation. "Don't you remember those two years? Those two years when they were both gone, we cried together. No one else understood, but both of us knew. The two of us could always depend on the other to know how it felt."

Hinata certainly did remember those years. There were many times when their friends had tried to talk them into dating other men. They had learned to have each other's backs. Hinata taught Sakura to ignore the insults that circulated around Sasuke. Meanwhile, Sakura helped keep Hinata motivated in her training. The two had spent much time sparring when Neji was away on missions. Most importantly, Hinata felt that she could tell Sakura the troubles of her heart that she hadn't even dared to speak to Ino and Ten Ten. She had always considered Sakura the one person who would always support her feelings.

And the young Hyuuga heiress knew exactly when she had lost that feeling.

"It started six months ago," Hinata's voice trembled. With sadness or anger, Sakura couldn't tell. "I had just received another one of Shiro's proposals. I was panicked, knowing that the terms of our agreement were closing in on me. Naturally, I wanted to talk to you about it. I thought if I told you the whole story, you'd know how I could fight it. I needed your encouragement, but you were on a mission at the time. I settled for spending some time with my teammates to get it off my mind until you got back."

Hinata bit her lip, unsure if she should continue. She still had the chance to avoid this. However, emerald implored pearl to keep going, to give them the answers they sought. Hinata took a deep breath, "Kiba was drunk. It wasn't his fault for letting it slip. He was trying to get me to make a move on Naruto. He was just trying to motive me, but I wish that I could wipe what he said from my mind."

"What did he say?" Sakura asked impatiently. She hated all this dancing around the topic.

Hinata was just barely over a whisper, "He told me about your confession to Naruto."

Silence. Sakura had forgotten her attempt to make Naruto give up his mission to bring the Uchiha back to Konoha. It was an event she hadn't given much consideration to before. She had never thought about Hinata finding out about it. Even so, she couldn't understand why Hinata would be concerned about it. Even if Kiba had told her, he knew the whole story. They must have told Hinata why she had to do that. Sakura frowned, "If you know that, then you should also know my real intentions. I didn't confess out of emotion, I just wanted him to give up what I thought was a futile quest."

Hinata's eyes widened in disbelief, "And you saw nothing wrong with that motive?"

"It was all I could think of. I thought if I freed him from the promise he made to me, he'd give it up."

"It was manipulative and wrong, Sakura!" Hinata shook her head in disgust. "You were ready to use his feelings for you, so you could get your way."

"I never intended-"

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions, Sakura," Hinata interrupted, running with the emotion overcoming her. "And to be honest, I doubt you even thought about the consequences for anyone but youself."

"I just wanted to do something to keep him safe," Sakura snapped, "I thought you of all people would understand that much."

"You don't hurt people to help them, Sakura," Hinata hissed. "You can't treat the confession of someone's true feelings like a toy. People's feelings aren't training grounds. It doesn't work like that."

"Don't you dare act like I'm some cold-hearted harpy," Sakura shouted, "even if it's not in a romantic sense, I care about Naruto too."

"Then, what do have to say about planning to do to Naruto what you did with Lee-nii?!"

Sakura looked away, "That- that was a mistake. And I never planned to treat Naruto like I had Lee."

"Then what does that make Lee-nii? Some practice dummy? You used him and threw him away like he was just an old rag."

"It wasn't like I planned it," Sakura huffed. "Lee caught me in a bad place, okay? Yes, I slept with him. I'll admit I got caught up in the comfort he gave me. I was extremely selfish to take advantage of his love like that. I knew I could never love him, but I thought maybe it would be different with Naruto. I thought I could get used to loving Naruto if you could get use to loving that Shiro guy."

"That doesn't erase the fact that the both of them felt used."

Sakura pursed her lips. The blunette had a point. "Maybe you're right, but that begs the question. If you were so against it, why didn't you come to me to talk about it? Why did you let it fester like that? You could have brought this up with me so much sooner! It didn't have to get to you punching me out."

"You don't think I tried?" Hinata stressed, "I wanted to tell you about how I felt, but I didn't have the heart to do it. I just felt so betrayed."

"Hinata, you have to know I didn't mean to hurt you like that," Sakura almost sounded pleading.

"But you did," Hinata returned, "I trusted you to support me. You were like a rock for me, but in that moment, it felt like all I really had was sand. I couldn't talk to you like I used to. More importantly, my confidence was shot. How would compete with his precious 'Sakura-chan?' I couldn't take feeling like shit, and I found comfort in Shiro's letters. I went home that night and set things in motion for this wedding."

"But why would you give up like that?" Sakura persisted.

"Why do you care so much?" asked an exasperated Hinata.

"Because you were my rock too!" Sakura shouted. "Looking at you helped me remember that it's okay for me to love without result. Watching you be so patient, so understanding made me strong. You gave me hope. When you made that announcement, I couldn't hold onto that ideal anymore. I was barely clinging to it before. But now, it's just gone."

Hinata was taken back. She was still very much used to be on the jealous side of this. She never imagined that Sakura was truly jealous of anything she could do or had. She couldn't comprehend that there was something about her personality that Sakura admired. If anything, Hinata had expected for Sakura to almost think of her as a charity case. "How could you even think about it that way? You were always so much braver than me, you wore your feeling for Sasuke like a badge of honor. I could only do my best to hide them."

"But you loved in spite of it all," Sakura sighed, "even if you didn't say it, you showed it to him and everyone around you."

"Do you really think that?" Hinata asked, wanting to believe, but not completely willing.

"I do," Sakura sincerely smiled at Hinata. "I know it doesn't make up for the horrible things I said to you, but I can definitely take the time to do that. I don't want to be your enemy. Especially with a left hook like that."

Hinata couldn't help the giggle that came up, "I don't want that either, but that doesn't mean I forgive you for what you did to Naruto. But one thing I do want to do is apologize. You weren't the only one to blow up at that party. I should have gathered the guts to talk to you about how I felt. I should have faced that feeling instead of running from it. If I hadn't been such a coward, this could have been long sorted."

"Don't berate yourself," Sakura tsked, "if I had been more thoughtful, it wouldn't have been such an issue."

"OH WILL YOU TWO JUST HUG IT OUT ALREADY!"

The two kunoichi wiped their attention to the gates where Ino stood with hands on her hips. Ten Ten looked amused and held a box. The unmistakable scent of cinnamon buns wafted over the courtyard.

"And here we were planning on bribing the two of you two," Ten Ten chuckled. "I suppose a reward will do just as well."

"See," Ino took hold of Sakura's hand and pulled her over to do the same with Hinata, "I told you our girls would sort this out on their own."

"Yes," Ten Ten rolled her eyes, "I believe your exact words of faith were 'Billboard Brow is way to stubborn and Hina is just too shy.'"

Ino shrugged, looping her arms around the two kunoichi's necks, "Semantics. The point is we don't like our friends at each other's throats, and we're happy to see the two of them getting along."

"In that case," Ten Ten opened the box, "who wants cinnamon rolls?"

Before anyone could say anything, Hinata's stomach made a growl. There was while the other girls looked at the heiress, whose face lit up like a firework. The silence was almost immediately broken with laughter. The girls' laughter continued even as the girls collapsed on the lawn, cinnamon deliciousness in hand. They spent the rest of the night on the lawn laughing at the constellations.

From behind the wall of the Hyuuga compound, a usually stoic Uchiha gave a small smile as he pressed a silencing hand into the knucklehead's mouth, relieved that there was someone who could make her smile. The blond knucklehead, who had long since stopped making noise and was beginning to get irritated with his friend, couldn't help but grin under it. He was glad Sasuke had stopped him from interfering. He loved watching his lover take charge of her problems. It gave him an odd sense of pride.

But he was disappointed that he didn't have an excuse to take Hinata out for cinnamon rolls anymore.

Star continued to rub the jet black hair spreading it across the pillow Shiro's head rested against, "I know you're awake."

The lack of response would have made anyone else rethink their observations, but Star knew better, "You can sleep long as you want, but I'll still be here when you wake up."

There was silence again before Shiro's hand stilled Star's motions, "Then stop messing with my hair. You know how much I hate that."

"Can't help it," Star smiled, "You have hair as soft as a girl's. I just like it too much."

Shiro's eyes opened, the way they glowed reminding Star of a cat. "Stubborn as ever. Why are you still here anyway? Your hotel is on the other side of the village, and you should be getting in since it's so late."

"Relax, I'll have a guard escort me back as soon as you finish reading this," she handed him a scroll with his mother's seal on it. He suddenly felt alert. Shiro quickly sat up, snatching the scroll from her while she continued speaking, "Your father sent me here with this letter for you. It was the only excuse I could give my father for coming here to see you."

Shiro treated the letter with wariness. He and his father were not particularly close, so receiving a letter from him was sure to leave a bad taste in his mouth. He took a deep breath and broke the seal. Upon setting his eyes on the document, Shiro paled considerably. It was no letter, it was a contract, a contract peacefully dissolving the engagement.

How was that? Are you ready for the upcoming climax of the story? Was the apology between Sakura and Hinata believable? Would you have preferred them to still be enemies? I'm aiming for about five more chapters after this. Too much? Too little? Let me know via review, private messaging and or on one of my tumblr blogs (see profile).