Sasuke arrived at his house finally with the sleeping Hinata still lying in his arms. After having some difficulty with unlocking the door, he entered his darkened living room heading straight for his bedroom. He pulled the covers away so he could slip her inside gently. He guessed she must've fallen asleep sometime after they exited the forest, or at least that's when her sobs stopped. He reached over to her feet to remove her shoes, and placed them near the bedside. Sasuke pulled the covers up to her chin making sure she was tucked in much the same way he remembered being tucked in by his mother. He gazed at her peaceful face and stroked her hair lovingly. Hinata… he leaned down and brushed his lips across her own making sure to not wake her up.

Sasuke left his bedroom shutting the door quietly behind him. Upon entering the living room again, he walked over to his telephone and dialed Hinata's home phone. Sasuke was shocked to find that it only rang barely once before it was answered. "Hinata! Is that you?" the person yelled into the phone eagerly. Sasuke flinched from the loud greeting, and knew immediately who it was.

"You know Hyuga, a simple 'hello' would've been better." Sasuke replied impassively.

"Uchiha? Did you find her? I checked all of her friend's houses, all of our sensei's houses, even the damn hokage tower and she wasn't-"

"Yeah, I know. She was in the forest." Sasuke interrupted noticing that Neji was gradually calming down.

"The forest? So where is she now? Is she with you?"

"Yes, she's here with me at my house."

"Then I'll come get her, so I'll-"

"She's sleeping, Hyuga. Just come get her in the morning."

"Right, like I can trust that you won't take advantage of her."

Sasuke sighed audibly and rubbed his temples in frustration. "I won't touch her. In fact, I'll be sleeping in a completely separate room. Satisfied?"

He heard Neji grunt on the other line and mumble something that resembled a 'I guess' under his breath. "Wait, Uchiha. What exactly was she doing in the forest?" Neji's once worried tone left and he was talking in his usual cold manner, except now a hint of curiosity could be heard.

Sasuke paused for a moment thinking back to how he had found her. His fists clenched absently and his teeth gritted in anger. "Apparently, she went out on a picnic with some guy named Yori Hideyoshi."

"Hideyoshi? Never heard of him."

"He was an allied patient of Hinata's who happened to take a great liking to her." He ignored Neji's snort and continued, "I found the two at some abandoned place in the forest…and…this guy was not too far from…well, raping her."

"What!" Neji yelled making Sasuke hold the phone a good distance from his ear while Neji yelled out different threats and plans of annihilation. Sasuke didn't blame him, but he was getting a little tired of the constant yelling from the "quiet and stoic" Hyuga.

"Listen Hyuga." Sasuke interrupted and waited for Neji to calm again. "I need you to do me a favor. I left the guy unconscious back in the forest, which I'll give you the coordinates to, but I need you and maybe your ANBU team to go get him."

"I'll do that. We'll have Tsunade-sama interrogate him tomorrow, and hopefully send the bastard off to an execution…preferably his own."

"I agree. I'll stay by Hinata's side tonight and take her to go see the hokage tomorrow when the drug will finally wear off."

"Drug? What drug? Hinata was drugged! That-"

"Hyuga, I think it'd be better for everything to be explained tomorrow. Frankly, I'm a little tired, and I don't doubt you are too."

"Very well. There should be no problems with sentencing this guy. Not only do we have the drug in Hinata's blood system, but also you as a witness."

"Make sure you confiscate some of the food; I think the drug was derived from there."

"Got it." Neji paused and Sasuke yawned quietly. "Uchiha…do me a favor."

"What now?"

"Take good care of Hinata."

Sasuke scoffed, "Did you even have to ask?"

Even though Sasuke didn't see it, Neji was smirking in relief. "One more thing Uchiha…I'm going to need those coordinates."

After getting off the phone with Neji, Sasuke went back into his room to grab a change of clothes as well as a pillow and blanket. He's napped on his couch before, but never really slept a full night. He could only hope he'd be able to. After all, he wasn't lying when he said he was really tired. Since tomorrow held many more activities, it was only proven further that he would need to get a good nights sleep in order to be well rested for the next morning.

Sasuke changed into a pair of pajama pants and left his upper body bare of any type of top. Whether Hinata was there or not, he always found this type of outfit more comfortable to wear to bed. He grabbed an extra blanket and pillow from his closet and walked quietly toward his bedroom door hoping he didn't wake Hinata up. His hopes were demolished though, when he heard Hinata whisper his name. He stopped in the doorway and turned around to see her staring at him tiredly. "Did I wake you?" he asked with no expression.

She shook her head lightly and smiled. "Where are you going?" she asked curiously.

"The couch. I'm getting tired."

"O-Oh…um, y-you don't have to…this is your bed, so I…I can sleep on the couch."

"That's not necessary. I want you to take my bed, so don't argue with me, I'm not in the mood." He replied to her sternly.

"Oh, okay…um, Sa-Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"Y-You don't have to, um…s-sleep on the couch…if you don't want to."

He sighed loudly, "Hinata, I already told you I want you to take my bed, so-"

"I-I know…" she interrupted softly, "I only mean that…um…y-you can s-sleep here…with me…" she whispered the last part making Sasuke step closer just to make sure he heard her. When he did, however, he stared at her in shock while her whole face heated into a deep blush and she poked her forefingers together.

"Hinata…are you sure?" he asked sternly looking for any sign of her not wanting him with her.

"I-I'm sure…I, um…I don't want to be a-alone…" she met eyes with him in innocent plea.

Sasuke sighed and gave her a soft smirk, and walked back to his closet to put away the pillow and blanket. "All right, Hinata, if that's what you want."

"I-I do…" she whispered tucking herself more into the covers. She felt the drug slowly begin to wear off letting her use her limbs. The only problem was that it took a lot of strength to do so.

Sasuke pulled the covers up on the opposite side Hinata was lying, and slipped in pulling the covers over himself. The two were now facing each other with only a few inches of distance between them. Surprisingly, Hinata was the first one to move. She used the last remainder of strength she had, and scooted closer to him nuzzling her face into his bare chest. While one hand rested under her head, the other rested comfortably around his neck. There was no distance between their two bodies now, and neither was complaining. Hinata closed her eyes, sighed tiredly, and slowly drifted back to sleep. Sasuke watched her for a few minutes before slipping his arm around her waist pulling her as close to him as possible. He inhaled the wonderful scent that emanated from her indigo locks letting it lull him to sleep. And it did just that.

Early the next morning, Neji came to pick Hinata up and take her to the hokage. He told her she needed to be questioned and then test the drug that still flowed in her blood to see if it matched up with the drug they found in the food. Sasuke stayed at the house for awhile before going to the hokage himself, since Tsunade needed to question him as well.

Sasuke knocked on the door to the hokage's office, and entered when he heard her tell him to come in. After he closed the door securely behind him, he walked over and stood in front of her desk. Unlike most days, Tsunade took on a more serious look. She leaned over her desk with her hands crossed together in front of her just resting under her chin. Her face was stern and serious, and shockingly, there was no sign of a sake bottle anywhere. If Sasuke had to guess, he'd say she looked more pissed than he usually did. "Sasuke Uchiha." She greeted.

"Tsunade-sama."

"I've received both versions of the previous night from Hinata and Yori Hideyoshi."

"Where's the bastard now?"

She sighed leaning back in her chair crossing her arms just under her chest. "His father came to take him home early this morning."

"What? You can't be serious! You let him go?"

"I had no choice in the matter, Sasuke. Our alliance between Konoha and the Rain is thin, and after last night I'm shocked it's still somewhat in tact."

"Who gives a shit about the alliance! After what that bastard pulled, we should break open war on them!" Sasuke clenched his fists and didn't bother caring about how disrespectful he was being. "What did you do, believe the Hideyoshi over Hinata?"

"Sasuke!" Tsunade broke in silencing his raging outburst. "Shut up and let me talk for a moment. It's not as simple as you've obviously been thinking." She paused and waited until she was sure that he wasn't going to yell out again. When it was confirmed, she inhaled deeply and sat up straight in her chair. "Allow me to go over what was said. You know Hinata's story, and no doubt you already know she told everything she knew and remembered. As for Yori…he told us it was all a misunderstanding. He claimed to have no intention to rape Hinata-chan, or drug her. All he said was that he simply planned to have a picnic with her in thanks for healing him."

"That's bullshit!" Sasuke interrupted pounding his hand onto her desk.

"Uchiha! I said no interruptions! And for your information, I personally don't buy his story at all. I believe what Hinata said was true, and I even believe your side of the story. But the fact of the matter is…is that nobody else besides us do believe both of your versions."

Sasuke furrowed his brow in not only anger, but also a slight hint of confusion. He didn't say anything and just waited for her to continue.

Tsunade schooled her features back to a more calming expression and even looked at the Uchiha with a sympathetic gaze. "Even though you were indeed a witness, nobody will believe what you said just because of your past. You were labeled a traitor to our village, and the Rain did hear about this. Yori is the heir to the most respectable and noble clan in the Rain village. They, like me, have to listen to both sides of the story and determine the truth without basing it on their close relationship to the offender or victim. You understand so far?" she paused and saw him nod in agreement. "Having a witness to the situation would've settled the dispute easily, but because it happened to be you who was that witness…we're back to square one. The Rain won't believe anything you say because you are considered untrustworthy." She glanced at him noticing his fists clenched tighter and his gaze drifted away from her. "Now that that is out of the way, let's get to the next part. The drug." This brought Sasuke's attention back to focusing on Tsunade. "We had medical ninjas from both our village and the Rain check the type of drug that was used. It's quite a common drug, so the possibility of it being only from the Rain flew out the window. If it was…then that would've won our case, but that's not the issue anymore. Yori claimed to have no knowledge of there being a drug in the food. He simply told us all that there was a gap between when he left the food at the picnic site to go get Hinata, and when he came back with Hinata. All the clan elders and even some of our council agree that during that time, anyone could've came by to drug the food. If the drug was only in Hinata's portion, that would be one thing, but since it was in all the food including Yori's…than the chance that they were both meant to be drugged is highly likely."

"Why's that?"

"Like I said, Yori is the heir to a respectable clan, and Hinata, although not the heir anymore, is still an important member to Konoha's most formidable clan. There's no reason why they wouldn't be poisoned. But we're not going to get into that; it's not even going to be investigated. Anyway…" she breathed relaxing into a more comfortable position. "Now here's the part that's going to piss you off."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and visibly tensed at the upcoming news.

"I not only believed Hinata-chan's side of the story because I know her, but also because she has great difficulty in lying and even avoiding the truth. Yori, on the other hand, could lie his way out of anything. He does it so smoothly and calmly that he had almost everyone in that council believe him without a second's thought. We had a fair chance at winning the argument, but when the drug evaluation came back…we lost in a matter of seconds. Care to know why?"

"Tell me." He replied quickly and sternly.

"Because of the components in the drug."

"Components?"

"Yes. Not only was the drug used for temporary paralysis, but it also contained most of the same ingredients used in a very common hallucinogen."

Sasuke's eyes widened as realization slowly began to dawn on him.

Tsunade inhaled trying to calm down her quick-rising anger. "All that means is that whatever Hinata-chan said happened could easily be dismissed as a hallucination."

"You can't be serious…that's ridiculous!" Sasuke shouted, and Tsunade silently agreed with him. "How is this even possible? That Hideyoshi had to have planned this somehow, I know it…"

"I'm glad you think so, Sasuke. I think so too." Tsunade spoke smoothly. "I've come to the conclusion that this Yori guy is pretty smart. He may not have planned the actual activity very well, but he made sure that if it went awry, he'd have an easy way out."

Sasuke nodded solemnly while his fists clenched and unclenched. "So, what happens now?"

Tsunade stood up from her chair walking over to one of the windows in her office. She gazed blankly out into the streets of Konoha and sighed warily. "Because you broke his arms, they had reason enough to lock you up instead. Yori managed to convince everyone that it was just an innocent misunderstanding, and it should be quickly forgotten."

"I bet he'd like that." Sasuke muttered sarcastically.

"As much as I'd like to break the rest of their arms…I'm afraid I have to comply. They will go back home, and we will stay here as if nothing ever happened."

"That's stupid…"

"I agree. Believe me, Sasuke, I don't think anyone in our village would really mind putting them in their place after that incident, especially since Hinata-chan was the victim. Unfortunately for us, there was one person who did not wish for war. You know who I'm talking about?"

Sasuke sighed shaking his head, "Hinata…I figured as much. She probably said something along the lines of not wanting to be the cause of a war…am I right?"

Tsunade smiled happily for the first time that whole meeting, "Right you are. You truly do know Hinata the best, hm?"

Normally, Sasuke would probably smirk at this, but he still was feeling outraged at the turn of events. I don't think this is the last time I'll be seeing the Hideyoshi. I'm almost certain that he's not done here yet. Taking a break, yes, but nowhere near being done. His short nails dug into his palms painfully, and nearly drew blood if not for the sudden knock at the door. Both their attention turned to the door, which opened slowly and a dark-haired head peeked around. Tsunade smiled, "Hinata-chan, come in." While Hinata walked into the room, the blonde watched how quickly the Uchiha seemed to calm as if all his built-up anger vanished into thin air. Hinata-chan truly is an amazing person. I doubt many can say that they were able to ease the cold-hearted Uchiha survivor just by appearing in the doorway.

"Tsunade-sama…I-I'm done now." Hinata spoke quietly as she took her place next to Sasuke.

"That's good." She smiled calmly while taking notice of the saddened couple in front of her. "Sasuke has been informed of the situation."

Hinata's gaze shot up to Tsunade worriedly before glancing at the man next to her. She could see how his anger was gradually rising, and didn't know what to do at first. Silence seemed to envelop the room since not even the outgoing hokage could think of one thing to say. Sasuke's face contorted into a hard scowl, and his fingers began to curl forming into a fist. Hinata slowly reached toward him placing her hand over his own. Sasuke's scowl dropped, and his fist loosened. He turned to her for a brief moment before looking down at their hands, where Hinata was beginning to grasp. Sasuke held her hand in his and gave her a slight squeeze in reassurance. In return, Hinata leaned toward him, and her eyes began to water. "I…" she whispered, "I'm sorry, Sasuke…It's all m-my fault." She bit back a sob as a tear trickled down her cheek. "I-I should've known…I shouldn't have gone…s-so willingly with h-him…" she lowered her head in an attempt to hide her face from him. "I w-was so stupid not to realize that he…that he'd-" she gasped quietly as Sasuke pulled her to him in a tight embrace. With their hands still in each other's grasp, Sasuke's other arm held her to him closely and gently. He leaned down putting his mouth to her ear and whispered so only she would hear. "You're right…you were being stupid." Her eyes opened wide at this. "Not because you didn't realize what he was trying to pull, but because you're thinking this is all your fault. Anyone could've fallen for his ploy, so if anyone's at fault here…it's him, understand Hinata?"

She sniffed and nodded against his chest. "Sa-Sasuke…"

A loud clearing of the throat interrupted their moment making them turn to look at their grinning fifth hokage. She laughed lightly, "Did you forget I was here?" she laughed more when Hinata blushed brightly, and even Sasuke gained an almost unnoticeable blush. "Alright you two lovebirds, get out of my office. And…" she paused looking more serious. "For all our sakes…let's just forget about all this, is that clear?"

Hinata nodded fervently while Sasuke gave a more reluctant nod. The two headed for the door with their hands never leaving its firm hold.

"Oh, and Sasuke?" Tsunade called to him just as they opened the door.

Sasuke smirked, "Don't waste your breath. She'll be taken care of…trust me."

Hinata blushed again, Tsunade smiled, and Sasuke led Hinata out the door.

After their departure, Tsunade walked back towards one of the windows gazing out of it with closer attention to the people. Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuga…what an odd couple…and yet, they seem so perfect. She smiled at ease. Hinata…don't leave him…you probably have no idea how much of a lifeline you are to him right now. I had great doubt that he would remain in this village the day he returned. You changed all that doubt the minute you walked into the picture. After all these years, and all the pain Sasuke has been through…you've managed to make him feel true peace for the first time in his life. Down below her, she saw the two exit the building and walking out onto the street. For the briefest of moments, she saw Sasuke pull Hinata into a loving kiss before walking on again. I wish I could tell you that all your problems are over, and you can finally live the life you both deserve to have. I'm afraid, though, that you have more obstacles in your path. What's even more problematic is that your greatest obstacle left our village this morning with two broken arms. I really doubt that he plans on just forgetting about this whole incident and living the rest of his life in his village. I could only wish that I were wrong about this…