Wow, got lots of replies, really fast too, I'm impressed!

Just cuz you're all so cool, I've decided to give you guys the next part of the story. thank you all very much for the reviews, keep it up and i'll keep updating!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto... sadly.

"Are you okay?"

Hinata groaned softly, blinking rapidly to get the soft dew off of her lashes. She was covered in it. A thin layer of glittering liquid that was making her sparkle as the sun was coming up.

She shivered softly, putting a hand to her head, wincing in pain. "...ugh." she whimpered, shivering forcefully again. Her whole body was a mass of tense muscles, and aching ones too. Were it not because her head was hurting so bad she would be feeling quite accurately the pain in her hands, which were covered in hardened blood.

A hand came down on her shoulder, causing her to open her eyes. Light lavender met dark onyx.

"What happened?" his voice was deep, tinged with impatience. Hinata stared at him for a moment, struggling to find the name. His face was utterly familiar. The name... what's your name... oh God...

Uchiha Sasuke...

"Oh- I-I..." she stuttered, her eyes widening in surprise. Sasuke's hand snatched back, noting the look from earlier in the ramen shop cross her features. She didn't want to be touched.

"What happened?" He asked again, that time his voice was forcefully impatient, making her turn a deep shade of red. "I- I don't know..."

He frowned slightly at her, studying the new version of the Hyuuga heir. She was wearing different clothes, and her hair was loose... were it not for the blood covering her hands even he would have had to admit she looked vaguely angelic.

It wasn't that he wasn't capable of recognizing when a girl was pretty, it was just that most girls ruined it by clinging to him.

"Are you okay?" he asked again, breaking the awkward silence, noting that her cheeks were reddening rapidly. But knew that meant nothing. Hyuuga Hinata was deep in love with Naruto. She was one of the few girls that wasn't part of his fanclub.

She nodded numbly, grabbing onto the splintering training post to her right to drag herself to her feet. But as he stepped back to watch he noted her shaking legs.

"...can you walk?"

The girl flinched, holding on to the post for dear life, biting her bottom lip hard. "I-I d-don't think so..." she admitted, colouring in humiliation.

Sasuke frowned thoughtfully, watching her shift her weight slightly. It looked like she had damanged her legs somehow. Still frowning he crouched, making her let out a soft 'eep' sound in surprise as he stared at the bruised shins.

"You were training...?" he enquired, ignoring the mocking voice in the back of his head that said she probably thought for half a second he was some sort of pervert.

"I-I- ye- sort of..." she stuttered, wishing for the love of god that he would pull away- or better yet that she could be wearing her old clothes again.

"Hn." he grunted, standing up again.

"I-I'm sorry-" Hinata began, making him frown again. "C-could you please call m-my cousin...? I'm sorry... I-I can't get home o-on my own-"

Sasuke turned around and crouched, looking over his shoulder at her. "Come on, I'll take you home."

Hinata stared at him, hands clenching onto the post, no longer for the sake of keeping her standing. "D-demo- I-"

"Your cousin will react differently if you're not there." he stated in a bored tone. "Just come."

Biting her lip so hard she thought perhaps it would bleed she nodded, accepting sadly the truth. Neji was over protective at best, and worse if the Uchiha of all people arrived to tell him his young cousin was at the training site unable to walk he would react harshly... and without thinking.

Slowly she let her hands fall on his shoulders and climbed onto his back, turning another shade of red as his arms went back to steady her feet while he stood up, rather effortlessly too.

Silently they started out of the training area, one Hyuuga blushing fiercely and an Uchiha wondering just how he had ended up in such a mess.

Three figures flashed rapidly through the rooftops, blinking in the brightness of the morning sun. It was just rising, colouring the sky in bright reds and yellows that only Tenten managed to notice and admire.

Neji, despite his powerful eyes wasn't paying attention to it, but rather was looking rapidly back and forth as they sprinted across the city.

"I can't see her." he stated for the fourth time in a row, making Tenten and Lee exchange quick looks of worry. "I believe it shall all be fine!" Lee exclaimed suddenly. "Your cousin is both beautiful and wise, she should be in no danger!"

"Yeah... Neji." Tenten nodded, trying to catch up to his rapidly speeding sprint. "Hinata is a smart girl, maybe she left the house early in the morning and you simply didn't catch her between the times when she came in and left?"

"That's not right, I should have been watching, but my uncle..." Neji frowned deeply, remembering the sparring session that he had had to endure with Hanabi. They had been fighting strong for over four hours before the girl nearly collapsed. he had been so worried about her that he had forgotten about Hinata leaving.

He had actually forgotten his duty...

"Damnit." he hissed in a show of uncharacteristic emotion. Something had happened and though no one at the house would say what he knew it was big. Hinata did not have tantrums this way.. what if she disappeared forever...

Without saying goodbye? She wouldn't do that to me... would she?

Forcing more chakra into his eyes he pushed on forward, scanning through the trees and houses anxiously, looking for the pretty little kuinoichi that held most of his heart.

Sasuke shifted slightly, adjusting her weight on his back. Somewhere along the way he realized that she had laid her head down on his shoulder and almost fallen asleep, breathing unsteadily the whole time.

It was a surprisingly long walk. At a run he probably would have covered the distance in about 30 minutes or so, but at a walk it would be twice that.

She wasn't heavy, but he didn't want to wake her, and her body was damaged. His eyes flickered to her hands hanging around his neck.

They were bloody and coated in the thick mirk. Under the assumption that she didn't do things like that to herself all the time he had to say she had probably just thrown some sort of tantrum.

He knew what that was like... but even he rarely pushed himself to the limit of his abilities.

Frowning slightly in thought he glanced towards the sky, judging there what time it was. Probably somewhere around six a.m. Surely her cousin was busy looking for the little princess.

Sighing he scanned the surrounding area. The path was longer than if he had gone directly through the village, but accidently meeting a group of fangirls on the way to the Hyuuga estate with the princess on his back was hardly the ideal situation to face early in the morning.

The fields of grass that surrounded the road he was walking on were the only sound that he could hear. The soft whisper of the wind making a soft hiss.

Hinata's hair danced along with the grass, tickling his face. He ignored it, unsettled by the jasmine scent that lingered on the ebony dark locks.

It wasn't that he was anti social... no that wasn't the case. Actually he had secretly gone through several crushes in his childhood and even well into his teens. But now, almost 19 even those crushes had faded.

Sakura had been one of them, for the longest time. He hadn't let it show for the sake of keeping his own heart safe. Itachi would have had a riot if he found out that he had someone he cared about enough to protect.

Then it had been Ino, for a grand total of a three weeks. Then he noted her flirty nature and decided against it.

Never Hinata though... it hadn't even crossed her mind. It wasn't that she wasn't pretty but he had always held the belief that if someone didn't want him, then most likely he didn't want them. And under all circumstances they hadn't exchanged more than a couple of words. Usually in a very awkward manner too.

She wasn't interesting enough, he decided. She didn't have enough confidence in herself. The most attractive thing about a girl was confidence.

As if the silence were suddenly too much to bear Hinata said tiredly from her place on his back. "...gomen, Uchiha-san." The sound was mumbled and obviously strained.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, startled by her sudden comment. Then more calmly he added. "For what?"

"...y-you probably have other things to be doing. I-I'm sorry for imposing."

Sasuke blinked, staring on ahead. He wanted to shrug but the motion would have been strange for her. "Hn. It's fine." he muttered.

The silence continued on for a long moment, tension building on his shoulders heavier than Hinata. She had already begun the conversation once so, sacrifising all sense of pride he sighed. "What were doing, training until you dropped?"

Hinata's hands tightened around his shoulders, obviously an unconscious movement. "...I...I need t-to get stronger..."

Sasuke scoffed invulentarily. "Passing out isn't going to help that."

She seemed to shrink slightly, he only noticed because he felt it against his back and the shadow showed the movement on the ground.

"Oh... I...hai."

Sasuke shifted her weight again, just to do something to lessen the awkwardness. "You should get help with your training." he continued, forcing out the sentences.

Hinata's shadow didn't 'unshrink'.

"H-hai." she mumbled.

He realized suddenly that she was feeling looked down on and nearly let out a sigh of defeat. The girl was impossible. She couldn't keep a conversation going at all.

Irritated he searched for something to say and before he knew it something was indeed slipping out of his mouth. "I could help."

He watched suddenly as her shadow un-shrunk, if only a little.

"...o-oh? A-arigato, Uchiha-san... I-I'll keep that in mind."

Sasuke beat himself mentally. He didn't have time to train a girl like her- hell, he didn't have time to train anyone. He had to get stronger himself, fighting a Hyuuga- He stopped, his thought process suddenly taking a new turn.

Fighting a Hyuuga... maybe the princess would be useless, but Neji might be of some use. His stregnth was impressive.

He shrugged mentally, realizing that Hinata was unlikely to take him up on his accidental offer. She was far too shy.

"Why do you need to get stronger?" he enquired lazily, flinching as a handful of sakura blossoms passed by in the morning breeze, tangling themselves in Hinata's long hair.

"...ano... just..." Hinata frowned at herself. It wasn't so hard to say, she was struggling so much, and he was being so helpful. Swallowing her nervousness she mumbled. "M-my sister... she is stronger... I-I have to find a w-way to-"

"Beat her?" Sasuke finished, stopping his walk suddenly. His voice was suddenly different and Hinata shivered slightly in the cold, staring at their shadows on the ground.

"...well...h-hai."

"Why?" he asked softly, eyes focused on the ground.

Hinata's eyes suddenly became worried. He sounded so sad.

"...she will take away my clan... i-if I can't."

A shiver passed through him, and she felt it against her chest. "...ano...Uchiha-san...a-are you...are you o-ok?"

"Fine." he muttered, continuing on in silence.

Hinata didn't reply, though she disagreed silently. He wasn't fine, she could feel it. Laying her head back down on his shoulder she allowed herself to close her eyes and drift off... there was nothing more to say.

"OW! Sakura-chan, what was that for!?" Naruto cried loudly. Sakura sat down beside him on the stool, giving him a fake smile. "For that little stunt you pulled yesterday. Why did you make Sasuke feel so uncomfortable, he might have stayed otherwise!"

"I thought you were over that!" Naruto grumbled, rubbing his now bruised old bump from before. "Geez, dattebayo... You're gonna kill me one day."

"Yes, I probbaly will." Sakura sniffed arrogantly, staring at her tea.

"Where did you and Hinata-chan go after all the fuss here?" Naruto enquired, slurping up his morning ramen noisily.

Sakura brightened up instantly. Naruto was a complete baka a lot of the time, but he knew well how to manage Sakura of all people.

"We went shopping! You should see her! She's beautiful in her new outfits!"

Naruto nodded. "Sure- I guess. It's just kinda weird seeing Hinata-chan in clothes other than that sweater of hers."

"It's too old to be worn anymore. Don't tell her, but I took it out of her bags when she left." Sakura stated mischeivously, obviously proud of herself.

Naruto blinked at her, confused. "Why would you do that?"

"Ino and I burned it!" Sakura's eyes brightened even more. "There's no more sweater for Hinata-chan anymore! She's far too pretty to be wearing that stuff."

"Er... Sakura.. that might not go down so well, Hinata is a lil attatched to that thing, isn't she?" Naruto started worriedly, wondering what he would do if someone suddenly burned his favorite orange outfit.

Sakura blinked back at him in equal confusion. "It's just time for her to move on, honestly. She's had this silly attatchment since the Academy days..." her voice drifted off suddenly as her eyes focused on something behind Naruto.

Puzzled the blonde turned around and stared also, eyes widening.

"...is that Sasuke-teme..."

"...carrying Hinata-chan?" Sakura whispered.

In a flash the two ninjas were stumbling out the door, tripping over each other as they raced to reach Sasuke who was turning into another street.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, making the Uchiha glance over his shoulder quickly. "Damned." he hissed. Hinata lifted her head groggily. "W-what is it?"

"Hold on, I'm not talking to those two until later." he muttered. Hinata started, feeling his chakra rippling under his skin. "Uchiha-san-? What are y-you-"

"Hold on." he muttered again and started to run, jumping onto the roof of a nearby house. Hinata gasped in surprise, having never been carried while jumping that way. The sensation was that of falling.

Her grip tightened rapidly as he sped over the houses, jumping with ease over the rooftops, leaving the baka and the pink haired med nin behind to stare gaping after them.

"W-what are we- r-running f-from?" Hinata stuttered, glancing over her shoulder.

"Nothing." Sasuke replied coldly, jumping down onto her street and walking calmly over to the gate. Hinata stared at the building, realizing she was finally home.

"Ano... a-arigato-Uchiha-san-"

"Hinata!"

The girl was halfway through slipping off of Sasuke's back when the cry sounded off behind her, making her turn too fast and nearly fall. Sasuke's arms were there quickly, steadying her with an impassive expression on his face.

Neji jumped down from a nearby roof, followed quickly by Tenten and Lee, both of them panting heavily.

"Uchiha." He frowned, his Byakugan activated. Sasuke resisted the urge to activate his own bloodline limit. "Hyuuga." he replied coldly, still holding Hinata up.

"Neji-sama... I-" Hinata began, sensing the tension.

"Where have you been?" Neji snapped suddenly, making her shrink into Sasuke quickly. "We've been looking for you since dawn."

"Neji.." Tenten began. "It's only seven thirty-"

"Hinata." Neji stated again.

The girl was burning bright with humilation as she stared at the ground. "Gomen, Neji-sama... I... was training and I..."

"She can't walk." Sasuke finished off impatiently, picking her up like a child and making her gasp in surprise. Neji's attitude was irritating.

Bristling with impatience Neji stood there, unsure of what to do. Thankfully Tenten moved forward quickly to open the gate.

"Come on... Neji... do you have medical supplies, or should Lee maybe go get Sakura...?"

"I'll take her." Neji snapped impatiently, taking Hinata from Sasuke's arms roughly. The two genuises exchanged glares as the girl was passed from one to the other.

"...ano...arigato...Uchiha-san." Hinata whimpered, looking pointedly at her hands, unable to meet anyone's eyes. Again she was being a burden... always a burden.

"It's fine." Sasuke muttered, turning around and starting down the street, hands stuffed in his pockets, looking for all the world like he didn't care.

Neji glared at him for a moment longer before entering the house, followed by Tenten and Lee.

"It's fine." he called over his shoulder at them. "I'll take care of it, arigato... for helping so early in the morning."

The two ninja's exchanged looks again. "Um... okay..." Tenten muttered uncertainly. "We'll... come back later..."

Together they left, leaving Neji to slip into the silent house, still carrying the humiliated Hinata in his arms.

"Where were you?" he enquired as calmly as he could. Hinata shifted in his arms. "The t-training s-site."

"You didn't come home?"

She shook her head. "I-I passed out...gomen, Neji-kun... I didn't m-mean to-"

"Quiet." the Hyuuga sighed, walking up the stairs towards her room. "It's fine."

She sighed, feeling miserable. Things just didn't seem to be getting any better.

Haha, this is probably the only time you'll see the first chapter be shorter than the teaser. lol, sorry about that guys, but I figured it was better to end it here, or it would start to get irritating.

Keep up the reviews! It's good! I keep updating when I get reviews!

and, i have a lot of time on my hands for the weekend, so maybe i'll update again if i really get replies

Please leave a message if you think the characters are OC too, it'd be great to be able to write without doing that

Have a lovely day!

-Inky