More than 500 reviews, and nearing thirty chapters with more than 300 pages.

This story has gotten huge, lol

Thank you everyone for each review, you're all brilliant. Now, to address some of the questions posed in reviews:

Are they gonna get married?

I dunno

Are they gonna have children?

Um… if they don't get married I'm assuming not? But if they do then yes?

Am I gonna write a lemon?

Uh… lol…. Wow, I'm ALREADY blushing. No, I don't think I will… seeing as I'm seventeen, and as virgin as they come. (haven't even had my first kiss yet, lol!)

Is there gonna be a sequel?

Hehe… I don't know. Probably though… (wow, lots of brilliant answers, huh?)

What's the purpose of the necklace?

All right, this one I can answer. Itachi was getting frustrated with the fact that his lil brother was ignoring him. Some psychological crap in his head which I WILL explain later is what made him enter the village and enquire why he wasn't training to kill him anymore.

And I think that's it? Yep… any more questions? Just leave a message, I'll try to get back to you on the next chapter, ne?

Read. Review.

-inky

A shallow breath, whispers in the shadows of moments he couldn't remember, fingers stroking through his hair, sticky with some substance that smelled and tasted of metal as it slipped through his lips, gagging him with the disturbing taste.

He was coughing, struggling to sit up and wretch the hands of whoever was holding him away, but that wasn't possible, he could hardly move his arms, other hands were pinning him to the bed, holding him there.

Choking, struggling to move, the sensations were familiar, he had felt them before but he hadn't in such a long time that they had almost been forgotten. The trouble is you can't simply forget things…

Things that are ignored always come back to haunt you.

He could see his mother's face, pale from loss of blood, a stain of it tracing her cheek, the splash of her own life liquid leaving the streak of darkness against her smooth flesh.

He wanted to scream, to scream and shut her eyes as they stared lifelessly at him, her hair matted with the blood that pooled under her.

He remembered vague images of struggling to sit up, of crawling to her over the smooth wood of the house, slipping as his hands slid across the blood, sobbing so hard that it hurt, the pain in his chest was like a knife was there, hindering the beating heart within.

The sticky substance made his fingers stiff as he lay on his mother, sobbing into her neck, it was still warm, the blood was still warm too, but she was gone, the smell of metal had overpowered the soft smell of home and sugar that had always lingered over her. She wasn't there… she wasn't coming back.

Hands took his small body, picking him up slowly, gently fighting him back as he kicked and screamed and made a racket, clawing at the flesh, at the eyes and the mouth that was letting words out. He didn't want to hear words, he didn't want to go back to reality! There was no reality out there, nothing to make it okay, no one to look to.

He kept screaming, kept sobbing until the hands were no longer gentle, and he was no longer young.

His shoulders were broad, but still vaguely childish, a boy with the ancient soul of a man with vengeance carved into his being. He was looking into the depths of a dark room, where a slithering snake of a man moved, the body was different, the soul was the same, sickened and rotting and absolutely wrong.

Sasuke had never claimed that he didn't know about the simple irrationality of his supposed sensei, he didn't really care. Why would he care?

His point in life was to slaughter his brother and seize to exist. It was a pathetic useless goal, he knew it the moment his mind figured out why he trained so hard, but he didn't give a damn. What else could he possibly want?

There was nothing to want…

So he had stayed, disgusted with himself, with his hands as they took life, over and over, katana spinning, slashing flesh the same way his own family had been shattered, the same way he had watched others slaughter his mother.

He would have remained there, training, becoming steadily stronger, allowing his sensei to abuse him in every possible way, avoiding women and their flesh just because it was distracting, because it always reminded him of those dead girls he had been forced to kill, or the fact that they had first been taken by his sensei then handed over to him disgusted him.

He had kept that bit of his soul, hidden it away so that no one else knew about it. Sometimes he took the girls and if they begged for death he would give it to them, slicing their throats, letting their dead bodies bleed all over his bedroom floor, feeling like vomiting. But he never did… he just watched and waited until he figured everyone assumed he had done what they would have done…fed his lust.

Then he would leave, and ask someone to clean up the mess in his room.

Flashes of memory kept running past his mind. Of how he had slashed open his shoulder, carved the seal right out of his flesh, almost bled to death in the forest, running, the image of a child screaming as Orochimaru sliced his mother in half still burning in his memory.

Bleeding, tired and worn he had stumbled and fallen, struggled to his feet at the sound of a voice he recognized, the sight of bright blue eyes and a shock of blonde hair forcing him to realize that Naruto was looking down at him, anger and worry and overall sickening familiarity making his head swoon.

Gasping, more memory, more sticky metallic blood pressed against his lips, images going so fast he was getting dizzy. Images of Sakura looking at him coldly for the longest time, of being held in Anbu camps, of having silent emotionless men interrogate him, beat him, force the truth from his lips, and then from nowhere the nightmares would come, in his broken mind and broken body Itachi would appear, push him against the wall, hold him there and enquire about his promise to his parents, about his nightmares, about his reasons for living.

There it was again, sharingan eyes.

No one knew that Sasuke Uchiha never looked in the mirror while using Sharingan. The thought made him want to vomit… he would probably kill himself as a result.

Kill himself…

I can't now.

With a gasp and a near scream he sat up, stuffing his pillow against his face hard to catch the cry that would have ripped through the silence of the house if he hadn't been paying attention to his motions.

Mind running on hyper drive he shifted, rolled out of bed and stood, throwing the pillow down once the scream had fought its way down his throat, leaving him feeling raw and ready to throw up, images of blood and gore that he had caused and lived and touched still lingering over his mind every time he blinked.

"Shit." He hissed, reaching up to touch his shoulder where the scar of the seal was. It had taken months to heal. Orochimaru's constant nagging through the residue chakra threads had made it burn again and again. He had spent those months inside his house partly because he was under house arrest, but also because if he left there was the possibility of breaking down into a fit of writhing pain in the middle of a public place, and that was not an option.

Letting out a loud breath he sat down again, glancing out the window at the full moon shedding it's light into his room, looking more ghost like and likely to frighten than usual.

Silently he closed his eyes, burying his face in his hands for a moment to breathe and try to bloody well think.

Thoughts were still rushing around his mind too fast for him to truly comprehend, images and memories that Hinata's presence often fought away had come back to haunt him for some strange reason.

He lifted his face, looking up towards the dresser where he knew the onyx necklace was, thrown there carelessly, as if it weren't important.

Itachi's very essence seemed to linger on it, touching it didn't remind him of either Hinata or his mother anymore. It disturbed him, since last week when Hinata had told him about it he had been unable to pick it up to study and try to understand why his brother had wanted to give it to him…

It didn't matter either way. It was useless, Tsunade herself had studied it, along with teams of Anbu.

At the thought of Anbu he frowned, glancing out the window again, ignoring the moon, concentrating on the buildings across the street, too far away for him to see but close enough to be a prime spot to spy from.

Being used, of course. He had known it for a while, but he hadn't bothered to worry about it. It only made sense. If he was an Anbu captain he'd be hesitant to let someone like himself go about without an investigation after the little stunt that the security team had managed to let happen during the Chuunin Examinations.

It only made sense… but it still pissed him off. Hinata was around, assumably unaware of being watched- taking showers and who knew what else that some idiot Anbu loner was probably taking particular pleasure in.

Yeah, he wasn't happy.

Growling to himself he stood, moving to close the curtains only to freeze at the soft sound of steps from the hallway. Silently he turned and stared at the door, waiting for it to open, instead there was a soft knock and his whole body heaved a giant sigh of relief.

"Sasuke?" her voice drifted through the silence of the house, sending a shiver down his back at the innocence and worry in her tone. It hadn't seized to amaze him just how soft she was…

Though at that moment it terrified him more than amazed him. The images of the blood he had shed were still lingering in the corners of his mind, making him realize the fact that he was covered in sweat and still breathing unsteadily from waking up so harshly.

He stared at the door, unsure of what to do, hands lingering in tight fists at his sides. Silently he looked down at himself, listening to the silence of her waiting to see if he would reply.

Sighing he walked towards the door, running a hand through his hair nervously before opening it, looking anywhere but her face.

Hinata stopped, looking up at him in surprise, unsure if she had been expecting the door to open or not. She lifted a hand up to her face, the oversized sweater she was wearing making her look cuter and possibly more tempting than usual. It fit her like a dress, accenting the fact that she was so small, contradicting the image of sensuality that the long cascade of dark hair stated as she turned her head to look at him carefully.

"Are you all right? I thought I heard something…"

The Uchiha didn't reply, glancing silently sideways, towards the long corridor that divided their two rooms and the doors leading to empty rooms that lined it. "I'm fine..." he began, catching himself at the sound of his voice cracking, making him realize just how thirsty he was.

Hinata studied him silence, watching him swallow forcefully, the shine of the sweat across his pale skin settling the truth heavily on her shoulders.

For a moment the silence stretched out between them, strained and awkward, a sensation they hadn't experienced for months…

The Hyuuga Heiress frowned slightly, reaching up to rub at the unfamiliar expression tightening her features, looking a little confused as well. "…ano… a-all right… I just… wanted to m-make sure you were okay…" she began, looking at the ground, listening intently to his breathing and the way it slowed dramatically at her words, his hesitance to say anything to comfort her making it even worse to continue standing there looking like a fool.

Somehow she had bothered him, entered into a place he didn't want her and she didn't know what it was she had done.

The sound of his gasp in the night hadn't been loud, but she hadn't been sleeping either, staring instead through the walls of her room at the other houses across the street housing several Anbu spies had kept her occupied most of the evening and well into the full moon's light.

But he didn't need to know about them, not in his current state.

"Sorry if I woke you." he replied suddenly, finally finding words to try to make things a little easier, but he was apologizing for the wrong thing. Hinata shrugged, a little defeated, being tired from silent spying and staying up late was making it hard to want to push his boundaries.

"You didn't I just…" she began, then frowned, rubbing her face, looking down at their bare feet only a few steps apart. "I'll go to bed now." She sighed, feeling truly tired for the first time in a long while.

She didn't want to suddenly push her way into his thoughts, not in the middle of the night, not when he was tired, and certainly not in her current state of mind.

There were less suicidal things she could be doing, like trying to sleep.

Sasuke bit his lip, leaning against the door frame, arms crossed, watching her turn to walk back into her room, letting out a yawn against her obvious attempts not to.

For half a second a smile lingered on his lips, saddened slightly by the guilt of having shut her out so forcefully.

Though, the guilt wasn't as bad as one would think… Somehow knowing that the alternative would be telling her about horrific things he had done in Orochimaru's keeping made him feel like he was making a sacrifice for them both by not saying anything.

"…wait." He sighed finally, knowing full well he couldn't just let her go off like that. She wasn't making any obvious objections to his silence, but she didn't have to. A man knew when he had done something hurtful.

"…stay with me?" it was a question, intended as a statement, or perhaps a backwards way of saying sorry. The words however seemed to strike the right bell and Hinata stopped, hands on her door knob, blinking at the darkness of the wood.

"Ne…" she began, smiling a little weakly as she turned, leaning against the door because of the sleep lingering over her over used Byakugan eyes. "… I hope… you're not trying to seduce me…"

The words left her mouth, without asking for permission. As soon as it rung out in both their ears the heat engulfed their faces, though, Sasuke was smirking slightly, gore and murder beginning to drift from his focus as his eyes took in the sight of her burying her face in her hands, shocked by her own daring.

"…I've to admit, it crossed my mind." He replied, his voice whispering around her, sliding a shiver down her back at the sensual tone. "But then again, that's about as innocent a request as you're going to be getting any time soon, if ever."

He reached out, snatching her hand away from her face, pulling her into his room as she laughed nervously, still trying to hide from view, startled by how rapidly the atmosphere had shifted from one thing to another thing which she couldn't comprehend at all.

It was almost more normal to have him shutting her out than otherwise.

"Tsk." She managed, finding her voice as he dragged her into him. "And here I was just checking up on you."

"Right." He scoffed sarcastically, kissing his way up her neck before falling back into the bed with her, making her let out a soft squeak of surprise that made him smile.

"I was!"

"You were checking me 'out' you mean."

Hinata gasped, sounding sarcastically offended. "Well aren't you arrogant."

"I can be arrogant, I've got the best looking girl around." He smirked again, watching her face color as he masterfully twisted her words around to compliment her. "And no person on the planet is going to blame me for not trying to devise plans with which to seduce you." at this he paused, staring at her for a moment, watching her studying him, waiting to see if he would push the boundary line a little further.

But the worry there behind her curiosity stayed his hand and he sighed slightly, kissing her nose. "They would, however, be a little angry with me if I succeeded."

Her surprised laughter slipped a small smile over his lips. "…well, I'm glad you know."

"Same here." He sighed, watching as she curled in around him, her warmth and scent enough to begin lulling him into sleep again, forcing him to watch her through his lashes as his eyes were half closed.

"…Sasuke…" she murmured, watching sleep crawl over him, wondering if it would work to ask.

He sighed, closing his eyes to focus on answering to her voice.

"…what were you dreaming about?"

The silence lingered for a moment as his sleepy brain jump started, tripping over itself in an attempt to find the words- or perhaps loose them so he wouldn't have to say them.

Sometimes, though, it's too late, and words need to be said to be discarded.

"Orochimaru… my brother… my mother… the things I've done…" he whispered, eyes still closed. For a moment he wondered if he could remain like that, without seeing her expression, without watching the slight curiosity and then recognition of a murderer begin in her eyes.

But that would mean he would never be able to look at her again, and that alone forced him to open his eyes and stare directly into the pale lavender of Hinata's own worried expression.

"…You worry, about the things you've done?" her gaze searched his, straining to find truth in the darkness that was his eyes, clouded by the uncertainty hindering his lips.

"…doesn't everyone?"

"I can't get a word out of him." Naruto snapped, tossing a report down on the already cluttered desk at Tsunade's office. "He's not talking again, though he's smiling a hell of a lot more."

Tsunade stared at the paper like it was some terrible stain on her impeccable work. For a moment Naruto was certain she was going to produce some sort of giant hammer to beat it into oblivion.

However, the hokage simply frowned slightly and looked up at him, lips pressed into a thin line.

"But you're his best friend."

"Also, his only 'actual' friend, which makes the title less than glamorous and gives me a little less access into his personal thoughts." Naruto grumped, making her stare at the excessively clever use of vocabulary.

"Apparently Sakura is doing wonders for your brain."

He grinned then, the same goofy idiot smile he had always had, reaching up to rub the back of his head sheepishly. "That's not the only thing."

Tsunade almost choked on a dumpling, wrinkling her nose in order to swallow. "I don't want to know."

"Thought so."

"About Sasuke." She began again, looking him in the eye… uneasily. "Anbu says he's been having consistent dreams again, despite Hinata."

"She's staying in a different room." Naruto corrected automatically, frowning. "But then again, Sasuke and I don't exactly discuss sleeping arrangements at anyone's houses." He smirked again. "That'd be a little awkward for the teme, I think."

"Heh." Tsunade sighed, rubbing between her brows. "Listen. Anbu has decided it can withdraw it's surveillance, they have found nothing to assume he's been in contact with Akatsuki or Orochimaru."

The silence that responded made her frown, looking at Naruto thoughtfully, the glare he was giving the table more than adequate information to show he was frustrated.

"What is it?"

"Sasuke hates Akatsuki… and Orochimaru." He looked up, intense blue eyes burning into hers. "I don't get why he was being spied on."

"He betrayed the village."

"And came back half dead, I think he's learned something from it."

"Hai." Tsunade grumbled. "Most people assumed he learned to be more careful with how he hid his alliances."

"Don't be stupid!"

"That is what the village says." Tsunade retorted thinly, standing sharply and making him withdraw his angry stance into a formal one… albeit ruggedly and with a lot of effort.

"I need that opinion to be changed, finding out what happened is the key- from what I understand he and Hinata fought off his brother, that should be enough evidence, and if you don't get it from him you have to get it from Hinata herself."

Naruto almost scoffed, feeling a little caged. "You want me to talk to his girlfriend about him behind his back? Are you trying to get me killed?"

"Just bloody do it, damnit." Tsunade finally shouted, resorting to throwing her books at him again.

The blonde grumbled, dodging his way out the door. "Dattebayo- first she gives me mission impossible one, now it's number two…" he hissed, slamming the door hard enough to shake the solid cement walls. "Find out from Hinata… ri-ight. Cuz they're not attached at the hip at all…"

Her hands shot out, sharp and defined and once more holding the power that she had had before.

The contact with the solid wood felt good, throbbing as it rushed up her arm to her elbow, weakened by her lack of use.

With a soft grunt she threw her knee into the target, spinning around to nail it high with a round kick, listening to the satisfying impacts of each of the blows, seeing as there was no way she could see them.

Once more, the blindfold was on, sweat trickling down her closed eyelids, making her want to reach up and rub it off, though she didn't, resisting the urge only because she had to keep going.

"Fifteen minutes." Sasuke's voice stated suddenly, forcing her to speed up again, turning sharply, throwing a back elbow into the wooden pole again, relishing the fact that there would be bruises there later.

Bruises were good; they meant her skin would have to get tougher.

"Seventeen minutes." Sasuke stared at her, his eyes leaving her swiftly moving body only for seconds to glance at the clock in his hands, keeping time… making sure that he didn't loose himself in the dance that she was performing.

It was amazing… a few weeks, some good bursts of chakra and her body had begun to move as if it had been training consistently through the entire year, pouring out massive amounts of energy and efficiency, or so he thought.

Hinata had explained earlier that morning that that wasn't the case. "I control the amount that comes out." She had said.

Through control, she had wasted nothing of what she had and managed to spread it out to continue a bag drill for over seventeen continuous minutes without slowing down.

Holy hell…

"Twenty minutes…" he muttered after a moment, rubbing the back of his neck, beginning to worry. Her clothing was clinging to her already, sweat soaked and her cheeks were flushed as she spun, braid flinging behind her as she slammed her shin into the pole, shattering it in half, a rain of splinters and broken wood showering over her as she landed at a crouch, panting heavily, listening to the rest of the training post toppling over onto the ground with a heavy dead thud.

Sighing heavily Sasuke shook his head, clicking the timer to stop it's consistent march. "Twenty minutes, exactly." He replied, to her silence, walking over quietly. "Tsunade might kill me, but maybe you should inform her of your improvement. She could probably examine the wound in case there was any chance of relapse and then we'd be able to actually train at the training sites rather than hiding in the woods." He muttered, dragging her to her feet and turning her around to remove the blindfold.

Still breathless, Hinata complied, licking her dry lips quickly. "It's August, do you think I can make it in time…?" she whispered, ignoring his earlier comment, thoughts racing to the battle she had to face.

"I've never said otherwise."

"…hai, you're right."

The feeling of the blindfold sliding away was a relief, sight, her most valued sense flooded her the moment she opened her eyes, allowing her to sigh softly, blinking in the dim light of the forest.

Silently she began to rotate her shoulders, unaware of his close proximity and wandering eyes, watching each subtle movement of muscle under her smooth skin.

Biting his lip he stepped back sharply, letting out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, flinching at the sound of footsteps approaching, cutting off his train of thought which had at that moment begun to tell him off about how he was being way too much like Jiraya of late.

"Someone's coming." Hinata whispered, frowning slightly, turning in the direction of the approaching steps. The woodland stared back silently, without expression, the deep greens and black that made up the landscape unaware of any approaching force.

With a flicker a sudden figure appeared and both shinobi flinched, bodies settling into battle stances before they realized what they were doing.

Lee looked back at them, his already wide eyes wider, followed by his very characteristic O shaped mouth of surprise.

"I startled my dear friends! Forgive my intrusion!" he cried. "I come to say good afternoon and enquire as to your plans for the evening?"

Sasuke looked back at him silently, eyebrows pulled together in a cold frown.

"Hn." He retorted, stuffing his hands in his pockets, the relaxation of the pose only on the surface, mentally he was swearing at him for making him jump like a cat startled.

"Plans for the e-e-evening?" Hinata blinked, lifting her fingers to her lips hesitantly. "Ano… I-I don't think…" she stopped, glancing over at Sasuke for confirmation on what she was about to say.

He looked back calmly, face more expressionless than she had seen it weeks. Mentally rolling her eyes at his rapid closure she sighed and turned to look back at Lee, pondering. "I-I don't think we're… ano…. Doing anything today." Her glance flickered to the aloof Uchiha again, only to merit the exact same reply of calm impassiveness as before.

Peeved slightly Hinata bit her lip, tuning out Lee's rant about how he was so very glad that they could attend the dinner Neji had invited them to.

For a moment the Uchiha and Hyuuga just looked back at each other, having a very silent argument with their eyes before the word "Neji" and "Invited" finally settled over their minds.

Slowly they turned to look at Lee, obvious confusion on their faces. "…p-p-pardo-" Hinata began.

"What?" Sasuke interrupted, making Lee stop mid rant, blinking at them. "Neji-kun has come to the decision that he would like to invite you both to a dinner at one of the restaurants in town this evening, he sent me to ask."

"D-d-demo!" Hinata began, eyes wide.

"We're not going." Sasuke stated, only to jump slightly as Lee advanced on him so quickly he could hardly follow. "Demo! Tenten-chan worked so HARD to force him to ask you to come!"

Hinata stared at their odd position. Sasuke was leaning back slightly, hands still in his pockets, looking for all the world like he didn't give a damn, except for the fact that Lee was leaning into him so much they were on the verge of loosing their balance and falling all over each other.

For a moment she had the sudden urge to burst into uncontrollable laughter. Swallowing it as hard as she could she stated, quite calmly, as if it were very normal for Hinata Hyuuga to make a decision for herself and another, "We'll be there."

"How excellent!" Lee cried, stepping away from Sasuke just before they both flopped from the gravity strain. "I will inform Neji-kun immediately!" without another word he ran off, leaving only his trail of raised dust to state he was ever there in the first place.

For a moment there was silence as Hinata and Sasuke stared off after him then, without turning Sasuke sighed. "We're going, huh?'

"Mhm." Hinata hummed, turning to pick up their equipment, smirking because she knew he was having a harsh inner battle.

Which was true, Sasuke continued to stare off down the path that Lee had taken, fighting with himself in silence. He wanted to be okay with it and just bloody well go, because for all he knew, Neji was being less of a dumb ass than usual and deserved a fair chance to apologize for being a prick.

But then, the other part of him was saying, quite simply. Fat chance.

He was inching towards the second.

"We're really going?" he asked again, turning to look at her finally, wishing for all the world that she wasn't so goddamn cute and irresistible and completely able to control what he did at that moment.

A night with Neji- sama was not on his list of things to do.

"Hai, I believe we are."

"Hn." He retorted, because he didn't have anything else to say. Hinata smirked, turning to look at him without bothering to hide it at all. "I love you." she stated, making him melt in one second.

"Damnit." He sighed, rubbing his face and shaking his head, obviously defeated because he was trying not to laugh.

Hinata only smiled. "Yes, I thought so."

There weren't a lot of reasons why she had decided to go to the dinner so obviously planned by Tenten. At the moment of the decision she had been thinking of one thing and one thing only, the fact that Tenten's efforts to make her cousin do something against his wishes simply could not be wasted.

As her friend she couldn't allow that to happen, being Neji's cousin and knowing full well how much energy it took to force him to do something he didn't want to, she knew just how valuable, if unpleasant, such a feat was.

But as she examined her thoughts again, while brushing out her hair in her room, preparing for the said dinner, she came to the realization that it had been a very hasty decision.

One she was regretting with more vigor with each passing moment.

Why? Why would I want to go talk to him after ignoring his presence for over six months?! What a complete baka! And it's a whole dinner too… oh God, what have I gotten myself into?

These thoughts of course were not being shared with Sasuke who was in 'his' room attempting to keep himself from jumping out the window and running off somewhere. The fact that it would be completely useless against Hinata's puppy eyed stare was partly what was keeping him in place, the other part was that he couldn't let her go meet her cousin on her own and the third was that if he decided to run away her Byakugan could probably track him down without much trouble and he'd be in for a beating if she showed up with any of the anger she had had while facing Itachi.

Never in his life had a girl made him wonder if he'd be able to stand up to her if she came at him with kunai in hand.

This one deserved a medal for making him doubt his own abilities, and being attractive about it all at once. Without even meaning to.

But still, he wasn't having a good time of it. Silently he rummaged in his drawers, wondering where the hell any of his good shirts were, for crying out loud. Hinata had been folding and putting away his clothes for months and he had never really cared about where his clothes went but when you were being nervous or slightly irritated about an occasion finding the right ones were of some sort of importance.

Luckily, Hinata who had just gotten up to ask if he was ready was standing at the door, watching with bright red cheeks as he looked around his room, shirtless, each muscle rippling with power and sheer male grace, the elegance with which he moved forcing a knot in her throat.

…this is why I still have my own room…

"Can I help you, or are you satisfied just standing there staring?" Sasuke asked suddenly, trying to be cocky about it as he turned around to look at her, finally finding the shirt he was looking for.

It would have worked too, if he wasn't blushing so damn hard.

Hinata jumped, realizing she had indeed been staring and then stuck her tongue out at him in a feeble attempt to regain her composure. "I was just giving you time to be ready, because we have to go."

"Ri-ight." He stated sarcastically, still blushing, making it seem less like she was being the strange slightly addicted one.

"What do you think it's about?" she asked, fiddling silently with the small bow that tied up her black shirt right under her breasts. It was a formal affair and so they were told to dress accordingly. She was wearing a skirt, a rare enough occurrence to make her look ever more adorable that usual. It was white, with a design of black roses trailing up one side, and a white tank top with a black blouse overtop that opened like a tunic unless closed by the black ribbon wrapping around her upper waist.

As he studied her he felt a smile pull at his lips, it didn't ever matter what she was wearing, there was always that sense of elegance and sweetness about her…

It was odd thinking that she was fully capable of kicking someone's ass out the window.

"I don't know." He admitted, frowning slightly as he pulled the simple black t-shirt over his head and grabbed the white button down as he walked over to her, ruffling his hair in what had become a habit. "But it's not going to be pleasant."

"Aw." Hinata sighed. "M-maybe he's going to apologize…"

"Hinata." He stated, closing his bedroom door after she stepped out. "People aren't as nice as you."

Laughing at that she followed him down the hall and out the door, shaking her head. "I'm not particularly nice."

"Hn!" he retorted, glancing over his shoulder at her in disbelief, stating his obvious disagreement.

"I'm not!"

"I'm going to kiss you if you keep arguing!"

"But I'm not!" she was smirking, knowing full well what her supposed punishment was going to be.

Happy to be the villain to punish her Sasuke snatched her around the waist as they walked down the road, kissing her gently.

"And you're grounded."

Neji shifted, bland lavender eyes focusing on the table and the reflection of the dancing flame that was the candle sitting on it's glass surface.

It was an interesting design, smooth, elegant, made of dark iron and sheer glass, the trouble was that you could see right through it and it was vaguely uncomfortable in that sense.

He could see Tenten's legs crossed in a very lady-like manner across from him, wearing what he had never seen her wear before.

High heels.

She was almost as tall as him while wearing them. Almost.

And her hair was down….

He was trying not to think about that, because there was something shockingly, amazingly, disturbingly almost addictively beautiful about it. He hadn't ever noticed what kind of deep brown it was. In the tight buns she always wore it as it looked normal, bland. When it was down and the sunset's light flowed through it the waves would capture the sun's light, a thousand different shades of red and black clashing into a vibrant array of color that made him stop to stare for a second while she conversed with Lee, talking and laughing about something or other…

He'd realized he was in trouble then.

"Neji-kun?' Tenten enquired, cocking her head at him as she lifted a cup of red wine up to her lips, blinking at his frown. "Are you all right?"

"Fine." He replied, sighing heavily, tearing his eyes away from her legs, quite pretty and in view seeing as she was wearing a dark green skirt of some sort.

Tenten licked her lips slightly as he looked up to meet her gaze slightly, looking away almost immediately.

"I'm sorry, you just look very uncomfortable." She decided to point out, rotating her wrist to make the wine swirl, the deep red liquid spinning softly, making it's deep red hues swim by the light of the candle flame.

Music was playing off in the distance somewhere, the restaurant was expensive enough to have a pianist, the sound harmonized with the soft whispers of people conversing.

He sighed again, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the two empty places, one beside him and one beside Tenten.

The girl made an amused noise, like a small laugh caught in her throat. "Are you nervous?"

"Well, there was a reason why I didn't want to do this." He pointed out haughtily at the laugh, a little irritated by it. She smirked back, noting that he was so irritated he was no longer paying attention to just how long he held her gaze.

"Really? And what was that?"

"…You have no idea?"

"Well, aside from disliking Sasuke and not talking to your cousin for months-"

"Do I need another reason?" He cocked an eyebrow at her, waiting patiently for her reply, trying not to pay too much attention to the delicate movement of her wrist as she twirled the wine, smiling back at him knowingly, making heat begin to rush up along his neck and ears.

"It'd be nice if you did."

"I was going to talk to her later." He pointed out, looking away for fear of finding himself staring. He did have another reason, it being that she had said it would be a formal dinner… it felt almost like a date.

Her sitting there looking gorgeous did not help the situation- and the fact that the Uchiha and Hinata-hime were late.

"I don't think you would ever do it on your own merit." Tenten dared suddenly, leaning forward as if to defy him visibly.

Neji frowned, giving her a quizzical look for a second as he glanced around the room. "You think I'm a coward."

"That's not what I said, you said that." Tenten blinked, surprised by the words he was putting in her mouth.

"That's what it sounded like."

"Maybe you think you're a coward and that's why that's what it sounded like."

"What?" he shook his head in confusion.

She smirked, suddenly feeling like laughing all over again. "Nevermind."

"Tenten-c-c-chan." Hinata's voice cut in suddenly, making them both start. Neji looked up rapidly past Tenten at Hinata and Sasuke, standing behind their table, a waiter in tow carrying menus in his hands.

"Hinata!" Tenten cried, smiling as she stood, taking her into a hug. "How have you been? I haven't talked to you since the day after the party."

"I wouldn't call that t-talking." Hinata admitted, blushing at the memory. "I could hardly open my eyes, the hangover was so bad."

"Heavy drinker." Tenten grinned.

Sasuke and Neji exchanged glares, both of their pairs of hands stuffed very coldly into their pockets. There would be no hugging and or hand shaking for them. No siree.

Hinata licked her lips dryly and sat down beside Tenten, forcing Sasuke to resist rolling his eyes.

She was making him sit down beside the ice cube?

Great.

Swaggering more arrogantly than usual the Uchiha slid down into the seat carefully, keeping a good distance between himself and Neji, looking anywhere but the damned shinobi.

"H-how a-are you, cousin?" Hinata put in suddenly, surprising everyone at the table by using the forbidden family title. Hinata's words had stammered but she looked evenly at Neji, meeting his eyes without wavering, determined to seem calm.

He was her cousin, she would be heiress, that was what was going to happen. He'd better be accustomed to the title.

"…fine." He finally replied after a moment of surprised silence before clearing his throat nervously.

Tenten sighed. "guys are so disturbingly stiff. For crying out loud." She grumped, sighing heavily. "Neji and I were talking the other day." She stated sternly, giving him a look, to which he replied with an impassive stare. "We were talking about the many things that have happened over the last few months." She sighed, turning to look over at Hinata, glancing back and forth between her and Sasuke.

"…Hinata's disownment was so sudden that… well, there haven't been a lot of explanations to how or why it happened." Her eyes softened, looking a little worried. "We wanted to talk to you about it."

Hinata stared at them a moment, hearing quite clearly their words, but noting more accurately the fact that Tenten kept using the plural word we.

God… are they finally together?

Sasuke frowned slightly, a little unsettled by the possible information that would be given at the meeting. Hinata didn't know the full reasons behind her disownment… he hadn't thought about it in so long that it hadn't occurred to him to say something.

And now he didn't know if he actually wanted to.

Neji however began to speak suddenly.

"Uncle Hiashi… is quite willing to sacrifice his daughters' happiness for the sake of the clan. And I knew that, but it didn't occur to me…" he frowned, looking at the table again, feeling the words knot in his throat.

"…I didn't think he would disown you in order to safe the clan's pride. I jumped to conclusions." He glanced up at Hinata, who was staring at her hands, her expression so calm it was almost impossible to read.

"…Gomen, I have said many things that were not meant to be said or thought…I've failed in my duty to protect you from myself."

Tenten studied him as he spoke, her expression softening at the way his hands tightened, white knuckles showing the strain it was taking to say the words coming from his lips.

"…That's not your duty anymore." Hinata muttered softly, looking up with a half smile. "I'm no Hyuuga… for the time being."

Neji flinched. "Duty is then, perhaps the wrong word…"

Sasuke frowned at him a moment, listening to the apology, silently debating whether he was more so glad that Hinata and her cousin were having the conversation or disappointed that he wasn't going to stay out of their lives a little longer. It would be annoying having an older brother-ish figure hanging about.

"I am sorry, either way."

"I understand…" Hinata began after a moment, smiling a little ruefully. "You've never been one to grasp humanities odd vices quickly, cousin."

Tenten stifled a giggle at the surprised look that crossed both Sasuke and Neji's features. "Ne…" Neji began, quirking an eyebrow. "…I guess you're right."

"Completely." Sasuke put in quietly, earning a warning glance from the stoic Hyuuga slowly relaxing at the feel of some heavy weight lifted from his shoulders.

Tenten felt her whole body suddenly relax, watching him look at his cousin again with that half smile hiding under his stiff mask.

"Ne, I've a question." Hinata began, looking at them in confusion, the air clearing up so quickly of all awkwardness that she was quite ready to ask.

"Since when have you two been together?"

There was a stiff silence, and then Tenten's wine cup somehow ended up shattering on the ground, making everyone jump about a foot in the air.

It was only then that both Sasuke and Hinata realized… that they weren't together at all.

Yet.

Ya know what, I actually had a lot of fun writing this one. I'm pushing the plot little by little. I feel though that maybe I am going waaay too slow.

Please let me know, I love your opinions.

Am I putting too much effort into detail?

Read. Review.

-ink!