Author's Note: Here's the next chapter! I'm sorry for those of you hoping for longer chapters. This story is actually an exercise for me to be more succinct in my writing so I'm trying to keep them between 1000 and 1500 words. I haven't always succeeded, but I'm trying. We're getting to the point where we're winding down so if I get a chance to write a bit ahead I'll try to post an extra time in the next couple months.

Enough talk, I'm sure you're all eager to read!

Chapter Fourteen

When Sakura's vision came back she was suddenly bounding across the floor of the forest. The scenery rushing by was only a few inches above the ground and everything looked huge. It was an odd sensation and she wasn't sure what her physical body was doing, but she imagined herself feeling a little nauseated.

Luckily it didn't take them long to reach the training ground and climb a tree to get a good view of what was happening below.

Sakura felt a mixture of relief and discomfort when she saw Sasuke and Hinata occupying the training ground. She was glad she hadn't been mistaken in thinking they would be here, but seeing them together was a strange experience. Nothing scandalous was going on, they were sparring, but the realization that they were, in fact, spending time alone together made her feel uneasy.

Maybe it was stupid, but she'd never imagined that the two of them would ever speak much. Sure, they were all in the same academy class, and they'd all gone through the first Chunin exams together, but at most the pinkette figured they'd exchange a couple pleasantries at their larger get togethers.

It's just Sasuke hadn't ever spent much time around any female other than herself and Karin, and that was mostly because they were teammates. When he started occasionally meeting her for meals or walks outside of training, she'd thought it was something special. But maybe that was wishful thinking on her part.

She sat there observing what was happening below with trepidation in her heart and mind.

Sasuke rushed at Hinata, a kunai in each hand, which she parried with a kunai of her own and her Gentle Fist. She managed to nick one of his chakra points enough to cause him to drop one of the weapons, but not enough to cause the limb to be useless. She cursed as he backed away for a moment, throwing the second kunai at her with pinpoint accuracy and rushing at her with a now drawn sword.

Hinata used Kaiten to push him back, unhappy at having to expend the energy and frustrated his speed left her with so few sword gave him a much longer reach and she had a harder time getting close to him to land some of her Gentle Fist attacks, which was no doubt his aim.

She surprised him with a kick and used the opening to get in close, but he recovered more quickly than anticipated and swung down at her. She spun out of the way, just quick enough to keep from being seriously injured. Hinata threw out a Vacuum Palm to push him back and give her a moment to catch her breath. She took a second to make sure she hadn't sustained any injury and noticed her torso felt a bit lighter. The Hyuga looked down and her eyes widened when she found that her lavender jacket had been cut almost entirely away.

"Sasuke! You did that on purpose!" she complained, obviously a little incensed.

He just smirked back at her and shrugged before charging at her again, this time met with a flurry of angry strikes to his arm and torso.

Sasuke grunted, and he retreated for a moment to reopen some of the more critical chakra pathways. He re-sheathed his sword, deciding that he'd rather block and parry with both hands now that the reach of his weapon was no longer working as efficiently.

They ran at one another and began arguing amongst their flurry of movements.

"You're faster without that thing on."

"We've talked about this!" she replied. "I like my jacket just like it is."

"It's too bulky. It gets in the way."

"It does not!"

"It can catch on fire and endanger you."

"You're the only person who's set one on fire and you just did it on purpose to destroy my last one! Not to mention the one you basically ripped off of me with your bare hands. At this rate I'm not going to have any left!"

"I don't understand why you want to wear those things anyway. You should show off what you have underneath."

"Sasuke!" Hinata exclaimed, her cheeks flaming red. "You know I don't like to wear anything revealing."

The Uchiha noted his comment had had its desired effect and took advantage of her flustered state to bring her to the ground. He pinned her hands above her head, not taking any chances with the deadly digits.

"You should use everything you have in battle. I've met plenty of shinobi who let themselves get distracted by a female figure and regretted it."

"I'd rather fight my battles with my fists than my breasts," Hinata huffed, cheeks still a healthy pink as she struggled to get out from underneath her partner. He was bigger and stronger, but she'd been able to escape before.

Sasuke leaned down and said lowly into her ear, "Have you seen Naruto's sexy jutsu? If that's anything to go by I bet he'd enjoy seeing you without that jacket on sometime."

His comment made Hinata lightheaded and she finally gave up. She could tell he would just keep going until she passed out from embarrassment.

"You're playing d-dirty," she said with a pout.

Sasuke smirked as he got off of her. "Whatever it takes to win."

"From now on comments about Naruto and how he might feel about my f-f-figure are off the table!"

"Nothing's off the table in a battle for your life," he responded, wiping his face with a towel. He knew he had worked up a sweat when his bangs began to stick to the side of his face.

Hinata got up and dusted herself up, shooting Sasuke a dirty look while she took off the remains of her lavender jacket. "We're sparring, not trying to kill each other. That's not the goal, at least."

"I can't make any promises," he said nonchalantly and Hinata pursed her lips.

"Fine, then you're buying my lunch today. And we're going to that new teahouse."

Sasuke still felt as if all was fair in battle, but he could admit to himself that part of the reason he kept destroying her jackets was because he thought it was funny to get her riled up. With that in mind and knowing his friend was particularly stubborn sometimes, he didn't argue. At least she hadn't picked dango.

"And give me your spare shirt. I'm not walking around in my sports bra and mesh."

"Why not? It's perfectly acceptable shinobi attire."

"It's indecent!" Hinata squeaked, her face heating at the reminder and having to say it out loud. Honestly, Sasuke was rather difficult sometimes.

He raised is eyebrow, but tossed the fabric at her. They picked up their discarded weapons and left the training grounds in the direction of lunch, unaware that some of their exchange had been observed by two very shocked individuals.

Well, there you have it! I enjoy writing Sasuke and Hinata interacting because I feel like his attitude would bring out a somewhat feisty Hinata. Next time you'll get to see what Ino and Sakura were able to see/hear (obviously they couldn't hear him tease about Naruto because that would make this way too easy) and we'll see their reactions as well as some other stuff.

Let me know what you thought and I'll keep on going!