Disclaimer : I do not own the characters or the story of Naruto.

Obligatory content warning : This fanfic is rated M.

A/N : Greetings, everyone. I would like to express my gratitude to all the lovely reviewers for their comments on the story so far. Since I am expecting to be rather busy in the coming weeks, I thought it would be nice if I update this next chapter sooner. I know a lot of the readers are waiting for the turn of events I have been hyping up since I published the first chapter. Please read and review if you enjoy. Thanks!

Chapter 4

Five months till she says yes

Sasuke quickly dodged the two incoming kunai in his direction by sidestepping and easily caught the third kunai in his left hand right as it was about to pierce through his skull. With his sword gripped in his right hand, he activated his Sharingan, with the three tomoe spinning, he managed to dodge and deflect with his sword, the barrage of mini Rasenshuriken hurled towards him. He immediately flickered off to materialise behind Naruto, slashing his sword at him, resulting in the clone vanishing in a puff of smoke. He quickly made the one handed signs and channelling his chakra into his sword, he slashed behind him as a scattershot stream of lightening piercing all the clones that had been preparing another barrage of Rasengan to shoot at him. As the clones behind him poofed out of existence, he recognised the familiar chakra signature from beneath him just in time to use his Rinnegan to shift himself from the spot, landing swiftly on a sturdy branch on top of a tall tree nearby. He had been just in time to catch Naruto push his way out of the ground with a Rasengan whirling in each hand finding his own clone above him instead of his opponent.

A smirk found his way to his lips when he saw Naruto, shocked at the discovery that his surprise attack wasn't much of a surprise anymore, collided head first with his own clone and fell flat on his face on the ground, the clone immediately turning into smoke with a whine. He sheathed his sword back behind him and casually twirled the kunai in his hand as he spoke up in a tease, "If you are going to insist on using the same jutsu over and over again, at least try to switch up your strategies once in a while." His smirk widened when he saw Naruto glare up at him, rubbing the side of his face as he stood up and complained, "You said no Rinnegan or Kurama's chakra, bastard!" He leaped out of the tree, landing firmly in front of the blond, as he replied with only a "Hn", further aggravating his opponent.

He was sure Naruto was ready to chew his ears out after his offhanded brush off of the allegations of cheating, but he quickly diverted the guy's already short-spanned attention by adding, "I'm done today", as he made his way to the base of the tree he had left his bag under. He quickly took out a bottle of water from it and gulped down several huge gulps, ignoring Naruto's whining about it being too early to end their sparring session. He was relieved when silence descended upon them, as he took another sip, for all of about five second before the blond blurted out unceremoniously, "So why are you following around Hinata-chan?"

Sasuke felt himself choke as his eyes widened as soon as he caught those words, suddenly spitting out the water in his mouth, hunched forward, and coughing violently, pounding his chest with the top of his fist that was still clenched around Naruto's kunai. Once he was able to breathe again, he stood up, glaring at his friend as he threw the bottle towards him harder than was necessary, wiping his mouth with the back of his free hand and replied in annoyance, "None of your business, dobe." The implications of what he had just said dawned on him too late when he noticed the twinkling in his blue eyes, as he promptly caught the bottle in one hand, along with a cheeky grin spreading on his face, at his suspicions being confirmed. He felt his annoyance peak at that look as he defensively crossed his arms and turned away from him, pretending to ignore the guy and his inevitable jibes he was sure to follow next.

"So you are being creepy, teme! I knew it! First I thought you were spying on Team 8, but I couldn't figure out why you would though. Till I saw you being weird around her at lunch the other day! What's wrong with you, bastard?", Naruto asked in his uncaringly booming voice for the whole village to hear about his personal life. Sasuke glared at him once again as he asked back, "Why do you always have to be so loud, dobe?" Unfazed by the cutting tone in the use of that nickname, Naruto quipped back, "Why do you always have to be a bastard, teme?" He felt a scowl coming on as he took in how much his friend was enjoying poking fun at him. Determined not to allow that any longer, he closed his eyes for a beat to compose himself and opened them once again, this time his face devoid of any emotions and replied with only his usual "Tch".

He watched as Naruto's expression changed as well into a frown, blue eyes analysing him, seemingly trying to read his mind looking for an explanation for the sudden change in mood. Sasuke kept staring at him blankly, giving nothing away, his irritation only evident in the slight twitching in his fingers as he subdued his urge to stab the moron in the chest with his own kunai. Both stayed like that for a few seconds, when suddenly he snapped his head towards the entrance of the training grounds they were sparring in, as he sensed the now familiar and soothing chakra moving towards them. It wasn't long before he spied two figures walking side by side, making their way towards them, his eyes fixed on the shorter of the two as they drew in closer and closer with every passing moment.

He kept staring as he saw her blush deeply after noticing the blond standing beside him and shyly avert her eyes down, following behind her teammate who exclaimed a loud "Yo!" when he spotted them himself, both walking up to them. He finally turned his eyes away from her when he heard a loud bark from a running white hound behind them whom he recognised as the other loudmouth's companion. He only heard Naruto greet them with a boisterous, "Hey you guys!" before he blocked out the rest of his ramblings, his attention focused on the girl who was attempting to calm down the large dog from excitedly licking her face repeatedly, cooing at it. Once the dog decided he has had enough pets from her, it returned back to its master's side, leaving her unoccupied to finally greet them. When she realised that Naruto was busy with arguing about, what he was sure to be some nonsense, with her teammate, he saw her turn her eyes to him next with a smile as she said, "Good morning, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke decided to reply to her greeting with a simple nod. It had to be better than his grunts. He knew what he had decided to do when he saw her again, he was actually in the midst of planning out yet another elaborate scheme to sweep her off her feet before he admitted his affections to her. But seems like fate had other plans for him and he had never been one to back down from a challenge. Despite not having finished deciding on all the details of how he was going to confess, he felt calm and self-assured, specially after the boost of confidence he got from the last time he saw her. The only possible snag in his attempt would be distractions caused by the two loudmouths, he had to figure out quickly what he was going to do about them. He looked at the two bickering morons briefly and decided it would be best to ditch them. He turned his eyes back on her and was just about to ask her to follow him, but stopped when all four of them snapped their attention towards the other side of the training ground as they heard distant screaming coming from that direction.

It didn't take much longer after that for them to figure out what was happening when they saw a horde of girls, about their age, invading the open space and running towards the group as they spotted them, yelling out collectively, "Naruto-senpai!" It wasn't screams for help that he had heard a moment ago but the screeching of a mob of vapid fangirls, stalking his friend. He smirked at the scene in sadistic pleasure as he watched a flustered Naruto step back away from the mob when they reached him, one by one the girls presenting him with a bento box, bowing low to him, requesting him to accept their gifts. He realised the disguised blessing the situation might actually be as he saw Kiba make his way towards the crowd, standing beside Naruto, bragging about himself to try and get their attention on him instead. This was his chance, the idiots distracted themselves while he didn't even have to move an inch, he thought as he turned back to look at the person standing a couple of steps away from him.

As soon as his eyes found hers, he felt his chest tighten at the look of hurt and pain on her face. She had her eyes glued to the group as she stood frozen in a daze, watching the multitude of fangirls fawn all over the blond while he chuckled sheepishly, obliging several requests for autographs. He felt his hands clench tightly into fists at his sides, a throb of agony in his core slowly dispersing his heartache throughout his frame as he saw her dejectedly avert her eyes from the scene, with a sharp inhale, to the side, cast downwards, when a particularly eager admirer threw herself at the blond from the back of the crowd as Naruto, always the hero, caught her in his arms.

His heart started racing in his chest when she, after a few seconds, turned her eyes first to look at his clenched left fist and then straight into his eyes, swiftly closing the distance between them with a couple of steps, looking up at him with worried, sad eyes. As she looked down at his hand once again, he reluctantly looked at it as well and was surprised to find that he still had the kunai in his hand which had sliced through his skin when he had unwittingly gripped onto the blade, blood dripping down from it onto the ground. He slowly raised his hand, unclenching his fingers to let the kunai drop from it, blood coloring the paler skin of the transplanted hand red. He turned his eyes to her again when he felt her shift as she pulled out a pale purple long handkerchief from her pocket and proceeded to wrap the cloth around his wounded palm tightly to stop the bleeding, adding a knot with the ends. Once she was done, she turned her pearl eyes back to his as she said with an apologetic smile, "Gomen, Sasuke-kun. This is all I have right now." Those words rang in his head as if foreshadowing the events of an unknown future beyond just her taking care of his wounds. No, he didn't have her heart but he did have her compassion, which he wasn't sure what he had done to earn. Someone as kind as her shouldn't have to be tormented by the anguish he had seen in her eyes. Wasn't this exactly the reason why he had decided to stay?

He stared into her eyes, noticing the light in them, that he had admired only a few days ago, had dimmed significantly. He concluded he didn't like that look of desolation in her eyes he had seen a few moments ago, not one bit. After he continued to fixedly study her for the next few seconds, he resolved to do something about it. Sparing a last glance at the duo who were now loudly squabbling amongst each other with the whole gaggle of fangirls gawking at them, he swiftly turned himself, standing in front of her, blocking the whole scene from her view with his larger frame. Without giving her an opportunity to voice any objections, he quickly snaked his other arm around her waist, pulling her petite form into him and picking her up so that her feet no longer touched the ground, he opened a portal right in front of him, then leaping through it, all within a couple of seconds.

Once he was satisfied he had reached the middle of the deserted forest which was his destination, leaping out of the other end of the portal, finding solid ground beneath his feet, he finally let her down on her own feet as well. She, of course, was understandably shocked at their proximity and his boldness, staring up at him with wide, round eyes, her mouth slightly ajar. He was sure she didn't realise it, but he felt immense satisfaction when she continued to hold onto his shoulders, which she had clutched tight instinctively when he had picked her up, even after he had let her down already. He continued to keep his eyes unabashedly glued to hers, his arm still holding onto her, offering no explanation or excuse for his behavior.

After a few seconds had passed with the two of them simply staring at each other, one in shock, the other stoic, he decided it was time to make his next move. He slowly started to lean down, bringing his face closer to hers, thoroughly pleased as he noticed a heavy blush rise upto her cheeks , her eyes widening impossibly, as he got closer and closer to her at a leisurely pace. He felt her fingers on his shoulders grip onto him tightly once again and he tightened his own hold on her waist, as she started to lean down backwards, away from him, in order to keep a couple of inches distance between their faces. Without feeling discouraged at her first instinctual rejection, he continued to push her boundaries, leaning further down into her as he felt his eyes harden with determination to finish what he had started. However, she refused to cooperate with him as she too kept bending her frame backwards, away from him, matching his pace.

The two of them continued with this chase till she was almost horizontal from the waist up, her hair flowing straight down under her, the ends almost brushing the forest floor. He, obviously, had followed right after her every step of the descent, his face always a couple of inches away from her. He could feel her heartbeat fluttering wildly on the right side of his chest, right next to his own drumming heart, her face a shade of red he had not seen on her in a long time. When her eyes took on the look of a mouse trapped in a corner, her whole body tensed, as she realised she had nowhere else to get away to, entirely relying on him to keep her still standing, he closed his eyes and covered the distance left between them, resting his forehead onto hers. He allowed the next few moments to pass silently, enjoying the waves of serene contentment washing over him again and again.

This, however, didn't last long, ending when he felt her body go lax in his arm as he noticed the sudden drop in the pace of her heartbeats while her head dropped backwards, hanging limp from her shoulders, the death grip she had on his own shoulders now loosely held. He opened his eyes and straightened his posture once he realised what had happened, looking at the girl, who had claimed his heart, passed out in his arm. He let a heavy sigh out, his lips curving into a small smile, and turned his eyes to his left palm bandaged in her handkerchief, which had now turned a dark red from his blood, glad to notice that the bleeding had stopped. He then shifted her limp body in order to pick her up with both arms and leaped up into the trees, making his way back to the village.

He had no idea what he was supposed to do with her now. He could take her back to the Hyuuga compound but that would inevitably raise an unnecessary amount of questions that he didn't want to deal with. Moreover, he didn't want to dampen the high he had gotten from being so close to her and he certainly did not want to let her go so soon. He quickly glanced at the sky to ascertain the time of day and figured it had to be close to noon. 'Just a bit longer', he decided, making up his mind as he picked up his speed, flickering in and out of sight, carrying her with him. Once he was close to the village walls, he decided to make his way back to the apartment, staying hidden among the thick foliage of the surrounding forest till he reached his destination. He sped up through the rest of the way, careful to remain inconspicuous by jumping from roof to roof, moving in the shadows, quickly zooming past the buildings, without noticing the long curtain of midnight blue hair trailing behind them, fluttering in the wind.

Finally, once he reached the apartment, he swiftly made his way in and walked into his bedroom. He considered laying her down in the living room couch for a second before dismissing the idea as he let her down on his bed, careful not to hurt her. He gazed at her relaxed face, her eyes closed, lips slightly parted, her chest moving up and down with every inhale and exhale. As his eyes roamed over her asleep form, while he stood by the bed, he wondered if her jacket would cause her discomfort in her sleep. It took him only a second to decide as he slowly brought his slightly shaking hand close to the zip, his heart drumming in his chest. Gripping the small piece of metal in his fingers, he steadily started zipping the jacket open, his eyes moving down with it, glued to every inch of skin that was revealed.

He felt an unfamiliar stirring of heat and excitement in his abdomen as he took in this foreign sight of her, his eyes widened and he stopped unzipping, the jacket falling open, closed only up to about a third of the way. His breaths came out of him in short bursts as a peculiar sense of fire started pumping into his veins, while he gaped at her generous curves covered now only in a tight mesh shirt, threatening to spill out of the low cut top as she lay unconscious on his bed. This was the first time he had seen her this bare, he had absolutely no idea what she had been hiding till now. He felt slightly light headed yet somehow inflamed at the same time, as all the blood in his being rushed south. He couldn't take his eyes off of her as he stood frozen, still holding onto the zip of her jacket.

Feeling emboldened with all the adrenaline surging through him, he got down on his knees by the bed quietly and openly ogled her covered chest from close range, settling his eyes finally on the patch of visible milky pale, soft-looking skin right above the neck of her shirt. He didn't realise what he was doing till he found himself bent down over her, his teeth biting into that bit of flesh he was eyeing just a moment ago. He immediately let it go and snapped his head up and away from her, staring at the small red angry-looking bruise he had left on her skin, the impression of a few of his teeth clearly visible around it. He felt a sense of dark gratification looking at the mark followed by the realisation of the danger lurking behind that darkness within him. Suddenly he felt cold dread creep up on him as he saw her stir slightly, quickly shifting his eyes to her face for any signs of her being awake and aware. He sighed in relief when he found none but hurriedly zipped her jacket back up again and stood up taking a few steps back from the bed.

The risk he had taken when he experienced his loss of control over himself didn't go unacknowledged in his mind. He gazed upon her for a few seconds before deciding it was too dangerous for him to be this close to her, alone, specially when she wasn't conscious. So, he walked to the farthest corner of his room, pulling up a chair with him and sat down on it, facing the bed. He took in a deep breath to compose himself as he braced his elbows on his knees, leaning forward, resting his chin on top of his loosely clasped hands and continued watching her, waiting for her to wake up from her slumber.

A/N : I have found out that I am terrible at writing fight scenes so you could expect those to be at a minimum, I am sorry for that. A reviewer did ask about Sakura and yes she will feature into the story at some point. Once again, its always good to see readers enjoying the story. That's all. See you next time!