Hinata scanned her surroundings irritably. She half-expected to see Sasuke to come out from the shadows of the trees. They were patrol partners since the last week—a blessing she had taken to in the most wonderful way—and he had never been late. Their shift was at six-thirty to eleven-thirty. It was seven now, and she had started to patrol alone fifteen minutes earlier. There was a visible frown line on her forehead. Sasuke was the only person she had been comfortable with, aside from Neji. She was so comfortable with him that she wasn't afraid of feeling irritated. Usually with other people, she would be shy and nervous, but not with him.

She quickened her pace and activated her Byakugan as she walked around the walls. She remembered the poisoned shinobi she encountered then. When she had seen him, she knew exactly what to do, without fear or hesitation. She was in her element: healing injured nins. She remembered the feeling as they praised her for her work, but her heart dropped with a sickening thud when she realized her father wasn't even there to at least give her a compliment. In fact, he had not been at the party at all. And not once did he even visit her during her sojourn at the hospital.

She shook her head. With the way he was acting, she shouldn't treat him as family. He didn't even treat her as a daughter, what more did she expect from him?

"He's not a father to me," she muttered. "I shouldn't even be a daughter to him. I don't deserve him; he doesn't deserve me. I will become stronger… but not for him. I hate him! He is trash, nothing but white-eyed trash!"

Her pace slowed as she absorbed her words. Did she mean any of that? The momentary hatred that had flared up during her recollections was subsiding now. She knew, when the feeling had subsided completely, she wouldn't even dare of speaking against him, even when only to herself. She sighed at herself. There was no denying it—she was weak. Weak and pathetic. Her father had every right to be humiliated by her. She even humiliated herself. She was supposed to belong to an elite family, but she didn't even have the courage to tell Academy Students off when she caught them playing hooky.

Something wet her cheek, and the warm liquid jerked her out of her self-pity. Another tear drop escaped from her eyes and fell to her cheeks. Forgetting about her patrol duties, she sat down and started to cry.

How long she had been sitting there, she didn't know. Judging by the length of the shadows, it was ten-thirty. She winced. She must have fallen asleep after crying.

Weak, she berated herself, but she shook the self-deprecating thought out of her head. She dusted her pants and resumed her shift. The heat of the sun was starting to make itself felt. When she had finished walking around the walls, she climbed on a tree branch and scanned the aerial surroundings. Usually, if Sasuke was with her—or any other partner—Hinata would walk around the walls, and someone else would scan the view from above, or vice versa.

She sat on the branch and leaned against the trunk. Irritation was replaced by worry now. What could have happened to him? Was he sick? He didn't leave any note or message as to why he wasn't going on duty today.

Looking down on the gates, she saw Ino and TenTen approaching. She jumped down from the tree and met them.

"Good morning, Hinata-chan," both of them greeted her, smiling. They had come to relieve her of her duty and take their shift.

"Good morning," she greeted back, a fine sheen of sweat clinging to her neck.

"Why isn't Sasuke-kun with you today?" Ino asked, puzzled. "He is your partner, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is," Hinata answered, a little shyly. "I don't know why he's absent today too."

"He didn't leave any message of some sort?" Tenten asked, adjusting the collar of her shirt.

"Oh, an engagement ring!" Hinata exclaimed, her hands flying to her face. "Wow, so Neji-niisan has proposed already! You're a lucky woman, TenTen-san!"

TenTen blushed slightly. "Yes, well, he did… The other night. Isn't it wonderful?" she held up her hand to look at the ring. "He looks so cold and uncaring, but he's so sweet on the inside." She beamed.

"That's really great," Hinata smiled at her. "What about Shikamaru-kun, Ino-san?"

Ino gave a shrug. "He's still lazy as usual. I should think proposing would be too troublesome for him!"

"But he took the time to court you, didn't he?" Tenten elbowed Ino's side.

"Yeah, well…" Ino turned a little pink. "Anyway, I'm confident he'll pop the question sooner or later. I'll just have to wait." She gave a resigned sigh. "But you, Hinata-chan," Ino gave a knowing wink, "what about you and Sasuke-kun?"

"Yeah! You two are thick as thieves these days," TenTen smiled slyly at Hinata.

"Oh! W-what do you m-mean?" she stammered a little. She blushed several shades of red before settling on a deep crimson.

"What do I mean?" Ino replied incredulously. "You two—"

"She's blushing!" TenTen exclaimed joyfully. She leaned in conspiratorially. "How long have you been together?"

"W-w-we're not together!" Hinata stammered out, holding up her hands. "We-we're just best friends."

"Just best friends," Ino scoffed. "Hinata-chan, you should be proud! Sasuke-kun doesn't let anyone get close to him! You are very lucky!"

She turned redder, if that was possible. "I-I know I'm lucky," she said. "But really, we're not together or anything."

"You're just jealous because Sasuke-kun never gave you the benefit of a conversation, Ino-chan," TenTen needled her companion.

"Yeah—well, that's true. I am a little jealous," Ino admitted. "But I think if Sasuke-kun didn't look at me before, he never will now. That's why I gave up on him."

"Like-like Sakura-san?" Hinata asked, not a little warily.

"Yeah," Ino answered, looking thoughtful. "She arrived at the same conclusion, and began to see Naruto's… value. And then it hit her one day, I guess. He'd been asking her out all his life, and finally she agreed. Look at them now, two little lovebirds, in their own little world."

Hinata's heart fell a little at the mention of Sakura and Naruto, but it didn't affect her as much as Ino and TenTen's sly insinuations about her and Sasuke.

"Cheer up, Hinata-chan!" TenTen put a comforting hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Who knows, maybe someone's just biding his time." She winked, and shivers shot down Hinata's spine.

"I hope so," Hinata mumbled, her gaze dropping. Abruptly, she looked at them and said, a little more confidently, "bye, Ino-san, TenTen-san! Ino-san, I hope Shikamaru-kun would pop the question sooner than later. Best wishes, TenTen-san!"

"Bye Hinata-chan," both of them said. As Hinata was a good six paces away, Ino added, "I hope Sasuke-kun asks you out! You two are perfect together!"

Hinata stopped momentarily in her tracks, and resumed walking, raising her hand in farewell. She went to her home to prepare something for Sasuke.

Author's Note: What did you guys think? I know TenTen and Ino are OOC. I'm sorry… I don't really know much about them. They really weren't one of my favorites. Anyway, read and review, folks! And thanks very much for those who reviewed the previous chapters! Thanks so much, guys! And especially to Chibi Tetra... Anyway, I made a new Hinata-centric fic called The Best Thing in Life. Be sure to look out for it! It's already published, but still no reviews... TT Darn.

gets whacked Shame on me! XD Man, this really is shameful plugging XD Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!