Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

7 Days, Come What May

Chapter XIV: Captured!

Emiko quietly peeked through the slightly open door of the teahouse. She had taken off her sound nin headband and was now dressed just like any normal guest in the hot springs—a yukata, and her blue hair put up. Her brown eyes saw a short haired girl pouring some tea for a blonde guy.

The blonde guy sipped the tea.

"Mmm…Hinata, you're good at both making ramen and making tea!" the blonde smiled at the girl Emiko assumed was called Hinata.

Hinata turned a little bit away, blushing. This gave Emiko the chance to see the eyes of the girl called Hinata. It was white.

F L A S H B A C K

"Emiko, Jiro, be especially careful of the Hyuugas. You can distinguish them by their white eyes. They can see almost everywhere; almost no blind spot," Orochimaru hissed at the siblings.

"Hai," the two siblings replied in unison.

E N D F L A S H B A C K

"T-Thank you, Naruto-kun," Hinata replied shyly.

'Naruto…oh, yea…So that blonde guy is the boy with the Kyuubi, huh?' Emiko furrowed her brows, racking her head for a plan. '…A Hyuuga and a boy with the Kyuubi, should I take on both of them or just one of them?'

In the end, Emiko decided to observe the behavior of the two people before deciding which person she should capture first. However, there was a long moment of silence between the Naruto and Hinata before either of them spoke.

"Hey, Hinata-chan…"

"Y-Yes?"

"Do you like me?" Naruto's suddenly asked. His eyes were serious this time, not joking like it was in the previous times.

"W-Why have you…" she trailed off, coloring.

She didn't answer the question. Emiko observed the two people and snickered.

'Young first love…what nonsense. I suppose I should get the Kyuubi boy first, he seems gullible…I won't be fooled by that white-eyed girl…even though she looks weak, she's a Hyuuga, nevertheless…' Emiko thought and quietly opened the door.

It was lucky for her that neither Naruto nor Hinata noticed her. They were too transfixed in each other's gaze.

"N-Naruto…I…Neji will be calling for me…" Hinata quickly got up, her face still red.

"Hinata-chan…you won't answer the question?" Naruto said, a bit disappointed. "Do you need me to tell you first?"

Hinata didn't turn around. She was blushing too hard.

"I…I…N-Naruto-kun…"

The Hyuuga girl had no idea how to respond. This was a first for her; all things with Naruto were a first for her.

"Well…just in case you know…I like you Hinata-chan…I just needed to get that out…whew! What a relief!"

Hinata immediately whirled around at his previous statement, her pale eyes shocked and her cheeks red. She turned to see him grinning at her, although his cheeks were a bit flushed. Then, he turned around to look the other way, so that Hinata could not see him.

"…Well…that's just how I feel about you….but I'm just not sure if you feel the same way…" his voice sounded a bit strange now. "…But I'm in no hurry, Hinata-chan…you can tell me some other time…"

'The Kyuubi boy sure is dumb. What's with the 'I'm not sure if you feel the same way'! Anyone can see that she likes him!' Emiko thought, rolling her eyes in her hiding place in the room.

The blonde turned around to give Hinata a smile again, and then took a sip from his teacup. Hinata felt too embarrassed at being in the same room as Naruto any longer.

"Y-Yes, I'll…tell you some other time then…" the girl said softly then quickly walked out the door.

Now, only Naruto and a mysterious invader were in the room. The blonde plopped down on the floor, spreading his arms wide and closing his eyes.

"Wow…I…finally got that out….I wonder what her answer will be…"

'Hah…the Kyuubi boy's talking to himself now, is he? Well, no matter…this is perfect! The Hyuuga girl is gone, so there is no longer that threat…I just need to capture the Kyuubi boy…' Emiko thought, smirking again. '…Time to act.'

"Hey, boy," Emiko called.

Naruto immediately sat up at the sound. He looked around the room, confused.

'There's no one in here except me…' Naruto thought, puzzled.

"Who's there?" the blonde stood up now. "Show yourself."

"Up, here, Kyuubi boy."

Naruto looked up to see a blue haired girl in a black yukata plastered to the ceiling of the tea house. But that was only a fraction of a second, because before Naruto could do anything else, a long pin flew down and struck him in the forehead. Naruto immediately fell down, unconscious.

"Easy as pie," Emiko sneered and jumped down from the ceiling.

She easily gathered up the boy's body and disappeared out of the tea house.

O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.

Hinata started to walk back to her room, to give herself time to think about what Naruto had just said.

'Did N-Naruto-kun just confess to me?' She still did not fully believe what had happened.

A part of her felt happy, very, very happy. But she didn't know why she was holding back.

'Girl, why didn't you just answer him and tell him that you liked him too?' a part of her brain said.

'I-I don't know…I was too embarrassed.'

'Yea, and that time you kissed him, wasn't THAT more embarrassing?'

'S-Stop it…it's just…'

'Hinata-chan, my girl, what can go wrong if you said you liked him? And don't give me that lame 'but Neji will…' excuse.'

'Yea…I-I…guess you're right.'

'So you agreed with me for once. And, FYI, I'm ALWAYS right.'

Hinata stopped her walking. Why hadn't she told Naruto that she liked him too, right there and then, exactly?

'Thinking about it, t-that was kind of…stupid…'

Hinata made up her mind now. She was determined to tell him. He liked her, she liked, him, and that was that.

'I am not going to let my weak self take over!' the Hyuuga heir thought, turning around and running back to the tea house.

She burst into the tea house, her eyes determined and ready to tell Naruto what she thought. She had been sure that he'd still be there, waiting for her, just like always. That wasn't to be. All she saw in the room was emptiness. No one was there. Her Hyuuga eyes observed something deep red in the middle of the room. It was insignificant, and someone besides a Hyuuga would have not paid attention to it.

When she walked closer to observe it, it turned out to be two small drops of blood. Somehow, she was sure that it was Naruto's blood. It was something like a woman's sixth sense of foreboding. Her white eyes quickly filled up with panicked tears.

'I had the chance to tell him…and I didn't…' a tear rolled down her cheek. 'Now…I might not get…another chance.'

Hinata sat there and cried for a while.

'Don't give up, girl, you're strong. You're STRONG,' a voice in her head told her.

It was that voice that had always encouraged her to be strong. The voice that had given her the courage to kiss Naruto that night. It was the strong part of her.

'I…won't give up for the sake of Naruto-kun…'

'That's right girl, you won't.'

'I'll find him and whoever hurt him!'

'Yes, girl, you go, girl.'

Hinata stood up, her eyes fierce, not unlike the Neji Hyuuga at all. In fact, it was even fiercer, even more determined. With that, Hinata ran out the door of the tea house to find out who even dared to hurt Naruto.

O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.

Ino liked to take morning walks at the Konoha Hot Springs, mainly because of the huge assortment of flowers that bloomed in their garden. The blonde liked flowers a lot. She bent down to catch a gentle whiff of a rose's pleasant scent.

"Ohayou, miss."

Ino looked around for the person who had just greeted her. A guy with purple hair braided down his back greeted her eyes. Ino stood up. She hadn't met this guy before.

"Ohayou-?"

"The name's Jiro, miss, and you are?"

Ino smiled. 'This guy is obviously trying to flirt with me.'

"Yamanaka, Ino."

'Ahh…I might as well flirt back. There's nothing to do anyways,' Ino thought randomly, flashing the guy a sweet smile.

Jiro flashed a killer smile back, startling Ino a little.

'Well, I see he's no newbie to the flirting game either, huh…'

"Miss, would you mind if I walk with you?"

"That's no problem."

"Good."

With that, the two walked together for a while, no words exchange. Eventually, they came to another flower bed with white roses. Ino liked white roses.

"Let's stop here a while," she told Jiro, walking to the roses.

Jiro silently followed behind her back. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he whipped up a white rose. The purple-haired guy went and tapped Ino on her shoulder.

"Hmmm?" she asked turning to him with a pleasant air.

"This is for you, miss," Jiro flashed another smile and held up the single white rose to Ino.

'Aww…how sweet. Yes, he knows the game. He knows the game very well.'

"Why, thank you," she smiled back and sniffed the rose.

For a moment, she felt dizzy. Her eyes became blurry. After a moment of confusion, she realized the truth with a panic.

'Oh, no. How could I have been so careless! It's poison…'

Then, her mind blacked out.

O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.

Sakura sat at the base of the waterfall on a rock, looking up at the huge amount of water flowing down. She sighed.

'That water shape there looks like Sasuke…that rock there looks like Sasuke…that cloud there looks like Sasuke…' the pink-haired shinobi quickly shook her head. '…Gosh, I'm daydreaming too much…'

Sure, Sasuke had told her that he liked her. He'd even hugged her. Heck, he'd even kiss her once! But after that night, he acted like nothing had happened. She sighed again.

'Am I the only one affected by everything he did?'

Her thoughts turned to that morning, when Sakura had woken up. It was so awkward for her.

F L A S H B A C K

She sat up from the bed, having just awoken. She spotted him by the window side, brooding as usual.

'Should I say good morning? Like usual? ...After what happened last night?' those were her thoughts.

"O-O-Ohayou, Sasuke-kun," Sakura tried her best to sound normal.

Unfortunately, she had stammered no less than two times. Sasuke turned his gaze on her.

"Don't force yourself, Sakura. It's annoying," he had said, then left the room.

F L A S H B A C K

'Don't force yourself? Don't force yourself! What's THAT supposed to mean, huh?' Sakura furrowed her brows and rubbed her temples, trying to think.

"Does he mean 'don't force yourself' as in, 'don't force yourself' to say good morning! Or does he mean… 'don't force yourself' to stay in this room! 'Don't force yourself' could have a thousand meanings!" the pink haired shinobi wondered aloud in a huffy voice. "HE NEVER MAKES ANYTHING CLEAR!"

She threw a rock at the waterfall as hard as she could.

"…I don't?"

Sakura whirled around her eyes aware, her hands in her kunai pocket, ready to throw the weapons whenever she needed to. She took her hands out when it realized it was only Sasuke. Only Sasuke? Sakura immediately reddened.

'Oh, GREAT. I just made a fool of myself in front of him AGAIN.'

"Y-You heard all that!" Sakura demanded a little too loudly.

He grunted.

Sakura assumed it was a 'yes'. But she didn't know what to say in respond.

"O-Oh! Well then….Ohayou, Sasuke-kun…"

He raised his eyebrows.

"You already said good morning to me this morning. It's almost evening," was his reply.

Sakura didn't give up. She tried to change the topic again.

"Okayy….well…the waterfall's nice, isn't it?" her voice sounded very strained.

To her surprise, Sasuke sighed. As far as she knew, the Uchiha rarely sighed.

"Sakura, your attitude is getting annoying."

There it goes again. 'How could he be so nice one day and soo…unbearable the other?' Sakura thought.

"W-What! My attitude? What? I'm just being normal…"

"Just act normal around me, Sakura. No need to be all awkward just because of what I did last night."

'Ohhh…so THAT'S what he meant. Wait. Why is he acting so…NORMAL about it!' Sakura flushed and prepared to defend herself.

"Sasuke-kun! I'm not acting awkward! It's all your own thinking," she huffed at him with a red face.

He just smirked. "Sakura, must I assume that you talk behind my back all the time?"

Sakura's patience was running thin. Even if he was her crush and all…He made her so pissed sometimes. Up until now, she had forced herself not to show it when she was pissed. Mostly, she just took it out on Naruto.

'If he's gonna like, me, he's gonna like me for who I am! Including ALL my bitching out!' Sakura thought, cracking her knuckles.

She walked over to him, who was leaning on a tree. His cold eyes just bore down onto hers. His lips were curved up into its usual sneering position. She glared.

"I DON'T TALK BEHIND YOUR BACK ALL THE TIME!" She screamed, punching the tree behind him that he was leaning on.

The tree burst into debris. For a moment, Sasuke's eyes widened.

'Whoa. She's…strong.'

She still glared at him. He regained his composure.

'…I wonder how strong she can get.'

"Sakura, spar with me."

Her pissed glare turned into a look of confusion.

"WHAT!"

"Don't be deaf, Sakura. You heard. I want to see how much weaker you are than me."

Actually, the Uchiha wanted to see how strong she had gotten. But he just wanted to use the word 'weak' to enjoy her face expression. As for Sakura, the word 'weaker' surely did piss her off. Even if it was the Uchiha…gosh! She had just destroyed a big fat tree into shards and here he was, saying that she was weak!

"Sure, you're be sorry, Sasuke-kun!" she immediately readied herself into fighting position. "Like Ino said, you will NEVER repopulate your clan."

"Reeaaally?"

So, the day after Sakura's first kiss was spent...sparring with the guy she liked. Very...unromantic indeed.Then, nothing was seen anymore, for the two had starting sparring. There were just colorful blurs.

Joyce: I love BOTH long reviews and short reviews, for those who are concerned! ;) Yea, and what else was I gonna say…oh, yea, SORRY FOR THE LONG DELAY! This time's excuse: The TV is next to my computer and my little sis always opens the Yu Yu Hakusho anime all day long! Thus, I had no concentration for writing my fic! Blame my sissie!…hehehehe :D…oh well, at least I didn't come up with some lame excuse like, "I got lost on the road of life", huh:D Well, Kakashi's excuses are always so cute:D..Okay, enuf of ranting. REVIEWWWSSSS:)