Disclaimer: Until I win ownership to Naruto in some kind of lottery, assume that it's not mine.

Author's Note: This chapter's a bit longer than the other ones. But enjoy, nonetheless :D

A few things I want to point out:

- Past-Sasuke calls Hinata "Hina-chan", but Naruto calls her "Hinata-chan". I'm trying to show that Sasuke is (was) closer to her than Naruto is now. Platonically-speaking anyways. Muahaha:3

- I made a reference to a Japanese food, Gyudon, in this chapter. It's supposed to be some type of meal with rice and beef, I'm not entirely sure. :sweatdrops:

- Sasuke and Hinata haven't remembered the promise yet, because for one thing, it –was- about a decade ago. And Sasuke went through a type of mental breakdown (somewhat) when Itachi killed his family (who wouldn't?). Don't worry, though, someone's pretty much going to scream it at their faces :D

To my wonderful reviewers: Thank you so much! ;-; You're the ones motivating me to open Word and continue writing. Much love to all


"Hina-neechan, what's wrong with your hand?" a tiny voice said, interrupting Hinata's narrative and focusing the attention of the rest of the Hospital's children's room on her bandaged hand.

Hinata quickly retracted her arms from the air and planted them on her lap. "It's nothing. I just cut myself." The children raised their eyebrows at this, some wore a horrified expression. "Not intentionally, of course! I was uh, preparing tea." She mentally smacked herself. Preparing tea? Ugh, I'm horrible at lying. Hinata silently hoped the children would buy it and let her go on with the story.

Unfortunately, the questions carried on. "Then why haven't you healed it yet? You healed the cut on my arm, remember?" another one piped out, his voice clearly showing concern.

"It's nothing, really," she said, waving her hands frantically in front of her.

"I think she needs to see Tsunade-obaachan," a red-haired child suggested, having inherited Naruto's nickname for the Hokage due to his numerous visits. The rest of the room murmured in agreement.

To be honest, Hinata had already thought of that, but decided that the Hokage was a very busy woman who certainly had more pressing matters than a simple cut. Besides, she's a medic-nin for goodness' sake! Her train of thought instantly dissolved when she heard a slight ding from the back of the room, indicating it was time for the children's afternoon nap.

A unanimous groan filled the room.


(A/N: v.v Aelyth can't write a decent fight scene if her life depended on it. Sorry!)

Alluring blue eyes were fixed onto the clearing below, its owner hidden atop a sturdy branch.

A dark blur suddenly flashed before him and Naruto took it as an opportunity to initiate attack. Leaping from the tree, he positioned a handful of shuriken between his fingers and nimbly threw them at his opponent. A crack was heard, then a sudden poof, revealing a log in place of his target. Ah shit, he thought. How the hell did I fall for –that-? He foolishly revealed himself, just when he had the upper hand, too. The bastard's probably mocking me right now. Naruto sighed and ruffled his hair in exasperation, racking his brain for a possible plan.

He heard a faint rustle behind him and spun. Too late. Sasuke had successfully tackled him onto the ground and firmly held a kunai against his neck. (A/N: What is it with me and pinning people down? xD No SasuNaru here, though.)


The corner of his mouth tugged into a smirk. "Dobe. . you should pay more attention to your surroundings," Sasuke said, standing up. "And what the hell? You fell for it. Again."

"You just got lucky," Naruto huffed.

"You're just too stupid," Sasuke retorted. He placed the kunai back inside his pack and shrugged, "Hey, it's not my fault you lack common sense."

"Damn bastard. . ." he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Let's just go. Hinata-chan's probably waiting for us," he said, changing the subject.

"Us?"

"Yea. You are coming to the picnic aren't you?" Naruto shot him a glare. Hinata worked hard for this, dammit!

Eh. Why the hell not? At least I won't be eating Gyudon for the third time in a row. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Ah, sure," he said, trying his best to sound apathetic.

"Good. Now help me up."

Sasuke reluctantly extended a hand to his teammate, who looked at it strangely. "You're injured, too? Geez, people today are so accident-prone," he remarked, indicating the slightly bloody bandage. "You should change the bandage, too, you know. It's gonna get infected," Naruto said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sasuke fought the urge to hit him then.


"Oi! Hinata-chan!" Naruto said, waving at the Hyuuga and running towards her.

Sasuke trudged behind him and observed his surroundings, keeping an annoyed look on his face.

It was the ideal weather for a picnic, he could say that much. The sun shone brightly, and wispy clouds filled the usually empty sky. The park, however, was filled with individuals who also wanted some time away from their missions and jobs at the village. Oh shit. A number of girls winked and pouted seductively as he passed by. Why can't they just leave me alone? Sasuke fought the childish urge to roll his eyes and continued walking. Fortunately for him, Hinata picked a rather secluded spot at the park's far edges. The picnic cloth was positioned underneath a full-grown Japanese Cherry tree. It'd work nicely as a shade, he thought, and its crimson leaves blended well with the sunset sky. Why does it feel so familiar?

"-chiha-san?" a quiet voice next to him said in a questioning tone.

"Huh?" he asked back, slightly flustered.

"I said, 'would you like something to eat, Uchiha-san?'" Hinata said, but deciding not to wait for his answer, she handed him a rice ball.

Sasuke mumbled a 'thanks' and nibbled on it indifferently. Hinata smiled at him in return.

". . . Where's Naruto?" he said, finally realizing the loud fox-boy has disappeared.

She raised an eyebrow. "Shino-kun came for him a few minutes ago. He said Hokage-sama was calling for him."

"Oh."

Hinata only nodded, the confused expression still on her face.

"So . . . you two are getting married?" Sasuke started, feeling somewhat awkward.

She nodded again. "In December. Naruto-kun and I decided we should do it on my birthday," Hinata said happily.

Not wanting to be engulfed in silence, he spoke again. "You've always liked him, haven't you?"

Hinata tried to keep herself from blushing; something she thought she'd mastered after all these years. Alas, a pink tinge worked its way up her face. "Was I that obvious?"

He snickered. "Only to everyone but himself."

"But Naruto-kun said he'd known it all along."

"Tch. The dobe's just trying to make himself look good."

Hinata giggled and Sasuke found himself smiling.

Thoughts danced in his head as he Hinata laughed. Where have I heard that before? Pushing the thoughts into the back of his mind, he stared at the now-pink-orange sky. And, as if taking revenge, unfamiliar scenes flashed before him.

White. He forced his eyes closed and spoke again.

"So when'd you start going out?"

"About five months ago," she answered, still recovering from her giggling fit.

His mouth turned into a slight frown. Wasn't that . . . ? Wait, Naruto isn't like that . . . right? He absently brushed off the thought before Hinata noticed the change in his expression.


After a week, the gash in his palm still refused to heal. The bleeding had stopped, but every few hours or so, pain would shoot up his arm, immobilizing it for quite some time. It really started to affect his ANBU performance. He'd gone to Tsunade about it just two days ago. And she said she'd look up on it and yet, still nothing.

Naruto still haven't returned from his "mission" which made Hinata worry. And he'd find himself comforting her. Somewhat.

"Oi, Sasuke. Hokage-sama wants you to come up to her office." Nara Shikamaru said in a bored tone.

Sasuke tightened the knot on his bandage, then looked up at his fellow ANBU. "Now?"

"Yeah, it sounded pretty important," Shikamaru yawned. Then, seeing the hesitant look on his friend's face, he said, "Eh. Don't worry about it, I'll take over."

Sasuke nodded and left.


Tsunade paced around her room, stopping once in a while to look at the village from her balcony. Then a faint click was heard behind her

"He's here, Tsunade-sama. Should I let him in?"

Finally. "Go ahead, Shizune."

"Hai."

An ANBU squad member entered. Taking off his wolf mask, he revealed himself as Sasuke.

He started, "Is this about the-"

"Sit!"

Don't talk to me like that, I'm not a dog, he thought, slightly annoyed. But he had enough sense not to say it out loud. Sasuke obeyed, nonetheless, and sat in a wooden chair situated before the Hokage's desk.

Tsunade sat across from him and rested her chin on her palm. "Yes, it's about your hand," she said in a surprisingly ominous voice. "But first, I'd you like you to answer a few questions before I confirm my assumption." She locked eyes with him, as if threatening him to act arrogant or smug.

Sasuke gulped and nodded dumbly. A smirk grew on her lips and she continued, "do you remember any instances of getting wounded in that particular spot?"

"No."

"When did the wound first appear?"

"About a week ago."

"Ah. And no blood?"

"It stopped bleeding after the first day. But became more painful as the days passed."

She nodded again and scribbled something on a clipboard. ". . . I think this pretty much confirms it."


A/N: A cliffie (Not really xD). But hey! At least one of them finds out :D Err. . . hopefully the plot isn't too farfetched and the characters aren't too OOC o.o; It'd help if you guys could point it out if they are.

BTW, I need a few ideas to help reform the relationship between Sasuke and Hinata while Naruto is still away :D

Ohohoh! When Sasuke says "white" after his little reminder thing, he's referring to the color of Hinata's eyes. :nod nod:

Please review, everyone! It only takes a few minutes :D