Author's Note: Whee some people reviewed my "Embers of Ambition" !! Excellent…I was honestly thinking that it was so absurdly long that no body would even bother to read it! Awww, and u wanna know what else happened? You guys are so great! squeals okie! Well, I will try write another fic….but from an actual point of view….I unno, if anybody likes those kinda stories….but I will, and this one will be short, much much shorter than my first fic. And if you want me to write more chapters I will….think of this as a more in depth look at the whole Sasuke/Hinata thing portrayed in my one-shot! The things that weren't included and such….and this might be kinda confusing as well, but I hope I can explain stuff here. deep breath on with the fic!

Oh, and if you never read Embers of Ambition, it couldn't hurt to read it, just to get some understanding of what I might be writing about….cuz I don't wanna get repetitive, cuz I know I get somewhat annoyed by hearing some idea repeated over and over and over and over and over…..lol, just to get a point across just like this A/N keeps going and going and going and…okay, I'll stop there lol

Disclaimer: If you honestly think I own Naruto, you must be outta ur mind! Lol so, to clear up any misconception u might've had, I do not own Naruto ahahahaha

Flickering Flames

Hinata's Point of View

The chill in the autumn air was rather comforting. I couldn't sleep. Not tonight, anyways. I kept thinking about him, and why he was such a jerk. I knew for a fact that I could not have done anything to anger him, or even provoke him to bother me. I wanted for anything to understand why he hated me.

With a sigh, I took in a deep breath, inhaling the rich aroma of the autumn air. I loved autumn, the many colors were so breathtaking at times. I looked over to my curtains, watching them billow gently with the wind. A ghastly blue glow was cast onto my floor, basking my room in a faint tint of blue. Forcing myself to sit up, I pushed my blanket aside. As I gazed down at the floor, the thought of Uchiha Sasuke once again crossed my mind.

"I didn't mean it," I whispered to no one in particular. Out of frustration, I let myself fall back onto my pillows. Maybe that's why he got mad, I thought. I was being too unreasonable. All I had to do was answer him. Was that too hard of a task to do, Hinata?

I let that day's events replay themselves in my head. Maybe things would make sense, if I never read too much into them.

Now that I recall, I had gone to the training grounds rather late in the evening, hoping that most people would be at home having supper or elsewhere. I just didn't feel comfortable training with others, well, having others observing me at least. Even after the chuunin exams I had gone through, it was still unnerving. I remember that I had arrived thinking I was alone, so decided to practice fighting forms and techniques on one of the tree posts. At the time, my goal wasn't to beat up the post until my hands were bloody, or my shins bruised. It was just some light training; what I really wanted to work on was my kunai accuracy. The whole sparring thing was just a warm up.

My breathing was just a bit heavy, but nothing to hold me back from my real plans. I turned towards one of the many straw dummies that hung from the nearby trees. They were at a fair distance, not too close or too far. I tucked some loose strands of hair behind my ear, before reaching for my kunai. I concentrated on my target before actually throwing my kunai, centering my concentration and focus. Just as I was about to release my kunai, a rather distracting noise threw off my aim and focus. My kunai just skimmed the straw dummy hitting the tree right behind it.

"Hey! Hinata-chan!" the call came once again.

My hands shot up to my mouth, an attempt to hide my shock and disbelief. Not that it did either, actually come to think of it, it must have made me appear even more shocked. I turned to the source of the voice. I knew it was Naruto-kun.

"What are you doing training all by yourself?" he inquired as he walked towards me. I smiled softly at him. "Didn't Shino want to train you?"

I shook my head. But before I could say anything, somebody else stated the obvious.

"Dope, she wanted to train by herself," another voice said. I could see Sasuke come walking out of those same trees I was just aiming at. The thought of almost hitting him crossed my mind, and I was thankful my kunai connected with the tree and didn't go flying somewhere else. "Or are you too blind to see that?"

As Sasuke passed by the same tree that I had hit, he plucked my kunai from the bark. He had a casual way about him, even as he walked over to Naruto and I. I wasn't really surprised to find Sasuke here, except only wondering when he had arrived. Lately, I had been off my guard. Trying to work on my shinobi skills consumed my mind, that I was not as observant as usual. The last time I had actually talked with Sasuke had been at the Teams' reunion last week.

I looked over to Naruto to see how he would react. The last thing I wanted was for them to fight. It seemed that whenever they argued, they had to exchange blows, at least according to some of the sources I had heard this from. Sakura was just as concerned with keeping the peace between them, as I would be between my own old teammates. Sure enough, it looked like Naruto could just charge over to Sasuke and beat the crap out of him.

"I was talking to Hinata-chan," Naruto retorted.

Sasuke came to a stop not too far in front of me, his eyes closed, as Naruto kept chattering.

"Listen, dope," Sasuke finally said, cutting Naruto off. "Some people actually want to get some training done." With that said, Sasuke held up my kunai, and thinking that he was about to give it back to me, I reached out for it. Suddenly, with a flick of his wrist, he fired the kunai behind him, to the same target I had just been aiming for. Much to mine and Naruto's surprise, the kunai landed dead on.

Sasuke turned to leave, probably back to his home, or maybe to where he had just been training. I didn't care, not at that moment. I just kept looking at my kunai stuck right on the bull's eye. How could he get the target? He doesn't have eyes on the back of his head. Suddenly, it occurred to me how dumb of a question I was asking myself. He was after all a chuunin, of course he would have to talented. But I was a chuunin, just like him, and I had missed the target. I had been looking at Sasuke when he threw my kunai, and I could not read his expression nor his body language. He just seemed so casual, like it wasn't a big deal. Show off.

"Hey!" Naruto called after Sasuke. "Don't walk away while I'm talking to you."

Sasuke stopped and turned to face Naruto. The look on his eyes, as if ready to take Naruto up on his challenge. His eyes were scarlet; his sharingan was activated. Naruto must have finally provoked him. Before things could get heated up, I took a step forward.

"H-how c-could you get the kunai to h-hit?" I questioned Sasuke.. I paused for a bit when I felt mycheeks gettingwarm."And w-while not even looking a-at t-the target."

His brow rose slightly, as he diverted his attention to me. Even Naruto looked at me. I guess they weren't expecting me to say anything. His gaze still held mine. I couldn't look away, even when I tried. His eyes turned to the kunai finally. I stood there, silent for a while, then glanced at the kunai, to where he was looking.

"I saw the target before," he simply stated. "I knew where it was, I didn't need to look at it again. Anybody should be able to get that target."

"W-well…" I started. Then my gaze fell to the ground. "I missed."

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan," Naruto exclaimed. "I would have done the same mistake."

"Well, you both are losers," Sasuke agreed with Naruto's claim that he would have missed the target just as I had done. I hugged my arms close to me. I'm not a loser, I just thought. I clenched my fist gently, to keep my hand from trembling, because I could feel it would any time soon.

Naruto glared at Sasuke. "Hey! Hinata-chan is not a failure! Neither am I!"

"My mistake," he said once again his calm voice. "You guys aren't losers. You're above them...but only just a little bit."

I could see that Naruto was about to get even angrier with Sasuke. I don't know where I found the courage, but I spoke up. Neji had been trying to help me with my self-confidence, so I figured now was as best time as any to exercise what I might have learned, if any. "Naruto-kun is not a loser," I said in a louder tone than before, and without a studder.

Naruto looked over to me, and Sasuke also turned his attention to me. I kept my eyes my eyes on the ground next to me. I could hear them talking, but nothing seemed to register. I just blocked what they were saying. What seemed like an eternity, I thought over my position. Was I really a loser? I wondered if I would have hit the target if Naruto had not distracted me. I should have hit that target despite Naruto. I could feel my teeth clench out of anger; anger with myself. I looked up to the target. Just seeing my kunai there, disappointed me, especially since it wasn't even me who threw it there.

"Hinata?" The voice brought me out of my little daydream. I blinked and looked over to Naruto. He looked over to Sasuke, and I followed his gaze. Sasuke met my eyes once again.

"So?" he asked. I don't know how long they must have been talking to me. Just looking at Uchiha Sasuke frustrated me. "How about it? We'll train."

I kept my gaze on his. "No. You guys can go ahead." I looked away, rather quickly, and walked over to the target, removing my kunai from the target.

I had to walk past Sasuke in order to get home. I pulled up the flap of my kunai pouch, and slid my kunai into the empty leather case.

"Hinata?" Sasuke said as I was nearing him, his hand wavering in the air, looking like he was struggling whether he should stop me or not.

I looked up to him again, meeting his red eyes. They were unsettling to look into, especially when the dying light of the sun was also casting an orange-red light onto his face. He must have seen the disappointment and anger I had in my eyes, because suddenly his face no longer held the same casual demeanor as it usually did. The skin between his brows tensed slightly as he frowned, it looked as though he were about to lose his temper. His hand dropped to his side, forming a loose fist.

"What?" he demanded as he looked at me, his voice was slightly louder and carried a hint of anger. "Do you want me to suck up to you?"

I turned my gaze away as I walked past him, ignoring his statement. From behind me, I could see what looked like a look of disbelief on Naruto's face. Had I surprised him with my uncalled display, or was it Sasuke that surprised him. I quickened my pace to escape their stares. As soon as I turned the corner I broke out into a run. I didn't know what I was running from, I just wanted to get away. I was surprised with myself, and with Sasuke.

When I got home, I ate only half of what my mother made for me, and said that I was tired. My mother said she would make sure nobody would disturb me. My father was outside watching Hanabi spar with Neji. I spent the rest of the evening in my room, lying in bed and reading a novel, trying to distract my thoughts.

And now as I lay in bed, it occurred to me just how awful I must have seemed. Sasuke had tried to make up for insulting me, but all I could do was be angry with him. I felt like an idiot, just realizing that now. I just needed a clear and calm mind to understand. No wonder emotions are regarded as useless by some, even though they might not follow the same creed they believe in, it is still logical as to why they think that. If only I never overreacted.

But then again, he did kind of lash out his anger on me in return.

Do you want me to suck up to you? His words seemed to repeat themselves in my head.

No. I just want you to understand me…like Shino.

The thoughts just came to my mind without me even thinking them. I closed my eyes. What was I doing, comparing Sasuke to Shino. They were nothing alike. Shino is considerate of my feelings, and cares about me. Sasuke is definitely not that. But still, that's all I wanted, but I could never tell him. With a sigh of defeat, I reached and pulled my blanket over me once again. I snuggled my blanket over my head, covering all but my eyes, as I opened them to stare at the moonlight coming through my window. I closed my eyes to fall asleep, with my last thoughts dwelling on Uchiha Sasuke.

A/N: Well, if you never caught when this occurs, its almost been a week since they last seen each other at the reunion, which is mentioned in Embers of Ambition. I hoped you liked this chapter! I found it entertaining to write, so I hope you found equally enjoyable reading it!

Remember to review, cuz that way, I will know what to write next chapter…cuz you know you're dying to read more moments between Hinata and Sasuke!! Ah, see, you do want to read more! Lol

Well, thanks for reading!