Again... kinda really short, you'll live. Still do not own Naruto or anything affiliated with it. I wouldn't be in school if I did, oh hell no... meh. The possibly out of character romance has spread like a disease! It didn't stay in that one chapter, oh no. :authoress cackles evilly till her throat reminds her that she can't: Anyway... because Hinata is cute, and Sasuke is hot, I shall twist them to fit my own deviously demented purposes... yay for manipulation of character.

Have fun children.

Several weeks later…

"Thank you for all your help. Have a safe journey. May our paths cross again someday."

"Raikage-sama."

"Arigatou Kaemon-sama."

They were leaving Cloud, finally. There really was no reason to stay, Hinata had done everything she could, and it was apparent that Sasuke was not going to find any trace of his brother this close to Kumogakure no Sato. Hinata had been impatient to leave; Sasuke had had to pay close attention to see it. Neither could wait until they were safely back in Konoha, four days later. Four days of travel. Which meant…

"I'm not sure I trust you sleeping in the same room at night."

Hinata nearly fell off the tree branch she had stepped on. "Wh-hat?"

Sasuke smirked, that really annoying, superior one. Usually it made girls' hearts flutter, but not Hinata's. She was still pink, but managed to throw a kunai at him. He caught it, twirled it and slipped it into his weapons pouch.

For a month, ever since that episode in the hospital, they'd become more and more comfortable with each other. Neither was much used to tactile contact, but both found a comforting pat or a stroke across the bangs all that was needed to acknowledge the pleasure of the other's company. Of course, being mature adults, they knew when to draw the line. Happily, they found that line to be unnecessary; kisses stayed kisses, cuddles stayed warm and fluffy. He teased her, she blushed and tried to deny it. She'd appeal to his possessive (but easy to manipulate) inner gentleman, he'd fight it and lose. It was fast becoming exceedingly difficult for either to picture not having the other. Sasuke was becoming all too aware that happiness and half of his vow lay in the ninja picking her way through the trees just behind him.

Night wasn't going to fall for a while yet, but the village they were in was the only one for a good long way, so they stopped there. Hinata wasn't sure whether to be dismayed that she could only get one room for the night. It seemed that a sense of innate unease had settled over the area, and everyone in it knew enough not to wander after dark. When the innkeeper warned them about it, Hinata flicked a glance over at Sasuke, who'd tensed slightly. Laughing a trifle forcedly, she'd thanked the man and herded Sasuke into the room.

"Sasuke-kun? It could be your brother… are you…" She was interrupted, rather rudely, by Sasuke getting that deliciously devious look. Before she could even think about what that meant, she found herself against the wall.

"You were so anxious to get me up here," his teeth delicately raked her earlobe "and now that we are, all you can think about is my brother?" He pulled back and gave her a mock glare.

Hinata tried the coy look Ino had been so insistent worked so well. "Well I did hear that Uchiha Itachi was the most attractive, even if he was the scariest, ninja in Konoha for a long while." Hinata looked at the ceiling innocently. "Insecure, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke gave her a look, before proceeding to prove that he really didn't have anything to be insecure about.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Hinata!" The medic nin had dodged the fireball, but Sasuke was even more on edge. A Katon technique was a signature Uchiha move. He landed in the clearing in time to see Hinata take on a defensive pose. An agonizing moment of eternity later, Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame made their presence known.

"Sasuke… what a nice… surprise." Itachi's voice was cool, indifferent.

"Hinata, don't look into his eyes, whatever happens… I told you this before…"

"Oh don't worry little brother. I won't hurt her. I won't hurt either of you. Not today. Kisame however… he'll look after you, I have other business to attend to." Itachi nodded shortly.

Kisame gave the two shinobi a grin, full of teeth and full of malicious glee. Itachi disappeared, and at that unofficial signal, they began to fight. One for sadistic sport, two for their lives.

"Hinata, his sword…" Sasuke paid for trying to warn his partner. He blocked the handle of aforementioned sword, trying desperately to keep the sword blade away from his shoulder. For all the strength he put into pushing it away, Kisame pushed it closer and closer still. Suddenly he dropped the sword and grabbed Sasuke by the shoulders, whirling him around to take the many projectiles Hinata had thrown. Sasuke went limp for a second, and Kisame released him. Mistake. Sasuke looked up and grinned before stabbing Kisame's hand with as much force as he could. He leapt away as Kisame swore, seeing several things that did not bode well. Littered on the ground were twigs, not drops of blood. The girl had tricked him. His sword was a good five feet away. Too far. And attached to the kunai in his hand, was an exploding tag. It went off.

As the smoke cleared, Kisame could see that his hand was in ruins, and that the girl was moving towards him at alarming speed.

"Hakke Hyaku Nijūhachi Shou!" He doesn't have his sword, this is my only chance to drain as much of his chakra as possible. …Sixteen… Thirty-two… Sixty-four… One…

Kisame managed to block her attack, and sent her straight into a tree. She slid down, having been unable to prevent her head from making contact with the unmovable object.

"That is no way to treat a lady. Chidori!" Sasuke punched Kisame as hard as he could. Especially not my lady. My… princess. He'd aimed for the sternum, to limit movement should Kisame still be able to fight.

Kisame was still standing, but Sasuke soon remedied that with a flurry of taijutsu. Kisame fell, his great chakra supply not enough to overcome the pain and damage he'd taken in the short but intense battle. Hinata wouldn't get up for a few hours. Sasuke looked at the two unconscious forms, and made up his mind.

"Katon: Gokakyu…"

"Sasuke-kun?" Hinata's voice was weak, and her eyes fluttered erratically.

"Hinata! Don't try to move yet."

"What… what are you doing?" She was looking at the large pile of wood and … were those blood stains?

"Just getting rid of the trash."

"I knew you'd beat him." Hinata gave him that smile; that admiring, grateful, understanding smile. She lay back… and then that niggling thought she'd pushed to the back of her mind surfaced. "Sasuke-kun? Where is the sword?"

"It's in there. Along with the…" Hinata interrupted him.

"You weren't planning to use the Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu just now, were you?" The medic nin persona made a cameo, and glared at him. "After all the chakra you used…"

"Didn't use that much chakra. Didn't have to resort to a third Chidori."

"Being able to use the Chidori itself, much less four times in one day is impressive. But please be careful. It's not a technique you can use lightly." The tone had gone from scolding to imploring.

Those eyes were just so damn pleading. Sasuke exhaled, before leaping over to flick her hitai ate. "You wouldn't be telling me that you don't trust me, now would you?" he teased, patented Uchiha glory boy smirk at full amusement.

She frowned slightly at the levity. In apology he smoothed her hair behind her ear, a silent promise in his dark eyes. She relaxed somewhat, he was alive, and apparently quite healthy, even if he did think he could create fire hot enough to melt a sword. A sword that according to records could eat chakra…

"Sasuke-kun! The sword!" Hinata tried to rise excitedly but could only remain on her knees. Sasuke tried to push her back down gently, hushing her.

"It's in there, don't worry, it…"

"Sasuke-kun, I want the sword. Get it out of there, and give it to me." Hinata pushed at him ineffectually.

"Did you hit your head that hard? Why would you want the sword? You do know that it-"

"It drains chakra. I know. That's why I want it." He was giving her a blank look. She sighed and tried to explain. "The victims of the seal. I told you and the Raikage that trying to break the tenketsu would be like the Juuken. A burst of chakra. If we could break that sword into pieces, we could use the shards to remove the excess chakra…" Suddenly all the problems became apparent and Hinata collapsed back into a sitting position. She gave a self deprecating laugh. "The shards would have to be almost inside the tenketsu to siphon away the chakra. And the timing would have to be exactly right. To apply the chakra and then use the sword as soon as the tenketsu broke… it'd be close to impossible…" She choked back tears of frustration, even as that bitter laugh persisted.

Sasuke knelt beside her, tilting her head toward him, looking into those watery white eyes. "Close to impossible means that it could be done. We'll go back to Kumogakure, we'll bring them the sword, we'll send Godaime a message." He didn't say much, he never did. He never really needed to with her. She watched him, so very glad that she had found him. Then the darkness seeped back.

He retrieved the sword, still wrapped in its protective covering. He looked at it… had the undoing of his brother's evil really been held by his brother's own partner? The irony was close to painful. It made sense, in a sick and twisted and very Itachi way. He moved it away from the pyre.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" The flames built, higher and higher. Sasuke didn't dare stay too long, even if he had beat Kisame, it was too soon to try to face Itachi as well. And he wouldn't risk Hinata or her mission, he had promised.

I don't know if i did the fight scene any well... eh.. I tried... it seemed like a good idea when I was typing it.. I'm sure I'll get song and verse on how to improve it, so have at it, o ye pirahna like readers. If enough people ask for more inbetween scenes... I'll stick some into the Revealing Moments set.

luvkissbye

matte... Thank you all reviewers, means much that you express interest na no da. By the by, Hinata's an adult, a medic and she has other female friends. Innocence is over rated. And unnecessary for real world application.