Notes: Well, here's the third part of this story. Thank you very much for your feedback on the previous one. I greatly appreciate it. Hinata has not shown her strength 'cause it's not the time for it yet. Don't worry, it'll come! I thought I'd make one thing clear here because...well, because I want to. Sasuke will be the dominating one in his and Naruto's relationship. That's why it's SasuNaru and not NaruSasu. I guess most of you already know this but since I've seen some stories which say SasuNaru but still have Naruto as the seme, it would be nice to clear this thing up. No matter how I try to tell myself that Sasuke is as beautiful as a girl and even has a bitchy attitude (sometimes), I can't imagine him as an uke. I just can't! I'm sorry! Anyway, please enjoy this chapter. And happy New Year! I wish you all have a good year ahead of you.

Part 3

"Come on! Hurry up! Hinata!"

Hinata looked up, panting. Snow was knee-deep here near the lake and it made walking quite difficult but she obligingly picked up her pace and started to go up a small hill in a very curious way, part walking, part jogging. She had to hold her long skirt up which made moving even more difficult.

"Hurry! Hurry!"

"I'm coming!" Hinata answered, feeling quite out of breath. Her loud companion disappeared behind the hill. The side of the hill was relatively slippery so she had to pay close attention to where she was going. She was so engrossed in her progress up the hill that she gave a startled yelp when someone grabbed her elbow. She looked up and gave her helper a grateful smile. "Thank you, Shino-kun."

Shino nodded. "Sorry for dragging you out like this," he said in a deep, serene voice.

Hinata smiled and shook her head. "No no. It was my pleasure. I'm sure that whatever you wanted to show me is worth it."

Shino nodded again and then fell into a silence Hinata very much liked. It was soothing, like almost everything in the boy. Aburame Shino was an old friend of hers whose company she liked perhaps more than anyone else's. Shino never put any pressure on her, never demanding her to chat nonesense with him and yet not minding if she did. Never once had he criticized her and never did he pay any attention to her stuttering. It was so relaxing that Hinata had stopped feeling nervous and shy in Shino's presence. Where some people found Shino's silence and reserve unnerving, she had learned to read behind his stern demeanor and found kindness and compassion she valued greatly. Hinata knew Shino was a wise, patient boy who knew his limits and lived accordingly. Never had she met a person who was more at ease with himself. She felt quite honored Shino accepted her friendship.

"Hey! How long does it take for you two to walk a few meters?" asked an annoyed voice and a head popped into view from behind the top of the hill. It belonged to a wild boy named Inuzuka Kiba, another one of Hinata's old friends. His eyes glinted with mischief under a fur-lined hood.

"I'm sorry, Kiba-kun. We'll come right away," Hinata replied and hurried her steps.

Kiba's head disappeared again, accompanied with a merry bark. A little dog jumped into view. It looked down at Shino and Kiba and started to bark enthusiastically. "Akamaru, come here!" came Kiba's command and the dog vanished after its master.

Hinata giggled as she continued to ascend with the help of Shino's hand. Kiba was very different from Shino but he was as dear to her as the Aburame heir. Kiba was easy to be with, friendly and caring despite his roughness which sometimes made people flinch away from him.

Finally reaching the top, Hinata let out a tired sigh. But her weariness melt away when she glanced up. A frozen lake spread wide in front of her, glistening in the sunlight and almost blinding her. The sky was clear and blue. But what caught her attention was not the beautiful view but a strange device set up on the ice. Someone had cleared a round area near the shore. A wooden pole was set up in the center of it. A long, thinner pole connected it with a sled which Hinata regocnized as Kiba's from the fur stretched on it and its abnormally big runners.

"Wh-what..?"

Kiba grinned. "Come on and try it! It's fun!" Before Hinata could say anything she was already being dragged down to the shore by Kiba's forceful hand and she found herself sitting on the sled in no time. Akamaru barked wildly. "Hold on tight!" Kiba shouted over his shoulder as he ran to the mid-section of the horizontal pole. "Shino! Give me a hand, will you?"

Shino assented silently and settled next to Kiba. He pressed his hands against the pole.

"Here we go, Hinata!" Kiba exclaimed cheerily before giving the pole a powerful push.

Hinata squaled in surprise as the sled jerked into motion. She clung tightly to the front board of the sled. After the start the sled began to move smoothly. Wind blew a few stray strands from Hinata's face as Kiba and Shino gradually quickened the pace. Slowly but surely Hinata's scared expression changed and her mouth streched into a wide smile. After a while she couldn't hold back a laugh. And then she began to giggle uncontrollably, enjoying the fast ride, the wind in her face and hair and the company of her friends.

Then the sled began to lose its velocity and finally it skidded to a halt and she looked up at her friends. Kiba was grinning madly and even Shino had a hint of a smile on his lips. Hinata's eyes sparkled with mirth.

"Thank you! I had so much fun!"

Kiba stuck out his tongue at her. "It's not over yet. We have all day." Hinata joined his laugh.

They spent hours on the ice, now pushing with all their might, now sitting on the sled and enjoying the ride, now holding onto it with dear life. It wasn't until darkness started to take over when they headed home, all tired but happy.

"I'm so glad you brought me here today. Thank you!" Hinata said as they walked back toward the Hyuuga Manor. Akamaru ran ahead of them, turning back occationally to see if they were still following.

"It's nothing," Kiba laughed. "You've seemed a bit down lately so I thought this might cheer you up."

"Ah! D-don't worry about me," Hinata hurried to assure. "But thank you again, it was most delightful."

Kiba threw her a sideways glance and then faced forward, his forehead wrinkled. He stayed silent unusually long and Hinata was beginning to worry, but then he spoke again, albeit hesitantly. "Hinata, I...it might not be my place to say this but...I heard you're engaged to your cousin?"

Hinata flinched and looked at Kiba with baffled expression. "Wh-what?"

"Is it true?" Kiba turned to survey Hinata with seriousness that scared her.

"I-it's true," she replied, looking more and more confused at Kiba's sudden sternness.

Kiba studied her face for what felt like ages and then averted his eyes with a sigh. A few long strides carried him ahead of Hinata and Shino. With his back to the startled girl, he mumbled something.

"Pardon?" Hinata stammered. She had a horrible feeling about this.

"I said, 'Don't'."

Hinata was taken aback. "What? B-but...wh-why do you...Why not?" She noticed Kiba's shoulders were very stiff.

"I...have ," he answered after a long pause.

"Rumors?"

"Yes."

"What kind of rumors?" Hinata asked, her voice suddenly gaining a stubborn tone. She knitted her brows and stared at Kiba's uneasy back.

"Rumors about him and--"

"Kiba," Shino's warning voice cut in before Kiba could continue.

Hinata looked from Kiba to Shino, terribly confused. She could feel tension growing between her and the boys and she was sad. She did not want to fight with her only friends. But she also didn't want to hear bad things about Neji.

"Just don't, Hinata. Tell your father and that cousin of yours that you don't want to get married," Kiba continued after a short pause.

Hinata couldn't help but feel a little angry at Kiba. For all she knew, Kiba had rarely even seen Neji, let alone talked to him, so he couldn't possibly know Neji very well and still he was accusing him of something horrible. And Shino seemed to know about it too. "Why are you talking ill of my cousin?" she asked, a hint of her anger seeping through her voice.

Kiba whirled around and grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to face him. He met her startled pale eyes with fierceness rarely surfacing outside his fights. "Just trust me on this, Hinata! He is not a good man."

Hinata gasped. Then she jerked away from Kiba's grasp, face flushed with sudden surge of fury. "I-I...c-can't believe y-you, K-Kib-b-ba!" she stammered, too flustered to control her speech but none of the present found her stuttering amusing at the moment. "H-How can you s-say th-that about N-Neji-san wh-who has b-b-been not-nothing but n-nice to me?!"

"Because it's true! You haven't heard what they say about him! Hinata, I don't know what that man is planning but--"

Hinata's hand moved before Kiba could finish his sentence. It made contact with Kiba's cheek, the sound of the slap ringing in their ears long after it had died away. Kiba stared at Hinata, pressing his palm over his stinging cheek and shock written on his face. Shino stood silently in the backround, his head lowered. Hinata breathed hard, her chest hurting and her emotions in a chaos. She very rarely lost her temper and she didn't like it when it happened but Kiba's words had awoken something fierce in her.

"Don't t-talk l-like tha-that about Neji-san! I d-don't wa-wan't to hear it!" Hinata shouted, tears brimming her eyes and then she ran away from them and towards the Hyuuga Manor which wasn't very far off.

Kiba and Shino stayed where Hinata had left them. Kiba was still shocked by Hinata's unexpected behavior.

"You shouldn't have said that," Shino suddenly mumbled.

Kiba snapped out of his immobile state. He let go of his cheek and glanced at Shino who was not looking at him. "I know," he grunted, "but I just had to. I wanted to warn her. If possible, I would've liked to persuade her not to go through with it but it seems that's impossible."

Shino nodded and turned his head in Kiba's direction. He wore glasses with darkened lenses so Kiba could not tell if he was looking at him or not but judging by the intense feeling Kiba was getting he assumed he was.

Kiba sighed. "Do you think she already likes him?"

Shino shrugged.

"I hope not," Kiba mumbled, threw one final glance at Hinata's disappearing form and started walking in the opposite direction.

Sasuke and Naruto stood on top of quite a steep hill. Their sleds had been placed ready on the edge of it but they had yet made a move to sit on them. They had went sledding all over Konoha and knew most of the possible slopes but this was a bit steep even for them and it was also filled with young trees and little bushes which could prove quite unpleasant if they were to accidentally hit them.

Sasuke turned his head slightly to glance Naruto from the corner of his eye. "Scared?" he asked tauntingly.

Naruto huffed and made a face at Sasuke. "Of course not!" he retorted angrily and set his foot on one of the runners to prove his point.

Sasuke smirked. Then he bent down to place his hands on the sides of his sled and looked up at Naruto. "Shall we?"

Naruto stuck out his tongue at Sasuke before mimicking his movements. "Ready?" he asked, excitement evident on his face.

Instead of answering, Sasuke pushed his sled into motion, took a few running steps and then jumped on it, feeling it gaining speed as the slope got steeper.

"Bastard, wait for me!" Naruto screamed. He followed without any further thought of the possible injuries he might receive.

Sasuke leaned to one side, making the sled to turn to left, thus avoiding contact with a birch. His blood rushed through his veins in a frenzy, warming him up despite the cold wind brushing against his face. He narrowed his eyes to keep water from forming in them and leaned to left again. Suddenly there was a large rock in front of him. Startled, he leaned to one side and managed to avoid crushing in to it but lost his balance in the process and fell. His sled came loose from his grasp and he rolled down after it for a few moments before he could finally stop his falling. Scowling, he sat up and brushed snow from his coat. It was really embarrassing to fall, especially when Naruto was around. Not that he ever went sledding with anyone else anyway, he was seventeen for God's sake! He looked up to see how Naruto was doing and gasped.

At the moment Naruto's sled was flying through the air with Naruto clutching onto it with all his might. The blonde had closed his eyes so it came as a surprise to him when the sled was torn from his hands but he had no time to wonder about it when his front made painful contact with something hard.

Sasuke watched, a little horrified, as Naruto's sled got caught in a bush and the boy himself hit a tree, his legs and arms spread wide open. He winced at the cracking sound Naruto's impact made and then sprang to his feet and ran to the boy with slight difficulty as the snow hindered his movements. He threw himself to his knees next to Naruto who was sprawled on his back and staring up at the tree tops and a sliver of the blue sky.

"Naruto! Are you all right?" Sasuke asked, carefully brushing snow from Naruto's face. Blood trickled from Naruto's nose.

Slowly the cerulean eyes turned to Sasuke. They stared at each other in silence. Then Naruto's features twisted and he let out a groan. "Argh! It hurts! It hurts!" he bemoaned.

Sasuke sighed in relief. "Dobe," he muttered.

"Hmph! Bastard," Naruto returned and struggled to sit up. He groaned when his chest ached most painfully as he changed his position. "Gah! It really hurts."

Sasuke crouched beside him, contemplating how he would bring Naruto back to town if Naruto was unable to walk, when Naruto suddenly jumped up and grinned at him. Sasuke looked up, a bit startled.

"Let's go again!" Naruto suggested.

Sasuke thought of telling Naruto he was being an idiot and that he should stop now but then he decided against it. It would be a wasted effort anyway besides he didn't want to seem as if he was worried about the dumbass. Because, of course, he was not. He stood up and nodded his head slightly. They both turned to fetch their sleds and Sasuke had already descended a few steps toward his own when Naruto's sudden wail made him whirl around again.

"Argh! My sled!" Naruto complained.

Sasuke followed Naruto's gaze and blinked. There was Naruto's sled, at the base of the tree Naruto and it had collided with, almost unrecognizable in its destruction.

"My sled, my sled!" Naruto wailed, dropping to his knees and taking a piece of splintered wood in his hands.

"Shut up, Naruto," Sasuke snapped, Naruto's high-pitched bemoaning irritating his ears. "It's just a sled."

"Just a sled? How can you say that?" Naruto glared at him with angry eyes. "This is the sled Iruka-nii gave me when I was ten."

"It's a miracle it has lasted this long," Sasuke said dryly. He knew it was the sled Iruka had given to Naruto; Naruto had spoken of it quite a few times. He also knew Naruto treasured it highly because no matter how often the blonde complained about Iruka's strictness, Sasuke had no doubt Naruto loved Iruka very much. It was the same with Jiraiya although Jiraiya was anything but strict; he was just plain embarrassing at times and at such times Naruto tried to behave like he didn't even know the old man. "I'm sure Umino-san will buy you a new sled if you ask him."

Naruto made a face. "I can't ask him for that! I'm not a child anymore."

Sasuke hid his smile. He grabbed Naruto's arm and began to drag the boy downhill.

"Wh-what?! Sasuke, you bastard! Let go of me!" Naruto struggled fiercely against Sasuke's hold.

Sighing exasperatedly, Sasuke let go of the orange coat. This act resulted in Naruto falling down as he had been forcefully jerking his arm free from Sasuke's grasp. Sasuke continued his walk, ignoring Naruto's tirade of curses. "Come on, dobe. We'll use my sled for now."

Naruto paused in the middle of his rant to look up at Sasuke's back, dumbfounded. "What? Your sled? Together?!"

"Yes, dobe. Your head works remakably well today, I see." He squatted down, at the same time retrieving his sled which had been caught in a bush and dodging a snowball Naruto threw at him. Then he retraced his steps to Naruto's side and offered his hand.

Naruto accepted it with a growl. "Hmph! I'll let it slide this time since you're being so unusually nice but don't count on my generosity next time!"

"You already threw a snowball at me," Sasuke couldn't stop himself from commenting.

"You! You're really determined to get a beating, aren't you?" Naruto scowled.

Sasuke shrugged and they both stayed silent until they reached the top again. Sasuke set the sled ready and then motioned Naruto to sit down.

"What?! I'm not going to sit! Why don't you sit?" Naruto complained, defiance curling his lips.

Sasuke lifted a brow. "It's my sled. You sit."

Naruto rambled on a few more minutes before finally giving in and sitting down. "You better steer well. If we're going to crash it's me who has to take the worst."

Sasuke put his hands on either side of Naruto, preparing to push them into motion. "You know, if you'd shut up every now and then you'd be a lot more tolerable."

"Why you!" Before Naruto could proceed with another tirade of angry words, Sasuke pushed the sled, ran the few necessary steps to give them a proper start and jumped behind Naruto. He wound his legs tightly round Naruto's waist and pressed his body against Naruto's back while keeping his hands free for steering. He felt Naruto stiffening, ready for any possible impacts.

Their sled sped down the hill with growing speed. Now that there were two people on the same sled it went faster than before and Sasuke had hard time avoiding trees and rocks and bushes. He leaned from one side to the other, Naruto's body moving with his own, and the obstacles flashed past them. He hear Naruto's delighted laugh and couldn't help a smile forming on his lips. They hit a mound and for a while the sled soared through the air, and then they were on the ground again, a little disoriented before Sasuke gained control again. Naruto's cap flew off, grazing Sasuke on his cheek, and then the blond mop of hair was on Sasuke's face as Naruto leaned back, and he had to tilt his head to side to see where they were going.

It was a breath-taking, exciting descend but finally it came to an end. Sasuke and Naruto swayed from side to side for a moment before they fell off the sled. They lied on the ground, panting and staring up at the sky.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto suddenly interrupted the silence.

"What?"

"Do you know anything about some bad blood between Neji and Hinata's father?"

Sasuke propped himself on his elbows to look at Naruto. "Huh?"

Naruto looked up at him. He was lying partly on Sasuke's legs but he chose not to move away. "Well do you?"

Sasuke knitted his brows. "Why do you ask?"

"I just suddenly remebered something ero-sennin said to Iruka-nii last night. Something about how surprised he was that Hyuuga-sama had asked Neji to marry his daughter and even more surprised that Neji had accepted the offer."

Sasuke frowned, trying to remember. "I heard there was a scandal," he finally said.

"A scandal?" Naruto repeated, interested. "What kind of scandal?"

Sasuke shrugged as well as he could in his awkward position. "I don't remember. It was long ago, when we were still little. I don't usually listen to gossip but I remember aniki mentioning it some time."

"Itachi-san?" Naruto looked baffled. Uchiha Itachi was one of the few persons in the world who managed to get respect from Naruto. Naruto was in fact a little scared of Sasuke's brother but he would be dead before he admitted it. "He's not exactly the kind of person to gossip either."

"Yeah, but he doesn't like Neji-san."

"Why?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know. I've never asked."

"Hmm." Naruto looked thoughtful. "There are a lot of secrets in Konoha, aren't there?"

Sasuke shrugged again.

Before they could converse further, they heard someone coming toward them on a horse. They both sat up and looked in the direction of the crunching snow. Soon they saw a man riding a white horse emerging behind a thick row of trees.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, flabbergasted. Sasuke just raised a brow.

The man lifted a hand in salutation. "Naruto, Sasuke. Fancy meeting you here," he drawled.

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head.

The man looked amused. "Do not tell me, my dear Naruto, that you have forgotten we were supposed to meet today?" he inquired.

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "I remember but it's not time yet." Sasuke nodded his assent.

Kakashi drew out a golden pocket watch and peered at it's face. "It's already three hours after we were scheduled to meet."

"Yeah, and you weren't supposed to come in another hour or so." Again, Sasuke confirmed Naruto's words with a nod.

Kakashi closed the watch with a snap and put it back in the pocket of his vest and regarded the two boys with an impassive look. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You're always at least four hours late," Naruto stated with certainty.

"Is that so? And so you two decided to head out for a little fun, now did you?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah!"

"I see. Well, that only means you will both be doing more exercise today."

Sasuke and Naruto looked pleased.

"By exercise I mean the literary exercise of course."

Sasuke still looked pleased while Naruto groaned.

"Sasuke, you will help Naruto to study."

Now both boys wore a scowl.

"Well then, shall we go?" Kakashi inquired cheerfully, turning his horse around.

The boys climbed up the hill to gather the remains of Naruto's sled and then came back down again, picking up Naruto's cap on their way. They turned to follow Kakashi.

Hatake Kakashi was Sasuke's fencing tutor. Naruto had somehow weaseled his way to these lessons as well. They both respected the man's talent which was well-known in the Fire Country. Kakashi had formely been a high ranked soldier in the army and made quite a name for himself. However, he had retired after a battle that had cost him his best friend and his left eye. He now wore a black eye patch over his injured eye and never talked about his past to anyone. Everything that Naruto and Sasuke knew about him were based on gossip and rumors. Kakashi had to have some kind of relationship with the Uchihas though, since Sasuke's father had personally asked him to teach Sasuke, something the Uchiha patriarch never would've done had Kakashi been a total outsider. But whatever Kakashi's past had been like, Sasuke and Naruto didn't really care. All that mattered to them was that Kakashi was a brilliant swordsman who could teach them to do great things.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto piped up.

Kakashi didn't look up from a book he was holding and reading intently. He had drawn it out the moment Sasuke and Naruto had headed up the hill to gather their things and hadn't put it down since. "Yes?"

"Do you know anything about some scandal concerning Neji?"

"Hmm." Kakashi turned a page. "You must mean the Hyuuga scandal from ten years ago."

Naruto stared at him with wide, excited eyes. "So you know about it?"

"Naturally."

"What kind of scandal was it?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm curious!"

"That's not reason enough for you to know," Kakashi said evenly.

Naruto pouted. "But I want to know!"

"It's an old story, Naruto. It doesn't matter anymore."

"It does! Ero-sennin was talking about it last night," Naruto argued.

Kakashi perked up at the mention of Jiraiya and Naruto grimaced. Jiraiya and Kakashi had caused many scandals of their own in their lifetimes and all of them included girls. "Is that so? But it's not very interesting. I believe you would find something else I also know a lot more captivating."

"Huh?" Naruto was baffled but it passed quite quickly and he strode as close to Kakashi as he could and looked up eagerly. "What is it?"

Kakashi glanced down with a teasing smirk. "It's something about the lovely Haruno-san."

Naruto blushed to the roots of his hair and grinned. "What about her?" he asked almost shyly.

Sasuke glanced at the flushed boy and huffed. He couldn't really understand why Naruto insisted on making a fool out of himself over Haruno Sakura. Granted, the girl was pretty but Sasuke knew a lot of people who were a lot prettier. Like himself.

Kakashi cackled. "Wouldn't you want to know."

"I would, I would!"

"Well, perhaps after today's lessons," Kakashi said, his eyes back on the pages of his little book but a gleeful smile on his lips.

"Argh! You're a bastard too, Kakashi-sensei! Just like Sasuke!"

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Naruto continued to pester Kakashi to reveal whatever information he had on the object of his affections. It would be a long journey back to the Uchiha Manor.