Chapter 5: Everything Distant

"Another date?" Hinata asked, suddenly shocked. Ten Ten nodded and grinned. Ever since she had realized that both of their stories were about the same thing, Hinata felt a soft spot for Sasuke. It wasn't like her crush on Naruto, but it wasn't like the love for her family either. There was emptiness, but something filled her up as well. They weren't friends and they were barely acquaintances. So, what were they?

"It's more casual this time. You can just go out as you are now! And remember…" Ten Ten held up her hand with the threat on it. Hinata sighed and nodded.

"Of course. I understand."

Hinata looked up at the afternoon sky. It was slightly warm and there was a cool breeze. It was a perfect day… for training. She sighed again. "I suppose he isn't coming."

"What do you mean, 'I'm not coming?'" a voice asked annoyingly. Hinata jumped at Sasuke's voice. Had he been standing there all along?

"W-what are we doing today?" Hinata asked.

"Watching the trees."

"W-what?"

"Haven't you ever… just relaxed to watch the trees?" Sasuke inquired. Hinata paused. Yes, there were times like that. The time that flowed like that… was cool and reserved, very much like Sasuke. He started to walk away. "Follow me."

She did, without hesitating at all. He led her to a vast forest and motioned for her to follow. Of course, Hinata did so. They leapt from branch to branch and dashed from tree to tree until… they reached a humongous tree in the center of the forest.

The two ninjas climbed up the tree and found themselves a comfortable branch to relax in. Hinata was the first to speak up after a while had past. "Will they find us here?"

"There is only one clear, but well hidden, route to this tree. We'll be fine," Sasuke replied. "They can't hear our voices unless we really try to get them to hear us. I've escaped here a lot of times, I know."

"Wow… the only place I can escape is in my room," Hinata replied softly. "Sometimes, the time in my room isn't enough and so… I just hold it in the best I can until the evening… where I can cry. But…"

She was waiting for Sasuke to call her a wuss or something, but seeing how it didn't seem to be coming, she continued on. "But I got sick of crying."

There was a long silence before Sasuke turned away from Hinata and said, "Me too. I got sick of it too."

"Are we really so alike?" the raven-haired girl asked, shutting her eyes and listening to the sounds of nature. Her breathing became even with the sounds of the crickets. "You know, it's okay if you don't believe in anyone."

"What?" It was Sasuke's turn to be confused.

"Most of my life, I felt shut out. And so, for a time, I stopped believing what people said. Whatever they said, it wasn't true so I would think in my mind that they were lying," Hinata replied softly. She was opening her heart to things that she thought she shut away. But, she never truly did… they were right there, wide out in the open. That's why it still hurt her to think of it. "I wanted to find a person who I could believe, so then… I found Naruto."

He was noisy and loud. He was just about my exact opposite, and so… I thought, 'Let him be my hero. Give me a rainbow to chase too.' The way that Naruto thought was a different way to think, so I started to actually like him. I wanted his ninja way… to be our ninja way. But… there's always something blocking the rainbow," Hinata said softly. She had never admitted so much to one person. Slowly she opened her eyes and Sasuke was standing at the end of the branch she was resting on.

"Are you talking about Naruto's crush on Sakura?"

"Mm-hmm." Hinata suddenly felt sad. She wanted to hide in this forest. She wanted to run away until she couldn't run anymore. It's not like she had to work hard. Already, she's run away from everything possible. "I've run away so much… that everything is so distant."

"But everything that was distant… becomes so much closer," Sasuke stated, looking back at Hinata. They held another gaze and Sasuke disappeared once again.

"We're always leaving each other, but we always come back…" Hinata thought, getting up. Dusting herself off, she headed back home and thought about what Sasuke had told her. What did he mean by 'But everything that was distant becomes so much closer?'

End of Chapter 5: Everything Distant

Author's Note: Okayyy... I finally typed the entire story, but the epilouge sucks, so I plan on changing it. This would probably be my shortest chapter story written so far. Anyway, about this chapter, I liked it! I especially liked the part where she says, "I've run away so much that everything is so distant." I've never felt that way in my life, so I can only imagine how lonely you would feel. Sasuke's line after that was pretty cool to. It's true, so I like it. X3 Yays for cool lines!

Not exactly a SasuHina fan,

Sammy