All evening Sasuke was thinking about her request. He mostly trained alone now and when he was with Orochimaru his trainings weren't something he wanted for her experience. He went back in his memories to the time he would train with Kakashi. He remembered their first session and these bells. An idea came to his mind. He wanted to see first how strong was she, what was her style. He knew some things about the Byakugan, for one it was close distance technique as was his, secondly it gave her chance, and a good one, at fighting at distance. He saw some of the special jutsu techniques used by Hyūgas. Apart from her eyes she was quick and swift. At least that's what he has seen so far. He tried to remember how has she thought these ninjas that attacked them. She hasn't used anything special then. He had to see her at her best.

When they were out of the village he picked a place and stopped. She was surprised. They were going only for an hour so it wasn't time for a break.

„Fight me" he said. „If I am to train you I need to know where to begin" She was not prepared for this but obliged. Activated her Byakugan and took her backpack off. There was no way in Hell she would hit him. Not because she was afraid but because he was much stronger than her. Even though she leaped towards him.

He wasn't going to fight her per se, only dodging her attacks. She was quick as he expected and preferred close distance. But her moves were predictable and lacked something. He couldn't figure out why it was until I saw her aims. She was delicate even now. None of her moves were designed to kill.

„If you won't try to kill me you will never even hit me" he said calmly. She looked at him as if he said something ridiculous. „I'm serious" he assured her. After some consideration she breathed out. She focused and charged at him again making some seals with one of her hands. That was interesting to Sasuke, it implied that she had enormous control of her chakra. Good. Both her hands glowed with chair now and she was even faster. He wanted to see what she could do with this chakra so he led them to the nearest tree and avoided her attack there. Her hand went right through it. He smirked. It wasn't brutal force like the one Sakura had. This was precision. She took her hand out of the tree and made different seals. Chakra changed shape. Were those lions? He's never seen this technique before and was curious. She came at him again and he dodged her attack as usual but he felt pain. He smirked again. So he had to avoid those lions as well. It was time to test her long distance combat skills. He jumped into a tree and jumped from branch to branch when she came closer. She deactivated her hands and took out three kunais. She wasn't great at this despite training with her teammates specially to improve on it. She kneeled and focused on his chakra. He wasn't moving but it was obvious he would do something to dodge the kunais. She took a swing with her arm and let go of two of three kunais. Merely a second after she sent the third going. He saw two kunais. And instantly jumped. In the last second he saw the last one and changed direction. Nice deception. She was ready with another three kunais. This time she attached two lines to them and let those two go. When he jumped she punned by the strings and with the other hand let go of the final kana. He was focused on the first two because he suspected the strings had some hidden purpose and had to fight off the final one with his sword. So her technique when it came to kunais was deception. It was funny how different her styles were when it came to long and short distances. In hand to hand combat she was obvious, and now illusions and trickery. But this attack was not done. When he was distracted by the third kunai she closed the distance again. He stopped her.

„We can end now" he said. Now he had basic understanding of her strength. He was impressed by her long distance style. He expected very little from it but it was apparent she had been training on it.

She came back to their backpacks and sat on the grass. He joined her soon after. They both drank some water and locked eyes. He smirked.

„You hit me" he said. She was shocked considering she knew she hasn't. „With your… lion fist?" She nodded. „Where did that technique come from?"

„Oh! Well, Neji helped me develop it" she said. So it was hers. It impressed Sasuke somewhat. He was hit by it because of the fact he didn't know it but that doesn't make her hit less meaningful. He should be watchful of new techniques.

„I didn't expect that. You have uncanny control of your chakra. That's good. We will work on the predictability of your moves." He hoped it didn't sound harsh. „I was surprised at how well you dealt with long distance combat" he noted. „You had trained with intention of improving it, right?" She nodded. „Good, so you are aware of some of your weak points." He stretched. „I don't know what you were talking about when you said you were weak. You are definitely not weak and you will be even stronger" he looked at her. Sure she wasn't the strongest person he dealt with but not weak. She could defend herself, there was no doubt about it. She didn't believe him. All she could think was that he was being polite but as long as she would improve that was alright.

„Thanks" she smiled weakly. He was taking time to help her and it was more than sh could ask for. She was built this way so the only thing she took to herself was that her moves were predictable. Could she work on that?

When they were walking Sasuke noticed she was deep in her thoughts and wondered if it was because what he said. He really tried to be gentle with her, something in her said that it wasn't enough. He reached for her hand and squeezed it. She smiled at him and averted her eyes again. Was she that insecure? Who made her that way?

In the evening they finally reached Iwagakure. It was possibly the best time to arrive here because the sun made the whole village glow. There was something beautifully mysterious about the shadow play that the sunset created. The pinkish sky made it dazzling and the view made Hinata forget about herself. There were a lot of towers in this city, the tallest one being Hokage tower. All of the buildings were made out of rock with very few colorful additions. But it was still amazing how the people adapted their surroundings so that they can live here comfortably. There were a lot of bridges connecting parts of the town and Sasuke could tell that apart from high view points Hinata was a sucker for brides as well. She stopped on almost every one of them and looked at the world which childlike awe. The hotel they decided to stay in was way crosier on the inside. This time they chose to sleep in the same room. It costed less and somehow the night spent behind same doors was not so bad for either of them. When they went out to eat something Hinata was the first one to speak.

„Do you recon villagers, like their buildings, are tough on the outside but fluffy on the inside?" She giggled. There was an image in her mind. Big, strong man, whose appearance told everyone to stay away, sitting on a fluffy couch with two little kittens on his lap. She found that laughable. Sasuke was puzzled. All it took for her to become cheerful again was seeing this place.

„Very possibly so" he drank his tea. He wandered if there was anything worth seeing in this village, but knowing Hinata she would find something even here, under the literal rock.

On their way back Hinata proposed to go and buy some food for them to have just in case. He didn't know in case of what but agreed. Something made them buy sake. Sasuke barely drank and so did Hinata so both of them were weirded out by the purchase.

Once in the room they took turns to wash. It was late but neither was tired enough to go to sleep. Hinata took out playing cards.

„Would you like to play?" She asked him and sat on the floor since there was no table. They decided to play the most simple game there is, at least in cards, war. It wasn't about skill just simple luck. They played for some time and Sasuke thought about that sake. He reached for it and opened it. They played and drunk for some time up until they were tired of playing.

„I would have never thought that out of all the people I know you would be the only one I will travel the world with" said Hinata suddenly. She was a little lightheaded and sake seemed to open her up. Sasuke looked at her. It would take the most skilled tarot reader to foretell this scenario. „When we bumped into each other in the Village Hidden Among Snow I thought that we would not meet for another few years at least" she smiled. He wasn't sober but not as drunk as her.

„No regrets I hope"

„O-oh no!" She gasped. „To be honest I think your company is the best thing that happened in a long time" her eyes, even though they seemed to be a little foggy, were luring him towards her. He felt the same way. She could be his salvation as far as he knew. Her presence freed him of almost all of his worries. She might not think much of herself but to him she meant more and more each passing day they spent together. „But I do feel that I am using you. You are always caring for me but won't let me know yourself" the mood suddenly changed. „You've said before that you are haunted by your past. Why not try and share this with someone. Same weight on two backs is probably easier to carry"

„What do you want me to tell you?" He asked without anger. There would normally be some of that but she was genuinely concerned and it resonated with him on some level.

„Maybe you could tell me why did YOU leave Konoha" she whispered „I told you mine reason it's only fair you told me yours"

„How could I stay there? With everyone looking at me and seeing me for what I am."

„And what exactly are you?"

„I guess you didn't hear, I'm a traitor" he said sarcastically. This were his defense mechanisms - sarcasm and defection. Even now she could feel him escaping her and it hurt. She wanted him to open up and share his pain with her.

„Don't be like that" she pleaded. „I think we are starting to build something between us. But we can't be even good friends if both of us don't share."

„Friends?" He smirked. „If you say something meaningful to me I will too." Her eyes spoke louder than words. They lacked any emotion once again. „For example now. You are so concerned about me but here you are looking like a lifeless doll"

„You want to know?" She asked. Her voice as empty as her eyes. „The only person who saw me for what I was and loved me despite it is dead. Dead because I did something stupid." There where tears forming and she could feel them so she tried to get rid of them. „I left my home because it felt like I didn't belong there anymore. I wanted to be worthy all my life and I never felt less worthy than for the pas year." He cursed himself in his head. He didn't want her to feel bad and now she was on the verge of crying. „I can't even face my best friends in the whole world. And I don't think my problems are bigger than yours, I know they aren't, that's why I am trying to be fair and help you because you are helping me so much" she couldn't fight the tears anymore.

„Hey there, easy" he tried to hug her but she pushed him away. „I'm not great with sharing." He took one of her hands in both of his. „I don't think you know but you simply being here is helping me. I don't feel as absent. You make me see the things I would have never thought to see myself." He pulled her towards him and hugged her. He wanted to tell her more about her influence on him „My life was shit up until now. I destroyed every bond I had. I have no home to go back to. But that all seems to be meaningless when I look at you. When I saw you in the Land of Snow I was lost. There was nothing holding me anywhere and than there was you." She stopped crying. Did he really feel that way? „There are nights I dream of nothing but horror that is my past but hen I wake up and you are there with a smile the nightmares vanish." She looked at his face. „I am afraid of telling you things Hinata. They might scare you off" she doubted it. „Would you still like to be here with me if you knew how many people I've killed? How many I wanted to kill? The difference between your demons and mine is that yours aren't really your fault, mine are only mine"

„I don't care about your past" she said simply „You are who you are now" This time he couldn't help himself. He kissed her. This time harder, more passionate. He felt her hand in his hair. His hands were holding her closely. He couldn't let her slip away. She was too pure to be in the same world he was in but here they were. They parted for a few seconds but their lips acted on their own, longing for touch. He laid her on the floor and supported her head with his hand. She tasted like sweets, but the kind he adored. He tasted like fire if you could taste it. His free hand ran alongside her body giving her shivers. Her hands were traveling from his hair to his shoulder blades. It was all new to them but they seemed to understand their needs instantly. When he felt uneasy in his pants he parted from her.

„God you are beautiful" then he lay next to her and they fell asleep on the floor, forehead to forehead.