Chapter Twenty-One

Then I met you,

And slowly but all at Once,

My whole world began to change.

R.M. Broderick

…

"Do you regret it?" He asked her.

Did she?

"No" Came her honest answer.

"Why not?" He asked curiosity eating at him.

"Because" She blushed a faint pink. "It's been nice to get to know you."

His eyes widened for a fraction at her confession. He hoped she hadn't noticed, but something told him those seeing eyes had caught it.

"A-Also," She continued fidgeting with her fingers. "I'm r-really happy to have m-met Karin-san, Jūgo-san, and Suigetsu-kun." He could only stare at her. "S-Sasuke-kun?"

"Is that true?" He needed to know if it was true. For all he knew, she could be lying to make him feel better. Hell! He often heard her crying at night, she couldn't be possibly telling the truth.

"What?" She looked at him quizzically.

"You don't regret it? Not at all?" When had she become so important to him that he needed to hear she wasn't lying?

"Well," she began saying. "It isn't regret. I don't regret what I've done. But I do miss Konoha."

He didn't say anything, but he understood her better than anyone. He had missed Konoha in the beginning when he left the village.

Sasuke's reasons for leaving the village were much more different than hers; he had left because he wanted to murder his brother Itachi and avenge his clan. He didn't care if he had to leave everything behind to accomplish his long life goal, but Hinata was different. She had left the village because she wanted to live a different life. She wanted to be herself without being told what to do; to be truly free from her imposing clan. He couldn't relate to that, but he didn't judge her for it.

"Sasuke-Kun" He heard her calling him, breaking him from his reverie.

"Hn?" He said looking at her.

"Thank you," She said smiling with a slight blush. "For helping me, for this... For everything."

(End of Memory)

Uchiha Sasuke was upset. He normally didn't care for people, but somehow he had come to care for the former heiress. Somehow, she had managed to crawl under his skin and now he was left with this feeling he didn't understand. Now there was a threat to Hinata's safety and happiness and the news didn't sit well to the Uchiha. What was his best friend thinking when he decided to bring Hyūga Hanabi in his mission? What was Kakashi thinking when he accepted that the heiress to the Hyūga should be part of the search team? After all the trouble they went through to get Hinata safe and away from the clan and village, they trusted the heiress of the Hyūga clan with this mission? How could they believe her so easily? For all they knew, she could be working with the Hyūga elders. Couldn't they see that?

He didn't trust her.

No matter what Naruto or Kakashi said, Sasuke didn't believe the heiress of the Hyūga clan was on their side. After all, he had killed his own brother, what is to say those weren't Hanabi's intentions too? If she thought he'd allow her to get near Hinata she had another thing coming. Uchiha Sasuke wouldn't let anything happen to Hinata.

Quickening his pace, the last Uchiha went in search for his best friend.

Another nightmare. This one had been more gruesome than the others. It not only made her want to cry, but it also made her want to scream. She could still feel Neji's blood in her hands.

Unable to contain her sobs, Hinata began to cry. If only she could forget what happened; if only she could escape from the nightmares. Why did he have to die? Why did he-

A guttural scream.

Hinata stood up quickly activating her Byakugan to inspect the hideout. Were they under attack? The tears in her eyes made her vision blurry, but she could still see the layout of the hideout. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, was she hearing voices-

Another scream. This time she followed the scream with her all-seeing eyes. She couldn't see anyone.

But...

There... There was a person.

What were they doing? Who was it?

She knew it was reckless to take a look by herself, but curiosity took over her. Besides, it didn't seem like they were fighting anyone in particular. Taking the robe hanging by the door, Hinata began to descend the dark hallway, always keeping her byakugan activated. If the person tried to attack her, she'd make sure to kill them.

She got closer to the training room, and to her surprise, she noticed it was open. Taking small steps, Hinata peered through the door.

"Has anyone told you that it's not wise to sneak up on people training?" A male voice she knew too well said from inside the training room.

There he was, Uchiha Sasuke in all his shirtless glory. Hinata made it a point not to look anywhere but his face. Why did she feel so flustered when he was shirtless?

"I w-wasn't sneaking up o-on you!" Her face began to turn scarlet, and she wasn't sure if it was out of embarrassment because he called her out for sneaking up on him or if his nakedness was having an effect on her."I heard you screaming." At this, she noticed the Uchiha still. It had been a small movement, barely noticeable, but her Byakugan didn't lie. Whatever it was that he had been doing here, he didn't want her to know. She thought she had an idea of what it was. "What were you doing?"

"That's none of your business." This time it was her time to flinch. That was cold, but maybe she had gone too far.

"I'm sorry for having disturbed you. I'll be going now-"

"Wait." She heard him call after her. "I was training."

"Training?" She said carefully looking at him.

"I came to train because I couldn't sleep." He looked away from her.

"Oh," She knew that feeling well. Whenever her nightmares hunted her dreams she would train or meditate. Sasuke was doing the same thing. Of course, the last Uchiha would rather die than admit his weaknesses. "Do you need someone to spar with?" She smiled tentatively when he glanced at her.

"No, I'm done." He said curtly.

"Oh okay, well goodnight Sasuke-kun." She began to walk toward the door when she felt a callous hand wrap around her arm.

"Hinata" She looked up at him questioningly. Hinata noticed a bit of hesitancy from him.

"What is it?" She could swear Sasuke was mildly blushing or were her eyes deceiving her?

"I'm hungry." He said letting her arm go and walking toward the door. Hinata stared at his back for a moment before she heard him call her again. "Aren't you coming?" She smiled to herself and followed the Uchiha to the kitchen.

(End of memory)

That night, Hinata and Sasuke stayed up eating and drinking tea. They had made small talk, but nothing meaningful. That was an improvement in itself, for Sasuke didn't speak to anyone about anything. However, that night he had talked about his Genin days. She had smiled whenever he talked about his team. They were a strange one that's for sure, but it was obvious they loved one another.

Hinata stared at the letter in her hands. Her cheeks were stained with tears. Sasuke hadn't said much, not that she expected it. However, she had hoped he'd be a little less cold with her. With everything they had been through and the time they had spent together in the hideout, things between them were beginning to feel more comfortable. Perhaps that's why it hurt so much that he only cared to inform her through a letter that he was reassuming his travels and that she was to stay in the hideout with the rest of team Taka.

Perhaps she had read too deep between the lines. It was likely that Sasuke didn't feel the way she felt about their companionship, and that was only natural. Uchiha Sasuke was a man of a few friends. Kakashi and Sakura were important to him, but only did he consider Naruto his true and only friend. How ridiculous of her to think they were something close to friends. Of course, he didn't care about her. Hinata didn't know why the thought hurt her so much.

She was only a mission. A mission he had expertly completed.

"How could he?" The pink-haired muttered to herself while waiting outside of the Hokage's office.

An ANBU opened the door to Kakashi's office, "You may come in, Sakura-san."

"Thank you," She said through clenched teeth. Once inside the office, she waited for the ANBU to close the door before addressing the man before her. "You!" She growled.

"Sakura-chan, it's good to see-"

"Don't try to play dumb with me sensei!" She yelled at the man. To his credit, he didn't even flinch. He was probably used to her outburst by now. However, this time it was different. This time Sakura was really mad. She didn't think anything could make her forgive Kakashi. "Is it true that Naruto is in a mission?"

"Ah," He said with a bored expression. "That's what this is all about?" He gestured with his hand as if she didn't have good reasons to be upset at him.

"Well?" She was becoming exasperated. She would punch a hole through his head if he didn't answer her question in the next minute.

"He is." He said simply and she wanted to slap him.

"That's it?" He looked at her, and for a moment Sakura thought he was waging his words. "Is this about Sasuke?" She hoped not. She wouldn't be able to take it… if he went back to his old ways she would die. She would rather die if-

"No." He interrupted her frantic thoughts. "What did you come here for, Sakura-chan?"

"Why didn't you send me to this mission with Naruto?" There was no point in dragging it, she might as well go straight to the point. "Instead, you sent him with Hanabi-chan and Kiba-Kun."

"Because I can." He said simply making the pink-haired woman even more upset.

"Is this about Hinata-chan?"

"I cannot speak of a mission. You know the rule-"

"Spare me your bullshit, sensei!" She heard Kakashi sighed in resignation.

"Yes, yes it is." He looked at her in annoyance. "But that's all I'm saying."

"Is…is Sasuke involved?"

Kakashi knew exactly what she wanted. The change in her voice whenever she spoke about Sasuke only confirmed it. This wasn't about the mission. Heck, this wasn't about Hinata either; this was all about Sasuke. He sighed. If only she would try to forget him and move on. It was a pity really. She was a wonderful medic-nin and an excellent kunoichi. Sakura was also beautiful and smart, but when it came to her love for Sasuke she tended to act childishly.

"Sakura-chan," He said softly. "He is helping Naruto with this mission, but he isn't part of it." He knew he shouldn't be talking about the mission, but maybe if he reassured her that Sasuke wasn't involved she would let it go.

"But he is going to be there?" She asked, lips quivering. "And you didn't send me with them, instead you sent Hanabi-chan."

"Why are you so upset about?"

"I…" She took a deep breath in an attempt to hold back her tears. "I wanted to see him." She said smiling to herself. "I miss him, sensei."

"Why do you want to see him?" She looked at Kakashi mildly confused.

Why kind of question is that, sensei?" She blushed. "You know why I want to see him." She was acting all shy now. Sometimes Kakashi couldn't understand how she could go from a crazy banshee to a shy middle-schooler girl.

He sighed.

"Isn't it obvious," He knew this was going to hurt her, but he had to be honest. It was long overdue. "that Sasuke doesn't feel the same for you?" He continued speaking before she could say anything. "Sasuke doesn't love you in that way Sakura-chan." He knew that no matter how softly he tried to tell her this, his words would be taken as a blow, and he could see it now; her face contorted in pain and her eyes widened.

He had hurt her.

Naruto was becoming more anxious with every passing minute. What could his friend be doing that was more important than to help him with this mission? Didn't he understand how important it was for Hinata that they knew where he had her hidden?

He had told the rest of the search team that he was going to search the area alone in case Sasuke decided to show up. Naruto knew his friends wouldn't show up if he wasn't completely alone.

Naruto was sitting under a tree when he felt the unique chakra signal of his friend and rival. It was barely noticeable, so he obviously sent it for Naruto to feel it. As he had thought, Uchiha Sasuke wanted to speak with him alone.

"Teme! What the hell took you so long!?" He almost yelled when Sasuke appeared before him.

"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke smirked.

Naruto grinned at his friend. It was good to see him again. "So, where are you hiding Hinata?"

"Don't you wanna know how is she doing first?" Naruto knew Sasuke was evading his question. He didn't like that.

"Sasuke… What's happening?" He said warningly.

"I could ask you the same thing, Naruto?" This time, Naruto saw anger flash in his friend's eyes. "Why the hell did you bring the heires of the Hyūga clan to this mission?"

"She's here to help us," Naruto said scratching his head. "I know it seems weird but Hanabi-chan is worried about Hinata-chan too."

"Hn," Sasuke was quiet for a moment. "I don't trust her."

"She means good Sasuke, I promise." He smiled reassuringly.

"I don't think you understand," Sasuke said, and this time Naruto noticed a shift in his chakra. Darker. He hadn't felt his chakra like this since the last time they fought when they lost their arms.

"What is your problem, teme!?" Naruto took a fighting stance. If he thought he wouldn't beat his ass a second time his friend was wrong.

"I'm not letting anyone hurt Hinata."

What…?

Author's Note: CLIFF HANGER! I know, I'm so sorry lol. Thank you so much for the support guys! I love you all so much.

Here is a new chapter! This one took forever to write, and the next might take even longer now that I started college. I hope you had enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm not sure when I'll be able to update this fic again, blame it on school and the other fandoms I am currently writing for. Just so you have an idea, I'm writing for BNHA, One Piece, and DBZ. You can check out my work here (for One Piece and DBZ) and ao3 (for BNHA) under RaquelBelle, if you're interested in reading them.

Sorry for grammar and punctuation mistakes. I tried to edit it as best as I could.

Also, I know not may will like how I treated Sakura's character, but as I've mentioned before, I'm gonna stick to canon as much as possible, and Sakura was always obsessed with Sasuke. However, I do want to give her character closure, so please, don't hate me yet.

IMPORTANT: I'll be participating in Sasuhinamonth2019, but as it is expected, I'm super late lol, but I'll try to post two or three shots for our favorite pair soon. I'll be posting them on Tumblr. You can check out my profile for my Tumblr account.

Answer to Reviews:

Thank you all so much for the wonderful support! I am so lucky to have you guys as supporters. I'm actually surprised by the number of favs and likes this fic is getting. If you like it, please share it! Also, I'm not leaving this fic incomplete. I could never do that to you guys, so don't worry. Yes, I won't be as active, but that doesn't mean I will forget about it.

See you soon!