Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Writing this chapter took longer than I expected, but finally I finished it. Thank you so much for favorites, follows and reviews. They really motivate me a lot.

6

Hinata was confused.

The last thing she remembered after spending nearly 30 minutes writing a letter to her family and friends was falling asleep at the table, not on the bed, and definitely not with Sasuke. She had woke up snuggling into him, one arm draping over his stomach and face resting on his shoulder. What frightened her more, was the fact that she knew for sure that he didn't make her snuggle into him but she did it on her own.

Last night was strange though. She remembered having a nightmare, which was not very uncommon to her. What she did find strange was the fact that it had actually ended and changed into a dream. She had dreamed of her childhood with Neji when they're still naïve and the Hyuuga's curse hadn't dawned on them. She remembered in her dream last night Neji was sleeping with her as she cuddled him. The corner of her lips turned upward to a small smile as the memories from her childhood came flood back. Neji used to sneak into her room to take a nap with her, saying that it's his duty to protect her even in her sleep, though he always fell asleep first. Her dream last night was so real she could actually hear his steady heartbeat and his warmth spread through her body. Only when she woke up that she realized it's not Neji she was snuggling against but Sasuke.

She must have mistaken him as Neji. Though it's very embarrassing, she had to admit that snuggling into him felt very… good. He was warm and comfortable and she almost wanted to stay like this for good. Her cheeks heated as she caught what she was thinking. She was about to shake her head but quickly stopped in fear of waking him up. The only comfort she had right now was that he might not know that she was snuggling into him because, she reasoned, if he did, he would kick her out of the bed immediately. He hated touching and snuggling was the worst.

She took a deep breath, telling herself that everything would be fine. She had snuggling to him without him knowing last night, she probably could detach from him without waking him up, right? She hoped so. Then, she would act like nothing happen and she didn't snuggle against him or mistake him as her cousin. Very carefully and tentatively, she lifted her arm, pale eyes didn't leave his face for a second. Now she just had to pull her arm back, lift her head from his shoulder and… dark eyes were staring at her. Her mouth opened but before she could let out a gasp or a scream, he beat her to it. "What are you doing?" His monotone tone frightened her even more. Was it a calm before the storm or he really didn't kick her out of the bed immediately.

"I-I…" She began. "I'm s-so sorry." She quickly sat up, untangling herself from him. Her blushed deepened as his dark eyes followed her. "I-I thought you're…"

"Neji?"

"H-how you…" Her face paled, her embarrassment was forgotten. A lump was forming in her throat instead.

"You called his name in your sleep." He said as he slowly sat up, eyeing his shirt. It was dry now, but last night it had been wet with her tears.

"I-I…" She began, but nothing came out. It was always like that whenever someone mentioned Neji. She had so many things to say about him, how great and strong he was, how much she loved him and how she had cried every night even when it'd been 2 years since his death, but she couldn't. Words abandoned her, the lump in her throat only getting larger and larger. She felt hot tears fall on her cheeks and had to turn away quickly to hide those tears. She wiped her tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and swallowed hard. No, she didn't want to cry in front of him. "S-Sorry." She managed to say.

He didn't respond to her apologize, deciding to give her some moment to compose herself. He didn't know what she was apologizing for anyway.

Silence fell over them until her weak voice broke it. "Neji-niisan's my cousin. He died in the war to p-protect me and Naruto-kun."

Sasuke knew about her cousin. Neji was a strong shinobi and at a time he had wanted to test his power against him before leaving Konoha to join Orochimaru. Such a genius sacrificed himself to protect his cousin, just like his brother did for him. She probably didn't know it, but last night when she cried in her sleep, he had seen himself in her. He saw a girl who missed her niisan terribly, always blamed herself for his death, always told herself that if she wasn't so weak, if she was a little stronger, he wouldn't have died. He knew because he had been in her place since Itachi's death.

"I had nightmares last night." She muttered.

He had too, lots of them, but not last night. Last night was one of the rare nights and the first one in a long time that he had slept peacefully. He had witnessed her struggle in her sleep, tears rolling down her cheeks and hands gripping the front of her shirt as if trying to ease a heartache. He knew she was having a nightmare, he just didn't know what her nightmares were about until she whispered her cousin's name. That's when he knew what she was going through. The pain of losing a beloved one, the guilty of not being strong enough to be able to protect them and always blaming yourself for their death.

He hadn't known what to do then. He couldn't comfort her, he had absolutely no idea how. He deemed himself could only bring people misery. Just think of how many times he had made Sakura cry and that belief only strengthened.

He decided to leave her alone and would sleep somewhere else. But just as he was about to sit up, her arm circled his stomach in a tight embrace. His first instinct was to push her away or to even kick her out of the bed, but as the girl buried her face into his chest, he stiffened. Her hot tears dampened his shirt and her strangled voice whispered her cousin's name. He watched as she struggled in her sleep, wondering if he looked exactly like that whenever he had nightmares about the Massacre and Itachi, looking so hopeless and lost.

He blinked when her hold on him tightened. He hadn't realized she had stopped crying and now was sleeping soundly. Her face relaxed into a peaceful one and a shy smile was tugging at the corner of her lips. Her nightmare had probably gone away, though he didn't know how. How she could overcome her nightmare was a mystery to him. In his years of struggling with nightmares, he had never been able to defeat them and the only way to stop them was not sleeping at all.

Later he discovered she was mistaking him as her cousin. He didn't move, any thoughts of leaving her disappeared. He reasoned that if he was to leave her now, she would wake up, and when she woke up in the same bed as him, she would blush madly and start babbling nonsense about how embarrassing it was. Though he enjoyed seeing her blush, right now looking at her sleeping so peacefully was just better.

So he stayed. Her lavender scent soothed him and before he knew it, sleep overtook him.

He didn't have nightmares last night, which was very rare. Last night was the first night in a very long time that he had slept peacefully. No blood splashed on the wall of his home, no dead body laying on the ground or Itachi's last smile when he died, just nothing. He dreamt of nothing last night and he was really grateful for that.

"I did too." He said. "But not last night."

Hinata looked up at him in surprise, not expect him to speak at all. Then it dawned on her. She wasn't the only who had nightmares and hers probably wasn't the worst. He had been through worse than her.

She lowered her pale eyes to her small hands folding neatly in her lap, feeling so small. She knew about his brother and she couldn't imagine the weight he had been carrying in his shoulders all his life. Her life was hard, but it seemed to fade compared to his.

The nightmares were a reminder of the past. Hers was always about Neji sacrificing himself to protect her and she dreaded it. Those nightmares were so terrible that she always woke up in the middle of the night, sweating and panting heavily, her face wet with tears. And his nightmares are for sure even worse than mine.

It might be her kind nature, but she suddenly felt the need for comforting Sasuke but didn't know how. She wasn't Naruto after all. Naruto was the kind of person who wiggled into your heart and could brighten your mood even on the worst day. No! She inwardly shook her head. She could comfort people. She knew she could because she had done it so many times before. She had comforted Hanabi when she failed her first A-ranked mission, Kiba when he lost one of his pups, Kurenai when Mirai got sick and had to be hospitalized and lots of other people, but not him. Sasuke was a special case. He basically was a stranger to her and just until recently that she got to know him a little better.

She frowned, thinking hard. She was not going to give up, there must be a way that she could help him.

"What's with that face?" His voice startled her and pale eyes looked up at him. He wanted to reach out to touch her forehead and smoothe it. A frown didn't look right on her face. A blush would be more suitable.

"I…" She began hesitantly. "I want to say thank you."

"For what?" He asked.

"For stopping the nightmares last night." She said softly. It was getting a little awkward, but she ignored it and pressed on. "I know you hate it when people invade your personal space, but you let me s-snuggle into you last night. I think my body must have mistaken you as Neji-niisan, so the nightmares had stopped."

"You used to sleep with him?"

"Only when we were kids," She elaborated. "And it stopped when his father died."

"Why?" He couldn't help but ask. Although the Uchiha clan was acquaintance with the Hyuuga clan and his father even told him that Hiashi was one of his old classmates and he deeply respected the man as a fellow clan leader, Sasuke never really knew much about them. He was too busy to get stronger and kill Itachi that any thought of the clan with the famous Byakugan had never crossed his mind.

"He blamed me and the Main house for his father's death. And he had the right to." She paused a little, not sure if she should continue and if he would want to listen to her story. When he remained silent, she felt encouraged. "N-Neji-niisan used to hate me a lot. He almost killed me in the Chunin exam. But he had changed, thanks to Naruto-kun, and so had our relationship. We grew closer. He cared for me, trained me and protected me not only out of duty but also because he's considered me as someone dear to him. Because of him, I become more confident and I learned to stand beside, not behind him. I vowed to him that someday, I would find a way to erase the cursed mark and he would be free. And I've failed him."

She bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears. She was supposed to comfort him, but now she was babbling like a kid. Her mouth opened to say something but stopped when he spoke.

"I spent most of my life hating Itachi. I left the village, joined Orochimaru, cut tie with my old team, I did all of these to get stronger and kill him. And when I did, I found out that all he had ever done was protect me and he loved me more than anything. I've killed the person who loved me the most." He didn't know why he was telling her this. When she poured her heart out to him like that, it's hard to not tell her something about his story. Maybe he was getting soft and this fact frightened him a bit, but he assured himself that he would tell her just a tiny bit. Besides, this wouldn't happen again.

"When he died, I felt like a failure." Her hand tentatively rose to touch her left chest. "It hurt here."

She was right. It hurt in the heart. It was a mixture of pain, regret and guilt that weighted so heavily on her she felt suffocated.

"If I haven't been so weak…"

… I could have saved him. He finished for her in his head. Though he didn't say it out loud, he knew she could hear it in her head.

"Neji loved his hair more than anything." She said a faint smile flickered across her face as she reminisced how obsessive Neji was with his hair.

"Itachi also loved his hair. But I think he loved dango more."

"O-Oh… I love them too. They're delicious." Her pale eyes brightened at the mention of her favorite dish. In fact, she loved everything that was sweet.

"No, they're disgusting." He disagreed, scrunching his face in distaste. How Itachi could love something so sweet was a mystery to him.

"You don't like something doesn't make them disgusting." She argued.

"Itachi made me try once and I swear it's the most terrible thing I've ever tasted."

"You should try my cinnamon rolls." She suggested. "You don't like dango doesn't mean you won't like other sweet dishes."

"I doubt I'll like it." He snorted softly.

"At least you won't hate it. I've spent years perfecting my recipe."

He started to get up, heading to the bathroom, deciding to not argue with her. They had to get to Orochimaru as soon as possible and they had wasted enough time talking this morning.

With his back turn to her, he spoke. "Maybe we're not so different after all." And he disappeared behind the door.

She didn't know about it, but inside the bathroom, he had to take a cold shower to stop the warm feeling spreading all over his body.

"T-Thank you." She said as she tied the letter securely around the hawk's leg.

"Just one letter?"

"Just one."

"No particular one for Naruto?" He asked in a scoffing voice.

"N-No," She answered, blushing a little. "But I did address him along with other friends."

"What did you write to him?"

She turned to him in surprise, not expecting that question at all. Or maybe he just wanted to make sure that she didn't disclosure their situation to anyone. "Don't worry. I didn't tell him about our situation. I only wrote that you need my help in something and that something doesn't involve betraying the village."

"Nothing else?" He snorted as if he didn't fully believe her.

"U-Um…" She blushed, avoiding looking at him by directing her gaze to the ground.

"Well?"

"I-I…." Her blush deepened and it irritated him to no end. Her blush had never bothered him until now.

"Did you confess to him, saying that you miss him greatly?"

"W-What? No. I didn't…"

"You told me you're not his girlfriend."

"I'm not." She exclaimed in frustration. No, she really didn't want him to know what she had written to Naruto.

"Then why are you blushing and flustering?"

"I-I wrote that he is right about you, that you're not cruel or ruthless as people portray you to be and deep down inside you're kind. I also confirmed that you didn't hurt me or force me to go with you... In fact, I'm willing to." She blurted out. "And that he doesn't have to worry about you because I'll take care of you." She panted when she finished. She didn't know what had made her say so much in just one breath. Maybe it's the embarrassment. If she talked fast enough, she wouldn't have time to blush madly or fluster.

She closed her eyes, expecting him to lash out at her, telling her that what she had written was ridiculous, that she knew nothing about him to write to Naruto like that and he didn't need her to take care of him. But she was met with silence. As she shyly looked up at him, her pale eyes widened in astonishment as something like a blush came to his cheeks. But she wasn't sure if it actually happened or it's just her imagination as it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.

"You surely have written a lot." He said as he turned his face away, his hair hid part of his face from her view.

"Why are you acting like that?" She couldn't help but ask.

"What am I acting like?" He scolded, looking at her with his narrowed eyes as if he was challenging her.

"You're acting like when you thought I'm Naruto-kun's girlfriend."

"I'm not." He denied.

"Like it would irritate you if I really confessed to Naruto-kun in the letter."

"It wouldn't."

"Are you sure you don't like Naruto-kun like that… A-Ah!" She let out a squeak as he suddenly grabbed her waist, bringing her closer to him. Their front pressed closely against each other. "W-What are you doing?" She asked in a panic. Her hand instinctively put on his shoulder to push him away, making the hawk leave her forearm to perch on his master's shoulder.

"It seems you don't believe me when I said I'm straight…" He said, pressing her against him more firmly until he was sure she could feel something was touching her thigh. "I think I should prove it to you right now, right here."

A shudder racked her body as he dipped his head to bury his face into her neck. His lips didn't touch her, only the tip of his nose ran slowly along her neck. She raised her head to avoid his hair tickling her face, accidentally giving him more access to her neck and he wondered if she was conscious about what she was doing.

He took a deep breath of her lavender scent, reminding himself that he just wanted to scare her a little, nothing more, although he admitted she smelt really good and her skin felt so soft under the tip of his nose.

"S-Stop, S-Sasuke!" She said, feeling more panic than ever. The fact that something down there was touching her thigh made her even more frightened. She, of course, knew what it was, she just had never been this close to it before.

"Never assume I like him romantically again."

She could only nod her head, didn't trust her voice enough to say it out loud. Her move made her skin brush over his lips and he had to repress the urge to open his mouth and take that porcelain skin into his mouth. It was a sign that it's time for him to let her go before he could do something that he would regret greatly later.

She took a shaky step away from him as soon as he released her, a hand came to her left chest to calm her racing heart. No, this wasn't healthy at all. She was sure if this happened again it would damage her heart even more than any gentle fist stroke could do.

"Sasuke…" She said, then paused a little to make sure she had his attention. When he gave her a sideways look, she spoke in a soft but firm voice. "Please, never assume I'm Naruto-kun's girlfriend again."

"We're even then." He shrugged indifferently.

The girl pouted slightly at him, in her head thinking that he was acting strange and she had absolutely no idea what was causing it. Deciding that trying to understand him would be a futile effort, she focused again on her current task.

She reached out to him and he almost swatted her hand away but stopped when realized what she was about to do. She stroked the hawk's head and said softly. "Go." The bird on his shoulder squawked and soared into the clear sky, oblivious to his master's displeasure.

Sasuke didn't expect his hawk to listen so obediently to her like that.

It was late and Hinata wasn't able to sleep.

Though she had laid down on the ground for nearly 30 minutes, sleep evaded her. It must be because the ground was hard and cold, or the cricket chirping sounds was reminding her of Shino and all the night team 8 had spent in the forest, talking, joking and just being around each other. She missed her family and friends greatly.

Hinata looked at the man laying opposite her. He had his eyes closed and was lying still, but she wasn't sure if he was really asleep.

She blinked, and when she opened her pale eyes, the girl almost gasped out loud as the dark pair of eyes were staring at her. So neither could he sleep?

"U-Um… I…" She began, though she didn't know what she was going to say.

"Come here." He said, motioning to space beside him.

"E-Eh?"

"Do you want to have nightmares again?"

She got what he meant. He was offering to help her chasing the nightmares away so that she could sleep peacefully. She started recall last night, of how she had snuggled closely into him and felt his steady heartbeat under her head and her face immediately grew red.

"Um, I don't want to bother you," She refused politely. Though the prospect of snuggling into him and being able to sleep peacefully was very tempting, she was just too embarrassing to repeat last night.

"You're not. If I'm bothered, I won't offer you."

"But I…"

"Or do you want me to come to you?"

"No, I…"

"Don't make me get up and drag you here."

"O-Okay." She said timidly and got up. As she was near him, he moved a little to give her space. But she was taking too long and he was already impatient. Suppressing a sigh, he reached out wrapping his arm around her tiny waist. The girl could only let out a small squeak when she was abruptly pulled toward him. She fell ungracefully to space beside him with her back pressed against his front.

Hinata bit her lip nervously as she felt he buried his nose into her hair. The arm around her waist didn't lose but only tightened. Her face, of course, was hot and red as ever. She flinched slightly as the back of his other hand touched her face. And when he spoke, she could feel his hot breath muffled in her hair. "Your face is hot."

"I'm n-not sure this is a good idea." She protested weakly.

They didn't sleep like this last night.

"I'm not your cousin."

"I k-know." But he was supposed to represent her cousin's presence so that the nightmares of Neji's death wouldn't haunt her anymore, right?

Neji had never embraced her and made her fluster like this. Though when it came to Sasuke, he had every of her first.

"Just sleep." He muttered into her hair, ignoring her confusion.

Truthfully, he didn't do it only for her but also for himself. He, just like her, was dreaded of the nightmares. He thought he had been used to having nightmares after years of dealing with them, but he was wrong. After just one night of being able to sleep peacefully, of not having to wake up in the morning and pretending that he didn't suffer from them while in fact, they haunted him every night, Sasuke didn't want to endure those nightmares anymore.

He knew he was able to sleep peacefully last night was because of her, but he wasn't sure how she managed to pull it off. It could be her delicate lavender scent that always lingered around her, her warmth assured him that she was still alive and so was he, or it's simply an effect the potion had on him. Whatever the reasons were, only Orochimaru could tell.

It seemed he would have a lot to discuss with Orochimaru when they met.

He inhaled her delicate scent as her breath evened out, indicating that she had fallen asleep. Only when the girl was unconscious did she could be close to him without blushing furiously. Though seeing her with her signature blush was very amusing, he decided that having her in his arm, clam and placid like this wasn't too bad.

Soon, his eyelids felt heavy and he drifted into sleep.