Hinata woke around noon that day and Karin was laying in Sasuke's spot. "Good morning~" She sang out with her feet in the air.

"Morning.." Hinata rose and looked around the tent. She couldn't hear anyone outside and Karin seemed to be the only chakra signature for miles, "..Where is everyone..?"

"Sasuke and the other lug heads took that scroll and headed toward the outskirts of town just about an hour ago. They didn't say what was going on, Sasuke just said not to wake you."

"Oh.." Hinata stood up and stretched her hands toward the tent's ceiling. Her nails scraped the top gently before her shoulders slumped and her arms fell to her sides. She looked over at Karin whom had a smile on her face, "What?" Her smile grew bigger and bigger. "When I came to check on you guys, you were cuddled up to Sasuke like he was a giant teddy bear."

"..What?"

"Mmmhm. He was rubbing your back and playing with your hair..it was a sweet sight. Sasuke was just laying there so you could sleep peacefully."

"Oh shut up..!"

"It's true!"

"It is not!"

"Oh it so is." Karin's smile tuned into a smirk, "You two must have been pretty tired from traveling, huh?"

"Well lets talk about you and Suigetsu!" Karin's face turned red and she stuttered, "L-lets not!"

Karin groaned loudly and began to comb through her hair with her fingers, "I cannot wait until we stay in another hotel.."

"Same." The two were bored in their quiet campsite and all they had for entertainment was each other. "So, there is a pond a little ways off. Would you want to go swimming? Sasuke said we need to have camp packed up and ready to go by the time they return."

"He just keeps getting more and more bossy.." Hinata groaned and reluctantly agreed to help take down camp and sneak off to swim. "Do you think the guys will freak out when they see camp is gone and so are we?" Karin inquired with a giggle. "He'll probably rejoice." Hinata commented and hoisted a backpack onto her back. "Let's just get to this pond."

...

"Oh..this is nice." Hinata sunk down into the water, which had been heated by the sun. Out of the corner of her eye she witnessed Karin strip down completely before jumping in. "Is it necessary to be completely nude?"

"Well excus~sse me, Mrs. Prude."

"Mrs?"

"Sasuke is your Mr. Prude." Hinata sighed and allowed some tension to roll off her shoulders. Her mind wandered back to the conversation between Sasuke and herself. It didn't seem like she was as harsh on him now as she was when they first met. Either that or Sasuke simply liked it. She shooed the thought from her mind and focused on the more pressing matters at hand.

Even though she was fairly certain Sasuke wanted to destroy the Leaf, she had a sneaky suspicion that, that wasn't exactly the case. Hinata had a very good intuition and she had learned to trust it over the years. Her intuition was telling her that something else was going on and that Sasuke wasn't as sinister as he would like people to believe.

"Yoohoo~, hellooo~" Karin was waving her hand in front of Hinata's face, "You in there?"

"Yeah, sorry. What?"

"You have been zoning out a ton here lately. Anything you wanna talk about?"

"What's the point?" Hinata looked down at the floor of the pond through the crystal clear water. Karin remained silent, as if waiting for her explanation. It didn't seem like she was going to receive one unless she prodded a little. "Is this about Sasuke?"

"Possibly, he just confuses me. Even if I wanted to I couldn't.."

"Couldn't what..?" Hinata paused before looking into Karin's crimson eyes. "I don't think I could love someone consumed by revenge." Karin remained tight lipped, as if she were trying to think of some sort of persuasive explanation. However, nothing came to mind.

..

Who could blame Hinata?

When Sasuke returned with Jugo and Suigetsu they found the girls drying off by the pond. "Oi, Karin, we told you to clean up camp- not go swimming." Suigetsu stated through clenched teeth. "Relax lame brain, we already cleaned up camp. Give us a minute to dry and we'll be ready.

"We don't have tim-"

"Let them dry." Sasuke interrupted. His voice was a little more gentle than usual. "Are you sure, Sasuke? I thought we were pressed for time?"

"We have a few minutes." Karin sat cross legged on the grass with nothing but panties and a baggy shirt on as she dried and combed her hair out. She smirked and stuck her tongue out at Suigetsu. "Is- is that my shirt you're wearing?!" Suigetsu erupted and Sasuke turned as if to make sure it was Karin he was yelling at.

"Yeah so what?! Get over it! You should be honored that a pretty lady has chosen to wear one of your dirty old shirts!" Suigetsu's face was flushed and his lips were pulled tight, "Pretty lady?!"

"What the hell are you trying to say, Suigetsu?!" The two faded off into the background as Sasuke approached Hinata.

"You could've worn one of my shirts." He stated after noticing she was in one of her black tank tops and a pair of shorts. Hinata looked up at him and smiled before looking back down to the earth beneath her.

..

"Hinata?" She looked up at him once more and he could tell she had been thinking. He didn't even receive a smart remark like he had been expecting. Was she sick? Did he do something wrong? Sasuke shook the thoughts from his head. What did it matter? She hated him anyway.

Her pale eyes smiled up at him as she combed through her shortened hair.

..

Pain. She was in pain and her fake smile wasn't hiding it from him. It made him a little sick to his stomach. His dark onyx eyes searched her much more beautiful eyes for any hint or maybe just an answer. He didn't want to just ask her, although that would've been easier than trying to read her.

Her pale skin glistened beautifully under the rays of sunlight. Her skin was one of her many features that had attracted him to her. His mind briefly wandered to some long ago summer when Hinata had been shyly walking and talking to Naruto and Sakura, stuttering the entire time. For once she wasn't wearing that heavy coat and one could see a little more of her skin than usual.

The trio rounded the corner and Sasuke was seated on the edge of the bridge with his legs dangling above the water. He noticed Hinata immediately, as always, walking so close to Naruto. For a moment he was angry because he assumed Naruto had finally opened his eyes. However, that all cleared up when Naruto ran off toward him, calling out to him like a lost puppy, and left Hinata and Sakura both standing there like they hadn't even existed. He was always such an idiot.

..

"Sasuke..?" Hinata's lighter voice called up to him. His eyes widened and he cleared his throat. "Hurry up and dry off, we need to be on our way." With that being said, he and the other two men hoisted the packs onto their backs. Hinata sat there in confusion. What was that look for? She'd never seen that look on his face before and she couldn't pinpoint what exactly he was thinking. That bothered her.

Nearly three nights had passed since the girls dipped into the pond and everything had seemed to return to normal. Hinata repeatedly suppressed the need to ask Sasuke about the scroll and a few other things. It was playing on her nerves to say the very least.

The more time that passed, the more Hinata was certain something else was going on. She didn't like being left out but she was almost afraid to ask Sasuke. She wasn't afraid of him, but more so the answer she would get.

This was one of the few nights in which they had the luxury of a decent hotel. It wasn't that they didn't have the funds, Sasuke just preferred sleeping in the woods most of the time.

...

While Sasuke was in the bath Hinata climbed onto the bed they would be sharing. She would much rather sleep with Karin, or so she had thought, until Sasuke emerged from the bathroom in literally nothing but a towel. She cleared her throat as if to remind him that she was in the room, but he didn't seem to pay her any mind at all. He didn't even look at her. "How rude do you have to be to come out of the bathroom naked knowing a lady is in the room?" She asked with her arms crossed.

"Tch. I forgot my clothes. It was either I come and get them or I ask you to do something."

"Well I would've gotten them had you just asked me."

"And given you an excuse to go rummaging through my bag?"

"You don't have anything that I want and I am not a thief."

"..Yet you helped me steal a scroll just a few nights ago.." Her eyes widened, "That..that's different!"

"How?" He slid a shirt on over the towel and hunted for his pants and undergarments. "Well you said there was a good reason!"

"Did I? I don't recall that.."

"Well I assumed you had a good reason for stealing!"

"Oh so you think I'm Robin Hood or something?"

"I-!" Hinata took a deep breathing knowing his intentions were to rile her up, "No, I never said that. All I'm saying is that I trusted you." Sasuke stopped what he was doing, clothing in hand, and looked at her. "You trusted me? Why is that past-tense?" Hinata blinked. There was no talking to this man. "Are you saying I've already gained your trust and managed to lose it? You trusted me?"

"Why are you like this?" Hinata asked quietly and placed her face in her hands. "You're going to upset me beyond repair.." Sasuke made his way to the bathroom where he slipped the rest of his clothing on and returned to her. He sat on the edge of the bed and stretched. "Anyway, where were we?" Hinata groaned. "What do you want from me?"

"I don't remember asking you for anything..but your trust."

"Sasuke stop, you're being an asshole."

"Oh so now I'm an asshole?" Hinata didn't reply. She just stared at him as if she were completely done with his crap. "Nothing to say? Whats up with that?"

"You're just a little more talkative than what I remember." She mumbled and he laid back on the bed. "You should get to know me, it'll be awkward trying to make kids later on."

That did it, she had heard enough.

...

"Are you wanting to start a fight?! Because you are literally the last man on earth I would lay down and have kids with! You'll have to break my arms and drag me back to your Uchiha abode like some caveman!" A smile spread across his face. There she was, the fire he had been prodding around for. It had seemed like she was moping around for the last few days and it was depressing him as well. He was used to her smart comebacks and frequent eye rolls. He liked it when she told him he was an idiot and that he was wrong all the time. "Hinata, I don't want to fight with you, but if you insist on prodding me I guess I have no choice but to take the bait. You should be honored to have any of my Uchiha children. Not just any woman is selected, you know?"

"You should be honored to burn in the deepest parts of hell."

"If it means getting closer to you," He reached over and latched onto her thigh yanking her over to him, "I'll do whatever it takes."

She wanted so badly to clock him. She wanted so very badly to hate his guts. She just wanted more than anything to inflict pain or to see him scream or cry. However, instead, she just laid there propped up against his chest staring at his dark eyes while trying to fight back butterflies in her stomach. Why? Why were they even present in a moment like this? Why was she so frustrated all of a sudden? She swallowed hard and opened her mouth to ask that one question she had been dying to ask, but it was a different question in which had escaped her lips.

"Why didn't you take Sakura instead of me? Because she's not a Hyuga? You don't strike me as being that shallow." It was a nasty question and she should've stopped herself before it happened. As soon as it left her mouth she felt horrible. Her eyes fell and her shoulders were heavy.

"Is that what's been bothering you? The reason you've been moping around? I thought it was because you had never stolen anything in your life and you felt bad about it. Why would I take Sakura? So you could have Naruto all to yourself? Well I guess that's my fault too." It was an equally nasty response, only his burned a little more.

Hinata took a deep breath before speaking once more. "I'll admit I was stupid when it came to Naruto. I don't need you or anyone else to convince me of that, but you can't act high and mighty after what you did to Sakura."

"I'm not. I told Sakura I didn't have any interest in her, she chose to chase me. Naruto left you hanging on his every word. There is a difference. Do you feel like you're not good enough or something? Or do you just hate me that much?"

"I don't hate you but I also don't appreciate the circumstances." Sasuke arched a brow and rose up to lean against the headboard. He gave her a look that said continue.

"I know arranged marriages happen all the time, I was in one and that's a huge reason why I left Konoha. I know a lot of people wouldn't see our arrangement as a big deal, you won fair and square. I've dealt with that, but what I'm having a difficult time dealing with it feeling like I'm losing my freedom." She swallowed hard, "I left my family and abandoned all of my friends to escape marrying someone I didn't choose and now here I am with you.. whom I didn't choose. I feel like my freedom is in trouble again.." Sasuke sat and watched her speak, as it turns out he is a pretty good listener.

"Do you think I would limit the things you can do?"

"Don't all men? I would be expected to be a housewife and have a ton of kids."

"I don't expect you to be anything and I don't want a ton of kids."

"Then what do you want?"

He paused for a moment before answering, "A family."' Hinata stared at him for a moment, as if she had to take in his response. "Then why didn't you just come back home to Konoha?"

"After everything I've done? I would be just as lonely there. You wouldn't be talking to me right now either."

"You think this is the best way to do things?"

"Well I hadn't planned on you to abandon the village, in my defense, so it's not like I set this up for you." Hinata nodded and folded her legs. "If I told you that you could leave, would you pack up and leave? No questions asked? Could you leave without saying a word to any of us?"

"I've done it before." She felt her chest tighten suddenly. He said the words she thought she wanted to hear. "Alright, then go. I won't stop you." Her pulse began to speed up at an alarming rate, as if she were panicking on the inside. She could just leave like she did before with no questions asked? She twiddled her thumbs nervously, something she hadn't done in a long time. He watched her bite her lip and look down at the bed. When he noticed her thumbs he reached out and cupped his hand over hers. "You don't have to do anything. You don't have to stay, you don't have to leave, and you don't have to marry me."

"Then why did you say-"

"Do you really think I would hold a wrestling match against you?"

"I.."

"It was just nice to see someone from my past, I didn't want you to leave." Hinata stared at him and gently grabbed the hand that was holding hers, "Why don't you tell me the truth, Sasuke? All of it."

"All of it?"

He took a deep breath and shook his head, "We'll be here all night.."

"We have plenty of time, you don't have to tell me everything in one night."

"Where do you want me to start?"

"The beginning." He bit his lip and looked around the room for a moment before returning his gaze to her. For once he looked vulnerable, maybe even scared. "Will you stay?"

"Yes."