DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does. I don't own Hikari Aino.

A/C: Constructive criticism is warmly welcomed and appreciated, as well as readers' suggestions/ideas (particularly when it comes to Lemons – I really suck at those! :S).

GIVES YOU HELL

"The first duty of man is to conquer fear;
he must get rid of it, he cannot act till then."
~ Thomas Carlyle

~HIKARI P.O.V~

I must have Velcro permanently attached to my hips, because both Naruto and Sasuke have not once left my side since I admitted to them, Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei and the Third Hokage that Orochimaru had guest starred in my nightmares and who was the sole reason why I was now an orphan.

Now it seemed that every topic was about him and every time Orochimaru was mentioned, Sasuke would lock me into an unbreakable bear hug against his chest from where he had practically forced me to sit on his lap so he could always be aware of where I was at all times. It was irritating, frustrating and slightly embarrassing.

Particularly when I could feel Sakura trying to burn a hole into the back of my head with her scathing glares and radiating massive waves of killing intent that in turn caused different reactions in everybody else:

Naruto - started shuffling and fidgeting uncomfortably away from Sakura or risk the jealous girl's wrath if he spoke out of turn.

Iruka-sensei - started glancing nervously and worriedly around at us Genin where we were huddled together on the couch in the Hokage's office where we relocated the moment I had spilled the beans of my nightmare to everyone, so we could discuss Orochimaru.

Sasuke- ignored Sakura's killing intent completely, choosing to focus entirely on what the Hokage had to say. But he'd have be an idiot not to be tempted to send her tsunami-sized waves of killing intent back. That of course made Naruto and me shiver even more with fear.

That in turn caused the Sandaimeto tut disapprovingly and exasperatedly at both Sakura and Sasuke's childish behaviour in a grandfatherly way.

Kakashi- sniggered in complete amusement which Iruka noticed and he started aiming 'oh-grow-up-you're-supposed-to-be-an-elite-jounin- act-like-one-for-Kami's-sake' glares which Kakashi completely ignored.

Finally, the tension in the air was becoming so suffocating that the Third finally had to intervene to stop it completely. I sighed in relief and I tried once again to get off Sasuke's lap, but my efforts were stopped again by Sasuke who tightened his grip around my waist causing me to wince slightly.

"Sakura, while your admiration for Sasuke is endearing and charming-"

That statement earning a sceptical snort from me that I tried to disguise as an unconvincing sneeze that caused Sasuke to chuckle affectionately at me and nuzzle my neck. The Hokage glared warningly at me before finishing scolding Sakura.

"-But please refrain from omitting your killing intent, if you don't mind. You're making everyone here extremely uncomfortable. In particular Naruto, Hikari and believe it or not, even Sasuke." He requested pleasantly but with a dollop of exaggerated impatience laced within the words as well that stated all too clearly to even the most simple person that he was not amused and to not try his rapidly fading patience.

Sakura flushed in embarrassment before nodding.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." she acknowledged him in a soft voice.

Sasuke sighed in relief, causing the Hokage to glare at him.

"You too, Sasuke. You're behaving very immaturely at the moment. Please curb the smugness. It is not welcomed." the Hokage added annoyed.

Sasuke looked extremely offended but managed to hold his tongue - remembering the manners his parents had probably drilled into him since birth. The warring killing intents disappeared completely leaving Sakura sulking in her seat next to Naruto who sighed in relief and relaxed into his chair waiting for this stupid discussion to be over.

Iruka turned towards the Third from where he was standing beside the desk and became all business-like.

"Now that we know Orochimaru is at large, what should we do now?" he asked with complete seriousness in his voice.

The Hokage sighed unhappily before rising to his feet and starting to pace the length of the room as the tried to think of an appropriate action that would best suit the security and wellbeing of his village whilst not causing panic and disarray in the process. It was then that I realised how incredibly vulnerable he looked at the moment, compared to how I usually saw him - as wise, fair and compassionate, as well as ruthless when he really needed to be.

Now?

He looked nothing more than the aging old man he actually was - no longer the young, aspiring shinobi we'd seen pictures of in our textbooks and written about in scrolls during our classes at the Academy. A shinobi who had trained the three legendary Sannin into becoming who they were today. (I even learnt from Kakashi-sensei that the three Sannin also underwent the bell test like Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and I). It was then that I realised what Orochimaru is known to be and exactly what we were now asking of our Hokage to do and remorseful tears gathered in my eyes when I understood that we were practically forcing him to kill one of his students.

It would be like forcing Kakashi-sensei to turn around and suddenly terminate either Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura or me to prevent war breaking out.

"We say nothing at the moment, because we'll cause the Villagers to panic and that's the last thing we all need…"

I tuned him out and saw the world blurring because of my tears. I felt like I had caused all these problems unnecessarily and I wanted to run far and not look back.

I didn't care anymore.

I got to my feet cutting the Third off completely as he raised an eyebrow at my random movement.

"Hikari? Is something wrong?"

My entire team were suddenly looking at me with concern and the overwhelming urge to flee grew stronger as the minutes ticked by. I steadied myself as I avoided looking anyone in the eye.

"May I be excused, please…" I muttered before striding quickly for the double doors without waiting for permission to leave.

A hand grabbed my shoulder, stopping me from leaving. I restrained myself from snarling in frustration.

"Where are you going?" came Iruka's stern 'don't-mess-with-me' voice.

"Out. I need to be alone." I answered briskly.

Iruka's hand tightened slightly, indicating that I wasn't about to go anywhere anytime soon.

"No, Hikari. This has got everything to do about you as it does for everyone else here. You need to hear this out." he scolded me in his disapproving teacher's voice.

I nodded curtly aiming for him to let go long enough for me to escape quickly. When he finally did let go I instantly shunshuned away in a whirl of green leaves, hearing Iruka curse as I went.

~NARUTO P.O.V~

"Shit!"

I heard Iruka-sensei curse before watching as his face flushed red when he realised he had just sworn in front of me, Sasuke, Sakura and jii-chan.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Hokage-sama. Please forgive me?" Iruka apologised.

Jii-chan sighed and shook his head as he massaged his temples.

"Don't apologise, Iruka. I would've said something worse." He stood up from his desk, muttering something under his breath about something to do with being too old for this. The moment Hikari-chan had left everyone was panicking, especially Sasuke.

"Someone needs to go after her. She's clearly not alright!" yelled Iruka freaking out.

"Yes, I agree."

His friendly, grandfatherly eyes started darting around in all directions looking extremely worried. Didn't blame him - she's been acting weird since she told us about that freaky snake bastard and that he had killed her family. Just wish she'd tell us what's going on, she's been acting like Sasuke ever since I woke up.

"Sasuke? Naruto?"

I looked over at jii-chan with a serious expression on my face. Sasuke was already halfway towards the doors, probably to go and find Hikari-chan, but Kakashi-sensei stopped him before he could leave.

"Oi! Don't leave without me, Teme!" I shouted and ran to catch up with him. Sasuke threw his stupid death glare at me before retorting.

"Then hurry up you idiot!" he barked back at me, just as jii-chan gave us our instructions.

"I need you two to find Hikari and investigate what is wrong with her. I have a feeling her encounter with Orochimaru has shaken her up more than we realised." he told us gravely.

We nodded and almost made it to the doors before Sakura suddenly piped up sounding pissed.

"Hey?! What about me. I want to help too, I'm her teammate as well!" she protested.

I heard Sasuke snort with disgust beside me. Everyone looked at him with shock as his eyes narrowed dangerously in Sakura's direction. I am so glad I'm not the one receiving that glare.

"Don't make me laugh. You've been nothing more than a hindrance on us the moment I made it clear that I wasn't interested in you. What's more pathetic is that you're taking it out on Hikari. You make me sick." Sasuke hissed at her and I winced when I saw her face pale and tears start forming in her eyes.

But I agreed with what Sasuke said - Sakura was being kinda unfair to Hikari-chan. Iruka-sensei looked like he was about to wade in and comfort Sakura but a look from Kakashi-sensei and Jii-chan stopped him dead.

"Why are you saying that to me, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura whimpered looking really hurt. But before Sasuke could say anything, Kakashi-sensei answered for him.

"Because he has a point. Since day one, you've done nothing but act aggressively towards Hikari, and she has done nothing to provoke you at all. That is both cowardly and unbecoming of a Kunoichi still learning to be an accomplished shinobi." he stated sternly causing Sakura to look ashamed of her actions.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Sakura. If you want to be respected and for people to take you seriously as a ninja, you need to behave more maturely and put aside your petty differences." added jii-chan who looked angry.

"That is why you haven't been asked to search for your teammate alongside Sasuke and Naruto. Iruka-sensei will escort you back to the Tower to await further instructions for the remainder of the Chunnin exams, while Sasuke and Naruto go and find Hikari and bring her back so that they can hear the instructions for themselves. Am I clear?"

Sakura nodded sadly.

"Very good. Off you go, boys." Sasuke and I nodded before heading for the window and disappearing from it to find our lost teammate.

"I say we split up. It'll be easier to find Hikari that way." Sasuke suggested. I nodded and went off to search, but stopped briefly when I thought of something important.

"What do we do if one of us finds her first?" I asked frowning slightly. Sasuke thought for a moment before answering.

"Send out a clone to find the other." he answered before sprinting off to find Hikari leaving me questioning where she might've gone off to.

xXx

Hmmm… where would I go if I were Hikari-chan?

I thought before deciding to start back at the Hokage monument - she, Sasuke and I used to go there something when we were bored and had nothing else to do after training. I sprinted towards the path that was rarely used by both shinobi and the villagers since it was technically out of bounds to be up there unless they were maintaining the massive faces so they didn't decay or whatever.

But if we never got caught when we went up here anyway, so why would it be different now? I could see the sun setting from where I stood on the fourth Hokage's head as I searched around the nearby bushes and boulders for a sign of Hikari-chan sitting there probably looking territorial or crying her eyes out. It certainly seemed like she was about to start crying when I saw her back in Jii-chan's office.

"I got nothing…" I muttered unhappily but realised I could see where she could be hiding from up here, so I squatted and looked around for the most obvious place she could be.

The entire village looked like someone had spewed up orange juice all over it because of the orangey-yellow glow. I suddenly spotted the district where Hikari lived and I decided to go and see if she would be hiding at her house…

SASUKE P.O.V~

Dammit, Hikari! Why did you run away like that? I knew there was something wrong!

I thought angrily as I sprinted around, searching the most obvious places Hikari could be: Ichiraku's, my house, Naruto's house, the tall tree near the front gate of the Village. I was about to give up completely and find Naruto so we could form plan B when I bumped into that annoying brat Konohamaru who was arguing with his friends.

"OW! Hey watch it!" he growled before realising who he was talking to, then his face brightened slightly.

I narrowed my eyes at him impatiently. But apparently, this brat was just as oblivious to impatience as Naruto was. I really don't have time for this…

"Hey Sasuke-san, how's the exam going? Have you passed yet?" he asked in his obnoxious sounding voice.

I rolled my eyes and was about to ignore him completely when I realised that he and his friends might've seen where Hikari might've gone. I decided to answer his question - however troublesome it may be. God, I sound like that lazy ass, Shikamaru.

"Not too good, the Dobe and I seem to have lost one of our teammates. You wouldn't happen to know where she went would you?" I asked hurriedly.

His friend with the orange hair - Moegi, I think - frowned contemplatively before she got the 'light bulb-over-the-head' expression and she stepped forward to answer my question.

"Do you mean that girl who wears a light blue dress and has black hair with matching light blue ribbons in it?" she asked curiously. My eyes widened which obviously answered her question because she immediately went on to explain more.

"Yeah, we saw her about ten minutes ago. She looked kinda upset though." she said frowning slightly. I crouched down to their level to look them directly in the eye.

They flinched back slightly.

"Upset? Explain." I demanded.

Moegi glowered at me before I matched her glare with one of my own and smirked triumphantly when she and her team-mates gulped before hurrying to answer my question. Unfortunately, they chose to answer the question by finishing each other sentences. I don't understand how Naruto can tolerate them, they're so annoying.

"She was crying a lot-" started Moegi.

"-and she was muttering underneath her breath-" added the brat with the glasses and who was constantly sniffing like he had a permanent cold, whom his friends called Udon.

"-and had a really strong hold on a kunai. I think she was thinking about hurting herself." finished Konohamaru who immediately looked worried.

Oh shit, she couldn't be that stupid could she?

"Where was she heading off to?" I demanded almost hysterically as all three soon to be Genin flinched away from me in horror, probably thinking I was going to hurt them if they didn't answer straightaway.

"I saw her heading towards one of the training grounds. I think it was the one with the bridge." Konohamaru replied meekly.

I immediately sprinted for the meeting place Naruto, Sakura, Hikari and I always met up with Kakashi-sensei for our training sessions, ignoring Moegi shouting 'you're welcome' sarcastically behind me as I ran. Why didn't I think of that before? I immediately paused for a second to make the hand signs for a shadow clone and sent it off to find and tell Naruto where to meet me so we could confront Hikari about her runaway tactic from the Third's office.

~NARUTO P.O.V~

"What the hell is your problem!? All I wanted to know was if you'd seen Hikari-chan!" I yelled frantically as I desperately sprinted away from a mob of angry villagers who were hell bent on giving me a new asshole.

I had forgotten at the last minute that the district Hikari lived in had a whole bunch of villagers who hated my guts and who would like nothing more than to see me trampled in a stampede or run out of the village altogether. I dodged a flying object as I ran screaming down the road and thudded unexpectedly into something soft and familiar smelling. I landed hard on my ass and felt the world shift around me when I landed.

"OW!" I looked up and saw Sasuke standing there frowning down at me in contempt as usual.

"Geez, a little warning would be nice next time you bastard." I growled before getting to my feet and brushing myself down.

Sasuke didn't say anything as he watched me get to my feet.

"Sasuke has found where Hikari is hiding." the bastard in front of me stated.

I sighed in relief

"Oh thank god. I didn't want to back in there without somebody else. Some of these villagers can be scary." I muttered conversationally.

The Sasuke clone 'hn'ed' before turning and leading the way away from Hikari's district. I growled angrily.

"Even his clone is a Teme." I muttered frustrated but followed the clone anyway - a little surprised when it led me to our usual meeting place. We found Sasuke leaning against the banister of the bridge looking increasingly annoyed than usual and his eyes flashed the moment I got there as his shadow clone dissipated.

"'Bout time you finally showed up, Dobe. C'mon, Hikari needs us." he ordered me and sprinted off down the beaten track towards the training grounds.

I rolled my eyes.

"Still a freaking bastard." I yelled as I charged after him.

We ran towards the Training grounds where we first became a Team and found Sasuke crouched behind a nearby bush watching Hikari who was kneeling in front of the Memorial stone, completely silent and unmoving except for her shoulders which shook as she cried. I sighed helplessly just as Sasuke looked at me warningly to not make any sudden noises before we both moved cautiously towards our obviously upset friend.

Suddenly, Hikari's head shot up with lightning fast reflexes and jerked her head around to stare at us with daggers in her eyes.

"Hikari-chan?" I whispered quietly.

Hikari's eyes were red-rimmed and still leaking tears as she turned away from us and slowly got to her feet, before instantly running away from us.

"Shit…" Sasuke cursed before taking chase with me close at his heels.

Thinking quickly, I created several shadow clones and each spread out to corner her and stop her from retreating long enough so me and Sasuke could get an answer out of her. Sasuke snarled in frustration.

"Hikari, stop dammit! We just want to talk!" he yelled out desperately.

"Yeah. We're supposed to be your friends - tell us what's wrong!" I added.

Hikari ignored us.

Eventually, we had no choice but to use our kunai to try and pin her against a tree which Sasuke managed to do and Hikari grunted in pain as her body thudded against the tree trunk and then she glared murderously at us.

"Why can't you both just leave me alone, I've done enough already!" Hikari snapped at us as we managed to free her from the tree trunk and lower her gently but cautiously onto the tree trunk beneath us and blocked off any possible escape routes.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked confused.

Hikari looked away as tears suddenly trickled down her cheeks and I immediately felt bad for making her cry. Sasuke on the other hand didn't look very sympathetic.

"What do you mean 'I've done enough already?'" Sasuke snapped causing Hikari to look up at him with tears now falling fast down her cheeks.

"If my family hadn't moved to Konoha after my father and grandfather died, Orochimaru wouldn't have killed my mom whilst simultaneously promised to kill me too and corrupt Sasuke with that stupid curse mark!" Hikari answered bitterly causing Sasuke to absently rub his shoulder where Orochimaru had bitten him, but then he slapped her hard across the face.

She looked stunned at the action as I immediately 'rounded on him angrily.

"Have you lost a couple of brain cells while you were passed out back there, teme?!" I growled.

But Sasuke ignored me in favour of glaring disapprovingly at Hikari who was now looking away from him and rubbing her tender cheek which had turned a bright red after Sasuke had slapped her. His voice was low and icy when he finally spoke.

"Has it ever occurred to you that this ISN'T your fault and that Orochimaru had probably already planned this? Your mother was probably just an inconvenience for him at the time." Hikari's eyes flashed angrily and I gulped and backed away from her feeling a little afraid of her.

"How can you say something as insensitive as that to me when you are in a similar situation as I am?" she demanded as Sasuke 'hn'ed' and got up to walk away before looking over his shoulder at her and giving a parting comment.

"I don't need reminding that I don't have a mom either. But at least I'm not stupid enough to mistake other people's actions for my own." Sasuke started to walk off leaving a stunned still slightly angry Hikari blinking at him as he went. Suddenly, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at us and looked slightly ashamed of his actions but in a split second his indifferent mask replaced it as usual.

"Talk to me when you've stop behaving like a fool and come back to your senses." and he returned back into town.

xXx

I helped Hikari to her feet and looked at her frowning face curiously as she rubbed at her red cheek. We walked back to the Tower silently as Hikari looked at the ground frowning slightly as she looked like she was thinking over Sasuke's words. Finally, I couldn't stand the silence anymore I touched Hikari's shoulder to get her attention, she looked over at me questioningly.

"He's kinda right ya know, Hikari-chan." I admitted sadly, she nodded but still looked at me thoughtfully.

"I know I'm probably the last person to admit it, but what he said kinda made sense. I mean, how were we supposed to know that that snake-bastard would target you and the teme? What you said before about all this being your fault was kinda stupid and obviously not your fault." I explained scrunching up my face as I tried to find the right words to say so she wouldn't fly off the handle at me like she did at Sasuke.

"Why did you say that?" I asked curiously.

Hikari sighed and walked over to a nearby brick fence and sat down on it, indicating me to follow her. She hugged herself and sighed again in a despairing way.

"I dunno. I…I guess I just felt guilty, hopeless and scared both when Sasuke gotten bitten and Orochimaru told me the truth, and that the only way I could cope with it was to blame everything on myself."

Hikari sighed again.

"I guess I was just thinking and lashing out irrationally. I'm sorry Naruto."

Hikari folded herself into my arms and I wrapped my arms automatically around her as I jumped in surprise. But I relaxed into the hug and buried my face into my best friend's black hair as she shivered - not crying, I was surprised about that - from her own fears.

"It's okay. I'm not angry at you, Hikari-chan. I blame Orochimaru for causing you and Sasuke pain for his own selfish needs. And I'm sure Sasuke isn't that angry at you either." I replied and felt bad when Hikari started to cry again.

"Oh god! Don't cry!" I begged her looking around frantically thinking I was about to be pummeled within an inch of my life by a villager who heard Hikari crying but hadn't heard the full story. It would be my luck that that would actually happen.

"Naruto?"

I looked up and saw a concerned Iruka-sensei and a worried looking Kakashi-sensei looking at the both of us.

Trailing behind them both was an indifferent looking Sasuke who was standing off to the side and looking disinterested as usual, but I didn't buy it. I knew that the Teme heard everything Hikari and I had talked about, and I was pretty sure - judging by the looks on Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei's faces that they heard as well.

I grinned in greeting, "Hey Iruka-sensei! Kakashi-sensei!"

I scowled at Sasuke who glared back.

"Teme…"

My former teacher smiled slightly at me and rolled his eyes at how I greeted Sasuke before coming over and placing a caring, comforting hand on Hikari's head, which caused her to look up in alarm before recognising who he was and the shock on her face turned into shame and remorse.

"I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean any of it." she apologised. Iruka smiled before nodding.

"Understandable. But it doesn't excuse the fact that your actions hurt the people who care the most about you." he explained sternly.

Hikari flushed red before looking at her feet.

"Next time, do not leave until you get approval from the Hokage. Am I understood?" Iruka asked Hikari. She nodded before glancing sheepishly at Sasuke who was ignoring us completely.

"Sasuke?"

We looked at Sasuke who turned his head to look at Hikari curiously.

"Hn?"

"I'm sorry for what I said. And I understand if you need more time before you can accept it." she muttered before getting to her feet and walking towards the tower.

Sasuke made no move to stop her and I scowled at him before the both of us followed her. I smirked when I heard Kakashi-sensei mutter something under his breath that caused Iruka-sensei to whack him over the head.