Hinata hurried herself out of the bath. With furious fingers she rubbed her downy cotton white towel over her pale skin, noticing the stiffness in her muscles. Despite the fact that she should be upset that she couldn't really move without bearing the complaints of muscles she didn't know she had, she couldn't have been happier.

Naruto hadn't gone easy on her. Well…he did at first; till Hinata confessed that she hated it whenever people went on easy on her because they underestimated her strength.

Quietly in the recessive parts of her mind, she recalled the conversation with such clarity.

Hinata couldn't help but heave as she stood hunched over with her hands on her knees. She squirmed at the uncomfortable sensation of wetness crawling down her back between her shoulder blades. Hinata knew that she was sweating buckets, something that she hadn't done in years.

Tenten had excused herself from supervision for the tenth bathroom break in two hours.

Hinata couldn't have been more grateful, for Tenten's decreasing bladder. At the same time, she was disappointed in herself for allowing her training to suffer. What would her father say if he saw her now?

Probably yell so hard that his face would turn purple before going into cardiac arrest.

She could only hope, but it was unlikely since the condescending man was at the peak of health…at least considering his age.

From the corner of her eye she spotted her 'slave'.

Secretly she fumed at the fact that he hadn't even broken a sweat, not even when Tenten drilled him so hard that both of them would get caught up in their own battle of wills. Tenten giving drills that deemed impossible in Hinata's mind, and Naruto performing them perfectly or coming close despite the risk of breaking his neck, just to piss her off.

She sighed and was about to throw in the towel. She was sick of her self-pitying behavior.

Maybe she would go and garden or something that she was decent at.

"Hina-chan!" Hinata turned around in surprise as she spotted Naruto rushing towards her.

"Where are you going?" His eyes were so eager, that to scream her frustration at him would've be as criminal as kicking a puppy.

Pushing back her frustrated tears she replied "I...I...I'm g...going inside."

"But we just got started," Naruto whined.

Yup definitely like a puppy, Hinata thought.

"I…I'm," Hinata couldn't help but hang her head in shame, "I'm…n..not.. good N..Naruto-kun."

"What are you talking about?"

Hinata's head snapped eyes in surprise, as Naruto continued. "You're amazing."

Hinata shook her head in disbelief. "I..I..hold y..you back!" she exclaimed.

"Huh?"

Hinata wasn't sure if she had the strength to continue, but since she started this argument she had to finish it. "I…I c..can tell. Y..you a..aren't going full out."

It was Naruto's turn to stammer, "I..I didn't I mean I didn't want to hurt you."

If it was possible Hinata crouched more into herself, so self absorbed that she missed the flash of guilt that itched into Naruto's sky blue eyes. "I…I..know I'm w..weak…I w..won't train with y..you and Tenten-san anymore."

Before Naruto could utter another word, Hinata was off into the reclusion of her room, surrendering him to Tenten's wrath for upsetting his owner.

Neither of them spoke for a few days. Well…Naruto would try to strike conversation but Hinata shamelessly would avoid him like the plague.

It wasn't until Tenten threaten his lower extremities that he decided to confront Hinata in the early hours of the morning.

He found her in the dojo, beating a dummy to a pulp. Her method of fighting was so fluid, and so much different from the one she had been using before, that he couldn't help but be fixated at the way her body sliced through the air like she were dancing in water.

"Hina-chan?" his voice brought her out of her zone that she missed a beat half way through her round house kick and ending up falling on her face.

Naruto was at her side in an instant.

Hinata met his look of concern with doe like eyes. Naruto couldn't help but feel his tongue lodge in the base of his throat. With a few of the morning stream lights breaking through one of the windows in the dojo and reflecting off of Hinata's pale skin, she almost appeared like an ethereal entity sent down to save him.

The illusion was broken later as Hinata attempted to run, unaware that she had resumed to being just Hinata-sama.

Naruto quickly found his voice as he grabbed her wrist.

"Wait Hina-chan…" Hinata paused "What was that style that you were using? It's different from the family one I saw. Who taught you that?"

Hinata surrendered her shame to the gods as she bowed her head low, "I..I did." She confessed.

"You did!" Naruto's surprise caused Hinata to turn her head to face him, "That's so cool. I wish I invented my own fighting style. All I know was taught by stupid Ero-sensei"

"E..ero sensei?"

"Yea..the bastard that sold me to you."

"Oh!" Hinata looked at the floor in deep concentration as Naruto blurted out his next question. "Why didn't you use that style when we were training."

Hinata look almost tore Naruto's heart. Shame was etched so deep there that he had a hard time tearing himself away.

"I..in m..my family, not t..to be able to p..perform Juuken i..is considered great s..shame."

"So?"

Hinata was amazed for the second time that day. She couldn't help but continue to stare at Naruto who was oblivious as ever.

"I mean…if you're great at sometime and it works for you, you should use it right? Who cares what other people think."

For a moment Hinata absorbed what her Naruto had said. Without pause she smiled genuinely at her servant, which caught both of them by surprise.

As quickly as she had smiled Hinata was just as quick to turn away. Had she had kept eye contact, she would've seen a blush dust bridge of her servant's nose.

"I…I'll try it a..again," Hinata replied.

The weeks that arrived were filled with groans and grunts of pain and hard sparring sessions. Naruto posed as the motivation that her father had so long tried to be. With each passing week Hinata felt herself growing stronger and more confident. It wasn't until the third week in did Hinata do a double take in the mirror while changing into her sparring gear.

Her hourly figure still remained, as did her childlike face, but her stomach had grown more trim as Hinata made notice of the subtle core muscles poking through. Her cheekbones had become more prominent and her arms were more lean and firm than they had been from the time she left home.

When she told Tenten about her moment Tenten just laughed.

"Of course, you look strong, you always were. You just needed motivation to see it."

Hinata's eyes had gone to Naruto's figure in her courtyard.

"Yes Tenten-san. You're right,"

Had Hinata not been surprised at her stammer less sentence, she would've laughed at Tenten's' expression.

"Hey Hina! You alive in there."

Hinata shook herself out of her stupor to meet up with a pair of flashing angry hazel eyes. Quickly remembering that she wasn't properly dressed, Hinata's slim arms rushed up to cover her more intimate parts only to realize that she had mechanically placed on her sparring gear without noticing.

Blushing with embarrassment Hinata ducked her head before making a quick apology. Tenten's angered look quickly dissipated at Hinata's humbled look.

"Whatever. Lets go," without waiting for Hinata's permission, Tenten grabbed Hinata's hand and rushed to their destination, the dojo.

Naruto was already there, going through the first steps of kata that Tenten had taught him a week before. However, Hinata realized that there was a distant look in his eyes. The stiffness in his arms indicated that his mind was elsewhere.

"Hey idiot! I found Hina so we can start."

To both of the girl's amazement Naruto quickly broke out of his kata and turned to face them. Hesitantly Hinata turned to tell Tenten to stop, but Tenten had already initiated the match with an order.

Reluctantly Hinata faced her opponent and initiated a series of punches and kicks. Naruto blocked them with ease, till Hinata decided fake a jab before pulling a fast one across the side of his face.

It wasn't until a second later did Hinata realized that Naruto mind just wasn't in the fight and therefore wouldn't be able to block her hit. Fist met jaw and although Hinata probably felt it more than Naruto did, didn't mean that the hit didn't hurt like hell.

Without a moments pause Naruto went flying and struck the hard wooden floors with a sharp thud.

Hinata paused, unsure of what exactly happened. Mechanically she drew in her fist before rushing to Naruto's side.

"N..Naru..to-kun a…are you alright?"

Hinata automatically recoiled her hand as she took quickly took in Naruto's cold glare before it transpired into neutrality. The expression was held for such a short period of time, that Hinata thought she imagined the whole thing.

"I think I'll call it quits for today. Neh Hinata-sama."

The manner which she was addressed, caused Hinata's stomach to drop as she helplessly watched Naruto rise to his feet before heading for the exit. Tenten, of course, was quick to get on his case.

"Oy…jackass! Did we say you could leave?"

Naruto just turned around and smiled that one smile that caused Hinata's heart to clench in pain. Although his smile stretched from ear to ear and seemed genuine, it was the way his teeth clenched close together and the tightened fist as his side that told Hinata it was anything but.

Hinata felt her mouth open, but could only gap like a fish for air as Naruto calmly replied. "I'm not in the mood Tenten-sama. Bye Hinata sama."

Drawing out the sama as though it were something vile, Naruto quickly made his leave.

Any of Tenten's cries of protest and cursing were ceased by Hinata's cold hand on her shoulder.

The soon to be mother turned to face her cousin in law who has already turned to face the other way.

"L..l..leave h..i..m a…lone..Tenten-san."

"Hina-chan." Tenten replied softly.

Naruto immediately slammed the door as soon as he entered into the spare room that he had only called his two weeks ago, when Hinata generously offered it too him.

"I..it is c..cold in the living room." She had told him.

He didn't question her intentions then, but now he did.

It was Sakura's birthday today and Naruto couldn't help but feel all the guilt come crushing on him as soon as he opened his eyes. For some reason he remembered what she had once said to him about elites and blue-blooded nobles.

Don't ever let them control you. They'll pretend to care for you by giving you gifts and compliments, but in the end you will always be a toy.

Those words were the cause of his distraction through his sparring session with Hina-chan. Although he hadn't meant to glare at her, when her fist had met his jaw he was hit with the vision that once all this was over what would happen to him.

He would be discarded like some toy. Perhaps she would kick him out on the street. He would rather be returned back to the brothel, where he'd have some of his friends.

Naruto quickly stopped at that train of thought as he realized that apart from Sakura he didn't have friends at that place.

Sakura probably wouldn't be around for much longer. With each trip that she's been taking, she been away for longer and longer. It could be that the client was getting ready to buy her permanently as he had been.

How would she feel when she found out that he was no longer there.

Would she miss him? Did she ever love him?

Naruto wanted to believe so, but it was hard to tell.

His azure eyes went to the window where his mistress had already changed out of her sparring gear and was occupying herself with her garden.

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto tried to find an alternative for her kindness. Perhaps she wanted one of those favors in return. He gulped. Hina-chan was attractive but he's heart belonged to Sakura.

He continued to watch her as she pressed onto tending her garden. His eyes soaked in everything from the gentle way she meandered between the beds, the care that her agile hands made to each plant, he even noticed the glistening of her eyes indicating that she was holding back tears.

His fist tightened once more at his sides while the cords of his neck thickened.

He wouldn't be moved by crocodile tears.

However a small part of him questioned the truth in his statement as he felt himself soften at the thought of bringing her pain.

For the first time, Naruto allowed himself not to be swayed by Sakura's words. Turning around he exited the door and headed for the garden.