Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but the plot.

Beta Reader:Wolf-Enzeru. She's the best!

Chapter 16: An Ironic Matter

God was cruel.

That was one of the many thoughts I had in my head.

Others were something like, why did Naruto have an affair behind my back, why did Ino hide it, why didn't Sakura-san at least come clean about it, and last of all, why does Uchiha-san of all the people like someone like me? As far as I knew, he could have any girl in the village. Not to mention, if he really was pursuing me, I'd only gain enemies as a result of the relationship with him.

The thought frightened me.

I shook my head. No, now's not the time to be thinking about things like this. First thing's first. I have to find Uchiha-san.

Through the heavy rain, I called out as loud as I could.

"Uchiha-san! Uchiha-san, where are you?" The rain continued to fall, soaking the earth wet. It was pretty much all you could hear.

But in this type of weather at this time, there's no way I could find him! "Oh no, what should I do?"

While talking to myself, a voice caught my attention. I stayed quiet to listen closely. It was faint, but enough to be heard.

"...hello, is anyone there?"

Ah, there it is. "Y-Yes!" I answered. It was a girl.

"Please help, there's a person here who's ill and I can hardly carry him!"

"O-Okay, but wh-where are you?"

"I'm...next to the side entrance of the academy on the left!"

I ran to the side of the building. Sure enough, there sat a girl, just like I had thought. In her lap was the person she spoke of. However, it really shocked me to see who the two of them were.

The girl looked up, but it wasn't a girl.

"H-Hinata?"

It was Sakura-san.

My heart began to throb with pain.

Just when I thought I had found some help, it was actually trouble.

Hinata's here? No way! Why is she out here at this time of night though?

It had been almost three months since I'd last seen her. I tried avoiding her as much as I could, but it looked like that wouldn't do any good now. Sasuke was sick at the moment and I really needed the help carrying him, even if it killed me.

Damn, if I'd known something like this would happen, I would've gotten the abortion earlier! I can't carry him myself though. My body's worn out, not to mention that he's heavier then I am.

"S...Sakura-san, is that...you?" Hinata asked.

I looked up at her reluctantly in the eye. "Y-Yeah-it's me." The look on her face was heart-wrenching. I could tell she didn't want to see me just as much as I didn't want to see her.

"W-Why...are you and Uchiha-san-"

"I was on my way home and found him here," I replied. All that matters right now is Sasuke. "I don't know why, but when I got here it looked as though he had sat out in the rain for some time. Right now, he has a really high fever."

At this, Hinata gasped. I looked up this time, surprisingly, to see the expression on her face was that of a worried one.

"R-Really? You mean he was w-waiting out here t-t-the whole time?" she asked.

Waiting? "I-uh guess so, but anyways, I really need your help right now. We have to take him somewhere to rest. I was going to take him to my room so-"

"We should t-take him to my apartment instead," Hinata interrupted rather boldly.

This was weird. Hinata and Sasuke were strangers as far as I knew.

She must've seen the expression on my face because she then said "B-because my apartment is closer instead I th-think we should take him there and...It's...my fault...that he's sick in the first place..." her voice trailed off.

Her fault? How? I wanted to ask why, but decided to dismiss the thought. "Okay then, let's go."

Once we got there, we helped Sasuke onto Hinata's bed. The Hyuga pointed out that there were extra blankets on the shelf in her closet. I got them out and laid two of them over Sasuke, while Hinata went into the kitchen to fix something for him to eat.

Soaking the towel with cold water, I wrung it dry and placed it on his forehead. This would help lower his temperature.

I stared down at the Uchiha. He was as usual, handsome, but his weakened state only made him seem more charming. Not to mention that he was naked under the covers. I blushed just remembering the sight of his body. There had been many times when I had seen male patients undressed, but Sasuke was the only exception of making my heart beat fast.

The sound of the door creaking open was heard. Hinata came in and stood beside me, looking down at Sasuke worriedly.

"How is he?" she asked, biting her lower lip.

I found it really strange for her to be so worried over him when she hardly knew the guy, but then again, it must've been her kind side.

"He should be fine with rest," I answered. She had a relieved look on her face.

"That's good."

She really is weird. Even I wouldn't worry about someone that I hardly knew this much. Patients are a different matter however.

"Oh, I'm sorry! You were just as wet as Uchiha-san when I saw you." She ran out of the room and returned in a few seconds with a towel in hand. "Here, take this Sakura-san. You should take a bath before you get sick too."

"Um...alright." I accepted the towel from her. At that moment, I felt a sudden pang of guilt. "Thank you Hinata."

I left for the bathroom.

In the kitchen, I had found a note stuck to the fridge written by Ino.

Dear Hinata,

I'm over at Shikamaru's. Take all the time you need with Sasuke. I won't be home anytime soon.

Love Ino.

What kind of note is that?!?!?!?

Crumpling the paper, I left for my room.

Sitting beside the bed, I re-soaked the towel and placed it on Uchiha-san's forehead. He mumbled incoherent words in his sleep. It was a bit amusing to see him like that.

The Uchiha-san that I knew years ago had been scary, unsociable, and an excellent fighter, but now, he seemed so...different than what I'd thought.

He had actually waited for me like Ino said. It was weird, but it made me a bit happy.

Thinking back on every encounter I've had with him so far made me think about a lot of things. The one with the most impact being the time he kissed me. I could feel my face burning up already.

God, why now of all times did I have to remember something like that?

Collecting myself, I got up to bring the soup from the kitchen. By the time I returned, Uchiha-san was sitting up in bed staring into space, slightly dazed.

While the bottom half of his body was covered, the top half wasn't. It just then occurred to me that he was naked. Once again, my face burned red with embarrassment. Though it should probably be the other way around.

I seated myself on the chair and removed the lid from the small bowl. Warm steam rose into the air. Using a spoon, I slowly stirred the soup to cool it down. After that, I decided to give Uchiha-san the first bite.

With the spoon almost near his lips, he suddenly turned his gaze at me, a shocked expression on his face. I almost spilled the soup, but thank god didn't.

"What...are you doing?" he asked.

"O-Oh! Um...that is...Sakura-san found you outside in the rain with a fever so we both carried you here and I'm...trying to feed you...some soup to...help you get better and..."It's because of me that you got sick in the first place.

After staring down for what seemed like a long time, he looked up and said "Okay."

"W-Would you rather feed yourself or-"

"Sorry, is it too much trouble?" he asked in a rather weak voice.

"N-N-Not at all."

For a few minutes, I fed him in peace. He ate the soup without any complaints. After finishing it, I set the bowl down. "Was it...good for you?

He nodded. "Thanks, I feel a little better now."

I nodded my head in return.

We sat in silence that is until Uchiha-san broke it by speaking first.

"Hinata, I...have something to tell you."

Saying my first name without a suffix really caught my attention. There was also the fact that he had sounded so serious. The realization of what he would say suddenly hit me as well. Just why did Ino have to be right?

"Listen, I-for a long time I've always-"

"NO, DON'T SAY IT!" I covered my ears. I don't want to hear something like that ever again. "...don't want to hear it; I don't want to hear it."

I quickly got up to leave, but felt a strong grip on my wrist. Uchiha-san pulled me towards him, his arms wrapped around me in a tight embrace. I couldn't see his face, but I could tell he was nervous from the way his body shook.

"Don't go," he whispered. "Please."

I felt my heart tighten. It wasn't fair.

The fear and sadness of his voice was heard clearly. The Uchiha Sasuke who was usually so calm and composed sounded like such a child at the moment. I bit on my bottom lip, shutting my eyes. It hurt.

"I...love you."

I pulled away to get a clear look at his face. Staring directly at me, his expression was something that I never thought I'd see him make.

Red-faced, his eyes held a sad and desperate look. The blush even went as far to his ears.

Now wasn't the time to be thinking about something like this, but it was the honest truth.

He looks...so cute.

"I don't know exactly when it happened, but...I love you," he muttered.

I averted my gaze down to my lap, twisting the hem of my dress in my hands. "You're...just sick, right? That's why you keep saying such weird things, Uchiha-san." I don't want to hear anymore. If I do, I may be pulled into his pace.

"I'm serious! If I wasn't, then I wouldn't even be telling you this in the first place!" He locked his gaze on me. "I only need your answer."

I gulped at his intense stare, staring at him in return.

With his disheveled hair, dark eyes, face, and body, I realized for the first time how handsome he really was. I turned my head away in embarrassment.

I can't even look at him.

Grabbing me by the chin with one hand, Uchiha-san turned my head back to facing him, our noses barely touching.

Oh...god.

"If you don't believe me," he said moving his hand to the side of my face. "-then here's proof." Closing the distance between us, he kissed me.

A/N: Okay, this may just be the weirdest of all the chapters. Sorry bout that. I tend to type endlessly with no thought about how the story format looks. When I read over it after I finish, I'm all like "WTF? When the hell did I put something like that down?" So I then go back to things that didn't make sense and correct them one at a time. Other times, I have a HUGE writer's block and can't think of anything to type at all. These two are the reasons why I take so long to update my stories. One of my biggest flaws as an amateur writer.

BTW. I made this chapter short on purpose due to the ending, which had been decided in a rush. Future chapters will be longer.