Ch.4 Sleepover and Nightmares

"I'll be back in a little while nii-san, don't worry about me." She called as she hurried out the door. Neji sighed as he watched her walk out on him, wishing that he knew of a way to help her.

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The wind started to pick up and the sky began to darken to an ominous gray, while Hinata continued her walk around Konaha. Ever since Naruto had shown up at her house, three months ago, she took a walk everyday around Konaha. Her eyes were unfocused as she walked, her mind always returning to the wedding day, to just before the wedding. Her arms came up to wrap around her body and she shivered from the cold, her eyes lowering to watch her feet as she walked. Though it had been three months, she still felt like it was only yesterday that she caught Naruto.

No don't think about it! She scolded herself, knowing if she did, she would only end up crying again. Hinata forced herself to think of something else, but her mind refused to stop thinking about that day. She closed her eyes and tried to shake her head to clear her mind, only to have it flash-forward to that night she was rescued from the river. She could feel her face grow red as she remembered that night, the heat, the passion. She was incredibly embarrassed that she had done anything like that, it was so unlike her. Her brows knit into a small frown; I never did find out who it was.

Hinata could remember lying in bed, wondering who it was that made her feel like she did. Whoever he was, she was in a way grateful. He made her feel…wanted, beautiful,…sexy. Hinata smiled to herself, who in their right mind would describe her as 'sexy'?

As she continued walking, she started to hear a rhythmic beating of something. It was difficult for her to distinguish what it was. When she got closer, she noticed that she was in one of the many training grounds. She could hear a rapid series of punches and kicks against a wooden post, and she wondered who was training. Careful to stay hidden, she peeked behind a bush to find Sasuke as the origin of the noise. She was about to continue walking when she looked closer at his face. He looked so angry, so enraged, as he fought against an imagined opponent.

Suddenly, with his blood limit activated, and a loud yell he blasted the post to pieces. Shards of wood scattered everywhere. Hinata, a little frightened, started to back away, scared to interrupt him, but when everything was calm yet again, she saw him clutch his shoulder in pain. She gasped as she watched blood travel down his arm and a large piece of wood stuck in his shoulder.

Sasuke looked up when he heard the feminine gasp; his eyes widened with surprise to see Hinata running towards him, a worried look on her face.

"Sasuke-kun! You're hurt." She cried as she ran to him. She looked at it with a worried frown as she tried to pry his bloodied hand away from his shoulder. Hearing thunder crash from above, Hinata looked around and spotted large tree. Leading Sasuke to it, in case it started to rain, she ordered him to sit so she could tend to his wound. Silently obeying her, he sat, and patiently waited for her to heal him.

"This might hurt a bit." She warned him, he saw her intent of taking out the wooden shard, and nodded. Biting her bottom lip, she gently touched his shoulder to brace against him while she took out the large splinter. She could feel his muscles tense under her hand with pain. Inspecting the wound carefully with her hands and eyes, Hinata suddenly began to turn a little pink.

"Umm Sasuke-kun…I uhh, need you to…to take off your shirt. I…I can't really get to the wound with…with your shirt on." She said, feeling a little fidgety. Without saying anything, he rid himself of his shirt, careful not to touch the wound. He turned his head away from her, and closed his eyes when he felt her gently touch him. Her fingers cool and her hands soft, he clenched his teeth and fisted his hand trying not to think about her…or that night.

He purposefully avoided her, which wasn't too difficult anyways since she didn't come out in public very much. He remember the week afterwards, he couldn't sleep without dreaming of making love to her, and waking to dirtied sheets. After that week he made sure that his workout was strenuous enough so that he wouldn't have any trouble passing out, and without dreams. He didn't like how she was constantly on his mind, he didn't like wanting something that was out of his reach. Everyday he wished that he didn't love her, didn't want her, and yet seeing her now. Her long beautiful hair, her expressive eyes, her gentle touch…he had missed seeing her.

"How have you been Sasuke-kun?" Hinata hesitantly asked him while cleaning his wound. After seeing him destroy the post, she was afraid of his answer.

"As dandy as ever." He said coldly. He couldn't tell her that, once again, he was imagining that the post was Naruto, afterall, she still loved him.

"Are…are you sure? You…seemed upset when…when you were training. Is there something…bothering you?" she asked him, dressing his wound. His head snapped around to look at her with a scowl. She saw that?

"I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry." She said softly, seeing the look he was giving her. "I…I'm done." She said, finally done. Sasuke looked down at his shoulder and moved it around a bit, pleased that the only thing he felt was a dull ache.

"Thanks." He said to her, before putting his shirt back on.

"Well…I guess I'll see you later then." Hinata said, not really sure what to say to him. She was never really sure what to say to him. She has learned about him through Naruto, and had come to realize that though he seemed cold, deep down he wasn't a bad person. But that still didn't help her make conversation with him.

"Come on." Sasuke said as he stood up and started walking in the opposite direction she was going to go.

"Huh?" she asked, confused at his actions. He turned to give her an impatient look.

"My apartment isn't far, you can wait out the storm there." He told her expressionlessly. Hinata's eyes widened with surprise, then looked at her surroundings for the first time. It was raining really hard, and the compound was on the other side of the village, she was so busy focusing on his wound, she didn't realize that it had started raining.

"That's ok…I'll just…go home." She said shyly, not wanting to bother him. Sasuke sighed impatiently.

"Your house is on the other side of town, you don't have an umbrella, and neither do I. You'll only get sick walking out in the rain." He told her as if she was a child. Then, feeling as if the discussion was over, he started to walk towards his apartment; Hinata followed behind him silently.

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"Here's some old clothes of mine; their clean. Bathroom's down that way." He told her, pointing down the hall. She nodded as she held the clothes, making sure that her own wet ones wouldn't touch them. Walking to the bathroom and changing into a black t-shirt that reached the top of her thighs and shorts that came down to the middle of her calves, Hinata could feel the cold slowly leaving her body.

Coming out and into the kitchen, Sasuke turned away towards his bedroom, making sure to hide his smile from her. He wished that she didn't look so cute drowning in his clothes. While changing in his room, he could hear Hinata on the phone.

"Neji-nii-san?...I'm going to wait out the storm at a friend's house."

"Hinata-sama, where are you?"

"So don't worry about me, ok? Good-bye."

"Hinata-sama wait!"

Click.

She turned to see Sasuke leaning against the doorframe looking at her with a cocked brow and a smirk.

"I uhh didn't want them to worry." She said without looking at him. Sasuke tried not to laugh at seeing her discomfort from him looking at her. He liked seeing her squirm in his presence, not knowing what to say to him.

"Do…do you want me to make you something?" she asked, feeling like she needed to do something to pay him back for his hospitality. He shrugged as he walked towards the table and sat. Taking that as a 'yes' she grabbed a few things and started making them…dinner?...she looked at the clock. Eight in the evening, she bit her lip, she hadn't realized how late it was.

Seeing how he didn't have a TV, she looked around and found a radio in the corner of the kitchen. Turning it on to find out how long the storm would last, she was disheartened to hear that it would last through out the night. Turning to see how Sasuke felt about that and only found him shrugging as if it was nothing, Hinata felt trapped. She had told Neji that she would wait till the storm was over, not realizing that she'd have to spend the night in order to do that.

Since Sasuke didn't have any problems with that, she tried not to worry about it, though she was incredibly nervous spending the night at a man's place. What am I so worried about? It's not like anything is going to happen.

Finishing their silent dinner, Sasuke got up and grabbed a pillow and blanket from the hallway closet and tossed them to Hinata.

"You can take the bed." He said walking towards his bedroom and pulled off his sheets and grabbed his pillow, throwing them onto the floor.

"That's…that's ok…I…I could take the couch." Hinata said, forgetting that he didn't have one. He turned and looked at her like she was stupid.

"I don't have one." He told her, he had a living space but the only thing there was a table.

"Then…then I could…sleep somewhere else." She said, a little panicky.

"Like where? This is the warmest room and it's a cold night." He told her, fixing his make-shift bed on the floor.

"I…I just don't want to bother you." she said softly, her eyes lowered to the floor. He walked over to her and smile inwardly when he stopped only inches from her, reaching around her, he could see her face pinken.

"Then go to bed." He told her, switching off the lights and getting under his covers. Hinata gulped and fidgeted for a few minutes in the dark before telling herself that she was being silly, and walked over to his bed and laid down the pillow and blanket before getting in.

She lay stiff in bed, staring up at the ceiling and not moving. After a while, she turned onto her side facing Sasuke's direction. She clutched the pillow and closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply, smelling him on his bed…and for some reason, it comforted her.

"Good night Sasuke-kun." She whispered, wondering if he was already asleep. Hearing only the rain outside, she turned over to her other side.

"Good night Hinata." She heard before falling asleep.

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Hinata was suddenly startled out of sleep when she heard a blood-curdling scream. She quickly sat up and turned to look at Sasuke, to see him fidgeting in his sleep, giving off another scream. Her heart pounding with worry she jumped out of bed and rushed to his side, trying to wake him from his nightmare.

"Sasuke-kun!" she yelled, shaking him to no avail. His head was moving restlessly on his pillow and his face was in a cold sweat.

"Brother why!" he screamed in his sleep. Hinata brought her hand to her mouth as she gasped. She knew of the Uchiha massacre that his brother committed, she had no idea though, that even to this day he was still suffering from that time. She watched him calm a little bit, but tears came to her eyes at what he said next.

"Mother…why…leave me…so…alone." Hinata's heart squeezed tightly in her chest as she watched a lone tear fall from his closed eyes. She had no idea, she never realized how he felt. All this time, she thought it was Naruto who was suffering from the past, she never realized that Sasuke was hurting just as equally as him.

"Oh Sasuke." Hinata whispered as she gently wiped his single tear away and caressed his face. Suddenly his eyes opened and with a gasp of breath he shot up, Hinata jumped in her skin with surprise but stayed by his side.

Sasuke was panting as if he just ran a race; he wiped the sweat off his face and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to rid himself of the images his nightmare produced. Staring at his lap, he waited until his heart stopped pounding so quickly to finally look up at Hinata. Her hands were being held in front of her chest, and she looked at him sadly, worriedly.

He looked away, embarrassed and upset that she had witnessed him caught in his nightmares. He didn't have them as often anymore, but whenever it rained hard, they'd always come back to haunt him.

"Sasuke-kun…I…"

"Just forget it." He said angrily, he hated the fact the she had saw him so weak. Sasuke nearly jumped up with surprise when he felt two soft arms wrap around his neck, and was pulled down to her, as she embraced him tightly.

"You're not alone." She whispered, as she stroked the back of his head and held him close. He was just about to pull away from her, not wanting to be so close to her, but stopped at her whispered words. He stiffened at her words, what exactly did he say in his sleep? She continued to hold him even though she felt him tense in her arms.

"Not anymore." She whispered as her other hand started to rub his back. Sasuke shut his eyes tightly, his heart aching, he was afraid to depend on her, on anyone. But as she continued to stroke is head and back, he found himself wrapping his arms around her body, pulling her even closer to him.

He buried his face in her hair, smelling her sweet scent, letting it soothe his nerves. Hinata closed her eyes in relief when he hugged her back, she wanted to help him, but wasn't sure if he would let her. Her own grief forgotten as she tried to free Sasuke of his.

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AN: Alright! Another chapter done, yay! I hope you guys like it. More Sasuke Hinata stuff. Not really a romantic chapter, but hopefully that'll come next chapter. I'm not exactly sure, I started it but it's not going in the direction I wanted, so I have to rewrite it. But hey, there's lots of things that could happen at a sleepover, hehehehe. Thanks to all those who reviewed, you guys are awesome and I love you all very very much. I write only for you!