Ch. 8 A Painful Confrontation

Hinata wouldn't exactly call it eave's dropping since they were talking so loud, but she was grateful for what she heard. So he'll be back in a week…I guess I'll tell him then…yeah…I'll tell him then.

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Naruto was tired. He was tired of feeling guilty, he was tired of feeling depressed, of being himself. He hardly slept anymore, he hardly ever when to the Ichiraku ramen shop, and he was always asking Tsunade for more and more missions, trying his best to forget about his troubles. Tsunade, Iruka, and the others were very concerned for him; he hardly smiled anymore, and he never laughed. It was like the Naruto they knew had died and all remained was a haunted depressed spirit.

Naruto stared down at his feet while he walked through the village. He was feeling lazy, not wanting to train today. But he needed to do something or at least talk to someone. He wanted out of this deep dark and depressing mood he was in, but he didn't know how. He avoided Sakura, the wounds of betrayal still feeling fresh and unhealed. And he never saw Hinata, he heard she kept to the Hyuuga compound. Naruto's mood lowered even more, remembering how much Hinata had changed when they were together. She became more confident, more out spoken and more outgoing, her stutter being the thing of the past. She had grown to become an amazing woman and it was because of him that she had reverted back to her shelled self.

He had never meant for this to happen. He had never wanted this to happen. She was supposed to be his happy ending…and his happy beginning. He had wanted to live forever with her, to grow old with her, to have a family with her. But he was blind and he was weak. He couldn't see Sakura as she really was and he couldn't resist the temptation of having her one more time before he became a married man. And now his world was shattered, and it was all because of him.

Calloused hands curled to fists as Naruto struggled to hold back his tears. He was tired of crying, he was tired of feeling this way. He needed to get out of this dark place in his mind. But he needed help, and he could think of no one better to help him than Sasuke. He's supposed to be back from his mission today, maybe he's home already. Naruto quickened his pace and headed towards his rival's home.

Knocking on the door and not getting an answer, he opened it with the only key to the apartment, other than Sasuke's. Naruto walked in, unknowingly leaving the door ajar behind him. Looking around to find the place empty, he sighed with frustration. Damn it, he's not back yet. Feeling the urge to use Sasuke's bathroom facilities, Naruto headed down the hallway to relieve his bulging bladder.

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"Hinata-sama…Hinata-sama!"

Hinata blinked several times as her mind came crashing back to reality. Her eyes focusing on a pair of eyes, very similar to her own.

"You've been out of it all week Hinata-sama, are you okay?" Neji asked, trying not to sound worried or anything. Hinata looked around herself, she was leaning against a counter in the kitchen and apparently she was staring at the stove. Hinata blushed with embarrassment.

"I'm alright…just a little distracted." She said softly, looking back at the stove. Neji eyed her curiously.

"I'm uhh…" she started out, still staring at the stove, "I'm going to go for a walk." She said quickly as she started to head out of the kitchen. However she didn't get very far when Neji suddenly snatched her arm firmly.

"Hinata-sama…what's going on?" he asked her with a hard voice. Hinata kept her head turned from him.

"Nothing." She lied softly, not moving away from him.

"That's not true." He growled as he gently grabbed her chin to turn her face towards his. Hinata's cheeks burned pink at the closeness of his face and the way he kept his hand on her chin.

"Neji-nii-san?" she whispered as her brows knitted across her face. Neji's cheeks slightly pinked as he snatched his hands away from her.

"Sorry." He mumbled. Hinata could feel the air between them getting thick, making her want to leave even more. So quickly turning on her heel she headed for the door.

"Don't worry Neji-nii-san!" she called behind her, "I'll be back later!" Hinata quickly walked across the village towards Sasuke's apartment. She tried not the think about what she was going to tell him, she tried telling herself that what she was doing was the right thing. She was going to have to just heal her wounds on her own.

Reaching his door, a smile suddenly grace her face seeing that it was slightly ajar. Sasuke's home! She knocked softly as she hesitantly walked in. She looked around the find the place exactly how she remembered it.

"Sasuke-kun?" she called softly, only to have silence answer her back. Frowning she walked down the hallway to his bedroom, to find that it was neat and tidy and without Sasuke. Sighing softly she sat down on his bed, staring down at it, remembering the last time she was here.

"Sasuke-kun."

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Ahh I feel much better. Naruto walked out of Sasuke's bathroom and was about to walk to the kitchen to find himself something to eat till Sasuke came back, when he suddenly heard a soft sigh in the bedroom.

"Sasuke-kun."

Frowning, Naruto went in to investigate. It better not be Sakura. Instead he walked in to find a very different woman.

"Hinata?" Naruto couldn't believe his eyes, Hinata was here, right in front of him.

Hinata's head turned at the sound of her name, but all the blood drained from her face at seeing Naruto. Her pain and hurt coming back to her eyes, it was like seeing him again was ripping open the wound she was desperately trying to heal.

"Naruto? What…what are you doing here?" she asked, her eyes wide and hesitant. Naruto's eyes had lit up at seeing her again, being able to look upon her and gaze at her lovely beauty.

"I came here to wait for Sasuke to come back and then…wait a minute…" her question suddenly sinking in, he looked at her sitting on Sasuke's bed, one hand covering her heart and the other clutching the sheets.

"What are you doing here?" he suddenly asked her, the light from his eyes fading beginning to be replaced with anger and realization started to dawn on him.

"Well I uhh…I…I…" Hinata stumbled for a good reason to be here in Sasuke's apartment. Naruto hands fisted at his sides as disbelief and anger churned inside him.

"Are you sleeping with him!" he shot at her, his eyes alive with anger. Hinata's face burned a bright red as she looked away from him.

"N-no." she stuttered. Hinata shut her eyes tightly, what happened to the confident woman she use to be?

"Liar!" Naruto yelled. "And all this time I was feeling terrible about what happened when you've probably been sleeping with him this whole time!" Hinata's head snapped back to him and she shot up to her feet, her eyes wide with panic.

"No Naruto, that's not true!" she cried.

"Don't lie to me! All this time I've been suffering for what happened, for losing you, and you turn around and fuck my best friend behind my back!" Naruto yelled with anger, yet tears came to his eyes. She was just like her, just like Sakura.

"No Naruto!" tears were beginning to flow down her cheeks.

"How long! How long?" Naruto suddenly walked towards her and gripped her arms.

"Naruto." Hinata cried as she just lowered her head.

"Since the wedding!" he asked loudly while shaking her in his grasp. Hinata shook her head, too choked up with tears to say anything.

"NO? Longer? Since he came back? Since we've been together?" he kept yelling at her. "Who else, huh? Neji?" he screamed. Hinata suddenly gasped as she looked up at him, tears flowing from her eyes, her pain being reflected in them. But Naruto was immune to them right now. It's an act! It's all an act! Her sweetness and vulnerability were all an act! He suddenly shoved her away from him.

"You're just like her…you're a slut just like Sakura." He growled darkly. Hinata who was hugging herself and cowering under his angry and false accusations, suddenly looked up at him again. However this time anger was also laced in with the pain she was feeling. Walking up to him, she did the one thing she never in her life thought she would ever do.

Naruto's eyes widened with shock as his face was painfully snapped to the other side. He could feel the sting on his cheek and it suddenly felt like time had stopped. She slapped him, she hit him. His blue eyes still full of shock, looked back at her. Her usual sweet and serene face now expressing anger.

"Don't you…dare…say that…I am nothing like her." Hinata said softly, yet her words were hard. "For years….YEARS you were my world. You were my hopes, my dreams, you were EVERYTHING I held dear to me. I believed in you, I supported you, I fought for you. When you thought no one acknowledged you, I did. When you thought no one would love you, I DID! When everyone else loved Sasuke, I loved you!" Hinata collapsed back down onto Sasuke's bed in tears, sobbing so hard that she couldn't go on anymore. Naruto was silent as he watched her cry, her body trembling with the force of her tears.

"Don't you see…you were my life." She whispered. Naruto looked away, her tears, her words haunting him, tearing at him. Her tears dropping on his heart like acid.

"But I guess you have a new life now huh? With him." Naruto said as jealousy began to fill his heart and his mind. He was the one who had healed her wounds, and now she had found someone else to do that job. She had found Sasuke.

Hinata clutched the sheets under her, not looking at him. She didn't know if that statement was true or not. She had only been with Sasuke one night…well technically two, but still, could she base a new life on that alone? She admitted that she was coming to care more for him, but wasn't that it? Hinata bit her bottom lip, indecision gnawing at her.

However, her silence only made Naruto believe she was agreeing with him. Taking her silence as an affirmative answer. He was so full of jealousy he could taste it. She was supposed to be with him, not Sasuke!

"You know he only wants to fuck you!" he spat, not caring about his crude language. Not caring if what he said was true or not.

Hinata gasped softly as her eyes widened with what he said. Was it true? Was Sasuke only being kind to her because he wanted to…wanted to…bed her? Hinata thought back at the night he pulled her from the river. How he kissed her first and never told her why. The things he said and did to her. How every time they were close, sparks flew and they ended up closer. Hinata's lips quivered as she shut her eyes tightly, trying to stop the new tears that sprung in her eyes.

"He only wants you 'cause we're rivals. He only wants to flaunt you, to show that Uchiha Sasuke still has one up on Uzumaki Naruto!" he shot at her.

"No!" Hinata cried as she covered her head with hear hands, trying to get his words out of her mind.

"What the hell is going on here?" a sharp voice cut through both of them. Hinata looked up and Naruto whirled around to find Sasuke standing in the hallway, his arms crossed and a dark scowl on his face.

"Sasuke-kun." Hinata breathed, making Naruto clench his fists as his eyes shot daggers at his rival.

"You bastard! How could you go behind by back like that?" Naruto yelled. Sasuke stared at him, schooling his face into a bored expression.

"Going behind your back? What the hell are you talking about? It's your own damn fault you lost her." He stated, emotionless.

"Shut up! I-"

"Get out Naruto…before you do something you're going to regret." Sasuke said, his voice hard and his eyes sharp.

"The only thing I regret is bringing you back." Naruto said coldly. Hinata gasped as she could see Sasuke tense and his once emotionless eyes, turn cold.

"Leave." He grounded out, menacingly. The coldness in Sasuke's eyes snapped Naruto back to reality as he suddenly realized what he had just said.

"Sasuke I…I didn't mean…"

"Go." Sasuke ordered in the same cold voice. He knew that he didn't really mean to say that, but Naruto had to learn that he had to exercise some control when he was angry. He couldn't say whatever popped into his head or else he'll really hurt someone and their friendship would be beyond repair.

Defeated, Naruto slowly walked passed Sasuke but paused when Sasuke gently grabbed his shoulder. Looking up with confused eyes, Naruto could see Sasuke's eyes turn back to their normal bored expression and felt the slight squeeze on his shoulder. Understanding came to Naruto's eyes as he smiled weakly and continued to walk away.

Sasuke didn't turn back to Hinata until he heard the door close behind Naruto. Turning back towards her, he was surprised to see that she had moved from his bed to his side. Her eyes were still wet with tears but they now had a worried look in them.

"Sasuke-kun…are you…are you alright?" she asked hesitantly. A corner of his mouth quirked up, and he looked down at her with his infamous smirk.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he asked her. Her eyes trailed down to the floor, looking shameful.

"I'm ok…but I know…what Naruto had said…hurt you." she whispered. Sasuke's smirk vanished as he looked away. Hinata now felt more than saw him tense. So she was right, what Naruto had said really did hurt him.

"Whatever." Sasuke said, his voice void of any expression. He was about to turn away from her, to walk away, but he stopped when he felt her hands clutch the front of his shirt.

"Please…don't turn away. Let me help…I…I want to help." She said softly. Sasuke could see the sincerity in her eyes, eyes that begged him to let her help, eyes that were still wet. Sasuke slowly brought his hand up to her cheeks and gently wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Why were you crying?" he asked her softly. Hinata looked down as a blush colored her cheeks.

"Naruto thought that we…that we were…were…" she stumbled.

"That we were sleeping together?" he finished for her. He watched her bite her lip as she nodded. Sasuke sighed deeply.

"And he said…he said that…you…only wanted to…to…" he looked down at her with a brow quirked. Hinata gulped as she tried to finish what she was saying.

"…to have…sex with me." She finished so softly he almost didn't hear her. Sasuke closed his eyes and silently cursed Naruto and his big stupid mouth.

"Naruto says a lot of stupid things when he's mad." Sasuke said as he gently took her hands from his shirt. He turned to get his bag and dropped it onto his bed, proceeding to unpack his things. Hinata wrapped her arms around herself as she watched him silently, feeling the tension between them thicken.

"But…is it true?" she asked him softly. He stopped moving, but kept his back to her. He didn't want to tell her, he didn't want to tell her that he loved her. He didn't want to tell her and have her reject him or have her brush aside his words of love like she did the first night they were together.

"Believe what you want Hinata."

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AN: Wah! Cliffie! Mwahahaha…and the evil author strikes again! LOL. I was going to update this chapter this weekend, but since I got so much lovin' (W00t! 100 reviews! Thank you all so much!) I decided to upload this chapter early. I hoped you guys liked this chapter; I tried to write it very emotionally high strung. And for those of you who wanted Naruto bitch-slapped in the first chapter…well he got bitch-slapped here. Thank you all who reviewed, I love you all! And next chapter we'll get more into the Sasuke and Hianta romance. YAY Sasuke Hinata romance!