Unforgivable

Chapter Two: Reliving the Pain

Hinata woke up in cold sweat. That was the second time this month. For some strange unknown reason, random flashbacks had started to appear in her dreams. She stared up at the blank ceiling in her room; the darkness seemed to be getting closer with every second. She blinked repeatedly, trying to force the swirling black dots to go from her vision; finally she gave up and closed her tired and aching eyes. Where were these 'flashbacks' coming from? And why did she start having them now? Could it be possible…that these were her own? That these were forgotten memories?

If so, then who was that other pale boy? She thought back to what the boy was wearing. He was wearing a dark blue tunic or a shirt; it seemed so fuzzy now, like it was disappearing just as fast as it had come. On the back of his shirt…was something round, something with red and white…her head hurt just trying to think back into her dreams.

It had felt so real.

No matter how hard she tried though, she could never remember any more of the dream. Only the happy expressions on the children's faces during their frolicking and the sad expressions when they had to leave each other. Strangely enough, she couldn't see the face of the woman who had picked up the girl…it was as if, the woman had no face at all…

Hinata felt a cold chill go down her spine. It was absolutely frightening. A woman with no features that she could see, or even remember. And the boy…what had the other girl called him again? Saku-kun, no, that wasn't right…Sasu-kun? That was surely an abbreviation of his actual name. It seemed familiar to her…like it was at the tip of her tongue, but somehow, she could never actually remember it.

And the boy, he had called her…Hina-chan? Wait. She opened her eyes wide again, forgetting about how tired they were or the swirling darkness. Hina-chan. That was the pet name that her little sister, Hanabi, used to call her. What was going on?

Suddenly she felt like crying, all these strange things were happening to her and she didn't even understand them. It was so much like a real memory, now that she thought back…it had seemed like she was in that dream. What was even more frightening was that, it felt like reliving one of her own memories. She had felt the shrieking happiness of the girl, no, herself, when the other boy pinned her down. She felt the amazement when the boy showed her the little flame in is hand. She also felt the sorrow when she had to leave.

It was absolutely and utterly, frightening.

The wind was flowing gently through his raven hair and the sun was shining on his pale face. He was standing at the top of the mountain, looking down at the large and prosperous Leaf Village.

"Sasu-kun!!"

He turned around, seeing a dark-haired girl with skin that looked like untainted snow in the spring sun. She ran over and hugged him tightly. .

"Don't stand so close to the cliff, Sasu-kun, you might fall!"

"Silly Hina-chan. Of course I won't."

The girl looked up and pouted at him. Her eyes were colorless, with a light tinge of lavender, and her hair was black with a blue shine where the sun hit it.

"Well, there's always a chance! Then I won't have any more friends to play with!" She scolded him playfully, knowing that he would never listen.

"Oh? So I'm your only friend?"

"No one else wants to play with me. They all say that I'm too spoiled or too rich. And Neji-nii-san won't even talk to me!"

"I don't think you're too spoiled."

"That's because you're you, Sasu-kun!"

"Yeah, I am."

They stood there like that for a while, enjoying each other's company, even if it was only silence. It was a comfortable silence, they didn't need to fill up time with endless words and chatter. A sudden wind blew through the top of the mountain, causing the girl to lose her balance. She stumbled a bit and lost her step over the edge of the mountain.

"SASU-KUUUUUN!!!"

She screamed as she fell down the edge. Without thinking, he dived down after her.

The raven-haired man shot up from his bed. He looked around at his dark surroundings frantically, the scream of the little girl resounding in his mind. A drop of cold sweat made it's way down his chin. His heart was racing, thumping so loudly in his chest that he thought all of Konoha must have heard it. He shuddered and put his head down onto the pillow again. It was just a dream. Right?

But the feelings, the ache…that horrifying scream…If he closed his eyes, the image of the girl falling with an outstretched hand and tears coming out of her frightened eyes would overtake him completely. He could still feel it, that horrifying emotion, the feeling in the pit of your stomach when you just know that things are going to end badly.

He wasn't used to feeling such emotion.

What had these dreams done to him? He was supposed to be a ninja for kami's sake! He wasn't supposed to feel that emotion, that…horrible feeling before someone dies…He sat up again; lying down only made the pounding in his ears even louder. His hands reached up and gripped his head; the scream just kept resonating in his head, and the thumping of his heart. Just. Wouldn't. Stop.

The most frightening thing was, the dream seemed too familiar to be just a dream. It wasn't the like feeling of a regular dream…it was the like feeling of remembering a forgotten memory…But damn it, he didn't want to remember it if it was going to be this painful every time. The scream kept echoing in his head, it felt like…it felt like…it felt like it was utter indescribable horror.

"…are you coming, Hinata-chan?"

"Eh? Gomen…Sakura-chan. I wasn't listening…" Hinata snapped out of her daze as Sakura finished her sentence.

"You seem to be doing that a lot lately, Hinata-chan. Are you alright?"

"Yeah...it's" those unnerving dreams at night "…nothing…" Hinata bit her pale pink lips hesitantly. She didn't dare tell Sakura about her dreams at night. Sakura wouldn't be able to help anyway. Her pink-haired friend smiled, completely reassured by Hinata's words.

"Sooo, I was just saying that today is the start of the annual Sakura Festival! The cherry blossoms are in full bloom and practically the whole village is going up to the mountains for the holiday! I'm going with Ino's family and helping them with their booth. Are you going coming Hinata-chan?"

"…I don't know…Sakura-chan…My father will probably bring…Hanabi and I up to the mountains…but… probably where there aren't too many people…"

"Oh…is there any way you could sneak out, or something?"

"Thanks Sakura-chan…but my father would get really…really..angry if I did that…"

"Oh. Maybe you could just visit me or something, ok?"

"Ok…bye Sakura-chan."

"Bye Hinata! Have fun!"

With that, the pink haired girl dashed off into the village. Hinata looked at her disappearing form and sighed. Today was the start of the Sakura Festival in the Leaf Village; it lasted a whole week. For the whole week, people relaxed and took off work to have fun with their families and enjoy the pink cherry blossoms. Different stands and booths were opened along the streets, but particularly in the mountains. Sometimes people went up to the mountains a few weeks early just to get a good reservation.

Hinata's family always got the best spot, there were no people around them and maybe only a few other clans spread around. Her father preferred it that way, there wouldn't be a big chance that his daughters would get kidnapped or going out of his sight. The whole festival just consisted of sitting on soft cushions and sipping tea while looking at the trees for her family. Her father and sister weren't what you would call, 'talkative'. At least not to her. It was believed that a good heir would be able to sit quietly for however long the amount of time she was required to. Hinata was good at that, being a woman of few words herself, but this year was different.

She knew the place in her dreams could be found outside her complex and probably in the village. If she thought back hard enough, she could almost remember the sunny field in her dream. She remembered flowers in her dream, but the colors were too blurry and distorted to identify. Going outside was her best chance at finding it.

Something else interesting was also happening this year. This year, the Uchiha family would be with them, possibly to rebuild their long-lost connection. Hinata was already twenty, just the right year for marriage in her family. She was an heiress after all; it was her duty to select a husband, preferably inside the main branch. So far, her father hadn't thought up of any possible candidates, and there was no one that she fancied. Hinata didn't want to think of the day that she would take hold of the Hyuuga clan, or the day of her marriage. It was a concept that she wasn't eager to think about.

"Hinata?"

"Ah? Oh! Yes, Neji-nii-san?"

"Are you alright?"

"Hai…"

"You look…troubled."

"No..really," I'm scared out of my wits, "I'm…fine…" Hinata looked up at her cousin gratefully. He always noticed if something was wrong with her, she thought it was probably because he had hurt her so badly eight years ago. She sighed, there was no one she could confide in about the dream. If she told Neji, then he would probably tell her father, then her father would probably get worried and send her to therapy. Or her father would just dismiss it was a weakness, as usual, and reconsider his choice in making her heir.

"Are you sure, Hinata?" His voice held a tinge of suspicion in it, she knew that he could probably see through her weak attempt at lying.

"Yes…just…please don't ask anymore…"

"Fine, Hinata. Just take care of yourself, ok?"

"I'll try…"

He kept silent for the rest of the way back to her room.

Hinata sighed. The morning went just as she predicted. She gently plucked a stray cherry blossom petal from her cup and took another sip of her tea. Her sister Hanabi was eating some dango that they had gotten from a street vendor. She was chewing it quietly, staring off into space just like Hinata always did. Lord Fugaku and Lord Hiashi were discussing something in their low, calm voices. Periodically, a low chuckle would interrupt their conversations. Hinata assumed that they were telling life stories or old war stories. She brushed a few petals from her blue-black hair and resumed sipping her hot tea. It was almost noon; they would probably head back after the fireworks tonight. She still had at least eight more hours to endure.

If she activated the first form of her Byakugan, she could see Neji and TenTen walking around in the distance. They looked like they were having fun, trying to catch goldfish and whatnot. It was painful watching them have fun while she just had to sit here, sipping tea and quietly staring into space. If she fully activated her Byakugan, she could see Sakura and a pretty blonde, probably her friend, selling flowers arrangements and laughing. Hinata deactivated her Byakugan and stared at the cherry petal floating around idly in her teacup. She sighed, not bothering the lift the petal out.

This was her life, sipping tea and waiting quietly for…nothing. It shouldn't even be called a life; it was just mere existence. She wondered that if she died…if anyone would mourn her, or even remember her. Her father probably just didn't want her to die just because of the secrets of the Byakugan and because a funeral was much more troublesome than a wedding or a coronation ceremony. Her mood was saddened for a little while, her father had never really cared about her, she's never really felt any sign of affection. It was only a sense of duty.

Then she felt that someone was watching her.

She activated the first form of her Byakugan to find an Uchiha staring at her. He was wearing a blue haori with a red and white Uchiha fan on the back. Wait. A round white and red fan on his back. So that was what was in her dream! The girl, no, herself, was playing with an Uchiha! It was all clear now. He was probably wearing a navy blue shirt or tunic with an Uchiha fan on the back!

The young man had raven-black hair that was spiky and sticking out in the back and he had black onyx eyes. Hinata didn't recognize him, but for some odd reason, her heart started to beat faster. She took a sip of her tea, choking on it when she remembered the cherry blossom petal floating in it. The teacup spilled a little when she started to cough. She immediately repelled the wet tea from landing on her silk kimono with a burst of chakra from her fingertips. The water sprinkled onto the grass a few feet away. She sighed; she would have to be more careful next time. Her mind wandered back to the mysterious Uchiha but she immediately drew it back. It wasn't polite to spy on someone without them knowing, especially like this.

'Keep your mind to yourself, Hyuuga'.

She was looking at him. He could see the slight bulge of nerves on the side of her eyes. Even though her head never turned, he could feel her watching every flicker of his eye. She sipped some tea and then choked on it. To his surprise, her fingers twitched and the droplets of tea were repelled a few centimeters away from her kimono and landed onto the grass a few feet away. Then he felt the intense gaze stop and he let out a breath that he didn't know that he had been holding.

It was her again. This was the same girl that he remembered defending, the same girl in the garden, and maybe the same girl in his dreams. If she recognized him, she didn't show it. He sat under the tree, staring at her, activating his Sharingan from time to time to see what she was doing. She didn't take any notice of him after the tea incident and his legs were starting to fall asleep from sitting for so long. He excused himself from his brother and his father, who was conversing with the Hyuuga clan's leader.

He walked into the crowded lines and makeshift roads filled with street vendors and different booths. Once he stepped foot into the crowd, he knew it had been an idiotic idea. Why? Because just about every girl snapped their pretty little head around and their eyes immediately filled with thumping, red hearts.

"SASUKE-KUUUUUN!!!!"

'SHIIIIIIT!!!'

He tried to run away from the mob of kunoichi fangirls and civilian fangirls alike. However, that soon proved impossible. They were coming from every direction. The normal fangirls from north, south, east, west and every direction in between and the kunoichis from under the ground or the roofs of the booths and stalls. Long story short; he was completely surrounded.

All the girls were screaming, squealing, yelling, screeching, or all of the above. Their senseless jabber went a bit like this:

"Touch me Sasuke-kun!"

"Talk to me Sasuke-kun!"

"Listen to me Sasuke-kun!"

"Look at me Sasuke-kun!"

"Let me worship you Sasuke-kun!"

"Let me feed you Sasuke-kun!"

"Make me your girlfriend Sasuke-kun!"

"Kiss me Sasuke-kun!"

"Hug me Sasuke-kun!"

"Breath on me Sasuke-kun!"

And this went on until Sasuke was desperate; which was almost immediately. He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like an apology and activated his Sharingan. All the girls fell into an unescapable genjutsu and he dashed out. As soon as he disappeared from view, he released the genjutsu and all the girls forgot about him and went back to their stalls. He sighed and dashed away, determined to get as far away from the booths as possible on the mountain.

He found himself standing by the cliff; relishing the gentle spring sun and feeling the soothing wind ruffle his spiky black hair. He cursed at himself, it was beyond stupid to go into the booths. Just because he had gone on a mission for a day or two doesn't mean that any of the village fangirls have forgot about him. He narrowed his eyes as he felt a familiar sensation wash over him as he took in his surroundings. It felt like…like he had been here before…like this place was familiar…

Of course it was familiar, he came here every year. But it wasn't that kind of feeling that he was experiencing, it was a strange sort of…anticipation, a horrible feeling started brewing in the pit of his stomach. Suddenly, his breath hitched as he thought back to last night. He remembered this place, this place was where that girl—oh shit—he turned his head to his right just as a gust of wind blew by and a dark-haired girl who was walking on the edge stumbled and dropped over the edge with a sickening scream.

His mind went blank as he dived down after her.

"SASU-KUUUUUN!!!"

She screamed as she fell down the edge. Without thinking, he dived down after her.

He dashed down the cliff, remembering to maintain chakra control on his feet as he sped down horizontally. She seemed to have lost consciousness, since her body was limp as she fell through the air.
The little boy jumped from ledge to ledge, trying not to lose his footing. He was young, his chakra control wasn't perfect yet, but he could keep up to her. Barely. She wasn't screaming anymore, her limp body was falling…and falling.
There was a stone ledge down at the side of the mountain, if only he could catch her there…or make her landing soft enough. If she fell down onto the rocks, it would all be over.
A stone jutting out of the middle of the mountain was her only hope for survival. The little boy gritted his teeth, he had to find a way to save her. If she landed like this, she would die.
Thoughts were flashing through his head and the sick feeling in his stomach just kept getting worse. He couldn't think of any jutsu that he could do properly without loosing concentration on his shifting chakra control. Instead, he took a kunai out of a pouch hidden in his haori and threw it toward the sleeve of her kimono, hoping that it would stick to the rock.
He had no other choice, he took out a kunai and threw it toward her arm, hoping to miss it and hit her sleeve. It went through her sleeve and stuck the falling girl to the crumbling rock.
The sleeve held, but it ripped a few moments later and her head was suddenly sickeningly close to the rock ledge. He closed his eyes and made a blind dash for the ledge, hoping with all his might that he would catch her in time.
The sleeve ripped and she started falling again. The boy was desperate until a gray flash whirled past her and set her down onto the rock. He ran down the rock and tried to wipe his tears away.
He felt the stinging of the rock on his back and something thump onto his chest. He gritted his teeth to stop himself from screaming from the pain on his back and the heavy impact of the body on his chest.
"Are you both alright?"

"H-hai…I'm so s-sorry…"

The stern, yet gentle voice of the Hyuuga clan's leader surprised him. He had thought that he would get yelled at, after all; it was his fault that Hina-chan almost died. Instead, the man just took his hand and dashed up onto the top of the mountain.

Sasuke cracked open his eyes, relieved to see that he had caught the falling girl in his arms. He flinched from the stinging and burning on his back, knowing that the blue haori was probably shredded. After a moment, he tried to sit up, wincing and biting his tongue to keep from screaming from the intense pain in his back and shoulders. He stumbled a bit, but then summoned enough energy to make it up the cliff again. After he reached the top, he saw the blank eyes of the girl blink a little and then everything went black.
"…amazing that he made it up again at all."

Sasuke blinked his eyes repeatedly, where was that damn light coming from? He reached to cover his eyes but stopped when he felt pain shooting through his shoulder.

'Shit'

"It looks like he's awake!"

He saw a figure in a dark blue kimono hurry over to his side. He blinked again and saw that it was his mother, figures. She looked like she had been crying; her eyes were puffy and slightly pink and her hands felt a bit moist when they reached down to stroke his forehead. He felt a bit disgusted, he was twenty-one, not two or three! His father must have sensed his discomfort because he whispered something to his mother and she backed away.

A blonde woman that looked no more than twenty years old entered the room. She smirked.

"Sooo, you're alive after all. You looked half-dead when they brought you here, but I guess you pulled through anyway. How do you feel?"

"Like crap."

"Watch your language young man, this is a hospital after all."

Who was she calling 'young' ? She didn't look that much older herself. Then he mentally slapped himself, how could he forget?! It was that sake-loving Godaime, the miraculous healer, the 'Legendary Sucker', one of the three famous Sannin. She liked to take the appearance of a young woman even if she was over fifty.

"Well, since you're feeling better, I'll just leave you alone," she smirked again and shuffled out of the room, closing the door behind her. He mentally braced himself for his father's strict lecturing. As expected, his father sauntered over and regarded him coldly.

"You idiot. Getting hurt in something like this, you're a disgrace to our clan."

"Actually, I would be proud of him…"

Sasuke's eyes widened, Itachi was defending him?! The elder brother stared at his father with the same onyx eyes that he himself possessed.

"The Godaime herself said that the mountain sides were crumbling and the cliff was of various densities so switching and maintaining chakra control while speeding down horizontally would be nearly impossible…"

His father seemed to listen to Itachi and glared at Sasuke in a way that clearly said, 'you're lucky you have such a caring older brother'. Then he turned on his heels and left, Sasuke's mother and brother followed behind him. Before Itachi left, he glanced back at his little brother with cold, emotionless eyes.

Somehow, Sasuke didn't think that Itachi was trying to defend him at all.

Hinata looked at her fidgeting hands, her face flushing pink when she thought about what had happened back at the mountain. She remembered that she was walking along the edge of the mountain since she thought the view was beautiful and then a gust of wind came and knocked her off her feet. She didn't remember much after that except for waking up back on top of the mountain and her father staring down at her.

To her surprise, he didn't seem angry…more like regretful. He shook his head and muttered something about how he could've let this happen again. Hinata was confused, very confused. Every year that she remembered, she had sat beside her father quietly, maybe visiting some of the booths or stalls, but she couldn't remember ever falling down the steep cliff before. But then again, there were many things that she couldn't remember. Her nighttime terrors had already proved that; she had many memories that were simply…forgotten.

She sighed miserably. She remembered that when she had woken up on top of the mountain, she caught a glimpse of another pale, bloodied young man lying beside her. He was whisked away to the hospital right before her eyes and her father had followed them here. She was now sitting in the Konoha Hospital's waiting room. Her eyes wandered over to the small children playing with the various toys and the nervous parents pacing back and forth.

The door opened and a young-looking blonde woman came through. She stopped in front of Hinata and smiled gently. Hinata stood up immediately and looked up at her fearfully; she was always nervous with strangers.

"H-how is h-he, H-hokage-s-sama?"

For kami's sake, why couldn't she stop stuttering? She looked down at her fingers miserably, if her father was here, he would've frowned and called her an utter disgrace to the Hyuuga clan.

"He's fine, Hinata. He'll live, in fact, he'll probably live for a very long time. The injuries just look a lot worse than they actually are. Don't worry, 'kay?"

"H-hai…"

Then, out of nowhere, the blonde pulled out a bottle of sake and took a swig of it. She burped quietly and left. A nurse with short black hair and a pig appeared at her side and scolded her, "Lady Tsunade! Drinking sake in a hospital is against the rules! It sets a bad example!"

Apparently, the pig agreed because it let out a series of oinks. Tsunade frowned, "Rules are MADE to be broken. Don't be so uptight, Shizune."

Then she took another swig of sake and disappeared. Shizune sighed and walked out of the room after apologizing to everyone for the disturbance. Hinata sat down again with a heavy thump. A door opened at the end of the long hallway and Lord Fugaku and his family walked out. They walked past the waiting area and paused for a while, Hinata could feel his sharp eyes on her. She glanced at him, only to see his eyes were blood red with the Sharingan. She gasped and looked down at her lap again. After a second, their footsteps faded and she let out a soft sob of relief.

'Crap. I can't even move, what kinds of sedatives did that old woman use?'

Sasuke cursed silently as he stared up at the blank ceiling. His father had just left a few minutes ago and he was officially pissed at the hospital. The place reeked of death and a sake-loving Hokage who was drunk at least half the time ruled the place. The door cracked open a bit and a girl with a flustered face stuck her head in. Sasuke's heart nearly stopped when he saw it was a girl; he thought that his fanclub was coming to mob him. But when he saw it was the pale-eyed girl from the mountain, he felt completely relieved. This girl wasn't going to mob him, right?

She walked over slowly, clutching the silky material of her pink kimono. Her long black lashes fluttered a bit, giving the impression that she was about to go out of her own comfort zone. She blushed a little at his state of undress; he wasn't wearing a shirt since his back was all scraped and he had a few broken ribs.

"A-ano…a-are you al-alright…?"

"I'm fine." 'Even though that old geezer of a Godaime just paralyzed my whole body with some crazy poison sedative.'

She looked down at her feet again, her face flushed with embarrassment. Sasuke wondered if he should really tell her that his whole body hurt like crap and that he was partially suffocating from his broken ribs, but he decided against it. She lifted her long lashes again and stuttered in a small voice, "…Th-thank you f-for s-s-saving m-me…"

"Whatever." 'It's not like I could just stand there and watch someone die.'

She bit her light pink lips, had she offended him? He seemed really cold and arrogant…and on top of that, he was a stranger. She always stuttered near strangers. She sucked in her breath and whispered, "I-I gu-guess I-I-I'll jus-st b-be g-going n-now…" 'Since you probably don't want me here.'

Her hand had just brushed the tip of the doorknob when she heard a voice come from behind her.

"Wait." 'Where are you going?'

She turned toward him, her thick black lashes fluttering a little and she blushed even harder. She gulped a little, what had she done wrong now? Sasuke attempted to gesture toward the chair beside him, wincing a little when his shoulders moves.

"I want to ask you something."

She blinked a little and then walked over timidly, hands still clutching the soft fabric of her kimono. She sat down on the chair softly and looked down at her lap.

"What's your name?" 'You seem…familiar…'

"H-hyuuga H-hinata…" she said it without looking up, she gulped a little before continuing, " Wh-what's y-yours…?"

"Uchiha. Sasuke." 'I know you from somewhere…'

He watched as her eyes widened a little at the name. He smirked, she probably recognized it and was starting to think about mobbing him. Much to his surprise, the look disappeared and she appeared even more nervous than before.

"A-ano…I-I w-was j-just w-wondering…do..do y-you kn-know…H-harun-no S-sakura?" she looked like she was about to faint when she asked this question. She glanced at him for a second, trying to read his frowning expression.

"Know her? Heck, she follows me everywhere." 'Actually, she's the most annoy -!#$&- in the whole world and she was the one who tried to kiss me today.'

"O-oh…", she blushed even more, like she did something wrong and deserved punishment. She looked as if she had something else to say, but decided against it. "I-I w-was j-just as-asking…"

She raised her head and looked out the window blankly, as if trying to clear her head or divert her thoughts elsewhere. He looked her up and down. She had on a pink silk kimono with tinges of white and lavender flowers embroidered along the sleeves and the ends. Her hair showed natural streaks of blue in the bright hospital light and it hung down her back loosely with a jasmine hairpin at the side. Her skin was pale and creamy, even though she was really skinny. A light pink blush adorned her face and her eyes were almost colorless with a tinge of lavender. When he realized what he was doing, he quickly looked away.

There were prettier girls than her everywhere in Konoha! Why was he even looking at her body like that?! He closed his eyes for a second, trying to clear his own mind of all the dirty, uncharacteristic thoughts that were flooding in. He considered asking her another question when the door slammed open and a blond, hyperactive, knucklehead ninja bounced into the room.

"SASUKE-TEME! I heard that you were in the hospital from Sakura-chan, what happened?"

Sasuke glared at him, as if trying to make him disappear with his intense gaze. He growled a bit when the dumb blonde didn't get the point. Then the blonde looked over at the chair by his bed and noticed the flustered, frightened girl in the seat.

"Oh hi! When did you get over there?"

"YOU BAKA, NARUTO! THAT'S HINATA-HIME YOU'RE TALKING TO!"

Sakura came in, busting the closed door opened with her chakra-enhanced fist. She screamed at Naruto while Hinata just stole a frightened glance at them and slipped out of the room quietly.

Crap.

And they FINALLY meet!!—does a happy dance— (just for future reference, Hinata won't like Naruto any more than a friend in this fic. It's a byproduct of a bad first impression :P)This chapter was exactly 10 pages, and 5,297 words long (with the title and this author's note: 5,503 words. My hand hurts yet again!) And thanks so MUCH for the wonderful reviews!! You all ROCK I just noticed that I forgot to put a disclaimer on the fic, so I'll just say it now and never say it again for the rest of the fic. [DISCLAIMER: NARUTO © MASASHI KISHIMOTO And sorry for the cursing in here, I don't enjoy writing it down; but it seemed impossible to avoid for Sasuke's character. I'm trying my best to make the characters as 'in character' as possible, but if you ever see them getting a bit OOC, then just drop a me a review, 'kay? That goes for all other mistakes too. Although, if you just want to compliment me, it'll be all right too! PLEASE REVIEW BEFORE READING THE NEXT CHAPTER AND SAVE THE BLUE BUTTON FROM SUICIDE!!!

moonlight haku
[KAMI…this author's note is longer than the whole chapter!!