Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

-thoughts-

HEART ACHE MULTIPLIED

Twisting and turning, Hinata moved her arm so the back of her wrist covered her eyes to block out the sunlight that was beaming in through a gap between the curtain of the window, ultimately stirring her awake from her slumber.

With a groan she pulled the blanket up over her head and rolled around to bury her face into the pillow, a pillow that had a scent so fresh, earthy and evocative that it reminded her of rain after a drought.

She breathed it in deeply, allowing her senses to relax into the warmth and comfort that it provide her.

Hinata's legs glided smoothly over the soft silk sheets as she pulled them up closer to her chest and into a more comfortable fetal position.

Then it hit her - Silky sheets? The hotel didn't have silk sheets.

Hinata's eyes quickly opened as she moved into a sitting position, her eyes darting around the unfamiliar surroundings.

Confused and a little concerned, Hinata looked for any clues as to where she was as the last thing she remembered was cleaning up for Sasuke and Naruto.

Where am I? Hinata thought as she looked down at the black bedding and the very organized, quaint room, a face down photo frame on the bedside table catching her attention.

Scooting over to the other side of the bed, she reached out and hesitantly grabbed the frame, turning it over to look at it.

Sasuke… Hinata's fingers moved over the image of a young boy who she could recognize as a child version of Sasuke. Besides Sasuke she noticed a boy with similar features, however he was a little older and had pronounced tear-troughs – a brother, perhaps.

Not wanting to pry any further than she felt she was… Hinata placed the frame back on the bedside table whilst respecting Sasuke's decision to have it placed face down.

Hinata moved off the bed and began making it, smoothing the sheets and blanket over with her hands to ensure that there would be no wrinkles in the fabric.

As she reached the door to make her way out of Sasuke's bedroom, she stopped to comb her fingers through her messy bed head to untangle the loose knots that had formed in her sleep, also taking a moment to look herself over to make sure she looked reasonably presentable. (A habit she had developed when she was younger, as her father was a very successful business man and would generally have important people around the house)

Twisting the door knob slowly, she opened the door enough to poke her head out and look around before she made her way into the hallway. Hinata didn't know this area of their house, and found herself lost on which direction to go in to make it back to the kitchen or lounge room.

With only one door way open out of the many closed doors, she figured that would be her best bet and made her way towards it.

Success! Hinata's inner self cheered as she found herself in the familiar surroundings of the kitchen.

"I see you're awake." Sasuke said as he walked through the other entrance into the kitchen, he had heard the pitter patter of feet and decided to investigate.

Hinata jumped, startled by Sasuke's silent approach. "Sasuke!" she huffed, her hand moving to cross over her heart from the small fright he had given her.

Sasuke smirked to himself, "sleep well?" he asked as he leaned against the counter.

A warm sensation spread across Hinata's cheeks as she blushed at the idea of her sleeping in Sasuke's silky sheets. She averted her eyes away from him and down at her hands in her lap "Yes," she paused, pulling out a chair to the kitchen table and taking a seat "u-um how did I end up there?"

"You were passed out on the couch when I woke up" Sasuke said, taking the chance to look her casually up and down as she avoided eye contact, "I was wide awake, and you looked cold so I let you have my bed" he watched as her face turned a shade darker, "Don't worry, we didn't share the bed."

Hinata felt childish for blushing at such an idea, but she couldn't help herself. "Sorry… And thank you."

Brushing off her thanks, Sasuke grabbed the kettle from the bench top and filled it with water from the tap. "You don't have to say thank you all the time." He said as he placed the kettle on the stove, igniting the plate and heating the water.

Having seen Hinata drinking green tea before, he moved over to his pantry and searched through it. He was fairly certain that they had green tea in there somewhere since… since Itachi used to drink it all the time Sasuke's hands brushed against the box of matcha green tea powder that had been hiding behind many other things, having been shoved back and left forgotten.

He hesitated for only a moment's time before pulling it out and shutting the pantry.

Itachi would have liked Hinata he thought to himself as he took the steaming kettle off of the stove top.

"Tha-" Hinata caught herself mid word as Sasuke placed the hot beverage in front of her, remembering that he had told her that she didn't need to thank him so much, she held her tongue before noticing that Sasuke was smiling down at her. Hinata decided to return the smile and simply nod as she wrapped her hands around the warm cup.

Having made a green tea for himself as well, Sasuke took a seat across from Hinata and stared down into the steaming green liquid.

"Is Naruto home?" Hinata asked, breaking the silence.

Always with Naruto Sasuke nodded, "He usually won't get out of bed until midday."

Hinata laughed softly, "I wish I could sleep that long."

"You can always jump back into my bed." Sasuke said as one corner of his mouth edged up into a smirk, "I won't mind if you need a little extra sleep."

"I-" Hinata looked at him, her eyes wide and bright and nervous.

"I'm only teasing you." Sasuke reassured her. He thoroughly enjoyed the way she reacted to things.

Watching her relax once more, Sasuke found himself in a position that he hadn't found himself in before. His mind was going crazy with thoughts, and before he could even think it through the words slipped out of his mouth and landed on her ears, "We should go out some time."

Hinata blinked a few times as if she was trying to remember or decipher what he had just said. "Are you teasing me again, Sasuke?" she said in a tone just above a whisper, her heart pounding in her chest and her breathing becoming noticeably uneven as it caught in her throat.

"No," Sasuke looked at her with genuine eyes "I would like to take you out."

Hinata's hands fumbled with the cup, spilling some of its contents as she stood up and tipped the remaining liquid down the sink and pulled her jacket in closer to her body, "I-" she looked at him, her heart wanting to scream yes, but her mind telling her to say no, "I've got to go!" she pulled her eyes away from his and made a bee line for the front of the house. Sakura! Think of Sakura!

Sasuke, completely dumbfound watched as she panicked and made a run for it, almost letting her get away before his senses came back to him and he got up and went after her. Hinata was just about out the front door when he grasped her forearm softly to stop her in her tracks, "Hinata, why are you running away?"

Avoiding all eye contact, Hinata stared down at her feet like they were the most interesting thing in the world. She knew that if she looked up that she would get lost in the depth of his eyes and break her promise to Sakura, as well as break Sakura's heart. Hinata didn't want to hurt her new friend, and she certainly didn't want to damage the friendship that Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura had. "Sasuke…" she whispered, pulling her arm out of his grasp and wrapping her arms around herself – closing herself off. "I can't."

"You can't?" Sasuke questioned her, "Or you won't?"

"Does it make any difference?" Hinata took a step backwards.

It makes a big difference Sasuke thought to himself,"At least tell me why not?"

Hinata bit the inside of her cheek and shook her head, "I just… I can't. I'm sorry Sasuke."

Sasuke stood dumbfound once more as he watched Hinata disappear out through the doorway and out of sight, he had never seen her move so quickly and so determined… And she was doing it to get away from him.

She can't even give me a reason why? Sasuke slammed the front door shut, you absolute idiot Sasuke, she's definitely interested in Naruto.

-o-o-o-

Hinata didn't even know where she was going, she just knew that she had to get out of there and she had to get out of there quickly.

In a blind moment of confusion, panic and hurt – Hinata found herself inside her café and leaning against the back entrance that she had just came through.

She moved her hands to cup her face and slid her back down the door and into a sitting position on the floor, focusing on trying to catch her breath and calm herself down before any of the staff working today could catch her in such a distraught position.

But it was too late, as Sakura had heard the back door open as she was grabbing a bag of coffee beans from the back room. "Hinata?" she questioned as she found the girl sitting on the floor, looking drained of color and bewildered. "Are you okay Hinata?" Sakura kneeled down in front of her.

"Let me take your shift." Hinata said suddenly, moving her hands into her lap as she calmed her breathing. "I-I really need a distraction and it won't come out of your pay!"

Confused, Sakura stood up and offered the blue haired girl a hand in getting up off of the floor. "Uh, is there anything you want to talk about?"

Hinata shook her head profusely, "No. Please Sakura. I just, I need this."

Sakura reached behind her back and untied the red apron before handing it to Hinata, "are you sure you don't want to talk?"

Tying the apron around herself quickly she shook her head once more, "I'm fine… you're right to go home and enjoy the rest of your weekend." She forced a smile, but still felt herself tearing up inside. She had only known Sasuke for a week… But he had managed to grab a hold of her in a way she couldn't explain.

Thinking that this might have had something to do with a personal matter (such as Neji) Sakura didn't want to pry too much into Hinata's request. It would be rude of her to do so. "Alrighty then… Thanks Hinata." Sakura said with a small smile and a soft tone, heading out the back door that Hinata had come through.

Sakura couldn't help but feel sad; Hinata was this lovely and polite girl, and Sakura had taken advantage of her for her own selfish reasons. She wished that she was able to push them aside, but it was a lot easier said than done.

Relieved to be able to throw her mind into something else, Hinata headed out to the front of the café and began to ask customers who were sitting down and enjoying the morning if they would like a free cup of coffee – at least filling her head with orders and work would distract her long enough today.

-o-o-o-

By mid-afternoon, Sasuke had managed to waste the day away by laying on his bed and staring up at the ceiling – wondering just what it was about Naruto that had Hinata so interested?

Of course he knew that Naruto was a great guy with good morals, loyalty and determination – but Sasuke refused to accept any of that. No, he was blinded by jealousy. Something that was completely new to him, and he wasn't sure how to make it go away. He hated to feel this way, he felt inferior and stupid for clinging on to a woman that he didn't even know all that well.

But he had connected with her, hadn't he? They had always gotten along well and sat in a comfortable silence unless there was something of value to speak on. Or was he wrong? Was it all in his head?

Whatever it was, Sasuke hated it… But Hinata still lingered in his mind, especially since he could still smell her lavender scent on his pillows despite having flipped them over.

Lost in his thoughts (or perhaps his obsession), Sasuke hadn't even heard the door to his bedroom open and a voice calling out to him.

"Hello, Earth to Sasuke?" Sakura walked over and waved her hand in front of his face, snapping him from his trance. "What are you doing, and do you know where Naruto is?"

"What is it with everyone and Naruto all of a sudden?" Sasuke growled, moving to sit up.

With a raise of her eyebrow, Sakura looked down at him confused, "What do you mean?"

Sasuke looked away from her and out of his bedroom window. "Nothing." He grumbled.

Feeling something click in her head, Sakura moved to sit beside Sasuke on the edge of his bed. "Does this have something to do with Hinata?"

"Hn." Sasuke scoffed, ignoring her question.

"You know… I've seen the way you look at her." Sakura mumbled, she looked down at her hands and wished that she could let go of Sasuke… But she couldn't, she wasn't ready to.

Sasuke pushed himself up off of the bed and walked over to the window he was staring out of earlier, avoiding Sakura once more.

"So Naruto? Hey?" Sakura chewed on her lower lip, her mind thinking one thing, but her voice saying another. Sakura felt terrible for playing along with the Naruto story, she didn't want to – but her voice acted against her wishes. It was at times like these that she wished that Hinata was like Ino, and was on an even playing field… But Hinata wasn't like Ino; she wasn't brutal, and challenging. No, Hinata was kind, loyal and kept her word. Sakura would need to build up her strength before she could let go of Sasuke.

"Why do you care anyway?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura looked at Sasuke's back that was facing her as he stood in front of the window. She was always behind Sasuke… and Naruto. They were all close, but she always felt like she was one step behind and slightly out of the picture. "You know why." She whispered.

Sasuke said nothing, he did know why. Sakura had had a crush on him since they were in primary school, but he had thought that perhaps after all this time she would have grown out of it. When they were younger, Sasuke used to wish that he could return her feelings – but it simply wasn't there… As they got older and reached high school, she had become a little too attached and insistent, which also in turn turned him off and made him see her as somewhat annoying.

Would it be this way for Sasuke? Would he be stuck in the same boat as Sakura – having feelings for someone who didn't feel the same for the rest of his life? Surely that wouldn't be the case, would it?

Sakura gulped and closed her eyes, trying so hard to build in herself what she so wished to have. She cared so greatly for Sasuke and Naruto, and she wanted them to be happy… and for Sasuke, she wanted to make the sacrifice… but all she could manage for now was a few simple words. "Talk to her."

"Don't you think I've done that?" Sasuke said annoyed.

Holding back the pain in her heart and the tears in her eyes, Sakura stood up and made her way to the door of his bedroom, not turning back to look at him. "Just do it Sasuke, even if she doesn't want to."

I've got to go talk to Hinata Sakura thought to herself as she left Sasuke's room, and since Naruto wasn't there to help her out with something she was originally over there to ask for, she decided that she would leave the house and call Hinata on her way home.

-o-o-o-

Having waited until she reached her own house, Sakura pulled out her phone and took a deep breath. She scrolled through the contacts in her phone before her thumb landed on Hinata's name.

Here goes nothing… She thought to herself as she tapped the number and the phone began to dial.

With every ring, Sakura found it harder to breath.

"Hello Hinata speaking" a soft voice came through the ear piece of the phone.

A silence fell as Sakura pulled herself together, "Hinata, its Sakura… Look, about last night"

"Last night? What about last night?" Hinata sounded a little panicked.

"Just forget what I said okay? About Sasuke…" Sakura felt her own heart breaking, and tried her best to keep her voice steady and calm.

Deep breathing was heard through the phone before Hinata spoke again, "But Sakura, you love him. I can't forget that."

The tears had begun to make a path down Sakura's face, and even though it was only a phone call, Sakura shook her head and forced a smile. "I just want him to be happy…"

"Sakura…" Hinata's heartfelt voice reached through the speaker.

"Don't worry about me, okay? I'll be alright… I… I had my chance and it didn't happen." Sakura said slowly, trying more so to convince herself rather than Hinata now. "Just… treat him right, okay?" not wanting to have the conversation any longer, Sakura hung up the phone and threw it across her room, plopping herself face first into her pillow, she let the full force of her broken heart hit her.

It was going to be a long, painful road from here.

more to come in due time.