Chapter 6: I don't love you

Author's Note: If anyone has noticed, I don't like Naruto. I like the manga/anime, really I do, but I don't like the character. Why? Because he's an idiot. He hasn't matured at all, he keeps trying to talk his way out of everything. He just doesn't understand the way things work. Though personally, I'm kind of glad he's like that since Sasuke is one of my favorite characters, even though some of you chuckleheaded idiots out there label him as "an emo fag", and probably don't even know what an emo person is anyway. Anyway, thanks again to Ppeach2 for the review. Again, I'd like you guys to send me some suggestions for how Sasuke can try to woe Hinata. I'm thinking of writing Chapter 7 like, right after I post this, but I need suggestions anyway. I also need suggestions for the question I asked earlier. So yeah, that's about it. Read on!

"What?" Sasuke asked in a daze.
He thought he must have been deaf. The words hit him, but he didn't quite get it. Something inside of him was rejecting everything that came from the words, each and every syllable of it. But, at last, it made it into his heart like a silent dagger, slicing in and causing Sasuke more pain than he had felt in years.
"I don't love you." Hinata repeated.
She was clearly attempting to stay calm, and she was trying to sound emotionless. But, she wasn't doing a very good job; tears were starting to well in her eyes. Sasuke was not one of those pitiful losers that would simply cry and beg for her to stay with him. No, he was strong, he could take this. He'd felt terrible pain before, this was nothing. After a few moments, Sasuke decided that trail of thought was stupid. He was feeling pain, definitely. It hurt, and he wouldn't heal for a long time if he left it as it was. But, Hinata didn't want to hurt him, and she was nearly reduced to tears with the knowledge that she really was hurting him. This gave Sasuke hope that eased the pain. She cared about him. Perhaps he was misinterpreting her usual kindness, but he felt that this wasn't the case. If she cared about him, he had hope.

Sasuke could still woe her, and he knew it.
"If that's the way that you feel", he said, carefully weighing his words, "Then I guess that's that."

Hinata looked taken aback. She had obviously expected more of a reaction from someone like Sasuke.
"You aren't mad?" she hesitantly asked.
"There's nothing I can do to change your feelings right now, even if I were to show you how hurt I am." Sasuke replied calmly.
"I..I see.." Hinata stuttered.
"Please leave." Sasuke instructed.
Hinata, obviously choking back tears, nodded. She got up, got her things, and left, just like that. While Sasuke wasn't exactly in massive pain since he had hope, he was still in a great deal of pain. He waited for an hour, sitting motionless on his bed, before he at last gave into his emotions, and let out a terrible scream.

It was several hours before Sasuke felt that he had enough energy to go outside. He left the Uchiha District, which of course only housed him. He walked around the village, no real destination in mind. He just wanted to walk, and that was all there was to it. Coincidentally, he passed by Hinata's house, just in time to hear crying and sobbing.
"I'M SORRY!" Hinata's voice exclaimed. "I WON'T BE LATE AGAIN!"
"PERHAPS I REALLY SHOULDN'T HAVE GIVEN YOU A SECOND CHANCE!" another voice shouted, male, middle aged, presumably Hinata's father, Hiashi Hyuuga.
"I…I…" Hinata was stuttering.
"AT LEAST HANABI WAS THE CORRECT STRENGTH BY THE TIME SHE GRADUATED! YOU DIDN'T START GETTING STRONG UNTIL YOU BECAME A CHUUNIN! IF IT WEREN'T FOR THAT LAST MINUTE EFFORT, YOU'D HAVE NEVER GOTTEN A SECOND CHANCE!"

Sasuke heard it, he heard Hinata's choked voice as she tried to protest against the fury storm that was Hiashi's rage, his wrath. Sasuke wasn't beneath feeling a bit of contempt, though the amount he felt was small. What he really felt, was opportunity. This wasn't THE chance, but it was a chance to give Hinata some things to think about, on top of thinking about her father's yelling, and all of that.

Sasuke decided it was time to pay Ino a visit. With his hands in his pockets, he strolled through the streets of Konoha, looking this way and that at the people that occasionally stopped what they were doing to look at him. When Sasuke reached the Yamanaka Flower Shop, he was instantly greeted by Ino.

"Hey there, Sasuke!" she exclaimed, dancing out of the shop. Her eyes had matured, as had her body. She had a nice figure, Sasuke couldn't help but notice that she was better looking than Sakura. The way she looked at him had matured. Whereas before it had been something along the lines of Ohmigod it's Sasuke, now it was Hey there gorgeous, why don't you try checking me out too, hottie? Still, Sasuke wasn't interested. He was only interested in the flowers that he was going to buy. "I'd like some roses, one red and one white." Sasuke said. "Coming right up!" Ino exclaimed. She walked out with the two flowers, and Sasuke handed Ino some money, but she refused it.
"On the house." Ino said. "By the way, did you know these two flowers together mean unity?"
"Yeah, that's why I picked them." Sasuke replied.
"You know about flowers!" Ino exclaimed.
"Thanks to you." Sasuke replied, giving Ino a casual smile. He'd matured into one of those guys that was decently pleasant, both to randomly talk to, and to have as a friend, so Sasuke was into smiling more.

After thanking Ino again, and also getting a card for the roses, Sasuke left. He tied the roses together, and attached the card as well. Then, he wrote on the card. As he reached Hinata's house, Sasuke jumped up, and placed the roses at her window sill. He left, and after 30 more minutes of walking, bumped into someone. He was about to tell the person off for not looking at where they were going, but when he saw who it was, he couldn't help but decide he needed help from this man. "Kakashi." Sasuke said.

Hinata:

Hinata heard a tap on her window. She was feeling terrible, and didn't want to get up just yet. But, she figured that she'd have to eventually. She was naked on her bed, so she actually had to get dressed first. After doing so, Hinata opened her window, only to see two roses. One red, one white. Hinata wasn't a big fan of girl stereotypes, but she did fit into one of them. She knew quite a bit about flowers, enough to know that these roses together symbolized unity. She also found a card with the flowers. When she picked it up, and read it, she gasped and dropped the card. Tears filled Hinata's eyes as the card fluttered to the floor, touching down on it, and laying there open.
"I made such a terrible mistake…" she whispered as the tears streamed. She walked over to her bed, and laid down on it, the tears coming out profusely.
On the card, written in a fine cursive, black ink, was only one phrase.
I'll be there for you.

Sasuke:

Sasuke had grown quite a ways taller in the last few years, and was now on equal terms with Kakashi in height. He felt a minor satisfaction with this, plus he was probably stronger too. Either way though, Kakashi was more experienced. Sasuke needed advice. After finishing his explanation of the situation, he sat with Kakashi at a BBQ that they were eating at together. Kakashi hadn't eaten a single bite yet, and neither had Sasuke. In fact, they hadn't even ordered yet. Sasuke had told the waitress to come back in a few minutes.
"This isn't too bad of a situation." Kakashi decided at last. "You can still handle this, I assume."
Sasuke nodded.
"I need advice on what to do next." He admitted. "I love her, Kakashi."
"You've grown up quite a bit, Sasuke." Kakashi said. "We're equals, you and I. You don't even call me Sensei anymore. But, you're just an ordinary Jounin. When you start teaching, this is when you will have surpassed me."
Sasuke did not reply.
"So for your situation.." Kakashi said, "I think the best thing for you to do is just keep doing what you're doing with these minor things. When a major thing happens, take advantage of it. That's all I can really tell you."
Sasuke stood up. "Thank you, Kakashi." He said. He hadn't gotten very satisfactory advice, but if Kakashi told him to do it, Sasuke was willing to listen this one time. Kakashi had been right several years ago, when he had first told Sasuke to give up his revenge, and that it could lead to nothing but more hurt. Sasuke realized that he had yet to apologize.
"I'm sorry, Kakashi." Sasuke said.
Kakashi smiled.
"Don't worry about it." He said. "But between you and me, I'd appreciate it if you could help bring our team a bit closer together. Naruto and Sakura seem to be bickering…"