Meiwa Says: So here is the last installment for Mittsu no Kotoba! I hope you enjoyed reading the chapters as much as I loved writing them. It's been a short trip, but exciting and fun nonetheless.

Note(s): Strangely enough, this chapter is shorter than the last. Once again, I skipped the time (giving a little more space to your imagination) to a week. I hope, Phoeliz, that I didn't get the time wrong here again, lol. This chapter isn't any more special than the rest. It's pretty much plain, filled with OOC-ness and fluff...or what I believe it to be. Hope you still enjoy reading, nonetheless!

Warning(s): Total OOC-ness, slight cursing and complete randomness.

Dedication: I would love to dedicate this last chapter to the following: evilbananalol, fat cherries, lover9, Phoeliz and tatoo26 for being consistent reviewers throughout this story. Thanks so much to those who thought of this worthy enough to be in their favorites/alert's list.

Disclaimer: I don't claim what is not mine.

Mittsu no Kotoba-The Finale: I Love You.
Meiwa Chinmoku.

She had been looking all over Konoha for the familiar boy, her eyes dead-set on him and him only. But with the crowds and masses of citizens, such task could be easier said than done.

"Excuse me…Pardon me…I'm so sorry!" Were her usual replies of agony as she politely pushed through the crowds, hoping to get to the Uchiha compound before he left for another mission. Hinata had asked the Rookie Nine if they knew of his whereabouts – and they merely smiled at her and shrugged their shoulders. Tsunade then told her that Sasuke was about to leave for a three-day mission in Suna, and had been preparing his necessities at home.

Hinata needed to talk to him. Not want, not wish, but need. Ever since the day one week ago, when she had meticulously woken up due to his...words, he had been ignoring her at all costs. She didn't know if his pride was the cause of it all.

Tired and frustrated, Hinata bent down on her knees for a quick gasp of air. Sakura had warned her not to exert too much effort in training or the like, because her wounds had not fully recovered.

Suddenly, a well-known flock of black hair appeared amongst the crowds. She realized that the chances of this being Sasuke were high – what with his unique, duck-style hairdo. Taking another deep lungful of air and focusing chakra on her feet, she pounced towards one of the rooftops and followed his quick pace. He, as well, was bolting towards an unknown place, and it worried her that it might just be the Konoha gates.

"Uchiha-san, Uchiha-san!" she yelled, or tried to, hoping that he'd turn around even for just a millisecond. "Uchiha-san, please, I need to speak with you!"

And yet, he didn't notice her presence.

Finally, she gave up and ran down the building, feeling her chakra decrease tenfold. She needed to be careful with her exertion, she thought.

Maybe it could wait. Maybe…he needed time as well. Or maybe she was just not meant to talk to him…as if it were against their destinies.

The last word she thought suddenly brought her out of her trance. She never believed in destinies – after learning from her once-harsh cousin that fate could very well ruin a person's life; she had looked down upon the idea.

Defeated and exhausted, the Hyuga heiress turned on her heel, until a hand caught her shoulder. "Hyuga, wait."

Her eyes couldn't be any wider. "U-Uchiha-san," she stuttered, cursing herself. "I thought…I thought you left."

"No. I was bothered." She opened her mouth to apologize, but he continued nonetheless. "I need to talk to you."

…

Judging the position of the sun, it was already half past four.

She found herself lost in the woods following a brooding Sasuke who claimed that he wished to speak to her. The trip was quiet, not necessarily uncomfortable, but pleasant to Hinata. She wondered if he thought the same.

He stopped walking and leaned towards a tree, pulling the stray kunai embedded into it. Hinata knew this place, had been to this place and even…fought Sasuke Uchiha at this place.

"Hn, sit." He commanded, gesturing towards the grass. Squeaking at his tone, she complied. "Why were you looking for me?"

Hinata's face reddened. "I um…hoped to speak with you…about what happened one week ago."

"Oh?"

"…Y-Yes."

"Speak up."

The heiress took one deep breath and avoided eye contact. She didn't want her walls crumbling in front of him – no, she had practiced far too long for this confrontation and she wasn't going to lose it just because of his attractive smirks and witty comebacks.

"I…I believe you're sending mixed signals, Uchiha-san."

"Sasuke."

"…Sasuke-san." Hinata repeated, ungracefully tugging at the grass underneath her. "You've been quite confusing…you tell me that you hate me, then you mention you've always cared. I…I…I confess to you," At this point, tears had started to leak from her eyelids. "And you say nothing but sorry…then…then you tell me you need me!" her voice echoed the complete frustration and confusion she had faced for the past few years in his presence. "I can't… I can never understand you…"

A little alarmed at her outburst, Sasuke merely shrugged his shoulders, trying to look nonchalant but was slowly failing at his disguise. "I was honest."

"…So what do you feel about me? Do you hate me, care about me, need me or what?"

He took a step towards her. "I hate you…I hate you for having what I want, and not wanting it. You have a family, Hyuga and you hate them. Have you ever realized how much Dobe and I want it?"

Her voice shook as she spoke, "N-N-No…" she never thought that her pain could be regarded as selfishness. But it was.

"I hate you for the wrong reasons." Sasuke replied. Setting a bit of his pride aside, he took another step and confessed, "And I have always cared about you…ever since you were the quiet Hyuga I met at the park." He watched her blush as he took another step, more tentative than the last two. "And I…I ahem…I was sorry because I could not reciprocate the feelings at that time."

Her mouth hung open. "At…At that time?"

But Sasuke ignored Hinata's question and continued speaking. "I'm the Avenger. No one can ever understand the fact that I don't believe in love – especially of the opposite sex or of unrelated blood.

"And I said I need you…because, Hinata, I do."

Much to his chagrin, Hinata let her tears freely stream down her face. He wasn't sure if it had been due to his blunt speech, confusion, frustration or all of the above.

He could bet choice D.

Then she asked. It was merely one word, but it spoke many volumes. "Why?"

"What?"

Hinata's voice quivered. "What…what do you really feel about me, Uchiha-Sasuke-san? It's impossible to feel…so many contradictory things towards me…"

"…You still don't get it, do you?"

"I…Iie…"

And for once in his life, Sasuke Uchiha laughed at her naivety, finding it rather endearing for someone so intelligent to be clueless with matters of the heart. Although, it would be the biggest lie of the century if one would say that Sasuke was any better.

She had never heard him laugh. Ever. His mouth was always contorted to a frown, a scowl or a mixture of both. Hinata remembered wondering to herself if it was plastered onto his face because he wore the same expression all the time. But now, as the corners of his lips twitched up for a smile, the heiress knew that even the stoic, dark Uchiha had feelings.

Feelings she hoped she could understand.

"I hate you…yet I care for you. I… reject you…yet I need you," he spoke, narrating the events after his brief display of sentiments. "Can you still not understand what all this crap means?"

"…S-Sasuke-san…you are very difficult to read." Hinata answered back, biting her lower lip and the tip of her index finger in genuine confusion.

"In truth…the one I feel the most is hate."

Was that supposed to make her understand, or make her feel better in any way at all? "I…"

"I hate you…because of what you've done to me. You, Hinata Hyuga, have put an emotion in me that is quite useless and very unattainable to Uchihas.

"I feel all those crappy things for you…because I…fucking love you."

…

"Hinata-sama," Neji spoke with worry clear in his intonation. "I was worried about you. Hiashi-sama and Hanabi-san as well. Where have you been?"

With closer inspection, he could see she was in a momentary daze. "I was…in town…"

"Honestly?"

"…In the forest…"

The older Hyuga sighed, running a hand through his thick mahogany hair. "Hinata-sama, you know very well that your father seeks your presence at precisely five in the afternoon. It is terribly out of character for you to be late for your training."

"Sorry, nii-san," Hinata sighed dreamily, her voice softer than usual. "I'll go to father…and apologize."

He feared to ask the question, but was even more fearful of Hiashi's reaction if his suspicions were true. "Hinata-sama…are you alright? You seem a little…intoxicated."

She giggled, swatting a hand playfully at him. "Oh, nii-san, you're so funny! You know I'd be half-dead if I were drunk."

"That's true…however; you're looking a bit…lighthearted this afternoon. What were you doing in the forest, by the way?"

"I was…I was…" Hinata's eyes suddenly widened as her cheeks turned pink. "Meeting up with someone…"

Neji groaned, realizing that getting information out of Hinata at this state would be useless. She seemed to avoid his questions, but answer them nonetheless. He hoped that the damned Uchiha wasn't involved in any of this nonsense. "Alright. Hiashi-sama is waiting for you at the sitting room. It appears as if you have another training exercise for the upcoming ceremony."

"Alright, nii-san! See you laterrr…" Hinata said in a sing-song voice, fluttering away slowly, her smile growing.

Before she could enter the Hyuga mansion, Neji grabbed her arm and spun her around, looking intently at her eyes. "Yes, Neji-kuuun?"

"Hinata-sama…

"Why are your lips so bruised?"

Meiwa Says: Yes, you must hate me for the lack of SasuHina in the last part, but I couldn't resist! XD Alright. So I want you to imagine Hinata as a person who looks drunk due to undeniable happiness. If you don't understand the last part...well, excessive kissing may lead to certain situations...and that is what I have implied.

I won't reply to the reviews this time, but I really want to thank everyone nonetheless. Inspiration is the key to writing, and you've given me all that for the past month. You guys are all awesome! By the way, an epilogue might just come, but I can't promise anything.

Update: Oh my gosh, when I was looking at the story's traffic updates, I realized someone added Mittsu no Kotoba to a community! I would love to thank whoever took the effort and time to do so. You made my day! And also, I'm trying to work on an epilogue (sequel if I have time) but I can't assure the updates are as quick as they are now. Gomen! But I'll try to make a sequel (multi-chaptered) and I have a few ideas up in my mind. It'll probably come out late June or earlier. I can't promise any due dates.

Date Published: 02-04-11.
Date Completed: 03-02-11.