A/N- I was so suprised with how much attention this story is getting. i love it. Thank you so much for all the reviews. Well here's the next chapter. Enjoy

DISCLAIMER: I wish...

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Chapter two

The mission itself actually sounded pretty serious. Something about preventing a civil war in Bird country was not what they expected. Two jounin instead of one, unusual to say the least. Though Hinata vaguely recalled the Godaime saying something about not wanting Sasuke but also not having a choice as no one else was available.

Hinata felt bad doing so, but she wished that Sasuke would fall ill or something so she wouldn't have to with him.

'No, that's not right. A shinobi has to be able to adapt to any situation! I can do this! I CAN do this!'

While Hinata was busy with her inward pep talk, Sasuke was walking beside her.

'it's not like he likes me or anything. Now that would be awkward, since I like him and all. Kyaa! Since I DON'T like him! I don't do I? Of course not…'

Sasuke had been waiting patiently ( something he learnt as a student of Kakashi) for Hinata to speak. He had sort of steered her through the streets to Ichiraku where they could get something to eat before they set out. Now they were sitting at one of the tables and she still hadn't snapped out of it.

He cleared his throat. No reaction. He coughed discreetly. Still nothing. By now he was a little peeved that he couldn't get a girl's attention so he did something drastic…

He grabbed her hand…

That's all…

No really…

Ok so not soo big but keep in mind that this is Uchiha Sasuke. Its not often that Uchiha Sasuke touches a girl, in a non-training setting, of his own free will…in public too.

Hinata blinked back into focus and saw that the object of her disturbing ( to her anyway) thoughts less that two feet away holding her hand. Here comes the blush. Still she managed to stutter something out. He raised an eyebrow slightly. Clearly he hadn't heard or understood what she was saying so she tried again.

"Can I have my hand back, Sasuke-san?"

She didn't dare look him in the eyes. Their meal, even though Hinata did not remember ordering anything, had arrived. Nevertheless, she was glad of the distraction. Feeling his disturbing stare on her was not a fun way to pass the time.

Sasuke let her hand go casually and settled into his chair to eat.

"We'll leave right after the meal. Meet me at the North gates in about an hour. We should have enough daylight left to get a good distance away from here."

"Hai."

Hinata was still slightly pink. It was the first time he has spoken all day, at least around her. His voice was pleasing to her ears, not knee melting like Shino's , but still really nice. Now if only he would say something with a bit more warmth…

'Oh my, what am I thing? Stop. Thinking……… Ok, not working. Try thinking about something else.'

Hinata caught a flash of pink from someone passing by's clothes and was immediately reminded of Sakura.

'ok. Sakura-san. She's a medic nin. She has pink hair. She's loud. She used to be on a team with Sasuke. She was always throwing herself at him. Sakura-san will be so jealous when she finds out I saw him topless before her, hehehe. Oh , I am so failing this.'

An uncharacteristic smirk had appeared on Hinata lips for just a second before it disappeared again. Sasuke wondered what she was thinking of.

Hinata had zoned out again and Sasuke was getting frustrated. Most girls threw themselves at him. A lot of them would kill to be in her position right now. Not that he was vain or anything, it was just a fact of life. His life.

This is where you insert the 'if Sasuke sighed sigh'. Silence was good. He enjoyed silence when all his fan girls would do was jabber on. However too much of a good thing isn't so great. Now, don't get him wrong. He was glad that Hinata wasn't not like his fan girls, but she could at least try to pay some attention to him.

' I hope she isn't like this on the mission.'

Hinata finished eating and stood up.

"Thank you…for the food…Sasuke-san. I'm going to go home to pack… I, er I-I guess I'll see you later."

She smiled awkwardly and sped off happy to get away for at least a little while.

Sasuke paid and left too. Hinata was on his mind. He hadn't slept much the previous night. Not that he and Hinata had…done anything.

'I have to admit, under all that, she has one killer body.'

A little dribble of red leaked out of his nose unnoticed.

FLASHBACK

The previous night, at the engagement party, the Hyuuga girl had been all smiles. It didn't take much for him to realise though that she was wearing a mask. He was dept at them himself. No one else noticed except perhaps her cousin, the Nara and the Aburame.

He had left early, hating the was Sakura was clinging to him even more than usual. If she thought she was going to get a proposal from him, she was dead wrong. He wound up in a somewhat seedy bar and was surprised when Hinata came in not long after. At first, unable to think of another reason for her to be there, he thought she had followed him. That thought was quickly banished when she paid no attention to him at all. She didn't even seem to know he was there, even if he was only a few stools down the bar.

Then he was curios, more so when she greeted the bartender with familiarity. The bartender had placed a drink in front of her before she even sat down. Who would have thought that Hinata frequented a place like this. He watched her for hours as she constantly knocked back the drinks.

Eventually, the bartender seemed reluctant to serve her anymore. She gave him no option. Said she would go elsewhere if she wouldn't accept her business. So he gave in and soon enough she was completely plastered. Funnily enough that's when she spotted him.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun. I know what you're thinking. 'What's a nice guy like you doing in a place like this?'"

She started laughing hysterically at her own joke. Her laugh soon turned into sobs as tears began to rol down her face. She looked away from him and stared into her drink as if searching for an answer in the liquid depths.

"I'm such an idiot. All these years I always hoped that he'd somehow wake up and say he loved me. When he started dating her I said it was just a phase, even when I knew it wasn't…"

She turned her eyes back to him and grabbed a fistful of his shirt pulling him right up close to her.

"Tell me, Sasuke-kun, why do we hang on to the things we know will hurt us?"

Suddenly she grinned and kissed him flush on the lips. Then she passed out.

Instinctively he grabbed her before she hit the floor. He stared at her for a second before he picked her up and walked out.

He decided to take her to him house. He told himself that it was closer and taking her to her own house in this state would raise questions he did not want. It had nothing to do with what she said or how heartbroken she was. Her words hadn't touched him at all. Not at all. Not one little bit…

There was only one bed in his house, the rest of the bedrooms had long since been cleared out. He would take the couch.

So he dropped her off and went about his nightly ritual as usual. He left the adjoining bathroom in just a pair of boxer shorts, fully intending to leave the bedroom. He just happened to glance over at Hinata. What he saw stopped him in his tracks.

A very :gulp: naked Hinata was splayed on his bed face down. Her clothes were scattered all over the floor. They included a couple of thins that he hadn't ever imagined Hinata would wear and he couldn't help but wonder what she looked like with them on. Not that she didn't look great with out them…

He blushed and stared. And stared. And stared.

She shivered slightly and he snapped out of his trance.

'She must be cold…'

He pulled open a couple of drawers, pulled out a dark blue t-shirt, a pair of black boxers and walked over to the bed.

He froze. He was going to have to dress her and that meant he had to touch her.

'C'mon not too difficult right?'

He blushed harder and tried not to think about how smooth and softer her skin felt. Or how it glowed in the moonlight streaming in through the window.

Sasuke was almost proud when he succeeded without waking her up or doing something perverted.

He stood up to leave but she had a death grip on his boxers. Asleep or not he couldn't get rid of her and no way was he going to take them off to get away. He reasoned that eventually she would loosed her grip and that's when he would make his escape.

So he lay beside her on the bed, he had to put his arm around her to get comfortable. It was the early hours of the morning that he gave in to sleep, not for long though.

'No, she's still hanging on.'

He couldn't get back to sleep. While he had been out, she had crept closer and wrapped herself around him. Sasuke was trying to keep his dignity and not do anything stupid It was hard when he remembered that she hadn't been wearing much not so long ago.

She woke up then and left in a hurry. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed but then what else had he hoped for?

END FLASHBACK

Now he was going to be spending a lot of time alone with her. He smirked.

'This may turn out to be fun.'