Thanks for keeping up. I'm having such a hard time writing...(AGHHH). Encouragement and questions would really help. This chapter covers a lot of ground and speeds up the entire plot, so you'll have to keep up. It's not in Sasuke's POV; I've decided not to. Also, I've included a FAQ at the end to clear up a few questions.

Again, thanks! Love you all.

Chapter Nine

Castigation

I settled my head against the low pastry shelf, my heart beating erratically. The heat drew lazy circles, whether from the extreme proximity or the lack of air conditioning, I did not know.

Close, close, he's much too close, Inner Hinata yelped. Never mind a boy, you've never even sat this close to your sister.

His voice came as a susurration that ghosted over my flesh. The darkness seemed to have the ability to magnify a sound tenfold.

"How do you like this?"

"L-like what?" The voice I heard resembled my own, though it was half-hysterical.

He inhaled sharply. "This." I felt his gesturing; his wide fingers brushed my arm, invoking shivers.

"Wh-what?"

"You know. Being here. Compressed. You must be wishing you had never come after me."

"I...yes, I suppose I do."

"Really." His voice grew a hard edge; however, his next words were light. "You must think I'm stupid."

"No...not ...well, maybe a little," I confessed, clinging to the wall. "Not...really."

"The truth is - " His voice stopped abruptly. The footsteps reverberated alarmingly, shaking the kitchen tiles underneath our feet -

But then the patters receded into the distance, and I slumped down.

Sasuke's voice permeated the air again, this time softer. "In the journal, you wrote that you loved Naruto because of his - honesty and good heart."

"I..."

"...didn't you."

"Yes, I did."

"What a pity," he condescended, almost to himself. I stared into the darkness, knowing that a pair of black eyes were there. He was wearing a mask, I knew. His voice had become a false velvet.

"Tell me something," floated in his voice, sounding distant. "Tell me, do you love him?"

"I - I don't know."

His voice faltered. "You're going to trust him?"

"I don't - "

"You know that he'll never ditch Sakura, right? That he'll probably chase after her forever?" Suddenly his words were bitter, filled with unexpected malice.

My breath notched higher. "I know...that."

"And that - your father will never let you go serious with him...simply because he is a known troublemaker?"

"I...know."

"I half-wonder how you got yourself in such a mess."

I did not reply, but breathed heavily. The little oval of light underneath the door enveloped our feet.

"And you should know," the shadows moved as he tilted his head, "that as long as you remain who you are, he will never acknowledge you for more than a friend."

"He...he might."

His shoulder clipped mine as he leaned in. I saw his mouth under a flash of light. It was thin and hard, and faintly disapproving. "Lost case, then, isn't it?" he breathed, watching me closely. I couldn't know what he saw in the darkness, but he did not see strength.

Almost arrogantly, a corner of his mouth started upwards. He was amused.

"Then what's keeping you, darling? Why don't you accept and move on?"

I shook almost violently, then ducked my head down in a swift angry motion. "I won't. I - I won't. Because he's still there. I'll wait for him."

I saw a glimmer of his eyes in the semi-darkness. "And if he betrays you again?"

"I don't care - "

" - hurt you again? Can you really pick the pieces back up?"

" - I don't care!"

His tone was blatant. "Well, I'll wait until he dumps you again."

I threw my hand across my eyes, smearing the tears. The fingertips shook at his beliefs. He had voiced his opinion so honestly. He had eyes that watched every movement - if he said it was so, it was so. I trembled, placing my hand across the floor.

His hand flattened mine in a fluid motion.

"Don't do something you might regret," he insisted quietly. "You're just risking yourself. I read what you wrote. I saw what happened afterwards. Do you really want that to happen again?"

And I heard my flat, muted voice say, "Yes."

He stiffened, pulling away. There was a coldness in his words, a cold, icy deliberance. "I never pegged you for a fool."

"And I never...thought you would say such words. You - you don't understand. My journal was just a fraction of me. You don't understand - "

"And why shouldn't I?" he whispered fiercely.

"I...I don't know."

"Do you think I don't know you well? I know you from the inside out, and you know it."

"I...don't...know," I repeated witlessly.

He threw a hand to the dooknob. I jerked unconsciously, "What - !"

"I don't want to stay in here any longer," he said. "I can't stand you throwing yourself at his feet. It's such a stupid, profitless thing to do."

The beam of light widened as he pulled. The door, unhinging, gave a loud, unearthly rattle.

"Sasuke - "

He threw his head back. "The reason I was so interested, if you want to know, about this entire worthless incident, is because I wanted to prove Naruto wrong." His mouth grew thin like before. "I wanted to prove the guy wasn't a Nazi. 'Cause if you saw with your own eyes Naruto's mistake, then maybe you'd realize...what a trivial waste it is, lusting after him."

I stared at his hair, tumbling crazily about his ears.

"That's what you're doing, isn't it, though? You're wasting away. You're still fixed on the past.

Well, I'm sorry, darling, but this is the present. You've got to put him aside."

The door suddenly slammed shut, and I was once again in darkness.

XxxxxXxxxxxX

Eighth period came and passed. I sat, numb-faced and uncomprehending, on the benches outside the school building. The buses were gone. Toward the edge of the parking lot, the last of the seniors were exchanging good-byes and copied homework.

The buses were gone. I'd missed them.

And I sat here, not cursing my own stupidity or fearing my father's anger, but slowly replaying the events in my mind.

I searched for signs of deception. I had wanted - I had needed - an assurance. Sasuke had given me exactly that.

But it was not what I had desired.

It wasn't the right kind. He had come and he had harangued me about Naruto; the only thing I was positive about. But surely - he was wrong. Sasuke was wrong. He couldn't be right. I did not want him to be right.

My fists slowly curled up, drawing ten half-moons scattered across my palms. Little Miss Apprehensive, I chided myself, almost wearily. I didn't know what to think anymore, what to tell myself. I had known it would come to this; questioning about my faithfulness to Naruto.

The foundation for loving him was not invincible. It drew thousands of flaws, the biggest of which was his real affection for me - friend or more? Though he was easily the most gregarious student in the school, I did not know how he truly felt.

A tear disappeared under a fold in my shirt.

Maybe that's what it was; a lack of communication.

I was never close to him. I lingered behind him, watching him blurt out life secrets to other people, but never confiding in me.

That's what it was, I was sure of it now.

Because I had never known him, I had brewed false fantasies - I'd imagined him chivalrous, honest, and the epitome of True Love.

And maybe I was wrong.

A hard, thin smile graced my lips, not unlike the likes of Sasuke's.

"Maybe I was wrong about Naruto after all."

"Tell me something I don't know," said a slow voice behind me.

It was Sasuke.

I tensed automatically. Speak of the devil, I thought. "What do you want?"

"What do all guys want?" he countered, then smiled, easily, good-naturedly. "I'm joking."

"Stop," I managed. "Don't speak to me. I can't - "

" - stand it?" He leaned against the white stucco, dropped his bookbag. "Why don't you take an aspirin? This is tough stuff, isn't it? In fact, it makes you want to - "

"Please. Just stop."

"It makes you want to cry, doesn't it? Fall down on your knees?"

"Stop."

"When are you going to stop running away?"

The silence stretched between us. Twenty-four hours ago it had been 'okay'. Everything had been 'okay'. Now I was faced with something convoluted, incredibly twisted, it hurt to think about it.

"I'm not running away," I uttered wearily.

He kicked a stray rock, bending down, squinted at me. "Says you."

I turned my head away instinctively; I had been crying. "Says me," I mumbled, "but I'm right." Inwardly I prayed that he would not broach the topic of Naruto again; I prayed he'd let it be a petty conversation of wits.

He laughed suddenly; a sharp, ringing sound. "Can you at least answer this question instead of skirting around the issue? Tell me, how long is this going to continue? You going after him. How long?"

I hung my head down. I'd held the desire for Naruto's love inside for so long. A millennia, it felt like. I'd hid it.

"When are you going to wake up and open your eyes? Why have you been reduced to this?"

"No…no," I whispered.

"Answer me, you're – "

An abrupt noise forced his statement in half. An orange figure threw itself around the bend, nearly falling onto the asphalt. "Hi!" it said.

Naruto stood huffing, hands splayed at sides. A lock of golden hair flew wildly at his brow.

"Huff – Hi, guys – huff – didn't – know you were still here."

I tensed; he didn't notice, continuing to ramble.

"I just – finished detention with that cow of a principal, Tsunade. I – huff – am gonna walk home – I guess I – huff – missed the buses, huh?"

The silence strayed to the point of being awkward.

"ARGH!" he voiced in frustration, balling his fists. "I thought – huff – I could make it. But, nooo – "

"NARUTO!"

The perpetual person who always seemed to chase him around for something bad he did came up and threw a fist at his shoulder. "I don't think you have the homework that you stole from my locker, did you?"

Naruto blinked at Sakura. "Um, no?" he tried.

"Nice try, you sucker! Youuuuu – suuuuuu – ckkeeeeeeeer - !" She landed a flurry of punches that he had difficulty in dodging.

I looked on in dismay. The two arrivals had been a nice excursion from the real trouble I had been facing, but now that they were focused on something else, I couldn't avoid the question much longer.

The interrogator came up next to me, black eyes aglow.

"A walk with him," he jerked a thumb, "or a ride with me?"

Relief poured from my mind. I did not have to answer that question. This question – "The answer is obvious," I said in a dazed voice.

"Glad to hear it. I'll get – "

"Naruto," I said, "Naruto. I'll go with him."

Sasuke stood there for a long moment, hands crammed deep into pockets. He suddenly looked rather forlorn and not a little incensed. But then the look passed – I wondered if I had glimpsed it after all – and he snorted. "Gosh, how very un-biased you are."

I tightened the stray on my handbag, smarting at his words. "It's better than some people, who draw out other people's weakness like bees to honey." My vocal chords took a mind of their own, saying exactly what I thought. "And hurting others, no matter what their feelings – "

"Is that what you really think of me?" he demanded.

I hesitated. "I – yes."

His lips were clamped together tightly, his eyes searching. And then the look disappeared; his poker face surfaced once more.

"Very well," Sasuke said. "I'll see you Monday."

wanted to write a little more - god knows I need to compensate for the complete lack of writing thereof - but Muse-A has left me. -cries-

On a different note, I love all of you. :D You are all wonderful. The reviews really contribute to my brainchild. Writing has suddenly become harder than usual, but I'm trying.

Bulletined:

Q: Will Sasuke ever have his own POV?

A: -Nope.

Q: How many chapters will The Journal have?

A: As of right now, I'm thinking around twenty chapters to thirty.

Q: Will Hinata write more in the journal itself?

A: I don't know. In fact, it's become sort of a liability. The story is branching off into less humorous and more angsty waters. However, it will play a significant role towards the end.