NOTE: Hi, beta here. Hmfan said she was grounded, so I uploaded this for her, but it might be a while between now and the next update…really sorry about that. And if this chapter seems watered-down, that's probably due to my meddling. My apologies hmfan. :/

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hmfan: So happy! I got my Microsoft Word™ back. Cha: fighting pose:

Sai: Yeah, yeah. : Scratches back: I'm just glad you got off my back.

Hmfan: We're nearing the Jonin exams. I still have a very vague idea on what to do. Sigh… it'll be revealed soon.

Sai: What the hell is…-

hmfan: SHUSH! I've been doing research on a certain French sport. A little chart for the future…

Hayoto, Mamoru, and Kaya are on one team.

Jin, Natsume® and Oseye are on another.

Shing, Bakure, and Misu are on the last one.

Then of course, the troublesome trio consists of Yuneii, Timaya, and the next Uchiha-Hyuuga offspring. If you don't know who these children are, check out my profile. I'm looking for the next Uchiha-Hyuuga offspring; many will enter, one will win. Also, I need some bad guys. I have sort of an idea…but…I think I'd be better off watching Bleach.

Sai: grabs popcorn: Fine. Let's just get to my scene.

Hmfan: You have no scene.

Sai: Of course I have a scene. I'm the humor source.

hmfan: No, Naruto is the humor source. Anyway, a synopsis of today's day would be: Training. A visit. Let's see…and some shopping. Later, a…I've said too much.

Sai: All I can say is bring it on!

hmfan: I'm very sorry, pathway to romance, I hope we can mend our past. I'll give it a try, you know, reading those NaruHina stories you selected. By the way, 'Ue' means someone else's mother/father.

Save the Home

Hanabi jumped back for a second. She'd never heard of such a thing. Someone likes nee-chan? She watched his hand caress her sister's cheek and looked to see him blushing. Now, we all know Hanabi is no fool. In fact, she'd perhaps, once or twice, swooned over that Uchiha. Come on, he was the number one heartthrob. This was weird…watching him, the one and only Uchiha Sasuke, fawn over her sister. "You lie!"

Her body lunged at him. "Hinata…her heart…it's too frail to be toyed with, you gay man whore!" This couldn't be true! Sasuke can't love her sister. That just didn't fit. Her fist was stopped with his hand.

"This isn't your business, girl." He threw her hand to the side, letting her fall. He still shook his palm off, however, letting the pain reside. "I just need to see. I need to know, do you hear me? I've been waiting too long. Way too long, for this hole to be fixed. For a long time, I've needed someone who could make me smile just as my mother did. She…may be the one."

Smart little Hanabi, being a good little girl, got up and left before sending a glare back to the Uchiha. "Uke-baka, even if you two do end up…married…let me make it clear that you will not break her heart, especially not for another man." She closed the door lightly, leaving to the restroom. Okay, yes, Hanabi deeply believed Sasuke was gay. Come on, that was the most logical reasoning as to why he didn't like his fanclub.

Sasuke's eyes were now focused on Hinata's hand. They were holding hands. He cajoled her silently into waking up. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, her eyes slowly opened, revealing a pair of lavender orbs in the midst of white. She turned to the side, just enough to identify who was standing over her. Maybe it was just Neji checking on her again.

But the voice, his voice…his voice didn't sound like Neji's. "What beauty…" he mumbled in a monotone voice, contrary to Neji-niisan's even lower monotone voice. T-Then who is it?

Hinata surprised Sasuke with a huge blow to the stomach. If it was a cloud-nin again, she would have to kill him right away. She couldn't risk any fatalities in the clan. "GET AWAY YOU STUPID CLOUD-NIN! YOU WON'T EVER COME NEAR THIS CLAN AGAIN!" Her 'scream' was too soft to really be heard by anyone. She began closing some of the intruder's chakra holes. Just a few. She'd just risen from sleep, so her accuracy was far from perfect.

"It's Sasuke." He began dodging the slow paced attacks. "Calm down," he warned, getting on top of her bed, standing up, facing her panting figure.

The heiress panted, realizing who she was attacking. "Oh, gomen ne, Uchiha-san. I'm very sorry. I-I didn't know that was you. Please forgive me," she pouted, begging for forgiveness. She'd always been very respectful. Sasuke just replied with a smirk.

She continued babbling only to be cut off. Sasuke got closer to her face, forcing her to fall back on the bed. (Sai: Keep in mind the rating, hmfan.) The authoress then looked at the rating to find some kids are watching. She smiled at the children, then continued to write, mumbling a small apology.

Sasuke smirked, bracing himself centimeters above her face. "You seem nice." She could smell his light odor of sweat. He could smell her delightful scent of vanilla. The Uchiha could almost feel the heat from her cheek and vice versa. Now, looking at Sasuke, you wouldn't know how much he was blushing, which was almost as much as the girl who was shaking under him.

"U-U-Uchiha-san, I-I-I...ano…excuse me?" she squeaked out, blushing all over. The heat in her cheeks was causing exhaustion. It wasn't until she spotted her father running upstairs with a handful of guards behind him that she made any move to protest his actions. Inside, she wanted to just let the guards in, but that wouldn't be nice. "M-My f-father, h-he's coming." Her eyes watered.

The avenger jumped back, taking her hand before knocking her out with a small amount of pressure to the neck.

HINATA POV

Uchiha-san? What did he do? He wasn't dangerous, I was sure, so I shouldn't have been as scared as I was. Just take a deep breath, that's what I was supposed to do, right? Relax. I sighed once again, scared to open my eyes.

My back felt hard; I must have been sitting against something. My clothes. Yes, they were still on. I should be okay since I felt no pain. The sun was not out. I felt the dampness around me…foggy. It must still have been night…unless…

"You know you can open your eyes now, right?" I slowly opened my eyes to see Uchiha-san looking dead at me. He had a frown on his face as he got up. He walked towards a stone, meters away from me. "Why are you so afraid?" Afraid? I wasn't afraid of Uchiha-san. He seemed to be a very nice person. He had a past, just like I did. Maybe we could both help each other.

I looked up and smiled, "Of course not, Uchiha-san, I do not wish to give that impression. Neji told me…" Uchiha-san didn't seem to want to talk about this subject for some reason. His eyes grew red. Sharingan? Why was he activating Sharingan?

He turned to me. "What did he tell you?" he demanded. Maybe I shouldn't talk about it. It was his clan and all. Looking around, I noticed my surroundings. A single, decorated tombstone lay right in front of me. Activating my Byakugan, I gasped, noticing dozens of tombstones in the area. 'Uchiha.' This must be the Uchiha graveyard that I've heard so much about.

There was a legend about a nice woman. She sat in the window of the main house, watching over her children. Her children, her boys, she'd always love them. Every now and then, you could spot the garden growing food for her family. I've always wanted to visit the benevolent garden, maybe even tend it, and help the mother in the window.

I snapped out of my thoughts to see Uchiha-san. "D-Did I say s-something w-wrong? H-He j-just told m-me…" I cleared my throat. I promised myself I wouldn't stutter anymore. "Neji-niisan just told me about your past. He told me n-not…not to trust you because you are an Uchiha. Especially because you're the brother of Itachi, the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan; he told me not to talk to you because of the fact that you left, but I feel the need to get to know you. W-Who knows, maybe we can be friends!" A little ahead of myself, but it was worth a shot. The intense look on his face softened as he smiled. I smiled back and gave him a hug.

"I'm glad," I heard him say, rubbing my hair, comfortable at the very least. It felt…right. I jerked back, blushing. Reflecting on my reactions, maybe that was a little more intimate than what I planned. I looked up to see him smirk, but then frown again. "Meet my mother."

'Uchiha Mikoto,' what a beautiful name! Her grave was set apart from the rest. With much splendor, possibly signifying her once lively presence, the grave was covered in flowers and herbs. Some weeds, but…it's the thought that counts, right? I smiled bigger, "Ohayou, Uchiha-ue, I'm honored to be in your presence. I wish I could have known you; your son seems very nice. Sorry, but I don't have anything to offer." I hung my head down low. A bouquet poked me in the shoulder.

Was…was Uchiha-san giving me a gift to give to Uchiha-ue? I blushed, wrapping my fingers lightly around the weeds, sweat-dropping. I wanted to give something more respectful, but this would have to do. "Arigatou, Uchiha-san." I placed the flowers on Uchiha-ue's grave. "I hope you like…flowers, maybe next time I'll share some of mine." I bit my lip. This was harder than I thought it would be. Flashbacks of my own mother came into play.

NORMAL POV

The fog was still there, hiding details about each and every one of the Uchiha clan. Sasuke tucked his hands into his pockets, heading to a house not too far down the road. His brother (damn him) taught him a game that he might be able to teach Hinata. It was a game of higher class; being of the Hyuuga clan, she should know it.

"I have something planned," he shouted back.

Hinata seemed puzzled, "What are we going to do today?" She also seemed partially excited. Maybe they could go to the zoo, or even…

"Spar."

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Somehow, about a half an hour later, Sasuke was dressed in an all dark-blue polo t-shirt and short shorts to go along with it. A big emblem of the Uchiha clan symbol laid smack dab in the middle of his back. Lacking a visor, due to the absence of the sun, he looked at the ground. His hands clutched a special racquet, designed especially for training. Although he wasn't serving.

It turns out Hinata was smarter than she looked. She'd learned tennis at a young age, just as her opponent did. Her hands clutched a neon, lime green ball, as she stared her opponent directly in the eyes. I will not lose. On the Hyuuga grounds, they'd use tennis as a form of training. Her style showed off her clan symbol, all beige, with a sleeveless top. The skirt, to Sasuke's pleasure, gave her just enough air to move from one side of the court to another.

"Ready?" Sasuke looked up to see no reply. You want more, don't you? Shut up. I refuse to talk about such an angel in that manner. Tch. Whatever, pervert. The ball, engulfed in a whirlwind of dust, flew towards him. These weren't any old racquets. They were Chakra racquets which could hold the element and transform each serve/return accordingly. Shall I make a chart? Not too long, I got to watch The Boondocks. (no offense to those who hate the show)

Sasuke has fire. He overpowers wind, because wind feeds fire. Hinata has wind. Her advantage is against lightning because the show said so. (Wind can be so powerful, to throw off lightning?) Sasuke has lightning. He can beat water; if you watched Pokemon, you know, water conducts electricity. Keeping in mind that Hinata has power over water, you can see she'll have the edge of extinguishing the flames. It's a circle. Yeah, a circle. Summing it up, Hinata kind of has the ultimate advantage in terms of elements. Unless I make her dumb, which I won't, she should pick up on a strategy of some sort. It really is balanced if you think about it.

Back to the game, Sasuke hit the ball back in a fiery swirl. The flames were twice the normal size. The power and intensity in one blow was enough to score a point. "Looks like a winner." He stood there, thinking she couldn't possibly return a shot like that. There were only seconds until the ball would bounce once on her side, then onto the…He only heard it bounce once when it came flying back in a foggy ball of steam.

She can manipulate water as well? He got to his feet, realizing this was more than he'd expected. The wet, steamy ball collided with his racquet, conducting an electrical current towards Hinata. Can't believe she was able to return it with that leverage. I can't believe she was able to return it with that bounce.

Immediately activating her Byakugan, she swung towards the position of the ball. It was incredibly hard to focus on where the small neon thing was, but once she smoothly made her way over there, the ball lightly bounced off her racquet in a swift whirlwind to the other side of the net. This was no leisurely game for her. Whenever the Hyuugas had their tennis matches, Hinata was sure to do her best.

Sasuke soon had to step his game up a little further by activating his bloodline ability. Sure, he had the strength and the speed to beat her. In fact, the only two disadvantages he had were his alertness and other four senses. The Sharingan would make it even easier…he had thought. There was a drawback to that as well. His alertness would decrease greatly, forcing him to only focus on one thing…the ball. He attempted to spot the ball.

Little did he know, the death of him would be…

Sasuke…

Sasuke-kun…

SASUKE!!! Wake up, you're going to…never mind. Let's let him drool in a humorous fashion to heighten the comedic appeal of the story.

Oh, Kami, look at that! Dear, Kami, this is bad. What do you mean 'bad'? Her sweat. Was that her sweat leaking down her forehead to her…her…Hinata caught him looking for a second, blushing. Damn, she saw me. He looked away, forgetting about the…ball. It hit him smack dab in the middle of his forehead.

'15-love,' that's what the score was. Hinata scored the first point as server; Sasuke, by default, loser. Neither spectator nor human could see that Hinata had this game won from the beginning. Any revelation of…cough…skin would lead to a rout. In this case, a ball to the head as well would play some part. When will men ever learn? Keep your eye on the ball, Sasuke-kun.

Well, not that he was complaining, now. Poor Hyuuga Hinata ran up to the ero-baka. Taking out a first-aid kit, she found gauze and alcohol to apply to the bruise. It had been hit so hard, blood leaked from his forehead. "Uchiha-san, you're bleeding!" Putting a small amount of water to wash away the blood, all she had to do now was alcohol it down, "It looks like you received a cut as well, so I will need to just put a little alcohol on it. It might hurt at first, but that should be it."

Sasuke smiled, looking up at her preparing the alcohol. The late winter breeze felt perfect, for in her presence, he felt warm. It lightly blew her hair over her shoulders making her look…even sexier...what a smile. Beautiful and untouched, pure. Not only does she have the looks, but the compassion of a mother as well. HOLY SHIT!!! Anime tears came pouring from Tony's (inner Sasuke's) eyes. The alcohol, it BURNS!!! In reality, Sasuke's eyebrow just twitched. The pain subsided in a few seconds, and after Hinata wrapped his head in bandages, he got up.

"Arigatou," he mumbled, facing away from the Hyuuga in embarrassment. His pride had been soiled. However, he wasn't sorry for looking, he was sorry that he got caught. Hinata, on the other hand, had forgotten about the entire event and had moved on to picking up the tennis racquets and balls. "I think we're finished for today. We'll be training in different sports every day. At the end of the week, tennis will be the test. I personally think we both can benefit from this exercise." He threw his hand up, waving goodbye.

Hinata still had something on her mind. "Uchiha-san," he turned back, "the garden. The garden that everyone talks about, is it real?" She held her hands on her chest, anticipating the answer. Her father rarely let her tend to her garden, but she loved botany. Her specialty was finding herbs to create her own herbal medicine.

The Uchiha spoke, in a low monotone voice, so flat, yet filled with emotion. His thoughts flashed back to his mother, but then he looked at Hinata. "I haven't been there in a while." That was his mother's favorite thing—to tend to the crops in the backyard. "My mother used to plant crops for us. My brother…he never helped, but I helped all the time. I especially loved the green tomatoes. We would fry them and feed them to the rest of our clan. She always made the biggest dinners with her garden." He sighed, walking towards his house, motioning for her to follow him.

None of the two spoke a word. They had to pass through the vacant house to get to the garden. Hinata was appalled by what she saw. There had been dishes stacked since who knows when. The couch had dozens of rats and rodents residing within and there'd been mold inside almost every room. How could someone live like this? She opened her mouth, wanting to question, but then shut her mouth. That would be rude. She could hurt his feelings. If she wanted to be friends with him, then she would need to be even more respectful than usual.

The door opened, not to a wonderful and spectacular garden, but a botanic graveyard. Animals were burrowing within the trees and the koi fish were long past gone. There was green algae everywhere and the crops and rice were long past soiled into the ground. Oh my, Hinata thought, holding her fingers up to her lips, Uchiha-san must be crushed. She looked to see his expression. Depressed. Empty. Alone. I need to help him! She swung her arms around him, resting her head on his neck. "Uchiha-san, I didn't know you were living in these conditions. I'll try my best to help you." Tears were pouring from her eyes to his shoulder.

Sasuke stood there, nearly embracing the hug by patting her on the back. It hurt to see all his mother's hard work down the drain. It was hard as hell just remembering to water the plants and feed the fish. Even the Zen garden was filled with worms. Who knew it was that hard to rake gravel? A single tear went down his face. Mom, I'm sorry. He nodded to himself, but then to Hinata's offer. A smirk wiped across his face. "First, you have to make me breakfast."

Hinata's eyebrow twitched. In that nasty kitchen? She sighed. Cleaning as she worked wouldn't hurt. She wiped her eyes on his shirt, releasing him. "Gomen, Uchiha-san. I would be honored to cook you breakfast." She smiled, opening the door to the house.

Eggs, ham, and maybe a light serving of miso soup… she gasped remembering the bento box she had prepared. Oh, it was probably too old. She sighed, she'd put too much work into those dishes to end up having no one enjoy it. To her dismay, she opened the refrigerator to find a colony of various insects and rodents. "Uchiha-san, I think we need to go shopping."

Sasuke walked in behind her with a disgusted look. "Why…oh…" he blushed at how trashy the place was. It wasn't his fault, though. He'd been gone for three years. Who knew what could have grown in that amount of time? Apparently, three generations of chinchillas. He looked around the rest of the house. How dare you bring your future wife into your shitty home? Who's talking matrimony? So you'd rather do it pre-marital? Who's talking sex? Dumbass, no one is talking, we're just thinking! He looked sideways at Hinata's rear as she crouched down. What do you think I should do? First, stop talking to yourself, then, take her out on a 'shopping date'. Remember how Mom always loved to shop? This girl isn't far off, maybe we should take her.

Hinata coughed, getting away from the almost toxic fumes. "Ahem…" she blushed, looking at him gaze out the window. He looked up hearing her clear her throat. He does look awfully skinny. I need to get some food in him quickly before he passes out. "Uchiha-san, I'm worried. I don't want you to get sick. Sai-kun said"—why did she call Sai, 'Sai-kun'?—"you hadn't eaten in a while. He suggested I cook for you."

The Uchiha frowned, pretending to wave it off. Damn that bastard. He blushed; she's actually worried about me. Hell yeah!!! This is your chance. "Hn." He grunted to himself, wiping off his blush with a smirk, "Well, Hyuuga, if you're so worried about me, how about you take me out?" He got closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. (hmfan: Poor Sasuke just doesn't know what intimacy is. Do you know how close is too close, Sasuke?)

Hinata blushed madly. "Uchiha-san…I…" Why was he doing this? From what she knew, Uchiha-san was a quiet person who kept to himself. A lot like her, but what was this side? Oh, Hina-chan, this is his perverted side peeking out. As he grows it will begin to peek out little by little. Speaking of peeking out, "Ano, w-what do y-you mean…out?" She looked up, stuttering and blushing his heart out. It was cute, to say the least.

"Are you deaf?" he whispered, lying his head on her shoulder. "I said take me on a date." He smirked against her bare shoulders. He obsessed over the curves the tennis outfit revealed. Putting on his husky, so-called sexy voice, he muttered, "You are different, a special friend I wouldn't mind getting to know." He let out a light purr, stroking her arm. "I've been lonely, Hyuuga, I need someone like you. A friend."

Hinata smiled. A friend? She sighed in relief. A special friend. The blush went away, but then returned. "A-A f-friendly date?" She'd heard of this. Shino and Kiba always took her out on friendly dates because they were friends. Nothing else.

"No." She doesn't get it. Sasuke sweatdropped, letting go of Hinata. "Hn." He stepped out the door, feeling the sunlight on his eyes, and looked back. "We're going to shop. You can buy whatever you like: clothes, jewelry, and furniture. In case you didn't know, you're going to help me bring this place back. Everyday we'll work to bring the garden back, make it a home. In the morning we'll train, then we'll go shopping. At night, you can sleep here if you'd like. I don't mind."

She nodded. It was still dark outside. Darkness frightened her, so she clutched onto Sasuke's sleeve, following him outside.

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It'd been some time since the couple…or rather, friends, set out to shop. Hinata hadn't abused her power. But Sasuke wanted her to abuse her power. He wanted to show off that he could support them. If there ever were a 'them,' that is, he'd be sure to spoil her.

Sasuke had already been loading the dolly with copious amounts of furniture. There were tools for renovating the entire manor. Well, at least Sasuke's old house. There were light and dark colors of both teen's tastes. Seeds for the garden. Clothes for Hinata. Clothes for Sasuke. Enough groceries to last a good while. Appliances.

Unfortunately, Sasuke had lost his cool ordering jewelry for Hinata. He held the poor man by the collar, "I SAID TOPAZ, NOT SAPPHIRE. A TOPAZ, GOLD NECKLACE! WHAT THE HELL CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT TOPAZ, YOU BASTARD!!!" Hinata blushed. She saw no reason to make a scene.

"Uchiha-san…please…" Hinata held her hands together, watching the dolly. Kakashi-kun looked up at the two. He tucked away his book, walking towards the cash register.

His 'girlfriend' was none other than the little Hyuuga from down the lane. A real charmer indeed. He grinned. Almost perfect for Sasuke-chan. She didn't talk much and wasn't a part of any fanclub, except little Naru-chan's. Other than that, he was in the mood to bug Sasuke. "You know, Sasuke-chan, you shouldn't yell at the poor costumer. It's not nice." He lifted the poor sales clerk from Sasuke's grip, sitting him down.

Sasuke looked up in horror. OH, KAMI, NO! The damn bastard had found him. "What the hell are you doing here?" The Uchiha activated his Sharingan. Kakashi grinned, watching Hinata come up to his side. Sasuke saw his grin and turned away, hiding his blush. There just had to be something he could—Kakashi-kun busted out in a fit of giggles…and snickers…and giggles again. It got to the point where he had to clutch his stomach.

Hinata looked at Kakashi. Is Hatake-senpai alright? She looked at Sasuke's disgusted face. "Uchiha-san, what is Hatake-senpai laughing about? What's so funny?" She pleaded to know, tugging on his shirt like a little girl.

As if anything could get worse, Iruka came in with a pair of scrolls as well. "Oh, there you are, Sasuke-chan, Hinata-chan. Wait…" he looked at Kakashi laughing uncontrollably. He looked at Hinata by Sasuke's side. I've never seen those two this close, let alone together. Maybe once…yeah, once.

"Sasuke has a girlfriend! Sasuke has a girlfriend!" Kakashi taunted, as he continued laughing, and Iruka joined in, although lighter than Kakashi.

After about five minutes of laughter, the two were embarrassed and attempted to leave. Iruka looked up. "Sorry, guys." He scratched the back of his neck. "Hokage-sama wishes for you two to participate in the Jonin Exams."

"Personality Test?"

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hmfan: Not much effort. Sorry. That's just the first part of the Jonin Exams. People seemed to like the role playing. I'm thinking mock-murder mystery on a deserted island where they'll have to build up with nothing with the clothes on their backs.

Sai: Talk about crappy.

hmfan: I wished to put more humor, but I need to keep the storyline.

Sai: I'm bored.

hmfan: Say, Subject 32, feel free to give your opinion! I'll be happy to hear you talk with us. Yeah, I got a beta. My spell checker blew out somehow, so I need some help. THANKS A BILLION!!!

Sai: Livin up this hell hole.

Subject 32: Actually, I was rooting for the desert island choice…so this could be cool.

hmfan: Like I said earlier, it would be wise to help me. PLEASE! I need an Uchiha-Hyuuga child. Just one, then some ideas for villans. (tilts head) Sai-kun, did you eat all of the onigiri? (looks at empty plate)

Sai: Uh…(stuffed mouth) no. (runs away)

hmfan: Not so fast, (tasers Sai to the ground) you damn bastard. Don't forget, Next Chapter: Cast Away- Beginning the Jonin Exams