Ohayo!

It's time for the seventh chapter!

Please excuse any errors and R&R!!

Chapter 7: A Prickly Situation

--

Hinata found the kitchen.

Like a teacher's desk, the stove sat right at the top of the room facing more than five tables, so that the cook would be forced to face the people they would be feeding. It was probably that thought that sent Fatty into hiding and she couldn't blame him.

She could imagine the room filled with hungry men, all of them waiting on their food and banging impatiently on the tables with wooden spoons. Her imagination was to vast but Hinata knew the pressure would be high and she decided to come early in the morning to begin cooking.

After looking at the sooty contraction, she was glad that she had come to inspect it. Though even after close scrutiny, she couldn't quite understand how it was supposed to work.

Opening the oven door, Hinata stared into its bowels, trying to decide whether it was really an oven or if she had to burn wood in it and cook on the top. There wasn't any wood to be seen or coals either, but then there might possibly be another compartment for that underneath. She poked her head into the dark chamber, trying to see what she could see. It was spacious enough to roast a man! And Hinata found herself inside the up to her forearms to peer down into the lower compartment.

There, indeed, she saw wood, though she was not sure how she was supposed to get new wood in there.

Carefully, so as to ot get herself dirtier than she already was Hinata began pushing herself against the removable panel. Nothing budged and it occurred to Hinata that she could probably remove the grating on which she was leaning.

Hinata had already checked the supplies and there was ample bread to be heated and slabs of meat to go with it. It was probably best to do something simple with her first attempt and leave the more difficult tasks for later. Still… she would need the oven to heat the bread and how was she going to get that-

"Well well," came a familiar voice.

Hinata gave a startled little shriek and instinctively tried to look to see who had come in. She banged her head on the roof of the oven and yelped in pain as she dropped once more onto the soot covered grating. Much to her dismay, she discovered the way into the lower chamber and went in, hands first, into the gray ash and what remained of the charred wood.

"Itai!" she cried and tried to lift herself out before she could cause anymore damage. A log rolled beneath her palm and she lost her balance entirely, toppling head first into the ash. A cloud of soot exploded in her face, and she sputtered and coughed.

"Imagine finding you here," said Sasuke, his voice as sarcastic as ever.

She heard his footfalls as he came around behind her, and was mortified at the sight she must be presenting with her behind poking indecently out of the oven and her legs waving at him.

"What are you doing here, Hyuuga-sama?"

Kami! She was beginning to hate the way he said her name, as though it was blasphemy. "What does it look as though I am doing," she asked him with a clipped tone and coughed she stirred another cloud of dust and ash. Damn him!

"I would think you were looking for something," he stated.

She certainly was now. She was looking for the tiny bit of pride she had left that kept eluding her these days. "Can you please go away?" she asked, not too nicely but she knew he was too much of a tormentor to listen.

"And miss the show?" he taunted. "I don't think so."

The wicked man. By the sound of his tone, Hinata thought he must be enjoying this situation greatly. This was the thank she got for trying to help? Some days just didn't serve to get out of bed- or cot.

There was only one way she knew how to salvage her pride and that was with a sense of humor along with her grandmother's good wit. Her mother's mother could curdle milk with mere words, but she rarely meant a single word she'd said. It had merely been her way of showing affection.

"Gee, I thought I'd just dust a bit, " she told Sasuke sweetly, her voice echoing within the cavern of the oven. "Your hire help has been remiss I think." She wiggled backward and managed to get her feet on the floor.

"Is that so?" he asked, his sarcasm redoubled.

"Hai," she informed him coolly, trying to sound as collected as possible. "I wasn't particularly looking forward to grease with my bread in the morning. You should see it," she continued. "I think you should be appalled."

With her feet back on the ground, Hinata backed out of the oven all the way, wincing at the sting in her left hand when she put pressure on it to lift herself out. It hurt enough that she dared not to use it again. Bracing her other hand on the oven door, she used the leverage to drag herself up and gasped in surprise when the oven door fell off, then again in pain as it landed on her heel.

"Itai!" she explained. Tears pricked at her eyes, but she refused to cry at such a petty thing when she was a former ninja. Hinata pushed the oven door aside, and stood straight as she was able and faced him squarely, refusing to cow before his acid tongue.

His brows were both arched high and Hinata could tell that he was trying hard not to laugh- the awful brute. He placed a hand to his chin, appraising her as though she were a work of art to be studied even though he seemed more amused than anything else.

I take it you were personally trying to mop up the grease?" he asked her in his mocking tone.

Hinata ignored the insult. She knew she was not the prettiest sight at the moment as dirty as she was but that didn't mean he had to bring it to be noticed. "It might have been polite of you to help me up," said Hinata and kicked the oven door away in her fit of anger, wishing it were his shin instead. It was amazing how he brought out the worst in her.

Sasuke eyes her with amusement. It might have been nice of him to help… but he wasn't in the mood to help Kiba's little sneak. He bit his lip, trying not to laugh at the sight that was the Hyuuga heiress, his anger half gone now at finding her there. He'd be damned if she wasn't standing as proud as ever, the uppity little brat.

He couldn't help himself; she was easy prey. He lifted a finger and dragged it softly across her cheek, smearing grease, and then inspected his finger. "Looks like you missed a spot," he told her and then did laugh at her expression.

She actually fumed. She shook her head indignantly and ash rose from her hair. "You are one of the most unmannerly persons I've ever met," she blurted out suddenly, her cheeks blushing wherever there wasn't grime.

From her waist up, she had grease marks on her dress and skin where she had been pressed against the grill- her face included. Her hands were black with soot and when she lifted them off her dress, they left a print. The tip of her nose was as black as a dog's and her hair was covered with a blanket of ash.

To tell the truth, she didn't look the least bit threatening and more than slightly comical.

"I don't see what's so funny, Uchiha-san!"

Sasuke couldn't hold it anymore and laughed openly for the first time in long except when Naruto did something stupid. "You would see what was so funny if you looked in a mirror."

She stomped her foot, and more ash billowed from her hair, making Sasuke let out another chuckle. It was insanely hilarious to see such a tame girl so angry. She certainly brought out the best in him. "Don't get me wrong though, Hyuuga-sama, you look lovely," he teased.

She had the nerve to look as though she was hurt when he caught her searching for the letters that were in the oven earlier that Naruto had given him. He just wanted to take the beautiful little shrew over his knee and paddle her delicious behind- and it really was. He couldn't have gotten a better look at it if he had asked for it, pert and round as it was.

"Will you please stop calling me Hyuuga-sama," she asked in a fury. "You manage to make it sound like a swear word."

He gave her a pointed glance. "You're the one who refused the first name basis."

"Well I've changed my mind," she said. Infuriated, she swiped her hand across her nose and smeared even more smut on it. Sasuke bit his lip to hold in the other burst of laughter that was itching to release.

Hinata's feelings were hurt. She would have liked to have said that his hilarity didn't affect her, but it did. Tears welled up in her eyes. She'd tried to do something nice and he had the audacity and lack of manners to make fun of her.

She doubted there was a shred of her pride left to salvage, but she still tried. "If you'll excuse me, Uchiha-san, I think I'll go wash this off," she said evenly.

"You do that," he told her mirth laced in his voice.

With as much dignity as she could muster, Hinata walked past him to the door, casting him a glare and would have kicked him if she had not been raised better. "You are…" She wanted to call him bad names but not a single one came to mind. "…a bully!"

Hinata spun on her heels and left him to his merriment. His low chuckle followed her through the mess hall and clear to her cabin.

She looked down at her hands when she reached the captain's dining hall and saw that they were blackened. With her left hand, she reached down for the knob to let herself into her room and shrieked in pain.

"Itai!" she cried out and jerked her hand away without opening the door. It felt as though a dozen tiny needles were in her palm but she couldn't see anything because the ash was all over her hand when she tried to inspect it and even so, the light was too dim to see anything.

She wanted to cry. Whatever had made her think she could have repaired the damage between them Why did she care so much what he thought of her? Who was Sasuke Uchiha to make her feel so subhuman?

He had followed her and had the gall to sound concerned.

"What's wrong, Hinata?"

Hinata swallowed her tears. "Why should you care?" Her nerves were near the point of shattering. It had been a terrible day, a terrible week- ever since she found out about Kiba's letters. She had wasted a whole year of her life and wanted some justice done for making her out to be a fool. How could he waste her father's money and confidence so that he could spend his time in Suna and now the Mist messing around with other women?

"I hope it rots and falls off!" she said to herself and spun around to face Sasuke. "Nothing is wrong," she lied, sounding too much as though she were trying not to cry. "Nothing at all!" she said a little too hysterically and then added to be sure there was no mistake. "I don't like you, Uchiha-san; not one bit!"

He pulled himself up the ladder and came toward her, but Hinata stood her ground.

"I don't like you either, Hyuuga-sama," he said, his dark eyes glinting with equal anger with his laughter gone, his jaw was set and his words were heavy with meaning. "You're a spoiled, rotten brat used to getting you own damned way, not caring who you have to step over to get it but at least I don't seem to need to list your shortcomings every time I see you," he seethed.

His accusation set he aback. Did she really do that?

"Look," he continued, having won her silence. "I know I don't exactly fit in your crowd."

Hinata blinked at the wounded sound of his voice that he tried to keep hidden.

"You and your kind of people never let a man forget where he came from and what he's done," he told her. "He can work his ass off to earn his rank and prove himself, but it's never good enough. Well I've got news for you, you're no frigging better than I am."

Hinata winced at his animosity, at his hardened now Sharingan eyes and the wrath in his voice. She didn't know how to respond.

"There is no need profanity," she protested weakly. "I'm quite capable of understanding your frustrations without it." Her gaze fell to her injured hand and studied it, unnerved by the heat in his eyes.

If he had intended to make her feel responsible for all his ills, he had succeeded. Hinata felt as guilty as could be because there was truth in what he had said. Everything accusing about him she had heard around the village had been in reference to him not having anyone to raise him properly because of the massacre and him killing his brother.

Kiba had been assured the basic things such as attending the academy, even though she had not gone for a long time and he had gone through the proper way of getting his status as ANBU thanks to her father as well. But this man who stood before her had likely had to fight to earn every last bit of honor he had achieved. A new sense of respect for him came over her. It was a pity he didn't like her at all and he had even made the point of telling her.

The silence between them was deafening. Hinata peered up at him through damp eyelashes. His fury had cooled a bit from the look in his eyes that were once again black that were staring down at her upturned hand. When he looked back up at her, his eyes were filled with concern.

"Let me look at it," he demanded.

Hinata nodded and offered him her hand, palm upturned. He brushed it softly with his fingers and Hinata winced in pain. He tried to blow the ash away but to no avail and then peered at her with a sympathetic expression.

"It's full of splinters from the wood," he told her. "Probably from when you slipped." He stared at her until she was forced to avert her gaze once more. Somehow, she couldn't hold his glance without feeling heat in her cheeks. "Will you trust me to get them out?"

Someone had to do it and she didn't have a clue how to get them out. The last time she had gotten a splinter from practicing Gentle fist on a training post, her father stuffed a cloth in her mouth so she wouldn't scream and then squeezed it out until Hinata thought her heart would stop (My father actually did that when I was younger and told me my hand would drop off) and as her father did it, he tried to scare her be telling her that even ANBU lost their hands from infections that had set in from splinters. She was then scolded again and warned to train properly because there was no need to touch the post and that she was too clumsy.

But Sasuke's expression begged her trust, and she took a deep breath and nodded.

Taking her by her good hand, he led her inside his own cabin, kicking the door shut behind them. Hinata felt a moment's hesitation as she heard the click of the latch as it closed. Her heart leaped a little at the sound, but he merely dragged her over to the small sink and released her hand long enough to fill it with water.

That done, he turned around and took her good hand then held his hand out for the other. Hinata stepped forward, and he positioned her in front of him at the sink. He then stood behind her and placed his arms around her, embracing her.

Hinata swallowed hard at the feel of him standing behind her, his body hard and very male. He took her hands his and began to wash them, the gesture such an intimate one that Hinata found it hard to breathe. He reached up, releasing her only long enough to seize a bar of soap and then he returned to bathing her hands.

The soap slid through their fingers with silken ease and his hands moved with amazing grace. A quiver went though her at the sensation. He washed her hands but took great care with her injured palm, making certain to clean the area thoroughly but gently, patiently, never speaking a word to her as he worked.

Hinata was mesmerized by the sight of their hands intertwined. His arms were around her and they were alone with the door closed. The realization shuddered through her. The moment seemed endless and the air was thick with anticipation but nothing happened except that he put the soap away and lifted up a towel, then guided her over to his desk. Still without a word, he lifted her up and set her on the desktop.

She was far too aware of his hands on her ribs, beneath her ribs as he lifted her. Fleeting though the embrace was, it made her feel breathless and light-headed in a way that she hadn't known she could feel.

She watched him turn up the lantern flame so that it was bright enough to see by and sat. Hinata's heart beat rapidly as her breath quickened.

The lantern cast a golden hue on his face and trimmed his raven hair with a rich bronze. He was really a stunning man and she couldn't help but stare. Hinata knew it was far too bold for her to do, but he was not looking so she allowed herself the liberty.

"This is going to hurt a little bit," he warned her, looking up into her eyes.

His onyx eyes seemed warmer and glittered by the light, hypnotizing her. She tried to find her voice to speak but couldn't. Again she nodded, far too aware of the man sitting before her, her hand cradled in his. He tried to be gentle and Hinata could tell but tears sprang to her eyes as he began to remove the splinters. Closing her eyes, Hinata took a deep breath and tried not to cry out.

He knew she was trying to be brave and Sasuke tried not to smile at her expression. She looked so much like a little girl with her eyes scrunched shut and her lips tightly pressed as though bracing herself for punishment.

Despite the truth of his accusations- she was a spoiled brat- he admired her grit at the moment, the tears threatening to fall. Kami, when he had looked up into those huge wide eyes, he wanted to draw her into his arms and hold her, tell her everything was going to be alright and Sasuke found his emotions warring now as he watched her face.

On the one hand, he wanted to despise her for what she was doing- spying for Kiba. On the other hand, he wanted to care for her, keep her from harm and soothe her. And at the heart of it all was an intense attraction between them that set him on his ass every time he was in her presence.

He didn't trust her, but even less could he trust himself. He could not seem to think straight when he was around her. His body took over and his brain turned to mush- and she belonged to someone else.

Damned Kiba!

"Itai!"

He hadn't meant to hurt her. His gaze jerked up. "Gomen, I know it hurts, Hinata."

She nodded, her eyes watering. "Daijoubu, I know you have to do it."

He returned to working on her palm, squeezing out the slivers of wood as gently as he could, unnerved by the way her pained expression made him feel.

"You really did a number on it," he told her. She laughed softly, nervously perhaps. He would have liked to say it served her right but he couldn't find it in himself to wish her harm. He leg brushed his knee and his body stirred.

Damn! What was wrong with him? He was getting aroused just taking splinters out of her hand. The sweet, feminine scent of her teased him. The softness of her hands preoccupied him, taunting him with images of her gentle caresses. He couldn't stop himself from imagining the skin beneath her kimono, the rise and fall of her breasts, remembering the taste of her mouth.

She had teased him only giving him the briefest sense of what she would taste like if she had really kissed him properly. Her closed-mouthed kiss had been far too brief and he found himself craving the taste of her on his tongue.

He wanted her.

There was no denying it.

He swallowed thickly and reached down to draw his kunai from his weapon's pouch, trying to ignore the heat simmering in his groin.

Seeing the blade flash, she cried out and jerked her hand away. "You are not using that on me!"

"Actually, I am," he said and gave her the smallest smile.

Both her hands flew up at the declaration and her expression turned suddenly combative. "Iie, you are not!"

Her temper was a good thing, he decided. He was far more at ease around her when she was being a spitfire. He felt like a predator when she was he shy self because it brought out conflicting emotions that he didn't want to deal with.

He held the kunai in an open hand. It had been a gift from his brother when he killed him and from their father. The kunai was different, the metal was heavy and fed off of chakra well and he was well-aware that it was probably too dangerous to use on her soft palm but it was the best thing he could use.

"It's up to you, Hinata. Live with them or I can take them out." He left it up to her, making no move to return to the task until she gave him leave. She lowered her hands, but kept out of his reach. "I'll just use the tip," he promised her, sensing her hesitation.

Her huge eyes slanted and he stared into them, trying to decipher their strange color- seemingly white, but lilac when the light of the flame dance on them.

"You won't let it go in too deep?"

Sasuke blinked at the question.

The allusion was completely lost to her, but not to him. His body hardened at the images that plagued his mind- his body over hers, coaxing her to open for him. He glanced down at his knife then back into her eyes. She couldn't possibly know what he was thinking. Need clawed at him, and he resisted the urge to readjust because she was staring at him too intently. His erection strained against his pants and he shifted uncomfortably.

"I'll only push it in a little," he swore and his voice sounded raw to his ears. If she happened to look down, would she understand what she would see? Was she as innocent as she made herself out to e? He wanted to know, he willed her to look, wanting to see her reaction.

"If it hurts," he added. "I'll…pull out at once." He studied her face. She wanted to trust him and he could see that. Too bad he couldn't return that trust.

"Promise?" she asked.

"Hai, I'll be gentle," he told her and gave a small wink. He watched as her brows knitted and she took a deep breath.

"Well alright then," she said finally. "But don't push too hard."

His body hardened fully. "You… you have my word."

Damn it, he had to stop thinking about this or he was liable to slice off her hand. He swallowed, trying to clear the cobwebs from his brain.

"Gomen, "she said, concern tinting her voice. "I know I'm being silly, but it looks so… big. I've never seen any that size before."

Sasuke choked suddenly.

She couldn't possibly know what she was doing to him with no more than simple words. What if she did? His eyes were drawn to the top of her kimono, searching for some sign that she shared his thoughts but the thick layers of silk hid what he most wanted to see. If he reached out and cupped them, would her nipples be hard through the thin layer of bandages underneath? His thumb itched to brush her nipple with a lover's touch and the handle of his kunai was a poor substitute.

He cleared his throat and tried to change the direction of his thought, reminding himself that he had caught her searching the oven. He looked up at her and saw that she was staring at him. What was she thinking? Was she wondering where the letters were? She blinked down at him, her expression vulnerable. "Hinata?"

"Hai?"

He went back to working at her splinters. "What were you doing in the kitchen? He asked her outright. He must have pricked her a bit too hard when he asked.

"Itai!" she exclaimed, but didn't snatch her hand away.

"Gomen," he murmured, realizing he had never said that word more than when he was around her. Pity, he almost meant it.

"Well," she started at answering his question. "I was…. Ano… well you see… I was…"

Pfft! She was probably searching for an excuse. He tried to sound casual, though he was anything but that. "Looking for something?" he helped.

"I suppose you could say that," she replied, sounding uneasy. He glanced up to gauge her expression and found her eyes narrowed on him. He watched her intently.

"What exactly were you looking for?" Sasuke asked.

Her cheeks turned pink again. "Actually," she told him, averting her gaze. "I was trying to figure out how to use the oven." She peered back at him with lifted brows as though she expected a reaction from him.

"You were trying to figure out how to use the oven?" he asked her and she nodded.

"Hai."

"Why?"

"Because… when I was on deck… I couldn't help but overhear what the others were saying about the cook…"

Clever little liar.

She smiled shyly, looking nervous and Sasuke clenched his jaw.

"When I heard that he had been left behind… I thought I'd surprise everyone and cook breakfast in the morning," she said.

He didn't even try to keep the sarcasm from his voice. "Oh really?"

"Hai." Her smile brightened, not noticing the tone of his voice. "You see… I really wanted to make an effort here," she said, looking quite pleased with herself. If she expected him to pat her on the shoulder, Sasuke wasn't going to do it. He just didn't believe her.

"How thoughtful of you," he replied and dropped her hand. "I think I got out all of them," he told her and stared up at her in pointed disbelief. She was either a very good little actress or she was telling the truth and Sasuke couldn't tell which.

The evidence, however, seemed undeniable. For an instant, he considered pulling out the letters and confronting her with them but he wasn't ready to give up his poker hand. There was time enough to figure out how best to handle the situation; she wasn't going anywhere.

In the meantime, he decided, Hyuuga-sama was fair game. As far as Sasuke was concerned, when she kissed him, she declared herself available to him.

If she had misrepresented herself, well then he wasn't going to feel guilty taking what she willingly offered. And if she was telling the truth… he still felt not one bit of loyalty to Kiba. He had no respect for the man, so why should he honor the man's engagement?

Either way, he knew only one thing for certain… Hinata Hyuuga had the most addicting lips he'd ever sampled.

--

Sasuke woke up to the smell of bread baking.

The tantalizing scents drifted into his cabin, teasing him out of bed. Like a zombie, he made his way into the mess hall, and true to her word, he found Hinata fast at work in the kitchen and his crew salivating mindlessly at her skirts.

He smiled at the sight she presented. Adorably unkempt, kimono ruffled and hair pinned up in a messy bun as she labored despite the distraction of over ten men hounding her heels. He would have stepped in, but she handled them easily enough, putting them to work at gathering the chopsticks, delivering plates and Naruto was in charge of forming a line for those who had already received their dishes. For their efforts, she gave them a smile that endeared her to them.

But despite Hinata Hyuuga's killer smile, they should have all stayed in bed.

The bread he'd drooled over turned out as black as the oven itself and the smoked meat as ashy as carbonized paper.

Peeling away the charred layers of his breakfast, Sasuke took a glance around the room. It was like looking into a mirror with twelve faces- every expression the same. No one wanted to hurt Hinata's feelings, but the question was the same in every gaze.

How could someone screw up something so simple?

Hinata stood over them, looking as uncertain as a newlywed bride with honeymoon jitters. When no one spoke up, she finally took her own plate and sat in the only empty chair remaining in the mess hall… right in front of Sasuke, next to Naruto.

"I think it's a little burned," she told Naruto as she sat.

Naruto smiled and nodded, pushing a rock-hard piece of bread into his mouth. "It's all right," he told her, his words muffled. As they watched, he crunched down on his food and Sasuke maybe it hurt him to eat it because he winced with every chew.

Hinata looked at him then, apologizing with those lilac-colored eyes that left him dazed every time he stopped to look into them.

The fire burned a little too high," she explained and shrugged nervously. "I didn't realize they were already… done."

Sasuke stifled a cough. Overdone he wanted to say.

He lifted up a piece of incinerated ham and put it in his mouth. It tasted just like charcoal and he resisted the urge to spit it back out. She was watching him too intently and the look in her eyes told him that she had really tried and that it really mattered how he responded.

Unsure why it was important to him that her feelings were not hurt, he swallowed, wincing as a jagged piece of ham tried to make its way down his parched throat. He attempted a smile for her then, but quickly jammed his lips shut when he saw Naruto's ash-blackened teeth.

"It's really… good," Naruto offered politely, nodding a little too enthusiastically and Sasuke once again had to stifle his laughter, choosing a light cough.

Naruto was a mediocre liar, Sasuke decided, but a better man that he was because Sasuke couldn't seem to muster the words to give Hinata the assurances she longed for.

Hinata's brows lifted when she saw Naruto's teeth and the black inside his lips… and thank heavens she broke the ice with a horrified squeal.

"Oh my Kami!" she exclaimed, dropping her own bread and slapping the clean hand over her mouth. "Tell me you aren't missing teeth because of me!"

It sure as hell looked like it… and it sounded like it as well.

Naruto looked panicked for an instant, his eyes going wide as he shoved a finger in his mouth to feel for missing or broken teeth. There were none and his relief at finding them intact was evident in his sigh.

"Damn!" he said, casting an uneasy glance at Sasuke. "She scared me for a second."

Sasuke looked at Hinata then and saw her with her lips pursed, trying not to laugh. Why not give her a break?

Sasuke grinned at her, knowing his smile was just as flattering as Naruto's and he was rewarded with her laughter. The sound sent a shudder of desire through him. Kami, she wasn't merely lovely when she laughed, she was dazzling. Her laughter glistened even her usually cold-looking eyes.

He definitely wasn't prepared for the way it affected him and Sasuke found himself completely unguarded. Even Naruto seemed to hold his breath until her giggle subsided and then he turned to meet Sasuke's gaze and he inwardly groaned, recognizing the instant infatuation in his best friend's eyes.

Damn, she was going to turn out to be trouble… in more ways than one. And Sasuke was in trouble as well, if she could win over his crew with a lousy breakfast like that. And, by judging the looks on all of their faces, she'd done exactly that.

As far as Hinata was concerned, the morning's efforts had not gone in vain.

She didn't try to fool herself. Hinata knew her first attempt at cooking had been a disaster but it obviously had not gone appreciated. The crew felt terribly sorry for her, or they had taken her gesture for what it was… a token of friendship.

In either case, they seemed to adopt her as one of their own, Naruto in particular. Hinata liked him.

The tall, blond-haired man was so cute. His spiky hair was held back with his forehead protector when he felt like wearing it and even though he was an ANBU, he wore his orange and black pants, creating his own style somewhat. His mirth never faded from his bright blue eyes and even though his patience to get things done wasn't the best, he was remarkable at whatever he did because he kept trying. For that, Hinata was indebted to him.

Without having been asked, he had taken the time to show her how the stove worked so that she might do better with her next effort and then he had given her a tour of the small ship. She only asked about the cannons, and he decided to show her how they worked.

"Are you sure it's no trouble?" Hinata asked Naruto, afraid to become an inconvenience. He had spent practically the entire afternoon amusing her and she was beginning to feel guilty for taking up his time because she knew he had work to do helping the others keep the ship afloat.

"Iie, it's no trouble at all," Naruto assured her and winked. Then he drew her aside to watch from a safe distance as he properly packed the cannon.

Hinata clutched her hands together as she watched him work. The idea of actually seeing the gun go off left Hinata with a sense of anticipation like a child waiting for fireworks.

"You say this was a ship used by civilians?" asked Hinata excitedly.

"Hai," Naruto informed. "Probably before ninjas started being hired legally."

"Why would civilians need cannons?"

He stopped to answer he question. "It's an old ship, Hyuuga-san. It was probably used for wars and for protection against suspicious travelers."

"Oh, you can call me Hinata or Hinata-chan," she said happily. "Whichever you like."

"Alright," said Naruto and he nodded." Hinata-chan it is."

The others began to gather around them, watching as well with curiosity.

"The cannons are so small though, "Hinata observed. "How come?"

"I don't think this was really a war ship against other large countries," Naruto explained. "Probably just between villages and small countries so there was no reason for heavy guns."

Hinata's brows knit as she watched Naruto struggle with the preparations. "What a stressful process though."

"I suppose it was," he agreed. And then he was finished at last and lit the fuse. "Ready?"

Hinata nodded.

Naruto backed away from the cannon and took her by the shoulders, pulling her out of harm's way. The cannon went off with an explosion that nearly left her deaf.

"Oh Kami!" Hinata exclaimed with excitement.

The cannonball landed in the ocean with a lame splash, not more than fifty yards from where they were. Hinata laughed. "How pitiful."

Naruto nodded. "Hai, and at this point the ships are almost crashing," he told her and looked more playful than ever. "And the crew is off and running to grab their guns…"

Hinata actually grinned at his boyish gestures. He brandished his finger at her though as though it were a pistol.

"No katana?" she asked him.

"Iie, no katana," he said. "They used guns." He stopped and winked at her again. "And maybe arrows too… we're going into savage country," he reminded her playfully. "Hey, do you want to try the cannon?" he asked her suddenly.

Hinata blinked in surprise. "N-nani? Me?"

"Hai, you. Come, I'll teach you how."

Hinata followed him. It was, after all, just a tiny cannon, hardly bigger than a rifle. What could possibly go wrong? Naruto walked her through the entire process and she almost felt like on of the civilians, protecting their shores as she stood behind him, packing the powder to his boyish orders.

"Here they come!" he encouraged her. "Hurry… they're almost on top of us!"

Never mind that this wasn't a pirate ship at all, it felt dangerously exciting to play along and it felt just like when she had her little adventures years ago. The crew joined Naruto in his child's play and Hinata never felt so much a comrade in arms.

She giggled as she rushed her preparations, trying to arm the ship before they could be overtaken by their imaginary enemy. Someone lit a match and came running to light the fuse for her and Hinata stepped back, plunging her ears as she waited for it to go off.

"What the hell is going here?"

His voice thundered over the deck and Hinata heard it despite her muffled ears. She spun to face, her heart leaping at the prospect of seeing him again. He'd been locked his cabin working all afternoon with strict orders that he was not to be disturbed.

As she turned, her feet tangled in a coil of rope and it sent her tumbling backward against the cannon. She merely skimmed it and tumbled past it on deck, on her behind, but the impact of her weight tipped the cannon upward, small as it was.

Hinata only had time to realize what had happened when the cannon exploded.

"Watch out!" someone shouted, probably Naruto.

Hinata lay there helplessly as the ball went flying upward.

Every gaze followed it.

Complete silence fell as it rose above the sails… and then it seemed to pause in midair for a moment. Chaos broke out as it made its way back down, plunging toward the stern. It ripped through the sails and Hinata gasped in alarm.

She met with Sasuke's murderous glare for the briefest instant before he sprinted after his crew toward the hole she had just put in his ship…

Well I think this was packed with everything and I'm really happy with this chapter. I hope you liked it as much as I do and will review this time for those of you who don't.

If you have not read Hinata the Vamp or Hina-hime, please do.

Until next update…

Ja ne!

Please review, I love it when you do!