Neji'sTrueLover: Wow. It's been a long time.

Neji: Your readers probably think that you've died

Neji'sTrueLover: -nods-I think I did for a bit there. Last week went by in a blur.

Hinata: Neji'sTrueLover's mind hasn't returned from its vacation yet, so I'll do the disclaimer today! -takes in a deep breath- THIS AUTHOR OWNS NO CHARACTERS FROM THIS STORY Thank you

Neji'sTrueLover: Oh look! -points- Cheese!!

Chapter 12 The neighbors hear, but they turn out the light…

Sasuke's P.O.V.

I can't sleep. No matter how hard I try, I can't, for the life of me, fall asleep. Seeing Hinata's fear-stricken face as I left will forever be burned into my mind. Her pupil-less eyes widening in fear is all I can see when my own eyes close. I'm much more scared then I'm willing to show to anyone, but I'll have to throw my pride out the window and go searching for her if I don't see her by the school entrance.

Oh Kami, please let her be okay. If she isn't I…

My thoughts are interrupted as my alarm clock goes off.

Damn alarm, I think as I throw it against the opposite wall. Seeing the annoying piece o plastic brake brightens my mood somehow as I get out of bed.

Picking up some random clothes, I walk into my bathroom and get dressed. I look into the mirror and I am disgusted to see dark, black, soulless eyes stare back. I wash my face as if to rid myself of my cursed orbs, then I shake my head to fix my hair. It always surprises me how my hair can always go back to how I usually wear it after a good shake. A small ghost of a smile graces my lips as I look back at my reflection. Just then, a thought hits me.

If I think that my eyes are bad, just how does Hinata see her own eyes?

That's right. She has large, white eyes that have no pupils in them. Mostly, that means that a person is blind, but, she seems to be fine.

I'll have to ask her about that later.

The rest of my morning is filled with the soul thought of Hinata's eyes.

School

I run to school with such speed, everything around me seems to be a blur. And before I know it, I am standing at the main gates of Konoha Academy. Quickly, I run past all of the semi-familiar faces that normally greet me in the mornings.

First, I pass the blond, gossip-whore, Yamanaka Ino. As usual, she is trying to flirt her way to making out with the lazy-ass, but genius Nara Shikamaru. And, also as usual, he isn't paying any attention to her at all. Just staring at the clouds as they roll by.

When I pass them, Ino gives me a warm, heart full, yet mind absent wave as Shikamaru doesn't even give a glance at me.

Next, I pass the normal sight of Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba, the latter trying to hide his pet dog inside of his oversized jacket. Shino, with his high collar, seems to be extremely annoyed with his friend, but you can see that he is laughing behind his jacket. I vaguely know that these are the two people Hinata spends most of her time with, and I wonder if they know her secret or not. As I pass them, Kiba yells, "You better not tell anyone, Uchiha!"

To be completely honest, I don't give a damn about him and his pooch, what's its name. Never told anyone before, and I don't think that I ever will.

As I walk to the other side of the fountain, I see Akimichi Choji sitting, eating his chips, and staring at Kiba's dog with hunger-filled eyes. He turns his stare onto me, but then turns back when the pooch, Akamaru I think, manages to break free of his owner's grasp, and jump into the water. I have to suppress my laugh at Kiba's face, but then my mind returns to my present mission. Look for Hinata.

Losing my speed, I jerk to a walk around the campus. Deciding to take a short-cut, I round a corner, and my eyes fall onto a scene that I never wanted to see. Ever.

My two seniors, Rock Lee and TenTen, are in the middle of a lip lock as I come into view. When TenTen sees me, she jumps away from Lee, and starts blushing madly.

"Ah Sasuke!" I hear Lee call out. "Are you taking this wonderful morning to experience the wonders of youth?!"

My right eye twitches at his choice of words. Along with his green spandex outfit that almost makes me go blind.

"Lee, shut up!" TenTen whispers to him. He has giant anime-like tear streaming down his face.

"TenTen, my beautiful lotus blossom, does this mean you don't want to be my girlfriend anymore? Did I not show how youthful I am throughout out relationship? Did I not…"

"Lee, I thought I told you to shut up." TenTen whispers and, completely forgetting that I am here, starts kissing him right on the spot. My right eye twitches, and I run back the way I came. No short-cut today.

I have to stop my "mission" momentarily to control the twitch in my eye. When it stops, I start running again through the schoolyard.

Damn, why does the class have to be so far away?

Right before I enter the right building, my eyes collide with the neon pick hair of Haruno Sakura.

"Hey Saaasuke!" she yells at me. "You sure are early. Come to see me?"

The tick I worked so hard to control comes back full force at the thought of me wanting to spend time with her. Loud, annoying Sakura. I look over her shoulder to see a glaring Uzumaki Naruto. Forget what I said about Sakura, he goes beyond her in the annoying department. In fact, he was voted the #1 hyper-active knuckle-head rookie of the first year class. Everyone knows of his crush on Haruno, but she doesn't seem to care much about him.

My jog turned to a walk as I near them, but I don't stop. Unfortunately for me, Sakura is persistent. She steps in front of me, and gives me a glare as well.

"What are you doing? I'm talking to you." Her jade eyes stare straight into mine as I give her a glare of my own.

"Sakura, get out of my way. I'm in a hurry." I state as I try to go around her. Apparently Naruto still felt as if I was threatening Sakura, so he steps in front of her to block my path also.

I let out a sigh of frustration as I back away, and try to cal myself. It doesn't work.

"Naruto, get the Hell out of my way. Otherwise, I cannot be responsible for what happens to you."

He gulps and backs away a bit, but he does not run away as most other people would have.

"Sasuke, we're your friends. How could you be so mean towards us?"

True, these two annoying people in front of me are actually my friends. They were the first people to come to me during my first day here, and some how, they've managed to come back to my side at the end of the day.

I give off another sigh. "Just get out of my way, dobe. I have to make sure of something." And that was the only warning I gave before running into the building. The last thing I hear from Naruto before completely getting out of ear shot was,

"Get back here teme!"

I let out a snort of disbelief at the nickname Naruto gave to me a while back, and then run around the corner inside the school. My self-given mission is back on track as I make sure not to run into anyone else while on my way to class.

A relief-filled sigh escapes me as I see Hinata sitting in her desk inside of the room. But my relief soon vanishes as I see her sitting up too straight in her seat. That can not be a good sign.

I near her desk, and, once she sees me, give her a half smile. She, in turn, gives me a strained one. My grin died down as I sit next to her. My hand found her arm and stated rubbing it in a comforting manner while I ask,

"What's wrong?"

My tone is soft and low as I try to keep out conversation quiet. My eyes dart around the room, and I let easy a little when I see no one else.

My eyes go back to Hinata as she lets out a strained sigh, and seemed to melt to my touch. But as much as she seemed to be enjoying my comforting gesture, her closed eyes narrow, as if trying to sort out her thoughts.

When her eyes open, I see two pale-lavender orbs stare straight into my own coal colored ones. Hew expression seems to soften as she leans toward my ear and said,

"Let's talk outside."

I nod my head in agreement. Our lazy-ass teacher, Hatake Kakashi, is either going to be late, or forget about class altogether. Again.

While I get to my feet, I see that Hinata is struggling to get up herself. So I help her to stand. She gives me a grateful smile, and starts walking out the door. I walk to the doorway to wait for her, but when I reach the threshold, I turn around and see the she had barely moved. Her mouth is clenched tight, so I take that as a sign that she is in pain, and walk back to her. I lift her up bridal style, and she squeaks in shock.

"Eep!" She turns a very pretty shade of pink. I feel my own cheeks redden at my sudden action, but start walking all the same.

"Sasuke put me down!" Hinata commands in that small voice she has, but I refuse.

"You can't walk." I state. "You know it and I know it, so why don't you stop trying to get yourself hurt, and let me carry you already."

My voice has that commanding tone that clearly said, This discussion is over, so she gives up. But not before she puts a pout on her face. I chuckle at her childish act and keep walking.

Luckily for my pride, no one saw me carrying Hinata, so we walk in silence. For the most part anyway. Hinata complains a bit by saying, "I can walk on my own."

Like Hell she can. When I put her on her feet, she trips, and almost falls straight onto the pavement. She blushes, and barely talks after that.

Soon, Hinata points to a small opening behind the building we were just in. I set Hinata down, and take a good look at her. Her skin seems even paler then yesterday, if that is possible. Her breath is labored, yet she hides it very well, so you can't tell unless you take the time to watch her. Hinata's small frame is covered by summer pants that go up to her shin, and her top half is covered by a tank top with a jacket over it.

So even she gets hot. I think to myself. Good to know.

"Sasuke, I would appreciate it if you didn't stare. It's getting on my nerves."

I look back up to her pale eyes, and can't look away.

"Sasuke…please," she pleads. I tare my gaze from her, and ask in a strained voice,

"So what happened yesterday?"

Hinata looks down; doing everything she can to avoid my eyes. After a moment of silence, I lose my last nerve, and put two fingers under her chin to pull her face up to mine. I see that her eyes are watered, and she breaks down into my chest.

Tears of my own are pricking the back of my eyes as I pull the crying girl into my embrace. Her small hands fist my shirt as her tears drench it, but what bothers me the most is how she is moving. Her actions are forced, as well as her breathing, and her shoulders don't move.

I rest my hands on her waist, and is surprised to feel a slight budge. But my attention is driven away from her stomach when Hinata gives off a sigh. She isn't crying anymore, so that is a good sign, but now she looks more tired. Much older then her real age.

When she pulls back, her eyes are red and puffy.

"Sasuke." Her voice is just a quiet whisper, "I glad you got away." My eyebrow rises at her choice of words, but before I can ask for an explanation, she continues. "Mother would have hurt you worse then she did me."

I can't hold in my curiosity anymore, but the only thing that manages to come out of my mouth is, "What?"

"Sasuke, will you go with me?" she asks looking into my eyes.

"Where?"

"Sasuke…I…" She pauses. "Mother hurt me a bit more then all the other times. She…I think that she might have broken a few ribs this time."

Anger is an understatement to how I feel. Even hatred can't describe my feelings toward the woman that calls herself Hinata's mother.

I bring her into my embrace once again to try and calm my fury. I caress her hair as a sign of comfort, but I can tell that Hinata could sense my anger as she pushes herself away from me.

"Sasuke, please don't get upset. You…"

"How can I not be upset?! It's my fault that she hurt you this bad. If I had stayed with you…"

"Mother would have done worse to you, and she probably would have killed me."

I can't argue with her. The truth is obvious, even to me. If a mother can actually give her daughter broken ribs, then she probably wouldn't even flinch while killing her own flesh and blood.

She looks down guilt-fully to the side, as if she thinks that admitting that she is in pain is a bad thing.

Right then and there, I feel something strange. Not like any other type of feeling I've ever had before.

I put my hand under her chin and pull her gaze up to mine. "Let's go to the doctor now."

Her eyes hold confusion at my statement, and she looks like she is going to start arguing. But before she can even open her mouth, I beat her to it.

"No one will see us, and, come on; we both know that if we go after school you'll get into trouble with your mom. Besides, we're both at the top of all our classes. One ditch day won't do anything to our record."

She still looks skeptical, so I lean closer to whisper into her ear. "I'll be right here with you. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise.'

When I pull away, she has a pretty shade of pink coloring her cheeks. Hinata looks away from me. "F-fine, l-let's go."

I can't stop the smirk from appearing in my expression.

So with a grin on my face, and a blush on hers, I take her hand and run out of the school yard with Hinata trailing a few steps behind me.

I don't know what this feeling is, but I like it. I think as we exit the gates.

Neji'sTrueLover: And there you go. I hope it was worth the wait. I'll have the next chapter up either tomorrow or Friday, whenever I don't have much homework. Now I absolutely need to know: are my chapters getting longer? or relatively staying the same? I'm doing my best to make them as long as possible, but I still think that it's not enough...

Neji: It's not

Neji'sTrueLover: -sits in a dark corner poking a Neji voodoo doll with evil pins-

Hinata: Please leave reviews to show Neji'sTrueLover how much you all enjoy the story

Sasuke: Or how much you dislike

Neji'sTrueLover: Ahhh! Please help me find ways to torture Neji and Sasuke! If I annoy them enough they might go away! -hands out the Neji and Sasuke voodoo dolls- Would anyone like to try? -evil laugh-

Hinata: Please leave some type of review. Her mind might return if it sees all the love. She just isn't sane without it