Burn City 5.

Disclaimer: I'm not nearly creative enough to create Naruto. Or artistic. So, no. I did not create Naruto. I know you all are crazy fans of me and would love to think that I made it, but really. Be realistic people. :)

Over the next six months Hinata and I continued to go on random, sporadic trips. Shikamaru, unemotional as always, said that I was healing surprisingly fast. Naruto found a girl, dated her, broke up, and continued to bring me tomatoes. Then, of course, he hooked up with Ino. It was a little scary, but strangely funny at the same time. And they decided Hinata and I were together, and threw a party for the "two couples". It freaked out Hinata, but I was fine with it. I knew they were just kidding, and it added a little fun to life. Watching her blush was always entertaining.

I don't know when Hinata stopped stuttering -- except for when she was nervous or embarrassed -- but it happened. Slowly, very slowly, she grew comfortable with Naruto, Ino, and I. She even began to stop stuttering when a person that she knew was around, but I think that will be a habit that will be harder to break.

Then there was the fact that I didn't need a wheel-chair anymore. I could bathe myself, could walk by myself, could even change clothes by myself. Of course, the nurses still changed my bandages, but mostly I was independent.

And then, finally, it was time. Time to leave the hospital, to start my job, to begin to live again.

--

She was crying. Again. Clear tears slipped down flushed cheeks, and I sighed, brushing them away.

"Hinata… I'll come and visit you, I promise. Plus," I smirked, "You know where I live." She sniffled and nodded pathetically, before bursting out sobbing again, throwing herself into my arms.

"I-I'm going to--to miss you." She stuttered through her tears. It was strange, knowing that this was goodbye, when none of them knew it. This time was permanent. I groaned, not only from the wetness of my shirt, and patted her head.

"What am I going to do with you? Do you want me to get burned all over again?" It was supposed to be sarcastic. A joke. But she still nodded into my shirt. Strange sense of humor.

Slowly, she extracted herself from my shirt, leaving it damp, and wiped her face with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. I smirked and ruffled her hair, before walking towards Naruto. He grinned at me, stupidly as always, and raised a hand.

"See you later, dude," He said. I'd miss him. Him and his cheerful stupidity. I would never admit it to him, but he had helped me. A lot.

"The tomatoes were great." We had weird conversations.

I turned to Ino, nodded, and walked away. It wasn't to be mean or anything, not that I cared, but we weren't close. She helped Naruto in his schemes, and rolled cherry-top -- Gaara -- around, but other than that I never socialized with her. She sniffled a little and said goodbye to my back, but she didn't care. I wasn't Naruto, who would forever annoy her. I was just Sasuke and while my cold model charm had once infatuated her, she got over me quickly.

I was by Hinata again. Luckily, she didn't start crying again. I don't think I could have stood it one more time. Her sweatshirt, which sleeves were too long for her, was damp but other than that there was no sign that she had been crying. She looked up at me and smiled her usual cheery, childish smile. And I couldn't help but smile back.

Her eyes lit up when she saw me smile; they always did. Something about it -- maybe the rarity -- delited her. She told me once that I had a great smile, crooked and heart-melting, which stopped me smiling for a month, so she didn't comment on it again. But her eyes showed what she was thinking.

"Did you ever know," I said while shaking my head, "that you wear your heart on your sleeve?"

"Really?" She gasped and looked down at her sleeve. I could help it. She was just so stupid. So I laughed.

"Metaphor, Hinata. Metaphor." I said and smirked down at her. "It means that you can tell what the person is feeling because it's so obvious on their face."

"Oh." She continued to look down at her sleeve for a moment, before giggling and smiling brightly up at me. She tapped her head. "Stupid."

The cab pulled up beside us and I went quickly to the door pulling it open. I really didn't want to see her cry again.

To be honest, I had to admit as I glanced out at her from the car, I was sad. I was sad to leave her. But, at the same time, I was relieved. I was finally free. She was a little too endearing.

As I turned away from the window, lifting a hand in a final wave, I planned on never seeing her again. I would take a train, drive -- just not ride a plane -- somewhere far away, and never come back. I would make sure that she never found me. And we'd both go on in life, forgetting each other until we no longer cared enough to look.

I walked into the apartment that we had prepared for me, packed everything that Hinata had neatly put on and in shelves, and checked out. I couldn't wait any longer. I knew that if I hesitated or looked back even once my resolve would crumble, and I'd run back to her. But I couldn't.

I smiled fondly at the picture of Sakura that Hinata had put next to the bed and took it out of the picture frame, slipping it into my pocket. Sakura was all that mattered. She would always be the only girl I loved. She was the only person able to reach out to me in my moment of pain, pick me up, and let me live. No matter how much Hinata would try, she could never be like Sakura.

I pulled another cab, easily. After all, I was the famous model Sasuke Uchiha. If I had asked, they probably would have given me the car.

As I drove to the train station, I slipped a letter out of my pocket and gazed at it almost, I thought, regretfully. It was the acceptance letter from my old job. I would start again next week. I planned to be back in New York in a couple of days.

She had told me, the day before my release, that this was the time to start over. But she was wrong. This was the time to go back to my old life and pretend that nothing had happened.

And eventually I would stop looking for her.

--Authors Note--

I'm sorry that this chapter was so short. I do believe that the next will be longer.

That was sad, wasn't it? Started out happy, ended sad. Would you guys think I was evil if I stopped here?

Haha, just kidding. I just wanted to creep you guys out. XP

I have to say, I changed this story a lot. I had planned to be a little more soap-opera-ish. You know, have his face permanently scarred, have him all sad, have her comfort him, and have them live happily-ever-after. But… I couldn't get it out. It was actually a good plot (despite how I made it sound there) but I could make it work.

So, here this new one is.

Don't expect it to be happy. After all, there are no happy endings in life. But it's not going to be necessarily sad. And who knows, maybe the end will be happy.

Listen to the song, "Love For a Child" by Jason Mraz. I don't know why, but somehow this song just… Ah, went with the chapter. Maybe it's the tune. I don't know. But listen to it. :D