A/N: Thank you all for your kind reviews. This story is mainly focused on Sasuke and Hinata, so don't expect to see very much of the other characters a lot. I would also Like to thank Jaggerte for bete'ing this. You're so kind! Thank you for helping me out. x}

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Eyes slowly fluttered opened meeting the night sky which was illuminated by millions of stars. The burning of wood could be heard and smelt. Looking over to his side, the figure of a person approaching caused him to grab the closet weapon but nothing was near.

"Are you okay?"

The voice was gentle and soft and it belonged to her. "What's going on? Why are we out here?" The last thing he could remember was falling from the cliff. He couldn't do anything because he had used too much chakra from trying to shield his body, midway through the fall everything went black.

The Hyuga approached him hesitantly as if he were a lion getting ready to attack. His eyes latched onto her stomach, it was wrapped in bandages. The first guess that came to mind is that she healed her own wound. Could she have saved him? She did seem like the compassionate type. Or maybe she has some other motive for saving him. But he knew she couldn't have, the look in her eyes said it all. After all she's just like him, in a way.

"We fell into a body of water; you were unconscious halfway through the fall. I was barely hanging on myself but I was the only one conscious so…I held onto you as our bodies hit the water."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. "Why did you do it? You could have left me for dead. I'm sure Konoha would have had a big celebration at my death." He snorted.

Hinata frowned in displeasure. "That's not true. Naruto and Sakura would never be happy if you were to die. You're their friends and—"

"Sakura doesn't give a damn about me anymore. She tried killing me several months ago." His voice was barely audible but Hinata could clearly hear the sadness in his tone but it was quickly replaced with bitterness. "And the idiot still believes he can save me. It's useless." He turned to face her, eyes no longer showing his kekkai genkai, and held her in place with his piercing black eyes. "So answer me, Hyuga. Why did you save me?"

She stared at him and hesitated for a moment before answering him, "Because no one deserves to die."

The raven haired male snorted and looked away from her. He hated how she acted so composed and merciful. Ninja aren't supposed to be this way. They are brought up to be emotionless, expressly taught not to fell compassion for their enemies. This girl wasn't fit to be a shinobi in his eyes.

He remained silent for most of the night. There wasn't much he could do seeing how his body was exhausted and drained. He could barely lift a finger. It was beneath him to be so vulnerable, especially in front of a Konoha ninja. His eyes never left her body once she stopped talking. For all he knew she could strike him when he least expected it. But so far she hadn't and he still didn't understand why. It was awkward being around someone he never once talked to in the past, despite them practically growing up together. Furthermore, this girl wasn't a girl who would follow him and send him tons of love letters hoping to get his attention. No, this girl always had her eye on Naruto. Probably about the only girl who paid the idiot any attention.

Sasuke had no intentions of talking to her. As soon as his strength comes back the first thing he would do was kill her.

"You know, after the incident with your family…" she paused when she noticed his staring at her as if daring her to speak badly of the Uchiha. "I wanted to befriend you." Hinata finished softly, almost looking rather embarrassed by it. His expression was still hardened but his eyes widened a fraction. "I know I don't know what it feels like to lose an entire family but after the loss of my mother, I felt depressed and sad. She was the only person who made me happy and cheered me up. After her death, it was as if I was completely alone."

The male Uchiha scoffed, "Alone? You have other family members. I don't see why the death of one person made you feel that way."

She smiled sadly, "Because my mother was the one who was always here for me. My father has always been hard on me growing up. I was never good enough in his eyes. Despite me coming from a privileged family and with a gifted bloodline, I was always the underdog because I was born weak and kind without the killing intent of other shinobi. When I was kidnapped at a young age, they wanted my Byakugan but my father saved me before that happened. It was a very traumatic experience for me when my uncle died; I was blamed for his death by Neji. He even tried to kill me once back during the preliminary exams. I felt guilt and grief for something I had nothing to do with. But I always felt as though it was my fault."

She sighed, looking away from the Uchiha and up towards the heavens.

"I'm sensitive, which is no secret but despite all of the terrible things that has happened it has only made me more kind and compassionate, as opposed to becoming crazy and hostile. That's what my mother would have wanted if she were around. Instead of being motivated by hate, I'm motivated to become stronger by love and hope." She explained.

Sasuke felt for some reason the line about becoming crazy and hostile had something to do with him. But he didn't make a comment about it. She must have thought highly of her mother, just as he had with his own. He missed his entire family but it was his mother who he missed the most next to his brother. She was always so kind and caring towards him. Even lifting him up whenever his father would always praise Itachi more. He'd give anything just to see her once again but he knew it would never happen. "If you're still hoping to change me, it won't work."

"After you kill everyone what will you do afterwards? There will be nothing left; you'll just be alone again."

It was true but he didn't care, Konoha meant nothing to him anymore. Disposing of them was just a goal he had, especially finishing Naruto off. After that he will restore his clan, with whom it didn't matter just as long as they weren't from Konoha. Meeting her gaze he could tell she was waiting for an answer, Sasuke almost didn't want to give her one but decided against it. "I will restore my clan."

A light blush dusted her cheeks at his reply. "I still think what you are doing is useless…Naruto, he'll stop you."

Sasuke almost didn't catch a word she said but he did however catch that last part. A frown came upon his face. "Naruto won't stop me. He'll never be able to stop me. Stop thinking so highly of him, he's not all that perfect." He snapped darkly at her as he struggled to stand to his feet as if challenging her.

Not knowing what to expect from him, Hinata quickly rose to her feet. "Why do you even want to hurt Naruto-kun? He was your friend and comrade. He hasn't done anything to you that would cause harm. If anything he still thinks of you as a friend. He even took a beating from Karui because he wouldn't sell you out. I don't understand why you would turn you back on him!"

"You're stupid, just like he is. You don't understand anything, so stop talking to me as if you do, like you can solve every problem because you can't!" He yelled loudly at her. He began taking slow, purposeful steps towards her, the glare radiating off his face froze her to the spot. It wasn't until he was right in front of her when he stopped. His hand slammed against the tree behind her, his arm only inches away from her face as his eyes meet hers.

"You think you have the answers for everything don't you? If you were in my position you'd turn out exactly the same, no matter how sweet or compassionate you seem to be. No one understands my pain. And if you think for a second that I'm going to turn good all because you can spout out a few kind words, you've got another thing coming." It was amusing watching her fearful expression. It pleased him to wipe that determination away.

He leaned forward, placing his lips near her ear, "I had planned on killing you, however…you did save my life. You should be grateful for that, Hyuga." He whispered.

Leaning away from her she gazed up at him with widened eyes. It made him tense. Sasuke wasn't the type to particularly pay much attention to girls; the only one who seemed to have pulled his attention was Sakura, despite how annoying she was. But Hinata was actually very pretty. He hadn't noticed it earlier because he wasn't paying her much attention but now that he stands a few inches away from her face he had a good, close view of her.

A blush adorned her features, most likely having to do with how close he was. This wasn't right. He shouldn't even be thinking about her, someone he barely knew, in that way. Sasuke quickly pushed himself away from her and just in time as a kunai came flying in between them.

Both Uchiha and Hyuga activated their bloodline looking in the direction the kunai came from. It was very obvious that the kunai was thrown to separate him from Hinata. His eyes narrowed, "Tch, looks like you're shining knight is on his way, along with a few others."

Hinata looked in the direction and sure enough Naruto emerged along with Neji, Karui and Kurotsuchi.

Sasuke gazed over at Hinata; he could practically see the happiness in her eyes. It made him sick to his stomach. Naruto Uzumaki, savior to Konoha. What a load of crap. It was absolutely annoying. When he finally approached them, Naruto was staring fiercely at him. "Naruto…" He hissed in anger.

Naruto's blue eyes gazed over at Hinata, "What is Hinata doing with you?"

"What does it matter to you?" Sasuke's eyes followed Neji as he quickly made his way towards her. He was checking her body as if he had harmed her in some way.

"She's my friend! If you hurt her in any way, I swear—"

Hinata pushed herself from Neji and stood by Sasuke's side, "He didn't hurt me, Naruto. Nothing happened at all, not a scratch or anything." She quickly explained, unknown to her, Sasuke eyed her with surprise.

Naruto didn't seem to believe Sasuke but hearing it coming from Hinata it set him to ease. But what he saw before, the two of them standing awfully close, bothered him and actually made him slightly jealous but he knew now wasn't the time to be thinking about it. His eyes then gazed back over at Sasuke and hardened, "Neji, I want you to take the others back. I want to have a talk with Sasuke, alone."

"But Naruto…"

"Just go. Make sure everyone else is safe." He ordered.

Neji nodded his head as he moved forward to grab onto Hinata's hand. "Come on Hinata-sama." He pulled her along with him.

Sasuke watched as they left, Karui shot him a nasty glare before follwing her team mate but his eyes only locked with the female Hyuga. He wouldn't admit it but spending the short amount of time with her had had a deep impact on him. This time, he wouldn't forget her. When they were finally out of sight Sasuke turned his attention back to Naruto.

"So, are you ready?"

The blonde smirked, "I've been ready for a while now."

Both males ran towards each other as the sound of metal meeting metal was heard throughout the area indicating that their final battle had started.