Author's Note:

We made it to 100 reviews! I'm so happy! That was a secret goal of mine, so I'm super happy. Thank you so much for all the love and support that this story has gotten. I'm really excited to get to this part of the story. I'll leave it at that. ;)

Thank you again!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

PART ONE

Chapter Ten: Ebb and Flow

Sasuke felt like he had been kicked in the chest. Repeatedly.

"What the hell was that…"

The Hyuuga girl's display of rage and then despair had left him speechless. On some level, he knew that friends should go after a friend that just had a meltdown in front of them, but he couldn't make himself leave where he stood.

He was watching the packages of produce move in the wind when Naruto came walking through his front door with a grin on his face.

"I heard that—" Naruto slipped on what appeared to be a—now crushed—tomato. "What the hell happened?! Are you throwing perfectly good food out your front door now?" Naruto looked at Sasuke incredulously. "You know we have people literally scavenging for food in the village, right?" Naruto waved his arms in disbelief.

Sasuke turned around, ignoring Nartuo.

"Oy! Teme!" Naruto yelled, chasing after Sasuke. "It's rude to ignore your friends!"

"Get the hell out of my house, loser."

Naruto stopped abruptly, visibly hurt by Sasuke's jab. "Well, that's just mean." Quickly shaking off the insult, Naruto continued to pursue Sasuke. "So what happened? Why did you throw your food out the front door?"

Sasuke sighed. "I didn't, dobe."

Naruto snorted. "Then who did? Food doesn't just magically appear like that at your door. And I know no one else visits you."

For some reason, that bothered Sasuke. It was not Naruto's business who did and didn't visit him, and he knew that this would hurt him. "Hinata did. Hinata visited. Hinata visits me every day. Hinata and I spar every day. Hinata—"

"I think you mean Hinata-chan." Naruto said seriously, a dangerous undertone there.

"Does it bother you? That I'm so familiar with her? You know, she calls me Sasuke." Sasuke smirked, watching Naruto's eyes widen.

Brushing it off, Naruto snorted. "Good joke, Sasuke. Not very funny, but—"

"I'm not joking, Naruto." Sasuke snapped. "Hinata visits all the time, and brings me food, and spars with me, and calls me Sasuke, and stays for hours. Oh wait, and you—she doesn't even talk to you anymore."

Naruto's face fell.

"You don't mean that." Naruto anguished.

"Why would I lie? What do I care?" Sasuke retorted, looking defensive. He knew what he was implying wasn't truthful, but Hinata did come over every day. She probably wouldn't going forward, but she had been for the past two weeks and more. She did call him "Sasuke," most of the time. He did call her "Hinata," well he normally called her "Hyuuga," but whatever. And they did spar, and she brought him food twice now. So, he wasn't lying. Stretching the truth? Sure.

"I have no reason to lie to you, dobe."

Naruto's face crinkled up in distress, then realization dawned on him.

"So, you're saying that Hyuuga Hinata threw food at your front door." Naruto raised an eyebrow, his voice hard. "And you claim you aren't lying, so why would Hinata-chan throw food at your door?"

Sasuke didn't have a response for that.

"What did you do." Naruto hissed, moving forward until he had Sasuke against the wall. "Hinata is the kindest person I know. It would take a lot for her to do something like that." Naruto's eyes narrowed, his hands balling into fists. "Now. What did you do, Sasuke?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Nothing."

"Liar." Naruto hissed, latching onto Sasuke's shirt and shoving him into the wall. "What did you do, bastard!"

"I upset her." Sasuke said disinterestedly.

"Clearly." Naruto said curtly, shoving Sasuke into the wall again. "What did you do?" Naruto's fists clenched, wrinkling Sasuke's shirt.

Sasuke looked down at Naruto's fists. Naruto had grown since they were genin, he was definitely stronger and taller, but Sasuke was still taller. Right now he wasn't much stronger, but someday soon he would be. For now, there wasn't much he could do with Naruto threatening him, besides play it off and not care.

"I already apologized, so I fail to see how it is any of your concern." Sasuke hissed in disgust, removing Naruto's fists from his chest and shoving him back.

"Poor, Hinata-chan. She must be so—"

"Hinata can fend for herself. She isn't some fragile doll." Sasuke snapped, rounding on Naruto. "She certainly doesn't need a bumbling idiot looking after her—especially one that can't even talk to her."

Wounded by Sasuke's words, Naruto's expression turned pained. Sasuke's words were hitting close to home. Good.

"Now. Get the hell out of my house." Sasuke said, exasperated.

Naruto turned around and left. Sasuke knew that he upset him from Naruto's stilted gait, but Sasuke also knew that Naruto would be back tomorrow, because that's who Naruto was. He could take whatever Sasuke dished out and always came back for more.

As much as he hated to admit it, Sasuke knew they were like brothers. The last Uchiha didn't want to deal with the future Hokage today, and he didn't want to listen to Naruto's whining about Hinata. Sasuke didn't know why, but it got under his skin.

Plus, Naruto needed to think he had no chance with Hinata, so Hinata would be more open to Sasuke's friendship and dependency. He needed her to be vulnerable and in need of male companionship, which she definitely was.

Sasuke just had to keep Naruto from filling that roll.

Or any of the possible suitors that would apparently be coming.

"Shit."

Sasuke sighed. It was frustrating that after all of the time and effort he had put into this friendship with Hinata, so that he could use her later, was going to be a waste. He had been anticipating using her to help him escape, but if she wasn't even in the village anymore there would be no point.

What could he really do about that though? He understood clan politics. It sounded like Hinata's father wanted her to leave the village—probably to broaden the Hyuuga's allies—so convincing her father that she should marry within the village would be difficult.

Who was even left? Hinata had sounded adamant that her father wanted her to marry outside of the village because there was no one left inside the village. Sasuke seriously doubted that. A marriage to another shinobi clan would be just as beneficial as marriage to a clan outside the village.

It didn't make sense, unless Hiashi had ulterior motives, which Sasuke highly suspected.

All he had to do was figure out what they were. Which would be difficult given his predicament of being stuck within the confines of his home. He was already a little over a month into his house arrest, less than two months remained. Sasuke just needed to find out how quickly this whole marriage thing was happening.

If it interfered with his plans, he would intervene and figure something out. If it was far enough away…

Sasuke halted in his clean-up of the discarded food, which was an alarming waste of tomatoes that hurt his heart more than he would admit.

The thought of Hinata marrying outside the village at all bothered him. That didn't make sense. Sasuke only had an interest in using her for his own gain.

Right?

Hinata stormed into her home like a hurricane. She was angry again. After shedding a few tears at Sasuke's she realized the gravity of what her father had done by sending letters to possibly suitors of her need to marry.

Storming through the hallways of the Hyuuga household, Hinata felt ire building up inside of her. Servants were pressing against the walls to get out of her way. That had never happened before, and normally Hinata would have checked herself and realized what she was doing.

Normally.

This was not a normal situation for her. Not even close. Her father took away the decision he had left for her, even if it wasn't much of a decision, it was still hers to make.

How could he?

Logically, she knew that it was a good thing that he was not wasting time, and that he had already made an effort to seek out suitors so that she would have a larger group to draw from. So she'd have a better chance of finding a decent husband.

She was just surprised that no one from her village was…

Well, it made sense.

Her team was not an option. Kiba and Shino were too much like family. Shikamaru had Temari, and he felt like family too because of Kurenai. Choji was the same. Sai had Ino, and Lee had… Well Lee was Lee, and he still loved Sakura, so that was not an option.

That left Naruto, and Sasuke.

Naruto had made it clear time and time again that he did not share her feelings. The thought of telling him her situation made her feel sick, because she knew he'd help. It would be fake though, and that would be worse than never having him at all.

Sasuke.

Sasuke was Sasuke, that was…she wasn't sure how she felt about that. Hinata was pretty sure that her family would never accept that though anyway, so it was irrelevant. It wasn't even a possibility.

Hinata ignored the thought in the back of her head that said it wouldn't be that bad of an option. Yes, Sasuke did not love her. Yes, he was difficult. Yes, he was usually mean or even cruel. But, he had moments where it was clear he at least respected her. He didn't treat her like she was fragile, usually, and that could be enough.

If she couldn't have love, respect could be enough.

Her rage dying the closer she got to her father's office door, Hinata no longer had the fuel to yell at her father. It was no longer in her to fight about this.

Sighing, Hinata stood at her father's door for a moment. Did she want to talk to him? Not really. Was she still upset about him taking her choice away? Again? Yes. Was it worth her time and energy? No. It would get her nowhere. And she had already blown up on Sasuke about all of this.

Guilt wormed its way into her stomach, making her feel sick. Hinata chastised herself for going off on Sasuke like that again. It had been cathartic and she knew she needed to set him straight on a few things, but it probably wasn't the right way to do it.

Hinata sighed.

She hated when her emotions got the best of her. They rarely did, but that only made it all the worse when she was derailed by them because she wasn't sure how to handle it. Hinata usually had a rather level disposition, but lately… Well, ever since Neji died it's felt like she had a hurricane in her chest.

Thinking better of it, Hinata turned around and decided to go to her room. She would avoid her father for the next couple days and then say something to him when she was more composed.

"Hello, sister."

Hinata winced. She hadn't spoken with her sister since Hanabi had insisted on helping her. Which, Hinata could have accepted graciously, but refused. From the way Hanabi's smile tightened and the way she wrung her hands behind her back, Hinata knew that Hanabi was still upset with her.

She should have just lied and said she had been troubled by something else.

At least Hanabi wouldn't be looking at her this way. As if Hinata had slapped her across the face when all Hanabi had offered was help. Hinata wasn't ready to share that burden though. Not with anyone, let alone her sister who would be more impacted by her feelings.

"Hello Hanabi-chan. What're you up to today?" Hinata asked with a smile, trying to make light of the awkward situation.

"Well," Hanabi sighed as if she had the weight of the world pushing down on her. "I have training with father today, and I already finished today at the academy, so my day's mostly done." Hanabi smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"What have you been up to today, sister?" Hanabi's forced smile went wider. She must have thought that it would appear more realistic, but it was rather off putting.

"I was called to the Hokage's office and was planning to train later." Hinata said, conveniently omitting her interaction with Sasuke. As far as she could tell, her family was not aware of how often she visited with him, and she wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. Eventually, someone would let them know or they would hear, she was certain of that, but she wanted to avoid all of the trouble that would come with it.

"I heard you were at Uchiha's house today."

The blood drained from Hinata's face, it felt like someone had just doused her in ice.

"Wh-what? Wh-Who said that?" Hinata stuttered out.

Hanabi's smile grew into a knowing grin. "You just confirmed it, but I've heard rumors recently. Villagers like to gossip." Hanabi watched as Hinata's face went red. She found it amusing that her sister was so uncomfortable with this. Hanabi knew some of what had happened between Sasuke and Hinata during the war, but Hinata had never told Hanabi exactly what happened. Hanabi got the impression that Hinata felt bad for him to some extent, but held no ill feelings for him.

Hanabi didn't really feel either way about the last Uchiha. She wasn't a fan, but she didn't blame him for his escapades. If Hanabi had been in the same position, and her family had been wiped out by another family member, she probably would have done some crazy things too.

That didn't mean she liked him though.

"Why are you visiting the Uchiha, Hinata?" Hanabi said, getting right to the point.

Hinata wasn't sure how to respond because she didn't really know herself. She felt some sort of guilt, but that didn't quite cover it, especially after today. "I think…" Hinata hesitated. "I think it's because he needs a friend too." Hinata said quietly.

Hanabi thought about that for a second. Ever since they were children, Hanabi had known that her sister had a soft heart. Hinata had always taken care of the underdog and helped lost causes. Hanabi had a distinct memory of Hinata finding an injured bird when they were children, and that Hinata had secretly taken care of it until it was able to fly again. Father had punished her for wasting food and time on such a feeble creature, and at the time Hanabi had agreed.

Now, Hanabi knew that it was a part of who Hinata was. Her older sister took care of people who needed help. She disagreed, but respected it. Hanabi also knew that her sister was more than capable of looking after herself.

"Well, be smart about it." Hanabi sighed, knowing she couldn't talk her sister out befriending the Uchiha. People would likely disagree, but Hanabi knew that Hinata was just as stubborn as she was. Hinata just showed it differently. She wasn't as aggressive or direct about it, but she was stubborn, and she rarely let things go, especially things that she had strong opinions about.

Hinata nodded her head, acknowledging Hanabi's concern.

Hanabi crossed her arms in front of herself, looking rather surly.

"Do you want to go train?" Hanabi asked, looking away from Hinata, acting nonchalant about the invitation. But from her defensive stance and dusting of red on her cheeks, Hinata could tell that Hanabi cared more than a little about Hinata's response.

Hanabi wanted to spend time with her.

Hinata felt her heart swell with happiness for the first time in a while.

"Of course!" Hinata said enthusiastically.

Hanabi shrugged, trying to appear unaffected. "I can meet you at the dojo in 20 minutes if that works."

Hinata smiled. "Ok, little sister."

Hinata avoided Sasuke the next day and felt bad about it. She wasn't ready to face him, but knew that she needed to sooner rather than later.

It took some convincing on the second day that she should go see him and apologize. She dragged her feet through the day and tried to convince herself that she had numerous other responsibilities to fulfil. Unfortunately, the only other thing she needed to do was speak with her Father about the letters he had sent out, which ranked higher on Hinata's list of "things-to-avoid." Eventually, after pacing her room, Hinata came to the decision that she needed to visit Sasuke.

Which led to her current situation—awkwardly standing on Sasuke's property while watching him and Naruto duel.

After five minutes of waiting for the two to wrap up, Hinata realized that the two were nowhere near finished sparring. Thinking about leaving and possibly stopping by later, Hinata made eye contact with Sasuke. For a moment she thought that Sasuke seeing her might be enough for her to come back later, but Naruto had took Sasuke's momentary distraction for the opportunity to strike Sasuke in the jaw.

Hinata winced in sympathy. That was definitely going to cause Sasuke's jaw to swell. Nartuo was a fierce fighter and a wonderful shinobi, but he often times forgot how strong he was. Normally that wouldn't be a problem against Sasuke, but with Sasuke's seals he was at a significant disadvantage.

Feeling like she was a distraction, Hinata made to leave, but was stopped by the ANBU that were currently watching Sasuke.

"Hello, Hinata-chan." A voice muffled by a dog mask greeted.

Hinata smiled in kind. "Hello Dog-san, what can I do for you?"

Dog-san responded by handing Hinata a sealed scroll.

00000000000000000000

Sasuke noticed Hinata as soon as she came to the field. Her absence yesterday had called for desperate measures, and he had ended up sparring with Naruto. When she hadn't shown up first thing this morning, Sasuke decided to spar with Naruto again.

Now he was regretting that.

Of course Naruto would take the cheap shot to hit Sasuke square in the jaw at the first opportunity that he was distracted. Hinata had been playing with her hair. Well, it wasn't exactly playing, but she was moving her hair to one side and combing her fingers through it, and for some reason, it was extremely distracting.

Sasuke decided that it was because he hadn't seen something like that before. At least, not since he had last seen his mother do something like that. Hinata's hair was definitely longer. Doesn't that get in the way? Sasuke wondered. It hadn't any of the times that they sparred, but he imagined that it was definitely possible. Especially with how she had her hair now—just pushed to one side with a hair tie near the bottom. If Sasuke remembered correctly, it was a standard Hyuuga style.

When Hinata smiled to the ANBU that were approaching her, Sasuke's heart skipped a beat. For some reason, watching her now made something akin to dread filled his belly.

Naruto jabbed at him and Sasuke grabbed Naruto's incoming fist. "Stop."

Naruto had the good sense to look offended. "What? We're in the middle of a spar!"

Sasuke ignored Naruto and made his way towards Hinata and the ANBU that were speaking with her. Sasuke watched as the dog-masked ANBU gave her a sealed scroll. Does she have a mission? Sasuke wondered, an odd feeling spreading through his stomach to his toes. Why is she here though? Is she still mad?

"Hey," Sasuke interrupted the exchange between Hinata and the ANBU, causing Hinata's attention to shift to him. "What're you doing, Hyuuga?"

Chastising himself for his delivery, Sasuke watched as Hinata's face went red at his approach. He wasn't really sure why she did that all of the time, but he enjoyed it, so he wasn't about to complain about it.

"W-wel—"

"Hinata-chan, what're you doing here?" Naruto asked, having followed Sasuke from the field.

Glaring at Naruto for interrupting her, Sasuke asked again, "What are you doing, Hyuuga?"

Hinata didn't respond right away, and Sasuke took that as a sign that she was still upset with him. "I apologized the other day for what I said. I didn't mean it." Sasuke muttered, irritated that Naruto was standing there for this. He tried shooing Naruto away, but Naruto's interest was piqued when Sasuke used the word "apologize," and he wasn't about to leave.

"What did you do, bastard?" Naruto asked, his blue eyes narrowing at Sasuke.

Shrugging, Sasuke attempted to appear somewhat aloof. He didn't care what the Hyuuga thought, and he certainly didn't care what Naruto thought, but he didn't want to share everything that had happened the other day with others.

"It was a misunderstanding, Uzumaki-san. No need for you to concern." Hinata smiled widely. "Thank you, though." Hinata added, motioning with the scroll in her hand.

"So, what are you doing, Hyuuga?" Sasuke asked again, irritation noticeable in his voice, but even he wasn't sure who it was aimed at.

"I wanted to ask if you would like to spar today, but it looks like you already have a partner…" Hinata hesitated, glancing down at her shinobi sandals.

"Naruto was just leaving."

"Excuse me—"

Sasuke shoved Naruto's shoulder. "You were just leaving."

"I guess!" Naruto snapped, rubbing his shoulder and looking hurt by Sasuke's treatment of him. And more than a little offended at Hinata's use of "Uzumaki-san."

Trying to keep the peace, Hinata put her arms out in front of her, gesturing for the two boys to stop. "I can't spar today, unfortunately." Hinata pointedly glanced at the scroll in her hand. "I can come back at our usual time in a couple days though, Sasuke." Hinata smiled at Sasuke, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

Naruto looked aghast.

A smirk spread across Sasuke's face, and his chest swelled. Sasuke found the blush to be rather amusing. He didn't understand it, but he enjoyed it, so he wasn't going to complain about it. A part of him wondered just how much she blushed and why…

"Hn." Sasuke responded shortly, suddenly finding it difficult to speak.

"Wait, where are you going, Hinata-chan?" Naruto's nose wrinkled in confusion.

Sasuke dragged a tired hand across his face. "She can't tell you that, idiot."

Glancing between the two, Hinata noticed that Sasuke and Naruto bickered like brothers or an old married couple. Either way, she could help end this quickly, even if she didn't really want to intervene. "Sorry, Naruto, I can't tell anyone where I'm going.

Naruto grinned. Understanding dawning on him.

The last Uchiha wanted to slap that grin right off of Naruto's face.

Bowing quickly, Hinata thanked the ANBU for informing her of her mission. Hinata looked to Sasuke and smiled, this one spreading to her eyes. "I'll see you soon, Sasuke."

Sasuke's stomach flipped.

"Hn."

Kakashi stared at the document in front of him. At first he thought he was hallucinating or the document was a fake, mostly because it fixed a majority of his problems. Which was highly unusual.

Shizune had done as he'd asked the other day and grabbed all Hyuuga clan documents and all clan law documents.

As much as he wanted to help Hinata, Kakashi had doubted that he would find anything that was even remotely helpful in the Hyuuga clan's documents. He had promised that he would try though, and he did.

So it was much to his surprise that, rather quickly, he found a possible solution to his problem.

Before him, on the Hokage's desk, was a marriage contract dating back 16 years, to when Hinata and Sasuke were only toddlers. The Hyuuga had met with the Uchiha, when the Uchiha were a powerful and proud clan that had their sights set on bringing about great change in the village.

Well, that was the nice way of putting it.

It had appeared that the Uchiha were looking to overthrow the Hokage. It was likely that the Hyuuga had moved to protect themselves. Kakashi seriously doubted that the Hyuuga wouldn't be aware of what was going on.

Kakashi double-checked the date on the contract to ensure its authenticity.

If he remembered correctly, the date of the contract was around the time that the Hyuuga Matriarch died, meaning it was around the time Hyuuga Hanabi had been born. Kakashi remembered how devastated the whole Hyuuga clan had been at her passing.

She had been a gentle and kind woman, at least from what he had heard. Recently, he was hearing more and more that Hinata resembled her greatly.

Perhaps Hiashi had anticipated another heir? No. That doesn't make sense. Kakshi wondered, perplexed at Hiashi's choice.

Either way it didn't matter. This contract was made to marry the Hyuuga's first born to the Uchiha's heir. Which meant Sasuke had a wife, and Hinata had a way out of leaving the village. Is this better, though? A part of Kakashi selfishly thought that this was the perfect situation for Sasuke. Hinata would be a wonderful wife and matriarch to the Uchiha, and she was just the type of understanding and strong person that Sasuke needed to stay on track.

Was it selfish to hope for the best for his student? Was it selfish to put a demon like Sasuke with a kindhearted angel like Hinata?

Kakashi rid himself of that line of thinking. It didn't matter. It was a valid contract, so Hinata would be marrying Sasuke. Still, a part of him knew that it would be merciful and likely kind to burn it, as he was sure the Hyuuga had.

Author's Note:

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Thank you again!