Disclaimer: The characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto, and I don't own them. But I do own the plot, so DON'T TRY AND STEAL IT! IT'S MY IMAGINATION! :P

Chapter 9:

~ Hinata ~

When I open my eyes and rub the little annoying crusty things around them, the first thing I register is the heavy, limp arm around my waist and I freeze in shock. It feels foreign, but, at the same time, safe. Once the haziness drifts away and the final remnants of my dreams vanish, I smile.

My eyes focus on Naruto-kun's sleeping face. His lips slightly parted so that he can breathe. His eyes shut loosely with his long curly lashes (that I'm envious of) still, ghosting over his cheeks bones. His cute button nose and mouth. Everything about him is perfect.

God, I mentally think. I really love you.

When I glance at the table side clock, I see that it's over half past nine in the night. A wave of paranoia comes over me. Did we sleep through the entire day?! Did the hall monitor catch us?!

I sit up frantically, but then remember that we had...that pretty early in the afternoon. It was right after our last classes of the day, so it must have been only two or three. So it's just later in the day.

My cheeks redden and my heart starts to pound faster as I look down at my bare thighs and remember the experience. I bite my lip. It was better than I imagined. I had always thought of how it would feel or be like, but nothing could have amounted to what it actually was like. You can only get the true emotions through the real experience.

I hear a soft moan beside me and recall that Naruto-kun is still in my room.

Oh, crap, I think. It's already 9:43! Curfew's at 9:45!

"Naruto-kun!" I whisper harshly, shaking him. "Naruto-kun!"

His eyes immediately open and he sits up, too fast, and he groans. "W-What? What? What happened?"

"It's almost curfew time! Get out!"

His eyes widen in realization.

The hall monitor seeing us both somewhat naked and in the same bed, with our clothes all around the room, isn't exactly the best impression.

We both jump out of bed and I get his pair of pants which are on the floor near me and I hear him picking up the rest of his things. He tries to put on his shoes, but then we hear some footsteps down the hallway and he says "Screw it" and gathers the rest of his clothes, quickly catching the pants I throw to him. He runs to the door and opens it carefully, shouldering his backpack.

When he thinks the time is right, he runs down the hall. And I have to purse my lips at the sight. Naruto, clad in his boxers, running down the hall carrying a bunch of things in a big pile in his arms. A giggle escapes my lips. I quickly put my own jeans on as the hall monitor comes in to check on me.

"Everything okay…?" she asks.

I probably do look weird with my hair messed up and pants on the wrong way. I hope she doesn't notice.

"Yup! Everything's fine!" I chirp back.

"Um…okay." She closes the door and I let out a sigh of relief, stripping my pants

down and putting on a pair of pajama shorts instead. I keep Naruto-kun's shirt on though because it's so comfy.

I fish my phone out of the pocket of my backpack and text Naruto-kun.

Me: Made it back okay?

Naru: Yup! Just in time too. I was putting on my pants as she came in the room. It got pretty awkward since I wasn't wearing a shirt.

Me: Haha. :D Which by the way, I'm keeping.

Naru: It looks better on you anyway. ;)

Me: :)

I send a tiny heart with it and once he sends me a heart back, my own real heart swells with happiness. God, I feel so girly right now. But whatever. This has been one of the best days here so far.

Then, my stomach groans slightly, proving that I haven't eaten dinner. Luckily, the refrigerator in my room has some leftover pasta that I put in there from last night, so I quickly eat that while going through my social media on my phone and laptop.

Then, once I'm done with my food, I go down to the bathroom on our floor and wash up quickly. And as I'm coming back to my room, I see that I have a message on my phone.

Naru: Hey, beautiful. I'm missing you already. Call?

I blush. Even though I don't quite believe it, I love when he calls me beautiful. It

definitely makes me feel it. Especially because Naru doesn't lie. I squeal happily, covering my mouth and checking to make sure the door was shut right after. That was too high to be human.

Me: Of course.

Incoming Call: Naru

"Hey."

"Hi," I say back, laying down on my bed.

And this is how I spend the rest of my amazing day.

~ Sakura ~

I close my diary with a huff, my hand slightly aching and my eyes straining from looking at the pages for so long. It's already past midnight and I have class early tomorrow morning, but I don't want to go to sleep.

I turn off the small lamp that I used as my light source for writing and place my diary on my nightstand, along with my phone. I drink some water for my parched throat and then climb into my bed.

I look over at Kaori who has her headphones in but is fast asleep. She always goes to sleep like that. I'm pretty sure she made it so that her music auto-stops after about an hour, but I don't know how she can go to sleep with music blasting in her ears. I would just end up concentrating on that and not being able to sleep.

I sigh, something I've been doing a lot lately and finger the loose strand on my shirt that I keep forgetting to cut.

Lately…I've been feeling lonely.

Before, I already was. With my parents and no other siblings of mine around. My grandparents had died when I was smaller and I don't have much other family around here. But I was content, more than content, with Sasuke and my other friends at the boarding school. They made me feel complete again and happy. Sasuke did. But now he's not even here.

I always knew college life was going to be lonely, but it's also supposed to be the best years of my life. I have a couple of friends, other than Sai and Kaori, too, but how am I supposed to have fun when all that's on my mind is how much I miss my other friends? When I miss Sasuke?

I wish I could go see him. Or that he could come see me. I mean, it's already December. And it's going to be our anniversary soon. (Actually, isn't it in two weeks?) But…the flight's pretty far. And we can't just spend money like that. We're going to be together the entire summer anyway. But that's so far away.

I sigh in annoyance and squeeze my eyes shut as that same, but foreign feeling surges through me, leaving me empty. The same feeling that I get whenever I think about how lonely I am, even though there are so many other people here. There's a difference between being alone and being lonely, you know.

Grabbing my phone from the side table, I click it on so I can see my wallpaper. It's one of my favorite pictures, if not my most favorite one of Sasuke and I.

We took it at our high school graduation. Well, more like Ino took it. She has a knack for photography. Which is kinda annoying, considering that she captures the most embarrassing moments as well. But it's also great because of the pictures like this one.

Sasuke's standing behind me, with his arms around my waist giving me a backhug. Both of my hands rest on top of his. His chin rests on my left shoulder and we're both wearing our caps and gowns. With huge toothy smiles on our faces, eyes in little crescents from smiling so much. No one else is behind us, it's just us too. In the distance is our school and you can see the cherry blossom trees around us too. Some of the petals are falling, making the scene look straight out from an anime.

My heart jumps at the sight of it and I sigh. In content, this time. I smile and close my eyes as the screen goes dark.

BZZZZ!

I almost drop my phone on my face as it vibrates, quite obnoxiously as well.

I open the lock screen and find that I have a new message. I almost squeal when I see it's from Sasuke.

Hey. You're probably asleep, but I just wanted to tell you that I love you and I miss you. Just because.

That's the message, with a big red heart at the end.

My heart flutters and I keep staring at it until the screen dims and then eventually turns dark, to which I click it on again and stare at it again. I do squeal this time, covering my face with the blankets.

I decide to text back.

Hey back. I should be asleep, but I'm not. :P That's so sweet, Sasuke. Thanks. I love you and miss you, too. So much. So much that it almost physically hurts sometimes.

He texts back only moments later.

Sasuke: Why aren't you sleeping? Is something wrong? Me too, babe. Me too.

I squeal again and flop on my stomach as I type out a reply. I love when he calls me babe. It's so girly, but I absolutely love it. Quickly, I look over at Kaori to make sure my squeals haven't awoken her. But they probably won't. I could be screaming at the top of my lungs and she still wouldn't wake up. She's just like Naruto when it comes to sleeping.

Me: I just don't want to sleep. Idk.

Sasuke: But you should. Don't you have class tomorrow morning?

Me: Yeah, I do. But Idk. I just don't wanna sleep. And don't you have class too?

Sasuke: Nope. My first class tomorrow is at 2 pm. SLEEPING IN!

I giggle. And then another text comes from him.

Sasuke: Should I sing to you?

My heart does another one of those weird lurchy things as I squeal, yet again. I need to stop otherwise I really am gonna wake up Kaori. And a cranky, tired Kaori is not something you wanna deal with.

Sasuke has an amazing voice, as I have found out over the years. And pair that with his guitar and it's like heaven. I think he could totally be a singer, but he said he just likes it as a hobby, not as a career. He's sung for me a couple of times, but never to sleep. And his soft lullaby-ish voice makes me so calm and relaxed. I immediately answer with "Yes, please."

Then, there's a call coming from him and I answer it as fast as humanly possible.

"Hey."

"Hello," I say.

We're both whispering. Neji's probably sleeping already too.

"I would play the guitar as well, but Neji might wake up and… well, let's just say that I don't want to deal with an annoyed Neji again."

I laugh quietly. "It's fine. Your voice is perfect either way."

I hear him smile slightly and then he starts singing. And I'm in left in awe once again. I hold the phone close to my ear, as close as I can, as if I can somehow hear him better if he's directly against my ear.

My eyes flutter shut and all I want to do is hug him, so I end up hugging my pillow instead.

His voice, the words and the sweet, peaceful atmosphere is so relaxing and calming that I fall asleep almost at once.

When I wake up next, my phone is still lying near my ear, but my hand has gone limp. Luckily, Sasuke hung up after he realized I was asleep otherwise my phone bill would be through the roof.

I smile again as I sit up. I really have the best boyfriend in the world. I girlishly squeal once more and then a pillow slams against my head.

"Why are you so girly in the morning? It's making me sick," I hear.

I roll my eyes and grab the pillow Kaori chucked at me. That girl has gotten better at aiming while she's still half asleep. I walk over to her and smack her butt with the pillow. "Shut up. Why are you so cranky in the morning?"

She flaps her arms to shoo me away and I do once I hit her once more with the pillow. I open the curtains annoyingly and this time, it's even more blinding because there's snow everywhere.

"Kaori! It's snowing!" I yell.

"Great. Now shut up and let me sleep. It's Sunday, for Christ's sake."

I knee her in the back. "No, it's actually Friday. And we have class at seven. Come on!"

"Oh...Damn it. Noooooooooo."

I end up dragging her out of her bed and plopping her in front of the bathroom door. She grumbles and gets up soon enough to brush her teeth and tame her bedhead. I quickly follow her once she's done.

"YES! It's the weekend! AND MORE SO, CHRISTMAS BREAK!" Kaori yells, flailing her arms around. We just finished our classes, which conveniently end around the same time. "We don't have any boring lectures! AH! This is great!"

Sai and I look at her in amusement and then at each other.

"Let's go to that cafe. I am in desperate need of their hot chocolate," Kaori says, taking both of our hands and pulling us along out of the campus.

We reach the cafe we always go to soon enough. After all, it's only like a five minute walk from the college. We traipse inside, warming up instantly because of the heater that's constantly running in there.

Since we still have our backpacks, we concur to get our homework out of the way and finish it up while drinking hot chocolate. But since this is college and each homework assignment takes like 2 hours, we decide to stop after 4 hours of sitting there in silence (somehow, Kaori managed to silent and diligently do her homework the entire time). And when we're walking back to the campus, it's already dark.

My phone chimes and I dig it out of my comfy coat pocket to check who it's from. It's Hinata.

Hinata: Hey, Sak! Whatcha doing?

Me: Nothing much. Just walking back to the campus from a cafe with Kaori and Sai. You?

Hinata: Oh. Cool. Nothing much either. Hey, do you have any classes in the next week?

Me: Uh, no. The school gave us a week off for Christmas. Why?

Hinata: Oh. Um, no reason! Bye!

Well, that was weird...I think.

I pocket my phone and link arms with Kaori. It's freaking cold, okay? I lean into her, stealing some of her warmth and the three of us speedwalk, (probably looking like complete losers, but whatever) returning to the campus as the last rays of sunshine disappear behind the tall skyscrapers.

We all go up to the dorm rooms when a girl stops me. I recognize her from my math class.

"Sakura-san!"

"Yeah?" I answer back.

She holds out an envelope that doesn't look too thick; probably a letter. "This is for you! It came this morning, but I wasn't feeling that well, so I couldn't hand out the mail. Sorry!"

"It's okay. Thanks." Once she leaves, I turn the envelope over and see Uchiha Sasuke on the bottom right corner.

A smile comes on my face, my heartbeat races and a happy feeling spirals throughout my body, once again leaving me in wonder how someone can have this effect on me.

"Isn't that your boyfriend?" Kaori asks me, looking over my shoulder.

I nod. I start to walk even quicker to our room, wanting to open in private. There are people in the common room.

Sai says goodbye as his room comes before ours and I fumble with the key a little before I push my door open.

I sit down on my bed, not even taking off my shoes or jacket, only flinging my backpack to the other side of the sheets. I don't hear Kaori; she probably went to pee or something.

Fingering it open, I try to be as careful as I can without ripping anything inside. With much failure, it finally opens (god, I freaking hate opening envelopes) and I take out two letters.

I read the longer one first. It's not typed, it's handwritten. And those little connecting swirls and the way he dots his i's lets me know that indeed, Sasuke wrote this.

Sak,

Hey! It's been long since we actually met in person, right? *sighs* I miss you. God, with just Neji (and the freaking fangirls, of course. Oh, the joy) to keep me company, I think I might go insane. I even miss Naruto.

Lately, I've realized that I never really showed you any of my writing that I used to write back when we were at the Academy. We used to ask each other all the time if we could see each other's, but we never used to show it. So I want to show you some of my writing. A little at a time.

But just know that this was 3 years ago and it's like…crap. But whatever. And… um… it might not make sense, but that's just because I didn't know what I was feeling then. So… yeah.

Enjoy, I guess?

I love you. Never doubt that.

~ Sasuke

I fold the letter with a smile and gently keep it to the side while I open the other one. The paper is a smaller size and its texture is like one of those old, parchment types of paper.

Did he write this all again for me?

I bite my lip in happiness, trying not to squeal. Gosh, he makes me feel like a schoolgirl who's in a crush with someone totally out of league and said "hi" to her, like, once.

Opening that, I see that this time, the handwriting is in script. But it's still Sasuke's. His beautiful script.

My eyes scan the words quickly, cheeks reddening as I realize it's obviously about me.

"He's a good writer," I hear above me, making me flinch and turn to Kaori who somehow crept up next to me and read Sasuke's writing.

I nod, and look back down at the words that are so steady and consistent. Ugh, he's just too perfect.

I text him with only saying: I wonder who's that girl.

Biting my lip and falling on my bed, I hold the note close to my chest. What should I get him for our anniversary?

~ Sasuke ~

Right as I complete my homework, my phone lights up and vibrates. I watch as it slowly moves across the surface due to the vibrations. I see Naruto's name on the screen and contemplate whether I should pick up or not. It's almost midnight and I'm tired.

I pick on the last ring before it forwards to voicemail.

"What, dobe?" Any normal person would hear the fatigue laced in my voice, but Naruto, being the idiot he is, doesn't.

"Guess who's not a virgin anymore!" he says perkily.

That wakes me up. My eyes widen. "Y-You and Hinata?"

I can imagine him nodding. "Yup!"

"Damn, the idiot got some?"

He sighs and I can literally feel him rolling his eyes. "Call me whatever you want, but I still got laid before you did."

"Haha. Actually, no. You didn't."

"HUH?! YOU?!"

I nod even though he can't see it. "Yeah. During the summer."

"Oh...damn it! I thought I finally beat you at something!"

"That'll never happen. We'll be 90 and you'll be racing to see who dies first."

"Hahaha. You've gotten funnier."

"I try."

"Shut up. I was being sarcastic."

There's a pause until he speaks again. "So...what position?"

"DUDE! I'm not telling you that, you freak!"

"OH WHAT? WE'RE BOTH BOY-MEN! At least tell me how many rounds."

"Man, you have no shame, do you?"

"Nope!"

I smile, shutting off the table light I have and closing up my books as I hold the phone between my ear and shoulder. I plop down on the bed before I talk again. "So was it...good?"

"Who's being the freak now?" he laughs. "But hell yeah, it was...perfect. The only thing was that...she was gonna, you know...blow me."

"Okay, ew. I think of Hina like a sister. Ew. But...so? Why do you sound all weird?"

"I didn't make her."

"What? Why would you ever deny a blowjob?"

"Because, I don't know. It's kinda gross for her. And she really didn't want to; I could see it in her facial expression. I don't know. I wanted her to be comfortable, even though I wanted it."

"Aw. That's actually considerate. Wow, I never thought I would say that to you."

"Oh shut it, bastard." There's another pause before he speaks again. "You know, I'm really worried about tomorrow. With Hinata-chan's father and all."

He's mentioned this before to me, and I honestly feel for them. That must be horrible, because I had to hear him blab about all the courage he worked up to propose to Hinata...and now, to have it shot down... "Naruto…I'm sure it'll be fine. Just use that relentless confidence of yours and defend Hinata. Okay? But you have to be strong. As strong as Hinata is, she needs you to rely on. So...be confident, okay?"

"Thanks, idiot."

"You're welcome, idiot."

"Now enough sex and depressing talk. Tell me more about your cheesy, totally non-you plan you have for Sak."

I start smiling like a true idiot when I hear her name and my truthfully really cheesy plan. "What more do you want to hear? I told you most of it."

"When are you leaving?"

"Three days from now. My college has a longer break than her's."

"Oh. Where are you going to stay? You're not allowed on campus during break unless you're international, right?"

"Yeah, I think I might just get us a little cabin or vacation home somewhere peaceful."

"Ooooo. Somewhere peaceful? To do what?"

"Shut up."

"Damn. You're lucky you're rich, man,"

"You do know that I will lend you money if you really need it right, Naruto?"

"Yeah, I know. And thanks. I'm grateful. But I'm too stubborn and I have too much pride. Besides, I wanna support my Hina with my own money. But thanks, man."

"No problem."

"So how long are you gonna stay with her?"

"3 weeks!" I sound like an excited girl who's squealing, and I can't stop it.

"Heh. You sound like a schoolgirl. It's cute."

"Hey. Don't turn gay on Hinata now."

"Fine. It was manly. Happy?"

"Very."

He sighs deeply. "Okay, I'm gonna go, okay? I'm worn out. And not because of that! I know that's what you're thinking. But because it's half past midnight and I need my beauty rest."

"Okay. Goodnight, dobe."

"Goodnight, bastard."

I close my phone after ending the call and place it on my nightstand, sighing deeply. Taking in a deep breath of air to clear my mind, I lean back, feeling the coolness of the sheets leak through my body. It's relaxing.

I'm too tired to keep my eyelids from falling down, but too awake to keep my mind from thinking. Mainly about Sakura. And our to-be trip. I fantasize about how it's going to be when I finally have her in my arms and when I can smell that strawberry scent of hers that always seems to be lingering on her.

A smile forms on my lips because of her and I click on my phone so I can see a picture of us two. After the screen darkens and the phone slips from my hand onto my pillow, I gradually drift off into the world where thoughts and fears and hope becomes real, just for the night.

It was her hair that I noticed first; the unique color, the way it shined beneath the horrible florescent light, how effortlessly yet so beautifully it laid across her shoulders. Then her clumsiness. Her first step through the door ended with a fall. I couldn't help but stare at her as I inwardly laughed. When she finally got herself off of the floor, obviously irritated that I didn't help her up, she introduced herself and stuck out her hand for me to shake.

Her eyes, so bright and beautiful, looked as though they held all the happiness in the world; as though I could escape into them and be transported into my own personal utopia.

Don't get too close.

I walked away.

Author's Note:

Hey! I'm finally back! Sorry it took soooo long to update this. I wanted to write Sasuke's full story before I updated...Which I still haven't done. It's only about half done. BY THE WAY, I'm not writing Sasuke's story. My best friend (at the username of emsnems on this website), who is an amazing writer and waaaaay better than I could ever be, is writing it. That's why the style is different and that's why it's just so much better. So yeah.

This chapter was kind of a New Year's gift. Haha. It's still 2015 where I live, but if it's 2016 where you live - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I will try to update as soon as I can! Oh, and just to let you know, this fanfiction will probably be around ISH the same length as the MTHIC, probably less.

Love you all!

I want to sincerely, sincerely thank you each and every one of you for taking time out of your day to read and (maybe) review my story. It means more than you can imagine to me.

Thanks again!

AND REVIEW! PLEASE!

~ booklover333