Hinata was never one to sleep in, so when she finally awoke and let her eyes wander toward the alarm clock on the night stand with a hazy look, she wasn't expecting it to be way past noon.

Jumping up abruptly out of bed she was almost embarrassed for sleeping so late, and once she realized that she didn't have any other clothes besides the pajamas she was wearing—which weren't even hers—she became even more embarrassed.

She hoped Tenten hadn't been worried when she noted her absence in the morning and she was secretly panicking that her friend might think that something bad had happened.

Tiptoeing over toward the door she slowly opened it, only to find herself surprised.

Naruto turned his head toward her and grinned from where he stood across the room. "Hey! Good morning sleepyhead."

Hinata blushed slightly, hiding most of her body behind the door, "Good morning." She paused. "Or, well, afternoon I guess."

Naruto only laughed in reply, "Yeah, you're right about that."

"I didn't mean to sleep so long," she mumbled as an excuse, "I must've just been so tired and—"

Naruto's laugh cut her off. "Don't worry about it. I'm glad you got to catch up on your sleep!"

Hinata smiled back at him, feeling at ease upon hearing his assuring words.

"Why are you hiding behind the door though?"

She'd forgotten that she was awkwardly peering around the door until he pointed it out. Immediately she opened the door a little more before stepping out completely so she wouldn't come off as strange. "I sort of don't have any other clothes," she said timidly, looking down at the silk pajama's she'd been lent.

"You're a little too small to fit into my clothes," he said, scratching his temple as he approached her, seemingly thinking hard, "but I'm sure Sakura could lend you some!" Proud of his idea he then turned around and walked toward his door, slipping on his sandals. "Oh yeah, and I like your pajamas," he grinned at her as he pulled his shoes on. "Pink looks good on you."

Hinata could help but smile back at him shyly, praying she didn't look as emotional and mushy as she felt. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. The pajamas are Tenten's though."

"Ah," he nodded to himself, "you still look nice though." Standing straight up he grabbed his orange jacket from a hook by his door before shooting her one last grin. "I'll be back soon. With Sakura maybe."

She couldn't help but smile back widely, "I'll be here," she said, shrugging; as if she had anywhere else to go.

After he'd closed the door behind him, Hinata could help but giggle again softly.

Pink looks good on you.

Trying not read too far into the compliment, she reminded herself that Naruto was a nice, kind person who probably complimented people all the time; that's just the person he was! But she wouldn't deny the fact that she wished it had meant something more.

Looking around his small apartment, she realized that she was basically stranded there until Naruto came back with some clothes for her.

Not knowing what else to do she decided to put herself to work.

It didn't take long to tidy up the apartment since it wasn't very big, but by the time she'd finished she'd filled two garbage bags completely. Afterwards she decided to do his dishes after peering into the sink.

She didn't know how often he washed his dishes, but she was sure that it wasn't often enough.

Not even an hour later, as she stood by his sink finishing up her work, she heard the door open and the sound of sandals being slipped off made her smile.

"I decided to do some tidying up since you're letting me stay here and all—"

But as she turned toward the front door, she found herself so startled that she ended up jumping slightly, the plate she'd held in her grasp shattering across the floor.

Sasuke stared back at her, clearly just as surprised as she was.

Slightly panicked and completely embarrassed, Hinata immediately kneeled down and began to pick up the pieces of shattered glass off of the floor. "I—I'm sorry," she apologized, the words coming out a little too loud and a little too quickly, "I just thought you were Naruto and I wasn't expecting to see you and I just…"

Cringing inwardly at her awful attempt at an excuse she decided that it was a better idea to just keep her mouth shut. What she wasn't expecting was for him to walk across the room and bend down slightly, helping her to pick up the shards of glass.

He didn't say anything, nor did he look her in the eye as he worked. Soon enough they'd cleared the floor of any visible glass.

"I'll have to sweep to make sure I got it all," she commented quietly as she brushed her hands off on her pants. She then forced herself to look toward Sasuke, who stood a few feet away with his hands shoved into his pockets. "So, uh… hi."

The moment the words left her mouth she wanted to kick herself. She didn't even know why she was trying to initiate conversation with him; as far as she'd heard from other people, he wasn't much of a talker nor was he very friendly. But she just figured she'd try; after all, he was Naruto's best friend.

"Where's Naruto?" He didn't even bother looking at her as he spoke. Instead he just let his eye scan the room; probably noting how clean it was.

Her eyes widened upon realizing the obvious reason that he was there. "He uh, went out for a little bit. He should be back soon."

"Out where?"

Before she could answer, the sound of bickering just outside of Naruto's front door caused both of their heads to turn toward the front of the apartment.

"You're ridiculous. Don't touch my clothes." The voice was distinctly Sakura's.

"I didn't mean to drop it," she could hear Naruto whine, "and it's not my fault a dog ran off with it."

"I don't care."

"How was I supposed to know it was your favorite shirt?!"

As the door swung open and as they caught sight of the two people standing inside of the apartment, their argument came to an abrupt halt.

"Sasuke," Naruto blinked his eyes a few times, as if confused at his appearance, "what are you…" when his eyes widened in realization he lifted a hand and slapped it against his head. "Damnit! Was that meeting-thing today?"

"Was," Sasuke grumbled. "This morning. And you missed it."

"Shit! I'm sorry, man. It totally slipped my mind."

Hinata could see Sasuke's eyebrow quirk. "I reminded you last night."

"Yeah, but I mean like… I was busy."

Hinata wasn't sure if she was seeing things, but she could've sworn she watched Sasuke's uncovered eye flicker over toward her and then back toward Naruto.

"I can see that."

His words seemed innocent but Hinata could hear the underlying tone to his statement. Realizing what he was insinuating she could feel her face light up bright red out of humiliation.

She didn't want anyone thinking that was what she was doing at Naruto's apartment in pajamas. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that what he was suspicious of was exactly what it looked like.

The room fell into an awkward silence after that. Naruto had taken a couple of steps inside, but Sakura was still standing in the doorway, a bag of clothes in her arms, and a shocked look on her face.

Thankfully, Naruto broke the silence before it became unbearable. "So, Hinata," he called, gaining her attention, "Sakura brought you some clothes."

At the sound of someone saying her name, Sakura seemed to snap out of her haze as she looked toward Hinata, offering a small smile. Walking completely into the apartment, she closed the door behind her before walking briskly up to Hinata, placing the bag in her hands.

Hinata couldn't help but notice how Sasuke had visibly stiffened as the pink-haired kunoichi walked by him.

"I didn't exactly know how many clothes to bring you, since I obviously don't know how long you'll be here," she gave her a sympathetic look, "but Naruto told me a little about what was happening, so I brought enough clothes for like, three days."

Hinata smiled, accepting the clothes and shooting her friend a grateful look. "Thank you so much, Sakura."

Sakura smiled back, "That's what friends do. Also," she shot Naruto a wry look over her shoulder, "feel free to come over to my place if he gets unbearable."

"Hey," Naruto complained with a frown as he approached the two girls, "at least be nice to me in my own apartment."

"Please," Sakura scoffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder, "I am being nice. I could've said so much worse."

Naruto pouted slightly. "Well, at least Hinata appreciates me." Walking up to her he surprised her by pulling her into a tight hug, lifting her feet off the ground as he pouted toward Sakura, as if proving his statement.

Taken off guard by the notion, Hinata quickly dropped the bag of clothes and wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck, letting out a quiet squeak as he lifted her into the air.

Sakura let out a laugh, "Yeah, yeah. Let the girl down now. You're going to squeeze the life out of her."

"At least I've got you on my side," Naruto grinned, winking as he carefully placed her back on her feet.

Hinata smiled back at him, unable to stop the grin that overtook her face.

Turning around completely, Naruto then looked toward Sasuke. "I swear I'll go to the next one."

Sasuke scowled, "There might not be a next one."

Naruto blinked, "What? Why not?"

"Is anyone going to fill me in here," Sakura asked out of annoyance, turning so she was facing both of them,

Sasuke paid her no attention. "There might be a trial after all."

"What?" Naruto said, as if not truly believing what he was hearing. "But—but Granny Tsunade said you'd be good to go, and that there wouldn't be a need to go through with it. She basically assured that you'd be okay. And safe!"

"Well that's not the case anymore."

"I don't understand that just doesn't make any—" stopping his words abruptly, a suspicious look fell over his face. "Sasuke… you better not tell me you're refusing to make the statement."

When Sasuke didn't reply, and instead crossed his arms over his chest, Naruto just about lost it.

"You're kidding me," he mumbled quietly, "you've got to be fucking kidding me."

"What?" Sakura asked desperately, looking from Naruto to Sasuke and back to Naruto again. "Someone please tell me what's going on!"

"You know the trial that Granny got dismissed?" Naruto asked, not even turning to look Sakura in the eye. "The one that would decide whether Sasuke would be executed or not?" Sakura nodded slowly, her eyes widening. "Well, that trial might happen now. And it's all because you're a stubborn asshole, Sasuke."

Suddenly, Naruto's words from the night before flew through Hinata's mind.

"So all he has to do is say sorry?"

"Pretty much," Naruto half-shrugged, "I mean, it'd be a bit better worded then just a plain 'I'm sorry', but that's really all he has left to do."

Hinata had heard that the Uchiha man was stubborn, but to risk the death penalty simply to avoid apologizing… that was taking stubborn to an entirely new, extremely ridiculous level.

"You can't be serious." Sakura whispered, looking from Naruto to Sasuke. "Tell me he's joking."

Sasuke merely stared back at her, his gaze cold, not saying a word.

"Are you stupid?!" She yelled, shocking Hinata to the point where she actually jumped. "You're supposed to present your apology to the nations, and that's supposed to be it. Why is that so hard for you to do?"

Sasuke held his glare. "I don't have to explain—"

"Yes you do!" She yelled, balling her hands into fists angrily. "Naruto and I have worked our asses off to keep you alive. Do you not understand that? Do you not care if you get executed? Are you ready to die all because of your damn pride?!"

Unable to look away from the scene before her, Hinata found herself almost frightened; she'd never seen Sakura this angry before. The girl's whole body was shaking with fury and she was genuinely surprised she hadn't lunged at Sasuke yet.

"I never asked for help," he spoke, his voice low and angry.

"Of course not!" Sakura scoffed. "Because of your damn pride!" She took a couple of steps closer toward him. "Why is it so hard to have someone help you? Why is it so fucking hard to believe that there are people that care about you enough to fight for your life?"

Watching as Sakura got into Sasuke's face, Hinata stepped forward slightly, grabbing hold of Naruto's sleeve and holding onto it tightly. She felt as if she shouldn't be seeing this. As if she were intruding on something that she had absolutely nothing to do with. It was painful how out-of-place she felt.

"What?" Sakura asked when Sasuke's merely stared back at her. "Nothing to say?" She huffed, backing up a couple of steps. "Why should I even be surprised? You never have anything to say to me," she spat the words out with venom, still backing away. Looking toward Naruto she simply shook her head. "I can't do this anymore Naruto, I can't handle—I'm sorry."

Turning around Sakura stormed out of the apartment, leaving an uncomfortable silence in her absence. Hinata was positive she'd seen tears well up in Sakura's eyes before leaving. The pit she felt in her stomach made her feel for the girl. She hated seeing her friends like this…

"You know, if you don't talk to her soon," he spoke quietly, addressing his best friend, "you're going to lose her entirely; for good." Naruto's voice was strained, fighting against his own emotion. "You need to work with us here, or there'll be nothing we can do."

Sasuke didn't say anything, nor did he look at Naruto again. He merely stared at the closed door that Sakura had just ran out of. After a few long seconds, he shook his head, walking toward the door and making an exit of his own.

And then silence took hold once more.

Hinata stood, shocked at how things got so heated so quickly. She'd heard about Sakura's temper and Sasuke's indifference to everything around him, but witnessing both firsthand made Hinata stop and think hard about how those were things that she wasn't meant to witness.

It wasn't until a full minute later when she looked back up to Naruto. Not able to see his face fully, she made a move to stand in front of him, only to be taken aback when he turned his head away from her sharply.

The hand she'd been gripping his sleeve with suddenly released it, starting up at him with shock. But she knew she couldn't ignore this; she couldn't let him push her away.

"Naruto-kun," she whispered slowly, reaching up toward his face with a hand. Before she could touch his face he grabbed her wrist, stopping her from doing so.

"Hinata…" she could hear the heavy emotion in his voice, "I—I'm fine."

Frowning, she remained undeterred, lifting her other arm and finally placing her fingertips on his far cheek, turning his head so that she could look him in the eye. Her gaze immediately softened as she took in his face. "Naruto," she cupped his cheek, wiping away a tear, "no you're not."

So when Naruto broke down while standing in the middle of his apartment, Hinata fell to her knees with him, holding him close to her. She tried hard not to let her own emotions affect her—really, she did—but she couldn't fight against the tears as they poured from her eyes. It broke her heart to see him like this.

Watching the love of her life crumble in a heap of sobs in front of her caused her heart to shatter completely.

He was sunshine. He was happiness and hope and determination all in one. He was Uzumaki Naruto and he was the hero of the shinobi world.

And he was currently sitting on the floor, crying, and clinging tightly to a girl who loved him with all her heart.

Hero or not, he was as human as the rest of them.

"It's going to be okay," she whispered, trying not to let her voice crack, "things will be fine, Naruto-kun."

But even as she whispered to him, she knew that this wasn't something she could promise.

So instead she did the only thing she could do; she held him closely and didn't let go.