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Hinata didn't know how long Sasuke had left for but it felt too long and although she had a shadow clone right next to her; it'd run out of chakra soon and she'd be alone again. Unlike yesterday, her body was completely spent; every connecting bone was sore, her throat parched, headache hammering in her head and a boiling fever. She closed her eyes, hoping Sasuke would return very soon.

Voices sounded around her, angry voices. Two men she knew were verbally threatening each other. She parted her eyes to find Sasuke on the other end of her bedroom, fist clenched tightly in Neji's garments. "I told you, she's resting. She isn't well" Neji narrowed his eyes further "What have you done to her? She wasn't like this yesterday and you're supposed to be gone" Neji broke Sasuke's grip on his shirt "Why are you here, you blood lusted Uchiha?" Sasuke pushed Neji into the wall again "Doing what and your clan clearly could not. I'm taking care of her" Neji grinned "Taking care? By saying that you're 'taking care' of her you mean sending her to her grave I presume" Neji headed butted the Sasuke shadow clone "You've done a pretty good job of taking care of her, she's nearly half dead. You're making a mess of things again Uchiha and I'll be damned if you kill Hinata-sama" After that, they exchanged fists that landed them out of Hinata's room and into the passage.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun…Nej-Neji-kun….please stop" Hinata lifted her body into a sitting position on her bed, she ignored the pain that her went through her body; she then turned to place her feet on the floor before standing, the room shifted unexpectantly and Hinata held onto the bed again. The noise from the passage was worrying her, Sasuke may have been a copy but if she let them continue fighting that copy would be gone and Neji would shout at her before leaving her alone again. She fought the growing dizziness and took slow steps towards the passage. Sasuke and Neji were at each other's throats but Neji had the advantage and before Hinata could try and protest against the violence, the shadow clone of Sasuke was replaced with a cloud of smoke. Her heart sank, she knew Neji too well, and he'd never stay and look after her until Sasuke returned. In fact after their last conversation, who knew what Neji would say next.

Neji stood up from the floor "Hinata-sama, why did you not inform anyone that you weren't well?" he picked up the pieces of the vase he and the shadow copy had broken while fighting "Was that shadow copy yours or from the real Sasuke?" Hinata gave it a moment before answering but couldn't before Neji spoke again "Hinata-sama, he is not worth getting upset over. Look he left and now you're making shadow clones of him to look after you?" Hinata met Neji's eyes "That was not a copy I made Neji-niisan. Sa-Sasuke-kun came back for me and he is looking after me." Neji's eyes widen in horror, that Uchiha bastard Sasuke had come back? "He came back?! But where is he now? He saw that you're sick and weak and left you again. Sasuke is not the type of man who will look after you Hinata-sama, he-" It was now Hinata's turn to cut Neji off, she would not let Neji belittle Sasuke like this, he didn't know her like she did "I'm out of medicine and Sasuke left to go get me some more" Neji's fists curled in anger, not only had Sasuke returned, he was playing nurse with Hinata and then bailed, the was no way that he was coming back to her. Sasuke always surrounded himself with powerful individuals and Hinata was not such individual.

The next thing Neji saw was ceiling above him and a very angry Uchiha above him, "Hinata is not well today. We'd appreciate it if you left and let her rest" Neji easily over powered Sasuke and pressed his knee into Sasuke's back "You have the wrong house Uchiha, this is not your home and furthermore; Hinata-sama will be coming with me back to the Hyuga quarters where she will be taken care of properly." "Neji nii-san, I-I will not be going home with you. Sa-Sasuke-kun is taking care of me just fine" Hinata told Neji "I do not agree with your decision Hinata-sama. You know how sick you can get, Sasuke is not suited to take care of you the way the servants and healers at the main branch can" Sasuke tried to wriggle free from Neji's hold above him "Are you deaf? Hinata just said that she is fine with me taking care of her." Neji put more weight earning a groan of pain from Sasuke "She's out of bed Uchiha flith, you left her with a shadow clone which is now gone. How much more useless can you be?" Hinata had just about heard enough and all this bickering wasn't helping her get better at all. She had to say something so that Neji would leave and Sasuke could stay by her side happily "Neji-niisan, If I get any worse, I will not fight you. You may take me home but until then Sasuke will remain with me and look after me as best as he can" Hinata was feeling a little dizzy and had to lean her weakened body on the wall, she'd tried to hold out as much as she could until Neji left but not until then "I only fell ill yesterday Neji-niisan, it's barely been a day." Neji gazed into Hinata's sickly eyes before lifting the weight of his knee off of Sasuke "I'll honour your request Hinata-sama however your father will know of this, he will not be pleased. What he chooses to do after I inform him will be out of my control" Neji left without saying another word.

Sasuke stood up, the front door closing behind Neji "I'm sorry Hinata. I wasn't able to-"Sasuke turned around just in time to catch Hinata as she fell forward. She passed out in his arms. 'She must have been trying to be strong in front of Neji' Sasuke carried her to bed and tucked her in, he placed his forehead above hers again to check her temperature, it wasn't looking good.

XXX

Sasuke sat down beside Hinata watching her sleep but Neji's words circled in his mind You know how sick you can get; just howsick did Hinata get? Was it a normal flu like everyone else or was it one of those that took over the body in a hurry? If he hadn't been in such a rush, Ino would have been able to sort Hinata out by now, damn it! Sasuke lifted the blanket and placed his hands underneath Hinata's shirt. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all; Hinata's fever wasn't like this when he left this morning. She was getting worse and fast. Sasuke sat down on the edge of the bed, hand in his hair, trying to think of what to do. A memory of his mother placing a cloth on his forehead when he had a fever played in his head; he looked at her, her fever was nothing like the one he had when he was a child, the cool damp cloth might not work as effectively.

Sasuke left the room and into the main bathroom. He turned the tap on, letting cold water fill the bath, this would bring the fever down quickly, Hinata would be better by morning and she wouldn't be taken away from her by the Hyuga. Sasuke returned to the main bedroom and lifted the blanket. He took a moment to compose himself; after all, this would the first he undressed a woman. The woman before him wasn't just any woman, it was the woman whom he loved so it shouldn't matter, but he was still nervous. Sasuke was as gentle as he could be in undressing Hinata; during this process, Hinata didn't stir or open her eyes but let out a moan or two in between. You know how sick you can get, Neji's words; Sasuke couldn't stop them from playing over and over in his mind. If I don't get her better, they will take her. I can't let that happen, I waited long enough to be loved once more; I can't let it be taken from me again. He left Hinata in her bra and underwear, she looked so sick even though she was asleep. He scooped her up into this arms, kami-sama, she was burning hot, the cold water would do her good, she'd be better soon.

Hinata's half-naked body slowly lowered into cold water in the bath, Sasuke kept his arms under Hinat's body to keep her from sliding into the water. Sasuke would keep her in the water for a short while just to bring her fever down; this task would prove difficult for him in the seconds to come.

Hinata felt cold and couldn't understand why but she was cold. She opened her eyes to find herself half submerged in cold water; she panicked and immediately tried to pull herself out but she had no strength, not strength at all. The fact that she was weak wasn't the only reason why she couldn't get out of the water; but it was because there was a person keeping her in this cold cold water. "N-no! No! Please, it's cold" who was doing such a horrible thing to her? Where was Sasuke? Could history be repeating itself on her again? She couldn't see, her eyes were so blurred and out of focus. "Please stop!" she pleaded but this person's held her body down in the cold water. She grabbed this person's arm, it was the closest thing should grab in her weak state, she pulled herself out of the water as much as she could. She was scared, so scared and too weak to fight back. Then suddenly her body was being lifted from the cold water by the person who was holding her down just a few seconds ago. A towel was placed over wet body and gently rubbed dry. The body of this person was so warm; so very warm, she couldn't help but curl up to that warmth. When she had been rubbed dry, arms wrapped around her body pulling her closer; this person's embrace was gentle and caring, this person was not who she thought they were. It wasn't until she saw a familiar pair of charcoal eyes did she finally calm down "Sa-Sasuke-kun?" The arms around her squeezed a little tighter around her "it's okay now Hinata"

Hinata remained quiet a moment before asking "Wh-why did you do that Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke pulled her closer into the warmth of his chest "You have a very high fever Hinata, I had to bring it down somehow and this is the only way I knew how. I have" He hesitated "never been able to take care of anyone in my life Hinata; you are the first" he then placed his forehead on hers "I'm worried; Neji said he'd tell your father and that he'll probably come and take you back to the Hyuga compound. That means them taking you away from me and I don't know if they'll ever let you out." He shut his eyes "I'm scared for you, for me. I don't want to be without you, I'm sorry. I'm doing my best to take care of you Hinata" Hinata weakly pulled her hand out of the towel and gently placed it on Sasuke's cheek. She had no words of comfort for him, but knowing that he was trying so much for her was enough.