Chapter Twelve

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

A/N: Please note that belladonna and poison ivy essence have been used in tinctures as part of homeopathic medicine. So don't be alarmed.

Even though the sun was out, the weather was blisteringly frigid. The bitter winter air whipped about and slashed at exposed skin, leaving everyone feeling raw and miserable. But it was the coming of the New Year and despite the wretched weather; people still came out in throngs to brave the cold to visit friends and family. The center of Konoha was busy and carbonated with excitement and noise. The cacophony was exceptional, something that Sasuke was used to and welcomed, but today he found that the noise was not a welcomed distraction, but now an irritant that was bad enough to make his head ache terribly, so that when he came up to the Hyuuga Compound at around after five that evening, the almost eerie serenity that was usually reflected quietly from the tranquil walls and fine wood gave him a psychological delight of peace that he hadn't felt since…since…well not since a few days ago when he had spent all day with Hinata at the farmhouse; the day of her birthday. He craved that tranquility.

Seeing as how he did not come from the direction of the farmhouse, but from the direction of the Hokage Tower, Sasuke called at the Main Gates at the south side. His body was aching, but he felt the need to see her. When he was making the long trek to the Compound he noticed lots of luggage and a few caravans parked at the front of the Gates. As he approached the main building, he could hear lots of excited chattering and see many Hyuuga running about busily. He wondered where they going and if this meant that he would not be able to see Hinata after all.

He was told to wait just outside the moya and be as unobtrusive as possible, but Sasuke didn't like standing there. He was feeling exceptionally cold, his joints were aching, his eyes were burning, he had a headache and what with the noise that everyone was producing as they made their way from inside to outside the house and shouted at the children as they lit firecrackers – he felt like his head was going to explode. He thought the headache originated from the noisiness from the center of town and was the inspiration for him to seek out Hinata in the first place. But to come here and experience the same din was unacceptable. His head felt like it was going to split open, but for whatever reason he felt as if he must see her. But he couldn't stay here, so he walked around to the Western Gates (they were very busy and seemed not to notice him, but he was sure that wasn't true; they were the wielders of the Byakugan after all) and found himself at the Wisteria Courtyard. He rather gracelessly dropped himself onto a bench under a pergola. That little walk seemed to tire him out especially since he was experiencing pain in his joints as if Naruto had shoved a few Rasengans into him. His head felt like it was ablaze with pain. What the hell was going on with him, he wondered.

Not even five minutes later Hinata emerged. He looked up at her and was taken aback by her appearance. Last time that he had seen her, which was for her birthday, she was wearing, as usual, her awful oversized green jacket and baggy blue pants. He was becoming used to the fact that she always looked like a blind nun the first day after she had left the Order – absolutely clueless about any sort of style and self-possession. But today she was wearing a bronze and orange kimono with a fine pattern of gold flecked camellias and snow laden plum blossoms. Her hair was also tied up, but she still kept her bangs. She looked simply amazing.

"Going somewhere?"

"Hello Sasuke-san."

Either she was speaking very softly or he was having trouble hearing her. He asked her to speak up. She neared him, but did not take up a seat next to him.

"Where are you going?" He repeated.

"Umm, remember that I told you the family is heading south for the New Year. We have a house there. We're going to Shimamura. The plan is to watch the first sunrise near the sea."

"Aa. So why are you dressed up like that?"

"Well, we were going to visit the Shrine there too. By the time we'd arrive it would be close to midnight, so we thought that we'd offer up a prayer at the shrine one time and listen to the ringing of the midnight bells."

He nodded and instantly regretted it. For one brief moment he was convinced that his head had split open and grey matter was pouring down his front. He felt nauseous. His body ached. Why was it so cold?

"Sasuke-san, are you alright?" She moved closer to him and stooped in front of him. He was leaning forward with his hands on his knees as he propped up his aching head. She peered up at him. When he looked at her, he couldn't seem to hold her gaze. He was feeling as if he was falling. It was a strange sensation. Was he in a genjustu? He was trying his best to focus on the pearly iridescent eyes, but he couldn't. He swallowed thickly as he fought off nausea. Hinata tentatively put a hand on his forehead and cheek. "Sasuke-san, I think that you might be sick. Maybe you should –"

"Onee-san!"

Hinata flew up when her name was called. Hanabi was at the veranda. She too was dressed in a beautiful, but sombre black kimono decorated with gorgeous white cranes, temples and pine trees. The exquisite kimono lent her a sort of gravitas that was sometimes missed because of her short stature.

"What are you doing?"

"Umm…I-I-I-I…" Hinata knew how it looked – as if she was about to lovingly embrace Sasuke in a passionate kiss. Her skin paled when she saw Hanabi. She couldn't even get out the words to explain that that was not the case! Because this wasn't just a curious question coming just from her younger sister, but it was clear to her that the question was being asked from the Clan Head Regent, Hanabi-sama.

"We are to leave now if we want to make it in time for the midnight ringing of the bells. You know that Father does not like being late."

"I understa–"

Hinata didn't even finish her sentence before Sasuke threw up all over her legs. The girls looked on in horror. "Sasuke-san!" Hinata shouted in alarm. "The kimono!" Hanabi shouted in alarm.

Hanabi ran inside to quickly get her geta and in an instant she was back out again.

"What are you going to do?"

"Fetch me a bucket of water from the pipe there." Hinata commanded and her sister hurried off as best she could in her heavy attire. Meanwhile, Hinata helped Sasuke up. She could feel something running down the front of her kimono and dropping onto the white tabi she wore.

"Sasuke-san, I'm taking you inside. It's not far."

Hanabi was back in no time with the water. Hinata put Sasuke to sit on the veranda. He looked out of it. He was focussed on not throwing up again and it seemed to take every inch of his concentration. Hinata took some water and lightly washed off most of the filth from her kimono. Afterwards she dashed the bucket of water onto where he threw up.

"Help me get him inside."

"What?"

"Just put him inside, Koi-san. We'll get him to the hospital in a bit."

"What do you mean 'we'? Do you have a pet rat in your kimono? I have to go with Father. You know that he is not well. I am needed." She quarrelled as she helped Sasuke inside. Hinata was busy taking off her tabi and geta at the veranda. She ran inside to pull down a futon for him to lie on. As Hinata was spreading the futon, a knock came on the door. Both sisters looked up terrified as if they'd been just been caught in a sordid threesome with Sasuke. They noticed each other's expression and ended up giggling at their melodramatics.

"Hanabi-sama, Hinata-dono, we are ready to leave." A male voice said.

"I'll be there shortly." Hanabi answered.

"You know that Hiashi-sama does not like to be kept waiting." The disembodied voice replied.

"And I said that I'll be there shortly. Do not dictate my pace!"

Silence. "I apologize. Please forgive me." A quick flash of their Byakugan and they saw the man bowing deeply from behind the door. He turned to go.

"Hinata, we must leave now."

Hinata paused as she laid Sasuke onto the futon. His skin was flushed with fever. "Koi-san, you go on ahead. I will clean up, get Sasuke-san to the hospital and follow afterwards."

"But you'll be late. I would like it if you were there." She whined. Hinata had a hard time believing in the striking difference of her Koi-san just seconds ago and now. "You already ditched me to spend the night with him on your birthday. You know that I've kept that from Father. If he found out that you spent the night with the Uchiha…"

Hinata blushed. She knew that she had simply fallen asleep at the irori. When Sasuke had returned, they shared a…hmm, Hinata didn't want to dwell too much on that rather intimate moment...but why had he stared at her like that? She shook the thought from her head. Sasuke had left to go do something in the kitchen and next thing Hinata knew it was morning since she had apparently fallen asleep again. She woke up in the exact same spot and Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. He had left her in his house, again, and she was slightly annoyed with him that he didn't bother to wake her up. When she had snuck home that morning, Hanabi was waiting for her and Hinata got an earful on propriety and to think of the Clan, etc. When the tongue-lashing was getting out of hand, Hinata had had to remind Hanabi that she was the older sister. "Yes, but I am Clan Head Regent."

And now this.

"I'll follow shortly. I promise."

Hanabi sighed, but in the end she relented. She just had to trust her sister. People were already saying so much…

Hinata ran to her room which was just next door and hurried to put on another kimono. This one was clearly ruined, she thought morosely. It had been her mother's. But she didn't blame Sasuke. He was obviously sick, the poor thing. She hurriedly bathed again and put on another kimono. This one was a black like her sister's, but was decorated with a hand-painted landscape of snow-capped mountains.

When she returned to the room, Sasuke was shivering. She knelt and felt his temperature.

"Sasuke-san, I have to get you to the hospital."

He grabbed the sleeve of her kimono. "No, I don't like hospitals. Find Karin or Sakura. Preferably Sakura."

"Okay, okay. Byakugan!" She whispered fiercely. She didn't like doing things like that. It was an invasion of privacy and she generally tried to limit that sort of spying to missions or for those times when she was trying to best avoid Sasuke. Extending her considerable range to the hospital, to Sakura's parent's home and finally and unwillingly to Naruto's home, she instantly turned off her kekkei genkai when she saw Sakura in bed with Naruto and they weren't sleeping. Now she felt like she was going to vomit too. She felt as if someone had squeezed her heart in their hands.

"S-S-S-Sakura-san is b-b-busy." She said in a weak voice. "I'll go look for Karin-san."

He grabbed hold of her hand as he leaned over and retched, but nothing came out this time. She wondered if he was secretly trying to ruin her kimonos. He looked up at her with pleading eyes and her heart melted. He clearly needed to be taken care of and more importantly wanted someone to care for him. In short, she thought he really needed his mother, but there was no chance of that now.

"I'll take care of you, Sasuke-san. Relax, okay?" He leaned back onto the futon, having effectively gotten what he wanted. He was still feeling like crap, though.

She went into the bathroom across the hall and pulled out a small pail and a couple of dampened washcloths. The room that he was in was situated across the hall from the bathroom. It was usually used as a place for dumping clothes and storing old gardening tools. The room was dark and cave-like. But it opened out onto the wisteria courtyard and people generally tended to forget that, instead using another room or entrance to access the garden there from the house if need be. She was back in no time.

"Look, I brought you a pail in case you need to throw up again. Here, wipe your mouth with this washcloth." She handed him it, but he seemed out of it. He attempted to lift his hand, but dropped it after a while. She took it from him and gently wiped away any sickness from around his mouth. He started shivering as soon as the cool washcloth touched his face. It was then that she remembered that the shoji doors that led out to the garden were still open. She got up to close it and she and Sasuke were cast into semi-darkness.

He looked up at her as if in a haze. The mellow softness of light that filtered in from the paper doors and the faint light that streamed in from the door that opened out onto the hall were all the lighting they had for a moment. She seemed lost in thought for a while, not focussing on him, leaving him to freely concentrate on her. She was in profile and for the first time he saw what Naruto probably saw when he looked at Hinata. There was a depth and richness to her beauty that never before had he noticed. In the black kimono she looked sombre, refined and dignified. In this literal darkness and the inevitable darkness that her heart swirled in because of the life she lived, he could see her beauty reflected in her grief and vice versa. In the shadows her beauty seemed to shine not with a glare, but with a soft lustre. How ironic of him to notice her allure here and now in these shadows, he thought, given the meaning of her name.

Good grief, he was delirious!

While Sasuke was deliriously waxing lyrically about Hinata's beauty, Hinata was thinking practically.

It was quite clear to her now that she had a bit of time to think, that Sasuke had the flu. There was nothing Karin or Sakura could do about that and Hinata deeply regretted not realizing that before. If she had she wouldn't have seen what she saw and she wouldn't have been feeling to throw herself off a cliff in despair.

But onto more sensible matters. She was going to miss the trip because at the end of the day Sasuke needed her. He was sick and he hated hospitals, so that meant that she was going to take care of him. They were friends, she supposed, and that's what friends did.

This side of the house was more or less entirely devoted to her personal use. There were her bedroom, the bathroom, sitting room, library, storeroom, the room that she mixed her ointments and other homeopathic remedies, a room where she trained and practiced dancing and a parlour that she never used. This current room had no sort of heating or proper lighting. She would have to move Sasuke, but he was not going to her bedroom! She was already breaking all sorts of propriety rules just by being in this large house all alone with him and only a few Branch Hyuugas about on the other side of the Compound. She would move him to the parlour. He could lie on the couch there.

"Sasuke-san, you have the flu." She said as she neared him. "I'm not going to bother to call Sakura-san or Karin-san because there's nothing they could do about the flu. I'm going to take care of you, okay? But you cannot stay in this room as there's not much heating. I'm going to move you to the parlour. It's not far; a very short walk. You've been throwing up because of your headache, most likely. I'm going to give you some belladonna for that mixed with some poison ivy essence for your fever and chills and pains. Come on, lean on me."

Sasuke heard everything she said and was so grateful. He had been through so many physical trials and yet he felt like this was what was going to kill him – the flu. Maybe he was telegraphing his thoughts on his face because Hinata giggled. "You'll survive. Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you. Your rabid fan girls would never forgive me. Come on, get up."

Sasuke woke from a dream where he was in a bright field on a mountain. There was nothing around but clear skies and a house in the background. In the dream he knew that a woman was in the house and he was trying to make his way to this person. He woke before he reached the house and was left with a cloudy sense of longing and regret.

The house was absolutely silent. He was alert to any sounds but heard none except crickets outside. He was in a parlour of some sort and he was on a rather comfortable couch. A few lamps illuminated the room and he could smell kerosene and rain. His headache, fever, aches and nausea were gone. He only felt fatigued and a bit hazy as if in that halfway place between dream and wake. He removed the covers from him and got up, wondering where Hinata was. He moved to the door, but even that small task had him feeling exhausted. Still he persisted. He turned right down the corridor and peered into rooms. Finally he silently came upon one room and found her. She was lounging on the tatami mat floor and reading a book. Her hair was loose and fallen around her. Her kimono had fallen to the side and her legs and a good bit of her thighs were exposed. He stared. She looked up and saw him there and for a moment she just stared at him as if believing that it was some spectral creature instead. She slowly and subtly as she could, pulled her kimono close.

"Aa, S-S-S-S-S-Sasuke-san, you are up? How are you feeling? Let me get something for you to eat. Head back to the parlour. I'll bring you some soup." She was nervous. She was babbling as she rose and avoided his gaze.

He did as told and went back to the parlour, his mind burning with arousal and confusion. This whole situation was so alien to him. Hinata was unlike any woman he knew. It would not be easy with her. He had spent so much time trying to get to a place where he wasn't feeling rage or regret and he had found the peace that he needed and desperately craved with her. And here it was, right in front of him and he didn't know how to proceed. Just now and like that night of her birthday there was something there, an eroticism and nuance in the unspoken things said between them. What, if anything, should he do about it? He didn't know. This had never happened to him before.

"Are you okay?"

He looked up and she was entering the parlour with a tray of soup.

"Hn. What time is it?"

"Nearly eleven." He was surprised. Didn't he come here at around dusk? She took up a seat on the loveseat opposite to him. "How come you're still awake?"

"I couldn't sleep. I have trouble sleeping sometimes. I needed some distraction."

He completely understood that. He sipped his soup quietly for a while as she grew lost in thought.

"Why are you so afraid of hospitals?" She had a slightly amused look on her face as she wondered if needles were the cause.

"People, women, took advantage of me when I was vulnerable."

"What?"

"There was a time when I went to the hospital. I'd been training. I was still in Konoha at the time. This was years ago. I'd damage my legs. Three different women came in with the pretence of examining me. I kept telling them it was my legs and they kept insisting that they had to check for further wounds. Finally a man came in and he fixed my legs in a minute and twelve seconds exactly. I was discharged immediately. Strange that my two biggest fans are the ones that I'd actually call on now. Irony, I guess."

"That's despicable." She could barely believe people would do something like that. "Such a violation of trust!" She was amazed at the many experiences that Sasuke survived. He told her of this hurtful experience in his life with the same expression he'd use to buy a mat. It was just something that had happened. How was it that he wasn't gleefully insane?

He suddenly remembered something.

"You said Sakura was busy? I know that she was off from the hospital tonight and she didn't mention any plans to me when I saw her this morning. What was she doing?"

Hinata gave a rueful smile. Naruto, she answered him in her mind. Her face blushed as she remembered how he kissed her like that once. She felt an intense and sudden anger that bubbled up in her like black bile. Then her face coloured with shame. She had no right to be angry or jealous. She didn't deserve to have anyone love her like that anymore.

Sasuke watched all of the emotional changes on Hinata's face from embarrassment to yearning to an inward smouldering rage to shame again and then guilt. Judging from how he had known Sakura and Naruto were home today because of the holidays and judging from Hinata's myriad expressions he put two and two together and figured out that she saw something that she wished she could un-see.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded and he stared at her dispassionately. "No, I'm not." She replied truthfully in a small voice.

Sasuke put down his soup.

"Are you still in love with him?" It was a question he was not planning on asking, but suddenly he had to know.

She looked stupefied. No one had asked her that question. They assumed that because she asked for a divorce that she wasn't. But was she? She had to think about it.

"Umm, I don't know, maybe? I don't think that I could ever stop loving him." Her words felt piercing. "But I know that I don't feel the same way as I used to. It's not less or more, only different. I don't know. I can barely look at him or bear to have his name called. Why is that?"

"That's because you think of him now and he reminds you of the most unpleasant moments in your life. He didn't cause those moments, but he is inextricably linked."

Hinata stared at him. Well duh, Hinata. Sasuke effectively summed up years of confused feelings in two sentences. She didn't know what to say to that. But then a thought occurred to her. Why did she feel so comfortable suddenly around Sasuke? She avoided mostly everyone she knew, including Kurenai as she couldn't stand to see her sensei with her child. But Sasuke also avoided people generally. Everyone knew that any 'friendship' he had with anyone was not initiated by him. Yet, clearly something was going on here. Could it be that he had another reason?

"Why did you come here today?" Her heart sped up in anxiety.

"I wanted to talk to you about the mission that was offered."

Hinata relaxed a bit, feeling kind of silly now, actually. This was Sasuke. The "bad boy"; the stoic, silent guy with a mysterious personality waiting to be solved; the troubled, but dangerously good-looking man with a tragic past who needed comfort. He walked by and one could practically hear panties sliding to the floor in a wet heap. He spent half his time training and dodging fan girls the other time. Add to that the fact that "Assholery is Cool", and Sasuke ranked as Konoha's Bachelor of the month, all month, every month. It must be comforting to know that Hinata had no plans for him, that she simply was trying to live with her now destroyed life. Clearly that was why he sought her out, right? She was just as messed up as he was and wanted absolutely nothing from him.

"Why are your weapons like that?"

Ugh! Why did he have to bring up that? Everything was going so well. She felt anxious again. She wished he had forgotten about that. She didn't answer him.

"I was asked to evaluate whether you were ready for a mission like this."

"I understand your reasons for not recommending me."

"I didn't give Shikamaru an answer as yet. Work with me for a few months."

It didn't seem like a request that she could refuse, but she was more struck by the fact that he hadn't dismissed her as completely incompetent and useless. He wasn't suggesting that she take up something "less demanding" like gardening. He believed that he could get her through this.

This was strange. She was feeling…she couldn't describe how she was feeling. Imagine that for the first time in years, after being in darkness for so long, there was a glimmer of light. She had gotten quite used to being all alone here in this emotional blackout. She felt like she couldn't breathe properly. Her hands started to tremble. This was so frightening.

"Y-y-you need to take some of t-t-t-the belladonna again. Are you finished with your soup?" Her hands trembled around the bowl." He steadied her hands and she looked up at him in surprise. He held her gaze, staring into those eyes that resembled jade with their cloudy translucence. For one mad moment he wondered if he kissed her what would she do. There was something dangerous being unsaid between them. She wasn't ready to leave the comfort of her darkness. Her heartbeat sped up to abnormal rates. She was on the verge of hyperventilating. She dropped the bowl and fled.

XxxXxx

When he awoke it was nearly five o'clock in the morning. During the night his fever and chills returned. He took the belladonna and poison ivy tincture mixture. Now there on the table there was a case with a note on it.

Sasuke-san,

There are 10 vials in this case. These should help get rid of your viral infection if you drink one after meals, twice a day. I left a light breakfast on the coffee table for you. There is also a change of clothes for you in the bathroom. Please take it easy.

Happy New Year,

Hinata.

Sasuke wondered what had he done for her to be avoiding him like that. He realized that he wasn't being kicked out, per se, but clearly she was dodging him. He did as suggested. He ate. He showered and put on a dark blue kimono that was left for him (the Hyuuga crest was removed) and he drank down a vial. It was the first thing that he had ever eaten from her that tasted so horrible.

He got the feeling that she hadn't left for Shimamura, but that she was still somewhere on this Compound hiding in the shadows away from him. A smirk crossed his lips. It was just the two of them rattling around in this huge house like two peas in a pod. He hadn't played this game since he was a child and any other variations on the game were with a lot deadlier intent. He went to seek her.

Her house always threw him back to those days before the massacre. It was moodily dim, sterile clean and eerily quiet. He moved through her quarters and onto the main building, the moya. He wasn't sure whether it was the medicine or the sickness, but his head felt light and he felt like he was still in that midway dream/awake state. His senses felt slightly dulled. He caught a glimpse of dark hair hurrying out of a partitioned section of the moya and into another room. He ran after her, their footsteps silent.

There were so many nooks and crannies in this old house, he felt as if he would be chasing her forever. She had the advantage – this was her house. Yet, he felt up for the challenge. Every time he closed in on her, she dodged him (though if he really wanted he could catch her in ten seconds flat, but he liked the chase…so far). She was onto the game and started leaving notes for him. There was one in the kitchen.

You should rest up and not play games, Sasuke-san.

He took that as a challenge. A flock of black and white mynas burst forth from the spindly trees in the garden and he left from the kitchen and went out into the middle garden in the central courtyard. There was frost everywhere. It was bitingly cold and the sun had yet to come up. He was wearing an old, beat-up waraji that was specifically used for the hurried use of running into the garden from the kitchen to pick herbs and things of that sort. He caught a glimpse of a kimono on the far end of the garden. Then what little light there was reflected briefly off of her eyes. Or did he imagine it? When he got to the section of stone garden, a note was jutting out from under a rock.

You'll worsen. How would you like it if the Great Sasuke Uchiha is taken out by the common cold?

She was heading back to the house. He spotted her briefly. He hadn't felt this invigorated in a while.

He was back to her section of the house now. On his way towards the Wisteria Courtyard he spotted something colourful from the corner of his eye. In one of the rooms, displayed gloriously were the kimonos that she wore yesterday. He stepped quietly into the room. It was dark and shrouded in a dusky haze; only a couple of lamps were lit. From a glance he could see that the silks were of the best quality and very expensive. Apparently she tried to get the stains off of the one threw up on, but was unsuccessful. The kimono was ruined.

"It was my mother's." a disembodied voice rang out seemingly from all four corners of the room. He couldn't see her, but that didn't matter. He had already located her hiding atop the rafters.

"I thought that you wouldn't have liked such reminders."

"It's not so bad with her. Is that how you get through your day? You avoid all reminders?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be in Konoha…and I wouldn't be speaking to you. You remind me of my mother sometimes."

Sasuke took advantage of her obvious shock at that revelation to dispel the genjutsu, leap and pull her down by her ankle from the rafters. She landed on her back with an audible thud.

"Why do you always keep trying to kill me?" She asked breathlessly as she tried to get the wind back into her lungs. Her kimono fell to the sides a bit, revealing up to her shin. In her daze she seemed not to notice. He turned his head away. The image from last night was still fresh. He tamped down on this provocation.

"Three times..."

"...is enemy action." She finished his sentence for him. He smirked at their inside joke and she felt a little less annoyed.

"You can heal a man, yet you can't get stains off a kimono?"

"I have my limitations." She replied sarcastically as she got up, unassisted. She came to stand close to him in the semi-darkened room. The room smelled strongly of kerosene and rain on freshly cut grass. The lamps cast an otherworldly glow.

"Are you avoiding me?"

Hinata wasn't ready for direct questioning. She honestly thought that they were going to pretend that nothing weird happened last night. But then he started with this hide and seek game... He intrigued her.

"Umm…I didn't peg you for one that played hide and seek."

"I'm not usually one for games. I prefer to do things more openly."

"I prefer the subtle…sometimes."

"Aa."

The sun was just coming up and a delicate glow of the sun's rays was peeking through the shoji doors. Hinata moved past him and slid open the doors. "Look! Hatsuhinode! It's the first sunrise of the New Year."

The sun was just starting to glance over the horizon. The stillness and dead quiet of the land was just being aroused. Another year was here.

Hinata was looking out with a mixture of hope and tentative anxiety of what this new year would bring.

"What are your plans for this year?" She turned to him only to find him already looking at her with the same moody intensity that he looked on at her last night and on her birthday.

"Sasuke-san, umm…why do you look at me like that sometimes?"

He didn't answer her, only looking out into the gardens and the glorious sunrise. He had been wondering what to do about this attraction to her and in this moment he had finally figured it out. It was decided. He was going to court Hinata with the intention of marriage.

A/N: Oh Sasuke and his declarations. "I will destroy Konoha. I will be Hokage. I will marry Hinata." Review please and let me know what you thought of how Sasuke and Hinata spent their New Year!