Chapter Sixteen

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

A/N: This chapter has like 80% SasuHina on their third attempt at a date. There's a bit of plot framing and then just Sasuke and Hinata interaction for the rest of the chapter.

Hinata dragged her hand through her hair to rake out the crabgrass and foxtail that made their way in after her training session with her former teammates this morning. It was now a bit near ten and she had been training since five. The air was moist from the fragrance of rain that still hung in the air from when it fell in the quiet and small hours of the morning. Sweat ran down the nape of her neck.

She had longed to train after spending weeks in the damp and dark recesses of the bowels of the Hokage Tower, meandering among labyrinthine pathways and reports. She only caught breaks late in the afternoon and early in the mornings and then she used those for whatever sleep she could catch. She missed her training sessions. She liked to train in the early hours of the morning during the first half of the year, relishing listening to the early birds whistling as the rosy light of the sun peeked through to the training fields. In the latter half of the year she would train in the evening. When it got hot in Konoha, the training fields would be empty and she could train alone well past dusk until the moon would come up from a bank of clouds or if the sky was clear, until a serein sent her home, her hair damp from the dew.

But she had stayed away from training too long, especially group training. For two and a half years Hinata had not trained with anyone besides herself. She had set the pace and the conclusion and evaluated all progress being made, if any. The only other assessment she received happened when her sister commented in a rather roundabout way about some particular aspect of Hinata's training. It had to be said in a circuitous fashion so as not to alert Hinata to the fact that her little sister sometimes spied on her training sessions. Of course, Hinata was very savvy to subtle clues and applied her sister's advice, though never saying thank you outright for that would mean that her sister was not as subtle as she liked to believe…even though she wasn't. After a while she had resented Hanabi intruding on her training sessions, but after this morning, Hinata swore to get a sister a nice and elaborate gift as a way of saying thank you for butting in, for it was Hanabi's advice that saved her in this morning's training session.

By the time Kurenai, Kiba, Akamaru and Shino were done with Hinata, she felt near collapse. She was so glad that Sasuke was not there to witness her poor, poor showing. She defended herself admirably and when forced, attacked commendably, but it was the amount of effort needed was what troubled her. She should be better than this. She felt depressed afterwards and even more depressed when she learned that Kurenai did indeed have to report the session to Sasuke.

She entered the kitchen first and went into the refrigerator to get some ice that she wrapped in a cloth and put on top of her head. Kiba's roundhouse kick had hit her on the left side near her temple, but the pain now radiated to encompass her entire head. She moved busily, knowing that if she stopped to sit she wouldn't move any time soon. From the kitchen she moved into the hallway and pulled from a closet a large duffle bag. She took from the closet an old blanket, four tatami mats she bought yesterday and two small throw pillows. She stuffed them into the bottom of the bag and returned to the kitchen where she noticed that someone had left some mail for her on the kitchen table. She took it up and stuffed it into the bag too. She took out containers from the fridge that she had already packed with rice, pickled vegetables, makizushi, kimchi and of course something sweet for her. She thought of packing an extra piece of cake just in case Sasuke wanted, but then remembered his comment to her about having all the sweets that he would need in life and she broke out into a huge grin at his cheesy line. No one would believe her if she told anyone that Sasuke used a corny pick up line on her. Hmm. That day was so bittersweet to her…

She quickly showered and noted that the bruises were just beginning to show on her back and legs. She healed all minor cuts easily, not even noting them. She briefly wondered if she should stick to her usual attire of oversized green jacket, but noted that since she was going on a date of sorts, she should make an impression…or at least try. She pulled out a yukata and noted that she last wore this particular garment last year when Sasuke had first came to her to express interest in buying the farmhouse. Oh how she couldn't stand to be in his presence then! They could barely get out a sentence without silence as awkward as nails on a chalkboard scratching between them. She shook her head and smiled as she put on the black yukata with white and purple flowers. She took up her duffle bag, noting the contrasting picture of traditional and modern that she was casting. She was ready to do over her date. Third time's the charm…

Walking down the hall, still in a good mood, wondering if Sasuke's memory was that good, she noticed from the corner of her eye a figure in one of the rooms she just passed. She stopped and made her way back to see her father. She flung the duffle bag ahead of her in the hall lest he ask her its purpose.

"Father,"

Hiashi stood in the centre of the room that Hinata sometimes used to store her kimonos. He was stooped from leaning heavily against his cane. He had received medical care for the injury to his back and legs, but he still used the cane. Sakura had once told her that he was using the cane as a crutch, that his wounds were psychological. It wasn't all psychological though. The loss of his left eye was a blow and his right eye ached from compensating.

"Where did you get this kimono?" He didn't turn around to face her, so she came to stand at the side of him, on his right side.

"It was a gift from a colleague."

"It's very…beautiful."

"Yes, it is."

"Are you in debt to this person because of this?"

"No. It is compensation for a spoiled kimono." She said quietly, lacking the conviction to make it a believable lie.

Her father said nothing and Hinata felt her heart speed up. Sometimes she could feel disappointment coming off of him like roiled waves. Soon he turned to leave and Hinata wondered if he would see the duffle bag and question her. He stopped at the door and said,

"Your gift-giver has good taste."

He left and she wondered how much he knew…

"Uchiha-san! Uchiha-san! Good morning!"

Sasuke heard the voice calling out. He left his work in the kitchen and came to stand at the front door of his farmhouse to see Hanabi Hyuuga striding into his front yard.

Hanabi cut quite an impressive sight in her black hakama and red kimono. Her tantō was just sticking out from the top of her hakama. Her shoulder length hair was not black, but a dark brown and her skin fair, but not as fair as her sister's. She more resembled her father, his features evident in her – high forehead, thin lips and a startling clarity in her sharp, white eyes.

Though he never gave this other Hyuuga sister much thought; if he had to describe her in one word it would be 'practical'. He usually saw her in her Jounin uniform, hair tied back in a ponytail on some days. He'd heard that she was extremely quick and deadly with that short sword when used with the Gentle Fist. Short in stature, her reputation preceded her and she usually commanded respect wherever she went. Sasuke couldn't care less, though.

He stood at his doorway and gave her a questioning look.

"May I come in?"

He had no reason to deny her that, but he hoped that she didn't plan on staying long.

"Hn." He stepped aside and she followed him into the main room where she immediately launched into the purpose for her visit. He noticed that she didn't scrutinize his house, as a house guest usually would, and so he realized that she most likely had already spied on him with those damned eyes of hers.

"I came to invite you to a party that the Hyuuga is throwing next week. It's our annual party to celebrate the start of the sakura festival." She bowed and handed him with both hands a small blue envelope with elaborate pink and purple cords wrapped around it.

Now Sasuke had been invited to this party every year since the war ended and not once did he attend. It didn't seem to bother the Hyuugas that his presence was lacking; his invitation a mere formality. But for Hanabi Hyuuga, the Clan Head Regent of the Hyuuga to personally deliver this invitation was saying something. Sasuke seemed to convey all his sentiments in one doubtful eyebrow.

Hanabi smiled. "The Hyuuga are very traditional and we'd appreciate you celebrating and embracing our customs with us. You are a member of Konoha and the last of a most prestigious Clan. It's only the right thing to do." She ended her last sentence with a lot of emphasis.

Sasuke caught her meaning and the true purpose for her visit.

"And what if I haven't made up my mind?"

"The formalities should still be observed, as I have done with you."

"Aa."

"Enjoy your day." She bowed and turned from the room, but stopped at the genkan while she put back on her slippers. "Oh and Uchiha-san, discretion is a virtue." She turned and left.

Far from being intimidated like how she most likely intended, Sasuke was almost amused, but of course didn't show it.

He didn't have a substantial conclusion about what was the state of his relationship with Hinata. She had come to the festival dressed in the kimono that he had bought her and he took that as a good sign. However, everything could never be settled as easy as that. There was no discussion of the feelings between them which he knew they were delaying because the thought made them uncomfortable, her more than him, he was sure. There were a lot of issues to address and though he had no concrete plan on how to address them, he was disappointed that their date at the festival on Friday was cut short.

First it was Karin, who clung to him like wet plastic. He generally ignored Karin when she behaved like that, but in retrospect, he supposed he should have been more forceful in handling the situation for it seemed to affect Hinata deeply, though she made a commendable attempt at not showing it. He knew that something was off with her, but assumed that her mood had dipped because she had spotted Naruto and Sakura across the bridge. His assumption about her mood put him in a bad mood and he took to ignoring her. After about a half hour and the two of them in a mood stinker than a dog dead a week, Hinata's patience seemed to run out. Finally, the clouds burst open and it was if the heavens were letting it be known that a union between himself and Hinata was not approved.

"Let me walk you home." The rain was pouring down heavily; his hair was plastered to his face. People were running for shelter all around them and soon they were the only ones on the bridge.

"No, thank you. It's alright." She said stiffly.

"Hinata," He actually pleaded and pulled at her hand as she turned to go. She gently pulled her hand away and he remembered just how difficult things would be between them, if they made it to form a union.

"I'll see you on…Sunday?" She looked up at him as water clung to her long eyelashes.

He nodded, grateful that she was willing to try again at a better date. He watched her walk off, the rain making her kimono stick to her. The wet skirt clung to her, showing off the shape of her backside as it tapered to her legs. The kimono and the heavy, white rain limited her stride and she used quick steps with her toes pointed inwards, the sodden material just barely fluttering at the base.

He still followed her home, but at a distance, though she seemed to notice because when she reached her gates she turned and waved a bit. As soon as she stepped inside the rain had eased up.

"Fucking universe…" He muttered.

When he arrived at his slanted apartment that night after the festival and fell to bed, he dreamed of the rain and of that figure walking away from him – traditional, sensual and evanescent. All night a feeling of yearning had him hooked just like she had.

He spotted her from the window at the kitchen. She was dressed in a yukata that he remembered her wearing the first time he had stepped into the wisteria courtyard at the Hyuuga Manor. He had come to ask about this house. He wondered if she was feeling sentimental. She struggled with the bamboo and it scratched at her neck and face. She blindly entered the yard, covering her precious eyes all the way.

"Sasuke-san, good morning. Do you need help with anything?"

He met her at the door with a billhook.

"I remember hearing that you once said your nindo was to never break a promise." He glanced at the bamboo.

Hinata stared at him. Her eyebrows crumpled creating a little crease over her nose and her lower lip quivered in shock. His face was impassive, but his eyes held the suggestion of a smile.

Sasuke didn't know why he liked teasing Hinata so much. He was not known for being a prankster, quite the opposite actually. Many called him stiff, humourless, stygian. But for whatever reason this woman brought out a side of him that he thought long dead and dusty.

She seemed to notice that he was teasing her and she pursed her lips for a second before the corners of her mouth struggled to stay down. She tried but the smile escaped and she turned her face away from him, shaking her head in disbelief before she composed herself. There! That's why he liked to tease her.

"You're exceptionally good at playing that role, Sasuke-san." She said good-naturedly, recalling a joke made between them months ago. She seemed to be walking down memory lane, triggering reminders of their journey to this point.

He smirked and she felt just a bit disappointed that she didn't get one of those rare smiles, the ones that made her hot on a cold day. A very faint blush crept up her neck at that unexpectedly lascivious thought that sprung in her mind. She handed him her duffle bag, took the billhook and turned from him before he could see her expression of muted alarm.

He watched her from the window for a while intent on seeing how she was planning on cutting down the mass of disobedient brambles. She swung the billhook about the lower parts until the top parts collapsed and she could chop at those that fell to her. There was no wheelbarrow, so she had to walk back and forth from the bamboo patch to the backyard to pile the brambles into heaps for burning later. She seemed intent on finishing the task and he wondered if she realized his true purpose in setting her at that job. He would have to enlighten her later.

She took about an hour and a half. The day was not particularly hot, but there was a slight sheen to her from the labour. She was a bit annoyed but had to remember that Sasuke-san had no real experience in wooing women. Setting them to hard manual labour might have seemed suitable in his mind, but Hinata vowed to set him on the right track. She refused to let another of their 'dates' go to hell.

She met him at the backdoor and rearranged her face to look less annoyed, though she really was.

"Would you like to go for a walk?"

"Are you finished with the bamboo?"

She took a deep breath. What do women see in you, she wondered. Thrift in word usage and facial expressions and a tendency to overuse the word 'hn' somehow managed to send panties sliding to the floor. She wondered if his fan girls would still love him if they knew that his version of courting resembled a field labourer's typical day.

"Yes, I did. Would you like to take a walk with me?"

"Hn."

He rolled down the sleeves of the loose blue v-neck sweater and met her in the front yard.

The weather had cleared for the time being. There was no heavy fog, but just a light haze. They walked away from the main village, instead taking the road that led east. This road was not in use for a few years now since the other main road opened up. Passersby hardly came by and they walked on meeting nary a soul.

She led the way and soon she turned off the road near a wild grove of bitter orange trees and leapt up into the trees, a simple task hindered somewhat by her choice of apparel today. There was a flash of bare leg and Sasuke focussed on the weather instead. The air was crisp with coolness and the leaves danced. Sunlight dappled through as they leapt through the trees at a leisurely pace. Eventually they came upon a river.

"This time of year," She said when he landed next to her on the tree, "there are lots of trout in the river." She jumped down and walked to the bank and he followed. Here, the river had a fast current, but it was shallow; they could still see the bottom of it – lots of gravel and rubble. "During the day there would be lots and lots of troutlet. In the early mornings and evenings you'd find bigger fish."

"And what about now?"

"We'd have to walk down a bit to the pools of the river. The fish like to rest there during the day." She turned right and they followed the course of the river. The water seemed to slow down to give way to a pace more like molasses. The colour was a deep blue-green mixed with brown.

Just further down the river there were more runs and riffles and he recognized the place instantly. It was at this river that he saw her crying last year June. He wondered if things would still have been the same if he hadn't invited her to have lunch with him. Or had the old farmhouse been the spark that lit the bonfire? No, they didn't have a bonfire. Theirs was a smouldering fire between them, just a bit of stoking and it would flare up.

She asked politely and so he found himself using his katana to break off sturdy branches from the enormous and sturdy havelock trees. She turned away from him to pull aside the skirt to her yukata and dug around in a kunai pack she had strapped to her leg. Sasuke felt a heat rise up in him. He saw nothing, but the thought was there. He turned away from her and took a deep breath as he looked at the slow moving river as he made his way to sit on a mossy boulder. Never before had he felt like this.

After a while she came to sit next to him, bending senbon into hooks. On each curved senbon there was a waxworm that she'd dug out from a tree. She handed Sasuke a branch that used piano wire as line.

"This sort of patience fishing was never my strong point." He said as they launched their lines into the water.

"You never fished when you were rogue and on your own?"

"I'd either eat at an inn, let Suigetsu get the fish for me or let one good lightning jutsu into the water and the fish would float up already steamed."

Hinata laughed loud at the image. Her eyes shrunk and she cupped a hand to her mouth.

Sasuke looked at her in fascination. He didn't think it was possible for him to make a girl laugh genuinely.

When she sobered up she said, "I like this place best as not many people come around here."

He could understand the attraction to a place like this.

"When I was twelve I found a book that belonged to my mother. There were pressed flowers and herbs inside it and their properties and of course where to find them. There was one particular entry that stuck out to me. She described a place where there was fog scattered between the valleys of tea. The fog gave everything a blue haze. When you continue through hills and hills of tea, you'll climb the hill past an old bamboo patch and follow the road until you see a grove of orange trees. Eventually you'll hear the sound of water flowing briskly. Keep following the sound. The sound will take you right. You'll only see glimpses of the water. The underbrush will be thick and the river will snake and hide, disappearing for long stretches, hidden by thick trees and precipices. At last it will lead onto a clearing with many herbs and flowers.

"I wanted to find this place so badly. I didn't even realize how close it was to my house. It's just that she was coming from another direction, from the tea hills behind your house. The farmhouse hadn't even been built yet, I think. I didn't find this river until a couple of years ago. I never wanted to leave. The way that the trees grow so thickly here, they encircle this place. I felt like no one could ever find me."

"I found you."

She smiled. "Yes, you did. That was odd. No one ever comes by through here. Since they built the other road, most people generally take the other path and don't come upon these woods anymore. Seeing you…I was shocked."

"I don't usually take that path either."

Sasuke remembered how he felt when he noticed the farmhouse for the first time. He remembered thinking at the time that the universe had called his attention to something that it wanted him to notice, setting up the scene especially. He now wondered if his meeting her on this river that day last year was one of the universe's interventions. He frowned. The universe had a way of fucking with him…

"I spent a lot of time here by myself. I kind of turned into a bit of a recluse." She said, breaking his musings. "I liked it a lot. It's very comfortable with only the trees and the river to know how I'm feeling. They know me here. I suppose that's something that would be right up your alley."

Sasuke tried to imagine it. He'd build a little lean to on the edge of a mountain, getting by on his wits and the only soul to bother him would be the wind in the trees.

"The idea has its appeal." He agreed. "But…"

She didn't press him to complete his sentence and he loved that about her. They sat in silence for a while as he collected his thoughts and wondered how to best express himself to her. Finally, she offered him a conversational bone.

"It does have its appeal, but the lonesomeness gets to a person."

"I like the solitude, but it's also the reason why I hated Itachi so much. I liked to say that I didn't care about anyone, but if I didn't, I wouldn't have hated him so much for what he took from me. Contrary to what a lot may think, I do appreciate family life. But because of everything that happened, my views on it are a bit grey. I want it, but I'm afraid to lose it. On some days my desire wins out, on other days, it's the fear."

Hinata was surprised that he spoke on the subject at all, shocked that he chose to confess such feelings to her. And of course she was relieved to find someone that thought the same as she did on the subject matter. She didn't answer him because she knew if she spoke her voice would crack and he would know that her throat was burning and tears were prickling her.

Sasuke noticed, but he didn't comment on it. Instead, he found himself speaking more than he did in the last five years, saying things that he never told a soul. He told her what was in his heart. He told her of how much shame he felt because of his family. The Uchiha name was not that great. He told of the shame he felt when he thought of his foolhardy ways in his youth. How he eschewed so many opportunities; how his will was weak, how he sometimes thought his brother was a complete idiot, how he missed his mother and his cousins, how he couldn't stand some people and their happiness, how on some days the bitterness rose up in him and bothered him like bile. He told her of how on some days he felt nothing at all; he just went through the motions like a reanimated corpse, that he lacked any will to live or die.

"But then…" The words stuck in his throat. He couldn't or rather, didn't know how to properly express how he felt about her.

"Sasuke-san, I'm…I'll be a challenge."

"I don't care. I've never backed down from a challenge."

"Am I a goal to you?"

He turned to look at her sharply. She stared ahead at the river.

"I'd like to believe that you know me better than that. I've let you get to know me."

She smiled very faintly.

"You'll grow tired of waiting for me."

"Not before you grow tired of me."

Her smile broadened.

"I have a lot of things that I need to work out. I think that I'm damaged beyond repair."

"I'm not looking to fix you."

"It's been two years and more and I'm not getting any better. I might be worse. There's no expiry date on grief and guilt."

He of all people could not deny that.

"I'm willing to try, but…"

"That's all I want to hear."

His line snagged and any response she was going to give was broken. He focussed on pulling up the fish. Hinata watched as the veins in his neck stood up with the effort it took to pull up the fish in a sweeping arc above him. Water sprinkled down on them and the fish landed on the grass behind them, beating. Sasuke marched over to it, pulled out a kunai and cut off the fish's head in one blow. Hinata turned her head away.

By the time they made it back to the house it was almost nearing three o'clock. Hinata went to her duffle bag and spread the tatami mats and throw pillows around the irori. She gutted and cleaned the fish, seasoned it with salt, pepper and herbs that she picked on their walk back and put it to roast at the irori. While the fish roasted, she helped Sasuke finish installing the plumbing fixtures in the bathroom and the toilets on the ground and first floor.

Almost two hours later and the fish was ready to eat. Rain began to fall at first fine, then heavy. The dark clouds blocked out most of the light and the time seemed to be much later than five o'clock. The yellow light of the irori made the house seem snug and Hinata and Sasuke sat side by side. Because of a lack of electricity, any space beyond the radius of the light of the hearth ended in a dark grey obscurity. Hinata and Sasuke felt like they were the only ones in the world.

They ate fish and rice and vegetables. When they finished Hinata rummaged in her bag for a slice of cake she had brought. He gave her a look.

"I just need a little something sweet to put in my mouth after meals."

"You know, if your oral fixation is so bad that you must have something in your mouth, may I suggest…"

She looked up at him sharply. He gave her a questioning look. "…a toothpick after your meal."

Hinata blushed and said very quietly. "Umm, I uh, thought you were going to finish that sentence differently."

"What did you think I was going to say?"

Hinata's face reddened. "Nothing, nothing! Never mind. Would you like some wine?"

Sasuke initially refused the wine because when he last drank and came around her, he didn't like the image of himself that he portrayed. Eventually, he capitulated. He would regret that decision.

They sat for a while sipping on the wine, gradually getting more tipsy by the sip. Hinata found that when Sasuke drank he was more likely to talk. As the thunder shook the house and the lightning flashed, he told her that the weather reminded him of his fight with Itachi, of desperate times that caused him to conjure up his own lightning storm. He launched into detail and Hinata listened enraptured. He lay on his back and cocked his left foot on his right knee as he told the tale and she lounged comfortably at one of the irori, unaware that the skirt of her yukata had fallen to the sides a bit and her legs up to her knees were exposed. She didn't notice. He pretended not to.

When he was finished she said,

"I bet the image that comes to mind all the time is him trying to gouge out your eyes."

He gave her a look of intimate familiarity. He was fascinated that she listened and actively and attentively understood what he was saying before he said it.

"Hn. In my dreams it stops right before he flicks me in the forehead, so all I awake with is the same feeling of desperate, crazed fear."

She nodded in complete understanding, a bit sleepy from the wine and the rain and a bit tired from her hard day. She dug around in her bag for a hairbrush and began to brush her hair. She flipped it over and it caught the light. He stared at her in that way he does. His gaze reckless and impassioned, regarding her body part by body part starting from the top: her hair, her neck, her chest, her waist, her thighs, her legs. When she flipped her hair again she caught him staring.

She could feel his attraction to her like the way she would feel a lightning storm coming; the fine hairs on her neck and hands would stand up in knowing.

To break eye contact she dug in the duffle bag and her sight landed on a white envelope. It was her mail for the day. She opened it and it was the picture from the plum blossom festival.

Hinata had never seen a worse picture!

In it, Sasuke leaned against the railing looking straight at the camera, his expression smug. Hinata however, was looking at him. Now she knew that she had only turned to him as a quiet question to the obnoxious way he had cleared his throat. But in the picture, her expression was one of desperate, sycophantic, vapid adulation. There was something in the way her eyebrows creased and the way she was looking up to him and his smug look that gave the picture a thousand extra libellous words.

"What? What is it?"

"I…"

Sasuke leaned over and snatched the picture from her and began to laugh. That was the first time that Hinata had heard or seen Sasuke laugh. There was something maniacal about it. It ended as abruptly as it started and she was in shock. She felt as if she just witnessed a once in a lifetime comet all by herself. It was strange.

"Hmm. Maybe I should mail this Naruto."

That snapped her into action.

Hinata leaned over to snatch it back from him. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down. In her desperation she seemed to momentarily forget that she was now in his lap. He pulled the picture away from her, raising his hand above his head. She leaned, with a bit of a push from him, to get to it and it was only when he stilled that she realized her position. She immediately tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

Then Sasuke did something which he knew he would never have done had it not been for the effect of the alcohol. He pulled her forward and kissed her, sloppily and wildly. She pulled away from him immediately and slapped him very hard. She scrambled away from him.

"I'm so sorry!" She almost screamed at him.

Sasuke turned on the ground grateful that she at least had the sense not to use the Gentle Fist or else he could have been worse off. The slap seemed to sober him up though. When he rose she was still on the floor leaning away from him on the other side of the irori with her hands over her mouth in shock.

"I'm sorry." He could barely look her in the eye, but he forced himself to.

She slowly lowered her hands. He couldn't read her expression and he dreaded the worst. Slowly she sat up and stiffly got into a seiza position.

"It's okay," She said quietly.

"No, it isn't." Never before had he felt such shame. He wanted her to leave. He felt like he had absolutely no control of himself. There were pimply-faced teenage boys that had better experience with women than he did. Of all the fucked up things he could do!

"No, it's okay. I didn't mind."

"The point is you didn't want to."

Hinata didn't know what to say to that. She didn't want to, yet in some ways she wanted to actually. She'd watched him through the day. She'd seen the way the veins in his arms would raise when he lifted something heavy. She'd noticed the way he focussed on a job, his determination boundless. When he told her the story of the battle with his brother, his desperation and resourcefulness enamoured her. She'd notice that in the shadows and light of the fire there was no bad angle for him. He was handsome no matter what. She'd notice the way he was slowly opening up, letting her in and she felt comfortable. She wanted to be embraced by him. She'd be lying if she said that she didn't want to.

The rain continued to storm on. Lightning buzzed and thunder cracked the sky. Sasuke moved to stand by the door, his back to her.

"I've gotten…accustomed to being alone." She said, but he didn't turn back to look at her.

Me too, he wanted to say, which is why this need to be close to her was driving him insane with its irony. He feared that he was becoming obsessed with her. Naruto once told him that he had a tendency to possessiveness and obsession.

The attraction was there, but she couldn't act on it, not without feeling like something horrible was about to happen. She wanted to tell him of that night when her son died.

"I was in bed with Naruto when my son died. I'm carrying a lot of grief and guilt with me still." She started and couldn't finish. The words in her head were all jumbled up with images of that terrible night. She was in a frightful mess and she shut her mouth to hold herself together.

He had a lot of words to tell her about grief and guilt, but he chose not to speak on that now. He was too busy dealing with his shame. He could still feel the weight of her on top of him. Instead he said,

"That bamboo out there reminds me of you." He said as if he hadn't heard her and it was as if her entire day shifted in perspective. She understood his point.

She had to force herself to cut down her fear and guilt. She sat by the fire for a long time just thinking quietly.

Finally, after a long while she went to him. She took two deep breaths and placed a hand on his back. He turned to her. She nodded in understanding as if he had said something to her recently.

"N-n-n-not like before." She could barely get out the words and she was blushing so much!

"Slowly and gently this time, okay." She said very quietly and he didn't question her lessons. She had to tiptoe and he had to bend, but she kissed him very softly, very slowly and he followed her lead.

A/N: Maybe third time's the charm. It's very difficult trying to write Sasuke in a budding romantic relationship especially with someone like Hinata who is so broken right now. Comments?