Oneshots

by Acumichi

A couple of oneshots that come into my head at times. All about my favorite shinobi, Hinata Hyuga. Rated 'M' for foul language and suggested themes.

33. The Hero, a Savior, and the Prince

Okay, I got a little excited and decided just to write up the next part as fast as I could before I lost every idea I had for it. So please enjoy the sequel to The Hero, a Damsel, and the Villain.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto™

(Line Break)

Hinata felt her throat close up as she watched the two stare at one another like they weren't enemies. Usually when the Uzumaki and Uchiha were confronted, they attacked on sight. The meeting between them now was so tense and Hinata wished the two would start fighting so that she could get out of this situation. She tried to remember how to breathe and after getting in a few deep breaths, she pushed herself out of Sasuke's grip and stood between the two males. She stood so that her back was to Sasuke, which was probably her first mistake, and faced Naruto. She could see that he was angry, but she didn't know about what and she really wanted to know something like that. Hinata scolded herself; she needed to focus on the matter at hand, and not her petty thoughts. She held up her hands, "I-I told y-you," she blushed as his blue eyes looked straight into hers. "I-I mean…" she suddenly looked down at her feet, "th-thank you, b-but I-I made a-a d-deal-"

"You don't have to deal with him," Naruto yelled with a frown and pointed to the glaring and emotionless Uchiha. "I came here to save you and that's exactly what I'm going to do!"

Hinata suddenly jumped back when she saw that he was going to grab her. She looked up at him and saw the sudden sadness from her action. Like some sort of deep betrayal. "Y-You don't understand!" Hinata tried to explain to him, but the Uchiha quickly put his arm around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. She felt her face heat up again, but she pushed it away and looked back to the blonde. "I-I'll l-let you save me o-one day Naruto-kun," she said with a light smile. "B-But I need t-to save you first." He was just staring at her with those eyes again; the ones that showed his worry for others that didn't deserve it. Hinata got into this mess; she told herself over and over so she could push him away more. He shouldn't keep risking his life for her, just because he felt bad, just because he felt obligated to get her back home safely.

Naruto looked back to his once brother; he noticed the tight hold that he had on the Hyuga. The one thing he wished he could un-see was the passionate kiss he had witnessed from the Uchiha. As much as it pained him to see such a thing (for a reason that he could not understand) it was the only thing that assured him that the Uchiha wasn't going to kill her. He looked to Hinata again; he wanted to get her back home, but she was practically begging him to let her go. It had been the second time that she had put herself on the line for his sake. She kept saving him, but Naruto didn't want to be the damsel. It was his job to be a hero, her hero, and she refused to let him. He only had the choice to let her go again; it hurt him so much to think that she was going to be alone with Team Heibi. Especially the thought of her being alone with the Uchiha killed him inside. Naruto felt his muscles relax and he looked back at the Uchiha. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you."

Sasuke had never seen his once teammate so serious before. Sure, the Uzumaki had made many claims to bring him back to the village and 'knock some sense into him', but he had never heard a death threat. It was rather impressive. But, Sasuke was only again praised for his genius to keep the Hyuga girl so close. She kept the idiot at bay. He would do anything that she asked of him and Sasuke knew that it was only a matter of time until Naruto came for her alone and Sasuke would have his chance to rid of the Uzumaki. Sasuke glanced down to the female and held back the need to sneer when he saw the longing in her eyes to just be with the blonde; he held her a bit tighter so that she couldn't escape again. It would be nice of the Hyuga to remember that she was in his company and not to act in such a manner. She knew that he hated it when she talked about the blonde like he had saved the world. Sasuke looked back to the blonde, "I'd like to see you try." He smirked when he caught the look that Hinata and Naruto shot him; it was amusing to see them flustered. He put Hinata at his side, "I swear," he let the emotions drop from his face, "if you ever come and find me again. I will kill you and the Hyuga won't be able to save you then."

"I won't need her to," Naruto said with a smirk. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk back at him. Naruto watched as Sasuke kept a hold on Hinata's arm as he walked her back somewhere else. Naruto only smiled when Hinata looked back at him with such an innocent look on her face. He just sighed and looked over to Shikamaru. "What am I going to tell Neji?"

"We found her," Shikamaru said calmly as he watched the two walk away. "The Uchiha was too powerful for us and a genin team-"

"I could have taken him!" Kane yelled at his sensei with a glare on his face. "No stupid Uchiha is going to get the better of me!"

"Naruto-sensei," Mimi walked over to his side and looked up at him with some confusion. "I thought you and Hyuga-san loved each other? Why'd you let her go?"

Naruto felt his face burn red and he quickly turned away and rubbed the back of his head. "W-What are you talk about runt? Hinata is one of my best friends and teammates." He looked back at them with a smile and blush on his cheeks. "And Hinata said she'd let me save her, so I will when I find the teme again."

"He said he'd kill you," Kane said back to Naruto. "Why are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"You wouldn't understand," Naruto said as he went back to facing the horizon and smiled lightly. "This runs a lot deeper than you think."

"Nara-sensei," Tai looked up to his sensei and spoke with a whisper. Shikamaru crouched down and listened as his smartest student whispered in his ear. Kane and Mimi were too busy trying to get a story out of a smiling and goofy Naruto. "Uchiha could have killed the Hyuga long ago. Why is he keeping her alive?"

"It must be for her Byakugan-"

"Then she would be with him at all times." Tai whispered back quickly. "He kept her here though, very close to Konoha." Shikamaru looked to his student and motioned for him to continue his thoughts. "The Uchiha must know that Akatsuki are looking for demons, but an Uchiha is looking for another Uchiha; they need the other's eyes." Tai looked over to the small group and then back to Shikamaru. He got quieter. "Sasuke Uchiha left her here to tease Naruto-sensei. She was so close, but he would again be back just to rip her away again." Shikamaru let the information sink in. "I think Naruto-sensei does love Hinata more than a friend, and the Uchiha knows it."

"Hn," Shikamaru shook his head, "I should have known." He glanced back to Naruto that was trying to get his two students to back off. "I knew the Uchiha would play dirty, but that's just wrong." He patted the boy's shoulder, "Good work Tai. Speak of this to no one." He nodded and Shikamaru went to his other students. Tai watched as Shikamaru picked them up and carried them off.

"It's not fair sensei!" Mimi yelled as she beat her fist against his back. "We have to help people in love! We have to help them or no one will ever believe in it again." Tai watched as Mimi looked to be on the verge of tears about the issue. Tai liked to see her happy though, he wanted to see her smile. He blushed pink as he looked to her and then to Naruto.

If he helped Naruto, she would see that he still believes in it.

Tai walked over to Naruto before he could follow Shikamaru and motioned for him to bend down to listen. Naruto humored the boy and bent down. Tai cupped his mouth and whispered lightly. "I can see where they are going." Tai quickly covered the blonde's mouth before he blew his cover. "Keep quiet or they will hear us." Naruto nodded and Tai took his hand off his mouth. "Once the sun sets, meet me right back here." Tai explained and moved back. Naruto stood back up straight. "Tell no one. And I mean no one." Naruto nodded and Tai nodded back. Tai then ran and caught up with his team. Naruto quickly followed.

"Where have you been?" Kane asked as he was back to walking on his own two feet.

"With Naruto-sensei." Tai said quickly as he walked beside Mimi.

"About?" she asked lightly.

"Some training," Tai responded. "I had free time later." He shrugged and he was back to his old quiet self. Shikamaru glanced back to Naruto, who just walked like it had been another day on the job.

(Line Break)

Hinata sighed as she was locked in her cabin by the Uchiha and given the rest of the night to pack up anything she deemed worth keeping. He was going to come back in the morning and they would head off and meet with the rest of the group. Hinata tried to convince him that Itachi may come at any moment to the village, but after so long without seeing him the Uchiha said she would be more useful with him. Hinata only frowned that he was going to tote her off. She tried to escape the cabin, but every opening was sealed off and not even her precise chakra could undo them. She went through the little amount of goods that she had; she was just glad that she was almost out of food since she would feel bad letting it all go to waste. She cooked herself one last meal and looked to the messenger bag she had filled up with supplies.

Once she finished eating she left the dishes washed and put away. She lied on her bed in the dark, still dressed, and her bag at her bed side. She never knew how dark it was in Konoha at night. She pushed to believe that she was just in an odd place in Konohagakure. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep but the thought that Sasuke was coming for her and Naruto shouldn't be made it hard to sleep. She huffed and turned on her side and placed her hands under her cheek in hopes that she would fall asleep faster. She kept her eyes shut and cleared her head of anything negative; she would deal with it in the morning.

Hinata finally did find some state of sleep, but was roughly pulled away from it when she heard a loud crash and someone cursing. She bolted up and blushed red when she saw Naruto in the faint moonlight; he was sitting on the kitchen floor and holding his head as he groaned in pain. Hinata couldn't help but giggle when she saw the male and quickly went to his side. "W-What d-did I say?" she kneeled down next to him with a small smile. He really came back for her. She rubbed her eyes, "I-I told you n-not to come b-back."

"I-I know," he looked to her and tried to explain himself. "I just wanted to make you keep a promise." Hinata blushed as he took her hands and held them to his heart. "I said I'd be your hero, but," he smiled at her, "you don't need one." Hinata felt her palms get sweaty and her heart began to beat faster. "You're so strong Hinata-chan; I know that you'll come back to the village." Hinata nodded and he smiled lightly. "Don't let the teme keep you down, okay?"

"P-Promise," she said back and laughed lightly. She looked back to her hands and chewed on the bottom of her lip for the moment. "B-Be safe, o-okay?"

"You know me," he said innocently and shrugged his shoulders. Naruto looked down at her hands and brought them to his lips. "I've always been a little reckless," he said as he brushed his lips against her knuckles. She felt her throat close up and she nearly had a heart attack when he gave her knuckles a soft kiss. "But…for you, I'll try." He looked back up at her and she quickly looked away. He only smiled and placed her hands back on her lap. "Bye Hinata-chan."

"B-Bye Naruto-k-kun," Hinata said as she looked down at her lap and was lightly touching her knuckles. She gasped when she felt a pair of lips pressed against her cheek. She quickly looked over while holding her cheek as Naruto was crouched there with a bright smile on blush.

"I couldn't help it, you looked so cute." He stroked her hair lightly and gave a softer smile. Hinata only looked away and only glanced back at him coyly. The next time that Hinata looked to him, he was gone. She slowly got to her feet and ran to the window he had broken through. She smiled as she watched him run off with a smaller boy. Hinata cleaned up the glass and grabbed her bag. She placed it at the foot of the bed and sat back on the bed with her legs crossed. She calmed her aching heart and activated her chakra. She watched as the two boys ran out of her line of sight and looked around for other signs of life. Still nothing but a peaceful forest. She was glad that the Akatsuki never came, but she wished they had so she wouldn't have to leave. She deactivated her Byakugan and lied back down. Her cheeks still felt hot and with a blissful smile she was finally able to sleep peacefully.

(Line Break)

Sasuke watched with careful eyes as he walked along-side the Hyuga. She was far too calm around him for him to not be suspicious of what was going on. Whenever he was even outside the small cabin, he could feel her flare in panic and a quickened heartbeat. When he arrived that morning, she was calmly waiting on her bed as she ate an apple. He took off the seal from her door and pushed it open. She didn't even react to him entering, or the fact that he was glaring at her. Sasuke was still pissed at everything that had happened yesterday and the fact that she had once again kept him from killing the blonde. When he was heading back to his base he reminded himself that she was not going to get the better of him again. He licked his lips at the thought of how her lips felt against his. It was one of the many thoughts of her that refused to leave him.

This morning was very different though; she was even able to keep up with him. The Hyuga didn't look frightened and he was sure that she must have thought of some kind of plan to get away from him. He smirked as he looked on ahead. It was almost cute at how she thought that she could out run and out fight him. He just needed her to get away from Konoha so she could work without so many distractions. He would have rather let her wait it out there since the girl would be a hassle to deal with if he got caught in a fight. He would have to make sure that she didn't die, or at least make sure that no one got away with her precious eyes. Sasuke almost chided himself for being concerned about her wellbeing; she was a ninja and not to mention a grown woman. The Hyuga better be able to take care of herself or he would have to rethink the whole plan.

He glanced back at her again to see that she was doing fairly well for how far they had traveled. Even with the pack full of what he assumed were things worth something. Hinata never took her eyes off from where she was going. He looked on ahead and felt a shift in chakra. The Hyuga had activated her Byakugan again. He hated how she caused the shift in chakra and it would cause him to stiffen every time; she could give him a warning before she did it. He read the expression on her face and saw the concern she held as she looked around. He was almost afraid to ask who was near them.

"What are you looking at?" He asked with the thought of shooing off some small time rouge shinobi that thought they could get the better of him. He was wanted by so many people that his bounty was just getting higher and higher. He wasn't in much of a mood to fight.

"I-It's nothing," Hinata said lightly as she shook her head and deactivated her Byakugan. "I thought I-I saw something…" she trailed off and glanced at him. "W-When will we b-be there?"

"What does it matter?" Sasuke answered with his own question. It really made him mad at how much she didn't wanted to be alone with him. He thought he had made some great progress with their little games; sure, he did hurt her a few times. But that was her fault. She was only good at losing each game. He glanced and saw that she was pouting like some kind of child with a blush stain on her cheeks. If it was any other girl, he might have scoffed. This was Hinata Hyuga though, a very special kunoichi that he didn't hate…that much.

"I-It was j-just a question," she mumbled under her breath and pushed on along to keep up with the Uchiha. Hinata just wanted to be sure that she had enough distance from the rest of his team to run away from him. He would have to leave her since he did have a greater mission. Hinata felt her shoulders tense again when that of wave of nausea and uneasiness passed by her again. She was so paranoid that it was making her lose her calmness. She would have activated her Byakugan again, but she didn't want the Uchiha to see she was scared. Hinata just tried to ignore the feeling; it was probably nothing anyway. Hinata looked around and felt a smile when she really looked at her surroundings. She was back in the high tree tops that she had first encountered the Sound group. She would have figured that Sasuke would have taken his group away from this area, but it was a rather smart idea. Naruto and the others would not come back here to look for him.

Sasuke stopped on a tree branch and looked over as Hinata landed beside him; he watched as she panted lightly but tried to look like she wasn't tired yet. He smirked, "You always tire this fast?"

She took in a few deep breaths, "S-Sorry, b-but I am fine. W-We can keep moving." She wished she had the old Uchiha back, the one that didn't talk to her and just ordered her around. The whole teasing thing that he liked to do made her face get hot and palms sweaty. Whenever she saw him, she thought of how he stole her first kiss and then the kiss Naruto had given her.

"Don't try to lie to me," he crossed his arms over his chest and faced ahead. "If you're tired just say something. You being tired would just slow me down anyway."

"R-Right," she sighed as she leaned against the tree and let her heart rate slow down. Sasuke kept back the need to groan; she was back to being all obedient again and it was boring him. He would allow her the chance to take a head start, but the thought of her running away didn't sit right with him. Like, being alone wasn't as great as he thought it was. Sasuke tried to ignore the feeling though, he was sure that he would soon get over something so pathetic sounding. He looked over to her again and took interest at her heart beat thrumming through her body and how her chest rose and fell with each breath. She was regaining a normal breathing rate with her lips parted as she huffed in and out. He felt his heart match her own beating, but once looking away and focusing on the reason why the Hyuga was there, it went back to normal.

"Let's go," he said. He jumped to another branch but stopped when he felt the shift in chakra again. "Hinata," he looked back at her and saw that she was again looking around with her Byakugan, "I'm going to tear out your eyes if you do that-"

"L-Look out!" She yelled and Sasuke quickly jumped up and stood on the bottom half of the branch. The chakra ran through his feet to hold him to the branch and he looked to see a large man in the notorious Akatsuki cloak.

"Hoshigaki," Sasuke said calmly as the shark-like man looked up at his with a smirk. He pulled his sword out of the branch and propped it up on his shoulder. Sasuke then felt shock hit him as his eyes went wide. If he was here, than that meant-

"Hyuga," Hinata tensed up in fear as a hand was on her shoulder. The voice was so calm and smooth that she almost forgot that she was in mortal danger. "What a surprise to see you traveling along with my brother." She let her eyes move to see the profile of the traitor Itachi Uchiha. She looked away when Sharigan eyes looked to her. "Why are you here?" Hinata opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. "Pathetic," she winced as his grip got tighter and with a light push, Hinata was leaning down with Itachi being the only thing keeping her from falling. She quickly grabbed onto his forearm from instinct. "Hm," he raised a brow as the girl held on to him and seemed to be looking at his lips. "Not ready to parish? My brother may have let you live, but I won't make that mistake." A black fire began to crawl down his arm and with quick thinking Hinata let go and landed on the branch beneath her.

"Well Itachi," Kisame smirked as Sasuke placed his hand on his katana and kept his eye on the two. "We did have a mission to go on; you sure we can have this little detour?"

"Of course," Itachi said as he watched his brother. "You take care of him; I'll deal with the Hyuga."

Hinata swallowed loudly as she listened to the two. There was no way that she was going to be able to win against the Uchiha, let alone fight him off. She looked to Sasuke, who was pissed. She took in a deep breath and jumped away as a katana embedded itself into the tree branch. She activated her Byakugan and put her hands up. She watched the flow of chakra through the Akatsuki's body and was surprised to see that the amount going into his eyes was much too powerful. It looked painful and like it was causing the eyes a lot of stress. She quickly focused back on him and did her best to at least avoid him. Hinata watched as his chakra burned in his eyes and she wanted to cringe; she even watched as the Sasuke and Kisame fought above her. Hinata quickly ducked and kicked in hopes to knock the Uchiha off his feet. She wasn't surprised when he disappeared. She stood back up and held her hands up. She saw him standing right above her, but upside down. He was looked at her and Hinata didn't need to move her head to look at him.

"You're better than I thought," the Uchiha said calmly and jumped down at her. Hinata quickly began her rotation in hopes it would at least keep him back. She was surrounded by the dome of chakra, but once it dispelled, he was nowhere to be found. She pushed more chakra to her eyes and saw that Sasuke was having a bit of trouble with Kisame. Hinata first thought about making her way to the male, but this was her chance. Hinata deactivated her Byakugan as she looked in the opposite direction of the fight. With all the confusion, she could run back home. But…there was the chance that Sasuke would die in this battle. The guilt she would feel for the rest of her life…but he shouldn't matter that much to her. He nearly killed her, her village, and Naruto. Hinata looked back to Sasuke, but she gasped when a hand came around her throat and began to crush her windpipe. Hinata was lifted off her feet and began to worry about the Uchiha's fascination with choking her.

"Foolish girl," Itachi said as he held his katana to her chest. "Letting your guard down in the midst of battle; you should have run when you had the chance." Hinata began to choke as she tried to fight back or get out of his grip. She felt the katana tare through her jacket and poked at her skin; she began to feel tears pool in her eyes at the thought that she was going to die in the hands of Itachi Uchiha. Before she could feel the blade pierce her, the Uchiha jumped away –with her still in his hold- as Sasuke tried to attack.

"S-Sasuke-s-sama!" Hinata chocked out as she looked to the cut up male. He had pulled off his shirt and held his katana in one hand.

"Let her go!" Sasuke yelled at his brother with a glare and the Sharigan burning in his eyes. Hinata held Itachi's grip tightened and her chest began to hurt from the lack of air. Sasuke growled as she was desperate for breath. "Your fight is with me Itachi!" He glanced back to be sure that Kisame was still out. He needed to either kill his brother now, or get Hinata and him out of there. He was regretting getting so upset that she was closer to Naruto than she was to him.

Itachi just cocked a brow at him; he had never heard his brother speak up for the protection of anyone else. Not even the blonde haired demon holder that seemed to be friendly to Sasuke. He looked back to the Hyuga girl that he had a faint memory of from his younger days. She was younger than Sasuke, but by the looks of it, she matured much better that he would have expected. Surely, the Hyuga had not fallen head-over-heels for his brother and offered to whore herself out just to be near him. No, his brother wouldn't have bothered to save her then. She must have had more importance than that. He got a closer look and saw that she had no mark on her forehead; so even after her death, the Byakugan would still be there. Itachi would have figured Lord Hyuga would have put a seal on her for being so weak. He didn't want to kill her just yet; he wanted to know why she was here. He felt off though, something in the air changed. His clothes were sticking to him more. He looked to his arm and followed to the Hyuga girl.

Hinata refused to be another victim in her story; she was a kunoichi and if she could deal with one Uchiha, she could certainly deal with the other. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her body that screamed for more air. She could feel her chakra; like tiny little sparks that pulsed through her. Her hair began to stand on edge and she was afraid that she would shock herself. Hinata was never good with lightning, but it seemed to be the only thing that would get the Uchiha to let her go. More pulsating and before she knew it she landed on her bottom and the Uchiha had jumped away. Hinata ignored the light shocks and fixed her static hair and took in deep breaths.

"I should have guessed," Itachi spoke up from his spot. "Chakra manipulation is well known in your clan."

Hinata got to her feet and before she could make some sort of snappy comeback, Sasuke launched himself at his brother. Hinata would get mad at him later for pulling her into this mess. She still had a chance to make it out of this one alive. Hinata activated her Byakugan once more and found the chakra filled body of the other member she looked right in his direction on the ground and saw him pushing joints back into place. She swallowed the lump in her throat and began to slowly jump down. If Sasuke wanted to fight his brother, fine, but she had to do her part. She said she would help them and this is one thing she could do. Become enough of a distraction to keep the partner at bay. There was no way she was going to be helpless again.

She frowned when she sent her chakra filled hand into the earth. She pulled her hand out of the ground and held back the need to groan when she saw that he had gotten to his sword. He looked to her and laughed at her height, it was like fighting a child to him. "You are helping that little bastard?" Hinata ignored him and held her hands up; Kisame thought it sad that he was going to have to shred her to bits. There was no tension in the air and Kisame was more relaxed with this fight. He was sure that he had never fought a Hyuga before, a Hyuga woman to be more exact. Maybe it would prove interesting. Hey, he might get her to cry and beg for her life too. "Alright then," he smirked and picked up his sword, "I'll keep track of how long you last. You make it past three minutes, and I'll take the fight seriously."

Hinata knew this could only lead to more trouble.

(Line Break)

Sasuke tried with all his might to slice up his brother. He just wished that Itachi would just let him kill him; he had not right to live and they both knew that. Sasuke also had the nagging pain in his chest whenever he heard Hinata cry out. She was getting hurt and he was stuck here. He just hoped that by the time he got done, she wouldn't be dead. Sasuke pushed the thought out of his head; he had his brother to worry about and she was supposed to be dead by the end of this anyway. He got his brother and once he was dead, he had no use for the girl. This only pushed him further to kill Itachi now before Hinata died in battle.

It still hurt him to think about her dead body.

Hinata was worse for wear, but luckily, the Akatsuki was still in a playing mood. Hinata had made it to twenty minutes and he decided to stay in his fun mood. Hinata took a deep breath and watched as the male seemed to be looking for her like how children play hide and seek. Hinata peeked from around the tree and when he had his back to her. She took off again in hopes to hit him. They were both close ranged fighters, but the sword gave him a lot more reach. Once she got close enough, she was able to land a hit on his back and send him forward. He was surprised but whipped around his sword; Hinata held up her arms and felt the contact against her forearm. She felt it rip skin and chakra from her as she jumped out of the swords reach. She was running low and she had no solider pills left. He charged at her and Hinata was fast enough to avoid his swings and made contact with his hands and arm. It never did enough damage though. There was too much muscle that blocked his chakra points. She used his speed against him. He came at her like a bull; once she side-stepped, he would continue forward and then skid to a stop.

Hinata used this advantage to avoid him, but he showed no sign of losing stamina. There was a small window though; if she could just hit his head, she could probably just kill him on the spot. She had to help Sasuke before he did something stupid. Without another thought, she waited to be charged at her again. Hinata took in a deep breath as the blue Akatsuki caught her in his sights. She watched as he advanced, but there was an issue.

He was going faster.

"O-Oh no," she said under her breath as she activated her Byakugan, but by the time she saw him she was knocked into the air. Her breath was knocked out of her. She opened her eyes and saw that he was already above him. He used their momentum and knocked her back to the earth. Hinata hit the ground, hard. She felt something break and she coughed up blood. Hinata was no medic, but she knew that wasn't good. She had hit the ground so hard, she was in her own crater; she reached up to grab the edge of the hole to pull herself out. Kisame landed on the ground and placed his foot on her hand. She yelped in pain and pulled her hand from under his foot. He only laughed and lifted up the sword over his head.

"Any last words?" He asked mockingly as she struggled to get back up. "I thought as much." Hinata closed her eyes. When she heard the swift movement of air, she peeked to see that Sasuke was standing over her. She gave a weak smile as he pulled her up and allowed her to lean against him. She glanced at him and saw the Sharigan in his eyes. Hinata huffed lightly and she looked to see Kisame clutching an injured arm.

"Y-Your…b-brother…" Hinata whispered out as she tried to stand. "I-Is h-he…?"

"Just stay back and shut up." He said as he glared at Kisame. Hinata knew better; she tried to activate her Byakugan, but she couldn't focus her chakra to her eyes. Hinata cringed and tried to find the Uchiha. If Itachi wasn't dead, then they were as good as dead. She took a step from Sasuke and turned so that they were back to back. She looked around for any sign of Itachi, and she met it when she caught his katana's blade between her hands. Hinata and Itachi were surprised at her speed. She held on to it and she stared at his nose. She brought any chakra that she could to her hands and with a swift movement of her hand, she heard a light crack. Itachi jumped away and examined his katana. Hinata glanced back to see Sasuke still only looking at Kisame; he had yet to notice his brother.

"S-Sasuke…" she said softly since the man was too preoccupied with the katana.

"I said shut up." He whispered back harshly as he took a step back when Kisame began to start laughing. They were back to back now.

"H-He's right in front of me…" Hinata stressed as she tried to look back at him, but now Itachi was looking right at her.

"Shit." She heard Sasuke say under his breath. "How much longer can you keep fighting?"

Hinata winced when she felt the pain in her chest from breathing too hard. "A-A little longer…?" When she heard Sasuke's aggravated sighed, she was sure that he had seen through her lie. "I-I can…a-and we don't h-have much of a choice-"

"Tell me brother," Itachi spoke up as he began to approach the two. Hinata felt her heart beat quicken as she kept her eyes locked on his chest and shoulders. She could crack the katana, so she was fairly close to breaking it. "Why is the Hyuga traveling with you?" Hinata held her hands up a bit higher as he got closer; she could feel Sasuke tense against her. Itachi looked her over, "Surely…her eyes would be of better use than her body all together." Hinata gulped lightly as he was close enough to touch her. Sasuke wanted to turn around, but Kisame advanced with a sinister look in his eyes.

"Maybe her body was just enough to keep her alive," Kisame said with a smirk as he took in another breath of Hinata's blood. His shark instincts began to show. "Think about it Itachi; your brother just wanted to get laid."

"Shut up Kisame," Itachi said as he took hold of Hinata's wrist. She gapped but then let out a yelp when he gave a quick twist and broke the bone. She held her wrist to her chest and tried to focus her chakra to heal it. "Sasuke must have a better reason…this girl is far too…odd to be her for just sexual intercourse." Once Hinata felt the bone mend enough, she did the only thing that seemed to be the right answer. She tackled the Uchiha.

She was very good at catching Uchiha's off guard. Hinata covered his eyes and quickly threw his katana far away. She didn't know what Sasuke was doing, but as long as she didn't have trouble from the shark, she was happy. Hinata held a kunai to his throat and was breathing deeply. Hinata was confused, he wasn't fighting back. "Y-You are going t-to leave. Y-You stay a-away from my village, y-you get better, a-and you fight S-Sasuke f-fairly…b-because he will k-kill you." He didn't reply to her though; he was calmly breathing and she took her hand off his eyes. "A-Answer me!"

"Stubborn girl," Hinata tensed when Itachi disappeared front under her and an arm wrapped around her shoulders. She should have known better. His breath was hot against her ear and she clutched her kunai with both hands. "Even when you were little, you refused to do as you were told." He pulled her back to her feet and turned her around to face Sasuke fighting Kisame. She watched with horror as Sasuke was nothing more than a punching bag. He was being shredded of his chakra. "I suggest you run before I have to kill you too. Those eyes are far too valuable."

"P-Please…d-don't kill him." Hinata felt the tears spill from her eyes as she watched Sasuke try to fight.

He kept looking back at her as she cried for him. Sasuke felt his chest tighten. She was crying for him; begging for him to be spared –or so he hoped- from his brother. Sasuke felt something bubble in the pit of his stomach. He had to get them both out; it was his damn job to protect her not the other way around. With one last trick, he was forced to loosen the seal on his neck and allowed his body to be consumed by the markings and more chakra filled his body. He looked back to Kisame and lightening began to shoot through his arm and katana.

"Why should I grant such a request?"

"H-He's your b-brother…" she sobbed out and tried to pull away from him as she watched Sasuke forcing dark chakra through his body. "H-He looked u-up t-to you…a-a-and you've t-taken his life a-away! P-Please!" She looked back at him with tear filled eyes. "J-Just let him l-live!" Itachi suddenly let her go. She stumbled to the ground and without another thought she ran for Sasuke. Itachi only watched.

"Kisame," Itachi said calmly and the other Akatsuki, who was quick to land at his side. He was panting and blood soaked his cloak. Itachi glanced to him, "We're leaving."

"I almost got the little bastard." Kisame said with a glare.

"I said," Itachi glared, "we're leaving." Itachi then turned away and walked off. Kisame only scoffed and followed after him.

"I…I'm not done with you!" Sasuke called as he glared at the two figures walking away. He growled as his Sharigan began to burn at his eyes and his neck began to sting. He tried to follow after them, but he felt hands grab at his arm. He looked over to see Hinata standing next to him; her feet planted on the ground and her head bent down. He pulled his arm out of her grip but she was quick to grab his arm tighter than before and this time pulled him back to her side. "Let me go!" He yelled at her and once against pulled from her grip.

"St-stop it," she said lightly as he tried to limp off after them. "Y-You're hurt!" She yelled as she walked after him. "F-Fighting him like th-this will only get you killed!" She finally caught up and stood her ground in front of him.

"I want you out of my way before I do something you regret." He seethed as he glared at her.

Hinata began to tremble but still stood there. "I-I'm going to follow you…a-and I'll fight w-with you-"

"No," he said as he shoved her aside. "You stay here and wait for me to finish."

"You won't stop me!" Hinata said with no stutter. He wanted defiance; she was going to give him one hell of a rebellion. "I'll keep following and I'm going to fight. I won't let you get killed."

"I don't need your help. I'm not that dobe."

"I'm still going to fight for you-"

"That is not your job!" He finally turned back around and walked to her spot and glared at her. "I'm supposed to protect you. I am not the damsel, nor am I some pathetic hero, and I'm sure as hell not the villain." Hinata just stood there, looking him in the eyes. "I nearly got you killed! It was my fault that you were hurt and I'm not going to let you do this again. I'm going to protect you if I have to tie you to that damn tree and make you accept me!"

Hinata just allowed him to calm down and once he was breathing normal, she lightly reached up and wiped the blood from his cheek. She then cleaned off her palm on her ripped jacket. "O-Okay…" she spoke lightly. "B-But…y-you have to heal f-first." Sasuke didn't make any comments and slowly his seal began to retract. She steadied herself as he fell forward. Hinata had never been happier to see someone passed out.

(Line Break)

Sasuke groaned as he felt the brisk air of the late afternoon hit his face. He slowly opened his eyes and soon enough he saw that he was under foliage made roof. He turned his head to the side and saw that he was in a quickly made shelter. He felt his body burn and he felt his head throb with pain. "H-Hinata," he said with his dry throat, "water." He said and instantly regretted it. He knew she must have been in slight pain and probably was in no mood to be ordered around by him. He groaned, "Please?" he forced out. He listened for slight annoyed sigh but he didn't hear her. He couldn't even feel her presence. He blushed lightly as he noticed that he couldn't even smell her light scent of water. He slowly sat up and his eyes widened when he saw that there was no Hyuga there. He felt panic set in and the terrible feeling in his gut that…she had run away from him. He stumbled out of the shelter, "Hinata!" Why did it kill him inside to see her not there? How could she have left him after she had tried so hard to keep him from going after his brother? Did she feel so guilty to leave him before, but now she was okay with leaving him? He felt anger boil inside him when he thought of her running back to the village.

With the idiot's arms opened wide just for her.

"S-Sasuke," he whipped around and nearly smiled when he saw her running up to him with a basket in hand. "You n-need to rest." She took hold of his arm and led him back to the shelter. He allowed her to do so and slowly lie back down; he noticed that his pillow was her jacket. He looked back to her to see that she was dressed in a long sleeved jonin like shirt and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. He calmed as he caught her scent and listened to her soft movements as she checked over his wrapped wounds.

"You didn't leave," he stated lightly as he watched her facial features change. She glanced to him and nodded. "Why did you come back?" Hinata looked over at him and cocked her brow.

"I-I o-only left to get supplies," she said lightly. Hinata reached over and held a tomato out for him. "I figures y-you would be hungry a-and I didn't w-want to just s-sit here and watch you s-sleep." She smiled a bit and Sasuke slowly sat up and watched her. It had been the first time he had ever seen a real smile out of her…and it was for him. He lightly pushed aside her arm and pulled her into an embrace.

He wanted to protect her, but here he was. She was taking care of him, getting him food, and even giving up the clothes on her back for him. He was the bad guy to her, wasn't he? Naruto had tried to save her from him and she had allowed Naruto to do so. She tried to run away, she willingly obeyed everything he asked of her. He watched her beg for Naruto to live, and then saw her beg to her brother to let him live. She fought her brother for as long as she could and then took on a man that towered over her and she almost died for him. Sasuke had never hugged someone in such a long time that he felt so uncomfortable when she was not hugging him back. He let her go and sat back like nothing had happened. He glanced at her and huffed at her red face. "Thanks…" he muttered out and took the fruit from her.

"Y-Yeah…" she nodded and grabbed her own fruit. "Are…" she held the apple close to her lips, "are y-you okay?"

"Never been better," he said sarcastically as he bit into the fruit and allowed the juices to run down his chin. He glanced at her and watched as she tried to eat her fruit like she was still a child at her manor. He scoffed, "Just dig into the damn food." He said as he took another large bite. "I'm not going to scold you if you take too big of bites." He smirked as she caught her little smile and loudly bit into the apple. The breaking of the apple's skin and breaking the fruit from the core was overly satisfying to him; no more goody-goody heiress.

"Th-That was why," she spoke up after swallowing and wiping the juice from her chin, "I loved th-the Uchiha manor more than m-my own." Her voice was soft as she looked at the apple in her hands that were against her lap. "I-I was always locked in my room or a study since I always ran off t-to see Mikoto-sama," she tucked a piece of loose hair behind her ear and blushed a bit. "W-We would make cookies together and then w-watched as Fugaku-sama taste tested m-my cookies…" she glanced up at him. "You once t-told me that my sweets tasted l-like dirt." She laughed lightly and then took another bite into the browning fruit.

"Sorry," he said as he finished the tomato.

"I-It's okay," she smiled at him and tossed her apple core away. "I-I deserved it." She relaxed her shoulders and let out a sigh. "I was just using you f-family to get a-away from mine."

"Don't," he said and looked at her. She looked back up at him. "I can understand why you did it. My family was great…they deserved better than what they got."

Hinata nodded, "I-I always wanted to be an Uchiha," she said as she looked out the shelter's opening and smiled lightly. "With a mother to cook with, a-a dad that didn't s-sneer at you, and…" she smiled at him with a blush, "and a brother to w-watch over me and protect me."

Sasuke looked away with a light blush and a frown. He didn't want to be her brother. Without anything to say, he lied back down and then closed his eyes. "I'm tired."

Hinata nodded and she watched as he drifted to sleep. She didn't see him calm very often, but when he was, he was very relaxing to be around. She crossed her legs and decided to stay awake a bit longer as to be sure that Itachi and Kisame didn't come back. She looked back to Sasuke and began to speak lightly. "I remembered what you said," with him so calm, she didn't feel nervous anymore. "How you weren't the damsel, hero, or even the villain." She lightly moved one of his bangs away from his face. "And I thought about it for a long time, and you are right. In my story…you were my captor and Naruto was my hero, but that was my story. I think I can see your story Sasuke," she laughed lightly; "it is quite a tale, a story about a great family that was wrongfully destroyed by their own son; by their prince." She grabbed a cloth from the basket. She used a bit of water and continued to clean blood from him. "And then there's you; the great Sasuke Uchiha. A man that dedicated his life to avenging his family and he will." Hinata took the moment to admire his features. "You're a great Prince…and I'll happily be a part of your sidekicks." She sat back and took her leave from the shelter.

Sasuke finally let the blush bloom onto his pale skinned cheeks.

(Line Break)

Naruto groaned as he tried to walk a little faster, but Mimi was able to keep up with him. He felt his cheeks get redder as she continued to bother him with the silly question that he and Hinata were lovers. Every day she would try to get him to admit that he really loved Hinata Hyuga and was spiraling with the thought she wasn't near. Now, some of it was true. Naruto wanted Hinata back home, but not because that they were in love…but then again. Naruto shook his head and tried to clear the blush from his face. No matter how much he denied it, he would always come back to the thought: Hinata admitted to loving him…should he love her back?

The least that he could do was giving her an answer. The only issue was that Naruto didn't know what his answer would be. Tell her no, and everything that she was doing for him was really for nothing. Tell her yes, and he may be lying to her and that wouldn't do anyone any good. Naruto sighed as he lost the little genin as he took a few alley ways, and decided to hide in the one of the training grounds. Mimi would have to give up sooner or later. He lounged back on a branch, with his back against the trunk of the tree. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on other things that needed to be done. He had other missions around the village and he promised Tsunade that he would substitute for Iruka at the Academy. But nothing could keep his thoughts from going back to the smiling Hyuga.

He wanted to stop thinking about her. He made her promise that she would come back and he had to trust her. Naruto did trust her, but yet…he was afraid that she wasn't going to come back.

"Don't think like that," he muttered to himself.

"Naruto-sensei!" Mimi smiled as she ran up to the tree and looked up at him. "You're so easy to find! No wonder you haven't become a jonin yet." She smiled brightly as Naruto looked down at her with a slight glare. "Come on down, I promise not to ask about your love life anymore." Naruto rolled his eyes and jumped down. "Why don't we all go and hang out? I bet that you have more fun stories about your training days with Ero-sensei."

Naruto smiled and ruffled her hair, "You bet. That old perv knew how to make training interesting; always kept me on my toes."

Mimi smiled and gave him the thumbs up, "I hope that you can train me one day Naruto-sensei! So you can take me on wild adventures and teach me how to be a great ninja!" Naruto smiled and laughed lightly as he walked with the girl back to the village. Naruto sweat dropped as he listened to her ramble on about what has been going on; he was sure this is how his sensei felt when he was younger. Mimi was as wild and happy as he was, maybe even a bit more. "Hey Anju!" Mimi smiled brightly as she ran on ahead. Naruto looked up and watched as the bubbly dark haired girl ran up to another girl. Anju was another of the new generation of genin; she had short boyishly cut hair that was the color of mahogany red. Her eyes were an onyx black. She wore a long sleeved blue jonin like shirt that went down under her bottom along with a pair of black leggings that went to her knees. She wore standard sandals and the head band around her forehead. Anju looked back at Mimi with a sneer.

"What do you want?" She faced her and crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't you need to be training with your loser team?"

Naruto felt anger build up in his gut, but he stood behind Mimi. Mimi just smiled, "Come on Anju, you know we're the best of friends."

"Not on your life," she smirked, but did let the smile slip through. "Now leave me alone, I have to train."

"You can train with Naruto-sensei and I." Mimi smiled bright and held Naruto's hand. "He's super cool!" Naruto smiled brightly too and waved to Anju.

Anju rolled her eyes as she looked between the two; it was like she found Mimi's older, annoying, and stupid brother. "Can't, Hyuga-sensei says that the Uzumaki is a too much of a moron to be allowed to even watch over others." Naruto sighed; Neji was truly out to get him. "Not to mention you're no match for me."

"How about we test it?" Mimi challenged as she took a step forward and let go of Naruto's hand. "I could kick your butt faster than you can roll your eyes." The two girls glared at one another and Naruto felt an odd sense of déjà vu as he watched the two.

"Hey moron!" Kane yelled as he walked towards the two with Tai at his side. Naruto looked to the white haired male and something in his mind seemed to switch. He saw his team again; Sakura yelling at him as he tried to start a fight with Sasuke. He watched as they forgot his presence and just talked like normal. "I thought I told you that we were going to be training with sensei today? You're lucky that he's too much of a lazy bastard to care that you were late. He told us to get you." He looked to Anju, "Unfortunately," he smirked, "you're not invited Anju-san."

"Like I would want to come," she scoffed and looked away. "I have better things to be doing."

Naruto listened as they continued to argue/talk with one another, like he wasn't there anymore. He watched as the three kept bringing back his memories but he caught Tai standing off to the side. Naruto didn't ever remember a third person. He jumped when he heard someone sigh next to him. It was Kakashi Hatake. The silver haired jonin looked to him and smiled through his mask. "Brings back memories," he said lightly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, most of it."

"For you," Kakashi said. Naruto looked to him as he continued to talk. "For me, this all looks familiar." He motioned to the four. "You and Sasuke getting into a fight and Sakura trying to break you guys apart; sure, Kane isn't much of a peace keeper, but he is more into training." Kakashi then motioned to Tai. "This part though is only slightly different. Hinata always had her other team members and Kurenai was usually the one standing next to me."

"Hinata?" Naruto asked lightly as he looked back to the group. He looked to Tai; he was just watching the group.

"You wouldn't have noticed her Naruto," Kakashi filled in, "too busy with your fighting and training. But I remember, she was there cheering on her favorite shinobi." He chuckled lightly as Naruto blushed lightly. "Kurenai would always say things under her breath: 'Go on Hinata.' 'You can do this'." He relaxed, "You going to cheer him on? You know that he's trying to cheer on his favorite kunoichi."

Naruto looked to Tai and saw the faint blush glowing on his cheeks. He was facing their direction, but Naruto caught Tai's dark purple eyes tuck right on Mimi. Naruto softened his stare and began to whisper. "Come on Tai…don't let her go. Make her see it before it's too late." Kakashi only smiled and the two watched as the group came to their compromise and walked off to where ever they needed to go.

"Now," Kakashi spoke up, "let's see if the memory will continue." Naruto gave him a look of confusion but Kakashi put his finger to his lips. "This is another part that you would never see. I was the only one that saw it." He motioned for Naruto to take a few steps back. They looked up and saw that Tai had lingered back with his shoulders slumped forward and a look of defeat. Anju glanced back and easily left the group; Kane and Mimi didn't notice since they were too busy in their conversation. She came back to the male and stood before him. Naruto watched as they talked, but when Anju invited him to join, Tai turned it down and quickly walked away.

Anju just huffed and caught the two standing there. "What do you want?" She glared and before the two answered, she turned away and walked off after the two.

"It was a little different." Kakashi said with a shrug of his shoulders and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"What…what was different?" If Anju was supposed to be Sasuke and Tai was Hinata…

"When I caught Sasuke," he looked to Naruto and smirked, "he would blush."

(Line Break)

Karin nearly jumped for joy when she looked over her shoulder. She quickly ran over and not even giving Sasuke a second glance, she went to Hinata's side and looked her over like a worried mother. She could sense that Hinata and Sasuke were headed in their direction, but she saw that Hinata's signature was fainter than usual. She later noticed that even Sasuke's signature was a bit duller, but it also had this unknown brightness to it. She knew that the Hyuga was the cause of it all. Karin checked as much as Hinata allowed before she lightly stepped aside and allow the girl to breathe. Hinata was flustered and smiled to her; Karin smiled back as she was being thanked. Karin then set her mind to Sasuke, who had taken a seat by the fire.

Hinata slowly walked over and was aided the rest of the way by Juugo; he cautiously helped her to sit down and was sure not to hurt her. Juugo lost most to all of his sleep as he thought of the Hyuga girl being out there all alone. He was glad to see that she was safe and sound. Suigestu happily gave her a hot cooked meal and happily rambled off about his missions and how Sasuke was working him like a slave. Hinata humored him with kind words and pity; he ate it up. Hinata didn't know that she would miss this; Sasuke was kind of good company, but these were people that would talk to her a lot more. She happily ate the fish but was careful not to bit into bones. She glanced over to Sasuke and smiled lightly as he was being checked over by Karin.

She couldn't stop seeing him as a prince.

It made perfect sense to her; he was far too noble and was treated like a prince where ever he went. She would hold back giggles when he would be surrounded by girls when they stopped for something to eat. She always came in after him since he wanted to scan the area to be sure no enemies were there. Ever since their attack by the Akatsuki, Sasuke was more protective and always had his guard up. Hinata almost found it funny; she never thought that he would stick with his claim to protect her. She was just glad that he wasn't trying to push her to continue their game of extreme tag. Hinata didn't know which one was worse though.

"So Hinata-chan," Suigestu lied his head on her lap and looked up at her. "What was it like living in that cabin without me?" He smirked as she only blushed lightly and rolled her eyes. "Don't try and hide it Hinata-chan." He teased.

"I-It was like torture," she pretended to admit to. Suigestu knew she didn't mean it, but he still smiled. She finished the last of her fish and laid the stick on the ground. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve with a smile; she had never acted so rebellious and so un-lady-like.

"What happened to your coat Hinata?" Juugo suddenly asked.

"Yeah, not that I don't like the shirt." Suigestu answered and winked at her. "Gives up all the mystery of what you really look like." Hinata blushed and looked away. "Just answer that damn question." Suigestu said as he rolled his eyes with a smirk; she was too damn cute sometimes.

"We caught some trouble," Sasuke answered as Karin finished her check-up. "The thing got shredded. No point for her to wear it anymore." He grabbed one of the fishes and ate. "We have other business to get to anyway."

"Let me guess," Suigestu sat up with a bored look. "We're going after Itachi."

"Exactly," Sasuke answered. "He was headed in this direction and with the Hyuga here, we'll be able to find him."

"Should we get ready to head out?" Karin asked as she put away her medical kit and looked to Sasuke.

"No," he stood up. "Not yet, I'll go on ahead and be sure that we can at least get some kind of lead." He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.

"Y-You can't go alone," Hinata said as she tried to stand up, but Sasuke put his hand up for her to stop. "I-I can hold m-my own if that i-is the problem."

Sasuke smirked, "I bet you can." Hinata huffed and pouted that he was mocking her. "Juugo," Sasuke looked to him, "just to make sure that the Hyuga doesn't worry over me, you will come." The large male nodded and got to his feet.

"Thank y-you," Hinata smiled as she sat back down. Karin sat down beside Hinata. "B-Be good J-Juugo-san."

"I promise Hinata." Sasuke rolled his eyes as he saw Juugo smile lightly with a light blush. He pulled the male off before he had to watch him get all nervous. And he thought Naruto was an issue when it came to Hinata.

"I'm glad that you're okay Hinata." Karin said with a light smile as she sat as close to the Hyuga as she could. "You didn't have too much trouble, right?"

Hinata shook her head, "I-It was almost like other m-missions I had been on." She tucked a lose strand of hair behind her ear, "A-And thank you for th-the tip," she blushed lightly, "I-I was able to s-see him a few m-more times."

Karin smirked and nudged her, "What are friends for?" She watched as Hinata stared into the fire. She liked how it looked like a fire was reflected in her eyes; it was like she was taking the image and putting it right into her own eyes. "Why don't you go swimming Suigestu?" She looked to him.

He lazily looked back at her, "Why should I? I'm happy right here with Hinata-chan."

"We need a time for girl talk," she said dully and shooed him off with her hand.

"P-Please," Hinata looked to him with a light smile. Hinata knew what girl talk meant, she had been part of many with Sakura, Ino, and even TenTen and Hanabi.

Suigestu just sighed, "Fine…but I'll be back in an hour." He warned as he walked off towards a lake.

Karin smiled as she looked to Hinata, "Now spill it Hinata," she smirked, "what did you and the blonde boy do?" It had been a long time since Karin was able to act like a teenaged girl. She was going to enjoy this moment as much as she could. Hinata was the one of the first best friends; she wanted to get all the experience she could with her here.

Hinata blushed, "I-I saw him a-and I was so happy." She smiled as she pulled her knees to her chest and blushed red. "B-But then…" she sighed lightly, "S-Sasuke showed up." Karin noticed that Hinata was on a first name bases with him now. "I-I tried to l-lead them away from one another…but th-those two found one another again." Hinata pulled her hair out of its ponytail only to run her hands through it. She looked to her with a blush, "Our t-time was c-cut short."

"Damn boys," Karin shook her head. "Let me do this," she said while Hinata was trying to fix her hair back up again. She took the ribbon from her and kneeled behind Hinata. Karin had never done another girl's hair before, but it should have been fairly easy. She combed her fingers through blue hair. "No offense Hinata," Karin smirked, "but you really need to wash your hair."

Hinata flushed red; how embarrassing to be caught with disgusting and greasy hair. "S-Sorry Karin-s-san."

"Just Karin will do," she said as she fixed the bow up tight so that it looked cute. "I think as the only women in the group, we must be friends." Hinata nodded as Karin sat back down beside her. "But back to the good stuff, you got blocked by Sasuke himself?"

Hinata nodded, "B-But I-I couldn't let th-them take me back home either."

"Why not?" Karin asked a bit confused. Didn't Hinata want to go back home?

"I-I need to h-help S-Sasuke," she said with a smile. "O-Once I'm done th-then I will g-go home." She nodded very satisfied with her answer on the whole situation. She wanted nothing more than to help the prince. But it got her to wonder, what was Naruto in Sasuke's story? Was he a villain that tried to het in the way of the Uchiha? The more Hinata thought of it, the more she figured that Naruto was like a worried Knight; all he wanted was the prince to come safe and sound. He would do anything to help the Prince, but it was his job to bring him back to his Kingdom. Hinata smiled at the idea; it was a lovely story. She looked to Karin, who was content with the silence and staring into the fire. "K-Karin," Hinata spoke lightly, "w-why do you love S-Sasuke?" Of course, everyone loved the prince…but maybe she was missing something.

Karin blushed at the question, "Well…you know…he's good looking and I assume killer in bed." Hinata burnt red at the statement. She really hoped that wasn't what every girl was thinking when they saw him. "And…And he has the most beautiful chakra I have ever seen." Hinata looked to her oddly. Hinata saw chakra every day and it all looked the same to her. "I have this sense," she explained, "and I can see and recognize chakra from certain people. And when I saw Sasuke's, I knew that he was the one." She looked to Hinata and smiled, "I think it is something with Konohagakure shinobi, since even your chakra is rather wonderful."

"Th-Thank you," she blushed and looked down at her knees. Karin only laughed lightly and lied back in the grass. Hinata followed her example. "D-Do you think w-we can take on a-an Uchiha?"

"We don't have to worry about that," Karin said with a smirk. "Our job will be to make sure that no one interferes when the Uchihas finally battle it out." Hinata nodded and stared up at the trees. "Are you sure that nothing happened between you two?" Karin didn't need to ask, she knew that Sasuke was getting closer to the girl; she could see his chakra practically calling for the girl.

"I-I am," Hinata said and turned her head to look at her. "J-Just some trouble…I-I'm not much of a fighter as you can t-tell."

"You two had gone from never talking to calling each other by first names only." Karin looked to her and smirked. "I hope you don't plan on stealing him from me."

"H-He didn't l-like when I called him Uchiha-dono," Hinata said and smiled. "Y-You already have a-a bunch o-of girls to worry about. A-And besides," she looked back up at the trees, "H-He could never want m-me."

If only it were true. Karin thought to herself. She looked to the tree tops and thought of what she would do when the Hyuga finally saw the Uchiha for what he truly was. Karin glanced back at her. "I'll tell you what Hinata," she smiled as the girl looked to her. "If Sasuke ever starts to hit on you, I'll give you that chance to be with him."

Hinata blushed, "K-Karin," the red head blushed at her formality, "w-we are friends, I-I'd never t-take the man you l-love from y-you."

Karin looked back at the trees and felt her blush burn darker. She was so happy that the Hyuga called her a friend. For the little time that they had known one another and she had trusted her so. No wonder Sasuke thought she would be an easy hostage; she was far too innocent and naïve for her own good. Karin just removed her glasses as she closed her eyes and decided to rest before she forced to go back on the run after another Uchiha.

Hinata looked over and saw that Suigestu came back, his hair damp and sipping from his water bottles. "I-I think I-I'm going to go clean up," she sat up and looked to Karin, but the girl looked to have fallen asleep.

"Just head straight," Suigestu pointed, "waters cold, so watch out." Hinata nodded and thanked him. He watched as she grabbed her pack and walked off. He sighed, "Thanks a lot Karin," Suigestu said with a sigh, "I just missed out on a chance to bathe with Hinata-chan."

"You're such a fucking pervert," the red had answered and surprised the male.

"I thought you were sleeping."

"Well, I wasn't," she said dully not bothering to open her eyes.

"Hey," Suigestu dropped some more wood into the fire and sat down. "I thought all girls bathed together."

"I did this morning," she said, "and I think Hinata would like to be alone for once." She turned to her side and let out a deep breath. "I think she can handle taking a bath without someone watching over her. So don't get any ideas."

"You're such a kill joy."

~Konohagakure~

Naruto at on his swing set and watched as the setting sun casted an orange light on the academy. He rocked himself back and forth and just thought back to his days at the academy; it was better then. Things were simple. He would train to get stronger, getting stronger meant becoming a shinobi, and becoming a shinobi brought him closer to his goal of being Hokage. It was a simple plan that worked fairly well in his academy days. Sure, the goal would turn to: 'get stronger so that I can kick Sasuke's ass' but all in all, it was the same each day. Even each day had a set routine: wake up, change, eat, academy, study, eat with Iruka, train, and sleep. He was unsure why he ever wanted to graduate, everything was better back then.

Once he became a genin, the load of things to do was a bit higher, but it was still a simple concept to get by every day. Get up, eat, shower, change, meet with team, train, eat with team, mission, fight with Sasuke at least once, and then go home. He wished he had enjoyed those days better. Then chunin exams came and that's when everything went from simple to complex. Those were the days he didn't know what would happen; at his young age, he loved the idea of the unknown…it was thrilling, but now…

Naruto sighed and shook his head. It was wrong of him to dwell on the past; he had to look forward like he always did. He couldn't be like Sasuke, who always thought back to his past. Naruto was better than that. He looked to his future and would never look back on his shitty past. He closed his eyes and thought about his future with a blissful smile. He could hear it, feel it, and practically did see it. There he was, standing on the Hokage cliff with his face finally carved. He would laugh when he saw that his own face had been defiled but some bratty kid like himself. He would watch over his village. His room would be littered with cups of ramen and paper work. Lady Tsunade would scold him for being such a mess as she drank. She would still be wiser than him, but he would catch on. He would watch his peers become his loyal Anbu and guards. And he would go back to his home…

Hopefully to find a wife and child waiting for him.

Naruto blushed when he saw Sakura as his wife, but he knew better than that. She would be running around the hospital like a mad woman. She would never want to give up her career to be a house wife. He just hoped that maybe one day she would. But he went back to his memory again, and there was the blue haired beauty in his kitchen. She happily set down a bowl of ramen as a baby was held to her hip and another ran about the house. Naruto's face exploded red when he saw Hinata.

"Stop it!" He yelled as he hit his head with his palms. Mimi must have been filling his head with those thoughts. Hinata was his friend! They were really good friends. That's why she was going through so much for him! It was why that he was so worried about her. It was why he tried to calm his nerves by thinking about their academy days. It was why he finally began to notice she would blush around him, faint when he tried to talk to her, and…and look at him how all those other girls looked to Sasuke.

She looked at him like he was the greatest thing that this earth had to offer.

"ARGH!" He stood up and yelled. "Why do I have to figure it now? Why am I such a dobe?!"

"You're not a dobe, baka," Naruto stopped and looked over to see Sakura standing there with her hands on her hips. She smiled at him and continued to walk up to him, "You just need to stick to your studies a bit better."

"Y-yeah," he said lightly and stood up straight. "What are you doing out here?"

"I decided to use my break to take a walk and clear my head," she said with a shrug and motioned for him to follow. They both walked together. "I have to take the night shift at the hospital and I thought it would be nice to get out of there."

"That sucks," Naruto said bluntly.

"Totally," she giggled and Naruto smiled a bit. He looked over at her and noticed that he was taller than her –for once- but something was gone. Whenever he looked at her before, there were hearts everywhere and stars, but now…there was just Sakura. Was it him? Was it her?

"How long has Hinata liked me?" Naruto asked out of the blue. He smacked his forehead when they both came to a stop from his outburst. "I need to learn when to stop."

"For as long as I can remember." Sakura answered without hesitation. Naruto looked to her with wide eyes. She had a calm look on her face and a light smile, "Is that what you finally saw? Your own little fan girl cheering for you?"

"I-I guess…" he shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I guess not having her around anymore…makes you notice how much you miss her…" she looked off into the horizon and let the smile fall from her face. Karin's voice was still ringing in her head. "When are you going back to get her and Sasuke?" Her voice was soft, but he could hear the eagerness to get back their teammate.

"I…I'm not…" Naruto said as he looked up to the sky. He glanced at Sakura when he knew she was looking at him with shock. He looked back up and laughed lightly, "Hinata promised me that she would come back when she was done helping him."

"Helping him!?" Sakura asked with a glare. Naruto was taken back at her response. "She's not supposed to be helping him! She's supposed to be running away from him to come back home! She can bring back information on where he is or going! We can bring him back home!" She finally finished and took in deep breaths. Naruto blinked and Sakura frowned. "She can't be any closer to him than she has to be."

"Tell me about it," he muttered under his breath.

It seemed like Sakura and Naruto had the same idea: They wanted Sasuke and Hinata apart.

~Somewhere near a Lake~

Sasuke glared as he came back to the camp site and saw that his fire had burnt down to glowing embers and Hinata was nowhere to be seen. Fear built up in his chest when the thought that she had ran away again flew through his head. He quickly gave Suigestu a swift kick to the abdomen and ordered him to tell him where Hinata was. The male grunted out something that sounded like 'she went lake…' Sasuke tried to force more information out of him but the male was able to ignore him. Sasuke growled and ordered Juugo to wait and be sure that if Hinata did come back, to make her stay and get him. The male would follow his orders to the 'T' and Sasuke walked off toward this 'lake'. Sasuke wished that for once, he wouldn't have to worry about the Hyuga. She was practically a magnet for trouble.

She shouldn't make him worry about her like this. He would have thought that she was smart enough to listen to what he said. 'Stay close and shut up.' It was a simple order. What was worse was that her little story kept running through his head and made him lose focus when he was trying to get information. At least he was able to push it out of his mind long enough to get some information and it was good.

His brother was headed in the direction of Amegakure.

"This better be worth it." He said to himself as he pushed aside low hanging branches. He went through the bushes and finally saw the lake. He was wide eyed and blushed red –and was happy- when he saw Hinata's bare back. He allowed his eyes to lower, but her hips were hidden in the dark waters. He quickly turned around and sat on the ground with his arms crossed over his chest. If anything, he wasn't going to ogle at the Hyuga as she bathed. He wasn't a pervert. He shifted uncomfortably as he heard the splash of the water. "Hinata," he said and smirked when he heard something of an 'eep'. "Hurry up. Any longer and you will surely become ill."

"H-How long have y-you been th-there?" She asked with her face burning red. She was neck deep in the water and still tried to cover her chest. Hinata was really hoping that she would get back to the camp when they were asleep. She didn't need to be checked up on.

"I just arrived," he rolled his eyes. "I don't hear you getting out of the water." His face flushed at the image of her slowly getting out of the water; he knew she would nervously and slowly leave the water, in fear he would see her naked body. He bent his head down and closed his eyes. Sasuke pushed all thoughts out of his head.

Hinata sighed and pulled herself out of the water, her eyes never leaving his back. She just had to be sure, even though she knew she was the last thing Sasuke wanted to see. She moved so that a large boulder hid her from his sight. She dried off and changed into a new pair of shorts she had brought from the cabin and another jonin-like shirt. She stepped out from behind the boulder with her bag on her shoulder as she dried her hair. She blushed as she saw the Uchiha was still sitting in the same position. He was such a gentlemen; a villain would have not cared such a common courtesy of turning around. Once Hinata got close, he turned his head to look at her. She blushed and looked down at her feet. "S-Sorry if I took t-too long."

"Hn," he answered as he stood up. He began to walk back to the camp sight, but he stopped when he heard she wasn't following. He looked back to see that Hinata was looking up at the sky, with a light smile on her face. Sasuke groaned as he stood there and waited for her to finish what she was looking at. He really needed some sleep.

"C-Come and look S-Sasuke," her soft voice slowly eased into the night's silence; it was barely even heard. Sasuke looked to her and she smiled lightly at him. She used her hand to motion him over. "I-I just w-want to show you s-something," her smile was soft and there was innocence in her eyes. Sasuke shook his head and walked over to her. He stood to her left and crossed his arms over his chest. "N-Now look at the sky," he complied with her and tilted his head up. Sasuke let his eyes wander about the dark star filled sky. "Do you s-see it?" She asked lightly.

"The stars?" He asked as he tried to find something that wouldn't make this a waste of time.

"C-Close," she said and pointed up, "th-the constellation," he tried to follow her finger to where it was pointing. All he saw is a big blob of stars. "Th-The bird S-Sasuke," she said breathlessly as she let her hand fall to her side. "C-Can't you see the bird?"

"Can you ever act your age," he asked with a smirk. He glanced back to see that she was unaffected by his comment and continued to stare. He looked back to the spot and slowly allowed his mind to try and grasp the picture she saw. He had never been star gazing since he was a child. "What's so special about this bird Hinata?"

"M-My family i-is built a-around the idea of b-birds," Hinata explained. "I remember h-how Neji-nii would t-talk about being f-free, l-like the birds. H-He always s-said, h-he would never b-be locked in h-his cage th-that is my f-family." She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the nigh air. "M-My mother t-told me th-that I can fly f-free too, all I-I had to do w-was wait f-for that perfect t-time. I-I would be free f-from my worries and d-doubts. I-I could also b-be free from m-my clan…"

Sasuke looked back at her and watched as the mere thought of being free could make her so happy and calm. Her heart beat was slow like the tempo to a lullaby and she looked so surreal. He almost thought that he was dreaming at the way she looked. She was almost glowing in the low lights of the night. He looked back at the sky, still unable to see such a thing. But why question her again when it made her so happy? "Come on Hinata," he said and began to walk back to camp, "it's getting late."

"Mmmm," she hummed lightly and then looked to Sasuke, "r-right." She quickly followed after him.

(Line Break)

Hinata cringed as her own chakra began to burn at her eyes; she had been on the trail of the ever elusive Uchiha for over two hours. She stopped as she landed on the ground and stumbled to keep her balance, Karin landed right beside her. Hinata tried to re locate one of the Uchiha's, but her Byakugan could barely see past the trees that surrounded her.

"Come on Hinata," Karin said lightly, "you've been at it long enough. I bet if we keep heading straight, I'll be able to pick up his chakra soon enough."

Hinata shook her head, "N-No…I'll be o-okay," she rubbed her eyes and took in some deep breaths. "I-I have to pull m-my own weight too." She felt the pain subside and she used the last bit of her chakra to locate Juugo. "Th-That way," she pointed and the two took off in that direction; Hinata reached into her pouch and downed a soldier pill. With a new boost she took the lead. Karin didn't mind, she kept her eyes peeled for the other Uchiha, the one that they were after.

Karin had used all her time to see what was going on between the Uchiha and Hyuga, and if she wasn't sure before, she was now. Sasuke was head over heels for the Hyuga, he just showed it in a different way. Like, a normal guy would tell a girl she's lovely. Sasuke would tell Hinata that she wasn't useless. Or like a guy would buy her flowers. Sasuke would toss three pronged kunais to Hinata –nearly hitting her- as a 'gift'. Karin's favorite was when Sasuke actually tried to be romantic with a box of cinnamon rolls, but it went downhill when Hinata thought it was from Juugo and happily shared them with everyone; Karin did not regret it since she loved sweets. Sasuke wasn't as happy about it as the others were. Karin was heartbroken that the Uchiha would never return her feelings, but she couldn't hate the Hyuga and be able to sleep at night. Maybe is Hinata wasn't so damn cute? She did try a few times to sway the Uchiha for her one night stand, but she was let down when the Uchiha made it clear it would never happen. If only she had gotten in before the Uchiha began to accept his feelings for the Hyuga; she would have gotten it then for sure.

Hinata allowed her kekkei genkai to fall when she got closer to the other half of the group. She landed beside the large male and leaned against him, "H-How much longer d-do we need to go?"

"The heiress not used to such hard work?" Sasuke smirked as he landed beside Karin and looked to Hinata. She smiled lightly and stood back up on her own. "We'll be done when I say so."

"We'll be at this for days," Suigestu muttered under his breath and Hinata giggled. He smiled and knew he was getting a glare from the Uchiha. "I'll go on ahead with the Hyuga. Her eyes and my strength will make this mission go by faster."

"I think Karin and Hinata are well enough-"

"C-Come on S-Sasuke," Hinata looked at him, "K-Karin and I-I can find him, w-why put us together? I-I'll go with Suigestu," she smiled, "s-someone n-needs to w-watch him."

"Then I'll take the Hyuga," Sasuke said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "We fought them before and we will be better matched." Suigestu smirked and Hinata blushed lightly; she never knew that he actually thought she could fight him again. She was more than flattered at the comment. "Besides," he smirked, "she'd probably just get you killed." And then the flattery was gone.

Karin sighed and shook her head. It was just sad at how bad he was.

"R-Right," Hinata tried to stay positive. She jumped up ahead and with her Byakugan activated she tried to find the path to the two. There were no good byes or plans on where to meet. For as long as they had been at this, this was the day they would find him and then meet up. She just hoped they were all alive by the end of it. Hinata rather liked the team after she got past they were traitors and nearly killed her peers a few times; they were just looking for their purposes in life. And Sasuke gave them one, follow him. She could understand why they would follow him; he was a natural born leader. He had the power and confidence to lead and not let anyone get in his way. Hinata stopped on another branch and focused more chakra to her eyes. She couldn't believe how far she was seeing. She saw the other three, a band of travelers, and a lone figure. She honed in more on the lone figure, but the person had the chakra of a child in the academy. She went back to the travelers. She couldn't help but be impressed. "V-Very sneaky," she said to herself. The two Akatsuki had hitched a ride with the merchants.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked as he stood beside her.

"I f-found them," she was pointed and smiled lightly, "th-this will all b-be over."

Sasuke allowed the information to sink in as they stood there. Hinata was talking, but he really couldn't hear her over the voice of his own thoughts. Once he got his brother, there was no use for any of this. What was he to do know? He would have to live in for his clan name, bring them back to the power they deserved and worked for. He glanced to Hinata and another thought went through his head; after this, she had no reason to follow his orders. He also would have no reason to keep her there. Once he got his brother, she would be gone. He had lost so much and now he would lose her. He wouldn't miss her…it would a far worse feeling than that. Why did he care so much anyway? Wasn't this what he wanted and planned for? Use her eyes to find his brother, kill him, and then kill the Hyuga. He did even plan on taking her eyes and using them. But, it all seemed to change after all the time they spent together. He couldn't kill her, hell, he couldn't even think of letting her go back to Konohagakure.

"H-Have you e-even been listening?' Hinata turned to him with a pout.

"We don't have to do this." He said. He was shocked as she was at his words. He glanced at her with his onyx eyes. "We don't."

"H-Have you l-lost it?" She asked with disbelief. "Th-This is what I-I am here f-for, a-and what you have b-been working s-so hard for s-since you were e-eight." She began to make her way towards the group. There was no way she was going to let this opportunity go just because the Uchiha got cold feet. She landed on the ground softly with the Uchiha right behind her. She began to walk towards the travelers, but the Uchiha cut her off. "S-Sasuke-"

"Shut up," he said sharply and she was quick to obey him. "I…I meant what I said." She glanced up at him. He was looking down at her with an emotionless face. "We…We can just go."

"B-But…I-Itachi-"

"I've waited eight years…I can wait a few more." He said with a glare as she still looked at him with confusion. "I can always get stronger."

"A-Alright…" she sighed and looked to her feet. "Th-Then I-I'll find the others-" before she could walk off, he grabbed her arm. She looked back at him. "W-What?"

"B-By we…I-I met us." He admitted as he looked away. Hinata blushed red. He glanced at her but quickly looked away again. "You and I could go. The farther the better."

"I-I know I-I promised to h-help…"

"Well it's my turn to help you." He turned her so she faced him again and this time he actually looked her in the eye. "I-I heard what you said about me. How…How I was the prince." Hinata felt her face boil red; she never felt so stupid! Sasuke felt his ears get hot. "I know that you said it so you can't deny it, and…I know it is the Prince's job…to help a trapped Princess; the Princess that is locked away in her home." Hinata looked at her feet and tried to hold back her blush. "You wanted to be an Uchiha right?" He spoke softly, "I can give you that." Hinata looked up at him with confusion, until she felt his hand grasp her own. She looked down at their hands, and then back at him. He wasn't looking at her, but she saw the faint pink blush on his cheeks.

"S-Sasuke…?"

"I-I may not be Naruto…but I can be something better."

Hinata felt something stab through her chest.

She was Naruto's Damsel.

She was Sasuke's Princess.

But, was that what she wanted?

"Y-You…can't mean th-this." She said as she felt the tears pool in her eyes. "You wanted n-nothing more than to avenge your clan. D-Don't lie to m-me like this!" She felt the tears slid down her cheeks and used her free hand to wipe them away. "I-I need t-to go back h-home-"

"Why can't we just go off and live some place away from all of this?" His grip on her hand was tighter and he pulled her against his chest. She was tense against his body, but made no move away. She listened to his heartbeat as his other arm wrapped around her waist. His hold was light. "I have tried for so long, to ignore you." He smirked and put his chin on her head. "I thought what I was doing would make everything worth it. I could see my brother dead and gone, but then something else haunted me. I began to worry about you. The thought that you would leave me hurt. I knew I would have to let you go…but, maybe, I don't really have to."

"I-I really want t-to go back home." She said again as her heart began to speed up in tempo. "I miss my team, a-and everyone, e-even my family," she said with a sad smile. She moved back and looked up at him. She gave a pleading smile. "Y-You can come t-too…a-and e-even the rest o-of the team." She pulled her hand out of his grasp and wiped her eyes. Hinata smiled and gave a light laugh, "I-It would be nice t-to not have to worry about you."

Sasuke smirked, "Me," she looked back at him and he smiled kindly, "you mean I won't have to worry about you. You're the one that can't keep out of trouble."

Hinata laughed and Sasuke laughed along with her. "B-But I bet…y-you rather not go back h-home."

"I'm willing," he said as he began to lead her in the other direction, "to put up with that village. It's not like I can do better out here." She smiled lightly and he just sighed. Going back after all his work to keep away was all put to waste because of her. He looked at her and his eyes traveled down to her hand. He was about to grab it, but stopped when she looked to him. He just looked away; he made enough of a fool of himself already. "The others might not agree to all this."

"Y-You're a good l-leader," she said as she tucked some hear behind her ear, "I-I think you can convince them."

Sasuke smirked; she really knew how to flatter him into doing what she wanted.

Itachi sat in the cart with his hat tipped low and a smile on his face. He knew the Hyuga would find him, he knew that his brother was with her, and he could guess why his brother had kept her around for as long as he did. He knew his brother better than anyone; the Hyuga was perfect for him. All he needed to pray for was that his brother didn't screw this up. He sighed and looked up at the sky, "Foolish little brother," he said under his breath. Nothing would kill him more than to see his brother hurt again; he had done enough of that. But if his plan went right, everything would be the way it should and his brother will have his peace.

(Line Break)

"What are you doing out here?" Genma asked as he watched the blonde stand at the opened gates with his arms crossed over his chest. He knew the blonde was dumb, but he had been standing there for more than two hours. "I'm gonna call that pink haired girl to knock some sense into you."

"I'm waiting for a friend." Naruto said with a bright smile. He had the feeling all day that Hinata was coming home and he wanted to be the first to greet her. He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he began to grow jumpier at the thought the she was coming home. He could finally talk out all these weird thoughts and feelings he's had since her absence. He crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot on the group as he waited, but he really couldn't handle much more. He nearly felt his heart leap out of his chest when he spotted something walking towards the gates. Without anything holding back, he took off. "Hinata-chan!"

Hinata felt her face turn a bright red. One second she was walking back home, and the next she was picked up and spun around. She finally got over the shock and looked to see that she was in the arms of the blonde haired knuckleheaded hero. Naruto beamed at her with his bright smile and she smiled back, "N-Naruto-kun."

"I'm so happy that you're back!" He put her back on her feet. He backed up and waved his arms in the air. "You won't believe all the trouble I got into with your clan for not bringing you home. I tried to tell them that we made a promise, I really did, but they just gave me that face Neji gives me and pointed me to the doors." He laughed and Hinata giggled.

"A-Actually Naruto-kun," she was rather calm, "I-I have s-something f-for you t-too-" she was cut off by the babbling blonde.

"And even your team mates were on my ass about this too. I told them that they needed to have more faith in you, but then Kiba sent his mutt on me." Naruto wished he could shut up, but if he stopped talking, she would tell him something that he may not want to hear. "And Sakura was giving hell too, but you can guess for what-"

"Naruto!" Hinata finally yelled and it was enough to get him to stop. He looked at her with wide eyes and she blushed and looked away. "S-Sorry…"

"No…No I should have let you talked," he smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. He never felt so stupid. He looked back at her and saw that she was giving him that smile that made his heart skip a beat. His cheeks turned red. "Y-You," his voice cracked a bit. He cleared his throat and spoke deeper, "You wanted to tell me something?"

"M-Mhm," she nodded and looked to him with a smile. "I-I brought s-someone back with me."

"Brought….someone," Naruto asked with surprised.

"Dobe."

Naruto turned around and was shocked to see Sasuke and the rest of his team walking up to them.

Sasuke smirked at him, "What? You thought I'd let her come all the way here by herself?"

"Sasuke-teme," Naruto said with a smile and ran up to him. Sasuke was taken to the ground when the blonde hugged him. "Dude! I'm so glad that you're back!"

"That's great," Sasuke felt his eye twitch, "now get the hell off me." He pushed Naruto off and get back to his feet. He scoffed when the blonde kept smiling at him, "I thought that old bat would have put you to some mission. Not good enough even for the D-ranked?"

"You just wait Teme," Naruto smiled and held out a fist with the thumbs pointed up. "I'm going to totally kick your ass when you are finally man enough to fight me." He smirked when the Uchiha glared at him. "You can't hide behind my damsel anymore. The Hero is finally gonna get his fight."

"Sorry Dobe," Sasuke smirked, "but a Prince can beat out some lame ass hero any day."

"Prince…what a stupid title." Naruto laughed. "What are you going to do, send one of your knights on me? I'll kick their asses too!"

"Then lets fight," Suigestu smirked as he unsheathed his sword.

Karin rolled her eyes and walked over to where Hinata stood. She smiled when the Hyuga was looking to her village. Karin took a good look at the village; it was bigger than her own, probably had better things too. She stood by the Hyuga and let out a deep sigh. "You know," she spoke up and Hinata looked to her as Karin continued to look ahead. "They're going to lock us up the minute we step into the village."

Hinata nodded, "I-I know…I planned f-for that too." Karin cocked an eyebrow and glanced at her. "I-I was going to put in a good word and Lady H-Hokage and the e-elder's that I would be dead i-if it weren't for you four." Karin smiled lightly. "A-And if that didn't w-work, I-I'd do anything in m-my power to get you out."

"You are way too nice Hinata." Karin said with a laugh and Hinata laughed along with her. Karin put her arm around the girl's shoulders and spoke low. "Now, what are you going to do about those two?" She motioned over their shoulders. They looked over and watched as Naruto and Sasuke were almost about ready to start a full out war with another. Hinata frowned lightly and looked back to her village. "As awesome as it sounds, you can't have both." Karin reminded. "All I can say," she smiled, "they both have such beautiful chakra." She said with a dreamy sigh. Hinata smiled and blushed; she nodded to agree with Karin.

"I-I actually w-wanted to talk to s-someone about th-this," Hinata said lightly as she took a step back from Karin. "I-I better get u-us in b-before w-we lose one of th-them again." Karin smirked and nodded. Hinata looked to the boys and cupped her hands around her mouth. "S-Sasuke-kun! N-Naruto-kun! Suigestu! Juugo!" She called and waved as they all stopped to look at her. "W-We need to g-get in!"

"I'm coming Hinata-chan!" Naruto smiled happily and ran off back to her. "Hey, maybe we can go out for ra-oof!" He was cut off when Suigestu leap-frogged over him, making the blonde eat dirt. He looked up and glared, "What the hell!?"

"Too slow stupid," Suigestu smirked and continued his run. Hinata laughed lightly as she stepped aside as the blonde and white haired male began their own race. Juugo was quick to follow.

"Children," Karin shook her head and walked after them.

Hinata smiled and she walked along, with Sasuke catching up and walking with her. "So…" he spoke up, "I'm finally back." Hinata nodded and he scoffed, "Great, how am I supposed to train with every Anbu member breathing down my neck?"

"I-I won't be t-too bad," Hinata said trying to keep positive. "M-Maybe it'll just b-be Kakashi-sensei."

"Even better," the Uchiha smirked and rolled his eyes. "You know…I never got a fair fight with you." Hinata looked to him with a pout. He smirked, "All those other ones, you never put anything into it. It was like fighting with a flimsy bamboo."

"I-I just let you win those," she said with a huff.

"Is that so?" He smiled in amusement as she crossed her arms over her chest. She was rather adorable when angered.

"Y-Yes, y-you were such a sore l-loser…a-and a sore winner too."

"Weak little heiress." He scoffed

"Bratty jerk heir," she said back and he couldn't help but chuckle. Once they reached the gates, Anbu surrounded them along with the four that went ahead. Hinata and Naruto were pulled away from the group and Team Heibe got in a defensive position. "W-Wait!" Hinata said as she spoke to the head Anbu. The masked shinobi lightly turned his head in her direction. "Th-They are of n-no threat, h-honest!" She pleaded to them.

"I'll be the judge of that," they all turned to see Tsunade walking towards them. "I should have thought," she smirked as the Anbu parted to let her face the group. "All I needed to do was send out a cute little kunoichi to get you to come back." Hinata blushed and Naruto just pouted.

"Basically," Suigestu admitted with a shrug. "Walking behind her gave me a nice view of her a-" he was cut off from a punch to the head by the hands of Karin and Naruto.

"Anyway," Tsunade tipped her hat up, "you four will be imprisoned in my office until I get a reason to let you anywhere near my village and shinobi."

"I-I can v-vouch f-for them." Hinata raised her hand. Tsunade nodded and motioned for her to follow. "B-Be good g-guys," Hinata said the four and smiled kindly, "I'll make sure th-that you sleep on a warm bed t-tonight."

"Damn," Suigestu looked away with a blush and glad Hinata was out of ear-shot. "She is too damn cute!"

Sasuke punched his shoulder with his own blush. "Shut up." He looked over to Naruto that had still stood by the team. "I always win in the end dobe." He didn't have to elaborate on what he was talking about. Both boys could read the others mind as easy as reading a book. Naruto looked to him with a frown. Sasuke just kept calm as he was cuffed and led towards the Hokage Tower with the rest of his team. "And nothing can change that."

"You forget teme," Naruto said more to himself since he knew the male couldn't hear him. "I'm not the one that's locked up."

(Line Break)

Hinata sat across from the Hokage; she was a little out of breath from all her talking and nervous that her testimony wouldn't be good enough. She bit her lip and wrung her hands when the woman was allowing all the information to sink in. Tsunade could tell that without the team, the Hyuga would be dead. She did have any faith in her kunoichi but the team's one act of kindness kept her alive. Even though the 'kindness' wasn't really one at all; Hinata called her kidnapping in the first place what saved her. She was healed and taken her to a place to sleep. She was even given her own place to live while on the mission. Tsunade knew that Hinata was leaving things out of her story and for good reason since those were the details that would get the team a life-long sentence in prison. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed loudly. She really wanted something to drink. "L-Lady Hokage?" Hinata asked lightly.

"Alright Hinata," Tsunade said as she sat back in her chair. "I will take into account the…services the team provided to you. I will have them on lock down at an old home that has been unused for some time." Hinata smiled brightly and thanked her. Tsunade just smiled and waved her off. "You are dismissed."

"A-Actually," Hinata said as she stayed in her seat and shifted a bit. Tsunade looked at her with question. "I-I wanted to talk to you about something e-else…" she trailed off as her eyes traveled to her lap as the nervousness built in her gut and chest.

"What is it Hinata?"

"W-Well…" she looked back to her Hokage. She chided herself for being so shy. She was captured, fought off the Uchiha, traveled and dealt with that Uchiha, and was even able to take on two Akatsuki members. She took a deep breath and started again. "When I was traveling, t-two things kept nagging at me. I-I was always the one in trouble a-and someone always had to watch over me…o-or think that I need to be saved." She gave her best determined face, "B-But I'm not a damsel, o-or even a princess. I'm something more than that. A-And I know that if I can prove it if I was g-given the chance."

Tsunade smiled as she saw her once shy and reserved shinobi finally stick up for herself. She was tired of seeing the girl give up higher paying mission to other shinobi that were deemed 'more capable.' Tsunade sat forward and crossed her arms on the desk. She smirked. "So, tell me Hinata," Hinata smiled when she saw the mischief in her Hokage's eyes, "what can I do to give you your chance?"

This is it

(Line Break)

"I'm smarter."

"I'm more fun."

"I'm stronger."

"I'm humble."

"I'm better looking." Smirk

"For a girl you are." Smile

"Dobe."

"Teme."

Naruto sat across from the male's cell with his legs crossed. He had followed the group to the tower, where they were stripped of their weapons and taken to the prison for holding. Naruto thought it amusing to watch his friend be trapped in a cell, while he was as free as a fox to run about and catch up with a cute little rabbit. Naruto was able to convince one of the guards to leave Sasuke his sword, since the Uchiha cared about the weapon like it was his son. With enough bribing, he was even able to get time to fight with the Uchiha; all the guards would be happy to see a good battle. Sasuke, on the other hand, was glad that he was kept away from the rest of his peers; he knew they would soon flood the prison once they found out he was here, but until then, he could enjoy the silence. He was sitting right up by the bars with his legs also crossed and looked to almost be meditating.

"Do you really think that she'll want to be with you after spending so much time with me?"

"I think all that time with you probably made her miss me more."

Sasuke scoffed, "Took you long enough to figure it out. At least I knew about since back when we were genin."

"You still are a genin."

"So are you moron."

Naruto laughed a bit, but he looked to Sasuke. "You…You liked her back when we were younger. Didn't you?"

"I thought the Hyuga was a bit more bearable then the others, yes." Sasuke said not willing to admit to anything.

Naruto smiled sadly, "It sucks…doesn't it?" He glanced back up at him, "To want the girl that wants your best friend."

"So that's how you felt?" Sasuke said, looking back at him with no emotion. "Then I guess you better back off so I don't feel as shitty as you did."

"Now that's no fair Sasuke," Naruto glared, "You could have any girl that you want. Even after all the crap you pulled. Why does it have to be the only girl that looked at me like Sakura looked at you?"

"Why do you get to have the only girl that never looked at me and saw my looks and clan name?" He asked back with his own glare. "You can have Sakura and all the others. Just leave me her."

"I rather be dead that let you have her."

"I can arrange that." They both glared at one another and Sasuke clutched his katana as Naruto had a kunai in his grasp.

"G-Guys," they both stopped and looked over to see Hinata walking towards them. They were a little surprised though; she was in a jonin outfit. "I-I thought I-I'd find you both here." She smiled and lightly and stood before them. They both got to their feet but then glared at one another. Hinata laughed lightly. "W-Will you two e-ever stop?" She laughed a bit more while Naruto and Sasuke just blushed. "I-I want to see you both." She calmed herself and stood with her hands behind her back. "A-And thank you two, f-for everything."

"No problem Hinata-chan," Naruto smiled brightly and put his hands behind his neck. Sasuke just scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"A-And don't worry S-Sasuke-kun," Hinata smiled at him, "L-Lady Tsunade will allow you and your t-team to live in an o-old home. B-But you'll be u-under watch too. Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Sasuke said with a smirk, "It's thanks to you that I don't have to sleep on concrete tonight."

Hinata nodded and then took in a deep breath. "Y-You both h-have given me a lot of strength a-and I want t-to be sure that y-you'll both be okay w-while I'm gone." The two were surprised y that statement. "I-I'm sorry that you are finding this out now, b-but it c-came to me a-and I need to get started r-right away." She smiled at them, "I-I want you both to know th-that I'm n-not a damsel," she looked to Naruto, "o-or a princess," she looked to Sasuke. "I-I'm a savior."

"Don't be too humble," Sasuke said.

"Yeah Hinata," Naruto smiled, "and I thought you'd be the damsel so I can save you."

"I-I was…b-but things ch-changed," she quickly wiped her eyes before the tears could come out. "I-I'm going to b-be going to go help in other n-nations. I-I figured I spent s-so much time helping you and Sasuke-k-kun, that I need to d-do something for me." She laughed as tears began to pour out a bit more. "I-I'm sorry," she wiped her eyes again.

Naruto saddened as she continued to cry, he was going to embrace her, but he looked to Sasuke who looked disappointed that he was trapped behind the bars. "You…You're going to leave…again?" Hinata nodded and looked back at the two with tears sliding down her eyes and a smile on her lips. "When will you be back?"

"A-A year…o-or so."

"You can't leave for a year." Sasuke said strongly. He blushed when Hinata and Naruto looked at him. He coughed and looked away. "I…I thought of getting some things done before the year ended and you are needed for those plans."

Hinata blushed and Naruto glared, "What plants teme?"

"I was going to make Hinata an Uchiha-"

"Like hell you are!" Naruto and Sasuke looked to see Kiba and Shino walking towards them. Kiba glared, "Hinata-chan is a kunoichi, it's her job to help others when needed. As much as you both need help, you can go and fuck off."

"K-Kiba-kun," Hinata looked to him.

He only smiled at her, "Come on Hinata-chan," he motioned her towards the exit, "Akamaru is lonely outside since they wouldn't let me bring him in. Then we can go."

"O-Okay," she nodded and looked back to the two men. "B-Be safe…a-and good." She bowed to them both and then jogged off to the exit.

"We are going to be escorting Hinata to the villages, and checking in with her every two months." Shino explained as he fixed his glasses. "I suggest that you two get your act together before she returns. Since, if you hurt her…"

"We'll fucking kill you." Both Kiba and Shino growled out menacingly and with hard glares.

"No one is going to hurt my little sister." Kiba said.

"Just a fair warning."

Naruto and Sasuke felt their eye twitch as the two men of Team Kurenai walked off while giving the both the middle fingers as they left. The two looked at one another and before they could blink Sasuke had his katana to Naruto's throat and Naruto had a kunai to Sasuke's throat.

"Best two out of three gets to date her first."

"First one to knock out the other gets to take her home, no sex."

"Last one to bleed gets to spend a whole day with her."

"Last one to pass out gets to go on a mission with her. At max, three days."

"We can never stop fighting, can we?" Smile

"It's not much of a fight with you." Smirk

"Teme"

"Dobe"

(End)

Well, I hope that it was all worth it. I tried to make this is long as I can to answer all questions and leave with an ending I liked. I couldn't pick who would get her in the end, so I just left it opened ended. I hope that you all have enjoyed this two-part and that you will join me for the next one. I'm taking request again and I am willing to add oneshots with ONE character GB'ed. No more than one.