Hey, hey!

So, this is the continuation of Sasuke's question. Enjoy!

Hinata's mouth snapped shut after hearing Sasuke. She immediately started to blush the darkest color that neither Sasuke or Naruto has seen from her. She wanted to speak, but genuinely just couldn't make herself talk. All she could do was stare at the wall in front of her and not move. She was stiff as a statue and was barely taking in breaths.

She needed a drink so she could escape right now.

Naruto looked at Sasuke like he was utterly insane. His eyes were wide and frustration settled on his face. Sasuke was still lying on the bed propped up by his elbows as he was looking at Naruto. A cocky smirk covered his face and Naruto wanted nothing more but to punch it off.

Sasuke was still very cocky. He didn't think Naruto was a threat. He didn't see Naruto as a threat, which was a dumb mistake on Sasuke's part. Naruto was much more than Sasuke or Hinata even knew.

"Answer the question dobe. You think because she's here I won't say anything."

Naruto growled at him. Sasuke was so fucking annoying something. His arrogance was so top tier. They were on a mission. They were just attacked and for some reason Sasuke didn't care. All he cared about was getting what HE wanted. Getting HIS answers.

Then again. He was 14 years old. What did anyone expect? Sasuke wanted to know if the girl he liked. Liked him back. Teenagers tended to zone out real world problems for their own personal matters all the time.

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a cool expression, but deep down he was highly annoyed with Naruto right now. What made Sasuke mad was how fake Naruto was being. Like he didn't want the question answered. Like he wasn't curious. Using them being on the mission as an excuse. Sasuke bet if this was Sakura. Naruto wouldn't mind having this conversation right now.

"Umm…is there a p-problem?"

Sasuke's eyes never left Naruto. "I asked Naruto if he liked you. As more than a friend. More than a teammate." Hinata closed her eyes nervously and attempted to laugh the subject off. She waved her hands in her face in a manner to tell Sasuke this was all silly.

Sasuke finally looked over at Hinata. His cool black orbs gave her a bone chilling look. Still, Hinata was adamant on not discussing this right now. Which made Sasuke wonder why. Was it because she was nervous to find out Naruto was a womanizer? That he would date any female that liked him and Hinata wasn't anything special.

Or was she nervous that both Sasuke and Naruto liked her and it would ruin their friendship they created. "Sasuke please. This is all not needed right now. We are on a mission."

Sasuke smirked at Hinata as she spoke. He raised his chin up slightly and even Hinata would admit he looked very handsome when he was relaxed and devious. "What about you? Since dobe over there is too much of a coward to admit he has no real interest in you. You settle this Hinata."

Hinata placed her arm in front of Naruto to stop him from advancing to Sasuke. Her arm wasn't enough obviously so she turned around and used both her hands and grounded her foot to the floor to keep him at bay. "P-Please! Kakashi-sensei is in the other room with the client. Please, PLEASE stop it."

It's been a whole day that Hinata hasn't escaped. No alcohol and she was beginning to shake. She didn't need this right now.

Naruto was currently seeing red and wanted nothing more but to engage with Sasuke and wipe the smug look off his face. However, Hinata was making a good point. He didn't want to come off unprofessional by getting into a giant brawl with Sasuke.

Sasuke stared back at Naruto. A gleam in his eyes. "Hinata." Said person turned and looked at Sasuke still as nervous as ever based off his inquiries. "Sasuke."

Didn't Hinata see he was the better choice over Naruto? That he would take care of her better. Help her with her problems. Sasuke already knew what he wanted. He already saw it in Hinata. True he denied it for months and treated her poorly with his denial, but Sasuke figured out what he wanted before Naruto.

He was the better choice. Naruto still didn't see the worth Hinata had like Sasuke did. "Answer me, Hinata."

"I cannot do that. I…I am not even allowed to date."

Sasuke scuffed at her poor excuse, "Save it. My clan is gone, but I still have the understandings of how some things work. You can start courting now. If your family wedded you off. Stop acting like you are foreign to what we are talking about."

Believe it or not this made Naruto even more angry. Sasuke knew clan politics. Sasuke had the Uchiha name. Sasuke knew how to have a future with Hinata before he could even learn how to be good enough to ask Hinata out. Sasuke was born one step ahead of him! Yet he always acted like Naruto had it all. Sasuke had it all, but when he saw Naruto happy with Hinata he just couldn't let Naruto have that small bit of light!

That fucking BASTARD.

Hinata puffed her cheeks. Sasuke and Naruto watched her chubby cheeks grow red and full of air. She was frustrated. Again being called out to explain herself. "You do not understand. I do not have a choice. Please keep in mind that my title as heiress is stripped. When I turn of age my father will choose who I marry." Hinata looked away from Naruto and Sasuke. Her cheeks still flushed from embarrassment. "I cannot dwell on who I 'like'."

"You'll get the title back Hinata. I know you can do it!" Naruto placed his hand on Hinata's shoulder and smiled at her. Hinata smiled in return, "Thank you Naruto. However, for me to get the title back, that would mean my little sister, Hanabi, would have to be placed in the branch family. I cannot let that happen."

Sasuke looked Hinata over. A noble idiot she was.

She was the older sibling he thought his brother was. Maybe Hinata was a wolf in sheep's clothing as well.

Sasuke couldn't take his eyes off of Hinata. She was a wolf in sheep's clothing and he liked that about her. He liked that she had so many similarities to him and no one knew. That she wasn't a bubbly person that Naruto held on a pedestal. That Hinata was broken and liked being broken. Just like him. "Why would you do that? Why would you sacrifice your freedom for your sister? Think about it."

Naruto looked at Sasuke. He was angry for a moment and was about to lash out again until he thought Sasuke's words over. "He kind of has a point. If you take away his asshole way of saying it. Look at it this way. If you earned your title back, and took over your clan. Then you could change the rules for Hanabi so she wouldn't be casts to the branch family. Right?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto and smirked. So he did have brain cells. "Hinata." She looked back at Sasuke and saw that he had quickly went back to the question before all of this.

Sasuke noted how Hinata listened to him more. Made more eye contact with him. It showed Sasuke that his feelings weren't one sided anymore. She was beginning to like the way he talked and treated her. Hinata was understanding him more. Realizing that Sasuke was in fact, not a mean person.

"This question…It is not very fair. I-I like N-Naruto and you."

Sasuke's smirk dropped off his face and he immediately frowned at Hinata. Either she was emotionally idiotic like Naruto, or she was playing lost. He was starting to feel toyed with. "I am not talking about that level-"

Hinata squeezed her eyes shut again, "I know what you meant." She said this in barely an audible tone. It was more like a whisper.

Sasuke sat up from his position on the bed and was sitting upright. He looked absolutely confused. Naruto stood next to Hinata and leaned over so he could see her face. He was just as confused as well.

"What?"

"Huh?"

Hinata's face was beet red and she was taking deep breaths. Naruto took her hand and guided her to sit down because he had a feeling if she didn't she would faint. Hinata sat down and still refused to make eye contact with either one of them. "We s-shouldn't b-be talking about this."

Sasuke looked at Hinata's hand as Naruto held her hand. She was shaking and he was sure it wasn't from nerves. This conversation couldn't last too much longer. "Why? Because of your false narrative that you'll be sent off to marry some foreign stranger?"

Naruto felt Hinata's shaky hands. Naruto was a street kid. He's been around enough people that struggled with alcohol addiction to know Hinata was hurting right now. Probably triggered from the stress of the conversation. He rubbed his thumb over her hand in comfort. "Yeah. That's not going to happen Hinata. Won't let that happen. If you can't stop it from happening. I'll figure out a way."

Naruto and Sasuke in their own way were trying to comfort her. While this is the last place Naruto would want to be having this conversation about 'feelings' and who likes who. The timing was right. In the beginning of the mission it was so much tension built, now everything was slowly coming out.

Sure, Sasuke and Naruto argued. That's what they did. It was a rivalry that just would never go away. In reality Naruto respected Sasuke and Sasuke respected Naruto. While neither of the two would admit that, it was very obvious to see. Especially since their team skills between one another has gotten exceptionally better.

Naruto figured Sasuke brought up this conversation because he just couldn't hold it in anymore. When Sasuke came to Naruto's apartment it was only because Sasuke couldn't hold it in anymore. Sasuke was about to burst from months of not understanding Hinata or how Sasuke viewed her.

Now Sasuke knew how he viewed Hinata. He knew how he wanted to go about things and he just needed to know if everything was reciprocated or if Naruto was going to play two sides. Naruto was either going to be a girl chaser. Constantly flirting with the opposite gender till no end, or he was going to build with this team. No other way around it in Sasuke's eyes at this point.

Sasuke could say until he was blue in the face he was the right choice for Hinata, but he also thought Naruto should see that him and Hinata were the right choice for him as well. No one outside of this team would accept Naruto like Sasuke and Hinata did.

A lot has happened in this team that has shaped Sasuke into a different person early on. That was something he treasured. It was hard to come across genuine people like Hinata and Naruto.

Naruto sat beside Hinata on the bed and Sasuke was on the other side. Making Hinata a sandwich between the two.

"I-I…I don't talk about these sort of things. A-Also. It is very…selfish and cruel to say I like the both of you." Hinata looked absolutely embarrassed. Her cheeks were still heavily blushed and she still had them puffed out.

Sasuke figured her cheeks were sore enough from her cousin punching her in the face.

"It's fine Hinata! Like seriously it's fine. I think you and Sakura are pretty. I like you both. It's okay to like more than one person." Hinata nodded her head repeatedly at Naruto's words. Like she was trying to make sense of what he said to her situation.

However, if she was being honest, she didn't like what he said. She never liked the idea. "Yes…umm. Actually I-I don't like that."

Naruto had this shocked and confused look on his face. He looked at Sasuke who gave Naruto a look like he told him so.

Sasuke pointed out repeatedly, that Naruto liked Sakura because he wanted Naruto to get through his thick head that maybe, just maybe, Hinata didn't like that. That she didn't like Naruto gushing over other females in front of her. That she didn't like or want Sasuke or Naruto to do that.

"So. You don't like the fact that I like other girls? Well, sorry if I ever upset you by doing that Hinata. Honestly I had no clue you even felt this way." Hinata refused to make eye contact with Naruto, this conversation just becoming harder to continue. "Umm. It's okay. I n-n-never s-said anything. W-We are young. Still trying to get our careers going."

Naruto slowly nodded his head at Hinata. "Yeah…still you said you like me and Sasuke." Naruto grinned at Hinata and arched his brow, "Seems a bit hypocritical right?"

Hinata looked mortified and buried her face in her hands as she leaned over and tried to disappear from the conversation. "I-I know!" She squeaked this out. She's told so many personal stories and secrets about herself since this mission started. It was exhausting.

"I think there is a difference. You drool over Sakura and you don't even know her. You 'like' someone because of their looks. I highly doubt Hinata would like both of us if it was based off of looks." Sasuke said this as a mediator and to insult Naruto at the same time. Never missing an opportunity to call Naruto ugly or an idiot.

Naruto gave Sasuke a sharp, annoyed look. However, he knew Sasuke had a point. "Yeah, yeah I get it. I was just poking fun teme. Still, like. What can we do with this information." Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. Seeming to be okay with ending the conversation. "Nothing."

Naruto was fuming at this point. Sasuke brought up this awkward ass conversation and left it open for no reason. Just bringing awkwardness to this team for no reason. "You are the dictionary definition of an asshole teme! You did all of this for what? Made Hinata go through all of this for WHAT?!"

Sasuke looked at Naruto like he was being the annoying one. "Lower your voice idiot. We're still on a mission." Naruto's eyebrow twitched as he looked at Sasuke. He just couldn't be serious right now. Sasuke was in fact, very serious. "I like Hinata. You like Hinata. She likes the both of us, the same way we like her. Everything is answered."

Hinata sat up from her frazzled position and stared at Sasuke. "W-What?" Sasuke stood up to go to the bathroom. Opting to take a shower before Naruto now. "I'm not repeating myself. You heard me. I'm fine with the answers. You two figure out the rest."

With that he went into the bathroom and shut the door.

Naruto tried his best not to get upset. Not to throw a fit and thrash his legs around in absolute anger. "He's such an asshole. He just made a mess of everything. I'm sorry Hinata. I really am. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable like this. Especially after telling us about your…you know."

Hinata nodded her head. He was talking about her drinking. Something that she was noticing was becoming a problem since being on this mission. She's had no personal time and no alcohol to drink. She was getting flustered and more emotional because of it all.

Surely Naruto and Sasuke saw the difference. Typically if she was regularly drinking she wouldn't have even entertained answering the questions. She would have danced around them.

Naruto was lying on his back as he looked over to Hinata. She was sitting on the bed and played with the fabric of the sheets. He looked at her hand and saw that it was jittery a little. Maybe before finding out about her problem he would have said it was nerves. However, Naruto has seen many homeless drunks go through withdraws.

He reached over and took her hand. Holding her hand lightly. Feeling as her hand shook against her will. It was barely noticeable, and Hinata could still function properly as a ninja, but it was concerning to someone that cared about her.

He freely just held her hand in a comforting manner. What was the point in not openly expressing affection to her now? Thanks to Sasuke's temper tantrum they all know they're in this weird love triangle now.

Might as well enjoy Hinata while he could. Before he lost her.

Naruto knew Sasuke had a liking to Hinata all along. Sasuke was a winner and always got what he wanted so Naruto knew it was only a matter of time before he lost out on Hinata. Even though girls and crushes were on the back burner for him and Sasuke right now. Once Sasuke grew older and accomplished what he wanted, then he'd be heavily pursuing Hinata more then he's doing now.

Now that Naruto thought about it. He could imagine Sasuke being on Hinata's ass when they got older, because he harassed Hinata almost on a daily now. Oddly enough, Sasuke did this to both Naruto and Hinata.

Naruto really did have strong feelings for Hinata. Feelings he didn't understand at the moment, but he knew he liked her. He just knew he also couldn't compete with THE Sasuke Uchiha. "You know. Growing up in the streets was my doing. I could have stayed inside the orphanage and been a decent kid and grew up respectful. Instead I wanted to run around and be a menace."

Naruto smiled at his dark past and a chuckle left his lips. Hinata looked at him and gave him a comforting smile. He saw that she attempted to lay beside him so they could face one another and be more comfortable on the pillows, but she hesitated. Not wanting to be caught in an indecent scene or put herself in a situation she was much too young and immature to handle.

Naruto smiled at Hinata because she was so scared to live life. "I've seen some things Hinata. I wandered around the red-light district a few times. Just to see the hype. I've seen alcoholics, drug addicts. People addicted to girls. Girls of all ages. I don't want you to go out there anymore Hinata. It's not safe and you could seriously get hurt."

He still smiled at Hinata, but she could see he was very serious. "H-Honestly?" Naruto squeezed her hand for her to continue what she was going to say. Letting her know she could be honest. "I…don't think I can keep that promise I mad last night. I-I am really trying."

"I know. Believe it or not. Alcohol from what I've seen is the hardest habit for people to kick. I've seen it consume a lot of people growing up. I've seen people live normal lives and go from drinking socially, to living on the streets beside my apartment because they just can't stop. I…don't want that to be you Hinata."

Hinata sighed at Naruto. This was proving to be easier said than done, "I'm trying." Naruto pulled her hand towards him. Thus pulling Hinata closer to him. He took her hand and kissed it. Like he was telling her jitters to go away. "Try HARDER. I'll be right there with you."

Naruto told himself he would lose against Sasuke, but the other half of him wasn't willing to go down without a fight. Sasuke couldn't have her. Naruto would show Hinata he was worth waiting for. That he could be just as good as Sasuke. Even though he was a complete nobody. Even though his reputation in the village was complete trash.

Naruto would clean and fix all of that if it meant Hinata would consider him.

Naruto watched Hinata stare at the affection with wide eyes and a heavy blush. The corners of her lips twitching because she was suppressing a smile. Naruto smiled at this. He still had a chance.

Sasuke opened the bathroom door. Cleaned and dressed in his gear for the morning. His hair was damp, but not too wet to stain his clothes. He looked at the scene between Naruto and Hinata and didn't become upset. He thought something like this would upset him, but instead he felt more comfortable. More relaxed.

He saw the fire in Naruto's eyes. Good. Sasuke figured a little bit of competition would open Naruto's eyes to see what he could lose. Naruto may not know right now what he really felt for Hinata, but Sasuke knew Naruto didn't want to lose her. Now Hinata knows. "I'll be there too. So, don't worry."

Naruto slowly let go of Hinata's hand and rolled off the bed. He finally made his way to the bathroom and said nothing else as he closed the door and prepared to shower for the new day.

Sasuke looked Hinata over and sat on the bed beside her. Everyone was willing to share the bed. They were too much in a desperate need of sleep to be picky on who slept where in the small hotel room. The adjoined rooms only had two beds. One in each room. Sasuke was just thankful Kakashi didn't go the cheap route and get one room with two small ass double beds.

Plus, the bridge builder had a natural scent of alcohol on him. It was obvious on his free time he was a frequent drinker. Another reason it would be nice for Hinata to be separate from him. Sasuke laid on his back and closed his eyes as he heard the shower turn on. Indicating Naruto had started bathing.

"I imagine quitting cold turkey after drinking so heavily is hard. You're handling it almost too good. Aside from the jitters I see you get from time to time."

Sasuke ignored how Hinata didn't lay down yet. He could tell she was still much too nervous to sleep in a bed with two boys. This was something she would simply have to get used to. She was the only girl on this team, she would always be in this situation.

"It…is not enjoyable to be so open and emotional during a mission that is not going as planned."

Sasuke's eyes were still closed and he grunted in agreement. "I like you better like this though."

Hinata gave him a confused look. She was also slightly offended, but Sasuke just shrugged it off. "Before. You were hard to understand every day. Now I get it. This is the real you. You're not this mindless robot that just follows Naruto around to boost his ego."

He finally turned his body to the side and opened his eyes so he could look at Hinata. "It'll take time for your emotions to regulate, but you're uncomfortable because you haven't been able to feel anything in a while. Now you have to deal with reality like the rest of us. Trust me, this world we live in. It's not fun. You'll hate it, but you'll grow stronger from it."

Hinata looked at Sasuke for a moment before his intense stare proved too much and she decided to focus on his shoulder. He smirked at her. When she was a frequent drinker she didn't mind staring him down and shaking off his insults. Now Sasuke sees her genuine personality is just being a shy person. Not some cold, quiet, distant bitch.

"I…I like how honest you are Sasuke. You remind me of my brother."

Sasuke frowned and immediately scuffed, "Don't say that. I don't want to be cast in the brother department. That's not what I want to be to you."

Hinata giggled at him. That was a very…silly thing to say from someone like Sasuke. "I hear a lot, that people view Neji-nii-san as handsome. He has quite the fan base like you. A fan base he doesn't like either. I don't see Neji as handsome. I do see Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun as handsome."

Her laughter and happiness made Sasuke relax further as he stared at her. She knew what he wanted and she was entertaining it.

She finished her last statement with a heavy blush. She looked away from Sasuke completely and slightly jumped when Naruto opened the bathroom door. He was in his mission clothes for tomorrow as well and his unruly hair was slightly damp. Naruto shook his head like a wet dog and smiled at the two.

"Handsome you say?" Naruto laughed at this. He made his way to the bed and collapsed on the other side of it. Ultimately pushing Hinata in the middle and making her the sandwich again. Both Sasuke and Naruto not feeling comfortable having Hinata sleep on the edge. In case someone came in the room they would be the first attacked.

Hinata let out a squeal and an 'EEP' high pitched sound. Naruto and Sasuke never seen Hinata so vocal and characteristic. This was actually refreshing. It was nice to see Hinata actually be herself.

Naruto laid down and so did Sasuke. The two still noticing that Hinata was sitting up, still feeling too reserved to relax in the bed with two males. Naruto arched a brow at her as he made himself comfortable on the pillow, he was so tired. He'd be sleeping within 10 minutes once he got comfortable. "Hinata. It's fine."

Sasuke again said nothing. Even though he was the one to bring all the tension between the three of them. He only grunted in a way to show he agreed with Naruto. He did reach over and turned off the lamp so the room would go dark.

He ignored Hinata after this. She would eventually fall asleep. If she wanted to sleep sitting up and hurt her back then that was up to her.

The next morning Naruto was the first to wake up. He was sure he woke up before everyone because he was that much of a morning person. Naruto could hear Kakashi shuffling in the other room and could hear the loud snoring sound of the bridge builder.

Naruto looked over in the still dark room, it was morning, but still very early. The birds were up chirping, but the sun wasn't out yet. When his eyes adjusted to the dark room he could see Sasuke and Hinata perfectly.

Sasuke had an arm wrapped around Hinata's tiny frame. Sasuke wasn't under the blanket like Hinata was and still gave Hinata her space while his arm held her in a protective manner. Hinata was sleeping soundly on the same pillow Naruto was sleeping on. Typically Naruto was a wild sleeper, but tonight he was very much more mellow.

He didn't toss and turn. He was still sleeping on the shared pillow him and Hinata had. He found that his own arm was wrapped around Hinata and that he invaded her space way more than Sasuke did. Naruto and Hinata foreheads were touching and Hinata was holding Naruto's other hand under the pillow.

Naruto immediately hopped out the bed when he heard the door open to their side of the room. Kakashi poking his head in. Looking at the scene of a beet red Naruto and a sleeping Sasuke and Hinata. He gave Naruto a dull look, "I already saw you earlier when I did my checks. You all were cuddled together like an adorable family."

Before Naruto could answer back in his usual loud tone Kakashi waved him off, "Wake them up. We'll leave in 30 minutes. Now I have to wake up this loud man that snores could wake someone up that's in a permanent coma."

Kakashi shut the door and Naruto took that time to get the blush from his face to vanish. He turned on the lamp on his side of the bed and gently shook Hinata and Sasuke to wake up. "Hey. We have to leave in 30 minutes. Let's freshen up a bit before leaving."

His voice was low when he said this. Not wanting to wreck Hinata or Sasuke's nerves. They both were people that had a lot of anxiety and could easily have a horrible memory flashback if woken up wrong. Hinata stirred in her sleep and slowly started to wake up. Sasuke immediately opened his eyes, but was still not fully alert yet.

Sasuke took in his scene and saw the hold he had on Hinata and how she finally nestled in the bed with them. Hinata still trying to wake up. She stretched her body and looked like a cat that was waking up from a good nap. Her body stretched out of the sheets and into Sasuke and his eyes grew bigger. Now he was fully awake.

His arm was still around Hinata. She didn't notice there was an arm around her until she stretched so much her hoodie slid up and Sasuke touched her bare stomach. This immediately made both of them quickly separate.

Sasuke touched soft skin from a girl. Something that wasn't a girls face or anything typically exposed. He touched conservative, Hinata's stomach. Her tiny, tiny stomach. Holy fuck. He just found out Hinata had an outie belly button.

Hinata didn't give him permission to find this out.

Sasuke didn't mean to do that. He didn't mean to do that at all. Hinata's face grew flustered and she started to spit out a serious of stuttered apologies. Naruto chuckled at the situation and walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Sasuke cleared his throat to get better control of the situation and to stop Hinata from stuttering so much.

"It's my fault. I'm sorry." He really was sorry. Hinata was a very reserved person. Sasuke was raised better than to upset a female this much. His father would have literally punched him in the head right now and his mother would look at him with disappointment.

Hinata saw that Sasuke was genuine. Even though he was very sarcastic and gave the image off that he didn't care about others feelings. He did care if he upset Hinata and even Naruto. He's shown that twice so far. "N-n-no it's fine. We…We did nothing wrong."

Sasuke only nodded his head in agreement and left the conversation at that. Himself being way too flustered to carry on with it. Plus hearing Naruto laugh about it was too much for him to bare.

End of chapter.

So. What are they really? What are they doing? They don't know what they hell they're doing.

Naruto is confused. Thinking Sasuke is only looking out for himself. Sasuke is herding his teammates to do what he wants and Hinata is just trying to hang on man.

I hope you enjoyed. See you Wednesday!