"This is the last one" Sasuke said that night at the training grounds, as he gave her a small box containing mochi. Hinata accepted it with a gentle smile, and tucked it in the pocket of her jacket.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun" he nodded, before turning around and walking off. Eh? He was leaving already? Normally, he would at the very least linger a little. Why was he leaving so soon? "S-Sasuke-kun?" she called without thinking, only to almost jump out of her skin when he turned around, frowning.

"What?" the question was flat. Though it probably wasn't his intention, it sounded like he was annoyed at her for stopping him. She gulped, starting to fidget. She actually didn't have a question in mind or anything when she called for him. She was just curious as to why he was leaving so soon…

"D-Do you have a lot of t-training to do?"

"What do you think?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. His tone clearly said what a stupid question. Hinata also felt stupid. "What do you want, Hinata? If you don't have anything to say, then…"

"W-W-Would you like to train with me?!" she practically yelled, closing her eyes and holding the hem of her jacket with force. She had not planned on saying it, had actually just done it because she didn't want to seem like an idiot for calling for him without reason, but once the words were out of her mouth, she felt relief filling her. After all, she had wanted to ask him to train with her for quite a while now.

She still felt insecure about her abilities, but one step at a time, right? After all, Sasuke wouldn't make fun of her… right? Though… he did say some hurtful things that first time he taught her with the shuriken… And it's not like she's much better now than she was then. She really doesn't have anything to contribute to the training. What if he gets angry when she inevitably makes a mistake? Insecurity upon insecurity piled up in her mind, causing her to regret ever asking him in the first place. But then she felt bad for regretting it, because part of her really wanted to train with Sasuke and… and…

"Alright" he said, causing her to open her eyes in surprise. She looked at him, dumbfounded, and he shrugged. "I've been wanting to practice my taijutsu, but only if you're sure…"

"I-I-I'm sure!" she exclaimed, the part of her that wanted to train with him winning. With a lower, calmer tone, she added; "I-I just don't know h-how u-useful you will find s-s-sparring with me…"

"I guess we'll find out now" he said, before taking a step towards her. "Taijutsu only. No Byakugan, alright?"

"A-Alright" she acquiesced, and the moment the word was out of her mouth Sasuke jumped at her, a fist at the ready, almost managing to punch her on the face. Hinata squeaked, and quickly dodged by leaning back, before Sasuke countered with a kick to her legs. She winced, and backed away despite the pain in order to gain a little breathing room. She had not expected Sasuke to attack her so suddenly, but she wasn't going to complain. This was a spar, after all, and if her spars with her father had taught her anything, it was to always be alert no matter the situation.

When Sasuke tried to land a hit on her side, she raised her arm and blocked. She took the opportunity to kick at him, but the boy dodged it a little too easily.

They continued like that, hitting and blocking, kicking and dodging, until, finally, Hinata managed to touch Sasuke. Her palm connected with his chest, in the same way it would have if she had been using her Byakugan, and this destabilized him. The moment he fell backwards, Hinata took impulse with her other hand, ready to hit, but before she could do so, doubt crept up to her.

I can't do it. I'll hurt him.

The hit was going to land on his nose if she continued like that. She stopped at the last second, but that was all Sasuke needed in order to regain his balance and hit her instead. Hinata flew because of the force behind the hit, and she landed on the ground on her back, wincing in pain.

Sasuke had punched her on the stomach.

It really hurt.

"What was that?" she heard his voice coming closer to her. Hinata opened her eyes, not having realized she had closed them, and looked at him as he steadily walked up to her, a frown on his face. She was going to ask what he was talking about, but she was still winded from the hit and the words wouldn't form. Sasuke told her anyway. "You almost had me there… but you pulled back. Why did you pull back?"

So he had noticed… she supposed she shouldn't be surprised, but the only one she had ever sparred with had been her father, the strongest of the Hyuuga, and so she had thought only him would be able to notice if she held back.

That was a rather presumptuous thought, now that she stopped to analyze it.

"Um… well…" she said softly, slowly pulling herself up. There was pain, sure, was she was taught to stand it. She could at the very least move a little, now. "Y-You see… m-my fist was… going to h-hit you on the face a-and…"

"I know" he interrupted, not moving a muscle to help her up. Instead, he crossed his arms, watching her with narrowed eyes as she stood up. "But my question is; why did you pull back?"

"I…" she bit her lip, glancing away. "I didn't w-want to h-hurt you…"

She waited for the inevitable tongue-lashing.

"Are you stupid?" he scoffed, letting his arms fall to his sides with emphasis. "What do you think a spar is for?"

"T-To get better… w-we don't need to h-hurt each other…" she answered, brazenly.

"It has nothing to do with us hurting each other!" he countered, glaring at her. "If you don't give it your all then how are we going to get better? How are you going to get better?" he shook his head, turning around, causing Hinata's heart to stop. "I don't want to spar with you if it's going to be like this. It'll be just wasting time."

He started to leave, and Hinata gasped, running after him without thinking. In the end, she had gotten him angry. But not for the reasons she thought in the beginning. Her father always told her how important it was not holding back in a fight, and she never did so while sparring with him, because of how much stronger he was than her. But, she had thought that with Sasuke it wouldn't matter. They were the same age after all, and had similar levels when it came to taijutsu. Certainly they didn't need to hurt each other, right? Surely they could get better even while holding back. Not holding back was for when there were real, life or death battles, no?

"W-Wait!" she said, grasping his shoulder. Sasuke tensed, and she quickly pulled back, remembering he didn't like to be touched. When he turned to look at her, eyes narrowed and mouth in a line, she glanced down, to her hands as her thumbs twirled around each other.

"What is it this time?"

"I-I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean to o-offend you… I-I want to keep sparring with you, so…!"

"You will start taking it seriously?" he asked, and Hinata pursed her lips.

"I-I still don't w-want to h-hurt you…"

"I'm not so delicate I will crumble if you touch me wrong" he said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, you're too cocky. Why do you think you will get a chance like that again?"

"Y-You're right… I'm not that g-good, so surely…" she started agreeing, but Sasuke interrupted her with an aggravated groan.

"I was just baiting you! Do you really believe you're so bad? Your taijutsu is good, so stop being so insecure. It's so annoying hearing you put yourself down all the time!" he complained, surprising Hinata, who looked up at him with bewildered eyes. "Besides, I won't hold back. You saw that already, no?" he pointed at her stomach. Hinata nodded apprehensively. "Why should you? I will hurt you, and we'll both be pretty beaten up after, but that's how we get better. Do you understand?"

Hinata thought about it for a while. She understood, but… "B-But… this isn't a r-real f-fight, so…"

"Forget it then" he huffed, taking a step back. "I won't waste more time with this."

Waste time? Such hurtful words… but he was right. He had already told her what he wanted from her. What his condition was to keep sparring with her. She might agree or not, but that was not the issue. The issue was that he was leaving, angry, and she didn't want to let him go.

She had to do something about it.

"I-I'll give it my a-all!" she yelled, just when he was at the edge of the training ground. Sasuke stopped, but he didn't turn around. "I p-promise I won't h-hold back anymore! S-So please, s-spar with me!"

Sasuke looked over his shoulder, his brows furrowed in suspicion. "Are you sure? Because I really won't…"

"I'm sure" she interrupted, only to wince afterwards. "I-I'm sorry, you were still talking…"

"Never mind that" he shook his head, returning, his pace brisk. He halted in front of her, and pointed at her with an accusing finger. "I will spar with you, but if you hold back once more, I swear I will never, ever train with you again, understood?"

"U-Understood" she nodded, taking position. She was aware of the consequences now, so she better keep good on her promise. When Sasuke attacked, she dodged, and when he kicked, she countered with a kick of her own.

They continued like that for a while, with Hinata realizing Sasuke really didn't mind hurting her, as he had said. This should have made it easier for her to counter without guilt, but the truth was, she still felt bad and didn't want to hurt him. When the opportunity arose and she had a chance to kick him on the stomach, she hesitated… for all of a nanosecond, before throwing caution to the wind and going for it anyway. After all, the thought of Sasuke getting so angry he would never train with her, ever again, was scarier than the thought of hurting him while training.

She still felt like a weight had settled on her stomach when he was sent flying, rolling on the ground until a tree stopped his momentum. He had punched her earlier, but even he hadn't been able to send her so far back. Gasping in horror, she ran towards him, calling his name in worry.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Are you alright? I didn't mean to kick you so hard…!"

"S-Stop…" he grunted, pushing her hands away when she tried to help him up. He heaved as he sat up, but the look he sent her wasn't one of anger, it wasn't even one of pain.

He was actually smiling. Well, as much as a smirk could be called a smile.

"T-That was good…" he wheezed, a hand on his stomach. "Give me a moment to recover and then we can continue."