Building a Bridge over your Barrier

[Genkai]

Two steps forward and one step back.

That's how her progressed seemed to go these days, for Hinata Hyuga. And at the moment, it was quite a literal task as the girl was standing on a path in the middle of the night. She had taken two quick short steps forward only to inch back a step perhaps out of shyness or out of nervousness. Hinata Hyuga was the wallflower in the village of Konoha, often the one who sat back and observed rather than throw her voice around hoping an idea stuck somewhere. Her life had been a constant push-pull struggle for her to find her voice, to find her niche. For the most part, there had always been someone else, someone much better than her and those doubts would settle into the large cracks of soul and seek refuge and comfort. When she became a Genin upon graduating from the Academy, she had been so pleased with herself, so happy that she could see something till the end when in fact, becoming Genin only marked the beginning of her lifelong journey of self awareness. Inside her head, she was more confident and thoughtful but on the outside, she had trouble articulating her thoughts in a manner that people could connect with. She couldn't help but admire people like Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura, Team 7 was filled with gifted individuals who could speak her mind without trouble, could be called upon without anyone cringing.

Hinata's group had someone who was a lot like Naruto, Kiba. And then they had someone like herself but a bit more quiet, if that were possible, Shino. Their teacher was a wonderfully skilled woman, someone who Hinata was sure she could try and emulate one day. Someday. Then the Chunin Exams began and Hinata really wasn't sure of herself. She didn't feel ready but she carried on with her team's support and they managed to make it pretty far. Yet in the end she ended up losing to Neji Hyuga, her cousin who seemed intent on taking the fight to a personal level. And while it was personal for her as well as her tiny amount of pride, it seemed even greater for Neji. In the end, several people came to her rescue but one stood out to her. One made her heart beat a little faster. That was Naruto, the boy who had been her silent cheerleader. Because her father had lost hope in her, Hinata found having hope in herself a terribly hard task and it was Naruto who she could relate to, as he was often as alone as she was. He even helped defend her when she found herself face to face with some bullies from school. And even though it was all in the past, she never forgot the look in Naruto's eyes. He was fearless and wouldn't give in, wouldn't give up.

He, and Kurenai-Sensei and Kiba-kun and Shino-kun all helped foster her potential and even though she failed to pass the Exams, things were slowly looking up for her. Her father was starting to acknowledge her once more and she was trying to train with Neji more often when he had time to offer. The kunnoichi knew her life would be a struggle but she didn't pity herself for it, she knew if she took things in stride, one step at a time, then she would become great, the kind of great ninja that Naruto-kun deserved to be around. Yet one might wonder why Hinata was out on a chilly autumn instead of safe inside her compound. She had a conversation with Sakura Haruno, Naruto's teammate. Hinata had agreed to help out with Sasuke Uchiha since she had the Byakugan and could keep an eye on him from any distance. Sakura seemed grateful and left. Hinata knew Sasuke and Naruto had a complicated history as friends and enemies and it seemed it was time for them to go down different paths. While she didn't know the details, she knew they had a fight recently atop the Hokage Monument which many people, Kiba-kun mostly, were talking about. It was then noted that Naruto would leave with the legendary Sage, Jiraiya to embark on a training mission to which saddened Hinata greatly. She knew he had to leave to get stronger but she didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to him, which to her was the worst part, the pain inflicted was of course unintentional. She and Naruto didn't exactly qualify as friends but she still cared for him deeply and she knew he did too, in his own way.

"Hey Hinata-san, I need a favor!" Sakura called out to the purple haired girl who was sitting outside with some tea at the local cafe.

"Y-yes?" She rose from her seat.

"I know this is going to sound out of nowhere...but I need to ask you to keep an eye on Sasuke-kun." Before Hinata could ask any questions, Sakura continued. "He and Naruto are really at one another's throats lately and he's been mentioning leaving and Kakashi-Sensei and I don't think we'd be the right people to ask him to stay. I know I'm asking a lot from you but you are unbiased, he might trust your word more than ours right now." Sakura pleased. "Please, Sasuke-kun can't make this mistake, with Naruto already gone, I'm worried Sasuke is going to do something drastic and with your Byakugan, you can keep an eye on him. Will you help?"

Hinata chewed on her lip, not really sure about the large task presented to her but since she was trying to be more bold, she slowly nodded and Sakura embraced her tightly which threw Hinata off balance. "Y-you're...welcome...umm..." Hinata flushed slightly and Sakura released her and gave Hinata a bright smile. Hinata could tell this favor meant a lot to her, and probably a lot to Naruto if he was around, so she would her best. "I'll...I'll make sure he's o-okay..." She said with some confidence.

And so from that point on, Hinata had kept Sasuke Uchiha in the back of her mind, always present.

When she was training, she would take a break and activate her bloodline to see where Sasuke was. And when she was about to go to sleep, she would once again activate her bloodline and make sure he wasn't in any harm. Up until earlier in the afternoon, Hinata was thinking of approaching Sakura and saying that Sasuke didn't seem like he was trying to leave but when she was done eating lunch with her team and catching up, she noticed Sasuke heading out of a shop with some items, a lot more than what the average ninja had for a stockpile. Hinata excused herself and managed to place herself on the roof of the Academy so she could see better. And for the rest of the day she watched Sasuke pack some supplies and mull around his own empty Uchiha compound. It was a bit sad to watch. But she decided to wait until the last possible moment before approaching him. Sasuke was an intimidating person and based on what she saw in the Exams, she didn't want to cross him in battle. Hinata headed back to her own home to have dinner and then decided to watch Sasuke and wait. She ended up figuring the route he was taking, which would have the least amount of traffic.

'You can do this.' She silently told herself again and again. Her heart started to pound so loud that she feared the cunning Uchiha might feel it from behind. But she tried hard to conceal her chakra as she followed him behind. There was a light breeze which made the air more cool. Had it been the sunny afternoon where the lines of summer and fall blurred, the wind might be considered pleasant. Hinata pressed her lips together and breathed in. Part of her was pretty sure he was on to her, which meant it was up to either one of them to break the ice. After opening and closing her mouth several times thanks to too many failed attempts, she found herself fiddling with her fingers, a nasty habit of the wallflower's. "S-Sasuke Uchiha...." She called out but instead of it sounding brave or assertive, it sounded very uncertain, very withdrawn. "I...I um..." Words failed her once more and she considered running back home with her tail between her legs but then Sakura's eyes flashed in front of her and then Naruto's and then Neji's. "I...I can't le-let you leave!" She stammered, using a bit more force in hopes that he would stop, turn around, applaud her meek attempt, take pity on her, and just go back to his lonely home. Sadly that was unlikely to happen but she promised Sakura that she would make sure Sasuke was safe and she knew that leaving Konoha was surely not a safe thing to do.

"I..." She stated to feel her chest tighten as she slowed her pace. Hinata put a hand to her chest, her fingertips running along her tan sweatshirt which felt like a straight jacket at the current moment. 'I cannot tell him that Sakura asked me to do this.' She thought. "I d-don't...I d-don't think you should leave...there are...people here who care about you." Well she wasn't too sure about that, but she knew his team did and that had to count for something, it had to. "Y-you're not as alone as you think you are!" Hinata found herself boldly telling Sasuke. Then she reached up and put a hand over her mouth, feeling as though she had overstepped a line and had set off some kind of trigger yet she wasn't sure if apologizing would help at this point or not. From a few trees away, Sakura had perched herself up in a tree, concealing her chakra perfectly and effortlessly. Her emerald eyes were watching the scene carefully, knowing what kind of a terrible position she had to put Hinata in. Sakura held on tightly to the tree as her legs were swung over the branch as a momentary flashback to her with Sasuke and Naruto almost a year or so ago back in the Land of Waves, back when Kakashi actually stopped to train her, as well as the boys. Soon it became all about Sasuke-kun which Sakura found to be quite hurtful. In her mind, had he done something more for her as a teacher, she would have wiped the floor with Ino's stupid face and moved onto the final battles in the Exams. But that was all over now.

And Sakura couldn't help but wish for the simple days to come back, instead she had to watch her teammates struggle with personal identity while she was pushed aside.

'Come on Hinata, you can do it.' Sakura thought.

[SoleAccord]

-~-

...You ....are weak...

A merciless blow to his ribs had sent him flying, resulting in a painful and pitiful collision against the thickest walls Sasuke had ever felt in his life. Upon the final drop to the floor in what appeared to be defeat, in reality he was ready and willing to continue fighting. The problem was his spirit was wounded, and had begun to sting much more than his fractured rib or broken wrist ever could. Easily tossed aside as though he was absolutely nothing worth being troubled about. The power of his Chidori, his trump card taught to him by his sensei, Kakashi Hatake, had failed. The power of his brother's Sharingan was great, and the talent in him had never faltered. It had become clear to Sasuke upon the complete nullification of his strongest technique that it may not have been that Itachi was much stronger than him, it was ...that he was too weak. With the determined shouting of his fellow teammate and ninja Naruto Uzumaki, both an idiot and loudmouth, Sasuke quickly dismissed his shouting to Itachi, trying to take the attention for himself. That idiot had no idea what kind of man he was dealing with ..and besides, it wasn't his right to face him.

"Naruto ..I said don't interfere!" Sasuke rejected his desire for aid, from both him, and his white-haired womanizing guardian. None of them understood the type of burden he carried, a burden that Itachi saw fit to give him just after the blood of every single member of his family was spilled for the sake of his test. Had Naruto known the kind of tragedy he had gone through, he might've understood why he was who he was. But then again, he believed it to be a lie himself ..Naruto ..always trying to get in the way, always trying to prove himself. Itachi was marked the day of the massacre, and unlike last time he wasn't planning on crying his eyes out and fleeing. This was as much a battle of hatred as it was a display of growth and strength. There wouldn't be any running ..he'd sooner die before he fled again. Orochimaru had destroyed that idea entirely, and even if he died here, he'd die fighting. Panting regardless of the lack of true exchange, Sasuke could see Itachi approaching him again, slowly stepping forward across the concrete floor and closing the gap between them. It appeared that he too understood what this meant to him, as did the others who stood by, watching, waiting for one to fall. His ribs sore and with one fractured, and the wrist used for his strongest technique now useless, even then the young Uchiha would struggle to rise as Itachi stopped directly in front of him, the cold eyes of his Sharingan staring down at little brother he had once loved so much. "This is my fight ..stay out of it."

At his feet, standing in front of the one man responsible for who Sasuke was today, and finally confronting the man who was his one and only reason to continue living, Sasuke Uchiha stood tall against the worst of odds.

"..Come on!!"

- ~ -

Night had fallen. The light of the moon was all that kept some light among Konoha in this midnight. Absent were children, adults, and elderly that usually walked these streets. The silence was welcoming, and the cool night air brought some feeling of peace to his tense body. Just ahead of Sasuke Uchiha, now having matured in multiple ways, lay the main gate of the Hidden Leaf Village and currently to Sasuke, the only option that was left for him. Ever since that day at the Inn, suffering a humiliating and crippling defeat at the hands of his enemy and brother, Sasuke had grown dissatisfied with the village and everyone around him. Ever since the Academy he was the best with marks nearly unrivaled by most of the students, and he was easily the strongest within Team 7. But something peculiar had begun to happen ever since Naruto had returned from retrieving one of the Legendary Sannin, Tsunade, and learning under Jiraiya. Not even gone for a month, Naruto had returned and had somehow become stronger in such a short amount of time. The missions they had taken over the course of a few months together had shown the results clearly. Naruto was ..excelling. He was becoming stronger at a rate faster than he himself, and it was unsettling. To depend on Naruto, the loudest and least talented in their class, didn't sit right. Was that the result that showed when you spent time in the company of a former Sannin?

His left fist clenched tightly, eyes focused intently towards the darkness that lie ahead to the point his eyes could see no further. One of the only people that was physically prepared to stop him for the sake of the 'bond' they shared had departed to grow even stronger, meanwhile that left him here, developing slower, and growing more displeased with his situation and himself as the days went by. Orochimaru had offered him power, and to this day the seal received in the Forest of Death was still present on his neck and had gone unused. Kakashi had attempted to seal this curse, but more and more the Curse Seal reacted to his desire for power, strengthening both his chakra and physical capabilities when the time had come. His gift that came in the form of Chidori was welcome, but to sacrifice the power given to him by Orochimaru for the sake of using it alone wasn't cutting it. Many variants of that jutsu were created and were each individually powerful in a variety of situations. It wasn't enough. In fact, nothing was enough, not while he was still in this soft village.

This thought, this desire, of leaving Konoha had been burning in his veins for over a week and Naruto had rejected the idea of letting him follow his destiny. And so, they had fought, fought up to the monument of the Hokage of the past and present, and atop it they had clashed for a short time. With Naruto's growth, Sasuke was able to be matched, something that was unthinkable when they were younger. Intervention by Kakashi became necessary a long time ago, but only until the final collision between his Chidori, and Naruto's Rasengan, did he finally appear and barely manage to restrain the two grown boys. The rivalry was taken another step further that day, and Sasuke's desire to see Naruto, his obstacle, beaten and destroyed, grew more than ever in that fight. It was more than a match of who was superior, it was a match that Naruto intended to use to convince him they could grow stronger together. It was an amusing thought. Him, an Avenger and a shinobi who stepped deeper and deeper in darkness, growing any further with people like Naruto, Kakashi ..and Sakura. Convinced he had long since surpassed each and every one of them, Sasuke felt no desire to acknowledge what withered and worn connections that kept the bonds alive. No longer did he spend time with these people outside of missions, and more and more he had begun to seclude himself, to debate on what exactly was here for him. The answer was ...

That presence behind him was felt drawing steadily closer, poorly hiding its presence ..or rather not attempting to hide it at all. Dropping all tension in his left fist, his right hand came across his chest and rested against the idle seal against his neck. No one else should've been out here, especially on the main road, and it only meant that someone likely intended to stop him. It didn't feel familiar, but time was less spent with peers and more time was spent planning what he was to do now that he acknowledged the Hidden Leaf as nothing to him. From this distance Sasuke was able to hear the breathing of the one approaching, focusing his chakra to his idle left hand but showing no use for that build-up as of yet. It was invisible to the naked eye, but for those with eyes as special as his, they could see the development of chakra focused to such an area. At last they had spoken, but it was not who he had expected whatsoever. Not Sakura and her beginning for him to 'be who he once was'. Not Kakashi and his pretend wisdom. No ...it was ...

"Hinata.." Sasuke had shifted his body to the right and gazed over his shoulder towards the shy and soft Hyuga girl, showing no interest in idle talk with the darkness in his eyes making that very much clear. Calling to him by his full name was considerably bold for a girl as withdrawn as her, and he wondered what exactly brought this on. They were never on much of a speaking level. Sasuke kept to himself, and Hinata to her own teammates while, on occasion, seeing Naruto for some purpose. Why appear to him now? Her stance had shown no aggression, and she didn't carry the will of someone who intended to stop him from making this decision with battle. No, instead she had decided to speak with him about his option, and she had, like others, likely knew of his battle against Naruto just a week ago. It was likely still being discussed ..anyone that did happen to see him gave him a look. Whether it was wonder, curiosity, or disgust, Sasuke couldn't say he cared for their opinions. Trash was trash, and that was all Naruto was to him. An idiot who got lucky, someone who didn't understand a thing about him yet still attempted to pretend. Ever since that day when he was younger ..he had vowed to get stronger by any means necessary.

Bonds just held you back.

Hinata, much like Kakashi, much like Sakura, told him with as much confidence that she could muster that people within the village still cared about his well being. Letting out a small huff of amusement from his throat, the Uchiha turned himself towards the gate again, clearly not thinking much of Hinata's attempts and instead thinking towards the future. Courage in her approach was unlikely, and this couldn't have been by her own desire, could it? No ..something else was at work.

"..I've heard it all before, Hinata." He responded quietly and with little intention of hearing more of what he had already heard before. The hand that held the curse seal from view had slowly slipped free, and now his elbow rested against the handle of his blade. Hinata had approached him with nervousness, but not hostility, even if her words would imply otherwise. And so, in return, he'd return the favor ..and not deal with her unless she intended to deal with him as his back turned. But she knew better than that, surely? He had far excelled those in the class ..there was just one person that could match him with certainty. Chakra in his left forearm had settled, and there was no intention whatsoever to harm her. Hinata could rest easier now, knowing this for certain, feeling the air grow less tense and more relaxed the moment he had faced forward once more towards what he viewed as his true freedom. "That I'm not alone, that people here care about my well-being ..Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto have all said this before. Even with your voice, my intentions haven't swayed in the slightest." Sasuke gave no ground emotionally, nor physically. Hinata would need to do a lot better than that ...

"Naruto wouldn't give the burden of keeping me here to anyone else but himself, he's that stubborn. Kakashi isn't the type of person to go to anyone else about problems within his team. Sakura ..." Words wandered off, his thoughts on Sakura and her own growth. Under Tsunade, a Legendary Sannin, she had become stronger and more capable than she ever was before her arrival. That was the power of learning under such a powerful and feared shinobi. Naruto had gone off to train with one, while Sakura continued to learn under her own. That left him without any mentor worth learning from. Kakashi, who he respected as a shinobi, just wasn't able to cut it compared to someone like Itachi. Orochimaru was the only other option, the only other person that Sasuke could go to to gain power faster and more efficiently than anyone left in this village. "I could've expected her in your place, but ..I'm surprised to find you instead." once again, Sasuke had turned his head towards her, his entire body remaining firmly faced towards the gate. It was clear that while Hinata's words weren't anything new to him, nor necessarily important, she was doing just enough for him to not disregard her completely.

"You've got no bond to protect with me, we're nothing to one another ..so why are you of all people trying to stop me?" He was unable to prove that Hinata was doing this of her own free will, but the signs were pointing towards this being for the sake of another. Perhaps for Naruto would she act on her own as one peer to another, or maybe Kakashi really did decide to ask one of the Konoha 12 to help intervene in his inner conflict. Sasuke suspected something, as Hinata and him had no real past to speak of.

Why her?

[Genkai]

As soon as the Hyuga girl had taken on Sakura's random request, Hinata had considered how to approach Sasuke Uchiha but whenever she thought about the boy she knew so little about, the less of a clear understanding came to the forefront of her mind. Hinata knew she was in over her head, that she would likely fail in her personal mission to help restrain a fellow ninja of Konoha to stay, to not throw away everything he had worked for. In her mind, she saw Sasuke leaving as a mistake he would look at in his old age. You could leave anytime, but coming back to the village would be a big hurdle to tackle. Hinata watched Sasuke's back as he didn't give her the courtesy to even look at her face to face. She tried not to let that infect her words. Sasuke told her that he had heard it all, that he had expected someone besides her, trying to stop him. She could agree with him there. Her heart stopped for a moment as he moved slightly, her eyes focused on the weapon near his arm but he didn't draw it. She wasn't a fool, she knew she couldn't match him battle, she wasn't about to try to use force, which in her past experiences, just made people more angry, more rash and less open to the ideas of those around him. As he turned his head again to address her, she strained her ears to listen as he said that they shared no bond. The male also seemed to be stuck on why she, of all others in the village, would be the one to try and change his mind.

"I..." She found her breathing a bit slow and hard to catch. "I...I know you and I don't...r-really know one another b-but..." She closed her mouth and took a step forward. She held her breath and took another and then catch herself and took a step backward to be safe. "That um...doesn't m-mean that...I don't c-care..." She found that she was having an incredibly difficultly getting her thoughts across. While Naruto made her nervous, the feelings Sasuke gave her were even more hard to digest. Hinata bit her lower lip and looked down at the stones underneath her feet. Her shoes suddenly seemed so fascinating. Utterly fascinating. "Y...you are a...a part of this...v-village." Hinata reminded him. "And...and m-maybe in time we c-could form...a...a...a bond." She finally spit out, a bit terrified of the words she herself just released into the air. She felt a bit dizzy now and slowly raised her gaze more upwards so that she could at least see Sasuke's back a littler easier. She already knew she was failing miserably and wanted to go home, wanted to apologize to Sakura and just forget everything she had tried to fix. But she knew if she backed out now, she would hate herself and that Sakura would hate her too, in some small way. Hinata gulped and tried to put herself in Sasuke's shoes even though she hardly knew much about him. Not knowing the details circulating around him as a person, was making it difficult but she still tried. "I d...I don't know...wh-what's out there for you b-but...do...do you know what's...what i-in here for you?" She asked him. From her point of view and considering her limited knowledge, it appeared like Sasuke wasn't trying to get to know anyone.

It just seemed like he was running away but he know what he was running away from? Even though she enjoyed hiding away in her shell of sorts, Hinata was aware of some of the kind residents living in the village, she couldn't believe that one person so young as Sasuke, could leave without feeling any remorse or hesitation. In a way, she could see some of herself in him, that he seemed afraid, unable to get close to people but unlike her, he had drive and ambition, which she was lacking. She decided to shift gears a little bit and allowed for silence to linger over them a bit longer before she wet her lips and tried to carry on. "I-I-I-I just...just feel you...you m-might...um...have a harder t-time returning...some day if you l-left like...th-this..." She quickly looked back down and listened to her own breathing. Surely while he wanted to leave, he didn't intend to stay away forever. Surely he wanted the option to return whenever he accomplished whatever he was set out to do. And if he left in the dead of night, he would be branded as a missing ninja and would be looked at with some kind of negative impression. Did he consider the far future at all? Hinata shifted her weight from foot to foot as she tried to collect herself. "I...I just..." She stopped herself and shook her head a little. Had she done enough? Was this all she could do? While Sasuke was correct in assuming she had nothing to gain from helping someone get him to stay, she didn't want him to stay for any reason but a sincere one.

People doing things for anyone but themselves were likely to fail and blame someone else for their short comings. For example, if Hinata did fail to get Sasuke to stay, she would be upset with herself and Sakura for putting her in the position but if Hinata had a personal drive to make Sasuke stay, it was better to use than than to rely on guilt or pressure from an outside source. So she tried to find a reason why she might want Sasuke to stay. The only that came to mind, weak as it was, was that they didn't know each other. Hinata did seem some subtle similarities between them but she doubted Sasuke did and would even care to befriend her. If he could barely befriend his own team, she didn't stand a chance at all. "I...I g-guess there....there isn't m-more I can tell you...b-but should you l-leave, I...I do admire y-your ambition...a-and strength...and...and your intelligence...s-so...if you do ever...w-wish...to...return..." She took a deep breath and hoped she didn't end up collapsing back into the ground behind her. Her heart was racing and she felt her head start to spin even faster. "P-please...um use them to...to return...." She told him finally, trying to get her point across, that if he had to leave with his head set, she wanted him to feel like he could come back, that he shouldn't second guess returning to Konoha, if he kept his intelligence and other traits. She found any more words failing her so she put a hand to her chest to see how fast her heart really was working. She blinked a few times and was more relieved that she hadn't fallen over or had taken a kunai to her throat. Hinata looked off toward where Sakura was, though Hinata hadn't detected her.

If Hinata had used her bloodline, she would have been able to spot the pink haired girl though. She took a few steps back and felt like she couldn't say or do anything else. It was far too easy to rub Sasuke the wrong way it seemed and Hinata didn't want to make matters worse if she could help it. Her heart would probably settle down within a few hours, at best. "I...I...um..." She wasn't sure how to just make her exit so she just bowed her head, quickly turned and ran back toward her home. As soon as she returned to the Hyuga compound, she went right to her room, ignoring anyone who asked where she was or why she seemed in some kind of medical distress. Hinata shut her door quickly and fell to the floor and shut her eyes, trying to block out what had just happened. She did what she could, and much more. Hinata crawled to her bed which had been made up by the servants and just in bed, not wanting to fool around with undressing and freshening up for bed. When the next day arrived, Hinata found herself sleeping in and woke up a bit too late to find Kurenai- Sensei or her teammates. In the back of her mind, she thought of Sasuke and whether he was around or not. She doubted he was, as her weak mumblings couldn't possible interest him in staying. Hinata rubbed her eyes and got ready for a new day. As she left the home, she caught sight of Neji training in the courtyard with Tenten. She smiled weakly to the pair but she was undetected as usual and carried on.

As she got into the main area of the city, she decided she could reward herself with some nice tea. She passed by the Ichiraku Ramen Stand and found herself missing Naruto. She found a small tea house that could sit her outside. Being a Hyuga meant having quite a lot of funds to throw around. Hinata nor many of the others, weren't big spenders so she had more than just some money saved up. She was still a bit on edge after the run in with Sasuke, part of her wanted to find Sakura but decided if she needed to know anything, she would be somehow found herself. So Hinata picked a light jasmine tea and sat outside to enjoy herself. While she was sure she had failed last night, she spoke up far more than she thought she ever would, espicially to someone as intimidating as Sasuke Uchiha. Her teammates would never believe her. Hinata found herself smiling gently as she took a sip of her tea. For now, she wanted to try to focus on the bright side, focus on her growth because slowly, but surely, she was getting better at being more bold and deceive and becoming someone people could count on. After she finished her drink, the girl paid and left a generous tip, then she decided to go for a walk to carry on the content mood she was wrapped up in. The leaves around the area were made up of oranges, reds, deep browns and light yellows. It was such a pretty sight. As she walked along, she neared the gate of Konoha and just as she was about to turn back to reroute herself, she thought she saw Sasuke.

Her heart froze for a moment as she began to realize she had indeed failed, despite having tried very hard in her mind. "S-Sasuke..." She whispered quietly, a look of disappointment unable to mask itself.

- - -

After Hinata had attempted to prolong what might be the inevitable, Sakura removed herself from the tree when the coast was clear. She planted her feet back on solid ground and headed back home. The kunnoichi had been recently taken on as Tsunade's apprentice to study Taijutsu and medical jutsu but Sakura wanted something more. She wanted someone who didn't have a limited amount of time to offer her. Since Tsunade-Sama was the Hokage, Sakura only got about an hour or so every few days, it wasn't enough for her and she was tired of seeing a pattern among those who taught her: negligence. She didn't deserve it! Sakura Haruno was tired of being pushed aside for something else. She knew the Hokage's job was important so she wanted someone who had plenty of time on their hands. She approached Tsunade about the issue who brought up Kakashi Hatake, Sakura's old teacher. Sakura was quite uneasy about the suggestion but Tsunade informed Sakura that she wasn't giving him too many missions at the moment and he didn't have a new team assigned to him so that he would be the best candidate to fill in the gaps that Tsunade was leaving. Sakura left Tsunade's office with a bitter taste in her mouth. She couldn't give Kakashi-Sensei a whole lot of credit, as he was sometimes a slacker.

On the other hand, he was strong and knew she was capable, but she still hated how he had pushed her aside, how he focused on Sasuke and now even those efforts seemed worthless. Sakura hadn't yet approached Sasuke about whether or not he was still intending on leaving. If he had decided not to go, the last thing Sakura intended to do was to pester him and make him reconsider. She honestly just wanted him safe, inside Konoha. Surely he could get strong another way, without pretty much selling himself to the devil. As the girl walked along, trying to consider all angles of her predicament, she ran into Ino who was on her way to the hospital to check on Lee. Lee was slowly recovering and she knew his teammates were worried but were also keeping up with training of their own. Sakura went along with Ino and the two talked about what they wanted to do about the future. Ino said she wanted to also learn from Tsunade and Sakura said she might have time since Sakura was considering going to a new teacher for help. Ino was quick to encourage her friend to go someplace else, probably so she could have Tsunade's attention all to herself and Sakura just gave a roll of her bright green eyes and entered the hospital. Things weren't very hectic so they could see Lee quickly without bothering anyone. Sakura only stayed for a few minutes before leaving.

She had too much on her mind to make small talk with her friends so she headed back out. She thought back to Sasuke again and then to Naruto, and finally back to Kakashi. She dreaded speaking to him for a few reasons. One, she didn't want another rejection. Two, she was sure he'd end up giving her some terrible lame excuse as he always did when he was late. Three, she was a bit cross with him and didn't want to start some fight. And four, she had no idea if he would even take teaching her seriously. Perhaps if Tsunade ordered it...though that wouldn't do much, now that Sakura considered that. She walked along and folded her arms. When she was with Tsunade, she had discovered she had an affinity for water jutsu as the paper she touched had become damp. Water was something Kakashi-Sensei may be able to help her with, as well as harnessing her great control of chakra. Sakura decided the worst thing that could come of confronting Kakashi was that he would turn her own. And if he did? Would she accept it or not? Would she make him train her for never really doing so in the past? Or would she not want to twist his arm, not wanting him if he wasn't serious. Sakura decided she would do everything in her power to make him look at her for once, to show him she was worth his attention, that she could be just as good as Naruto or Sasuke, but in her own way. And as s teacher, her shouldn't need her to point it out, but she would if she needed to it. With some better resolve acquired, she decided to find where the Copy Nin was lounging around.

The first area she checked was the training grounds, when he wasn't there, she checked the Academy but he wasn't there either. If she knew where he lived, she would have headed there next. She decided to try one more place before she had to put her elbow into it, so to speak. She checked the KIA Memorial Stone but he wasn't there either. Frowning, she conjured up a half a dozen clones of herself so she could cover more ground. As Sakura herself looked, she was keeping tabs on the clones. So far none had been destroyed and suddenly new information came to her from one of the clones that Kakashi had been spotted exiting a bookstore. Sakura quickly headed off to that location and called her clones off of the search. She saw a new Icha Icha Paradise in his hand though it looked like he had gotten through almost half already. Sakura had to assume that the perverted novelist had given it to Kakashi before he left with Naruto. Sakura wondered he had ventured into the store if he already had the book he so treasured. Sakura rolled her eyes and decided he could have been checking on something or just revisiting some of the older books. She really didn't know or care. Jumping down to the street, she looked to her right to where Kakashi had casually strolled off towards. Clenching her fists, she took off after him, not willing to let him even try to give her the slip. "Kakashi-Sensei!" She called out to him but when she turned the corner, he was nowhere to be found. Sakura growled and knew he had already sensed her coming, likely due to her surge in chakra when she had been watching him. Emotions could really let a kunnoichi down if they weren't thinking straight.

But she wasn't going to give up yet, she sighed and summoned up another small army of clones who fanned out and searched for Kakashi. She hadn't gotten a hit yet when she thought she spotted his signature gray hair moving down another street. From her point of view, it looked like a shark snaking away sneakily. Sakura wondered if he was just messing with her now, she wouldn't put it past him. Sakura decided she had to take this more seriously if he was going to. She took out a shuriken and aimed it at him as she quickly ran after him. It seemed this game went on for a while until Sakura had manged to get him back to their old training grounds. Sakura, who was holding back most of her energy, didn't seem too out of breath or anything. She was just fed up with the man in front of her who had summoned some clones of his own. Sakura released her jutsu, leaving just herself standing in the field from the man still nose deep in his awful book. "I sought you out so you could train me." Sakura informed him. "I'm beginning to wonder if you'd take it seriously, to be honest..." She told him. "I mean you never paid any attention to me before, I was on my own when it came to the Exams, I was so unprepared!" Of course during the course of those events, she did grow a considerable amount on the inside and out, but she still felt like he could have done better for her as her teachers. "I really think you owe it to me to train me right." She finally told him, her gaze unflinching as she stared at him intensely. "Tsunade is too busy to devote a lot of time to me and I want to be useful in battle, not just after the dust has cleared." She said. Tsunade had been polishing up Sakura's Taijutsu but they were only beginning.

"I think you owe it to me." Sakura told Kakashi once more. "I have earned your attention though I shouldn't have had to," She added calmed herself down as she waited to hear his answer. She couldn't help but hold her breath a little. "We're all that's really left of Team 7..." Sakura said quietly. She wondered if that made her teacher just as sad as it made her. She knew Kakashi cared about him but the way he was suddenly distancing himself didn't show it. She felt a bit alone after Naruto left with Jiraiya and now Sasuke was probably gone or at least no willing to be around anyone else. That just left her and Kakashi and she couldn't help but want to try and preserve whatever relationship she had with him, though there was hardly a teacher-student relationship in her opinion. If he did turn her down, she would want to know why, why in his eyes she wasn't good enough or whatever his logic may be behind it. She wanted a teacher, someone she could rely on, like the one they had on their first big mission to The Land of Waves. Whatever happened to that teacher who seemed determined to protect those around him? Sakura looked off into the forest for a moment, hearing a crow call out, probably hungry for some kind of berry that grew in the season prior to winter. Sakura hadn't really had breakfast though it was drawing close to lunch. With all of her running around, she had forgotten how hungry she was.

[SoleAccord]

It was either his very cold aura that was bringing Hinata such social discomfort, or it was her own lack of certainty with her approach. There wasn’t any secret behind Sasuke’s aura, and the more he remained here the colder it was becoming, and there were very few here he could bother interacting with. As of late, Kakashi was perhaps the only person he could talk to. Team 7 was dead to him, there was nothing to gain from working with them anymore and he had made it clear a week ago that he wanted nothing more to do with Naruto or Sakura. Kakashi was ..different. Even though he had no idea how he had felt, Sasuke felt that there was reason to respect the man. The Copy Ninja had always looked out for him as best he could, even going as far as choosing him to spend the month with during the Chuunin Exams in order to perfect his skills.

Hinata was air in an otherwise stale room, and a breathe of it in his presence, but the one thing that was causing him to grow irritable was her way of speaking. So many pauses, so much stuttering, and for what? If she lacked the confidence to confront him, why confront him to begin with if there was nothing she could say with one-hundred percent ease? There was so much indecision in her words that he thought she had no idea why she was really here either. It got to a point that he turned his gaze back towards the gate but continued to listen regardless. There was a growing desire to scold her for it. Where exactly was her strength when she could barely manage to be in his presence, and could barely make out the sentences she struggled to finish?

Sasuke’s body tensed as she spoke of caring for him, words that were easy to say, but difficult to prove. Caring for him wasn’t keeping him here where he wasn’t happy, where he couldn’t grow stronger. All anyone wanted him to do was move on, to ignore what that man did to distort the world around him, all for the sake of using the clan as a measuring tool for his power. Nothing was in here for him but weakness and hesitation. Sasuke had long since calculated what he had to gain in Konoha, and once he cared about his comrades and wanted nothing more than to protect them. That line of thinking had done him no kindness. It was Naruto who had beaten Gaara and saved Sakura’s life during the invasion. It was Naruto’s very teacher who had forced his brother to retreat, something Sasuke couldn’t even manage on his own.

Did he intend to return to this place after it was all over? Thought had been given to what he’d do after avenging his fallen clan, after Itachi had dead at his feet, but there was never a definite answer to this question. All this time there was only the revenge, never a consideration of the aftermath. Restoring his clan was a priority, but before he could restore it, there had to be the elimination of the very person who had wiped them all out. When confronted with this question, Sasuke had kept silent, because in truth he had no answer to what would come after his ambition. It took more than hugs and smiles to make a decent home. Even if he came back, people would still talk about how he was the last of a brilliant clan. He believed that in order to find happiness, Itachi would need to die. This was always questioned by Kakashi - would it really have made him happy?

Hinata spoke of admiration, finding his drive, his power, his mentality, as something worth acknowledgment. At first Sasuke wanted to scoff at these words that were so worn out to his ears, but when he thought about it more, he had begun to realize that unlike so many others, Hinata really didn’t have anything to gain from this approach other than what she wanted him to identify as nothing but ‘the best’ for him. There was no subtle desire to cling to him that he felt from individuals like Ino or Sakura. Her intentions didn’t stink of childish infatuations nor an obsessive crush that had no hope of getting anywhere. Stuttering wasn’t helping her, but at least by trying to muster the bravery to remain here and reach out without any history of lusting after him for his looks or skills she had successfully done more for him than just about anyone else from the academy days.

To have strength enough to come home …something had clicked in Sasuke enough to look back to her, catching the small steps she made away from him. It appeared that she had completed what she intended to say, or rather what she could manage to say, and had made a small retreating action due to lack of nothing further coming to mind. Sasuke himself had much to think about, but that was never anything new for him anymore. Her bowing being met with no such gesture, his dark eyes watched her back until she was out of sight and her footsteps no longer reached his ears. By the time she was out of sight, his head returned towards the gates. Time had passed, seconds felt almost like minutes, and minutes felt almost like hours. The moon didn’t move, and neither did the avenger who stood at a crossroads. He could attempt to walk away now, and leave this all behind him. Seek out Orochimaru, gain power, and defeat Itachi. Or, in contrast, he could give the leaf one more chance, try and gain power his own way, and accomplish his goal with those who would want to see him bury this demon forever. Goosebumps formed down his neck with the breeze growing more intense, and his focus was broken by a lone leaf soaring in front of him and flying past him toward the very direction Hinata had run off in.

Looking back ..perhaps that leaf was more than a leaf ..perhaps it was the right way to do things in the end.

The sun had risen, the people had awoken, and the decision had been made long before light had come. Sasuke was stepping out of the Leaf Village, not with a pack or supplies, but nothing but the clothes on his back and the tools at his disposal, making his way towards the old grounds that Team Seven had used when they were still what he considered a team. Sleep was no longer easy to manage, and upon returning home he had done nothing but lie in bed and wait for day to break through the darkness. Washing and remembering the air that Hinata had given him to clear out what was stale and old in his mind, he had returned to the same site where she had stopped him that night and pressed forward past it, continuing down the road and ignoring the gazes he had received on the way.

As far as anyone had known this entire time, the conflict atop the Hokage monument was merely a training exercise that had gone wrong. They didn’t know that during that struggle, there was the intention to end one he might’ve called comrade once. It was the fastest way to power, the method Itachi had revealed to him, the method to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan. It meant losing someone very important to you, and it didn’t discriminate between self-inflicted pain or incidental. No amount of memories would awaken it, the memories of walking into that room, seeing his mothers deceased form atop his dead father, and Itachi standing over the two of them waiting for the terror that would strike him. Naruto, Sasuke believed, was the easiest access to power, because Naruto was the first person Sasuke could call a ‘friend’. And now that gateway to power was gone. Only with that Sharingan could Sasuke confront Itachi.

He didn’t get far, feeling the familiar gaze of the Hyuga on his back and ceasing any movement from that point onward. Pausing, he looked over his shoulder directly towards her, his senses having not steered him wrong. Hinata was truly there, looking at him with a disapproving gaze and misunderstanding exactly what was happening. Perhaps it was with her eyes that she saw him head back here, or perhaps she had only passed through. It didn’t matter, because there wouldn’t be any reason for her to spy on him if she was his company.

“Hinata.” His body shifted towards her, now giving her the full attention she didn’t have much of the night before. Even from afar the lack of tension in his body was less noticeable, and Sasuke had almost appeared at some form of minor peace now. Meeting her eyes, a step was taken backwards with his left hand raising to beckon her towards him, before turning himself back around and proceeding to walk towards the training grounds. Hinata Hyuga, the most unlikely kunoichi in Konoha, was welcome to walk beside him.

-

The thing about Konoha’s bookstore was, there was always something inside to capture your interests. Books with heroic tales were aplenty, and those with essence of classic horror were not difficult to find. New orders came in every couple of weeks, promotion of the newest orders made with various posters around the village that would attract customers with a mix of reasonable pricing and an interest-capturing caption. The morning brought exhaustion and excitement to this humble store and the book fanatics were pleased with more material to add to the collections they kept. For one shinobi, the ‘infamous’ Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan Eye, the store left only disappointment. The real treasure was already right in his hands.

Lord Jiraiya’s latest book in the Make-Out series, Tactics, was like a golden treasure that no other book in Konoha could compare to. Having been an avid fan of Jiraiya’s works, but a lover of any decent book, the attempt to find anything of interest today was necessary. As one would expect, compared to Tactics, everything faltered. It had felt wrong to give any book other than the one in his hands a second glance, but he had tried, and as expected he had failed. Nothing compared to this series which recounts many of Jiraiya’s experiences in love, and upon reading these books it wasn’t difficult to understand why Naruto had nicknamed him ‘Pervy Sage’. Though his eye wasn’t exactly forward, the book was raised more than enough to see where he was going. To think he’d have the only finished copy in the world …

Lady Tsunade had not required much out of Kakashi or his team lately, and that left him with ample time to read this book not once, not twice, but at least three times over the span of a few days. Every little sentence was to be savored and fully grasped, and without need of training anyone, without a mission to prepare for, it seemed luck had smiled upon him the minute Jiraiya had returned. At peace and absorbing the details of a hot springs encounter, it was very unfortunate that Sakura had to call to him now of all times. Rounding a corner and maintaining his casual demeanor, use of the body flicker technique had allowed him the chance to escape and avoid her so he might be able to finish reading this treasure.

Unfortunately, Tsunade had taught Sakura more than medical ninjutsu, she had taught her how to be very, very persistent. Managing to make his way as far out as the site of Team Seven’s bell test, Kakashi had time and seclusion to read. Standing by the river and turning a page, he thought that after such an amusing game of cat and mouse she might have just left him be. Surely Sakura could understand that Make-Out series’ biggest fan couldn’t afford to put this book down for just anything. Why else dodge her up and down Konoha? The perversion of Jiraiya’s acts were amusing and equally embarrassing, but it was because of that that it was so enjoyable to read. In fact, Kakashi had almost forgotten he had escaped Sakura until she had inevitably caught up. Funny how just a few seconds could feel like an hour. That was the power of the Make-Out series.

Being informed of her reason behind chasing him up and down the area, Kakashi continued reading ,but managed to listen all the same. For some reason, the more she went on, the more Kakashi felt that she was insulting him rather than making a request. Never paid attention to her? Sakura seemed to be remembering the events of what had happened in the last year very, very differently than he was, and was misinterpreting it either to guilt trip him into helping her, or because she didn’t understand why he did all that he did. And he didn’t like feeling like a bad sensei. By the time she commented on the reality of Team Seven’s crumbling status, he had shut the book and placed it back into the pouch at his flank. Pocketing that hand, he turned towards her, looking very closely and identifying what exactly his problem was with the problems she was bringing to light.

“Sakura, you don’t know me as well as you think you do. Everything I’ve done has been for a reason, but it sounds to me like you believe I have it out for you …and as your sensei, that‘s sad for me to hear.” Sakura wasn’t a little girl, and so disciplinary action wasn’t to be taken. The worst he could really do is ignore her further, but that wouldn’t have solved anything, and it wasn’t like he was ignoring her out of cruelty to begin with. All he wanted to do was read his book, and along the way she wanted to chase after him. Why not make it interesting and see just how far she was willing to go to come after him? That was the only reason he had to flee from her presence. “But despite the insult I feel I’ve been given, I am willing to help you in your training. Just ..try asking a little nicer next time, okay? ”

The Land of Waves she had easily passed the training with chakra control before the other boys had, and with his body still recovering there was little more he could do. The Chuunin Exams were a true text of their skills as a team, and though she had tied with Ino, Kakashi had recognized that Sakura had truly bloomed in that battle. Training Sasuke for a month was because he had made it to the finals where Sakura had not, and he had different training for Naruto in mind with the help of Ebisu. There were things Sakura didn’t seem to be considering, and was using her hurt to hurt him as well. It never meant he didn’t care about her growth, it meant that there were other things that demanded his attention. Kakashi was in no mood to talk down to her about what she felt, and instead he only desired to put her mind on better things. Hopefully, when she had learned enough, she might’ve apologized for these words. If anything, Sakura was his star pupil from the beginning, but she had never seen it that way.

“The truth is that I’ve talked to Tsunade about your training frequently. Tsunade is far stronger than I am, with much more experience, and I put in a good word for you when you first began learning under her. She's the kind of teacher you deserved, and I hoped with her training you'd surpass me easily. Rather, I expected it. You're stronger than you know, you've always been.” Kakashi looked out towards the river beside him, and before he could continue further the awkward and lengthy sound of a grumbling stomach had cut any tension that might have formed between master and student. Once ended, he returned his full attention back to her, his one visible eye closed in amusement at the situation. It was awkward enough that he had to correct her on her opinions, but the sound of an empty stomach just made thing’s even more strange between them. Was the bond between them at risk too now?

“..Before training, how about we fill that stomach of yours? I’ll treat you to anything you’d like, what do you say?” Without an answer, Kakashi had already decided on returning within Konoha’s gates to feed her. No amount of stubbornness about it would be heard, and his mind was made up on feeding her should she be determined for this training. With no subtle intent on escaping her, or reaching for his prized book, Kakashi seemed more focused on talking with Sakura. If she had felt that he had ignored her intentionally, well, they had to mend such a misunderstanding immediately.

[Genkai]

She had no idea what he was doing or where he was going or why he was moving in the manner he was. Hinata couldn't help but feel her heart quicken, perhaps due to the uncertainty, the delicateness of the situation. In her mind, she wondered if her eyes were playing a dreadful trick on her. She saw Sasuke look at her, at her, in a direct manner. And on top of that, he gestured her to come with him. Hinata felt her legs lock up but inside she urged herself to move, to walk, to hurry up before this once in a lifetime opportunity fleeted between her fingers and the air around her. She slowly approached Sasuke and looked around before finally standing beside him. While she still felt a large weight of stress looming over her, she couldn't help but feel like something was different about Sasuke, she wasn't sure what. Maybe what she saw as his usual malice wasn't as strongly represented or present in his current attitude. That could cause some relief from the girl as she looked at him up and down before her eyes flashed to meet his own for two seconds, before they darted back in front of them. Sasuke began to walk and she followed, or rather kept up fairly well. Even in the way he simply carried himself, he was so confident and aware of things, Hinata couldn't help but compare her meekness to his boldness as they stood close to one another.

There wasn't a huge indication of what they what they were doing. She looked around and then back to Sasuke, finally deciding to speak up. "It's a nice day..." She carefully commented. "I...I..." Should she mention last night, his attempted departure? Hinata didn't want him to stay and hate her for it. Of course she knew that wouldn't happen. Sasuke could clearly leave whenever he wanted. He clearly had no reason to stay and yet here he was, walking around with her. It was a confusing situation. She had seemingly done what Sakura had asked of her. Hinata was more than surprised but was afraid to show it as it could trigger Sasuke's flight risk ideas. Instead she decided to talk about something else. "I was wondering if...if you w-would..." She paused again and looked down at her two pointer fingers poking one another as they usually did when she was uneasy, when something was trapped inside of her mind, longing to escape into the real world. "Um get something to...to eat with m-me." She proposed finally and held her breath. As it seemed he didn't signal a distaste for her offer, she bravely decided to take the lead. She walked them back around back toward the heart of Konoha. She could feel a series of glances come their way as they moved into the shopping district where they found a simple convince store with various drinks and snacks and sandwiches. Hinata paid for their items since it was her idea and walked out with the Uchiha. In the bag, they had whatever they had picked out as well as napkins and other supplies.

Once back out on the large dirt street, she turned and headed toward one of the smaller parks in Konoha. They had one large one with a playground and two small ones. Since she didn't enjoy the attention they were already getting, she decided to head for the smaller park. Their walk didn't result in any other dialogue and somehow Hinata found a comfort in that. Her mind was still spinning, trying to figure what to say and how to say it. Yet she had at least established that she wouldn't question Sasuke about last night. She would let him tell her should he ever want to. She wondered if he was welcoming her company because of what she said, that she and him could form a bond. Was that a possibility? Or was he being nice? But for as long as she had seen Sasuke out and about, and had heard snippets from people, he didn't really do nice things that often. Her confusion was amplified even more as she found them a bench at the foot of a grassy small hill. Hinata took a seat and put the bag of food down between them so she could better distribute the items. She handed him his sandwich and drink and took hers out as well. After that, she put the bag which still had some things in it, down on the grass under the bench for safe keeping. She looked at the sandwich in her hand and found this whole situation a bit surreal. She looked to Sasuke's hands and then back at her own, wondering how this had all happened. How had she gotten them to this point?

Suddenly she wanted to bolt again but knew she shouldn't. On one hand, she did wish to run away and hide. But on another hand, she wanted to stay, she was curious about everything this day had become. She slowly unwrapped her meal and set it down and turned to Sasuke, dying to talk to him but not even sure about what. In her mind, anything she said would be a laughable poor attempt at small talk. She didn't want to annoy Sasuke into just leaving her. It felt like she was treading in very dangerous water. "Sasuke..." While she only had questions for him about her and his position in the village, she tried not to go there, not to go down such a path. Not yet. She wasn't ready. Even though she grew up eating only the best, she did enjoy ham and cheese sandwiches, they were simple and enough flavor for her. Sasuke's sandwich was a little different than her plain ham and swiss cheese with pickles. He seemed to take a ham and lettuce with some mayo on toasted bread. Their tastes weren't too different. "I never found le-lettuce to be very flavorful." She commented. "I...I suppose you must like the texture...?" She asked him. Yes, she had resorted to talk about their food, rather than any of the elephants in the room. "Considering the...um toast is c-crunchy as well." She ended her train of bland thought and took a bite out bite out of her own sandwich. She chewed, then swallowed, then looked back to the boy beside her. "Do you cook very often?" She asked, the first time she directly spoke to him. "I...I enjoy cooking myself...but...s-since you're..." She was about to mention how alone he must be, so she stopped herself. "I...I...could...um...b-bring something b-by sometime if you...ever wanted something...d-different." She managed to offer, her heart rate picking up again.

- - -

It was evident that her words had done more than just startle Kakashi. Sakura watched him slip his book away and address her. Part of her wondered if he would chastise her for speaking up. She vaguely wondered if he had a place to even do that, considering how she didn't really view him as a teacher at the moment. How could she? He was hardly her teacher and if he didn't know it by now, he would never understand. His first words spoken to her said she didn't know him, that he was saddened by her lack of understanding. He was right, she didn't understand but she was trying to. Then the Copy Nin proceeded to say that despite feeling insulted, he would train her. Sakura never intended to actually hurt his feelings. She only meant to show him how neglected she felt and how she was ready to become something bigger, something better than the little girl that he meet on the rooftop of the Academy. Part of her had changed but she saw she could do more and Kakashi could agree with her on that point. What did surprise her, was that he had been keeping tabs on her, regarding her training with the Hokage. She showed a bit of new-found awareness at that comment, her expression's gaze softened slightly. Much to her dismay, he had managed to hear her stomach growl and she wish she knew a jutsu to just disappear. Even so, she held her breath as Kakashi proposed he take her to lunch. She didn't give him a verbal response but lowered her guard slightly and followed him.

The two headed off to the usual BBQ hang out that Ino's team enjoyed. Thankfully it seemed Ino was still off at the hospital or perhaps she was back at the flower shop. The only person she knew by name was Choji and who appeared to be his father. Sakura kept quiet, not to sure what to even say anymore. Part of her felt rather foolish for laying everything out on the table, but she had kept it in for so long. She wondered if their relationship was too beyond repair. If she had to drag Kakashi's attention to her, she wondered if it was even worth the trouble. She felt things were strained even now as she sat in front of him, pretending to pick out a selection just to avoid eye contact. It was as if she was trapped between the cliche label of child and adult and she hated it. Ino and Asuma had a fine relationship. Even Hinata and Kurenai and Tenten and Gai, believe it or not. So why was everyone around her so far away? Sasuke had gone, Naruto had gone and Kakashi might as well be on a mission millions of miles away. Ino was busy, Tsunade was busy. Even Lee was still recovering in the hospital. She felt utterly alone. She had potential trapped inside of her and while she could turn to books like she used to for help, for solace, she couldn't help but want Kakashi to do something about it. Shouldn't he? She set her menu down and looked off for a moment, debating if she should bring up how she was out of line, that she should have handled her issues with him properly and that if he really didn't want to train her, he shouldn't.

Sakura didn't want his attention if he only felt bad about what he did to her. Sakura sipped the water that had been given to them. She had already picked out the simple beef to grill, she didn't need anything fancy otherwise. She wasn't too sure what to say, not to mention that she and Kakashi had never been alone before, there was one or two times but everything in past felt so long ago she couldn't relate or bother to remember. "I hope Naruto doesn't turn into that pervert." She commented. Of course she doubted Naruto even knew about half the stuff Jiraiya, the Sannin, talked about. It was hard to remember how stupid the blond could be in certain areas when he was such a strong ninja by now. In her mind, she couldn't help but still see him as an annoying kid who barely graduated. But he was different, so was Sasuke. And so was she. The only person who seemed unchanged was their teacher. It was a little weird to mull over so thankfully they were approached and she gave her order, as did Kakashi. Now she didn't have anything to distract herself with. But she was bold, she would try to channel her energy from before into their current predicament. "Sasuke will never stop..." She sighed quietly, unaware that he hadn't left and was in fact off with Hinata Hyuga in the park. She wished she could be more for him, she hated to see him in pain because of his past, he couldn't even enjoy the present. She took another drink of water. "And neither will Naruto." Both boys had their own goals. Naruto wanted to bring Sasuke home, keep him safe while Sasuke wanted to kill his brother, enact revenge. What did Sakura want? Well, she wanted to be strong enough to stand by their sides and look after them. "I can't stop either." She said, mostly reminding herself.

"I want to be able to help them." She then looked up, formally addressing Kakashi. "I'm tired of being considered useless. Thanks to Tsunade-Sama, I'm not useless anymore but now that she's busier..." Sakura trailed off, trying not to get overly emotional again. "I just...I hate to sit around doing nothing when everyone else is busy doing something. I don't want to be attached to the hospital anymore. I've learned some useful medical jutsu and I know I'm not near done learning it but...I want to do something more." She tried to tell him. "But this isn't just about my Team," Yes she was still determined to keep them connected together. "It's also about me. It's proving myself to myself. I want to be able to protect myself and to fight for and with those I care about. I couldn't do it before..." She then thought back to the Exams when she was alone in the forest with the Sound Nin staring her down. She shivered slightly. Their food came and Sakura quickly took the distraction and went to grilling a few pieces of meat. When they were done cooking, she put them in her small rice bowl to rest and so the rice could soak up the juices and sauce. Her eyes stayed on the small slices of meat as she flipped one over and then looked back to the silver haired man in front of her. Now maybe it was best to switch gears before she bite off his head again. "I saw Lee earlier today with Ino." She commented. "I think he'll be just fine, he's pretty determined." That was a trait many in Konoha seemed to share: determination. "I could probably promise him a date if he recovers well enough but then I think that might make him push himself a little too hard." She smiled a little and took off her meat and began to eat it carefully.

[SoleAccord]

Within the first dozen steps it was recognized that bringing Hinata along was not really sensible. Sasuke was thinking this over in his head, remembering back to just how much she shivered and hesitated when in his presence the night before. The aura he released might've been a little different from before, but he was still that same young man who contemplated leaving everyone behind for what he knew mattered the most to him. In his eyes, he had come as far as he could by himself, taking the first and only original technique used by his teacher and creating many special variants to be used in a variety of situations. Still, even with such power, the call of the Curse Mark on his neck still hoped he would be tempted into unleashing its full power. He was easily the fastest in the village among his peers, equal only to perhaps Rock Lee who was recovering in the hospital, and among his peers, now with Naruto gone, he was the strongest remaining. A loser like Naruto being able to keep up with him still unsettled his mind. The more dependable he became, the weaker Sasuke had felt he was growing, and it burned him knowing he was out there with a Sannin getting stronger by the day. Admitting it was hard, but soon enough Sasuke believed he had reached his limit. The fact he had a source of power dying for use on his neck was also getting to him. It had reached the stage reached only in the Forest of Death when he fought to beat those who hurt Sakura while he was out. Naruto had witnessed it, as did Kakashi when he intervened, but he still chose to say nothing about it. Chidori wasn't what Kakashi hoped it would become, and the weapon he once told him to use to protect his allies, was now a tool to slaughter his enemies with no remorse whatsoever. Hinata couldn't hope to understand anything he'd tell her, how it felt being forced to remain here with a teacher who was no longer of use to him, and when compared to his former teammates he was falling behind. Inferiority couldn't be accepted, not when that man was still out there.

The thoughts in his head grew darker again, but were momentarily halted as Hinata had chosen to make smalltalk as best she could to ease the situation. It had occurred to him a little later that he hadn't justified why he gestured her to follow him, and that more than likely brought confusion to her. In truth, it may have been on a whim. This girl had confronted him when few others dared, swallowing all fear in her throat and fighting, poorly, to root him to this village, to make certain that he knew there were things there for him. The way Sasuke saw it, the only thing's here for him were people that held him back. Deep in his gut Sasuke had known he was outgrowing this place, and it took a terrible defeat at the hands of Itachi to show him how weak he was growing by staying here. No shinobi in this village had any chance of confronting Itachi Uchiha and surviving the encounter, none except that white-haired man, Jiraiya the Toad Sage. In a way, Hinata had reminded him that there were things in this village he still held a small amount of care for, yet Sasuke didn't wish to. Caring only meant more thing's for him to lose should he have failed, and failing again was not his intention. Hinata's comments on the day were typical topic-starters, but Sasuke didn't respond back, too busy focusing on what exactly he was doing with her as of now. With his training, all he'd hear was trembling, all he'd feel is her fear and concern, and that level of purity was against the darkness his chakra gave off of. He couldn't play it off - Hinata was going to prevent him from training at his best, and he didn't want to hear her moans of fear at what chakra and killing intent he'd release, killing intent that would easily snuff out the one he felt when Team Seven had to fight Zabuza, the Hidden Mist swordsman. Remembering back, suicide was contemplated to spare him death at his hands. Kakashi had assured them that he'd protect them, and so, Sasuke was reassured into calming down and facing him. That was the kind of power you couldn't be taught. That was true bloodlust. It was the power Sasuke was beginning to learn in his spare time, to exude an aura so thick with murderous intentions that the opponent wouldn't dare act. Full paralysis with nothing but trauma to the mind. All he needed was a proper test subject, because he had known that the intent Orochimaru gave off in the Forest of Death had far surpassed Zabuza's, and it was enough to hallucinate your own death. But who?

Halting in his tracks at the sudden invitation to eat, it was a good enough excuse for him not to bring her along with him to train, nor to have completely wasted her time in inviting her to be with him. He wasn't hungry, but he could eat. So, he turned towards her, watching her walk back towards the village and hesitating in following. There was no agreement made to eat with her, and training was a vital part of his day, as it was all he really had to do anymore now that the Hokage hesitated so much in giving him missions. With nothing to lose, and because her face would plague him for the next hour or two if he hadn't gone with her, Sasuke Uchiha was now following her back to town instead. Over the course of time, there was soon to be regret in this decisions. Eyes of curious villagers lingered on them, just as surprised as Sasuke was to find the two walking together. Him, the Avenger of the Uchiha Clan, one who carried so much hatred and strength, was with the former heiress of the Hyuga Clan, a sweetheart and kind soul. It was an odd pair to find, surely, but Sasuke would only shoot a look at the pair of eyes he felt lingered too much. Those who caught his glance quickly looked off and tried to focus on other things, but this would easily mean some chatter going about. They were peers, and she extended an invitation to him, nothing more. This didn't make them friends of any kind. Having retrieved all she needed, Hinata had eventually guided them to a small park, stopping them at a bench to eat. Once she had sat, Sasuke slowly followed, keeping his eye off her as much as possible. Throughout the journey he had considered trying to amplify his murderous intent, but for someone like Hinata, someone who didn't make it a habit to bother anyone, it didn't feel right to do it. She was soft, much like her body, and gentle, much like her fighting style. Sasuke knew he wasn't a kind a ninja as some of his peers, but even an action like that would've been despicable. Taking the sandwich he had requested in his hands, the Uchiha examined it a little longer than he had to. This entire situation felt foreign to him. How long had it been since he had sat beside a peer, had eaten with them? It brought him back to when Team Seven was still united ..and he wasn't certain if he liked that feeling.

Her soft-spoken nature would shine again, this time saying his name only to bring the subject to something entirely insignificant in the grand scheme of things. He was certain that somewhere inside of her, she was curious to know of what he thought about last night. It might've been the real reason why she paused so frequently, but she instead kept bringing the talk elsewhere. Pulling the cover of his warm sandwich down, he would take a moderate bite of it, letting its flavor soak itself against his taste buds as Hinata struggled to make conversation worthwhile. Lettuce added some texture to a sandwich, but to center an entire conversation around food was something better left to that Akimichi kid, Choji. In fact, the more Hinata went on about food, the more humorous Sasuke was finding this deep down. She was trying so hard to break the tension that all it was doing was proving to be kind of a laugh to him. The expression on his face didn't change, but he kept chewing, waiting for her to finish her chatter. There was no interest in her questions, no desire to give her these answers she sought. But when she kept her eyes on him, Sasuke's focus, which had been towards the ground before them, had been brought to her. From the corner of his eyes he examined her shy and curious form, seeing the light quiver of her lips, how the muscles on her face tensed whenever she was thinking, or whenever she was planning on saying what she might have been thinking. Without the Sharingan, Sasuke could read her fairly well. She was almost an open book to anyone with some intelligence behind them. Finishing chewing and swallowing by the time her last sentence had finished, the Avenger had at last decided to speak to her, and with how sudden they came she might have jumped at hearing him speak.

"Enough." His head turned towards her and he lowered his sandwich, eying her closely and watching for her shifts her face might have given off. "It's about time you and I got into what really matters. Last night, it was easily midnight by the time I was looking towards the gate, yet you were conveniently able to find me exactly where I was at such an uncommon time to be awake. You're in a compound with a lot of family, so you couldn't have been training out of fear of waking them up, you're too kind to disregard someone's feelings. That rules out the likelihood of your using the Byakugan for any innocent purposes. The way you confronted me, the way you spoke to me, all implies that you've been keeping an eye on me. That isn't something you'd ever do on your own." Sasuke had laid out everything he had considered that night, and it was more than apparent that not only was he strong, he was intelligent too. Hinata could likely try to devise any excuse she would like, but Sasuke knew that pressure affected her nerves and sense, which meant that hesitating would be a very big sign. Unfortunately, she hesitated a lot. Something was going on that she wasn't admitting to him, and Sasuke wasn't the type to play games. To get the point across entirely, he set his sandwich down between them with the drinks, and stood up. He had come around in front of her, directly, and lightly took her chin into the grasp of his right hand. Zero intentions of hurting her could be felt in his touch, which guaranteed that Hinata would remain safe and had no reason to fear a physical response. Gently, he lifted her head, bringing her face to view his, and he leaned closer to her, bending his body down and coming so close that he could feel her breath should she speak to him, and she could have felt his in return. "Look me in the eye and tell me the truth: Did you do it because you wanted to ..or because someone asked it of you? Which is it?"

Sasuke was placing her into a corner, and there was no scenario where she came out of this unscathed. He was anything but stupid, and if she hesitated for too long, it would point to her own guilt. All she had to do was tell the truth, and the combination of his calculated words, his imposing physical stature, and the eyes that now took the appearance of the Stage 3 Sharingan could now be forgotten. He knew the intensity of what he was doing would affect her harshly, but as long as it was clear that he wasn't going to harm her there was nothing she had to really fear other than actually lying. Daylight was burning, and she had minimal time to make a decision. Admit to him the full truth behind her appearance, or lie with minimal chance of success given her soft nature and deal with him calling her out on such a thing. Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura ...no one else would have asked such a thing, and none of them seemed the type to do something so low as to involve someone else with their own troubles.

"..Hinata." Sasuke was coaxing her attention again, certain that she was weighing her options and trying to buy every second she could with further stuttering over her words. There was no desire for him to scare her with his killing intent, but should it come to that ..she'd have no one to blame but herself. "I'll know when your lying to me ..make it easy on yourself while I'm giving you the opportunity."

~-~

The walk together was in silence, silence Kakashi didn't exactly appreciate but could do nothing about at this time. As Sakura desired her request to receive more training was granted, but with such outspoken harshness did she demand it of him. That wasn't the Sakura he knew, but her confronting did show him that perhaps he didn't know Sakura much at all. Still, he'd probably give her new bravery some credit thanks to Tsunade's own harsh and strict nature. Sakura saw what she wanted, and she tried to take it, even getting a free meal out of the whole endeavor. Konoha was certainly alive upon entering the village again, and strangely a lot of interesting gatherings seemed to be going around. Kakashi wasn't exactly the nosy type, but it was something about the Hyuga clan. The Copy Ninja could only guess as to what's happening for such a prestigious clan, but being optimistic he had hoped it was something good. Not straining his ears to hear further, Kakashi noticed that Sakura didn't appear to be focusing at all on any such talk, and was instead just focused on being beside him and taking the time to think about her own affairs. Deciding on barbeque for a decent place to catch a meal, Kakashi had led them there, opening the door for Sakura to step inside and catching them a nice booth. Business was modest today, and that meant service wouldn't lag. A good time for a meal then. On the way to being seated, Kakashi spotted Choji with his father Choza, and offered a quick wave of greeting to them just as their own service was being taken care of. The best customers any restaurant could have, he felt.

Being seated, Kakashi looked opposite of him and at Sakura's face, wondering what was really on her mind. Resting back in his comfortable seat, there was much they could work on, but Kakashi wasn't certain if Sakura was ready for the level of techniques he could show her. Water Affinity was a very situational thing that was of no use in most environments ninja's would operate in. As such, he would need to explain to her the basics of water ninjutsu and how to make the best use of her new element. The sizzling of the meat around him and the warmth of the establishment didn't destroy his focus, it only seemed to heighten it. The more he saw Sakura, the more he was seeing the adjustment in her over the past year. There was less fawning over Sasuke every chance she got, and it seemed that at last she was emerging from her comfort zone of book smarts to instead bring her ability to the battlefield itself. Work had to be done to ensure she wasn't getting too ahead of herself when abandoning her own chosen specialization, because if she was much too eager, it would be difficult for her to use his teachings to the fullest. He couldn't shake the strangeness he felt being alone with her like this. Normally Naruto would be here wishing they would go for ramen, and Sasuke might've told him to shut up by now, followed by Sakura agreeing with Sasuke and telling Naruto he was annoying. Then Naruto would look to Sakura and ask her if she could ever take his side, in which case Sasuke would know what he was ordering and Sakura might've ordered what he was ordering just to establish the clear affection she had for him and everything he did. Funny ..he could almost hear them now, and practically see them in front of him arguing like before. They were good kids, even Sasuke deep down ..how did thing's end up this way?

His right and only visible eye raised slightly, snapping out of his trance with Sakura getting his attention and starting some conversation. Jiraiya being a pervert was only uncommon knowledge compared to his knowledge as a Sage and fame as a Legendary Sannin. Though he could be a little dirty in the mind, his heart was in the right place as well as his mind, and Naruto would vouch for 'Pervy Sage' any time. The kind of bond those two shared was strong, stronger than anything Kakashi felt he had with any of his students anymore. Jealousy wasn't exactly Kakashi's thing, but Sakura had made him realize that he was unintentionally letting these bonds slip from him. With Naruto gone and Sasuke unwilling to spend time with any of them, Sakura was really all he had left now, and he had acknowledged this on the way here. Further mentioning of Naruto becoming a pervert were ..well, not too unlikely. His 'Sexy Jutsu' as he called it was a product of much hilarity for him, but to become a man that could be as lewd as Jiraiya ...he didn't see it. Naruto was many things, but never could Kakashi say he was a pervert, or could even reach the level Jiraiya had worked so hard to obtain. Instinct came to defend Jiraiya, claiming the perversion was simply for his research, but he had a good feeling Sakura might not like that very much. It didn't seem a good time for jokes. It turned out Kakashi chose right, as the subject moved from Jiraiya's perversion to Sasuke's desire to never stop until his ambition was reached, and how Naruto wouldn't stop until he could stop Sasuke from making a huge mistake and remaining real friends. Leaving was likely a difficult choice for Naruto, but Kakashi did swear that he'd keep a watchful eye on Sasuke, and that they'd all be here when he returned. He intended to keep his word true.

But Sakura wasn't finished there. The conversation became less about her teammates, and it had returned to her being the primary focus. Kakashi returned her gaze when she had at last looked to him, and he remained relaxed, hands in his pockets, as she released more of her true feelings after having hidden them for so long. So he watched, he waited, and he listened up until the food had come at last. He sat himself up, reaching for his sticks and took them in hand, splitting them. Taking his own meat and placing it on the cooker, his eye was on her yet again, as she seemed to have finished speaking long enough for him to add his own feelings and opinions. Reaching behind himself with his left hand, he retrieved his latest copy of the Make-Out series and turned it open as his meat began to sizzle. "Sakura..there is absolutely no shame when it comes to preferring to preserving a life over taking it. I know this, Tsunade knows this ..and you should know this especially, being the student of us both." His eye had moved to the page he was left on and looked down to read, flipping over his meat without even looking to make certain both sides were cooked evenly before consumption. Kakashi was quick to speak again before Sakura could point out that he was ignoring her, as that was not the case. "Lady Tsunade has instructed you on the fundamentals of being a medical ninja, and one of the rules is this: The medical ninja will be the last to die on the team. Preserving life is always far more valuable to a village, to a team, than anything else. With Lady Tsunade's fame being centered around medical ninjutsu, I would have thought you would have preferred the role of healer and supporting your team in battle, instead of being in the thick of it voluntarily." his eye left his page, looking up to make eye contact with her.

"I understand your desire to prove yourself, but I want you to know that you don't need to be in a battle to do it. Working hard in the area you choose and dedicating yourself to it to better support your comrades is the proper method. Promise me you'll at least think about it - fighting isn't everything there is to being a shinobi." This was no lecture, but giving Sakura proper understanding. She was in such a hurry to prove herself to anyone who would watch her that she was willing to look over the instruction Tsunade had taught her. The role as a medical shinobi was very clear, and Sakura was not disrespectful enough to throw away her teachings so easily. But, he could say that he understood her without physically saying it. She wanted more than merely being the back-up, but that was the role she decided on the minute she had asked Tsunade to train her. A girl so book smart likely would've done some research on Tsunade if possible. Besides being a Legendary Sannin and kunoichi, she was also responsible for saving the lives of thousands of shinobi during the last war. That was more power than any one ninja in this village could manage, and it was her ability to save lives that made her so powerful, not the ability to take them. Because of her, Lee could once again become a ninja. Tugging down his mask and, in typical Kakashi fashion, just happening to cover it from Sakura with his book, the lower half of his face would still remain hidden from her view. Smelling the meat he had placed, his eye moved back to the pages. "One day people will talk of Sakura Haruno, and how she blossoms on the battlefield. Never give up."

Kakashi had left it at that, taking a slice of cooked meat and slipping it under his book, eating it silence and allowing Sakura to do the same. The sauce was sweet and the meat crisp, cooked to perfection. Giving Sakura and himself time to eat allowed him to get a couple pages of this book in, as well as a few more slices of meat to consume, before Sakura had returned them to conversation. Kakashi's eye moved to her, thinking back to Lee again and how the recovery Tsunade had given him was more than likely exciting him beyond measure. Gai himself must be ecstatic to have his prized pupil be able to return to the status of shinobi after a period of rest. It was good to hear that Sakura's feelings didn't get in the way of spending time with her friends like Ino as well. Sakura was certain Lee would be all right, and that the promise of a date would more than likely hasten his bodies recovery. "Lee knows a good woman when he sees one. I'm sure a promise of a date when he fully recovers would get him back to one hundred percent in an instant. He'll be the happiest guy in the Hidden Leaf." truth be told, Kakashi would have liked it if Sakura had gone out for a date. She seemed so stressed out, confused and desperate when she should've been enthusiastic, confident and prepared. There was a lot inside of her that had been building up all this time, and it was surprising that Tsunade or Shizune were likely unaware of her feelings. He couldn't deny that it made him feel good knowing she could confide in him such things. Then again, perhaps it wasn't because they were close, perhaps it was just because they were what remained of the team. Kakashi wouldn't blame her.

Eating the rest of his meat in silence, Kakashi set the chopsticks down and took a long drink of his ice water before wiping his lips with a napkin and consuming one of the mints left and tugging his mask back up, all with one hand. Shutting the book that concealed the lower half if his face, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet just as the one who served them returned with the check. The price was reasonable, and was likely nothing compared to what Asuma had to pay when it came to Choji's eating habits. Placing the Ryo necessary on the table and leaving a generous tip, he closed his eyes and smiled through the mask, though it had always been difficult to tell without his eye being closed. Though the conversation had been less casual and more serious than preferred, it was nice to get the chance to spend time with a student, something he never got to do before. Slipping himself out of the booth, he moved to her side and extended his hand to help her get out. "Ready to learn? I want to see some enthusiasm after a meal like that."

The best meals were often ones you never had to pay for.

[Genkai]

It seemed her attempt to keep conversation superficial had been thwarted by the intelligent Uhicha. Hinata wasn't very surprised by this, she did wish to talk about their evening but she also wanted him to be the one to bring it up. In her proper mind, it would be rude of her to do so, which meant in her mind it was up to Sasuke himself to ask if he needed to know. Clearly he did need to know. The sandwich in her hand almost slipped to the ground before she set it aside. She didn't wish to ruin her meal because of her own reflexes. The way he had changed the topic was a bit harsh. She had thought she was doing rather well at making small talk. Her experience was minimal of course. But recently with her team, she was learning to speak up better, without hesitation or fear but that was her team and it took her a long time to trust them, trust they wouldn't hurt her. She wasn't eager to be a fragile thing though. Hinata wished to be like the others, but she found it terribly hard to just turn off her insecurities. It seemed Sakura didn't wish to talk about food or even weather with her and her body quickly put up whatever defenses had been lowered. The boy looked to her, rather intensely and began to sum up the night's events. Slowly he put everything together...how she was around where he was at a late hour. Of course, she had been watching him from afar for a few days.

And that made him ask an odd question, one she hadn't been prepared to answer. She slowly met his gaze after he asked if she had done it because she felt she had to or because she wanted to. She stalled, her face trembled slightly and she couldn't help but slowly let out a breath she had been holding on tightly to. "I..." This was an important crossroads, she didn't need her Byakugan for that. While she could lie and say she was training at night and saw Sasuke's odd behavior, she knew she couldn't lie well enough, not with Sasuke so close to her. She looked down for a moment, thinking about Sakura's request and then the girl herself. Sakura was a nice person, though Hinata didn't approve of the way she treated Naruto so badly, she knew Sakura was strong and had issues of her own. Like Naruto, like herself. What really threw Hinata off though, was the final words Sasuke had spoken to her. It came off as a threat, which made her terribly nervous. She didn't want her words to start a fight, or somethings lack of words. Honestly, she wasn't sure what to say. The truth was the obvious choice but Hinata wasn't sure how Sasuke was going to react to his own teammate sending someone else to stop him from leaving the town. By his tone, it implied that he wasn't happy and that he might turn to the person who pushed her up to this.

Then there was the matter of, did she want to do it because of Sakura or did Hinata do it for herself? Hinata had no idea how to appease Sasuke and it was beginning to make her head spin. She raised her gaze back to him, trying to decide between the many paths presented to her. "I um..." She tried again and decided to just say what needed to be said. "S-Someone did ask me...to...to...help you." She told him. "B-but I...I...I didn't d-do it for th-them." Hinata said carefully. "I did it...for t-two reasons." She had no idea if he would believe her at this point but it was the truth. "A-at first I wanted to...to do it for me...b-because..." Wasn't it obvious? She had a terrible time talking to people, let alone people such as Sasuke Uchiha. "I needed a push and...and then...the more I s-saw you....wa-watched you and t-though about what little I...I knew..." She paused and blushed slightly at the context, it sounded like she was some fangirl like the others who may have stalked him in the past. Hinata swallowed. "Um...I then wanted...to do it for y-you...b-but I hardly know you." She considered. "S-so I thought if you weren't...so alone then m-maybe you might stay." She licked her lips, realizing she was speaking in choppy bits which probably bothered and confused him. What else could Hinata do? Then her mind finally clicked some of what she said together, did she just say she wanted to be the reason he stayed? That wasn't it at all!

Her face grew a bit more bright red. The last thing she wanted was to keep Sasuke where he didn't want to be. If he truly desired the freedom to do whatever he wanted, he should do it but he should do it with consideration about after everything was done. She felt her heart pound against her chest as she thought about correcting her words. "I'm-" She almost apologized. "I'm glad you didn't leave." She then told him. "N-not because...it...it helped me...but because maybe...it could help you." She told him finally. Him staying did help her, while most would have considered last night's jumbling mess of stammers and pauses a failure, she saw it was a triumph and better yet, a valued ninja didn't leave his home. So she decided to try and put that into a kindness. "A...v-valued ninja didn't run away last night..." She smiled to him. "Thank you for l-listening to me." She bowed her head, her confidence slightly rising as she went back to her food though her hands were still shaking a bit. She found her drink and took a few healthy sips before setting it down. She had no idea what to really expect out of Sasuke. She had only seen him fight a few times, only saw him in class butting heads with Naruto. This was the first time, aside from the night before, where she was trying to get a sincere read from him. In her mind, she doubted he stayed because of her, perhaps something she said maybe. Since he may be staying in Konoha a bit longer, Hinata wondered if she should leave him alone now or at least inform Sakura of the news. At the moment, she did feel a bit lost, more so as she sat on a bench with the man.

- - -

Much to Sakura's annoyance, he took out his book soon after arriving and began to eat. While she saw this as "her time" she decided Kakashi saw this as "feeding time" so he could read and eat at the same time. She would let it slide for now. He mentioned her medical jutsu training and said he thought she would have preferred being one on a team. Sakura shook her head a little. Since she had gotten a taste for it, she enjoyed her work but it wasn't where she felt she belonged. The things she learned even in just a few weeks were useful and would save lives but Sakura didn't find her heard in it. She knew as a woman, she would be expected to learn medical jutsu and to be the glue within the team should chaos strike down upon their land. It was a noble art to learn and to be looked upon in times of trouble. Sakura didn't want to be pigeonholed though. Kakashi then went on to say fighting wasn't everything. She knew that by now. She had been given time to mull over everything she had learned from basic healing and control, to powerful jutsu she unleaded with a single connection from her fist to her opponent. Her eyes looked at him, not wavering as she took a bite of rice. As much as she wanted to speak up and saw how much time and consideration had gone into her decision, she would let him speak. He had to.

Sakura straightened up slightly as she then mentioned at someday, people would speak of her, much like they did ninja such as Kakashi Hatake. She wasn't fighting for glory. But if a ninja did, they'd die by their sword as they should. Ninja who fought for their village, their family and friends, those were ones who went far beyond any expectations. At her teacher's comment regarding her light one about Lee, she smiled a little. Lee was a nice boy and while she didn't fawn over him like he did her, she did owe him a lot of thanks. He saved her life as well as those of her teammates. Sakura wouldn't want to lead him on improperly but she would befriend him as best she could. He was strong in his art, albeit overly passionate, but still he was a wonderful ninja for Konoha to have. Sakura didn't have anything vocal to say in regards to his considerate comment about Lee being a lucky guy. All she could do with give him a sincere smile, showing she was flattered by his words. "All I can do for now, is visit him." She just told Kakashi. The rest of the meal seemed to pass on, while Sakura had a lot on her mind, she barely had an interest in the person across from her, considering that had a mask on and were attempting to eat lunch. She remembered when their team tried to figure out what was under it. Of course they all failed, Kakashi being far too sneaky to be brought down by his own bored students. Another mission for another time. Since Sakura was now being taken under his wing, it was possible that they'd have a few more outings and another chance for Sakura's curious eyes to see what Kakashi was hiding. To her, it must be some kind of battle scar.

Naruto's imagination was far worse. Sakura wiped her mouth as Kakashi paid for the bill. Since she had always been so busy with training or reading, she hadn't really been out on a date. She couldn't consider their outings as a team as a date. Sakura couldn't help but watch Ino off dating a few guys in between training and small missions, and couldn't help but feel a little left out. Usually when she visioned herself out in Konoha on a date, Sasuke was on her arm and they were enjoying one another's company. But lately, she had started to see how unrealistic those visions were. Sasuke hardly smiled, let alone around her. Sakura knew Ino wanted her to get out more, to live a little since she was getting older. Sakura just hadn't found anyone outside of Sasuke who really interested her. Maybe if she kept waiting for the guy, she would die alone. Obviously dating was not in the forefront of her mind but since Kakashi, a man, had paid for her meal, it reminded the pink haired kunnoichi how she hadn't been on a date before. She inwardly groaned and told herself this whole lunch had not been a date, at best it was two ninja of Konoha talking about their goals for the future. So it was not a date. Before she knew it, Kakashi had already gotten up and moved to her, as she probably appeared a bit distant. "Hm?" Sakura looked to him and then his hand. And before her mind could stop herself, her face flushed a bright pink. "O-oh right, of course!" She carefully took his hand and he helped her up without any trouble. "Thank you." She found herself saying.

The two headed out of the BBQ restaurant and Sakura attempted to clear her head of any sort of regrets she may have. She released his hand as they headed down the street, finding it odd enough that she had lightly held it for long enough already. Kakashi could have purposely thrown her for a loop with his nice gesture but she didn't think that was the case. He wasn't like that. So Sakura focused on training as it seemed they were heading off to their usual training grounds which no one else had occupied since the utter disbandment after the Exams. "I do hope to become a Chunin." She told Kakashi as they walked. "Last time we had to preform in groups of three, I thought I heard Lee's team was retaking it again or something, does that mean I need to find two others to enter?" She asked him. Perhaps she could find Ino and Choji, since Shikamaru was now a Chunin, much to her shock, the two probably wanted to catch up to their friend soon. "I've taken what you said into consideration." She spoke up, now talking about how he wanted her think about moving away from the medical training she had, into more rigorous physical training. "I know where I would be useful, in either situation." She told him. "Yet my heart is not in my medical studies...I was happier training with you and the team and I don't think it was just the company itself that made me happier." She quickly added in case he wanted to offer that idea to her. "I am very very grateful for what the Hokage has done for me, all that she has shown me but I feel I'm insulting her if I continue down that path much further without the same interest I had with where I left off with you..." She expressed. There was a lot of catching up to do but she had the capacity to learn and react fairly well. While she didn't have a Sharigan like Sasuke, she had more focus than Naruto at least.

[SoleAccord]

As predicted, Hinata had hesitated throughout. Even when he kept her chin in his grasp she still looked elsewhere with her eyes. Sasuke knew her desire to gain space from him, enough to successfully come up with anything she could without the pressure he was exuding, but he did not give her that kind of mercy. There was no intention of becoming a bully to force Hinata to spill everything she knew to him, as she had proven by avoiding the topic of who the identity of the person who requested her help truly was. Loyalty was a strong trait of hers, and as a shinobi it was ideal for you to keep secrets for the sake of those you loved and cared for. Hinata was that shinobi - a shinobi full of love and kindness who was the most unlikely out of their graduating class, next to Naruto, to successfully become a shinobi. Looking at her from this range, it was obvious that taking a life would be difficult for her, impossible even. As she continued to struggle to form the words she wanted to give him, Sasuke’s patience was surprisingly holding out, likely because he knew that the position he put her in was stressful. Idiocy wasn’t in him like it was Naruto, Sasuke wouldn’t have fallen for just any old excuse she’d come up with. Yet the more he went on, the more he believed what she was saying, not because it was definitely the truth, but because it was as he said before. Hinata was not the type to lie to anyone, and her efforts to speak to him even in this position showed her good will.

Hinata’s speech was much too cryptic and it left Sasuke finding difficulty in what exactly she was trying to tell him. She needed a push, but what kind of push did she need and for what? Was that push related to him, or the person who requested her help? Or was it the act of confronting him the push she was describing? It was tedious trying to piece it all together when she took so long to speak the thoughts that only she could express to him, but that was just the kind of girl she was. What impressed him was the fact that she could openly admit her ignorance, that she knew nothing about him to warrant any kind of claim to ‘love’ like Sakura did in the past. This, to him, made Hinata stand out more as a woman because looks and skill had come last on her radar for companionship. Purity was in her intention’s, not childish lust and desires that so many other women had held for him. It was the first time Sasuke felt that someone of the opposite sex cared for him without appearance or skill being a part of it. Hinata genuinely cared. Placing herself before him to be a reason for him to take more notice about what he had around him was smart, but did she think she’d be enough to make him reconsider his lifelong ambition? Then he remembered that Hinata was as ignorant as most of his peers about his hatred. Perhaps ..she should know, so she doesn’t waste her time further.

Reverting his Sharingan and restoring his eyes to their dark color, Sasuke released her chin and pulled himself back, turning and moving back towards his side of the bench and sitting down again silently. Taking his warm sandwich back in hand, he did nothing but listen to Hinata finish the rest of her words with ease. It appeared to show, as her stuttering, her pauses, greatly diminished when he did so. Sasuke too had to question why he didn’t go forward that night, but he knew it was Hinata’s courage, despite her ignorance, that caused him to hesitate for just a moment. Rethinking his trip, and knowing that they weren’t alone that night, it might have only caused more trouble for him had he pressed forward. Claiming him to be a valued ninja, Sasuke looked to her and watched her bow her head, being thanked for listening. From there, Sasuke hadn’t said much, only thought about what she said and what he could say to her in response. As time passed, more and more of his sandwich disappeared until he had only a small wedge of it left. His thoughts were scattered, but he had come to the obvious conclusion that Hinata wasn’t like the rest. She was different from the rest in multiple ways, and ..it was starting to get to him somehow. There was no explanation for it, but he felt ..strange in her presence. A mixture of peace and discomfort from that peace. Light that could combat this darkness of his.

“..Don’t I frighten you?” He had suddenly raised a question with no clear correct answer. Sasuke didn’t know what to expect from her if she had claimed no, but he knew that he sunk lower and lower into his hatred to find his power, and as a result was able to easily combat many threats because of it, even his former sensei. Having taken his technique and formed multiple uses with its power, Sasuke had begun to accept that it would be the very technique that may result in Kakashi Hatake’s death should he stop him from leaving. Eating the last wedge of his sandwich in silence, Sasuke balled up the wrapping in his left hand and took the drink, still closed, in his right. It was clear that Sasuke didn’t intend to stay and hear her answer whatsoever, and instead it was left as something she should think about. Was it really just her shy nature that resulted in that hesitating and stammering, or was it just the fact her own peace was under constant threat of being shattered by his discomforting aura. Getting to his feet, he tossed the wrapper into a trash can nearby and turned to leave. That was all that occurred. Sasuke hadn’t actually walked away like he had intended, but for one reason or another, much like last night, he was giving Hinata an opportunity she shouldn’t be given, but he was still giving her nonetheless.

“I’ll only bring you trouble, Hinata. This is one bond you should abandon..and not only that, but you should consider your status. A member of the Hyuga clan, a heir with a pure heart, spending time with the last Uchiha ..someone in darkness. Can you see this lasting?” Sasuke felt he had raised some good points, as Hinata’s reputation was also something she had to consider when it came to who she spent time with. The Hyuga were strong, but notoriously arrogant and proclaimed themselves the strongest in the Hidden Leaf. That may be true, but only because the Uchiha were nearly wiped out. But he was still here, and the result of his hatred could be felt exuded from every pore in his body. To defeat darkness, Sasuke was becoming darkness itself, and that was a path Hinata couldn’t possibly accept for herself. This whole time together, shopping with her, eating beside her ..would they really have been able to carry on like this? Though the question may have proven difficult, there was one thing Sasuke had acknowledged that Hinata may have taken some pleasure in. Despite such a miniscule amount of time they had spent in one another’s company, he felt that due to her efforts alone they had formed something today.

A bond - a bond that while still weak, was still present between them.

A bond with the opportunity to be strengthened.



~-~

Tenten had had it for today when it had come to rigorous training with ninja tools, and had soon left Neji’s company to head home and take a nice hot shower as a reward for her early morning training schedule. Yet when she moved around talking, certain talk seemed to be going around both excited and curious, but Tenten couldn’t find it in her to be nosy enough to inquire. The people shared gossip, sure, but somehow what was being spoken of seemed more exciting than usual. Perhaps it was another rumor that Lady Hokage, her idol, had lost a bet to give up gambling. To be frank, Tenten knew that while Lady Tsunade wasn’t the best at betting, the idea of ever giving up gambling for life felt much too unbelievable to consider. Downing some water from a half-full bottle, she was casually making her way for home until she happened to see a familiar pair of people in a nearby park to her left. It was just Hinata and Sasuke, nothing exactly new---

Sputtering in surprise, Tenten quickly leapt back beside what cover she could, and was thankful for the plain brown fencing for being nearby as it always had. Peering around such corner, she witnessed Sasuke so close to her, that one small nudge might’ve resulted in a kiss. Even from such a safe distance Tenten could see the red on Hinata’s face, and there was no way she could be blamed for it. Sasuke Uchiha was one of the most handsome boys in their age group, with strength and an incredible amount of coolness to him. Up until now though, he had never shown interest in any of the girls, which surprised Tenten since she considered girls like Ino very attractive, and Ino was never short on guys trying to ask her out. But of all people, to be going with Hinata like this …it almost made her jealous, but she was proud more than bothered by it. Tenten wasn’t self-conscious and knew that despite her lack of a clan name or special jutsu, her talent with ninja tools was nearly unrivaled. This was just Hinata coming out of her shell at last.

Come on Hinata ..go for it …go for it ..! Tenten thought, but inwardly sighed as Sasuke had taken away her chance to get a kiss. This could also be understandable. Sasuke was intimidating too, and recently his fight at the Hokage Monument had gotten a lot of people talking, and not exactly for the best. People worried about what would become of him often, especially after that conflict that at least half the village witnessed. Disappointed that he had sat back down, Tenten felt she wasn’t missing anything too important if she decided to leave early. The shower would have to wait, someone had to know about this!

In the blink of an eye, she was gone, rushing to the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Despite Ino’s attraction to Sasuke like most other girls, she was also pretty wise on romantic matters. Maybe they could get together and give Hinata some tips one day!

She couldn’t wait!

~-~

Stepping out of that shop, Kakashi didn't have the intention of pointing out that Sakura was still holding onto his hand faintly, and was thankful by the time she had realized she was holding on a little longer than what was expected. It was awkward but, at the same time, amusing for him. It helped show that while Sakura wanted to be tougher, she still clung to her old desires of just having a nice boy to date. Perhaps he'd do some talking later on, see if another boy like Kiba might be interested. But, then he had to consider Naruto's feelings, as Naruto was always there for her even if she didn't seen to always approve of his silly nature. The topic along the way was Sakura's as he guided her towards the training grounds of Team Seven once more. Becoming a Chuunin was a short term goal, but it was a good place to start as they hoped to progress in the ninja world. Kakashi looked to his right where he kept her, wondering how long she had kept this sudden desire to progress inside. It might have been spurred by Naruto leaving to get stronger, but it wouldn't be right for him to assume such things. Perhaps it really was the only motive she told him - that she was sick of being the one who lagged behind the other two in combat skills. With all this talk of the exams, Kakashi pocketed his right hand that she had held, opposed to pulling out his book for once. "The exams aren't for another year. That bridge will be crossed when we come to it, and besides, we're still in talks with Suna about the attack. They're apologetic and claim manipulation ..and considering it was Orochimaru behind everything, I wouldn't be surprised. Finding a new Kazekage for them may prove difficult.." Kakashi couldn't think of anyone with the power or the intellect to fill in the shoes the former Kazekage had left. But he knew they'd get desperate, as a village without a Kage was vulnerable to attack and invasion. It was lucky that Naruto and Jiraiya found Tsunade when they did.

In such a tense time between villages, Kakashi found it strange but impressive that Sakura wasn't letting it stop her from immediately desiring such a status. He didn't know what exactly it was that Tsunade did, but she had left a sizable mark. Next she claimed she had given thought to what he had said, but he wished it may have taken her a little more time to consider it. Sure enough, as they stepped out of the gate of Konoha together, her opinions hadn't changed at all. Kakashi wasn't sure he approved of her answer, especially with how little time she gave herself into thinking about it, but it just proved how certain she must have been about the entire thing. Medical ninjutsu was a powerful tool in a battle, and it was one that she was too quick into throwing away. The basics may not have seemed useful, but the advanced medical techniques were what truly decided many battles. "I thought you'd give it more time, but I see that your mind is made up. Very well then." there was no desire to get into any kind of argument about what Sakura wanted, because only she knew that. Tsunade herself may be disappointed as well to find Sakura backing down so quickly. There weren't many in the village who had that kind of chakra control at such an age. "Just think about returning to it after I've taught you enough, I'd hate to see you waste that kind of an opportunity. Lady Tsunade didn't need to agree, so ..make sure you tell her yourself how much you appreciated the time she gave you. It's respectful that way." Tsunade had been traumatized in the last ninja war, and had no obligation, as a returning shinobi, to teach anyone. In a way, Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if Tsunade had been greatly upset or offended by Sakura's dropping of her training. Would she have given up on him had he not been able to give her the time she demanded for training? It was something to think about; a student's level of respect often influenced the desire a teacher had to train them. He just didn't want to see her eagerness hurt those older and wiser than herself.

Arriving back to the very site she had confronted him, Kakashi looked to the water that flowed by, and stepped upon the surface. Chakra focused itself to his feet and kept his footing maintained easily. Kakashi had given it a little time to think about what exactly Sakura could have learned first, and found many things fitting for her. Stealth would've been key, as well as resistance to genjutsu like the one she so easily succumbed to during the bell test. But then he remembered that Sakura was growing headstrong and slightly impatient, that she needed something more than fundamentals to sate her desire for knowledge. "We'll start with something simple. Hand seal forming and speed. I trust you already know the signs by heart due to your knowledge, so I won't get into that. Instead, I'll be helping you learn a new jutsu, and while I teach you, you'll be learning to evade as you master it." Turning himself to face her entirely, Kakashi freed the hand he had pocketed and brought his hands together, taking a deep breath as he did so. In what appeared to be no more than half a second's time, Kakashi had completed a total of forty-four hand seals in no time flat, intentionally making it so Sakura couldn't keep up with him. At that speed, only Sasuke could. Just below Sakura the water had released a tremor before a pillar of water erupted beneath her, intending to send her flying airborne or at the very least get her to avoid the technique. The pillar itself had a head, and eyes of red formed its 'vision'. It was being maintained by Kakashi without a sweat broken, showing his true mastery as the Copy Ninja.

"Water Style - Water Dragon Jutsu ..you should be familiar with this technique." Whether she was soaked in the water, or had comfortably retreated, Kakashi stepped around the monstrosity being maintained. It was kept idle, though he still held the final seal - the bird - with his hands. This was the very technique Kakashi had used against Zabuza himself in the Land of Waves, and so it should be familiar. However, its power was easily beyond what she had witnessed so long ago. Kakashi's title wasn't for nothing. "This technique generally had a total of forty-four hand seals. Listen closely, because I'll only tell you the seals once: Ox → Monkey → Hare → Rat → Boar → Bird → Ox → Horse → Bird → Rat → Tiger → Dog → Tiger → Snake → Ox → Ram → Snake → Boar → Ram → Rat → Yang Water → Monkey → Bird → Dragon → Bird → Ox → Horse → Ram → Tiger → Snake → Rat → Monkey → Hare → Boar → Dragon → Ram → Rat → Ox → Monkey → Bird → Yang Water → Rat → Boar → Bird." For her sake, he hoped she really did catch all of that, otherwise this would be a long day for her. Breaking the seal he held, the menacing dragon dispersed and left droplets of water to scatter on the two of them. "Learning under a medical ninja would have taught you the importance of evasion, but you've never had to prepare a jutsu that long and evade at the same time. So, let's get started. You have until dusk to use the technique against me successfully. Go."

Kakashi raised his headband up, opening his eye that held the Sharingan, and stared Sakura down. If she didn't pay attention to him enough, he'd surely find an opening, but if she didn't focus on the handsigns this would take a good deal of time for her. He looked to her in a way that almost dared her to begin forming the seals ...

[Genkai]

Sasuke removed himself from her own personal bubble and began to eat once more, causing Hinata to follow suit. She wasn't sure what the silence that followed meant but she would wait until he had something to say, because she had nothing of her own to contribute anymore. With Sasuke almost done, words finally flew from his lips and reached her ears. They perked up slightly like a cat's but then might have sunk down at the question itself. Did he frighten her? Hinata looked down at her lap and felt her lips curl up in almost a small smile of sorts. Instead she just dusted some crumbs off of herself and sat back against the bench. His question was a simple one with a supposedly simple response but it really wasn't just simple. She was a creature who was often frightened, yes, but did it have much to do with the boy sitting by her side? It was a lot to consider. She didn't know Sasuke personally so perhaps the unknown which kept many at bay was scary to her. Or maybe he wasn't that scary because she knew so little about him. But when most people were asked if the unknown scared them or not, most of them would agree that it was a troubling idea. Hinata wasn't sure what to say nor did she have any inkling as to what he'd expect her to say. Of course she didn't want to just follow any kind of script he had in his head, she would try to say whatever she felt.

If she could.

Hinata looked up and slowly toward Sasuke when he said he would cause her trouble. Then he went on to talk about how the bond wasn't worth pursuing. He mentioned her status which almost made her eyes shy away in the other direction. Her actions, no matter how simple, were reflected as someone part of the Hyuga Clan. Not to mention she was an important part of her family's legacy yet Hinata's brow furrowed at that idea. She sighed and looked back down, not sure why Sasuke would even bring it up if he didn't care, even the slightest about appearances. Of course she had to care, it was that which made her terribly shy and uneasy in the eye of the public. What she did mattered. Sasuke didn't need to remind her of her duties. She then looked back to him with a bit of fire in her eye. She still stopped herself before she said too much. "I...I thank you for your consideration but I do not need you to remind me of my duties to my family, that everyone watches every move I make." She told him, voice only slightly raised in tone. "I...I...you...you don't really frighten me, Sasuke." She told him honestly. "I...just don't know anything about y-you and...and usually the...the unknown, the idea of f-failing frightens me." She had heard stories about Sasuke's power but she had no reason to believe she would be on the receiving end of any of his powerful attacks. "So maybe that's why...I-I'm so uncomfortable." She explained.

Then she took a deep breath, feeling her face become a bit more hot, more flushed as she spoke up. "As an im-important person to my clan, it should be my choice who I choose to befriend or not...and...and I feel if our clan turned a b-blind eye to you, Sasuke, we would be sending a...a wrong message to the village." She wanted to get her point across, that such clans needed to take care of one another in times of need. "Our hearts all live here, in Konoha." She told him. "We're not so d-different." She finished and pressed her lips together, realizing her point may have been poorly sent across to Sasuke. "Not that I-I mean I...I just wish to help you b-because of your status. That's not.." She quickly said. But since he had to bring up her clan, she had to address what he had said regarding it. And she had, hopefully he didn't get the wrong idea. He needed a friend and so did she. Hinata saw nothing wrong with getting to know one another if it would do them both some good. You never knew what would come of things until you looked back at them. "I do want to get to know you, if you'll allow me to." She said more quietly this time. She brushed some of her hair behind her ear and quickly began to clean up around them, ensuring that they didn't leave any trash around. Hinata stood up and took the bag in her hand and looked to Sasuke. "Thank you for your company." She decided to then take her leave and did just that. With a small polite bow of her head, she turned and walked off, tossing the trash away as she went.

She headed back toward her estate, not sure what to even make of the day's events. She had run into Sasuke and treated him to lunch. They didn't speak much except about his idea towards leaving and their possible friendship. In her mind, not much progress had been made. Yet she had been able to say what was on her mind, as had Sasuke. So in a sense maybe some, albeit little, had been made after all. The glossy eyed kunnoichi saw the afternoon was still fairly young and decided with some of the new found determination still rattling inside of her, that she could go train until dusk begged her to retreat to her nice comfortable home. Hinata walked along into a thick area of woods near the back of her home and activated her bloodline and went to training. Unlike Neji, she didn't push herself as hard, wasn't as rigorous as he was. She was gentle, mindful of her body and the motions she took. She could see everything, feel everything. Had someone been standing in front of her, acting as her sparing partner, she could have been doing herself more good. But her own team was gone for the day and she didn't have it in her to seek any of them out for such a short training session. And if she had, they would be surprised by her direct request. But recently she had been trying, trying harder and her father had been taking notice like Kurenai-Sensei had. But she wasn't training for anyone else anymore, Naruto had shown her what it was to be strong and confident. She needed to be train for herself. If she finally was brought into the good graces of her family again, she wouldn't complain at all.

- - -

She didn't really need Kakashi telling her how to address Tsunade-Sama about the training or change, Sakura already knew what she wanted to do, already knew how to address the matter with generosity and grace. Perhaps due to the way she addressed him, it made him warn her about how to talk to Tsunade but the warning itself was unnecessary. Sakura treated Tsunade with the utmost respect and had considered her own role as a shinobi for a while. The training wouldn't be seen as anything less than useful. Still, she felt it wise to hold her tongue and let him speak, as he was in the authoritative role to do so with her just listening. Kakashi finally switched gears to what they would be working on for the remainder of the day, which at first didn't sound like much. Sakura was pretty good with hand seals and speed, as she had proved in her bout with Ino but since this was training, she would always be trying to get better. What did pique her interest was how he would be teaching the new move. She would be trying to execute it while he would be showing it in battle against it. That was pretty interesting. Being pretty much top in the class next to Sasuke, she had no worries about the signs themselves. Had Naruto been in her place, she was sure the old man would have to go over everything for the kid but luckily she was always fresh on the basic signs. Once you remembered them and kept using them, they were pretty hard to forget. And for a moment, her mind did wander to Sasuke and Naruto, their old team which hadn't had much of a cohesiveness before it disbanded.

Now wasn't the time for reminiscing though.

Green eyes locked onto Kakashi's form as he preformed the jutsu. It did ring a bell, if she remember correctly, she saw it on their mission to the Waves. That only brought back more fond memories but she swallowed them, wanting no distractions for the time being. As he finished, she jumped back about half a foot to evade being directly hit by the demonstration. Of course she knew by the end of the day, she'd be soaked anyway. Even so, the attack itself had almost hit her but since she now knew of it's general use, she thought she'd be better at evading it now. But evading wasn't the point, no, getting the jutsu to work for her was the point. With her evading, she'd be busy with her surroundings, not just channeling chakra and making hand signs. Part of her wondered if she was allowed to try and detain Kakashi and his jutsu with other jutsu so she could fully concentrate on mastering the Water Dragon Jutsu. Her teacher then continued the lesson by telling her the amount of signs and then their order. Already, she knew it would be the move in her brain with the most seals to date. And if she recalled from her books, the jutsu itself was a B Rank, which was why it was so impressive and difficult. Sakura caught pretty much all of it and knew she wouldn't master it right away, or probably even within the given time frame but she would try, she was determine and not too discouraged by the level. She took it more as a compliment and a challenge from Kakashi-Sensei.

"Trust me, if I didn't learn to evade Tsunade-Sama's attacks, I would be in the hospital as a patient." She told Kakashi with a smirk. She leaped back a few more paces and began forming the long string of seals when the chaos began. She didn't get through more than half when he use the jutsu again. Sakura fumbled with her evasion and was hit from the side. She fell backwards and flipped back on her feet, now thoroughly soaked. She gritted her teeth and decided she needed to put some space between her and him. Her wet hands unbuckled her container of tools and she threw three kunai at Kakashi, not wasting time with adding any explosives. Since there was water around them, they would be useless if lit anyway. Sakura dashed over toward the trees and went back to concentrating on the jutsu but her brain was focused on the cold rather than the order and by the time she managed to complete the seals, her chakra released and nothing happened. Sakura realized her order was wrong thanks to her lack of concentration. And just as she had prepared to try again, Kakashi found her hiding and launched another attack. She dove for a branch and swung onto another one and turned around. Getting a shuriken out, she knew her efforts to hold him off were weak and poorly thought out but she wasn't being tested on the evasion itself nor did he seem to point out that she could only use the Water Dragon Jutsu. She took a deep breath and paused, thinking about aiming it at his hands so he couldn't preform the annoying jutsu. She didn't do that and instead created two other solid clones who threw their weapon at him while she ran off to try and get the jutsu right.

This pattern of attempt, flee, get attacked, flee, attempt, get attacked, flee occurred for many hours. She used her chakra to run along the trees, defying gravity and most ninja's stamina. As the sun began to sink down behind the trees and mountains, she knew her time was running out and she had only started to get the hang of the speed of seals needed to activate the jutsu. Sakura ran from out of the thick wooded area and headed right for Kakashi, already done with the hand signs. She launched her chakra and the jutsu was finished. A large towering dragon took form and moved toward Kakashi who countered with his own, how many he had made...she lost track. The two battled and in the end his ended up overpowering hers and a large wave of water pushed her back into a tree. She slowly got to her feet, teeth shaking a little. In her mind, that hadn't been a very successful attempt but it was the best she could do for the time being. The girl looked at herself and wished she knew a fire jutsu to dry herself quickly but decided she could reward herself with a hot bath at home. During the bout, the two hadn't talked much with the exception of Kakashi's few comments. Sakura mended the gap between them and wrung out her hair as it seemed the day had come to a close, making her even more cold without the comfort of the sun's rays. "Not bad...huh?" She commented to him, not sure what his opinion on her struggle.

Of course she was pretty hard on herself, despite the punches Kakashi hadn't pulled with her. "I think you should walk me home now." Sakura simply informed him. if it weren't for her small tired smile, one might think she sounded a little bratty. But she wasn't trying to be. "Considering how I can't really move my arms at the moment." Maybe an exaggeration. "You could do the gentlemanly thing and escort a nice girl home." She laughed a little, holding up a thoughtful finger to make her point. Since Kakashi didn't exactly decline to her suggestion, the two headed back to her home where she hoped there would be a hot meal waiting for her. Along the way, not much had been said regarding the day's events. Sakura knew she would need to talk to Tsunade privately in the morning about officially ending her medic training. Sure, the surly blond Hokage had stopped it for now but Sakura had come to terms that she now wanted to focus on something different. She was sure Tsunade would understand and put her faith in Kakashi-Sensei. Sakura slowly folded her arms over her chest as they walked, mostly to keep warm but to also avoid any sort of awkward moments with her female body and the male teacher next to her. She slowed down when they got to her door and she turned to him. "So I'll see you tomorrow...?"

It was confirmed that he would and she nodded in thanks and headed inside. Once she shut the door, she found her mother in the kitchen ready with a hundred questions which Sakura just said, "I was training with Kakashi-Sensei, I'm taking a bath first." And then she headed upstairs to avoid the big question as to why she looked as though she climbed out of the ocean. Sakura prepared a bath and spent the next hour in it. Once she was done and dried, she ate her food and headed right to bed. The long afternoon of training reminded her of training hard when Tsunade gave her her fulled attention. Sakura let out a tired groan and pulled the sheets over her, ready to get some well deserved rest. When the next day came, she slowly got up, her body a bit sore from the day before. Even so, she dressed and did her best to hurry down to Tsunade's office so she could talk to her before the day truly began. Since she and Kakashi hadn't really spoken about the training, she had no idea where or even when to meet him. Sakura poked her head into the office of the Hokage and saw her alone with her papers and sake. Sakura quickly explained her change of heart and profusely thanked Tsunade for her time, the Hokage in turn expressed sadness in Sakura's decision but ultimately said she was welcome back to train any time and that she wished Sakura good luck with Kakashi.

Sakura took a bow and exited the office to take a morning walk and hopefully give her body time to recover before she crossed paths with Kakashi again. As she walked, she decided to just head back home where she could relax and do some reading instead of wandering around aimlessly. And if she were home, she wouldn't risk running into Ino or someone else, so she headed back and grabbed some books and took root in the living room, soaking up the first rays of light while her mother cleaned.

- - -

Hinata's day began with less strain than Sakura's.

The Hyuga girl got p and enjoyed a well rounded breakfast and decided to find her own team. Hopefully they would be ready to do some training as no new missions had been assigned to them, to her knowledge anyway. As she headed around town, she spotted Sakura and ducked behind a corner. Since Hinata had spent time with Sasuke who was now staying in Konoha, she wasn't sure how to tell Sakura. She wondered if Sakura assumed Sasuke was gone or if he had seen Sakura and Kakashi-Sensei himself after reconsidering leaving. Hinata felt out of place even though Sakura had approached her first about the matter. Hinata waited for Sakura to pass before she kept on walking. Was Hinata feeling some kind of guilt? Or some kind of secret had been established between her and Sasuke? It was hard to say but the topic made her stomach form tiny little knots of discomfort. Thankfully Shino and Kiba found her nearby and they headed off to find Kurenai-Sensei so they could begin the day's training. Kiba couldn't help but say how he wanted missions to get stronger, to prove himself. Shino was silent on the matter and looked to their teacher while on the inside, Hinata couldn't help but somewhat agree with Kiba while Akamaru barked, speaking up as well. Kurenai said she would see what could be done and everyone disbanded in the area to train. Hinata headed off deeper into the woods, a bit more shy when showing off.

Calming down, she closed her eyes and began to clear her mind, and active her Byakugan. She began by attacking various points and then set her sights on something physical, a tree to toughen up herself. She began hitting it with the base of her palms, tuning out everything else around her.

[SoleAccord]

For all the rage he had carried in his heart and for all the relentless training he had dedicated himself to, Hinata's purity hadn't allowed her to see him as truly someone who should be feared. All she feared, was that she would fail, fail in knowing him and failing to understand what exactly brought this dark change in what was once a valued comrade of the Hidden Leaf village. It seemed that Hinata, unlike all others, was able to accept the ignorance she had when it came to him. No one knew what exactly happened between Sasuke and his brother, but they all wanted to say that he should let it go. Just the thought of his former comrades telling him to let that pain go was an insult he couldn't stand, and had they endured the humiliation and the agony he had suffered that night then they may have understood that it was an insult, and a duty, that he couldn't simply forget. The only one who could bring that man to justice was him, and no one else. It was early to think of this, but perhaps Hinata, a girl who never looked at a boy for appearance alone like the others, may be able to better understand what this meant to him. Until he understood her as much as she understood him, however, he didn't think it would be possible. Everyone seemed to be too busy assuring him of what he had in Konoha, to think about what was beyond the walls of it. If Team Asuma had lost their student, they more than likely would have gone out to avenge him. Any team within Konoha likely would've attempted that. Yet when it came to what he wanted, everyone wanted to hold him back from it, convince him it was wrong to do. The ninja world itself was wrong and unjust, but that didn't mean he needed to be sheltered from it given his past. Odds are, he has suffered far more than anyone else has.

All except maybe 'him'.

The Hyuga themselves always appeared to carry themselves above others, but Hinata was proving to be a living contradiction to that claim. People like Neji, who were confident and would proudly express the strength of the Hyuga, directly clashed with someone like Hinata who wanted nothing more but to befriend and be kind. Sasuke never thought much of any clan but his own, and planned to restore it someday, to bring fear to enemies who said the word. Hinata knew what it meant to struggle based on what clan you were from, knew what it meant to appear weak when you represented it. Sasuke had struggled when he was younger too, and worked desperately to impressive his father by mastering his fireball technique. It wasn't long after that approval that he had lost everything in one night. In a way, they had both struggled, but his pain would undeniably snuff hers out. The difference between the two was clear, and their idea of dedication was vastly different. He wasn't very responsive until she had said it herself - that she wanted to know who Sasuke Uchiha was. Stated clear and without hesitation, his head inched slightly to his left, contemplating meeting her eye to see her expression after such a thing. Hesitance was met, and knowing that he could fully understand her feelings without glimpsing at her face he kept his stance and instead lowered his eyes to the cold drink in his hand. Light shuffling behind him and the sound of wrappers and other items being gathered, he determined she was cleaning up after herself. Feeling the weight of the bench being lifted, Hinata was now standing, and had finally thanked him for the time he spent together with her before discarding her trash and walking off in the opposite direction. While he wasn't looking for symbolism, this seemed fitting. She represented all that was good in Konoha, and he ..represented what was realistic, and as a result dark and 'bad' with it. When she was content to walk away from him, so too did he, finding it in him to open his drink in silence and think about all she had offered him, and all she asked.

Hinata Hyuga ..was an interesting one.

His night's seemed to last longer than his days, and for one reason or another he had skipped his training and had instead opted to think for the rest of the day. Leaving had still crossed his mind but his intrigue was stopping him from taking the steps he'd like. Just a day ago he was prepared to leave this place behind and everyone with it, and all it took was for one meek Hyuga to halt him. Was that some kind of symbolism too? There was uncertainty in every step he took now, but no longer was he thinking of Orochimaru, of taking advantage of the offer. Instead, his interests lie in Hinata, in what exactly made her so pure despite everything she had endured. It didn't seem possible to be so sweet in this world, to not hold at least a little hatred in your heart for something, anything. It just seemed like that presence she had brought something out of him too, but as to what it was he didn't know, couldn't know. It was enough to root him, enough to make him want to see more and more of her, just to spot any kind of weakness. Another part of him just wanted to bask in it and not intend to disrupt the peace she held in her heart. Could Hinata have really understood the darkness that surrounded him? Understanding was more and more a word, as no one could understand him without first experiencing the pain of loss he suffered. Even then, giving up his revenge was unspeakable and unthinkable both. The only thing he might have feared, was that Hinata too may end up on the same level as the others if she intended to coax him out of it. His night was deep in thought, but so was every night since the day Itachi had come back and reminded him of the gap between them. Who'd have thought that he'd sleep that night with a girl on his mind. He never did...

Of course, he never expected himself to go and purchase a warm bento, not for himself, but for her. A night with nothing but her image in his head, her words in his mind. Perhaps this was Konoha's one last opportunity to keep him here, and it was in the form of the most unlikely opponent he'd ever expect. Finding her wasn't very difficult, someone from the Hyuga clan had directed him, although with hesitance. Well, he should have. Given what he'd done, given what aura he carried, anyone would be alarmed if they found Sasuke Uchiha looking for one of the heir's of their clan. Proceeding down the familiar path through Konoha's forests to where Team Kurenai often trained, he had seen Shino and Kiba along the way, but hadn't found the third teammate with them, and the only one he cared to speak to. His awareness was high, and it was difficult, immensely, for anything to get past him. Unlikely as it might have been, Hinata may have gone off ahead and on her own. Sasuke had nothing to lose by checking, and proceeding a little further along the road. Hearing the sounds of accelerated blows dealt to a false enemy, Sasuke had followed them through the woods until the sounds of rigorous training had brought him to her. From where he stood underneath the shadows of a tree in her five o' clock direction, he could identify the protruding veins around her eyes as her clan's Kekkei Genkai. As Kakashi had told him, it granted the Hyuga an increased field of vision no other eye could match. With this in mind, he stood there and watched her strike, waiting for her to take notice. Moments passed, and then minutes, and still she hadn't acted on his presence. Hinata didn't see him, even if he wasn't hiding himself. It didn't seem possible, but she was continuing as though no one was watching her whatsoever. After enough time had passed, Sasuke raised his right hand and looked at the seal to his wrist that stored countless shuriken. Flexing his wrist once, one appeared in a small cloud of white smoke. With the thin metal between his fingers, Sasuke drew his right arm back and threw it, sending it toward her right shoulder. If presence alone wasn't going to get her out of her trance, then perhaps the sound of an attack would.

If she had intercepted it, there he would stand, black-cased bento wrapped in white cloth, held by his left hand and raised towards her. His eyes would be closed, and his face would be back towards the road where he had come. He hadn't intended to stay and chat, not while she was meant to be focusing.

"Repayment ...for yesterday."

~-~

"..Kakashi, this mission is of the utmost importance. I understand your faith in Sakura, but.." Tsunade, the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, narrowed her eyes to Kakashi Hatake slightly as he stood before her both casual and relaxed. Shizune was beside her and had kept silent on the matter, clutching TonTon the little piglet as she always had. Having called him in here only fifteen minutes ago to brief him on a mission that demanded someone of his experience and skills. Suna had been intensely apologetic for the attack and wished to make amends for listening to the likes of Orochimaru. With the Kazekage dead they were without a leader and extremely vulnerable. Without an ally, the fear of attack grew every day, and the last village they wanted to confront was Konoha. It was good to know they were apologetic, but the matter had tested Tsunade's own desire to help them. Orochimaru was a monster who didn't care who he hurt to reach his dark goals, and Suna were just pawns for his true objective. Because of the allegiance they gave Orochimaru, her teacher, former Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, was now at permanent rest. No amount of apologizing would change history, and any other village would have issue with peace considering the good man that Konoha had lost in that attack. But Tsunade had to put her feelings aside, and hoped that mending relations with Suna despite the unjust attack would serve as an example to other villages what the importance of forgiveness and peace was for Konoha. Her sensei might've done the same... no, he would do the same. No one in Konoha wanted another war, even if to this day some of the shinobi still demanded they go after them. Both villages lost a Kage as a result. As far as she was concerned, Suna would know better in the future than to try and attack them, and they'd know better than to be manipulated. Hands folded together and chin resting atop it, she was at a loss of words about Kakashi's decision.

"Lady Tsunade, you yourself gave me the choice of who I could bring on this mission. A small team would be necessary to avoid attention, and Sakura has shown initiative recently. What better way to reward that kind of initiative than this? It'd mean a lot to her." Kakashi's decision, despite what Tsunade said, did take some thought. Naturally there were those that should have been considered before Sakura, those like Sasuke or Neji even. Maybe even Gai. But he saw the mission able to be accomplished with no more than one person, and Sakura showed promise and her sudden initiative had prompted him to consider her role in all of this. Admittedly, had Naruto been in the village, he'd have likely chosen him over her. He surely would've wanted to see Gaara again. Sasuke too, perhaps, but only because he felt that could have used the time to talk. The more time went by between them, the greater the distance felt. Master and student, losing ground with one another. No, he'd give Sasuke time to himself, just a little longer. This left Sakura, and this mission would be a small reward for her. It would show that he trusted her with a mission of this level, a level beyond any other she'd ever taken before. "I understand it's an S-rank mission, but Sakura should suffice. She's been learning under you, and she's too stubborn to let anyone get their hands on that message. I plan to have her carry it herself."

"Kakashi, this isn't about trying to make anything up to Sakura. This mission will affect our relations with a former enemy and it is vital they receive this response within the next day. I trust her, but you're being very easygoing about this situation." Tsunade's stress was building. It was still early in the morning but she was growing ever tempted to drink something to calm her nerves. Sakura was a student, former student, that Tsunade had faith in. But this mission wasn't about what she felt for Sakura, it was a mission that decided the standing between Konohagakure and Sunagakure. Kakashi was a smart man, Tsunade saw that in him from the day they met. The son of the legendary White Fang, Sakumo Hakate, was a capable and skilled shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. Taking it easy, even in a situation as delicate as this ..it was just like him. "I'll ask again. Are you certain that Sakura is the only shinobi you wish to accompany you on this mission. There's a lot at stake here."

"Then if you're lucky nothing will happen. I know it's gotten to the point that even sending messenger birds is a risk, but I'll ask that you have a little more confidence in Sakura and myself. We'll get this done." Kakashi knew that two villages becoming allied together would unintentionally be seen as a threat by other villagers. It was that sensitivity that prompted such care from Tsunade, and she knew that other villages wouldn't want the combined military might of Suna and Konoha to ever be a considerable threat. Yet all this distress about Sakura was puzzling even himself. Kakashi could see it in her eye, how bringing Sakura along on a mission of this caliber was a huge cause of worry. He understood the bond between master and student very well, and knew that even if Sakura broke off the training, Tsunade would still see her as a dear apprentice. Freeing his hands from his pockets, he stepped forward and reached for the message with his right hand, tied with Konoha's seal, but Tsunade had grabbed his hand just as it grasped at the message contained in a green cylinder. Kakashi looked at Tsunade, and Tsunade had looked right back. Shizune was looking on silently and eagerly. "Lady Tsunade-"

"Just take care of her, all right?" sighing quietly, Tsunade released his hand and closed her own eyes, waving her hand and dismissing him from the office.

"Understood. We'll send a bird letting you know when we've arrived." Kakashi bowed and stepped out of the office, looking down at the small container he held. Something so tiny had a decision that would affect the Land of Fire and Land of Wind for a very long time coming. Leaving the Hokage Mansion, Kakashi set his sights on Sakura's home, remembering it from the walk she made him carry out just yesterday. He was exhausted merely thinking about yesterday, how he had carried out his jutsu all day in order to stop her ability to release the jutsu. Even holding back had proven difficult, as she had come dangerously close so many times. It turned out he couldn't hold himself back any longer, as she had succeeded in releasing the jutsu itself, but definitely not beating him. It was after that that he realized why Tsunade had been a little hard on Sakura accompanying him. So many ninja with potential had died in missions daily without seeing their full strength be realized. But Tsunade knew, deep down, that protecting her from strong enemies couldn't always happen. And should it demand his death to protect what was important to him, then so be it. At least that way he could see Rin, Obito ..and his father, once again. Before that occurred, perhaps he could give Sakura the attention she demanded, the attention she had never really gotten from him. Kakashi hoped that, before he died, he'd have had a significant affect on all three of his students. The last thing he wanted to do was die with Sakura believing he never cared about her instruction.

Walking up the steps to her front door, Kakashi gave one last glance to the green container, emblem of Konoha directly at its surface. There was hesitation at that moment, because Kakashi too felt Tsunade's feelings for Sakura. There was nothing more a master wanted than to protect their student, but if they protected Sakura from everything then she could never have grown. Rapping against the door three times with his right hand, moments later the sound of footsteps could be heard, yet it wasn't Sakura that opened the door. Instead he was looking at a woman with blonde hair and striking green eyes, wearing a white dress with three red circular designs just at the bottom. It had taken him only a moment to realize he was standing in front of Mebuki Haruno, Sakura's mother. Closing his eye, Kakashi offered her a wave of his free hand. He had forgotten the one thing about Sakura that had separated her from both Sasuke and Naruto, and that was that Sakura actually had living parents. Embarrassing and pretty despicable of him to forget such a thing, it was likely awkward just staring at Mebuki for a moment and thinking he somehow came to the wrong house. She did have her mother's eyes, a beautiful trait.

"Err ..Sorry about that. I'm Kakashi Hatake, Sakura's teacher." Well, she'd know the name if Sakura had told her anything about him, and his reputation might be known to even this housewife. But from what he knew of Mebuki, and that wasn't much, it was that before she became a mother she had also been a Chuunin level ninja. Funny how he knew that much, yet was still stunned face to face. "I was wondering if she's inside. There's a mission vital to the Hidden Leaf and I need her. We're to leave immediately."