Chapter 16

-Hinata's POV-

As soon as I finished getting ready, we borrowed one of the agency's cars and headed to the mall. I'm almost a hundred percent sure Sakura'd been waiting for an excuse to take us all shopping.

Her very being was perkier than usual as we approached the entrance of the large building. She had her arm looped with mine as she skitted with a fast pace towards the entrance, pulling me along eagerly. I glanced back to see the boys share a look of dread. This whole situation almost felt normal, like we were a group of friends just hanging out.

I smiled to myself as I allowed Sakura to pull me into the store directly past the entrance. We're supposed to be shopping for my date and it was a candle and perfume store, but I couldn't muster the courage to argue with her when she started testing out a few perfumes on the little paper test strips.

"Ooh, this one is lovely! Smell it, Hinata! Isn't it nice? Oh, you don't like it? Damn…What about this one?"

The headache from my hangover started to flare back up after just the first two scents she made me smell and I tried to back away casually so as not to grab the excited girl's attention. Sasuke and Gaara followed us around the store like lost puppies, obviously not too keen on the whole mall experience.

As Sakura was taking a few candles up to the register to purchase, I turned to the two guys and wondered aloud, "Why did you guys agree to come?" It was obvious they would prefer to be almost anywhere else.

The two looked at one another before Gaara sighed and admitted defeat, "She promised to buy us the new Soul Calibur game if we came."

I glanced over at Sasuke to see him glaring at a random rack of perfumes, obviously ashamed of his weakness, but I knew it was all an act. The two of them undoubtedly have enough money for at least a video game and had simply lost the battle with our pink-haired friend. A snicker slipped past my lips in disbelief and I quickly put a hand over my mouth to try and stifle it. These two, pretty much grown men, were intimidated by the little pink-haired Sakura Haruno. I heard her thanking the cashier before seeing her turn toward us. The girl was more crafty than I'd given her credit for.

I didn't say anything to the boys, but wrapped my arm in hers with ease once she was close enough, pretending to be more eager, "Where to next?"

This is payback for making fun of me in a towel, you two!

I glanced back at the boys with an amused grin and saw looks of dread on their faces.

We visited every single store on the bottom floor of the mall, which was almost a dozen, before Sasuke's stomach roared loudly enough that even I noticed it. We sat down at an empty table in the food court, Sakura struggling to fit all of her shopping bags in the two empty seats at the six seater. After a moment of fighting, she sighed and just told me to grab her some pizza.

I laughed to myself before heading over to the pizza place a bit away from where we'd sat. As I stood in line, I thought about the date I was preparing for. Where would he be taking me? Is he just doing this as a favor to Karin or was he honestly interested in me? A shiver ran through my bones. What if he's in on whatever game Karin's trying to play? I shook my head and took a step forward as the line moved up. Naruto would never do something like that. The memories I have of him were all positive. He's truly one of the kindest people I've ever met.

Someone cleared their throat behind me and pulled me out of my thoughts. I glanced back to see Sasuke standing behind me with an annoyed look on his gorgeous features. I greeted him with a smile, only for it to be wiped clean off when he spoke in a derogatory tone, "Are you an idiot?"

Confusion rolled over my features, my brow furrowing.

"You can't honestly believe this is a real date."

Sakura must've filled them in while I showered.

Ah, there it is.

The annoyance I'm so used to feeling when he's around finally appeared. I gave him a weak glare, "Naruto's a good person."

He scoffed and nudged me in the back whilst rolling his eyes. It was my turn to order. I shook my head to myself before giving the cashier mine and Sakura's orders. I felt extremely awkward standing there with a judgmental Sasuke behind me and a cashier clueless as to what the hell the people in front of him's problem was. The boy behind the counter gave me an inquisitive look before glancing at the taller man behind me and back to me. I shook my head and gave him a smile. He seemed like a nice guy.

After paying and accepting a tray of food, I headed back to the table stiffly. Finally, I sat down next to Sakura and pushed the tray towards her so she could take what she wanted from the food on it. Gaara, who was apparently trying to stick to his diet, had purchased a smoothie and nothing else.

He glanced down at Sakura's plate and spoke around the straw in his mouth, "You like pineapple on your pizza?"

Sakura gave him a warning glare as she chewed. He put his hands up in defense, face red, "I like it, too."

The girl swallowed her pizza and gave him a smile, shoving the slice of pizza toward his face, "Here. I don't mind sharing."

The boy shook his head, "I can't. Thank you, though."

I slowly munched on my own supreme pizza, kind of dazing off in the distance as I listened to them talk. Sakura pouted, "I don't feel right eating in front of you if you aren't going to join us."

Gaara shook his head before taking the slice from her hand and taking a large bite. Sakura giggled and accepted her slice back, "Thank you!"

Sasuke slid into his seat with the same aggravated aura surrounding him. I averted my gaze to the table. What's his problem all of a sudden? He was totally fine this morning, especially considering the fact that I'd stolen his bed from him.

Sakura spoke and tore me from my deep thoughts, "Hinata, you haven't bought a single thing yet! This whole trip is for you. Do you need help picking something out?"

I looked over at her with a knowing look, "Yeah, probably. I-I've never been on a date before."

Sakura slammed her hands down on the table, "What!"

Sasuke let out another scoff, but didn't say anything. She gave him a stern look before putting her hands up defensively, "Don't you worry, Hina. I'm gonna make sure you look amazing!" Anxiety rushed through my veins. The wild look in her eye was quite intimidating.

Once we were finished eating, we cleaned up the table we were at and headed up the escalator to the second floor of the mall. This was the floor with more clothing stores than anything else. Sakura led me into a store that she said was her mother's favorite so she thought I'd like it, which made me feel like a prude. The boys had both snickered behind us at that comment. I had to admit upon entering the store, though, that she was right. The clothing they carried was on par with what I considered to be my style. Even if a lot of the clothes were cute, I was still clueless on what to pick out for a date.

Sakura waved off a busty blonde sales assistant, who'd perked up upon seeing Sasuke and Gaara and had started to flounce her way toward us. She gave us a scowl before returning to her post behind one of the cash registers and settled on checking them out from a distance.

I was shoved into a dressing room and told to wait. The area where the dressing rooms were was a round room with four different sections to try on clothes with an intricate fountain in the middle with a marble bench surrounding it. Nervously, I picked at my nail buds as I waited.

After a moment, I was shocked out of my daze by Sasuke's gruff voice from the other side of the door, "So tell me, which one of us are you gonna call when you need to be rescued tonight?"

I let my arms fall to my sides with a glare at the white wooden door, "W-Why are you being like this?"

He was silent for a moment and it oddly gave me the courage to try and reason with him. I lowered my voice a bit more, "I-I've been in love with this guy for like ten years, Sasuke. Can't you at least pretend to be happy for me?"

The silence on the other side of the door continued for a moment before he finally responded in a voice that sounded even angrier than before, "Don't come to me when this blows up in your face. I tried to warn you."

My chest panged with hurt. I thought we'd gotten a bit closer over the past few days, but now he's back to being mean like he had been when we first met. Not wanting to encourage him to insult me further, I grit my teeth and chose not to respond to his negativity. Instead, I let my thoughts return to Naruto.

Over the past week, I've been so busy that I haven't had the chance to think about him much. In the past, my thoughts were often consumed by him. Even more than I love him, I respect and admire him. He's such a genuinely kind person that works hard and does his best. There was one time in middle school when I saw him in the library for hours at a time during the week before finals. Naruto's never been top of the class when it comes to smarts, but he definitely tried to be. That's probably my favorite thing about him. He never gives up and never goes back on his word.

The Uzumaki boy looked so handsome at the club last night. He'd worn a white button up shirt with the top few buttons undone, which made him look more sexy rather than cute like usual and had thrown me for a loop. Heat rushed to my face at the memory, but I was interrupted by a pile of clothes falling over the top of the door and quickly scrambled to catch as many articles as possible before they could reach the floor.

"Show me each one, I wanna see!" Sakura's bubbly voice sounded from outside.

There were a few items that I immediately refused to even try on. The girl must've thrown them in the pile as a joke. My eyes narrowed at a black bodycon dress in my no pile as I slid a much more reasonable choice onto my body.

It was a dark blue dress with white flowers decorating the bottom part of the skirt. It came to the middle of my thighs, had three quarter sleeves, and a thin belt around the waist. After buckling it and making sure it was properly adjusted, I looked at the mirror wearily, turning to the side to see if it drew too much attention to my curves.

With a smile, I decided I liked this one even though it was just the first outfit I'd tried on. When I stepped out of the dressing room, I came face to face with my roommate.

A small yelp of surprise came from my mouth, but she grinned widely and ignored it, "I knew that'd be the one!"

Embarrassed, I held my arms out from my sides and averted my gaze with a red face, "D-Do you like it?"

Sakura clapped her hands together and laughed, "Of course I do! I picked it out! What about you guys?" She stepped back so Gaara and Sasuke could see.

Both boys looked uncomfortable as they sat on the bench in front of the fountain, but Gaara nodded with a small blush. I gave him a grateful smile. Sasuke rolled his eyes before bustling off to flirt with the cashier, who looked overjoyed to see him headed her way.

Sakura shot the dark-haired man a glare before turning back to me and shaking her head with a tight-lipped smile, "Don't worry about him, you look great. So, should we head off to find some matching shoes?"

By the time we'd finished shopping and gotten back to the agency to get me ready for the date, it was already five in the evening. The boys had retreated to their dorm when we got home and neither of us heard from them after that since they were too focused on the new game the pink-haired girl had purchased for them.

Sakura had pretty much thrown me into a chair so she could do my hair and make up. Once she was finished, I changed into my new outfit. I'd gotten a pretty pair of white flats and a cross body purse to go with my dress. Just as she was finished applying a final spritz of makeup-setting spray, there was a knock at the door.

She ushered me out of the bathroom and to the front door. I glanced back at her nervously and she shot me a reassuring smile. After taking a calming deep breath, I pulled the door open to reveal a red-faced Naruto Uzumaki.

He gave me a bright smile, "Hey, Hinata! Ready to go?"

I nodded and followed him out of the room and towards the elevator. He was wearing an expensive looking pair of jeans with a white button up shirt, a perfect mixture of dressy and casual. He turned to glance at me and my face burnt at being caught checking him out.

He gave a small laugh before pushing the floor button on the elevator, "So, how've you been? I haven't heard from you in a while." His voice has changed a lot since elementary school. It was deeper and more mature, as was the way he spoke in general. He didn't seem so hyper-active, not that I would've minded either way.

"Y-Yes, it's been a while. I'm doing better now that we're out of s-school. What about you?"

I'm so nervous!

He kept his bright smile on as we arrived on the bottom floor and headed out of the building and into the car he had waiting for us, "I'm doing alright! I've been doing some producing with my godfather, Jiraiya, lately and I'm hoping to receive an official job offer from Kakashi soon."

My heart dropped. Jiraiya's his god parent? It was astounding how different the Uzumaki relatives were. Karin was blatantly ill-mannered toward her peers where Naruto apparently showed promise (he wouldn't be expecting a job offer if not) and was anything but rude to anyone around him.

I thanked him as he held the door open for me, easily sliding into the passenger side of his sleek looking car. I couldn't tell what kind it was, since I was terrible at those kinds of things, but it seemed luxurious. It had two doors and was black.

He made his way around the vehicle and climbed into the driver seat, "Are you okay with going out to eat?"

I gave him a nod. Thank god I ate pizza earlier! How embarrassing would it be if I'd gone out to eat with him on an empty stomach. I wouldn't want to seem like a pig and eat too much.

He started driving in silence. I couldn't tell if he felt awkward or not, but surprisingly didn't feel so myself. His cologne was just barely noticeable in the air and the butterflies in my stomach fluttered in response. I guiltily snook a few glances at his profile while he focused on the road. His smile was gone because he wasn't addressing me and he seemed to be thinking deeply about something.

Just as I was about to look away, he turned to catch me looking and grinned, "Wanna listen to some music?"

I gulped, unable to form any words, and nodded. He reached down and clicked on the radio.

"So Tenten, is there anything you can tell us about Prestige, who are set to debut this Saturday on LMC?"

Naruto looked at me with a smile, "That's you guys, right?" I returned his smile and nodded before listening to Tenten's reply.

"Yes, they are set to debut this weekend. I'll give you just one major hint. Are you ready?" There was a pause before she continued.

"This four member group is co-ed!"

The male host quickly responded, "Co-ed?! Wonderful! ...The director is telling me that our lines are already blowing up with questions in response to this exciting news! Is there anything else you have to say about the group?"

"Yes, sir! This group was assembled by me personally and I've mentored each member at some point. I can honestly say that I think everyone will love them. Each member's extremely talented in their own way."

A smile graced my lips at her kind words. It was clear that she cared about us. The interview soon ended and one of Tenten's songs played lightly as Naruto continued to drive.

After a while, we finally arrived at a small ramen shop. At first I was confused due to the unexpectedly casual setting, but was actually relieved that Naruto wasn't overdoing it. He parked the vehicle and quickly ran around the car to open my door for me like a gentleman. I climbed out nervously before following him into the small building. We sat in a slightly worn booth and waited for a waiter to come over.

The place had mainly red leather booths and matching stools at the counter for seating. It all seemed very small-town and old fashioned, but I didn't mind it at all. The place had character.

Naruto cleared his throat and I tore my gaze from the checkered floor and up to his handsome face. I was ecstatic. Finally, after years and years of admiring him, I have a chance to make him see me in a romantic light. I couldn't wipe the smile off of my lips.

He spoke quietly so other booths wouldn't hear our conversation, "You've changed a lot since grade school, Hina."

A slight blush rose to my face.

He noticed me! He even gave me a nickname!

I fiddled with my fingers under the table, unable to control the nervous gesture, "You have too, N-Naruto."

That was just a small lie. Yes, he's physically changed, but his wonderful personality hasn't, which is why I found it so easy to fall in love with him.

His face lit up and he rubbed the back of his neck almost bashfully, "You think so? Sakura says I'm still just a big teddy bear."

I blinked. Why's he bringing up Sakura? With a mental shake of my head, I blew off the comment and replied, "W-Well you're much taller and your voice is d-deeper."

He gave a small chuckle, like music to my ears, "If you say so, Hina."

A gangly teenager came up to take our order. Naruto ordered two bowls of miso ramen and I ordered just one. After he left to place the order, we continued our conversation. "You know, I didn't see much of you in high school. Did you join any clubs?"

My anxiety flared up at the question I'd dreaded him asking. I'm still not really comfortable talking about my high school days since they were filled with a negativity that I didn't want him to know about. "T-That's...No, not really. I mainly spent time in the music rooms."

He perked up, "That makes sense, being that you're about to become all big and famous, right?" I smiled at him shyly. He put a finger to his mouth in thought, "Your voice's so soft, though. Will they have to turn your microphone up louder?" The question seemed rhetorical so I didn't reply, just looked back and forth between my lap and his comical thinking face.

The food suddenly arrived, saving me from awkwardly trying to restart the conversation. Naruto dug in instantly, mumbling here and there between bites about how this was his favorite restaurant and how good the food was. I nodded each time he spoke, eating much slower than he did.

He finished both of his bowls before I could finish my one and he watched me with a small smile on his face while I tried to avoid his gaze nervously. "Hina…I never noticed how pretty you've gotten over the years."

I froze with a fork-full of noodles in my mouth and met his gaze in surprise.

He thinks I'm pretty!?

When I accepted Karin's offer to set up this date, I told myself that I couldn't get my hopes up too much that it would lead to anything, but as I looked into his beautiful blue eyes I couldn't help but feel a bit giddy. This was going so well that I couldn't help but picture us becoming a couple and going on dates like this more often. What would it feel like to hold his hand or kiss him?

He snickered and I quickly pulled the fork away as he brought me back to reality, chewing my noodles slowly so as not to choke and make a fool of myself. After swallowing I tried to smile normally, "Thank you, Naruto. You've a-always been very handsome." A small beam of pride shot through my chest. A year ago I wouldn't have been able to compliment him so confidently.

He looked shocked at my statement and his cheeks dusted pink ever so slightly, "Hey, thanks!"

After I finished eating, we spent a long time chatting about music and the things we'd endured in high school. I didn't mention anything about being bullied, but told him about my teachers and classes. I wanted this relationship to be free of all things Karin and bringing her up would only be counter-productive.

Then, Naruto paid for the food and we headed back out to his car. He held the passenger door open for me again and I slid in with more ease than before. My nerves had finally relaxed after spending some time with the blonde man. He shut the door behind me and walked calmly around the car to climb into the driver's side. We were soon driving silently on the nearly-empty backroads of Konoha, toward the agency.

Some soft music played from the speakers and a dark blue light dimly cast shadows over both of us from the radio and dash. The sun had already set, so it was dark out. I glanced over at him just to take in the view and try to burn the memory into my mind. He looked so much older when he wasn't smiling.

The serious look on his face as he focused on the road had a familiar tingling near my lower abdomen. Would he kiss me back if I went for it? One of my hands touched the bottom half of my stomach absentmindedly, heat pooling under it. He glanced over at me and gave an uncharacteristic smirk, suddenly reminding me of Sasuke. My smile vanished and confusion rocked my brain.

Why am I thinking of him when I have Naruto right here in front of me!

I shook my head before shooting him a reassuring smile and he refocused on the road. I felt a surge of courage rush through me as I glanced around at the trees on either side of the road.

A gravel shoulder was coming up and I spoke louder than I had all night, "Pull over up here, please."

He glanced at me in confusion, "Are you okay?"

He pulled over and put the car in park, concern etched onto his endless blue eyes as he looked over at me. I unclicked my seatbelt and he spoke again, "What's wrong, Hi-!"

In a swift motion, I pulled him closer with one hand and held his face gently still with the other, pressing my lips against his. I put every ounce of the emotions I'd felt for him through the years into that kiss. It took him a moment, but I soon felt one of his hands reach up to wrap itself in my hair and his lips moved against mine cautiously.

He seemed to be in shock at my bold actions. He kissed me as though he were afraid I'd break. After a few moments, we both pulled away and I sat back in my seat with heat flushing to my face and lower regions. He was very gentle and I couldn't tell if I liked that or not, but that question was overridden by how excited I was that I'd finally kissed him. After ten whole years of dreaming, it finally happened!

I glanced over at him and my happiness faltered. His face wasn't exactly what I imagined it'd be. He seemed to be having an internal battle. I spoke slowly, fearing I'd unintentionally pressured him into doing something he wasn't comfortable with, "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to f-force myself on y-!"

His hands were suddenly on either side of my face and his lips were suddenly pressed more firmly against mine than before. To my delight, he seemed more sure of his actions this time. His calloused hands didn't move from my face and I forced myself to mirror his behavior so as not to scare him away.

I couldn't help but feel that we wanted different things from this kiss, but still enjoyed it nonetheless. I felt passion and wanted him to touch me more, but he didn't seem to want much more than what we were already doing, at least for now. There's no way I'm complaining, though! He's a pretty good kisser and I've wanted this for an incredibly long time. I'll take what I can get.

We sat parked there for what felt like hours before we finally parted and got back on the road. It was nearly eleven in the evening when he finally pulled into the round-about drop off area. Naruto put the car in park, but made no move to get out. He seemed to want to say something. He turned to face me with his mouth slightly open, only to freeze and his gaze dazed over.

"Is everything alright?"

He refocused his vision and smiled awkwardly, "It's nothing, nevermind."

Something was clearly on his mind, so I politely pressed on, "Are you sure?"

His smile faded and his hands fell defeatedly onto the steering wheel as he sighed, "I'm really sorry, Hina."

My blood froze.

He's…apologizing?

A million terrible thoughts crossed my mind in an instant as I wondered what he could possibly be apologizing for, but I kept my mouth closed and patiently waited for him to elaborate.

He ran a hand through his hair stressfully, taking a deep breath, "I'm such an asshole, Hina, really."

He glanced at me before blurting out with a guilty expression, "The only reason I agreed to this date was to try and convince you to set me up with Sakura."

The world seemed to stand still as I slowly wrapped my mind around his confession.

He doesn't like me. Instead, he likes...Sakura? Him not having feelings for me, I could understand if we hadn't just made out for an hour in his car, but I never would've guessed he'd ask something so thoughtless of me. The perfect opinion I have of him hypothetically shattered as a pang of hurt ached in my chest.

He rested his head against the steering wheel in shame for a moment. I sat straight back and my eyes glazed over in the distance, but he then turned to face me and I looked at him in confusion as I tried to make sense of the situation, "B-but why did you…We just-"

He threw his hands up in the air angrily, seemingly more at himself than anything, as he cut me off, "Something just came over me! I never meant to do that with you, Hinata, I'm so sorry. I really like Sakura."

I should've been angry. Hell, I should've been seething with rage, but I wasn't. I felt betrayed. After Suigetsu forced himself on me, I was terrified of ever kissing someone again. It took everything in me to gain the courage to kiss Naruto tonight. I'd worked so hard because I thought I owed it to myself to give this date my very best effort since I've waited for a decade for it to happen.

Ten years…Ten entire years suddenly felt like a waste.

Out of nowhere, it started to feel like I was suffocating and I had to get out of the vehicle before I ended up fainting. I unbuckled the seatbelt and quickly opened the door so I could retreat.

The boy seemed frantic, "Wait! Hinata, I'm sorry! I really am! Please believe me!"

I nodded absently and climbed out. Please, just let me go so I don't embarrass myself in front of you any further.

He grabbed my wrist from his seat and I looked down at him in disbelief. He paused nervously, "Can you..um..not mention this to Sakura? I don't want to ruin my chances."

It was like I could hear my heart crack in two when I realized he was serious.

I yanked my arm out of his grip and took a step back with a look of disbelief. Tears of betrayal were starting to well up in my eyes, so I quickly shut the door behind me and rushed up the walkway and into the building without glancing back. The night paparazzi quietly snapped photos as I passed.

He's not coming after me.

My teeth grit as I realized a small part of me had been holding onto the hope that he'd run after me and somehow convince me he's changed his mind. The tears bubbled over as soon as the elevator doors shut behind me and I felt like my insides were falling apart.

I've always believed Naruto was an amazing person. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined him doing something like this to me, or anyone else for that matter. The idea that Naruto Uzumaki would toy with my feelings like he just had…it seemed inconceivable. Sure, I've pictured many scenarios where he rejected me, but it was always in a respectable way.

The worst part is that I was stupid enough to believe he actually liked me. I thought I really had a chance because he'd complimented and kissed me while we were on a date.

A reckless, self-loathing heat crept through my entire body as I cried and exited the elevator on my dorm's floor. I fumbled with the keys, unable to see clearly with the sheer amount of tears pouring from my eyes. The metal item fell through my fingers and to the ground, soliciting a loud defeated groan.

It was like my last nerve had snapped by the small mistake and I lost my composure alone in the hall.

"I'm so fucking stupid…" My voice was raspy and drenched in malice.

My chest…It feels like it's on fire. It hurts!

As I bent down to find the keys, my legs shakily gave out and I fell onto them, one hand holding me up and the other clutching at my heart. My mind suddenly felt incredibly clouded and I accepted the fact that I was well on my way to fainting. I didn't even care at this point and just tried to keep my heart from bursting out of my chest in the meantime.

-Sasuke's POV-

No, I'm not staying up late for anyone's sake but my own. Absolutely not. I'm just catching up on some reading. There's not an ounce of worry in me for that idiot Hyuga.

Gaara hadn't said anything to me, but gave me a knowing look before retreating for the night. I shot a glare at the closed door to his room. That redhead's way too good at reading people.

The ding of the elevator drew me from my thoughts. I'd been reading the same page for over ten minutes and still had no idea what it said. Someone was coming up. I listened and sure enough heard the familiar jingle of keys nearby.

It had to be Hinata. Sakura, Ino, and Tenten had stopped by to invite us to go to the movies, but they were going to see that 50 Shades of Gray thing so we'd refused. Sakura can guilt us into a lot, but a line had to be drawn at watching softcore porn together.

There was a thump outside followed by someone talking to themselves. I couldn't hear what she said, but I could tell it was Hinata.

Is she drunk? Why's she being so noisy? Usually she's so quiet that I have to keep an eye on her to know where she's at. Wait, he didn't get her drunk on a first date, did he?

I shook my head as I got to my feet so I could go tell her she's an idiot if she let him get her drunk. All annoyance vacated my being when I left the room and saw her shaking form on the ground. She was crying and seemed to be physically trying to hold herself together. A dark thought crossed my mind.

He didn't…hurt her, right?

Anger seethed through my veins, but I tried to keep my wits about me as I helped her to her feet, grabbing her keys with my other hand. After seeing it a couple times, I recognized the pale complexion of her face as a sign that she was going to pass out if she didn't calm down. My grip on her tightened slightly when she swayed and I wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her upright as I inspected her body.

She didn't have any bruises that I could see, but her lips looked a little swollen as though she'd been kissing someone. My ire only increased further. I did my best to hide it and made it a priority to ensure she was okay before anything else.

"Hey."

She took a moment to realize that it was me and the distraught look on her face transitioned into one of absolute rage. My brow furrowed at the unsettling expression. This was a look I'd yet to see on her soft features.

She was obviously incredibly upset and I knew that whatever happened was causing her to lash out unconsciously, but I couldn't help but feel angry when she ripped herself away and yelled, "Get off of me, Sasuke!"

My emotions were switching from one extreme to the other, back and forth between worry and anger. I was right about something going wrong on her date, obviously, but what exactly happened? I opened my mouth to ask her just that, but she cut me off and shoved me away. Either she hadn't tried that hard or was in too weak of a state, but it did little to move me.

"I don't need you to come out here and rub it in my face that you were right. Go away!"

I heard Gaara come out of our room behind me. Her yelling must've woken him up, if he'd been asleep at all. His footsteps approached until he was right next to me. I was too focused on the enraged expression on the Hyuga's pale face to look at him, but could hear the concern in his voice when he spoke, "What's wrong? What happened, Hinata?" It was obvious to him, too, that she was seriously upset about something.

She turned her glare from my face to his only for it to disappear and be replaced by an absolutely guilty expression. It was like she'd just realized where she was and who she was talking to, "Please, just leave me alone," then she was in her room and both of us listened to her click the lock.

Gaara looked at me with wide eyes, "What happened!"

Anger rolled over me.

I warned her. I fucking warned her!

I turned on my heel and returned to our room so I could be alone with my thoughts.

Why's she so goddamn stupid?

Gaara knocked on my door, "What's going on, Sasuke?"

Not knowing what was going on obviously bothered him and I commended him in the back of my mind for being able to act on his worry instead of struggling to express himself like I do. I was annoyed as hell, "I don't know! Fuck off!"

And he did without another word. A very small part of me felt bad for barking at him like that, but a larger part of me was still pissed off that Hinata hadn't listened to me.

-Sakura's POV-

It was just before midnight when Tenten and I finally got back to the agency. Kakashi'd probably kill her if he found out that she kept me out so late. After saying our goodnights at Tenten's door, I headed over to my own and unlocked it. There were no lights on so I shut the door and locked it behind me.

A movement in my peripheral caught my attention and I nearly screamed. Hinata was sitting at the dining table with her face in her hands and a glass of water in front of her. "Hinata! You scared me! It's late, you should get to bed. Tell me all about the date in the mor-" My voice trailed off as she moved her hands to look at me.

Her makeup was smeared down her cheeks and there was a look of utter defeat on her features. I flipped on the lights to the kitchen and gasped at how terrible she looked. Anger rushed through my veins, "What happened?"

I hurried around the table to sit next to her, pulling her hands away from her face and looking over her for any marks. She started sobbing and uncharacteristically threw herself into my arms. I slowly put a hand on her back and patted her a few times.

Something's really wrong. Did Naruto try something with her?

I'd had a different impression of him which is why I agreed to send her on this date to begin with.

She spoke through her sobs, suddenly, "N-N-Naruto kissed me!"

A small wave of relief came over me and I smiled, hugging her to me more firmly with a giggle, "So these are happy tears, then?"

Her sobs got louder and my smile faded, "H-H-He kissed me and then asked me t-t-to set him up with y-you!"

My vision slowly turned red as I processed her words. "He what?"

She pulled away and shook her head, her chin quivering as she told me all the details while she cried. I can't imagine what she must be feeling. The girl's been in love with him for over half of her life and he actually took her on a date and kissed her only to turn around and ask her to tell her friend about him.

I shot to my feet, ready to kill. The chair I was sitting in fell to the ground, "I'm going to fucking murder him!"

She rose to her feet as well, grabbing my arm desperately, "No! Let's just...Let's just go to bed, Sakura."

I looked at her in disbelief, "Are you kidding me? He can't just get away with this."

She shook her head and rubbed her eyes, "No. If we go after him then the cycle won't ever end. We'll hurt him, the Uzumaki's will do something bad in return, then we'll react to that and it will never end! I can't do this anymore."

Her voice cracked, but she repeated, "Please, let's just go to bed."

My vision slowly returned to normal as I thought about what she said. She had a point, but I wasn't satisfied with that. She was trying to be the bigger person. While there's no way in hell Naruto's going to get away with this, taking one look at Hinata's exhausted face convinced me to agree to her request at least for now.

If that's what it takes to help her right now, then that's what I'll do.