Neji trained alone out in the forest, his breathing hard and his eyes concentrating on his movements and the chakra flowing through his veins.

But his thoughts were veering off in different directions and Neji stopped, to take stock of himself and to rid himself of the meddlesome thoughts of Hinata.

" Why was she dropped at our house, like a sack of potatoes?" He mumbled. She had been hit, by a strong blow, that was for sure but why would someone return her if they wanted the Hyuuga secrets? Hinata's father had decided not to report it, for it seemed as no one had tried to learn anything about the secrets of the Hyuuga family.

He had decided it was no big deal.

But to Neji, that decision wasn't quite the right one. The look on Hinata's face when he had told her about what had happened the night before was not the expression he had been expecting. He had expected the normal fearful look, the look he had gotten used to over the years.

But she had looked almost...happy.

He realized, soon enough, that Hinata was hardly home anymore. Always off...somewhere, doing something. She hardly looked depressed anymore and seemed to be more...happier, lately.

And Neji was determined to find out why.

----

She walked down the familiar route, a smile playing upon her lips. She had no idea where this bubble of happiness came from...or where the feeling of near tears that she always carried around with her had gone. Touching the leaves on the trees near her, she came closer and closer to the clearing.

It was absolutely shocking and she wasn't quite sure if she believed it or not. However, she knew that if he did help her...if he did show that much kindness for her..

Then maybe those meetings had grown from each other's selfish needs of a reason to not commit suicide and into something that involved...compassion?

Arriving at the clearing, she looked up towards the canopy of trees and blinked at the sunlight that poured down in blinding rays through the parted leaves.

" Uchiha?" She asked, her voice light. She looked around herself, but no response came.

" Uchiha-san-" She started to say and then her eyes grew wide, instantly.

Her heart stopped.

And then her hand carefully went to her bleeding cheek. She brought her hand to her eyes and she stared at the blood dripping off her fingers in shock.

Instantaneously, her mouth opened, a scream about to erupt. But before she could, a hand went around her mouth and flung her to the ground, harshly. She hit the ground hard, and she could feel her knees scraping against the roots of the trees and the rocks on the ground.

Frantically, she looked up and her scream of terror caught in her throat. Itachi, she thought in her mind.

It was Itachi.

" You're just a shitload of stupidity aren't you?" Itachi hissed, his red eyes angry. His dark hair blew back from his face as the wind seemed to blow more harshly than before. " First, you come in here without a sliver of fear in your heart. Next, you call my name! It's hard enough creeping around here without anyone noticing I'm here, without you calling out my fucking name."

Hinata could not breathe, much less respond. She just stared at him, fear clear in her white eyes. A slight tremor went through her as she realized how much he was revealing to her.

Itachi brought Hinata's face close to his and whispered, an almost desperate tone underlying his voice, " Fear me. I'm a murderer. Fear. Me."

Hinata's fists clenched and her first instinct was to nod, agree, anything to keep from dying at his hands. But their conversations, his eyes, the fact that she had showed up at the gates yesterday instead of in her grave ran through her mind and tears began to burn in her eyes.

" I don't want to."

Itachi's eyes widened by a slight measure. Hinata felt a pain ricochet from her arm and she felt blood drip down her arm. He had cut her again, this time on her arm.

" What?" Itachi hissed.

Hinata felt vomit rise to the back of her throat and the tears began to fall down her cheeks. But she kept her white eyes trained on his red ones and she gathered her strength and whispered, " I don't want to fear you."

He stared at her for a few more seconds and then he let go of her, violently, before disappearing into the canopy of leaves above her. He left Hinata, dripping with blood from her two cuts, and shaking like mad.

What the hell is wrong with you, she thought to herself. When did you ever think he would do anything out of kindness? He's a murderer, as he seems to rectify everyday. He killed his own family.

His own family...

Struggling to her feet, Hinata closed her eyes. But she had already put her mind to it. No matter if death would come her way, she had already put her mind to it.

She would prevent Itachi from dying. She would find out the real reason he had killed his clan.

She would...

----------

Itachi sat, curled into himself, staring blankly at the stone wall in front of him. The waterfall crashed around him but he sat there, in the cave, listening to nothing but his memories.

These emotions...

Over these years, since he had murdered his family, he had kept a certain block against emotions. He had kept himself cold and with this coldness, came a willingness to kill. He didn't have guilt, so therefore, killing came easy. The only times his guilt would show were in his dreams.

His constant nightmares.

But since he met that girl...the Hyuuga girl, she had released that valve, that wall that blocked his emotions. With her words of innocence, with her tears and her sincere statements, she had...literally amazed him into feeling. Into melting his barriers and...the emotions came crashing and he lost control.

Now, he was hiding himself from the city's ANBU and prolonging the days till his death.

Because of her.

All because of her.

These thoughts overcame him in the morning and when she had come to his clearing, her eyes shining, the fear dissipated from those white orbs, fury enveloped him in a red curtain and he wanted to hurt anything, everything.

He never grew weak.

He never lost control.

Except around her.

And he wanted to make her pay for it. Make her pay for what she had done. But her words now echoed in his head..

I don't want to fear you..

And he didn't know what to do. He was a fuckin murderer. Last time he checked, that made him a disgusting, despicable outcast. He didn't care. He didn't give a shit what the world thought of him. When the guilt was too much, he'd get killed by the one person he did care about in the world.

He didn't want that one person to multiply. He didn't want to care about anyone else. He didn't want to wrought pain and anguish on ANYONE else. All he fuckin wanted to do was die.

He was a slaughterer and a sinner and that's all he was.

Not someone...

Not someone who was important to anyone..

------------

Hinata stumbled home, walking down the streets in shock. She had no idea what she had thought. Maybe she had thought Itachi had begun to care about her? Care about her...and maybe she had thought...that whatever the heck she was feeling...wasn't just...one sided..

She didn't love Itachi. That was for sure. She loved Naruto-kun with all her heart, soul and mind. But Itachi...Itachi scared her. He scared her, but not the way everyone else did. He was keeping her alive. He hadn't killed her. And she was...curious to know why. Maybe there was something worthwhile in her, that was making him keep her alive. She wasn't stupid. She knew that if someone was weaker then him, he would have a reason to keep them alive.

She had done and said enough for Itachi to have reason to kill her.
Yet he still hadn't.

He kept giving her shallow cuts, as if trying to convince himself to plunge it deeper, end her life...but he never did. He was keeping her breathing, keeping her heart beating and she wanted to know..

What it was..

That kept him from killing her...

Maybe she really was worth something. Maybe he did see something, some sort of strength...maybe...

" Hinata?"

Hinata jerked out of her thoughts and looked up, nervously. Kurenai-sensei was standing in front of her, red eyes shocked.

" Why are you bleeding?" She asked, the tone of her voice both worried and angry.

Hinata blanched. " Uh...ano...um.."

" Hinata? Why are you bleeding?" Kurenai-sensei asked once more, this time, the tone of her voice softer and more kindly.

Hinata looked down. " I was-t-training."

" Training?" Kurenai-sensei stared at her.

Hinata nodded, quickly. " I was training a-and I h-hurt myself...i-it's nothing r-really, j-just some shallow c-cuts.."

Kurneai-sensei said, shortly, " Look at me."

Hinata looked up without thinking and Kurenai-sensei stared at her. Then she said, heavily, " Alright then. I'll see you later, Hinata."

Hinata nodded, a relieved look on her face as she scurried away. Kurenai-sensei looked after her, shaking her head. The girl was lying. Usually, Kurenai would not interfere or even wonder, because Hinata did lead a life that wasn't quite the usual..

But this time...

There was something up.

-----------

She really was absolutely dumb.

She was back.

Dumb as a sheep, he thought sardonically to himself. Shaking his head, he watched as Hinata walked into the clearing, her eyes searching fruitlessly.

Then his eyes widened, by a fraction as she turned on her byaakuugan. Quickly, he muttered a technique that blocked his chakra flow but it seemed that her bloodline was better. She turned to his direction, but shockingly, didn't say a word.

She turned off her byaakugan and then sat down, at her usual tree, leaning back against the bark. He looked, curiosity getting the better of him, as she fiddled with the bandages around her arm. A small bandage was on her cheek and he growled.

He should've killed her.

But he never could.

You're growing weak, a voice inside him thought. Itachi shoved it away and leaned back against the tree branch. Then he nearly fell out of it as she began to speak.

" Uchiha-san?"

Again, with that damned familiarity! He prepared a kunai, ready to throw it at her throat when she continued.

" I apologize for my behaviour yesterday. I o-overstepped my boundaries," She said, the same soft voice that he had begun to familiarize himself with.

Itachi stayed silent however, his eyes narrowing at the girl. A fool, that's all the stupid girl was, he thought viciously.

The pale eyed girl sighed and she shifted, fiddling with the grass on the ground. Then she whispered, " Why did you kill your family?"

Itachi's eyes widened. The nerve-!

Then the girl said louder, " I-I guess I'll leave then. Bye...Uchiha-san..."

Getting to her feet, she walked away and Itachi watched her go, staring at her vulnerable back, the route that led a kunai straight to her heart, so many ways to kill, so many ways to murder-

Yet he let her go, breathing, heart beating, blood flowing...he let her go and his body seemed to fall into itself with the exhaustion of emotions and he could not believe he was letting himself...turn into..

-----

Naruto stared at the rejected gift in his hands. Looking up, he watched as Sakura squealed over Sasuke as the stoic boy walked stonily to wherever loser guys like him went to.

Then Naruto looked back at the present in his hands and felt a burning pain in his heart.

" Ahhh!" He screeched. " Sakura-chan, why did u reject me?"

" Naruto-kun?"

The voice behind him made him jump, startled. Then he turned around and his eyes took in the form of Hinata, who was staring at him curiously.

" Ah, Hinata-chan!" Naruto grinned, widely, quickly whipping the present behind his back. " How are you doing today?"

He scratched his head in feigned innocence and Hinata smiled, softly.

" Naruto-kun, I-I'm sorry she didn't a-accept your p-present," Hinata said, her voice quiet and that light stammer making itself known.

Naruto shook his head wildly. " It's okay, it's okay Hinata-chan! I'm sure if you gave it to her, she would've loved it! It's not your fault!"

Hinata looked at him, and shook her head softly. " Oh, Naruto-kun. T-tell me i-if-" The blush on her cheeks that Naruto thought might've been permanent, deepened as she continued, " -if...you ever want to h-hang out sometime, t-then you know w-who to call."

She blushed even deeper and with a slight wave, she turned around and walked away. Curiously, Naruto watched her go, and then chuckled to himself.

" Hinata-chan is so weird, ne?" He said to himself. And then his eyes blinked.

What if...what if Hinata liked him?

He stared at her retreating back and recalled her question.

Wasn't that like...asking him out on a date!

Shock flowed through him before a smile broke out onto his whiskered face. " Hinata-chan must like me!"

a/n: Anyways, so this is the latest chapter, sry bout da delay. And some of ya were sayin it was goin too fast and remember, the romance hasn't...kicked in yet. They first gotta get to bein comfortable around eachother so dunn worry:D

bye,

--sinceritea