Their Sin

Neji's death hit her hard. She witnessed the grim and painful expression before his life slipped away. Hinata swore to do anything within her power to make this feeling go away. She wasn't going to sit around and wait for time to heal anything. she requested permission from the 6th Hokage, Kakashi, to take some time off outside the village. She did so in hopes to find a way to cope with all the deaths and sadness that the war left behind.

"Hey, you shouldn't be here." Said a male voice. He was in fact, wrong, in her opinion. What better way to begin her research than to visit one of Orochimaru's abandoned hideout.

"I know." But it didn't matter. The place was looted and nothing of interest was left behind.

Hinata faced the stranger. The dim light made it so that his face was just a shadow.

"Then why are you here?" The stranger walked forward after he had spoken.

"We all lost loved ones during the war. I guess I'm paying my respects."

"If you were someone else, I wouldn't believe a word you just said." He stepped close enough to reveal to the heiress who he was. As it turned out, she knew this young man. Her resolve diminished.

"S-Sasuke-San…what are you doing here?"

"I'm on a mission. What about you?" He was tired and forgot that he had already ask.

She repeated something similar to what she previously said.

"Paying my respect."

"Hn." He didn't know her, but got the impression that there was something she wasn't sharing. After all how could she pay her respect here since the war didn't take place on this location? Nevertheless, he suggested they should leave so that he may complete his mission.

Once outside, Sasuke performed a Jutsu to completely destroy the hideout. Hinata wore her disappointment and sadness like a bright scarf during a white winter morning as she watched the place crumble. He shot her a curious side glance and said nothing.

"I lost someone very dear to me right before the war ended…I wish I could fly right over to him." Tears always escaped her at the thought of Neji. But he didn't know this, because he didn't know her. What he did see in her was a bit of his past self; a few months back when he lost his brother Itachi for a second time.

"You're not stable right now. I can't believe you were even allowed to travel alone regardless of your rank." He presumed she was a Jonin.

"Naruto is my boyfriend." He wasn't surprised, but what shocked him was that her statement implied that she was aware of the influences that came with having Naruto as her boyfriend. He knew his best friend was dating the Hyuga heiress, but was not around to hear about the two making it official. "He convinced Kakashi to let me have this time to myself-we both thought that it would help me." Hinata wiped her tears and sighed. She appeared angry for a moment. The vacation didn't help. She never found anything in her journey that could alleviate her sadness.

He was sure there were many people waiting for her. He briefly wondered if there was anyone waiting for him aside the young woman with the cherry blossom hair and Naruto.

"Since I'm headed there I can escort you back." There was another hideout that Sasuke needed to destroy, it was in the same direction as the Leaf Village.

"Thank you. I'll try to keep up." She replied.

"Okay." He took a bit of offense in her last comment since it would be rude of him if he went too far ahead.

They traveled on foot for about two days, and stopped to eat and rest or take shelter from the rain. On the third night, by the campfire, Hinata watched Sasuke sleep after they both had a bit to drink. She remained seated on a log, with a cup of sake next to her. She wondered when she could ever sleep well again. She stared at his fingers which tied in a fist as he lay on his side. Hinata thought of how similar his sleeping mannerism was to Neji's.

The sound of her weeping woke Sasuke up and he quickly regretted offering her a drink. He stayed in his sleeping bag with his eyes closed and ignored her for a while until she eventually uttered a name that night.

"Neji…" He felt a pang of guilt at the thought that he might have worsen her depression by giving her Sake. And grew concerned because he knew that her sorrow had a name. She must have had a strong family bond with the diseased Neji.

Hinata shifted her attention to Sasuke and readied an apology for keeping him up as the young man got up and took a seat beside her on the log. She was hushed by her own confusion due to the physical contact which followed. Sasuke's fingers tied around hers. The closeness gave her a good view of most of his face, and she wondered if Sasuke hid his other eye behind his hair on purpose. In time, she felt her heartbeat when Sasuke caught her staring with a side glance. As luck would have it, she turned her attention to the campfire and witnessed it die out. Sasuke could have lit the fire back with his abilities, but had chosen not to. The only source of light was the moon and the stars, other than that it was pitch black.

Even in the darkness, she chose to look away as she felt ashamed over how easy she had gotten distracted by the close distance. Even worst, she felt anticipation as she waited for something to happen. Instead, she learned things about Sasuke she didn't mean to through conversation about things that didn't matter. In the end, Sasuke wasn't anything like Neji, she decided. Eventually she got sleepy and nodded off on his shoulder while their fingers were intertwined.

Ignorant of Sasuke's ploy she remained asleep. He activated his Sharingan eye that glowed for a few moments. Hinata sank into the beginning stages of sleep where she started to see images or the construction of her first dream. His cold hand caressed her cheek and woke her up. She tried to look into his eyes but got caught in an illusion so permanent that it reshaped her thoughts. From then on she felt like she had to go on living for Neji who died protecting the people that he cared so much for. She felt more positive as she looked forward to the future.

She was aware of what he had done, because he didn't bother to hide the memory. Their eyes still locked in one another, had adjusted to the darkness as they could make out little features about each other. And little by little Sasuke moved closer to her, so close that his breathe tickled her. What drove him to inch closer? He stopped wondering after they shared a kiss.

It was the kind of kiss that Hinata had been too shy to ever try before, thus the butterflies in her stomach fluttered in a way unlike she ever felt with Naruto. She was unsure of what to do with her hands other than touch his hair. He smelled so nice, but Hinata gave up in trying to place the scent. Sasuke moved her long hair to the side and pulled head in the same direction to expose her neck. She refused to make any sound, because she didn't want him to know these feelings were so overwhelming that she craved for more, only with just a few kisses there.

Hinata didn't want the feeling to go away and felt so warm in his arms as she continued to enjoy his kisses. But when she opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of the moon through the tall thick forest trees, the spell immediately broke. Her anxiety kicked in and her thoughts drifted to the negative side. What would happen if she didn't stop? Or maybe she should wait for Sasuke to be one to stop? She thought of Naruto a few times, and was ready to ask Sasuke to let go. Hinata loosened the tight hold she had around him. The suddenness of her actions didn't require an explanation since Sasuke took the hint. He slowly loosened his arms around her and lit back the campfire. Hinata moved away. He watched her walk to her sleeping bag while giving him the silent treatment. She laid down with her back turned to him and ignored him for the rest of the night. He frowned, as it wasn't amusing to see her look so upset. Her reaction had actually made him feel like sh*t.

Sasuke watched the flames intently and reflected on how poorly he had behaved. He had disrespected Naruto even though he didn't go through with the betrayal. But then again, Sasuke began to think that his lack of control could be attributed to the sake. Thus it was easy to swear that tonight's actions was never going to be repeated again.

The next morning Hinata made no mention or comment about what happened the night before. And neither did Sasuke. She did muttered a 'thank you' a few miles before they got closer to the Leaf Village. And he wondered if it was in reference to his Sharingan which helped suppress her grief.

They were minutes away from the Leaf Village's gates, when Hinata paused and asked him to wait. She couldn't keep quiet anymore about last night. Her face showed obvious signs that hinted at her embarrassment as she still felt ashamed over her actions.

"Sasuke-san…I understand if you hate me and never want to speak to me again, but please don't tell Naruto about this…" She feared that if Naruto found out and had to choose between the two, Sasuke would win. Hinata bowed in an apologetic manner, which made him look away scratched his head in awkwardness. It never occurred to him that she would blame herself since he was pretty sure he started it.

"We were both naive to think that we are incapable of doing something like that. And I won't tell Naruto." Sasuke didn't deny the attraction he still felt towards her, and at the same time he didn't want to know if it the same for her. Hinata almost vocalized that it was never going to happen again but stopped; not wanting to sound like she wanted to pick some sort of fight.

"O-Okay." She turned around walked ahead and noticed that he didn't follow. She made no effort to mask her feelings and Sasuke had spent enough hours with her that he could tell she still worried. What about? He had no idea. "Aren't you coming back?" She asked.

"I can't return because I still have a mission that I have to finish." He explained.

"Then when are you?" For some reason, she hoped he wasn't on a long-term mission.

"Hn. It could be two days, or three at most. Anyways take care, Hinata-san."

"You too, Sasuke-san." She watched in awe as he teleported away. It later occurred to her as she entered the Leaf Village with a small smile on her face, that he could of just teleported the two of them here. But wait, what did she smile about? She shrugged the question aside and felt glad to be back home.

The End