A/N

I'm bad at this... hehe...

Thanks for all of the reviews, Lords and Ladies! Even those from unimpressed readers! They help a lot~

"Then I'll warm you up..."

Those words lingered in the forefront of her mind for a moment before she snapped back into reality, shifting in his hold so that she could look him in the eye. Or rather, try to look him in the eye. Between her fluttering heart and the lack of light, it was an excessively difficult feat.

A pair of hot hands cupped her cheeks, thumbs stroking the sides of her face and bottom lip. His fingers tucked her hair behind her ear and grazed her jaw, travelling down to her pulse, where they lingered. Despite her commanding her body to move on the inside, she was frozen, trembling at his touch but never flinching or moving away. It was almost as if she were in a trance. A very satisfying trance, at that.

Her previous grip on actuality slipped from her fingers the instant she drew a third, deep gulp of the sweet air that seemed to warm her insides. Her fantasies of being held and kissed and... touched... all played in her head in a matter of seconds when she felt his breath brushing against her lips. She could almost feel the foreign warmth, but at the last moment he drew back and simply hugged her, holding her firmly against him while the darkness seemed only to grow deeper. Until...

A gasp.

Eyes fluttered open at the sudden licking of cold on her cheeks, and immense heat at her back.

The Hyūga didn't remember falling asleep, she couldn't recall most of what had happened before her mind had been muddled to the point of no return, but she knew that she had to have slept.

When her eyes slid open, it was to the sight of darkness. Not darkness like it had been last night, with the light of the moon giving the room a pale, very dim glow. This darkness was different. Absolute. A choking enigma that she hated to be trapped in, in a very warm, rather... muscular cage. The... arms... that were wrapped around her waist wouldn't allow for much mobility, so she had to worm herself out of them.

Sadly... she lost the heat of the body, and of its cloak...

Immediately as she was liberated from the Uchiha, and she knew that it was him because of the cinnamon scent he bore, she hurried toward the cave's exit. Her face was burning so brightly that she found herself to be shocked that it hadn't lit up the cave.

The feeling of the cool cave ground underfoot abruptly shifted to that of icy, needle-points when her bare foot crunched down in snow. She yelped aloud, jumping back and pacing in place for a few seconds. Her mouth covered, to keep any more noises from escaping her lips, the heiress wondered when she'd lost her shoes.

As the stinging in her feet began to recede, Hinata started to question her confidence. She hated the dark, and if she had to choose between standing at the mouth of the cave and plunging herself back into the taunting darkness, she'd settle with standing here. Or rather, sitting here.

Her knees drawn up to her chest, and her thin cloak being the only layer of defence, outside of her jacket, against the angry arctic air, she stared aimlessly up at the starry sky. The moon in all of its stunning, blue-white glory had travelled across the sky a considerable amount, which led her to believe that she had slept for two or three hours, at least. But her attempt at using astronomical-mathematics to divert her attention from the dark haired man she'd been sleeping with minutes before withered away the moment she grew weary of counting stars.

The next best thing would be to train a little. But since there was endless snow outside that she couldn't walk on without shoes if she hoped to keep her feet, and literally the devil at her back, beckoning her to retreat into his dark abode with the promise of returning to Sasuke's warm embrace, she settled on push ups. But... it was partly due to her heart still feeling like it was pounding a hundred times per second.

"One... two... three... four..."

The light stung the backs of his eyelids.

The breeze outside pierced his ears.

The cold that had returned to him during the night wasn't as bad as it had been before. All the bodies here warmed the cave's interior considerably, though not enough to warrant the orange and black jacket carelessly strewn on the floor.

A groan escaped the lips of the Uchiha as his eyes opened, and for a moment be just sat there, his neck stiff from the cold all around himself, staring at the tangled mess of legs and blond and pink hair just across from him. A glance to his right side, he vainly hoped to find the Hyūga curled up, her inky hair falling freely about her fair skin, a contrast that would never go unmissed.

But it was bright enough with the sun shining outside for him to see, and very clearly, that she wasn't there.

And so his investigation ensued,

The Uchiha buckled his black boots before standing up, expecting a long tread to find the lavender eyed Hyūga Princess. He heard her voice, though, faint as it may be. She seemed to be chanting quietly. As he stepped nearer, he noticed that her chanting was actually counting, and until she came into view he'd become considerably suspicious about what.

Amusement found his lips when he saw that she was struggling with push ups, and then curiosity with each number that passed.

"Nine thousand... nine hundred ninety... eight... nine thousand nine... hundred ninety... nine..." For a few moments she was quiet, her arms trembling as she forced herself upward pathetically slowly. "T... ten... thousand..."

Thud.

She lay on the ground just a metre from him, her eyes shut and sweat dripping from her face onto the cold stone. The poor girl was so tired that she couldn't even move her arms, which looked like they were made entirely of jelly at that point, the way that they hung limply on either side of her. A small part of him prompted the Jōnin to make sure that she was still alive. So, he did what would take the least effort to do, and nudged her right elbow with the toe of his left boot.

"Hyūga." For a moment, she was unresponsive, and he stepped nearer to her to make sure she hadn't worked herself to death. Her eyes seemed to flutter open just as he knelt down at her side, and the sweet smile from before tried to return to her lips. It was combated by a pained look, and he sighed, clicking his tongue at her. "You're weird."

He didn't know how long she'd been out here doing her push ups, but if she'd managed ten thousand then it had to have been a while. And a long while, at that. The girl was watching him, her breaths steadying as the minute dragged by, but not speaking. For a while, he couldn't take his eyes off of her, couldn't look away from her small form wrapped up in a jacket, her cloak discarded, folded a metre away from her on the ground.

Finally, after catching himself in a perpetual staring contest with the Hyūga princess, he stepped over her and into the snow, not much minding the sudden drop in temperature. "I'm going ahead to scout." He said, glancing back to the mass of lavender fabric and inky hair. "You should get some rest. We'll set out at noon."

The sun beat down on them, giving the group the illusion of warmth.

Hinata pressed her fingers together awkwardly as her eyes shifted numerous times from the Uchiha and Haruno ahead of her to the Uzumaki at her side. Naruto seemed completely oblivious to her nervous demeanour, and Sakura and Sasuke were paying little attention to her at all. The pinkette was too busy trying to get a laugh, or smile, from the onyx eyed Jōnin. He replied to her jokes with a simple, halfhearted "hn" each time she fired a new one.

Her laughter and Naruto's, at least, filled the otherwise silent void.

The crunching underfoot changed suddenly, from that of snow to a crushing more akin to that of cracking glass. Her gaze lowered, Hinata was surprised to see that they were walking atop ice, and it looked dangerously thin, at that.

A hand absently reached the Naruto for support, and an unparalleled feeling of joy flooded her when a large hand found her inner elbow, drawing her toward the strong form that was the Kyūbi Jinchūriki. Their eyes met, pearl and capitulating immediately to sapphire, and the heiress felt her cheeks redden at their closeness.

For a moment the blond watched her, a confused look, before it was suddenly replaced with his general, beaming look. He let her go, only to offer his elbow a split second later, guiding her forward when she took it. She would love to spend the day hanging onto him that him, staring into his endless blue eyes, but her confidence had been worn thin last night and her head immediately dropped when these thought were allowed in.

"I won't let ya fall, Hinata."

The woman burned when he spoke to her, as though they were closer than friends. At the thought that maybe... just maybe... they could share something more than friendly conversation when the circumstances called for it. But, she knew that her hopes were all vain. He'd told her before, that she was like family to him. Like a sister that he'd never had. That proclamation hurt her more than it should have... more than most other things did. But she stilled felt like the sun, who sat so low in the sky that she doubted it would ever rise again, had suddenly intensified its heat to beat down on her specifically.

And so six or seven hours of crossing over harsh terrain later, hours of silence from Sasuke and a lot of jokes exchanged between Naruto and Sakura, as well as a full trip across the sky for the winter sun that she was surprised to see rise at all in these far northern lands, the group took a break. They separated what food they had between them and ate, Uchiha and Hyūga in silence, and Haruno and Uzumaki knee deep in ghost tales, all gathered in a forest of evergreens. The heiress discovered herself sitting next to Sasuke rather than across from him, unable to admit that the tales of ghosts horrified her when scrutinised by those onyx eyes.

The logs were still sticky with sap, despite the golden-blue flame burning before her.

"I'm s-s-sorry... U-Uchiha-san..."

She let his warmth escape her and scooted over so that there was cold space between them, curling her fingers in her lap and squeezing her eyes shut. For a moment the woman listened to Sakura's giggling as it bled together with Naruto's own grin, his voice trailing off and being replaced with the unmistakable sound of...

Kissing?

"Why are you apologising to me?" Sasuke's voice resonated for a moment in her head, pushing past the torrent of embarrassed thoughts that lingered there, and she turned slightly to him. It was a mere reflex, to direct herself toward comfort, but he didn't miss it. In seconds, she'd been drawn back to his side, his black cloak wrapped around her and clasped at her neck so that it wouldn't fall.

A moment of silence between them before he spoke again: "You're going to get sick." The Uchiha stated, his eyes turned up when she finally found the courage to try meeting them. She tilted her head slightly, hugging herself underneath his black cloak while trying to peak underneath his bangs to see why he hid his left eye.

An onyx eye dropped down and the heiress turned her gaze away for a moment, watching him from the corner of her eye when the Uchiha furrowed his brows. She couldn't help but to smile a little at the expression he bore while watching her, waiting to meet her eyes again.

When she didn't lift her lilac gaze, again, he folded his arms and sighed.

"You're weird, Hyūga."

It was the second time he'd told her on that day, and the giddy feeling she got from the rather offhanded remark. She enjoyed his odd way of responding to things that she did, it was surprisingly fun to try eliciting new reactions than she'd thought. Maybe that was why the other two had taken to telling him jokes earlier? But, as far as she could tell, the Uchiha survivor didn't laugh.

Maybe just a chuckle, on occasion?

Naruto and Sakura had disappeared into the trees, most likely in search of some sort of cave. Hinata didn't dare let her thoughts wander beyond that point. She knew, inside, what young men and women tended to do while alone, she wasn't so naïve that it was a mystery to her. But, being the heiress of a particularly prestigious clan, she couldn't taint herself with the thoughts. And... she doubted her ability to handle the added torment.

Uchiha Sasuke made it bearable, at least. He sat quietly at her side, eyes watching as the blue flames licked away at the numerous, rather large sticks and logs that had been set ablaze by his own jutsu. He wasn't normally very talkative. Like her, he bore an inclination toward silent communication, speaking with his body language and eyes rather than verbally. From what she knew of him, he was a calm, calculative shinobi, always alert, always processing everything around him with the same fervour as he processed other people.

They were two introverts. Two shinobi who could understand one another better than they could understand others. Better than others could understand them. Because they thought the same way.

But she still wondered what was going through his mind, if he were wondering about her thoughts right then. So, she decided to break the silence.

"U... Uchiha-san..."

Black eyes met white.

And Hinata said nothing.

She hadn't actually given any thought to what she wanted to say, or how to strike up some sort of conversation with him. She almost slapped her forehead for the moment of incompetence that she'd experienced, but conducting herself as a Hyūga should, she spoke again. Slowly enough that she could think, but not so slowly that he would think her ill.

"Thank you... f-for the c-c-cloak, I mean... but I don't need it..."

"Keep it."

His tone was rather flat, even for him, and that was considering the fact that the typical conversation with the lone Uchiha was one sided, with him just offering a "hn" when it was necessary. But, she'd only hoped for him to speak, so she considered it progress. Even if she felt bad for accepting his cloak.

"B-but... Uchiha-san, won't you be c-cold and..."

"Hyūga."

Sasuke looked away from her, his eyes returning to the flame for a moment before he drew a quiet breath. Silence hung in the air between them, and for a moment she thought that he was upset with her. For trying too hard to get some sort of entertainment out of him, something to keep her mind away from the blond who refused to leave it, and the pinkette who'd been dragged in.

"Stop talking." He told her, shushing her when she began to protest. "Listen... Do you hear it?"

Silence?

"That's the sound of peace, princess. I like it more than Sakura and the dobe could imagine. It's part of why I brought you, because I thought that you liked it, too."

Hinata couldn't stop the smile that curved her lips, nor the blush that grazed her cheeks. He was right, after all, about her liking to just bask in the sounds of nature. Perhaps she was just worrying herself over nothing.