Hey everyone, sorry I haven't updated in a long time. Lost my flashdrive which had all my writings on it but luckily I recovered it.

I also wanted to take this time to thank everyone for the positive reviews. I guess I had been away from FanFic for so long that I didn't realize that people have now begun trolling on the site. But no matter how much flames they throw, my will of fire will still burn on (haha couldn't help it on that joke)

ENJOY

Hinata woke up the next morning and saw Sasuke asleep in his own bed.

He must have come in late last night, Hinata concluded. She really didn't want to wake him up, especially after what had transpired between the two of them the day before, plus he should rest for the tournament later that night. But Hinata was worried that things would be awkward between them.

And she was just beginning to feel like they were getting somewhere in their partnership. She wouldn't call them friends exactly but they were more than just acquaintances at this point.

Being in a rather good mood, Hinata figured she should at least try to do something nice for Sasuke, mainly to make sure he knew that she appreciated what he had said the night before and opening up to her. So she quickly changed into some casual clothes and headed out the door.

When Sasuke woke up he was welcomed with the smell of cinnamon in the air and it made him sick to his stomach. He sat up and scratched his head and saw Hinata sitting on her own bed, cross-legged, eating one of those sickly sweet pastries.

"Morning." She said while looking down at a scroll. Sasuke winced slightly watching her take another bite. "Don't worry." She said without looking up. "This is just for me. I got you a breakfast sandwich, it's on the nightstand."

Sasuke looked over and sure enough, there was a wrapped sandwich sitting there. He grunted in response and grabbed the food. He took a bite before looking back at Hinata. "What are you looking at?"

"The mission information given to me by the Hokage." Hinata handed him the scroll. "I wanted to look over it again."

"Anything interesting?"

"Not from what I can gather." Hinata admitted. "From the information Konoha collected, Kori sounds like a ruthless overlord, but what I have seen so far is an idiotic womanizer."

"He's probably just putting on a show."

"Maybe….but if he is, he's one really good actor."

Sasuke scoffed. "It wouldn't be that hard to play dumb and treat women like shit."

"I don't know. No matter how hard I try, I just can't imagine you being dumb or treating women badly."

Sasuke squinted at her suspiciously. "I'll just take that as a compliment."

Hinata smiled in return. "You should. Those are good qualities to have."

Not use to being given compliments so freely Sasuke just ignored it. "So what are you plans for the rest of the mission?"

"I'm not really sure at this point." Hinata admitted. "I will probably need to keep up my cover and try my best to get closer but from what I have seen so far that is easier said than done. Kori doesn't seem to really talk to his women. He just likes to use them for entertainment and once he's bored with you he dumps you like a hot potato."

Sasuke nearly choked on his food. He coughed before looking at the Hyuga Heiress. "Did you just say hot potato?"

Hinata looked over at him oddly. "Yeah, so?"

"Only little kids use that saying."

Hinata was about to argue but then she saw the corners of Sasuke's mouth lift up as if smirking and then she realized that he was teasing her.

It was a bit odd to have someone known for being so powerful and merciless actually tease you. Hinata might actually say he was flirting with her, if it was someone besides Sasuke Uchiha, that is.

"Grownups say it too!" She defended herself.

Sasuke scoffed. "And only kids say things like grownups."

Hinata squinted her eyes, trying to glare at the Uchiha but he simply smirked back, obviously not threatened by her in the slightest.

"Hmpf!" Hinata crossed her arms, frustrated that Sasuke was getting the better of her. "Well this grownup has decided that she isn't going to talk to you anymore."

"Silent treatment…really?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "I figured you better than that Hyuga."

"You forget, I was basically mute back when we were kids, I know how to be quiet."

"Fine, be that way." Sasuke shrugged. He glanced over at her from the corner of his eye and saw that she still had that cute pout going.

Hinata continued to sit there pouting in silence. She knew that she was being childish but Sasuke could be rather frustrating. Especially when she would look out the corner of her eyes at him and he continued to sit there eating his sandwich and looking over the mission scroll as if he wasn't the cause.

While he was distracted, Hinata took the chance to look at Sasuke, really look at him. His profile wasn't a strong one but it still had elegance and refinement. His hair was a bit shaggy but it added to his mysterious aura and sex appeal. But Hinata wondered about the man behind the good looks. What was he really like? His likes? Dislikes? His deepest dreams and fears? Hinata doubted he had ever truly shared his feelings with anyone ever before.

Her heart ache thinking about him being so alone that he couldn't talk to anyone.

"Take a picture, it would last longer." Sasuke broke her out of her trance. She realized to late that she had been staring at him.

"Sorry."

"Hmph." Sasuke turned to look at her. "What brought Kori on your radar? From the report it seems like he did some low key thefts for the most part. Nothing that would scream him planning for a coup."

"I honestly don't know." Hinata admitted. "The Hokage just gave me the assignment."

"Did Kori have any partners or associates?"

Hinata scrunched her face in confusion. "Not that I know of. Why? Do you see something in the report?"

"It might be nothing but the name Akira Ishikawa comes up a few times in the report."

"Let me see!" Hinata moved to sit on Sasuke's bed next to him, so close that their bodies touched. She leaned over his arm to look at the scroll, not even noticing how her chest rested on his arm.

Sasuke was so busy keeping his blush down that he didn't even notice Hinata trying to talk to him.

"Sasuke? Hello?" Hinata tried to the third time.

"What? Say that again." Sasuke looked down at the scroll to where Hinata pointed.

Hinata gave him a look. "I was saying that the report doesn't say much about the guy. Only that he is part of Kori's group of thugs. But he has a few guys that are considered his high ranking members."

"Do you know what this Akira looks like?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata leaned over Sasuke's arm again and scanned the scroll. "Doesn't look like there is anything about what he looked like. You think he's important?"

Sasuke tried shrugging but felt Hinata's chest rub against his arm more so he froze. "I'm not saying he's important. I just want to find out more about the guy."

"Alright I'll see what I can dig up. Maybe his other girls know some things."

"Other girls?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Come on. We all know that a person like Kori has more than one girl hanging around."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "This guy makes me sick."

"I know." Hinata stood up and stretched. "But not all guys can be as high quality as you." She teased.

Sasuke wondered if she was being sarcastic but he saw by the way she smiled that she meant every word and he didn't know how to feel about that.

"Can you at least tell me what you plan on doing so I'm not caught off guard?" Sasuke asked. "This whole seductress style is new to me for the most part and I don't like being left in the dark."

Hinata tapped her chin with her finger, pondering over the question. "Nope!"

Sasuke sighed. "Of course."

"Just kidding silly." Hinata winked at him. "Let me take a shower and then we can go over our plans for the evening."

Sasuke watched Hinata walk into the bathroom and shut the door. He then leaned back against his headboard and closed his eye. He was so confused about how he felt about his relationship with the Hyuga. Although they only started talking a few days ago, they were bantering like old friends. And not even that because he never did that with Sakura or Naruto. But even though it wasn't the same relationship he had with his old teammates it didn't mean he didn't enjoy it. He actually liked whatever this was with the Hyuga.

He just hoped she didn't ruin it by starting to have feelings for him.

Hinata closed her eyes and allowed the hot water to run down her body and relax her tense muscles. It seems her little breakfast scheme had worked and her and Sasuke would back to normal, well at least as normal as they were considering they only started to talk a few days ago. And Sasuke had even found something suspicious although Hinata didn't. Whomever this Akira person was, she doubted he was anything more important than Kori's other thugs.

She did her best to hide it from Sasuke but she was starting to worry about her seductress skills with Kori. Although her tricks were working, they weren't working well enough which meant that she would have go for more drastic measures and she really didn't want to do that.

Because she was so good she didn't have to go for those tactics on past missions and she really didn't want to tell Sasuke what those tactics were exactly.

Unlike those pigs that she deals with on a daily basis, Sasuke has proven to be a quality guy. It was a breath of fresh air, even Naruto had fallen for her simple tricks. It was obvious that Sasuke wasn't looking for a girl simply for her body.

Once she was done with her shower, Hinata changed into a her black ANBU gear minus the armor and open the door to see Sasuke resting some more. She couldn't help but smile at how relaxed he was. It was a rare sight and Hinata felt honored that he felt so relaxed around her.

"How are your injuries by the way?" She asked.

Sasuke sat back up and looked over at her. "They're fine. That ointment of yours seemed to have done the trick."

"Good." Hinata fidgeting a bit and then took a deep breath. "So about my next steps with Kori. I think I'll have to more forward and go to the next level."

"What exactly does that mean, next level?"

Hinata played with her fingers, an old habit she had thought she had gotten rid of. But this was going to get really awkward with Sasuke. Usually these kind of missions were solo so she would never have to explain herself but Sasuke was her partner right now and he was right that she shouldn't keep secrets from him so not to catch him off guard…but still…..

Hinata took a deep breath to center herself. This was silly. She was talking to Sasuke Uchiha for crying out loud. He wouldn't care. And even if he did, she didn't care what he thought. At least that's what she told herself to get through this conversation.

"You have already seen the basic techniques when it comes to seducing." Hinata started off.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. "If you mean that shameless flirting with the tight outfits then yes I have."

Hinata nodded. She didn't know what this was so hard. Usually when she talked about her skills she did it with pride but with Sasuke she felt a little embarrassed, something she hadn't felt since her days under her sensei. "Yes well we consider that level one simply for the fact that its simply shameless flirting with the subject. And since I already did a large amount of level one on him, it will become suspicious if I don't move forward." Hinata was bumbling a bit but she just couldn't help it. "And that means things will need to get more…physical."

"Physical…." Sasuke repeated.

Hinata nodded.

"Didn't you already get rather physical with him yesterday?" Sasuke eyes went to Hinata's collarbone where the bruise was still rather visible on her porcelain skin. Hinata covered it up on reflex.

"Yes, well, that was only to grab his attention. I still need to keep it."

"And how physical are we talking about? You aren't planning on sleeping with the idiot are you?"

Hinata wasn't sure but it almost sounded like Sasuke was jealous but she knew that was silly and just her imagination playing games. Or maybe it was her heart only hoping he was jealous and protective of her.

"Of course not!" Hinata exclaimed. "The Hokage would never have her shinobi do something like that."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "Hn, I guess there is at least one thing that the old hag and I agree on."

"I'm not planning on sleeping with Kori now or ever." Hinata wanted to reaffirm the notion. She wanted Sasuke to know that she wasn't that kind of girl. For some reason it really mattered to Hinata that Sasuke saw her in a positive light.

"Good." Sasuke gave her a look. "You know I still do not like this whole seducing method right? I still think we should just kill the guy or take him prisoner at the very least."

"Don't we all wish that? But I have my orders and that means I need more evidence before doing anything like that."

"Hn."

Hinata wasn't sure how to fill in the awkwardness but luckily she didn't have to because Daisake jumped into the room through the winder catching the attention of the shinobi.

"What did you find out?" Hinata asked the cat.

"Your little man is on the move." He explained.

Hianta glanced over at Sasuke. "Seems rather early for him to be active."

"Where did he go?" Sasuke asked.

"To a run down building on the other side of town. He was just entering when I came back to tell you."

"We better go check things out." Hinata said but when she looked up Sasuke already had his gear on.

Luckily Hinata had most of her gear on as well and all she needed was her mask. She went into her bag and grabbed another mask and handed it over to Sasuke. "You should keep your face covered in case they spot us."

Sasuke took the mask and smirked. "I doubt you have the authority to be handing out ANBU masks."

Hinata smiled back. "Like anyone would doubt that fact you would be ANBU if you came back to the village."

And just like that, the two disappeared from the room.

And another chapter. Sorry if this one seems a little boring. Things should be getting more interesting soon enough.

Also, this story is currently rated T but if you want things to get more steamy, please let me know and I will change the rating and add a little more to the story.

xoxoWendbria