Similarities

Somehow, she knew it would come to this. Her mistakes would end up being the death of her, but this time it was quite literal. Her arms slashed beyond saving, the blood dripping onto the dirt beneath her feet and mixing into a pasty substance due to the shuffling of her feet. She was anxious for the return of her teammate, even though she knew he would arrive too late.

He had told her he would be back in a couple minutes with a medical ninja. That was over two hours ago, and her life was slowly coming to a close. Sleep began to overtake her eyes as she leaned against a tree so reminiscent of her closest friend.

The wind blew violently through the trees, causing the Sakura petals to drift onto the small girl's bloody form. A couple landed on the jounin vest she'd worn so proudly, happy that she wasn't as much of a burden anymore.

She laughed, the bitter sound being carried away by the wind. "People who aren't a burden don't have to wait while their friends try saving them."

Her eyes closed as her mind wandered through the trials of her youth, for she had never experienced much outside of that time period. Training in the fields in order to reach new levels of strength, laughing with her friends. A tear trickled down her face at the knowledge that she wouldn't be able to say goodbye to her closest friends. "Another rule broken. Shinobi don't cry."

The girl's lavender eyes snapped open as she took in the appearance of the speaker in front of her. "Uchiha." She breathed out, hatred filling her voice. For so long, Naruto had been looking for his best friend and here he was, standing no less than ten feet in front of her. She felt even more worthless. What good was she if she couldn't bring back her precious person's friend?

Sasuke looked down on the form in front of him. "Hyuuga." He stepped forward, kneeling down beside her. "Why are you crying? You've always wanted this secretly, I know." He told her, revealing the fact that he'd actually paid attention to someone while he was in elementary school.

"How do you think you know anything about me?" Hinata smirked. The stutter of her youth had vanished, leaving behind only contempt for the missing ninja beside her. "I don't abandon my village. That's my ninja way."

"You really did steal that from Naruto…" he sighed, looking over her body. Past the point of self-consciousness, Hinata shut her eyes again and let him look at her without yelling at him. What use was it, when she'd be dead and he could stare for as long as he liked?

"I know because we both come from noble families in the village. Both our fathers had high expectations of us, which we couldn't fulfill." He told her quietly, Sharingan eyes still looking over her body. "While you suffered, I did, too."

Hinata opened her eyes and looked at him. "Y-you too?" the stutter returned, evidence of her shock. "The Uchiha weren't nearly as strict as the Hyuuga." She countered, eyes regaining their fire.

Sasuke sighed, resting his hand on a wound on her stomach. Hinata winced slightly at the contact, but still allowed her face to glare at him fiercely. His hand emanated a transparent green light and her wound began to heal slowly. "As a whole, no." he told her grudgingly. "My father, yes. My only goal was to make him proud; look where it got me." He smirked at his situation before healing her arms. "You were waiting for a healer, right?" he asked before continuing.

Hinata nodded, taking in the information he'd given. "But I never expected it to be you." She finished, leaning against the tree as he finished healing her arms. "Why are you healing me?"

"Actually, I was on my way to Konoha." Sasuke admitted, making sure her wounds were healed before leaning back against the tree. "Something's been bugging me; I couldn't stop thinking about it." He let his hand run through his hair, making sure the back was sticking up as usual.

"What is it?" Hinata asked, eyes opening in curiosity. "Maybe I can help?"

Sasuke eyed Hinata warily before continuing. "Even if I do kill Itachi, then what? My mind was so caught up in the details that I never thought there'd be an ending. I thought I'd die immediately after my battle." He stared at the Sakura petals, trying to find designs in them. "But then I'd leave my second goal undone."

Hinata nodded, knowing that he also wanted to revive his clan. "I think your hatred for your brother outweighed that goal in your mind. Unless that's changed?" She prodded him on, knowing he'd continue talking. He may not be verbose, but once you got him going, he'd go for a while. She had learned this from his teammates talking about him after he left.

"So, I wanted to find someone to fulfill my second ambition. Who would actually love me instead of lust after me." Sasuke explained, letting out a breath he'd been unconsciously holding in. "But the more I thought about it, nobody evident stood out in my mind. Until I thought…" he stopped speaking, noticing familiar charka signatures a fair distance off and approaching. They'd be there in about ten minutes, but his senses had grown to the point where he could sense chakra from great distances. "…thought, what do I have in common with any of them." He continued where he'd left off.

"One normally goes for those who have nothing in common with them." Hinata pointed out, observant as ever. It was a well known female law that opposites attract, but supposed it'd never gotten to the male side of the equation.

"I thought of only one girl in that entire village who I could grow to love." Sasuke continued, pausing only to let her finish her sentence. He'd taken in her words, but he'd also thought about this for a long time. There was only this path left; he knew it was the right one.

Hinata sighed, knowing he would be stubborn. "Who?" she asked wearily.

Sasuke brushed his fingertips over her lips. "You." He whispered and kissed her softly.

Hinata was having a little fit inside herself as her cheeks flushed crimson. She was obsessed with Naruto, not the other teen of former Squad Seven! At the same time, she subconsciously relaxed into his gesture, allowing his tongue to enter her mouth and brush against her own.

They broke apart, Sasuke awaiting her reaction. He expected it to be favorable, but didn't know if Hinata reacted as expected. She sometimes had a stubborn streak she'd learned from Naruto after her constant observance of him, trying to change her destiny. It was a very basic Hyuuga principle that only Neji had taken to heart in their generation, but all were taught that destiny was the ultimate deciding factor. She had been trying to break that for so long.

Hinata looked up at him, still partially embarrassed. "Did you know…" she began, striving to calm her heartbeat. "…that before the massacre, you and I were engaged?"

Sasuke blinked, never having come across that record in his family's planner. "No." he answered briefly, somewhat confused. The Uchiha and the Hyuuga never got along privately, though they were well-mannered enough in the public eye.

Hinata nodded. "We were the marriage that was going to bring peace amongst our clans, theoretically at least. It was our destiny…" she whispered, index fingers twirling around each other.

"Don't tell me you go off about that destiny shit too…" Sasuke muttered.

"That's just Neji-nii-san." Hinata assured him quietly. "I've always tried to break destiny before…" she confessed. "I was convinced that if I could become strong enough, I could do what I wanted to. I wouldn't have to kneel at the feet of something stronger than I was."

Sasuke nodded. "Strength is something that's hard to attain and is absolute. But, you know, physical strength isn't the only thing to consider." He admitted. "Itachi's only beaten me these past times because I wasn't strong enough mentally or spiritually. It's made me reconsider some things…"

Hinata smiled slightly. "Do you want to come back to the village?" she asked quietly.

Sasuke hesitated. "I only want to come back if I can be with you." He answered, unaccustomed to presenting his heart on a silver platter to a woman. "Otherwise, I'll flee again."

Hinata nodded this time, a brief smile gracing her lips still. "I can't promise you anything. I've always tried breaking destiny. But this time, destiny could be right for me. After all, I would have died from blood loss if you hadn't closed up my arms."

Sasuke allowed a small smile to leak onto his face. "Destiny's still a load of bullshit." He commented. "You should become what you want to be. Is ninjutsu your path?"

She bit her lip, unsure of her answer. Her entire life had been spent on it, but was it really correct? "I suppose…in the field, no." she admitted after coming to her conclusion. "But I like medical ninjutsu."

"Then you should be a medic nin." Sasuke told her gently, sensing the presences would be there within the minute. His muscles tensed as a reflex, but he willed himself to remain beside Hinata. "Besides, shinobi don't cry." He whispered again.

Hinata smiled. "Then you yourself wouldn't be a shinobi." She pointed out, reaching her hand up to wipe a tear from his face. "You're crying from happiness, Sasuke-kun." She giggled. "That's alright. It's another thing we have in common. I would be too, if I had energy."

Sasuke hurriedly wiped the remaining tears away as Shino and Sakura entered the clearing Hinata was in. "You'll be with me?" he confirmed, still able to escape if necessary.

"I'll try." Hinata smiled, gripping his hand weakly. She was now aware of the two ninja approaching them. "Sakura-chan, if you could look over my injuries, I'd appreciate it."

Sakura had frozen in place at the sight of Sasuke. "What are… I… Sasuke-kun?" she stammered.

"Sakura, Hinata needs you now more than I do." Sasuke told her, face passive. Shino came up behind him and bound him with chakra strings. He sighed, expecting the gesture. "Nice to see you too, Aburame."

"Uchiha." He greeted curtly. "I have to take you to Hokage-sama when we return to Konoha."

"Perfectly alright." Sasuke agreed as Sakura looked over Hinata, making sure she wouldn't have any permanent damage or scars.

Once her examination was complete, Hinata stood and walked over to Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun, thank you." She whispered, hugging him. He stiffened at the foreign contact, but tried to hug back. His hands were still bound by the chakra strings behind his back, so they dug slightly into his skin. He still relaxed, however, and Hinata knew that he meant to do so. Shino and Sakura glanced at each other, thrown off by the affection shown.

Hinata smiled genuinely as she released Sasuke, his form towering over hers. "Let's get back to Konoha." She spoke softly, barely able to be heard above the storm.

'I have a feeling it will be better than before, now that I'm not alone.' She smiled inwardly and looked toward the missing nin jumping through the trees in front of her. 'After all, we do have a lot of similarities.'