What had happened was honestly expected from Naruto. After a short lived, yet long awaited, relationship with Hinata he ran straight back to Sakura. His reasoning?

He just simply couldn't hurt his best friend the way he did.

So, naturally, being sick of constantly having their relationship pitted against the past transgressions of his once in love best-friends, she opened the door for Naruto and allowed him to go, no strings attached. There was no point in holding onto someone whom already had one foot outside of the door. She wasn't tired of trying or anything of that nature, but there was only so much that could be done in a one sided relationship. Clearly he was ready to go.

Her new single relationship status brought about new concerns, however, with her future stakes in the Hyuga Clan. Her separation from Naruto meant that her original betrothal to her cousin, Neji, would resume. Her father had already insisted that, as the eldest sister, she step forward and assume the position of his successor. Hinata had never wanted to lead her clan and she certainly never wished to marry Neji.

Neji was madly in love with TenTen. Unless Hinata managed to give up her future position as head of the clan, Neji wouldn't even have a chance to marry Tenten. She'd spoken to TenTen about it many, many times and it had always ended with Tenten crying her heart out on Hinata's shoulder. Out of respect for Tenten, one of her very good friends, how could she even fathom marrying the man she so deeply cared for? Watching her break to cry every time Neji was even mentioned in her presence killed Hinata.

It was in one of those moments she decided that there was no way Hiashi could even force her to marry Neji. The head would fall to Hanabi, naturally, if one of their other cousins didn't swoop in and take it before she aged appropriately. That was what Hiashi feared the most, losing control of the clan's seat.

Once Hinata had refused to marry Neji her father became so desperate that he resorted to threats, "As long as you reside in my house, and you are unwed, I can do whatever I please with you! I could sell you for cattle if I so desired and I say you will marry Neji!"

"I will not. I will marry a man that I fall in love with, whether he be from this clan or not. "

"You believe you are marrying for love? That is selfish of you. I raised you with more grace and love for your people. You're marrying to preserve the head of this family and to secure our future as Hyuga. We do not care about love. " Hinata inhaled deeply and relaxed herself in his presence. "I am sorry that you feel that way, I disagree. You will have to count on Hanabi to carry on the family if that is how you wish to see it. No matter what you say, I am not property and I refuse to take part in this narrow minded tradition. I will marry whomever I choose, a man of my own liking."

"You heard me, Hinata. I'm finished with this conversation. Leave me." Hinata bowed before walking back to her room and sitting on the small bed mat next to the window.

It wasn't selfish to desire a better lifestyle. One filled with positivity and love. It wasn't selfish to want to see her cousin happy with her best friend. It wasn't selfish to refuse to be treated like a branded steer. She exhaled sharply and began the process of clearing her mind. The less negative energy she allowed to penetrate her subconscious, obviously, the better she felt. She did her best thinking when she was calm, relaxed, and full of positive energy. In doing just that she had somehow come to the decision that she would pack what she could and leave under the cover of night. She would tell no one, wait until everyone was asleep, slip out of her window, and make her way into the forest behind the Hyuga compound. From there, she would follow the stream to the next town and swap her clothes at one of the shops. She'd originally planned to save her money for a wedding dress, but not if her husband was Neji.

She accompanied her father for dinner that evening, it would be her last dinner with him. He pitifully tried to explain to her his reasoning for pushing her into an arranged marriage, but not one reason made her feel that he had her own best interest at heart. They all sounded like sorrowful excuses. Neji was invited to dinner also, but as predicted, he didn't show. Who could blame him?

After participating in a, mostly, one sided conversation, Hinata returned to her room to quietly finish gathering her things. She was very well accepting of the fact that she may never see, or speak to, her father again.

Come nightfall, all the lights in the Hyuga residence were extinguished, including her own, and everyone appeared to be safe in their rooms. Not willing to waste any traveling time, she slipped off into the woods and did just as she had planned. She made it to the next town, where she managed to casually enter a clothing store right before they closed shop. There, she purchased two mesh shirts and a few pairs of black pants made for heavy ninja travel. After changing, she took off, hoping to get as much distance between herself and the leaf village as possible before the sun would rise in only a few hours.

Skillfully, she passed through multiple towns and by the second night she was completely out of the land of fire and heading toward the sound village. She decided it was best to remove her leaf symbol and hide it away in her small satchel, for now, to avoid running into any trouble. Without it, however, she honestly felt naked..

Upon entering the sound village she noticed how alive it was, almost as alive as the leaf. She didn't have time to stop and reminisce as she was certain her father had already dispatched anbu for her retrieval. The sound village was quite a large village and there were many unfamiliar faces all around her, but they made no rude comments toward her. The locals were actually fairly nice to her and offered her many free things as she passed by. With respect in mind, she declined and waved them off in fear of someone by chance remembering her face.

Silently, however, she was glad to have made the decision to remove her visible ties to the leaf village, perhaps if she hadn't they wouldn't have been so hospitable. As Hinata walked through the large festive night crowd she couldn't help but think she caught a glimpse of a more than familiar face. This of course put her on guard, there was no way she was going back home after having made it out this far. She weaved her way out of the crowd and noticed an average sized man with snow white hair, staring at her from across the street. She couldn't help but feel like she'd seen him before, but she didn't pause long enough for him to see that his presence was noted.

Hinata continued down the street toward the edge of town, and oddly enough the man in question was following her at a distance.

Just great.

Once she made it to the outskirts of town, he stopped. As if refusing to follow her any further than that point. He just smiled and watched her leave. It was only then that she recognized him as once being a henchman for Orochimaru. Kabuto Yakushi.

The last she had heard he'd broken away from Orochimaru, along with Sasuke Uchiha but she didn't know the details of what was really going on. It was something she didn't concern herself with, that was Naruto's fight. However, he had apparently found something about her interesting enough to stalk her out of the village.

After pondering on it for nearly twenty minutes, she decided it would be best to head East around Konoha and toward the Rain Village. That would be a good three days of travel at the very least. She used the shallow creeks to hide her scent and tracks from anyone who may be following. The water was ice cold to her feet, but she figured it would all be worth it in the end. When thinking critically, without even a shred of doubt, Kabuto would turn her whereabouts in to the nearest anbu in exchange for other information. As a well trained kunoichi she was going to use all the tricks and skills Kiba had taught her to throw her pursuers off her trail. In fact, the only way they wouldn't be thrown off would be if Hiashi and the Hokage sent Kiba himself. Then the only hope she had left was her useful head start on time she had gifted herself by sneaking out when she did. It was also unexpected of her, which possibly bought her some extra time.

Hinata followed the creek all night and when noon rolled around a few hours later fatigue began to set in and she stopped running. No longer able to feel her feet, she used her byakugan to scan the surrounding area. There was no one in pursuit so far, but there was a small village just ahead of her. She sighed in relief and continued on up the creek until she read a small sign.

Welcome to Kasu

On a whim she chose to stay the night in one of the hotels the small village offered, and just as she stepped into the lobby it began to rain outside. The rain became fierce and was working to her advantage in many ways to throw off trackers. Even Kiba had a difficult time tracking in the rain..

"May I help you ma'am?"

"Yes, I need a room for tonight.."

"Ahh, trying to wait out this storm?"

"Yeah, it looks pretty bad."

"Well this is such a small town that every storm nearly wipes us off the map." He rummaged through a drawer and handed her a key, "Here you are, enjoy your stay."

Reluctantly, she walked up the stairs and found her room under the number 13. It was a small room fit for one, nothing fancy, and she didn't mind at all. Actually she more than welcomed the small cozy vibe she received. Her clothes were thrown to one side of the room as she made her way to the bathroom and soaked in the tub approximately thirty minutes before she crashed onto the bed. She slept comfortably well into the next evening when the sound of chirping woke her. "Devil birds.." Hinata mumbled as she gracefully rose from the sheets and gathered her things. She made her way down to the lobby to turn her key in and pay the man. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes I did."

"You must've been pretty tired."

"I feel better now, thank you."

As she stepped out of the hotel she immediately sensed familiar chakra signatures heading up the creek. "What?! Already?!" She took off in the opposite direction hiding her chakra the best she could. The rain village was another two days away at the very least, and she had already lost more time than she cared to even mention catching up on sleep. If she could just fight them off until she crossed the border... then she would be home free. The two nations were so hostile that in order for leaf shinobi to cross over, or vise versa, they would need written permission from the kage and that could take weeks! However, that also meant once she crossed the border without any given permission Hinata would no longer be a shinobi of the leaf.

Silently she cursed herself for sleeping in so late and getting herself into such a mess. In doing so, she distracted herself and she barely dodged what she assumed was a trap. However, she was almost certain it wasn't originally meant for her. It was an explosive type, set to blow when someone was close to something they weren't supposed to be close to. Perhaps a hideout or someones campsite? The explosion knocked her through the air a few hundred feet and she hit her head on a poorly weathered tree stump. Almost immediately her vision began to blur and, oddly enough, she no longer sensed her pursuers.

"Oh for the love of- What do we do with her?!"

"I wonder what she was running from..."

"Who cares, Suigetsu!? This was your fault!"

"My fault?!"

"It was your trap!"

"Look woman-" Slowly she lost consciousness as her body fell completely limp, still flesh up against the tree stump.