And there she was. On her bed, in her flannel pajamas, reading a book, and waiting for her husband, Uzumaki Naruto, to come home.

It was 2 AM.

He had called her earlier, said not to wait up, to make sure to lock the doors, and have a good rest. Hinata said 'I love you', but she got no reply other than the 'beep' signifying he had hung up.

She would wait up for him, and she knew that he knew she would.

He was with her, again. The girl he really loved. The reason he barely came home before 10 anymore, the reason he looked so miserable, the reason he could never honestly say 'I love you, too' to Hinata.

Haruno Sakura.

Sakura had married Uchiha Sasuke. Hinata remembered that day—remembered the look of adoration in Sakura's eyes as she recited her wedding vows, the stoic expression imprinted on Sasuke's face (even though everyone knew he was happy), the long, soft kiss they gave one another, bounding them by State and Church until death does them part.

Those vows…would hold. Hinata knew they would, Naruto knew they would, Sakura knew they would—even Sasuke must have know that. Sakura will never leave him. Not for anything, or anyone.

Not even Naruto.

But she also knew that Sakura didn't truly love Sasuke. Sakura idolized him, adored him, worshipped him, and she won him. She got the man every boy wanted to be, and every girl wanted to be with. She got the picture-perfect marriage, the picture-perfect family (one boy, one girl), and the picture-perfect man. But for Sakura, that apparently wasn't enough—she didn't get the one thing she really had wanted, the one thing she thought she had with Sasuke, the one thing she gave up for all the rest.

She didn't have love.

Haruno Sakura was in a loveless marriage.

She had known Naruto for her entire life, she had heard his countless confessions of love, she turned down his many requests to take her out, and she turned her head when he had basically groveled at her feet. But now…now that she was married to Sasuke, now that Hinata had finally gotten to be with the man she loved, Sakura had decided to take Naruto as her own.

They had an ongoing affair.

Sakura would call in the mornings, right before Naruto left for work, and would tell him where to meet later that night, and when. Naruto would pretend that it wasn't her, and that it was just a telemarketer or one of his friends. He would kiss Hinata on the forehead, Hinata would say she loved him, and he would leave, without saying a word back.

He knew she knew. Sakura knew she knew.

The only one who didn't know was Sasuke.

Hinata would stay with Naruto, they knew that, but Sasuke was too proud to stay with a wife who cheated on him. He would never allow it. He would divorce Sakura, and that would ruin everything she had worked for--her marriage, her children…her perfect life. She would not give all those up just to openly be with the one she actually loved. That was a loss she could not afford to take. No, she would have all of her perfect life, and her love.

She would have her cake and eat it too.

Hinata knew she should leave him. He cheated on her almost every night of the week. He would call from work, stay out until horribly late (or, arguably, early) hours, he had never touched her, and he never once said he loved her. Not once. Not even the day he proposed to her, not even the day they got married…he didn't say it because he knew it wasn't true. Naruto, if nothing else, was honest.

And she might have left him.

But she didn't, and she wouldn't. If she left him then he was all alone. Sakura would call him up, he would go to her, they would have sex, and Sakura would leave. She would leave and return to a house filled with people who love her. Her husband would say hello, and kiss her softly—her children would come running, arms outstretched, and pull her into a tight embrace, welcoming her home.

Naruto would go home to a cold, empty house.

Hinata couldn't do that to him. She could not leave him alone, to stay on the sidelines, watching the girl he loves with another man, with kids—with a whole life that didn't involve him. No matter how much it hurt to know he was cheating on her—she loved him. She loved him more than anything. She would not leave him to suffer alone.

She would never.

He was home. She had heard the car coming up the driveway, and now she could see its headlights. Hinata listened as he slammed the car door, unlocked the house, and trudged up the stairs. He opened the door slowly, and didn't even bother to look Hinata's way. Naruto knew she had waited up for him; there was no reason to confirm it by sight.

He went over to the dresser and started to undo the buttons of his shirt. Hinata noticed that they were already one button off from their proper place. After undoing the last button, he looked over to her, and then down at the ground. "…Hey, Hinata-chan…"

She smiled weakly. "W-welcome home, Naruto-kun…how was your day?"

He looked back towards the dresser and slipped off his shirt, carelessly leaving it on the floor in the process. He reached in one of the drawers and pulled out a flannel pajama top. "It was…okay, I guess. The boss called in sick again, so I had to take over for the day." He buttoned up his top, and started undoing the buttons on his pants.

She frowned slightly, glancing down at her lap. "Y-your boss hardly ever comes in…you're the one who r-really runs the company, Naruto-kun. They should promote you…"

He laughed—a lifeless, hollow laugh. He was different than he used to be. He wasn't the same cheerful, ever-optimistic guy who would do anything to prove himself, anything to prove that he was worthy. He…hadn't been that guy for a long, long time. "My boss is the owner's son. I would never get promoted over him, Hinata-chan." He slipped off his pants (revealing frog-patterned boxers), and pulled on his pj bottoms. He grabbed his otter cap and slowly placed it on his head, making sure it was perfectly straight—the otter's eyes lined up with his own.

Hinata couldn't help but giggle, if only just a little bit. He was going through one of the worst adultery situations Hinata could think of, and yet he still made sure his otter cap was on straight before he went to bed. He was so innocent—he had a child like quality that never left him. He saw the world through different eyes then other adults.

She was afraid that this very real problem would change him—rip him away from that childish ignorance that seemed to always be with him.

But…she was happy that it hadn't left him even now—or it hadn't yet, anyway.

"What about you," he asked. "How was your day?"

"I-it was fine. I…I visited Neji-nii-san—he and Tenten-chan are getting married…d-did you know?" She folded the corner of the page she was reading in her book, and carefully set it down on her nightstand.

Naruto smiled slightly, turned away from the dresser, and started approaching the bed. "Are they? That's great." He pulled the covers on his side back and slowly got into the bed. "Took them long enough."

Hinata smiled back. "Yes…it did t-take them a while…"

She turned to the left, Naruto turned to the right—backs to one another. Hinata reached up and turned the lamp on her nightstand off, and Naruto did the same.

"…Well…goodnight, Naruto-kun…"

He was silent for a moment, and she thought he wasn't going to reply—but instead, she felt his warm back press up against hers as he mumbled, "…Hinata…I'm sorry…I'm so, so sorry…"

…He was crying.

His voice was raspy, and he choked before he spoke—he wouldn't turn to her, and if she asked if he was he wouldn't admit to it. And she wouldn't try and look, either. Naruto…he had his pride, and she would not take that away from him.

"…I-I know…" she said. "I know, Naruto-kun…" She would have cried, too—lord only knows that Hinata cried more than anyone else. But…she didn't have any tears left. Not for this. She pressed her back against his as well, and absorbed the warmth it provided to her—she would take…what she could get. "I love you, Naruto-kun—I r-really, really do…"

He didn't answer.

OKAY. A NOTE OR TWO. The end conversation, when they're talking about things that really aren't relevant to the story--that's supposed to represent the wife and husband who are pretending there's nothing wrong with their marriage, even though there is.

...Oh. Look at that. Only one after all. -giggles- REVIEWPLZ?