I'm so sorry…

Naruto attempted various time to earn Hinata's forgiveness. But no matter how many times he tried, the more and more he would irritate her. She just wasn't having it. He couldn't believe he had been hurting her the entire time. He thought she was enjoying it. He thought she was enjoying it just as much as he was.

Now looking back at the incident, Naruto's idea of his wife's orgasms could have actually been gasps of pain. The whole time she was whimpering and catching her breath was all the result of her agonizing pain. The way she kept moving and twitching her body was because of the uncomfortable feeling she was going through, the uncomfortable feeling he was forcing onto her. Had he raped her? No, oh god no. He was a kind and gentle husband, not an aggressive son of a bitch.

She was tight, yes. Extremely tight. But she always was. Hinata had a naturally tiny hole. Naruto was aware of this since their honeymoon. But not too long ago she was practically choking his penis. Could it have been because she never wanted to have sex to begin with? But she was wet, so what did that mean?

"Hinata, how bad did I hurt you?" He asked concerning.

No reply.

"If you didn't want to have sex, you could've of just told me, Hina."

Despite his apologetic tone and his constant coos and questions, she still wouldn't budge. It was actually quite painful for Naruto. His wife was completely ignoring him. The one person who always took appreciation over him throughout his entire life was completely ignoring his presence. Naruto wasn't an arrogant man. He didn't mind being ignored from time to time. He was actually quite use to it since his childhood. But when it came to Hinata, his whole world fell apart.

"Hinata, I'm sorry." He whispered as he shifted himself to lay next to her properly.. "I had no idea I was hurting you. "

He placed his arm around her waist to comfort her. At this point, an apologetic hug was all he could think of. He was running out of ideas to earn her forgiveness. He needed to hear that she was fine, that they were fine. Nothing seemed to be working and it deeply stressed him out.

"Hinata-"

"Enough, Naruto." Hinata harshly interrupted. "I don't want to hear anymore…please."

Her voice was shaky, almost in a sobbing tone. Just in pure darkness, Naruto could easily picture her crying image. The image wasn't satisfying at all. If anything it was poisonous, acidic, extremely corrosive. The moment he heard her gasp beside him, he felt his whole body rot. He felt as if his skin and organs were burning and agonizingly twisting until they burst. If that was what hell felt like, than his wife certainly was heaven.

"Hinata," he attempted once more. "It won't happen again I'm so-"

"Be quiet."

"But-"

"I said shut up!"

Silence.

Not only had those words stung Naruto, but it also had pierced excruciatingly passed Hinata's lips. She had never said such a rude thing to Naruto, and he had never once heard her say such heavy words before. For him to be the first one to experience a direct curse word from her, was something to be greatly ashamed of.

"Hinata, I didn't mean to-"

"I told you to stop!" She suddenly said sitting up. From the moonlight that passed their small bedroom window, Naruto could see her swollen eyes looking back at him with tears rolling down her face."I told you to stop more than once because you were hurting me. And you still kept going."

"That's because I didn't hear you!" Naruto quickly sat up. He placed his hands on her fragile face and attempted to wipe her falling tears with his fingertips. "I thought you were moaning."

"Oh please." She said in disbelief as she brushed his hands away from her face. "Do you expect me to believe that?"

"Yes!" He defended. "You had your back towards me. I couldn't hear you properly."

"Oh just stop." She shook her head in disappointment. She laid herself back down and rolled her body away from him. "Just go to bed, Naruto."

"But I can't…your mad at me."

He forced himself to lay down, but sleep was simply not on his side. He couldn't bring himself to close his eyes and drift off. His wife was literally right next to him and infuriated. Not only that but she was grieving all by herself. She was crying right beside him because she was unwilling to open up and settle things with him.

"Hinata, a married couple should never go sleep angry at each other." He tried persuade her. "It's wrong to go sleep this way."

"Who cares…" The young Hyuga whispered below the covers. "We hardly ever sleep in the same bed together anyways…what kind of married couple does that…."

He's so thick-headed…

Hinata couldn't bring herself to forget about last night. The sun had already risen up for the next day and yet she still was holding a grudge over the incident. She felt so dirty, so sexualized. She couldn't get rid off those cringing feelings no matter how hard she tried. She didn't know who to blame, her or her husband.

In all honesty, she did want to have an intimate moment with Naruto and she also was quite happy to see him home early. But the moment he simply shoved himself inside her, she almost felt forced into something she didn't want. She tried to like it, she really did. But it was too uncomfortable, too painful. Throughout their whole entire relationship, Naruto and Hinata were very gentle during intercourse. For every positioned they tried, they had to be very careful on how they started. Hinata's body was simply to delicate to just go any way. She thought he know that. But according to yesterday, he proved the complete opposite. She was so hurt last night. Not just because of the sex but because that's all he wanted to do in general. Maybe it was just her emotional femininity speaking, but she would've thought he wanted to do something else other than intimacy. They hadn't seen each other for more than a minute in so long. She thought he would've wanted to talk, spend some playful time together. He could've done so many things with her that didn't involve sex, but he chose to just go straight to it.

And top of it all, he left early in the morning before she even opened her eyes. She woke up, once again, to an all too familiar empty bed. She was incredibly angry and at the same time sad. He left like a runaway coward. He didn't even bother to say goodbye.

Now standing cooking breakfast, she harshly made her children's meals. She didn't want to be too reckless that she'd give her kids a tasteless dish, after all, it wasn't their fault. Her love was still in their lunches and breakfast just not as the same as other times.

"Good morning, Mom," a tired Boruto greeted lazily. He slumped down at the dinner table and rested his head sleepily onto the table.

"Good morning, honey."

She watched how his son battled with sleep and waking up. It was quite early. So early that Himawari wasn't even awake yet. Her poor son had to wake up extra earlier than usual because of a long mission he would be having. It must've been difficult for Naruto assign him an away mission.

"Boruto, how long will you be gone?"

The blond shrugged. "I have no idea."

"What level did you get assigned?"

"S-rank."

What?!

An S-rank mission on such a young boy. Was Naruto this thick headed?! How could he possibly send his own son into such a dangerous mission. He wasn't experienced at all yet.

"I'm just kidding, Mom!" Boruto chuckled seeing how he had frightened the living soul out of her. "I think it's either a B-rank or a C-rank. I'm not really sure. I wasn't really listening when Dad was talking. All I knew is that he said it wouldn't be enough to kill me."

Oh thank God!

The relief she felt flow across her body was just surreal. She couldn't bear the thought of having her son put in danger. That was probably one of her biggest flaws. Her son was a ninja. He was bound to get hurt every now and then. And as he got older, the level of hostility would increase.

"You should listen to your father when he's giving you a mission." She warned her son with a finger. "It very important."

Boruto rolled his eyes and pouted. "Yea well I don't really care. I'm not even allowed to call him Dad when he's in the office. I have to call him 'Seventh'. So basically, I can never call him Dad because he's never home."

"Well he was here last night." Hinata softly said as she placed his platter on the table and walked back to the kitchen.

"He was?! When?!"

Boruto had finally woken up. He nearly jolted his head up when her mother told him the presence of her father was here last night. His eyes beamed and his mouth dropped open in shock.

"Boruto, don't get too excited." Hinata giggled. "He came past eight. He was very tired so headed off straight to bed."

"Did he…" Boruto mumbled returning back to his gloomy state. "Of course he did. Shitty old man, that's all he ever does when he's here."

Hinata didn't say anything. What was she suppose to say? That it wasn't true when it clearly was. She wasn't going to lie to her son. It would only hurt him, make him fantasize over something that would never happened.

"Boruto, hurry up and eat. You wouldn't want to be late for your first away mission." She smiled warmly.

The boy nodded with an attempted smile in return.

By the time he finished he was already rushing out the door. Just as her mother had predicted, he was running late.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Hinata scurried behind him just before she could step out. "You can't just leave without saying goodbye!"

She hugged her son tightly and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you. Be safe. Try to have fun if you can and protect your friends." She smiled.

Boruto chuckled in return and gave her a thumbs up just like her husband would do. "You got it—ttebasa!" He said before he ran off.

Hinata smiled as she saw her son fade away. She wouldn't be seeing him for who knows how long. She just prayed endlessly that he would be safe.

And then it suddenly crossed her mind. The sad image of her son when he spoke of husband. He wanted to spend time with Naruto when he was at home but that opportunity never came too often. Their kids were yearning desperately for their father's presence. Just yesterday he could've gave them love they wanted, but he chose not to. Again, all because he was in the mood for some pleasure.

What a cruel fool…

But she loved that fool. Despite all his flaws, all the endless lists of mistakes he had been consistently committing, she still loved him. He wasn't a bad person. She knew deep in her heart that he wasn't. He was just too busy, too busy to remember his family.

As the day went by, Himawari had eventually woken up. And just like every other day, the two of them tidied up the house and garden. To clean up the entire house it took at least four hours, but it was surprisingly fun. The girls would put on music and dance around the halls goofily. They wood take breaks from time to time and play games or watch movies. It was mother and daughter time at its finest.

"Thank you, Himawari." Her mother said she wiped the sweat behind her bangs. "As always, you're a great help."

"No problem, mama!" Her precious daughter giggled as she wiped the dirt of her knees. "I love helping you."

The two walked back inside and settled down in the living room. Hinata was exhausted but she still had enough energy in her to spend more time with her daughter. "Well what does my sunflower want to do now?" She smiled.

"Umm." She blushed. Her florid cheeks got brighter and brighter the more she fidgeted with her fingers, a habit she had inherited strongly from her mother. "I was wondering if I could go play with friends," she blushed harder. "I love being with you, Mama but my friend said she wanted me to go her house sometime."

Hinata was speechless. She had never realized that her daughter was being shut away from other children because she was with her. Himawari was too shy, too kind to ever tell her mother that she wanted to go somewhere else without her. Hinata felt a little bad. Her daughter had been doing the work of a mother for the longest time. She really wasn't enjoying her childhood at all.

"Of course you can go." Hinata hugged her tightly. "Just don't come back home too late."

The little girl smiled brightly in excitement. She was so happy to go see her friends. "Thank you! Thank you, Mama!" She jumped up and down. "I promise I'll come home early!"

She ran upstairs to her bedroom and quickly got herself ready. By the time she came back downstairs, she was already out of her pajamas and carrying a backpack. She looked adorable. And seeing the joy in her face also brought joy to her mother.

"Here take this." Her mother said handing her two small bento boxes. "You can eat there."

Himawari nodded and softly thanked her mother. Her face suddenly became puzzled as she stared down at a black bento box that wasn't her's or her brother's. "And this one too?" She asked holding up the box higher.

"Oh yes." Hinata nodded. "There's food in there and I don't want it to go to waste. You can offer it to your friend if she's hungry."

"But this is Dad's bento? Does he need it?"

"I guess not." Hinata shrugged. "He left before I could even make it."

"Wait? He's not here?" Himawari asked confusedly. "He's not sleeping? I thought he was upstairs the whole time. I thought he had a day off since he came so early yesterday."

"No dear." Hinata giggled. "He had to leave early. He's the Hokage, working everyday is what he must do."

The girl nodded feeling satisfied enough to leave happy. She started to make her way out the door when a sudden question hit her. "Hey Mom?" She said slowing turning around. "If dad was gone before you could make his lunch, than why did you make it if you already knew he wasn't here?"

Hinata wasn't expecting such a question. She didn't know how to respond. What was she suppose to say? The truth? That she had made it in hopes of tricking her mind into believing he was still here. No way. The truth was too strong for her children to know about. Their shaky marriage was to be kept a secret from their kids. It would only hurt them more.

"I just—its just a silly habit of mine!" She faked a laugh. "I do it so much that I don't even think about the attendance anymore!"

The little girl laughed along with her, proving herself to be gullible as ever, and headed off. She actually believed such a poor lie. She actually fell for her mother's fake laugh and left happy. Hinata instantly fell bad. She felt like a terrible mother. Lying to her kids? It was just so wrong. But she had to do it. She couldn't bear to let them see how their parents relationship was slowly falling apart. No child should have to go though that.

It's for the best…

Now standing alone in an empty house, she didn't know what to do. Every corridor in the Uzumaki household was spotless. She didn't have to clean a thing. She also didn't have to play with her kids because none of them were there. She had nothing to do and it bothered her. She didn't like being alone. It was a terrible place to be. She often felt lonely, but she was never truly alone. There was always someone physically right beside her. She hated hearing nothing. Was it even possible to hear nothing? The air conditioning, the creaking of the old floors, the taps against a window from a small branch, were they all just noise? Or noises of nothingness? She didn't want to hear those things. She wanted to hear voices, voices from her family and friends. She wasn't crazy, she just was in desperate need affection.

Any other mother would enjoy this time for a nap, for her own time, to hang out with her friends but not Hinata. Hinata didn't want sleep. She had grown accustomed to staying up when the sun was up as well. She also wasn't one to care for her looks. She didn't feel the need to paint her nails or to get her hair done. She simply was fine with just a stroke of a comb. Not only that but, the very few friends she had were just as busy as her husband. Ino and Sakura were medical ninjas. They were almost always in the hospitals. Tenten actually was free most of the time but ever since the Chunin exams were announced, she was busy preparing the systems. And Temari, in all honesty, they weren't really that close. Their personalities didn't really match. She cursed herself for not being the social butterfly like her husband was. She tried but her shyness was just something that came in naturally.

"TV is my only option I guess." She sighed as she made her way to the couch. Flipping through the channels was a pain. Not because it was a struggle to find a show but because her husband was on every channel. He out of all people was the one person she didn't want to see right now. Her husband was on channel five, he was on channel four, six, and seven. He was practically all over the whole cable network. She hated it. She didn't hate her husband. She just hated the fact that he left with no warning and continued his daily routine like nothing happened, like last night never happened. He didn't even bother to make a phone call, write a note, send an email. Nope, not Naruto. The Hokage doesn't have time for such insignificant things.

I'm overreacting…he just had to leave early…

But was she really? Maybe the incident from last night was the final straw. Maybe her mind kept wrapping around that incident in effort to not accept that it was the final straw. Did that even make sense? She was overthinking one situation to trick her mind into believing she was mad at just that one event but not all the hundred situations before. She was being in denial. She didn't want to accept that she was starting to seeing the flaws in her marriage. For years she had been trying to pretend it wasn't real. For years she's been trying to fix it. But unfortunately she was only one person. How could she possibly expect to fix her marriage when her partner was never around? It was a job meant for two.

"I can't do this." She said turning off the TV. "I'll find something else to do."

She stood from the leather couch and walked towards the staircase. If she could find anything to do on the main floor, than she would surely find something upstairs. Reading a book, sewing, just about anything would do.

Just before she could even touch the first step, there was a knock on the door. Was Himawari already done with her play date? So quickly? Had she forgotten something? Hinata quickly went towards the door and slowly opened it expecting to see her little girl, but she didn't.

Standing right in front of her was a man she knew very well. A nice gentlemen that she slowly started befriending over the course of time. A pale man with light blue hair, Toneri.

"Oh hello, Toneri." She smiled warmly. "What brings you here?"

The man gave her a genuine smile in return. "I was wondering if you liked to see your husband's speech with me. If we make it there early enough, we might see him up close. Wouldn't you want to go support your husband with me?"