Yeah, It's been about 14 months. No excuses other than laziness, unmotivated(ness?) and generally lack luster ideas. I only wrote this chapter (it took one hour so sorry) because I was reading winter girls and its depressing so I had to write something depressing too. I'll definitely update more regularly now. I can't pass this out as a one short anymore and I definitely can't leave this story blank with unanswered questions. Thanks to all readers, especially those who followed this story when It first came out.

I probably won't get a lot of reviews because this is not the type of story that reaches a lot of ears, but I'm thankful anyway.

Naruto sighed, she was difficult. She knew she had a problem but she wouldn't talk to him about it. He would bring it up in a conversation, "I'm here, you know, if you want to talk."

She would give that fake smile, tell him she had an appointment with Ibiki Saturday (which had become today) and continue her robotic motions.

He'd just been lying around doing nothing, thinking about how much it hurt to love someone who had once loved you but was now apathetic, until he realized how difficult it must be for her. How much pain must she be in to have once loved someone, to want to love them, but to be incapable of it?

To see them, their efforts. and how much they'd bleed for you, but to not be able to do the same? She still kept up her facade, still pretended to care despite not being able to. For her family's sake, for her team's sake, and for his.

He hadn't even realized he was running until his shoeless feet had impaled themselves on a piece of broken of ice. He bled and it hurt, but he didn't-couldn't care. He had been whining about his love being unreciprocated when she was just in so much pain.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

He flies over rooftops, jumps through the sky, and lands where he knows her to be.

She's there, like always, waiting.

Normally she'd train, but today she stares at the post, as if it's the one that's supposed to be growing bloody at this moment.

She blinks at his presence, smiles like old Hinata would, and looks right through him.

He watches as her eyes grow wide with a reminiscent feeling of concern.

"Naruto-kun, your shoes-"

He plants his hands on her shoulders, looks her in the eyes and says, "I know you're annoyed with me, I know you don't want to talk, but at the least, you can stop pretending. You don't have to fake happiness or joy or laughter, you can be broken and dead- and, and.."

He fumbles, and she knows it's because he was never good with words. She smiles at the effort, a nuance to her former self, and nods. Because she gets it. She gets that even with the mask and faked feelings he's still hurting. They understand each other.

She relaxes her facial muscles, but only around him. The difference is astonishing, and he finds her dead eyes unnerving.

"I have to go now," her voice is hardened, he's confused until he remembers the appointment.

He wants her to say "I love you" so badly and actually mean it.

She's barely left the training area before her facade is back, plastered on like an anbu's. She looks back at him, but he doesn't notice until her red scarf is tied around his neck with speed that only a ninja(she is one) could muster.

There's always a moment where he watches her, their eyes meet, and as he turns around she leaves; this time is different. She's doing the watching now.

As he turns around, she's already gone, and that's when the cold starts to affect him.

The room she's waiting for Ibiki in is unsurprisingly, an interrogation room. When he's not torturing some poor sap, or retrieving information, he's a therapist.

She wants to laugh at the irony. The same person who breaks people fixes them. He's broken her.

In childhood he was an older brother, a sensei. But once her father found out about him mentoring her, all communication ceased. It had made her quieter, running up to 'Ibiki-ossan' and being ignored at the fruit stall. She still remembered him, back turned, shaking as she called his the loss of all things good in regards to emotions, the hurt had turned to fury. Often at times it was so fiery she'd set things aflame with her chakra unknowingly.

Funny how the only emotions left were fury, despair, and indifference.

The door opens and she can tell by the footsteps that it's Ino's dad, Inoichi. She remembers everyone's footsteps, his especially. Her spending the night at Ino's with the other girl's from class used to be special. They would dress him up and play tea party, and his wife would beat him if he opposed.

"Ibiki couldn't make it today, something important came up."

Lie.

She nods and rolls her eyes inwardly at the excuse, he just didn't want to see her.

"You've been here before, you know how it goes right?" He smiles at her, trying not to frighten her.

She'd been there once before after a particularly bloody mission. She recalled him examining her head and breaking into a sweat after viewing the images. She'd always liked him, he was genuinely kind and actually wanted to help people.

She nods once more, it's becoming a signature habit.

He approaches her chair and places his hands on her temples. There's no need for questions, he's the answer. One look inside her brain and he'll know exactly how to fix it, he's the best there is.

Minutes go by, and when she wakes up he's disturbed. She smiles like her old self would, "So you saw it? The other part of that mission from when I was 12."

Someone saw, you're probably gross to him now.

He nods, and attempts to console her but one look from her and he's stopped.

"There's nothing wrong with you."

She's shocked for a moment, before she states one word with an apathetic tone unknowingly attached, "Explain."

"Your mind is fine. It's processing things normally, and emotionally corresponding as it should." He sighs, and she can see the cogs turning in his head.

"I think there might be something wrong with your brain physically, you should see a doctor."

She knows that by doctor he means Tsunade because as a main branch Hyuuga, she's a political piece. Since being disowned by her father she has taken on an important role in politics. She's often the delegator, negotiator between the Hyuuga and other clans, villages and even with the Hokage herself.

They underestimate her (not the hokage because she understands that the quiet ones are often the most lethal) and because of this she becomes the dark horse. When they least expect it he comes out from under them and sweeps the leg.

She leaves without saying goodbye and regrets it as she passes Ibiki in the hallway. Her old mentor has been reduced to nothing but awkward eye contact and regret. This time she stares into his eyes fully as they cross each other's paths in the hallway. He looks away first, and she marvels at how the tables have turned.

There used to be a time where she would call his name, fumbling around for the right words. She had wanted to say, "Make me your student."

Instead she wasted time until he was called off for his job. Now he was the one fumbling, and she found herself… sad?

No one will ever want you.

She pushed the thought away as she ran toward the Hokage's tower.

Help me.