Chapter II

Hinata gasped and more tears fell down her face. "Stop, S-Sasuke," she croaked out, "please stop. I-I can't let you do this."

Sasuke paused, but refused to move away from the frightened, diminutive girl. His body was still pressed against hers as she struggled helplessly beneath his weight. Hinata breathed in as she braced herself for the news that she was going to share with him. She feared that he would get violent, but she couldn't hide it any longer; he was going to find out one way or another. It was something that she had to tell him for her sake and his…

She folded her fingers into fists and swallowed hard. She could feel her heart racing and her breath getting shorter by every moment. She wasn't going to be afraid any longer. She knew this day would come but had not anticipated to arrive so soon.

"I'm- I'm getting married."

It seemed like time had stopped for a moment as both of them realized what phrase was uttered.

Sasuke's body froze as he listened to her confession, however, his face showed no trace of any sentiment; his face remained emotionless. She waited for any sign of an outburst or an angry flare-up, but he remained silent, as if he was trying to convince himself that the words he heard come out from her mouth were truly what he heard.

"What?" he asked in a monotone manner, but Hinata could tell by the tone of which he said that one single syllable that he was mad beyond words.

Hinata slightly shuddered in fear at the tone of his voice, but didn't say anything. She searched for any emotion on his face, but didn't see any. They stood silently for a couple of minutes, each trying to think of what they should do next. Seeing this as her opportunity to get away from his grasp, Hinata quickly pushed him away from her and ran to the other side of the room. He didn't stop her from running away, neither did he turn around to face her.

Hinata watched him with caution from the other side of the room; she was trying to contemplate what he was possibly thinking or what he would try to do next. His head was low with his hair covering his face and his arm extended forwards with his hand against the wall. They were both silent and stood stationary. Hinata didn't dare to move a step because she was worried about what possible action would trigger a reaction from the unstable man.

Sasuke stared at the blank wall ahead of him. What did she say? She's going to get married? What the fuck was going through her mind?

"Why," he spat out venomously, whispering the word so silent, but with so much anger. She winced at his tone of voice, but continued to watch the figure in the dark and wondered why he was so amazed that she was deciding to move on with her life. Was he expecting her to be waiting for him with open arms after all that he had done to her? That she was going to stop living because he decided that she was no longer important to him.

Hinata wrapped her arms around her body and spoke with soft words, "I'm tired."

Sasuke stood motionless, trying to comprehend what she meant by that statement. He kept telling himself that he wasn't going to get angry; he wasn't going to yell at her or get violent. It would only scare her and push her even further away from him. He did the only thing he could think of; he stayed silent.

Hinata continued to watch Sasuke through the darkness of her room. She was surprised that he hadn't yelled or just run off by now. That was his trademark. When things would get difficult between them he would just run away, believing that it was the best way to solve an issue. What he never realized was the he just left the problem unresolved and that was not healthy for any relationship. She wondered if he was going to do anything. A big part of her was hoping that he would run away and never come back, but a small part of her was hoping that he would stay.

When it became evident that he wasn't going to say anything, she continued, "I waited five years for you to come back."

Sasuke's fists tightened, "you know why I had to leave."

Hinata felt a small flame of anger grow within her and spoke with more confidence, "that's why I waited so many years for you to come back, but I didn't get any letters or messages from you and- and, my family was so disappointed in me for leaving with you in the first place."

Sasuke scoffed at her last remark and still refused to look at her. Hinata took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Why was she getting so worked up for? She didn't even need to explain herself to him, but felt that it would provide some type of closure if he understood her side of the situation.

"But after you left me, they still accepted me back home," she said faintly, tears forming within her eyes and threatening to fall down her face. Hinata made circles in the carpet with her toes out of nervousness and tenseness, but forced herself to continue. "My father wants to see me happy. I couldn't say no when he asked me to accept the marriage--"

"I'm back now," Sasuke spoke with more force, interrupting her from finishing her story. This time he turned around to look at her; eyes gazing at Hinata intensely, as if they were daring her to say another word.

She looked away from him and sighed, "it's too late."

Sasuke squeezed his hands into tighter fists and took a few steps forward. He watched as Hinata moved further away because of his sudden movement. He finally began to realize that she was genuinely frightened of him. The person that he had once promised to love and protect was afraid of him.

"It's not too late."

She shook her head side to side, her hair flowing with her actions. "I won't disappoint my family again."

Sasuke crossed his arms and he could feel his rage rising once again, "your family? Who cares about them?"

Hinata looked at him with the same intensity that he was looking at her with and spoke with determination, "I care about them. You can't just come and go when you please and think that I'll still be here, waiting for you. I'm happy with my life right now. "

Sasuke scoffed.

"You're not happy," he said with a sadistic smile, "I can still see the sadness in your eyes. Your happiness left with me the day I decided to leave."

Hinata convinced herself to not shed anymore tears for him, but her body was not functioning the way she wanted it to as her tears teetered along her eye lid as she forced herself to hold back. She gulped nervously, "you're wrong. My happiness began the day you left."

Sasuke continued to keep his cool demeanor and watched Hinata closely from where he stood. He knew that she was lying by the way she played with her fingers and looked down at the ground. She was always such a terrible liar and even after five years of departure he could still read her like a book. He knew that she had been miserable after he left; he did after all make sure to keep tabs on her until he would be able to reunite with her.

"Why are you trying to deny what you feel for me?"

Hinata didn't look up and continued to stare down at the carpeted floor. "I don't feel anything for you." Her tone was dead and flat.

Sasuke was now getting annoyed by the direction the conversation was heading; he wasn't going to stand around here and listen to her lie to him over and over again. He quickly flashed closer to Hinata and grabbed her wrist before she could even blink an eye.

Hinata gasped in shock as she felt his tight grip on her wrist.

"You're coming with me. Lets go," he said roughly and pulled her closer to him. She stumbled against him and tried to regain her senses so she could think of some way to get her out of his grasp.

She struggled against his hold and took her free hand and put it on top of the hand that was grabbing her and tried her hardest to free herself. She used all her force and grunted helplessly trying remove the hand that was holding her with so much force. Putting all of her strength towards the one task, Hinata pried off two of his fingers off and pulled her hand back at the available opening. She breathed heavily as she tumbled backwards and regained her balance. Hinata tried to catch her breath.

"You can't tell me what to do anymore."

Sasuke's cold onyx eyes stared at her.

"Yes I can," he said with a calming aura, "you're mine; you belong to me."

She closed her eyes for a brief moment before she whispered softly, "you lost the right to claim me as yours the day you walked out on me."

This time it was too much for Sasuke to keep inside and he gritted his teeth and spoke with intense anger underlying his words. "I didn't walk out on you, you know better then anyone that I had to avenge the death of my family."

"Did it make you happy?" Hinata said softly, her eyes focused on the man standing before her. "Did killing him make you any happier?"

Sasuke crossed his arms, but his face and eyes remained blank and detached. "I couldn't live in peace without killing him."

Hinata knew that he was avoiding the question, but she didn't need to ask him again; she had already gotten her answer. "It didn't make you any happier."

Sasuke didn't say anything. She was right, he didn't feel the satisfaction that he thought he would get. It made him feel even more empty.

"I've grown up Sasuke and-and," she breathed in deeply, "I've realized that I won't be happy living with you."

Sasuke stared at Hinata. "I'm not leaving without you."

She didn't say anything as she walked over to her dresser and opened the first drawer. She took out a small piece of jewelry and stared at it and clenched it closely to her heart. She never thought that she would be apart from this symbol of love, but some things were not worth fighting for. She learned the hard way that fighting for Sasuke would only lead her towards sadness.

She took the small object in her hand and walked over to Sasuke. She looked directly at him and held her hand open for him to take it. In the middle of her hand sat a beautiful wedding ring that was given to her many years before. She kept it safe, but now it was the time to return it to its rightful owner.

"Please do the right thing," she whispered into the darkness.

Sasuke didn't move an inch, clearly showing that he wasn't going to take back the piece of jewelry that once signified their love. Taking it back would mean that their relationship would be over and he wasn't going to give that up without a fight.

Hinata watched as Sasuke stared at the piece of jewelry but did not make an attempt to take it out of her hand. When he didn't take it back, Hinata surprised both of them by grabbing his hand and entrusting it into his possession. She then turned around, ready to leave to the room, when a hand landed on her shoulder.

This time Hinata didn't fight against his grasp and he pulled her into his body, pressing her back against his chest. He whispered soft enough into her ear, so that she would be the only one to hear him.

"I'm not going to let you get married to anyone else."

"Our marriage is over," she said with no emotion in her voice.

"Not if I can help it."

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