Once again, thank you for your patience and your reviews, they always make me feel so special! It's boiling down to the end everyone, with only two chapters left to go! Are you guys ready?

They had been sitting in an easy silence since she had summoned him from his bedroom in the middle of the night and settled in one of the few undisclosed areas that she found solace in. She knew he was not a fan of water, and so resisted the urge to shroud herself in the comforting waters of the lake before them and instead sat close to him –closer than their entire four years together. Every so often her shoulder would brush against his, making his body tense up immediately and his attention crumble to a pile of dust. "You are defecting from Konohagakure aren't you? Why do I say that, you ask? Because you are no longer Hyūga Hinata of Konoha." She tensed up immediately, whipping her head to look at him and catching the quiet sigh that he dispelled. Her lips parted, but he spared her a glance that sealed them once more. "Subtle changes are my specialty; the miniscule details that are the common blind spots to others do not burden me." His attention returned to the scenery before him, expression as impassive as ever on the uncovered parts of his face.

He heard her inhale, but was startled when the sudden weight of her head fell upon his shoulder and soft, dainty hands covered his own. This closeness was so bold and unnecessary, yet he made no attempt to verbalize his discomfort because it was also so different and…wonderful. Human contact was not something he was accustomed to, and while he did not ever make the mistake of craving it, having it at the very moment nearly inspired a longing for it. He lowered his eyes behind his goggles, unsure of the situation presenting itself before him but wanting to speak within the time she was allowing him. "Hinata…," He felt her nod her head slightly as if signaling to him that she was listening, "Sasuke will not forgo his path for love. Why? Because vengeance is his life line, his sole reason for existence, and without it he would parish. There is no room in his being." "Shino-kun, I do not love Sasuke-san." He snorted in relief, but did not ease his posture. He also made note that she did not seem to question his knowledge of Sasuke's return. "Then who do you love? Naruto and Kiba are both here in Konoha, so if it is either of them, then you'd no reason to leave."

He felt her shake her head and sigh miserably. "Then it was Neji. Why? Because his death brought about your changes; brought about the slow deconstruction of the Hinata from Konoha that allowed this hidden Hinata to finally emerge into the open. Neji's sacrifice was the catalyst, but defecting will only tarnish your name –not heal your heart. " He felt her shy away from him then and did not allow the sudden absence of her closeness to infect his own heart, but he could not fool his body from feeling the cold that her warmth had prevented. She was so silent that he turned his head to make sure she was still there, catching the glimmer of tears threatening to spill and the paleness of her face. "I..I loved Neji-niisan, loved him since the first time we were properly introduced as children, but never in such a way that.." She choked on a sob, throwing her hands to her lips to keep it in, hunching her shoulders as if to keep the grief away. Finally, she composed herself, returning to her stiff posture. "I was unaware of how he felt until he passed from this world, and I felt so ashamed that this whole time…this whole time I was so blind to it, immune to it. Naruto-kun and Kiba-kun…"

She paused, her thoughts running away from her temporarily. "Naruto-kun and Kiba-kun..the weight of love is so tremendous, it is such a heavy burden to be loved and I…I…I d-d-don't..I-I j-ju-j-" He would never be able to recall if she had simply collapsed into his arms, or if he –against his will, had merely enveloped her, but somehow she was in his arms and he would never forget the feeling of utter completion. "I have loved, loved for so long. Loved those that love had forsaken like Naruto-kun, loved those that needed a quieter, softer love to root them like Kiba-kun, loved those tarnished and tainted by the darkness of love like Neji-kun, loved those that wanted love but could never grasp it like…Shino-kun." He inhaled sharply, afraid exhaling would shatter the preciousness of her revelation, of her vulnerability as pure and beautiful as it was. Her fingers had crept around him and held onto him as if he were the only thing tying her down to the Earth. Her face tilted smoothly in the awkward cloth covering the crook of his neck, and he was suddenly so afraid that she would kiss him. That she would break down the barriers he had so carefully constructed throughout childhood and prove them not to be impenetrable after all. The kikaichū began to hum loudly, pulsating beneath his skin and moving rapidly as if preparing for war.

He was on edge like never before, his instincts flaring and his body automatically transitioning into fight or flight. His mind was racing, calculating, and he could not fight the confusion that clouded his usually collected rationale. What was this feeling?

"H-Hinata..-"

"-It was gradual, and I kept quiet because I knew that things would only make matters worse for you-"

"H-Hi..-inata-"

"-I had p-promised myself that I would never tell you, that I would take it to my grave-"

"Please…please-..!"

"Bu-but I..I love you Shino-kun, and I am so s-sorry for the burden that I am placing upon you, so sorry that I-I-"

"No..no-"

As the words died in his throat he realized that his vision was unobstructed by his goggles, that murky brown was visible to the naked eye, as well as the black kikaichū that were overwhelming the white of his sclera. Staring down at the former Hyūga heiress he realized that his body was in such an immense pain that the throbbing that pierced his heart had begun to infect his entire being and dull his senses. He had not recalled removing his goggles, had lost all sense of time as the moon had went from a lonely presence to complimented by dozens of stars. And when she kissed him he would later realize two things; that he had experienced the first and last heartbreak of his life, and that her expressing her love for him would be a mantra that haunted him until his soul moved on from the shinobi world. For that moment in time, however, he had never known that such a feeling of pure peace existed.