Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto! I do not get any profit from this fiction. I only write for fun and to improve my creativity.

Chapter Eight

I want to tear myself from this place,

From this reality,

Rise up like a cloud and float away,

Melt into this humid summer night

And dissolve somewhere far,

Over the hills.

Khaled Hosseini

...

"Hinata-sama" A familiar voice called her name.

Lavender eyes fluttered, adjusting to the light. Hinata noticed another presence. The silluate was that of a man. Unable to recognize the man before her due to the excessive light in the room, she waited until her vision was completely accustomed, and then she saw him. His eyes, like hers, were pupil-less and colorless. She knew this man.

"Hinata-sama" The voice called again.

"Kō-san?" She said with a hoarse voice.

"Yes, Hinata-sama"

"Where am I?"

"Konoha hospital"

So he had done it. The Uchiha had brought her back to the village against her will. But how? She forced herself to remember, but she was only able to gather pieces of information. Everything felt confusing, and her memories felt altered. She concluded that he most likely placed her under a genjutsu.

"Hinata-sama, are you alright?" Kō inquired, noticing her confusion. "Are you in pain?"

Was she alright? No she wasn't. She didn't feel alright. Hinata wanted to cry, to scream… to die. She was back to the village, to painful memories, to shattered dreams, and to an unforgiving clan.

"Hinata-sama?

Deciding it was best not to worry her faithful guard and protector, she gave him her best smile and lied.

"I'm fine, Kō-san." She said hiding any trace of emotion. "I'm just… Happy to be home."

"Did the Uchiha hurt you, Hinata-sama?" There was worry in his voice, but his face was as stoic as she remembered. It was obvious he hadn't believed her.

Did the Uchiha hurt her? Without a doubt he had. Perhaps not physically, but emotionally he did hurt her. However, for reasons unknown to her, she found herself lying one more time. Whether she did it to protect him or to protect herself, she didn't know.

"You can tell me anything." He reassured her.

"No, he never hurt me." She said. She noticed the frown, but he didn't say anything else on the matter.

"You were supposed to wake up sooner, but Sakura-san wanted you to rest for the night. So she put you under sedatives." Kō continued.

"I see."

"Sakura-san said you'll be able to go home this morning."

"What time is it, Kō-san?" She asked.

"Early morning, Hinata-sama." He said. "She wants to see you before you're sent home."

"Ah" She smiled, but it never reached her eyes. "That's good. Arigato."

Hinata noticed how Kō was still studying her face. She knew he hadn't believed her lies, but she couldn't find it in her to care. Before, when she was younger, she wouldn't have lied to Kō. He had been her faithful guard and protector since she was only a child. After Neji's death, Kō had made it his job to protect her. He had even comforted her after the death of her beloved cousin. She knew he was more than a guard; he was, dare she say, her only friend in that cold hearted clan. And she was certain he cared for her deeply, yet she couldn't trust him. It was his job to care and protect her, a job he was very dutiful at. But just like it was his duty to protect her, she knew it was his duty to stop her if she were to attempt anything, especially attempting to escape the village again. She understood that.

After he was satisfied with his inspection, he stood a few feet away from her. Although he wasn't looking at her directly, she knew he was aware of her every movement. That only served to remind her that she was no longer trusted by her clan. They would keep a close eye on her, until they took away from her the last remaint of her dignity.

Like a raging fire, she felt every emotion consuming her; desperation, affliction, fear, and anger. Unable to contain the tears that were soon to fall, she turned to her side, away from Kō's knowing eyes, and she allowed herself to close her eyes and cry silently... as silent as her heart allowed her.

Kō didn't say a word, instead she heard him walk further away from her, giving her the space she so needed and wanted at that moment. She knew he couldn't leave the room, for he was keeping an eye on her in case she decided to escape and run away from the village again. But knowing that he had tried to give her some privacy, made her appreciate him even more. In the silence of the room, only her quiet sobs were heard. Her body shuddered with the intensity of her tears, and she found herself unable to hold back a few whimpers. She mentally thanked her father for choosing Kō to guard her, for she would have died of embarrassment if it had been anyone else to witness her breakdown.

She allowed her tears to run freely. She cried for the miserable life her clan, along with her father, had made her endured all those years when she was younger. She cried for the humiliations she suffered at their hands. She cried because no matter how much work she put in, and how rigorously she had trained herself to become a great kunoichi, the clan never saw her as worthy of the title of heiress. She cried for all the times she endured the humiliations in hopes that her father would someday acknowledge her progress. She cried because when she was finally free for the first time in her life, she had it taken away from her so easily. Finally, she cried for what awaited her at home.

After minutes, that felt more like hours, she finally calmed down, and when she was certain her voice wouldn't quiver, she dared to speak.

"Kō-san, please tell Sakura-san I'm awake." She said. "I'm ready to go home." She said with determination.

The doors to the Hokage's office opened up, and the young Uchiha walked in.

"Sasuke" The Sixth Hokage looked up addressing the young man.

"Kakashi"

"How can I help you?"

"I came to inform you that I'll be leaving the village in a few hours."

"So soon?" The Hokage asked waiting for his former student to elaborate, but when he didn't, he proceeded to speak again. "Very well, Sasuke-kun. Before you leave, I have a condition to make."

"A condition?" Sasuke frowned.

The Sixth Hokage knew that the Uchiha wouldn't appreciate what he was about to ask from him, but after his last meeting with Naruto and the council, he didn't have a choice but to do this. The council, wanted to know of the former avenger's activities. Both, Naruto and Kakashi, knew that Sasuke wasn't plotting to destroy the village, but the council didn't trust the last Uchiha. For the sake of his former student and the village, Kakashi had agreed on the condition.

"You must come back every two years and report to the village."

This took the Uchiha aback, but he was not about to give the pervert Hokage the satisfaction to see it.

"Why?" Sasuke asked as stoic as ever.

"I'm sure the Seventh Hokage would like to see you and know of your activities." Kakashi hated using Naruto for this particular matter, but he didn't have another choice. It was the only way to get the Uchiha to accept the condition.

"Naruto?" Sasuke said and cursed himself mentally for sounding a little surprised.

"Ah, I see I've got your attention, Sasuke-kun" The copy-nin said teasingly. "Yes, Naruto is making a lot of progress, and I believe he'll be ready to take over this office in another year."

The former avenger cursed Kakashi mentally. He knew he couldn't deny this to his friend. The Uchiha really wanted to murder the man before him. How dare Konoha and this stupid Hokage condition him? They were lucky he hadn't killed them all like he had wanted to three years ago. Instead of making conditions for him, they should be grateful he had decided to help save the village. He hated his situation, but he figured it would be best to accept their conditions.

"Fine." He said dryly. Kakashi didn't fail to notice this. "But on one condition."

"You're in no position to ask for conditions, Sasuke."

"I'll only accept if you accept my condition."

"Very well, what is it going to be?" Kakashi said impassive as ever.

"If after two years I still don't want to live in Konoha, no one will force me to stay." The Uchiha said staring at his former sensei. "I will be leaving and no one can stop me."

"Fair enough." The Hokage said smiling. His visible eyes the only proof of a smile. "If that's all you came to say, you're dismissed."

"Hn" He said walking toward the door.

"Oh Sasuke" Kakashi called and the Uchiha was brought to a stop. "In case you're interested, Naruto is training. You know, just in case you want to go say goodbye to your friend."

The Uchiha shot him a murderous look, but didn't say anything. Of course he was going to look for Naruto, he wouldn't leave before saying goodbye to the dobe. Kakashi didn't have to be sticking his nose where he wasn't called.

"Also" Kakashi continued looking at his former student. "Sakura misses you too. She should be working at the hospital today, in case you want to see her before you go. She too was your teammate."

At the mention of her name Sasuke growled at the memory of last night. "Mind your own business, Kakashi" He seethed leaving the Hokage's office soon after.

Kakashi sighed.

As arrogant as ever… Kakashi mused. Well, I tried.

No one had come to receive her when she arrived at the compound. Hyūga Hinata expected this, and though it didn't surprise her in the least, it still hurt a little. It only proved that her presence wasn't wanted. She was now considered the traitor that left the clan for selfish reasons, risking the precious secret of the Byakugan.

When they arrived, Kō had directed her to her bedroom… Her bedroom. Before, when she was only a child, it had served as her fortress. Here she came to cry her frustrations, heartaches, and disappointments. It was her safe haven. Now… Now it was only an extension of her prison. It held no meaning. It was the place she was to remain until they decided her fate. The bedroom that used to give her comfort was no longer a place she felt safe. If anything, it made her stay at the compound worse. She was confined to these walls, unable to leave them. That had been proven once Kō had informed her he would be outside of her bedroom if she needed anything. Of course they wouldn't trust her to wander around, she had expected that much, but she never thought she would feel the stung of betrayal so strongly.

But Hinata didn't have to wait long for company. An hour later, her father had sent for a housemaid to bring her breakfast. After she had ate, the housemaid had left the room, and a few minutes later a young servant girl came to take Hinata to the washroom. She bathed the former heiress silently. None of the women that had come to assist her had said a word. They didn't have to say anything, for Hinata knew what they were thinking. Although, they had being polite, she knew they saw her as a traitor.

At some point, during her bath, she noticed the servant girl had been staring at her for quite some time. It hadn't been something she would have noticed before, but the way she looked at her was... different, years of living with her clan had taught her that. Hinata noticed the glint in the young girl's eyes and the small tug at her lips, the indicator of a smile. Hinata knew happiness when she saw it in a Hyūga. The young woman was obviously thrilled Hinata was to suffer the fate of those of the branch house... Of those like the poor servant girl. The former heiress opted for ignoring her; She wasn't going to give the young girl the satisfaction of seeing her crying.

After she had bathe, the young girl brought her back into her bedroom; where Hinata lied on her bed, awaiting for her judgement.

The former heiress didn't have to wait long, five minutes after she had lied on her bed a guard came to take her. He told her that her father and the elders of the clan wanted to see her. She knew what for. She knew her situation was hopeless, but she made the resolution not to show weakness. She would not let them see her broken.

The former heiress followed the guard through the compound. The guard lead her to a room, where she only assumed the elder's clan and her father awaited for her. She had seen them hold meetings there before when she was only a child, yet she had never been to the room, much less was she ever a matter of discussion in one of the meetings. However, today she was precisely that.

Once she arrived, she bowed before them respectfully.

"Otō-san... Elders."

"Hinata" The patriarch regarded her. "I'm glad you're back home."

At least one of them was.

"A-arigato, Otō-san"

"I'm sure you understand why you're here."

"Hai" She said facing them with a determined face.

"Allow me, Hiashi-sama" Said one of the elders "Hinata, by leaving Konoha, you put in grave danger the secrets of the Byakugan." He said coldly. "That is considered a betrayal to the clan."

She nodded calmly, or as calmly as someone in her situation could be.

"Therefore" The same elder continued speaking "We have decided that you must face the caged bird seal."

Hinata knew this would happen, of course she did. But hearing the confirmation made her heart clench. Yet, she did not allow herself to cry. She would face them with the last of her dignity.

"We would have wanted to seal you tomorrow, but your father requested for an extension." This took Hinata by surprise.

"An extension?" She asked glancing at her father.

"We have agreed that you will be branded with the seal after the Sakura festival. Eleven days from today, to be precise"

Wide lavender eyes stared at Hiashi in utter shock. As if reading her mind, Hiashi proceeded to explain.

"I believe the Sakura festival is your favorite." Hiashi said without a trace of emotion, like a true Hyūga clan leader. "And I want you to enjoy it."

Had she not heard it for herself, she would have never believed her father had said that. Unsure of what to say, she settled for giving him a small warm smile.

"A-arigato, Otō-san" She bowed in appreciation, tears threatening to fall.

Hinata knew this festival wasn't going to be a happy one, for she was to be sealed after. However, she was glad her father had done this for her, and she could enjoy her favorite festival with her friends and Hanabi. At least, she could pretend to be free one last time.

The tomb looked exactly how she had left it. She had asked her father for permission to visit her beloved cousin after the meeting had ended. Hiashi had agreed, but she was not to be left alone. For the next eleven days, Hinata would be accompanied everywhere by Kō.

She noticed there was a bouquet of white lilies adorning the tomb. That only meant Hanabi had come to visit their cousin. She mentally thanked her sister for not forgetting about him.

Hinata had always loved and admired her Niisan. Hyūga Neji had been a genius and a skillful shinobi, but more importantly, he was her biggest supporter; he was the best of their clan, and as the best, Hinata always believed he deserved to be the leader. She always found the division within the clan ridiculous. It only promoted hate within the members of the main house and the branch house. His cousin hate toward her when they were younger was proof enough. They had branded him in order to protect her. Ironically, she was to be branded too, and with a similar purpose. She was to be sealed to protect the clan; to protect a cold hearted clan that cared very little about those members that did not belong to the main house.

I deserved better too...

She stood there trembling; she had been holding back tears, and forcing herself to be strong. But her resolve was quivering. In the presence of her beloved niisan, she didn't have to pretend, for she knew he too understood her pain. Kneeling in front of the tomb of her beloved niisan, Hinata covered her face with her tiny hands and allowed herself to wept.

She wept for her cousin; because he deserved better than the life he got.

"Neji-nii… I m-miss you s-so m-much." She said in between sobs.

She wept because he had died in vain. What would he say now? He had given his life for her willingly, to protect her because he believed she could bring a positive change to the clan, yet it seemed only Neji believed that.

"I'm s-so s-s-scared N-neji-niisan… T-t-they are… I… b-be… S-sealed." She broke down allowing the tremors to shake her body and rid her of her misery, if only for a moment.

Once again, she was grateful Kō had given her the privacy she needed by waiting for her outside of the cemetery.

Forgive me, niisan.

They say that curiosity killed the cat. He was starting to believe the saying held some truth to it, for there was no other reason to be here spying on the former heiress... again. Yes, Uchiha Sasuke had lost his mind and with that the remains of his dignity.

It's not like he had wanted to spy on the Hyūga once more, but as he was making his way to the training grounds to look for his friend, he saw her. And she looked awful. It's not that the former heiress was particularly ugly, no not at all. He didn't find her particularly beautiful either, but truth be told, she was attractive in her own Hyūga way. However, physical appearance wasn't important to the former avenger. What he meant by awful was that she looked... broken. As if her spirit had been crushed, and perhaps it had. After all, he had forced her back to a village she had tried to run away from.

He noticed that her eyes held no light. Unable to shake the feeling of responsibility that decided to tug at his once cold heart, he followed her to her destination.

Now here he was, at the cemetery, watching the girl cry to the tomb of her cousin. Had he made her cry? Perhaps, but it was her fault she was in this situation to begin with. If she had told him of her intentions from the start, she wouldn't be here, and neither would he.

He couldn't help to think that the girl looked pathetic. No wonder the clan had deemed her as frail to lead them. This woman was too emotional to be the heiress of such a proud clan, like the Hyūga. Sasuke was becoming bored with her crying, so he decided enough was enough. It was time to go looking for Naruto, but just when he was about to leave, he heard it. Even though the words were muffled with sobs and hiccups, he heard them.

"T-t-they are… I… b-be… S-sealed."

What did that mean? He knew he had heard of that term before, so he waited for her to elaborate on the matter. Yet, she didn't. Instead, she stood up, dusted off her light pink yukata, and dried her tears with the sleeve. The Uchiha contemplated leaving at that moment, but alas, curiosity again made him do something stupid. He decided he needed to know what she meant by "seal."

"Hyūga" He called and noticed her body tense.

Nothing had prepared him for the way her eyes looked at him when she turned to face him. He had seen many people look at him like that before, but he didn't remember her ever looking at him like this. In fact, he didn't think the Hyūga princess had it in her. If he wasn't one of the strongest shinobi in the world, he would, perhaps, have felt fear. But he only felt… Amusement? It seemed that not even the kind former heiress of the Hyūga clan was immune to hate. He smirked.

"What do you want, Uchiha-san?"

Author's Note: Cliffhanger, I know- sorry about that. Thank you so much for your lovely reviews and for following this story. I am ever so grateful for your support!

WOW... This was my longest chapter - yet. I really hope you liked it. This wasn't an easy chapter to write. I tried to keep the characters as in character as possible. Kō's character was particularly harder for me, because there is not much I know about him, so I hope I did him justice. Also, Sasuke's character was difficult to write this time as well. He isn't the noisy type so I don't know how I feel about that last scene. Do you guys think he is ooc? Be honest! I tried to make it as believable as possible.

Important: I want to clarify a few things because I've noticed some of you are still confused. I can address them now because I've covered pretty much everything that needs to be covered for the development of this story. About Hinata's reason for leaving the village, I've mentioned it before but I want to summarize it. Hinata lost everything she loved: she lost her nii-san, clan, and finally Naruto, in a matter of three years. Yes, she had all her friends and even her sister, but try to see it from the psychological perspective. She's deeply depressed, and for that reason she fails to see her blessings. This is pretty common in patients with severe depression. Therefore, the only thing she thinks can bring her happiness is running away from everything that makes her feel depressed. I will expand more on this in future chapters. Also, her suicidal attempt wasn't because Naruto didn't love her back, but because she knew that once she was back in the village she would be sealed by her clan. I hope that makes sense. If you have any other questions, please do ask!

Answer to Reviews:

Viralvera: Thank you! I was a little nervous about Sakura's character to be honest. I re-read that scene like a billion times, making sure she sounded like herself. I feel a bit upset with Kishimoto for the poor development of her character. I think she had potential if he didn't portray her as obsessed with Sasuke as she was the whole series.

SxHlover & Roveme: As I mentioned before, I will keep the characters close to canon. But no, I do not intend for Hinata to be a damsel in distress. You will see the changes, but not right away. Although, I don't think she is one, for it takes a lot of courage to run away from your village and clan.

Cheshire Cat: Thank you! I was so afraid I was depicting their friendship wrong. I do honestly believe in the genuine of their friendship too, as shown in Sasuke's long as speech at the end of Naruto and Naruto's never ending pursuit of Sasuke throughout the whole series. So I'm happy to see that you liked it! Girl you never discourage me! Thank you for the mention on the word teme. I haven't seen Naruto in ages, but I do remember the word teme the most and it always made me laugh. You are more than likely right. It's basically bastard I think, or close to it from what I understand, but correct me if I am wrong. But I will use it less. My aim here is not to sound ooc for any of the characters, so thank you for that little detail.

Psycho-schlemiel: Naruto would never hurt anyone intentionally. I don't like the fics that depict him like that. As for Sakura, I based her actions on the way she pleaded Sasuke at the end of Naruto to stay or take her with him, and finally my interpretation of Naruto Gaiden (manga), when Karin (SPOILERS) tells Suigetsu that Sakura chased after Sasuke in his travels and that's how she got pregnant. I've based this story on manga and not just the anime. As for Sasuke's kick, this scene in general was hard to write, but Sasuke's intention wasn't to hurt her. Although, Hinata did intend to incapacitate him, but only in her desperation. So Sasuke did what he thought would prevent her from doing so. I never wrote this attempting to depict an abusive Sasuke, he was just defending himself. Nor did I want to write a heartless Hinata. I just tried to put myself in their shoes. But thank you for your opinion! I enjoy all your reviews because they help me improve the story and the way I depict the characters, so thank you for that and for supporting this fic!

Behla: Thank you for giving this fanfic a chance! I'm happy you like it. I'm so glad I am getting his character right. Sasuke's character is the hardest to write, so your words mean a lot to me. Yes! You are right, there are other factors as to why she left the village and I have listed them on the 'Important' section, under author's note. I noticed a lot of you weren't clear, so I explained it a bit better... or so I hope lol.

See you next week!