Hey there readers! Just as a heads up I did a little bit of revising to this chapter, added some information as well as taking some out. It wasn't a drastic change but I wanted to add a little more detail to the more emotional scenes. I just thought some more depth was needed in some parts. Hope you enjoy!

Hinata squirmed a little as she started to wake up, a bright smile coming across her face as she thought of the day before. Turning onto her back, she stared at the ceiling with a grin still plastered on her face. It made her sick that someone could affect her that much. In her opinion she was still weak. People still affected her way too much and she loathed that thought. It had been the first time in a while that she hadn't woken up angry and it was also the first time that someone else had been taken over her thoughts.

His smile...his eyes...his calm demeanor. Sai was an amazing person. For some reason she could relax around him. She didn't feel the need to prove anything. The only other person that she ever felt that relaxed with was Sasuke.

"Ugh this is not good" she groaned out covering her face. The realization that she was starting to like someone new was scary for her. Even though she was happy about that, something inside just didn't want to allow her to let go of her love for Sasuke. "Why can't I just let go?"

In her daydreaming she heard a few knocks on the door, making her look over at her clock. She wasn't expecting anyone that early, and she was even a bit hesitant due to the past occurrences of unexpected people. "Who is it?" she asked leaning against the door as she listened for the voice.

"Your father" the voice replied.

Hinata let out a heavy sigh when she heard. Her high spirits immediately ran back to the box they were locked in and for now the only attempt she made to open the door was touching the door knob.

"Are you going to have your father standing outside like this?" Hiashi asked slightly worried that she actually wasn't going to open the door. After talking with her the other day he didn't know what to expect. After a few silent moments the door was opened just enough for him to slip in to see Hinata heading into the kitchen. "Good Morning" he greeted.

"Morning father, what can I do for you today?" she asked, completely enthused at the fact that he was the first person she was seeing this morning. She moved about the kitchen to get tea ready, not making an effort to give Hiashi her full attention.

"I would just like for us to chat for a bit" he'd say as he made his way over, before trying to take the kettle from her.

Hinata looked up at him a little confused but allowed him to take the kettle, silently watching as he put it down and turned on the stove. She'd never seen her father do things like this, and as a result she was speechless.

"I have..." he said cutting himself off as he began cleaning two mugs that were out. "a proposition for you. I know you left the manor to be with that...boy...but that was a disaster, obviously."

Hinata sighed heavily, feeling the anger start to build. It was unshakable, she felt strongly that he going to cross a line with her.

Hiashi noticed the aura that started radiating off of his daughter but did not quite understand the reaction. "I believe that you should come back to the clan and work on becoming the leader. You won't need to pay for your home...I will handle that" He assured. "Hinata, this is best way to regain your reputation among the Hyuga."

"Father" she'd say in a low tone, as if warning him to stop talking.

"You have to admit, this whole ordeal has disgraced you. The people are talking Hinata...as the most elite family we have lost face because of this divorce. I told you not to marry this man. He would disgrace you and he did."

"FATHER!" she yelled.

Hiashi stood completely stunned having never heard his daughter reach that level with him. He had only ever known a timid girl, this person was completely different.

"I'm gonna say this once. I don't care about being clan head. It was an idea you forced into my head as a child. This title loomed over me like a dark cloud and I felt like if I didn't meet your expectations my life was over." she explained before lifting her head to look at her father. "I don't care what the clan thinks of me...I'm free for once in my life and I intend to do things on my own terms."

"Hinata I..." he'd started but was soon cut off by a raised hand, silencing him.

"I will never go back to that life. There is nothing to prove anymore father. The only thing that's important to me at this moment is that I prove to myself that I can be self sufficient" she continued.

Her father stood there, quietly staring at her. "You've become one of the most advanced in the village...you're above your sister at this point. I'm confident that you could do this."

"I might have considered this position if you had believed in me when I didn't believe in myself...but now I don't want it."

Silence hung over the two as they stared at each other. Her father knew that the look was the last resort to having his daughter agree with him but no matter how he tried to utilize his stare Hinata wasn't budging. She was showing her strength and after a few minutes he decided to give up, turning away from her to head out of the condo. Hinata let out a soft sigh of relief once the door closed, leaning against the counter to hold herself up, "Finally" she breathed out, smiling to herself over her silent victory.

Sasuke was sitting on his porch with a bottle of liquor in hand, completely asleep. He woke slowly, feeling a bit of annoying soreness from having sat in that position all night. His onyx eyes moved down to the bottle he cradled during his sleep. It wasn't just liquid anymore… it was his comfort and sanity. He could feel himself depending on it more and more as the days rolled by. His control was slipping.

With a huff, he stood up and walked into the apartment. He looked around the place with disgust at all the scattered papers, take out boxes, empty beer cans and bottles that decorated the place. "Fuck..." he whispered to himself as he lazily made his way to the kitchen to grab a large garbage bag. For the next couple of hours he committed himself to cleaning up the apartment, and he even let some light in. He got rid of all the alcohol and took a long needed shower.

Now that he was finally clean, he wiped the fog off of the mirror to stare at himself. The light beard he had developed the past couple of days was looking alright for now, and he decided to trim it a little bit since he was planning to actually leave the house today. "Hmm" he'd say feeling pleased with himself at the successful trim.

He moved to the closet, grabbing some slacks to dress himself in before running a hand through his dark locks. Leaving the house was tough but he knew he needed a change of venue for sure, even if for only a few hours.

Sasuke took each step slowly, seems sitting had made his body rebellious to any movement. Once he made it to the main street, his body went into autopilot taking him toward the park. He seated himself on a bench with a slight huff as he stared out at the greenery before him. Visions of Hinata started fogging his mind, reminding him of the times before the heartbreak. They used to laze around in the shade and talk about their dreams, enthralled by each others presence. Now it was over and here he is back to point A...loneliness.

His dark eyes glanced up at the tree he was seated under when he felt someones presence. "I know you're here sensei..." he breathed out.

"Well you're the one that sat under my tree. I definitely wasn't expecting to run into you" Kakashi explained as he continued his reading.

Sasuke stayed quiet, fiddling with some grass as he stared off.

"Got yourself in quite a situation" the copy nin started.

Sasuke continued his silence, dropping his head slightly at the fact that Kakashi knew.

"I'm gonna tell you something you probably already know. You still have a lot of healing to do. I'm thinking you thought Sakura would help but that was a mistake. Which is fine...everyone makes me mistakes. Now here you are...it's time to face... YOU" Kakashi explained. "I thought Hinata was going to help you but it looks like this is something you have to do for yourself."

"After Hinata lost the baby, I thought it was my fault" Sasuke said, finally breaking his silence. "I had plans you know? I was gonna teach that baby so many things, and give more love than one kid could take. There was never going to be a doubt in that child's mind whether their parents loved them or not. I think the reason that we got along so well was that we could understand each other. The creation of this baby would not only show our love but the fact that we were gonna do it right!" he explained, his voice cracking slightly. "But with my past, bad shit always follows me and someone else suffered because of that. It's okay if it was just me but... seeing Hinata in such a sad state tore me apart... she was hurting so bad and all I could do was run away. I wasn't there for her but she loved me anyways. I don't know how to deal with that...I just don't fucking know. Whenever I'm needed all I do is run away."

Kakashi glanced down at his former student, sighing sadly before hopping down from the branch. He more than anyone knew how much Sasuke struggled emotionally and it was hard to watch these things happen to him. "Then stop running...you have to face yourself before you can take anyone else" he explained as he reached a hand out to pat the Uchiha's head. "You've come a far way and you've done great but unless you're able to realize you can't just suppress your emotions, you'll continue to face disappointment. There is no other way..."

Afternoon…

Anko had been tossing and turning constantly during her nap. It became unbearable how impossible it was just find a nice position to sleep in and now she was just sitting up in bed. She felt so out of it, and even more tired than usual but could never rest well. As she sat, her mind started mulling over the details of her schedule, wondering if there were any changes that could have resulted in her body being out of whack. She sighed heavily when she couldn't think of anything and leaned over grab a hair tie from her bedside table. "Ugh, might as well go get some work done" she said softly to herself and as soon as she stood a nauseous feeling rushed over her making her rush to the bathroom. She quickly dropped to the floor, emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. When she thought it was safe, Anko leaned against the wall, finally managing to catch to her breath.

"Babe!"

Kakashi's voice brought a sudden panic over her. She knew that if he saw her like this he was going to panic too and she didn't want him to worry over her all the time. "Hey, gimme as sec!" she called out trying not to make her voice sound shaky as she quickly flushed the toilet. She rose to her feet to stand in the mirror to fix herself up so that she didn't look so disheveled.

"Feeling any better today?" Kakashi asked as he made his way to the bathroom.

"Y-yeah definitely!" Anko answered shutting the door and locking it when she felt the sudden urge to throw up again.

Kakashi was a few feet away when he noticed the door being closed which made him all the more curious to check up on her. "I thought we were way passed the honeymoon stage of closing doors" he joked.

Anko forced out a soft chuckle as she held her stomach. Her mind was elsewhere right now because she knew something was very wrong.

"Are you okay?" he asked, the worry clearly evident in his voice.

This was exactly what she didn't want to happen, "Yeah, I'll be out in a minute…" she'd say waiting for his feet to move away.

Kakashi still didn't feel like everything was alright but decided to take her word for it. After being around Anko as well as other women for so long, he understood when one needed their space. "Ok, I'll be in the kitchen" he'd say moving away from the door.

"Ok" she responded breathing a sigh of relief.

Later in the day...

Hinata left the condo to head to the training ground. Once there she migrated to her favorite spot to get some much needed meditation. It was a new practice for her but this helped get her thoughts in order and she needed that peace. In a few moments she sunk deeper into her mode, cancelling out the environment around her. Flashes of the conversation with her father came through her mind. He brought up some very valid points and she was all for gaining more power and status. It was great that people were starting to recognize how great she was but it angered her. No one ever believed in her, even Sasuke doubted her abilities when they were together. This opportunity was great but the manor brought too much unhappiness whenever she was there and refuses to allow that back into her life.

Flashback

"Your daughter is a failure. There is no way she could ever amount anything Hiashi!" one of the elders said.

Hiashi sat at his desk staring off as he listened to the man, "I know this. I'm quite disappointed in myself for having produced such lowly offspring. With everyone watching my success, we have no choice but to train her harder."

The Elder sighed heavily, "She is weak, we have tried everything but she is useless. Perhaps it is time we start focusing on her sibling, she seems the most promising."

An eight year old Hinata stood outside the door listening sadly at the conversation between the men, tearing up when she glanced at her father who was agreeing with everything the man was saying. Seeing him having that disappointed look on his face hurt her, she knew he must have hated her for making him look bad.

Flashforward

A tear streamed down her face as she remembered those feelings, immediately breaking her concentration. She sighed heavily as she wiped it away, and decided to leave the area.

"Hinata" she heard someone yell once she had gotten close to the exit, spinning around to notice Sai running over to her. "Oh hey" she'd say giving a little smile. Even though she was happy to see him, the way she was feeling wasn't helping her state of mind.

"You ok?" he asked in a concerned tone. He couldn't help but ask after noticing her aura, something was off.

There he goes reading her again and right now she wasn't in the mood for it. "God I really wish you would stop doing that" she growled, obviously irritated from his question and quickly turned away from him to head home.

"Wait..." he'd say reaching out for her but decided against it, figuring that she just needed to be alone.

Naruto paced his apartment, night time was falling and Sakura hadn't come back like she said she would. The girl had been on his mind all day. He didn't know why he wanted her so bad, knowing that she didn't feel the same about him. But when Sasuke left he was the one that had to take care of her. To him, the bond they developed from that time could never be broken. She depended on him in every way. The blond was confident that if Sakura would just give him a chance, he could show her the love she deserved. It was no offense to Sasuke but he knew he was better. When he was younger, he figured that she was attracted to his friend more because of the mature and mysterious demeanor. It was a pretty reasonable reason for a teenage girl but now they were adults...the seriousness of love has increased.

All these thoughts were making him somewhat insane. He decided to get out of the house, realizing that it wasn't doing him any good to stay dwelling over Sakura's whereabouts. On his way to the ramen shop, he noticed her walking but she wasn't heading to her house. "Where could she be going?" he asked himself debating on whether he should follow her or not. After having an inner battle he decided in favor of the idea to follow her, just too curious about where she was going. After following for a few moments, he noticed that the direction she was heading was Sasuke's house. Naruto watched painfully as she walked up the steps and knocked on the door, only to be welcomed in when the door opened. "Why Sakura?" he'd say to himself sadly, deciding to head back to his place, completely losing his appetite at what he witnessed.