Good evening my dear readers! I hope you are all doing well. Thank you so much for coming back to this story to read the second chapter. There's a reason I think I was influenced to write this story. Recently, I was thinking about women in abusive relationships and I was just wondering why in the hell they would stay with a man or even a woman who is hurting them. I think writing this story kind of helped me understand, as well as talking with certain women who have actually been in that sort of situation. But I digress. Please enjoy chapter 2.

All For Love

KawaiixKisses

(Muah)

Platinum Love

It was beautiful. A platinum chain with diamonds purer than her eyes, fashioned into a heart at the center and worth $12,000. A present befitting the bruise, she supposed. The opal-eyed wife fingered the bracelet half-heartedly. He always did this. Whenever he hit her he'd apologize and present her with some sort of extravagant gift –it was getting old. Naruto seemed to think he could fix everything by flashing fancy gifts in her face. Apparently she wasn't smart enough to realize that it would take more than just that. Apparently she was so shallow that material items were enough to mend her broken heart. Apparently…

Her gaze slid up to meet the cyan gaze of her husband's, his expression hopeful as he watched her face. He used to be handsome, she remembered. He smiled a lot when they were young and hardly ever got angry. He would hold her hand and take her for walks and out on dates, he'd tell her how beautiful she was and how much she meant to him. She remembered the way he would look at her, like she was the only thing in the world to him. He used to tell her romantic stories of princes and princesses and unrequited love that miraculously became returned. He used to be kind and sweet, gentle and caring. She missed her husband –the old him. She missed the years they had together before the beating began, before the insults and the putdowns, before everything turned sour. She missed their old life together. They used to be happy…

Their relationship now was nothing like that, nothing like how it used to be. No longer would he hold her hand or tell her sweet stories, she was lucky to receive indirect compliments from him. All they had now was heartache and bittersweet gifts. Hinata felt as though her heart was breaking all over again as she thumbed the heart pendant.

"It's nice," she said quietly to him.

That seemed to please him for he flashed her a smile she would have thought to be handsome three years ago.

The two sat together in their living room, their knees brushing against one another.

"I'm glad. The woman at Tiffany's told me it was popular among young women so I thought you might like it."

And she would have… three years ago.

Hinata merely nodded her head, turning her gaze away from him once again.

"Here, let me help you put it on."

The blonde took the bracelet from her hands, his fingers brushing lightly against hers, sending goose bumps against her skin. He wasn't as dumb as the stereotype made blondes out to be for he noticed immediately how tense she was. Not only that but she had flinched somewhat when he moved closer to her.

"Relax," he said softly to her as he fastened the bracelet around her wrist.

Easy for him to say –he wasn't the one being beat on now was he?

Hinata wished she had the courage to sass him the way she did in her mind. Oh the many, many things she would tell him. She wished their roles could be reversed; she wanted him to see how it felt. How small it made her feel each time he dragged her around the house, how dirty she felt each time he gave her some fancy gift afterwards like she was some kind of high paid prostitute.

The wife quickly reminded herself that her husband would never ever pay to have sex with her. Why would he when he could just take it whenever he wanted to? Vaguely she wondered if it was considered rape if a wife is forced to have sex with her husband… Probably, but of course Naruto wouldn't care about something like that. No, in his mind she belonged to him, something he purchased from her family. He could do whatever he wanted to her whenever he wanted to. She wasn't a person in his eyes, she was a thing; something he could control completely. He wouldn't have it any other way. Hinata tell him 'no'? Never. Hinata stand up for herself? Highly unlikely. Someone else getting involved in their marriage? They'd better not. Hinata was far too afraid of Naruto, of what he would to her if she told anyone to even mention that she was unhappy. Sure, she thought of it, many times over, but the sad truth was, there was no way of escaping him. She was bounded by him, forever and always. 'Til death do them part. Hinata actually thought death would be the only way she'd ever be able to leave her husband, at least then she wouldn't have to feel anything.

"Thank you," she said quietly to him, pulling her wrist back and setting it in her lap.

It was quiet between them for a while, she could feel him staring into the side of her face, but she chose to stay quiet. She didn't want to talk to him. Actually, she'd be glad if he just left. Didn't he have some 'business' to take care of like any other night when he wasn't slamming her into furniture and walls?

"Hinata…"

"Hn?" she asked quietly, staring at her hands.

"Look at me."

Hesitantly her clear gaze shifted to meet his oceanic orbs. He stared at her for a while, studying her face openly. She flinched when he reached out to her, causing his brows to furrow slightly.

"God, Hinata… I'm not going to hurt you," he said to her, a little ticked off.

Well excuse the fuck outta me…* she thought bitterly to herself, controlling the urge to roll her eyes. She couldn't help it if her body was afraid of his.

"S-sorry," she apologized to him.

He clasped her face in his hands, his thumbs brushing against her cheeks as his brows relaxed.

"I love you," he said softly to her, leaning in close.

She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see him lie to her face any more. He didn't love her. He couldn't possibly love her.

Naruto, taking her shutting her eyes as acceptance, closed the distance between them and pressed his cold, chapped lips against hers.

Her eyes flickered open to meet his deep blue gaze, half lidded and staring back at her. She hadn't wanted to be kissed by him, but she knew better than to tell him no unless she wanted earrings to match her bracelet.

So, she sat there, perfectly still as he moved his lips over hers, parting them with his tongue and ravaging her mouth. Hinata could feel the tears burning at the backs of her eyes as he deepened the demanding kiss, urging small noises from out of her. She had learned how to fake it, how to pretend to receive his passion and if she was to brag she'd say she was pretty damn good at it.

His hands traveled from her face and down her neck, pulling her closer to him until their bodies were pressed against one another. She shut her eyes when his hands traveled down further to cup her left breast. It took almost all of her will to keep herself form cringing –she hated when he touched her like that. His hands continued their southern journey until they met with her thighs, grapping them tightly and swinging her body over his so that she straddled him. Then, just as she predicted he stood with her and carried her up the stairs and to their bedroom, his lips moving roughly against hers. When they reached his intended destination, he tossed her down on the bed and climbed over her, his eyes roaming over her body hungrily.

His greedy hands set to work on her shirt, popping off a few buttons with his hasty pace, desperate to get to what lie beneath it.

Hinata on the other hand wasn't as excited as her husband seemed to be; her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. She hated the feel of his cold, callused hands as they roamed over her flesh, she hated the feel of his breath falling against her skin, she hated this, and she hated him.

"Another gift huh?" Ino questioned, arching her brow at the dainty little thing that dangled from Hinata's wrist.

The shy woman nodded her head, smiling a little at her friend.

"It's nice, ne?" she said to her, lifting her wrist to show it off.

"Hn."

Ino eyed her friend for a moment, not believing the charade she was putting up for even a moment. Whenever Hinata began acting weird, she'd show up a few days later with some fancy new gift. It was sort of expected now.

"That's the third gift he's given you this month," Sakura chimed in.

That was the third time he hit her that month.

"He must really love you," Ino said, turning her spoon around her cup.

Yeah right… Hinata thought to herself.

"Yes."

Sakura grinned suddenly as a dirty thought passed through her mind.

"She must be giving him something extra to be receiving that kind of special treatment…"

Ino laughed at that while Hinata turned a few shades of red. She wasn't giving it so much as he was taking it.

"Ne, Hinata, tell me what I have to do to get Lee to spend so much on me," Sakura giggled, nudging the shy woman in the arm.

Let him use your face as a punching bag?

Hinata merely smiled at her friend, her cheeks still filled with color. "I d-don't know what to say Sakura… N-Naruto just likes giving me th-things…"

Yeah, black eyes.

"I can tell," she said smiling at her friend. "If only I could find a guy like yours."

"You can have him," Hinata said quietly, earning herself a questioning gaze from her two friends.

"What do you mean, Hinata? Surely you're happy?" came Ino, ready for Hinata to finally tell them the truth.

The opal-eyed woman looked up at her friends and smiled softly.

"Of course I am. J-just sometimes his love is a l-little too… intense…"

That's one way of wording it.

"Ah," came Ino once again, nodding her head slowly.

"Well I'll gladly take him off your hands for you, Hinata. Hell, we could switch, I'll take Naruto-kun and you take Lee."

Hinata had half a mind to agree to the exchange. Naruto would probably treat Sakura a whole lot better than he did her. He told her to his face that he wished he married the pinkette instead of her. Besides, Hinata had always thought Lee to be nice, a little hyperactive, but it was far better than the narcissistic bastard she called her husband. At least Lee would make her feel like she mattered; she'd seen the way he treated Sakura. Hinata would literally kill for something like that.

The dark-haired woman merely smiled and offered a soft giggle to her friend's words.

"I'll arrange the paperwork," she joked softly.

If only it wasn't a joke.

"Uzumaki-san."

Hinata looked up from her computer to watch as her boss came walking out of his office and over to her.

"Did you make those copies I asked for?"

"Oh, yes… here you are," she said softly, handing the stack of papers to him.

"Thanks."

And with that he disappeared into his office once again.

Uchiha Sasuke hadn't been lying when he told them he wouldn't be asking for much from them. The only thing he had asked of her the entire day was for her to make the copies of a prospective article for the magazine –other than that he did everything himself as he said he would.

"Ne, you don't think he's going to fire us do you?" came Ten Ten's voice from the other side of the room.

Hinata turned her pearly gaze from her closed door of her boss's office to her brown haired friend.

"I d-don't know…"

It did seem likely however. The man didn't seem to need them, unlike Fukumi-san who didn't seem to know how to do anything for himself. Hinata was just glad he didn't ask them to wipe his ass for him, though it did seem like something the bastard would want. Honestly, working for Uchiha Sasuke was like having a vacation.

"I hope not; I need this job. You're so lucky you don't even have to work."

That was true. Naruto made enough were she didn't have to work if she didn't want to. At 27, it was unbelievable to her that he was able to land a job as a politician.

"Uzumaki-san probably makes a lot, doesn't he?"

"H-hn…" Hinata answered shyly.

Ten Ten let out a small sigh. "Must be nice having a husband who can afford to buy you whatever you want. That's a nice bracelet by the way…"

Hinata blushed lightly.

"It's not that nice," she said softly to herself mostly.

Ten Ten arched a brow at her as she set her hand in her palm.

"How so? You don't even have to be here right now. You could be off at some spa, getting a massage or something, hell you all can probably afford to take a few trips every year too."

Hinata only smiled softly. It was true; they did live a comfortable life… well material wise anyway.

"Why do you work, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata was hesitant at first. She didn't want to tell her that she did it so that she wouldn't be forced to kill herself staying in that house all day.

"Just… Something to do I g-guess… Besides I like f-fashion so…"

"Ah…" came Ten Ten, drumming her fingers lightly against the desk.

"Uzumaki-san."

Hinata looked up from Ten Ten to see her boss who stuck his head out of the door –it seemed a bit out of character for him and made her want to smile a little, but she didn't.

"Hn?"

"Come here for a second."

Nodding, she stood to her feet and began walking over to his office.

"Shut the door," he told her when she made it into his office.

She did as she was told and shut the door quietly.

Her opal eyes roamed over his back as she watched him. His eyes were fixed on the paper in his hands, probably reading carefully. Then suddenly he looked up at her, quietly studying her for a moment or two.

"Tell me, how does this sound."

"Eh?"

She stared at her boss a little confused.

"How does it sound? You're an every day woman, tell me, would you want to buy this if you read the article?"

He handed the paper to her and waited patiently for her response.

Nervously, her white eyes looked down at the paper in her hand, training on the words she found there.

'…and lemon is surely enough to make your skin glow.'

'….every day for a week and you'll see results'

'…to his Japan in three years.'

The dark-haired woman looked up at her boss.

"H-honestly?"

"Hn."

"It s-seems a little b-bogus… Onions and Lemons? On a g-girl's face s-sounds ridiculous… I wouldn't b-buy it…"

"I didn't think so."

"H-Hn… W-well if that's a-all then…"

"No. Actually, I need you to run this over to the author and tell them I said its crap."

While surprised that he actually needed her for something she nodded her head and left his office with the paper in hand.

"Sooo… What did he say? He didn't fire you did he?" came Ten Ten as the shy woman left the office.

"N-No… he uh… asked me to run an errand."

Ten Ten's brow rose at that. The man had clearly stated he wouldn't be asking them for much. Well, at least that meant they wouldn't be getting fired.

Without waiting on the brunette to say anything else, Hinata headed off to find the author of the article.

"Uchiha-san told me to tell you th-that that article is unacceptable," she said nervously upon finding the author, Uue Seji.

The male stared up at her before snatching the paper away from her hands, mumbling cuss words.

"Did he say why?"

The woman fidgeted slightly before answering him.

"W-well he asked me t-to read it and I –"

"So you're the one who doesn't like it," he accused, "what makes you an expert hm?"

"I j-just… he a-asked me to –"

"To what? Why would he ask for your opinion? You expect me to believe that? Do I look stupid to you?"

Hinata only shook her head. The angered writer shoved the paper back in her face.

"You tell him I said to read it himself this time and not to have his assistant do it. That's what you are right? The hell do you think you are…?" he yelled at her, verbally pushing her away.

"Coming down here telling me about my writing like you know shit… The fuck you doing still standing here? I said go!"

Hinata nodded her head before turning and hurrying back to her desk, trying her hardest to keep the tears she felt burning the backs of her eyes.

"Hinata-chan? Are you alright?" came Ten Ten's voice.

The opal-eyed woman nodded her head, drying her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

"Hn."

"Uzumaki-san, did you do what I asked you to?"

Hinata looked up from her desk to meet the onyx gaze of her employer. The male stared down at her expectantly, waiting for an answer to his question.

"N-no, I… s-sorry."

The male let out an exasperated sigh, obviously annoyed by the assistant.

"Of course not… I should have known better. Hand me the paper," he said to her, holding his hand out for it.

Nervously, she nodded her head and handed the paper to her boss, earning herself a small grunt from him as he snatched the paper from her and stalked down the hall.

When he returned he looked thoroughly ticked off; his brows crunched together and his lips pressed into a thin line. Guilt and shame washed over her at the thought of disappointing him. It wasn't just for the simple fact that he was her boss, Hinata simply hated to disappoint anyone –she was a textbook people-pleaser.

"You okay?"

Hinata looked up to find Ten Ten watching her worriedly. Hinata merely smiled and nodded her head, not wanting to bother Ten Ten with her personal issues.

"I'm f-f-fine."

It was obvious that Ten Ten didn't believe a thing that was coming out of the pale-eyed girl's mouth. The brunette knew better than to think that Hinata was okay. The frail woman was obviously going through something… There were the bruises and the way she flinched or backed up just slightly whenever anyone got near her, and then now, the girl looked as if she was ready to break down into tears. Had what who ever she had spoke said something that horrible where she would need to cry over it? Maybe… but still, it wasn't just today, it was every day. The poor girl looked like she would shatter in a million tiny pieces at any given moment.

"Uh-huh…"

"You seem distant…"

Hinata looked up from her plate to find her husband staring at her, his blue eyes watching her.

"S-sorry," she said quietly, turning her eyes back to her plate. The female began pushing her broccoli around the plate, obviously uninterested in the green vegetable.

"You don't have to be so afraid of me," he said to her at last, unable to take the silence that had fallen between them.

The dark-haired woman nodded her head; one swift down and up motion, before sliding the broccoli past her lips and into her mouth.

Naruto stared at his wife, trying to burn a whole through the wall she had created between her and himself. She wouldn't let him in; she wouldn't let him see her. Often, he felt like he didn't even know who she was. He was living with a stranger. She always seemed so far away from him. Even when they made love, he could tell she wished she were some place else. She didn't like him; he could feel it.

"Hinata."

She looked up at him, her eyes cold and vacant, as if her soul wasn't there. "Yes?"

He watched her for a moment or two, unsure why exactly he had called her name. What had he wanted to say to her?

"I was thinking…" he trailed off. His wife merely waited patiently for him to continue.

"Maybe we could take a trip… go some place nice."

Hinata watched her husband. Why was he suddenly being so nice to her? Usually he didn't want to spend unnecessary time with her.

"I-I don't know if I can get off w-work…"

Naruto frowned.

"What the hell do you mean you don't think you can get off work? I didn't even say when the trip would happen." To him it seemed as though she didn't even want to spend time with him. What the hell was her problem? Here he was, trying to do something nice for her, yet all she did was reject him. "You're an ungrateful bitch, you know that, don't you?"

Hinata gave him no answer, she knew better. During times like these, anything she could say would only serve to make him even more upset than he already was.

"Answer me, damn it!"

Or silence could also backfire and upset him. Honestly, it was no way she could win with Naruto. What was she supposed to say to that? What would the right answer be? Yes, she was an ungrateful bitch? No, she wasn't an ungrateful bitch? Both ways only seemed like things that would anger him.

"N-Naruto I –"

Before she could finish her sentence he was on his feet and stalking over to her. His fingers delved into her hair forcefully, pushing her head back. Her opal eyes stared up at him, watching the ocean-like orbs burn with anger. She could feel his hot breath falling against her skin, practically burning her flesh. The wife could feel tears burning at the backs of her eyes, but she knew better than to let them fall.

He pressed his forehead against hers, looking down into her eyes. Slowly, his grip on her hair became less forceful, less vicious. She could feel her husband calming down slightly.

"I love you," he whispered softly.

Hinata shut her eyes; preventing the tears she felt building up from sliding down.

"I love you too," she lied.

... So... Tell me what you think? Review onegaishimasu!

Oh and...

*This line is something I stole from a friend of mine; he says it all the time and it cracks me up. I can hear him now "Well excuse the fuck outta me..." rolling his eyes and what not lol