I do not own Naruto.

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Dear Husband:

There is still no news from Kiba and Naruto. I've spent time at the library putting books away. I think they let me take it as a job because they have pity for me. It has helped me some but I take more comfort in writing these letters. Is that crazy of me? I think everyone imagines that I'm going to fall apart any second. I've imagined it many times. Somehow I manage to keep going. But how much more can I take Sasuke? That's what I keep asking myself.

There's really nothing else new to inform you about.

I last wrote about the time you were sick with the flu. It was terrible for us both. I really believe you might not make it. You were probably just barely conscience half the time. After that we became closer. I'm not sure it if was respect had grown or if we began to genuinely care more for each other. I tried to be brave and touch you here and there. And as bad as that sounds I mean that in the most minor way. You would sit at this very desk writing your report for a mission you'd completed and I would set tea down for you. My hand would touch your shoulder while I set the glass down. Or I would hand you a clean shirt to change into and our fingertips would brush against each other. Such small contact like that made it easier to sleep next to you at night.

I had realized that if these minor actions bothered me that I would have a hard time bearing you children. I tried not to think of that because you would be right next to me and I honestly thought you could see my dreams. I dreamed a lot back then. They were peaceful. More like the future. There would be me and you and a child or two. I remember feeling unexplainable happiness. I wanted to be there then. I wanted pass that awkward stage.

One day you completely shocked me. I was doing laundry and you came for a clean shirt like usual but inside of the small contact between our fingers you kissed me. Not on the cheek either. Right on the lips. It was gentle but it seemed sincere.

"I have to leave early," you told me. They decided to leave earlier and things were uneasy where you were heading, you might be away longer.

It was contact you initiated and I was afraid of being alone. I reached out and took your hand before you were gone. I wrapped my arms around you and I remember inhaling the scent of your fresh shirt and whatever it is you smell like. I've yet to name it.

"Be careful," I told you. You were gone after that. I didn't worry while I was hugging you or being kissed by you. I would have plenty of time once you were gone. Too much time. Not like now though. This is unbearable.

I did these small missions and I waited at home thinking you'd be home. When you did arrive I was asleep. You crawled into bed and I woke up feeling so warm and I turned and I felt a warm breath on my face. It was yours. Simple joy took over. I wondered then when I had become so happy to see you? Maybe because you were the person most in my life. I began to care because you were always there at home. You didn't care much for going out. You trained and stayed home.

I didn't want to get up yet. Afraid you'd leave for another mission I stayed and I even closed my eyes. I think I was drifting off and you must have woke up because I felt my hair being tucked behind my ear. My face became redder and you gave me a quick peck before getting up. Suddenly it was like kissing was okay. I didn't get worked up by the sweet little kisses before you left or before we sat down to eat. They always left my lips feeling warm and tingly. I like it.

"Do you want to go out with some of our friends tonight?" you asked me.

I looked up at you. I was a little astonished. Going out wasn't your thing, but it wasn't mine either. "Okay." I agreed nonetheless.

It was something to look forward too. I made sure my clothes were clean and my hair was okay. A white short sleeve blouse and jeans tucked into flat boots. You were so casual, some white t-shirt and a black jacket open in the front with dark jeans. I waited around the house for awhile before giving into reading while I waited for the time to pass. You don't know how many books I've read since you've been gone this time.

It was set at a casual restaurant we all used to visit. We got the big group booth all the way in the corner. The one where if you have just the right spot you can see the whole room. I was the one with that spot. Sasuke sat on one side of me and Tenten on the other. Neji was next to her and Naruto next to him, Sakura sat next to him and Ino who sat next to Shikamaru. The table was loud because we all tried to talk over each other. Tenten and I talked to ourselves and Sasuke conversed with Naruto. Sakura and Ino were loud from their spot and Neji and Shikamaru teased the girls at the table whom were their dates. In that regard it was weird. They liked each other, but they weren't married like us. I believed we were beginning to like each other but I'm not a good judge of these things.

It didn't get truly awkward until Ino and Sakura drilled me with questions.

"So how's the married life?" Sakura asked. Her eyes like daggers. Naruto gave me a sympathetic looks like he was sorry but he knew better than to tell her to shut it.

"It's..." I thought of something to say. I realized my comment would be crucial. Sasuke was listening and they were listening, one mistake and I was going to look like a horrible wife. One that should be removed. "It's better than I imagined."

I worried I had said the wrong thing. That would be something typical of me.

Sasuke smiled next to me.

"I'm not as scary as she once thought," he made my statement into a joke. He saved me from that question. I hope you knew and still know that I meant it. I didn't want to say I was enjoying it because I was afraid of how you would react. Ino and Sakura had icy stares long after that. They're good actresses but their emotion is so clear for everyone to see.

It's not the first time you saved me.

Questions were thrown at me left and right. Some personal and others just randomly thrown out. I answered and you answered and the night finally ended.

"We should all so this again sometime," Sakura winked at you I believe and we left them there. We walked home and it was dark and chilly. I realized that I should have grabbed my jacket before we left but I wasn't thinking about the temperature at the time.

I wasn't so sure going out with friends was what we should be doing considering how hostile Ino and Sakura looked most of the night. For having taken their dream away they were considerably nice about it. I mean they could have killed me if they wished, not that I wouldn't have defended myself. Perhaps they were only afraid of what you would think of them. Even now they don't out right attack me. They avoid me to the best of their abilities but the few times I've seen them they act like they don't know how to act.

I assume it's because they think I got what I deserve. They know I'm heartbroken. They know that I eventually had fallen in love with you. Only now do they accept it, like I suddenly understand how they felt. Perhaps I do.

I get off track quite easily.

You took your jacket off and placed it on my shoulders. I could swear that I wasn't shivering. I might have had goosebumps, but I think you just knew. I'm the type that my hands get cold easily, and I get cold easily. You jacket was warm and it smelled like you. My face became redder but I was glad for the warmth.

"Thank you," I smiled. "But won't you be cold?"

You smiled when you spoke, "Don't worry about me. I'm a guy. I'm already warm."

You had me laughing again.

Maybe that's part of the charm I started to recognize and fall in love with. You were so different when you were younger, it's almost like you changed completely. I know I never asked what happened during the time you left to avenge your family but you grew up and you changed. Something had to have happened. A burden lifted perhaps?

It's something we don't talk about. Things that happened before, except those fond memories of the rookie nine. We laugh at our previous selves. You teased me about my shy stuttering, which I've started to do less at this point in the story. I teased you about how brooding you looked. You had an air of superiority about you. It's still there but its faded considerably.

I'm off track once again.

Silly me.

That night when we went to bed you faced me and asked me a serious question with which I still hope I didn't disappoint you with my answer.

"Are you happy?"

For a second my heart was beating faster and I was afraid. There was times when I felt lonely in our marriage but there were plenty, and growing, moments were I took pleasure in the small things. Talking was something I enjoyed. The little chats we had at breakfast or dinner helped me get through my days.

So I answered honestly.

"I'm beginning too."

You took a second to search my eyes and the long eye contact made my face become pink but you looked like you were chewing it over in your head.

"I guess it was a lot to ask of you," you turned and lay on your back. Eyes searching the ceiling. "I'm sorry."

"I married you didn't I?" I said suddenly.

You looked at me with such a curious expression as if to say, "Go on."

"Even though it was arranged I could have run away," I propped my head up on my hand. "I could have left my family when they switched me from being the heir to Hanabi. I could have left and done a million and one things. I chose to stay with my family. Even though they continuously hurt me. I chose to go along with the marriage, even though I didn't love you at first."

"At first?" you turned to me once more and I could see a smirk.

My pink face became redder.

"Does that mean you've changed your mind about that?"

I bite my lip for a distraction. If only for a second.

"I think so," I looked away for a second. My face was hot and red and I was continuously embarrassing myself.

That's when I felt your lips crush into mine. How sweet it started out but it wasn't like the other ones I had become accustomed too. It became more passionate and I felt myself feeling more and more animal-like. It was frightening to me. I've never done that. I'd never kissed and felt so much like that it scared me and when you pulled away you gave me one last peck on the lips before saying goodnight.

What did that mean?Did I disappoint you? I for a second I wanted to whisper I love you but I wasn't sure it would be truthful or spur of the moment. So I held it in.

I love you.

I'm not afraid anymore to say it.

I know it's true and I know I feel it. So I will say it. I. Love. You.

Love always,

Hinata.

Hinata placed the letter in an envelope and numbered it. She set it on the table and waited. Instead of starting another she stepped outside into the warm summer air. The gardens behind the house where she stood were looking overgrown once more.

Overgrown and wild with life. Hinata remembered seeing it that way long ago too. She had kept better care of it during their marriage and recently she ignored them due to her obsession with waiting for Sasuke.

She went inside searching for gloves and tools and finally she came across them.

She toiled long hours over the gardens, weeding them and moving flowers around until it looked neat and proper once more. Somehow it appeared more sad to her as well. She stared at the plants with a longing feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. She touched her belly gingerly and headed inside.

Hinata stared at the books on the shelves. They really had a lot of books. Many she had purchased during the time Sasuke was gone. She had a shelf dedicated to pregnancies and raising children. Hinata decided to reread one and test her knowledge.

Hinata grew bored quickly.

The book was much like all of the ones she had read. She put it up and settled in the kitchen with a bowl of ice cream. Tenten had left her some during the day. She licked the ice cream off the spoon and looked at her reflection on the dirty spoon.

She was not feeling any better and time seemed to pass so slowly. She reached for the pen and began to start another letter.

Dear Husband:

Soon it will be eight months. My previous letters, except for the one before this, have been taken. If that was you, please let me know.

Two months before you left for this mission you sat down to have a serious conversation. It was fall. Leaves changed from green to red, yellow, orange and then turned to an unattractive brown. I was staring at the garden from the open window in the kitchen. Hot tea in my hands and it was nearly night.

I heard your footsteps and waited for your words once you stopped several feet behind me.

"Hinata," you hesitated. You were nervous. I took one last look and turned to face you.

"Yes?"

"Recently I've thought about something your father told me," you took your hand and rubbed the base of your neck. I've never seen you so nervous.

"You were talking with my dad?" I felt this was strange. Something was wrong or weird or both. And then you looked away.

"He asked me if something was wrong," you walked up to the window I was in front of and stared outside. I stared inside. Both facing different ways and not looking at each other. So close and still not eye contact made it easy to swallow what you were about to say.

"What was he referring to?" curiosity got the better of me in that moment.

"An heir," you nearly choked on the words.

I knew exactly what you meant. My father was concerned the daughter he 'provided' wasn't doing a proper job of being a wife. My father wanted my life with you to be more solid, concrete, secure, anything but up in the air. He felt you could and maybe would leave me any second for some girl willing to jump your bones and produce a baby.

Either that or he was concerned I wouldn't be able to bear a child.

Either way I spaced off deciphering whatever it was he had said. You were repeating my name and I snapped back to attention when you sighed.

"See this is why we don't have a child," you made me feel so guilty. I should have been listening to you.

I didn't want to make whatever upset you worse by asking what you said.

I felt horrible and unfit to be your wife in that moment more than others.

"Sasuke?" I turned to face you with all the courage I could muster. Whatever happened next happened.

"Hm?"

"Do you care for me at all?" I could have phrased it better. I know I should have but I was so nervous my mouth seemed to be separate from my brain. It was left trying to remember what I wanted to ask.

"What do you mean?" I think you knew. You just wanted me to say it first. Your eyes focused on mine like they held all the answers to a dieing man's thoughts.

"I love you," I finally said it. The moment I said it I knew it was true. I disliked how Ino and Sakura use to say that they loved you. They threw the word love around like it meant so much but they didn't know you. I know you. Better than most. "Do you return those feelings?"

My felt my heart was spinning on a thread. Close to snapping but spinning wildly out of control. Maybe the thread only looked weak. Maybe our marriage and our relationship seemed weak from how it began. I like to believe that our affections grew from next to nothing at the beginning of our marriage.

Your response meant the world to me. I felt my breathing stop for a moment.

"I love you too," you could have said yes, you could have nodded, you could have said ditto, but you chose to say, "I love you too."

I was the one to initiate that kiss.

I want to hear you say that again.

Please Sasuke.

Please say it.

Forever yours,

Hinata.

Hinata wiped away a tear here and there and stuck the long letter in an envelope and left it on the table. Her prayer for the night was that she would someday soon receive a reply at the very least.

I do apologize for any spelling and grammical errors. I was reading a previous chapter to see how it looks from a different point of view and I noticed I made plenty of mistakes. I apologize. This was her longest letter. Thank you for all the reviews. I love getting reviews. I will update hopefully soon as in this weekend. Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

that ninja kid