Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

She hurt. Sometimes she had a hard time catching her breath because the pain became so overwhelming. Every insecurity and fear she ever had reared to the surface.

Hinata had done the right thing, she knew and those photos had proved it. Sas- she could even say his name without it being accompanied by a fresh wave of tears. He had never been that affectionate with her in public, no picture of them together had ever looked as perfect and right as the one shown on the television. Murakami Fumiko was the kind of woman who looked like she belonged on the arm of someone as gorgeous and powerful as the man she loved.

It didn't make the reality any easier to bear knowing that the months she had spent agonizing and crying herself to sleep, acting for his touch, clutching his shirt in her hands willing him to be by her side had not been reflected in him.

No of course she didn't think he had been so desperate as to call out a search party to scour the country looking for her or had been willing to bribe and threaten all those who had last seen her, putting out a reward, anything for a clue for her whereabouts. Those had merely been fantasies she used to comfort her broken heart that he would find her regardless of her efforts and would chain her to him with a confession of love so that she would never leave his side.

Those were the thoughts of a foolish love-struck girl. She knew better, but her heart had not been so accepting and had kept a small flame of hope burning that he would come for her.

Though she tried to quell the thought it spread like a disease infecting her with grief and despair. Had she reall meant so little to him? Was she that replaceable, so easily forgotten? Had he even bothered to find her?

While she desperately wanted to know to the answers to questions that kept her up at night, fighting the urge to breakdown she was equally as frightened to know the truth because she might very well shatter upon hearing it.

XXX

Hinata didn't know how she managed to drag herself out of bed Monday morning, she felt like crap and it was more than likely she looked like it. Taking a look at herself in the mirror she grimaced, her eyes were red and puffy and the combination of the morning light and her persistent crying had left her with a nasty headache.

She made a pathetic attempt to clean up her appearance, but it didn't do much good, her hair looked greasy and unwashed and while the swelling had gone down there were dark circles beneath her eyes giving her a haggard look.

Her weekend had been spent alternately bawling her eyes out while buried under the covers, a couple times she had been forced to throw up when her nausea had become too overpowering. It seemed the recent revelation about her estranged husband made her literally sick to her stomach she had hardly eaten for fear of being forced to rush to toilet.

Ugh puke tasted vile and left the most awful aftertaste in her mouth.

The chill that had descended upon her since the bomb that had been dropped persisted. While it might have been well into the 30s outside she was unable to control her shivering.

When she arrived at work everyone began to inquire about her health, first she had stayed home from work during the weekend, and then she showed up looking like death had warmed over. It wasn't difficult to convince them that she had also gotten the flu, however it led to Kurenai insisting she take the day off and get back to bed.

While the sentiment was appreciated there was no way she was going back home where she would spend the entire time wallowing in misery, her thoughts consumed by him. She refused to say his name, for her voice would crack embarrassingly and there would be a familiar stinging sensation in her eyes.

Thankfully it wasn't hard to convince the older woman, the other waitresses were still out sick and they needed all the help they could get, but of course they insisted she take it easy, allotting her frequent breaks and giving her a hearty bowl of Choji's Everything soup that was supposed to get rid of everything from hangovers to indigestion.

Their obvious concern moved her more than they could have imagined. Hinata hadn't gotten much care and attention from many people in her life. The Hyuugas weren't exactly the warm, fuzzy type and any sign of weakness was heavily frowned upon. As for her married life she went out of her way not to be a bother, if she wasn't feeling well she looked after herself the notion of someone attending to her even servants made her uncomfortable.

Yet these people who didn't really know anything about her and hadn't even pried accepting her whole-heartedly had shown her more kindness than she had ever received from anyone else excluding him and her heart just filled with warmth and affection for them.

She had started off so lost and uncertain, Hinata really hadn't known where her life was headed and she didn't really have any plans or any connections to her former life. She was alone, utterly alone yet somehow these people had made a place in her life and given her hope, helping her rebuild her life, her confidence, their warmth and caring had become a balm to her bruised heart and weary soul.

Starting over didn't sounds so terrible surrounded by these people. To them she wasn't a defect, a failure, a disappointment. They didn't know about her messy past or her complicated family history or her high profile marriage, she was simply Arata and it was the most wonderful, liberating feeling. No one expected anything of her or was critically judgmental; for once she could let down her guard and just start being herself without all the expectations and disapproving gaze of her family weighing heavily upon her casting doubt about every decision she made.

More importantly she could begin discovering who she was beyond being a pitiful heiress, a bargaining chip, an imperfect wife, what she wanted to do with her life. Her dream of becoming a doctor might not be possible anymore, but there was a world of possibilities and she wouldn't let this chance slip away.

Oh she knew she was using this as a diversion but it was better than spending every waking moment reminiscing about what could have been. She had made her choice, she kept telling herself that but it wasn't always so easy to remember. Her thoughts and her emotions were far from obedient and willing to comply.

There were days where she fell back into a slump and it was all she could do to stop herself from picking up the phone and dialing his number if only to hear his voice. It was torturous having to look at couples in love, holding hands, looking at each other with secret affectionate smiles, small intimate touches. Just the sight made her heart ache with longing, but god she hated to watch them, being reminded every damn second of it all the things she could never have.

The pain and despair she felt knowing that he had moved up with his life already and she was still struggling to put the past behind her made her wish she could just go to sleep and never wake up.

XXX

However as the days went by the situation worsened for Hinata, she supposed if she were isolated she might fared better but as it was the world was becoming a smaller and smaller place each day due to advances in technology and communication. Thus she couldn't turn on the television or pass by the newsstand without seeing his face plastered on a magazine cover that that woman by his side.

Even at the diner there was no relief Ino being the resident gossip refused to let up about the latest development in the tabloids and then there were the school girls who came in every afternoon with his name upon their lips as they giggled and fawned over their holy word touching the glossy pages with reverence.

Apparently no one had anything better to our occupy their thoughts and by extension their conversations with so she was forced to bear the incessant prattling and speculation fighting the urge to run out of the diner with her ears plugged singing as loudly as possible to block out their words. It was becoming harder to resist fulfilling her frequent daydream of tearing their precious magazines to pieces and smashing those evil television sets with her mallet as her frustration mounted.

Honestly wasn't it enough that the love of her life had apparently forgotten her completely and upgraded to a skinner, prettier companion, but the universe felt it necessary to rub it in her face ever blasted second a every miserable day.

It was enough to drive her to the edge of madness.

Her only reprieve came in the form of her redhead customer who dutifully showed up every Saturday sometimes on Sundays to take her mind off her troubles.

That evening she smiled tiredly as she greeted him before handing him his usual coffee and a plate of chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies. He didn't say anything to her in return not that she expected him to, but she was glad for his prescene he gave her a sense of normalcy that was sorely lacking in her life these days.

When she returned a half an hour later to refill his coffee she noticed the palte of cookies was left untouched puzzling her. At very least he usually tried a piece before deciding he didn't like something and this time she had been positive the cookies would have appealed to him. Unable to stifle a sigh of disappointment she reached out to take away the plate when he surprised her by raising his head to look her in the eye.

Hinata felt her breath hitch as she met those luminous green eyes that always left her feeling awed and fumbling for words. Very rarely had he initiated eye contact then he followed up that surprising action by actually speaking to her.

"Sit with me."

Though the words weren't quite as polite as courtesy dictated, his tone bordered on commanding she refused to let such a rare opportunity slip past that she took the seat opposite him feeling intrigued.

She did wonder for a second if she would get in trouble for sitting with a customer after all she wasn't on her break, then again looking around she noticed that there were only a few other diners all preoccupied with their meals.

Well it would hurt she thought and tried to justify that her feet were aching.

However after a few moments passed without a word being spoken she began to feel awkward after all he was the one who had invited her to sit and while she had spent quite a few evenings musing about what she would say to him if they actually had a conversation her ability to speak seemed to have temporarily deserted her leaving her to study the cookies intently wondering what imperfection with those seemingly delightful treats could have put off her stranger.

"You look tired," were the words he finally spoke to break the silence causing her head to snap up so quickly in response she almost gave herself whiplash. While they weren't the ones she expected to hear she was at least relieved he had said something.

Now how to respond….

She knew the longer she took to reply the more foolish she was beginning to look and she didn't have the time or energy to come up with some brilliant answer to display her wit and verbal prowess so she settled with, "It's been a rather busy week here at the diner and today has been particularly long."

However her answer didn't seem to satisfy him though for his expression darkened a bit and his lips thinned in displeasure. Then as he linked his fingers in an action she had come to associate with him in deep thought as he spoke, "You have not been yourself."

Now that surprised and sent her mind reeling. He had noticed her inner turmoil? Were her troubles so evident in her manner?

Feeling disheartened and disappointed that her façade hadn't done as good a job as she had hoped at hiding her emotional conflict she tried to smile flippantly, "We all have our off days it just seems mine have been more bad than good recently, but thank you for your concern I-"

He interrupted her before she could complete her sentence his words unsettling her once more.

"Tell me about it."

She was so stunned she stared at him blinking in response as her brain tried to process what he had just said. Chuckling nervously she ran her hand through her short bob, a habit she had picked up every time she felt worried or anxious as she contemplated how to reply.

Frankly it wasn't any of his business and she was under no obligation to answer his request not that it even sounded remotely imploring, thought she suspected this man didn't ask as much as demand when he wanted something. Of course she couldn't tell him the truth, he was an absolute stranger she couldn't go sprouting off her troubles to the first person who asked even if he was a special case.

But part of her was sorely tempted by the offer.

The longer she stayed quiet her feelings of discontent in her chest grew, as though her emotional and physical exhaustion were catching up with her it took a degree of effort to even keep herself upright not to mention she felt as though the silence were choking her, but she knew it wasn't the quiet between them, it was the unspoken grief and anger and frustration that she kept bottled in.

She knew what she was getting herself into when she left Konoha, she was leaving her old life behind and starting a new one where no one knew her, that mean that she couldn't share her problems or her sadness or her heartbreak with anyone, she had to deal with it on her own. Yet lately keeping everything trapped inside had begun to stifle her, she was so wrapped up in the chaos that had taken over her life trying to wade through the mess alone. All the while she felt as though the harder she tried the deeper she sunk.

Hinata's desperate wish was to have someone who knew her pain, who knew the complete train wreck her life had become. She liked that she was just another face in the crowd and no one cared about that part of her life but her past clung to her relentlessly, a ball and chain that there was no release from.

So taking a deep breath she took the plunge before she could back out once her common sense prevailed.

"Alright, I do not know how you will benefit from listening to my issues but it would do me some good to actually talk to someone. So where do I start…" leaning back in her seat she couldn't help looking at her fingers and feeling a pang at the loss of the ring she had once proudly worn.

Sighing she shifted her gaze to look out the window refusing to meet his eyes because some foolish part of her felt as though he could gleam every secret she held if she meet his stare.

Fiddling unconsciously with her fingers she chose her words carefully, "I think it's pretty obvious I'm not from Suna, in fact I don't really know how I even ended up here as opposed to any other place, but I have meet some wonderful people who have not made me regret my decision to stay here.

"I came here looking for a fresh start, my old life had a lot of difficulties and at the time the best decision seemed like leaving it all behind and starting over. It hasn't exactly been easy being on my own, but I don't mind I'm learning a lot about myself in the process. However leaving behind my past isn't as easy as I thought it would be.

"It's just…..I'm…." she clenched her hands into fists in frustration. She didn't know how to articulate all that she had given up, what she had sacrificed for the best of everyone she thought.

Sighing her shoulders slumped in response, "I have a lot of unresolved problems and running away didn't make them disappear. When I decided to go away I also made the choice to leave someone behind, someone important. It's just about one of the most difficult things I ever had to do."

It seemed talking wasn't helping her quite as much as she thought it would for she felt the wall behind which she had tried to use to keep her emotions at bay was crumbling rapidly the more she opened up about her past. Hinata was afraid if she didn't get the last few words out in a hurry she was going to lose it.

"Over the last couple of months I have been beating myself up because of it. It's been tearing me apart the guilt, but it seems now that I have been stressing out over nothing." She paused closing her eyes as she tried to find her courage to say the words she needed to admit it out loud, trying not to think about it wasn't going to change the situation.

"I couldn't forgive myself for taking such a decision on my own, but I guess fate's laughing at me now because he has moved on. Yet for some reason I can't do the same."

And with those words her resolve broke and she was forced looked away unable to bear his reaction as her face crumpled and the tears spilled from her scrunch up eyes. This was the last thing she wanted to do in front of this man yet here she was blubbering like a child even after she had thought herself all cried out.

The universe must really hated her for unable to stem the flush of humiliation and irritation about her lack of self control. She really was pathetic.

However while she had been caught up in belittling herself her redhead stranger had unexpectedly reached across the table and taken her hand clasping it in his own, the warmth of his hand and his actions startling her into looking up.

Though her gaze was obscured by tears the serious expression on his face had softened a bit and his eyes seemed to be telling her something she didn't have the presence of mind to figure out, but his small act spoke volumes and she couldn't help but give a watery, though grateful smile in return.

XXX

A/N: I am so very sorry about the delay I know I haven't updated in months, but I recently started university and it has been a major adjustment period as a result my writing took a backseat. However I'm more comfortable and experienced and I hope you will continue to support this fic.

I had planned on writing about Sasuke but I felt it was necessary to get this out of the way first. I also wanted to include Gaara'a POV because his actions were seriously out of the blue and you don't know exactly what's going on his head, but I'll get to that soon.

Anyway this chapter was all about Hinata and really the poor girl has been having a hard time and things just kept on mounting until it got to this point, literally blurting out her troubles to a stranger.

I truly hoped you enjoyed this chapter, please tell me what you think and Happy New year to all of you! I hope 2012 is filled with happiness and good things for each of you.

Sincerely,

CharmGirl24.