Chapter 6: Leaving

As Hinata walked through the hallways of school early Monday morning she noticed tension in the air.

For some reason Gaara didn't come to school today but that wasn't unusual.

As she continued to her first class she heard someone call for her.

"Psst, Hinata! Can you come here for a minute I need to ask you something?" Ino said.

Hinata walked slowly into the girls' restroom. "What do you need, Ino?" Hinata asked suspiciously.

She waited but there was no response. As she turned around Ino was standing in front of the doorway fir her arms on her hips.

"For the smartest student in school you really aren't that bright." Ino insulted.

"What do you want Ino?" Hinata asked again.

"Don't talk to me like that you stupid little witch!" Ino pushed Hinata to the wall of the bathroom. "You think you're so high and mighty flaunting yourself now that you have a new boyfriend! Well, let me tell you something; I'm not gonna let some tramp like you hurt my poor little Sasuke-kun's feelings like you did." Ino watched as a confused look crossed Hinata's face.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about! Sasuke told me everything. How you two started going out but you wanted to keep it a secret because you were seeing Gaara! Yeah, he told me all about it. How dare you break his heart like that!" Ino said spitefully.

"Ino I don't know what you're talking about I swear! Whatever Sasuke told you is a lie so let go of me!" Hinata said struggling to get away from Ino.

Ino punched Hinata in the stomach. The wind was knocked out of her and she stopped struggling. "Sasuke warned me you might say something like this! Hmm... Look, I'm here to give you a message from Sasuke but before I did that I thought a little lesson should be taught first. Have you learned anything yet or do I have to teach you some more?" Ino threatened.

Hinata was silent. She was still holding her stomach.

A smile crept into Ino's face. "Good. Now, Sasuke told me to give this to you. Do as it says or I swear the next time we see each other I won't go easy on you." Ino threw a folded note on the ground at Hinata's feet and left.

Hinata began to couch up blood.

Suddenly Sakura walked in.

"What the hell happened he- Hinata!" Sakura rushed to Hinata's side and helped her up.

"Who did this to you?" Sakura asked.

Hinata reluctantly told her.

"I'm gonna wreck that stupid Ino-pig!" Sakura said as she picked up the note and read it.

"What does it say?" Hinata asked cleaning up the last of the blood on the floor.

"You should probably read it yourself." Sakura said with rising fury in her voice.

She handed Hinata the note.

It read-

Dear Hinata,

Ever since the dance Saturday and seeing you in that beautiful dress I can't seem to get you off my mind. You've broken my heart several times before but I can't help but forgive you because I love you so much my dearest Hinata. However, my love is unrequited so long as that damn Gaara is in the picture! I sent this letter with the hopes that you'll give your love to someone who it really belongs with and not some stupid guy who thinks he's so high and mighty. I will give you one week to respond to this letter otherwise I will have to make drastic decisions.

With Eternal Love,
Sasuke

Hinata folded the note and put it in her pocket.

"Are you going to respond?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know. I'm going to show this to Gaara first and see what he has to say about it." Hinata replied.

"Good idea but what if Sasuke does something before you get the chance to tell Gaara?"

"I don't know but I'm not going to let him do anything to Gaara." Hinata told her.

"What if he tries to do something to you? You could be in danger." Sakura asked, worry and concern spread across her face.

"Sakura, don't worry about me okay? I don't know what Sasuke is planning to do but I'm gonna stay as far away from him as possible." Hinata assured her.

"Okay." Sakura still had a look of doubt in her eyes but didn't say anything more.

Hinata was going to say something but the morning bell went off. "Oh no! We're going to be late to class." Hinata grabbed her stuff and started heading out.

As she took a seat Kakashi began class.

"Okay class because Thanksgiving is coming up I decided to have you guys do a project this week. It's due Tuesday of next week the day before Thanksgiving break. You can do one of three things; write a report about Thanksgiving with its origin and its cultural impact on other nationalities, you can paint or draw a picture of the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims, or create a short story about Thanksgiving. I don't care if it's fiction or not just as long as it's at least 10 pages front and back. It's worth 50% of your grade so I suggest you get started on it now." Kakashi said. He leaned back in his chair and pulled out one of his romance novels.

"Dirty perv you just wanna read your book." Naruto whispered under his breath.

"Detention Naruto." Kakashi said his eyes still glued to his book.

"Come on Sensei!" Naruto said.

Kakashi ignored him.

Hinata knew that if Kakashi was having his classes do Thanksgiving-themed assignments that the rest of the academic classes would too.

Sure enough Hinata was right and she found herself with three projects about Thanksgiving. None of this fazed her though. She could finish this all in two nights or less. What bothered her was the increasing sense of danger she felt whenever someone mentioned Sasuke or Gaara.

When the day finally ended she walked to her house. As she walked in her house she was greeted by Colene. "Hey you!" Hinata said dropping her stuff and picking up her puppy.

Colene's tail was wagging and she was licking Hinata's face.

There was a knock at the door. She set her puppy down and opened it. Gaara was standing at the door.

"Hey I was wondering where you were." Hinata said with a smiled.

"Hinata, I'm leaving Konoha for a while."