Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters they all belong to MASAHI KISHIMOTO and my spelling slash grammar can be way off at times.

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Put a Ring on it

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Every time I thought of you my heart would become excited and race, but today my heart aches of pain when I think of you. There is nothing left to say, I now understand how stupid I was to think… that perhaps one day… but no more because you can fool me once and I can blame you, but if I fall for it a second time I have no one to blame but myself.

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Chapter 13: Time and Space

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How did it get to this point, Sasuke is not sure perhaps he has had too much to drink but here he is in a heated moment with Tenten. Her arms around his neck with Sasuke holding her up against the wall; his arms roaming her body and their lips connected like never before.

A melody of bells ran through the room and both broke contact now panting Sasuke set her down when he realized the old father clock down the hall was indicating the time it was. Surprisingly Tenten pushed herself from him and gave him her back, "You've never done that before…" She said and brought her hand to her lips with a smile forming on them.

Sasuke brought his own hand to his forehead and wondered why he did that, he was trying to end things with her not give her false hope. So much for ending things in good terms, but he will be a free man somehow; even if it will mean him being free from the people who got him in this predicament. "I'm sorry; there is no other way for me to tell you." He started and took her by the shoulders and sat her in the nearest chair. "Don't say anything and listen, four years ago Uchiha Inc. was basically bankrupt, conveniently my grandmother can be easily blinded to what others want…" he said the last part under his breath, Sasuke studied her for a brief moment and saw his wife listing quietly her smile gone now.

"When we were starting to feel the consequences of the clients that were going out of business, Tsunade conveniently came to offer her help." He told Tenten and saw her brows frown at the mention of her mother; she must have bit her tongue because she took a deep breath and fidget slightly but kept quiet. "Tsunade must have been working on getting my grandmother on her side since before things had been… going wrong." He continued.

Sasuke's dark orbs observed Tenten, her breath was calm and she was doing a good job at not interrupting him "They all cornered me and said that it was up to me to take over Uchiha Inc. that's not what I wanted… and they all had long ago known that I was only within the corporation because of Itachi." To be the head of Uchiha Inc. had always been Itachi's dream, but he had given that up for Karin. Leaving Sasuke as the only hope for the corporation to be directed by an Uchiha "The only way that Tsunade would give the loan was if I married you and my grandmother jumped at the opportunity for me not to end up like my brother." He finished his explanation leaving out the part of how he had attempted to escape his wedding day and how he was basically dragged to his own wedding.

Tenten looked at him with disbelieve, 'No, no my mother would have told me.' She thought and looked at him "If that's true, why did you never say anything?!" she shouted back her composure lost.

He looked at her and saw her anger and disbelieve as he had assumed would happen, "It wasn't my idea to keep you in the dark; this was all Tsunade and my families idea." He bluntly told her pointing the finger elsewhere when he could have done things different perhaps even saved time.

"That doesn't mean anything to you, so why did you do it?!" she asked demanding to know why she had been living a lie.

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Hinata opened her eyes slightly and felt Ino's arm wrapped around her, very carefully she slipped out of her sister and best friend's hold. Taking her phone she walked towards the bathroom and locked the door behind her, the young woman felt nervous leaning on the counter Hinata momentarily debated seeing the screen of her phone.

She had hope within her still, hope that Sasuke had called or messaged her last night when she had fallen asleep. But that hope was blocked with fear; fear of having nothing, it hurt that Sasuke could just throw her out of his life like that, without any trouble of leaving her behind and moving on with his life.

Just as Hinata had thought so long ago…

The moon eyed woman turned on the phone and nothing but the time was on there, she wanted to cry so much but held it in and turned to look at herself in the mirror. Inhaling deeply she stared at herself 'I'm young and beautiful… and one day Sasuke, you will regret not coming after me.' She thought and allowed one last tear to slip out quickly blinking the rest away, "I promise that… you don't deserve any of my tears or my thoughts." She whispered to herself and set the phone down stripping off her clothes and turning on the hot water, testing it with her hand before she entered.

It was a little too hot, but her body quickly accustomed to the temperature of the liquid. She felt hurt that she could not get him out of her mind, it made her mad at herself also… but you can't get rid of this feeling over night; time does heal all, but it takes just that time, the process is slow and there are always fall backs… reminders of the past.

She should know, it's just like with her first love; Shikamaru Nara: the first to call her beautiful, her first kiss, boyfriend and the one who deflowered her and made her a woman… her first love, but also her first real heart break. When they broke up she had been devastated for quite some time and slowly with space and while time went by she began to heal and the pain started to leave, but to this day she still remembers him. This is what will happen now, Shikamaru was very important in her life and Sasuke… Sasuke is just a jerk.

It is wrong to compare the two, but breaking her heart… that's one thing they have in common. What is different is that boyfriend number one never played her like... does Sasuke even count as her boyfriend?

Was Sasuke boyfriend number two? Sasuke is a jerk who she was in love with, but not the one who she could call her very own jerk and no one else's but her own.

Hinata tossed that thought out of her head and continued her shower… the only thing that she can do is what she had done with her first love; move on with her life, once you've hit bottom you have nowhere else to go but up.

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"But why not?!" came the whiny voice of a woman with a pout and smacked the mattress with her hands in anger.

Itachi looked at his wife as he fixed his tie, she was upset because he had confiscated her phone; normally Itachi doesn't like to say no to his wife, but he doesn't want her messing into others life more than she already has. "It's not your place." Was all he responded and finished getting dressed.

Karin crawled off the bed and moved next to him "That's not an answer… don't you want to know how Sasuke is doing?" she argued and attempted to get him to look her in the eye "You know he was not well last night." She continued her argument.

The man on his part just turned to face her and kissed her cheek "Don't get any more involved." He told her and held her forearms, stroking them caringly.

"But I need to know how Hinata is." She started again not liking being kept in suspense or in the dark of things. "She must be so hurt… I need to clear things up; it's my entire fault that she's hurt." Karin realized she had been the one who introduced one to the other. She had allowed the anger and resentment she had towards Sasuke's current wife, but can anyone blame her? Tenten made her life hell in school, it's hard enough to be a teenage girl and when you add a tormenter who constantly put you down.

It's just horrible!

The man sighed "She must be… but I doubt she will want to hear what you have to say." Itachi attempted to explain to his wife, the look of sadness was reflected in her ruby eyes. "Give her time and space, then maybe you can try to explain things." he tried to compromise "I have to get to work; I'll see you for lunch." He told her giving her one last kiss and left quickly.

Karin sighed and her eyes widen when she realized he took her phone. She rushed down stairs, but her husband was gone… she gave a sigh and sat in her couch thinking about all that has happened.

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He sat there waiting; arms crossed and brows down… like any parent whose child was out way past curfew. Naruto had been waiting for hours and Jiraiya has yet to come home or answer any of his messages or calls.

The sun god look alike had big news to give him and the old man was nowhere to be found like he vanished. Naruto stood up and let out a sigh, he needed some rest; a nap sounds wonderful right about now. Jiraiya kept him waiting all night with no sign of life, well now it's time to give him a taste of his own medicine and see how he likes it.

The man entered his room and gently lay in his bed with a smile while he snuggled under the covers and closed his enchanting blue eyes when his head hit the soft pillow.

"YO! Naruto you here!" came the voice of the silver haired man who had vanished last night, Naruto's eyes snapped opened… it wasn't fair. He had just closed his eyes and in came Jiraiya as if on cue; happy and well rested apparently too it really wasn't fair. But the young blue eyed stud decided to ignore the no longer missing man and reclosed his eyes not as softly and relaxed as he had been.

"Hey there you are!" the silver haired man announced as he entered Naruto's bedroom "So what is this news of yours?!" he shouted at the tired blonde.

Naruto snapped one of his eyes opened and looked at him with frustration "And where have you been?" he asked and didn't give Jiraiya any chance to explain his whereabouts when he continued; "I waited for you all night!" he shouted and sat up. "You could have at least the decency to call and let me know you weren't coming home, but noooo ignored all my calls and messages!" he finished his rant with his eyes wide open and bags under his eyes.

The accused raised a brow "Really you stayed up all night? No wonder you look awful" he concluded with a little bit of a smile twitching on the corner of his lips "I'm sorry I didn't call, I promise to try and remember next time." He told Naruto.

"That's all I ask for…" the sleepy blonde responded with a yawn close behind.

Jiraiya smiled this time, he was well rested and sexually satisfied… it was a good morning and that is always a good lead to the rest of the day. "Get some rest and you can let me know latter." He told Naruto wanting him to get some rest; he behaves like a desperate house wife when he's tired. Besides he is in too much of a good mood right now to think too much about wanting to worry, but he does have some serious thinking to do.

Mabui's offer was very tempting especially if he gets to spend a few months with the young gorgeous reporter… he exited the blonde's bedroom allowing him to sleep and rest. On a more serious note, that doesn't mean his plan is not going to happen. That's happening because it's happening, him being away for a while will make this easier for Naruto.

Jiraiya opened the sliding door and sat in one of the chairs outside on the balcony leaning back, he really wished he had some way to get in touch with Hinata. His mind still had a difficult time coming to terms with the young beauty being a home wrecker 'It just doesn't make sense.' He repeated over once aging to himself it's just not like her, but perhaps you never really know someone as well as you may think you do.

Then again you don't look for love, it finds you.

That is another possibility it could happen, but he will never know unless he asks; Hinata Yuhi is the only one who may give him his answer. And that's if she actually talks, if he gets the truth or a lie is only the second part of situation, the first part is finding her. He leaned back "How do you find one person in a big city?" he questioned out loud, only sometimes do you run into someone you know by coincidence and only because you share similar likes.

So how could he find Hinata?

Better yet to make his life easier someone close to the moon eyed woman, and if memory serves he's had the answer this whole time. It's time to call in for a favor; he took out his phone and saw all the missed calls and messages that Naruto had sent him the night before… "Maybe it was more important than I thought." He wondered and decided to go and find out, walking back to the blue eyed man who was fast asleep snoring away with a clear puddle of drool on his pillow.

The sight would make anyone second think if Naruto's rest should be interrupted, but who cares about that at this moment. His information could help then today will be like killing two birds with one stone -more or so anyways- "Hey! Naruto wake up!" he shouted at the sleeping man.

Naruto jerked and made a deep snorting sound sitting up confused as to what was going on, "Huh?" he said and looked around with drowsy eyes.

"Come on Naruto you have to tell me what happened last night." Jiraiya said needing to know, he couldn't have just been exaggerating on the matter it must have been serious… and Tsunade is on his top three things of importance, no matter how much he wishes to just put her off for some time it's just not the best thing he's good at.

Ergo this moment, he can be real pathetic sometimes even after his little scenario a moment ago about not wanting to ruin his good mood, but we all have those moments… is his love for her stronger than his grudge? Or is it more of an obsession by now; probably he is basically using Naruto to stalk the woman and he also wishes to get back at her for all that she did.

Naruto struggled to keep his sitting position, he just wanted to lie back down and close his eyes; when he closed his eyes to blink… it felt so good even if it was only for seconds. "Last night…" the blonde began still drowsy and with a lack of connection to what was going on.

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Ino Pov

I sighed when is see Hinata wallowing is self-pity… again; I have to get this girl out and her mind off things.

Perhaps I should have mom come over, but… what if she asks about Hinata's boyfriend? Better yet what if she starts talking about her party? I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing or not, but I can't risk giving Hinata false hope that cheater Uchiha will actually divorce his wife. And even if he did there is no guarantee that he will be loyal or in it for the long run with Hinata.

I want her to have a clear mind, I get the feeling that she will go running to him now if I tell her and what if he does this to her again? I don't want to see her like this; I approach her and take a seat "Hinata, why don't we go out? It's not good to have you be here all locked up and isolated." He tell her, I see her flop on her stomach.

"Ino… I want to go away for a while." She tells me with sadness still in her eyes maybe it is good to put some distance, but I don't want her to leave and just lay around elsewhere if that's the plan she can continue here.

I just nod, I can't boss her around but that doesn't mean I can't give her some of my thoughts "Okay, but where do you want to go?" I ask her.

She looked sad, "I don't know, but I don't want to be here." Hinata said the last part with quite a bit of bitter anger in her tone.

Fed up, that's the only way I can think and assume she is with this. "Okay I'll go on ahead and start looking into that for you, but are you sure you're up for a shoot?" I can't tell Anko to find something and then not have her be able to give it her all.

"I need something to get my mind off things." Hinata finished and laid her head back down, I can only take her word for it and wish her luck because now not only are her feeling in line, but so is her carrier.

Our choice of profession is not easy as the world may think; you don't always get pampered like a goddess, no you have to be a professional. One wrong move like on a bad day for example… that shit will never let you be after, it will haunt you. You always have to be at the top of your game like with any other job.

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A/N: Well I hope you all enjoyed last chapters ending; I just couldn't help it sorry. But you all have to trust my brain I know what's going on, but you all have to understand that I have tried my best to stay away from the overly done Hinata cheated on wife and what not. If it was not clear that I wanted to have a little bit of originality well then I like originality!

Now I normally don't like to do this but I'm just going to get this out there, SasuTen… if after years of being sexually involved she didn't get pregnant, why would it happen out of nowhere? I really hate that it's too… over done that includes the faking a pregnancy so there will be no surprise child or 'child'.

Now that that's out of the way here's a mini sneak at next chapter and the link to the pic of the dress is in profile.

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Several Months Latter—

"Ino you look beautiful." Hinata told her sister as she saw her twirl around in a white wedding gown.

The bubble gum jade eyed marvel held a smile of her own looking at the blonde in awe "You do!" Sakura said with much enthusiasm in her voice

The blonde wife to be soon looked at her with questioning gleam in her electrical blue eyes "You think? I don't know…" Ino replied.

A smile formed on Kurenai's soft lips "Honey you look wonderful." The two's mother stated her opinion.

The gown was strapless with crystal floral design flowing down to her side; the top hugged her body perfectly flowing down with grace. "It's not that I don't like it I do, but I don't know if it's a real dessert dress." Ino replied she did love the dress but she also has to think of the place where she will be saying I do at.

A woman with dark hair neatly tied back in a bun smiled "Why not try the next dress." The lady who was showing them gowns said motioning Ino to come back to change "Please this way once more." She said with a smile.