He wasn't expecting a call from Sakura, but he answered in case it was an emergency. It was rare for her to call during non-custodial hours. "Hey, Sasu. Can you take Kazumi to Hinata's? I forgot about the playdate and I can't make it today."

"Of course," He says, trying to hide the slight hint of excitement in his voice. He was starting to feel guilty about his interest in the Hyuuga. He couldn't place what the excitement necessarily was, but was open to finding that part out. He knew he should be supporting his best friend - who angrily spammed his phone with 30 audio messages shit talking about her after their counseling session - but he just didn't have the brain bandwidth to listen to 3 hours of bullshit.

"Thanks. I have a lunch…date." She said softly. He could hear the smile on her face through the phone. She didn't know why she told Sasuke that, but a part of her wanted him to be the first to know about it. Maybe a part of her wanted to see if he would care.

"I'm happy for you." He meant it.

Sakura's pride took a hit knowing her ex-husband wasn't jealous, but she was relieved that their situation ended the way it did all the same. It could have been like Hinata's, she mused. And she liked this new man. He offered her a fresh look on life, and maybe the chance to be herself unapologetically. She can't say she ever really felt that way with Sasuke.

"Thanks." She said, excitement back in her voice. "It's my third one. Don't worry, I would never introduce Kazumi to him unless I thought it would be serious."

"I know. I hope it goes well." He trusted her. Sakura could be many things, but she was a wonderful mother and would never jeopardize her relationship with her daughter over a man

"I can drop her off on my way. I can be there in an hour?"

"That's fine. Is she expecting me?"

"Oh. Actually, no. Fuck." She whispered. "Okay, I'm sure it's fine. You know her. It's not weird. Just go to her apartment. I'll owe you!"

Hinata is excited to see Sakura again. A lot's been happening in her life and she would give anything for some sembiance of normalcy. Between Itachi calling her with new updates - including sending her a large packet of invasive, inappropriate questions and requests for documents she clearly didn't have (Naruto did everything, and she knew he knew that!), she just wanted to give Souta time to see his friend.

So when she heard a knock, she was surprised she didn't hear the doorbell ring. Maybe Sakura's hands were full, she wondered. Making her way to the door, she opened with a smile to stumble when she saw that it was Sasuke instead.

She looked up and met his intense gaze. "...Hi." He seemed as tense as she did.

"My daddy brought me today!" Kazumi beamed. He was holding her on his back, with her school bag slung over his right arm.

"Hi Kazumi!" Hinata smiled, saving herself the awkwardness of having to pretend like she was as comfortable around him as she was around the girl's mother. Sasuke placed his daughter on the ground, which led to the girl throwing her arms around the nervous Hyuuga.

It was easier to address the child versus the man she hasn't seen face-to-face in a minute. She tried her best to suppress the redness that was likely already evident on her face.

"I hope it's okay that it's me. Sakura's busy." He said stiffly. Souta ran towards the door and tugged Kazumi's hand into the apartment. It was just them, still by the door. The kind of moment one feels around their first crush. Or, at least she thought so. Her heart felt light.

His did, too.

"Of course," She replied, tucking some strands behind her ear. Usually, her habit was to hide behind the curtains of her hair until it swallowed her whole, but with the chaos of her life she just wanted to pretend for a moment that nothing was wrong. "Would you like to come in for tea? I'm sorry I'm underdressed," She laughed as she got up.

He wanted to say she wasn't, but wasn't sure what he could say without making her uncomfortable. If anything, he was the overdressed one. He was beginning to think he was thinking about her beyond their mutual distaste for divorce proceedings. Even though he was here because Sakura was moving on, a part of him didn't think this would work in any way.

"I'd like that." He says as he follows her. True, he was still in his slacks and a button sleeve, but he was working from home earlier. To his knowledge, the Hyuuga didn't work so it made sense for her to be wearing old, stained clothes, especially with a toddler under her roof the majority of the time.

But even in her basketball shorts and oversized Konoha High shirt, even with the ends of her hair curled in various directions, and what looked like colored marker squiggles covering her legs, she still seemed so alluring. Normal, present, active in her son's life.

Focus. He can't look at her like that. Not when his best friend's still thinking he can work things out, or at least believes he can somehow win her back. Naruto told him he was playing on the offense to get her to want to talk again. Frankly, he wasn't sure Naruto could get her to give in anymore.

She seemed tense but it didn't appear to be about Naruto. As she went rummaging through her cabinets and got the kettle boiling, he just sat at her oval dinner table and gave occasional glances to the kids drawing with color pencils and markers on the floor, scribbles all over white paper scattered everywhere.

"So Souta tattooed you?" He mused. She felt the blush creep on her face. She wants to believe the boiling water was causing her to get warm. It has to be.

"He likes to draw." She brought both tea mugs to the table and he thanked her as she gave him the cup. Briefly, their fingers touch.

He attributes the increased warmth he felt to the hot tea in his hands, but he's not sure anymore.

She's never had a man over besides Shino, Kiba, and her cousin. Her father never visited. Naruto doesn't even get to come to her door when he does drop offs (she goes downstairs to retrieve Souta). Yes, she's nervous!

And even more so because Sasuke isn't just Sasuke. There's history with him - none directly with Hinata, but they are linked in life in so many other ways, through so many other parties it felt wrong. Hinata felt like a shiny toy was dangling in front of her, someone new who was stirring up feelings she didn't think she could have. But then she quickly remembers how he played a role in Sakura's misery and the guilt takes over, forcing anything else to hide. It didn't matter that Sakura moved on, it was still a marriage Hinata was a part of. She was her Maid of Honor!

Despite knowing Sasuke for as long as she had, this was the most she had ever spoken to him. Over the course of a decade - solely counting adulthood and not referring to elementary through high school, when their social circles never mixed - they almost never spoke in conversation. It was in part due to their partners' (eventual spouses, and inevitable exes) sociable personalities. There was no reason for them to speak when Sakura and Naruto lit up the room, creating the buzz everyone else needed to feed off of.

She couldn't remember ever being alone around him like this in the past. Even sharing the present with him felt so unusual. The background babbles of the children faded so quickly, giving a comforting silence between them.

But why did it feel so safe?

She caught him looking at the papers stacked on the table and reached to turn them over.

"I remember that." He used his head to gesture to the pile. Taking a sip of the tea, he swallowed.

"I'm avoiding it." She mumbled.

"I don't tell Naruto anything."

She looked up and met his eyes. It wasn't that she thought he had, but it was considerate of him to reassure her anyway. With a small smile, she said "I know."

Sasuke cleared his throat. "Just listen to whatever your lawyer says." Right, he couldn't really say he already knew who her attorney was. Even though it was obvious by Itachi's business card stapled to the top of the packets.

"Mm." She nods absentmindedly. "He's upset with me."

Sasuke shrugs. "He's putting the wrong energy into this. He should be focusing on being a parent."

She laughs. It feels light - but it comforts her that someone else can agree and get it. It's not like she can really discuss the single parent issues with anyone else. Sure, she had Sakura, and she thought she'd have the chance to vent, but here was her friend's ex instead.

The kids are still coloring and mumbling quietly, concentrated on their drawings. It was strange for her home to be so quiet even with Souta wide awake, but he was so focused on trying to match Kazumi's skills.

Her gaze softens on the kids. "I think he missed her a lot."

"If it's okay with you, it might be me more often for the play dates." He takes a sip of the tea.

"Oh. Of course." She turns to look at him, a soft smile on her lips. "I hope this isn't uncomfortable for you."

She means this as in spending time with her, with his best friend's still-wife. And he understands the unspoken apology for what she meant for it to mean.

"It isn't." He can feel his ears burn.

"Okay, Naruto. It's like I said. Itachi and her have 28 days to answer all of the questions we asked. There's a strong chance he will object to your bullshit ones, but you wanted me to include them." Ino can feel the vein nearly pop in her forehead from having to explain the general gist of the discovery to the blond man. In all her years, she never had a client chew her out for "going easy", as in, not ask incredibly immature questions for the sake of upsetting someone.

"But what if she doesn't answer them?"

"Then I file a motion." She says matter-of-fact. "But is this really worth my hourly rate and a court appearance? Can you get why I think all of this is a waste of time?"

"It isn't just for me. I just want her to be honest for once. I just want justice."

Ino sighs. "That's not up to me or the judge to decide. Frankly, family court is not the court where you'll really get any of that. And before you ask, no, she isn't speaking to me."

Naruto shuffles the copies into his briefcase and locks it in. "Okay, I get it. Will I have to do the same?"

"I'm inclined to believe he will just shoot us with the same questions. I can object all I want for you, but you will still need to answer them. So you gotta take what you dish out." She shrugs.

Naruto wants to believe that he's doing the right thing, but for even Ino in her full capacity of work mode to think all of this was stupid, or at least the specific questions he asked, he felt annoyed. He appreciated her honesty but just wanted this nightmare to end. He just wanted his wife back.

"What about Souta? Can we at least get something temporal put in place?"

"Isn't your current schedule easy? We don't want to make too many changes for him especially if he's still so young and fully dependent on her for primary care. Just keep that in mind." She says all while reapplying her Chanel Le Rouge 49 lipstick. She smacks her lips and diverts back to the man in the opposite chair.

"Fine. And if you think working together is causing too much between you and Hina, I can just switch to someone else here, right? It's bad enough we're fighting but I don't want her to lose her friends, too. I'm not that much of an asshole." He mumbled.

"I think it's a bit too late for that. But rest assured, I should've weighed her feelings before I took your case." Ino brushed the ends of her ponytail and put her brush back in her desk drawer. "So this isn't your fault as much as it was mine to take it. It's fine, Naruto. I'm in this for the long run."

"Thanks, Ino."

Hinata is dancing in her living room with a glass of wine again. Lately, it's been her comforting routine - after Souta's put to bed she dims the lights, lights a lavender candle, and fills her glass halfway to her favorite white wine. She's not listening to anything, just swallowing the silence of her home and pretending like the questions she was assigned to work on for Itachi on her laptop weren't making her spiral.

List every sexual partner you've had in the last 6 years, including their name, gender, age, address, phone number, and estimated timeline for each sexual encounter.

List every reason for the dissolution of your marriage, including the estimated timeline for your change in position of your marriage, all associated dates for such changes, and all examples that support your stance for the dissolution of your marriage.

List all reasons for why you decided not to continue counseling with your husband.

Despite the questions being evidently from Naruto and surprisingly approved by Ino, she felt sick at the thought that whom she thought was her friend and her husband would think so low of her and want her to answer such redundant questions.

No, despite wanting to find solace elsewhere, she never slept with anyone else. In what world would she have had the time? Even if Naruto truly believed this, she knew better than to entertain the thought to Naruto that she also committed adultery while they were together. She felt as if he was trying to find a loophole in her anger, that if she also done it, none of this would make sense - that they both did it, so it should even out. She was not going to allow him to paint this narrative onto her.

She sips her wine, oblivious to the light knocking on her door. On the third knock, she turns and peeks through the hole. It's Sasuke again.

She opens the door cautiously. "Are you lost?"

He gives her a look. She's drunk, he mused. "I forgot Kazumi's jacket. It's the only one she has at my place."

"Oh. Yes, hold on." She opens the door wide for him to enter again and he's entranced as he stares. She tiptoes to the other side of her living room and slowly lifts the jacket off the couch. She looked so light as she turned, playing a silent game as to limit any noise that could potentially wake her son up. It felt like he was watching a musical box ballerina spinning endlessly.

"He's asleep." She whispers.

"I can tell." He whispers back, which amuses her more. "Sorry for coming so late."

"You know Naruto wants to know if I had sex with anyone else? The nerve." She huffs as she gives the pink coat to the man by her doorway. He feels her fingers linger with his. She doesn't move. "Makes me so angry I just dance in the dark instead of answering it."

"Sakura had to have a compel order entered when she refused to do hers." It felt so easy talking to her about it. Even though she was visibly intoxicated and would likely recant any of her honesty when she sobered up (if she remembered), it felt reassuring to be able to say what he couldn't those years ago.

"I could have." She said. "Even now he makes me feel like no one else would look my way…but I know I could have. I could now."

He follows what she means, and a part of him hopes she will still think so when she has a clear mind.

"I did love him. I think I still do. He's just so mean." She lets the jacket go. "I'm sorry that you're always listening to me talk about this." It's an unspoken appreciation they share for one another. He nods, taking her words in, the smell of her shampoo, her alcoholic breath.

He shifts a bit but nods again, a silent acknowledgement, but their eyes don't waver. "Good night, Hinata."

She can feel her heart skip just hearing her name.

"I really don't want to answer these." She says with Souta in her lap asleep. She had already apologized for bringing her son to her appointment, but TenTen and Neji were swamped. She's speaking in half whispers and her attorney is only faintly amused.

"We can certainly object to them. I'm assuming the answer generally would be "None" for the sexual ones, right?"

She reminds herself that his assumption is not related to her inability to sleep with someone else but because she was married. She nods.

"Then we object, and then say "None" or something of the sort. I'll have my assistant work on the language so you don't have to."

She feels relieved. "Thank you, Itachi." He insisted on her calling him that, but it still felt odd.

"Of course, Ms. Hyuga. If there's anything else, feel free to email me about it. In the meantime, this is what I like to call the pre-disaster phase. Now that they've issued discovery, we will just fling the same questions back to him. None of this will be reviewed by the judge necessarily but if we don't settle, we have the choice to use them as exhibits against him for trial. To date I haven't heard what he actually wants from Ino, but a part of me believes he's doing this to get a rise out of you. We will try to win attorney's fees for wasting our time."

"I would love nothing more than to settle." She reiterates for what feels like the sixth time. She understands his hands are tied, but it pains her and her bank account to have to fight him this much. "Thank you again for all of your help. I know I'm in good hands with you."

He smiles. "It's my job. I'll do my best for you and your son."

Her lawyer told her it was fine. She knows it's fine. Since they are separated, and even until the divorce is finalized, she is free as a bird to do whatever she fucking wants. In the literal sense, that's all she wants. To fuck.

Sakura helped her set up her profile.

I'm just looking for a good time. Nothing serious. ;)

The status makes her squirm, but in truth, she was too unimaginative and inexperienced to think of anything else. Sakura took the profile picture of her with her hair covering her right shoulder, one of the sleeves of her tank top dangling off the other. She feels ridiculous, but it's gotten her hits.

"I met Sai on here," Sakura mentioned when she was over to help with the dating app. "We'rve had three dates and I think I may be falling for him!"

Hinata had no intentions of finding "the one" after she was very much still mourning her marriage to whom she considered just that, but was hopeful that she could at least release the tension in her body through other means.

And as she scrolled through the disposable bachelors, all she could think to herself was how small the dating pool was. Especially when she saw her husband's profile.

DTF? HMU!

It felt nauseating how easy it was for him to just be ready for this with anyone else. If she was being frank, she was always ready to fuck with him! But he didn't want her anymore and the distance grew from the moment she got a positive pregnancy test.

She swiped left. Then, she called Sakura and bawled about it. Tissues at hand, the Hyuga felt her eyes sting the more she just poured all of her frustrations on her friend. Sakura listened attentively, occasionally bashing Naruto here and there and reminding her friend that he wasn't worth the time.

"Listen, just find someone for sex and let yourself enjoy it. Doesn't matter who they are as long as you're comfortable." As true as her friend's words were, the pit of Hinata' stomach still felt so uneasy.

"You're right." She sniffles.

"I usually am." She laughs. "Just go fuck someone. Let it out."

And so here she was, back on the app, back to hoping someone would take her bait. She didn't want to explore life with someone else just yet. She embraced the opportunity to seek something with no strings, no attachments, just the chance to unleash herself into someone else for relief.

Wiping what was left of her tears with her sweater sleeve, she noticed a message pop up.

I can help.

A/N: Hi all! Here's chapter 4. Let me know your thoughts. :p And yes, I will have M content in next chapter or two (or who knows when!) so look away if that's not for you. Thanks for all the love!