AN, thank you all for reading my fic and for your kind reviews, I hope you are enjoying it, things will be a bit easier from this chapter onwards for Hinata.

Chapter 3

As Uzumaki Naruto was senior to Hinata but junior to Kakashi, she was fortunate not to have to be in his presence very often, that didn't mean she was relaxed at her workplace, far from it, but it meant she could get on with her work reasonably secure from heart shaking distractions. He resided in an office a floor above her, so she only caught glimpses of him twice a week, usually when a team meeting was scheduled. Their interactions were limited to polite nods and short greetings. What Hinata couldn't escape was the consistent gossip of her cubicle neighbors that seemed to revolve almost entirely around the new employee.

Their basis for gossip was not without reason. Though Naruto was professional, prompt and reliable with his colleagues, Sakura and Ino had lost no time in engaging his attentions by flattery and flirtation. These interactions happened in the small free time afforded before meetings, but mostly took up much of the lunch hour. Hinata was therefore frequently spared from seeing what could only be painful to her, but she wasn't able to evade the evil entirely. The little Hinata did see of their communication, she noted that the women implemented plenty of energy in their coquetry, which Naruto received with much less enthusiasm but enough pleasure to not discourage the attentions, which consequently doubled with every attempt. She could deduce that though it wasn't Naruto's goal to flirt at work, he certainly was pleased to have two pretty women vying for his time and wouldn't turn down the opportunity for more.

Naruto, having easy, warm and friendly manners, was liked and respected by all his colleagues. So even though they teased him slightly about Ino and Sakura's almost vulgar simpering, male privilege had enabled congratulations to be due, rather than a reprimand that juggling with the potential affections of two women at the same time was not conducive to a healthy working ethic, or fair to any party. Hinata saw it all and bore it all with almost torturous tension in her ribs and feelings, and she had to continuously remind herself that though her love had not ebbed, she couldn't have expected his to remain unchanged and not find satisfaction with companionship in other women.

Weeks went by, and the thrumming discomforts remained, but Hinata felt she was slowly overcoming them. No one fortunately had noticed any alteration in her. She was still considered the shy, quiet, slightly odd Huuga Hinata that had first joined their team. Only Kiba seemed to smell the increased delicacies of her manners and had questioned her on it.

"I'm fine, really Kiba-kun. You don't need to worry about me."

"I would believe that more if I didn't see you be the first one to work and the last one out every day. Friggin hell, if the office was open on saturdays you would probably be in."

"You're exaggerating."

"Maybe, but I trust my senses, and something is telling me something's really upsetting you."

Instinctively Hinata glanced at her neighbor's empty cubicles, before casting her glance down to her hands, it was lunch time, which meant Ino and Sakura were busy e,playing their usual strategy of 'accidentally' bumping into Naruto at the canteen. "Nothing's wrong Kiba-kun." She denied again, though she knew it sounded flat even to her own ears, and like a bloodhound he smelt the lie in her answer.

"I know something's bothering you, and you may not be ready to talk about it. But don't lie to your friends, you need them. I know you probably had it hard at your dad's company, but here you're expected to ask for help."

"But my work is impeccable Kiba-kun, no one's complained about it."

"But you're overdoing it, and Kakashi's noticed, I heard him mention it to Uzumaki the other day."

Her breath stalled like a frozen butterfly in her throat. And for a few moments she was unable to speak. She wanted to ask more, but was worried if she let on to her curiosity Kiba would pick up the scent again. She was about to redirect his train of thought when he suddenly spoke again.

"Does this have anything to do with Ino and Sakura?"

Her eyes opened in astonishment at his acumen, "Why would they have anything to do with it?" Kiba gave a small grin and she realized that she had inadvertently admitted that she was indeed upset, but he glossed over any pride in out-witting her to focus on his concern. "I noticed you looked at their desks when I asked what's wrong."

Hinata sighed, she didn't have many friends, but she was really grateful for the ones she did have, perhaps she should lean on Kiba for more support, but she still felt too raw to be frank with him, so she settled on a half truth. "I just wish they wouldn't gossip so much. It's distracting and gets in the way of my work."

Kiba looked at her sympathetically. "Yeah, even I've noticed all they ever talk about are guys and my cubical is on the other side of the floor."

"Well… They do talk about other things"

"That's generous of you Hinata, I think they're plotting to measure Uzumaki's biceps soon."

"What?!" Exclaimed Hinata, unable to contain herself.

"Not really, but I wouldn't put it past them. And Ino already has a boyfriend…" Kiba ended his comment with a shake of his head.

"If they're happy talking about men that must mean they're not weighed down by other troubles. I guess it's a good thing they don't have anything more serious to discuss." For some reason Hinata felt the need to defend the two women, though she hardly knew why.

"I guess, I just don't know why Uzumaki is letting all that happen." Hinata assumed by 'all that' he meant the flirtation. "A decent guy would get annoyed by it by now." Hinata exhaled quietly, her heart wanted to rally to his defense but she knew Kiba was right. Taking care not to betray her feelings she chose her next words well.

"Why do you think he is flirting with them?"

Kiba wrinkled his nose a little, as though something especially pugnacious made itself present, "Maybe he's a little insecure."

"He doesn't appear to be."

"Yeah, he's friendly and stuff, and he's not fawning over the girls like they are doing with him, but…" he paused to think, "there's something a bit silly about letting it all happen. If he was younger I'd get it, but he's a senior civil servant, he should have grown out of that stuff by now."

"Looks like we've turned into the gossipers, maybe we shouldn't judge."

Kiba laughed and grinned at her, "touché, but seriously, if you need something let me know, or let Karin know if it's a girl thing that is," he looked slightly green at mentioning something female related, "you know, in case you need a.. a feminine perspective… or something." Hinata giggled at his discomfort, genuinely touched at his consideration, and though his girlfriend and she were not especially close, she knew she could depend upon her.

"If I need one, I'll be sure to ask her, thanks for watching out for me."

Hinata wished she could say that was the end of her troubles, but Sakura and Ino did not cease their discussions, which seemed to amplify in volume as the weeks passed by, especially after the weekly lunch outings the team took. Hinata would often decline, not feeling brave enough to share a table with Naruto, but on the occasion she felt it rude to refuse, she found the experience acutely distressing and would do everything in her power to sit as far away from the subject of her heart in an attempt to forget that it's fissures were widening with every playful banter he had with the women that sat on either side of him.

Ino and Sakura were never mean to her, and she felt that they tried to engage her in their conversations occasionally as an act of kindness, but Hinata felt too awful to participate because the subject of the matter was always Naruto. One day her mortification reached new heights when she made her way to the drinking tap to fill up her reusable water bottle, and accidentally overheard Naruto talking with Ino and Sakura by the kitchenette, she pressed her back against the wall adjacent to the open door so as not to be seen and would have moved away if it wasn't for having heard her name.

"I heard you worked at the Huuga corporations once." Said sakura, her wide smile present even in her voice.

"Yeah, I spent four months there as an intern."

"Did you come across Hinata-san there? It's her dad's company you know." Said Ino.

"We did meet." Hinata couldn't tell if there was any emotion in his voice or just plain neutrality, but she fancied he sounded more controlled than usual.

"Does she look the same as when you remember?" Asked a very excited Ino.

"I barely recognized her." Replied Natuto, his voice held an edge of anger to it, though it was too subtle for the recipients to notice, but to Hinata it was sharp enough to draw her tears.

"I bet you she was still as quiet and shy then as she is now. She's like a book that's been glued shut." Commented Sakura.

"She was known to be shy." Replied Naruto.

"Well, I can't understand it. There's a whole world out there, you can't let life not happen to you because you'd rather be quiet."

"So you would call yourself outspoken?"

"I definitely let people know what I think of them."

"You must be really confident then."

Hinata imagined Sakura blushing in the half second pause she took before answering. " Well, yeah. I'm not shy, I like to try new things, I like what I like, and don't like what I don't like. When I decide on something I stick with it. I'm strong willed like that and I like it."

"So do I." Was his response.

Hinata could bear no more and escaped to her desk, her water bottle empty like her complexion. No sooner had she reached her desk then she abandoned her water bottle and quickly made her way to the toilets to lock herself in solitude and cry.

He hardly recognized her! The mortification was almost more than she could bear. She probably appeared as a withered carrot in his eyes, and he probably thought she deserved to feel that way. He was certainly still angry with her, of that she was certain. His ire was reserved at her having changed her mind, the consequence of shifting from uncommonly happy to incredibly devastated as a result of agreeing to marry him to then rejecting him three days later. His compliment to Sakura's more willful nature she knew meant that he saw her own inconstancy a grievous failure. To be persuaded by her aunt against him set her as weak, I confident and unattractive in his eyes.

She shed some more tears before composing herself. She did not have the temperament for self deprecation, and it would not do to sink into despair in the toilets of her office building. Just because she was not happy with the decision she had made ten years ago, did not mean she would live the rest of her days in depression. Though she wouldn't define herself as happy, that did not mean she couldn't be content. Brushing the tear tracks from her cheeks, she took in a stabilizing breath, and exhaled. She would honor her original resolution to be happy for him from afar and remain dignified. And while she still loved him, she would respect her feelings and not act against them.

When she did return to her desk, her eyes were red rimmed and slightly puffy, fortunately her neighbors hadn't noticed, and to keep from being seen Hinata threw herself into her work. So wholly did she submit herself to the powers of Microsoft excel that it was well past six pm when she noticed Kakashi enter the open plan floor from his private office. He saw her, and was about to leave her alone, when Naruto had followed him from the same office, probably from a meeting, and saw her. Their eyes met for all of two seconds, the longest since their reunion. And she would have averted her gaze, but for the very quick action that rendered her suspicious. Naruto had stopped Kakashi from entering the lift, seemed to have said something quietly, and stepped away, Kakashi nodded, replied something back and then made his way to her.

In a mixture of curiosity and panic, Hinata continued typing in an attempt to not betray what she had seen between the two men. Then Kakashi stopped by her desk, because of course she was the only one left working.

"Huuga-san, isn't it time you go home now?"

"I just want to finish up some loose ends, it'll stay on my mind other wise." She cursed the tremor in her voice, hopefully her eyes were not as puffy as they had been a few hours ago and her boss wouldn't notice.

"I've said it once and I'll say it again, you have a very impressive work ethic. But Huuga-san, you won't be able to work your best, or even be your best, if you over work yourself."

"I'm not doing more than what I can sir."

"I know, but at this rate you'll self combust and I'll have your father to answer to." She doubted her father would care very much. "I'm ordering you a cab to go home, it will wait for you until you're ready." Hinata's breath hitched in her throat.

"That won't be necessary, I can take the bus home as usual."

"Just accept it and say thank you."

Hinata sighed, "Thank you, Kakashi-san" and though it was her boss that made the relevant phone calls for the taxi, she knew that the idea and execution had all been Naruto's, he had made it happen. She supposed he was indeed aware of her working too hard as Kiba had mentioned.

But it was only while she was being driven home, with the clean smell of leather surrounding her as she gazed at the blue ink sky, where she reflected that Naruto's innate kindness had not left him. Though he openly enjoyed flirting with her colleagues, and he evidently remained angry with her rejection of him, he could not sit back and watch her suffer unnecessarily. His heart was still tender enough to be touched by a previous lover in distress, that he would use his power to bring her comfort. She didn't flatter herself that he still felt any affection for her, but she was significantly lifted from her earlier morose to know that his caring nature remained as it ever was, even if it was for the sake of what was, rather than what is. As she took out her keys at her family's large front door and made her way to her bedroom, Hinata felt confident that somewhere in his soul, Naruto-kun still appreciated their former intimacy. From that positive thought, she gleaned strength that she would conquer whatever would come next. And for the first time in two months, since Naruto started working at her office building, she slept with a lighter heart.