Naruto 1. Chapter 1

The More Things Change

AN: So I'm going to start by saying that this was supposed to be my first fan real fan fiction, and in a lot of way it was. I started writing out and finished the plot, basically how this story began all the way to how it would end, on September 21, 2007.

Most of my other stories, I just write as I go, but this was is precious to me as the Naruto fandom is what inspired me to write in the first place. I didn't want to take any chance and disappoint anyone with a brain fart that would render the rest of the story unwriteable.

Okay so to the important info:

**PLEAE READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE BEGINNING THE STORY! IT MATTERS!**

I knew I wanted to do a SasuHina story, and I knew I wanted it to be different from any other story out there, but at the same time fit the mold. So I sat back and I brain stormed, and storm it did! I wish I could show you the pages upon pages of ideas I came up with. I was left with the conclusion that most stories that are SasuHina are either:

A) The Arranged Marriage.

Ex. The Hyuuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan decided that they should join the two power houses. Sometimes Sasuke and Hinata know of this arrangement, sometimes they don't.

B) The Unrequited Love. (Most often used to create triangles and other odd shapes)

Ex. Hinata loves Naruto, who loves Sakura, who loves Sasuke, who loves Hinata.

C) The Payback.

Most often used in conjunction with "The Unrequited Love" Usually involving someone falling in love with the person who loves them, and the rejected person turning to someone else to get back at them, only to fall in love themselves.

Now of course these are only the first three I thought of, and I barely touched the crust of all the ways in which those three little ideas have been written, not to mention the handful of other choices in plot direction. But for all intents and purposes of understanding where I was when beginning this story, those will suffice.

Okay now where was I?

Oh right, brainstorming. So I'm brainstorming and I decided might as well go with my first instinct and take the arranged marriage route.

Now it was only a matter of making it "POP" if you will… So I decided to take the typical character traits and toss them out the window. I wanted Sasuke to be the Sasuke I imagined he'd be if he'd never had to endure the grief of losing his entire clan, and the only way to do that was to change Itachi's character. So "snap" Itachi's no longer the character the show has encouraged us to believe he is. (_edit: for the weekly Jap. Manga readers, I know things have changed, but I started writing this in 2007 so we're going to ignore that significant change.)_ Now Sasuke gets to be a regular teenager dealing with regular teen issues, and not stuck on the revenge tip. He'd still be Sasuke, still brooding and sarcastic, but it's all good natured now, he doesn't have that horrible hate in him.

Now Hinata's character was a little different. I knew right off the bat I refused to have her stutter. I can't stand when other people write it, so I knew I wasn't going to join that bandwagon. But I didn't want her to be too self assertive right away either, just your everyday teenage girl with a lot of room to grow. By making those two simple but necessary changes, I was able to expand the dynamic between Sasuke and Hinata's characters. In terms of how they are with each other, from the way they talk, to the comfort levels between them.

So after all of that I was left with two characters that are going to face and endure through a whole mess of things that no one will see coming. Plus let us not forget our everyday side characters, some of whom will be lucky enough to entertain you with a few of their own side stories. This story will take so many twists and turns that will hopefully keep you on the edge of your seat. There will be ups, there will be downs, but most of all there will be misunderstandings. Because, you see the time they will take to grow, and understand the things around them won't help at all, given that "_The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same."_

* * *

Chapter One

Why was it suddenly so hard to breathe? Sasuke turned to his mother to ask her if she was having trouble breathing too, had to know that it wasn't just him. Only, she looked like she was having the same problem, she was so ridged sitting there next to him. He turned back to Tsuande and saw her mouth moving but he wasn't catching the full sentences, it was frustrating him.

He closed his eyes and tried to force out any thoughts but hearing the rest of what Tsuande was saying, only to hear "I've been informed that he passed instantly… I thought you might care to know."

He suddenly wished he hadn't tried to understand her, he remembered now why he was having trouble in the first place… his dad was gone.

Forever…

He wouldn't ever see his father again… something started bubbling in the pit of his stomach, something painful and he knew he had to get out of there…

* * *

Tsuande couldn't believe she'd had to tell that family more horrible news, it had only been a few years ago that she was breaking the news that Itachi had died in action. She understood the pain of losing someone you love unexpectedly.

She set her head down on her desk and closed her eyes, trying as hard as she could to get the look Sasuke had on his face out of her head. She silently hoped he'd have the same support now that he'd had when Itachi passed.

* * *

The city was unusually quiet today; she had hoped that there would be people running to and from different places to distract her. Mikoto Uchiha couldn't believe she'd just found out her husband was dead. I didn't seem real; he'd just been here earlier that week…

"…_and tell Sasuke that I'm sorry I didn't get to see him before I left," Fugaku said, as he kissed her forehead. She smiled up at him. "I'll let him know, I'm sure he'll understand." She followed him out of the house and decided she didn't want to say good bye yet. "I think I'll walk with you to the gate." _

_As they walked hand in hand through Konoha she watched the other couples and the other families and wondered if they ever dealt with the same things she did. Did they fall in love and marry, or were they forced together by their families. She could never tell and that's how she knew no one could tell when they looked at her. _

_Mikoto glanced up at Fugaku out of the corner of her eye. She did love him, he was a great friend, he made her laugh, and was always putting her first. Suddenly she felt that nagging guilt in her stomach again, over twenty years later and she still couldn't get it to subside. She leaned on his shoulder a little and begged herself to love him more than she loved anyone else. _

_She was just getting the feeling to go down a little when he kissed the top of her head and said "I love you so much, Mikoto." She closed her eyes a little tighter trying to block out 'that' memory and smiled up at him as brightly as she could and said "I love you, too." _

Mikoto stopped walking, and looked around. She hadn't remembered walking here, but then again she couldn't really remember much after she'd sat down at Tsuande's desk. She sighed aloud to herself and walked to sit down at the bank of the small stream.

"Liar" she muttered to herself, she kept reliving that moment when she'd said _"I love you, too"_.

The tears just started pouring, it was as if they had a mind of their own, she felt as if every tear that slide down her face was taking a little more and more of the last of her energy. She pulled her legs up to her chest, and then resting her head on her knees she looked out at the landscape around her.

'This was our place' she thought to herself. She felt a sad smile creep to her face as she stared at the Forget-Me-Not's she'd planted years ago. She reached out to grab the closest one to her.

"Mikoto…" she froze, her hand dropped to her side. Her heart started to race, almost swallowing her up, she'd truly missed the sound of his voice saying her name. That thought sobered her up; she took a deep breath trying to calm down, because now the guilt was back. She was reminded of why Fugaku never stood a chance at owning her heart; it had always belonged to someone else. By the time she'd met Fugaku her heart wasn't in her hands to give any longer.

Mikoto just sat there, she didn't turn around but she did sit up slightly trying to compose herself the best she could for him. She almost didn't want to believe he was here, but she knew he always would be.

"Hiashi… what are you doing here" Even as she asked, she knew the answer. But, knowing only made more tears come to her eyes.

"You know why I'm here," He replied softly.

Mikoto turned to look up at him, a small smile on her face. "Funny, the last time we were here together, I was crying then too."

_It had been a beautiful day in Konoha; the weather had been the nicest of the summer. The air was warm but not smoldering, the breeze just enough to cool you without noticing it was there. It was a perfect day for everyone in Konoha, everyone expect Mikoto. _

_She was sitting at the edge of a small stream in an empty clearing. She was crying so deeply that she almost wasn't making a sound, it was a painful cry. She felt it deep in her gut and it was stuck in her throat, she could hardly breathe. She heard a twig snap to her right but she was too exhausted right now to react._

"_Mikoto", Hiashi asked a little hesitantly, "what's wrong?" He thought that would be the right thing to ask, but quickly regretted it when he saw her start crying harder._

_Hiashi knelt down beside her and pulled her into his arms, he didn't know what else to say so he just held her. He felt completely helpless as he watched body wracking with sobs. They sat there for a long time, and he just continued to hold her as tightly as possible. He felt her breathing slow, and watched as she calmed herself down. _

_He asked her again what was wrong but she didn't reply, she just sat there holding on to him. He kissed the top of her head, and holding on a little tighter, he said "I love you so much, Mikoto." Her grip on his shirt tightened, and she looked up at him and he saw fear in her eyes, it shocked him but he realized it wasn't fear of him, but of something else. _

"_I love you too" she replied. "I love you so much! I feel it in my every breath, you mean the world to me…" she looked down but continued "I will always love you, and I don't want you to ever doubt that, okay? I want you to know that you will always have my heart in your hands and I'm incapable to taking it back…" _

_He interrupted her "Take it back? Mikoto what are you talking about? It almost sounds…" he trailed off "it almost sounds like your staying good bye." _

"_That's because I am, It has to be goodbye" she hated to say it, hated to believe it was true but she knew it was. "I just found out that I've been arranged to marry someone else. My parents have signed a contract with the Uchiha. I'm to marry a gentleman named Fugaku; we're getting married in a month…" _

_She felt how tense he was as she talked, but when he didn't say anything she continued "I was going to tell them that I was in love with you, that I'd already found someone I wanted to marry. But before I got the chance I was being shown the contract already signed and agreed upon. I was already engaged." She stopped; she didn't want to keep talking about it._

_Hiashi sighed to himself, "Mikoto" he began "I just found out yesterday that the elders in my clan have arranged a marriage for me too," she turned to look at him then but said nothing as he continued "I spent all day in the study searching for any loop hole, any way out, but I've come up with nothing, this contract is made iron clad."_

_Hiashi gave a sigh his hold on her loosening a bit. "I couldn't handle looking at it any longer, so I came here to try to clear my head" He stopped talking when she threw her arms around his neck and snuggled closer to him. _

_She lifted her mouth to his ear whispering, "I could stay this way forever, just you and me…" he tightened his hold on her waist realizing he wanted hold on to this feeling as long as he could but knew he had to let her go. _

_He was just about to pull away when she whispered, "Even if we have to part ways with the sunrise, even if tomorrow we have to acknowledge that we're marrying other people, even if all of that is true, tonight I'm yours." _

_Hiashi wrapped his arms all the way around her, pulling her as close as possible, he had to burn this feeling into his brain, hold onto this last night they had together. He closed his eyes to imagine life as if they were together, as if she truly was his. He was smiling to himself imagining the impossible future. _

_Mikoto realized a few minutes later when he just continued to sit there holding her that he didn't understand what she had meant. She turned her head and kissed his neck lightly, he still didn't react. So she nibbled on his shoulder and that was when she felt him tense in her arms. She pulled back and looked him straight in the eye. "Tonight, I want you to truly make me yours!"_

"How do you like the flowers?" She asked finally picking the one she'd been reaching for earlier. She twirled it in her fingers watching the light blue and yellow swirled together. She watched as a tear dropped into one of the petals, she couldn't believe she was still crying.

"I find them fitting" he said slowly walking toward her "I would never forget you." He watched her pull her knee's closer to her chest, and he couldn't stop himself from wrapping his arms around her, there was like a magnetic force that pulled him to her, something he'd been fighting for over twenty years.

It felt to right to be in his arms again, she leaned back into him closing her eyes slightly, just enjoying the closeness, the rightness of this moment.

She could have probably stayed there longer if he hadn't kissed the top of her head. Suddenly she was reminded of Fugaku doing that, and that reminded her of how every time that Fugaku would do it, how she would think of Hiashi doing it.

The guilt was back, she pulled herself out of his arms. It wasn't right for her to be here with him, not after she'd only _just_ learned Fugaku was gone.

"I have to leave." She got up and started to walk away, but he grabbed her hand. He didn't pull her back; he just waited… hoping he wouldn't have to.

She was still facing away from him, when he heard her say "I can't do this. Not yet." She pulled her hand slowly out of his and continued walking.

"I'll be here" Hiashi called after her. "I'll wait, take as much time as you need, just know that I'll always love you" She nodded her head but didn't say anything as she continued walking. She didn't think she knew where she was going, until she noticed she was back where she started.

"Hello again."

* * *

Sasuke rushed out of Tsuande's office moving as quickly as possible. He had to get away. Between Tsuande's worried expression and his mother's apparent shock; he didn't know what to do.

So he left.

He knew exactly where he was going without even thinking about it, he needed to be somewhere that he could have some form of control over the things around him. Which is why he felt a little calmer as he walked onto the training grounds, happy to see no one was there. He walked over to one of the sparring poles deciding he'd just go through some routine moves to help clear his mind.

Only, things didn't go that way. Minutes later he was beating the post with all his energy, try to get this horrible feeling out of the pit in his stomach. He stopped paying attention to everything around him, just feeling fortunate to have somewhere to channel all his emotions. It didn't matter to him that his knuckles were bleeding, or that his muscles were aching.

* * *

Hinata was a bit surprised to find her father waiting at the front door for her when she got home. He was usually training with Hanabi or dealing with matters concerning the clan, so she knew something must have happened for him to be standing there waiting for her.

"Is there something wrong? Has something happened? Is it Hanabi?" Hinata asked quickly and waited for him to reply, she saw his shoulders tense before he sighed and said, "It's not Hanabi..."

Hinata sighed with relief, but immediately tensed again when he added "…It's Sasuke" starred at him hanging on his every word waiting for him to continue. "I just received word that Sasuke's father was killed in…" She never heard the rest of what he was going to say, she was already on her way to Sasuke.

Hinata knew that there was only one place to find Sasuke right now. Because of that, she didn't have to think she just ran, as fast as she could to get to him. When she arrived at the training grounds she saw him furiously pounding his fist into a training post, she froze for a moment feeling like she'd stepped back in time.

_Hinata was heading home after a long day of training, it was about an hour or two before sunset and she was enjoying the feeling of exhaustion that comes from hard work. She stopped for a second to stretch, and that was when she heard the cry of pain from somewhere to her left. _

_She started walking in the direction, not entirely sure of what she'd see only to find Sasuke beating the life out of a training post. His face was hard and angry and she found herself hoping she was never on the receiving end of that look._

_She was debating with herself whether she should do anything, when she saw him slowing down. It was like watching a balloon that had been blown up, begin to deflate. He was clearly exhausted and she wondered how long he'd been out here doing this. _

_He didn't seem like he had any intention to stop until he passed out, and that thought is what moved Hinata to action. "Sasuke," she called out walking toward him. She watched his arm stop mid punch, only to keep going. _

_When she got closer she called to him again, "Sasuke, please stop." This time he didn't pause he just started punching a little harder. She yelled out, "PLEASE JUST STOP!" only to be ignored some more. Hinata couldn't stand the helpless feeling that was taking over her. She could feel it starting to tingle under her skin. Still she just stared at him not sure what to do next. _

_She knew that she was exhausted from her workout, so she could on imagine the pain his body was in. She walked the last few feet toward him and threw her arms around him from behind. His body stiffened and she tightened her hold on him, her hands grabbing the front of his shirt in fist. _

"_Please Sasuke, please stop." She was mumbling into his back but she knew he heard her. "I'm begging you to stop. Your hurting yourself, and seeing you hurt, hurts me. I don't know what's wrong, and I don't know if I'll be able to help, or if you even want my help" She paused, feeling as though she was rambling but continued. "I just know that whatever you need, I'm here! I'll always be here!" _

_Sasuke stood there rigid, his muscles tight from suddenly stopping. He wanted to push her away, wanted to go back to that place he'd been a minute ago, where he didn't feel anything, but he felt himself calming down, it had started when he'd first heard her call his name, and he'd tried to ignore it but with her here now he knew that was impossible, she'd always been his voice of reason, his calm. _

_He took a deep breath and as he exhaled he almost wished he hadn't. With that breathe went the last of his adrenaline. He felt his knee's begin to give, and was thankful that Hinata was holding on to him, as they slid to the ground. She didn't let go of her hold on him, until she felt his breathing return to normal. _

_Taking his hand in hers, Hinata moved to sit down in front of him. "What happened?" she asked, and he squeezed her hand but didn't answer right away, and she knew not to ask again. He had heard her and would answer when he was ready. _

_He looked up at her, seeing the concern in her eyes, seeing how much she wanted to be there for him. He closed his eyes as he said, "Itachi's gone." As soon as he said it he started to pull his hand from hers. _

_Something in Hinata's gut told her that she couldn't let him distance himself now, that if he did she might not be able to get through again. She sat up on her knees and moved forward holding him in a hug against her. She rested her head on his and refused to let go. _

_She didn't get an immediate reaction from him but a few minutes later she felt her shirt begin to soak and she knew he was crying, which only made her hold him tighter. His breathing picked up and he finally wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. They stayed like that for a long time, just holding each other. _

_Hinata was thinking about what Sasuke had said and wondering what had happened when she felt him lean back away from her a bit. She leaned back a bit to look down at him, and something in his eyes made her heart skipped a beat. _

_He looked happier, and then Sasuke smiled at her and said "Thank You" which left her momentarily at a loss for words. After a moment Hinata smiled back at him "Any time, what are friends for anyway?" _

Hinata started walking toward him, she didn't stop to think, and she didn't try to examine the situation she just walked as fast as she could to get to him. She decided without a moment's hesitation to throw her arms around him in a hug.

She felt him tense up, and she realized he probably hadn't even heard her coming. That thought scared her a little. Sasuke had been the best in their class when they'd gone to the academy; it wasn't like him not to be aware of his own surroundings.

Sasuke was momentarily thrown off guard by the arms around him. How had he not heard anyone coming? How had he not felt another presence? He only allowed a few seconds for those thoughts to flicker through his brain before twisting around to face who had interrupted him. Not that he even needed to turn around, because the instant she touched him, he knew who it was.

Hinata could see the anger in his face; she could feel it dripping from his skin. Without a word she just knew this was so much different from the last time, this was_ bigger_. She had this sudden urge to be closer to him; something in her telling her that what he needed right that moment was closeness. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her head as close as she could. She tried to make her grip as tight as possible, anything to keep him this close, only he pushed her off of him and turned back toward the post.

She knew she couldn't leave him like this; she couldn't bear the thought of that pain staying inside of him eating him up, so she reached for his arm again. Only he was obviously able to sense her again, because right before her hand could touch him, he grabbed her and roughly pushed her against the post, holding her there by her shoulders.

She kept breathing as steadily as she could because she knew he wouldn't hurt her, and this was the time to stay calm. She kept looking at him, starring straight back into those dark eyes trying to see her Sasuke through the pain that was consuming him.

Just when she was getting herself prepared to keep this starring contest up, he broke eye contact and before she could think about why, his lips were on hers. She gasped from the surprise and the next thing she knew his tongue was touching hers. She felt his hands slide from her shoulders to rest on the post behind her and his body step closer. She closed her eyes and slid her hands up into his hair pulling him closer too.

That was all the encouragement he needed because he started kissing her harder, sliding one hand down to her lower backside and pulling her closer to him. Hinata wrapped her legs around his waist and his hands moved up almost hesitantly toward her chest, he moved from kissing her lips to sucking and nibbling on her throat.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, taking all of this in, there was so much passion coming from him right now, she wanted to take all of him in. Only she started thinking about how it was all tainted by what happened today, by what happened to his dad and that's when she realized this wasn't not about them, and she tensed up.

Sasuke felt her body grow tense and he mentally slapped himself for being so stupid. He knew that she didn't want him this way and he still took advantage of the situation. He pulled back a little, not sure if he could look at her right now.

How was he going to explain what just came over him, how was he going to tell her that he's been wanting to do this for months now? He didn't know if he could tell her that he thought of her as so much more than a friend. She slowly untangled herself from him but instead of walking away like he feared she'd do she pulled him into a hug.

Hinata leaned her head against his chest and hugged him as tightly as she could, she didn't want what just happened to make him pull away again, and she was surprised when he hugged her back. They just stood there that way holding on to each other in a comfortable silence.

Hinata was always amazed at how close she felt to him. Without speaking a word they were always able to say so much to each other. That was why she had to be so careful around him. For the last two years she'd been working nonstop to make sure Sasuke never knew how she felt about him. At first it was just because she didn't understand the feelings herself.

Ever sense that time when he trusted her with his feelings about Itachi's death, she'd felt she was connected to him on such a deeper level. The butterflies always attacked when he was in her space, and she couldn't let him see that. She didn't want him to feel awkward around her, so she hid her feelings every chance she got.

Sasuke couldn't even express how thankful he was that she didn't walk away from him. He wasn't the best when it came to expressing his feelings. So he wouldn't have stopped her from walking away, as much as he would have wanted to. Only Hinata was amazing because she knew that he didn't want her to go. It really was a wonder she hadn't realized how he was feeling about her lately.

He still couldn't believe he'd kissed her… it just… it wasn't supposed to happen like this. Not after what he'd just found out about his dad. He just knew he wouldn't be able to talk to her about this, and he decided right then and there that he would pretend it didn't happen. If he acted like things were the way they always were maybe she wouldn't start avoiding him. He could deal with her just wanting to be friends, but he wasn't sure how he'd handle her not wanting to be friends at all.

Hinata knew they were going to have to discuss this at some point, but she knew it wouldn't be today. Today she just had to make sure he was going to be okay about what happened to his dad. "Sasuke?" she spoke finally breaking the silence between them. "I want to help anyway that I can, so just tell me what to do."

He was quiet for a while, she wasn't sure what was running through his head and then he said "You already have," and started to pull away. Hinata gripped his shirt a little tightly not wanting him to pull away if he wasn't serious.

He laughed a little under his breath and said "Seriously, Hinata you already helped me calm down. You're my calm remember? We figured that out a long time ago." Hinata nodded her head and they stepped away from each other. She watched Sasuke look up to the sky in thought. She was curious to see what would happen next.

Hinata decided to wait and follow his lead, maybe he'd suggest they talk about this tomorrow. She knew she was going to have some explaining to do. While Sasuke had been expressing his grief in the form of a kiss, she knew that she was going to have to explain her reaction.

She was starting to get anxious about what he was going to say next, when he looked at her and give her his smile. The one he only gave to her, and said "So, let's go get some shade, and I'll tell you how I found out about my dad." Hinata was quiet for a minute; she'd been working herself up, and completely forgetting that today was about his dad. She nodded and he turned to walk toward the closest tree for some shade.

As she followed him, she realized maybe he wanted to pretend this whole thing never happened. Maybe it was his way of making sure she understood they would only ever be friends. She touched her hand to her lips. Still feeling that kiss, still feeling what it felt like to be that close to him. She finally got what she'd been wanting only now she wished she hadn't.

Because now she couldn't help wanting to kiss him again, and again. It had become hard enough to resist him as it was. Especially this year! What with Sasuke having grown up so much, he was taller and more toned.

All the guys were.

Before, she had always been able to clearly stay on the right side of the friendship line, but it was getting harder and harder.

Sasuke was amazed at how easy it had been to pretend what just happened never happened. Not that he wasn't going over it again, and again in his head. He couldn't stop thinking about how perfect it felt to be holding her. He shook the thought from his head when they got to the tree. He plopped down and leaned back against the bark.

He watched Hinata sit down in front of him and cross her legs. "So" she started, "Tell me what happened." He told her all about the telegram asking for him and his mother to report to Tsuande. He told her how the thought that it was going to be about his dad hadn't even crossed his mind. He figured it had to do with something clan related. They talked for a long time, eventually moving so they were both lying side by side starring up at the sky. At some point the conversation just faded into a peaceful silence.

Hinata closed her eyes and started imagining what it would have been like if she was bold enough to rollover and kiss Sasuke with all her might and show him how much she cared about him. She opened her eyes again when she realized she couldn't do it, couldn't risk it, especially if he wanted to pretend the last kiss never happened.

She rolled over slightly toward him supporting her head in her hand. He rolled toward her mimicking her. "I don't know how I'm going to do this." He said, looking down at the ground.

"Do what?" Hinata asked, not sure what he was talking about.

"How I'm going to be stronger." He said, and Hinata just looked at him waiting to see what else he had to say. "It's hard," he continued, rolling back on his back and starring up at the sky. "It's hard because I have no idea how I'm going to be there for my mom. How am I supposed to help her through this?" he paused.

"When Itachi died my dad was there for her. Now it's up to me, now I have to be the man. It's scary; I don't want to fail her." Hinata couldn't believe he was this worried, something clenched in her heart watching him look so unsure.

"You'll do exactly what your mom needs, because I know your heart is strong enough for both of you!" She said with as much conviction as she could muster.

Sasuke didn't know what he would do without Hinata; she always said exactly what he wanted to hear. Well almost, he had a feeling if he were to kiss her right now she wouldn't say what he wanted to hear. He got away with the kiss earlier because she felt bad for him, but she would probably stop talking to him if he did it again. Even though that was all he could think about doing for the last hour when they weren't talking.

He figured talking about his dad was a good way to keep him from doing anything stupid. He closed his eyes trying to imagine kissing her when the next thing he knew he was feeling her lips on his. His eye's snapped open and he was suddenly sitting up starring at her.

She looked surprised herself, and the next thing he knew she was running away. He didn't know how to explain why he couldn't react right away; his heart was pounding with the prospect of her feeling the same way he did. He got up to run after her, he had to know.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!" he heard his voice being called from behind him and stopped with a sigh, Hinata would have to wait.

Chp1/End

* * *

AN: Please review, and let me know your thoughts. I am hoping this is still a great story despite the three year time gap in publishing it.


	2. Chapter 2

The More Things Change

AN: I feel horrible because I've had this written for like two months now... but I needed to edit it, and editing 4000+ words can be a bit overwhelming. Well regardless I do hope you'll all enjoy this! I'm halfway through with typing up chapter three, thankfully I have like the first 6 or so chapters handwritten! :]]

I want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to all my reviewers! It really really means a lot that you took the time! I've been slowly learning to accept the fact that not everyone will review, but I still hope... :]]

* * *

Chapter 2.

Sasuke watched as his mother walked toward him with a very determined look on her face. He had expected her to be more distraught or something. He was about to ask what she needed, when she spoke first "Sasuke, I need you to follow me." That was all she said before she started walking off at almost a jog in the direction of their house.

He followed her all the way home curious as to what she could possibly be up to. As horrible as the thought was, he hoped it was something small so he could go after Hinata, but as soon as he thought it he remembered what Hinata said about his heart being big enough for whatever pain his mother was feeling and realized he needed to be fully present where he was.

They finally got home and she shut the door behind them. "Mom, what's going on?" he asked as he watched her, she was looking down still holding the door shut behind her, when she said "I need you to do something for me, and I need you do it right now with no questions or arguments."

Sasuke wasn't sure where she was going with this, "Mom, whatever you need me to do, tell me and I'll do it," he said reaching out to place his hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at him and smiled. Placing her hand on his cheek she said "I'm glad you said that honey, we're leaving the village, and you can't tell anybody about it."

Sasuke felt his heart constrict, at the thought at not seeing Hinata again, of not being where his friends were. He hoped she was joking, hoped she didn't really want him to leave his home.

Mikoto watched as Sasuke's face grew pale. She really hated that she was doing this to him, but she really needed to get away, it was the only way she could be happy in the end. "It's not forever Sasuke, just until I'm ready to come back. I really need a clean break. I feel like I'm suffocating here in this house, in this town. I know it's a lot to ask of you, but I need this," she said feeling the tears fall down her face.

She just hoped he wouldn't fight her on this, because as much as she needed to get away, if Sasuke wouldn't come with her she wouldn't go. She couldn't bear being away from him; he was all she had left of her family. So she waited and watched him as he turned it over in his mind.

Finally he sighed, pulling her into a hug and said, "Of course I'll go with you, Mom, whatever you need I'll be there for you." Mikoto sighed, not realizing she'd been holding her breath waiting for what he would say. She reached up and pulled him into a hug, "Thank You, Sasuke."

Sasuke couldn't believe he was going to have to leave everyone, but she did promise that it wasn't forever, so it wasn't like they could be gone that long. He knew when she started crying that she was aware that what she was asking was hard for him, but he took what Hinata told him and decided to do what was best for his mom, for his family.

He figured they probably wouldn't leave until tomorrow or something so he could still say goodbye to Hinata and Naruto without actually saying 'Goodbye.'

He turned to go up stairs and think about what to say to Hinata when he heard his mom say, "Sasuke, thank you again. Now if you'll go pack we're leaving in an hour. Hurry, because we have to stop by the Hokage Tower," she said rushing up the stairs past him.

He couldn't believe it, couldn't believe he was really supposed to leave tonight without a word to anyone… Sasuke rushed up the stairs to his room, grabbed an armful of clothes and tossed them in a travel bag, as well as bunch of stuff from his bathroom.

He couldn't waste time packing neatly he had more important things to take care of. Lastly he grabbed the three frames sitting on his dresser wrapped them in a pillow case and set them on top. He rushed over to his desk and as neatly as possible put together a letter to Naruto and a letter to Hinata.

He glanced at the clock and saw he had enough time to deliver them and be back before his mother came to get him. He climbed out his window and sprinted to Naruto's apartment, glad that Naruto wasn't there because he would start asking all kinds of questions. He used the spare key and left the letter on top of a box of ramen, the one place he could be sure Naruto would see it.

Sasuke knew he had to be a little more careful sneaking into Hinata house without being noticed. It was a good thing he had been sneaking Hinata in and out of the house for years now and pretty much had it down to a science.

He climbed slowly up the tree outside Hinata's window hoping she wasn't in her room. He knew she would take the letter and let that be that if she was there, but he didn't know that he could just give her the letter without talking about what happened earlier and he knew he didn't have time for that.

Luckily her window was cracked, he didn't see her, but he could hear the sound of running water in her bathroom. He quickly tried to think of where the best place would be to put the letter so she'd read it as soon as possible. The answer was sitting open right in front of him, her journal.

He knew she tried to write at least every day, it was her way of remembering her mom. So he placed the letter right on top, and climbed back down as silently as possible. He ran as quickly as he could to get back to the house hoping his mother didn't suspect that he'd left.

He climbed back through his window and was just grabbing his bag when he heard a knock on his door. "I'll be right there," he called out. He gave his room one last glance before turning out the light and following his mother out of the house.

* * *

_'I did not just do that! I did not just do that! I did not just do that!'_ this was the mantra replaying itself again and again in Hinata's head. She couldn't think anything else, she just ran home trying to get that puzzled look on Sasuke's face out of her head. He had been completely shocked by her kiss.

That hadn't been the reaction she'd been hoping for. She had hoped he would kiss her back, hoped he would at least say something, anything. But he just sat there and she knew she had to get out of there.

She would face him tomorrow… face the consequences of her actions. She finally made it home, and was able to get all the way to her room without running into anyone. She leaned her back against her door, trying to calm down, trying to at least breathe normally again.

"This wasn't supposed to happen this way," she mumbled to herself. "Okay… okay, it happened… and now I'll just deal with it, there is absolutely no point in driving myself crazy." She walked over to her shelf and grabbed her journal.

It was big and thick, because her mom always told her that if you had something to say you should always give yourself a big enough canvas to express it. She walked over to her desk and sat down, like always she liked to read the last entry or two to see where her mind was at the last time she wrote.

It helped her focus on what she was about to write. Only today she just kept rereading the same line over and over. She couldn't help it, she would start and then her mind would drift to how crazy today was…

Finally she just gave up and stared out her window. She always left it cracked, so the small breeze that was creeping through was soothing. She closed her eyes and thought back to that first kiss. She couldn't help imagining what would have happened if she hadn't stopped.

How far would they have gone? His hands moving all over her, the warm sensation flooding her entire body, the tingly feeling on her lips from kissing him…

"Okay, I need to stop." She said opening her eyes again… it wasn't like she'd never imagined what it would be like before, but this time it felt more intense because she actually _knew _what it felt like.

"Maybe writing isn't what I need right now… maybe a bath would be more calming." She stood and walked over to her bathroom and began drawing a bath, she added some lavender bubbles because the scent of lavender reminded her of her mother and calmed her down.

Once the tub was filled up with bubbles and emitting that wonderfully floral scent, she couldn't help but to get in as quickly as possible. Hinata loved everything about taking a bath, the feeling of the warm water washing away all the aches and pains. It always felt like she was getting a fresh start when she emerged from a nice long bath.

She leaned her head back, resting on the bath pillow, and started thinking about Sasuke. It had been two years ago, that she'd realized she loved him. Two years, since Itachi had died in battle. It didn't seem fair for Sasuke to have to go through the loss of his father so soon after. She felt the tears spring to her eyes as she wondered whether it was better to lose a parent out of the blue, or watch as they slowly reached their death.

It had been six years ago now, she had been ten. Ten year olds weren't supposed to watch their parents die. Hinata remembered how she couldn't even bare being in the house for anytime other than to sleep. Hinabi had been sheltered from the truth, hadn't been told that their mother was dying. She'd been too young. 'I was too young, too' Hinata thought biting her lip to keep from sobbing.

Hinata had spent every waking moment at Sasuke's. The two of them would pretend they were on under cover missions, spying on Itachi while he trained. They usually kept it up until they got bored; which rarely ever happened, or when Itachi told them to get lost.

Then they would go back to Sasuke's and his mom would make them lunch or a snack, and then send them off on a 'mission' she'd made up for them, which usually ended up being her errands. They would do that all day every day until the sun went down and Hinata was forced to go home and face the fact that she was losing her mother.

Hinata closed her eyes and took a deep breath before sliding down beneath the water. She loved the peace that came with being underwater. It was relaxing, and she would have stayed under longer but the sound of a knock on her door brought her back to the surface.

"Who's there?" Hinata asked, reaching for a towel so she could wipe the water from her eyes.

The door creaked open and Hinabi stuck her head inside. "Father asked me to get you. He's waiting for you in his study," she watched her sister give a quick smile before ducking back out the door and closing it behind her.

* * *

Hinata was just raising her hand to knock when she heard her father's voice, "Come on in, Hinata." She walked in and took the seat her father gestured to across from him.

"You wanted to see me father?" she asked curious as to what this could be about. He set the scroll he'd been glancing at aside and looked up at her.

"Yes, I would like you to go can see how Mikoto is doing." Hinata froze at the suggestion, the color draining from her face, but composed herself the best she could.

"Why do you care?" Hinata asked she had gotten the impression that her father and Sasuke's mom avoided each other as much as possible.

"It has to do with a matter concerning an agreement made between the Hyuuga and the Uchiha about sixteen years ago." Hiashi didn't elaborate and Hinata didn't ask anything further.

"Okay, I will stop by first thing in the morning." Hinata said, waiting for to be excused.

Hiashi paused, he had hoped she would go tonight, but he knew asking her to do that would raise suspicion. "That would be appropriate"

Hinata nodded, and gave an inner sigh of relief. "If that's all father, I think I'm going to go on up to bed."

Her nodded, "Good night then," and she quickly got up to dismiss herself.

Hiashi watched the door close, and frowned, "Sorry Hinata..." he whispered to himself. He could tell that something must have happened between her and Sasuke. That would be the only reason for her to hesitate in going over there.

* * *

_Hiashi opened his eyes, and found Nori staring at him, a small smile on her lips. It was still dark and as he glanced at the clock he saw it was still the middle of the night. He wondered how long she'd been up, she looked good. He leaned over, his hand coming up to cup her cheek. "It's not fair that you're sick." _

_She smiled at him, her head nodding a little in agreement. "I'm not angry that I'm dying, death is inevitable. I'm just so sad, I am going to miss watching our girls grow up, and fall in love, and become mothers of their own someday. I'm not going to get to watch you give them away, I'm going to miss so much..." she trailed of, and a quiet settled around them. _

_Suddenly her face got very serious, and she turned to look him directly in the eye, "What I'm about to say is serious, and I am asking you not to write it off as something a dying woman said, but rather taken from the heart of a woman who grew to love you more than anything... despite the difficulties."_

_Hiashi looked at her questioningly, "What difficulties?" _

_She smiled, and leaned over to place a chaste kiss on his lips, "I know you love me the best way you know how, and I know you never disrespected the marriage vow we made to each other... but I'm no fool, I never have been and I know you still love Mikoto." _

_Hiashi couldn't think of anything to say, he was taken aback. He'd thought he'd been so careful to keep his feeling concealed. _

_Nori looked at him, watching his mind race, and tears filled her eyes, she tried to blink them back but they fell freely against her effort. "When I die, you'll be free to love her with all your heart." _

_Hiashi's face hardened at that, her reach forward and wrapped his arms around her pulling her to him. "Even if you're not here, you will always have a part of my heart," he said as he kissed her forehead, "I honestly did love you, you know that right?"_

"_I know," she said into his chest. _

"_I wish you hadn't ever had to know how I felt about Mikoto." _

"_I know," she said again._

_They were quiet, holding onto each other, until she spoke again, her voice serious. _

"_If by chance, Mikoto should end up free to marry again, I don't want you to feel guilty about it. I want you to be happy again..."_

"_I'm happy now," he started to say but she shushed him, and continued. _

"_I won't have any harsh feeling about it, okay, so just know that." After that she pulled back, and sat up. "Can you go get the girls, I feel like spending some time with them." _

"_Anything you want," he left the room, waking both the girls out of their sleep. He carried Hinabi, and held Hinata's hand as they walked back to his bedroom. _

_He had just set Hinabi down when he saw Nori's face and knew she was about to ask for something else. He raised an eyebrow in question, and she laughed, "Can you get us some ice cream." Both the girls nodded excited at the prospect of a midnight snack._

_That night he watched Nori, she looked so much better, and he had to wonder if she would pull through after all. She told the girls that she knew they were sad she was leaving, but that she loved them more than they could possibly know. _

_She gave them both beautifully bound journals, and told them that whenever she felt down, or happy, or any other emotion that she felt strongly she wrote about it. She encouraged them to do the same. When everyone had fallen back asleep he gently moved Hinata and Hinabi back to their rooms. _

_Tonight had been so much like how it used to be, the family together and laughing... together and happy. _

Hiashi pulled himself out of his reverie, a sad smile on his lips. That had been the last time they'd been together as a family, he'd woken up to find Nori had passed in her sleep. He realized yet again, how thankful he was for that last night together.

* * *

Mikoto asked Sasuke to wait outside as she walked into Tsuande's office. Stepping up to her desk, she told her, "We're leaving now."

Tsuande couldn't help but shake her head, and with a sigh she asked, "Are you sure this is what you need? Are you absolutely sure that leaving is the right thing to do?"

Mikoto nodded firmly, "I have to let Fugaku go before I can give into my own selfish wants. I owe it to him, to his love for me not to rush into Hiashi's arms. It's the only way I can do it, if I'm here... if I have to see him..." she trailed off... "I know myself, and I know I will give in to him, and it wouldn't be fair. He's had six years to cope with Nori's death; I've had six hours..."

Tsuande nodded, "I understand letting go of a lost loved one... but you need to be careful not to forget about those who are still here." Mikoto nodded, and Tsuande gave one last nod before standing.

"Well then, I guess just don't forget about the contract, I expect you to be back in time."

Mikoto nodded again, and turned to leave, "I was to apologize ahead of time, for any problems keeping our destination and departure a secret may cause."

Tsuande gave her a smile, "I can handle any knuckle heads... sometimes you just need to get away."

With that, Mikoto walked out, and with Sasuke by her side, they left the village.

* * *

Hinata walked into her room, closing the door softly behind her. She leaned her head back against the wall, her eyes drifting shut with a small sigh. Seconds later there was a light knock at the door. Turning and opening it she came face to face with Hinabi.

"Hey, do you mind if I come in?" Hinabi asked a small smile on her face.

Hinata nodded her head, "Of course not, come on in, what's up?" she asked.

Hinabi walked over the desk, before turning around to lean on it, "I heard about Sasuke's dad, I wanted to come and check on you..."

Hinata smiled, she loved her sister, "It's not fair when parents... when anybody dies before their time."

"I know..." Hinabi agreed, her eyes drifting to the desk, "you still use your journal too?" Hinabi asked.

Hinata rushed over and shut it quickly, before turning and placing it back on the shelf.

"I wasn't going to read it..." Hinabi said quietly, "I was just going to say that I still write in mine too."

Hinata sighed, knowing she might have over reacted just a tad. "I know, it's just really private, you wouldn't want me reading yours would you?"

"No I suppose I wouldn't want that..." Hinabi laughed a little before looking up at Hinata, "I miss Mom so much... I miss her even more because I'm having trouble remembering her."

Hinata walked forward and pulled her sister into a tight hug, she knew exactly what she meant. Although for Hinata there was a bit of guilt in the fading memories of her mother. Knowing that she'd chosen to stay away, made it her fault that she didn't have enough solid moments to hold on to.

"Do you want to sleep in here with me tonight? We can stay up talking about the old times... help each other to remember..." Hinata asked, hoping that Hinabi would stay. She didn't get to spend nearly enough time with her sister.

"I'd love that, I'll go get changed, and bring us some ice cream like we had on that last night with mom," Hinabi said before turning away and rushing out the door.

They only stayed up until a little past midnight, but the entire time was spent in a peaceful nostalgia.

Before going to bed, Hiashi went to check on his girls. He found them both asleep in Hinata's room and gave a heartfelt thanks to Nori for blessing him with his two beautiful girls. They were so much like their mother that sometimes it was as if she'd never left.

* * *

When Hinata woke up the next morning she found that Hinabi had already left. She smiled to herself; it had been so much fun to have time with her. They rarely got to spend time together, she was off training with her team or away on missions, and Hinabi was always training with their father.

"Oh," Hinata thought, jumping out of bed, she was supposed to go check on Sasuke's mom. She kept biting her lip as she went about washing and dressing for the day. She kept telling herself that everything with Sasuke would be okay. Kept thinking it to herself over and over but she had a sick feeling in her stomach.

Something was off; she wondered why Sasuke hadn't come after her yesterday. It didn't make sense, that wasn't like Sasuke at all. As much as she'd hoped he wouldn't come, because she was worried about the outcome of the confrontation, something truly worried her that he didn't.

Luckily she'd spent the night with Hinabi so she didn't have all night to really scare herself with too many thoughts on what it could me.

She decided to skip breakfast, the sinking feeling making the thought of eating unappealing. She simply started on her way to the Uchiha property.

She was a few houses away from Sasuke's when she realized there was a large crowd surrounding it. As she made her way through to try and find out what was happening, she her whispers, people kept saying the word _gone_ it didn't make sense.

She finally saw Tsuande who was surrounded by Uchiha elders. She worked her way quickly into her line of sight, hoping she could enlighten her. When she finally caught her eye she asked, "What's going on?"

Tsuande gave her a sad smile, "Mikoto and Sasuke are gone... they've left the village."

Tsuande started to explain not just to Hinata but to the group surrounding her that they probably just needed some time away in light of what just happened, that she wasn't worried.

Hinata however, had stopped listening at the word gone. She just stared at Tsuande in shock. She couldn't say anything, she couldn't understand what this all meant. Why would Sasuke leave without saying anything? It wasn't because he didn't know what to say about his Dad like Tsuande was suggesting, they'd already talked about it yesterday.

She reasoned with herself that the only plausible explanation was because she'd kissed him. That's why he just left.

She kept thinking that, _he just left, he just left, he just__..._left.

It felt as though a part of her had... died wasn't the right word... ceased to exist. It was as though she'd stopped existing when she realized that Sasuke was gone, that he had left and that he didn't think she was someone worth telling.

Breathing felt difficult, like something she had to think about doing, rather than it being a natural occurrence. It was as if her body was moving of its own accord, with a mind of its own. She noticed that she was walking, that she was already half way home.

Her body led her home, and straight up the stairs into her bedroom. She removed the clothing she'd gotten dressed in, and climbed deep under the covers.

All she could do was lay there.

Ch2/End

* * *

AN: There it is... I don't know if any of you saw that coming, or what you see happening next... let me know! :]]


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