Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.

Chapter 7

"Oh, Akito! Only a little longer till the wedding! You must be so excited!" An artificially blonde woman stated, over-acting her extremely-fake enthusiasm.

"Why, of course. Hinata and I just can't wait." Akito replied, mirroring her tone.

"And what a beautiful bride you will make Hinata!" the women said.

Before Hinata could respond to her compliment, Akito replied for her. "She is wonderful, isn't she?" Hinata simply smiled in response. She had been introduced to so many pretenders today, none of them wanting or expecting her to speak. She was just the bride, she was just Hinata. She had no right to speak. Perhaps it was better that way. She'd most likely just embarrass herself, anyway.

"Oh, she is!"

"Well, I believe we should head home, right Hinata, my love?" Once again Hinata replied with a smile, not truly wanting to leave, afraid that as soon as they reached the car he would change into his true self. They said their goodbyes to all the guests, and her father, the host of the banquette, and as they made their way to the car, Hinata tried to keep as silent and invisible as possible.

"Your father and I have decided the date for our wedding." Akito said coolly. "It will be 6th of next month."

October 6th. She would be married to Akito on October 6th. He would be able to do whatever he wanted to her starting on the night of October 6th.

Hinata suddenly felt extremely nauseous.

Seeing the expression on Hinata's face suddenly gave Akito a terribly evil glint in his eye.

"It's exciting, isn't it?" He said, pulling over the car.

"O-Oh, yes. Very" she said, cursing herself once again for her damn stuttering.

"Now, what have I told you about your stuttering, Hmm?" Akito's voice seemed dangerously calm.

"I'm sorry, Akito no Danna." She said mechanically, her eyes focused on the blackness outside the front windshield.

"This time, Hinata dear, I'm not so sure sorry is good enough. You might just have to make it up to me." Akito smirked menacingly at the side of her face. She gulped, feeling her body begin to shake.

The man beside her laughed softly at her terror, brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear. Hinata tried futilely to hold back her tears. It seemed that the closer they got to the wedding, the more interest Akito had in our young Hinata. Though he had never done anything sexually to her yet, he seemed to like mentioning the act to her every day. Every time he did, it seemed like he might just take her there and then, and yet he didn't. For the five months since her fight with Deidara, he has never once felt the need to touch her sexually.

Lately though, Akito had been severely bored. So this time, he decided to entertain himself.

Gripping Hinata's hair tightly, he locked his lips with hers, enjoying the taste of her tears. He roughly pushed his tongue into her mouth, one of his hands beginning to make its way down her body. He continued this for a while, disappointed at her lack of reaction. He began removing the top of her dress, his hands slipping lower, and lower, and lower until-

"NO!" a voice screamed. It took Hinata a few minutes to realize who that voice belonged to. As she stared up at the angry face of her fiancé, Hinata felt a completely different kind of nausea envelope her.

She was going to die.

"What did you say?" Akito's spoke in a cool, deadly voice, sending chills up her spine.

Without a moment's hesitation, Hinata felt the sting of a strong hand making contact with her face.

"I-I-I'm S-Sorry!" slap "I-I'm Sorry!" slap I-I-I-I-I-" she began sobbing uncontrollably, her mouth moving without the assistance of sound.

Akito grabbed her numb face roughly with his hands, "Come now, Hinata. You know better than to do that. How many times must I teach you this lesson? You never resist me." As he said this, he opened his door. As Hinata watched him walk around the front of the car, she felt her shaking body begin to freeze with terror.

He opened her door and swung her out onto the sidewalk. She began crawling away, only to be kicked on her side.

"Oh, Hinata, Hinata. You're only making it worse. I can't let you get away with such a crime." He kicked her again, earning a squeal.

"Yes Akito no Danna" she said softly.

"Not loud enough." He said, kicking her other side.

"Yes Akito no Danna!" she yelled, willing the pain away. "I'm sorry!"

"So am I Hinata. I'm going to have to punish you, now. There's no other choice."

It was in that empty street, void of any houses, that Hinata realized what this man was capable of.

The next few weeks went by in a blur for Hinata. After that night she felt broken, and it seemed the only emotion she could feel was fear, that feeling reserved for Akito. Yes, our evil villain took Hinata that night as she lay on the cold hard ground. After that night Akito rarely touched her, merely looking at her was enough to send her body into shock. She had always known him as evil, but she never expected he would go that far. To defile her from head to toe in every way possible was something she had never considered him capable of.

Now the wedding was only two weeks away. Akito had done all of the planning, not even letting Hinata out of the house. This was understandable; Akito wouldn't want Hinata's still-bruised face seen in public. Though the bruises were almost healed, the nasty yellow coloring of them would still cause too much attention. So she spent her days inside cleaning, cooking, and daydreaming about a certain blond. The need for a friend through all of this had really been getting to her, and Deidara was the best friend she ever had. She could also never stop thinking about what could've happen if only she had let him help.

Hinata put the last article of clothing in her suitcase. She would be spending the night at Hanabi's tonight; the first time she would have been there since she refused Deidara's help. Akito was having friends over tonight, and because she would only be in their way, he arranged the sleep over. So, with her suitcase in tow, she began the small walk to her sister's house.

Deidara sighed as he looked at his latest piece of art. It sucked. It really did. He picked up the small half-carved insect and casually dropped it on the floor where it shattered, adding to the pile of other crushed sculptures on his apartment floor. It had been over five months since Deidara had made anything worth selling. Ever since his fight with Hinata, there hasn't been a drop of inspiration in him. He let out another frustrated sigh and left his work bench to stand on the balcony. The sun was almost below the horizon, and as the first few stars began to show Deidara couldn't help but think of Hinata. Even though they weren't talking, they saw each other at least once a day, and lately Deidara hadn't seen Hinata at all. It scared him and he couldn't get the idea of Hinata being terribly hurt out of his mind.

Suddenly Deidara saw Akito walk onto the balcony next door. Not wanting to deal with the jerk, Deidara went to walk back to his apartment. However, he heard a few other voices and his curiosity sparked causing him to stop by the door and listen in on their conversation.

"Ya, she's an annoying little shit, good thing her dad's loaded though." The slurred voice of Akito stated, followed by drunken laughter.

"So where is the little shit Akito?" said a voice Deidara didn't recognize.

"With that sister off hers, Hanabi. Now she's a smart girl, keeps her mouth shut and her head outa other people's business. Always takes Hinata in with her when I can't stand her anymore."

"I don't know Akito, Hinata's a looker, alright." came another unrecognized voice.

"Yeah, well that damn stutter of hers destroys any attractive thing she's got. After her father kicks it, I wouldn't think twice about getting rid of her." Akito laughed at this thought, apparently his friends found it funny too.

Deidara didn't. He clenched his fists.

"Ya", spoke another unfamiliar voice, "Just like that dumb mother of hers. Hiashi was right to get rid of her when he had the chance."

That was enough. Deidara slammed the patio door shut, destroying his cover, and stormed into his kitchen. He grabbed a glass and filled it with tap water, chugging half of it.

She didn't want my help. This is her problem now.

But even as he thought this, he knew he had to warn her. He had to help her this time, whether she wanted it or not. Suddenly, he saw a small piece of paper sticking out of one of the kitchen drawers. Curious, he pulled it out. It was the receipt where he had written Hanabi's phone number. Maybe he'd give her a call.

Hinata wrung the door bell at Hanabi's house, not necessarily wanting to see her sister's worried face. The door was answered soon after and Hanabi was immediately worried by Hinata's appearance.

"…. Hinata…. what happened?"

"It was nothing Hanabi. It was my fault. I should've known better than to refuse him." She tried to smile, but failed horribly.

Hanabi looked as if she might cry. "Come here." She said, pulling Hinata into a hug. Hinata wanted to cry, she wanted to break down and beg for help. But she couldn't do that to Hanabi. She wouldn't. So instead she hugged back and said, "I'm alright". She walked past Hanabi and up to the guest bedroom to unpack her things. As soon as she put her hand on the door knob, memories of that day five months ago started to come back to her as if they happened yesterday, and tears of regret began to fall. With a sigh, she opened the door to the bedroom and slipped inside. She walked into the room and, placing her suitcase on the floor next to the bed, she bent down to open her unpack. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye she saw a small dusty black case. Shocked, she picked it up. It was her flute. Suddenly, Hinata did something that she felt she would never be able to do again. She smiled.

A/N: Two more chapters to go! :D (hopefully, if it all goes according to plan)

I know you all hate me at this point, and I don't blame you, I'm really terrible at updating D;

Good thing I went to Maine for vacation :D (it's in the middle of nowhere so I had plenty of time to write :D)

I picked October for the wedding only because I wanted the art fair to be in April… originally I made it a june wedding, but then I counted back 6 months and realized, "oh. That means the fair was in December… hmm, well that doesn't really work" so ya, this is now taking place in sept. and the weddings in Oct. :D (you can tell I've realllly planned this whole thing out, lol)If you guys notice any mistakes when it comes to dates and stuff please please please point it out to me :] I might've missed some stuff…

And Please please please review! NO FLAMERS like always, and I would love to hear any constructive criticism :D soooooo0o0oo REVIEW!

Anonymous Reviewers:

Black_Cat (): I know it is sad! ]; but don't worry! A happy ending is on the way :DD thanks for the review!