Hinata returned to the manor, slipping inside only to realize she became the center of attention. It seems word of the fight had spread. She never could understand why people would talk about others as though the person wouldn't notice. Either way the gossip wasn't her main concern. The fact that she told her father off the day before made her extremely nervous to return to the main house. Although, she hated the execution of telling him how she feels, she definitely didn't regret the words. However, her hope was to continue training quietly and avoid him as much as possible for the day. In the meantime, she was concerned about sweating out the large amount of alcohol still in her system. It was surprising that after all the barfing, she still felt terrible. 'I wonder if Sai is doing alright' she thought to herself, a light blush coming over her face as she thought of their kiss. A warmth consumed her face as she remembered the drawings and conversation. It was so comfortable. The whole situation really took her by surprise because she never thought he would make that move toward her. Furthermore, did this mean she was over Sasuke? The thought caused a tinge of sadness. Every time she thought about their memories and all they had been through together, moving on seemed more heartbreaking than anything. The happiness that he gave her in the beginning made it impossible for her to hate him.

"Hinata."

The voice jerked her from her thoughts. Her father stood in front of the main house, arms crossed with his cold gaze locked upon her. "Walk with me" he commanded. She followed behind him quietly, wondering when he was going to come down on her for her disrespect. The silence was driving her crazy, she had to say something. "Father, about yesterday..."

"You were right. Your delivery was questionable but nonetheless you were valid in your argument."

Hinata was speechless. She stopped for a moment to process her father's words. Never in her life had she expected her father to ever agree with her on something. This was the man she was sure thought she was incompetent, yet here he is telling her she was right. "T-thank you." She decided to keep walking but more cautiously this time since she didn't trust his rationality.

"It's the reason I believe you would be great leader" he'd say as he opened the door to the garden. "Hanabi, though powerful, lacks what it takes to deal with others. Over the years I've realized what that entails. Brute force is not the way. Unfortunately, I've completely failed in giving that teaching to my daughters." He stepped into the garden, beckoning for Hinata to follow and then seated himself next to the fountain.

Hinata remained quiet, still fearing that he was still going to switch things up. Nevertheless, his words seemed like they were genuine. It warmed her heart that he seemed to be coming to a point where he could understand things a little better or at least he was putting in the effort, rather than ignoring his faults. As she looked at her father she could tell that something had changed in him. He had grown. His aura was completely different.

"I have to commend you. Hanabi was trying to do fatal damage and you handled it well. I don't know if you realize it, but you made quite a statement during that fight. It's the first time, I've seen Hanabi's expression change to one of humility. Furthermore, I would have loved to have seen the fight for myself." He smiled as he looked around the garden before looking to Hinata. "Your mother loved this place. In fact it wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. She wanted an indoor garden and put the labor in to have one. I remember her face when she finally finished it. She said 'This is from my heart. I want us to forever feel happiness from this garden.' As a matter of fact, she spent hours here. She read, meditated, and sometimes even fell asleep especially when she was pregnant with you." Hiashi dropped his gaze. "I've failed her...all she ever wanted was for me to show the two of you love but I just followed the ways of the clan and now I'm seeing how much of a mistake that was. Both of you hate me. You ran away, your sister wants complete control just to make sure I suffer. I wish your mother was here. She would know what to do because everything I do seems to make things worse."

Hinata rested a hand on her father's shoulder. As an adult, she understood his worries, realizing that he just went about everything the wrong way. "I don't hate you. I only wished you would show more compassion when it's needed. Like you said, there's always a better way to approach things and the situation with Hanabi was one of those moments. I'm not proud of the fight between Hanabi and I. However, I was going to defend myself" she explained. "When I look at her, all I see is little Hana. No matter what she does, I will always see her that way. So when I hurt her..." she paused, her voice cracking slightly. "I only saw little Hana being taken away. Father, I don't want us to fight with each other anymore. I want us to build and from what you're saying, I see that you want that as well. In fact, I've had some time to think and I was wondering if the elders would object to both Hanabi and I leading the clan as one?"

"Hm, well I never thought of that before. With two powerful leaders, that would definitely benefit the clan." He looked to her with a smile this time, leaning in to hug her. "I'll propose it to them."

"Thank you" she'd say, returning the hug happily. It was one small step but at least they were just slightly closer to building a bond. "Now father, this is a big stretch but I think you should talk to Hanabi. This goes for both of us actually. We should figure out where she's at with her feelings and then maybe we'll be able to make some progress. We're better off thinking and acting together than apart."

Hiashi nodded, completely in agreement. "I should probably check on her."

"That's a fantastic start."

Sasuke was on his porch when he saw Hinata walking past. She seemed calm...happy. He wanted to call out to her, but he feared that she wouldn't acknowledge him due to their last conversation. All he wanted to hear was her voice."H-hey!" he managed to say, waving to her.

Hinata turned in the direction of the call, immediately noticing who it was. She looked at him for a moment, seeming to have an inner debate with herself before she waved back. It was surprising to see him run down the stairs to talk to her. His actions reminded her of when they first started seeing each other. He always used to show such excitement when he saw her. It's funny how simple things like that can fade away. A smile crept across her lips as she remembered those times,but quickly disappeared as he walked up. "Hey, good to see you're doing well."

The statement surprised Sasuke but it was a relief to hear her wishing him well. "Yeah, me too. I mean, I'm glad you're doing well too. Our last conversation worried me. I thought I would never get to talk to you again."

The aura was slightly uncomfortable now that he mentioned their last conversation. She really had no intention of ever talking to him again but she's been feeling a little better about the happen and she had to accept what he did no matter how hard it was. Plus, talking with Sai was helping too. "Uh, well I was really angry then." Not to mention hurt that her husband was marrying his mistress. "How are the wedding plans?"

"What?"

Hinata gave him a look before repeating herself, "The...wedding plans? I thought you and Sakura were moving forward with your romance."

Hearing the word 'romance' involving him and Sakura made him cringe. He had considered it at first since she was carrying his child, but now that they didn't even know whose child it actually was, he wanted nothing to do with her. Just thinking about that awkward time at her apartment with Naruto was making him upset. "No, things have gotten a little more complicated. Sakura is pregnant."

Hinata tensed when she heard the news, swallowing down the vile taste in her mouth. She tried to keep her expression neutral but the words were ringing in her ears. An intense feeling of guilt came over her, maybe that's why he cheated. She couldn't give him a child, it was her fault. "Is that why you did it?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly as she finally lifted her head to look at him.

Sasuke stood confused for a minute. He did not catch onto how quickly the atmosphere around them had changed till she asked that question. "What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

"Is that why you cheated on me with her? because I couldn't give you a child in your time frame."

"Hinata, that has nothing to do with it. I promise you. Everything that happened with Sakura was a huge mistake" he explained frantically. The time that they weren't talking was too painful for him to endure another period like that. He want to make sure there were no more misunderstandings. "It was never that serious because we don't even know who the father of the child is. Naruto was sleeping with her too."

Her eyes widened from that. She couldn't believe this girl was really trying to juggle the two of them. She was aware how in love Naruto was with Sakura. Honestly, she thought by now he would've grown out of it. There was no one that didn't know about it, but then there was also her obsession with Sasuke. Either way she wanted no part of this. She had just gotten to place of peace and this might take her down a path she didn't want to walk. "I wish you the best with that. I know how important a child is for you."

Sasuke sighed with relief that at least she didn't seem to hate him as much anymore. "I-...I just wanted to say again that I'm deeply sorry for the pain my actions must've caused you. Everything just happened so fast, I never meant for any of it to happen."

"It's okay, I mean the situation is not but I've forgiven you." She understood that she had a part in all of this too. They were supposed to be a team but after the miscarriage she knew she shut him out. Of course that is no excuse for what he has done. However, the more she thought about it, she regretted not trying to talk to him more. Maybe their story could've turned out differently.

"Thank you" he'd say with a smile, grateful for her forgiveness. "I haven't forgiven myself yet. I miss you so much" he added sadly.

Hinata shook her head as she heard his words, her eyes wandered around looking for anything else to focus on but his face. Even now his words had such an effect. They hadn't spoken in so long nor had they physically touched yet here he was standing in front of her and she yearned for more. He made her feel like forgiving everything he had done but the humiliation and betrayal was too great. Maybe with more time?...

"Sasuke!"

There it was, that voice immediately turned her stomach. She turned to Sakura who was hurrying over to them. The girl latched onto Sasuke's arm like a leech, her attention was completely locked onto him. Hinata watched as she pressed herself against his arm, continuing to ignore her presence. She couldn't help but roll her eyes but she was grateful the idiot brought her back to reality.

"Sakura, what are you doing here?" he growled.

"What do you mean? I just came by to see you of course!" Sakura chirped, refusing to look in Hinata's direction.

Hinata chuckled softly at the girl's pompous attitude. She had to really give it to Sakura with her incessant need to act as though everything was peachy. For this reason she wanted nothing more than to lay into her but she knew it would be useless. This wasn't her territory anymore.

Sasuke looked to Hinata before looking back to Sakura. This was highly unfortunate because it had been so long since he'd seen Hinata let alone having the opportunity to talk to her. Then again what could he do, this was possibly the mother of his child. There was no turning her away. "Is there anything new from the doctor?"

Sakura dropped her head, lifting it only to glance at Hinata for a moment. "I think we should speak privately" she whispered.

Hinata sighed heavily, understanding exactly what was happening. "I'm going to go. I have to meet someone for lunch anyways."

Sasuke looked to Hinata, slipping out of Sakura's grasp. "Wait...will we get to talk again?" He was curious about this person she was meeting, but then again he knew not to overstep.

Before Hinata could respond Sai walked up to the three with a bright smile on his face. Something about it didn't seem very genuine. "Hey" he'd say greeting only Hinata before glancing to the other two. His eyes met with Sasuke's and though he kept his smile he didn't really care for him.

"Everything ok? You ready for lunch?" he asked curiously.

Hinata could feel the tension building between the two men and felt slightly nervous. She nodded quietly in response to Sai, completely avoiding Sasuke's face. This shouldn't be a surprise to him that she would be moving on but she could feel his anger. She finally forced herself to look back at the two, giving a small wave before walking off with Sai.

Sasuke watched Hinata for a moment, feeling his heart break as she happily chatted away with Sai. He thought about this everyday she wasn't with him. There was no surprise she would find someone but he didn't like it. Nor did he like Sai. He looked back to Sakura glaring at her for a minute before heading up the stairs to the apartment. "Sakura, I told you not to come here anymore. Until I know who the father of the child is or there's an emergency these visits need to stop."

Sakura followed behind him, keeping her head down as she was scolded. She really hadn't planned to visit him today. In fact, she just happened to see him chatting with Hinata and decided to intervene. There was no telling what a simple conversation might lead to and it looks like she managed to stop it in time before it could progress. Anyways, at least she could feel happy at the fact that they were together now, even if he didn't want her there. "I just wanted to talk about the baby."

The Uchiha was halfway in the house when he heard her. Was he being too harsh again? This is was an important experience and though he didn't know if he was the father maybe he still needed to be supportive. "Is the baby healthy?"

Sakura smiled and reached down to touch her stomach before looking to Sasuke. "Our baby is healthy and growing. I even got a photo today" she explained, reaching into her purse to pull it out and hand it to him.

He took the picture, looking at it for a moment. "You can come in, but you can't stay. I'm serious" he warned, opening the door wide enough for her to slip in.

Sakura frowned slightly at how dirty the place was but she knew better than to comment. Her bag was placed on the coffee table before she seated herself on the couch. Her eyes wandered around the room while he looked at the photo. Unfortunately they landed on a photo of him and Hinata on the bookshelf. She was fuming.

He watched as she settled in, placing the picture next to her purse. "I want to say this again and I want to be very clear. For a moment I did consider the possibility of us being together for the sake of the child but now that I don't know if it's my child for sure that will never happen, even if it is my child. I think it was foul not to at least let me know you were involved with someone else when you learned of this pregnancy."

"I-I" she started but went back to being quiet. She knew more than anyone that Sasuke would never go back on his decision. "Well I just felt I needed to do that since you had Hinata. I agree I should have let it be known that I sometimes enjoyed Naruto's company but I was just so sure that it was yours I didn't want to include him that experience."

She was right about Hinata but it was different in the fact that she was the one with the ability to get pregnant. "You shouldn't have proclaimed I was the father if you weren't sure. That's a serious accusation. I lost my wife and any possibility of us getting back together."

"Sasuke, I never forced you to sleep with me. You made that decision all by yourself and I never objected because frankly, we are meant to be together. Look at our history" she explained standing to her feet to walk over to him. "No matter what, you know we have more in common than you have with her."

"Get out" he spat. "Hinata is the reason I was even able to integrate back in to this village. She didn't look at me with pity or scorn. For someone to leave everything she knows out of love for me, I'm the worst for what I did to her. Sakura I know of your feelings but I've never felt that way toward you even when we slept together...it never meant anything to me."

"You don't mean that" she whispered. "Sasuke, I could tell you weren't happy and I was there for you. I'm always here for you, even back then. All those nights you came to me to talk and you told me how you felt disconnected…"

"That was a mistake. I should have been speaking to her instead of running to you like a coward" he admitted. "Now I've lost the most important thing to me."

"Now you're just being stupid. She moved on!" Sakura fumed. She walked away to go over to the picture, knocking it down. The frame broke as soon as it hit the floor. "That was a fantasy. I'm real, I'm giving you everything you want. Someone who loves you and a child."

Sasuke was infuriated. That was the last photo he had of him and Hinata. He walked over to bend down and carefully remove the frame and broken glass from the picture before standing up. "LISTEN" he boomed. "I have never and will never love you. The way you act is pathetic and I want you out of my house immediately."

Sakura huffed as tears ran down her face and before she knew it her hand instinctively moved to slap Sasuke across the face. She rushed to grab her purse and stormed out of his house. There was nothing else to say and this was the first time she actually felt there was no hope for the two of them. Once again she was made to realize she would never be his first choice.