She watches the fire as it grow stronger by the minute.

She can hear the villagers scream in joy as everyone gathers to witness one of the greatest executions in history.

The death of Sasuke Uchiha.

" Die you traitor!" says one as they throw rocks towards his lifeless body.

" Burn him! Burn Sasuke Uchiha!" yells another as they gather a crowd of supporters to join them.

More and more villagers gather until a crowd is formed. Most are cheering, although there is a select few who mourn in silent as they watch their friend and comrade burn in death.

Because they knew.

She remembers the time when they first met as children.

They were less than five. And although the rivalry between their clan was intense, they knew nothing of it.

" H-hi, I-I'm H-hinata Hyuga." squeaked the meek little girl.

" Hi! I'm Sasuke Uchiha! You want to play with me? It's kinda boring waiting for our parents to be done." asked the excited little boy.

He took his hand out waiting for her reply.

She took it without hesitation.

That day they ran outside to pick flowers together, despite the protests from their clans.

He had given her a flower crown and declared her a princess.

The fire continues to flicker.

It starts to burn the pile of wood near the bottom of the stack leaving behind ash and charcoal. More villagers continue to gather. All were mesmerized by the fire as it danced around the stack of wood.

She remembers when they were seven.

He had just lost his home due to an attack on his clan. Details were kept secret, but there were rumors that the attack was due to Itachi Uchiha.

His elder brother.

Sasuke was the only survivor.

The attack had wiped the clan from existence and along with it, it had also taken a part of him. It was named the Uchiha Massacre that year. It was also around that time that Sasuke had changed.

" Sasuke-kun rejected another girl again." a girl sighed.

The rest of them sighed in unison. " But isn't he so cool?" asked another girl.

" Yeah! He's so dreamy!" said another.

Right then, Sasuke had walked by. When the girls screamed in joy, he gave them a cold glare and coldly told them to get out of his way.

Three girls cried and ran away in fear.

Standing in the corner was her. She had witness the whole interaction. And although they had not spoken to one another in over a year, she could see.

Behind those cold, dark eyes was a lonely boy in grief.

When Sasuke had finally turned twelve, he had left the village without hesitation.

She feels a hand on her arm. She turns and finds his old teammates standing behind her.

They both had tears in their eyes.

" I'm so sorry Hinata. I'm so sorry." Sakura quietly sobbed.

She looks at Naruto.

He returns her gaze with a look of guilt, regret, and grief.

"I'm sorry, Hinata. I couldn't save him." he whispers.

She doesn't say anything and continues to watch the fire.

She remembers when they were nineteen.

Two years had gone by since the Third Great War had ended. Team Seven had defeated the great Goddess that tried to enslave the world. A few days after the war had ended, he had left with only good-byes exchanged between his teammates.

His return had shocked the whole village.

Some were happy, but most were suspicious. Not many welcomed the man, but she was one of the few who had accepted him and his past. Many of her friends dissuade her, but she didn't care.

She believed in second chances.

" Your friends don't like this you know."

They were having tea together on the porch at his house. It was pouring rain, but they didn't mind. The sound of rain soothed them. It gave them a sense of peace and belonging.

" I know." she answered.

" If you know then why do you come here?" he asked again.

Her pale, pupiless eyes looked at him until their eyes met. She took a minute to memorize his features. The way his messy black hair stood on its ends, the way his beautiful pale skin reflected in contrast to the gray skies, the serious but calm expression that he always held, and most of all, his beautiful dark eyes. His eyes held years of experienced hardship, solitude, and violence, yet within them held a mystery that no one had ever discovered because most were too afraid to look deeper. They were too afraid of the violent man and the reputation he had created, but not Hinata.

It intrigued her.

" Because I want to." she finally said before returning to her tea.

He didn't say anything else that day, and they both sat the rest of that afternoon watching the rain in peace.

They became married two years later.

Some start throwing rocks.

Others start throwing more wood.

The fire ignites and becomes bigger as she watches.

She can hear all of them shouting various things about him. Some of the shinobi try to calm the raging crowd, but it was no use. There are simply too many of them.

They continue to call him a traitor. They call him a killer who deserved to be put to death. They continue to celebrate his execution.

Some of the rocks start hitting his body.

She remembers when they were twenty-three.

That was when the killings started.

It had been a couple of shinobi, at first, who were said to have died from mysterious causes. When they had tried to find the killer, they became stumped. It was then that villagers started to die as well.

Sasuke was sent to help investigate.

There were rumors that a serial killer was on the loose in the village. New laws were established to help keep the villagers safe. Still, it was no use and the killings kept happening. However, it soon became clear as various shinobi discovered the same signs in the victims.

It was the work of a Uchiha.

I can't believe they're accusing you!"

He had just finished making dinner when she had angrily came home. She had just finished a mission and was on her way home until she had overheard some civilians gossiping about her husband. It had made her so angry that she started arguing with them. Kiba and Shino had to physically pull her away.

" Hinata, you need to calm down." He said.

" Calm down?! How can I be calm when the entire village is accusing my husband as the killer!"

Sasuke gently sat her down on the couch, while he stood on his knees in front of her. He used one of his hands to hold hers while the other one gently stroked her head. This wasn't the first time in which she had become angry due to the rumors.

The rumors had started not too long ago. Many had accused her husband of being the killer. Investigating shinobi were stumped, which only served to fuel everyone's suspicions. They demanded Sasuke be put in jail and executed. Luckily, there were enough shinobi supporting him that prevented that from happening.

But soon, that protection would not be enough.

" You've done so much for this village, Sasuke-kun. It's been years since you were that way. You aren't the same man as you were six years ago. How can they not see that!"

She started to cry.

" Hinata, you're being irrational." he responded.

This made her even more angry.

" I hear what they say, Sasuke-kun. I see what they do. They give you and I looks. They want you dead, even though you've done so much for them. They call you a traitor! How can you be so calm about all of this?!" She cried.

He cupped her cheek and looked at her.

" I know. But that's what the evidence says. And that's exactly why you shouldn't engage with them. Don't fuel their suspicions and hatred even more. Naruto, Shikamaru, Sai, and I are working on it. We'll find the killer soon. We both knew that I made a lot of enemies. This person is one of them. That's why we can't play into their hands."

" I know. I know, but it's frustrating." She said as she tried to wipe her tears.

He knew this meant that she had finally calm down. It made him smile.

" I know, Hinata. I know. But no more fighting with the villagers okay?" He asked.

She nodded her head while pouting.

This made him laugh in response.

Wrapping his arms around her, he gave her another smile. She could feel the warmth of his body and the way it trembled as he breathed. It made her blush, but she loved it because he only showed this side of him towards her. It was their little secret.

" I love you, Hinata." he whispered.

The words made her smile.

" I love you too, Sasuke-kun." she whispered back.

In that moment, she really did believed that things would become okay again.

Little did she know it would only become worse.

She feels something dripping down on her cheek.

Tears.

The fire finally starts reaching his body. Flames start burning the tips of his clothes. She looks at the lifeless corpse that was once her husband.

He looks beautiful.

She hears more shouting, but ignores them. She only has eyes on him. More shinobi gather to stop the riot that is forming. Soon, Naruto and Sakura are forced to also help out. Quietly, amongst the chaos that is brewing around her, she starts to walk.

Each step she takes brings her closer to the fire.

No one notices.

She remembers when they were twenty-four.

A year and a half had passed since the rumors had began. There was too much evidence pointing to Sasuke, forcing him off the investigation. Soon, it was announced that they were to arrest Sasuke Uchiha. However, he had managed to escape and left the village soon after. While in hiding, he kept on investigating the killings in order to clear his name.

Naruto and Sai were suspended from duty and placed under house arrest for helping his escape.

After he had left, villagers had begun to harass her. They accused her of being his accomplice. They had called her the demon's woman. When they found out she was a few months pregnant, their harassment became more brutal. Her teammates and friends had tried to protect her, but even they became overwhelmed by the amount of hatred and harassment she faced.

Still, she held on to hope.

She believed in her husband's innocence. She had vowed to wait for him to find the killer. For months, she continued to wait. For months, she continued to face the daily harassment.

But soon, even she couldn't handle it anymore.

Soon, they wanted to burn her and her child to death.

After six months, he had finally come back.

It was then, that everything ended.

All she could see was blood splattered on the street.

Her blood.

She had been walking on the street heading home when he suddenly appeared. By the time she had realized who it was, it was too late. She felt a sharp pain near her stomach. Shocked, she stood there frozen unable to do anything.

She had been stabbed.

The people that had been nearby screamed. They started panicking. Some ran away, while others tried to hide behind something to watch the scene before them. Those that ran screamed for help. Soon, the streets became filled with chaos. Hinata ignored them all. She was only focused on the man who had stabbed her with his sword.

Sasuke.

" W-why?" she whispered.

She watched as his eyes started to change color. His left eye became purple with black rings and three tomoes, while his right eye became crimson red with three tomoes as well. He had activated his Rinnegan and Sharingan.

Suddenly, she felt another sharp pain. He had taken the sword out of her body, preparing for another attack. She could hear more panicked screams from the villagers as more blood splattered around. The pain had caused her to collapse on her knees.

He coldly glared at her with his dojutsu, forcing her to freeze in place.

" I only married you because I wanted to use you. But you're useless now." He loudly responded.

He swung his sword preparing to kill her. As he did, his body also got closer until his face was near hers.

" Prepare to die now." He said.

Right before his sword plunged into her body, she heard him whisper something in her ear.

" Good-bye, Hinata."

She had woken up a few days later in the hospital. The moment she was conscious, she had demanded to see Sasuke and her child. Sakura, who had been her doctor during her time spent in a coma, had to physically force anesthesia on her to calm her down. When she had finally calmed down, Sakura sat across from Hinata to tell her what had happened.

" I'm sorry, Hinata. We couldn't save the child."

Hinata screamed.

A month passed.

The village didn't allow her to hold a funeral for her child due to its blood belonging to Sasuke. Still, she had created a grave for her child and placed it next to Sasuke's parents. After that day, she had been unable to sleep and locked herself in their home. It wasn't until her sister, Hanabi, who had showed up with some of Hinata's friends to mourn with her, did she finally come out. Soon after, Hanabi, despite protests from the Hyuga, would come over every day to visit her. Sometimes she would bring her friends, other times she would come alone.

After he had stabbed her, Sasuke had been arrested thanks to Naruto. He was sentenced to death after being found guilty of the killings. He had been scheduled to be executed in three months.

After his arrest, the killings had stopped. The harassment she had dealt with also died down soon after. The village had become peaceful again.

But Hinata continued to grieve.

She cried every night until she had ran out of tears. Soon, she began to feel numb unable to feel anything. She became lifeless, a shell of her former self. She was no longer happy. She no longer had anything to live for.

Because she knew.

That day when he had stabbed her, she had noticed how he had changed. His body had lost weight and his expression looked tired. The thing that shocked her the most was the blood she had seen under his eyes.

It wasn't hers.

She remembered the words he had said to her. It wasn't the words he had said out loud. Those words were only for the public to hear.

It was the words he had said using his Sharingan.

I'm sorry Hinata.

I'm sorry I couldn't protect you and our child.

This was the only way.

I hope you and our child can forgive me.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry for everything.

Those words never left her mind. She would replay them over and over again. She wanted to hate him, but she couldn't.

Because he was right.

She had lost her husband. She had lost her only child. She had lost everything.

The killer had won.

She feels a hand grab her.

She turns to see her sister. Hanabi is trembling and her pale eyes held fear and concern for her.

She had noticed her walking towards the now blazing flames.

" What are you doing?!" She shouts in panic.

Her shouts are soon heard by her friends.

When they realize what she is doing, they begin to run towards her. She can hear them shout her name, yelling at her to stop. She gently shakes her sister's hands off. They look at each other for a moment.

Hanabi's eyes are begging her to stop.

She glances at her husband as the flames continue to burn brightly before turning back to Hanabi. She gives her sister one last smile.

" I'm going home."

She turns and starts to run towards him. She can hear her sister shouting along with her friends, but she ignores them all. Her eyes are only on her husband. She can hear them continue to run towards her in hopes of stopping her, but it was too late.

She jumps into the fire.

" I'm home now."

Hearing her voice, Sasuke turned to look at her. In his arms was a sleeping infant with black hair and pale skin. He had been making lunch for the three of them in the kitchen. When he saw her, he greeted Hinata with a warm smile.

" Welcome home."