She clung to his arm and hung close to his side. Always there, always present by his side, and always quiet. She seemed like a wide eyed little girl next to a strong male figure. Most of the time, she wasn't even acknowledged by him or his friends. But this was becoming normal after being by his side for so long.

She had been by his side since they were six years old, and they told each other that they were going to marry each other. It seemed like young, stupid love, but it was sincere love. But as the years progressed and the years that they had been together became almost a decade, it had lost childhood innocence and sincerity.

She wanted to love him, she wanted to make it work, but his ego and this thirst for power and influence made it maddeningly hard on her. He had lost his face, and she just wanted him to find his way back home to her. He didn't seem like himself anymore, and it broke her heart every time he swore that he was still there.

But he wasn't.

She pushed herself so close to his side that she seemed stuck to him, like a leech almost, but a leech is how she felt, she held onto his hand as if she was afraid to let go.

"Sasuke, are you going to take that shit from Suna?" Naruto asked during passing period in the hallway as they were walking to their next class, history.. Suna was Konoha's school rival, and they were underestimating Sasuke's abilities as the schools starting quarterback, and that pissed him off.

Sasuke clenched his jaw, and she knew this as a tactic he used to control himself when he was feeling angry, "I'll take their shit, then I'll prove them wrong at the game Friday," he answered in an ominous voice.

She squeezed his hand, as a gesture to reassure her belief in him, although she always believed in him. She had no one else to believe in, not even herself.

Naruto nodded, "Good luck, I heard that their new defensive is a bitch! The players are so good, and they're huge! I also heard that their safeties are so fast! I heard that quarterbacks have a hard time outrunning them, and—", Sasuke's look silenced Naruto.

"Shut up Naruto, I'll do just fine, no matter what," Sasuke was squeezing her hand at this point, then he let it go and walked on, leaving her and Naruto in the dust.

Naruto looked at her, "What's up with him, Hinata?" he asked.

Hinata shrugged and rushed after him, she knew that he'd want to come over and talk about this later. She was always so worried about Sasuke and how he felt, that he almost forgot about how she felt. And frankly, Hinata forgot about her own feelings as well.

She entered the classroom and take her seat next to him, as usual. He looked over at her, then looked away coldly. Hinata shifted her weight uncomfortably in her desk, wanting so badly for Sasuke to go back to the Sasuke that she knew.

She looked over at him and opened her mouth to speak, but then a nuisance came into the classroom, and he looked angry.

He walked straight up to Sasuke and grasped the sides of the desk, staring straight into Sasuke's cold onyx eyes, "Well captain, why didn't you fucking tell me that practice was moved from the lower field to the upper field yesterday?"

Sasuke just stared at him, not saying anything, but his eyes were full of hate.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Sasuke finally said.

"I think that I'm your fucking wide receiver and that I should be told these things because we have a god damn game Friday against Suna," he replied.

Hinata squirmed in her seat. "K-Kiba, Sasuke, please," she protested quietly.

Sasuke gave her a glare that shut Hinata up, all that she could do was watch and see what unfolds.

"I don't want you fucking playing when all you do is screw off and not take practice seriously," Sasuke stood up and said through clenched teeth. Now their face were close to each other, and they were glaring at each other.

"I don't screw off! You just refuse to include me when we're deciding which plays to do! So I never know what's going on. You're the annoying fuck that thinks he's the star player on our fucking team!" Kiba shot back, standing his ground and not breaking their gaze even once.

Hinata shifted her gaze from Kiba to Sasuke, then to Kiba again. She was sure that this would end in violence as usual. She moved her hand to her mouth.

"I am the star player! I'm the starting quarterback! You're just some shitty receiver," Sasuke bit back. Kiba shook his head and punched Sasuke square in the jaw. Sasuke fell back in his chair and then got up to lunge at Kiba and tackle him to the floor.

They rolled around, flailing, punching, and kicking each other. Everyone in the class was staring at them, some egging them on, some in horror and halfheartedly protested.

Hinata leaped from her seat and shrank against the wall. She knew that the old Sasuke was a pacifist, that he would never hurt anyone. But this new Sasuke was different, he wasn't hers anymore.

It wasn't until Naruto came in and jumped right in to pull Kiba off of Sasuke that the fight finally stopped. Then the teacher came rushing in and he restrained Sasuke from attacking Kiba, and sent both of them to the office.

Hinata slid into her seat and buried her hands in her face. Every time Kiba and Sasuke had an argument, it ended in violence.

"And then Mrs. Tsunade said that I could leave, once again I got off easy while Kiba got into trouble. He's not allowed to play the game Friday," Sasuke told Hinata as they were lying on her bed that afternoon. They were staring up at the ceiling, like they used to do when they were little, and the top of their heads were almost touching as they laid there.

"Well don't you think you're too hard on Kiba?" Hinata finally said. "He just wants to play football, and he's not half bad at it, he catches all of your passes," she defended. She felt like she could talk to Sasuke like this, because they were staring up at the ceiling and he couldn't look her in the eye and give her a disapproving look. Or chill her with his gaze.

"Hinata, why are you defending him?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata felt the blood rush to her head, she didn't want a fight, "I-I just think that if you're on a team, that you should care about everyone on your team. I mean, you're captain so you need to think of the good of your team,"

Sasuke pondered this for a moment, "You know, Hinata," he finally spoke. "If you think that highly of everyone, even scum like Kiba, then you won't be as powerful as me,"

Hinata felt dizzy now, although she was lying down and staring at the ceiling.

"You need to stop being a child, you need to let go of your dream world, not everything's like that. Not anymore it isn't. I don't want you holding me down because of your childish ideals," he scolded her.

Hinata had to choke back tears. She didn't speak after this. Sasuke finally sat up and turned to stare down at her, before giving her a kiss on the lips and leaving, without another word.

Hinata thought about what he said for a while. Maybe she was the problem; maybe it was her fault why Sasuke wasn't the same anymore.

She rolled over onto her side and pulled her legs up to her stomach. She remembered being twelve years old again and laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, and talking like they did after school every day. Even when Sasuke had football practice, he still came over after that and they talked until her mother yelled at him to go home.

And then she tried to remember past freshmen year in high school, and it wasn't as pleasant as those memories of innocence were. Where she could get lost in him, but now she was so lost. Lost without him. Lost in his ego, which didn't seem to have room for her anymore.

And with this realization, she cried until she finally fell asleep.