Chapter One, Serendipity.

Hinata could feel it.

The traces of her past floating upwards from her tightly-shut heart to her mind where it threatened to shatter her resolve. A past that was not entirely unpleasant. A past…that wasn't exactly a past either.

Four weeks.

She never knew twenty-eight consecutive days could feel as though they were never-ending. She never knew she could even feel something like this anymore. Something so poignant it threatened to unravel everything around her. Everything she had worked so hard on suddenly felt cold and formless like water, and she found herself unable to hold it properly anymore.

"The world will break your heart." Her mother once said as she paused from her work. Hyuuga Hikari pushed her matted hair from her forehead back, exposing an odd pattern. Hinata, who was no older than four at the time, didn't really understand. But she nodded and her mother continued: "But, everyone's world revolves around something different. Sometimes it's a person, sometimes it's a job… But mostly it's never worth the aftermath."

But Hinata was not the little girl who fainted and blushed at the mere mention of anything obscene. She was no longer dictated by her heart. The appearance of her hesitant stutter was a rarity. She was strong and successful and she didn't want a world that she was powerless against. She didn't want her heart shattered by someone so undeserving.

But, Hyuuga Hinata was no coward and she did not hide from her problems, not anymore.

Her world was about to break her heart.

Hinata looked up to watch the slow, heavy clouds crawl across the sky. The sun was hidden from view and the entire village was cast in a shallow, grey light, it reminded Hinata of waking up after her encounter with Pein. With Sakura next to her, the pair watched the clouds that promised rain advance towards them, as they waited for Naruto with hearts that promised to break.

She turned to look at her blonde-haired comrade. His clothes were torn and the tips of his messy spikes where stained red. He felt her gaze rest on him and he turned to give her one of his long, slow grins that use to evoke so many emotions in her.

She felt nothing.

"He was a bit of a tricky bastard to find, wasn't he?" Naruto grinned angrily, nodding his head in the direction of the missing nin who stumbled a few feet ahead of them. The man's hands were bound behind his back and his head hung low.

"Mm," she agreed. The corners of her lips twitched up wearily as she recalled their adversities in locating the great Kazumichi. Her mask was still pulled over her face so Naruto couldn't see her small but receptive smile. But maybe he saw how her eyes lightened, or maybe he didn't really care about her thoughts and was just happy to be home.

They took the blooded and subdued missing-nin through the back streets, careful to remain out of the view from the citizens of Konoha. Surprisingly, the great Kazumichi was docile and quiet once every chakra point in his body was sealed and his sternum crushed. His breathing was labored and wheezy, but he made no other noise.

Naruto agreed to hand Kazumichi into the interrogation unit and let Hinata go home and shower. She wasn't feeling very well and vomited several times on their way home. His shoes had the proof. Guilt marred her features.

"Thank you, Naruto. But you really don't have to-"

"No I do. It's fine, really. Besides I need to ask Ino something about tonight, so if anything it's convenient!" Naruto gushed, fixing her with his cerulean blue eyes which brimmed with promise and hope. A colour that was most definitely absent from the murky sky today. "Anyway," he continued, grinning. "The longer it takes for me to get home, the more excited Sakura-chan is to see me."

She flexed her gloved fingers. She didn't want to just dump Naruto with Kazumichi, especially if he had other things he'd rather be doing. Sakura, namely. It sometimes took hours to check-in a missing nin to Interrogations. "Naruto," she protested.

He waved her off, breaking into a small jog and unceremoniously pushed their captive forward. Kazumichi released a raspy yelp of agony. "You should take off your mask too! The Anbu masks always gives me headaches." Naruto called.

She watched him disappear behind a corner and heard him say something to Kazumichi along the lines of picking up the pace and he wasn't fooling anyone with his limp.

She sighed, shaking her head as she sauntered forward in the direction of the Hyuuga compound. It was getting late and if she didn't hurry she would be late for Shikamaru's birthday celebrations.

After a slight hesitation, Hinata slipped inside the door. The aroma of smoke, alcohol and sweat hit her as she moved from the entrance. The bar was packed and it was obvious she was one of the last to arrive. Chewing the side of her lip, she carefully searched the crowd. Sakura met her gaze and waved.

Sakura produced two shots of vodka from the bar and handed one eagerly to Hinata. Her apple green eyes glimmered in the evocative way Hinata had, so often, heard Naruto muse about.

Hinata eyed the drink. She never liked vodka, but right now even the thought of the drink's astringent taste made her stomach churn. "I'm not drinking tonight," she murmured.

Sakura blinked. "Oh right, of course. Naruto said something about you not feeling well on the mission." A perfect strand of pink hair fell across her eyes as she closed in on Hinata. "Do you-"

"I'm fine," Hinata said quickly, slipping out of the medic's reaching hands. "Allergies." She supplied as Sakura's expression darkened.

Ino was more than eager to drink the spare vodka and Hinata watched the two old friends giggle and murmur to each other as they promptly ordered seconds. With a fond smile Hinata reverted her gaze from the suddenly bickering girls to scan the dimly lit bar.

She spotted Kiba on the dance floor chatting to a pretty blonde, and Shino was conversing quietly with Tenten and Lee. But it was the small, intimate group leaning against the bar that caught her attention, and she immediately wished they didn't. Naruto was sitting on a bar-stool with his arms outstretched proudly showing his newest scar. But it wasn't the girls hovering around him that caught Hinata's attention and refused to release it. Uchiha Sasuke was leaning against the bar with a smirk and a red-head.

She found herself unable to look away from the intimate exchange as Sasuke leaned closer, his lips almost brushing against the woman's ears. The red-head's fingers reflectively dug into the bar when his lips ghosted her throat. Hinata watched the pair until Sasuke's jaw flexed and he looked up to search the crowd for the pair of burning eyes he felt. She dropped her gaze just before his smoldering stare reached her and she dove behind Shikamaru. Pressing her form as close to the bar as she could, she hastily ordered a drink.

Shikamaru eyed her for a moment. She wore all black and there was an unusual scowl pinned across her cheeks. She looked distressed and breathless. Unusual. "Hey," he finally said.

Her body went rigid, before she recognised the deep, lazy tone of the Nara. She turned her head to smile at him. Her eyes looked like two reflective moons fringed by thick fluttering lashes underneath the smoke and shadows of the bar. "Happy birthday," she said. "Are you having a good night?"

He bristled awkwardly. Large, rambunctious gatherings were not his idea of an entertaining night; however he was enjoying the party because everyone else seemed to be. Especially his girlfriend who was currently playing a game of truth and dare with Sakura - and several strange men. "Troublesome."

She agreed, laughing softly as she reached forward to take her drink off the grimacing barmaid.

"Lemonade and vodka?" Shikamaru raised an inquisitive eyebrow as he eyed her fruity drink.

"No," Hinata paused. "Just lemonade."

Something about the cautious interest that crept into the Nara's eyes made her shrink backwards. In a desperate attempt to remain composed under Shikamaru's scrutiny she averted her attention towards her drink. She stared deep into the glass, as though it contained the most intriguing secret.

Shikamaru watched her for a moment longer; taking in the unwelcoming frown curled along her lips and how her cheeks were stained red in fury or worry, he couldn't tell. Her body was set in all hard lines and her muscles were tensed. She looked on edge. As though she was about to attack, or, fracture and breakdown in an opulent fashion. He wasn't sure which scared him more: a violent or a crying woman. Both made him shudder.

"So," he coughed, clearing his throat. "How have you been Hinata?"

"Fine,"

"That's good," Shikamaru nodded. "I haven't seen you in a while."

She remained perfectly still, apart from her pale finger that began to tap against the glass with jittery urgency. Her gaze remained fixed downwards and gave away nothing. "I've been away on Anbu missions,"

"I thought you were avoiding something,"

She stiffened. A cold wave of anxiety flooded through her body as she snapped to look at him. Something wholly unfriendly lay within her cold, fixed stare.

"I-I was joking," he mentioned shakily. He straightened his posture and released the caustic Hyuuga from his stare. He gazed across the room, taking in the hazy appearances of his team-mates beneath the shadowy lighting of the bar. Everyone seemed perfectly absorbed in their own encounters, unaware of him or the brooding Hyuuga. Apart from the dark-haired man staring – no, glaring – at him.

The Nara dropped his gaze, unsure of where the malignancy stemmed from. He wasn't doing anything litigious. He was only talking to the quiet Hyuuga Hinata. A purely innocent affair. But jealousy laced the dark-haired figure's glower. It was in that moment, peering into the murky contents of his glass, harrowing realisation flashed across Shikamaru's eyes.

He looked at her, something was off about the Hyuuga. Something was very off.

His lips parted, a keen question played along the edge of his mouth when someone abruptly threw their arms around his shoulders.

Hinata's breathing evened. She welcomed the distraction Ino presented.

The blonde's arms looped around Shikamaru's shoulder, and she pressed her cheek against his. Her eyes were closed and a drowsy smile stretched across her lips. "Sakura just punched someone."

"How… troublesome." Shikamaru commented.

"It was funny," Ino countered coyly. Her eyes slid open to peer at Hinata then. "Hinata let's do shots!" The hazy blonde began to detach herself from Shikamaru and move towards the indigo-haired Anbu operative.

Shikamaru sighed, before his hand reached forward to jerk his rather drunken girlfriend back towards him. Ino's expression soured, and her famed temper flared across her delicate features. "Shikamaru-" she warned.

"Hinata's not drinking tonight." Shikamaru waved her off. Though he wasn't looking at his petulant girlfriend. No, he was staring directly at Hinata. His knowing brown eyes seared deep into her paler ones. Hinata could see the realisation unfurl within his mind. He was far too observant for her liking. Far too smart.

"Oh yes, Naruto said something about that… Hinata are you okay? I heard you got sick on his shoe." Ino giggled, amusement etched into her slurred voice. The blonde looked rather unsteady as she began to sway backwards and then forwards. However, this time Shikamaru's attention was focused solely on Hinata.

"Food poisoning," Hinata countered coolly.

"I thought it was allergies-" Ino started.

"Allergies?" A soft, sanguine voice cut in.

Hinata froze. Her heart teetered and skidded to a grand halt, assaulting her entire being with a cold and all-consuming sense of dread. The air grew stagnant and pregnant with tension, and something else. Something corrosive that caused her chest to tighten and Hinata swore she couldn't breathe for several long, perilous moments.

Four weeks.

The Hyuuga looked up.

Onyx clashed with white.

She felt her stomach lurch forward sickeningly. The whole room seemed to spin on its axis and whirl out of focus. Time grounded to an uneven stop and left her mouth dry and she scrabbled for her voice. Her heartbeat jolted to a start. Clattering off her chest in great clamorous thuds that rose in octave, until all she could comprehend was the relentless thrumming of her heart in her ears.

He was looking at her. He was waiting for her reply. Everyone was looking at her -waiting for her reply.

Uchiha Sasuke was dressed exclusively in black. The colourings of his attire clashed against the deathly pallor of his skin. His midnight eyes crawled across the length of her form; her skin erupting in flames in the wake of his smoldering stare. His dark glance stopped on her face, and his eyes widened. He took in her unfamiliar expression with a curious frown. Her usual soft and welcoming features were set in defensive and unyielding lines. Thinly hidden terror tinged her white eyes.

Shikamaru's eyebrow quirked as he watched the heated exchange between Sasuke and Hinata. It was curious… Shikamaru realised blearily, the two shouldn't know each other. Yet there was a distinct familiarity between the duo. It was almost tangible. Whatever it was between them seemed to spill out from their stare, and ebb into the air. The two seemed perfectly unaware of anyone else in that pivotal moment as they drank in each other's features.

Hinata's lips parted. The maddening drone of her beating heart in her ears drowned out any sound. The room seemed to whirl and everything but Sasuke shifted out of focus. Her stomach hurled. She could see her look of horror and barely contained nausea confused him. His liquid blackness eyed narrowed. He didn't even seem to be blinking. She didn't appear to be breathing, he noted.

Say something, she ordered herself frantically. "I need to see Kiba," she said thickly. She swallowed hard. It felt as though there were tiny shards of glass lodged deep into her throat. "Ino, Shikamaru," she croaked, before pausing and wincing internally. "Sasuke."

She didn't look at him as she slipped away, holding her drink so tightly she worried the glass might just shatter brilliantly. She felt ill. She could feel his eyes burning into her back as she fled across the crowded dance floor.

She stumbled into Kiba unceremoniously. He caught her, of course. Steadying his pale-eyed and flushed team-mate, he watched her. "Hinata are you okay?"

The busty blonde he'd been previously conversing with looked a little affronted by Hinata's abrupt entrance. She frowned at how Kiba's tentative hands held Hinata's waist.

"I-I'm fine." Hinata stammered, blushing even harder at the return of her childhood stutter. The appearance of her stutter unnerved Kiba. He'd hadn't heard the Hyuuga's nervous verbal tendency in years. She evened out her breathing. Placing a hand on Kiba's shoulder she lightly pushed him away and straightened up. "I'm okay, really. I just feel a little sick from today's mission."

Her eyes were an ivory concoction of tremulous emotions. She blinked. Trying to smile and failing. She became acutely aware of the irritated blonde's pointed glower. She ignored it. Fixing her attention to one of her oldest friends.

"Are you sure? Do you need me to walk you home or-"

"N-no!" Hinata peeped. An unnerving smile knitted itself across her full lips in a vain attempt to calm her teammate. "I'm fine, really. I'm going to sit with Tenten and Shino now." The Hyuuga detached herself from Kiba's hold. He put up no protest to her evasive ministrations. He simply stared with wide confused eyes.

The pretty blonde beside him quivered as unveiled anger burned deep within her eyes. Hinata bit her lip. "It was nice meeting you," she mentioned absently.

Without another word the Hyuuga dipped into the crowd, leaving both Kiba and his female companion staring after her. She welcomed the darkness of the dimly lit bar and how easy it was to disappear into the moving expanse of bodies which cluttered the floor.

Hinata moved towards the secluded booth where her friends sat. It was located at the back of the bar and a lone, thick burgundy candle supplied the ambient lighting. Tenten smiled at her, while Shino showed his affection for his beloved team-mate in a receptive grunt. Lee, however, attached himself to her in a grand, arduous embrace for several moments. She blushed and slid into the seat next to Shino.

She felt her heartbeat slow into a mellifluous rhythm as she relaxed. Her stomach however, churned and lurched at the astringent odour of alcohol and smoke. Her head throbbed too - the start of a magnificent headache. But it was the blunt and constant agony radiating from her heart which gnawed at Hinata the most.

Lee entertained the trio with gallant stories of previous missions and his unrivaled determination for bettering himself. Hinata remained quiet, and appreciated the fact neither of her friends interrogated her about her ghostly pallor or how tense she seemed. They ignored her, and for that Hinata was grateful.

She wasn't sure how long she spent in that booth, clutching her stomach discreetly as her mind tripped over silly memories causing her heart to quicken. She left, somewhere between Naruto and Lee's spontaneous dance-off and Ino slapping Sai for some derogatory comment. She simply disappeared. No one noticed.

Her fingers eased the large wooden door open and she slipped into the night's inky darkness. Her hair an amethyst ribbon, billowed behind her in the sweet-scented breeze. She welcomed the night's chill and how it cooled her burning cheeks.

She felt so tired. So drained. As though every particle of her being was about to collapse and refuse to function henceforth.

She stumbled forward, replaying tonight's phantasmagoric encounter with Sasuke. It had been so long since she last looked into the dark uncharted waters of his eyes.

She paused her slow assault towards her home to take in the scene of Konoha: its city lights twinkling underneath the vast empty blackness of the night sky. Tonight, she thought, the sky resembled a black, timeworn blanket hung with a sense of gloom. There was an innate sadness that seemed to loom over everything, pressing down on her firmly.

She bit her lip, refusing to allow any silly emotions to spill. She felt as though if anyone looked too hard at her, or for too long she would fracture, and feelings and thoughts would overflow from her lips, but mainly her eyes. Gaping splinters and fractures ran the length of her once perfect composure.

She continued onward, disappearing into the deserted outskirts of the city. The Hyuuga compound boasted a large chunk of land along the city limits. Away from the swarming noises and inhabitants of the main streets. There was always a distinct lonesomeness about the compound. A quietness that oozed the melancholy of unsaid words.

The heiress was once told she focused too much on the past. Perhaps they were right. For someone with all seeing eyes, Hinata could be terribly unobservant at times.

Stepping into a shallow pool of moonlight, Hinata paused. She wasn't alone. Opaque eyes widened. She hadn't been alone since the moment she left the bar.

They stood directly behind her. A shadow fell across her figure.

"Hinata,"

Their voice quiet, cold and familiar.

She froze. Her heart skittering to an abrupt halt.

They remained like that for some time. Basking in the serenity of the crisp spring night, listening to Hinata's jagged breathing.

She turned then, her eyes wide and afraid. She regarded him with an unfamiliar emotion that caused his lips to straighten into an abrasive scowl.

Sasuke. He stood before her, clad in all black attire. Inky spikes billowed and fluttered in the breeze; revealing slits of red framed by thick lashes.

Her breath hitched as she took in his infamous kekkei genkai. Glowing faintly against the monochrome backdrop, she felt her knees buckle.

He eyed her face. Watching the congeries of loss, longing and memory reflect within the watery depths of her eyes. "What's-" he began to inquisition.

"Sasuke." Her voice was a thick foggy whisper. A plead almost.

In horror she watched his blooded eyes tear away from her astounded expression towards her stomach. Something rather curious had caught his attention.

There. A small, but strong chakra signature glowed. A perfect mixture of the two.

"I'm pregnant," she mentioned.