A Broken Reality

He hated that after everything he had done to her, she was standing up for him. He hated how he needed her to do so. He hated her and everything she stood for. She stood there, the most innocent person in the room—and yet she wasn't. He knew she wasn't, because he had taken that from her.

She stood there, the only person that was willingly defending him. He had defiled her. He had ruined her every chance of happiness—yet there she stood. She stood with her head higher than it had ever been before.

What Sasuke didn't realize was that he had broken her down to her core, so that she could learn to build herself up again.

It was raining. Pouring, really. Lightning struck somewhere in the distance. War was raging in the Hidden Leaf Village. Not the third shinobi war. Not a civil war. A war between Sasuke and Naruto, Konoha hanging in the balance.

Sasuke was so confident he would win. He was the last Uchiha. He had been trained by one of the legendary sanin. He had gained his brother's abilities. The idea that he might lose never crossed his mind.

Naruto could not afford to lose. Everything precious to him was riding on this battle. His beautiful wife and unborn child waited at home for his return. He could not fail them. He would not fail him. He knew he couldn't lose this battle.

Their kunai clashed. The kunai of their followers clashed, Naruto with his village and Sasuke with his own. Leaf against Sound. All fighting for some kind of goal, for some kind of solace. All fighters, but not all shinobi.

There was so much blood. Blood covered the streets, making the forming puddles turn red. Buildings were destroyed. People were killed. Families were broken. Naruto could not have that, he refused to have that. He had worked so hard to become Hokage. He had worked so hard for his village, his goals, and the love of his life. He would not let Sasuke take them away from him.

Sasuke was angry—angry at everyone. They had taken everything that was precious to him away. They were all at fault. Every last one of them was guilty for taking away his family, his life, and his sanity. He would not rest until they understood how it felt. He would never rest until they were just as broken and corrupted as him.

Hinata sat down, rubbing her belly affectionately. She wished she could reach her feet—they ached so badly as of late. Instead, she settled with propping them up on a chair to try to help increase the blood flow. She hardly showed yet, and she hated it. She loved the beautiful child forming inside of her, but she hated that she couldn't help. She hated that she couldn't help protect the ones she loved.

It wasn't raining the day it happened to her. It was still and the sky was clear of clouds. If one were to look up, he would see thousands of stars above him. Hinata was on her way home from a neighbor's. Her neighbor had invited her over to get some clothing that her neighbor's now toddler had outgrown. She had stopped and had tea with her, exchanging pleasantries and conversation—both of which Hinata had not had in forever.

Hinata walked home slowly. It wasn't that it was hard to walk yet, and she didn't waddle. No, she was entranced by the quietness of the night. It had not been quiet since the battle had started. Was it over? Was it finally over? She couldn't help the hope that bubbled in her chest.

That's when he struck. He had stalked his prey, and then waited. When she rounded the dark corner, he was there. She fought him with all her might, but it was a losing battle. He had won it from the start. She fought the whole while, even as the tears ran down her face. She had screamed out as loud as she could, even when his hand covered her mouth.

When he was done with her, he left her there. She could do little more than tremble on the cold ground. He sunk into the shadows as the silent tears continued to fall down her face. The quietness had been the calm before the storm. The only sound she could hear now was the racing of her heart pounding in her ears.

She didn't even move when she was found. Naruto carefully bent down and pulled her into his arms. She didn't even look at him. Naruto grit his teeth, willing the tears not to fall. She just stared at the shadows in the corner, unable to look away.

He had immediately taken her to Tsunade. She checked on her even before the injured shinobi. She was fine, she had insisted. She warned him in private, though. If the stress of the incident got to her, the baby could be at risk. He had to make sure she remained calm.

He went back into her room, pulling up a chair beside her bed and pulling her hand into his own. "Hinata," he said quietly, eyes brimming with unshed tears. "Hinata, please talk to me." She didn't look at him—only stared at the shadows that danced in the corners of the room.

He took her home and had someone watching her at every waking moment. She sat in her room, in her newfound prison. She kept every light on in the house, even when she went to sleep. She would wake up many times during the night and go to look out the window. She wouldn't answer her pleading husband—only stared at the moving shadows in the dark.

Naruto had fought with a new vengeance. A new fire lit his eyes, Sasuke noticed. It excited him. The next battle between the two of them was unlike any they had ever experienced. The fox had come out, Naruto's anger released. Sasuke had finally gotten what he wanted. He had completely severed his bond with Naruto. They would never, ever be friends again.

"Is this what you wanted?" Naruto yelled over Sasuke's broken body. Almost all of Sasuke's bones were broken. He couldn't even move to look the blond in the eye. "Did you want me to break your body? To render you completely useless?"

"Anger is so much stronger than your philosophies," Sasuke said with a grin on his face, which was lopsided because of his partially broken jaw and cheek bone.

"You're wrong, Sasuke. Anger takes control of you and makes you into a monster."

"Funny, how people used to call you a monster, and now you throw it around at others."

"For a while I was convinced I was. Now I realize that as long as I am in control and not the demon inside of me, then I am human."

"You're as human as me," Sasuke said, jerking his head so hard to the side that it cracked. Finally he could meet Naruto's eyes. "And I'm not human anymore."

Naruto dragged his body to the S-Ranked Criminal holding cells, and threw Sasuke into one. He then ordered Tsunade to heal Sasuke so that he could break all of his bones again. Justice had finally caught up with Sasuke Uchiha, and he was going to make sure he paid every penny.

"Naruto," she breathed when he entered the house. His eyes lit up and he ran to her, wrapping his arms around her and breathing in her scent. He mentally cringed when she stiffened slightly in his hold, but quickly forced herself to relax.

"Hinata," he said into her hair. "I love you. I missed you." She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tightly to her.

"I missed you too. I'm glad you're finally home, that it's finally over. I-I need you here….with m-me." The stutter that she had worked so hard on losing these past few years was back. That bastard had done this to her. He had taken away her confidence.

"I'm here, Hinata. I'll always be here for you."

"I know," she said—and meant it. She didn't even realize she was crying until Naruto's shirt was wet and he squeezed her tightly. Sasuke had found Naruto's weakness, and he had exploited it.

She slowly let go of him, pulling away to wipe her eyes and contain herself. Naruto let her pull away and studied her. She had lost weight, there were bags under her eyes, and she looked pale—paler than he had ever seen her. His fists clenched. He was going to visit Sasuke—soon—and when he did, he was going to beat him so badly that no one would be able to recognize him.

Hinata looked at her husband with guarded eyes. Not that she didn't trust him, because she did with every fiber of her being. It was because whenever he touched her now, she couldn't get the image of dark eyes and hair out of her head. The first time Naruto had touched her since the incident, just the simple act of holding her hand, she had wanted to scream.

She hated herself for it. She hated that she couldn't control the reaction to shrink away. She saw the hurt in his eyes whenever she pulled away from him. He refused to share it with her. He was such a strong, strong man. She loved him—not for his physical strength, but his will to never give up. That was his strength.

Slowly, she and Naruto became more distant. He stopped going out of his way to brush his hand against hers. She stopped trying to welcome the physical contact. They began to sleep on opposite sides of the bed, an invisible line between them that neither would cross. When Hinata's nightmares got especially bad, Naruto would move to the couch to sleep.

Hinata wished her husband a soft farewell as he left the house. His eyes met hers and he gave her a polite nod before exiting through the front door. Hinata hated Sasuke for what he had done to her. She hated how she was affecting Naruto. His dreams were crumbling in front of his eyes.

Sasuke was back, just as he had once promised Sakura; however, he was imprisoned and Sakura was not permitted to visit him. He and Sasuke's bond was forever broken. His wife, whom he had dreamed of loving and growing old with, could not even stand to touch him. The only hope left—for both of them—was the tiny life growing inside of her.

She forced herself to eat, even though eating was the last thing she wanted to do. The food tasted bland. She forced the food down her throat. She no longer had her random cravings.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she fell ill. She tried to hide it from Naruto, but she knew he noticed it. She knew it hurt that she was trying to hide it. At one time, the two had held no secrets. Now, they lived tiptoeing around each other.

As she fell ill, so did the precious life inside of her. It was a week before Sasuke's public trial that it happened. Naruto had slept on the couch because he had an important meeting in the morning. Hinata had woken up in a pile of her own blood. She had screamed. She had lost the baby.