My first Naruto English one-shot! I hope you enjoy it!
P.s: all characters belong to masashi kishimoto-sensei!
[A Christmas Story]
It all ended one Christmas Eve, walking in the park by the river.
- I only love you as a friend, Hinata-chan.
While these sad words went around her mind, she couldn't think of anything to do or say. Walking by her side was the only person that she had ever loved in her short fifteen years of life, her only best friend, her only boyfriend. No, he wasn't her boyfriend anymore. Now he was her ex. By the time she realized she needed to answer him, but couldn't come up with anything. She could never think of hitting him and crying wasn't an option. She was in complete despair.
While she looked at the floor with a dumb gaze, like if she were hypnotized, she couldn't tell him how much she loved him, how much it hurt, or how much she wanted to hate him or forget him. With those seven words the only person that knew her completely had broken her heart in a million pieces. And still she loved him. And still she forgave him. Not even then she would tell him how sad she was or show him in any way. She knew that would make him feel guilty. So she swallowed her tears, her sadness, her pride and her love. And then she smiled.
- I already knew it, Naruto-kun-
-Forgive me, Hinata-chan-
She kept smiling.
-You don't have to ask for forgiveness, Naruto-kun. It doesn't really matters-
He didn't say anything else, knowing that if he asked something to her, he would open Pandora's Box. She knew it too. And the only think she could do was to wait until it was time to go home.
Generally she would have loved the sweet breeze coming from the river, the smell of the flowers that would fall like snow from the big trees that kept the sunlight from reaching the floor, and the nice cold wind that was always surrounding that place. But that day she couldn't enjoy any of those things. Not even the sound of the birds singing, not even the laughs of the children paying could bring back the color to her life. Now everything was black and white, except the man that was walking by her side.
For real, what happens to a girl's heart when the only person that makes it happy is the one that makes it cry?
-Hinata-chan, are you angry?-
No, actually I'm really sad
-No silly, why should I be?-
-No, I was just asking…-
Fool…
They kept walking through the park until they reached the little Hill, Konoha's most important touristic point, mostly because of the faces of all the Hokages from Konoha that were carved in the stones of the hill.
Walking to the top of the hill was really hard for rose. She had walked up to the top several times with Naruto, hearing him say "my face will be in this hill someday" before, but for some reason she was extremely tired before she reached step number 100 in the staircase to reach the top. He offered her to carry her bag, that looked really heavy, but she completely refused to accept any more help from that man. Instead she sat in a bench near them to catch her breath.
He sat by her side and put her arm around her, bringing Hinata to his chest.
-What are you doing Naruto-kun?
-Well, hugging you, Hinata-chan
-Don't.
Before Naruto could even reply, Hinata quickly separated from Naruto's embrace and started walking again without waiting for him.
She tried to get distracted with the view around her. A lot of children would play cheerfully around the house of the mountain, singing Christmas carols and waiting impatiently the time to gather around the Christmas tree and open the presents, and the cats that would lay in the ground to get some warm sunlight. They were getting near to the top of the mountain by the time the sky was starting to get orange.
In front of their eyes there was a beautiful sight, almost the whole city in all of its entangled splendor, and just by the other side, the great river that was starting to give them a freezing breeze.
She wanted to think in anything but him. She couldn't bear to know that the person by her side had destroyed the world she had created in her soul. That person had destroyed the world she would escape to in moments of extreme need. The world she had always wanted to share with him one day.
While they kept walking the mountain, her mind was still lost, distracted on purpose with some of the things that surrounded her. Like that, without really realizing it herself, she was saying goodbye to her childhood innocence, the one that had brought so many people into her life, Naruto included, and in one day she was loosing it, by the hands of the man that she had once trusted and loved.
-Naruto, When is Sakura-chan coming here?
-I don't know Hinata-chan, Did she said when she was getting here?
-She said she would be here by 3 and its 4:30
-Then call her.-
-Can I use your phone? Mine battery is dead-
-Here-
-Hello…? Sakura-chan? When are you coming here? We're waiting for you.
-My step-father is drunk, so there's no one to drive me there until he's sober again.
- Huh?! So you won't come here? Please, I beg of you, try to come…
-I'll try to go, if it's possible I'll be there by five o'clock
-I'll be waiting for you. Bye
-Bye.
These couldn't be worse
-She'll be here by five o'clock.
-Oh, ok.
-Look, we've almost reached top of the hill-
-And you are so tired that you are about to faint
- You wish…
When they finally reached the end, they noticed that even when it was Christmas Eve, the tourists and the children that lived near there, were all playing or sightseeing all around the lighthouse.
The view on the top of the mountain used to be breathtaking for her. And sadly for Hinata, it wouldn't excite her at all being there anymore.
-I'll go check out the view. Do you want to come with me?
-No thanks, I've come here so many times I can describe perfectly everything you are about to see.
-Ok, I'll be back soon…
The minute he left, a soft wind caressed her cheek and made her dark curls messy. Without thinking it twice, she started to cry without shame. It was the most saddening feeling she had ever felt in her life, and she couldn't hold it back for so long.
She knew it would happen like that, but when he confessed he loved her too she forgot about it, and carelessly gave him her heart without a second thought. She didn't understood why she was so sad, it was only as if he took six months to reject her as she expected when she confessed to him. If since the beginning she knew he would never love her like he loved Sakura, if from the beginning she knew he would never love her with madness, then why those tears where running with non stop through her face? She had been fooling herself for six months thinking he truthfully loved her.
Neither the beautiful view, nor the smell of the flowers, not even the sweet breeze from the river.
None of that would be the same to her anymore. She wasn't in her little and delicate pink bubble anymore and she was starting to taste the bittersweet flavor of complete reality.
Interrupting her crying, a sand village woman asked her to take a picture for her. Hinata smiled politely, and asked the woman to move a little bit so that in the photo she could see the faces of the Hokages. He came back just after she took the picture. The woman thanked her and told her something she could not hear, because the wind started to blow strongly, raising Hinata's skirt giving her no chance to hear what the stranger had said.
-Let's go Hinata-chan.
-Ok…-
He noticed she wasn't really with him at that moment. Like several times before, she was capable of shielding from the outside world in moments of extreme sadness and stress. He remembered how he used to be the only person she would trust enough to let him know she was vulnerable and how he noticed the slight change in her appearance when she would do that. Her eyes wouldn't shine, her smile was slightly shorter, and she seemed to float when she was walking, so delicate that you would think she would break if you touched her. It was in that state when her mind would travel to other worlds, far from whatever could harm her in any way. And he felt guilty when he knew this time the pain was caused only by him and no other.
After walking down the hill they started to walk once again in the park. All places around were decorated with Christmas motives and all the trees around them were decorated with artificial lights and you could already smell the turkeys being cooked in the hotels near the park. Christmas carols were played on and on in the park and kids would sing along. Hinata and Naruto were really outstanding in such a merry atmosphere. A sad, dark atmosphere was formed around the unhappy couple, which would thoroughly contrast with all the happiness around. Hinata was almost crying, but still holding her tears, and Naruto, with a gloomy face, trying his best to not screw up the situation even more. This definitely wasn't a Christmas you'd want to portrait as a holiday memory.
By this time it was obvious to Hinata that Sakura wasn't coming. And in some way she was happy she hadn't come. Her best friend was Sakura, and Hinata had met her when Sakura was dating Naruto. She smiled sadly when she remembered how much she had hated Naruto in the beginning, when she remembered the day they became friends, the first time she saw him cry, the second she fell in love with him and their first kiss.
She was walking a few steps behind Naruto and she noticed he was constantly looking at his cell phone, and seemed to be waiting for someone too. It didn't take her long to understand.
-Sakura isn't coming so you can stop waiting for her- during all the time she stayed quiet she knew he had to know how he had make her feel.
-What are you talking about? Are you insinuating I have feelings for her? - He said with a little tremble in his voice
- I never said that. But you've said it yourself now. –
-I!- she interrupted him
- Don't be such a hypocrite and try to deny it now. Your honesty is the only thing I like from you now.
-But!-
-Do you think I'm so naive not to have noticed it? Saying your love for me was starting to stop, and then saying you are going to go out with Sakura and some friends while we still had something going on. I'm not that stupid.
-Sorry...
-It's that all you've got to say?
-…
-You know what hurts the most is that you will be going on happily with your life, while I cry because of you. It hurts like hell that you betrayed the trust I gave to you, and you don't even care about how I feel, you only care about yourself, and no one else! I can't believe I ever loved you and that I still love you now!
-I'm really sorry. If there's something I can do for you now, tell me.
-Take me home. - She said immediately
-…
The ride home in an old yellow cab was really quiet and even the driver noticed how messed up was the girl that had came into his cab. He frowned at the man by her side, intuiting it was his fault the baby-face girl had puffy eyes just a few hours before Christmas. He sighed, knowing he couldn't say anything in lover's businesses.
If there's any way of describing the scene taking place in the cab, it takes only one word.
Depressing.
No person should have a broken heart on Christmas Eve, that's all Hinata could think about.
They were each in one of the windows, but not looking outside, they were looking at each other. Hinata was crying quietly as she would always cry, with no sound. He had a gloomy face, for he had just realized how much he had hurt the person that once was his best friend, the one who was always taking care of him. He wished he could take her pain away. He wished he could have loved her more than Sakura, but he really couldn't.
-Hinata-chan. Would you forgive me?
-….
-Hinata?
The cab had just arrived to the fated place and Hinata came out of it without answering Naruto's question, and Naruto followed her after throwing $20 dollars to the driver.
-I'll do it with one condition.
-I'll do anything.
-Promise me you will never love me again Naruto.
- I can't promise you that Hinata! You know hearts can change in time!
- If I stop loving you know, I'm pretty sure I'll never be able to love you again. Because you have no idea how many things I sacrificed for this relationship! Hiashi-otosan will never treat me the same again, he resents me for having a boyfriend! Oka-san blames me for every single argument she has with my father! I never have a day of peace in the Hyuuga clan, but I never really cared because I thought If I we had each other nothing else mattered! Did you think you were the only one suffering because you couldn't see me often enough? If you had really ever loved me then you would have waited for me.
By the time Hinata was almost at the point of loosing her voice, Naruto was crying too.
-Hinata-chan I'm really sorry… I can only ask for you to forgive me, but I don't think I could possibly ask you something like that. I guess I can only leave you alone now.
He hugged her.
-Merry Christmas, my Hinata.
- Farewell, Naruto-
He kissed her
-Bye bye, Hinata-chan-
As they walked in opposite directions they were both thinking if they would ever see each other again.
And as Naruto started to hear the Christmas carols sung by the children in all the houses, he smiled to himself knowing he would.
THE END