Pairing(s)/fandom: NaruHina from Naruto
Genre: Tragedy
DISCLAIMER:Naruto and its characters do not belong to me, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. This fanfiction was inspired from Lost by Jacqueline Davies.
He hesitated. His hand was still on the doorknob, his wrist ready to turn. Yet why didn't it? He sucked in a breath of cold air, freezing his lungs, then swallowed, as if the bad things can go away from a single gulp. He did not know what was beyond the door, he only knew that he wasn't going to like it.
If that was the case, why was he here, ready to open this door. It was unlocked, he knew, as it had been for the past week, according to others. He had every right to go in, every right not to go in. Then he remembered why. It was a simple name that made his wrist turn, made him open the door.
He was able to glimpse what he did not expect: a clean hallway, as if it had been recently dusted, the floor gleaming, the air only coated with the smell of fresh food. But a second later he was knocked back as a women–the woman–rushed to him, embracing him with a cry of "Dear!"
She buried her face into his chest, her arms crushing him as if she never wanted to let go. "Dear, you're home!" she said, her voice muffled by his thick jacket. "You're finally home! It's been so long!" She sounded so happy, so happy.
He could only stare down at her.
"... Hinata."
It was hard to find his voice.
She didn't respond, just hugged him tighter, pressing her face against his chest. It hurt.
"Hinata."
Again, no response.
Finally he put his hands on her shoulders and abruptly pushed her. She let go almost instantly, jumping back a step as if startled. But even so, she was smiling, and he saw that her eyes were barely holding back tears of joy.
"Naruto-kun...?" she asked.
Ah, that's what. He knew it all along, but it took so long to realize.
"Hinata, it's me," he said firmly.
She didn't move, smile frozen with the rest of her body as she stared at him. Only her eyes quivered slightly; with exactly what he did not know.
"It's me. Not Naruto. It's me, Kiba."
She blinked, the tears of joy before spilling, gently gliding down her cheeks. Realization dawned on her face.
"Kiba-kun!" she said in what seemed to be surprise, the smile disappearing. But only for a second. It was instantly replaced, but not with the same smile he had seen before.
"What brings you here?" she asked, as if she did not remember what just happened.
He couldn't answer, just stared, stared. Her hair was shiny as ever, and it looked like she had been eating properly. Was this a good thing?
"Do you want to eat? I made dinner earlier, but I made too much again. I have leftovers, if you want."
How could either of them think about eating?
"It's funny, though. I've been having a lot of visitors nowadays, Kiba-kun. Neji-nii-san and Tenten-chan have been coming over a lot, but they never stay for long. And Sakura-chan visited only yesterday. She looked so sad for some reason. I asked her if she came to go shopping and she slapped me and ran away." She put her hand to her cheek, looking faintly confused. "Do you know why she did that, Kiba-kun?"
He knew the answer, but the words, the cold truth, was stuck in his throat.
Should he tell her? She was fine. She was eating, she seemed to be in good shape. She was even cleaning. It would be better like this.
But those tears. Those tears of joy.
Those tears that weren't meant to be.
She was not 'fine'.
"Kiba-kun...?" she asked, a bit startled by his silence.
"Hinata. Naruto's dead."
Her eyes widened at those words, and she took a step back, even with his hands still planted firmly on her shoulders. Yet they were blank, those eyes. No tears came, the tracks from the ones earlier almost dried.
Then she smiled.
"Naruto-kun's just busy, Kiba-kun. He's always busy."
His eyes widened.
He felt felt his fingers grip her shoulders tighter, but he fought to keep his voice calm, fought to hold back the tide of emotions.
"Hinata, he died while he was on a mission with me. He's not going to return."
But she was shaking her head.
"I don't know why you're telling me this. Neji-nii-san, Tenten-chan, Sakura-chan, you, even Shino-kun! You're all telling me this! But it's not true! He's just on a mission! You know that!"
She grasped his wrists and, with strength he did not expect, lifted his hands off her shoulders. She took a few steps back, one hand clasped around the others' wrist, both pressed against her chest.
"Why are you lying like this? It's not a joke anymore, Kiba-kun," she said, her voice now calm, but her eyes were set at his feet. "Are you all planning to surprise me? Is Naruto-kun going along with this? He's not, right?"
He stared.
"Naruto-kun's just out on a mission. One day he's going to come back with a smile on his face, just as he always does."
With those words she looked back up at him, another smile dawning on her face, a happy one. She let go of her wrist, one hand unconsciously placing itself on her belly.
This was so wrong.
"Please, stop joking around."
He turned and left.
Teeth grit, eyes burning, head filled with memories. The scream, the blood, the smell of death everywhere.
He should have done it, he should have done it, he should have done it.
Hinata.
He should have shown her the body, to at least bring the right pain.
Author's Note: BGGAWWRRK THIS IS SO SAD. Pfft.
I actually wrote this like an year ago, though I decided to post it on here -w-
Like it said in the top, this is based off the book Lost by Jacqueline Davis. It's a really good book, you should read it. -w-