This will actually be a multi-chapter story, so keep up with it! leave a review/favorite if you want an update!
She walked down the street, a bag of groceries in her left hand and her jacket draped over her right. She maneuvered through the crowds of people, trying to get home. Everyone seemed to be out lately, with the holiday festivals just around the corner. It wasn't quite snowing, but she could tell it would soon enough. She wanted to stop and put on her jacket, but she just couldn't find a place that would let her stop moving for the second that she needed. She could feel the cold air nip at her skin and silently cursed herself for taking it off while browsing in the store.
Finally she made her way in between two stalls and caught her breath. The cold air seemed to drain someone faster than anything else these days, not to mention she felt the atmosphere was particularly think where she was. She noticed the shop to her left was covered with a sign that said "open later", while the other was still open. She turned to the stall owner.
"Do you mind if I put my bag her while I put on my jacket?" she asked, gesturing to one of the crates stacked up to her waist.
"Sure sweetie, go ahead." The stall owner said as she opened a different crate to restock a variation of winter produce and flowers. She handled the, with care as she placed them on display.
"Thank you." Hinata replied as she sat her groceries down, careful to not bruise any of the vegetables she purchased to make ramen later tonight for her and Naruto. She unfolded jacket and fed her arms through it. She then put her hands around her neck and flipped her hair out from the fabric. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the stall owner staring at her. The stall owner gave her an awkward smile when she noticed.
"Sorry! You just look really familiar, but I can't put my finger on why." She explained, waving her hand in front of her face.
"Well… my name is Hinata, if it he-"She was interrupted by the owner's reply.
"You're Naruto's girl, aren't you? I see him walk around the village with you all the time!" She exclaimed, pointing a finger at her.
"Well, I wouldn't say his 'girl' per say, but yes, that's me!" She said in agreement, grabbing her groceries from the crate.
She suddenly felt something that was similar to a chill. She turned her head around to see if she could see something, but nothing looked out of the ordinary. She wanted to activate her byakugan to make sure, but she was interrupted by the stall owner.
"You okay, sweetie?" she asked.
Hinata whipped her head back around, facing the woman again.
"Yes! Perfectly fine, but unfortunately I do have to get ho-"
"Oh I can't let you leave yet, here… take these!" She scrambled together around the stall, and eventually had a group of flowers, and handed them to Hinata.
"Oh!" Hinata said while trying to balance them as the stall owner was shoving them in her arms. "What are these for?" Hinata asked, finally getting a grip of them.
"Well I can't let the hero of the war's girl go home empty handed from my shop, can I?" She said with a smile. "Don't worry sweetie, they're on the house." She said, folding her arms in front of her body.
Hinata stared for a second, not quite thinking of the words to say, and the stall owner just laughed.
"Go on and get home to your man, I bet he's waiting." She said with a wink, pointing her out through the backway behind Hinata. "Go that way and you won't have to fight this crowd."
"Oh! Uh… thank you so much!" Hinata said with a bow. "I'll make sure to come back another time!" Hinata said, backing up towards the direction she was told. The stall owner said something Hinata couldn't make out over the noise, but nonetheless she started to wave, so Hinata waved back before turning around completely.
"She was nice…" Hinata spoke to herself, admiring the flowers in her hand. They were really pretty. She wondered if Ino knew how she got them so pretty. She would stop by and ask if she wasn't trying to get home. She could see the sun dipping below the horizon line and knew it'd start snowing soon after that.
She continued down the path, walking between two buildings. The path was taking her in the right direction, so she was thankful for that.
"You know you don't deserve it."
Hinata stopped. Her body tensed as she turned around and saw someone standing there.
It was a girl. Her hair was short and dark, and her skin was even darker. Her features were sharp, with bright yellow eyes. She had a thin nose and wore a shirt cut straig across the top that exposed the protective undershirt of her midriff. She had a skirt with a slit to match the shirt, and boots that stopped right before her knees. Hinata could tell she just graduated from the academy, with her age and the headband on her arm.
"I'm sorry?" Hinata replied, completely facing the girl.
"I saw what happened with you and that stall lady. She gave you flowers." She said, taking steps towards Hinata. Hinata stood her ground, straightening her back.
"Yes, but what does th-"
"All because you're his pretty little girlfriend, huh?" She added, stopping her movements a few feet in front of Hinata.
Hinata mentally rolled her eyes. She hated girls like this. They were after Naruto because of his status, and they wanted her out of the picture. Most of the time they would just huff and roll their eyes, some even pretend she wasn't there and go up and talk to or even flirt with him anyway.
She hated girls like this.
"I have to get home." Hinata said, turning her body around to continue down the path.
"You're a Chunnin."
Hinata stopped.
"…and?" she replied, not turning back around.
"And he is leagues above you. I just passed to the final round of the winter Chunnin exams, and here you are, what, nineteen? Here in a few weeks we could be the same rank." She taunted, walking closer again.
"What does that matter?" Hinata turned her head back towards her, but her body kept moving forward.
"So that means me, just thirteen, would be the same as you. Why do you deserve him if you're so weak. Why, if I proved I was stronger than you, what would make him stay with a weakling like you."
Hinata didn't reply, but she clenched her fist.
"I heard you completely collapsed and got beat by your own family in the Chunnin exams your first try." She asked, standing to the side of Hinata, staring at her face.
"I didn't even break a sweat." She said, a smile ingrained in her face.
Hinata started to walk. And this time she didn't stop.
"Hope he still loves you when he realizes even I'm as strong as you." She yelled as Hinata continued walking.
She wanted to punch her. She wanted to disable her chakra points, she wanted to tape her mouth shut, and she wanted to fight her right then and there. But she knew it wouldn't do any good. It would just prove her point even more.
But still
No one had ever brought up her rank when comparing her to him. She didn't care she was a Chunnin. She liked her rank and was happy there. Missions were exciting, paid fine, and didn't have too much risk. After the war she even cut down on missions to help Naruto while he didn't have an arm, so there wasn't really any reason for her to move up anyway. She didn't even want to.
She knew Naruto loved her, she honestly did. He told her every day in every way. He was amazed by the small things that she did, and kissed her in the morning, evening, and night. She could picture him right now at home, tapping his feet and staring at the clock, waiting for her to return. Heck, they were going to be married in a few months anyway, that alone was enough proof for anyone who doubted.
But she still couldn't shake this feeling. What if she was dragging him down, what if she couldn't keep up with him. What if she couldn't be there for him when he was Hokage because her rank prohibited her from knowing information. There are so many other Chunnin in the world, why was she spe-
She shook her head.
She can't think like that, she isn't allowed to think like that, she knows he loves her.
'That's the end of it.' she thought.
She dug out her key from her jacket pocket and unlocked the door. She swung it open just as snow was starting to fall and saw Naruto jump up from the couch as she closed the door.
"Hinata!" He yelled as he hopped over the couch to greet her. He grabbed the bag out of her hand and wrapped his arms around her. "I missed you!"
She could feel the muscles of his arm tighten around her. She felt his chest expand as he breathed heavily into the crook of her neck. His hands gripped at her sides as her arms wrapped around him.
She could feel all her worries disappear in this moment.
She moved away from his body so she could respond.
"I missed you too! For the hour I was gone anyway." She said mockingly. She grabbed the bag from his hand and walked in to the kitchen, him following close behind her.
"Hey, every minute without is the worst thing ever." He replied.
She put the bag on the counter and emptied its contents, including the flowers she was given, smiling at his response.
"Would you mind grabbing the pot from above the stove for me?" She asked, walking to the fridge to get the pork out.
"Sure!" He said, opening the cabinet and getting it with ease, something she would have to strain to do because of her height.
"Oh, I have to leave tomorrow afternoon for a mission. I just got assigned it today" He said, filling the pot with some water without her having to ask. She placed the pork on the cutting board and began to slice of pieces to add to the broth.
"Oh really? What is it?" She asked, her eyes not leaving the job she had before her.
"Well, I'm not supposed to tell you… it's a secret, Kakashi-sensei said so."
Her hands stopped moving for a full two seconds before she continued slicing, but slower.
"Ah, I see…" she said, moving on to grab some of the bean sprouts she had bought earlier. Naruto walked over to her as she continued chopping them in to smaller bits.
"Where'd you get these?" He asked, picking up the flowers that were on the counter. Hinata stared at them with an emotion she couldn't quite describe before she realized she hadn't responded.
"Those? Some shopkeeper gave them to me. They recognized me as 'Naruto's girl', so she gave them to me." Hinata said, focusing back on the sprouts.
"That's nice of her, should we put them in a vase?" He asked, opening the cabinet under the sink to find one. Hinata didn't know why, but she stopped him.
"Don't worry about it. I'll do it later. Why don't you go upstairs and get ready for your mission. I'm sure you have plenty of things to pack, right?" She said, a smile on her face.
But that couldn't fool him.
He stood up straight, eyebrows furrowed at her. He placed the flowers on the counter and slowly walked over to her. She had turned around to scrape the sprouts into the pot from the cutting board, he put his arms on either side of her body, grabbing hold of the counter.
"Hinata. What's wrong?"
She stopped scraping the board and slumped her shoulders for half a second, before turning around and kissing his cheek.
"Nothing is wrong, I just think you need to be prepared for whatever journey you have to go on tomorrow." She said sweetly, nudging her way under him so she could wash off her cutting board. Naruto stared at her as she walked by, and he could sense something still wasn't right.
"Are you sure? I can turn down the mission, ya know? I don't have to go if something is bothering you. If there's something I did, then let me kn-" He was interrupted by a slight laugh from her.
"Naruto, nothing is wrong, trust me!" She lightheartedly said, going to the spice cabinet to grab a few of them.
Naruto stared at her for a few seconds before deciding it would be best not to pry.
"Well, okay… I'll be upstairs if you need me." He said, kissing the side of her head as he walked out of the kitchen.
"I'll call you when dinner is ready." She spoke, turning the stove on.
She waited until she heard their bedroom door open before moving again. Once the familiar creek sounded through the house, she quickly turned around and stared at the flowers sitting on the edge of the sink.
She didn't know what emotion it was that those flowers made her feel, but she hated them. She felt like they were nothing but trouble. What did she do to get those? Nothing, is what she felt. She walked over to them and picked them up in her hands, looking at the petals and the leaves.
And then threw them in the trash.