The snow crunched beneath her feet as Hinata wandered around town. Everywhere she looked, couples were holding hands, sharing sweets, giggling and laughing. But most of all, they were enjoying the holiday. It was Valentines Day.
"Awe. You didn't have to give me anything!"
" Dude! You got to help me find the perfect gift for her!"
"Chocolate Truffles! My favorite!"
"It took me forever to find the right gift for you. "
While Hinata walked aimlessly through the main street of Konoha, this was all she heard, stupid Valentine phrases. She wasn't going anywhere in particular, so she turned around and headed for home. After a few minutes, she was off the main roads, and it was very quiet. She looked around quickly. No one was there, so she started to hum to herself. Hinata was so distracted, something caught on her foot and she tripped.
"Ow." Hinata got up and brushed the dirt off of her pants and walked into her room. Flopping onto her bed, she stared at her ceiling, trying to figure out what to do for the remainder of the day. After fifteen minutes, Hinata's right leg fell asleep. Pins and needles shot through her leg as she stood up. When her leg finally woke up, she walked through the compound to see if anyone was home. Alone again, Hinata decided to go get some tea in the Tea District. She ran back to her room. She tied up her hair into a high ponytail and grabbed her wallet. Hinata pocketed her money and walked out into the cold, snowy day. She pulled her hood up to stop the wind from going down her back. As she walked, a million thought circled around in her head. Where was everyone gone? How much will the tea cost? As that question came up, she took her wallet out and started counted her money. She had just counted enough for a medium green tea when she hit something soft and fell backwards.
"I'm so sorry, Hinata!" A familiar voice called.
"Iruka-sensei?" Hinata asked. She opened her eyes to her former teacher smiling down at her. He held out his hand for her and Hinata grabbed it. As she was standing up, she saw a flash of yellow hair. She thanked Iruka for the help and scurried away to find that yellow, spiky hair. The street was packed, though. But she managed to find it, and quietly followed it to the Tea District. It turned into a shop. She slipped in and the strong smell of tea filled her nose as she flipped down her hood.
She was inside her favorite teashop, the one she had planned to go to before she started following Naruto. The tables were small, covering half of the shop. The other half was taken up by a long bar, with two spaces to get your drinks. The wall behind the counter had shelves to the ceiling, filled with every kind of tea imaginable. Hinata shuffled up to the counter to order her tea.
"O-one green tea, p-please," she stuttered, "R-regular sized." She handed her money to her counter lady and she gave Hinata her change. The girl turned around to make the tea. Hinata needed a distraction, so she counted the change twice before putting it in her wallet. She also straightened her jacket and pulled down the bottom of her under shirt. The woman at the counter handed Hinata her tea. She smiled at the lady and sat down at a table a few feet from Naruto's table, just enough to be hidden from the couples. Hinata sipped her tea a couple of times before she heard another familiar voice.
"Saaakuuurraaa-channnnn!" Hinata became very alert. She whipped her head around to see what was going on. Naruto and Sakura were sitting at the far left table in the corner. Sakura looked annoyed, while Naruto seemed to be confused. Sakura was leaned back in her chair with arms folded across her chest, her legs crossed. Naruto had his elbows on the edge of the table, his hands in front of his mouth. They were arguing about something, something that Sakura was dead set against. Hinata didn't want to eavesdrop so she went back to her tea. She was half done when her curiosity got the better of her. She slowly turned her head in Naruto's direction to see something that made her eyes well up with tears. Sakura and Naruto had pushed they're chairs closer together. Naruto had his arm around Sakura waist. Sakura went in for what looked like a forced kiss on the cheek. But at the last second, Naruto quickly turned his head so Sakura would kiss him on the lips. At first she was shocked, but then she closed her eyes. Hinata set down her tea and tried to stand up and slink out without being noticed. But when she stood up, she accidentally knocked over her chair. Her ears went hot as she passed by some of the tables to get to the door. Tears started streaming down her cheeks as she passed by the open doorway and unintentionally hit her shoulder hard. She fell backwards and got up swiftly. The last thing she heard while leaving the teashop was Sakura calling after her.
Hinata was sitting on her bed. Her knees were up by her chest and she was hugging her legs. Her pants were stained with tears. Her hair fell around her shoulders, the hair tie loosely attached around her wrist. Why did I ever follow him? was the only thing running through her mind. She grabbed a pillow from behind her, placed it on her knees, and rested her head down. She felt like she was sobbing for hours, but it had been only 30 minutes since she had left the teashop. She had purposefully taken an alternate route to get back to the Hyuuga Compound. She wanted as few people as possible to see her crying. She lifted her head and looked around her room. There was her wallet on her dresser, companied by her brush, a couple of hair ties, her forehead protector, and her kunai and shuriken holsters. Her window was open, a faintly icy breeze swirling around her room. She looked down briefly at the pillow pressed against her knees. There was a slightly darker spot from her tears. She laid her head back down on her pillow, ignoring the wetness on her cheek. After a couple of minutes, she heard footsteps outside her door. It slid opening, and Hinata looked up to see whom her uninvited guest was. Neji came down and sat beside her.
"What happened?" he said softly, stroking her back, comforting her. Hinata shook her head, not wanting to reveal what had occurred. Neji understood. He wrapped his arm around her back, resting his hand on her right shoulder. His other hand was rubbing her left arm. Hinata looked into Neji's eyes thankfully. She grabbed the pillow and stuck it underneath her feet. At the moment, everything that happened that day seemed so insignificant, so childish. So irrelevant to the moment.