When he sees her, he doesn't really see the white eyes, anymore, or the fall of her dark hair, or the shape of her breasts hidden under her baggy clothing. Instead, he sees bits of memories, flashes of aspirations, and the ebbs and flows of emotion, like swirling eddies caught within themselves. He sees the way she walks, the gait of her steps, the way she moves forward. And, he sees the way she watches things sometimes, she might look at the bowl of ramen in front of her and just watch it, or she might stop at some street corner and just watch the heads of people passing by or she might be crossing a bridge and just watch the stonework or the sounds of the water underneath or where the river leads.
"Hinata," he says and she turns to look at him. She'd been watching a fence-post where somebody had sprayed their name in graffiti and then somebody else had painted over it in a slightly off-color paint than the fence itself.
"Naruto," she says and a smile slips onto his face. Her face is pale and beautiful, in the right lighting in can seem to glow.
"I was just thinking, we should head towards Flint Street."
"Okay, what's going on over there?"
"Some of the guys are meeting up at a bar, I guess. Kiba'll be there."
She pauses and looks off in the direction. He purses his lips and remembers she doesn't much like the bars. She says there just so much input and you're in this confined, dark space full of other people getting less and less cognitive.
"I mean," he starts and she looks back at him, "I know your limit is sort of low, you know, but you don't have to drink, obviously. I will, but, well."
"It's fine, I like drinking, too, just not as much as Kiba."
"Right."
Then, they are quiet again. Sometimes, he hates it like this, when she goes so quiet and he feels like he has to talk and she just watches him. Sometimes, though, he likes it.
"Are you okay, Naruto?"
"Hmm? I'm fine."
"Okay."
"Yeah. So, are you coming with, or.."
"Yeah."
"I think Sakura will be there, eventually. I know Ino will."
"I'll go, c'mon," she says, taking his arm. As they walk, the street-lamps start turning on.
