Hinata bolted up the stairs, past a startled Hanabi and Hiashi and slammed the door into her room.
Only then did she let the tears fall.
Why was she such a failure? Why? She just had to screw up all the time and then everyone laughed at her for it. Why did she have to live such a painful and miserable life?
The events unfolded in her mind as horribly vivid as ever…
She had been walking in the Konoha marketplace, looking for some flowers to give to Hanabi as a little present. Hinata loved doing little things to please her little sister. Hanabi adored flowers, almost as much as Hinata did, and would have been so pleased to see the little bouquet.
Unfortunately, Hanabi never got to see them.
Hinata had just walked into the Yamanaka Flower Shop when it happened.
It had happened so quickly, one would have missed it if they didn't have the reflexes and perception of a kunoichi such as Hinata.
A swing of the door, a loud "Hey, Ino-chan!", and Uzumaki Naruto walked in.
"HOLY FUCK!" Hinata would have said. But she would have ate dirt before she uttered those words.
"Oh, what's up, Hinata?"
Her heart ceased beating.
Time stopped.
"N-N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata stammered.
Oh, no. Oh, no no no no no.
"Yeah, it's me, I think." Naruto made a big show of examining himself, picking at his shirt, lifting an arm.
Was Hinata's face on fire? It felt hot enough to be. Naruto was making such a big fuss over a little whisper she had let slip... did he think she was important enough to hold his attention for so long?
Usually at this point, Hinata would have fainted. She was pretty sure she was about to.
Instead, Naruto turned to Ino, who was tapping her foot impatiently.
"Hey, Ino-chan, I need some flowers and I need 'em fast!" Naruto shouted. "This is super important, 'ttebayo!"
"Who're they for, Romeo?" asked Ino playfully.
Hinata tensed, biting her lip. Obviously it wasn't going to be her…
Naruto blushed profusely. "N-no one..."
Hinata was nearly jumping for joy. He meant her, he meant her, he meant her! She was right there, so he was too shy to say it! And so romantic of him! It was Valentine's Day…
EEEEEEEEEE!
Ino clicked her tongue. "I know who you mean, Naruto. I'll get her favorites."
Oh, she was going to get those lovely hydrangeas that Hinata loved so much.
Naruto leaned against the counter, humming pleasantly to himself. He was so tall and handsome... Hinata wanted to hold the hand that tapped on the counter absently, she wanted to run her fingers through the golden blond hair that glinted in the sunlight…
Hinata shook herself. She couldn't get distracted. After all, she was about to get what she'd secretly wanted for years, and she couldn't blow it now.
Ino reappeared with a bundle of brightly colored flowers, smiling knowingly.
"Here, Naruto. Tell her from me that she'd better take you fast so I can take Sasuke, okay?" Ino chirped.
...Take Sasuke? Uchiha Sasuke?
"Oh, um..." Naruto scratched the back of his neck, blushing. "Yeah, I hope he'll realize you're here for him, Ino. Happy Valentine's Day."
No, Hinata must have heard it wrong…
"Thanks for your purchase! Goodbye!" called Ino happily.
A wild panic seized Hinata, blotting out every previous thought. It coursed through her body, replacing her stunned stupor with an adrenaline-pumped rage. She could faintly hear Ino calling her name, but she turned on her heel and flat-out sprinted out of the little store, skidding slightly on the smooth pavement as she ran up the street, seeking only one thing.
The flowers.
She could see him now, strolling up the street, whistling a jolly tune.
It was as if all the sounds and chatter of the village was silenced, replaced by mere whooshes that blustered part Hinata's ears, blowing her long dark hair back into a wild blur. She only saw one thing in the entire street.
The flowers.
Her legs moved so fast, they became a single, purple smudge to onlookers as she zoomed toward her target.
The flowers.
She planted herself in front of Naruto, who seemed a little surprised to see her. "Oh, Hinata-"
Her hand flew out and shattered the pot of flowers.
One by one, the little shards of clay fell to the floor.
Plink.
Plink.
Plink.
The dirt fell in a delicate shower, almost beautiful.
The flowers hit the ground and seemed to crumple, slowly.
Everything looked blurred to Hinata.
Naruto seemed to say something to Hinata, but the words sounded foggy and distorted.
She felt completely crushed. What the hell did she just do?
Hinata couldn't stand to see Naruto's reaction. She fled, miserable and angry with herself.
And that was the sad story of Hinata's worst and most humiliating failure in ages.
Whoop-dee-doo.
As she sat up, Hinata noticed several things. Her pillow had become damp with the tears that had dripped off her cheeks and nose, and her face was a red and splotchy mess. Her hair was mussed and tangled from her violent sobbing. Her clothes were a wreck, rumpled and splattered with tears and... oh God, was that snot?
Another reason to be ashamed of herself.
Hinata plunked herself back onto her bed, her stomach pressed against the mattress. She was all cried out, so she was left to ponder her thoughts in silence.
Why did she do such a rash and irresponsible thing? Naruto would now think of her as a freak, a raging, hateful freak that did nothing but destroy the things he held dear. She should have known perfectly well that those flowers were intended for Haruno Sakura, that pink-haired girl who Naruto was crazy about. Instead, she held on to the stupid idea that Naruto had wanted her to have the flowers, had wanted her for Valentine's Day. Foolish, simply foolish.
And now Sakura would be punching or slapping Naruto for attempting to connect with her on a romantic level. How rude of her! Naruto had gone to the trouble of getting her a beautiful pot of flowers, which... had been destroyed by her, yes, but nonetheless, he had tried. And Sakura didn't appreciate it.
Hinata didn't hate Sakura. No, not by a long shot. But a tiny grain of dislike still lay in the depths of Hinata's heart. It was for many reasons. Like the fact that she had Naruto's heart in her hands and she couldn't see how much Naruto cared for her, wanted her to be happy. She wished that Sakura could see how much Naruto adored her and at least let him down gently if she couldn't return the feelings he bore toward her. She wished that Naruto would be able to move on without Sakura, and would start afresh... maybe notice a shy girl waiting for him…
No. That was selfish.
How would she face Naruto now? Her only love interest would regard her with disgust. This was the girl who attempted to sabotage his present to his only love interest. He would... he would…
This wasn't the Naruto she knew.
Wouldn't... (she could hardly believe herself) Naruto try to forgive her, being the sympathetic and kind boy he was? Wouldn't he show a little mercy... even though a quiet but angry girl tried to hurt him?
Maybe…
Maybe he would forgive her. Like so many people had done for her in the past.
She couldn't imagine him being intentionally cruel, or mean. Could he forgive her? Those flowers seemed to be so important to him... a blundering, shy nobody would not compare to that... But... he was so nice all the time. He was a hero to her. To Sakura, even. And a hero saves people.
Maybe he could save her feelings.
Oh, how stupid of her. He couldn't possibly care about such a nobody like her. A sniffling, whiny little runt was worthless. Below his notice. Lowly. Unwanted. A lonely castaway.
Why couldn't her life be simple?
Why couldn't she have someone to love?
Why couldn't she be a normal girl like Sakura and have boys tripping over themselves to have her?
Why couldn't Naruto save one girl who really needed saving right now?
Why couldn't she just end it here? Now?
Why couldn't she just close her eyes and never wake up again?
Because…
Because…
She couldn't give up.
She had promised herself not long ago that her way of ninja was to never go back on her word. She had promised herself that she would fight until her last breath. The old Hinata would cry and melt down, but the Hinata she was now had to keep fighting.
Hinata needed to keep going. There was... still a sliver of hope. A shard of light left for her to keep going. Maybe Naruto would change his mind about her. Maybe she could wait.
She would wait.
She would wait for as long as she had to.
Because there was still a faint ray of sunlight, telling her that he was not out of reach, that yes, she could. She could reach for him, her fingertips stretching, and their hands would touch. The hand that had once tapped a counter so impatiently would be intertwined with her own, and she would smile, and he would smile back.
Hinata made a promise to herself right then and there.
She promised herself that no matter what, she would wait for Naruto as long as she needed to wait. She would wait for the day that Naruto would turn around and smile, and greet her as brightly as he had greeted Ino.
"Hey, Hinata-chan!"
And she would smile, and he would hold her hand.
And the sun's faint ray would burst and become a dazzling light.
A/N: Sooo, yeah. I think this one turned out well. I ship NaruHina hard. I adore the pairing: Naruto is levity to Hinata's demureness, Hinata is calmness to Naruto's get-up-and-go nature. Their personalities go hand-in-hand, don't you think? And the fanart for NaruHina… AUGHHH so much cuteness! ^_^ Uh, anyways, I had to pump out one last repost on FFN, just to give you all a little something to enjoy while I stumble through school again. I'll try to post weekly or something, but my schedule will definitely be quite erratic. I'm not exactly through with school at the moment, but I'm trying my best, 'kay? I hope you enjoyed this super-short one-shot, and I'll see you in the next story! Also, some of the reviews prompted me to make a small edit, and hopefully you guys will like it a little more now... heh...
Love you all,
Meikai