Chapter 1: Redamancy
Naruto woke up, still feeling woozy and lightheaded from his fight with Pain just yesterday. It felt illusionary to him; he cannot believe he made it out alive. That probably has been the greatest, and at the same time, the worst fight he had experienced throughout his entire shinobi life.
"Good morning" he said to himself as he yawned and popped his hands in the air to stretch. He remained that way for a few seconds and found himself staring at the wall a moment later. He promptly snapped out of it and decided to lie back down; it's too early for him to wake up anyways.
"What a day," he said, trying not to think of what happened yesterday but unsurprisingly failed. He didn't want to elaborate the painful times so he just focused thinking on the good ones instead. "Come to think of it, I've become a fine shinobi! I mean my taijutsu and ninjutsu are awesome dattebayo!" he blurted out. Although he said it proudly with his signature smile, the dark and sad aura of his room was the only one who answered him. If only mother and father were here, he let out a long sigh as he continued to recall what happened. To his surprise, the traumatizing and horrific memory of almost getting killed was the first thing that came in mind, followed by the death of his comrades that was reversed, thankfully. And then he remembered about the weird and shy girl who came in for his rescue when nobody else has the gut to do so. Hinata, he thought "That's right! Thanks to Hinata I'm still alive. I got to go thank her, and maybe treat her at Ichiraku Ramen dattebayo!"
He was already getting up when he was stopped by a random thought; she was almost killed that day, why would she risk her life for someone like me? Suddenly, he found himself blushing. "EEEHHHH?!" and quickly shrugged it off.
"DENSE!" a loud and booming voice shouted from inside his head. He was caught off guard by it so he started to loose balance, he tried to grip onto the sheets of his bed but it was too late. He fell on his back right into the empty cup ramen with chopsticks on it pointing towards his direction. Snap!
"ITAIIIII! MY BACK! WHAT'S THAT FOR KURAMA?" Naruto exclaimed, tears streaming down his face. "It really hurts dattebayo!"
"Baka! You're hopeless kid, I may be the kyuubi but I know these things better than you." Kurama said with annoyance obvious from the tone of his voice.
Naruto then forgot about the pain on his lower back and became curious of what the devious fox had just said. "Things? What do you mean dattebayo?"
Kurama suddenly blushed at the question "Wh- uh... no... I... uh…YOU FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF!" he shouted and quickly turned on his back to show Naruto that their conversation has officially ended.
"Pfft, what's up with him?" Naruto thought as he dressed himself up and left his apartment.
While walking into the village, he noticed that people were staring at him. It's not like this is the first time that's happened but unlike before, the hateful eyes that used to look at him are now grateful and full of gratitude. That's right; he is now the village hero after all. Everything is perfect. He didn't expect that this day will come so sudden. He can hear a beautiful music on the background like he was part of a Disney movie or something. He can't actually grasp at the moment. It all feels so unreal to him. I can't believe this is really happening, he thought to himself. He is so happy that he didn't realize he run into a pink haired girl with a set of beautiful green eyes. Haruno Sakura.
"NARUTO NO BAKA!" she shouted as she clenched her fist; nerves popping right on it.
"Huh?" Naruto wondered, seems to be out of focus still and before he knew it, he got punched right onto the chin causing him to fly into the air. "ITAI!" the piercing pain of Sakura's fist colliding with his chin is unbearable; it is more than enough to replace the beautiful and relaxing Disney music into a horrible hard metal one that brought his senses back into reality. It took several seconds before Naruto landed onto the ground with a loud booming noise. Such damage has obviously been made, evident on the ground which is literally shattered into tiny little pieces, enough reason for the people to exchange terrified looks with each other whilst walking furtively away from the two shinobi.
As soon as Naruto landed, he stayed still for a while without moving a single muscle and slowly got up, "Geez! Gomen Sakura-chan," he said, holding a tissue paper up his bleeding nose "I didn't know it was you."
"Never mind that. You should look where you're going Naruto. What if I'm not the one you bumped into?" Sakura lectured.
"I would prefer bumping into anybody else but you dattebayo." He murmured as he looked away.
"Huh? You're saying something?" Sakura asked in a low and scary voice, obviously trying to hold back another deathly punch.
Gulp "No, no, nothing" he said, laughing nervously as he scratched the back of his head.
He then remembered about Hinata. He is hesitant at first on asking Sakura about it, considering this might not be the best time, but the question is itching its way out of his mouth. She's a good friend of Hinata, I'm sure she knows the answer.
"Sakura-chan?" he finally managed to ask.
"Nani?" the second Sakura answered, his question suddenly retreated and digged its way back in the deepest portion of his tongue. And so, he decided to come up with a lame excuse instead; however, his mind isn't working properly that time, and he needs to answer fast to avoid suspicion. "Uh… e-edo…"
"What?" Sakura asked, a pinch of curiosity on her face.
"Uh… w-well… etto…" he continued to stutter.
"What is it? Spill it out." She asked again, getting impatient now.
"Uh… it's about… um…"
"Nani yo? Why are you suddenly acting like Hinata?" the sound of that name caught him off guard.
"Hinata... H-HINATA? N-n-no I wasn't. I um... I-it's nothing! Never mind what I just said Sakura-chan." Naruto protested as he closed his eyes shut and waved his hands sideways a little too quickly than how it should've been.
Nevertheless, Sakura isn't the type that can be fooled that quickly, she knew exactly what is taking place in here but decided to let Naruto tell her himself."Ehh? I know you're trying to ask me something about her. Come on Naruto, I don't have all day you know."
Dammit. She wouldn't give it up now, shouldn't have asked her in the first place. Well, guess there's no other choice but to…gulp… ask her about it. "Well yes, it is about H-h-hinata." his voice uncontrollably stuttered upon saying her name. "I just don't get why she would risk her life to save me dattebayo..."
A long and awkward silence occurred for a few seconds when suddenly…
"DENSE!" Sakura shouted as she looked at him with an irritated, yet somehow disappointed look.
It's that word again! What's up with these people? Thinking that Kurama doesn't count because he is indeed not person humours him a bit. He let out a little laugh but forced himself to stop it immediately before Sakura-chan notice and beat the living shit out of him again.
Sakura seems to know what Naruto was going to ask by the look of his face so she voluntarily answered his unspoken question. "Isn't it obvious Naruto…" she said. And with her final words, Naruto stumbled. "Hinata likes you."
"NANI? H-h-hinata l-l-likes me? No way Sakura-chan! That'll never-" Because I love you, Naruto-kun. He was cut off by his own thoughts, no, memory. That's right, his head hurt after his fight with Pain that he actually forgot about Hinata's confession. He then became red, sweats streaming down his face, and his chest started to hurt due to the intense beating of his own heart. By the looks of it, he's about to pass out any moment now.
"Naruto? Daijoubu?" Sakura asked, with full of concern painted on her face.
Dammit, what even? I can't stop my… lub dub… no please… lub dub... I can do this, I can—LUB DUB….. sHIT! GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE SHE NOTICE DATTEBAYO! "I gotta go Sakura-chan! Arigatou gozaimasu!"
"Uhhh you're welcome… I guess" was all Sakura managed to say.
Naruto, now running, decided to go to Ichiraku's to stabilize himself somehow. So that's why she's very nice to me. Kuso, should've thought about that before! How can I be so….. dense? The moment he said that word, Kurama's thundering voice appeared out of nowhere. Again.
"YOU FINALLY GET IT YOU FOOL" Naruto panicked at the unexpected scream causing him to trip and fall face first onto the ground. "MY NOSE! Itai! Itai!" he screamed as he gently held his poor nose and so shifting his attention to the kyuubi. "KURAMA! IF YOU'RE GOING TO SAY SOMETHING ATLEAST SAY IT NICELY! THIS SHOUTING OUT OF NOWHERE NEEDS TO STOP! IT'S NOT FUNNY DATTEBAYO!"
"N-naruto-kun, a-are you a-a-alright?" a sweet voice asked.
Naruto looked up to see Hinata standing there, offering her hand to him. His heart started to beat wildly inside his chest. Oh no! What should I do? What should I do? I KNOW! I should take her hand and invite her to eat ra—No no, that's so sudden. OH! I should take her hand and—No actually I shouldn't take her hand at all, that'll make me look weak. I should just stand up quickly and ignore her offe—BUT THAT'LL MAKE ME AN AROGANT DIMWIT LIKE KIBA! AAAAH! No matter what happens, I shouldn't look weak and I shouldn't look like a dimwit to her dattebayo! Hinata then looked at him with more worried eyes. "N-naruto-kun?" she asked, extending her hand even further, just inches away from Naruto. Oh no! She already thinks I'm weak for laying here still with no signs of movement! KURAMA WHAT SHOULD I DO? With no answer from the kyuubi, he quickly got up, ignoring Hinata's hand, and ran off towards the direction to his apartment. "Arigatou Hinata. I have to go back home now! See ya!"
"H-hai" Hinata answered, obviously disappointed at what Naruto had acted.
A few days had passed and Naruto still kept on avoiding Hinata. Whenever she's near or goes near him, he always makes an excuse to get away. It's just not the same between them anymore. He took as many missions as he can to keep away from the village… to keep away from her. It's not like he hates her or anything but his heart seems to fail whenever he's with her, even just when he sees her. It bothered him so much; he decided to avoid her as much as possible. Atleast until his feelings turn back to normal. But with a couple of weeks of waiting and hoping, to his surprise it just got worse. Now, he can feel his blood rushing through his head whenever he sees her. SEES HER! What more if she talked to him, he felt like he's going to die.
Another day has passed and as soon as Naruto woke up, he immediately sat on his couch and stared at his messy table for who knows how long. His and the table's eye to eye contact were later on cut off by the growling of his stomach, a small reminder that he hasn't eaten breakfast yet. He prepared himself some cup ramen, "Itadakimasu!" and began eating it while it's still hot. Hinata never left his mind. He was unsure of his feelings yet. Does he like her? If yes, is it because she likes him too? Or is it because she's the only person who actually acknowledged and believed in him even though everyone's calling him a monster? Blockhead, he thought referring to himself. No, none of that is the answer to his question. And yes, he does like her, but with no reason…. NO, THERE HAS TO BE A REASON but what it is, he doesn't know. All he knows is when she's near, his heart seems to skip a beat, when he thinks of her it makes him smile and when he talks to her, or talk about her he stutter. Hinata, what have you done to me?
"HE HE HE!" a devious laugh escaped from his head. It is indeed Kurama.
"What are you laughing at?" Naruto asked, slightly pissed at the kyuubi's annoying laugh which obviously is meant for teasing him.
"Oh nothing, it's only funny to see the hero of the leaf struggling with his love life." Kurama smirked, teasing Naruto even more.
Naruto's annoyance got totally replaced with a romantic excitement. "N-NANI? N-no Kurama you got it all wrong I don't have a love life dattebayo. It's just, you know, just…" he said nervously. Geez! This stuttering, it's happening again and this… this feeling… no matter how hard I try… I just can't seem to make it stop dattebayo.
"Eeeh? No need to be shy around me Naruto, don't you know? The more you hide your feelings for someone, the more you fall for them. I know what you're feeling." Kurama said as he place his paw onto his chest, where his heart is.
You do, huh? Naruto thought. "Oh that reminds me Kurama, you are telling me about this 'thing' a few weeks ago. I believe this 'thing' you're talking about is love isn't it?" he said, turning the tables around. Kurama's eyes grew bigger. "Say Kurama, is she beau-" he was cut off by a loud booming sound. This sound came from Kurama; hitting his head on the wall due to an extreme nose bleed. Naruto's eyes widen, a drop of sweat ran down the back of his head as he moved one step backward from the kyuubi. "Kurama?" he asked in an innocent tone.
Kurama slowly got up and stared at him dead in the eyes. "Do you like her?" Naruto blushed as he scratch his neck, looking everywhere except the kyuubi's eyes.
"What are you talking about Kura—" he said only to be cut off again by the same question.
"Do you like her?" Kurama now seems to be more eager about it.
"Well, I don't know, maybe?" Naruto answered with a pissed off-looking kyuubi in front of him.
"Do. You. Like. Her?" Kurama's face are now on the same level as his.
"Whoa whoa get your face back on t—"
"YES OR NO?!" Kurama roared with a frustrated and scary tone; enough to scare the living truth out of Naruto.
"YES SIR! I DO!" Naruto responded quickly. Kurama then smirked at what that dimwit just admitted and looked at him with goo-goo eyes. Naruto noticed this and tried to retain his 'cool' attitude by making up excuses. "Well I do like her but you know, uh… it's not that, you know—"
"I've heard enough," Kurama said, with a surprisingly calm tone. "Naruto, what I'm saying is if you like her, then go tell her. Make it up to her, all those years you've been so blind."
Naruto was stunned, the kyuubi sure do have full of surprises. He wondered who the mystery girl really is. Was it also a fox with 9 tails? No, only Kurama has 9 tails, maybe it's a pink fox with 1 tail. Or blue, or violet, green or maybe rainbow? He set aside that thought for a minute, they both know that that is not the right time to ask. Instead, he thought back at Hinata.
All those years I've been so blind… "That's right!" he shouted eagerly. "I'm gonna have to go back in time Kurama!"
Next time in Lemniscate: Broken Clock