I honestly don't know what to say besides I'm going downstairs to get some ice cream after this :) Enjoy the next chapter!
Hinata locked the gate behind her and fell back on it, leaning against it for strength. She walked across the stones leading to the front of her home, a slight limp in her step. A bit of blood ran freely down her ankle and seeped into the leather of her sandal. Her sister was sitting on the wooden flooring outside of the slide away doors, weaving her fingers in and out of a brightly colored string. As she walked past her, Hinata said, "Ohayo Hanabi-chan."
"Ohayo Onee-chan," Hanabi replied, continuing with her cat's cradle. Hinata went to go inside, but her sister said, "Nee-san... You're bleeding." Hinata tried to open the door with her hands full of packages. "It's fine. It just a scratch."
"You did it again, didn't you." It was more of a statement than a question, a fact rather than a theory. Hinata hesitated and fumbled with the door handle.
After a moment, she gave a light laugh. "That's silly. I didn't...why in the world would I do that to myself?"
Hanabi spun the thread intricately around her fingers. "I suppose I cannot think of a valid reason." Hinata smiled in relief. "...unless you saw Uzumaki Naruto. I've heard he's returned to Konoha."
Something tightened in Hinata's chest. She spoke indifferently, "I may have seen him in the market while I was there, but from a distance. I'm not even entirely sure it was hi-"
"...I saw him there when you opened the gate, nee-chan..."
"...oh." Nothing got past Hanabi; she was immensely intelligent, incredibly observant and rather blunt about it. Hinata didn't mind at all, she loved her sister to death, but now she was in a pickle. Hinata didn't normally lie, one reason why was because she was rather bad at it, another because when she was caught she was terrible at covering it up. She now racked her brain for a suitable answer.
"Well...I...uhm he saw me and...uh..." She wasn't very successful.
"It's alright. No need to explain. I won't tell Father about it if you don't want me to."
Hinata suddenly composed herself, her eyes half lidded and voice smooth and calm. "Well there's no secret, whether you mention it again or not doesn't really matter. He saw me and offered to carry the bags home for me. There was no reason to decline." Hinata opened the door with a new air of dignity.
"Remember to clean your wound." Hanabi called after her as Hinata went inside.
"Thanks little sister!" Hinata responded and laughed, her voice echoing down the hallway.
Hanabi paused, her threading fingers still. She looked after her older sister and then turned to the front gate, analyzing it's ridges and height, it's dark color and it's strong built.
"I wonder if that sort of strength will hold up for long..."
Okay, so that wasn't the welcome he had been expecting after practically two years. Last time he recalled, she had flat out fainted when he spoke to her. Twice, actually, she had fainted upon seeing him. He half-smiled at the fond memory. Not really feeling up to going home to his empty, probably still dirty apartment, Naruto strolled along the same dirt path Hinata and he had travelled just a little while ago. Hinata's actions still plagued his thoughts and he couldn't fathom why. Thinking of her made him so flustered with frustration that he violently rubbed the back of his neck again, as if doing so would make him understand the changes that had occurred while he'd been gone. His blonde hair had grown longer, the tips of his locks now reaching as far as the base of the back of his neck, very much like his father's hair had been. And as his hand kept touching the hair, he was reminded of how he himself had changed. He was taller, sure, and his muscles were more toned, his shoulders more broad and his face more defined. On a personal note, he figured he was more mature, having dealt with an array of difficult situations and obstacles already. His skills were sharpened and he modestly could say that he could detect anything coming or going from yards away with his improved senses.
However, he probably hadn't been the most observant friend in the past; he'd been kind of busy, in his defense, with the Kyuubi and Atatsuki threats, not to mention Sasuke's whole going going-away-and-totally-turning-to-the-dark-side deal. Still, while he hadn't expected any of that to be easy, it was taking longer than predicted.
Yet he still knew Hinata from their academy days and had even took on a few missions with her. She was quiet and sometimes hidden in the shadows; to be honest Naruto rarely noticed her unless she spoke up, which was infrequent, or he sought her out for help, which was even more infrequent. But he liked people like her; she was brave when she needed to be, like in the chuunin exams, and she knew the right thing to say at the right time, when she told him she believed in him before his fight with Neji. She never seemed unfriendly to anyone though, no matter who it was. Not even someone like me, the Kyuubi container. Was he noticing actual differences, or was he overanalyzing? Maybe he was thinking too much about it.
"Oi! Oi, Shino, look who it is!" A voice in front of him barked. Naruto looked up and coincidently saw Kiba, Shino and Akamaru on the side of the path, leaning again an oak tree. "Hey, Naruto!" Kiba barked again, sticking out a hand to shake when Naruto came close. "How've ya been?"
"Not bad," Naruto replied, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. He also nodded to Shino. "It's good to be back. How are you guys?" He asked, petting Akamaru's large head. As the dog barked in contentment, the boys nodded in response. The two had also grown in stature and build but their typical clothing didn't change much. The three of them had turned from lanky male teenagers into well-built young men, three of the finest ninja of their generation and Naruto thought how it really was great to see them again.
"Quite nice. The whole village has been anticipating your return," Shino responded, his face sill covered by his large collar and dark goggle glasses.
"Yea, everyone's been talking about it. Who knew all this was going down?" Kiba piped in, the red marks on his cheeks curving as he gave Naruto a pointy toothed smile. They talked for a while, catching up, chatting about old times and what the other Rookie 9 were up to. Continuing to pet the dog, and earning a bark as a thanks, Naruto said, "So...I met up with Hinata before..." The two stopped and stared at him, listening with full attention at the sound of the girl's name. "And she… I don't know… She's changed."
"Yes. Two years can do that," Shino said simply, his dark glasses glinting in the sunlight.
"Yea, I know but it's not like that. Something's different and I can't put my finger on it. Have you guys noticed anything?" The two looked at each other, as if they were silently communicating with their eyes, and turned back to him. Even Akamaru look solemn. Kiba spoke first, "Well at least you've gotten a little smarter since you were last here."
"Or maybe more observant of things." Shino suggested.
"But yea, Hinata did change somewhat. She's really close to her family now..."
"She's always trying to impress them is what he means."
"Yea she's been pretty devoted to all that heiress stuff."
"I guess that's not it either," Naruto said. It seemed like she didn't want to be near me...like I wasn't even worth looking at." Even mentioning this hit a sore spot for Naruto. He didn't enjoy reliving feelings that tortured him when he was a lonely unloved child.
Kiba spoke up as a matter-of-factly, "All I know is, she hasn't mentioned anything about you once in the time you've been gone."
"Really?" Naruto said, an eyebrow quirking up, "Why, is that weird?"
Kiba gave a half-hearted laugh but didn't answer. Shino did instead, but not before hesitating first. "Let's just say, for Hinata-sama, you were a frequent topic of conversation that she never had the courage to voice."
"...huh?"
"You were an admired, respected and especially prominent figure in Hinata-sama's eyes, very much on her mind daily." he emphasized his adjectives. He paused and waited for a response, but nothing came. Naruto just stared back at him with oblivious, un-knowing eyes. "Do you not recall a specific situation that emerged? A certain bit of evidence that was presented to you? A confession, perhaps, of a long held, incredibly important secret of Hinata-sama's?"
Naruto backed away a little from Shino, who seemed to be closing in on him with only the power of his steel-tone voice. He didn't acknowledge any memory of what Shino was talking about.
"C'mon, that's enough, Shino." Kiba cut in, a scowl on his face.
"He should know what she went through, Kiba." Shino said harshly, his glinting lenses staring Naruto down.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to get into anything this sensitive…" Naruto quickly said, holding his hands up. This was not what he was expecting as an answer.
"It's cool," Kiba said to Naruto, but was now looking at Shino with his thin black pupils. "Besides, things with Hinata are completely different now, right Shino?"
"I suppose. But one shouldn't disregard that path that brought her here." Naruto could feel the tension; he could tell Shino was glaring at him from behind those infamous, round sunglasses. This was definitely the wrong thing to bring up; he didn't know it was so serious. Shino had a way of scaring people without even looking threatening, even without the bugs. Heck, his voice even remained cool and calm when he was pissed off angry.
"G-gomen." Naruto stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at his feet, kicking a pebble or two. "Wha-what happened to her? What did she go through?"
Now Shino stayed quiet, apparently hurt by the answer.
Kiba then took his turn to speak. "It's really not our place to say. We shouldn't even have said this much. You should ask Hinata about it."
"Now THERE'S an idea." Shino said sarcastically.
"Well, he'd get a better answer than you throwing this on him!"
"She wouldn't tell him that it was because of him! We're talking about Hinata!"
Akamaru gave a loud bark, even he was frustrated with this convoluted, tense conversation. Naruto looked from one boy to the other during their argument. He cocked his head and asked, "…him?"
They looked back at him.
"Him who?"
Their jaws dropped. "Think long and hard about it, Naruto. You didn't before, so you should now." Shino said, turning in his large overcoat and heading down the path without so much as a goodbye.
"And try being nice to Hinata. Like Shino said, she's been through a lot." And with that, he and Akamaru followed Shino's footsteps, leaving Naruto behind. He now stood alone by the large tree. Naruto sighed and decided to just go home, feeling worse and worse about coming back to Konoha.
I apologize if it felt a bit rushed...Eh I don't know anymore...I recently got back from vacation with my best friends (us 6 go up to a lakehouse and chill out every year, its pretty wonderful) and I'm really going to miss them, so I've been feeling sort of down :(
Some reviews might make me happier :D I'll continue writing and will post soon, I promise!