Absolution
She never intended to give birth to a bastard child, but she did. At least now she wouldn't be alone. Hinata-centric.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
Chapter 2: A New Job
Her back was aching up a storm. That was the first thing Hinata noticed right after opening her eyes because gosh, it felt like she would never stand up straight again. She stretched, yawned, then checked up on the boy – Rei.
The brown blanket was black with blood, and he was still too pale to be healthy, but he was sleeping well, at least. She smiled in relief. She'd work on him again later.
She made her way down to the dining area, where the innkeeper was busy clearing away dishes. A quick glance outside told her the time. "Good evening," she said.
"Whoa, whoa!" He turned round, surprised. "Since when didja get back here?"
"A-A few hours ago," she replied. It was probably true, not that she knew for sure. "Ano, i-is there anything l-left for dinner?"
"Yeah, we left some for ya. Wait up and I'll go get it."
"T-thanks. Oh!" Hinata passed several bank notes to him. "I-I'll be s-staying here a f-few more days. M-my friend's h-hurt so I'll heal him first."
He accepted the money with a grunt. "You're a kind one," he said. She blushed and looked down. "One room or two?"
Hinata hesitated. Her funds were dwindling, but she couldn't bring herself to share a room with a guy who was little more than a stranger…even if she did save his life. The innkeeper's lips thinned.
"Two rooms, then," he said. She bit her lip and nodded. "But your friend'll be payin' his own rent, otherwise that's a damn ungrateful brat you've got right there who deserves a spankin'!"
"Ah…a-ano, it's o-okay-"
He winked at her. "Just pullin' your leg there, lassie. Sit down while I get you some food. Your friend want some?"
She lowered herself gingerly onto a chair. "S-Something easy to swallow, maybe? Thank you."
"Nah, think nothin' bout it." He shuffled away, leaving her alone at the table to drown in her musings. She ate her meal in silence. When she was done the innkeeper came out of the kitchen with a bowl of soup and a portion of bread – "For your friend," he said – which she brought up to her room for when Rei woke up.
She checked for a fever. Thankfully, his temperature was normal, though he was sweating a little. She managed to heal a nasty gash on Rei's stomach before he grabbed her hand.
"Oh!" she squeaked. Her Shousen sputtered and died. "R-Rei-san, you're awake."
He grimaced and let go of her hand. "Sorry, reflex." She shook her head; it was a normal reaction for ninja, so she bore him no grudge. He ran a hand through his hair with a sheepish smile.
"A-Ah, you probably s-shouldn't be doing that," Hinata chastised. "Y-Your arm injury's still open."
He stared at his injury. "So it is," he remarked. He sounded surprised, for some reason. He flexed his fingers, found them functional, and shrugged. "No matter. Is that soup I smell?"
"Yes. S-Shall I feed you?"
"What! No, I can feed myself. Thanks," he added, seeing her wide-eyed shock. "Gee, you get scared pretty easily, huh?"
Her cheeks reddened. She passed him the bowl quietly then sat at his bedside, twiddling her fingers. Weak, she thought he meant. Scaredy-cat.
"Hey, no need to look so down…ah, damn it," he muttered. His spoon clunked back into the bowl. He picked it up again.
"Y-Your hands are shaking," Hinata murmured. She took the bowl from him and offered him a spoonful of soup. "Here, I'll f-feed you."
"I need my manly pride!" he complained, but his eyes twinkled with mirth. He slurped the soup hungrily. When he was done, Hinata carried the empty bowl downstairs to the kitchen then ventured out the back door.
The day was growing dimmer, but she could still make out the pile of firewood stacked against the wall. An axe was stuck in a tree stump a few feet away. With an effort, she pulled it out of the stump and positioned a thick, straight piece of wood in the middle of it.
The wood split in half in just two strikes. She repeated the move with a few more pieces of wood until she had a dozen. Satisfied, she cut down a sapling and whittled away its leaves and branches. Then she got some rope and cloth from the innkeeper's wife, who was more than happy to provide her the items once she knew what they were for.
"Do you need help?" she asked. Hinata declined and went upstairs.
Rei's inquisitive look dropped on her the moment she entered. "Are those for me?" he asked, eyeing the armful of wood she carried. She dropped them onto the floor beside him and nodded.
"Splints for your leg," she said. "M-My iryou-ninjutsu is basic, so y-you'll have to use these f-for a while. I'm s-sorry!"
"Aww c'mon, don't cry. I dunno what to do when girls cry," he said awkwardly. He reached out to pat her shoulder and winced when he jolted his broken leg.
"I-I'm not crying," she sniffled. Why did she cry in the first place? Embarrassed, she busied herself strapping the firewood together to splint his leg. Rei splinted his thighs himself; his sure hands spoke of a familiarity with the moves that left her a little curious.
She began healing his arms while he worked. They had scabbed over and were shallower than the injuries on his stomach, so she finished before she felt exhausted. Now only his leg was left untreated, sans the splints. She bit her lip. Could she do it?
"Hey," Rei said, half-mumbling. His eyes were already drooping in sleep. "You don't really have to fix my leg, you know. It'll heal itself." He yawned. "You've done enough."
I'm not good enough. She pulled the blanket up to cover him in silence.
"Hey," he said again, one eye cracking open to see her. "Thanks. For saving me, that is. I'd have died without you."
"I-I didn't do much," she said, but he was already asleep. She exhaled and left for her new room, right next to his.
He was up and about the next day, using the sapling she'd cut as a crutch. Hinata got the fright of her life when he thumped, quite ungracefully, across her room in the morning.
"You – but – I locked the door!" she exclaimed. Frantic fingers combed her sleep-frazzled hair as she glared at him. "I'm – I'm a girl!"
"And I'm a boy," he said, as if he didn't know what the difference meant. He limped over to her bedside and nudged her legs over to sit down in a corner. Goosebumps broke all over Hinata's skin and she curled up, putting a distance between them.
"G-good morning," she huffed, though she didn't feel like it was a very good morning. He'd unlocked her door and walked in like he owned the place! Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
"Y'know, I forgot to ask you this," he said, forgetting to reply her greeting (a little rude, she thought), "but where am I exactly?"
"At a village inn," she said. "I'm s-staying here, and I d-didn't know where else to bring you."
"Maa, anywhere's fine." He flexed his fingers, testing his dexterity. He frowned. "Looks like I'll be staying here a while. You?"
"I…what?" Caught off-guard, her words stumbled off her tongue and got stuck. She ducked her head.
"Stay with me?" he asked instead. Hinata would have been terrified if not for the fact that he didn't mean it that way.
"I-I'll be leaving soon…" she said warily. Rei's shoulders drooped.
"Really? Then I guess I'll leave with you."
"Wh-What! You're sick!"
"I'm injured, not sick. And I've nowhere to go, so."
Okay, he was one creepy guy. "What about your f-family?" she tried.
"Dead." Clipped, disarming. "No condolences, please. Anyway, I'm stuck with you!"
She'd rather be stuck with the baby in her gut than him. Even if she didn't really have a choice in that matter. Rei took her silence as agreement and clapped his hands.
"Right, so where're we headed?" He grinned at her, causing her to back up against the wall. It really wasn't funny.
"We are not going anywhere," she said firmly. "You are going to stay here until you're well, and I am going to leave when I feel like it." There, no stutters. She stared right at him, knowing how her pupil-less eyes made a very disturbing impression on most.
Her stare slipped past him like water off his back. "No," he said. Was he pouting? "Since I've nothing to do and nowhere to go, I'll stick with you."
This was fast becoming the worst waking nightmare she ever had. And no, his boyish grin was not making the mood any lighter. She swung her feet off the bed and made for the door.
"I-I'll go get breakfast. It's downstairs." To her horror, Rei got up to tag along.
"I'll come with you, I can walk." I'm regretting making him that crutch, Hinata thought to herself. Sure, he was a little unsteady on his feet – foot? – but he could limp around and now she had a stalker on her hands.
She half-jogged, half-ran to the dining area, where the innkeeper's wife was sitting, reading the newspaper. She looked up at the loud clatter Rei was making coming down the stairs.
"Good morning," she said. She inclined her head at the stairs. "Your friend?"
"In a way," Hinata replied. She sneaked a quick glance at Rei. "W-what's for breakfast?"
"I'll go get it," she said, and disappeared into the kitchen. Hinata watched her go forlornly. Rei limped over to the vacated chair with a sigh.
"You walked so fast," he grumbled. He shifted around in his seat. "You know, I never got to know your name. I'm Rei."
Ah, he didn't remember her name last night. She sighed. That, at least, was normal.
"Hinata," she said. Neither bothered with family names. A pregnant pause dropped between them. Rei steepled his fingers and tapped his foot.
"So…where are you headed? Seriously, now."
I wouldn't tell you even if I knew! "S-Somewhere, Rei-san."
"Why don't you come with me? I'm heading east to Mizu no Kuni, the weather's great there at this time of the year."
He didn't seem capable of heading anywhere the last time she checked, but she held her tongue.
"N-No thanks," Hinata said. "I'll leave t-tomorrow."
"And you'll leave me here to die? I can't even walk!" He gestured at his splinted leg. "I'd die of boredom! I'll be in debt if I stay here, 'cuz I don't have money to stay that long! I'd be sentenced to servitude forever!"
He gave her the best puppy-dog eyes he could muster. She looked away, struggled, then folded.
"Fine," she mumbled in defeat. "We stay h-here till you can walk, then I'll s-send you to Mizu." Well, at least now she had a destination in mind. And a travelling partner, too.
"Hooray, Hinata-chan!" he cheered. Her cheeks burned. Hinata-chan?
"I-I'll need to g-get a job," she said, fidgeting. "I c-can't support us b-both so long."
"Who's getting a job?" The innkeeper's wife said, appearing from the kitchen with a tray of goods. "You, lassie?"
Hinata dodged the woman's purposeful look and nodded. "J-Just until he gets well," she said. "A f-few weeks?" Sooner, if she could heal his leg, but she lacked the expertise to do it. More's the pity.
The innkeeper's wife pursed her lips, but did not argue with her. "Well, if it's a job you're looking for, you can always help out here," she said, considering, as she set the dishes. "It's off-peak season so we can spare your two rooms. Meals and lodgings in return for work, how's that sound?"
Hinata and Rei exchanged glances. "I-It's great, thank you," Hinata said, resigned to her fate.
"But what about you?" The woman asked Rei. "Working too?" She had every intention of giving him a tongue lashing if he let a pregnant girl do all the work, whether he knew about it or not. Rei looked at her indignantly.
"I can still work. I'll pay for my own stuff!"
The innkeeper's wife nodded. "I'm sure we'll find some work for you. Eat up, now, you two must be hungry."
Hinata helped herself to a portion, mulling over her next course of action. The inn wasn't a bad place to stay, and the people were friendly, its patrons regulars who hadn't troubled her at all. She could grow to like this place.
"So, it looks like we'll be working together, yeah?" Rei said, grinning. His words doused her straying thoughts and she winced at the proposition.
"It would s-seem so, Rei-san," she said.
"Oh, by the way." A playful glint lit up his eyes. "I'll smack you every time you stutter," he warned.
"H-huh?"
Smack!
Hinata gasped. He'd smacked her! For real!
The next few weeks would be very, very interesting.
- Chapter 2: End.
I noticed fewer people read the previous chapter. Was it too long?
Do tell. I like receiving feedback for my stories.
Special thanks to Duesal10 for the reviews for both chapters.