Swoon
» (o3: the blame game)
The sky overhead was painted an ultramarine blue, filled with delicate, white clouds, and below, amongst the darker contrast of the trees, there was the sound of chatter and shuffling of feet, as many passerby crowded the streets of Konoha. Amidst the sea of pedestrians were a young girl and her teammates walking, on their way to eat lunch after having vigorously trained earlier that morning. A warm breeze toyed with billowing hair comparable to black satin ribbons, shafts of light bringing out the deep azure hues present there. Round pearly orbs possessed a faraway look inside of them; despite her unique ability to see into far distances, Hyuuga Hinata was so distracted by her jumbled thoughts that she didn't see the introverted dark-haired boy until it was too late.
"O-oh!" she gasped in surprise. She tried to steady herself before she could tumble backwards, but failed miserably. A wave of mixed with shame and horror flooded her features as she landed on the street, white orbs misting slightly with pain. A tingling pink-tinted heat rose to her cheeks as she realized just who it was she had bumped into. Hinata willed herself to become transparent, but remained as visible as ever.
For this boy, you see, was no simple ordinary boy. Besides possessing the Uchiha's infamous bloodline trait the Sharingan eye, he was also the last surviving member of his clan, former avenger, and traitor of Konoha. All tousled black spikes, smooth pale skin, and unfathomable eyes as deep as the still ocean, Uchiha Sasuke was someone that made every other girl in the village want to shamelessly throw themselves at him. He also happened to be the one who had been plaguing her mind all week, though not for the same reasons as say a flirty Yamanaka Ino or boisterous Haruno Sakura. Far from it, actually.
Hinata had been wondering how she could possibly apologize to Sasuke after not only accidentally kissing him, but also fainting — right on top of him.
Now it appeared she had yet another reason to apologize.
"U-Uchiha-san," she stuttered weakly in greeting. She was painfully aware of their every move being scrutinized. Sensing movement, the heiress realized with a start that both of her teammates had moved closer to protectively flank either side of her.
Kiba looked absolutely livid, his teeth gnashing together angrily; his almond eyes flashed like two constellations about to implode and force out its blinding lights upon the planet. Meanwhile, his powder-white dog, Akamaru, growled down by his side, fur visibly fluffing up more than usual. In contrast, Shino appeared completely at ease, though no doubt assessing the situation. The fact that his fathomless stare was hidden behind a trademark pair of opaque sunglasses somehow made Hinata feel even more anxious . . . if that was possible. Meanwhile, a crowd of gossiping patrons lingered nearby.
"Che." Sasuke didn't even look at her, instead opting to slide his hands into the recesses of his pockets. Eyes akin to dark charcoal stars peered off into the distance, as if preferring to look at anything but her. That probably was the case since she had been doing nothing but causing him trouble as of late. The thought brought an unexpected twinge of pain to her chest. She parted her rosebud lips so as to speak once more, but her brown-haired teammate cut her off.
"That's all you have to say?" Kiba snapped, narrowing his coppery brown eyes in utter conniption. "You should apologize to Hinata, right now!" Akamaru barked loudly in agreement.
"Are you all right?" Shino suddenly asked her in that monotonous voice of his, though it was laced with genuine concern for her well-being. Hinata's reflection bounced back into her creamy pale irises as she turned to look up at him. Visibly reddening, she nodded.
"Hai," was Hinata's shaky reply.
The dejected girl accepted his outreached hand with gratitude. Their fingers intertwined, and Shino pulled her easily to her feet as if she weighed nothing more than a slight flower. She bit her lower lip, glancing up at Sasuke through the curtain of her silken hair. He looked clearly agitated by the whole situation, and she couldn't blame him. He had a right to be angry with her.
There was a beat in which a flicker of some undisclosed emotion dashed across Sasuke's face, but then he recovered in a flash and irately retorted, "In case you didn't notice, she was the one who bumped into me." The icy quality of his voice made the heiress outright shiver; it caught her off guard when he shifted his gaze from a visibly fuming Kiba to settle on her within mere seconds. His inky glare intensified then, electric sparks almost seeming to shoot from him. "With your abilities, you should have sensed my approach miles away." He paused, scrutinizing her, before adding, "Are you really that much of a klutz?"
"After that stunt you pulled off at the beach, you think you have the right to talk to her like that?" Kiba exclaimed. He growled, the sound reverberating from deep within the cavity of his chest. Akamaru followed suit, taking a noticeable step forward.
Hinata winced. Despite her attempt at explaining that everything that had happened at the beach was her fault, her teammates were somehow convinced it was Sasuke to blame. Even the mild-tempered Shino thought Hinata would be safer away from him. It was all a mess; still, she was determined to fix it.
"I-I was distracted," she managed to stutter quietly, hesitating as she reddened a little. She felt as though her heart were a little hummingbird, rapidly flapping its wings against her chest. Her face became a fierce shade of fuchsia underneath the intensity of his stare. Even if she hadn't thought of him in a romantic light, the idea of Sasuke realizing that he had been the one to preoccupy her thoughts as of late made Hinata feel faint. She bowed her head, not only to show that she was truly apologetic, but so as to break the unwavering connection between obsidian and amethyst. "I-I'm sorr —"
He sneered. "As if I need your apology. You're clearly nothing but a weak and clumsy girl."
Within the crevice of her chest, Hinata's heart dropped. His words pierced her like frosty icicles, sharp and ruthless. Her rosy cheeks drained of color.
He had called her clumsy. He had called her weak. She knew it was true, but hearing those biting words come from him hurt more than she could describe. Yet, the only reason he had been on her mind at all had been because of what transpired at the beach. The mayhap that started this whole mess. The accidental kiss. So why did Sasuke's words hurt so much? Was it because coming from him with his typically stoic mannerisms and shadowed eyes, it was especially harsh? Or was it because . . .
"You underestimate yourself, Hyuuga."
Sasuke pushed past Hinata roughly, brusquely, only to vanish into the crowd of pedestrians as quickly as he had come. He didn't so much as spare a backwards glance. She was left standing there tongue-tied, flustered, and absolutely unsure of how to rectify the situation.
"That's it!" Kiba proclaimed with a feral snarl. "Let's go, Akamaru — "
"K-Kiba-kun — " Her voice was shaking. "Please, d-don't."
"Hinata," her teammate began, unable to keep his frustration from seeping out into his voice. Kiba's stormy gaze bore right into glistening opals, which only made it all the more difficult for him to sustain his aggression. When she delivered him a particularly pleading, desperate look, he hesitated on the spot. "He deserves to get what's coming to him."
Like a bad habit, she started to twiddle her fingers. In her usual gentle tone, she whispered, "I just . . . I don't want any more f-fighting."
His lips pressed into a thin, taut line. Tension clearly radiated from the teenaged boy's frame as he strained every muscle in his body to keep from pursuing the Uchiha. Eventually, his expression softened. He reluctantly motioned for the large dog flanking his side to stand down. "Fine. Let's just go get some lunch now. I'm starving!" Kiba added, as if attempting to ease her insecurity with his last comment. A fanged grin curved his mouth as he looked at her.
Hinata managed to smile weakly back. "O-okay."
Both she and Kiba started walking.
Meanwhile, a knowing glint shone in deep chestnut eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. Shino stared after Hinata silently, before catching up with his teammates.
…
…
"What was that back there?" The blond stared inquisitively at one of his longtime best friends. The question wasn't a surprising one, but it still annoyed Sasuke to no end, who rolled his eyes skyward in response.
"What was what, dobe?"
"You know what!" Naruto challenged, his voice introducing an irate tone. He frowned. "Why were you being so rude to Hinata-chan?"
Sasuke was obviously perturbed and disturbed that this conversation was even happening in the first place; he had received enough lecturing within the past week to save him a lifetime. While it was far from unpredictable considering Naruto had become his self-appointed baby sitter, it still didn't make his words any less grating. He swiftly cast his obsidian eyes upwards to glare coldly up at spirited royal blue hues and burnished gold. Then, he glanced away. "Why is it I am the villain in this situation?"
"You're kidding, right?" Naruto laughed, for the first time since their encounter. "Look at you!"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
A goofy grin had been plastered onto his whiskered face, until Sasuke's sharply worded question came up. His expression quickly mellowed down, though a small smile remained on his pale lips. Naruto took a moment before answering, putting his hands up in a placating gesture. "I'm just saying, you and Hinata-chan are polar opposites. She's like a mouse. And you . . . well, you're not."
That is such bull, he thought irritably, as he angrily kicked at a stone on the ground. The irony of Naruto's words wasn't missed by Sasuke either. He closed his eyes, starting to feel a headache coming on. All he had wanted to do was train; that's why he'd come here, out in the middle of the woods. Amidst the knobby trees and filigree of sunlight streaming down through the foliage up above, he had sought a momentary reprieve. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like peace and quiet would be forthcoming anytime soon. "Hn. You think so too, Sakura?"
The rose-haired girl blinked, as if surprised to be addressed directly by the brooding Uchiha. That or she was startled, before too deeply engaged in thought. Either way, she managed to recover quickly. "Naruto's right," Sakura said. "You're only making things harder for yourself."
"So what am I supposed to do?" he spat out sarcastically. "Go make nice?"
Naruto was about to say yeah, because Hinata-chan deserved an apology, even if she was a weirdo — weirdos had feelings too! But he was abruptly cut off.
"No," Sakura replied firmly. She shook her head, sending her cherry-petal pink locks dancing over her collarbone. A fierce gleam entered her emerald eyes. "You should just stay away from her. Eventually this whole thing will blow over. Everyone will forget about — about the 'incident' — and life will return to normal."
Normal, right, he thought bitterly. As if that was possible . . . Sasuke could still recall the angry glares from Neji, Kiba, and Shino; the melodramatic squealing that pierced his eardrums from all of his dismayed fangirls. He could take the whispering, the gossiping, the judgmental stares behind his back. That wasn't even the worst of it. The worst thing of all was Hinata's reaction.
Since what had happened at the beach, Hinata had purposefully gone out of her way to avoid him. When they did finally run into each other, it was because she was too busy daydreaming about the blond idiot to watch where she was walking. Her face turned beet red upon realization she had collided with him. She couldn't even look Sasuke in the eyes. Was experiencing physical contact with a boy really that horrible, he wondered. Or was it actually Sasuke himself who frightened her? Then there was the pity party on his behalf. The one, single moment their gazes did lock, her ivory orbs shone with guilt.
But maybe she really was sorry. Maybe she blamed herself for this whole mess. Maybe . . .
Sasuke swiftly pulled back the reins on his mutinous thought process. He certainly didn't want to go down that road. It was easier to simply stay angry at the socially inept heiress. It made his already complicated life a lot less complicated.
"Sasuke-kun, what do you think?"
Disappointment filled Sakura's mint-green orbs as Sasuke carelessly shrugged his shoulders. She stared wistfully at her longtime love interest, admiring his prince-like features: tousled, dark hair, deep charcoal eyes, an angled face. The only detail ruining the look of royalty was the downward curving of his mouth into a scowl, and the storm that refused to dissipate from his cornea. Sakura only wished she could help him find more happiness. "Whatever," came his harsh reply.
Naruto tugged a hand through the mop of his hair, perfectly oblivious to the tension arisen between his two teammates. "Can we get some food now?"
"By food, do you mean ramen?" Sasuke asked dryly.
"That's what I said!" the blond retorted, cheeky grin lighting up his boyishly handsome features once more.
► I kind of want to give Sasuke a big hug right now, even though it's my fault that he's going through all of this in the first place. Poor, poor Sasuke! So jealous, so lovelorn. And poor, poor Hinata. So naïve, so clueless. Ha, who am I kidding? I'm enjoying this way too much. xD The next chapter is going to be even more fun, just you wait and see. In the meantime, pretty please send some of your love my way! I'd love to know what you all think. :)
E› tifa .
