Hinata's hair is knotted, Hanabi notes faintly. Dark locks tangled across her pale arms, covering her face in their chaos. Light streams in from Hinata's window, curtains wide open, carefully dancing across the dark planes of her hair. She thinks wryly, that her sister rarely remembers to close the curtains before sleeping and the sun surely bothers her in her sleep.
Quietly, she tip-toes her way across the floor, pausing at a lone hook to hang her jacket up.
With quick, sudden motions she closes the large curtains and turns to her sister. Not even a moment later, she's at the foot of the bed.
Something deep and warm expands in her chest as she looks at her older sister, torn between waking her up abruptly for kicks and sliding in next to her. It's an old feeling, worn from years of use.
Hanabi is the younger sister, but sometimes she feels like she's the older one. When Hinata takes the world on, Hanabi feels like the only person who can slow her down, the one to ground her when Hinata tries to soar higher. Kiba and Shino wanted Hinata to fly and Neji, for all he loved Hinata and her him, could never hope to ground her. Was too lenient with her. Hanabi didn't like being alone and sometimes letting Hinata fly left her alone, so selfish as it was she liked to keep Hinata near when she could.
She loves her sister, but Hanabi is her father's daughter. Hinata yearns for the sky and Hanabi appreciates the earth, appreciates the now where Hinata usually only looks for the later. Hanabi's later was usually shrouded in her father's desires, so she treasured the now and treasured it more when people were with her to treasure it. Hanabi's a social person, for all that she is usually alone. Unlike Hinata however she could never be a social person, Hanabi's brilliant eyes and quick brain computed numbers faster than most. Her brains and eyes left her alone, with only her father's expectation.
Fourteen years old now she'd lost the mirth she'd held that encouraged Hinata to soar. Even when they traded barbs like people did greetings, Hanabi was always cautious. People could forget it though, when looking at how they interacted, with love and mischief aplenty, that Hanabi was a certified genius. That she saw things more clearly, more in-depth than most.
She takes in Hinata's appearance slowly.
Pale, swallow skin. Hinata hadn't been messaging her back as often as usual, despite summer break nearing. Which meant she'd made no plans for their last summer together before Hinata starts at university, ergo she was distancing herself. She'd won a her division for judo a while ago, despite being second in her division for nearly four consecutive years. Hinata then, was sad. Presumably, it involved Naruto, who had not been mentioned in months, after several months of nothing but stories about him. After years of tangible if reserved admiration for him. Definitely, it had to do with Neji. Because even Hanabi for as closed off as she was becoming, had felt the ache of his loss heavily.
Hanabi's heart aches fiercely, she is fourteen and likes to think herself better than other teenagers. Still, she is fourteen and even if she knows Hinata is sad, she doesn't know what to do about it. What can the younger sister say to the older sister? Hinata is strong and Hanabi doesn't know how to see her as anything but strong, doesn't know how to deal with anything but a strong older sister. It seemed too long ago since Hinata was shy and weak at a first glance.
Sighing, tired from hours of travel, she crawls next to Hinata. It has been years since they've slept together, but she hopes, knows, her sister won't mind. Hanabi rests, space between the two, mind steadily going black.
"You're upset," Hinata says.
Hanabi huffs into her knees, saying nothing.
Bending, Hinata runs her fingers through her ten year old sister's hair. Hanabi looks up with a small pout as she gazes intently at her sister.
"What happened?"
Hanabi looks away, nose scrunched up, annoyed. It takes a lot for Hinata not to laugh, the sight cute.
"Nothing important," she refutes looking to the ground, even as her body was wound tightly together.
It had been a short while since Hanabi had been so twitchy, eyes roving everywhere. Not believing her sister, for good reason, Hinata just scoots closer, tapping Hanabi's cheek teasingly.
"Tell me, c'mon, Nee-chan's prepared to help her cute little sister."
The pout deepens into a frown, Hanabi glaring back.
Hinata's chest pounds rapidly, enamored. No one could dare be cuter than Hanabi, of that she was one hundred percent sure.
"I'm fine, boys are just stupid," she mutters waving her hand around to cease Hinata's hold on her.
Preening, Hinata moves forward until little space separated the two, "Na, tell me why that is Hanabi-chan? Is there a reason boys are stupid?"
Her mind whirled, part of her arguing that Hanabi was too young to like anyone and boys were stupid, best to be avoided so they never corrupted her. Most of her was worried for the boys, Hanabi had training in martial arts and a fiery temper. It took a while to fire her up, but when annoyed very little could stop the younger Hyuuga.
Arms flinging around animatedly, Hanabi points at the direction of the bedroom door in frustration, "Because they're stupid! And dumb! And who even likes Udon anyway, he's always gross and girls are stupid too because they're all sigh look at him, but he's gross and his nose used to be snotty but none of them care," she rants.
Giggling, Hinata ruffles her sister's hair very slightly. Disgruntled, Hanabi looks away, face going pink.
"They're not stupid for having crushes Hanabi, they're just, flus–"
"Like you can talk, Nee-chan gets all stupid when Naruto is mentioned," she snarks.
A vibrant blush covered her face, "D-don't interrupt others, it's rude," she replies, not denying it because on principle she doesn't lie to her sister.
Hanabi sighed exaggeratedly, pointing a finger her way, "See you're getting all stupid and sigh thinking about him now!"
In reply Hinata blushed redder, pinching Hanabi's cheeks in passive aggression, Hanabi yelped slightly at the feel, not hard enough to hurt but not soft either.
"Some people get stupid when they like people, others don't. Just like some people like bananas and others like mitsuba."
Hanabi scrunched her nose up once more, but said nothing, opting to swat her sister's hands away from her being and lie down. It seemed like a logical, if not unreasonable explanation.
People definitely could be weird.
Hinata wakes with a soft squeal. Then she quietly wraps her arms around her younger sister.
"Maa, Nee-chan," Hanabi grumbles moving away from her.
Hanabi doesn't like to be coddled, or rather she feels the need to not be coddled despite liking it. Her voice swims equal parts annoyed and satisfied.
"You're back early," Hinata declares.
Hanabi stifles a yawn as she cuddles back into the blanket, Hinata was an early riser. Hanabi was a night person, preferring to stay up to the hours of the morning over waking at morning. Unperturbed Hinata stretched and felt happy. In the distant sort of way, like happiness was more thought than feeling. But it lingered there, simmering in the air. Hanabi hadn't been back since the year started, had spent the winter break with her studies and youth business courses and couldn't afford to come back on weekends.
Hinata and Hanabi had chosen different routes to dedicate themselves to their family and friends. Hanabi's required more work, Hinata's required more patience.
"Na Nee-chan," Hanabi grunted unable to fall back to sleep. She adjusts herself until she faces Hinata's side.
Hinata flips to face her grown little sister, feeling sad and satisfied in one breath. She hopes it doesn't show on her face.
"Hmm?" Hinata sounds out, curious.
"Do you…" The words get stuck in her throat, she wants to say 'Do you think you'll be alright? Do you need anything?' What comes out is: "Do you want to go out shopping today? I need to buy some new clothes, I wanted to get a cuter style."
Hinata frowns at that, eyes squinting in suspicion.
"Cuter...Style?" She mumbled out, before pouncing. In seconds she is straddling her little sister with a frown.
"Ha-na-bi-chan~" She sing-songs, protective sister mode activated, "Why do you need a cuter style? You're plenty cute already, was there something you wanted to tell me."
Hanabi flipped Hinata off of her after thirty seconds of struggle, Hinata uttering a low ouch. Panting she bites out red-faced, "I just want a new style! What's wrong with wanting to be cute!? Who says I need to be cute for anyone!? I like being cute for myself!"
Not even conscious of her actions, Hinata looks down at Hanabi's loose, ill-fitting jeans and her bright yellow, stretched out tank top. Her eyes widen and lips pucker into a disbelieving smile.
Defeated, Hanabi looks away, mumbling out, "Th-there might, be...someone."
A well of emotions flood Hinata ranging from elation, to disbelief and protective-indignation. She stuffs it down to ruffle the disgruntled Hanabi's already messy hair.
"Otou-san is sending me away to a private school out in the countryside...Their sporting facilities aren't the best, but he says it's the best academic school in Konoha, rivalling Oto and Kumo middle-schools on the national level."
Hinata raises a brow, curious as to why Hanabi was telling her and why neither her or Neji had been sent to the school themselves.
"It's a great school otou-san says, it was made only two years ago but the academic rating is ridiculously high. He says I'll do really well there and it sounds cool but…" Eleven year old Hanabi bites her lips as her eyes tear up suddenly.
Giving her sister a reassuring smile, Hinata bends and wipes her little sister's cheeks of tears she hadn't yet shed.
"But you don't want to go there?" She finishes where her sister had trailed off.
Hanabi lip trembles and she wails out without tears, "I don't wanna leave Moegi-chan! We just became friends and her and Udon are so sad that Konohamaru's moved schools and I promised we'd go to the same schools until high-school! I don't want to make them sad."
Her rant continues partly angry, mostly sad.
Hinata shuts Hanabi up with a yelp as she throws her sister on her bed. Grinning down at her sister, Hinata sits on the bed with a happy smile.
"I think we should sleep on this decision my cute little sister, and we can talk more tomorrow when you're less angry, okay?"
Hanabi throws a pillow at her sister in reply, but feels much calmer than before. Hinata always knew the best ways to calm her down, her sister could be so cool sometimes!
Hanabi listens to people. She doesn't always agree with them or respect them, but she listens to them. She's silent so it unnerves some people, but beneath her quiet was an ever-moving mind that knew and felt and tried to understand people when they were being so very weird. So when faced with a problem and two variables that correlate to the problem, added with only one of the variables being accessible, Hanabi does what she thinks her sister and father will do, interrogates the hell out of it.
Ichiraku is a small bit away from the central malls, but Hanabi drags Hinata off towards the more eccentric stores, until they reach a store with odd tie-dye patterns close enough to Ichiraku that Hinata doesn't become suspicious. Had Hanabi carefully thought this out, she'd have left Hinata totally at home, but she wants to be with her sister and she wants to solve her sister's problems and after so long in the countryside, being alone in the city felt weird and uncomfortable. Hanabi sneaks away without a fuss.
Naruto, she thinks observing the way he smiles and laughs and flirts, possibly without realising it, is an idiot. An idiot because she'd seen him smile brighter through the blurry screen of her video chats with her sister. Because she'd seen him beam brightly without the tense shoulders or closed-mouth grins.
A fury seeps into her bones and she wonders so much. How did strong Hinata who refused to ever go down, who defended Hanabi and tended to her in the same breath; the Hinata who defied their father just so Hanabi could be happy with her friends and then forgave Hanabi when she selfishly chose to move schools anyway, how did she bend to this? A guy with scraggy blonde locks and an idiotic grin
Naruto doesn't look like anything spectacular, he's tall but not sexy. Lacks muscle definition that her sister deserved, because Hinata deserved Adonis. A man carved by the gods just for her, in comparison Naruto was just Naruto. Cute, but in the way so many guys were cute. Nothing remarkable about him.
Briefly she flashbacked to an old conversation with her aforementioned sister and couldn't help but think once more, that people could be so weird. A cheerful voice interrupted her internal musing and she looked up.
"Hey there, welcome to Ichiraku how may I help you?" His voice sounded like he chewed rocks for a living.
Hanabi hated him. First he took all of Hinata's time, then he went and threw her away like she was trash. Uzumaki Naruto was clearly an idiot and Hanabi's stare bore into him, marking him as idiotic.
"Can you tell me why my sister is currently walking around like a ghost? If I thought she'd give an honest answer I'd ask her, but evidently no one's keeping me in the loop." Her voice is cool, self-assured.
Looking up from his clipboard, Naruto's stare turned hard as he peered at her for the first time. Recognition shines in his blue orbs.
"Sorry, we don't offer life stories here."
There's something angry in how he moves, how he holds himself. As if Hinata did something to him, which is impossible because Hinata wouldn't, would she? Trepidation laid heavily in her stomach. Kiba and Shino hadn't informed her why Hinata was distancing herself or how bad she'd gotten to have lost such a visible amount of weight. Hinata was never so open about these things with Hanabi, so if Hinata had done something, would they tell her? She didn't know.
Despite this conflicting mix of emotion, Hanabi defended her sister like a dutiful Hyuuga, "Good thing I didn't ask about your life story, I wanted to know what exactly you did to Hinata," she sneers down her nose at him, like she believed in her own words.
To herself she admitted to the slightest amount of doubt, Hinata did this thing sometimes where she made huge mistakes when misguidedly trying to make things better.
Visibly, Naruto tensed. She had very little interaction with him, limited to a few minutes of him in the background of her conversations with Hinata, but even she knew the look of fury on his face was a first. So raw and anguished, as if Hinata had walked all over him for fun and then laughed as she walked away.
What the hell was happening? This was waaay too confusing for her to follow.
"What I did to Hinata? As if, Hinata's the one who– I thought we actually– You know what, it doesn't matter. What your stupid sister– Ugh, just leave Hanabi." His murmur is low, so not to grab attention.
Though his voice left no space for arguing, Hanabi wanted to argue. Argue for her sister who hurt so quietly, who never told Hanabi anything important. Who always tried to protect her from everything. And he, he didn't make any sense! She'd been trying to be civilized, tried to listen but he wasn't saying anything either, just like her stupid Nee-chan and true to her name, she exploded.
"My sister is awesome! She's beautiful and kind and sexy! You hear me, she's sexy! She deserves more than some heartless dude like you! Hinata's the best sister anyone could ever want and she's the nicest person ever and I'm the only one allowed to hurt her!"
A few people glanced their way, but even shouting she held her composure, though barely.
Naruto gave her a flat look, "Kid, if you're not ordering anything then leave, we have too many customers to cater to the whims of a self-absorbed kid with a sister complex."
The words ring cruelly in Hanabi's ears and her face shades the darkest red, childish indignation rearing its ugly head.
"Idiot! Bastard! Good for nothing blond! I don't know why Hinata liked your stupid self for eleven years, but do my sister a favour a stay out of her life!"
Hanabi was a step away from disappearing for good, when Naruto grabbed her arm.
Hoarsely, his voice croaked out, "What do you mean liked me for eleven years?"
Not sparing him another glare, Hanabi shook his grip off, "Piece it together yourself you idiot!"
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura don't start through a genuine, heartfelt meeting. Their lives aren't dictated through promises or the sort. It starts simply.
Ino isn't at school one day, sick with the flu. Sasuke refuses to partner with any one girl in class because they're all bat-shit crazy and none of the boys like to partner up with him. Naruto's never anyone's first pick. Kakashi-sensei, substituting for a friend at the time, throws them together because no one else wants to team with the trio.
Sakura was too know-it-all for them, Sasuke so very intimidating and Naruto plain annoying. Surprisingly, this trend stays. After a year of being forced into the same groups in every class, the three begin to melt around each other.
It's not like at first sight. It's not a deep, passionate thing that appears suddenly. Even with Sakura's crush on Sasuke and Naruto's crush on Sakura, it's hard for them to become friends. They bring the worst and best bits out of each other and in the end, it's just three misfit kids with nowhere else to go, suddenly falling into place with each other. Occupying each other's time so often that friendship grows slowly, but assuredly.
Like a natural extension of who they are, they become one messy, rowdy group and for a while, that is enough.
But things change. They grow and it becomes a little more strained.
((Sasuke gets colder as he grows older and as much as he appreciates his friendships, the burden of not being Itachi weighs heavy on his shoulders and Orochimaru is accepting and almost familiar. Has an allure about him that makes Sasuke want to be near him, manages to word things so convincingly. Leaving Konoha makes sense, being independent is all he's wanted. And if his parents try and look for him, maybe then he'll know they care.
Sakura can't cope with Sasuke's absence, not just because of her crush but because of how lonely it is. Being around Naruto just reminds her that there's a gap in their dynamics that Sasuke filled and it makes her depressed. She loves Naruto like a brother, but he's as shaken as her so, Sakura gets busy. Volunteers at the clinics and around the community, starts going to the gym. Just, tries not to spare a second too long on thinking about Sasuke and how much he took with him.
Naruto is a social being. He doesn't cope well alone and the scars they leave on his heart are his own, private reminders on the consequence of letting his friends too close.))
And they grow, become teenagers who fit together like disjointed puzzle pieces. The shapes and corners connecting correctly, but the picture warped. They learn to be fine with these changes and to see something in the warped mesh of colours.
The knock on his door interrupts the torrent of his thoughts as Naruto sat, nursing a glass of water.
He glanced at the door, then at his feet and sighed annoyed. Iruka wasn't due back for another hour, at least. Putting a polite smile on, he opened the door slowly, to come face to face with his two best friends. Sasuke stands to Sakura's right, three bags of Ichiraku takeaways in his hands. His pale face scowls with a hint of a warning, while Sakura has her arms looped behind her with this look on her face.
It should be normal, it really, truly should. But he feels the wrongness linger in the air and his first reaction is to slam the door shut, Sakura stops it with her foot and an annoyed glare.
"Nah, we come here being nice with dinner and everything and you wanna slam the door in our faces!?" Sakura shouts menacingly, her fist poised for a punch she wasn't going to execute. Not bothering to ask permission, they make their way in with familiarity, kicking their shoes off at the door.
Stomping in after them, Naruto has the time to roll his eyes before making his way to the floor. They sit around on tatami mats as Sasuke pulls the food from the bag and Sakura continues to smile too widely.
Snorting, Naruto attempts to take a bowl from Sasuke, claiming it as his, but Sasuke stops him with a hard thwack of skin and a heated glare. Pouting now, Naruto looks at them with a raised brow before relaxing slightly.
"C'mon, spit it out. There's a reason you guys are being weird, just tell me," he states bluntly, leaning back.
Sasuke continues to say nothing as he sets their dinner up, arranging it so the side dishes spread around the small table in the weird order he prefers and pulls out some canned drinks. Sakura throws a can at him and pops hers open. He waits a few seconds and follows suit. After taking a sip, Sakura sighs and looks up.
"Let's eat first, we can talk after dinner, ne?" She offers with a gentle smile, her head tilted slightly.
Shrugging, Naruto stands to bring some chopsticks and a few spoons to the table, noting the lack of Ichiraku eating utensils. After hesitating, he takes a breath and walks back to the table. These were his friends and even if it had been a while, he could feel himself untense in their presences.
When Sasuke comes back to Konoha, after three years of being on the run and avoiding the Uchiha police corps, his brothers private investigation company and his nosy best friends, he's not sure what to expect.
Three years was a long time and in that time he had faced his rage square on and beaten it thoroughly. Made friends and enemies in quick succession of each other. For a while too, he had enjoyed it.
Being wholly Sasuke, no Uchiha reputation or older brother's shadow or too nosy best friends to bother him. He learned different martial arts under Orochimaru's tutelage, got involved with Heavy Shit, before he even let himself think about leaving.
Orochimaru was as underground a presences as there ever was, he dealt drugs and information, was a source of much of the Fire Country's corruption. Even though Sasuke respected him, he grew uninterested in the life of survive and kill and had, as he'd done once before, ran away. A year into his work with Orochimaru, he'd learnt how much he enjoyed travelling and for a short while, he lived life from street to street, seeing things in a way he'd never seen them before. With his travels, he'd met new friends, a singer from the Mist, an information broker from the Grass. Short-lived as their friendships had been, it had reminded him of a home he'd left once before and frankly he was curious, so Sasuke trekked back to Konoha and found things so different, even if they were the same.
Sakura was still abnormally smart, but upon arrival he'd, albeit accidentally, seen her throw a fully grown man from her path without breaking a sweat. She was stronger, smarter, more cautious in how and who she smiled at, even if she still had the same quiet confidence and airy charisma about her being.
Naruto too was different, even if he still vaguely held his past personality. He was loud yes, still moved faster than Sasuke could track, mind still a thousand steps ahead or behind where they wanted it to be. Maybe he was taller, leaner as opposed to more muscular, a little more responsible.
Sasuke, like the duo, was also different. His temper had smoothed out, raging embers smothered under a new layer of indifference. Even if he'd rationalised and tried to become more vulnerable, his walls had only gotten higher as he'd gotten older. Sasuke tried, but his indifferent persona and almost too cold nature was just, too much for his once best friends.
They are different people he thinks, and he's not quite sure if coming back was the best option under his mother's suffocating nature and father's careful watch. Things had changed and yet, they hadn't. Like a repeat of the past, school once again ties them together.
They do not just fall together. A series of coincidental meetings, a few hard conversations matched with more awkward silences, heated glares and random outbursts of anger. Always though, they managed to slot into place, lives tied together. Their history teacher managing to once again push them into cohabitation, that too turns to friendship. Be it by accident or coincidence or fate, the three become friends once more and this again, is all they really need.
Dinner is quiet, Sakura offering polite conversation and glaring whenever Naruto and Sasuke obviously zoned out. They talk in passing, Sasuke mentions for the sake of conversation that he had a few offers from Kumo about sport scholarships, Sakura cheered at that and Naruto felt his stomach tighten.
Next, Sakura mentions getting into Konoha-U for med and again, his stomach clenches. He had no news to offer, having not heard back about his military application and his police interview was coming up in a week's time, which made him particularly nervous. He'd passed both physical tests remarkably well, but it didn't escape his notice that at both places he was the youngest applicant by a few years. It was too easy for them to claim lack of life experience like Iruka had reminded him constantly.
If neither application worked out, he was stuck at Ichiraku's for another year while his best friends went on to be Big Deals. The thought made him uncomfortable and quiet. After their dinner is done, five bowls for Sasuke, four for Naruto and one for Sakura plus an array of familiar side dishes, Sakura clears the bowls and places them on a bench.
Neither Naruto nor Sasuke move to help her or otherwise, comfortably seated as she shoves the bowls of uneaten sides into the fridge and places the takeaway bowls in a bag to be thrown away later. Things relatively cleaned, Sakura sits on the floor again with a slight twitch.
"Na, where's Iruka-sensei, Naruto?" She says to fill in the silence.
He frowns, contemplates telling them that he was in hospital, but the words freeze in his throat and he looks down.
"He's got a meeting," with Shizune his doctor, Naruto does not mention.
Sakura nods, looking at her thighs before sharing a glance with Sasuke. Sasuke's bored expression shows a look of faint annoyance, Naruto reads, while Sakura's annoyance is easily read but matched with a healthy amount of exasperation. Quietly, Naruto wonders if they realise that unlike most of the population he too could read their expressions, when he payed attention of course.
Opening her mouth, Sakura goes to say something, before she pauses with a look of deliberation. Again, Sakura's mouth opens, but nothing comes out. After a third time, Sasuke's cold voice breaks through the air.
"You fought with Hyuuga. You haven't fought seriously with anyone since we were 15, but now you're avoiding her and us. What happened?"
Blue eyes wondered over to the hunched forward figure in light confusion. That was a long sentence for Sasuke.
Slowly, Naruto contemplates an answer but can't find anything to say. Sakura saves him the trouble, with a sad look at Naruto she lays a hand on his knee, "Naruto, is the rumour true? Did you reject Hinata-chan?"
The question chips at the last of his walls and his fist tremble, white knuckled. It had been such a long day, a long week really.
"I told her I wouldn't date her yes, but–" The reason sounds dumb now that he tries to word it, but in his chest it feels right. Feels true. 'I rejected her because she didn't actually like me,' like he could say that.
Sakura squeezes Naruto's knee tightly to his confusion and throws a pointed glance at the internally struggling Uchiha.
"Naruto, you are an idiot," Sasuke says bluntly, "Hyuuga made you happy didn't she? Happier than I've ever seen you and I thought that was impossible, so why'd you reject her?" His gaze is deep and boring, black eyes glinting.
Frustrated tears fill his vision slowly as he takes deep, calming breaths and looks at his trembling hands.
He can play fine while Iruka's in hospital, potentially with a relapse, but Hinata is what makes him near tears? The logic makes no sense to him and he's so, so angry at himself for feeling the wrong things at the wrong times.
"Guys I'm sick of being used, I want to be love, I wanna love someone, I wanna know what that feels like. Why do people always play me? Hinata was– She was supposed to be different!" His voice cracked as he banged the table with his fist, head ducked down.
Sakura looks over to an equally lost Sasuke and pats Naruto's thigh in a soft, reassuring motion.
"Why did you reject the Hyuuga? What did she do?" Sasuke presses darkly, he didn't know Hyuuga well, but to hurt Naruto so badly he could only assume the worst of her.
"Because it wouldn't have been real Sasuke, don't you get it," Naruto catches on to the first question only, " No one likes me, not really. But Hinata... I liked her so much it physically hurts me to be so distant, to know that she was using me like others were-"
"How would using you benefit Hinata-chan?" Sakura cuts in confused, because she was friendly with the Hyuga and anything Naruto had, she probably had a better version of, exceptions with friends of course.
"I don't know! All I know is people don't love me and I don't blame them."
The resignation in his voice infuriate the two because, Naruto as much as they sometimes forgot about his presences, was still their best friend. Sometimes school and sports got in the way of that, but still Naruto was a staple in their lives and to hear him so self-deprecating angered the two in different ways.
"You are a moron Naruto!" Sakura interrupts fury in her voice, "Hinata-chan. Liked. You." The words were emphasised as she continued.
"Who the hell knows why, because she knew how much of a moron you are but she liked you. She wouldn't use you, not the Hinata-chan I know. How could you ever think that? How could you believe no one loves you when Sasuke and I are right here!? When we're–"
Her voice cracks her as she stares at Naruto, her best friend and brother, tears in her emerald eyes.
"Because not even my own parents loved me enough to keep me Sakura!"
Two breaths are audibly sucked in through clenched teeth at the remark, but Naruto doesn't slow his angry confessions.
"People who were supposed to love me abandoned me Sakura, and not just them. I'm never enough for people to stay, even you two left at one stage. Iruka, Shion, Gaara, Shikamaru– They've all left me before, no one has ever just stayed for me...So why would beautiful, wonderful, kind Hinata ever truly love a screw up like me! She's just like everyone else...I'm fine for a little while, but I'm not the one people stay for, I'm nobody. So there's no way she truly love me, I mean, why would she?"
Even with things so serious, Sasuke and Sakura manage to force a light-hearted environment, shrugging, faces screwed up in confusion. If they addressed any of the deeper confessions, it would turn too messy and the trio, for all their brilliance are terrible at dealing with situations that were so deeply enraptured in hurt, too accustomed to letting their anger control their emotions. Anger and hurt, Sakura and Sasuke both knew, were not a good combination, so they let their childish sides shine through.
"I dunno what she sees, you're pretty stupid," Sasuke starts.
"And lazy,"
"Untidy," Sakura's nose scrunches up here in agreement.
"Annoyingly stubborn,"
"And extremely unobservant, but..."
"I guess you're pretty cool sometimes," the duo finish off with a surprised glance at each other before bumping Naruto's shoulders, playfully on Sakura's side and merely following her lead on Sasuke's.
A warm smile plays on Naruto's lips as he shakes his head incredulously.
"You guys are serious assholes. And are horrible at comforting someone," he says hoarsely.
"We know," they answer with tilted lips, unexpectedly in unison again.
The look of surprise is stark on their faces as Sakura's smile widens to glee mixed mischief and Sasuke's nose turns upwards. A soft hiccup of laughter sounds between the duo. They share a long look, but before long all three are laughing. Naruto loud and unrestrained, Sakura loud but with restraint, hand over her lips and Sasuke chuckling softly as they fell to the ground, feet curled in ways to make them comfortable. The minutes fade and Sakura and Sasuke both turn to look at Naruto, who laid between them.
"Naruto, go to Hinata-chan, explain to her everything that's happened, how you feel and if you guys won't date, then at least be friends again," Sakura presents the idea with a soft smile.
A pause.
"Do you think she actually wants to date me? Because– I think I really, really like her."
Sakura smiles and threads her fingers through Naruto's spiky hair.
"I don't really know how she feels right now, but Hinata-chan's liked you for a long time and, I can't imagine her giving up on you easily."
"How long has she liked me for? You're the second person to mention that and I'm," curious his mind supplies, but does not say.
Sasuke is the one who answers, "I think she had a crush on you before I left, she used to watch you during class a lot. It was a little weird since you were at back and she was in front."
Eleven years rings through his mind and he looks intently at the ceiling, a new wave of guilt hitting him.
"Will she forgive me? I've been a bit of an ass lately," he laments dryly.
"If she doesn't it, then it's her mistake Naruto, because you are honestly spectacular Naruto, even if you can be a handful," Sakura answers while Sasuke huffs out a neutral sound.
Naruto smiles and sits up, looking over at his two closest friends and thinks yeah, for now, this is enough.
Halfway through this I wondered why tf it was so long and realised that I had accidentally written the chapter as Naruto & Hanabi/Sakura/Sasuke when it was supposed to be (in my planning) just Naruto & Hanabi. But oh well, it was a beast to write so sorry for that, the next chapter will be a lot less lengthy and hopefully not take me two+ months to update. (I make no promises.) If it's poorly displayed, I tried to portray Naruto as stressed out but like, everything's been building stressed? And he's so emotional bc he's been like, bottling things in and it's not really his day is all.
Welp. Tune in next time to follow the children of Konoha as they finally unravel the truth about Konoha's curfew law and why every house has a 'lucky charm' on its door; alternatively Hinata and Naruto finally talk after Hinata's failed confession, but will it actually be enough to salvage their relationship?
Until next time, thanks for reading.