Chapter Four-Painful Heart Beats
"Hyuuga-sensei!" a small girl that was only hip height to Hinata ran to her side, chocolate brown eyes wide and sparkling. Hinata grinned, and rested a hand on the child's head.
"Good morning Chihiro, I take it you are well?" she said sweetly.
The child nodded with a bounce, "Hai! Look! My Mama got me a pretty new bow for my hair!" She spun so that her teacher could get the full effect of her ink colored hair tied up with a pink ribbon in it. Hinata smiled even wider.
"Very adorable Chihiro. Look, Eri's here so go and play alright?" she encouraged the first grader, who nodded, and bounced away.
Hinata sighed happily. After her first week here, Chihiro was in a way her favorite student, although she loved all her pupils dearly already. But so far it was wonderful being an assistant teacher. The teacher she was helping was getting ready to retire, so if the school found her a suitable teacher, she'd just take her elder's place when she finally ended in a few months.
"Chiyo-baa-chan?" she asked softly to the elderly lady, who turned to face her.
"Yes, Hinata-san?" her voice was just like Hinata's old grandmothers, who died before her mother: warm, low, scratchy, but comforting.
"What would you like me to do?" she inquired, knowing she would just be given a random job while the elder calmed down the children.
"Oh, if you could sort out the art supplies before we get started, that would be a help deary." Replied the old woman, whose face was like rolling mountains, and so rolled that her eyes were partially hidden under the sagging flesh. But yet she still was able to look at you with those eyes that twinkled with laughter in them.
Hinata nodded, and moved to gather up the messed up papers. While doing so, she began to reflect on the past week. It had certainly been action packed.
After the interview, Hinata realized she'd been left stranded in a town she didn't know, and she didn't have a way to contact the man who'd given her a ride. And she didn't think she had the nerve to call him, but she didn't really understand why. So she'd ended up calling Sakura, who then dragged her out on another shopping excursion. The renovations for Naruto's apartment would be done the next week, so Sakura was giddy to think around remodeling the guest room into one Hinata could live in.
"Think of all the shopping we get to do! Hinata you are my new toy!" the ex-nurse squealed, hugging her tightly.
Though it made Hinata nervous. She was never one that loved to ride on the coattails of another, especially one as close a friend as she was to Sakura. But Sakura looked so excited for something new to do while her husband was at work. And because of that, Hinata let the woman talk as if she was going to live there for the rest of her life. She knew her friend, and how much she loved taking care of others. When Sakura had told her she'd quit her small pay job to be with Sasuke, since he could support both of them easily, Hinata knew although Sakura never regretted it, the pink haired woman longed to be back working in the hospital, and if she could, become a surgeon.
Then there was Naruto. She didn't see the hyper-active blonde that much, usually at breakfast and dinner now, but she still felt something in her chest seize up whenever her bounced or slid into a room. He still gave her odd looks whenever blood rushed to her face in a magnificent flush, but she'd actually managed to have a few conversations. And she was amazed at how serious he took his job.
"People call fighting an art sometimes, and I sorta agree I guess. But for me it's to know that you can muster and reign over an incredible power. Also it really funny when someone tries to rob you and you beat the shit out of them!" he'd told her one time.
With this, she began to really admire the young man who'd captured her eye. But she wouldn't let it go farther than admiration. Or, well, that's what she told herself.
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"Hinata!?" Sakura was waving her hand in front of her face now as she blinked, and looked up. Naruto tilted his head back from the couch where he was playing videogames to look at her.
"Eh? Sakura, what is it?" she asked timidly.
"I was asking you how work went. But then I saw you just staring into space! What's with you today Hinata? Usually you're so down to earth, and it's Naruto who's in la la land." she said, ignoring Naruto cry of objection.
"Gomen nasi, Sakura." Hinata replied, "I'm just… I'm little out of it today. I've been… working a lot and it's tiring. I might go to bed early after I finish correcting papers."
Sakura smiled warmly, "You do more work than Chiyo-baa-chan, I tell you Hinata. You really love those kids."
Hinata grinned widely, "Un! They're all darling, even though some are troublemakers."
"I don't know how you could face all those annoying kids everyday." sighed the ex-nurse. Hinata giggled lightly.
"How did you deal with grouchy patients?" she teased.
Sakura snorted, "Threatened to hit them over the head with a tray with pointy objects glued to it. They actually believed me."
Sasuke glided in not too long after, and the pink-haired woman's eyes were glued only on him. Throwing her arms around his neck, she leaned up to kiss him firmly on the lips, Naruto fake retching at the site. Hinata just smiled knowingly at the sweet and sappy site.
"Geez, it's like living sugar!" shuddered the blonde, quickly turning back to his game, his mind already absorbed in it
"Baka!" Sakura sneered half-heartedly (she loved Naruto as a friend too much to ever get too nasty with him… unless he broke something), "You just don't understand love!"
Naruto lifted one hand and twirled it to wave her away, making Sakura's face turn red with growing anger as he continued to play video games. Hinata watched with ever growing amusement as Sakura lifted one fist, then paused when Sasuke's hand rested on it. Slyly holding one finger in front of his lips, he was quieter than a mouse as he glided- yes ladies, glided- towards the side of the television where Naruto's eyes were absorbed. The blonde was getting to an important place, having just defeated a hard battle previously, and was finding a save point. Just before he reached the point, Sasuke skillfully reached out and flipped off the video game player. All was silent for a moment as it sunk into Naruto. His fingers slowly stopped moving as his mouth began to descend in shock.
"SASUKE!" he roared suddenly, and leapt to his feet. Said man had begun laughing, along with his wife. Even Hinata giggled helplessly in her chair.
Naruto's eyes glanced everywhere, until he gave up and grabbed a pillow, advancing on Sasuke. His head jerked forward when something smacked him in the back of the head. He slowly spun to see Sakura armed with two more cushions.
"Naruto, this is my house. I make the rules. Or else you get no food tonight." she warned, tossing the smaller pillow up and down in her hand. Naruto's face immediately took on the look of a struck puppy. He even added in a whimper for good measure. Hinata's face flushed at the complete cuteness of it. He looked just like a fox with those whisker marks on his cheeks.
"Sakura-chaaaan!" he whined finally, "It was Sasuke's fault! He unplugged my game!"
Sakura almost plugged her ears, "Kami, can you get anymore high pitched! You are such a baby! Go to your room!"
Hinata could almost see the depression clouds swirling around the blonde as he trudged to his room, closing the door loudly without slamming it. Sakura rolled her eyes and gave Hinata a look. Hinata only shrugged, and continued laughing in her chair. Sasuke grinned slightly- just a curve of the right side of his mouth- as he loosened his tie.
"Hinata," he asked the pale woman, "I have news of your father."
Sakura was surprised that Hinata's already pale complexion could go any whiter. Her green eyes flicked up to where the bandage had been not too long ago. The red scar was concealed by cover up, but with her skilled eyes she could see it beneath the makeup. Whatever news Sasuke had, it was not good news…
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"Another few days passed, and Hinata was growing more and more accustomed to life with the Uchihas and Uzumaki Naruto. This knowledge had her growing more and more nervous despite loving her life. After what Sasuke had told her, she had every right to be nervous.
And yet, Sakura's encouragement rang in her head. She'd changed a lot in so little time, in the way that she knew she wasn't going to give up again. She'd done that too many time already, and now it would be just pitiful to see it happen again. So instead she took it all in joyfully, and with a blush whenever Naruto was around. This came around to bite her in the ass when Sakura pulled her over, holding a bento.
"Hinata, I have to start on dinner, and Naruto can't make it on time, so he's just going to stay late to train. Could you bring this to him? Arigato!" she shoved the bento into the stuttering girl's hands before turning and returning to the kitchen where she was indeed cooking.
"S-Sakura!" Hinata protested weakly, but when Sakura leaned out of the doorway to give her the classic puppy look- pouty lips, wide watery eyes, and a tiny sniffle- to shut her up. Hinata sighed, and went to get her knee-length black coat. Tucking the bento into the gigantic inner pocket she did up the buttons as she headed out to Sakura's car. Snatching the keys from the hook by the door, she shivered when the door opened, bathing her in the cold air.
She for some reason didn't have to ask where the dojo was. From some reason, when Naruto told her the first time, she never forgot. So it didn't take her too long to arrive at where the blonde was. She ran a hand through her silky hair nervously as her pressed her other hand firmly against the bento as she began her way in. The dojo started out sort of like a Western reception office. There was a bored blonde man sitting in a spinning chair, balancing a pencil between his lip and nose. When he saw an attractive woman arrive, the pencil dropped to the ground as he leaned forward.
"Well hello my beautiful lady-san!" he cried proudly, hurrying to pick up his pencil, "Welcome to our humble dojo. How may I help you?"
"H-Hello. I'm Hyuuga Hinata. I was wondering where N-Naruto-kun was." she said shyly.
The blonde grinned mischievously, "Ah! So Uzumaki-san has a guest. I thought you'd be joining our little group of fighters. Too bad. Well, all ya gotta do is go through that door, down the hall to the main fighting room. He's sparring with Kris right now, so be careful. Those two get violent."
The ink-haired woman nodded, and bowed in thanks, "Arigato!" she said with a warm smile before heading towards the hallway. When she reached the main room, she was not expecting what she saw.
Naruto was, to put it lightly, smokingly sexy. He wore the classic gi, but only the pants. The rest of him was sweat drenched and bare. It almost looked illegal to be that fit and hot as he leapt back smoothly from a flying foot. His blonde spikes were held back by a black bandanna to go with the baggy black pants.
His opponent was an attractive Russian, with silky red hair that would fall to a bit past her shoulders if it was not for the fact that it was swept up into a high ponytail to keep it from her eyes, and she also had a black bandanna to keep back her bangs which were dyed blonde. She wore the black gi pants and the tight white undershirt. Hinata noticed that the main top had been discarded in the spar.
The ginger apparently had skill as both fighters advanced on each other, stalking each other like true animalistic predators. It was like a fox facing another rival fox. Naruto wasn't the normal Naruto she knew. His carefree was gone, replaced by a serious expression that revealed nothing of what he was going to do next. The Russian looked a bit more… passionate as her leg snapped out, aiming for his arm. In a flash he'd blocked it, and ducked a punch as he twirled expertly to face her back and aimed a kick for between her shoulders. It looked like a perfect strike.
So Hinata was surprised with the Russian dropped to the ground before the attack hit her, and flipped onto her back. Her foot slammed into Naruto's groin and then she flipped onto her feet like a ninja (that had always looked so awesome to Hinata). Naruto groaned, but he'd managed to move back far enough so it didn't cripple him. Instead he slid easily into another stance, arms perfectly still, yet ready to move in the blink of the eye. His chest heaved ever-so-slightly, and Hinata's eyes were drawn to the beads of sweat rolling down the creases in his abs.
Blood rushed into her face and she covered her cheeks.
It was almost a dance as the male and female got closer to trades punches and kicks as all the other fighters lost interest in their training and turned their sights to the two experts. It was a blur of skin and black as Naruto and the ginger weaved and ducked and served blow after blow. Even Hinata was getting tired watching the exchanges.
Finally sparkling blue eyes met lavender-white, and they widened in surprise. Then his serious face broke into a grin.
"Sorry to cut this short Kris." he crowed, and suddenly he was moving faster. The Russian wasn't surprised, and equally matched him. Or so she wished. Unfortunately, Naruto was a tiny bit faster as he finally swept a leg under her, and after a bit more squabbling, her had her firmly pinned.
"Give." he ordered, he face once again serious. Kris- the Russian apparently- looked furious as she panted heavily, struggling to break out from the locking hold. He sighed, "Just give Kris."
She struggled a few more seconds before going limp, "Fine. You win. Tat get me something to drink."
A dark-skinned girl, Brazilian it appeared, perked her head up. She had been sleeping against the wall beside Hinata. Immediately she perked up, grabbed a plastic water bottle beside her, and tossed it at Kris. These two were the only foreigners in the room, but they seemed at ease with the others.
"Good fight Kris. That was amazing! You guys were perfectly in sync and crazy stuffs like that!" the Brazilian had a sweet voice as she bounced over to the ginger.
Naruto, in the meantime, was sitting on the floor, panting. He sent a smile over to Hinata.
"Oi, Hinata! Can you grab my water bottle? It's right there!" he pointed to a duffle bag with an orange water bottle on top of it. Hinata nodded timidly and went over to hand it to him with a light dusting of pink on her cheeks at the half-naked man. Said half-naked man didn't seem to notice as he drained half the bottle, then stood up. He waved to Kris and Tat.
"Good fight Ginger!" he said cheekily, and turned to Hinata. He didn't see the fact that after he turned, the Brazilian had to physically restrain the Russian to stop the ginger from attacking him from behind. Instead he crossed his arms over his chest after yanking off his bandanna.
"So Hinata, why are you here?" he asked curiously.
Hinata opened her mouth once, twice, three times before the words actually came out, "Sakura told me that you weren't going to make it to dinner so she had me bring you a bento to eat so you weren't hungry." she said all in one breath.
Naruto's mouth dropped as drool formed on his tongue, "Hinata … This is awesome! I'm so hungry, but I'm training until late tonight! But dinner is like…" he checked the time on a clock on the wall, "Time for Sakura to serve dinner anyways! Why are you here giving it up?"
"A-Ano… because I-I didn't want to let you g-go hungry. And because S-Sakura threatened my future children with slavery." she stammered out, but Naruto had gotten used to her stuttering whenever she spoke to him. He still didn't get it, but he figured it didn't matter since she still seemed really nice, and funny when she wanted to be.
"Thanks Hinata!" he said, and snatched it from her hands when she opened her coat and pulled out the bento and his favorite pair of chopsticks she'd picked up for him. The drool in his mouth nearly spilled over when he removed the lid and all the glistening, delicious food wafted up to his nose. He quickly lidded it, and grabbed Hinata's hand, ignoring her gasp and mad blush, and dragged her to the break room to begin digging in. He almost whimpered at the delicious tastes that filled his mouth.
Hinata watched him with a small grin before realizing that this was all slightly awkward. She tried the rise to leave, but unfortunately her body decided that very moment to go off balance and she stumbled over her own feet backwards onto her rear. She practically squeaked in shocked as pain in her rump shot up her spine. Apparently she'd hit her tailbone just right…
"Hinata? Whatcha doin' down there?" if Hinata wasn't Hinata she would have slapped her face as the stupid question. Instead she just flushed in embarrassment.
"A-Ano, I was just going to… eto… go…" she mumbled with a red face, and turned to leave.
"Gomen, Hinata, I shoulda remembered you have better things to do than watch me stuff my face. Tell Sakura-chan that I'll be back around ten tonight. Tell her I said gomen too, Hinata?" his blue eyes were just too beautiful. Hinata felt her whole chest clench painful, and seize. She didn't really understand why suddenly that look was making sweat bleed onto her hands.
"O-Of c-course N-Naruto-kun." she stammered, and before she screwed herself over again, she flew the room, rushing past the blonde at the desk into Sakura's car. For a minute she just sat at the wheel, taking deep breathes. Her heart was pounding against her ribs almost painfully.
'What… What was that?'
A/N: OOOOH! Hinata's getting more and more interested in Naruto! And may I just remind you, it has been three weeks since she arrived, and got to know Naruto, so it isn't completely ridiculous. She doesn't know what she's feeling, so hopefully no one will flame me about that! Anyways, please review and make a poor writer happy! I might be getting a job soon, so I'll be less inclined to typing. Your reviews will inspire me to soldier on!