Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I don't own the non-fictional brands that will be mentioned in this chapter.

Bruised; 07


"How long are you going to be out, Hinata-sama?" asked her maid in her ever-so gentle voice. The two of them were situated in the heiress's closet, with Hinata sitting on the soft couch in the middle while Mai neatly lined her series of travel bags before her master.

"Six d-days at most," she replied, breathing inwardly as she looked at the five bags before her—a classic Louis Vuitton, a black Bric's rolling duffle, a colorful Britto Heys USA, a golden Liz Clairborne luggage and an orange Titan trolley. She gulped, wondering how she could have identified the bags when she has not traveled in a long time. Must be hanging out with Ino-san… she thought before sighing. "A-ano, Mai, is there a-any other bag?"

Mai nodded. "Yes, Hinata-sama, but your aunties specifically borrowed these five from a designer for you to choose from. Whatever you pick will be bought and used. I'm afraid they would not take it otherwise."

She bit her lip and pointed at the last one—the orange Titan trolley.

Her maid bowed before placing the bag before her and opening it. Mai walked towards the heiress's dresser and opened it, taking four of Hinata's formal dresses. It was a requisite to bring formal clothing wherever they would go. She picked one before the maid walked over to the more casual clothes, and they would do the same, until Mai reached Hinata's shoe cabinet.

That was how her life revolved. She had control over the things she could do—but those things are controlled by an upper force, may that be her father or her aunties, sometimes even Neji. She was free but not really. She had a lot of choices, but not really. In the Hyuuga household, things ran a bit more differently compared to the other upperclass families.

The Naras were very laid-back, and although Shikamaru's marriage had been arranged without his consent, he was lucky enough to have someone who he would most likely marry even without the arrangement. And although Shikamaru was very lazy, he had a voice in their family because he was the only child, and his clan respects him for who he is.

Likewise, Ino's family also gave her the amount of respect and trust that she had. Moreso, Ino had the power over everything she did. In fact, Hinata secretly admired how carefree and independent she is.

The Harunos are known to be strict, precise and creative, and Sakura has inherited all of those. She was a walking piece of art with her beauty and grace, at the same time she can do brash things without losing her poise.

Naruto's family, on the other hand… they were perfect. To Hinata, the Uzumakis are the epitome of perfection. She never saw a single flaw. When Minato and his son are together, they are like friends. Minato lets his son do the things that he wants to do, and Naruto responds with will and determination to excel and succeed.

She wished that her family was more like the others'. She wished that she was more like the others. She wished that she would meet her family's expectation—then maybe, just maybe, they would trust her.

Mai zipped Hinata's luggage and brought it to stand up. "For your hand-carry, your father and your aunties did not mention anything specifically…"

"R-really?"

"Yes, Hinata-sama." Mai smiled warmly. "You may decide on what you will bring."


"You can decide on what you will bring," Fugaku blew smoke to the raven-haired teenager, "son."

Sasuke dropped his coat and looked through the house's compartment to look for a bag that he can bring to the class trip tomorrow. As if there's anything here, he thought to himself, giving up on the case and closing it before walking over outside, to their little junk storage. He moved slowly, thanks to the pain in his back. Fortunately though, it had gotten better compared to the past few days.

As he entered the little room, dust immediately rained over him, and he had to cough out the dirty, old air that had been residing there since forever. The last time he entered that place was a very long time ago—when he was hiding from his father. It probably was the last time anyone entered that place.

He looked through the old things that had been piled up there. Inside their house, they had nothing but a single bed, a destroyed refrigerator, a ruined dining table with two ruined chairs, and a ruined wooden sofa. Inside this storage room, Sasuke could barely see anything but those that were hit by the poor sunlight from outside the slums. His eye immediately caught a teddy bear standing peacefully on a rack.

For some reason, he walked towards it. He wasn't sure whose stuffed toy that was, but he knew it wasn't his. And he couldn't quite remember what it's for, but he… for some reason…

It was like he…

Sasuke put the toy in his hands and out of the rack to observe it, but was distracted by what stood behind it.

A luggage.


When he returned inside the house, his father was out of sight. He was thankful for that. Sasuke ran through his drawer, which barely had anything inside it, and put everything into the luggage that he found inside their old storage room. He then zipped it closed, and walked out of the house to go to Rock Lee's place.

"Wow, Sasuke-san! You're going to the Caribbean islands?" Lee exclaimed. "That is amazing! My father said that it is very beautiful there and—"

"I'll get my luggage tomorrow before I leave. Keep it here for tonight."

"—springitme of—o-oh." Rock Lee paused when he realized what Sasuke had said. He eyed his 'friend' for a while before understanding why he asked such an unlikely favor. "Of course, Sasuke-san,"

The Uchiha briefely turned around before muttering his gratitude and walking away.


"Alright kids, in less than fifteen minutes, we will land the Dubrovnik airport. If you haven't adjusted your watches, they'll read six o' five nighttime. Fix them, or your spare watches, because it is currently eleven o' five in the morning." Iruka Umino instructed his students as he stood on the aisle of NU airlines' Airbus A380 business class section, disregarding the few other tuxedo-clad passengers.

Yesterday, the Caribbean coast met a very untimely thunderstorm, and although that area was quite far from the Harunos' island, the families of his students insisted that they change their location. Haruno Aoi immediately booked the sole private accommodation in the island of Palagruza in Croatia. And that was it. No parent raised a complaint at all.

Iruka loved his job dearly—teaching was his passion—and Konoha High is indeed exemplary on its own with all the glitz and glamour, but he would not trade that lifestyle for one that he had—a simple and worthy one.

Speaking of a simple lifestyle, his eyes could not help but look for his student, Sasuke Uchiha. He scanned the plane.

Uzumaki Naruto, of course, his father owns this plane…

Haruno Sakura, the host…

Aburame Shino…

Sasuke was one of the scholars of Konoha High, and the only "simple" one at that, yet he was very deserving.

Nara Shikamaru

Akimichi Choji—Shikamaru isn't sitting with Ino? Something must be wrong…

Yamanaka Ino…

He earned top honors ever since Iruka can remember, at the same time he was a quiet but very reliable and brave kid.

and Hyuuga Hinata…

Wait a second…

"Children," he started to feel his nerves taking over again, his heart beating rapidly all of a sudden, "where is Sasuke-san?"


The moment he clutched the flush handle, he triggered it, sending the infested liquid counterclockwise down the plane's own rubbish system.

Fuck the world, Sasuke thought, breathing heavily as he used the toilet seat to support himself up, I can't believe I'm airsick.


"What?" Naruto stood up and scanned the floor for the raven. "But I saw him when we boarded!"

Iruka gritted his teeth—Sasuke probably wasn't used to airplanes at all! What if he got sick? What if he got lost? What if he… what if he…

"Iruka-sensei, you have to learn how to chill." Ino interrupted his train of thought. He stared at her, sitting to his right beside Hinata. "He was here when we boarded. He sat right behind me. I even offered him a drink."

From the corner of his eye, Iruka saw Shikamaru open a random magazine.

"He's somewhere in this plane. He won't get lost."

Iruka sighed, releasing his inner tension. "You're right. But we have to look for him. We're about to land. We can't go down without him."

"I-I'll go,"


Before they boarded the plane, Ino begged Hinata that she would take the window seat and that they should sit together. When they were on the plane, Ino decided that they took the seats on the same row with Shikamaru and Chouji. And although she didn't know what was going on, she was more than sure that something was wrong between them. Sitting right between them for more than four hours made her feel too uneasy, and so when she heard the opportunity…

"I-I'll go," she heard herself say.

What?

She was even more perplexed than Ino, but it was Iruka who was most confused. She never ever stood up to anything like that.

"Pardon me, Hinata-chan?" Her teacher asked, not quite understanding what was going on.

"I'll g-go look f-for Uchiha-san…"

"Hinata-chan, you really don't have to," Hinata's heart stopped when she heard that voice. "We can go ask one of the stewards in here. Don't worry about it, they'll find that teme no matter where in this plane he's hiding!" Naruto kneeled on his seat and turned around to face the Hyuuga heiress with the brightest smile of the day.

And she couldn't move.

She was frozen. Just like that.

She watched Naruto turn to Iruka-sensei. He said something—something she couldn't hear anymore—and Iruka walked back to his seat. The blond waved his arm—her face heated up to a hundred degrees—and a steward immediately came at his service. Naruto, again, said something animatedly—he was too adorable!—and the steward immediately picked up his feet.

"Hinata-chan? Are you okay?"

"H-ha? A-ano…" she shook her head, finally gaining enough nerves to take her eyes off the blond. She saw her friends—they were all wearing smug looks!

"Are you feeling well? You're kinda… you're kinda pink."

At that, she, too, picked up her feet.


This is so embarrassing! She mentally cried, cupping her face into her palms. After that encounter, Hinata ran towards the plane's bathroom and locked herself into one of them. Her face still burnt, in fact it felt a bit stingy already.

Naruto's impact on her, she couldn't even begin to think about it.

"Attention, all passengers: we will be landing Dubrovnik airport. Please sit down and fasten your seatbelts. We are about to descend. Again, to all passengers: we will be landing Dubrovnik airport. Please sit down and fasten your seatbelts. We are about to descend."

Hinata stood from where she sat after hearing the announcement and unlocked the cubicle. To her surprise, however, the moment she opened the door, the unit right in front of hers simultaneously opened as well. She paused momentarily, as well as the person in front of her.

"S-Sasuke-san!" She managed to blurt when it finally sunk to her. "Th-they were looking for y-you!"

He lifted an eyebrow.

"I-I mean, N-Naruto-kun w-was l-looking for you!"

"What?"

"I m-mean—h-he asked a—" her feet then left the ground.


The plane then began to shift directions and positions, sending both Hinata and Sasuke to a state of imbalance. Hinata took it harder, her feet leaving the floor. Sasuke, quickly adapting to the occurrence, grabbed Hinata's arm and pulled her close to him before he completely lost his grip on gravity. He cupped the back of her head with his right hand and his left arm circled around her frame. He purposely dropped on his bottom and lied on his side, the plane still continuing its landing motions. They both slid towards a wall. The Uchiha stretched his leg to the adjacent wall to prevent them from moving.

He shut his eyes, feeling his stomach turn again.

The plane finally calmed down after an eternity as it seemed to Sasuke. Hinata remained still in her position, and Sasuke felt dizzy once more, refraining himself from any movement that would most likely cause him to vomit on his rich classmate.

"Oh, dear," a voice said, "kids nowadays…"

Sasuke immediately let go of his hold on the Hyuuga, and they both stood at the same time.

"N-no, it r-really isn't w-what it s-seems!" Hinata defended.

The raven barely cared. The moment he stood up, his empty stomach began to jump. He ran back into the bathroom, where he, once again, released whatever was left in his tummy.


Hinata punched a series of buttons on the vending machine inside the Dubrovnik airport.

Sasuke took some time inside the bathroom, and when they returned to where their classmates were, the entire floor was empty. They checked the compartments—their hand-carries were not there anymore, either. A steward then approached them—the same one Naruto talked to—and instructed them to follow him out of the plane.

When they were inside the airport, she decided to skip the conveyor area for their luggage. The Uchiha was then too exhausted to even raise a voice, so she walked him into the vending machine, looked at the selection, dropped some coins (her aunties thankfully provided her with enough money in the country's currency) and picked the healthiest one.

A chicken sandwich.

"You have to eat this." She handed the food to Sasuke, who didn't even try to stand anymore, sitting on his feet. "Sasuke-san,"

He still breathed heavily, trying to look up to her. "You talk rather smoothly when you demand something."

She opened her mouth to speak—and then closed it. "A-ano… b-but, w-well…"

"Don't," The Uchiha grabbed the sandwich and opened it before taking a bite.


Sasuke's tongue felt too numb to even taste the sandwich that the Hyuuga heiress specifically picked for him. He still ate it though, knowing that he needed the energy. Their trip wasn't done, and the destination is still quite far.

"S-sorry," she bit her lip.

"For what?"

"F-for… d-demanding you, I g-guess…"

He smirked, eating the last bite and swallowing it before standing up. His back still hurt, but not as much as it did before. "Okay," he figured that it was pointless to argue. "Thank you for the food. I'll pay you back in Japan."

"N-no, y-you don't have t-to!"

"Hey! You two!"

Hinata turned around and Sasuke looked beyond her shoulder to find their classmates and Iruka-sensei walking towards them.

"You teme!" He immediately noticed the blond, who ran ahead of the rest until he reached them. "What did you do to Hinata-chan, huh? First you were lost, and then you take her with you?"

He rolled his eyes. This was the fun part. No matter what Naruto said, he had a full-proof response that will immediately make him forget of whatever he said before. "Dobe,"

And it worked again. "What the—you teme!"

"Oh my goodness, Sasuke-san! Hinata-chan! I was so worried!" Iruka-sensei cried.

Shikamaru stopped on his side and dropped a bag. "Here's your luggage." He said before turning around to walk out. Sasuke was pretty sure he complained about how troublesome it was for him to carry the bag.

"What happened to the two of you?" their teacher was still as tense as ever. "Anyway, let's talk about that later. Our ride is waiting outside."

Sasuke then silently followed the rest of his class towards their van, which waited outside the Croatian airport. They headed towards the ferry port, where they rode a first class ferry to Korcula island. The ride took more or less an hour, which allowed Sasuke to sleep inside a rather luxurious cabin. He was pretty sure that one or two of his classmates tried to wake him up for a meal, but he did not budge.

After the ferry ride, they took a yacht (apparently owned by Ino's family) for three hours, until they reached their destination: Palagruza.

Little did Sasuke know how that uninhibited island will begin to twist his life—one of the many he would encounter.


To all readers: thank you for not giving up on me :). I told you that this story will never be abandoned. But I cannot promise that updates will be made quickly. It will depend on a) my time and; b) my mood and inspiration. Your feedback is a huge part of my inspiration! This story is starting to boil up! Please continue to support :D. I will update as soon as I can!