Naruto swiftly pushed himself out of bed with a grunt and made for his bathroom. He reached the shower, twisted the knobs, and stepped inside. He gasped as the cold water hit him, but it woke up his senses and he found that his mind started to clear.
Standing under the cool mist, Naruto went over what he was going to do. He had thought his plan over carefully. He was going to tell Fu that they couldn't be together, that was simple enough... right? He didn't imagine that she'd understand at first, but he had planned what he was going to say.
"Look, Fu. I really like you, but ... I shouldn't have been your first. Your first time should be with someone you love..."
Naruto shook his head angrily. Of course he knew what Fu would say.
"But I love you, Naruto".
"Dammit!" he slammed his fist against the wall, then promptly lost his balance and fell in the tub.
"Fuck" he cursed under his breath. "I guess I need life alert".
What would Fu look like when he told her? Would she cry? "God, please no" Naruto thought. He knew he couldn't handle that. He had to push the image of her sweet, luminescent eyes out of his mind or he thought he'd go crazy.
"This is for the best" he thought seriously, but he felt doubtful.
He reached for the shower knob again and turned it clockwise, shutting off the water. He stepped out of the tub and, wrapping a towel around his waist, he sighed. He would tell Fu that they couldn't be together. Then he would make his way over to the Hyuuga household to apologize to Hinata. He wasn't exactly sure why he felt he should apologize. Maybe it was that small, pressing thought in the back of his head that made him believe he had known Hinata's feelings for him all along. But did he feel the same way?
Naruto looked into his mirror and tried to flash a grin at his reflection, but it looked pained. "I'll talk to Fu first" he thought "so I can properly apologize to Hinata. Then I'll leave them both alone. I've done enough to hurt them."
He saw the resolve in the reflection of his own eyes and nodded sternly. "It's the right thing to do".
With that last thought, Naruto went back to his room to dress.
Fu's eyes blinked back the harsh light as she awoke. The sun was high in the sky, almost at midday.
"I slept in" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn. She sat up and glanced around her. Where was Naruto? Then the previous night hit her.
"Oh... right". She whispered to herself. She pushed herself up from the ground with a heave and breathed in the scent of the trees. It gave her some inner peace to know that she was still concealed behind these natural walls. She felt a little better after a good night's rest, but a pit of worry remained heavy in her stomach.
She made busy gathering wood to start a fire, then roasted these little white fluff things (marshmallows?) that she had stolen from town. She had found them stacked high in a store next to the Ramen Stand. Admittedly, she had been hoping to find Naruto there the previous night, but stumbled upon the fluffy delicacies instead. A poster had been plastered on the wall above the stacks with big blue bubbly printing that read "SUMMER IS HERE. SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS". Accompanying the printing was an image of three attractive female ninja's in bikinis playfully throwing marshmallows at each other. Fu, oblivious to the provocative image, had stolen three bags. Now, she sat by the pond and made a breakfast of them, legs submerged in the water, chucking small bits of marshmallow to the koi fish swimming sluggishly around her feet.
It was some time before Naruto arrived to see her. She had heard him before she had seen him. Momentarily forgetting her strife, she giggled. "He's just so damn loud".
She stood up from the pond and turned to face the woods as he stepped out of them. "Naruto!" she breathed, but he said nothing in reply. As he came closer, she could see that he was trying not to look at her.
"Fu". He had stopped just shy of 4 feet in front of her and squared his shoulders. He seemed to be disciplining himself, and if not for the tension beginning to grow in the air between them, Fu would have found it cute.
"I came here to apologize. About last night... I-" Naruto took a deep breath, and Fu could only listen. It took all of her effort to hide her unease as she felt her heart pounding. Something wasn't right. She could see it in the way he stood, and the way he could hardly look at her.
"I shouldn't have been your first", he said sullenly.
"First… what?" It took a moment for Fu to catch on, and when she did, she felt the color drain from her face.
Naruto continued, his voice straining, "Your first time should be with someone you love, someone you want to spend the rest of your life with... and I don't think that person is me".
Time seemed to stand still as Naruto's words echoed in her head. He had spoken with such finality. Fu felt dizzy. She hadn't heard him correctly, had she? In a wave of sudden shaky and jarring panic, she threw herself at him.
"Naruto!" she cried as she threw her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. "I love you. Don't you know that? That's why we did ... what we did. You are my love".
She felt him stiffen –not what she expected, but at the same time she did. She wanted desperately for him to hold her back, to give her some kind of resolution that this wasn't happening, that they would be okay, that she would be okay- but he didn't.
It took him some amount of effort to keep going, and she could hear the pain in his voice, which confused her.
"I-I can't... I mean". He fumbled over his words. Fu pulled back from his chest and looked up into his eyes. They were a piercingly bright blue and shimmered with tearful guilt. Suddenly, Fu thought she knew what Naruto was trying to say.
"T-that girl." She said slowly, with realization. Naruto froze. The words that came out of her mouth next felt like poison. "You love her".
Naruto said nothing, which sealed his fate. Fu thrust him backwards, away from her embrace.
"Answer me." Fu said, her voice beginning to rise. Naruto's eyes fell to the ground. "Answer me!"
Naruto still said nothing, and Fu began to fill with rage. It swept in on her like a hurricane and suddenly she was screaming.
"You love her, don't you?! How could you not tell me? How could we have made love?!"
She glared at Naruto expectantly. The longer he stayed silent, the more her rage grew. He still couldn't meet her gaze.
"You… you… DAMMIT!" Fu's anger suddenly gave way into saddness. Heavy, crippling sobs had begun to escape her throat, and before she knew it she had collapsed on the ground.
She heard the rush of footsteps and felt Naruto's panicked embrace, but thrust him away violently. She threw her head back and glared into his eyes.
For a moment she saw his fear. She saw through his resolve to leave her like the emerald lake behind them. But she couldn't bring herself to say it.
"Don't touch me!" she cried. She swiped at him and he jumped back just in time, visibly hurt by her words. "Good."
She stood up to her full height as Naruto backed up like a wounded animal.
"Fu, I'm sorry. I don't love her, but I don't not love her. It's complicated but we can't be together right now. At least not in that way. I just want-"
His words were interrupted as Fu's fist connected with his jaw. She thought she heard a crack, and immediately pulled back.
Naruto clutched at his jaw with a grimace.
"I don't care if it's complicated. I don't ever want to see you again" her voice almost shook as she screamed, almost regretting the words the instant they came out, but she forced herself to speak. She had to.
This time Naruto's face paled. Still clutching his jaw, he gaped at her. "You can't be serious".
"Dead serious". She said, defiantly holding her head high. She had to, or else she thought she might crumble. "Naruto Uzumaki, I forbid you from this lake and the forest surrounding it."
Naruto just stood there. She saw pain, brief anger, and then hurt flash across his face. He was still clutching his jaw, which Fu could see between his fingers was turning a dull purple. She felt a pang of guilt. How could she have hit him like that?
"Fine" Naruto finally said. He turned on his heel, clutching his cheek as he leapt into the forest.
So it was done. Just like that. Fu stood in shock. She was alone in the forest again. She was alone with her thoughts and daydreams again. She was alone and she always would be.
"It never changes" she thought numbly. She stumbled over to a tree –her tree- and pressed her hands to its bark. It was rough to the touch but cool. She welcomed the feeling as she pressed her forehead against it.
She closed her eyes and listened to the wind. When she opened them, tears rained down her face, watering the plants below.
Naruto ran as fast as he could, blinded by his tears, wiping at his face furiously. His emotions were running high. Didn't he want to leave Fu? Or at least stop their feelings for one another?
"What was I fucking THINKING?!" he cried. He sidestepped and tripped, colliding with a fallen tree. He tumbled over and skidded to a halt on the ground.
Naruto lay motionless. What was the point of getting up? He didn't know where to go or what to do next. His jaw ached like a bitch. He had hurt Fu, he had already hurt Hinata –and he knew he couldn't face her now. He knew how he felt about Fu, but he was desperately trying not to feel it. He couldn't apologize to Hinata, and definitely not Fu. He had fucked himself over, and for what? For following his feelings?
"DAMMIT" Naruto drove his fist into the dirt, wincing at the pain. "DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT!".
Finally, he stopped his flailing fists and crawled to his knees. He stared at his hands. Their knuckles were slightly bruised. He swore again.
Eventually he stood up. He stretched out his limbs, testing his body. No other injuries from his fall, other than his fucked up jaw -"Wow, that chick has an arm"- came a brief thought, but he pushed it away. He pushed her away as he turned on his heel and made his way out of the forest.
Author's note: Ugh it physically hurt me to write this. Trying to keep the balance between characters and make Naruto not completely look like the bad guy.
I've seen some expressed concern that this will take a harem turn -no worries, it will not. I know the direction it's going for the next few chapters. I do not, however, know how it will end. Thanks for continuing to read.