んな夜に: On this night
Disclaimer: Yo, I need to get some money. I dont draw well enough to get it that way. Any suggestions?
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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ¤ Chapter 10: Chained
It was so strange, to realize her life was free compared to others.
Ino stood in the staff lounge. A fridge hummed in the corner, and a pot of freshly-brewed coffee sat atop the marble countertop. She was the only one there underneath the flourescent lights, holding a styrofoam cup of steaming black coffee as she stared out the window overlooking the city. The sky was gray, a cloud of fog covering the skyline.
Ino couldn't help but see it as an omen.
She was a freelance journalist who'd happened to land a summer internship with Hokage Entertainment Industries the summer before freshman year in high school; from there, she'd quickly worked her way up to a position as one of the company's main journalists, covering some minor events and all the high-profile HEI groups. Eventually, Tsunade had personally recommended her to Konoha Times, landing her the freelance music editorial column she currently wrote. It was big money, and Konoha Times was closely tied to HEI, both economically, politically, and personally.
Tsunade's childhood friend and admirer Jiraiya led the writing staff of Konoha Times. He was more infamously known for his pornographic fiction works, but he was an astute editor and a creative, witty journalist, which Ino greatly admired. Ino had originally applied as a free-lance journalist for the paper. Once Jiraiya had seen Tsunade's recommendation letter, however, he immediately offered her a different position, which she had accepted.
Her column still allowed her to follow the music industry, and with her already-established connections in HEI, it was easy to follow their chart-topping groups as she had before leaving the company. Unofficially, most HEI employees still considered her one of them, particularly the bands, whom she still saw often. As such, they often felt equally betrayed whenever she had a column about O-Sound or Akatsuki. She had to review many more groups from different records now. She understood their concerns, of course. A good O-Sound review meant more competition for HEI groups.
Unlike the other staff writers at Konoha Times, the length of Ino's column was left up to her. Jiraiya let her rant about whatever she wanted to for as long as she wanted to, provided it was music-related. Generally her column (a literal column taking up about one-fourth of a page) extended over 2-4 pages.
She glanced at the refrigerator, fleetingly wondering if the lunch she'd packed was still intact. She doubted it; someone (usually Jiraiya) always sacked the fridge and whatever it contained, eating other's foods and refrigerated goodies. Sighing, she decided to eat lunch later, and helped herself to the coffee; it was hot, even in a little styrofoam cup, and she relished the sensation of it going down her throat, leaving a trail of scalding satisfaction in its wake.
She returned to her cubicle and set to work, opening the article she'd been reading.
It was about Akatsuki's absorption of O-Sound.
These things happened, of course. Companies bought out other companies. But this case was unusual. Akatsuki had more than enough money to buy out O-Sound's stocks, but they instead chose to cripple them by leaking O-Sound's corporate scandals. They ruined O-Sound's public image, stained the company name, and eventually spurred Orochimaru's life work to bankruptcy. Then, they bought out the remnants.
But why? Why salvage such a broken, messed-up company in the first place, especially after setting out to ruin them so completely?
Ino's frown turned into a scowl as she opened her writing program.
Because they were after something else.
They needed Orochimaru out of the way with, but by absorbing O-Sound, they were growing their own profit: O-Sound's artists (and respective fanbases) belonged to Akatsuki now. More variety, more appeal, more money. And having already stained most of their images, the artists would have no choice but to agree to Akatsuki's contracts in order to save their careers. Akatsuki would likely take advantage of their desperation and make their contracts less than fair. The artists wouldn't be in a position to argue with them. They were backed into a corner, with no room to try and negotiate.
But that was the thing. Akatsuki had taken the time to destroy O-Sound. They could have simply bought the company out. But they didn't. They intentionally brought O-Sound's higher-ups down. They wanted to get rid of Orochimaru and his lackeys.
But WHY? Did they pose some threat to Akatsuki? Did O-Sounds executives know or have something Akatsuki didn't want getting out?
Ino scrolled to the top of her page and began proof-reading her rant. Then she quickly added a title.
The Girl In the Moonlight
Hinata stared blankly down at the lunch a nurse had brought in for her. A suspicious-looking brown glop she guessed was meant to be meat sat next to a scoop of mashed potatoes and a pile of flabby green beans. She sighed, pushing her tray slightly away from her and frowned, staring out her window. It was afternoon. She had a lot on her mind.
Namely, Uchiha Sasuke's sudden and terrifying appearance.
What does he want? she thought worriedly. His words blared through her mind, echoing painfully at a loud decibel.
"You'll be famous...the world will LOVE this-"
- and she would loathe it -
"-the tragic story of a dying girl..."
Hinata huffed frustratedly, absently massaging the area around her IV. It wasn't until she accidentally massaged too close to the IV that she noticed, wincing as she felt the sharp poke of the jostled needle.
"... All caught on camera."
She hated pity. Absolutely, totally, wholly. She didn't need or want it.
Unfortunately, her little viral video had had the exact opposite effect. Everything was happening so quickly: one day she was just Hinata, and the next she was The Girl in the Moonlight, meeting K7 and Senju Tsunade and reuniting with old middle school friends and being threatened by the K7 traitor and-
-and...
She sat like that for a long time, just staring at the white walls, reviewing everything in her mind.
Finally, she decided to call her father. She reached for the phone by her bed, and grimaced at the leftover food on her tray which was probably cold now. Then she sighed, dialing her dad's number.
What does it matter if I eat that or not? I'll die with or without food, either way.
Her father answered almost immediately.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Dad," she said. She slid the tray away from her bed, then reached to her feet, where she'd placed her orange laptop. As she placed it in her lap, she asked, "Is this a bad time?"
"Of course not," replied her Father. She knew it probably was, but when one has a dying child, one has to prioritize. "How are you?"
She took a moment to figure out what to say.
"I'll be back."
"I've been better," she admitted, opening her laptop. She powered it on, and a picture of K7 popped up on her lock screen. "But I'm all right."
"I see." She knew he couldn't bring himself to say anything different. A reply like "That's great" or "Good to hear" was, to her father, impossible to sincerely say to her. It wasn't great that his first child was in the hospital, and it wasn't good to hear that his oldest daughter was going to die. "I need to speak with you about something later. Do you mind if I drop by after I'm off work?"
"Of course not," she said. As if I'd have a reason to say no. She had limited time in this world. It was only natural for her to accept visits from family. Neji and Hanabi didn't even bother calling anymore, they visited so frequently. Her Father came whenever he could, but Hinata insisted he continue working. He had Hanabi and the rest of the family to support, after all. And a funeral to save up for.
Just because her life was falling apart didn't mean everyone else's had to.
She wasn't weak. She could face death. But the others needed to be strong and face life.
"All right." She could hear the smile in his voice. "I think you've already had a visit from that band of yours, right?"
Hinata felt her face burn as she glanced at the red chair still in her room that Naruto had sat in.
"Y-Yeah..."
"Well, I'll talk to you later about everything it entails."
"I'll be back."
"Okay," she responded.
"All right, then. I'll see you later."
"Wait, Dad!" She leaned forward, gripping the phone with both hands, laptop forgotten. "I, uhm..."
"What's wrong, Hinata?" asked her father from the other line, voice concerned. "Are you in pain?"
"No, I'm fine, I just..." She blinked, pursed her lips, then took a quick breath. "I... Have a favor to ask."
She heard the moment of hesitation before her father responded.
"I'll do my best. What is it?"
"I... Can I..." She nervously tapped the spacebar on her laptop to keep it from going to sleep. "Can you possibly, uhm, find Yamanaka Ino's phone number for me? She's a friend from middle school." She paused here, recalling earlier events, and wondered what she'd missed after fainting during Ino's last visit. "She... She dropped by, but I, uh, wasn't able to say goodbye." Her father would understand what she meant. "I... I wanted to thank her for visiting."
Her father answered immediately.
"I'll bring her number when I come later today."
"All right."
"Well, try to rest, okay, Hinata?"
"Yes, Dad." She smiled slightly. "Thank you."
"Of course. Take care."
"Bye."
"Goodbye."
When she heard the distinctive click of her father hanging up, she felt her smile broaden.
"I'll be back."
When the time came, she'd turn to face death without fear.
"So we'll be back!"
But as long as she was living, she would continue living to the fullest she was able to.
"My name's Sakura, and this is actually my natural hair color!"
The pink-haired girl grinned brightly at her middle school classmates, eyes scanning their faces until she found a familiar one.
"Also, Ino-pig is my best friend," she added, then sat down promptly, smiling, her introduction finished.
"Forehead!" whined Ino. Sakura stuck her tongue out. Ino sat in the front row, closest to the exit, so she was first to introduce herself. Sakura, however, had arrived late to homeroom, and so had taken the last seat in the back row. As such, she concluded the introductions.
"Great!" clapped Iruka-sensei. "Now that we all know each other, I'll be re-arranging you into permanent seats." He grinned as the class bemoaned his words. "I hope you remember everyone's names, because we're about to do some icebreakers with your rows!"
A seating chart was passed around, and students gathered their belongings and shuffled to their new seats. Sakura slid her backpack onto her shoulder, stood, and looked down at the paper.
Front row, second seat. She took one step forward before freezing, eyes widening.
Dropping his books haphazardly onto the first desk in the front was Uzumaki Naruto.
A boy who'd seen her out front, declared he'd loved her since elementary school, and asked her out. She'd freaked, punching him and dashing away.
Panicked, she met Ino's eyes; her friend sniggered and winked.
Teasing hog, she grumbled mentally. She sighed and awkwardly tried to ignore his beaming face (and not-so-subtle air-fist-pump) while settling into her chair.
A figure sidled into the chair on her left.
She glanced up and felt her heart skip a beat.
Uchiha Sasuke.
He'd been cool, calm, and mysteriously vague in his introduction. It had made her dreamily wonder what it might be like dating someone like him.
And now he sat next to her.
Score! She squealed internally. It's destiny, it's gotta be!
She tried to nonchalantly catch his eye; but Sasuke's gaze remained resolutely on his desk. Pen in hand, poised against a clean sheet of his notebook, the boy looked more interested in learning than socializing.
But that couldn't be true, she knew. Humans needed interaction to thrive.
So she decided to take the initiative.
"Good morning, Sa-"
"Sakura-chan, good mooorniiiiing!"
Sakura whirled around, upset that she'd been thoroughly trumped in her attempt to become friendlier to the cute boy next to her. Naruto's eyes were squeezed closed, he was grinning so widely. His hands tossed lazily behind his head, chair angled towards her, he was the exact opposite of the boy to her left.
"WHAT?" she snapped, not bothering with a kind response.
Naruto opened his eyes, and she was immediately sucked into the sincerity they expressed.
"I'm glad I get to sit next to youuuu!"
If his eyes hadn't been so... HONEST, she might have given him a snarky reply. As it was, she sniffed haughtily and returned her gaze to Sasuke, making a mental note to ignore any other interaction with the blonde.
Those honest eyes were scary. They were too simple, too pure. Naive. Like she'd been before Ino had found her. Too trusting.
So opposite Sasuke's, which emanated complexity, cunning, danger. A thrill. His eyes made her heart skip, drew her in like a ship to a harbor.
Like they did when she found herself staring into his semi-curious gaze.
It was a giddy feeling that flooded through her. A bliss that made her feel silly, made her want to squeal and hop up and down.
She managed to remain seated, but couldn't contain the giggles bubbling up from the pit of her stomach.
Is this what a crush feels like? she wondered as Iruka-sensei called for their attention. From the corner of her eye, she watched Sasuke begin taking notes as Iruka-sensei began to discuss their syllabus for the year. Neat, quick strokes, and words appeared swiftly on the page. Sakura slowly turned her head towards the blackboard, cheeks turning bright red as she did so.
Is this what love is?
She couldn't wait to find out. It seemed exciting. She felt like she was on cloud nine.
And so it was ironic, how, in the end, love wound up hurting her much more than it ever did satisfy her.
"Gaaaah, I don't have her number!"
Naruto flopped backwards comically beside his pink-haired bandmate onto the small couch in the HEI lounge. Sakura, annoyed, took the magazine she'd been flipping through and whacked him with it.
"Ow!"
Having just finished group rehearsal and individual singing lessons for the day, HEI's chart-topping group was lounging away the time before their choreography rehearsal.
"Well, what did you expect?" Sakura replied. "It's not like we're allowed to talk to her, anyway, with the contract her Dad signed with O-Sound. We're already in enough legal trouble for not having the release form signed before visiting." Sakura's eyes met Naruto's. "You know we have a policy to not fraternize with O-Sound. Just because they extended an invitation to us doesn't mean we should accept it. Not without our lawyers making sure there aren't any strings attached."
"Hmph." Naruto sat up, crossing his arms. "That wouldn't stop me."
Sakura sighed as Sai spoke to the blonde.
"What are you trying to send her?" he asked.
Naruto stuck his tongue out in reaponse.
"As if I'd tell you!"
"Hmm." Sai, leaning against the wall in front of the couch, paused to consider Naruto's reply. "So is it something private?" He smirked. "I don't think it's wise to bother Hinata with such... Small matters."
Naruto glared at him as Sakura tossed the magazine clear across the room. It hit Sai squarely in the face.
"Pfah!"
"Serves you right!" Naruto snickered. "The only one who'd think of doing something like that is you, Sai!"
"Oh, you're no saint, either, Naruto," snapped Sakura, shooting him a look that made him cower immediately. His broken nose (which was bandaged and had made his singing lesson with Kakashi really weird and kinda painful) was still fresh in his memory.
"I-I only meant-!"
"Naruto," Sakura said, tone serious, "I know you want to spend time with her. We all do. It's very sad." Her eyes drooped a bit, expression softening. "But in order to do that, we need to be patient. Tsunade says we have to stick to the schedule, otherwise the contract states we'll be kicked out of the agreement."
"Why can't we just form our own contract?" asked Naruto stubbornly.
"Because Akatsuki's pulling the strings! If we step out of line, or try to form our own agreement, they'll twist our reasons, probably dig up that we visited without proper consent, and use it to slander Hokage Entertainment Industries. They'll have libel in articles and make it so our reasons seem convoluted and manipulative. Like theirs are." At Naruto's blank stare, she re-phrased her words. "Akatsuki will make it look like we're using Hinata for publicity. They'll make it seem like we're only doing this out of greed, not pity or charity." Sakura held Naruto's gaze. "Is that what you want?"
"My name is Hyuuga Hinata. I'm 17 years old and a huge Hei!K7 fan."
"...No."
"Then stay in your place and wait," Sakura said. "Tsunade's lawyers will eventually sort things out with Hinata's father, but until then, WAIT."
Naruto clenched his fists, bit his lower lip, and slowly, slowly nodded, leaning back defeatedly onto the couch.
"Hey, Ugly."
Sakura wheeled to angrily face Sai, who held the magazine open with his eyebrows raised.
"I didn't know you liked this kind of thing."
He flipped the magazine around, and Naruto and Sakura blanched together.
"I-I.. I wasn't paying attention!" Sakura yelled, face horrified as she leaped to her feet. "I was thinking about..." She shook her head, then stormed off, a whirl of pink tossed to the wind as she fled.
Naruto grinned and burst into laughter.
"That's hilarious!" he cried, as Sai placed the magazine on the coffee table by Naruto's feet. "You're gonna get it, later, though," he warned. Sai shrugged.
"It doesn't matter," he said. "There are ways around it. Knowing you, I'm sure you'll do something much worse to upset her later."
Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah."
Sai shrugged.
"I'm going to go practice early," said the black-haired boy. Naruto waved as Sai, too, left the room, leaving the blonde alone on the couch.
Darn, he thought, inwardly groaning. I really wanted to send that video to her...
He looked down at his phone. Sighing, he clicked his YouTube app and pulled up her video.
"Hey."
He took in the empty room she was in. The room he'd visited. It had seemed somehow much brighter when he'd gone, but maybe that was because there were others there.
But when she was all alone...
"More than anything, I wanted to meet them, and hear them, but I wanted to go to college, and become something..."
He could SEE the frustration in her eyes. The sadness, too, and the loneliness.
"I wish I could LIVE."
An idea popped into his mind as soon as he heard her say this. He frowned, trying to find the button on the mobile site, but it wasn't there.
So he'd have to wait until later, when he could get his hands on a computer.
Fine.
He turned the screen off and hopped to his feet.
He wasn't allowed to talk to her.
But he could still reply to her.
A/N: Thanks for so many reviews, you guys! TwT I love you all~!
Wow, it's been forever since I updated. I... I'm sorry, guys. My writing has changed so much. It's funny how much you can change over a few years! My original idea for this story has changed so much. I'm SO sorry for anyone who was hoping this would be SasuSaku. if you didn't notice, I have changed it to LeeSaku. I understand completely if you no longer want to continue reading. But rest assured that NaruHina is sticking around, and my other fics WILL still be SasuSaku! It's just that for the purpose of this story and the plot, I have decided to change who Sakura winds up with. This is here to thank you all for taking time to read this.
That being said, I am NOT dead! I intend to finish Icewater and On This Night. I feel like you all deserve endings, especially now that Naruto has ended. It's time I conclude my fics as well.
I'm glad you've stuck around. Please stay until the end of this wild roller coaster ride!