Chapter Fourteen

Thanksgiving break passed by too quickly, and my relationship with Naruto grew stronger with each passing day. I ended up going to basketball practice with the guys, and they greeted me warmly. They were being cautious, watching everything they said. I noticed that nobody brought up the dinners that their mothers made on the holiday, and I knew it was because of the accident with my own family.

Tsunade and I ran through drills with the guys, and she had me on the court, catching the basketballs that the guys were supposed to steal. I had never seen this drill; Tsunade stood on the left wing, and she had me take point. The basketball rack was at her right side, and she held a single ball in triple-threat. There was only one player guarding the both of us at a time, and I heard her say "zone-defense."

"You guys need to learn to intercept and steal," Tsunade said, her voice hard and authoritative, "because let's face it; all of you suck at that." All of the guys stood at the foul line in an orderly fashion, waiting for their turn for the drill. "Sasuke, you're up first," Tsunade ordered, and Sasuke immediately stepped forward, ready to intercept the ball that Tsunade was going to throw at me. "Here's how this works: I'm going to throw this ball to Hinata in some sort of fashion that you may see in a game. If you intercept it, you have to dribble it down to the opposite end and score a layup. If you fail to intercept it, pick up the ball and put it back in the cart. Either way, ball goes back in the cart and you get yourself back in line."

I hoped she wouldn't throw it too hard at me, but I knew that that hope was pointless. This was an aggressive sport, and I had to do my best to help the team get better.

I was glad that Sakura had bought me some athletic attire whenever she and Sasuke purchased all those clothes for me at the beginning of this year. At first, they felt strange, especially the yoga pants. I wasn't used to form-fitting pants, and initially felt completely self-conscious, like always. The teal tank top that I ended up throwing over a black sports bra was extremely loose, and it felt like it completely defeated the purpose of wearing a shirt. The sides hung excessively low, exposing the skin that covered my ribs.

I glanced over at Sasuke, who hung his thumbs from the excess material on his practice jersey. He waited for Tsunade to give the order to start. I was sweating profusely, and the drill had yet to start.

Tsunade bent her knees slightly and stared her player in the face, attempting to intimidate him like another basketball player might. It worked on me; she was actually pretty scary. Sasuke, however, kept a straight face. He bent his knees, placing his right foot in front of his left, and his arms were out, denying the pass.

Tsunade went to throw the ball, stopping short and never allowing it to slip through her fingers. That had a term, didn't it? I think it was called a fake. Sasuke jerked in the direction of the ball, but saw the fake, and so remained with the balls of his feet planted on the floor.

When I least expected it, Tsunade chucked the ball at me full forced, and I almost screamed as I threw my arms out in front of me to stop it from hitting me in my chest. Everybody could tell that I flinched, but the ball was stopped by the grip of my hands.

I just saw my life flash before my eyes.

Because I was holding it, that meant that Sasuke had failed to intercept it. I felt kind of guilty for that, but I tried not to let it show.

Tsunade grabbed another ball out of the cart. "Chuck it, Hinata," she told me. "Throw it as far as you can." My eyes flickered to Sasuke, who waited for the ball to be thrown so that he could chase it like a dog. I felt really bad doing this, but with both hands, I whipped it across the court, where it bounced once before smacking the wall at the other end of the gym. "Now lets keep it moving!" Tsunade shouted, and I knew that she wanted me to throw the balls away without a thought. She wanted me to focus on the next player, constantly.

Shikamaru stepped up to the plate and took the same stance as Sasuke had; on his tiptoes, his gaze crossed in the center of the gap between Tsunade's and my bodies, and I wondered why he focused on the other end of the wall and not on Coach.

She said nothing though. Instead, we continued with the drill, and she kept her eyes on Shikamaru at the same time as throwing the ball. It caught me off guard, but luckily her aim was precise, luckily for me.

Again, the ball zipped to my hands and clung to them as if they were magnetic, calling the ball towards them. Without a second thought, I tossed the ball behind me, and Shikamaru sprinted after it.

Naruto followed Shikamaru, then Choji, and Kiba after him. None of them were able to intercept the ball, and so none of them had made a layup. I wasn't entirely sure how long this drill went on, but the system continued to cycle through, always beginning with Sasuke.

I managed to glance at the clock whenever there was a tiny break in between players, and I saw that we had been at this for over an hour. It was easy to see the frustration in the faces of the guys, and Tsunade, too, was becoming annoyed with the fact that her team couldn't get their hands on the ball.

"That's it!" Tsunade threw her hands on her hips and eyed her team. "Give me twenty laps!" she bellowed, and the guys jogged to the outside of the court and began their consequence. I turned my eyes to Tsunade, who pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned.

"Do you mind if I run with them?" I asked, and she glanced at me with an awkward stare. I bit my lip nervously.

"Why would you want to do that?"

I gulped; she was completely terrifying whenever she was mad. I swear I could see fire in her sephia eyes.

"You always say I'm just as much a part of this team as they are, so I should run with them." I folded my hands behind my back. Tsunade waved her hand at me, telling me to get going, and I grinned, taking off running to catch up with the guys.

This was the first time I had ever really run outside of gym class, and I wondered if I could keep up with the guys as well as run twenty laps with them. I caught up with Choji, who turned his eyes to me, confused on to why I was running with them. I smiled shyly and returned my eyes to the front of line of running guys. Naruto and Sasuke were at the very front, side-by-side, and I think they were competing with one another.

There was no way I'd be able to catch up with Naruto, especially if I was going to run all twenty laps with them. I decided that it would probably be best to stay back here with Choji.

I didn't realize how hard twenty laps could be. They just seemed to go on and on, and my breath was coming shy. I could hear Choji's breathing getting harder and harder, and I considered him my motivation; as long as he kept going, then so would I. Even on the nineteenth lap, Naruto and Sasuke were neck-in-neck, sweating profusely. Their practice jerseys were sticking to their backs, and I could see a dark line down the crease in their spines.

You can do it, Naruto. I cheered him on in my mind, because if I were to yell out, I think my lungs may explode. Although, in the back of my mind, I knew that Naruto would be able to finish the consequence assigned by Tsunade. Me, on the other hand, may collapse and begin wheezing for air.

All of a sudden, Naruto and Sasuke came to a stop in front of Tsunade, and I realized that we were finishing up our last lap. Choji and I were at the back of the train, pushing ourselves to make it through and finish strong.

Once the guys stopped, I was halfway through the last lap, and Naruto and Sasuke began clapping, followed by Kiba, who finished soon after. I glanced over at them, and they were turned and facing Choji and me, and Shikamaru, who was about twenty feet in front of us. They were cheering us on, motivating us to finish. I picked up my pace, and I pushed my legs - which were beginning to feel like jelly - to carry me farther.

Soon, I was next to Shikamaru, and I began clapping with the guys who had finished. I was still running, and I was still out of breath, but I continued to run, and I continued to cheer through applause. As we neared the other three guys, I followed Shikamaru's lead, slowing down and coming to a walk.

I leaned over and rested my hands on my knees, heaving in and out, trying to restore the normal oxygen content to my body. I was drenched in sweat, and my bangs stuck to my face in a gross manner.

"Grab a drink," Tsunade ordered, "then get back in formation."

OoO

Naruto laid on my bed while I took a shower. He had already gone before me, and I'm pretty certain that he was going to be fast asleep by the time I got done.

If it hadn't been clear enough from the sweat that beaded our skin, practice tonight was rough. Tsunade was in such a foul mood, and even though the guys pushed themselves so hard, it just wasn't good enough today. Practice lasted for three hours, and we didn't get out until nine thirty. By then, nobody wanted to exert any more physical energy; practically all of us were crawling on our hands and knees to the parking lot.

Sasuke ended up taking Naruto and me back to my house, and he dropped us off about an hour ago.

The water on my pale skin felt so warm, and the steam around my naked body hugged my figure tighter than those yoga pants ever could. I could almost feel the gaseous water climbing deep into my pores, opening them up and exposing them to the liquid water.

My hair was heavy, soaking in all the moisture that it possibly could. The conditioner that I lathered in my locks smelled like fresh-picked apples, and I wrapped my hair up tightly, clipping it on the back of my head. The beautiful scent shrouded my senses and took me to a whole different world.

I glanced at the rack that cradled all of my cheap Dollar Store shampoos and soaps, and I noticed Naruto had stuck his own body cleansers there. A tiny grin came onto my face as I looked down at the water running down my body. My right foot touched my left shyly, and my painted toes were peppered with tiny droplets of water.

Naruto and I had been literally inseperable since he saved me from the darkness of my depression. He always stayed the night at my house, we went to practice together, he came to the hospital with me time and time again to visit Neji.

I never realized just how much one person could do for another, and how much that could enhance so greatly feelings toward one another. Naruto and I; we were becoming a couple who genuinely cared for each other. I was so happy; that had been my dream since middle school, and it had finally come true. We always slept, wrapped in the ecstasy of one another's embrace, passing the warmth of body heat back and forth, switching back and forth between exothermic and endothermic systems until both of us reached equilibrium. From there, we slipped into the magical realm of REM, where the laws of physics were optional and nothing was impossible.

I wrapped my hand around the back of my neck, massaging out a kink that had come about from practice tonight. My flesh was soft, and I squeezed my muscle firmly, at first hurting it, but then it succumbed to my touch and unraveled.

I stood there for a moment, staring at the stream of water droplets that trickled down forcefully from my shower faucet. Thinking about everything that had happened this week, I wondered if it was too good to be true. Maybe I had been in the car with my family, and perhaps I was either in heaven, or stuck in a coma in the hospital.

This can't be heaven; if it were heaven, I'd have Naruto without my parents being deceased. He probably wouldn't be sleeping over all the time, had my parents been alive. I ruled out the idea that this was heaven.

What if I am in a coma? I thought to myself and immediately grew terrified that I was, and that Naruto and I never started dating, or even became friends in the first place. This horrified me and brought tears to my eyes. I had come to love Naruto so dearly, even more than I had had before we had begun talking. To give him up now would sever my heart from its aorta, and I would die quickly soon after.

There was a knock on the bathroom door, followed by his golden voice that sang virtuous melodies in my ears.

"Hinata?" he asked, and I turned around in the shower to face the door. I covered my breasts with both hands, despite the fact that the curtains were pulled shut. The door opened, and I heard him step in. "Are you okay? You've been in there for a while."

"I'm okay," I said, blushing at the fact that the only barrier between Naruto's eyes and my naked body was the green shower curtains. A part of me thanked them for being there to guard me, and the other part wanted them to collapse, so that Naruto could see me.

"You're not crying, are you?" he questioned me, and I could almost see his eyebrows crinkle upwards in concern.

"No, I'm okay. Really. I just got lost in thought." I ripped the hair clip out of my hair, and my soaking wet mop flopped down my back. Forcing my head under the drizzle of the shower, I began scrubbing the conditioner out of every strand. "I thought you were asleep," I said to him, and I wondered if he was actually still in the room.

"I dozed off." I heard the sound of the toilet lid groan as he sat down on it, anticipating staying while I finished my shower. I blushed, but I didn't mind him remaining in the bathroom with me. "But then my mom texted me and asked if I was staying over again."

"How does she feel, about you sleeping over with me all the time?" I asked, wondering how lenient Kushina was with her only son.

"I think she's just worried that we're going to jump into some things that we shouldn't." He was beating around the bush, but I knew well enough that he was talking about sex.

"Did you tell her that we decided that we were going to wait?" I asked, twisting my mane and watching some excess suds run down my chest. It was true; while our bodies wanted to devour one another so badly, our minds told us that it would be best for our relationship if we didn't jump into anything like that.

"I'm not going to tell her that," he said, embarrassed. "That's awkward. Would you have ever told your father about our relationship plans?"

While my father was dead and quite possibly could see us right now, the question was hypothetical, and I didn't take any offense to it. But he was right. That would be kind of strange. I knew my father would have murdered Naruto and buried him in the back yard.

"No," I admitted, turning the water off and wringing out my hair. I reached my hand out of the shower and felt around for the towel that I had waiting to be used. It was still warm; it had come out of the dryer.

Naruto and Minato ended up fixing my stairs this afternoon, and I couldn't thank them enough. They had started at the bottom, and they removed every stair and replacing the entire thing. It only took an hour, however I was very grateful to all of the time that they volunteered to put in.

So, I was able to do a load of laundry today, and I had thrown all of the bathroom towels and washcloths in the washing machine. The towel that I dried my face with still smelled like laundry detergent, and the scent made me smile.

I dried off my body until there were no drops running down the surface of my skin, and then I folded my hair and wrapped it up in the thick fabric of the towel, flinging the mass over my head. It was only then that I realized that my clothes were out of my reach - on the bathroom sink. They were out there, along with Naruto, and I was in here, naked.

I heard the toilet creak again, and it signaled to me that Naruto had stood up, and was going to leave the room while I changed. "I'll be in bed," he said, and I kind of hoped that he wouldn't fall asleep without me. If he did, it was okay, though.

The moment I heard the door click shut, I tore open the shower curtains and made my way to my clothes, which were folded up neatly on the sink. I grasped my plaid pajama pants into my hand and stepped into them, then pulled them up to my hips, where they hugged my bones comfortably. The three-quarter-length sleeved shirt that I slipped on was tight around my chest, and it made me self-conscious. What if Naruto could see the contours of my chest?

I prayed that the light in my room was off as I opened the bathroom door and made my way down the hall, breathing a sigh of relief when I looked in to see darkness. Naruto was laying on my bed, being crushed by layers of blankets that I had thrown on my bed the other day. He glanced over when I walked in, and a slight smile creased the sides of his mouth.

I couldn't help but to smile back, and I layed down on my bed, snuggling close to his chest. A single arm wrapped around my shoulders, and then the second one did as she rolled over to look at me. I grinned at him, and I laughed.

My random outburst caused him to repeat my action, and we were laughing together, snuggled in each other's arms. I never felt so warm inside, and I realized that I had never loved someone as much as I love Naruto.

Soon enough, though, our giggles turned into simple breathing, and our breathing faded into soft snores as we simultaneously fell into a blissful slumber.