A/N: Hey guys!
Well thank you for reviewing so much!
I know the previous old chapter was crappy... So I hope that most of you are satisfied with the updated ones!
Thank you everyone!
Well, everyone who wrote nice things hehe!
Well, this chapter is a biggie, it's just... a chapter which leads up to a bigger chapter!
You can blame my slow and short updates to...
W
O
R
K
Chapter 20, Curiosity
It was a busy afternoon.
Carts of crops were being dragged along the crowded streets, bustling around with activity.
She walked along the shop houses, wandering around with no one by her side...
'I don't know...'
She looked into the empty ramen shop nearby and frowned, 'I think... I went too far...'
Strangely, she felt rather empty inside, as if something was missing...
She missed the lively essence by her side, forever smiling and cheerful. How she wished he was there...
'I guess I've spent so much time with him that...'
'He's become such a big part of my life...'
He made her life so colourful, and if it wasn't for his determination to find her, she'd probably be living in that same old boring village. Longing for that warmth that always made her feel so safe, she began to day-dream about the mysterious blonde, thinking about his wonderful charms and beautiful character...
Even when she tried to stay mad at him, she realized she really couldn't.
Why was it that whenever he hugged her, she would feel her heart race...?
Why wouldn't she believe him when he told her he loved her...?
She wanted to find him so badly, and embrace him all over again.
Touching her plush lips, she smiled softly, remembering the wonderful, passionate kiss that they had shared...
He made her feel so... so turned on and happy...
Walking past a few more shops and making a few turns, she found herself at Ino's flower shop.
Gripping the shiny golden door knob, she twisted it, and made her way in, a jingling sound being echoed within the shop in the process.
Ino was sitting by the flower-cluttered counter, cutting of the edges of a bouquet of beautiful fresh red roses. She looked up, only to flash a big smile, "Hinata! What brings you here?"
The Yamanaka flower shop was beautiful and cosy, nice and small.
Creepers twirled themselves around the ceiling's poles, blooming azure blue morning glories.
Hinata smiled a little, "I'm fine... I just... need to talk to you about something..."
Ino grinned, "Well, sure!" she said, before shoving the roses off the table, conveniently landing in a flower vase.
The heiress pulled out a stool from under the counter, sat down beside the blonde and told her about what happened the previous day, about Naruto's confessions.
After the extremely long explanation, Ino gasped and squealed in terror, "Why would you do that?" placing her hands over her mouth.
Hinata knotted her eyebrows in frustration, "I... I know I went too far... But... How am I to trust him... What if he doesn't even love me at all...?"
Ino screamed, "No! That's totally out of your character! I can't believe I'm saying this, but Hinata, this time, you're the one who's kind of in fault!"
"I know..." The black-haired konoichi whined, throwing her hands onto Ino's shoulders.
"And you know... He only goes into depression like that when he loses someone who's precious to him..." Ino smiled softly, patting Hinata's hands.
"That guy really loves you... I know I wasn't supposed to tell you this but... He was your boyfriend..."
"I know..."
"Then...? He loves you more than anyone I know! So if I were you, I'd be begging on my knees for him to forgive me!" Ino shouted, "And you better get him back before some other woman does..."
Hinata blushed uncontrollably, "But...I... er... But I don't... I... don't..."
Ino stared at her, making her turn away in embarrassment.
"I knew it!"
Hinata blushed a few shades of red and screamed, "N-NOOO! T-That's not true!"
"Come on girl! You can tell me anything!"
The pale-eyed girl blushed, beaming softly, realizing that she would have to tell Ino about it sooner or later, "Well... I don't know why... I a-always get... this w-warm fuzzy feeling whenever I'm a-around him..."
She played with her index fingers, looking down to the flower-cluttered floor.
"It's obvious Hinata."
Hinata's head shot up, "W-What is?"
The blonde female winked at her friend, taking her hands off her shoulders, "Even if you don't love him yet, it's pretty obvious you like him... A lot..."
Ino winked at Hinata, "Remember what he used to always say as a child? BELIEVE IT?"
At that moment, a sudden vision popped into Hinata's mind.
"And remember to watch me sweep the floor with Neji! Believe it!"
She rubbed her temples and bent down, placing her elbows on her knees.
"Is something wrong...?" asked Ino patiently.
Images and memories flashed in Hinata's mind.
'You know, I used to think that you were some really weird and creepy person...'
'But I kinda like... people like you!'
"But I kind of like... people like you..." She whispered, grinning softly while thinking of him.
Ino cocked her head up and grinned broadly, "Like me?"
Hinata looked up and laughed, "Hahaha! N-no... I just... thought of something is all..."
"Thought of Naruto?" Ino smirked playfully.
"Well... Y-yes..." Hinata giggled, "He is very handsome..."
"Heh, I guess he's alright." Ino said, "But that guy..."
"He loved you a lot...really... He was also really over-protective though..."
-Sudden flashback into Hinata's mind-
"Hey, what's your name?" The man smirked.
Hinata blushed a little, "Er... Hinata... Why...?"
Just then, a flash of orange appeared in between the two teenagers, Hinata suddenly being lifted off the ground.
"Don't you flirt with my girl!" Naruto screamed angrily, holding Hinata protectively in his arms.
"Hey, I didn't know she had a boyfriend... Sorry!"
"OHOHO It's too late for sorry now!" The blonde placed his innocent girlfriend down and charged after the running teen.
"Meet me at the park after I'm done with this dude hime!" Naruto shouted down the streets, causing Hinata to blush in embarrassment.
-End of flashback-
Hinata blushed and smiled, "So... He was telling the truth...?"
"He'd never lie to you." Ino grinned.
The girl got up from her seat and waved, "Well... I... I'm going to g-go apologise to N-naruto-kun!"
"Yeah you better!" Ino screamed, waving her hands in the air, "Go tell him how much you love him!"
After that, Hinata got out of the stall, and ran to her prince's apartment.
'Well... I have a good feeling about this...' Ino smiled, and picked up her roses again.
With Naruto at the training grounds
"Come on, Naruto! Move!" The pink-haired ninja shouted with annoyance, throwing a hard punch into Naruto's gut, causing him to fly into the brick wall with the impact.
She looked worriedly at Naruto with her hands on her hips, wondering why he was so... clumsy...
"Naruto... What is wrong with you today?" Asked the grey-haired jounin, appearing next to Naruto, "You just lost to Sakura three times in a row, isn't that a little..."
Sakura stared daggers at her sensei, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh... nothing..." Kakashi smirked beneath his mask before diverting the attention back to his pupil.
The blonde lay on the ground, blood trickling down from his mouth, "Nothing..."
Everyone looked worriedly at the genin on the ground.
"Is it... something you would like to talk about...?" Sai asked happily.
Naruto shook his head and got up slowly, "No thanks..."
Walking over to pick up his training bag, he left, "Bye... I'm going first..."
Sakura and Kakashi watched as their teammate strolled depressingly, swaying from side to side.
"What's wrong with him today...?" Kakashi asked.
The pinkette shrugged, "I have no idea..."
With Naruto
He walked down the empty pathway, feeling careless and depressed...
As he recalled the previous day, a sense of sadness came over him...
'I know she was hurt but...'
"I don't think I can return your feelings..."
He clutched his stomach in pain, "But... Has she really forgotten our love...?"
"I thought... She would remember..."
Without her, he felt like... only half of a whole.
He felt incomplete.
His angel wasn't there for him now.
He was alone.
With that, the boy moved on the road, trying to cleanse his thoughts of a certain Hyuuga heiress...
Hinata had finally reached Naruto's apartment. She stood at his doorstep, panting heavily while she squatted down. Glistening sweat rolled down her face as she looked up to ring the door bell.
"Ding dong"
She waited patiently outside, trying to neaten her attire and hair, so she would look presentable to him. She didn't know how he was going to react, especially because of yesterday.
Would he be mad at her...?
Would he slam the door in her face?
Would he tell her to get out of his sight?
After a few seconds, the door lock clicked, and it swung open.
Hinata met the beautiful blue eyes of the man whom had loved her and blushed slightly.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically, before... frowning, remembering the previous night's incident.
"N-n-naruto-kun... I n-need to t-tell you something..." She stuttered, twirling her hair at the same time.
The blonde sighed before putting up a fake smile, "Sure."
She grinned, "C-could you... walk with me?"
With that, the two left his house, before heading down to Konoha Park in awkward silence...
At the Park
The unhappy couple walked down the wide path, surrounded by the beauty of many colourful flowers at the sidewalk, and the laughter of many young children running around.
They both admired the scenery, almost forgetting that the both of them were there.
Instead of walking closely like they usually would, they walked far apart, as if there was some invisible barrier there.
Naruto looked at the many happy couples by the seaside, either holding hands or making out. He clenched his fists, feeling intense jealously just by looking at them,
'We used to do that...'
Hinata took note of this, and saw what he was looking at.
It was a couple- two young adults, probably in their early twenties. The woman leaned on her boyfriend's shoulders and their arms were wrapped around each others' waist.
She frowned, 'Well... I guess... Here goes nothing...'
"Naruto-k-kun...?" She asked timidly.
He flung his head around lazily and looked emotionlessly into her orbs, "Yes?"
Hinata bit her lips, "I'm sorry..."
She turned away from him and stopped dead in her tracks.
Naruto sighed and continued walking, "Yeah, I know. It's alright."
The tone of which he spoke in was so... unlike him.
It was cold...
She knew that she had definitely affected him badly yesterday, and she wanted him to be happy again... She didn't want to see him sad...
Especially not because of her.
If there was one thing she was sure of, that was that she liked him, a lot.
Running up to him, she called out, "Naruto-ku"
Before she could finish, an ear piercing scream rang in the air.
Naruto and Hinata flipped their heads to the direction of the scream, only to feel a gush of wind beside them. Apparently it was a thief, running away with a woman's necklace.
"Help! Someone! Please!" She cried and chased after the man, but obviously couldn't catch up.
Naruto's eyes narrowed as he broke into a run, leaving Hinata standing alone.
'Naruto-kun...'
He ran at light speed and caught up with the thief, before sending him to his knees with one painful jab to the back.
"ARGH!" Yelled the man as he fell flat on his face, the necklace still in his hands.
Naruto crouched down in front of the thief and looked angrily into his eyes, "Give. It. Back."
Without any hesitation, the thief nervously handed it over, before getting up and running away into the shadows.
"Thank you sir!" The woman said gratefully, that is... until she saw his face...
The red-head gasped and screamed, "Oh my... It's... It's..."
She had a look of terror written all over her face as she demanded, "G-Give it back you demon! My husband gave th-that to me!"
Naruto looked at her with sadness and threw it to her, the woman barely able to catch it. With one more turn, she stated, "Don't you ever come near me again!" before spitting onto the ground, storming away.
The blonde sighed and scratched his back, looking glumly into the depths of the sky.
Was this how everyone treated him...?
Hinata had just witnessed everything that had happened.
'Why does everyone call him a demon...?', she thought.
She sympathised him, and really couldn't understand. He was one of the kindest people she had ever met, and that was something she could remember clearly.
He was a great gentleman, always doing whatever he could for the sake of other's...
Why do people always do that to him...?
Walking up to the blonde, she placed her hand on his shoulder, making him turn to face her.
"I'm sorry... about that..." She said.
He grinned cheekily, "Heh, what do you mean? I'm alright! Let's get going!"
Naruto stormed off and walked briskly away from her, over-taking all the strolling villagers who looked at him in disgust.
"It's him..."
"Don't you mean it?"
"Shut up, he might hear you..."
"Oh yeah, we wouldn't want him to let that thing out..."
The villagers whispered and gossiped amongst themselves about the Uzumaki, even when he was right there.
Hinata clutched her mouth, 'Why does everyone do this to him...?'
Walking past an old couple, she heard them say:
Woman: I wonder why that thing would actually be going out with the Hyuuga Heiress..
Man: If you ask me, that demon should be placed behind bars!
That was enough.
Hinata couldn't take it anymore.
She flipped herself around and pointed her index finger at them, shouting, "H-How dare y-you say that about h-him when you don't know a thing about him!"
The couple looked blankly at her before the woman replied, "And he has also caused a lot of trouble for our village!"
Hinata raised her eyebrow, "W-what do y-you mean?"
The man spoke up, "So he hasn't told you yet! I guess that's what you get from a demon!"
"Hey, his girlfriend is right here!" The woman slapped him across the cheek and apologised for their rudeness before carrying on with their lovely stroll, hand in hand, leaving a puzzled Hinata standing behind.
'I have to talk to Naruto-kun about this...'
A/N: Man, my imaginative juices aren't flowing due to WORK.
Naruto: Can't we have like... you know... more make-out scenes?
Hinata: You mean... With...
Naruto: err well... -blush-
Me: What make-out scenes hmmm? What couples...? -smirk-
Naruto: ARRR...ERRR...
Hinata: With another girl of course...
Everyone and Naruto: WHAT.
Me: HAHAHAHAHAHA.
Naruto: Noo! Not that!
Me: I'll be sure to put Sasuke on the list!
Naruto: NO! EWW.
Sasuke: I just got here all the way from... somewhere, and no, I already sadly lost my first kiss to the dobe, I will not lose my second one to him! Or a man!
Fangirls: OOOOHHH!
Sasuke: Or fan girls!
Fangirls: Awww -leaves-
Me: Who let them in, in the first place...?
-Door closes-
Everyone realizes Hinata's gone.
Naruto: NOOO!