A/N: I realize that we left the last chapter on horrible terms. I'm sorry. Nixx is away visiting her sick grandmama and so we are kinda at a stand still until she has the free time. I'm sorry but this shall be the last chapter for awhile. We're assholes, we know. Anyway I hope you enjoy this and I can't wait to finish off the story. Thanks for all the messages(I do read them and I do respond), thanks for the REVIEWS(we adore reading what you're all thinking and it's so funny sometimes) and most importantly thanks for not giving up on us. I know AU's are kind of a gamble but I'm willing to risk it all for the adventure. Thanks. ~Nixx&Yuhikoi.
"H-holy shit…" Lee looks like he's on the verge of either barfing on the lawn or passing out. "…ok, s-she's really bleeding. Is she—is she even alive? Did you check her vitals? Because from where I'm standing…h-holy shit…holy shit, she's bleeding and it's everywhere...all over your backseat like—this is—this is real."
No shit Sherlock, he thinks—in place of saying it out loud.
"Did you get ahold of the doctor?"
Naruto asks, pressing two fingers to Hinata's inner wrist. A pulse thrummed very weakly against his fingertips. He slides his fingers down her forearm, until he reaches the underside of her elbow. He secures her arm over his shoulder. Hinata starts to cry, very softly. The sound of someone who's in unbearable pain and can do nothing but cry.
"Breathe…" he murmurs against her throat, trying to avoid contact with the instrument protruding from her chest. A thin vein drummed against his lips and he could hear her raspy breathing.
Good girl.
Naruto strings an arm around her waist and starts to carefully extract her from the back seat of the Audi. The leather interior really aided in his endeavor to be swift but meticulous—she's lost enough blood, there was just no getting around that but he could try his hand at making this transition as smooth as possible.
"Uh-yep, she's inside. Don't know if she'll be able to do much for this though." Lee says in a grievous tone, which highly irks Naruto. Lee is bent at the waist and exhaling through his nose—mouth agape. "Tsu is more of a-a school nurse, not a cardiologist or anything that requires a blood transfusion. This isn't exactly what I was expecting when you said she had gotten stabbed in the chest. I thought maybe a thumbtack injury or something less—less this. God, I can—I can smell the blood."
Of course, faggot brows would be the guy who couldn't stomach flesh wounds.
"Seriously dumbass, a fucking thumbtack?"
"A part of me even thought you were just kidding around but just—just in case I got Tsunade. But, as I now see—you weren't. Hinata needs some serious medical attention, the type of treatment only a reputable hospital can prescribe."
"No time for that, stand back."
He can hear Lee shuffling behind him, crunchy grass flattening under his feet.
Once he's dragged Hinata to the edge of the seat, he hooks an arm beneath the underside of her knees and hoists her from the car, at the same moment that she makes a groan of discomfort and her face contorts into a mask of pain.
Naruto looks at her face, her eyes are wrenched tight, her lashes are wet and stuck together. Her plush lips tremble and tears roll down her cheeks. Something that feels like both anger and impatience drills into his gut and his skin continues to break out in, effort sweat. The back of his shirt had been sticking to his spine like second skin and sweat rolled down the ridges of his toned abdomen. Not only is his left arm still numb, but he's certain his elbow is dislocated.
Hinata's dangling legs swing, the heel of her feet knocking into his leg as he starts to stride for the house. The arm over his shoulder hangs slack.
Lee jogs at his side, unable to keep up with his brisk walk across the lawn.
The sky is dark and starry. Lee lives in a fairly suburban area, the type of place where everyone knew everyone and strangers watered the lawn—free of charge.
The streetlights loom over yards offering pools of pale light and buzzing moths. Strangers walked the pavement, indistinct chatter filling the atmosphere. The air is crisp and even though he takes a deep breath all he can smell is Hinata's blood, mingling with the dizzying smell of lilac.
Her blood had seeped through his shirt, going cold against his skin. His head is spinning and his mouth feels dry.
"...did you find her like this o-or something?" Lee stutters, hands flying around in stressful gestures as he talked, "I just think she'd be better off in th-"
"Listen faggo—Lee. If we sit around with our thumbs up our asses waiting for the paramedics, she'll be that much closer to dying. I get that this lady might not be able to guarantee a full recovery this instant but if she can stop the bleeding—Hinata can heal just enough to make the trip to the hospital. That's all that matters right now."
He can feel Lee staring at him, then the smaller boy takes a deep breath and sighs, though it comes out like a hiss.
"Ya—ya," Lee breathes, "You're probably right. This is all just super bizarre. I've lived in Konohagakure all my life—nothing like this ever just happens. Who would—who would do this to her and why?"
It's only now that it really sinks in that he missed a golden opportunity to not only kill the whore but escape without having to tie up a loose end.
The only witness had been stabbed, coincidently by the bitch he had been preying on for a full month and a half.
If he had chosen to go after Sakura, if he had allowed Hinata to bleed out and die—his break away could have been a lot cleaner. He'd have gotten away scot free, would be buying tickets to scope out some other town, hunting another.
Fuckin' stupid…stupid…
Now, Sakura was wandering around, unscathed and fully aware of the dangers that nearly befell her. It's pretty much her word against theirs and that bitch would lie up a storm if she had to. Although in this case, even without fabricating the story to suit her she'd get sympathy. Hell, she got away with being an accomplice to rape—a rape that nobody believes because the fucking mayor of the town is a helicopter parent.
He could leave, if that's what it takes to ensure that he could go on. If he must, he can double back. Tuck Sakura's name away for a later date. She was never the real target but since her whore of a mom had kicked the bucket already, she was the next best substitution.
A figure appears on Lee's front porch, holding the screen door open. The porches lamplight illuminates a woman's honeyed but sharp brown eyes, framed by crow's feet. Hay colored blonde hair hangs loosely over her shoulders and she's wearing a tank top—which seems much too small to contain her busty chest.
"Tsu, you remember Hinata Hyuuga?"
Lee asks, mounting the stairs first. The steps creak as Naruto follows, feeling Hinata's the slight motion of Hinata breathing in his arms. When he exhaled, she inhaled, it's as though their bodies were feeding each other the same shred of oxygen.
The woman had an Amazonian build and toned arms. She backed into the house, giving both Lee and Naruto room to enter.
"Rings a bell..."
"Hiashi's daughter?" Lee adds, trying to jog the woman's memory.
"It'll come to me later."
The woman suddenly appears at Naruto's side. She starts checking vitals speedily, dexterously. The solemn shaking of her head bothers Naruto to no end but he silently observes.
"Pulse is very faint, obvious penetrating chest trauma…. copious blood loss. Has she passed out?"
Naruto shakes his head, "No."
"That's peculiar. How long has it been since the incident?"
"Uh, ten—fifteen minutes?"
"This is probably more than you've signed up for." Lee indirectly apologizes and Naruto wants to punch him in the throat.
The blonde woman seems to morph into a type of urgent mode. She shifts her hips and points in the direction of a kitchen table. The sinewy mess of her arms has Naruto wondering if she's some sort of transvestite-hag-hybrid but he keeps his mouth shut. This man could probably give him a run for his money.
"Young man, I need you to lay her over there carefully. Lee, I'm going to need rubbing alcohol, cotton swabs, towels, water and a needle and thread."
"I—I'll see what I've got grandmama." Lee replies very smugly, sprinting off. The woman scowls in his direction, like she wants to curse after him but thinks better of it.
"Pft." She then looks to Naruto and nudges her head in the direction of the table. "Table. Now. "She snaps her fingers. "I'll be with you in just a moment dear, I'll patch you up. My hands need to be sterilized before we began."
The blonde woman's sandals clack as she exits the main area, and vanishes down the hall.
Naruto shuffles around towers of discarded textbooks and Lee's half opened laptop. The kitchen lights are dim and the kitchen is unimpressive and bland. He lowers Hinata onto the table, and although she doesn't weigh much—it's a relief to place her on something sturdy.
He goes to step back but Hinata is suddenly fisting the end of his shirt, holding onto it for dear life.
"Naru…to…dun…. don't go." she gulps audibly and repeats the choppy sentence again. "p-please."
Instinctively, without his own command his fingers slide over her cold, tiny, fist—steeling her shaky fingers under his firm hold. His skin seems to thaw her fingers, soon, her temperature matches his.
He can see her blinking up at him. He wonders which Hinata he's talking to but when a smile quivers across her lips, he's positive he knows.
It's his selfless bunny. His.
Looking at her now, he can feel his insides ripping themselves apart. One side of him wanting desperately to stay—to comfort her through this back-alley surgery. Like they were some sort of lovers, and not two deviants of society—standing on borrowed time. Waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Ha, wouldn't that be something? Him, the cliché hero. The one that saves the girl, knocks her up and lives happily ever after. What a pipe dream. How could that even work? Between a nutso and someone like him?
"Please..." Hinata croaks, eyes gleaming with tears. His fingers grip hers tighter, so tightly, it almost feels like his fingers could sink straight through her bones. He can feel her trying to pull him, because he knows he's backing away.
Fuck. She's making this hard.
The world feels pulseless around him and there's just her, there's just him, staring at one another like this was the last time.
He could hear his own blood pounding in his ears, he could feel the trepidation—like static, buzzing between them.
To think, he had a soft spot for this crazy girl. What's wrong with him, right? He's been denying it for so long, that in this moment—the clarity is blinding.
"Please…"
Hinata was as close to his idea of perfection as it gets, but a far cry from societies idea of the ideal woman. She was a fucking lunatic, battling two personalities but amongst all that shit, she was a fighter. Through and through, it would seem, all her life she's been losing.
He could feel her knuckles cracking under his fist. His brain giving his fingers a clear order:
Let go.
But his fingers only seemed to fossilize around hers.
It reminded him of another time. That first time, the first woman he had ever slain in the name of vengeance for his mother. The woman's body had long since been lifeless, but his fingers remained around her throat.
The line had been crossed, as he looked over his work with morbid fascination. His emotions were going haywire, he was somewhere between guilt stricken and delirious with power.
He couldn't sever his ties—to the old him. To the kid that could never imagine taking a life, not after all the blood he had seen that day. How could anyone kill? Life is a gift and it's fragile. Everyone only has one. How could anyone kill?
He toed the line and he stepped over it. It's seemed irreversible. The sin, he had just committed would stain him for eternity and the next few would be his ticket to hell.
The demon inside of him had won.
When he let go, of the first victim, he'd be saying goodbye to that little boy. He'd be saying goodbye to anything that resembled having a normal life, having morals and goals. Having children, having love.
He said goodbye.
Those things, they were never in the cards for him.
Let go.
Hinata was pure. She was selfless, humble and beautiful. She is the sui generis of all his victims and yes, she was undoubtedly a victim in all of this. Anything he touches, he eventually corrupts and destroys. And though she was already broken, the result of him sticking around would be catastrophic.
He could hear Lee shuffling back into the room and the spell of silence shattered.
He's conscious, for the first time, that his feet are moving and he's stepping away. His shirt slipping through her fingers and he lets go, stiff fingers releasing her fist. He can see her shaking with soft anguished cries but he's already twisting around and gunning out the door.
Lee calls after him but he's miles away, drifting towards the car. Trying to assemble rational thoughts. He only feels somewhat together when he's closed into his car, but even then—the lilac and the blood jump down his knotted throat.
Something hot flared through his chest, the impulse to hit something surges through his bloodstream but a light noise catches his ear.
A cellphones generic tone sings through the car and he digs his cell from his back pocket. What the fuck now? It's probably Lee, he thinks to himself.
He turns his cell over in his hand and the phone stares blankly at him, mirroring his disheveled appearance.
What the…
The tone is coming from the back seat. He shifts around in the driver's seat and discovers Sakura's cellphone, flashing incessantly on the blood streaked leather seats.
He contemplates tossing it on the side of the road, on his way out of town but the moment he reaches back to procure it, he notices the name: Sass.
The name strikes a vague memory. One he hadn't been too absorbed in at the time. Ino had said the name before, referring to him so…nonchalantly. They probably don't know the truth. To them, the guy was falsely accused. No one even knew that Sakura was involved. No one except Hinata—and now him but why hadn't she told on Sakura?
The phone continues to ring.
One things for sure, this has to be the guy. The guy responsible for breaking her.
It's a split-second decision. Hadn't he just said goodbye?
He pads the green icon and presses the phone to his ear.
The end is silent for a moment and then he hears a familiar voice.
"Sakura, what's so important that you've been blowing my phone up all day?" The voice asks.
And just like that, he feels like he's been possessed by an entirely different demon.
"Sasuke."