Child of the Leaf
Chapter Twenty-two. Part One.
by
operadeglace
Run.
Far away.
Keep running.
It will hurt less, the further you go.
Just go.
Go.
Leave everything behind.
Leave everything behind.
Leave.
Every fiber of Hinata's being urged her to get away from the burning sorrow that was broiling her soul from the inside. Unreasonable, irrational thoughts plagued her mind as she packed her traveling gear and bid a silent farewell to her sleeping daughter.
All a lie.
He lied.
Our life together was a lie!
Once she was outside of the front gates, she began to run and run, never stopping. Her plan was to come back to Konoha after she was able to prove that she could live without Naruto… but, it was proving difficult to even breathe at the mere thought of living without him.
She wished that she had never seen that boy while she stood in that hospital hallway…
He looked so much like her husband; blonde locks that spiked from his head and an undeniably identical smile. But, what struck her to the core was the hitai-ate the young ninja wore… it was the one that she requested he give to Bolt.
"Naruto? Where is your first hitai-ate?"
"Oh! I, uh, I think I left it with a friend for safe keeping."
Another lie. How many lies have I been fed while I thought I was living in my own perfect, happy, little world..?
"Man, I love this kid already! If I had known about him earlier, I wouldn't have married Hinata!"
That particular memory hurt the most.
The cold, licking wind whipped her dark hair about her face her as her quartzite eyes trained themselves on the clearest paths of the forest.
Inside her, there was again the ever growing need to separate herself from her warring emotions, from Konoha, from her family, from everything…
She was also running away from her most recent epiphany. Hinata was ashamed to admit that nearly her entire life revolved around her first love, and for what? One marriage and two children later, and he still was in love with his first love.
She should have seen the signs over the years.
There were so many moments, glances, touches…
"Man, I love this kid already!"
So many clues.
"If I had known about him earlier, I wouldn't have married Hinata!"
Blinding bitterness took hold of her heart, causing her to be just the right amount of careless in the darkness of the forest to miss a giant cave opening beneath her feet. She fell into the hole, hitting what she could only feel were rocks and tree roots, rolling further into the treacherous depths. Luckily, the pack on her back saved her, bursting open, a shower of clothes and provisions slowing her down just enough for her to avoid falling into a bottomless crevasse.
After her heart stopped beating furiously within her chest and the flood of endorphins subsided, she laid completely still, every inch of her body searing with pain. Soon, sobs echoed along the rock walls, joining the elemental sounds of the cavern.
"N-Naruto…"
The bitterness she harbored above cracked and fell away, leaving a broken, bleeding heart in it's place, weak and unwilling to carry on. It surpassed her need to be with her sister, protect her children, and find solace in her friends.
In that moment, Uzumaki Hinata wanted to wither away and die.
"I love you so much, Naruto."
Her voice echoes and repeats like a dying chant.
"It's better if I die."
In her head, she saw her beloved holding her hand. His hand was large and warm, like her love for him had always been. The picture fades to reveal the dank, humid, blackness of the cave, filling her with the bitter coldness of a lonely death. Her final tears fell as she closed her eyes for the last time…
"…ta…"
Out of the darkness, there came a voice.
"…inata! Oh, shi…"
It was familiar, and carried the warmth that she craved as she wavered in and out of consciousness.
"… Hinata… stay with me!"
Then she felt them once more; large, warm hands.
And she wanted to live again.
A few hours later, Hinata awoke to find herself covered in a thick coat and laying close to a blazing camp fire. Crickets chirped a tinkling tune that serenaded the night covered forest.
"Naruto..?" She asked hopefully, feeling a wave of disgust pummel her as she heard the desperation in her voice.
"No." A gruff voice peels across from the fire. The clear eyed woman sits up slowly to see who her savior was… a rugged person whom she immediately recognized.
"Kiba!" She smiles as brightly as she could muster, her heart clenching in her chest with gladness.
Inuzuka Kiba was one of her dearest friends and former team mates. Tears began to spill down her cheeks as she realized what had almost happened and what he had saved her from… mostly, herself…
"You're lucky Akamaru caught your scent in the village, otherwise I wouldn't be here saving your life." He growled angrily, stoking the fire with a long stick. "He said you were in distress, so I tracked you down, and here I find you, tripping into a hole and getting hurt."
"I…I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you." Hinata whispers weakly, her ribs still tender from her fall. The dog nin's eyes narrow as he sneers in response.
"Don't say that crap anymore. It's never been an inconvenience for me to help you, Hinata, you know that." A slight wavering in his voice betrayed the emotions he was trying to hide beneath his rough, angry exterior.
"You could have died, and you're worried about inconveniencing me..?"
Hinata was incredibly surprised when he rose from his seat across the fire and sat next to her, pulling her into his arms.
"What are you running from that is so terrible, you couldn't come to me or Shino to talk to us about it?" He speaks tenderly to her, his warm breath stirring the hair on the top of her head. "Please, tell me."
The Inuzuka would never openly admit it, but the only times he showed this softer side of him was when he was with Uzumaki Hinata. When they first became team mates, he was annoyed with her shyness and insecurities. As mission upon mission wore on, they grew closer, and he began to admire her. She was special and unlike any other kunoichi he knew; he former Hyuuga princess held within her a quiet strength that rivaled her beauty. She was soft-spoken and humble, always offering him words of encouragement when he was feeling inadequate or downtrodden.
At one time, Kiba entertained the idea of asking her to be his girlfriend and maybe taking that terrifying step past the beautiful friendship that they had developed. Unfortunately, there was always Naruto-kun.
Kiba knew he could never compete with the strange, powerful love that Hinata had always held for the whiskered brat, so he was content with merely being the best, supportive friend he could be to them both. He was happy if she was happy, and that was the end of it.
Hinata was silent and still within her friend's consoling arms.
"Tell me what's wrong so that I can help you."
Then her walls crumbled and caved in.
"I left Naruto…"
Kiba's ears twitched at her words. He must have heard her wrong.
"You left… your husband? Why?"
Never in a million years did he think she would leave the man she had pined over for much of her life. A spark of hope flickered within him.
"Sakura." Was her embittered response.
"Yeah, I heard about that." Kiba gave out a fanged grimace. "They really had a kid, together?"
"How did you–"
"Ino was blabbing away outside of her flower store. I just happened to overhear her conversation."
"He lied to me. He said that there was 'nothing between' he and Sakura. He told me he never had any true feelings for her…"
"Yeah, that's bullsh*t. Everyone could tell that he…" Kiba stops talking as he realizes that his words were not helping to ease the tension of the situation at hand. "Erm… I mean… d*mn, I'm sorry, Hinata."
"Don't be. I should have been smarter." He was startled at the hostility in her voice. "I let my silly obsession with Naruto get in the way of facts and reason." Hinata felt her resolve to leave grow stronger as she was encompassed by Kiba's supportive arms.
"You and Shino always warned me about getting carried away in my emotions and becoming blind to my objectives. You two were absolutely right." The gruff man felt moisture seeping against his shirt as she began to cry.
"I lost myself completely in Naruto… I lost the person I was; the one who was supposed to redeem herself in the eyes of my clan. I lost the strength that I garnered with my team. I lost my own nindo and replaced it with his. And now that I lost Naruto, the person who I lost everything for…" She starts to stammer, the evident pain she was showing started stabbing at Kiba's own heart. "Who am I? What am I without him?"
"So?" A low snarl emitted from her friend. "What are you gonna do about it?"
"I don't really know. My head is so much clearer being away from… all that."
Hinata couldn't tell from where she was sitting that Kiba was itching to tell her exactly who she was to him, especially without the Hokage in residence. He bit back his words so that she could finish, taking her tender feelings into great consideration.
"I've made up my mind to go on a journey to find out who I really am, but I really didn't know where to start."
"You don't need a stupid journey." Kiba barks, holding her arms away from his body so that she would look him straight in the eyes to know that he was serious. "But… if you're set on going, I'm not going to let you go all by yourself."
"Please, don't." Hinata shakes her head rapidly. "You have your own life, your own problems. Don't put them on hold because of me."
"Hey, we're a team, always. If Shino didn't have to teach those kids, I bet he'd be wanting to do the same thing." A bug crawls onto his nose, as if on cue, making Kiba wonder if maybe Shino was going to take the journey with them after all. Carefully nudging the insect away from his face, an immediate question arises from his thoughts.
"Will your kids be okay?"
His question caused her to look longingly to the campfire, the smiles of her children lingering in her mind's eye.
"I need this journey not only for myself, but for them as well." Hinata says with a resolve and determination that was absent a few minutes ago. "I need to become strong again for Bolt and Himawari."
Kiba boldly hugs her once more, resting his bearded chin on her dark haired crown.
"Now you're starting to sound like the old you."
"Thank you, Kiba… for everything."
"Anytime."
-End of Chapter 22. Part 1.
–Story by ODG
Don't worry, there is more NaruSaku and Shinachiku in the next chapter! Just had to break it up because it was a very large chapter. :)