A/N- Hello people who may or may not be reading anymore. I do apologize for my absence. I'll be trying to update every Wednesday, including next week (don't quote me). I promise the next chapter will be longer (I know I make a lot of promises, I'm a filthy liar). Hope you enjoy.
Chapter Sixteen: Relative
Title: I want you to cry
By: Yuhikoi& Nixx
She remembered, the moment her life changed.
An endless decline from the moment her father became ill.
He tried to hide it, continued as though nothing happened and if Hinata hadn't known any better, she would have believed him.
The problem was, she knew.
She knew in the way he slouched at the dinner table, in the way his hands trembled—try as he might to steady them, the fit of coughs that rattled his body in the early mornings. How he trudged behind her when he walked her to the bus stop.
Sometimes she'd stand over him when she heard him wheezing, her eyes full of tears and her lips trembling.
Maybe if she watched him closely he'd pretend harder to be ok. Maybe everything would just be ok, right?
It wasn't often that he opened his eyes, but the times in which he did—he found her crumbled over his stomach, holding onto him as tightly as her tiny arms could.
It isn't fair.
It isn't.
"Hinata, little bunny," Her father would chuckle wearily, moving weakly to get his arms around her, "come to visit papa." He would say breathy, as though he didn't know this was a welfare check. Her second one that night, only, this time she couldn't bring herself to leave and go back to her room. "Was I snoring again?"
She'd always snuggle up against him, bunching up his shirt in her fist and soaking his cotton t-shirt with warm tears. She'd never show him, she wanted to be brave. If she cried, he'd worry about her. It could potentially make the situation worse.
"Yeah, so loud." She lied, nodding her head groggily.
Her father would chuckle, "You'll snore one day too."
She recalled her throat feeling raw and knotted. There was so much tension with every swallow, it felt like she had been attempting to gulp down cement. Her tears clumped her lashes together and made her eyelids feel soggy. She closed her eyes and listened to her father's sluggish heartbeat.
"D'you remember your mom's brother, uncle Toneri?"
She nodded against him, she had only seen her uncle one time and that was enough. He had always made her feel strange, almost scared. He had come to help she and her papa move into their new apartment a few years ago. He would always creep up on her and pick her up or sit her on his lap, as if he's known her all his life. She'd always look for an excuse to run away, though one time, he had held her extra tightly and refused to let her go even though she had asked. He claimed she was warm and he was cold. He'd rub her thigh and ask her how it felt. It was an odd question, like most of his questions. It felt strange but her father had always told her to respect her elders. She would rub his leg too, just out of courtesy. She didn't want to answer the question, instead, she would ask him how it felt to him.
He'd always chuckle and say, "Like your mom never left."
She never understood it but she simply assumed he was still grieving. Maybe she just reminded her uncle of his sister.
Her father coughed. He clamped a palm over his lips until the fit subsided. The coughs felt nearly restricted, as if he was trying to prevent them from exploding in his esophagus.
"He'll be staying here in the guestroom—it'll help me out around the house," he said, clearing his throat. "and maybe you'll get to know him a little better, plus, it could help to have someone else to rely on…"
Just in case, right..
He stopped, as though something had interrupted his train of thought.
"All I mean to say is, he could tell you more about your mother. No one knows her better than Toneri. You'll like him, he's family so…y—"
He's family.
Family.
"AH!"
Everything seemed to ripple, distort and fade right before her eyes. She clinched for the memory, she wanted to hide inside of it awhile longer but it tore itself away. It left emptiness in it's wake, an echo of a scream hung desolate in the air.
"Papa!"
Papa! Don't leave me, don't leave me!
A scream shot back at her, mockingly.
"He's dead dearie, no matter how many times you call em' I doubt he'll come. You may look like your mother but my sister, she knew exactly how to respect her elders—make a man feel superior. Your father has spoiled you rotten, made you think you've got the world wrapped around your little pinky finger. You're a lazy, bony, spoiled brat. When your mum was your age, she was already using that body of hers. People payed top dollar, and then she went and left it all behind. I know you're made of the same stuff and if you're not-well, just like her, I'll bring it out of you. Nothing's for free Hinata, life is a price."
Reality came stomping into the foreground, sending her head into a throb. The view through her eyes dizzying and the world seemed to tilt on its axis. Drool stuck to the corners of her lips and her deadened eyes snapped open.
W-where, where am I?
She was laying at her uncle's feet, her head propped on top of her arm. His heavy steel-toed boot tacked icily against her temple. He sighed, and she could hear him breathing out a tranquil cloud of smoke. The smell made her sick to her stomach. She nearly retched up the only thing he had fed her, a cold piece of rancid steak-a leftover from one of his dinners.
"P-pplease don—"
A searing pressure distorted her vision and she cried out. Tears dripping from her eyes, a cold wetness leaking from her nostrils. She gnashed her teeth, seething in pain.
This isn't real.
but...it feels...real.
It's as real as the pain, it's as real as her busted lip hanging open. As real as the coppery taste of blood on her tongue.
"From here on out, you're not a child anymore, you're an instrument and instruments must be played."
Prologue for part III
"N...naruto-kun..stoppit!"
It was futile yelling at him, she knew, but something inside her wanted to reluctantly try.
She could hear him, grunting with every jab, like a child throwing a fit. His teeth were buried in his bottom lip, dark blood splattered decoratively across his face. She couldn't analyze how many times he jabbed. Her fists twitched at her side, almost mimicking Naruto's actions.
She couldn't bring herself to look away, though she desperately knew she should.
"Naruto-k-kun you're killing him! Stop!"
"That's! The idea!"
Why the hell are you crying about this?
It's what you've always wanted.
The elder man was still attempting to fight, unaware of his riddled status. Hinata watched her uncle try to muster up enough strength to gain some leverage over Naruto, who bested him with swift maneuvers and dogged persistence. Her uncle screamed her name.
She flinched, covering her ears.
"N-not like-not like this." she repeated this mantra. It felt empty, hollow. She could hear both men shouting, something getting knocked around. Her eyes snapped shut as she swayed from side to side.
Would you rather be the one doing it? Why not just do it, why not join in again?
No, NO, I wanted nothing to do with this!
You fucking liar.
She swallowed something piercingly cold.
Look at him. Look at what you've done, you're just as rotten as everyone thinks you are.
She couldn't hear the distinct noises of a scuffle, her wet lashes pulled apart and she looked up.
Naruto finally let her uncles gurgling body slink to the kitchen linoleum. She watched, rooted in her spot, trembling with something that felt suspiciously like a caffeine high.
She watched the man laying on the floor, coughing up blood, and curling on his side. Never had he looked so small, than now, at Naruto's feet. The blonde simply pointed the kitchen knife at the dying man.
"Are you going to fuckin stand there like an idiot, or are you going to help me?"
The two stared at one another for a long moment that lingered on much too long. She could feel the hot tears turning cold in her eyes. Naruto rolled his cloudy blue eyes and scrubbed a forearm over his forehead, smearing the blood.
"Fine, I'll do it myself. You can stand there and feel sorry for this piece of shit." he snarled, jabbing the knife in her dead uncles direction.
"We can't just k-keep...keep doing this. All of the killing...Naruto-k-"
"Jealous you didn't skewer him first?" The blonde asked cocking his head to one side, throwing Hinata a look of pure amusement. She could see the blood, faded against his blazing grin.
How could he just be...this way? So cavalier...
Looking like that. Looking, happy.
It kind of makes me...feel...
Happy.
"N-no..." she answered stubbornly.
Maybe.
"Aren't you afraid?" She asked.
The blonde stared at her for a long moment.
"Ugly, I'm the scariest thing I know." he answered, crouching down to grab one of her uncles legs. "Got any trash bags?"