Hinata dragged herself into the lunch room. The day was passing by much too fast for her liking, and suddenly… she would have to head home. Hinata winced as her shoulders continued to bear the burden of her backpack.
She lifted the stiffly woven bag off her back and plopped it next to her usual chair, and the pain she had felt all day slackened off a little bit. Her movements were slow, as if she thought slow movements would make the clock halt.
"Hey Hinata," Temari chirped cheerfully as the midnight haired girl sluggishly sat down. Temari obviously noticed nothing, much to Hinata's relief. "What's up?"
"N-nothing much," Hinata replied nervously, and she winced in her anxiety. And obviously in something else.
That was when Temari noticed something was wrong. "Hinata. You haven't stuttered in ages. Is there something wrong?"
"N-no," Hinata responded, but it lacked force and her old habit of stuttering had obviously resurfaced.
Temari's face told Hinata that she wasn't buying it, but Hinata was glad to see that she wasn't going to push it. She leaned into Shikamaru's hold on her. "Band practice after school today. With Ino." Temari twisted her face in disgust.
However, Hinata was thanking every spiritual being she could think of. "It c-can't be that bad, c-can it?"
"Hinata, what is the matter with you?" Sakura asked suddenly, and Hinata looked up to see the pink haired girl and her boyfriend staring at her, lunch trays in hand. They looked thoroughly taken aback. "You don't stutter anymore. Especially not now"
Hinata looked away. "Nothing…"
"Um. How about yeah the fuck right?" Hinata became aware of Naruto sitting right next to her. She immediately and instantly felt better when he gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Why don't you tell us what's wrong? You haven't stuttered in months." Then Naruto put his arm around her shoulders.
She couldn't help it. She jumped, winced, and let out a loud hiss in pain.
Naruto looked completely confused, but Temari was already in action before he could even put his confusion in words. She made her way around the table, and despite Hinata's audible protest, Temari jerked up the sleeve.
Bright yellow, blue, and black colors seemed to glare at Temari, and Temari went from livid to scarlet from fury. Naruto just stared at the massive bruise that formed on Hinata's shoulder, but Temari had the common sense to yank down her sleeve to avoid unnecessary attention.
"Nothing?" Temari breathed. "Nothing, my ass."
Hinata shook her head, but it was more out of desperation than denial. Her eyes were clenched shut, so she could see nothing, but she heard Naruto's breathing grow heavy. She became extremely nervous now: she knew Naruto by now, and he never breathed like that unless he was absolutely furious.
"Hinata," Sakura said, and the deadly calm in her voice was what scared Hinata most of all. "You have about a minute to explain this to the rest of us."
Hinata promptly burst into tears.
She felt two arms around her. Naruto was gently pushing her into his chest, taking great care not to touch her shoulders. Her friends were patient. Just like they always were. They let her cry, and not explain for the longest time. Neji and Tenten had sat down already, but Tenten, being the awesome person she was, didn't even ask questions. She just hugged her friend. They stood there for the longest time, hugging each other and Hinata crying and sharing nothing but empathy with each other.
Once Hinata's tears subsided, Sakura finally spoke up. "All right." Her tone was considerately softer. "What happened?"
"It was j-just after N-Neji left," Hinata choked out, her voice sounding like a frog. "He cornered me. Shouted at me for inviting company over when he had come home for the first time in months." Naruto squeezed her arms just below her shoulders, and Temari's eyes were now blazing in fury. Sakura didn't look much better, and Tenten's expression was cold. "Then he grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me really hard…" Hinata trailed off, but she didn't need to speak any more.
Tenten instantly stood up. She walked around the table and hugged Hinata. "I'm so, so sorry…" she muttered.
"I am too," Neji butted in. His eyes had a trail of sadness. "I shouldn't have come. He still hates me."
Hinata couldn't think of anything to say.
"Well, we have rehearsal after school," Temari said at last. She was obviously trying to reign her temper in. "We'll try to make it as long as possible, all right?"
"Yeah," Sakura finally said. "And we'll make as many sleepovers as possible. We'll say it's homework. He can't wiggle out of that."
"And if he so much as gives you a bruise again…" Naruto added reassuringly, and Hinata rested her head on his shoulder. She lightly closed her eyes, taking in all of her friends' helpful words. "We'll all have a little talk with him."
Hinata's eyes widened in fear at his statement. "You're not going to…"
"Beat the crap out of him? No," Naruto replied, but his voice was a little too brisk and innocent for Hinata's taste. "We're just going to teach him that you're so much better than all of this shit he's talking about you."
Hinata's eyes widened.
Flashback
"Who do you think you are, bringing company over?!" Hiashi roared, cornering his own daughter against the wall. Hinata shook in fear as he stood over her. He seemed like a looming tower daunting any passerby.
"I'm sorry," Hinata began.
"I don't want to hear it! You ungrateful bitch! I'm off working, trying to give this family a decent living, and you go ahead and bring your worthless cousin over!" Hiashi stepped closer.
The fire that had been kindled within her by her friends flared. "He's not worthless!" she protested fiercely, and she had earned a slap across the face.
Her cheek stung with the force of his palm against her soft skin, instantly reminding her of Temari's incident with her father. Her head remained to one side. She fought futile tears that threatened to overwhelm her.
"So you've gotten more confident! It doesn't change anything. You are nothing compared to your sister, and you'll never amount to anything!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her so fiercely her head began to ache. Soon she began to fight back, clawing at his arms. This only made him shake her harder until he dropped her on the floor. Hinata hit the floor with a thud, and she began to shake as she began to cry in earnest.
"Your mother will know nothing of this," he said.
"Y-yes sir," Hinata mumbled.
"You are to go in your room, and stay there. I don't want to see you more than I have to." He spun around and walked off, leaving his daughter to cry her eyes out.
End flashback
"Thanks, you guys," Hinata said quietly, batting at her eyes.
"She stopped stuttering!" Tenten threw her hands up in the air in a "Hallelujah" like way. "Thank God! He didn't undo all the hard work we did! YES!"
The group roared with their mirth, mostly because they wanted the thick tension to cease. Tenten looked bemused at the unexpected attention she had received with her words, but in no time, she was laughing hysterically too.
"We so needed that," Temari finally huffed out, wiping a tear out from her eye. "Okay, that's great. Well Hinata, you have to stay after school for a long time if we want to be decent by the end of school."
"No problem." Hinata's response was so quick that Temari was barely able to finish her sentence.
"Didn't think so. And we'll beat out your father. Just you wait." Temari stood up as the bell rang. "Well, see y'all!"
"Wait, Temari!" Tenten shouted, quickly standing up.
Temari looked over her shoulder. "What?"
"We have soccer practice too, so that means we have to wait even longer for your music practice or whatever you call it." Tenten's words were in a rush, but they were golden to Hinata's ears.
Temari instantly perked up. "Oh yeah! Sakura, are you cool with watching us and then practicing?"
Sakura let out a dramatic sigh. "I suppose…" she grinned in Temari's direction. "Just teasin'. That's fine."
"Awesomeness. Well, I'm heading out. See you!" Temari hurried from the crowded auditorium. Hinata and the rest watched on in amusement as she screamed at some senior twice her size for daring to get in her way. It was obvious the senior wanted nothing to do with her, so he quickly got out of the way.
"Heaven help any soul that dares to cross her path," Naruto sighed, scratching his head.
"No kidding," Tenten muttered under her breath.
"Well, Hinata," Sakura said, standing up from her seat. "Time to go to class."
----
When the day ended, Hinata was grinning despite the constant ache in her shoulders. The bruises were now mostly an ugly shade of puce and a very dull yellow. She wouldn't be wearing a tank top for a long, long time.
Naruto saw her emerge on the soccer field. "Hey Lee, everyone! Gather!" Gaara, Neji, Tenten, Temari, Lee, Gai, and Hinata all gathered around him. "Same strategy, but I don't want to see Hinata on the ground. She bonked her shoulder on a dresser, and she has a really nasty bruise. So if she has the ball, just be careful not to knock her over." Hinata shot Naruto a grateful look for not saying anything in front of Lee or even worse, Gai. The rest simply raised an eyebrow in Naruto's direction, but said nothing.
"No foul play from us, then, just as it should be!" Lee's hand shot up in a salute.
"Uh… right." Naruto made a point of quickly turning around. "All right. Any questions at all?"
"Nope," Temari replied cheerfully.
"Hold on," Hinata butted in. She tried to squash down her twinges of fear. "I need to call my mom."
There was a silence. Naruto looked a little pale, and he swallowed hard. "All right," he said at last. "Don't take too long."
"I won't," Hinata promised as she hurried off and whipped out her cell phone. She punched in the numbers as fast as possible. She just wanted to be over and done with. She pressed the phone to her ear.
"What is it!"
Hinata's heart sank and her fear increased as she heard the familiar male voice. It took a heartbeat to get herself under control. "Dad, it's me."
"Oh, you," her dad snarled. "What do you want?!"
Hinata steadied herself again. She had frozen for another heartbeat, but Temari and Sakura's words flashed through her mind. She would be all right. Her father couldn't kill the spirit that her friends had found. "I'm going to stay after school for a little while." Other than the high pitched and shaking voice, Hinata patted herself on the back.
"Flunking a class?" he sneered, and Hinata felt her temper develop.
"Oh, no. I have band practice. And soccer. So I can't come home for a while." Hinata did a mental cheering at her daring.
"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?!" her dad roared. "And you can't sing! Everybody knows that!"
"Okay, now you know where I am." Hinata was quickly losing her nerve.
"That's it. I'm coming to pick you-"
"Bye." Hinata quickly hung up the phone, and jogged back. She was now absolutely terrified of what her dad was going to do. Her phone buzzed again, and she quickly realized it was her father again. She ignored the phone as she jogged back to the group.
"He didn't take it well?" Naruto asked very calmly.
"Not really." Hinata was fidgeting.
"Is he on his way?"
"Most likely. I hung up on him."
"Atta girl." Naruto gave her a quick peck. "Temari, Tenten, get over here! I need you! The rest of you, you can start without us!"
Gaara, Neji, and Lee all nodded and jogged off to their respective places on the field. Even with only three people, they were competent enough to play decently.
"What's up?" Temari demanded. "Is this practice, or are we going to sit in the grass all day?"
"We're pretty sure Hinata's dad is coming," Naruto said briskly, staring into the parking lot.
Temari's look of anger suddenly turned into much more intense anger and interest. "What are we going to do?"
"We're going to tell him off," Naruto replied calmly. "Is Tenten here?"
"Yep." Hinata shifted around in her spot in the grass to see Tenten walk forward and sit down next to Hinata.
"And now," Naruto said cheerfully. "We wait."
They didn't have to wait that long, even though it seemed like forever to Hinata. A shiny Porche pulled up in the parking lot. The car stopped in a perfect line to the girls and Naruto.
"Don't move," Temari said calmly. "Is that his car?"
"Y-yes," Hinata stuttered, and immediately Tenten and Naruto threw their arms around her.
"Just don't move," Temari repeated. "Make him come to us. He's not as high and mighty as he thinks he is."
A minute passed, then two. Hinata said and did nothing. She merely waited with two people holding her close and the third watching the car like a hawk. Finally, Hinata's mother and father opened their doors and walked out.
"Get in the car." Her father said calmly, but the coldness and menace that always scared the shit out of Hinata was still there.
"She's not going anywhere until you hear us out," Temari said with a cool, breezy tone. "I'm Sabaku no Temari, by the way. Perhaps you know my father?"
That certainly got Hiashi's attention. "I do," he growled. There was a long silence, with Hinata's mother clinging onto Hiashi's arm. It was clear she was puzzled by what to do in this situation. "All right, you have a minute. Talk."
"Hinata has changed," Naruto said. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, her boyfriend." Hinata felt him squeeze her arms. She glowed as he spoke those simple words. "And I can assure you, she's not the same shy little girl you once knew."
"Don't lecture me about my daughter," Hiashi snarled. "You're done. Hinata, get in the car."
"People like you disgust me," Temari spoke up. Tenten let out a low growling noise as she pressed her side against Hinata's. "You think you're so much better than everyone else, and you promptly assume that people can't change." Temari's voice shook. "You're all alike. You can't even find out if Hinata's any good. You're just so determined to see that you're right, and not even find the proof of it!"
"Don't speak to my husband like that," her mother snarled. "You know nothing-"
"No." Tenten spoke up. "You know nothing. You don't go to any of the conferences here. Hell, you haven't even gone to the Battle of the Bands, have you? You say we know nothing? Ha. That's funny."
"Why would you care about her?" Hiashi pointed towards her. "She's shy, tiny, and worth nothing."
"Because we don't see her as royalty, or as from a famous family," Temari said quietly. "We see her as a person."
Hinata's eyes widened, but she said nothing.
"Well, Hinata, what do you think of this?" her mother simpered. She immediately switched sides once Hiashi came back home. "Why don't you speak?"
Hinata looked up, a burning intenseness in her eyes. "I make my own decisions. You may be my parents, but you don't control my life. Come to the performance for soccer and band if you really must have proof." She stood up. "I'll come home at around six."
Hinata prayed that her parents would find the bluff tempting and buy it. Because if they wanted to, they could drag her home. Hiashi, for once, seemed deep in thought.
"Fine." His voice was gruff. "We can watch you fail. Come on." He dragged his wife to the car, obviously trying to regain some of his dignity and pride.
Naruto watched them leave. "Well, I guess we have a lot of work to do."
Temari nodded. "Indeed we do," she murmured softly.
----
Ah man, I'm rusty. Sorry guys, getting back into things!
This story's ending real soon now. Two more chapters and it's done. This was a great ride for me, and I really improved as a writer. At least, I think I did. But all good things must come to an end.
On a more serious note, guys, I hate to be gruff about this, but I'm really getting tired of all the reviews demanding me to update. It's seriously, seriously annoying. I couldn't update in November because I was in a contest to write 50,000 words in a month, (I did it, by the way) and I couldn't update last week because I had to stay after school until seven for drama. It was all I could do to keep my schoolwork in check, let alone write stories.
I'm not that mad, and it's only a few people doing this. "Update soon!" is fine, just not that whole whining about the fact I haven't updated in forever. I'm doing the best I can.
Hope you enjoyed the chap, and thanks for putting up with me!
Oh yeah. TitV is a year old. WOOT!