BH: It's back! It's finally back! I got hella distracted. Can you tell? XD So, now that the internal drama is out of the way... I am thinking the smut-a-thon can begin, and I was curious how kinky would be 'too kinky' for some of you. This isn't AO3 obvi', so I actually dunno... I guess I'll put the appropriate warnings here in case there's a kink you'd rather avoid. I'm actually fairly Vanilla, so there'll probably only be one kink to warn about.
21 Days
Chapter Twenty, Contigency
Neither one of them would have voted to wake up like this on their first day as a sort-of-couple.
But they would surely remember it down the line, even if it wasn't the sort of story they'd share amongst close friends.
Hinata awoke feeling like someone had taken a baseball bat to her skull several times over. Her limbs, to her mind, had become lead. The smallest movement and aches bloomed in places she never knew could hurt.
And then there was this one particular ache, one that brought heat to her face. It hurt like a rug burn, with a twinge of unscratchable itchiness, and she was sore, like she's been played with beyond reasonable decency.
The floor creaks beneath the weight of another, and her heart rises up to her throat.
They stampede away.
She's afraid to open her eyes, to be pierced to the back of her beaten skull with the faintest allowance of light.
But when she does, her heart rate normalizes, as the sound of running water fills the silence.
This is Naruto-kun's apartment.
She blinks as the sound keeps going. It's not running water, like from a fountain, but water emptying into a body of water.
Perhaps it's not water at all.
"Naruto-kun?"
"Oh! Morning!" His voice is scratchy as it originates from another room. Hinata winces as though the room had been inside her skull.
"When did you stop last night?" She called.
"What?" His voice pitched higher, as if he had something to hide. "Ah, shit!"
Hinata pushed up from the tatami, but her head felt like a kettlebell.
"What happened?"
"N,Nothing!" And then he slammed the door.
The bathroom door.
The flowing sound resumed.
Hinata decided she wouldn't press him again once he was done.
"I don't remember… when we stopped." She said, once he rejoined her.
He sat down by the kotatsu, scratching at his cheek.
"Uh…" Naruto cleared his throat. "Think it was like, break of dawn? You fell asleep on me."
Hinata's face scrunched harder. The next burning question was when did he finally notice she was asleep.
But she decided to let it go. They both might as well have been operating on their last brain cells.
"I think I'm stuck here."
"Gimme a sec." Naruto grunted as he rose up to his feet and she felt the floor sink ever so slightly beneath his weight.
Hinata peeked her eyes open to watch him sway on his feet, then catch himself against his kotatsu.
"Over by my things, I have pain killer and turmeric." She said.
"Got it." He stumbled over to her little hobo pile and rummaged through it for pill bottles. The clicking of plastic against plastic answered them.
"I need water."
"Wow, you're actually communicating your needs. This a real breakthrough." He turned and gave her a sly grin, his brows pulled high into his forehead. He laughed when she glared at him, and his amusement didn't last long, it was quickly overtaken by the pain banging inside his head.
He placed the bottles on the kotatsu and made his way over to the kitchen sink.
The sound of rushing water filled the silence and Hinata spaced out, her conscious mind drifting far away from her.
The clink of the glass on the kotatsu snapped her out of it, and he was quick to gather her in his arms and ease her upright. He helped her lean against the kotatsu, and she watched him open the pill bottles.
Two blue gel caps and one large capsule full of bright orange powder dropped into his palms, then he held them out towards her.
She stared at his offering for a moment. Somehow, she wasn't all there anymore.
She reached to accept the pills from him but her arm dropped like it were filled with sand.
"Here, open." He pressed the side of his palm against her lips, and the capsules rolled onto her tongue. He grabbed the glass and tilted the water just enough for her to sip.
She squeezed her eyes shut as she forced those two pills down.
After that, she watched him help himself to her medicine, and he swallowed it all down with a large gulp of water.
It was then she realized.
Naruto was completely naked.
Hinata gazed down at herself, her bare breasts smashed to the kotatsu in her slumped position, and she wonders if she had been naked the whole time, too.
She plucked the hem of the comforter and attempted to draw it around herself, but it would only reach so far.
"Babe?"
Hinata bit her lip. "I don't remember much…"
Naruto's gazed dropped to the side. He then peered up at her, as if a single word out of him could make her disappear. "Do you regret it?"
Hinata paused, then shook her head slowly.
"I regret not remembering much." She offered him a small, embarrassed smile, and she watched as the apprehension evaporated off of him.
His beautiful grin chased away any lingering concerns she had.
She was safe with him, no matter her mental state.
Waking up with beer on her tongue and ethanol on her breath was still unpleasant no matter how used to it she was.
They stood side by side in front of the bathroom sink, scrubbing their teeth till foam dribbled down their chins, and their reflections looked mismatched in her eyes.
It's been a while since she got to admire his physique. He's also got more than seven inches on her in height. Shadows cling to every crevice of his toned abs and his muscular arms.
Everyone thinks she's attractive when she's disguising her flaws behind make-up and fashion.
Because next to him, she looks like a unformed lump of pale dough.
The past few months of drinking haven't been kind to her belly. Her lethargic lifestyle only further contributed to her shape.
Naruto spat in the sink and washed off his toothbrush and his mouth.
He kissed the side of her head and left, but not before calling over her shoulder: "I'll run a bath for you, okay?"
She nodded dumbly.
When she cleaned up, she deposited her toothbrush beside his and she paused.
His orange toothbrush with the white bristles flattened down to nothing. Her lavender one, pristine and battery powered with the rotating circular head.
Warmth pooled in her chest and filled her face.
This was really happening.
They were really together.
Hot, soothing water enveloped her body as she sat in his tub.
He agreed to handle the groceries.
She wanted her own shampoo and conditioner, her own body wash, too. Not that she minded smelling like him, but it wasn't her intention to. She also reminded him to get a new toothbrush, preferably one like hers.
It wasn't until she was halfway inside a pair of jeans that he got home, and the way the door banged shut and his shoes clopped in the genkan did she know that he had a story to tell.
"Fucking bitch!"
And there it was.
Hinata was facing away from him inside his bedroom as she buttoned up a dotted blouse with the puffed short-sleeves.
"What happened?"
He tossed an item onto his bed and she looked at it.
It was her emergency contraception.
Naruto perched on the edge of his bed and rubbed at his face. "I got lectured."
Hinata squinted at him. "You got lectured?"
"'Cuz I asked for that." He gestured at the plastic package containing a single white tablet.
Hinata's eyelids fluttered in disbelief, but soon enough she began to picture it, the sort of lecturing he would receive.
"It doesn't matter," She said. Advice that was so easy for her to hand out, but so difficult for her to practice. "I'll make an appointment. I'll start on birth control right away."
He side-eyed her and she ruffled beneath his scrutiny.
"I dunno."
Now it was her turn to scrutinize him.
"You don't know about what?"
He looked away, his left leg bouncing. "Sasuke has horror stories about when Sakura started on the pill." He shuddered for emphasis, and she felt the twist annoyance in her gut.
She plucked the package from his bed when his hand wrapped around her wrist.
She looked up, finding genuine anxiety roiling in his eyes.
"What if it… makes you unhappier?"
His grip tightened. Not to the point of hurting, but just enough to show her how much he needed her to stay.
"Naruto-kun…" She can't picture what his friends went through. She also can't picture her liquor-ravaged body nurturing a happy little accident, nor could she picture herself capable of such nurturing in the long run. She can't picture PTA and Sports Days and picnics. She can't picture him popping in and out of her life. She can't picture a lot of things. "We're lucky enough so far. Let's not push it."
She pulled herself free and exited the bedroom, in search of a pair of scissors.
What was the point of all of his fighting for her if he couldn't handle a week or two of cranky Hinata?
She found the scissors in a drawer in the kitchen. She severed the package and pulled out the inner liner containing the tablet.
The pamphlet warned of several side-effects.
Naruto stood in the entryway, leaning against the wooden frame, his face darkened with apprehension.
"Here." She handed him the pamphlet, then she popped the tablet into her mouth and swallowed.
"Sounds like we're staying in today." He said tonelessly.
Staying in. Two words that could nearly compete with 'cinnamon roll'.
He tossed the pamphlet onto the counter. He closed the distance as he pulled her into his arms, and tucked her head beneath his chin.
"I can't stand to see you sick." He murmured.
She doesn't know what to tell him.
She wraps her arms around his middle and squeezes.
Whatever happens, happens.
She wants to tell him that, but she isn't sure if it's what he wants to hear.
She's supposed to make sure he's always happy.
She doesn't know what to say that'll make him happy.
She supposes she'll just have to hide her symptoms from him from here on out.
BH: Sorry this is so short and that it's been so long since I last updated! IDK if I wanna still write the abandoned village trip. I was thinking of making it look like the ruins from The Last. I'll think about it. Anyways, I'm also considering having Naruto quit his job at some point, but like, he literally just worked his first day, so… this story is all over the place. XD
Thank you all for supporting me and this story! IDK if any of you noticed, but I pretty much never believe in myself and I just write with my fingers crossed lol. So it's really amazing to have readers like you! Thank you!
