CHAPTER 23 - PLEASANTRIES
Time seemed to slow down as Hinata and Naruto openly stared at each other. Both unconsciously shifting from the balls of their feet, seemingly searching for words to break the awkwardness of the moment.
Ino, unsurprisingly, is more than able to read the room and amusedly chimed in to break the uncomfortable silence.
"What brings you here Naruto?", she chirped with a smile and a quick side eye to the Hyuga beauty beside the blonde Jinchuriki. She did not miss the subtle exhale the heiress gave, seemingly relieved of the earlier tension. Whatever tension that was. The Yamanaka was confused to have sensed "that" tension. Hinata was supposedly over her feelings for the blonde baka years ago.
It was a huge disappointment for everyone more than Hinata could imagine or was aware of at that time. They kept their opinions to themselves; careful not to further cause pain to the quiet and kind heiress. With the apparent exception of the then self-centered Sakura, they all envisioned Hinata would be able to get her happily ever after despite the obliviousness of the Uzumaki. They were both young and had plenty of time then, though the infatuated blonde baka somehow squandered a good deal of it chasing after the wrong woman later on.
They are both good people who suffered and have given immensely of themselves to others. They both deserved to be loved the way they should be. The way the Hyuga heiress loved Naruto Uzumaki. That kind of love should be the benchmark of what loving should be. Unconditional, unwavering and all-consuming. Imagine their dismay when Naruto made the appalling decision to fall for Sakura instead. It was a downward spiral after that. It will take time and a significant amount of heartache, the blonde Yamanaka figured sadly at that time, before the heiress could move on. And yet she did. Hyuga Hinata, with her broken heart, devoted her time and effort to become a strong Kunoichi and heiress instead. Inside and out. 'Who would not notice her and fall for her now? The future Hokage Uzumaki', the Yamanaka thought with a smirk, 'was not an exemption apparently.'
"Ahhh...", the whiskered blonde started hesitantly, "Sakura requested me to drop by and get some fresh flowers for Sasuke at the hospital", he said in a quieter voice than usual. He glimpsed at the heiress before he continued, "she said you know the usual as she confirmed this with you earlier on", he finished with a bright grin as he nervously scratched the back of his neck when he turned and found Hinata giving him a curios look.
"Ah yes, she did", Ino responded quite excitedly as she retreated to the back quite abruptly and therefore left Hinata and Naruto standing awkwardly again beside each other.
Naruto could not believe he was beside the woman who plagued his thoughts and dreams the past few weeks. He knew the transfer of power within the Hyuga clan has not happened yet and that Toneri stayed on for the weeks after Hanabi's rescue. This did not sit well with him of course. He resented the situation with Toneri so much that his chakra would accidentally flare up whenever he overhears people whispering about a potential engagement between the Toneri and Hyuga heir and heiress. 'Yes, word travels fast especially if the juicy gossips revolve around prominent figures such as Hinata and that pompous white haired bastard', Naruto would inwardly fume every single time Toneri and Hinata's names were uttered in the same breath by the village gossips. His eyes would unconsciously shift from blue to red back and forth until his demon tenant would take notice and knock some sense into him. A task the demon was not really fond of. He was already getting impatient waiting for brighter clouds in his landscape. It has not been the same since that fateful night with the Hyuga princess.
"Naruto! Keep it down for the love of...", the fox would usually start, "she loves her sister and would prioritize looking after her during her recovery and getting to the bottom of her kidnapping", his tenant-friend would patiently explain with a tinge of exasperation.
"But I can't ignore this feeling of helplessness and that she's there with Toneri day after fucking day while I stew on dark probabilities here outside", the fox could picture the blonde pulling his hair and thumping his head somewhere hard in desperation.
"Baka! Don't let jealousy get the better of you! May I remind you where that jealousy coupled with your arrogance got you in the first place?", responded the fox wisely. "You forget Naruto that you were supposed to have it all. After those years of loneliness, discrimination and hard work, you were destined to have it all. But you DID NOT LISTEN", the fox reminded him with a snarl.
"Are you saying I deserve this ha you stupid fox?", the blonde Uzumaki was grasping at straws to one-up the fox in his blind effort to ease his mental and emotional state of unrest.
The demon fox did not take offense. He could feel the tumult of emotions swirling within his jailer's heart and how his mind would border fragility sometimes. Overthinking. Overly sensitive. Sometimes. No, lately it was more frequent. "Patience kit. It is a virtue especially if coupled with humility", the fox responded with the patience of a sage. "It is never over until it's over", he added with optimism which he hopes the desperate blonde would catch, "will you give up on her?", the fox asked curiously.
"NO. And I never go back on my word", declared the Uzumaki. This would be the normal turn of conversation whenever the blonde future Hokage would get caught up in desolation, thinking about and missing the Hyuga hime. The demon fox would stop as soon as he hears the blonde's declaration. There is hope yet for the kit.
"I'm so happy to see you again Hinata", Naruto uttered in the present with more confidence, while unabashedly staring at the heiress. "It has been a few weeks since I last saw you", he added, "I have been wondering if you are keeping well", he said sincerely.
Hinata for some reason could not keep up with the surge of emotions upon seeing the Uzumaki. She was surprisingly overwhelmed to see him and hear his raspy voice once again. Which is strange. She subtly turned her head away from the blonde in a moment of confusion and her lovely lavender eyes slowly closed as she contemplated and discerned her feelings. When she opened them once again as she faced the tall blonde, she was met with the azure of Naruto's eyes openly gazing at her face. Her breath caught in her throat and she slightly buckled in response.
"A..ano", she started awkwardly, "I have been busy with Hanabi's recovery and clan duties the past weeks", she explained a little breathlessly, "I...I thought of visiting my friends and...and Sasuke when my schedule loosened up a bit", she added somehow with a little less confidence since she could not actually say she was friends with the dark haired erstwhile avenger. She unconsciously bit her lips as she waited for the blonde's reply. She was perplexed by her nervousness in front of the Uzumaki. 'Am I scared of him? Excited? What is wrong with you Hinata?', she rebuked herself inwardly.
Naruto of course did not miss the gesture. His eyes immediately locked onto the rosy lips as her teeth sunk into its plumpness. Oh what he would not give to taste those lips once again. "But that is almost next to impossible right now isn't it baka?", his tenant took a punch at him once again. He ignored the stupid fox and went on to converse with the heiress.
He was afraid of scaring the lovely heiress into silence and suspicion given their recent dark past. He felt the familiar uncomfortable shame painting his otherwise lovely day. He internally shook away those dark thoughts and feelings. 'Seize the day Naruto!' he reminded himself.
"You could come with me to the hospital if you like", he was conscious he delivered that too zealously after his inner pep talk, so he added more calmly, "Sakura would be pleasantly surprised to see you I'm sure".
Of course Naruto would assume the best out of every situation and from everyone. That was his old self. But his new self have been cynical for quite sometime that he doubted if conveying feelings on behalf of Sakura is wise. But he could not let the opportunity of having Hinata longer beside him today pass. He will take what he could get and pray to Kami he does not step on too many toes to have it. He is still selfish when it comes to Hinata but he has learned his lesson. He hopes that Sakura would react as he conveyed to Hinata if the latter agreed to the visit. He felt standing at the edge of a cliff with the conflicting hope and fear he now held in his heart.
The pink haired medic has recovered emotionally he supposed after that fateful return. He vividly recalled being beside himself as he followed and tried to console Sakura in her anguish upon seeing Sasuke's state as the latter was being moved on a stretcher. His best friend was not moving and his usually pale skin was now ashen from the loss of blood. Sakura was bordering hysterical as she begged Tsunade to let her take care of her husband.
"You need to stay put Sakura", the last Sannin widened her honey-brown eyes in exasperation at her top student. The pink haired medic's incessant requests to attend to her husband's injuries was grating on the Hokage's nerves already. "I will personally attend to Sasuke...", the blonde assured the worried wife in a voice an octave higher than usual, "...because you need to take it easy for the sake of your unborn child", she was reaching the limit of her patience, as her balled fists resting on both hips continued to curl tightly on her palms.
Both doctors who seemed on a standoff, were hogging the hallway to the operating room, where the seriously injured Uchiha was being prepared for surgery.
"Tsunade-sama,", cried the pink-haired doctor as she finally realized the futility of her pleas to her sensei, "...please at least allow me to wait here outside while he's in there?", her emerald green eyes where shimmering with unshed tears of worry for her husband. Uchiha Sakura has been on pins and needles for almost three weeks, waiting for the return of her beloved. She could not come to terms with the state he was in when he was rolled into the operating room.
'What happened? Sasuke is strong...this should not have happened!', she kept blaming herself for allowing her husband to take the covert harmless mission, of which she knows nothing about. It was supposedly just an A class mission but with the unfortunate kidnapping of one of the Hyuga heiresses, it escalated to S class.
"Sakura", his familiar raspy voice gave her chaotic thoughts a pause, and she turned to him with bloodshot eyes", "he will be fine...he is strong and he has you and your child to survive this for", the blonde's blue eyes were genuinely sympathetic and worried at the same time. They both need the assurance, don't they?
"Naruto", she responded in between sniffing, "I cannot live without him", and the pink haired medic surprised everyone by fainting. Had Naruto not been fast enough to catch her, she would have hit the floor quite hard which would have added to the chaos of the moment since she was with child. That was an unforgettable day for the Uzumaki.
That was over two weeks ago, Naruto contemplated as his thoughts came back to the present. 'Sakura is in a better place now', he assured himself as he waited for the blue haired beauty's response.
"I..I would appreciate that Naruto", she smiled quite tentatively. "Hmmm...what -", she was disrupted by Ino's return.
"Here you go Naruto", his fellow blonde said as she handed a bouquet of white roses, "tell Sakura I miss her and Sasuke to get well soon!", she brightly added with a smile.
"I will...of course", replied the whiskered blonde as he took the bouquet from Ino. "Hinata?", he queried the beautiful heiress hopefully.
"I was hoping to be the one bringing flowers to Sasuke", big lavender eyes were perusing the lovely bouquet. "Do you think Sasuke would appreciate food instead?", she asked the smiling jinchuriki.
"That's alright Hinata", Naruto was basking in the happiness of walking with Hinata later to the hospital. "We could stop by at the market en route to the hospital, for fruits and pastries if you like?", he could not believe he is actually having a normal conversation again with the heiress after a long time.
Hinata gave a warm smile before responding, "yes, that would be great", and then proceeded to follow the blonde Uzumaki.
Ino was left dumbfounded staring at the pair as they stepped outside. They did not even bother to say goodbye to her.
