A/N: Thank you for clicking on this fic, first and foremost. I appreciate you taking the time, and I hope I make it all worth your while. As for what you're about to read, I think the summary does a decent job of telling you what you need to know: This is a NaruHina story, though likely a touch different than most you've ready, especially from part one. There will be very little, if any combat. It will very much be a story about them as people.
WARNING: There will be some pretty heavy scenes in this story
Time for Chapter 1 Enjoy!
Hinata took a deep breath and straightened her cream-colored jacket before reaching forward and turning the door handle to the classroom's entrance. Once the door was open a crack, she apprehensively glanced inside, spotting Iruka sitting behind his desk as he tended to. Though she had planned to make her entrance deliberately, her instructor spotted her before she could withdraw her head from the room.
"I'm glad you could make it, Hinata." he greeted her with a smile. The heiress' face flushed red at her discovery, but she managed to control her embarrassment enough to step through the door without much of a tremor in her step.
"W-Well, you did call for me to s-see you after class, Sensei." she said in her usual, nervous tone. Iruka nodded and motioned for her to come to his desk, to which she obliged briskly. Once she was in front of his undersized base of operations, the instructor spoke once again.
"I'm sorry to cut the pleasantries short, but I called you here for something fairly serious. Before I tell you what this is about, though, I have a question for you." he said. Hinata furrowed her brow.
"I w-will answer as best I can, s-sensei." she assured him earnestly. The instructor folded his hands on the desk and looked her in the eyes intently.
"What have you noticed about the class lately? In terms of differences, I mean." he asked. Hinata opened her mouth to offer an instantaneous response, but caught herself to conduct herself more eloquently than she likely would have reflexively.
"It has certainly been quieter the p-past few weeks, though I d-don't think that's necessarily a g-good thing." she said vaguely. Noticing that Iruka was still staring at her expectantly, Hinata's nerves flared up powerfully.
"A-And Naruto-kun hasn't been a-attending class lately. His s-seat has been empty." she blurted out, mentally kicking herself for letting the affectionate honorific slip. The instructor gave her a sympathetic look as her face burned bright red.
"Everybody with eyes and ears knows, Hinata. You don't have to be secretive." he said as gently as he could. The heiress groaned and fought to control the heat in her face to no avail.
"Am I r-really that obvious?" she asked quietly, earning a short nod from her teacher. Sensing her plummeting mood, Iruka reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.
"But, that's part of why I called you here, actually. So keep your head up. It all has to do with Naruto, and why he hasn't been here lately." he said. Hinata immediately snapped to attention, though her face was still tinted red.
"G-Go on." she urged him eagerly. Iruka stifled a chuckle at her sudden attentiveness and renewed interest at the revelation of Naruto's involvement.
"I'm going to be blunt with you, Hinata. I'm only going to you because I'm out of options. Naruto is...not well. Mentally or physically. I don't know what caused it, I don't know why it started, but he's been spiralling over the past few weeks." he said directly. Hinata's demeanor shifted instantly, but not quite in the way Iruka had expected it to. Her meekness gave way to a look of steely concern and something resembling conviction.
"Explain in detail. I want to know everything." she pressed without a single stutter. Though slightly taken aback by her sudden shift initially, Iruka nodded and took a deep breath.
"A few weeks back, he just started to respond less. First, he started clamming up in class, which I took as a good sign until I realized he wasn't speaking a single word to anybody or even me. So, I decided to try to talk to him. He put on a grin and seemed like his normal self." he began, taking a moment to allow Hinata to process the first section of information before continuing on.
"After that, I watched him a bit more carefully. He wasn't just quiet, he wasn't even paying attention. He's always talked about as a poor student, and he is to some extent, but he always used to at least try. He's just not an academic type. But he was just staring off into the wall when I watched him." he said with a bothered look as he revisited the memories.
"And then he just stopped coming last week. So, I went to check on him at his apartment. What I found didn't really answer any questions, but it definitely gives some context. He was sleeping in the middle of the day. Completely out cold. I left without waking him, and when I came back the next day, it was the same story." he concluded. Hinata seemed to have been sobered a bit by the details of what was known about Naruto.
"That s-sounds nothing like h-him. Nothing a-at all." she said quietly. A moment of silence then passed between them.
"H-How do I factor into t-this? I haven't spoken t-to him very much, s-so he may not be r-responsive to me if you're w-wanting me to try to get him to come back." Hinata asked skeptically.
"I don't want him to come back. Not right now. Whatever is up with him is more important than academics. I just want you to do daily check-ins to make sure he's actually in the apartment, and if he isn't, tell me so we can set time aside to search. I'll exempt you from the morning lesson as long as you do the check-ins." Iruka replied. The Hyuga girl began to fidget a bit.
"H-How will I do that, though? I c-can't exactly just barge in o-on him. That would be r-rude." she pointed out. Iruka briefly rummaged through a drawer in his desk before producing a key and tossing it to her.
"That's a spare of his room key. Use it at your own discretion. You don't need to do anything more than check on him, like I said." he said. Hinata stared at the key blankly, seemingly flabbergasted by the fact that she now had personal access to the blonde's apartment.
'Probably a dream come true for you, kid. Though, not under the circumstances you wanted.' the instructor thought to himself with a mix of humor and sympathy.
"Why did you c-choose me for this task? T-there are b-better people for the job, I think." Hinata asked dejectedly. Iruka shook his head firmly.
"No, I don't think there are. Now, if you don't want to do this, then I understand. It's a fairly big commitment." he said. Hinata instantly shook her head and tightened her grip on the key.
"No, no! I'm m-more than willing. I j-just don't understand why I'm y-your choice." she clarified quickly. Iruka pursed his lips and exhaled through his nose.
"It's because I trust you to care enough to actually do it. You know as well as I do that Naruto is far from popular. Many of your classmates may even want to help him, but their parents would stop them from doing so. I considered Shikamaru, because the Nara have always been kind to him, but that's a shot in the dark. I know that you'll actually go the full nine yards for him." he explained. The heiress shifted in place uncomfortably.
"Even if I w-want to do it, m-my clan has n-never thought much of h-him. I don't k-know how I'd explain it to F-Father." she said uncertainly. Iruka leaned back in his chair and stretched a bit.
"Your father actually oversaw Naruto's cleaning of the Hokage monument after he vandalized it last year. I was busy, and Hokage-sama was out for foreign affairs. He said he found Naruto to be quite interesting, for whatever that's worth." he said, drawing a look of surprise from the Hyuga girl that quickly turned to one of something resembling relief.
"That's n-news to me, but I'm g-glad. I'll do all that I can." she said with a bow. Iruka smiled at her formality and briefly reviewed all that he had said to make sure he hadn't missed anything.
"Oh, and if he happens to be conscious when you check on him, tell him that I sent you. You know, just so he doesn't think that you're there to rob him." he added humorously. The Hyuga girl nodded politely and pocketed the spare key.
"Should I check on him t-tonight?" she asked. Iruka stood up from his desk and walked around it. Before he could pass her entirely, he spoke.
"I'd appreciate it if you did, but I'd be sure you actually want to do that. There's a good chance he'll be awake if he's been sleeping all day like I think he has been. Now, I'm going to go take a walk." he advised her before exiting the classroom and leaving Hinata to herself. Once she was alone, the heiress took a deep breath and then released it.
"I've always wanted to reach out to you, but not under circumstances like these. You had better be okay, Naruto-kun." she muttered to herself as she gathered her nerves.
At this, she swiftly exited the academy to make her way to the blonde's dwelling.
Iruka rubbed the side of his aching head and sat down tiredly. Ramen had never been a particular favorite of his generally speaking, but the stand itself was quite a nice place to be when one needed space. It did good business, more than enough to stay afloat, but there were lulls. At present, it was in the midst of one of them.
"You look bothered, Iruka-san." Teuchi, the owner of the stand, said as he slid him a glass of water. The instructor gladly accepted the drink and downed half of it before responding to the man's words.
"Your number one customer isn't exactly doing well, so I think I have the right to be a bit down right now." he replied. The older man gave a knowing nod and leaned his weight on his side of the counter.
"He hasn't been stopping by as often. I figured something was afoot. To be frank, he's looked very...blank all the times I've seen him walking lately." he said thoughtfully. Iruka drummed his fingers on the counter and considered all that he knew.
"Depression isn't uncommon in a kid his age, and he's got more reason to be depressed than just about anybody, but that's just never been who he is. Not to my knowledge, at least." he pondered. Teuchi poured himself a glass of water from a pitcher sitting to his left.
"As well as I'd like to think we know him, things are always different behind closed doors. He's likely always struggled more than he lets on. Maybe he's just finally been pushed to the point where he can't hide it anymore." he suggested with a twinge of sadness in his voice. Iruka took a sip from his glass.
"There's probably some truth to that, honestly. I've always done my best to be his friend and treat him fairly. I've never been one to let him get away with things he shouldn't be doing, but I've never punished him all that harshly. Hokage-sama takes care of that sort of thing when it's necessary." he said. Teuchi gave him a smile.
"Naruto doesn't speak kindly of many people, but you're one of the few that he does. You've done a fine job, Iruka-san." he assured the instructor kindly.
"I'm glad. He's a good kid. Definitely not for everybody, but he deserves so much better than what he deals with. At least...at least I know that he can see that a few people care." Iruka said through a sigh. The stand owner then posed a question.
"So, what do you plan to do? I'm guessing that you've already made sure he's safe already." he inquired. The younger man remained quiet initially.
"I'm taking a risk and assigning Hinata Hyuga to do daily check-ins. For the first day or two, she'll just be making sure he's either in his apartment, or at school. Past that, I may start having her drop assignments off at his door. It all depends on how long this all lasts." he said after a time. Teuchi raised an eyebrow and finished the last of his water, which he had slowly been draining.
"A Hyuga? That does sound risky. They aren't exactly known for their warmness." he said jokingly. To his surprise, Iruka shook his head and looked on thoughtfully.
"No, that's not the issue. Hinata is a very sweet girl, and she has a major, major crush on Naruto. I'm not worried about her not treating him well if they end up interacting directly. What I'm worried about is how Naruto reacts to her." he clarified. The stand owner grinned.
"Well, at least I know that his generation has some taste, then. When you say that you're worried about how he'll react to her, do you mean that he may not be pleasant toward her?" he asked quizzically.
"Something like that, but not for the reasons you may be thinking. Naruto isn't exactly used to people doing things for him. He gets suspicious when they try. Hinata tried to give him a card and some candy on Valentine's day last year, and he just stared right through her. The poor girl literally fainted. I'm worried that might happen again, among other things." Iruka explained. Teuchi laughed a bit.
"That sounds like something he'd do. You may as well tell me the other reasons. NIghttime rush hour doesn't start for another forty-five minutes. We have time." he urged the instructor. Though he initially hesitated, Iruka obliged.
"The biggest thing is that I'm worried about Hinata getting too invested in this. When I say that she likes him, I don't mean in the way most girls like a boy at this age. I found out about her interest in him by accident when I saw her open notebook. It was full of poetry about him. Really touching stuff. None of it was about his looks or anything like that. Just about him as a person." he began, sifting carefully through the memory.
"She always stares at him during class, but not in that usual starstruck way most schoolgirls do when they're looking at the man of the month. No, she just smiles. It's the only time she does. She's also the only person in the room who actually laughs at his jokes. It's really quite touching to watch." he continued. Teuchi stroked his chin.
"It sounds to me like you're concerned that she may come to realize just how much he hides just below the surface. I haven't seen as much of it as you have, but Naruto is far from one-dimensional. He's quite self-aware." he interjected. Iruka shifted in his seat.
"Part of me thinks she knows that, but I also don't think she could possibly understand the depth of it even if she does. I guess we'll have to wait and see. She's the only person in that class I trust to be gentle about it, so it's my best option." he said. Teuchi shrugged his shoulders and began to prepare Ramen for the oncoming rush of customers.
"Let's just hope that it isn't too severe. Now what flavor do you want? It's on the house."
Hinata took several deep breaths as she inserted the spare key into the door of Naruto's
apartment. She had not needed directions to find his home, as she had passively noticed which building he always entered quite some time ago. From there, it was just a matter of asking the receptionist which room number belonged to him. The woman behind the desk had looked more than a bit surprised by the question, but had given Hinata the information without complaint.
'It's just a door. Turn the knob and open it. If he's awake, then you say what you rehearsed on the way here. If he's sleeping, then you inspect the apartment and make sure he isn't living in a trashcan. It's all very simple.' she coached herself as she slowly turned the handle. Gradually and carefully, she pushed the door open. Much to her relief, she was met with an empty room.
The lights were off, but there was just enough illumination to make out the contents of the space. Deciding to not risk a panic, Hinata simply allowed her dojutsu to manifest itself in her eyes to solve the visibility issues. With her Byakugan active, the heiress learned two things. Firstly, Naruto was in his bedroom, and appeared to be asleep. Second, the room was an absolute mess.
'I figured that he would be a touch messy, but this...is extreme.' the heiress thought to herself. Shelving the thought for the time being, Hinata went to work cleaning up. It wasn't particularly hard work, but it was tedious. Despite her general dislike of the task she was performing, Hinata found solace in the fact that she was doing Naruto a service. One that it seemed he badly needed.
The apartment itself was set up fairly logically. There was a couch and two chairs off to the left in an open space, and a half-kitchen on the right. There was also a hallway that began on the farthest wall and went on for roughly ten feet into it. Within the hall were two rooms, which Hinata had determined to be his bedroom and bathroom. Once she had finished cleaning up the room as quietly as she could, she moved on to the kitchen.
For one reason or another, Hinata felt compelled to check the fridge. Taking hold of the handle firmly, the heiress pulled it open and peered inside. The first thing that struck her was the smell of expired milk, to which she recoiled and pinched her nose.
'Why would he keep it so far past its expiration date?' she wondered silently as she removed the bad carton from the unit and deposited it into the garbage. Upon further inspection, she found that the milk had been the only other contents of the fridge other than two small bottles of water. Shaking her head in confusion, Hinata then began to reach up to open one of his cupboards.
Before she could do so, the lights switched on. The heiress immediately tensed and felt her heart rate increase tenfold in pace. Slowly turning her head to face what she had already seen with her heightened field of vision, Hinata fought valiantly to control the heat in her face to no avail. Standing just outside of the far hall with his hand on the light switch was Naruto.
'Don't faint. Do not faint, Hinata Hyuga.' she urged herself, her nerves buzzing with embarrassment at having been discovered so unceremoniously.
"N-Naruto-kun, I...c-can explain." she stammered meekly. The blonde raised an eyebrow and scratched the side of his face absently.
"I'm sure you can." he said calmly. He then lapsed into silence, a clear cue for the Hyuga girl to begin her explanation of why she was in his home, rummaging through his kitchen.
"I-Iruka-sensei s-sent me. H-He wanted to m-make sure you were okay." she said nervously. Naruto's expression remained apathetic and blank. He gave no verbal response. Instead, he began a steady walk toward Hinata. Tightening up even more so than before, the heiress braced for some kind of verbal reprimand as the blonde boy drew closer. It never came.
Perplexingly, he simply walked right past her and closed the fridge. He then glanced up at her hand, which was still on the handle of his cupboard. "I figured he'd get sick of checking on me eventually, but I didn't think he'd start telling people to steal my food. That's just dickish." he mumbled. Hinata immediately shook her head.
"No! I'm n-not here to steal from you, Naruto-kun. I w-was...checking to see if y-you were stocked." she said quickly. His gaze then shifted from the cupboard to her face, causing them to make eye contact for the first time. It was then that Hinata's confusion morphed into genuine concern. His normally lively face was sullen, and his cheeks were gaunt. Even his eyes seemed duller than usual. Something was off.
"Your family's rich as hell, so yeah. That makes sense. As you can see, I'm fine. You can leave now." Naruto said bluntly. Hinata felt a pang of hurt from his flat remark, but to her own surprise, she stood her ground.
"Why haven't y-you been c-coming to class?" she blurted out. Her classmate remained silent for a number of moments before shrugging his shoulders and turning his back to her.
"It shouldn't matter. It's nothing important. I'll be back. Probably." he said vaguely. The heiress looked on in puzzled confusion and took steps to follow him.
"It d-does matter. Y-Your grades will drop if y-you skip class. That would be-" she began. She was unable to finish her sentence, however, due to Naruto turning around to face her again.
"My grades have always been garbage. Nice try, but that's not a good reason. It's not like class is any worse with me gone. You guys can actually focus now." he cut in. Hinata opened her mouth to respond, but stopped when she felt that her words would be beyond jumbled. Taking her silence as resignation, the blonde walked back down the hall and entered his bedroom.
"I...I want you to come back, Naruto-kun." she said quietly once he was gone, finding that she was now shaking slightly. She then heard the lock turn on the bedroom door. Easily deducing his silent message, Hinata hung her head and turned to leave. Before she did so, however, she returned to the cupboard and opened it. What she found was confusing.
It was fully stocked with instant raman and small cans of food, all of which were completely untouched and unopened.
A/N: If you clicked on this and read all the way through, thank you very much! I appreciate it. I hope this chapter does a decent job of establishing the situation at hand. Call it cliche if you want, but I still want to write about it. See you next chapter! Read and Review!