AN: Friendly reminder that I rewrote and combined Ch 11 and Ch 12, and they are both now the current Ch 11.
This is new content.
Runner's High
Chapter Twelve, Notice Me, Oku-sama!
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It's nine in the evening and the lights are out.
Shikamaru is probably getting high with a few friends right now and Naruto's tempted to ask if he could come hang with them.
He needs to get her off of his mind.
He needs to stop dwelling.
But by god, this has to be one of his all-time failures.
Right up there with getting his dad arrested, for… well… kidnapping him. Not that he meant to do that. And then self-orphaning himself once he got convicted. Yeah. That was a fun time for everyone.
Naruto reached up and gripped his pillow, pulling it over his head as he grits himself against the persistent ache.
It's like there's a fist in his chest clutching at his heartstrings. The tension tightens and wanes every so often, but at any moment he knows it's going to snap.
What the fuck.
What if he can't make her see how much he has to offer her?
What if this is as far as they go?
He regrets kissing her. Regrets bringing Sasuke to the park.
He knew he needed more time to befriend her and he fucking blew it!
He always comes on too strong! He can't fucking help it!
Now to her, he's just desperate and clingy. Immature and shallow. Just a perverted freak.
He can't stand this. Holding himself back. Giving her space. Giving her control when they see each other, which at this point is never.
He feels like he's giving up by not doing anything. But he's already pushed and pushed and if he does anymore… it's over.
What the fuck happened?
He swore he had her! He was so close!
But now he's starting to think she truly can't tolerate him? That she's so close to hating him?
What the fuck!
Releasing the pillow, he turns on his phone and searches her name. Nothing comes up except another woman's account: Sarutobi Hanabi. They have the same eyes and she's younger, so perhaps a sister? A cousin? Apparently the only one of the two women with an active internet presence.
He thumbs through her Kaohon page. Nothing but status updates concerning her life, with significant attention devoted to her young daughter.
Then he finally finds something of value: A selfie of Hanabi with Hinata at some dinner party. Hanabi's daughter's birthday apparently.
This was over a week ago.
His face vaguely warms at this never-before-seen dolled-up Hinata, with her hair curled around her jawline and a string of pearls to offset her plain turtleneck. She was just as much a vision here as any of the other times.
If he had his way with her that night, he would've asked her to keep the pearls on while he removed everything else.
His free hand wanders down to his crotch. He zooms in on the photo so that only Hinata fills his phone and he tugs down his joggers, his semi-hard member bobbing out as it thickens with yearning.
He gripped his shaft, heated breath puffing out his parted lips and with every steady stroke, his chest ached.
He moaned to her memory and groaned out her name.
She's a goddess above him as she straddles his hips, her pearl necklace bouncing in tandem with her supple breasts, her puckered nipples pearls themselves, rosy ones that he just wants to roll around on his tongue. Her eyes are half-closed as she praises his cock, and her self-restraint finally breaks. She's grinding on him, lifting and impaling herself with the urgency of a woman possessed.
Her eyes connect with his as she coos and cries over how good he feels inside her, how close she is to coming, coming, coming!
Naruto pumped his shaft with frantic desperation. A broken cry flew from his throat as jizz filled his hand and stained his bedsheets.
He worked to slow his breathing, then a whine caught in his throat.
He dropped his phone and pulled his arm over his burning eyes.
This is all he had at the beginning.
It's all he's ever going to have.
The following afternoon…
"What are you looking at?"
Naruto slammed his laptop shut as he stared at Shikamaru bewildered. "Privacy please?"
"Privacy? Do that on your phone then, not on a laptop directly facing my bed," Shikamaru observed him for a beat. "Huh. I see."
"See what?" Naruto's heart pounded in his ears.
The transition on Shikamaru's face from solemn to weary made him fear the worst.
Shikamaru touched his fingers to his forehead with a sigh. "I can't believe you're one of them."
"No, I'm not! One of who?!"
"Her fanboys."
The next morning he wakes up.
He gets dressed.
And he heads down to the riverwalk.
He expects her to be there.
If she's taking the same commute it takes him to reach their park, then he knows what time her run starts, and he'll show up right when it ends.
He's coming up to the correct location and his brow twitches at the sight before him.
He's never seen so many of his fellow male students take a sudden interest in their cardio before; they're congregated like a school of fish sharing one brain cell and it provokes him.
But that's not the only thing.
His eyes widen as Sasuke reaches the top of the steps.
Then his eyes connect with hers. He takes in her glistening face, her running pants, her windbreaker and ponytail, and he feels so stupid.
She said she quit running.
That it didn't need it anymore.
That things got better.
Why here?
Why with him?
She diverted her attention onto Sasuke. She made him feel like a stranger.
"Uchiha-kun. You need to eat, right? I heard it's best to eat within the first thirty minutes of a run."
I told you that!
Everything's getting flipped around and he's getting shunned out.
Sasuke turns to him with an aloof stare, and for a second, it was déjà vu; high school track competition. They attended different high schools, so they were always pitted against each other. Naruto had completely forgotten about their youthful rivalry once he got the chance to be friends with the guy.
Sasuke shrugged at him, as if his hands were tied.
Naruto bared his teeth at his smug indifference, and Sasuke replied to Hinata.
"Yeah. I was about to go make a shake at my room, but if you wanna go somewhere, lady, you're paying. I'm a broke college student, after all, and I can't even afford a girlfriend."
That's some bullshit, and they both know it.
He just likes other people's money.
The moment Hinata reaches Sasuke's side, she loops her arm in his and the hypocrisy is overwhelming.
Oh, she is definitely begging him for punishment when he gets his greedy hands on her.
She has no way to explain herself to him now. Her excuse of being embarrassed to be seen with him because of his age has been nullified, and somehow relief sits beside the anger stirring in his heart.
Even with so many obstacles standing before him, overcoming one is enough.
He doesn't watch their backs for very long.
He follows them.
He doesn't give a shit about beating the final boss right now, he's not prepared to. But he'll fend off anyone else trying to take his place at her side, and an arrogant brat like Sasuke wasn't going to faze him.
Goddamn loot ninja.
That's his arm she should be holding.
He'll make sure that day comes.
Not many places are open right now so early in the morning, not even Ichiraku.
Teuchi-jiji and Ayame-nee ought to be setting up shop, but even if you wanted to sit down, it'd be another hour for sure.
Naruto griped as he followed them into some fancy-pants coffee shop and bakery, with the boring music and the glass case full of cakes, buns, and macarons.
Figures that Sasuke would try to get pampered as much as possible.
He stood close behind them at the register, so as to give the cashier the impression that he was with them.
Because he was.
Whether she liked it or not.
"I'll have an affogato and a cinnamon roll," she ordered, earning two derisive glances from the former track team stars.
That's so much sugar, they both thought.
"I'll have two orders of katsu sando, one tomato myoga salad, a lungo, and throw in a yuzu scone."
Naruto rolled his eyes hard. Okay, now you're just ordering whatever you want 'cuz it's free.
"Will that be all?" the cashier asked. Naruto craned forward, sticking his head between them.
"I'd like a café au lait, honey toast, and a Combo C. Thanks," he punctuated with a wink.
The cashier nervously glanced at Hinata, who promptly nodded, her face stony but casual.
The nice woman rang them up and he followed the two over by the bar seating against the storefront window.
The moment Sasuke moved to sit down left of Hinata, Naruto pushed him aside and stole his seat. He tossed Sasuke a dirty look, daring him to do something about it. Then he turned towards Hinata.
She's on her phone. Ignoring him.
His eyes dropped down to her left hand. She's never worn her wedding band before, but now she's wearing something functional to represent it. One of those new silicone workout rings you only really see on tangentially relevant online ads.
It's finally there, right in front of his face.
The symbol that keeps her tied to another man.
And yet, he was never even in any of their niece's birthday photos. Why should he take this man seriously?
"Hinata."
Silence.
"Hinata-san."
Silence.
He swallows his pride like a bitter pill.
"... Otsutsuki-san."
She faces him and drapes her cheek against the back of her right hand, surmising him with lazy apathy.
"Yes, Uzumaki-kun?"
He's almost all but forgotten how sweet she can be.
When his intentions and feelings for her weren't known.
He was in a better position when he was a cordial stranger.
She pretty much loved him back then compared to now.
"Is this your worst?" he says in a low tone, earning a dubious look. "Because slumming it with this guy is nothing."
She fans out the fingers of her left hand, displaying her pseudo-wedding ring. How about now? is the look she's giving him.
He was staring at it pretty hard earlier. Did she notice?
He shakes his head emphatically. "Nah."
She turns her face away from him, left hand folding over the right as she leans her nose into her forefinger, and she mutters under her breath. "You're the evil one here."
Footsteps approach and one of the employees has arrived with their food. She puts down their coffees one by one. Sasuke accepts his tray for him because he can't do it himself.
He's still trying to process Hinata's words.
"Yeah…" he breathes out. "Yeah, alright. I'm evil."
"You are. You're a homewrecker."
"Hey, I'd only be a homewrecker if…" Everything suddenly crashes over him at once. He wasn't ready to steal her yet. He wasn't trying to steal her. Okay, her body and her time, but not her. They could have fun if no one knew. Nobody had to fucking to know!
"What the fuck? Who did you tell?!"
Hinata palmed her face and Naruto heard a second face-palm behind him.
"My husband. I finally told my husband. Who else deserves to know?!"
"Nobody! You, I, Us; I'm not going around showing us off!"
"So this is shameful for you. You actually recognize that 'us' is wrong on every logical and moral facet!"
"That's not it! That's not it! It's because we're impossible! But only because of what other people will think! Hiding us is the only way we can have what we want!"
But now the final boss knows a champion has entered the castle's dungeon and suddenly he's running on Nightmare Mode.
A deathly silence has fallen over them.
She's so quiet as she plays with her ring, her far away gaze cold yet investigative.
He has no idea what she's thinking.
And when she finally speaks, it's a barren whisper. "You're ridiculous; Deciding things for me. 'What we want'? What gives you the confidence to say such a thing? Hiding is stressful, by the way, it's not a 'thrill'. And I respect my husband, which you do not. You're a terrible friend, Uzumaki-kun, and you were hardly that to begin with."
She ripped everything out of his chest with those words.
His beating heart is dangling on very few strings and just for a moment, he laughs to himself.
"Was that your worst?" he challenges in a quiet voice.
She stares at him aghast, her wide eyes so cute.
"Because I don't hate you yet," he finishes.
She leans face-first into her palms, her shoulders and back rising with deep, measured breaths.
The ice cream in her espresso has taken on a sad, deflated look as much of it had melted into the bitter brew. She picked up her spoon and finished it in five bites, then drank the remainder from the glass. She grabbed her cinnamon roll with a napkin, then rising from her seat, she stormed for the exit.
Naruto doggedly hurried after her.
Sasuke waved them goodbye from the otherside of the cafe window, digging into his second sandwich while he watched the world go by.
He followed her. Even though he was getting further and further away from campus and his first class was in forty minutes, he followed her.
But then she started running, like escape-running, and he stopped following her.
He went back to his dorm room. He got ready for his first class.
Sasuke dropped by his room with a take-home of the combo he forgot.
Naruto didn't thank him and shut the door in his face.
The rest of the day he forced himself to stay on top of his studies.
He slept restlessly and woke up in time to get down to the riverwalk before her.
He waited for her there, hugging his knees as he sat on the second-to-last steps.
At the sound of approaching footsteps, he craned his head up the incline towards the road.
He met Sasuke with a cold look.
Sasuke languidly descended with hands in his pockets before taking a seat a couple steps before him.
"She'll be here in another thirty."
Naruto maintained icy silence, bitterness and jealousy burning cold beneath his skin.
"She told me she was bored of you."
Naruto's knuckles turned white with the pressure of his fists.
"My guy, even if she's faking this whole bitchy act, don't you think it's time to move on? You're being as brutal to yourself as she is to you. You're not a masochist, right?"
Naruto dropped his head between his knees and waited for thirty minutes to pass.
The timid scrape of her shoes against concrete.
Every muscle perked up at her presence but he kept his head down.
Like a pouting child who no one picked for dodgeball, he sat out in exile and he waited for validity.
She descended, drawing closer.
"Shall we?"
"Hn."
Their shoes scraped as they walked around him.
They trotted away, down the riverwalk and he sat there frozen, uncharacteristically unsure of himself and what to do.
Several minutes later he forces himself to run, even if he feels like he's on his own.
She's ignoring him like usual, and with every pass, his body trembles with impulses.
When she passes by him under the bridge, he spanks her. Exactly the same way she spanked him. And she swats where he touched her.
"Damn mosquitoes."
Mosquitoes?
Mosquitoes?!
At the end of their run when Sasuke and Hinata are chatting, Naruto comes up to stand behind her and he hugs her around her shoulders. And he glares at Sasuke.
She doesn't even shake him off.
She doesn't address him or anything.
She keeps talking to Sasuke.
She wasn't just ignoring him.
She was pretending like he wasn't even there!
Naruto never breaks eye contact with Sasuke as he tests the boundaries of his newly discovered privilege.
He starts by caressing Hinata's arms and shoulders. Then he upgrades to a massage, digging his thumbs firmly but carefully in her trapezius.
He ducks down and pecks her neck once, twice. He eyes the hickey he left behind. He's saddened to see it so faded, like an ink drawing that fell in a puddle.
He slides his hands down to press his thumbs into her latissimus dorsi. She shivers and he smiles into her shoulder.
"I, uh, see that mosquito is still attracted to you," Sasuke observes wittily, the edges of his face stiff with embarrassment. "Shall we get out of here and grab food?"
"Yes, let's," her airy voice shakes.
They went to a different cafe today.
He's still annoyed by how much food Sasuke orders.
He's still annoyed by how much sugar she orders.
But while those two are being all chummy, he's a fucking ghost. And if he doesn't want to get on her bad side again, then he's gonna stay a ghost.
Naruto breaks off a triangle slice of honey toast and holds it near Hinata's mouth as she talks. His heart dances when she takes a bite and licks her lips.
He may be the mosquito biting her skin and smelling her sweat, but she's the sugar-addicted butterfly, and they couldn't be more perfect for each other.
But even the ability to touch her without retaliation is only a mere pacifier.
He still needs attention.
Lots and lots of attention.
And he's going to get it.
AN: Surprise 3some looking to be 2 chapters from now. As I said, I'll make it skippable. The next chapter gonna be all kinds of fake 'invisible man' hijinks, one-upping sexual pranks, that sort of thing, which is precisely why the 3some happens at all. Again, I just randomly daydreamed the scene like a week or two ago and realized it worked, since Naruto needs a reason to cool off from being obsessed with her and whatnot. An awkward conclusion to extreme escalation is gonna be more effective on him than her words have been, especially when he acknowledges that he started it in the first place and couldn't control anything else in the situation.