AN: Short chapter this time, sorry! It ended quite nicely I think, like on Bookends. I was going to smush the Sunday of Hinata's charity club when Itachi volunteers, but I didn't think I could segue nicely into it. So have a bite-size breather ep!
WindyCitySlayer1: Thank you for always leaving a review!
kawaiihina: Thank you so much for the review! I'm happy you loved the previous chapter! 333 I've gotten other comments over in AO3 that it was also their favorite chapter, heehee. :)
Asynchronous With You
Chapter Seven, My Sunny Place
The cement is warm beneath the pads of his hands and feet. The sun overhead bathes him in a sense of security, welcoming him. It gives tangibility to the world and his own existence, as though there is not one without the other. The sun, this place, it's like her. It's like she's the one shining down on him.
He whirls around, tail wagging so vigorously his butt wiggles with it. She laughs and coos his name. Vitality surges through his stocky body and he launches into a sprint into his favorite place where they will go together.
The trees smell so fresh with rain and the undercurrent of hidden sap, and here there's winding paths with no clear end.
Because he's hers, the others walking here avoid them. His tail stops wagging but it doesn't drop between his legs. His ears droop and his head drops down. But when he looks over his shoulder, she eclipses him in sunlight. Her smile is miraculous that way.
He can be happy if she's happy. That's the way it is.
The moment she lays down on the sofa, he's on top of her, trying to get closer, because she is home. She's laughing and squealing from the onslaught of affection. He's too big to be a lap dog no matter how much he tries to fit on her lap. She smooths her hand over his face, her cooing like the truest validation.
"Such a beautiful boy you are. You did very good today."
The sound of her pained whimpering vibrates along the edges of his happiness, and it doesn't belong here. She's still smiling at him, still touching him and holding him in her lap.
She's hurting somewhere.
Where is she hurting?
Another high-pitched whine stabs his brain, and he awoke with a start. The pleasant muslin of a fading dream slipped away as he sprang up from the living room floor. His mouth felt sandy and his stomach felt like it'd been wadded up and shoved up between his ribs.
But who cares about that? He's used to this.
Hinata isn't.
Her face was tightly scrunched, her lips pulling back with every pang her hangover dealt her.
"Hinata," he whispers.
Her eyes barely crack open. Thin tears slide down the crook of her nose, beneath her left eye and gathered beneath her cheekbone, leaving a tiny wet spot on the couch. "My head."
The leftover good feelings from last night are sumo-wrestling with his guilt, and there's no knowing which was going to win out. "I'll get the painkillers and water, okay?" He supported his left arm on the low table and rose to his feet. He journeyed to the nearest bathroom where there would be medicine behind the mirror.
Just moving his legs felt like wading through wet sand.
He definitely overdid it last night.
Upon getting the items, he returned to her side. He shook out two pills onto his palm and pressed the lateral side of his palm against her pink lips. It took great effort for her to open her mouth, but it was enough. He tipped his hand and the pills rolled into her mouth. Then he offered her water and sipped enough to lubricate her throat.
She panted through her pain, but knowing that it'd eventually pass, the creases in her face smoothed considerably. But she still couldn't open her eyes.
Naruto laid her head near hers and watched over her just as he did last night, her breath carrying her tiny voice past her lips in weak moans. And as the pain and tension disappeared slowly from her face, his smile widened with every show of progress.
The chance to talk to her after last night was too exciting.
Her eyes opened cautiously and they looked like polished gemstones with milky and diaphanous facets, their color reflecting the horizon at daybreak. She peered at him from beneath her lashes and he was so relieved she was over the worst of it.
"How're you feeling?" he asked.
"I'm really hungry."
"Ah, yeah. You upchucked all of your pizza."
Her face fell, a childlike open-mouth frown pulling at her features. "Oh nooo. Itachi-san paid for my pizza."
Naruto chuckled. "It's alright. He's not gonna mind," he never noticed when he began to play with her bangs, they were just so soft he couldn't stop. "I'm sorry."
"Hm?" she blinked at him.
He hid the lower half of his face behind his wrist. "I shouldn't have forced that experience on you. It was your first time."
Hinata stiffened. It was as though she'd become petrified. Not a single breath moved through her. And then her skin brightened red. "HUH?"
Naruto reeled back, blinking rapidly. "The shochu? The shots we did? I shouldn't have let you overdo it on your first time like that."
Her hands flew to her face and she flipped over, giving him her back. "Th-Th-That explains a lot!"
Naruto tilted his head and frowned at her weird reaction. But as he replayed the moment in his head, a smug smirk slowly formed.
"Wait, Hinata... Don't tell me... Did you have a dirty dream?"
She 'eeped'.
Holy crap, she totally did.
Naruto rested his elbows on the couch and leaned in close just shy of hovering over her. "Uh, who starred in it, hm? Do you remember?" He simply could not pass up on this material. Teasing her was too fun. "Was it perhaps... an Uchiha?"
"I don't remember."
"Yeah right! You were so natural around them last night!"
"I don't get wound up like I used to."
"You seem pretty wound up right now."
"B,Because... I'm not going to discuss this with you."
Naruto leaned away, hands raised in compliance. "Alright, alright. I'll drop it."
"Thank you."
"Mm-hm."
The air turned stale as time stretched on.
"I didn't finish our movie," she stated.
"We can watch it again later."
"Later?"
"Or right now?"
"Hmm. No. I don't think I can watch anything right now."
"Still feeling icky?"
"Mm-hm."
"Well, we got time today."
She gasped so dramatically that it made him smile. "I skipped school."
"What?! Were you actually planning on making it to school?! After seven shots?! After staying up until two in the morning?" The dedication on this one!
"Oh. I see. The me from yesterday accepted the consequences."
Naruto snorted to hide his budding disappointment. "How about the you right now? You don't regret it, do you? 'Cuz I had the best night of my life in a good long while."
Hinata shifted onto her back and faced him with cautiously hopeful eyes. "You did? But what about all of your other adventures?"
"What about them? I'm not exactly unsentimental, but those moments are over. And I don't really like holding onto them, like I put them on a pedestal and think 'nothing will ever be better than this moment'. That's so limiting. But sometimes I don't have adventures and I just do the same shit, and sometimes my adventures all feel the same by the end of it too. I dunno... But last night was different because you were there!"
She ducked down, causing her hood to rise around her face. "You really had fun because of me?"
"I've always had fun with you, Hinata! I just didn't think this was the kind of fun we could have together. I'm glad you said something! I guess I never noticed. I mean, I just felt kind of content and complacent? Like, this was just how it was gonna be. I never once thought 'I wish Hinata was here', but now I think I will," his hand gravitated to her bangs once more, his fingers playing with a soft tendril, positioning it randomly left and right.
He's already picturing that empty gap in his future nights. Maybe he should put more initiative in maintaining their bond. They still weren't eating lunch together, and they didn't share a club. Man, that's a wild idea right there. What sort of club could they both join? He wouldn't let her join Weightlifting with him. She'd be the only girl there, and he absolutely can't have her bending around in a sports bra and yoga pants.
"Naruto-kun, let's do this more often. Hanging out. I don't mind what we do," she said, thankfully ending his obsessive train of thought.
A contemplative blankness fell over his face. "I don't want to get in between you and Hanabi."
"Hm?" she turned over, resting her head against her arm. "I was thinking she could start coming over for dinner instead. After all, we both have our own lives."
"What?! Don't tell me she's neglected after all!"
"No, no! She's fine! But apparently mom barely cooks anything good, she says. She wants a real home-cooked meal. She said they'll think she's just eating at a friend's house."
"That still sounds like neglect."
The ghost of a smirk appeared on her lips. "Bento from Lawson's is still more nutritious than your instant ramen diet."
"Okay, I take offense to that."
Hinata stuck out her tongue and wiggled her head. His tongue pressed against the back of his teeth, his gaze inexplicably zeroing in on that pink muscle.
"Is that what you're gonna teach your little sister? Stick out your tongue and win an argument?"
Hinata giggled as she pushed at his shoulder. She hadn't the strength to nudge him. Her pathetic attempt was somehow cute.
Naruto sighed as he clasped his aching abs and the groaning hunger building inside. "Bento sounds like a safe choice right now, though. Teme's probably still out cold and Itachi-nii's gotta be stuck at his computer right now."
"Get one for Sasuke-kun, too?"
Naruto shook his head. "Nah, he can cook. I'm... actually not allowed to cook."
Hinata nodded, her face dry and matter-of-fact. "Oh. I should've known that."
"Hey! Listen, I'm the one that's gonna traverse half a block to obtain sustenance and you can barely sit up! So you better be nicer, 'cuz your life is in my hands!"
Her eyes glittered with amusement. "I'm sorry, Shishou. I was out of line."
"Exactly! Glad you understand," he rose to his feet. "Alright, I'm gonna head out now."
Hinata gingerly consumed her bento as they rewatched the movie together, their knees touching beneath the low table.
"Why did we choose this one?" she asked, as she struggled to watch the main character devolve into his hikikomori-esque delusions the more he tried to survive in the forested wilderness, his cadaver companion turned multitool somehow enabling these escapades.
"Uh. We were drunk off our ass? Who knows what we were thinking last night."
"This movie is sad," she said, earning an incredulous glance.
"What? Are we watching the same movie?" he laughed. When the main character discovered that the cadaver's boner could be used as a compass, Naruto fell backward, clutching his sore abdomen as he broke down into hysterics.
But... but... the cadaver was probably a figment of the main character's imagination. At least she kind of hoped. Wasn't this just reflective of his mental state? That the girl who always stayed out of his reach was his True North? It all seemed like such an elaborate allegory for the life he had tried to abandon. That was surely the point.
Hinata sighed and continued to eat her food.
There was no helping it if they experienced some things differently.
Maybe it was the movie's fault. Between her unrelatable interpretations and the formerly suicidal outcast on screen, she was beginning to feel overexposed to all of the one-sidedness of life.
Naruto turned onto his side and propped his head upon his hand, his smarmy grin giving her foreboding vibes. "My boner does the same thing when I see a hot girl."
"Naruto-kun!"
He slapped the floor as he laughed at her mortified reaction.
"Naruto-kun, you're getting too comfortable with me!"
"Huh? But isn't that what's great about us?"
She spends one night with him and Sasuke-kun, and in the morning she's being treated like… like a bro? Suddenly she's mad at herself. She's mad for having a problem with this. She accepted however their relationship would evolve, and she had long removed 'romantic' from the equation. She's being so unreasonable. Her bratty, entitled heart is so unreasonable.
She doesn't answer him. She can't. So she plugs up her mouth with more food, because she doesn't want to say something she'll regret.
She can't give him any doubt.
He's splayed out on the floor like a starfish and he's staring at her, watching her eat with that contemplative gaze. Was she obvious, after all?
"Hey."
"Hm?"
"Did you wanna watch something else?"
She nodded, thankful to move on from this.
Hinata returned from her shower. She didn't like how her pajamas carried a trace stench of puke around the collar and she feared it had attached to her skin.
The moment she sat down on the couch beside him, Naruto had taken her damp hair and draped it across his face.
"Mmm, it's nice and cold."
Embarrassed heat traveled up from her core and sat in the roots of her hair.
She played it off by distracting herself with her smartphone.
Curious. She hadn't received any texts from Kurenai-san.
"Did you need anything back home that I could bring you?" she asked, initiating a new conversation.
"Hmm. Nah. I'm ready to go back."
She didn't turn to face him lest she dislodges her hair from his face. "Really?"
"Yeah. I dunno what I'm gonna do when I get back, though. I'm not against apologizing, it's just that..." he removed her hair from his face, to her dismay, but it remained in his hand, his thumb petting the strands. "I thought about it, and if she doesn't care if I go or if I stay, then I'm just gonna stay until graduation. I don't have to express my plans to her. She doesn't even ask me things on her own anyway, it's only when Iruka-sensei has something to report, y'know? I still don't really understand her, but I definitely overreacted yesterday. If I make it so she doesn't have to hear from anyone ever again, then we're all good."
"Iruka-sensei has come over a lot since the beginning."
Naruto winced at the implications: That Kurenai-san has truly been so patient with him, and he hadn't appreciated it all this time, nor wised up sooner to the bigger picture.
He ran completely blind through life. Patterns didn't exist to him, least of all his own. He was a conduit of chaos whether he chose to be or not.
Hinata continued. "Like that time in fifth grade when you filled the pool with paint?"
Naruto scoffed with a shrug. "Worth it. You didn't want to be the first girl in class who got their period, and the other girls woulda found out whether or not you even changed into your swimsuit."
That was half-true. She also didn't like the changes her body was undergoing in the... chest area... and the idea of wearing a swimsuit in front of everyone was catastrophically anxiety-inducing.
Ugh. Her period. To this day she goes to Kurenai-san's bathroom to dispose of her pads. That very day when she began spotting had her sobbing her heart out on Kurenai-san's bed. She thought her body was broken because of what she endured living with her parents and assumed that it had taken so long for it to show up. And when she continued to use the main bathroom that she and Naruto shared, he thought she was dying! Or that someone recently hurt her! He didn't know what it was! He was trying to interrogate her about it and it was just an absolute mess. Neji could only put up with Naruto's lack of boundaries for so long before he told him off. Then Naruto said this was his business too, and that also turned into a mess of its own. She couldn't even hit puberty without her personhood being invalidated.
"I guess Kurenai-san wasn't so mad about that when you explained your motivations. But you two did have quite a talk... about uh, the scale of your actions."
"What? But it was genius!"
"It was excessive."
"Whatever. It was fun."
"Speaking of fun," came a deep voice from the stairwell. Sasuke propped his elbows atop the back of the couch, his black hair amusingly mussed and flat on one side. Even with a guest like her, he can be comfortable with imperfection. "What about all those times you were getting arrested for brawling?"
"What? We did that together!"
Sasuke hung his head. "The first time was because they were messing with us. Warranted. All the other times you instigated because it gave you a thrill. Well, also you had a lot of pent-up aggression against the students who treated you like a gofer."
"Yeah, I already got into so many fights for Hinata before, but we were kids so it was fine. I probably would've been forcibly homeschooled or detained if I kept it up."
"I mean, you still got detained. Like, eight times."
"Okay, I meant 'taken away'. 'Thrown the book at me'. And Neji entrusted me to look after Hinata, so I couldn't do what I would normally do about shitheads like them."
"Iruka-sensei did tell you throwing your life away was throwing mine away."
It was as if a switch had been turned, the way Naruto's face went from reminiscent to defensive and ticked off.
"The hell?" Sasuke laughed in disbelief. "That's a little dramatic, but I guess he's not wrong. Was this because you got caught whoring around? Though, I'm not really sure why that's more alarming than anything else you've ever done."
"Fuck, it wasn't like he walked in on me! But sure, yeah, he put two and two together, and I guess... I may have left evidence in the past? He was pretty pissed about that."
Sasuke palmed his face, then ran his hand through his hair. "Shit, I'd be too. You really give no fucks, huh?"
"Ugh, whatever. Like I said, I'll try to be more... under the radar for the next two years."
Sasuke whistled a long tune. "I'll give you about a month."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Teme."
Naruto was absorbed in his smartphone as he watched various videos with Hinata, taking in every reaction she gave and stuffing it inside his heart.
They reached a Public Freakout video taking place at a Kaminari Burger location when Hinata spoke up.
"What if she met him? The one who abandoned you?"
What if? Yeah, he thought about it. But...
"Dunno. Not interested in looking for him, to be honest. Probably better this way. I mean, I can't pick him from a crowd if I don't know what he looks like. That'd be so rough to just run into someone like that on the street."
He should know. Passing by the Swim Team girl in the halls last year always killed his appetite and his spirit.
Hinata hummed thoughtfully. "That's why Kurenai-san moved us. We could have seen my parents on the way to preschool or at the supermarket without even trying, and that would've set us back emotionally."
"Yeah, good call."
He really doesn't give her enough credit, does he?
And for so long, he felt like he'd been living inside a surreal dream where he thought his parents had left him with the babysitter and were going to pick him up at a moment's notice.
He's not really sure how he should act around Kurenai-obasan.
Being family just never fell into place.
He fit the apartment key into the door and turned the knob.
"Tadaima," "Tadaima," he and Hinata called in a mismatched chorus, one half guarded and begrudging, the other half chirpy and natural.
Working off their shoes, the sound of the steam mop met their ears and they followed its source to the kitchen.
Kurenai coolly met their gazes as she set the mop handle against the wall. "Welcome home. I just put away lunch, so if you're hungry it's in the fridge. It's kakuni and there's tsukemono sent in from my parents. I told the school we had a family emergency, but then I had to hang up on Iruka-sensei when he wanted more details. That man can be really uptight when it comes to his job."
"You hung up on Iruka-sensei?" Naruto didn't know if he was smiling because he couldn't believe it, or because he thought that was really cool of Kurenai-obasan, as if he was just finding out they had something in common.
"Well, before I hung up, I told him he has other students he's neglecting by being so focused on you. I might have to apologize to him. He was only concerned because of the timing, and now I fear he assumed the worst," Kurenai blew a sigh that made her hair bounce.
Naruto sat down backward in one of the dining chairs and crossed his arms atop the back. "The worst? Like what?"
Kurenai leaned against the countertop, her elbows propping her up. She appeared to wrestle with her answer before shaking her head. "No, it's nothing. Just… when you see him tomorrow, tell him 'everything's fine now' and leave it at that. I'm sure he'll see with his own eyes that there's nothing to worry about."
"Hmm," Naruto swung his feet. "Alright. I understand."
Kurenai nodded and went back to mopping, the steam hissing mechanically through the pores, the heated vessel burbling with every motion and expulsion of steam.
So that was it?
She didn't have any questions for him? She didn't have any complaints or demands? Aren't mothers supposed to be nagging and controlling? Hovering around like helicopters and smothering? She's not like any of that. She's never been.
She works long shifts at an office profiling criminals and making sense of cases. When it's not Hinata, she cooks and cleans and shops and balances the budget; she keeps things in motion. They've gone to the doctors when they were sick. They get their teeth checked out once a season. They've seen beautiful places thanks to her and have had the chance to pursue whatever struck their fancy. She's taught them common sense, both through lecture and example, though his head may be thicker than most. She's just… been Kurenai.
Naruto's mouth pressed into a firm line. Being vulnerable with adults… it's always been very hard for him to do.
"Hey… Oba-san."
Kurenai paused mopping, her hand on her hip as she looked at him expectantly.
"I'm sorry. About yesterday. And about everything. I actually don't understand why you haven't gotten fed up with me sooner," Naruto hung his head, the embarrassment too heavy for him to hold.
He didn't have to endure the searing awkwardness before a loving hand rested atop his head. His eyes ached with the threat of tears.
He could honestly count the number of times she pat his head on both hands: when he fought off Hinata's bullies, when her parents made him feel unwanted, when he replaced something Hinata's bullies had broken. Things like that. But they never really soaked in. Because he never let them.
Kurenai crouched down, her hand still on his head. "Naruto. Naruto, look at me."
He mustered the courage to show his face to her, his face which imagined looked pretty red and pathetic.
Kurenai continued. "I'm really proud of you for using contraceptives, but please be more discreet from now on. Yesterday with Iruka-sensei was just too much. You can plant a confetti bomb in the Principal's Office next time for all I care, but you can do better than leave used condoms for someone else to find. It's a biological hazard. It's also incredibly rude. And imagine what some sicko might try to do with your DNA. You've been way too carefree. Do you understand?"
"Oh. Uh," What the hell? Is this what was on her mind yesterday and she just couldn't get it out at the time? Was encouraging him to move out not so much indifference, but a way for him to have the privacy to have sex? Huh. Naruto answered her with a curt nod. "Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am."
She smiled at his humility before going back to mopping.
Naruto's stomach growled for that braised pork belly in the fridge.
He hadn't noticed, but Hinata didn't stick around to witness their making up. He got up to knock on her bedroom door and asked her to watch shows with him.
He wanted to chill today.
Kurenai-obasan's words seemed to have an affect on Iruka-sensei. Naruto noticed it right away when he entered homeroom.
Aside from the needless contrition on his face whenever Iruka-sensei looked at him, he also seemed more subdued, more in control of his passion. Naruto almost felt bad for him. To be a teacher for so long and have to hear that from a parent, as if he's been doing his job all wrong.
Ugh, this guilt was starting to make him grumpy.
Forget it. Thing's'll go back to normal eventually.
He got a text between periods as they waited for next class to start.
The same girl he fooled around with last week was propositioning him.
His eyes scrunched in thought.
What can they do that they'll both be satisfied with that won't involve whipping out the condoms?
He texted her back with tongue emoji, peace sign and volcano in that order.
She replied with a sad sweatdrop.
Then she sent him flexing emoji next to eggplant, followed by prayer and weary face.
He sent her vanilla ice cream and goodbye.
She came at him hard.
YU33: UR CALLING ME VANILLA U WALKING DILDO?!
Oh. Okay. Instantly blocked.
Damn. That escalated quickly.
Naruto powered off his screen and shoved his phone back in his pocket. There was seriously something wrong with some of the girls he plays with. He just can't get a break. He doesn't need a girlfriend, but he needs something close. Something that's still a step above friends-with-benefits, because you don't hang out with FWBs, at least not really. FWBs are on the back burner. He doesn't want that. It just seems so lame. Why does this gotta be so hard?
His vacant gaze zeroed in on the back of Hinata's head. She looked like she was reading a novel that wasn't class-related.
Compared to those dumb girls, at least Hinata valued variety in her life. Just looking at her almost made him want to become celibate.
Naruto stood up from his desk and crossed the room. He crouched down and folded his arms atop her desk, grinning cheekily at her. "Hey you."
She closed her book and held her page with her thumb as she returned his smile. "Hey you."
"Hinata. I just want to let you know that I've been very good today."
Her smile widened as she reached over and patted his head. He imagined she was too embarrassed to do much more.
"Thank you for your hard work."
AN: I just want to let you know… this line: "Just looking at her almost made him want to become celibate." I cried and died and I couldn't believe I was writing it. I couldn't actually type it out for a couple mins, like I don't want to forget how a sentence or idea flows from my head right? So I tried really hard to get it down the moment I thought of it. Took me 3 starts before typing it out. Omg, if this isn't somehow the most unintended, backhanded compliment ever. I mean, obviously, he'd find her attractive if he just put her on the menu, but nope! Gotta honor that friendzone!