Chapter 2
Hinata managed to successfully sneak back into her room without anyone noticing. More than likely no one noticed she was gone. She let out a heavy breath as she changed into some pajamas and flopped onto her queen sized bed. She couldn't stop thinking about Naruto for some reason, maybe it was because talking to him made her feel less stressed. But that was Hinata's problem, she never talked about her feelings and instead insisted to keep them all inside.
"It's okay." The indigo haired girl said to herself as she grabbed the stuffed teddy bear on her bed and tightly clutched it to her chest. So much had happened today that Hinata didn't know how to feel. Different emotions ranging from anger to sadness to relief filled her and it caused a tight pain in her stomach. Hinata had always tried to be the perfect daughter, she always did what she was told and always strived to be the best, but she felt as though she didn't have any say about her own life. Eventually she was finally able to drift off to sleep and give her mind a break from all the thoughts that filled her head.
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The warm sunlight finally woke her up as Hinata's pale eyes began to flutter. Surprisingly she actually slept well although it was a dreamless sleep it was refreshing. But now that she was awake everything that happened last night hit her like a bus. She started a feel a sick pain in her chest as she sat up in her bed. All she could think about was how this contract was going to be fulfilled and she had no idea when. The fear of the future was really what terrified her the most and it was as though her life didn't even belong to her anymore, in other words she felt stuck.
Buzz Buzz Buzz
Hinata looked around her room for her phone and hurriedly answered it.
"Hello?" She asked not really being in the mood to talk to anyone.
"Hinata! What are you doing tomorrow?" Sakura asked quickly. Hinata was flustered by the question for a moment.
"Um nothing at the moment, why?" Hinata asked. She and Sakura had been best friends since middle school and even after graduating high school they were still super close.
"Well their having a big and I mean like big sale tomorrow at the mall so I wanted my favorite best friend in the whole wide world to come shopping with me!" She said so enthusiastically. Hinata giggled, she and Sakura hadn't gone out in a long time due to Sakura being in nursing school and working at a hospital and Hinata working in her family's business.
"Sure Sakura, sounds like fun." Hinata replied as Sakura squealed excitingly.
"Okay I'll be by to get you around 3:00pm." She said as Hinata made a mental note. "Bye Hinata!" Sakura said as she hung up. Hinata looked at the time on her phone, it was 12:00pm and she had no idea how that girl had so much energy so early in the morning. She really needed to tell her pink haired best friend the news, but now wasn't the right time and maybe going out will help her get her mind off of her approaching wedding Hinata thought as she got up to get ready.
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"Sakura when you said big you weren't lying." Hinata stated as the duo walked into the mall to see sales ranging from buy one get two free to 90% off.
"I know right! I can't wait to find some cute clothes and some cute boys!" Sakura stated happily as she and Hinata went into the nearest store. Sakura rummaged through the clearance rack while Hinata looked around at some dresses. Eventually Sakura had come back with a cart full of clothes that she more than likely wasn't going to wear while Hinata had picked out a casual long-sleeved light purple dress and a black one. "Hinata please tell me you're going to buy more than that right?" Sakura questioned as the pair started to pay for their things. Hinata laughed at her friend. "Sakura this is only the first store so I'm keeping my options open while I think your overdoing it a bit." Hinata said jokingly as Sakura pouted.
"I told you were going to enjoy our girl's day out and that means buying everything." Sakura said happily as the total for all her clothes was way less than they both expected. "See Hinata I'm the queen of good deals." Sakura stated as they both laughed heading to different stores. They pair continued to buy different types of clothes and accessories for cheap and Sakura even managed to get Hinata to buy some sexy underwear and dresses. After about ten more stores or so Hinata and Sakura were hungry.
"Hinata I'm going to grab us some ramen and cinnamon rolls, make sure you watch the stuff." Sakura said chuckling as Hinata realized she had to watch the twenty bags surround her and only six of them were hers. Hinata put her head down on the table, she was so tired and Sakura still wanted to look around some more.
As Hinata rested for a bit she suddenly got this intense yet freighting feeling in her stomach as if someone was staring at her. The hesitant girl lifted up her head and slowly looked around as she looked throughout the crowds of people at the food court. She thought it was her imagination at first until her lilac eyes met a void seafoam green pair. She really couldn't make out who they were but it was obviously a red haired guy, but the most disturbing thing was that he would not take his eyes off of her as he began to walk closer to where she was sitting.
Hinata froze in her seat. She couldn't figure out why she was so scared.
"I didn't think of you as the shop till you literally drop type, Hinata." A familiar voice said as she looked up to see Naruto standing in front of the table drinking a hot coffee. Hinata noticed his outfit was different from their last meeting. He wore an orange sweatshirt with blue jeans and grey sneakers, much more vibrant than his black attire. Hinata tried to look for the red haired man once again but figured that he was gone. "Is everything okay? You look kind of worried." Naruto asked cautiously.
"S-sorry Naruto-kun I'm fine." Naruto chuckled as he took a sip of his coffee.
"Well okay if you say so." He stated as he felt someone glaring at him. He turned to look at a fuming short pink haired girl coming straight for him.
"YOU BETTER LEAVE HINATA ALONE YOU CREEP OR SO HELP ME-"
"Sakura please calm down Naruto-kun is a friend." Hinata blurted out to make her friend calm down. Naruto looked pretty nervous as Sakura placed their food on the table and quickly flipped her personality around.
"Wow Hinata's never told me about you Naruto so you'll have to forgive me for wanting to protect my precious friend." She said pulling Hinata into a tight embrace as she sat down next to Hinata at the table. Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly as Sakura finally let go of Hinata and started to eat her bowl of ramen while Hinata hesitantly started to snack on the dessert. "Well Hinata is certainly lucky to have a friend like you." Naruto said much to Sakura's delight. "I think I'll like this one after all." She stated after Naruto's compliment of her. It was her duty to protect her best friend especially from all the creepy guys in the world.
"Hey dobe here's your ramen to go." A black haired male said as Sakura dropped her chopsticks and the ramen in her mouth. He was the same tall height as Naruto and dressed in a navy blue long sleeved shirt with black joggers and red sneakers. Hinata noticed he seemed colder than Naruto but Sakura seemed star struck. "Thanks Sasuke, and uh let me introduce you, this is Hinata and her friend Sakura."
"I can't believe its Sasuke Uchiha in the flesh!" Sakura stated standing up much to Sasuke's annoyance and Hinata's confusion. "Hinata he's one of Japan's most successful models and eligible bachelors!" Sakura added as Sasuke motioned for Naruto that it was time for them to leave.
"Come on Sasuke don't be so rude." Naruto said as Sasuke started to leave on his own. "Well actually you guys have a lot of bags here so why don't we help you guys carry them to your car?" Naruto suggested getting a glare from Sasuke as he turned around to look at the blonde.
Hinata waved her hands "It's okay we were planning-"
"Yes that'd be so gentlemanly of you two." Sakura said purposely cutting Hinata off as she picked up a majority of her bags and gave them to Sasuke who looked at Naruto with an angry expression as the Naruto gave him a goofy grin.
"Hn" Was all Sasuke said as he carried Sakura's bags as she continually kept asking him questions, leaving Naruto and Hinata alone.
"She didn't even finish her ramen." Hinata stated as she closed the box of cinnamon rolls and put them into one of her bag. Naruto finished his coffee and helped her clean off the table while grabbing her bags for her.
"Thank you Naruto-kun I-I appreciate you helping me out yet again." Hinata said causing Naruto to smile.
"No problem Hinata." He said as the duo continued to walk towards the parking lot. Sasuke had already put everything into Sakura's car as she continued fangirling over him and trying to get him to have a full conversation with her.
"I can take it from here." Hinata said as she grabbed all of her bags from Naruto and put them into Sakura's car. "Thank you again." Hinata stated happily as she turned to get into the car.
"Wait, Hinata….actually I wanted to know if I could maybe get your phone number." Naruto asked nervously although he was still trying to look cool. Hinata thought for a moment, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to stay in contact with Naruto, she had no idea when the demon was coming to actually get her so until then it wouldn't hurt to befriend him.
"Sure N-Naruto-kun." Hinata said as they exchanged smartphones much to Sakura's delight.
"I'll see you around Hinata and it was good to meet you Sakura." Naruto said happily as he held onto his ramen.
"Hey Sasuke-kun can I have your number?" Sakura asked flirting with the onyx eyed male.
"No." He said coldly as he followed Naruto leaving Sakura with a playful smile on her face. "I love a man that plays hard to get." She exclaimed causing Hinata to nudge her arm as the duo got into the car.
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So far it had been a great day Hinata mused to herself as she had just finished putting away all of new clothes and shoes. She was very grateful for Sakura taking her out and it was great to see Naruto and his friend as well. Hinata had wanted to text him first but she didn't want to seem weird after all they had only meet each other twice. She sighed as her mind drifted back to when the demon would come to marry her, maybe she could at least convince him to stay in the human world, maybe.
Buzz Buzz Buzz
Hinata looked at her phone and saw she had gotten a text from Naruto. Feelings of excitement caused her to smile. Why did this guy make her feel this way?
"Hey, Hinata what's up?"
"Hi and I'm just putting all my stuff away. And I wanted to apologize for how Sakura was bothering Sasuke earlier."
"Lol, don't worry about him he actually enjoyed the attention believe it or not"
"That's a relief because Sakura has really taken a liking to him now and wouldn't stop talking about him after you guys left."
"She's definitely something I'll give her that, but anyway how are you doing?"
Hinata thought about it for a moment before replying, she was still worried about the whole ordeal but talking to Naruto made her forget about it even if it was just for an instant.
"I'm doing better."
"I'm glad and now that you have my number you can contact me at any time if you want to talk about something or want to go somewhere to clear your mind."
Hinata's heart fluttered at his words, she knew they were harmless but it still didn't stop her mind from thinking about going on a 'date' with the blonde. Of course she had liked boys in the past but she never had a boyfriend, let alone her first kiss. It was sometimes embarrassing but now she realizes it was probably all because she belonged to something err well someone already.
"I'll definitely keep that in mind Naruto-kun, Goodnight."
"Goodnight princess, sweet dreams."
'Princess' she said out loud to herself, that part really made her heart skip a beat. She needed to stop overthinking about things because Naruto was just being nice, he didn't like her and after all they barely know each other. So what was this feeling that went from her toes straight to her heart?
