Disclaimer : I do not own the characters or the story of Naruto.
A/N : Once again, my thanks to everyone who read the last couple of chapters and left their lovely reviews. I hope readers will enjoy this chapter as well. Please read and review if you enjoy or have critiques. I do read all the reviews. I will try my best to have the next chapter uploaded by this weekend, but no promises. Thanks!
Chapter 11
Three and a half months till she says yes
"N-Next week?", he heard her ask in a squeak finally after the painfully long seconds that seemed to stretch for hours to him. She refused to look at him yet again, her face flushed, both hands on her cheeks, trying to hide herself. For a moment, he was sure she was going to faint again, when her face turned deathly pale as he had let his intentions slip out casually a while ago. Well, as casually he could, with his heart drumming in his chest and nervous anticipation causing shocks to run down his limbs. His fingers had itched to touch her, have her in his arms again since he vividly remembered exactly how good that had felt. He would have done so too if she had seemed unsteady and on the verge of passing out, he couldn't just pass up such a chance with the added benefit of plausible deniability. Surprisingly she had held her ground, instead of checking out of reality, she had chosen to become a heap of embarrassed shyness which he found absolutely adorable.
"That's.. too soon..", she said in a voice barely above a whisper, as if she was afraid of her words offending him. At least she wasn't refusing him, or didn't contradict what he had said about them living together. He wasn't sure what was going on in her head about that. Did she not hear him correctly? If she did, he would have expected something, some comment on it. Hell, how much more obvious did he have to be? Did she want him to come outright and say it? Then would it be enough for her to finally acknowledge his feelings?
As these thoughts kept running through his head, he felt his skin starting to prickle with irritation and a frown appeared on his face. "Hn", was all he said before he quickly turned around to hide his bad mood and started walking towards the house, hoping she would at least get the hint to follow him. After a few beats, he felt her hesitantly take the steps towards him, keeping a good distance between them. He opened the front door and stepped in, without waiting for her to enter first, and started making his way into the corridor which encircled the building, connecting to all the rooms.
As they arrived to the first door on the left, he opened it and entered, waiting for her as she first took a peek in before meekly stepping her feet inside. "You don't have to be so scared of the house", he remarked, his words coming out harsher than he intended which was followed by a small squeak from her. He let out a sigh of frustration, wondering what could he possibly do so that she would just relax in his presence. He decided, she just needed time to get used to him, if only she would just tell him what was on her mind. She still refused to look him in the eye which was pissing him off by the second. Choosing to ignore his annoyance, he continued, "This is the tea room. For guests." He watched as she shyly roamed her eyes around the room with timid interest, staring at certain spots for a beat longer than others, before giving him a tiny nod, again without looking at him.
Realising that she was done, he made his way out to the corridor and opened the door for the next room ahead. Stepping in, he waited for her to look around and simply said "Dining room" as explanation. At another nod, he walked up to the other door in the room, opened it and entered, with her quiet steps following behind him. He kept his eyes on her, watching as she looked around this room with significant interest, taking small steps to the counter, running her fingers uncertainly over some of the surfaces she passed by. "Kitchen", he said even though he didn't need to state the obvious. Not that she was paying him any attention, what was so fascinating about an unfurnished kitchen, he did not know.
"Ano.. what appliances would you like here?" he heard her ask in her soft voice. His chest warmed at the fact that she was actually cared enough to ask about the place, maybe she wasn't rejecting the idea after all. "Whatever you would use", he replied casually, dropping in yet another hint for her. "But.. would you.. eto..", she tried to stammer her way through expressing her thought, as he watched her cheeks turn a darker red. She didn't need to finish saying it though, since he understood what was her concern and replied, "I won't be doing the cooking." She quickly turned her face to the other side, pretending to watch something else, fidgeting with the hem of her jacket. He remembered her habit of playing with her fingers when she was nervous, seems like she had progressed to her clothes from that, not that he minded other than the fact that she refused to be comfortable around him.
A few moments later, determining that he had given her enough time to look through the room, he walked out, progressing through to the other rooms in the house. One by one, he took her through the entire space, stating their purpose and giving her time to observe. She activated her Byakugan a couple of times, without explaining what purpose that served, though it hardly made any difference to him. Except for the fact that, as time passed on, she got more and more interested in the place, touching and feeling certain walls, walking up to the windows to catch the view outside, opening the doors he didn't bother to explain and demurely asking him questions about his preferences. He had no preferences essentially, and he took those opportunities to drop even more hints for her, hoping she would say something about it, but she never did to his disappointment.
All she would do is blush a deep red, hiding her face, fidgeting anxiously and it was starting to bother him way more than it should. She continued to turn her eyes away whenever he looked at her, as if his gaze would burn her, using her long hair, that he usually enjoyed watching, to hide herself as a shield. But this house tour was working out well for him otherwise, at one point she even overtook him in pace, discovering the new space for herself. He would follow behind her, obligingly mentioning what room it was, allowing her to explore every corner of the place till she decided it was time to move on. This pleased him beyond all his frustrations from earlier, as he was tempted to even crack a smile, watching her hurriedly make her way to the sliding doors leading to the backyard. She looked at the barren land in awe and he too followed where her eyes were looking at but all he could see was dirt. Well, if dirt pleased her, he technically had a whole district of it, she could have as much of it as she wanted.
She took a couple of steps outside, standing on the deck, raising her clasped hands to her chest and reluctantly asked in a gentle tone, "Would.. would you like a garden?" Hearing that, he finally understood what she was wondering about gazing at the ground, as he raised a brow in her direction. It also came to mind what she was actually asking, this was the first request she had made willingly to him, something that she wanted here. Does she still not realise he would let her have anything she wanted if it meant she would love him back? "If that's what you would like", he replied quietly, his heart squeezing painfully when she, at last, looked up into his eyes and smiled. It wasn't a huge grin, a small, shy smile but he would take it, anything she was willing to give, he would take.
The moment was over much sooner than he would have preferred as she turned her eyes away from him, focusing on the yard in front of her. However, it was enough to let him know, at least on some level, she was accepting of the idea, to his immense satisfaction, as contentment washed over him. He closed his eyes briefly and enjoyed it for a bit, but when he looked at her again, he felt a sudden intense urge to touch her, bring her closer to himself. Since he couldn't do it there, what with all the opportunities for her to run like the last time, he fisted his hands at the side and willed himself to have more patience, taking in a deep breath.
When that attempt to calm himself didn't work for longer than a few seconds, he swiftly turned around, walking towards the room that he had deliberately saved for last. When she made haste to follow him again, noticing he was gone after a few seconds, he readied himself for a confrontation that was sure to ensue as soon as they entered this particular room. He stood by the door, allowing her to enter further in to the space, exploring it just as she had done for all the others. His heart picked up its pace further in anticipation as he watched her stop in the middle of the room, waiting for him to speak, still not meeting his eyes.
"Our bedroom", he let out the words as evenly as he could and watched her comically freeze solid in front of him. Her back was to him so he couldn't read her thoughts that were always so clearly displayed on her face, therefore he decided to do something about it. He promptly covered the few steps of distance between them, placing his hand on her waist, and turned her around to face him. He pulled her close to him by the arm wrapped around her, just like he had done a few weeks ago, and simply stared at her face.
She, of course, had her eyes resolutely fixed on his chest, her lips slightly parted, blushing red on every inch of skin that was exposed to his eyes, as her uneven warm breaths hit him on his torso above the line of his shirt. She was unnaturally rigid while being so close to him, the shy softness of her he had seen a few moments ago was now completely gone. He wondered what he could do to get her to smile at him again. Did she detest his touch? A pang of pain spread through him at the thought, while his mind refused to believe it. That couldn't be, she would resist if that were the case right?
Unable to think of a single thing to do and feeling disheartened with the ache in his chest at her passive rejection, he closed his eyes and inclined his head till he rested his forehead on hers. They stood there like so for a few beats, a deep sigh of longing escaping him, before he was taken aback when he felt her unsurely place her hands on his chest, her fingers lightly tugging on the fabric of his shirt as the tenseness in her frame slowly started to lax. Did he dare allow himself to take this as a sign of her acceptance? 'Yes', the answer appeared quickly in his mind, he dared indeed.
He could hardly believe that she was touching him willingly, the touch was as chaste as it got, and yes he had sort of forced her hand in this case, however that bit didn't do anything to dampen his elation at the gesture. He was sure she could feel his beating heart on her palm, just like he could distinctly make out each flutter of her own drumming heart. She had to know how he felt about her, specially when the evidence of it was right there for her to see so openly. Most importantly, she wasn't pushing him away from her, not rejecting their closeness. Sure, she wasn't participating as enthusiastically as he would have liked but he would take whatever she was willing to give at this point.
He raised his other hand from her hip to her lower back, slithering it inside her jacket, feeling her soft warm skin with his fingers. Her skin was smooth, no scars from battle marred it, at least on her lower back, as he drew imaginary shapes with the tips of his fingers. He was slowly making his way up her back, her jacket stretching with the intrusion of his arm, giving him resistance. But he couldn't help himself, enjoying the slight shivers that ran down her frame, the tiny quivers of her flesh underneath his palm. It felt so unbelievably good to be able to touch her like so, be so close to her and she willingly allowing it, like this was something people normally do with each other.
If this did not make his feelings clear, he didn't know how else he could make it any more obvious, other than explicitly saying it aloud. Which he would rather not do, including asking her up front about it, as he wasn't sure he would be able to handle it if she stomped all over his heart after he laid it down at her feet. Well, he could take a kiss from her, that should clear any lingering doubts in her mind about his feelings for her and would prompt her to acknowledge it, hopefully even return it soon after. He briefly wondered if she would allow it before dismissing the thought quickly, as in his view if he could caress her bare skin, he should be allowed a peck on the lips.
Knowing well that he had to make his move now, or he would lose this opportunity, he opened his eyes and slowly inclined his head sideways, leaning further down towards her. He wanted to be able to kiss her, at last, and know how good that would feel as well, or if she would kiss him back. Right as their lips were about to touch, only an inch of space between their mouths, a loud banging at the front door rudely interrupted the moment. He felt her entire body jump in his arms, and he instinctively tightened his hold on her, raising his head as a frustrated huff escaped him.
As soon as they heard the boisterous, "I know you are in there, teme! I'm coming in!", in a familiar voice a few moments after the banging stopped, he heard her let out a tiny peep before she buried her face right into his chest, her fingers clutching the fabric of his shirt tightly, since he wasn't willing to let her go. He briefly closed his eyes and grit his teeth at the idiot's impeccable timing, cursing out his friend in his mind. He could feel a scowl coming on to his face as his mood was progressively darkening with every second that passed, while waiting for the moron to find them, and he had to force himself to straighten out his expression, glaring at the door for the hideous orange to appear. He reluctantly took out his arm from inside her jacket back to his side, turning himself towards the door, making sure to keep her attached to him at his side without having to face the newly arrived guest at the house if she didn't want to.
He heard the loud thumps of rushed feet before they stopped as the guy finally made his appearance and stopped at the door, looking at the scene in front of him with his eyebrows drawn up almost to his hairline. Sasuke levelled his gaze with his friend coolly, daring the guy with his eyes to make a idiotic comment at their proximity, which he did once he snapped out of his shock after a brief moment of silence. "What are you doing to Hinata-chan, teme?", he asked in his confusion, eyebrows furrowed into a frown. He felt the girl bury her face deeper into his chest with embarrassment, prompting him to answer with, "None of your business, dobe."
At his dismissive answer, he saw the blond's eyes turn steely with determination before they turned to the girl in question, taking in her slightly shivering form and his arm around her holding in place next to him. The guy returned his eyes back to his own and asked in a low, gravely voice, "Is he bothering you Hinata?" Hearing that question and the implied insult to his character enraged him, his body tensing with his eyes now glaring back at him. Silence descended upon the room as the two young men glared at each other, the tension in the room growing with each passing moment.
The impasse was finally broken when she spoke up, lifting her face from his chest but hands still clutching onto his shirt, "I.. I am okay, Naruto-kun", in her soft soothing voice. Once he heard those words of reassurance from her, he felt warmth and pleasure spread through his being, as he turned his head down to look at her. Slowly she raised her eyes to meet his own hesitantly, and he could clearly see all her emotions in them, a swirling pool of nervousness, embarrassment and pleading. Her beautiful, soulful eyes were pleading with him for understanding, to let her go. It wasn't forceful, nothing about her was, but she was powerful, in her own way she managed to affect him to his core. Regardless of how strong he was as a shinobi, despite him believing that there was no one alive who could force their will upon him without taking damage, he realised that she was the exception and all it took her was to give him her eyes.
A sense of loss and longing settled heavy in his abdomen when he half-heartedly relinquished the hold he had on her, his arm slipping back to his side. He saw her slowly release his shirt as well, before she turned around to face Naruto shyly, and addressed him, "I need to.. speak with you about.. about something important, Naruto-kun", in her soft voice abashedly. Naruto looked at her confused as he asked, "What's going on, Hinata-chan?", taking a few steps towards them, moving further into the room.
He wondered what was so important she wanted to talk to him about before the answer came to him like a kunai stabbing right through his heart. 'No, she won't', a part of him refused to believe she would be so cruel as to confess her feelings for the blond with him standing right there, specially after the moments they had shared only a short while ago. But taking a glance at her anxious self, blushing and fidgeting in front of him, it was clear to him what was going to happen. He had to decide fast if he was going to be able to go through this or not and if he couldn't tolerate it, then if he should leave or interfere to stop it from happening.
Realising that there was no way that he would leave the two alone in his own damn house, the decision was made for him. He was going to put a stop to this nonsense at once, which he did right away. "You need to leave", he said bluntly with a straight face, looking right at her. Once she realised he had spoken those words to her, she snapped her eyes back to him in disbelief, the hurt caused by his dismissal clearly reflected in her eyes. That look stirred guilt and regret in his chest, and he quickly blurted out, "It's getting late", as his explanation, shifting his gaze to the other person in the room, crossing his arms at his chest.
He saw her smile warmly up at him, after the frown cleared from her face a second later, at the periphery of his vision, his chest tightening at that, and heard her whispered, "Hai, gomen nasai", before turning her eyes back to the now extremely puzzled looking blond in front of them. "I.. I will talk to you later, Naruto-kun", she said shyly, adding a small demure bow at the end of her statement, blushing red once again. He watched Naruto move out of the way, murmuring "Sure", to allow her passage and she quickly ran off out of the house without taking a glance back.
He heard the guy ask a few moments after, "What just happened?", scratching the back of his head. He took in a deep breath, closing his eyes, and let it out in a heavy sigh, before stating, "You have horrible timing, usuratonkachi." The blond's indignant reply came right after in a loud outburst, "Hey! I just wanted to see your new place! What's gotten into you lately?" Sasuke felt tired, hearing that, he was tired of all the pretenses, as if he didn't care about her and decided that he was done with it, not wanting to hide it anymore. He opened his eyes and looked straight into the blue orbs of his only friend and replied nonchalantly, "I love her, Naruto." What he didn't expect was the deep frown of confusion on his face at his confession as he heard him ask a few seconds after looking at him as if he was the stupid one, "So? I love her too, dattebayo."
A/N : Yes, the story is inching towards chaos slowly. I have the outline in my head but I constantly feel like I am going to mess up the order of events, specially since every chapter has a timestamp. So, in the future if I do mess up, please forgive me. I will make corrections if needed. I know some readers will be curious about Hinata's pov again and it will come eventually. That's all. See you next time!