Dissident

adj. disagreeing, especially with a majority

The sound of gagging in the men's washroom overdubbed the sound of the acoustic guitar. Puke filled the toilet with partially digested nuts and an assortment decomposed with the acids of the stomach. Naruto wiped his nose and understood he had too much sake during the concert. He got up and stumbled out of the room into the darkness of the club where on stage Shino and Sasuke plucked their guitars. The first time he saw Shino, Naruto thought, "I don't think he is my type of guy."

The ninja was dark hair, his lower half of his face covered with a high collar and his eyes hid under slim sunglasses. Naruto leaned against the wall and watched the two performers. With his grown finger nails, Sasuke played an old instrument called an oud. It was short and stumby and carried the audience to a far away land. One of the audience members was a blue haired girl, Hinata, who was straight as an arrow. There was no one for whom she could not care, and though she commanded the agreement of her surroundings, she was dissident. Her family had thought her weak for her care of everyone, but she was the most important part of her team.

With her pure pail blue eyes, she watched over Naruto who did not stand tall as usual. She saw him as weakened and tired from his hand on a wall and the other over his stomach. Before Naruto noticed her, a warm small hand was over his head. "You're not doing so well, Naruto-kun."

In his stupor he tried to admit that he was fine but the low lighting and ringing cords preoccupied him. "I think I need some fresh air."

Putting her short haired head next to his back, she slit under his arm and guided him out of the bar. The bouncer asked them if they would be returning, and Hinata shook her head.

They arrived at Naruto's appartment at a quarter pass one in the morning. She had to lie him down by the railing and fish out his keys to open the door. Naruto had taken the charactistics of Hinata, as now he was the one who could not look into her eyes. She was strong, while he was weak. She had restrain, as he had went by his limits. Picking him up again, she lead him through the door and on to his bed rolling him over to face down. "H'm surry," Naruto slurred, "you too kind."

From the sink filling the kettle, she looked at him and removed a bin from under the sink. A kick send it down the wooden flooring and settled under Naruto's limb head hanging over his bed. "What I'm giving you is mostly for poison," She stated, "since Kiba had always liked to stick his nose into everything."

Kiba was another teammate of Hinata, and the first to ask her about her feelings about Naruto. Not comfortable about expressing her feelins, she had told him that Naruto signified hope for the future. At this moment, she could see weakness, but never had the spark from his eye vanished. He looked at the door and she knew he wanted her to leave, but her mixed feelings about him told her that he wished he could have the power to shut the door. If she did not control him, he would go to the task. She put the kettle on the stove and closed the door to keep him from any heroic tasks. "It's going to be a hard night and morning," Hinata said to give his struggle meaning. She had to turn around to reach the stove as the kettle boiled. From under her pocket, that she carried to this day, she pulled out a patch to put in a cup. The steaming water filled the cup and she stirred it with a spoon. Naruto breathed heavily as she carried it to him.

"Thank you." He said before he took a slip of the mixture. It was awful and burnt his throat. As she left, he caught her wrist. "Please, stay."

"Naruto-kun... sorry," she said and pulled the covers over him, "but I can't."