Fragile Hearts: Five
The sound of a vacuum cleaner could be heard from all the way upstairs. Hinata groaned as she tried to drown out the noise it made, but the more she tried, was the louder it got. Her hand reached out in search of a pillow, retrieving it, she pulled the fluffy bed accessory over her head.
The sunlight that streamed in from the window opposite to the bed made her frown also. The heat of its rays on her pale, exposed skin made it hard to go back to sleep. Finally, giving up, she threw the pillow towards the end of the bed and sat up. The Hyūga squinted as her eyes tried to adjust to the illuminated room. She felt woozy and a bit out of character, the annoying sound of the vacuum cleaner not helping.
Wait...vacuum cleaner? Someone's in—
"...my house," she finished her thought aloud while looking around the room. The room that belonged to another. Scrambling out of bed Hinata's hands flew to her chest as she checked to see that her clothing was still in tack. When she realized that her clothing hadn't been removed, she released a sigh of relief. Only to start panicking once again when she remembered that it wasn't her home.
The pale girl bit the nail on her thumb nervously as she walked around the room looking for signs of whom it might belong to. Slowly her bare feet brushed across the soft, grey carpet on the floor, her eyes glued to the glass wall with the curtains pulled apart. Before it was an egg shaped, white, rattan hanging chair with baby blue cushions. She imagined someone sitting there in the chair and the view that person would have at night or when it rained.
She allowed her lavender eyes to roam around the lavish room. It was expensive, but very simple. An abstract painting was positioned over the bed, opposite to the rather large plasma TV on the ash grey wall. Turning around Hinata was met by a closet, she slid open the door cautiously, only to be met by a collection of suits. Okay. I'm in a man's house...please don't be Toneri, please, please.
"Master," she heard a faint voice coming from downstairs. Closing the door quickly, she walked towards the slightly opened door and peeped into the hallway. Satisfied that it was empty, she slowly ventured from the bedroom, her steps light and movements quiet.
Her small hands brushed against the hard wood of the balcony railing. From above she caught sight of a black-haired woman dressed in a maid's outfit with black stockings and a white ribbon around her ponytail. Hinata furrowed her eyebrows as she watched her put away the vacuum cleaner in the storage closet.
She closed the door and turned to walk away when Hinata began hurrying down the stairs. "Uh..."
The maid stopped once she heard her voice. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw her before she bowed, "Miss Hyūga, good morning."
"Morning," she whispered back.
There was a moment of awkward silence, Izumi looked away momentarily, unsure of what to say. "Um...Master Na—" She was cut off by the sound of footsteps.
"Izumi have you seen my...?" Naruto trailed off once he saw Hinata standing by the staircase. "Hinata." There was a look of relief on her face, but soon it was replaced by an uneasy expression. "Ah...um is breakfast ready?" He turned to the black-haired girl who nodded in response. "Alright, let's go eat then, I'm sure you're hungry," he said offering her a smile.
"I-I'm not actually," Hinata said quietly shifting from one foot to the next. She wanted nothing more than to go home so she could lick her reopened wounds. Memories of the night before came flooding back, making her uneasy and extremely embarrassed. Naruto had witnessed her meltdown...he saw it all. She knew for sure he was going to question her about it, and she couldn't bring herself to tell him...of all people. A stranger.
"Izumi will you excuse us?" The black-haired maid bowed and left, but not before getting another glance at Hinata. "You know..." He trailed off catching the pale girl's attention. She watched as he slowly advanced towards her, his hands inside the pockets of his running pants. Her eyes zeroed in on his exposed biceps and suddenly she felt vulnerable in his presence. "...I was really worried about you last night."
"I'm sorry I-I worried you," Hinata replied looking away.
"Are you?"
"Yes," she whispered since he was close enough to hear her. He bent his head, cerulean blue eyes staring at her. She shifted uncomfortably under his scrutinizing gaze.
"Then have breakfast with me...as a way to make it up to me." He said, the corners of his lips pulling upwards into a small smile. Hinata furrowed her eyebrows and looked up, only to find herself drowning in an ocean of blue.
Shaking her head quickly she took a few steps back. He's too close. "I-I can't."
"You can't or you won't?" He asked tilting his head to continue studying her.
She bit her lip nervously, "I just want to go home."
"I'll take you home," he replied causing her to look at him. "After we have breakfast."
She was beginning to get annoyed, "why are y-you so bent on having breakfast with m-me?"
He rocked back on his heels; head bent as he shrugged. "I'm just hungry, I guess. I just came back from my morning run," he explained. Naruto pulled his right hand from his pocket and rubbed the back of his neck before his eyes met hers once more. "And I figured that you were hungry."
"I'm not."
"Well still." She deadpanned and he sighed, "fine, I'd like to know what happened to you last night."
Hinata scoffed, "you men are all the same," she muttered to herself. "Y-you always have an ulterior motive."
"Hinata."
"Take me home."
"But—"
"Please," she begged.
Naruto sighed and walked over to the table, grabbing his keys he passed her and opened the door. "As you wish."
She sighed and noticed that she wasn't wearing her shoes. Holding up her index finger she silently asked Naruto for a minute.
...
The ride to her apartment was long and awkward. She sat with her hands on her lap, her fingers fiddling with the end of her dress as she looked out the window. Now and then Naruto would glance at her, trying to come up with a way to start conversation, but by the tension in the air, he knew not to try.
They came to a stop at a stoplight and the blonde ran a hand through his hair. He released an exasperated sigh and turned to face her. "I'm sorry."
The Hyūga furrowed her eyebrows and glanced at him. "For?"
"Pressuring you this morning...it wrong of me and I had no right. It's just that...you looked so broken last night I just wanted to know what was wrong so I could help, you know? I know I haven't known you for very long—heck I know nothing about you. But you're a friend of Teme's, so that means you're a friend of mine."
"I-It's fine," was her only response. Naruto frowned and drove off deciding not to push. It was obvious that she wasn't ready to open up.
They arrived at her apartment complex in no time. Naruto insisted on following her up to her flat and so they ended up in an empty elevator together. Hinata stood a good distance from him, waiting for the bell to go so she could get to her apartment quickly. She knew Naruto only wanted to help, but she didn't want his help...or anyone's at that. She just wanted to be alone.
The doors of the lift opened, and they both shuffled out and into the hallway. As soon as Hinata looked towards her door she knew that it would be a while before she could be by herself.
"Kiba-kun," she called watching as he lifted his fist to knock on her door again.
The brown-haired boy turned and released a sigh of relief once he saw her. "You had me worried," he said once she was standing in front of him. He pulled her in for a hug which caused her to stiffen in his embrace.
Naruto cleared his throat and Hinata pulled back. "I'm okay."
"Right," Naruto muttered.
Kiba glanced between the two and frowned, "Toneri told us you weren't feeling well so Naruto took you home."
"Well—"
"Yeah," the Hyūga interjected cutting off Naruto. The blonde glared at her, but she merely kept her gaze glued to the floor.
"Well, thank you," Kiba said to Naruto.
"It was no trouble," he replied, his eyes never leaving Hinata.
"Um...well, I brought your bag," the brown-haired man said handing her her handbag.
"Thanks," she whispered searching through it immediately for her house key.
Naruto pushed both hands into his pockets as both he and Kiba watched her. Hinata retrieved the keys with a shaking hand, turning to her door she struggled to get it open. "Hinata," Kiba said trying to take the key from her, but she merely pushed his hand away.
"I've got it," she whispered fighting with the door.
Kiba tried again, "let me help you."
"Leave it," she whispered but when he didn't listen, she pushed him away. "Just leave me alone!" Naruto's eyes widened as he watched them both. Hinata's eyes burned with unshed tears as she stared at Kiba. She quickly opened the door and went inside and without even a goodbye she slammed the door, dismissing them both.
"What happened to her?" Kiba asked. The blue-eyed man merely shrugged in response before turning to leave.
...
The steam from the shower engulfed her completely, its hard spray hitting her scalp as she sat on the shower floor. knees to her chest, her hands ran up and down her red arms. Her skin ached, the aftermath of how hard she'd scrubbed it, trying to rid herself of Toneri's touch, but no matter how hard she scrubbed, she could not erase his mark. He'd once again imprinted on her, tainting her in the process.
Her eyes were puffy from all the crying, but she didn't mind. She needed to get it all out, she was angry, sad, frustrated and most of all scared. Scared that he'd hurt her again, scenarios of what would have happened if Naruto hadn't intervened kept running through her mind...it always ended the same.
His taunting laugher echoed in her head, the look of pure evil in his blue eyes forever etched into her subconscious. Every time she closed her eyes, she'd see him, touching her, leaving bruises in the wake of his hard hands. He'd ruined her before...would he do it again?
Hinata's toes curled as a sob escaped her lips. The sound of her cell phone ringing in her room could be heard over the loud spray of the shower. She ignored it however, she didn't want to talk to anyone...they just wouldn't understand. She'd made the mistake of breaking down before Naruto, but never again.
A feeling of guilt washed over Hinata as she thought of how she had treated Naruto and Kiba earlier, but she couldn't help it. They would only made things worse, all she wanted was to be alone, but no one ever listened to her. Her voice simply wasn't heard.
After a few more minutes and tears she finally decided to get out of the shower. Her water wrinkled fingers wrapped around the shower valve as she turned it off. Her wet hair clung to her face and back, but she didn't mind. Wrapping her white bathrobe around her slender frame she walked into her bedroom.
The first thing she looked for was her phone which was on her bed charging. Sliding her finger against the face of it she realized that she had a lot of miss calls. Scrolling through she saw most of them were from Sasuke and Kiba.
Hinata sighed and placed her phone on the bedside table. Crawling into bed she pulled the covers up to her chin. Her toes curled and her eyes closed, and as she willed sleep to come, she hoped that then she could find peace.
Fragile Hearts | A NaruHina Story
©Infinite_Writer01™2016
Thank you for reading!
