Fragile Hearts: Twelve

"I uh...I had a good time tonight," Naruto said scratching the back of his head.

Hinata smiled and clenched her purse tighter as she stared at the closed metal doors before them. "So did I."

"Really?" He asked staring at her.

"Mhm," she nodded biting her bottom lip.

Naruto blushed slightly before pushing both hands into his pockets and rocking back on his heels. "So you wouldn't mind going out with me again then?"

There was a ding and the elevator doors slid apart, the Hyūga stepped out into the hallway, leaving her date. Smiling she looked at his leather shoes, her footprints still there. "Maybe."

"So vague," he mumbled pouting which caused her to giggle.

"Goodnight Naruto-kun," Hinata said turning away.

"Hinata," Naruto said suddenly grabbing her wrist gently. He placed a hand against one of the elevator doors in order to keep it open. She turned and looked at him with confused eyes. "I... well-"

"Hinata!"

The pale girl was brought out of her daydream by the sound of a very impatient Kiba. "E-eh?" She asked blinking a few times. Her lavender orbs focused on the brown-haired man standing before her with a frown on his face.

"You zoned out on me-again!" He exclaimed.

"S-sorry Kiba-kun, I just-"

"What are you thinking about?" He asked leaning over the counter to get closer to her.

Hinata blushed and back away a bit, "n-nothing." She frantically started organizing the scattered magazines and invoices on the counter that Shino left behind.

"Hmm," Kiba narrowed his eyes at her. "Where were you last night?"

"L-last night? W-what do you mean?" She asked pushing a stray lock of her hair behind her right ear nervously.

"I came by around 8:30 and you weren't there..."

"Oh."

He straightened and ran a hand through his hair, "your neighbour-"

"Tamaki," she said as though filling in a blank space.

He snapped his fingers, forming a 'Z' that pointed at her, "yes that's her name. She told me that you went out."

"I did..."

"With whom?"

"A f-friend," Hinata answered quickly hoping he wouldn't ask anymore questions.

Kiba furrowed his eyebrows while thinking, "Uchiha?" When she shook her head he seemed shocked. "You made a new friend? You?"

At that, the Hyūga deadpanned, "yes me. Am I not capable of making new friends?"

The Inuzuka shrugged, "not all wallflowers are capable of doing so." Hinata rolled her eyes and he chuckled, "so who was it?"

"I'm not telling," she said frowning playfully.

"Ahh come on Hina. I'm sorry for calling you a wallflower...you're not. In fact you're the most sociable person I know." He smiled turning to he store window and raising his hands to dramatize his words. "A social butterfly."

"I'm not."

He dropped his hands and his smile faded, turning to her he deadpanned. "Kill a guy for trying." She giggled and he grinned, "so, who was it?"

Hinata hesitated before responding, "Naruto."

There was moment of silence before Kiba cocked a hand behind his ear, "eh?"

"I said-"

"I heard you the first time Hinata."

She looked away, "sorry."

"Was it a date?" He asked quietly.

"Well..." She started intertwining her fingers.

He looked at her with disbelief, hurt evident in his eyes. He felt as though he'd been hit by a truck and, of course, the driver was none other than the woman he was looking at. For years he'd stuck by her, waiting for her to just go out with him once...but it seemed as though he was simply too slow.

"Oh," he said quietly looking down at her intertwined fingers. She was nervous, maybe because she was aware of his feelings for her so she wanted to spare him...but it was too late. With Hinata he never knew where he stood. Either she was happy and full of life or she was sad and pushing him away. But then he was always there for her. Even when Toneri-

"Kiba-kun," her soft voice distracted him.

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?" She asked looking at him intently.

The brown-haired man nodded quickly and faked a smile. "I'm fine."

"You don't-"

"Um, I need to get back to work," he said quickly glancing at his watch.

Hinata frowned, "oh...okay."

"Yeah, sorry, but I don't have an assistant and things have been hectic these past few days...that's why I haven't been around much." The Hyūga simply nodded, silently accepting his excuse. He sighed and turned away, his posture rigid as he left the pet shop.

"You'll call me?" She asked as he opened the door. He would always promise to call her every time he left. There was a long, lingering silence that filled the air with tension, sadness leaking from the vet. Unsaid words hung in the intoxicated air, stifling them both as each held their breath.

"Yeah," he said before the door closed. Her lavender eyes watched as Kiba walked along the sidewalk until he was out of sight. He didn't have to say anything for her to know that he was hurt. And deep down she knew that it was her fault.

"Brother? That's not the relationship I interpreted between you two."

Naruto's words ran through her mind causing her to sigh. Hinata folded her arms on the counter and lowered her head before groaning in frustration. "What do you want Kiba?"

...

"Is this really necessary?" Naruto groaned as Sakura wrapped the tape measure around his arm.

"Yes," the pinkette replied reading the number.

He frowned and threw his head back, "I have work to do."

"So do I, don't you think they need me at the hospital? But I told you to come over last night after work so I could do this, but did you come? No."

The Uzumaki smirked, "I forgot, sorry."

"Whatever," she said wrapping it around his chest. "I'm only letting you off the hook because I heard you were going out with Hinata."

Naruto chuckled, "you found out about that?"

"Of course," Sai announced entering the room. "After all, Ino tells her everything."

"Hello Sai, how are you? I'm fine, thanks for asking," Sakura said writing down Naruto's measurements.

"Shouldn't you be at work? You know saving lives or whatever you do," he said dropping a file on Naruto's desk.

The jade green eyed woman scoffed, "and shouldn't you be sitting around your little computer creating designs or whatever you do?"

Sai chuckled briefly before walking towards the glass window. Looking down he spotted Sakura's car, "nice car. If I remember correctly, I'm the one who designed it."

"Too bad Naruto's the one making all the money," she shot back with a triumphant smile. The pale man stood frozen in place while Naruto tried to contain his laughter and stay still as Sakura measured the length of his legs.

"The file you wanted," Sai finally said after a while.

"Thanks Sai," the Uzumaki smiled grateful that he had a back up.

The raven-haired man rolled his eyes, "this time, try not to lose it. And you..." he said glancing at the bride-to-be. "Don't even think about coming to me next."

"I'm getting your measurements Sai. One way or the other," she retorted scribbling down numbers. He sighed and left Naruto's office just as she finished taking his measurements. "Done."

"That took so long," the blonde groaned going to sit in his chair. He pulled the document towards him and flipped through it, eyeballing the remodeled designs.

Sakura blew a strand of hair out of her face, "stop whining, it's unbecoming of you."

"Jeez are you mad at Sai or me?" He frowned closing the folder.

She sighed and came to sit in a chair in front of his desk. "I need to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Do you still love me?" She asked without batting an eye.

Naruto almost choked on thin air as he heard her words. "W-what? Where's this going?"

She rolled her emerald eyes in annoyance, "just answer the question."

"No, I don't still love you," he replied causing her to smile.

"Good!" She beamed getting to her feet and gathering her stuff.

The Uzumaki furrowed his eyebrows as he watched as she all but scamper out of his office. "Why'd you suddenly ask?"

Sakura stopped at the door and turned to face him, "so I know you won't hurt Hinata. She's a nice girl and I don't want to see her get her heart broken."

Naruto scoffed, "you say that like she likes me. I'm just a friend to her."

But the pinkette didn't respond, she merely offered him toothy grin before skipping out of his office. "Sai!" Her voice could be heard from the hallway as she looked for him causing Naruto to shake his head in amusement. His friends were definitely something else.

...

By the time night came Shino had left Hinata to close the pet shop. It was minutes to nine and all she wanted was to get home and take a long bath. Bending slightly she turned the key in the lock and made sure that the door was locked properly before placing the key in her purse. Her slender fingers reached upwards and ran through her loose hair as she began walking to the bus stop.

"I really need to start saving for a car," she sighed rubbing the back of her neck. The sound of her low heels clicking against the pavement collided with the sound of tires rolling on asphalt and car horns. She frowned when she remembered just how far away the bus stop actually was, "yup, definitely need a-"

The sound of a trashcan hitting the ground startled her to an abrupt stop. She turned quickly only to see someone dressed in black straightening the fallen bin. Hinata furrowed her eyebrows and started walking once again however this time she was more aware of her surroundings. She clenched her handbag tighter and walked faster, she just wanted to get home.

Glancing behind her quickly she realized that not only was the same person following her, but their steps had quickened just like hers. Hinata came to the conclusion that it was a man judging by his height and build, her heartbeat sped up as slowly began to panic. Taking deep breaths she tried to stay calm and think of a solution. Maybe he's not following me? Maybe we're just going to the same bus stop...

However when she turned the corner and he did the same she knew that him following her was a possibility. Quickly her hand began searching through her handbag as she thought of the only way to protect herself. Retrieving her phone she dialed a number and pressed the phone to her ear. The more it rang was the tenser she got, Hinata didn't dare glance over her shoulder again for fear of what she might see. Her hand shook slightly as she waited for the call to go through.

"Hel-"

"Naruto-kun," she didn't wait for him to finish before expressing her panic.

"Hinata what's wrong?" He asked quickly, his voice laced with concern.

She scratched her forehead before thinking of a way to explain her situation to him. She'd have called Kiba, but she didn't want to have to deal with the awkwardness that would follow. "Uh...a-are you still at work?"

"Yes, but if you need me to be somewhere else I can-"

"No no," she said looking at the bus stop ahead of her.

"What's the matter?"

"I-I think someone's following me," she whispered glancing behind her. He was still there.

"What? Where are you?"

"I'm almost at the bus stop near the pet shop," she explained before she tripped on a crack. "Ouch!"

"I'm coming, just go in a store or something." Before she could protest he'd already hung up. Hinata bit her bottom lip and looked around, most of the stores on the street were already closed or closing. Sticking out her bottom lip she released a frustrated groan and scurried quickly into the most populated place she could find.

A bar.

The smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke attacked her nostrils as soon as she entered. She maneuvered her way through the crowd and found a corner to stand in, away from the mass of moving bodies. Music bellowed through the room and somehow she knew she felt safer outside with her stalker. Her lavender eyes glanced around the bar and she saw no sign of him. However she had a strange feeling that he'd followed her inside. Taking a deep breath she buttoned up her jacket, praying Naruto would hurry.

Hinata chewed on her bottom lip as she waited, her fingers wrapping around the strap of her handbag, knees together. She was anxious, but her anxiety seemed to fade slightly as she felt something cold and wet hit her feet. Frowning she looked down at her wet feet as she heard someone say, "sorry." Looking up she saw a man helping a woman who was clearly drunk. In her hand was a glass, held at a crooked angle, that was half empty, mainly because she had thrown half its contents on Hinata's feet.

"I-It's fine," she said dismissing the accident. However behind him she spotted the man that was following her sitting by the counter. Before him was a drink and his back was turned to her. Due to the hood of his jacket she was unable to see his hair. Her phone started vibrating in her bag and she quickly got it.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?" Naruto asked, though she could hardly hear him over the noise.

She shifted from one foot to the next, her eyes never leaving the strange man. "In a bar."

"What?" He asked unable to hear her.

She took a deep breath before speaking louder. "In a bar!" Without hearing anything else the line went dead. She sighed and put away her phone. Hinata wasn't sure whether she should stay or try to get home on her own. The only thing she knew was that she needed to get out of there.

With one last glance at the man who was supposedly following her she began making her was to the exit. "Excuse me...sorry...excuse me." She repeated trying to get to the door, but, of course, everyone ignored her.

The door opened just then and a blonde rushed in. Relief and joy whelmed in Hinata as she watched him searching for her, his cerulean blue eyes glancing around frantically. Slowly the Hyūga made her way towards him.

"Naruto-kun," she said tapping on his shoulder. The blonde turned quickly and, to her surprise, pulled her into his embrace.

"You scared me," he said loud enough for her to hear. She didn't know what to say or even how to react. All she knew was that she felt safe in his arms, despite the chaos happening around them. "Let's go," he muttered releasing her only to intertwine their fingers as he took her hand. On their way out Hinata didn't look back, but little did she know that the man who was following her was staring at her as she left.

"T-thank you," she said as soon as they were outside.

Naruto let go of her hand and a feeling of emptiness took his place. "If you ever need anything don't hesitate to call me." She nodded and looked at her alcohol-stained feet. "Where's the person who was following you?" He asked looking around with his hands on his hips.

Hinata pointed to the bar, "inside."

She heard him sigh before nodding, "I'll drop you home."

"That's not necessary," she said quietly.

"Hinata I'll only be able to sleep tonight if I give you a lift home," Naruto explained. "Just now-when you called me, I almost had a heart attack."

She placed a hand over her mouth as she laughed, "no need to be so dramatic."

Naruto smiled as he gazed at her, "I'm not. I thought something was going to happen to you before I..."

She tilted her head to the side, "before you...?"

The Uzumaki blushed and turned away, "nothing." Hinata bit the inside of her cheek and walked around so that she was standing in front of him. Extending her arm she offered him her hand. Naruto arched an eyebrow and looked at her with a puzzled expression, "what?"

"You said you wanted to drop me home...o-or have you changed your mind?" She asked retracting her hand, however Naruto took a hold of it before she could do so fully.

"I haven't," he replied peering at her. She blushed slightly and held her head down to hide her burning cheeks.

"Where's your car?" She asked as they started walking.

"I parked it somewhere around here," he said looking along the street.

"Somewhere..."

"What?" He asked looking at her. "I was too preoccupied with finding you in time so I just parked somewhere and started running."

"Wow," she slurred sarcastically. "My hero."

Naruto grinned and tightened his hold on her hand. "I told you Hinata, I'm your knight in shining armor."

The pale girl blushed crimson and bumped him with her shoulder, "j-just hurry and find your car." At that, Naruto laughed at her reaction and looked ahead of them trying to find his misplaced car.

Fragile Hearts | A NaruHina Story
©Infinite_Writer01™2016
Thank you for reading!