Fragile Hearts: Twenty-Four

"Where do you work again?"

Naruto smiled and smoothly parked his car in the parking lot. "At a car company," he said getting out of the car. He opened the door to the backseat and pulled out a bag, slinging the strap over his shoulder he closed the door.

"M...hm," Neji hummed looked around. He followed soundlessly behind the blonde, observing his surroundings.

"Good morning Mr. Uzumaki," the woman at the front desk greeted him with a smile. Naruto merely nodded and continued walking towards the elevator. On their way up, everyone that saw him greeted him politely and with respect, which made Neji come to the conclusion that he was someone important in the company.

"Shion," he said once they were on the top floor. The Hyūga stared at the blonde girl seated behind her desk with a blank expression.

"Mr. Uzumaki, good morning...you're late," she added.

Naruto scratched the side of his head, "yeah I had a more pressing issue to resolve," he replied glancing at Neji through the corners of his eyes. "Well this is Neji Hyūga, Hinata's cousin, he'll be staying with me for today."

The brown-haired man watched as the blonde girl's facial expression changed from one of happiness to absolute dismay. Shion nodded and handed him a few sticky notes, "all the messages you got so far."

The Uzumaki smiled and took the papers, he then tapped his index finger on the desk as he left. They entered his office and Naruto placed his bag down on his desk. "Make yourself at home," he said with his arms outstretched.

"From my analysis, I see you're the boss around here," he said sitting on the couch close to the door. The blonde nodded and Neji arched his eyebrows, "nice...and you're in love with my cousin?"

"Yeah," he answered sitting in his seat.

"Have you told her?"

"I have, a few nights ago," Naruto replied looking around.

The brown-haired man frowned, "let me guess, she hasn't responded yet."

"No," he said in a rather disappointed tone of voice. "But it's okay...I'll wait."

"For how long?"

The blonde made eye contact with him just then, "for as long as it takes."

Neji scoffed and folded his arms over his chest, staring at Naruto just then was like staring in the mirror. He remembered saying those exact words to himself almost three years ago...he was yet to regret his decision. But he wasn't sure if the Uzumaki knew what he had in store for himself by saying those words. Waiting gets boring after a while and eventually it will end, he just hoped that Hinata would make up her mind before his patience ran out.

...

"You seem a bit distracted," Shino said staring at his co-worker.

Hinata quickly shook her head and straightened up in her seat, "I-I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He asked trying not to pry.

She nodded and offered him a fake smile. Truly she was somewhat okay, it was simply her worrying about Naruto and Neji together at work and also her thinking about going home with him...was she ready?

She missed her younger sister and even her father. But it hurt...it hurt to know that in the two to three years since she last saw him he never called to check up on her. It was always a cruel reminder that she had disappointed him and that he hadn't forgiven her.

He'll never forgive me.

Hinata sighed slouched in her seat, however as soon as the store door opened and the sound of the bell over it was heard. She lifted her lavender gaze to meet the brunette that had just entered, but as soon as she saw her, she froze.

"Hello, welcome to our-"

"Tamaki," the Hyūga said cutting off Shino's introduction.

The dark-haired man glanced at his colleague and arched an eyebrow, "I take it that you two know each other." He said cutting through the deafening silence. "In that case I'll leave you two alone."

Before the pale girl could even object, he disappeared into the storage room, leaving her alone with her friend. "Uh...w-what are you-?"

"I just came to buy a cat," she said looking around.

"O-oh..." Hinata furrowed her eyebrows, "shouldn't you be at work?"

Tamaki rolled her eyes and shifted from one foot to the next. "I got the day off...didn't Kiba tell you?"

She frowned, "no... why would he?"

"You two are awfully close."

"Tamaki-"

The brunette frowned, "I just came to get a cat...but since you can't help me, I'll just come back at another time...or try somewhere else."

Tamaki turned to leave and Hinata took the initiative to confront her. "What did I do?"

"What?" She asked still not facing her.

The midnight blue haired girl shrugged and shook her head, "clearly I-I must have done something to offend you..."

It was quiet for a while, neither spoke until Tamaki sighed and turned around, "you want to know why I've been acting this way towards you?" She asked approaching the counter. "You know, Hinata because of you I can't get the guy I like to notice me...not even once."

The pale girl furrowed her eyebrows, "what are you talking about?" Does she like Naruto? She frowned and looked down at the counter, her thoughts scattered, searching for a suitable answer.

The brown eyed girl scoffed and shook her head. "You're act so innocent...but that's not really you, is it?"

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about," she said still puzzled.

Tamaki shook her head, "forget it, what's the point anyway? He loves you." With that said she felt, leaving Hinata more bemused than she was in the beginning. The only person that came to mind was Naruto...after all he did confess his love for her a few days ago. At the memory of his confession, her cheeks turned a light shade of red and a smile graced her lips.

"This isn't the time," she hissed slapping her cheeks. Sitting back in her seat she thought of the possibility of Tamaki liking Naruto. She only saw them interact once and that was when they all had dinner together. She, Naruto, Tamaki and... "Kiba-kun."

...

Naruto brought his coffee cup to his mouth for the second time as he read over the long document in front of him. Ever since Hinata told him about what happened between she and Toneri he'd been working on getting out of the business deal they'd made. It wasn't finalized yet and it never would be.

"Knock knock," he heard coming from the door. Glancing up he caught sight of his dark-haired friend. "You're always busy."

"I do have a job Sasuke," he deadpanned.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes and sat in the seat in front of him. "So why did you want to see me? Or was it that you were hoping that I'd bring food for you on my way here?"

"No... but did you?" Naruto asked placing the folder down.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked away, "no, you have Hinata now. I'm not bringing you food anymore."

"Sometimes I wonder how we're friends," the blonde muttered to himself, frowning while turning his attention back to his work.

"You and me both," he replied fiddling with the hat in his hand. "Still, why did you want to see me?"

"It wasn't me exactly..." He trailed off.

The Uchiha looked around Naruto's office, "where's the person?"

"Bathroom." Sasuke nodded and his blonde counterpart frowned. "Did you get anything on the guy that was following Hinata?"

"Allegedly following her," the raven-haired man corrected him. "And no, I'm still blank, but-"

"Someone was following Hinata?" Came from the doorway of Naruto's office.

Sasuke turned to face whoever it was and the young CEO turned his attention to him. "Neji?"

The Hyūga walked towards Naruto's desk, "you said someone was following her."

"Allegedly following her, we don't know for sure," Sasuke clarified.

"Yeah...it hasn't happened again though." Naruto added.

"

But it could happen-"

The blonde shook his head, "ever since the incident I started taking her home."

Neji frowned and sat beside Sasuke, "I still think it's not safe."

"Both of us as well, but what can we do?" The Uchiha asked. He sighed in response knowing that he was right, but the thought never left his head. "When did you get here?"

"Last night," Neji answered finally giving his old schoolmate his undivided attention. "How have you been?"

Naruto smirked waiting for him to answer, the raven-haired man noticed and glanced at him from the corners of his eyes. "Good."

"I'd say getting married is better than good," the Uzumaki commented causing Neji's eyes to widen.

"You're getting married?" Sasuke nodded, "congratulations."

"Thank you," he responded while Naruto never lost his boyish grin. It felt strange at first having Hinata's relative with him, after all he knew nothing about him and yet he was willing and ready for them to spend the day in each other's company. But as time went by, the more they spoke was the more comfortable it got between both of them...maybe it was because they both had similar interests. Both of them wanted to protect Hinata and that seemed to be the foundation of their relationship. His cerulean blue eyes watched both men as they spoke and suddenly he noticed that Neji had fit right in with his circle of friends.

He was no different.

"You should come," Sasuke said.

"I'll try to make it."

The onyx eyed man nodded, "and Tenten...how is she?"

Naruto noticed that Neji because a bit tense when Sasuke mentioned Tenten's name. "I wouldn't know...I haven't seen her since college."

The Uchiha's eyes widened slightly, "oh, it's the same for Hinata." The Hyūga nodded confirming his assumption.

Feeling a bit awkward in the new silence that took over Naruto cleared his throat. "I feel so left out."

"Pff, that's your problem," Sasuke replied.

"Seriously, how are we friends?"

Neji smiled slightly and rolled his pale eyes as he watched the two. For him the people in his left had hardly changed, making him feel as though almost three years hadn't passed. He hoped that Tenten would be the same, that she'd still look at him the way she used to...but something told him that he was merely giving himself false hope and that the Tenten he once knew was long gone.

Though there was one thing he was sure of. Hinata needed a break and finding out that someone was allegedly following her just pushed him to make his final decision. She was going home with him for a while, he wouldn't leave her.

Not again.

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