Fragile Hearts: Thirty-Two

"So what now?" Naruto asked as his best friend closed his cell door. Sasuke didn't respond he merely focused on closing the lock. It was hard enough that he was being forced to detain his close friend, he didn't feel like talking at the moment. "Sasuke..." The raven-haired man shrugged, still not facing him. "That's not exactly helping me—"

"What do you want me to do Naruto?" He snapped. Naruto's eyes widened at his sudden outburst, meanwhile Sasuke looked around to see if anyone was close by to hear him.

"I don't know, you're the cop," Naruto shot back.

"You said you wouldn't beat hi—"

"I lied."

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes, "yeah and this is what your lie brought you."

"You know just as well as I do that I'm the innocent one here," the blonde said gripping the bars of the jail cell.

"You could have found another way to prove that he's guilty Naruto."

He rolled his eyes and released the cell bars, "thanks for taking my side," he spat, sarcasm lacing his words.

"You know exactly whose side I'm on in this," he said while walking away. Naruto sighed and sat down, the only question on his mind was what he would do next.

...

Hinata sat in the waiting room looking around the bright blue walls. Her right leg shook impatiently as she scanned the faces of the people who passed her.

Where is she?

The Hyūga sighed and checked the time on her phone. It was a little pass noon and she felt that time was running out on her. She couldn't just let Naruto stay in a jail cell...and she couldn't bare seeing him in one. This time Toneri went too far.

"Hinata," she heard her name and looked up at the person speaking to her.

"Sakura-chan," Hinata said getting to her feet.

The pinkette furrowed her eyebrows as she stared at her. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"S-Sasuke-san—"

Sakura panicked, "did something happen to him?" She asked taking a hold of both Hinata's arms. The midnight blue haired girl quickly shook her head and Sakura sighed in relief, though she felt that bad news was coming either way.

"He arrested Naruto-kun."

"What?" She gasped. The pale girl nodded and Sakura instructed her to sit before sitting beside her. "Why?"

Hinata averted her eyes, knowing that he had done something wrong. "He got into a fight with Toneri."

The jade green eyed girl frowned, "sounds like him." She sighed and rubbed Hinata's back. "It's okay, he can get bailed right?"

Hinata shrugged, "I-I haven't gone to see him." Again, Sakura sighed, "h-he didn't do anything wrong."

"Hinata..."

The pale girl placed both her hands on her face, "I don't know what to do."

"Well for starters you can go see him...it could be a simple situation where he can get bail."

Hinata took a deep breath and removed her hands. "You're right," she whispered.

The pink haired girl continued rubbing her back gently, trying to calm her down. Her comfort was much appreciated, but short lived as she soon had to go back to work. "I have to leave now Hinata..."

The Hyūga nodded, "thanks Sakura-chan."

"No problem and if you have any problems please just call me. I'll sort out Naruto," Sakura said getting up. Hinata forced a smile and watched as she left, she leaned back in her seat for a few minutes, trying to summon the courage to go see Naruto.

What am I doing?

She asked herself, she couldn't believe that she was doubting herself. Getting to her feet Hinata quickly exited the hospital and made her way to the closet bus station. She should have gone to the police station as soon as he was arrested, not wondering around like a stray animal.

She held out her hand in order to stop the approaching bus and bit her lip. The day was hot and she felt nauseous, the events leading up to Naruto's arrest settling in on her. She felt tired.

Sitting by the window, Hinata sighed and looked out at her environment. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she reached for it immediately hoping it was Sasuke, but she was disappointed.

"Kiba-kun..." She whispered staring at the caller ID. Her thumb hovered over the answer key, but instead she disconnected the call. She wasn't in the mood to speak to anyone, which was why she didn't pick up any of her father's calls from earlier.

She didn't want to hear what anyone had to say at that time. The only person she wanted to hear from was Naruto really, or Sasuke if he had good news for her. Everyone else was irrelevant...

Her fingers tapped on the back of the seat in front of her. It was empty so she wasn't disturbing anyone; it was the only way to relieve her stress at the moment. Finally the bus came to a stop and she got off.

The station was just ahead and her short legs carried her there in no time. Once inside she looked around at the multitude of men in uniforms. Some were eating, talking and others were doing paperwork, but still she didn't see the one she wanted to see.

"Um...excuse me," she said approaching the front desk. The man there looked down at her with a blank expression which made her feel as though she was wasting his time.

"How can I help you?" He asked in a monotone voice.

"You a-arrested a man this morning..." She trailed off.

The brown-haired man smiled, but it wasn't a pleasant one, but one of mockery. "We arrest guys all the time little lady."

Hinata frowned when she realized that he wasn't taking her seriously. "His n-name is N-Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

The man sighed and sat to look through the piles of paperwork on his desk. "Hmm."

The pale girl rolled her eyes feeling as though she was getting no where. Just then a hand rested on her shoulder and she turned to see at least one person she recognized. "Itachi-san."

He offered her a close eyed smile then looked at the man at the front desk. "I'll take it from here."

"Yes Sir," he replied going back to his mundane tasks.

"Thank you," Hinata whispered allowing herself to be led by the Uchiha.

Itachi scratched the back of his head and shrugged, "I was wondering when you'd show up."

She took a deep breath and looked around at the blue walls of the police station. Many sounds filtered through the air: chatter, grunts, laughter and of course exasperated sighs. It wasn't the place for Naruto.

The black-haired man in front of her came to a stop and so did she. Hinata had a feeling that they were at the cell where Naruto was being kept...it made her excited, but sad at the same time. "He's in the next cell."

"Can you...?"

Itachi turned and glanced at her before looking around for other policemen. "Five minutes."

The Hyūga nodded and her lips curved into a small smile, "t-thank you."

He nodded and left her alone, taking small steps she finally made it to Naruto's holding area. It was dark, seemingly cut off from the rest of the world in a sense. It reeked of sweat and despair making her nausea come back. Her eyes scanned the dimly lit cell until she came upon the only source of brightness present in the darkness.

"Naruto-kun..." She whispered upon seeing him. He was lying on the makeshift bed, with his back turned to her. His blonde hair seemed dull, like the growing gloom lurking in the cell was slowly draining him of all his vitality. The Uzumaki perked up at the sound of her voice and turned to look at her. His eyes squinted before focusing on her completely.

"Hinata," he said sitting up. His feet touched the floor and a soft thud was heard. She looked around the cell then back at him as he began approaching her. Naruto still wore his white dress shirt, with his black vest; his tie was undone and the sleeves of his shirt were turned upwards. "What are you doing here?" He asked once he was close enough.

Hinata's lavender eyes scanned his still bruised face now that he was in decent lighting. Her slender fingers curled around the bars of his cell as she tried to get closer to him...but it was always like that. Whether imaginary or physically, there was always something preventing her from truly getting close to him. It made her sad, because she knew that he was all she wanted.

Then why can't I touch him?

As if reading her mind Naruto's hands wrapped around hers, holding the metal bars with her. "I don't want you to see me like this..." He trailed off while looking away, a slight blush present in his cheeks.

"Jail cells aren't your thing," she said with a small smile. The blonde chuckled remembering when he'd met her at the café and she was about to crash into someone. He'd told her that crowded places weren't her thing and surprisingly she remembered.

"They really aren't."

"It's going to be okay Naruto-kun," Hinata said relaying what everyone else had told her. She didn't believe it, but for him she would.

"Really?" He asked seeming unsure.

She nodded quickly, "w-we can bail you out..."

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, "you shouldn't be involved in any of this."

He began to pull away but Hinata laced her fingers with his, "hey." Her eyes met his with an intense stare, "I was involved long before you were."

The whiskered faced man sighed, "but you—"

"I'm not abandoning you Naruto-kun." She said sternly.

"Listen Hinata," Naruto held her face in his hands. "I don't want you to think of it as abandoning me. You're just doing what's right for you."

"I-I don't want t-to," she whispered shaking her head, but Naruto's hold was firm.

"Hinata it's what's best for—"

"No!" She yelled placing a hand on his. "I'm tired Naruto-kun," she whispered close to tears. "I'm tired of living only for myself." All the years of keeping her emotions bottles up inside her finally caught up to her. After meeting Naruto, she realized that he'd become an essential part of her life, and without him things just wouldn't be right. Why then? If he could be a safe haven for her, then why couldn't she be given the chance to reciprocate the gesture? It wasn't fair and she wouldn't stand for it.

"Hinata..."

She looked at his bruised face and frowned, trying to keep her tears at bay. For how long would she cry?

"I-I'm not leaving y-you," she stuttered looking down at her feet. "You didn't d-do anything wrong."

Naruto sighed and caressed her cheeks, he needed her to calm down because if she started crying then he didn't know what he'd do.

Maybe she shouldn't have come.

The thought crossed his mind as he looked at her sad state. It seems she was more affected than he was by all this. "There are worse things than being sent to jail," he said with a small smile.

Hinata glanced up at him with tear filled eyes, "l-like what?"

"Seeing you cry," he said casually making her heart skip a beat.

Pulling out of his reach Hinata turned away in order to hide her blush. "I hate you," she muttered.

Naruto smirked, "that's why you're here?"

"I'm here to bail you out," she stated feeling a bit better.

"Alright then, you—"

"I don't think that's possible Hinata," a raven-haired man said interrupting their time together.

"Sasuke," Naruto said resting his head against the cell bars.

"W-what do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"He's being charged with industrial espionage."

Fragile Hearts | A NaruHina Story
©Infinite_Writer01™2016
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