A Long Waiting

Manga: Naruto

Genre: Hentai/Angst/Drama/Romance

Type: Continuation

Rate: 17+

Pairings: Hinata-Neji, Hinata-Naruto

Summary: Naruto finally knew that Hinata loved him, and deep inside his heart, he loved her back. However, his training with Jiraiya was the only thing that prevented him to be together with Hinata. Before he left, he said to Hinata to wait for him. Could Hinata do it, when her guardian, Hyuuga Neji, love her not as a cousin?

Chapter 8:Flowers Witnessed the Tears

No more her beloved Naruto-kun… not anymore…

Naruto hummed a silly happy song while he walked down upon the main street. Grin could not be wiped from his lips, eyes were sparkling with happiness. Yes, he was very happy.

His brain has already worked on some muse about how Hinata would react when he suddenly popped in front of her, gave her the flower bouquet and a bone-crushing hug. Yes, he would very much want to see it. Sighing happily, Naruto glanced for the hundreds times at the flower bouquet on his right hand.

'Hinata…'

Wandering where his instinct brought him, he was sure that he would meet Hinata soon away.

-break-

Hinata didn't go straight to the hospital after her talking with Sakura. She needed some time, a moment where she could be alone, thinking. Out of nowhere, she wanted to go back to the Hyuuga mansion, locked her self in her room, sulking and crying, when suddenly she remembered that Ukicchi hasn't bathed with pure sunlight for such a long time. The plant that Naruto trusted to her has grown extremely healthy.

'Naruto-kun…'

Even though she has boldly decided to marry Neji, she never know for how to explain this to Naruto. The boy she loved the most, how would he react with it? Lost in thought, Hinata didn't even realize that her sub-consciousness has brought her to her room. She stared at Ukicchi which was placed on the windowsill.

"Konnichiwa, Ukicchi-chan," Hinata smiled tiredly at the plant, "How are you today?"

As if answering her question, the wind blew and made some of Ukicchi's leaves danced weakly.

Hinata approached the plant, caressing the small leaves. Somehow she could feel sorrow through her touches.

"You don't look healthy today, Ukicchi… what's wrong?" Hinata tilted her head curiously. As if hearing an answer, she clutched the pot and embraced it.

"Let's take a walk, ne?"

-break-

Naruto arrived at the river bank. Same place, same time, different condition. No one was there, of course, though he was hoping that Hinata would be there, welcoming him.

Whoops, what was he thinking about? Didn't he tell Sakura for not spreading the news that he would be back home? Idiot.

Naruto laughed at himself, he shook his head and stared at the view in front of him. He stopped laughing; he noticed that someone was sitting there.

Hinata.

What the-? How could she?

Naruto shook his head again, this time in disbelief, adding some self-poking to his own head and bashed it several times. His imagination was slowly killing him.

He looked up again. This time, his imaginary Hinata blushed furiously and started to run away from him. That's not what he wanted, though. If it was his own imaginary Hinata, she would hug him and then they would do the wild things outside, not running away.

'Weird, did imagination could run away on its own free will?'

Of course not, idiot.

That's when he realized that what he saw was truly Hinata.

"Wait, Hinata!!!"

Chasing after her, Naruto succeeded to get a grip on her wrist. It's real, it's the real Hinata!!! He's not musing nor dreaming! The girl he was longing all the time was now in his grab!

"Let me go, Naruto-kun!" Hinata shrieked, which brought surprise to Naruto. Didn't he just hear irritation in her voice? But that wasn't what it supposed to be. Hinata's voice was not like this, he was a hundred percent sure with it!

"Hi- Hinata…?" Naruto gaped at his girlfriend. What's wrong with her?

"I said, let me go!" Hinata snapped Naruto's hand away from her. Her eyes filled with anger.

"Hinata, what's wrong with you?" Naruto grinned awkwardly at her, still shocked by her reaction, "It's me, Naruto!"

Hinata bowed her head to the ground; she didn't even look at Naruto. Naruto tried to approach her closer, but Hinata always took a step back whenever he did.

"Look, I'm finally home, I'm back, Hinata! I even brought a bouquet of flowers for you, see?" Naruto said nervously, and he gave the bouquet to Hinata. Felt that Hinata didn't do any effort to take the bouquet, Naruto took her left hand which was not holding Ukicchi's pot and made her hand grabbed the flowers.

"See? They are Violet Roses, Hinata! The colors are so beautiful," Naruto said awkwardly, as he didn't receive any reaction from Hinata.

"They are so beautiful… just like you, Hinata…" Naruto's voice tailed, he didn't get any clue for why Hinata was acting so strange. She stood still, staring at the ground between them.

There's an uncomfortable silence as the two of them didn't talk anymore, lost in thought. Naruto still tried to take a good look of his lover's face, but Hinata kept facing the ground, made it difficult for him to observe her.

"Hinata… Look, it's me… your Naruto-kun… is back…"

Slowly, Hinata lifted her head.

They stared at each other's eyes for something that felt like eternity. It felt strange looking at each other, even though they loved the other so deeply.

"You are… not my Naruto-kun anymore…." Hinata finally broke the silence in a low, croaky voice. Naruto raised his head, stared at his lover's face in disbelief.

Did he just hear something… impossible?

He knew that he couldn't believe his faithful ears right now.

"Hinata… err, what did you just say?" He scratched the back of his head, laughing awkwardly. Surely, what Hinata just said wasn't something that could easily happen every day. It must be a joke, he was sure of it.

"I said…. Th- that you are not… my Naruto-kun anymore…" this time she said it with a louder voice. She put all of her efforts in this, trying her best not to faint in her own bitter emotion. She almost drew blood from biting her lower lips, pressing the urge to cry, and to hug him, crying her heart out on his chest.

"Hi- Hinata…" Naruto's voice croaked, like something invisible was suddenly got stuck on his throat. He was sure that Hinata was joking, but from the way Hinata told it to him, he knew that Hinata was telling the truth.

"But… Hinata…? W- Why…? Why…?" Naruto tried his best to fight back the tears. He was very disappointed.

He tried his best in his training with Jiraiya, so that Hinata would be proud of him. Welcoming him with her warm hugs, whispering to him how she had dreamed him every night.

That was what he hoped, not more than that.

Just a genuine wish to be hugged by the woman he loved the most.

And right now, Hinata didn't welcome him with what he has hoped. Instead, she wanted to end all of their relationship.

Hinata walked closer to him, head still bowing to the ground. When she was already in a very close range with Naruto, she raised her head so she could face him.

And Naruto was stunned to see the tears that swelled in her eyes.

But her eyes were full with determination.

"Na- Naruto-ku... I mean, Naruto-san… I… I am glad th- that you are already home now… y- you have no idea h- how Ukicchi have missed you…" Hinata shoved the small pot on Naruto's hands, "N- now that you are back.. I guess, i- it's time for me to return… Ukicchi."

She quickly let go her hands after giving the pot to Naruto, in fear that Naruto would hold her hands. Fortunately, Naruto didn't even make any effort in reaching her hands. He was struck to death on the sudden change of his name.

No more the famous Naruto-kun from his beloved anymore.

"A- and… Naruto-san… I'm happy that you are b- back this early… M- My marriage w- with Neji will be… announced soon," with that, she turned her back to him, leaving a stunned Naruto.

After a few moments of blinking in disbelief, a tear rolled down on Naruto's cheek.

"Fuck…"

-break-

Hinata ran as fast as she could, busy wiping her tears as she did so. Her loved one was already home, back in Konoha, but what she did just now was the most resentful thing in welcoming him home.

Her feet have brought her into the middle of a forest. It seemed that she had lost, but she didn't care at all. What she wanted just now was death. Getting lost was just the beginning of a graceful death. Maybe she should just jyuuken-ed her own heart and died at the forest, letting her body rot there alone.

Exhausted, she fell to the ground. She didn't bother to get up, though. Instead she curled like a cat, sobbing. She clutched her fist on the damp grass, pulling it until the roots revealed.

'Naruto-kun'

Feeling that one of her hands still clutching with the bouquet that Naruto had just given to her, she sat down slowly, taking a good luck at the bouquet. The violet petals seemed like glowing in misery, strangely similar with what she felt in her heart.

She embraced the bouquet near to her chest, crying. Her tears fell swiftly like a light rain on the flowers she clutched near her chest. Some thorns of the flowers scratched her face and drews blood, but she didn't care. She couldn't feel anything. She's practically numb.

"Naruto-kun… I love you… I still love you… I really do love you…." Hinata mumbled in her cry. Slowly her tired mind drifted her to sleep.

-break-

It was the end. The end of his life, the very end. He has lost the most important person in his life, he was dumped. He didn't cry though, for he has forgotten how to cry. The pain couldn't be wiped by tears. Even if blood gushed out from his eyes in exchange.

Naruto looked up to the sky from the roof of his apartment. Watching at the cloud might refresh your mind, as Shikamaru said years ago.

As he looked at the sky, an idea hit his mind.

If it's really the end, why not end it in a more gleeful way?

-break-

Sakura knocked on Godaime's office door. She needed to ask her something about the new potion they were making.

"NO YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!" She heard a scream from inside the room. Sakura flinched, and then she opened the door slowly, peeking at the situation inside.

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP! THIS IS MY DECISION! I'M STRONG ENOUGH TO DO THIS BY MYSELF!" Sakura heard a guy shouting at the top of his lungs. She gasped. She was sure who the voice belonged to. That certainly is…

"NARUTO!!!" Sakura kicked open the door, and saw two people inside the room staring at her in shock.

"Oh my god! It's really you, Naruto!" Sakura ran towards him, ready to give him an embrace, but Naruto raised his hand, stopping her in mid-way.

"Stop it before I hurt you, Sakura," Naruto shook his head, and returned his attention to Tsunade, "I'm leaving now, granny. Whether you like it or not."

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW, NARUTO! If you still have the intention of leaving, I will announce you as runaway ninja after you stepped one foot out of Konoha gate!" Tsunade threatened her.

"Whatever… good if someone succeeded to kill me by then…" Naruto shrugged and left the room, leaving the two women in mute.

Sakura looked like she was confused. She looked at the door where Naruto just leaving, and then looked back at Tsunade, whose face was red by all the shouting. She wanted to ask Tsunade something, but she wasn't sure herself.

Tsunade, sensing her confusion, sighed and started to explain the situation;

"He intended to leave Konoha again, hunting for Sasuke all by himself. I told him to wait until we got excellent ninja members and a capable anbu to go with him, but he just didn't want to listen. It's exactly a death wish to go alone."

"That's weird… I thought he at least has matured a bit after his training, I thought he misses the people in Konoha, and especially Hinata. Why did he want to leave as soon as he arrived here? To hunt for Sasuke, in fact…" Sakura bit her lower lip.

"There's only one reason that I can assume to that, Sakura. It is possible that Naruto had already met Hinata, and… Hinata has told him everything. Even her current bizarre decision," concluded Tsunade.

"But, why did that lead to his decision now?" Sakura was still confused.

Tsunade smiled a sad smile. She sighed and spoke in a low voice; "Try to put yourself on his shoes, it's normal if he's kind of suicidal…"

Sakura gasped.

So that's why. It explained everything. Damn it, why should Hinata saw Naruto first before she met him? There must be a lot of misunderstandings between them. Sakura bit her lower lip harder. She couldn't let things happen like this, not when she knew the truth.

"I'm going to stop him, Godaime-sama!" with that, Sakura left the room and ready to find Naruto before he left the village.

Tsunade took a deep breath. She gulped down the entire sake from the bottle which she hid under the table. Right now, it's only Sakura who could knock some sense into the dumb blonde.

-break-

Naruto clicked open his apartment door. He only had been there once to put his belonging back after his journey, but now he's going to leave again. Such irony, the very second he arrived at this village, he has no intention to leave at all, but now everything was already upside down. He was itching to leave the village, even though leaving now would brand him as a missing ninja, as Tsunade has told him before.

Did he really intend to search for Sasuke? Hell no. Truth was, he did not even care about what he was doing right now. He really wanted to die, but even in his current state, suicide was not an option. He's not going to die shamelessly like that. Sure suicide could be considered an honorable act sometimes, but that was different story.

He's not going to die without a fight. Think all of the possibility that he could be killed in a battle when he left to search for Sasuke, fat chance exactly. When he stepped outside Konoha gate, he'll be announced as a missing ninja, thus any ninja in Konoha is allowed to kill him if he resisted. Even if he could still outrun the hunters, Akatsuki group was after him. All this time they couldn't track for Naruto was because of Jiraiya's skill in concealing their pace. Even when counting in the possibility that he could still save his ass, there were still Orochimaru and Sasuke out there to kill for him. Everything supported him in his own idea to arrange his own death.

He already packed up his things inside his backpack. He looked around the room where he used to sleep two years ago. There were two photo frames at the end table. One of it was the picture of his old team, and the other was the picture of the class in which he graduated from the academy. The whole class members were in the picture, obviously including Hinata, smiled shyly at the camera. Naruto was there in the picture too, standing and grinning foxy grin besides Hinata. Still too oblivious to his own feeling at that time.

He smiled at the picture. Slowly he moved his finger to trace Hinata's face. All of the memories that he had with her; the happy memories ended by the fact said herself by Hinata. He was not her Naruto-kun anymore, not anymore.

He stared longingly at Hinata's picture.

'Hinata has a long hair now, ne…?'

Drip of water fell on the glass frame, right on Hinata's face.

'Isn't she beautiful? I couldn't even forget her one second when away…'

Another drop.

'I thought I could embrace her, breathe on her scent…'

Then another.

'God, how I miss her so…'

Naruto brought his head up to look at the ceiling, trying his best to hold the stream of tears from his eyes. He clutched at the frame on his hands, and brought it to his chest, holding on it like he could die if he let go.

"Why… Hinata… Why…?"

He sobbed. Slow at first, and then he sobbed crazily. Crying his heart out, throat was sore in his croaky voice, crying out the name 'Hinata' many, many times.

"Argh… why, Hinata…? Why!!!!!!!????"

He coughed and he couldn't breath. The impact of crying has taken its toll on his breathing. Even so, he kept on mumbling 'why'. Why must she leave him? Why must she marry that guy? Why fate was so cruel on him!? Couldn't he be at least happy with the person he loved the most, after all of the painful childhood and pasts that he had!? Why fate had it written so!?

Why should he be lonely again…?

"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!???"

He growled with all the voice he had left. His throat felt like it was burning.

"Hinata…"

-break-

Sakura searched everywhere for Naruto. The first place that she went was the gate, asking the guards there whether Naruto has passed the gate or not. The answer was null, so she searched the Hokage hills, but Naruto wasn't there too. She tried to search the training field too, even the entire gates of Forest of Death. Every place she searched to no avail.

Until sense was knocked back to her mind. Naruto must be at his own apartment, packing for his next leave. She hurried herself towards the apartment. Somehow this situation reminded her of the thing that happened years ago, the thing that hurt her so. She blinked back the tears that were already on the verge of her eyes.

"Sasuke-kun…"

She quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and darted to Naruto's apartment.

"I will not… let another person go! I will not let someone's heart break anymore!"

She arrived at Naruto's apartment. When she was already at the stairs, she sensed the strong chakra from upstairs. She could already guess that it's Naruto. Things were getting dangerous exactly, Naruto's emotion was really uncontrollable right now, and he could just easily explode. Sakura took out the battle gloves that she kept on her pocket and wore it.

Thus when she heard the cry from inside Naruto's room.

-break-

"WHY, HINATA!? WHY!?"

Naruto threw the picture that he held earlier into the floor, breaking the glass frame in the process. The room was a mess; he destroyed everything that he could reach on, breaking things into the ground. He didn't bother in controlling his chakra anymore, the red chakra leaked everywhere. Even if the Kyuubi took control of him and destroyed the whole village, he didn't even care anymore.

That was when he suddenly felt a hard punch on his face, and he felt his body flew…

"BAM!"

… and hit the wall, making a huge hole in it. He could hear some crack on his right shoulder when he hit the wall. Great, he might break his bone.

Eyes still hazy and blur because of the sudden attack and tears that he had before, Naruto lifted his head towards the attacker, who now was standing at the door of his room.

"If you calm yourself first, and promise me that you won't go on rampage and destroy the whole village in process, I'll tell you everything."

That was when Naruto realized who his attacker was.

"Sakura…?"

Naruto wiped his teary eyes and then could see the clear view of Sakura.

"You look like shit."

He saw Sakura smiling a sad smile at him. He corrected his position so he was sitting against the wall, winced when he felt the pain on his shoulder.

"I do feel like shit now."

And he chuckled, such bitter irony.

"Poor guy…" Sakura crouched near him, still smiling the sad smile on her lips.

Naruto shifted his head, stared at Sakura deeply with his teary eyes.

"I do love her deeply, Sakura…"

Sakura stroked Naruto's head softly, trying to ease his mind.

"Yes, I know…"

­Sakura bit her lip, trying her best not to cry. Poor Naruto, why fate twisted his life so? If only things were not going this way, he could be happy with the only person he loved now.

Naruto closed his eyes.

"Now I am all alone again…"

-To be continued-

AN:

Please tell me if this chapter is sad or not! Honestly I wanted to cry myself when I wrote this, but well… since I'm the author, it didn't have much impact on me. Anyway, please tell me how you felt after you read this! I need to know so I could improve my writing!

Ano… It's been a year, ne? A lot's been through, my dear… I won't try to put excuses here, but please except my deepest apology. I just re-visited my long-forgotten FF ID when I re-read all the reviews I had, and had a revelation that I should continue this story. Time was long been gone when I felt that this story was actually a good one, with lots of loyal reader in it, and all the drama, damn… I just have to continue this.

Thank you very much, for all of the readers that already reviewed. This chapter was also updated because the story has already reached the 10.000 hits, such achievement for the likes of me, haha. I really, really thank you all.

I swear I'll keep on writing this story till the end. If you want to, I even give you permission to terrorize me in my Y!M ID, it's shirai_ichi –at- yahoo –dot- com. MSN owner could also still add my ID. Please don't forget to write your short introduction if you wanted to add me, telling that you got my ID from FF and you're one of the reader.

Thank you for:

NejiIsMineXD – winterkaguya – Allan_Pike – PersianLady – Your_Cold_Nightmare – Naruto_fanman – ZombieZapper101 – yo – septown – Baka_Kyoko-Chan – peachluver – Coolmoi – RockLeeFan – chaosdragon82 – Kyoko – somebody – Rewy – vash.T.S. – Emily - xo4evagurlox – Mahou_Inu_Alex

- For reviewing chapter 8! I hope you guys still follow this and keep on reviewing! You guys (and past chapter reviewers) were actually the reason why I decided to quit my hiatus!

Last but not least, is it possible for me to get many reviews before I continue on the next? Thank you!