CHAPTER XII
Turning Moments
It seemed like a dream at first.
'Brat…'
A beautiful dream which isolated his mind into the depths of wonder— at first he felt afraid of the growing pain in his chest from the lack of air, but then his feelings turned to mad awe as he looked upon him: the world rippled and the sounds collected away from him, and all he could hear was his heartbeat.
'Beautiful,' he thought, eyeing the bubbles which floated above his pate like languid speckles of dust and cool flame, '— beautiful,' he whispered, yet uttering no sound from his lips to the caverns of the nightly deep,
'… don't let go…'
But then his wonderment twisted into wretched anger: he was cheated unto death by the very same idiot who took his life from him. He floated. Deeper, under—beneath the very darkness which he despised more so than ever. It unfurled to him in a gesture so tempting, like death on swift wings: so sure and so sudden. A small tinge of feeling gave him discomfort, and it told him that he didn't want to die. Yet his eyes… his eyes felt heavy and tired. He was too fatigued to move his limbs from helplessness. His chest burned with need as his lungs began to inhale the useless water before him.
So he floated, and closed his eyes. Accepting— and not inviting, death bitterly…
…
What the—
"HELL!"
Naruto suddenly jerked upright from his bed and looked around his apartment, sweat glistening on his face and exposed torso, with his hair soaked in sweat, each blonde string clinging on his face revealing the amount of dampness on his pillow. His gasps came in heavy and dull, while his eyes swished around like frenzied fire-rockets. He tried to compose himself, telling his mind that he wasn't in danger anymore, and that drowning was far from his own vocation.
He grinned. He lived to survive another day, "Take that… bastard…"
Although… what— what just happened? His smirk faded from a sea of confusion, his body going rigid with uncertainty: what the HELL just happened?
As Naruto started to calm down, he couldn't help but discern that this— this scene… this scene felt familiar to him. Like grabbing back a lost lifetime which was stolen from him by force, although, it was something he couldn't place a finger on. Sasuke gained the Hokage title and his Sakura-chan, right? Was it all just a nightmare? Did he go back in time, from his death to another opportunity? Did he HAVE an opportunity to begin with?
He looked around the darkness, his eyes fumbling around for any indication or any sign of before. A new hope started to grow within him: what if all that WAS just a dream? And this spectacle before him… this recognizable spectacle is the very proof that he had been dreaming thus.
His heart started to beat an uneven pace. Yes, he remembered that this was the time when he woke up, drenched with sweat, before he met with Sakura just outside her apartment; before she left him in the Ramen bar, picking on his bowl, distant from the world as he thought about her while he— technically— ate his meal. Was this the 'before' he so wanted after all those torturous events?
'You little baka…' A voice growled in his head,
"Hunh..." he groaned in reply, his voice filled with disbelief,
"Naruto!" The breathless blonde yelped with shock and fell from the bed with a helpless thud. Neji appeared from the shadows of his bedroom door and raised a stiff eyebrow, walking towards the shivering heap pitifully— pitying Naruto for his idiocy, that is. Naruto looked at the ANBU who was standing over his head oddly, about to say something to the black-haired genius, yet bit his tongue throughout all the burst of emotion he felt: frustration.
"What?" Neji spat, his eyebrow still raised as he waited for an explanation,
Naruto sighed, setting his head down while his eyes grew heavy and low as he looked at the floor with dread. An explanation indeed: Nope— what happened before was real. A large explosion of disappointment and guilt invaded his insides like a burning hellfire. What in the world was he thinking, a chance of some sort? A chance which he already knew he would never gain? Some false hope which pounded at his stomach continuously, letting him taste the coppery tang of letdown? Dammit!
"Nothing," he replied hoarsely. Naruto threw his left arm on the bed and struggled on it, his weight increasing because of the overwhelming distress which seemed to be the one drowning him at the moment, "What're you doing here?"
Neji's eyes softened as his lips tinged with a trivial smile, "Naruto, even I can notice a tidal wave of water coming out from no where. I'm not dumb."
His eyes widened, "You—you saved me?"
"What was I supposed to do?" he replied, "Leave you there to drown?"
He can't believe it: somebody actually cared for his hide? And the Hyuga was there, at the right time and right place, to witness Uzumaki's possible demise… but forced against that fate? Hyuga Neji, no less: the pale-eyed genius who once believed that one's fate is sealed, whose outlooks were paler than his own eyes.
"What happened there, anyway?" Neji asked,
Naruto breathed in and smelt defeat, finally accepting his pitiful fate. So he looked at Neji with his 'hide-your-feelings' average-like smile and said, "A giant snake tried to rip my head off…"
Neji chuckled, "I saw,"
The blonde eyed him carefully, noticing the change which coursed through Neji's body and radiated around his room like joyful serenity, "You're happier than I remembered," he said, draping a heavy blanket to the whole of his body and the top of his shoulders, "How've you been doing?"
"I'm doing fine,"
"You look better than fine to me,"
His smile widened slightly with thought, "Better than fine, then"
He stared at Naruto, who was strangely shivering and smiling graciously yet had his eyes stuck in perpetual longing. He understood very well the reason for this unlucky ninja's confusion, since he WAS one of Naruto's friends who visited him until he couldn't visit anymore, given that he had— pressing matters to attend to, "How about you? That little fall of yours weren't that comfortable as it seemed,"
He snorted sardonically, "'course not,"
"Are you… okay?" Neji asked vigilantly, eyeing Naruto who was still shivering in spite of the warm atmosphere,
"… Yeah," Naruto lowered his gaze once more, his eyes loosing an already fading shimmer, "It's just that—" he sighed…
A lingering pause pierced the amenable air, and Neji knew why, "Naruto—"
"Look, Neji, I'm feeling great, okay? All this… it's nothing compared to other problems out there,"
"Doesn't sound like 'nothing' to me—"
"Well it is, just drop it," Naruto whispered,
Neji, for his part, couldn't believe that this man, right there before him, was actually the once brave, confident… and impulsive Uzumaki Naruto. He was now a fading oak, all because of the tempest which usually symbolized the 'gall of life'. When Sakura and Sasuke announced their engagement to, well, the whole of Konoha, really… hell, when they announced their RELATIONSHIP to the whole of Konoha, Neji knew in the deepest part of his mind that this— all this— was a mistake. And now, they must suffer the guilty consequences because of the pain they imparted to the once bright young man, who was once shown with a positive glow,
"… A part of you wanted to die," he said with realization,
Nevertheless, Naruto ignored thus, leaving Neji's last words hanging in the air. Once more he looked at the white-eyed shinobi and smirked, "What the hell happened, eh? I admit: you're starting to look like a non-statue to me."
"… non-statue?"
… Some subject he decided to drop on their laps…
Neji frowned, annoyed by Naruto's sudden change of demeanor (from pathetically depressing to pathetically pathetic) and twisted his lips with aggravation, "What did you mean by that?"
"… well, dunno, actually," Naruto murmured, smiling with all his glory, "Seemed like a perfect thing to compare you with,"
…
"Retaliation, Uzumaki:" Neji indolently said, "The perfect 'thing' to compare you in your present state is CRAP— you need a frikkin shower, man." Hmm, when did Neji gain an authority to bite down his words? Usually he'd just snub him off, thinking better than to 'retaliate' against this moron, and belittle himself further next to Naruto's level. Right now he just did, and he felt that Neji was feeling very full of himself by doing so.
"If you hadn't realized, I already did." Neji chuckled, and Naruto's laugh tailed his.
He was actually enjoying himself, talking to somebody who used to feel so far from him. Right now the question began to rise over its peak, so once again Naruto asked him after the laughter faded away into comfortable silence: "No really, how come you're this… I dunno, happier than usual?"
Neji smiled, once again his mind dripped in thought, "Have you ever thought about… talking to Sakura about all this?"
This time the reply was not comical, nor was it amusing: it was…… it hurt. He never thought about talking to Sakura again, and for that he felt ashamed. What was it she felt when he woke up unexpectedly, knowing that she, herself, is married with a husband and child, whilst he was aching for the truth about everything? Was he that blind? Is he still blind? The world around him had changed, yes, but the feelings of anger and denial caused him to ignore it and flush himself into a world of nothing. What had he DONE? And now, what was it that she felt at this time of night? Was she awake, thinking about him, or was she awake because she had awoken with Sasuke's fingertips rubbing across her naked chest, his breath printing some shadowy pulsation against her luscious neck, while feeling his limp and exposed body next to hers?
Ugh… enough of that now!
"Naruto?"
The blonde turned to the man sitting next to the bed, inquisitive eyes begging for a serious answer, "I think… I should."
Neji's eyes steeled as he heard those words, "I dare you to talk to her tomorrow, then," he said, "If you loose the dare—I won't buy you ramen for a month," Naruto's stomach grumbled with the thought of it. Well, he WAS kind of hungry,
"Speaking of ramen…"Neji stood up and disappeared from the room, reappearing with a bowl of ramen clasped firmly around his palms, "I thought you might be hungry. Knowing the pangs of depression you're in, I'm guessing that you only drank alcohol, yeah?"
"… yeah,"
Naruto took the bowl from his hands and started to eat. His tongue savored the taste which he almost forgot, and as his stomach finally got what it deserved his mind drifted once again to their very first kiss. Ramen, the ironical the sign of their love: being devoured quickly, until the bowl itself is licked clean.
"I'm married now," Naruto's neck suddenly did a blurry whiplash, "To the woman you'd least expect I'd be with,"
Naruto continued on with his meal while his eyes stayed on Neji's ponderous face, "Who?"
Neji chuckled quietly, "You'd be surprised," he said, "That I'm married with somebody you'd least expect me to be married,"
"Can ya' cut back your beating 'round the bush and tell me already?" Naruto said, his mouth turning to a lopsided grin of amusement,
"… The sexy Hyuga Hinata,"
Another long pause, Naruto's body froze— "Hinata?" he gasped incredulously. Truthfully, he never expected that Neji would use both 'sexy' and 'Hinata' in a single sentence, while drifting off in his strangely sensual dreamland filled with Hinata sexiness. Didn't he used to loathe her? Wasn't she afraid of him or did it blemish in time? Why can't he move his body anymore?
"Yes," Neji said, "Hinata,"
"One question," Naruto choked, "How?"
After a moment of thinking, Neji finally turned his attention on Naruto's blank expression and said: "Hinata was totally dedicated in merging the Houses together for the sake of our future. She was willing to do ANYTHING, just to get rid of the spite between the families. By then we had grew very close, but not to the point of romantic interest. After a whole month of pressing that matter the Elders accepted—and she was given a choice: if she doesn't marry me, both the houses will remain divided… so we did—marry." he paused, "And then the White Dragon happened… you HAVE heard about the White Dragon, have you?" he warily asked,
Naruto nodded his head, his mouth painfully dry while his attention was totally absorbed upon Neji's words, "Our unity surprisingly increased our Clan's abilities to an enormous level, but the future of Konoha seemed bleak back then, since the White Dragon decapitated all of our best fighters in the village, and the very best was imprisoned in sleep,"
Naruto's breath hitched: 'The very best ninja'? Such a complement indeed: Neji's unexpected words shook his world, and sounded like melodious spasms of new-fangled pride which rang in his ears and made his chest tremble uncontrollably-- he had forgotten that such a thing existed. Well, at least he used to be the 'very best ninja' of the leaf…
"But enough about that, let's just say that everything's going good right now, for me at least…" he smiled, yet noticing Naruto's sullen demeanor, Neji patted his back and whispered: "I'm glad that you're back, Naruto," Naruto's head snapped back to Neji's face in sheer surprise and gratitude,
"Thanks… Nej'"
They both smiled at each other, "… Don't even think about calling me 'Nej', Uzumaki…"
A/N: Right, sorry about the delay, but I was really busy. Anyways, this fic is NejiHina, by the way. And like I said before, no flames about not liking the pairing and crap like that, kay? Right, please Review, and thanks for the past reviews!
Editted on October 14, 2005, thanks! Ps. was this chapter cool? Or was it not cool:scratches head confusedly?