The Denial Twist
x.x.x
p0g0stick
H-hey…g-g-guy's…
(Is brutally bludgeoned.)
Owww.Sorry that…uhm…this wasn't out sooner?
Happy, uhm, late V-day?
Heh…tried to get this out for the 14th, but, ah…wanted to finish Melting Spring and like, 5 of my friends had birthdays these past weeks…so…BIRTHDAY FUN! Hehe.
Thanks for the reviews you guys! Remember if you do read, REVIEW
Love you all.
(Cowers.)
This chapter was fun to write. :D:D
XXX
Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Naruto damnit! Nor do I own any of the lyrics inside the chapters, they are owned by Jack and Meg White.
XXX
And it's getting in the wisdom in the back of your tooth
You need to spit it out, in a telephone booth
While you call everyone that you know, and ask 'em'Where do you think she goes'?"
XXX
The drive to Sasuke's house had been quiet.
Words hung damply in the air, but neither made a move to start conversation. They were content just staring out of the cars windows, keeping to themselves, unless Sasuke was giving her directions towards his residence.
However, during that drive, Sasuke learned two things about Hinata Hyuuga that he didn't need to talk to her to figure out.
One; she drove incredibly and irritatingly slow. Although Sasuke seemed to take his time with many things, and moved at a snail's pace the majority of the time, he concluded during that drive that he hated it when people drove so slow that even old women passed them, honking their horns angrily.
He wished that it was Naruto driving him home.
But once he had wished it, he took it back immediately.
Then the other thing, two, she had a very annoying habit of clicking her tongue when she was about to make a turn, merge lanes, or whatever needed concentration when one was driving.
And in the solitude of the car, whenever she did this, Sasuke just wanted to rip his ears out.
It was annoying, yes, but Sasuke didn't have the heart to demand that she stop it, that it was stupid and made her sound like a demented chicken…
…and he also found that he sort of enjoyed the sound, to some extent.
"Which one is it?" Hinata asked, driving down a long lane of houses.
There weren't very many, but they were all rather large, all displaying intricate wrought iron gates, large yards, and two-story houses…although none were as large as her mansion.
"The second to last one on the left, just keep going and I'll tell you when to stop."
"Ah…a-alright," He felt her foot ease up on the pedal even more.
Then the clicking began again.
Click. Click. Click.
"Stop," Her clicking stopped.
"Y-yes?"
"Stop, it's right here." He motioned with his head to a house with a low, white-wash wall with the same fencing as every other house along the neighborhood (there had only been two houses before his on the left side, and only one house at the beginning of the neighborhood on the right side, so there wasn't much for Hinata to compare it to). It was a two-story, the same white-washed color as the low wall, and had dark colored curtains strewn across each window. The yard would have been beautiful…once upon a time.
The grass was long and had brown patches scattered across it, along with weeds of various shapes and colors, littering the grand field and sucking the life out of the remaining plants in it. Vines that were creeping along the houses walls were a sickly brown and black, and stood out greatly against the white.
Piercing the middle of the yard was what would have been a pathway, but all the stones had cracks in them, and it was obvious that the weeds had begun to feed off whatever life that pathway had once held.
"H-here!?" Hinata tried to hold back the incredulous tone in her voice, but it broke.
"Yes, here," he sighed and took off his seatbelt, ("Put it on!" Hinata had commanded before they had even moved an inch in the car. Sasuke in return had groaned, as if he wasn't going to wear it…and the only way she'd get pulled over was by driving too slow) "It's lovely, huh?"
He laughed bitterly.
"I-it's…"
"Don't worry, I'll be…selling it soon," He got out of the car swiftly and opened the gates, stumbling down the pathway.
Hinata waited until he got inside.
Surely he had a key with him, right?
The young girl watched as he disappeared behind the back of the house, and returned to the front.
He stared back at her, and she felt her heartbeat quicken. What now? Was he going to decide instead to run back to the car, invite her in, and then feed off of her internal organs or drink her blood?
Ha! Funny.
Then he unlocked his door, went inside, and shut it behind him.
Needless to say, Hinata had found it quite rude that the Uchiha hadn't at least thanked for the ride.
XXX
Neji Hyuuga was not feeling exceptionally good today.
He had stressed out over the whole Uchiha situation from the previous night, and he had also had quite a bit too much to drink. It ended up just being him and Tenten in the limo on the way home. Ino and Shikamaru had called in a taxi and had left to God knows where, Naruto and Sakura hadn't even returned from dropping of the Uchiha, and Kiba and Hinata had both returned to their homes.
Tenten had to walk him to the door, leave him in the care of a maid, and have the maid take him into his room, and tuck him in as if he was some child.
What was he…seven?
Grumbling to himself, he shuffled down the hall towards the kitchen.
His head was throbbing, that was what he could thank part of his sour mood to, but the other half was saved for Hinata who was not in her room this morning (or afternoon…it was technically quarter to noon).
The maid he had questioned only said that Hinata had gone for a drive.
This perplexed Neji to no end and only made his head hurt more. The woman had obviously heard his younger cousin wrong, partially because he was a hundred percent sure that Hinata would only drive if it was an emergency—besides going to Tenten's house a few times in the past week, she hadn't touched her car, especially in the past six months when she had end of year exams and such to focus on.
Maybe she had decided to go and see Tenten today?
If his brain wasn't thrashing around so much in his cranium he would call Tenten, or go outside and look in vain for Hinata's car, but that wasn't on his list of priorities for today.
So instead, Neji Hyuuga had made himself some coffee, adjusted his boxers and went back to bed.
XXX
Inside, Sasuke Uchiha breathed a large sigh of relief, slinking down to the floor and staring up at his ceiling fan that was turning with labored spins. Again, again and again, it spun, never stopping.
He began to feel dizzy.
Not to mention his head hurt a lot.
On weak legs, he stumbled back into a standing position and walked over to his medicine cabinet, taking out two aspirin into his mouth.
Before trying to swallow them, he filled up a paper cup with water from his kitchen sink, and gulped it down alongside the aspirin. Then he tried to remember the last time he took aspirin…hadn't Hinata given him some?
Or did she just put that really cold salve on his blackened eye?
Although, he realized, he wasn't all that tired. The sleep he had at the Hyuuga house had been a pretty good one, especially on the bed…
That bed was really good, a hell of a lot better than his.
He should thank her for bringing him home…
Maybe later.
Right now, he was still reeling from the night's previous activities, and actually becoming quite embarrassed at how he had acted, (despite the fact that he couldn't actually recall the majority of what he did, exactly).
Grumbling, he slunk into his living room, flopping onto the couch which resided there, and closing his eyes.
Sasuke didn't feel like sleeping inside his bed, he believed it just wouldn't feel the same anymore.
XXX
Naruto grumbled.
Whoever said that money wasted was money well spent?
Because it was wrong, completely and utterly W-R-O-N-G…
He had wasted money on a lot of things in his life, clothes, trinkets and baubles, electronics, minutes for his cellular phone; the list could go on forever.
Now, however, he felt like none of those other worthless purchases could compare to what he had spent on prom night.
The young man owed Sasuke a pretty penny for the limousine, had spent countless dollars on roses of every shade possible, a tuxedo rental, shoes, a corsage, the tickets (he could assure you, they had quite a large price to them) and not to mention the hotel room where he was supposed to have one, if not the only, best night of his entire life.
Too bad he ended up in a bed, not with the girl of his dreams, but someone completely and utterly different.
What did it matter anymore, anyway?
He could have seen it coming a mile away had he not had a large scarf covering his eyes, had he not been blinded by what he thought was affection.
The young man brushed his teeth furiously, foam seeping on the corners of his mouth from the toothpaste.
He spat into the sink, rinsed and stormed into his kitchen.
Usually he would have flossed and used a generous amount of mint mouthwash, but what did it matter? Not like he would be going anywhere today.
It was nice to be home at least, and not held up inside some small hotel room with some chick you had just met at your high school prom.
This was true—she had been some other guy's prom date, taken a liking to Naruto Uzumaki, and agreed to leave with him.
It wasn't the young man's fault that he had drunk an excessive amount of alcohol, and that this young girl had left her prom date to pursue him. And, leaving with someone, even if it was a slut, was better than leaving alone.
XXX
Whenever Ino Yamanaka needed reassurance, she usually went to Sakura, Tenten or Hinata.
Too bad that none of them were answering:
Her calls,
Her texts,
OR
Her messages she left on instant messenger/their answering machines and through e-mail.
Despite popular belief, she did not go to her boyfriend, Shikamaru Nara, for everything.
There were some things she needed her female friends for. They could fix her problems easier, soothe her and comfort her. Whenever she was sad or broken, like cracks in the sidewalk, they'd fill in the missing concrete.
Her friends couldn't do that now, however, because right now, either she was dead, having an awful dream, or all of her friends had fallen off of the face of the earth, and at the most crucial time in all of her teenage life when she needed them the most.
Only a few people had actually seen Ino Yamanaka cry.
Those people were Shikamaru Nara, her guidance counselor, Sakura Haruno, Tenten, Hinata Hyuuga and her brother.
She refused to break down in front of large crowds or anyone else who didn't know her as well as she knew herself.
But right now, Ino worried she was going to burst into tears in front of one person she really didn't want to…
…Herself, staring back at her in the reflection of her mirror.
The tears fell.
XXX
BRING.
BRIINNGG.
Sakura Haruno wasn't answering her phone right now, she was too busy trying to fall back to sleep.
BRIINNGG.
The young girl knocked the phone and its cradle off her bedside table, the weight of the fall pulling it from its socket, and silencing the device.
She rolled back into the center of her bed, rolling into a ball and hugging her knees tight to her chest.
Already Sakura knew who the call was from, Naruto Uzumaki.
Too bad it was actually from her best friend who needed her more than anything.
XXX
Hinata's house felt like a warm hug when she entered it.
Everything was so peaceful.
Although there was still an itch she couldn't quite scratch, one that was focused mainly on a slight grudge she held against the Uchiha, the young girl ignored it.
She wasn't one to carry a grudge, especially to the poor young man who really looked beaten up after the previous night.
He had enough things to worry about right now.
Last night, Hinata had avoided her elder cousin, trying to keep out of his sight and whenever he did wake up and tried to open her door, she made sure that it was locked snugly.
The young girl would definitely get an earful this morning, but luckily Neji would be so exhausted from last night, he wouldn't dare chastise or lecture her about leaving her door locked, departing the house before he could awaken and definitely about what the Uchiha had spoken about her.
"Finally…where the hell were you?" Speak of the devil! The elder cousin came down the stairway, rubbing his tired eyes and yawning.
"Just went out for a small drive," the young girl responded fluidly.
Wow, she was getting better at lying.
Then again, technically, that wasn't a lie…it was partially true; she had just gone a short drive…to Sasuke Uchiha's house.
However, the elder Hyuuga was too tired to lecture the younger girl, and he had important news to pass on.
"Ah…" Another wide yawn, and this time, it became contagious as Hinata yawned also, "Ino called. Left a message for you, I dunno, she seemed kind of stressed if you ask me…but damn, you had just seen her last night…doubt anything coulda happened since then." Neji ran his hands through his tousled hair, tearing his hair tie out and reapplying it to his long brown hair.
"I-Ino called?" Hinata seemed simply perplexed by this.
Ino always called to tell her small bits of gossip, but it never ended up being anything serious.
Maybe she should call her…but then again, what if she had panicked, then called Ino and found out that the only thing troubling her was the need to tell someone about all the promiscuous activities that had taken place last night?
Hinata was not in the mood for gossip, or the mood to be pestered about what the Uchiha had blurted out. She was sure she'd get enough calls about that.
Then again, Neji and Kiba chased away a lot of the males in their classes and beyond, both threatening the boys and yelling at them.
"Yeah, she wanted you to call her back," he began up the stairs again, "Tenten told me she'd be by later today to talk to you…I dunno when she's comin', but I'm going back to sleep."
Before he reached the top of the stairwell, Hinata called out,
"So how was last night, Neji? Between you and Tenten?"
"Uneventful. She made me dance and drink, you probably had more fun back here sleeping."
The younger Hyuuga didn't believe what her cousin said, and giggled, knowing full well that he was desperately trying to hide a blush.
What she didn't know was that the blush wasn't because of any late night activities that had taken place between him and Tenten, but rather, Tenten and someone else
XXX
Morning was barely a thought in Mother Nature's mind when Tenten had awoken and sprinted far, far away.
She couldn't believe what she had just done.
She couldn't understand what she had just done.
She didn't WANT to think about what she had just done, just wanted out.
Her abdomen clenched, as she stopped at the bottom of the staircase, and she felt sick to her stomach. Thinking she was going to lurch, she leaned into a nearby garbage can and heaved, but nothing came out, bar spittle.
The young girls mind spun, and throbbed against her forehead.
She crashed onto the floor, sitting up, but her legs felt too weak to comply with what her mind was begging for.
To run.
After a few minutes, which felt like an eternity, of thinking she was going to vomit, and actually not, she eventually rose on two shaky legs.
Tenten's dress had been put on inside-out in haste, and the zipper on the back was rubbing against her, creating an itching friction, but for now, she didn't care.
All she was happy for was that time during her sophomore year that she joined the track team, and how a lot of the training had actually paid off in the long run (had she not been feeling as horrible as she did, she would have laughed deliriously at that silly pun, and for a second, she paused to do so, but continued running), because there was no way she was calling for a taxi being as disheveled as she was.
Not to mention, if she stopped, she was pretty sure that some guy would start leering at her, and she really didn't think she'd be able to fight him off.
That's how it was at nighttime here.
Completely unsafe.
By the time the young girl had reached her house it was actually noon, strange enough. Hadn't she been running since the wee hours of the morning?
It didn't matter, at least she was home.
But, she found herself mysteriously without her key. Hadn't she taken it with her to the…
Oh.
Oh.
Right…no key.
The young girl collapsed on the lawn, just as the sprinkler system began to spray.
XXX
Kiba Inuzuka was used to strange happenings.
Hell, when you lived with a family member who worked at the local humane society and veterinary clinic, you were basically brought up around the insane and delusional.
Ever since he was a young child, he had been surrounded by dogs, cats, rodents and bird of every breed.
It was no surprise when, for his 7th birthday his elder sister had surprised him with a puppy of his very own.
Needless to say, it had been a stray puppy, abandoned by its mother, and his elder sister had figured that both Kiba and the dog would be a perfect match for each other. Kiba was affectionate (he showed this by constantly spraying his elder sister with a water gun—she figured this was his way of hugging her), and this dog needed affection (or just someone to gallivant around their large backyard with).
But Kiba had other pets, too.
Kittens who had been left when their mother had gotten hit by a car, rabbits, ferrets, hamsters, mice, rats, chinchilla's, a snake or two, an iguana and a tarantula, three gecko's and a parakeet.
But they all paled in comparison to his dog.
However, this was all beside the point, because despite the fact that Kiba Inuzuka had been brought up around commotion, calamity, weirdness and strange happenings…had you woken him up that morning and told him that Tenten, a girl from his graduating class, would by laying out on his front lawn being doused by the sprinklers…
Well, he would have laughed roughly for about 5 minutes, slapped you on the shoulder for a joke well done, and then growled to leave him alone, he needed rest.
Too bad that no one had warned him previously, because then he could have at least been semi-prepared.
XXX
Sasuke's black eye was swelling more, he could barely open his lid, it hurt so much, like that time back in grade school when he had gotten a bee sting just above his left eyebrow.
He wondered how he was going to get more of the Hyuuga girls salve…maybe he would call her and ask her to bring some by.
It wasn't too much to ask, was it?
She wasn't holding a grudge against him, at least he didn't think so…she had taken him like a stray for fuck's sake!
Maybe she just had a knack for it. Look at who had taken her to prom—the Inuzuka! Talk about a stray.
He laughed like a loon, now feeling in better spirits and more like himself.
Then he abruptly stopped.
Did Sasuke ever really laugh?
The answer was no. He didn't, unless it was himself laughing at his own sick joke, and it was never a large, outright laugh.
Grumbling and uttering a few colorful words, the young man scrambled for the phone, and withdrew it from the cradle.
He began dialing some numbers, and then paused…
What the hell was that girl's phone number?
XXX
Clutter wasn't something that usually annoyed Hinata, mostly because she didn't have to tolerate it a lot.
She was relatively neat and tidy, and usually her maids took care of any extreme messes—like that one from graduation night—so she didn't usually have to.
Of course she'd constantly offer her help, and it made her feel nice cleaning up a mess she helped create.
The young girl stood in front of the clutter of things around her room.
She had thrown off her prom dress in a heap on the floor, her shoes had been discarded, bandages and their packages strewn carelessly, blankets and pillows scattered, and a melted bag of ice, seeping onto her floor.
Sighing, Hinata began cleaning up, wanting to do it all herself before Neji came in.
Afterwards she'd call Ino back, give her friend some time to collect herself before freaking out on Hinata over what the Uchiha had said.
The Uchiha.
She wondered if he was going to be alright.
Sure, she was still angry with him to some extent; it came and went though, in waves. Sometimes it wasn't there, sometimes she got extremely furious, and then it'd begin to ebb away.
Folding a blanket underneath one arm and securing a pillow underneath the other, Hinata placed them both in her closet on the very top where a high shelf sat for small keepsakes, such as old Christmas decorations or stuffed animals from when she was a child.
There was a sharp knock on her door as the young girl shoved the blanket and its pillow companion together.
"Yes?" she called out, walking towards the door to open it.
Neji stood, looking none too pleased,
"Phone." He thrust it into her grip, then continued down the hall complaining about how he could never get a wink of sleep in this 'goddamn house'.
"H-hello?" the young girl called into the phone's receiver,
"Hinata?" a voice ricocheted out of the receiver, commanding and strong.
"Ah! F-Father!" the young girl smiled tentatively as if he were in that exact room, staring her down, "How is the trip?"
XXX
Sasuke growled, throwing the large phonebook against the wall.
Too bad that he had the weakest throw in the entire world, because the phonebook only sailed a few inches and fell flat onto the floor, a few pages absently flipping over each other.
"Stupid ass phone book—doesn't even have the damned girl's number in it!"
He grunted and flopped onto the couch again, and instead picked up the phone and angrily dialed Naruto's number.
At least he knew THAT one off the top of his head.
The young man sat, the phone held against his ear, waiting for a dial tone before he began to punch in the numbers.
Once the call was being sent through, he waited rather patiently for an answer as the phone rang…
And rang…
And rang…
And ran—
"What the FUCK do you WANT?" Naruto Uzumaki roared into the receiver.
His sour mood was increasing by the hour, and it was very unlike him to answer the phone like this in fear it was someone important, like a college professor, the principal, his grandparents…
Or Sakura.
He hoped it was Sakura on the other end.
"The hell is eating you, Uzumaki?" Sasuke hissed, perturbed that this boy would DARE answer to him like that.
"Mind your own business, U-CHI-HA!" SLAM!
Oh, so that's the thanks he got for paying for that stupid ass limo?
He dialed the number again and this time when Naruto picked up, Sasuke wasted no time in telling the other young man that he better be damned grateful he wasn't going to expect a payback for the limo rental…
"GOOD BECAUSE I WASN'T GOING TO GIVE YOU ANYTHING!"
That was a lie, and usually Naruto was bad with lies, but this one didn't faze the Uchiha at all—it was Naruto, Naruto always paid back, rather it five years from now, but at least he paid back his debts.
It was one of his few good qualities.
"What's wrong, Naruto? Damn, is this some kind of role reversal or some shit? Reverse psychology?"
"More like Sakura was a bitch and broke it off," Naruto grumbled, and Sasuke heard him gulp down a drink.
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
Relationships were a waste of time, he knew this, but he wasn't going to lecture his friend with 'I told you so'-s.
"Are you drinking alcohol?" Sasuke grimaced, vowing to never have a drink ever again.
"No you dolt, water," this time the reply was calmer. Maybe the young man had just needed to get that Sakura thing off of his chest.
"Dolt? That's a new one, dobe," Sasuke sighed, resting his head against the couch's armrest.
"Yeah, you like?" gulp, "So why did you call me anyway?"
"I need Hyuuga's number." Sasuke responded, trying his best to sound nonchalant.
"What? You want to call and tell Hinata you're coming to rape her?"
Sasuke groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"No…" sigh.
"That was a load of bullshit, Sasuke; I mean…what the hell! Have you even SPOKEN to Hinata? Once?"
Sasuke only exhaled.
"I'm obviously not in the mood for you ignoring my questions, as much as you don't want to answer them."
"I don't want to talk about it, alright? What's their number, just tell me it and we both can rest easy."
"Fine, but I'm not forgetting this…" Naruto began, reciting the number as Sasuke copied it down onto the back of his hand with a nearby ballpoint pen.
"Hey…mind giving me a ride there?" Sasuke asked very blasé.
He was answered with a swift slam of the phone.
XXX
Kiba was entirely unsure about what to do with the young girl.
Sure, he and Tenten were friendly, a conversation every now and then, but he didn't know the girl well enough to just pick her up, lay her on his couch, then explain about what had happened…and why she was soaking wet.
But the boy—despite how "manly" he claimed to be, had been raised entirely by females (his mother and elder sister), and of course wasn't just going to leave her in his yard with the sprinklers whirring.
So, instead, he went over to the automatic sprinkler keypad, and turned them off.
Now his conscience was a bit clearer.
XXX
NEWSFLASH!
I decided to separate the chapters :D
Yay me?
Haha :P
So, anyway, drop some love—please? A nice little review or two?
Thanks!
xoxo