A/N: Crud. Here comes the "school's starting, I'm so tired, cut me some slack," bit that I do every year.
The [-M-]s mean you're changing 'scenes.'
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Porcelain Chapter Three
"Um, hi, Naruto," Hinata murmured shyly.
It appeared that today her allergies to air had eased up, because there was only a light blush dusting her cheeks, although that worsened when he invited her in for tea.
Well, what was he supposed to do? He wasn't such a jerk that he'd take the candy and send her away!
Hinata stuttered a "Thank you," and stepped easily over the threshold.
"D'you mind staying in the kitchen for now? There's a mess in my living room and I don't want you to see it." Naruto asked.
She nodded hurriedly and took small, quick steps over to the place where he'd just set up the essentials for tea – leaves, a kettle, a teapot and two chipped cups. When Naruto returned, he was surprised to see her washing the unclean dishes in his sink.
"You don't have to do that." Hinata jumped, her hand slipped on the edge of a large knife – the only one he owned – a few drops of her blood falling into the soapy silverware below.
Naruto's eyes slid shut half-way as his fangs descended easily. The fog began creeping around his mind. But Hinata was his friend, not ramen. She wasn't edible – but, Kami, this scent was so much better than what was coming off the bandages from before. The bandages!
"Don't move," said Naruto harshly, still caught between his human and beast states.
Within a moment, he was back with fresh, never-before-used strips of cloth for Hinata's hand. There was no way in Hell he'd let her see the tainted monstrosity that hung in his bathroom. He'd used the same ones ever since his first mission, washing them, mending them and the like, only leaving these for backup.
An impromptu plan formed quickly in his head – he used two strips to still the steady flow that was coming from her hand and tucked them away behind him. The rest he carefully wrapped around her broken skin – careful not to allow her to see any of his strange attributes. Once that was done, he took the bloody strips of cloth he'd used to wipe her hand and left without looking back.
Naruto locked himself in the bathroom, staring at the things in his hand. Blood? Was that what had triggered the reaction in him? But why did it seem so…? Not stopping to consider what he was doing, Naruto folded the cloth and placed it carefully on his tongue, then closed his mouth, crushing the moisture out of the bandage.
Delicious, creamy liquid coated his mouth like honey. He moaned, his senses more alert than ever. He smelled the chemicals on his bathroom counter, used to clean the thing; the faint stench that the very old paint had left and the remainder of his treat, the other bandage, resting on the white tile near the sink.
Soon enough, the flavor had all been pressed out of the cloth and he growled, pulling it out of his mouth, eagerly replacing it with the next bandage.
Once again, his senses roared – he could smell everything, see everything, feel everything and hear everything – including the frightened heartbeat of one Hyuuga Hinata.
Shit! He didn't take as long as he had the first time with this bandage, sucking out the fluid quickly, then easily walking into his kitchen, feeling perfectly in-control.
"Gomen, Hinata-chan, I was worried you might injure yourself, bleeding so much from a cut on your hand." Naruto explained easily to the shaky Hyuuga.
"I-it's alright." But it was apparent that she was still confused by his extreme behavior.
Naruto cursed inwardly. Then he added some self-loathing, too, because of what he'd just done and how casually he was treating the situation. His smile lightened at the pile of dishes, glad that there was some common ground that he could use. "Here; I'll wash, you dry."
Hinata nodded hurriedly, and pulled a clean dish-towel seemingly out of nowhere, quickly helping by drying and putting away.
Naruto inwardly winced at the uncomfortable silence. "So, Hinata, where were you today?"
"Hm?" she looked over at him, slightly puzzled.
"Well, yesterday you said you were busy…Never mind, if you don't want to share - "
"W-well, I was shopping for groceries. There was a sale at the store and I wanted to purchase some things…"
Naruto tilted his head, "Don't you live with your family?"
Hinata blushed at the curious look on his face, "Y-Yes, but I enjoy preparing food very much and the cook lets me use her kitchen sometimes."
Naruto nodded, "That's cool."
"Hai…"
The two slipped into an unsure silence.
"So… Is there any kind of food you like, in particular?" Naruto asked.
"Um…I like rice."
He looked at her strangely.
She blushed, "W-Well, you can use it in a lot of different ways! Everyone can enjoy it because it's so easy to adapt to any recipe."
"Huh," Naruto said, "I suppose that is a good thing, but what kind of rice do you like?"
"O-onigiri. I like picnics."
"That's cool."
Soon – too soon – the dishes were done and the silence between them was as awkward as ever because neither could pretend they were too busy with rinsing or drying to make conversation. Naruto invited her to sit at the table and kept himself busy by putting the kettle on and selecting two cups for them to use. Using the knife that Hinata had cut herself on previously, he cubed the chocolate and slid it onto a plate. To entertain himself while the water was boiling, he arranged the chocolate squares into different piles. He stopped when he saw that Hinata was watching him and blushed, apologizing, which led to her stuttering out an apology for staring and him sighing that it was really no problem.
The space between him and Hinata seemed to have an electric current traveling along it, which made the whole situation even more frustrating. It was obvious that both of them wanted the other to say something, and he would gladly be the first, if only he knew a conversation that wouldn't lead to a dead end. When the kettle whistled, he wasted no time, getting to the stove at a comically fast speed, eager to get this over with quickly. 'We drink tea, eat chocolate, I complement her, she leaves.' It was a plan.
Naruto set the teapot down on the table carefully, unwilling to burn either himself or his guest, and poured each of them a large amount of tea. He then grabbed a chocolate for himself and popped it into his mouth, preparing for either an overdose of sugar or a bitter aftertaste. To his surprise, the chocolate was fine. It was more rich than anything else; the dominant flavor being cocoa. The texture was similar to what he had experienced with Hinata's blood – don't think about that right now!
"These are great! No, really, they're the best chocolates I've tasted!" Said Naruto to Hinata's polite I-know-you're-lying-so-I-won't-feel-bad smile. "I don't like really sweet things, remember?" Her smile became a little less professional and she looked down at her tea, another blush – her brain must be shutting down from oxygen deprivation by now – on her cheeks.
The silence grew more comfortable after that, and Naruto felt that she was content to just sit and sip tea for a while. Thus, it surprised him when she spoke up.
"Naruto?"
"Hm?"
The immediate – and possibly pushy – attention to her caused Hinata's blush to darken, but she didn't back down. "I've noticed that you don't really have a lot of the necessary utensils and things and I was wondering if you'd like some help shopping for more."
The surprise at her boldness stupefied him for a moment. He hadn't planned on buying any new plates or anything, but now that she mentioned it, he really should get some more, especially since he was a fan of leaving anything dirty in the sink until he absolutely had to clean it. And, considering the dirty dishes they had washed before had been there for more than three days, it was a wonder that he and Hinata had managed to scrape the old food off of them at all. 'Of course she'd think you were gonna buy new ones – any normal person would, after seeing the crap that was on the ones you have now…Oh, Kami, I made her clean them, too…' He looked down at his plate, ashamed – even more so, once he saw the chipped thing that Hinata's homemade dessert was on.
'Be polite and accept her invitation, you uncouth slob,' he berated himself. "Yeah. That'd be great." A thought crossed his mind, "Actually, could you also help me with buying groceries? I mean, you're such an excellent cook, and I'm bad at choosing food from the store."
A small frown appeared on her face, "How do you choose what to buy now?"
"Er," he sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "I usually just get instant ramen."
"Naruto-san! You won't be able to function properly if you only eat ramen!" This outburst had him staring at her in shock for several moments before he laughed.
"You're right, Hinata-chan. So, could you help me, then?"
"H-Hai," she turned her attention to her index fingers which were nervously tapping together, all courage drained away by her last exclamation.
[-M-]
His fingers ran up her side, tickling and leaving a trail of goosebumps. He grinned at her body's response to his attentions, slightly disappointed that she didn't give him a sigh or moan for his efforts. When his eyes met hers, his smile disappeared.
The serious expression on her face almost worried him, but he didn't allow himself to think about the possibility that she didn't want this. He kissed without hesitating, all doubts evaporating when she responded eagerly. His mouth traveled down, licking her chin and then moving down to her throat, biting carefully, so that he didn't become overwhelmed by her blood again.
She let out a mewling noise. Her nails raked down his back. He smirked at her frustration when she realized that her attempt at marking him healed instantly. He bit harder, leaving a mark on her throat, moving lower, marking her breast, her side, her hip…
A shaky sigh danced out of her lungs, hanging in the air before melting out of existence. He let himself inhale her scent, his face pressed against her pale stomach, before moving back to his previous position – above her, like a predator instead of a lover.
His eyebrows furrowed at the slight wetness at the corners of her eyes. "You'll let me know if I hurt you, right?"
She shook her head no and he searched her face pleadingly for the answer. "Even if it hurts, I don't want you to stop."
He gave her a small, worried smile and bent down to gently press his lips against hers, turning the heated tryst into something more loving. She gave him an unsure glance, "Yours?"
He nodded, burying his face in her hair. "Mine," he breathed out.
[-M-]
Naruto glared at his reflection. Not only was it severely annoying that he was turning into a pervert, but the fact that he was dreaming about Hinata like that, of all people.
'She's a nice girl who's been nothing but kind to you and you're thinking about getting into her pants?' His voice rang in his head – 'Mine.'
…What the hell? Hinata wasn't his in any way. Hinata was most definitely not someone he had any right to fantasize about.
He gave himself another bitter glance. 'You pervert.'
[-M-]
Once again, the day proved to be sunny, although it seemed considerably cooler than the previous two. Naruto waited at the entrance to Ichiraku's as he and Hinata had agreed, although he was a little early. His dread for waiting there for too long disappeared when Hinata walked towards him with a bag that was surely meant for their food.
"Hello. Sorry – am I early?" She asked.
"Yes, but I'm early, too, so it's no problem," he replied. "Well, shall we get going?"
"S-Sure." Both of them stood there for another few moments. It seemed that Hinata wanted him to lead, but he really didn't have any idea where they were going. Would they buy dishes first, or food? A light breeze ruffled his hair. It felt cool and welcome on his face.
"Er… Lead the way, Hinata." The girl blushed and followed his order, stepping in front of him and walking towards the market. So they were gonna buy groceries. Okay.
Once again, the breeze started up, carrying Hinata's scent to him. He froze, fangs poking into his bottom lip. Was that blood he smelled? Hinata's blood? Why would she be bleeding, she looked fine –
Naruto's face blanked. No way. She was… It was that? Oh, no. And he was gonna be near her all day, too. Shit…
[-M-]
"Remember that when they're green that means they're newer than the other ones, so they'll l-last longer, although it would be best to wait and not eat them until they turn yellow. They taste better that way." Hinata looked up from the bananas and turned to Naruto. "You've g-got all that, Naruto-kun?" He was frowning in what looked like concentration. "I can write it down for you, if you l-like."
"Uh, no, I'm fine. Woah, those are expensive!" He gaped at the price underneath the fruit display.
"Most fruits are shipped here from far away, so they cost a lot," Hinata explained.
"Well, I guess that makes sense. D'you mind if we just don't buy any, then?"
Hinata shook her head and they moved along. Once she'd turned away, Naruto grimaced. Damn. It was getting harder to ignore her scent. He was grateful for the smell of all these foods, otherwise he'd probably be jumping on her right now, trying to bite her for the blood that smelled so good.
"Naruto, are you sure you're alright?" Hinata walked towards him and he cleared his expression. Her scent washed over him; he fisted his hands. "D-Do you have a fever?" Her hand found his forehead, "Naruto-k-kun, you're really h-hot. I think you should go home, I-I'll buy the stuff you need."
He had a fever? He felt warm, but that was because of how close she was, he was sure. And, Kami, it was getting hard not to bite her, to search for the source of that wonderful smell… He stumbled away. "Th-Thanks, Hinata. I'll leave the door unlocked so that you can get in, ne? Otherwise I'll forget about the food and step on it when I leave the house." What was he doing? He was calling her to his apartment? What if he lost it there? No-one else would be there to stop him.
"Okay, Naruto-kun. I'll bring ramen!"
He ran off.
Once he got home, his head cleared, but his fangs didn't go away. Why couldn't he keep himself in check? Could he be any more obvious?
But with Hinata so close, with her blood within reach, after he'd already tasted it once… And that dream… Naruto began to pant; the mist from before rolled in. His vision was turning hazy…
"N-Naruto-kun? It's me; I forgot to ask you if you had any noodles or if I sh-should buy some." Hinata's voice echoed in his head. He bounded to the door, the mist in his mind blocking out any logical thought. "Naruto? Are you all right? What're you doing?" He wrapped his arms around the girl, breathing in her scent, intoxicated. "N-N-Naruto? What - ?"
He bit her.
…
…
A/N: It was gonna happen and you know it! …Please review.
