Chapter 2
I woke up squiniting my eyes by how blinding this light was.
"Oh my Gosh you're okay!" I heard Sakura cry out as she tackled me with a hug.
I leaned foward after her embrace and saw how I was in Sakura's room on her bed. Sai was waking up from the Air mattres he was sleeping on. I looked down on my clothes and I was dressed in Sakura's white tank top, pink pajama shorts and white fuzzy socks.
My head was crazy pounding and hurting and my stomach wasn't feeling so great.
"Oh my god what happened?" I asked putting my hands over my face trying to control the pounding.
"You blacked out" Answered Sai getting up to stretch. "You were so overwhelmed with experiencing all that fighting and you were really drunk Hinata. Not Temari Drunk at first, but you got there."
Sakura sat next to me on her bed and grabbed my hand. "We were so worried. We didn't know what to do!"
"But what happened?! Did they stop?! What went down last night?!" I was so anxious to know if Itachi and Neji ever stopped.
Sakura ran her fingers through my hair and sighed. "Itachi, Sasuke and that crazy blonde guy stopped fighting when you collapsed on the ground. Neji freaked and knelt down besides you along with Sai and I. Itachi immediately put his fist down from punching the blonde dude for the second time on his side and grabbed Sasuke to stop hurting the other red head. People were helping the blonde and red head stand up, but the blonde guy wouldn't stop looking over at us when we tried waking you up."
"Then," Continued Sai. "Itachi checked your pulse and said that you were fine. The alcohol finally got to you and you got too overwhelmed and blacked out. Neji told us how you'd both be dead if you guys went back home in such shitty conditions so Sakura offered that you'd sleep at her house. I carried Temari and Sakura carried you. While we were driving home, two cop cars passed us and they headed down Sasuke's street."
"Someone called the cops?" I asked in shock.
Both Sakura and Sai nodded at the same time.
"Everyone booked it and Itachi told Sasuke and Shikamaru to run upstairs and keep quiet while Itachi, Neji and all his friends older than twenty-one stayed downstairs to talk to the police since they're legal to be consuming alcohol."
"Are they okay? Did they get in trouble?" I was so worried. My parents would freaking donate us to a damn zoo if we ever got into massive trouble.
Sai smirked. "You know how incredibly persuasive Itachi is. No ticket or any further questions. The police literally only stayed there for ten minutes then left right after with giving Itachi a strong warning."
"Oh thank God!" I said falling back onto Sakura's pillow.
No one got in trouble, Sasuke, Neji and Itachi stopped hurting Gaara and Naruto and HOLY SHIT I HAVE WORK TODAY!
I sprung out of Sakura's bed. "You guys what time is it!" Jesus I shouldn't have gotten up so fast! A sharp pain rose in my head.
Sakura pulled her phone out from her pocket. "It's 7:30 in the morning why are you freak-Oh crap! Today's your first day of work! What time was it again?"
"I start at 9 am! But I have to clock in at least 10 minutes before 9!"
"Shit let me call Neji!" Said Sakura dialing numbers on her phone.
I ran to Sakura's mirror and nearly screamed at my reflection.
Mascara and my eyeliner were smeared and my lipstick was on my cheeks and chin. I cleaned my face with her makeup wipes and rinsed my face. I re-applied a little bit of some eyeliner on my eyelids and winged them smaller this time. I gave some color to my cheeks and applied some lipbalm and tied my hair up in a ponytail. There, I looked like less shit. I was in desperate need of some Tylenol for this headache.
"Here!" said Sakura throwing some jean shorts and a shirt at me. "Use this to wear under your work uniform. Its not like you're gonna wear last nights outfit to work or pajamas."
"Did you call Neji?" i asked as i began to take my shirt off.
"Yeah. He's on his way. He said your parents flipped when they didn't see either of you this morning. Neji saved you both by telling your parents that you went to work early but was in such a rush and so nervous that you forgot your uniform. Then he told them that he was at Sasukes hanging in the morning so he already stopped at your guy's house to get your stuff and now he's almost here."
I sighed in relief. I was nearly about to have a panick attack. I changed into Sakura's clothes quickly and went down Stairs with her and Sai for a quick breakfast.
"Dude I have a killer headache. Do you have anything that'll make me totally not die on my first day?" I said frowning.
Sakura pulled out Tylenol from her kitchen cabinet where she kept medicine and took a little blue gel pill and handed it to me with a cup of water.
I chugged it down and had a bagel with cream cheese on it. About 10 minutes later, we hear a car honking outside. It was Neji. I quickly thanked and hugged Sai and Sakura for everything and went out the door.
As I walked towards Neji's car, I saw how exhausted he looked. He had bags under his eyes, he rubbed his temples and he just looked out of it. He noticed me making my way to him and gave me a small smile. I however did not smile back. I was still really upset at him.
I got in the car and put my seat belt on.
"Good morning" He said after a sigh.
"Neji what the hell was last night about? You were absolutely psychotic and evil to those two guys! What got into Itachi and especially you!?" I exclaimed. There was no need for me to sugar coat anything before getting to the question.
Neji turned serious and a frown appeared on his face as he drove past Sakura's neighborhood.
"I'm sorry you had to see me like that and I'm especially sorry I acted that way in front of you. Please Hinata, we can talk after you get out from work. You don't need any negative thoughts on the first day. Besides, it's a long ass story and there's not enough time."
"But I want to know why!"
"It's not even my buisness to tell you. This has to do with Itachi, the two guys from last night and one of their other friends."
"If it was between them, then why the hell did you get involved?!"
"Because Itachi is one of my bestfriends! You would help and defend Sakura if she needed it wouldn't you?" He shouted.
I was so angry. "That gave you no right to hurt them so brutally! They weren't even doing anything!"
"Do you not remember how he basically spit a loogie at his face! I'd do something if someone did that to me."
I remained silent towards the rest of the car ride. Neji kept trying to defend everything but I was just so disappointed in mainly him. He severely beat that red head, Gaara so bad. I remember seeing his eyes squeezed shut in pain as he embraced his stomach after having it being punched and kicked numerous of times. Neji was just pure evil until I got his attention and he saw me crying towards how he was acting. My anger boiled the more and more he talked. Unless he sheds some light, then I remain pissed off about what he did.
We approached the parking lot area of the restaurant I was gonna work at. Just a load of American food and a small section of Mexican food on the last two pages. "Lolita's" I changed into my white collard shirt and dark gray skirt over the top and shorts Sakura let me borrow and threw my bag over my shoulder.
"Call me when you're out."
I ignored him and slammed the door.
As I walked in, the smell of coffee filled my nostrils. It was quite welcoming.
"Hinata!" My manager, Iruka smiled as he approached me. "Hope you're ready! Lots to get done around here" He said handing me a red rag and table cleaner spray.
"I'm cleaning tables?" I said.
"Just for today. you'll start waitressing tomorrow if you're good. Tell me when you're finished. I have a few phone calls I got to return." He smiled again and walked away.
I set my bag down in the lobby and said hello to my coworkers and went back out and began to clean.
Middle schoolers were here this morning for their stack of pancakes and I recognized a few of the younger classmen who are now seniors from school.
"Hinata you work here?" cried out this boy that every one called Jin.
"Yep. Summer job" I smiled as I approached his table.
"I heard Sasuke's grad party got a little hectic last night" He smirked.
My eyes widened. "Who'd you hear that from?"
"Pretty much everyone." Said this girl next to him. "I was there last night and I saw how your cousin and Sasuke's brother were going ham on those guys. When the cops came everyone booked it and it was literally all everyone could talk about."
I clutched the spray bottle tightly. "What were people necessarily saying?"
Jin spoke up this time again. "Well just mainly about the fight. To be honest, majority of the people were rooting for the other guys since they were being hurt badly."
"It took two of my friends and other people to get a hold of Sasuke and Itachi to stop before you totally collapsed. Your cousin was kinda just frozen and keeping his eyes on you freaking out, when you passed out." Added the girl. "Me and some other four people helped the other guys up and took them out the house and Gave them a ride home."
I looked back to see if Iruka was in sight and pulled a chair and sat down. "Who are they do you know?"
"My friend said they all used to be friends but something happened and they're kinda all hostile against eachother. Don't know what happened though, they didn't mention it." Shrugged Jin.
I sighed. "I mean like I tried asking Neji what the deal was between all of them and he didn't wanna tell me. Guess I wanted to see if you guys knew."
"All I heard was that the blonde one is really bad news. His parents are rich and he works too so he makes a good amount of money for a guy his age. He's careless and just bad is what I heard when my friend and I stuffed him and the other guy with him in the back seat while they were also passed out in the back." Said the girl after taking a sip from her soda. "I saw him here last week"
"Last week?" I repeated.
She nodded. "I think he hangs around here. Saw him here about three times."
He came here? Here to Lolita's? God I hope by some miracle he comes today. I have so many questions. I thanked Jin and the other girl who's name I now know is Jenny and brought them free refills for such information and continued to clean. 4 hours have passed and I kept staring at the entrance every time I heard someone walk in hoping it was him. But all who came in were a bunch of teens and kids looking for a place to cool off and eat. I only had 2 hours left before my shift was over. I was given a small 15 minute break and went inside the lobby and sat down on the couch.
I had a text from Neji asking me what time I was out so he could pick me up. I honestly didn't want him to pick me up. If I didn't end up passing out last night, I could have slept at home and would have been able to take my car. I could walk home but it's over 90 degrees outside. I sighed.
I'll let you know when my shift is over.
I pressed send.
"Hey why so glum newbie? This job ain't that bad."
I looked up and gave the cook a smile.
"Hey Choji. I just got a bit of Drama goin on" I said putting my phone in my pocket.
"Would a plate of my famous burger and fries make you feel better?" He grinned walking over to me as he cleaned his hands with his apron. "My treat. Iruka won't mind."
"That actually sounds pretty good. I'll take you up on that offer after my shift so there's no rush" I said. "Would a vanilla milk shake be okay too?"
He laughed. "Only because its your first day here and because I know you'll be smiling after a full stomach."
"Thank you Choji." I smiled.
He went back out into the kitchen after asking me how I'm liking it here and such.
I checked the time and noticed that my break was over and went out to do Iruka's other task which was to set new clean forks and knives wrapped up in a paper towel on each table.
After covering 30 tables I was almost done. Just 20 more minutes. I went back and cleaned tables again and found Iruka standing behind me as I turned around to get a new rag.
"Oh! Iruka I didn't see you there." I said a bit startled.
"Just came by to say you've been doing great today. I know you still got a bit more time before you're finished, but I think I'll let you out early today." He smiled. "Chojis finishing up your order of food so take off the apron and put those cleaning supplies away."
I thanked him and did as he said. I went back into the lobby and grabbed my bag and headed out and sat at the table facing the kitchen counter.
"Almost done!" I heard Choji call out.
As I sat there I looked out the window and watched the cars pass by. I saw a woman walking her dog and a group of kids walking together in their summer shorts and tank tops.
The sun was bright, but not bright enough to make me pull down the blinds.
As I began to watch the cars pass by again. One black Mercedes Benz drove quickly then stepped on the brakes and reversed itself back to my view. oncoming cars were honking and it remained in the middle of the street just standing there causing traffic. I couldn't see who it was, the windows were tinted. Why the hell is it still just standing there.
"GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!"
"MOVE!"
All these cars began honking like crazy and yelling at the driver inside the Mercedes.
What the hell was going on?
The car finally pressed on the gas and made a U-turn.
That was so weird. So many looney drivers in this area.
I plugged in my ear phones and continued to look out the window. This job shouldn't be so bad. Majority of the customers were nice and I know half of the ones who come and eat here. And since im starting waitressing tomorrow, I'll get tips.
Out of know where, my right earbud was gently taken out of my ear. I looked away from the window and my heart began to thump as Naruto stood right before me holding my earbud in his hand wearing a striped grey and white shirt and blue jeans and black shoes and that necklace he wore yesterday. His hair was spiked and he smelled of cologne. But his face. His cheeks were scratched up and under his eye was a slight bruise. There was a cut over his eye brow and i noticed how his knucles were a little red and purple.
"It's you." He said.
"N-naruto.." I said. I was just so in shock. I mean yeah I was told he came here a few times but to actually have him in front of me...and looking so out of it was just startling.
"Can I sit?" He asked me, placing my earbud down on the table.
I nodded and watched him never looking away from me as he sat down.
"I'm sorry for just coming up to you so abruptly. I was just on my way to see my friend you met last night and I just saw you while I was driving by and couldn't believe it was you!"
"You mean you were the one who was causing all that traffic out there?" I asked pointing out the window.
"Well yeah, I mean I just couldn't believe it was you. I didn't think I was going to see you again so when I did, it was just like I had to be sure you were the same girl I met last night. When it came clear that it was, I made a U-turn and parked and came inside Lolita's and saw the back of your head and came up to you." He said.
"Is your friend okay? Are you okay?!" I said having the flashbacks storm into my mind.
"I'm alright...However my friend, Gaara isn't doing so well." He said looking down. "His sides and stomach won't stop hurting. He's actually at my house. I was coming back from another friends house to see if she was able to accompany me to the hospital with him."
"But what happened?! Why the hell was there so much hostility with all of you? What kind of beef do you guys have?"
"Man I thought they explained that to you already since they hate me." He said falling back on the chair.
I shook my head. "They didn't. My cousin wouldn't tell me and-"
"Wait which one's your cousin?"
I was so embarassed to say it. "The one who kept punching your friend in the stomach"
"Neji" He said with a sigh. "Well this all started on the last month of our senior year." He began. "Itachi and I were always competitive with one another but really good close friends. It was six of us in our group. Neji, Itachi, Me, Gaara, Kiba and Ino. Itachi and I would always get into pretty deep arguments about the littlest thing to the point where our friends separated us from each other until we cooled off. During that time I was going through a really tough time so I did some pretty bad things to myself. I didn't harm myself if that's what you're wondering, I just drank and smoked A LOT. Which I guess yeah, you could consider that harming yourself internally. We were at the biggest party of the year and I drove with Gaara and Neji in my car while Itachi drove in his car with our other friends. During the party I got pretty hammered and Itachi and I argued again and he brought up how out of control I was being with all the drinking I was doing. And well, as you saw last night, alcohol makes you very bold so I remember shoving him and telling him to shut the hell up." He paused for a moment then began again. "He shoved me back and said more things that got me upset so I was at my peak, so I punched him so hard to the point where he fell back against the wall. He was about to swing back at me until the host of the party kicked both of us out. While he tried calling our friends to tell them what had happened, I got into my car, yes drunk and purposely rear ended his car. I know this sounds really dumb of me but you do and say the stupidest things when you're mad but especially drunk. I'm living proof" He said with a slight smile. "I drove off before he got to my car and miraculously got home safe. Next morning we saw each other to talk and well yeah I did realize that what I did was stupid and i did pay for the damages on his car. He was really mad and I didn't blame him. From then on after I paid for what I did, he told me he didn't want us to be friends anymore. I could take not being his friend even though it did hurt during the time, but what I didn't accept was how he was neglecting everyone from being my friend and I wasn't too happy about that. I mean he was being really dumb. Why the hell are you trying to play mommy and going off saying, 'Hey I don't want any of you to be friends with Naruto anymore. He's nothing but trouble.' So again, another argument came up and this time no one was able to kick us out anywhere so we went at it. Our friends stopped us and Itachi decided to take a vote. He made a vote as to who still wanted to associate themselves with me and who didn't. At first everyone thought it was dumb how he was making every one choose sides. Itachi began to talk about my bad habbits and the way I am to strike up some sort of spark in everyone's head to hate me. But I ended up realizing how much love I had from my friends. Gaara and my two other friends Ino and Kiba stood by me and told Itachi that they would always be my friend and how they cared about me. Now Itachi got mad because for the first time in his life, things didn't go his way. After having just Neji by his side, he began to not only hate me, but the one's who decided to stick by me. They spread rumors about us, had people we used to get along with not even turn to look at us. He never acknowledged us when we had him for a class. I personally wasn't bothered. I mean people come and go no matter how much you wished they had stayed. What bothered me was that he couldn't shut his lying mouth about the rumors. I didn't care if he talked about me, what bugged me was that he spread the most nastiest one about the only girl in our group, Ino. He said that she screwed me and that she was so willing to sleep with anyone who sent her a nude. Ino received a bunch of dick pictures with the question if she would be up for sex and she even had guys at our school come up to her. She ate lunch in the rest room like a loner because she was that affected by everyone coming up to her." I was so shoked to hear how Itachi was so cruel! He always showed kindness to us, but then I remembered somewhere around my freshman year when Itachi was a senior, that a girl was sleeping around with other guys.
I didn't catch who, nor did I even want to know whonit was. I hated to hear rumors about people.
I looked at Naruto who stopped talking as Choji brought my plate of Hamburger, fries and milkshake. I thanked Choji and asked him for another order to give to Naruto. He smiled and said yes and Naruto continued on with his story.
"One night, me and my buddy Kiba went to Itachi's house and saw his shitty beloved red Camaro that we all knew he loved so much and we just gave him what it deserved. We popped his tires, the idiot had his window open on the passenger's side and we dumped a bucket of yellow paint on his black leather interior he had placed and managed to get it on his dashboard and steering wheel. We were gonna dump the paint on top of his car but dumping it in the inside seemed like a better idea. Later on I took out my own keys and basically just ruined his paint job. We thought about breaking his windows, but we knew the alarm would go off. Plus, that was definitely enough damage to make him shit his pants. We left and let him suffer the entire weekend with a fucked up car." He sighed and gave me a smile. "To wrap up this story a lot quicker, lets just say that Itachi came up to me about his car, I lied saying I didn't do it, he blamed and blamed but then I asked if he had any proof and he just walked away. After graduation Itachi was having a party at his friends house. It was to be his grad party, but it was at a bigger house than his. We were definitely uninvited. But Ino wanted revenge for what he did to her so we all went and avoided him the best we could. He actually got a barrel of Beer as a present for his party and we had an idea. Itachi was in the backyard talking to a girl all by himself with no one in sight and while Ino confronted him and went off about him lying, Me and my two other friends picked up the barrel, cracked open the lid from the top and snuck up behind him and poured the entire thing on his head and dropped the barrel on him too. Before he could react, Gaara grabbed the hose and sprayed him. We ran off before he came after us. And its not like he could leave, it was his own party. He didn't even bother trying to get in contact with any of us for what we did. It was kind of over you know? High school was over and it was done. But that's why yesterday wasnt that peachy when we saw each other." He finished.
I haven't even started on my food. I was in awe.
I couldn't even.
"Here you go my friend." Said Choji appearing at our table with Naruto's food.
Naruto smiled and thanked him and took a bite out of the burger.
"Come on now eat. That was all like two or three years ago." He said.
I slowly picked up my food and began to eat. We ate and I asked him questions about his friends and how they were like.
He spoke about his job and how he was able to pay for himself when it came to every thing. He was looking to buy a house soon and told me how he dropped out of college at 19.
"I honestly didn't find it to be necessary to go to school. I mean I was making so much money to the point where I bought the car of my dreams in less than a year." He said.
"You mean the one I saw you drive?" I asked.
"Well no. That's just a car I have when i have more than one person who's driving with me. My dream car was a Nissan 350 Z. It's a two seater."
"Do you ever plan on going back?"
He chewed his fry and thought.
"I honestly will. But I don't know when. I mean I still want my job even though its pretty stressful, but I'd have to make time for school. And I work six days a week. Sometimes five depending how much I get done from five am to three pm."
"That's a lot." I said.
He shrugged. "I know. But hey that's life."
We finished eating and he offered me a ride home. I thanked him but rejected his offer.
"It's fine" He smiled. "Thank you for the food. I didn't know you worked here."
"I just started today. It's a summer job I'm taking to have extra cash for any books or school supplies I'll need when Fall semester starts." I said fiddling with my uniform shirt.
"I think I'll be stopping by alot more to say Hello to you then."
"I'll take you up on that" I smiled. "I hope Gaara gets better. Tell him i said Hello."
"I will". He spread his arms out for a goodbye hug.
I wrapped my arms around him and felt him give me a small squeeze.
His necklace shined against the sun.
"I admire your necklace" I said. "It's very beautiful."
He looked down at it and held it with a smile.
"It's a white Gem my grandfather gave me before he passed. I call it 'The moon necklace'."
"Why do you call it like that?"
"Because I love the moon when it comes up at night and this little gem reminds me of it." He said letting go of it and smiling at me. "See you later Hinata."
"Goodbye Naruto."
I watched him drive away and waved as he drove passed me.
I watched him drive off until his car was no more to be seen.
Neji picked me up a few minutes later and I was in no mood to talk.
Yes I was mad. But I just didn't want to talk. I was so deep into thought about everything he told me.
And so into thought about him.
Please review and I hoped you enjoyed :)
