A/N: Haha, I'm so lazy with my writing...
yes the Rookie Nine were a bit harsh in the last chapter, but I felt it was necessary... kind of like when you have to beat the crap out of your best friend if they're acting weird. And they're ninja. Of course they're going to take it a bit farther than just punching you on the arm.
Also, I know many parts in my story make no sense at all, so feel free to pm me about them (you'll have to mention which parts) and I'll explain.
Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Naruto. Like any of you guys needed to read that to confirm it.
Orange and White
Chapter 6
Even though I was a bit annoyed by the stuttering, it was the only thing that made Ino realize that the real me was in here, and not just Other Hinata talking back. I'm not sure that was good, because her reaction was scary.
Ino responded by shrieking "You're just like Sakura!", then started rocking back and forth. I think this was really freaking her out, because she didn't even notice when she shifted out of my body back to her own. When she got back into her own body, she unconsciously curled up into a ball on the ground. Then Other Hinata regained control, and prepared to cut the ropes and attack again.
But then Shikamaru got the "I just figured something out" look on his face, and told Choji to untie Other Hinata. Everyone looked at Shikamaru like he was crazy, but they didn't do anything, because obviously, Shikamaru is far from crazy, he's a genius.
Other Hinata stood up slowly, obviously not trusting Shikamaru. She glared at Ino, who was still curled up like an insane person.
Something about that really hurt me deep inside. If I hadn't said anything, then maybe she wouldn't be acting so disturbed. Sure, she teased me a lot, but she was still my friend. And seeing the boys like that... Well, it did make me more sad inside, but I realized now that the strange feeling was the need to protect them. No wonder it felt so strange. My entire life, I had always been the one to be protected. To be the protector, well, that was new for me.
Seeing Ino like that just made the new feeling stronger, and now that I was sure nothing was going to happen to me, I might as well just stop sulking and do something.
Hey, umm... Do you mind leaving for a bit, just so I can talk to Ino?
I could see Other Hinata mentally staring at me incredulously.
Uhh... Sure. No problemo. I'll, uh, just go and get some, uh, crackers. That just proves how amazed Other Hinata was. Who says "No problemo"? And where is she going to get crackers?
When I took control, I could feel every part of my body relax, as if it was happy that the person it was used to was back. Even my gaze softened. I figured it was because Other Hinata was always so tense.
I started to walk towards Ino. Choji was about to ram into me and take me away from her but Shikamaru held out his arm to stop him.
"Ino...? Sorry to scare you earlier. I... I didn't mean to..." I trailed off. Ino glanced up at me with unseeing eyes, while everyone else (except Shikamaru) looked pleasantly surprised by the familiar voice they know and love. Then Ino's eyes focused, and she let out a shaky breath.
"Hinata?" She asked.
I really wanted to say "The one and only." (I felt much more confident than I ever have before) but that would've been too out of character and then they wouldn't absolutely know it's me. "It's me."
Shikamaru turned to the others and said "I guess you guys all figured out what's going on? Especially you, Sakura?". Sakura nodded, but then Naruto waved his arms around and exclaimed, "Wait a minute! You haven't even explained anything, how are we supposed to know what's happened?".
This was followed by mutters of "Idiot." and Kiba and Shikamaru sighed in exasperation while I smiled fondly.
"It's too troublesome to explain it all to Naruto. Some one else do it." Shikamaru turned around and started walking back into the village, waving lazily at us. "I'm going to go play shogi with As-" Shikamaru froze in place, his arm in the air as if it was waiting for a high-five (which it wasn't obviously, it was just there because he was waving). "I mean... I'm going to take a nap."
Ino and Choji teared up for a second, and Sakura went to comfort them while Shino explained the situation to Naruto. Everyone else passed by me (most of them hugged me or patted me on the back) and left. Then I just stood there. I didn't know what to do, really. Should I stay here? Should I go home? Maybe I should sit down somewhere? Where should I sit?
Then, to save me from my confusion, Sakura came along and linked my arm in her's.
"Me and Hinata are going for a walk guys! Be back in like, 10 hours!" She saw my face and laughed. "Just kidding. 5 hours at most. Now, let's go!"
I just kind of stared at her, but then she tugged me and started walking while I tripped over my own feet to catch up with her. Sakura looked at my progress and chuckled, and I laughed with her. It seemed so long since I felt so good.
We walked into the forest and just kind of wandered into we found a little clearing that looked very peaceful.
"Umm, Hinata? You might want to stand back..." I hesitated, but then I realized she was going to smash something, so I stood a few metres behind her.
And being the predictable person she is, Sakura punched a large tree and it fell down. Then in the course of about 5 minutes, she broke off pieces of the tree stump and kind of polished/rubbed it with her hands (she had her gloves on, of course) until it was something that we could sit on without getting a splinter.
"Sit down Hinata. We have a lot to talk about." She sat down on the stump and patted the spot next to her. I sat down robotically.
"Hinata, I'm just going to ask questions, and all you have to do is nod or shake your head." She said it in the way someone might try to calm an out-of-control little kid. "Of course, you don't have to, you can just say it. Is that ok?"
"S-sure Sakura. Go a-ahead."
"Do you feel like you have more than 1 personality?"
"M-maybe...?"
"Does it seem like you have conversations with yourself in your head?"
"K-k-kinda..."
"Do you sometimes have a lapse in memory?"
"No... not really..."
"Do you occasionally do things that you think that you usually wouldn't have done?"
"Sometimes... But, uh, Sakura, how m-many questions a-are you going to ask me?"
"There's about 50 more questions, but I guess we already have all the answers we need..." Sakura smiled.
"...?"
"Those questions are the main questions that basically identify what's wrong." She explained. "No, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with you... it's more like... umm... It identifies the situation."
"Oh... Ok."
"Anyways, I can tell already that what Ino said is true. You're not exactly like me but close enough. We've both unleashed our alter-egos."
"What... What does that mean?"
"Well, it's what some people would call 'multi personality disorder' but not really. It just means that there's a part in you that's the exact opposite of you. An alter-ego. That little voice in your head. Your evil twin. Whatever you want to call it."
"Mmhmm..."
"It comes out occasionally or in little bits at a time. Which is fine, because that's almost unnoticeable... But when I say 'unleash' it means that our alter-ego comes out more than it should. You, for example, apparently just gave yourself over to it because of an emotional incident. I also figure that it was going to take over soon anyways, seeing as it almost never comes out."
"But what about you, Sakura?"
Me...? Well, I was born with it 'unleashed'." Sakura made little quotations marks in the air with her fingers. "But when Sasuke left, well, I controlled it. Almost."
I looked at Sakura, expecting her to continue or say something else, but instead she looked at me expectantly.
"What? You want me to say more? Sorry, but that's basically all you need to know... You don't need to be an expert on this stuff to control your alter-ego. You just need to be strong and don't give up." Sakura grinned confidently at me.
"Narutfo's rubbed off on you." I commented.
"It comes with being on his team." She replied. "But since you're probably bursting with confusion, it's question time! Ask any question you want!"
"O-ok. How come nobody notices their own alter-ego?"
"You're not aware of it until it's 'unleashed'. The way it shows itself is so unnoticeable, people think it's just how they react when they feel a certain emotion, or they think it's a mood swing."
"What exactly is your alter-ego like Sakura?"
"You know whenever Naruto says something stupid and I pound him?" I smiled knowingly and nodded. "That's it. Whenever I get angry and freak out, or do something irresponsible, that's my alternate personality."
I nodded again and we had another awkward moment where we looked at eachother and nobody said anything.
"No more questions?" She asked.
I shook my head. "I'll ask more later if I have any."
"Ok then. I'm going to put a seal on you now, but it's going to take about an hour."
"What does this seal do specifically, besides sealing?"
"It... how can I put this? It sort of merges your two personalities together so it's like it's never been 'unleashed' in the first place and you don't notice it's there. Are you fine with this?"
"S-sure. Let's do it."
Sakura did spend the next hour merging my personalities together, but it felt like it took forever to do it. No, that's an exaggeration. It actually felt like 5 hours, which I guess is why Sakura said it's going to take "5 hours." Speaking of which, I had a new question to ask Sakura.
"Sakura?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you have this seal put on you too?"
Sakura smiled again. We smiled a lot today. "Apparently, I wasn't showing my alternate personality enough after Sasuke left. But yeah. You're smart, Hinata."
"Thanks. I think maybe we should go back now. I'm kinda hungry."
She raised an eyebrow at me and exclaimed, "I didn't know the seal was this effective! You've completely lost your stutter Hinata! I mean, I know I had the seal on me too, but I didn't notice any difference in me!"
"Mmhmm."
"Let's go home now!"
"I'm going to stay here actually. It's really peaceful here. It'll be my special place." I beamed.
"That's great. You need a special place, Hinata, after the previous month."
"No kidding."
Sakura gave me a strange look, then shook her head. "I'll have to get used to that. You seem so different." Then she saw my worried expression. "No, you're not that different! You're still very kind and friendly, I'm sure."
"Thanks Sakura. I think we'll be really close friends from now on."
"Buddies." She agreed.
"Well, I guess you should be going now. See you!"
"Bye! I'll make sure I'll tell Naruto about your new confidence! He'll be ecstatic! All I have to do is find him..."
"No need! Your Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja is here!"
Me and Sakura watched in shock as Naruto leaped into the clearing from the trees behind us.
A/N: I'm guessing some of you are wondering about the timeline. Well, it's obviously after Asuma died, so it's Shippuden. The fact that Sasuke is in the village means that this is before he killed Itachi (actually, in my story he won't ever kill Itachi because he's in the village!). I think we'll leave it at that. I can't really make it more specific, considering that now the story isn't really following the original storyline...
I assure you this is not the end! Though it is coming to a close very soon...
Review please!
