Summer is the Time for Love
Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
+The Summer of Cicadas
Riiinnggg
The school bell rang, followed by the cheers of the entire student body. They grabbed their backpacks, already intent on ripping up the midterm studybooks when they return home. Many planned to take a vacation and go to the beach, some wanted to visit the city – anything was possible, after all, it was the long-awaited summer vacation.
Hinata Hyuga gathered her books and got up quietly, without the usual cheer of the other students. Summer just meant sweltering heat and endless waiting. There was really nothing that great about it. She would just hole up in her room like every summer and read books until her head spun.
The people around her chattered merrily in the hallways, all in a great hurry to get home. She was alone, walking silently, but also at a quick pace. But just as she exited the front door, she heard a voice from behind her.
"Hinata-chan!" She turned around slowly, squinting in the sunlight. A shock of blond hair caught her eye. It was Naruto Uzumaki; he had arrived to Konoha a few years back and stayed here ever since. He was friendly, perhaps too friendly and reminding her of a golden retriever.
"Hello," she said softly. She doubted that he would be able to hear her greeting. He was always shouting and yelling like his eardrums were broken.
"So…are you going to do anything this summer, Hinata-chan?" Naruto had caught up with her. He shoved his hands into his pockets and smiled impishly; he looked every bit the delinquent he claimed to be. He flashed a smile at her, giving her a good view of his canines.
"No, I-I don't have anything planned." She stumbled over her words out of habit, but also unfamiliarity. Hinata rarely spoke to people; Naruto didn't seem to know that. He also didn't seem to know that she was supposed to be busy every summer. But he couldn't be blamed; after all – Hinata stopped that train of thought. It wasn't something she was supposed to think about, not now, not ever. She sighed and tried to smile back. It worked, sort of.
"Really? That's awesome!" He looked around, suddenly aware of his too-loud voice. Lowering the volume a bit, he continued, "Some friends and I are going to the beach tomorrow, do you want to come?"
"No." Her answer was clear, crisp and cold. Didn't he know that she couldn't go anywhere?
"Haha, that's what they all said you would say, you know. But I just wanted to try. It's not healthy for a sixteen year old to hole up for the summer." He put his hands behind his head.
As if you would know, Hinata didn't reply. Now they were both alone, on the worn dirt path that led to her home. Soon, the path would diverge and they would head their separate ways. Only a moment more, and Hinata wouldn't have to think about having any type of "fun" in the summer.
ChirpChirp ChirpChirpChirpChirp
"Whoa, cicadas!" Naruto exclaimed, and pointed at a tall tree. "Look! There's got to be at least ten there!"
Hinata bit her lip and looked firmly on the ground, quickening her pace. Please, please, please don't say…
"Hey, Hinata-chan, do you want to go catch some?" He was smiling and pointing at the tree next to them. "It looks like fun; I bet I could catch a bunch!"
"N-no!" She replied thickly. Her breath hitched. No, no, no, no, she closed her eyes. Those memories should stay locked up forever, they should never come back. But clear as day, she heard a familiar, childish voice echoing in her head.
"Hina-chan, do you want to go catch some cicadas? It looks like fun!"
Her eyes snapped open, her vision was already blurry, filled with tears that she thought she could hold until she reached home.
She ran ahead, ignoring Naruto's confused calls. Within minutes, she reached her house and ran up to her room, slammed the door closed and slid down onto the floor. It was no use; the sound of the cicadas reached her ear even here. Hot tears spilled out of her eyes, and she let out a sob. It was useless to remember; damn Naruto for provoking it. Hinata put her head in between her knees, curling up into a ball. Even as the painful memories started to flow out, however, she felt a small degree of happiness. Maybe it would be fine, to get lost in the past, even though it would hurt so much more when she returned to the present.
Nothing would change, like always.
"Hina-chan, do you want to go catch some cicadas? It looks like fun!"
Hinata looked up at the boy, who was only a little bit taller than she. He seemed excited to see the insects, which were sticking to the trees and chirping happily in the summer heat.
"B-but, you don't know how to climb trees, Sasuke."
He looked discouraged for second, but then suggested, "We could just use long-handled nets, right? I saw them on TV."
"I guess…" Hinata put a finger to her lip out of nervous habit. "I think we might have some lying around in the shed."
"So let's go and get them!" He took her hand and pulled her out of her room, where they had been playing with some play-doh he'd brought from Tokyo. "I'm going to catch the most!"
"I-it's really hard though." Hinata countered. "Those nets are really heavy, and you're only seven, Sasuke."
"I'm turning eight soon!"
"But…" Hinata sighed, and relented; Sasuke was stubborn and especially convinced of his own strength. She knew that he never wanted to stay inside; that's what he always did in that strange, grey city called Tokyo. When he came to Konoha, all he wanted to do was run around outside, under the shade of the trees. But no matter how much time he spent in the sun, the paleness in his skin clung to him. It wasn't just him; Hinata looked down at her bare arms, even though she lived in Konoha, she was still impeccably pale, a little unhealthy.
"Hinata, where are you going?" Her mother asked Hinata as she and Sasuke raced out the door.
"W-we're going –"
"We're going to catch some cicadas!" Sasuke interrupted Hinata rudely, tugging anxiously on her hand. He smiled at Hinata, and then flashed the same cheerful expression at her mother, who sighed.
The older woman started humming to herself when they were gone. That little boy's smile was always irresistible. He was going to be very handsome when he grew up. Then maybe…she shook her head. Hiashi was always scolding her for having such thoughts. Those kids would just have to take things at their own pace.
No use meddling in something she couldn't control.
"Hey, there's a lock on the shed door." Sasuke tugged on the metal padlock impatiently as Hinata started to dig around. He looked at her curiously and poked her shoulder, "What are you doing?"
"L-looking for the key," she pulled up a bit a grass as she searched. "Papa hides a spare near the shed." Without another word, Sasuke crouched down to join her search. His small hands combed through the grass anxiously; it was obvious to see that he was impatient.
Hinata looked at Sasuke's hurriedness and sighed; maybe she should just go back inside and ask her mama for the key. After all, her papa was notorious for hiding things and then forgetting the where he had hidden it. For all she knew, the key was probably all the way under the shed, stuck in a disgusting mix of dust, mud and slime.
"I'm going to go ask mama for it," she stood up and dusted off her hands along with her blue, faded overalls. Sasuke's head was still bent down, searching diligently in the prickly grass.
"Mamaaaa," she said as she pulled open the screen door, "can I have the key for the shed?"
"What are you planning to do with that?" Her mother wiped her hands on her the dotted apron and pulled open a kitchen drawer, rummaging through the mess of keys, rubber bands and paper.
"Sasuke said he wanted to catch cicadas." Hinata played with the screen as she waited patiently for her mother to find the key.
"He's sure one curious little boy." Her mother sighed, and held up a metal key and gave it to Hinata. "Be sure to be back by lunch. We're just having some sushi today."
"Okay, thanks mama." Hinata smiled and walked out.
"Oh, and Hinata?"
"Huh?" Hinata turned her head. Her mother gestured to the key.
"Be sure that you let them go before you come in the house. Remember what happened last time?"
The little girl nodded slowly; it would be difficult to convince Sasuke to part with the flying insects, but she would have to. "Okay."
"Bye, honey. Have a good time." Her mother smiled and waved Hinata on. After Hinata left, she dipped her hand into the rice pot again and started spreading it over the seaweed carefully laid on the bamboo mat on the counter. Cicada-catching, it must be nice to be young.
"What does she mean what happened last time?" Sasuke was standing right outside when Hinata closed the door. His hands were muddy and his knees were grass-stained.
"Last time I went and caught cicadas with Kiba." Sasuke frowned when she mentioned the other boy's name.
"I brought them home and they flew out of the jar. Mama fainted and papa had to call Aburame-san to get rid of them. They were really mad at me." She shrugged her shoulders, "Mama's really scared of bugs."
"You shouldn't play with Kiba anymore." Sasuke stated bluntly, he looked at her with serious black eyes.
"Why? He's nice." Hinata stared at him, wondering what was making him so edgy.
"You should play with me."
"You're not here all the time." He winced at her words.
"I wish I could be." He looked sad for a moment. But he quickly recovered and looked at her again with those unnaturally serious eyes again. "You still shouldn't play with him anymore."
"You can't tell me what to do." Hinata furrowed her brow. "You're not my papa." Sasuke was acting odd; she just wanted to go and catch cicadas. There was really no point in this argument.
"I'm older than you, so you should just listen to me."
"So? I can do whatever I want!" Hinata felt her temper rising, something that rarely happened. Her parents had always taken pride in her pleasant temper. Sasuke looked like he was about to retort, but he just shook his head. Instead, he snatched the key out of her hand and ran toward the shed.
"Last one there is a rotten egg!" He yelled as he quickly descended the steps. Hinata stared at him for a second, uncomprehending. Then she tore after him, jumping down the last two steps of the stairs.
"That's not fair!" She said when she caught up with him, his hand already on the shed door and a crooked smile on his fair face. "You cheated."
"Sorry," but his face looked anything other than penitent. He smiled crookedly and she couldn't hold her anger any longer. He was her friend, after all. "You can open the shed, if you want." He held out the key to her.
"Thanks." She took the key and jammed it into the brass lock. With a smart click, the lock opened and Sasuke pulled on the heavy metal handle. The hinges opened smoothly; her father had always taken great pride in polishing and oiling them. Sasuke walked in, waving at the small amount of dust that had flown up in his face. The nets were leaning against the wall at the end of the shed. They were cheap, plastic ones.
Sasuke dragged two out of the shed and handed one to Hinata. It was at least two times her height. He waved it around experimentally.
"It's not that heavy." He seemed pleased, "You said they were."
"They're plastic. The metal one is probably heavier than you." Hinata stated.
He scowled. "I bet I could use that one too!" He ran into the shed, laid the plastic one against the wall and pushed some boxes away from the metal net. He tugged it and it fell with a clang. Using all his strength, he pulled it up and staggered to the grass.
"See?" He panted. "I…can…carry…it…."
"You won't be able to catch anything in it." Hinata said, "Just use the plastic one."
"No! I'm going to use this one."
"Fine." Annoyed that he wasn't going to take her advice, she frowned and turned around, stalking out to the forest. "Use it if you want."
"Hey! Wait for me." Sasuke staggered a few steps with the metal pole and let it drop on the ground. Hinata continued. If he wasn't going to listen to her, he wasn't going to get very far anyway. When she reached the edge of the road, she turned back and sighed. He was still struggling with the heavy metal pole. Boys are so stubborn! She stood by the side of the dirt path and waited for him. After a few minutes, he was standing next to her, face red and panting heavily.
"Just leave it behind," Hinata continued her nagging. She didn't want to carry it back for him, and it seemed as if she would have to. "You'll fall in the lake."
"Will not!" Sasuke huffed and tried to balance the metal pole on the ground, though it swayed dangerously as if it were about crush him. Hinata rolled her eyes and tapped the ground with her comparatively light plastic net. Fine, if that was the way he wanted it, he'll just fall into the lake. He needed the cooling off anyway.
"The cicadas usually hide in the clearing over there," Hinata pointed to the trees in front of her. She was just about to take a step when she noticed that Sasuke had crossed the road, somehow, staggering with his heavy net.
"Follow me!" He declared confidently, as if he knew where to go. Hinata scowled and ran to catch up with him. He wasn't about to lead her to her secret cicada catching spot. Stupid city boy.
"Agh!" Sasuke tripped on a tree root and tumbled into the grass beside her. The metal net bounced off the tree and smacked his shoulder before falling harmlessly onto the grass.
He sat up, his nose dirty and the front of his shirt covered with twigs. His knees were red underneath the dust, but otherwise unharmed.
"Sasuke!" Hinata dropped her net and knelt down next to him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he winced as he propped himself up on his shoulder.
"Does it hurt?"
"Yeah…" Sasuke grimaced, but quickly changed his expression when he saw Hinata's worried face. He smiled and rotated his shoulder, "But I'll be fine! Aniki says that men have to be strong."
"You're only seven though," Hinata couldn't keep the teasing tone from her voice.
"I'll be eight in a week!" Sasuke half shouted at her. She laughed, and tried to help him up, though he just swatted at her arm. She walked back to pick up her plastic net and again, tried to help him pick up his metal one, but he just swatted her away again. Apparently "men don't need help".
The chauvinistic attitude was really getting on Hinata's young nerves.
After a few moments of smooth traveling, the trees parted and they found themselves in a clearing with some old, twisted trees dotting the grass. The loud keening of cicadas were the loudest here and there were at least ten or more cicada on one side of each tree.
"Wow…." Sasuke involuntarily let out as he stared up the tall tree trunk. "This beats TV."
Hinata turned to her friend, and shyly said, "I'll teach you how to catch cicada's, Sasuke."
He turned and scowled, "I know how to catch cicadas! I bet I'll catch even more than you!"
"B-but mother said we have to leave them outside," Hinata replied. "Or else we'll have to call A-Aburame-san."
"Who's Aburame-san?" The name piqued Sasuke's interest. He didn't know any of the neighboring people; he spent all his time in his room or with Hinata.
"He gets rid of bugs, I think," Hinata said. "Last time, I caught b-bugs and mom was really upset a-and Aburame-san had to come to get rid of them."
"It's okay, I'll take them home," Sasuke said confidently.
"Won't your mom get mad?"
"She'll be fine," Sasuke looked away from her uncertainly. His mom had never mentionednot liking bugs. She had freaked out once when there was a silverfish crawling up the wall, back in the city, but he was sure that she wouldn't be afraid of cicadas. Besides, silverfish and cicada were completely different. Right?
Hinata, in the meanwhile, had decided to take action. Never one for running around, she decided to take some cicada shells first.
The shells were lightly glued onto the trees bark, but a little prodding allowed them to give way. Soon, she had a whole handful of crisp cicada shells. Her mom wouldn't mind if she took home just one, right?
"Argh!" The frustrated yells of her friend caught her attention. She could see Sasuke struggling with his heavy metal pole as he tried to catch a cicada, which was flitting artfully out of his reach.
He tried to chase it to every tree it escaped to, but most of the time, he just tripped on his own net. Hinata giggled lightly when he accidentally smacked into a tree; his angry scowls just furthered his own humiliation and her cheer.
She was just about to offer him one of her shells – though she knew he would refuse it – when he yelled, "Caught one!"
Hinata ran over and inspected the cicada trapped under the net on the ground. Somehow, when his net was swinging wildly in the air, he had managed to bring a cicada onto the ground and trap it there with his net. The poor insect was chirping nervously. Hinata felt a shiver run down her spine as she surveyed the bug – it was huge.
Sasuke removed the net and caught the cicada between his fingers.
"It's so big, Hinata!" He exclaimed, his face breaking into a rare expression of joy. Hinata smiled and then looked up at the sky, realizing that they had probably been at it for over an hour. Her mother would have expected them for lunch already.
Quickly, she shook Sasuke's shoulder, "We have to go back now."
"Awww, but I just caught this!" Sasuke wrapped his hands around his gigantic cicada possessively.
"You could just take it home," Hinata said, "Y-you said your mom was okay with it." She picked out her favorite cicada shells, one with variations of dark brown and another with light gold patterns on the back, and sprinkled the others on the ground. Maybe they would decompose or something.
"I did, but…" Sasuke looked down at the insect in his hand. The cicada was a bug, and he didn't know if his mom was okay with that.
"C'mon," Hinata gripped her plastic net and tugged on Sasuke's shirt. "We have to go now."
"O-okay," Sasuke stammered for once. He took a deep breath and tucked the cicada into the folds of his shorts' pocket. He patted it twice, picked up the end of the metal net and dragged it behind him.
When the two had crossed the dirt path, Sasuke decided that he would take the cicada home. Hinata's mother had said she didn't want cicadas in her house. Hinata gazed at him as he walked up the steps to his house's porch. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea…
From the screams that had ensued, she bit her lip and deduced, yeah it definitely hadn't been such a good idea.
At least the sushi was good. And Sasuke had let her give one of her shells to him.
Maybe he was learning, after all.
Author's Note: I'm…uh…back? I actually sort of realized I love this story. It's actually summer now, and I'm somehow back in the fandom. You know the drill, press the review button.
moonhaku