CHAPTER TWO

Hinata stood near the thick wall-climbing vines just before her house. She was standing in front of Naruto, in his arms, bidding him farewell for the night.

"You won't get in trouble, will you?" Naruto asked, eyebrows knit in worry.

Hinata looked up at him lovingly. She still couldn't believe that he was hers. She wasn't just pretending now. When Naruto looked at her, touched her, or spoke to her, she would know it was on purpose. Now, he was worrying for her. She knew that he was asking about her father, and possible her cousin as well. She felt a flicker of worry but tried to melt it away with Naruto's warmth.

"I should be okay," Hinata said, feeling a prickle of guilt and sanity spark in her, but she tried to smother it with her adrenaline rush. Being with Naruto felt so right, and yet so wrong. When she was with him, she felt like nothing in the world could go wrong. They were so happy, and so perfect for each other. But some rational, grounded part of Hinata kept sparking up and ruining her fun, her happiness. She tried to subdue it, but usually, the later at night it was, the stronger the wary feelings were.

"Go, now," Naruto said, stroking Hinata's hair, before hugging her one last time. It was too short, and Hinata was grateful and wistful at the same time. She knew that every second spent outside her house was giving her more of a chance to get in trouble, but she wanted to be in Naruto's presence for as long as she possibly could.

"Okay," Hinata heard herself say. Somehow, she turned around, and ran silently up the path towards her house. She turned back and saw empty sidewalk where Naruto had been standing seconds before. Emptiness moved into her heart, mirroring that of the sidewalk. She almost floated up to the front door and opened it. A bright light shone in her face, making her squint her eyes, and turn away.

"Hello, Hinata."

Hinata felt icy spikes go through her heart. She was literally frozen in fear. Neji's expressionless voice seared through her self-confidence and she hoped she wouldn't start crying in shame. She wanted to reply, but couldn't. Her throat closed up as if she was having an allergic reaction to the guilt welling up inside her.

"Why don't you come in?" Neji asked, like Hinata was overreacting to nothing. Maybe I am, Hinata thought shakily. Somehow, she couldn't convince herself, anymore than she usually could, at least. Hinata tried to nod, but was sure that Neji hadn't noted the effort. The brown haired boy stepped aside, letting Hinata into the house. Her eyes had adjusted to the light again, but Hinata almost wished they hadn't. Neji's plain, vacant, pale eyes bored into her like laser beams and they seared Hinata's skin. Seemingly innocent, but probably noted where Hinata's clothes were wrinkled, and the smell on her skin, and the lingering blush in her cheeks… Neji turned around and walked into the house. Hinata was forced to follow him.

"Where have you been?" Neji asked, filling a glass with water and handing it to Hinata. Her hand was shaking dangerously, and the glass cup seemed pounds heavier than it should have when she received it from him.

"W-with N-Naruto." Hinata's reply was so broken up that she was sure Neji hadn't understood.

Neji didn't reply immediately, which told Hinata that Neji probably had understood. Scenarios swirled through Hinata's mind, all of them the "worst case scenario" type of ones. One scene was Neji banishing Hinata from the household and her leaving in waterfalls of tears with nowhere to go and no place to call home.

"It's late. Why don't you get some sleep?"

Hinata almost didn't understand the words. Going through her mind, were the things that she would take with her when she was banished. She looked up at Neji, so shocked that she forgot to be guilty. His pale eyes showed flickers of worry but they were so faint that Hinata could have been imagining them. By now, Hinata was sure that if she thought she had imagined them, then they were probably there. Sixty-seven percent of the time. Hinata placed her untouched water on the pale marble counter, got up, then bowed deeply and rushed out of the kitchen. The whole way, her mind was a large black hole; any thoughts daring to come in were sucked away before Hinata could analyze them.

Hinata changed into a nightgown and tucked into bed. Sleep was elusive and that left Hinata tearing herself up the entire night.

Naruto took the long way home. He skirted around the outsides of town, taking as much time as he could. He wasn't sure why he was avoiding home. Would it make tonight's experiences any less real? Naruto was almost disbelieving of what had happened. It just seemed so surreal. It was as if he was two people now: the "old" Naruto and the "new" Naruto. Naruto wasn't sure whether it was a half-and-half division, or whether one version was overtaking the other. In fact, he was sure one version was taking over, probably the new, careful, analytical Naruto; because, would he even have been thinking about all of the confusing, controversial things; so deeply, at that, if he had been the "old" Naruto, who probably would have moved on to thinking about a late night dinner? How did I change so quickly? Naruto wondered. Or had it been so gradual that Naruto himself hadn't noticed it? Have the others noticed it? Naruto wasn't quite ready to think about what others would think. Since when am I so self-conscious anyway? Since the "new" Naruto took over? Naruto was sure that he would never regret it—if the result of Hinata was the "new" Naruto, then he would love them both with all his might. Hinata was the best thing since ramen…And Naruto didn't say that lightly… There was something about Hinata's innocent smile, her wide lavender eyes, her pale, sweet-smelling skin… Naruto was surprised that he had even noticed the slim shadowy figure in front of his door. He was so involved in his thoughts. That was probably why it had surprised him so much, seeing the figure. Huh? Why would a girl be at my house in the middle of the night? It was definitely not Hinata. How could it be? I dropped her off at her house. Besides… Naruto knew her figure: long black hair, posture, anywhere. The girl in front of his door turned towards him. Naruto immediately recognized the short, spiky hair.
"Hi, Naruto." The girl looked into his eyes. Naruto was a bit taken aback by her intense green gaze, shadowed in the dark night.
"Hey, Sakura." Naruto put a hand behind his head, his elbow sticking straight out. He shifted his weight a little self consciously. "Wh...what's up?"
The girl looked down at her hand, which was in a small brown satchel. (Naruto knew it was brown because he recognized it as the new one Sakura carried around a lot.) He applauded himself on his observation, then pulled himself back into the conversation.
Sakura pulled out a small piece of paper and looked at it as if reminding herself of something. She then looked down at the ground, apologetically, and maybe even a little embarrassed. Naruto arched an eyebrow, even though he knew Sakura couldn't see him. It was too dark and Sakura was too focused on the floor. Sakura isn't the one who's supposed to be embarrassed around me! I'm usually the one always messing up and playing around.
"Here you go, N...Naruto," Sakura said, her voice cracking and faltering all over the place. It almost hurt Naruto to hear it. Is she sick? Naruto wondered. Maybe I should ask her. If she is, why is she out in the middle of the night, anyway? Won't that make it worse? Sakura put the paper in his hands. That sparked new curiosity in him.
"What's this?" he asked. He turned it over in his hands. He tried to tilt it too catch the light of the faraway lamppost, but it didn't work. His brain sparked in dissatisfaction.
"It's...a shopping list," Sakura said. "Or...the beginning of one, anyway."
Naruto's eyes turned into two horizontal lines each, of confusion and disbelief. It was dark, yeah, and Sakura couldn't see it, but it didn't stop him from it. What? I don't make shopping lists. Since when…? "How do you know this is mine?"
"It's obviously your handwriting," Sakura said, her voice changing a little, at the start of a different subject. She sounded more like herself, and with that, Naruto was able to see how much her voice was different before. She sounded so unsure of herself before. Now, she was confident again, and met his gaze. For once, (or at least one of the very few times) Naruto did not know what exactly to say next. The fact that he had to think about it was a little disturbing to him, as well. They were heading to a huge canyon in the conversation. Naruto wasn't sure how they would cross it to start the conversation again.
"Well!" Sakura said, a little too brightly. Naruto felt dark blue lines on his forehead, as he let out a small white cloud of exasperation. This was exactly what he should have been expecting. They tried to normal- leap over the canyon, not even ninja-leap, and Naruto was left falling down, down, down, while Sakura barely made it. "I'd best be going. It's so late," Sakura continued, too quickly.
"Yeah," Naruto agreed halfheartedly. He wasn't sure why Sakura had to leave so suddenly, but he couldn't see why she would need to stay. He couldn't see much of anything, really. Why is it so dark? Naruto asked himself furiously, though not realizing how stupid the question was. It was nighttime after all. Normal people's brains were asleep at that time. "See you later, Sakura-chan." Sakura had turned to leave, but her head turned back when Naruto had said her name. Somehow the moonlight or the lamplight reached the pink haired ninja's face, shining on her lips. It spotlighted a soft, appreciative smile.