Broken
By: biacebaolck
I ask you this, how HAD the infamous Uzumaki Naruto become the sole object of Hinata's hidden affecion?
How HAD the runt of the class, the dead last, become noticeable in an heiress's eyes?
It couldn't have been the fact that he had saved her life. It couldn't have been the fact that he had called her 'cute'. It couldn't have been the fact that he had been nice to her upon rescue. Those things had only added to the base of the beginning of when she liked him.
How had it all happened?
Broken hearts cannot connect with each other.
Naruto broke his heart recklessly and foolishly trying to get attention. The attention he wanted, was just attention he got, bad attention, but still he got it. But it still hurt…because no one is entirely immune to what mankind can do. Man is the source of all evil, and all evil is them whether they believe demons have it or not.
Hinata broke her own heart following what she thought was truth. She broke it while trying to make her father proud. She broke it trying her hardest, trying to please him.
Two youths have broken hearts. Again, broken hearts cannot connect with each other.
However…
One thing that broken hearts can do…is fix the other. Slowly, yet surely, with time, something broken will be fixed.
"Hinata-sama, are you alright?"
She nodded. "Yes, I'm alright, Hizashi-oji-san." Bowing, Hinata still couldn't stop her bright smile from exploding on her face. Hizashi on the other hand, was confused beyond heck. What? She had nearly been killed!
Still, he couldn't help but smile back, placing a hand on her shoulder and making her look up at him. His gentle smile made her feel all the more happy. "It's good that you're safe now. Follow me, Hinata-sama. Let's go back to your father now, shall we? I'm sure you have a lot to do before your first day at Academy tomorrow."
"Hai!" She chirped happily.
As they walked, Hinata couldn't help but skip forward and slip her hand into her uncle's smiling brilliantly happily at him. Hizashi said nothing, but it felt every good as nice as holding Neji's. Perhaps, he mused, when both of the children grew up, they'd be just like each other.
Oh, how wrong was he to be?
"Naruto, what the HELL are you doing?!" Umino Iruka, newly appointed Chuunin teacher, was exasperated beyond belief. His charge was currently climbing up the curtains in his room, snarling at him with incoherent sounds. "Please get down, I'm going or I'm going to die of frustration! You irk me, Naruto, you really do! Come on down, now! I only took this mission because Sandaime-sama said he picked it because he thought I was the best candidate for this! C'mon Naruto…!"
"Nyeh!" Naruto blew a raspberry at him, clasping the curtains at the top.
"Naruto, get down,please!" Iruka's pleading did nothing but make the boy even more stubborn.
"NO!" Naruto shouted, as he felt Iruka tug gently at the curtains. "I wanna stay up here!"
"Naruto, you're not a child! Get DOWN!" Iruka felt his patience ebb away fast, before he sucked in some air and blasted out, "UZUMAKI NARUTO, GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE I NEVER TREAT YOU TO RAMEN AGAIN!"
Needless to say, it worked.
Naruto was so shocked, he let go and careened to the ground. Luckily, Iruka caught him in time, frustration and fast disappearing anger possibly the reason why he was breathing heavily from the outburst. He frowned down at the cheekily smiling blond in his arms, before letting out a long sigh.
This was going to be a looooong day.
"Naruto," Iruka said softly, in a tired, half-whisper as he gently and slowly put his charge down. Naruto hopped to his feet, and jumped around like a rabbit. "Remind me to keep you after class for detention because of this."
Before the Uzumaki could squawk his complaints, Iruka stumbled to the bed and collapsed on top of it.
"HEY! Iruka-sensei! Stop snoozing! Who's going to treat me to ramen NOW?! C'mon Iruka-sensei! Iruka-sensei! Hey, Iruka-sensei!" None of Naruto's prodding, poking, hitting, whacking and antics could disturb Umino Iruka from his slumber. So Naruto did the next best thing.
As he slipped on hiszori and closed the door behind him, Naruto couldn't help but give a snigger as he recapped the magic marker. Iruka-sensei was going to wake up Konoha's mustache man of the week. He giggled at the thought. Finally, it was too much to take.
He ran down the flights of stairs, laughing loudly and foolishly, waving his hands in the air, the marker tight in his grip like a trophy.
"YEAH!" Naruto called out to the streets of Konoha, his breath turning into light vapour in the cooling temperatures. "Who's the Numbah One of Konoha?!"
"Good. Morning. Everyone." Umino Iruka huffed as he staggered into class, every word a struggle for his lungs before he collapsed at his desk, struggling to catch his breath. Everyone stared. Did their sensei just arrive late? Only by a few minutes, but late was late.
Umino Iruka had never been late.
EVER.
"Naruto," Iruka growled, his deathly eye of tired DOOM catching Naruto's as the boy tried to slink away quietly. "I will see you after class."
One could only guess HOW hard and long it took Iruka to get rid of that magic marker upon waking that morning.
"Now." He panted, before gesturing to the blackboard at the prewritten information that he had written last night before going off his shift as a teacher. "Take a good long look at that and memorize it. I want you to be able to recite it word for word."
"But WHY?!" People whined.
"Because you'll have to memorize important documents, that's why." Iruka held himself from snapping. Being tired really didn't help his ability as a fledgling teacher. "When you're a shinobi, you might be called to remember what several scrolls say or what they have in them. A good memory is essential. It's not really required, but it'll get you a lot more recommendations."
"But I don't wanna!" Naruto shouted. "Memorizing is for losers!"
"Naruto." Iruka grit out. "Memorize this whole thing and recite it to me. Five minutes, that's all you have."
"WHAT?!"
"Serves him right." Sakura commented to the girl beside her. "Right, Ino-chan?"
"Isn't it obvious, Sakura?" Ino rolled her eyes, but nevertheless, she agreed. "What a moron. He believes he's going to become Hokage."
"My daddy says that's because he was dropped at birth." Sakura shared, before heaving a sigh and staring at the long passage. "Ino-chaaaaan, I don't want to memorize all that. I can't do that!"
"Yes, you can, Sakura." Ino replied gently, smiling encouragingly. "I bet Naruto'll be the only one who can't. I mean, c'mon! Look at him!"
Sakura nodded, tugging habitually at the red ribbon in her hair. "Thanks, Ino-chan."
"No problem. Anyone's smarter than Naruto. Just keep that in mind and if he becomes smarter than you, catch up. Quickly." Ino teased. "Because with that billboard brow of yours, you're sure to be the top of the class."
Sakura whapped her best friend lightly. "Ino-chan!"
"I'm joking!" Ino laughed as Sakura laughed too.
Naruto, who was right in front of them, was the only one who wasn't. He bit his lip and glared at the board. He'd show them! He'd show them all!
"Excuse me…" Hyuuga Hinata peeked in as she slowly opened the door.
"Eh?" A tired looking teacher with rings under his eyes picked up his head sluggishly. "Can I help you?"
"H-hai…" Hinata spoke shyly. She's wasn't good around strangers, and could only speak openly around her family, because, it was required. Hiashi wouldn't allow someone to stutter in the Hyuuga estate. Especially not someone who was going to be the heiress to the Hyuuga clan head. "I-I'm Hyuuga Hinata…"
"Alright, Hyuuga-kun. I'm Umino Iruka. Welcome to class." Iruka offered a tired smile before rubbing his eyes in a pause.
"P-please call me Hinata…" She trailed off, staring at her feet. It made her feel awkward when he called her that. It felt as though he was addressing someone else. Someone who was really not her… "P-please, I-Iruka-sensei…"
"Okay." Iruka stood up. "Everyone, this is Hyuuga Hinata." Eyes turned to look at the girl if they hadn't already been. Then, he began his 'Welcome the new student speech' that everyone just ignored before starting their own conversations.
"Who's that?" Sakura whispered.
"Hyuuga Hinata." Ino whispered back. "Weren't you listening, lamebrain child?"
But Sakura wasn't paying attention to that for once. "She's a Hyuuga! I thought they were all high classed and taught their own kids!"
"Wow, I guess you really HAVE to go to Academy to become an official shinobi." Naruto said proudly, puffing up his chest. "See?! Now, a future Hokage like myself will—"
"Shut up, moron!" Sakura hit him. HARD. His face met the desk in a matter of seconds. "Nobody asked you!"
Ino ignored him. "Check out her eyes!"
"Do you think she's blind?"
"Ow." Naruto grumbled softly. They didn't even care about his pain.
"Only a dobe would allow himself to get hurt." Sasuke snorted above him.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Naruto leapt to his feet, but Sakura punched his face in with Ino's help.
"Don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that!" They shouted in unison, before raising their fists, grinning at each other. (Sakura was still convinced here that only she liked Sasuke.)
"Hey, hey, what's going on!" In a flash, Umino Iruka stood with his arms crossed and a narrowed look. "Haruno-kun, Yamanaka-kun, I'll see the two in detention after school today."
"But sensei, he-!" The cry fell to deaf ears and Naruto's chortle.
"See, see?! Respect your future Hokage is what you should do!" He laughed with glee.
"Not so fast, Naruto." Iruka restrained himself from pounding his head against the table and walls and acting like a spaz. Mind you, all the kids back then used to say he overreacted. Right now, he was trying not to blow his lid. "You're staying behind as well. Now, move over so that Hinata can sit down."
"Hina…ta?" Naruto folded his arms, slowly cocking his head to the side in confusion. "Who's that?"
"A…ano…" Hinata pinkened when she recognized who he was. It wasn't a mistake. His hair color, his eyes… Her father had said that the only person in Konoha with those colors was Uzumaki Naruto. He had told her not to get mixed up with him. But… "T-thank you…!" She bowed, hurriedly, so fast that she bang her head against the table. "A-ah…!"
"Oi." Naruto was on his hands and knees on the long bench and peered curiously close at her. For some reason, her breath quickened and her heart pounded. What was he going to say? Was he really going to yell at her like her father had said he would?! Was he really a person to stay away from? "Do I even know you?"
Oh.
So he had forgotten.
Hinata felt a little relief, though…was that disappointment?
"I-I'm sorry…I-I must've mistaken y-you for someone else…"
"Of course!" Sakura said loudly. "Who'd believe that Naruto ever met a Hyuuga on good grounds? He probably played a prank on your clan, that's why you mistook him for someone else."
"But isn't Naruto the only one with that kind of hair and eye color?" A rather bright student questioned.
"Shut up, loser." Ino snapped. "If you're not on our side, you're an idiot."
"Naruto's the idiot here." They retorted.
"Good to see you're smart." Ino beamed down at him.
Iruka had had enough. And as he was blaringly a noobish teacher, he made it well known. "That's enough!" He shouted, before sighing hugely, in grit determination to keep a lid on his hot temper. "Though I have no control over your actions, badmouthing a classmate will NOT happen in my classroom! You can do it ANYWHERE, but during school hours! If I hear you, you're in detention! Do I make myself clear?"
His glare was nothing to laugh at. The class held its breath before their teacher's outburst finally made it through to them. Guiltily, they looked at one another before nodding once, awkwardly and out of synch.
"A-ano…" Hinata blinked as Iruka ushered her into her seat. "I-I don't understand what y-you were talking about, sensei…"
"Well, you'll learn soon enough." He sighed, before walking back to the front of the class. "Now, memorize what's on the blackboard. Before lunch, I want everyone to be able to recite it by heart."
No one dared to complain.
But Uzumaki Naruto sulked in his seat. He didn't like people fighting for him. Besides. They were his to suffer through. He didn't want Iruka-sensei to suffer too. His sensei was annoying, but he was nice.
Naruto didn't want to see him get hurt for that.
The villagers him. That was that.
"Eyaaa…" A rather bouncy blonde cornered Hinata as they were let out for lunch. "Hinata-san?"
"H-hai?"
"Are you really a Hyuuga? Yamanaka Ino, by the way. Anything you want to know about Academy, tell me. I'm pretty good at most of the things here, and I know how everything runs here. Anyone give you a hard time, talk to me, you got that right?" Ino gushed.
"H-huh?" Hinata wasn't used to this being so talked to carefree. "I…I-I…"
"No fair, Ino-chan!" Sakura complained, walking up to the two. "Anyway, sit with us, Hinata-chan!"
"Hinata-san!" Ino retorted. "Honourifics, my dear child!"
Sakura puffed up her cheeks. "I am not a child!"
"Hey," All three turned to see Uchiha Sasuke. "Can't you see you're blocking the door way? Get out of the way." He ordered, and they pressed themselves against the walls to let him through. "Hn." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and coolly walked off. Hinata couldn't help but feel a heat rush to her cheeks and her heart pound. He looked…well, he looked kinda…
"SOOOOO handsome…Isn't he…the greatest?" Sakura sighed, blushing.
"D-do you like him?" Hinata asked kindly, willing her cheeks to calm down. She might as well find out their likes and dislikes because it might just be that these two would be her only friends here at Academy. Hinata didn't want to prod, so she left it at that when Sakura didn't respond.
"Yeah, she is." Ino laughed, but Hinata could tell immediately it was forced. There was no laughter in the Yamanka's eyes, and her mouth closed awkwardly. "C'mon, Hinata-san." She murmured, turning and walking. "I'll show you where we usually sit."
"B-but Sakura-san…"
"Leave her to her own fantasies." Ino didn't turn back to look, but kept on walking, yet Hinata could still hear the tremble of her voice. "She'll come around."
"She'll come around."
Hinata involuntarily shivered. It sounded more like a death promise than a statement to her.
Naruto frowned as he looked down at them all from the tree branch he now sat upon. "Stupid girls." He thumped the heels of his zori on the slightly less thick tree branch below the one he was on, at the right angle and distance for his legs to reach. "What's so good aboutSasuke? Sasuke this, Sasuke that, blah, blah, blah."
"Oi! Naruto!" He looked down upon mention of his name and upon recognizing who it was, he groaned. Not him. Still, Kiba did play good pranks. Naruto grudgingly answered Kiba's call with a rather rude reply.
"Whaddya want, mutt face?"
"Shuddup!" Kiba growled. "Be grateful I'm giving you heads up! Ebisu-sensei is coming around on yard duty!"
"What?!" Naruto nearly face-faulted. "But why the closet-pervert?!" Ever since Naruto and Kiba had discovered Ebisu's secret stash of porno, they had absolutely no respect for the Special Jounin.
"I know!" Kiba climbed up, grunting before he lost a foothold and crashed to the floor. Naruto laughed loudly and Kiba shook his fist at him. "Stupid! Only you could climb a tree, grease it, and not fall down!"
"Well, you could say it's one of my special talents." Naruto bragged, grinning like the devil, as he eyed the can of grease on one of the roofs of the Academy. "It's perfect for when I become Hokage!"
"Right. So what are you? A monkey?" Kiba rolled his eyes and dusted off his clothes. "Later, loser, I'm going back to class before Midori-sensei realizes I'm missing."
"What? You mean you ditched?" Naruto asked curiously, hanging from his hands on the tree branch, swinging back and forth before eventually securing his position by gripping the branch with as far as his arms could reach forward and grasp. His legs swung back and forth lazily. "Dude, that's crazy!"
"Duh." Kiba rolled his eyes. "We're eating in class today, so if I don't go, I'm sunk."
"So why did you come out?" Naruto questioned. Kiba looked up at him in disbelief.
"Why else?" He grinned wolfishly. "To meets girls!"
"But you're too young!" Naruto called after him as Kiba ran back to class. "You're too young to start liking girls!"
"You sound just like my mom, Naruto-kaa-san!" Came the chortled reply as the door closed behind him and the remaining sounds of footsteps ebbed away into peaceful silence.
Fuming silently at that insult, Naruto grumbled before slowly pulling himself back up onto the tree branch, sitting with a slouch, folded arms and a frown. "Why the heck would Kiba like girls, anyway? They all have…" He shuddered. "COOTIES. Is that it, Kiba?" He called, even though he knew the boy was already back in class by now. "Is your brain inflicted with cooties?!"
"Sasuke-kun's thecoolest!" Sakura spoke almost without breath throughout lunch. "He gets the top grades, he's also pretty good looking, he's an Uchiha, he's PERFECT, he's sooooooooo HOT, he's a GENIUS, his hair is like, OMG, like SOOOO hot, and so is his eyes. Did you see his EYES?! His HAWT (this was how it sounded to Hinata), HAWT, HAAAAAWT black eyes! They're so black! And his…voice. Oh my god, his VOICE. Is so SEXY—"
"Sakura, when you talk about Sasuke-kun," Ino laughed nervously, and Hinata noticed that she hadn't touched her lunch at all, her chopsticks just randomly poking at the things in her bento. "You don't sound like a nine-year-old."
"Well, of course!" Sakura sighed, taking her ribbon off and redoing it. Hinata noticed that the girl had done that about five times in the last half hour everytime she stopped to talk a breath or was interrupted. "Sasuke-kun brings out my best potential! It's gotta be the power of looooove!"
"Hinata," Ino forced out, trying to change the subject before she cracked. "What's it like in the Hyuuga household? I bet it's cool. You get your own servants who have to do what you say and EVERYTHING!"
"N…not everything."
"Huh?" Sakura blinked. "Whaddya mean?"
"I…I…" Hinata poked her fingers together. "Th-there's no one to t-talk to, really. No one's that n-nice enough to p-play or have the time to t-talk, really talk to m-me."
"Oh." Ino and Sakura were at a loss for words. That, and Hinata was a hopeless case when it came to NOT stuttering in a conversation.
"Uhm, want some tea?" Sakura offered.
"I have tempura." Ino offered.
"Th-than—"
BAM
Naruto fell from the tree onto the ground, face meeting Mother Nature first. "Mmrgh…" Naruto lifted his face slowly up, an imprint of his face on the floor, before his head flopped back down. "MGH."
"N-Naruto-san, a-are you a-alright?" Hinata didn't know why, but she felt flustered as she ran towards him, shaking and trembling as she sorta did this 'shake-the-body-let-go-of-it-freak-out-what-did-I-just-do-oh-no-did-I-just-?' thing.
"Hyuuga-san." Ami smirked. (Ami. You know, the girl who bullied Sakura in her childhood.) Ino looked up and scowled.
"Well, if it isn't the Queen. What do you want? To make fun of Sakura-chan again?!" She yelled.
"I-Ino-chan…" Sakura whispered.
"Excuse me, was I talking to you?" Ami rolled her eyes, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "No, didn't think so. Now, Hyuuga-san. I have a proposition for you."
"A what?" Sakura blinked.
"She's using long words on purpose!" Naruto accused, finally finding strength to get up before getting bowled over by Ami's flying kunai pouch.
"Hyuuga-san." Ami pasted a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. Obviously, it didn't meld, because it looked more like she was trying to look demented. Demented might've worked. Angelic might've been close enough as shinobi kind was to giving up their current lifestyle. No snowball's chance in hell. "What say we become friends? I can…getyou to places that I guarantee will work out in the future. And you can get me to somewhere I want to be in exchange. My father is a—"
"SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled. "She doesn't want to listen to you!"
"So says the thing who got an impossible negative 1000 on the psychology test." Ami replied smoothly and Naruto felt like he had just been slapped. "What do you know?!"
"I may…I might not know anything about Hinata-san, or Hinata-chan or whatever…" Naruto had never really been one to use honourifics unless he really wanted to. For the most part, he really didn't know WHEN to use them. "I don't know whether or not she's sharing my thoughts but…"
"N-Naruto-san?" Hinata whispered, gently touching his arm. He looked at her. "I-it's alright, it's—"
"No, it'snot alright!" Naruto shouted, and she winced, before he realized what he had said, before mumbling so softly only she, Hinata who was right beside him, could hear. "Because they're treating you like an object. She's treating you like athing that will bring her success. She's not treating you like Hinata. She's not treating you like a person. I don't know you, and normally, I couldn't care less! But…" He trailed off, as she smiled up at him.
Tears flowed down her cheeks.
"Gomenasai, N-Naruto-kun." She turned to Ami. "Gomenasai, Ami-san, b-but I can't accept." The girl spluttered incoherently, before storming off. As the door slammed, Hinata was shocked into realization that she was…very…very close to Naruto. "A-ano…" She felt dizzy and her face felt red and Hinata became as shy as she is to this day whenever she was around Naruto.
Because she'd remember this moment.
Oh no, there she goes.
Hinata did something only she would do at such a close distance from her crush.
She fainted.
"WAAAUGH! Hinata-chan!"
"NA-RU-TO!" Sakura cracked her knuckles. "You. ARE. DEAD."
"AUGH! P-PLEASE, NO, M-MERCY!"
Over the times and as years that went on, gradually, Hinata felt more and more of the burden around Naruto. She wanted to tell him how she felt, but…somehow, she just…she couldn't. Sakura and Ino's on and off-again friendship wasn't making it any easier, especially when they refused to talk to each other and refused to talk to anyone who had spoken with the other.
One day, finally, she convinced herself she'd leave a present for Naruto on Valentine's Day, since the boy seemed to look awfully down whenever it came around. Hinata peeked into the classroom, and upon noting it empty, sneaked into Naruto's cubby—she felt like a thief sort of—and placed in the box, trembling.
The door opened and with a squeak, she fell back, face red with embarrassment.
"Oh, hi, Hinata-chan." Naruto droned boredly, brushing past her to get to a seat.
"A-aren't you g-going t-to get a s-seat, N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata poked her fingers together. Somehow, this pastime had allowed her to have somethingelse to look at other than her crush's face.
"Why bother?" He made a face. "Not gonna get anything anyway."
"A-ano…" Hinata looked nervously behind her, where the chocolate still was, slightly jutting out. But she didn't want him to think that she was snooping in his things, nor did she want him to know that she sent it…oh, oh, what was she to do? "N-Naruto-kun…I-I think there's s-something h-here…"
"Eh?" Naruto's blue eyes snapped open wide and he practically leapt down and landed beside her. "What is it? Oo, oo, is it a dead rat or is it some sorta left over prank from last week or something or is it…" He trailed off once he noticed it. Naruto pointed at it. "Ne, Hinata-chan?"
"H-hai?" She blushed bright pink.
"Is this some kind ofsick joke?!" Naruto looked really angry. "Did you play it?! Darn it, Hinata, I thought you were better!" He stormed off, leaving Hinata in shock.
"…what?" Tears formed at the corners of her eyes before she struggled to wipe them away, without victory. Hinata found herself rushing to the bathroom and locking herself in a stall, where she sat on top of the toilet seat, knees hugged to her chest and cried. She couldn't really remember how long it had been since she'd cried but…
…why?
Now, you might find it was cruel of Naruto to do that, but you don't know his side of Valentine's Day. True, for years, Uzumaki Naruto was convinced that all girls had cooties and therefore, were monsters with horrible tempers you should stay away from. But now, he had felt some sort of…well, he felt happier whenever he was around Ino, Sakura and Hinata, despite the fact that Sakura and Ino hit him for his loose mouth.
When he had dropped everything upon seeing Sakura smile, he was hooked. And convinced he was in love. Well, he was. Kids like that are easy to fall in love. Crushes can come and go in the future, but with kids, well… It's new to them, and if you really have no friends, no one's going to talk to you about it without laughing.
His heart thumped tremendously whenver he thought of her smile, and he couldn't help but feel on cloud nine whenever he saw it again. One day, Naruto convinced himself: He was in love with Haruno Sakura! He wanted to see that smile again, he wanted to see the smile at him!
He confessed on Valentine's Day, because, hey, girls dig that sorta romantic mush, right?
It had been hard to get Sakura out, because she, like the many Uchiha Sasuke fans, had brought chocolate for him and him only, and had been in a HUUUUUUUUUUUGE line to give it to him when Naruto had dragged her out of her hard earned spot, right before she was going to give Sasuke his chocolate.
Needless to say, she was angry, because she'd have to wait another three and a half hours before it was her turn again, and was fuming.
"Sakura-chan…" Naruto felt his palms all sweaty and he swallowed. Millions of things poured themselves into his mind and he felt weightless, as though something could knock him over with the slightest touch. He had practiced these three words over and over again, just for the perfect moment, but now, faced with the truth, his whole mouth went blank and his lips moved of their own accord. "I like you."
"SCREW OFF!" She snapped. "Do I look like I care?! I like Sasuke-kun andSasuke-kun only, you monster! See, Ino was right! You're a kidnapper and a rapist too!" Sakura stormed off, not even bothering to discover that Naruto had fallen to his knees and clutched his aching head in his hands, shoulders and arms shaking.
Now, rejection is hard to deal with, especially when you've been building up your courage. Naturally, you feel a great disdain to those who are still living natural, laughing while you're suffering with questions and the rejection playing over and over again in your mind.
Naruto had walked directly back to class so he wouldn't give them all another reason to call him a monster with a temper, but then Hinata was there. He had noticed, upon entering the room, the box of chocolates—hey, he wasn't stupid alright? Naruto was a lot smarter than everyone else gave him credit for, but he refused to act it, because then, he'd have to work hard, and Naruto really didn't like to work hard when everyone would just ridicule him for it.
He had avoided it, but had said hi to Hinata, a dull throbbing in his chest let him know where his heart was dying. But Hinata JUST had to go and rub it in his face, didn't she?! She just had to add SALT to the wound!
Apparently, Naruto was convinced that Hinata had been in the whole, 'Hate you, Naruto' scheme. After all, if Hinata was a good friend of Sakura and Ino,she'd have found out as soon as Sakura had stomped back into Academy building! After all, Sakura and Ino were the ones who talked the most, and Hinata probably found out easily! (Naruto had no idea of the fight between Ino and Sakura, and Hinata's confusion as to who she should support. He still assumed all three were still good friends.)
Who cared about Sakura-chan?! Who cared about this snobby girl who obsessed over a playboy?!
…who was he kidding…? He cared about her. He loved her smile. He wanted…her to say that she cared about him too-!
Naruto slowly walked to the door, but it opened for him. Huh? He looked up into Sakura's face. It was smiling. He looked behind him. No one else was in the classroom, and certainly not Sasuke. If the Uchiha had been here, Naruto would've been DEAD the first two seconds.
"S-Sakura-cha—"
She punched him across the face, across the face and GOOD. "MORON!" She kicked him as he was down, tears in her eyes. "Why did you hurt Hinata-chan?!"
"W-wha—"
Sakura punched him in the cheek. HARD. "Because of YOU, she's in the washroomcrying!"
"Well-!" Naruto held the side of his face, and was on the floor, shouting angrily, "HOW do you think I felt when YOU rejected me?! You have NO STUPID RIGHT to say you're PERECT and that you're the PEACEMAKER and PROBLEMSOLVER, because," He sucked in a big breath before shouting, "You're a bloody damn hypocrite!" He ran past her, and Sakura felt shocked.
Her…? A hypocrite?
She was so shocked, she didn't notice the tears in Naruto's eyes.
Hinata…get up.
No, thank you, not right now, thank you.
Get. Up.
Please, no, I really don't think I can.
Stop crying. You're not a bloody child anymore! You're twelve!
Turning twelve.
You KNOW what I mean, Hinata! Get up! Bloody get up NOW!
I don't want to. Something hurts.
Do you think the whole WORLD's just going to SUCK up to you just because something hurts?! NO! They blasted keep on with their blasted lives! Now GET up before I smack you!
I'm sorry.
Don't be. You're not to blame for all of this. But at least try to find out why Naruto did what he did.
He doesn't like me. He hates me.
He doesn't.
How do you know?
Because life's not unfair without a reason, now get up, you.
Alright. Thank you.
You'd better be. Because this is the last time I'm getting you up. Goodbye.
There was a voice in Hinata's head that kept on talking to her. No, she didn't think she was crazy. Sometimes, she humoured herself, believing it was just herself wanting to be braver, to have more courage, to be smarter, to be…more likable.
Now, something felt empty inside, and Hinata couldn't help but feel like her legs were like lead, slowing her down.
Finally, she managed to dry the tears, and shakily unlock the stall door. It felt like she had been crying for only a few minutes, but when she went outside, the sun had already set. Hours at a time, must've been. As she trudged back in the direction of the classroom, her mind whirling with upset that her father was going to be angry, she didn't notice a figure brush past her, before grabbing her arm.
"U-wah!" She squeaked as Naruto stood there, breathing heavily, sweat pouring down his brow.
"Hinata-chan?"
"A-ano…" Hinata wished she could be anywhere but here. She couldn't face him. Not yet! She wasn't ready!
"Hinata-chan…" Naruto put both hands on her shoulders, his eyes searching through hers. Hinata froze at the contact and her face turned bright red, her legs turning turned from lead to jelly and it was she could do to stand. She felt really light-headed, realizing exactly how close she was to him. Then, his eyes narrowed without warning and Hinata felt helpless as tinges of hurt and frustration made their way into their blue color. "I'M SORRY!"
What?
"N-nani…?"
Naruto had let go of her and bowed deeply, before standing straight up. "I'm really sorry. I'm really, really, really, sorry, Hinata-chan. I mean, you must've just noticed that there was something for me and I just blabbed angrily to you and, and, and—"
Hinata couldn't help but smile shakily as he gasped for air and kept on droning on. "I-it's alright, N-Naruto-kun. I-I k-know you d-didn't mean it…"
"You're the greatest, Hinata-chan!" Naruto grinned at her.
It was far too much. Hinata fainted dead on the spot.
"WAUGH! Hinata-chan!"
Time passed, and Ino and Sakura drifted away from each other, both declaring the friendship as ABSOLUTELY OVER. Without those two, Hinata found herself unable to speak to new people, and slowly became even more shy than before. She now grew to the stage where she couldn't talk to anyone without stuttering.
As it went, Naruto forgot all about that incident a few days later, but Hinata didn't mind. She just turned bright pink whenever she remembered his hands…on her shoulders…and he…grinning at her. It was…nice.
It was nice to watch him from afar. And when he had rushed out into the sea of villagers and shouted his proclamation of becoming Hokage for the fifth time that month, she couldn't help but feel encouraged to try harder.
Hinata wanted to graduate with Naruto.
But then again, her father was being impatient.
"Graduate this year, Hinata, or you will be considered useless and I will disown you!"
Sadly, Hinata passed the Genin exam at age 13…and watched as her crush clung to the ropes of the swing in the corner of the field, his invisible tears striking deep into her heart. She looked away, and followed her father away without question.
It was not a matter of whether or not she loved him…
Because even someone like Naruto knows that shinobi can't—shouldn't fall in love. The success of at least a B-rank mission depends on your feelings as nothing more than what they should be. A tool…and nothing else.
The broken parts of your heart may still linger…but like a mirror, one day, they can be repaired.
By the right hands…
With the right amount of time…
With a certain experience and determination…
The you who was broken shall be whole once more.
And Hinata smiled as she walked in the next day, upon seeing Uzumaki Naruto, grinning his lights out and laughing at the world, the Konoha hitai-ate proudly on his forehead. She smiled because she was happy.
What more reason did she need?
And another piece of a broken hard began to heal into place…
Author's Note: I come bearing a new chapter! I'm rewriting this. I am HAPPY with this chapter. I have figured out SOMETHING at least. OC writing and I do NOT mix. So you can breath happy knowing I've given up on that.
Now, a lot of you may notice Hinata fainting. Only in childhood, my friends. Only in childhood.
Or IS it?
ALSO: This website is a BITCH. I'm angry. They keep on messing with my formatting and italics and bold!