Water

"Take care not to damage your eyes any further, Naruto-kun." Shizune carefully removed his bandages and Naruto blinked his eyes open, squinting as the sun streaking through the window blinds into the room came into his eyes.

"Thanks, Shizune-nee-chan."

"Don't thank me." Shizune replied, carefully wiping away bandaging dressing from around his eyes with a warm, damp cloth. "Just be careful next time around on missions."

"Yeah!" Naruto grinned, and Shizune smiled at him once more.

"Good luck, Naruto-kun." And then Naruto was alone.

He looked around him, he looked. There wasn't anything. But he felt like so…closed in. Caged in this place. It hurt. It really hurt that he couldn't go around and…just

"I hate you all." Naruto muttered to the walls. "…you echo. And I don't want to be alone." He seemed to shrink, hugging his knees to his chest, but his gaze grew firm, albeit a bit glazed over. "…but I have to do this. I can't keep on hurting her. Like it or not, what he said was the truth. Heh. To think Neji-before-I-kicked-his-ass was even LIKE that ass was an understatement of the century. After all…" he sighed, letting his legs cross at the ankles once more and running a hand through his hair.

He didn't finish his sentence, but leaned back against his propped up pillow, staring at the ceiling.

"I hate ceilings."

The walls laughed at that.

"I hate walls too."

Silent laughter seemed to echo around him and Naruto glared holes into the ceiling. God damn it, he hated this life.

If only he could exchange it for something that wouldn't hurt as much…that wouldn't hurt him so much…

I feel as though I am constantly flailing about…

…these useless motions hinder me from my best potential…

Yet…without them…

I'll drown in this pit of detestable waters…

…pits of waters that gladly accept me far too much…

Unable to really think, Naruto had decided the only way to wake up was to fall into a lake. Or something. So he went to the training grounds, staring dully at everything, bitterly wondering why life was so complicated, making all these twists and turns in his life.

Friends, what were they? Every day, before he went to bed, Naruto would stare up at the ceiling, stare at all four walls of his room, a certain amount of whatever time on each, before he pumped his fist in the air, whispering, "Tomorrow, for sure."

Only he would ever know what he was promising himself.

But really, Naruto really didn't know.

There were a lot of things he hoped for, like friends, more friends, ramen, to be accepted, to be Hokage, to beat Sasuke, to get Sakura-chan to fall in love with him, to get Kakashi-sensei to teach him a kick-ass technique…

Perhaps all he really wanted, as he always stared at the ceiling, at all four walls of his room, for until he fell asleep, unable to forget that this was a cold place, that this place was lonely, that he was the only human here…

Maybe he just wanted to be with someone.

Have you ever really thought of that?

Standing directly at the lake's edge, Naruto had distant memories of the day Team 7 had been an official genin team…the day that Hatake Kakashi had passed his first team, the day Sakura had actually been really nice to him without an ulterior motive (he thought), and how HUMAN Sasuke had actually acted.

He didn't really feel like jumping today.

Every moment felt sluggish, pulling him down, like his body didn't want to move, it didn't want to have to exist. Existance… Naruto's eyes flashed a little with upset, before he swallowed, sticking his foot out. Then, he dropped his entire weight in along with it.

The water didn't have the absolutely cold, wake-you-up effect as he had hoped.

Rather, he felt almost in connection with it. Like, hey, the water understood, let me just show you a blue, blue world and we'll all be blue together and psshaw. Naruto gazed around as he moved his body so that he sunk deeper, kicking his feet a little.

His clothes created drag, and it was awfully heavy swimming, and soon, Naruto found himself standing at the bottom, before he sat down against a barrier of land, staring blankly before him, not even blinking at the way his lungs were pressing against his heart.

For some reason, everything seem to blur a little. His head seemed a little woozy and Naruto slowly closed his eyes. He wanted to sleep…so tired… Maybe when he woke up…maybe, just maybe he'd have the answer.

Just maybe.

Look up, look up. See that bird flying free?

Isn't it lovely, isn't it grand?

Doesn't it make you calm down, doesn't it make you want to stay and watch?

Really, now.

It makes me sick to watch it taunting its freedom about.

I hate it.

SLAP!

"URAAAGH!!" Naruto fell out of the bed he was in, his hand pressed on his cheek. "YOU! Who the hell did that?! Why did you do it?! Why?!"

"Finally, you're awake." Tsunade rubbed her temples before heaving a long sigh and gesturing for Naruto return back into the bed, which he did so, though with his joints cracking. He winced, instantly trying to move carefully as he sat himself back then. Then, she dimmed the lights so that the boy could calm down. "Naruto…who said you could leave your hospital room?"

Naruto fidgeted with the blankets, avoiding her gaze. Tsunade-baa-chan wouldn't take it well, whatever he had been trying to do. Funny how his mind was blank now when he usually would blather things out. "…I wanted to get some air."

"You could've opened the window."

"You would've closed it." Naruto responded weakly, feeling a little dizzy.

"Naruto, what were you trying to do?"

"Do?" Naruto looked out the window, purposefully turning away from her direction as she made her way to the side of the bed, her arms folded. "I wasn't trying to 'do' anything."

"Really? Then explain why Kakashi-san brought you to the hospital, and said he found you at the bottom of the lake?"

"I fell in."

"Really?" Tsunade's voice sounded almost…amused? "If you fell in, I would no doubt have heard from Kakashi-san that you had at least looked like you were shocked."

"You had…Kakashi-sensei following me?" Naruto bristled, glowering at her murderously. "Tsunade-baa-chan, why the he--?"

"Because you're an idiot." Tsunade firmly made out between grit teeth, her eyes boring into his and Naruto found his anger mysteriously wiped away. "Why? You always do the things we least expect you to do."

"I don't know." Naruto muttered softly. "I feel…like something's come into me. Like…realization. Truth."

Tsunade's voice softened. "What kind of truth?" It shook, but Naruto only pulled the covers and blankets over his legs, before staring at her.

"Water accepts me so willingly into its grasp. So…it'll be that…water…will one day extinguish my life." Then, he lay sideways on the bed, bringing the covers and blankets up to his shoulders, his entire body direction facing away from her. "I used to be scared to die, that when I died, everything would be black and then I wouldn't be able to feel anything. Now, I…I just don't know."

"Naruto..."

Naruto didn't answer, choosing to let the silence of the darkness that reigned king in the room to answer. It gave a bigger impact and Tsunade's face fell emotionless as she closed the lights and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"…scared." Naruto mumbled. His body felt numbingly cold and his eyes stared at nothing in particular under half open lids.

He didn't fall asleep. Rather, sleep claimed him. Naruto didn't fight it; he just let it consume him.

Just like he had…his doubts and fears.

And it was just too bad…that those doubts and fears had started a long time ago…

…and recently manifested themselves…

"What an interesting predicament…" The words on Hyuuga Hiashi's lips flowed as lightly as a spring river, though held dangers beyond recognition of the flowing rapids. "…that you and I would meet at such a place at such a time."

"Such a ah whadda?" Naruto blanked out. After all, he was still feeling woozy from all that ramen in his stomach. Eating warm food late at night tended to make him a little sleepy and close out the world around him.

Hiashi stared at him unblinkingly with such a force that Naruto couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed. Wait…a little? Take that and multiply it by five thousand. And then stretch it for eternity if you can. It felt like he was being drowned in his own sweat. That might be a little gross image, but it felt just like it.

"Uzumaki Naruto…" Naruto couldn't help but flinch as his name was said on that man's lips. He felt as if the blood in his veins had frozen and now he was just a chunk of ice, if he were not in one. "…what are you planning?"

"Planning…" He couldn't help but draw that out a bit. "Plaaaanniiiinnng…? I'm not planning anything."

"Indeed…" Hiashi didn't sound like he was in disbelief…but then again, he didn't sound like he believed him either. The frozen silence that fell in between them wasn't really necessary, unless Hiashi wished to spook Naruto out of his wits. Which was precisely what was happening. In the sheer cold.

As if on cue, the icy cold wind blew and Naruto sneezed…right at Hiashi. "Whoops." He stepped back as Hiashi, thoroughly disgusted, withdrew a cloth from the folds of his sleeves and wiped his face, before flinging it to the ground.

"Pick it up."

"What?" Naruto looked at him, before looking at the cloth on the ground, before looking back again. This cycle continued for only a few seconds, but already, Hiashi could feel his patience being tested and it was not holding very well.

"For hell's sake, do I need to spell it out for you?" Hiashi gestured to the cloth on the ground. "Pick it up. Now." His eye narrowed and Naruto found himself looking into those eyes, those deep, hate-filled eyes. No, not hate-filled. These eyes were calmly neglecting hate. The only emotion that swirled in those pearl orbs was a deep emotion, close to nothingness, but an emotion nonetheless.

Naruto could've sworn he'd seen that look—that emotion, somewhere before…but he couldn't remember, because most of the looks he got from people were hate-filled, and Naruto didn't keep track of what emotion he was looked at with anymore.

"Do you want me to pick it up today, or tomorrow? Because I'll wait if you want to be turned into a human icicle." Naruto cheerily joked, laughing a little, but it died away as the other party did nothing. "Uh…sir?" Nothing prompted him, but for some reason, a gut instinct (and Naruto trusted his gut instincts very, very much) told him to show manners or die, and to stop joking around.

When Hiashi stared once more at the cloth on the ground, Naruto took the message and preformed it.

Naruto bent down to a crouch and neatly picked it up from the ground, before jumping to his feet and handing it over. Only, it couldn't really be called handing it over, because Hyuuga Hiashi did not bring out a hand to receive it. Nor did he give any indications he wanted it back.

He only turned around and entered his estate and closing the gate behind him. Naruto just stared, hand still out with the cloth, at Hiashi's departing back before an elaborate door closed behind him. Once it closed, Naruto slowly regained his senses, and his hand lowered by his side, still staring at that door.

Then, he slowly turned around and walked home, stunned. He stayed like that all throughout the evening, and didn't sleep at all. He only lay with his back on his bed, staring deeply into the ceiling, his mind blank. The white walls around him seemed to close in, and the ceiling seemed to loom nearer and nearer until—

BAM!

The light box fell from the ceiling and whacked him clean on the forehead.

"…ake up."

What?

Naruto's eyes gradually opened and immediately blanched.

Sasuke was not amused. "Wake up, dobe. You're late."

Slowly, Naruto sat up as Sasuke started to walk towards the door. "Ne…Sasuke?"

"What is it, idiot? Not only are you late, you're brain-dead." Naruto stuck out his tongue at Sasuke's back, the instant the boy turned around to add something. "And Kakashi told us to—"

"Uh…" Naruto retracted his tongue just as Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Forget it, dobe. Figure it out on your own."

A few moments left Naruto wondering what Sasuke was just about to tell him. "Oh well," he shrugged, and pulled on his zori, tugging his headband tight into a firm knot at the back of his head. Grabbing his orange jacket from the chair, Naruto then prepared to leave the room. "Wait!" He ran back in and grabbed the shimmering necklace he couldn't believe he had removed. Probably Tsunade-baa-chan had.

Clasping it once tightly in his hands, Naruto bowed his head before his eyes jerked up in determination at the sky outside the window, and left. It didn't occur to him to ask permission to leave. It just seemed like…

"The sky's crying…" He murmured to himself, hand on the class of the windows, staring at the clouds gathering. "…but it's holding it in. Why?"

Elsewhere, Hinata found it in herself. "N-Naruto-kun…I-I should've k-known he wouldn't have l-liked m-me…"

A rumbling in the sky alerted her to look upwards, her swollen eyes hurting as she struggled to wipe away the remaining tears. It was time to go home. And possibly, it was time to give up on Naruto. Even though she may love him, it wouldn't work at all if he hated her that much.

The sky seemed to be holding back the rain, Hinata thought, as she started to walk home, hugging her thick jacket tight around her.

Something felt cold and sad.

It was possible that something was going to happen…