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Neji'sTrueLover: -pulls Neji into a headlock- I in no way, shape, or form, take credit for the Naruto names. Nor the song Concrete Angel. They belong to their rightful owners...who is not me...
Anywaaaay, I have one MAJOR announcments: 1. I know that I had put this story as 'rated T' but the language might be upsetting some people and turning them away. I really don't want to lose any of my precious readers, so if any of the language is offending you, burning your eyes, or you just don't like them being there, tell me. I'll gladly take them off immediately. I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter of Behind The Barriers!
Chapter 11 Somebody cries in the middle of the night…
Hinata's P.O.V.
I see Sasuke standingoutside the window and I can't breathe. I know that Mother saw the surprised expression I have, because she walks away from me. But instead of going to the window, she picks up an old beer bottle and smashes it. Then, comes back and continues to beat me with it while sayingthat I can never go outside with blood covering my clothes ever again.
Soon, I fall to the floor, and Mother leaves me alone. I hear her car leave, then the noise of the window opening. Quickly, I try to get up, but my aching legs will not let me.
I guess what I saw wasn't just an illusion. I think as Sasukequickly runs to my side.
Even though I feel my consciousness slipping away, I have to tell him to leave.
"Sasuke, w…what are you do…ing here?" I take a minute's pause to regain my breath. "You are s…so de…" I can't finish my sentence as I am engulfed in darkness and drop into Sasuke's arms.
xxx
When I awake, I see Sasuke's hand reaching for my shirt. My right hand shoots out to grab his, and he yelps and falls backwards off the bed. He looks up, so I have to put a scowl on my face, but I can't keep the mirth from showing in my eyes. Soon, I can't hold it in, and I burst out laughing.
When I open my eyes to wipe away the tears, I see Sasuke's own pair of eyes twitching as he pulls himself back onto my bed. With my laughter ceasing, I ask him, "What were you going to do?"
"N-nothing."
Wow, he is soo cute when he stutters. But…
I raise a brow. "You were reaching for my shirt; you had to be doing something."
I am getting suspicious when he doesn't answer. Even more so when he turns red with blush and trying to look anywhere but my face. I look down at myself and realization hits me.
"Pervert!" I yell and try to slap him with as much force as I have. But, apparently, that didn't mean much since I am still weak.
I jump off the bed, but stumble a little and Sasuke comes over to catch me.
Why is he always doing that?
"I'm fine," I say, trying my hardest not to sound annoyed as I push him away. I run into the bathroom, close the door, and head straight to my medical cabinet.
"Darn!" I yell as I run out the door. I look frantically for a jacket to cover myself with, but can't find any that don't have any blood on them.
I really need to do some laundry sometime,I think as I find my old, oversized jacket. I try to run out the door, but, Sasuke easily catches me and holds me back. I try to push him away, but end up collapsing into his arms once again, and he carries me to my bed.
My breathing is labored, but I weakly ask, "What are you doing here?"
Sasuke takes out some bandages and lifts up my arm.
"Well, right now, I'm here to help with those injuries you have. I'll ask the rest later."
I quickly grab my arm back from him. "I can take care of myself, thanks," I mumble and snatch the bandages from his hand. I grab some random clothes and lock myself in the bathroom. When I enter, I put some medicine that he had left on the counter, and fix myself up. As I start wrapping my stomach, I feel extremely dizzy, so I grab the counter to try and steady myself.
When the room stops spinning, I quickly finish wrapping my stomach and legs, and put on some clean clothes. They were the only tank top and shorts that I have and I don't wear them except when I need to, but they are the only things I have with me, so I have no choice.
I walk out with the bandages still in hand, and walk over to Sasuke. "Ahem." I cough as I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. I wear a light blush as I walk to my bed and sit down. Sasuke got off sometime ago, probably looking through my things, so I pat the spot next to me. Quickly, he sits down and I ask him,
"C-can you p-put t-these on m-me? I-I can't d-do it my-myself right n-now."
I normally never stutter this much, but from the way I acted, he probably wouldn't do it for me if I ask in any other way.
He doesn't answer me, so I look at him. Sasuke turns his gaze to me and I feel a small blush make its way onto my cheeks. He takes the bandages from my hand, and I take that as a yes. I raise my arm and place it in his hands. I shift my gaze to him and I see Sasuke lower his head. Right when he starts to bandage my arm, he stops.
"Did you clean these up first?" I hear him ask. I give a small smile and nod. Sasuke resumes his wrapping of my right arm, and an awkward silence fills us.
"So…if you were going to let me wrap you up, why did you go into the bathroom?"
This catches me by surprise since the Sasuke Uchiha I met in the forest didn't seem sooo…what should I say? Personal? His voice is so soft.
Is he embarrassed? I give a small smile at the thought and say,
"Besides the obvious, I had my own bandaging to do."
Sasuke gives me a look of confusion, so I decide to show him what I mean. I take back my half-wrapped arm from his grasp, and start to lift up my shirt. Sasuke becomes a little red and turns away. Darn, this boy has one of those types of minds. I think as I gently. "It's okay Sasuke. I'm not that type of girl."
He turns back around and stares at my stomach. Now I have his attention.
Sasuke reaches for me, and very gently strokes my abdomen. Pain fills me and I can not stop myself from flinching. He immediately stops and pulls his arm away.
"Sasuke, please don't tell anyone what you saw, alright?" I ask him, pulling my shirt back down to hide my bandage-covered stomach from view.
Did I do the right thing by showing him? I ask myself as I look into his eyes. I can't take the silence anymore, so I ask him,
"Sasuke, are you alright?" I gasp as a thought comes to me. "Y-you aren't t-thinking of a way t-to tell someone are you?!" My voice sounds more frantic then I would have liked, but just the thought of someone finding out what is happening scared me half to death.
"Hinata, calm down. Even though I don't know why, I won't tell anyone about this, kay?" he says while staring to shake me lightly. Relief fills me as I say,
"T-thank y-you Sasuke…"
Ugh, why the Hell do I stutter around him so much?! But my relief didn't last long as he said,
"Hinata, why don't you want me to tell anyone?"
I look down to try and hide the defeat look in my eyes. Though, I couldn't keep it out of my voice.
"I-if anyone f-found o-out about this, they would t-take away M-mother. N-not that I w-want her to stay, but t-they will take m-me away a-and p-put me into a f-foster home." I say with my eyes still downcast.
"What's so bad about that?" Sasuke asks
"T-the only p-person t-that has e-ever b-been nice to me, b-besides y-you of course, is m-my cousin, N-Neji. I-if I get t-taken away, h-he will know t-that I n-never told h-him the t-truth; a-and that w-would h-hurt him. I-I don't w-want t-to make him s-sad a-after e-everything h-he has done for me." I finish with a small tear sliding down my face.
When Sasuke sees, he reaches out to wipe the tear away. Or at least that is what I thought, until he stops. He hesitates for a second, but then goes through with his plan and wipes away the tear that was still on my face.
"Hinata, look at me."
I obey his soft request and look at him in the eye. Then the strangest thing happens. The lone wolf, the Sasuke Uchiha, blushes right in front of me.
"Hinata." Sasuke takes a deep breath, and continues with, "I promise I won't tell anyone. But you have to promise me that if anything goes too far, you'll come tell me. Or at least someone, okay?"
Sasuke's words touch me deeply, and all I can do is nod. He picks up my forgotten arm and once again started bandaging it up.
A comfortable silence fills the room by the time Sasuke finishes, and I lean over to give him a hug. First, he goes stiff, so I get worried that I had stepped over the barrier of contact with him, but soon Sasuke returns the embrace, and I relax.
I can't stop myself from giggling as he pulls me closer, almost onto his lap, and I look up and give him a smile. Sasuke starts leaning closer to me, and I find myself leaning up to him, and closing my eyes. But before our lips can even touch, I hear a distant car approaching. Quickly, my eyes snap open, and I jump off him and run to the window. In the distance, I see that Mother's car is approaching the house, and I run back to Sasuke. He has a hurt expression on his face when I look at him, but fear overcomes my guilt at the moment.
"Sasuke, you have to leave!" I make my voice as urgent as I can, but he doesn't seem to understand why I am acting strange.
"Why?" Sasuke asks with clear annoyance in his voice. My fear increases when I hear the car park outside, so I know what I have to do to get him out of here quickly.
"Mother's come back early today," I offer him as an explanation. Looking in his eyes, I see all the anger and hurt quickly being wiped off and he replaces it with horror when we hear the door slam.
"If Mother finds you here, she will really hurt you Sasuke. Please, leave through the window now!"
Sasuke can hear the urgency of my voice, so he jumps off the bed and runs toward the window. But before he jumps, he turns around and says,
"What about…"
I can guess what he was going to ask, but there is no time. I care too much for him to really care about the question.
"No time," But looking at his fear filled face, I continue with, "Don't worry. I'll see you tomorrow."
I quickly run up to Sasuke, give him a hug, and he jumps out the window.
I couldn't have been happier as I see Sasuke's shadowed figure running into the trees and out of sight. A relaxed feeling washes over me at the thought of him being safe, but my happiness dies a quick death when I hear footsteps coming from the hallway. I close the window, and jump into bed to fake my unconsciousness with as much speed as I can without making any noise. Unfortunately, my quickest isn't enough. Mother comes in and walks over to me. Strange, there is not much of a scent when she comes closer to me. So Mother is sober enough not to hurt me too bad.
"What are you doing up?" Mother asks in a calm voice that could send even a wolf into hiding. "You shouldn't even be conscious right now."
She comes closer to me as I stand my ground. True, fear is filling every ounce of my being, but if she finds out about Sasuke being here, he will be as good as dead. Come to think of it, so will I. Thinking of a lie would probably be my best chance, but is she finds out… Gulp Silently, I make a small gulp noise in the back of my throat at the thought.
"Well?" Mother has such an icy edge to her voice that increases my fear. She steps much closer to me, so that if I look up, her cold, penetrating gaze will surly make me faint from fright.
"How do you know that I should not be conscious right now? It's not like you check up on me or anything."
That was the best remark that I can come up with, but it seems that Mother understands the real meaning of my words. With her uprising hand, she gives me a good slap across my face. There was so much force in that slap that I fall backward and into the wall. I look up to see Mother's clenched jaw and rage filled eyes. The hand that she slapped me with is still raised in the air, and her fingers are bended. Very slowly, so as to not make her do anything more rash, I lift up my shaking hand, and feel my cheek. It was burning with pain, yet I can still easily feel the warm liquid on my fingertips. Bringing my hand in front of my face, I see that there is much blood dripping down my palm. I look up when I see Mother's feet move, yet the look on her face is emotionless.
Before I can get up and give her a glare of my own, I feel surging pain run throughout my ribs. The pain took my breath away, so I have to gasp to be able to get any air into my lungs.
When Mother sees me gasping for breath, a smirk forms on her lips as she gives me another kick to my stomach. All the strength I had left my body as I fall on the floor. She gives me a satisfied grin, and turns around to leave. But before she exits my room, I use the little amount of strength I have left to say,
"Don't y-you have a-any remorse?"
Mother looks at me through the corner of her eye and said,
"Not since you ruined my life." And with that, she left.
Without having any strength left in me, I just lay against the wall, gasping for breath. While I wait, I think about what had happened.
I did it to save Sasuke.
When I say his name, a blush forms on my cheeks. Me, sitting on his lap. He, wrapping my injured arms. That almost kiss we shared.
A deeper shade of red cavers my face.
Does this mean that I'm falling for him? No, I can't. Sasuke never seemed interested with any of the other girls that flirt with him all the time at school. Why would he chose me of all people when there are tons of prettier, smarter, everything I'm not…type girls that are a much better choice for him? A single tear falls down from my face and onto my lap before I realize that I'm crying.
I wipe away the stray tear and try to get up. A searing pain runs through me while I hiss and fall back down.
Great. All that waiting for nothing. I think bitterly as I lay my head back down on the wall. I look down at my stomach, but there is no blood.
Maybe I'm not really hurt, I think hopefully while I try to stand up again.
The unbearable pain that over-poweres me, said otherwise. C, I think she might have broken a few ribs. I abuse as I drag myself toward my bed. Sasuke is going to kill me since I got myself hurt. Sigh. But before he kills me, I need to get these checked. I painfully flinch at the thought of visiting a doctor.
Now comes the decision of going to a ,gulp , doctor before or after school.
If I go before, Mother will probably find out and do much worse to me. But if I go after, I'll have to bare the pain for six hours, and everyone will see that I'm hurt
I think over my options for a bit, then say out loud,
"If I want Sasuke to come with me, I have to go to school first." Once again, I blush at the thought of Sasuke, "Darn. Why does he make me blush so much?" is the last statement I make before finally falling into unconsciousness once again.
Well that's it. Chapter 12. I'm so happy! Quick note, plz read the author's note I put at the top. This one's important! Also, I have some major tests coming up within the upcoming weeks, so I don't think that I'll be able to update for a few days. But I think this chappie will make up for that, no? I made it really long for all my loyal readers! (Neji: Well, as really long for you. Neji'sTrueLover: Shut up) Keep sending the reviews! I really need them to keep me going!