Me: -yawns loudly-What day is it?
Neji: Friday
Me: Thanks...Neji! You're back!
Neji: Or am I? -twilight music-
Me: -pokes repeatedly-No. You are here.
Neji: If only I wasn't.
Me: -sticks tongue out at Neji-Hey, hey! IMPORTANT MESSAGE!! PLEASE READ!! O.k... ... ...how do I start this? As far as I can tell, this will be the ONLY chapter that contains...mildly adult themes (Not that way you perverts!!) But this fic is rated T (if anyone thinks that it should be M please let me know. I'm on the border line of re-rating and need the extra push to either go back or move forward with the idea) And if you do not like the thought of reading suggestive themes, feel free to skip to the end. I have marked the area for those that wish to avoid. But there will be (small) talk about what happens later on in order to move the plot along, and there is absolutely nothing I can do to avoid it. (I personally do not think that there is anything that is comlpetely horrible, I tried my best to tone it down. -what I had originally planned was much worse-)
Me: For those who do not like this chapter theme, you must give me an alternative BEFORE doing anything drastic...like leaving a bad review. I promise to try and change/edit the chapter to match the suggestion, but there is no granted sure-fire changing. Remember, I still have the ending planned out so I will have to work REALLY hard to recreate the path that I have given myself.
Me: We are less then 10 chapters away from the ending, so please leave those reviews. Falmes are welcome (but of course I'll feel sad) just as long as you remember the deal: you must have a justified reason for the flame: No complainants just to complain. And I must have, what was it? 30 reviews before I start uploading my next fanfic. I'll see you all soon! Ja ne!
Chapter 17 But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place where she's loved…
Concrete Angel
Hinata's P.O.V.
As we walk to my home on a surprisingly cold afternoon, Sasuke subtly puts an arm around my waist. I make sure to force the small blush that springs to life back.
A cold wind rushes by and I push myself closer against Sasuke's warm chest as he tightens his grip around me. "We're almost to your house; do you want me to let you go?" Sasuke whispers into my ear.
I shiver as his warm breath touches my skin. "Even if I wanted you to, you wouldn't let go."
"Hn," is all the response I get as he nuzzles his head in my hair.
We reach the front yard, and Sasuke releases his grip on me. Mother is still gone, so he doesn't have to hide, but instead of saying goodbye, he says, "Why don't you come to my house today?"
I look at him like he has lost his mind, but his stern expression shows that he is dead serious. He takes one look at my face before saying, "What? Scared?"
Okay, maybe dead serious is the wrong phrase.
"C'mon Hina, your mom's not home, so she'll never know. And you haven't even seen my house yet. Just this once, okay?"
I try to come up with an excuse to not have to go, but when he runs his fingers up and down my arm, my mind turns to pudding.
"Alright. But I can't stay too long."
Sasuke puts a triumphant smile on his handsome features, and grabs my arm. He pulls gently, and we start running straight into the forest. Even though he lives so close to me, I still forget that he is only a few minutes away.
Hopefully.
My hopes are confirmed as, about 7 minutes later, we comes upon a very large house. Forget that, mansion is the correct term to use.
Sasuke can tell that I'm shocked, he's special like that. "Your mouth is hanging open." Or maybe I'm just easy to read.
"Don't be so surprised. Weren't you the one who called me the Ultra Rich Uchiha way back when?"
He lifts up his hands, and makes the quote sign at the 'Ultra Rich Uchiha' part, and gives me a playful smile.
"Well, I didn't think that you actually got all the money until you're, I don't know, 20?"
Sasuke manages to pull off a Sakura-on-a-bad-hair-day look as he feigns being insulted.
"How old do you think I am woman? At 16, I think that I can manage the money."
I raise my eyebrow as I look into his backyard.
"A swimming pool."
Sasuke's smile turns sheepish.
"Okay. I admit that that was a bit much, but what would you do if you had money to waste?"
I look at him like he had just said the stupidest thing in the world, and he takes the hint. "Alright, alright! Stupid thing to say."
He looks straight into my eyes. "Now let's go inside."
"Your house is not one of those types that are bigger on the inside then they are on the outside, is it?" I ask as we head up the stairs.
"Ha! You wish."
When we walk inside his house, the whole room is filled with such…shiny things. There are many glass vases, a huge T.V., heck, his floor is even glass. The light from the window reflects off the shiny surface, and hits my eyes; it takes me a few seconds to get used to the light.
"Sorry about all the glass. My parents had that planned when I was a kid."
I try to look around the rest of the room, but Sasuke pulls my hand and drags me through the rest of his house.
Everything looks just like the front room; shiny. Everything is glass or see through, and the glare of sunlight that shines through the open window makes every object glow with a bright light.
Finally, we reach the final room of the house: Sasuke's. For some reason, I'm nervous. I have no idea what I'll see in there, though I know that nothing will be weird, I suddenly feel shy.
Sasuke's been in my house only once, and that wasn't the best of times. But I didn't even know where he lived before this.
Sasuke seems to sense my hesitation as he grabs my hand and gently tugs my wrist.
"C'mon."
I follow him inside, and walk into a small room about the same size of mine.
I look around and, thankfully, there is almost no glass except in the window. He barely has anything occupying the space surrounding us, and the items he does have are almost all thrown on the desk next to the wall.
"What do you think?" he asks me.
"…I'm glad there's no glass anywhere."
He laughs gently, and sits down in a chair. "This is probably the only room in the house that I use more then once a month."
I take a seat on the bed, and stare at him. He looks so beautiful just sitting there. It seems like there's an air of calming reassurance that goes around the room.
When he looks at me, our eyes meet, and I can't think. He looks like he wants to say something, but before he can force the words out, a large erupt of thunder interrupts him.
"Oh Kami, I have to get home before it starts raining too hard."
Sasuke looks vaguely disappointed, so I try to reassure him. "Tell me what you want tomorrow, and I listen."
I kiss him on the cheek, and he turns his head to make it an actual passionate kiss.
"Well, I better let you go then."
He leads me to the front door, and offers to take me home.
"It's fine Sasuke. I don't want you to get wet walking home afterwards."
"Alright. But be careful. If anything happens, you can just…come here."
"Thanks Sasuke."
I reach up, and give him a small kiss. He returns it with such passion that it takes my breath away.
When he moves away, I have a huge smile adoring my face, then I walk out the door. All the while waving happily back at him.
As I move through the forest, I feel drops of water fall on my skin.
"Oh…not now!"
I rush home as the rain becomes stronger, but I freeze as I see on old station wagon parked in the driveway.
"Kami, please don't let that be…"
My sentence is interrupted as thunder booms loudly above me. I have no choice but to go inside, and hope for the best. If I stay out here, I'll risk catching pneumonia, and that won't be good.
I slowly walk up the stairs, and quietly open the door. Only the kitchen lights are on, and it is fairly quiet, so I press my luck by swiftly walking to the stairway that leads to my room. But before I can reach it, a voice catches me.
"Hinata."
I turn my large, fearful eyes toward the kitchen doorway. Mother's figure takes up the whole space, but her face if impassive. I can't tell what she is thinking, but that just makes her more dangerous.
"Come here," she demands.
Slowly, I carry myself to the kitchen. Mother goes inside the room, and I have a half a mind to turn around and run, but I will be in even worse trouble if I do. So I walk inside, and see Mother standing in front of me.
Unexpectedly, a pair of impenetrable arms capture me in a vice-like grip. I look back to see a man no more then thirty drunk and almost certainly under the influence of Mother.
She circles around us, and closes the only door that separates me from being safe.
When she walks in front of my eyes, Mother gently cups the side of my face. "My, my Hinata. Where have you been all this time?"
Mother's breath smells normal, so she has not been drinking. But the way her fingernails are digging into my cheek says differently.
"Hinata, look at me." Mother's voice sounds sweet. Almost mother-like, but her eyes are hard. Unforgiving. "Look at me!" she yells.
I have no choice but to look straight into her eyes, but I wish I never did.
When I lock my gaze with hers, my head is jerked sideways by the force of her slap. The impact is shockingly overpowered, I taste the familiar sensation of blood in my mouth. "W-what are you…"
"You look so much like you father."
I turn my fearful eyes to Mother when she looks away, but, quickly, she brings her gaze back to me. "That man wanted to leave me."
This news is surprising. "W-what?" I am scared to ask, but curiosity gets the best of me.
"That's right Hinata. Your father didn't even want to marry me. We only did because his first wife, your real Mother, died, and he needed to keep the respect he had at the Hyuga industry by gaining a wife.
"Your father was going to run away and leave with you on you first birthday. His gift was getting you away from me. That work trip you thought he took was all a lie. He died trying to protect you from me, but he failed." She smiles wickedly. "I made sure that his last breath was wasted on trying to get you to run.
"His death was in vein, and now, I'm going to make you suffer in the worst way possible. Then, I'm going to kill you."
--Move Forward!!--
Oh Kami. Please let this just be a horrible nightmare. I think. But harsh reality smacks me in the face as I'm pushed into the wall and kissed roughly by the drunk as Mother's hand reach for a knife. I try to get him to release me, but all that does is make his grip tighter.
Tears spring into my eyes as she cuts through my shirt, and the only thing protecting me from the cold air is the bandages that are wrapped around my chest.
"I've seen you with that boy, you know." My eyes widen with fear.
She can't be talking about… "Sasuke." I manage to whisper.
"Sasuke, is it? You know that it hurts me to see you with anyone else," she whispers into the air. "You haven't told him anything, have you?"
Mother pushes the knife into my arm, and I let out a whimper of pain.
"Have you Hinata?" Mother asks, more forcefully then the last. "Don't lie to me Hinata. I already know the truth."
A gasp escapes my lips as the man pushes against me harder. I feel his fingers clumsily move around my arm and start to go lower.
Tears are running down my face now, and I know that I have to get out of here.
"L…let go of me!" I yell and push the drunken man away. He crashes into Mother, and I run out of the house.
--Done--
A blast of cold air hits my face as I step outside. The rain is falling harder then it was when I came home, but I don't care. I need to get out of here as fast as I can, and nothing is going to stop me.
I start running as fast as my legs will allow, and, even though it is against my better judgment, I look back.
Mother's form stands at the doorway. Not trying to run after me, not yelling at me to stop, nothing. Just standing there. But that just makes her scarier.
I turn back around, and run to the only place where I can go.
By the time the Uchiha manner is in sight, my vision is all but black. The knife wound Mother left me with is still bleeding sluggishly, but the large amount of blood that was lost is making me dizzy. But I have to reach Sasuke before I collapse. I have to.
When I walk up the stairs to the front door, I ring the doorbell. The door opens almost immediately and reveals Sasuke to my clouded eyes.
"Sasuke," is the last thing I say before I black out.