Disclaimer- Don't own…whatever anime I'm writing about…Nana? Nope, wrong one…Ninjas? Closer…Oh! The Chronicles of the Orange Clad Annoying Ninja!!! ^^ Also known as: Naruto : )
THE BEST NOT SODA, SODA (I.E. Delaware Punch!) TO: Kingkakashi, Draikinator, littlesnowfarie2005, Midnight-Shadow-Wolfling, makura moderski, durkheim_aka_sasunaru, Kurenai-Loves-Kakashi, PimaBean, Immortal Fallen Angel, vivi-vixen, Xiashadow, Aachen, Hokage Hinata Hyuga, foreverboundtopain, alexa-catta123, thechiifactor, Rachel McN, and LovelySinner7 FOR REVIEWING!
AND WHATEVER GRAPE SODA THEY SELL IN THE STATES TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY!!! ^^ (What's it called?! Arg! I never drink it so I dunno)
Thanks for all ur feedback to my q's! I loved hearing ur fav parts, and as for naming all the cowards… Rachel McN, U WIN!!!! (She's the only one who mentioned me XD)
Chapter 7: Break
~*~
You waitin for someone
To put you together
You waitin for someone
To push you away
There's always another
Wound to discover
There's always something more
You wish he'd say.
~Everything You Want by Vertical Horizon
~*~
One could tell that Hyuuga Hinata was a rule follower just by looking at her. Perhaps it was the way she kept her head slightly tilted towards the earth or perhaps the way she allowed stray pieces of hair to hide her face, but it only took one look to know she'd concede to even the most utterly ludicrous rules that were in place. Normally, that would be absolutely true. Right now, however, she was in the process of sneaking out of her bedroom window.
Surprising? Hardly. The girl was known to ignore any orders that came between her and a certain blonde, though perhaps risking her place as head of the Hyuuga clan and having a caged bird seal placed on her was a bit much for love. (But then again, true love tis not true love without extreme consequences.)
As much as there was at stake, Hinata didn't let this slow her down in the slightest. After a surprisingly uneventful sleep (the teen was sure her dreams would have been plagued by the last image she had of Naruto, but it had never even crossed her mind and that fact caused her more than a little guilt), the Hyuuga had awoken early, at least as early as she could without arising suspicion, eaten a fairly small morning meal, then returned to her room stating that she was not feeling well and wished to rest. There she made a shadow clone, which I might add took a lot more energy than she had expected (though it's unsurprising she'd get the wrong idea from watching Naruto make dozens without giving it a second thought), and began her escape through the same window an unexpected visitor had entered the previous night.
It was simple, really. All one truly had to do was open the window, stick one leg outside, and swing the rest of one's body out, but the task took Hinata five grueling minutes to complete. It seems things like this took longer when one keeps stopping at every sound, and the Hyuuga teen was doing just that. In fact, she was probably attracting more attention by pausing mid-escape rather than finishing what the girl had started and hiding somewhere afterwards. Luckily, none of the sounds the dark haired teen heard were followed by the sounds' creators. Eventually, however, she did make it outside and despite her still being within the Hyuuga compounds, she took a large sigh of relief. She'd managed to successfully escape her room and she could not help but be proud of doing so without anyone being aware of her jailbreak.
"What do you think you're doing?" With a squeak comparable to a mouse's, the girl spun on her heels with a very pink, embarrassed face. She wasn't surprised to see Hyuuga Neji standing not five feet in front of her, she had recognized his voice, but she was surprised to see he wasn't angry.
"I, uh, I was—I," she stuttered, fumbling for some logical explanation for climbing out her window. Finding none, she settled for: "When did you get back?"
"Earlier," the elder cousin answered vaguely as he continued to stare, with what seemed to be an amused expression, though it could very well be one of annoyance.
A wary and awkward, on Hinata's part, silence followed the reply. It was obvious that Neji was still waiting for the guilty girl to explain the unusual circumstances she was found in, but even with this new opportunity to come up with an excuse, she was unable to find one. She racked her brain for an answer of some kind, but she hadn't considered what she'd say once she was caught. It hadn't been an option; her capture was as good as her trail and sentencing, so she'd never considered her defense. But here in front of her was her one opportunity at a second chance; the one small, but likely, possibility that, due to his absence the night before, her cousin knew nothing about the trouble she'd gotten herself in. Yet, she still could not come up with a reason she'd been climbing out a window! The lack of rule breaking gave her little experience or preparation for situations like her current one where it truly mattered.
"Your father will be extremely upset if he finds you out of the house." Instantaneously, the pink color faded from Hinata's face, along with any color that had previously resided there with it. So the jonin did know of her situation.
Despite what this meant, the Hyuuga heiress, though for how much longer she could be called so was now unsure, felt relieved. She would have felt bad for having lied to Neji, especially about something of this caliber. If it was later found out that he'd seen her prior to her escape, he too would have faced serious consequences and it was not in her nature to let others suffer because of her blunders. However, his knowledge meant that her getaway had come to its untimely end. Hinata would now be stripped of her status, sealed, and disowned. But none of the mattered to her; what truly made her heart drop was the fact that she hadn't managed to see Naruto first.
After what seemed to be an insurmountable amount of time, though in reality it was but a few seconds that felt lengthier due to the amount of thought occurring in the teen's mind, Neji spoke again.
"You'd better be hurrying." The monotone statement sent a jolt of pure electricity through Hinata. She stared unbelieving at the man she considered a brother with utter shock and surprise.
"Wh—What?"
"I said your father will be extremely upset if he finds you out of the house. I don't understand why you continue to stand here instead of making your escape while you still can." The male Hyuuga spoke calmly and seemed indifferent to the situation, but the words continued to hit the other teen hard with their meaning.
"But—you'll get in trouble!" The elder shrugged unconcerned.
"Perhaps. However, if you don't get caught then I won't get caught." As if it was as simple as that, the teen turned to walk away. Mid-step he stopped. "Tell Naruto I send him greetings. You can inform me of the details of his situation later."
The girl nodded, though it seemed that her head was detached from her mind which lagged behind her body in shock. In seconds the older male had disappeared around the corner, but Hinata stood rooted to her spot, still numbed by her cousin's actions. As if to give the girl a push forward, laughter flitted from around the opposite building's corner alerting all to an incoming group of branch members. Without making a sound, the rogue Hyuuga slipped over the compound walls and into the shadows of Konoha's buildings, slowly but surely making her way toward wherever they held her love where she hoped a blonde genin awaited her.
3 :-* 3 :-* 3 :-* 3 :-* 3 :-* 3 :-* 3 :-* 3 :-* 3 :-* 3 :-* 3 :-* 3 :-* : )
Now, Hinata had thrown caution to the wind when planning her escape, but she had no intentions to bringing attention to herself once she'd made it from her own makeshift prison. Before making her way into the main part of the village she'd created a small genjutsu over herself, taking the form of a nameless low chunin level shinobi with unremarkable thin brown hair and dark brown eyes. The disguise worked like a charm, and amidst the growing crowd of the daily mid-day rush, she became yet another face amongst a mass of people.
Where she was headed, however, was still under consideration. There were few places where one could store a mentally ill patient in Konoha. The places one could house a mentally ill shinobi were even smaller in number. In fact, besides somewhere among Konoha's prison cells and in the Hokage tower itself, there was only the hospital and a rehabilitation center, but the latter was located outside the village.
Hinata hoped, perhaps vainly, that the Godaime would not lock Naruto within a cell and if she wished to remain inconspicuous she couldn't very well waltz into the Hokage tower demanding to know of the blonde's location (not only would that receive quite a few suspicious looks, but if she was forced to reveal her true identity her father would know of it almost immediately.) This left the undercover teen with two choices: the hospital and the rehabilitation center. Among those two, the former was perhaps the unproblematic choice, with its in-village location and fairly low surveillance levels. Actually, now that she'd deliberated, she realized that there'd been nothing to debate of. She was already walking in the direction of the hospital! My, Hinata even worried about herself at times such as these.
Thankfully, the walk to the teen's destination was close and after a small amount of time, she arrived. As she neared the gate, she hesitated. As already stated, she couldn't very well walk inside the building and demand to know the blonde's location. Even if news didn't spread as fast here as it would have if she stormed into the Hokage tower, but Hinata lacked the extremely important and essential information of whether anyone had been informed of Naruto's arrest. The attending nurse might get suspicious of how she knew he was here. What's more, the girl was still in disguise. The orange clad boy was not intensely popular throughout Konoha, and having a stranger ask to visit him might spread quickly through the gossiping network. Investigations were still on the bottom of her priorities list, leaving her to be more creative in her means of receiving information.
But then again, Hyuugas were gifted in that very field.
After taking refuge among the nearby shrubbery, the dark haired brunette lowered her genjutsu and pushed a fairly large amount of her chakra to her eyes while whispering, "byakugan!" Her field of view changed instantly before her eyes. The thick concrete walls of the hospital were transparent in front of her revealing several dozens, if not a hundred, or so chakra systems, each belonging to a reasonably distinct person, the distinctness depending on how far they were and how much she concentrated on them. A new doubt slipped into the girl's mind. How exactly was one to distinguish Naruto among so many people?
However, even this problem seemed to be solved by itself. She'd watched the hospital no more than twenty seconds when she saw a flare of chakra from the far right corner of the hospital. A hint of a smile graced Hinata's face. There was hardly a need to check the source to make sure it'd been from Naruto, but after doing so anyway she raised the genjutsu once more and made her way into the hospital.
"-" *(^-^)* "-" *(^-^)* "-" *(^-^)* "-" *(^-^)* "-" *(^-^)* "-" *(^-^)* "-" *(^-^)* "-" *(^-^)* "-" *(^-^)* "-" *(^-^)* "-" *(^-^)* "-" *(^-^)* % )
Perhaps it was wrong of her to allow her hopes to rise as she made her way up the hospital steps without any nuisances, but Hinata could not help but think that she'd worried too much about being caught. Possibly it was as simple as seeming as if you had permission to be here, and the confidence to match.
Nevertheless, those hopes eventually backfired on the teen. At the top of the stairs the girl was shocked to come face to face with a vacant dilapidated hallway. Hesitantly, she lowered the genjutsu once more, as there was no reason to maintain an energy wasting technique if there wasn't anyone to notice her. However, it seemed she was caught within an infinite sequence of mistakes, for as soon as she'd lowered the jutsu an ANBU appeared in front of her.
Once again, the girl squeaked in surprise, so loudly in fact that it was nearly a screech. Despite the agonizingly loud noise, the ANBU hadn't even flinched.
"Purpose?"
"I'm, um, I'm here to visit Naruto-kun." The ANBU gazed at the girl, an unnerving sensation Hinata wished she'd never experienced.
"Are you not the girl Uzumaki-san was with last night?" Though it was impossible to distinguish his expression due to the mask, it was easy to perceive that he was more than a little amused. And as red began to spread across the teen's face, you could almost hear him chuckle (or perhaps this was all the affect of her self-consciousness.)
"Um, yes! But, um…" With a nod, the ANBU stepped aside.
"Very well. He's located just beyond that door, third door on the right." Hinata nodded, and as she took a step forward she realized she'd been shaking. When she made it to the door at the far end of the hall, she stopped once more.
"Um, please, um,"
"Your father will not be informed of your visit." Visibly deflated, the teen turned the knob and exited the hallway; certain she heard quiet laughter behind her.
XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D XD : D : P
After being caught off guard by the first ANBU, she was in no way affected by the two standing on either side of the door she entered. (However, the teen was a bit shaken feeling their gaze follow her every step as she walked down the hallway.)
When Hinata finally reached the correct door, she experienced the most unusual sensation. Despite all the trouble she'd gone through to arrive here, to make it to this moment, she was unhappy to be here. In fact, she wanted nothing more than to be able to turn back right now and return to her room. It wasn't as if she didn't want to see her love, it was that…no, she feared it was exactly that. Even now, she could not conjure up the faintest idea of what lurked behind the thick wooden door within her grasp. A dark shadow invaded her mind as she tried to picture an energetic blonde lying in a hospital bed. Just as she'd thought the image of him would haunt her dreams, the inability to not picture him haunted her waking moments. Now that she'd managed to find him, now that she had him merely feet in front of her, she could not deny this fact. This was not her Naruto.
This realization did not hit the girl hard, nor did it come suddenly. In fact, she'd known it long before she'd arrived in the hospital, perhaps she'd even know it all along. The boy from the last two days could not be her Naruto, even the enthusiastic Naruto of before could not be her Naruto. For quite a bit of time, she'd realized she'd built this persona for the blonde boy, this ultimate being that no one could dream of living up to, but that he had so far. Despite believing she was a "down to earth" sort of girl, she had imagined a figure without flaws and weaknesses from a true life inspiration.
No, that couldn't be true either. She'd recognized weakness in the true being that was Naruto; now, she'd even come to realize the boy had fatal flaws, an Achilles' tendon so to speak. But she'd taken the weaknesses in stride, amounting that his ability to succeed despite these handicaps as a surer sign of strength. However, the figure the night before, the one even now she could not imagine made her question if he had overcome these faults. Last night was proof that her hero was nothing but a sham, and she could not believe her hope was based on such a hoax. Perhaps that was why her mind would not allow her to remember him as he was; perhaps that was why her mind begged for her not to continue on her quest to see Naruto once more. But as she came to accept this heartbreaking theory, she came to another realization.
It didn't matter. Whether the boy beyond the door lived up to her expectations didn't matter. Whether it hurt her to see him in such a bad condition didn't matter either. What mattered was that he became well again. To leave now because she wished to keep a false image intact would not only be the most selfish act she'd have ever committed, but perhaps the most selfish decision she could ever make. She still loved him, or whatever it was that she loved about him. She couldn't leave him now.
So despite the fact that her heartbeat was agonizingly fast, or that her mind reeled with these thoughts, she turned the door handle.
Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ T-T
"You can't change my mind, baa-chan! I'm NOT going!" Hinata paused at this unusual greeting. She still had a chance to back out if she wished; she'd yet to be recognized as her foot was the only part of her body inside the hospital dorm. Shaking these thoughts from her mind with a visible shake of the head, the teen continued to walk into the room.
"HINATA! Sorry bout that! Thought you were baa-chan," the blonde boy lying on the bed said once she'd come into the line of vision as he raised one arm to rub the back of the head.
Seeing as Hinata had been unable to portray the scene before her in her mind, she didn't know what to make of the picture in front of her. The room, though colored and designed to be calming, terrified the girl. The blank off-white walls screamed at her senses, irritating her sensitive eyes and causing her mind to run wild with all the colorful scenes that could be painted on the blank canvases of the walls. The emptiness of the room caused her to experience a minor case of agoraphobia. And at the center of this void monochrome room was the brightest blemish of yellow.
It was…peculiar, to say the least, to see the boy whom was normally clad in orange in the pale white nightgown he now wore. The cloth was no less than two sizes too large for him, or perhaps the formless attire just made it seem so. The top of the gown hung from the teen's broad shoulder vaguely similar to the way it hung upon a hanger, for it seemed there was nothing inside the garment. Despite a full night having gone by, the fox like boy seemed as exhausted as the night previous, if not more so. Though she made an effort to gaze at anything but the blonde's arm, eventually her eyes strayed to that exact location. Luckily, the bloody bandage had been changed with a clean white one to match the room. It was easier to imagine that this was merely for style as other shinobi commonly used them for, but to see it still caused shivers to ascend her spine.
"Um, hello? Earth to Hinata, people are attempting to talk to you." Said girl's head snapped up to the boy's face, her eyes which had previously lingered upon the bandaged arm now locked on azure orbs. The blonde haired boy grinned. "There ya are! I thought you'd zoned out for good on me!"
Hinata smiled slightly genially, and averted her eyes that were tinged with embarrassment. However, Naruto's lighthearted spirit did little to reassure the girl. She felt ill at ease inside the room, her love's makeshift cell. For that was what she felt it was, a cell. She didn't belong in a cell, and moreover Naruto didn't either. It was beyond her perception to understand how the blonde in front of her could endure staying in such frightening quarters, let alone be comfortable and amiable. So she stood precariously in the middle of the room, trying to find something to look and something to say, wanting desperately to leave and powerless to do so.¹
Naruto must have realized this as well, for after a moment or two more of waiting, he riotously motioned for her to come. As if his hands were indeed reeling her in, she moved towards the boy with small, diffident steps, even though her heartbeat became louder and further unbearable the closer she got to him. When she did eventually reach the teen's bedside, he pounded the mattress signaling for her to sit, an offer she refused with the violent shake of her head. This didn't bother him in the least.
"Thanks for visiting Hinata-chan! I was beginning to believe that no one knows I'm here." Hearing the suffix 'chan' added to her name caused her to become a tad lightheaded, but she managed to keep enough hold on reality to hear the rest of what the male had said.
"Ano, I don't know if anyone does." Naruto frowned slightly.
"Well, they have me on file at the reception, right?" The Hyuuga shook her head in the negative.
"I don't know. I didn't ask."
"Then, how did you—"
"I used byakugan to find you." The frown on the boy's face deepened for an instant, but changed into a grin in one incredibly smooth transition.
"Man Hinata! You're sneakier than I thought! Oh! By the way, I didn't get you into too much trouble. Well, obviously it couldn't be that bad if you came to visit right?" Though the girl attempted to keep a blank face, she must have failed to keep the worry from gracing her features, for once again Naruto smile flipped into a frown. "Oh, you're not supposed to be here, are you?"
"No!" Hinata said quickly, attempting to redeem herself. "I mean, um, no. I guess not, father did ground me, but he doesn't know that I'm, um, here, so I'm okay for, um, now."
"You snuck out! Jeez, Hinata! I don't want you to get in trouble for me. Besides," Naruto added irritably, "your father doesn't like me."
"That's not true." The girl lied, still making an effort to save face, though she was failing miserably at doing so. "Father…just wasn't keen to the fact that, um, you'd been, um, in my, um, room at such an untimely hour." A small smirk snuck its way onto the teen's face, but the male was still intensely serious.
"Your father didn't like me even before last night. Your father has never liked me."
"That's not true either." She paused. Perhaps that was also partly true. Certainly Hiashi Hyuuga had taken a strong disliking to the boy after hearing of Hinata's escapades which tended to included him. But before that? She certainly didn't remember any other complaints geared towards Naruto, at least not since she'd become a genin.
That last thought seemed to have caused an epiphany within the girl. Instantly her memories cleared, and she distinctly remembered her father scorning the boy when she'd once brought the energetic blonde up while speaking to him. Prior to that, she had a slightly more indistinct memory of her father stating it'd be bad for someone of her status to be seen with "it." No, her father must have said, "him."
Though incredibly fixed on these thoughts and memories, she acknowledged that Naruto gave a small snort of disbelief. The hospital fell quiet following the sound. If Hinata had felt perturbed earlier, it was nothing compared to the uneasiness she felt within this unwelcomed silence. This inanimate force began to asphyxiate the poor girl. Eventually she could no longer stand it.
"How did you sleep?" The boy blinked his cerulean eyes once, then twice, completely caught off guard by the sudden question.
"I closed my eyes and waited."²
It was now the white-eyed girl's turn to blink in confusion. In response, the blonde laughed, causing a slight pink twinge to rise within her cheeks. Again, the automatic habit of pressing her fingers came forth, and instead of admitting her ignorance, she focused on them and their continuous battle against one another.
"That's just a joke. But, it wasn't much. Same ol', same ol', I guess. Tossing, turning, nightmares, you know, the works."
The teen smiled cheerfully as if speaking of fine weather rather than the inability to sleep soundly at night. As the words set in, Hinata felt another pang of guilt at the reminder that she'd not only slept peacefully, but that she hadn't even thought of her love, though he'd left under such traumatic circumstances.
"I'm sorry."
"You get used to it." Another silence followed this statement, but this time Hinata was hesitant to break it, despite how the lack of sound put her on edge.
"Ano, Naruto-kun." She paused.
"What Hinata-chan?" Naruto smiled encouragingly.
"…Why?" The smile vanished so suddenly from the male's face; one had to wonder if it'd been there at all. In its place was a sneer, though it also was only visible for a moment, for the blonde turned his features to face the opposite wall.
"Why what!" He demanded crossly, though it was obvious he knew precisely what the question had been.
Hinata didn't reply, refusing to state exactly what she'd meant, not because she felt she was above it or did not wish to waste time doing so, but because the teen knew she'd be unable to say it aloud. What's more, she was not only frightened of the boy's reply, but of the corresponding reaction. Though there was no doubt in her mind that he'd never hurt her, she couldn't say as much for himself. Eventually Naruto sighed impatiently.
"You know, I'm sick of people asking me that! I'm sick of them giving me that look!" He glanced at her and cringed, before facing the wall again. "That one. Erg, you guys are so cautious and, and, scared." The boy's features changed to look disgusted. "It's like you think I might keel over any second. I'm not a piece of glass, I'm not fragile, I won't break if you touch me."
"I knew things would be bad if I got caught. But, this…it's agonizing!" There was a pause, and before she could think better of it, she divulged what she'd been thinking all along.
"Naruto-kun…I'm sorry."
"YOU'RE sorry." The blonde turned to her, surprise written upon his features and a frown on his face. "What do you have to be sorry for? Did you play favorites? Did you betray me? Do you cut yourself?"
"No."
"Then?"
"I'm sorry for causing you pain."
Despite the fact that the words were an apology for hurting him, an act she'd hoped she'd never commit again, they seemed to do exactly that. The tan skin of his face scrunched in a look of pure agony, but before she could ask what was wrong, he answered her query.
"Please, do NOT say that, ever, EVER again." To Hinata's relief, Naruto laughed humorously. "And I thought I was good at making people feel guilty. I am in awe of your magical abilities of mind manipulation!" As an added affect, the blonde even half bowed in worship of her. Hinata stared, once again confused.
"Ano, what—"
"Nothing, nothing. Did I tell you what Tsunade wants me to do yet?" The girl shook her head in the negative, slowly grasping the rapid change of conversation. "She expects me to stay with teme until I am, 'better.'"
"Well, uh, at least you won't be locked inside the hospital." The blonde's shocked stare was her immediate reply.
"Are you NUTS? I can't stay with him! Not unless I get to kill him slowly and painfully!"
Indeed now that she stopped to think, she found that this was an outrageous comment, or at least this was so for Naruto. Had Sasuke not been the source of his anger the day before? Had he and his teammate not had some sort of conflict the previous night? She knew both those questions to be true; however, that was the extent of her limited knowledge of the two boys' anger at one another. But Hinata's lips seemed to not stay closed this day, for once again the very words she'd been thinking the day before and the words that presently plagued her mind slipped from her lips.
"Wh-why are you mad at Sasuke-san?"
Now, Hinata didn't know what reaction she'd been expecting to receive; however, she was aware that the one she did obtain was not it. Despite the earnestness of her inquiry and the necessity of a serious answer, Naruto merely glared at the bare wall across from him, while simultaneously crossing his arms in a huff.
"It's teme's fault I'm here in the first place. Stupid, nosy Uchiha can't leave a guy alone."
"Na-Naruto-kun, no, real—"
"It's teme's fault," the boy said slowly, accentuating each word as he turned slightly to look at her from his peripheral vision. "I'm here in the first place."
Perhaps it was because this was not what she'd been expecting, or perhaps it was for another reason entirely, but Hinata felt strange listening to the blonde's response. It was as if they were once again inside the clearing, and she had somehow caught a glimpse of the real Naruto, a glimpse at how his mind seemed to function, only to have it slip between her fingers. Though she'd proclaimed her love for him countless years ago, she'd spent more time with the teen in the last forty-eight hours than perhaps all those years combined. (However, she'd spent much more time watching him in those years.)
More over, these last couple of days she'd come to find that Uzumaki was indeed a true master of disguises. Certainly that what she must have experienced now and in the clearing, a switching of costumes between acts so to speak, for what else could explain how quickly the boy's personality seemed to change. But if this proved true, she was in awe of him, more so than she already was.
However, now was not the time to dwell on this new theory. She could still feel Naruto's cerulean eyes studying her, waiting for a response she did not have. Once again, she could not interpret this revelation. It aggrieved her that she could not find the significance in what should be apparent, and she what was worse was she was expected to have a response now. As if sensing she knew not what to say, or possibly it was all by chance, the same ANBU that had allowed her access opened the door.
"Pardon my intrusion, but Uzumaki-san will be leaving to Uchiha-san's home soon and it's best he got ready to leave."
"Well, if that's all, then Hinata can stay as long as she wants, cuz I'm not going anywhere." The two males then seemed to compete in a staring contest, though the ANBU's mask made it impossible to tell whether he was actually participating or not.
"Ano, I think—I should go. I shouldn't stay out very long." The white-eyed girl stayed a moment longer, switching the weight of her body from one foot to the other as she waited for Naruto to respond. He, however, did not break eye contact with the masked shinobi. "Okay…I'll just go—"
She hadn't even finished her step before she felt a hold upon her arm. Looking down, slightly surprised, she saw the bandaged forearm she knew belong to Naruto. Raising her gaze, her eyes locked onto his. A gasp fought its way up her lungs, but had somehow gotten caught somewhere within the region of her throat. The entire duration of her visit the blonde's blue eyes had remained cold as ice and hard as steel. Like the night before, she could find no emotions in their blank slates, as if they were merely shells of what they'd once been. Now, she saw they were ablaze. The cerulean orbs were pure liquid flames that seared the edges of her soul. Before them, she felt both submissive and inspired, as if she'd do anything they wanted her to do because she too yearned for such passion.
"Don't come again Hinata." In response, the girl's eyes widened. What? The words entered her ears sluggishly, but eventually she realized what they meant. She was no longer welcome. "I'm not worth getting in trouble over. I know you're risking a lot more than you let on by seeing me, and I won't have it."
Hinata shook her head wildly, unable to accept such circumstances, but the words still processing too slowly for her to provide a syllable response. He laughed at her astounded appearance.
"Jeez, I know I'm irresistible, but you don't need to be sad." She stared at the boy as if this was an impossibility, and in response he sighed, dropping his grasp. "Well, if your dad can't stop you from sneaking out, then I sure can't if I'm locked up myself." He smiled one of his rare true smiles. "I guess I'll see you around…hopefully not at teme's."
Though Naruto had released her arm, freeing her to leave as she wished, Hinata felt as if she still could not. What had just happened? Had he not said that he wished that she not see him, but gave her permission to do as she desired? It was beginning to seem as if everything the blonde said was meant to confuse her. As if the enigma that was Naruto spoke in riddles with such ease that they in fact had become his native tongue. She wished she could stay and ask the million questions that were crammed inside her mind, especially now when the words seemed to flow from her lips before she could hinder them. Something about this chasm of veracity, this hospital cell with its canvas white walls and bare interior had allowed her to say her thoughts, and now she'd exhausted the little time she had to do so.
Therefore, the Hyuuga heiress merely smiled, and walked as quickly as she could out of the room and back into the reality she was accustomed.
^:-:^ (I'm making weird smilies here!) (:-()- ^:-:^ (:-()- ^:-:^ (:-()- ^:-:^ (:-()- ^:-:^ (:-()- ^:-:^ (:-()- ;_;
Naruto was torn watching Hinata go. Certainly her visit hadn't quite been what he'd expected, but it was much more welcome than his earlier visits. What's more, the ANBU hadn't left with her, and now that her presence was gone, his was overwhelming the teen. It was excruciatingly obvious what the shinobi was waiting for, but it was something the blonde wouldn't allow if he had any say in it.
Now that the Hyuuga had gone, he'd automatically reverted back to his energetic persona, and his actions reflected this change. In hope of annoying who he assumed was to be his temporary guardian, he did everything childish he could think of. The blonde hid behind his hands, he tied himself to the bed frame with his nightgown, and he even locked himself in the bathroom for an astounding fifteen minutes. Eventually he did reemerge, and when he did the guard was still there.
"Are you ready Uzumaki-san?" Naruto groaned, before plopping down onto his bed.
"Can't you give a guy a break? Come on, just turn around for ten seconds, that's all I need."
"I've been given strict orders to not take my eyes off you and to insure you arrive at the Uchiha compound safely."
In reply, the teen just groaned again and rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands. Maybe because it was the lack of sleep or the fact that the white walls made his head pulse, but he had yet to find an escape. He was infamous for his ability to get out of everything, known for never giving up, and yet he was literally ready to raise the white pillow in surrender. Tsunade had gone above and beyond to keep this fox captured, and Naruto had to admit, though it frustrated him to do so, she had done just that.
"Fine," the teen finally sighed, dropping his hands and opening his ocean eyes. "Fine, fine, but I'm not putting any of you in my will."
The ANBU nodded, taking several pieces of clothing from some unknown storage place behind his back and laid them on the bed. The blonde grabbed them suspiciously, recognizing them as his old clothing, and watched as the ANBU walked out of the room. Despite that it sounded more paranoid than true, the teen was sure the ANBU had done so smugly.
-_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D -_-' :-D &-&
Naruto noticed immediately after exiting that they were not headed in the direction of the Uchiha compound. Though this caused his curiosity to run wild, he acted as if he was oblivious. Instead he thought of how odd he and the ANBU must look, and vaguely wondered if they'd have a repeat of what had occurred to the blonde when he had been brought to the hospital. There was no need to think so, though. It seemed that the ANBU had taken the assault into consideration when planning their current route. This route included taking side roads, alleys, and a staggering number of loops to recover their steps.
Soon, Naruto became annoyed. Not only was he left in the dark about their final destination, but wherever they were headed, they should have been there ten minutes ago. As if to invalidate that thought, the abnormal pair turned a corner into familiar territory.
"What are we doing here?" The teen asked as they neared his apartment complex.
"Tsunade-sama assumed you'd like to collect some of your belongings." Naruto attempting to raise an eyebrow in disbelief, but was unable to raise only one.³ "All will be searched."
The blonde seemed to accept this explanation, but was hardly ecstatic. There was nothing he really cared to bring in his house. He became certain of this fact when he neared his home. The ANBU had walked slightly behind the fox like boy since arriving; giving him a small amount of privacy to chose what he wanted to keep before searching through his choices. But when his ward reached the top of the stairs, the boy stopped dead in his tracks. Alarmed, the higher ranked shinobi took the last ten steps five at a time, reaching the blonde in two jumps. Before he could ask what had happened, he saw a door hanging open halfway down the hall. Looking back at the emotionless teen, it was easy to piece the puzzle together. The two stood here for a moment or two, the blonde continuing to stare at the open apartment door impassively, and the ANBU staring at the other male, contemplating what he could say to comfort him. The latter didn't get a chance to, because after these moments passed Naruto continued his walk towards his apartment.
Sure enough, the open door belonged to his apartment. Now that he was closer he could see the door hung from one hinge and that the doorknob had been completely torn out. The only reason the poorly standing door remained open was because someone had pushed his bed stand to prop it so. Taking a deep breath, the Kyuubi container stepped into what was left of his home.
It was as if the teen had walked into a battle field. The walls were what first caught his eye. Familiar words of hate were splattered in what he hoped was red paint on every available white space, and on the far wall in the largest print they'd written "GOOD RIDANCE." The lamp which had been on the previously mentioned bed stand now sat in several large pieces on the ground. Beside it, the bed looked as if someone had gutted it with a fairly large knife. It seemed that he'd left some dirty dishes during his rushed escape because he could see a large spot of grim on the wall directly above the shattered remains of what he believed to be the few bowls he owned. He didn't bother looking in his closet; his few spare outfits were in shreds across the room. What's more, he assumed his weapons had been stolen and instead moved forward to his hiding place under the floorboards to see if that too had been raided.
Naruto sighed loudly when he saw that they had. He'd stored some of his more important scrolls, weapons, and gama-chan here. Most of that was gone now; only a couple things that were stored because of the sentimental worth rather than their cash value were left, though in less than perfect condition. Though the hiding place had been compromised, the teen replaced the floorboards and stood to search through the carnage.
He didn't bother cleaning up anything, it wasn't as if he was going to stay very long, but he did take the time to kick some of the larger pieces of the wreckage into little piles with his feet. As he did, he noticed team seven's picture had also fallen to the ground. Carefully the boy picked up the broken picture frame, letting the broken glass pieces to fall away from him and to shatter on the ground rather than try to keep them together. The photo was crumpled and looked as if it'd been stepped on, but it wasn't torn. Naruto stared at the picture wondering why he'd kept it for so long. It was painful even now for him to look at it and remember how simpler things used to be. Nothing was ever simple, but it was much better than now.
The teen turned to see the ANBU watching him from the doorframe. The blonde smiled sadly.
"You'd think you'd get used to this kind of stuff after the first half a dozen times, right?" Naruto said wistfully, half to the ANBU, half to himself, before turning his attention back to the broken frame he held. "But it feels exactly the same now as the first time."
With that he dropped the frame, put his hands folded behind his head, and walked out of the remains past a still shocked ANBU.
"C'mon. There wasn't much for me to bring anyway."
¹ Quote derived from A Separate Peace by John Knowles. Yeah, part of the reason it took so long for me to update: I had to read this book for school which starts in, oh, 2 WEEKS ^^' PROCASTINATOR!!! (It wasn't bad though, just I took 10 pages of notes on it O.o)
² Quote from Mondays are Red by Nicola Morgan. FAWESOME BOOK! If you notice me writing any crazy stuff like "a large drink grimy mud brown sewer water instead of lemonade" like I did in the last chap, that's because of this book. It MESSES with your MIND…seriously, go read it ^^
³ Have you ever done that?! I am physically incapable of raising only one eyebrow, but I still try to anyway and I end up looking extremely incompetent.
WHOOP! Finally done ^^
Sorry, I know I said it'd only be a couple days late, but it ended up being like a WEEK late. This was supposed to be up YESTERDAY but FanFiction was giving me error messages the times I tried T-T Also, I forgot how LONG it takes to write Hinata's POV!!!
It was so strange though! O.o See when I write, it's like I'm watching a series of still pictures in my mind with a voice telling me exactly what's happening, sometimes including thoughts, sometimes including well-worded descriptions (NO, I'm not schizophrenic…I think) but for some reason it was all quiet O.o Yeah, that's basically my writer's block. But what was weird was all of a sudden the voice would come and I'd get these breakthroughs and write something really good! (Or so my friends said…) Then it'd be quiet again…
And as for Naruto's house being broken in, I just randomly thought of it while I typed XD (Which is weird, cuz I reread part of the first chap and it makes it seem like I was foreshadowing for it! O.o)
I'm HOPING I can get another chap out before school starts, however, I still have to read The Elements of Style (which, by the way has already made me want to rewrite at least 2/3 of the chap ALONE and I'm not even done with the book -_-') for English class, sched pickup is Tuesday, I'm goin to a HP movie party next sat (just another excuse to have a sleepover XD), AND my friend plans to start her next History Hunters YouTube video. (I was in the last one, it was so fun! Stupid, but fun! Plus, we earned a lot of funny looks : D)
Oh! Randomly, I have 2 Q's for everyone (…that don't have to do with the story, but…):
1. Does anybody know a good read? I'm sure I'll finish TES soon, so I'll be bored after that. I just finished reading Rave Master (manga, also called RAVE) so I need some books…or manga…or maybe even a fanfic though I have little internet connection (I'm on DAIL-UP right now!)
2. Okay, while I was in Japan, I saw this REALLY random anime and I don't know the title of it! It's a shojo (that I'm almost certain *rolls eyes*) and the main characters where either junior high or high school students, but here's the thing: They had these like spirit animals?! I dunno what they were, basically there were rabbits and dogs (depending on which reflected you) that flew on witches' brooms and the villain was a cat who cast curses on people and stuff. I really wanted to show my friends it (it was so funny and confusing at the same time!) but I don't know what it's called T-T
!!!!!WEIVER !!!!ESAELP
(Don't bother getting a mirror, press the green button and it'll all become clear to you later……; P)