Run Away and Pursue
Ch. 3 "Cat and Mouse."
I don't own Naruto, but I wish I did.
Hinata paced the bedroom at the top of the stairs; her stomach was churning with dread. She needed to lie down on the inflatable mattress, close her eyes and try to sleep; but sleep didn't find her easily as it had on the best of nights.
As a matter of fact, Hinata ranked this to not be one of those nights and was up to be one of the worst.
No good deed ever goes unpunished.
She could almost hear her father's raspy voice, could almost see his wrinkled face and time ravaged body sitting in the dark corner of the room, watching through still sharp eyes. He had died because of her choice of friends.
One day, a person who shared her interest in finding their next thrill, shot her father because Hiashi forbade her to do such actions.
"What a wonderful image to have in the middle of one of the worst nights of your life." She muttered, shivering as a gust of wind rattled the window and shot through its frame. It was one of the windows she planned to replace.
Maybe she should have the realtor come and re-hang the 'For Sale' sign that had caught her eye so that she may drive back through the mountains, back down into the open land that she passed through when she was running away three years ago.
When she had ran away from Sasuke, the man she once believed to be madly in love with.
She was older now, hopefully wiser, and she knew the truth about love. It was fickle, blind and stupid. Pursuing it was a waste of time and energy. When Hinata left Okinawa, she decided to put her efforts into something more concrete. Education, financial security, creating the kind of life she could be proud of.
And she had.
She was.
She had pulled out of the downward spiral that nearly killed her. She had given up the party-hard lifestyle and she finally found a measure of peace she wanted so desperately when she was young.
And now it was slipping through her fingers like sand.
One little boy with sad eyes and a wary demeanor and Hinata got herself into the biggest feel-good story of the year.
Feel-good for everybody, but her.
If it wasn't in a situation like this, she would be laughing.
She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck trying to ease her tension and the kink that formed there.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Maybe her father was right, but Hinata wouldn't change what she did just to avoid the consequences.
Seeing Keiji with his father had been one of the best gifts she had ever received. Sure it had been difficult to observer the tension between father and son, but she had no doubt that Naruto would eventually win his son over.
The man had determination and patience to spare. She saw that in the way he stood back and let his son just be. No pressure. No expectations. He was going easy, not demanding anything from his confused little boy.
Hinata couldn't help but admire that.
Unlike her Naruto, her father was rash and quick to insult her any chance her got. It was one of the reasons why she decided to rebel against him and join the bad crowd. Her mother's death only added on to it. He came close to disowning her many times. The day he died, he probably was going to strip her right to being a daughter of his.
Her cell phone rang, its shrill tone made her jump. She grabbed it, her heart rapidly beating as she glanced at the caller ID.
It was after midnight.
Kurenai was calling.
That couldn't be good.
She braced herself as she lifted the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
"Did I wake you up, Hinata? I wasn't going to call, but it's just so exciting! I couldn't help my self."
"Exciting? What is?" Hinata furrowed her eyebrows. She gulped.
This couldn't be any good.
"Well first of all, the fact that Naruto Uzumaki showed up on my doorsteps a few hours ago. You know who he is, right?"
Hinata wanted to play dumb, but she knew Kurenai would see through it the instant she uttered a word. "He's the father of the little boy who was missing for a long time, right?"
"Yep! He was here looking for you. He said it was imperative that he spoke to you. Did he make it out to the house?" There was no doubt that Kurenai drank many cups of coffee in order to keep herself awake.
"Safe and sound." Hinata wanted to say no more than that.
"I'm not nosey enough to ask why he wanted to see you, but I would be tempted to think that after three years of knowing you, you could trust me with anything you wanted to throw my way." She sounded hurt.
"Fine." Hinata laughed, some of her stress going away. "I'll tell you a few. Naruto's son is one my students."
"So what?" Hinata chuckled at the thought of Kurenai being at the edge of her seat.
Hinata hesitated. She didn't want to lie, but she wasn't willing to tell Kurenai either. "Keiji was feeling unsettled and Naruto thought it would be good for him to see someone familiar."
"Oh. That makes a lot of sense. Poor child. He has been through a lot."
"Hopefully, it becomes better for him now that he's back with his father." Hinata sighed in relief that Kurenai dropped the subject earlier.
"I have no doubt they will." Kurenai gave a disapproving sound. "I still can't believe that woman was right under our noses! And we had no clue! A kidnapper amongst us!"
"Well, she hasn't been here long. I don't think anyone got to even know her. That made it easy for her to hide who she was and what she was doing."
"You're right. They showed a photo of her in the news tonight. I don't remember seeing her in town, though. They showed a picture of the boy also. Guess who was in the picture with him?" Kurenai said the last sentence in a sing-song voice.
Hinata's heart stuttered, and then started up again. "Wh-who?"
Please, don't say "you." Please!
"You!"
She said it.
Hinata's heart sank. Her stomach tying into a knot so tight that she could barely breathe, let alone speak.
"Hina? Did you hear me? You're famous!"The excitement in Kurenai's tone was not mistakenable, not hidden at all.
"I heard."
"You don't sound happy about it."
"I just wonder how they got a photo of me or why they would put it on the news." Hinata could tell that every second spent, her life was breaking slowly.
"It was taken at the harvest party at school. You were supervising and Keiji was standing next to you. I guess a parent took a picture and sold it for a good price." Kurenai was getting curious; not a good sign. "Why?"
"I guess so." Hinata's heart pounded faster.
"Don't sound so down! This is great!"
"How?" Hinata bit her lip. How can this be great?
"I had many people calling me up to ask if that was really you. You're news here in Sendai! That means every eligible guy out there in the area will want to find out more about you!"
Hinata laughed again, but a hollow, empty laugh. "Yeah, they would sure like to find me, now would they? You never give up do you?"
"On finding Mr. Right for a good friend? I'm afraid not!" Kurenai gave a laugh of her own.
"For me, there is no Mr. Right."
"You're too young to be so—so cynical!" Hinata could tell Kurenai was pouting. "A girl has to sometimes kiss a handful of frogs before she finds the prince."
"And every frog she kisses is a toad." Hinata responded, only half listening now.
She had spent her three years trying not to draw attention to herself and avoided being out on the news. She had bought this farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, practically, to avoid the cameras and reporters.
And now, she had been undone by a photo taken at the class harvest party a month ago.
"So there are a lot of toads, but what if the next one is a prince? What if he's just waiting for his true love to appear?" Kurenai's tone was soft. "For all we know, he could sweep you off your feet tomorrow because he saw your picture on the news."
"Kurenai."
"Yes?"
"You read too many romance novels!"
"Romance novels?" She snorted. "Are you mocking me? I'll have you know, I lived the greatest one of all! Can I help it if I want the same for someone whom I care about?"
"No. And I love you for that, but I'm not looking for him right now, and I never will be." Hinata wished that Kurenai would just hang up at her rudeness.
It was a wrong way to get someone off of your back, but Hinata was faced with many problems at once.
"That doesn't mean you won't find him, you know?"
"Right." Hinata deiced to change the topic. "When was the photo in the news?"
"Temari told me it was eight o'clock. She called me just after the broadcast."
"When did you see it?" The gears were moving in Hinata's head.
"Ten o'clock. I was going to call you right away, but people kept calling me."
"Was it the local news?"
"No. You're famous country wide! Probably globally! This story is big." Kurenai held the excitement for the two of them.
"Yeah. Great." Hinata muttered as she grabbed the things she had taken out of her duffel bag and stuffed them back in.
Her first instinct was right. She needed to leave, get as far away from Sendai as she could.
Maybe fly to Korea? Seoul would be nice. It's large, and finding her would be hard. After all, she did blend in.
"Hey, are you okay? You sound agitated."
For a moment, Hinata considered telling her that she wasn't agitated, but terrified. She considered telling her everything, but she didn't want to drag someone she cared about into her problems.
"I'm fine. Really. I'm just surprised that people noticed me in the photo."
"Noticed you? You were a showstopper!" Kurenai practically squealed. "Let me tell you! The midnight indigo hair hanging around your shoulders and the sweet smile you were giving the boy! You looked breathtaking. There isn't a man on this planet who wouldn't want to get to know you, and there isn't a woman who isn't wishing to be you!"
"You're exaggerating, Kurenai." Hinata sighed. This has gotten way out of hand faster than she had anticipated it to go.
"I am not! But I must confess, I am a bit bias when it comes to you." Her tone went soft once again. "You're like one of my children, and I couldn't be prouder to know you."
Hinata's throat tightened at the words, her eyes filling with tears.
If she could have chosen a mother, she would have chosen one like Kurenai; a woman who had devoted her life to her husband and children rather than to drugs, booze, and the next creep with a wallet.
Her own mother was rarely at home. Driven to do drugs and become 'un-lady' like because of her workaholic husband. Because of that, she had been killed because she was caught in a crossfire between a misunderstanding when she went to get her daily dose of thrill.
"Thank you, Kurenai. That means a lot to me."
"Good. Now, let's stop being sappy and start planning what you are going to wear Sunday!" Kurenai chirped.
"Sunday?"
"To church. You've got to look your best just in case—!"
"Mr. Right magically appeared in town? How about we discuss this another time? It's late and I'm tired." And she needed to leave, walk away from everything she worked so hard for.
"I suppose you're right. It is late, and we both need our beauty sleep. Call me tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay." But she knew she wouldn't because she would be hundreds of miles away, trying to find a new identity so that she may sink into obscurity once again.
She hung up the phone, he muscles leaden and tight as she grabbed her duffel bag and walked out of the room.
She would leave the satchel with the grade book and ungraded papers. Eventually, someone would come looking for her and find them, instead of her.
The stairs creaked as she ran down. The old floor bards groaned under her as she rushed into the kitchen and scrounged through the cupboards.
She didn't have much. Just a package of crackers, a couple of cans of soup and corned beef, and the cookies she had shared with Keiji a few hours ago.
She took one and quickly ate it as she shoved everything else in her bag.
It tasted like dust.
She almost choked as she tried to swallow it.
Sugar could cure a lot of sickness, but it did nothing to tame her fear and that made Hinata's heart beat even faster.
Her picture was on national television on news programs, and Sasuke had always been a news fanatic. Local news. Cable news. Network news. Global news. He watched it all, and Hinata had often been jealous that he hadn't spent the time in front of the television with her.
She had been young and stupid; so confused about what real love was and what true caring felt like.
And now she was going to pay the price.
Again.
He would see her picture and find her, no doubt about it.
She frowned, hurrying back down the hall, mentally saying her farewells to the house she had saved up for, and the dreams she had built in her head.
She pulled the front door open and stepped out into the porch. The cold wind hit her dry cheeks and drying her tears that burned behind her eyes.
Ice had mounted up on the porch; the yard and driveway sparkled with it.
Tall pine trees bent beneath the howling wind and ice fell from their branches, hitting the ground with hushed shatters that was so beautiful, so achingly perfect.
Hinata paused, wanting to take it all in, preserve that memory so that she would never forget what was possible if she put her mind and heart into it.
A sharp crack split the air, as something exploded near Hinata's feet.
Wood flew up , digging into her shins, flying to her face.
She screamed, falling backwards.
Another crack.
Another explosion.
Pain.
Blood.
Dripping down her arm.
Dripping onto the rotted wooden floorboards.
She screamed again, scrambling back as a figure appeared in the darkness, a hundred yards away.
Coming fast.
Get up. Get up!
The world was in slow motion as she turned, fell into the hallway and kicked the door shut. Her hands slipping as she turned the lock and pulled the bolt.
Blood smeared the floor.
Go, go, go, go! Go!
She ran up the stairs, expecting the front door to explode.
Expecting a bullet to slam into her back, bring her to her knees.
Her cell phone slipped out of her hands as she pulled it from her pocket. She clumsily scooped it up.
She tried desperately to dial 119, her hands trembling too much.
Her fingers hitting the wrong buttons.
Please, Kami. Please!
A loud bang had her screaming again, lunging for the bedroom door, slamming it shut, turning the ancient skeleton key as the 1-1-9 operator answered.
Another bang as Hinata shouted her address; shouted that there was an intruder in her house.
Then, and ominous silence filled with warning fell.
"Ma'am? Are you still there? Can you hear me?"
"Yes." Hinata responded as she backed away from the bedroom door, her heart thudding hard.
Was he in the house? Creeping up the stairs? Standing outside the door?
"Police are in route. Are you in a safe place?"
"No."
"Can you get to one?"
"No." Her voice shook.
Was the loose floorboard creaking? Was that cloth hitting each other, or a sigh of breath?
"Do you have a weapon?"
"No." She barely managed to whisper as she glanced around the room, trying to find something she could use to defend herself.
"The police are almost there. Stay on the phone with me, okay?"
Hinata couldn't answer; didn't dare to speak or move, or even breathe. Someone was outside the door. Someone who tapped softly on the thick wood, wiggled the handle as the sound of sirens drifted into the room.
Hinata backed up, moving towards the window.
She was dizzy with fear; sick with it.
Waiting for help to come, for the door to explode.
For Sasuke to appear.
Black eyes and hair.
Snarling lips.
Coming to do exactly what he promised he would when Hinata had walked out of his life.
But she wasn't the same woman she had been all those years ago. She had changed. She grew stronger and more determined. She wasn't going to wait around for whoever it was on the other side of the door to break and finish what he'd started.
She yanked open the window, eyeing the ground below.
Sirens screamed up her driveway.
Voices shouted.
A gunshot split the air once again.
Then there was silence filled with nothing but wind and ice.
And the terrible beat of Hinata's heart.
Dun-dun-dun~!
I'm sorry, but I will have to leave you dear readers in this not-so-great cliffhanger~!
Is she dead? Alive? Did she get shot? Did she jump out the window? When the heck does the NaruHina action start?
Haha~ I have no idea!
Just gonna have to wait!
I will be having a wilderness adventure with my family for a rough 2-3 weeks.
So until then, Ta-ta for now!
I will try to post up two chapters when I get back on the 'Een-tur-net'~!
Thank you very much for reading, and I encourage you to review and leave your thoughts/Const. Crit.!
Leave me a trail of sugar to get me out of this trip!
;D