Story: The Reanimations of Hinata

Chapter: 04 || Knowing, Not Accepting

After lunch I returned to my classes with a half-full stomach and the envelope that Naruto handed me completely unopened. I was under a mountain of homework and makeup work. But I was really just looking for an excuse to not open what was in the envelope. What if it was something scary? What if it was something that will send shivers up my spine?

No. But really, what could possibly be in that envelope? Letters? Photographs? Notes? I was actually dying to know however some unknown force kept me from ripping off the flap of paper that sealed this manila envelope. I tapped my mechanical pencil against my open textbook and drowned out the monotonous voice of my teacher. I breathed in deeply.

Ever since I've been awake, I get really anxious easily. The only way I know to calm myself is to take deep, steady breathes. Almost as though I pulling myself back to reality—back to my feet planted on the Earth.

"Are you okay?" a low yet smooth voice cut through my range of hearing.

My ears perked up and I instantly felt better. I turned to him with a genuine smile plastered on my face. "I'm fine, Sasuke-san. I'm just a bit stressed."

He let out a short 'hn' as though he were deep in thought. He then pushed up his glasses from the tip of his well-sculpted nose as started working on a worksheet the teacher had just began working on. "Take it easy, you've just been discharged from the hospital. I'm surprised you aren't having any serious migraines," he said without even glancing at me.

Still, I had a smile plastered onto my face. It was the first time he spoke to me directly since I've woken up. I was ecstatic, I was happy. This is just great.

I tried to shake off my smile, my fellow students would think I might've lost it as I would be smiling while doing some agonizing worksheet. I picked my pencil once again and filled out all the answers. It was nice, Sasuke-san sat next to me and even though it was silent I couldn't ask for more since I was right there—sitting next to him. It was all I needed to make my entire day. Possibly my entire week.

I didn't bother to head straight home. I instead escaped Butler Yamoto's scans of the crowd of students that left the school and headed for the nearest library. I greeted the librarian, an old gentle lady who looks like she could tell a nation's full of stories, and walked all the way to the back where the Non-Fiction section was. There I found an empty table and set my heavy textbooks on the table.

I had my notebook open, my textbook flipped to the correct page, and my pencil in my hand… but it refused to move. I found myself sitting for half an hour, doing nothing except staring blankly at the fresh sheet of paper.

Suddenly my vision started to blur. I was crying again.

Bitterly, I wiped the cascading tears away. When I made sure that I was done, I looked up to check if anyone saw me. However my notebook revealed the water stains from randomly bursting out and crying. I sighed as I slammed my pencil down.

"Hin… Hinata?" A groggy voice spoke. I blinked hard real quick, hoping that no more tears would escape my eyes. I plastered on a polite smile before looking and there I saw Naruto. My smile wanted to falter but I made myself keep the smile intact.

"Yes?"

Just then, he seated himself right across from me. He cleared his throat after folding his hands together. I could tell that mentally he was telling himself to stay strong, to stand his ground and get his point across. Yet I could also tell that he's being torn apart by the mere sight of me. I know that I'm the cause of it, but I just can't bring myself to accept it. Am I that bad of a person?

"I want to say something. It's important, but it'll be quick…"

A/N: DUN, DUN, DUUUUUUUUUUN. *Epic music plays in background* CLIFFHANGERRRRRRR. You all hate me now, don't you? :( But don't I get something for updating at least? Hahaha. :)