Naruto had been acting weird ever since Hiashi and Neji left, Hinata thought. He seemed restless and uneasy. He dragged her around the entire mansion, on constant lookout for something, and when they eventually came back to where they had started, he grinned as is he had just realized something that made him very excited.
Hinata dumped down on a nearby chair and breathed out slowly. She couldn't remember ever having walked this much in one go. She watched Naruto cautiously from where she sat. She didn't like the devious grin he wore.
And neither did she like it when he suddenly whirled around, grabbed her hand again and dragged her up. She tried to swat his hand away, but he didn't react.
"Naruto, I'm tired, can't you just let me sit for a whi – oof!"
She was just a tad bit too startled to resist when Naruto grabbed her around the waist and flung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He started padding down the hallway, headed for the main entrance, with Hinata bumping up and down like a limp sack of shocked potatoes.
Hinata wondered what the hell was going on as she struggled to make Naruto put her down. He had run straight through the halls and out the front entrance, and to Hinata's despair, they hadn't met one person. Where were all the servants when she really needed them?! Naruto's behaviour both scared and annoyed her, because it had seemed so unlike him to do something as unforeseen like this. His shoulder wasn't exactly comfortable, either. With a sinking feeling she saw that he was heading for the woods, and in that moment she thought she understood what he was doing. He was going to bring her to what he regarded as his home, the forest!
Hinata's first thought was that she had to beware of all the bugs, but then her reason returned just as they reached the outer edge of the woods. Damn, the kid was fast! She supported her hands on his back, ready to bitch his ears off to make him let her go, but failed to notice a low branch which a second later crashed into her head with a mind-numbing force. She slumped back down, completely unconscious.
When she woke up, she just lay still for a moment. Her head felt like it was about to split in half, and a constant drumming behind her eyes refused to yield. She held her eyes closed and just listened, terrified of whatever could be near her. When she didn't hear anything, she cracked one eye open and eyed her surroundings. Dark stone walls, a small draft flitting over her skin and when she turned her head, the sight of thick, green forest met her eyes. She was in a damn cave. In the middle of the damned forest. And where was Naruto? Upon sitting up she realized she was alone, and panic seized her. Where was he? Had he just grabbed her, ran off with her and then left her to die? She couldn't believe it.
She got up and stumbled over to the opening, on shaky legs because of the chill. She peeked out, on guard for everything suspicious, and had to stifle a small gasp. There was nothing but thick forest outside, large and somewhat menacing trees staring down at her from the top of their canopies, laughing at her confusion.
She slumped down on the ground again, back sliding against the cave wall. This sucked. What was she going to do? No one but the servants was at home right now, and they were so busy they wouldn't miss her until dinner time, and she might very well be dead when that time came. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, feeling tired despite obviously having been unconscious for a while. Saving herself would have to wait for a while, she wanted to sleep.
She lay down on the hard ground, feeling peeved at not being able to find a comfortable position, but she didn't care enough to do something about it. She let herself slip away, but just when she started to relax, a rustle outside made her jump up, looking around wildly. A shadow fell in through the opening, and for a short moment she thought her heart would fail on her, but when Naruto walked in a second later she almost fell over in relief.
"God, Naruto, you scared me so mu – " Her voice hitched when she saw what he was carrying. A dead hare dangled from his hand, neck broken and gut torn open. It was an awful contrast to the boyish, happy face looking at her. She reeled away and tried not to show her distaste too obviously, but it almost became too much when Naruto crouched down, still wearing Neji's old pyjama, and offered the corpse to her. Holding her breath and pushing him away she told him shakily 'no'. He looked confused, but settled beside her and, to Hinata's disbelief, started digging away the fur to get to the good stuff. She bolted up and with a small whine she escaped outside and vomited on the stone ground. She heard Naruto's rapid footsteps behind her and felt him put his arms around her, putting his face close to her to check if she was ok. He wrinkled his nose at the smell form the bile and tried to drag her back, but she resisted. She had no intention whatsoever of going back in there as long as that dead hare was still there.
Naruto gave up eventually and went back in. Hinata tried not to listen to the sounds he made while he ate. Hands clutching her stomach, she got up and seated herself further away from the cave and waited for him to finish.
"This is," she thought to herself, "by far the worst day of my life." What the hell was she going to do? She couldn't find her way back, because she had no idea where she was, and she didn't trust herself to be able to fend for herself, without anyone to help her.
"I have to make him understand that he has to take me back," she determined. "Some way or another..."
"Naruto?" she called gently, and only a moment later he came out, to Hinata's dread wiping away a thin trail of blood from his mouth. Swallowing the bile that was rising in her throat, she beckoned him closer, and he dumped down with a content smile beside her.
"Naruto, I need you to take me home," she said, catching his gaze to see if he understood. He beamed happily at her, as if she had just told him Christmas came early. Not that he knew what that was, of course.
"Naruto," she tried again, "Take. Me. Home."
No response.
She sighed, and looked miserably at the blondie in front of her. "What am I supposed to do to make you und – "
Naruto's finger was suddenly prodding gently on her lower lip, one slim finger trailing its way all across. It stunned her for a moment, but only for so long before she grabbed his hand and jerked it away, heart beating rapidly. He stared at her, obviously confused, and tried to free his hand, but it seemed like her hand had frozen in its place.
"What in the world?" she thought, studying his face intensely. "If he wasn't acting strange before, he certainly is now." She held his hand down as he once again tried to free it. "What are you trying to do?" she said, keeping her voice low. This time she noticed how he studied her lips as she spoke, and then it dawned on her that he might be curious about exactly what she was doing when she spoke. Yes, maybe that was it...
She nearly laughed a bit at it. He seemed like such a child. She put a finger to her lips, and slowly and clearly pronounced the word 'lips'.
"Lips. These are my lips. Can you say that?" She gave him an encouraging nod, and seemed to get it. The first couple of tries only produced something that sounded like 'fibs', but on the fourth try he managed 'lips' quite nicely. Hinata beamed at him.
"Great! You're doing great! Now see here, this is my arm. Arm, can you sa – "
"Lips." His finger was once again brushing carefully over her lips, tracing the pattern it had taken only a moment before. He repeated the word over and over, as if to carve it into his memory. That's where Hinata called it quits. She got up and stomped off, leaving Naruto confused and alone.
"That's where I draw the line," she thought as she headed past the first trees. She felt as if her face lit up the entire forest floor, she was so embarrassed. Besides, this seemed to have come a little out of hand, and the faster they got back home, the better it was. She didn't turn to see if Naruto was following her, but she was pretty sure he did. And a second later sounds of soft feet behind her confirmed her suspicion. She hoped Naruto would take both the hint and the lead, and show her the way home, but he kept behind her, and even though she pondered how to, she couldn't figure out how to tell him to take her back. God, the things she had to suffer through....
She didn't know exactly how many hours they had been wandering around; the only thing she knew was that when she saw the forest becoming thinner and the faint contours of the village, she was ready to topple over with relief. She was hungry, thirsty and had a desperate need to see something that was thoroughly cooked and cut up. She started to run, and Naruto followed quickly. She was glad that he hadn't done anything weird during the time they were walking, although she was still a bit pissed at him for running off with her like that.
Hinata almost felt like kissing the ground when her feet had brought her safely into the village. In the distance she could see her home, and she couldn't wait to get there. With her hopes high for a dinner waiting for her, she headed home through the streets, making sure that Naruto came with her and didn't start anything. And speaking of Naruto... People seemed to be staring at him. Probably no wonder. A half-naked boy clad in old pyjamas wasn't something people saw every day, and that showed. She blushed and tried to ignore it, but when a man, the local baker, came up to her, it became a little difficult.
"Lady Hinata," he said unsurely, with an askew look at Naruto, "is everything all right?"
" Yes, it is," she said. "How come?"
The baker looked like he didn't exactly what to say. A bit like a fish on dry land. "Well, it's just that – well, this, uhm, gentleman behind you seems to be, well – " he leaned closer, "half naked."
"I am indeed aware of that, and we are on our way home to correct that."
The man cast a look Naruto's way, who was studying the pastries that had been put out with childish curiosity.
"If I may ask, who is he?"
By now a small crowd of inquisitive villagers had formed around them, obviously wanting to know why the Lord's daughter suddenly was among them when no one had heard anything of it.
"He is a boy we found in the woods here. It was he people thought was the animal that the hunters have been after. We're taking care of him for the time being."
The female part of the crowd aawed, and even some of the men looked less leery.
"Milady, are you sure that is safe?" a woman spoke and came forward. Hinata regarded her with a smile and a nod.
"I do not believe he would do harm to someone who did not threaten him. He is very gentle. Naruto," she beckoned, and Naruto came out from the bakery he had just disappeared into to investigate further and came up to Hinata. A joint, small gasp went through the crowd, although one reaction stood out more than the others. A small woman, half hidden behind the other people, red hair and blue eyes, let out a choked, strangled sound and her eyes went wide. She stumbled backwards a few steps, and just as the man beside her was about to ask her if she was all right, she turned and ran. Hinata stared after the retreating back. How strange...
She felt warm fingers envelop her hand, and found Naruto clasping it, staring at the crowd with worried glance. He didn't seem to have noticed the woman, nor did anyone else. Strange it was indeed.