Konoha High
10 - New Year's Eve
Hinata Hyuga
I wake up at eight in the morning, but I don't leave my bed. I can't stop thinking about the events that occurred yesterday…
The night before…
"Because the one I like…" I paused. "Is you."
The silence that followed my confession was painful. I opened my eyes again but I kept smiling.
I shouldn't have been worried. Naruto said it himself; that it's better to get it over with and get a response. But he wasn't responding.
A sigh escaped through my lips. I laughed a little. "You said it's better to get it over with, so I did… I know that you like Sakura-chan already," I said.
"So you don't need to say anything. I already know what your response will be." I stood up. "It's okay, Naruto-kun." My forced smile widened.
I started walking, but a hand enclosed around my wrist before I could take my third step. I turned around. He wore a melancholy smile. Why?
"It's really depressing," he began, "to realize how well I know the feeling."
"Naruto…"
"I'm sorry, Hinata," he looked up at me. "I'm sorry I couldn't figure it out myself. I'm sorry I was so caught up with Sakura, even though this whole time… It's my fault, really, that I never noticed."
Naruto stood up and took a step closer so that he was right in front of me. He reached down and took my other wrist, then pulled my hands to his chest.
"You know…" he leaned in, his face just mere centimeters from mine. "I think I'm over Sakura now."
He smiled, for real this time. "Thank you," he said, his voice almost a whisper. "For helping me move on."
[End of flashback]
I find myself smiling, and I blush at the thought of what happens next, grateful that nobody's here to see it.
"Hinata-sama!" Neji-nii calls. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah!" I call back. "I'll be down in a minute!"
I start changing into knee-length leggings and a loose, oversized t-shirt, then I tie my hair up into a loose bun. I climb down, out of my room, and start heading outside to the "other" house. And by that, I mean yes, we do literally have a second house. Our parents liked the idea of having a more traditional Japanese-style house with the sliding doors, tatami matted-floors, etc.
I walk through a door and stop right where the wood cuts off, about two feet above the actual ground. The second house is connected to this main house because the walls of both houses meet to enclose a square-shaped area with no roof above it. My family likes to call it an "indoor backyard"; a courtyard, which is now right in front of me.
It's large, with a pond big enough to be a swimming pool in the center. There's a small waterfall that drops into the pond, and a red, wooden bridge that goes over it. The pond's surrounded by grass, and flowers grow on the ends, along with two or three cherry blossom trees.
I always have two options once I stop here: I can either continue following the wooden floor, going around the yard…, or I can continue walking forward and step down, onto a wooden step that leads you into it. Today, (and basically every other day,) I find myself choosing the second option.
I walk down, onto the wooden step, and then down again, where my bare feet touch the grass. I walk onto the bridge, where I pause to look at the cherry blossoms, which are just barely starting to bloom.
"Hinata-sama!" Neji's losing patience. I sprint the remaining distance between where I stand on the bridge and the step leading up to the other house.
"I-I'm-" I catch my breath. "I'm here."
[…]
"Late, once again," Neji sighs. "You need to start taking this more seriously, okay?"
"Understood, Neji-nii."
He slides the door open and walks inside, through the narrow hallways with two doors on either side, and into a large, empty room.
His feet make a tapping noise against the wood as he walks to the opposite side of the room, then takes a defensive fighting stance.
"Ready?" He asks.
"Yeah." As soon as the word leaves my mouth, his hand is already at my throat. He's fast.
"Too slow," he says. "I meant it when I said to take this seriously. Taijutsu isn't a joke here, Hinata."
"I know, Neji-nii."
"Again!" He shouts, and tries the same trick, but I block immediately.
He pulls his arm back and we start trying to land hits. The only ones that do land are innocuous. Attempt a hit, evade. Attempt another hit, block again- this pattern continues and can last up to five minutes until we pick up the pace.
Neji lands a hit to my rib cage, causing me to fall on my back, onto the floor.
"Get up!"
I try to as quickly as I can. When I'm back on my feet, his hand is already coming back to get me in the neck. I step back and smack his arm up, away from me.
"Good," he says as we continue. Hit. Block. Hit. Block.
[…]
My forehead is covered with sweat, and I find myself taking deeper, heavier breaths.
"Done already?" Neji asks, but I know it's a rhetorical question. He gives a competitive glare as he gets back to his original stance. His hand gestures for me to attack, so I start running and try to land the first hit.
I miss, and the cycle begins again. Hit. Block. Hit. Block. Hit… My speed is decreasing more and more as we continue to fight. Sweat starts dripping from my forehead, down my chin, and onto the ground. He attempts another hit, and I just barely dodge it. I can tell my body's reacting a lot slower now. He goes again, and this time gets me in the stomach. I put out my hands to catch myself, then use my knee to help me stand up again.
"You're lucky we weren't using chakra," he says.
"I know." Neji studies the things our parents do in their medical careers. They (as in my parents and his mother) are successful as doctors focusing mainly on nerves and chakra points. He taught me about the chakra points in a person's body that, if hit with enough of somebody else's chakra, could injure and potentially kill them.
"You need to work on your endurance," he says, but then he smiles. "You're doing a lot better, though."
I bow, "Thank you for helping me again today, Neji-nii."
He shakes his head, "I'm glad to help."
I start walking out of the house, eager to check my phone. "Hinata…," Naruto's voice resonated inside my head.
I step down, cross over the bridge, step up, then continue through the door, all the way back to my room. My phone sits on top of my bedside table, its screen lit. I snatch it from the table immediately, excited and nervous and happy all at the same time to find out who messaged me.
From: Amaya Shimizu
Hey so I was thinking…, why don't we all meet up again? We could visit the shrine on New Year's Eve and wait until midnight.
It wasn't Naruto, but I'm still happy. I'm glad Amaya is trying to plan an event herself.
To: Amaya Shimizu
That sounds nice (: Of course I'll go! Where and what time do you wanna meet?
From: Amaya Shimizu
I'm gonna wait to see how everybody else responds, just to get an idea of how many people are gonna come.
I smile at the thought of everyone meeting up, again. We've already spent so much time together in the past week, but I never get tired of seeing them.
I put my phone down, remembering that I'm still all sweaty from today's training. My parents had me start Taijutsu right after the incident with Naruto and those other kids in elementary school. It's tiring, but I don't mind, knowing that once I'm strong enough to defend myself, I won't be a burden to Neji anymore.
I walk into the bathroom and turn the handle until warm water is pouring out of the showerhead, then I get ready to take a shower.
Amaya Shimizu
My phone is frequently vibrating because of all the responses I'm getting. I decided that, for once, I'd try to plan something myself, instead of just being invited by everyone else. It seems rude and impersonal of me to just go but not host anything myself.
I sent a message to everybody asking if they could meet up at the shrine on New Year's Eve. I mean, it's a tradition to go there, get fortunes told, pray for the upcoming year, maybe eat a little, then wait until midnight for it to finally be New Year's Day.
I tried to invite everybody whose numbers I have…, so only Ino, Sakura, TenTen, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Kiba. I'm waiting for Sakura or Ino (because I figured they're very…social) to give me everyone else's numbers. I'm missing Naruto's, Choji's, Lee's, and Neji's.
New Text Message
From: Ino Yamanaka
I've attached all of their numbers here:
[5 attachments]
I reply:
Thanks, I'll tell you what they say.
I'm about to hit send, when I realize how many contacts she sent me. Five?…
To: Ino Yamanaka
Thanks, but why did you attach five?
I send that instead. My phone beeps immediately.
Oh, yeah, well I felt bad for Sakura since Sasuke didn't come to any of the other events so…, do you mind inviting Sasuke this time? Pleeeeeaaaase?
Fine, I type, But if things get awkward I'm blaming you.
She doesn't reply, so I just text each number to see who's who.
[…]
Finally. Most of them replied, and now I have all the contacts sorted out.
To: Naruto, Neji, Choji, Lee, Sasuke
Planning on going to the shrine on New Year's Eve. You wanna come? Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Kiba are all already going for sure.
I wait for replies.
Earlier, only four people texted back, leaving one number without a name to distinguish it: Sasuke's. I texted him again anyway, and now I just hope that he'll go, because I really don't wanna disappoint Sakura.
Sasuke, ya damn bastard, I think, If you skip out on us again, I swear I will punch you in the face when we go back to school.
[…]
An hour later, I have texts from everybody (except Sasuke) confirming that they're gonna go. It's three days from now, but I'm already excited.
"Amaya!" Aiko calls. "Dinner!"
"K!" I yell back and start walking out of my room and to the kitchen. The food's all set out on the table, and I sit at the empty chair across from Aiko. We clap our hands twice.
"Itadakimasu."
I begin eating, but I can see Aiko staring at me.
"So?" She asks.
"What?"
"Your plans, are they all going?"
"How did you know?"
"I know how you think," she smirks. "…and I kinda looked through your phone while you were taking a shower." I swear, this woman…
"You looked through my phone?!" I calm myself. I have nothing to hide. "…Well yeah, they're all going. So now I have to set a time and place."
She takes a sip from her coffee mug, then puts it down and faces me again. "I'll leave you to pull through with it, then. Oh, I'm going somewhere at around 6:30, so I'm gonna start getting ready soon."
"Why?"
"I'm meeting my friend TenTen at Ichiraku to study." Well maybe we could meet up there before going the shrine.
"Wait, you know TenTen?"
"Yeah…, she's in my class." Right. I always forget she's a grade ahead of me.
"Alright…, well I'm definitely not gonna let them meet up here."
"Why not?" She stands up and puts her dishes into the sink. I didn't even notice how quickly she was eating.
"Because some of my friends are kinda…" I dunno how to end that.
"Well okay. If you end up changing your mind, I don't really care. As long as they don't mess up the house."
"Yeah I know." I finish eating and put my dishes in the sink and start washing them.
Three more days…
Aiko Shimizu
While Amaya washes the dishes, I go back to my room and start getting out casual winter clothes to pick from: a few long-sleeved shirts, sweaters, jackets, and jeans.
I select a plain red sweater and dark blue jeans, then a black trench coat with buttons across the torso. When I finish putting these on, I put on a pair of socks and dig through my closet a little to find my black combat boots.
I'm done changing, so I put all of the extra clothes back into my closet. I walk out, through the short hallway, and into the bathroom. When I look in the mirror, I realize my brown hair is a mess, but I don't see the comb that usually sits on the bathroom counter.
"Amaya!"
"Yeah?" I hear her voice from the kitchen.
"Do you have the hair comb?"
"Uhh yeah, it's on my bedside table."
"K thanks." I see it as soon as I go into her room, and take it back to the bathroom.
I try brushing some of my hair down. Ouch. The first stroke always hurts, but I continue until it's neat again. Then I put down the comb and open a small bag I keep on the counter. Inside is all of my make up, but I only take out the mascara and tinted lip balm. I start applying them, but only a little bit. Amaya complains that I use too much make up even though I apparently "don't need it", so today I'm keeping it simple.
[…]
"Amaya!" I call as I pick up my bag. "Ittekimasu!"
"Itterashai!"
I stick my phone into my pocket as I walk through the door to the garage, then I close it before taking the keys out of my bag. When I open the garage, it's not too cold, and the snow is gentle. Instead of getting in the car, I close the garage and leave through the front door, locking it behind me and putting the keys back in my bag. I don't mind walking for once…
[…]
"Welcome!" Teuchi says as I duck under Ichiraku's red banner.
"Oi, Teuchi," I say. "What's new?"
"On the menu or with me?" He laughs.
"Both, I guess," I grin back as I take a seat and open the menu.
"Well, there's one new recipe for ramen. It's for if you're on a diet. And as for me, nothing, really. So what are you gonna have?"
"Sorry, but I think I'll just have water and miso soup today." He takes my menu and starts preparing the soup.
Where's TenTen? I wonder, and place my bag on the seat my left to reserve it. I hear somebody step in behind me. Now a guy with dark eyes and long, black hair is standing next to my chair.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" He asks, pointing to the chair on my right.
"Not at all." He sits down and waits for Teuchi. I just put my elbows on the counter and sigh because I was really hoping that the person who came in would be TenTen. I look at this guy again. He has creases, I think, under his eyes and his hair's pulled back in a loose ponytail, kind of like Neji's. He's wearing an unzipped black jacket over a gray, low-necked t-shirt exposing his collarbone and a necklace with three silver, teardrop-shaped pendants. Not bad.
"Sorry!" TenTen pushes the banner out of her face, panting. "Seems like I'm always late nowadays," she mutters.
"It's alright," I say and lift my bag so that she can sit. "What happened, anyway?"
"Overslept."
"At 7 p.m.?"
"I take afternoon naps, okay? Don't judge me," she pouts. Then she opens her menu and sees the new item.
"Apparently," I tell her, "It's for people on diets."
"Really? Teuchi-san!" He comes back and puts a steaming down in front of me.
"Yeah?"
"I'll have the new menu item~"
"Got it," he turns to the guy who came in earlier. "And what about you?"
"So…" I start to pull the textbook out of my bag.
"Can't you wait until we finish eating?" TenTen whines.
"Fine." I put it back in and wait for Teuchi to bring her food back.
[…]
"This isn't bad," TenTen slurps the noodles.
"I should get it next time," I say, then take a spoonful of the miso soup. I tried not to order a lot since I just ate with Amaya. I just came to study…
"So what are you gonna do on New Years?" She asks.
"Not sure yet. I was thinking about visiting the shrine, but I don't know."
"Oh, right. I'm going on New Year's Eve; your sister invited me."
"Yeahh, she told me about it."
"Still have no idea what time yet, though."
"She's still figuring all of that out," I empty my bowl. "I'll remind her when I get home later."
"Thanks. You should go, too!"
"Maybe~"
TenTen's phone goes off.
"Hello? Yeah? She- What? Okay. Okay! Give me like ten minutes, God!"
"What ha-" Before I can finish asking, she's already starting to duck under the banner again.
"Sorry!" She apologizes. "My parents' shop is getting busy and they need me. Next time, I promise!"
She didn't even pay for her ramen. I sigh and open my bag. Where is it? I keep feeling around, but my hand comes out of my bag, empty. I forgot my wallet.
"T-Teuchi-san," I start to say. "I don't-"
"Here." The guy on my right taps two ¥1,000 bills down on the counter and pushes them slightly towards me.
I hand them to Teuchi and face him again. "Arigatou… gozaimashita."
"No problem," he continues eating. I take out the textbook, a small notebook, and a pencil. I guess I'll just study without her.
[…]
"That's wrong," says the dude next to me. What?
"Excuse me?" I ask him.
"I mean," he starts pointing at my paper. "You weren't supposed to use the reciprocal here, and then here, you rewrote it wrong. It's negative, not positive. So your answer isn't right." I look over my work. He's right…
I don't say anything, and start reworking the problem.
"That's right." Can you please just stop already?
I continue working through this page of math, with him occasionally commenting on an error I made. At some point, he finishes his food and I find myself studying with him as if he was the one I was supposed to meet in the first place.
"How do you do this one?" I ask.
"Well-" Beep! My phone goes off before he can start explaining.
New Text Message
From: Amaya
Aiko are you done yet?
Compose New Text Message
To: Amaya
Almost, why?
While waiting for a reply, I finish the problem.
"Now…, reverse this. It makes it easier to solve because you won't have to simplify these."
"Okay…"
New Text Message
From: Amaya
Because we need more Ramune and rice for onigiri.
We just ate dinner!
Pleeeeeeeaaaseeeee…
Fine. I'll be home in like an hour.
"Sorry, my younger sister needed something."
"It's okay, I understand. I have a younger brother, too."
"Well…" I say, standing up. "I have to go get something for her. Nice meeting you."
He starts to stand, too. Was he just staying to help me?
We both duck under the banner and start to walk in opposite directions. Wait… I call out to him before we get too far.
"Hey!" He turns around. "Thanks for everything, err…, I didn't get your name."
"It's Itachi Uchiha," he laughs. "I'm in your class, actually."
"O-Oh…," My face starts to redden. "Well, thanks, Itachi."
"You're welcome."
"Well…, I'm Aiko Shimizu."
"It was nice meeting you too, Aiko-san."
[…]
I go to the convenience store and walk all the way to the back, where all of the refrigerated drinks are. Ramune's on the bottom shelves, usually. I scan through all the different bottles of soda until I see a transparent label with red print: Strawberry Ramune. I pick up the six-pack and start walking to the counter.
"Is this all for today, miss?" The cashier asks while getting out a plastic bag.
"Yes, thank you," I smile and start to reach into my bag for my wallet. Wait… My hand keeps digging around. Dammit! I completely forgot that I didn't even bring it. The cashier is still looking at me expectantly. I smile awkwardly, and I can feel my feel my face turning red as I take the walk of shame back to the drink section just to return the Ramune.
When I leave the store, the snow has stopped falling, leaving the city coated with a layer of white. My feet sink a little whenever I take a step and I can tell my jeans are going to be damp by the time I get home. I really wish I'd just taken the car, but I try to enjoy the walk back anyway.
I check my phone. It's 8:14 p.m. I look up and the stars are out, shining bright. The lights that haven't been taken down from Christmas are starting to light up, coloring the snow with blues, reds, and greens. Guess I don't regret leaving the car after all.
Hinata Hyuga
Eight o'clock p.m. and I'm sitting in bed with a book in my lap. Earlier, I realized I hadn't touched the blue plastic bag of presents since yesterday, so I decided to open them all. When I got to the purple present Kiba got me, I read the card attached to the top:
Happy Birthday, Hinata!
- Kiba
When I opened it, there were three books inside. I'd talked about them before, but I didn't think anyone would remember. I'm glad Kiba did, but now I can't put this book down.
I'm really grateful for having Kiba as my best friend. It feels like I can talk or ask him about anything. He can tell when something's wrong, he always helps me (I don't even need to ask), he is always supporting me, and he is always there for me.
I set my book aside and pick up my phone, then I start to dial his number- I need to tell him about Naruto. I actually feel kinda guilty for not telling him right away.
Before I can finish, my phone beeps.
New Text Message
From: Amaya Shimizu
So everybody's going! We'll all meet in front of Ichiraku at 8:30 on the 30th. See you then~
And then my phone rings again, but this time, it doesn't stop. My heart skips a beat when I see who's calling me:
Incoming call from Naruto Namikaze…
I push answer and exhale before saying, "Hello?"
"Oi, Hinata?"
"Yeah?"
"Amaya-chan said everybody's meeting up to go visit the shrine tomorrow. That means you're going, too, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"What time are you gonna leave for Ichiraku, then?"
"She said 8:30..., so I guess I'll leave at 8."
"Okay, just wondering. Bye~"
"Na-" Click. He's gone. I sigh and open my book again.
Aiko Shimizu
"Tadaima!" I shout as I enter our house. Amaya's sitting on the couch with her laptop.
"Okairi," she mutters, taking off her headphones. "So? Where are they?" She looks up at me expectantly.
"Oh…, sorry. I forgot my wallet…"
"You forgot? Aiko-nee…" She whines.
"Sorry Amaya, I'll get them for you when we go out on New Year's Eve." She raises her eyebrows.
"Wait, 'we'? You're going, too?"
"If you don't mind," I say. "I'd like to pay a visit to the shrine, too, you know."
"Yeah I'm fine with it, I just didn't think you'd actually go."
"Why not?"
"I dunno. Well we're going to Ichiraku first."
"Okay. I can drive this time… unless you wanna walk," I add.
"If it's not snow storming again, why not?" She stands up and takes a juice box from the fridge, then sits back down on the couch. She puts her headphones back on and starts watching some show again, like she always does.
New Year's Eve
Naruto Uzumaki
"Naruto!" Somebody calls from the downstairs.
"What?!" I shout back. Nobody replies, so I run down and check to see who called me. A spiky, white mess of hair hits me in the face as someone turns around. Jiraiya.
"What do you want?" I ask, a little more hostility in my voice than I had hoped.
"Where are you going?" He gestures down at my clothes: a red t-shirt with the Leaf symbol on the front, white hoodie, and jeans.
"It's New Year's Eve," I say.
"So?" I can smell the alcohol on his breath.
"So, I'm going to go see my friends."
"Ha, friends?" I hate when he's like this. He's a good guy…when he isn't drunk. When I don't respond, he continues talking: "Anyways, you shouldn't go out. Your parents would be disappointed that they couldn't celebrate with you."
I ignore him and go back upstairs to finish getting ready, but my mind races furiously. He can't tell me what to do. And my parents?! Why would he even bring them into this? He knows they don't give a shit about what I do because they're too busy with their own damn lives. Why do I- Calm. Down. Calm down…
My room doesn't have a mirror, so I go to the bathroom across the hall to check. My spiky blonde hair is up and sticking out everywhere. I know it's probably useless, but I try to brush it down anyways. I need to make an attempt to look nice tonight.
And… I was right. My hair still looks like a mess, but then again, I'm pretty sure everyone else considers it normal now. I go back to my room and grab three things off of my desk: phone, wallet, and keys. I stick my phone and wallet into one pocket, then my keys in the other.
"Jiraiya!" I yell as I walk downstairs. He stumbles out of the kitchen with what I assume is his second or third bottle of who-knows-what in his right hand.
"What?"
"Lock the door," I say just before shutting it behind me.
[…]
I'm walking to Hinata's house. Thank God it's not snowing like it was on Christmas. I hope that it comes as a surprise to her when I get there, but I'm kinda nervous myself.
Thinking back to it, I can't believe I was even able to ask her that night. I'll never forget the surprised look on her face when I asked her; she started blushing madly, but then she smiled. An honest smile; one that had nothing hiding behind it but actual happiness. When I got home, I remember smiling, too, because I knew her decision would turn out to be a good thing for both of us.
[…]
I walk up the steps to her front door then check the time on my phone: 7:58. I'm a bit hesitant, but I finally bring myself to knock. When Hinata opens the door, I outstretch my arms and pull her into a hug. We separate, and she does it again- her face turns red and she starts playing with her thumbs.
"What are you doing here?" She asks, then adds quickly, "I- I mean, I thought we were going to meet at Ichiraku."
I grin, "Well…" I scratch the back of my head. "I thought we should walk there together." There. There! I said it! "I hope I didn't get here at a bad time?…"
"N-No, of course not! Let me just go get my stuff." She leaves the door open before running off, then comes back with her bag. "Neji-nii! Itterashai!" She calls out before closing the door.
"He's gonna be at the shrine later," she says.
"Well okay."
Crap…, what am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to do? Do I let her borrow my jacket again? No…, she's already wearing one. Do I put my arm around her? Do I hold her hand? Gahh, why does the guy always have to deal with this kinda stuff?!
I glance to my right, at her. She's still has on a small smile but she looks down awkwardly. Okay…, I put my hands in the pockets of my hoodie then start walking a little closer to her. Our elbows make contact. I put take my hand out of my pocket and let my arm hang down. Closer again, and my arm starts to brush up against hers slightly. Just a little bit closer… There's about a centimeter-wide gap between our hands. Here goes…
As soon as my hand touches hers, she flinches. Am I doing this wrong?!
Hinata Hyuga
I try to look at Naruto as we walk to Ichiraku together, but I just can't. I think that avoiding eye contact might be even worse, though. It's too quiet, too. Come on, Hinata. Say something! Anything! Come on- What is that?! Something touches my hand; I flinch.
I almost smack whatever it is away, when I look down and realize that it was Naruto's hand. I see his fingers extend, as if reaching for my hand. What am I supposed to do?! His hand starts to enclose around mine and I awkwardly try to move my fingers to fit into the spaces between his. I smile, but I'm pretty sure he can't see it. I'm so glad I didn't smack his hand away.
Naruto Namikaze
It was a bit of a struggle, but we've got it. My cheeks start to warm up at the thought.
I know we're finally holding hands and all, but it's still too quiet. What should I say?
"Don't you think this'll come as a surprise to them when we get there?" Hinata breaks the silence.
"Tch, they're not gonna leave us alone!"
"…Do you just not want to tell them then?" She glances at me then quickly looks away again.
"Heck no." My grip on her hand tightens a little as some sign of reassurance. "They have a right to know."
[…]
"Hey!" Amaya calls from one of the tables when we arrive at Ichiraku. We walk there to meet who else has already gotten here.
Amaya Shimizu
I call to Hinata and Naruto, who enter together. I look at who else they're joining at the table: Ino, Shikamaru, Aiko, and Kiba. Kiba isn't smiling, so I turn back to Naruto and Hinata. They're walking so close to each other… As they get closer to us, I can see that they're holding hands. Oh.
Back to Kiba. His expression has changed to the opposite of what it was a second ago: he's grinning at them and starting to get up from his seat.
"Oi, Naruto, Hinata!" He pats Naruto on the back, then gives Hinata a short, one-armed hug.
"H-Hi, Kiba-kun."
"Hey, Kiba." Naruto grins, too.
"Amaya!" Ino leans closer to whisper. "Did they?…"
"I don't know either," I shrug. "Hinata didn't tell me anything."
"So," somebody says loudly, "When did you guys start-" Shikamaru doesn't get to finish. Ino smacks her hand over her mouth before he can.
"Please excuse him," she says in an overly friendly tone. Then she starts silently screaming at him:
"You don't just ask them that up front! You have to wait before bringing it up first…And besides, we should wait until everyone else gets here." She smirks.
[…]
"Over here!" I shout as Lee and Sakura arrive. They smile and wave, then walk toward us.
"Hey everyone," Sakura smiles and sits down between me and Ino. Lee sits in between Aiko (who's on my left) and Naruto. Aiko looks at me questionably and glances at Lee, using her eyes to "point" at him without him noticing.
"What?" I ask quietly.
"Why is he here?"
"…Why not?"
"He's in my class. He's so weird… And doesn't he work at that old ninja shop?"
"Yeah but he's my friends' friend. It wouldn't be right to exclude him. He's not that bad."
Aiko sighs. "Well okay."
I look around the table to find out who's still missing: Aiko, Lee, Naruto, Hinata, Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino, in that order. When did Choji get here? I must have been too distracted talking to Aiko to notice.
There's an empty seat between Kiba and Choji. TenTen is still missing.
"Does anyone know where TenTen is?" I ask the group.
As if on cue, somebody violently pushes the banner out of the way and jogs to the table.
"Sorry I'm late," TenTen sits down in the empty seat. Aiko rolls her eyes, and everyone else kind of gives off the same look, as if they're already used to this. She was one of the last people to arrive at the Christmas party. And she was late for Hinata's birthday…
"Good evening," somebody says. I turn around to see it's the waiter. I'm so used to sitting at the counter, that having somebody other than Teuchi or that one other girl take our orders throws me off.
"Is everyone ready order?" Ino asks. The rest of us just say "yes" or nod.
"Okay then," he says, then starting with Aiko: "And what will you have?"
Naruto Namikaze
"She did? Oh my God!"
"He made it onto the team last year, I'm pretty sure he'll try out again when we get back from winter break."
"I don't wanna go back to school…"
"So did you end up studying? Sorry I kinda ditched."
"Ew, I hate the taste of any tea. I'm a coffee type of person."
Everybody's having their own conversations while I wait for the right moment to tell them. Hinata's talking to Amaya's sister (I forgot her name). Introducing herself and asking about academic stuff, which I really don't feel like talking about right now.
"Nice to meet you, Shimizu-san," she smiles.
"It's okay to call me Aiko, Hinata-chan."
When they finish talking, Hinata looks at me and her smile slowly fades.
"Naruto-kun…"
"Yeah?"
"When are we going to tell them?…" I can't even tell if she wants me to or not anymore.
"Well… I guess now wouldn't hurt." I clear my throat in an attempt to get everybody's attention, but only Ino looks my way. She nudges Shikamaru so he does, too.
"What is it, Naruto?" She asks.
"I uh.." I cough. "Just clearing my throat."
"Something you wanna tell us?" I look at Hinata, and Ino probably saw the way she was looking back at me, too. She sighs and whispers something in Shikamaru's ear. He sits up straighter and starts to ask:
"So, when did you guys start going-" Ino interrupts him again, like she did earlier, but I know what he's gonna ask.
"L-Last week." Hinata! I didn't think she'd be the one to tell.
"Hey, hey," Ino starts tapping Sakura and Amaya. "Did you hear that?"
"What?" Sakura looks confused.
"What was it again, Hinata?"
Hinata takes a breath and starts to say more clearly, "N-Naruto-kun-"
"I asked her out last week." I can't let her tell them alone.
"And?" We definitely have everyone's attention now. Choji, Lee, Kiba, TenTen…, even Amaya's sister is listening now.
"I-I said yes." As soon as she says it, Ino's right next to her, hugging her tight.
"Oh my gosh, Hinata, finally!" She squeals. Hinata smiles and starts hugging her back.
"Took you long enough," Sakura says sarcastically.
"Congratulations," Amaya awkwardly adds.
Kiba stands up and puts an arm around both of us. "Congrats, you guys." He turns to me: "Took you forever," then to Hinata, "But I'm glad it finally worked out."
'Finally'? 'Long enough'? 'Took forever'? I'm seriously the only one who didn't know, this entire time?
Kiba Inuzuka
"I asked her out last week," Naruto starts to say.
"I-I said yes." Did I hear that correctly? Ino starts congratulating them, but I can't hear what she's saying. Whatever she's saying is being drowned out. Hinata never told me anything about this?… It takes a while for Hinata's words to sink in, but when they do, I feel my heart drop to my stomach. So Hinata is finally… No. Stop it, Kiba.
Hinata looks so happy; I can't start ruining it for them- for her. I am not repeating Christmas. Instead, I go up to them and put an arm around Hinata and Naruto, congratulating them both.
Even though I knew she liked Naruto already, I started to like Hinata in junior high. It's been four years since then, and I still do like her. Well, after four years, I don't even know if I can consider it as just "liking" her anymore…
They're finally together, so all I can do now is back off and support Hinata. I guess I can say I don't really mind, either, because she's happy. If she's happy, I'm happy.
Amaya Shimizu
I feel really, really bad for Kiba. When Hinata tells everyone the news, I'm glad, but at the same time, I can't help but feel a little sad, too.
Knowing how much he liked her already, it kinda hurt just watching him get up and congratulate them. I can't even imagine how much it actually hurts for him.
When our food gets to the table, everyone begins eating then goes on with their conversations. It seems like everyone's in a good mood, except for, I'd assume, Kiba. But when I look at him, he's like everybody else: smiling and laughing, participating in the conversation. I guess he plans on being mature about this.
[…]
10:00 p.m., and the shrine is already packed. There are huge lines at all of the fortune-telling and food stands. Clusters of people just stand by fires and chat with their groups.
Among all of these people, I spot a familiar head of spiked, black hair. Reminds me of a duck for some reason. The person turns around, and I get a better glimpse of his face. What the-
"Sasuke!" Sakura squeals. She starts hugging me. "Oh my gosh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!"
"Huh?"
"For inviting him!" Right!
"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot…" She starts to walk quickly toward him.
Hinata Hyuga
We're at the shrine now, but I can't stop thinking about our announcement at the restaurant. They finally know…
"Sasuke!" I hear Sakura scream. I look to where she and Amaya are looking: Sasuke is here. I honestly didn't think he'd come.
I look at Naruto. His eyes follow Sakura as she walks to Sasuke. Then he shakes his head slightly and grins at me.
"Didn't think we'd run into that bastard here."
"N-Neither did I." Is he still- No. No. I have to trust what he said on my birthday.
"Guys!" Sakura's back with Sasuke and his brother, Itachi.
"Hey," Itachi bows politely as he greets us. Sasuke just tilts his head back as some sign of acknowledgement.
Amaya Shimizu
"I'm gonna go get some hot cocoa," Sakura says. "Sasuke, you want some?" She doesn't give him time to answer. She just starts walking to the stand that's selling it.
"Didn't know you'd be here," I mutter.
"What, you have a problem with me being here? I'm only here because he-" he points at his brother, "-made me go with him."
"Tch…" I go to talk to Aiko. She's staring at his brother.
"He's nice," she smiles, but she doesn't look at me. "Smart, too."
"I didn't think that was possible for anybody related to that jerk." I glare at Sasuke. To be honest, I don't even know him that well. I just don't like what I've heard about him. Then there was that time when we went to go get my textbooks…
Aiko doesn't reply. She starts walking to his brother. Wow. They start talking. He smiles and nods. They both start laughing.
Sakura's walking back with two cups of hot cocoa. Her face turns red as she starts to offer it to Sasuke:
"H-Here, Sasuke-kun." He rolls his eyes, then sighs as he takes it, as if he was being forced to. If you're gonna be like that then just don't freaking take it!
Hinata Hyuga
"Hinata-sama." Neji. His hand is on my shoulder.
I smile. "Glad you could make it, Neji-nii."
Amaya sees him and her face brightens. "Hey, everyone's here!"
"Okay!" Ino shouts. "So that means we can finally go pray and have our fortunes told~"
"And eat," Choji adds.
[…]
I clap twice to conclude my praying. Naruto does the same. We were the last ones in our group, so we walk to where they're getting their fortunes.
We are each handed a tiny slip of paper folded in half. I unfold mine and read it. I'll have good luck overall… School will go well… Bad luck in- Wait. "Bad luck with love"? I look at Naruto. He's grinning.
"Says I'll be really lucky this year!"
"Really?"
He holds out the slip of paper. "Yeah haha, what about you?"
"Same," I lie and smile as I crumple the paper up in my jacket pocket. Bad luck with love? No…, I never believed in these things anyway.
Amaya Shimizu
"The new year will bring you good luck and pleasant surprises."
Surprises? I wonder what they mean by that.
I go to tie my fortune on the branch of a tree, anyway. Aiko and I have followed the tradition since we were kids. Our parents would take us to the shrine and read our fortunes to us, then sometimes they'd lift us up because we couldn't reach the branches ourselves.
I look over and see Aiko talking to Neji. He's smiling. She can literally talk to anyone and somehow get them so smile or laugh. I wish I could do that, too. I really wish our parents were here. I know how happy they'd be to see how well we're doing in Konoha.
[…]
"Five… Four… Three… Two… One!"
"Happy New Year!" Everyone shouts in unison.
Ino kisses Shikamaru. Kiba hugs Hinata, then Naruto hugs her and keeps one arm around her. Lee and Choji high-five. Neji, Itachi, TenTen, and Aiko all toast with hot cocoa. Sakura gives Ino a hug, then she gives me one, too.
Then she goes back to talk to Ino, and I stand back, just watching all of them: Laughing, smiling, grinning; Happy.
Author's Note:
So I'm finally done with this chapter.
I just finished reading this over, so a few uh… "notes"? :
- Naruto's parents are both alive, so his last name is still indeed Namikaze.
- Kiba never knew about Naruto and Hinata because, if you remember, Hinata never got to calling him after being interrupted by Naruto.
- The textbook thing Amaya mentioned is in the 2nd chapter.
I'm going to start chapter 11 already, however… I'm sorry that I won't be able to set an exact deadline. I may be busy in the next few weeks, but I'll use whatever time I can get to write/type. Hopefully it'll be out before December, but if not, sorry!
I did really re-read this, but if you happen to find any spelling/grammar errors, tell me so I can fix it .-.
Any more questions? P.M. me.
Thanks for reading!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO/NARUTO: SHIPPUDEN!