~*Chapter Eight: Her Traces*~
Hurts so good.
"Hinata-chan, do you want to go home together?" Sakura asked amiably, and Hinata blinked in surprise before nodding. She turned back to her locker.
"Yes! I just need to get my-" Hinata covered her mouth with a hand at the sight that awaited her, and Sakura peeked inside before gasping. Within the locker was a pair of shoes, torn up with a razor blade and covered with filth.
"What the... This is..." Sakura stammered, but Hinata didn't speak and instead fingered what remained of the leather soles.
"Ino did this, didn't she?" This caught Hinata's attention.
"Ino-chan?" She murmured in surprise, looking up at Sakura.
"Maybe she knows that you and Naruto kissed." The pinkette offered, only to falter at the look of utter confusion that dawned on the other girl's features.
"What are you talking about?" Hinata inquired, her brows creasing.
"Well, it's like this." Sakura explained. "Your tooth cut his lip, meaning your mouths touched... Isn't that a kiss?" Hinata stilled at once, her movements ceasing.
"No... It didn't feel terrible the way a kiss does." Hinata replied stiffly, features solemn. Sakura was taken by surprise from the sudden change in atmosphere.
"So it wasn't your first kiss! Well, that's good... What kind of guy was it?" Hinata's eyes widened at the question as memories from long past came back and hit her at full force.
A large callused hand reached out for her roughly, pulling her towards him.
"Hinata-chan..." Her chin was gripped tightly, fingers digging into her skin painfully, as his mouth descended down upon hers. Hinata's poor attempt to pull away was futile as he held her tightly, his grip like iron. Tears gathered in her eyes as she pressed her lips in a firm, unrelenting line to deny him access. When he finally pulled away she gasped, coughing on the fresh air in her lungs.
"Open your mouth for me." Her eyes widened in horror, her jaw clenched tightly shut, and he squeezed her shoulders until she cried out. Taking advantage of her pain, he swept down upon her once more. Hinata flinched, resisting the gag that tickled the back of her throat at the taste of him; dirty, old cigarettes and stinking alcohol clouded her senses-
"Are you okay?" Sakura's worried voice snapped Hinata out of her reverie. She looked down and noticed that she had hunched over herself, breathing hard and heart heavy. Hinata clenched her hands into fists at her sides to hide her trembling fingers.
"I-I'm fine." Hinata assured, inwardly cursing herself for stammering. Her lips turned up in a smile, but Sakura continued to frown as she scrutinized the other girl.
"Well, whatever happened between you and Naruto... You should keep away from Ino. A woman in love is a scary thing." Sakura finally advised.
"I'm not afraid." Hinata replied swiftly without missing a beat. The pinkette looked at her curiously as Hinata stood, gathering her ruined shoes before shutting her locker firmly. I'm not afraid of anyone who isn't a man.
Meanwhile, in the girl's bathroom, Ino was deliberating as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She saw the looks that that Hinata girl had been giving her Naruto-kun and it practically killed her inside to think that someone wanted to take him away from her. Ino had tried to ignore it at first, knowing that Naruto-kun was a popular guy to begin with. Other girls being attracted to him was inevitable, despite his relationship status... But Hinata had persisted anyway, much to her dismay. The seemingly "innocent" glances here and there, and her playing the role as the sweet little virgin... It sickened her. As if Naruto-kun would lower himself to that standard! He wasn't stupid enough to fall for that act... Right? No, of course not. Naruto-kun would not betray her- never betray her.
But that did not mean that Hinata wasn't a problem... Ino had to protect what was hers, and if she let this slide it would be as if she condoned other girls going after her Naruto-kun. No, she had to nip this in the bud. She had to end it and soon, before it got out of hand.
Ino idly spun a pair of scissors around her fingers, deliberating about what to do next. Picking off a piece of stray leather from the blades, she decided that if the shoe-scare tactic didn't work, she would have to try a more... Assertive course of action. Plotting for her next move, Ino pocketed the scissors as the door opened to reveal some other girls from her class.
"Ino-chan?" One girl called out, and the blonde turned her back to them before they could see her face. She then closed her eyes, focusing on sad memories, particularly the one when she found out her grandmother had died... The tears came easily enough. Ino had always prided herself on being a good actress.
"Are you alright?"
"Ino-chan, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" The girls cooed with concern, flocking to her at once. Ino looked up at them through her wet lashes, folding in on herself to appear vulnerable. She sniveled, pretending to shake them off.
"N-nothing's wrong... Really..." She assured them with a smile, though she allowed more tears to fall. The girls did not look convinced.
"Aw, come on. Just tell us what happened. We'll help you!" They insisted, and Ino resisted the urge to smirk. They had fallen right into her carefully laid trap.
"Well... It's because of Hinata-chan..." Ino trailed off, the girls listening to her story intently.
Naruto tied his bandana firmly at the back of his neck before wrapping the apron around himself. Washing his hands, he glanced up at the mirror. The telltale cut on his lip made him flinch slightly at the memory. Hinata was supposed to be afraid of men, yet she touched him like that without trouble. Was there no significance in the fact that their mouths met? Did she not consider it to be... A kiss? He reached up and fingered the wound lightly. That cut was the only proof that it had ever happened- the only trace of her lips against his own...
"That's why I wish it would heal..." He murmured to himself quietly.
"Hey Naruto! Are you here?" Came a familiar voice from the other room. Naruto blinked, returning to the task at hand, and went to welcome whoever it was.
"Sakura," he greeted as the pinkette set some grocery bags on the counter.
"Here's the ingredients you asked for." She said, hopping up on one of the bar stools. Sakura watched him carefully, noting that his cut still wasn't healed. She had just walked Hinata home before remembering about the run to the store she had promised Naruto, and so there she was. She still couldn't believe Ino's audacity to destroy Hinata's things. The whole situation was like something out of some high school drama; in other words, surreal.
"Yikes, this manjū is barely ahead of the 'best before' date..." Naruto grumbled with a scowl, but Sakura paid it no heed.
"You need to get your act together, Naruto."
"Eh?" The blonde looked up in surprise at the sudden lecture. Sakura crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him disapprovingly.
"I told you what Ino is like. She's a total psycho behind your back." She explained with exasperation. While Naruto wasn't exactly stupid, he could be so oblivious that it immediately pissed her off. She took a deep breath to calm herself at the blonde's confused expression.
"What do you mean?" He asked, and Sakura felt the anger rise up in her. Could he really not see how he was leading Ino on, indirectly encouraging her to lash out at others? In this case it was Hinata, whom she thought Naruto cared for. Could he be any denser? Sakura spun in her chair, stepping off to head towards the door before she did something she would regret.
"Wait, Sakura! I don't understand!" Naruto called, and her small bit of patience snapped.
"Figure it out yourself for once!" She snapped back before slamming the door behind herself. Naruto gaped in response, completely taken by surprise. But Sakura had always had a temper, one that he always seemed to set off easily. He sighed and got back to work. Women and their mood swings.
"Good afternoon, Uzumaki-kun." Hinata greeted the next day in class. The bell had just rung, signalling the start of lunch.
"G-good afternoon," he stammered but she didn't appear to notice, much to his relief.
"Be nice to Ino-chan!" She said before turning away, missing his look of total confusion. Her words stung and Naruto rubbed the cut on his lip absently. Have a proper relationship with a proper girl... It would be great if I could do that, he inwardly grumbled. Once he noticed the ministrations on the wound he tore his hand away from it as if he had been burned, quickly looking around to see if anyone had seen. He sighed with ease when there was no one, then proceeded to get his lunch from his locker.
Hinata sat at her desk finishing up her homework, jotting down the last of the notes on the board.
"Hinata-chan, will you lend me your eraser?" A meek looking girl asked, and Hinata blinked in surprise. People rarely approached her because of her aloofness. She smiled kindly.
"Here you go," she replied, handing over the eraser. She picked up her pen and turned back to her notebook when another girl came up.
"May I borrow your notes?"
"Sure," Hinata said, surprised again. She passed over her notebook to the other girl and proceeded to pack up her things, deciding it was time for her to get her lunch before the next class started.
"Here's your stuff back."
"So soon?" Hinata inquired, but she halted when she looked back at her desk. The eraser was torn to bits, tossed haphazardly around while pages were torn out of her notebook and crumpled up. Hinata looked back up at the girls, who snickered at her expression.
"You think you can just hit on another girl's boyfriend like that?"
"Can't stand having boys not fawn over you?" The girls taunted, but Hinata didn't pay attention to them. Behind them, sitting at her desk oh so innocently, was Ino. The blonde slowly turned her head until their eyes met, then she smiled. There was nothing kind about the twist of her lips.
"Now wait just a minute! What the hell is going on-"
"It's okay, Sakura-chan." Hinata interrupted the class president, who was well on her way to giving one of her notorious lectures. Sakura whipped her head around to Hinata. "These kind of things don't bother me," she continued. That's right. This isn't enough to make me cry. Her eyes hardened slightly and she put a hand on her desk, pushing herself to her feet. Hinata calmly stood up and walked over until she stood right in front of Ino's desk. The blonde looked up at her suspiciously as Sakura watched in rapt attention, breath held.
"Did you need something?" Ino inquired dismissively, looking at her nails as if the girl in front of her wasn't important enough for her attention.
"I made sure to apologize to Uzumaki-kun..." Hinata started. A tense moment of silence passed before Hinata smiled sincerely. "That's all." Sakura was inwardly shocked by the act of maturity, and Ino nearly sputtered at the lack of reaction. With a huff the blonde hastily stood and ran for the door, bumping into Hinata's shoulder without care.
"Ino, where are you going?" Sakura asked. Perhaps she could turn this situation to her advantage. "If you're looking for Naruto, I know where he is."
Naruto was once again tracing his lip with his finger, deep in thought. He was torn between wanting the wound to heal so that he would no longer be reminded of the encounter and wanting it to scar so that it would be there forever. Maybe I should take a picture before it heals... He mused absently.
"Stupid! It was just a kiss with a friend!" He chastised himself, rubbing his hands through his hair in exasperation. He sighed dejectedly, his shoulders slumping.
"Found you, Naruto-kun!" He nearly jumped out of his skin when Ino popped around the corner, coming face-to-face. She gasped at the sight of the cut.
"What happened to your lip?" She inquired with concern, and Naruto flushed.
"...It's nothing." He murmured, turning away from her prying eyes.
"Hey, why don't we go on a real date after school?" She offered. He hesitated.
"Ino... You should just forget about me." Naruto let out, hanging his head down. Ino's breath caught in her throat as her heart began to beat faster from worry.
"What do you mean... Then... Why did you do something like that?" She asked desperately, remembering the time he had so passionately embraced her before. If that wasn't proof that he had feelings for her, then Ino didn't know what was. It was then that Naruto finally turned to face her. The look of confusion on his face caused her heart to ache painfully.
"Did I do something?" He asked honestly, not knowing at all what she was referring to. Ino visibly flinched, hurt evident in her eyes. Naruto apologized halfheartedly, somewhat in a daze as he turned away again.
"I have too much to deal with right now, so you should give up on me. I'm sorry." He said without looking up.
"Look at me," Ino whispered. His gaze lifted barely, but didn't look at her.
"Look me in the eye!" She insisted frantically. Naruto's gaze slowly turned back down to his feet.
"Because if I don't give up now I'll regret it later, right?" She asked bitterly, but he did not respond. She bit her lip and blinked back the tears that threatened to spill forth. Why was he acting like this? Things had been going great before, and now it was falling apart! They walked home before and after school and everything, so why was he rejecting her? Why now? She had even tried to get that Hinata girl away to save their relationship... Then it dawned on her: Hinata.
She left abruptly, leaving Naruto behind. He looked up slowly after she was gone, surprised that she had taken it so well despite the fact that she had been hurt by men before in the past. Naruto was about to put his head back down when Sakura's voice rang in his ears. She's a total psycho behind your back. Naruto looked up again, a thoughtful frown on his face. Where had she gone...? Figure it out yourself for once! His eyes widened in horror as he answered the question himself. Pushing himself to his feet quickly, he ran down the hallway.
"Kiba!" Naruto called, seeing his brunette friend by the stairs.
"Naruto? What is it?" Kiba asked, alarmed by the look on Naruto's face.
"Where is Ino?" He wasted no time in asking. Kiba pursed his lips in thought.
"Ino? She was headed towards the library looking for Hinata." The words had barely left his mouth when Naruto took off once again, leaving him behind in the dust. Kiba merely shrugged, turning back to his lunch.
Ino hurried down the hallway just as quickly, not knowing Naruto was in hot pursuit. Tightly gripping the scissors long forgotten in her skirt pocket, she rounded the corner and spotted a familiar indigo head not to far off. Running on a dangerously potent mixture of adrenaline, jealousy and hatred for the other girl, Ino raised the hand that held the blade as she came ever closer to Hinata's unknowing form.
A/N: I do not own the characters of "Naruto", nor do I own the plot of "Bitter Virgin" (though I have made changes and will be making more later on).
I apologize for the long wait! School is officially over- let summer commence! I aced all my finals (only had one B) and am pumped for next year- senior year! Then I'll be off to college life. In other words, now that summer has started, I should have more time for writing. ;)
Kisses- I mean, shout outs- for my lovely reviewers~! TucyaGirl, jojo07, CharNinja LOL, Futago-za07, InuKag4everbabe, ZodiacBirdy, Shay14, DerelictV, thestorymaker2, LilacWhite, Gamakage, Kurose Sakurazaki, xXYour DoomXx, Minister Masket, Ristencia, SilverPebbbles, Guest, and Narubro! This story wouldn't have reached over 100 reviews without all of you! I am so happy so many of you take the time to read this story. I wouldn't have made it this far without all of you. ;)
Also, someone asked if there would be a lemon in this story. I'm not against lemons, and I've written them before. I think a lemon scene in this story would show a lot of character development, but I wanted to ask the rest of you what you thought. Tell me your opinion!