Asynchronous With You
Chapter Six, Our Way
A Test of Courage like this one doesn't come around often.
Cemeteries were for babies and abandoned houses draped in limp police tape were bogus. Even reading aloud the poem The Darkness of Tonako wasn't as dangerous as the creepypasta forums claimed it to be.
But when twelve-year-old Naruto heard whispers about river jumping at The Valley at the End, his interest was piqued.
They said several teenagers have broken their bones doing stunts into the water and one recently died. His foot touched the ledge and he tumbled all the way down the base of the waterfall. His body washed downstream.
With that many failures to learn from, how could he possibly screw this up? He'd make sure that guy's death wasn't in vain.
He'd conquer this challenge!
He told Kurenai-obasan that he was sleeping over at Shikamaru's when he took the monorail out of the city to the border of Leaf and Sound.
He packed his green goggles, his swim trunks from school, and a pair of water shoes to protect him from the gravel. His heart raced with every daydream. He visualized his perfect dive over and over again until his muscles knew every twitch, tension, and contortion. He needed to get as far away from the rock face as possible, so merely jumping would do no good. He'd take a running start, and somersault from the ledge! That should give him at least ten meters of distance. He clapped his palms together, a cocky grin curling up to his cheeks.
Yes, this was going to be the one. Every news station will want to interview The Boy Who Survived The Valley at the End. And maybe, just maybe, his parents will want him back. Even when he rejects them, he'll at least finally meet them.
The hike from the station to the valley was a long one. He didn't have the cash for a taxi and he wasn't going to take a ride with a stranger. He followed the sunbaked two-lane road for two hours before finding reprieve. The valley breeze released him of his burdens, no longer was he sweaty, thirsty, and dying for air, nor did his feet feel like they'd been cooked in an oven. The area was tangibly cooler, about twenty degrees cooler, and it became incrementally cooler the closer he got to the waterfall.
The din of overlapping conversation met his ears. He kept his distance from the gathering of teen and college-aged boys. He found a spot by a boulder under a tree and began his stretches, visualizing once more how he was going to pull this off.
The valley got its name because the earth was supposedly scarred by a giant meteor millions of years ago. Whoever mapped this region decided it was At The End, like, 'at the end of the era before man' came along, when the climate had normalized and vegetation had regrown.
Up the mountains surrounding the lake were miles of untouched country cursed with spooky superstitions passed down from generation to generation. There was a mysticism clinging to this place. And maybe they had all been drawn here to answer its call. Maybe a place like this called for sacrifices.
He chuckled at his silly musings. It gave him ideas for ghost stories to tell back home.
Turning his attention outwards, he spotted a boy no taller than he, that mop of spiky black hair sending a jolt of irritation through him.
Uchiha Sasuke.
Mister Perfect.
The amount of times Naruto begged Shikamaru to knock him down a peg, but he couldn't even bribe Shikamaru with four months' worth of allowance to pass a test with no mistakes.
Uchiha Sasuke came from a prominent family, their Samurai lineage dating back centuries. They even supposedly still lived on their ancestral lands outside city limits. Uchiha Sasuke was beloved by all the girls for no better reasons than the shallow ones. But despite all that, even Uchiha Sasuke wasn't invulnerable to life's penchant for giving middle fingers; his parents were locked in a bitter divorce and it's been going on for two years.
Was he here to test his mettle?
Or was he here as a ploy to get his parents to stop fighting?
Naruto didn't know and he didn't care. He wasn't going to let Sasuke have his way. Only one of them was going to be the first to survive.
Naruto slipped his goggles over his head. He changed into his trunks and pulled on his water shoes, then marched over to the gathering. He stopped a few feet from Sasuke, glaring at him. Sasuke returned the look with familiar disdain.
"You should turn back now, Teme. Only veterans like me should attempt this. You look like you've never left your mommy's hip for a second."
"And what exactly makes you a veteran, Dobe? The whole 'I was in an orphanage and they whipped my ass for existing' thing?"
"Not just that," Naruto turned around and lifted up his left leg, pointing at a spot on his inner thigh. There was a cluster of pale, stippled scars. "Some kid had a freakout and stabbed me with the pencils in his hand," Sasuke raised a brow as Naruto pulled his right arm across his clavicle, displaying a white, razor-thin scar from shoulder to elbow. "Older kid shoved me off the tree in the backyard because I was going to reach the top first. Landed on a metal toolbox that got left out and fractured the bone. This is the surgery scar I got after they screwed the pieces back together. And this," he half-turned and held down his left ear, showing a mottling of sickeningly smooth circles. "Janitor was a smoker and I got on his bad side."
Sasuke averted his gaze to the horizon as he continued limbering up for the dive. Even though he was already the silent type, Naruto puffed out his chest knowing he got Sasuke to shut up.
Or so he thought.
"As expected of an attention whore."
His inner darkness snapped its fingers and it was like flames crawling over his skin. He walked up to Sasuke and shoved him.
"What was that?"
Sasuke shoved him harder.
"You're an attention whore. You shamelessly overshare like any of those shitty stories is going to make you cool. I hope you never surface from the water so that I don't have to hear you showing off how a rib broke and punctured your lung or why you got a glass eye in a different color."
"Yeah, well! You're not gonna have a family anymore!"
Sasuke grabbed his wrist and thrust his free hand at his shoulder, forcing him to the ground. The gravel scraped at his back, the air fled from his lungs. Sasuke pressed a knee to his chest, making sure he couldn't get up nor breathe right. He gripped Naruto's wrists and crossed his arms so that he couldn't try anything, not even to tap out.
Naruto didn't know what was louder: the roar of the waterfall or the sloshing of blood in his ears.
Those opaque black eyes that normally looked down on him were inches from his own. The godless emptiness in those depths sent him to a place of cold fear. Those eyes conveyed images to him, images of his death, like a seagull smashed against the rocks. Crushed neck and tattered body. Naruto gasped for air.
"At least I know what family feels like."
Sasuke clapped Naruto's face repeatedly in a condescending crescendo before climbing off of him.
Naruto sharply gasped, the damp air like ice in his lungs as he rolled over, the gravel biting into his skin and joints. His fingernails scraped the ground as he wrapped his hand around a shale stone. He rose up and chucked it at Sasuke. He was aiming for his head but only nicked him in the shoulder. To his satisfaction, it still drew blood. Bright red trickled from his scapula down his back.
A group of college-aged guys took notice of the escalation happening between them and they started to come over.
Naruto scurried to his feet and ran back to the boulder where his bag was. He didn't need older people meddling in his business. Even so, it didn't stop their shadows from falling over him.
Naruto stilled.
He counted four.
He whirled around, brandishing petulance like a switchblade knife.
"Whaddya want?!"
One of them in the swim cap smirked at him. There was a promise of trouble in his eye.
"That's very stupid of you, picking fights so close to the edge."
"Yeah," interjected the one to his left. He had inverted front teeth. "You know it doesn't matter if you're a minor. Even a kid like you can end up on Death Row."
"Say, how about we call the police right now and tell them to pick you rascals up? We're not interested in seeing little whelps like you two turn into red mist at the bottom. They might hold us responsible," said the guy with the tight afro.
"Yeah, red mist. That's how far down the bottom is. You know that only happens to people who throw themselves from skyscrapers. How about you wait a little longer till you're at that point, hm? It'll be less tragic," added the weaselly guy with the constellation of moles across his body.
Naruto clicked his tongue the same way the Janitor would when he got mad. "How about you just cover your eyes if you pussies are that squeamish."
"What'dju say?" The swim cap grabbed him by his upper right arm. His grip clamped down around his skinny limb like a pressurized vice. Naruto did his best not to wince. Sometimes he could still feel the fissures between his bones from when he fell, even if the X-Ray had said he fully healed. "Say that again, brat."
Naruto made sure to eye them individually as he spoke.
"You. Are. Limp dick. Pussies."
Swim cap laughed, his gaze bouncing around their surroundings. He threw Naruto to the ground, diverting his attention to his bag atop the boulder.
He unzipped the bag and fished out the clothes he walked in, his water thermos, and his frog-shaped wallet. He unclipped the mouth and gutted the frog of its contents: nothing but loose change and his train pass. Then he noticed Naruto's flip-phone in the back pocket of his shorts. He took out the flip-phone, turned it on, tapped through his memory, and when he was satisfied (or maybe unsatisfied), he snapped the phone in half and tossed it at Naruto's feet.
Naruto snarled but he didn't panic. He already walked here from the station. He could walk to the nearest town if he had to.
"I'm suddenly feeling charitable. Let's get you over those falls," Swim Cap said as he grabbed Naruto by the hair and began to drag him away. Naruto clawed at his hands and wrists and growled like a feral creature. "Goddamn, you guys hear this?"
"Yeah, heh-heh. Like a demon on helium."
"Maybe he's not fucking human."
"Yeah, let's do the world a favor. Don't need brats like this one anyway. Can't even respect his elders, know what I'm saying?"
"Yeah-ha! Brats like him will never be any good to anyone!"
His ankles stung after being dragged for so long. He caught sight of his blood smeared on the shale. The roar of the falls welcomed him back, the spray lathered his skin. Suddenly the ground abandoned him. He was being hoisted up by the other three, they each took a limb and his stomach dropped. They began to swing him. Oh god. The roaring water flashed in his vision before it swung away, replaced by the shale, then the water swung back into view. It went on and on like this.
"Heave!"
"Ho!"
"Heave!"
"Ho!"
"Heave!"
No way he was going to die like this. To be murdered. By these idiots!
What's Hinata going to think?
Well, it's okay. He hopes, anyway.
She still has Neji.
It was always going to be her and Neji.
"JUST TOSS ME ALREADY, YOU APE-FACE COCKSHINERS!"
His stomach lurched and plummeted as he felt his tethers release. All except for one.
His face collided with the shale as he went down hard, the lenses of his goggles cracking, his right ankle still trapped in one of those asshat's grip. Searing pain travelled from his nose, behind eye to the back of his head. It overwhelmed the stinging of cut open skin. Was it his brow? His chin? His cheek? Was he missing teeth? Was he completely ruined? What the fuck happened?
He pushed himself up, trembling on his skinny arms as he rotated his sore body to face the commotion behind him.
The four asshats… they got taken out.
By Sasuke.
Naruto let out a dark laugh.
No. This wasn't happening.
Naruto got to his feet. He turned towards the falls. This wasn't the angle he wanted. He wandered a little further to the left, ignoring the plip-plip of blood hitting his chest. He snorted the blood through his sinuses and spat it out once it hit the back of his tongue. He also ignored the footsteps following him.
"Copy me all you want, Teme. I'm gonna be the first, you hear?"
"Your face is already smashed in. You're going to die."
"Then I'm gonna die being awesome."
"I-" Sasuke cut himself off, sharply inhaling patience through his nose. "Fucking imbecile. I hate people like you."
"That's because I'm better than you."
They never did test their mettle. Once they saw one of the teenagers had drowned the moment they smacked the water, all fantasy and sureness had left their minds. He begrudgingly accepted a ride with Sasuke in Itachi-nii's sedan, and Itachi-nii scolded them the whole way for having a death wish. He then joked they should at least do something to warrant killing themselves, maybe try murdering someone that deserves it or commit some light treason.
Itachi was still at that age where he flirted with Anarcho-communist ideology, but the air in the car was too dead for laughs.
They took him to a hospital inside the city and waited for Kurenai-obasan to arrive. She looked like she wanted to slap him silly, but well, his wrapped face and stitches deterred her.
It was hard going back home looking like that. One look at his face sent Hinata into a hysterical crying fit. She had run off to her room, and from that day on for the next month, she couldn't look at him. Her face stayed averted to the ground when she spoke to him. It was a rough time for them all.
But now, here he was about to remind Sasuke once more that the youngest Uchiha was still a wimpy little teat-sucker while he was a golden god with huge muscles and an even huger dong!
They squared off in the threshold between the kitchen and the living room, gripping the half-wall with steady nerves.
Sasuke flattened his hand as he pulled back his outstretched arm. Naruto tensed up, ready for the attack.
Hinata sat on the edge of the L-couch, filming their drunken competition with Naruto's smartphone, her own body tensing with apprehension. She anticipated the firework crackle of slaps that was about to erupt in this room.
SLAP!
Hinata jumped.
Naruto barely moved. His skin seemingly flinched. But he took that slap like it was a feather.
That feral grin stretched across his face again.
He flattened his palm, swung his straightened arm back, and slapped Sasuke across the face.
SLAP!
Hinata jumped again. She willed her heart to be strong. She considered making a drinking game out of this. Maybe that'd calm her down.
The stoic Uchiha released a clenched-jaw groan, either from the stinging pain or from having moved his face half an inch to the side. The fire of competition lit behind his dark smolder and he readied his next slap.
Hinata jumped again at the sound and decided she would indeed start drinking at their pace.
She put the phone down and quickly grabbed another chūhai from the low table. She cracked it open and resumed filming duties.
Naruto wanted to put this up on his YT, even if he had no intention of restarting his failed channel.
Naruto's left side of his face shifted red, but still, he remained a statue.
"Didn't I say I'm a veteran?" he taunted, earning an irate glare from his best friend.
"Don't bring that shit up, you pretentious reprobate."
Sasuke steeled himself.
SLAP!
Hinata took a drink.
Sasuke nearly stumbled. Naruto really wasn't holding back.
"Uh, uhm, how long are we doing this again?" She asked.
"Until one of us lets go of our grip," Naruto answered.
At this point, she wasn't cheering for either of them. She just hoped they did something more fun after this.
Six slaps later and Sasuke lost his grip on the half-wall. He stumbled and caught himself on the kitchen table.
"Godammit!" he shouted. "Why'd you have to go and pick up weightlifting?!"
"I have no complaints," she mumbled to herself. Hinata was bobbing along the currents of alcohol as Naruto gloated, her inebriation now stronger than it's been all night, the beginnings of a silly smirk tensing in her cheeks.
Sasuke, with half of his pale face unnaturally red, wobbled over to her. She leaned away as he steadied himself on the armrest, his face deadly serious.
"Hinata. Avenge me."
"What?"
"WHAT?" Naruto boomed from several feet away. "That's cheating! I don't hit girls, and I'd definitely never hit Hinata!"
"This is your chance," Sasuke seemed like he didn't even know Naruto was talking. "Your time is now. If there was ever a time he got on your nerves, do it for the Hinata back then."
Naruto made a megaphone with both hands, drawing out every word like he was talking to a person dumber than himself. "Hinata. Would never. Want to. Hurt me," he dropped his hands. "Stop putting awful ideas in her head."
Well, actually there was that one time not too long ago, when he finally came home after a twenty-four-plus period of truancy. The day she had become so bed-stricken with shock and depression. Because her words meant for Hanabi had unintentionally been absorbed by him, she drove him away, gave him the same pain she was going through. To hear him nearly give up on everything, including her, she had really wanted to slap the despair from his face.
It seemed like Naruto read her silence for what it was, confusion, dismay, guilt, and humility taking turns on his face one after the other.
"When?" he asked.
This air wasn't fun. She blamed it on how serious Naruto got when possessed by the spirit of one-upmanship. She crossed her arms and pointed her nose in the air, pouting. "You know when," she peeked an eye at him and offered a smirk.
"Not really, but if you've been disappointed in me then I guess I have no choice."
She dropped her pretense, looking at him straight on with a sober glower. Now she was for real pouting because he was being the Naruto that uncharacteristically sulks with his tail between his legs. It didn't suit him. It never did.
"No! I'm not going to do it in the name of payback! Also, Naruto-kun! You don't prostrate yourself for me just because you think punishment makes a clean slate! It doesn't!"
Sasuke snickered to himself. "She said 'prostrate'."
Hinata was quick to correct him. "Sasuke-kun, you're thinking of 'prostate'."
"Oh, yeah, you're right."
Naruto gave Sasuke a wordless, withering glare, before addressing her with softer humility.
"Hinata, I-" he threw his arms up, they slapped at his thighs as they came back down and he sighed. "I don't want to hit you."
Sasuke rose up and turned towards Naruto, brimming with superficial confidence. "I bet she's perfectly sturdy. She's your sister, after all."
"Oh shut the fuck up, Teme," he grumbled, shaking his head. He bore into her gaze, digging for a shred of comfort that they both could do this… for fun. He clicked his tongue and inhaled cautiously. "Alright, Hinata. Seeing how you're drunk enough-"
"Is she?" Sasuke interjected. "She's the most eloquent drunk I've ever heard if she is."
Sasuke might as well be talking to himself. Naruto finished his sentence. "But you're gonna hate me in the morning."
"I won't hate you ever, Naruto-kun."
Sasuke whooped at her reply, causing her to blush.
She handed off the phone and took Sasuke's side of the half-wall, gripping it with all her might. She mimicked Naruto's pose, with his spine straight yet inclined slightly forward, her jaw set and her mind blanked out.
Naruto, however, did not meet her with the same confidence.
"Should you drink more?" she suggested, taking from her current experience.
"I'll drink more after I win."
"Oh-ho. So even if it's with me, you know you're going to win."
"Uh-huh. By the way, I'll let you go first."
He squared up and waited.
She flattened her palm and tried to visualize the motions her body would take. Aside from the seldom unwarranted attacks from her father, she hadn't a clue how she was supposed to accomplish this; and the last thing she wished to do was put herself in her father's shoes.
Twist at the hip. It's all in the hip.
A small voice inside of her told her to let him sweat it out.
A couple of false starts had her grinning when he flinched. Was this the feeling he got from pranking? His reactions were cute. But he was Naruto. He was made of cute. And sweetness. And sexiness. And life itself.
She bit down her bottom lip, adoration blooming in her face and desire coiling in her loins.
She was going to slap him.
It was her turn.
She's going to make contact with that firm cheek of his.
Hinata's composure fell apart as the giggles bubbled up. Her slap hand came down to grip the half wall and she folded forward, giggling madly.
"Ugh," Naruto sighed. "See? She's too drunk for this. Sasuke, rematch with me."
"Fuck. That." Sasuke took a long sip of his chūhai. "I'm trying to be that drunk, nnkay?"
"Wait, I want to try," Hinata gasped. "I can still do it."
Naruto grumbled lengthily. She hated the thought that he wasn't having as much fun with her anymore.
"Just hit me, Hinata. I can take it."
"And I'm going to give it." Oh no. The giggles came back. She held a hand while she snickered into her curled fingers. She eventually settled down.
"You good?"
"Yes. I'm ready."
Hand flattened. Arm straight. She put all her concentration into her hips. She was going to do it!
SLAP!
The warm sting buzzed along her palms, over the back of her hand, and down her elbow. Hinata held her hand against his cheek until there was nothing but warmth between them.
She's never been able to do this. Her thumb moves on its own to caress the round of his cheekbone.
Even if she hurts him, she'll always build him back up. She hopes he knows that.
His calluses slid over the back of her hand and lingered there, his blue eyes softened from stunned to distracted, almost indulgent.
His fingers curled around her hand as he removed her from cupping his face.
That indulgence gave way to discomfort.
"Your turn. You ready?"
"Mm," Hinata nodded.
Naruto sighed. He rolled his neck twice and loosened his shoulders. He flattened his palm and drew his arm back. Their gazes locked. But he still never made that move. A minute passed by and it became abundantly clear: Naruto wasn't going to strike her back.
His arm slackened as he double-palmed his forehead.
"Fuuuuck! I can't!"
"Then slap something else!" Sasuke dubiously suggested from the sidelines. Leave it to a drunken natural to suggest something so logical yet so wrong.
"Like what?!" Naruto shrilled, his face reddening. Whether it was fury or humiliation, she didn't know.
"Hinata, you choose!"
Wow, Sasuke comes in with the suggestions, only to dump the rest of the work on her. Nice. Real nice.
"Uh! Uh?!" She fumed red up to her ears. "S,Something s,soft I guess? S,Something that won't hurt a,as much. M-M-Maybe my b-b-butt?" She hid her face behind her hands and peeked through her fingers. Not once in her wildest fantasies had she wanted to be spanked by him, but if her sober self remembered this feeling come tomorrow, she might have a new interest on her hands.
On the other side of her finger-fence was a stone-faced Naruto. Was he disturbed?
But then Naruto started walking around the side. He crossed into the kitchen and stood behind her.
Hinata watched as Sasuke raised the phone up, his gaze oddly intent. She swallowed. Her eyes fluttered shut as Naruto cautiously grasped her hips and positioned her ass out. She counted her breath because she swore it would spiral out of her and never return. She opened her eyes and focused strictly on her hands gripping the half-wall, her breath coming out in pants.
She shouldn't be ashamed for enabling this. After all, where else was he going to strike her?
"I'm just doing this once," he murmured, his voice deliciously low.
She nodded emphatically.
She shrieked.
Her spine stiffened when his hand whipped across her backside like a cement brick. Her breath seized in her throat, and she tried to suck down more through her nose, apparently forgetting the common exchange of co2 for o2.
The sting dissipated as soreness bloomed in its place. Gasping sharply through her mouth, her bones and muscles melted and she finally felt normal again.
For the most part.
"D,Did I win?"
She watched as Naruto silently marched towards the low table and grabbed another can of chūhai.
He chugged it dry.
Sasuke sent the last video to himself and deleted it from Naruto's phone.
Naruto wasn't ready for something that intense.
Tossing the phone aside on the couch, Sasuke sank down, molding his body to the cushions, becoming one with it.
He observed Naruto, who reached for another can. He tossed his gaze to the right where Hinata sat at the kitchen table, her expression deeply lost in the forests of her mind.
Sasuke rested his face in the L-shape frame of his fingers and internally sighed.
Never had he expected to be exposed to something like this; this seedy sort of tension between… childhood friends? Were they even truly siblings? He didn't know what to think.
Their dynamic was so wholesome on the surface, albeit a little dependent upon closer examination.
But there was more burning underneath, huh?
More than just hormones.
He had actually thought to make lewd comments the afternoon they came out as fosters, just to get under Naruto's skin. Fuck though! He didn't think there'd be some truth to it!
He rubbed at the scowl forming between his brows.
Fuck, this kind of atmosphere was gonna suffocate him. The air was way too charged with mixed signals and self-denial, and Sasuke was just a blitzed-out bystander caught in their emotional monoxide.
"Shall we go for a walk?" he said.
/
When I go to sleep
I can't even fall asleep
Something's got ahold of me
Feel it taking over me
But when I'm older, I'll be moving onward
I just got a drunk text
(Meet me at our spot)
.
We caught a vibe (yeah, yeah)
Baby, are you coming for the ride?
/
.
.
.
If Konoha-to were a layer cake, it'd be twenty layers tall. Compared to all of that, out here the skyline only rose up by two layers, maybe three.
Two-story apartments, multi-story mansions, and built-from-scratch houses were snugly positioned around janky narrow back alleyways like the building blocks of early childhood.
Fresh laundry hung from poles and rotating racks billowed cozily in the breeze as they wandered these empty streets, flanked by six-foot-tall greenery and brick fences. At the corner of every convergence stood thick telephone poles, street lamps emitting their gauzy yellow haze, and circular traffic mirrors that captured life in a fish-lense.
Summer out here was a noisy cicada drone that used to keep him up at night, but in the early winter of November, the only buzz to be heard was that of the row of vending machines, which glowed like guideposts in the night.
All in all, it was the kind of place worth getting lost in.
It was Itachi's idea to move out here after their parent's divorce.
"Less pollution," he said, and he wasn't wrong.
Less noise, less lights, less emissions. No tourists.
The type of place where you can easily find the stars, where you can feel your breath move inside your body, where your thoughts don't get battered away by the twenty-four-hour advertisement machine.
But despite all of those good things, it was frigid as fuck out here. The combination of higher elevation and open-air infrastructure was a miserable combo.
Sasuke tugged his half ski mask a little higher on his nose when the cold began to climb in. Naruto walked between them, his gloveless hands laced behind his head. The psychopath. Hinata kept pace beside Naruto, her hands in her parka and face half-submerged in her cream-white chunky knit scarf.
"Hinata has Gap Moe," he said unthinkingly, earning confused and distressed reactions from the siblings.
"Haaah?"
Hinata buried down further into the burrow that was her scarf.
"You don't think so? There's PMC President Hinata, there's charity girl Hinata, there's drunk and fun-loving Hinata, and right now we have All-natural Hinata, who's quiet and unassuming, but likes oversized things and soft-knits. All-natural Hinata just hits different. I look at her and think of panna cotta and soufflé pancakes. Or Mini lops and children's stationery."
Hinata popped up from her burrow, the barest hint of her smile evident by the round of her cheeks. "Actually, I do still shop for my journals in the children's section. But I only keep them in my room. They just make me happy."
"See? Gap Moe," Sasuke tapped his forehead, and Naruto shook his head at him.
"What the hell is that, anyway?" Naruto muttered stingily. His uninterested attitude stilted the conversation, causing it to lapse into silence.
"Uh, uhm," Hinata piped up cautiously. "I know that Gap Moe is generally reserved for girls, but I think Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun both have Gap Moe."
Naruto threw his head back and groaned. "No, Hinata! Not you too! Why are we talking about this?!"
"Wait, stop whining. I want to hear this."
Naruto tsked in annoyance.
"Uhm, Sasuke-kun is s,sassy and effervescent at school. It makes him both hard to approach and easy to talk to at the same time. But All-natural Sasuke is actually dry and down-to-earth. He's very reliable."
Sasuke pressed a hand to his chest and swooned. Naruto gave him a playful shove, his embarrassment building in this corny atmosphere.
But then he glanced at Hinata shyly, evidently more interested than he was letting on. "So what about me?"
Sasuke watched how her eyes softened into buttery adoration. But she kept those emotions hedged in cagey wariness as if calculating how much she should say, or if she should say anything at all.
This one-sided shit was painful.
As Naruto's living, breathing Little Black Book, it was exceptionally painful.
Because it didn't matter how wide Naruto's strike zone was, (and it was about as wide as the waterfall they nearly threw themselves down years ago). What mattered was his tastes. And his tastes skewed in the opposite direction of Hinata.
Plucky. Audacious. Naughty.
Naruto wanted it all but in exactly these three flavors. Like harlequin ice cream, but pussy.
He's moved on from the vapid, empty girls that look Insta-perfect, and he's absolutely blacklisted any bitches with an aggressive and entitled streak. Those girls have gotten uncomfortably handsy with him, and he's tired of relapsing into depression because it reminds him of his first time with the Swim Team's captain. Even girls caught lying are a huge 'do not proceed' sign. He's been the dildo of at least six girls who said they were single when they actually had boyfriends. And just when one of their mixers seemed successful and he's being dragged into a love hotel with the girl, he finds out there's another dude waiting because she wants to try something really crazy with them both. That particular incident has happened at least three times, and it's made him resentful of attending those sorts of parties.
Does Hinata even know half of this stuff?
Would she still look at him with the same trust and adoration if she knew?
Or would it just depress her?
Hinata hummed thoughtfully. Then her eyes brightened. "Naruto-kun is a Pit bull. That's his Gap Moe."
Sasuke burst out laughing. "That's perfect!"
"What?! No! That's so lame!"
"No, it's not!" Hinata exclaimed as she stopped walking, causing the other two to stop and listen. Her large eyes brimmed passionately. "Because Pit bulls have a bad reputation that they don't deserve! They're scary-seeming, powerful dogs, but around the people they love they're the sweetest, most protective, and patient... d-doofuses!"
"Doofus!" Sasuke cried, setting off a new peal of laughter. "Hinata, you're great!"
Naruto was at a loss for words. Out of all that, this is what he had to say: "I can't believe you just called me a 'doofus'."
"The big doofus," Sasuke supplied. "That's you alright."
Naruto glowered at him and resumed their walk, his hands sulkily in his jacket pockets. "Shut up, Teme. You started this stupid conversation."
Hinata thinks he's a doofus. She thinks he's those bulky, block-headed forever-infant dogs.
And yet he can't stop internally smiling at the other overly honest stuff she said.
He didn't want to go along with the topic because they might've egged him to do it, too.
And what the hell was he gonna say about Hinata?
Gap Moe's something that only near-strangers experience, anyways. Colleague, classmate, whatever. But he's her brother! He knows the real Hinata already. He watched her grow from a mumbly finger-fencer to this… this... radiant angel!
That he spanked earlier!
Erghhh! He needs to really forget about that!
It doesn't seem like she's nearly as bothered by what happened as he is, which is just really unbelievable considering it's Hinata!
And she can carry a conversation with Teme like it's nothing. She's really changed…
When she looks over her shoulder to check up on him, those damn doe eyes silence everything around him. Everything feels a little slower, more significant, like time took its leave just to give them the room.
Fuck.
Somehow he's having the best night he's had in a long time and it's not even over yet. The sun could rise up now, and it still wouldn't be over. National standard time. Daylight. These things don't apply to him. He wonders if Hinata can really keep up.
"By the way, I'm not sleeping tonight."
Sasuke grimaced and groaned.
Hinata's brows lifted in worry.
They followed him into the nearest convenience store and warily witnessed the abomination that was his steadily filling grocery basket: Three RedBulls, a six-pack of PokariSwet, five cups of ramen, and one packaged cinnamon roll. For Hinata.
"That's bribery," Sasuke said.
Hinata ripped into the package and inhaled the sweet cinnamon and creamy frosting. The elation on her face was like an addict reunited with their beloved vice.
"Thank you for the bribe, Naruto-shishou."
They resumed their promenade through town, the new nickname distracting Sasuke to the point that he'd been left behind.
"'Naruto-shishou'?"
They wandered far and came upon a sizable playground. There was a sandbox, a swing-set, a triangle formation of different styles of jungle gym, a pink elephant-shaped slide, monkey bars, and a three-set of pull-up bars.
Handing off the drinks to Sasuke and Hinata, Naruto ran straight for the pull-up bars. His bare hands burned the moment he gripped the icy cold metal. He hoisted himself up to his hip, then swung his lower body forward in an arc until he was hanging upside-down. He bent his knees and tucked them close to his chest. His hips pushed forward as he hooked his legs over the bar, and once he was secure, he let go and crossed his arms over his chest.
Sasuke and Hinata approached him and looked on, bemused that he could never resist physical training if the opportunity presented itself.
His jaw clenched and his nostrils flared as he went through the reps of his inverted sit-ups; one-two, three-four.
"He never stops, does he?" Sasuke began as he leaned under the free pull-up bar beside Naruto's. Hinata leaned on the same pole with him, their arms nearly touching, still watching Naruto like he was the most entertaining thing out here. "Your foster lady's parents couldn't handle him."
Hinata frowned beneath the shield of her scarf.
"That's true. They used to make offhand comments about how easy Kurenai-san was to raise. Now that I think about it… They fawned over Neji-niisan and I quite a bit. They weren't so bad to Naruto for the first two summers, but I suppose they got fed up by the end of the third summer."
"What was that like?"
Hinata shrugged. "Normal? On the surface, anyhow. As I said, they made indirect comments, they became strict around him, or they tried to avoid him outright. Seemed like they were just being cranky and old, but once I heard them fight with Kurenai-san about how taking him in was her idea, so she needed to get more hands-on and keep them out of it. So I guess they really didn't care for him. Our subsequent summers were shorter after that. Then we stopped going altogether with Kurenai-san once we entered middle school."
"Yikes. Grandparents can be real shitty. I wished mine would've died sooner."
"What? Why?"
"So that my father would stop believing every stupid idea they put in his head about mom."
"What? Your grandparents broke them up?"
"They catalyzed the divorce... but father made his own bed. He tried to force a coup after merging with the competition. My mom, who was always supportive of every self-aggrandizing, conniving move my father made, was pissed because the merger was her idea. She knew how to save him from imminent failure and he shat all over it."
Hinata fell silent.
Sasuke briefly wondered if he said too much. Maybe Hinata was more the type who didn't want to be reminded of her own shitty parents, rather than finding comfort in not being alone. Thanks to Naruto, Sasuke found out he was the type who vented. The type that was too proud to commiserate but secretly felt more connected to someone who understood, who felt this shit in their own way.
He'll watch himself more around Hinata, but it was out there now.
Naruto ended his reps. He performed a reverse pullover, his feet landing on the fine gravel with a dusty crunch. He whooped, exhilarated by the physical activity and he joined them under the adjacent pull-up bar, panting. "You talking about our phone call, Teme?"
"Family in general now. AKA 'The Twenty-Year Prison Sentence'."
"Ha! Yeah. Well, you got out on a reduced sentence thanks to Itachi-nii," Naruto gripped the bar overhand and lifted his feet from the ground. He really couldn't sit or stand still for one minute. "I've tried to sort out which parts of me are my dad and mom. I fucking hated that feeling I got from Oba-san's 'rents, like, 'Why was this one born'? That's why I got out of their house as much as possible. But we had a lot of fun, huh Hinata?"
"Hn. So this is like old times for you two," Sasuke observed, causing the siblings' eyes to light up. Hinata and Naruto shared a surprised look before melting into contented smiles, and they nodded together.
The next two hours felt cut off from reality; like they'd founded their own little world.
Naruto challenged Sasuke to inverted pull-ups, much to the Uchiha's dismay.
"But you just did three sets earlier!"
"Consider it a handicap."
Naruto eked out his victory by one rep, as expected of someone that stubborn.
He laughed at the burning soreness already forming in his abs.
Then when Hinata was bouncing up to grab the bars, Naruto hugged her legs and lifted her up. He lead her through the steps to complete one pullover. It took several minutes for her to finally manage; they haven't had gymnastics in class since grade school, so she was really out of practice. Her scarf came off once she swung around the bar. Sasuke grabbed it for her while Naruto helped her get back down. She put her arms up like she stuck the landing, and they cheered with her.
Sasuke handed back her scarf. Her nose was red from the cold. To him, she really did look like a pink-nosed rabbit.
After securing the scarf around her face, they began to wander and talk about whatever came to mind: teachers, clubs, memories.
Sitting side by side on the swing set gave Naruto a painfully nostalgic feeling.
"The tree we had at the orphanage had a rope swing. With so many kids, it was impossible to share. I used to think I could launch myself over and I tried several times, but I always landed just shy of the wall. Anyways, there were some nights I snuck out of bed to swing on it. That's what I thought of just now."
"Naruto-kun," Hinata called, her voice just above a whisper. Her head rested against the chains as she looked at him, her gaze bittersweet. "I'm really happy you came to live with us. I'm happy Kurenai-san wanted you enough."
Naruto, who had been idly pushing against the ground, abruptly stopped.
"Actually… Oba-san didn't take me from the orphanage."
Sasuke, who sat in the swing like it was a hammock, also stilled his idle movements. He watched as Hinata's face turned ashen, her mind overcome with the implications.
"I was with a guy for six months before he dumped on Oba-san. My memory's a little hazy still, but I think I was happy. I remember his house being full of dogs and he showed me how to feed them. That's about it. I don't know why he abandoned me. I'd probably still remember if he told me, even if I don't remember his face anymore."
"How did you end up in Kurenai's care?" Sasuke asked. "He didn't literally leave you outside her apartment door, right? Was he a foster parent, too? Did Social Services come in and move you?"
Naruto's gaze was fixated on a single point in front of him as he dredged his memories. But as time passed, his frown only deepened. "Maybe I met her with him at Kaminari Burger?"
"They arranged to meet up?"
Naruto folded forward and cupped his head in his hands. "Ugh, this stuff feels like a dream. The sequences are all out of order in my head."
"Wait," Hinata's gasp pulled them from their speculations. "Kaminari Burger… I did see you before. You were playing with your toy throughout the restaurant and it got on some patrons' nerves. So Kurenai-san invited you to sit with us, and you and I played together on the table."
"We've done that before, though. Like, so many times."
"No, I think this was the first time. Because I remember you did smell like a wet dog. Naruto-kun, we were there for hours because Kurenai-san bought us all food twice."
A heavy silence gripped them.
Even Sasuke struggled to adapt this new narrative into the Naruto he's always known. He probably can't, either. Sasuke couldn't imagine how something like this could fuck with his self-image. Couldn't begin to imagine trying to be someone when you don't even know who you ever were before.
For all they know, this new foundation could still be false. There could still be something that makes his whole life cave in.
That sucks.
It's so much different from Sasuke's curse. He knows who he is and who he'll always be, and how he'll have to live with it.
Whether not knowing was a luxury or a drawback for Naruto was worthlessly subjective. That part of himself has been long taken away from him, and there was no knowing who could give it back.
It's just… gone.
"I got abandoned… at a fast food restaurant?!" Naruto threw an overgrown tantrum as he stamped his feet and strangled the chains, their violent clinking like hard rain against glass.
"If Kurenai-san never invited you to sit with us…"
"I probably would've gone back to the orphanage!"
"You mean, even if Social Services contacted the guy to take you back-"
"Well not after making it abundantly clear that he ditched me! AHH!" Naruto's heels skidded along the gravel as he slid all the way down the swing until it held him up by his armpits. His face scrunched up around his big mouth, his face reddening with rage. "AHHH! AHHHHH!"
A high pitch shrill sang in the background as Hinata, with balled-up fists, joined Naruto's screaming.
This just seemed to egg Naruto to go louder, and they vented incoherently until their throats were sore.
"Ahhh! I can't feel my face!" Hinata exclaimed despite her scratchy throat as she worked off her scarf and shoes.
Sasuke kicked off his shoes before bolting up the stairs to his room. They were going to wind down with a movie soon.
"Yeah, and my buzz is gone."
Two slabs of cold meat pressed against her cheeks, but when she opened her eyes, she realized it was Naruto cupping her face. She froze up and stared at him. He answered with a gentle, wry smirk. "I'm warming you up."
Hinata nearly snorted in response, her nasal cavity vibrating with the barest of laughs. "But Naruto-kun, your hands feel like ice."
His face fell. "Aw crap! Warm up my hands then!" he said, now offering his balled-up hands to her.
Her bemused expression morphed into an adoring frown. Her heart simply couldn't take it. "How should I do that?"
The thumping of footsteps descending down the stairs burst the intimate bubble they had enclosed themselves within, their eyes breaking away from each other as they turned towards Sasuke. He barely gave them a glance as he strode into the living, dressed down in his winter pajamas.
Hinata stepped away and began to work off her parka, hanging them on the coat rack with her scarf once she was done. At this point, she was sure Sasuke knew. At this point, he truly was reliable, because he chose not to give their skinship any attention.
Yeah. Skinship. Naruto-kun's just a very touchy-feely person. She can't deny that he must have been touch starved growing up in the orphanage. She too had been touch starved. She was still touch starved, in fact, even if it was just for his touch.
Maybe she can use this. She can be more comfortable touching him because he was going to touch her anyways. No one would strongly question this. Maybe. Hopefully.
Naruto had already gone upstairs to use the shower. She could hear the water running from down here. He must have worked up a sweat under his down jacket. Classic Naruto. Her childhood birthdays spent at the lodge could have been described as half spent outside in the snow and the other half in the Onsen. They used to bathe together back then when it wasn't so weird. Kurenai helped her fit on her shower hat then wash her hair for her. Neji wanted nothing to do with that embarrassing stuff. He took care of himself. One time Hinata had the idea that they should do a wash train. Turning around on their stools, Hinata washed Naruto's back while Kurenai-san washed hers, and Neji washed Kurenai-san's back.
She can't do that sort of thing with him anymore. She shouldn't even want to, but there's so much she can't help but miss.
Hinata hung her head when she felt the hot tears building along the rim of her eyes.
To think that he was a stranger they picked up from the restaurant because his supposed caretaker was nowhere to be found.
Had Kurenai gone to Social Services to have him returned? Had they tried and failed to locate the man? It's all hazy between the afternoon at Kaminari Burger and the day Kurenai-san announced they'd have a new foster brother. Perhaps he had stayed with Social Services during that time. She would've remembered having her new playmate around for much longer otherwise.
Well, it doesn't matter anyway.
He was theirs now. Has been for nearly ten years. And she wasn't going to let him go anywhere.
Freshly rejuvenated from her shower, Hinata stepped out in a white and lavender fleece pajama set. The top was a zip-up hoodie with teddy bear ears, and the pockets were white teddy bear faces.
When she walked into the living room, she saw Sasuke scrolling through Netflix and adding potential options to his list, but... "Where'd Naruto go?" Hinata sat down on the L-couch and hugged her legs. Leaning back, the base of her spine rested against something unusually shaped. But it was just the body pillow, right?
"He asked if I had anything strong lying around the house, seeing how we're down to the last chuhai. I told him where to go find it. He should be back, either successful or whining for help. By the way, you wanna do shots with us?"
Hinata blinked. So far her experience with alcohol has been... pleasant. It didn't necessarily taste great, but it made her all warm and fuzzy and it made Naruto warmer and fuzzier, too. It felt like they were swimming together in a pink sea, one that granted them telepathy. No words could be heard, but their emotions were felt. But the more she drank, she feared the more her emotions would drown out his own and he would learn more than she ever wanted to share.
But she was here to experience life as he does. She was here to try out The Naruto Way.
"I'll do a couple." It was a compromise.
The body pillow contorted like a body bag that shouldn't be moving. "LET'S PICK A MOVIE WE CAN DO A DRINKING GAME TO!"
Hinata screamed!
She flew off the couch and landed flat on her back, her ribs seized around her breath. She stared bug-eyed as the body pillow sat up and revealed itself to be Naruto. Hiding in the XL pillowcase. With crescented eyes, he gleamed with a smug grin.
"Got you."
Sasuke shook his head as he continued scrolling. "Savage."
The shochu was doing its job.
If Naruto could describe what getting totally drunk felt like, it'd be like the steam coming off the hot spring trapped inside his head. It'd be like every irritation, intrusive thought and grudge had been finely blended into a meaningless slurry that was promptly drained from his body. There were no words in his head anymore, only pure sensation, each one like a violently buzzing light bulb fit to burst.
Between the dumb movie they chose, Sasuke's rare giggliness, and Hinata's rosy cheeks and sappy smile, the only sensations in this room were deliriously happy ones.
But then Hinata looked like the Speak no Evil emoji with the way her hands clamped over her mouth.
Naruto's laughter died on his lips as her brows pinched in pain, and alarm shot through his body like lightning.
Naruto was right by her side in a second. Even on limp legs like his, he managed to direct her to the nearest bathroom, his left hand working to keep her hair from touching her face.
She fell to her knees, hands gripping the rim as she sank face-first in the toilet, and she retched.
The sound tore through his mind like a gash. His eyes burned and his nose twitched like it wanted to run away from the rancid, sour stench rising up from the toilet. He tucked his nose against his shoulder and winced with every hurl she made.
He glances at her with held breath, idly amused by the childish images she creates wearing pajamas like that. The thought of ten-year-old Hinata drunk and throwing up made his tummy vibrate with mirth. He also idly notes that she has the right amount of length to wrap around his wrist. But more of those painful sounds meant more gashes to break up his humor. And his perversions.
Dammit, this was Hinata! If she were any other girl, sure! But this was Hinata!
Sweet, unassuming Hinata, who he got shit-faced drunk.
Responsible and hard-nosed Honor Student Hinata, hurling her guts out into the toilet because he was such a bad influence.
That's what they're going to say if they find out.
He could joke that they were just practicing for adulthood. Nomikai and all that. But they wouldn't take that.
When it seemed like she let it all out, she rested her face against the cold porcelain and panted through her mouth.
Sasuke came over with a hot towel, bottled water, and a glass of milk. Naruto eyed the milk with derisive confusion.
He accepted the towel and keeping her hair taut and away from her shoulders, he scooped her in his arm and eased her to lean upright against his chest. He wiped the sweat from her forehead. Then he wiped her mouth with the other side. Setting the dirtied towel aside, he reached for the bottled water but Sasuke stopped him.
"She threw up a lot. The milk is for her teeth."
"Fine," Naruto grabbed the glass and held it towards her face. She summoned the energy and cognizance to lean forward enough to touch her lips to the rim. She sipped. And swished. With his help, she leaned over the toilet and spat. Panting again, she sank back down in his arms, her clammy forehead pressed against the heat thrumming in his neck.
"I just... need a moment," she breathed, her eyes fluttering shut. Her eyelashes were clumped together from the tears.
Sasuke nodded and returned to the living, that film of intimacy falling over them once again.
"I'm sorry."
"Mm-mm. Don't be. You... You're getting a good review, don't you worry."
"What?"
"The Naruto Way is the best way. Yes. You get a good review on Yelp. Now everyone will know. And they won't judge anymore."
His free hand rested over his other as he pulled her even closer, as if he could stuff her inside his heart and keep her there for all time. His cheek rested against her crown, this satiny warmth filling him with an unbelievable sense of security.
"You're so damn drunk," he laughed breathlessly, disbelief and awe nestling firmly inside his mind. How could he stay mad at the guy who ditched him at Lightning Burger when it meant having Hinata for a sister? How could he stay mad at Kurenai-san when all she's done is her best for him? Naruto's eyes squeezed shut as his arms squeezed tighter, the glob of guilt rising up his throat once more.
It was all becoming clear now.
The asshole was him.
Cold, amber sunlight crept through the living room at daybreak.
He still wasn't tired.
The low table was trashed with empty chuhai cans, electrolytic drinks, cup ramen, and RedBulls.
Sasuke had bailed on him around 4 am after Hinata had passed out halfway through their third movie.
She laid on the couch, her small hand peeking out from her fleece sleeves and resting near her small, pink mouth. The childish ears on her hood made her look so defenseless.
Sitting at the foot of the couch, Naruto rested his face in front of hers as he watched her sleep in the languid blue shadows of early morning.
He carefully slid her fleece sleeve down and lifted her wrist. He laid her palm against his cheek, so soft and so small against his skin. The slapping game revisited him with tender clarity. The way she looked at him then he's never seen before, especially not directed at him.
What made her look at him like that?
His thumb brushed across the subtle bump of her knuckles, and suddenly his eyelids grew heavy, as if he was drowning in relaxation after doggy-paddling for hours and hours.
Huh.
He hasn't thought about sex all day.
Just before drifting off into a fitful rest, he thinks that all he needs is Hinata's hand.
AN: I apologize for not replying to reviews. Ever since FFN's PM email alert broke, and I have no idea if it's working again, I've become way out of practice with replying to FFN reviews. But I did try to reply on mobile and that was fucking stupid too. It wouldn't let me log in because the captcha would show up AFTER I hit log in and it would say 'you need to do that captcha'. So I just forgot/got kinda lazy with hopping onto my desktop and replying through here. I'll try to do better, I just tunnel-visioned when it came to posting the last chapter. It was like 5 am, my eyes were TIRED, I posted and then I passed out lmao. I'm having a lot of fun writing this though, and I hope you're all having a fun time reading. :) Thank you for stopping by! (Disclaimer: I do not own the lyrics to "Meet Me at Our Spot" by WILLOW, THE ANXIETY, & TYLER COLE, or any brand names I've used in this fic).