Chapter 17: A Silent Cry
"Don't be ashamed to weep; 'tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us."
― Brian Jacques, Taggerung
Hinata & Kurenai
"I don't think I'll be ever able to stop worrying about him." Kurenai smiles weakly.
The weather matches her mood, bundles of gray clouds hovering over the village, rain coming down in torrents.
All the heat, sandstorms, and near constant sunshine on top of dry air she had back in Suna had made her long for Konoha only to return to cold rains that last all afternoon into the evening, clouds still lingering about even during nightfall blocking out the moon and stars.
Hinata pats her hand gently and Kurenai's trembling lessens some. Asuma's latest mission has taken him out of the village to investigate the latest news in regards to two of the Akatsuki's members getting close to Konoha's borders: Hidan and Kazuku.
'I'm sure he's picking up on some of her anxiety even with how far away he is.' She knows.
"Asuma-sensei is strong; don't forget! Plus, he has Shikamaru and Choji along with two other jonin to provide any needed back up!" Hinata mentions, trying and failing she knows to put her sensei's mind at ease.
Has her fingers been hurting more than normal she wonders, it's the only reason she can think of as to why she's this stressed.
Kurenai breathes out slowly, pats at her stomach. "I know, I know! Stress isn't good for the baby and I can still see my red thread after all."
She straightens herself, focuses her crimson eyes to Hinata's opalescent. A change of subject is the only thing that will keep her from constantly checking her hands every minute to make sure her thread is still visible.
"Alright, so tell me again what you've heard regarding Hiashi and Hizono?"
Hinata sighs. "Well, I'm not sure if Father is planning to try and break my thread with Naruto or if he simply is working on a way to keep us separated. I know he said he had his own plans in place ensuring he was doing 'what's best for me', but I don't know what he could mean by that."
The best rumor she's heard is that it could involve some type of fūinjutsu.
Hizono remains a mystery, the man having slinked back into the shadows at Hiashi's rebuff of him.
Kurenai straightens herself. "Do you think he intends to betroth you to a close ally of the Hyuga clan?"
Hinata mulls it over before shaking her head. Truth be told, she isn't sure what's running through her Father's mind at the moment.
She just knows it will probably be something she doesn't want. Absently, she sips at her tea. The only way she may get an answer is if she tries a head on confrontation with him, though there's a chance he may feign ignorance doing that.
Kurenai abruptly stiffens beside her, scarlet orbs peering down to her hand in panic.
Her teacup slides from her hands, shatters into a mess of white and brown against the wood flooring.
Hinata looks over to her alarm as she starts sliding to the ground, gripping at her chest as if struck.
"Sensei! What's wrong?!" She panics, activating her byakugan checking her chakra pathways and the baby's.
She finds nothing of consequence, but still tears build in Kurenai's eyes as she looks for her red thread in rising alarm. Hinata quickly gazes around, doesn't sense anyone else nearby except for them.
"My thread, it's starting to flicker in and out! It can't; not now! Not when we're just about to start a family, after he finally made peace with his past behavior to Lord Third..." Kurenai trails off into a murmur and Hinata feels a chill rush down her.
'Team 10's mission; it could be going bad.'
She swallows; that's assuming the worse though. Perhaps Asuma-sensei was just injured and is being evacuated back to the village.
But a thread's flicker is the first warning sign, a life teetering on the edge of death.
She hurriedly tries to get Kurenai to sit back up only for her eyes to widen in shock falling into her arms, tears sliding down her cheeks faster.
"Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata tries to get her attention, but her voice doesn't reach her.
Her gaze instead remains fixedly on her hands as her eyes mist over, sob bubbling up out of her lips.
"I can't see it any it anymore, my red thread is gone..."
Sakura
The blood beneath her nails has turned a coppery reddish-brown, sighing heading for the sink once more. It seems like it bits and pieces of every patient she's seen today want to cling to her despite her thorough washing of her hands, stubbornly reminding her the past few days will become a long-lasting memory.
'Death is a part of life, you know this Sakura.' She bites her lip. She's held the hands of patients in hospice and palliative care as they took their final breaths and broken a rib or two in the midst of CPR on men, women, and children younger than her knowing the outcome of their survival wasn't in her favor.
Chiyo's death brought back Gaara at the cost of her own when just hours before they she had been working in tandem defeating her own grandson Sasori. The victory feels hollow not having been able to celebrate with her, exchange notes on medical practices and various poisons created for the battlefield done in Suna compared to Konoha.
Her body quickly went cold in her arms as soon as the resurrection jutsu was done, skin turning the familiar ashen gray of death.
5 days. That's all she has left now before the day of when Sasori was supposed to rendezvous with his spy. She'd been tracking rumors as well that Sasuke will be the closest he's been to Konoha since his defection, Orochimaru and Kabuto surely to be with him too in regards to this spy.
In the interim, she must reach out to Takita too.
She finds him the next afternoon within the markets, shoulders tensing seeing her approach.
"Have you...figured out something to help me sleep better?" He tentatively asks.
Sakura nods, giving her best placating smile she mastered from watching Shizune during Lady Tsunade's gambling sessions or when she is about to sneak a bottle of sake.
"More than just that, I have an anti-anxiety medication I want you to try as well." She pursues, glad to see his posture relax some.
Now that he's on board, she just needs to get Ino.
She waits until Yamanaka Flowers closes for the day, gets the assurance her Dad is away for a meeting and her Mom has gone out to visit an old childhood friend before being led into the back greenhouse.
"We have about 45 minutes, maybe an hour max before my Dad returns Sakura! I'm sure he would be against this, but I know you want to try all your options!" Ino hisses in her ear.
Sakura nods, helping Takita to lie back against a cleared off table. He winces in slight discomfort, dark eyes finding her green.
"Make it quick. That's all I ask." He grunts.
Ino helps her lay against the parallel table, calming her breathing taking in the scents of lilies, lavender, and rose in the air.
Sakura produces a syringe from her pocket, clear liquid shining in the evening light above.
"It's a combination of Ativan and melatonin. Enough to calm Takita's nerves and keep him asleep throughout this process." She explains.
She passes it to Ino, directs her to give it intramuscularly into his shoulder.
Takita's eyes flash open at the pain and Sakura clenches her teeth knowing it hurts him.
Minutes pass before he finally slumps down again, soft breathing filling the quiet of the room.
"Forehead...just so you know, even if I said it a hundred times, using the mind transfer jutsu can be tricky. I assigned myself to helping at the hospital this week instead of going on the Akatsuki assignment with Asuma-sensei and the others for you. This is an especially touchy subject to use the mind transfer on. Remember first and foremost you're a guest in Takita's mind."
"I know Pig, I know! I'll be as quick as I can!" Sakura answers, fully laying herself back.
Ino holds up her hands, gazes between them both before nodding.
"Good luck Sakura."
It's the last thing she hears before everything goes black.
"Takita, Takita! Pay attention, damn it! Lord Third is counting on us!"
Sakura jolts at the man's voice as loud as if it was in her own ear, gazing up to a wide silver-white moon.
Nightfall?
She steps slowly forward, surroundings clearing revealing shattered glass and crumpled oakwood, slowly opening a door that appears before her that takes her out of the dark into a memory.
"What...What exactly happened here?" Takita mutters to what must be his commander, Sakura glancing to his name badge seeing the name: Yoshida.
Sakura follows Takita's gaze, stomach turning to ice seeing pools of blood just feet away, bodies slumped down in awkward angles, glassy eyes reflecting the moon...
Her head spins, heartbeat rising in her ears.
"Relax Sakura. Relax!" She orders herself.
But it doesn't stop the bile, acidic taste stinging at the back of her throat.
Yoshida scowls, Sakura quietly stepping forward to hear him better.
"A coup was going to happen by the Uchiha clan, at least that's what I heard from some advisors that were at the meeting. Itachi Uchiha was ordered by Lord Third to do this." He mutters.
Sakura gapes in shock. All the rumors and cruel stories she's heard about Itachi from both shinobi and civilian are just lies? He even might've had to kill his own red thread in the process, bear the ache of losing both his family and loved one.
Takita looks just as pale as her and the scene flickers and distorts before her eyes.
"No, it's okay Takita! Fight it!" Sakura yells, willing her feet to move closer to the duo.
Her hands go through him like a ghost, but her words appear to stabilize the memory.
For now.
She hears a warning somewhere in the back towards the darkness she just walked out of.
"Hurry it up Forehead!"
Sakura straightens, watches as Takita mechanically moves to begin the identification of each body before wrapping them up for the medical team. His hands tremble with each motion to check their carotid pulse to be sure, wipe away smears of blood and roll their bodies up into tarps.
"Hey, where's that kid brother of his?! Sasuke Uchiha? He wasn't among the deceased in the back houses, military section, or among his parents." A man calls out from further down.
"He's alive! Was found collapsed by Fukuda on one of the rooftops apparently chasing after Itachi." Yoshida responds back.
Yoshida snorts. "Guess he didn't have it in him to kill his own baby brother. Or maybe he concocted a deal with Lord Third to leave only him alive. Either way, kid is going to be messed up by this."
"Isn't...Isn't Itachi suffering from some rare lung disease? I heard from Yoshio in the medical unit he had been coming in for off and on chest pains and coughing up blood." Takita mentions.
Yoshida shrugs. "Too bad the legendary healer isn't around to take a look at him if she even had the energy to care. I suspect Itachi Uchiha is the type to cling to life until all his plans are complete. Hurry it up now, we need to have this done before daybreak."
Sakura meanwhile gazes over to where the other man is pointing, sees a peek of Sasuke's small figure in a restless sleep before he's surrounded by a group of medical nin.
Takita stiffens and Sakura hears his thoughts.
'One man was able to cause all this carnage on his own? To his own clansmen?'
Sakura wets her lips, mouth feeling thoroughly dry, it doesn't sound likely to her either...
Did Itachi have help on this night? Another rogue Uchiha?
Yoshida grips at Takita's shoulders suddenly from his continued sluggish progress, gives him a weak grin.
"Don't worry about this Takita, just get the job done tonight and then we can all move on from this! Lord Third or Danzo will make sure we forget knowing how much they want to keep this under wraps. Danzo especially; I think he wanted this massacre for reasons beyond just stopping the coup. I've heard rumors he desires the Uchiha clan's signature kekkai genkai for himself."
"But-" Takita stammers only for Yoshida's smile to harden.
"We're. Going. To. Forget. They just needed a cleanup crew for this grisly mess. He affirms, punctuating in each word until it's clear Takita understands their purpose.
The memory distorts again, static surrounding her too much for her to see anything else.
Sakura startles awake, breath coming in gasps.
Ino looks at her wearily, sweat dripping down her flushed cheeks.
"You okay?" She asks at her silence.
Sakura shakes her head, gazes once to Takita confirming he's still asleep before rushing from the area.
The nearest trash can is by the greenhouse's entrance, everything she ate from today rushing back up.
Naruto
"I've been at this all day, you know! I think I deserve some type of break!" Naruto whines.
His clones raise their hands in unanimous agreement, highlight the streaks of red and gold in his hair at the coming sunset.
He's managed to form a bigger rasengan than previously, blades like that of a shuriken appearing before flickering away just as fast in his hands.
'I know I can do this, I'll grit my teeth through the pain!'
Yamato sighs, glancing to Kakashi about ready to ask how he puts up with Naruto when he's like this. He's made some progress yes, but he figured he would be out here until moonrise trying to get this new rasengan just right.
Kakashi shrugs, knowing Naruto will be lacking focus at this point.
"Alright, a good 15 minute break won't hurt. We can end for the day once the sun is fully down." He decides, .earning him a collection of whoops and cheers.
Dinner consists of a simple miso ramen, glad Teuchi took his suggestion of making Ichiraku ramen cups for on the go.
Yamato side-eyes him in disbelief he's eating ramen again when he had it for breakfast and lunch too.
"Don't worry, I'll sneak in some health bars and veggies Hinata packed me to keep my energy up!" Naruto exclaims.
Yamato shakes his head, like that will make up for his current unhealthy eating!
"Where do all those fats and salts go in you?" He wonders aloud.
Naruto pauses midway in answering him, studying a tingling sensation running up his arms.
An ache to his fingers follows, chopsticks falling into the grass.
'Hinata.'
He gazes back to the village, standing up.
Yamato moves as well, senses what's he's about to do.
"Naruto, your training just started." He mentions lightly, failing to keep the warning out of his tone.
Naruto peers back to him once before looking towards Konoha again.
"I'm going. I need to check that Hinata's okay, you know!"
He doesn't wait for Kakashi or Yamato's response, leaping away before Yamato's wood release ensnares him.
Temari
"You can't work if your hands are bothering you that much." Kankuro notes.
Temari fixes him with a tight grin, wishing he hadn't come to watch her practice with the latest batch of genin. "I told you already 3 times now; I'm fine."
There's too many buildings that still need to be fixed from Deidara and Sasori's attacks, people both shinobi and civilian that need help getting food or medicine.
And then there's these newest graduates who have yet to even be assigned their first missions.
Kankuro snorts. "Sure you are Sis."
She follows his gaze to her hands, wringing and shaking them out again without even realizing it.
Temari scowls, puts her throbbing hands back at her sides.
'What is that lazy jerk doing to have my hands aching this much?' She huffs.
Kankuro frowns, whether Temari wants to admit or not, something big must be happening with that thread match of hers.
Reluctantly she holds up a hand, releasing the groups of genin for a lunch break.
"It's never hurt this bad, has it?" He questions as they walk along Suna's streets. Much of the roads are still littered with cracks, rocks, and broken stucco that had been torn from various houses and buildings.
Temari purses her lips, not wanting her siblings to worry over her.
"No, Shikamaru's probably on a mission of some kind." She shrugs, restraining back a wince as another twinge of pain ripples through her.
It's unfortunate or maybe fortunate her younger brothers know her so well, casting her gaze to the clear sky to avoid Kankuro's concerned look.
Gaara senses her tenseness back at the Kazekage office before she even has to speak, verdant eyes narrowing.
"You're in pain." He states simply.
Temari grunts, focusing her eyes on her tonkatsu bento that tastes dry on her tongue, barely savoring the eggs, onions, and rice blended together.
Gaara hasn't even read her reports on each genin, focused solely on her.
"Shikamaru's probably just on a difficult mission. The Akatsuki's members are on the hunt across all the nations for the Tailed Beasts." She describes, waving him and Kankuro's worried looks off. She hopes Shikamaru hadn't been this antsy over her when Gaara was kidnapped, though a high stress situation can cause pain for your thread match no matter the distance.
A sudden sting ripples through her hands before she can pick back up her chopsticks, bowl nearly sliding out of her hands at the rush of pain.
Kankuro steadies her as Temari blows out a breath. A deep ache settles upon her chest like lead, sinks into her like she's going underwater.
Shikamaru has always been cool and collected in all their previous encounters, lazy enough to find the longest routes to get out of early meetings with the Hokage, show her where she can buy the best dango when she next comes back to the village.
"Oh, would you get up early to greet me at the gates then?" Temari muses, smirking at his flash of a frown, the hint of red to his cheeks.
Mornings aren't his forte she knows, but it would be worth it to arrive in Konoha right at sunrise just to annoy him.
Shikamaru straightens. "Ugh, you wouldn't seriously do that, would you? I mean, it would be troublesome, but yeah I could set an alarm. I want to make sure you get a good impression of the me and the village so that you aren't spreading negative rumors about Konoha back to Suna."
Temari lightly flicks at his head in response, ignores the warmth she feels gathering at her own face. She doubts Shikamaru even realizes what he just said, too focused on ensuring they're covering everything needed on their agenda for creating the next chunin exams.
"What makes you actually think I would spread false rumors or make you get up early on purpose?" She asks after a moment's thought.
Shikamaru shrugs. "I don't know, you're you after all."
Temari fixes him with a glare and Shikamaru quickly amends himself.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that!"
He's never been in a situation for their red thread bond to be causing her such a deep ache, rubbing her fingers slowly one by one trying to not focus on the pain.
'This is more than just a mission going badly...' She realizes.
Gaara moves to stand. "You're taking a leave of absence."
Temari blinks before quickly shaking her head. "What?! But I'm fine! I can't take a break now when some many residential areas are in need of help rebuilding! Or even at least teaching this newest batch of genin skills they can use to help out at the hospital or in doing patrols around Suna's perimeter!"
Kankuro raises his hand before she can come up with any more excuses. "We can handle all that Sis! I can ask Baki to have some of the chunin and jonin work with the genin in shifts. As for the residential areas, both civilian and shinobi are coming together exchanging goods and ideas that places will be back up and running in no time! In the meantime, you're no help to us with your hands giving you the aches like this! Head to Konoha to at least make sure Shikamaru isn't in any danger physically or mentally!"
Gaara nods his agreement. "I'm taking you out of active shinobi duty for the time being. Shikamaru, red thread or not I'm sure he and his family would appreciate you checking in on him. Consider it another way to improve the relations between Suna and Konoha as well."
Temari peers between them both, tensing as another surge of pain runs across her fingers like a burn.
'Damn it Shikamaru, you better make this trip worth it!'
"...Fine. I'll start packing." Temari decides, twisting to head for her room without further argument.
"And send us an update by messenger hawk when you can! Want to make sure our future brother-in-law is doing okay!" Kankuro teases. Temari doesn't have it in her to deck him for saying that and Kankuro knows it, grinning cheekily to Gaara just before she heads out of the room.
She leaves just as the sun is setting, washing the sky in ribbons of pinks, reds, and violets.
Her thread will be her guide once more, will lead her straight to Shikamaru.
The pain in her hands hasn't left, unceasing and Temari balls up her fists as her chest fills with knots wondering what she'll come across once she's back within Konoha's walls, what exactly could've put Shikamaru in such a state of distress.
Naruto & Hinata
"Are you sure?" Kiba repeats, nails digging into his palms until his skin nearly tears apart. It can't be, not Asuma-sensei. He's an elite jonin, the Akatsuki can't be so strong as to actually kill a man of his caliber.
"A red thread disappearing doesn't mean...doesn't mean he's dead! Hasn't there been cases of people who's red thread disappeared only because their match was like in a coma or something?" He considers.
Akamaru lets out a low whine beside him, dipping his head matching his master's upset mood.
Hinata clears her throat, dropping her voice an octave.
"Her red thread is completely gone meaning death Kiba. A coma would mean Asuma-sensei is still breathing and her thread would've probably just gotten fainter in that scenario, not vanished altogether."
Shino nods, absently looks at their sensei's closed door. "While we don't have a true confirmation Asuma-sensei is dead, when your soulmate's thread disappears you feel how they died. As Hinata mentioned, Kurenai-sensei suddenly gripped at her chest like she'd been stabbed. It's likely this is what happened to Asuma-sensei."
Kiba rolls his eyes. Like Shino can talk on being an expert regarding red thread matches when he doesn't even have one himself.
His ears perk up as he glances towards Kurenai's door as well. He's dealt with crying woman from both his sister to his Mom after they watch their silly evening historical or romantic-comedy dramas, though his own sensei's anguish are treacherous waters. A territory he never thought he would need to cross.
He slaps a hand on both Hinata and Shino's shoulders.
"Alright as Team 8's de facto leader, I say we take turns watching over Kurenai-sensei! At least until we can get an update from Team 10 on what exactly happened." Kiba decides.
Shino arches a brow. "You could never be our leader despite that being good advice."
Kiba merely grins, he can take his mixture of insulting and complimenting him all at once!
Hinata sighs, using her byakugan to see where exactly Kurenai even is. A frown mars her features seeing she's in the exact same curled up position she left her in on the couch just 30 minutes ago, rice porridge she made still untouched.
"Hey, don't worry Hinata. We'll get her to eat something, even if it's just a bit of tea or juice with crackers! You should get some rest as you've been with her since this morning." Kiba emphasizes.
Shino nods, kikaichū beetles swarming from his sleeves to protect Kurenai's door and the apartment building as a whole. "I'll take over for Kiba at midnight or around 1:00 am. We'll work in 6 to 8 hour shifts. My beetles though will always be here to provide us updates."
"Akamaru can play duty of guard dog too!" Kiba adds in, Akamaru yipping proudly at the declaration.
Hinata peers one last time to check on Kurenai before muttering a soft okay.
They can do this for her. She's the one who taught them so much in terms of teamwork and missions, who was there for her personally when for a period of time her own clan wasn't.
It doesn't hit her how exhausted she is until she's back amongst the crowds of people filing into the night markets. She sniffs the air getting whiffs of sea salt and spices found only deep within the nearby mountains. Her stomach growls loud enough for an elderly couple nearby to giggle and Hinata reddens, considers getting some yakisoba or taiyaki from one of the stands. Tourists on the opposite end of the marketplace giddily head for Konoha's apparent world-renown red light district, follow woman in kimonos laced with fanciful gold, blue, and scarlet threads.
'I should just head home and get some sleep. I'm sure Father's expecting me anyways on top of it would be wasteful to spend ryo here when there's probably leftovers at the compound.' Hinata knows.
But getting one snack couldn't hurt.
She sees a sweet bun vendor beside a man hurriedly making takoyaki for a line of customers, heading their way only to bump heads with another figure heading the opposite way.
"Ah, I'm sorry for bumping into you-" Hinata begins only to feel herself being scooped up off her feet.
'Eh?!'
"Hinata, there you are!" Naruto cheers in relief.
He sets her back down, hugging her close to his chest eliciting a soft squeak from her. She hadn't exactly been looking at her thread for most of the day, too distracted by Kurenai's own lost to selfishly think of her own.
She manages a small grin. "Ah, here I am! Were you looking for me?"
Naruto nods quickly, locking their hands together taking them out of the night rush of patrons. He wrinkles his nose at somewhere they can go that's quiet. There's the Hokage monument where he always likes to go to think, however the forests are closer and he guides him into the woods.
"Did something happen, you know!? Are you okay?" Words tumbling out nearly blending together at Hinata's silence all the while.
Kurenai's words push up from the back of her mind, burrow out of the dark sending her stomach tilting.
'I can't see it any it anymore, my red thread is gone...'
Tears gather at her eyes before she can hold them back, Naruto thumbing at her wet cheeks. It would be easy to say she's just worried about Kurenai-sensei, but it's much more than that, Naruto resting them against the bark of a fallen tree.
"I've...Have you ever seen someone lose their red thread in front of you? Well, I mean you yourself can't see their thread, but did you see that person's expression?" Hinata asks.
Naruto's rubs his chin considering the question, there's Sakura's unique case of a thread that appears and disappears if only because of Sasuke's behavior and Orochimaru's work. He's also heard Granny say people sometimes make their threads 'vanish' in magic shows, though that's usually only to entertain little kids eagerly awaiting their 13th birthdays or to amuse those gullible enough to fall for such an illusion.
He's sure neither of those scenarios are what Hinata means.
"If you mean like seeing someone watch their thread disappear, then no." Naruto voices carefully.
Hinata nods, gathering her voice leaning into his chest.
"Kurenai-sensei can no longer see her thread meaning that Asuma-sensei must have succumbed to some type of injury."
Naruto stills, neither speak. The forest's nocturnal creatures watch them curiously, fireflies flicker and buzz around them in green and yellow hues. A wood owl watches them with eyes black as the sky before swooping to the air at hearing another owl's hoot from the west.
"Looks have you have a wind affinity, just like me! Don't worry, I'll teach you a few tricks! Wind is very versatile, can blow around us softly one minute then be like a tornado before you realize it!" Asuma chuckles.
"Err, well okay; if you say so! I'm all for getting stronger in using my nature affinity and eventually mastering all of them!" Naruto declares eagerly.
He still hasn't fully mastered infusing wind into a shuriken or kunai like he did so easily with his blades...
"When we get back from this mission I'll show you how to use more wind techniques for both close-range and long-range attacks! Heh, you can even try your luck with Shikamaru keeping your shadow in place for a different type of training!" Asuma promises, ruffling Shikamaru's hair at his scowl.
Shikamaru grimaces at the thought. Naruto is the type to train endlessly with his clones until probably midnight or dawn the next day.
"Nah, leave me out of this! Training was troublesome enough just preparing for this assignment."
"It's...It's my fault. The Akatsuki are coming for me and-" Naruto rasps out.
Hinata gently slaps his cheeks before he can finish, sting rippling across his face.
Lavender locks with cerulean.
"Don't say that; don't even think that Naruto! It's not your fault Asuma-sensei is dead! This group, the Akatsuki aren't doing this just to capture the Tailed Beasts! They do it for fun, to spill blood, out of greed and showing off their power!"
Her voice starts to tremble, Naruto hugging her close. His jacket grows damp, resting his head upon her neck.
Death is just going to keep coming to the village the longer he stays here, will follow him like a shadow not caring if it's his loved ones or another that gets in the way of its path.
"Sorry, I'm messing up your jacket and shirt!" Hinata laughs hoarsely.
Naruto shakes his head, lips warm against her forehead.
"No, I want you close; here beside me." He rolls over the simple sentiment, not having to amend his words.
But he can't stop this niggling in the back of his mind.
A split has formed between pushing Hinata away here and now when he will always be a danger, a threat in her life too.
And then there's this warmth pooling in his gut that urges him to give into his desires to keep her near, kiss her until she gasps and writhes in pleasure setting her cheeks aflame wanting more and more of his touch...
-x-
I'm sure I went a bit out of order on the canon's timeline of events, though it's what I wanted to do in order to develop the mix of relationships all impacted by something going on with their thread match.
This is a sad chapter not to be captain obvious lol. It probably sounds strange or maybe it does just to me, but all the super depressing moments going forward are some of the first ideas I got when this story idea came to me.
Let me know your thoughts!
Enjoy. Review. Favorite. Follow!
