Fear, Regret, and the Grave
Chapter 2
The drive was quiet, no one had much to say to one another, Karin looked at the rear car mirror to see how the blonde was doing. She was the mother hen of the 3 orphaned Uzumaki, always looking out for the troublemaking boys and a shoulder to lean on when they needed someone to talk to. Nagato was the quietest and studious of the 3 and sometimes would pull pranks alongside Naruto, sitting next to his cousin he pondered on how he could help him out of his deep depression. He remembered how Naruto would come to defend him from bullies and teach him how to fight, his cousin was full of life and warmth, and when he got with Hinata everything changed, he was out late and sometimes looked pale. They both knew that he loved Hinata and would do anything for her, but something was not right with the girl.
*Flashback to 1 year*
It was a rainy night and Karin was busy cooking a meal for the 3 of them, Nagato was studying for an upcoming exam in his room while music filled the house. It was a weird mixtape Nagato gotten from Shino the other day, oddly enough Karin enjoyed the ambient vibe it gave off and would play it during her cooking sessions.
"Nagato dinner is almost ready, hope your hungry, it is your favorite dish. Also, can you call Naruto and see if he is coming home or staying over at Hinata's place," said Karin. The redhead boy closed his laptop and proceeded to walk downstairs, he needed to tell Karin what was going on with Naruto, but before he could say anything, a heavy knock at the door scared them. Nagato walk towards the door and called out in a nervous tone, "Hel-lo, who is it?". The knock came again, and a muffled voice could be heard.
Karin coward behind him and listened for the muffled voice again, 15 minutes passed and noting, they both looked at each other and shrugged. It was probably their imagination and decided to ignore it, "Well that was very odd, do you think it was Naruto pulling one of his idiot pranks to scare us. I hate it when he does that.", said Karin angrily.
"Don't know, I should check outside and se—" he was interrupted by his ringing cell phone, he picked up and saw that it was Neji calling him. Nagato gave a curious look and picked up the call. "Hey Neji, what's up, is Naruto with you. Karin was wondering he was going to stay over with you and Hinata". No response, just dead silence. They both looked at each other with confused looks, before he could hang up the call, Neji's voice came in with a yell. "DO NOT HANG UP, PLEASE, I NEED YOUR HELP", startled at the pleading voice of their friend, Nagato asked him what was going and if everything was okay.
"PLEASE COME TO THE HOUSE, IT'S HINATA, SHE SNAPPED AND NARUTO HAS HER LOCKED IN HER CLOSET. PLEASE, WE NEED HELP" said the pleading Hyuga. Karin and Nagato wasted no time and grabbed their keys, running towards the car, they sped away in hopes to get there in time. As the Hyuga house came into view they could see Neji waving at them in a bloody mess, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO HIM" said Nagato as he had a face of dread, the thought of finding his cousin dead on the floor came in a tsunami of fear. Karin was shocked to see her friend bleeding out in the rain, she did not know if Naruto was alive or dead, she stopped in front of Neji and the two came running to him, carrying him back inside the house while asking what was going and where was Naruto.
"He is upstairs in Hinata's room on the fourth floor, I already called for police and an ambulance. I need one of you to stay down here and the other to help Naruto" said Neji, his right arm had a long slash from shoulder to wrist, and a stab wound in the gut, Nagato started to put gauze and bandages on the slash, then applied pressure to the open wound. Karin told Nagato to stay with Neji as she raced upstairs and could hear the blood curdling screams of Hinata, ramming the door, swearing at Naruto. She found her cousin pushing a bookcase against the door holding on for dear life, "STOP, STOP THIS NOW" said the pleading Naruto with tears in his eyes.
Karin ran to help her cousin push the bookcase against the door, she could not believe that Hinata, the most innocent girl in their small town would do this. Tears swelled up as she held on to dear life until the Police arrive, the screams of the girl were maniacal and frightening. Suddenly she stopped ramming the door, both Karin and Naruto looked at each other with concerned looks and were in silence for 20 minutes when Naruto spoke up in a whisper, "I think she calmed down, I'll take a peek through the small opening of—" he was interrupted when Karin yelled at him.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND, SHE ALMOST KILLED NEJI AND YOU WANT TO GET A PEEK TO SEE IF SHE HAS CALMED DOWN. LET'S WAIT UNTIL THE POLICE ARRIVE, NARUTO" said Karin angrily. The blonde ignored her, he was too focused and worried about his girlfriend, Karin tried to stop him but as he lifted his weight off the bookcase, Hinata rammed it with so much force that Karin went flying across the room, slamming against the computer desk behind her, as she stumbled to get up, she could not believe what she was looking at. Hinata stood there with a cynical smile, white shirt stained with blood and jeans ripped to show her self-inflicted wounds. She started to giggle and lick her lips, she spoke with a voice filled with poison, "Oh Naruto, my sweet Naruto, you could be such a pain in my neck and speaking of necks, why don't I crave that pretty little neck of yours", Hinata raised the blood-stained kitchen knife and was eyeing Naruto like what a Lion does to its prey.
Naruto was frozen with fear as tears started swelling, the mentally deranged girl walked slowly towards him smiling from ear to ear. Hinata was relishing at the thought of slicing him, hearing the cries, and pleas of mercy. She could literally feel the ecstasy starting to rise, the anticipation was like an itch and the gap between them was closing little by little.
Ignoring the danger, Karin jumped at Hinata, tackling her to the ground as she tried to take the knife away. With her free hand, she punched the girl's left side ribs causing her to yelp in agony, losing her grip on the knife. Karin then proceeded to punch her resulting in a knockout, with the threat incapacitated she breathed a sigh of relief, she looked up to see her cousin still paralyzed in absolute fear. Karin stood up and tried to snap Naruto out of it to no avail, she had no choice but to slap the boy back into his senses and it seemed to work.
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT, SHE COULD'VE KILLED YOU" yelled Karin, as she hugged her cousin with tears and sobs. Cursing at him for standing there not stopping his mentally broken girlfriend, Naruto returned the hug while apologizing to her, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freeze up like that, the fear was too much for me to handle". The lights of ambulances and police cars came into view, sighing in relief, knowing that the nightmare was over… For now.
*Flashback ends*
The group arrived at the church just in time before the start of the Funeral Ceremony. Naruto gulped and sweated knowing that he would run into Hiashi, Hanabi, and Neji. His nervousness almost got the best of him before he felt someone's hand on his shoulder, looking to see Kakashi giving him an eye smile and a sense of comfort, "It's okay Naruto, we'll be here outside if anything happens" said Kakashi.
He nodded and walked up to the wooding doors, he grabbed the handle and slowly opened the door, he was greeted by the looks and glares of his friends and several Hyuga family members including Hiashi. "What is this foolish boy doing here, nothing more than a thorn on my side", said Hiashi to himself angrily. Naruto looked around with a sad look, he knew that the Hyuga family never liked him, and some would even stop him and Hinata from marrying each other if they wanted to, he saw Neji walking up causing him to become nervous.
"Naruto, I'm glad you came the Funeral Ceremony was about to begin. It is your chance to see her before the burial and don't worry about Hiashi, I'll be by your side. Let's go" said Neji, reassuring Naruto, they both walked to the front as the whole assembly gave them glares and whispered curse words.
His friends who were seated upfront looked with confusing and sad faces, Kiba stood up and shouted angrily at the Hyugas, "HOW ABOUT YOU DOUCHEBAGS SHUT THE HELL UP WITH THAT DISRESPECTFUL TONE AND MIND YOUR DAMN BUSINESS", he turned to Naruto and gave him a thumbs up signaling that he had his back. Everyone gasped at the insult, Hiashi had enough of this and decided to give the boy a piece of his mind even he had to drag him out of the church, he didn't want this punk near his daughter.
"You are not allowed to be here Uzumaki and you, Neji, I thought you knew better than this, letting this boy in here knowing that he put Hinata through so much" said Hiashi. The Hyuga boy shook his head and before he could say anything a voice came from behind.
"STOP THIS NOW, Father you are being ridiculous, do you even know what Hinata was going through, you were too busy with the company and every time she cried out for help you just blatantly ignored her. Don't be blaming Naruto for your failures as a father and accept your responsibility, their relationship wasn't perfect but at least they tried to make it work" said Hanabi, he knew that his youngest daughter was right, he placed his career above family and this is the consequence of it, that night when she snapped, he should have been there but instead he had to arrive at the scene with his nephew injured and bleeding, his daughter strapped to a stretcher, and the Uzumaki children in distraught, his house looked like a horror movie scene. He pinned the blame on the blonde boy since he had heard how the relationship between Hinata and him was a whirlwind of drama and cheating. No one was going to change his mind from that point on but today, today he found out how much of an arrogant man he was, and it took his youngest to finally make him realize it.
Hiashi sadly sighed and spoke in a low tone, "I apologize for my disrespectful outburst, and I also apologize for putting the blame on you and avoiding my responsibilities as a father, neglecting my daughters, especially Hinata. That night was the first time I saw how mentally damaged my daughter was and then on that day, on that bridge, I could have saved her", the elder Hyuga cried and sobbed, hoping that his daughter could forgive him for being an awful father.
Naruto walked towards Hiashi and gave him a hug, surprising every single Hyuga member. "Mr. Hyuga, I loved Hinata, and I would've done anything to make her happy, those rumors you heard about me cheating on her are lies, the last thing I wanted to do is destroy a relationship with someone who I considered my soulmate." Hiashi broke the hug and looked at the boy as he tried to see any sign of deceit, "I'll believe you but if I find that you had been lying all this time, you will been on your knees begging for forgiveness, not from me, but from Hinata. My daughter loved you with all her heart and soul so don't think that you're off the hook".
Neji and Hanabi sighed with annoyance, Naruto nodded and hoped that the Hyuga family head Patriarch would trust him after all the lies had damaged the relationship between the boy and the grieving father. "Father, I think Naruto would like to see Hinata the Ceremony is about to start in a couple of minutes" said Hanabi, as she led Naruto towards the coffin that was painted Lavender, his girlfriend's favorite color, and it was draped with a flag emblazed with the Hyuga family crest, a testament to their family pride and rich history dating back to Feudal Japan.
"We decide to keep it closed due to the, well, you know" said Hanabi, it made her stomach churn over mentioning or even thinking about the fatal wound her sister inflicted on herself. "It's okay Hanabi I know, it is hard imagining her like that, can you give a minute alone with her. I want to say my goodbyes" replied Naruto. The girl nodded and went back to take a seat.
Naruto touched the casket, whispering so that no one could hear him, "Hinata… I am sorry for everything, I am sorry for not being there for you, please forgive me, I tried, I tried. I hope to see you in paradise and be reunited again, my love". Tears streamed down, cascading onto the casket and the feeling of loneliness grew ever stronger in his heart. Suddenly he heard a giggle, not of a child or woman, strangely of a man, he looked around his area and nobody was there. Until he turned and looked up at the empty balcony and saw a man sitting in the center smirking at him, waving at him. The man was tall and pale, jet black hair, eyes that resembled a snake he stood from his seat and walked downstairs and out of the church. No one paid attention to the man nor even looked when he was seated up there. Naruto was shaking with pure fear and in his state the thought of death was the only thing in his mind.
*To Be Continued*