i apologize for typos, there were some moments where i was supposed to add italics, and some grammar or spelling issues. i don't feel like fixing those, but i apolgize for them!
the big reason why i had so many typos and such is because i had to copy and paste the entire document onto another one because i was new and did not use the story format, instead i used docx or whatever. my paragraphs i had to add symbols to indicate it was an indent and i had to put everything together so it would copy all of it at the same time. it took a while and i didn't feel like looking over the spelling issues.. so im sorry about that!
rating: T-M
warnings: swearing
as always, every character and setting belongs to masashi kishimoto, and i have no relations to him. thanks!
enjoy chapter 2! i was thinking of making this a oneshot, but forget it, i like my idea mwahaha
02
Winter
Naruto awoke to the sound of nothing, again. He rolled around underneath the covers, not ready to leave the warmth of his bed. He glanced over to his coat hanger. Like normal, his black jacket was hung on one of the hooks, but adjacent to it was something else. A red woolen scarf. Hinata had seen him in the streets and had given it to him, which he grinned happily at the sign of his neck finally becoming warm like the rest of his body. It was hand-knit, too, according to Hinata. He smiled to himself at this.
But something else was heavily weighing on his mind. And that's funny, because it was about Sasuke.
Some time before...
Naruto walked with Sasuke on the left of him. The two had gotten their full, well, Naruto did, on a free ramen bowl at Ichiraku's. He had his arms above his head like he was making a pillow with the air. It was a walk that traveled through Naruto since he was a genin.
"Oh! Naruto-kun..!" A familiar voice barely shouted through the bustling streets ahead of the two. Hinata came rushing out with her fingers clutching the handles of a small bag. Sasuke's mood went down. "And.. Sasuke-kun," Hinata added. She was still a little bit unsettled by Sasuke returning to Konoha, due to him scaring her even back when they were genin. The two never really got along, or talked ever. Hinata shifted her attention back to Naruto with a shy smile. It was like she was waiting for him to ask what was in the bag that she was holding. Sasuke knew, though, what was inside. It was no doubt that scarf he had overheard her say she was going to give Naruto.
"Hey, Hinata! How are you?" Naruto exclaimed, taking his hands away from his head. Hinata looked down at her bag and then up at Naruto again. "What's in the bag?" He asked, which triggered her que to start talking.
"Well.. you know, It's almost Christmas time.." A little blush formed on her cheeks. "So.. I decided I would make you something," She held out her bag to Naruto, bowing her head. Sasuke, who was watching this, scoffed and turned his head away from the two. He hated this.
Naruto takes the bag from Hinata's hands and reaches inside enthusiastically before grabbing hold of something rather soft. He can feel the small stitches of yarn on his fingers, which makes him smile, then pulling it out of the bag.
"Wow, Hinata!" Naruto unfolded the scarf and held it up. "You seriously made this? You're awesome!" And to this, Hinata blushed intensely. Naruto slung the scarf over his neck. "Thanks a bunch," He grinned at her. Sasuke, on the other hand, was silently fuming to himself. He had his hands tightly shoved into his pockets underneath his poncho, and his eyes were even more narrowed than before. Yes.. He was feeling the same anger from when he overheard Sakura and Hinata's conversation the other day. Sasuke uncomfortably turned to Naruto, looking once to Hinata with a slight glare, then back to Naruto.
"I'm leaving." He said subtly.
"Eh? Why?"
"No reason." He swiveled around quickly before beginning to walk away. Naruto caught the back of his poncho and gripped it tightly. He looked over to Hinata with a reassuring smile and then frowned.
"There is a fucking reason, and I know it." Naruto replied, turning his attention back to Sasuke.
"Let me go, fucknut!" Sasuke yelled, his anger building more and more, seeing that significant red scarf around Naruto's neck, and Hinata standing behind watching them.
"I'll.. take my leave, then," Hinata mumbled, her hands clasped together. She bowed once and turned away in a flash. Naruto didn't have time or the hands to ask her to stay, like he did with Sasuke. He looked back, then tightened his grip on Sasuke's poncho.
"It's just like earlier! Why do you have to get all bitchy?!" Sasuke felt a stab in his gut as Naruto said that. He tried to get free of Naruto's grasp on him, but he failed.
"Goddamn it, Naruto! Mind your own business!" Naruto loosened his grip on Sasuke's poncho. Sasuke took this as an opportunity to escape and stalked off. Was he being too harsh, or was Sasuke?
Sasuke had a lot running through his mind after he left Naruto in the street. As he was walking away, his mind flooded with thoughts like, Did that hurt Naruto's feelings? or Why did I lash out like that? or.. Why should I even be concerned about Naruto? You get the point; Sasuke was having quite the dilemma. His expression darkened as he subconsciously dragged himself through the street with what felt like heavy weights on his shoulders.
If Sasuke didn't care about Naruto like he should, because he was only a friend towards him, he wouldn't have felt like crap when Hinata gave Naruto a present. He wouldn't have hidden his concern for Naruto's wellbeing, rather, he wouldn't even be concerned as much as he was. Importantly, which was puzzling Sasuke the most, he wouldn't have felt his face go warm and turn a light shade of pink every time he was nearby the man. All those occurrences weren't normal in Naruto's other friends. Not to mention, Sasuke was a man, thinking about another man.. His cheeks went hot suddenly and he tried to shake off his thought process.
Then, another thought striked Sasuke's mind. It was obvious Hinata wanted to be in a relationship with Naruto, but what if that actually happened? No, Sasuke was definitely thinking too much, but he was getting angry even imagining it. He looked up at the grey sky. Why did it decide to be grey, that day? He sort of wished it was blue and bright, not grey and gloomy. Perhaps if Naruto and Hinata did start a relationship together, Sasuke would be feeling like a grey sky as well. He huffed out a sigh, watching the white cloud of air evaporate quickly after it left his mouth.
Christmas was coming soon. What would Sasuke do about Naruto? He didn't even know himself, so how would he know Naruto? It wasn't his place to find out. He trudged on. The sky remained grey.
"So, did you give him the scarf? How did he react?" Sakura raised an eyebrow to Hinata on the other side of the table. The two women were sitting in a booth of a cafe, chatting away. Hinata felt weary of this question and lowered her head.
"I gave him the scarf, but I feel like it was a bad time.." She replied in a sorrow tone.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well... Sasuke-kun was there, and-"
"Sasuke?!" Sakura's eyes enlarge in surprise. She slams her hands on the table and leans forward. "He's back?" A smile and a little blush forms on her face. "I mean, like.. From his missions, and all." Hinata nods. Sakura seems to wiggle around in her seat excitedly. It seems not only Naruto was ecstatic about his return.
sorry this chapter is so short- i was running out of ideas, and i got bored.. also, for some reason, this document is being very very tedious to edit and write on, so i kind of just feel the need to finish it off and begin on the next chapter. sorry!
