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A/N: Here's another chapter! We're getting close to the end! So stay tuned! I hope you are liking so far what I've written! Enjoy!

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Chapter 8: Dealing with it all


Hinata had missed school for the second day. Naruto tried calling, texting but she never replied. He'd gone over to her house but they'd tell him she wasn't there, he knew she was. He'd ask where she was but they'd not give him an answer.

Neji knew, he had to know. But he wouldn't say either. It was driving Naruto nuts. All he wanted was to see her. He needed to see her. To know that she was ok would be enough for him. He knew something was wrong, he could feel it in his gut. His mind would wonder to the worst scenario at times. Why wouldn't they tell him? Why wouldn't she?

The last time he saw her she wasn't herself, he wished he'd talk to her. Get an answer out of her like he always does. That day he felt like it'll be best to let her be. Now he wished he had gotten it out of her. He kept looking at her but she never looked at him once, she didn't talk to him and ran away when he stopped at her place. She barely even said a goodbye.

"Sakura, did something happen with Hinata when she was at yours?" Naruto asked as he leaned on her table at lunch, she was with her group of girl friends. They'd just left a second ago, he'd ambushed her before she got up to follow them. He needed to find out, he had to do something.

"I don't know." She placed a finger under her chin. "She looked tired at first, then she was in a rush to get home." She nod at what she said as if to confirm. "Said she forgot there was something she had to do or so, and pretty much sprint out of my room before I could move." Sakura stared at him but he was looking right through her lost in thought.

"Did you...say anything to her?" He for once was ready to tell Sakura off if she was the cause for Hinata. He knew how Sakura could be sometimes, it was usually unintentional but sometimes she made him feel bad when she didn't take him seriously. So maybe she said something she shouldn't have?

"Only that the shoes would go with the dress." She frowned, not liking what Naruto was asking. Sakura had nothing against Hinata and wouldn't do anything to hurt her. She wanted to be friends with the raven hair girl. "What're you getting at?"

"Never mind." He scoffed, this wasn't helping. He stormed of leaving Sakura to stare at him in confusion. He felt helpless in that moment, Hinata probably needed him and he couldn't help. Why wouldn't she let him help?

...

Hinata didn't have to do much to get a free pass on staying home. He couldn't force her even if he tried, she wasn't going to move. Her dad saw her in tears and allowed her. He could see how torn she was. He did asked questions but realized he wasn't going to get answers. She wouldn't tell anyone what was going on. They wouldn't understand.

She spend the days in bed, Hanabi helped her in the bathtub to bathe then she went back to bed. Her little sister had been so tender with her. They'd usually be screaming, fighting and throwing sarcastic remarks at each other. But they loved each other and had each other backs. In moments like this when they needed their mother the most, they tried to fill in for her.

She wished her mother was here. To be in her embrace, to pour her hurt heart out to her. She needed her mother's words. Without her mother or anyone to help she felt defeated. She felt alone, even if there were those who wanted to try and help, she didn't think they'd understand her.

She didn't get much sleep, she'd just lay in bed staring blankly at her ceiling. Her mind was blank and her body numb. People wouldn't understand, she barely understood.

She just didn't want to move at all. Her bed had a sink from her unmoving weight. It was getting a bit uncomfortable but she didn't care. She just roll unto her stomach on the other side and stare at the pictures on her bedside table.

There were two that she couldn't look at without tearing up, but she couldn't stop looking at them longingly.

One of her family, before her mother had passed away, she had Hinata and her sister in her embrace. She was smiling, she had a beautiful smile. Her father looked so happy in that picture to. They all missed her.

The other were with her the group from that night, she were standing next to Naruto in it. Sasuke stood behind her. She didn't want to look at either of them. She wanted Naruto here, but she didn't. She wanted to forget her feelings for Sasuke.

Neji had tried talking to her. She never responded. All he knew was Hinata needed time to heal from something. She'd not spoken to Tenten, but her best friend was understanding towards her. She came by a few times, brushed her hair and sat with her in silence.

It was Naruto, she couldn't face him. Her heart ached for him the most. She'd seen the picture of his face when he called, she didn't read his text messages. She couldn't, she didn't want to hear his voice right now. She wanted to protect him more than anything from experiencing what she was.

...

Three days. He had become frustrated. He climbed up to her balcony and tried getting in, no one answered. He'd bang and shout her name out not caring if her father heard him. He was desperate.

He'd call her phone and hear it ringing but she never picked up.

Four days. Naruto sat on her balcony, he'd skip school. He could hear her crying. Something wasn't right. With every sob he heard his heart cracked a little. He thought about kicking the door in but that wouldn't do any good. He called her name out but she only went silent until she thought he wasn't there, she'd start crying again. He wondered if he was the cost for all of this?

Five days. He stayed home, he wasn't able to do anything but think of Hinata. He had spent the day reflecting on himself. Since he met Hinata he'd not been as hung over as he was for Sakura. His mind had been consumed with the thoughts of Hinata.

He'd dream about her, he wanted to touch her whenever he saw her. He liked Hinata a lot, he liked Sakura but he liked Hinata too? He was confused. He wanted Hinata but he still wanted Sakura? He didn't know what he wanted, for the long run. For now he wanted to see Hinata.

Six days. Hinata still hadn't show up. He went to school today. He went up to Sakura and told her how he felt.

It didn't go as plan, but in some ways he expected it? She rejected him. She told him she was seeing someone already and she was in love with them. She apologized to him, told him she saw him as a best friend. Things he sort of suspected but didn't want to accept. Things he had to accept now.

He cried, he felt hurt. But he felt...relief. Sakura rejection was a way of him finally letting go. He could move on from her now.

It was when he heard that Sakura was seeing Sasuke. It clicked, Hinata knew. He felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. Hinata was hurting. He wanted to punch Sasuke in the face for hurting her. But he didn't want Sasuke to have her, he knew it wasn't the bastards fault either.

Confused about what to do he went to Sai. They talked about it. At first he wasn't much help. But Sai helped in ways he needed.

' "Right now, if Sakura came to you and said Sasuke broke up with her and she wanted to be with you what will you do?" He didn't answer.

"If both Hinata and Sakura called you right now who'd you go to?" Sai asked.

"I don't know." Naruto turned away.

"Choose one Naruto you can't have both." Sai pushed on.

"I don't know. I like them both." Naruto grumbled.

"Choose." Sai repeated.

"I can't..." Naruto tried to speak but Sai wouldn't let him finish.

"Choose, Sakura or Hinata." Sai didn't miss a beat on his words.

"I said I..." He was cut off again.

"Choose." Sai said. It was beginning to annoy Naruto.

"Stop it Sai." Naruto glared.

"No. Choose, Sakura or Hinata." Sai stood his ground against the angry blonde.

"Hinata, I want Hinata for fuck sakes."

"Well. There we go, now you know what you want. It's up to you what you do." Sai pat his back.'

He wanted Hinata.

...

Day three. Hinata cried in her bathroom, on the cold floor. She heard Naruto's voice outside her balcony door. Hearing him made it worst, all she wanted was to go to him and cry in his arms. But she couldn't. She couldn't seek comfort from him.

Day four. Hinata cried because she had a realization. She liked Naruto, she like the two guys that liked Sakura.

It hurt.

How could she fall for Naruto when she knew he wanted someone else? She didn't even know until now. When she was more concerned for his feelings over hers. She'd developed feelings for him for some time but she wouldn't admit it because of Sasuke. Because of Sakura.

Day five. Hinata had forced herself out of bed after seeing her sister cry for her. It was lunch time and she had lunch with Hanabi. They didn't talk. But she could see her sister was happy about her presence. She felt a little better to be out of her room.

Day six. She talked to Tenten, the girl pretty much bulldozed her way into Hinata's room. She demanded she had her best friend back. They talked, they cried, she confessed about everything.

Her and Naruto secret sneaking around. How she had feelings for him. How Sasuke and Sakura were seeing each other. She told it all.

It felt so good, a weight was lifted off her, someone to share her troubles with, it was also so scary saying some of those things out loud, how it made her feel.

Then Tenten told her what had happened with Naruto at school. Her heart sunk.

...

Day seven. Hinata got dressed, she had put on a nice dress Tenten had suggested she worn. She then tossed it on her bed and threw on her purple hoodie and some comfy sweat pants. She brushed her own hair out today, it was a simple thing to do but she felt proud of herself.

She waited until only Hanabi was around to leave. Her sister wouldn't question her like her dad or even Neji would.

She took one of her dad's car and drove to the address Tenten had gotten from RockLee. Hoping she was at the right place she knocked on the door. They took a few minutes to answer.

"Hinata?" Naruto was standing in front of her in shock.

"Hey, Uzumaki, how's it bee-" She was swept off her feet before she could say anything. Naruto had pulled her into a tight embrace. Holding her like a child he spun her in circles. Hinata smiled, she hadn't smiled so genuinely in days.

"I missed you so fucking much, don't ever leave me like that again." He strokes the back of her head, combing through her hair, still hugging her.

"I missed you too. More than anyone else." She said pointedly, but he didn't understand.

"Do you want to come in?" Naruto asked, she shook her head saying no. Walking over to the swing set on his porch she sat down and pat the seat next to her.

He joined her, for a while they sat in silence, gathering their thoughts. Naruto had place his hand over hers, she didn't pull her hand away.

"I wanted to make sure you're okay." She said softly. She turned to him studying his face closely. Hinata watched his pretty blue eyes saddened a bit. She could see his lips tug up the slightest bit before looking directly at her.

"You heard about Sakura huh?" He asked already knowing the answer.

To her surprise he wasn't as torn up about it as she thought he'd be. He had a genuine smile upon his face, it wasn't his cute wide grins but it was a real smile. She felt a bit relieved by this, she didn't want to see Naruto hurting.

"Yeah, I did. You ok?" She asked again trying to get him to speak up, like how he did with her. She wanted him to open up about it with her.

"About Sakura, surprisingly, yes. I feel like I've sort of been over her for some time. In a way...I did still have feelings for her, or some kind of hope that she'd accept me. But when she rejected me it felt like that's what I was waiting for. It's what I needed. If that makes sense." His grip over her hand tighten. "There's something else that's been...bothering me." Naruto hesitated on saying this because he wasn't sure if it was the right timing. Everything had happened to fast. Realization had struck him like a train, thanks to Sai.

"What's that?" She asked but she sort of already knew. The moment he opened the door to her she felt a difference between them. She didn't know when things had shifted for them, but it had before she even realized she had deep feelings for him.

"First, how are you? You know with...you know?" Naruto gaze soften when he saw her bite her lips. She was still dealing with it, he could tell. He felt a pang in his chest for her.

He made a promise to himself that he'd make her forget Sasuke.

"Let's not. I'm not ready to talk about it...with you especially." She gave a sad, heart-breaking smile that didn't reach near her eyes. At least he understood what she meant by 'especially him', he didn't ask about it. "So what's it? That's bothering you?" She watched him carefully.

He wondered if he should still say. It was worth a try.

"You. Us. What we are. What I want us to be." He said boldly, but he felt more nervous about this than he did when he confess to Sakura. It's how he was certain about his feelings. Thinking about Hinata made him feel things he never did with Sakura. And if it was similar, it was stronger, he had stronger feelings for Hinata.

She looked at him now, her eyes filled with tears. "Naruto, no...I...we both just found out the person we loved. Or thought we loved. I don't even know what it is...was. It's still fresh and of we started something now. We'd just mess things up." She strokes his cheek when she saw his upset expression.

"I do want to try with you too. I do like you, a lot. Don't misunderstand me. But I think we need to heal first. We owe that to ourselves. We owe that to 'us'. She gestured between them. "Then we can try. Us." She gave him a small smile.

Her heart flutter at the thought of them being together. Not just in an intimate way, but being with Naruto in itself would make her happy.

But she had to make sure she could give one hundred percent to him. She didn't know if she could just yet.

He leaned in and she leaned away. Naruto frowned at her, she was about to explain herself to him but he beat her to it.

"Just one more kiss. If we're doing this properly. I'm guessing we can't hook up anymore. Until we're both ready. So please let me have one more." He came close to her again but this time she allowed him to kiss her. It wasn't like their others. This one was warm, sad, desperate. The emotions poured into it made her eyes water but she fought the tears back. She wasn't going to cry today.

Hinata hugged him. It felt like goodbye, even though they'd see each other soon after. Walking away from him in that moment hurt more than finding out about Sakura and Sasuke.

As much as she wanted to look back at him. Run into his arms. Kiss him. Tell him they could try from now.

She couldn't, she shouldn't, she wouldn't do that to 'them'. She wanted something genuine with Naruto. Not a rebound and being with him right now would feel like that.


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