Oh No, Not Another Highschool Fic!
Chapter Nine: Running
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other copywritten material used or referenced to in the making of this fanfiction.
Turned out, Anko had been right. For the next week, the twins not only left her alone, but they went out of their way to ignore the crap out of her. For that she was grateful but she wished there had been another way. A way that didn't leave her face green and purple. Hinata sighed as she touched the sickly green bruise that stretched from her temple to her high cheekbone and her mirrored reflection mimicked her. Lee had hit her so hard it gave her a black eye too, she still had trouble opening it all of the way. She pulled her hair down from her pony tail and combed it over the side of her face with her fingers in a futile attempt to hide her injury.
The Hyuga hissed in frustration. She hadn't been to the Movie Shack since the fight; she hadn't seen Naruto since then either. For the last week she prayed and prayed that Naruto wouldn't walk in and see her at her job and thankfully her prayers were answered but today…She didn't really have much of a choice. She was all out of movies to watch and the only place to get one in town was at the Movie Shack. So Hinata has been in the restroom of The Little One since the moment she got off 30 minutes ago trying to figure out a way to get in and out of the Movie Shack without him seeing her in all her hideous glory.
A knock on the door startled her, causing her to jump slightly. She let out a soft breath of air and pressed a hand to her chest. "J-just a s-second." She called gently. Running her fingers through her hair one more time, she steadied her nerves and walked out the bathroom. The bluenette smiled sheepishly at her annoyed co-worker and shuffled past her with her head down. She nodded to her boss as she pushed the glass door open and limped out of the restaurant.
Hinata stood there for a second as the panic began to rise in her chest but she swallowed it down as butterflies opened their wings in her stomach. Quickly, she hobbled across the street and pulled the door to the Movie Shack open before she lost her nerve. She ducked behind the first row of shelves she saw and quickly made her way through the aisles. She got to the row she wanted without any problems and breathed a sigh of relief; now she just had to find a movie. Her eyes started scanning the shelves quickly until she froze. Someone was tapping her shoulder and from the smell of his aftershave, she was pretty sure it was Naruto.
"Hey, where have you been all week?!" He leaned forward to try and get a view of her face but Hinata leaned forward too. "Hey, what's wrong?" He leaned forward again but she ducked away, moving out of his immediate reach.
The Hyuga stood with her back facing him and a hand covering the bruises on her face. "I-I went back to s-school…I just came t-to get a v-video…" Quickly, she grabbed a random video off of the shelf and ran up the front counter to pay for it. She breathed a sigh of relief when Naruto didn't follow her and soon she was out the door and on her way home.
Hinata snuggled farther under her fleece blanket as she popped another sweetened kernel in her mouth. This was her thing. Sitting on the couch in the middle of the night, watching movies and eating kettle corn. She liked being alone and having this time to herself. She liked not having to think about anything. She liked not having to answer to anyone but the actors on the screen. Sometimes. Her eyes swiveled over to the other side of the couch where her sister was currently glued to. Hanabi tended to join her in her movie adventures when there was nothing else to do and oh how she loathed those days. Hanabi had the worst habit of talking to the screen.
"OH MY GOD! Seriously?! Seriously?!Don't you know that belladonna is poisonous?!"
The bluenette watched as her sister threw her hands in the air, her face flushed with anger. "Hanabi…"
The youngest Hyuga turned to her, her eyes wild with frustration. "NO! She's being stupid. She just killed a man, and now she wants to revive him using black magic! That's so stupid! Why doesn't anyone in movies realize that you just don't do black magic?!"
Hinatas' eyes narrowed. "…Hanabi…"
"And why does she listen to everything her sister says anyway? Huh? Isn't she supposed to be the smart one?! That's like you telling me to bring back your abusive boyfriend from the dead after you killed him!"
"Hanabi…We aren't e-even halfway i-into the movie yet…"
"I KNOW!" They stared at each other for a few seconds before sighing and turning their attention back to the movie. Another 15 minutes passed before Hanabi decided to start talking again. "Hey sis…Have…Have you noticed something strange."
The elder sister shoved some more kettle corn in her mouth, her eyes not leaving the screen. "Hnn?"
The pre-teen turned her whole body to face her sister and pulled her legs to her chest before resting her chin on her knees. (A/N: I've always wanted to do this, but I've got big boobs so…) "At school. Everyone…Everyone keeps asking me if daddy is a spy or if momma was a police officer. I've never seen people so obsessed with that kind of stuff…And then there is the obstacle course…And how you got beat up for no reason…"
Hinata's eyes snapped over to her sister and she coughed as she tried to dislodge the kernel that went down the wrong pipe. "I-i…" She looked down in her lap as she tried to find the right words.
"You know something don't you?" Hanabi scooted closer to her and Hinata backed up until there was nowhere else to go. "What is it?! Why is everyone so weird?"
Biting her bottom lip, Hinata jumped off the couch. "I-i…I Just remembered…I have an e-essay to do for …E-english. G-good night Hanabi." She turned and ran to her room, closing and locking the door behind her. Her breath was coming in short gasps as a panic attack overcame her. She hated this. She hated lying to her sister. She hated having to hide from her crush. She hated the school and everything it was doing to her. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks and the bruises on the side of her face throbbed painfully. Soon she was sobbing on the floor with her back to the door.
The next morning Hinata woke with a crick in her neck from sleeping in such an awkward position. She released a groan as she righted herself, a hand pressed to the back of her neck. With a sigh, she stood and went to the bathroom, hopefully a warm shower would loosen the muscle.
Just as she stepped into the shower, someone knocked on the door. "Hinata. I need to speak with you and your sister in the living room. You have five minutes to shower and dress."
Hinata pouted. So much for loosening the muscle. "Y-yes daddy. I'll f-finish quickly." And that she did.
As Hinata walked into the living room, she realized that her sister was already seated in her favorite chair. She gave her sister a small glare and sat on the couch instead. If her sister was going to hold a grudge about last night, she would just let her. She was too emotionally exhausted to deal with it. So she closed her eyes and waited for her father to arrive with their usual "Serious discussion" snacks. Two minutes later her father was setting the coffee table up with tea and bowls of grapes and strawberries. They each took their share and began munching, an awkwardly comfortable air in the room.
Their father set his tea cup down and folded his hands in his lap. "Hinata. I understand that your sister asked you about…the school and your recent fight. Is there a reason you did not tell her?"
Hinata looked down at her lap and bit her lip. "I-I…"
"I understand it is a lot for you to handle at the moment, however, your sister has the right to know as well." He looked over the two of them and sighed when neither of them moved to speak. "The flying Leaf Academy…Is a prep-school for government agents." He rubbed his hand over his chin, scratching at his 5 o'clock shadow. "You both were given scholarships in order to attend. This school… It is the real reason we moved here."
Hanabi slowly set her tea cup down on the table. "But why did the school give us scholarships? Hinata failed last year and I'm only in middle school!"
Hiashi sighed and leaned back in his seat. "I…don't know. I couldn't say no to Them."
"W-why not?" The words escaped her lips before she could think about them. Hinata sat with her eyes wide and a half chewed strawberry in between her teeth.
Her fathers' lips pressed themselves into a thin line and he glanced down at his hands before looking back up at her. "I can't tell you." He sighed heavily and stood up before gesturing to the rest of the snacks. "Finish this, I have some business to attend to." He nodded to them and walked toward his bedroom.
The sisters sat in their seats for a minute staring after their father before turning to look at each other, unanswered questions on the tips of their tongues.
"Are you going to run from me again?"
Something told Hinata that going to the movie shack again would be a bad idea, but she really needed another movie. Too bad she didn't listen to her first instincts. The 16 year old girl slowly turned toward the blonde man with her head hanging low—her black mane of hair covering the discolored side of her face. "I-I just…N-needed a m-movie…" She whispered. She tried to push past him but he grabbed her shoulders and held her in place.
"Why are you running from me? What's wrong? I thought we were starting to be friends…"
Hinata pulled her chin to her chest so that he couldn't see her face. "I…i-I need to g-get home…i-I have a proje—" She jumped when he placed a hand under her chin to tilt her face up. His other hand brushed the hair away from her face and she flinched at the intense look in his eyes.
"You…Is this from school?" His fingers grazed the greenish skin around her eye. When Hinata only nodded he sucked in a sharp breath and grabbed her wrist before bringing her to the back room of the store. When they were safely behind closed doors he turned back to her. "Who did they have you fight?"
Hinata bit her lip and looked at the ground once more. "R-rock L-lee…"
"What?! Why the hell would they have you fight him for your first spar?! T-That's fucking bullshit." Naruto started pacing the room, a deep frown on his face. "Tsunade couldn't have allowed that to happen, even if she was pissed with you for skipping school."
"I-it was …Punishment…by Ms. Mitarashii."
He took a short look at her before he continued on with his pacing. "Of course, that psycho bitch doesn't care about Tsunade's orders." He sighed and sat down in one of the office chairs, gesturing her to take a seat as well. "What program are you in anyway?"
"S-sleeper…"
He groaned. "Ugh, you're killing me here." Her eyebrows only rose and he sighed. "You're too…Nice to be a sleeper…You're gonna get hurt. What possessed them to put you in that program."
"You…Did you g-go to that s-school too?"
Naruto's eyes darkened and he leaned back in his seat, his head turned toward the cealing. "Yeah. I refused to graduate so I failed all of my classes. Now I'm stuck in this town, working at this store for the rest of my life."
"W-why?"
"Why what?"
"Why d-didn't you want t-to graduate?"
Naruto hummed softly before he smiled. "If you come to my birthday party next week, I'll tell you."
A/N: Yeah, I'm sorry. Really crappy chapter. I had to get something out though. I promise, Next chapter is a little more interesting. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it really meant a lot. See you guys on Christmas!
