Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

קгєץ
By : Sessakag
Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female > Naruto/Hinata
Views: 9066 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto series just this story.
Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Chapter Eleven
Like A Puppet On A String

✧༶☽-ˋˏHιɳαƚαˎˊ-☾༶✧

March 23, 2012

“You’re all set,” Hinata chirped, stopping at a table in her section, sharing a smile with the young man and older woman sharing the booth, “here’s your bill.”
“I’ll take that.”
Hinata handed the young man the small leather booklet.
“And sakura mochi to go,” she finished, holding out the to-go-bag to the older woman.
“Thanks you, dear,” the old woman said, dark eyes twinkling.
“You’re very welcome,” Hinata returned, giving a grateful bow that dropped her ponytail forward across her shoulder,“thank you for choosing Teuchi’s.”
“It’s certainly no hardship,” the gray haired granny declared, “you’ve been absolutely delightful…”
Brow furrowing, the elderly woman stared at her, a bit of frustrated confusion touching her countenance.
“Hinata,” Hinata supplied.
“Ah, yes! Hinata. How could I forget, such a beautiful name. You’ll have to excuse me, this ol’ memory of mine, just isn’t what it used to be.”
“That’s alright,” Hinata assured kindly.
“You know, my grandson here is single,” the woman informed her, her voice conspiratorial despite speaking well above a whisper, “he’s a holistic doctor, no kids, fresh on the market-”
“Grandma,” the young man chided on a exasperated sigh.
“What? You need a wife, and this young lady here is the sweetest woman I’ve come across in quite a while, certainly much nice than what’s her face,” she wagged a skinny finger at her grandson across the table, “if you think I’m going to let the opportunity for you to finally settle down with a good woman pass by, you’ve got another thing coming,” the elderly woman harrumphed, then turned a speculative gaze to a flustered Hinata, “are you single, deary?”
“Uh-”
“Enough, grandma,” the grandson grumbled, holding out the booklet to Hinata, “told you before, I don’t need you to try and find me a wife.”
“Well if I left it you, I’ll be in the ground before I ever get a great-grand. You’re not getting any younger, you know. I don’t understand why-“
“Thank you,” the man said to Hinata, ignoring his grandmother’s tirade, the inflection in his voice making it clear this was her last chance to make her escape.
Taking the booklet, Hinata gave another bow, then took the young man up on his offer and skedaddled.
Hoping there she wouldn’t run into any more matchmaking grandmothers, Hinata took the booklet to the cashier manning the desk near the restaurant entrance, then set off for her next stop.
Table 10 needed a quick clearing and should be close to check-out if desert wasn’t ordered.
She strolled over to find out.
“I’ll grab these for you,” Hinata murmured, reaching for the dirty eatery the on table.
The man helped her, handing her one of his plates.
“Thank you. Is there anything else I can get for you?” Hinata asked, stacking the empty plates and bowls in her hand, balancing the porcelain tower with an ease she’d perfected over the last two years, “another tea? Perhaps desert? We have a new desert item. For a limited time, we’re serving sakura mochi.”
“Yeah, um…”
Hinata paused in her table clearing and straightened, head tilted in curiosity as she patiently waited for him to finish.
“Well…you see…” the man muttered, dark eyes bright, and oddly determined, “I was wondering if…I mean if you want to…uh…”
His words trailed off as his midnight colored eyes skated off to the side.
This wasn’t the first time he’d exhibited such strange behavior.
Bakuto was a regular at Teuchi’s, often taking a seat in her section when there was a space open, though she couldn’t hep but wonder why he did considering he seemed a bit…nervous around her.
It happened every time he sat at her table.
His ivory skin would flush, Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat, eyes a bit wide, almost beseeching, as though he were asking her some unvoiced question he expected her to read in his gaze, just as he was now.
At first, she’d though he was just a anxious person, something she could empathize and sympathize with.
Even before she’d gone on the run, Hinata had always been skittish.
Though she wasn’t sure if her skittishness was a product of the environment she’d been raised in, or the way she’d been destined to be all along.
Wanting to put him at ease, Hinata had worked hard to try and make him feel welcome and comfortable, but she got the feeling her efforts had only made him more uncomfortable. She was convinced that the problem lay with her when she caught glimpses of him relaxed and chatting amicably with other servers when her section was full and he was forced to sit elsewhere.
She didn’t take it personal.
In her profession, in hospitality in general, people were people.
People didn’t always get along, sometimes personalities mismatched.
And that was okay.
She was just glad there were servers he felt comfortable interacting with.
Why he continued to return her section though, that was the real mystery.
“Sir?” she prompted gently, shifting his dirty plates to a more comfort position in her hand, “was there something else?”
Reaching up, he rubbed at his flaming neck, his eyes finding hers before jerking away again.
Something else he was prone to do around her.
Poor guy.
She didn’t want upset him.
Maybe she should get one of the other waitresses to finish tending his meal.
She glanced around.
Actually, that seemed like a good idea to her.
Kiba-kun had just finished doling out ramen to a table of four and was heading back to the kitchen. She was sure he wouldn’t mind seeing to the last five minutes of this one table.
“No worries,” she assured him quietly, compassion curving her lips into a understanding smile, “let me take your dishes to the back, and I’ll get another server out for to help you.”
She turned.
“Wait, miss, I-”
He reached for her, tugging her arm.
Hinata lurched to an abrupt stop, dropping the dirty plate pile to the floor.
They shattered on impact, silencing the low buzz of conversation in the ramen shop.
Every eye swung in their direction.
“Ah, I’m sorry!” Bakuto exclaimed, sliding from his seat and dipping down to the mess.
Hinata followed, finding a shard free spot to kneel as conversation slowly resumed around them.
“Oh no, no, no, it’s alright,” she assured him as he started collecting cracked plates.
Reaching out, Hinata grabbed the large pieces of jagged ceramic, unfurling her apron to hold them.
“I’m so sorry,” he repeated, grabbing two halves of the same bowl.
“Oh no, don’t trouble yourself, I have it, don’t worry,” she tried again.
Teuchi wouldn’t be happy with her if she let a customer clean up shattered dishes.
Teuchi wouldn’t be happy with the broken dishes either.
Bakuto wasn’t deterred.
He grabbed another piece, stacking it in the curved bowl shard.
Reaching out, Hinata placed a gentle hand to his wrist, stilling his flustered movement.
Bakuto turned contrite eyes to hers.
Giving him a reassuring smile, she shook her head, “it’s alright, really. It was an accident. I appreciate your help, but please, take a seat, sir. I’ll take back what I have and send someone out to sweep up the remaining shards.”
His ruddy cheeks bloomed brighter.
He reached for her hand on his wrist, gripping her palm in his sweaty one, startling her.
“Sir?” she questioned, more than a little uncomfortable with the contact.
He looked as though he were going to say something, a strange complexity working behind his eyes.
“I…” his trailed off, lips pressing together before finishing, “I’m um, really sorry, for all of this.”
She shook her head, tugging her hand back, “it’s okay, accidents happen,” then gestured to his chair, saying hospitably, “please, take your seat.”
He rubbed at his neck again, then nodded shortly, finally returning to his seat.
Relived, Hinata looked towards the back, hoping to catch the eye of a nearby busboy to help with the cleanup so she could get back to working the floor.
Her gaze snared and held on a familiar figure lounging in a window booth at the far end of her section.
He was here again.
The veteran.
Naruto Uzumaki.
And he was watching them, or rather, Bakuto.
His azure stare was sharp.
Glinting with intensity she could see across the room.
Completely unblinking above the slight downturn of his lips.
He looked undeniably displeased.
Hinata glanced at the clock, as though the ticking circle could tell her how long he’d been waiting for service.
She stood, ready to hustle his way and at the very least get him started with a menu and drink order before she found someone to sweep up the broken dishes. In the strip of hallway beyond the tattooed blonde’s booth, she spotted Kiba-kun with a young busboy holding a basin and carrying a white cloth over his arm. Her friend’s mouth was moving as he pointed in her direction, then gave the busboy a encouraging pat on the shoulder.
Lucky.
Kiba-kun had already flagged down a busboy for her.
She cast him a grateful smile, and received a triumphant grin and two thumbs up in return.
Hinata dumped her broken wares in the empty basin the busboy held out to her, thanking the young man for the change of apron he handed to her from over his shoulder, then made her way to the booth by the window, tying the apron as she moved.
Her stomach fluttered as she neared.
Her clipped steps clicking in time with the wild thumping in her chest.
She didn’t have the time, nor the desire to examen the dual sensations.
She sniffled delicately as she came to a stop at his table, brow furrowing.
She could swear she smelt the subtle scent of her strawberry and cream soap emanating from him.
She dismissed the notion almost as fast as it entered her mind.
She’d made that soap herself, there wasn’t another like it.
Not to mention, Naruto Uzumaki came across as a very…manly man, and though she knew men were not a monolith by any stretch, that each man defined what it meant to be a man differently, she was under the impression that his more…overt masculinity wouldn’t allow for fruity, feminine scents.
One of the air vents were probably blowing her own fragrance back at her, or maybe she’d used more soap than she thought she had this morning.
“Good afternoon, Uzumaki-san,” she murmured with quiet cheer, politely adding, “it’s nice to see you here again.”
He straightened a bit, uncoiling from his lounge to a more attentive position.
“Afternoon, Hinata,” he returned, articulating her name in a way that brought the butterflies back to her tummy, “couldn’t help but to come back. Found something sweeter than the mochi, ‘ttebayo.”
She blinked, wondering if she was reading his words correctly.
A charming smile spreading across his lips, sending a thrill through her pulse.
She was.
The subtle flirting left her cheeks redder than the ketchup bottle on his table.
His smile dipped abruptly as his eyes snapped over her shoulder, baby blues moving slowly from right to left, tracking something behind her.
She twisted to look, wondering what had his attention.
She saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Patrons, a few waitresses and Bakuto weaving through tables towards the exit.
“Had a rough interesting afternoon, huh?”
She whipped back around, a bit startled to find herself once again the sole recipient of his all consuming gaze.
He lifted his chin in the direction of the mess being swept by a busboy.
She glanced behind her again, then conceded, “yes, I suppose so.”
“Guy giving you trouble?” he asked casually, sitting back in the booth, though his eyes seemed a little less…warm.
“Oh, no, not at all,” she refuted, “it was an accident, he didn’t mean to.”
A short, but pregnant pause slipped between them before he spoke again.
“You know him well?” he asked, head tilting in a way that sent her nerves tingling, “he grabbed your hand like you did.”
She shook her head, a bit disconcerted, “I wouldn’t say I know him well. He’s a regular here.”
“Ah,” he replied in a ‘I see’ inflection, then lapsed into silence again, though the brightness in his eyes seemed far from quiet.
Hinata stifled the itch to fidget beneath the weight of his gaze.
She looked away, hoping to break the strange tension.
Her eyes landed on his hands resting on the table.
To her surprise, his knuckles were swollen and bruised, his tan flesh a painful looking shade of wine. Though the skin was fully intact for the most part, it looked awful, like he’d gotten them both slammed in a car door. They looked like they could use an ice pack for at least an hour, then wrapped up after applying a liberal coat of ointment to each digit.
The inked fingers flexed, stretching wide before curling into a fist.
“When I’m not bustin’ my ass at work, I box in my free time, ‘ttebayo.”
Her eyes snapped to his face, her own heating all over again as he stared back at her, a single brow raised.
Oh goodness.
She’d been openly staring at him.
Openly.
For the second time since meeting him.
“I-I’m sorry!” she sputtered, cupping her hot cheeks in her hands, “I-I don’t know why I keep-”
“Starin at me like I’m some kinda sideshow freak,” he finished for her, “I’m startin’ to take it personal.”
“Oh, no, you’re not a- I-I don’t think that at all,” she flustered, “I’m just-”
“Relax,” he snorted, grinning mischievously at her, “I’m fuckin with ya.”
She wasn’t the least bit put off by stranger had dropped an f-bomb, and not just because she was too embarrassed by her repeated rude behavior of staring at him. Ino’s potty mouth had long since desensitized her to vulgarities, now, such words sailed over her once prude head.
“Still…I’m sorry,” she murmured, feeling the residual sting of mortification echoing through her.
“Why? Doesn’t bother me,” he told her, voice velvety smooth,“don’t mind you starin’ at me, dattebayo,”
Color bloomed in her cheeks, another sensation burning away her embarrassment and replacing it with something else.
Feeling shy, Hinata tugged at her apron, losing her battle not to fidget.
“I don’t…it’s rude to stare,” she mumbled lamely.
“Not if the person gettin’ stared at don’t give a shit.”
This was a strange conversation…
“I-I suppose so,” she allowed, though she didn’t exactly agree, “umm, i-if you’re ready, I can take your drink order.”
Feeling a bit more confident in the role of waitress, she shuffled the menu from the crook of her arm and offered it to him, just barely able to meet his amused eyes.
Though that didn’t last.
Busying herself with digging out her order book from her apron instead, Hinata took that time to collect herself.
She wasn’t sure why she was so easily flustered by this man.
She’d served attractive men before.
She’d even been flirted with on several occasions.
None of this was new.
She knew what to do.
Keep herself friendly and professional.
“Iced tea,” he grunted, eyes, blessedly, on the menu, “sweet.”
She nodded, scribbling it down on her little notepad.
Slipping deeper into her role of hostess, she informed him that, “today’s special is shoyu ramen.”
“Give me that then, large, and a side of gyoza.”
“…and a side of gyoza,” she muttered as she wrote out his order.
Once finished, she held out a hand for his menu, meeting his eyes once more.
It wasn’t any easier than earlier but she bore it without flinch.
“I’ll have it out for you as soon as I can,” she told him, then retreated.
She was well aware that she was running away with her tail between her legs, but could anyone truly blame her?
Letting out a breath as soon as she reached the kitchen, Hinata took another moment to collect herself.
Naruto Uzumaki was a very…intense man, and even more startling, a man she found more attractive than she’d ever found any man before, an attraction he clearly felt as well.
She didn’t know what to do with that information though.
Hinata didn’t date.
Not that she didn’t want to.
She was allowed to now, no one could stop her, but she wasn’t sure it was a good idea to get involved with anyone right now, or at least until she was sure she wouldn’t endanger the person she was with.
Her friendship with Ino and Kiba-kun was pressure enough.
Taking another breath, she cleared her mind.
Honestly, she was getting a little ahead of herself and getting herself worked up over nothing.
They’d spoken twice.
Not exactly a cause to think about this right now.
“Pretty sure that shade of red on your face can’t be found on the RGB color scale.”
She jumped as Kiba joined her outside the kitchen door.
“I see Mr. Money bags got’s you all flustered,” the brown haired male joked.
“He’s doesn’t-”
“He’s into you, big time, ya know,” Kiba teased, “didn’t take you for a chick that liked the big, muscly, scary looking tattoo guy, though. You’re just chalk full of surprises, huh, Hinata?”
“I don’t think he’s scary.”
He gave her look as the wandered into the kitchen together.
“W-well, um, his stature can be a bit…intimidating at times,” she conceded, “but he truly is really nice, and-”
“I’ll bet he’s nice,” Kiba teased, wiggling his brows, “and you didn’t deny you were into big, muscly, scary looking tattoo guy.”
Flushing harder, Hinata sputtered, “I’m not-”
“What are we talking about?” Ayame questioned, stirring a massive steel pot.
“Hinata’s new boyfriend,” Kiba answered.
“He’s not-” Hinata started on a squeal.
“Oh, Mr. Moneybags?” Ayame said, dark eyes sly and teasing.
“That’s the one,” Kiba confirmed, eyes twinkling in her direction.
Blushing a shade below crimson, Hinata shook her head, “He’s not-”
“Gotta say, I’m impressed,” Ayame crowed, “didn’t know you liked the bad boy aesthetic. You go girl!”
“A-Ayame-san-” Hinata sputtered.
“What we gossiping about?” Tenten asked, stepping into the kitchen from the back room, tying her apron.
“Hinata’s new boyfriend,” Ayame and Kiba answered.
“You mean Mr. Moneybags?” the double-bun waitress clarified.
“Yep,” Kiba confirmed.
“He’s not my-”
“Oh come on, Hinata. Live a little,” Kiba ribbed, “long as I’ve known you, you haven’t gone on a single date, you barely go out at all. That tatted up stud asks you out, you better go or I’m stealing all your tips for the next three years at least.”
Feeling a bit put out, Hinata mumbled, “maybe you should ask him out yourself, Kiba-kun.”
“He don’t swing that way,” Kiba shrugged, “trust me, I’d know if he did, and sweetheart, if you didn’t want him, I’d be all over that. Besides, he’s made it clear he’s determined to be all over you.”
Embarrassed and scandalized, Hinata did the only thing she could do when Kiba teased her.
She hit him with ‘the face’.
Unbothered, Kiba poked one of her puffy cheeks.
“Don’t pout,” he chuckled, “it’s too cute.”
Hinata snorted a laugh, unable to hold her, ‘chubby bunny’ pout, as Kiba called it, any longer.
“Seriously though, all jokes aside,” Kiba said, amusement tapering, “you gotta learn to enjoy your life, ya know? You spend way too much time wrapped in that fortress you’ve built around yourself. Come out of the tower sometime, okay?”
Though she couldn’t say she’d actually do it, Hinata nodded.
Kiba didn’t understand.
Her fortress kept everyone safe.
“Order up!” Ayame called, placing a steaming bowl and on the serving counter.
“That’s your queue,” Kiba said, giving her bottom a swat, sending her lurching in the direction of the order, “go get em’ tiger!”
Hinata whirled around, hands to her tush, contemplating giving her wayward friend ‘the face’ again.
“Go get em’ Hinata,” he winked at her, then wagged his brows, “for both of us.”
It was official.
She was convinced all of her friend were nuts.
Shaking her head, Hinata picked up a serving tray, loaded up the meal and headed out.
Fate was truly shinning on her today, because when she returned to his table, he was speaking quietly into a cell phone, though she was surprised to hear the guttural language coming out of mouth.
It wasn’t Japanese, nor was it English.
The language sounded foreign and kind of old.
He watched her as she placed his meal on the table.
Her heart was racing a mile a minute as she resolutely focused on the task at hand rather than him.
Once finished, she gave him a half bow, careful not to disturb his call and, like earlier, skedaddled away.
Hinata wondered what good deed had led to her current upturn in luck. Business picked up shortly after she left, the late lunch/early evening crowd pouring in the door, sending her whipping back and forth from table to kitchen and back again.
There wasn’t any time for fluttering butterflies when she visited his table.
And barely time for him to ply her with deep voiced flirtations.
He ordered three more bowls after he finished his first.
By the time he finished that third bowl and asked for the check, her luck ran out.
The crowd had slowed, and there was plenty of time to chat.
“Your bill,” she said, placing the booklet with his paper receipt inside on the table.
He moved to fish out his wallet, reminding her that there was something they needed to talk about.
“Um, Uzumaki-san,” she called haltingly as he dug in his back pocket, “a-about that tip you left last time…”
She faltered, trying hard to find the best way to explain her misgivings without offending.
“I-It was very generous, but…perhaps it was…um, a bit too…overly generous?”
She cringed inside.
That sounded worse out loud than in her head.
His lips tugged up at the corner, his left left elbow coming up to rest on the table, his battered hand supporting his chin.
He gave her a once over.
Looking at her as though she were some fascinating creature he couldn’t figure out.
“First person I’ve ever met to complain about a few extra yen in their pocket,” he stated laughingly, “first time for everything I guess.”
It was far more than a few yen.
“I hope you don’t think me rude,” she replied quietly, “and I don’t mean to complain but…”
She lapsed into silence, feeling a bit foolish despite her certainty that this was the right thing to do.
Mortified, she gazed off to the side as they lapsed into silence again.
He broke the silence a beat later.
“Grew up poor as shit, ya know,” he told her dispassionately, seemingly unbothered as he continued, “used to hit up food banks on every church block in the city. Sold blood and clipped fuckin’ coupons, did a lotta other shit I probably shouldnt’ve did, just to put food in my stomach. I’m not some trust fund baby slingin’ yen around for the hell of it.”
She hadn’t thought he was.
Sure, there were hints of his wealth even before he dropped nearly half a month’s rent on her table.
Especially today.
The shiny gold, diamond studded, orange-dial watch on his wrist practically screamed opulence.
The equally shiny, equally expensive looking chain hanging around his neck was far from subtle.
Not even his clothes were something one would expect to find on a clearance rack. His black formal, three-quarter-sleeve shirt and matching slacks were obviously well made, the fabric’s quality undeniably top notch quality.
He looked like one of those handsome, successful business men she saw on the cover of magazines.
Despite his appearance, however, there was a roughness to him that spoke of hardship of some kind. His hands lacked the smoothness she’d seen on many a man born with a silver spoon in their mouth, his manner of speech was candid and his word choice was certainly not something he would have learned in a prestigious finishing school. Nor did he display any of the pompous entitlement high socioeconomic stature could nurture in a person if not careful, something she was very familiar with.
She’s assumed that hardness had come from his time in service.
That he’d lived the way she currently did hadn’t crossed her mind.
Taking in the sum of him, it wasn’t hard to see how that chapter of his life had ended.
Naruto Uzumaki had made it out of that sinking ship called poverty and by the looks of it, he’d gotten afloat on a yacht.
She couldn’t help but be glad for him.
Even though he sounded a bit detached, and matter of fact about his past hardship, her heart went out him for the years he’s spent in the trenches of financial insecurity.
She knew what it was like to struggle, what it was like to have to fight to keep your head above water.
She fought that fight everyday, after all.
“Had to do a lotta shit jobs that paid shit wages too,” he continued, pulling her from her rumination, “now, I got enough to leave tips like that and not blink, so I do it. It’s not a pity tip either. Don’t do pity pay.”
Hinata was torn between embarrassment that he’d described her job as a ‘shit job’ and appreciative gratitude that he thought to give back to others in the same position he’d been in, even though he didn’t certainly have to.
“That’s very kind of you, Uzumaki-san,” she replied, genuinely meaning it, “still, I can’t accept-”
“Not expectin’ anything for it, if that’s what you’re thinkin’,” he uttered bluntly, his candid stare leaving her in no confusion as to what he was referring to, “not that kinda guy, ‘ttebayo.”
Good lord but he was direct!
Even more so than Ino, something she’d never thought she’d come across.
A bit shocked, face doing it’s best imitation of a tomato, she sputtered, “I-I didn’t, I wasn’t trying to imply-”
“Just makin’ it clear,” he interrupted, giving her a mischievous grin, though his voice grew serious, “might as well take it. Gonna leave it here whether you take it or leave it on the table for somebody else to pocket. Up to you.”
There was steel in his eyes.
Stubbornness lining his square jaw.
He wasn’t accepting no for an answer…
…and truth be told, with her landlady’s last rent hike, she was in no position to reject the extra funds.
Still…
“I um…I make a salve for minor injuries,” she hedged, “it’s nothing special, y-you could probably buy something better at the drug store but…”
She was embarrassed by the meager offering, she truly didn’t have much to give, a handmade salve was the best she could do.
A pathetic attempt to balance the scales she felt were grossly askew.
He was determined to leave her lavish tips, but she couldn’t just take that kind of money without giving something in return.
It didn’t feel right.
Felt like she was taking advantage of him, even if he was the one freely, stubbornly, insisting she take it.
“I could bring it in tomorrow for your um, hands, if you’d like,” she offered, then back tracked, feeling a bit presumptuous, “I-If you plan on coming in tomorrow that is, if not I could hold it until-”
“I’ll be here,” he confirmed, that rumbling velvet threading his voice again.
She was determined not to fidget this time, though there was nothing she could do about the twin fires blazing on either side of her face, or the somersaults her stomach was doing.
She nodded, “I-I’m on the evening shift so-”
He leaned towards her, all bright baby blues and white teeth, “be here tomorrow evening then.”
Feeling a bit breathless, she had just enough sense to nod her head.
Todays tip was more than the last one.
And luckily, exactly the amount she needed to keep a roof over head this month.
-
A frown touched her lips as she knocked again.
No answer.
Strange…
Lodi-san never closed the leasing office before eight, and sometimes, the lights were on late into the night.
The door was locked, the blinds drawn tight, and though she thought she could see a sliver of light shining from the direction of Lodi-san’s dingy office, her landlady didn’t came to the door.
With a soft sight of defeat, Hinata turned and walked away.
She’d come back tomorrow, before she left for work.
The sun was setting as she reached her front door.
Reaching up with the key she’d had at the ready, Hinata opened the door and stepped inside, immediately locking the door behind her as she flipped the light switch.
She peered out the peephole as she sliding the door chain in place.
Nothing.
Letting out a soft sigh, Hinata trudged through her small living room, then stopped abruptly.
She looked around, certain something was out of place, but she couldn’t put her finger on what.
Dropping her hand in her purse to palm her pepper spray, she walked through slowly, looking hard for anything that seemed out of place.
The idea that she was being a bit paranoid fluttered through her mind as she glanced at the kitchen.
Perhaps so.
But she’d only got this far because she was careful.
And she’d rather be safe than sorry.
Her bedroom was clear, though she couldn’t remember if she’d left her panty drawer slightly open. She closed it as she passed by.
She paused just outside her bathroom, suspicion a nagging sensation dotting down the back of her neck.
Flipping the switch, she took in the small bathing room.
Nothing out of place.
She exhaled.
“Get a grip Hinata,” she whispered to herself.
No one was here.
No one had been in here.
She was safe.
-

March 24, 2012

There was scary a man in Lodi-san’s office.
In Lodi-san’s pristine office.
In fact, Lodi-san’s work space was the cleanest Hinata had ever seen it since becoming a resident.
It was 1:45 in the afternoon, and Hinata felt as though she’d entered the twilight zone.
The walls looked freshly washed and scrubbed, the tile floor gleaming and dirt free, and a pleasant pine soil scent lay atop a very faint scent of bleach and some obscure cleaning chemical.
Lodi-san’s usually paper covered disaster zone of a desk was organized right down to the little pink eraser.
Though orderliness was to be commended, Hinata found the change a bit…eerie.
Lounging in Lodi-san’s office chair as though it were his own, the unknown man watched her with a uncomfortable, calculating gleam in his green eyes.
Even seated, she could tell he was tall.
His tanned arms sat loose and relaxed on the armrests, big tanned hands hanging off each rest.
Hinata stood still as a deer in headlights, silently fighting the urge to bolt.
He reminded her a bit of the veteran.
Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto was kind of scary too but not…like this.
There was no charm or easy smile, and even if this man did smile, she wouldn’t be able to see it beneath the black half mask covering his mouth and nose.
Swallowing nervously, Hinata forced her lips to move, “I…I’m looking for my landlady, L-Lodi-san.”
“Lodi retired. I am her replacement.”
Her brows creased, surprise and apprehension warring for her attention.
“Retired?” she repeated.
“Retired,” he confirmed, pronouncing the word with a finality that made her a little nervous.
“Oh…O-okay…”
She dug in her purse for the white envelope.
“I have this month’s rent,” she told him, taking a cautious step towards him.
The hair’s on her nape stood on end as he tracked the movement.
This was definitely a different level of scary…
He took the envelope as she held it out, making no comment to the slight tremor of her hand.
He opened it, and started counting the bills faster than she’d ever seen anyone do.
She was even more surprised when he handed her fourteen thousand yen back.
Then he reached for a little black book on the desk, and scratch something out, ignoring her shocked face as he did.
“Next month, ¥71,898,” he growled, glaring at the numbers in his ledgers.
Hinata swallowed, then nodded.
As scary as her new landlord was, she’d take the drop in rent with no complaint.
It was still high, and she’d have to work hard, but maybe now she could rebuild her savings.
Taking his continued silence and focus on writing something in his book as a dismissal, Hinata bowed and saw herself out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For real now, I’m gonna start the one-shots, so this is going on pause :P
Had to get this chapter out though since it was mostly done and like I said, Prey has been constantly on my mind. Let me know if something is like missing. I could swear I was supposed to fill in a scene but I can’t remember and I’m too tired to go through it again.
Also, after reading the chapter, what’s the significance of the title? Wanna see if I’m conveying the right message XD
Don't forget to review!
Going try and sleep now.
Laters!
Sessakag~
- 10
- 11
- 12
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

קгєץ	By : Sessakag Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female > Naruto/Hinata Views: 9066 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto series just this story.

קгєץ