Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

ᗰOᑎᔕTEᖇ	By : Sessakag Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female > Naruto/Hinata Views: 44706 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Chapter Six
Man Up

June 12, 2008

“Naruto.”
Naruto-kun
“Hey, Naruto.”
I love you, Naruto-kun
“Helloooo, Naruto.”
For a long time….
How long was “a long time”?
Why didn’t she tell him sooner?
“EARTH TO NARUTO!”
Naruto jerked away from the loud voice in his ear. He turned to glare at the culprit, rubbing his abused ear.
“What the hell’s your problem, Sakura-chan?”
“My problem?” she questioned, hands on hips, “you’ve been spacing out since we left the village, what is going on with you?”
He blushed, eyes drifting away.
No way in hell was he gonna tell her what was going on in his brain. A fist full of Sakura fury didn’t sound the least bit appetizing, though he had to admit he really did deserve it after the mess he had created with his bumbling and clumsy actions. His mind was still reeling from how quickly things had gone down hill that night. One moment his hands had been full of the softest curves he’d ever felt, the sweetest lips fused to his, and the next his mouth had opened and without much thought, he had inserted his foot into it.
“Nothing.” he mumbled.
Even as he said it, he knew she didn’t buy it.
“Sure, Naruto. You’ve been gloomy and depressed for the last two days,” she countered, hands on hips, “Look, whatever it is, deal with it later. This isn’t a routine, run of the mill mission, you need to focus.”
He knew that without her telling him. Kakashi had made clear that what they were assigned to do was risky and would require not only highly skilled ninja but sharp observation. Team 7 was headed to the remnants of a village, ravaged and annihilated over night. Their objective was to collect any evidence that could help uncover the source of the attack. Their mission was extremely important, and potentially, very dangerous.
They weren’t the first group dispatched to this area.
Though it wasn’t a high number yet, a few ninja sent out to investigate had not returned and the recovery team sent to retrieve the injured or the deceased never seemed to find anyone, dead or alive. A situation that wasn’t unprecedented, but given Konoha’s tenuous situation at the moment, one missing nin was one too many. They needed every shinobi they could get right now.
Naruto was confident in his skills as a shinobi, more so than anyone, but he couldn’t afford to let his guard down.
As strong as he was, he’d be an idiot to think someone wasn’t stronger.
It was rule number two in the study material of the jonin rank.
Never mistake power for invincibility. Even the strongest fall.
He knew all that and he really was trying to keep his mind clear, but when there wasn’t much to do, or there was a lull in their search, his mind couldn’t help but turn over the stunning events that had happened two days ago, especially since he had left without setting things right with Hinata.
Gentle, sweet Hinata, who had left his apartment hurt and heartbroken over him.
His shoulders sagged, thinking about her trembling body and grief stricken voice.
He released a breath.
He hadn’t even told Sakura what had happened between him and Hinata. How could he? He didn’t want to hurt Sakura too and he knew she would dislocated his jaw for feeling up Hinata. If he could put it off , at least until they returned to Konoha, maybe he could figure out a way to phrase his words in a way that wouldn’t lead to broken bones. On top of that, he was going to have to break off this….whatever they had going on completely before he saw Hinata again. That kiss and Hinata’s confession had changed things.
His feelings for Sakura had become clear. The like he had for Sakura wasn’t what it was years ago. With absolute certainty he could say he did not love Sakura the way a man loves a woman.
A good friend.
A sister.
That was what he felt when he compared her to Hinata, to what he felt that night.
He frowned, rubbing the anxiety from his stiff neck.
When had his love life gotten so complex?
He remembered wishing for girls to be all over him as a kid, of being jealous of Sasuke for being Mr.Popular. What a stupid wish. Now he knew what the meaning of the phrase “be careful what you wish for, because you might get it” truly meant.
A shadow passed over head, giving him a reprieve from his thoughts..
A giant white bird lowered next to the duo, Sai seated atop its back.
“The town is up ahead, but I don’t see any movement.”
That wasn’t a good sign. The hope had been that maybe the recovery team had missed survivors. The search and rescue part of their mission would probably prove fruitless now.
“We’ll check it out.” Sakura said.
Sakura was team captain of this expedition, having reached jonin rank a month ago.
“Naruto, keep an eye out.” she ordered.
Naruto opened his eyes, having anticipated the order and activating sage mode. They took off at a jog. Naruto let the flow of energy wash over him, identifying and dismissing the familiar chakra of his teammates in favor of searching their surroundings for those he didn’t know. He didn’t sense anything up ahead. No indications of an enemy, but no sign of civilian chakra either.
Dread settled in the pit of his stomach.
If there were any villagers or shinobi in the village, they were either dead or close to it.
“Sakura-chan, I’m not getting anything, enemies or otherwise,”
She nodded and the three of them increased speed.
It was worse than they thought.
The village had been ravaged, homes burned to the ground, the smell of death hanging heavy in the air. The bodies, blood and body parts of men, women, children, shinobi and civilians alike littered the street. It was an absolute horror scene, as though a pack of wild animals had ravaged the gathering of human beings. Gore pained the walls of burned out buildings and homes. Severed heads tossed carelessly. The bodies that were intact smelled horrible, their skin wrinkled and blue, as though some creature had suck a straw into their flesh and sucked out everything inside, leaving a skinny husk being. Chunks of flesh had been torn from their necks and limbs, their pruney faces twisted in terror and pain.
“How horrible,” Sakura whispered, covering her nose against the stench.
His stomach turned, bile at the back of his throat.
This was worse than he expected.
He could understand now why the peace treaty was in so much trouble. If one of the Five nations was responsible for this massacre…
Even he couldn’t forgive such a thing.
Sharp blue eyes moved over the carnage.
What the hell had happened here?
“Spread out,” Sakura commanded, “Search for any life and anything suspicious.”
The three of them moved cautiously though the village, securing the location, scanning for enemies and clues. It was a long and tedious exercise, one Naruto was prepared for. His eyes moved careful over the destruction, searching for anything remotely useful to an investigation.
Their search turned up nothing substantial. Unfortunately, with no indication of what had happened, their only source of information would have to come from the remains.
Several bodies were collected and sealed in a scroll for examination back at the village.
Naruto summoned several clones and the group proceeded to bury the dead, feeling a little better that at least the poor villagers would receive a proper and respectful burial in their home town.
The sun was descending by the time they finished.
Tired and dirty, the group returned to their camp near a river for a bath and rest. Sakura bathed first, while Sai and Naruto gathered material for a fire. Once the fire was taken care of, Sakura started dinner while Naruto and Sai cleaned up.
Naruto was glad to get clean.
Yesterday, they hadn’t even utilized the river, too focused on planning out their route to the town and what to do in case they met up with opposition. With two days worth of grime on him, he was more than ready to jump in head first. He couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about being out in the field again, though he wished his first mission back hadn’t included dead people.
He sighed, pushing the gore from his mind, something he’d learned to do not only as a ninja, but a veteran of war.
If there was on lesson he had learned over his years of life as a shinobi, it was that in this line of business, purging horrific memories and clearing the mind of harsh realities that couldn’t be changed was essential to the mental health of a ninja. Seeing death, causing death, facing death on a daily bases could drive in the strongest insane or at the very least a deep depression.
He stripped off his clothes and moved to the river’s edge to soak the sleeve of his black uniform jacket.
Naked, he washed the blood and dirt from the garment and hung it over a nearby tree before moving back to the river to bathe, soap and a wash cloth in hand.
“Hmmm, guess you need a new nickname, Naruto-kun.” Sai commented.
Naruto stepped into the water, looking over at the bathing male briefly.
“I told you not to call me that, dattebayo. It’s weird. And what do you mean a new nickname?”
With that creepy smile, Sai pointed at Naruto’s crotch.
“Dickless is hardly appropriate anymore,” he explained, as though they were discussing the whether, “you’re a late bloomer but boy did you bloom,”
Naruto turned away, cheeks red, glaring over his shoulder.
“W-what the hell is up with you and my dick Sai? Sorry to disappoint you but I don’t swing that way!”
Sai waved the comment away.
“If I were into guys, you certainly wouldn’t be my first pick.”
Weird as it was, Naruto felt a little offended at that.
“And who exactly would be your first pick?” he pouted.
“Lee-san.”
Naruto felt his brow twitch as his mind conjured a mental image of Sai and Lee locking lips.
“I don’t even wanna know why.” Naruto mumbled.
Taking the soap, a closed eyed aggravated expression on his face, Naruto lathered his wash cloth and began to wash his body. Minutes of solitude ticked by. He was washing his hair when Sai opened his big mouth again.
“Hmmm, how about monster cock?” Sai pondered aloud, “Elephant trunk? Dickzilla? Hmmmm. The hung ninja of the Hidden Leaf?”
Naruto made sure the soap he tossed at Sai’s head had quite a bit of force behind it. He went back to bathing the moment he heard the thunk of the bar breaking over a thick skull.
xxxxxx
“So what do you think about all this, Sakura-chan?” Naruto asked.
The trio lay spread out around the campfire. Naruto stared up at the night sky, arms behind his head. The cold hard ground beneath him brought back so many memories. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed being out in the field. Camped out, the endless night sky twinkling overhead.
“I’m not sure,” she said from across the fire, “I’ve never seen anything like it though. From what I could tell from a preliminary examination, it looked like their blood had been drained down to the marrow….not only that, the pruning of the skin seemed to be caused by the draining of chakra quickly and completely, and there were really tiny burns, like their tenketsu had been seared shut.”
Naruto sat up, shocked.
Sai turned his head towards her.
“The blood and chakra drained and the tenketsu sealed?” Naruto repeated.
“Its only a preliminary assessment, so take it with a grain of salt. I don’t have the Byakugan so I can’t really say if that’s what happened to their tenketsu but that’s what it looked like to me. When we get back to the village we’ll be able to examine in depth and gain a better understanding of the cause of death and maybe even draw up a profile of who or what attacked these people. Sai, did you-”
“I’ve sent the scrolls ahead of us,” Sai said, “If there’s anything to learn from those bodies, the medical staff will find out,”
“Hmmm.” Naruto hummed, laying back down, once more observing the night sky.
Besides the Hyuuga clan, he didn’t know of anything or anyone else that could stop tenketsu, and even then, the Hyuuga certainly didn’t melt it closed. He had never heard of anything like that.
He sighed.
Wouldn’t do him any good to stress about it right now. He’d have to wait until the medical team had more information.
The bright moon caught his attention.
His heart ached.
He was anticipating and dreading returning home. He wanted to see her, to see Hinata’s happy, smiling face and yet he was scared to face her. He didn’t have a reply to her confession. What he said that night was true. He had been drinking, and had not been touching her out of love, but out of lust. While he didn’t love Sakura, he didn’t know if he loved Hinata and was terrified of ruining the deep friendship they shared if he hadn’t already done so.
He ran his fingers through his hair, brows creased as guilt and shame threatened to bring tears to his eyes.
He clenched his teeth.
He had never in his life seen her so hurt. Even now he could feel her trembling body against his hand. That night he had been so damn stunned and shocked he had not gone after her and was still kicking himself because of it.
What he would have said, he would never know.
But at least he could have held her, soothed her hurt, if only a little.
His hand fisted.
Even if he didn’t know what to say, as her best friend, as a guy she was in love with, couldn’t he have offered her a shoulder to cry on? Given her comfort and ease when she needed it the most?
Pain tightened his chest.
Hadn’t she done that for him whenever he need it?
Without hesitation.
Without asking for anything in return?
He couldn’t think of one time where she had demanded his comfort, his support for herself. Even when they talked she was reluctant to lay her burdens on his shoulders, not because she didn’t trust she would explain, but because he had been through so much, was still going through a lot with his missing arm. At every turn, she had placed him above herself and had not uttered a word of complaint. Had seemed happy to do so.
His cheeks colored in shame.
He was selfish.
Cruelly selfish.
He turned his back on the fire, staring at the trunk of a tree a few feet away.
When he returned to the village he would make things right with her. He would be honest with her, tell her he wasn’t sure if he was in love with her but that he wanted to give it a chance, just as he had done with Sakura and if it strained their friendship, they’d deal with it.
Together.
They didn’t have a choice, because whether his feelings for her were love for a woman or love for a close friend, he couldn’t live his life without her in it.
Resoluteness filled him.
October was right around the corner.
He was going to be eighteen years old.
It was time to man up.
He was no longer a child, hadn’t been in quite a while and he couldn’t keep behaving like one. He had to get his act together. If he was ever going to become Hokage, to become a man that was decisive and respected he would have to start now.
He closed his eyes, determination flowing through him.
There were a lot of things that he was going to have to prioritize, to pay attention to. His path to jonin, his path to Hokage, this new threat to the peace, his love life.
He was more than up for the new challenges adulthood offered.
Butterflies filled his stomach.
He hoped….
xxxxxx
June 14, 2008

“I’m surprised the medical team doesn’t have more information,” Sakura commented as she, Naruto and Sai left the Hokage tower after giving their report and the debriefing that followed, “Having the actual body to study normally results in at least an immediate hypothesis of cause of death.”
“Hmm, I think that maybe because the situation is so sensitive since its an issue that’s not just local but international, they’ll have to be really careful about information released to the public. They may have classified the results of the initial exam. The wrong information heard by the wrong people and we could have a panic on our hands, not to mention tension and suspicion among shinobi from different regions,”
Naruto walked with his hands behind his head, his mind a million miles away. Tension had tightened his belly, leaving him slightly nauseous and his palms sweaty. He was trying to find the balls to take Sakura aside and tell her what he had decided to do about them.
He hoped she wouldn’t take it hard.
Hurting one girl so important him was painful, and he didn’t want a repeat of the situation with Hinata.
He took a breath.
“Umm, Sakura-chan….”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Can we….talk?”
The group stopped. Sakura looked up at him, confused at the seriousness of his tone.
“Talk about what?” Sakura asked.
“Well…….”
Brow twitching in irritation, Naruto slowly turned to the third wheel that clearly didn’t know how to take a hint. That offensive grin on his pale face, Sai stood uncomfortably close to them both, clearly intent on listening in on whatever words the two were about to exchange.
“Do you mind?” Naruto asked.
“Not at all, go ahead,”
“Get lost Sai, I need to talk to Sakura-chan alone,”
“Ahhh, I see this is one of those situations. The book-”
Sakura sighed, cracking her knuckles.
“Sai, would you like to walk away on your own, or do you need help?”
“I think I will head home now,” he said, “Lot of painting to do. See you later, ugly, cockzilla.”
“SAI!”
“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING UGLY?”
He was gone before they could move.
“That guy….” Sakura growled at his retreating back.
“That idiot.” Naruto commented, cheeks ablaze.
Sakura sighed.
“Now, what did you want to talk about?”
He lifted a hand to his neck, feeling incredibly uncomfortable and nervous.
Shit.
He absolutely did not want to hurt her feelings, but he couldn’t afford to let things go any longer. He was determined to set things right with Hinata and see if she was willing to explore things between them before the day ended. In order to do that, he had to have a clean break from Sakura.
“Listen, Sakura-chan, I’ve been thinking, and……” he trailed off, eyes focused behind her.
“Naruto?”
Sakura turned, trying to locate what had his attention. A few buildings down Hinata, dressed in a bright yellow sun dress was coming out of a restaurant, a tall white haired man next to her. He held the door for her, smiling down at her as he spoke. One of his hands came up to her lower back, ushering her through the door.
The handsome man wore an expensive suit, his hair neatly combed, ice blue eyes warm and intent on the woman he spoke to.
The stood out in the street now, facing each other as they spoke. The man smiled, reaching down to capture her hands. Even from a distance Naruto could see the redness spreading across her cheeks.
Anger coiled in the pit of his gut. Jealousy sharp and overwhelming. Blood pounded through his veins. The urge to rip her away from the polished man curling his hands into fists.
Who the fuck was he?
He had never seen the guy before, of that he was damn certain. He made a note of men that interacted with her and the list was very small and of that short list, not one of them held her interest. Not enough for her to be out on a date while he was gone on a mission.
He felt…..betrayed, as inappropriate as it probably was for him to feel that way considering his situation with Sakura.
Hadn’t he done the same thing while she was gone?
Gotten with Sakura while her back was turned?
Is this how she had felt when he told her?
His teeth clenched.
Still, hadn’t their kiss meant anything to her? Before things had gone south, she had been just as into it as he had been. Not for a moment did he believe that he had only imagined her lips pressing back against his, her hands running through his hair, her thighs wrapped around his waist.
It had damn sure meant something to him, even before her confession.
He knew he had messed things up afterwards, had bumbled through the situation like a freaking idiot, but couldn’t she at least give him a chance to fix it before she moved on to someone else?
Wasn’t she in love with him?
Hadn’t she confessed to him four days ago?
“Is that Hinata?” Sakura questioned, turning back to him,“Who’s that guy? I didn’t know she was dating any……one,”
Sakura was a little taken aback at the wrath on her friend’s face. She had seen him angry before but it normally took a lot to upset her normally laid back, happy-go-lucky friend.
“...Naruto?”
Angry, hurt and burning with jealousy, Naruto strode towards the pair. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, muscles tensing for a fight. Thinking of her with someone else had always irritated him more than anything, but to see her with someone else was worse than anything he had dreamed of.
It made him crazy.
“.….very tasty, Hinata-san,” the man was saying, “I had a really good time,”
“Y-you’re welcome, Toneri-san. I…I’m very happy that you-”
“Hinata,” Naruto called out, his voice hard and impatient even to his own ears.
She looked over at him, her eyes wide and surprised. He stared back at her, trying to figure out if she was shocked to see him or shocked that he’d interrupted her…..date.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve been introduced,”
Blazing blue eyes cut to the speaker.
The man’s voice was frigid and arrogant, the sound grating, repugnant to his ears. The words rubbing him completely the wrong way. The man moved slightly, positioning his body between Naruto and Hinata, as though she needed protection from him of all people.
Naruto narrowed his eyes, the move pissing him off.
His spine stiffed at the insult.
Naruto had been her protector and defender long before this polished asshole had rolled up on the scene.
Ice blue eyes clashed with azure.
Intense distaste mutual between both men.
The air felt tense and suffocating as the two glared. Hostility at first sight was rare for him. He was usually open to giving anyone a chance or at least getting to know them before he made up his mind about them but at this moment, he could honestly say he couldn’t stand the man across from him.
That smug look, his close proximity to Hinata, the way he had put his hand on her like he had a right to.
All of it was irritating the fuck out of him, increasing his agitation.
“T-Toneri-san, this is Naruto-kun,” Hinata introduced, “N-Naruto-kun, this is T-Toneri-san,”
The two didn’t even attempt to shake hands.
“Nice to meet a friend of Hinata-san’s,”
His jaw ached as his teeth clenched.
Friend.
He was more to her than a friend.
Aggravated beyond belief, Naruto reached out for Hinata’s hand, tugging her away.
“We need to talk,” he mumbled.
They only got a few feet away from the irritating man before she spoke up.
“Ah, N-Naruto-kun…w-wait I can’t leave yet. Toneri-san-”
He stopped and turned to look at her.
Was she really taking that guy’s side?
Was it really that easy for her to fall out of love with him that quick?
Irritated, with her, with himself, he let go of her hand.
“Didn’t take long for you to find someone else,” he accused, unable to stop the ugly words coming out of his mouth, “I know what I said that night….and I know that I hurt you….but I didn’t think you’d move on that quick after claiming to love me….Four days and you’re already on a date with someone else,”
He turned away from her, unable to look her in the eye. This was exactly what he had worried about, had dreaded. Hinata tossing him aside for some else. Someone else becoming more important to her than he was.
His gut clenched.
He was being selfish again.
She didn’t belong to him, they weren’t together, he had no reason to feel and act the way he was and yet he couldn’t help it. His emotions felt raw and out of control. To be faced with losing her to some other man now that he realized what he wanted to be to her was twisting him in knots.
He had to get out of here, to calm down and think about things. He turned to leave.
She reached out and grabbed his hand.
“N-N-Naruto-kun t-that’s not-”
He snatched his hand away.
“Go back to your date,” he mumbled.
He barely noticed Sakura as he passed her, pushing chakra to his feet and leaping away.
xxxxxx
Night was falling.
The town’s lights dimming, people on the street making their way home. Naruto sat atop the Hokage monument, over looking the quieting city. He sat silently, arm thrown over one of his up drawn knees.
He felt like an idiot.
With his head cool and time to think, he had had to face some hard truths.
He had no right to expect fidelity from her when they weren’t in a relationship and not only that he still hadn’t ended things with Sakura himself.
Hell, he had no right to ask anything of her.
She had every right to be with anyone she wanted.
And it drove him absolutely crazy.
She drove him crazy.
“Naruto.”
He turned to watch Sakura take a seat next to him.
“You wanna talk about it?”
He remained quiet. He didn’t really want to go into detail of how he had made a complete ass of himself.
“.…This isn’t working out between us, is it?”
“No……I’m sorry Sakura-chan.”
“Mmm, I figured that out a while ago, probably knew it before we even started,” she said drawing bother her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, “I think I should…apologize to you Naruto,”
He looked over at her, surprised.
“I was….using you…” she said, “I thought what I was feeling for you was something that it wasn’t it. I…was jealous of how close you and Hinata were becoming and felt lonely because…with Sasuke gone, you’re all I’ve got really, the only thing left of our original group and….I guess I was feeling lonely. Scared I was losing you too. I’ve always loved Sasuke, I still do but sometimes I feel like I’m in love all by myself…”
She hesitated, her face red with discomfort.
“That I’m fooling myself into thinking he’ll return my feelings one day.” she admitted, “The moment he had the chance, he left me behind again…and hasn’t been in contact with me since. I know he said he wanted to repent, I know its important to him, but I can’t help feeling…abandoned sometimes. Ino has Sai, Shikamaru has Temari, you have Hinata and I’ve got a childhood dream that seems farther and farther away…I’m sorry I dragged you into this, Naruto. It wasn’t not fair to you….or to her…Hinata…..she’s been in love with you for years,”
Hinata…
His eyes lowered.
Even though she had confessed, had admitted to loving him for a long time, it was still a shock for him to hear, let alone to comprehend.
“How long has she….”
“Since the academy at least,”
He thought back to those childhood years, the fainting around him, the stutter, the fidgeting and soft intensity in her eyes. It all clicked, like puzzle pieces finally coming together to form a picture that had been right in front of his face the whole time. He felt stupid in a new way, and angry at himself for not realizing sooner.
That night, so long ago, after Jiraiya’s death, he hadn’t been comforted by a childhood friend, he’d been held by a girl that longed to be with him.
Thinking back, the incident with Pain chilled him to his core.
She hadn’t been risking her life to save him as a friend and fellow shinobi. She had been risking her life as a girl in love with him.
“Why the hell didn’t she say anything? Why did she wait all this time?” he burst out.
“Because Hinata is Hinata. She’s a girl in love,” Sakura said softly, her voice wistful, “To her, you come first. The kyuubi, Sasuke, the Akatsuki, Jiraiya, Pain, training, the war, your arm, all the publicity and everything in between, when would have been a good time to tell you something like that?”
He could find nothing to refute that with. His life had been a constant roller coaster of drama, tragedy and heartache. He knew himself now and back then and knew without a doubt that he would not have handled something like a love confession well at all.
Red stained his cheeks.
Considering how he had handled Hinata’s confession now that his life wasn’t as chaotic spoke volumes.
“You’ve been going through a lot in your life, she didn’t want to make things harder on you by burdening you with things like love. You weren’t ready for something like that. You barely are now from the looks of it.” Sakura said, unknowingly echoing his thoughts.
He lowered his chin to his knee.
“Not only that, Hinata has always been a shy girl, her self-confidence is really low, and with you howling about being in love with me, why on earth would she speak up?”
It made sense he guessed, but he wasn’t a guy that was hard to approach was he? Did she think he would have laughed at her? Made fun of her or something like that?
“I wouldn’t have been mean to her if she had told me…” he said, “Even if she was really shy, why couldn’t she have wrote me a letter or something. I’m not the type to make people feel bad.”
“From what she’s said over the years, to her you are her dream guy,” she giggled, “goofy smile, air head and all. She didn’t want to take the chance of missing her only chance to confess properly.”
He couldn’t smile at that.
“Did she really…..think that….about me?”
“Of course she does. Whenever me and Ino could coax her to open up, you were all she talked about, even as children. You’ve always been her ideal guy.”
He couldn’t imagine he was any girl’s ideal man. He was really dumb and oblivious, he didn’t have smooth good looks like Sasuke or that Toneri bastard, he was loud and blunt, obnoxious most people said.
Sure he had power now, and even the admiration of a lot of people, but he had been such a loser the majority of his life and here Sakura was telling him Hinata had loved him when he’d been nothing more than Naruto Uzumaki; the reject of Konoha.
That she had waited patiently for him, silently supporting him from the shadows, cheering him on while everyone else put him down.
It made his heart ache to think of it.
To realize he’d hurt her far longer, far worse than that night four days ago, or even with the ugly, stupid words he’d spewed at her hours ago.
“I’m a fucking idiot, aren’t I?”
Sakura sighed.
“Yep…..but you’re not alone in that, Naruto. I…hurt Hinata too,” she said.
He looked over at her in confused surprise.
“I was being selfish, not wanting to….be alone, using you to feel better about myself. Sasuke….left without me again. He hasn’t come back to visit me or sent me a single letter. I was feeling lonely and hurt and instead of dealing with it, I tried to convince myself I felt something for you that I didn’t, even knowing how Hinata felt about you,” her fists clenched, “I knew she only wants for you to be happy, even if that isn’t with her. I took advantage of that and….I’m sorry, Naruto,”
Even more puzzle pieces clicked.
Her attitude over the last several months made sense now. Why she seemed angry with him, why she snipped at Hinata. Even if he hadn’t realized it, he was much in the same boat as Sakura.
“I’m sorry too, Sakura-chan…I’ve been confused about what I feel about Hinata for a while and I was using you too…I was trying to figure out what it meant to like a girl…so I could compare that to what I was feeling with Hinata…”
Silence lasted for several minutes.
“What a pair we are huh?” Sakura chuckled after a moment.
Naruto smiled a little.
“Yeah, but if it hadn’t been for this, I wouldn’t have figured out something important,”
“That you like Hinata?”
“No….that I love her….more than anything….”
“Then why are you sitting here moping, go tell her,”
“I can’t…..you saw for yourself….she was….out on a date with someone else,” he muttered, heartsick all over again, “I think maybe I….waited too long…”
“Did she say that or is that how you took it?”
His lips thinned just thinking about that smug asshole with his hand on her back.
“How else should I have taken it?” he demanded defensively.
Sakura sighed, face palming.
“You’re so dense. Do you really think a girl that’s loved you for over a decade would suddenly stop all of a sudden?”
“It’s more than that!”
Blushing furiously he admitted to the events that had taken place in his apartment four days ago. The back of his head stung so bad when she was done with him.
“I deserved that,” he muttered, rubbing his sore head.
“More than that,” Sakura agreed, fist raised, “Tipsy or not, that’s no excuse to treat her like that! You should be ashamed of yourself!”
“I am, dattebayo,”
Sakura sat down with a huff.
“That explains why you were so spacey on the mission,” she said, “Even so, I don’t think Hinata would suddenly stop loving you because of that. She may be hurt, but moving on just like that? Not a chance,”
He felt like shit, but hope bloomed in his chest.
“So that guy….maybe it wasn’t…”
“You’re forgetting that Hinata is still the next in line to take over the Hyuuga clan. She meets with a lot of people that do business with the Hyuuga. Its more logical that that’s what that was about. Not a date,”
Heat filled his cheeks and crept down his neck.
Was that all it was?
His heart slammed against his chest.
“Go see her, Naruto. This whole thing is probably just a big misunderstanding. She probably really wants to see you, to talk to you,”
Remembering earlier, he sighed.
“She probably doesn’t want to see me after the stupid shit I said to her,”
“Huh? What you said? I wasn’t really close enough to hear anything. What did you say?”
He repeated the harsh things that had come from a place of ugly jealousy and out of his mouth.
This time, he saw stars from the blow she gave him.
“Ow! Damn Sakura-chan!” he hollered, crouched over, holding his abused head, “I think you gave me a concussion this time, ‘ttebayo!!”
“You deserve it!! Consider yourself lucky I don’t put you in the hospital for being so stupid!” she yelled back, “I know Hinata would never give you what you so richly deserve so I have to step in and do it for her!”
He massaged his head, blinking back tears of pain.
It was true, Hinata wouldn’t want him to feel bad, even if he made her feel bad. He dropped his hand.
Suddenly he wasn’t as upset about the lump on the back of his head. Before returning to the village, he had resolved to becoming a man. To put his childhood behind him and at the first test of that resolve, he had failed horribly.
He stood, facing his long time teammate and friend
He wouldn’t go back on his word. He was going to go talk to the girl he loved no matter how terrified he was of her response. No matter how hard it was to speak the words churning in his heart.
“.…..Thanks Sakura-chan,” he said after a pause.
Her eyes were slightly sad as she smiled.
“I’d give anything to be with the one I love, Naruto. You have a chance I don’t right now. Hinata is right here, she loves you, wants to be with you. Don’t screw it up, ok?”
“I won’t” he promised, turning to leave.
He spoke again before departing.
“Sasuke cares about you too, Sakura-chan. Don’t give up,”
That said, Naruto leapt down into the darkening town, taking off in the direction of Hinata’s apartment. He wasn’t really sure how late it was but knew this couldn’t wait until tomorrow. He couldn’t rest until he said everything he needed to say to her.
xxxxxx
His heart was hammering against his chest, nerves bringing droplet of sweat to his forehead.
The talk with Sakura had help a lot, but his confidence was shaky. So far, he’d manage to screw this up twice with her and wasn’t really sure he would do better the third time but he had to try. He was sure of his feelings now, could put name to that twisting in his chest whenever she was near.
He was in love.
He loved Hinata.
Her apartment door on the third floor was like the door of doom to him. For several minutes he stood in the hall, staring at the piece of wood, hand raised as if to knock.
His palms felt sweaty, his lungs tight and his stomach slightly queasy. His Adams apple bobbed.
‘Come on, dattebayo! Man up!’
He filled his lungs with air, then let it out before taking the plunge and knocking on the wooden door.
Minutes ticked by and not a sound came from beyond the closed portal.
Dread knotted his stomach.
Maybe she had used her Byakugan and knew it was him and was refusing to answer the door?
He shook his head viciously.
She was probably just sleeping, it was the middle of the night.
‘One more time,’
He raise his hand to knock again when the door knob rattled.
The thumping against his chest grew louder. He felt disturbingly light headed as she appeared in the small crack of the open door. She was dressed in a silky robe, her hair braided and hanging over her right shoulder. Those pale eyes were shocked and wide. Her cheeks slowly pinked.
“N-N-Naruto-kun, what-”
“Please, Hinata…can we talk? I’m sorry I came by so late, but I wanted….I needed to see you,”
“.…needed…to see me…” she repeated, seeming a bit dazed.
“Can…can I come in or do you want me to wait while you get dressed?”
She blinked.
“Hinata?”
“Ah, of course, N-Naruto-kun, come in,”
She opened the door wider, letting him into her apartment.
xxxxxx
So far so good on the storm front, so here’s another chapter. Thank you guys for reading and reviewing, I enjoy hearing your thoughts.
TheFlamingDictator- I'm very happy you're enjoying the story so far! Its my first Naruto fanfic so I was really nervous to share. So far the wheather isn't bad here, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well and I hope to hear from you again!
I’m done, see y’all later.
~Sessakag
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