Fanfic - Hanging In Your Arms - Naruto
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would own the world, and since I don't own Naruto, I don't own the world.
Author: rubystar45
Title: Hanging In Your Arms
Prompt: mother knows best, anger dwells in the bosom of fools, music, rebel without a cause, appointment
Rating: K / G
Warnings: None
Language: English
Lyrics roughly transferred into English from the song "Colgando En Tus Manos" which I don't own.
Written for the Fanworks challenge on naruverse at LiveJournal.
Hanging In Your Arms
She shut the book tightly and held it to her chest in a protective way. It was incredible to think up poems at this time of night, especially after a hard day at the hospital.
She usually dropped right into bed for her few, miserable hours of sleep but she needed to write down a couple of poems that she thought of, and she had written a short letter to him before deciding to close her notebook.
Her short hair brushed her face as she dug into the back of her dresser until she finally found the long box in which she kept all her letters and poems to him. She would never send them, but she wanted her feelings to be somewhere else than in her heart. This was the only way to keep her from going mad from having all these emotions locked in her heart.
She gave a soft sigh as she clutched the box tightly to her chest and closed her eyes slightly over it. Sometimes she wished her mother hadn't died. Then maybe she could tell her what was the best thing to do about what she was feeling.
Hinata hid her box and she quickly turned off her bedroom light and fell into a deep restless sleep.
The next morning went the same as all the other mornings did, chaotic, rushed, and heavily draining. By noon she was tired, not physically, but mentally. She was tired of watching hurt shinobi, and random civilians injured in crossfire.
Luckily today she only had to work until five.
***
At her luxurious house meanwhile, there was a new servant in the house, nervous and ready.
“I want every bedroom cleaned, is that understood? I don't want a single thing out of order by the time my daughters get back.”
“Yes, sir-I mean Lord Hyuuga.”
He glanced at her warily before retreating to fulfill his other tasks for the day.
She stared after him for a minute and decided to clean up the eldest daughter's room first.
The room was small and snug, very unusual compared to the rest of the house, she noted. She cleaned the floor and wiped off the shelves and the small desk that held Hinata's bedroom light.
She was about to clean off her dresser when she noted a box peeking out from one of the drawers and she hesitated.
Maybe I shouldn't touch it... but her curiosity finally got the better of her and she pulled it out.
There was nothing particularly special about it and the only sign of identification was the address marked on the corner of it.
She mustn't have had time to send it. The least I can do is send it for her...right?
She made sure the box was closed and then carried it downstairs so it could be taken to the proper place.
***
The first thing the blond ninja noticed when he arrived at his home was a long box sitting on his front
step.
He tucked it under his arm and flung it on the couch as he rummaged around, scrambling for something to eat. When he discovered nothing he smiled a mile wide.
“Well, time to go get ramen!”
***
When he came back, he threw himself on the couch and prepared to take a nap when his side got stabbed by a corner of the box he received.
He frowned and pulled it out from under him and looked at it. It looked like an ordinary box.
He opened it and was surprised to find it stacked with envelopes and folded up pieces of paper, all with his name on the outside.
Weird... he thought and he slowly opened the letters, one by one.
“I think of him all the time! He's just too handsome...”
“I wish I wasn't so embarrassed around him but his eyes melt me down...”
“I saw him with his shirt off today and I couldn't help it! I stared like an idiot at him!”
“He's so kind to everybody, so I don't see why people treat him so badly...”
“He hugged me today...and it felt like an angel was wrapping its arms around me...”
“I love him and I probably always will. I love Naruto Uzumaki.”
Naruto's throat went dry and for the first time in his life, he didn't know what to think.
She loves me he thought dizzily. Hinata Hyuuga loves me...
Some of the letters had dates that went back to the days at the Academy and they followed up all the way to last night.
His mind spinned. For that long? And I didn't notice? What the- How could she- Why me?
He felt like the Earth's biggest fool and he looked and the dozens and dozens of letters, poems, and occasional songs that she had written, all for him.
Anger rippled in his chest and he clutched the letter in his hand so tightly that it crumbled in his hand. For years she'd been an amazing companion to him and he'd outright told her time and time again about his infatuation with Sakura. He wondered why she always looked sick when he mentioned it.
Now he knew.
He struggled to calm himself down. Anger wasn't going to resolve anything and knocking his head against the pavement wasn't going to solve anything. Anger dwelled in the bosom of fools anyway, and he had to be the biggest fool ever.
Instead of tearing himself away from the letters something intense drew him back and Naruto read the letter that Hinata had written for him yesterday.
***
“Aw come on Hinata!”
“Ino...”
“You barely go out at all! Come with all of us just this once please???”
She sighed. The last thing on her mind was to go to a beauty shop to get herself “pretty”.
“Alright but-”
The girls immediately dragged her out of the hospital, grinning at each other. She had fallen for it hook, line and sinker.
***
“We're going to be late for the appointment Hinata, hurry up!”
“Why did you get me dressed up so nice? And with so much makeup? I thought that-”
“Well you can't go in there looking bad.” Tenten offered as they tugged her towards a building that was beautifully decorated.
“But in a dress? Sakura, I want to go home. I don't think this is a good idea...”
“Are you kidding me? You look great!” she answered. “Imagine the guy's faces when they see you looking like this.”
She paled instantly. “What?” she asked softly, her own heartbeat becoming faster and faster.
“Oops.”
Hinata struggled against them as it finally dawned on her that the party that had been planned for today, was the so-called appointment the girls had in mind for her.
Dear lord...
As soon as she walked in, she was vaguely surprised. The music wasn't that loud, or that explicit to be honest. It seemed like the kind of party she would have actually stepped in voluntarily.
Of course, many people were dancing in ways that just looking made her blush but that could be ignored.
From a dark corner Naruto eyes stayed glued on her and for the first time he allowed himself to truly look at her and see maybe a little of what she saw in him.
Her hair was short, fluffy, and dark, marking her pale face. It made her look like an angel. Her pupiless eyes were a soft gray color and her lips were smooth and pink. Her entire face was perfect, without any sign of imperfection.
His eyes slowly lowered themselves to study her small frame in the slightly daring dress she was wearing. It was a warm peach color with sparkles on it which made her look radiant. It emphasized her soft curves and her long legs.
The music swerved into a soft, sensual melody. He wasn't an expert, but maybe...
Without thinking it a second longer and using his inherited spontaneity he walked over to her as she shied away from all the dancers and leaned against the wall.
“Hi.” Naruto's voice was choked up, he could barely talk.
Goosebumps crawled over her skin as she recognized that dark masculine voice. She blushed instantly without thinking. “Hi Na-Naruto.”
He cleared his throat trying to force the words out as cleanly as he could. “Want to dance?”
She glanced up at him with her shy eyes, staring at his blue ones. Was he serious? Was he really...?
Hinata ducked her head down in shame. “I'm not good at that kind of thing.” she admitted and mentally cursed herself.
You idiot! You messed up the only chance you had of being close to him. Really, really close!
He knew what she was thinking because he was thinking the same thing. With his bad coordination he would probably end up tumbling both of them down on the floor but he had to give it a try for her...as a sort of payment for being there all of these years.
“It really doesn't matter,” he said honestly, beginning to regain some of his former voice back. “I can't dance either but it would be pretty awful if we just ended up like wallflowers.”
She nodded and pressed her pointer fingers together.
He extended one hand towards her and she placed her hand in his, noticing with quiet satisfaction that they fit together perfectly.
Naruto noticed that too.
They slowly headed out towards the dance floor and he hesitantly placed his hands slightly above her hips.
And instead of placing her hands on his shoulders, she placed them on his arms, more out of embarrassment, than of personal interest, although feelings his lean muscles didn't work too bad for her at all.
I send you poems of my own writing
I send you songs of love and glory
I send the pictures of our little dance
And when we were in Venezuela
So you can remember me and never forget
That my heart is hanging in your hands
Be careful, be careful
For my heart is hanging in your hands
The words of the song fitted them perfectly, Naruto thought and he couldn't help but pull her closer, without even realizing it.
Hinata feel her draw her nearer and couldn't help but let her eyes fill with tears. It was heaven.
It had been everything about him that had made her fall in love with him. His eyes, his attitude, his compassion, his loyalty, even his status as a nuisance or rebel. But if he was all this then he was her rebel, a rebel without a cause because he was still as lonely as when she had first laid eyes on him.
Naruto leaned in closer to her and rested his head lightly on hers. She smells like lavender he thought dizzily.
The soft music lulled them into a smooth dance that left them both brimming with love at one another...