Mistake Chapter 5
Title: Mistake
Series: Naruto
Pairing(s): NaruHina(Main), NaruSaku and others.
Genre: Romance/Hurt/Comfort
Rating: T
Warning: Coarse language.
Chapters: 5 (so far)
Status: Incomplete
Summary: Already heartbroken while still sewing herself back together, she would have to push her feelings aside for that exact person who unintentionally ruptured her. For once, Hinata would pick up the pieces.
Chapter 5: Decadence
It was wet, dark and cold. Ominous shadows licked at streets while winds spat needles at people who dared to face the night. Unlike the others who ran for cover, Naruto walked slowly in comparison.
Taking the lit up district home, he came across a particularly lively place. As he got a closer look, his figure bathed in a warm glow from the building's light. With his blond hair plastered to his face and clothes sagging with water, he was a drowned rat compared to the people inside.
As he watched on, the hard line of his mouth began to lower into a frown. He wondered why he was out here miserable while they were inside having the time of their life - was he really that pathetic these days?
He tried smiling but it felt twisted, and saw his snarl in the windows reflection. Looking past that disgusting sight, his eyes locked onto a female. She was smiling with her pretty green eyes while her hand caressed the guy she talked to.
Naruto's lips pulled back and the hairs on the back of Sakura's neck prickled. She looked around before connecting with the intense stare. Her face dropped and quickly said goodbye to the man.
After grabbing her coat the winds still hit hard when she exited the building. She loved the fresh smell rain brought, but she hated everything else to do with it. She hated the coldness, especially when wet, and especially when it was cold and flu season - people were just stupid then. So when she finally came face to face with Naruto it was emphatically depressing.
"Naruto-"
"Did you even love me or were they lies when you said you did?" He asked.
There was a pause. "People fall in and out of love all the time, Naruto."
"That's not what I asked!" He snapped. "Was... was... Shit!" He roughly ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Was I there to pass time?"
She just stared at him.
"Fuck, they're pretty simple questions!" He noticed the tip of his nose was surely numb when he harshly rubbed his face. "You're response is loud and clear like any other day though!" He walked away. "Fuck," he hissed in passing words.
Sakura bounced back and forth in uncertainty before chasing after him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to turn him around. "Godamnit wait! Look, I don't know!"
He flung around, knocking the limb away. "How could you not know?"
"Love's complicated, ok?"
Her green green eyes were swirling when their gaze connected before a twisted expression befell him. "Since when!" A ruthful smile touched him as he added, "For you maybe - still in love with the bastard? Perhaps I was practice for him, hum? I never thought you were such a-"
His head snapped back from the force of her punch. They stood like that for a while, with Sakura's arm outstretched and Naruto's head turned to the side. Her chest heaved and hair strung together form the wet while blood rushed to his injured cheek as they slowly retracted into normal positions, a bit calmer than previously.
"I think," her bow shaped lips quivered and Naruto determinedly kept his gaze on the upper part of her face as she spoke, "we jumped too quickly into this after everything that happened, especially with the war. I didn't get to learn who I was, what I wanted, what I ne-"
"Don't," he said; anger reached her irises from his interruption.
"Proposing was too soon," Sakura finally said.
"Doesn't mean we had to break up!"
She frowned. "We're too young for anything serious."
Naruto bristled at the professional tone she used for this answer. She said the same thing when finishing their relationship. It often rolled around his head, so he's had a lot of time to contemplate it.
"Liar," he jeered. "Our line of work makes us grow up quicker."
"No one from our generation has tied the knot," she pointed out, moving her wet, pink hair from her face. "Perhaps, if you hadn't made such a scene I wouldn't have freaked out."
"How do you not make a scene when proposing, Sakura?"
Her mouth opened in retort, but he held up his hand. "I don't want to hear it," he said calmer than he felt. "We both know you wouldn't have wanted it that way."
Naruto's eyes were like shards dancing in the bottom of a river as her fingers ran through his hair to untangle the knots. What he was like a few days ago was a distant memory. Hinata felt hopeless, she thought they were breaking ground, that he was coming to terms. It was a lie. Naruto was worse than she'd seen.
It was in whispers that she heard the reason why. There was a confrontation between him and Sakura. As of yet, Hinata did not know what was said, if it was entirely bad, however she knew it was far too soon for him to face Sakura, and this was the evidence.
She left his side to tidy the papers on his little coffee table in front of them. Stacking them into a neat pile, trying not to read them, her mouth opened and closed with what to say.
"Tea?" She asked, hoping to get a response. He hadn't reacted to anything she said yet.
"Coffee."
She smiled slightly, heading to the kitchen.
The kettle boiled, and she asked how many sugars; once again hoping it wasn't pushing him too far with speaking. She honestly had no idea what to do. She needed help. Advice.
"Four," he croaked.
She nodded.
"This morning between shifts at the hospital, I helped an elderly woman find her granddaughter," Hinata said quietly while stirring the drink.
Once she realised she brought up something that would remind Naruto of Sakura, she tensed. She quickly turned to Naruto and saw him looking at her. Hinata's heart constricted for a few brief seconds before Naruto shifted his gaze.
His face pulled so brokenly until he hung his head in defeat. "How," he started out waveringly, "how, is that drink coming along?"
She took a quivering breath ahead of grabbing his coffee and her tea. "Here." Her hand shook as she placed it into his hands.
"Hinata!" Ino yelled, running to hug said person. Ino's blond hair flew everywhere by how quick she was to attack the shorter girl. "It's been forever! How have you been? What have you been up to?"
Hinata smelled the sweet fumes of Ino's family flower shop as she answered, "We saw each other the other day, but I've been fine. Helping Naruto And, well, actually... that's why I'm here," she said bashfully.
Ino stuck her tongue out in irritation. "Right, to do with last night? How they fought in the middle of the street?" She tapped her chin in contemplation. "I kinda wish I was there to see it."
"Ino..."
The blond laughed cattily. "Alright, not kinda. It would have been great to see!"
Hinata sighed, shaking her head as she watched Ino punch her open palm in accentuation. "Why must all the good things happen when I'm not there! I was only a couple buildings away last night!"
She finally stopped to scratch the long scare on the side of her face from the war with a frown.
"You look fine," Hinata said sincerely. She was one of the people who knew Ino sometimes became self-conscious of her looks these days.
Ino smiled brightly and sat on the counter next to where Hinata was leaning against. "Sorry. I went on a bit there. What did you want to ask?
Hinata's gazed at the ceiling vacantly. "What do you do when someone is heartbroken?"
Ino sharply looked at Hinata.
Hinata did not remove her eyes from the chipped paint as she remembered back to when the war was practically in full swing. That. That was when Naruto and Sakura started. Little over a year ago. Hinata truly believed it was the best time it could have happened, she already had a distraction to concentrate on.
However there were times, often at night when she was off duty, when everything caught up and strangled her. Those were the times when surprisingly Ino found her, and with the last of her stashed away sweets, she would help with the slow process of healing.
Hinata didn't like remembering those dark hours at all. She looked out the window, finally realising the little furniture shop across the street wasn't rebuilt. It hit her once again how newly constructed the village really was.
"-ctially what I did, except more. Like, I don't know, talk, higher some movies and get oodles of chocolate and... this is sounding a bit girly for a guy isn't it?"
Hinata smiled tightly. "It's better than nothing."
Ino glared mockingly, saying, "Men! What to do with them!"
Hinata's vision clouded as feelings flooded her. "I don't know how to feel... I'm just so angry over Sakura and sorry for him and, and..." Hinata stopped and laughed hollowly. "I'm so silly."
Ino hugged her tightly. "No you're not. You're human no matter how much we believe otherwise," she said tentatively, rubbing Hinata's back soothingly. "Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be a civilian, don't you?"
Hinata slightly nodded once; moments like these made Hinata believe Ino would be a great mother if she ever settled down. Ino soundlessly stepped away as she thought about what needed to be asked.
"You said you were almost over him. You're not falling again are you?" Ino inquired with a steely edge. "We were making such good progress! Maybe Naruto doesn't really need you anymore; you've done enough," she added worriedly.
"I don't think I am." Hinata bit her tongue. "He does need help."
Ino's light blue eyes bored into Hinata's. "You're too good for him."
Hinata disliked it when people said that. It made no sense.
"Just remember, he isn't your problem," Ino quickly repeated before changing the subject to safer ground.
The couch squealed under Naruto's weight as Sakura ventured into his kitchen to have a drink after another gruelling day at the hospital.
"Damn wet weather," Sakura grumbled to herself, then said in a much louder voice, "I swear, some people just have no respect these days-dammit Naruto, you left the ham out again-" he cringed but she huffed, going on "-there was this kid who had the audacity to kick me in the shins when I prescribed some medicine for the cold he was getting."
Naruto's eyebrows rose at that. "What did the parents do?"
"That's another problem! Nothing. I was this close to saying that they were all due for their yearly shots if it wasn't for a nurse popping in for a question."
Naruto laughed shakily, imagining Sakura grinning evilly with a handful of syringes in front of the poor family. He knew how painful it was to be on her bad side.
Flicking out of the memory, Naruto's warn-in couch had seen many a days in its life, both good and bad, as it groaned under Hinata's weight. Hinata placed the junk food (plus ramen) and movies on the coffee table in front of her and Naruto.
"Um," she hesitated. "I got some movies, like action, comedy and horror... Anything you want to watch?"
He didn't stop looking into space.
"Was the old lady thankful?"
Her face pulled confusedly.
"At the hospital?"
"Oh yes, very," she said.
She tried getting him to say what was on his mind, but she couldn't. So she started bringing up noncommittal things. Most he had no reaction to until she finally commented about the weather.
"It's pouring buckets out there."
It was slow, and she was about to change the topic again, but Naruto finally replied. "It is?"
This is where Naruto told Hinata a little bit of his relationship with Sakura. It was small and minuscule, but it was something. If Naruto hadn't already been reminiscing he probably wouldn't have shared. There were just things Hinata said that reminded him of Sakura today. He couldn't handle it.
Actually, he really couldn't handle anything anymore. He felt so bloody alone when he shouldn't. He had great friends - one that was following him right now actually! And people loved him! Konoha was practically at peace, and he was so close to becoming the next Hokage!
Nevertheless, Naruto found himself at 'The Border' once again.
Hinata did not understand how she has been around him for weeks without being suffocated, little own not fainting. What confused her most was how she was reprimanding his actions.
"This isn't healthy."
"Yes it is," he almost hissed.
Her voice dropped, "You're drinking away your troubles."
"No, I'm not. I don't have any." Just to show he wasn't lying, he grinned a little too largely, a little too happily.
She fisted her pants and he flung his arms up. "I said I'm fine!" The glass clunked loudly on the table in his frustration. Ordering another drink, he ignored her and her sad expression as she kept watch over him. Well, that is until he forgot.
"Who needs Sakura? Not me-e!" He leaned over to Hinata tipsily. "Did you know why, Hin-ta-?"
He pouted when he realised he said her name wrong and tried fixing it. "Hina-at? Hin-n... Hina!" He nodded, deciding that was the best way to say it tonight.
She opened her mouth to say something when he continued.
"Anywho-o-o! Do ya, do ya? It's because I'm a fish!" His face pinched. "No, no. That's not right. Ah! There are plenty of fish in the tank! Or was it sea? Anyway, there are lots of other girls!"
Hinata's mouth turned upwards lopsidedly. "Yes, there are."
It was surprising how agreeing hardly hurt. Maybe being around him was neutralising the last of her emotions. Maybe.
With Naruto's arm slung around her shoulders, Hinata gazed out from under the awning in discourage. Large droplets kept racing to the grown from the dark sky and didn't seem to be lessening anytime soon. Putting one foot in front of the other, she started the long trek to Naruto's.
She noticed Naruto didn't realise he was getting wet when the first lot of rain latched onto their hair. All he did was hiccup and laugh in drunken amusement while attempting to skip. Multiple times his odd moving almost made them fall into a puddle. Setting her face in determination, she held onto him a little tighter when he slipped for the third time.
"Did you know when I was young and thought no one was looking, I loved jumping in the puddles?" She asked, hoping her voice distracted him from his current aim - to do exactly what she said.
"'eally? 'hat's awe'ome! Sa-a-ame!" He said in a drunken, unintelligent slur.
It stopped him from his mission as he focused on her. Her heart hammered irregularly as she tried keeping his attention.
"Yep-" she stretched her mind back to long ago "-There was this one time where I was dressed in the finest kimono, I saw such a large puddle while waiting for an important party and I thought that if I bunched the material up as high as it could go, that it wouldn't get wet."
"A-and? Wah 'appened?"
She smiled wistfully as she looked at him. Being this close, she could see little pockets of water gather on his eyelashes. "I fell."
He grinned and poked her nose. "Bet you-u dad didn't li-ike 'hat!"
She laughed. "Defiantly not."
She sadly found talking to him when he was intoxicated was much easier. She didn't have to think about every insignificant thing until it was reworded and washed bare because he wouldn't remember. Sometimes she was like this with him though, but a lot of the time what she wanted to say was changed half way through. Her mind loved repressing her.
It was hard to see trough the deluge. Only a few meters ahead of them was visible, making the walk slower than necessary. When they finally entered Naruto's apartment, Hinata realised Naruto was beginning to get some sense back if it was any indication by his sentences improving. She quickly got them some towels.
Naruto's fog riddled brain observed Hinata as she towel dried her hair and clothes. He knew he looked stupid just standing there with a towel in his hand, but he couldn't stop himself. He couldn't move. When she peeped out from under the fluffy material, Naruto's breath caught in an odd way as he realised something.
He may not like her enough to have a relationship (who needed relationships these days!), but she was soft, she was warm, she was... helpful. She always did, it was in her nature. She could help him...
It was something so despicable it wouldn't have even entered his mind if sober, and if it ever had, he'd scold himself harshly before running to Ero-sennin's grave to yell profanities until his throat became raw.
A soft smile reached her eyes as she closed the distance and grabbed his towel. He couldn't understand what she was saying, but every accidental brush she did turned his head backwards as his thoughts from earlier tonight clouded his judgment.
He caught her hands from drying his hair.
A small crease gathered in her brow that he didn't notice. "N-naruto?"
His head tilted in such a way as he said, "I see the stutter is back."
He looked at her so intently that her nerves got increasingly worse when she tried formulating excuses.
"Let's see if I can stop that."
And before she could get around what he meant, before she could stop him, he kissed her. Her mind blanked out as the pressure on her mouth increased, drawing her back.
Because, he realised, she was another fish in the sea.
"Tell me you don't want this and I'll stop," he whispered hotly against her lips.
"You d-don't want this," she breathed out, pushing him away. Water dripped off his hair and onto her cheek.
"Yes I do," Naruto growled before frantically kissing her collarbone as they fell to the ground.
Hinata squeezed her eyes shut as his kisses burned. Any process of thought that wasn't instinctual fogged over and further into the recesses of her mind she went when hands trailed lower. Breath quickened, softness possessed her lips and a slither of awareness unsighted her.
Blindly, she swiped a chakra laded fist. In a hurtful gasp the breath was knocked out of her. She slowly turn her head to the side, scared at what she may see, and saw Naruto's head dangling awkwardly over her shoulder. The only thing that kept her grounded was his hot, steady-alive-breathing against her neck.
As her back seeped up the coldness from the floor and breathing became painfully hard once more, she slowly and carefully rolled him off. While their position was side by side, her there with a treacherous heart and blindly looking up, Hinata was left with his heavy warmth slowly passing.
She felt stark.
-x-x-x-
Early the next day Naruto snapped awake swearing loudly with the images bright behind his eyelids.
Go to: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
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