Love Fool

Author’s Notes: I’m sorry for the late update everyone! I was trying to make it weekly, but I cam across a bit of writer’s block during some parts. But now it’s here and I hope you enjoy it.

Love Fool
Chapter Six; Hushabye

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We love our tragedies.
We're both broken in our own little ways
We're broken, but we fit together just right
You know I saw the black inside your eyes
I saw they were eclipsed by mine and they looked just right.

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The sun was warm on his bare back as he walked side-by-side with Hinata on the road that snaked its way toward Konohagakure. For the most part they were silent. The only conversation between the two of them were the identical crunches of gravel beneath their feet. Sasuke craned his neck from one side to the other and the girl winced as it cracked twice.

“I know that you did not volunteer to come out on the mission,” she began, “but I just wanted to say thank you.”

“I was just doing what I was told,” he replied coldly.

The Uchiha was making it painfully obvious he was not one to hold any type of conversation, so Hinata turned her eyes back to the road ahead and kept her mouth shut. Their return seemed never-ending and when the silence grew deafening the Hyuuga opened her mouth and blurted out what had been on her mind since their evening conversation.

“What did you mean? What you said about Sakura, a few nights ago. What did you mean?”

His footsteps halted immediately. His jaw was tight and as she looked at his face, she regretted opening her mouth.

“You don’t have to--” she fumbled.

“Sakura is mine.” He interrupted her with a calm tone. “I have no intentions of allowing her to be anyone else’s.”

Hinata raised her eyebrows. His reply made confusion flash across her face. Did Sakura know this was how Sasuke felt about her?

“You can’t possess someone just because you love them, Sasuke. Sakura san is not a material item.”

“Oh, and I suppose you’re some relationship guru?” He hissed before his tone turned condescending. “You don’t even know, do you?”

“I don’t know what--”

“Months ago, during your oh-so-perfect relationship, Naruto confessed to Sakura.” Sasuke went rigid, his hands balled into fists as the memory came back to him. “Told her he loved her, right in front of me.”

“I don’t believe you.” She immediately replied, turning on her heel and continuing on the road ahead of him.

“You think I would make something like that up!?” He called to her back. “You think I just make up scenarios in my head--”

“Naruto would never do that to me!” She shouted over her shoulder before breaking into a run. If he was telling the truth and Naruto and Sakura were in the village together while neither of them were there, then Hinata wanted to be the first person to return home and prove Sasuke wrong.

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She sat on the edge of the bed with her knees hugged to her chest, watching as dawn broke through the balcony window. The blonde was slumbering behind her; she didn’t have the heart to wake him and break the spell of their week together. The kunoichi heaved a deep sigh. How was she going to say good bye?

“Good morning,” he grumbled from behind her before placing a kiss on her shoulder. She was startled by his unexpected greeting, but smiled nonetheless. Sakura leaned back and he cradled her against his chest, his chin resting on top of her head as they watched the rising sun together.

“Naruto,” she said his name softly, “what am I supposed to say?”

“You’re not saying ‘good bye’ if that’s what you’re asking.” He replied instantly without a thought. Sakura sat up and looked over her shoulder with raised eyebrows.

“You’re going to have to explain that one.”

His serious gaze did not waiver, “If you believe that I’m just going to give you a kiss on the cheek and leave you alone, you’re not as smart as you claim to be.”

“And if you think that I’m to flit back and forth between you and Sasuke, you’re more of an idiot than I already knew you to be!” She shot back in a huff and got off the bed, spinning around to face his half-naked form. “This was it, Naruto, this was our week, our get out of jail free card, remember? You asked me, just for one week. I’m not going to tear up all of my relationships for you!”

“Then I’m asking you for more,” his brows narrowed, “I can’t just have one week. I need weeks, months…I need years, Sakura. I can’t limit myself to only seven days with you.”

“Oh, so you want to have your cake and eat it too?” She threw up her hands and stared at him in disbelief. “How can you be so selfish!? How can you sit there and seriously ask me to come home to Sasuke after I finish a bedroom meeting with you? Like I’m some…some!” Sakura grit her teeth and lowered her tone. “Some slut!”

“How can you assume that I would ask you to do that?!” He jumped up and closed the distance between them, both of their faces stubborn with defiance. “Just be with me, only me, Sakura.”

“Just with you?” She looked at him as if she could not believe this conversation was happening. Naruto wanted her to forget about Sasuke altogether and begin a relationship with him; he would do the same to Hinata. Sakura took a step back and shook her head, the thought of their situation spiraling out of control overwhelming her mind.

“Don’t lie to me, Sakura. Don’t tell me that you have no feelings for me.” He spoke to her softly, carefully. “Don’t even think to say that you don’t love me.”

Her expression snapped into that of a girl who had been caught red-handed. The blonde wanted to smile but held back, knowing that she would shy away even more if he laughed at his discovery.

“Love you.” She said slowly, as if she was getting a feel for the words. “I…I love Sa--,” she looked off to the side, unable to say the name she had hoped to.

Naruto closed the distance between them once more and took her face into his hands as gently as he could. The kunoichi watched as those ocean blue eyes pleaded for her answer, filled with every single emotion he possessed. “Just tell me this isn’t the last time we see each other.”

“Shut up, Naruto,” she pushed his hands from her face and before he could protest, they were kissing and he was smiling and she was doing everything she could to keep from crying. The door shut behind him with her fingers lingering on the wood, taking deep breaths as she tried to interpret her own response.

“I’ll see you,” he had said with that hopelessly hopeful grin.

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For the first time in her life, someone besides Neji had ruffled Hinata’s feathers to the point of helpless frustration. She just about blazed through the village gates, leaving the ninjas on patrol absolutely baffled as the Uchiha kept up his leisurely pace when he passed by minutes later. Their homes were on opposite sides of the village and it wasn’t until they came to their split that Sasuke quickened his steps; his own statements were fueling his hidden paranoia.

The kunoichi rounded all the familiar corners, saying ‘hello’ politely to the passerby that greeted her, but kept her thoughts on finding Naruto in the same chair she’d left him in, awaiting her return. She entered the Hyuuga compound and found it to be predictably peaceful, but wasted no time in taking notice. Instead, she headed straight for her room. Gripping the edge of the shouji, she slid it open with a ‘clack’ and stepped onto the tatami mat. The air was still and it was as if no one had been there in days.

“Naruto kun?” Her inquiry was hopeful, expecting to see a spiky head of blonde pop out from behind a corner of the room. That hope was quickly stolen away when the only response she got was silence. The shouji slid shut with another ‘clack’ and Hinata’s accelerated footsteps against the wood echoed in the hallway.

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He had meant to go to the Hyuuga compound without any stops, but when he noticed a familiar brunette coming out of the Ichiraku stall he couldn’t help himself.

“Oiii, Kiba!” He waved down his former classmate, earning a canine grin from the latter.

“A little early for lunch, aren’t you?”

“What are you talking about?” His expression was genuine confusion. “You just came from eating, didn’t you?”

“Yea, but I get up before 2 in the afternoon.”

Naruto snorted and shoved his shoulder before the brunette broke into laughter. As he settled down and caught his breath, a scent tickled his nostrils on the inhale and suddenly the blonde had that look of confusion back on his face.

“What’s with the weird look, Kiba?”

Kiba’s eyes met the other’s, filled with suspicion and misunderstanding. His gaze drifted away slowly. That smell was not what it was supposed to be and should not have been so rich.

“Oi, Kiba, what’s wrong with you?”

“You reek, Naruto,” his tone was low, careful.

“Excuse me?” He popped up an eyebrow, “You’re gonna tell me I smell?”

He was quiet as the memory of him slinking off after Sakura in the bar came back; a memory that he had shaken off as nothing. Now he reeked of the girl. It made Inuzuka nauseous to think that the jinchuuriki was actually going behind Hinata’s back just to be with her.

“You…you were with her.” Kiba said in a tone of disbelief, turning narrowed eyes on Naruto.

“What?” Now both his eyebrows were up.

His disbelief faded to anger, anger that rooted from his own feelings for his former teammate. He found his fists clenched and his jaw taut while the other staring at him grew unsettled.

“Kiba--”

“Son of a bitch!” He growled before shoving Naruto against the side of a nearby building, his fangs bared.

“What the hell is your problem?!” Naruto snarled in response, shoving Kiba back.

“You think you can treat her like shit and get away with it!” The brunette forced him back to the wall.

As they stared down each other, both breathing heavily with the look of utter detest on their face, a realization hit the blonde like a ton of bricks. All of this was for Hinata.

“Kiba kun!”

The two of them turned their heads and found the girl that had started the fight staring back at them, her eyes wide and full of perplexity. They broke apart as she came towards them, frowns still lining their lips.

“What is…what’s going on?” She looked back and forth between the brunette and the blonde, momentarily forgetting her mistrust that had fueled the search for Naruto.

Kiba clucked his tongue and left his gaze downcast before mumbling and striding past the Hyuuga briskly. She turned to watch him go but stumbled back when the jinchuuriki strode past her as well, consumed by his irritation.

“N-Naruto kun!” She called out to him desperately, reaching out to grab onto the back of his shirt. He swung around to glower at her, those ocean blues claimed by their red counterpart. Hinata inhaled sharply, letting go of his shirt and taking a step back.

You have no need for her…

The blonde shook the voice from his head and turned to leave once more, leaving behind a shaken kunoichi that had no idea what was going on.

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“I said ‘Hello’ twice already.” Sasuke stared at Sakura with a solemn expression, bothered that she still hadn’t noticed he’d come home. Her eyes drifted from the glass balcony doors and suddenly came alive as they met the other’s.

“Oh, you’re home.” Was all the girl could manage.

He shook his head in disbelief and held back the frown he wanted so badly to reveal. His jaw shifted as he clenched and unclenched it, while Sakura watched him with uncertainty. They stared at each other, studying expressions, looking for any sign that would reveal what they were thinking. When it seemed as if the girl was about to say something, the Uchiha cut her off.

“You’re not going to see him again.” He said sternly.

They watched each other again and he was surprised she gave him no reaction to his command. Then as her eyes drifted to her lap, she simply nodded and said nothing. Sasuke held no desire to touch her or tell her how he really felt, so instead the front door was opened and slammed shut. He left Sakura alone in an apartment filled with the presence of a boy that wasn’t him.

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Author’s Notes: Alright guys, so that was chapter six, and I hope I didn’t disappoint anyone with the events that happened during it. Again, I apologize if I got Hinata’s character wrong, but as interpretation stems from an individual, it’s hard for me to see her any other way. And I honestly don’t know if I got Kiba right, I used him based off his--or what I saw as--his affection/caring towards Hinata. Please review if you get the chance! Until next time~

Much Love,
Usagi

PS... I just want to give a big thank you to all the members on this site who have read and reviewed this story. It feels amazing to be among a mature group of readers--and writers--such as yourselves, and your kind words really keep me going. SO THANK YOU! <3