Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ After The Four-Tails! ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

After The Four Tails! Chapter Three

 

Author's Notes:

 

Well, it's summer, I'm in the new house in Virginia, and I'm full of regret, It's been months and months since I last posted on this story, and I decided that I'd move back into that hostage-like situation in order to write. Yes, the cap gun is to my own head and I'm sitting in front of the computer in all hours of the morning as I start writing this.

 

I'm sorry about my unwise decision to try to shirk my responsibilities on someone else by offering someone else the job of writing my story, but school had gotten the better of me, I had a girlfriend who I was already having trouble finding time to spend with her, and I had to cover at work almost every day, meaning that I was exhausted when I finally got home. But now I have WAY too much spare time on my hands that I'm not working and not caring.

 

Free time or no, I plan on continuing this fanfic now, and I'll be doing my damnedest to keep writing. Because if I don't I'm getting capped in the head. (Get it? Capped…)

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any characters other than “Claus Niwa” in this fanfic. Nor do I make money off of my work, and a liquor-filled pool and a-blah-blah-blah.

 

 

`He's not a virgin.' Echoed Hinata's mind a hundred times, even after she'd left the records room and began wandering the streets around the Hokage's offices. Naruto, the boy she had pined after for years was no longer a virgin, he not only lost it to someone other than her, but an older woman!

 

Her mind reeled about what she'd heard from Shizune, it took the older Nin almost a half hour to explain all which had happened between the two of them. From the “Accident” in the bath house, to their agreement to the “Man Training”, to their escapade at the bottom of the cliff. All the way up to when they arrived back at the village and for some reason that Shizune refused to explain, drifted apart until they rarely saw each other.

 

“It didn't happen right away” Shizune had said. “A few times I practically ran to his apartment and.” She didn't elaborate on details to spare Hinata an aneurism. “You should really ask him about our regress to friendship yourself. It's probably the only thing that'll redeem him for you.” She added trying to show a knowing smile, only to come up with more of a grimace.

 

With all the reassurances Shizune had made to her, Hinata was still unsure of what to think. She felt torn, on one hand, she still felt as strongly for Naruto as the day she admitted to herself that she loved him, but on the other, he was currently illuminated in an enigmatic light, he must be different now, more out of reach for someone like her. From what little she knew on the subject, sex changed a person, it made them cooler, they even seemed to act older and more mature…

 

“Yeah, well screw you Kiba!!!” Yelled a familiar, and not quite more mature blond Shinobi. “I'll find someone ELSE to go on the mission with me!”

 

Naruto stormed around the corner and saw Hinata, just as an idea popped into his mind. “Hey, Hinata! Do you remember that mission that Baa-Chan was talking about? Well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind goin-…” He stopped mid sentence when he saw her quivering lower lip, and her posture swaying more than usual. “Are you alright?”

 

Hinata tried to steady herself, but felt as though she was moved as much by the pressure of his breathing than a willow caught in a gale. Taking a deep breath, she finally spoke. “Y-Yes. I… just left the records room a little bit ago.”

 

Cocking his eyebrow, Naruto asked “Really? What were you doing in there?”

 

Hinata quivered, a flood of mental images ran through her head from her discourse with Shizune. Very attractive, very stimulating images, even some her mind decided to go a little photo-shop on, seeing herself instead of Shizune. But ones that shook her to her core nonetheless. “ I was talking. Talking w-with Shizune-San, she was telling me about your return trip from retrieving her and Tsunade-Sama.”

 

That did two things to Naruto, put a lump in his throat and a stammer in his speech, he couldn't help but notice that he spoke like Hinata when he responded. “Y-Yeah? Wuh, well, wha-what did she say?”

 

“She said that you and her trained together, and she told me… She told me what kind of training it was. A-And that at the end you… You…” Unsure of weather she should blush or cry at this point, Hinata blurted out, “Did you love Shizune?” not knowing if either answer would be more help than hurt.

 

“Err, I don't know what- I-I mean we didn't-“

 

“She told me everything,” Hinata continued, “I-I heard about it all, or at least, a lot of it.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really.” Hinata asserted. “A-After all that. Did you love her?

 

Naruto wrestled with this quagmire in his head, he knew about Hinata's feelings, but only to a certain degree. Although he had to admit, he did feel strongly for the Hyuuga heir, he had no inkling as to the depth of her emotions. Their discussion in the hospital painted two very different halves of a whole. There was no way of knowing weather she had romantic intentions, or as more of a role model figure.

 

“W-Well?” She asked again. Shaking him out of his own thoughts,

 

“I did.”

 

The words struck Hinata hard; she choked back tears as she spoke.

 

“Wh-What do you mean `Did?'”

 

“Well, I mean that I did love her.” Naruto said plainly. “We did a lot of stuff together, stuff that people usually do with other people that they love.” He paused for a moment, searching for words. “But we don't love each other, at least, not in the way you mean.”

 

“But, but how many other ways can you love someone like that?” She almost whispered, a bitter edge seeping into her voice.

 

“She was only teaching me,” Said Naruto. “And what happened after, well, we let our urges get the better of us.”

 

“But… But.”

“But what?”

 

After pondering for a moment, Hinata spoke, “Y-you, I know you. You don't do that. You don't just do stuff like that because you're a BOY and boys do stuff like that.” She thought for some better word choice. “I-I mean, you're not that shallow. Are you?”

 

“I hope not!” Naruto said, laughing. “Listen Hinata, I DID love Shizune, she's like nobody I've ever met before, she's someone who looked beyond Kyuubi No Kitsune. She saw ME and even though she started that `Man Training' out of pity, she grew to love me too.” Seeing how his words seemed to dishearten Hinata, Naruto began to gain a focus on her true feelings. “But she's the assistant to the Hokage, I'm working on becoming a Chuunin, which means that there's almost no downtime for us to see each other even if we wanted to date. And besides, she's years older than me. But there's, y'know, a bigger reason than that.”

 

When she seemed unwilling to probe the reason, silence hung between the two like a black velvet cloth, the noise of the main street around them seemed to dull as they wallowed in their own little worlds; Naruto's was one of new insight and Hinata's was steeped in self-doubt. Both were unable to speak, staring intently at their feet.

 

“Naruto-kun?” Began Hinata. “I want you to know something,”

 

Looking up, Naruto asked, “What is it?”

 

“W-Well.” Hinata took a deep breath before going on. “I-I-I'velikedyouforalongtime.” The one nearly incoherent sentence made her heart beat in her throat. “A-And I see that I'm too late to be… your first love.”

 

“Hinata you don't-“

 

“Wait!” Hinata interrupted. “I also promised myself a long time ago that I'd eventually let you know how I felt about you. So here goes.” She took another deep breath, and closed her eyes.

 

“I love you,” She said after a few seconds. “The first time I saw you, you smiled at me, my entire family was surrounding me, and giving you the dirtiest looks I've ever seen on their faces, but you weren't even fazed by any of it. You called me `Pretty-Chan' and asked me to play with you.” Her eyes slowly opened, grey orbs wavered behind tears of joy and relief as she opened her heart. “You've never given up, never given in. You made me a ninja, and then you made me even better. All I did was WATCH you and I still felt as if you worked only to inspire me.” A small, quivering smile played across Hinata's face as she continued. “Naruto, my entire life has taken away my own self-esteem, but you've been there, and you've given it back. During our Chuunin Exam, the first test, everyone was ready to give up, you stood up and practically yelled at Ibiki-Sensei, and when you stood up to Neji in the second exam, and beat him in the third. You… You're AMAZING.”

 

A long silence passed between the two before Naruto spoke finally. “Wow, that's a lot to get off of your chest.”

 

“N-No Kidding.” Retorted Hinata. “But it was worse to keep it bottled up.”

 

“Heh, I guess,” Naruto thought for a moment. “Look Hinata-Chan,” He said, using the familiar suffix. “I'd really appreciate it if you accompanied me on the mission, it'd give me some time to talk to you about… well, about all of this.”

 

“Y-Yes, That'd probably be good.”

 

“And I'd like to spend some time with you, amazing or not. I can't remember the last mission we've been on together” He added, scratching his head.

 

“Yeah.” Said Hinata, starting to get the gist of Naruto's negotiation.

 

As she started to walk away, Hinata noticed that Naruto remained rooted in his place, staring at her. She decided to ask, “What is it?”

 

Upon hearing this question, Naruto chuckled and shook his head. “I just wanted to let YOU know something. I don't know if it's that important to you, but it's the reason I didn't really love Shizune.”

 

Perked up by this new development, Hinata probed the subject. “What was it?”

 

“You.”

 

 

 

Author's Notes:

 

There! Another chapter done! And it was only a small, five-month waiting period. (I'm sorry! Please! No more flogging! I promise I'll do better!) Again, I'm sorry about stopping the story, but I'm continuing it again now, and isn't that what matters? After all, I am a marginally good writer!

 

In other news, I'm expecting a jet ski at our house, a friend of my mom's said that he'd have it hanging from the little pole that we have which lowers boats into the water from our property. But when I asked how much work it'd need since we're getting it for free, all he'd say was that it was red and white. So right now, I doubt that it even has a motor in it, or that it floats for that matter.