Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Gravity ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Kiba stood in the doorway gaping at Hinata. Shino stood beside him.
“Her hair...” Kiba whispered, but Shino elbowed his ribs and pushed him forward.
“Don't say a word,” the bug boy muttered.
“How are you feeling today, Hinata-chan?”
Kiba grinned and placed the bouquet of roses on the stand by her bed. It was filled with all sorts of different colors. There was red, yellow, blue, black, green and even pink. He laughed nervously when he saw Hinata looking at them with disbelief.
“Well...” Shino said, bending over and lifting Akamaru, Kiba's puppy, onto Hinata's lap, “you are hard to shop for.” He took the blue rose from the vase and, after handing it to her, kissed her cheek.
Hinata giggled and pet Akamaru's head slowly and weakly. “Th-thank you,” she smiled sweetly. “Y-you're my best f-friends.”
Akamaru licked her hand, his little tail wagging happily, but they all saw the sadness he was truly feeling. They were all feeling it. It may have been a beautiful day and the sun may have been shining, but their smiles were forced and there was no life in their eyes.
“Hinata-chan,” Shino interrupted the silence, his voice gruff and serious, “we heard the news from Tsunade.”
Kiba shifted nervously in his spot, either unwilling to talk about it or uncomfortable with the situation at hand. “What Shino is trying to say is...” he paused.
“Y-you know about...” Hinata closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “...m-my condition.”
“Well...” Kiba replied slowly, “yes.”
No one said another word. Kiba turned around, fidgeting with his hands and looking down at his feet. Shino sighed a few times, his hands in his pockets and his gaze out the window, which he thought was odd to be in the middle of the wall. This hospital really was unique.
That reminded him of something. “Oh,” he turned toward Hinata, “your father wants you home.”
“Oh yeah!” Kiba sounded relieved that the silence had ended. “You're father wants you to be transferred from the hospital to the Hyuga residence by tomorrow.”
Hinata gazed off into the distance. “I...” she whispered, “...I see.”
“He says,” Kiba continued, nervously rambling, “'the Hyuga family can heal better and faster than any hospital.'” He had just used his best Hyuga Hiashi voice. “That's exactly what your father sounded like too! So then I asked him...”
“Kiba,” Shino stopped him.
“What?”
“Shut up.”
“Oh...” he peered apologetically at Hinata. “I'm sorry, Hinata-chan, I just...”
“We just...” Shino shifted his glasses on his nose and cleared his throat. Hinata smiled as soon as she saw the shade of pink on his cheeks. “We...love you, Hinata-chan.”
She giggled quietly. “Th-thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you so m-much for e-everything you have ever d-done for me. You were the b-best teammates I could have e-ever a-asked for.”
They both grinned at her, but their smiles faded as soon as they had formed.
“Wh-what?” Hinata asked, worry in her soft voice.
Both of them grimaced at something across the room. She turned her head to see Sasuke standing by his bed with his Sharingan blazing and an angry stance about him. She immediately gave Akamaru to Kiba and tried to sooth the boy.
“S-Sasuke-san,” she cooed, “please c-calm down. They're my f-friends.”
“Sasuke!” Naruto shouted, laughing loudly as he kicked open the door. “You're best friend is here to cheer you up!” He stopped when he realized everyone was glaring at him. “Oh, I'm interrupting,” he murmured, blushing slightly. “My bad, guys.”
Hinata blushed when he looked at her. Brushing her hair behind her ear, she smiled shyly at him. “G-good morning, N-Naruto-kun...” she welcomed him.
Sasuke walked briskly up to the boy and grabbed his shirt collar.
“Hey,” Naruto snorted, pushing Sasuke away, “what's up with you?”
Sakura sighed behind him and walked forward. “You don't understand anything, Naruto!” She handed Sasuke the yellow roses she had brought him and grinned. “Good morning, Sasuke-kun,” she chirped. “How are you feeling?”
He took the roses and examined them with a confused look as if he didn't realize they were a gift. Sakura giggled and sniffed them, knowing he would copy her. Of course, with the mind of a six year old, he did.
“Don't they smell good, Sasuke-kun?” she grinned. “I was hoping you would like them.”
All of a sudden, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. She froze, her heart pounding so fast she thought it was going to burst.
Naruto frowned and rounded Sakura. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, he snapped, “Back off or I'll...” They all stopped and looked at Hinata when she began to laugh.
“N-Naruto-kun,” she said in between breaths, “h-he did it, because S-Shino-kun kissed m-my cheek after th-they gave me fl-flowers.”
“Oh.” He released Sasuke and fixed the wrinkles in his shirt. “Sorry. I forgot you're only six.”
Sakura's shocked face had disappeared and was replaced with a sad one. “Oh...” she whispered. “I thought...maybe...” She burst into tears and ran out the door.
“Sakura-chan!” Naruto called, chasing after her. “Wait!”
Sasuke looked around, completely confused. Hinata held her hand out to him with a sad smile. He walked up to her bed and sat down.
“L-Listen,” she spoke quietly, “S-Sakura-chan... She l-loves you.”
He frowned thoughtfully and looked toward the doorway where she had left. He looked back at Hinata and shook his head.
“Y-You don't f-feel that w-way for h-her?” she asked.
He shook his head again and took her hand. He closed his eyes and kissed it for a long moment. Then he smiled warmly at her.
“I am y-your m-mother,” she said, ignoring Shino and Kiba's gasps, “so listen c-carefully, o-okay?”
His expression became a pout, because she had changed her tone. He nodded obediently.
“I w-want you to go f-find her and f-fall in l-love with h-her,” she told him slowly. “I-I loved s-someone t-too, but I w-will never b-be with h-him, because I w-waited t-too long a-and was t-too shy to t-tell him.”
“Hinata...” Kiba whispered, “you can still get him.”
She smiled at Kiba. “Th-thank you, b-but please don't l-lie to m-me.”
He looked down shamefully.
Sasuke stood and walked toward the doorway. He looked back at Hinata and smiled. He was about to turn around to leave when he suddenly collapsed on the floor, screaming. He gripped his head with both hands and his body writhed every which way.
Shino and Kiba rushed to him, shouting out questions and trying to stop him from kicking so wildly.
“Sasuke-san!” Hinata shouted, throwing off her sheets and sliding to the floor. Her weak legs buckled beneath her and she was forced to crawl to him.
“Hinata-chan,” Kiba shouted, “no! Get back. He'll hurt you!”
Sasuke let out a loud scream, sitting up and cupping his arms around his head. Hinata couldn't stand to see the pain on his face. She continued forward until she reached his side.
“Sasuke-san,” she soothed quietly, touching his shoulder softly, “e-everything will b-be all r-right.”
He stopped screaming, but his entire body shook with pain. He slowly took his hands off his head.
“I'm here, S-Sasuke-san,” she whispered. “I'm h-here.”
All at once, he wrapped his arms around her, pressing his face into her neck and knocking her onto her back. She pet his head and closed her eyes, humming a sweet lullaby to him between his shouts of agony.

I was sitting at my family's table inside our old house. There she was. My mother. I felt myself smile. She was grinning at me and talking. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but I felt myself laugh, so I had to be listening.
Then my vision widened and a strange girl, whom, to my surprise, I recognized, sat next to her, grinning and talking just as Mother was. I felt a connection with her. It was almost as strong as my connection to Mother.
Suddenly, both of them stopped talking and began to slide toward each other, but they weren't moving a muscle, just smiling happily at me. I was scared. I watched them become one person, but I could still see the two separate bodies, they were just transparent.
“Sasuke-san,” they both whispered in unison, “everything will be all right. I love you. I love you.”
They slowly disappeared and everything began to fade away. I felt myself screaming for the strange girl instead of my mother and I couldn't understand why.

“Hinata-chan!” Sasuke shouted, sitting up straight. He looked down to find himself in a bed with unfamiliar white sheets covering him. Lifting his hands, he stared at them as if they were foreign. “Where am I?”
He looked around. It was dark, but he could faintly see the outline of the room. He was in a hospital. His stomach twisted with fear and anger. Why couldn't he remember anything? He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to collect even the smallest amount of memory he might have.
His eyes flashed open. “The war!”
“W-war?” he heard a soft voice stutter. “Y-you were in the w-war?”
“Who's there?” his deep voice threatened as he winced cautiously toward the wall beside him.
“So...you don't r-remember me n-now?”
The name “Hinata” rang inside his mind. “Hinata,” he mumbled, frowning and relaxing himself away from the cold, white wall. “The name I shouted...” He spoke up, his voice still slightly threatening. “Are you Hinata?”
The girl sighed. “Yes, S-Sasuke-san,” she replied. “I am s-so glad y-you aren't s-six anymore. I h-hope it s-stays that w-way.”
“Six?” he asked, his low voice returning. “As in six years old?”
“Y-yes. You th-thought I was your m-mother.”
“What?!” he snapped, momentarily losing control. “You couldn't be half the woman my mother was!”
Hinata flinched, looking away from him so he would not see. “You l-loved her d-dearly...”
“Why do you stutter?” he growled. “It's annoying.”
“I-I can't h-help it,” she said apologetically, closing her eyes and trying to control her rising sorrow. “I've t-tried to s-stop, but I n-never can.”
“Were you born with it?” he asked, his voice flat.
“N-no...”
“Then you can help it,” he snorted. “Now who are you and why am I here?”
“I...” she paused for a long moment, trying to speak slowly, “saved...y-you. S-sorry. I'm t...rying.”
“Saved me?” He scoffed. “Tell me the truth.”
“You f...ell down the c-canyon and I s...aved you.”
“Canyon...” he mumbled, scenes from the past returning to him. “Itachi...”
“Wh...at?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he snapped. “You don't even know anything about me, do you?”
“Why are you s...aying this?” she asked, hurt that he was speaking so angrily.
“Why did you save me?” he began to shout, gripping the sheets as tightly as his weak hands could. “I deserved to die. I didn't even come close to...”
“Enough,” Hinata yelled, overcome with emotion. “I've heard e...nough. No one de...serves to d...ie.”
There was a long silence.
“Some people deserve to die,” Sasuke muttered. “Some people deserve to be tortured until death releases them from their pitiful lives.”
“N...o,” Hinata whispered. “As a d...ying p-person, I say no.”
Sasuke slid his legs off the edge of the bed, his head hung low. It took him a moment, but he finally decided what he was going to do. Standing up, he walked to the window and peered out at the full moon shining its magnificence into the room.
“Itachi,” he whispered, “is my brother.”
“Sasuke-san...” Hinata whispered.
It sounded like she was going to ask a question, so he continued, refusing to give details. “I vowed to kill him at all costs. My life...was and is the only thing I hold dear, so I can live on to kill him one day.”
“Sasuke-san,” she whispered again, causing him to grimace.
“I'm not finished,” he snapped. “What I'm trying to say is I'm going to find out how to repay you for saving the one thing I have ever loved. No matter what, I will repay you.”
“Sasuke-san,” she whispered for the third time, “please...”
He sighed, turning toward her. “What?”
But his agitation disintegrated when he saw what was wrong. Hinata lay on her back, writhing and twisting vigorously. Her wide, fear-filled eyes bore into his very soul, her hand reaching out to him. He ran to the door.
“Nurse,” he screamed, “anyone, get a doctor!”


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A/N: Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, the rest of the book is here:
http://redbyakugan.webs.com
and here
http://youtube.com/user/theredbyakugan

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