Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Gravity ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
It was the door shutting, Sasuke thought to himself, realizing what the sound had been that had awoken him from his slumber. He was facing away from Hinata's bed as well as the door. It was quiet, but he felt the presence of someone other than himself and Hinata within the room. He was about to turn to look, but stopped himself when he heard a voice.
“Is he awake?” the stranger whispered. There was a pause. “I wanted to make sure.” Another short pause. “Well...I brought it.”
Sasuke listened intently to rustling of sheets and something else that he couldn't recognize by sound alone. He assumed the person was hiding an object somewhere on or near Hinata's bed.
“I feel like a fool. Please don't use it on yourself. I would feel responsible...”
The sheets moved again and the stranger stopped speaking. Whoever it was, she was female. Sasuke could tell by the pitch of the voice even it being just a whisper.
“I also brought...” Now the person was beginning to be careless about the noise as they searched (what sounded like) their clothing for something. “...this.”
Sasuke now understood that the sheets rustling around was Hinata moving. The sound lingered as she moved slowly, it halted briefly and then continued slowly once more before finishing. The sound of something wooden, possibly some type of box, being opened made him frown in curiosity. After a short moment the stranger chuckled quietly.
“I thought you would cry,” she whispered. “It's my gift to you. Keep it safe.”
The stranger tip-toed quietly toward the door, opened it slowly, lingered there for a moment, and then shut the door behind them. Sasuke heard no other sounds for a long while, but he knew he couldn't move in fear of Hinata still being awake. He couldn't let her know he'd heard. They were trying hard to keep quiet. She obviously didn't want him to know anything about it.
He was surprised to hear the sheets of her bed make a sweeping sound, as if being thrown in the air. He didn't dare move. Something heavy, but sturdy hit the floor and it sounded as if Hinata was pushing it very slowly, stopping with each small push to catch her breath, but he couldn't hear footsteps or any heavy breathing, and whatever it was didn't screech against the floor, so it had to be something soft. His curiosity was about to murder him.
The sound got closer and closer until it stopped at his bedside. He couldn't hold himself back any longer. He turned to look over his shoulder just as an arm reached up from the floor and leaned its strength upon the edge of the bed. Another arm came up to help. Sasuke watched as Hinata's head popped up and looked exhaustively into his face.
Her eyes widened when she realized he was staring at her. Her cheeks burned. “S-Sasuke-san,” she whispered with a raspy voice, “I...” her eyes averted to the floor, “I can’t f-feel my l-legs.”
His eyes widened and he sat up, staring down at the girl. She had her arms folded upon the surface of his bed, holding her upper body straight upright, while her legs lay limp upon the floor behind her. She had been using her elbows to drag herself across the room!
He quickly got out of bed and scooped her up bridal style: knees into one arm and shoulders into the other. “I will get a doctor,” he said, turning and striding toward the doorway.
“N-no!” Hinata whispered and he stopped. “Ho-Hokage-sama in-informed me of tem-temporary p-paralysis.”
Sasuke frowned at her. “So why come to me?”
Her eyes averted from his. “I... I mean... C-can I...”
She didn't speak for a long moment and Sasuke growled. “Can you what?”
His growl discouraged her. “N-nothing,” she finally answered.
He walked her back to her bed. After laying her onto her back, he violently flung the sheets back over her. “I could've been sleeping...” he muttered and turned away.
“I...” she whispered.
“You what?” Sasuke nearly shouted, grimacing angrily at her over his shoulder.
She looked up at him, clutching the sheets in her tiny, weak hands and covering her mouth and nose with them. Tears poured from her eyes. “I'm...s-sorry, S-Sasuke-san. I don’t kn-know what g-got in to m-me...”
He clenched his hands into fists as his grimace softened. He jerked his head forward to keep from seeing her face. “Whatever,” he growled coldly, “just sleep.”
After lying in bed for a few minutes, his anger had completely vanished from listening to her quiet sobs. He understood what she had wanted. He knew he had to act fast before he changed his mind. He didn’t want to do it, but he had to find a way to repay her for saving his life and he knew this would be a step forward in that direction. He stood and walked over to Hinata. Her back was toward him and he could see her shoulders shake with her uneven breathing.
“Hinata,” his voice was harsher than he had wanted it to be. She turned toward him and he was taken aback when his heart began to race from embarrassment. “Take the sheets off,” he ordered her, unhappy with his inability to remain calm through this situation. She looked at him with a confused expression. “Just do it!” he commanded.
The poor girl was reluctant for a moment, but finally removed the sheets. Sasuke picked her up and carried her over to his bed. He lay her down, situating her legs in what would be a comfortable position, pulled the sheets up to her shoulders and then crawled into the bed beside her. They both wore maroon cheeks and refused to meet eyes. Hinata glanced quickly at him to see he was staring at the ceiling. She did the same, wondering whether or not he would be angered if she thanked him for his kindness.
“Sor...” Sasuke began, “...sor...” He growled, frustrated that his mouth didn't want to cooperate. “I yelled,” he nearly bellowed, “and I didn't...” he softened his voice as much as he could, “...want to.”
He's trying to apologize... Hinata realized his pride was hindering his abilities to be kind. A smile spread across her lips and she began to giggle ever so quietly.
“I f-forgive you,” she whispered.
“Right.” Sasuke turned on his side, his back toward Hinata. “Just sleep.”

I sat on the ground with my back against something warm. I sniffed the beautiful scent of an unknown mixture of flowers and fresh spring water. The sky was bright blue and the leaves above me swayed in the wind. I felt nothing but peace in my heart. I knew somewhere in my subconscious that this peace was out of place and unusual, but my chest was open to it.
All at once, my conscious was brought back to reality and knew my body was dreaming. Images of my sorrowful and gory past raged through my mind while I, in my dream state, still sat at that same warm spot, my back against something unknown and comfortable, watched them helplessly, begging myself to forget them all and stop the scenes from returning to my eyes.
Wake up... Please just...wake up... Wake up!

Sasuke’s eyes opened slowly, as if reluctant, but he knew he had been sweating with anxiety and fear. He prepared for a wave of anger to crash through him, but it didn’t come. He still felt the same warmth against his back that he had felt within the dream and was unwillingly filled with an immense amount of curiosity. Turning to look over his shoulder, his blood stopped cold in his veins at the sight. The girl from the night before had unknowingly scooted toward him while she slept until her back was pressed against his.
Do I move? He wondered, silently panicking. That would awaken her… That’s her fault! How dare she carelessly touch me during my most vulnerable time! …Why was I vulnerable while asleep? I should have felt or heard her movements. I can’t be that exhausted… He grimaced, finally feeling the wave anger begin to crash through him. Upset with himself for being so weak, he pushed his body forward to get away from hers, but, unfortunately, he hadn’t realized the lack of bed he had in front of him and plummeted to the floor.
Lying now on his back on the cold, hardwood flooring, he glared at the ceiling. This girl makes a fool of me while asleep. If this happens again, I must refuse to associate with her any longer.
Suddenly, Hinata’s face appeared within his line of site, her long, black hair dangling down just inches from his nose. “S-Sasuke-san?”
Sasuke froze with humiliation and didn’t know what to say. He hoped she hadn’t heard him fall and was just wondering why he was on the ground.
“I’m s-so sorry!” her face looked pitiful. “I p-pushed you off in the m-middle of the n-night, didn’t I?”
Relieved she hadn’t heard him fall just moments ago, he replied, “Idiot,” pausing, he rolled his eyes to keep her from seeing his panicked face while he thought up a quick lie, “I chose to sleep on the floor.”
“Wh-why?” she looked curious.
He sighed, silently planning his next line. Pushing her hair out of his face, he sat up and she moved back onto the bed to get out of the way. Standing, he assorted his hospital robe so it would not reveal anything. He walked to the equipment closet and retrieved his clothes. Turning toward the bathroom door, he said with a small, mischievous smile, “You snore.”
He knew she must have had the most comical expression at that moment, but, refusing to lose his reputation of being solemn at all times, he walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
I feel like I’m dealing with Naruto, he thought as he pulled on his shorts. Although she is nothing like him, I still feel as humiliated around her as I do him, so I’m reacting the same way I would with him. He sighed exasperatingly. How irritating.
When he finished and opened the door, he was surprised to see Hinata on her stomach on the floor, trying to reach the handle to the closet’s right door. He frowned and walked over to her. Opening the door, he watched her motion toward the folded wheelchair. Ignoring his inquiries about the reason she needed it so early in the morning, he lifted it up and, unfolding it, placed it down near the foot of the bed. He rolled his eyes when he saw that she was dragging herself toward it.
“Enough with that,” he spat and picked her up, “I wouldn’t have gotten the wheelchair if I wasn’t going to help you.”
“I-I…” she paused as he placed her gently into the wheelchair and positioned her lifeless feet into the petals, “I don’t w-want you to re…pay me.”
“I owe you,” he said calmly, still situating the straps around different parts of her body. She was silent while he finished securing her. He saw the insecure expression upon her face and growled. “Maybe if you had just thought of something I could do that’s worth a life, this would be over already!”
She winced at his change in tone, but soaked in his words willingly. After a long moment, she spoke, “Th-then hide me.”


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A/N: NOTEPAD DOESN'T SAVE ITALICIZED WORDS (the slanted words that are either for emphasis or a thought). That's rather irritating!
Anyway, Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, I will be posting the rest of the book here:
http://redbyakugan.webs.com
and here
http://youtube.com/user/theredbyakugan

Chapter four is not yet out (this statement made 10/1/11) and it normally takes me 4 - 6 months to come out with the next chapter after one is released. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Please leave comments. Any feedback is great; good or bad. ;) Lovez!