Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Insanely Yours ❯ All You Need Is Time ( Chapter 20 )

Chapter Twenty: All You Need is Time

 

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As he stood in front of the patients, his friends; the people he'd spent the last two years with, Haku smiled and wiped away the stray tear that was sliding down his cheek. "I...I'm really going to miss you all." He admitted while gazing at the lot of them.

 

"I'm sure everyone will miss you too, Haku." Shizune said, smiling at him proudly.

 

Haku had gotten his hair cut. Earlier that day, during the morning, Haku had gone to Shizune and asked her to help him with his hair; he'd asked her to chop it off. No one had expected Haku to do such a thing. Haku's hair no longer trailed down his back; it was shortest in the back, and got longer as it processed to the front.

 

Over the two years that he'd been in the hospital, Haku had changed immensely. But now that he was leaving, he was a new person, and he wanted to look like a new person as well. His long hair was a thing of the past and cutting it had finalized the change that he'd felt.

 

Haku laughed to himself and shook his head. "To be honest, I never thought I'd get out of here this soon." He confessed.

 

"Well," Shikamaru began, scratching his head and yawning. "You got better. Be glad that you're getting your life back." Without warning, Haku launched himself at Shikamaru and hugged him as tightly as he could. Shikamaru laughed and pat Haku's back lightly. "I'll miss you too."

 

From the back of the group, Naruto stood and watched Haku. He wasn't sure whether he was sad that the boy was leaving, or happy that Haku was gaining his freedom. It was very hard for Naruto to single in on his own emotions when they were bouncing around in his heart.

 

He stood there beside Kiba and Sakura, who were watching Haku with great want in their eyes. Naruto could tell that they wanted out, just like he and everyone else wanted. Haku walked up and hugged the two of them, telling them that he would still call and visit. Though, when he stopped in front of Naruto, he had a completely different message.

 

Haku smiled at the blonde and reached out to grasp one of his hands before speaking. "You'll make it out of here, you know." He told Naruto. "You're not exactly the sanest person, but you can get out, Naruto."

 

Naruto nodded and smiled halfheartedly. "...it's hard," he began. "To watch you leave. I mean, I know I'll get out of here but when I do...I don't know...will I even be cured? And, to be honest, I'm a little jealous." He laughed bitterly. "You're cured, you're leaving, you get your life back,-"

 

"-and you can do all those things, but you have to want it." Haku squeezed Naruto's hands lightly. "C'mon, you've got until the end of this year and I know for a fact that you can be helped. You aren't a lost cause. You can do it."

 

Naruto could only smile, nod, and agree with what Haku had said. He was right; Naruto had just needed a bit of reinforcement to get his hopes back up. "Thanks, Haku." He grinned. "I know you've heard this already, but I'm really going to miss you. You're one of the few people that I can actually call a friend." Haku's smile widened and he laughed lightly.

 

"Thanks for being my friend, Naruto. I'm glad to have met someone like you." He reached up to hug Naruto and placed a feather-soft kiss on his cheek. "Get better, okay?"

 

The blonde nodded and grinned. "Okay."

 

Haku released Naruto's hand and, as he was walking away, blew the blonde a kiss. He picked his bags up from the floor just as Shizune opened the doors for Zabuza, who'd come to pick Haku up. The man took the bags from his lover's arms and, boldly, leaned down and kissed him in front of the small crowd of people. Even Shizune had to blush.

 

The woman held out her clipboard and pen and handed it to Zabuza. "Please sign your name for Haku's release." She told him. Zabuza gladly took the pen and signed his name on the dotted line. As soon as he'd written on that piece of paper, Haku's fate was sealed. He was never to be reinstated into the hospital; he was a free man.

 

As Haku was about to walk out of the door, he stopped when he felt a hand tugging at his sleeve. When he turned around, he found Hinata standing behind him, staring at him with a somber expression in her gaze. Haku didn't hesitate before reaching out, wrapping his arms around the girl's small frame, and embracing her. His sadness was evident; there were tears in his eyes again. "You get better too, alright?" he whispered to her. And she nodded.

 

Not long after Haku was gone, Shizune herded the patients out of the lobby and down the hallway. "Follow me to the Art room, everyone." She told them. Unfortunately, not even a patient's departure could throw that woman off her schedule.

 

Shizune unlocked the Art room and guided the patients inside. They all sat down in their usual places and listened as Shizune began giving directions.

 

Seeing as how Sasuke was nowhere in sight, Naruto chose to take a seat next to Hinata, who usually sat alone. When Hinata saw Naruto sit down next to her, a small smile graced her lips. Naruto silently wondered if Hinata ever smiled for anyone else here.

 

"Today," Shizune began, from the front of the room. "You all will be allowed to paint or draw whatever you'd like. There are no guidelines for today's session." She announced. Almost immediately, Hinata stood up from her seat. Naruto watched her walk over to the left side of the room. She picked up an easel and a canvas before bringing both items back to her seat. She moved her chair so that it was set in front of the easel. Hinata grabbed the set of paints from the table and began painting on her blank canvas.

 

At first, Naruto had tried to concentrate on creating his own paper. But every time he started drawing, he would get distracted by Hinata's painting. Since she'd only just started, he couldn't very well make out exactly what she was painting, but it still mesmerized him. She sat there painting, calm and silently. Her canvas was no longer white and blank; it was filled with color. The top half of the canvas was a dark color, almost a deep violet. As the violet traveled downward, it got lighter and lighter, and blended into the deep blue that was at the bottom of the canvas. At the middle of the canvas, Hinata was painting something of an even darker color, but Naruto couldn't tell what it was just yet.

 

"She's such a great artist, isn't she?" Naruto nearly jumped when he heard someone speaking behind him, that someone being Sakura. The thin girl smiled and sat down next to Naruto. "She should probably be famous."

 

Naruto nodded. "I could never even begin to paint something that even looked half decent." He admitted.

 

"Neither could I. I could probably draw a flower but that'd be it." Sakura joked.

 

Sakura began watching Hinata paint, just as Naruto had been. The blonde boy sighed and spoke to Sakura again. "Sakura," he began. "Are you sad? About Haku, I mean." He asked. The pink haired girl nodded slowly while a melancholy expression flooded her face.

 

"Yeah, sort of." She confessed. "I mean, Haku was one of the nicest people I've ever met. He never...I mean, I can't remember a time where he was mean to anyone. I'll miss him; I'm sure that everyone will." She paused. "But, I mean...I guess I shouldn't be sad. I should be happy for him. He gets to be free, you know?" she said. Naruto nodded. "Haku deserved to get out of here."

 

"I agree." Naruto replied. As they continued to watch Hinata paint, and forget about their own drawings, they continued to talk to one another. "Do you think you'll ever leave, Sakura?" Naruto questioned.

 

The girl glanced at him skeptically before speaking. "Sure," she answered. "Everyone has to get out someday." Naruto shot her a disapproving glare.

 

"Okay," he began. "So do you think you'll ever be cured?" he asked her.

 

Sakura rolled her eyes at Naruto and sighed heavily. "I don't know." She answered, truthfully. "I'll admit that I have a problem, but who's to say that I'll ever get healthy." She sighed again, shaking her head. "I've been here since I was fifteen, Naruto. I've come close to death more times than I can count...I don't know if I'll ever get better." She stared down at her feet and as Naruto opened his mouth, she shook her head. "I'm sorry but, can we not talk about this?"

 

Naruto nodded. "Sure." He told her.

 

Sakura and Naruto began silently watching Hinata again. It was then, when Naruto noticed what the dark object in the middle of Hinata's canvas was. It was a tree, a black tree, without one leaf on its haphazardly drawn branches. There was something about the painting, something that Naruto just couldn't put his finger on. All he knew was that the more he looked at it, the sadder he began to feel. He wasn't surprised, not in the least, that Hinata's painting held no sense of happiness.

 

Neither Naruto nor Sakura had realized that they'd sat there watching Hinata for the entire session. When Shizune announced that Art Therapy was over, Sakura and Naruto looked at one another with a surprised expression on both of their faces. Sakura hurried out of the room with the rest of their group, but Naruto hung behind to help Hinata clean up her paints and brushes.

 

He brought the brushes to the sink and began washing them while Hinata washed the paint off her hands. "Your painting was really interesting, Hinata." He told her, even though he knew that she wouldn't respond to his comment. The girl glanced up at him momentarily but she stayed silent and continued to wash her hands. "I always wonder what you're thinking, you know." He admitted. "...I can tell you're holding a lot in." he told her. Almost immediately, the girl stopped washing her hands. She left the water running and stared at the faucet intently. Naruto spoke again. "You've probably got a lot to say." He smiled lightly as he finished cleaning the brushes. He turned off the faucet and grabbed a couple of paper towels for Hinata. "Here," he handed them to her. She took them, still not looking at Naruto, and dried her hands.

 

"When you start talking again," Naruto told her, before taking her hand in his, "I hope I'm one of the first people you talk to."

 

After the two of them left the art room, they went straight to the tv room. Hinata went to sit with Neji on the couch, but Naruto didn't go past the doorway. He'd been looking for Sasuke and, unfortunately, the raven wasn't in the tv room. Naruto turned away from the room and started down the hallway, heading toward Sasuke's room.

 

Upon reaching the raven's room, Naruto knocked in the door three times. "Sasuke?" he called out to him. There was only a second's lapse before Sasuke called back to him.

 

"It's open." He answered.

 

Naruto reached out and turned the door handle before slowly pushing the door open. Sasuke was lying down on his bed, now looking over at Naruto. The blonde closed the door quietly and then walked over to Sasuke, sitting down on the bed beside him. "You didn't come to say goodbye to Haku." He stated. "Why?"

 

Sasuke looked away from Naruto and closed his eyes. "I didn't feel like it." He muttered. Naruto frowned, reached over to Sasuke's face, and flicked his nose. The raven's eyes shot open and he glared at Naruto angrily. "Don't do that. Ever." Naruto rolled his eyes.

 

"I wouldn't have to do anything if you weren't acting like an ass." He retorted. "You should've said goodbye to him, Sasuke. Everyone else was there. It would've been a nice thing to do."

 

The Uchiha shrugged. "I'm not known for doing nice things."

 

"You're nice to me." Naruto argued. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

 

"Barely."

 

Naruto sighed heavily, realizing that arguing pettily would get them nowhere. He leaned back and lay down on the bed next to Sasuke. Naruto took a deep breath and stared into the raven's eyes. "Maybe watching him leave would've given you a little hope, hm?" he began. Sasuke pursed his lips tightly, remaining silent. "...Haku just looked so happy, I'd never seen him that way before. Zabuza came to sign him out and he looked just about as glad as Haku. It just seemed so right, Haku being the first to leave, he deserved it-"

 

"-do we really have to talk about this?" Sasuke cut in, still glaring at Naruto.

 

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Why shouldn't you? You were the one who didn't show up. I thought you should know-"

 

"-Maybe I didn't come because I didn't want to know." He admitted. Naruto instantly became silent, though he still stared at Sasuke intently. "Why would I want to watch him leave? Do you really think I would've enjoyed seeing that?"

 

"It's not about you, Sasuke. It's about Haku. It's about the fact that maybe he might've thought you were his friend, and maybe he would've liked to say goodbye to you!" Naruto exclaimed, glaring at Sasuke irritably. Realizing that he didn't want to argue with or be angry with Sasuke, Naruto just took a deep breath, lowered his voice, and calmed down. "I'm sorry for yelling," he apologized. "Maybe it's none of my business about why you didn't come. I should've never brought it up."

 

Sasuke reached over and silently grabbed Naruto's hand. The blonde looked over at him and sighed. He didn't know why he'd gotten so worked up. Everything that Sasuke did seemed to get under Naruto's skin. Naruto always noticed everything that Sasuke did.

 

The Uchiha sighed and turned his eyes away from Naruto. He began staring up at the ceiling again before he spoke. "What's going to happen when you leave, Naruto?" he questioned quietly. Naruto looked at Sasuke, but the raven wouldn't make eye contact. "...you're never going to want to think about this place. You're going forget-"

 

"-don't finish that." Naruto cut in. Sasuke immediately turned to look at him. "How could I ever forget about anything that has to do with this place? I'm spending a year of my life here, I couldn't forget." He argued. "And if you think I'll ever forget about you, you must be crazy. I couldn't forget about you even if I wanted to." He moved closer to Sasuke and kissed his cheek gently. "Even if I leave before you, I know that one day you'll be leaving too."

 

Sasuke scoffed. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." He mumbled.

 

"Don't even say that." Naruto scolded him. "You're not staying here forever, Sasuke; I wouldn't let that happen. I'll...I'll help you get better, if that's what it'll take. It's not like you're a hopeless case or something. And besides," he smiled. "I'm sure your brother would love it if you were home with him."

 

At this, Sasuke almost smiled, and Naruto's heart jumped into his throat. Just a simple smile could send Naruto flying. He laid his head on Sasuke's chest and closed his eyes, listening to the raven's heartbeat. "I love you." He thought, biting his bottom lip. He wanted so badly to confess to Sasuke, but he had not the strength, nor the courage to do such a thing. Naruto still wasn't sure if he was supposed to love Sasuke but, in all honesty, does anyone ever fall in love with who they're supposed to?

 

The two of them only got to lay there with one another for a couple of minutes. Their time was cut short when there was a knock at Sasuke's door. Before either of them could move to get up, the door opened, revealing Iruka. Both Sasuke and Naruto were visibly relieved that it hadn't been Shizune who'd opened the door. Iruka stared at the two boys skeptically before speaking.

 

"Sasuke, it's time for group therapy. Shizune's already not happy that you missed Art, so you should go." He told the Uchiha. Iruka then looked at Naruto. "As for you, there are people here to see you. They're waiting in the lobby."

 

Both Sasuke and Naruto rose from the bed and walked out of the room. Naruto was very thankful that he and Sasuke hadn't been doing anything that would've gotten them both into trouble. It seemed like Shizune was the only one who ever caught them.

 

As he headed towards the lobby, Naruto watched Sasuke walk the other way. He was a little annoyed by the fact that they'd been separated, but he also knew that they couldn't have lain there all day, no matter how much he'd wanted to.

 

When Naruto reached the lobby, he saw that the people waiting there for him were Aya, and some man who looked suspiciously like his lawyer. He had a strange bowl-styled haircut, big, scary eyes, an oddly wide smile, and was dressed in a green suit. He was almost the spitting image of Gai and that scared Naruto more than he cared to admit.

 

"Good afternoon, Uzumaki-san." The man greeted him, extending his hand toward Naruto. "I'm your new Psychiatrist, Lee. It's nice to finally meet you." He grinned. Naruto reluctantly shook the man's hand and forced a smile onto his own face.

 

"Same here, Lee." He lied. No, it was definitely not nice to meet this man.

 

Right after Naruto released Lee's hand, he felt himself being nearly tackled by none other than Aya. The girl smiled and hugged Naruto tightly. "I missed you." He told her. Aya nodded.

 

"I missed you too." She said. After releasing Naruto, she motioned to Lee and smiled. "Lee is Gai's son." She told him. Naruto rolled his eyes; Aya had told him that as if it wasn't obvious that this guy was related to Gai. They looked like doubles. It was so creepy. "He's already met with Gai, Ibiki, and the other lawyers handling your case, and they think he can really help you. Isn't that great?"

 

Naruto plastered a smile onto his face. "Fantastic."

 

Iruka, who'd come to the lobby with Naruto, cleared his throat in order to get everyone's attention. "Please follow me. I'll show you all where you need to go." He announced. Lee and Aya immediately followed Iruka, but Naruto lagged behind all of them. He was in no mood to have his brains probed by another shrink, especially one who was related to Maito Gai. Naruto figured that he must've done something terrible to deserve this.

 

Iruka brought them to a small room that resembled Kakashi's. The only difference was that there weren't as many books, and the room just didn't seem like people visited it often. Iruka explained that the room had belonged to one of the psychiatrists that used to work in the hospital years ago. Lee thanked Iruka for bringing them to the room, and then asked Naruto to have a seat on the couch. Aya chose to take a seat in the far corner of the room as not to be a distraction.

 

"So, Naruto," Lee began. "Tell me about your life here, at the Psychiatric Hospital. Are you comfortable?"

 

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah. It's not so bad." He answered. "Food could be better, though." He mumbled.

 

"Have you had any conflicts with the other patients here? Has anyone tried to harm you in any way?" Lee questioned. Naruto, again, shrugged his shoulders.

 

"I got into a fight with one of the patients, but it wasn't that serious. I just got angry, I guess." He said.

 

Lee's eyebrows rose with curiosity. "I see." He nodded. "Do you get angry very often, Naruto?" Naruto glanced over at Aya, who was pretending to not pay attention. The blonde sighed, and shook his head before answering Lee.

 

"Not really. I get angry as often as a normal person." He replied. Lee nodded and wrote something down on the notepad he was holding. Naruto scowled; he hated that. He'd been glad when Kakashi had stopped writing in his notepad while they talked with eachother, but now he was going to have to deal with it from Lee. "I'm not a naturally angry person." Naruto added. Lee nodded and wrote something else down.

 

"Are you happy with the other psychiatrist that works in this building? If I remember correctly, his name is Hatake Kakashi?"

 

Naruto nodded. "Sure. He's an okay guy."

 

"And how often do you meet with him?"

 

"Once a week." Naruto answered.

 

Lee continued to ask Naruto questions, some open ended and some closed. Naruto realized that Lee asked more questions than Kakashi ever had, though he didn't try to dig as deep as Kakashi did. Naruto figured that Lee didn't ask very serious questions because he wanted Naruto to trust him.

 

At some point, Naruto stopped paying attention to the things that Lee was asking him. When their session had finally ended, Naruto was more than relieved. Naruto was a little skeptical when he found out that, after talking with him, Lee would be meeting with Kakashi. Naruto wasn't so sure that two shrinks having a discussion about him was such a bright idea. When Lee left to go and speak with Kakashi, Naruto finally had time to be alone with and talk to Aya.

 

"...so, what do you think of him?" she asked him while they walked down the hallway together, heading toward Naruto's room.

 

The blonde shrugged. "I don't know yet. He doesn't seem so bad, except for the fact that he's Gai's son." He shivered. "That's just scary."

 

"Gai isn't so bad." Aya replied. Naruto just rolled his eyes.

 

"Says you."

 

When they entered Naruto's room, Aya immediately sat down on the bed and let out an exhausted sigh. She laid a hand on her stomach, which was already protruding out from the rest of her. She shook her head and sighed again. "Pregnancy is not fun." She groaned. "Don't ever put a girl through this."

 

Naruto laughed under his breath. "I wasn't planning to." He replied.

 

"Good." She sighed, once again. "I feel huge. Really. Really. Huge."

 

"You're not huge."

 

"I feel like a whale."

 

"You're not a whale."

 

"I should have a freaking gravitational pull."

 

Naruto couldn't help but laugh out loud. "You're not a planet." He told her. "It's only a little noticeable, c'mon, it can't be that bad." Aya glared at Naruto and rolled her eyes.

 

"You're not a pregnant woman, you'd never understand." She groaned. Naruto only shrugged his shoulders.

 

"I don't think I'd ever want to understand." He said to her before sitting down on the bed beside her. She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed tiredly. "One of the patients was released today." Naruto told Aya. She glanced up at him, waiting for him to continue. "Yeah, it was one of my friends, Haku. He left earlier this afternoon."

 

Aya looked over at Naruto and spoke. "Were you sad?" she asked him. Naruto nodded.

 

"Sort of." He admitted. "But I was happy too, you know. In a way, he gave me hope. I really think I can get better...I just have to try." He told Aya.

 

She wrapped her arms around her brother and hugged him. "I'm glad to hear you say that." She smiled. "I've got faith in you."

 

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Peace & Love: DizziKatz