Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Taking Your Life Back ❯ A First ( Chapter 4 )

With a countdown of 9 days `til Christmas, anyone would be scared.

 

Christmas break began in two days, so I only had two more days to put up with society, thank God.

 

Only a few minutes before the bell, Hinata came up to me. Her tiny pale hands extended to me, holding out a tiny baby blue box wrapped in a red sparkling ribbon. I closed my now uncluttered locker and stared down at her.

 

...A...Present?

 

“H-Here, Naruto-kun! I...I g-got you something!” she squeaked out timidly. I hesitantly took it from her and brushed our fingers together accidentally, still managing to get a red face out of her.

 

“...I've never gotten a Christmas present before...Thank you so much!”

 

She gave me a strange wide-eyed look through pale white eyes.

 

“...Y-You've never gotten a Christmas p-present before?”

 

“...Or a regular present, for that matter! That's so nice of you Hinata!”

 

She still looked so confused; I almost wanted to tell her my whole life's experience. I held my arms open for a hug, and when she didn't accept them, I forced her into the embrace. She squeaked again, her face heating up to a boiling point, and I smiled a truthful smile.

 

“...Thank you, Hinata...”

 

She stared at the floor with a finger to her lips, tiny frightened tremors shaking her body.

 

“You...You're w-welcome!”

 

And so she ran off as the bell rang, disappearing into the crowd. I just stood there, staring at the box in my hand, smiling a smile I've never smiled in my entire life.

 

And with my bliss overcoming my senses, I didn't realize a certain Uchiha staring me down intently.

 

---

 

Save for the first present I've ever gotten, the day as far as lunch had gone was uneventful.

 

But then I saw HER.

 

...Such a beautiful face, she had.

 

And that smile...

 

Her hair was gorgeous, even with that unnatural color.

 

...Her name was Sakura...

 

I watched from a distance as she talked and giggled with her friends, her eyes shining and her feminine laugh echoing through my head.

 

Gods...She was wonderful.

 

She passed me in the hallway, and I tried to look uninterested. But sapphire eyes meeting emerald in an exchange that made me melt. She walked up to me, her hands clasped behind her back, leaning over to me slightly in a very girlish manner. I became nervous, looking down at the bottom of my empty locker.

 

“...Hi! What's your name?” She cooed. Oh god, I was hyperventilating.

 

“...Um, Naruto!”

 

“I'm Sakura...You know Sasuke-kun, right?”

 

I stopped dead in my tracks. Not a breath left my mouth, not a blink passed over my eyes. I slowly turned my head to her, my mouth ajar.

 

“...Yeah. I do.”

 

She hastily pulled out a post-it note and scribbled something on it with a hot pink pen that matched her hair. Her handwriting was just as wonderful as she was, curving and twisting letters overlapping each other in a signature.

 

...Under that was a phone number.

 

Oh god, would it be great if that number was for me.

 

“Could you please give this to him, Naruto? It'd mean a lot to me. Ta!”

 

She waved her thin slender hands stylishly before swaggering sexily away in those black heels that were so perfect.

 

I stared down at the post-it note, my hand shaking.

 

And this time too, I felt the Uchiha watching me.

 

But this time, I was hell bent on kicking his ass.

 

I walked up to him bravely, and he looked me over with cold charcoal eyes.

 

“...What's the matter, Naruto?”

 

I was still shaking, apparently, because he was asking about my wellbeing...I think. Not like he'd really care. I crumpled the note in my tight fist, blood now seeping over my knuckles as my nails bit into flesh. My life...Has never lead to good things.

 

I shoved the note into his chest, making him stumble backwards a bit, confusion evident in his eyebrows as they rose up to his forehead. I kept my head low, clenching my teeth.

 

You ruin...

 

...Everything.

 

I trudged away before he could even read the note, my feet not exactly knowing where they were going.

 

And I left him standing there with a blood smeared note in his pale hands, not knowing what to do.

 

---

 

Heading straight towards my tree, the tree specifically designated for me, I hadn't let anything stop me.

 

Unfortunately, Shikamaru can never leave me alone for long.

 

He grabbed my by the elbow, and I was forced to twirl around to face him as he jerked me roughly to him. I didn't look up at him, and I found the snow covered grass more interesting.

 

“What's wrong with you?!”

 

I didn't answer. I didn't feel like it.

 

“...Come on, Naruto, talk to me...Hey, what happened to your hand?”

 

As long as it didn't involve Sasuke or Sakura, I would answer.

 

“...My nails are sharper than I thought...”

 

“...Naruto...This isn't going to be like last time, is it...?”

 

At this point, I was fed up; With EVERYTHING.

 

“WHAT DO YOU KNOW?! HUH?! I JUST TRY TO BE NORMAL AND LET EVERYONE DO WHATEVER THEY WANT WITH ME!! I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING ANYMORE, AND NOT LIKE I EVER DID! I'VE NEVER CARED WHAT HAPPENS TO ME, ALWAYS THEM!!!”

 

At the outburst, I yanked my arm out of his grip and dropped to my knees, hands over my eyes.

 

“...I don't care what happens to me...” I whispered to the silent Shikamaru. His footing shifted, and my breath hitched.

 

“...Well I do...”

 

And then he left.

 

I knelt there in the snow, my pants becoming wet with the melting frost. I didn't care, really. I just wanted to disappear.

 

I didn't climb into my tree; I sat under it blankly. Of course, I was sensitive to the snow, and the feeling of cold biting at me from every angle wasn't helping my still and empty mood. I wasn't really looking at anything; I was just sitting there, staring into nothing with expressionless eyes.

 

And so another round begins.

 

...Hopefully, it doesn't become quite as drastic as last time.

 

My foot twitched, though I couldn't feel it. I had lost the feeling in my feet, and it was gradually continuing to my legs. Frost bite? I had been sitting out here long enough for it, but once again, I didn't care.

 

If I wanted to, I could end it all right now.

 

I could sit out here until school got out, and they'd find a Naruto Popsicle.

 

I could climb up the tree and jump head first.

 

I could just stop eating.

 

Or I could lie face down in the snow until I suffocate.

 

The possibilities are endless.

 

“...You know, that was a very stupid thing to get so worked up about...”

 

I thrust my head up, and when I didn't see anything, I turned to my side.

 

His arm was casually thrown over his knee as he tilted his head to me.

 

I narrowed my eyes and looked away.

 

“...What the fuck do you want now?”

 

“...What exactly did I do?”

 

I glanced over at him angrily.

 

“...You're popular.”

 

“...It's still not my fault.”

 

I looked away, but he kept looking at me.

 

“...You're better than me...”

 

Silence engulfed us. Yeah, you better not deny it, you asshole.

 

“...What you make of yourself is your own decision. You can be quiet, you can be mysterious, you can be loud, you can be energetic. If you're annoying like you are now, you'll never be popular.”

 

Ow.

 

That stung.

 

I didn't say anything else, and it was then that he realized he wasn't exactly helping.

 

“...Do you not want to come over for Christmas then?”

 

I jerked my head over to him, and his eyes didn't tell me anything. He blinked slowly, unaffected.

 

“...You don't have to, if you hate me so much.”

 

“NO! THAT'S NOT IT!”

 

His eyebrows rose in surprise.

 

“...You're so much better than me...I won't be able to get anything you want.”

 

“It's not about what you want; it's about what you need...Though those things tend to intersect...”

 

He stood slowly, holding out a pale hand to me. I looked up at him with my mouth agape. He smiled.

 

“...You know what I'm talking about, right?”

 

I nodded and grabbed his hand, having myself being jerked into a standing position. But not remembering my legs were numb, I stumbled into his chest. He held me by my waist intimately to make sure I wouldn't fall, and I grasped onto his elbows. I stared at him widely, and he just narrowed his eyes.

 

“...I'm...”

 

He began to lean into me slowly, and as he descended, I lost all coherencies.

 

“...Sorry...”

 

Cold lips met a similar pair timidly, and I began to warm up with embarrassment and nervousness. You wouldn't call it passion; it was more of a strange feeling in the bottom of my stomach that told me:

 

...I like this...

 

He tasted of cherries and vodka...Hey, I've had alcohol, and I'm in high school. The cherries were a surprise, though, because I hadn't thought he'd be sweet. I suspected bitterness, but right now, as we kissed, I tasted Sasuke, and god, I loved it.

 

He brought a hand to my face, brushing blonde hair out of my eyes to tuck behind my ears, beginning to disconnect. We pulled away bit by bit, not wanting to hurry anything. My eyes were half lidded in pleasure, and my vision was fuzzy, getting fuzzier by the second.

 

“...Naruto...”

 

I heard my name being called, but Sasuke had disappeared just like everything else before my eyes like a dream being swept away. A smile hit my lips as I pushed my head against firm clothed flesh, passing out in his arms from the cold.