Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Tears and Admirers ❯ Caged Bird ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

~`*`Chapter Three`*`~
~`*`Caged Bird`*`~

Hinata lay in her bed, freezing cold, the sheets and herself damp with rain. Hinata had been so tired in coming back that she had just collapsed on her bed and went right to sleep. Something shook her now...what was it..? "Hinata?" Who was that calling her name? "Hinata!" The voice was so familiar.... "HINATA!" Hinata woke with a jolt. She sat up completely straight, her hair matted to her head. She was distoriented and didn't quite know where she was. "Geeze..." A heavy sigh came from above her. She looked up.

"Neji-kun?," Hinata asked, rather confused. "Wh-what..?" She was cut off.

"It's noon, Hinata," Neji replied tiredly. Her eyes opened wide, tiredness still showing.

"WHAT?!," she yelled out. Neji didn't know she was capable of yelling..."I have to get dressed and get to the training grounds!" She scrambled to get up. Neji just watched her scramble about like she had never before. Frankly, he was quite facinated by her new turn of behavior. Hinata let out a large sneeze.

"Bless you...are you feeling well?,"Neji commented. Hinata turned around as she pulled clothes from her closet. She dropped her clothes in a mess on the floor and then walked up to Neji, blushing, and pushed him out of her room and shut the door. He waited for her outside her door where she had pushed him. Hinata quickly dressed in her usual clothes, still shivering slightly. She ran to her door, without thought, and launched herself forwards as to get to the front door...but collided with Neji. Suprised, Neji fell to the floor, Hinata on top of him. When he came to his senses only a moment later, he realized Hinata was not only on top of him, but her lips were pressed against his. Hinata seemed to realize this, too. Her face went crimson as she backed off of him, his face tinted pink. "H-Hinata?" Hinata got up, her hair hiding her face.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry....N-Neji-kun," Hinata said quickly before turning and rushing to the entrance. She slipped her feet in her shoes and left. Neji was still on the floor, blushing, and staring in the direction she went.

"Wh-what was t-that a-about..?," Neji asked himself aloud.

"Where is Hinata off to in such a hurry?," a voice behind him asked, startling Neji, and making him jump. He turned, seeing Hiashi, and jumping to his feet. "I do not believe I have ever seen Hinata in such a hurry."

"S-she...ummm...she was off to meet her teammates at the training area," Neji replied nervously.

"Did you tell her?," Hiashi asked curiously, but formally.

"I didn't get a chance to, Hiashi-san...," Neji responded in a slight stupor. "She pushed me out of her room, got dressed, came out, and ran into me...then left..." Subconciously, Neji touched his lips. That had been his first...

"I see," Hiashi smirked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tears ran down Hinata's face as she ran quickly to the path to the training area...her first kiss...lost like that...to her cousin...she was truly embarrassed. Her father saw it and everything....she had seen him from the corner of her eye...Hinata couldn't be more humiliated...She finally found the clearing for the training grounds...She stopped, panting. Her side was hurting...she had forgotten she had fallen from the tree last night...then scraped her side on her windowsill trying to get back in...she hadn't seen the piece of wood sticking up...it had cut her.

"Hinata-san!," a suprised voice cried from her right.

"Hinata!! MOVE!," an agitated yet still worried voice came from her left. Before she could respond...BAM! She was hit from both sides. She fell to the ground, crying out in pain. "H-Hinata!"

"Hinata...are you alright?," the right voice asked. She was too hurt and dazed to figure out who it was...what little breath she had left was knocked out of her. She had her eyes shut tight, wincing in pain. She let out a few suppressed whimpers. She just wanted to lay there and dissappear...this wasn't going to be a good day..."Hinata..." The voice sounded sad. "I'm...sorry..." Hinata managed to open her eyes. Everything was fuzzy.

"Sh-Shino-kun?," Hinata asked, looking at him. He nodded. "Wh-What happened...?"

"We were sparring and you ran right in between us and stood there," Kiba replied a bit colder than he had intended. Akamaru let out a few concerned whimpers from behind and stepped over Hinata's body, then stood over her laying form as she looked up at the concerned dog. He licked her face quite a few times. Hinata laughed.

"A-Akamaru-chan! S-Stop it! Th-That tickles!," Hinata laughed. Kiba smiled and Shino let out a relieved sigh. He was just glad Kurenai wasn't there...they would have gotten it for sure...Akamaru moved, stepping carefully over Hinata and sitting in front of her. He yipped happily. Hinata smiled as she moved to get up. She stopped halfway, wincing and falling back down.

"Hinata! Are you alright?," Kiba cried out. Shino looked at him, his eyebrow twitching slightly. So NOW he was worried about her...He looked back down at Hinata in worry, his brows furrowing. Hinata winced slightly and put on a nervous smile.

"Of course...I'm alri--," she was cut short when she tried to get up again. She let out a noise as intense pain travelled through her side. She layed back down carefully. "Byakugon." She whispered that last part as she took a look down and looked to see if she was badly injured somehow...Nothing...Nothing....Closer...Closer...A sweatdrop fell from her brow. "I can't move." Kiba and Shino looked at her in suprise.

"Why not?," Kiba asked unhappily, worry invading his tone.

"Ummm...Promise you won't go on a rampage...or hurt yourself? Both of you?," Hinata asked nervously. Shino nodded his reply.

"I can't promise anything! Tell me!," Kiba cried, grabbing hold of her by the sides. She let out another pained cry. He instantly let her go, holding his hands up in the air.

"My ribs...," Hinata breathed. It hurt so badly to breathe... "They...four...broken..." Shino looked at her wide-eyed, his eyes hidden behind his shades. Kiba started beating himself up about it.

"Kiba...," Shino began. Kiba looked at him, pausing his momentary rampage on himself. "Go get Tsunade-senin or Sakura-san." Kiba nodded and headed off quickly. Hinata let out an unhppy whimper as she covered her head with her arms and jacket.

"I'm sorry...Shino-kun...," Hinata whispered. "I'm having a really really bad day..." Shino listened intently to her words, more concerned than usual for some reason or another.

"Please tell me what troubles you," Shino replied quietly. He nodded as she looked at him, as if to say "I'm a friend you can confide in". Hinata nodded back.

"I woke up late for starters...," Hinata groaned. "I only woke up a few minutes ago..." A sweatdrop fell from both of them. "And I went out last night...and forgot to change out of my wet clothes...so I don't feel so well..." Hinata was getting slightly flustered. "And...and...Neji-kun...he went in to wake me up...and I pushed him out...and I ran into him when I came out....and...and..." Her face went crimson. Her voice was caught in her throat.

"And?," Shino asked curiously, slightly urging her to go on.

"And...I accidentally...our lips...touched...when we fell...and Tou-san saw...and...and...," Hinata explained, tearing up. Shino was slightly mad about the fact that Neji had kissed or been kissed by Hinata...it's not like he was jealous or anything...no...why would he be jealous? "Shino-kun!" Hinata partially got up and threw herself against a suprised Shino as she began crying. Shino, extremely suprised, put a hand on the back of her head as she latched herself into his waist. He blushed slightly, trying not to think these dirty thoughts that kept invading his mind. His friend was in trouble...and besides...he could and would never do anything like that...because he was an Aburame...he was sure of it. Her tears leaked through his jacket. (He only had his under jacket on.) Neji came walking down the pathway to the training grounds in time to hide and see Hinata cry out her problems to Shino. He came out from behind the tree and continued towards them as though he hadn't spied...they hadn't really noticed anyway.

"Hinata-chan, Shino-chan," Neji spoke as he approached them. He looked at the two. Hinata tried to look, but she couldn't move that far. She wound up wincing in Shino's lap. Shino did what he could to help, carefully avoiding her ribs. He glanced up at Neji.

"Neji...kun...," Hinata replied near a whisper. It was so hard to do anything...the pain was becoming worse...

"Hinata-chan...what happened?," Neji asked, sitting by the two and looking her over with Byakugon. Before Hinata could speak, he found the broken ribs. "H-how did you break your ribs? And only moments after you left?" He looked at her in disbelief.

"She rushed herself here and stopped in the middle of Kiba and myself as we were training...we couldn't stop...and she couldn't move...," Shino explained. Neji nodded, a bit angry, but he would keep his cool.

Neji...kun...why are...you here?," Hinata asked between breaths. Neji hesitated.

"Do you have a medical nin coming? I think I should tell you after you're healed...," Neji replied nervously. Hinata looked up at him worridly. "As you have probably guessed, it's not very good news..." Hinata groaned, whimpered, and layed on Shino's lap. Shino was quite worried and curious...but Hinata comes first, so he decided.

"Hinata-chan! Shino-san! Neji-san!," a voice cried, drawing nearer. Neji and Shino looked up, Hinata didn't bother. Sakura landed by the two, Kiba close behind. "Is she alright? Is she still conscious?" Sakura looked at Hinata worridly and blushed slightly at her position on Shino. Shino nodded. Hinata groaned and winced as she turned, and managed to turn onto her back with Shino and Neji's help. She winced and breathed heavily.

"I'm...awake...," Hinata gasped. Sakura winced and kneeled down by her.

"How did you know your ribs were broken?," Sakura asked, taking a look, herself.

"Byakugon," Neji replied simply. Sakura nodded and closed her eyes. She looked at them a moment like that then prepared her chakra.

"This may hurt a bit," Sakura replied softly. "Shino....Neji...Kiba...hold her down." Kiba made his way to her legs and held them down, Shino held her arm and half of her chest down, Neji held her other arm and half of her chest down. "Ready?" She looked at them, they all nodded nervously. "Ok, here I go." She began to pull the bone back into place and brace it with chakra. Hinata squirmed and cried out in pain. Kiba, Neji, and Shino all managed to hold her down despite a little wiggling. It took Sakura about twenty minutes to mend all four ribs. Afterwards, they let Hinata go. Hinata was aching greatly, and breathing hard. "Hinata...are you alright?...Do you want to try sitting up?" Hinata opened an eye and looked at her and nodded. Sakura helped her up and smiled as she was able to move around again. As soon as she could, Sakura helped Hinata up. Hinata walked around a bit, limping. "Alright...we might want someone to stay with Hinata to help her walk...the binding could break before it heals completely." She walked over to Hinata and put an arm around her back and under Hinata's other arm. "Hinata....I'm sorry...for yesterday..." The last she spoke quietly in guilt. Hinata shook her head.

"Don't worry about it," Hinata replied softly. "I...I am not allowed to love...so it doesn't really matter." Sakura looked at her, suprised. "My father chooses my husband...it would not have been Naruto anyways..." Neji suddenly jumped up.

"Hinata! We have to get back!," Neji cried out suddenly. Hinata looked at Neji, slightly alarmed. Neji, himself, looked alarmed.

"What's wrong, Neji-kun?," Hinata asked quietly.

"Your father...has made an important decision," Neji began to explain, rather nervously. "He wanted me to tell you this morning, but you woke up really late...and then you just kind of....forced your way to the door..." He cleared his throat, blushing slightly. "But...his decision...he wants you to be married...by the next full moon...only fifteen days..." He was nervous about how Hinata would react. She quietly hid her face behind her long, dark blue hair that cascaded down her face to her shoulders and beyond. "Hiashi-san says he will be taking you on a trip in a few days...to "show you off" so that men can see you...and speak to him about marrying you...he will be taking names down of any who speak with him and ask to marry you...then, at the end, the night before, he will make up his mind on who you should marry..." He gulped slightly. She wasn't usually one to give in to things such as these...

"I see...," Hinata replied softly, her voice almost unheard. She revealed no emotion whatsoever on the outside...inside, her emotions were waging war. She didn't know whether to feel depressed, angry, sad, or...just...broken...She chose this cursed fate. She would be calm....so none other would have to suffer...She smiled...that painful smile...

"H-Hinata?," Sakura spoke quietly as Hinata pulled away from her. Hinata stood there for a moment, then walked over to Neji.

"You're not really gonna go through with this are you?!," Kiba cried out.

"Hinata?," Shino asked softly. He was beginning to hesitate, this showing in his usual monotone voice.

"I understand, Neji-kun," Hinata replied so quietly, so softly. "I'm sorry...Shino-kun....Kiba-kun....Thank you all." She turned to them briefly and bowed, keeping her face hidden. After she took that moment to bow, she stood up straight and turned back to Neji. "Please take me to my Tou-san, Neji-kun." Neji nodded and picked Hinata up. There was a lingering and a moment of silence.

"Hinata-chan," Shino broke the momentary uncomfortable silence. Hinata looked back at Shino, her face unveiled. Hinata's eyes showed her sadness, her pain...her suffering...her broken heart and soul..."I will free you." Hinata's eyes widened for a moment...only a brief moment. Then the hope that had gathered faded and she shook her head.

"This bird is caged and now chained...there is..no way--," Hinata cut off short, the words catching in her throat.

"I will free this bird...of her cage...and her chains...she will be free again. Free to love, free to regain happiness...free to live again," Shino replied, determined. "Even if I must marry you myself." A slight blush crept across his face. "I will." Sakura's mouth hung slightly adjar. Kiba's mouth hung wide open and his eyes were wide open, as well.

"Sh-Shino-kun...," Hinata whispered, tearing up. He would...do this for her..? Would he really do it? Would he even sacrifice his own happiness for her..? Sakura and Kiba exchanged glances, then stared back at Shino. Both Kiba and Neji felt a pang of jealousy in their hearts. Both said nothing, of course. Neji merely nodded and jumped into the air, Hinata reaching out a hand to Shino...then pulling her arm back, so it wouldn't get knocked off by a tree. He started off towards the Hyuuga household. Hinata's tears blew away in the wind. She wrapped her arms around Neji's neck and held on tight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shino stared in their direction until they faded from sight. "I will free the bird that sings so beautifully...," Shino whispered so the others couldn't hear. "I will free her from her sorrow..." He thought back to the night before...he had been out looking for a specific bug and had accidentally wandered back to Hinata's secret spot. He had found her in her pajamas, singing that same sad song over and over again...the lyrics almost broke his heart as she sang them...He would save her from that sorrow...he just had to...