Restoration: Book 2/3

Chapter 30

-Hinata's POV-

"Come on, Hina, I just wanna talk about it."

I frowned as Naruto followed me upstairs after we finished unpacking from our supply run, "T-There's nothing to talk about. I saw my old room and got uncomfortable: that's all there is to it."

"You were more than uncomfortable. You were terrified! Talk to me," he shut the door behind us once we were in our room.

I turned to face him with heat rising to my cheeks as I finally gave up, "Okay, yes, I was scared, but you're here with me now and I'm not locked in there anymore. C-Can you just hug me and tell me that everything's okay and then we can move on? I really don't want to think about it any more than I have to."

Beautiful blue eyes bore into mine with a look of defeat, but Naruto still wrapped his arms around me, "Everything really is okay, y'know? I just want you to be able to talk about this kind of stuff so it doesn't get all bottled up."

I pressed my face into his shirt and took a calming breath to keep myself from getting worked up into tears, "Thank you for switching with me." His arms tightened further and I sensed that he was desperately trying to cheer me up.

A knock came at the door and we pulled apart slowly before Naruto opened it to reveal Neji standing there with a clearly uncomfortable expression. "Can I speak with Hinata alone?" I gave the blonde young man a reassuring grin when he looked back at me and then he left the room to go downstairs.

Neji came inside the rest of the way and I closed the door softly behind him, feeling apprehensive. Rather than sit down somewhere or try to beat around the bush, the tall man faced me and immediately began speaking, "I'm sorry for hiding who I was from you. It wasn't my intention to come clean the way I did, either. I thought you were..."

My back rested softly against the closed door and I nodded awkwardly, "Me too."

We just stared at one another in a tense silence for a few moments before both of us looked away and ran a nervous hand through our hair, only to freeze when we noticed how our movements mirrored one another.

A small laugh left my mouth and I clutched my hands together in front of my body, "S-So...we're siblings, then," Neji's jaw flexed as he obviously grit his teeth, but I kept on speaking, "I won't lie and say I wasn't surprised or hurt that you hid it from me, but I understand why you hesitated."

"No, you don't understand at all and that's the problem."

My mouth clamped shut and I gave him a confused look. His silver eyes searched my face as he stared at me with a tormented expression before he finally let out a sigh of defeat, "Our mother is still alive. She and I live in the Inaka area."

A million questions and even more emotions flushed through my entire being and I found myself falling toward the floor. He lurched forward and caught me, helping me upright once more with an arm around me, "I'm sorry, again. I should've had you sit down before telling you." The longer we spoke, the more annoyed he seemed to be getting with himself.

I let him help me to sit at the edge of the bed and then he took a few steps back to stand in front of me with a serious expression, "Mom won't tell me anything about that night and I wasn't old enough to know to ask until years had already passed."

Tears were steadily dripping down my cheeks as I stared at him in disbelief.

All these years...Over fifteen years have passed since she "died" and even if we didn't struggle to make ends meet, Dad and I did our suffering. I couldn't count on my hands the number of nights I've cried myself to sleep over the years, dreaming about what my life would've been like if my loving mother hadn't been taken away too soon.