קгєץ 🕷 [ⲛⲁⲅⳙⲏⳕⲛⲁ]

Like A Puppet On A String

She's assumed that hardness had come from his time in service.

That he'd lived the way she currently did hadn't crossed her mind.

Taking in the sum of him, it wasn't hard to see how that chapter of his life had ended.

Naruto Uzumaki had made it out of that sinking ship called poverty and by the looks of it, he'd gotten afloat on a yacht.

She couldn't help but be glad for him.

Even though he sounded a bit detached, and matter of fact about his past hardship, her heart went out to him for the years he's spent in the trenches of financial insecurity.

She knew what it was like to struggle, what it was like to have to fight to keep your head above water.

She fought that fight everyday, after all.

"Had to do a lotta shit jobs that paid shit wages too," he continued, pulling her from her rumination, "now, I got enough to leave tips like that and not blink, so I do it. It's not a pity tip either. Don't do pity pay."

Hinata was torn between embarrassment that he'd described her job as a 'shit job' and appreciative gratitude that he thought to give back to others in the same position he'd been in, even though he didn't certainly have to.

"That's very kind of you, Uzumaki-san," she replied, genuinely meaning it, "still, I can't accept-"

"Not expectin' anything for it, if that's what you're thinkin'," he uttered bluntly, his candid stare leaving her in no confusion as to what he was referring to, "not that kinda guy, 'ttebayo."

Good lord but he was direct!

Even more so than Ino, something she never thought she'd come across.

A bit shocked, face doing it's best imitation of a tomato, she sputtered, "I-I didn't, I wasn't trying to imply-"

"Just makin' it clear," he interrupted, giving her a mischievous grin, though his voice grew serious, "might as well take it. Gonna leave it here whether you take it or leave it on the table for somebody else to pocket. Up to you."

There was steel in his eyes.

Stubbornness lining his square jaw.

He wasn't accepting no for an answer...

...and truth be told, with her landlady's last rent hike, she was in no position to reject the extra funds.

Still...

"I um...I make a salve for minor injuries," she hedged, "it's nothing special, y-you could probably buy something better at the drug store but..."

She was embarrassed by the meager offering, she truly didn't have much to give, a handmade salve was the best she could do.

A pathetic attempt to balance the scales she felt were grossly askew.

He was determined to leave her lavish tips, but she couldn't just take that kind of money without giving something in return.

It didn't feel right.

Felt like she was taking advantage of him, even if he was the one freely, stubbornly, insisting she take it.

"I could bring it in tomorrow for your um, hands, if you'd like," she offered, then back tracked, feeling a bit presumptuous, "I-If you plan on coming in tomorrow that is, if not I could hold it until-"

"I'll be here," he confirmed, that rumbling velvet threading his voice again.

She was determined not to fidget this time, though there was nothing she could do about the twin fires blazing on either side of her face, or the somersaults her stomach was doing.