Black Light (Naruto)

Chapter 50

It was almost heartbreaking, had Neji not walked into the clearing. What he saw was a post-training, where Sasuke was doing katas and Hikaru was somewhat nearby, not quite dozing off but still somewhat sleeping. 

He was trying to catch up, especially with all of the nightmares he's been having. 

Footsteps towards him. 

Hikaru looked up, the dark shadow of Neji hanging over him. His hair was about mid-back, and his body was thin. The seal over his forehead was worn proudly, but there was something different Hikaru couldn't quite put a finger on. 

"Uzumaki-san, my name is Hyuga Neji. I was recommended to you by Hatake-san." Neji's sentances were short and swift, and Hikaru pushed away the growing panic. 

He stood up. Neji was shorter than him, reaching his shoulder. It was.... odd. Back in his old timeline, Neji had been a tad bit taller than both him and Sasuke, but he supposed this timeline definitely switched things up. After all, he was technically taller than Kakashi was.

"Nice to meet you, Neji. Just call me Hikaru." Hikaru said, twisting his wrist slightly, hearing it pop. He saw Neji's eyes narrow slightly, and he knew right away Naruto did not beat some sense into him. 

"I wish for you to train me." Neji said gruffly, a slight bow towards Hikaru's general direction. Sasuke looked over, confirming Hikaru's suspicion. 

Everybody wants me to train them. Why?

"Sure." Hikaru agreed, knowing he couldn't quite disagree. This was Neji, after all, and he'd need to humilate him again to literally get the 'fate and destiny' bullshit out of him. 

___

Hikaru stared at his bedroom wall. It was cold- the hairs on his arms were standing up although he was wrapped in a blanket, and his breath was starting to get visible at night. It sucked completely. 

He always woke up hurting and aching. Well, when he could sleep. Not to mention he hadn't been able to even touch a seal since the last time, when he'd had a panic attack. He hated them, and he really, really did not want to have one again. 

He'd been having a lack of flashbacks recently. Well, full-on flashbacks, at least. Sometimes there were the vague senses of 'oh hey this is like my timeline' and then he froze for about three to five minutes, but it was okay. For now. 

Hikaru had yet to find out why or how the war ended. He had yet to find out why Sasuke was missing an arm, although he suspected it had something to do with him not being strong enough, judging by the way he was training lately.

His heart clenched, and Hikaru harshly sighed. Grabbing a nearby book, he let his eyes mindlessly scan the page. His hands were trembling wildly, almost unable to hold onto the book. 

Small scars spanned his hands as the henge covering them slowly fell away, revealing thick ones wrapped around each digit. The one he hated the most was a thick one wrapping around his right ring finger, the one that Hamasaki had gone over the most. 

The thought of her sickened him. It sickened his weak body, churning in his stomach, and he just thumped his head against the back of the wall. Naruto was gone again- something about a mission with Jiraiya. 

He was glad the other was beginning to get extremely close with his godfather. 

But, Hikaru knew what would happen if he didn't murder the Akatsuki soon. He also knew what would happen if he left Hamasaki Leiko and Yuu alive. It would hurt him somewhat to kill Yuu, sure, but she'd 'betrayed' him first. 

Besides, he wanted to know why Hamasaki had done it. He wanted to know what was going through her mind when she tortured him, or the random giggles. He wanted to know why she touched him, or why she made fun of his memories. 

All he really knew was that she was from Konoha. 

So he would start digging soon, and maybe get a few Akatsuki members while he was at it. 

___

Hikaru wasn't walking around. Not today- there were too many people outside right now, and it was too loud. Even though Naruto wasn't around to make noise, he could still hear the sounds from the street below- children giggling as they chased each other, gossipers on almost every street corner. 

So he kept his apartment as bright as possible, a sense building inside of him. He knew it would be one of those days. The days where flashbacks were impossible to avoid, where panic attacks were abundant, and, most of all, the days where at least one to three people would barge in. 

He sipped at warm peppermint tea, curled up in a warm blanket on the couch. He couldn't help the fact he was constantly cold, and his hair was beginning to fall out- not much, just strands here and there. Hikaru thought it was because he had long hair, but he wasn't sure yet. 

Another sip of his tea. 

It helped his mind remain clear even though he could feel it start to take a nosedive into panic or plain apathy. It was a tossup between the two at any given moment- he'd spend one moment breaking down into near tears in his apartment, and the next he would be outside and perfectly okay. 

It was odd, loosing time like this. Confusing as well. 

But he was okay with it. The moments of time he lost were when he was just... not there. His brain had decided to take a vacation at odd moments. 

Mostly when he saw a trigger, though. He was trying to avoid them the best he could- for example, touch. But sometimes it was unavoidable, like with the civillian that had run into him the other day. 

He tightened the blanket more around himself as cold air somehow wormed its way near his shoulder, harsh and unforgiving. His hands ached at the movement, and he found himself tired from a single actio. 

Hikaru scanned over his symptoms for the past week or so. 

Ah. He was getting sick again. 

He blinked a few times. 

Wait. He was getting sick again. 

Usually, for him, getting sick meant days spent in bed, either throwing up or hating his immune system. It also meant days spent in severe pain, and the last few times he'd gotten sick were only steadily worse. 

Now Kurama was completely and fully gone, it would likely be worse. 

He hated his body. 

And, now, he hated his immune system. And the winter. 

___

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! 

Original: 12/19/2020

Edited: 02/01/2021

This chapter contains 1681 words!

-Beginning_Asuka