Two weeks were dragging on like his life to eternity, to Naruto at least, and he was not enjoying every minute of it. Hinata was an innocent airhead who stared at him for a long period which made him uncomfortable. The rest of the group, however, found her cute and loveable and squishy, just the girls at least, while Shikamaru and Sai felt like they could talk to her more easily without suspecting the fake smile she had on.
Luckily for him, the bluenette started regaining her memories and slowly becoming more like the Hinata he knew before. Though he didn't know if it was a good thing, seeing her back to her secretive and anxious self freed him from his stress, and at what cost? The entire time she was clueless about her true self, Hiashi had not come into the picture even for a second, and even though she was clueless, she still had bubbling hate inside of her. She despised the man.
But in the two weeks of being clueless, she had met so many wonderful people she never knew existed, at least not in her circle of Hyūga's. And one person that stood out to her was the beautiful redhead Uzumaki who for an unknown reason seemed to radiate such sunshine and warmth, almost like Naruto. She was a mother she realised she never had and longed to spend more time with her.
So when she asked her over to the Uzumaki/Namikaze mansion for a family night she did not hesitate to take up the offer. She begged Momona to let her go in which the brunette obliged on the condition that Naruto did not lay a hand on her. The blonde shrugged, mindlessly agreeing to the condition, and that was how she found herself playing charades with the Uzumaki family, women versus men.
She glanced down at the paper she had pulled out and scanned the contents. How am I supposed to act like that? Does it even exist? She pursed her lips and set down the paper then created a triangle shape with her hands and placed it on her forehead and raised one leg into the air, hoping Kushina would understand what she was trying to say. The older woman slapped her hand on her son's leg who unfortunately sat beside her, trying to guess what it was.
"Uh-um, Pegasus!" She yelled, pulling the blonde's hair down as she did so. He winced in pain, grabbing his head. Hinata shook her head and pretended to be galloping, hands till against her forehead. Kushina snapped her fingers, pulling the blonde's hair further before pushing him away as her mind clicked, "Unicorn!"
"Yes!" She let out a sigh of relief, lazily dropping her hand from her head. "You're really good at this." The redhead giggled slightly, playing with the tips of her crimson hair.
"You're also brilliant at abusing me," the blonde muttered under his breath causing Kushina to glare at him. "Alright Dad, it's your turn." He announced, diverting the attention from him to the older man who was currently sweating bullets. "Don't bring us down! Though we can't get any lower," he muttered to himself.
Minato glanced at his crumpled piece of paper and his face went pale. "I-I can't, I really can't-"
"It's fine Dad, just do it. It can't be that bad."
-
Word of advice, never trust Naruto when he says 'It can't be that bad', because it can. The game ended with both blondes cowering in fear, Kushina in her woman's rage, and Hinata enjoying the free entertainment. She chuckled every time they flinched and shivered as Kushina's angry voice reverberated through the room. The last game, Uno, finally came to a close with Kushina's win, followed by Hinata.
"You're really good at board games mother," the bluenette exclaimed, the word mother rolling off her tongue so careless as if it were natural to her. The redhead let out a proud laugh, flashing her pearl-white teeth for the whole world to see.
"Thank you, thank you!" She glanced at the clock that hung on the dining wall, "You kids better get to bed now, it's late." The fact that their Family games night would run deep into the night did not cross the Hyūga's mind as she looked down at her attire. "Naruto go get Hinata something to wear, she can't go to bed wearing jeans."
"It's okay mother, I can quickly get something to wear since we live next door-"
"No no no," the older woman interrupted, waving her index finger in the air as if what Hinata said was an abomination, "Now what's the point in that when Naruto can generously lend you his clothes?" She asked, emphasising the word 'generous'. Hinata let out a nervous laugh, glancing over at the blonde who was still paralysed in fear. She internally faces palmed at his helplessness.
The duo walked silently up to the blonde's room, making that the second time she had set foot in his private territory. Naruto ransacked his wardrobe mindlessly while so many thoughts were running through the bluenette's head. She could just get her clothes from her house which was steps away but there was no way she could decline Kushina's request.
Naruto tossed a black shirt with a fox eating ramen in the middle with a small enough shorts that could fit Hinata. The shirt draped over her frame like a curtain and the sleeves that were meant to be short touched just below her elbows. Embarrassment was the only thing she knew how to feel as his cerulean blue eyes scanned over the clothes he gave her.
He shrugged and led her out of his room to a relatively close one where she could stay but when he tugged at the door handle it didn't budge. Confused, he called out to his mom, asking why all the doors on that floor were locked. The redhead shook her head, disappointed.
"Why do you need the rooms?" Naruto stared at her as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Because she needs somewhere to sleep?" He stated as a matter of factly. Kushina sighed, shaking her head once more.
"Your bed is double king-sized, no?" It was then the blonde knew where his mother was going with this conversation. He let out a groan of irritation and embarrassment as he tried to counter her argument when she only wagged her index finger in his face disapprovingly. "Why stay alone in a guest room when she could be with you?" He tried to argue back again but she raised her hand to his face, "No but young man, she is staying in your room, final."
As she said her last words, the door of her room slammed and he could hear the evil laughter of his mom through the wood thick doors. Naruto pursed his lips, suppressing the urge to scream and walked into his room slowly, Hinata following behind. "I can sleep on the beanbag," she offered, making her way to where the orange bag sat. Naruto shook his head.
"That's fine, I have a sleeping bag I can use. You take the bed." Hinata hated this type of situation where she was offered the best deal while the person she was in the same situation as got the less better deal. She pursed her lips and she watched him tug an orange and black sleeping bag out of his closet.
"We can just share the bed. I'll keep to my side and you keep to yours?" Her offer sounded like a question, just like everything she said when she was nervous. The blonde stopped his pulling and stared back at the bluenette.
"Are you sure that won't make you uncomfortable?" Hinata nodded, tugging the rim of her shirt, a sudden nervousness washing over her. "Okay..." he was hesitant but complied. He watched her lay with her back to him and he felt a strange feeling of dissatisfaction wash over him. But he pushed his feeling to a side and settled down, his back facing hers.
The older woman brushed through her hair, a sweet-sounding melody leaving her lips as she hummed a way too familiar tune. She felt the hair brush sweep through her hair easily and the smooth locks falling against her shoulder. The processes repeated until the melody became dark and unpleasant to the ear like sharp claws scraping against a chalkboard.
The little girl covered her ears in an attempt to block the sound but the more she pressed her palms to her head, the louder and louder the screeching became. The older woman tugged violently at her hair and she felt the thin strands begin to wrap around her neck. She peered down, watching her short hair extend to the length of a rope that wrapped tightly around her neck.
She let out a dry choke as she tried to breathe but couldn't, tugging at her hair around her neck but the older woman paid no attention to her, the unpleasant screeching increasing in volume and she felt all oxygen slowly seep from her lungs. She felt her eyes start to water as salty liquid started to pool under her chin and dripped onto her hair-bound neck.
Her strained cry was drowned in the jarring sound that filled the room which slowly fell apart, leaving her alone and helpless in an empty dark void with a woman who had a strong intent to kill her. Suddenly in front of her was a boy with hair that glowed brighter than the sun and a smile so bright she felt she was going blind.
She looked up at him, desperation seeping into her cry but as he took a step forward to her aid, there was a loud bang in her ears and a tip of his sun-kissed hair slowly chipped away. She stared horrified as the side of his cheeks also chipped away, his short finger, more of his form cracking into large and tiny pieces.
Her cry grew louder as his right eye disappeared along with a quarter of his face. She reached out to him but he seemed to be drifting further and further away, half of his body gone. Her cry became a waterfall as she screamed but even her scream was drowned in her ears, as if speaking underwater. It was muffled and uncomfortable and she wanted to be heard but she couldn't.
Hinata forcefully sat up, her entire body drenched in sweat. Her hands subconsciously travelled to her neck to find there was nothing around it. She clenched the clothes over her chest and let out distorted breaths as she forced oxygen into her lungs. She leaned forward, her free hand gripping onto her hair as heaved in and out.
Her chest felt tight as if someone were squeezing her lungs out of her chest and her stomach churned. The suffocating feeling from her dream seeped into reality as she forced herself to breathe. Tears pooled in her eyes as she shakily slipped out of the bed, glancing over at the blonde who slept peacefully beside her. He was still there. Her legs touched the cold ground and she felt it break underneath her like the world had given up on her.
Her knees did as she fell to the floor, still gripping onto her hair, afraid it would wrap around her neck and finish up the job the woman in her dream had started. She was so lost in remembering how to breathe she didn't hear the shuffling of the blonde as he slipped out of bed. He placed his hand on her shoulder which made her flinch, shivering under his sudden touch.
She turned to face him and even though it was dark in the room, she saw concern glow in his cerulean blue eyes. The tears that pooled in her eyes broke free from their cages and rained down as she gripped his hand. He embraced her in a hug, and she hugged him tighter, afraid to let go because if she did, he might disappear as he did in her dream. He patted her back as she cried into his shoulders.
"It's okay," he assured, wiping her tears away. But it was not okay. She couldn't breathe. Her chest was tight and hurting as more tears streamed from her eyes. She tugged her hair so hard she could barely feel the pain as she let out a short and unstable breath. Tears, hair, breathing, they were not in balance with each other as she opened her mouth to make some sort of noise but failed. Until she felt a hand rest on her shoulders. "Hinata," he called softly to her and she held her breath. "It's okay. Breathe in."
She complied, sucking in air through her mouth and trapping it shut. "Now breathe out." She obeyed once more, letting all the air leave her lips and she felt calm. "Do it again." She followed his instructions, letting her lungs be full of oxygen, then releasing it back out. "Do you feel better?" Physical, yes but she was suffocating inside. She nodded. "Good."
Her head fell onto his chest and her arms around his torso, occasionally hugging him tighter in fear of his disappearance while his hands lingered around her waist from when he had hugged her. His free fingers racked through her mess of a hair, straightening out the tangles she had caused by her pulling. Silence fell between the two as the bluenette listened to the constant rhythmic sound of his heartbeat, her head rising and falling in sync with his chest as he inhaled and exhaled.
Naruto felt her grip loosened but as he tried to separate her from himself, she held him tighter, sudden fear washing over her once more. "Sorry." She muttered, her voice muffled in his shirt. Naruto sighed, resting his chin on the top of her head.
"I don't get why you're apologising. It's not your fault."
"Hmm." They drove back into silence, Hinata feeling calmer than she had been earlier, or in her life even. Had she ever felt this kind of comfort or care from someone that was not herself? That was a hard question. Her hand left his side and rested on his cheeks and she pushed herself up to plant a small peck on his forehead. "Thank you," she muttered, settling back down into his embrace.
The blonde could not suppress the broad smile that was tugging at his lips as he held her tightly. "You're...welcome." His appreciation came out like a whisper, scared she would hear the smile in his voice, but the bluenette had already drifted into sleep. His smile broadened, feeling content.