They sat on the ends of her bed. He looked at the ground while she looked at him.
He was fiddling with his fingers, his aura felt hot.
His blonde brows were tense, and all Hinata had to hold on to was her bed spread.
"I missed you..." she said quietly.
Finally he turned to her, "I missed you more princess." She gave him a small smile.
She reached to touch him but he got up from the bed. His fingers interlocked as he stretched them above his body and rested them on the back of his head, his eyes shutting as he turned to her, "I love you. And I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."
Hinata watched as he started to pace, his eyes avoidant. "But I got worried. I panicked. And I just couldn't stand thinking that someone could get in between us." He let out a caustic breath "Even though someone has already been trying to do that."
Hinata felt acid in her throat- really she was so done with the Ino talk. "Naruto I told you, if she wanted to try something-"
"I'm not talking about Ino." Her head dipped to the side as she watched him now fully face her. "What?"
"Ino.... Ino was only coming after you because she was jealous. It's still not okay but.... I was wrong about what she wanted."
Suddenly her stomach took a dive. "Naruto what are you talking about?" Her tone was serious.
He stopped his pacing, nerves spiraling through his body but it had to come out -he needed to come clean, "I know why Ino was trying to break us up."
Hinata slowly rose from her bed, her eyes darkening, "and how do you know?"
He swallowed, then tightened his jaw. "I looked at the flash drive."
Silence.
The look on Hinata's face was saddened disbelief. When he looked down he saw she had a knuckle clenched, her eyes closed for a second like she was thinking then opened again, "You what?"
His words came out in hyper speed, "Listen I only did it because I was upset she was your partner and I wanted to find something to prove to you that she was going to try and break us up again. But I didn't find that. I found out that the whole reason she even hated you in the first place is because shikamaru is in love with you."
Her head shook in pure shock, "Wait wait what?"
Her lavender eyes looked around the room and then back at her boyfriend. "I said.... Shikamaru is in love with you." Her laugh was pain in his ears "Yea... okay, sure Naruto." The tone of his voice strengthened "I'm not lying."
"I never said you were."
"You don't believe me." He snapped.
Then it was her voice roaring "What I can't believe is that my boyfriend would go behind my back to look at some stupid flash drive after I told him I didn't want him to!" Hinata ran angered hands through her hair "I told you it made me uncomfortable. I want to and have decided to leave all this Ino businesses behind us but it's you who can't let it go!"
"I was trying to prove something to you!"
"Were you?" Her voice was enraged. "Or is this about something else?"
His face went blank, "What are you trying to say Hinata?"
Her chest was a cage that was being beaten upon heavy by her heart. Her deepest fears now rose to the surface, and there was no preventing what she was about to express.
"She is still on your mind. Five months of us being together and it's like you don't let the thought of her escape you. So much so you neglected how I felt about looking at the flash drive. If you still..."
Her eyes dropped and tears began to well, her tongue felt thick and hot, Hinata no longer wanted for even talk about this in fear that what she felt would actually be true.
"Finish that sentence Hinata." His tone pure anger. It was a command.
"If you still... feel something for he-"
His fist slammed hard on her drawer "Are you serious?"
The pain on his face was so much she felt her lungs tighten up. Now she wished she could take back her words but it was too late. "It's been five months of me trying to show you everyday that I'm madly in love with you Hinata. You really believe that there is any part of me that even thinks of another woman besides you?"
"I never said that,"
"That's what you just insinuated!"
The tears of frustration started pouring out, "What am I supposed to think? You didn't trust me enough to handle this on my own!"
"I was trying to protect you!"
"And yet you lied to me."
Naruto ran two palms down his face, making his cheeks slightly red. Hinata's words came out in a choke "Where were you last night?"
His jaw tightened "I went to talk to Ino."
Another dive in her stomach.
"About?"
He spoke through gritted teeth, "The things I saw on the flash drive."
Hinata bit her bottom lip, trying to stop from trembling. "What I said is true Hinata."
She shook her head. None of this made any sense to her. "If you hate her so much then why did you go see her?"
His eye brow twitched, "Because I needed to confirm what I saw. And I needed to let Ino know she has no right to mess with you or us."
Naruto has never lied to her before. It wasn't in his nature & when she really thought about it, in some tiny way he may have had a point. But even then it wasn't okay that he waited however long to finally come out and say what he did. This was just too much information at once. Too much to ponder.
Shikamaru? In love with me?
It just didn't make any sense. And this argument shouldn't be about other people, it should just be about them. Naruto watched as her eyes looked every where, like she was trying figure something out.
He was beyond upset at her. For Hinata to even suggest he still had feelings for Ino hurt harder than anything he's ever felt before. Did he not do enough? Show her enough love? "You still don't believe me."
This time his voice was quiet and laced with pain.
Hinata sat back down on her bed, shaking her head and closing her eyes "Naruto, I... I just.."
She had no words. Hinata was upset, angry, confused. All that was in her mind was that Naruto went behind her back and it only brought the feeling that she was less than.
But Naruto isn't a cheater, and he was right, she did just insinuate that he thinks of someone else. That literally questioning his love for her, and his love was the one thing she'd always been so sure about.
"You're really not gonna say anything?"
She finally lifted her head "It's just hard for me to wrap my head around."
"But you can so easily believe I'd want someone other than you?!"
"It's not that simple Naruto."
"It is. And if you've been paying attention like I have than you would see it to."
Her eyes squinted, "Paying attention?"
He wanted to scream into a pillow, "The way he looks at you. Touches you. The way he always tries to get your attention away from mine. The shit he says. Hinata can you honestly say you've never once thought Shikamaru might be into you?"
Now she was just baffled, "Naruto he's one of my best friends."
"Yea he's one of mine too!"
She wiped her tear away with her hand before settling it on her hip "This is ridiculous!"
Naruto realized in that moment that no matter what he said, Hinata wasn't gonna fully listen to him.
She had no idea the pain he was feeling.
This was the worst truth bomb he'd ever been handed, and now even his girlfriend would stand here and argue against the information even he wished wasn't true.
If Hinata thought he was lying, than it was safe to assume she didn't trust him fully either.
Five months of nothing but love and Hinata chose to think differently of him.
It was heart breaking.
He grabbed his jacket from her bed and put it on, "Where you going?" She croaked.
He didn't respond "Naruto where are you going?"
"I'm leaving."
"No... just wait we aren't done-"
"Yes we are."
Her heart dropped to the pit of her insides.
She tried to take a step closer but he took one step back, "You don't believe me. You don't trust me. So why would I waste any more of my time trying to convince you of something you don't want to hear?"
Her mouth opened to speak but her door slam shut behind him.
Hinata was left for the rest of the evening with nothing but tears.
***
It had been four days.
Not one text.
Not one call.
A dm.
Nothing.
It was pure awful silence between them.
Hinata got up, barely got ready, would go to school, go to work, come back home.
Professor Yakushi asked if her if she was alright, she said she was fine.
Sakura asked her what was going on, she didn't fully respond.
Hinata wanted answers. She wanted confirmation. But apart of her didn't want anything at all.
How more clear could it be that looking at that stupid piece of metal would make her feel inferior?
But she couldn't deny- she felt awful for what she had said.
The way that Naruto loves her, was like sunshine. She craved it, yearned for it, and was always so grateful to be in his presence. They have a deep special connection, one she has never had with anyone before & she just put it to question, over someone he made abundantly clear he hated.
It was just that hate could mask love, or other intentions. And it was very difficult to understand why Naruto was so incessant on this matter. What was there to fear so much?
It made Hinata question herself.
Did she not show enough love?
Was she lacking on showing and telling her partner that nothing could come between them?
Was this insecurity?
They've never blown up on each other like that before, and watching Naruto leave.... The scene spun on a rotation in her head several times and it broke her heart all over again.
The last time they had any distance was when they were in a fake relationship, and even then being apart felt horrible. What made things worse was that Naruto had his final tournament coming up in Kiri, and they planned for her to attend.
Guess that's thrown out the window now isn't it.
On the fourth day of no speaking, Hinata caved in.
The red head opened the door with a surprise, "Hina! Come in!".
Trouble in paradise was very evident when Karui saw Naruto with dark bags under his eyes in their theory class. He was unresponsiveness to the lecture and damn near everything she said to him.
Looking at the pretty Hyuga, with bags under her eyes as well and her face looking a little bit more pale than usual, only confirmed the couple was going through it.
Karui offered Hinata a glass of water while she settle for sitting on one of the couches in her living room. "Not gonna lie I was a little surprised when you texted me... I didn't think the next time we would hang out would be about this..."
Hinata looked down at her feet. She knew she looked a wreck and she felt like it too. She couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, and the thought that her relationship was going down hill was screwing with her brain. All she could was think about how he left.
"Has he... said anything?"
Karui shook her head, "Nope. And don't take this the wrong way- but he looks worse than you."
A small sad smile made it's way to her face, "It's okay." With a heavy breath Hinata pinched the bridge her nose to prevent any sniffles. "Karui... the last thing I want to do is look at that thing. And really I'm sorry if I'm bothering you with my relationship drama-"
"Hinata it's okay." Karui straightened her back as she sat on the opposing couch from Hinata, "I get why you didn't want to look. But I also get why he did. Both of you have been cheated on, felt inferior. But both of you both need to try and see the others perspective on this."
She got up again, grabbed her laptop from the desk and went to Hinata to sit back down. "I'm not choosing sides. But I do think you should take a look at this. I mean this entire thing is practically about you."
Shikamaru is in love with you.
Hinata shook her head and put her face in her palms "I just don't understand..."
She put the laptop in Hinata's lap, "I know. But the only way you will is if you see it for yourself."
Karui gave her an encouraging look, to which Hinata responded with a nod. Then the laptop opened & the flash drive was put in. Everything Karui warned her about went in one ear & out the other as her eyes skimmed the computer screen, digesting years worth of information.
Curiosity for sure killed the cat. But satisfaction brought it back.
***
Two more days went by.
Naruto checked his phone like an EMT checking for a pulse. Six whole days of no communication, but even on the first day he wanted to run back to her apartment and forget that this whole thing ever happened.
But he didn't. He wouldn't. Because he still had shit to do.
Naruto watched Shikamaru under a new lens. This time that lens was truth.
Eighteen years of friendship was really going down the drain, all because Shikamaru selfishly wanted a woman he couldn't have. Is that how easy it was to toss away bonds? All for a fantasy?
Questions upon questions raked his brain every single day. Why did he never make a move? Why wait until now? Why waste years of Ino's time?
Why did he never say anything?
The excuse that Naruto would be shattered over the truth of Ino and Shikamaru's relationship did not sit right with the blonde. Yes- when they were younger it would've most definitely hurt. But Naruto never really had a jealous bone until Hinata came along.
Ino was right, Shikamaru could've avoided all of this ages ago if he just spoke up and said the truth. Naruto didn't lust after his friends girlfriends, and his feelings for Ino would've surely died the second Shikamaru said something.
Seeing him at practice every day was difficult. There were just so many moments where he wanted to grab him and beat the living shit out of him. The bastards slick moves were up, cause now Naruto saw right through all of those little friendly gestures and passes his made towards his girlfriend.
He's known Hinata since they were fourteen. From fourteen to twenty three years old this fucker never once expressed his interest out loud. It made Naruto upset in a way. He had chances. Literally chance after chance to make a move on Hinata long before Naruto came along.
But then when he did the math- Shikamaru wasn't lucky. Ino started dating Naruto at fifteen, Hinata started dating Kiba at the same time. So he watched as his two precious girls were taken away.
Except one of them really wasn't off the table.
He had Ino.
It would've made any other man upset that his best friend took his ex girlfriend sexually, but that was the least of his worries.
His current issue was how he was going to address Shikamaru, and how he was going to recover from his fight with his princess.
This time Hinata got up, she got ready, and she was on a mission.
She spent five hours in Karui's apartment. Her eyes damn near fell out of their sockets with how long she was looking at the computer screen for. It was years of love, years of heartache, years of hate and years of pain.
Karui explained the day Naruto came over to finally look at the flash drive. She admitted she was kind of pressuring him to look at it, because she had seen it's contents months before.
"Maybe that was shitty on my part. I could've told him a long time about about Ino and Shikamaru. But apart of it didn't feel like it was my right or business. But I honestly regret it... you two deserved to know."
Hinata completely understood where Karui was coming from. There were too many intersections in this and the drama was exhausting. When she got home that night, her chest ached and she felt sick to her stomach. Naruto is the first man to be so persistent and protective of her- it's hard for Hinata to comprehend that he had insecurities too. She forgot that Ino did cheat on him, and they both found their exes in the act nearly the same way.
With years of acceptance that Ino was never going to like her, Hinata forced herself to let that truth fly above her head. No matter what she did or said, for some reason, Ino Yamanaka wanted nothing to do with her. But the plot twist being that it was all over Shikamaru, and that he knew, that was huge pill to swallow.
They've been friends for a long time. In a lot of ways, Shikamaru resembled a family member. Not a super close one, but family nonetheless. Their was a big knife in her chest when she read all of Ino's pleading messages to him. Of course it hurt to see the nasty things Ino used to say about her, but some how she looked past it when she read the heart broken girls texts.
Hinata couldn't even imagine what it was like. Years of loving someone who never showed that same love back. Years of choosing a friend over a lover. Choosing a fantasy over reality.
So on day six of no communication with her man, Hinata went to the source to bury a long over due hatchet.
So far they'd hadn't gotten much work done for their project. Ino did the base out line and was praying Hinata would just let her do the project herself. She wanted to limit her interactions with the girl as much as possible- especially now that Naruto knew the truth.
Of course she was glad she could provide clarity, but at the same time she didn't want any more beef. Hinata's acceptance and forgiveness was the least likely thing, and she knew she couldn't chase it and would have move on with knowing she might not ever get it.
But the blonde was surprised to see that Hinata had dm'd her asking her to meet outside of the library on a Thursday afternoon.
In the brisk March wind, Ino waited against the brick wall of their university's building, and watched as Hinata pulled up right in front of her in her car. The dark haired beauty stepped out, making fierce eye contact. "I-I need to talk to you."
Tap tap tap tap
The rain pattered against Hinata's car window, and the small vehicle was filled with an awkward silence. Ino had her ideas... but she was going to keep them to herself.
There was never an instance where these two were in the same space alone together. For that to have happened, the stars and earth needed to collide. But low and behold- a lying dick head brought two female strangers together. Classic.
Hinata turned up the heater in her car, then shifted her body in the drivers seat to face Ino. "Ya know... I'd never thought I'd ever have a real conversation with you. Every time I imagined it- I thought it would be about school or maybe cheerleading."
Ino felt a shiver go down her spine. Hinata had the sweetest speaking voice, like she could calm anyone down. Truth be told she thought the girl might yell at her, say something mean, but she only reinstated in a single sentence, just how much a bitch Ino was to her in the past.
"I used to think... that maybe I really did do something to you and I just couldn't remember. Or that maybe you felt like I was trying to take your best friend away. I would've never thought in a million years you, one of the most confident girls in our high school, would ever have a weakness and that it was some how linked to me."
Hinata shook her head in disbelief. "It sounds crazy. I thought it sounded crazy coming out of Naruto's mouth, but then I saw it. And even now, I asked you to come in to my car because apart of me just can't believe it."
Ino gulped before speaking, "He never once.... Said anything?"
She shook her again, "No. never."
Her blue eyes found their way to the closed glove compartment, "I think he's loved you since the day he saw you."
Hinata's voice came out in a harsh bite "That's not love."
Shikamaru evading his feelings and acting like the perfect friend was the opposite of love. Falling for someone wasn't as simple as a look. Hinata knew what she was to him- and to her, if you truly loved someone, you went out and grabbed them. Fought for them. Did everything you could to let the know.
Naruto loves her. And she knows that.
"I'm sorry..... I'm really sorry for the person I was to you. I knew you didn't know, and I never even gave you a chance. It's been eating me alive and I'm just really sorry. I know how pathetic I am. To let a man make me beef with a woman. You never did anything wrong and I .... I'm just really sorry Hinata."
The dark haired goddess looked at the blonde with a softened gaze. Hinata knew she had every right to be upset with the girl, but she couldn't bring herself to carry hate or malice in her heart.
It's been years of Ino ignoring her existence, years of questioning what it was that made Ino avoid her. But now that the answer was out in the open, there was no point in recounting all the weird shame this girl made her once feel. Ino was tricked and lied to, just like Hinata. And she was just way too much of a girls girl let this go on any longer.
"I'm not saying I forgive you.... But I'm also not saying I don't forgive you. In all honesty... I would just really like to move on from this."
Ino wiped her tears and nodded her head, "Of course totally." Hinata passed her a tissue from her console. Ino laughed while sniffling. "Naruto was right, You're so much kinder than everyone else." Her heart pounded at the sound of his name, "He said that?". The blonde nodded, grabbing another tissue and wiping her under eyes, "He said a lot of things. But really just making sure that I won't ever try to hurt you."
A tear left Hinata's eyes as she let out a sad laugh, "He's crazy."
"Crazy about you."
Suddenly her lavender eyes rounded and Ino could sense the beautiful kind girl in front of her was about to cry. "He loves you Hinata. I don't think I've ever seen someone so in love before. He wouldn't dare try to hurt you."
She sighed and sunk into the passenger seat, "I don't understand men, and I won't try to. But I know for a fact the truth about Shika is hurting him... no offense but I think it might just hurt him more than it hurts you."
Hinata was now wiping her tears with the tissues. Ino cocked her head to the side "Does it... hurt you?"
That was a great question.
Her eyes met light blue ones... and her mind went blank.
It did hurt. It hurt to know that her friendship was now going to change. But it didn't hurt nearly as much as seeing Naruto leave her apartment. Or hearing Naruto's voice crack when he said she wouldn't believe him. Nothing and no one could top that. And that's all she could think about.
Hinata knew what she had to do. She needed to get her man back.
"Honestly.... It doesn't hurt like I thought it might."
The ladies stared at the brick wall in front of them. Tears tried and truths told, the air in the car felt lighter. A thunder clap was heard in the distance and sky darkened. The rains tapping now harsh thuds against the vehicle.
"So... what are you gonna do about Shikamaru?"
Now, behind her light eyes she saw dark red. Years of lies, deceit and false impressions.
"I think.... I'm gonna kill him."
A.N: TWO CHAPTERS LEFT 😭💔💔💔💔
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