A/N: I have found a place with wifi...it's called Starbucks. Thank the almighty lord Jashin for leading me here. Free wifi is life.
Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to (seeing I can't dedicate people on mobile. How fun): @WendyEllin & @Vicky-is-kawaii for the amazing and kind feedback I was given. Thank you.
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Reina's P.O.V
I felt groggy and just horrible. My head was killing me so badly I felt like it could burst any second. Literally. I let a loud groan escape past my lips. My eyes began to flutter open, and I swear I heard some kind of noise, something similar to rustling.
"Reina?"
'Whose voice is that?' I wondered, 'It sounds kind of like...Naruto!'
As my eyes opened, they immediately shut due to the bright light shining in them. I hissed softly and covered my eyes with my arms.
"It burns..." I muttered.
"Oh, sorry Reina! I'll fix it!"
There was the faint sound of moving around, so I took this as a chance to contemplate on whether to open my eyes again with the slight bit of hope that the bright demonic light was gone.
"Um, you can open your eyes now. I fixed it, dattebayo!" He exclaimed.
There's my answer. I did as he told and opened my eyes fully, only to meet Naruto's eyes. He was practically, no literally, in my face.
Images of Gaara kissing me appeared in my head, my eyes widened in horror. "Get away!" I shouted, punching his face. "D-Don't touch me!"
I pulled my legs to my chest and buried my face in my arms. I didn't want him to touch me again...no! No! I shook my head back and forth and I clawed at my face. For some reason, the thought of Gaara kissing me horrified me. Why was it that before - earlier in the exams - I didn't mind? Why did I enjoy it before, but loathe it now? What was happening to me?
I continued to ponder about Gaara, but it was as if the more I thought about him, the more I grew afraid of something like that happening to me again.
I felt arms wrap around my body. I tensed up right away. 'D-Don't touch me...' I thought.
"Reina, I'm not going to hurt you... I wouldn't do that to you. I-I care too much to do that... I know you're a strong girl."
"Hmm, so it seems you unlocked your hidden power after all. Interesting."
'I'm not strong at all! I'm a damn monster...' I thought, gritting my teeth together.
I felt myself be pulled forward. My legs were on both sides of his body. I lifted my head and let go on my legs to glance up. Naruto was staring down at me with a loving smile.
"Please hear me out... You're a really strong girl, Reina! You almost beat that Gaara guy, remember?" He stated with a grin, "I don't think I could have done that, dattebayo! He was pretty scary..."
I giggled softly at this. Naruto - the boy who thinks he can do anything - actually said he probably didn't have a chance against Gaara? Isn't that surprising...
"You really have some power inside of you, don't you?" He laughed.
My smile turned into a frown and I glared at his chest.
"Hmm...I wouldn't be so sure if I would call it a power, but more of a...curse."
"No." I stated, "It's not a power, but a curse..."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at me in confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked.
I shook my head as tears began to brim the corner of my eyes. I wiped at my eyes with my sleeves.
"Y-You don't and won't ever understand, Naruto. This strength you say I have is nothing but a damn curse that bastard Kakashi put on me! I wasn't even strong to start off with! I-I...I was just really determined to make a change..." I exclaimed through tears.
My fists were clenched together tightly, "You don't u-u-understand this feeling..." I breathed out.
Naruto glared at me. My eyes widened a bit at this. 'Did I actually make him mad? The overly excited, hyperactive ninja...mad?' I gulped.
I tried to stand up from his lap, but Naruto quickly grabbed a hold of my arm and pulled me back down. My legs sprawled out on his sides, and my arms on his legs. Now our faces were merely centimeters apart. My face was burning in embarrassment.
"Reina..." He whispered, eyeing my face. I shut my eyes and looked to the side, my heart beating much faster than before. 'What's h-happening to me?'
His fingers gently caressed the side of my face, slowly trailing down to my chin where my tears were meeting. His finger brushed the tears away with a quick movement.
"I do understand."
My eyes widened dramatically at this. I snapped my gaze over to him. 'This feeling...'
"H-How?" I croaked out.
He grinned widely, "Why do you think nobody wanted to be my friend during the time you first entered the academy? Remember how I was really shocked you wanted to be my friend?" He asked.
I nodded and urged him to go on. I wanted to hear his explanation.
"Well, um...nobody really liked me. I was picked on and still am. They all thought I was worthless because I couldn't do the stupid clone jutsu. But it turns out I could do the Shadow Clone jutsu, dattebayo!" He shouted his usual grin, "Not only that, but the people in the village really don't like me. I don't think they ever have... They've always shunned my existence, saying I'm some sort of monster that deserves to die. I never get a break with all the insults. It's a routine to hear them now. Everyday, everywhere I go... No matter how hard I try to show them they're wrong. I'm considered a monster, Reina."
My eyes were wide throughout his whole explanation. 'There's no way...but all he says has to be true. The kids at the academy even said crap about him...like Sakura and Sasuke.' I bit my lip and looked away from Naruto guiltily. 'I should've known he was being mistreated much differently than myself... The definition of a monster for me is different than what he thinks. My definition is so stupid compared to his...'
"I-I didn't know... I'm sorry, Naruto. I must seem like some shitty person saying that a monster is someone with strength they don't have a need for." I muttered out, glancing over at him for a second before looking back down at the ground. "You're right, though. You're definition of monster that is... You actually have proof and such of what a monster is."
He nodded slowly, "Yeah, maybe I do. But that doesn't mean I'm a monster like they say. It doesn't mean you're a monster like you say you are, ya know." Naruto muttered, a small, pink blush covering his cheeks as he scratched at his nose with his finger. "You're not a monster to m-me at least."
My eyes widened slightly and I grew flustered, "O-Oh, um...thanks I guess." I mumbled out, my eye twitching at how awkward I was making this confrontation between us.
I gulped and eyed the room in fake interest. I still found this to be very uncomfortable seeing I was in Naruto's lap, straddling him, as I was a mere inch or two away from his face. I never understood how I got into these damned positions.
"Reina, a-are you o-okay? Did I say something wrong?!" He panicked.
I took a deep breath and shut my eyes right as I said what popped up into my head, "You're n-not a monster in m-my eyes e-either, Naruto! I a-actually think you're really kind and g-generous to be by my side throughout all this st-stress I've dropped onto y-your shoulders! It's actually k-kinda c-cute in a way!" I blurted out, my fists clenched together in front of me as I shouted out my thoughts.
There was no answer. This made me sweat bullets. 'S-Shit, did I say something wrong!?' I mentally cursed, squeezing my eyes shut even harder.
I opened my eyes and let out a deep breath to apologize for my outburst. "N-Naruto, I'm s-sorry--" My eyes flew open at what he did next.
Naruto leaned forward quickly and pecked my lips with a large smile on his face. "Thanks Reina." He said.
I didn't reply. I could feel a wave of warmth suddenly radiating throughout my body, taking over my emotions. I was going back and forth between anger and adoration for Naruto. With my fists clenched at my side, I held in the urge to punch the living daylights of out of him. What was he thinking?! Didn't he understand that I wasn't i-interested in h-him!?
"Y-You...You b-baka!" I yelled, tears welling up in my eyes as I pounded my hands against his chest. "Y-You b-baka..."
Naruto wrapped his arms around me and let me ball my eyes out on his shoulder. I let out cries, cries I've wanted to let out for a while now for many reasons. Over the loss of the boy I could consider my brother even if I knew him for a little bit; the boy I killed, over the fact that I had lost my Dad to some power hungry voice in his head, over Gaara who I thought I liked, and over the boy in front of me who was making me feel so flustered. It was a blur to me. All of this that has happened to me in the previous days and was now hitting me in the face like a brick.
"W-Why?" I choked out, sniffling slightly. I looked him in the eye.
Naruto raised an eyebrow and placed his hands on my face, brushing my tears away with his thumbs. "What do you mean why?" He asked me.
I sniffled, "W-Why are you p-playing with my f-feelings?!" I shouted out angrily.
Naruto glared at me, it was something I wasn't expecting. "You think I'm playing with you; your feelings?" He asked, sounding pretty hurt in my opinion.
I fumbled over my words. I decided on keeping my mouth shut once I gave Naruto a slow nod. He sighed and pushed me off of him. I winced as I fell on my back.
"...Naruto..." I whispered.
Naruto looked down at me with hurt swimming in his eyes.
"Reina, can I tell you something real quick?" He asked.
I nodded, "Sure." I sat up and stayed on the ground.
He released yet another sigh, "I'm going to sound really weird, but don't laugh!" He shouted, pointing a finger down at me.
I scrunched up my nose and waved my hand at him lazily, "Go ahead, I guess. It's not like what you're going to tell me is new." I spat out, my arms crossed.
Naruto let out a deep breath and he turned towards me with a dark blush on his face, "I know this is sudden, but Reina... I really like you! Not like as in a friend, but like as in more than a friend... Ever since you offered to be my friend, I kind of started to like you a-and then I couldn't help but notice how pretty you are. How your hair matches perfectly with your eyes and clothes, dattebayo! Then when I noticed Sasuke took a liking to you and then stupid Gaara too, I thought I would finally step in and show you how I feel." He explained quickly.
I blinked. "Wait...Sasuke likes m-me?!" I gawked. 'The almighty Uchiha took a liking to me, whoa. I never expected that to happen at all, but now that I think about him liking me...all the times we were really close to each other.' I shivered in disgust. 'No...Sasuke doesn't seem like my type. He's too...what's the word. Emotionless, there we go.
Naruto nodded with a glare, "Yeah. That teme doesn't understand that you're mine though. I'll show him, just watch, dattebayo!" Naruto shouted, waving his fist in the air, determination radiating off him.
I froze. "Yours?" I asked, irritation lacing my voice. "Since when was I claimed?"
Naruto froze and laughed nervously, "Oh, I'm not cl-claiming you or anything! I-I mean, I wish you w-were mine in l-like the g-girlfriend kind of way, but I'm n-not forcing you or a-anything, dattebayo!" He blurted out, waving his hands in front of him defensively.
My gaze on Naruto softened. "Naruto... I didn't think you felt that way about me." I murmured, rubbing my arm gently. "I'm sorry, but...I'm going through too much at the moment. I can't handle a r-relationship." I stated.
Naruto shook his head, "No, it's fine. We can take this a step at the time, dattebayo! I'm sure you'll be comfortable with that, right?" He said.
My eyes widened. He took my feelings into consideration...? I smiled.
I sighed, "You know what, Naruto. Since you seem like you really do like me, and the fact that you took my feelings into consideration... I guess I'll give you a chance. Just one though!" I stated, holding one finger up. "But please, like you said...let's take this one step at a time. I'm not in the greatest condition for anymore rough feelings."
Naruto grinned and threw himself on me. I yelped on impact.
"Naruto!" I shouted.
"Sorry," He laughed, "I'm just really happy, ya know?"
I smiled, "I understand that, Naruto. But can you please not hug me to death?" I asked.
He smirked mischievously, "Yeah, sorry." He said, letting go and staring into my eyes. "Can I do this..."
I raised an eyebrow, "Do what?"
"This."
I felt his lips meet mine. My eyes were wide in shock and surprise, but I slowly wrapped my arms around his neck as his arms snaked their way around my waist. After the short, but sweet kiss Naruto suddenly brought upon me, we pressed our foreheads against each other. We stared into each other's eyes with deep blushes coating our cheeks.
"I love you, Reina."
I stayed silent.
"And I'll wait for you to say that back to me, even if it means that I'll have to wait months, or a year or two. When the time is right, I'll be waiting for you."
I smiled and pulled Naruto closer to me.
"Thank you, Naruto."
I really do adore you for your kind personality. I'm sure you'll be hearing those three words you want to hear in the near future.