Part VII
~Sakura~
Neji's funeral is booked for today, a week after the day of his death. No one is ready for it.
School was cancelled until the day after his funeral. With such a small school, there wasn't a single student who wasn't effected by his sudden death. I don't think there was a single person in the village who wasn't effected. Neji was such a bright kid, a true genius. We all expected him to go far in life. No one expected this.
The fire was started by some old electrical circuits in Hinata's attic. Since Hinata's sister's room is right under the attic, she got trapped in her room when all the smoke came in. She was focused more on breathing than escaping. Naruto ran in and saved Hanabi, who probably would have died the same way Neji went out if they had waited for the fire department. Hinata ran in and saved Naruto because I guess he could have gotten himself out fine, but that good-hearted knucklehead didn't take into account that he would have to help a middle-schooler out too. Neji went in after all three, and used the last of his consciousness to save Hinata.
People are all saying things about how at least he died of smoke inhalation, not the fire. And sure, that's true, we're all glad he didn't suffer that much, but the world still lost someone like him. There's no way to make this situation better.
All this sadness with me about losing a peer must be nothing compared to Hinata's. I knew Neji, but not the way Hinata did. All this grief I'm feeling I'm sure won't last too long for me. As for Hinata, she's going to be in for quite the ride.
I zip up my plain black dress. The weather has gotten cold since Neji died. Winter is setting in, and although my dress has long sleeves, my body refuses to warm up.
Funerals are bizarre events. No one ever wants to go to them, yet no one can bear not saying goodbye.
The sky is gray as I walk out of my house. I assume Sasuke will meet me somewhere between my house and his. I'm only ever allowed in his house every so often, and even then, things are weird. We only stay for a couple hours and he's always on edge.
He's been weird like this for months. He's hiding something from me. I just know it. Every time I bring it up, it ends in a shouting match, him saying how I need to trust him on this and me saying how could I if he doesn't trust me? Trust is a two-way street.
The more I think about it, the more uneasy I get. What could possibly be so bad that he needs to hide it from me? What on earth would he not want me by his side for? I know he doesn't like opening up, but I've been his girlfriend for over a year. He knows everything about me, and while I don't know everything about him, he always seemed okay. He's clearly not anymore.
It's driving me insane but I'm also tired of yelling. I love him. I just want to know that he's still returning feelings for me.
I'm almost to his house when I see him come out of the door, closing it quickly behind him, as if not to show me what horrible things lie inside. He quickly walks and takes my pinky finger with his. I think about asking why he's so jittery, but honestly, I'm just too tired.
"Hey, Sakura," he says, looking down at me.
"Hi," I reply curtly. Because of the funeral today, I can be snippy and not be questioned. There's a lot on my mind, and I just don't think I can deal with Sasuke's grand secret today.
We walk the rest of the way in a welcomed silence. I'm sure his head is cluttered, too. Neji and Sasuke were never particularly close, but I think they had some sort of bond, a mutual understanding. They were both indubitably gifted and carrying immense burdens, ones too large for their children bodies (or any bodies) to carry. While they may not have been friends, I know they had some sort of mutual respect for each other.
Funerals tend to be a rather public thing in Konohagakure, especially if the deceased died in honor. Basically the entire village was there, crowded around a picture of a boy who won't have the opportunity to have a future.
"I have to find Hinata," I say to Sasuke quietly, as to not disturb the thoughts of the others in the crowd. I'm about to look for my distraught friend when he grabs my arm to hold me back.
"Sakura, don't," he says gently. "You're a good person, so I know you want to help her, but she's probably already incredibly overwhelmed by everything. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't even want Naruto at her side right now. She may just want to surround herself with family, or just be alone for a while. We should respect what she's going through."
"I can't just sit here and do nothing," I rebut.
"Here, watch this," he whispers. He stares at Hinata for around fifteen seconds before she senses it and turns her head slowly, allowing me to pick her out of the crowd. Her eyes are read and puffy and she looks like she hasn't stopped crying in days. She's surrounded by people with dark indigo and dark brown hair, not a single splotch of blonde anywhere near her.
She looks at us for a moment. Sasuke makes his lips into a thin line, almost as if to say, "I'm sorry there's nothing I can do to make you feel better" with his expression. She makes a similar facial expression, almost pushing a smile as if to say to the two of us, "Thanks for trying." She turns around after a small nod.
"There," Sasuke says to me, "now she knows we support her and we're here for her, but she's also not overwhelmed."
I look up at him in total shock. "How do you know how to handle this so well?"
He looks to the ground, avoiding my eyes. "I guess I just do," he mumbles, then turns back to the crowd to listen to the funeral service.
After the service, there's a reception held, which is just as dreary as the rest of the events. Everyone picks at cheese and crackers, surrounded by pictures of Neji that all seemed so young, and flowers donated by those who simply didn't know what else to do.
"I'm going to go talk to Naruto," Sasuke whispered to me as we meandered around mindlessly. "He was involved in the whole thing, and I'm sure that wasn't pleasant. I've talked to him since then, but only briefly. I should go try to help him out or something."
I look up at him. "Can I come too?" I ask, wanting to be part of what Sasuke does.
He thinks sincerely for a moment. "Maybe not right now. You've been one of his best friends for years, but if we both go at the same time, he may get overwhelmed. He's a naturally happy guy who doesn't stay depressed for too long, but we don't want to stress him out more."
I nod in agreement. "You're right."
He kisses me on the cheek and walks away, and as soon as he's a few meters away, I hear someone whisper my name.
I look around, trying to find the source of the calling.
As I scan the room, I find a face that instinctively causes my own to wince in fear and discontent. One I haven't seen much of in the past year.
Tenten.
She motions for me to come over. I think for a moment. Why should I bother to give her any more of my time? She's wasted enough of it already. She doesn't look the same though. Even from across the room, she looks softer. It could be the mourning or it could be some change, but either way, she looks as if what she has to say is something of importance. I look over my shoulder--Sasuke is still talking to Naruto. I know I shouldn't feel like I have to hide this from him, but I know how angry he'd get. Wait, would he get angry? To be honest, I couldn't tell anymore. And it's not like he has any reservations about hiding things from me.
I walk over to her, this girl that's terrorized me for years. She looks somber, dressed entirely in black. It seems as though she's been crying quite a lot. Then it hits me: she was dating Neji. An overwhelming onslaught of sympathy towards her rushes over me, and for a moment, I want to forget about everything she's put me through and hug her.
I'm a stronger person now, capable of defending myself. I'm confident I can not only be strong, but take the high road with her. "Um, hello, Sakura," she mumbles, having difficulty meeting my eyes.
"Hey," I respond. An awkward silence doesn't take long I creep in.
"Um," she hesitates again, trying to formulate exactly what it was she wanted to say to me. "I guess there's no other way to put it, so I'll just say it: I'm sorry." She sets her gaze on me, showing me how sincere she is.
I look away. I'm being so petty, I know it. But after years of harassment, I'm having difficulty accepting this. "I would apologize to Ino," I mumble. "She's the one who was put in the hospital."
Tenten winces at the memory. "I plan to," she says, "but I wanted to apologize to you first. I caused a lot of pain to you, and I know it, and it was entirely unacceptable." I look up. Tears are beginning for form in her eyes.
"So what brought on a change of heart?" I mutter, my voice weak. My resolve to stay angry is weakening. She looks torn up, and I know how horrible it feels, knowing you've hurt someone.
She sighs. "Well I went back on my medication. I don't know if anyone told you, but I..." she pauses, clearly having difficulty talking about this. "I struggle a lot with my mental health. I have difficulty forming stable relationships, and occasionally have psychotic episodes. I get impulsive and reckless sometimes, and have trouble slowing down and thinking rationally. I don't normally get violent, though. That was the first time." She sighs shakily again. "My biggest symptom is my extreme reactions. I was jealous of you, and I reacted extremely. I treated everyone poorly. I manipulated Karin and Tayuya, I bullied you, I was nothing but trouble for everyone. That's why Neji was so important to me. He never gave up. He treated me like a human." Her voice cracks and the tears begin to roll down. She takes deep breaths and regains her composure from a quickly melting mess to a slightly shaking voice. "The medications caused me to be sluggish and depressing. Instead of doing the responsible thing and asking my doctor for a switch to a different type of medication, I just decided to stop taking them." Tears begin to flow again, her body now matching her voice and begins to quiver. "The sinister thing about living with a mental disorder, is that no matter how bad you get, you never think you're that bad. You think you're perfectly in control of yourself. You recognize that maybe it's abnormal or wrong, your behavior, but you still think you're doing alright. Your brain is so sick, it doesn't even realize when it's lost control of itself."
"Tenten," I utter, now dissolving into a mess with her.
"And the great thing about Neji," she whimpers, looking over to a picture of him in the reception hall, "was that he was like the healthy alarm system that my brain lacks. He never got frustrated, but was firm. He got me talking to my doctor and back on my meds, and I'm doing so much better now thanks to him. He was always there for me, even when I wasn't there for myself." Her whimpers become choked back sobs. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry, Sakura. That I'm honestly and truly sorry. I see how bad I was now, and I regret every harsh word and every ill action I ever did to you. You didn't deserve it, nobody deserved it. I can't take back what I did, but I'm so sorry."
I fling my arms around her. My resolve is gone. There's no way I can hold this against her, not when she's this sincere.
"I forgive you," I say as we cry onto each other's shoulders.
We pull away, and she wipes her tears as I wipe mine. "If you need help with anything, you can come to me," I offer.
She chuckles a bit. "I don't deserve your kindness, Sakura. Even I know that."
"Everyone deserves a second chance," I say sincerely, looking into her eyes.
She smiles, nodding respectfully at my offer. "I'll keep that thought in mind." She looks over to the other half of the room. "If you have time," she says, "I think Tayuya also wants to say something similar to you." With that, Tenten gives me a soft apologetic smile and walks away.
I compose myself as I walk over to Tayuya. I'm rather shocked it's her who wants to apologize. She always just seemed to not care. She didn't care to be mean or nice to me, she just didn't care. She just went along with what Tenten said. She didn't care when I started dating Sasuke, she didn't care when Ino was in the hospital, nothing. The fact that she wanted to talk to me is rather shocking.
"Hello, Tayuya," I great tamely.
"So Tenten told me I should apologize to you," Tayuya blurted indifferently, looking around the room not uncomfortably, but out of boredom.
"Are you doing this because Tenten told you to or because you want to?" I ask. Tayuya, of the three, has always been the most perplexing to me. Tenten was the one with the real goal against me. Karin had motives against me because of her love for Sasuke. That, while misguided, at least has a mindset I can comprehend. Tayuya never seemed to bear ill will against me, though. She just had hatred towards the world and didn't mind going along with whatever was going on around her. It makes me wonder just what happened to her to make her this way.
"Would it make a difference either way?" She counters. "Apologies are just words, and for the most part, words are useless."
I raise my eyebrows. "So then what's the point of this?"
She shrugs her shoulders. "I figured in lieu of empty words, I'd give you something as compensation. It'll please both you and Tenten, and it doesn't cost me much."
"Give me something?"
"Information," she explains, lowering her voice. "I'm not a snitch. I wasn't raised much at all, but I know I'm not one to throw others under the bus."
"Throw others under the bus?" I step closer, heartbeat quickening. "What kind of information?"
She looks me in the eye and smirks, getting amusement out of my newfound eagerness. "Like I said, I'm no snitch. But I will say this: someone you know is not as faithful to their relationship as they appear."
My heart drops.
"That's all I have to say." She begins to walk away from my now-pale face, then stops. "Where were you the night Neji died? Because I was spending a rainy night out on the town." With that, she walks away.
My breath is caught in my throat. There's no way. There's no way this can be true.
All my suspicions about Sasuke, could they mean he's cheating on me?
_________________________________
~Ino~
I'm never early for school, but I dragged my sorry butt out of bed bright and early on this godforsaken Monday after a terribly tragic funeral weekend because I need to deal with the mess I created. Temari always shows up to school plenty early with her brothers. I want some time to really sit down and talk with her.
First step to getting back on track with my life is to do damage control. I'm fully prepared for Temari to truly hate me. I'm prepared for her to ask Shikamaru never to talk to me again, but I don't want her to end things with Shikamaru. They really love each other, and I could never forgive myself if I was the reason it all came crashing down.
After this, when Sai comes home in a couple weeks, I intend to come clean about everything. How I've lied to both him and myself. How I kissed my friend in a moment of weakness. How I do really love him, but how alone I've felt. How I've questioned how I felt. How I've questioned how he felt. Everything. Shikamaru is right. Communication is the key to a happy relationship, and communication has been my biggest downfall these months.
I wait by the entrance to the school, wondering if she's already here. I've never been here so early. Only a couple students and staff float around the halls. It's nothing like the lively school I'm accustomed to. As I turn to look outside, I see her, as well as her two brothers, coming towards the school.
She enters, and I can't tell if she missed me standing there or ignored me, but she walks right past. I swallow my fear and and speak up. "U-um, Temari?"
My voice echoes in the empty hall the same way my heartbeat is echoing in my ears. All three of the siblings stop and turn to look at me. "Yes?" She replies in her usual slightly-condescending tone. I don't know if that's how she always speaks, but that's how it always sounds when she addresses me.
"Can I, um, talk to you?"
Her brothers look at her, and she waves for them to keep walking. She doesn't say a word, but motions for me to follow her in the other direction. She begins walking and I trail behind. "You can talk and walk at the same time. I have to work on some homework during homeroom."
Our heals click in the empty hallway. "Yes, well, you see," I stall, wondering how on earth I can word this, "well, there's no easy way to say this, and no way that you won't get mad at me, or-"
"Spit it out," she commands firmly, "rip it off like a bandage, just say it. No use beating around the bush."
Right. Communication. I take a deep breath. "I kissed your boyfriend!"
She stops walking dead in her tracks as goes completely silent. I've played her potential reaction over and over in my head, varying from screaming and shouting to turning around and punching me in the face, but I didn't predict silence.
I continue. "He immediately pushed me off him and scolded me, he had nothing to do with it whatsoever and really honestly loves you. It was all my fault, so don't blame him. That's also why I'm telling you versus him telling you, because it was my mistake so I told him I had to be the one to tell you. In other words, this is in no way his doing. That's what I'm trying to say."
Still silence. I get increasingly nervous and speak quicker. "And I don't love him, and I didn't mean to hurt you. I was really sad and he was doing the thing good friends do and was there for me and I was so upset and confused and I just went and kissed him. And I regret it. And I'm really really really really--"
"Ino," she cuts me off.
"... sorry." I finish quietly.
"So let me see if I got all this right: you kissed Shikamaru, it wasn't his fault, you regret it, and you're sorry," she repeats, still refusing to face me. I step towards her and she takes a step away in reaction.
"Y-yes, that's about it."
"Okay," She says softly, and begins to walk away from me.
Wait, what?
"Temari, wait!" I call out. She keeps walking. "Temari!"
"What?" She stops and whips around at me. Her face is red and it's obvious she's holding back tears.
"Oh no no no no Temari please don't be sad!" I say. I know that's probably the least helpful thing I could say to a sad person, but I don't know what else to say. "He still loves you! He never stopped!"
She stops walking and leans up against a wall. "I know," she says, removing the tears that never had a chance to fall. "Forgive me for being upset when you just told me my biggest fear just happened."
I don't know what to do. We're not friends, but we're not strangers. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to, and I regret it with every fiber of my being," I say quietly.
"I know you didn't mean to and I know he loves me, it's just," she pauses, trying to remain stoic, "so frustrating. Shikamaru and I, we're close, but I can't help but be jealous of you." She looks up at me, face red from restricting emotions.
"Of me?" I ask.
"Yes, of you," she responds quickly. "You have been able to know him for all of your life. You're not bogged down by a diplomatic family who wants to use you to further your village's relations, or who expect you to to be some sort of military leader. You have great friends all at home. I'm not around here much, I don't have as much opportunity to make friends. And you make friends so easily. You're so trusting. I've been taught since I would talk never to trust anyone, that everyone is out to get me. That's why nobody likes me, and I was mostly okay with that, but then came Shikamaru," she looks into my eyes, "and he was this kid who didn't care where I came from and didn't care that I was blunt all the time and didn't see me as cold. He saw me as a person--not an exchange student, not a diplomatic bargaining chip, but a person. He didn't think I was cold or crass. He wasn't afraid of me."
She begins to collect herself and calm down. It's sort of amazing, seeing her visually collecting her emotions so quickly. "I never knew you felt that way about me," I say softly, too dumbfounded for many words. "I always just thought you just straight up didn't like me"
"It's not that I don't like you," she looks at me, voice now back to calm, "it's just that you're everything I ever wanted to be. You're generally happy and carefree, and I know you've probably had your struggles, but I've seen you bounce back from stuff and leave it in the past like it never even happened. You're easygoing, and everyone likes you. This envy of you probably made me more harsh towards you, I will admit that. I never really gave you a fair chance because it was always just so frustrating for me."
"Well, I probably never gave you a totally fair chance too, especially when you two started dating," I confess. "I've never felt romantically towards Shikamaru, but he's one of my longest and oldest friends. I was sort of envious of how much time he was spending with you, both Choji and I were. It's like when your mother starts dating someone else and stops spending so much time with you and—" I pause my analogy. "Thinking of Shikamaru as a mother is weird so I'm not going to finish what I was saying."
Temari chuckles. "I understand what you're saying," she says. Her deep teal eyes look right into mine. The air around us gets heavier. "Look, I'm not mad at Shikamaru, and I'm not going to break up with him. To be frank, it's sort of difficult to stay mad at you when you're so earnestly sorry. But," she hesitates, and breaks eye contact. "I was wondering if the two of us could, I don't know, start over? Try to be friends?" Color rises slightly to her cheeks as she refuses to meet my eyes while she swallows her pride for me. "I-I mean, if you want to."
A smile spreads across my face as I fling my arms around her.
"W-woah, hey! What are you--"
"I would love that, Temari!" I exclaim, excited for this new opportunity.
More and more students begin to filter in, and we still are standing by that wall as Shikamaru walks in and sees us.
"Oh," he says, surprised to see us together.
"Shika," I say, greeting him. I look over to Temari, waiting to see how she'll react.
She walks up to him silently until their bodies are inches from one another. They look into each other's eyes for a moment, neither one saying anything.
"Do you love me?" Temari asks him.
"Yes," Shikamaru responds immediately. "Without a doubt."
She points over her shoulder to me with her thumb. "Do you love Ino?"
"Yes," Shikamaru repeats. I suck in my breath. "But in the same way one would love their sister," he elaborates. "She's a great friend to me."
Temari shrugs. "Then there's nothing left to say on this matter."
"I guess not." Shikamaru grins and eliminates the gap between them with a kiss.
Temari chuckles as they pull away and shoots him a look. "I thought neither of us liked public displays of affection."
"Just this once," Shikamaru nudges her.
I look at the two of them a breathe a sigh of relief. They've got communication and trust so strong. No way something so trivial as my mistake could break them up.
Now I just need to fix things with Sai. I only hope I can.
_________________________________
~Hinata~
I don't think grief is a strong enough word for what I feel.
Despair, infuriation, misery. Those touch upon the surface more accurately.
Everyone tells me how sorry they are. I know what they mean, but oh, how quiet words become when such incinerating pain screams so loud.
I have nothing in me at all. It's like the jump from my burning house knocked everything out of me. Emotion, fear, life, everything. Sad is not a good way to put how I feel. Dead is a more accurate adjective.
They say there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. I don't know if they all share the same amount of time or if they go in that exact order. And I don't know where exactly the static feeling of utter non-feeling falls on this list.
Not to mention we lost our home. The Hyugas have a small house on the manor that was made to be used for guests. That's where we're staying now until we can either rebuild or relocate.
The school reopened today but I couldn't bring myself to even think about going. My mother and father both left for work, and my sister for school. Losing Neji was a tragedy to them, but it hit incredibly hard for me.
I never understood the idea of main family versus branch families as a child. I didn't get why everyone treated me special. I wasn't smart and strong like Neji or my sister. I was just me. Plain old me. But I grew up with everyone being nice to me, so I just assumed that we lived in a world where families are nice to each other.
That was not the case for Neji. He learned early on that he was disadvantaged from birth. He was twice the person I was while receiving only a fraction of the credit. Losing his father early on, it's no surprise he had so many issues as a child. We never got along back then. The older I get, the less and less I could ever hold it against him. Had I been in his place, I wouldn't have acted any better.
As we got older not only did he see me as a friend, but more as a sister. He was the protective and kind older brother I never had. He even fought Naruto with my best interest in mind. He deserved so much more than he ever got in life.
The doorbell rings. It takes every ounce of my energy to hoist myself up and stand. I drag my feet over to the door and open it.
Even the sight of Naruto doesn't alter my disposition.
"What are you doing here?" I ask. "Schools back in session as of today."
He takes me into his arms and holds me. He's so warm. He's always so warm. "You know I wouldn't leave you alone right now." He whispers into my hair. He releases me from his embrace but his large hands are still on my arms. "Unless you really want me to go."
"No, you can stay if you want," I mumble indifferently as I let him in and begin walking back to the couch I was laying on. I lay down and pull a blanket back around me and he sits on the edge of the couch, soothingly running his hand along my back. "I won't have much to say today."
"That's okay."
"I may just stare into space for the entire day."
"That's okay."
"I may cry."
"That's okay, too."
I look up at him, a wave of appreciation coming over me. His presence does mean a lot to me. It's doing more than I know how to describe. "C-could you hold me, Naruto?" My voice cracks, sheepish about asking.
He flashes me a sympathetic smile. "Of course, Hinata," he whispers.
We stay like that, his large toned arms encircling me. I don't know how long we stay like that before I drift off in the comfort he's providing me, kicked off by the lack of energy I had to begin with. When my eyelids flutter open, it's already the afternoon.
I shift slightly, alerting Naruto that I'm awake. "Hey," he says gently. The whole place is empty, but he's speaking just to me.
"Hi," I reply. I wonder how much time has passed.
"Would you like to go on a walk? I know you probably don't want to, but just laying here like this will only make you feel worse," he proposes.
He's right, I don't want to. Getting up and moving is the last thing I want to do. I really don't have the energy for it. I just nuzzle my head back into his arm, hoping that'll be a sufficient declination.
He doesn't give up so easily. "Just a short one," he continues, beginning to sit up, much to my dismay. With him, he takes away the comforting heat that was enveloping me. "We'll go for a five minute walk outside, eat something small, and then if you still want to, we can lie back down again."
Begrudgingly, I sat up with him. He stands up but I remain sitting for a moment. The moving is sopping up every last bit of energy I hardly had to begin with.
He offers me his hand. "C'mon, really short, I promise."
I sigh and take his hand, allowing him to help me up. My feet feel as though they're made of lead and moving them is the most arduous and tedious task I've ever attempted to do. Naruto doesn't let go of my hand. I can't tell if he's the one holding tightly or if I am, but our fingers are interlocked with a firm grip.
The moment I get outside, I know he was right about this. The air is crisp and fresh like an apple in the fall and it feels good traveling into my lungs. The sun isn't strong, but I can already begin to feel it's renewing effects. It still feels as though sludge is running through my veins instead of blood, but at least, even in the brisk weather, I feel like I'm defrosting.
Naruto doesn't say a word, he just keeps walking beside me at whatever pace I choose, his large, warm hand holding mine. He cares about me. He cares so much about me. The rays of the sun entangle themselves within the locks of his golden hair. Naruto skipped school, held me for hours, and is being so gentle and good to me. He knew I needed to get out, even if just for a quick lap around a couple houses. He knows me so well.
I drop to my knees and begin to sob.
He doesn't even look surprised when I drop. He looks almost as if he knew this was going to happen. He takes a knee and rubs small circles on my back, pressing his lips to the top of my head as my entire body is thrown about with every violent sob.
He scoops my crumpled body into his arms. "Up we go," Naruto grunts softly as he lifts me up bridal-style and carries me back into the house where I can continue to bawl loudly.
He carries me into my bedroom and sets me down on my bed. Sitting up on the bed with me, he entirely encircles me in his arms, letting my shakes and tremors be contained and cushioned. I don't know how much time passes before my violent cries subside into a droning sob. His body is so warm and strong, being sturdy so I can have just one thing into this world that I can grip onto as not to be washed away by the wild rapids of all the events swirl around me.
"Thank you," I whisper.
"What are you thanking me for?" He asks, voice equally as soft.
"You're here," I reply. "You're caring for me. You're loving me."
"Those are all things I really like doing," he smiles his heart-warming smile.
"How did you know to take me on a walk?" I question. As the tears begin to cease, I feel a renewed sense of comfort and energy within me.
"I've gone through something like this," he says. "The trick is to get to let yourself break. You can't get stuck in that mush of nothing, otherwise nothing will happen. You can't move on. You have to allow yourself to feel, then you can work on getting back up. You need the momentum of the low to get back on high, but you can't do that if you're not moving at all."
With my new found energy, I press my lips up against his. I don't open my mouth, my hands remain sedentary, but I keep my lips on his for a few elongated moments.
I pull away, but not very far. Our noses are still neighbors and our eyes are still closed.
"I'm here for you," Naruto whispers. "I always will be. I'll never go back on that."
"I know," I said, tears beginning to form under my eyelids once more. "And I can never thank you enough for that. I can never begin to sufficiently thank you for all that you've done for me."
"I disagree," he says, moving just ever so much closer so that the motion of his mouth as he forms words causes his lips to tickle mine. "You are in no way indebted to me. What you do for me, your constant love and support, does more than I could ever know how to say." He opens his eyes, looking down at our faces that are just hardly touching. "I didn't grow up in a fancy and educated home like yours, so I don't know if the words I wish I knew how to use even exist, but I could study words my entire life and not know how to tell you just how much you mean to me. I love you, Hinata."
"And I love y-!" I don't even get to finish my sentence before he crashes his lips against mine.
"I love you," he says in between kisses. "I love you. I love you. I love you."
My cheeks are still dampened and my heart is still devastated, but at least I have Naruto, like a bright sun, reminding me that things will be okay again.
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Author's note: *disappears for eight months* *throws new chapter into the abyss* *hangs head in shame of how long this took me to write*
Seriously, I'm incredibly apologetic about the slow production rate of this work as a whole. I'm trying to encompass more mature topics into the sequel, and as much as I'm enjoying it, it's more difficult to write than the topics I covered in the prequel to this. For example, it took me months to write about Hinata's grieving. I've never been through that great of a loss, and I had no idea how to write it. I kept writing and deleting, thinking it didn't sound genuine enough. I put my all into my work, even if it winds up taking me forever to do.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading! I promise I'll try to get Part VIII out faster than this. Thank you so much for any likes or comments you choose to leave on my work! I genuinely love your feedback! Thank you for reading!