The Hypocrite (Chapter Four)
Name: Eternal Slumber
Author: healielle
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Uchiha Sasuke X Uzumaki Naruto
Theme: Zeta#10: artifact
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and his affiliates.
Summary: Because there was a way he could tell the future.
Warnings: AU
Rating: Older Teens
Naruto sighed as he looked at the rain dripping down the windowpane in front of him. There was no way he would be able to go home anytime soon. He wondered if Konohamaru was alright. He knew Sakura wouldn’t leave the boy alone… but the simple thought of what she might do to him after all this was over made him shiver.
“Usuratonkachi.”
Naruto whipped his head around, a small wrinkle was visible on his forehead, “You really shouldn’t be talking to your elders like that.”
Sasuke smirked and motioned to the glass he was holding in his hand, “Breakfast?”
Naruto wasn’t sure if that was safe. Not with Orochimaru around. He wasn’t sure what he would do to that man the next time he saw him. He hated people like that. He had always considered them to be incompetent idiots who barely knew how to raise kids. At least that’s what it had been like for him.
“He’s gone.” Said Sasuke as he walked out of the room, kicking his futon away in the process.
Naruto felt slightly exasperated after seeing that, it wouldn’t hurt Sasuke to clean up after himself once in a while. The man followed Sasuke out of the room nonetheless, but he made a mental note to clean up the room before he left the apartment.
Naruto poked at the food in front of him. There was nothing wrong with the food, he had made it himself and he was a hundred percent sure of his cooking abilities. He was going to open the best restaurant in Konoha after all! He was going to be the best chef!
No, that wasn’t what bothered him, “Sasuke… Are you…” he started to say.
Sasuke didn’t answer him, he gave the man a look showing he was curious.
“Are you usually alone like this?”
Sasuke looked away from Naruto and sighed, “That depends on how you look at it. Eat up.”
‘That went well. Or rather not at all.’ Naruto sometimes wondered why he took such a special interest in Sasuke’s life. Of course there was the part where he had saved his life, but was that really everything? There was something about this boy that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
But a part of Naruto knew the answer, ‘I was like that once.’
“Are you done?” Naruto snapped out of his dream, “Uh… yeah?” he pushed the plate away from him. His appetite was gone.
There was an uncomfortable silence in the room. It seeped through the air, making the feel of the place seem foul. Naruto was unsure of himself once again. What was he doing here? What had he been doing here last night? What did he want? What did Sasuke think he wanted?
“Can I borrow an umbrella?” He finally asked.
“Don’t have one.” Sasuke motioned for him to follow him into his bedroom.
The older man raised an eyebrow. Was there any particular need for such a blatant lie? But he followed nonetheless. There was nothing else he could do here anyway.
By the time Naruto entered the room, Sasuke was lying down on his bed. He was staring at the ceiling, as if he could see something through it. Naruto followed his gaze and brought his eyes back to the boy. What was he doing?
“I know what you want, you know.” Sasuke finally spoke.
“What?” He took a step back. He wasn’t entirely sure what direction this situation was taking. Was Sasuke feeling ill again? Had he been drinking in the morning again?
“I know why you keep chasing after me.”
“Chasing… after you?” Naruto moved to leave the room. It didn’t matter if he had an umbrella on not, he was going to leave this place. There was something wrong with Sasuke now.
But before he could leave the room, Sasuke sat up on the bed, “Was I wrong? I know I’m not.” He moved to sit up from the bed and slowly edged towards Naruto, “So, tell me, was I wrong?” There was a dangerous glint in his eyes. It made Naruto feel scared.
Sasuke pointed towards Naruto, and the older man noticed the two pieces of paper he was holding in those hands, “Tell me, was I wrong?”
“No…” Naruto didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t even sure what Sasuke was talking about. But the boy seemed to calm down after hearing those words.
He started smirking. The smirks soon turned to small chuckles and then loud laughter. He fell down to the ground, clutching his stomach and laughing, “Of course I wasn’t wrong! How could I have been? I’m always right!”
“Sasuke!” Naruto rushed forward to try and hold the boy.
He didn’t know what to do; it was at times like this that he wished Sakura was with him.
He held the boy in his arms and tried to restrain him, but he didn’t need to for long. Soon, Sasuke stopped moving. He gently placed his head on Naruto’s shoulders. The older man felt his soft breathing and placed a hand on his head, gently ruffling his hair. He wanted Sasuke to know that he wasn’t alone, that there were people who would help him.
“It’s okay.” He softly whispered.
“Is it?” asked Sasuke as he slowly moved his mouth along Naruto shoulders, quickly unfastening the man’s jacket, “That thing gets in the way.”
Before he could think, Naruto found himself lying on the floor with Sasuke above him. He tried to stifle a moan as the brunette worked his way up Naruto’s collarbone, leaving wet kisses everywhere. He stopped when he reached the man’s lips.
He traced a finger over Naruto’s lips, parting them slightly before he leaned down and placed his lips on the man’s. He left them there for a moment before moving his tongue out of his mouth. He started to trace the man’s lips. His eyes were closed, and one of his hands firmly held on to Naruto’s.
Naruto felt as if he was in a trance. He hadn’t been able to react with how fast Sasuke had moved. What was he doing? Is this what he thought Naruto was trying to help him for? He wrestled his arm free from Sasuke’s grip. That grip was tight, but he was stronger. He pushed the boy away from him as hard as he could, “You! What the hell are you…?”
He stopped as he saw Sasuke giving him a confused look. It said ‘isn’t this what you wanted?’
Naruto slowly got up, grabbed his jacket and ran out. There were a million thoughts running through his head, and he wasn’t sure what to think anymore.
All he knew was that Sasuke had it all very, very wrong.
“Naruto-niichan?” Konohamaru dropped the ball he was holding as Naruto ran in through the door. He didn’t say a word to anyone, he simply went up the stairs and straight into the shower. He needed to clear his head. Had he done something to Sasuke to give him such an absurd impression?
That… and he hit himself on the head. There was no reason to run away like that. He should have dealt with the situation more maturely, not like he was ten. He wasn’t sure where his relationship with Sasuke stood right then, all he knew was that he wasn’t going to see the boy anytime soon. And he prayed that Sasuke gave him the same space.
Over the next few days Naruto acted as if nothing happened. And why shouldn’t he? He hadn’t had to see Sasuke since then. All that had been nothing but a bad dream. He didn’t want to be involved in that boy’s life anymore. He had no idea what was going in his head, and he was beginning to think that the boy needed psychological help. His head turned back to Orochimaru, and for a brief moment Naruto wondered if he might have turned out weird too if he had to live in the same place as that strange man.
People had asked of course, Konohomaru being the most relentless in asking every day. He wanted to hear more strange stories, he loved Sasuke’s stories. Why wasn’t he coming anymore? Why wasn’t he picking up the phone anymore?
Naruto wanted to know the answers to those questions himself, but a part of him felt that he and Konohamaru might actually be better off without that boy in their lives.
If only he could convince the part of him that wanted to hit Sasuke over the head and make him act like a decent kid that, his life might be a lot easier.
Sakura had asked as well, but she had seemed preoccupied lately. Naruto had seen her more than once with the brunette girl who lived next to Sasuke just talking a walk outside the shop, and that girl often came inside to talk with Sakura.
‘It’s like she’s taken Sasuke’s place.’ Naruto thought bitterly.
But he smiled at her nonetheless, “And what will you have today Hinata-chan?” She seemed slightly gloomy to him, but she tried to smile back, “I…”
“This!” said Sakura as she reappeared behind the curtains, a glass of something startling pink in her hands.
Hinata gave her a small smile. Naruto was worried about the girl, who knew what might have been in that concoction, was it even safe to drink?
He was about to ask that, but Sakura got to him first and glared at him. He shrank back and smiled, “Haha, I didn’t say anything Sakura-chan.”
Naruto smiled. It was easy, smiling. It was something he had learnt to do a long time ago. People didn’t bother him when he smiled, they couldn’t bully him if he smiled, they wouldn’t know that they’d hurt him if he smiled. So Naruto smiled.
And all the while, at the back of his mind he thought about Uchiha Sasuke. How was he? Was he doing fine? Was he still going to Konoha U? He had started going pretty regularly once Naruto had forced him to, but what about now? Was he drinking like a mad person again?
Had Orochimaru hurt him at all? He felt his fists clench tightly next to him. No, he wouldn’t see that boy. He needed to be away from him. Sasuke had gotten a completely wrong idea of what sort of a relationship they had. And there was no ay Naruto would indulge him any further.
A soft knocking at her door drew her attention. She had been busy riffling through her lecture notes, preparing for the next class. She had spent the entire morning taking care of Konohamaru - making him breakfast and dropping him off at school all because Naruto had been acting like a turtle with his head inside his shell.
She missed her own comfy apartment, and whatever it was that had made Naruto this depressed, she prayed that it ended soon.
The person at the door was Hinata. She peered in from the edge of the door slightly, two pieces of paper in her hand. Sakura smiled back. Sure her lecture was important, but this was even more important.
If this was what she thought it was, it might be a breakthrough in psychology. The ability to foretell the future by using two pieces of paper. It was ingenious really, and whoever had thought it up deserved accolades beyond what they were aware of.
“You’ll show me again today?” She softly asked as she gathered her lecture notes in her hand,
Hinata nodded, “It’s that time again. It’s coming soon, and I want… I want someone to help him.”
Sakura was perceptive. But Hinata had this unique ability of being able to elude even her. Who was she talking about? Sasuke? Neji? Or this person called Itachi? Sakura had never been able to tell. Hinata had always been vague about those three, and it was almost impossible to tell who she was talking about unless she specified his name.
Sakura looked at those chits of papers again. She had seen them in action before. Four times out of five Hinata had been able to give accurate answers based on what she was asked. She knew things about Sakura that no one other than someone who had grown up with her should know.
“But Sasuke’s stronger than me.” She had said, “He’s been using it for so long that it has become a part of him. He doesn’t always need to use the papers anymore.”
“But I’ve seen him carry them.”
”I think… he wants to be near to them so that if anything goes wrong, he can re-confirm.”
Sakura didn’t entirely believe that someone could be able to tell the future, but the proof she saw before her eyes made her question everything she had been brought up with. But for Sakura, this had more to do with hard science than spirituality. What if there was some way a part in our minds knew everything about the future? And not just our own, but everyone else’s too? Like the Collective Unconsciousness!
She had grown excited at that prospect, but Hinata was another story. She claimed to have seen things. Figures - ethereal, moving around. Hinata had explained that only those involved with the ‘incident’ could see them. But she hadn’t specified what that incident was. And Sakura didn’t dare push her beyond a point.
“So I’ll see you at Ichiraku today?” Sakura had smiled at her.
She had simply nodded, the two pieces of paper wedged tightly in her hands. She wondered if she should tell Sakura. Tell her of the strange figure in a green spandex suit that seemed to follow her almost everywhere she went. But she had decided against it.
He seemed friendly. Once when Hinata had asked, he had said that his name was Lee.
Naruto dropped the towel he was carrying on his shoulder on top of the counter in front of him, “Why did we close shop?” He smiled.
Sakura smiled right back, “You’re going to want to watch this, trust me.”
Hinata sat on a chair in front of them, the two pieces of paper still in her hands.
“Those are the things Sasu…” Naruto started and looked at Sakura, “What’s this about?”
“Sasuke. You don’t know yet.” Hinata softly whispered.
“What was that? Speak up.” Naruto leant in closer to her, but she flinched and moved back, nearly toppling over her chair.
“Naruto, you idiot!” said Sakura as she grabbed Hinata’s hands, balancing her back on to the chair, “You remember those pieces of paper Sasuke-kun always seems to carry? You won’t believe what he uses them for.”
”Uh huh” Sakura seemed too energetic to Naruto, and he wondered whether something had happened. What were those pieces of papers anyway?
“Should I explain?” asked Hinata, looking briefly at Sakura before looking back at the table in front of her.
“Yes, I don’t think Naruto here knows anything.”
Naruto looked at both the girls, and then back at the paper, “Ah…”
Hinata smiled before she started, “These are two pieces of papers cut to equal sizes so you can’t tell the difference between the two.” She showed them the papers. Each was cut and folded in exactly the same way, “There are words written inside.” She opened the chits of paper, one had a ‘yes’ written on it and another had a ‘no’.
“The words don’t always have to be these. You can write things like names or places on it to.”
“So… you just pick one you want?” Naruto started to think whether this was why Sasuke was convinced that Naruto had wanted him for… He shook his head. That was just too absurd.
“It gets better.” Said Sakura, “Show him how it works.”
Hinata nodded, “After you’ve cut the paper and written the words into it, the next thing you need to do is charge the papers. It takes a small amount of chakra but…”
”Wait.” Naruto interrupted her, “Chakra?”
Hinata looked at Sakura for an answer, “Small amount of energy that can be derived from various things. Its part of what I’m studying, how the flow of energy in the body changes during different times over reactions to certain things. You can think of it, like water - ice, still water in a pond, fast moving rapids… you get the picture?”
The look Naruto gave her made her certain that he had understood nothing, “Ah… so chakra refers to energy changes in a body.” She finished.
“Ah!” Naruto brightened up, “Like how I feel sleepy when I wake up in the morning but fine after a bowl of ramen?” He grinned at her, “I get it.”
‘That’s the closest he’s going to get to understanding this.’ Sakura thought as she turned to Hinata, and smiled at her to let her know that she could continue.
Hinata nodded back and looked at the chits, “Once you’ve done that, you need to check for the piece of paper with a higher concentration of the chakra. It usually gives right answers that way.”
“Usually?” Naruto asked.
“If you use it too much, then… it starts giving strange answers. I’m not sure why.” Hinata turned to Sakura, “Now?” She asked.
Sakura nodded, “So Naruto, she’ll answer three things about you. ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ questions. You ask.”
“Eh?” Naruto felt completely confused, but he decided to play along with the game nonetheless, “My favorite food is gyoza.”
He watched as Hinata fuddled with the pieces of paper. She finally picked one and opened it in front of Naruto, it read ‘no’.
Naruto jumped back slightly, “That isn’t… A fluke.” He steadied himself, “You’d already heard me talking about ramen before so… Okay, here goes another one! I returned to Konoha to look after the shop.” The answer had to be a ‘yes’ because he was sure that that was what Hinata thought.
The girl picked a piece of paper after going through her ritualistic charging of the papers, it read ‘no’ once again.
‘Another fluke?’ There was no way Hinata could have known that. Besides, there were two pieces of paper, so there was always a fifty percent chance that she would get the answer right. This didn’t mean anything. But is this what Sasuke was doing all the time?
“I know more…” said Hinata, turning a soft shade of pink, “I… looked things up a little. On both of you.”
“What?”
“Hear her out Naruto.” Sakura looked like she was in deep thought.
“There was a girl, you left because you wanted to be with her. You have no family here, and you came here to attend Konoha U - but you never finished graduation. You left before that. Something happened with that girl and you came back to forget about her. You couldn’t go back home so you decided to stay here.” Hinata never once looked at either of the figures in the room while she said all of this.
Naruto looked at her, “Did Sakura tell you all that?”
“Ow!” A slap on his back made him look at Sakura, “Do you think I’d tell anyone those things?”
He shook his head meekly, “But then how did she know?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” Sakura said as she looked at Hinata again, “Anyone can use those?”
“I think so… But I don’t know. I’ve ever only see the four of us use it.” She looked up at her watch, “I need to go now, is that alright?” She asked.
“Yeah…” Naruto was staring at those pieces of paper. He was going to try it. Chakra manipulation, whatever it was - he would try it! And he would do it.
“Ah Hinata-chan!” He called out after her as she left, “About Sasuke…”
She stopped and turned to him before bowing slightly, “It’s almost that time, so if he has done anything…”
“No, I mean. He said he knew what I wanted. But I never saw him using the papers like you.”
“He doesn’t need to.” Said Hinata, “If you use them long enough, you don’t need to use them anymore. Only Sasuke and his brother have gone that far yet though.”
“I’ve never met his brother.” Said Naruto. How could it be that he had gone to that house a few times and never met or even seen any trace of that person there?
“He doesn’t live there anymore.” Hinata finished before she turned around, “I’ll come back sometime soon.” She gave Sakura one last smile and with that, she was gone.
Author: healielle
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Uchiha Sasuke X Uzumaki Naruto
Theme: Zeta#10: artifact
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and his affiliates.
Summary: Because there was a way he could tell the future.
Warnings: AU
Rating: Older Teens
Naruto sighed as he looked at the rain dripping down the windowpane in front of him. There was no way he would be able to go home anytime soon. He wondered if Konohamaru was alright. He knew Sakura wouldn’t leave the boy alone… but the simple thought of what she might do to him after all this was over made him shiver.
“Usuratonkachi.”
Naruto whipped his head around, a small wrinkle was visible on his forehead, “You really shouldn’t be talking to your elders like that.”
Sasuke smirked and motioned to the glass he was holding in his hand, “Breakfast?”
Naruto wasn’t sure if that was safe. Not with Orochimaru around. He wasn’t sure what he would do to that man the next time he saw him. He hated people like that. He had always considered them to be incompetent idiots who barely knew how to raise kids. At least that’s what it had been like for him.
“He’s gone.” Said Sasuke as he walked out of the room, kicking his futon away in the process.
Naruto felt slightly exasperated after seeing that, it wouldn’t hurt Sasuke to clean up after himself once in a while. The man followed Sasuke out of the room nonetheless, but he made a mental note to clean up the room before he left the apartment.
Naruto poked at the food in front of him. There was nothing wrong with the food, he had made it himself and he was a hundred percent sure of his cooking abilities. He was going to open the best restaurant in Konoha after all! He was going to be the best chef!
No, that wasn’t what bothered him, “Sasuke… Are you…” he started to say.
Sasuke didn’t answer him, he gave the man a look showing he was curious.
“Are you usually alone like this?”
Sasuke looked away from Naruto and sighed, “That depends on how you look at it. Eat up.”
‘That went well. Or rather not at all.’ Naruto sometimes wondered why he took such a special interest in Sasuke’s life. Of course there was the part where he had saved his life, but was that really everything? There was something about this boy that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
But a part of Naruto knew the answer, ‘I was like that once.’
“Are you done?” Naruto snapped out of his dream, “Uh… yeah?” he pushed the plate away from him. His appetite was gone.
There was an uncomfortable silence in the room. It seeped through the air, making the feel of the place seem foul. Naruto was unsure of himself once again. What was he doing here? What had he been doing here last night? What did he want? What did Sasuke think he wanted?
“Can I borrow an umbrella?” He finally asked.
“Don’t have one.” Sasuke motioned for him to follow him into his bedroom.
The older man raised an eyebrow. Was there any particular need for such a blatant lie? But he followed nonetheless. There was nothing else he could do here anyway.
By the time Naruto entered the room, Sasuke was lying down on his bed. He was staring at the ceiling, as if he could see something through it. Naruto followed his gaze and brought his eyes back to the boy. What was he doing?
“I know what you want, you know.” Sasuke finally spoke.
“What?” He took a step back. He wasn’t entirely sure what direction this situation was taking. Was Sasuke feeling ill again? Had he been drinking in the morning again?
“I know why you keep chasing after me.”
“Chasing… after you?” Naruto moved to leave the room. It didn’t matter if he had an umbrella on not, he was going to leave this place. There was something wrong with Sasuke now.
But before he could leave the room, Sasuke sat up on the bed, “Was I wrong? I know I’m not.” He moved to sit up from the bed and slowly edged towards Naruto, “So, tell me, was I wrong?” There was a dangerous glint in his eyes. It made Naruto feel scared.
Sasuke pointed towards Naruto, and the older man noticed the two pieces of paper he was holding in those hands, “Tell me, was I wrong?”
“No…” Naruto didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t even sure what Sasuke was talking about. But the boy seemed to calm down after hearing those words.
He started smirking. The smirks soon turned to small chuckles and then loud laughter. He fell down to the ground, clutching his stomach and laughing, “Of course I wasn’t wrong! How could I have been? I’m always right!”
“Sasuke!” Naruto rushed forward to try and hold the boy.
He didn’t know what to do; it was at times like this that he wished Sakura was with him.
He held the boy in his arms and tried to restrain him, but he didn’t need to for long. Soon, Sasuke stopped moving. He gently placed his head on Naruto’s shoulders. The older man felt his soft breathing and placed a hand on his head, gently ruffling his hair. He wanted Sasuke to know that he wasn’t alone, that there were people who would help him.
“It’s okay.” He softly whispered.
“Is it?” asked Sasuke as he slowly moved his mouth along Naruto shoulders, quickly unfastening the man’s jacket, “That thing gets in the way.”
Before he could think, Naruto found himself lying on the floor with Sasuke above him. He tried to stifle a moan as the brunette worked his way up Naruto’s collarbone, leaving wet kisses everywhere. He stopped when he reached the man’s lips.
He traced a finger over Naruto’s lips, parting them slightly before he leaned down and placed his lips on the man’s. He left them there for a moment before moving his tongue out of his mouth. He started to trace the man’s lips. His eyes were closed, and one of his hands firmly held on to Naruto’s.
Naruto felt as if he was in a trance. He hadn’t been able to react with how fast Sasuke had moved. What was he doing? Is this what he thought Naruto was trying to help him for? He wrestled his arm free from Sasuke’s grip. That grip was tight, but he was stronger. He pushed the boy away from him as hard as he could, “You! What the hell are you…?”
He stopped as he saw Sasuke giving him a confused look. It said ‘isn’t this what you wanted?’
Naruto slowly got up, grabbed his jacket and ran out. There were a million thoughts running through his head, and he wasn’t sure what to think anymore.
All he knew was that Sasuke had it all very, very wrong.
“Naruto-niichan?” Konohamaru dropped the ball he was holding as Naruto ran in through the door. He didn’t say a word to anyone, he simply went up the stairs and straight into the shower. He needed to clear his head. Had he done something to Sasuke to give him such an absurd impression?
That… and he hit himself on the head. There was no reason to run away like that. He should have dealt with the situation more maturely, not like he was ten. He wasn’t sure where his relationship with Sasuke stood right then, all he knew was that he wasn’t going to see the boy anytime soon. And he prayed that Sasuke gave him the same space.
Over the next few days Naruto acted as if nothing happened. And why shouldn’t he? He hadn’t had to see Sasuke since then. All that had been nothing but a bad dream. He didn’t want to be involved in that boy’s life anymore. He had no idea what was going in his head, and he was beginning to think that the boy needed psychological help. His head turned back to Orochimaru, and for a brief moment Naruto wondered if he might have turned out weird too if he had to live in the same place as that strange man.
People had asked of course, Konohomaru being the most relentless in asking every day. He wanted to hear more strange stories, he loved Sasuke’s stories. Why wasn’t he coming anymore? Why wasn’t he picking up the phone anymore?
Naruto wanted to know the answers to those questions himself, but a part of him felt that he and Konohamaru might actually be better off without that boy in their lives.
If only he could convince the part of him that wanted to hit Sasuke over the head and make him act like a decent kid that, his life might be a lot easier.
Sakura had asked as well, but she had seemed preoccupied lately. Naruto had seen her more than once with the brunette girl who lived next to Sasuke just talking a walk outside the shop, and that girl often came inside to talk with Sakura.
‘It’s like she’s taken Sasuke’s place.’ Naruto thought bitterly.
But he smiled at her nonetheless, “And what will you have today Hinata-chan?” She seemed slightly gloomy to him, but she tried to smile back, “I…”
“This!” said Sakura as she reappeared behind the curtains, a glass of something startling pink in her hands.
Hinata gave her a small smile. Naruto was worried about the girl, who knew what might have been in that concoction, was it even safe to drink?
He was about to ask that, but Sakura got to him first and glared at him. He shrank back and smiled, “Haha, I didn’t say anything Sakura-chan.”
Naruto smiled. It was easy, smiling. It was something he had learnt to do a long time ago. People didn’t bother him when he smiled, they couldn’t bully him if he smiled, they wouldn’t know that they’d hurt him if he smiled. So Naruto smiled.
And all the while, at the back of his mind he thought about Uchiha Sasuke. How was he? Was he doing fine? Was he still going to Konoha U? He had started going pretty regularly once Naruto had forced him to, but what about now? Was he drinking like a mad person again?
Had Orochimaru hurt him at all? He felt his fists clench tightly next to him. No, he wouldn’t see that boy. He needed to be away from him. Sasuke had gotten a completely wrong idea of what sort of a relationship they had. And there was no ay Naruto would indulge him any further.
A soft knocking at her door drew her attention. She had been busy riffling through her lecture notes, preparing for the next class. She had spent the entire morning taking care of Konohamaru - making him breakfast and dropping him off at school all because Naruto had been acting like a turtle with his head inside his shell.
She missed her own comfy apartment, and whatever it was that had made Naruto this depressed, she prayed that it ended soon.
The person at the door was Hinata. She peered in from the edge of the door slightly, two pieces of paper in her hand. Sakura smiled back. Sure her lecture was important, but this was even more important.
If this was what she thought it was, it might be a breakthrough in psychology. The ability to foretell the future by using two pieces of paper. It was ingenious really, and whoever had thought it up deserved accolades beyond what they were aware of.
“You’ll show me again today?” She softly asked as she gathered her lecture notes in her hand,
Hinata nodded, “It’s that time again. It’s coming soon, and I want… I want someone to help him.”
Sakura was perceptive. But Hinata had this unique ability of being able to elude even her. Who was she talking about? Sasuke? Neji? Or this person called Itachi? Sakura had never been able to tell. Hinata had always been vague about those three, and it was almost impossible to tell who she was talking about unless she specified his name.
Sakura looked at those chits of papers again. She had seen them in action before. Four times out of five Hinata had been able to give accurate answers based on what she was asked. She knew things about Sakura that no one other than someone who had grown up with her should know.
“But Sasuke’s stronger than me.” She had said, “He’s been using it for so long that it has become a part of him. He doesn’t always need to use the papers anymore.”
“But I’ve seen him carry them.”
”I think… he wants to be near to them so that if anything goes wrong, he can re-confirm.”
Sakura didn’t entirely believe that someone could be able to tell the future, but the proof she saw before her eyes made her question everything she had been brought up with. But for Sakura, this had more to do with hard science than spirituality. What if there was some way a part in our minds knew everything about the future? And not just our own, but everyone else’s too? Like the Collective Unconsciousness!
She had grown excited at that prospect, but Hinata was another story. She claimed to have seen things. Figures - ethereal, moving around. Hinata had explained that only those involved with the ‘incident’ could see them. But she hadn’t specified what that incident was. And Sakura didn’t dare push her beyond a point.
“So I’ll see you at Ichiraku today?” Sakura had smiled at her.
She had simply nodded, the two pieces of paper wedged tightly in her hands. She wondered if she should tell Sakura. Tell her of the strange figure in a green spandex suit that seemed to follow her almost everywhere she went. But she had decided against it.
He seemed friendly. Once when Hinata had asked, he had said that his name was Lee.
Naruto dropped the towel he was carrying on his shoulder on top of the counter in front of him, “Why did we close shop?” He smiled.
Sakura smiled right back, “You’re going to want to watch this, trust me.”
Hinata sat on a chair in front of them, the two pieces of paper still in her hands.
“Those are the things Sasu…” Naruto started and looked at Sakura, “What’s this about?”
“Sasuke. You don’t know yet.” Hinata softly whispered.
“What was that? Speak up.” Naruto leant in closer to her, but she flinched and moved back, nearly toppling over her chair.
“Naruto, you idiot!” said Sakura as she grabbed Hinata’s hands, balancing her back on to the chair, “You remember those pieces of paper Sasuke-kun always seems to carry? You won’t believe what he uses them for.”
”Uh huh” Sakura seemed too energetic to Naruto, and he wondered whether something had happened. What were those pieces of papers anyway?
“Should I explain?” asked Hinata, looking briefly at Sakura before looking back at the table in front of her.
“Yes, I don’t think Naruto here knows anything.”
Naruto looked at both the girls, and then back at the paper, “Ah…”
Hinata smiled before she started, “These are two pieces of papers cut to equal sizes so you can’t tell the difference between the two.” She showed them the papers. Each was cut and folded in exactly the same way, “There are words written inside.” She opened the chits of paper, one had a ‘yes’ written on it and another had a ‘no’.
“The words don’t always have to be these. You can write things like names or places on it to.”
“So… you just pick one you want?” Naruto started to think whether this was why Sasuke was convinced that Naruto had wanted him for… He shook his head. That was just too absurd.
“It gets better.” Said Sakura, “Show him how it works.”
Hinata nodded, “After you’ve cut the paper and written the words into it, the next thing you need to do is charge the papers. It takes a small amount of chakra but…”
”Wait.” Naruto interrupted her, “Chakra?”
Hinata looked at Sakura for an answer, “Small amount of energy that can be derived from various things. Its part of what I’m studying, how the flow of energy in the body changes during different times over reactions to certain things. You can think of it, like water - ice, still water in a pond, fast moving rapids… you get the picture?”
The look Naruto gave her made her certain that he had understood nothing, “Ah… so chakra refers to energy changes in a body.” She finished.
“Ah!” Naruto brightened up, “Like how I feel sleepy when I wake up in the morning but fine after a bowl of ramen?” He grinned at her, “I get it.”
‘That’s the closest he’s going to get to understanding this.’ Sakura thought as she turned to Hinata, and smiled at her to let her know that she could continue.
Hinata nodded back and looked at the chits, “Once you’ve done that, you need to check for the piece of paper with a higher concentration of the chakra. It usually gives right answers that way.”
“Usually?” Naruto asked.
“If you use it too much, then… it starts giving strange answers. I’m not sure why.” Hinata turned to Sakura, “Now?” She asked.
Sakura nodded, “So Naruto, she’ll answer three things about you. ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ questions. You ask.”
“Eh?” Naruto felt completely confused, but he decided to play along with the game nonetheless, “My favorite food is gyoza.”
He watched as Hinata fuddled with the pieces of paper. She finally picked one and opened it in front of Naruto, it read ‘no’.
Naruto jumped back slightly, “That isn’t… A fluke.” He steadied himself, “You’d already heard me talking about ramen before so… Okay, here goes another one! I returned to Konoha to look after the shop.” The answer had to be a ‘yes’ because he was sure that that was what Hinata thought.
The girl picked a piece of paper after going through her ritualistic charging of the papers, it read ‘no’ once again.
‘Another fluke?’ There was no way Hinata could have known that. Besides, there were two pieces of paper, so there was always a fifty percent chance that she would get the answer right. This didn’t mean anything. But is this what Sasuke was doing all the time?
“I know more…” said Hinata, turning a soft shade of pink, “I… looked things up a little. On both of you.”
“What?”
“Hear her out Naruto.” Sakura looked like she was in deep thought.
“There was a girl, you left because you wanted to be with her. You have no family here, and you came here to attend Konoha U - but you never finished graduation. You left before that. Something happened with that girl and you came back to forget about her. You couldn’t go back home so you decided to stay here.” Hinata never once looked at either of the figures in the room while she said all of this.
Naruto looked at her, “Did Sakura tell you all that?”
“Ow!” A slap on his back made him look at Sakura, “Do you think I’d tell anyone those things?”
He shook his head meekly, “But then how did she know?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” Sakura said as she looked at Hinata again, “Anyone can use those?”
“I think so… But I don’t know. I’ve ever only see the four of us use it.” She looked up at her watch, “I need to go now, is that alright?” She asked.
“Yeah…” Naruto was staring at those pieces of paper. He was going to try it. Chakra manipulation, whatever it was - he would try it! And he would do it.
“Ah Hinata-chan!” He called out after her as she left, “About Sasuke…”
She stopped and turned to him before bowing slightly, “It’s almost that time, so if he has done anything…”
“No, I mean. He said he knew what I wanted. But I never saw him using the papers like you.”
“He doesn’t need to.” Said Hinata, “If you use them long enough, you don’t need to use them anymore. Only Sasuke and his brother have gone that far yet though.”
“I’ve never met his brother.” Said Naruto. How could it be that he had gone to that house a few times and never met or even seen any trace of that person there?
“He doesn’t live there anymore.” Hinata finished before she turned around, “I’ll come back sometime soon.” She gave Sakura one last smile and with that, she was gone.