Apart Chapter 6: The Morning

A scream, a gasp, and Hinata was awake, sitting up in bed. Small beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, and into her eyes. Or were they tears? The sheets were cold and wet with her sweat, and she felt as though she was burning up from the inside out. And that dream. The dream was...

"Damn vivid," she muttered, breathing heavily. She was surprised she actually said it aloud. Hinata doesn't talk like that, she thought, a bit confused. It was hard to think over her panting, her gasping. And for a second, she felt there was something inside her, something distinctly not Hinata.

Something angry.

It was a gone a second later, and she was left alone, alone inside herself. She was just Hinata, just shy, scared, weirded-out, uncomfortable Hinata sitting alone in her wet nightgown and her sweaty covers in her drafty apartment. She closed her eyes and ran her hands through her hair, sighing, sorting her thoughts. She tried to remember the dream, and instantly tried to forget.

She had been in a forest, running, running for her life it seemed. Something was behind her, something immensely powerful. She dared not look over her shoulder, dared not see how close it was. There was malice in the energy that seemed to try to wrap itself around her as she ran ahead of it. And it was growing distinctly closer every second. She was not outrunning it; it was much faster than her. In her peripheral vision, she could see the forest beginning to corrode around her, melting and decaying in the flame-like energy of the… the THING that chased her. Soon, she knew, she would have to turn and face it, like a real warrior, a real ninja. And so, she grit her teeth and spun, running backwards to attack and move at the same time…

Whatever was behind Hinata had already made its move. As she spun to face it, it was in the air, and a millisecond later, it dove inside her chest. She was knocked to the ground, landing hard on her back. Blood flew from her mouth as she coughed, the wind knocked from her lungs. The thing hadn’t pierced her, but was inside, and seemed to wrap itself around her heart, growing stronger every minute it remained deep inside her.

NO! she screamed, but try as she might, Hinata could force no sound to her lips. She was surrounded in the flames, yet they did not touch her. And ahead, another figure stood wrapped inside, yet unconsumed, by the fiery energy. Who was that? Too distant, too far away, too much…

And then she had awoken.

Hinata found that even recalling the dream was painful, and again wished she hadn’t tried. She was uncomfortable in the bed, the sweat-soaked clothes, and decided that it was time to get up. She pushed the covers away, stood up, and let the nightgown fall to her feet. The cool breeze from her broken window felt nice against her skin, cooling, calming.

It was just a dream anyway, she thought, just random images firing in my brain. Nothing to worry about. She sighed, ran her fingers through her slightly damp hair, and walked to her bathroom. In a matter of minutes, the steam was rising from the hot water that filled her bathtub. With the extra amount of time from waking up early, Hinata figured that a relaxing bath would do her good. She slipped off her remaining clothes, and slid into the hot water, sighing as the warm water pressed in around her body. It was painfully hot at first, but even then it was relaxing, and soon, she had grown accustomed to the temperature of the water.

Hinata was very tempted to just lay in the bath, and look up at Naruto, just think about him, and about their day yesterday, but knew that it would be dawn in only a matter of hours, and the last time she had slipped into a bath and thought about Naruto-kun, she had been four hours late to practice.

Daydreaming, fantasizing, just contemplating Naruto makes the time fly, Hinata thought, and resisted the urge to watch him sleep. Maybe just little peeks, from time to time, she thought, giggling quietly to herself.

She picked up the soap and began to scrub her body clean, letting the water from the bath rinse her skin. She ducked under a few times after cleaning her hair, and held her breath, watching her hair just float around her. It always amazed her how much hair she really had, and how cool it looked underwater…

Like anime hair, she thought, and smiled.

Quite suddenly, the smile vanished from her face, as another presence filled the small apartment’s bathroom. She quickly splashed to the surface and stood, sending water over the edge and onto her floor. Water dripped down her naked body, and her wet hair clung to her skin. Whatever she had felt under the water had been a primal power, almost animal, but had disappeared as she broke the surface, for there was nothing but a naked eighteen year-old young woman and a bathtub full of water in the bathroom.

Hinata glanced around, and slowly sunk back into the water, her heart pounding. “That was weird,” she mumbled aloud. She desperately searched for the relaxing effects of the warm bath, desperately prayed they would return and calm her body, untense her muscles and let her rest again. But no such relief returned, only a slight twanging pain in her chest, her heart. She whined softly and finally surrendered, getting up out of the bathtub, slower this time, and grabbing the towel on the rack next to her. She slowly dried her body off, and wrapped the towel around her, reaching for another towel to dry her long hair. Finally dry, and clothed in a towel, she stepped out of her bathroom and began preparing for the day.

Hoodie hoodie hoodie, she thought, looking around for the beloved sweatshirt, where are you? She felt a tingle of edginess remain inside her as she glanced around the small apartment, and bent over to pick up the sweatshirt that rested near her futon.

“Oh, then I guess you’re awake.”

Hinata spun, instantly clutching the kunai she also kept next to her futon, and sending it sailing through the air toward the source of the growling, slightly rough voice…

Kiba moved his head to the left and the throwing dagger nicked his ear as it flew into the wall.

“Kiba!” she yelled, breathing both a sigh of relief and feeling a tiny jolt of fear run through her blood. She clutched the securely tied towel and held it tight, in case the gravity in the room increased and it fell. “What—I’m—How—I’M IN A TOWEL!”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” he said. It was a friendly sound, the way he spoke was kind and familiar. But his face didn’t match up with the kind tone his voice had presented. It was cold as stone, and his eyes were not open and glowing and full of fun and excitement. They were full of… what was it? Hinata tried to focus on what she felt when she looked into his eyes. What was it?

Kiba turned around. With his back to her, his arms folded, he said, “I was just wondering if you were up yet. It’s almost dawn, and you were late yesterday…”

Hinata was never too shy around Kiba or Shino, except when she was bathing. She turned a light shade of red, and felt like getting angry and embarrassed. But something in his eyes had made her… afraid? I’m never afraid around Kiba, she thought, I’ve always felt safe with him…

“How… H-how’d you get in here?” she said, trying to demand to know but lacking the courage in the stone-cold presence of her old friend.

His back still to her, Kiba jerked a thumb to her shattered and open window. “I let myself in,” he said, with a small, empty chuckle. Quite suddenly, he turned around. “It’s not like we’ve never bathed together before,” he stated, “on missions and the like. Don’t be so shy, Hinata.”

There was an awkward silence as Hinata, her eyes full of embarrassment and a dash of fear, stared into the doglike eyes of her best friend, Kiba, whose eyes were full of… full of…

Again he turned away, this time heading for the window. “See you at dawn,” he said, waving lazily to her as he disappeared from sight.

Hinata only stood there, wrapped in a towel, blushing like a fool.

Betrayal…

His eyes were full of betrayal…

“Wanna race me and Akamaru for training today?”

“I’m going for lunch.”

But she had gone and spent the day with Naruto…

The words rang in her ears as she just stared out the window he had vanished from, the black night sky slowly turning navy blue as the sun prepared to rise.

“I did NOT betray him,” she said angrily to herself. “I did NOT betray him! I didn’t deserve those eyes!”

Hinata seethed for a moment before forcing herself to calm down. She wasn’t going to be guilt-tripped like that. She quickly donned her old and clean hoodie, packing the new one in her backpack. I’ll wash it on the trip, she thought, as she packed for her mission. It was easier to not think about Kiba when she was forcing herself to do busywork, but all too soon, it was over, the pack was set, and Hinata was sitting down to breakfast. Anger seemed to rage up from inside like a volcano. Once she gave Kiba and his eyes a second thought, it came from nowhere, without warning. And it scared her.

This isn’t like me, thought Hinata, slightly afraid of herself. I don’t get angry like this, especially not with Kiba. He’s too important to me, isn’t he? Isn’t he like a brother to me?

He wants more, she countered angrily. He wants me to be his lover, so he can act out his fantasies on me!

I don’t think it’s like that.

No, it’s like that. First off, Kiba is a man, making him little more than an animal that thinks about mating almost all the time. And second, Kiba practically IS an animal! So sex is constantly on his mind!

Hinata growled audibly, and again surprised herself. It was as if there was another Hinata inside her head, one that was angry and selfish and base. She had never thought about Kiba’s intentions in such a negative way, probably because thinking about the carnal desires of the man brought images into her head that made her blush.

I’m just angry, Hinata thought. I’m up early, and I’m a little cranky. That’s all…

She shouldered her pack, sheathed her ANBU blade, and headed out the door.

“Oh my gosh!” she said, as she remembered that she had completely forgotten about Naruto! A quick glance with the byakugan told her that, true to his form, Naruto was still asleep.

I should go get him up, she thought, blushing. I can do that, right? Just knock, say ‘Naruto-kun? It’s time to wake up, we have to go on that mission…’

With a rosy tint in her cheeks and a small, slightly nervous smile on her face, Hinata dropped her backpack in front of her door and headed up the stairs to his floor, rehearsing what she would say to him when he groggily opened the door.

Hinata rounded the corner and saw her just in time to get out of sight.

Sakura-san?

The pink-haired girl knocked on Naruto’s door, laughing to herself.

“Naruto, Naruto, Naruto,” she sighed, “what do I have to do to get you up and out of bed?” She placed a hand on the doorknob and poured some chakra into it, unlocking it with a tiny click. Another second, and Sakura had disappeared into Hinata’s beloved Naruto’s room.

Silently, Hinata turned around and walked back down the stairs. She grabbed her pack and, walked out of the apartment building, her light-purple eyes fixed on her feet.

Inside her, a sliver of red chakra wrapped itself around her heart, making the rounds of her chakra circulatory system, and, much like DNA, began to replicate.