Homesick
The sky was painted with brilliant purples as it glittered down on Konoha as a young brunette was dragged down the street. Dark puffy clouds moved with speed across the sky as a faint laughter could be heard from blocks away. The two arrived at their destination and sat on the stools in the quaint ramen shop. As they waited for their food, the warmth of the kitchen cooking reddened their faces. Naruto was talking her ear off, wanting to tell her all about his journey since the academy, not wasting a single detail. Chihiro would nod politely at every twist and turn, learning quite a bit from the overly excited shinobi in front of her as a dull ache grumbled in her stomach.
As he continued to talk, she was beginning to wonder if it was a mistake coming. She agreed because it would help get her mind off things, but in a way it made it worse as she sat there in ber own world while she tried to pay attention.
"This is going to be some of the best food you'll ever have!" he exclaimed, "I'm always here between missions it's the best fuel."
"I'll take your word for it. And Naruto?"
"Yeah?"
"If you become Hokage doesn't that mean Kakashi has to retire or?" she asked, especially after Naruto just finished talking about a very detailed plot to become the village's leader.
"Hmm well I don't even know if he really wants to be Hokage... you know we had a war a few years ago right? He just stepped up. Besides, he'll retire when it's my time to shine!"
Chihiro giggled, "just waiting for you then?"
"Exactly!"
Naruto was a sweet boy- though boy was up for interpreting as she discovered he was a year older than her. She'd never met someone quite like him, certainly his behavior woukd never had been tolerated at her academy. But the way he told her of past missions, she saw a fire burning in his eyes. With more maturing, he'd make a fine leader.
Naruto's eyes shot stars as an older gentleman carried two steaming hot bowls, setting them down on the counter they sat at.
"Thanks! Might as well get another one cooking," he yelled before diving in to eat again.
Chihiro stared down at the noodles, veggies and meat feeling her stomach growl painfully. She hadn't had a full meal in a few days, just thriving off snacks when need be. Looking at the food made a nauseas ball form in her chest and rise to her throat. Seeing the liquid swirl made her eyes obsessively watch before she squeezed them tight. When she looked over, Naruto was too absorbed in his food to notice her hesitancy towards the food. Swallowing hard, she took up the chopsticks, scooped up noodles, and watched as they cooled. She blew on them one last time before bringing the ramen into her mouth. It tasted fantastic; her tastebuds doing flips from the flavor or the fact they were getting real food for once.
"Good yeah?" he spoke through slurping down his food.
"Delicious." she hummed back, "thanks for bringing me."
"Of course, you gotta experience it! You'll have to come with my girlfriend and I sometime, she's away on a mission right now." Chihiro smiled thinking about Naruto actually having a girlfriend, who she learned was Hinata.
Chihiro couldn't stomach much. After another few, small bites, primarily of the pork she was full. And feeling as if she shouldn't have eaten as much as she did. Chihiro felt a hard lump in her chest, pounding against her lungs as she took a deep breath. The smell of food invading her senses made her feel sick as her stomach grumbled in discomfort. So far she'd been in Konoha for thirteen days, six of them being awake. Days of uncertainty and fear of what her future would bring. She couldn't eat from the stress. She could barely drink water as she'd dry heave it up. It was painful, the hole in her stomach that demanded food- but when it got food brought it right back up. Chihiro realized if she slept when it was at it's worse then just maybe she'd be okay. She'd napped before her house warming party the day prior and it had worked!
The ramen was going cold in front of her and she felt terrible. Terrible about herself. And terrible about wasting food Naruto graciously bought her.
So, she forced herself to eat more.
Her body felt warm and it wasn't because of the ramen. It was like she could hear the blood beginning to pound in her ears, chest tightening at the discomfort she felt in her throat. Like her heart was going to pound right out of her and puncture her lungs. As the seconds passed breathing became more and more difficult. It was like a heavy weight was inching down upon her as her mind began to panic about the food, about Naruto, and about herself. This ramen shop made her think of food outings off campus with Kai and Hana. It reminded her of their favorite location with the kind old man who made killer sandwiches. And remembering that broke her.
"Neji!" Naruto exclaimed with noodles hanging out of his mouth, "fancy seeing you here. Want a bowl?"
"Not exactly, I could hear you yelling down the road," he grumbled, eyes landing on Chihiro- the real reason he was there. Which he felt thankful that he arrived when he did as he saw her rigid body with short and shaky breaths. He could feel her emotions from miles away.
But Chihiro hadn't even noticed his entrance of Naruto calling out his name to sit with them. She stood stagnant on the stool with her hands gripping the chopsticks, just trying to breathe.
So when a hand placed itself on her back, she flinched.
"You okay?" when she turned to the once open spot besides her, she was surprised to see a set of lavender eyes staring into hers. His face was calm, clearly trying to hide concern.
"Huh?" how long had she stared straight at her ramen unmoving? Had Naruto noticed? She quickly looked to Naruto to see him talking with the man who'd served them earlier. Her hair flipped as she looked back to Neji who never removed his hand from her upper right back.
"Wanna go?"
Chihiro nodded slowly, unable to properly gauge the situation. Even in her slowly building panic stricken state, she could feel in her gut that Neji was someone she could trust. So she let him guide her to her feet with all the gentleness in the world, a hand sturdy on her waist. It was like he could feel the pain she was in himself, feeling his own tightness at his core. Neji felt the strong need to protect, to keep her away from situations that would bring her emotions to this level. For he could feel her aura alight with fear as a storm raged around her.
"Hey Naruto, we're going to head out," Neji said coolly tearing Naruto's attention away from his food. At first the blonde shinobi seemed confused, as if he were being ditched, before he smirked.
"Ooooh," Naruto's eyes lit up with a mischievous look, "I see what's going on. Have fun!"
Neji just rolled his eyes as he kept a firm grip on Chihiro so he could get her out of public eye. He led Chihiro from the shop and out onto the street, her barely able to keep up with him as her legs struggled to move. It was night time as the sun officially set, dinner time long over as the streets were practically empty.
"N-Neji, I can't breathe." she was hardly aware of her surroundings, feeling dazed with blurry vision.
Neji dropped to his knees in front of her, "get on my back, it'll be easier to get you home."
Chihiro didn't fully understand what he meant but she obliged, stumbling up to his back, wrapping her legs around his firm waist. She closed her eyes as her head dropped against against his shoulder, doing her best to stay calm.
Neji was able to rush to her apartment with ease, with speed like no other while keeping the ride smooth for her. He needed to get there. Needed to get her calmed down as it had him on fire too. It felt like vines were clawing at his limbs as pain seared in his lungs like walls closing in.
He landed with grace on her front doorstep minutes after sweeping her away from Ichiraku's.
"We're here Chihiro," he said softly.
"Okay," she whispered as she released her grasp on him, feet coming into contact with the wood. She shoved a hand into her pocket to fish out her front door key. With shaking hands she struggled to get the key in the lock and turn it. She barely flinched as one of Neji's hands placed itself on hers to help.
Chihiro felt numb as she sauntered into her cold, dark apartment. Only the moonlight shown threw the window's sheer curtains casting beams on the ground. She fumbled against the wall to find the light and as it flicked on she sighed. Sighed because the room she desperately so wanted to see was in a whole other realm, literally out of her reach. She was greeted by the cruel reminder of her situation she so wanted to forget about.
With a faint heart she collapsed her frail body onto the faded rosewood, fabric couch. It was like she forgot about the shinobi in the doorway as she placed her head in her hands and sobbed. For the first time since arriving she let herself freely cry, not the stray tears or lamenting dry heaves begging to go home. She openly cried her heart out, eyes already red and puffy. Her whole body trembled as
Neji was frozen in place for a second before walking towards her. He felt a strange sensation of overwhelming sadness prick at his heart as he took a seat next to her on the couch.
"I want to go home," she croaked, attempting to wipe the cascade of tears from her eyes.
"I know," was all he knew how to say in return.
"I've barely eaten in days," she sobbed, "it hurts so much,"
'No wonder I've had a pit in my stomach.' Neji sighed. He didn't know how to console her as they were strangers. He couldn't assume she'd be okay with him touching her and frankly he wasn't sure if he wanted to. But there was a blaring feeling telling him to scoop her up in his arms; which he fought.
"You haven't been eating?"
"I just can't."
"It's the stress."
Her breaths became ragged, loud as she sucked air in between her cries that were making her delirious. Chihiro wouldn't let him see her face though, the embarrassment she felt from letting him see her like this was making it worse.
"It's okay," he said softly, "breathe. In and out. There you go," he rubbed small circles into her back, "In then out."
Her intakes were shaky, airy as she drew in a deep breath trying to hold it. But they were more even. Eyes watered as she tried to let it out slowly, feeling the pulsing in her chest tighten with each attempt. But as she kept her breathing steady as she could, she felt better. Felt like she didn't have to be scrunched up, could sit up. The sight of her made Neji's heart break. She'd surely have a headache in the morning from how flush and puffy her face was. He wanted brush the stray hairs out of her face but had to stop himself. But even still, she was angelic.
"We should get you to bed. It's been a long day," he suggested, which she agreed with by standing up. She was a little wobbly but he instantly steadied her.
Chihiro barely said a word as she was drained, dead set on getting to bed. She looked like a woman possessed as she made her way to her room leaving Neji with a confused face, but followed, too scared to leave her alone. He watched her march to a dresser to grasp a blue piece of fabric and then towards the bathroom. She looked beat, absolutely exhausted as the way she swayed as she walked looked like she was going to fall over any minute. When she returned from the bathroom, she was in a nightgown which reminded Neji he had to get going. He reminded himself she had a rough day, was like a shell of herself just trying to survive right now. But she was beautiful. His lavender eyes ran over her curves in a way that made him blush, and it worsened as he landed on her cute face that peered at him from her bed. Chihiro's hair was a mess but the way it framed her tear stained face made his heart skip a beat.
"Earlier... you didn't come for ramen did you," Chihiro asked barely above a whisper as she cuddled into her blankets.
"No." he responded truthfully, "When I heard Naruto was taking you out for food I thought I'd drop by... he can be a bit much. And not always smart enough to realize when to stop."
"Mm," she sighed, "he's sweet, means well."
"He's stubborn."
"Not always a bad thing." she murmured.
"Not always a good thing as a shinobi though." Neji looked her over, half asleep and mumbling nonsense, "rest Chihiro, I'll see you tomorrow to check on you. Don't force yourself to stay up."
"Bye Neji." she mewled, attempting to lift her head up but nothing. He watched as sleep took over her as her breathing slowed, becoming constant. Guilt radiated into his mind as he knew this was a weird situation, feeling like he was taking advantage of her. Neji didn't like feeling so bare because of anyone or anything, so he knew he needed to leave.
But something felt so strange, so right- like they'd known each other longer. All Neji knew, was that he was connected to her in some way, as for years phantom pains would haunt him at the oddest of moments. And he believed he knew why.