Betrayal


Hinata remembered when he used to smile and laugh. She remembered how his ocean blue eyes lit up and how he was always so happy and optimistic. He used to be loud and he talked like crazy. He used to crack jokes all the time and he was the life of the party. His expressions held warmth and love for everyone who was precious to him.

But now, when she stood face to face with him, all she could see was bitterness. He had a stoic expression and his eyes were cold and lifeless. He didn't laugh anymore...he barely even smiled.

He completely changed.

Why?

Because of her. Because of Sakura Haruno.

And it was scary that Naruto Uzumaki, the one who was the mere definition of joy and happiness, the one who brought so much light and laughter to everyone, would let one woman destroy who he was.

Hinata remembered it clearly like it happened yesterday.

It was raining heavily on a Friday night when they had gotten the news that Sakura was involved in an accident.

She remembered that heart-pounding fear that coursed through her body when she arrived at the hospital. She can still hear Naruto's heartbroken scream piercing her ears. She can still picture his tear-stained face and how his expression was twisted in such sadness and pain that it made her own heart ache.

...and she could still remember how they rolled Sakura out of the surgery room, with the blood-stained blanket draped over her whole body. She remembered how she stood frozen in disbelief like everyone else when another bed rolled out...with Sasuke Uchiha, who stared up with lifeless eyes before they too covered him.

It was too much of a shock to them all.

That memory alone still haunted her till this day.

Sasuke and Sakura. Dead.

Everyone was there at the funeral. The cries of her friends and Sasuke and Sakura's families still echoed in her ear. The image of Naruto holding onto Sakura's coffin still burned in her mind...he didn't want to let her go.

Sakura was his wife, after all.

The thing was, everyone was too grief stricken to even consider how strange it was that Sasuke and Sakura were in the car together when it crashed. It was only when Sakura's items in the car was retrieved and given back to Naruto, that everyone found out the truth.

Naruto went through her cell phone to see the pictures that they took together...to reminisce how happy they were in their marriage...to remember her smile and her beautiful emerald eyes that were always bright and full of affection. And then he read the texts that they sent to each other, to remember her writings and how she spoke.

It was at that moment when he saw the texts from Sasuke.

"Babe, are you ready?"

"Yes, Naruto's already asleep and I'm done packing my stuff. Hurry up!"

"Will be there in two minutes."

And of course, there were plenty of texts that were way more interesting than those.

Apparently...she's been having an affair with Sasuke for the past 5 months. During that night of the accident, they were planning to run away together and Sakura had even cashed out half of Naruto's bank account.

It seemed unbelievable that they were even capable of doing such things like that.

Naruto shut himself off from everyone after he found out. He was confused, pissed, and heartbroken over the tragedy. Hinata knew it was a shock to him that the woman he loved and his own best friend would conspire to run away together and that they would even leave him penniless without a second thought.

Everyone else was confused, too. They were torn between grieving for Sasuke and Sakura's death or being angered by the fact that Sasuke and Sakura would do such a thing behind Naruto's back.

After that, everything just seemed to spiral downwards.

Naruto no longer hung out with anyone. He no longer laughed and joked around like he always did. He pushed away those who were once close to him, scared that he might be betrayed again. He took down every picture of him and Sakura in their house and burnt them. He threw away the childhood gifts and toys that he and Sasuke used to play with. The words that he spoke were cold and had no meaning to it anymore. All he ever did now was work, work and work.

He was an empty shell.

Yet...despite all that, Hinata still tried.

It broke her heart to see him in this state. The following months after Sasuke and Sakura's death and after the discovery of their affair, Hinata went to Naruto's house everyday.

Despite the fact that he was cold to her and pushed her away, she was persistent. She just didn't want to lose him completely. All their friends practically gave up on trying to cheer him up.

Even though everyone else gave up, she didn't. She knew there was no way to cheer him up, so all she could do was comfort him. She would bring food to him everyday after he was done with work because he refused to eat whatever was in his fridge.

Sakura used to do all the grocery shopping and cooking, that's why.

She would talk to him and ask him how he was doing, though all she ever got back were cold responses and short answers.

She loved him, though...and that was enough for her to keep being by side.


"Can't you just take a day off? We'll go to the beach and it'll be good for you if you just take a break, you know..."

Naruto ran his fingers through his blonde hair and just let out a sigh. "I'm busy."

Hinata narrowed her eyes. "You're always busy. That's why I'm insisting that you take a day off."

Naruto didn't reply. He grabbed his tie that was hanging on the couch and before he could put it on himself, Hinata stopped him. She reached up and grabbed the tie from him, ignoring his sudden glare.

Yet, he did nothing and just stood quietly as she tied his tie around his collar, making sure it was tightened properly and straightened.

Hinata slowly became comfortable around him. Though he was cold towards her and he pushed her away, he never really did anything when she touched him or took care of him like this. There were times when she even held onto his arm while watching a movie and she wasn't nervous around him like she used to be.

Knowing that she was the only one who was able to be this close to him during this season of his life, it gave her confidence. And even though she knew he may never thank her or return her feelings, she promised herself that she would endure it all. No matter how much it may hurt her, she still wanted to be there for him.

"...it's been nearly a year, you know. You should try to-,"

Naruto suddenly jerked away from her and grabbed his cell phone from the couch before he walked away without another word. Hinata just watched as he slammed the door shut behind him when he left.

He was always like that when she tried to bring up what happened. He was still so angry and hurt from it and he would ignore her whenever she did bring it up.

He was scared to talk about it...and she knew he was scared to open up to her because he didn't want to ever be betrayed like that again.


Naruto loosened his tie once he got in the car.

God, she was annoying.

But it wasn't necessarily a bad kind of annoying.

After that whole incident, he shut everyone out. He honestly didn't care anymore. If his "loving wife" and his childhood "best friend" were capable of doing that to him, then what the hell was the point in trusting anyone at all?

But then she came along and shattered his whole perspective. And it was so unlikely and so unexpected that Hinata Hyuuga, the girl who everyone knew to be quiet and timid, would be the one person who was so persistent to be with him.

No matter how many times he tried to hurt her with his words, and no matter how many times he tried to push her away, she still stayed.

He never imagined her of all people to stand out to him so much. Growing up with her and all his other friends, he never really paid much attention to her. She was always so quiet and just in the background. She was always seemed so fragile and gentle.

But now, after spending literally everyday with her, she was so different than what he expected. She wasn't necessarily all that quiet, she laughed way more than he ever thought she would, she was bold with both her words and her actions, and she stood unfazed by his cold demeanor.

He grew to be comfortable around her and yet, he still didn't let himself fall completely.

He didn't want to open himself up to her.

He didn't want to learn how to care and love.

He didn't want to go through the possibility of being hurt by someone close to him again.

He will never allow himself to see someone as a friend again and he most definitely will never allow himself to fall in love again.

Especially not with her.

No matter how long she stayed by his side, no matter how stubborn she was going to be, he was not going to give in.

Even though undeniably, he thought about her smiling face and her kind eyes so often, he would immediately shut those thoughts out. He remembered how kind and lively Sakura's eyes were...he remembered clearly her bright smiles and her warm laughter...and still, she was the one who cheated on him. She was the one who left him.

He wouldn't let that happen again.

No matter how beautiful Hinata may seem, no matter how gentle and heartwarming she may seem...she might just turn against him one day. And he wasn't going to be a fool and think that everything that seemed perfect was actually perfect.

No...he would guard his heart well this time.


I have a thing for angsty, heart-wrenching romances.

So yea, more to come. Review :)