I don't own Naruto. This is my first romance kind of fic so some advice would helpful.
Break Me, Destroy Me, But Don't Leave Me
Chapter One
Parties. I hated parties, although I would never admit to hating something or someone. All that mingling and mixing seemed pointless too me. I never liked the awkwardness of a social gathering nor the false façade one had to put up. I was only thankful that I was able to slip away quietly most of the time because no one would ever notice my absence. Nobody noticed me. Who cared about this Hyuuga girl anyway? I sat down on the cool stone bench, shifting uncomfortably against its hardness. The air was still and heavy with moisture, increasing my discomfort. I would rather stay out in the garden than to stand alone at some forlorn corner of the room watching the meaningless party evolve around me.
I heard someone stir behind me, but I did not bother to turn. Surely, no one would come looking for me. My back stiffened as I felt the presence moving in on me. You got the wrong person, I said to myself silently. My breaths became quicker and shallower upon realizing how close that stranger was, he or she was right behind me. I was afraid, but then again everything seemed to frighten the coward that I was. I wished for that person to move off. Once again, my wish was not granted. I should have given up on wishing a long time ago, knowing the fate that I had, wishes were only false hopes that never came true.
The shadowy figure stepped around my rigid, seated frame and stood right before me. I had to crank my up my neck to look at him. Yes, him. He was decidedly male with a tall stature and a lean athletic build. How I had gained the courage to even look up was beyond me. My gaze lasted only mere milliseconds as I quickly averted eyes, my head turning to the ground. He caught my chin, compelling me to look straight at him. Straight at that sinister pair of crimson eyes. I was on the verge of bursting into hysterical tears. Was he going to kidnap me? Kill me? Then again killing me wasn't that bad an idea, but I was scared to die. My horrified trembling worsened as a wickedly sick smile spread across his face while he moved closer.
"Hyuuga Hinata?" Came a husky whisper, he was so close I could feel his warm breath teasing my face.
I managed to nod ever so slightly despite my body being scared stiff. The hammering of my heart was the only sound I heard as it pounded heavily against my ribcage. The sounds of the party seemed to me like a distant memory, fading to oblivion.
"Why are you so afraid of me? I can hear your lovely heart beating. Sounds like you could get a heart attack. Now we wouldn't want that to happen, yes?" He murmured again, sitting beside me, pulling himself close to me until our shoulders were touching.
My heart jumped in sheer terror as he placed his arm around me. Should I speak to him? Perhaps I could scream and then someone might come out. Screaming sounded like a good idea. Maybe it would piss him off and he would just kill me quickly. I shakily opened my small mouth, certain that my voice would fail me. But I had to try like how Naruto always tried hard. A pathetic squeak was all I could manage; even my voice had chosen to leave me.
"Heh, what are you trying to do, my little one? Calling for help? I can kill anyone who comes this way." He looked at me with his eerie eyes; his wicked grin had changed into an amused smile.
At least he did not look half as frightening as before, he now looked like a deranged, psychotic serial killer which he probably was. Though terrified, I was still transfixed by his pale face. Did I know him from somewhere? He looked somewhat familiar. He had the kind of face that would probably cause most girls to swoon or kiss the very ground he walked on. Most girls, but not me. I was shaking with fear despite having such a handsome stranger sitting beside me. A handsome, albeit deranged looking stranger.
"What are you thinking about, Hinata?" He leaned closer.
I would had fallen off the bench had he not had his arm around me. I wanted to shove him away and run to my room to cry. However, I had never pushed anyone away in my life; it would be rude and offending.
"You haven't said a word to me." He glanced down at me, his red eyes glowing.
What was that? Did I hear a tinge of disappointment in his voice? He wanted me to talk to him? No one ever demanded that I should speak to them. My opinions and thoughts never mattered anyway.
"W-who?" That was the strangled reply I had somehow come up with. Curiosity had always been a strange thing, causing humans to do the craziest of things.
"Why, you don't know me? You hurt me dearly. I'm an Uchiha… can't you tell from my eyes?" He looked into my eyes.
Questions poured through my mind but I could not pluck up the courage to ask the Uchiha sitting beside me, lest I angered him.
"Hinata-chan, I would love to stay and chat. But I must leave."
I winced in pain as I felt his fingernails dig deep through my flimsy garment, piercing into my petite shoulder. Before I could cry out I felt his warm lips on mine and then he was gone. My confused mind threatened to explode as conflicting thoughts swam around in my head. What the hell had just happened?
"Hinata-chan?" I jumped when Naruto patted my shoulder. "Oh, I didn't mean to scare you."
"I-its o-okay Naruto-kun." I frowned inwardly; my childhood stutter had suddenly surfaced again.
"Hinata-chan! Are you alright? You're bleeding!" Naruto pointed at my bloodied shoulder.
"O-oh I'm fine. R-really. Its n-not blood. I-its… ermm w-wine! Yes, I spilled red wine on myself." I lied through my teeth, only someone as dense as Naruto would believe me.
"Alright. I'll be going back in. I just came out to look at the garden."
Came out to look at the garden. Of course he did. He did not come out to look for me, he never did. I sighed as I gingerly touched the superficial wound on my shoulder, my breathing had finally evened out and the beating of my heart had slowed to a normal rate. I wondered when my poor heart would finally give way; there was only so much stress a girl like me could take.
Dawn had broken and the sun started to make its daily raise. I sat up in my bed, looking out the window, watching the dark clouds gather over the village of Konoha. My tired body silently protested as I stepped out of my bed. It was no surprise that after the turn of events the night before that I had not gained a wink of sleep. The cold water splashed onto my face succeeded to jolt me up only for a few moments. I desperately wanted to run back into my bed and fall into deep sleep. I took off my pajamas and studied my pale shoulder. Angry red marks glared back at me and the surrounding area had turned to a dark shade of purple. I applied some medicated herbal cream I made onto the injury, cringing at the stinging pain. I hoped that it was not infected. Oh gosh, what if I get rabies or something? Wait, you can only get rabies from mad dogs, right? Not mad people. Right? Right? I thought worriedly to myself. Sometimes, I stressed myself out too much; it was beginning to be unhealthy.
I dragged my exhausted body to the training grounds and waited for the rest of my team to arrive. The air was cool and slightly chilly that morning as opposed to the night before. The night before. I shivered at that thought. Looking at my watch, I sighed and dropped myself down to the ground below a huge tree, they were all late. My head rested against the steady trunk and my eyelids fluttered to a close as my breathing deepened.
"Didn't get much sleep last night?" A deep voice invaded my dream state.
"Hmm… Shino, you're finally here." I mumbled in reply with eyes still closed.
"Heh heh… Hinata-chan." The voice murmured, emitting a dangerous sounding chuckle.
My mind froze. Shino's voice was never this deep and he rarely laughed, even when he did he did not sound like that at all.
"Who?" My eyelids opened swiftly as I stood up.
On seeing no one in the vicinity, I activated my Byakugan and noticed a tall man moving rapidly towards me. He was so fast; he was a blur even to my Byakugan sight.
"There's no need for that. I don't recalled being on hostile terms with you." The crimson eyed man stood directly in front of me.
"You…" A hoarse whisper passed through my lips, my voice had failed me once again.
"Glad that you remember."
He looked even more pale in sunlight, his features defined and sharp but that characteristic insane glimmer was still in his eyes. His diabolical smile jellified my legs and sent unwelcome shivers throughout my petite frame. The wound in my shoulder appeared to burn with a fresh new stinging sensation.
"Itachi." I blurted out his name, not knowing what came over me.
He was the village's enemy. I should have informed the Hokage of his return, but as usual I was too afraid to do anything. Sighing mentally, I was resigned to believe that I was really useless to not only my family but to my village. I could fight him. What was I? Crazy? Well, it was a good way to die. He could kill me in a nanosecond I decided then, to fight him. I waited nervously for him to make his move, but he made no movement. He simply stood there before me, his long black hair billowing in the chilly morning wind, red eyes studying me. Minutes passed yet he continued to stand where he was, terrorizing me. Where in the world is the rest of my team? Please, please come! I pleaded distraughtly to the heavens above.
That day I learnt that though fear may be paralyzing, when one was in a dire situation, the mind could be driven so crazy to a point where one simply snapped. And so for the first time in my entire miserable 17 years of life, I, Hyuuga Hinata, made the first move. I charged at the legendary Sharingan wielder, preparing my attack. Obviously, I never did manage to even touch him. He held on to me by my little throat, slamming me against the large tree I was resting under earlier. So this was my end. How depressing it is that the last person I see is the one who kills me, I thought bitterly.
"Interesting." Itachi stated, staring right into my pearly eyes.
I squeezed my eyes shut; perhaps my death would not be so bad if I did not look at my killer.
"Look at me!" He demanded and my eyes immediately flew open.
I should have known that Uchiha Itachi would be the kind of sadistic bastard who would want his victims to look at him as he slaughtered them. He did, after all, massacre his entire clan. My breaths thinned and I started choking as I felt him squeezing the life out of me. My hand instinctively reached out and grabbed his hand, trying to pry his fingers open. I was struggling to survive by reflex. So I did not really have a death wish, but it was just too bad that I was going to die either way.
"I could break your pretty neck if I wanted."
"I-I'm… s-sure you…c-can." I replied, gasping for air and he increased the pressure on his grip.
I could have sworn that I saw my life flash past before my very eyes and I was beginning to feel extremely light-headed. My lungs were burning. Why does dying have to be so painful? Where is everyone? My insides screamed.
"But I don't want to." Itachi smirked at me manically, releasing his vice grasp on my throat slightly.
Did he not want me dead? Oh no, I was right about him being a sadistic bastard, he was going to torture me to death. He reached out for my ponytail with his other hand, yanking violently at my ribbon, nearly snapping my fragile head off. My dark bluish hair fell all around my shoulders and face.
"Much better," Itachi whispered quietly into my ear.
Then I saw the blinding gleam of cold steel catching the sunlight. If he intended to slit my throat I hoped he that he would do it in one clean slice.
"I'll be taking this," He told me, holding up a lock of my dark blue hair.
What? He cut my hair. Was he trying to apply some heinous voodoo spell on me to make my already wretched life into a living hell? He was really too cruel. He tightened his hold around my neck again, cutting off my air supply.
"Thank you, Hinata-chan." He thanked me as though I had a willingly presented my hair to him.
I wheezed once more, dizzy from the lack of oxygen. Then the surroundings around me turned into a black mass.