A weary pair of Opal eyes slowly peer over at the bright red numbers on her clock, which seem to slowly tick away as the minutes' section finally flips to a quarter after nine.
A deep sigh audibly emits from the indigo haired woman as she carefully slides and secures a silver clip with a large white carnation on the side of her ponytail.
She inwardly dreaded the event scheduled for today that even the weather seemed to accurately mimic her feelings this morning.
The weatherman predicted that today's weather would be sunny with an average high of 85 degrees. Yet what he failed to mention was a high chance of overcast, which casts a dull and gray shadow over Konohagakure.
It seemed as if mother nature had an awful knack of being able to accurately reflect mankind's emotion.
A knock at her door roused her from her thoughts about the weather when she briefly poked her head out of the bathroom to check the time.
Hinata briskly exits, grabs a glittery black crossbody purse, a coat and her keys before she opens the door only to see a male with blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Good morning Hina-chan," He politely greets her as he momentarily closes his eyes as he fights down the urge to smile at the woman in front of him.
She quickly turns from him to lock her door before she returns the salutation, "Good morning, Naruto-kun,"
Her eyes then peer down at his hand only to find a bouquet tightly bundled in a green plastic cover.
There were no words exchanged as he handed her the flowers before he ushered her toward the parking lot.
The blonde cop silently notes the confused expression on her face once he guides her to a black four-door car, which prompts him to respond, "Office car,"
Hinata was merely nodding her head yes while watching him open up the door after rounding around to the passenger side of the vehicle.
Naruto trots back around to the driver's side, slides inside then reaches for his seatbelt, cranks the car up and drives toward their destination.
A silence settled among the two as of today's event heavily weighed on their mind before he offered to pay for breakfast.
The indigo haired woman agreed to black tea since she barely felt the need to eat let alone have an appetite for food.
Another bout of silence washes over the couple as they enjoy their light breakfast before they return to their journey.
Hinata's stomach turbulently churned at the sight of a church as it and the visitors steadily came into view.
Naruto glanced over to notice his passenger's expression when he veered over to a grassy parking spot, parked and asked, "Are you alright, Hina-chan?"
"I don't think I can do this," She suddenly responded as she gently laid her hand across her mouth and settled the other hand over her stomach.
The blonde cop immediately works to soothe her anxiety with gentle rubs on her arms and calm tone until he was able to calm her down.
"She would want you to be here." He positively affirms once she turns in his direction and sees a small smile on his face.
Hinata silently nodded her head as she built up the courage to step outside of the vehicle but the church itself was a different story.
Her opal eyes beheld a line that seemed to stretch for miles from the front doors. There were familiar and unfamiliar faces mixed in the bunch.
She then felt his hand on her lower back directed her in a specific direction until she noticed a hand waved at them from the front of the line.
A pair of arms tightly embraced her neck until the sight of two brown buns appeared in her line of vision.
"Tenten," She audibly muttered once she was released from the embrace yet locked hands with the older woman.
The two merely stares at each other until one of them finally breaks their silence, "It is good to see you Hinata."
The indigo haired woman locked the woman in another hug except for this time her arms were around her waist, "Same here,"
Tenten momentarily divert her sights from her friend and toward the blonde cop as she politely greets him, "Good morning, Naruto-san,"
"Good morning, Tenten-san," He returned with a small bow of the head before he posed, "Are you alone?"
A cheeky smile stretches across her face as she reaches down to pull Tao from in front of a man with long brown hair.
"Never," she simply answers as the little boy peers up at the older man, who lifted his fist toward his and bumped the smaller one.
Tao eagerly spieled about his new school and friends to Naruto before Tenten asks, "How have you been Hina? You look like you've lost weight."
"Hey," she places her finger underneath the indigo haired woman's chin so she can see her face when she adds, "She wouldn't want you to cry for her."
"I know…" Hinata ultimately agreed with a nod of her head.
The double doors fling open to reveal the group of people that organize the funeral when one of them spoke, "Will close family and friends please come towards the front,"
"That's our cue," Tenten says as she glances over her shoulder only to see a thumbs up from Naruto, which she responds with a nod of her head.
As the women made their way towards the front, they eventually noticed a familiar and unique hairstyle that could only belong to one person.
She was talking to a man whose hair resembles the shape of a pineapple while her older brother was standing slightly to the left of her.
Tenten called out for her, which prompted her to pause her conversation, search over her shoulder for the source until she finally spotted them among the crowd.
A wide smile stretches across her face as the trio exchanges greeting with one another as well as tight embraces as if they were scared to let the other go.
"And here I thought I would be crutch-free," Temari annoyingly grumbles as she adjusts her body weight on to her metallic crutch.
A dark sensation swirls around in Hinata's gut once she recalls how the blonde ends up on the crutch in the first place.
A gentle pat to the forehead temporarily distracts her from her thoughts when she positively speaks, "Even if the crutch is a drag, at least I'm walking,"
The members of the funeral group were guiding the crowd to form a single file line so that they could view the body.
A comfortable silence sets over the three women as they finally enter inside of the church, hand in hand with a squeeze whenever one felt uncomfortable or when the sorrow grew unbearable.
They approached the open Cherry blossom pink coffin as a unit before they each whispered their last words to a dear friend and coworker, who was like family to them.
The people continued to pour in until the church reached seating capacity in which they were directed to an overflow room.
A white wooden door was gently swinging open to reveal a brunette man pushing a woman with platinum blonde from a ramp and up to the coffin.
"It's Ino," Tenten whispers to the other two since she presently sits on the edge of the church pew.
Her whispered announcement reignited a small spark of hope within the women at their friend's recovery.
"Maybe we will get to see her before we head to the burial site," Temari hopes as she lays her crunch underneath the pew.
The women grew silently at the sight of the priest who stood before the congregation to announce, "We asked that you silence all cellular devices as we respect the family and allow them to have a chance to heal and grieve the passing of a daughter, sister, and friend."
A silent hush fell over the crowd as the procession ended, which marked the start of the funeral.
There was hardly a dry eye in the room whether it was tears of joy, sorrow or pain it was the time to mourn so that they could heal from their loss.
Tributes steadily poured in from family, friends, and peers that knew the sweet yet vivacious young woman known as Sakura Haruno.
The program concluded on a high note as a set of directions were issued to direct individuals who wished to say their final goodbyes to the young woman to join them at the burial site.
A gentle touch to her shoulder brought her white opal eyes to meet with the two females who she called her older sisters.
"Time for one last show ladies," Temari finally spoke after she wiped the tear streams that coated her cheek with a tissue and gathered her crutches.
Tenten and Hinata slightly nod their heads forward as they wait for the dirty blonde to stand to her feet along with her support and advanced.
Once the crowd finally traveled from the church and down to the cemetery until they reached Sakura's designated burial spot.
Her coffin was displayed with an elaborate bouquet filled with Gladiolas, White Carnations, White Daisies and a sprinkle of Sakura flowers strum across her coffin.
The priest orally recited the last rites as they proceeded to slowly lower the coffin in the ground until it was leveled in the ground.
Sakura's family and close friends could no longer fight back the tears as they shovel the first pile of dirt onto the coffin.
A sharp shrill from Ino caused cold chills to run down the former Dolls back as she desperately pleaded, "Give her back to me. Give me my best friend back!"
The platinum blonde almost launched herself from the confinements of her wheelchair and crawled over to the hole in the ground.
Hinata watched Kiba physically yet gently restrained her as he allowed her tears and screams to ricochets against his chest as she tightly fisted his shirt.
He held her there until her screams fell quiet and even when they covered the coffin and the other funeral participants dismissed to either return home or head to the kitchen for repast.
Opal eyes scan the crowd until she spots a bob of blonde already outside in the parking lot with Tao secured in his grasp.
The brunette's mother was offering her thanks to the man for watching her child after feeling him wrapping his arms around her legs.
Naruto was silent as he reached for his handkerchief and gently dabbed her puffy red eyes when he said, "You can keep it."
The kind gesture prompted more tears to fall from her eyes once realization started to dawn on her that her friend was gone.
The blonde gently embraces the woman as he soothingly rubbed circles against her back until her cries turn to sob.
"Hey," A familiar voice broke them out of their moment of comfort only to see two of the five living Dolls and two KDEA officers stand next to them.
Temari gestured toward the kitchen with one of her crutches, waited for a nod and headed to join the others that wait for them by the white wooden door.
The repast area was small enough for eight circular tables, draped in white table cloths, fit inside of the kitchen.
The three Dolls, three KDEA Officers and a child managed to find a table and settled down to eat.
"How long do you think Ino will be down there?" Tenten directs to her close friends who she regards as family.
Temari briefly glances at the door as she works up the urge to eat when she responds, "Kiba will know when it's a good time to bring her in."
She closes her eyes, releases a huff and mutters, "That was her best friend she knew from her childhood."
"Uhm excuse me," a feminine voice politely interrupts their conversation as they observe a woman with shoulder-length raven black hair purple eyes and a round belly stands before them.
"Are these seats taken? I was looking for a place to rest my feet." She curiously poses as she slightly winces at the pain that stems from her seat.
Hinata openly stared at the woman once she was able to secure a seat and huffed a heavy breath before she thanked the lot for their kindness.
"If you don't mind me asking, how far along are you?" Tenten was wondering while recalling her memories carrying Tao.
The woman directs her gaze in the direction of the brunette woman to provide an answer, "Four months as of today,"
The white wooden door swung open to reveal Ino and Kiba as he wheeled her inside when he noticed a hand wave from Shikamaru.
"Ino," Temari, Tenten, and Hinata softly greet their coworker and sister whose eyes were bloodshot red from crying her heart out.
Blue eyes roam around the table until she notes an unfamiliar face amongst her tight-knit group of friends, "Who is she?"
"I am Haruno-san classmate from K University, Yamamato Mai." The raven-haired reveals her identity to the group, which earns an expression of recognition except for the platinum blonde.
Ino swiftly grew suspicious of the woman at the table, which she made known, "I'm her best friend and she never mentioned you in our talks."
"She did say you have this "I'm a princess" personality. I didn't think she was right." Mai jokingly teases as the other Dolls softly chuckles at the joke.
A small smile then stretches across her face when she remarks, "She did say you all give off the feel of a family. A family that loves and protects each other."
"I'm envious of that feeling. I tend to be a loner but I do try to join groups but they hardly ever work out for me." She adds as she tucks a strand of her hair behind her hair, which catches Hinata's attention.
Mai was sensing the growing hostility from the platinum blonde before dismissing herself, "It was good to take a load off and chat with Haruno-san's friend."
"I'm surprised she had on long sleeves during this weather. I would've been miserable." Tenten offhandedly commented as they watched the woman head toward the exit.
Hinata stood to her feet, excused herself from the table and decided to follow the woman name Mai with the lie, "Ladies room,"
She quickly picks up speed and burst through the white door only to see a lot full of vehicles and a handful of people outside of the church. Her Opal eyes frantically search the crowd for the woman yet there was no Mai Yamamato.
"Are you alright?" A masculine voice laced with concern eventually rung in her ears as she faced the blonde cop, who she would come to know and love as Naruto Uzumaki.
"I thought I saw…" She eventually broke her silence as she repeatedly glanced at the people in the parking lot and his face before she paused in the middle of her statement.
Her slightly frantic tone instantly prompted him to needle, "You saw what?"
A momentary bout of silence settles when she feels the wind lightly brushes against her face before she ultimately ceded, "It's nothing. I just needed some fresh air." "Are you sure?"
"Positive," Her voice was a bit firmer this time which earns a smile from the blonde and a "There's my Hina-chan,"
Before the couple returned inside of the kitchen, Hinata spared one last glimpse toward the sky and silently thanked her newfound guardian angel.
Meanwhile,
"How did it go?" A masculine voice inquired as Mai Yamamato carefully slid into the passenger seat, clicked the seatbelt over her bulging stomach and leaned against the seat.
The woman then reached inside of the glove compartment, removed a pair of red frame glasses and slipped them over her face.
"You probably would've been caught, fish face." The woman boldly declared as she smirked and gently rubbed her belly.
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THE END!
Author's Note: This fanfiction has been a rollercoaster ride of positives and negatives. I know I made a few wrong turns here and there but I learned a great deal from my first crime fiction piece that I will take with me into the future. Thank you to those that stuck through the name change, plot holes and multiple points of view during the first half and offered constructive criticism instead of proclaiming it stupid. We, authors, have feelings too you know. Thank you to each person who reviewed or even bared to read ALL 64 chapters of this story. I am extremely appreciative of your time and patience. So without further ado, Fatal Attraction is officially completed. 11/3/2019 10:02pm.