Orange, Spirals and Everything Nice

Thirteen: Growing Closer

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters or the setting of the story. They all exclusively belong to Mr. Masashi Kishimoto in all its rights.

The hospital walls almost vibrated with the deafening screams in the middle of the night once again. It's been a few days since the last Uchiha had left the village, leaving the blonde hero of the fourth great shinobi war all alone in his hospital room. Naruto had just woken up from another one of his horrifying nightmares with an echoing wail of helplessness.
The cold, barren space of his hospital room that Sasuke had once occupied was plain torture.
And its deserted state only fueled his nightmares from the great war.

"Uzumaki-san?" A nurse called out to him after she knocked on his room door.
Most of the hospital staff already knew what the hero was going through but Naruto would just casually brush them away whenever someone tried to ask about his condition.

Naruto just didn't want to bother anyone. He simply held onto the thought that he'd eventually get over this predicament as he heals physically.

"I'm alright -ttebayo. Sorry for being loud." Naruto answered with the brightest tone he could muster.

Thankfully, the nurse trusted his words and nodded before walking away.
And Naruto chose not to sleep again until dawn broke into the quiet village outside his dark room.

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"Sakura told us that Naruto haven't been feeling well after Sasuke left the village. The hospital staff were reporting about hearing his screams of agony inside his room every night. Tsunade-sama said that he was having nightmares but was being so stubbornly buttoned-up about it."

Hinata could barely concentrate on her clan duties that day ever since she heard the news from Kiba and Shino that morning. She was feeling utterly devastated to hear that Naruto is hurting alone once again.
Hinata badly wants to see him and try to do anything she can to help him in any way.

"Hinata." Hiashi's icy tone called back his daughter's attention sternly to her duties-at-hand.

"H-Hai. I'm sorry, father." Hinata stuttered and tried to focus back on the stack of scrolls in front of her inside her father's study. She was able to look back at the task-at-hand but her hands unconsciously fidgeted uneasily on her sides.

Hiashi sighed in defeat. If his eldest is this much concerned about something, it must relate to none other than the hero of the war. And whenever that happens, he knew he couldn't do anything to stop her, as he had openly experienced it first-hand during the war.

"Fine." The Hyuuga leader said in finality, making his daughter flinch in fear. "Go to him. Take however long it might take you, but I'm warning you, Hinata." his cold tone threatened as he stared seriously at his eldest. "I'm doubling your workload when you get back."

Hinata stared blankly at her father for a few moments as she let his words sink inside her. She doubted for a second if she was really facing the great Hyuuga leader, but her father's eyes clearly meant business as he pierced his pale eyes at her.

"I'm not going to repeat myself, Hinata." Hiashi added dismissively.

The heiress quickly took that as her cue and immediately bowed politely to her father.
"Thank you, Tou-sama. I promise, I'll be back as soon as I can and double my efforts with my duties. I'm really sorry, father." Hinata rambled in one swift breath, startling the clan leader but before he could even nod at her, his eldest was already running out of the room and off to the village hospital.