The Nefera Bazaar

Chapter 22 - Hyuuga Grounds

Naruto P.O.V.

Hinata and I were forcefully separated for the second time in my pitiful existence. It took a while for me to honestly believe the same thing had happened once again. Though I had already experienced the loneliness and isolation from the first time, this instance felt worse.

This time, Hinata wasn't just some friend that I couldn't hang out with. I couldn't pretend that the hurt I felt was the same it would have been if it were any other person. Hinata was more important to me now and that pain, which would have been a dull ache for a friend, was now a sharp steely knife that stabbed me right through the heart every time I thought of her. She was the woman I lov-, I mean, really really liked. I begged to see her again or even to just hear her voice. My eyes craved just a look of her hair or just to hold her dainty hands. My dreams tried to make up for the lack of Hinata in my life by torturing me with fond memories but when I awoke she was never there. I felt worse and worse with every passing morning hoping to fall back into a dreamland where we were together. God damn it! I was frustrated with my luck and how it seemed like there was a higher power trying to keep us apart.

But it wasn't in my nature to give up and that meant that I wouldn't stop trying to meet her. I went back to the Hyuuga compound the very next day, then the day after that, and the day after that. Every time I went to check if the coast was clear, those stupid fucking guards were still there like stone gargoyles just waiting for an intruder.

Okay fine then. I couldn't enter the compound. Not a big deal. There were bound to be other places to meet Hinata. I went to search the bazaar every chance I got, determined to find Hinata or even Tenten shopping and chatting with the apple guy like nothing had even happened. I scoured the place looking high and low for any trace of blue hair or two ridiculous brown buns but at the end of each day, I was left to lay in my bed, unfulfilled and unhappy.

No matter how many times I thought about it, I couldn't figure out why those damn guards were there.

I hadn't heard of any attack on the Hyuuga compound so the guards weren't placed at the entrances as a reaction to a threat. It didn't seem as though the Hyuuga knew about my secret meetings in Hinata's room. If I had been caught then those white eye thugs would be after me when I came near the entrance but they just let me be as if I was a passerby. So clearly I wasn't their target. Besides they were stationary guards, not on alert, and from their stance and posture they were more ornamental than attack meaning they could still fight, they weren't a joke, but they weren't seriously guarding something like you would a rare treasure or the heir to a dynasty. So the guard didn't know why they weren't stationed there; They were just following orders. Ugh, just trying to figure it out was giving me a headache. I could barely follow my own line of reasoning as I tossed and turned all god damn night.

Bags started to blossom under my eyes from the lack of sleep. I couldn't eat properly and barely kept my meals down. I was moping and walking around like a zombie, always off in a daze. But what was even worse was the anxiety. The waiting and wondering when and how I was ever going to see her was eating me inside little by little. She wasn't coming to the bazaar and I couldn't enter the Hyuuga compound. Those were the two domains we lived in and now neither was an option.

The worst part of this whole stupid situation is that this has already happened before. It's not like it's a new challenge we have to overcome; It's the same goddamn thing all over again but this time it's harder. This time we've exhausted all other option and have to think, get real fucking creative, about how to meet again.

The first time we were separated was on my side: Jiraiya. This time it's on Hinata's side: Her family. Although this obstacle seemed more difficult to deal with my resolve wouldn't die. Hinata was patient. She waited for weeks, diligently waiting for me to show up, so I promised myself to do the same. I care about her so much and if I really meant how I felt, I would do the same for her. Even if it takes days, weeks, even months, I'll keep waiting for her.