His opponent, some guy from Kiri, is carted off by a pair of samurai medics. I wonder how I missed those while Sasuke and I were looking for the infirmary
...
"And now, will the participants for the next match please approach the arena!"
A cheer goes up at that, and I inch away from the grilling Kiba and Ino are giving me with my hands raised in what those incapable of looking underneath the underneath might call surrender. "I think that's my cue to get back to the genin box. Sakura's probably worrying about me and Sasuke."
"She's a big girl. She'll be fine," my sensei says, speaking for the first time since we stepped out of the hall. I glare at the book shielding his face from me. Fuck you, Hatake.
"Still! I have to make sure I'm there to wish her good luck when it's her turn, y'know," I say desperately, skin itching beneath the accusing stares of my fellow Konoha nin. Kakashi peers at me over the top of his book, wickedly amused.
"She isn't fighting for another five-"
"Alright seeya!"
To those incapable of looking underneath the underneath, I turn tail and run away.
I run about halfway down the hallway leading back into the catacombs before I realize what a moron I'm being and slow down to a more reasonable pace. Despite this, the sound of hurried feet pattering against concrete continues to fill the hallway. I spend a second being confused about this before something rams into my back, sending me stumbling forward, and small hands fist themselves in the back of my black shirt.
Ino? I brace myself for the punishment that is inevitably going to follow for running away, but when several seconds pass and it doesn't come I relax. The hands gripping my shirt aren't doing much more than that. Just sort of... trembling? Who-?
"Hyuuga."
"Hinata?" I ask, looking over my shoulder, and sure enough find pale lavender eyes looking back up at me. Wet eyes. "Hey, hey! What's wrong?" I twist around, thoroughly alarmed, but she doesn't let me turn the whole way, her fingers slender bits of steel against my back.
"I thought you were-" she whispers shakily. "I thought..."
She leans forward and presses her forehead against my back, silently crying. Six paths save you, Uzumaki, what have you done. I slowly, slowly reach behind my back and envelope my weeping friend's hands in my own, and if she flinches then at least she doesn't jerk away from the touch. I carefully pry her fingers from my shirt one at a time, and when my clothes are free of her I turn around and hug her tightly.
"What's gotten into you?" I ask, only now realizing that she hadn't said a single thing when Sasuke and I stumbled into the stands. I'd just assumed she was too busy watching the fights, or maybe being shy. What a perceptive friend I am. "Did I do something wrong?"
"N-no!" she chokes out. "I'm the one doing something wrong. It's silly of me to be c-crying like this-"
"But?" I interject gently.
"I was so scared," she says, burying her face into my shoulder. She mumbles something into the fabric of my shirt, but even in the relative silence of the shadowed hallway I can't make it out.
"You what?"
"Dead."
She trembles a little harder. "I thought you were dead."
And suddenly it all makes sense. I tighten my hold on my ridiculous, frail, adorable friend and exhale loudly. "Man, Hinata, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have cut it that close."
She shakes her head again, arms wrapping around my waist after a long moment's hesitation. "You did your best," she assures me, even though I'm supposed to be the one comforting right now. "You always do your best. I know I shouldn't have doubted you. There was just so much fire, and then the dragon ate you. I shouldn't have doubted you, but-"
"Hey, even I doubted me for a second there," I joke, doing my best to lighten the mood I can see her falling into. That doesn't make my words any less true, of course. It had been a wild kind of fear that had driven me to using Kazu's gift, whatever it was, and the sensation of the massive flaming construct swallowing me whole still had my heart pounding several minutes later.
"I don't want you to die, Naruto," she says, oh so quietly. "I know it's your dream to do this, a-and I know you've worked so hard, but I still don't want you to die. Please."
I blink at the emotion in her voice, open my mouth, close it. I have no idea what to say.
She stiffens, her words and actions apparently catching up to her, and hurriedly pulls herself away from me. Unfortunately for her, I've got a pretty strong grip. Rather than creating distance between us, she's guided firmly into the juncture between my neck and shoulder. She gasps, which feels, ah, interesting against the feverishly hot skin of my neck, and I rest my chin on her short mop of hair. It smells like fruit. And girl.
"I'll do my best," I finally decide, lips quirking wryly. "Believe it."
"Thank you," she breathes. I shiver.
"S-so!" I say, holding her out at arms length. "You're good now, right? No more tears, you hear me?" She nods, gathering herself and brushing the moisture from her eyes.
"Um, there was one thing..." Her hand dips into one of the pockets of her beige coat, and from it she pulls a small container. She holds it out to me. "Since the Uchiha clan specialize in fire jutsu, I thought you might get burned. So I made this," she explains, ducking her head. "Please accept it."
I take the container, popping it open curiously. Thick, herbal smells waft from the light green gel within. I blink. "You made me a salve?" She nods. "Wow! Thanks, Hinata!"
I don't waste any time in crouching down and rolling up my scorched pant legs, revealing the angry red skin that had taken the worst of the burns from Sasuke's great clone explosion. It isn't quite to that gross cracked-and-oozing stage yet, thankfully, which means I can slather it with salve to my heart's content. I set the container aside after digging out a generous portion of gel and start rubbing.
As soon as the medicine touches my skin a pleasant chill washes over my legs, soothing away the pain that I had been steadily ignoring since the end of my fight. I exhale a long, relieved breath, working the gel into my skin as deep as it will go.
Alright, so maybe I don't hate all medicine.
I'm so wrapped up in enjoying the results of Hinata's gift that I don't even notice she's still hanging around until her hand brushes against my cheek. I jerk, looking up into shy lavender eyes.
"You, um, have burns on your face as well," she says, showing me the gel in her hand. Oh, right.
"Bastard got me good, didn't he?" I turn back to my legs. "Go for it."
We fall into a comfortable silence like that, while I focus on my legs and arms and she works on the spots I can't readily see like my face and neck. Every brush of her fingers carries a refreshing chill, and I'd be lying if I said I don't enjoy the attention. Hopefully it helps her put some of her fears to rest, too. She's worrying way too much about me.
When the container finally runs dry I stand up and stretch, relishing the absence of tightness in my skin. I smile brightly, offering her a hand up. "You're the best, Hinata."
She accepts my hand and lets me pull her up. Her face is flushed, probably from the crying she did earlier, when she returns my smile. "I'm glad it helped."
"Alright, now I've really gotta find the genin box!" Hinata bows her head and bids me farewell, and I wave goodbye, turning towards the staircase and the labyrinth waiting below.
As I turn away from my friend, I catch a glimpse of the exit leading to the stands, and the woman leaning against the wall just inside of it. Hinata's sensei doesn't say a word, just stares at me, her crimson eyes vibrant and piercing in the darkness of the hallway.
...
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