Chapter 25

-Hinata's POV-

A couple days passed, and I finally began feeling like my old self, both mentally and physically. As a result, Sakura asked me to join her in doing laundry so I wouldn't die of boredom in the bedroom with nothing to do but read. Usually, I love reading, but when it's all there was to do for three days straight, anyone would get restless.

The two of us, with Sasuke and Naruto, are supposed to make our first supply run tomorrow. Shikamaru wants us to do asylum since everyone else had the nearby houses covered. He said the first few floors have already been done, so we'd likely be able to finish the building within two or three days, by which time everyone will be ready for travel.

"Oh! We should ask Konohamaru to join us! The poor kid's been stuck with Kankuro and Kiba since he woke up." I gave Sakura a grin as we walked downstairs.

Konohamaru's the boy they'd managed to capture and rescue from one of those weird alien things in his neck. I was relieved to hear he woke up afterward. If he hadn't, that would mean something terrible for humankind because who knew how many people were already inhabited.

"He's a really shy and sweet guy. I think you two will get along," Sakura said as we turned down the hall of the study.

We could hear Kiba and Kankuro's laughter as we approached the room. When we walked in, my pink-haired friend announced our arrival, "Good morning! Can we borrow Konohamaru today?"

Before anyone could respond, the skinny teenager, whom I assumed was our group's new addition, was on his feet and coming toward me with an angry look on his face, "You!"

All of us were surprised, but luckily Kiba had quick reflexes and tackled him to the ground just before he could reach me. It's not that I would've let him attack me, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to disable him without causing injury.

"What the hell, kid!" Kankuro barked as he knelt beside the pinned-down person in question.

He growled and tugged against Kiba's hold, "Let me go! She knows where Sana is!"

Sakura looked at me, and I shrugged. I'd never seen this boy or met anyone named "Sana". My friends pulled the boy upright, and I knelt with Sakura, "My name's Hinata. Why did you say that? I don't know anyone named-"

He cut me off with tears in his eyes, "Yes, you do, you liar! We saved you from that shooter the other day."

My heart sank in my chest, and I fell back onto my bottom with a hand to my mouth, "T-That girl was…?" I knew I hadn't imagined someone else before I passed out! It must've been him!

Konohamaru's struggling ceased, and the rage in his eyes became dread, "Don't tell me…."

I tried not to let my tears fall because the girl was clearly this boy's friend, but I couldn't stop them and frantically wiped at my cheeks as they fell, "She's…. I-I-I'm sorry, she…. She was shot, and then, a-ah…. I-I mean, the house, it was-"

All three of my friends gasped in realization simultaneously, Kiba being the one to speak in a disbelieving tone, "The burning body!"

Konohamaru's teary eyes overflowed, and he bent his head down as he started to sob, "B-Burning? She's.…" I swatted the Kiba's hands away so he'd release the boy and bowed, "I-I am so sorry. I swear I tried to save her! I owe both of you my life."

The boy, who I was sure would hate me for being the last one to see his friend alive, placed a trembling hand on top of one of mine as he covered his face with his other arm and tried to speak through his heavy crying, "Y-You were almost dead. There's nothing you could've done."

After everyone had a chance to calm down and collect themselves, Kiba and Kankuro headed out with Naruto and Sasuke to exercise. At the same time, Konohamaru joined Sakura and me in cleaning and sorting out laundry. The room was silent for a while after my pink-haired friend explained what to do.

We all worked quietly because the aura was somber. I couldn't stop glancing over at our new friend. Konohamaru looked defeated as he folded up the men's jeans and sorted them by what room they needed to be delivered to.

It didn't matter how close he and Sana had been because I had known her for maybe an hour, and her death affected me greatly. The fact that someone so special was killed carelessly for someone like me didn't and never would sit well. I felt guilty, and I felt responsible for what happened.

After about half an hour of silent work, I tried to break the tension, "So, you're from Konoha, too? That's my hometown."

He nodded, "My name usually gives it away." A small smile tugged at the corner of Sakura's lips in response to his attempt to mask his bashfulness with sarcasm.

"Your parents must really love our city since they named you after it."

Dark brown eyes darted nervously over us both before turning down again, and I noticed a light blush dusting his cheeks. He hesitated momentarily before sighing, "Hiruzen Sarutobi is my grandfather."

My jaw fell, and Sakura gave me a confused look. I didn't look away from Konohamaru's bashful face as I explained, "He's the grandson of the Hokage."

She looked just as stunned as me once she understood, "How did you end up all the way in Oto? Did your grandpa not try to take you somewhere safe?"

His cute expression disappeared, and he gingerly continued his confession, "I, um, I ran away from home right before everything happened. I hitchhiked my way here because a few online friends said they'd let me stay with them for a bit."

Something dawned on me, and I spoke before I could forget it, "What school do you go to?"

"KPS. Why?"

If he was sixteen and went to Konoha Private, he was likely my little sister's classmate. "Do you know Hanabi Hyuuga?"

Immediately, the boy's face was bright cherry red, and he struggled to respond, "Y-Y-Yes, everyone at school does. Why?"

"She's my sister."

His mouth fell open slightly, and he studied my face briefly as though trying to put the pieces together, "I thought something seemed familiar about you. It's the eyes."

My face warmed as I thought about Hanabi, "Are you two friends?"

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and averted his gaze to the floor, "Not exactly."

Sakura let out a small laugh, "Konohamaru, you totally like her! Have you confessed?"

Knowing my sister as well as I do, I frowned empathetically, "She shot you down hard, didn't she?"

He nodded with a sigh of defeat, "She's ruthless."

I paused in sorting out socks and undergarments, a task I'd been actively trying to mentally distance myself from so I wouldn't get embarrassed, "When we get back to Konoha, I'm going to look for her. If you don't want to return to your family, you're welcome to join me."

Konohamaru offered another bashful look but seemed more relaxed, "I'll think about it. Thank you."

The next day, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and I set out early in the morning to visit the asylum down the road. We each carried a large empty backpack to fill with anything we felt was worth returning to the house.

Once we got to the third floor, Sakura said, "We should each take one floor to make sure we don't overlap and waste time. Sound like a plan?"

No one argued. So, she took the third, Sasuke took the fourth, Naruto took the fifth, and I took the top floor. A chill ran up my spine when I set foot on the sixth floor. It was the same floor my room was on, and I wasn't exactly excited to be back, but I'd been feeling like a burden for resting while everyone else worked hard, so I couldn't bring myself to say anything.

My fingers shook around the grip of the taser in my hand as I slowly walked around the lobby with eyes peeled for movement. The corpses were much more decayed than when I last saw them, and the smell was awful, but I quickly found a surgical mask to muffle the scent enough that I could breathe without gagging. Thinking it wise, I also pulled on a pair of latex gloves.

After shoving the remaining boxes of masks and gloves into my backpack, I rose to my feet and returned to searching. My skin prickled when a wave of emotion from Naruto swept over me, and it felt like he'd made a significant discovery. Since it wasn't anything negative, I ignored it and continued walking, only to freeze when my eyes lay upon the familiar corpse of the dead nurse whose keys I'd swiped a little over a week ago.

It was my room.

My eyes slowly traveled up the white floor as I anxiously approached. Thick blood droplets from my injuries that day were dry on the linoleum and became thicker the closer I came to the doorway. My heart was beating loudly in my ears as I finally turned to look inside, feeling ice cold both inside and out. The red of the blood on the floor contrasted nicely against the stark white of literally everything else in the room.

My legs moved on instinct, and I hesitantly entered to sit on the edge of the bed with my feet on the ground, hands in my lap, and eyes dissociated out on the white wall across from me.

"Hinata! Where are you!" Naruto's voice met my ears, and I heard his quick footsteps approaching before he rushed into the room and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

My chin quivered as blue eyes danced from where I sat to the pile of broken mirror pieces on the floor and finally to the massive amount of blood between there and the doorway.

He didn't hesitate and grabbed my wrist, pulled me to my feet, and led me out of the room, "Why didn't you say anything?"

I blinked tears away as I allowed him to lead me down to the fifth floor. Once there, he turned to put his hands on my shoulders, "You take this one, and I'll go up there."

I nodded, feeling foolish at having been seen like that by him. He sighed and pulled my mask down to press his lips against mine, snapping me out of my stupor and making my face heat up. When he pulled back, he spoke more softly, "Tell me next time, okay?" I nodded again and watched him turn and head back up the steps.

After taking a strengthening breath, I got back to work. He'll undoubtedly want to talk about this when we get back, so I needed to mentally prepare myself. Time passed as I gathered socks, first aid items, medicines, and hygiene products.

Then, I came upon the cafeteria where I'd camped out in the pantry. It hit me that the moment of realization I'd felt from Naruto earlier must've been him discovering this and recognizing how I'd described it. Meaning he knew that the next floor up was where my room was. My face warmed as I put my body back in motion.

I really am a fool.