ℕ𝕒𝕣𝕦𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒 𝕆𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕥𝕤

ᑕᑌᖇᗴ ᖴOᖇ Tᕼᗴ ᗷᒪᑌᗴՏ ➪ ᗪᖇKKᑎI

Naruto walked inside his house. He shrugged off his jōnin vest and dropped his weapons by the door before shrugging off his sandals. He cast his unusually downcast eyes around his dark home. He didn't think his wife was home, but he called out anyways.

"Hinata?"

After a moment of silence, he concluded that she wasn't home. He sighed and shuffled into the kitchen, grabbing a glass and pouring himself some water. After emptying the glass, he eyed a sake bottle in a cabinet and after a moment's hesitation he grabbed it and a cup, heading into the living room. He sat down on the couch and filled the cup, draining it immediately. He spied an orange book lying on the table. He leaned forward and picked it up. It was Jiraiya's latest book, but he didn't remember leaving it down here last night. He sat for he didn't know how long before he heard the door open and close.

"Naruto?" called out Hinata.

"In here," he responded, in a downcast voice. He heard her place her things at the door and walk towards him.

She turned on the lights, causing him to squint momentarily. They stared at each for a moment. Naruto noted that she was wearing a sundress, indicating she was probably teaching female arts at the academy. He smiled slightly, glad that she was able to do things she really enjoyed today. Hinata noticed Naruto was still in his field clothes and was still dirty. She noticed the sad look in his eyes and, even though he smiled slightly at her, it still looked empty. She finally noticed the bottle on the table and frowned. He never drank unless it was a special occasion.

"Naruto, how long have you been home?" she asked, moving towards him.

It took him a moment before he answered. "About an hour."

She frowned more. If was home that early, he would usually have gotten cleaned up and probably cooked dinner. She sat down beside, tucking her legs under herself. She wrapped her arms around his arm, and leaned her head on his shoulder. "How did your mission go?" she asked, suspecting that that was the problem.

She saw him frown out of the corner of her eye, indicating she had made a correct guess. "A success," he stated, not opting to give details.

"Oh, that's good," she said, not truly feeling happy about it. She couldn't with Naruto feeling bad. "Did everything go as planned?" When he didn't answer for a minute, she turned to look at his face. His frown was the same, but she could see it in his eyes. She could see that something terrible had happened today. "Naruto, what's the mat-" she finished in a squeak as she was suddenly lifted up and spun in the air, landing sideways in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her body, pushing his face into her neck and chest. She initially flushed at the intimacy, but she quickly suppressed when she remembered how upset he was. He was a very physical person in their relationship, a fact that took her a while to get use to. He was always hugging her and seems to want constant contact, nothing that she would ever feel uncomfortable with, beyond her natural shy nature. However, as much as he seems to love to touch her, he was hardly ever tender with her, reserving that for more special times. That was why his sudden vulnerable grasp of her was so disconcerting.

"Naruto-kun…" she said softly, stroking his hair and planting a small kiss on his scalp. "What happened?"

"I wasn't fast enough," he finally said, his voice dripping with guilt. "And a new chūnin died because of it."

She felt a tremor course through his body, but she knew he wasn't crying. "I know you did everything you could have," she assured him, wrapping her arms around his neck, pushing his head further into her. She had always seen Naruto as an unbreakable force, never breaking. After just a short while of being with him, she saw that he was more vulnerable than most, and it endeared him to her all the more, driving her to want to do everything in her power to make him feel better.