The wind howled down the corridor like a cry that never found voice.
Hinata stood outside Naruto's apartment. Again.
Her fingers hovered just above the wood. She didn't knock. Not yet.
She couldn't.
Because she knew what was behind that door.
Not a danger.
Not a threat.
But something far worse for a girl like her:
Another heartbeat.
Another body. Another laugh. Another scent.
Ino had been there.
Hinata could smell her perfume—sharp and floral, clinging to the wood like a challenge. She could feel it in the chakra hanging in the air. Residue of something warm. Something claimed.
And it wasn't hers.
Not anymore.
It had been four days since she last saw him.
Not training. Not walking. Not even brooding on the rooftop where he always disappeared.
And for Hinata, those four days had stretched like years.
Not because Naruto was hers. She had never made that mistake.
But because when she gave him her heart—fully, completely, without condition—he had taken it.
And now she felt its absence like a wound.
When she finally knocked, she did it softly.
The door opened.
Naruto stood in the doorway, shirtless again, damp from a shower, hair a mess.
He looked at her.
Nothing more.
And that nothing—that silence—ripped something inside her.
"…Hi," she said.
His nod was quiet. He stepped aside.
She entered.
The room smelled like him.
Still clean. Still sparse. But it no longer felt untouched.
Ino's chakra was still there. Subtle. Clinging.
And Naruto made no effort to hide it.
"Where have you been?" she asked, standing in the middle of the room like a ghost.
"Training."
"With her?"
His eyes flicked to her.
That pause.
It was small.
But it was everything.
"…Yes," he said.
Hinata's throat clenched.
And she hated herself for how much it hurt. How much it burned. How it made her want to scream.
She had told herself it was enough—just having a place beside him. Having his kiss. His arms. That one night on the rooftop.
She was wrong.
Because now that someone else had touched him…
The monster inside her had awakened.
"She doesn't love you," Hinata said, her voice shaking. "She likes being wanted. She likes the challenge. That's all she is."
"You don't know what she is to me," Naruto replied calmly.
"I know what I am."
He said nothing.
And in that silence, her heart broke.
Because he wasn't denying it.
He wasn't choosing her.
Not really.
Not anymore.
"You never said I was yours," she whispered. "But I acted like I was. I stayed quiet. I waited. I didn't ask for more than you gave."
"I never lied to you, Hinata."
"No," she said, voice rising, eyes glassy. "But you let me believe. You let me believe I was enough."
He stepped closer.
"I didn't know what enough looked like," he said. "I still don't."
Her lip trembled.
"I do."
And then her knees gave.
Not from weakness.
But from choice.
She sank to the floor, bowed her head, hands on her thighs.
"Please," she whispered. "Please look at me like you did before. Just for a second. Please let me feel like I'm yours again."
Naruto stared at her.
And something in him—something deep and brutal—moved.
He knelt in front of her.
Lifted her chin.
Her eyes were red.
Raw.
But unwavering.
"You're not mine if this breaks you," he said. "You're mine if it doesn't."
"I want to be yours even if it does."
He kissed her.
Slow. Long.
And for the first time, possessive.
Not gentle.
Not sweet.
But claiming.
She cried into the kiss.
Because she had him.
And she knew…She would never have all of him.
But she would take what he gave.Even if it shattered her.
He held her that night.
They didn't speak.
She didn't ask questions.
He didn't offer promises.
But as they lay together, her head on his chest, her body curled against his, Naruto ran his fingers through her hair and whispered, so low it might've been a dream:
"I never wanted to hurt you. But I won't apologize for being who I am."
"I know," she whispered. "I love you anyway."