Other world chimera [Naruto fanfic]

134. Nozomi’s plight

Nozomi woke up once again too early in the morning. Her back drenched in sweat from the nightmare that assaulted her every other night. It all started when she saw what could become of Tomoka. That horrid monster haunted her in her nightmares. 

Ever since she would have mixed feelings when she would spend time with Tomoka. On one side she still loves her and every second with the red-head makes her feel happy. On the other she would have sudden flashbacks and fear would take hold of her. 

She had tried her best to hide it but from the worried glances Tomoka would give her from time to time she knew she failed. Not only that but the fact that Tomoka knew but didn’t approach her worried the Uchiha girl. Had she done something wrong? Has she somehow offended Tomoka?

‘I need to talk with her, but what should I say? “Oh hello there Tomoka, it just so happens that I am now terrified of you” What a joke! What should I do?’ 

Sighing, Nozomi decided to ask the only person that could maybe help her. A while later she stood at the Hyuga compound waiting for Hinata. 

“Nozomi? Is something wrong?” Hinata felt a bit of worry since she had been woken up by one of the servants telling her that Nozomi was waiting for her at the compound’s gate. 

“Yes, I mean, no, erm it's complicated” Nozomi couldn’t help but fidget a little. 

“Okay, do you want to speak inside or…” Hinata didn’t finish her sentence. Should Nozomi want to talk about a delicate subject it would be better for them to speak somewhere else. 

“Elsewhere” With that the two began walking in awkward silence. One wondering what is going on and the other thinking on how to approach the subject. A while later the two stood in a rather desolate area of Konoha. The two stood in silence for a while until…

“I am scared” That was all Nozomi could say before the dam containing her emotions broke apart. 

“You weren’t there and even though we told you what happened I don’t think you could even imagine how it felt” Nozomi’s eyes began to tear up as she balled her fists. 

“Every time I am with Tomoka the image of her monster version invades my mind” After that she had to take a deep breath to try and fail to calm down giving Hinata the chance to speak. 

“So you are now scared of Tomoka?” 

“No!” Nozomi shouted before she knew what she was doing. 

“I am not scared of her. I think… I think I am scared of losing her to that… thing” That was all she could say before her throat closed up. 

“I see. Then it’s a good thing you were there to stop that from happening isn’t it?” Hinata said while giving Nozomi a smile just before hugging her. 

“We won’t lose her Nozomi, neither you or me will allow that to happen”  

“But what if we aren’t strong enough, what if we fail” 

“Then we need to become stronger don’t we? Both for ourselves and for Tomoka” Hinata said with conviction. Nozomi is right, she had a hard time imagining what had happened. However, hearing the story still made her tremble with worry. 

“For that we will need Tomoka’s help as well… and I recommend you to speak to her about this fear.” 

“I think she knows something is wrong but… she hasn’t approached me to speak about it… did I do something to make her angry?” Nozomi is still worried about this. In the past every time Tomoka noticed something wrong with either of them she would tackle the subject instantly. 

“I don’t think she is angry… I think she’s just… different I guess. Ever since we helped her get her emotions back she has been a lot more affectionate but also less… intrusive?” Thinking about it, Nozomi realized that what Hinata said is the truth.  

“I think she is waiting for you to broach the subject”

“I see, then I will speak with her later today”