The princess and the stable boy chapter 7

"blablabla" - Normal conversation
'blablabla' - inner monologue
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Naruto-kun has been working as our stable boy for some weeks now. Even my father, the forever-grumpy man, told me that I had done a great job picking him. Truth be told though, I haven’t been at the stables as much as my friends would have hoped I would, and I must admit, that I am a little disappointed in myself. So today, I decided to do something about it, and go say good morning to Naruto-kun. I walked down to the stables, nervously, and tried to think of how I could avoid the awkward silence we usually have. Before even realizing it, I now stood in the door to the stables, but Naruto-kun was nowhere to see. 7

“Mornings”

“Eep!”  
I jumped by the surprised, and saw that it was a certain blonde-haired boy, who stood behind me.

“G-Good morning Naruto-kun” I managed to say with a blush on my face.

‘I wonder why I keep blushing around him?’ I thought to myself.

“So Hime… What brings you to the stables?” I can’t believe how kind and loving his smile is.

“N-No special reason..”

“Hm? Really? You sure it wasn’t because you wanted to say hi to Blaze?” He said the last part a bit teasingly. I couldn’t tell him that the real reason for coming down here, was to see Naruto-kun.

“W-Well..”

‘Really? Is that all you can say Hinata? You big fool’ I thought to myself. He put the food he was carrying down, and picked up an apple from one of the buckets. He walked over to Blaze, took a knife from his pockets, and cut it in half. He gave one-half to Blaze, who gladly accepted it. I could not help but smile at the scene in front of me. It was nice to see a boy having such a special bond and relationship with his horse. Something I had difficulty relating too. Suddenly I saw a hand reaching out to me. I looked up surprised and saw Naruto smiling at me.

“Want to try giving the other half to Blaze?” He asked. I can’t believe it, it was like he was reading my mind.

“H-Hai…” He led me to his horse, I admit, I was a bit nervous. But something about Naruto-kun clamed me down. He put the half apple in my hands and slowly pushed it towards Blazes muzzle.

“Eep!” The touch of the tip of his muzzle on my hand surprised me. It was a feeling I have not had for many years. But even though it surprised me, I couldn’t’ help but smile as the horse ate the apple. I slowly moved my hand to his head, I hesitated a bit, but in the end, I couldn’t stop my moving. Only a few inches between the flat of my hand and the head of the horse. It was as if Blaze moved his head the last few inches, because my hand was now resting on the calm horse’s head.

“I… I did it..”

“You know… Blaze really likes you…” I looked up at the boy, who now stood beside me. He moved his hand to Blaze’s head, as he began to speak.

“Ne Hime… Can I… ask you a question?” What is this all about? My heart suddenly started racing for some weird reason.
“S-Sure Naruto-kun.. What do you want to know?” I was a bit nervous for what he was about to ask me. My heart even began to beat even faster than before.

“You don’t seem so comfortable around horses.. May I know why?” He looked sad, or rather worried, as he asked me his question. I removed my hand from Blaze’s muzzle and looked down on the ground.

“Well…” I’ve never really told this to anyone. Not even sakura, Ino or Tenten, who I usually tell everything. Something tells me that I can trust Naruto-kun. Even though I’ve only known him for a few weeks. But he is definitely different from all the other people who walks around me every day.

“When I was younger, my mom taught me how to take care of all sorts of animals, but horses was my favorite animal at that time. The way they looked when they were running freely over the fields in their packs, protecting each other. I wasn’t allowed to go out in the stables without an escort. So when ever my mom had time, she would take me there, and let me brush her horse, and even letting me sit on it.” I could see that Naruto-kun was actually interested in my childhood story, and listened carefully to what I had to say. So I continued.

“One day I even got my own horse…”

“Really?! What kind?!” He asked me with a big smile

“Oh… I-I can’t remember… it was such a long time ago” That was a lie. I could clearly remember that it was a Gypsy horse. I don’t know why I didn’t tell him that.

“Oh… well, anyway. What happened then?”

“R-Right.. ano… My mother taught me everything there was to know about brushing, feeding, and also riding… but when my mother suddenly got sick, I couldn’t bring myself to go out to the stables… So I didn’t spend as much time with my horse at all… but when my mother…” I couldn’t say the last words.

“H-Hime? Are you alrigt?” He asked with such a concern that I couldn’t stop the tear rolling down my cheek.

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“But when my mother…” I could see her body tighten up. This wasn’t easy for her to talk about, so I couldn’t help but to be concerned.

“H-Hime? Are you alright?” I asked her. I saw a single tear running down her cheek. When she looked up at me with a smile on her lips, I was so close to running over and hug her. Her smile said it all. She was hurt and scared. Scared for what, I do not know. But one thing I know for sure, is that I wanted to do everything to get rid of whatever her fear was. She continued her story after she took a deep breath.

“W-When my mother died… I needed some comfort. So I went out to the stables, even though I wasn’t allowed to. But I chose to do it anyway. I just wanted to run, to get as far away as possible from everything. So I took the saddle for my horse. She wasn’t as calm as she usually was, and neither was I. When I was about to jump up unto her back, she reared and I fell to the ground. Neji-nii-san had apparently heard the ruckus. He ran in and got me away from the horse… he…. He…” She took another deep breath.

“He took his sword and… and then…” she was trying to speak in between her sobs. At that moment, I couldn’t care less about the rules. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her.

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I suddenly felt strong arms being wrapped around me. Of course I realized that it was Naruto-kun. I know the rules says that neither I or the Stable boy can have a relationship of any sort together. But I couldn’t care less. I needed this! I haven’t felt such comfort since my mother passed away. I tightened my grip on the front of his shirt and dug my face in his chest.

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I honestly didn’t expect her respond to my hug the way she did. But I know that it helped. We stood like that for a few minutes before we broke apart. I looked at her in concern.

“Are you alright?” I asked her again. She looked back at me with a different smile than before.

“H-Hai… Arigatou” I could tell her smile was more honest and true.

“Good, because Blaze here was beginning to get worried about you” She laughed at my stupid joke. I t was nice to see this happy side of her. I want to see it more often.


End of chapter 7