Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Colors of Life and Death ❯ Believe ( Chapter 20 )

This chapter is the freaking energizer bunny. It's 4853 words. Don't get used to that chapter length though. It's rare I take so long to find a stopping point.

Xoni Newcomer: ER, if Naruto's mom was eight months pregnant, I can't imagine how was she able to overcome Jiraiya and perform any ninja art. Her speed & energy should be greatly diminished. Actually, it's not all that unbelievable when you consider that some women don't get much of a baby belly when pregnant. Not to mention we've seen ninjas on Naruto take enough punishment to kill six people and still get up and kick the crud out of their enemies. Lol

____________________________________________________________ ______

Gama Bunta stared at the boy that was lying on the ground impatiently. "Dammit, Brat. Wake up already," he grumbled. Suddenly he had an idea. He took a long drag on his pipe and blew it into Naruto's face.
After a second, Naruto began coughing. His eyes opened and he sat up, gasping for air. He looked up at Gama Bunta. "What the hell was that for?" he asked bitterly as he folded his legs Indian style.

Gama Bunta cocked an eye ridge. "You were sleeping too long," he said bluntly.

Naruto rested his face in his right hand and sighed heavily through the splayed fingers. "Where's Ero-sennin?"

"He left, Kid. He said to tell you he won't be coming back...and that he's sorry," Gama Bunta replied gently.

Naruto's lips shook slightly as his eyes filled with tears. Now that the object of his anger wasn't within punching distance his pain took over. He lowered his head and dropped his hands to the ground. He then alternated between sobbing loudly and punching the ground in angered frustration.

Naruto's pitiful crying made Gama Bunta suddenly unsure of what to do. He wasn't good at comforting people. He had always left the comforting of his children to his mate. Just as he was about to attempt putting a webbed finger on the boys shoulder he saw Tsunade running towards them from the other side of the field. He looked up at the sky. Thank you," he thought.

"I saw you from my office window!" Tsunade said through sucking in lung fulls of air. She looked at Naruto. "What happened?"

"Jiraiya...." Gama Bunta answered, hoping she'd know what that meant, since he sure as hell didn't.

Tsunade expression fell. "Oh...." she remarked softly. She swallowed and knelt down next to her son.

"Graaaaaaa!" Naruto cried in anguish as his fists slammed into the ground again.

Tsunade bit her lower lip to keep herself from crying. "....Naruto?" she put her hand on his shoulder. He flinched and slapped it away. She gritted her teeth. "Dammit. Why did I think he could handle this without me?"

"If you won't be needing me, I think I will return home," Gama Bunta informed Tsunade.

Tsunade nodded and Gama Bunta disappeared. She turned her attention to Naruto, who had gone back to crying, and watched him for a brief moment before surrounding the distraught boy with her arms.

Naruto's body tensed when he realized Tsunade was hugging him. He put all his strength into trying to escape but she refused to let go. "Leave me alone, dammit!" he choked out in frustration.

Her eyes opened when she felt Naruto go slack in her arms. "He looks so small," Tsunade thought as she began to stroke his hair in a motherly fashion. "Shhh. Shh, sh, sh, shhhhh. I'm here."

Tsunade's maternal words stirred something in Naruto. It was the second time she had said something like that. He suddenly wished with all his heart that he'd had this comfort when he was younger. He barely thought it before he said it. "Kaaasaaan....." he cried.

Nothing could've described the feeling of her adopted son saying that word to her. She held him ever closer. "Naruto...." she said warmly, "I'm here...I'm here." It was then that she realized just how much she loved being a mother. "I'm here...For as long as you need me...."

____________________________________________________________ ______

As Tsunade, Hinata, Sasuke and Sakura rounded the corner and the Hokage estate came into view they saw the person they were looking for. Sakura stared at Naruto, who was lying on the roof. "How long has he been up there?"

Tsunade sighed. "About six hours now. And nothing I say makes a difference." She paused for a moment. "He won't even come down for ramen," she said with a frown.

"Nani??" Sakura said sharply.

"That is serious," Sasuke remarked.

"I was hoping maybe you kids could snap him out of it," Tsunade explained with a 'please do this' expression.

Hinata nodded. "We'll do our best."

Tsunade smiled. "Thanks," she replied. "She's really gotten more confident since Naruto began to notice her."

The teens nodded and headed off to the roof.

____________________________________________________________ ______

Naruto lay on his back, staring up at the sky. He just didn't want to do anything. He had been betrayed and could think of nothing else. He heard them when they landed on the roof, but he didn't acknowledge their presence.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata said once they reached him. No answer came.

"Naruto, we were gonna go to a movie...wanna come?" Sakura asked, making sure she stayed at least five feet away from Sasuke. Again, no answer.

Both girls looked at Sasuke as if to say ‘Your turn!’. He sighed in defeat. “C'mon, Dobe. We'll treat you to some ramen,” he offered. Still nothing.

Finally, Naruto sighed. He still didn't turn his head, but he did speak. “Look...I know you guys are trying to help, but I really wanna be alone right now.”

"Are you sure, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked tentatively. "His voice changed. He...he sounds amazing," she thought as heat rose to her cheeks.

"Yeah...." Naruto said with a sigh.

Sakura chewed her lower lip. It was strange to see her usually happy, hyperactive friend like that. "It's not natural. Like we've been sucked into an alternate dimension or something," she thought. "Well...if you want to talk," she offered.

"Nm," Naruto replied solemnly.

Sasuke turned and began to walk away. Sakura waited a few seconds to be sure they wouldn't wind up walking together on the way back to the main road then also started walking. Hinata stayed where she was. "Are you coming?" Sakura asked.

"Um...you two go ahead...I'm going to stay here," Hinata answered softly.

Sakura smiled slightly. "Okay." She put a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Good luck," she whispered.

Hinata nodded appreciatively and the other two left. "Naruto-kun?"

"I thought I said I wanted to be alone," Naruto replied, still not looking anywhere but the sky.

Hinata swallowed, wondering what on earth had possessed her to be so bold. "I...I know. I won't say anything, but do you mind if I just sit with you?"

Naruto sighed, realizing he probably wasn't going to win this one. "Whatever...."

"Thank you," Hinata said before sitting down. She turned her head to look at her crush. "I wish I knew what to say to make you stop hurting," she thought sadly.

Naruto tried not to think of the girl sitting next to him, but was failing miserably. "Dammit. If I run off she'll probably follow me. Why the heck did I tell her she could stay?" After lying there in silence for nearly fifteen minutes Naruto turned his head toward Hinata. Her hair caressed her face as a gentle wind swept the roof top and her eyes looked to the sky as though she were searching for advice from the heavens. Naruto felt a strange peace come over him as he watched her. Somehow, and he couldn't figure out why for the life of him, her just being there was making him feel better.

"Neh...Hinata-chan?" Naruto said quietly.

Hinata made a surprised sound and turned to Naruto. "Yes, Naruto-kun?" she said gently, worried that if she said something wrong that Naruto might go back to not talking.

"How much did Tsu...Hahaue tell you about what happened?" Naruto asked in a somewhat flat tone.

"Not much. She only said that something Jiraiya-sama said upset you."

Naruto sighed. On one hand he liked that Tsunade had respected his privacy, but on the other he really wasn't in the kind of mood where he wanted to have to explain about something painful. "Well...long story short, I found out that he knew who I was all this time...."

"You mean...he knew you were Yondaime's son?" Hinata asked in wide-eyed disbelief.

"Nm...."

The two teens were quiet for another minute or so. "He left me here, Hinata," Naruto broke the silence bitterly. "Left me to rot in a village full of people who wouldn't be sad to see me cut into a thousand pieces...." His face creased in anger and his fist clenched at his side.

"Naruto-kun...." Hinata said with tears in her eyes.

Naruto sat up and pulled his knees to his chest. "When I was little...I never thought... that there was someone out there who knew who I was. In fact, until I read Chichiuei's letter, I thought I'd be an unknown orphan forever."

Hinata wanted so badly to hug him, but she decided it wasn't the right time. Instead she sat and quietly listened to Naruto speak.

"Ero-sennin said Chichiuei was like a brother to him. How can he say that and not take me with him?" Naruto growled.

"E...Ero...sennin?" Hinata stuttered, blushing.

Naruto realized she'd never heard his 'nickname' for Jiraiya. "Sorry...It's an insult I call Jiraiya. He's a massive pervert," he said with disgust.

Hinata suddenly found the tiles on the roof very interesting. "Oh...." she said in a tiny voice.

Naruto's face flushed a bit at Hinata's embarrassment. It went away quickly though.

"M...maybe he was scared...." Hinata offered, playing with one of the sections of hair framing her face.

"Huh?" Naruto questioned. He didn't get what she was talking about right away due to getting off track a moment before.

"Jiraiya-sama...Maybe he didn't think he c...could raise you right...."

"He could've gotten books. It isn't that hard," Naruto replied bitterly.

"It was all I could think of...sorry...." Hinata said sadly.

"It's not your fault."

"I know. It's just...I hate that I can't think of anything to make you feel better," Hinata said with a sniff.

Naruto closed his eyes, sighed and re-opened them. "Hinata-chan," he said as he gave her a hug. "Thank you."

Hinata gulped nervously, but returned the hug. "Anytime, Naruto-kun." She released Naruto. "Would...you like to get some ramen? My treat," she said with a sweet smile and her fingers tented.

Naruto noticed her tenting her fingers, but it seemed different somehow. Almost...coy. "She's so...cute." He blushed a little and blinked back his thoughts as he considered her offer for a moment. "Sure," he answered. Hinata smiled widely at his answer and he suddenly felt a little light-headed.

Hinata stood up. "Let's go then," she said, offering Naruto her hand. "I can do this...It's just his hand," she thought in an effort to calm herself.

Naruto gingerly took the hand that was offered and his heart skipped a beat. "What is wrong with me? Grabbing her hand never bothered me before!" He stood up, using her hand as leverage and was about let go, but his hand wouldn't obey him.

Hinata noticed that Naruto hadn't let go of her hand yet and began to feel her face heat up. "N...Naruto-kun?"

Hinata's words seemed to snap his brain back to logical thought and he quickly let go of her hand, a slight pinkish tinge on his cheeks. He cleared his throat. "Um...sorry. I was, erm, thinking about something," he replied. "Yeah...like how cute she is in that tank top," his subconscious teased. "Shut up!" Naruto said out loud without realizing it.

"Huh?" Hinata asked, with confusion on her petite face.

"N, nothing...let's go. I'm starved," Naruto said with a smile that he hoped looked normal.

Hinata was still confused, but nodded anyway. "Okay."

____________________________________________________________ ______

Naruto and Hinata walked into Ichiraku to find Sakura much too interested in how many directions she could push the pearl onion floating at the top of her bowl of misou soup.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto called out as he scanned the surrounding area. "Where's Sasuke?"

Sakura put down her spoon and leaned her cheek against her fist. "Not a clue," she replied with a shrug. "Not that I really wanna be around him anyway."

"Huh? But you were up on the roof with him trying to cheer me up," Naruto pointed out.

"Tsunade-sama was asking me and Hinata if we could go with her to your house, then she saw Sasuke walking by and asked him too. I was trapped," Sakura sighed. "Besides, making sure you were okay was more important."

Naruto gave Sakura a small smile. "Thanks."

Sakura turned to him. "Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"I...I'm so sorry for...." Sakura began.

Naruto clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Hey, I forgave you already. You screwed up. It happens," he said with a shrug. "I wasn't exactly thrilled that you did it, but I can understand why you did. It's okay." He gave Sakura a small smile to show he meant what he said.

A tear rolled down Sakura's face. "You're a good friend, Naruto...kun," she said as she smiled and wiped away the tear.

Naruto's eyes widened at the addition of 'kun' on the end of his name. "Not a problem," he said with a broad grin. He rubbed his palms together. "Now," he said, looking at Hinata, "how bout that ramen?"

Hinata giggled. "Right."

____________________________________________________________ ______

The next day Tsunade stood next to Sakura as she attempted to revive a fish from the brink of death. She frowned at the girl's lack of success. "Focus, Sakura. You've done this already. This one's only thirty more seconds past heart failure."

The green healing light surrounding Sakura's hands faded and disappeared. She let out a large puff of air. "I just can't today, Tsunade-sama. I'm too distracted."

"Do you think your enemies are going to care about your personal problems?" Tsunade scolded.

Sakura hung her head. "No."

"Alright then. Now, focus!"

Sakura nodded and went back to curing the fish. In just a few seconds it was flapping all over the table. She smiled at her success and moved out of the way for Hinata. Tsunade picked up the first fish and handed it off to Nabiki, who had been standing in wait. "Take that down to the pond in the north garden."

Nabiki bowed. "Hai, Tsunade-sama."

As Nabiki walked off Tsunade grabbed another 'near death fish' off a towel on the floor next to her and put it on the table. "Alright, Hinata. Your turn."

Hinata nodded. Just then Naruto walked into the room with a huge glass of milk in the crook of one arm, a bag of cookies in the other and one cookie sticking out of his mouth. Everyone stared at him and he just grinned, his mouth still plugged up with the cookie.

Hinata couldn't help herself. She started laughing.

Tsunade sighed through her nose. "Naruto, you made her loose her...concentration," she tried her best to say without laughing. She failed. "Alright alright. I guess we can have a cookie break," she announced with a grin.

Naruto set down the milk and the bag, then ate the rest of the cookie that was in his mouth. After he washed it down with some of the milk he grinned again. "I knew you'd see it my way."

Tsunade picked up the fish and walked off into the kitchen with it, returning a moment later. "That one will be dinner," she said gesturing behind her. She picked up a cookie and dunked it, then sat down on the couch with Naruto. "You're doing extremely well, Sakura. You may be more talented then Shizune," she said with a smile.

Sakura smiled. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama."

"Which reminds me, you may have a chance to test out your new skills tomorrow," Tsunade informed her.

"Huh?" Sakura questioned.

"I received a mission for your team today. I'll tell you the details tomorrow though, when I have all three of you here."

Sakura winced at the obvious reference to Sasuke.

Tsunade noticed Sakura's reaction and frowned. "It still bothers you that much?"

Sakura sighed. "Well...it's not like I hate him or anything. In fact, I still care about him...a lot. It's just that...every time he's near me I feel like I wanna run. I can't help it. I just keep seeing that look in his eyes from when he...." she trailed off, knowing she didn't need to finish the sentence.

"Hmm. Well, you're going to have to put all that aside for your mission," Tsunade informed her.

"I know. I can do that," Sakura promised.

"Good girl," Tsunade replied. She turned to Hinata. "I want you on this mission too."

"Huh? B...but what about Shino and Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked with confusion.

"Don't worry. You're not switching teams. But I want you to get more combat experience and Shino is on a mission with his father at the moment. I also put Kiba on a mission with Gai's team," Tsunade explained.

"Oh...okay," Hinata finished with a smile. She looked over at Naruto. "I'll be on a mission with Naruto-kun," she thought as she blushed nervously.

Naruto noticed Hinata staring at him and felt his body heat up a bit. He swallowed and looked away, then suddenly stood up. "Tsunade no b...erm...Kaasan, I need to talk to you alone for a minute."

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow. "Sure." She stood up and turned to Nabiki, who had just walked in the door. "Nabiki, can you bring Hinata a new fish?"

Nabiki slumped a bit. "Maaaan. I just came back from the pond," she mock whined with a small smile.

Tsunade suppressed a laugh. "Move."

Nabiki sighed over-dramatically and trudged back out the door.

Tsunade smiled and turned to Naruto. "Alright, let's go."

Naruto nodded and headed into the dining room.

____________________________________________________________ ______

When Naruto and Tsunade entered the room they found Izumi setting the dinner table. "Izumi, shoo," Tsunade commanded with an up and down waving motion of her hand.

Izumi looked confused, but complied anyway. "Hai, Tsunade-sama."

Once Izumi was out of earshot, Tsunade and Naruto sat down at one end of the table. "So, what's up?" Tsunade asked as she rested her chin on her interlaced fingers.

Naruto sighed. "I need to talk to you...about Hinata-chan."

Tsunade's face broke into a wide smile. "Ahhhh. I see. What do you want to know?"

"What've I done?" Naruto thought in mild fear. "Every time I'm around her I keep thinking how...cute she is," he said with a slight grimace.

"And the problem is....?"

"I'm still not sure how I feel about her. We've been hanging out a lot lately and I like her a lot, but.... Ghaaaa. I'm so confused."

Tsunade laughed lightly. "You're fourteen kiddo. It's normal."

"What should I do?"

"You know what I find interesting?" Tsunade asked suddenly.

Naruto looked confused. "What?"

"You claimed to love Sakura for so long and I've never seen you this flustered over her," Tsunade answered with an amused smile.

At this Naruto turned red as a tomato.

"Know why?"

Naruto shook his head.

Tsunade's expression lost it's amusement and became more gentle. "Because Sakura was just a crush. I think Hinata is more than that to you," she explained.

"More?" Naruto asked.

"Mm hmm. But I'll let you figure that out on your own. It's not something that should be told to you by another person," Tsunade said as she gave him a gentle hug.

Naruto sighed heavily.

"Why don't we go back now? See how Hinata is doing with her fish."

"Okay," Naruto agreed.

____________________________________________________________ ______

Hinata barely noticed when Naruto and Tsunade re-entered the room, she was too busy concentrating. "Please," she thought. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead as she pushed the healing chakra into the fish.

After a few minutes of watching the girl struggle, Tsunade interrupted."Stop, Hinata," she said.

Hinata looked ashamed as she stopped the flow of chakra. "I...I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama," she said, bowing her head in shame.

Tsunade walked over to Hinata. "Hey, you did your best." She sighed in thought. "In fact, I think we may need to change the jutsu a bit to suit the way you use your chakra." After a moment of thought she said, "Hmm. Instead of blanketing the chakra, try pushing it through the tenketsu."

"Okay," Hinata replied, activated her Byakugan and proceeded to work on the same dead fish she had before. "I can't fail....Not in front of Naruto-kun."

"Hinata, you can't do anything more with that fish. I'll get you a new one," Tsunade said.

Hinata was so intent on helping the fish that she didn't hear her sensei. The damage was all repaired, but the fish was still dead. "Why isn't it working?" she thought in frustration. Suddenly her eyes widened...she had an idea.

"Hinata," Tsunade repeated, intent on tapping the girl on the shoulder to snap her out of it. As she reached out a white pulse of energy shot out from the fish...it started flapping. Hinata de-activated her Byakugan and smiled with pride. "H...how....? That shouldn't be possible," Tsunade asked, wide-eyed.

"W...well, I just thought of how the hospital uses those paddles to revive people, so I put some of my body's electrical current into the chakra," Hinata explained with an embarrassed blush.

"This girl...." Tsunade thought. "Hinata, I want you to promise me that you'll never do that again," she said sternly.

The smile fell from Hinata's face. "Huh?" she said in confusion. Hadn't she done a good job? "Why?"

"The body has a lot less electrical current than chakra. Reviving a fish is one thing. If you use that technique on a human being...you'll die," Tsunade said gravely. Hinata made a small gasp. "I am declaring that jutsu as forbidden. You can't use it and you will not teach it to anyone. Is that understood?"

Hinata's face showed her disappointment. "Hai....Tsunade-sama."

"Even if you can't use it again, that was incredible Hinata-chan!" Naruto said suddenly, breaking through the gloomy atmosphere.

Hinata looked up at her crush and smiled. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

Tsunade smiled. "Alright then. Aside from that, you should be able to use the normal healing jutsu just fine now." Hinata's smile widened. "Well, it's ten o-clock. I say we call it a night. I'll see you all here at two PM tomorrow."

The teens nodded and left the house. As they walked along the small forest road Naruto fell in step beside Hinata. "Neh, Hinata-chan..." he paused, realizing Sakura would hear what he was about to say. "Ano, Sakura-chan, could you walk on ahead? I need to talk to Hinata-chan."

Sakura smiled as though she had an idea of what he was going to say. "No problem." She put on a burst of speed. "See you guys tomorrow!" she called out over her shoulder.

After Sakura was out of earshot Naruto turned to Hinata and grabbed her hand. "Can we sit for a sec?" he said with a small blush.

Hinata looked surprised. "S..sure."

Naruto led her over to a fallen tree a few feet off the side of the road. As they sat down he fought an urge to surpass Rock Lee in running speed. He was silent for a moment before looking up at the girl next to him. She was wearing an azure blue tank top and denim shorts that ended above the knee. The combination made his face feel hot. He swallowed and spoke. "I...I'm not sure if I'm doing this right, but I need to tell you s...something," he finished in a small voice.

Hinata suddenly felt nervous. "H...hai?" she said as began chewing he bottom lip.

Naruto saw her chewing her lip and was horrified when he realized he wanted to cover that lip, no...both lips, with his own. He quickly looked down to avoid staring at her mouth. He gulped. "I...I think you're...you're...cute...." he said. "I can't believe I actually said it." he thought, desperately trying to ignore the butterflies that were now head butting the inside of his stomach.

Hinata couldn't believe her ears. Did he just say what I thought he....?" she thought in shock. She was amazed that she was able to get out the next word. "W...what?"

The bottom dropped out of Naruto's stomach. "Oh God. She wants me to repeat it?" he thought in horror. "I...think you're cute," he said with quite a bit more ease than the first time.

Hinata's mouth dropped open. "He did say it...Am I dreaming?" she thought, scarcely believing her own ears. Tears of joy filled her eyes.

Naruto's face took on a look of concern. "Did I...Did I do something wrong?"

Hinata shook her head rapidly. "N, no. I'm j...just happy," she replied, smiling.

A smile slowly spread over Naruto's face. Without even thinking about it he moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace.

Hinata felt herself stop breathing for a moment. H...he's hugging me...in that way," she thought, barely managing to fight the urge to pass out.

"Well it's true," Naruto said as he released the hug. Looking into her eyes, he suddenly felt a lot more bold. "I do think you're cute. I also think you're fun, and smart...and I think, no, I know...I like you."

Hinata could barely breath. "I...I...a...anno...."

Naruto swallowed again. "Would...would you like to be...my girlfriend?" he said with flaming red cheeks and a tightness in his throat.

With eyes as wide as dinner plates Hinata promptly passed out. Naruto caught the flushed girl as she fell backwards and rested her head in the crook of his right arm. "Hinata-chan! Oi!" he said as he shook her gently in an attempt to wake her up.

"I can't believe she just fainted like that," Naruto said as he sat there with her head resting in his arms, waiting for her to wake up. He felt very protective of her right then. As he reached down and began stroking her forehead her closed eyelids crinkled.

"Oh no. I don't want to wake up yet," Hinata thought in despair as her eyes fluttered open. Those same eyes widened when she realized she was looking up into the gentle face of the boy she loved. "N...Naruto-kun?"

"Hey there," Naruto said softly.

Hinata sat up faster than she ever had in her life. "So it wasn't a dream...." After a moment of silence she managed to look at Naruto. "I...I'm sorry I fainted."

Naruto let out a small puff of air. "I'm just glad you're okay," he replied. "Ano...so what do you think?"

Hinata stiffened, feeling woozy again, but willed herself not to faint a second time. "I...I would love to be your...g...girlfriend," she replied, fighting the urge to pinch herself.

Naruto smiled, most of his nervousness gone. "I guess that makes me your boyfriend then, huh?" he said as he moved over so he was sitting right next to her.

Hinata smiled in pure joy. "Y...yeah. S...so what do we do now?"

Naruto's breathing became strained again as he stared into the young Hyuuga's two pearl-like eyes. His heart hammered in his chest and heat circulated throughout his entire body as he leaned forward...and kissed her.

Hinata's eyes widened for a second in surprise before she closed them and simply enjoyed the feeling of Naruto's lips pressing against her own. She felt a heat in her chest she had never known before. Nothing in the world existed except Naruto. Surprising even herself, she wrapped her arms around him. He took that as a cue and did the same.

After what seemed like an eternity Naruto broke the kiss and moved his face back a bit, wanting to judge her reaction. He saw that her eyes were closed and she had a dreamy look on her face. "Hinata-chan?"

Hinata reluctantly opened her eyes. "That was...amazing, Naruto-kun," Hinata breathed.

Naruto smiled. "Yeah...it was."

Naruto and Hinata stared at each other for a moment more before Naruto spoke. "It's getting late...we should get going."

"Y...yeah," Hinata agreed reluctantly.

They stood and Naruto held out a hand for his new girlfriend. She happily took it. As they walked along they kept stealing glances at each other and smiling.

Hinata had never felt more at peace in her life. She gave Naruto's hand a squeeze and leaned her head on his shoulder. The two walked like that the rest of the way home, ignoring the surprised and sometimes disgusted stares from onlookers. Only one thought was in Hinata's head as they neared her home. "If this is a dream, I never want to wake up...."

.........TO BE CONTINUED

____________________________________________________________ ______

Hope you guys liked that. I have been waiting and waiting for the right time to put that scene in. :)