disclaimer: naruto belongs to this asian guy. do i look like an asian guy? no? good, 'cause i'm an asian girl.
dedication: to childhood & innocence. oh, & winnie the pooh.
note: i hate writer's block.
…
"Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon."
—A.A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)
…
"Don't cry!"
Startled out of her sniffling and sobbing, Hinata looked up at the blonde boy whose grin nearly split his face in half.
Keeping his grip on the blue balloon he was holding, he plopped down beside her. "Don't cry," he repeated softly.
Hinata's face turned from pale to very, very red and she stuttered out, "M-my grandpa d-died t-today." And she continued to sniffle, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.
The boy's mouth formed an 'O' and he frowned, scooting closer to her. "Oh. Well, now he's in a better place."
She turned to him, confused. "W-where?"
"I dunno," he confessed, "but it's a good place. So don't be sad, okay? Angels aren't s'posed to cry, that's what my mommy says."
Hinata hiccupped. "A-angel? B-but I'm n-not an a-angel."
The boy grinned that face-splitting grin again and replied, "Of course you are! You're pretty and you have a white dress and if I use my ima-…imagin-…if I think really, really hard it looks like you have one of those gold thingies on top of your head."
With a blush, Hinata murmured, "I-if you really think s-so, er…"
"Naruto! My name is Naruto Uzumaki!" the boy announced. "What's yours?"
"I-I'm Hinata H-Hyuuga," Hinata answered, smiling softly.
Naruto opened his mouth to talk, but a loud, gruff voice shouted, "Hinata! We're going home now."
Hinata's eyes widened and she stood up, brushing the grass off her dress. "I-it was n-nice to—"
"Wait!" Naruto cried, jumping up. He thrust the balloon out to her. "Here. Take this balloon."
"B-but it's yours."
"Have it. That way, it'll remind you of me. See? It's blue, like my eyes!" Naruto explained. He handed it to her, wrapping her hand around the string. "There. It's yours now."
"Hinata! It's time to—"
"Goodbye, Hinata-chan," Naruto said cheerfully. "I hope I see you again!" And then he was running, running, running until he disappeared from her sight.
…
footnote: i could say this is AU.
footnote1: emma stone is freakin' hilarious. r&r?