Disclaimer: Naruto and all of it's characters and plot references belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Tokyo TV, and partially Viz.

Author's Note: Well, my second fic, first Naruto fic, and first one shot. This is what I think should've happened after the scent bug arc during the fillers. Her thoughts in 'x'AKA Inner-Hinata

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata mumbled nervously, keeping her arms in front of her body. "I-I want to tell you… umm," She paused, breathing heavily, in short bursts, "that… I… umm… I…"

"What is it?" Naruto asked impatiently, crossing his arms and shifting his weight to his right side slightly.

"I-I just…"

"Come on Hinata, you've been doing this every day for the last week, and then you just say it's nothing. I'm kind of sick of it." Naruto uncrossed his arms and put them out in from of him palms up, questioningly, "so, what is it already?"

"I…"

"HINATA! NARUTO!" A loud voice echoed through the village. Hinata and Naruto looked to the direction the voice came from. "HOKAGE-SAMA WANTS YOU!" Kiba ran up to pair as he continued yelling something, but neither Hinata nor Naruto could understand him clearly anymore.

"Relax Kiba; we'll go see Granny Tsunade right after Hinata finishes what she was saying." Naruto said as he turned back to Hinata, "Hinata-san?"

"Hinata was saying something?" Kiba asked redundantly, turning to face her with his full attention.

"Umm, we shouldn't keep the Hokage waiting," Hinata said, walking quickly around Kiba in the direction of the Hokage's office.

Kiba looked questioningly at Naruto; Naruto shrugged and walked behind Hinata quickly. Kiba looked on in confusion as Naruto wrapped his arms around Hinata, and stood with his legs square, gluing Hinata to the spot.

"C'mon Hinata-chan," Naruto said teasingly. Hinata's face turned a beet red and she wavered in and out of consciousness for a second before regaining herself.

'Ch-chan?' Hinata thought to herself, 'he said chan! And he's holding me!'

"Tell me what you've been trying to say. You always get my attention, and then shrug it off. I'm not letting you leave this spot until you tell me already."

"B-but, Kiba-kun… he said… Hokage-sama is waiting…" She barely stuttered it out, she was so nervous to have Naruto so close. She could feel his heartbeat on her back and his chest rise and fall into her sweater.

Kiba knew what was going on, and if Naruto was finally going to push it than he wouldn't fight it. "I'll go ahead and tell her you're coming soon, she'll understand." Kiba walked on ahead quickly until he broke into a run.

"K-KIBA-KUN!" Hinata screamed after him. She hated him right now for leaving her hanging. Kiba knew how she felt; maybe he was doing this on purpose.

"Well, now Kiba is gone, there's no one to overhear, now will you tell me already." Naruto spoke in the same teasing voice as before. This was different; he normally treated her like a stranger, or perhaps just a simple acquaintance. Today though, he was teasing her, and talking to her like he did to his friends. The only thing that had changed was that she had revealed her true technique. He had called her amazing; she had impressed him with her variation and combination of the rotation and 64 palms jutsus. "Tell me already!" He complained pleadingly, "I can't stand it, for the love of Hokage just tell me… PLEASE!"

"W-well, I was just…"

"You know what, first I have a question," Naruto interrupted her, and let her go, but grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, not forcibly, but just enough for her to get the point. She felt relieved; but what could he want to ask her, she didn't think she could lie to Naruto, not her Naruto-kun, never. His hands merely rested on her shoulders now, she felt the warmth in his hands, and she could feel them shaking slightly. "W-will…" He was hesitating, he was, nervous maybe? Could it really be, he was nervous to ask her something? "Will you please… train with me?"

'WHAT!?!' Hinata screamed in her own head, 'HE WANTS ME TO TRAIN WITH HIM!?!'

"If you don't want to that's okay," he said, taking his hands off of her shoulders and looking away nervously. Is this really a big thing for Naruto? He's never asked Sakura to train with him, does he… respect her? If he really just wanted her to show him her technique would he be so nervous? He was acting the same way he did when he asked Sakura out. Maybe this was a big thing for him, his two real loves are training and ramen, and he invited her to join him in one.

"N-no it's not that," Hinata spurted out quickly, partially slurring her words. "Wh-why would you want to train with me?" She secretly hoped that he did respect her, that he wanted to see her technique again. If he did, she would be different than Sakura, and that was a cleansing thought. She was always envious of Sakura, because of Naruto's affection, but she also hated her. Everything Sakura stood for was wrong in her eyes, Sakura desired the love of a boy that has shown her nothing but spite, she was violent to people who did not deserve to be hurt and most of all, she treated Naruto very poorly even when he tried to help her. She didn't want to be like Sakura, she just wanted Naruto to like her, to love her.

"W-well, your technique was r-really… well… amazing," Naruto stuttered out. Even if he did respect her, why was he so nervous? Her confidence seemed to build as his fell. She had never seen him like this, even with Sakura; he was more forward than this. Hinata couldn't help but hope that perhaps he did feel for her, just a little bit, like she felt for him. She longed for his touch at that moment, just any contact whatsoever.

Her confidence continued to build and she did something she had never done before, she reached out for Naruto's hand. Her hand moved slowly, because although her confidence had risen, she was still scared that she was misreading what was happening. As her hand moved closer to his, she slowed down. Naruto was still looking at his shoes and his hands hung helpless at his sides. Her left hand approached his right closer and closer. He noticed this gesture and did not fight it; she had been afraid he would recoil, or stop her, but he stayed still. His head lifted slightly as he eyed her hand as it inched towards his. Her hand made it there and he opened it enough for her to fit hers inside.

As their hands touched a jolt of overwhelming joy shot into Hinata, and she smiled widely in her mind. Her face showed no sign of her sudden ecstasy except for a slight blush that was less noticeable than normal.

Naruto grabbed her hand gently as her fingers became interlaced with his, and he squeezed it slightly, feeling her hand completely with a simple tighten in pressure. Her face reddened more, as she fully realized that she was now holding hands with the boy she had coveted from the first time she the loneliness in his eyes.

She knew of that loneliness, she had felt it herself. Thrown away because she could not control the power that rested within her, she could not pull out the potential that was hidden well in her. She had tried for years, until her father had sent her away. She saw the hurt of being abandoned in Naruto's eyes. She saw that he knew how she felt, that he had felt it tenfold, and yet, he kept a smile on his face. Every time she saw him she smiled, because she knew that, despite what her father believed, or Neji believed, or anyone for that matter, she could do anything. Naruto made her feel like a person after she had been thrown away like an animal. If he could do it, she could, and she saw the love he could give her, if only he realized it himself.

"L-let's go see Hokage-sama." Hinata said quietly, pulling ever so lightly on Naruto's arm, indicating for him to walk beside her.

"Okay!" Naruto said with a new excitement on his face. "After we see Granny Tsunade, how about we go train!" She loved his enthusiasm, even after having been so nervous only moments before. "Then we can go to Ichiraku's and get some ramen. I want pork ramen today…" Hinata smiled for real this time, she nodded joyously and laughed as she listened to Naruto talk about ramen until they reached the Hokage's office. Hinata was thankful that she didn't have to finish saying what she was about to. Naruto had made it easy for her.

When they reached the Hokage's office, Hinata and Naruto were still holding hands. Hinata wasn't sure what to do; she longed to hold on to him forever, but what would Hokage-sama think? Did Naruto care?

Before she could contemplate the question longer, Naruto released her hand and pulled away, before pushing open the door. At first Hinata was hurt, crushed even, but Naruto looked back at her as he opened the door, and smiled her favorite smile. The goofy smile that always means everything will be alright. She loved that smile, and she took a mental picture of it, so she could look at it whenever she felt sad.

"Granny Tsunade? Kiba said you wanted to see us?" Naruto said loudly as he burst into the room. Hinata noticed the fourth Hokage was stressed out. Her hair was mangled, and unkempt, suggesting that she hadn't showered recently. Shizune, her long time friend and current assistant also looked overwhelmed, as she handed the Hokage another stack of papers.

"Yes!" Tsunade-sama exclaimed excitedly, "I have the perfect mission for you Naruto. You are going to practice being the Hokage and you are going to read through these mission requests and stamp them. I'm going to go take a shower, sleep and eat."

"Oh no you don't," Shizune interjected, stopping Tsunade as she started to stand up. "You aren't getting off that easy. Besides, only the Hokage can do this work, now stop complaining and give him his real mission." Tsunade shook her head, "Fine, I will then. Naruto, you are to stakeout a Feudal Lord who is suspected of foul play. His predecessor was killed recently and he was promoted to the title by birthright. However, our client is that of the original Feudal Lord's advisor who is convinced that the man's son, the current Feudal Lord killed him. We need you to conduct an investigation from a distance. You will watch him from the shadows, and you will not be seen. That is the way of the Shinobi for this mission." Shizune often went on informative monologues like this, and Hinata liked that. Shizune rarely spoke, but when she did, it was always words of logic and information. She was a very good contrast to the laziness of Tsunade, and together they made a great leader for Konoha.

"The Hokage didn't want to entrust you with this mission, as you may have figured Naruto. Unfortunately, we are short-handed and it is vital that you complete this mission. Hinata I have another mission for you." Shizune spoke calmly. Hinata was bewildered by Hokage-sama's sudden silent endeavors. She had not spoken at all since Shizune had begun talking. In fact, her face was contorted in a very grim expression.

"Wait a second," Naruto said, before walking towards Tsunade and leaning in to whisper to her. After a minute or two of silent arguments Tsunade suddenly spoke.

"In order to make sure that Naruto does not mess up this mission, I am sending Hinata along with him." Tsunade announced it as if it was required because Naruto was incapable of doing it himself. Hinata could sense the spite in her voice and hated her silently for it. What did Tsunade know about what Naruto could or could not do? Nothing, that was what.

"But Hinata has a mission of her…" Shizune began, however she stopped when Tsunade raised her right hand.

"I'm not going to argue about this, she is going and that is it. We will have to send Sakura to do her mission. She has been becoming steadily more skilled as a medical ninja and this mission could use her talents." Tsunade said commandingly. Hinata knew, as well as Shizune, that when she talked like this there was no arguing with her. Hinata was going with Naruto.

Hinata rejoiced in her head; a stakeout mission with Naruto, after they had just held hands. This day was just too good to be true. She hid her smile well as she fidgeted with her fingers and stared at them.

"Well, I suppose that there's no point in arguing with her." Shizune said, now somewhat amused by Tsunade's sudden change in plans.

"That's right, now. Hyuuga Hinata! Uzumaki Naruto! You are hereby assigned to carry out the mission to investigate the Feudal Lord of the Land of… wait…" Tsunade suddenly stopped her orders. "Is this right Shizune?" She asked leaning over to her assistant and pointing at a spot on the paper she was holding.

"Yes ma'am." Shizune answered quickly.

"Okay, I guess. Hyuuga Hinata! Uzumaki Naruto! You are hereby assigned to carry out the mission to investigate the Feudal Lord of the Land of Sakè! You shall complete your mission no matter the cost! Am I understood?"

"Yes!" Naruto and Hinata both said at the same time. Naruto then turned around and looked straight at Hinata, smiling that same goofy smile again. "C'mon Hinata, let's get ready for our mission." Hinata nodded and turned to follow Naruto out of the office, but was surprised when Naruto came up behind her, and instead of walking past her, grabbed her left hand once more. He smiled at her before beckoning for her to walk with him.

When they were outside of the Hokage's building, Naruto turned to Hinata, still holding her hand and asked, "How long will you need to get ready? I wanna get on the road as soon as possible."

"I-I can be ready in 5 minutes if you wait for me at my house." Hinata's heart begged Naruto to come with her; she didn't want to leave him for long. She was still nervous despite the distance they had come. She didn't want to say or do something stupid to mess things up. She didn't even know how he felt yet; he might not feel like she did, maybe this is just normal for him. Maybe she's just a replacement for Sakura. All of these thoughts and doubts welled up inside of her. It hurt to hold it in, but she did it for her sake, and more importantly in her mind, for Naruto's.

"No problem, but we will have to stop at my house afterwards. I've been saving up packaged ramen for this occasion. I convinced Ichiraku to make little packages so that I can take them on missions, and this is the perfect occasion." Naruto exclaimed, talking excitedly again. Whenever Naruto went on his ramen rants Hinata couldn't help but giggle a little. Although she didn't love ramen like he did she still loved listening to him talk about it. As a matter of fact, she just loved hearing his voice.

"O-Okay!" She said gaily. She couldn't stop her stutter no matter what. A lot of people thought that she was only nervous, which was the case most of the time. However, even when she was by herself, or when she felt good about herself, she always stuttered. She also always kept her hands in front of her, and normally fidgeting. It wasn't that she was always so self-conscious; these were just her vices. She had attempted to stop her habit of stuttering times before, but it seemed as though she had grown so accustomed to being cast out, that she had just developed an unbreakable habit.

Hinata and Naruto went to the Hyuuga Mansion quickly. They still held hands as they approached the courtyard entrance, and Hinata felt embarrassed. It wasn't that she was ashamed of Naruto; no, that wasn't it at all; it was just that although she thought people knew, she had never spoken aloud her feelings for Naruto. If perhaps she was making more of this than it was, she did not want to be mocked by her cousin.

Hyuuga Neji was the pride of the Hyuuga clan. He had mastered the Byakugan at a young age, and had even perfected the most difficult of techniques. He had always been above her stature-wise, whether she was part of the main branch or not. He, even as a member of a side branch, had as much prestige as a clan member as her younger sister, Hinabi. She was always in the background when they were around; however she didn't mind that. The less people looked at her the more comfortable she became; she was almost grateful that she was not forced to grow up as Hinabi and Neji, always training and being judged.

She gathered her things quickly, bringing only her headband, her coat, and her pack of food and ninja tools. She changed her clothes, and washed herself slightly. She ran out to meet up with Naruto again and nodded to him, as they turned and walked quickly to his house.

When they arrived at Naruto's house he quickly ran inside and started to gather things up left and right. He forgot to close the door as he ran to his room, and then the kitchen and back to his room.

"Come in!" He practically shouted running back to his room with an armful of packaged ramen. She stepped inside, as his bedroom door slammed shut. She closed the door behind her and waited patiently. Thoughts ran through her head as she contemplated spying on her secret love. The Byakugan would be perfect for this situation; perhaps she would be able to have sweet dreams tonight.

She finally decided on leaving Naruto his privacy as his bedroom door opened. He hopped out in his underwear trying to get on his sock and fell over. Hinata blushed profusely as he fell over and scowled. He turned to her and smiled.

"Hinata-chan? Can you help me out here?" Naruto asked; he had fallen over awkwardly so that he had trouble getting up. "Sorry you have to see me like this, I'm not used to having guests and I forgot you were inside when I first came out."

"It's okay," Hinata said as she walked over to help Naruto stand up. He smiled wider than ever as she pulled him to his feet. She did not need her Byakugan for this, she quickly scanned Naruto's body up and down, noticing only the small cuts of muscle on his abdomen and the curvature of his chest. She had learned to do this without moving her eyes, just her focus of attention in her eyesight. Naruto had no idea as he turned around and ran into his room.

"I'll be out in a minute," he shouted back at her. He stayed to his word and ran out with a large backpack, dressed in his usual orange sweat suit. She had always wondered how he had gotten it, but she never spent much time concentrating on that. She felt perverted as she imagined the definition of Naruto's body and started to feel funny.

They ran quickly out the door and out of the village, in the direction of the Land of Sakè.

When they reached the border they stopped and set up camp, prepared to make it to the Feudal Lord's home early the next day. They slept together in one tent, but in two sleeping bags, although Hinata would not have minded being closer to Naruto.

Late in the night after Naruto had fallen asleep Hinata woke up and looked at him. She stared as he slept and laughed when he snorted in his sleep and started mumbling about ramen. She was ashamed of herself for listening to what he said in his sleep but she couldn't help it.

"But Ichiraku, I have two coupons here, and I want to buy Hinata some tomorrow. Can't you just give me some free ramen today?" He mumbled. Hinata jumped at her own name and smiled silently, however still curious about what he had to say. She listened for several more minutes and when he stopped mumbling she got up and completed her nightly training rituals.

The next day Hinata and Naruto rushed to the Feudal Lord's quarters and began to watch from the bushes. At five minutes to noon the client came out to meet them in the woods.

"Okay, just stay our here," he said, "and if nothing suspicious happens in six days you may go home. I have already paid the fee, and if you do not report in six days I will assume that everything is as it should be."

They heard what he said, and began to set up better forms of surveillance around the vicinity of the house. They set up thin trip wires that would not be noticed if one stepped on, or through it. However, at the other end there was a very small exploding note that was be set off if the string was tripped. It was so small that it would simply alert them to it, but not wake the household.

After four days of surveillance and of switching on and off nothing had happened, but they were both dead tired. They had each gotten very little sleep and it was Naruto's turn to keep watch. Hinata was staying up with him and they sat next to each other in a tree watching the house from an angle in which they could see the Feudal Lord sleeping.

Without words Naruto slipped his hand over to Hinata and grabbed hers, lacing their fingers together. Hinata blushed slightly as she squeezed his hand a little bit. He looked at her and smiled; she smiled back.

After several hours Naruto began to doze and eventually he fell asleep. Hinata decided she would take this watch for Naruto and had committed herself to stay awake, although it was becoming difficult. Naruto leaned slightly to his left in the direction of Hinata and involuntarily laid his head on Hinata's shoulder. She cheered on the inside to have Naruto so close to her, and smiled broadly, having no one to hide it from.

In the middle of the night Hinata was still awake but drooping as she slapped herself to stay awake. She couldn't do it; she had to sleep. She slowly drifted of to dreamland as both her and Naruto teetered on the edge of the branch.

Naruto began to fall but woke up and caught himself before he hit the ground. Because of their positions Hinata fell after him and as he hit the ground he looked up in time to catch her in his arms. As she hit them she awoke with a jolt.

"W-What happened?" She asked, completely wiped out from staying up for the second straight night in a row.

"We fell asleep," Naruto said amusedly, smiling wide. "I guess we're just too popped." Hinata giggled uncontrollably at how Naruto had said what he did, and she tried to stop herself several times. Naruto started to laugh with her about her laughter, then at the thought of two incredibly tired ninjas laughing their asses off on a stakeout mission.

Hinata eventually gained control of herself and looked up at Naruto who, she had just realized, was still holding her. He seemed to notice the same thing and stared down at her as he set her on her knees, and fell to his as well. They stared at each other for several minutes.

Naruto leaned in slowly, too slowly. Hinata wanted this, she needed it, and she would not be denied it. His face moved cautiously towards her at a snail's pace, until she couldn't stand it any longer. As Naruto closed his eyes and turned his slightly to the left, she smiled. She leaned in with more confidence in herself than she had felt her whole life, that last inch, and kissed him hard with closed lips and closed eyes.

After the sudden burst of ecstasy that Hinata felt from finally gaining what she had ventured after for years, she cried. Tears rolled down her smiling, and passion filled face as she pushed into Naruto's face harder and more passionately. She kept the connection and slipped her arms behind Naruto, hoping he would do the same and they could be even closer.

Naruto did so, and after a second of holding her tight he opened his eyes. He noticed the clear lines streaming down her angelic face and broke the kiss harshly. She was sad that the connection broke, but she also wanted to see the Naruto's smile again. She could immediately see the concern in her eyes and he stuttered out, now scared.

"W-what's wrong?" He asked with a worry in his voice Hinata had not ever heard. "H-Hinata-chan? Should I not have done that? I'm sorry. So stupid!" Naruto hit himself in the forehead, releasing his grip on her. "I didn't mean to…" Hinata put her finger to his lips.

"Naruto-kun, quiet!" she said with a loving sternness. Her voice was still quiet however, and she pulled his arms behind her again, and swooped in quickly, planting a soft peck slightly to the right of his lips before pulling off, smiling and kissing him hard straight ahead.

This time Hinata closed her eyes tight and wrapped her arms around his back pulling him closer. She would not allow him to regret what he did; she would make it the best decision he ever made. She could feel his eyes on her and his face loosen as he stopped kissing back.

Hinata, worried, broke the lip lock and leaned back enough to look at his face, but still hold him close to her. She gave a questioning look, hoping she wasn't too forward in her last action and suddenly began to doubt herself.

"There's nothing wrong," he said, reading her mind and calming it in three words. "In front of those eyes, Hinata-chan, you are the most beautiful girl there is. And to delve behind them is what I wish for the most. Because in your head, and in your heart, you are the most amazing person I know." He stared into her eyes, and she almost began to tear up again. No one had ever called her beautiful, in fact, only Kurenai-sensei had ever even called her pretty. Her love, her sole reason for being, had just told her that she was the most amazing person he knew. This moment could've lasted forever, and she wouldn't have minded, but it didn't.

He gazed deeply into her eyes and his eyes began to water slightly as he kissed her once again, and quickly looked away, as if holding something back.

"Naruto-kun?" She asked, getting his attention. Naruto nodded acknowledging her turn to speak. He smiled that same goofy smile from the first time they met and every single insecurity she had seemed to melt away. She no longer doubted herself; she knew what she would do. "I love you." She leaned in and kissed him hard once more, sealing what she just said permanently in his lips, and in his heart.

Well, it has a cliffhanger ending, kind of. I like the ending personally, and I had to end in there to keep it from becoming a sex scene, which I may write later as a sequel to this, so watch for it all of you hentai fans. Well, I hope you liked it. Review and tell me whatcha think.