Authoress' Note: 'Cause I need to give NaruHina some love, and I need some shameless advertising: Go read my fic Attaining The Impossible. Completely shameless.

(((Story best read at ¾ screen width.)))

P.S. I am absolutely in love with this plot. That said, it may be my first chapter story actually completed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Identity Crisis

Chapter 01: Carbon Copy

"Th-This isn't right. It's not the way I wanted to… to…" Pause. "I-I can't do this. I'm sorry, Ino-chan."

Her blonde friend appeared beside her, gripping her shoulders reassuringly. Ino examined Hinata's refection in the full-length mirror, thoroughly satisfied with what she had become. She was Yamanaka Ino after all, and she was a genius when it came to things like this, so she just knew it would work.

Hinata now had choppy, bright pink hair that hardly reached her pale shoulders. Lavender eyes hade become a translucent shade of jade. Her very much oversized (in Ino's words) coat had been replaced with a red, fitting, zippered vest.

All in all, Hinata was the spitting image of Sakura.

"Pfft, don't worry," Ino soothed, rubbing her shoulders. "It'll all work out just fine. It has to, silly, or I'm not Yamanaka Ino."

Somehow, Hinata had a feeling that in a few hours, Ino would be looking for a new name. Fiddling with the hem of her top shyly, she bit her lip and scowled at the reflection. "Bu-But what's r-really the point of it? He'll only see me as Sakura for a moment, but I'll have to be Hinata forever." The rest was said in a low whisper, as if she were disappointed in what she truly was.

Sighing, Ino turned Hinata around to look her dead in the eye. "Stop being so emo. So what if you have to be Hinata for the rest of your life? That's who you are, and the real Hinata is just fine. There are plenty of people who love the regular you."

Hinata's face was the epitome of confusion. "If that's true, if you say I'm fine just the way I am, then why not just go see him as I really am? Why go as Sakura, Ino-chan?"

Ino giggled nervously at the fact. Because, well, Hinata was right. "Well, this way is more fun. And… and… you're so adorable, darling!" Ino pulled her into a spine shattering embrace. "You're just a little angel! Even if you are disguised as billboard-brow!"

.……………………………….………………………………xox……………………………….……………………………….

Ino and 'Sakura' strutted down the dusty streets of Konoha with interlocked elbows. The trick was just to be calm, Hinata had remembered her saying, because she and Ino were though to be the best of friends. They were, but really, Sakura and Ino weren't together every second of the day.

Today was a good example of that, seeing as how the real Sakura had no idea what Ino had planned. It wasn't Ino's fault that she couldn't tell her, it was just that Sakura was so… so uptight about things. If she had known what Ino was plotting, she would have harped:

"It's okay to be who you (blah) really are, Hinata. Ino, you're (blah) so stupid. The (blah) tricks you (blah) come up with (blah blah ) are nonsensical and (blah) I doubt you put any (blah blah) thought into (blah blah blah) them. If I told Tsunade-sishou (blah. blah. freakin' blah.)"

Sakura talked too much.

Hinata, though she would never go against her dear friend, had a premonition that although simple, this plan of hers would fail miserably. She was supposed to meet Naruto in his apartment (she hoped she wouldn't faint, but there was a small possibility that she wouldn't), prepare him lunch (she was a decent cook, and ramen wasn't that difficult to make), and leave as fast as she had come.

Ino said that it would help her to be more relaxed around him, that way, she'd be more confident being herself.

Hinata supposed it was an okay enough plan, but the potential of it backfiring was greater that she would have liked.

"Sakura."

Hinata froze mid-stride. That was her… wasn't it? She was Sakura. With bated breath, Hinata turned her head to meet the source of the voice. Out of anyone in Konoha to meet at that moment other than Naruto, it just had to be… Uchiha Sasuke.

Built with apathy and indifference, he was what Hinata considered to be one of the most intimidating people she had ever encountered in her life. Other than Neji, who—oh god—was also seated beside Sasuke at the Ichiraku ramen counter.

She felt a sudden chill.

If Neji knew what she was doing… well, she certainly didn't want to imagine the consequences.

The female looked over at Ino for help, but she only shoved her toward the two males encouragingly.

"Remember?" she asked, "You're pretending to be Sakura, remember? She's rather social with Sasuke-kun and Neji-san. Now, be polite to Neji-san, and be casual and kinda flirty to Sasuke-kun, okay?"

She hesitated. "I-I don't know if I c-can…"

Hinata could no longer protest as she was shoved roughly into the small eatery. She glance back at Ino who gave her little help, and merely made a shooing motion. Swallowing, she continued inside, and stopped before Sasuke.

He eyed her suspiciously, and Hinata was sure that she would shrink into nothing under his smoldering, black gaze. By forced habit, she blushed and twiddle her fingers. Even if she was Sakura, she wasn't used to being practically… inspected.

"Afternoon, Sakura-san," Neji greeted simply, his gaze focusing on her.

"Um, y-yes. G-good afternoon, Neji-ni— " She instantly stopped herself. Blushing furiously, she suddenly glanced up. "N-Neji-san! Good afternoon!"

A look of utter confusion crossed his face, but he merely shook his head offhandedly and turned back to his food.

"Sakura, training later. Understood?" The rumors were true: Uchiha Sasuke was a man of very little words. He raised an eyebrow when she hesitated. "Sakura?"

"Y-yes! Sasuke-kun! I'll… I'll be there!" Blushing furiously, she bowed quickly, and darted out of the eatery, but not before muttering a small goodbye.

"Your girlfriend is very strange, Uchiha."

"Aa," he agreed, just as confused as Neji.

It went unheard when Neji muttered, "Reminds me of Hinata-sama…"

.……………………………….………………………………xox……………………………….……………………………….

"How'd it go?" Ino questioned when a flustered Hinata returned to her side. Hinata was looking down at the ground as they walked, a soft red present on her pale cheeks.

"I don't know how Sakura-san does it. Sa-Sasuke-san is so intimidating, and Neji-nii-san too… I thought they would eat me…" She trailed off, gulping nervously.

"Come on," Ino assured, laughing lightly at the coment. "They aren't that bad. Believe it or not, Sasuke-kun has gotten better than what he used to be. And Neji-san… well, no offense, but he's always been that way."

Glancing over at her friend, her green eyes were examined a building not too far away. The blush had increased terribly, and Ino could have sworn that the girl was shaking. When she saw what she was looking at, she knew why.

Right up ahead was the apartment of Uzumaki Naruto.

To Be Continued

Authoress' Note: Trust me, this story is going to be much better than what you are imagining. The next chapter is currently being typed. Review, please. :)

P.S. Why doesn't Sakura know? Let's just say she's working at the hospital for the sake of the fic.

10 MINUTE EDIT: Hinata transformed into Sakura completely. Yeah, totally. In episode three of Naruto (I think) Naruto transformed into Sasuke, so for the sake of the story, I'll say Hinata can do the same thing. So before you review, she looks exactly like Sakura. It's jutsu, people. A simple JUTSU!