A/N: since so many people wanted to see some sort of resolution between Naruto and Hinata... here it is. Review and tell me what you think: this one or Understanding?

Penguin

Naruto ran and ran until his breathing was starting to get ragged. He ran until his lungs burned and his legs shook. He ran until he couldn't run anymore. Taking a quick glimpse around and realized he had run to the waterfall... a place that had been sacred to him and Hinata.

"Why the hell would you do this to me!" He screamed at the sky as if by some miracle it would answer "I don't know what to do... I don't know" he fell down to his knees, staring at his rippling reflection in the lake. He didn't even know who he was looking at anymore. He couldn't believe he had said something so horrible, so selfish, to Hinata. She had been nothing but understanding about him and his past and he couldn't even accept her for something she had no control over. A rustle in the nearby tree caught his attention.

"I knew I would find you here" Sakura said as she stepped into the clearing.

"What do you want Sakura-chan" Naruto muttered, not in the mood to deal with his teammate right now.

"Tenten called Hinata earlier, she wouldn't tell us what happened, but we assumed you had something to do with why she was crying over the phone" Sakura told him nonchalantly, sitting down beside Naruto. The boy let out a bitter laugh.

"Of course, it's always my fault"

"I didn't say that" Sakura frowned "but it took a while to convince Neji not to come find you." She left 'and kill you' unsaid, knowing that Naruto knew what his girlfriend's overprotective cousin was capable of.

"He might as well... I'm such an idiot" Sakura leaned over and wiped a stray tear on his face. Naruto didn't even realize he was crying until she had done that.

"I'll be the judge of that... Wanna tell me what happened?" Sakura asked. It didn't take much prodding, before the story came pouring out; the surprise, the argument, him running out.

"I can't believe I just ran"

"I really wanna hit you right now" Sakura crossed her arms. Her face set in an angry mask, but the emotion didn't quite make it to her eyes.

"What's stopping you?"

"Because I know you Naruto and I know you didn't mean to hurt Hinata like that... But sometimes you keep looking for that silver lining that doesn't exist"

"What do you mean?"

"Being a kunoichi isn't the same as being a shinobi... There are some things we have to do that isn't always... proper"

"Killing people isn't proper Sakura-chan"

"That's my point! You guys only have to worry about the grief of taking someone else's life... But what about us? We have to take our own soul and sell it to the highest bidder and for what? Villagers who scorn us for what we do and never realize we are the only people that stand between them and world?"

"Can't you just say no?"

"It doesn't work like that Naruto and you know it."

"I know I just wish she could..."

"She used to"

"Huh?"

"Hinata used to be on the list of active kunoichi with veto rights against those kinds of missions...but she lost that right when she left her clan for you"

"You mean..."

"I'm not saying this is your fault, but Hinata gave up a lot to be with you. She knew what leaving the Hyuuga's meant, what she would have to give up."

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"It's Hinata, she's not exactly the most outspoken person and I think that she wanted to protect you. I think on some level she felt like all she ever was is a burden and she didn't want you to feel like you made her lose everything"

"But I did!"

"You didn't... I've never seen her happier than when she's with you. The pressure of her clan was killing her slowly; being with you was probably the best thing that ever happened to her. And isn't that's what's most important? Her happiness."

"I never wanted her to suffer because of me"

"I'm a girl too despite you never treating me as such" Naruto let out a soft laugh at this "I can see where she's coming from. I would... I did... give everything to be with the man I loved. Sometimes I look in the mirror and hate what's staring back at me. It's hard to forgive yourself, and you just feel selfish for doing this to the man you love. Relationships are hard when you're normal, it's ten times worse when you're a kunoichi. It's never easy but then again nothing in life worth having is."

"So you think she'll forgive me?"

"I know she will"

"Yeah... she always does"

"I don't think she's mad at you so much as she's upset with having thought she lost you. She's always loved you, you know? Even when we were stupid kids with outlandish dreams and no power to obtain it"

"I know, and I'll always regret never seeing past my allusions of grandeur at what was in front of me the whole time"

"Allusions of grandeur? Hinata has been a good influence on you I see" Sakura joked, slinging her arm over his shoulder and pulling him into a one-armed hug. "You'll get there Naruto, no one doubts that now"

"But it won't mean anything if she's not there with me"

"Then I think it's about time to go home"

"Thanks Sakura-chan"

"I did this for you as much as I did this for Hinata. You're both my precious people now"

"Ditto"

Hinata was leaning over the bathroom sink, the tap still running in front of her. She splashed her face a couple more times with the ice-cold water but it didn't seem to make the hurt go away. She started when the door opened. Naruto stepped through wordlessly and held a piece of paper perpendicular to the mirror. Hinata's eyes wandered over and read the words slowly.

Hyuuga... Forgive me

Hinata frowned. He had never called her Hyuuga before. It felt so foreign, like a stranger in their otherwise warm home. Naruto smiled when she saw her mouth crease into a frown and tapped the mirror right beside the word Hyuuga. Hinata looked again and realized that in the reflection it read Hinata. She laughed and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into his chest. And somehow the words 'I'm sorry' or 'I forgive you' didn't need to be said so urgently anymore. Everything was going to be okay... they were going to be okay.

A/N: in case some people don't understand the end. Hyuuga Hinata written all in kanji can be read the same forwards and back (日向 向日). So if just Hyuuga was held up to the mirror, if you read it left to right including the reflection it will still read Hyuuga Hinata. It just seemed like something really random and childish that Naruto would pick up on, and was the prompt for me to write this entire oneshot.