Hinata Hyuuga shivered. Not because she was cold, but because Naruto was coming back. It had been two years since she had seen him, and she loved him even more than she did, then. She, and a group of other people, were waiting at the leaf village gates. She could hear Naruto talking to Jiriya in the distance. She would be able to see him, again. She viewed herself, making sure her long, black-blue hair was tidy. She began to see Naruto getting bigger and bigger as he was closer. He had grown so much. He was taller,and had a new outfit. Hinata loved it. She saw the pink-haired girl, Sakura, run out of the crowd to give Naruto a hug. Naruto blushed. Everyone was crowding around him to welcome him back. Over her better judgement, Hinata decided to go say hi. "Well, here I go..." She thought
Hinata backed away. She had been about 12 feet away from Naruto and already she felt lightheaded. She went to a nearby bench and sat down. The cluster that greeted Naruto was huge, so Hinata decided to wait until the line died down. Hinata thought she may as well watch Naruto from afar. She didnt know how long she had watched him, but she felt like it had been at least an hour, and the line, if at all, had not died down. She decided she might as well take a little nap to pass the time. She was sleepy after all...
"Hey, Hinata! Hinata? Hinata?!" She heard a familiar voice yell. Where was she? Hinata finally remembered. How long had she been asleep? She opened her eyes and saw Narutos beautiful face not even 5 inches away from her. She blushed. "..Hinata? Are you okay?" Naruto asked. "Um...erm..y-yes. Im..er..fine." Hinata said, sitting up and fidgeting with her fingers. "Okay. Well... Ill see ya later, then, Hinata, bye!" Naruto waved and was off. Hinata couldnt believe it. She hadnt even congratulated Naruto. Oh, well...she decided to go back to her room with Shino and Kiba. She walked home, thinking about how Naruto had changed. "I bet hes so much stronger, and braver." Hinata thought. Brave. That was what he was all about. She was so shy, and reserved. If she wanted to spend more time with Naruto, she would have to be brave. She promised herself that she would try.
Once at her room, Hinata opened the door and found Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru asleep on their beds. What time was it? She looked at the clock, that read 1:00 AM. Wow, it was late. Hinata changed into her PJs and went to bed, in a matter of minutes, she was asleep. ……………………………………………….. Hinata felt warm sunlight on her eyelids. She opened her eyes and sat up. " 'Morning. Are you finally awake?" Kiba greeted her. "Good morning, Kiba." Hinata looked around and saw Shinos bed, empty. Kiba saw Hinata s puzzled expression. "Shino went ahead to meet Kurenai. They wanted some one-on-one training time, I think." Hinata nodded her head. It was 7:30, she had 30 minutes to get ready and meet Kurenai-sensei at the training grounds. 15 minutes later, Hinata was dressed, packed, and her and Kiba were headed out the door. "Heh. Its been two years since weve trained together-I wonder if youve gotten any stronger." Kiba said. " Hmph. I wonder if Hinata knows whos gonna be watching her?" Kiba thought. Hinata nodded. If she wanted to be braver, she had to be stronger.
Training was a good start. Once at the training field, Kurenai said hello to everyone and explained the excersise. "I want you three to fight each other. We will see who can hold out the longest. I will see the way you fight and when we have one-on-one time I will know how to train you." Hinata gulped. She had to fight Kiba and Shino? This was going to be really difficult. "You may start…now!" Kurenai said. Hinata took out her kunai knives and took her fighting stance. She would be ready. Kiba lunged toward her. She jumped out of the way. "That was close!" She noticed Shino. Bugs were covering his entire body. She heard leaves rustle behind her. Kiba was behind her and had his knives out. She turned around just in time, and kicked him in the face. She cringed. " Oh, no. That must have hurt him. Ill have to apologize later." Kiba yelled in pain and passed out. She felt something creep behind her back. It was Shinos bugs! Shino was smirking. He was forming hand seals as fast as Kakashi! Suddenly, she was being incased in bugs. "No!" She could not let this happen! If she lost know, she would never become stronger. But what could she do?! She knew one more jutsu. She formed a hand sign. "Sixty-four palms, twenty seven triagrams rotation!!" She spun around faster and faster until she could hardly breathe. "Yes!" She felt the bugs slowly creeping off her. She stopped spinning, but was extremely dizzy…she probably shouldnt have tried that jutsu. Still, the bugs were off her. She ran towards Shino and punched him. He groaned and fell backward. Hinata felt so bad, she had hurt her friends…but she had apparently won the battle. "Congratulations, Hinata!" Kurenai said. "Thanks." She mumbled. Hinata helped Kiba and Shino up. She hoped they were alright. Surely she couldnt have hurt them badly. "Wow, Hinata. That was great!" She heard a familiar voice yell. She blushed. "N-Naruto-kun?" Had he been watching all of this? Oh, no…had she fought well enough? Kiba stood up and laughed. "I thought you might work harder if he had been watching. You can fight better than you could two years ago."he whispered. Naruto walked up to Hinata. "That jutsu you did was really cool, Hinata. Maybe…we could train some time and you could teach me?" Was Naruto really complementing her? Wow. "Erm…Um..uh, sure, Naruto. Any time." Hinata said. "Cool. Well, Ill come over one afternoon and you could show me. Is Monday around noon okay?" Naruto asked. " Was he serious?? Naruto was asking her?" "Um, er…yes. That would be good." "Okay…cool, Hinata. See you then!" Naruto smiled and ran off. Wow. She was going to train with Naruto. Wow. Kurenai-sensei smiled. "You all are free to go. Dissmissed." She walked back to her room with Kiba and Shino. She could not wait until Monday!
Hinata woke up on Monday, and knew that today would be great. Today was the day she was going to train with Naruto! She got out of bed immediately, with a smile on her face. "Good morning, Kiba, Shino." She greeted. "Morning, Hinata," Kiba grumbled, and smiled, "Huh, todays the day, right?" He snickered and rolled his eyes. Hinata nodded. She dressed in a loose-fitting white t-shirt and sweat pants. She needed to be dressed appropriately for training. In about half an hour Kiba and Shino left, so Hinata could have the house to herself. Hinata glanced at the clock. 11:00 AM. How long before Naruto showed up? She grabbed a book and started reading, until she heard a ring at the doorbell. She opened the door and saw Naruto, dressed in his orange jumpsuit. He was looking as adorable as ever. Hinata didnt know what to say next. Naruto stepped in the room. "Er..hi, Naruto." She said. "Hey, Hinata. So, are you ready to teach me that jutsu?" Naruto asked. "Um..yeah..uh well need a bit
more room. Do you want to go to the training field?" "Sure." In about ten minutes, the 2 were at the training field. Hinata could hardly breathe. "Well, um, first…" Hinata showed Naruto how do do the proper hand sign. In 3 hours, Naruto had completely mastered the jutsu. "Wow, Naruto! That was..really great." Hinata smiled. "That was cool. Thanks for teaching me that. Maaaaan, am I hungry! Want to go get some ramen?" Naruto asked. Hinata blushed. "Er…I would love to." So, off they went to the ramen shop. They ordered there ramen and ate quietly, until Naruto said "Hey, Hinata? Im throwing an invitation-only party. D'you wanna go?" Hinatas face became the color of cherries. "I would love to Naruto. Thank you. Could I..er…erm…bring along Kiba and Shino?" "Sure. Oh, and its kinda formal-ish. Gowns and suits and stuff. Well, I gotta go, Hinata. The partys tomorrow at 9:00. See ya!" Naruto left without paying for the ramen. Hinata payed for them both, but she didnt pay attention. The best day in the world has just gotten better!" Hinata thought.
At 7:00 PM the next day, Hinata still hadnt told Kiba and Shino about the party. She was still focusing on the fact that Naruto had asked her- her to the party. She was already thinking about how great it would be… Once she arrived,Naruto would ask her to dance, and- "Hey! Hinata! Shino, Kurenai-sensei and I were thinking we would go out for barbeque, do you want to come?" Kiba asked. Oh! Hinata just remembered that she had not yet told her friends about were she was going. "Um, Im sorry Kiba, I cant. I-uh- just remembered that Naruto had invited us-all three of us- to um a party. So, Im sorry, is that okay with you?" "Yeah, you can go." Kiba nodded, with a dismissive wave. "A party? Id like to go." Shino said. "Well, if hes going…." Kiba started. So, the three spent the next three hours getting ready. Hinata pulled her dark hair into a bun, and put on a sparkling purple dress.
When everyone was ready, they walked to the party. Hinata was very excited, and nervous. "Okay, Naruto. Here I come."
When they reached Narutos house, it was very loud. Hinata could see that for an ultra- exclusive party, a lot of people had been invited. Kiba loudly rapped on the door, and Naruto opened it. "Hey, guys, how-," Naruto stopped, and looked at Hinata, "Woah! You look great, Hinata!" Hinata blushed a deep shade of red, "Th-thanks," She muttered. "Well, guys, c'mon in," Naruto said, and the all stepped inside. There were tables full of snacks and drinks. "Woah…" Kiba muttered. "Waddaya think?!" Naruto asked. "Wow." Kiba and Shino said. Naruto smiled, and blushed slightly, "Um, hey, Hinata," Naruto started to ask. Naruto, Narutos about to ask me to dance! Oh, wow! HInata thought. Just when Naruto was about to finish is sentence, Sakura, Tenten, Neji, and acouple other guys came up to Naruto. "Great Party!" They all said. Without remembering what he was going to ask, the important thing he was going to ask, he ran off with them. Hinata sighed. She didnt want to admit it, but what just happened was very predictable. The speakers were playing "Crank that" at full volume, and everyone was talking and laughing loudly. Hinata looked around for her comrades, and saw Kiba talking to some pretty girl. He was obviously busy, and she couldnt see Shino, anywhere. Hinata sat down at a nearby bench, and wondered what to do.
This party wasnt turining out to be the best...
"I guess Ill go find Naruto..." Hinata thought.
She looked all over the room, and spotted lots of blonde, spiky-haired boys. She then, spotted a particularily rowdy one, and knew that was him. He was with Sakura, probably telling a joke or someting. The pink-haired girl was looking very beautiful in her very-open-at-the-top, sparkly, red dress. No wonder he was trying to talk to her. From a distance, Hinata could tell that Sakura wasnt paying any attention to Naruto, and not even pretending to! How rude! Naruto, being the greatest shinobi on the face of the Earth...and she wasnt even listening?? Hinata cringed as she saw Naruto laugh, and Sakura slap him across the cheek. She was angrily stomping away while he fell on the ground. "Naruto!!" Hinata ran toward him as fast as she could. She helped him up. "Naruto, are, er, uhm, you all right?" "Owwww, yeah, Im fine," Naruto looked up at Hinata and smiled. She blushed and tried to remember how to smile back. "Oh, um, Hinata? I cant remember if I asked you earlier, but would you like to dance?" Wow! "Yes, Naruto, I would love to." If she thought yesterday was good, that was nothing compared to toninght!
Hinata didnt know how long she had been dancing with Naruto, but she hoped it would never end. For someone so clumsy, Naruto was the best dancer, twirling her gracefully around. She was looking straight up at his smiling face, and was simply delighted. After about 20 minutes, both ninja were out of breath. "Wow Hinata, I didnt know you were a good dancer." Naruto huffed. Hinata smiled. "Thanks. Y-you were um, really er good too, Naruto." He smiled back. "So…you like my party?" "Yeah, its really great." Hinata wondered what to do or say next. She could start a conversation, but what was there to say? "Hinata? Umm, what kind of ramen do you like?" Hinata knew that Naruto was trying to start a conversation. How sweet of him. "Um..er…miso, I suppose. W-what about you, Naruto?" He smiled. "I like miso, too!" Well, they had something in common..that was good. She wondered what to do, now. Just sitting and smiling at him wasnt enough. "U-um…" She couldnt think of a single thing to say. ..but she didnt have to.
………….because Naruto did something very pleasing and unexpected……………….
He kissed her. Hinata smiled. Finally, she knew how Naruto felt.
"Hinata...I love you." Hinata blushed and grinned. "Naruto, I love you, too!"