*Author's note: I do not own Naruto nor any of the other characters in this story. I've been out of comission for awhile but this story refused to leave my mind. The ending might be a bit choppy and sudden and I apologize for that. Still, I hope you guys enjoy it.

"You want me to w-what?"

Hinata wiped a towel over her slightly sweaty face, raising an eyebrow in question at her pink-haired friend. Sakura stood before her, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands clasped tightly together in front of her.

"Please Hinata! I need you to meet my penpal! It's critical!"

Hinata cocked her head to the side, confused. For weeks the pinkette had gushed about this penpal of hers, blabbering on and on about how they were made for each other and how she had finally found 'the right one'. So Hinata didn't quite understand why her best friend would be asking her to meet with the pinkette's 'prince charming'.

"B-But Sakura-chan, isn't it better for y-you to go m-m-meet him?"

"You don't understand! A while back, he asked me for a picture…"

"I don't see anything wrong with that," the Hyuga smiled gently, "It's quite normal for penpals to share pictures…"

"And I sent him yours," Sakura offered a sheepish grin while Hinata stood shocked, her lilac-tinted eyes wide.

"N-Nani? Why would you do t-t-that?"

"Hinata, you're way prettier than I am…what if he stopped liking me after he saw my picture? Everyone is always saying I have a huge forehead," Sakura looked down, guilt reflected in her emerald eyes. Hinata blinked slowly, her crumbly resolve chipping away with the helpless look that her friend sent her.

"That's not v-v-very honest, Sakura-chan…How are you going to w-w-work this out later?"

"I'll cross that bridge when we get to it…please Hinata?"

The dark-haired girl sighed, stepping out of her ballet shoes and slipping her jeans over her leotard. She really wished that for once in her life she could say no to her friends.

"All right…"

Sakura squealed before enveloping Hinata in a huge bear hug, "Thank you, Hinata!"

Hinata smiled softly, shaking off the small worry in the back of her mind. She hoped that this wouldn't blow up in their faces later on.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hinata walked over to entrance of the zoo, feeling somewhat anxious. She couldn't stop the worry from creeping in on her, making it a little bit harder to breathe normally. She could see Sakura out of the corner of her eye, flashing a thumbs-up excitedly.

Her friend would be tagging along close enough so that she could see what was going on but far enough away that it wouldn't seem suspicious. They had spent the entire week preparing for this 'date'. There had been a lot of letters to look through and a lot of information to absorb. Hinata had stayed up countless nights memorizing the topics that the two had already discussed so she wouldn't slip up when talking to the boy.

Hinata was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she jumped a good three feet in the air when someone tapped her shoulder, squeaking loudly.

"Ah, sorry! Didn't mean to scare ya!"

She looked up, her breath catching in her throat. Standing before her was Sakura's penpal dressed in a shocking orange shirt and worn jeans, his golden hair a mess of spikes.

The pinkette had shown the violet-haired woman a picture of the boy right off the bat, casually stating that while she didn't find him super cute, she liked his personality and that counted more in the Haruno's book. Hinata had disagreed…She had found him plenty attractive, from his unruly hair to his wide grin. She found it strange that such a happy-looking person would write such serious and deep themed letters but she had learned from an early age not to judge someone by their looks.

Still, she was unprepared when she was actually face-to-face with the dashing young man. She felt her cheeks grow hot and her knees become weak. She shook her head, sternly reminding herself that this was her friend's soon-to-be boyfriend and therefore off limits.

"I-It's all right," she smiled up at him shyly. He grinned widely, flashing a bright smile at her. His eyes roamed up and down her figure, causing Hinata's blush to deepen though she could see no malice in their sky-blue depths…only a genuine curiosity and awe.

"Wow, the photos definitely don't do you justice," his voice was warm and deep, flowing over her like warm honey. Butterflies erupted in her stomach and she chastised herself for reacting so strongly to him.

She flushed, looking down at the floor in embarrassment, "T-thank you."

"Hey, no need to be embarrassed! Besides, if you look down like that I won't be able to look at your pretty face!"

Hinata just about fainted. The Hyuga female was not accustomed to getting attention from men, due mostly to the fact that she usually wore very baggy clothing that hid her figure from most prying eyes. Every now and again a few guys would look in her direction, mostly due to her navy-blue hair or her disconcerting pupil-less eyes. But their attention was soon shifted onto her more outgoing roommates, either the busty Ino or the bubbly Sakura. And if that didn't work, her cousin Neji's glare would definitely do the job. She didn't particularly mind, being shy and possessing a low self-esteem.

Today, Sakura had firmly banned her from going out in her usual attire, instead dressing up the timid woman in a pair of dark skinny jeans, a form fitting tank top with a small jeans jacket over the top. Ino had heard of the outing and had insisted on doing Hinata's makeup, though the latter protested, even if it was a rather weak attempt. Thankfully, Ino had not gone overboard, just applying eyeliner, mascara, and lipgloss. As for Neji, Tenten, his girlfriend, had taken care of that, asking him out to their own date.

"U-Uhm…Shall we g-go?"

"Oh, yeah! Of course!"

He offered her his arm and she took it, smiling shyly up at the youth, "S-So, where do you w-want to go first?"

"When I was young, I really liked looking at the foxes! But I know that you prefer dolphins, huh?"

"Dolphins? Oh! Oh, y-yes that's right," Hinata hoped he didn't catch the little slip. She had forgotten that Sakura's favorite animals were dolphins. In reality, her favorite animal was a bunny, with their quiet and shy nature, cute little poofy tails, and velvety soft fur.

"So, onward to the dolphins!"

The day seemed to pass by in a blur to Hinata. Sakura's penpal seemed different than he had in the letters. He was loud, funny, and hyper, a sharp contrast to his serious and at times angst-filled letters. But she liked this side of him…which worried her immensely.

"Look, Sakura-chan! It seems that they have a petting zoo here!"

Hinata instantly perked up, gracefully floating toward where the blonde young man stood. She smiled happily when she caught sight of fluffy white bundles hopping around inside the pen.

"Wanna go in?"

"Yes, please," she chirped and he laughed, obviously amused by her enthusiasm. She flushed red but found herself giggling. His laugh was contagious. She followed him in, instantly making her way to the rabbits. She failed to hear his chuckle behind her.

With a surprising quickness, she scooped up one of the bunnies before he could hop away, holding it tightly to her. She spoke soothingly until it stopped squirming, running her hand over its soft fur.

"You like rabbits, huh?"

She started a bit, then relaxed, smiling timidly, "Oh, I r-really love them."

He grinned, his sky blue eyes twinkling brightly. He made no move to pick up any of the bunnies, his eyes intently focused on her. They stayed there for a few more minutes before heading out again. All of a sudden, he stopped her.

"Would you mind waiting here a second?"

She shook her head, confused as he ran off in a random direction. She had been waiting for only ten minutes when he showed up again, out of breath but smiling warmly.

"Here," he awkwardly handed her a soft stuffed rabbit, one of the toys she had been eyeing when they passed the gift shop. She gasped and gently took it from his hands, hugging it tightly to her chest.

"I love it. Thank you," she looked up at him, smiling joyfully. He grinned back then shifted uncomfortably, biting his lip.

"Sakura-chan…Would you mind if I did something?

She looked up at him, confused by the sudden serious tone in his voice. His sky-blue eyes had darkened perceptibly as he leaned down until she could feel his breath fanning her face. Her cheeks colored and she stood stock still, her breathing shallow. A sudden picture of Sakura's grateful expression rose up in her mind and she suddenly pushed the blonde away from her, feeling the guilt hit her heavily. The bunny fell on the ground, now forgotten.

She knew that when the day ended she'd go back to being plain Hinata…and that the handsome young man looking down at her in worry, and a bit of hurt, would be her friend's future boyfriend.

Somehow it didn't seem fair to her. She had never before been interested in a boy and when it finally happened, it had to be her friend's prince charming. She knew she had to come to a decision. If she didn't do something soon, she'd end up hurting both herself, Sakura, and the sunny young man that she was probably falling in love with.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, you okay?"

"No…No, I'm not," she whispered softly, "Because I'm not Sakura."

He looked down at her, confusion swirling in the depths of his expressive eyes, "What?"

"My real name is Hinata Hyug. Sakura is my friend, your real penpal," she could feel her chin trembling but pushed on, "She sent my photo when you asked for it because she thought that you wouldn't like what she looked like. So she asked me to substitute for her. I'm sorry, Sasuke."

Without another word, she turned around and ran for it. She didn't want to see the look of disgust he'd give her. She could hear him calling for her but she didn't dare stop. She could feel tears prickling her eyelids and she wiped at them violently. She could no longer hear him, but she didn't stop, intent on finding a private place where she could just cry. She almost fell over as she ran into someone, looking up briefly into concerned brown eyes. She didn't even have the strength to mutter a quiet sorry, as she usually would have done. She just took a step back and skirted the young man, who she was sure had been about to ask her if she was alright. Thankfully, the man didn't follow her as she slipped into what she knew was a storage shed. Hinata never thought she'd be grateful for Ino's promiscuous stories about the zoo's storage sheds.

She maneuvered around the cramped space, trying not to knock anything over in the dark. She sat down and brought her legs up, resting her head on them. She wasn't sure for how long she sat there, crying silently for a love that had barely been found but would never be.

"Found you!"

Hinata jumped as light spilled into the storage shed and Sasuke stood there at the opened door, out of breath but still undeniably handsome, the little stuffed bunny in hand. She stood up, trying to look for a way around him. He took a step in the door closing behind him. There was total darkness for a few minutes, then a crash, a curse, and suddenly a lone lightbulb weakly lit up the now even more cramped room. He stood so close that if Hinata reached her arm out she'd have been able to touch him.

"Wait! Hold up a minute! Please, Hinata," he called out softly and hearing him use her real name made the tears spring back up into her eyes and her heart beat erratically.

"Sasuke," she began but he soon cut her off.

"My name's not Sasuke…It seems our friends had the same idea," he grinned sheepishly, "My real name is Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke is my best friend. He asked me for help last week for the meeting since he sent my picture instead of his."

"You're not S-Sasuke?"

His sky-blue eyes softened as he shook his head, "No, I'm not Sasuke."

"S-So it's all right if I fall in love with you?"

He grinned happily, nodding, "It would be more than alright."

She sobbed and closed the small space that had been between them, her arms wrapping around his neck. He drew her into his arms, and she breathed in the smell of oranges that seemed to cling to him. She couldn't remember a time when she had felt this happy. He moved her back a pace, a sly grin emerging on his face.

"Could I kiss you now?"

She nodded timidly, her face flushing. His hand stroked her cheek before moving to her neck and pulling her face to his. Their lips met in an innocent and chaste kiss and Hinata felt as if she was floating on air.

"We need to go find Sakura-chan," she whispered when they parted, her lilac-tinted eyes warm. He sighed but nodded, lacing his fingers with hers. He offered her the stuffed animal once again and she gratefully took it, slipping it into her purse so she wouldn't lose it. They went out into the evening, keeping alert for any sign of bubblegum pink hair.

"Hinata!"

Turning, Hinata saw Sakura, a sheepish smile on the pinkette's face. A tall, raven-haired young man walked behind her, an unreadable expression in his stoic gaze.

"Teme! Looks like you guys found each other," Naruto grinned, grabbing the onyx-eyed boy and giving him a noogie that messed up his intricately styled hair.

"Shut up, dobe," he grumbled, looking irritated as he fixed his hair. Sakura seemed almost shy and Hinata soon saw why. Her hand was currently occupied by the real Sasuke's, their fingers intertwined. Sakura caught her gaze and she looked sheepish.

"Sorry for all the trouble, Hinata," she apologized, "Really, I am. I don't know what I was thinking. It was a stupid idea and I'm so sorry I roped you into it."

"It's o-ok, Sakura. I-It was no trouble at all. I'm actually very glad it all happened," Hinata looked up at the boy beside her, instantly blushing from the warm smile he directed at her. He stepped up beside her and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her in close. She sighed in contentment, letting his warmth wash over her.

"Hinata-sama?"

Hinata paled as she recognized the voice, looking at Sakura in terror. Her friend looked just as frightened, emerald eyes wide.

"Ah, Hinata, who's that?"

"My c-cousin, Neji-ni-san…Naruto-kun, we might want to r-r-run…At least until Tenten calms him down," Hinata separated herself from him and tugged on her hand, already feeling Neji's murderous intent from here. Tenten seemed to be doing all she could to hold him back.

"You got it," with a last nervous look at her fuming cousin, the two took off running. They were soon laughing breathlessly and Hinata honestly thanked Kami for the chance she had gotten to meet her soul mate.

She would have to make sure to thank Sakura later for her help in bringing them together and for her crazy plan.

But for now, they would have to focus on running away from the enraged Neji.