A/N: This was meant to be an angst one-shot, throwing together ideas I've had for awhile. The introspective was calling me! However, it turned out to be more of a birthday fic for Naruto, and it might not be a oneshot anymore.

The pairings in the beginning are all my favorite pairings. I could certainly include how Naruto the Idiot likes genius Sakura, or how Shikamaru and Temari get together even. But I don't. Too bad.

Oh, and thank you to my wonderful beta, Digital-Dragon-Master! Without her I would have no beta. Rawr.

Authoress: yamihawkeye
Warning(s): Char Death.
Pairings: NaruHina one-sided KibaHina
Disclaimer: Jesus freaking Christ, are these things still needed? I think it's fairly obvious I don't own Naruto!

Opposites Attract: Naruto and Hinata

Opposites attract. A famous phrase. And in the Naruto series, there is certainly an overload of this. Hinata likes Naruto, behind-the-scenes Tenten is fond of in-the-spotlight Neji, bubbly Sakura likes stoic Sasuke, bold Ino and calm Shikamaru… Opposites certainly do make the sparks fly.

Hinata blushed as she stared guiltily down at her feet. She couldn't look at her teammate now or ever again.

"Hinata-chan," Kiba whispered, "Hinata, please, look at me," his fingers gently, carefully listen her chin, "I know you are infatuated with Naruto. Maybe even," he took a deep breath and choked on his next words, "lo-love him. But Hinata-chan, give me a chance! I care for you more than he does. You've loved him for years, it's blatantly obvious, but he is blind to this fact, and doesn't worry about your feelings as he rants about Sakura," the boy could not keep the pleading out of his voice, and the pale-eyed girl backed away in shame.

"It-it's… merely an o-ob-obsession. H-he'll pass that over t-time."

"Like you with Naruto?" She hung her head once again in shame. "I thought so."

"Hinata, I understand that there will always be a place in your heart for Naruto, but let someone else in! Let me in! I've been there for you. I care for you. I love you."

Hinata shook her head, "N-no Kiba. You don't understand."

Kiba stared at his friend for what seemed like an eternity before sighing. "Very well, I guess it's just like they say, opposites attract." He turned to go, but stopped. Without looking back over his shoulder, he said, "But you know, some similarities are good too." And with that, he walked quietly away, Akamaru howling mournfully.

And that was why Hinata was in such a state of distress now. Naruto and Hinata only had one thing in common, right? They were shinobi, and that was all. That's what Hinata thought. They probably needed more then that in similarities.

I need to find something else that Naruto loves that I love, but what? I hate frogs, and I never eat ramen.

"Hinata, what are you doing?" The girl mentioned whirled around to face the accusing eyes of her sister.

"Hanabi…" The younger girl went over and snatched the notepad.

"A Venn diagram of yours and Naruto-baka's dislikes? You don't seem to have very much here, do you?" she sneered.

"Ano…"

"Really, I think it would be fairly obvious for you to put that you both like water, if not for different reasons; him, water's dominance, you water's tranquility."

"Hanabi…? What?"

"Oh, and you each find foxes interesting," Hanabi sighed and turned away.

"How do you know?" Hinata asked. Hanabi stiffed.

"Why don't you just take the help, loser." With that her sister left.

"Arigato Hanabi-chan. Thank you," she whispered. I knew you were my sister…

So that was it. She could as Naruto if he thought foxes were cute, and then pretend to be surprised when he asked her how she knew. She had to make her move now, Kiba would be even more heartbroken if she rejected him for her true love and then did nothing. Hinata smiled shyly, but that quickly faded. She actually had to talk to him…

Hinata sighed as she walked up and down the streets. October 9th, truly a great day to talk to Naruto and give him his birthday gift. Wrapped in a small blue box was a small keychain of a chibi fox. Since tomorrow was the day of the festival that commemorated the defeat of the Kyuubi, Hinata wouldn't be able to give it him. But where was Naruto?

"…you both like water…" her sisters words came back to her.

"The river!" she whispered excitedly and took off.

Naruto was by the river, sitting by himself and gazing into the rushing depths. He was clearly brooding, and Hinata almost ran away then and there.

No. I can do this. I have to. I can do this… I think? No, I can. I can She clenched the box tightly in her fist and began cautiously making her way toward her crush. If Naruto knew she was approaching, he showed no signs.

"A-ano… N-Naruto-kun?" she stammered nervously. Naruto tore his eyes away from the river and stared blankly up at her. His normally shinning blue eyes were glazed over as if in defeat. Hinata was shocked. He was never ever like this.

"If th-this is a b-bad t-time, I… I can c-come back…" she gulped. Naruto shook his head and turned his head back to the water.

"It's okay, Hinata-chan." He said simply. Hinata nodded and sat down beside him. They stayed like this for a few minutes, but Hinata felt the already tense air become even more unbearable.

"A-no, Naruto-kun… I have s-something for y-you." She whipped her present out in front of her and squeezed her eyes shut tight, afraid to see a negative reaction. When the box only rested in her hands and the demon vessel didn't take it, she opened her eyes slowly.

"If you d-don't like it I can-" she was cut off by the shocked expression on Naruto's face. He remained there, staring at the box with huge eyes, slack jawed by physical limits. Hinata's pale lavender orbs furrowed in confusion. "Naruto-kun?"

He immediately snapped out of it. "Huh? For me? I just- I never- Uh, thank you! I've never had a present from anyone but Iruka-sensei and Ero-sennin… SUGOI!" He grabbed the box eagerly.

"Never!" Hinata gasped.

Naruto nodded. "And I was especially surprised when you gave me one."

"Why?"

"I always thought you hated me."

"I- I could never hate you."

"Well, the way you constantly fainted around me, I thought you were afraid of, well you know," he sighed and lifted the lid of the box.

"K-know what?" Naruto's face froze.

"Nothing. Forget it."

"O-okay…" Naruto happily dug into the tissue paper and pulled out the fox keychain. At this his eyes darkened.

"Do you think it's funny?"

"A-ano..."

"Don't play dumb! Your eyes can sense abnormal chakra, you can't hardly say more than five words near me normally cause you're scarred shitless, and you give me this keychain! What kind of sick joke is this! Just because I have the Kyuubi inside me doesn't mean I don't have feelings! It doesn't mean I, Naruto, am not human! I'm more than just some container!" His eyes glowed red and his pupils turned to slits. Shocked beyond words, Hinata jumped up and backed away from him, moving towards the swift river.

"T-th-the K-Kyuubi…?" she sputtered. "What are you talking about? That was destroyed…!"

It wasn't the pure terror in her eyes, but the confusion that was mingled within it that made Naruto falter. "You- you knew, didn't you?" Hinata stopped moving backwards, sensing that his anger was subsiding.

"N-no…"

"Oh… I just thought… Kami, Hinata, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize- Here, let me help you, you'll fall in the water if you back up anymore!" Naruto lunged forward to help her. Hinata was so surprised by his sudden action that she fell backwards in to the river.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto dove into the river himself. "Grab my hand!"

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, I can swim! I-eep!" She was taken up by the rapid undertow.

"Eh? Hinata-chaaaaan!" The last part was drawn out as Naruto felt himself be swept away as well.

After a minute of unsuccessful struggling against the current, Naruto shrugged,

"Well, at least this is kinda fun!"

"Ano, Naruto-kun? Isn't there a waterfall up ahead?"

"Does it have the giant-ass rocks at the bottom?"

"… Yes?"

"Oh damn."

Lucky for them, two villagers were fishing just within sight of the waterfall.

"Hyuuga-san!" They laid down and snatched Hinata's hands as she went by, quickly hauling her out of the water.

"Hyuuga-san, are you alright?"

"But Naruto-kun-"

"Don't worry… Are you alright?"

"But Naruto is still in the water!" Indeed, Naruto was well beyond where the three were standing and fast approaching the huge drop. Hinata's eyes widened as she watched him go flailing over the edge.

"NARUTO!"

The other two men just stood there.

"Should we have done something, Hakujou?"

The man named Hakujou shrugged, "Feh, our town is better off without the demon fox." They both smirked and left, leaving Hinata there, whimpering.

"N-Naruto-kun…?"

"Kuso!" Naruto hissed. No way am I going down like this. I'm a shinobi! I'm a freaking ninja! He poured all the chakra he could actually control into his feet and turned upright an instant before impact.

The Good News (no, that does not mean the gospel)- Naruto landed safely, perched on top of a rock.

The Bad News- He landed with his legs straight, and if you've ever jumped down straight legged and then hit the ground, you would know that freaking hurts.

The Good News- Naruto could still walk.

The Bad News- That walk is more of a crawl, with him dragging his already pained legs over the large rocks.

Naruto winced as he pulled himself finally onto the shore. "Owwwwww..." he groaned. "How am I supposed to do anything now?"

"Tsunade-hime can look at it!" A voice said from behind him. There was Hinata smiling. She was so relieved; she thought he had died! She had rushed down to look for his body.

"Ah… maybe you could bring her here, eh? Oh, and bring my Kawazu-rana-frosk-rã-лягушка-chura-groda-kodok-szuronypapucs-grenouille-sammakko-kikker-frø-padda frog please? I can't bear to be without him when I'm in pain!"

Hinata blinked. "Ano… your what?"

"My huge blue frog plushie! Somebody gave it to me when I was three… Okay, I found it in the dumpster, but still… Anyway, His name is Roberto for short."

"Okay…?" Hinata dashed off to find the Hokage… and Naruto's precious toy.

Hinata successfully fetched Tsunade, and now had to find the frog. There, this was the building.

"S-sir, could you tell m-me Uzumaki Naruto's room number?" She whispered.

The old man outside the building chuckled. "Top floor's only room." Hinata nodded and dashed away. Naruto-kun's apartment! I don't believe it!

"Slowly Hinata opened the door to Naruto's lodgings and gasped. The place was trashed, or as much as the spare furniture could be ruined. The chair and table was knocked over. The cabinet doors in the kitchen and bathroom were open or hanging on a hinge; contents strewn about on the floor. The bedroom, Hinata discovered, had the bedcovers thrown off the bed, (though Naruto probably left them that way), five or so books torn apart, and a poster ripped off the wall. But what really stood out a huge banner hanging from the ceiling. In bright, glistening crimson letters, it screamed: Demon's Don't Deserve Happy Birthdays!

Hinata shook visibly. She had always admired Naruto, envying his high outlook on life. But was he really that happy? Was he ever sad inside, crying out for someone to notice the shit he had to live through? Hinata decided he must be, no one can live calmly, rejected so much for this long. She quickly found the worn frog toy, which was stuffed into a corner, and dashed back to where she had left Naruto.

When Hinata reached Naruto, the boy was stretching his newly healed legs; Tsunade had already left.

"Ano… Naruto-kun? I'm sorry I was little l-late with this…" the timid girl offered him his precious Roberto.

"Ah, it's okay!" Naruto grinned and rubbed his back sheepishly, "I feel better now anyway. I guess I'll have to put him back in the apartment."

"The apartment…" Hinata began, unsure of what to say. Naruto's face fell.

"They hit it early this year, didn't they?" His bright blue eyes once again showed sadness.

"H-hai…" Hinata fidgeted nervously. "I'm sorry, I didn't know-" she began. Naruto cut her off.

"They always do it. Always." He seemed to be fighting back tears. "I saved them. I saved them, and they tried to kill me, Hinata." Hinata could only watch as his eyes began flashing blue to red, blue to red, and tears formed with no resistance.

"Naruto…" she sighed, and then did something unexpected- she hugged him. Naruto's eyes stayed at their original color, and he slowly turned his head to stare at her.

"Hinata…?"

"I don't hate you. I never will. I won't ever try to kill you ever. You have a friend in me, I promise."

"And you in I, Hinata-chan." He wrapped his arms around her and Naruto buried her face in Naruto's shoulder to hide her smiling eyes.

Similarity #3- Each other.

Epilogue

That was three months before they started dating, three years before marriage.

Seven years after the wedding Hinata would be forced to break her promise in her duty as a shinobi. Only seven years before Kiba's loneliness had gotten the best of him in the final battle against the Kyuubi. Eight years before Hinata would go down fighting, taking everyone who fought against her to the depths of death…

"Hinata, what happened? Why Hinata?" Kiba pleaded.

"You happened. You killed him. He was treated like shit, just like me. He was the only one who could understand scorn! He was the one I loved… not you." she hissed venomously, knowing those words would sear Kiba's heart. She prepared her kunai. It didn't take a Byakugan to know this was the final minute. True to her prediction Kiba's eyes clouded at her words.

"Hinata… I'm sorry, but I have to…" he tossed his own kunai at the exact moment she threw hers.

Each hit their mark.

A/N:
I decided that the ending with the similarity was a little too happy, so I added that ending. Besides, it wraps up the beginning. Aren't I evil?

Similarity #3 was meant to be vague, interpret it as you will.

This was meant to be a one-shot, but I have plans for ShikaIno, NejiTen and SasuSaku ones forming in my mind, but I'm not sure if I'll write 'em… eh, prolly will. Stay tuned!

Most importantly, review!