DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, or any form of the franchise. I'm just a big fan.
The Path of Many Hearts
By Justin Morgan (aka Erias/Elias and many other alia)
It was cold.
The temperature itself was cool and the breeze made it quite chilly this night, but Naruto, despite those facts, had a warm feeling...a feeling of happiness and a feeling of comfort. So deep, in fact, that you may call it a feeling of love.
He had been training with his new sensei, Jiraiya, in the mountains near Konoha for months now. Naruto's loved the training, yes--he'd been pushing himself daily to his limits, only rarely using a day of rest, for he's strengthening himself to deal with the more deadly enemies he's realized the existence of, as well as push for that ever-looming, extremely difficult road to becoming Hokage. Naruto happily followed Jiraiya's orders...so long as they had to do with actual training and not gathering information on females to supplement Jiraiya's romantic--and often, dirty--novels. Naruto wasn't tired, and he wasn't afraid... He had no reason to actually give up the training... but for some strange reason, Naruto left the area he and the ero-sennin (perverted hermit) had been training recently. The fact of the matter, though, was that it wasn't a very strange reason at all, but a very human one that even a determined, spirited young man such as Naruto would fall victim to quite easily--and did.
He was homesick.
Yes, this included normal reasons for being homesick--Naruto missed the place he stayed, he missed the food he ate... "Ichiraku...", he'd whisper to himself...he missed the Ninja Academy, he missed the carvings of the Hokages on the rock face... he missed the people he knew... he missed his friends... but that's where Naruto's unique form of homesickness came in. He didn't just miss this... he felt completely empty without it. He needed acceptance.
Sure, Jiraiya-sensei accepted him, taught him, fed him, looked after him--he was good to Naruto. Naruto respected him for all that he was other than an open pervert. Naruto really liked Jiraiya. But something was missing... Perhaps it was the fact that his friends at Konoha knew him better by now; they had been his friends for longer. Perhaps it was the fact that Naruto still needed more time with Jiraiya to really feel like he was cared for for more reasons than the fact that he's 'strong' and 'has the Kyuubi within him' and 'reminds Jiraiya of the Fourth Hokage'. People back home like Iruka-sensei and Konohamaru-kun really liked Naruto for his true self; a blonde-haired, happy-go-lucky boy ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village who has a kind heart and a big dream. The longer someone has accepted Naruto, the closer he feels to them. The closer the reasons they like him are to traits of his normal, teenage-boy self and not traits of a demon kitsune or passed-away hero, the easier it is for Naruto to feel comfortable with them. It is mainly for these reasons that Naruto misses Konoha... though he has been away for weeks at a time on various missions or trips, this has been the longest--it's probably been around a year already, and Naruto isn't too far off from being fourteen years old. He's been riding through the most confusing part of a boy's life, and being forced away from his beloved home and close ones to partake in extreme training... and he really needed a small vacation.
Naruto sighed happily as well as somewhat disappointedly as he looked down on his hometown, which will always be his hometown no matter how long he is away, and began to slowly tread down the hill on which he was perched. Walking ever-so-slowly through the night toward the grand town known strangely as a village, Naruto was, if nothing else, relieved that old man Jiraiya would probably never notice, or pay much heed, to his absence as long as he was back within a reasonable amount of days. Te ero-sennin was probably making a side-trip of his own to spend a good night in some hoochie-filled inn, and even if he was still at the training area he'd just dismiss Naruto as staying out too late and moving ahead without him.
The boy finally came up to the border of Konoha. This sole street served as the main means by which people entered or left the city--some entering to start new lives, some leaving never to return. Many who left this way either were betrayers of Konoha who were hunted down or otherwise died without ever setting foot back within the peaceful village. Many others who walked this path were exiting as warriors of Konoha, only to return from a valiant effort in a war as corpses to be buried under the Leaf Village's fertile earth. Naruto's own close friend, Uchiha Sasuke, had taken this path roughly a year ago, which reminded Naruto of one of the major reasons--if not the most profound--he was even doing such serious training in the first place. If only Sasuke would come to his senses and realize what a life he'd thrown away... if only he'd realize that the most beautiful and sweet girl in existence would bend to his every whim if he'd just step back onto this path... Naruto's mind swirled with images, scenes from his past in which he gained acceptance, pages from recent history in which his best friend threw away the love of the one he cherished--Feelings changing from a love for his good memories to a hatred of his bad, Naruto squinted his eyes and grit his teeth, welling up with enough emotion and angst to put most boys his age to shame. He had reached a point at which he was becoming a man, no longer needing acceptance and love from people to push forward... and an age at which love from anyone other than a sweet member of the opposite sex seemed less important altogether. Though he had come to glance at Konoha for a bit simply to recover himself enough to keep on training for many more months, and to think of ALL the reasons he missed the place, the biggest part of it all was hoping he might see Sakura-chan one more time, that he might know that she's alright after what that bastard, Sasuke, did to her, that he might still have a chance to right Sasuke's wrongs... though he knew deep within his heart that her love belonged to that black-haired boy, and his duty was to be more of a brother than anything else to the pink-haired kunoichi and rescue her man from the grip of darkness while keeping her cheerful beyond anything else.
Through all his swarming thoughts, Naruto heard a very faint rustling from a nearby bush. With so many ideas going through his head, Naruto didn't even consider anything it could have possibly been, but rather mindlessly tossed a kunai in that direction, face still twisted angrily from his own ideas. When a figure leaped out of the shrubbery, Naruto got another throwing knife ready and rushed toward the person--until suddenly realizing who it was, and slowing his pace into a halt.
"I-I'm sorry... I'll just..."
"Hinata-chan... That's not YOU, is it?"
The young, female ninja got up off her knees and dusted herself off a bit. She may seem timid, but she's far from a weak ninja; the kunai may have startled her a bit, but she wouldn't have let it hit her by a long shot. Even still, Naruto felt quite bad.
"Are you alright? I had no idea it was you, I just kinda... I was... I just gotta lot on my mind! Hehe..."
When Hina-chan finally looked up at his face in the bright moonlight, her eyes lit up and her cheeks filled with pinkish red. Before, she would have stared off into another direction by now, but, heart pounding, she couldn't take her eyes off her dream come true. Naruto-kun has returned...
"N-Naruto-kun... So it really is you... You're back?...", she whimpered.
"Yeah, well... I'm just stopping by while I was in the neighborhood, hehe. I still gotta lot of work to do!", he replied.
Hinata's heart jumped. She was overjoyed that her favorite person has stopped by, but.. just stopped by? Is that it? "There's no time to be scared now, Hinata...", she told herself mentally. "I have to take this chance...it might be even longer until I see him next!"
"Naruto...Naruto-kun, you really do work hard, don't you? I...I-I could...treat you to some ramen if you'd like... Y-you could spend awhile here, you could rest at your house... You like Ichiraku, right? I could treat you there every day, just.. You can stay awhile, can't you, Naruto? W-we all miss you..."
The words just streamed out, she didn't have time to think or worry about them. Hinata was begging Naruto to stay with all her might, and she'd keep doing it all night if that's what it took.
"Ohhh, Hinata-chan, that sounds really, REALLY good!...But, no, I shouldn't have even come this far, to tell you the truth.. if I stay any longer, ero-sennin might get mad at me and hold off on teaching me any new jutsus for awhile... I'd probably best be off as soon as possible, hehe. Oh, but I was gonna ask, what were you doin' in that bush anyway?", said the wild-haired boy.
"...I... I was just...Oh, I just like to come out here some nights and look up at the stars.. It makes me feel really comfortable..."
"Look at the stars, eh? Ooh, maybe you should talk to Shikamaru! He really likes looking up at the clouds lots of the time... it's kinda weird if you ask me, but you'd probably understand, hehe!"
Feeling quite annoyed that, not only is Naruto not seeing her feelings, but even so much as suggesting she share them with someone else, Hinata gets, ounce by ounce, more courage to just get this over with before Naruto leaves for another year, or even more. She puts her once-twiddling hands down to her sides, and looks up at Naruto more sternly.
"Naruto-kun. The only one who matters to me right now is you... You must be tired, you must want to stay awhile... I'm sure your sensei won't be to displeased if you just stay a day or two in your hometown for rest! Please... come back with me, Naruto-kun... Come back for a little while longer and let's both be happy...", Hinata said, gaining courage.
"Hinata. Thank you very much for your offers. You're really a nice person.. I'm sorry I ever doubted you before, but ever since the Chuunin exam over a year ago I've known you way better than that. And you know I beat Neji for you, and I really hope you're happy from now on. But I have to go... I have to train, so I can keep protecting the people I care about, like that... and I have to defend what their needs, too! I have to...", said Naruto, then turning his back to the village and taking a step toward the wilderness.
"Naruto...wait! Please!...", shouted Hinata. "Naruto! I.. I know about Sasuke... I know that Sakura-chan cares about him a lot, and you'll respect her wishes and try to bring him back, but...But that's DANGEROUS, Naruto! It's...It's the man who... did away with the Third... You can't fight Sasuke and that man... you'll die... Naruto-kun, please, I don't want you to die.. What if you never come back across this path again?... Naruto-kun...Naruto-kun, PLEASE! You...you must come back across this path again...Naruto, please, why don't you come?... I... I..."
Naruto stood solid, looking down toward the ground and facing sternly away from Hinata and the village. Slowly into his mind came images of a conversation he never heard, but knew deeply that it couldn't have been much different from this. A conversation between a young man and a young woman about one year ago, near this very spot.
"Naruto-kun! I... I don't come to this place just to look at the stars!... I..."
Her breaths was shaking, her eyes were welling up with tears. The roseyness in her cheeks were flushing slightly into colorations of yearning for the one she loved, rather than embarrassment to reveal herself to him. Her face was now tinted with a redness of determination, of a soul full of emotion ready to do whatever she was humanly capable of doing that would keep Naruto from leaving her again.
"I come here almost every single night, WAITING for you to return, Naruto...Do you have any idea how much I've missed you! You... You are the... the most respectable and wonderful person I've ever met, you... you never back down from anything, you always, ALWAYS fight with everything you have for those you care about.. y-you never give up... you're the strongest person in this entire village... you... you CAN'T throw that away! I've been watching you since we were young!... I've always seen in you what almost no one else has... I know the real you, Naruto... NARUTO! You can't leave now... You can't forfeit your life... Naruto-kun! I'll... I'll do anything for you! I'll buy you ramen every single day--no, I'll COOK ramen for you.. I'll fix up your house regularly.. I'll treat you when you're wounded, and take care of you when you're worn out.. I'll... do anything... Naruto-kun, I've been waiting for you so long... I can't let you leave again.. Please... PLEASE! N..aruto...kun...NARUTO-KUN...I... I... I..."
Her breathing is heavy, her face is streaming with tears. Her heartbeat is heavy and fast, throbbing forcefully at her chest. Hinata makes a heavy gulp, and finally finishes her sentence.
"I... I... I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! Naruto-kun..."
Hinata's eyes slowly move down Naruto's back and onto the ground. She falls to her knees, and sobs, tears falling onto the path.
The boy kept the same, solid stance for the past several minutes, though they've seemed more like hours. His mind flooded with thoughts of his life, thoughts of his friends, thoughts of those he loved... and thoughts of those who loved him. He knew Hinata had thought he was pretty cool, but he had no idea about most of this. Since they were kids? Someone actually recognized him besides Iruka-sensei, or even before him? And-- listen to this girl! Is this all true?... Perhaps this shy, timid girl that Naruto has barely known, is the very epitome of all the care and love and warmth that his home has given him? Perhaps this girl, though he had no idea she felt this way, is someone he should be protecting and caring about as much as, if not more than, he protects and cares about that crazy girl who always bullies him or that cold boy left him brotherless despite his best efforts? Naruto had a lot going through his mind as it was, but this REALLY mixed things up...but was that a bad thing?
Naruto finally turned his head back toward the lovely girl pouring her heart out to him on the road behind him. He slowly turned, and walked toward her, slightly into the village of Konoha once more, and kneeled down in front of her quivering, sobbing body.
"Hinata-chan.", said Naruto, as he slowly lifted her face from her hands and up to behold him. "Hyuuga Hinata.. remember these words, please. ... I am NOT an UCHIHA BASTARD!"
With that, Naruto moved his face closer to Hinata's and then delivered a very soft, long, tender kiss to Hinata's forehead. Space froze right then and there for the two, and Hinata's heart absolutely skipped a beat. It was the most wonderful moment in her life, and one of the coolest of Naruto's.
The boy finally finished the kiss and climbed to his feet, helping the girl up. She was still in a trance of absolute bliss.
"Hinata-chan...I'm going to go become strong. I'm gonna become really, REALLY strong.. so I can protect all my friends, and all their wishes... and so I can protect all those I love! Ha-ha!", he said enthusiastically. "Hinata-chan... Thank you."
As Naruto finally turned away once more and began to positively leave the village until his training was complete, Hinata snapped out of it enough to give one last remark.
"Naruto-kun... Please... Please come back..."
Naruto turned his head, and gave this simple reply.
"Hinata-chan, when I become Hokage I'll protect this path and keep bad guys from coming into this village. Just you wait and see!"
Ending that statement with a smile and a laugh, Naruto continued his trek back to the mountain, arms crossed signaturely behind his head. His face was bright and cheery, and he wore a large smile. Hinata walked slowly to a nearby pole for support, and then stared toward Naruto's departing figure, heart beating wildly, cheeks blushing madly.
The temperature itself was cool and the breeze made it quite chilly this night, but Naruto, despite those facts, had a warm feeling...a feeling of happiness and a feeling of comfort. So deep, in fact, that you may call it a feeling of love.