A/N (Part 1): Okay this new story is gonna be different from my others, takes place later in the series, Well Maybe. I'm still deciding some of the finer details on events leading to this, but the story for now is going to start directly after the fight with pain. spoiler warning for those that haven't read that far into the manga This takes place after the fight, but before the position of Hokage is claimed by a council member that I can't friggen stand. end warning this IS a NaruHina fic, but there will still be subtle NaruSaku moments. Remember conflicting emotions are a fun thing. Anyways. I hope you Enjoy. Oh, And after the fight in this story things happen differently. The council doesn't get their way.

Summery: Hinata finally confessed her love for Naruto during his fight with Pain. Where does this leave the shocked blond? Torn between his emotions for a certain Pink Haired konoichi and Hinata what will he choose as his future?

Disclaimer : I Don't Own Naruto, All characters, places and trademarks are property of Misashi Kishimoto.

Start

Naruto's Mind kept replaying what happened During the fight with pain.

flashback

"I won't let you lay another finger on Naruto!" Hinata screamed toward the God realm pain.

Naruto screamed from a prone position on his stomach to his friend "What are you doing here!? Get our of here! You're no match..."

Hinata cut him off "I know..."

Naruto's eyes widened in confusion why was she here if she knew that she didn't stand a chance against pain?

"I'm...just being selfish but..." She was cut off by Naruto screaming to her.

"What are you talking about!? What are you doing here? It's dangerous!"

Hinata stood firm before speaking again "I'm here of my own free will"

Naruto looked at her in confusion. She continued speaking.

"...I used to always cry, and give up. I nearly went the wrong way, but you, you showed me the right way."

She stood a moment before continueing the speech

"I was always chasing you...wanting to overtake you...I just wanted to walk with you...I wanted to be with you. You changed me, Your smile saved me, So I'm not afraid to die protecting you...Because I....Love you!"

That was the last she spoke to him before Charging at pain.

end flashback

Naruto didn't know how to handle her confession, yeah she'd always been nice to him, he had never considered that she might have liked him though. Why did she care for him? Why was she willing to almost die to save him when they had ever gotten truly close to each other? His head was starting to hurt from all the thinking. What of Sakura he wondered. He had chased her so long that he didn't know if it was worth Fighting for anymore, all he ever wanted was for her to accept him, but she never seemed to care. Why did he love Sakura? Did he really love her or was it a childish crush? He didn't have the answer to his own question, Not being able to take the thinking anymore he got up from the makeshift room they had built for him upon his return from speaking with Nagato. He had been exhuasted from fighting with pain, his injuries though thanks to sage mode had been relatively minor.

The village was celebrating him as a hero. The acknowledgment he had fought so hard for was finally his, but to what end? There was still the matter of Madara Uchiha to take care of, the rest of Akatsuki, Sasuke, So many threats still in the world that he needed to take be careful of. He walked around the ruins of what used to be Konoha, Yamato was using his techniques to makes building come from seemingly no where. He walked by the main gates just in time to see a couple of people approaching. He started to continue walking.

"Naruto?" He paused at hearing one of the two call his name.

Turning back to the strangers it took a second to realize who they were. Tazuna and Inari from the land of waves.

"Hey Inari, You're all grown up....And you look even older" he commented looking at Tazuna.

With a chuckle Tazuna responded "Give an old man a break, we came as soon as we heard Konoha was in trouble, you were a hero to the wave, no it's our turn to help you out."

"thanks guys a lot happened recently but I get a bad feeling that it's not over."

Naruto looked up to the sky, the village had been completely leveled but thanks to Nagato's final art, everyone had survived. They could rebuilt the village, he had no doubt, but he still had a bad feeling about this. The threat wasn't over, though he had defeated a man that was thought of by his people, and even some others as a god.

Naruto Looked back over at the visitors. "Okay I'm gonna have to go though I need to find Kakashi I have to talk with him"

"Yo."

Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Would you stop doing that you scared me Kakashi"

Naruto turned before motioning for Kakashi to follow him.

Once they were alone and out of ear shot Naruto asked Kakashi his first question. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Kakashi was confused tell Naruto what?

"I met the fourth....when the seal nearly broke."

Kakashi's visable eye widened some, "What did he say."

"He said a lot of things, But he told me he had faith in me, that he believed in me. And of course, that he was my father."

"Naruto, I coudln't tell you until we though you were ready, and I still don't know if you are, but you're 16 You've been through a lot for someone your age. And you've become strong enough to defend this village. Protect everyone. You surpassed one of the great sennin, You Naruto have become stronger than Jiriya, I know you loved him as a teacher, and thought of him as family, You're stronger than he was now. I hope you understand we couldn't tell you, everything concerning the fox was to be kept a secret until you were old enough to understand everything that is going on, I know that Tsunade and Jiriya wanted to tell you, but they weren't sure you were ready for that."

Naruto looked at the Jonin a little shocked, but then his trademark grin crossed his face.

"So Kakashi, where is Sakura, and oh. I need to talk to Hinata as well. And the Granny Tsunade."

"Slow down One at a time Naruto, One at a time. So first you say you'd like to talk to Sakura?"

"Yes Kakashi-sensei."

"She's at the makeshift medical building near where the Hokage tower used to be."

Used to be. That line gripped at Naruto's insides, clawed at him. Bringing him back to reality that everything he used to know was gone, that everything was destroyed. This wasn't Konoha anymore, he was in a field of ruins, yeah he was their hero for fighting pain alone, but at the same time, He was disappointed in himself for not being there before that God realm pain had done his damage.

"thank you, Kakashi sensei" Naruto began his trek towards the back of the village where the Hokage tower used to stand. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to Sakura, but he wanted to make sure she was Okay, and that she wasn't too disappointed that he didn't make it in time to save the village. His thoughts were moving a mile a minute. While Naruto didn't consider himself a Genius the truth is he kind of was. He thought a lot more than anyone gave him credit for, The problem was he would run too many scenarios then couldn't pick one or decipher which was the best course of action to take.

Wandering towards the center of the village he wasn't watching where he was going, his feet knew the way, even with the rubble everywhere he still didn't need to look to avoid it, he was too lost in his thoughts to even consider paying attention to his surroundings. His mind turned once again to Hinata's words during that battle with Pain. He hadn't really given much though to the Hyuuga Heir until that fight. Had she honestly meant that? If she hadn't why would she have put her life on the line?

The questions kept ringing through the young blondes head, But he knew for sure that he wanted to ask her a few questions.

Finally looking up He noticed he was standing in front of the makeshift medical hut where he was told he would find Sakura. How long had he been just standing there? Slowly he gathered his thoughts on what he wanted to ask her, and what he wanted to say as to avoid getting on the wrong side of her fist, he didn't mind the constant beatings but they still hurt.

Walking in he looked around Shikamaru was on one of the beds with his leg in a cast, while a few others had various minor injuries, the only one that seemed serious was Tsunade laying on one of the beds unconcious.

"Is granny Tsunade going to be okay?"

He had spoken without even thinking.

"Yeah she will be fine she just exhausted herself protecting everyone. The better question though is are you alright Naruto? You look exhausted and I can't imagine fighting pain was in any way easy.

Sakura had an expression of concern on her face, Yeah she might get annoyed at Naruto sometimes, but the truth was she didn't really dislike the boy, she actually thought of him as a close friend, and worried when he was injuried or did something reckless.

"I'll be fine, I'm just glad that everyone else is okay, I'm just a little worn out. Pain was tough."

Sakura stood staring at him like he had ten heads, How could he say he was alright and just say Pain was tough after the damage their fight had caused. He had to be out of his mind. The whole village couldn't hold him off, yet her blond knucklehead had stopped him by himself and all he could say was that he was tough?

"You've gotten really strong Naruto....you're leaving us all behind."

"No. I've gotten strong so I can protect you so that you can get stronger."

Sakura stared at him in disbelief, her Naruto was really strong, Stronger than anyone she had ever met, Every time he went on a trip he came back so much stronger, She knew that he worked hard for it but the truth was in his own right she had realized he was a genius, though it was through hard work he was a genius.

"Do you need anything Naruto?"

She looked over worry still evident in her eyes.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I mean a lot of people for hurt in that fight because I wasn't strong enough to save them."

"There was nothing you could do, You weren't here when the fight started, you're the hero that saved us, you didn't disappoint anyone."

Naruto's expression lightened almost immediately it wasn't often that he got praise from Sakura. He felt on top of the world, After a moment of glowing from the praise his expression went into one of confusion. His mind had replayed Hinata's confession again.

"Naruto? Is something wrong"

her voice brought him back from his thoughts.

"huh? Oh it's nothing. Do you know if Hinata is alright? I need to ask her something."

sakura looked into Naruto's deep blue eyes. She could see that he was confused about something, What had happened when she went to his fight with Pain? She let her mind wander for a moment before finally answering his question.

"She was just released, her injuries were minor. She should be with the rest of her family rebuilding the Hyuuga estates."

"Thank you Sakura-chan."

Naruto quickly turned to leave, Sakura almost called out to him, she wanted to know what was going on, though she changed her mind and decided to let it be, whatever happened out there she would ask him later, right now she could tell that he had a lot on his mind.

Naruto had never really been fond of the Hyuuga family, Neji and Hinata he didn't mind, well Neji he had a problem with until the chunnin exams where he knocked some sense into him. Neji had become more social, and even happier after that fight. Once again Naruto found himself drifting in the current of his thoughts. They turned and changed directions quickly. A lot had just happened, He wanted to figure out what was really going on, He wanted to make sure that his friends were alright, and He wanted to know why Hinata was willing to nearly die for him.

It wasn't long before he found himself at the once proud Hyuuga complex. Like the rest of the village it was in ruins, though clan was quickly changing that, Before he could get a good look though he found himself face to face with the ever stoic Hiashi Hyuuga.

"Can I help you with something Naruto?"

Naruto didn't know why Hiashi always made him nervous his gaze was intense and demanding, it was the face of authority.

"Is Hinata in Hiashi-sama."

Hiashi kept his eyes locked on Naruto's There was a time that he didn't like Naruto, That he saw them like many of the villagers, as nothing more than a demon, a trouble maker, and a bad influence, though over the years, Naruto had saved them so many times, first from the Kyuubi. Then from the sand. Orochimaru. He had saved them from so many threats. He had come to see Naruto as a hero.

"You don't have to call me that, just Hiashi will be fine."

'After all you are going to be the Hokage some day' Hiashi thought to himself.

Naruto gave a polite nod but before he could speak again.

"She is in the courtyard at the center of the compound, replanting the garden there." Hiashi's tone didn't seem as emotionless and blank as it used to, Naruto wondered is he was just hearing things, but continued to the courtyard where he found Hinata, hard at work planting several seeds, and replanting several of the plants that had been torn up and nearly killed by Pains Shinra Tensei.

"Hinata?"

She looked up to see who had spoken to her. Seeing Naruto she turned several nice shades of red, Her confession immediately came to mind, She didn't know what to say to him, and due to having confessed to him, she was a bit nervous. Though she didn't stutter.

"Yes Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked at her, for the first time he really looked, paying attention to every detail, her pale skin, Her lavender eyes. Everything about her. He caught his eyes before they wandered too far though and cursed himself for almost acting like a pervert.

"I wanted to talk to you. About what you said when I was fighting Pain."

He actually looked nervous saying this, if you had paid close attention there might have even been a waver to his voice. How was he supposed to ask what she meant? How was he supposed to approach this.

"Okay Naruto-kun. What would you like to ask?"

her face was still red and only getting darker, she was afraid that he would reject her, She hadn't actually intended to survive, her Intent had been to die buying him enough time to get back up to finish his fight. She had meant for her to be a distraction to buy time. She was going to die to protect him.

"Why did you get into the middle of that fight. You could have died."

His voice was heavy and saddened, the thought of losing one of his friends wasn't one that he liked much. He had already lost enough in his life, another friend wasn't what he wanted to lose.

"Well. You see. I, Well."

She didn't know how to say what she wanted to say, should she tell him that she had planned to die buying him some time? Should she confess her feelings again? What was she going to do, The confusion came in waves, She couldn't find her word what she said next even she didn't know she had planned to say.

"I couldn't let him hurt you anymore. Because I love you Naruto, I have always loved you."

After she realized what she had said she covered her mouth with her hands and her eyes widened in shock.

Naruto's expression was blank, She didn't know what he was thinking or what he would think of her. What she had done during his fight she knew was reckless. Would he think badly of her for acting the way she had?

Moments passed though they felt more like hours. Her world was grinding itself to a halt waiting for his answer. She looked into his crystal blue eyes, They were enough to lose yourself in, So pure, so honest. She couldn't pull her eyes from his as she waited pleading silently for him to say something.

"What do you mean you've always loved me?"

At first she didn't know what to think of his words, until she met those eyes again. They didn't show any signs of deceit they were sincere. He was honestly curious what she meant.

"Okay. I."

She paused trying to figure out to admit that she had loved him since they were in the academy together. This was going to be hard. She let herself debate what to say before she finally found herself a place to start.

"well it was out third day at the academy. And well, some of the older kids were picking on Sakura because of her forehead. You came in and got between them and told them to leave her alone."

She thought for a second.

"They told you to get out of their way or they'd hurt you, but you didn't move, you let them beat you until Iruka showed up. I was scared but your courage to stand there and not move, to take the beating, it inspired me Naruto, I almost went the wrong way because of how life had treated me, but your courage and your smile saved me from that, and I Have loved you ever since."

Naruto stood there shocked, no one else remembered that day at the academy. Though the first couple years he was beaten constantly so it wasn't any wonder that they didn't remember that one particular incident, hell he would have been surprised if Sakura even remembered that incident.

"I." The look on Naruto's face was best described as shocked. He didn't know what to think, He might not have recalled that incident if she hadn't mentioned it though it was fresh in his mind now, he had almost forgotten that it ever happened.

"I think I need to be alone" Naruto turned and left before she could call out for him to stay. She couldn't help but feel disappointed had she said something wrong?

To be continued

A/N (part 2) Okay Warning there will be sexual content in the next chapter of this story....and I bet you will never see it coming. Well maybe you will, if your minds as fucked up as mine is. But this is gonna be good, and bad, it's not happy, but at the same time it has a very important part to play in the story But the point of this note is to warn you that this story WILL contain sexual content. It might or might not be graphic I haven't decided yet.