Disclaimer: The orignal series "Naruto" was written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. I do not own anything other than the plot itself.
Author's Notes: Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you guys will have an awesome holiday with your family and probably, with a partner~! \(-^w^-) This story was actually written 2 years ago; I wrote it the day before christmas, but I never really got to finish it. And yesterday, I found it in my supposed-to-be-lost usb. So, before the world ends, I decided to continue writing this Christmas themed one-shot fanfic of one of my favourite Naruto couples: Naruto and Hinata. Well, I don't want to hold you up too long, and I hope you enjoy reading this one-shot story~!
This is my first fanfic. I hope everyone could be a bit more gentler when they criticize, but feel free to do so. I know you guys just want to help :)
Tokyo's Downtown
Hinata slowly walked the sidewalks of Tokyo's downtown and glanced at every store that interest her. Even though the place was packed, she simply loved the company it gave her: she felt free from her father, the mansion, the rules, the pressure, and her insecurities from her cousin and her little sister.
Then, out of the blue, something cold touch her pale cheeks, and as she looked above her, she saw few crystal snows slowly falling from the sky. She gazed at it, somewhat enjoying the special moment.
'Winter Christmas' she giggled.
As she continued to walk, she saw a red stuffed toy fox displayed in front of a gift shop and blushed. She stood in front of the shop admiring it, remembering a certain knucklehead friend.
"H-Hinata?" a familiar voice spoke. Hinata turned on her left, and saw a beautiful pink-haired girl, "Oh.. S-sakura-san!" surprised by the coincidence.
"Never thought I'd find you here. What're you doing, looking for gifts?" Sakura searched for what Hinata was staring at before. "A-ano, there's n-nothing, really" Hinata blushed.
As she found the red stuff toy, she knew, "Ohhh.." Sakura glanced at Hinata and saw her friend blushing. She smirked and asked, "Are you going to buy that toy? Is it for someone special?" She looked closer at Hinata's eyes teasing her and examining her reaction.
Hinata avoided Sakura's stares, looking back and forth while making weird hand signs, "I-I mean i-it's really c-cute, b-b-but I'm not b-buying it for someone s-s-s-spe-cial" Sakura chuckled and immediately changed the subject; she didn't want to make Hinata feel uncomfortable around her, "If you say so. Wanna eat? I haven't eaten yet since I've been looking for Naruto" Hinata calmed down a bit, and smiled back, "S-sure"
'Naruto, how can you be so stupid and so dense' Sakura thought examining at how pretty Hinata is.
After walking for 5 minutes...
As Sakura searched for a restaurant, she found a familiar one on the right-side of the district and pointed at it, "There's one!" She grabbed Hinata's arm and pulled it towards the shop like an excited 6-year-old kid, "Let's go Hinata! I'm hungry"
"O-ok," Hinata simply smiled as she got dragged along.
Then suddenly, there was a phone call coming from Sakura's pocket. Sakura grabbed her smartphone and clicked the answer button "Moshi Moshi, who's this? Oh... Naruto!" Hinata's eyes widened and was instantly followed by a blush on her cheeks "Where are you? I've been looking for you"
Sakura smiled at Hinata and whispered, "We'll meet up with him in a minute, is that ok Hinata?"
"Y-yes-s o-of course," She forced a smile and looked at Sakura even though inside, she wanted to faint from excitement 'What should I do? What should I do? I don't know what to say to him'
"Just meet up with us at the BBQ House on the right-side of the district... Baka! It's same place! Do know it now? Ok, go there asap!"
Sakura pushed her phone back in her pocket and continued to walk, "Oh we're here!"
Just about entering the restaurant, Sakura saw Naruto on their right. She waved at him as he also did. Hinata looked at him and saw his usual huge grin, making her face tomato-red.
Sakura saw what Naruto is holding and got angry, "What the heck is that?! You ate dumplings while I was here looking for you for hours?!"
Naruto smiled and scratched the back of his hair, "F-funny story.. I bumped to obaa-chan and then, she offered me to eat with her. She said it was free. I know right? Free? I couldn't say no, so I ate some. I didn't realize the time, sorry"
"Oh really?!" Sakura's eyes got scarier, it's as if daggers were ready to come out of them.
Naruto closed his eyes and waited for a punch, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes and instead, he saw Sakura and Hinata entering the Tea shop. He swallowed the remaining dumplings in one bite and quickly caught up to them, "Weit uff!"
In the BBQ House…
Three of them sat beside the windows on the left side corner of the shop; where they could watch the clear night sky, the crowd, and the glowing lights of the district.
"What do you guys want to order?" Naruto scanned the menu while he asked both girls.
Hinata blushed answering, "J-just t-tea"
Naruto still looking at the menu said, "That's it Hinata-chan?"
Hinata blushed once again, 'N-Naruto called me Hinata-chan!'
She was about to faint, but her thoughts was interrupted when Naruto continued to talk, "Don't be shy. Have you ever seen Sakura-chan eat before?" Naruto laughed.
Sakura became more irritated by Naruto's remarks and replied sarcastically, "What about you Naruto? You sure you could still fill up your stomach? It looks like it's going to explode from the dumplings you ate earlier!"
Naruto looked at his annoyed best friend and mocked her, "Well it looks like yours could, there's so much space in it"
He laughed until Sakura hit him hard on the head, furious, "Are you saying I'm fat?!"
Hinata giggled while Naruto was rubbing his head "I didn't say that! You did!"
He glanced at Hinata and pouted "What's so funn—" his words instantly stopped when he saw a glimpse of her angelic smile. He was mesmerized by her white, smooth face radiating as she laughed, her kissable lips moving ever so gently, and her long navy silky hair falling perfectly on her face. Naruto blushed. Sakura could detect it easily.
After Hinata stopped laughing, she opened her eyes and immediately saw Naruto gazing at her, her eyes widened and blood rushed all over her face. She covered her face, and looked away trying so hard not to faint, "I-It's really hot.. err.. I mean c-cold, isn't i-it?" she laughed trying to break the awkwardness, "I-I need to go to the w-washroom"
Hinata stood up, but she bumped on the table. She let out a silent "ouch" and regained her posture, "S-shitsurei s-shimasu." Hinata tried to keep her balance, but both Naruto and Sakura could see how Hinata kept stumbling as she walked towards the washroom.
"W-well that was weird," Naruto commented.
"Baka!" Sakura crossed her arms, "You're so stupid, but you wouldn't know that because you're just that plainly stupid."
Naruto looked at Sakura utterly confused, "Ouch, not sure if that's supposed to an insult"
Sakura stared at Naruto seriously, "Do you think Hinata's cute?"
Naruto was surprised by her question, he thought, 'Is she jealous?!'
"Don't worry Sakura-chan, I really like you. I never looked at any girl the way I do to you" Sakura hit his head harder than last time "Oww! You're gonna crack my head open if you keep hitting it," Naruto pouted.
"That's not what I meant! You baka!" Sakura looked away blushing from embarrassment, "I like you too Naruto. Actually, I love you"
Naruto's eyes widened, shocked by the words coming out of his crush's mouth 'Now, she's confessing?!'
"What?!" is all that Naruto can make out.
Sakura looked at Naruto's eyes seriously, "As a brother, and I know you know how much I love Sasuke. Please stop expecting any romantic feelings from me. There are other girls around, and I think you should consider the person right in front of you. Don't look away. You'll be surprised, but she's always there, waiting."
Sakura smiled at Naruto. She sat beside him and hugged him tightly as she apologized, "I'm sorry Naruto, I just can't return your feelings the way you want me to."
In the washroom…
After Hinata entered the washroom, she calmed a bit. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and asked herself, 'Why can't I just look at Naruto-kun like I do to Kiba-kun and Shino-kun? Why can't I talk and laugh with him like Sakura-chan does?'
She became disheartened by the thought of how distant Naruto is from her that no matter how hard she try, she could never reach out to him, 'Maybe this is for the better. I have accept the fact that he's supposed to be with Sakura-chan and not me.'
As Hinata opened the girl's washroom door, she was shocked at the scene she was seeing. Her eyes widened when she saw her two friends (who looked like they were) kissing at the table. There, standing behind the door, she froze: her mind was blank, and her heart stopped, completely petrified. She wanted to run away, but her legs didn't respond, and her thoughts were only filled with anguish.
Time stood still as she watched them. Speechless.
After she had processed everything, she quickly shut the door and locked it (fortunately, no one was inside) She bit her lower lip and cried silently as her eyes shed tears involuntarily. The scene kept repeating in her mind, and the only sound she could hear was her soft burst of covered cries. Hinata grabbed the fabric on top of her chest, wanting to rip her broken heart apart, hoping it could stop her unbearable suffering; the feeling just kept on crushing her, more and more.
She wanted to die.
No one there to save her from the pain she had to endure.
Back in the BBQ House…
As Sakura let go of Naruto, she said, "I know you don't feel the way you tell me you do"
Naruto expected himself to feel so much heartache, but instead, he became confused why he felt nothing.
Sakura laughed at Naruto, "I knew it"
He looked at Sakura, but he didn't feel the same way he did when Hinata laughed. 'Maybe I'm just too used being with Sakura,' He convinced himself
"Why are you laughing at me? Didn't you just reject me a second ago?"
Sakura's face changed back instantly, "I'm sorry Naruto, but don't lie to me. Do you even love me? I mean, romantically?" Sakura looked at Naruto's face closer.
"Huh?" Naruto couldn't answer. He thought he was just too shocked being rejected by his crush that he became too numb from the pain to even answer the question. Or maybe he knew, deep inside his heart, that he didn't, but he doesn't want admit it to himself.
Sakura knew Naruto was still confused, so she stopped asking about it. Instead, she asked, "What's taking Hinata so long?" Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Hinata's name. Sakura looked at the girl's washroom's door, "I should go find out" She stood up and walked there. She grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, but when the door didn't open, she became worried.
Sakura looked at Naruto nervously. Naruto felt worried as well so he went to the door, "What's going on Sakura-chan?" Sakura looked back at the doorknob and tried again, "I can't open it"
"I'll try" Sakura moved behind Naruto. Naruto knocked continuously while grabbing the doorknob trying to open it. He shouted at Hinata so she could hear him from behind the door, "Hinata-chan! Are you there? What's wrong? Are you stuck?"
Hinata's eyes widened and her heart suddenly raced. She clutched the fabric even more to stop it. She moved away and faced the door, her eyes puffed and her whole face turned red from crying.
She wanted to be left alone.
"Hinata!" Sakura shouted behind the door "Is there a problem? Why aren't you answering?"
Hinata went closer to the door and grabbed the doorknob with her right hand. She wore her hood up and wiped the tears on her cheeks away, but she still couldn't stop her tears from falling. Instead, she looked down so they wouldn't know she was crying. She bit her lower lip and opened the door, 'Here goes nothing'
Naruto felt the doorknob moving, so he let it go.
As Hinata stood in front of them with her head looking on the ground, both of them immediately recognized a change in Hinata's aura.
"Hinata… What's wrong?" Sakura reached Hinata's shoulder, but Hinata dashed out to the exit before her fingertips even touch her.
Naruto could have sworn he saw a tear fly when Hinata ran.
"Let's follow her," Sakura commanded.
Back in Downtown...
When they ran outside, they lost sight of Hinata. The busy streets of the downtown made it even harder for them to locate her.
"There she is!" Sakura pointed at a girl running: wearing a lavender cream hoodie, navy pants and black heels.
They tried to catch up, but they kept bumping into the crowd: "Excuse me!" "What the hell?!" "Ouch!" "Sorry!"
"Hinata! Hinata-chan! Please stop running!" Sakura pleaded, but Hinata didn't stop.
After running for 5 minutes, Sakura couldn't keep up to the pace. She finally decided to stop; she panted heavily from running too much, 'I should s-stop e-eating too much A-anko d-dumplings" As she caught up to her breathing, she thought 'Naruto, make sure she's safe'
Naruto didn't realize Sakura had disappeared, so he continued running after Hinata calling her name multiple times whenever he get a sight of her. He looked behind him to ask Sakura something, but there was no sign of the pinkette, 'Where is she?'
Naruto picked up his phone from his right pocket and tried to auto-dial Sakura's phone while trying to look back and forth at Hinata. Unfortunately, his cellphone slipped out his hands when it bumped onto someone's shoulders 'Shimata'
He knew that if he stop now, he could lose sight of Hinata, 'Forget it. Hinata's much more important'
When he searched back at the crowd, he couldn't get a glimpse of his runaway friend, "Dammit I lost her!"
"Hinata-chan!" He shouted hoping for Hinata to hear him.
Hinata heard Naruto's voice causing her to panic a bit, so she decided to take another route and hide.
At first, she hesitated to enter a dark alley on the left side of the street, but she's too tired to continue running 'This might be a bad idea but I have no options left' She ran through it and found a huge garbage can on the left side. She used it to hide.
Naruto stopped at the entrance of the dark alley and called out Hinata's name once again. He saw how dark the alley was and thought she might have not taken that route, so he ran straight towards the crowd.
In the dark alley...
Hinata peeked behind the garbage can and was surprised to see Naruto standing there; her heart was pounding once again from both being found and seeing her crush.
When Naruto left, she sighed in relief.
Then, seconds after, she felt the atmosphere in the alley becoming tense and heavy, so she decided to leave. However, she sensed a presence behind her, glaring at her maniacally causing her to stop in fear. She tried not to show any weakness as the person went closer to her.
"What'ya doin' here, little lady?" He played with Hinata's hair. Hinata turned and slapped his hands away, "D-don't touch me!"
She tried to run away, but he quickly grabbed her arm before she could even move away. She tried to release herself from his grip, pushing his body away from her, but instead, he became even more aggressive, "Feisty. I like it." He smirked and pulled her face near his to kiss her but luckily, Hinata was able to turn her head to the side. He tried again but she kept pushing him away, "Leave me alone! Stop!"
He laughed, "Okay little missy, maybe later" He then pulled her deeper in the alley, "Let's go somewhere private"
Hinata's heart was racing faster and her whole body shook uncontrollably. She can't imagine what could happen to her if she let him do this to her, so she waited for the right timing. She bit his arm causing blood to ooze out from the bite. Fortunately, he released his grip on her left hand, "Dammit Bitch!"
She ran with all the strength left in her: her pulse, beating faster and faster, and her gasps, growing heavily as she pushed herself to the limit. She felt victorious as she heard the crowd's noise at the end of the alley getting louder; she reached her hands towards it as if her life depended on it. However, the man pulled her arm and forced a contaminated handkerchief on her nose, "This can shut you up"
Hinata repeatedly called out for Naruto, but her voice was slowly losing and so did her consciousness.
Hinata blacked out causing her body to fall on the ground, "See? It wasn't so hard"
The drunkard stared at the oblivious Hyuuga, removing her winter jacket off showing off her curvy body in her skin-tight black t-shirt.
"Lucky!" the man exclaimed.
Then, out of the blue, someone shouted, "Don't you dare touch her!"
Naruto's eyes glared at the drunkard who was grazing his hand onto Hinata's pristine arm.
"Who are ya? This bitch's boyfri-?" Before he even finish his sentence, Naruto walked towards him and released a powerful jab towards his jaw causing the man's body to fly off, "And, don't you dare call her that!"
Naruto knelt down immediately, and lifted her upper body with his right hand while he patted her cheeks lightly with his left, "Hinata! Oi Hinata! Wake up! Are you okay? Hinata!"
Then, Naruto saw her jacket on the ground, "What the hell did you do to her?!"
"A'ight man, chill. I didn't do anything, I swear!" the man with gushing blood of off his mouth, crawled backwards before he escaped whimply deeper in the alley.
'That damn bastard!' Naruto cursed with anger filling up his stomach to kill that rapist, but, on the other hand, he knew couldn't just leave the Hyuuga alone.
He took the jacket, and wrapped it on top of Hinata's body before he carried her in his arms.
In the streets of the Tokyo District...
Hinata's eyes slowly opened up, "Hmm?" Naruto's eyes brightened up, "You finally woke up. I was starting to get worried you wouldn't"
As Hinata realized the position she was in, her face flared up into different shades of red, 'N-n-n-naruto-kun is carrying me in his arms!'
She immediately panicked, "A-a-ano, I think you can you put me down n-n-now, N-naruto-kun"
They stopped before they could reach the bridge. Hinata stood up, and embarrassingly worn her oversized jacket as fast as she could.
"It's okay, Hinata. I didn't look"
They walked beside each other towards the Hyuuga mansion without a word, but after a few minutes passed, Naruto grabbed Hinata in her right arm, causing the heiress to immediately feel tensed up, "N-naruto-kun?" She turned around only to see Naruto staring at her eyes with worry all over it. Hinata can see through it, but she ignored it, "Let's just wal-"
He grabbed her arm closer to him, and catched her whole body into a hug, "I was worried about you. That man almost.." his eyes started to become enraged, "I can't even tell you how angry I felt when I saw him to-touching you."
Hinata reached up and patted Naruto gently on the back, "But you didn't let him do more than that"
"I'm sorry I couldn't stop him from touching you," Naruto apologized.
"Naruto-kun, it's okay. Don't worry about it. At least, nothing happened after that. You stopped him, didn't you? It was all you could do. It is my fault for getting myself into that. I shouldn't have ran away in the first place. Thank you, Naruto-kun, for saving me," Hinata smiled as she hugged him back.
They were hugging for a long few minutes before Hinata felt tensed up again, "Uh.."
Then, Naruto released her, "Oh! why did you run away? Did something happen? Did I do something that made you mad?"
"Of course you didn't. I was just being stupid and…. weird," Hinata looked away.
"No, don't say that. You're not stupid and weird. Don't you ever call yourself that. In fact, you're beautiful, smart, and the kindest person I have ever met. You should start believing that you are all that because you are." Before Hinata realize it, Naruto's face was just inches to hers, causing her to blush.
'I'm b-b-beautiful, s-smart, and k-kind?' she repeated in her thoughts, blushing even more. It was too good to be true. Then…
Naruto grabbed her shoulders with a serious look on his face, "Did someone in the washroom bullied you? You should've told us. We're friends, aren't we?"
Hinata's reaction was bittersweet; from flattering compliments to a reality check. She didn't know what to say. It really was too good to be true.
"Oh. I'm sorry, I thought we were fri-" Naruto was cut off.
"We are. I-I want to be friends with you. I've always wished to be closer to you, to hold hands with you, and to laugh with you the way that Sakura-san can," she tried to convice.
Naruto's head turned sideways, "Sakura?"
"No, nevermind," she stared at the ground.
He cupped her chin and moved her head towards him, his eyes directly fixed at her, "You know, you shouldn't look at the ground all the time. When you do, people can't see how pretty your face is," he smiled.
"T-thank you, N-naruto-kun," she smiled back with a blush emerging on her cheeks.
They walked beside each other to the Hyuuga mansion. This time, the ice was broken, so Naruto talked their whole way there about everything and anything that popped out of his mind, causing some giggles to Hinata.
Author's Note : What do you think? I know the ending was a bit abrupt and nothing really happened. I had to revise everything because there was just too much grammar mistakes. I might change the ending or continue this one. I don't know. What do you guys think: a one-shot or a full story?
Anyways, please leave a comment or a review! I definitely appreciate the time and effort you will put into it, even if it's just as simple "good" or "bad" Once again, thank you for reading this one-shot~! Have an awesome Christmas!