If you looked at Konohagakure, you'd see something that looked completely normal. If you listened, however, you'd hear something that could be mistaken for demonic. "Naruto, you idiot!!" yelled Haruno Sakura as she chased Uzumaki Naruto through the streets.
"I'm sorry, Sakura! What was I supposed to do?" called Naruto over his shoulder. He was trying desperately to dodge people, too afraid to find out what would happen to him if the pink haired kunoichi caught him.
'"What were you supposed to do?!'" repeated Sakura, opting so shove people out of the way instead of dodge them. "You caught me naked in my room, and then you just stared!! You even jumped in through my window!"
Naruto stopped and turned to face his hunter. He thought he'd figured out a way to get out of trouble. "That's a compliment, Sakura-chan! You're so beautiful that I couldn't take my eyes off you!"
Sakura stopped running and walked up to Naruto. "Really?" she asked, looking Naruto in the eyes, a sweet look in hers.
"Yeah! It's true!" said Naruto, a big grin on his face. He'd just began to think he was out of trouble when Sakura's chakra covered fist impacted his face and sent him flying. He landed next to a bench and a pair of feet. He looked up to see a beautiful girl with long, violet hair sitting on the bench. Hyuuga Hinata was taking a break from her daily training, her long sleeved jacket sitting by her, leaving her in a sleeveless black shirt. "Hi, Hinata-chan! Gotta go!!" said Naruto as he ran away yet again.
"Hi, Hinata-chan!" Sakura called, waving over her head to the Hyuuga girl. Hinata's hair was outlined by a glow of orange as the setting sun filtered through the trees of the forest behind her. "Did you see where Naruto went?"
Hinata's face reddened as she pointed in the direction Naruto had ran off to. "Um...I have to go," said Hinata softly, getting up and running away.
"Wait!! You forgot you..." said Sakura, trailing of at the end. She looked at the spot where Hinata had been, and the forgotten jacket whose sleeves were too long for the owner.
As she picked up the piece of cloth, she could smell a pleasant scent coming off of it. Sakura brought the jacket to her face to take in the peculiarly sweet smell. 'Hmm...Hinata smells good...' thought Sakura, closing her eyes and smiling. Then, her eyes shot open. 'Wait, what? Why'd I think that? Well, anyway, I should return this to Hinata-chan,' thought Sakura, making her way towards Hinata's house.
Sakura walked through the streets of Konoha, smiling sweetly at all the people who greeted her. She'd gotten pretty famous since she started training with Tsunade. During her walk, she was thinking of the events that had just transpired. 'Hmm...why didn't Hinata run away from Naruto? She didn't even blush when he talked to her... Are they going out!? No way! Wait...Naruto would've stayed with her if they were... Did Hinata run away from me? Nah, must be my imagination...though she has been acting strange, lately... I'll ask Neji or something...'
Sakura got to the Hyuuga home and rang the bell. Hyuuga Neji answered. 'Oh, hi, Neji. Um, Hinata forgot this," said Sakura, indicating the jacket in her arms. "She's not here right now. I'll have Hanabi give it to her when she gets home," said Hinata's cousin, snatching the jacket and turning to walk away.
"Wait! Neji! Can I ask you something?" inquired Sakura before Neji had a chance to walk away.
"What?" he asked, not even trying to hide his impatience.
"Um...well...have you noticed anything about Hinata-chan? She seems to be acting strange..."
"No, I haven't noticed anything different about Hinata-sama. Frankly, Haruno-san, I don't care. Good day," said Neji quickly, shutting the door in Sakura's face.
'Well, he has a stick up his ass... Oh well, guess I'll ask someone else...'
Before she got a chance, Shizune landed in front of her. "Tsunade-sama has summoned you. You have a mission," she said, waiting for Sakura to head back.
"A mission? That's kinda unexpected. Okay, let's go," said Sakura as she made her way towards the Hokage Tower.
When she arrived, she saw four people. The first three didn't surprise her. They were her teammates, Naruto and Kakashi, and Tsunade, the Hokage. The fourth surprised her a little; it was Hinata. As soon as Sakura walked in, Hinata hid behind Naruto, clutching his arm while her face ignited.
'What'd she do that for? Hey, she's touching Naruto and not fainting! Good for her!' thought Sakura, giving Hinata a proud look. This only elicited an 'Eeep!' from Hinata, and she buried her face in Naruto's shoulder, gripping his arm even harder.
"Hey, Hinata! What're you doing? Get off, it's just Sakura!" said Naruto, shaking his arm wildly in an attempt to dislodge the girl. Seeing her sanctuary was lost, she moved to hiding behind Kakashi.
"What's wrong, Hinata? asked Kakashi, looking down and smiling as best he could with most of his face covered.
"Will you all please shut up!?" roared Tsunade, cutting off Hinata's chance to speak. She'd been sitting and listening to the entire incident. "Now, listen up! I'll explain your mission. Earlier today, a caravan carrying a shipment of weapons was ambushed. We need you four to find and destroy whoever did this so it doesn't happen again."
"Okay, so why do we need Hinata?" asked Kakashi. "No offense, Hinata, I'm just wondering why we need an extra team member, is all."
"Oh, it's okay, Kakashi-sensei," said Hinata, chancing a glance at Sakura. Sakura was looking at her, and when she realized this, she hung her head, blushed, and began touching her finger tips together like she did when she was nervous.
"Because we've received reports that the attacking ninja used some sort of unknown cloaking Jutsu. I know you have the Sharingan, Kakashi, but I thought it would be good for have the Byakuugan as well. Neji was busy today, so I called Hinata," said Tsunade, more than a little annoyed.
When Tsunade said she preferred Neji, Hinata backed away from everyone and hung her head. 'I knew it,' she thought. 'She didn't want to use me; she had to use me...'
"You have a day to prepare. Go!" the Hokage yelled when they still stood around. Hinata was the first out the door, streaks running down her face where she was still crying.
"What's wrong with her? Eh, Kakashi! Teach me the Chidori!" said Naruto, quickly forgetting about the Hyuuga heiress and resuming his attempt to add to his arsenal. Kakashi only rolled his eye and left.
'Is she okay? Why was she crying? I'd better check on her since Naruto's too block headed to, Sakura thought, rushing out of the room.
Finding Hinata was exceedingly difficult. Not only was it dark, but Hinata had the Byakuugan, which meant if she didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be.
Finally, Sakura resorted to creating as many clones as she could and sending them all to call the violet haired maiden's name. Eventually, the original was told of what sounded like crying in the forest. She dissipated her clones and rushed for the noise.
"Hinata-chan?" Sakura said softly, not wanting to scare the poor girl. She quickly looked over to see who it was then went back to crying into her knees. "What's wrong, Hinata-chan?" Sakura asked, genuine concern in her voice. It grieved her greatly to see a friend in any kind of pain. She sat down next to the Hyuuga and put her arm around her to reassure her. "You can talk to me, you know. I'm here for you," said the pink haired girl, giving Hinata a one armed hug.
It took a while, but Sakura patiently waited while Hinata worked up the courage to speak. "Sakura-chan?"
"Yes?"
"Do...do you think...I'm weak?"
Sakura blinked a couple of times. That's what she was worried about? "Of course not, Hinata! I think you're one of the most talented, beautiful people I know! I've never met anyone as nice as you. You truly are a beautiful person, Hinata-chan," Sakura said, ending her little speech with a kiss on Hinata's cheek.
This didn't have the desired effect. Hinata began to cry even harder than before. "Thank you, Sakura-chan!" Hinata exclaimed, throwing her arms around the pink haired kunoichi. 'I'm so close to her... I have to do it now, or I might no ever get another chance!' Hinata steeled her nerves before she could talk herself out of it. In one swift movement, she closed her eyes and lightly pressed her lips to Sakura's.
Sakura didn't have time to react. She simply sat there, her eyes wide in shock. Hinata broke the kiss and opened her eyes, smiling When she saw the look on Sakura's face, however, the smile quickly faded. She realized what she'd done in her moment of happiness. She completely blew her cover! She didn't want Sakura, of all people, to know...how she was.
The heiress began to cry fro the third time that night. She uttered a hastened "Sorry!" and ran away through the branches, making several branches sway.
Sakura was still stunned, just sitting against the tree as the moonlight, scattered by the swaying branches, danced around her lithe form. She pressed two fingers to her lips, where Hinata's were moments ago. 'Why didn't I do anything...? Why...why did I... Why did I like it?' thought the pink haired kunoichi, losing herself to thought in the cool night air.