This story is set just after the Pein arc. In particular, after Hinata has confessed her love for Naruto. Naruto unsure of how to react and what to do is in his apartment recovering from fighting Pein – just hours before – and is now contemplating his options and the truth of Hinata's words…

I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shipudden. They both belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

The sensation of hot, steaming water running down the skin of the 16 year old ninja was the most calming thing the young man had felt that day. It had indeed been a long day. The multiple beatings and contusions he had received from Pein today had made his body tender but the nine tailed demon fox (a.k.a. the Kyuubi) inside of him took care of his external injuries.

Ever since he could remember, it had always been that way. He would dive into danger and receive a ridiculous amount of punishment… and the demon fox would heal him.

Besides, the impact of the countless hits and the general physical pain that he experienced could not compare to another kind of pain he was feeling right now.

The past few weeks had been an emotional rollercoaster for Naruto. Finding out about the death of Jiraiya – his beloved Father/Grandfather figure – and having to face the man who carried Jiraiya's blood on his hands was a really demanding emotional experience. If you also factored in the fact he was constantly being hunted by the Akatsuki (over the Kyuubi sealed within him) and his ongoing search for his long lost friend Sasuke, in a nutshell… Naruto was not in the best emotional state.

His body could heal in a matter of seconds, but his heart… well… that was a different matter and recently… it had taken a real beat down.

The biggest problem of all was the matter of Hinata Hyuga. Ever since she confessed her feelings to Naruto he could not think of a reply that would do justice to how he felt. He was a brewing cauldron of mixed emotions. He felt horrible for not acknowledging or reciprocating her feelings, being so offhand and oblivious towards her in the past. But he also felt overjoyed to know that in this life there was someone that actually loved him (apart from his parents, who died years ago – but met for the first time a few hours ago in his body… it is a long story which is clearly explained in the original storyline).

To think that the young man who perfected and surpassed the legendary 'Rasengan' technique left to him by his father, the young man who took on the demon of the mist village at the age of 12 and beat his prized apprentice, the young man who was known for his great courage and his unyielding spirit… could not bring himself to face his greatest adversary to date; his feelings.

You see, Hinata uttered three words that changed the whole landscape of Naruto's world. Three words that caused him to think back to the past. When he thought hard enough, Naruto could remember - when he was younger - he would notice a shadow or movement in the corner of his eye and as soon as he would turn towards the source of the movement, a sharp, quick "squeak" and the sound of shuffling feet would be heard.

The hurried movement – which was taken to be feet – would then be followed by quiet and stillness before he would continue with his day. It was almost as if, a guardian angel was there watching him - when everyone else would not - monitoring his progress through life.

The more he thought about it, the more Hinata's previous actions seemed to be confirmed by those three words she said.

During the Chuunin exams, Sakura and Rock Lee both pointed out that Hinata's actions had a strong likeness to Naruto's. She would not give in to Neji's sharp and piercing words and did her best to fight destiny whilst living up to Naruto's expectations.

In fact, after she locked eyes with Neji and said to him - louder than she had ever spoken before – "I'm not going to take back my words… that's my way of the ninja" he could then distinctly remember Hinata looking up at him. He could remember the intensity of her gaze and the direct eye contact he received – something that she had routinely avoided for years – and then (after adopting his nindo as her own) she smiled at him. A smile that had so many emotions locked inside of it and all it needed was Naruto. All it need was his emotion to unlock the true feelings of that smile; all it needed Naruto's acknowledgement.

He used to believe that she was some "dark-haired weirdo" but looking back at her shyness around him and the sudden outbreaks of redness on her face whenever he was around, he started to realise how much of a fool he was for not noticing in the past that Hinata had loved him. The ever timid and constantly flushed Hinata was not really a nervous "dark–haired weirdo", she was simply a love-struck admirer of Naruto Uzumaki.

Those three words that finally escaped her mouth was absolute proof of her irrevocable feelings for him. Looking back at the past and the changes that Hinata had made in herself - from being beaten within an inch of her life by Neji at the Chuunin exams to being blasted into the air by Pein - Naruto knew that she had been inspired by something or someone important and if he were to believe her words, the person responsible for the changes in Hinata… was himself.

After witnessing Pein blast her beaten body high into the air today and hearing the sickening 'crunch' it made as it impacted with the Earth, Naruto could not imagine a world without her. He knew that Hinata and himself both truly understood the meaning behind those three words and he was fairly sure that he felt the same way about her – deep inside.

Naruto Uzumaki knew that those three words had not only saved the village or his life, it had saved his heart. Those three words galvanised something new in Naruto. Something that he had longed his long time crush Sakura Haruno to feel for him…

LOVE.

He knew that deep inside, something was stirring…

"I think I love you too Hinata" Naruto said out loud before he turned off the shower. "...I think I do". He finished before he used his towel to dry himself up exit the bathroom.

After getting dressed and brushing his teeth he went to his kitchen to make his usual breakfast of Ramen.

Just when he was getting up to put his clean plate into the sink, he heard a knock at his door.

"NARUTOOO-KUN! OPEN UP YOUR DOOR! IT'S ME SAKURA!"

Naruto stopped in his tracks. His long time crush Sakura was at his door. All of his old feelings were resurfacing and he was torn. He was just starting to sort out his emotions and how he felt and now, the biggest possible spanner in the works was standing outside his doorway. The only thing that could possibly resurrect his uncertainty was outside his apartment. He felt guilty at the fact that he was sure he still liked Sakura but unsure if he loved Hinata.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto said quietly to himself before hearing Sakura shout again,

"NARUTOOOOOOOO! OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!" this time neglecting the honorific suffix.

Slowly and slightly unsteadily, he walked towards the door…

Author's Note

Thank you to everyone who has read this. This is my first attempt at writing a story... EVER! I felt that I wanted to do something that would allow me to channel my creative energies - especially after finishing my January AS exams - and so the idea for "To Walk With You" came to my head.

I didn't originally intend for this fanfic to have such an emotional direction and I really hate corny and "soppy" love stories... but I felt that if I wanted to write a NaruHina/NaruSaku fanfic then inevitably the story would have to have some of these elements. I have a general plan for this fan fic and later on, hopefully I convey the emotion and action in an exciting way. But don't worry, it will have a bit of everything and I hope you will enjoy it.

I won't lie to you all, writing for me is a hobby and I tend to get distracted easily. I'm always thinking of new plots and stories so updates will be irregular, however I will try to keep on top of things. This means that chapters won't be 3000 words long - sorry if you love long chapters.

Hopefully updates will take no longer than 3 weeks (that is the worst case scenario). Chapter 2 will be up and its going to be the discussion between Naruto and Sakura.

Oh, and please let me know what you think about the current manga chapters, it would be nice to discuss with others just to get the general opinion on Kishi's plot. Like, favourite, review, place on your watch list and anything else.

It would mean a lot and again...

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ CHAPTER 1 OF "To Walk With You"... Have a nice day!