Naruto sat on the swing by his lonesome. He had nothing, and he never would. It was cold out, so cold that it was snowing. He had nothing warm on. He wore a white t-shirt with a swirl at the center and a beaten up pair of shorts. He had nothing on his feet, so the he kept them out of the snow by swinging.
He sighed, letting a fog of shivering cold mist out of his mouth. He didn't shiver; he would give no one the satisfaction of seeing him weak. He felt tears come to his eyes, so he lowered his head letting his hair cascade over them.
He heard a ruffle in the bushes nearby. His eyes widened in surprise as he turned to face whatever was out there.
"H-hello?" He asked. He was little scared of what the possibilities of the noise could have been.
For a whole minute he stared at the bushes, half expecting an animal to jump out and eat him. No such thing came. He continued to look none the less.
Some more ruffling came, making Naruto's heart skip a beat. A little girl came out of the shrubbery letting Naruto breath out a warm sigh of relief. Naruto smiled at the young girl about his age.
Her hair was black and her eyes reminded him of the moon. He wanted to get off of the swing and introduce himself properly, but to avoid frostbite he went against his childish instincts.
She stood there, poking her index fingers together, not knowing what to say.
"Do you wanna swing with me?' Naruto asked. The girl nodded her head in response. Naruto watched her trudge through the snow as she sat in the swing next to him. He was sure he'd seen her face before but he couldn't put a name to it.
She didn't make eye contact as she swung by herself. Two kids right next to each other on the swings more alone than anyone would expect two kids on swings to be.
She swung slowly, scared to fall off and embarrass herself in front of the boy next to her.
"….ano, T-t-thank you." She said out of the blue. Naruto looked at her in confusion.
Why would she; all dressed up and warm; want to thank someone like him. The no clan, dead last, class dobe.
"For …..ano, helping me a-a-a c-c-couple w-weeks a-ago, with those b-b-bullies." She said. She looked up at him to gauge his reaction.
At first, he didn't understand what she meant until he started to think.
A couple weeks ago he was walking back from the academy until he saw a couple of bullies beating up on this girl called Hinata…..
"OHHH! You're welcome Hinata-chan." Naruto said happily, glad he could remember her name.
Hinata's cheeks turned rosy red. In a couple more seconds she would have fainted if it wasn't for what Naruto did next.
He began to shiver, only for a second though. He looked away from the pretty girl sitting next to him, too embarrassed to look her in the eyes.
She had seen him weak. He didn't want anyone to see that. He cursed himself for letting his tough guy façade slip.
Hinata looked at Naruto in wonder. She had always thought Naruto was indestructible. She never imagined Naruto ever shivering, not once. In fact she thought Naruto liked the cold and that was why he was swinging in it with no shoes on. But seeing him shiver like that, she knew he was cold.
Without warning, she got off of the swing and took off her large bulky jacket and put it on Naruto's back. She had another one underneath it, and she didn't mind giving up a little warmth for his sake.
She sat back down in her own respective seat, blushing like a tomato. That was probably the bravest thing she had ever done in her entire life.
Naruto looked at Hinata as if she had two heads. Nobody had ever done anything like that for him before. He felt a tear trail down his left cheek.
"Thank you Hinata-chan." He said softly. He didn't shout it like he normally would. He wasn't thanking the world, just her.
They swung for a couple minutes more.
"Ano….. I have to go t-t-to my d-d-d-d-father." She said sadly. She got up out of her swing and began to walk away from the blond.
"Hey Hinata-chan." Naruto called out to her.
She stopped dead in her tracks. She heard trudges coming from behind her. She kept her eyes on the snow. Two arms wrapped around her and a head was rested against her shoulder.
"Are we friends Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked.
Hinata's face was beyond red. She hoped he would never let go.
"Hai." She responded. He smiled cheesily at her. Most people thought it was the dumbest smile they'd ever seen, but she thought it was perfect, because it meant something.
He let go of her and began to head home.
"I love you Naruto-kun."
"Huh?" Naruto turned to look at the fragile girl to find her gone.
"Wonder what she said. Oh well. She let me keep the jacket though." He said smiling. He turned toward his apartment, trudging barefooted toward his apartment. Normally he would run home crying, but this time he would walk with dignity and warm shoulders.