A/N: First attempt at a Naruto fanfiction. Nothing special, but hopefully, I managed to keep my spelling and grammar in check. This is not a songfic, per se. Just quoting some lyrics that I find apropos to the pairing. I don't own Naruto or any of its associated characters/plotlines. If I did, it wouldn't be so shounen anymore.
Set several years post-current time line, some point after Konoha gets a foxy new hokage. (Some) Honorifics are the only Japanese used, as I don't want to come off as ignorant or pretentious.
So, sometime in the not-so-distant future:
Color me blue,
I'm lost in you.
Don't know why I'm still waiting.
Many moons have come and gone...
Don't know why I'm still searching.
Don't know anything at all,
And who am I to say you love me?
I don't know anything at all,
And who am I to say you need me?
~Hope, Who am I to say
The slow stride with which she moved through the forest belied the anxious syncopation pulsing through her veins. The note, now damp and crumpled, was still clutched between slightly sweaty fingers, and she stopped for a moment to shove it into a pocket of her vest. i don't want to tear this. not something that came from him.
Wiping her palms on her hips, she approached the last few yards of foliage before the outlook. Even if she wasn't expecting to meet him here, that bright flash of blond was unmistakable. Leaving the shade of the trees behind her, she noted the tension in his hunched posture as he grasped his knees to his chest.
She fought the rising heat in her cheeks (not now, not after years of finally attaining a sense of normalcy in his presence) and called out to the seated figure before her.
"Naruto-kun."
He twisted around to look at her over his shoulder, and she felt her insides clench at the hesitant, anxious look that had no business marring that sunny visage. "Y-you, uh, wanted to speak with me?" She flinched and chided herself for that slip, taking several calming breaths to prevent another relapse into her old mannerisms. She watched as he turned back to face the vista before them and gestured to his side with a sweep of his arm.
"Yeah. Have a seat...Hinata."
~oOo~
She settled lightly on the grass to his right, leaning back on one hand as her left arm clutched her legs in a position similar to his own. Naruto gave her a sidelong glance, noting that her attention was fixed on the cloudless expanse ahead. A light flush graced her complexion, and the sight of it gave him a small thrill of pleasure.
The years spent building their burgeoning acquaintance until it blossomed into a close friendship had increased his familiarity with and perception of her attitudes. While its frequency had dwindled greatly from their awkward, younger days, her gentle blush, though endearing, still served as a reminder of situations avoided and conversations left unsaid.
A breeze ruffled his hair and sent inky ribbons of her own swaying forward. She looked towards him (up through those dark, dark lashes) and reached up to reign in her deviant strands. He hastily averted his gaze, clearing his throat to distract from the warmth he felt rising in his cheeks and in his chest.
how do you say something that's been all but forgotten? how do you ask a question that you relinquished any right to long ago?
Her gentle voice interrupted his line of thought. "Is everything alright, Naruto-kun? You seem very. . .quiet for once." He could hear a smile in her inflection and returned a diminished version of the gesture.
His grin and chuckle were a ghost of their usual exuberance, but it seemed to ease her a bit. "Heh, I guess I'm not usually the pensive type, ya know?" His smile waned, and a frustrated twist returned to his face. "I'm happy, ya know. I mean," he gestured aimlessly with his hand, "not that I wasn't happy before. Just now, I'm really happy and. . ." He looked into a pair of questioning (shimmering, luminous, bottomless) eyes. He huffed and continued, unable to stop the slight tremor in his voice (too late, too little and much too late). "Ah, dammit. I'm no good at this."
She placed her hand on his shoulder, and he steeled himself to continue. "I've been running away from you for a long time." He heard the slight gasp and felt a momentary tensing of the hand touching him before it slid away.
Her silence was more telling than any words. The question hung heavily in the air, and he continued without the need for her to voice it. "From this, ya know?" He dropped to a whisper. "From us." He forced himself to meet her gaze (some gutsy ninja i'm turnin' out to be).
"Getting to know you, getting closer to you, I. . .It's been some of the best times that I've. . .You gotta know how much I like being around you! You're such a good friend of mine now," this prompted another little smile on her part, "and I'm really happy (can't i say anything else?). . .Argh!" He let out a rush of breath and raked a hand through his unruly mane of spikes.
He could feel his face flaming with embarrassment and frustration but pushed forward. "Every time I used to look back at my life, I would remember how lonely I used to be and how I never wanted to feel that way again. But now," he took her (soft, so soft. ninjas can't have hands this soft) hand, "I look back, and I see you. And I wanna keep being able to do that. With you!" His other hand traced a feather-light line along her jaw before gently grasping her chin. "I love you, ya know?"
He leaned forward to press his lips lightly to hers. . .and hit her nose instead. He blinked and barely registered her wide eyes and cross-eyed gaze before pulling back. Her brows were furrowed, making that little line that she always got when she was concentrating or frustrated. not good. not good at all, idiot. now she's mad. now she hates you.
He stammered an apology. "Hinata, I'm-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. . .God, I waited too long, and now you don't. . .I mean, I never said anything about it. I just kinda hoped that you still. . .and now it's too late. I'm too late, and I'm an idiot, and don't stay mad. I couldn't stand it if you hated me, ya know?" He stood and was retreating as he rambled, turning away when he felt the raw burning in his eyes and his heart and she would not see him cry. . .
"Naruto." Her stern tone and the small hand grasping his sleeve stopped his retreat. He saw her walk in front of him through his periphery, still refusing to meet her gaze completely. She let go, leaving an ache at the loss of her touch against his arm, but the warmth of fingertips gently resting on his cheeks ("i think they're cute, naruto-kun") left him agape and at a complete loss for words.
Her brow was smoothed, her face serene and determined, and it resonated in him, bringing back a long-forgotten memory of a battle gone wrong and a sacrifice he had never expected. "You were the dream that saved me, Naruto-kun. How can you be too late for something that was always yours?" She closed her eyes and closed the distance between them.
It was a little thing, it was everything, and it was theirs.
A/N: Just a side note: the nose kiss bit was a bit of reminiscence from the guy I dated in college. First date, he walks me back to the dorm, grabs both shoulders with a super-serious face, leans in and. . .misses totally and gets my nose. He was adorably embarrassed but unfortunately discouraged, so I made sure to rectify the sitch right away. ;-)