One moment Naruto is all normal, goofing around, busy being the life of the party and the next moment it hits him like Sakura's fist.

It's a brand new year! It's a freaking New Year! AND IT'S A FREAKING NEW YEAR AFTER THE GODDAMN WAR! AND THEY ARE ALL STILL ALIVE AND KICKING (ass).

Naruto is over-whelmed.

And for the first time ever, he feels like his heart isn't big enough to hold all these feelings. Any second now his heart is gonna burst and come out of his chest and Sasuke-teme's is gonna try and chidori it. And Sakura-chan is gonna bash in Sasuke's head in and then freak out and Kakashi-sensei will finally look away from his (GODDAMN PERVERTED) book and then Gai-sensei is gonna propose a battle of rivalry and Lee is gonna say something about shining and youth. Tenten's gonna complain about the sake. And Shikamaru will say something about everybody being too loud. And Akamaru will get even louder to prove it and Kiba's gonna join and Chouji will keep eating. Shino will probably try to keep Ino Busy because Hinata's too drunk to get even more drunk and somehow it'll all end in chaos and then Tsunade no-baachan) is gonna blame him and…and…and…

He feels like bursting all over again.

It's a new beginning. It's a chance to start over. A chance to look forward to tomorrow. It's a chance to learn how to live again. It's a brand new year, yet Naruto feels he's been granted a brand new life.

So Naruto feels happier in the starlight and backs prepares for the New Year's count down. He smiles at the way Sasuke awkwardly stands between Sakura and Kakashi. He watches the way Hinata reaches out for Kiba and Shino's hands and holds each in one hand. He grins at the way Gai drops an arm over Tenten's shoulder and the Akamaru licks Chouji. He laughs at the way Shikamaru holds a very drunk Ino and Sai tries to understand Lee's speech about burning passion of youth.

They all count together.

"10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1...HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Konoha has a lot of a pain waiting for them this year. They have yet to find closure of the war. They still have to re-build the broken structures of the buildings and fix the broken hearts of the people residing in this village. They have so much left to do. But just for this one moment, they let themselves forget and lets themselves be happy.

"Happy new year, Naruto-kun."

Hinata…

Hinata… Naruto still doesn't know how much she means to him. He still doesn't understand what they are to each other. And Naruto's pretty sure Hinata doesn't either. But the smile on her face and the overwhelming feeling in his chest is enough for now.

"Happy new year, Hinata!"

Because it's a new year and it's a new beginning and he can figure out the rest later.

Happy NaruHina month.

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