A Newly Blossomed Spring Love
Naruto gazed thoughtfully at the crystal blue sky above him, a sun's ray slightly illuminating his face. He'd felt both stressed and confused at the recent events that'd happened to him and decided to lay against the warm spring grass for a moment, thinking it might help clear his head a bit. Everything had happened so fast, starting out from Pain's Invasion of Konoha to Tsunade going into a coma and Danzou becoming hokage, ordering Sasuke to be killed. All these thoughts and emotions spun around his head in flashes, but his mind seemed to focus on one moment in particular. It had occurred during Pain's Invasion, just as he was about to be captured and taken away. He was sure he had no chance against Pain, but then something unexpected happened. All of a sudden, Hinata had come crashing down in a steady position ready to fight Nagato, a fierce look in her wide lavender colored eyes as he'd never seen before. And then, those words.
He could remember them crisply in his mind as if they'd just been spoken yesterday; "I-I'm just being selfish...I'm here on my own free will. I used to always cry and give up. I nearly went the wrong way. But you- you showed me the right way! Thank you, Naruto-kun, your smile saved me! So, I'm not afraid to die protecting you...because... I love you." Because I love you, he thought. Naruto remembered how shocked he'd felt, his eyes wide and being unable to speak. He'd always treasured Hinata as one of his close friends, going as far as classifying her as one of his most precious people, but...love? She loved him? The very thought still left him astonished. All these years, whenever Hinata had turned a deep shade of red and fainted as he approached or how she'd mumble or stutter, turning away, he'd thought of her simply as a shy dark weirdo...whom he happened to like.
But now, he felt as if he finally understood. When he put all those moments together, it all made sense now. He knew he shouldn't be worrying about this right now, but he just couldn't help but wonder. When Nagato had struck her down, Hinata looking seemingly killed, this burning rage and fury stirred up inside of him and the next thing he knew, he had gone completely berserk, skipping straight to six tails, then eight. Why did I go six tails for her? he wondered. Do I like her as a friend...or something more? Before Hinata's confession, he had never in his life gone six tails for anybody, not even Jiraiya. So why her? Naruto had always had a crush on Sakura, thinking of her as the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, her long flowing hair the color of a cherry blossom and glowing green eyes shining in the light. But other than that, he couldn't think of another reason he liked her, except for the fact that she sought acknowledgement as well. Whenever he'd tried to ask her out, she'd always rejected his requests, and he knew of her great love for Sasuke, his best friend and former teammate, which was one of the reasons he'd gone through so much pain and trouble in trying to retrieve him back in the first place.
Then there was Hinata Hyuuga, the girl he'd always seen as dark and timid in the past.
Unlike Sakura, as a genin, she'd had an odd bowl shaped cut with two long strands falling loosely to the sides, wide pale pupiless light lavender eyes, wore this huge cream oversized jacket, and was the only person around his age whom was shorter than himself.
She was "cute", but not exactly a supermodel.
However, she'd always been kind and friendly towards him, which had made him feel suspicious in the beggining that she had been joking around or playing some sort of prank on him, but he knew she was far from being that type of person. Along with that, she always seemed to leave him awe struck whenever she fought, and amazed him even more at the fact that she'd thought of him as a 'proud failure", even sharing the same nindo as him. He found himself smiling softly as he thought more and more about her, making him feel somewhat awkard. Did he love her back? He'd thought he was in love with Sakura, but the more he thought of Hinata, the more she seemed like a simple crush. He didn't know what to choose.
Suddenly, Naruto heard the sound of small footsteps approaching from ahead, making him jerk up immediately. He looked towards the opposite direction, and there was Hinata, whom sat down on the bench that had covered with a light blanket of spring cherry blossoms. Naruto examined as the golden sunlight shone against her now long silky midnight blue hair as she sat down , enlightening her lavender eyes there and again. He watched her as she sat calmly, herself seemingly deep in thought, making him feel a sudden feeling in which he'd never felt before. His heart seemed to race and beat more rapidly, a small bright red blush emerging across his face.
He just knew she was the one he wanted, the wanted to be with, the one for him.
Naruto stood up slowly and began approaching Hinata at the bench little by little. "Hey Hinata", he said softly as she slipped into the seat next to her. Hinata turned his direction and her face immediately became a slight shade of pink. "N-Naruto-kun!" she gasped. She felt as if she'd almost faint, but quickly regained her composure. "H-hi Naruto. I didn't expect to see you around here." "Oh, I was just lying around on the grass, daydreaming a little, I guess," he replied, giving her one of his trademark grins. Hinata smiled warmly at him."Yeah, me too. There's just been so many things going on at the same time lately, huh?" "Tell me about it."
Thay sat in dead silence for a moment, reminding Naruto of the time he'd encountered her before his fight with Neji. Finally he said, "Hey, Hinata. Do you remember what you said to me during Pain's Invasion. About wanting to walk side by side and being with me?" She turned light pink. "Yeah..." "Well, I think I feel the same way, too. I think I want to get to know you better, to be able to share some of my life with you." Hinata sat speechless, her eyes shining brightly,feeling as if she were about to faint. "Hey, Hinata! Are you okay?" asked Naruto, waving one hand in front of her face to get a response. "O-oh, u-um, s-s-sorry!" she stuttered. Feeling Embarrassed, she said," I've always been in love with you ever since day one, but I just couldn't find a way to tell you." She was playing around with her fingers and then looked up at him. "You don't know what that means coming from you, Naruto-kun.." At that very moment he took her hand and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "Come on," he said brightly. "Let's go for a quick walk now." So obediantley, she stood up contentedly, and they both walked side by side towards the sun and began chattering along, its golden light there beaconing.