Author's Note: Ah it's been a long time in the making! This story was requested by aochikku and for sometime now I've wondered if I could write another Naruto x Hinata fanfic. It's been so long. So here I am giving this my best shot. Be warned though, even though this is a Naruto x Hinata fanfic, there will be a bit of Naruto x Sakura and Hinata x ?. There is going to be quite a bit of time skipping in this fanfic, so I hope I won't confuse you. It's always going to take place in the spring and it start's when they are in their second year of Junior high, so about 13 years old. Enjoy everyone!
Requested and Dedicated to: aochikku
Disclaimed: Don't own Naruto
Springtime. Second year Junior High.
As I looked out the window, I watched the rain pounding against the pavement. I've always loved days like this, especially in the spring time. There was just something free about the rain that I enjoyed. I smiled as the breeze came in through the crack of the window, bringing along with it the scent of the cherry blossom tree which stood right outside. As I closed my eyes and leaned back slightly, I was suddenly brought back to reality.
"Hinata Hyuuga!" I heard the teacher shout out my name.
"Ah!" I cried out as my eyes shot open. I lost my balance falling backwards and landing in a compromising position. A blush crossed my cheeks as I could hear most of my classmates laughing. I quickly stood up and sat back down. I didn't bother to look up, I was nervous that everyone was looking at me. "I..I'm sorry Mr. Shina" I said in a low voice.
"My class is not a time for you to daydream Hinata. This is your final warning. Next time you will stay after school for detention. Do I make myself clear?" He said in a stern voice.
I bit my lower lip as I felt a sting of tears in the corner of my eyes. I know he's right to be upset, but I hated more then anything to be the focus of attention in such a negative way.
"Yes sir." I muttered under my breath, trying to hide the threat of tears in my voice.
"Good, now with that said, as the class representive you are responceable for showing around Mr. Uzimaki. He just transferred to our class as of today. Please help to make his stay here a comfortable one."
"Transfer student?" I whispered more to myself as I looked up at the teacher. No sooner did I do so, did my eyes lock with the most beautiful sea blue eyes I've ever seen. I felt my heart skip a beat as I looked away quickly.
"Mr. Uzimaki, Please take that seat next to Ms. Huga. After class you may make your arrangements." He pointed to the seat next to me then went back to the lesson he was teaching prior. I watched as he started his way to the back of the class and as he did so, our eyes locked again and this time he gave me the most dazzling smile i've ever seen.
"Hi, name is Naruto." He said softly as he took his seat and reached out a hand to shake mine. He continued to smile at me as I stared back at him completely at a lost for words. I mean I wanted to say hi as well, but I just got so nervous and shy. I felt my stomach get all fluttery and I could have sworn my face was redder then a tomato.
He still had his hand streached out to shake mine for awhile before pulling it back. He gave me an unsure smile and shifted in his seat, turning his attention back to the teacher. A deep frown crossed my lips as I looked down and twittled my fingers. Gosh! How stupid could I be? I mean isn't it enough that I embarssed myself with the teacher yelling at me? Now I must seem rude as hell!
To much of my relieve, the bell signing the end of class rang and I jumped up from my seat and ran out of the class room. I was half way down the hall way when I heard my name being called out from behind. I stopped, letting out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding. Slowly I turned around and saw him running towards me. I bit my lower lip and looked away. I waited until he reached me and took a second to catch his breath.
"Fast!" I took the chance to look at him as he breathed out and looked up at me giving me a boyish grin. "You must be on the track team right?" He asked as he chuckled softly. I couldn't help but to smile softly. He really did have a contagions smile. I could feel my stomach doing flips.
"N..no I'm n..not." I shuddered as I look down.
"Well maybe you should join. i think you'd be great." He paused for a moment. "Hey, you don't mind helping me find my locker? I didn't have a chance to stop by it before coming to class."
I looked back up at him as he handed me the paper with his locker number on it. My eyes widen slightly when I saw the number. I guess he noticed the look on my face cause he asked me what was wrong. "N..Nothing." I said softly. "It's right next to mine."
The smile on his face widen as he suddenly hugged me. I nearly fainted. That was the first time a guy, who's not related to me, hugged me. He pulled away not realizing the shock he put me through and began to speak. "It must be fate! You're showing me around and our lockers are next to each other! I hope we came become good friends!"
I smiled as I nodded my head. Silently I hopped for the same thing, perhaps more. At that thought my face once again turned red with blush. "C..class will start soon. Where is your next class?" I asked as I looked over his schedule which was included with his locker number. My jaw dropped at what I saw. Sure enough, he was right about fate. Him and I were in every class together, even lunch, which we had next.
"Lunch. Same as me." I manged to whisper as I looked at him.
"Great! I'm starved!" He said as he grabbed my hand and started to walk off with me trailing behind. "I know where it is, I passed it along the way to class. Since I don't know anyone here but you, you don't mind having lunch with me do you?" He looked back at me smiling softly.
I shook my head silently still a bit shocked by my current situation. When we reached the cafeteria, we waited on line until we got out lunch. We then walked over to the closest empty table and sat down.
Naruto and I barely started to eat before I heard someone call out to me."Hinata?" I turned around and looked up to see one of my best friends. A wide smile came across my face as I saw her.
"Sakrua!" I jumped up and gave her a huge hug. "You're back!"
"Yea, we just came back last night. Mom wanted me to stay home today to rest, but I couldn't wait to see you again so I came in." She then turned her attention to Naruto and smiled softly. She stretched out her hand and he shook it. "Hi, my name is Sakura Haruno. What is your name?"
"Naruto Uzimaki. I just transferred here today. Did you want to sit and have lunch with us?" He asked politely as he stood up and pulled out the seat next to his.
Sakura's eyes, as well as mine widen in surprise. Why didn't he do that for me? Sakura smile as she placed her tray down and gladly took her seat. "Thank you Naruto, that was very sweet of you." She giggled as she placed a hand on top of his. "It's kinda rare to come across a gentleman these days."
He chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "It's no problem Sakura. It's just how I was raised, to be respectful towards girls."
But you didn't pull out my seat. Does that not make me a girl? I thought to myself as a pout crossed my lips. It disappeared before either of them noticed. The two of them were already in a deep conversation and laughing as if they had known each other for years. I don't know why, but some how it bothered me a bit to see how close they were getting. But being who I am, I felt uncomfortable jumping into the conversation and went to eating my lunch.
"Still as shy as ever huh Hinata?" I heard her say as she giggled. She then turned her attention to Naruto and continued. "This girl has always been the shy one. I've known her since we were 8. Don't misunderstand her. She's actually a really sweet person."
Naruto chuckled softly. "Yea, I see what you mean about misunderstanding, we had an interesting first meeting."
"Really? What happened?" She asked curiously.
"Well, aside from falling backwards and not returning my handshake, she ran out of the class as soon as it was over. Despite the fact she had to show me around. I thought perhaps I'd done something to offend her or she just wasn't in the mood." He shrugged his shoulder as he took a bite out of his sandwich. At hearing that, I dropped my fork and suddenly felt sick to my stomach. Both of them turned to look at me at the same time.
"Are you ok?" He asked with a concerned look on his face.
"You look a sick. Did you eat something funny?" She asked as she reached out her hand to touch mine but I pulled away from the table a little too abruptly.
"I..I'm ok." I whispered as I stood up. "I'm...just not hungry."
"Are you sure you're ok? Did I say something wrong?" Naruto asked as he looked up at me with a pout. It was that look alone that make me feel worst. Rather then admitting the truth I just smiled and lied.
"I'm fine." I said and with that I turned around and left.
I could hear both of them calling out to me, but I ignored them as I felt tears roll down my cheeks. I don't know why, but somehow I had a feeling that my chances of Naruto and I becoming more then friends slipped through my hands the second he laid eyes on Sakura. Why not? She was beautiful, outgoing and had a bunch of friends. She wasn't withdrawn and quite like myself. I could see instantly that both of them got along so well that there just was no room left for me.
2 months later
"Hinata!" I could hear Sakura calling out to me as I walked away from my locker. It was after school and I was about to head to practice. Even thought he made a single comment about it, I thought deeply about it and decided to join the track and field team. It took a while for me to work up the nerve to try out. When I told him about it though, he was very happy and excited. He was my source of encouragement and even went as far as to help me train for the try outs. Every day after school we'd go to the track field and race each other. It was so much fun. We became closer in those few short weeks compared to that first day we met. When I told him I made the team, he was so happy that he offered to treat me to lunch at a new Raman shop in town. It didn't turn out to be the two of us though, Sakura ended up joining. That was about 3 weeks ago. Since then, I've noticed the two of them spending more and more time together.
I turned around and saw the brightest smile on her face as she ran up to me. I stopped and waited for her to approach me. "What happened? You look like you're in a very good mood." I asked.
Her smile widened as she stopped in front of me. "Of course I am! the most amazing thing happened after class today!"
My eyebrows scrunched together in thought. I did remember that after class Naruto asked her to stay behind because he had something to discuss with her. I didn't think much about it cause I thought it had to do with the class assignment we were just given. The pieces were there and ever so slowly it was coming together. But not quick enough.
"Naruto asked me to be his girlfriend!" She nearly shouted out as she suddenly hugged me tightly.
Naruto asked me to be his girlfriend. That very sentence sounded so foreign to me. I know I heard her but...
"Excuse me?" I found myself whispering softly as she pulled away. Why was my chest feeling so tight? Why was it suddenly so hard for me to breath?
Sakura looked at me with a smile still on her face. "I can't believe this! I've had a small crush on him since I first met him. He's so cute and funny. He's rather popular with all the girls in our grade, but he choose me! Naruto choose me!" She jumped around excitedly. Just then she stopped when she looked at me again. The smile suddenly left her face and in it's place a very worried look crossed it.
"Hinata? Are you ok? You look rather pale."
I was silent for a moment as her words echoed through my head. It all came together even though it was the most obvious thing. The first guy who I really liked, who became my first guy friend was now going out with my best friend. Of course I was not ok! How could I be? I honestly didn't know how to feel. Should I be happy? Should I be angry? All I know is that at that moment I felt my head getting lighter and my vision getting blurry.
"Hinata? Hinata are you ok?" I could barely hear her call out to me. I know she was standing in front of me, but she sounded so far away. Just then it became dark and I could hear Sakura calling out for help. It was getting hard to hear her and then I heard nothing at all.
I don't know how long I was out for, but when I finally came to, I looked up to see sea blue eyes looking down at me with such fear and worry.
"She's Awake!" I heard Naruto called out as he looked over his shoulder. I turned my head slightly to look in the direction he looked and saw Sakura standing a few feet away with her hand covering her mouth and tears rolling down her cheek. I tried to get up but felt two hands on my shoulder gently pushing me back down. I looked back to see Naruto Shaking his head. A deep frown cross his face.
"You shouldn't move. You just woke up. Rest for a bit before you start to move around ok?" He said softly.
"What happened?" I asked just above a whisper.
"You fainted." Sakura said as she slowly approached the bed where I laid. "You're home right now. You've been out for 2 1/2 days now. We were really worried when you didn't wake up after the first day. The doctor came over and said that you were overly exhausted and just needed to rest." She suddenly stopped talking as a sob escaped her throat. Naruto moved away from my side and hurried over to Sakura to comfort her. I saw has he held her in his arms and whispered softly in her ear. I looked away. The sight reminded me of why I fainted in the first place.
A moment later I heard the door close and when I looked back, I only saw Naruto in the room. He walked back over towards me and sat on the edge of my bed. I swallowed hard as deep blush crossed my cheeks.
"She blames herself." I heard him say quietly. "She said that soon after she told you about us, that you looked like you were going to faint. Before she knew it, you passed out." He paused as he looked at me. A confused and unsure look crossed his face as he frowned deeply. He then stood up and moved a little closer to me. my cheeks felt hot with blush as he sat down. He was silent for a moment as he looked away.
"You're my best friend. You're the first friend I made when I came here." He said softly as he turned to look at me.
A frown crossed my face. "I..I.." I said as I suddenly felt nervious. "Same way." I manged to say very quitely as I looked away.
I heard him chuckle softly. I took the chance to look back and saw that he had such a bright smile on his face. It was enough to take my breath away. His smile alone took away any uncertainties or worries I had. I couldn't help but to smile softly.
"Sakura was right, that first day we met. It's easy to misunderstand you, but once I got to know you I could see that you're a very sweet and even funny girl. You're shy and quite and don't easily say what you want to say. Yet when you really want to do something, you work hard at it. You're a lot stronger then people give you credit for." He paused as I saw a blush cross his face for only a second before he looked away. "Actually the truth of the matter is that I-" Before he could continue, the door opened and Sakura walked it. Both Naruto and I looked at her with a surprised look.
"Was I interrupting something?" She asked as she walked over towards us and sat next to Naruto. She took his hand into hers as she looked at him with a warm smile. She then looked at me with the same smile.
"Uh.." Naruto began. "No not at all." he said as he laughed a little. "I was just telling Hinata that I consider her as one of my best friends." A warm smile crossed his face as he looked at me. I smiled back as I nodded my head.
Sakura was silent for a moment as a thoughtful look crossed her face. I didn't know what she was thinking about at that moment. Was she wondering if we were telling the truth or hiding something? I vaguely wondered if she had some insecurities about her relationship with Naruto but that thought didn't stick for long. She nodded her head and a wide smile crossed her face.
"Yea! Now all that is left to do is get you a boyfriend Hinata. I've always wanted to go out on a double date. Like going to an amusement park and having ice cream. We should do that during summer break." She said excitedly.
"B-Boyfriend?" I whispered softly. A frown crossed my face as I looked from her to Naruto. Well I would have gone with him, but you took him I thought bitterly.My eyes widen at the thought and I looked away. How did I really feel about them being together? it was something I had to confront and I had to do it soon. Either I could be bittered by it and have it slowly eat away at my friendship with them or I could just suck it up and deal with it. I sighed deeply. It was my fault. If I weren't so shy, If I was a little more out going like Sakura, then just maybe...
But it was too late. The door is closed and I lost my chance. Yes it is upsetting but I loved both of them very much. I couldn't stand the thought of causing some sort of drama and losing both of them in the process. So that was the moment when I decided to accept their relationship. No, it wouldn't be easy but I was sure that little by little I'd get used to it. Then maybe by summer I could feel comfortable in going out on a double date with them. Besides we had a couple of months left before summer break, that gave me pleanty of time. I smiled at the thought.
"Yea. I have a friend I could introduce you too. Actually, he and his family are moving into town next week. We used to live next door to each other, but my family and I moved here. We've been in touch with each other ever since. I think both of you would get along well. He's also rather quite."
My eyes widen. Next week? I needed time to mend my heart and she's looking to introduce me to a new guy next week?!
"Sakura, don't you think that's a little too soon? Maybe you should give him sometime to settle down before pushing the idea of the two of them getting together." Naruto said softly. Thank you Naruto! I silently thought as looked at him and gave him a soft smile.
"Yea, but you and I met when you first moved here and look at us now." She said with a pout as she looked at him.
"But not everyone is like us." He said slowly. "We just happened to get along very quickly. It's all about chemistry." He said with a shrug.
"Yes and since I know both of them very well, I'd be able to tell if they are capable of having that chemistry." She said with slight annoyance etched in her voice.
"Chemistry isn't something you can guess. It has to be felt." I could see that Naruto was beginning to get annoyed with the way the conversation was going.
"Well I think-" Sakura began but I interrupted.
"I think I agree with Naruto." I said softly. "I'd feel comfortable meeting your friend in a couple of weeks. There's no need to rush in meeting him. I'm sure once he's settled down he'd be more open to the idea of a double date." Both of them looked at me silently but it was Naruto who looked at me with complete surprise. I looked away nervously. Did I say something wrong?
"Wow Hinata. That's the most I've ever heard you speak." Naruto said in awe.
"She's more expressive the more comfortable she is around someone. It's a good sign that she really likes someone." Sakura said quitely. I looked at her in time to see a slight bitter look cross her face before she turned around.
"Fine." She sighed deeply. "I'll leave the idea alone for now. I'll make plans for a casual meet up once he settles down." She walked over towards the door and opened it. "Anway it's getting late and we should get going." She looked over her shoulder at Naruto. "You don't mind walking me home do you?" She asked.
"No of course not." He said with a smile. She nodded her head and with that left the room without another word. A deep frown crossed my face. For a moment Naruto and I were both quite.
"Um...I" we both said at the same time. We paused then we both laughed
"Well I should get going. I'm sorry we stayed so long. You really need to get some rest." He said softly as he headed towards the door. Just then I remembered that he was about to say something before he was interrupted by Sakura coming in. I don't know why, maybe it wasn't important but I couldn't help but want to know what it was he wanted to say. So before he left completely I mustered up all the courage I could to ask him.
"Um Naruto?" I called out just above a whisper.
He stopped and looked over at me. "Yes?"
"Um.." I began. I know I had the resolve but suddenly I was torn between asking and feeling foolish for asking. He continued to look at me calmly as my mind battled out what it is I should do.
Just when I was about to ask him, Sakura called out to him from down stairs. A frown crossed my face as well as his. "I'm sorry Hinata. Could it wait?" He asked as he gave me an appoligic smile. I simply nodded my head and he waved goodbye and left. I closed my eyes. It must be a curse, this shyness I have. I felt a sting in my heart and tears rolling down my cheek. That whole night I cried like a baby in my room. It was the first time in my life I've felt such anguish and pain.