For years Hinata harbored strong feelings for Naruto. She was so very shy that every time he was near she would become even more withdrawn and her face would burn from embarrassment. She could barly speak when he was around, most times she would say something then make a very quick exit out of the situation. She was most comfortable with him at a distance. She liked to think she understood him, that he was just lonely and wanted someone to believe in him. She felt the same way but never could express herself like he did. She had much more to think of then just herself with her behavior. She admired Naruto's boldness and gutsy attitude. Maybe that is why she liked him so much but she also felt sorry for him because he had lost his family and he was also carrying the burden of the 9 tailed beast within himself. She knew that he was more then just an unruly fox boy, she saw great compassion and a strong will in him that others refused to see. But she had seen that side of him, maybe only because she could relate to him. All her life she was expected to be a high class powerful ninja. She trained and trained but never felt like she was even close to good enough for her name sake. She felt like she was a failure but when she saw Naruto with his determination and will of fire. she didn't let her feelings get the best of her. His will was her will. Naruto had no idea how he had affected her, how he had given her strenth and purpose. Maybe she would tell him someday, confess her feelings. Show him what he ment to her.
Kakashi had trained his team for years. Honing them into the fine shniobi that he knew they could be. He also knew he wasn't the only one to see how his students had grown. Naruto was always looking for a challenge, whether it was Lee, Sauske, or Kiba. Lee was Guy's student and could understand the rival because he had the same feelings of rivalry with Guy. Sauske would always be competition for Sakura's affections. Kiba would find something to make into a competition when they were around each other. But what Kakashi noticed wasn't his student but his admirer. She was very shy and would blush like no other when Naruto acknowledged her. He also knew that Naruto was so caught up in his own fascination with Sakura to even notice the black haired blue eyed beauty hiding behind Shino. Kakashi wished he could make Naruto realize that his attempts to court Sakura were futile. But Naruto wouldn't back down from competition, even though this wasn't one. Unfortunately for Hinata.
Kakashi noticed many things that others would normally just dismiss. He was a quiet nin that liked to observe and plan out his attacks as many moves ahead as he possibly could. Always looking for a subdivisions or miss direct an opponent so he could catch them off guard then go in for the final blow. One day durring a practice on the training feilds with his team, Kakashi was sitting in a nearby tree nose burried in one of his dirty novels. His students were obviously annoyed by his lack of direction but they continued sparing. Kakashi noticed a familiar scent on the wind that alerted him that someone was watching the training session. He wasn't the least bit concerned because he knew this scent, her sent. A faint smell of spices he imagined were pricey because her family could easily afford such things. She wasn't there long before it happend. Kakashi thought to himself, Why did Naruto decide to be so bold right now.
Naruto pinned Sakura and then he kissed her right on the mouth. Kakashi heard the sound of rustling leaves before Sakura could react to the situation. He knew the damage was done. Hinata was long gone before she could see the results of Naruto's folly. Sakura's eyes widend and face became so red, and then came the explosion. As usual she beat Naruto's head in and he sat there with a grin on his face that ment he'd do it again if he could. Kakashi knew Sakura could handle the situation, she always did, but he was more concerned with how Hinata was going to handle it. He jumped from his spot and began running from tree brance to tree branch in an attempt to catch up to her. 'Danm she was fast', he thought as he glided along through the forest. He knew he was right on her trail because her scent was getting stronger and there were hasty signs of retreat all around him. Broken branches, scuffed bark, and then he saw a flash of dark as night hair. 'She had let it grow out from when she was younger' he thought as he quickly closed the gap between them. She flashed out of sight again then he realized all traces of her had dissappeard. Even her scent was gone, she must have noticed she was being followed. He was not trying to be stealthy in her persute ether so she must know he ment her no harm. But just incase he hid behind a tree and searched for any sign of her at all. Just then she appeared on a sturdy branch not too far away staring straight at him with her Byakugan activated. She quickly deactivated it and waited for Kakashi to come out of hiding. He knew it would be useless to keep hiding because of her abilities would allow her to find him anyway. As he stepped out onto his branch he noticed a different look on her perfect porcelain face, tears streaked down her slightly rosy cheeks. It was pain, not a physical pain but one Kakashi recognized at once. It was a different kind of pain, a pain of loss. Or maybe it was more. He wasn't entirly sure if he should go up to her but it was too late for backing away now. He jumped over to the branch she was standing on and had just gotten to her side when she collapsed. He caught her before she fell from the tree. He jumped out of the tree carrying her in his strong arms with ease because despite her slightly baggy choice of clothing she was actually smaller then she appeared aside from her rather plump chest. For that was difficult for even baggy cloths to hide. He rested her on a patch of grass and tried to wake gently.
Her eyes fluttered open and a mass of silver came inito focus before her. Then the memories of the past 10 min flew back to her. 'No, it couldn't be', but it was so much wose then a kiss. She searched Kakashi's eyes for something, something that could help her make sence of things. But he only stared back at her with a look of concern.
"I'm so-so s-sorry, Ka-kashi sensi." Hinata managed to stammer out.
"There is no reason for to be sorry Hinata." Kakashi said.
He looked into her eyes for a moment longer trying to decide something then asked, "Why were you out in the woods just now?"
Completely embarrassed at this point Hinata's cheeks burned but she responded, "I- I was going to see Na-ruto. B-bu-but..."
She was on the verg of tears again so Kakashi cut her off, "This reaction is more then just seeing Naruto act like a fool, you can tell me what is really wrong. It might even help to let it out."
She sobbed for a moment then calmed back down enough to reply, "My father has decided to arrange for me a marrage, I-I wanted t-to..."
Kakashi understood why she had that pained look now and this extreme reaction to the situation. Could Mr Hyuga really be that stupid that he couldn't see how she felt about Naruto. No, he had a plan for his bloodline, for his lineage. 'That stupid man!' Kakashi thought angrily.
'Now what do I do?' Kakashi asked himself. Normally he had the answers figured out for almost every situation he could think of, but this, this was not even in the realm of possible situations to figure out.
Hinata felt so lost, even more so now. She wanted to reach out to someone. To help her to be strong because she felt so weak. It wasn't like she could go against he father's wishes, there was no way she would win that fight. But she thought maybe if she confessed her feelings to Naruto that maybe he would...she didn't exactly know what would happen but she was sure that telling him her feelings was the right thing to do. But now that was no longer an option, he obviously had far stronger feelings for Sakura then for her. Hinata would just have to face her fate.
She calmed down and became very quite, her breathing became even and regular. She gently pushed away from Kakashi and began to stand up. As she stood up she kept her eyes down cast looking at a spot on the ground. Kakashi stood up too all the while looking at her movements and searching for her emotions. She seemed to have just switched them off and all that was left was a shell. There was an empty look in her eyes. Kakashi reached his hand out to place a finger under her chin to lift her face so he could read her emotions. Emptiness seemed to radiate from her, 'had she really given in to her situation so easily?' Kakashi asked him self. That question burned within him, so much so that he couldn't help but ask, "Are you really going to give up so easily?"
The question startled Hinata some what, not the question itself but the whole situation. Her there with Kakashi, her at her most venerable and him asking such a personal question. What was it to him, what did it matter to him whether she was to be married to...well anyone? Why did he care, was that it, did he care? She wanted someone to care. She wanted someone to make everything clear to her and here he was... here he was. She did not know exactly why he was here, why did he chase after her? So many questions so many emotions she had unexplored were finding their way back into her eyes.
Kakashi could see a struggle going on in her. Unsure as to what he should do, he just stood there staring back into her blue endless abyss eyes. They seemed like they went on forever, then his eyes wandered down to her jucie red lips. His breathing became restricted and then he realized that he still had his finger under her chin. He quickly brought his hand back to his side and began to blush beneath his mask. He turned away from her trying to figure out how he had become so attracted to her. When did he start thinking about how her lips tasted or how much he wanted to hold her and make everything right in her world. He had to get out of this situation. There was no way he could possibly think straight at this point. She was intoxicating like a drug he wanted to taste but he couldn't. Thankful for the mask on his face he felt like he had some sort of control of himself. At this point it was beginning to become dark. "It is getting dark, would you like me to walk you home or do you think you can manage it on your own?" Kakashi asked hoping she would choose the latter so he could make one of his quick escapes. She said nothing but just stood there staring at the back of his silver locks that seemed to go in all directions of there own accord. She was looking at him as if she had never seen him before, she was asking herself why the sudden change. Why had she not noticed his charm or the way his eye sparkeled. She, along with every other person ever wanted to know what he looked like under his mask but now the urge to see what he hid from the world was almost overwhelming. She didn't want him to leave but she also didn't want to go home ether. She felt cold all the sudden and wrapped her arms around herself. Kakashi turned around wondering why she didn't answer his questions. He noticed she was beginning to shiver. He was going regret this but he said, "Come here." And pulled her close to him in a warm embrace. She had never in all her life felt a warmth like this, it was so hot that she was mildly concerned she may get burned. She didn't resist his embrace infact she welcomed it and laid her head on his chest. She felt so comfortable right then, this felt so right to her. Yet she couldnt help her growing curiosity for what lay beneth that thin scrap of cloth. The mystery of it was almost unbearable. Her mind screamed for her to find a way to see.
Kakashi was losing it now, what was he doing. All he had been doing from the moment he could smell her on the wind he was acting on instinct, not a rational thought was going thru his mind. Holding her this close was definatly a bad idea but he couldn't just leave her there alone to face her fate. So now what, he looked down at the slightly shimmering hair from the last lights of the day. He wanted so badly to make all her troubles go away, but how? Then she turned her head up to lock eyes with his dark mysterious one. Then she slid one hand up his side across his tight muscular chest and up along the side of his neck, her eyes were following her hand as she traced the top of his mask with the tip of her finger ever so slowly.
He knew what she was about to do and he wanted it, his anticipation growing with every second it took her to reach the top of his nose. She locked eyes with him again as if to ask for permission, he closed his one dark eye in surender. She gently tugged at the fabric and pulled it down revealing his bare skin on his nose. She noticed he had some silver stubble on his chin. She didnt expect him to have any facial hair but then again she really didn't know what to expect. He couldn't take it any longer, he had to see her reaction to her sudden discovery. She had a little grin playing at her lips, those lips...he had to taste...had to see if they were just as sweet and juicy as they looked. He ran his hand up behind her head and pulled her in for a deep and passionate kiss his desire growing by the second. He needed her close to him, so very close. There was no way he was going to let her go now, not now.
She let herself be bold for once in her life she took a chance and oh what a chance it was. She was getting lost in the passion of this kiss. How could she have never known this feeling existed, she had been blind all this time. She, with her visual abilities, blind! She smirked at the thought. She wanted this so very badly, she had no idea just how badly she wanted it until this point.
They both pulled out from the kiss and stared at each other for a moment.