DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

The Moon the Stars, and...A Fox?

It was a calm and clear night in Konoha, as Naruto walked an all too familiar road. He had walked the path to Ichiraku's ramen shop more times than he could count. It was always somewhere he could go when he needed to feel appreciated. More than that he could always think there.

If you had mentioned to anyone in the village – including his friends – that Naruto thought deeply about anything they would laugh so loud they'd probably lose their voice. He was mostly known for being loud and in your face. Truth be told that's all he was at times. However there were other times when he would sit and do nothing but think. Think about himself, all the friends he had now, and how easily he could lose it all. To say Naruto was complex would be like calling the hidden mist village a little hard to find. In other words; it was a huge understatement.

Ichiraku and his daughter Ayame were the only two people to ever see this quiet side of him, or so he thought anyway. As always Hinata Hyuuga was watching him from afar. It had become a custom of hers - much to Ichiraku and Ayame's amusement - to secretly watch Naruto eat his favourite food every night she could, and tonight was no exception.

"Man that was a long mission!" Naruto all but exclaimed as he ate his food.

"I wanted my favourite ramen the entire time I was gone!" Ichiraku only laughed lightly and then said

"You always seem to have so much energy Naruto, honestly I don't know how you do it."

"That's easy dad" Ayame called out from the kitchen "He eats so much of our famous ramen that he could probably run from here to the land of snow and back, and still have enough energy left over to train with Kakashi-sama."

"Yes I imagine your right." Chuckled Ichiraku. When Naruto started to laugh with him and smiled, Hinata felt her heart skip a beat. As she watched him she felt a familiar warmth spread across her face.

'Naruto.' She thought to herself. She always seemed to smile when he did – when he wasn't looking of course – and whenever he was sad or upset about something she couldn't help but feel gloomy and depressed as well. The fact of the matter was that Naruto was everything to her. She would trust him with her life. Not only that but she would defend him to the death if anyone dared attack him.

However strong her feelings for him were though she had never been able to tell him exactly how she felt. She laughed at herself harshly at that thought.

'Tell him how I feel? I can't even say hello to him without nearly passing out.' She hung her head and sighed. 'Oh well. If I can't be with him at least I can watch him right?' As the thought that she might never get to be with Naruto crossed her mind, she couldn't help but feel as though a piece of ice had lodged itself in the spot where her heart should be.

"Thanks for the meal guys! I left a tip for you. Consider it a birthday present for Ayame-chan since I missed her birthday while on my mission!" Naruto called in his usual too loud manner.

"Really? Thanks Naruto. You know you didn't have to right?" Asked Ayame as she came out of the back of the little stall.

"Yah I know, but I wanted to. I wouldn't feel right not giving you something, Ayame-chan." Naruto admitted while wearing his trademark goofball grin.

'Oh no.' Thought Hinata. 'A...are they...flirting?'

"Well, to show you my thanks..." said Ayame teasingly, as she walked forward and placed a light kiss on his cheek.

"Eheheh" Naruto laughed as he scratched the back of his head. At that moment they all heard it. A not so quiet gasp. When they turned to look, what they found was Hinata. She was standing there with both hands covering her face and a look in her eyes that was a mixture of sadness, hurt, and shock.

"Hinata?" Asked Naruto. When she heard him say her name, she finally realized they were looking at her. She ran. She ran like she had never run before. If her sensei and father had seen her move that quickly they might have actually been impressed. She kept running. She had no idea where she was going or what she would do when she got there, but anywhere was better than here.

Meanwhile

"Hinata!?" shouted Naruto with worry all but dripping from his voice as he called after her.

"Oh crap!" shouted Ayame, as she hit herself in the forehead. "I totally forgot that she was there!" She then looked at Naruto. " WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE!? GO AFTER HER!!" Bellowed Ayame as she kicked Naruto in his stationary backside.

"Huh? Oh yah! Right! Later Ayame! Bye Ichiraku-sama!" As Naruto said this he was already on his way to the roof top of the building beside the small noodle shack.

"My, my...that's some amount of dust you've kicked up there. Tell me...did you really forget that girl was there?" Finished Ichiraku who was now raising his brow at his daughter.

"Nope." Said Ayame with a mischievous grin on her face. One of which would have made Naruto proud.

Meanwhile

"Hinata! Hinata where are you!?" Called Naruto frantically. "Dang she's fast" Naruto commented to himself. 'Where the heck could she ha...' No sooner than he had started thinking about where to look next - as he had already checked the rest of the village - did he know where she was. He wasn't sure why but he felt something like dread as he all but flew as fast as he could toward the only place left she could be hiding.

Meanwhile

'Why? Why does it hurt so much? I always knew he'd meet someone eventually, so why the tears?' Thought Hinata to herself as she sat curled into a tiny ball. She looked up to the sky, which was now full of twinkling stars, and a ghostly looking full moon. There wasn't a cloud to be seen.

'All I can ever do around him is act like a total idiot. I'm quiet, shy, weak, and...' She thought with a fresh wave of tears and sobs

'Totally unimpressive when compared to the other girls in the village. Especially compared to Ayame. Both Naruto and Ayame are complete opposites of me...t...they're...perfect f..for each other.' Now her crying was so loud that even a civilian would have been able to hear her clearly. She looked out over the village, as her tears dripped down of her chin, and left tiny wet dots where they hit her jacket. So blurred was her vision by her tears, and her hearing by the sound of her own crying she didn't even notice him approaching.

"HINATA!!" Screamed Naruto as he ran towards her. When she heard his voice she nearly jumped out of her own skin.

"N..na...Naruto?" Hinata whispered 'What's he doing here? Why did he come after me? And...more importantly...how can I possibly face him after what I saw?