Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto. If I did, the person who came up with the phrase "believe it' would be horrifically tortured.
WARNING: Contains violent material.
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Hinata waited for Naruto to emerge from the stadium. He had thrown the winning touchdown and she thought it was the best time to give him her letter.
She had watched him. Only him. He had started small when they started high school. Naruto was much smaller then, but he still bragged about how he was going to become the star quarterback someday. Everyone laughed at him then. Everyone except Hinata. When she heard what he had proposed, she immediately started to admire him. From a distance of course. Why should she get in his way? She was nothing but a curse upon the land. Just like her father said.
Naruto trained long and hard everyday. Even after the other players had gone home after practice, Naruto would stay an extra hour or two. He quickly rose through the ranks and now, in his senior year, he had become the star quarterback just like he wanted. Hinata had watched every moment of it. From the rigorous obstacle courses he would set up for himself, to the ridiculous amounts of physical exercise he managed to do.
What started as a crush had slowly become a very strong attraction. Hinata had always been too nervous to approach Naruto. She would see him in the hallway sometimes, but every time she did, she froze in place. All the blood would rush to her face, making her look like a tomato resting on top of a coat with a fuzzy collar.
Nevertheless, Hinata went to every game of Naruto's. Even if he didn't do anything more than sit on the bench, Hinata always watched him. The only times when she didn't were when she blinked. Whenever Naruto threw a successful pass or if he got a first down, Hinata was the first to jump up and was the loudest person cheering in the whole stadium. There was no question about it. Even though Naruto didn't notice it, Hinata was his biggest fan.
Now she waited for him so that she could give him the letter that expressed all of her feelings. She knew she had no chance of Naruto really noticing her either way, but if she could just give him her letter, she would feel like she had accomplished something. Naruto's other fans also waited for him, cheering themselves hoarse. A lot of the girls waiting for him had flowers or pictures of him that they hoped he would sign.
After what felt like an eternity, Naruto calmly walked out of the stadium exit into the crowd of his adoring fans. They immediately surrounded him, the guys asking for autographs, the girls begging for him to go out with them. Hinata held back. If she charged in like everyone else, she would just get in the way. She would wait.
It took twenty minutes, but the crowd eventually died down. Naruto had signed his last autograph and declined the latest request for a date. Hinata was the only one left, but she was too lost in her thoughts as she leaned against the fence leading to the parking lot. She didn't even notice when Naruto came up to her. She heard his voice and turned to face him.
"Huh?" She realized that Naruto was the one talking a second too late.
"I said, 'Are you waiting for an autograph?'" he asked with his fun-loving smile. He looked at her with the most beautiful azure eyes she had seen. She was immediately lost in his gaze. Her pulse increased and she blushed furiously. She was so nervous she almost crushed the letter between her hands. Her heart was beating so hard that it started to hurt.
"Hey, are you okay?" Naruto asked.
Hinata lowered her head to face the ground. She shut her eyes tight and pushed her arms out, pushing the letter into Naruto's face. Her arms shook furiously. She waited for what felt like hours. Just as she was about to give up and run away, Naruto took the letter with a smile.
"Thanks." he said. There was some level of joy in receiving these letters for him. They showed that everything he had worked so hard for was noticed by everyone around him. He started to tear open the letter.
Hinata raised her head in horror. She didn't want to be around him when he read the letter. It would be far too embarrassing. She backed towards the parking lot. Why is he reading it now? Hinata wondered. He was supposed to read it when he got home later. Naruto pulled the letter from the envelope and opened it. Hinata couldn't help herself. She panicked.
She ran straight for her car, jumped in, and drove off before she had a chance to think it over. As she drove off for home, she felt her muscles relax. The feeling of lightening coursing through her veins started to die down as she put more distance between herself and Naruto.
Hinata sighed to herself as she drove back home. She leaned back in her chair, trying to recover from what just happened. She took a deep breath as her gaze wandered to the digital clock in her car. It read, 10:10. Hinata renewed her sense of panic. It was late! Her father was going to kill her! She drove as fast as she could for home.
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Naruto watched as the shy girl ran off. It wasn't an uncommon sight. Lots of girls would silently hand him a letter and run away as soon as he had it in his hand. He didn't like those letters because he could tell that they were hurt when he declined their request for a date. But this letter was different. Naruto couldn't place his finger on it, but it just seemed somehow… different.
Naruto leaned against the fence as Hinata had been doing only a few minutes ago. He opened the letter. It was outlined in a swirling vine pattern and was written in cursive with a blue pen. It was much more elegant than any other letter he had ever received. Naruto sat down and read it.
Dear Naruto,
Before you jump to conclusions, I'm not asking you on a date. I wanted to tell you my feelings.
I've been watching you ever since you started football. I saw you when you first told everyone that you were going to become the star quarterback. I believed you and I always cheered you on. I always admired how hard you pushed yourself.
It's because I've known about you for so long that I have to tell you just how I feel.
Naruto, I really like you. I really, really like you. With all of my heart. I know someone like you can have any girl you want, and that whoever you chose will be incredibly lucky. All that I ask is that you love her with everything you can give her. You deserve that kind of happiness.
Goodbye,
Hinata Hyuuga.
Naruto read the letter again. Then a third time. This letter was different from all the others, that much was true. Naruto couldn't believe that someone would write something like this. He felt that he was on the verge of tears. The letter was touching. He held his head in his arms and tried to recall everything he knew about Hinata Hyuuga.
She was incredibly shy, that was her most obvious feature. But she was also cute, Naruto realized. He had seen her in the hallway. She always stood perfectly still when he was around, as if she was trying to hide from him while in plain sight. Naruto also remembered that he had seen her at all of his games. He had seen her cheering louder than anyone else. She looked so happy when she cheered like that. Naruto wanted to see that smile more often.
Naruto stood up and headed over to his car. He re-folded the letter and slipped it into his jacket. He wanted to talk to Hinata about this letter. He looked at his watch. It read 10:15. It wasn't too late. If Naruto just knocked on her front door softly, he wouldn't make too much of a nuisance of himself. But he would have to hurry. Naruto got in his car and drove off to look for Hinata's house. It wouldn't be too hard to find. Hiashi Hyuuga, Hinata's father, was the head of one of the country's biggest conglomerations. They had a small mansion on the eastern side of town. Naruto could be there in fifteen minutes.
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Hinata walked down the front walkway. It was 10:30, a half hour after curfew. She opened the front door as quietly as she could. She didn't see any lights on. It was a good sign. That would mean that her father was asleep. Hinata didn't feel like getting yelled at for getting home too late. She was still embarrassed about giving Naruto that letter. Now that Hinata thought about it, it was pretty cheesy. Naruto probably laughed at it when he first read it. No! Hinata yelled at herself. Naruto isn't like that. He's sweet and kind. Hinata buried her eyes in the palms of her hands and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water before she went to bed.
Hinata rounded the corner leading to the kitchen. As she walked she noticed noise and light coming from the dining room. Her eyes went wide as she realized what that could mean. She walked as silently as she could. She would just take a quick glance into the dining room, and if it was her father, she would carefully sneak back to her room.
Hinata slowly approached the doorway and peeked around the corner. As she thought, her father was drinking again. Beer bottles were strewn all over the dining room table. He was clearly drunk. He was mumbling incoherently. It was some sort of song about railroad workers. Hinata realized what would happen if he caught her here. She backed away as carefully as she could.
But not carefully enough.
One of the floorboards creaked. To Hinata, it was almost deafening. She heard her father shove some bottles out of his way as he struggled to get up. "Who ish it?" he said, slurring his words. Hinata turned to face him as he stumbled out of the room and into the hall. His eyes were bloodshot and his nose was cherry red. He was more drunk than Hinata thought.
"What the hell're you doing?' Hiashi asked.
"Um… d-dad, I-" She was cut off as Hiashi backhanded her in the face.
"Yer late." he said as he shuffled towards her. "I tol' you never to be late."
"Dad, I'm sorry! I-" She was cut off again as Hiashi punched her in the jaw. Hinata fell backwards. She looked at her father in fear as she pushed herself back against the wall. Tears started to form in her eyes. The punch had also cut her lip against her teeth. Blood slid down the side of her mouth.
Hiashi bent down and wrapped his hands around Hinata's throat. She coughed. Blood flew out of her mouth as she struggled for breath. She tried to pry his fingers apart from her throat, but she was too scared. She couldn't get a good grip. She saw the anger etched in his face. "Why don't you die you worthless heap of shit?" He strengthened his grip, intent on killing Hinata if that would teach her a lesson.
Hinata started to panic. This was worse than any other time he was drunk. He had hit her before, but not in the face. That left too much evidence. But Hinata saw the seriousness in his expression. He really did mean to kill her.
Hinata's world started to go black. Tears streaked her face as her last thoughts went through her head. I love you Naruto.
There was a yell. Then lots of pounding, and a crash, like someone smashed through a wall. Hinata noticed that she could breathe again. As she slowly came to her senses she felt herself being picked up and cradled into someone's chest. As her sight came back into focus she realized that she was looking into Naruto's eyes.
"Are you okay?" he asked with a kind-hearted smile.
Hinata felt tears welling up in her eyes again. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Naruto had rushed in and tackled her father into a wall, knocking him out. "Don't worry." Naruto assured her. "He won't hurt you again."
"N-Naruto…" She let herself go and a flood of tears fell from her eyes as she pulled herself into Naruto's chest.
Naruto was a little on edge. He didn't expect her to jump on him like that. He also didn't think that he would enter her house only to knock her father off of her. He had walked up to the front door and heard Hiashi threaten to kill her. Without thinking, Naruto ran into the house and body slammed Hiashi off of Hinata.
Naruto tried to calm Hinata down by slowly rocking her back and forth in his arms. He stroked her hair as well. "I'll protect you." he whispered into her ear. Hinata looked into his eyes. She wiped away the tears so she could get a better view of him. In the low light coming from the dining room, he looked even better than usual. She could swear, his eyes glowed. Naruto kissed one of her tears away as it flowed down her cheek. He pulled his head back to look at her again. Hinata's tears seemed to stop as she looked back at him. He was almost like a knight. Her knight. As Hinata gazed at him, Naruto saw the smile he had fallen in love with. He pulled her back into another warm embrace.
"I'll protect you from now on. I promise."
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Please read and review. I've never written a story quite like this and I'd like to know how I did. Constructive criticism is welcome.
-Krimson Rogue