I do not own Naruto, I do own this fic. I was pretty successful with my first Naruto fic (I think!) but this is a different approach…and hopefully I keep the characters in their character, sorta. Gotta stretch a few things! Tehee!

The Eyes Of A Fox

Prologue

Naruto walked down the path in the forest, hands in his pockets as he kicked a few stones on his way. He didn't have anywhere to go, nobody to bother, and not a mission since Kakashi had gotten lost majorly on his road to life. Man, he hated that excuse.

He sighed and stopped, turning to the right towards a stream. Hinata was practicing her Byakugan as usual. She'd been doing that since Neji beat her in the exams. He could clearly remember it.

Flashback

Hinata had been losing hope, fading fast in her attempts to beat her cousin, Neji. "You can do it Hinata! Believe it!" Naruto had yelled out. Somehow, for some reason, unknown to Naruto, Hinata had given the fight her all. Even though she failed, she had more confidence and later thanked Naruto for his encouragement.

End

He walked up and leaned against a tree. Her face was stretched as she used her heritage to visualize chakras from anything from insects to the silly fish jumping up towards the dam they were near.

She paused a moment as she sensed his presence and looked over. Instantly her face became more delicate she relaxed. She also became oddly more shy, twiddling her fingers, "Oh, Naruto? Why, why are you here?"

Naruto pushed himself away from the tree and walked over with all the confidence in the world. Because let's face it, he was going to be the future Hokage! Damn straight he should have confidence! "I didn't know I couldn't be here and I figured I'd see how you were doing with your fighting and stuff. But I'll leave if-"

"Oh, no!" Hinata gasped a bit and looked away, "I'm sorry. I just meant…well you see…"

"Hinata, sometimes you're really weird." he jested.

But inside, Hinata was tearing in two. How could she not just talk to him? They were at the same skill level and if nothing, she was more respected. Why should she feel that she wasn't good enough to talk to Naruto?

"Oh uhm--"

Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder and she quickly looked up at him, not aware that he had moved. "Come on, let's go get some ramen or something. You have to be kinda hungry. Sides, it's really boring just walking around doing nothing. We'll train together if you'd like but not before the ramen!" he beamed.

Hinata tensed a bit and then relaxed, smiling a bit. "Oh. Ok. I suppose."

Naruto wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her towards the village like a pal. But Hinata wanted Naruto more than just a "pal." She really cared for him. She just-didn't have the voice to tell him yet.

Reviews please

Kage1586

Note: I know, I know, Naruto and Sakura were my couple in my first story but if you read my profile, I have A LOT of pairings for Naruto and Sakura lol…man, this should be fun!