Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or Hinata. Never have, never will. Unless I usurp the soul of their author as well as his body and kidnap the entire company...which I doubt will happen anytime soon. I do nothing more than abuse them...creatively.

This time, This place.

Misused, Mistakes,

Too long, Too late.

Who was I to make you wait?

She hates me.

That's about the only thing I can focus on right now. Every curse she has spat at me in the past hour means nothing now. Because she hates me.

She's damned both myself and the Kyuubi to hell a thousand times by now. Not that he would mind in the least. I've never seen her so angry, so tormented. She gave me such a kind welcome when our teams met after so many years, and now that we have a moment alone she laces into me with words I doubted she even knew.

Just one chance,

Just one breath.

Just in case there's just one left.

And as I stand before her in the shadow of the trees, all I can do is gape. Not just out of surprise at her spiteful words, nor shock at her large vocabulary of curses. But because she hates me. She said so herself about five times in the last few minutes, I lost count of all the other times.

I could only meet her narrowed pearl eyes with my own wide open blue irises. I had returned, hadn't I? With skills and jutsus I had never even heard of before these past few years. Shouldn't she be proud of one of her fellow rookie nine? Shouldn't she be proud of me? Kyuubi-possessed self and rookie nine status aside, could she not be proud of me like everyone else was? That's what hurt me the most, that she wasn't proud of me. I had always thought of her as my comfort, on those days when Sakura doled out particularly harsh words. I thought she would always love me, in that brother and sister way.

'Cause you know,

you know, you know.

That I love you

I have loved you all along.

The shock made my reaction time slow, I barely noticed a pair of arms were flung around my neck and I was pulled into an embrace. Under my chin was soft raven hair, and that's when it hit me. I would have responded to the embrace, but her arms held mine tightly against my ribs. For a woman, she was strong. But for a kunoichi that strength is expected of her.

On my knees, I'll ask.

Last chance for one last dance.

'Cause with you, I'd withstand

All of hell to hold your hand.

I felt dampness spreading across the shoulder of my jacket, hearing her ragged breathing I realized she was weeping. That's when she spoke to me in that quiet voice, a voice I hadn't heard since before I left Konoha. The voice I remembered from when we were young, long before she became so strong.

"Naruto-kun, I missed you so much."

She missed me.

I'd give it all,

I'd give for us,

Give anything but I won't give up.

And I that's when I realized that I had missed her too. More than I had missed Sakura, Sasuke, Bushy-Brow, Neji, Kakashi, the Third Hokage and all of my old friends. Because she was Hinata Hyuga, and nobody on this Earth living or dead could ever replace her. She was so proud of me, she took pride in my accomplishments. Never begging for attention, content to stand off to the side and look on as I gloried in my accomplishments. She was happy for me when I reached my goals, as if they were her own triumphs. The Kyuubi could be heard in my brain, laughing at my density, but that wasn't what I was listening to. I was listening to her.

"I love you, Naruto-kun. I'm so happy you returned."

Been far away for far too long.

I keep dreaming you'll be with me

and you'll never go.

No matter how many times I hold her, or how many times I kiss her, or tell her just how much I care. I can never match this display, this gesture of affection and adoration toward me. Because love isn't built on kisses. Love is built on trust, loyalty and adoration. She is as loyal as they come, and I wouldn't have her any other way.

Stop breathing if

I don't see you anymore.

Right now, there is only one thing that is important to me. One fact out of millions.

She loves me.