Hinata bit her lip; the pain in her ankle was excruciating and it has swollen into roughly the size of a tennis ball in an angry shade of angry red. She silently cursed herself for her own ineptitude as the blonde haired man crouched in front of her to inspect it.

SUNSHINE – Part 1

By: Nutty Scribbler

Hey peeps, I'm back with a brand new NaruHina fic. Nyaha, I'm obsessed with this pairing! –Hugz plushie of Naruto and Hinata Kissing-

Anyway, this fic is dedicated to a number of ppl/parties.

Baka and Hentai: Coz you guys treated me to Jap.buffet which is the main source of motivation to write this fic.

Myself: Coz it's a birthday celebration kinda fic for me. XD. So review!

Peeps at KnH forum: You guys rock!

NaruHina fans and authors: I love you guys. I wouldn't be writing this if weren't for you guys and your inspiring fics!

That's all. Lengthier A/N the end of the chapter!

They were returning back to Konoha after a particularly tough A-class mission in the Wave country. The team comprising of her, Naruto-kun, Shikamaru-kun and Ino-chan were in remarkably good spirits. Since they completed the mission ahead of scheduled, they had journeyed at a leisurely pace, setting camp at dusk to rest. Hinata didn't mind going back to Konoha a little later; her family did not really care about her whereabouts and a longer journey meant spending more time with Naruto-kun. Shikamaru-kun didn't mind either.

"Going back later means the next mission will be a little later," he had said lazily which prompted Ino-chan to launch into a diatribe of how lazy he is and the lack of ambition in him. She culminated her speech by telling him great Sasuke-kun is and he responded by closing his eyes and snoring softly, which sent Ino-chan to a over the edge.

Hinata had giggled to herself because she was pretty sure that Shikamaru- kun was just bluffing. Besides, she had caught him opening his eyes when he thought no one was looking to peep at Ino-chan when she turned her back to him.

Naruto-kun had been pretty restless for the past few days. She could understand that; Uzumaki Naruto is a whirlwind of activity – Konoha's number one hyperactive ninja – and the lack of excitement in the last few days was boring him to tears. Besides, he probably missed Ichiraku Ramen Bar very much and they had ran out of ramen yesterday.

Lack of ramen and excitement in his life can very well lead Uzumaki Naruto into a fatal depression. Worst, he might turn into an angst king that can rival both the Uhiha and Hyuuga prodigy of their generation.

So, she had bravely approach him and requested him to train with her after lunch that day, hoping to lift his spirits a little. His eyes had lit up at the word training and agreed enthusiastically. Inwardly, she had been overjoyed to be able to do something to make her Naruto-kun happy.

They had traded blows and Naruto had refrained from using the Kage-Bunshin technique since his clones could easily have overpowered her; Naruto's power level had skyrocketed when he hit puberty. Even with her Byakugan, Hinata had a lot of trouble holding herself against him and her chakra was nearly nil already; using the Byakugan takes up a lot of her stamina and chakra. She was pretty sure that Naruto-kun wasn't even using one tenth of his power against her today.

A sudden quick sweep of his leg had overbalanced her. It had caught her totally unaware and she fell heavily on her right foot. She had cried out in pain and the rest of her team hurried over to see what had happened.

Shikamaru sighed as he surveyed her swollen ankle, "It looks like a nasty sprain; how troublesome."

Hinata felt like crying. Shikamaru-kun was right; she was nothing but a burden.

Naruto glared at the other man and Ino proceeded to activate her specialized Pummel-Shika-no-jutsu. Everyone knew of Hinata's inferiority complex and super low self esteem. It was taboo to make her feel bad.

"I didn't mean it that way," Shikamaru groused as he rubbed his bruised and battered body; Ino might not look it, but she has the inane strength of a wild boar and she never holds back when activating that jutsu that is unique to her. He sighed, and wondered if it was the fate of the Nara clan to produce males that were destined to be kicked around by females before looking apologetically towards Hinata, "I just think it is troublesome of Naruto to cause you to sprain your ankle."

This caused the blonde jounin to look at Hinata guiltily, "I'm sorry, Hinata-chan."

"No, no – It was my fault for not paying attention enough. Naruto-kun was already going easy on me."

Naruto felt even guiltier when he realized that she knew he was going easy on her. She probably thinks that I think she's weak, that's why I went easy on her, he thought.

But truth is, he just didn't want to hurt her. A significant portion of Kyubi's chakra had melded with his when he hit puberty which caused his chakra level to increase dramatically. If he wasn't careful enough, he can accidentally kill his training partners.

And just thinking of the pretty black haired girl getting hurt had made his heart ached in a way it has never ached before. It was even worst than seeing Sakura clinging on to Sasuke when he was younger. Hell, it hurt even worst than forced abstinence from ramen.

"It's going to rain tonight," Shikamaru said monotonously. "How troublesome."

"How do you know?" Ino demanded loudly.

"Don't you see that group of clouds there? And don't you feel the dampness of the air around us? Besides, it's late summer; rains are quite common this time of the year," Shikamaru explained slowly, in a tone of voice befitting a teacher lecturing a six year old.

Ino had to agree with his logic but his condescending tone did not agree with her. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?" she snapped at him as she applied Hinata's own medicinal salve to the Hyuuga girl's swollen ankle. The cream was cool to the touch and quickly numbed the pain. She then proceeded to bandage the ankle.

Shikamaru shrugged, "We are already approaching the village. If we continue to travel at our previous speed, we would have reached the village before dusk. The rains won't start until nightfall."

"But with Hinata's current condition, it is obvious we won't be able to make it back to the village in time. If Hinata had not exhausted her chakra training with Naruto, she can easily heal herself. It is just too bad that the rest of us are not skilled in medical jutsus. How troublesome," he finished with his trademark quote.

Hinata kept quiet. Shikamaru's reasoning was true; if she was just stronger, she wouldn't have gotten hurt. Even if she had gotten injured, she would have been able to heal herself if her chakra level was higher. And to get a higher chakra level, she should have trained more.

Conclusion: it's all her fault because she didn't train enough. And because of that, she has become a liability again.

Naruto noted his friend's forlorn expression and winced. Somehow, he felt that he is responsible for her and seeing her upset just isn't making him feel down in the dumps as well.

"Well, it's no use we continue here, waiting for the rain to come down, right?" he said authoritatively. "Shika, Ino, you two should travel top speed back to the village. Maybe if you make it back in time, you can send medic-nins to meet us. Preferably Sakura-chan if she's available; she's the best after Hinata-chan after all," he flashed a grin at Hinata.

Hinata flushed with pride, happy to hear her crush's words of praise. Of course, they didn't need Sakura, another highly skilled medic-nin who along with her is apprenticed to the Medical Specialist of the legendary Sennin and who is also the current Hokage of Konohagakure.

Shikamaru nodded his assent, marveling at the blonde's quick judgment and skill at restoring the teammate's spirit. He couldn't help but sweat drop a little, however, when he remembered that the blonde jounin still have yet to realize the depth of his feelings for the girl or notice Hinata's rather obvious infatuation with him for the matter.

"Let's go and get this troublesome thing done with," he muttered as he grabbed Ino's hand. Ino looked a little shock at the physical contact but recovered quickly and sprinted along with him towards the direction of the village.

"Hinata-chan, are you alright?" Naruto asked, his features marred with obvious concern. The sight of him looking like that set off a tingly feeling down her spine.

"I'm alright," she replied shyly and a apple-blossom blushed crept across her cheeks. She had gotten over her stuttering a few years ago but was still falls prey to her legendary blushes.

"Do you think you can stand?" Naruto asked. She nodded her head and slowly got to her feet. Sharp spikes of pain shot up her injured limb as soon as she leaned a little on it and she squeaked, shifting her position, so that she will fall back onto her butt. It'll be painful to fall on the hard ground without chakra cushioning her behind but not as painful as falling flat on her face.

Besides, falling on her butt is way less embarrassing than getting a faceful of dirt in front of Naruto.

But it never came, for a strong pair of arms had caught her. She looked up and white eyes met with electric blue orbs that met her gaze with surprising intensity. He had unconsciously pulled her closer to him in the tight circle of his embrace.

The white-eyed girl flushed at their close proximity, yet reveled in their intimate position. "Naruto-kun..." she murmured breathlessly.

He blushed, suddenly realized how ungentlemanly you've behaved. "Gomen!" he exclaimed, releasing Hinata suddenly, causing her to lose her balance all over again.

"Ahh!" she screamed as she began falling again.

Naruto's quick reflexes courtesy of Kyubi kicked into action; he dove after her and when he realized that he cannot stop both of them from falling, he reversed his position so that she'll fall on him.

And fall on him she did, their lips meeting upon impact.

A/N:

Wahh! It's fun writing this fic. I've already got the part 2 sitting in my comp, waiting to be uploaded. Review if you want it! Nyahaha...

Random line from the next part just because I want to be a fic-tease. XD

Hinata smelt nice and felt good on top of him; it was way better than that accident he had with Sasuke-no-baka when they were twelve, he thought darkly.

Bai bai!

Love, Nutty Scribbler.