Disclaimer: I do not own 'Naruto' or any of its characters.

Pen Name: sarahh86

This is my first story and I hope you all enjoy it. All reviews will be appreciated no matter what.

Hinata Hyuuga…Yes she was one of the members of the Hyuuga clan and part of the main branch as well. She was the heir to the powers that her father, Hiashi Hyuuga should have inherited to her. Should…

Hinata wasn't a strong as her cousin Neji Hyuuga and therefore it was more probable that he would end up heir to the powers of her own father. She simply could not compete with him. He could kill her instantly if he wanted. Her cousins' hate was just icing to the cake. She was already worried about other things, or more specifically other people.

Hinata's eyes dropped to the floor and stopped looking at the beautiful sunset glowing in the distance. The pale orange and yellow lights of it reminded her too much of Naruto Uzumaki, her one true love. He had left to train so that he could prepare to take on new, powerful enemies. Naruto had been gone for a good five years now. It was doubtful that he would ever return to Konoha, but still…

Hinata turned to the sunset and sighed. She loved him; she loved Naruto Uzumaki too much. He had never noticed her. Hinata's shy ways made it impossible to form a coherent sentence in her mind, never mind aloud. He had always thought that she was weird, too quiet, and simply not defensive of herself. He was exactly the opposite; he was brave, confident, and hyperactive as hell.

Her dark, long, dark blue hair flew around her face and she tucked it back. Hinata had told him to be careful on his journey and he had actually hugged her. It was nothing romantic but her heart had leapt with joy. She could still feel his wild, blond hair against her cheeks. She could still feel his strong arms around her…

"Stop it Hinata." she whispered to herself. Thinking about Naruto was going to make her worry about him much more than she had been doing. It was no use to think about having a romantic relationship with Naruto anyway. It didn't take a genius to know that he was in love with Sakura Haruno, who was curiously attracted to Sasuke Uchiha, the hotshot of the Leaf Village. Sakura had beautiful pink hair and gorgeous emerald eyes. How could she be a competition for her?

Hinata was just starting to fall into a deep state of depression when the heard the voice that had been echoing in her mind for a long time.

"Hinata!" The voice was masculine. It had obviously lost its childishness a while ago but it still belonged to the only man Hinata had ever felt love for.

"Naruto!" she exclaimed and ran to him with her arms fully extended. He had changed. He was taller, more muscular, and less hyperactive but his blond hair was still wild, and his blue eyes were still full of shiny ninja light. His face was somewhat tanner although it was hard to see his arms through his orange and black coat. His lips were curved into a wide smile and his arms were extended as well.

The force of the impact made Naruto topple backwards and fall into the shallow sand. Hinata fell on top of him and hugged him, despite the false hope this would bring her.

"I'm so glad you finally came back!" Hinata exclaimed with tears brimming in her eyes as she hugged him tighter.

"I'm really glad to see you too Hinata but if you keep hugging me any tighter I'm going to suffocate." Naruto said warmly. Hinata started to blush a deep crimson and stepped away from him.

He smiled at her and his eyes shined with happiness. He had missed her. Had had missed her more than anybody here, more than anybody in this village in fact. There had not been a single day in which had had not thought of her. The reason for this was clearer than water. He loved her. Naruto loved Hinata with all his heart and that had been one of the reason for which he came back. The others were more complicated and far more difficult to explain to somebody who didn't know the horrible truth about him.

"When did you come back?" Hinata asked him, with her eyes radiating happiness. He felt somewhat warmer as he saw her face full of happiness. It contented him to make her happy. After all, he was a demon but he deserved to make people happy, to repay for the damage that the Nine Tailed Fox had done.

"I just got back a few minutes ago actually. You're the first person I've seen." he said to her.

Hinata's heart swelled with profound emotion. He had come to see her first. He had cared enough about her to see her first. Did that mean that he felt something for her too?

"I'm glad you came back Naruto. You have no idea how much I missed you." she said softly.

Naruto's breath quickened. Did she feel the same way for him?

He smiled in spite of the rough journey he had overcome. Hearing those words from Hinata made him feel brave enough to tell him the truth.

"Hinata I-I…wanted to tell you that-that…I like your long hair." Naruto blurted out.

So much for bravery.

Hinata's dreams fell to the ground but she was such an expert at hiding her feelings that she only smiled. "Thank you Naruto."

Naruto gently took her hands into his and kissed them gently. "I have to go and see Sasuke, Sakura, and all the other people I haven't seen in five years."

Hinata nodded softly. "I'll see you around."

He looked at her with an expression of pure warmth. "I'll see you around." he repeated and left. By this time the sunset had dimmed and it was turning into night. The sky was now a pleasant midnight blue color, the color of Hinata's hair.

Why didn't you tell her the truth? A brave side of him asked.

How can I confess to the prettiest, most perfect girl in the world that I'm the Nine Tailed Fox and that I love her? Naruto responded.

Easy. You just open your mouth and let the words come out.

That's easy for you to say. Naruto grumbled at himself.

He sighed as he walked through the streets of Konoha.

Hinata walked to Tenten's house and knocked politely on the door. Tenten answered with a huge smile.

"Hinata! How have you been doing?" she asked warmly. Tenten was finally with her true love, Neji Hyuuga while Hinata had nobody. For a second she felt jealous of her but the feeling quickly went away.

"Naruto came back." She said in a low voice.

Tenten's smile disappeared and was replaced with a firm line. The last time Tenten had told Hinata to tell Naruto about how she felt for him Hinata had ignored her completely. It was Hinata's own fault for being so miserable.

"Are you going to tell him the truth?" she asked, with no sympathy in her voice.

Hinata nodded. "I'm tired of feeling afraid of his reaction and it's about time I finally told him the truth but a part of me feels like he is never going to look at me more than as a new distraction."

Her friends' worries actually made Tenten laugh. She led Hinata into the living room and they both sat on the sofa.

"Oh come on Hinata. When has Naruto ever had a new distraction?" Tenten asked, trying to control her laughter.

Hinata looked at her friend. "What about Sakura Haruno?"

Tenten shook her head. "I'm pretty sure she's just his friend, just like Ino, Temari, and me."

Hinata sighed. That was an answer that didn't make her feel any calmer.

"What should I do?" Naruto moaned as he covered his face with his hands. Naruto was too worried, too unconfident. This was unlike him. Sasuke had almost fallen over when he saw his friend looking defeated.

"Easy. Tell her the truth." Sasuke responded.

Naruto looked at him, annoyed. "You sound like my voice." he grumbled.

"Your what?" Sasuke asked, with an expression of pure incredulous on his face. Sasuke was quickly running his head through a couple of ways to make Naruto sane again.

Naruto shook his head. "Nothing but give me some good advice. How did you tell Sakura you loved her?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Easy. I just opened my mouth and let the words come out."

Naruto had to work hard to not strange Sasuke for echoing his inner voice.

"It's a little intimidating to give somebody your love and have the suspicion that they might not feel the same thing but Hinata's not like that. I say you tell her what you feel for her as quickly as you can." Sasuke urged. Finally, some sane advice, Naruto thought to himself.

"All right," he murmured. "I am finally going to tell Hinata Hyuuga that I love her and the secret that nobody can ever know."

Sasuke glanced up at him curiously. Naruto had mentioned his secret a couple of years ago but it had never occurred to Sasuke that it might be horrible. Obviously it was if Naruto, hyperactive, confident, Naruto was afraid.

"Is your secret really that bad?" Sasuke asked, skeptically.

Naruto closed his eyes. He was a monster. Was that bad or what?