My first published story -ever- and I picked a romance of all things to attempt. Go figure.

Anyhoo, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. I only wish I did.

"Don't worry Hinata, I'm sure it will turn up," Sakura said with a reassuring smile before she left. Not reassured in the least, the Hyuuga woman nevertheless forced herself to smile back. When the door closed and her pink-haired friend's footsteps faded out of earshot, however, Hinata collapsed onto her bed. She fidgeted as she looked around at the clutter that was her room, torn asunder by an increasingly desperate search. What if it never turned up? All her most precious memories were recorded there. Hidden in its pages were her most painful failures and her greatest successes, her worst fears and her happiest moments.

And her most secret hopes and dreams: years and years of yearning for one certain person. Everything she had ever wanted to tell him but never had the courage to say was written there. She drew up her knees, hugged them to her chest, and shuddered. That was what she was most scared of; what if someone else found it first? What would they say? How would they react? Suddenly her eyes widened and she drew in a sharp breath. What if he found it? Her heart skipped a beat or three. Before she could begin to consider this horrifying new thought, there was a knock at her door. Jolted from her reverie for the moment, she frowned, curious, and got up to answer.

Sakura waited in the shadows of an unused guestroom. She had been on her way out of the Hyuuga home, but just as she approached the front door she had heard Hanabi welcoming another guest. Thinking quickly, she had darted into the nearest dark room and kept silent. She heard the footsteps in the hallway tread past her refuge and further in until they faded into silence. She was just about to chance a look when Hanabi stepped into the room. At Sakura's questioning look, the young girl flashed her a sly smirk and a short nod; it was who Sakura thought it would be, here for the reason they expected. Sakura grinned back at her junior partner in crime.
"Did you forget something, Saku--" Hinata froze in mid-sentence when she found herself staring at the muscular chest of a tall young man. Ever so slowly, she forced her pale eyes to inch upward until they met shining blue ones.

Her cheeks turned bright crimson when she saw who it was that stood at her door.

"Hey, Hinata. Do you have a minute?" said Naruto Uzumaki. It took Hinata a few long moments to get past the fact that Naruto's face was mere inches from her own, but when she did, she noticed something odd. He wore a smile on his face, but it was not the wide, cocky grin she was used to. On the contrary, his cheer now seemed…forced. She would have called it nervous if she believed that he was capable of such an emotion. Yet more noticeable than that was the look in his eyes. They were strangely intent, with a searching quality to them, as if he were seeing her for the first time and carefully studying what he saw. For some reason, her pulse sped up.

"O-of c-course," she said finally. She stepped to the side to let him through, but in doing so she got another look at the state her room was in. She gasped and her cheeks burned with embarrassment as she began to hurriedly clean the maelstrom of clothes and various other possessions.

"I-I apologize for the mess," she said quickly as she tossed one of her jackets back into its closet. "I was j-just looking for m-my--" She stopped. Did she really almost say it out loud?

"For your diary?"

Hinata froze, the kimono in her hand forgotten. Every muscle in her body was rigid with dread, but she forced herself to turn back to him. There, in his hand, was a familiar-looking book.

She thought she felt herself falling as the world was lost in darkness.

Maybe it was just a dream. Upon waking up, Hinata had found herself lying on her bed. A quick peek at her desk had shown her diary to be right where it always was.

Please, oh please let it be a dream, she thought desperately. Then she cracked one eye open again and looked into the rest of her room.

Sitting in her chair barely three feet away was Naruto.

She snapped her eye shut again and stifled a squeak of simultaneous joy and dismay at his presence. Then her eyes flew open again without her permission as they sought to confirm what she thought she had seen.

Naruto was smiling at her. His face still did not wear his famous grin, but neither did it bear the false cheer from earlier. No, this was a small, genuine smile laced with a warmth that seemed to spread throughout her body at nothing but a glance.

When she came back to her senses, she sighed inwardly. It was no use faking unconsciousness any longer, now that he had seen she was awake. She forced herself to sit up and face him. She couldn't tell if he was still smiling because she couldn't bring herself to look at his face. For a long time, neither spoke. Hinata smiled inwardly; it had been a while since she had had a chance to just look at him because of how busy they had been lately --him especially, what with his training with various parties to become Hokage and all. (She'd even heard that Shizune was teaching him poetry, a fact that had made her giggle when she heard it) His attire hadn't changed much over the years; even after attaining the rank of Chunin and then Jonin, he had custom-ordered a combat jacket that adhered to his old color scheme of black and orange. Recently, however, he had started wearing plated, fingerless gloves like his sensei, Kakashi, as well as donning a long white coat with flames rendered at its bottom edge. Hinata remembered asking him about that; he had told her sheepishly that he had seen a picture of the Fourth wearing one just like it. She recalled that she thought the extra touch had made him look rather dashing --and instantly, as she had then, blushed at the thought.

Perhaps Naruto took that as his cue, for he took a deep breath and began. "I'm sorry, Hinata. Someone left your diary on my doorstop this morning. Whoever it was messed with it enough so that I wouldn't know what it was --let alone whose it was-- until I read a few pages." His voice became suddenly softer. "And once I read a few, I couldn't stop."

Any cheer Hinata enjoyed from her memories was crushed out of her. She felt devastated, fully and completely. Someone had stolen her diary? And presented it to the one person she hoped would never see its contents? Misery clutched at her soul at the thought that someone had betrayed her so cruelly. She was about to break down into weeping tears when Naruto spoke again.

"So, is it all true?"

She froze and looked up at him. When he spoke those words, his voice had been softer yet, but that had not concealed the emotion pinched into his tone in the least. She saw on his face a look that wrenched her heart. There was a profound loneliness mixed with aching sadness in his eyes that made her regret ever setting pen to those pages.

"Yes," she breathed, knowing that she could never lie to him. Her head drooped down as her shoulders slumped. Come what may, even if he finally rejected her for her childish feelings and thoughtless dreams, there was no avoiding it now. "Yes, every word is true, from the very beginning to this very day." She heard him breathe a deep sigh and get up from the chair. She stood as well and prepared herself for the crushing blow that would end her happiness forever.

She stiffened, every muscle locking up, as she felt his arms wrap around her, his forehead pressed against her shoulder. Her mind raced to explain what was happening.

"Forgive me, Hinata," he said quietly, his voice thick with an emotion she could not identify. "I have been blind. For all those years I thought I wandered alone in darkness, I needed only to look over my shoulder to see one as lost as I was. I found friends and precious people since then to care about and protect, but I only now find my oldest and strongest pillar of support." She was stunned to feel tears stain her shirt, though his tone remained strong. "You cared when I needed it most, and I never even noticed. When I pulled myself from those hateful shadows, I left you to wander in loneliness. Can you ever forgive my ignorance?" Her breath caught in her throat as she realized what it was that haunted his words: remorse. Was he truly so saddened at the thought that he had wronged her? Why, in fact, did he think that at all?

"B-but you didn't!" she blurted, flustered but determined to set him straight. His head came up, teary eyes seeking hers in a questioning glance. She blushed, but for once found herself unable to avert her gaze. She continued, her tone softer and more controlled. "You didn't leave me in loneliness. Even in the darkness, you were always the light that showed me the way to continue. When you left the shadows, you led me into the sun. I, too, have found friends to count on, and a dream to pursue; to follow my one and only star, so that one day I could shine as brightly for him." Wonder crept into his face as she spoke, and when she had finished, she clearly saw a spark of hope ignite in those shining blue orbs. At this, her own pale eyes finally dropped from his as she once again blushed fiercely. "I-if anything," she continued, her stutter returning now that the dire need for clarity had gone, "c-can you f-forgive me? B-because I was n-never b-brave enough to t-tell you h-how I feel, you h-had to r-read it in that stupid book--"

He cut her off when his lips pressed against hers. An explosion went off in her brain. Her heart did a hundred flips. Her whole body flared with heat and then went suddenly numb and limp; her legs would have buckled and dropped her to the floor if not for the strong but gentle arms that now held her closer than ever. Seconds passed as eternities, yet when he pulled back it had not been enough. He gave her another tender smile that sent another burst of heat from her head to her toes and back again.

"Only if you can forgive a knucklehead like me for missing all your efforts." Eyes rapt on his face, heart racing and voice forgotten, she could only give him a slow, breathless nod. The smile grew into his famous grin, making him look even more like the boy she had fallen for so long ago. "Besides," he continued cheerfully, "you shouldn't call that book stupid. It's the best thing I ever read!"

Then he kissed her again. Her arms finally remembered to return the embrace. The world around them faded away as she found herself lost once again.

But this time in something else entirely.

Hopefully it wasn't too corny or out of character, eh? Please leave reviews --it may determine whether I write more or not. (And not just fluff, either)