Hinata opened her eyes slowly as she woke up and sighed as she recalled the dream she was having, wishing more than anything for it to become a reality. Getting slowly out of bed Hinata crossed her room and begun getting dressed for the day ahead.

As she left the house she saw her team mates Shino and Kiba waiting for her.

"Good morning" she said, smiling at them

"Morning!" said Kiba in a loud voice.

"We've been summoned to the Hokage" announced Shino; always straight to business "We have a mission"

Curious as to what the mission may be about Hinata followed her companions to the Hokage's office, stopping briefly to give Kiba's small dog Akamaru a pat. Upon reaching the Hokage's office the trio were greeted by the Hokage's assistant Shizune who motioned for them to enter.

The office of the 5th Hokage was a large circular room comprised of numerous filing cabinets, folders and documents scattered around the room, a large desk and four small chairs stood in the centre of the room. Tsunade, the 5th Hokage, sat behind the desk looking at the three youths with a warm expression.

"Why are their four chairs?" asked Kiba sitting down in one while the rest of his team mates followed suit.

"Because there are four of you going on this mission" answered the 5th.

Hinata looked up. "A fourth…" she thought to herself "…Maybe it's…" but her train of thought was broken as a loud bang of the door flying open signalled the arrival of their fourth companion.

"Sorry I'm late" came a voice "my alarm clock stopped working and I slept in"

Hinata twisted in her chair and instantly turned a shade of pink as she realised who was standing directly behind her chair. She stifled a giggle as she noticed he had accidentally left his night cap on.

"That's obvious" said Kiba motioning to Naruto's head. Realising his mistake Naruto snatched the cap off his head and stuffed it into a pocket before sitting down.

"So what's this mission Granny-Tsunade?" Naruto queried.

The Hokage frowned slightly but let it slide choosing instead to answer his question.

"A very powerful assassin from the mist country has been reportedly sighted not to far from here, your mission is to subdue this assassin by any means necessary and bring him here for questioning. This is an A ranked mission so I need you all to act with caution, Shino will be team leader, good luck."

Outside the Hokage building a few minutes later Naruto was jumping for joy.

"Alright! An A rank mission! This is going to be great!"

Hinata smiled, she always felt happy when Naruto was around, especially when he was in a good mood like this. Her other team mates were not as excited as Naruto however. Kiba looked grumpy due to the fact that he had to share a mission with Naruto, the two had a fierce rivalry going on but Hinata knew this foul mood would disappear shortly as it always did and Kiba and Naruto would act like the old friends they were.

The same could not be said for her other team mate Shino who was by far the most serious and mature member of the group. Rarely smiling and never laughing hinata suspected that a contributing factor to his stern attitude was an attempt to live up to his father, Aburme, who was highly respected in their village, although for the most part she thought is was Shino's true nature.

Shino gave the order to go home and pack for their mission and to meet at the town gate in 15 minutes. Hinata rushed home and quickly began packing, she threw some clothes into a back pack, packed her ninja weapons into her hip pack, carefully checking each one. Finally she picked up her most treasured possession, a photo of Naruto, smiling as she looked over the photo for the millionth time, taking in his deep blue eyes and bright yellow hair and as she did she felt a familiar ache in her heart because she knew her feelings were futile and would never be returned no matter how much she hoped or dreamed or prayed. Sighing heavily she slipped the photo into a jacket pocket and headed towards the main gate.

As she reached the gate she noticed that yet again her comrades were waiting on her and that again Naruto was late, however after only a few moments of waiting Naruto arrived carrying two large packs. One he announced was for the essentials, the other was his food supply. After a long debate Shino and Kiba persuaded Naruto to leave behind the majority of his food and only bring one back pack, however as soon as their backs were turned Naruto quickly convinced hinata to carry some of his more tasty Ramen with the promise that he would share some with her, face flushed rad she was more than happy to agree.

Because of all the delays it was mid-afternoon when the group finally set off on their mission to capture the enemy assassin and as night came they were forced to set up camp. The three boys shared a tent while Hinata had her own so she could have some privacy. Shino volunteered himself for first watch and Kiba and Akamaru fell asleep quickly. Naruto however could not sleep as he was still hungry, the meal of rations being nowhere near enough to fill him up. Remembering that Hinata had his Ramen stash he made his way towards her tent to make good on his promise to share some with her.

Meanwhile Hinata was curled up in her sleeping bag gazing longingly at her picture of Naruto and thinking of him sleeping peacefully in the tent only a few feet away, so when her tent was opened up and Naruto slipped in she was extremely surprised, blushing crimson she pulled the sleeping bag over her head which caused her to notice that she was only wearing a night gown.

"Hinata?" she heard Naruto ask from the other side of the sleeping bag "are you alright?"

An uncertain "mmmm" was all she could offer in response.

"Hinata where's my Ramen?" Naruto asked as he poked her sleeping bag. Painfully slowly Hinata raised her head out of her bag making sure to conceal the photo. After being asked again where the Ramen was hinata nodded towards the corner of the tent.

Squealing with glee Naruto dived towards the stash and pulled a small portable stove seemingly from thin air along with a small pot of water.

"Do you still want some Ramen?" Naruto asked, Hinata nodded yes. Naruto opened two packets of the noodles and placed them in the boiling water. While waiting for the food to cook Naruto noticed hinata staring at him from the otherside of the tent.

"Why are you staring at me Hinata? Do I have something on my face?" Naruto asked after a moment.

Realising what she was doing Hinata buried her head in her sleeping bag with a small squeak just in time for Naruto to see her face flush pink. When hinata resurfaced all she could see was Naruto's beaming face directly opposite hers. Caught off guard she instinctively took the bowl of Ramen he was offering her and began eating. Sitting down opposite her, but much closer now, Naruto gave a nod of approval and began eating his own meal.

After a few minutes of silence Naruto broke it asking "hinata, what's your deal?", Hinata looked up startled.

"W..what do you mean?"

"Why are you always so quiet?" Naruto asked

"I…I don't know…" Hinata finally answered, cursing her stutter and quiet voice

"Are you afraid?

"No…"

"Are you just shy?"

Hinata could only nod yes guessing where the conversation was going.

"And why are you always going red?" Naruto continued "Especially when I'm around, I get the feeling you don't like me"

"No!" Hinata said loudly, startling them both "That's not it…" she continued, her voice returning to its normal timid whisper.

"Then what is it" Naruto probed.

Hinata couldn't bring herself to answer.