A/N: Welcome to those looking for a good read! I hope much of this story lives up to your expectations. Criticism is appreciated! The story is set before the time-skip but late into the fillers (because Hinata gets cool stuff and character development there). I don't plan on this being too long or intimate, I was just playing on the idea of Hinata getting caught stalking Naruto. The boy's a ninja for God's sake. Shouldn't he be able to pin point a shy shadow stalking him?
Once you're done, take the time to write a review! It just makes me feel awesome, because people who write reviews are awesome and even a 'That was nice.' leaves me feeling happy.

I do not own Naruto or any of it's affiliates. If I did, Hinata would be a main character and I'd be a happy man.

What would ever happen if 12-year old Hinata was caught in her obessesion by the one she was obsessing over? Well, I think this would.

Off to a Good Start

The sun shown brightly on Konoha village. The clear blue sky was streaked with wispy clouds and promised fair weather to the sun-kissed ninja settlement. The streets were bustling with their usual business, along with numerous children and adults out to enjoy the day's warmth. One youth in particular was relishing the light on his face while he made the trek to his favourite ramen stand.

Uzumaki Naruto's day seemed to be getting better by the minute. From the moment he woke up, the energetic ninja could feel today was going to be great. His usual breakfast of cup ramen and milk seemed to taste better than usual. During his morning training in the forest he did not fall down once while walking on trees with chakra nor did he soak himself while doing the same on the river's surface.

When he moved onto target practice, Naruto was excited to try out his new "shadow clone targets" method. He had thought of the idea last night when realizing that static targets on trees and training posts did not reflect real combat situations. Not only that, but it was "kinda boring". Naruto was immensely proud of himself when his new invention worked out. He even only missed four times out of fourteen throws.

Naruto did not have a mission today either, so he had taken the opportunity to have a nice long shower after coming back from the forest. To top it off, when he greeted Sakura on the streets she gave him the sweetest smile.

"Things can't get better than this!" The blonde boy grinned widely up to the sun, placing his hands behind his head as he continued towards his intended lunch stop. "Unless there's ramen. Then things would definitely be better!" His ears twitched, picking up an unusual sound through the crowd.

"Eh?" Naruto half turned and looked over his shoulder. Finding nothing spectacular about the cable post behind him, Naruto kept walking. "Must've been a cat or something." Said "cat" was holding her breath while pressing tightly against the wooden pole the selectively observant ninja had recently looked at, the blush painted on her face easily identifying her.

--

Hyuuga Hinata was also following her routine for her days off. After bathing and taking breakfast in the Hyuuga estate's dining hall she headed out to do some training with her team. After the Chunnin exams she worked harder and harder with each day, striving to excel at being a shinobi. It was all thanks to him.

Recently she had been working on adding power to the techniques she already knew. Hinata only halted her log striking when she smeared blood on the smoothed bark. Shino had to tell her to stop and offered to help in a less physically demanding activity, seeing the state of her hands. He sent out chakra charged bugs for Hinata to find.

It was difficult locating the small insects, but she had found all of them along with something else: Naruto. In fact, Hinata found severalNarutos. After quickly excusing herself she engaged in another…slightly less endorsed aspect of her vacation routine. Watching from behind a tree, the pale-eyed girl had smiled when Naruto whooped with joy after pinning down the last of his clones. His face looked so happy and it made her heart soar.

Right now however, Hinata was clutching her chest trying to stop it from exploding. Questions flew through her mind at sonic speeds. Had he seen her? What would he think if he knew she was following him? Would he brand her a creep? A weirdo? Someone he would never like?

Hinata's last thought raked its icy claws across her heart. She slumped against her hiding spot. Things just seemed so hopeless at times. She had seen the way Naruto beamed after Sakura had given him that smile. Although Hinata was usually elated when Naruto was that happy, the reason behind his high spirits had her own sinking.

Sakura was pretty, outspoken and smart, where as Hinata viewed herself as weak, shy and plain. Sakura had brilliant emerald-green eyes while Hinata thought of hers as pale, opaque and unexciting. Why would Naruto ever be interested in a shy, dark, unattractive weirdo?

Hinata wrapped her arms around her knees, feeling the need to hug something. Some passers by looked at her funny and one even came to see if she was alright, but Hinata ignored them. She winced at a pain in her hands when she gripped her pants tightly. Startled, she looked down at the bandages binding her practice wounds.

No…she couldn't give up. Naruto would respect her determination if nothing else, like during the Chunnin exams and their missions together. Hinata wiped tears from her eyes and promptly activated her Byakugan. She could do this.

--

Naruto frowned when his stomach rumbled. "There's no way I forgot the way to Ichikraku's…" His frown deepened. The gurgling in his gut told him otherwise. "Those damn training trips with Ero-Sennin…" He muttered. He was starting to worry that going out and seeing the world was making him forget about his home.

The smells around him notified Naruto that he was in the right area at least. The restaurant and entertainment district always smelled awesome. He breathed in deeply, slowly savouring all the sensational scents and let out a satisfied sigh. "Hmmm?" He turned around when one smell in particular caught his attention. Walking up to a vendor at the side of the street, Naruto placed his order. He didn't notice the small 'Eep!' that floated out from an alley near his destination.

"Hey! Old man! One squid on a stick please!" The man running the stall handed over the spitted seafood after receiving the proper amount of coins. Naruto's face lit up upon getting his snack. "Thanks a bunch!" He took a bite out of the roasted treat. The warm chewy meat felt good going down.

The cheerful youth started to hum nothing specific while munching on his pre-ramen meal. He started to walk in the direction of his real intended lunch but stopped mid-hum. He turned around, but not after smelling a potential treat. There was that sound again…the same footstep pattern and stopping sound from before. Scanning the area quickly with his eyes Naruto found nothing out of place. He shrugged and began to walk again, all the while eating the squid. He kept his vision behind him for a few moments more, but decided a frontal view was necessary after bumping into a very irate and muscular looking man.

"Hey! Watch where you're goin' kid!" Naruto stuck his lip out and shook a half eaten squid shish-kabob at the person. "I was walkin' here too buddy! I'm a ninja y'know!" He jabbed a thumb at his headband. "You shouldn't be bumping into us military types!" The man grumbled something about child soldiers and continued on his way.

Scratching his head, Naruto thought for a minute. "What was I doing again?" Absentmindedly he took a bite out of his squid. After chewing for a few seconds he remembered with a grin. "Oh right, ramen!" Humming again Naruto carried on toward the Ichiraku ramen stand.

--

A crate near a group of boxes containing fruit exploded into a cloud of smoke. Hinata took a deep breath to calm herself; if she had not transformed so quickly she might have been caught. In a way this was training in itself. "I-It's reconnaissance and concealment, right?"

Hinata smiled while whispering those words to herself. The thought of relating her pursuit of Naruto to training made her feel better about it. Sure she was stalking him, but isn't that what she's supposed to do? She was a ninja after all. Hinata crept forward, keeping close to lampposts, fence edges and alleyways. Hinata stifled a giggle. "Maybe this can be like a mission…"

Hinata failed to suppress her next giggle and immediately hid behind the alley wall she had poked out of. As her heart jumped into her throat she scolded herself; not only for giggling but for the fact that she was so jumpy. Was it even possible for Naruto to hear her at this noisy time?

Hinata started again when a door opened near her. A rather bored looking man in a cook's uniform came out baring a green garbage bag. He raised a lazy eyebrow at Hinata, dropped his load into the dumpster and slunk back inside. Hinata breathed a sigh of relief, triggering her blood limit. Quickly locating Naruto, she pressed on.

--

The blonde boy in question was getting uneasy. He looked over his shoulder for the umpteenth time. Something was following him. The question of how discreet Akatsuki could be floated through his mind. Thinking back to his first encounter with the criminals Naruto remembered that he did not sense them at all. This fact put his current issue at ease, but churned in the back of his mind on deeper problems.

Detection was still one of his weak points, even though Jaraiya had trained him some. Naruto pouted a little. "Damn pervert. He still hasn't come back to take me on like he promised!" Naruto polished off the last of his squid. He was about to chuck out the skewer when he realized something. If HE was able to detect whoever was following him, then it must be someone like Konohamaru! Mischief played across Naruto's features. Well this guy was in for one hell of a surprise!