A Shoulder To Cry On

A NaruHina Fanfiction

Alone. That's how she always found him. Not that she went out of her way to find him or anything. Well no that's not true. She did go out of her way to find the lonesome blond. She didn't know when it had happened but one day she caught herself staring at the class clown with a heavy heart. But why? Because he was always mocked and bullied? Or because despise the harsh treatment he always brought upon himself he always seemed determined to prove himself. He was always harassed and didn't have any close friends. Sure at times he would skip class with Choji, Kiba, and Shikamaru but those guys weren't his friends. He was always being loud and obnoxious challenging Sasuke during class when it was obvious to everyone he was going to lose. Before each battle he would exclaim that he would win and at the end, when he lost, he would shout that next he would not be defeated. Everyone in class could agree that the guy was a loser that didn't know when to give up. But unlike everyone else she saw his potential. He was constantly training with high spirits. She knew one day he would achieve his goal of not only getting everyone to acknowledge him, or just defeating Sasuke, but becoming Hokage.

Being his only supporter she knew if he ever found out that would make him truly happy. For all the big talk from him she could see that he desperately wanted to have a friend. Anyone would do so long as he had someone by his side that cared for him. It was obvious yet she could not bring herself to even make eye contact with him. It made her feel miserable knowing that she could easily become important to him and she didn't do anything about it. She so desperately wanted to reach out to him but she didn't have a strong will and she always lost her confidence whenever she decided she would tell him how she felt. When she lost her confidence she would want to cry and sometimes she did because during the day she would have to endure watching him make a spectacle of himself to being scowled at and mocked by her fellow classmates. If she had his confidence she would stand up for him, if she had his determination she would be a better Hyuga. Only if she was more like him than maybe than she would be able to like herself more.

Today they practiced their combat skills by doing one on one matches. She went against Ino. Ino was a confident girl that had lots of friends. The blond beauty was a polar opposite to her wallflower opponent. She came at her head on, which only startled Hinata. She did her best to avert the other girl's endless blows but at the end she lost. Ino gave her a standard nice try than she left her to join her big group of friends. Leaving Hinata to catch her breath as she tried to recompose herself. While she composed herself she froze when she heard a cry of pain. Looking up from dusting herself off she saw that the other children had formed a circle. She caught a flash of blonde hair then another grunt was heard.

Naruto! She could feel herself start to panic as she rushed to the crowd. She weaved her way through the crowd until she was at the front of the crowd. Naruto had obviously chosen Sasuke to be his opponent. Naruto was barely holding his own as he was already covered in dirt from being thrown at the ground and he was breathing hard. Sasuke stood a couple feet away from Naruto without even a scratch on him. He was in a relaxed fighting pose ready for another futile attempt from Naruto. How was it that he was always impeccable? No matter how many times Naruto fought him; he could never lay a single blow to him. All Naruto ever got from Sasuke was a disgusted look and a cruel smirk each time he won. Hinata's heart yearned to speak up and say that at least Naruto had guts to take Sasuke on while everyone just easily admitted defeat to the great Uchiha. She knew she didn't have the courage to say those words. How could she stand up for someone else when she couldn't even speak up for herself? Naruto charged at Sasuke with a sneer on his face and fist aimed at the Uchiha's face. Naruto closed in on the Uchiha and just as his fist was about to connect with the other's boy's face, he dodged. A simple head turn and the fist went sailing past his face. Naruto face turned to an expression of shock before twisting into a pained one. While he had been distracted by Sasuke's dodge, Sasuke countered with a blow of his own to Naruto's stomach. Naruto's eyes widened as he lost all his breath and was sent flying a couple feet away. The crowd moved stepping aside from him as he hit the ground. He twitch a bit let out a grunt of pain but didn't get up. The crowd cheered Sasuke, who seemed to bask in their compliments.

Their fight had been the last one to end and so with Sasuke winning Iruka assembled the class to head back inside. Hinata wanted to point out that Naruto was still lying on the ground but before she could Naruto got up. He looked extremely disappointed and hurt as he walked toward the other children. He walked slowly while rubbing his sore stomach. Hinata hesitated as she was tempted to walk back to him, but a shove from a random classmate made her get caught in the current of children.

When it was lunch time Hinata made her way to the school's courtyard. Since she had no friends she chose to eat away from everybody else instead of having to feel uncomfortable in the classroom filled with chattering carefree children. Course she knew she wasn't the only lonesome child in her class and really if she wanted to she could make friends. There wasn't anything about her that was truly strange. Besides being extremely timid and having absolutely no self-confidence she was a pretty typical kid. Oh, but she was also a major failure which didn't help her self-esteem at all. Coming from a great clan many would expect her to be greatly gifted, like Sasuke, but no, she wasn't special at all. All the natural talent went to her younger sister, her dad's favorite. She, who was supposed to be the clan's heir, was instead the clan's biggest shame.

How she longed to improve herself and with her new teacher she thought maybe she could do better. Kurenai was a great woman that was an extremely talented ninja and she was actually nice to her. She didn't baby her, but she was never unnecessarily harsh with her either, like her father had been. Yes, she knew that the only reason Kurenai was her teacher was because her father had lost patience with her. She had deeply disappointed her father and hearing him say that she was worthless deeply scared her. Kurenai could try her hardest improving her but Hinata would feel like a waste of time.

If only she had Naruto's motivation and determination to strive and be better. She, just like him, wanted people to approve of her and acknowledge her great ninja skills. But she knew that was only a fool's dream as she had done nothing to get acknowledge for or done anything to deserve anybody's approval. Hinata curled her hands into fists, threatening to break the chopsticks she held. She hated being alone her thought s always made her miserable. Her negativity always shook her up causing her to burst into tears at times. Biting her lip Hinata slowly composed herself. After a shaky breathe she resumed eating her bento.

Walking home Hinata tried to focus her thoughts about the homework they have been given instead of the cold welcome back she would be receiving from her father once she arrived home. "Stop!" Hinata came to an abrupt stop as she recognized the voice. Looking around she noticed that a couple feet ahead of her was a group of boys. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she continued to walk on with more caution. As she neared the gang of boys she realized they were beating someone up. She started to panic and was about to run away when she caught sight of blonde hair. No! What could he have possibly done to receive this horrible treatment?

Her entire body stood rooted to the ground as she watched in horror as the boys mercilessly beat up the blonde boy. To make matters worse she couldn't see any adults to stop this. Please, please get up! Hinata felt her body clamp up as her panic worsen. He couldn't get up because he had been knocked out. Naruto! At this rate he would end up seriously injured or worse dead. Dead. As thought a trigger Hinata found herself slowly moving toward the boys. Gaining unknown courage the young Hyuga girl soon found herself standing in front of the unconscious boy's body with her arms stretched out. Her sudden involvement caused the boys to cease their assault.

The boys seemed bewildered at first but soon the one closest to her spoke up. "Move it," He commanded with disgust written all over his features. His fellow friends nodded in agreement putting their fists up to continue beating up the blonde.

Hinata flinched at his words but slowly shook her head. "N-no. What you guys are doing is wrong," Hinata looked up at them with a determine look in her eyes. "And if you want to continue you have to go pass me," Keeping their gaze Hinata slowly adjusted herself to a fighting stance.

Startled at her challenge the boys hesitated for a moment before lowering their fists. "Whatever, let's go," The boys gave one last disgusted look at the young Hyuga before walking away.

Relief spread throughout Hinata's body making her collapse to the ground next to the unconscious boy's body. She did it. She had finally stood up for Naruto! As she looked at Naruto's face she couldn't help but smile. His face looked so peacefully, in fact his relaxed features allowed her to better study his face. She never really thought much about it, but Naruto was actually really cute. As soon as that thought crossed her mind her face turned bright red. Hinata started shaking her head ferociously in futile attempted to get rid of her darkening blush.

Regaining her composure Hinata grabbed Naruto's arms pulling them over her shoulders. She slowly got up making sure to balance Naruto on her back. Once she made sure that he was securely on her back she started walking. She wanted to get him home so he wouldn't end up catching his death lying on the uncomfortable ground during the chilly night. But soon she realized that as sweet and noble her idea was, she had no idea where he lived. She couldn't take him to her home; her father would likely throw his body back to the streets.

Oh no! She was feeling her panic from earlier coming back. She couldn't leave him here, but she also didn't know where he lived. What to do, what to do! Hinata was making herself dizzy and giving herself a major headache. Gulping down her panic she continued walking, maybe once she got to town she could ask around.

It had taken the last remaining hours of sunlight but at the end she had found out where Naruto lived. Now she was standing outside his door struggling to get Naruto's key from his pockets. After struggling for a few minutes getting the key and then struggling to keep her balance Hinata was finally through the front door. Her body ached from the long walk to his apartment but she used one last burst of energy at getting to his bedroom and lying him down on his bed. Sighing in relief and stretching her sore limps Hinata smiled contently to herself for a job well done.

After resting for a bit and regaining some of her energy Hinata stood up groaning as her body protested moving. Naruto's bed was pretty big and from how peaceful he was sleeping it was obviously very comfortable. Just thinking of lying her head down on his bed was enough to get her eyelids heavy. She stood there for a moment fighting back her sleepiness. Her eyelids kept closing and before she knew it she had lost her balance. She had fallen forward. Her face only inches from Naruto's. Being that close to him was the equivalent of be doused in ice cold water. Pushing herself up, Hinata made herself busy. First she took off Naruto's sandals then she went on a search for his first aid kit.

After taking care of his injuries, cleaning up the supplies and tucking him under his covers Hinata prepared to leave. But before she even touched the doorknob she heard a very audible stomach growl. Her shoulders drooped slightly before she shook off her weariness and headed to the kitchen. She didn't know many recipes but from what limited supply of groceries he had she didn't need to. It was getting late but she only concentrated on preparing a stew so when Naruto awoke he would have food already prepared. Finally after an hour or so the stew was prepared. She didn't know when he would wake up the best she could guess was a few hours. Not wanting to leave the stove on for too long she decided to leave a note on his table saying how long to heat the stew if it was cold by the time he awoke. Okay that's all! Hinata smiled to herself. She'd done all that she could and now all that was left was to head home.

The next day she was still tired from yesterday. Though her body longed for more sleep she still got up at her normal time and prepared for school like every other day. The only noticeable difference to her was the gentle smile on her face. When she had gotten home her father had been furious at her for arriving home so late and she had apologized profoundly. At the end he had just told her not to do it again. Heading out the door the walk to school was uneventful until she got to the village. Hearing the villagers talk bad about Naruto, as much as she hated it, was a common thing, but what she heard this morning truly confused her and what she saw almost made her die from embarrassment.

Painted all over the buildings was a giant thank you message. It was addressed to her, or was meant for her, as she continued walking through the market place the message never specifically said her name but it did say kind stranger. It was a message from Naruto thanking her for everything she did for him including a p.s. telling her that the stew was awesome almost even better than instant ramen. While the villagers just found it as another nuisance that they would have to clean themselves Hinata was close to tears from how strongly the message had affected her. The rest of the way she had difficulty keeping her composure. She had helped him because he was basically like an idol to her; she strived to be like him. Her spirits were always lifted because of him and now he was thanking her, very publically, for something that anybody with a good heart would do. "Ne" Hinata couldn't take it anymore she walked to the side of the street hunched over as her tears spilled from her red rimmed eyes. All she had done was take him home. Nothing special and yet he had thanked her publicly for everyone to know of her kindness. She should be the one to thank him not the other way around! She kept wiping her tears away but they continued streaming down. She muffled her mouth so no one walking by could hear her whimpering.

"Hey are you okay" Hinata felt fingers gently tap her shaking shoulder. Looking back she saw that it was Naruto. He had a genuine worried expression which only brought more tears to her eyes. Great now he was even concerned for her! She wanted to say she was fine but when she opened her mouth all that came out was a whimper. Naruto now looked extremely worried and before she knew it she was surrounded in warmth. Her eyes widened in disbelief as her breath hitched. She was in Naruto's arms. Her entire body froze at that thought. He was comforting her. Her instants told her to push him away but her heart told her otherwise. His arms were so comfortable. Hinata rested her head on his chest as Naruto held her lightly as she finished crying. When she finally stopped trembling and he could no longer hear her cry he dared to speak. "Are you okay now?" He asked timidly afraid she might burst into tears once more. "Huh?" Hinata pushed him away gently until they were face to face.

"I-I said thank y-you," Hinata made eye contact with him for a split second before looking back down at the ground her face already burning up.

Naruto was stood there shocked for a moment it had been a long time since anybody had thanked him for anything. He couldn't help the blush that crept onto his face. "It was nothing just glad that you're alright now" Naruto looked away as he scratched the back of his head.

Hinata looked up at him with a timid smile pulling at her mouth. She bowed politely and spoke softly "Thank you for everything Naruto."

"Huh? What did you say?" Naruto looked at her bewildered wanting to ask her want she meant but it was too late immediately after saying that she ran off. He wanted to run after her and question her further, but her words kept him rooted to the ground. She had thanked him for everything. What was everything? Letting her soak his shirt with her tears? Whatever it was when she had said his name he was positive his heart had skipped a beat. And strangely enough he had liked that feeling. Whoever she was he hopped that if she ever needed a shoulder to cry on she would come to him.