A.N.- I didn't mention this before, but this takes place after Hidan and Kakuzu's defeat. There are a couple reasons for this that will come up later.
Anotamous- No it isn't Hidans work (I know technically his head is still alive, but if your dismembered and buried that far underground, I consider you dead) BUT you are sorta close.
KiraUzamaki- Thanks for the encouragement
**********************************
ABCD- Scene change
ABCD-Flashback/Dream Start/End
ABCD- Bijuu/Inner-self talking
ABCD-Dream/Flashback body
Chapter 2-The Mission Begins
Gates of Konohagakure
Naruto had been waiting at the gates for about 20 minutes for the girls, completely on accident though, the batteries in his clock had died and he woke up thinking he was late. He had hurriedly packed a fair share of instant ramen into his pack with some spare clothes and bolted, only to realize his mistake when he saw a clock in a store window. He was hoping that Hinata and Sakura would be early to so they could get going, Naruto had a new jutsu and he was hoping to try it out on this mission.
He was also glad to have the girls on this mission, Sakura seemed to be a lot kinder to him since his return, and had only hit him once or twice since, and even he could understand the reasons when it happened. The two had also gotten closer as teammates since then, and got together when they had some free time, and talked about what had happened to each of them during his trip, and sometimes their conversations would wonder back to the old days of team seven, at those rare times Naruto would notice something he couldn't recognize creep into the eyes of his pink-haired friend, he assumed that bringing up their missing friend had hurt her, and any conversation would die out for a while. Naruto guessed that Sakura still held her same old feelings for the absent Uchiha, and while he couldn't understand why she might still feel for Sasuke, he didn't want to press the matter, for fear of alienating her into her old self, leaving him that much lonelier when she would leave him.
While he was happy about being with Sakura, he was also glad to spend some time with Hinata as well. Even if she seemed somewhat weird to him, she was always nice to him, when she was conscious, that is. In the years he was gone, she seemed to partially get over what ever had been making her faint, but she still passed out every now and then. Even with those faults, Naruto knew she was a good person, and a strong fighter. He had sometimes entertained the thought that she could even beat Sakura, even with her monstrous strength. This wasn't, however, something he would voice aloud, for fear of getting hit so hard he would be shot six feet underground without using the Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu. Even with her own power and social standing, though, Hinata was one of the most kind, caring, and courteous people he had ever met, and she wasn't bad looking, either. Naruto had always wondered why she didn't have a boyfriend, or girlfriend, but that thought often left him with a severe nosebleed.
He finally caught sight of the two kunoichi coming up two different streets; both seemed to have their heads in the clouds. "Hey, Hinata, Sakura good morning."
Hinata started fiddling with her fingers, "G-good morning, N-N-Naruto-kun, I h-hope you haven't b-been waiting t-t-too long." Hinata felt a little proud that she only turned a very light pink.
"I've only been here about twenty minutes."
"I wouldn't have expected you to be so early, Naruto," Sakura said with a slight smile.
Naruto grinned as he scratched the back of his head, "Well, it was kinda by accident, my clock was off, and I thought I was late, and I didn't want you to start comparing me to Kakashi-sensei."
"The day you reach his level of lateness, I'll start drinking and gambling like Tsunade-shishou." Sakura said with a grin of her own.
"I'm n-not worried; N-N-Naruto-kun is too c-considerate to keep people w-waiting on perpose." Hinata said, blushing as she looked to the ground.
"Hehe, thanks Hinata. Now can we get going?"
And with that they set out at a brisk pace for the village. That was the only bit of conversation they had for almost the entire first hour, the young women too lost in thought about the blonde who, as dense as ever, was a little afraid to try and start a conversation with the girls who seemed so lost in thought, thinking he might upset them.
From the moment they left, Hinata kept going over what she should say to Naruto, and those thoughts were off put by something she had just started to observe, she could see Sakura glancing at Naruto constantly, it was similar to the look she used to give Sasuke, but there was something different about it, there was something deeper, but familiar about the medic-nin's eyes. Then, to her horror, Hinata realized what it was; they were the same eyes she had always had for the blonde. 'I thought Sakura had feelings for Sasuke. She used to regard Naruto as an annoyance and almost worshipped the Uchiha, but if she has started to feel for Naruto, that means I have to tell Naruto soon, or I may lose him like Hokage-sama said' Hinata thought franticly.
Sakura was having a mental dilemma of her own, although she had been all but gone for a long time that loud voice in the back of her head had started up again.
'Come on, you gotta tell him soon, or someone may take our Naruto-kun,' the Inner-Sakura screamed.
'But, what if he doesn't like me like that anymore,' Sakura thought, 'He had a lot of time to move on, and he hasn't asked me on a date once since he got back, he's probably over me.'
'OR he might think we're still in love with Sasuke-teme, he might just be considering our feelings, and he's actually trying not to hurt our feelings. Maybe his mind finally matured on his trip, Kami knows his body did, Shānnarō!
That statement brought a blush across her face, Naruto had definitely grown up physically on his trip, and he had gotten injured on a regular basis while training, and to treat him she had on occasion, had to remove his shirt, the memory making her turn an even deeper, and while she was glad Naruto had taken point and couldn't see her face, she could see Hinata sneak a glance just before her own face seemed to fill with worry.
'What about Hinata, though,' she wondered when she got a guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach, 'she has loved Naruto since Kami knows when.'
'SO!? He has had those feelings for us just as long, and she can barely talk to Naruto, I doubt she would ever be able to confess, if we wait to give her a chance, either we'll have to wait forever, or he'll fall for the pale-eyed bitch, either way, we lose!!'
'But she has been waiting for so long, and she was good to him, even when I was, well… a bitch,' Sakura sighed inwardly at that last part, she had no doubt Naruto would be upset if he heard her speak of herself like that, but she couldn't think of any other way to describe her actions, and she knew she had no real excuse.
Inner-Sakura had no comeback for that, even she knew how mean they had been to Naruto when they were younger and had no excuse, and Hinata had always been nothing short of kind to him. 'Well, at least set some sort time limit, I know we don't want to wait forever.'
'That means I should probably have a talk with Hinata, and soon, because we are getting close to the destination,' Sakura thought for a moment, and rushed up beside Naruto, "Hey, Naruto, I've got an idea."
"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto was a little confused.
"Since you are faster than me and Hinata, and we're close to the village, why don't you rush ahead and let them know we're almost there so they can prepare, and we can begin investigating right when we get there."
"Um, alright, but what about you and Hinata?"
"Naruto, we can take care of ourselves, and we won't be that far be far behind, besides," Sakura lowered her voice so only Naruto would hear, "I need to talk with Hinata."
"What about?"
A small blush swept across her face, "Uh…..ya know, girl stuff," she couldn't really say she wanted to talk about him, "Just go, Naruto, we'll catch up."
Naruto just shrugged and took off. Once he was out of sight, both kunoichi stopped, and were silent for a few minutes, before Hinata finally spoke, "S-so, when d-did your feelings for him change l-like this?" she seemed almost on the verge of tears.
"So you did know," Sakura said with a guilty look on her face.
"Hai, it's h-hard for me to miss that look, the look I a-always have for N-N-Naruto-kun," she started fiddling with her fingers again, "s-so when?" she asked again.
"I'm sorry, Hinata, actually, looking back, it was shortly after he left," Sakura couldn't bring herself to look the Hyuga in the eyes, "but I was in denial, I just couldn't think of myself falling for him, part of me, I guess the same part that wanted the Uchiha, wasn't able to see why I would want dim-witted, loud-mouthed, bull headed Naruto Uzumaki, of all people. But the longer he was gone, the more I started to miss him, the less I missed Sasuke, and the less I could deny what I was feeling."
"A-and now? Have you given up on Sasuke? Do you think you m-m-might do the same with N-Naruto-kun?" Sakura could hear the anger and sadness in Hinata's voice.
"No, this is different," she could feel tears in her eyes, "what I feel for Naruto is different. I do still wish Sasuke would come back, but I don't think I could even think of him more than a teammate anymore, not even as a real friend, I don't think I could trust him anymore, not after what he did, not after what he tried."
"What d-do you mean?"
"I learned when I was filing papers for Tsunade-shishou, and I came across the mission report for the Sasuke-retrieval mission, I read through it, and I got to Naruto's portion, and I couldn't believe it, Sasuke had tried to kill Naruto, and had used Chidori on him…it was a miracle Naruto survived." In truth, this had happened the week after she had first had her most horrific nightmare, and this information had shown her how horrifyingly close it had come to being true, she could still see him with that large gaping hole in his stomach as the life drained from his eyes. The image made her shudder.
"And yet, N-Naruto-kun still wants to bring him back?"
"Yes, I would guess partially because some part of him still sees Sasuke as a friend, but mostly, because Naruto promised me that he would, and you know doesn't go back on his word," she said sadly, "I don't even know if I can convince him to let it go, but I do know, if he had to, I would rather Naruto kill Sasuke, rather than die to bring him back."
"So is this what you w-wanted to talk to me about? To try and explain yourself and your feelings? To ask me to back down?" Hinata was getting upset, so much so she didn't even notice the loss of her stutter, afraid that if it came down to a choice between her and Sakura, Naruto would chose his old crush without a thought.
Sakura sighed, "No, I wanted to tell you, you should tell him of your own feelings soon. I decided a long while ago that it would be best to wait for you to do so." Hinata was confused, but Sakura continued, "You have loved him as long as I can remember, even if I couldn't, for the life of me, understand why you did. I do know now, I can see how great a person he is, despite all he's gone through, he deserves someone who has and will always be good to him, and you have been so since you've known him. I do love him, but after the way I acted towards him back then," she cast her gaze towards the ground, tears falling, "I'm not so sure I deserve him, and I know you do." Sakura turned and started walking again, "but I have to warn you, you should make your move soon, I'm not sure how much longer I can go without telling him."
Hinata stood there for a few minutes, 'did Sakura really mean that, is she really giving me a chance?' She set off to catch up with her teammates, more nervous and confused than ever.
End note: I hope to be able to update every week or two. That is of course, barring any accidents involving swords, twelve-gauge shotguns, and mercenary gerbils.
