Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I intend to own the source of Naruto.
Author's Note: Thank you to all for the hits and stats. It has brought me to posting the next section a little earlier than planned.
The second floor balcony showed an open door with a small light emanating from inside. With a new smile on her face, Hinata went inside to his door, hesitating only a moment before knocking quietly. Muffled sounds moved on the other side before the door swung open, revealing Naruto in boxers and his toon-nightcap. She chuckled just a moment as how cute he was while he slowly realized who was standing in front of him.
Naruto was speechless, staring stunned from the shock. "May I come in?" came Hinata's voice very softly. The half-naked blond mechanically stood aside, letting her through the doorway. Hinata had just sat down on the end of the bed—not finding any other furniture to accommodate otherwise—when the door clicked shut. "Welcome back." was all Naruto could manage to say as he leaned up against the wall.
"It's been a while," Hinata replied, noticing his odd moment. "I just got back this morning, and I wanted to see how you've been. Well, I hope?"
Now the conversation became slightly awkward for both of them. Many words were said before her departure; about them as friends; and about them as something closer than friends. Naruto had always deferred from the topic, it was too uncomfortable and different for him back then. While Hinata had been away; since the moment she had left he'd been trying to figure out what it was that was so confusing. He had feelings for her, and she obviously had strong feelings for him, but the relationship felt unnatural and weak.
Ever since the day she left, Naruto had sought to figure out what it is he was missing. He still hadn't figured it all out, but he was far less ignorant about things than before. Now, with Hinata suddenly showing up at his room, he was afraid that everything might come falling apart to the nightmare it was before.
"I've been doing fine," Naruto stated. "I'm actually doing a lot better than before, if your that curious." A small smile flashed upon his face, trying to keep the mood light. But even with the attempt, Hinata's face dropped as she stared at her twiddling thumbs—a habit she hadn't done in quite some time.
"I wanted to see you again. I've missed you." she whispered.
"I thought you were the one who wanted to end it? We were going nowhere, and it was dragging both of us down."
"You're right, I did want it to end. But I needed some time to really think about what you had said, and to discover some things for myself."
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
There was a long pause before Hinata raised her head with a very cheerful smile. "Yes, I have." She looked directly into the blond's eyes for the critical moment. "Naruto, I still want you. And now that I know who I am, I can say that is the truth." She drifted her eyes to the open balcony door to the left, and noticed Naruto was beginning to fidget in the uncomfortable turn of conversation.
"I honestly thought that you were nothing more than a crush. Someone whom I would recover from in time. I went through many different phases, Naruto, and knew that it was for the best. I cursed you for the pain you caused me, then blamed myself for what happened with us. I eventually realized, over time, what it all meant while I was away. I realized that I love you Naruto. And I—I just needed you to know that."
She bit her lip at the last point, reprimanding herself for stuttering her words—another habit she hadn't done since she was last here. She worked hard to keep absolute composure; she knew Naruto's presence would affect her slightly, but she couldn't readily prepare herself to completely deal with her emotions.
Naruto stood quietly against the wall before sliding to the ground in a daze. It was an overload of information and he couldn't coherently respond.
"I wa...when you...I didn't...I had to...I've—moved on." was all he could manage to say before burying his head in his knees, too distraught to do anything else.
Contrary to was Naruto was probably expecting, Hinata shed off her nervous skin and moved to kneel in front of the fetal boy. When she pulled his head up to meet eyes, she was smiling. Before he could react, Hinata has pulled him towards her in a strong hug. "I'm so glad to hear that. There are no words to explain why, but I really am."
"I am so confused right now." Naruto coughed between the gasps for air. "What is you were hoping for then anyways?"
"It's hard to explain," she hesitated, "but if we could start again from friends, and move beyond all the nightmares we endured, I would be able to live with myself a little bit easier. It's not everything, but it's a start, at least. I'm not expecting anything Naruto. Hoping, maybe, but it's better than the alternatives."
"Which are—."
"—Mine to know alone." she breeched.
"I am so confused."
Yet despite his confusion, he felt immensely better about himself and Hinata, and took control of the embrace once more. "Friends then, the best of friends."
"So tell me, who's the lucky person who has de-bachelor-ized you?" she reamed at the random change of topic.
Naruto seemed to snap to a different plane upon hearing this. "Lucky? Oh, yeah well, h—um, yeah... Can it wait for another day? I think I'm about to go into overload with all the talking tonight."
Hinata cocked her head sideways in curiosity, studying Naruto's rushed expression. She stood up, copying his movements to the door, still too curious for her own good. She glanced about the room for no reason until she noticed the balcony door open as it was before. The door, the boxers, the fidgeting, the rush in realization...the dots connected. Hinata hugged Naruto one more time from behind, whispering something into his ear before she bolted from the room.
"Lucky dog?" came the delayed translation to Naruto as the front door closed, leaving the balcony door to open further.