Hinata waited nervously by the goal post, constantly fidgeting with the ties on her overly baggy sweat-shirt. She looked up cautiously at the sky as the dark clouds clouded the sky, threatening the school with rain. Sighing she let the hoodie's tie fall from her fingertips as she brooded over the reason she was here. She had failed…again. All her friends, Tenten, Sakura, even Ino had made first string for the soccer team; she, once-again, had fallen short and only managed to achieve a second string position and as a goalie. Mentally she cursed her own incapability as she felt the tears beginning to water in her eyes. Weak…failure…incapable… those words echoed in her head as a constant reminder. Of course she'd tried, she'd performed better than ever before but it wasn't enough and now here she was…waiting for Naruto to show up after her so kindly agreed to help her practice and earn a promotion to first string. Naruto…one of the rare delights in her life and coincidentally the one she was falling in love with. His strong, bold, determined personality served as to attract her while his golden hair and sapphire blue eyes only served to heighten that attraction.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" he yelled enthusiastically to her as he ran down the hill to the soccer field.

"O-ohayo, N-naruto-k-kun." She stuttered the response to him.

"Sorry I'm late, Hinata-chan," he laughed scratching the back of his head the best he could on account of the heavy bag of soccer balls he was holding on his shoulder, "Sasuke-teme wouldn't unlock the door to let me in."

"I-it's alright, N-naruto-kun."

"Let's get started then, ne." he smiled.

Nonchalantly he walked to the white line at the edge of the goal post and dropped then bag of balls, along with a water bottle. Hinata blushed furiously when she saw him pull his maroon hoodie over his head to reveal a black t-shirt with the Konoha symbol in…orange…on the front. He smiled brightly at her before tilting his head to the side curiously.

"Aren't you gonna take off you sweatshirt, Hinata-chan?" he pointed to her own gray attire with the word KONOHA emblazed in green lettering on the front.

"A-ano, i-it's alright N-naruto-kun."

"If you say so…" he replied skeptically, leaning over to wrestle a white ball out of the bag.

"Eep!" Hinata exclaimed in surprise as the ball was suddenly in her hands.

She peered over the top of it curiously, small hands on either side of it, as she looked at Naruto. He was smirking at her, his own orange ball at is feet, one foot to keep it steady.

"Let's get started…" he grinned.

Hinata was panting and breathing hard as she sat down. The damp grass was a welcome cushion against her aching backside. She groaned in pain as she collided with the ground, leaning back on her palms and wincing at the contact. Shakily she grasped her red water bottle, squeezing the liquid gratefully into her mouth…water never tasted so good. With a large gulp she wiped off the excess water on her chin with her arm. Her sweatshirt, she once wore, was now tied securely around her waist, exposing the white tank-top underneath it to the humid late-august air. Taking a deep breath she chanced a glance over at Naruto. He was sitting cross-legged next to her, and elbow resting on his knee as he looked her over with an amused expression. She smiled inwardly; knowing he was just as tired as he was by the way his chest rapidly rose and fell coupled with the beads of perspiration rolling down his face, plastering his bangs to his forehead.

"Tired Hinata-chan?" he commented rather than asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

She merely took another swig of water in response before expelling another long bout of breath.

"H-how d-do you d-do this e-every d-day?" she gasped out, more from lack of breath than embarrassment despite the blush she was sure was coating her cheeks in their usual appearance.

"I guess I'm used to it!" he laughed heartily at the amazed expression in her eyes, "Come on." He told her, patting her shoulder gently, "Last exercise then let's clean up and go to the pool."

"S-sounds g-good to me N-naruto-kun." She relented, taking a final gulp of water before setting it reluctantly on the grass to follow him to the goalie box.

"Now," he told her passing her the white ball from earlier, "we're going to do some extreme shooting."

"E-ext-treme sh-shooting?" she asked in confusion.

"You're going to be blocking my shots." He told her proudly.

Her jaw slackened at the news. There was no way she'd be able to do that! He was a striker, and the team's leading scorer! He'd even mastered the Rasengan kick! Sure, he believed in her but surely he knew the extent of her abilities…didn't he? Grudgingly she walked into the goal, taking a position in the middle, enabling her to move either way in case he aimed in either direction.

"Ready, Hinata-chan?" he called to her from the penalty line.

"H-hai," she answered meekly.

She watched as he sent the ball flying with a strong kick from his left foot. It span towards her, intent on hitting the net. In an instant she was on top of it. She sat up panting to see a smiling Naruto watching her from his spot.

"That was great Hinata-chan!" he called to her, "Come on, we're going to be this for a while."

"H-hai," she called back happily, tossing the ball out to him with a strong throw.

"Oi, Hinata-chan! Don't you need your gloves?" he asked her.

"Hai!" she called back to him.

Reaching into the pocket of her sweatshirt she managed to shake out two black and white gloves. Slipping them on carefully she crouched down into a ready stance…

"Alright Hinata-chan last one!" Naruto alerted her through the pouring rain.

Not too soon after they'd started shooting had the sky decided to relinquish its heavy burden upon the residents of Konoha. That had been roughly half an hour ago and the storm showed no signs of letting up. Hinata nodded to him, brushing her bare hands together once to attempt to shed off their watery coating. She'd long since abandoned the gloves as they were too bulky for her rather petite hands. Naruto nodded to her once before kicking the ball fiercely. Hinata's eyes widened in surprise as she recognized the kick. 'The Rasengan!' she thought in alarm as it sped towards her destructively, 'he knows that kick is unstoppable! NO! I have to try; he wouldn't do this if he didn't believe in me. Brute force is out of the question, this kick would snap your wrists; maybe if…' She lunged forward, hitting the ball with her palm to stop the spin before batting it quickly with the other, neither hand resting too long on the ball's slippery surface. She watched in awe as the object flew from her and span in the opposite direction towards Naruto, stopping halfway to him. He stared at her in surprise. She'd blocked the Rasengan, the unbeatable shot.

"H-hinata-chan?" he stuttered in surprise.

She stood there panting, the rain was soaking her, she was tired and sore but to Naruto he'd never seen anyone so strong.

"Way to go Hinata-chan!" he yelled running up to her and trapping her in a hug.

She squeaked in surprise at the sudden contact as he ran around carrying her and shouting praises. The only thing she was aware of was the way he was holding her. His face was practically pressed into her stomach, right under her…assets…while his arms encircle the small of her back. He of course, didn't realize their compromising position until he tripped, sending his face tumbling into her stomach as she let out a single 'meep'.

"That was amazing Hinata-chan." He praised her, pulling his face up so it hovered above hers.

At this point Hinata did what only she does, she fainted.

"Ne, Hinata-chan?" he asked, shaking her shoulder gently, causing her head to loll slightly, "Only Hinata-chan," he muttered, shaking his head.

'Sleep well, Hinata-chan,' he thought as he slid his hand under her legs while the other one supported her back, 'you deserve it.'

With that he carried her back to the school while lightning raged over head…what would become from this single day…