Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

A/N 12/21/13: Well for one chapter, that was A LOT of follows and favorites. I guess I sold myself short. Ah well, well yes I'm glad that people like this new idea, so yes I shall continue this. Enjoy this next one!

Warning: Nothing just yet, other than Hinata's horrible PTSD.

Chapter 2: Trying to Forget

She didn't know how long she'd been crying. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 5:45. Naruto wasn't going to pick her up in a little over an hour. She gently lifted her head off of the pillow, and her head was throbbing with a dull pain. Probably from crying for almost a straight hour. She looked in the mirror for a second. Her eyes were red and puffy and her face was still as pale as ever. Maybe a shower would do the trick.

She walked into her bathroom and stripped down. She sighed as she turned on the shower. The water was cold so she leaned against the wall, waiting for the water to heat up.

She sighed as the water heated up completely, and she stepped in. The water scalded her a little, but she didn't really pay attention to that. She was too lost in thought. Half of her was tingling with excitement, but the other half, the more dominant half was focused on the nightmares.

She really had no idea what was wrong with her. The more she thought about it, the more her head began to spin. Maybe this wasn't the best thing to be thinking right before the very first date with the man of her dreams. And she really wasn't trying to think about it. She was trying to think about what was about to happen in the next hour, but every time she seemed to forget, the more the nightmares and thoughts came back. Her mind was simply not allowing her to forget.

She pounded her right fist into the tiled walls as tears fell once again. There was something wrong with her, she just knew it. Never in her life had she felt more like a defective product. Plenty of shinobi had seen war. Every shinobi had seen battle. And every shinobi had definitely seen someone they love die. This wasn't a new concept. Everyone else had gone back to their normal lives. She was almost sure that whatever grief anyone had, they were channeling it positively.

"What's wrong with me?" she whispered as her tears continued to fall. She leaned up against the wall and began to slide down. She hugged her knees to her body as she let water cascade down on her.

Naruto literally felt as though he was going to pee in his pants. Decent bladder control was beginning to fail him as he was coming up to the Hyuuga compound. He had been down to the Yamanaka flower shop earlier and had gotten her flowers. That was thoughtful right? Was it too cliché? He had no idea. It was just a ramen date, so why was he getting so worked up? Ino had told him to get her red and white tulips since he didn't want to get some boring old roses. She didn't tell him why, but he took her word for it. He just hoped these told her how he felt about her.

The image of her came into his mind as he was getting worked up. Her innocent blush and smile and her hair blowing in the wind made him smile. And it was a giant goofy smile. He didn't know what was going on with him, but he liked it.

But as he came to the entrance of the Hyuuga compound, he realized just how nervous he was. Hinata was one thing, but her father was another. Naruto and Hiashi got along, but Naruto wasn't so sure about how he'd react to him dating his daughter. He shook the thoughts out of his head. For now, he just wanted to focus on tonight.

Hinata stared at herself in the mirror. She smiled slightly at herself in the mirror. She didn't look nearly as bad as she did an hour ago. Well outwardly anyway. Inwardly, she felt like she was going to curl up into a ball and die. It was a horrible feeling that she wished would just go away. She looked at the clock, and it was almost 7. He would be here any moment. She looked into the mirror one last time and put on the biggest, sweetest smile she could muster.

She left her room and began walking towards the entrance, when she saw her father coming. She froze and immediately began panicking. What was she supposed to tell him? The truth maybe? She wasn't sure if he'd be okay with it.

As she neared him, she could feel clammy moisture in the palm of her hands. He saw her and stopped in front of her, and examined her from head to toe.

"Are you going out?" he asked. His tone was cool, but not uninviting.

"I-I was j-just-,"she began stammering. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks. That gave him all that he needed to know.

"A date with the fox boy I see" he commented. Hinata stiffened, waiting to see her father's reaction. Would he be mad? She didn't think so.

"Y-yes," she answered in a quiet tone. She almost dreaded the next words that would leave his mouth.

She was expecting him to yell, to forbid her from going. It wasn't anything against Naruto personally, it was just the idea of her dating. From her experience, fathers weren't too keen on the idea of their daughters dating. However, she expected anything other than the reaction that she got.

He smiled slightly before saying, "Make sure he has you home by 11."

With that he continued walking, not even waiting to see the look of astonishment on his daughter's face. She only stayed like that for a second, before turning and walking towards the entrance.

Hiashi turned his slightly as he walked. He smiled slightly. As long as Naruto made her happy, he didn't object to his daughter seeing him. It had been months since he saw that blush and excitement on her face. He would remember to thank the boy for that later.

Naruto waited at the entrance fidgeting and thinking. And he cursed himself for it. It was a stupid ramen date. Okay he took that back. Ramen was never stupid, but it was just Hinata. A girl he'd known for years. He just needed to remember to breathe.

He heard footsteps and he turned and saw the Hyuuga girl walking towards him. He smiled his trademark grin and walked towards her. She looked a bit distracted, but she still smiled as he neared her.

He spoke first, "Um, hi!"

She blushed, "H-hi Naruto-kun."

He grinned even bigger and he held out the flowers. Hinata blushed as she saw the arrangement of white and red flowers. She smiled shyly as she took them.

"Th-thank you!" she stuttered.

"I hope you don't mind that they're not roses. I didn't think they were special enough for a special girl like you," he blurted out. He mentally kicked himself for that.

'Too much Uzumaki, too much.'

Hinata's blush intensified as the words left his lips. She just smiled at him and they began walking. Her mind at that moment was in chaos. She just wanted to pay attention to the part of her mind that screamed and squealed over what Naruto had just said. However, as always, the part of her mind that hid all of her darker feelings seemed to take over. She fought it off temporarily. She'd be damned if she let memories and feelings on the war interfered with this date.

They got to the ramen shop. The familiar sound of the bells jingling alerted Teuchi, the ramen shop man that someone was there.

"Ah, Naruto!" he said, and then he glanced at the young Hyuuga beside him.

"Hey old man! I'm on a date!" Naruto announced, grabbing Hinata's hand. She blushed even more so, and she had to tell herself to breathe so she wouldn't pass out.

"Ah, is that right?" he smiled at the girl, who smiled and nodded.

"Well that's great! Ramen's on me tonight then!" he said, laughing.

Naruto laughed and Hinata continued to smile and blush. They sat in their stools and waited as the ramen was being prepared. Naruto turned to her and smiled. He knew how shy she was, so he decided to initiate conversation.

"You look really pretty tonight," he complimented, hoping she'd answer back.

She blushed deeply but she realized that he was trying to get a conversation going so she spoke up, "Th-thank you Naruto-kun! You're looking amazing t-tonight too!"

Hinata was proud of herself. She was gradually starting to lose her stutter around him. Hopefully, if this became a usual thing, she would be able to forget about…she shook her head slightly as her mind was about to take a dark turn.

She looked and saw that the ramen had been served. Naruto was looking at her, refusing to start before her. She smiled slightly. He was such a gentleman.

Eating ramen only took five minutes, but there were small amounts of conversation. They talked about the mundane things, like how their day was. Hinata refrained from sharing the training fiasco, the sleepless nights, and the nightmares. No need to worry Naruto on the first date or turn him away from her.

"Thanks old man!" he called as he and Hinata departed from the shop. They decided that since they had a few hours, they'd walk around and talk. The only problem was that they were both so nervous that they hardly talked. Naruto had to strain himself to talk and so did Hinata. Hinata figured that as long as she kept conversation going, it would distract her from her thoughts, which were on the verge of breaking free.

"Hey, uhh Hinata?" Naruto whispered.

She turned to look at him. "Yes?"

"I, uh, have something I want to show you," he mumbled, but Hinata understood and nodded her head. He grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers together. Hinata had to take deep breaths just to keep herself conscious. She didn't want to miss a single moment of this. He led her a little ways up the street before making a turn. The turn led to a cobblestone path. Hinata's eyes widened. This was definitely a place she'd never seen. The path led to a small orchard of trees. How no one in the village had noticed this beautiful place was beyond her. But she was snapped out of her musings when she heard the sounds of water in the distance.

Naruto stepped behind her and covered her eyes. He giggled a little. Hinata smiled, "Where are you taking me Naruto-kun?"

"Oh, just my secret place," he whispered in her ear. The warmth of his breath sent shivers down her spine. But she tried to stay as composed as possible.

"Just a second…NOW!" he announced as he removed his hands from her eyes. She gasped at the sight. It was a small little pond with a small waterfall cascading into it. The water was perfectly blue and she could see the bottom perfectly. Tears were forming. It was just that beautiful.

"H-how did you find this place?" she asked.

"Well, being shunned by the village had a few advantages, like being able to escape here. It always calmed me down," he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"It's so beautiful," she said in awe.

"Just like you," he mumbled quietly.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Oh nothing, I was just talking to myself," he laughed again. "Anyway, this is my special place. Well, OUR special place now."

Hinata blushed at the change of the pronoun, but she looked at him and smiled. He smiled and patted his shoulder, signaling to her to rest her head there. She eagerly complied. She felt a lot of joy bubbling inside of her. Her heart practically leapt into her throat when he wrapped one arm around her. She closed her eyes, just wanting to relish this moment.

It was just a couple minutes after her curfew, but she knew that Hiashi wouldn't mind a few minutes.

"I had a great time," Naruto smiled as he looked into her eyes. Hinata blushed but smiled and nodded, indicating to him that she had too. So he continued. "I was wondering…"

Hinata smiled looking up at him, "The answer will probably be yes." She felt bold for saying that, but at the moment she really didn't care.

Naruto grinned real big, "So you'll be my girlfriend then."

It wasn't a question, and Hinata found herself smiling really, really big. She nodded her head. Naruto smiled, not a goofy grin, but a true sincere smile. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. They stayed like that for a few seconds. He pulled away slightly and looked at her face. He was too nervous to actually kiss her, but now that she was his, he'd take his time. Hinata looked at him, wondering what he'd do next. He leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth. Hinata blushed and so did Naruto. He smiled and they broke apart.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow," he said, and Hinata nodded.

He began walking away, waving and smiling, and Hinata waved back. Soon he was out of sight, and she walked back into the compound with a dazed smile. This was as close to heaven as she had ever gotten.

'Don't get too comfortable or happy, it's not going to last,' her mind warned.

'Why not? How do you know it's not going to last?' she asked.

'Don't act stupid. Naruto just asked you out of nowhere? He always liked Sakura, probably still does. He's probably just with you because he feels bad that he got your cousin killed.'

'N-no, that's not true! And no, he wasn't responsible for Neji nii-san's death!'

'That's right. HE wasn't responsible. YOU were responsible.'

'Stop! Stop! Why are you being so cruel! You're supposed to be my mind!'

'Exactly! No one cares more for you than I do. So for your sanity, keep him at a distance. He's going to hurt you, because he just doesn't love you.'

'You're wrong, please stop.'

'Please, just remember the war Hinata, look what happens to the people close to you. It's better if you close yourself off. Put up walls Hinata.'

'Stop, please just go away.'

'Fine, I'll shut up now. But you'll see that I'm right…'

Hinata walked into her room and closed the door and pressed her back against the wall. Was her mind right? Was what it was telling her true? Should she put up walls? She didn't know, and she really didn't want to know. But the previous feeling of depression began to creep up on her again. And whether she knew it or not, the walls were slowly starting to go up…

Please Review

He he he. Okay for those of you who are wondering: White Tulips mean purity and red Tulips mean love, so pure love. So yes they are finally together. But uhh yeah, for the sake of drama and angst, Hinata's mental state is going to have to tip some more. Well can't think of anything else to say! Loved it? Hated it? Let me know! Plz R&R! Thanks! Til next time!

CherryXButterfly(Angel)