It had been hours since we had picked him up from the hospital and brought him to our house. I silently crept to my own room. I didn't want to wake him after all. I opened the door a little more and peered inside at him. He had moved since I last checked on him. I opened the door further and entered the room, taking care to quietly close the door behind me. He looked s pale, and even in sleep he still wore a determined expression upon his face. I gently lifted his head onto my lap, admiring his honey gold locks as I did so. I gently grazed the wet washcloth I had brought with me against his forehead. I stoked his cheekbones with the tips of my fingers, tracing the lines of his face. Why can't I be this way around him? Why do my hands have to sweat and someone else who doesn't speak English possess my body when I'm near him? Why can't I be confident around people besides family? He looks so much more matured since I last saw him. I removed his jacket , and tossed it onto the desk. He was so hot. I stoked his face again. He looks so different, but the same. He's no longer a boy, bout a man. I was absent mindedly stoking his face. I glanced down at him. His open blue eyes greeted me. They startled me. My hand did not stop though. He blinked in confusion. "What happened?" he asked. I laughed a little "When?". "After Pain it me with his jutsu" "I took him out, he was budy focusing on you and he didn't see me in the corner ready to use the gentle fist on him" I replied calmly. "You were in the corner the whole time?" his eyes grew wide at knowing this. "Yes" I giggled. He sat up. "How am I better already?" he asked this time I could see that he already knew the answer he just wanted to know if I knew. "The fox and I put some cream on your wounds" I answered coolly. "Why am I here?" He questioned. "Because Hokage-sama said you didn't need to be at the hospitable and you could go back to your house, so I offered you a room in my house" I finished the whispered "You've been asleep thirty-six hours". I saw the surprise in his eyes at finding out he'd been out so long. I laughed. That is so Naruto! Just then his stomach growled. I laughed out loud this time, and grabbed his hand. I stood up and gave it a playful tug. "Come on you must be starving!" I playfully remarked. I pulled him to his feet and brought him to the table. He sat down in one of the chairs. I pulled out two plates and started to fix something. Soon I had two sandwiches made. I placed one in front of Naruto, and I started to munch on the other. "Did they find out anything yet?" Naruto interrogated. "No, he escaped to quickly. We don't know what his next plan of action is. The Hokage is working around the clock to get that son of a bitch caught. I'm sorry about this, I know it must be eating away at you." I whispered the last bit. It was true! Naruto never liked to feel like other people were suffering for him, now lots of people were suffering over the Akasuki's greed, but he wasn't going to see it that way! He was silent for the rest of time we ate.

After I was finished I watched him. Instead of wolfing down his lunch like I'd seen him do so many times at Ichiraku Ramen, he ate it in a daze, slowly chewing each bite. He seemed to be savoring every last bite. He was thinking really hard, I could tell by the out of it expression that captured his face. He looked so cute, so misguided, and his big, blue, beautiful eyes reminded me of a lost puppy. He kind of was, in a way. Wasn't he? I mean he had never know the love of a family before, hell, he had never known love…… He couldn't hope for love, he hoped for attention. That's why all those years he spent making trouble, so people might notice him. See him. It was something that first attracted me to him. His loneliness. He had Iruka now. A father, well figure at least. He was like a puppy in so many other ways to. He was always eager to train, to learn, to just better himself. Other kids didn't see that. They thought his constant failure and his refusal to accept it funny, when really, it was heartbreaking. He tried so much harder than the ret of us, and yet, when he finally got something everyone else had gotten weeks ago no one was there to say congratulations, even though he had worked so much harder for it that the rest of us. We got a good job at the simplest of things, but he had to really work for that. Does that just make us undeserving of that praise? Or does that make him more deserving? It was so hard! It was so hard not to look at Naruto and see an old man rather than just a teenager, because of what I knew was there. I knew he was unloved, and while he figured he was okay, he wasn't. He was really starving for it. Otherwise he wouldn't work so hard, or make so much trouble. It was something he really wanted. "That was amazing Hinata!" his praising voice startled me out of my silent reverie. "Well if it's ok with you I'm going to go take a shower?" the statement came out like a question. "Yes, it's fine Naruto. It's down the hall to the right. I'll be in later with some more towels" I smiled at him. It was hard to return to reality after so much silent musing. I watched as he descended toward the bathroom. I stood up, and rushed to get some more towels, still preoccupied with my thoughts. I hastily grabbed some towels out of a cupboard and quickly walked to the bathroom. I knocked on the door "Naruto can I come in? I brought some extra towels" I called. I heard a muffled reply and took that as a yes. I opened the door. Naruto stood before me, with one of our towels around his waist. Oh my God!! I felt myself flush with pleasure. I set the towels down on the counter. I snuck a glace at him. He was muscled nicely. His chest showed his abs. I could see the thick bands of muscle on his arms. His hair was damp, and a thin sheen of sweat coated his body, from the steam of the shower. He looks like a god! He looks so beautiful, his body is amazing. I'm blushing! Oh crap! What do I do! "Is there anything else I can get you?" I asked. Despite my quivering insides my voice came out confident and cool. I thanked the gods for that. "No thanks" Naruto replied. I noticed a shiver travel the length of his body, and the blush that lingered on his cheeks. ha, I'm not the only one blushing! I turned stiffly away from the glorious male figure behind me. I made myself shut the bathroom door and walk away. It was damn hard.