Chapter 2

"Man..." said Naruto a little out of breath "You sure can run Hinata." Even as Naruto said this and took a step towards her, Hinata was preparing to run again.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Naruto as he jumped in front of her, arms out stretched. She was now trapped between Naruto and a very large stone nose.

After Hinata had starting running she hadn't known where she was going. She had simply run to the first place that came to mind, and that place had been the top of the Hokage monument. Now that she thought about it, it had been a really bad idea, as – next to Ichiraku's – this was Naruto's favourite place to go.

"If he won't let me by, then...then I'll..." Hinata paused "who am I kidding? I could never trick or hurt Naruto-kun." She hung her head, and whispered to Naruto

"O..ok. you f..found me." Relieved to hear she wasn't going to run again, or fight (as he had seen her in battle before) Naruto lowered his arms.

"Hinata why don't you tell me what's going on?" Hinata shook her head vigorously at that idea.

"If I told him everything I would probably pass out and never wake up." She thought laughing in spite of herself.

"Okaaaaay...well if you're not going to tell me what's up, will you at least tell me why you didn't stop when I called your name?" asked Naruto as he took another step towards Hinata. Instinctively she took another step back.

"w..well..I saw y..you and a..Ayame-chan..and..." By the time Hinata finished this sentence she was talking so quietly, and was so red, a tomato could have easily called her family.

"Oh! You saw that hun? It wasn't what it looked like though. Ayame-chan was just thanking me for the birthday gift I gave her. That's all! Really!" said Naruto enthusiastically, thinking that would clear everything up. He was proven sorely wrong however, when Hinata started crying again.

"Ah! Dang it!" Yelled out Naruto, making Hinata look up in surprise.

"All I can ever do is make you cry, turn red, or pass out! It's a wonder your father, or Neji, hasn't kicked my ass!" finished Naruto frowning.

"If I don't tell him everything now...I may never get another chance." thought Hinata

"But if I do tell him...I...I...I just wouldn't be-able to take it i..if he s..said no."

"na..Naruto?"

"yah Hinata?"

"umm..." started Hinata, pressing her fingers together in front of her "I w...want to t..t...tell you something."

"okay. Go ahead." Said Naruto putting his arms behind his head.

"But w...w...when I s..start, you can't i..i...in..."

"Interrupt you?" finished Naruto for her. She was so embarrassed that he had to finish the sentence for her that she simply nodded, not trusting her own voice.

"okay, I promise Hinata-chan. I won't interrupt." Said Naruto smiling. Hearing this Hinata closed her eyes and prepared to blurt out as much as she could before she passed out, as she new would in the end. She let out a small sigh, and then took in a big breath.

'Here goes everything' she thought to herself.

"t..the truth is Naruto...I...I...I watch you almost all the time. Ever since the academy I've watched you from a..a...a distance. C...ch cheering you on bec...because you inspire me. M...m..more than that" whispered Hinata, now memorizing every pebble on the 4th's nose. "The reason I..I..I didn't stop w..when you called me is..that...that..." Hinata was currently clenching her hands so tightly that she had to force herself to stop before she drew blood.

"go on Hinata-chan, I'm listening." Naruto assured her.

'That's part of the problem' thought Hinata to herself. She took another deep breath and continued.

"t...the reason I didn't stop was b...because I thought y..y..you and Ayame-chan w..w..were flirting." When Hinata said this she couldn't stop fresh tears from falling.

"W...when I thought that y..y..you might be with someone – s..someone other t..t..than m...me – I f..felt...hurt. I...I...I felt hurt because I...I...I love you."

'OH GOD!' she thought to herself 'I said it. I finally said it.' She opened her eyes and looked towards Naruto. What she saw only hurt her further. Naruto standing there with a look of absolute shock on his face.

'n...no. he's g..going t..to...say no.' Thinking this Hinata turned away from Naruto and pressed her self against the monument, wishing she could disappear. Wishing for all the world that she could go back in time and stop herself from saying what she had said. What happened next not even Hinata's byakugan could have seen coming. Naruto grabbed her shoulder, turned her around, and pulled her into a hug.

"N...Naruto?" Hinata squeaked.

"Thank you Hinata. You have no idea how long I've been waiting to here someone say that." Naruto breathed into her neck. Try as hard as she might she couldn't stop the inevitable. She went out cold.

"Hinata-chan!?" Yelled Naruto.

'Man, not again. This is going to be really hard to explain to Neji, and a lot harder to explain to Hiashi-sama.' Thought Naruto as he picked up Hinata bridal style and started off towards the Hyuuga mansion.

When Naruto was about fifty feet away from the Hyuuga mansion, he saw a branch family guard come running towards him.

'Oh, great. Here we go' thought Naruto to him self with a slight grimace on his face.

"You there!! Stop!" Yelled a guard who was now standing about 10 feet in front of Naruto, in his fighting stance with his byakugan activated.

"About time you got here!!" Naruto yelled back. The guard relaxed slightly when he approached and got a close up view of what was going on.

"Why are you carrying lady Hinata!!" The guard demanded.

"I didn't attack her if that's what you mean!" Yelled Naruto.

"Naruto." Said Neji now walking through the crowd of guards that had gathered.

"Neji, hey. Nice to talk to someone who doesn't look at me like dirt." Said Naruto eyeing the guards.

"what's going on?" Neji asked in his usual monotone voice.

"Me and Hinata were talking, and then she passed out again. At this rate I'm going to turn into her private slave." Mused Naruto, while staring at Hinata.

'Though after what she just told me...i wouldn't mind it at all. Better not tell Neji all the specifics. I need time to think this through.'

"Hmmm." Agreed Neji.

"Give her here. I'll take her to her room."

"Sure." Said Naruto, giving a single nod.

THREE HOURS LATER

'Where am I?' thought Hinata.

'the last thing I remember is...is...Naruto-kun getting k...k..kissed by Ayame-chan, and then running...and then' suddenly it all came back to her like a flood. Running away, Naruto finding her on the Hokage monument, talking to her, then she..she...admitted to Naruto!!

'OH GOD!!' she thought to her self, mortified at what she had done. 'Why did I say that? Why did I tell him? What was I thinking!? Now he'll probably never want to see me again!' this thought had Hinata crying faster than Lee could run. Hearing his cousin crying in her room, Neji quickly ran to the door, and started knocking.

"Hinata? Are you ok?" When he received no answer and herd only more crying he said

"I'm coming in, are you dressed?"

"y...yes." she whispered weakly. Neji opened the door slowly to verify that she was indeed decent, and then entered the room, closing the door behind him.

"Hinata what happened between you and Naruto? Don't bother telling me it was nothing either." He added when he saw his cousin about to use her usual defence.

"I...I...can't." she said looking away from Neji.

"Hinata if you don't tell me what's wrong I will go find Naruto and ask him." He stated flatly. Hinata looked at Neji, her sorrow replaced momentarily by fear.

"You...you wouldn't!" Hinata whispered loudly.

"Actually, I would Hinata Hyuuga. Not only that, but if Naruto to refuses to tell me what happened I will simply beat the answers out of him." Neji new that would get her to talk.

"No! Neji you can't!!" yelled Hinata.

"If I tell you, you have to promise not to talk to, or hurt, Naruto!" Hinata was so upset now that she was shaking in her bed.

'I knew she cared for him, but to go as far as to swear me to a promise? Maybe there's more going on here than puppy love.' Thought Neji to himself as he studied his cousin closely.

"Very well. Tell me everything and I will leave Naruto alone."

'for now' he added mentally.

Hinata sighed as she prepared to tell Her whole story, including her admission to Naruto, to her cousin.