Chapter 2: Swings Make Friends

The girl who is still gently touching my chin and staring into my eyes with a warmth that I am unused to receiving, is none other than Hinata Hyuuga, the resident troublemaker of Konoha and the black sheep of the Hyuuga clan.

She was staring at me for what felt like eons, as if she was studying my face. It made feel self-conscious and any thoughts of thanking her died in my throat. Naturally, an incredibly awkward silence ensued.

Two conflicting thoughts swirled through my head at this moment.

First , I was incredibly grateful for getting rid of those bullies and stopping them from causing me to say something irreversible. Few people actually stood up for me, especially my age. Most people either antagonized me or just did not care about my existence. Few people cared about me. And so, her standing up for me meant a lot, so it felt like gratitude was radiating throughout my inner being.

My other thought was a lot less dignified: Oh my god, she's touching me. She's so close and I'm staring right into her eyes. I just want to die of embarrassment. Please god, just let me go curl up in a ball and die. And she's still touching me.

Now, having no family and friends, very few times have I been touched by another person in a non-negative way. So, this situation leaves me very uncomfortable. I don't dislike it, I'm just uncomfortable.

I could feel my face heat up at the contact and I hoped to all that is good that I wasn't blushing too much. However, I knew that endeavor was hopeless, as I could just tell that I would give a tomato a run for its money.

After what felt like years, or really just a minute of awkward silence, HInata seemed to unfreeze and jumped up into the air with a large smile, grabbed my hand, and ran. She dragged me along with her, I say dragged because I was still hurting and sore. She took me along with her, and led me to the streets where people went about their daily business.

As we ran, or in my case got dragged, HInata led me through a maze of people, in order to navigate through the traffic. Every time that we bumped into someone, she would just flash a bright, mischievous smile and offer an apology. Though, most of the time we were already too far away from them to hear her.

I just kept my head down and stared at the ground and crowd of legs ahead of me. I just hoped that none of the adults would recognize me and antagonize her for being seen with me. She didn't deserve that, she had already done so much for me. I looked up and saw that I was wrong and many of the adults sent disapproving looks our way.

Eventually, we escaped from the throngs of people in the street by turning off into a park. It was a small park that contained a small play set, some trees, a trail, and most importantly of all void of people. HInata suddenly stopped, and I ran into her, only for me to fall promptly fall on my buttocks.

I winced at the pain and looked up to see HInata's eyes flash in worry, "Oh my god, I'm sorry are you okay?"

Her pretty white eyes were full of concern, and her eyebrows furrowed in worry. It made for a really cute picture, but I would never dare say that aloud. It seemed like she actually did regret causing me to fall, as opposed to when she bumped into the adults.

Again, it seemed like a cat got my tongue and I was unable to do anything but simply nod. Hinata smiled in relief and held out her hand to lift me up. I was hesitant to take it, but I knew that I would be unable to get up without her help. I took her hand, and she helped me up, although I had to fight a blush the whole time.

Without letting go of my hand, she dragged me to the play set and made me sit on a set of swings. Curiously, she let go of my hand and went behind me. What could she possibly want to do behind me? I raised my eyebrow in confusion before feeling the pressure of two hands on my back. I was lifted into the air by a few inches and flew back, only to feel the pressure of two hands again to push me forward, only a little bit higher this time. This process continued until I was getting a few feet in the air and I did something I hadn't done in a long time.

I laughed.

It wasn't fake and I didn't force myself. I laughed out of pure enjoyment of being pushed on a swing set. Now, I had been on a swing set before, alone of course. But, the enjoyment gained from that is nothing compared to being there with someone and being taken to new heights because of them. It was freeing, to know that someone else was there, playing with me. I was used to watching other kids enjoy childhood games, but now, now I was able to be a part of one, and I couldn't be happier.

I stopped feeling the pressure on my back and I looked to the left. Sitting on the other swing was HInata going back and forth as well. She was laughing along with me, enjoying her time just as much or more than I was.

After a few minutes of swinging, we both let our swings lose their energy so that we were just sitting on the swings with our feet dangling above the ground. A smile was on both of our faces, as our eyes met. Joy was the dominant emotion portrayed in those white eyes, and I'm sure they were present in mine as well.

I could feel my face heat up again and I looked away to try to hide the impending blush that was sure to appear on my face.

Oh geez, why did this keep happening around her?

"My name is HInata by the way", she said to me.

You know, you'd think she would have said that before she dragged me all over the streets of Konoha.

Again, all the words that I wanted to say died in my throat. However, in a small voice that was barely a whisper, I managed to choke out, "I-I know."

I looked back to her to see her smirking, "I see that my fame and reputation precedes me", she pumped her fist, "Score one for me."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. Of course I would know the name of one of the few people that don't glare at me. Especially, a cute girl like you. But, of course I can't say that to her, I'm already dying of embarrassment as it is.

She cocked her head, eyes brimming with curiosity, "So, what's your name?"

"Uh", I choke out. God, why can't I freaking talk to her? Just calm down. Breathe in, breathe out. Okay good, now calmly say my name.

"N-Naruto"

It wasn't very calm and it was barely above a whisper, but it did the job apparently since Hinata gave a small nod.

"Well Naruto", she said, scratching the back of her head as some sort of embarrassed tick. She spoke sounding somewhat remorseful, "Sorry for dragging you around like that, but Ko was about to find me and I didn't want to just leave you."

I gave her a questioning look, why wouldn't she want to leave me? She had done enough for me by just saving me from the bullies. She managed to save me without even lifting a finger, what is she apologizing for?

Apparently she misunderstood my questioning look, "Oh my bad, you probably don't know about Ko. He's my guardian and well, he can be kind of a stick in the mud. He's always going on and on about how a proper lady shouldn't do this or do that. So, sometimes I pull pranks just to mess with him and the rest of my families", she was speaking about a mile a minute and I could barely keep up with what she said. Suddenly, a spark ignited in her eyes, "But today, I managed to get them especially good. I replaced all of the shampoo in the showers of the compound with bacon flavored scented shampoo. Then, I opened the kennels in the Inuzuka compound and let the magic happen. By the time that Ko managed to get the dogs away from him, I was already on the run and he's probably still looking for me."

I simply nodded with wide eyes as I looked at the trees in the park. I was amazed by both the speed at which she spoke and the pure insanity that was HInata Hyuuga. I was astounded not only that she could come up with a plan as crazy as that, but that she was brave enough, or crazy enough, to do it. I broke out into a small smile at seeing how excited and worked up she was about her prank, it was quite cute actually.

"So Naruto, how was swinging on a swing?"

I turned back to Hinata and saw that she was leaning across the chains and was really close to me. I felt my face heat up almost instantly and looked away so fast that it probably gave me whiplash.

God, this little girl was going to be the death of me. Didn't she know the term 'personal space'?

"It was f-fun. I've never been on the swings with someone else before." I choked out, as I poked my index fingers into each other.

I glanced over to see Hinata smiling widely, "That's good, I've seen you sitting on the swings before alone, and figured that it would be more fun with someone else. There's just something about swinging with friends that feels so-"

"Free", I interrupted without even thinking. Where did that come from?

Hinata also appeared surprised by my outburst. Although, if I had to guess, it was probably due to the fact that I had talked without being asked a direct question.

After recovering from her shock, she nodded vigorously, "Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to say! There's just something about doing things with friends that makes everything like a bajillion times better." She spread her arms wide to emphasize her point.

I looked down, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. I've never had a friend. I usually just get ignored by people my age. I don't know why, I just do. I tend to think it has to do with my passive personality, but I would've thought that I would have at least one friend if that was the case. If I had a friend, I might know why I keep getting avoided by others.

It's moments like these when I feel the loneliness even more. I get the taste of what a friendship might taste like, and then it inevitably gets pulled away from me and I get forced to starve.

I look over at HInata, who has so much energy that she keeps on tapping on her leg and fidgeting, and wonder what it would be like to be her friend. I'm pretty sure it would be a rollercoaster: filled with adventure, and because of who I am, fear, but most of all excitement. She would protect her friends, in the same way that she protected me. She wouldn't let anyone touch a finger on her friends' heads.

Man, the things I would give in order to be her friend.

Suddenly, I felt a presence approaching the park and saw the silhouette of a young man approach the entrance. Strangely enough, I also smelled a distinct scent of bacon.

I looked over at Hinata and saw that her demeanor had shifted. She was no longer joyful and bursting with energy. Her small shoulders were slumped, her eyebrows furrowed, and a frown appeared on her face. She got up from her swing and jumped up to one of the trees on the border of the park. She was kneeling on one of the larger tree branches and looked about ready to jump away from the park, before she turned around.

Her eyes met mine and she smiled widely before she yelled loudly, "I'll see you around, Naruto. I'm glad I made a new friend today."

She turned around and jumped from the branch and disappeared from the park into another section of Konoha, leaving me dumbfounded still sitting on the swing.

Wait, friend?

Chapter 2 finish

A/N: So, it was pointed out to me that for the bully scene, I used the scene from episode 166 of Shippuden as a loose inspiration, when apparently, the scene from the movie is slightly different and considered canon. My bad. I don't think it detracts from the story and I don't feel like changing a lot of things in the story, but I'll have to change the summary. I'm sorry about the major tone shift, but I didn't want to make a dark fic to begin with, and only wanted it to serve as a sort of juxtaposition, I guess. I hope you enjoyed the story, and if you see any major plot holes or blatantly messed up characterization or if I'm overdoing the whole embarrassment part please let me know. I also wouldn't mind if you tell me if you liked the story, but I'm not really picky.