2012 UPDATE: A/N: Fixed some grammatical errors. That's pretty much it. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: Welcome to chapter 3 of "The Fox and the Hound". Wow so far I think this Fic is a complete success. And like I said before I'll be glad to continue if one of you readers want me to. So lets get started!


When Naruto had reached Sakura's house he was panting heavily. Sakura lived on the other side of Konoha and Naruto was determined to get their as fast as he could. Before he knocked on the door he took a moment to catch his breath.

Knock-Knock-Knock

Inside the house he could hear a person coming down the stairs and the door unlocking. When the door finally opened it revealed a beautiful pink-haired kunoichi with a red dress and a leaf-headband above her overly sized forehead.

"Hello, Sakura-chan!" exclaimed Naruto a little excited to talk to his old friend.

"Hey, Naruto." said Sakura a liitle taken back to see Naruto at her house. "What are you doing her?"

"Well….I came to ask you a question…"

"No, you can't go out with me." stated Sakura with a sigh.

"WHAT! I wasn't going to ask you that!" exclaimed Naruto sweat dropping.

"Oh. Ok then come on in." Sakura said with a smirk as she led Naruto into her living room.

Sakura's living room was much like any ordinary living room. The walls were painted a pinkish tint. Their was shelves with books on them. Their were Sakura blossoms in vases all around the room. In fact the room had the faint aroma of the flowers. In the middle of the room their was the couch and in front of that the small coffee table. Naruto plopped down on the couch still taking in his old teammate's living room until he was snapped out of his thoughts.

"So what did you want to tell me?"

"Well…. Lets just say I feel kinda weird when I'm around someone." said Naruto trying to make it sound as vague ad possible. "Kinda like a fluttering feeling in my stomach and my tongue kinda swells."

Sakura just sat their staring at Naruto with a sly inquisitive smirk on her face.

"Is this someone ummm… I don't know…. A girl?" Sakura stated.

"U-uh y-yeh you can say that….Yeh shes a girl." Stuttered Naruto nervously.

"Well is this girl…Hmmm lemme think of the name…hmm…Hinata?" stated Sakura with a huge smirk.

But she didn't even have to wait for an answer, his body language told all. First at the mention of Hinata's name. Naruto's face had turned a bright red which resembled a tomato. Then he fell over onto the floor in the process knocking over the coffee table and breaking a couple of vases.

"H-H-how did y-you know?" said Naruto surprised and red in the face.

"Heheheh. It's a girl's instinct." stated Sakura slyly

"Well, now that you know who it is can you help me out?" said Naruto nervously

"With what?" stated Sakura

"Well, it's harder for me to talk to her and I get sweaty trying to talk to her. Also when I saw her with Kiba I felt really angry…" he said

"Wait. She's with Kiba? Like boyfriend girlfriend together?" said Sakura very interested in what Naruto had to say.

"Yeh…." said Naruto instantly turning depressed. Sakura caught this change in mood and smirked. She had a pretty good reason for why Naruto felt this way.

"When did you see her with Kiba." said Sakura coolly trying to keep the conversation flowing.

"Well I was training in the forest earlier today and when I got tired and decided to wash up at the lake I saw Kiba and Hinata there. An-and they w-were kissing….." stated Naruto shifting his glaze towards his feet.

"I see..." said Sakura a little taken back. She never pictured Hinata kissing anyone except Naruto before so the thought to her was kind of strange.

"That's when I started to feel angry. So I rushed over to them and I tore Kiba off of Hinata and I punched him in the face…" Naruto said with a sigh as he put his face in his hands.

"Well, Naruto I have your answer for you." Sakura said feeling a little sorrow and pity for Naruto.

"You do? Great! Tell me!" Naruto shouted. Excitement was clearly visible on his face.

"Naruto.. Isn't kinda obvious? You get nervous around her, sweaty palms, butterflies in your stomach." Stated Sakura

"Can you just tell me?" said Naruto impatiently

"Ok ok. Well from what you've told me Naruto. I've reached a conclusion to your question."

"TELL ME ALREADY!" Naruto screamed

"YOU LIKE HER YOU IDIOT!" Sakura screamed back at him which only added to the effect of her words.

At this statement Naruto's face went from a look of anxiousness to a look of embarrassment.

"I do?" Naruto said softly. His eyes once again shifting to the ground. He had never had parents before so he no one would have been able to tell him about these kinds of emotions.

"Yeh Naruto you do. All the things you told me were signs. Nervousness, anxiousness, want, and jealousy.

"But, I thought I liked you?" Naruto said confused

"Naruto….I don't think you ever liked me. It was a childhood crush and I was the first girl you met." stated Sakura

"I like Hinata…." Naruto whispered. While Naruto said the name one thing was running through his mind. He had to tell her somehow.

"Okay Sakura-chan thanks for the help!" Naruto said as he rushed out the door.

"WAIT! NARUTO!" shouted Sakura but her efforts were in vain. He was already long gone and she was in no mood to chase him.

'Maybe I should have told him that she likes him to….Oh well he'll figure it out…..eventually…..I hope…' thought Sakura to herself as she started to clean up the mess Naruto had made of the place.

XXX

Naruto was racing back to his apartment. The thoughts of his revelation were zooming through his mind at the speed of light.

'I like Hinata.' He thought again.

It was getting late so Naruto decided to hold off on talking to Hinata until tomorrow. So right when he got home he ate some instant-ramen, set his alarm clock for 5:00 AM, and fell asleep.

XXX

The Hyuuga Complex

Hinata hadn't stopped thinking about Naruto ever since that evening in the forest. She had felt her heart break seeing Naruto depressed for that brief moment. That moment Kiba told him that they are going out. Hinata sighed.

'I can't believe I hurt Naruto-kun like that…' She thought. 'I really hope he's alright.'

Hinata couldn't remember a time when she didn't like Naruto. Ever since the academy days, being genins, and before he left. But Hinata's mind lingered on one memory she would cherish till the day she died.

Flashback

It was right before the start of the Finals of the chunnin exams and Naruto had found Hinata at his training area right before he left to go to the stadium.

"Hinata... You're alright now?" Naruto asked

"Why…are you…here?..Isn't today the start of…the finals" Hinata said blushing as she hid part of herself behind the wood block.

"I just wanted to check up on this place. Because this is where I became a genin…" said Naruto

"o-oh yeah s-sorry." said Hinata softly

"Hinata. Neji is a relative of yours right?" said Naruto

"Y-yeah" she said

"Is he strong?"

"Y-yeah" she said looking down to her feet. She remembered the fight with her cousin and she knew how strong he was. When she didn't hear a word from Naruto she looked up to see his face which was blank.

"B-but you might be able to beat him Naruto-kun b-because"

"YEAH I'M REALLY STRONG!" he finshed for her.

At this moment there was a long silence until Hinata broke it.

"Naruto I want to thank you for cheering for me because whenever you cheer for me I feel like I can change and I can like myself more." She blurted out.

"HAHAHA! YEAH I'm very motivating!" he had said to her.

Hinata just stood behind the wood block blushing.

"But, Hinata do you really think that?" he stated flatly

"Yes, Naruto-kun because even though you fail you have the strength to get back up. That makes you really strong." She stated

"THANKS HINATA! I FEEL GREAT NOW!" Naruto shouted

She blushed a deeper red and hid herself more behind the wood block.

"Hinata. I always thought you were..."

Her ears perked up wanting to hear what he was about to say.

"A plain, weird, timid person" He finished

Hinata's face fell. She felt like she was about to cry.

"But...I like people like you." He said. Then Naruto had run off heading to the exam for the start of the finals.

End Flashback

Yes. She would never forget that day. The day Naruto had said he liked people like her. Even if it wasn't romantically it still meant something to her. But thinking of that experience she had with Naruto only made her feel guiltier about hurting him.

'Oh, Naruto-kun…I'm sorry….' She thought to herself.

Hinata had then changed into her night clothes, crawled into her bed, and fell asleep. The thoughts of her Naruto were still fresh in her mind.

XXX

Elsewhere

Two figures were standing on a cliff looking down on the village of Konoha. They both were wearing coats with red clouds on them.

"So this is Konoha? Looks like a dump to me! Why would leader send us here?" said the man whose face resembled a shark's and carried a huge sword wrapped in bandages.

"Yes, this is Konoha. And this village is home of the nine-tails. Which we are supposed to capture and bring back alive." said the other man as his blood-red sharingan eyes glazed downwards toward the village.


2012 UPDATE: A/N: Eh like I said, I didn't change anything important in this chapter.