And now, here's the newest one, Flowers! I tried doing things in Hinata's perspective a little, but I had to go back to Sasuke's for some parts. This one isn't as good, I don't think, but I still like it. Thanks to all who reviewed, and please keep reviewing! THey mke my day!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!
Flowers
Hinata was a simple girl. She liked simple, girly things: sunshine, smiles, and flowers. Oh yes, especially flowers.
Well, to be more accurate, she liked pressing flowers. It was a habit she picked up one day, when her mother showed her what a pressed daisy looked like. Little Hinata was so awed at how the delicate little flower kept it's beauty, she decided she always wanted to do that. With every type of flower she could find.
She often took flowers home as souvenirs from missions and travels; sometimes Neji, who knew of her hobby, brought her some as well, asking if she had it in her collection yet. And she was delighted, despite her father thinking it a waste of time.
Today, the girl was on a mission. Her collection was almost complete—almost. She needed one more flower, just one. Unfortunately for her, it was rare: The Akahigezaki Hige morning glory. And it was extremely difficult to find.
She had tried for several years, now. And it was gnawing at her, that she was so close to finishing. All she truly wanted (besides, of course, Naruto returning her feelings and her father being proud of her) was to find the beautiful fuchsia bloom, so she could feel at ease. Not even Kiba, Shino, or even Kurenai-sensei could locate it for her. But, she never gave up. And so, that was what she planned on doing today in her free time: scouring around the village for the elusive flower.
She had already tried all the flower stands, and the Yamanaka shop—she had practically begged Ino to see if they had it, but they didn't. She had tried the training grounds, but nothing there, either. She had just asked Tenten, Choji, and Lee to keep an eye out, and they promised to let her know if they found it.
"It's so beautiful the way young Hinata searches for the true beauty of nature!" Lee sighed, tears almost in his eyes. Tenten facepalmed, while Choji munched on his trademark potato chips.
Walking through the main street, the shy girl wracked her brains for any more areas around the village she could search. "Hey, Hinata!" She looked up to see her lifelong crush, Naruto Uzumaki, walking towards her, with Sakura and Sasuke at his side, the latter trailing behind a little.
"Oh! H-hi, N-n-naruto," she practically whispered, her face turning beet red. Ah! Naruto-kun…he's talking to me! And Sakura-chan, too…she noticed the Uchiha had said nothing, just standing behind and looking off to his right with a bored, impassive expression.
"Whacha doing here?" He asked curiously. At her silence, Sakura hurriedly jumped in. "What he means is, we hardly ever see you, especially around here," she added. She did feel sorry for the poor girl, who seemed to lose her whole nerve whenever around her blond teammate. She could see it was painfully obvious how she felt about Naruto; unfortunately, she also knew he was dense enough to not suspect a thing. She vaguely wondered just what it was about Naruto that Hinata was so attracted to.
"Oh…w-well, I'm trying t-to find out w-where I can find this f-flower, for m-my collection," she explained, not meeting Naruto's eyes. "What kind of flower?" Sakura asked. "Yeah, maybe we can help you find it! Right, Sasuke?" Naruto addressed over his shoulder to his best friend.
Said boy glanced out of the corned of his eye at the three, studying each of them, lastly the Hyuga. "Hn." He closed his eyes, and kept on walking. Hinata watched him, wondering why he was acting so rude—then she remembered he was always like this, it was just his nature. She looked back at the other two. "Ah, n-no…don't worry about it…I can f-find it m-myself, just…" she fiddled with her sleeve, looking at the ground, "if possible, c-could you keep an eye out f-for it? It's a small morning glory, with a fuchsia coloring to the p-petals. And if you could t-tell me where y-you found it, I would r-really appreciate it…"
Sakura looked thoughtful, "Well, we are going to meet with Kakashi-sensei for a mission…we can probably look for it for you, as long as the mission isn't dangerous."
Naruto scoffed, "Oh, it's probably painting fences again! Grandma Tsunade has been giving us really easy missions lately, I bet we could find it!" He gave Hinata a thumbs up, to which she blushed even deeper (apparently, it was possible!), and grinned. "Don't worry, Hinata-chan! We'll find your flower for you!" He and Sakura ran off after Sasuke, Sakura waving a goodbye over her shoulder.
Hinata hadn't moved after several minutes, though her color was very slowly beginning to fade. Naruto…he's so kind…she shook her head, and continued walking. She had a lot of time left today, it was just past lunchtime. "Maybe I'll l-look around the gate…" she mused, then ran to the front gate of the village.
She will find this flower, no matter what.
Meanwhile, Sasuke was trying to tune out his teammates' loud voices. Annoying…sometimes, I wish we could do missions alone…he didn't mind Kakashi so much, his teacher kept to himself unless otherwise needed.
Team Seven was just assigned a D-rank mission by Tsunade to go out to a nearby farm and, oddly enough, paint the fences ("See? I told you!" Naruto had shouted at Sakura, who promptly punched him), as well as care for the livestock and water the crops. Sasuke thought that this was a waste of skill and time—they were ninja, they weren't meant to do these sort of petty chores! But, as Kakashi had pointed out, it pays pretty well, and it counted as training and strengthened team bonds. Sasuke had no choice but to accept, although his opinion and attitude hadn't changed.
After an hour or two of walking, shouting, reading, and (on Sasuke's part) restraining from turning around, they finally made it to a small meadow in a clearing. On top of a hill in the very center sat a farmhouse, and the team made their way to the house. They were met by what the dark-haired boy assumed was the head of the house, an elderly looking man accompanied by his wife.
"Hello!" Kakashi greeted. "I am Kakashi Hatake, and this is my team of students. We were the ninja assigned to assist you today?"
"Oh, yes!" The man replied happily. "Thank you very much, I appreciate the help. You see, my back isn't what it used to be, and I've been told to take it easy for awhile…" Kakashi gave a light chuckle, and held up a hand. "Of course, it's no trouble at all. Now, if you would be so kind as to give us our assignments, we'll get right to work…"
Three Hours Later
Sasuke wiped his brow. It was hot, and they had just finished their jobs. The animals were in the barn and fed, the fence looked good as new, and the plants had all been watered. Afterwards they were treated to dinner, and Kakashi suggested they rest for an hour or so before they made their way back home. Naruto, who had forgotten his promise to Hinata due to his concentration (sort of) on his tasks, promptly laid down and fell asleep, exhausted. Sakura got up to help the farmer's wife with the dishes, while the farmer went to rest his back. Sasuke, not wanting to sleep and could find nothing else to do, stood up. "I'm taking a walk," he told Kakashi, who had not really heard him and was starting to doze off.
Leaving the house, the Uchiha walked along towards the edge of the forest, and just walked and walked. He began to think about how this was a waste of time, of how he could have been training. Then, thoughts of his brother swarmed his mind, and he clenched his fists. Itachi…he felt hatred surge through his body, and opened his eyes slowly. He walked along, more slowly, concentrating on making his anger fade, for now. He noticed the sprouts of flowers along the path as he walked. He sat down at the base of a large tree, and, taking a deep breath, he looked around at the various flowers spaced round him.
After awhile, the flowers reminded him of something…no, someone, but who?
Ino? Well, she owned a flower shop, but no…quieter…
Shino? No…it was definitely a girl…
Who? Ah, he got it.
Hinata. He remembered her as they were on their way to meet with their teacher that morning. Her mentioning a flower collection, or something like that…he snorted. How stupid, who collects flowers? Although, he figured it would be just like the girl; calm, quiet, safe. A fitting hobby.
She had been looking for something that morning, a certain rare flower. He had noticed her long before the other two had, and he saw the look of pure, raw concentration that was on her face. He never saw that on anyone else, except for his teammates on a serious mission. It made him think about how determined she was, and although it was for the strangest reason, he gained just a tiny bit of respect for her. Just a bit.
Looking at a fuchsia flower, he wondered if she had found it, yet. Had she accomplished her small goal? He blinked, and found himself hoping slightly that she had—he knew what it was like to not be able to. He stared at the flower for another few moments, taking in the color, before he remembered something she had said. A fuchsia flower…
He had found it.
Granted, he had begun to walk away when she had told his team about it, but he had caught that much before getting out of earshot. He reached out a hand and gently picked the flower at the base of the stem, careful. He was surprised at himself for acting so gentle, but he ignored it. He had to get this flower to the Hyuga. He didn't know why, he didn't know how.
He just had to.
Hinata sat on a bench in the park, her head in her hands. She was tired, after having been on her feet all day, searching to no avail. She just couldn't find it, and she looked up at the moon high in the sky. It's getting late…perhaps I should return home now…
Sighing, she stood up and walked along the stone path towards the Hyuga estate. Her head was down, disappointed that she hadn't found it today. She smiled a little when she remembered the sight of Naruto's grin, and his thumbs up as he promised her he would find it. Maybe he will already have found it, she thought hopefully. Her spirits lifted a little, she walked with a little more energy. She was nearly home when she noticed a figure leaning against a tree.
Who is that? she wondered, and drawing closer she could make out a familiar stance. "Oh, S-sasuke," she managed out, mildly surprised. He looked like he had been waiting for her, and she couldn't imagine why he would be waiting for her of all people.
"Here."
She gasped in shock, and delight, when he held out to her a small, fuchsia colored flower. "T-this…this is…"
"That flower you wanted, right?" he asked, gazing at her. This was the flower she wanted, right? He swore it was…
She took it gently, then beamed up at him. Sasuke, despite himself, looked taken aback. He had never seen her other than being shy and quiet, and now there was absolutely no trace of shyness on her face, except a light flush in her cheeks. "Y-yes! Yes, it was, t-thank you very much, Sasuke! I…I have been working very hard, for so long…" she trailed off, happily, as he looked at her rather warily. He found it for me! she thought enthusiastically. Then she remembered Naruto…he promised her he'd find it, but here was Sasuke, the last person she'd expect in front of her, giving her a flower.
He looked away, "Well, since you have your flower now, I'll be going." He took a step, before he heard her call softly, "Wait!"
He looked over his shoulder, slightly annoyed. Couldn't she just take the stupid thing? She'd already said thanks, now he could leave, right? "What?"
"Um…I…thank you, very much…but, how…how did you know? I mean…I told Naruto, and Sakura, and…Naruto promised me…" she stopped, uncertain as to what she was really trying to say. He had looked like he wasn't paying any attention at all during her encounter with them earlier, nor had he seemed like he cared.
His eyebrow went up. "Well, I was with them this morning. I heard you saying you wanted it," he nodded to the flower she was clutching delicately to her chest, "not that I cared. It's a flower." She blinked, and she turned just a little more red. "Well, it's important to m-me. It reminds me of m-my m-mother…" she said softly.
Sasuke faced her now, his expression a little mystified. She was so easily pleased…it was just a flower! But, he figured, tomatoes make him happy, so he wasn't one to talk. He just managed to conceal his joy a lot more. "Well, I was out on a mission today, and I saw it. I remembered you asking for it, so I figured I'd bring it home." She met his eyes again, her own looking slightly baffled. He understood, he was as well by his own actions. What was he doing here? He was talking to a girl—a girl!—at night, when he could be home, sleeping. It vaguely dawned on him that if someone walked in on them, it could really be taken out of text: he was with a girl, under a full moon, giving her a flower.
He needed to get out of there. Fast.
"Anyway, it was because it was your goal. The flower, right?" she nodded, and he continued, "I don't like when goals aren't achieved. Even something so stupid as this," he looked away, a light blush forming on his cheeks. This was a lot of unneeded conversation. He should've left when he had the chance…he glanced at her as she smiled at him.
"Thank you, Sasuke," she said breathlessly, and suddenly, before either could comprehend what was happening, she hugged him. He stood, frozen. He had no idea what to do—of course, he'd had girls hug him before, but they were girls he detested, or couldn't tolerate. And they were against his will, mostly still hugging him after he struggled to get out of their grasp. Hinata, at least, wasn't totally crazy. He felt the heat in his cheeks spread to his ears, and thanked God it was dark out.
Hinata, on the other hand, was too happy, too thankful, to really understand what she was doing. It was just a reaction, after all; he did this for her when he knew better than she did that he didn't have to. She knew his odd, sometimes harsh words were things he didn't mean; he just didn't know how to say them other than that way. She wished he wouldn't feel so uncomfortable, but she understood she couldn't change him. Right now, she was happy beyond belief at his kind gesture.
Before he could respond at all, she pulled away, looking down fondly at the flower she cradled. "I must get home," she murmured. He nodded, then turned and walked away without a word. Despite her words, Hinata stood, watching him leave. Never had she felt so grateful to anyone, especially not the Uchiha boy. He really is kind, too…it's sad that no one tries to understand that…she glanced at the flower, then opened the gate to her home.
Once inside, she pressed the flower in her collection book, and pulled on her pajamas. She slid in the sheets, and she fell asleep with a smile on her face, her usual blond-and-blue dreams replaced with fuchsia and black.
Well...that was something. Hopefully it wasn't too bad. For some reason, it's more difficult for me to write in Hinata's POV, but I still did it! So, until ext time, please review!
~Liviyan
