Naruto Shippuden: Swan Song
Chapter Four
A Beautiful day
Naruto was walking down the hill outside of Konoha, the sun was embracing the land today, and the temperature is near to perfection. Naruto's by himself, he was just enjoying the week off. The funeral was last night, everybody was there, and when it was over, Sakura walked with him, just for comfort. Every time that Sakura was with Naruto, it felt awkward. But it was the good kind of awkward. Ever since that night 3 days, it felt like a ton has been lifted off his shoulders. But, he still thought about Sakura and that kiss. Why did she kiss him? He said that he would wait for her to give her time, but the waiting was like torture to him. He hated waiting, but waiting was Naruto's life story. He waited for so long to have an opportunity like this, and he knew that he shouldn't give his hopes up just yet.
"I wonder what Sasuke is doing?" Naruto said to himself. Then to his surprise, he now knew that he wasn't alone. He took out his kunai, and prepared for the worst. But it was only the shy, quiet Hinata.
"Oh, I'm sorry Hinata. Did I scare you?" Naruto said to her.
"N, no. You didn't Naruto-Kun. I. Um." Hinata stuttered as usual to Naruto.
"So, what brings you here Hinata?"
"Um, I.. Um.. Hinata said.
"Yeah?" Naruto replied.
"Never mind." Hinata said to him as she walked away from him. Once again, she has failed to tell him something important.
"Hinata, if you have to tell me something just say it already." Naruto said to Hinata.
'Naruto's right. But I can't risk it, I'm with Kiba now, but I still feel something for Naruto. But if I don't let it out, it'll still keep bothering me.' Hinata said to herself. She turned and faced her problem. It was time to let it out, for years now she has been too shy to say anything to Naruto. Always hoping to have the courage that Naruto has, but always folding every time to say that she liked him.
"Naruto, I'm having a problem. Can I talk about it with you?" Hinata uncharacteristically said to Naruto. Naruto nodded.
"Of course. Sit down." Naruto said. Hinata gave him a mild embarrassed look.
"I'm having a problem with Kiba. Do you know that me and him are now, well.."
"What!? Boyfriend and Girlfriend?!" Naruto smiled slyly at her. Hinata blushed mildly. Small sweat was dripping down her forehead due to the shear awkwardness of the conversation.
"Yes. We are." Hinata looked away from him.
"Okay, so what's the problem?" Naruto asked her. Hinata turned around and gave Naruto complete eye contact.
"Well, me and him are having a really good time together. We go out and always having a good time. But, I don't know if I truly like him yet. The problem is that I still think that I have feelings for someone else." Hinata said to Naruto. Never before in Naruto's time he has known Hinata has he seen Hinata being direct and open. Usually she would faint or run like hell away from him.
"So, who is it that you still have feelings for?" Naruto asked Hinata. Now Hinata was blushing big time, she didn't know what to say. This was way too awkward for her to deal with.
"Well, um. He has the biggest smile, he would do anything for his friends, and I admire his determination, he would never quit." Hinata said to Naruto.
"Hmm, is it Shikamaru? Shino? Chouji?" Naruto asked Hinata. Hinata nodded.
"No, it's.. It's." Hinata just froze.
"Spit it out Hinata. Before you faint again." Naruto said jokingly to Hinata.
"IT'S YOU." Hinata exploded. Naruto's eyebrows quirked, he was confused. He couldn't believed it. But when he thought about it, she would always faint in front of him; always get red in the face. It all made sense now. He didn't know what to do, he only viewed her as a friend, but at the same time he didn't want to break the poor girl's heart.
"Hinata, i… I'm with Sakura now." Naruto said to Hinata. He knew it was a lie, but it was better that telling her that he didn't like her that way. Hinata's world turned upside down. But she needed to ask him one more question;
"But I can't tell if I love you or not. Can you tell me that I love you?" Hinata asked the blonde. Naruto thought of something, but it was very risky and it might end anything that he has built with Sakura.
"Kiss me. Try kissing me, if you kiss me, then you love me, if you don't, you don't love me." Naruto said to Hinata. It was somewhat idiotic, but we are talking about Naruto here, he doesn't really think.
"O.. Okay." Hinata said to the blonde. She scoot over to Naruto more. She looked at his deep beautiful ocean blue eyes. They were like brain washing tools. She leaned in, thoughts were racing in Hinata's mind. What happened next was something really daring in Naruto's part, he helped her a bit by leaning towards her a bit. But Hinata had to seal the deal. She was now only a breath away, she was so close. But then she realized something, after all this time, after all this pursuing, she realizes that it was only admiration she had for Naruto. She backed away from him, she knew that she had a good thing going with Kiba and she doesn't want to ruin it by doing something stupid like this.
Naruto could only smile at Hinata, she can finally let Naruto go. But she still wants to be his friend.
"Thank you Naruto, you really are a true friend." Hinata said as she embraced the blond tightly.
"No problem Hinata." Naruto said as he returned the hug. Hinata left soon after. Once again, she now knows that she doesn't love Naruto. I guess she doesn't have to faint or run like hell because of Naruto anymore. Now its time for Naruto to head back, but unknowing of Naruto, the last person he would think of being there was there; Sakura was there. But she only caught the hugging snippet. She knew that he and she are only friends. He didn't see her initially, but he knew that she was there.
"Sakura-Chan, I know you're there." Naruto said. Seconds later, she appeared in his eyes. She had a basket and a blanket with her, which intrigued Naruto very much.
"Why are you here Sakura-Chan?" Naruto asked with his usual glee.
"I thought that you would like to have a picnic with me." She said with a smile. Naruto instantly got giddy. Even if they are still friends, she sure had gotten friendlier towards him.
"Sure. I would like that." Naruto said. She went over to him, and together they set up the picnic area. Whatever was in that picnic basket, it sure smelled great. Was it ramen? In a few minutes, the whole area was set up to eat now. Naruto was shocked when he saw what was for lunch. There was no ramen unfortunately, but still very intrigued about the entrée's. All of them were new to him.
"Uhh," Naruto replied to the entrée's.
"What's the matter?" Sakura said to the blond.
"What is this food?" Naruto asked Sakura. He wasn't even trying to be rude; he really didn't know what the hell these delicacies are.
"Well, that's what eating ramen everyday does to ya. Here taste this." Sakura said to Naruto as she gives him a portion of what we call in the American language; Chicken. He obediently took a bite of it, and Naruto's taste buds were like screaming. He loved it. She just laughed at the face that Naruto is making; he was like a little child.
"This is really good Sakura-Chan, what is this called?" Naruto said hyperactively.
"It's called chicken. You're telling me you never had chicken before?" Sakura asked. Naruto nodded. She was shocked by Naruto's lack of variety of food.
"Did you make this?" Naruto asked her.
"Yes." Sakura said. Naruto's eyes beamed. He couldn't believe that Sakura was a cook.
"Are you serious?! If you did, I can't wait for what's next then because you are a really good cook Sakura-Chan!" Naruto said to Sakura. She blushed mildly, but still felt really embarrassed. Nobody called her a really good cook before. She just started cooking a while ago. She kissed him on the cheek. Naruto deeply blushed, now this was really freaking him out. Never before has she been this nice to him, it just kept playing on in his mind about these past few days.
"Thank you Naruto." Sakura said to Naruto nicely. For the next half hour, she had just kept feeding the blonde's taste buds and mind. One entrée after the other, he praised her for her wonderful cooking. Then after a while, they just sat laid down on the blanket, just staring at the bright blue sky. Naruto mentioned to Sakura that he always liked how the clouds formed differently; to Naruto's surprise she liked it too.
"Naruto, I don't mean to ask, but what did Hinata want?" Sakura asked him. Naruto just smiled at the mention of that.
"You want to know something shocking?" Naruto asked her.
"What." Sakura said to the blond with curiosity.
"Hinata liked me. Isn't that so weird?" Naruto said.
"Actually, this isn't shocking to me. Didn't you notice that she always faint in your presence?" Sakura asked the blonde.
"Not until she told me. I just laughed." Naruto laughed. Naruto had this uncanny ability to make any situation better.
"You know what's also shocking? She's dating Kiba. Isn't that weird?" Naruto said to Sakura with a big goofy grin.
"Once again, not shocking. Kiba's a nice guy, he always liked her. They're perfect for each other just like u, I mean just like Temari and Shikamaru." Sakura almost slipped up there. Thank goodness he didn't notice. If he did, she would be very embarrassed.
"Wait, WHAT? Shikamaru and Temari are dating?!" Naruto yelled with surprise. Sakura just smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Naruto, you really are blind when it comes to these things." Sakura said. The both of them burst out laughing. They were really having a good time together. They spend the whole day together, just talking and having good laughs. There were awkward moments, but those moments came at a premium. They hung out until the sunset, they just stared at it's majesticness. The sunset was the best one they had ever seen, together or apart. Soon after that, they part ways. Sakura still haven't made a decision if she wants it to take their relationship to the next level, but today was a huge indicator that it may happen. Time will only tell, right?
-END OF CHAPTER 4-
