Chapter 4- I love her

I thought about Naruto winking at me far too much, I knew that in all likelihood there was no meaning behind it. It just bugged me. I went over all the possible meanings in his head, it could have been that he fancied me but considering how he had reacted to me earlier it seemed unlikely. Besides I was plain and surrounded by people much prettier than myself. I supposed it meant "I see you looking at me" I had stared at him quite a bit over the course of the day, maybe he thought that I fancied him.

Whatever the case, it was driving me to distraction. I resolved myself to finding out the answer, even if it meant actually talking to him. My only option, since no-one else saw it.

My opportunity came after a literature lesson a day later, Naruto was in my class and since we both knew very few people in it we formed a sort of silent alliance almost immediately. I was too intimidated to actually talk to him and he spent almost the entire lesson arguing with the teacher. I waited until we were walking over to the canteen on the other side of the school to ask him

"N-Naruto, why d-d-did you w-wink at me yesterday?"

"When I was leaving with Sakura? Oh, it was because I've got it all worked out"

"All w-what worked out?"

"You and Kiba, you like him don't you?" Okay, wasn't expecting that "I thought it might be the case when I saw you at the park, you remember? I asked if he was your boyfriend and you said he was the one you were waiting for" it was a very intelligent interpretation, and if this was a book he might have been right, but I really had meant it literally. I was literally waiting for Kiba to come and meet me.

No wonder he'd chosen to study Lit

"But you said you didn't remember me! You said you'd forgotten until we told you, you didn't even register me" I blurted out, severely shocked "Besides, It's not even true!"

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that. I was pretending to not know you earlier, I couldn't forget eyes like yours, they're sort of… creepy" at this comment I blushed profusely and looked away

"Why?" I asked "Why pretend? Like you said, no-one forgets eyes like mine"

"Because I didn't want to ruin everything for you, I didn't think I'd ever meet you again in the first place. He was running and shouting your name, it seemed obvious to me the first time I saw you that he liked you and didn't like seeing you with me. It's easier for both of us if I give the impression that I hardly noticed who you were. We don't want Kiba and Sakura getting the wrong impression!"

"Sakura? What's she got to do with this?"

"I'm in love with her"

"Sakura?"

"Yeah"

"She's got a boyfriend"

"I know, but I liked her first, since we were kids and I was living here. I want her back, not that she was mine in the first place" he blushed "I just want her to recognise how much time and effort I put into loving her, I guess" I wanted to say that his statement was sweet but I couldn't find it within myself, there was something about what he was saying that made me uncomfortable. I was usually a fan of unrequited love stories, a person so in love that it doesn't matter what the other thinks of them. Maybe it was his attitude, an unrequited lover was usually meek and mild, accepting their situation. It is far more beautifully tragic that way.

Yes, that was what annoyed me, his attitude.

"You can't make her love you, to be honest I can't see how you can love her. After living in America for all that time you don't really know her"

At which point he stopped dead in the middle of the corridor and looked at me, a deadly serious gaze was trained strait towards my face "You don't understand Hinata, I love her, being apart from her all this time is irrelevant. If I truly love her she will eventually come to love me back" you had to admire his persistence

It brought to mind the phrase "distance makes the heart grow fonder" Most people took it to mean that when two people part they are forced to come to terms with how much one means to the other. I imagined it to mean something else here, being away from Sakura for so long had meant that Naruto had lost his ability to take an objective view of her, Sakura had become perfect in Naruto's eyes because he had had no evidence to the contrary. I supposed he would soon learn different.

Naruto started walking and resumed his joyful stance, it seemed that his cover had slipped only for that moment "It is painful when she slaps me though!" he rubbed his cheek. I didn't laugh. However he seemed used to playing the part of the clown so when he turned to see my sombre face he seemed a little put out "at least" he said convivially "you stopped stuttering"

I looked back at him, startled. He was right, from the time he shocked me I hadn't stuttered at him once. I don't normally stutter so it wasn't really that strange that I wouldn't notice, it was just that it usually took me weeks to stop stuttering when I was confronted with someone new. For all that I didn't like his loudness and was strangely uncomfortable about his affection for Sakura his presence dint bother me as much as normal people's.

I didn't say anything for the rest of the walk.

When we did get to the canteen there was only one seat open. The one next to Kiba. Typical. He smiled widely at me and patted the seat as an indication to sit there, when I turned to offer the seat to Naruto he was already going over to borrow a chair from another table so he could sit near Sakura. I had no choice but to take the empty seat, which, after hearing Naruto's deductions, I couldn't help but feeling slightly self-conscious about. Not because I thought Kiba liked me that way, we'd known each other far too long for that, I was acutely aware that Naruto had noticed who I was sitting with and was judging us.

"Hinata" Kiba said in a lowered tone "how did lit go? You keep looking over at Naruto with a strange expression, did he say something to you?"

I replied in a similar hushed tone, though I'm not sure it was necessary, no-one was listening "not really, lit was fine, we talked on the way back though. I didn't stutter"

"Really, why?" Kiba looked rather alarmed

"Something he said, it shocked me a bit and I just stopped" I glanced over at Naruto who was now arguing fiercely with Sasuke.

"What did he say?" I stopped to think for a minute. Did Kiba really need to know? It might make things awkward

"I'll tell you later, or tomorrow. You have a free first right?"