Horray!! I have a new regular reviewer of my story!! Thank you to THE HEE-HO KING for 7 reviews!! Also thank you to Naruhina lover1, Baka78, and Hina-Kiba-Shin for all reviewing. I know the ending to the last chapter wasn't very good. I was getting tired of typing. And BTW, when I said 72 HOURS LATER I hope you all knew I meant that after itachi's thing was over not 72 hours in the real world. Just wanted to clarify. Well, today's George Carlin quote (to be called the GC quote in the future) is "A mayfly lives only one day. And sometimes it rains." That would suck….
Hiashi- nope, Naruto still does not belong to leeroc101... cries
Chapter 8:
Once the clothes were back on and everything was properly explained to the client, they went their separate ways to their rooms. Naruto unlocked the door with the key that the lady at the desk had given him. He and Hinata tried to walk in at the same time resulting in them getting stuck in the doorway and Naruto once again dropping and spilling everything in his bag. At least he had eaten all of the ramen already so it was only his underwear that was scattered all over the floor. Once that was cleaned up and Hinata was able to stop giggling, they went in and unpacked their things. Naruto put his things in a drawer and made sure that the drawer wouldn't fall out and spill his things. His boxers were same for the night. They sat down on the couch next to each other since that was the only place to sit. Besides the bed. And Hinata had gotten in bed enough today (A/N sounds nice doesn't it?) She wanted to make friendly conversation to lighten the mood a bit.
"So, Naruto-kun…" Of course she started to talk before she had thought of anything to say, so she said the first thing that came to mind. "Why did you start using -chan after my name?"
Naruto scrambled for an answer. He thought for a moment trying to come up with a reason. He didn't know himself. She could tell he was uncomfortable with the subject.
"What happened when you fought Itachi? You stepped in front of me and then he disappeared. What was that?"
"He used a special technique on me. It comes with his type of Sharingan. It locked me in a…" he stopped. He didn't want to worry Hinata, never mind tell her exactly what happened in that world. "Well, a torture dimension I guess. But I was able to get out OK."
"What did he do to you?"
"Well..." another pause. "He tied me to a block of wood and… well… nothing after that. I just hung there. And he talked to me and taunted me but that's about it." It wasn't really a lie. He had really been taunted. But he wasn't sure why it hurt him so much.
Hinata noticed he was lost in though again. She could see right through him. After all this time of watching him secretly, she could tell when he lied. He sighed heavily. She noticed that too. "Naruto-kun, why don't you tell me what really happened?"
He looked up at her. He was still thinking. 'Should I tell her? Maybe… maybe I love her. Maybe that's why it hurt me to watch her. I heard that Itachi's torture sees what you fear the most. That must be it.' He took out his picture of Sakura. He had always kept on him to remind him of his promise. By now though, he knew he wouldn't forget Sasuke. He took a long look at the picture. Then, he ripped it up. And it didn't hurt him. He wasn't affected at all by Sakura's face being ripped in half. He turned to Hinata and got butterflies in his stomach, confirming his hypothesis. 'Yes. I love Hinata.'
"Naruto-kun…?"
He looked up at her again. "Come with me. I have something to tell you. Before that though, what time is it?"
"About 8:00. Why?"
"You'll see. Just come with me."
They slipped out of the room without being noticed by the people in the room next to them. They walked out of the resort and started up a path that led to the hill behind the village.
Looking out his window into the town below, Yamato wondered what Naruto and Hinata were doing. Pushing the perverted thoughts out of his mind, he decided that they could do whatever they wanted. He knew Naruto would fill him in on their walk the next day.
Meanwhile, Hinata followed her crush with curiosity. The thought crossed her mind that this may not be the real Naruto. She activated her Byakugan to look at his chakra network. She had noticed the orange seal in his stomach before and used hat to identify him as the real one. Even though he always remembered to make each of his clones with the same network, she could still tell the difference. She paid attention to every little detail about him and he never noticed.
By the time he was confirmed to be the real Naruto, they had arrived at their destination. It was about 8:15. They sat down at the edge of the cliff overlooking the city. The sky was just beginning to change color. A small breeze whisked past Hinata, rustling her hair a bit.
"Naruto-kun? You wanted to tell me something?" She had a feeling of what was coming but she had learned that she should never assume anything with Naruto around. He was the number one unpredictable ninja in konoha after all.
"Right. Hinata. I… I've been thinking lately. Ever since I saw Sakura after I came back without Sasuke, I had grown apart from her. I assume by now that everyone in the village knew I had a crush on her." Hinata perked up at the word "had". "Now I think that I have moved on from her." He laughed. "Actually, I'm not sure I was ever in love with her. I only felt nervous around her, but that may have just been a combination of lust and fear of being pulverized."
Hinata giggled. She liked where this was going.
"Now, I feel different. After I saw what happened in Itachi's torture, I think I am in love. Not with Sakura but… With…" He stopped. "Did you hear that?"
'Oh, Naruto, you were so close' "No, I didn't hear anything." she just wanted him to finish his sentence.
"No. There it is again. We're being WATCHED!!" He jumped up and threw a couple of shuriken into the bushes behind them."
"HOLY SHIT MAN!!" Yelled the stalker. "You almost killed me!!"
"Yamato?"
Yamato walked out of the bushes. "Yeah, its me. I saw you two walking up the trail and I couldn't resist following you." He brushed himself off.
"Why were you laughing? I know I heard you laughing over there."
"That's because you're so stupid! That was such a sappy little story you told when you could have just said 'Hinata, I love you'. HAHA. You too embarrassed Naruto?"
"NO. YOU'RE TOTALLY WRONG. That's not what I was gonna say!!" Hinata's heart dropped worse than every before. Naruto was scrambling to find something to say. "I was gonna say. I was in love with… uh… the new flavor of ramen!"
"WHAT?" asked Hinata and Yamato at the same time. "You mean you brought her all the way up here to tell her that story and then tell her you loved ramen?"
"Well, I heard that there was supposed to be a ramen stand up here." He lied. "I was gonna treat her to some but then I saw it wasn't here."
Yamato looked him over. Then looked at Hinata and realized his mistake. She was crying. Not bawling, but crying silently so as to not be noticed. He looked back at Naruto. "Fine. I'm too tired to try to figure you out Naruto. I'm going back to go to sleep. Have fun with your ramen friend." Yamato turned and left. He wasn't confident that Naruto would still tell her, but he was hoping that he would if he left.
Naruto turned to Hinata, who had done her best to stop crying after seeing she had been noticed. She looked at him. "Naruto-kun. Please take me back to the room." she asked sadly.
"…Alright…" They walked back silently. They went into the room silently. They slept silently.
The next morning Naruto awoke to a steaming bowl of the new flavored ramen and no roommate.
HAHAHA another cliffy. I guess. Anyway, I'll probably finish the next chapter around 10 or 10:30 tonite. (East coast time.) If you're still up look for the next chapter. R&R until then.
