A/N: And now it's time for our monthly installment of Leaves in the Wind. Sadly, I just now found out that they're airing the new episodes of episode three of Avatar. I say sadly because I missed seeing them, but I'm still happy because now there's more Avatar to watch. I hope you guys like this month's issue. As usual, I own neither series.

Chapter 11.

"So you're saying that your uncle is trying to breed you off to Toph to create a legion of earthbending sharp-eyed super ninja?" Sokka said in shock.

"Yeah, I've had a rough family life." Neji said miserably as the three boys rested from their combat training. Actually, it was more like Neji resting while the other two recovered.

"I can sympathize." Zuko said straightly. "You sure your dad has never met my dad?"

"If he had, Neji here might have ended up with your sister." Sokka interjected.

Neji didn't like the look the two young men then exchanged. It seemed for the longest time like they were considering something. Finally, Zuko shook his head. "I don't hate Neji enough to do that to him."

"Enough?" Neji and Sokka asked in unison.

"Just trust me, there is absolutely no way you're going to have to worry about getting hooked up with Toph." Zuko said quickly. "She's too fiercely independent. She'd never accept any sort of marriage proposal."

"I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it." Sokka said seriously. "After all, sometimes even the most solitary of girls want companionship."

"You think Toph would go for someone like him?" Zuko said jerking a thumb in Neji's direction.

"I'm not saying that necessarily. I'm just saying that Toph might actually find someone one of these days and that she might decide to settle down quicker than you think." Sokka reasoned.

"You guys are talking like I'm trying to make this happen." Neji complained. "The point is that I don't WANT a relationship with her. Truth be told, I'd rather she hated me."

"Well, you could try being a jerk. It seems to work for Zuko." Sokka advised.

"Thanks Sokka, I really appreciate it." Zuko shot back.

"What I mean is that you manage to keep all the fan girls off of you by being cold and distant to them. It's worked so far." Sokka pressed.

"Oh, thanks, I think." Zuko replied dubiously.

"So what have you tried?" Sokka continued.

"Well, I tried being as boring as I possibly could, but she seemed to find everything I said funny." Neji said remembering his evening with the blind enemy of his independence. "Then I tried coming on to her like I was a pervert."

"How did that turn out?" Sokka asked.

"I don't know. Tenten jumped out of the trees about that time and tried to neuter me." Neji said miserably. "I spent the rest of the night defending myself from a very angry young woman who seemed to have a never ending supply of throwing knives."

"I feel for you buddy, I been there myself." Zuko said comfortingly.

"Well, then what we need to do is find out what kind of guy Toph is looking for." Sokka concluded.

"I don't think you've been following the conversation Sokka…" Neji started.

"No wait, just hear me out. If we can find out what it is that Toph is looking for in man, then all you'll have to do is be the opposite type of person she wants to dissuade her from liking you." Sokka said as he pondered the problem.

"Won't that look funny with me acting one way on a particular day and then acting the complete opposite the next day?" Neji wondered.

"Yeah, you might look even more like a woman." Zuko said letting out a chauvinistic chortle as he looked at Neji's long hair. His laughter slowly died and fell silent under the stares of his companions however. "Sorry."

"Neji is right though. What we need to do is try to figure out the type of guy Toph likes and then let him do the opposite. We'll each try acting a certain way around her and see what she responds too. So… any ideas?" Sokka asked the group.

"She might like the sappy romantic type, you know like that time I went in your tent and you had that rose…" Zuko began.

"I thought we were never to mention that one again." Sokka said dangerously. "Anyway, since that's Zuko's idea, he can try that one out."

"WHAT?!" Zuko cried.

"Here, you see if you can try out some sort of sappy romantic stuff on Toph and we'll see if she responds to it." Sokka said with an evil grin.

"Why don't YOU try being the sappy romantic?" Zuko griped.

"Because I've known Toph long enough that if she noticed me acting like that she'd know something was up. Trust me, I doubt very seriously that Toph is looking for someone who spouts poetry and brings her flowers. I'll even help you do it. Then if this doesn't work, we'll try something else and I'll be the one to try that." Sokka explained to the unwilling Romeo.

"I can monitor her reactions too, using my observation techniques. I will be able to tell instantly what she's feeling as long as I'm able to watch closely." Neji agreed.

"Fine. We'll do it tonight then." Sokka concluded. Neji smiled. For once things were looking like they might clear up.

Hinata wasn't stupid. It didn't take her very long to figure out that running into Naruto wearing nothing but a towel might prove to be a little embarrassing. She didn't however have time to go back to camp for more clothing. The last thing she saw was Toph kissing Naruto and the last thing she wanted was another rival. Modesty however caused her to slow as she found the clearing and she timidly poked her head out to see what was going on.

When she saw Naruto unconscious on the ground she didn't know whether to be mortified, elated, or both. Hinata rushed to his side and checked the young man she'd fallen for to see if he was breathing. She then reached down to touch one of his chakra points at the base of his neck to help bring him to consciousness.

Naruto's eyes popped open and the boy surged to his feet bringing Hinata along for the ride as he grabbed her shoulders. It wasn't until Hinata was standing that she realized her towel hadn't made the trip with her.

"Hinata I need you!" Naruto cried with all the passion of someone who lives life a 90 mph on a slow day.

Hinata stood there trembling, the ramifications of such a comment running through her teenage mind with enough suggestions loaded into it to completely write out one of Jiraiya's novels. "Naruto… kun… I… I'm…"

"Toph is in love with me!" Naruto whimpered desperately. "I've never had a girl in love with me before. What do I do?"

For just a moment, Hinata stood there in abject confusion at what she was experiencing. She was naked, with Naruto's hands on her shoulders, and he was in a panic over some other girl being in love with him and asking HER for advice?

"Naruto… I… I'm…" Hinata tried to say as she stood there trembling on the verge of collapse. Her face had a blush spreading quickly down to her neck and all points south. If she had thought trying to kiss him was terrifying...

Naruto looked at Hinata's dumbfounded expression and then slowly his eyes began to lower, almost against his will. Hinata couldn't think of what else to do, so… she hugged him.

"Um Hinata, are you…"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Don't ask. Did you see anything?"

"Um no, not really."

"Can you see anything now?"

"Uh, no."

Naruto seemed to fidget as if not knowing where to put his hands, or where to move. "Could you wrap your arms around me? I'm a little cold." Hinata said meekly.

"Okay." Naruto said uncomfortably. "So why are you naked?"

"I told you not to ask." Hinata scolded mildly. "I… came running from where I was taking a bath. I saw you… collapse." Yeah, we'll go with that one. "And I thought you might be hurt."

"Oh." Naruto said blankly. "Can I ask you a question then?"

"Sure." Hinata half whispered in his ear. She had to admit that the scene probably looked incredibly silly, but at the moment her mind was threatening to shut down completely, and the only thing stopping her was the realization that if she fainted Naruto was going to get a first hand look at everything. Hinata SO wanted to faint right now.

"I think Toph loves me. What do I do?" Naruto explained.

He's got a naked girl here in his arms and he's still thinking about… "What did she say exactly?"

"She asked me how I would know if a girl really liked me. And when I told her that I would think a girl really liked me if she just up and kissed me out of the blue, she kissed me and then ran off. I've never had a girl that liked me before so I guess I was overwhelmed and fainted." Naruto explained.

Hinata could barely believe her ears. If Toph loved Naruto it meant she had two rivals to deal with. Sakura's confession to her that she had interrupted their kiss and was her rival for Naruto's affections had been shocking enough, but to have this transpire was totally unfathomable.

Finally, Hinata reached a decision. She had managed to get up the courage once before to kiss Naruto, now she was going to have to do it again. The circumstances, if at all possible, were even more terrifying than before but if she didn't do something there were two different girls now that could very easily win the boy's heart. It had to be now.

Naruto's mind hurt. He had a definite headache from all the thinking he was trying to do. Hinata had to know the answers. She was a girl; surely she could tell him what he needed to do.

Hinata reached up and put her hands on each side of his cheek. "I can't believe how innocent you are after all this time Naruto-kun."

"Innocent or just plain stupid?" Naruto said miserably. Yes, he had Hinata right there naked in his arms but he wasn't like the pervy sage, and he respected Hinata. That was one reason why he was asking her for help now. "Hinata, I don't know what to say."

"Do you love Toph?" Hinata asked quietly.

"I don't know. How can I know if I'm in love with someone? I'm not like other people. I never grew up knowing what it felt like to love and be loved." Naruto whispered in a deep melancholy.

"Then you'll know when it's a feeling like nothing you've ever felt before." Hinata said reassuringly as she brought his forehead down to hers. "Naruto, when you love someone you do whatever you can for them and you put them and their well being ahead of your own and you try to protect them no matter what."

"Like the village?" Naruto asked honestly.

"Yes, much like you love the village. Only, with that special person, it's more. You feel pain when they hurt and you feel happy when they feel happy. It's the most wonderful feeling in the world." Hinata explained patiently.

"So, do you love someone?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, I do." Hinata said finally as if preparing herself. Slowly, she stepped back from Naruto. Naruto politely turned his head only to find her hands still cupping his cheeks. He looked at Hinata in surprise as she slowly pulled his head down to gaze at her body as she presented it to him.

"Hinata… you're… you're…"

"Is this 'out of the blue' enough for you?" Hinata asked shyly before she stepped back into his embrace and she quickly claimed his lips with her own.

Fireworks began going off behind Naruto's eyes as sweet consciousness again threatened to escape him. Hinata loves me too? The sweet taste of Hinata's kiss surged through him as Naruto finally began to understand what it meant to feel love. He'd never experienced such a warm sensation spreading across his being. All he could do was cling to Hinata like a man who had never known the taste of water suddenly being given something to drink as he lay dying of thirst.

He held her there for what seemed like an eternity before their need to breathe drove their lips apart. Panting, Naruto cursed his lungs as he once again had Hinata pulled close into his embrace. She rubbed her cheek against his ear, and he heard her whisper. "And in case there is any doubt, I love you."

Naruto stood there at a loss for words. He could never hope to express what he was feeling at that moment. In that one instant all his dreams of being acknowledged by the village, all his hopes of being respected, seemed irrelevant. As long as he had that one young woman in his arms the rest didn't matter.

Naruto was nearly swaying on his feet when Hinata spun him around roughly. Naruto was taken back by the ferocity of her movement. She put her hands up around the back of his neck as she lay all of her weight against him. She gazed up into his eyes and Naruto looked down at what he now knew was a look of love and adoration. Slowly, Hinata began to slide down the length of his body and Naruto panicked. He'd seen enough of Jiraiya's books to know that usually what followed was the kind of stuff that Kakashi liked to read about.

"Hinata-chan, I can't. I'm not ready…" Naruto started as Hinata sank to her knees before him and then went limp in his arms. Naruto felt a familiar sense of dread and confusion wash over him as he felt a warm sensation on his hand.

Quickly, Naruto pulled Hinata forward to stare in horror at the kunai sticking out of her back and her blood flowing over his hands.

"HINATA! NO!!"

A/N: Can you say plot twist boys and girls? Good, I knew you could. I usually don't go in for cliffhangers, but this one just screamed at me to be written.