At the Konoha entrance gate, Kakashi bends his knees slightly to allow his student down. Before the battle-weary blonde shinobi has fully regained his footing on solid ground, a crowd quickly surrounds him. Naruto staggers backward with a grimace on his face; expecting an onslaught of verbal abuse. Instead, he is greeted with a flurry of praises, congratulations and acknowledgement.
"I don't understand." He mutters in bewilderment to no one in particular. The cheers from the crowd drown his voice out, but a small white slug with a blue stripe across her back crawls out from under his jacket, "They are celebrating your triumphs, Naruto-kun."
The crowd moves in closer. Driven by the joy exuding from the swarm of villagers, a young girl approaches Naruto – she is the first to find the courage to hug him. Absentmindedly he returns the hug, which riles up the crowd even more.
"How did they find out?" He asks Katsuyu, who is holding on for dear life as the crowd justles the dazed, blonde shinobi.
Crawling back under his jacket, Katsuyu informs him, "I relayed the events that happened with Pain to the surviving shinobi, then they simply spread the word."
Naruto nods his head, then smiles as an older gentleman thanks him for saving his life.
A bright, head of pink hair slams into his chest. "You had me so worried, Naruto-kun."
"Sakura-chan." Naruto gasps in astonishment as she hugs him tightly.
This is the moment Naruto has dreamt of since he was a child. Since the day the first villager called him a demon vessel. He is happy beyond words, but something is missing.
Gently removing himself from his teammate's hold, he searches through the crowd for a familiar, kind, face. He finds each other member of Konoha 11 smiling back at him, except her. Desperately, he pulls Sakura closer to him, "Where is she?"
Quizzically, Sakura turns her head to the side, "Who?"
"Hinata! Where is Hinata?" Naruto demands.
With a teasing smile on her face, she responds "Come, let's go check in on her."
Hinata awakes to an incessant beeping noise. she swats her hand in the direction of the irritating sound. Noticing her movement is restricted, she darts upright to investigate.
Ignoring the pain in her torso, pale lavender eyes follow the plastic wires that are connected to her chest and extending toward an ECG monitor. Hinata's mind reels trying to piece together the events that led to her being hooked up to a hospital machine.
Engrossed in her thoughts, she doesn't notice the young, blonde man observing her from a metal chair nestled in the corner of the private hospital tent.
Hinata lightly eeps when a gentle hand is placed on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Naruto sleepily asks, as he tiredly rubs his burning eyes.
"You probably had a bad dream." He gestures toward the machine, "probably why that nuisance is going off again."
'Again? How long have I been here? Why are we in a makeshift hospital tent' Hinata wonders as she surveys her surroundings. Hinata's eyes widen as Naruto begins gently stroking her arm in a reassuring manner. 'How long has Naruto-kun been here with me?' Her gaze lowers as she begins inspecting her own appearance – she is in a thin hospital gown, revealing much more than she is comfortable with.
In an attempt to hide, Hinata quickly pulls a blanket up to her neck. Her cheeks are now stained in a crimson blush.
Concerned, Naruto asks, "Are you cold?" Before Hinata can answer him, he has removed his orange and black jacket. Hinata's heart begins to race when Naruto attempts to slip the jacket on her.
The machine begins to blare. Naruto's jacket slips to the slide of the bed as the frenzied beeping beckons Sakura and another medical nin to Hinata's side. Naruto moves back to his chair as they begin to take Hinata's vitals and examine her.
"Good to see you are finally awake, Hinata." Sakura states while jotting down notes on a file she pulled from the foot of the bed.
"How long have I been here?" Hinata nervously asks.
"Umm about a week now."
"A w-eek?!" Hinata fumbles in astonishment.
"We were worried. Especially this one here." Sakura points a thumb in the direction of her teammate.
Sakura removes a cold stethoscope from Hinata's chest. "Your vitals seem to have stabilized. Did this baka do something to upset you?" Sakura menacingly cracks her knuckles and turns to stare at Naruto.
Naruto ignores his teammate's threats. Warm blue eyes are completely focused on the only patient in the room. A blow from Sakura is the least of his concerns.
"No, no." Hinata shakes her head back and forth quickly, trying her best to diffuse the situation. "I probably just had a bad dream." Hinata fibs.
"Are you in any pain?" Sakura asks in a professional tone.
"Yes, it hurts here." Hinata motions to her upper body.
"Take this, it should help with the pain." Sakura hands her patients two orange capsules and a paper glass filled with water.
"Okay, well continue to rest for now. Luckily the diagnostics wing of the hospital was barely damaged, so we should be able to run some further tests on you tomorrow morning."
"The hospital was damaged?" Hinata asks in bewilderment.
Noticing her patient's apparent confusion, the medical-nin accompanying Sakura interjects, "Shouldn't we also run a mental health exam?"
"We should, but we can postpone it until tomorrow. Hinata is stable and in far better condition than our other patients. We should get back to preparing for surgery. Also, we need to borrow this machine." Sakura motions for the medical nin to remove the pads from Hinata's chest and unplug the machine from the back-up generator.
Turning toward her patient, Sakura takes on a kind-hearted tone, "We have got to go, but please let us know if he is being a pain. He's barely left your bedside, so feel free to kick him out if you need some space." Sakura smiles as crimson once again tint's Hinata's pale cheeks.
"Anyways, ring the bell if you need me. I'll leave you two alone now. I am sure you got lots to talk about." Sakura winks teasingly at Hinata before exiting the room with the machine in tow.
Hinata begins to fidget with her fingers. She cannot believe Naruto hasn't left her side for a week. Mustering up enough courage, she shifts her body toward where Naruto is seated. She opens her mouth to ask him, 'Why is he here with her.'
Naruto doesn't wait for Hinata to find her voice. "It's all because of you, Hinata."
Confused, she asks, "What is?"
"I'm alive because of you!" Naruto earnestly declares.
At the mention of life, memories begin to flood Hinata's mind. She grips onto the bed rails as she remembers Naruto being pinned to the ground by obsidian rods.
"You're alive!" Tears of happiness pool in the base of her gentle eyes. "I remember now. But how did you survive Pain's attack?"
"You saved me."
Shaking her head, she defeatedly admits. "I wasn't strong enough to protect you. I was just being selfish. I know I am a failure."
Naruto hastily stands up from his seat and stalks toward her bed. Now towering over her bed, he tells her, "Don't ever say you're a failure. You're the strongest person I know."
"Na-ruto-kun, don't jest." Hinata stutters out, trying her best to keep her composure.
"I'm not joking. You have a strength that I can only dream to possess. I've always admired you Hinata. I was just too dumb to realize what it really meant."
Hinata believes she is dreaming. She pinches her arm, but Naruto is still at her bedside. How could this be reality? It had to be something her lonely mind conjured.
"You were the hardest working student in our entire class. And no matter what life threw your way, your kindness never faltered."
Hinata brings her feet to her chest, she doesn't want to hear this. If she doesn't think of herself in this manner, how could someone else? But she knows Naruto isn't cruel to say these words without meaning it.
"You're mistaken, Naruto-kun." Hinata mumbles.
Naruto smiles at her softly, "I'm not mistaken. You're brave. You coming to fight Pain in the pit was the bravest thing I've ever seen anyone do." Chuckling, he adds, "And I've fought alongside Kakashi-sensei and Pervy-sage, so that's not something I say lightly."
Reverting to a more serious tone, he continues, "You risked your life to save me, Hinata. Even knowing how strong your opponent was. When you told me that you loved me, and how I motivated you and kept you from taking the wrong path in life. I told myself you must be confused. Because in that moment, the person you were describing was nothing like the person pinned to the earth. Believing I had no chance against Pain, I only felt fear and rage. I was disappointed in my naivety in believing that I could defeat any foe that threatened Konoha's safety. I was afraid of losing my life and not being able to save my comrades. I was a coward. Someone unworthy of love."
Hinata wipes away the tears streaming down her face.
"Then when he hu-rt you…" Hinata doesn't miss the quiver in his voice, "I couldn't think of anything other than protecting you. I was so afraid. I've never been more afraid in my entire life. I couldn't bear the thought of you dying."
"Naruto-kun, please stop. I understand you may feel indebted to me, but please don't force yourself to feel something that doesn't exist or say things that aren't true."
Sighing, he sits on the bed. He is only a few inches away from him. She breathes in deeply, in an attempt to steady her heaving chest.
In a stern but gentle voice, Naruto tells her, "Let me finish. I've been patiently waiting for close to a week to tell you how I feel and how much you matter to me."
His hand gently encases hers as he continues, "I needed to save you. All I could think about then was protecting you, so I allowed the Kyuubi to take over. But right before the rage and fear fully took over, reality came crashing down. I was in love with you. I tried to remember when I started feeling this way, maybe it was when you stood up to Neji in the Chunin exams. Or maybe it was before that; while we were in the Academy. You were the only classmate who was ever kind to me. You never picked on me no matter how much I messed up in class. I honestly don't know when I fell in love with you and I am sorry for not telling you sooner. It's not an excuse, but I've never experienced love outside of your caring actions. So, I couldn't recognize it when it was staring me right in the face."
Naruto's hands tighten around Hinata's. "I want you to understand why it took me so long to recognize my feelings, so that you can forgive my denseness." He pauses to confirm he has her attention. "Growing up, the Third Hokage was the only 'family' I ever knew. I thought his friendly taps on my head, occasional visits and him helping me scrape by with rent money and food allowance was what love was. So, I sought out a similar type of 'tough love'. When I met Sakura. I was certain that this was what love was supposed to be. I thought her rare acknowledgement and constant assaults meant that she was the one for me."
Hinata bows her head dejectedly at Naruto's mention of affection towards his teammate. It was no secret that he harboured feelings for her.
"Sakura was popular and nearly every guy wanted to be with her. But her eyes were set on Sasuke – my rival. The one guy who beat me at everything. I thought maybe if I won Sakura's affections, then I would have bested Sasuke and I would finally receive the acknowledgement I was striving for. Only now I can see the immaturity in my way of thinking. I never loved Sakura; I just loved the idea of her. I can admit that I care for her immensely, but as a sister not as a partner."
Somewhat embarrassed by his long speech, Naruto picks at the imaginary lint on Hinata's bedspread. "I guess I've said all of this because I want you to know that I want to be with you. And to ask you out on a date. Obviously not right now." He waves his hand in a panicked gesture noting that he understands her current incapacitated state.
"But maybe after I get back from my mission with Kakashi-sensei and Captain Yamato?"
"You're going on a mission already?" Hinata asks, worried about his well-being. "Don't you also need to recuperate?"
"I heal fast." He lightly boasts with a sunny, reassuring smile. To disperse Hinata's worries, he adds, "After I defeated Pain and got him to revive everyone who he killed, I've been working non-stop to help rebuild the village. Well not me exactly, but my clones. The real me was with you the entire time. As important as Konoha is to me, your well-being was and is my priority."
"We have help now from Suna, but they took a while to get here. Now that they are here, I can leave. Not that I want to leave." He stops his rambling, and brings himself to say, "When this is all over and I am back, would you like to go to dinner with me at Ichiraku's?"
Even though she is dazed both by his confession and the pain medication coursing through her body, Hinata stills notices a blush adorning Naruto's whiskered cheeks. A blushing Naruto is beyond anything she could ever wish to set eyes on, the sight alone would've been enough to make her heart flutter. But it's his fervent speech that transports her to cloud nine. She wishes this moment could last forever.
He is well aware this is the second time he is asking Hinata out, and she has yet to answer him. With a slight pout on this face, he tells her, "I mean if you hate me for getting hurt by Pain I understand why you would say no-"
"Of course, I would love to go out to dinner with you." Hinata exuberantly admits.
"Really?" Naruto beams.
"Yes, of course." Hinata confirms. She doesn't admit she has imagined a million similar scenarios where Naruto is asking her out. Though her imagination pales in comparison to this actual moment.
Swept up in the moment, Naruto's right hand grows a mind of its own. It gently caresses the velvety smooth skin of Hinata's face, then begins to trail down to her pink lips.
Hinata's breath falters. She is completely enamoured by the beautiful man sitting next to her – he makes it hard to breathe.
Naruto dips his head down and Hinata closes her eyes as she accepts his lips on hers. Naruto kisses her gently, but with passion and longing. Without words, he tells her he has finally found his home, the person to accept him for who he is and the one who loves him unconditionally.
Hinata breaks the kiss, too overwhelmed with his confession, their newfound intimacy and the drugs that are trying their best to lull her to sleep.
Noticing the look of fatigue on her face, Naruto helps Hinata down onto her pillow. Kissing her on her forehead, he promises to always protect her. With a smile on her face, Hinata slips into a deep, restful sleep.
The next morning, Hinata is woken to the sound of female chatter.
"Morning, sleepy head." Sakura chirps. "Think you're up for a trip to the hospital?"
Hinata sits up, then attempts to swing her legs off the bed. Though in pain, she thinks she will be able to manage walking a short distance.
"If you can't walk, we can wheel you over." Sakura offers an alternative.
Hinata looks around the room, but Naruto is nowhere in sight.
"Are you looking for Naruto?"
Hinata nods her head.
"He left on his mission. He, Kaka-sensei and Captain Yamato are off to track a group of Kumo Ninja."
Sakura moves to the base of the bed to reveal a white envelope and a tall-stemmed white lily.
"Don't ask me where he got the lily when nearly the entire village was demolished."
Hinata accepts the card and flower and clutches it against her heaving chest.
"I'll give you a few minutes to get dressed. Hanabi dropped off some clothes while you were asleep."
Alone now and in the privacy of the green tent, Hinata opens the letter Naruto has written on an orange note-pad.
"I'm sorry I had to leave your side. But I can't keep stalling this mission any longer. Please be careful while I am away, don't push yourself too hard (like you always do). I hope to return to the village soon, but until then be safe and remember you are always in my heart. I love you, Hinata Hyuga and I can't wait to see you soon.
Yours forever,
Naruto"
A single tear of happiness escapes Hinata's eye. After years of pining, his love for her is finally returned.