Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 2

The soothing melodies of the crickets hidden in the humid jungle of Mt. Myoboku were abruptly silenced as one of their top toad predators exploded back into his home. In a wet gush Naruto and Hinata were forcefully expectorated upon a thick patch of lush grass, then immediately abandoned by Gamakichi as he leapt away to soak his demon chakra scalded tongue in the river.

They tumbled in a messy tangle of arms, legs, and saliva, with Hinata landing heavily on top of Naruto's chest. Slowly his eyes cracked open as he glanced around the silent night. Fogginess from his brush with demonic insanity after the brief fight with Hiashi was still clouding his mind, and the last few moments blurred into the unnaturally phosphorescent colors of the jungle with the surreality of a disorienting nightmare.

Gradually the crickets picked up their songs again as the two laid still save for their breathing, and Naruto struggled to relearn what was dream and what was fact. Blearily he clung to the warmth of Hinata's solid, anchoring weight. Inhaling deeply, harshly, expanding his chest until his lungs trembled with the delicious tingle of free air.

He hadn't failed. She was safe. He still had her.

Scrunching up his face in discomfort as awareness of all his bodily aches returned with the lucency of his mind, Naruto looked down at the pile of dark stringy hair plastered across his orange and black jacket. Blinking quickly to clear his vision, he counted Hinata's even breaths and let his head fall back on the thick grass in relief, gulping painfully and panting greedily.

The sensations of the thick humidity, sticky dampness, and her thudding heart were reassuring mental and physical footholds for his psyche, solidifying the fact that this moment wasn't going to fade away before he could memorize it.

Sucking in a deep breath Naruto held it, waiting until the pounding in his own ears matched the calmer pace of Hinata's heartbeats. When his chest began to burn he exhaled his imprisoned breath through shaking lips, pursing them tightly even as his brow crinkled. With the return of coherence a spike of fear was drilling up between his ribs. His questionable talent for being the most unpredictable shinobi had somehow managed to turn a day of potential glory into the newest shitstorm in his pile of problems.

So much for being the hero. That had lasted all of a couple hours before he'd royally fucked that up. Now what? Baa-chan was gonna kill him. Every Hyuga was gonna be looking for them. Could he hide Hinata from them forever? Could he really protect her? He had to figure something out…

The blob of midnight hair stuck to his chest moved, and Hinata whimpered as she roused, rolling her forehead across his chest as small hands fumbled to push herself upright. Naruto gripped her tighter on instinct, not wanting to release the comfort of her nearness. But another soft whimper caused him to instantly flinch away, fearing that the quick squeeze would worsen her pain. Guilt clenched his heart as his hands flitted helplessly over her upper body, not knowing where he should grip her, but needing to touch her in some way. Needing to offer some kind of pathetic comfort to soothe his own mind.

Her body stilled as her hands planted upon his warm torso instead of cold dirt. With a sudden jerk of her neck, Naruto found himself staring straight into the gleaming wide eyes and reddening face of a very stunned Hinata.

A soft warm breeze blew across their faces as they stared at one another, so close each felt the tickle of the other's random strands of drying hair brush against their flushed skin. Both were frozen by their own confusing mix of emotions while trying to read those swirling in the mirroring set of eyes.

"H-Hinata, are you okay?" Naruto's words were somewhat slurred, his voice rough from strain. Hinata's mouth popped open, but no sounds escaped as her trembling gaze finally ripped away from his and darted around the wildly unfamiliar area. A large firefly floated past and she twisted a bit too far as she traced its flight with raised brows. Grunting weakly Hinata pressed her hand to the barely healed wound on her ribs, biting her lips as her head fell again onto Naruto's breastbone.

"Shit, of course you're not okay," Naruto cursed himself as he lurched upwards, carefully cradling her in his trembling arms. Every muscle in his body burned with fatigue, but his concern for her well being overrode every ache. The depth of his self loathing was fathoms beyond his self preservation as he clumsily tried to wipe the sticky strands of her thick hair away while she sniffled softly.

"I'm so sorry, Hinata," he whispered hoarsely with each stroke. "I'm sorry I pissed off your dad. I'm sorry I dragged you away from your home. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Naruto rambled out his warbling apologies over and over with the fervor of a sinner begging forgiveness for their transgressions. His eyes scoured her from head to toe seeking any and every reassurance of health, but all he could see were her wounds. When her hand gingerly shifted to reveal the fresh blood that had seeped through her jacket, his self-worth fell to hell.

"I'm so sorry," he choked, his hand darting up to clasp hers and press firmly onto the accusing red stain, making her inhale sharply. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry you nearly died. I'm sorry I ruined everything…"

A rueful inner voice berated him for his stupidity as he curled over her body in a belatedly useless desire to shield her from all the pain that he had already caused. I never should have gone looking for her. I already nearly got her killed once, I should've just left her alone. This is all my fault.

If only he had stayed away. If only he had ignored her confession. If he had just pretended it was nothing more than a loyal act of friendship he could have spared her from her father's wrath. If he had walked away she would still be with her family. If he hadn't been so selfish in needing to hear her say it again…

This was all his fault, he really was dense. Any idiot would have learned by now that nothing good became of people who loved demons. Just look at all the people whom he had dared to care about during his life. His parents, Iruka-sensei, Sasuke, Sakura, Ero-senin, Kakashi-sensei, Nagato, the whole damn village…her.

What had happened whenever they stood up for him?

They suffered.

Triggered by his despair a miserable string of memories reeled through his slowly shattering mind. The face of his father, smiling sadly with posthumous pride as he tried to assure his son that he was worth the ultimate sacrifice. The massive shuriken impaling Iruka-sensei's back while Mizuki-sensei revealed the truth for the first time. The hundreds of senbon stabbing all over Sasuke's body before he collapsed on that bridge. The fear in Sakura's eyes after he had mindlessly slashed her arm with his bijū tail. The emptiness of seeking Kakashi's chakra signature earlier today, and finding nothing. The absolute devastation of seeing his home reduced to a crater. The sound of the rod stabbing through her body, killing his sanity as nearly as it had killed her existence. The slump of Nagato's head as he gave up everything he had worked his whole life to accomplish, for the sake of Naruto's dream.

They all had been driven to the extreme by being close to him. Driven to their mental breaking point. Their physical limit. Even death. To know a jinchuriki was to know the tipping point of endurance. To either run away or face death for their sake. For the first time in his life Naruto felt sick as he recalled the consequences his acquaintance had reaped upon his precious people, and how far short his meager affection fell in recompense.

The downward spiral of his thoughts expanded along with the blooming edges of the blood stain on Hinata's shirt. Red liquid continually seeped slowly between his trembling fingers no matter how desperately he tried to staunch its spread. His teeth ground and his jaw clenched. His eyes clamped shut against the agony of the sight, his own soul bleeding out along with every fat red drop that fell from their fingertips.

If this was love he didn't want it. He wasn't worth it, and she deserved so much more.

It would be better for him to disappear. Better if he had walked away when he had the chance and let everyone believe that he had died while fighting Pein. He could protect them better by ceasing to exist. No matter how much they all celebrated his return, the fact remained that the Akatsuki still existed. No one would ever be safe as long as he walked the streets of Konoha. Hiashi was right. It was only a matter of time until that organization came looking for him again. And this time there would be no hope of a resurrection afterwards. No way to erase his mistakes.

Panic-fueled adrenaline accelerated his heart rate, his thoughts tripping over one another as he mentally spun out. I can't endure this anymore. This is all my fault. I have to run away. I can't hurt her again…

Chilled fingers gently brushed away hot tears Naruto hadn't even realized were falling down his face. He flinched backwards, scared blue eyes snapping open to see her tired silver gaze scrutinizing his expression. A crease appeared between her brows, her lips thinning into a line, and ever so slightly she shook her head at him. Scolding him without uttering a word.

The stormy resolution to never go near her again faltered in its destructive course through his mind as her hand tenderly traced his whisker marks one by one. Each simple contact was a mercy, a blessing, a pardon, a promise. He melted with every stroke, her patient affection knitting his shredded soul back together, stitch by stitch.

Sniffling loudly, Naruto suddenly gripped her hand with a possessive strength, smothering the wail that nearly escaped his mouth into her open palm as his shoulders heaved with stifled sobs. His chakra flared, a knee-jerk reaction to the conflict between his returning resolve and his fear. The urge to save her from anything and everything, even himself, made his feral protectiveness surge in an oxymoronic wave that he immediately had to stamp down before it bubbled out of him in a red demonic miasma.

But slamming a lid on his bijū chakra caused pain to reverberate through his overwrought network like banging a hammer on his head during a migraine. A small gust of power escaped his fragile self control to ripple over the grass with a rough whoosh. To his dismay Hinata grimaced, pulling her hand away and pressing her face into his shoulder as she curled up into his torso.

"Hinata!?" he bellowed at point blank range. "Did I hurt you!?"

She shook her head minutely, her nose brushing against his shoulder with each turn. After a few seconds that nearly suffocated him, Hinata slowly peeled her hand away from her jacket. Ignoring any ideas of modesty Naruto earnestly inspected the dark stain, exhaling the breath he had been holding when it did not continue to darken with fresh blood.

"I—I think you actually, stopped the bleeding," she whispered as she assessed herself. Relief helped to wash some of his irrationality away, and with a slightly clearer mind Naruto glanced around, trying to gain his bearings and estimate how far they might be from Pa and Ma Toad. He needed to get her to someone who knew more about healing than himself. He could worry about his own doomed salvation after he assured her survival.

It took two tries to achieve Sage Mode, his focus as scattered as leaves in an autumn wind. But the large chakra signatures of the two strong toads were easy enough to pinpoint, and with renewed determination Naruto gently shifted Hinata against his chest and braced his legs to stand.

Murmuring words that he hoped sounded consoling even though they rasped hoarsely from his dry lips, Naruto glanced down at Hinata's face to try and gauge her discomfort before he moved, and blinked in surprise. The bangs covering her forehead had shifted in the gust of his chakra, revealing the faintest pink traces of the incomplete Caged Bird Seal. Unable to resist, he gently reached up to sweep his fingers across the unsealed skin of her brow.

Her sharp inhale made him hesitate briefly, but instead of the grimace he expected, Hinata's cheeks flushed a darker shade of pink than he would have thought possible for someone who had lost so much blood. As though it had a mind of its own, Naruto's hand carefully traced each faded mark as he marveled at the way her features relaxed under his touch. A long breath slipped between her lips, sliding over his damp clothes and causing goosebumps to follow in its wake. He watched, mesmerized, as her delicate pink tongue licked her full lips. Once. Twice. Until she had finally lubricated them enough to form words.

"Th-thank-you for saving me again, Naruto-kun," she murmured shyly. His eyebrows shot up into his matted bangs.

"Save you? Hinata, I ruined everything! Hiashi was going to seal you because of me—"

"It was coming," she cut him off, the words sharp even through her soft tone. "I've been trying to gain his approval my whole life. A losing battle. One that I don't intend to fight anymore."

The long blades of grass hissed in the breeze as Naruto digested the depth of emotions that could be behind such a definitive statement. He could sympathize with the innate urge to fight for attention of any kind, good or bad, just to feel something other than the sting of invisibility. He knew too well the bitterness of thinking you had finally come close to finding a real connection, only to be betrayed at your most vulnerable moment. The torture of chasing that hope of reciprocation, though it seemed forever out of reach.

As their eyes met he could feel the honesty of the truth she was sharing with him, and he eagerly accepted its burden with a feeling of gratefulness at her show of trust. In the back of his mind he wondered, perhaps, if he had just been chasing the wrong person this whole time.

Firmly gripping her shoulders and legs the way one would hold a precious treasure that was won at great cost, Naruto carefully stood, studying Hinata's face for any signs of pain. His own aching body and encroaching exhaustion fed his sense of urgency to get them both to a safe place where they could rest. Setting off at a riskily brisk pace, he unsteadily began to push his way through the thick jungle. All the stupid plants looked the same, and more than once Naruto had to pause and attempt Sage Mode in order to reorient himself until they reached a somewhat familiar looking clearing which bore the scars of his secret Rasenshuriken practice.

Scratchy ferns swished around his knees as he waded across the meadow, snagging on his pants as he carefully scanned the ground for the trail he remembered. With each step the sparks of light from the variety of glowing insects native to Mt. Myoboku burst out of his path, mirroring the jolts of pain in his muscles. After wading through the flora long enough to doubt himself, the faint moonlight finally revealed the vague shadow of the trail, winding up the hill on the other side of the clearing. A small groan slipped out of his flared nostrils before he shook himself and marched onwards.

Hinata immediately began to apologize, trying to squirm her way out of his arms. But even the minimal twisting made her mouth tighten in pain.

"Don't move," Naruto said sternly, but his hold on her was laced with as much tenderness as strength. "Let me carry you, I want to."

Hinata looked down in chagrin, but obediently reclasped her hands around his neck in an attempt to brace herself better. The curtains of her drying hair hid her face as she hung her head, silently clinging to him. As they slowly progressed over the meadow and back into a thick forest of alien plants he could feel her fingers twisting and clenching with strain, tugging on the hair at the nape of his neck. Just as he was about to stop and recheck her wound, Hinata sighed morosely.

"My father is right, I am not strong," she rasped bleakly. "I am an embarrassment."

Naruto nearly shook the girl in his arms in indignation. How could she say that after everything that had happened? After everything she had done for him?

"Liar," he bit out between clenched teeth, causing her drooping head to lift. Wary pearl eyes studied the solemn set of his mouth. Her dubious expression flickered in and out of the moonlight that peeked through the massive overhead leaves.

"But I lost," she persisted in her habitually harsh self scrutiny. "I didn't stop Pein, you did. I did not save myself from the Cage Bird Seal, you did." A tear slipped out and trailed down her cheek, her voice dropping to nothing more than a feathery whisper.

"Even back then, I did not stand up to Neji-niisan and help him change, you did. I did not fight back against my father for years, but you did it the first time he challenged you. I'm a failure."

Naruto snorted, twisting around a low-hanging leaf as they rounded a bend in the trail. "A proud failure," he corrected. Hinata's face snapped up in surprise as he hurriedly added, "And I never could have done any of those things without your words to get me going."

Hinata's despondent expression gave way to frank wonder as he used her own words against her. A wry grin softened his stern glower as a saying Ero-sennin had told him once flitted through his memory and out of his mouth. "A firecracker is loud and flashy, but it would never explode without a steady flame to light its fuse."

He glanced down at her to be met with trembling eyes that put the ethereal moonlight to shame, her lips parted in genuine wonder. Naruto's stomach erupted with butterflies, the sight capturing his focus with such magnetism that he completely forgot to watch his step. His foot caught on a large plant root and he stumbled shamefully for someone who claimed to be a shinobi, nearly causing them to crash as hard as his train of thought. Barely recovering before he hurt either her or his pride, Naruto cleared his throat harshly as he stomped onward, trying to stamp down the fluttering of his gut in the same way.

"In all honesty, I'm the one who is a liar," he plunged on, awkwardly covering his slip up with a stream of distracted rambling until he could think clearly again. "How many times did I scream that I would never give up because it was my nindo? That I was gonna be Hokage and get a date with Sakura-chan?"

The air in Hinata's lungs deflated, but Naruto was so anxious and confused by his own undisciplined emotions that he did not catch the underlying meaning behind her wilting posture. Ducking under a low hanging leaf stem he patted her absently in the misunderstanding that the tension in her hands was a result of his nearly dropping her and not the impact of his words.

"And now look at me," he scoffed in self deprecation as he gently tucked her more securely into his chest to compensate for letting her slip. "First I gave up in front of all of Konoha, until you came and pushed me. Then I let the village I swore to protect get demolished. And as for Sakura…" an annoyed look flitted across his features and he snorted harshly. "Well, I guess the lump on my head speaks for itself."

Sympathy for Naruto warred with self pity in Hinata's heart at the mention of his teammate's name. She was well aware that Sakura had been the apple of his eye for years, so of course she assumed he still must harbor some feelings for the pretty kunoichi. Just one day couldn't erase something like that in an instant. Hinata expected nothing more, nothing less.

But as she studied the way Naruto's mouth twisted downward, and the brief flash of his eyes, confusion began to undermine her assumptions. The note of awe that usually sang in his voice when he said his teammate's name was distinctly missing. Did he drop her honorific intentionally or out of delirium? The small hints chipped away at Hinata's previous acceptance of where his affections might lie, fanning the carefully guarded dream that she had always harbored deep inside.

Moment by moment she dug backwards through the blur of her memories for an answer to her question, for any clue to the true intentions of Naruto's heart. She contemplated the moment when he had knelt next to her cot, when the genuine emotions that had glimmered in his blue eyes were unforgettably tender. Then there was the way he had clung to her hand with the need of an addict seeking his fix, and cried unashamedly as he held her close. Hope mixed with curiosity, causing Hinata's heart rate to accelerate as she fought the selfish urge to fidget simply to feel Naruto squeeze her tightly again.

While she had been lost in her own roller coaster of thoughts, the jungle path Naruto seemed to be following into nowhere narrowed. He barely stifled a yawn as he turned sideways to slide them through a tight gap between two enormous stems. But his growing fatigue and the poor light skewed his judgment and in a split second the pair were stuck.

Hinata gasped, suddenly finding herself pressed so tightly against Naruto she could hardly inhale. The sturdy plant was digging into her back, pushing her cheek against his shoulder and her forehead flush against the warmth of his throat. The pain would have been worse were it not for the way his arms were protecting her like a cage, pushing back against the stem in an attempt to prevent her discomfort.

"Shit, I'm sorry Hinata! Damn trail is hard to see," he grumbled, straining to adjust his hands and keep the plant from aggravating her injury while trying to free them as well. But instead of helping the situation the shuffling only left him blatantly palming her rear. The more he fumbled the more his mind started to cloud over in embarrassment as sweat trickled down his temple.

Swallowing thickly, Naruto fought back a shiver as Hinata squirmed enough to lift her head, causing her breath to fan across the sensitive skin of his neck. Desperate to free himself from this entirely different shade of panic, the dense shinobi was unaware of how transparently his actions were telegraphing his inner turmoil to the studious eyes of the woman in his arms.

"N-Naruto-kun," she said hesitantly, staring at the bounding pulse in his neck with far too much consideration to ease his rising blood pressure. "Are…are you okay?"

His hands twitched. He distinctly did not feel okay. He felt tired, but buzzed. He ached, yet was also floating. His mind was foggy but his nerves were on fire. This whole day had been an epic series of highs and lows, and it was all building up within him to the point where he thought one more squeeze of her curves against him, one more brush of her bangs on his neck, one more soft whimper from her mouth might be enough to finally break him beyond repair.

"F-fine. I'm fine," he bit out, shimmying his shoulders with a tinge of urgency. Hinata's breaths were coming quick and shallow, which was only making him more delirious. Planting a foot on the base of one stem he gave an experimental push, slamming his head back into the opposing trunk with a heavy clunk that yielded no gain for his pain.

"Crap, I really got us stuck didn't I?" he chuckled sheepishly as Hinata tried to be of assistance by twisting her torso around to be flush with his own, freeing herself from his vice-like grip in the process.

Naruto groped for a different hold, grumbling at her to stop moving before she started bleeding again and just let him fix his mistake. The futility of their combined efforts proved to be extremely blush-inducing when the twin plants simply snapped closer together, trapping the two shinobi nose to nose, and chest to chest, with Naruto now cradling her ass with both hands as her feet dangled uselessly in the air.

Near death experiences could not compare to the raging turmoil in Naruto's gut as he stared straight into Hinata's eyes. The softness of her body smashed against his own shut down his brain, and all he could feel was a wonderful tightness in his chest that had nothing to do with the narrow gap of space they occupied. He might have simply gazed at her forever, caught in the riptide of her nearness, pondering the mystery of her perfect features and wondering why they were so hypnotizing. But the fuzzy moment snapped back into sharp reality when she spoke his name.

"Naruto-kun, m-maybe if you let me go we can fit through?" Hinata practically squeaked. The corners of his mouth turned down and he didn't respond immediately, as though the suggestion was extremely distasteful despite its perfect rationality. But with another bashful nod, Naruto loosened his grip and set her free.

The sensation of her body sliding under his hands as she slid inch by inch down the front of his body set his skin on fire. Neither one could tear their eyes away from the other, each striving to read the deeper emotions that words could not express. Gingerly her feet touched the earth, and a pang of regret replaced the warmth of her on his chest as she stumbled out of the gap.

Hinata wobbled on weak knees, dizziness that may or may not have been from blood loss making her head swim. Naruto's arm was instantly gripping her shoulders protectively, apologizing over and over as his free hand pressed against her wound to check for more bleeding. Falsely confident words faltered on the tip of her tongue as the world spun so distractedly that all she could do was squeeze her eyes shut. His hand rubbed up and down her back as he waited anxiously while she took as many deep breaths as she dared.

Finally feeling as though she could manage to not pass out, Hinata pasted a brave smile on her face and lifted her head to assure Naruto she was fine. But as she looked up a rush of affection stole her words when she saw the deep flush of his face, the concern in his eyes, and the way he licked his lips over and over like he was fumbling for something to say for the first time in his life. The hope that had sparked earlier fanned into a flame that left her clutching at the front of his jacket for balance.

Before either dumbstruck teenager could attempt any kind of greater comprehension of their situation, a gravelly voice yelped in shock from the next hilltop.

"NARUTO?!"

The pair whipped around as fast as their exhausted bodies could react at the unspeakably welcome sight of Ma Toad racing down towards them.

"What on earth are you doing here?! And who is this?"

"Ma," Naruto sighed, one of his legs almost buckling as relief washed his confused brain. "Hinata needs your help!"

A/N: sorry for the long delay, but as I said, the updating will be very sporadic. I'm practicing writing a much more emotionally detailed plot, and the wording can get me nickpicking away at verbal details for days until I'm satisfied. Honestly I still don't know if I'm happy with this, and after several comments that I'm way too harsh with Hiashi, I am contemplating reworking bits of the first chapter. So... idk? But thank you so much for reading! And like I said, even if the updating is irregular, I have always finished every story I have started so far, and don't intend to stop now ;)

2/16/22: So I did end up adjusting a few details on the first chapter. Nothing that changed the direction of the plot, mostly just dialogue additions that I feel added a little more dimension to the dynamics between Hiashi and Hinata. I like it. Hope you do too :D