"How can i tell you?"

A HinaNaru (also a SasuSaku, ShikaIno) pairing!

Authors notes: Hello! I havent updated in a loooong time... school really... anyway, I like the number 13 a lot so I made chapter 13 specially good. "Gaara meets his match" is more about gaara and Izumi (who likes gaara as much as hinata likes Naruto...heheh) Okay... we'll start off with a well awaited Naruto & Hinata Scene... My gift to all of the reviewers!!

Disclaimer : Of course, the naruto series is not mine... if it was... hinata would appear more frequently and theyed get engaged in the series (you gotta love both of em) well... Naruto, Hinata-san, Ino, Sakura, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kakashi and some other minor/major characters are NOT mine i tell you!!! (but i wish they were... TT)

How can I tell you? - Chapter 13
Gaara meets his match...

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Hinata opened her eyes and looked at the alarm clock next to her... It was only 2 in the morning... she didnt expect to wake up this early, she was supposed to wake up at 7 in the morning. She went out of bed and headed outside to get fresh air and look at the stars. When she arrived there... she streched out a little and laid herself on the grassy ground.

"they are so many..."

Unknowingly, she had someone there with her.

"well... you cant count em... so I guess its really that many hinata..."

It was naruto, who was almost next to hinata where she lay.

"na-naruto? what are you doing h-here at this hour?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at hinata and went closer to her.

"I should be asking you the same question..."

Hinata rolled her read to face naruto.

"well... I woke up, and I couldnt sleep... how about you naruto?"

Naruto looked up in the sky.

"well...pretty much the same...and I was thinking of many things..."

"about what things naruto-kun?"

"I was thinking when I'll ever be Hokage... what do you think Hinata?"

Hinata looked at the stars.

"You'll be Hokage naruto... I believe in you..."

Naruto blushed a little and looked at hinata.

"heh... Im lucky I have a friend like you hinata... and you know..."

"know what naruto?"

Naruto sat up and looked at hinata with a smile.

"If Im the best Hokage that there ever was, You'll be the best Medic in all of Fire country!"

Hinata flushed red.

"o-oh... you think so?"

Naruto smiled at the navy-haired girl,

"Im not the only one who agrees about that... even your cousin neji believes in you..."

"huh?"

Naruto scratched his head.

"uh... He doesnt call you 'weak' anymore... that means something right?"

hinata sat up, still looking at the stars.

"well... I guess so..."

Naruto looked at the sky as well. There was silence for a while, somehow, when hinata slopped at the ground, Naruto wanted to stop the silence. It was getting to his nerves.

"hinata...?"

Hinata looked at naruto.

"hnn? what is it Naruto-kun?"

Naruto smiled coyly,

"has anyone called you 'cute' yet?"

Hinata shook her head.

"I dont believe anyone other than Kurenai-sensei call me that...why?"

Naruto shook himself back into his 'original' senses.

"heh... I-Its nothing Hinata-chan! Its nothing! just curious... however..."

"...?"

Naruto blushed a little and looked back at hinata,

"... I think youre cute.... not that its anything mutual...but-"

Naruto's words were stopped when Hinata acted by instinct and Kissed naruto on the cheek.

"...Th-thank you...Naruto-kun..."

'wait a minute... did I do what I thought I did?! did I just kissed naruto on his cheek?!?' Hinata thought to herself.

"uh... Hinata... I..."

"what is it Naruto?"

"...I...I..."

Hinata blushed a little, hoping that he was going to say what she always wanted him to say since the day she loved him.

"y-yes na-naruto?"

Someone moved the nearby bushes...

"I....I- Huh? what's that sound? did you hear that hinata-chan?"

----

'oh no... Ive been spotted... guuuuruuruuuu...jeez, Naruto-sensei is really a great ninja...' someone thought as it tried to get away... fast.

Then that someone was grabbed on the collar by naruto...

"kana?! what are you doing up so late?" Naruto asked the brown haired girl who was in her pajamas.

Naruto let Kana go.

"uh... nothing... just woke up... its already 4 in the morning... uh... better get back to bed...im still sleepy... okay... see ya!" Kana said as she tiptoed away, escaping...

"geez... that kana's weird... absolutely weird..."

Hinata stood up, and yawned in a way that naruto thought was cute....

"well... Im getting sleepy now... um... see you later naruto-kun?"

"yeah... i'll go to sleep later... im not yet that sleepy yet..."

"umm... okay.... goodnight naruto..."

Naruto raised a hand to wave a goodnight to hinata.

"uh... okay... sweet dreams hinata-chan..."

-----------

Hinata finally got into her room after leaving Naruto to himself at the nearby meadow. She wanted to stay and talk with naruto more, but since Kana had already disturbed them... she'd rather sleep.

flashback

"... I think youre cute.... "

end of flashback

those were the 4 words that kept echoing in her head at that certain moment. Were those only words, or they had a specific meaning? She was often as clueless as Naruto sometimes. She couldnt help but daydream like some 'normal' girls do, She and Naruto would get married happily and have kids... But sometimes reality hits her too much and she just stands there looking at him train. It was Ironic how shy she was... If she could only have a way to say her feelings. Then she remembered again... Sakura's Doll. It was the Naruto doll that Sakura gave her a few days ago, before she had died.... She opened her knapsack and took the Doll from the box it was in. It did look like naruto alright. Sakura would make a great wife for anyone she would marry, hinata? oh well... she was good at most everything, but unlike sakura, she still lacks in needed ninja abilities.

"Naruto.... how can I tell you?" she thought aloud to herself.

She looked at the Doll more carefully, There was a note at the back.

Dearest hinata-chan...

well... you became a medic... I heard many great stories about how you saved many ninja's lives. Hopefully You'd become one of the greatest medics in all of konoha...!

Then she remembered Naruto's words earlier...

"If Im the best Hokage that there ever was, You'll be the best Medic in all of Fire country!"

It made her feel happy, that many of her friends believed in her like naruto, sakura, neji and the others. she contiued to read...

Ive been noticing for a long time that you may 'like' that naruto... He's cocky, but I had to admit... if you do like him youre lucky... if he loves you he'll do everything for you... that's naruto!

She thought about it for a while... It was naruto alright... The same Genin, and now jonin that she fell in love with... It was his contageous courage and determination that let her get this far....

soo... after a time of talking about this with ino... I made this Doll for you! I hope this would be okay for you...

Take care always,
Haruno Sakura....

Hinata smiled, refolded the paper and looked at the doll that she had set down beside her. She now feels like the seeds of confidence that had been dormant for so many days had already grown... It was only a matter of time before a flower would grow and completely blossom. She unfolded the paper again to read it again, this time noticing the date...December 26th... guess sakura forgot to give it to her on her birthday and gave it to her 5 months later... It was May 11 today. It was only moments of reading and thinking that made her eyes very sleepy... Her eyes were already closing in on her. She laid on the queen-sized bed, pulled the blanket to cover her, and cuddled the Naruto doll as she fell asleep.

It was only seconds after hinata fell asleep when someone opened the door to her room.

"sweet dreams hinata-chan..." Naruto said to the sleeping girl, he closed the door and headed for his room... ready to take a well deserved nap.

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It was 9 o' clock in the morning, Ino, Hinata, Temari, gaara, and Kankuro were already awake... They finished their breakfast when someone burst in the door.

"Hello everyone!" the blue haired girl shouted out, "hello my beloved gaara!"

Kakuro coughed.

'geez... is this kid has gotta have problems...'

Gaara looked at Izumi, angryer than usual.

"...Shut up girl... or I'll kill you..."

"Not if I kill you first Sand-boy..."

"I'll kill you..."

"bring it on..." the girl laughed, how good was she to challange gaara like that?!

"oh no..." everyone whispered to themselves as they sipped their tea.

---------

Izumi and Gaara decieded to battle at the pond on the meadow, Shikamaru looked annoyed with the idea because it's going to delay his daily cloudgazing...

"you'll die..." gaara said in a scary tone, Izumi thought it wasnt scary at all.

"heh... lets see...when you win, Kill me as you please... but when I win... I'll kiss you..."

"feh... get on with it girl..."

Izumi opened a jug filled with water and emptied its contents, Softening the ground with mud. Then she took out a pickaxe-like weapon, It really looked sharp enough to kill a person with one swipe.

"that wouldnt help you a bit..."

Gaara summoned the sand to assult her first, It was only a split second when the sand had already covered the girl in it.

"foolish girl..." gaara said as he was readying for his deathblow move, however... "th-this cant be...!"

-------

Shikamaru opened his eyes at what he saw.

"He-hey....! Th-the sand's turning to mud!"

Ino and the others were also surprised,

"i cant beleive it..." Ino thought aloud with her mouth open wide.

-------

"what's wrong gaara? Cant kill a 'stupid' girl like me?" izumi said as the mud dripped away from her... Her eyes had changed from its usual playful self to a scary look that surpassed the scaryness factor of gaara's eyes.

gaara opened his eyes wide in disbelief.

"Yo-youre the..."

"yes..."

----

"what is Izumi saying?!" Shikamaru asked his fellow nins.

Temari looked at him.

"It seems izumi's the preistess of water..."

"preistess? what does it have to do with gaara?"

"when Gaara was little he had a 'demonic' preist sealed into him like the kyuubi with naruto... that preist had powers over the sand... and that preist had a rival... The preistess of water... and since sand and Water makes mud, and mud is the still under the element of water (because it's wet i guess...) ... that means... Izumi would use his own sand against him... "

Ino looked at the two .

"oh... so who do you think would win?"

"...Izumi..."

---

"Damn you..." Gaara shouted at the blue haired girl.

Izumi held a evil smile on her lips.

"heh... Like I told you before... You'll never win against me..."

Izumi ordered the mud to swallow up Gaara until his neckline and harden a bit, making him unable to move....

"now you lose... give me the part of our deal..." Izumi smiled at the red- haired boy.

-------

Everyone gasped in shock and in misbelief then Izumi leaned over at gaara and kissed him (passionately... XD). Ino and the rest (except hinata who was sweatdropping) had their jaws opened wide. after a few moments naruto came in.

"hey... what's the matter with you guys?" Naruto asked,

Shikamaru pointed at the two, it was only a matter of time before...

"WHAAAAAAT?!"

Ino covered naruto's mouth, hoping to keep him quiet for the time being.

"shut up... You'll disturb the two! they dont know that were watching... its a miracle they dont notice..."

after a bunch of sweatdrops, tons of jaw opening scenes, Izumi had stopped kissing gaara... and that kiss had lasted for about 3 minutes!!!

"I...dont belive it... someone actually kissed gaara?!" temari thought aloud.

Kankuro sighed.

"well... at least that izumi's more powerful than gaara... geez..."

Shikamaru shook his head to get himself out of the jawopening thingy and looked at Ino.

"heh.. ino..."

Ino looked at Shikamaru, smiling.

"yeah?"

As soon as shikamaru saw ino face to face, there was no stopping him from daydreaming....

----(shikamaru's daydream)-----

It was at konoha... Ino would shrug him into going to the park with him, The cherry blossoms were falling, He was holding hands with ino down the park... then... he'd kiss her.

--------(end of daydream)-----

Shikamaru's daydreams were stopped by ino's voice...

"heeeeey! what is it?"

"uh... nothing..."

Ino gave him a usual playful whack on the head.

"geez... if that's the reason... THEN DONT STARE AT ME LIKE THAT! its creepy you know...!"

Shikamaru heard a small 'hmph' from ino as she walked away from him.

"ow... that's what i get for acting without thinking..."

Temari looked at the future couple.

"heh... look at them hinata... dont you think Ino and Shikamaru are meant to be?" she whispered to the navy haired girl beside her.

Hinata twiddled her fingers as usual.

"yes... Ino needs someone who's going to control her temper... Shikamaru needs someone to liven him up... well.. I guess opposites attract... I guess"

"oh...? how about you and Naruto?" Temari said pointing at the unsuspecting naruto.

Hinata turned beet red and quickly shook her head.

"u-u-uh.... I gu-guess... I-I-I...I"

Temari laughed.

"hah... dont worry Hinata... I get the picture..."

"you do?"

"sure I do! in fact... Hey Narutooooo!"

Naruto looked at Temari...

"huh? what's up temari?"

"hey... since hinata's going to the Kazekage's house to cure his daughter... maybe you'd like to escort her there?"

"eh?" he said, blushing a beet red, " Wh-why me only?"

Temari crossed her arms.

"hey... Youre the leader!... maybe you'ld like to... umm... listen.."

"huh?"

Temari whispered something to Naruto.

"uh... maybe I should g-go now...coming with me na-naruto?" Hinata asked naruto in her usual shy tone.

Temari looked at Naruto seriously, Naruto got her message all right...

"uh... o-okay hinata-cha-chan! Im c-coming with you..."

"o-okay..."

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Hinata and Naruto were about a few paces from the Cottage. and the words temari told him in her short whisper kept echoing in his head.

----(flashback)-----

' I Know you like Hinata.... You should tell her how you feel... because if you dont... you might lose her... tell her while you still have the chance... you'll never know when she's going to meet someone else...'

---(end of flashback)---

"...i might lose her...?" Naruto thought aloud

Hinata looked at Naruto.

"..what is it naruto-kun? anything wrong?"

"no-nothing! Its nothing! I was just... ah... thinking of something! yeah that's right! something!"

Hinata was worried for the jonin.

"a-are you sure?"

"yes! I'm sure! dont worry Hinata! Im okay!"

Hinata gave a sigh of relief. not realizing that she's going to bump into someone... even naruto didnt notice because he was too busy looking at hinata.

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"ow... are you okay Hinata-san?" Tenma asked the Navy haired girl he bumped into.

Hinata stood up with the help of Naruto.

"I'm okay Akazeno-kun...."

tenma stood up as well...

"...heh... please! call me tenma!"

"oh.. so Tenma-kun?"

"heh... please dont be so formal to me Hinata-san...!"

Naruto looked jealous.

"feh... Tenma... what are you doing here? we're about to go to your place..."

"heh... I was about to pick you people up..."

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"oh... okaaaaay.... so lets go ne?"

Tenma looked around,

"there's no one else with you Hinata?"

"no.... I-It's just me and Naruto-kun...."

Tenma gave a grin and started walking with Naruto and Hinata leading them to The kazekage's house to do what they had to... heal the daughter of the Kazekage... Hana Akazeno.

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Baaanzai! I finished chapter 13! horray! it took me 3 days of nothing but headaches looking for cute ideas remaining in my small head... anyways, More NaruHina on next chapter... I put on Some NaruHina here... Im planning on making more NaruHina... Enough with the ShikaIno for the moment... and there'll be some surprises! more of promised NaruHina, less of my InoShika, and the addition of some SasuSaku Specials. Keep on Reading and Reviewing!

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