Section 18: What The... Sakura-chan?

The knocking on the door echoed all through the house, as Hinata came down the stairs in a hurry. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" She pushed the small curtain out of her way and came up to the large sliding door. First thing she saw was Sakura, who was leaning forward with a massive smile across her face.

"Hi, Hinata!"

Hinata gasped very lightly in surprise, and smiled flatly. "Hello Sakura."

Naruto popped over Sakura's shoulder, waving his hand wildly in a greeting. "Hinata-channnn!"

Hinata recoiled in horror, "Ah! Naruto-kun!" She jerked around facing away from them both, with her face lit up red. "He's still with her... and they both look so happy... I don't know if I should be happy for him, or sad for myself..."

Naruto came up behind her, and reached his arm over her head. He dropped down a small piece of paper in front of her eyes. "Look what I found, Hinata-chan."

She glanced up at the paper slowly, while she still thought about Naruto and Sakura being together. Then, her pupils dilated in terror upon seeing what was written on the leaf of paper. "My letter!?!" She freaked out, taking a few steps forward then crouching down to the ground defensively. She curled up into a ball, holding her ears, "Please tell me you didn't read it..."

Sakura walked up next to her, and crouched down next to her. "He did."

Hinata tightened up her curl upon hearing the bad news. "No! I... I'm sorry Sakura, I didn't know you loved Naruto-kun, I didn't mean to be a problem."

Naruto bent down to Hinata, laughing about what Hinata was apologizing for. "Hinata, Sakura loving me? That would never happen!"

Sakura looked back up to Naruto with a stunned look on her face, and then dropped her head when she thought about it more. "That's not true... you liar..."

Hinata slowly exposed herself from her position, and looked up in confusion. "Sak...Sakura? You don't... love Naruto-kun?"

Sakura looked down at Hinata, who had a small tear buildup in her eyes. She then looked up to Naruto who was smiling with eyes closed, nodding towards her. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and forced out her words reluctantly with sorrow in her tone, "...No, I... don't." She looked down, and sighed. "You... liar..." She looked up to Naruto again. "He... doesn't like me anymore...? He seems serious..."

"Oh..." Hinata turned as red as Sakura's clothes. "Th... then w... why are you two here to show me my letter...?"

Naruto handed her the letter and smiled, "I just wanted to say, thank you for what you had to say about me! I really liked your drawing too!"

Sakura and Hinata both seemed surprised.

"What is he doing...? ...He doesn't like her...?"

Hinata dropped her head and shoulders in disappointment. "Oh... well I hoped you'd like it."

Sakura stepped back in uncertainty, "What is he doing...?"

"I like girls like you. You remind me of Sakura." He smiled widely, "You're both the prettiest and greatest girls on Earth!" The two stood next to each other, bashfully looking away from Naruto. He scratched his head in embarrassment, "I hope that wasn't too much, heh."

Sakura looked at him blushing, "Damn it, when the hell did this idiot become so cute... ugh... I'm screwed up..." She looked over to Hinata for her reaction.

Hinata stood still, curling up the letter she had wrote, in her hands timidly. She was looking down trying to hide her blushing face from Naruto. "Na...Naruto-kun."

Naruto raises his eyebrow questionably, then leans forward with a smile on his face. "Yea, Hinata-chan?"

Her eyes rippled, and her grip tightened on the note in her hands. Then, her head shot up towards Naruto, revealing her flowing tears and sniffling.

Naruto looked towards her concerned, "Hinata-chan? Are you..." Before he got to finish, she thrusts forward towards Naruto, and presses her lips against his. "Wow, two kisses in one night, weird!"

Sakura stood to the side with her jaw dropped. The inner Sakura popped up from behind her saying, "Grr! How dare Hinata for kissing MY Naruto!" Steam pours out of inner-Sakura's ears, as she shakes her fist angrily.

A dark figure watches from the doorway, as the two shares their kiss. Shino is revealed as the hidden person, watching silently. He hangs his head and sighs mournfully. After a moment, he turns and leaves down the hall dejectedly.

Hinata pulls back, without looking up to Naruto. "...I'm sorry Naruto-kun..."

Naruto smiles and looks down, "Don't worry, I've had an eventful night already..." He looks over to Sakura with a smile. She looks into his eyes and looked over to him flirtatiously when she caught on to what he was saying.

Hinata pushes Naruto away and looks down to the ground, "you... and Sakura... you look cute together..."

Both Naruto and Sakura look back palely, especially Sakura. "She said we look cute..." She smiled and scratched her head, "Heh... I guess we are."

Naruto turns his head to her, surprised. "We do? What is she talking about? Sakura-chan? You don't like me though..."

She closed her eyes and smirked, "I lied..."

Naruto's eye started to twitch from shock, "...what?"

Sakura's eyebrows dipped down in anger, "What, did you think I lied to you earlier or something?"

Flashback:

Sakura popped into Naruto's mind, "...I... I like you Naruto."

"Hmm... forgot about that." Naruto pops up in excitement, "...but its just some stupid crush, right Sakura-chan?!"

"...No..."

"...huh?"

Sakura turned red and looked down at her feet, which were twitching nervously. "I... can't lie Naruto. I really do like you... and I'd... I'd want something with you."

Hinata held her hands up to her mouth at Sakura's confession. "Naruto-kun... you have someone who cares about you a lot... I... I don't want to get in the way."

Sakura looks over to her, and slumps down with guilt. "You're ruining everything..."

Naruto walks up smiling, "I'm sorry love sucks so much." Both girls turn to him with stunned looks on their faces. "I don't know, it seems as if everyone loves someone they could probably never have..." Naruto begins to rub the back of his head, "...which is why Sakura-chan liking me was so surprising, heh."

Hinata looked down to the ground sadly, "...Why doesn't it always work out..."

Naruto looked away feeling guilty, "Well... I'm sorry it didn't work out. I'm not exactly being very fair, but... you can meet someone way better than me, for you Hinata-chan."

She curled up, and thought about what Naruto said. While she was thinking, Shino came to mind. "Shino-sama... He... He probably knows just how I feel..."