Author's Note: Hello, hello…Welcome to my second fanfic. Main pair will be NaruHina. Other pairs aren't decided yet…but NaruHina is definite.

Legend:

"Hello"…normal

'Hello'…thoughts/flashback

0000000000...Hello...0000000000…scene change

(Hello)…Hinata

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…and I probably never will!

Chapter 1: Crippled Man, Mute Woman

"I'm leaving for Konoha tomorrow," Uzumaki Naruto said softly, gazing out at the orange-strained horizon. The pink-haired girl beside him looked at him with surprised eyes.

"Tomorrow…? But…" she stuttered, burying her face in her hands in disbelief.

"I know it's so soon, Sakura-chan…But you've got to understand! I've been waiting for this chance all my life! And you can't come with me…you've just been accepted into Tokyo medical school." The blonde replied, and flashed Sakura his trademark smile – the smile she had always loved. So she smiled too, although she was hurting inside.

"I know. I won't stop you…but I'll miss you." She said quietly, and she looked up at him. The two leaned in for a kiss…it was long, passionate, but sad. They tried to enjoy the moment, though – it might be the last kiss they'll ever share in a long time. They broke away after a while, and Naruto pulled Sakura into a warm embrace.

"I'll miss you too, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, breathing into her soft shoulder-length hair. Sakura nodded, tears threatening to fall, but she held them back. "You have a dream, and so do I. So promise me this: When I return, you'll have accomplished your dream of being a doctor…because by then, I'll have achieved my dream." She could only nod as she listened to him. She wished she could say something more, but she found that her lips wouldn't move, and she couldn't bring herself to let out a sound. The two broke away slowly, and Naruto turned around to leave. "Well, see you, Sakura-chan." He said, not looking at her. Sakura just stared after the retreating form of the man she had loved for more than 2 years. The gravity-defying, ridiculously bright blond hair spiked upon his head…his deep sapphire blue eyes…the orange jacket he wore everyday, no matter what occasion…She stifled a sob and walked away, back to her house.

0000000000...At Tokyo Airport...0000000000

The blaring noise of the airplane was deafening as Naruto prepared to climb onto the plane. It was small, so it was required for him to walk outside onto the field to ride it. Just as he was about to climb in, however, a familiar voice shouted through over the roar.

"NARUTO!" Naruto turned around slowly, and it was almost in slow motion – there was Sakura, pink hair blowing wildly around her in the wind, her loose red skirt billowing around her legs – and his sapphire eyes widened.

"S…SAKURA-CHAN?" He exclaimed, and could only stare in surprise. What was she doing there? Sakura walked closer to the airplane so that he could hear her better.

"Naruto…I…I just wanted to say…" Sakura shouted, impatiently pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "I just wanted to say…You'd better come back! Because…I love you!" she yelled the last part as loud as she could. Naruto didn't say anything. Sakura looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "So…you have to promise me…you have to promise me that we'll meet again, okay?" she said, managing a teary smile. Naruto grinned back. She loved his smiles; they were always so reassuring and carefree.

"Alright…I promise. And also…I have something to say to you, too!" he said. A flight attendant walked out of the plane, and tapped him on the shoulder.

"We have to leave soon." He whispered, and Naruto impatiently nodded. He turned back to Sakura.

"I…When I come back, I'll… I'LL MARRY YOU!" he shouted. The plane's roar was getting louder, signaling that it was going to take off soon. Sakura's eyes widened. Marry her? She wiped her tears away.

"…you promise you'll marry me?" she asked, and Naruto nodded. Just then, he was escorted hurriedly into the plane by two attendants. The plane started moving, and Naruto banged on the airplane windows. He shouted something that sounded like "I promise I'll come back and marry you!" Sakura nodded, and she turned away, hugging herself as the plane took off into the sky.

'Please come back soon…Naruto…'

0000000000…A few days later, in the Konoha Hospital…0000000000

"So you're Hyuuga Hinata, right? Welcome to Konoha Hospital! I've been assigned to lead you around the hospital and help you get to know the other nurses…I'm Tenten, by the way." A cheerful, bun-haired brunette said cheerfully. Hinata nodded. She rummaged in her pocket, and pulled out a notebook with a pen clipped onto it. She wrote something on one page, and showed it to Tenten.

(What job do you have in Konoha Hospital?) Tenten smiled.

"I'm a surgeon. I perform open-heart surgeries…it's not an easy job, but I get paid large amounts of money and I tend to feel proud when I save someone's life. Oh, what job were you assigned again? Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention to Kakashi-sensei." She replied.

(Kakashi-sensei assigned me to take care of patient #1313…but I don't know the person's name.) Hinata wrote.

"Patient #1313…Oh, I think I heard of one the nurses say that his name is Uzumaki Naruto…They told me that he was the only one who survived the plane crash in Suna. Since Suna doesn't have any good hospitals, they quickly brought his body here. He broke all of his bones and he has a case of amnesia from what I've heard. And," Tenten said, and lowered her voice slightly. "Lee, who is one of the bone-specialists, told me that he'll probably never walk again. They're trying all they can, but the chance of him walking or running around after recovering is practically impossible." Hinata's eyes softened with sympathy and concern for the patient…Uzumaki Naruto, was it?

(Will he live?) She asked, and Tenten nodded.

"Yeah, the doctors said he'll live. Actually, he regained consciousness last night. The only thing he remembered about himself was his name, though. He can't remember any family members or friends. Some investigators and police are coming in tomorrow to find out where he is from. But the plane he was on was marked 'Tokyo', so I'm guessing he's from Tokyo." The two women arrived in the nurses' lounge. "Well, enough about the patient. You'll meet him sometime today. First of all, this is where the nurses hang out during lunch break or when they're taking a rest. There's a cafeteria over there, and a washroom, too. Oh, here comes some of the nurses! I'll introduce you to them." Tenten said brightly, and just then, several people walked in. 2 of them were women, and two were men. One girl had long platinum-blond hair tied up in a ponytail, and the other girl had dirty-blond hair tied into four pigtails. One of the men had a ridiculous bowl-cut hairstyle and abnormally thick eyebrows while the other man had long, silky-looking dark brown hair tied at the bottom and silvery pale-lavender eyes. Hinata's own pale-lavender eyes widened visibly at the sight of him, and Tenten noticed this.

"Do you know Neji, Hinata?" she asked, looking between the two. "Wait a moment…Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji? Are you two siblings?" she exclaimed, and Hinata smiled slightly at the brunette's outburst.

"We're not siblings. We're cousins." Neji replied calmly. The two blond girls and the guy with the fuzzy eyebrows looked at him in disbelief.

"Cousins? Hyuuga, you had a cousin?" the girl with the four pigtails asked.

"How come you never told us?" the pony tailed-girl asked, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, I thought we were your friends!" the fuzzy-browed man exclaimed hysterically, and Neji's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"First of all, why would I tell anyone about my family. Second of all, since when were you people my friends?" he stated simply, glaring at them. However, Tenten wasn't affected at all by his intimidating glare.

"Since you were 5 years old and needed me or Lee to accompany you to the bathroom. When I came with you, you'd try to pull me in the men's bathroom with you because you were afraid of murderers in the stalls." She replied dryly, and everyone started to snicker. Neji eyebrow twitched again, this time more visibly, and promptly walked out of the room.

"Yeah, go Tenten! You sure kick some Hyuuga-butt!" the pony tailed-girl cheered.

"Heh, I had to deal with that ice block ever since I was 5. Oops, sorry Hinata, I totally forgot about you! Everyone, this is Hyuuga Hinata. She's a nurse of Konoha Hospital starting from today." Tenten said, and Hinata bowed slightly to everyone. She pulled out her notebook, wrote something, and showed it to the blonds and the remaining man.

(Nice to meet you, everyone.) Hinata had written, and she smiled.

"Oh! So you're the new nurse! I'm Yamanaka Ino, the secretary of this hospital." The pony tailed girl said happily.

"I'm Temari, a physician. Nice to meet you, too!" the girl with the four pigtails said with a wink.

"Me, I'm Rock Lee! One of the proud bone-specialists of Konoha Hospital!" the man with the bowl-cut hair greeted enthusiastically.

"And I guess you've already met Hyuuga Neji, another surgeon. He does open-heart surgeries as well." Tenten finished, and Hinata nodded.

"So," Ino suddenly said, looking curiously at Hinata. "You're mute?" Temari growled at her question, while Tenten shot her a glare.

"Ino!" Temari yelled warningly, but stopped when Hinata placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned to Ino and nodded with a small smile on her face.

(I was born with the insides of my throat damaged.) Hinata wrote, and Ino nodded understandingly.

"I see…Sorry if I appeared rude, I was just curious." She said apologetically.

"Your curiosity gets the better of you sometimes…" Temari sighed.

"I totally agree," Tenten said, nodding.

"Hey!" Ino pouted, and Tenten chuckled.

"We should be going now. Come on, Hinata, I'll lead you to your patient." She said, and Temari spoke up.

"Your patient…? Oh, Uzumaki Naruto? Ouch, I really feel sorry for you!" she exclaimed, clasping her hand to her forehead. When Hinata looked at her questioningly, Ino decided to answer.

"You see, that man is a real pain! I've witnessed one of his…fits…and it wasn't a pretty sight! He throws stuff, he yells, he makes a big mess…The psychologists and some mental therapists say that it's because he's mentally unstable. I don't blame him, waking up with no memories of yourself should be quite stressful and confusing, but still…" she replied, and gave a reassuring pat on Hinata's shoulder. "But I'm sure you'll do fine! Even if you mess up, Kakashi-sensei will probably give you break…After all, don't forget that it's only your first day here!" Temari glanced at the clock hanging on the wall opposite of them.

"Oh no, Ino, we've got to go now! Break time is over!" she exclaimed, and Ino gasped.

"Oh no! Um, bye Hinata-chan! We'll talk more at lunchtime, okay?" she said quickly, and she dashed out of the room.

"I've got a meeting in 5 minutes…See you later, Hinata, Tenten." Temari said, and also walked out of the room. Tenten smiled.

"We should be going, too. And don't worry about what Ino and Temari said," she said reassuringly at the worried look on Hinata's face. "Remember, it's your first time here and no one will blame you if you do something wrong." Hinata nodded in thanks and the two walked out of the lounge.

0000000000…Room 1313…0000000000

A bowl of porridge flew through the air and landed with a deafening crash on the tiled floor. Rice porridge splattered everywhere, staining the white cotton curtains. A glass plate shattered onto the floor as well, sending many pieces of glass shooting under the bed and under the tables and chairs.

"Naruto-san, please calm down!" a lady with short black hair exclaimed, trying to calm the enraged man down. But the blond man wouldn't listen; he just let out another furious roar and roughly pushed the nurse away.

"Get away from me! Leave me alone!" Naruto yelled, and proceeded to throw various stuff across the room. However, he stopped abruptly when he felt searing pain in his arms and legs. He plopped back down on the bed, gritting his teeth in pain.

"Naruto-san!" the nurse cried in alarm. She looked at the mess on the floor and the walls, and back at him. She grabbed a broom started to sweep frantically, pushing the pieces of broken glass to the side. When a little pathway was cleared, she tiptoed across the room and opened the door, only to crash into someone or something.

Meanwhile, Tenten and Hinata had arrived in front of a white door that had a plaque. On the silver plaque it had "Room #1313" written in slightly faded black letters.

"This is it," Tenten said, and Hinata opened the door…only to get hit hard on the chest by something hard.

"Ahh!" someone screamed, and Hinata winced as she landed hard on the tiled floor.

"Hinata! Are you okay?" Tenten exclaimed, and Hinata nodded.

"Ouch…I'm so sorry…" someone whimpered. In front of them was a woman with short black hair and black eyes.

"Shizune-san!" Tenten exclaimed.

"Ah, Tenten-san! What are you doing here?" the woman, whose name was Shizune, asked. Tenten gestured towards Hinata.

"This is Hyuuga Hinata, and she's been assigned as the new caretaker of Uzumaki Naruto." She replied, and Hinata bowed.

"Oh really? Nice to meet you, I'm Shizune." Shizune said nervously. Hinata took out her notebook and wrote something down hurriedly.

(Is something going on in there? I heard noises.) Shizune grimaced.

"Ummm…you see…um, well…Naruto-san just had one of his…anger bursts again." She mumbled. She suddenly looked at Hinata in confusion. "But…why use a notebook and pen to speak?"

"She's…mute." Tenten explained simply.

"Ah, I see…I'm sorry for my foolishness, it should be so obvious you're disabled…I mean mute…oh great, I'm babbling again…Um, I'll go get a broom, so Hinata-san, just go in there and watch Naruto-san, okay?" Shizune said quickly, and darted off somewhere. Tenten sighed as she watched the older woman trip on something and fall, only to get up as if nothing happened and kept on running.

"I'm always worried about her…She's older than us, but she babbles when she's nervous or scared and she's really clumsy. She gets frightened easily, too. Hey, but she's quite friendly once you get to know her. Hinata nodded in understanding. Tenten glanced at her wristwatch.

"Oh great, I have a patient coming in 10 minutes…I should be going soon!" she turned to Hinata. "Well, I'm sure you'll do great. See you at the nurses' lounge at lunchtime, okay?" Hinata smiled and nodded. Tenten hurriedly walked away, leaving Hinata standing in front of the door. Hinata cautiously opened the door and walked in quietly. She saw a young man with spiky blond hair and bandages covering his face and his whole body. If it wasn't for his eyes, nose, and mouth peeking through the wraps, he would have looked like a mummy. Hinata was surprised to see that the man had the most deep sapphire eyes she had ever seen…but they were filled with so much sadness. She felt a pang of sympathy in her heart when she witnessed a single tear well up in one of the sapphire orbs and trickle slowly down the tanned skin and seeped into the bandages. Suddenly, he noticed Hinata's presence. The man sat up gingerly and stared at her pale-lavender eyes with his.

"…who are you?" he asked in a dull, flat-sounding voice. "If you're here to give me food or something, forget it. I'm not hungry." Hinata slowly walked over to him. She pulled out her notebook and pen and neatly wrote her name and showed it to him.

(My name is Hyuuga Hinata.) Naruto raised an eyebrow at her.

"Are you mute or something?" he asked rudely, but to his surprise, she wasn't affected at all by his harsh tone. Instead, she just smiled. It was a sincere smile, one that he hadn't seen before…or had he? The smile seemed oddly familiar, but he couldn't remember. He couldn't remember anything. "I'll take that as a yes. So, what are you doing here?" he asked again.

(I was assigned as your caretaker.) Hinata wrote.

"Hn…I see. Well, do what you want. I'm going to sleep." Naruto announced carelessly, and lay back down on the bed. Hinata took a broom from one of the closets and started to sweep the pieces of glass into a garbage bag. Meanwhile, Naruto lay on his bed, thinking.

'She seems like a nice person…unlike those fussy, overly-sympathetic nurses. I wonder if…wait, that can't be possible. Yeah…I'm just tired right now. If she sees me in my angered state, she'll leave too, like the other nurses. I'm sure of it.' And so Naruto rolled over onto his side and fell into a dream of darkness once more, and the kind, sincere smile that he thought he'd seen before…but when?

To be continued…

Well, that was the first chapter. What do you think? The next chapters will be focused more on Hinata. So…do you:

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