Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the story, characters, manga, or anime.

Wow, all the wonderful reviews! Although the death threats were a little unsettling. Anyway, sorry for not updating sooner. College finals have been driving me crazy, and my internet has been out for about a week. Something about excessive bandwidth or other. Stupid IT…so,

Top Secret Genin Training Exercise – con.

Kurenai was sitting in a tree with Kakashi and Asuma, watching her students through a pair of binoculars. She let out a small chuckle at the sight of Hinata and Naruto, tumbling through the woods.

Good for her. She turned her attention on Kakashi, reading one of his Icha Icha Paradise Books. "What is so interesting about those perverted books?"

Kakashi brought his one eye to her, then looked at Asuma, "Why don't you ask Asuma? He's been borrowing mine whenever I finish them."

Kurenai turned her glare, now murderous, to Asuma, whose cigarette slipped out of his hanging mouth. The forest was soon filled with the sounds of a horrible beating as Kakashi took his turn with the binoculars, seeing as Kurenai was busy and Asuma was…not going to do anything for a while.

Naruto and Hinata continued to stare at each other, word escaping the young boy. Hinata was becoming more worried by the minute, having confessed her love and getting no response seem to be more heartbreaking than a rejection because of the the hope she was feeling she knew was going to be dashed any minute. She wanted to know what Naruto was thinking so much…

No…she can't, thought Naruto, looking down. She can't love me. I just want friends, not this. I can't let anyone go through actually loving me. He heard a sniffle and looked at Hinata. She had begun crying once he lowered his head, and he felt the familiar feeling in his chest, except this one was more painful. He knew he didn't want to see her cry no matter what. Do I love her…? I-I have to show her, so she will stop loving me… Naruto thought dejectedly.

"Hinata…"

"Y-yes, Naruto-kun?" she replied, sobbing quietly.

"I need you to look at something." Naruto removed the top part of his costume and his jacket. When he reached for the hem of his shirt, Hinata turned away, blushing.

"Hinata-chan, please look…" he pleaded, causing Hinata to turn hearing the need in his voice.

He removed his shirt, eliciting a slight blush from Hinata but she didn't look away. He sighed, and brought his hands in front of his face to summon chakra. Hinata stared at him (not without a few not-so-innocent thoughts in her head) questioningly, but let a small gasp escape when she saw the swirl appear on his stomach, encircling his navel. It was soon followed by another seal on top of it. Naruto lowered his hands, and put one of them to the seal, a sad look on his face.

"Naruto-kun, what is that?"

"You know what happened twelve years ago, right?"

"Y-Yes, the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi, the d-demon fox."

Naruto smirked at the response, "That's half true. The Yondaime couldn't defeat the Kyuubi. He could only seal it," at this, Naruto placed his hand back on the seal, "inside a newborn baby." He looked at Hinata, tears forming in his eyes, "Inside me."

Hinata could do nothing but stare at him for a minute before her eyes widened in realization. The way everyone, especially the adults, treated him over the years. Why he was always so alone. She felt an overwhelming urge to comfort him and hold him, to try to take away the pain of all those years. She slowly crawled toward Naruto, staring at the seal.

Naruto was taken slightly aback, he was expecting Hinata to run away in fear and hate, but somewhere deep in his mind told him she wouldn't do such a thing. She never did mean things to me…she was always nice. Always… and Naruto suddenly blushed as he felt something on his stomach. Hinata was tracing the spiral seal with her finger, and then she kissed the middle of it, causing Naruto to blush even more. He noticed a warm wetness from her eyes and looked down at her. She turned to face him, tears in her eyes.

"I-I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun. I should h-have been nicer to you. Maybe then, you w-wouldn't have been so alone," she said softly, her crying starting to increase.

Again, Naruto felt a painful tug in his chest watching Hinata cry. He tried to think of something, anything, to make her happy. He tried to think of things he noticed from her past, but he couldn't think of anything. All he could think of was Hinata standing off to the sides, staring at him. At school, sometimes in public he noticed her standing behind things seeming to watch him. Her giving him the medicine at the chunnin exam, even when her own teammate was hurt. Always watching him…something seemed to click in Naruto's thick head. He looked down at this frail, quiet girl kneeling in front of him, crying for him, even after hearing his deepest, darkest secret. E put his fingers under her chin and made her look up at him.

"H-Hinata," he said, staring into her swollen, lavender eyes, hearing her silent sobs. He had always found her kind of cute, but for the first time in his young life, he had found her to be the most beautiful thing in the world. No, she's always been this beautiful. I've just been too stupid to realize it.

My thoughts exactly.

Shut up…! Naruto told the demon mentally, but turned his attention back to Hinata, still crying with his hand on her chin. He moved his hand to cup her chin while showing one of his genuine smiles, tears of joy forming in his eyes. She gasped at the tender touch, but quickly smiled and closed her eyes while nuzzling into the hand, enjoying the feel of his skin. He lowered his head and planted a small kiss on her forehead, causing her to once again look up into his eyes.

"Hinata. I'm the one who should be sorry. I should noticed you a long time ago, but I was too stupid. I never realized you were there, and I am glad of it, you were nice to me, when no one else was."

Hinata stared at him another minute, before a smile spread across her face, causing a bigger one on Naruto. "Oh, Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed, before launching herself at him, burying her face in his chest. She felt his arms encircle her shoulders and she melted into his touch relishing the feeling of hearing his heart. She could feel his tight chest muscles, his soft skin…suddenly her eyes shot open. Naruto-kun…without his shirt…and I'm hugging him! This was her final thought before everything went black.

Naruto felt her suddenly go limp in his arms, "Hinata? Hinata!" he yelled, slightly scared. But soon relaxed a small smile spread across her face.

"Naruto-kun…bare chested…" she said softly, blushing. Naruto, also blushing, carefully laid her down before pulling his shirt back on. He then attempted to wake her by gently shaking her shoulders.

"Hinata…Hinata…" he called softly, trying not to scare her. He soon stopped and started admiring her face. Her beautiful smooth skin, the small, cute blush that seemed to be painted on her face. Swallowing nervously, he lowered his head, planting a small kiss on her cheeks. He quickly pulled back when he heard her gasp. "I-I'm sorry, Hinata! I don't know what came over me," he apologized, blushing to rival the shy girl herself. She stared at him, seemingly in shock. He began to panic, "I-I'm sorry! Here, I have something to clean it off with!" He began digging into his pockets for a tissue or something, scattering its contents all over the ground. At the appearance of his frog wallet, Hinata, who had been silently watching him still in shock from the closeness of his lips to hers, suddenly released a small squeal, clutching the green plush thing to her chest. Naruto was shocked at the sudden turn around, but was soon speechless with a small smile at the adorable scene in front of him.

"Oh, Naruto-kun! I love frogs! They're so cute!" she exclaimed excitedly, but suddenly stopped, embarrassed at her own outburst.

Naruto, on the other hand, had an excited glint in his eyes. "You like frogs, too? Then watch this!" he said, biting his thumb. Hinata stared at him curiously as he formed seals before slamming it into the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" There was a puff of smoke and where Naruto's hand had struck, a small red frog with a blue vest. Hinata widened her eyes at the sight, her mouth opening in the largest smile Naruto had ever seen on her. He felt his chest feel with happiness that he had been able to cause so much happiness for her. The frog looked from him to her and back to him before speaking, "Yo, Naruto! Who's the cute girl? Is she your girlfriend?" At this, Naruto and Hinata blushed.

"Hey! Gamakichi! Be nice! This is Hinata. Hinata, this is Gamakichi," Naruto introduced, and then pointed at himself importantly. "I'm his father Gamabunta's subordinate."

Hinata smiled at Naruto and bowed to the small frog, "Pleased to meet you, Gamakichi!" Gamakichi smiled and bowed, in his own way, to Hinata. It ended in a yelp as he was picked up by Hinata and crushed between her arms. Naruto laughed at the sight of him struggling to escape, but deep down was envious of Gamakichi's predicament. Gamakichi quickly escaped, breathing hard after his near strangulation. He turned to Naruto, "Hey, Naruto, can I go? I was talking with my dad?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. Tell him I said 'Hi" okay!" and the frog waved to each of them before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Naruto looked up at Hinata, only to discover her staring at him demurely, a small blush ever-present on her cheeks.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. That was very sweet."

He smiled a genuine smile at her, putting a hand behind his head Naruto-style. "Ah, it's okay, Hinata-chan. Gamakichi fun every once in a while, but he always wants a snack when I call him." He suddenly looked down, somewhat shamefully.

Hinata's face automatically turned to one of concern, "Naruto-kun, what's wrong?"

"I-I'm sorry for kissing your cheek a minute ago," he said, looking at her rather sheepishly. "It just happened, and I'll never do it-" he stopped, a finger pressed to his lips.

Hinata said, very softly, "Shhh…don't say that, it would upset me very much." With that, her blush again increased in intensity.

Naruto instantly smiled and they both cherished the moment, staring into each other's eyes. The moment was quickly ruined by the sound of a far-off whistle. Naruto groaned, "Damn that Kakashi-sensei, ruining my time with you." Naruto suddenly brightened up before turning back to Hinata, "Ummm…Hinata-chan…if you want…we can go get some ramen after this," he said hopefully, "I mean, if you don't want to or if you're too bu-"

"Hai!" she exclaimed, before catching herself with a hand to her mouth. She smiled and continued, in much softer voice, "Hai, Naruto-kun, I would like that very much." Unknown to Naruto, this was the understatement on the century, as all her dreams had suddenly come true in an instant.

"Great!" he said, standing up, offering his hand to her. "Well, we better get back before they come looking for us."

She smiled, grabbing his hand and pulling herself up, "O-Okay, Naruto-kun." They both walked into the forest, hand-in-hand, knowing that the future looked much brighter for both of them. Hinata had finally confessed her feelings, and they had grown with his return of her affections. Naruto had finally found someone to love him and truly accept everything about him. He knew even Iruka-sensei hated the Kyuubi, but Hinata had merely accepted as part of who he was. He smiled, tightening his hand in hers, feeling the touch returned. He suddenly stopped, turning towards her, giving her another genuine, causing her to blush, giving him a questioning look. He cupped her face in his hands, slowly bringing his face to hers, their lips closing…

The Endinata