Disclaimer: I don't not own any of Naruto.
Naruto, now 17, finally gave up on Sakura. He was done chasing after someone who wouldn't give him a chance. They were better off as friends anyway. She was still the same old Sakura, just more mature (or just stronger, Naruto didn't pay attention). And with Sasuke back, she definitely wanted a good chance to go out with him. Old habits die hard, huh?
When Sasuke came back, not everyone was very accepting. Some thought he was Orochimaru's new spy. Others welcomed him back with open arms, while a third group just remained neutral.
Reminiscing on the last five years of his life, Naruto started to realize just how much Hinata was always there for him. He doubted that she'd still have any interest in him. But either way, he was going to return the favor in full.
Hinata wasn't the same shy, timid girl she used to be. Not after proving to everyone how much one can change. Her strength had grown, now a match for her cousin. Long gone are the days she stuttered. She'd caught up to Naruto, height wise. Naruto, having grown from a scrawny 4' 9" to 5'8", Hinata only fell a few inches short. Little did Naruto know Hinata still admired him.
The three were soon brought together for a mission. They were to assassinate a threat lurking on the border of Fire. Meeting at the gate within the hour, they set out on a chakra-induced run. Halfway to border, they made camp.
"Sasuke, Hinata, did you hear that?"
They nodded.
"It's an ambush! He has friends!"
"Hinata, Naruto, hold your ground! And whatever you do, don't let him escape!"
Seemingly equal in strength, the fight lasted some time. Slowly, the three were separated. Sasuke was on his own, whereas Hinata and Naruto were together. All were wounded, bleeding heavily. Hinata landed thefinal blow, killing the leader. The others with him fled upon seeing their leader killed. Losing blood rapidly, rain, now pouring, they needed to find a cave, or something of the like, to rest in.
Hinata found one, leading Naruto to it, collecting firewood along the way. Finally residing in the cave, a fire sending shadows everywhere, Hinata pulled out ointment and bandages.
"You always think of everything, don't you, Hinata?"
"Just the essentials, now take off your jacket so I can tend to your wounds."
Naruto complied. Hinata addressed the more serious wounds, then taking care of some of her own.
"Naruto, I've been thinking about how to tell you this. I won't lie, I'm nervous. So I'll be blunt, I really, really like you."
He was silent, contemplating how to respond to her statement.
"Hinata, I've never been good with words, so, um..."
To finish his sentence, he closed the space between them, and kissed her. Both were shy at first, but the kiss turned something fierce. They broke for need of air, and inexperience, neither having a relationship in the past.
"So are we…" Hinata trailed off.
"That's up to you. Do you want to?"
"You don' know how long I've waited for this."
"So it's official."
Both lay on the ground, content, hands entwisted. Slowly, but surely, sleep overpowered them.
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"Hinata, Hinata, we need to find Sasuke and head back to the village."
"I'm awake, Naruto. But how do we find Sasuke?"
"Knowing him, he's looking for us right now. And you've got the Byakugan. So that should help us."
Not fifteen minutes later, the three were headed back to Konohagakure. Hinata and Naruto ready to starta new chapter of their lives together.
'I'm not alone anymore.'
Okay, so that was my first story. I wrote it in about a day. I was kicked off the computer that day and had nothing to do, so I wrote this. I don't really have a view on how it came out, but there it is. So if you want to review go ahead. If you don't want to, hurry up and leave.
To make sure you understand the firewood part, considering the rain, I'll explain. Some of the sticks on the ground were left untouched by rain because of the trees' cover. So I hope that helps. It makes sense to me.
I had been planning on making Sasuke start to like Hinata as well since they're all 17 now. 'Cause he needs someone to help him in restoring the clan. Considering she has a kekkei genkai too. But I got ahead of myself and this is how it turned out. So thank you for taking the time to read this piece of crap. Good-bye.