Disclaimer: Don't own it, wish I did.

For Always

Part One: Return From Despair

It's been three years since Naruto's return from training with Jiraiya. Three years since rescuing Gaara of the Sand from Akatsuki. Three years since the encounter with Orochimaru and Sasuke. It's been a month since his final encounter with the Village Hidden in the Sound. A month since he was forced to kill the friend he had promised to save.

The war with the Sound had progressed rapidly in those three years and Orochimaru had made a desperate bid at Konoha. Naruto was pitted against the Uchiha that had betrayed them five years past, and he was forced to kill him. He had broken his promise of a lifetime in order to save the village and friends he loved. He had ended the war, but the cost was high.

Sakura was devastated. She never left her house anymore. Naruto was consumed with guilt for destroying his two closest friends lives. He wash spiraling into depression, his usual upbeat façade shattered. He rarely went out anymore. He barely talked to his friends. He hadn't shown up at Ichiraku in days, and Hinata was becoming worried.

"Um.. Excuse me, but uh.. Have you seen Naruto?" she meekly asked the owner. "No, can't say that I have. He's not been by for a week or so. Business has dropped since then. He was my best customer. He might be out on a mission though. Sorry I couldn't help." "Oh, thank you." Hinata bowed and quickly left. This only egged her worry on. Naruto usually bragged about missions with that mischievous grin she loved so much. Maybe he was sick? She had never seen him with so much as a cough before, but there was a first time for everything. Three days later she had mustered up the courage to go to his house.

Naruto heard a knock at his door. "Who's there?" he asked, not wanting visitors. "Um.. It's Hinata." He smiled to himself. 'Alright, maybe one visitor.' He opened the door for her. Hinata blushed a fierce crimson. He was only wearing a pair of loose sweatpants. She had trouble taking her eyes off of his chiseled torso. "Huh?" He noticed her stare and grin sheepishly. "Oh yeah, heh heh. I'll go get a shirt. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable." Hinata could only nod, not trusting herself to speak.

She sat down on the couch while he went to his room. Except for a few raman packs, his house was clean. "Ahhh damn!" Naruto yelled, followed by a loud crash. Hinata ran into the room hoping he was okay. He sat on the floor scratching his head. His feet where tangled up in a discarded shirt and he had knocked over his lamp. He saw her and put on a stupid grin. "Well, I must be in the Ninja Hall of Shame right now. Uzumaki Naruto. Future Hokage. Tripped Over Shirt. Expelled From Konoha for Lack of Coordination." They shared a laugh.

He untangled himself from the clutz trap and sat on the bed, a tired look in his eyes. He motioned for Hinata to join him. "So, what brings you around Hinata-chan?" She blushed and twiddled her fingers. "Well, I uh, was worried Naruto-kun." "Worried? What for? I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'm gonna be Hokage someday. You don't need to worry about me." He saw the concern in her eyes and dropped his act. "You shouldn't worry about me. It would be a waste of your time. I'm not a proud failure. I'm just a failure. I made a promise to Sakura-chan. The promise of a lifetime. I don't go back on my word. That was my nindo. I was going to bring Sasuke-teme back, but I killed him instead. I broke my nindo, and may as well have killed Sakura-chan as well. I hear she hasn't left her house since I brought his body back. You should have seen the look in her eyes. It destroyed her Hinata-chan. I gave her that pain. It's all my fault." He put his head in his hands with tears in his eyes, but unable to let out the despair. "It's not your fault Naruto-kun!"

He looked up in surprise at the strength of her statement. "You killed Sasuke to protect Konoha. You did it to protect us, to save the village. If you hadn't, many more lives would have been lost." She looked at her hands. "You would have been lost." she finished quietly. She looked back at him. "Sakura-chan needs time to grieve, but she'll be okay with time. She'll smile again."

Naruto couldn't share her optimism. "Yeah she'll get better, and hate me like everyone else in Konoha." "That's not true." Naruto was amazed at the strength coming from shy little Hinata. "Iruka-sensei cares about you. Tsunade hokage-sama cares about you. So do the rest of us. Shikamaru-kun, Ino-chan, Chouji-kun, Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, Lee-kun, Tenten-chan, Neji-kun. Me. We all care about you Naruto-kun." Naruto still wasn't convinced. "Right. Like anyone would care about me." He got up and stood in the middle of the room. "If you knew the truth, you wouldn't even want to be around me." Hinata was getting fed up with his self loathing. "Tell me the truth then Naruto-kun. Let me decide."

Naruto gave in. Who cares who knew about it now. "Alright Hinata-chan. You know about the demon Kyuubi and his attack of Konoha about eighteen years ago. You know the Fourth Hokage defeated the Nine-tails. What you don't know is that he didn't kill it." He paused, not wanting to continue now that he had started. He gritted his teeth and pushed forward. "He sealed it away. Sealed it inside the body of an infant." He lifted his shirt and channeled some chakra revealing the seal on his stomach. "He sealed it inside me." Hinata could only stare in shock as everything fell into place. The villagers' unspoken contempt of Naruto. His victory over Neji. His amazing healing ability. His huge chakra pool. It was the demon.

"So, when you die, so does the Kyuubi. He couldn't kill it right out, so he did this. He sacrificed himself and you to save Konoha." She looked into his eyes, not caring about what was sealed inside of him. She knew who and what Naruto was, and a demon he was not. The pain and suffering he must have gone through growing up, her turmoil was nothing compared to that. Her own pain at thinking she would never have the confidence to tell Naruto how she felt seemed inconsequential next to what he went through. She walked over to him and kissed him with all she had. Her Naruto was suffering and she wouldn't allow it anymore.

"I love you Naruto-kun," she whispered to him. "You're still the same person I fell in love with years ago." "I love you too Hinata-chan." She kissed him again as his tears fell.

Darkness had fallen. Hinata held Naruto's sleeping body, giving him the comfort he had desperately needed. She ran a hand through his unruly blonde hair and smiled contently. She had finally told him, and he had returned her love. "I love you Naruto-kun," she whispered. "For always."

End part one.