Hinata lay on her bed almost motionless. She had gone to bed very restlessly. She knew what day was coming, and she was hoping beyond hope about what would happen today. This led to staying up half the night because she couldn't sleep. She was too excited.
"BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT" her alarm sounded at its usual time, 6:00. Hinata, however, did not get up as usual. In fact, her arm swung, and turned off the alarm. Then, she proceeded to roll over, and fall back asleep.

Through White Eyes
Chapter 3

Hinata opened her eyes, and was nearly blinded by the morning sun. She sat up, and looked sleepily around the room. She looked down at the clock that was next to her bed. It read 7:52 am. Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin. 'It's so late.' She thought to herself. 'Why didn't anyone wake me up?' She sprang up, ran towards the door, flung it open, and ran through the door. She collided with none other than Hanabi. The two were knocked down to the floor. They both looked up at each other.
"Ow," said Hanabi. She stood up, and looked at her sister. "Why'd you have to do something like that?" her face shown with mild pain. Hinata stood up and bowed low to her sister.
"Forgive me." She said. "It would seem I'm running behind this morning." She hurried off to get ready.
"Oh, by the way," Hanabi called behind her. Hinata stopped, and turned to face her little sister. "Neji-san is downstairs. He said he needed to see you."
"Please tell him I will be down in a minute," she called, and with that, she hurried to get ready.
Twenty minutes later, Hinata came rushing downstairs to greet her cousin. "Good morning, Neji-nee san." She said to him, and she bowed low. "Forgive me for being late, I over slept."
Neji smiled at his young cousin. "That's quite already, Hinata-sama." He said with a smile. He reached behind his back, and pulled out a colorfully wrapped present. "Happy white day." He said, and handed her the gift. Hinata was overjoyed at receiving her gift.
"Thank you very much." She said, and she pulled off the wrappings. The gift turned out to be an advanced jutsu guide. Hinata smiled at her cousin, and thanked him courteously.
"It's the least I could do, sense you gave me those delicious chocolates on Valentines day." He said with a smile. Hinata turned, and ran back upstairs to put her new book away. She opened it, and looked at some of the jutsu's the book would teach her. To her disappointment, there wasn't much in the book that she hadn't already been able to do. In fact the only thing she didn't already know were the genjutsus that they described.
Hinata felt discouraged that her cousin felt that she was that weak, but was thankful none the less. She ran into her room, placed the book down next to her alarm clock, and hurried downstairs, and to the main gate.
"I'm off." She called to no one in particular, as she ran out the Hyuuga's main gate. She was running very late this morning, and had promised to meet Shino and Kiba along the forest road at 8:00. It was now 8:15, and they were probably starting to become impatient. She hurried along the road nearly running headlong into someone 3 different times. She hastily apologized to each one, and continued on her way.
By 8:20, Hinata had finally arrived the spot where her friends told her to meet them, but there were no signs of them to be seen. She quickly activated her Byakugan, and looked around the immediate area. She could see Kiba a short ways away in the forest. He was busy jumping through trees with Akamaru. She headed into the forest, and soon the voice of her wild companion met her ears.
"YAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kibe cried as he leapt from one tree to another. "Way to go, Akamaru." He yelled. Akamaru barked happily. Hinata stepped into a clearing, and her companion saw her. "Good morning Hinata." He called out to her while in mid jump. Hinata could only smile as Kiba and Akamaru leaped down to see her.
"Good morning, Kiba-kun." She said to him. "How was your morning exercise?"
"It was alright." He responded. "We've got a little bit more to do though. But before that…." Kiba reached into his jacket, and pulled out a small box. "Happy white day." He said.
Hinata was once again glad for the gift. She took the box, and opened it. They were chocolates. Although, it seemed that someone had already gotten into the box, and eaten five of the twelve chocolates.
Kiba looked down at the box, and started rubbing his head. "Uhhh…sorry about that. I got a little hungry while I was waiting for you." He said. Hinata smiled at her friend.
"It's ok, Kiba-kun." She said. "I doubt I would have been able to eat all these by myself." She picked up a chocolate, and put it into her mouth. She smiled at her companion to show that she enjoyed it.
"You should be ashamed of yourself Kiba." Said a voice from behind Hinata. She spun around and was face to face with the other member of her team, Shino. "Those were for Hinata, and yet, you decided to help yourself to them." His words were stern. Kiba sighed and hung his head low.
"No, really. It's ok." Hinata said, but it seemed like the impact of Shino's words hit Kiba hard.
"I'll….make it up to you, somehow." He said. "Come on Akamaru, let's get back to work." With that, the two leapt into the trees again, to resume their training.
Hinata felt like she should chase after her friend, but Shino's voice stopped her.
"Don't worry about him. He'll get over it." He said. "At least, he'll learn to have a little more self control next time." Hinata nodded in agreement, but she couldn't help feeling somewhat resentful of her companion.
"Anyways," he continued. "Happy White Day." He handed her a small wrapped box. She unwrapped it, and found a small bottle with a strange purple liquid inside. "that's a home made perfume, that I made with the help of my bugs." He said. "I've been gathering pollen from various flowers, to create that unique sent." Hinata smiled and pulled the cap off the bottle to smell it. The smell was very strong, and Hinata had to pull the bottle away from her nose before it made her eyes water.
"Thank you, Shino-kun." She said through watery eyes. Shino took note of this.

"You do not like it?" he asked. Hinata shook her head.
"It's not that I don't like the smell, it's just that it's really strong." She said. "but thank you anyways, I'm sure I'll find a time when I can use it." She bowed to show her appreciation for the gift.
Off in the distance, Kiba could be heard shouting at the top of his lungs. "THAT'S THE WAY TO DO IT AKAMARU!" Hinata felt glad that he was already feeling better. Shino stepped forward in the direction from where Kiba's voice was coming from.
"I agreed to help Kiba with his training today." He said. "You should probably be heading into town." Hinata nodded, and turned, and started walking along the path back into village. Shino stood for a moment gathering his thoughts before jumping into the trees to join in Kiba's training.

Hinata was now sitting down, just outside a sweet shop with Sakura, Ino, and Tenten. The four had agreed to meet today, to discuss their days so far.
"So, Ino," said Tenten. "what have you gotten so far." Ino's face turned a slight shade of red.
"Someone gave me a gift basket filled with all of my favorite foods, and sweets." She said. Sakura leaned forward.
"and….who left this basket of sweets." She asked. Ino stopped blushing, and looked at her.
"That's what's so confusing." She said. "There wasn't a name, or anything attached to the basket." Her faced smiled. "Maybe it's from some secret admirer who has watched me from afar for years."
Hinata couldn't help but smile at this. On her way here, she had seen the identity of Ino's mysterious gift giver. It was none other than Choji. It would seem that lately, he's been developing a crush on his teammate. She laughed to herself, and returned her mind to the conversation at hand.
"What about you, Sakura." Asked Tenten. "What have you gotten so far."
Sakura looked at her friends. "Kakashi-sensei gave me a small box of chocolates yesterday, before he left on his mission. I also got another box, but…..
Ino and Tenten leaned in, in excitement. "But what?" they both asked in unison.
"I found a small box of chocolates on my dresser this morning, when I woke up." She said. "It was kind of a dirty box, and there was this small lock of hair taped over the top." She pulled out a small clear bag, where the raven colored hair she was talking about was resting comfortable in it. "I really don't know what to make of it." She said.
The group remained quite as they all pondered who gave her the box. Sakura was the one to break the long drawn out silence.
"Hey, Ino." She said. "Have you gotten anything from Shikamaru?" Ino's eyes flashed with anger.
"No." she said, and she stood up angrily. "That lazy bastard is on his way to Suna to give a present to that bitch Temari!" the others were quite taken aback by this sudden outburst. Ino, realizing that everyone was watching her, sat down smiled cheerfully. "But what do I care? Who could like a lazy bum like that, huh? Let her have him. It will be her pain, and not mine." She laughed, though you could tell that it wasn't her normal laugh.
"So….Tenten?" Sakura asked, clearly trying to avoid the topic of Shikamaru, "What about you?"
"Me? Oh yeah" she said. "Gai-Sensei, Lee, and Neji are treating me to the spa village that isn't too far away from Konha." Ino and Sakura looked at her with Envy, as if she was going to live their dream. Tenten could only blush, and smile. "How about you Hinata?" asked Tenten, trying to avoid the topic.
Hinata turned and looked at the other three. All of them leaned forward to hear. "W-Well…..Kiba-kun got me a small box of chocolates. A-and Shino-kun got me a small bottle of perfume."
Sakura leaned forward even more. "and?" she asked.
"ummm….Neji-Nee san got me a jutsu book." The three continued to stare at her, expecting her to say something more. "and…that's all I've gotten." The three leaned back in disappointment. Hinata looked down at her feet, and began twiddling her thumbs. She knew who she wanted to give her something. She wanted to be able to look down the road and hear him call…..

"Hey, Hinata!" came the cry of Naruto from down the road. Hinata looked up in utter shock. She completely froze on the spot as Naruto made his way up to her. She turned around to the spot where the other girls were sitting. The three were standing up, preparing to go.

"Ah…I just remembered," said Ino "Mom wanted me to help her with the store today. I'll catch you later." And with that, she jumped in the trees, and left without another word.

"The fifth wanted to see me after this. I should probably get going." Said Sakura hastily. "I'll see you guys later." She followed Ino's example, and disappeared into the trees.

Hinata looked back at Naruto. He was about twenty yards away. She turned around, to plead with Tenten to stay with her, but she was already jumping into the trees. "Sorry Hinata, but I should probably start getting ready for this evening." She said while in mid jump. "I'll see you around."

Hinata suddenly felt very alone in the world. She wanted some kind of support as she faced Naruto. She turned around to face Naruto, and was surprised when he was only a few inches away from his face. Hinata could feel her face turned many different shades of red. 'I can't believe he's this close to me.' She thought.

Naruto looked at her face with mild concern. "Hinata," he said "your face is turning red. Do you have the flu or something?" he put his hand on her forehead, trying to tell if she was sick or not.

'Don't pass out this time.' She told her self. 'Don't pass out this time.' "ummm….no, I'm fine." She said weakly. "W-was there something y-you needed to ask me, N-Naruto-kun?" Naruto gave her a confused looked for a second before snapping his fingers.

"Oh yeah, that's right." He said. "I wanted to ask you something." He said.

'Would you like to go out with me this evening?' asked the Naruto in Hinata's head. She had been planning this scenario for some time now, and she knew what to say next.

"I was wondering if you knew where Ero-sannin is?" he asked.

"Yes." She said. Naruto's face broke out into a smile.

"What!" he exclaimed. He grabbed Hinata by the shoulders, and pulled her within inches of his face. "You really know where he is?" Hinata's mind snapped back to reality.

"I-I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I d-don't know who that is." She said weakly. Naruto let go of her shoulders, and took a few steps back. Hinata was grateful for this. If she had been that close to Naruto for much longer, she probably would have passed out again.

"His real name is Jiraiya." He told her. Hinata's eyes widened. She had heard of the Legendary Frog tamer, but she had never actually seen him. Nor did she expect Naruto to know him. Naruto continued with his description. "He's suppose to be this really excellent ninja, but when you look at him, he just seems like a perverted old man, with long white hair." It was hard for Hinata to believe that anyone as great and respectable as Jiraiya would be considered a pervert. She looked up at Naruto, and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, N-Naruto-kun." She said, "I don't know where he is." Naruto punched a nearby tree in anger.

"Damnit." He shouted. "He's suppose to be helping me with my training, but he's probably to busy doing work to train me." Naruto continued to talk about how irresponsible his teacher was, and how he should spend more time training his pupil than working on his "novel." Hinata allowed Naruto to complain aloud, for a while. Hinata was busy trying to work up the courage to actually say something to him.

"N-Naruto-kun." She whispered. Naruto stopped ranting, and turned to her.

"Hmm? What is it?" he asked. Hinata stepped forward and started twiddling her thumbs again.

"Umm….do y-you happen to k-know what day is today?" she asked. Naruto closed his eyes, and started rubbing his chin.

"Today…..today.." he thought on this for a short time, before his eyes snapped open in surprise. "OH CRAP!" he yelled.

Hinata smiled to herself. 'he just forgot, that's all.' She thought. 'He may even have something already read to give me.'

"I can't believe I forgot!" he yelled. "I can't believe I forgot today was trash day." Hinata stopped, and tried to say something. "Thanks for reminding me Hinata." He said. He started running in the direction of his house. "I'll see you later!" he called as he ran. Hinata stood on the spot in silence. 'he really did forget.' She thought. She began to feel greatly depressed, as she walked toward the village.

Hinata had hoped a long walk would help her clear her head, but it didn't do much good. Everywhere she looked there were couples. Nervous boys would slowly had over gifts to blushing girls, who acted as if they hadn't known what was coming. This of course, made Hinata even more miserable. She continued walking, not even caring where she was going. She bumped into several people, each time saying quietly, "I'm sorry." Her mind was elsewhere. She kept thinking back to what happened. 'I can't believe I forgot today was trash day.'

The words seemed to echo in her heart, and each time she heard it, it seemed to hurt even more. She closed her eyes, and felt tears beginning to well up in them. Hinata bumped into someone again. As like before, she quietly said "I'm sorry."

"Hinata." Came the voice of Sakura. Hinata looked up, and saw her standing a few feet away. Obviously, Hinata had bumped into her and didn't realize it.

"Hello, Sakura-san." Hinata said to her. Sakura looked over her friend.

"Are you ok, Hinata?" she asked. Hinata lowered her head, and didn't answer. Sakura, however figured out exactly what was wrong. "Was it Naruto?" she asked. When she heard his name, Hinata felt the tears returning to her eyes. She quickly tried to wipe them away before Sakura saw.

Sakura put her hands on Hinata's shoulders. She looked up into Sakura's smiling face. "Don't worry." She said. "It'll be alright. He can be a bit of an idiot sometimes. He probably miss read his calendar, and thought today was the thirteenth or something like that." Hinata couldn't help but laugh silently to herself. Yes, that's exactly the kind of mistake he would make. Hinata smiled back at Sakura.

"Thank you, Sakura-san." She said. Sakura smiled, and starting walking in the opposite direction.

"I'll see you later." She said. "I have some things I need to take care of."

"Ok." Hinata replied. "I'll see you later." She turned, and started walking back to her home.

Omnis Longbow: Ok, this is where things become a bit…..how should I say this….interesting. Basically, I thought of two ways to end this story, and I couldn't decide which one i liked better. So, what's a writer to do? Write both, of course, and see which onepeople like better. So, the following two chapters are my two very different endings. I hope you enjoy. Please review...reviews are nice...