Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or the characters associated with it.

Love was a matter of opinion in the recent years in Konoha. Life seemed hopeless to the elders in the village, and even the young adults had a sort of melancholy air about them. The only members of the village with hope remaining in their soul were the genin and young chuunin. These children and teenagers still found time to have fun, and enjoy the simple pleasures in life. All anyone had to do to see this beauty of life was sit down and watch; watch the children play, watch two lovers on a late night date, watch the old couple take a stroll through the park. Such a leisurely activity was almost impossible with the constant flow of missions for the ninja in Konoha, but some managed to find time to sit back and relax and see life for what it was; beautiful. Such a girl was Hyuuga Hinata.

Hinata sat in her garden outside of her large mansion of a home. It was late, and most everyone in the village was asleep. This did not concern her though, for any time to just watch the world around her was time well spent. She had missions early in the day, and had to train with her father in the evening. Time to socialize with her friends was rare, and time to spend with herself was even rarer. The last time she had any sort of vacation was two months ago, when she returned from a failed mission with her eyes almost eaten away by a gaseous acid.

Hinata had spent two weeks in the hospital with almost constant care from the Hokage, Tsunade-sama. Even then, it took another month for her eyes react and see properly again.

"You're lucky you can see at all!" Tsunade-sama had told her. "If your team had spent any more time finding you, you might have been beyond my ability to heal! What could Jiraiya have been thinking! Screw the kid's training for two days, he should have brought you back immediately after finding you!"

Hinata re-called this incident with a slight smile. Even though the experience was anything but pleasant, it came with a wonderful reward. She had seen Naruto for the first time in two years, and that made any amount of pain worth it.

Well, Hinata had not exactly seen Naruto. Regardless of the fact that she was incapable of sight at the time, she could see his beauty, kindness, and determination just by being near him. The embarrassment of their kiss often made Hinata's cheeks pink, and she wondered is he ever found out it was the shy Hyuuga girl he had attended school with whom he had kissed so passionately. "I doubt it." Hinata muttered to the slightly chilled night air. "He would never have…ki…kis….kissed…. me had he known it was me."

Hyuuga Hinata starred up at the night sky with a soft smile on her face. "Naruto-kun…where are you now?" Hinata sighed as she hoisted herself off of the grassy knoll, and started to head toward her home to try and sleep. She stopped in her path at the sound of some rustling.

The wind was not blowing, but there was definitely movement in the bush to the right of her. Hinata grabbed onto a kunai from the pouch wrapped around her leg, and quickly turned around while throwing the blade into the spot the sound had come from.

"GAH!" Someone screamed, and Hinata stepped into her fighting stance.

"Reveal yourself!" Hinata's light voice tried to sound as forceful as possible, and for the most part succeeded.

A boy stepped out from the bushes with Hinata's Kunai clasped in his hand. His hand moved behind his head and he laughed with embarrassment. Hinata faltered from her traditional Hyuuga stance, and gasped lightly.

"Hey, sorry if I startled you Hinata-Chan!" The boy smirked a little, and Hinata took a step back. A hand instinctively moved to her mouth, as an arm covered over her chest as a barrier.

"N…Naruto-kun! What…are….y..you doing here!" Hinata's eyes were wide as she starred into the eyes of the boy she had not literally seen in nearly two and a half years. He looked good.

Naruto sat himself onto the ground as he smiled at Hinata, and motioned for her to sit down as well. She complied, sitting on her knees a couple of feet across from Naruto. "I snuck away from ero-sennin for the night. I just…." His voice trailed off as he gazed at his surroundings, and then up at the night sky. "I missed Konoha."

Hinata gulped, and nodded slightly. "You've been gone…a long time." Naruto nodded to this, and then focused his gaze back on Hinata.

"The pervert says I should be returning soon, so I can't wait for that!"

"Y…Yes…everyone has missed ...you." Hinata said softly, avoiding the piercing eyes of the boy in front of her. I missed you, at least. Hinata thought to herself.

"Really? Sakura-chan missed me?" Naruto's face lit up as Hinata's went darker. Her heart tightened slightly, and she gulped down a painful lump in her throat.

"I don't speak with Sakura-san too often…but I'm sure she does." Naruto smiled at this, and laughed.

"I knew she loved me! Yosh!" Naruto then turned to Hinata, and noticed a frown firmly planted on her face. "Hey, what's wrong Hinata-chan?" Naruto scooted closer to inspect Hinata more carefully, and blinked a little.

"N…Nothing Naruto-kun. So…you really like..Sakura-san, huh?"

"Yea! Well…yea of course I do."

"Then…" Hinata started, trying to bring herself to stare into the eyes she adored so greatly. "Why were you here, instead of going to see her?"

A small gust of wind flew between them as their eyes locked, and neither found it possible to look away. Hinata's long hair flew with the breeze, framing her matured face wonderfully. Naruto then coughed, and managed to rip his eyes away from the stare-off. "I didn't plan on talking to anyone, didn't want to get in trouble. But…well…" He looked back at Hinata, whose light eyes still had not left the spot they had been staring at before Naruto turned away. "I saw you out, and wanted to make sure you were alright. I never got to find out if you were…alright."

An unfamiliar blush spread to Naruto's cheeks, and not even he knew why it was there. It was too dark to be seen by Hinata, whose cheeks were just as flushed. "So…" Hinata began, "You knew it was me?"

An uncomfortable silence fell between them. It was a silence similar to that of two lovers from ages ago who meet once again, but neither wishes to acknowledge that any such act happened. Both knew the other was aware of what took place between them, but neither wished to admit it occurred. "Well, afterwards I did. When I was taking care of you I had no idea. I mean, you were tall! And your hair was long and I couldn't see your eyes. I didn't know till after we…."

Their eyes locked again through the darkness, and neither found the power to even breath. " I didn't know it was you either, Naruto-kun. I…I'm sorry that…well, I'm not sure. I just am sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I mean, neither of us knew, and we can just forget it and be friends, right?"

"….Right."

"So…how are you? Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama healed me. I was in bed for two weeks and fell behind on my training though."

"Well, the important thing is that your all healed!" Naruto smiled at this, and got up. Hinata did like wise, but started to wobble due to a head rush.

Naruto grabbed onto her as Hinata began to fall, and Hinata's face landed only a few inches from his. The two starred into each other's eyes once again, and the sensation of time ceasing swept over them once again. "I…have to go, Hinata-chan."

Hinata inhaled sharply, the intake of air wavering slightly due to the tears she was trying desperately to suppress. "I'll...look forward to your return, Naruto-kun."

Naruto's arms instinctively wrapped around Hinata's body, and he hugged her tightly. Hinata's arms wrapped around his neck in turn, and the two stood there for a minute in each other's arms.

Slowly, the heads moved away from each other's necks to each other's face, staring into the others eyes. Naruto's face slowly moved downward to Hinata's, as Hinata's face moved upwards towards Naruto's. Their lips were only an inch away, and Hinata's eyes closed slowly.

"Hinata-sama! What are you doing out there!" The two heard a voice scream from a window above them, and Hinata and Naruto jumped away from each other, startled.

"N…Neji-nii-san!"

"Were you with a boy just now!"

"I…umm…" Hinata turned to Naruto, to discover that he was gone. She frowned, but then heard a voice from the bush Naruto had come from earlier.

"It was nice seeing you again Hinata, please tell Sakura I say hi!" The whisper ended, and Hinata knew that Naruto was once again gone from her life.

"Hinata-sama! Answer me, was that a boy!" Neji's face was flustered, and he looked like that of an older brother from where Hinata was.

Hinata sighed, and started to walk into the house. "Oh Neji-nii-san, what boy would visit me?"

Hinata slid herself into bed that night; her brain was rattled with question. She felt like she had split personality disorder, the way her brain was working. He almost kissed me…no, he'd never kiss me he loves Sakura. He even said for me to say hi to Sakura for him, he wouldn't say that if he intended to kiss me. But he sure held me for a long time…Oooh it felt so nice! Maybe he was going to kiss me…No! No no! He loves Sakura!
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Naruto snuck back into the camp he and Jiraiya had set up for the night quietly, and slid back into his sleeping bag. It was going to be morning soon, but Naruto knew he was not going to gain any sleep. He felt like he had some multi-personality disorder, the way his brain was working. I just went there hoping to see Sakura or Shikamaru, I never thought I'd see Hinata. Did we almost kiss? She is a good kisser…soft lips, too….No! I love Sakura, SAKURA! I only love Sakura, Hinata is just a friend. I was just hugging a friend. Then...why did I hug her so long? And that kiss….No! No no! I wasn't going to kiss her I love Sakura!
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Sometimes, it is hard to just sit back in Konoha and see the love that is still present in everyone's lives. To someone with the proper eye sight though, and the time to just sit at their window and watch two love birds exist in each others arms, there is no question if love exists. On this night, Hyuuga Neji had the time and eyesight to see such love.

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A/N: Review please! For those of you who read this, don't expect me to update this often, if ever again. This will probably be the story I go to when I want to write but don't know what. It'll also be determined by how the manga goes. My next chapter, if any, will probably be about Naruto's grand return to Konoha where he meets Hinata again for the first time since these two special nights during his two and a half years at training. No flames please! (Has a fragile soul) Anyways, what inspired me to write was "Your Eyes" By Paul Gabriel Might write a whole fic around it…I'll see.