Happy? By: MyLastResort

Disclaimer: let's see here… I didn't own Naruto then…. And I don't own Naruto now…. My life sucks….

The Day Before

Naruto once again was awakened by the rising sun as streams of its light made their way though the gaps in his windows. Following his morning ritual, he stumbled out of bed and made his way to the bathroom before fixing himself a meal of instant ramen and milk straight from the carton. After getting dressed and dawning his ninja gear, he made his way out the door and down the familiar path that would bring him to the bridge when he would meet his fellow teammates, and where he would receive instructions from their sensei when he finally arrived.

As he walked the streets, he contemplated the events of the day before. At the time he had not quite understood what was happening as it happened. Actually for almost the whole day he had one unusual event after another. A ninja's life is never one for normalcy, but that did not prevent his head form spinning like a windup top as the events unfolded. His short conversation with Sakura, the fight with Sasuke, the kiss he gave him, Hinata striking Sasuke with a kunai, knocking him out cold, their dinner at the ramen hut together, him walking her home, and then finally walking home alone. For much of the day he had had a feeling in his gut that seemed to say that this is a step out of the norm and that it may all be nothing more then a dream, a vision inside his head as he slept, formed from the same things in he head that made up his thoughts. But the blue eyed ninja knew that it was not a dream, because how could it be? He doubted that he had ever been in Hinata's presence alone from even three minuets, and then finds himself eating dinner with her and actually enjoying her company.

His thoughts were forced from his head as he neared the bridge where squad seven was to gather each morning. The first thing he noticed was Sakura. She was leaning against the side of the bridge with her pink hair flowing behind her. He summoned his voice to shout a greeting but stopped before he could do just that. Instead he walked to side of the bridge opposite her, yawned and raised a hand in response to the greeting she gave him. Now his thoughts turned less pleasant. He now knew Sasuke's feelings for him, he knew now that all this time Sasuke had had other things on his mind other then just his rivalry with Naruto. Naruto would try his best to act as though nothing had changed between them, that they were still teammates and rivals, but he knew that try as he might, he would never be able to force the events of the previous day far enough in to the back of his mind to ever truly forget them.

As he slowly emerged from the depths of his thoughts, Naruto slowly realized that Sasuke had not arrived yet. Normally the silent youth would arrive before Naruto and at the worst shortly after him. The orange clad ninja noticed Sakura's growing unease. She became more fidgety and kept looking around for anything to signal the approach of her crush.

The minuets ticked away and Naruto's unease manifested its self in the form of butterflies in his stomach. It was a feeling that forced Naruto to think of all the things that could happen now. He knew that Sasuke would never let it be known that he had come so close to defeat at the hands of Naruto. But there was nothing to prevent him from telling a lie that would make it seem Naruto had bested him with some underhanded trick that would make Naruto's already poor reputation around the village even worse. He knew nothing of what Sasuke had said, and he knew nothing of what anyone else knew. Naruto did not fear any punishments he might face as a result of Sasuke's words, but what caused the feeling in his gut was the unknowing. As though he were a criminal waiting to hear the final verdict read, he had no choice but to wait to find out for him self what lay in store for him.

After what seemed to be and eternity of endless waiting, Kakashi Hatake finally decided to grace the scene with he presence and there was still no sign of Sasuke. "Kakashi sensei," Sakura said in a worried voice. "I'm worried. Sasuke's not here and he's never late!"

"Well Sakura, that is because Sasuke is in a hospital at the moment." The masked ninja said, causing Sakura to gasp in shock and Naruto's palms to sweat. But the older man was not finished yet. "You see, a man found Sasuke propped up against the side of a house looking worse for wear and unconscious. He ran off, found a chunin, and together they brought him to the hospital. The doctors found multiple bruises on his chest, one broken rib, and another bruise on the side of his head, only half an inch away from his temple. It was obvious that he had been in a fight of some kind. We don't know against whom, and Sasuke's not talking." At this last statement Naruto visibly relaxed, but then immediately regretted it.

Sakura had not forgotten about the meeting she had had with Sasuke or his impersonator the day before and the appearance of a second Sasuke a short time later. She knew that there would have been a fight between Sasuke and whoever the impersonator had been shortly after she had left. Of course the first suspect was Naruto, and Sakura did not miss it when Naruto seemed to relax at Kakashi's words.

Only seconds after Naruto let out a sigh of relief, Sakura pointed a finger at her teammate and yelled, "What did you do with Sasuke!" Naruto fell backwards, spewing out words in his defense.

In the end Kakashi came to his rescue. "Calm down Sakura, I'm sure that Naruto had nothing to do with this." Sakura thought for a moment and then seemed to accept her sensei's words. "After all," Sakura thought to herself. "There's no way Naruto could have done all that to Sasuke."

"And even if Naruto did have something to do with this," Kakashi continued. "It's just between them." Kakashi then gave Naruto a stare with his one visible eye that seemed to suggest that he knew more then he was letting on.

Hinata's feelings of joy had yet to wear off when she woke up in the morning. Yesterday she had done something she had only been able to do in her dreams. She had shared a dinner with Naruto. The entire time she had to will herself not to faint at being to close to Naruto, and try as she might she had not been able to prevent herself from blushing constantly. Hinata forced the thoughts out of her head so she could get ready for the day. Once she had prepared herself, she made her way to the spot where she was to meet with the rest of her squad. Along the way her thoughts returned to the day before, allowing herself to relive the events in her mind.

Naruto had brought her to his favorite ramen hut, where they ate, talked, and even laughed together. Afterwards Naruto offered to walk her home.

"It's not like I have much else to do anyways." He had said. When they arrived at the Hyuga mansion Naruto asked in a slightly awestruck voice, "You live here?" Hinata could only nod in response, embarrassed that her house was so much larger then the small room Naruto lived in. Naruto chuckled. The two of them said their farewells and Hinata walked slowly to the house and stepped inside. Only moments later she heard a knock on the door behind her. She opened it, hoping it was Naruto. She was not disappointed. The orange clad ninja stood in front of her with a slightly nervous look, scratching the back of his head and grinning sheepishly.

"Umm, I was just wondering, if that sometime, you know if you not busy or anything, maybe you'd want to get something to eat together or do something sometime?" Hinata blushed at the offer and almost laughed at how nervous Naruto seemed.

"I-I would love that Naruto." Hinata responded with a smile.

"Are you doing anything tomorrow, in the evening?" Naruto questioned. Hinata shook her head, signaling a no.

"Then how bout I meet you here at 5?" Naruto suggested. Hinata quickly agreed and once again they said their farewells. Hinata retired for the night feeling as happy as she could be, and later she fell asleep thinking that it was too good not to be true.

Naruto was lying on his bed with one hand behind his head and the other tossing a shuriken up in the air, directly above his head, and catching it lazily. Practice that day hadn't gone on to long due to the absence of the Uchia. According to Kakashi, Sasuke would be out of it for several days to allow his broken rib to set and heal. And after that he would still would not be aloud to join in on the more challenging missions and he would not be able to spar until the doctors had deemed him healed. Naruto smirked at the thought of Sasuke fuming over being kept out of the action while he got off free.

Slowly his thoughts turned from Sasuke to Hinata. He was still slightly upset that Sakura had absolutely no special feelings for him, but then again he shouldn't be surprised bye the revelation. He thought about the evening he had spent with the dark haired girl. He smiled. Moments later his hand failed to secure the weapon he was tossing and was forced to throw his head to the side to avoid being hit by one of its four points. He decided that he had spent enough time lying in thought.

"After all," he thought, "I have no idea how long I've been lying here." He looked at the clock on his microwave and let out a yell in shock. "Aww crap! It's 4:50! I've got ten minuets to get ready and get over to Hinata's!"

Well there you have it. This chapter was more like the first chapter in my opinion. The second-fourth had more action in them and this one didn't have any at all. Well all the same me hopes you like it! As always plzz tell me what you thought, what you liked, what you didn't like, all that stuff. And if you don't, as usual i will run off crying and never write again.