Chapter 3 : The Shy Girl Gets the Note...

That night, Ino stood in her room, by the window, smiling as she read her "love note from Sasuke-kun" again. With each word she read, her smile grew larger and larger.

Then she heard her mother downstairs yell, "Ino! It's ten thirty! Are you in bed?"

"Yes, mom!" Ino said, setting the note down on the little tale by the window and quickly hopping in her bed and turning off the lamp. "I was just falling asleep."

Ino took one last quick glance at the note and said, "I knew Sasuke-kun couldn't resist my good looks and great personality for long." Then she turned over and slowly fell asleep.

And just after she fell asleep, a strong wind blew into the bedroom through the open window, the curtain on the window fluttering. The note floated gently into the air, and then, drifted out the window. Another gust of wind from the other direction caused it to go the other way...

Eventually, it gracefully floated into another window, into another bedroom, and settled in Naruto Uzumaki's open bag.

---

The next day, all our favorite genin had the day off. It was another pleasantly sunny, but windy day. Still, it was a very peaceful day as Naruto sat enjoying the sun. Well, it was, until Ino came running past, shaking her fist and screaming, "I LOST MY NOTE FROM SASUKE-KUN!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion as she ran by, growling like a tiger. "What's up with her? Why's she talking about Sasuke? Ah, whatever..."

"H-h-hello, um, Naruto-kun..." said a voice by Naruto.

"Hm?" Naruto looked up. There stood Hinata, who had been looking at him, but looked away as soon as Naruto's blue eyes locked onto her white ones. She tapped her fingers together nervously and said, "Um, n-nice day, huh?"

"Oh, hi, Hinata! Yeah, it's a nice day."

Hinata blushed at the sound of his voice. She took a deep breath and tried to think of what else she could say to him.

"Ino's acting kinda weird, don't you think?" Naruto said.

Hinata took another deep breath and said, "Uh, I suppose she is..." Hinata had a strong urge to turn and walk away, she was so nervous, but she just refused to this time, so she stood there and thought, as hard as she could, of what to say next. She looked at a slip of paper sticking out of his bag.

"W-what's that paper f-for, Naruto-kun?" she asked, without really meaning to. "Uh, oh, I'm sorry, I-I-I shouldn't h-have asked... i-it's n-n-not my business..."

"It's okay. It's not anything special, it's probably the paper about the dance," Naruto replied.

"O-oh. I s-s-see."

Just then, another gust of wind came and blew the paper right out of the bag. It came right to Hinata, so, quickly, she grabbed it.

"Uh, Naruto-kun, y-your paper... I-I caught it... for you..." she took the paper and held it toward Naruto. He looked up with a "Hm?" and said, "Oh, it's okay, I don't need it. But you can have it, if you want."

"O-oh, b-b-but..." Hinata said, her face as red as a tomato, "i-it's y-y-yours... I c-couldn't..."

"It's a gift," Naruto said, grinning.

Hinata, if at all possible, blushed an even deeper shade of red. "O-okay, a-a-arigatou, N-Naruto-kun..." She gulped. "I-I-I h-have t-t-to g-go..."

Quickly, she turned on one foot and walked away. It wasn't until she was far down the path that she finally read the note. And she didn't even get to the "your smile brightens my day" part when she fell over and fainted.

REVIEW.