Author's Note: I do not own Naruto.
"N-N-N-N-Naruto-k-k-kun?" She stuttered out in a barely audible voice. However, it was loud enough for the young boy to hear her.
"Oh, sorry I didn't see you there. I thought for sure nobody would be here yet." He stated with his trademark grin. "Why are you here so early?" He asked.
Several moments went by without her saying a word. She was too utterly shocked to say anything to the boy of her dreams. It had been three long years since she had last seen Naruto, and she had feared that she would never see him again. As she looked down at the blonde boy, she immediately noticed several things about him. For starters his clothing had drastically changed. Instead of a bright kill me now orange track suit he now wore standard black shinobi pants and a long sleeve black shirt with an orange Uzumaki swirl. On top of the shirt, he had a green chunin vest, and on his forehead, he wore a proud Konoha head band. Plus, on top of all of that she could tell that he had matured both physically and mentally. In the last three years he had lost the little bit of baby fat that he had previously adorned on his whiskered cheeks, and he had grown quite a bit taller as well as more muscular. She couldn't help but think about how handsome he really was. With these observations and thoughts, she felt all of her blood rising to her face in embarrassment.
As Naruto watched her stare at him incredulously, he had many of his own thoughts running through his mind as well. His thoughts however were not even remotely close to the same as hers. He sat there staring at her trying to decide his best course of action. He had not wanted to see any of his old classmates just yet. As a matter of fact, he didn't want to see any of them period. If it wasn't for the fact that the Hokage had ordered him to become a Jounin Sensei, then he would have never had anything to do with any of them ever again. He did have to admit though that out of all of his classmates he could run into right now she would definitely be the best one. Although she had never really spoken to him much or been nice to him in any way, she was also the only one of his class that had never been purposefully mean to him either.
As he finished up his thought process, he realized that it had been several minutes of dead silence as they stared at each other. He also realized that she had turned as red as a tomato. Concern flared in his mind thinking that maybe she was sick. However, that feeling quickly came and went as he realized that she was probably just angry at seeing him again.
'I mean its not like anyone at this crummy academy ever really liked me very much, and although she was never outright mean to me it was just because she is too nice of a person to be mean to my face.' He thought to himself.
In that moment he decided to break the silence and get out of her hair.
"Sorry to have bothered you. I can see that coming here was a mistake. I'll leave now. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't tell anyone that I was here." He said as he turned around to leave.
'He's leaving me again! I can't let this happen. This may really be the last chance that I ever have at seeing him again and apologizing. I promised myself that I would be his friend, and that is what I am going to do.' Hinata thought.
"Wait!" She called out in as loud of a voice as she could muster (Which really wasn't loud by most standards).
He turned back around with raised eyebrows and a very confused look on his face. He opened his mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted by Hinata.
"I-I-I-I'm s-s-s-sorry." She sputtered out through tears.
'Sorry? Sorry for what?' He thought as his face grew into an even more confused face. He really did not know what to do now. He had seen a lot of crazy things and gone on a lot of crazy missions in the last few years, and because of all of that he would like to think that he knows how to handle himself pretty well. But not here. Not by a long shot. He literally had no idea how to handle a sobbing young girl. So, he decided that he had only two options. First, he could walk out of here and forget about what had happened. Or, second, he could go console the girl and try to figure out what was wrong. His brain told him to walk away from her. After all she was from his class that he had never found any sort of friendship in. However, his heart and nature would not let him do such a thing. He was by nature a kind and loving boy, so he decided to go with option number two.
He slowly climbed the stairs watching her cry into her hands wondering what he could possibly do to make this all stop.
Meanwhile, Hinata was crying so hard and so loudly that she was unaware of what was going on around her. She thought for sure that Naruto had thought she was a weak freak and had walked away when she started to cry. All of a sudden, she felt two arms wrap themselves around her. She jumped at the sudden contact. She looked up and realized it was Naruto of all people. He was there hugging her and letting her cry. She felt the embarrassment and blush rising through her stomach, but at the moment she did not care. She launched herself into his chest and continued to cry for the next several minutes.
The whole time this was occurring Naruto didn't say a word. He just let her cry it all out. After several minutes her crying finally stopped and all he could hear was the occasional sniffle from his female companion. He decided that it was time for them to talk.
"Now, Hinata, what's wrong?" He asked. "Why are you crying and why are you sorry?"
She pulled back from him and looked into his bright blue eyes with a mixture of joy and shock.
'He knows my name!' She squealed in her mind. 'I can't believe he actually remembers my name!'
"Y-y-y-you know w-w-w-who I a-am?" She asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Of course." He replied with a bright smile. "You're Hinata Hyuga. Although we never spoke or interacted much, I was still aware that you were the only one of my classmates that never actively belittled me."
She sat there for a moment stunned that he had actually noticed her. However, she was quickly awakened from her thoughts when he asked, "So, what's going on? Why are you crying and why are you sorry? I don't have much time, so I need you to do your best to tell me, please."
She took a deep breath preparing herself and nodded. "W-w-w-well, you s-s-see N-Naruto-Kun, I-I-I w-wanted to ap-ap-apologize for what happened th-th-thr-three y-y-years ago." She stammered out as clearly as she could. She silently cursed herself for her stuttering problem. "I-I-I always w-w-wa-wanted to be you-your fr-fr-friend. I was ju-just too sh-shy to a-a-ap-approach you. When Sas-Sas-Sasuke-san a-asked if any-anyone be-believed in y-you I-I wa-wanted to te-tell you tha-that I did, but I was on-once a-again t-too sh-shy to say i-it." She paused for a moment to take a deep breath before continuing. "I-I-I vow-vow-vowed t-to t-tell you when I-I-I saw y-you a-a-again, but th-then I-I-Iruka-Sensei t-told us that y-you had left the vi-vi-village for t-training and we w-w-would p-p-probably ne-never see y-you again. P-p-p-please for-for-forgive me and be m-m-my fr-fr-friend." She quietly finished with a slight bow.
To say Naruto was shocked would have been an understatement of a lifetime. No one had ever asked to be his friend before. Heck rarely anyone had ever been nice to him. He started to wonder why Hinata of the prestigious Hyuga clan would be nice to him now. There must be some ulterior motive. He lifted her head from her bowing position so that he could look into her eyes. As he searched them for any hint of guile, he only found three emotions. He saw sincerity, worry, and another emotion that seemed foreign, so he decided to ignore it completely.
After looking into her eyes for a moment or two and finding her to be honestly looking for his friendship, he broke out into a huge genuine smile. Of course Hinata. I'd love to be your friend."
She smiled the biggest smile that she had ever had in her whole life and once again threw herself into the blonde hugging the life out of him. He simply smiled and hugged her back.
This moment was absolute bliss for her. Nothing in the world could possibly ruin it, except for… the graduation exam! Her eyes went wide with fright as she remembered the exam that she had in just a few moments. She was not ready! She had done terribly in school over the past couple of years, plus she was an emotional wreck with seeing Naruto, and finally she had so many nagging questions for her light, her confidence, her Naruto-Kun.