Soulmates are the people who bring out the best in you. They are not perfect, but they are perfect for you.
-Unknown
It didn't take a genius to figure out that she had been crying.
Tsunade furrowed her eyebrows in concern, unsure whether to question Hinata's wellbeing. On one hand, it was clear that she had been crying; her eyes were puffy and swollen, and were outlined with red.
And yet, her smile was the brightest she had ever seen. There was a permanent flush on her cheeks; not one of nervousness or embarrassment, but of pure happiness.
Tsunade decided that she quite liked that look on Hinata.
Taking her in again, she suddenly realized something. Something very important.
Pursing her lips, Tsunade frowned.
Seated on the window sill of the Hokage's office, Kakashi grinned, his lone eyes crinkling. His attention from his book had vanished the moment Hinata had entered, and only now, Tsunade realized why.
Clenching her fist, Tsunade gritted her teeth, focusing her eyes on something else, but they soon returned and landed on Hinata.
Oblivious to the tense atmosphere, the blunette furrowed her eyebrows.
"Is everything okay, Lady Hokage?"
Tsunade only forced a smile.
Looking at her oddly, Hinata bit her lips.
"Okay then. I'll be leaving."
With a last bow, she left.
Eyeing the door through which Hinata had just exited, Tsunade glared, glancing down.
The tense silence was broken by a cough.
"You know..." Kakashi drawled out, catching her attention.
"You should stop staring at her chest, Lady Hokage. People might get the wrong idea if they notice."
Tsunade's eyebrow twitched as Kakashi said cheekily.
"Besides," He continued, off-handedly, "It's not going to make yours any bigger."
A tic appeared on the older woman's forehead.
"Do you wish to have kids, Hatake?" She said, threateningly, as she cracked her knuckles.
The person in question, oblivious to the impending doom beneath those words, flipped open his book again.
"Why? Are you offering to bear them?"
A second later, the famous Copy Ninja was seen flying out the Hokage's office.
Near the gates of Konoha, quite a commotion started up.
"Hey! Is that-?"
"No way! It is him!"
"I can't believe it!"
Meanwhile, Hinata fingered her hair as she walked around the village, deep in thought. She needed Ino to give her a haircut. Hinata decided to have a haircut first, then take a bath.
Humming to herself in approval, she concentrated trying to find Ino's Chakra. She felt it near Konoha's gates.
Hurrying there, she spotted the blonde standing with a few others.
For a second, Hinata felt self-conscious, as she always did when going in front of Ino. Ino was such a beauty, and she was, well, she was just herself.
Just when she'd began to have thoughts about turning away and going home, familiar words came back to her.
"You're amazing. Just the way you are."
Her resolve strengthened as she took a deep breath, blocking out everything else, and focusing entirely on Ino.
"Ino!" She called out, when she was only a few metres away, her arm raised.
She waved when the blonde turned around. She could see the surprise on Ino's face at her condition.
Ino blinked, her eyebrows furrowing as she took in Hinata as she came closer.
She'd always known Hinata was pretty. But, her beauty was the silent type, the kind you wouldn't notice at first glance. To add to it, Hinata always stayed in the comfort of her baggy clothes which never made her the center of attention.
Truth to be told, a part of Ino had always despised the way Hinata hid herself. There were those like Sakura and herself, who had to constantly take care of their bodies to look as good as they did.
And then there were those like Hinata, who were gifted with flawless beauty, and still chose to hide it.
That's why she'd found Hinata's shy personality a bit annoying. To her, it was as if Hinata was being ungrateful for being as gifted as she was.
So, of course, Ino was happy to see Hinata finally take of that damned jacket; even if the reason it was gone in the first place was a seemingly rough mission.
She grinned when Hinata stopped in front of her.
"You seem happy."
Testifying to the fact, Hinata laughed, spreading out her arms and spinning lightly on one foot.
"I am happy." She paused, smiling softly, "Feels pretty good too. Much lighter."
Ino raised her eyebrows in confusion, but chose not to ask anything.
She wondered what had happened to make Hinata happy in the first place. Her gaze drifted to the flower in her hair. Then, back at her face. For a second, she glanced to and fro between the two, as countless possibilities came to her mind.
She was broken out of her thoughts by Hinata's voice.
"Could you please give me a haircut?"
Ino's eyes lit up at the perfect opportunity.
Perfect!
Still grinning, she took hold of Hinata's hands, slightly rolling her eyes.
"Of course! Why are you even asking?"
So lost was Hinata in her conversation with Ino, that she didn't notice the two pairs of eyes staring at her, their jaws open.
One, predictably, belonged to Jiraya, her cheeks turning red, eyes widening at this brilliant idea he just had.
Quickly taking out a notepad, he began furiously scribbling, his eyes moving between Hinata and the paper.
Perfect!
He giggled perversely, a trail of blood trickling down his nose as he mentally patted himself on the back.
His research truly knew no bounds.
Beside him, Naruto stood frozen, still staring at the woman that was chatting with Ino.
That is Hinata?!
The thought took a moment to settle in.
Physically speaking, she was a mess.
Her jacket was gone, and one of her sleeves was missing, along with a small part of the lower half of her shirt, giving him just a glimpse of the milky white skin beneath. She was covered in dirt, and her hair--which he assumed had been long--now looked as if it had been chewed off. The ends were clumped together and uneven, a little below her neck at the back, and all the day down to her shoulders at the front. His nose crinkled when he smelt smoke.
In her hair, was a lone flower.
Her eyes were puffy, and he wondered if she had been crying or it was allergies. Yet, those very eyes were twinkling with happiness, her smile the brightest it could get.
Looking at her, she suddenly felt far away, so out of reach, that he felt if he extended his hand to touch her, she would simply flitter away.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Naruto opened his mouth.
"H-Hinata?"
In response, Hinata tucked a few messy strands behind her ear, turning towards the voice.
For a moment, she stared.
Her mind took in the blonde hair first. Then, the orange jumpsuit. Then, the sun-kissed, whiskered cheeks. And finally, those bright blue eyes.
Her eyes widened.
"Naruto?"
Beside her, Ino held her breath, hoping to all god's above that she wouldn't faint. There had been major progress in Hinata's shy personality. The last thing they wanted was for Naruto to ruin it with his mere presence.
For a long moment, they just stood there.
Hinata waited for the butterflies, for her heart to pound. She waited for her face to warm, as he looked at her.
Even his eyes didn't look as beautiful as before, her preference changing to a much darker colour.
Like black.
Shaking her head mentally, Hinata smiled, taking a step towards Naruto, hands clasped at her chest.
"You're back! That's amazing!"
Ino let go of the breath she had been holding, as she watched Sakura and the others gape. The former raised an eyebrow at Ino's smirk.
Naruto, taking in Hinata, laughed shakily.
"Yeah."
Giving her a once over again, he rubbed his neck.
"You look..."
However, he stopped, not having the words to describe her.
Hinata chuckled, slightly embarrassed.
"Like a mess? I know."
She tucked another messy strand behind her ear, a soft flush covering her nose.
"Its a little embarrassing, now that you mention it."
Before she could say anything else, Naruto shot forward.
"No!"
He winced slightly when the others jumped at his loud tone.
He turned red.
"T-That's not what I meant. I, uh-"
He stumbled on his words when Hinata raised her eyebrows expectantly.
"I was gonna say you, uh, look, uh, pretty." He paused, "Really pretty."
Hinata blinked in surprise.
Once again, she waited for the butterflies, for the blush, for her hear to pound.
Nothing.
Then, she smiled, almost to the point that her cheeks began to hurt.
"Thanks, Naruto."
Both were broken out of their thoughts, when Ino took ahold of Hinata's arm, now grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"As cute as that was, we really need to go."
Hinata let herself be dragged away, as she raised her hand in a final wave.
As soon as they were in the Yamanaka Flower shop, Ino locked the door. She whipped her head towards Hinata, a devilish grin on her face.
"Now, spill."
Hinata's eyes widened.
"Huh?"
Ino rolled her eyes at her naïvety.
"I mean what happened? On the mission?"
Hinata's eyes nervously darted around, looking for a way out of this.
"It's confidential." She said at last, hoping Ino wouldn't push it.
She did.
"To the village?" She paused, her grin reappearing, "Or, to you?"
Hinata didn't need to answer. The flush crawling up her neck did it for her.
Hinata just placed her hands on her cheeks, turning away from the blonde.
"Ino, stop it."
The blonde groaned, gesturing Hinata towards a chair.
"Awww, come on!"
Then, her eyes turned serious. Hinata raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"It's nice." She began, quietly, "Seeing you confident and not so hung up on him anymore."
Hinata cringed.
"It was that obvious?"
How humiliating.
Ino snorted, grabbing a pair of scissors.
"You have no idea."
Eyeing the blunette, Ino stood behind her, straightening her head.
"What changed anyway?"
Hinata bit her lip.
"I admired Naruto," She began slowly, "For the person he was, and the person he helped me be. I still do. He was always so courageous and confident, I suppose," She paused, lowering her eyes, "I suppose I wanted that too. I assumed that if I stayed by his side, some of that courage and confidence might rub on me too."
Ino met her eyes in the mirror.
"I've never thought about it like that."
Hinata didn't reply. For a moment, there was silence as Ino ran a hand through Hinata's hair, straightening it with a comb. Carefully taking out the flower, she handed it to Hinata.
"But, then, I figured that if I wanted to change myself, I needed to do it alone. So that, when I looked in the mirror, I would feel pride at myself for once."
She caressed the petal of the flower.
"I needed encouragement, a closure so that I could move on. And, today, I got it."
She smiled softly, bringing the flower to her lips, and softly kissed it. Then, she gently clutched it to her chest, as if it was the most precious thing in the world.
"I am amazing, just the way I am." She parroted his words, "And if others can't see that when they look at me, then they don't deserve to look at me at all."
Ino looked surprised as she evened out the ends of Hinata's hair.
"So, did the guy kiss you before or after he said that?"
Hinata choked on her breath, her eyes bugging out of their sockets.
"He didn't kiss me!" Hinata cried out, her mind conjuring up images of Itachi kissing her.
Her face went red.
Ino grinned.
"So, it was a guy!"
Hinata sputtered, mouth opening and closing as she realized the trick Ino had just played. She groaned.
"I hate you."
Ino giggled. She pushed all of Hinata's bangs to one side, evening them out.
"So, did he give you that flower?"
Hinata hummed in response.
"He was a traveler, passing by. I was pretty beat up about my hair, when I saw him."
Ino didn't say anything for a moment, concentrating on Hinata's hair. After a moment, she met Hinata's eyes in the mirror.
"Was he hot?"
Hinata furrowed her eyebrows, blinking as her mind slowly took in what Ino had said. Her question wouldn't have flustered Hinata as much as it did, had Hinata not come up with an alternative version of the same question.
Did she think Itachi was hot?
Her face flamed.
Ino squealed.
"So, he was! Wasn't he?!"
Hinata's hands went up to cover her face.
"I-I mean, uh, I-I suppose he w-was p-p-pretty g-good-looking."
Hinata clenched her eyes shut.
God, how am I supposed to see him face to face after that?
The thought made her cheeks go even red.
A voice cut through her thoughts.
"I just realized something."
Removing her hands from her face, Hinata raised her questioning eyes to Ino's.
"This is the first time we've talked like this."
Hinata watched Ino grab a spray, and sprinkle some water on her hair. Then, she stepped back.
Hinata gasped as Ino's handiwork.
Her fringe was gone. Instead, her bangs which had been longer than the rest of her hair, had been pushed to one side to frame her face. The rest of her hair had been cut short to match the length of the hair at the back.
Hinata grinned at her reflection.
"You're right. We should definitely do this again."
THERE IS TODAYS UPDATE!!!
Did you like it? What are your thoughts?
Be sure to tell me in the reviews!!
No itahina in this chapter, but we're going to have some soooon.
You guys have no idea what's coming...
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
lol, but for that, you'll have to wait for the next two updates!!
Until then, ENJOY!!
-Your evil author.
