A/N: Time for more of this fun fic. They aren't gonna get together quite yet, but don't you worry. They'll have their sweet moment :)

Time for chapter 8

Enjoy!

Hinata thanked the receptionist and turned her attention towards the stairs. Naruto had been entirely absent from the academy for the past two days, and she was greatly concerned. She had intended to come to check on him after the first day, but her obligations to her clan had gotten in the way. She had a number of theories as to why he was not attending the academy at present. The first and most prominent of which was that he had come down with a sickness of some kind. All things considered, it felt like the most likely possibility. The other options she had considered ranged from things as mundane as Naruto cutting class to something as extreme as a kidnapping.

She knew that her questions would be answered upon reaching his door, but she still couldn't help but fret. It was simply her nature, especially in regards to Naruto. Her trek up the stairs took around thirty seconds, and once she reached the top, she quickly made her way down to the end of the hall, where she knew Naruto lived. Upon reaching his door, she carefully knocked three times and then folded her hands down by her waist while she waited for a response. Though it took a minute or two, Naruto eventually did answer his door. When he came into view after opening the entrance to his home, it became clear that his decision to stay home had been a wise one.

He was pale white, his eyes were red and slightly swollen, and his hair was disheveled. Sickness had taken hold of him some time recently, and it had yet to release him from its grasp. Encouragingly, Naruto's face lit up a little at the sight of Hinata. Taking this as a prompt to speak first, the heiress snapped out of her trance of silence.

"Oh my, you look...quite r-ragged." she said, her tone rife with worry and concern as she looked Naruto up and down. The blonde scratched the back of his head and forced a smile despite his obvious discomfort.

"Yeah, I'm sick as a dog. Something's been going around lately, so I probably caught whatever that is. I'll be out of class for the next week or so, I think." he said with a suppressed cough. Hinata felt her spirits fall a bit at the notion of attending without him by her side during lessons, but she maintained an outwardly positive appearance. Taking a step towards him and into his apartment, she gestured to the interior.

"C-Can I come in? I haven't seen y-you in a few days, so I-I'd like to spend time together." she requested hopefully. The blonde took a step back and held up his hands in front of himself in a defensive manner.

"Is that really a good idea, though? I'm still really sick, and I don't want you to catch whatever I've got." he pointed out cautiously. The heiress then took another step forward and closed the door behind her. It was a silent statement, but an effective one.

"I don't care one bit. I h-have a strong immune s-system, so I think I'll be okay." she assured him. Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but shut it again. He then shrugged his shoulders tiredly.

"Okay, suit yourself. I'm probably not gonna be any fun, though. I have a splitting headache." he replied before turning around and making his way to his couch. Once he reached it, he flopped down and leaned back. Hinata, who was still at the door, felt a pang of sympathy for her classmate. He was in poor condition. Watching him try to move around had made that even more clear to the heiress. With a new sense of protectiveness, Hinata swiftly crossed the apartment and sat herself down beside him on the couch.

"H-Have you been getting lots of r-rest? Sleeping would be a g-great help." she asked as Naruto slumped into the cushion of the furniture. He gave a weak nod and groaned quietly as another wave of pain seemed to crash through his skull.

"Napping is the only way to pass time in a way that doesn't completely suck, so yeah. I've been doing a lot of tha-" he said, cutting himself short to grasp his temples and rock back and forth to quell his aches. At this sight, Hinata reached forward and laid her hands on his shoulders. She then turned him slightly and gently guided him down onto his back with his head resting in her lap.

"What're you doing?" the blonde asked wearily. The heiress then tapped his temples on both sides with her index fingers. A small jolt of chakra then passed through his body. Though initially agitated by the action, Naruto soon found that his head was in far less pain.

"J-Just an old trick my m-mother taught me. It won't make it go a-away all the way, but it should help for now." Hinata informed him, gingerly tracing the whisker markings on his cheeks as she spoke to him. The blonde gazed up at her and pursed his lips.

"You probably shouldn't be touching me. You're gonna get sick." he said quietly as the heiress let her hand rest on his cheek while the other supported his head. Hinata sighed happily and reveled in his closeness to her.

"So be it then. If I get sick, then maybe I'll be quarantined with you. I'd very much like that." she said absently, quite clearly somewhere else entirely mentally speaking. Naruto instantly reddened at her words.

"You would? I...don't really know how to respond to that." he said awkwardly. His words brought Hinata back to reality, and when she returned, she too gained color.

"O-Oh, I was...t-thinking out loud." she stuttered, embarrassed by her slip of the tongue. The outcast boy studied her for a moment.

"Maybe you should do more of that. You quit stuttering when you do." he commented. Hinata brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well, t-thinking less and feeling more might be a g-good start, I suppose." she said vaguely. Before Naruto could respond, she leaned down and kissed his forehead affectionately. When she returned her head to a more level position, the shock on Naruto's face was visible.

"I really am sorry for trying to kiss you in the forest, but I can't help it right now. I'm feeling strongly about you right now. It's because you're sick, I think. It's making me feel a bit...protective." she said softly. It took him a significant amount of time, but Naruto eventually found his voice.

"Why do I feel really warm?" he asked innocently. Hinata shook her head and lifted up his head to hold it to her chest.

"Because you haven't been cared for the right way. You're underfed, underappreciated, and under-medicated. Let me fix that. I want to take care of you. Let me...let me baby you a little." she said with his ear pressed to her heart. After a few moments, she laid his head back down in her lap.

"Will you let me? It would make me very happy." she asked. Naruto swallowed and nodded his head uncertainly.

"You said something about your mom earlier. I've never heard you talk about her before. What's she like?" he asked after a stretch of silence. Hinata didn't answer him at first, but eventually she responded.

"My mother passed away several years ago. She came down with a sickness, much like you have, and she...didn't m-make it." she explained a tad shakily. The blonde immediately tensed.

"I did not mean to bring back those memories. I'm so sorry, Hinata." he apologized frantically. The heiress shook her head and brushed a hand through his hair.

"No, you had no way to know. Besides, it's been a long time. It doesn't hurt the way it used to. She was a wonderful woman. Very gentle and patient. Extremely kind to everybody." she recalled. A smile then formed on her face.

"Though, she had fire in her when pushed. My father feared no-one more than his own wife." she said with a light chuckle. Naruto returned the smile and shifted a bit to make himself more comfortable.

"Sounds like you take after her. She sounds a lot like you to me." he said. Hinata's cheeks turned slightly pink at his words.

"I'm hardly half the saint she was. You'd know what I mean if you met her. I'm only modeling myself after her. Honestly, I feel a little bit guilty about you." she said quietly. The blonde furrowed his brow.

"Why's that? You haven't done anything wrong, Hinata." he asked skeptically. The Hyuga girl quit running her hand through his hair and let it rest on his cheek.

"I'm very much making up for lost time right now. All that I'm doing, I've wanted to do for years. I've always wanted to hold you and make you warm. I spent years watching you and dreaming. All the while, I left you all alone. It took a chance event for me to finally bridge the distance and give you my appreciation. I let you freeze." she said numbly. Naruto shook his head.

"I mean, I get why you're feeling guilty, but it really isn't that bad. You're kinda shy normally, so approaching people can be hard for you. I get it. Don't feel bad. You're making me happier than I have been...ever, pretty much." he said reassuringly.

"I'm glad you feel that way, but I still can't help but feel like I could have done so much more. All those times I watched you cry in the training field, pick yourself back up and keep going just because you had nobody help you, I could have been the one to encourage you. Maybe you didn't need it, but still." the heiress replied dejectedly. Naruto then reached and took hold of the hand that was caressing his face, gently lacing his fingers through hers.

"I taught myself how to work hard, and I learned a lot of stuff on my own. Having a friend would have been nice, but I'm probably stronger than I would've been if I had one. Don't beat yourself up. You're my favorite person. I don't like watching you get sad." he said kindly. One specific thing he had said garnered a visible reaction from Hinata.

"F-Favorite?" she whispered with a hand covering her mouth. Of all the things she had expected to be told by Naruto at any point, a declaration of favoritism had not been high on the list of possibilities.

"Uh, yeah. You're literally all I've got, and honestly, I don't think I need a whole lot else." the blonde said with averted eyes. He was then snatched up and tightly embraced by the heiress, who's eyes were clamped shut.

"T-Thank you…" she stammered, her voice muffled by Naruto's shirt as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"No problem, but c-could you not squeeze me so hard? I'm gonna break in half." the blonde wheezed. Hinata did not release him, but she did as she was told and lightened her grip on him.

"Sorry. I've just wanted to hear something like that from you for the longest time." she murmured with her face still hidden in the crook of his neck.

"You're strong as hell. Holding me up like this can't be easy." Naruto joked. Hinata shifted her gaze to his eyes and gazed at him.

"My clan's conditioning program is hellish, but it has its perks. Though, I can't imagine you feel too proud of being cradled by a girl like this." she teased him. The blonde puffed out his cheeks.

"I'm half dead. This doesn't count." he countered defensively. Hinata giggled and let him rest in her lap again.

"True enough. I'll be making sure you don't leave me, though. I can't be here during the day, obviously, but I'll spend every evening with you until you get better." she assured him. The blonde smiled.

"Well, you might get sick too, so that might not actually happen. But at least you aren't stuttering anymore." he replied. The heiress shrugged.

"I think it has to do with comfort. When I first knocked on your door today, I was worried and nervous because of your absence. Now, I'm content. I just hope I quit stuttering with other people too." she said. The blonde's smile widened into a grin.

"Yeah, so do I. You're way more fun when you're not nervous." he said. Hinata nodded and glanced to a nearby clock. A sigh then escaped her.

"I think I have to leave. Curfew and such." she said sadly. The blonde's face fell a tad, but he didn't complain, as there was no point in doing so. After carefully sliding out from under his head and upper body, Hinata covered Naruto with a blanket.

"I'll be back tomorrow. I'll bring you something to eat as well." she promised before turning and making her way to the door. As she turned the handle, she looked back to the blonde one last time.

"Goodnight, Naruto-kun."

Naruto rubbed his eyes as he lay awake in his bed. It was nearly midnight, and he had hardly slept at all. He was certainly tired, and his body was sore enough, but he still had not been able to drift off into unconsciousness fully yet. The reasons for this were fairly obvious, and they made his temporary insomnia more than bearable.

"Let me fix that. I want to take care of you. Let me...let me baby you a little."

The words of Hinata had been bouncing around in his mind for a number of hours, but that statement in particular had stuck with him the most strongly. For another person to be so unconditionally dedicated to him was a foreign experience to Naruto, and one that he found himself missing greatly now that he was alone in his apartment. Jokes aside, he had been more comfortable than he would have cared to admit with his head resting in the heiress' arms. Sick as he was, her sweet words and pleasant features made him feel about as healthy as was possible given his condition.

'She's cute. Like, really cute.' he thought to himself, the image of Hinata's contented face passing through his mind as he pondered that evening's events. Indeed, Hinata was quite attractive. Her haircut was a tad odd in terms of its lack of length, but everything else screamed of fairness. Beyond his realization that he very much liked her physical appearance, Naruto's discovery in the notebook at the academy had been validated without question. She had ignored her own health to comfort him, and much of what she said to him had been greatly affectionate in nature.

'She even kissed me on the forehead. I can still feel where she did it, too.' the blonde mused to himself. Hinata's feelings were no longer a mystery to him in any way. She was hardly hiding it anymore, and for that, Naruto was glad. Her soft words of appreciation and gentle hands brought him a joy he had never known before. With all of that in mind, only one question remained in regards to Hinata. What was the nature of his feelings? Did they match hers? Would he have stayed with her in the face of sickness to keep her company? The answers to all of these questions were identical. A resounding and firm 'yes'.

'I meant it when I said you were my favorite person, and I think I know what that means now. I think I…' he thought, allowing the end of the confirmation of his feelings to simply fade into his subconscious. There was no need to dwell too hard on it all. There wasn't much to dwell on. It was quite straightforward. With his emotions sorted and organized, Naruto kicked his legs over the side of his bed and hopped down to the floor. After a brief period of navigation through his darkened apartment, he reached the kitchen.

Once there, he opened a specific drawer and retrieved the item he had come to look for. His unfinished project. Turning on the kitchen overhead light to better view the object, Naruto held it up and studied it. The structure was completed, but there were still alterations that could be made. It also lacked any distinct details beyond its shape. It was a blank slate, and it could still be turned into something more focused. Something more meaningful. Naruto set the project down on his dining table and went on a short, successful quest to track down the necessary pencils to complete his new vision for the object.

For nearly an hour, Naruto worked away at the project. Changing details, altering pre-existing aspects of it, and even adding on to it. It was fairly tedious work, but he knew that it would be worth it in the end. His sleeping schedule would suffer for it, but he also had no place to be the next day, or the day after, chances were. Once the necessary preparations were complete, the blonde held it up to the light once again and nodded to himself in approval of his work. It was completed, and ready to be presented.

'I hope she likes it. It isn't perfect, but it's about as good as it's gonna be.' he thought to himself. He then put the object back in the same drawer and shut off the kitchen light. With the area as it was before he had arrived, Naruto began dragging himself back to bed. He did eventually make it to his mattress, but he was out cold before he could even make it under the blankets.

He slept nicely despite his headache.

A/N: So yeah, I know a lot of you are going to be disappointed by this, but this fic IS nearing its conclusion. I hope that doesn't ruin the experience for you, though :(. Either way, they ALMOST did it this chapter, but I'm mean and I'm gonna make you wait a tiny bit longer. Tell me what you thought in a review :)

See you next chapter! Read and Review!