A/N: hi friends! sorry for the delay on this chapter! I finished up my other fic Love is in the Air (go check it out if you haven't already!) and then I kept getting distracted reading and fleshing out a few new fic ideas! This story is nearing the end, but I'm hoping to publish more new stuff in the near future and I hope you'll read it!

a very big thank you to everyone who leaves comments! I love reading them and it makes me so happy to know you guys are excited and invested in the story!

It seemed as though the phone rang forever. Naruto felt stupid for how fast his heart was beating. He had talked to Hinata on the phone hundreds of times, but it was different now because she wasn't just Hinata, she was the girl he was in love with.

How had he not realized it sooner? The moment Shion left, Naruto had been replaying in his mind every interaction he'd ever had with Hinata, reflecting on the way he felt when he was with her. No wonder Shion acted like it was so obvious, it must have been to anyone who had been paying attention. The way he looked at her, the way he gravitated toward her in every situation. He just couldn't help but smile when she was near.

She didn't answer the phone, but that was what he expected.

Naruto debated calling her again, but then worried he might come off as creepy or weird. The last time they saw each other, he had her pinned to the kitchen counter and tried to kiss her, only for her to cry and run away.

Wait... Was she scared of him?

If that's true, how was he supposed to talk to her now?! How was he supposed to tell her about his feelings!?

This was his worst nightmare!

Hinata knows she needs to talk to Naruto about what happened that weekend, but she really, really, really, really didn't want to. When she called and he told her he was with Shion, she wanted to slap herself for the ugly jealous feeling that rumbled in her gut.

Who was she to be jealous of his girlfriend?! She just couldn't bear to talk to him when he called back.

But then again, maybe ignoring his call was another mistake to add to her ever-growing list of mistakes. Because now that they were back at school, she would have to have the wholly unpleasant and completely awkward conversation face to face.

Unless… she could avoid him all day!

Not her most inspired idea, but it was all Hinata could think of to buy herself some time. After she ran out of his house, a few possible scenarios ran through her mind. The most stupid and hopeful was that maybe he would break up with Shion to be with her instead, which evidently was not what happened. Instead, he hung out with his girlfriend the following day. Either he confessed to Shion that he'd almost kissed her (which felt unlikely being that Shion acted as she always did toward Hinata at school that day) or the more likely possibility was that he had decided to pretend like nothing happened, leaving Shion in the dark and forcing Hinata to bear this terrible secret.

The worst part was she couldn't even resent him for it, because it felt like it was her own fault. Hinata chose to come on to him, tried to get him to think of her as more than a friend, only to find out in the moment of truth that she couldn't go through with her own plan.

Her nerves were mounting as she entered the cafeteria. As if he sensed her presence, Naruto immediately looked up. When blue eyes met pale lavender, she froze in place. Both of them blushed.

She was suddenly reaffirmed in her plan to avoid him because the moment she saw him she wasn't so sure she could resist him if he tried to kiss her again.

No! No! She can't be thinking like that. She deserves more than to be his side piece or some dirty little affair.

Hinata had always sat next to Naruto at lunch, but today she breezed past him, opting to sit next to Sakura, as far away from Naruto as she could get. Hinata tore her gaze away, looking down at her food before giving a practiced smile to her pink-haired friend.

All of lunch she was squirming in her seat, determined to ignore him, but she could feel Naruto staring at her. But every time she glanced his way, he would look away… and blush?

Hinata immediately dismissed the idea that he was as hung up on their almost-kiss as she was. But then again, maybe he was worried she would tell Shion about it. That would explain his numerous frantic texts and calls. Hinata exhaled a sad sigh.

The moment the lunch bell rang, Naruto jumped up from his seat and headed toward her with quick steps. Would it be totally cowardly if she ran into the girls' bathroom?!

Instead, Hinata stayed glued to Sakura, hoping he wouldn't confront her with others around, and gently urged her friend out of the cafeteria before Naruto could catch up. A tingle ran up her spine when he caught her by the wrist.

"Hinata, wait up! Can I talk to you for a sec?"

She turned around and gave him a strained smile. "Oh, uh, sure... Sorry I missed your calls."

"No, no, it's fine..." he trailed off. He stood close to her, way too close.

"I'll catch up with you later," Sakura said, patting Hinata on the arm. Lavender eyes begged her not to leave. A message the pinkette clearly did not receive, as she smiled and walked toward her next class.

"I, uh…" he stuttered. Hinata returned her gaze to Naruto as he fumbled with the right words to say. She looked pointedly at where he still held her wrist. He jerked his hand away, lightning quick. "Oh… haha, sorry..."

He seemed tense, nervous even. "I just… I wanted to talk to you about something…"

"I wasn't going to tell her," Hinata whispered, saving him from having to ask.

His eyebrows shot up with surprise.

Was it really so shocking that she would keep a secret for him? That she too wouldn't want anyone to know?

"Hinata, that's not -"

"I have to go to class," she cut him off and scurried away before he had the chance to say anymore.

At this point, Naruto wished Hinata was just scared of him, because with the amount of effort she was putting in to avoid him, he was beginning to worry that she actually hated him.

If he was being honest, he hated himself a little bit too. He had been so blinded by Shion's attention that he hadn't realized the depth of his feelings for Hinata. But she rejected his kiss, rejected his phone calls, and when he tried to clear things up at lunch, she rejected him then too.

But he couldn't just stay away from her. And not just because he loved her, but because they had cheer together too. The competition they had been working so hard for was mere days away. So, Naruto resolved that if he couldn't make things better right away, at the very least, he needed to make sure he doesn't make it worse.

Naruto walked into the back gym before the start of practice, throwing his duffle on the bleachers with the others, before making his way to Kiba.

"You good?" Kiba asked, noticing Naruto's rigid posture and wandering eyes.

"Oh yeah…" Naruto shrugged. "Mondays." He knew it was a lame excuse, but Kiba didn't press any further. He had told his friends that he and Shion had mutually decided to break up over the weekend, but none were aware of his dilemma with Hinata.

"Hey Hinata," Kiba called and Naruto flinched at the sound of her name. She dropped her duffle on the bleachers, and waved at them from a distance, instead of approaching them like she normally would.

Was she purposely looking extra cute today? Was she trying to torture him?!

She was obviously still avoiding him.

Once the team was assembled, everyone began warming up with their normal run around the school followed by their team stretch. Then Coach Tsunade told everyone to warm up their stunts and tumbling because they would be running their competition routine full out a few times.

Hinata finally came up to him (now that she had to) along with the rest of his stunt group and Naruto found himself feeling inexplicably nervous. He didn't want to say anything that might make her even more upset with him and he definitely couldn't just blurt 'I love you'.

He blushed at his own train of thought.

"Hey," he tried, but then immediately covered his mouth when his voice came out an octave higher than normal.

"Why are you being so awkward today?" Sakura asked, biting back a laugh.

"Me?" Naruto pointed to himself, looking flustered. "I'm not awkward! You're awkward!"

Ino and Sakura burst out laughing. Hinata didn't say anything, just stared down at the ground.

"C'mon, no more teasing," Ino said even while she was still chuckling. "Let's get started."

Naruto had hoped he could leave his nervous, fluttery feelings at the door so he could focus at practice, but then again maybe he was severely overestimating himself. Every time he touched Hinata, she seemed to tense, and it just reminded him of his current predicament. Whenever he caught her in his arms, she was so quick to get away from him and break any physical contact they had.

She almost acted like touching him was disgusting, like she couldn't stand it, and it just made him feel so much worse. Naruto thought if he didn't say anything he couldn't upset her more, but at this point, it seemed like his mere existence was bothering her.

The thought made his chest ache.

These thoughts and feelings consumed his concentration and made his stunting efforts sloppy. Ino and Sakura must have noticed what with the glares they were shooting him. All five stunt groups lined up close together to run through the stunt sequence that ended in their final pyramid formation.

It all happened so fast. What started with a wobble, turned into Hinata falling from the peak of their stunt. He moved to catch her, but the force and the awkward angle of her fall caused both he and Sakura to fall down. Sakura's back knocked into their neighboring stunt group causing them to fall as well.

The other groups came out of their stunts looking over at their fallen teammates. At least half the members of both groups were laying on the ground, still recovering. No one was seriously hurt because they always practice on their cushy blue mats, but they struggled to bounce back right away.

Naruto didn't really notice until a moment later that even though she was firmly on the ground, he still held Hinata tightly against his chest. He almost assumed she would be squirming to get away from him, but instead it kind of felt like she was leaning back into him.

Was catching her enough to remind her that she shouldn't hate him? He didn't lessen his grip as he leaned forward and softly asked, "are you okay?"

His words might as well have been an electric shock from the way she jolted, throwing her head back hitting him square in the nose. Naruto immediately let her go of her in favor of clenching his throbbing nose.

"Fuck, ow!" he groaned in pain.

Hinata looked at him with wide eyes, hands clasping over her mouth. "Ohmygosh! I'm so sorry! It was an accident!"

He looked down at the blood on his hand that dripped out of his nose. "I wish I could believe that," he muttered.

Naruto looked up again as she gasped in horror. Shit! He didn't mean to say that out loud.

"Come on, let's get you to the bathroom before you start bleeding on the mats," Ino said, grabbing him by the arm and hauling him up to stand. He held onto his nose as Ino guided him over to the bathroom. He caught a glance at one of the bases from the other stunt group that fell crying, apparently, she got kicked in the face by her own flyer.

When Ino pushed him into the girls' bathroom in the gym, Naruto squeaked a small protest but was ignored. He supposed with most other students having left when school ended they wouldn't encounter anyone else. But still, it felt a little scandalous to be in the girls' bathroom.

Ino walked over to grab a few paper towels before wetting them in the sink. Her brows were pinched together in concern as she helped clean him up.

"Okay, spill," Ino commanded. "What is going on with you? You don't usually mess up like this."

Naruto frowned, blue eyes glued to his feet.

Ino's voice softened significantly, "are you nervous about the competition?"

He peeked up at her. "No… it's not that, it's…"

"It's what?"

"You're Shion's friend, right?"

"Huh?"

"Did you know that she didn't think of me as her boyfriend?" he asked softly.

Ino sighed. "She never explicitly told me that, but I know that isn't really her style." Naruto nodded his understanding. "Is that what's got you all flustered?"

"I mean not entirely. It's mostly because... I tried to kiss Hinata…" Ino raised a surprised brow. "...and she rejected me."

"Oof, that explains her behavior then too," Ino said, and he could only sigh in response. "Why do you have to go ruining our team's dynamic right before the competition?"

"Ugh, I'm sorry," Naruto groaned.

Ino gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. "Things will sort themselves out with Hinata. You just have to talk to her and be honest." He just nodded in reply, hoping what she said was true.

When the pair of blondes walked out of the bathroom, a worried Hinata was standing just outside the door, holding her hands close to her chest. He suddenly regretted how dorky he looked with toilet paper shoved up his nose to catch any more blood that may escape.

Ino gave him a little nod and a reassuring squeeze before heading back into the gym to give them a moment of privacy.

"Naruto," Hinata said sadly, squeezing her hands together. "You have to know I'd never hurt you on purpose."

"It hurts me when you avoid me," he admitted quietly.

Hinata grimaced, pausing to think of her next words carefully. "I'm sorry, okay? It's just hard for me to talk to after..."

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about this weekend. I'm sorry I tried to…" He couldn't even say the word 'kiss'. "It was a mistake, so I'm sorry if I… ya know, scared you or made you uncomfortable or anything."

"Mistake?" she whispered so quietly he didn't even hear.

"So are we okay now?" he tried when he could take the awkward silence anymore.

"Yeah… no, yeah. We're okay. The whole thing was just a big mistake."

That was what he wanted to hear, and yet he couldn't help but detect the hurt in her voice.