The Eternal Soundtrack

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. That copyright belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

"Blush (Only You)" belongs to Plumb, from their album Chaotic Resolve.

Track 3: Blush (Only You)

She is perhaps the stealthiest ninja in existence. Scarcely a word, a mumble, not even a breath, can be heard escaping her lips. And when she tracks her quarry, he is never aware of the eyes watching his back.

And she would just die (of fright, of surprise, of relief) if he were to turn around one day and catch her white gaze with his blue one. The mere thought of such an occurrence forces the blood to her pale cheeks, staining them deep crimson with pent-up emotion.

//When you look at me

I start to blush
And all that I can see

Is you and us
Well baby I'm so free

To be in love
With you

With you...//

He is perhaps the only ninja in existence to be completely unfamiliar with the term 'stealth.' He is all blaring shouts and boisterous vows. His heart beats through the words that escape his lips and he cannot hold it in. He is the embodiment of freedom, despite the dark indwelling that constantly constricts his life.

He craves affirmation from others. He transfers this desire into a dream to be the strongest of the strong. But ever-watching pale eyes see a deeper longing; an urgent need in the depths of his being. To know love from another and to know someone who will accept such a delicate gift from himself.

//I wanna be in love

With only you
I wanna watch the sky

Turn grey then blue
I wanna know the kiss

That's always new
I wanna be in love

With only you
Just you…//

She spends hours (days, years really) training and perfecting, not only her shinobi skills, but her nerve; her heart. Because the terror that sends it fluttering like so many butterfly wings in the wind will ruin her one day, she knows. She thinks that rapidly beating organ might just one day up and stop upon catching sight of the one who sets it into such a fevered frenzy.

And it is not so much that he makes her nervous, nor that she fears speaking to him lest he refuse her (though such thoughts are often prevalent in the insecure girl's mind). It is the worry that when she does talk to him---when she steps out of her hiding place to meet his (far too) blue (to be real) gaze---that he will not see what she has been trying so very hard to drag up to the surface. That he will see the weird girl of twelve and not the newly revealed girl of always.

But her heart tells her that Naruto will always see the truth of a person, even during her most repressed and hidden days. He will see it; has seen it, without her ever having to forcibly dredge it up to the surface where the less observant will be able to see it too. He has the best eyes of anyone, as her cousin once said. Her underneath is always top level to his open gaze.

//Stars will fall

And dark will light the way
We'll hit the ground

And fall into the shade
I'll light the night with fire

And run away with you

With you…//

With a countenance that prompts him to tell it as he sees it, there is a mild irony in the fact that the day she allows him to truly see all that she has always wished to show him is the day he cannot say a word for his revelation.

But for all of his uncharacteristic silence, his thoughts have never run as clear as they do that day. (And never has another's face rivalled Hinata's flush as Naruto's does at that time, either.)

//I wanna be in love

With only you
I wanna watch the sky

Turn grey then blue
I wanna know the kiss

That's always new
I wanna be in love

With only you//

The nagging threat (promise; it feels like a dark promise) of failure, disappointment, and shame are what weigh down her true self, dragging it back below the surface, where it is wont to dwell, whenever his clear gaze alights upon her steadily reddening form.

The blush… It is the pressure, not the uncomfortable pleasure, which prompts her skin to heat so obviously. The inner build-up---of a respect, an admiration, a full-blown love that has gone unspoken for a lifetime---presses upon her heart and forces its strength to faster ends. A dead faint is only expected from such a weighty stress. It is the release valve for the pressure.

The day she decides to break open her being for him to see her true heart hiding behind the blush, she is only too thankful for the mellowing drugs running through her veins that slow her pulse and prevent anything close to a flush from creeping through her skin. (She has never been so thankful for being injured and requiring medical attention in her life. Bless those medic-nin and their precious calming drugs.)

//I wanna be in love with you
I wanna be in love (I wanna be in love)
I wanna be in love with you
I wanna be in love (I wanna be in love)

I wanna be in love with you...//

That another person can confess to loving him and not have it turn out to be a cruel joke (or an even crueller dream), completely awes the young man. Because in this one instance the truth actually does not hurt. And he almost forgets that pain exists just beyond those pearly eyes that captivate him so.

And there is a comfort in his chaos. A certainty that---despite the fact that he does not understand it, or at times, even believe it---he never has to fear losing this port in the storm; this beauty in the midst of brokenness; this peace in uncertainty. It is climactic and serene all at once, as he continues to wander through his days, but not caring in the least, because he knows all of his rambling will bring him back to her, in due time.

He cannot fear when he looks into her eyes. He is not capable of feeling rage when she ghosts across his mind. He cannot feel despondent and worthless with her smiling at him, the rose upon her cheeks.

His past is perfectly powerless against his future with her.

And he thinks that Neji must have been wrong when he said those words to him all those years ago: "You have better eyes than me." Because if that sentiment were true, Naruto thinks he ought to have seen Hinata's true heart long before the girl's drugged confession.

And he ought to have seen his own hidden truth as well.

//I wanna be in love

With only you
I wanna watch the sky

Turn grey then blue
I wanna know the kiss

That's always new
I wanna be in love

With only you
Just you…//

But can one really see a heartbeat under normal circumstances? No, they listen to the rhythm of that steady muscle. And perhaps here is his answer: It is not his eyes that are faulty, but his ears, for, though he could always see Hinata's true heart, he could never hear its earnest rhythm. Nor could he hear how it echoes his own.

There ensues the years of waiting in (painful, terrifying, lonely) suspense, as the two circle each other, one shyly, the other obliviously.

But all that circling leads them into a spiral (an uzumaki, if you will) that draws them together so easily, it seems inevitable (a certain Hyuuga cousin calls it fate).

And looking at her now, he thinks that blue can have no better complement than white; the sky and the clouds that show hope and freedom (and endless, endless perfection; a flawless union) to all who watch.

//Just you

Just you
I wanna be

Just you//

End of Track 3

Guttersnipe's Word: This is my first straight up NaruHina fic. My other ones have only ever had snippets and dashes of the sweetest pairing ever. There's not as much Hinata perspective as there is Naruto, I know. I'm still not very good at working with Hinata's character. I'm more accustomed to writing for Naruto. Sorry. So tell me what you thought. Send Mr. Clicky some loving by reviewing, please!

I might attempt a ShikaTema next. Or a ShikaIno. Or a NejiTen. I'm pretty undecided. I suppose it depends on which vein I get more inspiration in. Heck, I might be forced to give another SasuSaku, since inspiration comes much easier for them than any others. (You have no idea how I had to just pull this one out of my brain. I don't know why the cutest pairing has to be so difficult to write for.)

Coming Soon: Of Fear and Women Chapter 3: The grand finale to the torture of Sasuke (in this fic, anyway!) will commence soon. I have yet to map it all out, but trust me when I say, the boys of Konoha will never be the same (wink, wink; nudge, nudge; say no more, say no more).

Also, Public Service Announcement will be updated shortly. I recently came to the realization that I have not updated that fic in about three months. (Shame, Guttersnipe.) I can hardly believe I've allowed Sasuke to be free of mental scarring for a full three months (again, in this fic, anyway)! That simply will not do! So it will be getting a new chapter soon. Neji and Sasuke's diabolical plan to destroy Gai and Lee will commence! (Dun, dun, duuunnnn!) But a twist (of Gai and Lee's minds) will throw a bit of a gremlin into the prodigies' uber-awesome plot! Oh, the return of tormenting Sasuke is going to be sweet!

Later peeps!