Sorry for the long wait guys...I've been busy lately. But anyways! Chapter 4 is up!! NOTE!! WARNING TO ALL SAKURA LOVERS!! There's a lot of err...not so nice stuff that Sakura does so yeah...btw she's a bit OOC.

Chapter 4 – Finally Realizing

When Hinata finally got back home it was way past eight. Her father had shouted at her for coming back so late. But she didn't hear half the things he said. Her mind was still in a daze, processing the events that had happened that day. She still couldn't get her head around the fact that she, Hinata Hyuuga had a full-length conversation with Naruto Uzumaki, one of the guys in the grade that every girl would die for.

"Hinata?? Are you listening to me???!"

She shook herself out of her trance and nodded vacantly. Suppressing a sigh her father gave her a wave of dismissal. Hinata gave him a small nod and slowly made her way upstairs to her room.

However, when she got to the top of the steps, Neji was waiting for her with his arms crossed and a suspicious look on his face. Hinata quickly looked down to avoid his gaze and tried to dash to her room. However Neji was faster and stood in front of her bedroom door.

"Take my advice and don't get close to that Uzumaki guy…he'll just end up hurting you."

Hinata flinched. Did Neji see her with Naruto in the park??

"Who I talk to is none of your concern" she replied in an icy voice. Pushing Neji aside she opened her door, slipped inside and slammed it shut.

Neji stood there in shock, Hinata has never acted in that way before. Sighing he made his way to his own room. Not meaning to steal from Shikamaru, but this is going to be troublesome.

Hinata sat slumped at the back of her door. She felt bad about acting that way to Neji but she didn't want him to rub it in. Because somewhere deep inside her heart, she knew that the deeper that she fell in love with Naruto, the more deeply she'll get hurt. But. It was already too late. She was truly and madly in love with Naruto Uzumaki.

The days seemed to pass quickly and the date to the next gig where Tsunade would reappear in was drawing closer. Life to Hinata was the same old usual boring routine…except that now every Sunday she'll meet up with Naruto at the same park and seat of where they first had a proper conversation. Hinata had never felt so happy in her life. She didn't mind just sitting there and chatting to Naruto about the most random stuff. It gave her a chance to know more about Naruto and she would cherish the times that they spent together on those Sunday afternoons.

There must have had been some change about her because everyone was noticing. TenTen would be constantly barraging her with a heap of questions about a certain someone, Neji would be constantly giving her suspicious stares, and even her father of all people had randomly picked her up from school on several occasions and would query her in the car. But Hinata would just absent-mindedly nod or shake her head.

Life couldn't get any better.

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Hinata hummed quietly as she made her way down the street to the florist shop. The crisp morning air felt refreshing on her skin. It was another Sunday and Hinata was bursting with joy at the prospect of being able to talk to Naruto. The thought made her press on faster and soon she saw Neji waiting dutifully outside the shop with the usual two bouquets of lilies. The two cousins exchanged a silent greeting and walked to the cemetery. It was usually Hinata who tried to make conversation so it surprised her when Neji began to talk. However, on hearing what he was about to say, she wished he stayed quiet.

"You're meeting Uzumaki aren't you…?"

Hinata stopped dead in her track and remained silent.

"I'll give you one last warning. Stay away from him."

Hinata looked at him fiercely and before he could say another word, she hurried off to her mother's gravestone.

Neji sighed…is there really nothing that'll change her mind?

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There's nothing that's going to change my mind!! I wish he'll just see that! She thought angrily as she placed the bouquet of flowers in front of the stone. She calmed herself down and paid her respects to her mum. She looked up at the clear blue sky and sighed…it was at times like this where she really wished her mother was still alive.

Naruto plopped down onto the seat as he waited for Hinata. This is unusual…normally Hinata would be here first...I hope she's alright. Naruto's mind trailed onto thoughts about Hinata. He didn't know why he had asked her if she'd like to meet up with him on Sundays. But there was just something about her company that he liked and found comforting. She was totally different to all the other fan girls that surrounded him everyday…he shuddered at the thought. She was pretty cute as well…and her smell was comforting, something like honey….OH MY GOD…what am I thinking????? He slapped himself a couple of times and looked up to see Hinata hurrying towards him.

She gave him a small apologetic smile, "Sorry I'm late". Naruto flashed a grin in return, "Nah its fine. I was just early." The two sat in relative silence as they watched the breeze ruffle the grass. "So Naruto-kun, what song are you going to perform next Friday?" Naruto smiled sheepishly. "I errr…haven't exactly got a song yet." Hinata glanced at him in surprise. "But isn't Tsunade-san…?" Naruto sighed, "Yeah…she's going to be there on Friday. It's just that we haven't found the right song."

…think about what you REALLY want to play…Those words still confused him.

"Naruto-kun…umm…perhaps you should find a song that fits you best...?"

Naruto looked at her in surprise… "Huh?" Hinata blushed and started to fumble with her fingers. "U-umm…what I mean is like, all the songs you've been playing so far…do they have any meaning to you?"

This shocked Naruto. Now that he thought about it…the songs they play were mainly just songs that well…made girls go crazy. They really weren't stuff that the Black Moon took too seriously…maybe that was the problem…

His thoughts were cut short when a sudden cold voice appeared from no where.

"Hinata…lets go."

Hinata looked at Neji in anger and gave a cry of protest when he grabbed her by the arm to pull her up from the seat. He started to walk away with a firm grip on her arm.

"Hey!! Let go of Hinata!"

Neji turned around and gave Naruto a cold stare. "You…stay away from her." He brushed off Naruto's hand and continued walking with a furious Hinata. Naruto couldn't do anything except stare at their retreating backs, dumbfounded. What the hell is his problem??!

"Neji!!! Let go of me!!!"

He had dragged her all the way back to the Hyuuga estate; with Hinata shouting angry protests, but Neji was too strong for her. He spun around only to give her a cool and angry look. "I warned you to stay away from him and seeing as you still won't listen, this was my last resort." Hinata felt like she could punch him in the face but she only just slapped away his hand.

"Why are you so against this anyway??! It's none of your business! This is MY life!! So let me live it the way I want!" With one last angry glare she ran up the stairs and slammed the door to her room.

Neji stood outside a while to calm himself. Why couldn't she see that he was only trying to protect her?? That Uzumaki jerk would only end up hurting his cousin and not to mention if her father found out…Neji didn't want to think about the consequences.

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It had been 3 days after the 'incident' and Hinata had tried her best to avoid Naruto's questioning gazes at school, in fact, she tried to avoid him in general. She had no idea why…Was it because she didn't want to answer his questions? Perhaps it was because she didn't want it to happen again…

Hinata sighed and slumped over her school desk. Iruka-sensei's voice seemed such a far distance away…Suddenly, something bounced off her head. What the hell???? She looked up, annoyed, to see who did it but no one seemed guilty of doing so. Looking down on the ground she spied a scrunched up ball of paper. Quickly she bent down to pick it up so that Iruka-sensei didn't notice. She opened it.

Hey Hinata!

Sorry if I did anything wrong…so can you stop being mad at me? ) Hehe!! Meet me in the classroom after school ok?? You better be there!

Naruto

She couldn't help but smile when she read it…but wait…meet him in the classroom after school??? Hinata's mind started to race with possibilities and she felt herself going red. What does he want??

Naruto sighed with relief when he saw Hinata pick up the note. However, he held his breath until he saw the smile spread across her face. Ok…it's all good. He had no idea why she had been avoiding him lately but he couldn't stand it. Naruto was clueless as to why…did he really enjoy her company so much?? But he missed her comforting smell and that shy smile that would randomly pop up from time to time…ARRGGH!! I'm such a jerk to Sakura!!! But…Sakura never like him in the first place…She was only going out with him to make Sasuke jealous. The thought of it made him so depressed.

FLASHBACK

It was Monday, the day after him and Hinata's conversation was forcefully stopped by her cousin Neji. Naruto was confused and pissed about the whole thing. What did Neji have against him?? He walked past an empty classroom and suddenly heard Sakura's and Ino's (Sakura's closest friend) voice. He was about to enter and greet Sakura but he stopped when he heard what they were talking about.

"Hey, you know that weirdo chick Hinata from our class??"

"Yeah…what about her?" asked Sakura uninterestedly.

"Have you seen the way she stares at Naruto all day? And god…she like tries to talk to him every Sunday at that park."

What?? She saw us??! Oh my god, Sakura's going to beat me up so bad afterwards..

"Oh really? She has got to get a life if she's that desperate for Naruto."

Naruto felt his anger starting to rise…and why was Sakura like this??

Ino huffed. "Well, aren't you just a little bit pissed that she's flirting with Naruto??"

Sakura sighed and Naruto heard her chair scrape as she got up, "You know I don't really care."

Huh? Naruto pressed his ear harder against the door. What did Sakura mean?

"After all…I'm just going out with him to try and get Sasuke-kun. Maybe if he saw me with one of his best guy friends he'll finally ask me out."

Naruto felt his blood run cold. He had suspicions before, because whenever he talked to Sakura, she would always be looking at Sasuke's direction. Before he had just brushed it off but now…

"I would never like that idiot!! You've got to be kidding"

Naruto couldn't take it anymore, so he removed his ear from the door and walked down the corridor, dazed at what he had heard, his heart torn as he realized the truth.

END FLASHBACK

He sighed when he remembered the events…he still hadn't confronted Sakura about it yet. She must have been starting to get suspicious of something because she had been asking him if something was on his mind. He would just shrug in reply and smile.

However, after hearing what Sakura had said, it seemed to have cleared his mind. That night, he had found the perfect song for the upcoming performance. He didn't know why but he wanted Hinata to be the first one to see it. He still hadn't shown Sasuke and Gaara yet. But for some unknown reason, Hinata had been avoiding him, making it impossible for him to talk to her and she would always seem to be deep in conversation with TenTen or someone else. So he did the only thing he could think of and scribbled a message on a piece of paper and then chuck it at her.

Not the smartest thing to do...but he really wanted to show her the song. And it was thanks to her that he finally realised what was wrong.

"Naruto? What was the answer to question twelve?"

Naruto raised his head from the table…crap… "Errrr…." Iruka-sensei sighed, "You really must pay attention Naruto, or else you're going to come last in class again." Everyone laughed and Naruto pouted…the lunch bell rang and Iruka-sensei dismissed the class.

Everyone scrambled out of their seats the moment he left the classroom. It was raining today so everyone had to stay indoors.

Hinata closed her eyes as she tried to calm her nerves.

"Hinata!!! What was that piece of paper??! Who chucked it to you?? What did it say?!"

She unwillingly opened her eyes. If she didn't answer TenTen now she'll be pestering her about it all day. But…

"Well…it was from…" Hinata blushed madly as she remembered the message.

"What???? It was from Naruto???!!!!!" Ten Ten's eyes widened.

"What???!!!" how did she know?? Hinata began to panic.

"Well, you only turn that red when it's something about him." TenTen said, rolling her eyes.

Hinata stuck her tongue at her and punched her on the arm. TenTen laughed, "so what did he say??"

Once again Hinata turned a deep shade of red. "Well he err…a-asked me to m-meet him in the classroom a-after school." She mumbled, praying that no-one would hear. TenTen squealed and bombarded her with questions. However…a certain pink haired girl nearby heard what Hinata said.

Sakura quietly fumed when she heard Hinata. Even though she didn't like Naruto, she hated the idea that SHE would lose to a girl like HER. And plus, if the school heard that Naruto dumped her for Hinata…her reputation would be finished. Scowling she tried to think of a plan…well…they were going to meet up after school weren't they? Sakura smiled slyly as she decided on what to do. She was going to prove to Hinata that no one would ever win against her, Sakura Haruno.

Haha…sorry about the Sakura-bashing peoples!! xD I Have nothing against her...it's just part of the story . Anyways!! I'll try to update chapter 5 soon!! xD