Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
It was time.
It felt like she'd only just been given the mission statement and had had no time to prepare herself, even though she'd had three good long days of rest. Her pack was slung over her shoulder, a distinguishable weight that settled comfortably across her shoulder blades. Her lavender and navy ensemble fit as loosely as she preferred it to though it was a little stuffy being under Konoha's dazzling sun. She wouldn't be worried about the heat for long, however, since they would soon be in Kusakagure. They being she and Uzumaki Naruto.
Biting her lip with pent up nerves, Hinata first turned to wave in farewell to Ko before closing the gate to the Hyuga compound behind her. The advice she'd garnered from Sakura was rolling around in her head as she headed for Konoha's front gates, swishing against the corners of her brain, filling her with nothing but anxiety. How was it that people acted comfortably around those they admired? How did they act naturally and not make fools of themselves? She didn't think she could do it, not around him, not on a mission where they would be one another's only company.
But Sakura's advice had been qualified and true, and if she said that Hinata had to simply relax and try to be herself, not minding what Naruto might be thinking of her, then she would follow through. After all, she had given Sakura her word. And Hinata Hyūga never went back on her word.
With a quiet sigh that seemed to push the stress straight out of her pores, Hinata lifted her chin high and marginally picked up her pace. She could do this. It was only Naruto, and Naruto was only a man. A fellow ninja. The future Hokage. The savior of their village. The man she'd loved since the academy days.
She hoped she could do this.
The initial greeting had been awkward, as she'd expected, but Naruto was a natural and easily steered them through a few different conversation points, seemingly testing the waters of her personality and willingness to converse. She responded in kind, trying her best not to stutter and doing quite well, though she couldn't exactly keep his gaze for long periods of time. That was fine with her if it meant she could seem like a normal person, able to talk to him comrade to comrade. Naruto interrupted himself just before launching into a story about some old mission he and Kiba had recently been on and gestured towards the land outside Konoha's gates. Understanding his gesture, she nodded and instantly they lifted themselves into the trees and began their journey to Kusagakure, while Naruto enthusiastically continued with his story, which as most of his stories proved to be was accompanied by his easy laughter. Glancing over at the orange and black-clad shinobi, Hinata found herself smiling at him, watching his expressions shift as easily as leaves in the wind.
"So he's challenging me left and right and saying how he could beat me at anything, and then he's telling me to choose a venue for a challenge." His muscled shoulders shrugged, pushing his own pack up and down with the jerky movement. They were moving so quickly through the trees now that the background behind him was a blur of deep greens and earth browns that did little to distract her from his face. "So I chose a ramen eating contest." His expression turned sly as he side-eyed her, watching as she lifted a hand to cover the laugh that escaped from her lips.
"Kiba-kun doesn't much care for ramen, Naruto-kun."
"Yeah, well, then he should've thought out his challenges a little better. Nonetheless, he went through with it. I won of course, no one beats me when it comes to ramen, dattebayo!"
Smiling at his enthusiasm, Hinata asked, "How long ago was this?"
"Pretty long, actually. A few months?" Naruto answered, rubbing the back of his head even as he gracefully landed from branch to branch, his feet barely even touching the bark he was moving so quickly. It wasn't difficult for her to keep up, but she knew for a fact that his stamina could outlast hers thrice over, so she'd need to watch her reserves. She hummed in response to his answer, smiling kindly but unable to look at him, knowing that he was looking over at her. Unwarranted, a blush rose on her cheeks and made her skin feel hot.
"I was curious, since Kiba-kun, Shino-kun and I just recently had Ichiraku's and Kiba-kun seemed fully inclined to finish his bowl of ramen. Well, before Akamaru showed up."
"Yeah, I guess it's been a long enough waiting period between the challenge and now, because let me tell you something Hinata-chan, he couldn't even move afterwards. The smell of the ramen was enough to make him vomit. He didn't want to be on the same street as the ramen shop, let alone within the same village. Maybe he's trying to build up his appetite for round two." The prospect seemed to amuse the blonde haired ninja, as he shook his head and snickered to himself. Now that they'd gotten to talking and were feeling more comfortable around one another, a silence fell between them and it was as comfortable as they came. Hinata could still feel her heart pounding in her chest, beating like a drum and making her bones vibrate with the force of it, but her smile was easy and constantly on her face. Naruto stayed a pace ahead of her, since he knew the direction to Kusagakure better than she did, but every now and again he'd look back at her, most likely making sure that her condition was still stable.
Resentment curled into the pit of her stomach for a mere second before it was overcome by the feeling of pleasure at being checked up on, even when they were doing something as simple as running. She didn't mean to react so aversely so quickly, but she was so used to being coddled that she'd grown an innate sense of distaste for those who underestimated her without knowing what she was capable of. But then, because it was Naruto and he was making sure that she was okay, it made her toes curl in her sandals and her heart flutter. It was confusing enough trying to find the perfect normalcy between nervousness and comfort in his presence; she really didn't need to have such conflicting emotions warring within her at a simple look cast her way.
Shaking it off, she pushed a little harder and bravely came up closer to his side, smiling shyly at him when he glanced over with a raised brow. That was a big step, wasn't it? That had been all her and she'd done it without hesitation and now she was close enough to reach out and grasp his sleeve if she so chose. Quite proud of herself, she focused ahead of her and once again activated her Byakugan for a few seconds to make sure they wouldn't run into trouble without being prepared. Feeling his gaze on the side of her face, Hinata managed to ignore him and focus on her task with only a blush to show she knew he was looking. Either way, it didn't seem to matter to him, as he continued to stare without any sign of looking away even when caught in the act. The veins beside her eyes settled back in and her sight dimmed back to normal as she nodded in his direction and mumbled, "All clear."
A look of genuine curiosity flitted across his whiskered face and his blonde brows pinched together, mouth twisting slightly. Gradually he slowed his pace until he was jumping from a twisted branch down to the forest floor, his landing silent enough to blend right into the chirping of birds and beetles around them. She followed suit without losing any of her momentum, landing beside him in an equally silent crouch before she waited for him to flick his shoulder forward, telling her that they'd walk for a little bit. She was thankful for the break and reached back to grasp her canister of water, taking a generous swig before glancing up and shyly offering some to Naruto. He declined in favor of posing a question, clearly the one that he'd wanted to ask up in the trees but for some reason had felt unsure whether to ask or not.
"What does that feel like?" His voice was low and scratchy, almost as if he was embarrassed to be asking her. Violet brows knit together and her lavender eyes met and held his for the first time since they'd left the village.
"The Byakugan?" she watched as he ducked his head once and then tilted it slightly while waiting for her answer. She took a moment to think about it, unconsciously reaching up to touch the skin around her eyes. She knew exactly where every vein would appear and how many would appear, depending on how much or how far she was straining to see. The more she strained, the more veins appeared on her skin.
"I guess it feels like fire. Caged fire." At his expression she could tell that he was clearly confused and she knew she wasn't explaining it right, so she gathered her thoughts again and tried to bring sense to her words. "It's like pressure in this entire zone," she rubbed the bridge of her nose to the sides of her head, just above her ears. "It burns but there's no pain, and there's so much pressure at first it's a little uncomfortable because it feels like something has to give. But then it settles and it's just a…a zone of p-pressure that lets me focus entirely on what I need to see."
Slowly Naruto nodded his head, understanding brightening those pools of sapphire. He glanced down at his feet to make sure he didn't trip over anything since most of the time he was just staring at her eyes in what she hoped was fascination and not revulsion. Some people thought Hyūga eyes to be beautiful, but many more thought them creepy and lifeless enough that they would better suit a zombie. Hinata reached across her body with one arm to grasp the other self-consciously, hoping she hadn't said too much.
"That's pretty neat, Hinata. Hey wait, can you see yourself too? Like in your zone of visibility are you included? Or is it just your surroundings?"
"I-I've never been asked that before, actually. I can see myself, though when it's activated I don't really pay attention to the rest of my face, though I'm always aware of my body." Once again, expressive blonde brows rose and one corner of Naruto's mouth ticked up. Feeling encouraged, she pressed on after tucking a piece of violet hair behind her ear, showing the right side of her face to him unobstructed.
"It's so intense that when I first started practicing with it I'd forget about my body and focus completely on what I was seeing kilometers away, but then Neji-nii-san showed me how vulnerable that left me. It was a lesson I'll never forget. I guess if you let yourself get too caught up in it, it's sort of like Ino-san's mind transfer technique. Your body becomes very vulnerable unless you include it in your line of sight." She was so happy that he was actually interested in this subject that she could almost feel the happiness bubbling up inside her, waiting to burst free like steam from a teakettle. Naruto's expression was serious, taking in what she told him and nodding as he seemed to file it away. Then, without a shift between the seriousness he'd just expressed and the current delight on his angled features, he was smiling his mega watt grin with eyes closed and one hand absently scratching the back of his neck. Hinata traced the lines that made up the crows feet beside his eyes for a brief moment before forcing herself to look away, not wanting to get caught up in something she found so adorable.
"That's so cool, Hinata! I wish I could experience that." And he laughed, the sound like soothing wind chimes turning in the wind, beautiful enough to make her cast her gaze up from under her bangs to stare once more, only briefly, stealing a glance she had no right to. The sound was enough for her to start wishing they had some wind right then, since the forest remained as muggy and still as it had been when they'd left.
"Everyone has such cool techniques," Naruto added, opening his eyes to cast a playful glance in her direction. "It'd be so cool to see through things like you and so far away! Or jump into someone's head like Ino. Might be nice to have Sakura-chan's strength so I wouldn't constantly have to fear her pounding me through the Earth."
"Well, you have the Rasengan. And you've created so many different forms of it. And kage-bunshin! No one else can make kage-bunshin like you, Naruto-kun." Rubbing his head sheepishly, Naruto let out a heavy breath.
"Yeah, I guess so. But those still aren't as scary as super strength or mind invasion. Or super vision." He added, glancing over to her once more with a cheeky grin. Hinata laughed under her breath, shaking her head and bringing a hand under her heavy veil of hair to swipe it over her shoulder and let the back of her neck cool off with the fresh air now unobstructed.
"Everyone has become so strong." She whispered, smiling fondly. Their generation was one of the most talked about in the entire shinobi system, what with the prodigies and the few who had work ethic like no one could believe. Rock Lee himself was an amazement to all clans roaming about that ever thought those without chakra could never become shinobi, let alone of Jonin class.
"It's so nice to see those who others put down grow up to prove everyone wrong, don't you think?" The words tumbled out of her mouth before she realized how Naruto might take them, thinking she was talking about herself when in truth she had been thinking of Sakura and Ino. Moving quickly to clarify, she added, "Ino-san and Sakura-san in particular. They're so beautiful everyone thought them fragile, like flowers, but look at them now."
"Definitely." Naruto agreed, shivering as he thought of Sakura and her newfound strength. He'd thought she was a bit scary before her apprenticeship to obaa-chan, but the monster that had been born from that tutelage was nothing that he'd ever been prepared for.
"I always knew Sakura-chan was strong, since she was on my team. But I wasn't so familiar with other team members like Ino, Tenten, or Choji. I always knew Shikamaru was a genius and Neji too, though he was a stuck up genius—no offense—and then of course Rock Lee and his garden of youth motivation proving invincible." Hinata nodded, agreeing completely. Though she'd known her own squad was steadily becoming stronger and more of a necessity to high-class missions, it was hard to judge the strength and worth of the comrades that weren't on your team. For Hinata, she had always wondered at Tenten's strength before Neji-nii-san actually started bringing her around for training. She'd also wondered about Akimichi Choji's strengths too, but had never really gotten anywhere in that line of thought.
"I think Ino surprised me the most, to be honest." His tone was sincere, his hands now resting in his pockets as they continued to walk towards Kusa. Hinata thought about that and couldn't help but agree with him.
"Her interrogation skills were indeed a surprise."
"They were more than a surprise. I was fucking terrified!" Naruto blurted, uncaring of his language even when in the midst of an heiress to one of the most prestigious clans in Konoha. Knowing that he always had and always would treat her just like everyone else warmed her.
"One day I walk by her in her store arranging posies or some shit and then the next I see her coming out of the Detention Center with a mean smile. I swear, Hinata, she didn't even blink."
To anyone who knew Ino and knew her well, her behavior coming from an interrogation was as standard as a civilian's morning routine. She walked through the transitory shadow cast down from the heavy main door to the Detention Center, placed strategically above the underground cells where the actual torture was handled, always wiping her hands with a small white towel. Anyone who didn't know the blonde interrogator might be confused at seeing her exit with her pristine uniform unmarred and hands clean and smooth and uncontaminated, yet still always with that towel.
But what many people didn't realize was that there were many things that hands needed to be cleansed of, and not all of them were visible.
The things done down in the dungeons below Konoha's Detention Center were often fodder for the rumor mill, and even more often they were false. People let their imaginations run wild when it came to torture, and yet most of what one violet-clad Yamanaka had heard hadn't been the least bit creative—chopped off fingers, periodic slices with a kunai, classic beat downs with fists and fists alone. Ino told Hinata of this lack of creativity whenever she got the chance, often rolling her eyes and outwardly wondering how there could be so many sources of gossip and yet none of them were even close to what really went down in the dungeons.
Of course, as a sort of last resort or as she liked to think, a secret weapon, Ino often was called in when the criminal was far beyond the necessity of physical torture. Yamanaka Ino was good at what she did—terrifyingly so—so much so that she never once had to get her hands dirty. Quite literally.
However, to hear her explain a common trip down those dilapidated steps, one would think sure, of course, the towel is a good idea. Hinata had no idea how the blonde managed to spend hours underground sifting through brains—either literally or figuratively, even Hinata wasn't sure—before coming back up into the sunlight, stretching, and wandering off to get her nails done all without any breakdowns.
Hinata took a moment to wonder about the paths that she, Sakura, and Ino had all wandered down and how each path had strengthened them enough to create the three powerful kunoichi they were presently.
Hinata had trained her body through grueling sessions of stand-alone sparring, often waking up before sunrise for her cursory sparring session with Hiashi-sama and Hanabi, then going through several hours of various training techniques and simulations. By the time she was done training, the moon was centered over the village, every muscle in her body screamed, and simply walking felt like a severe uphill battle. She'd lost count of the number of times she'd trodden into the Hyuga compound, soaked through with sweat and blood and grime, and simply fallen into her futon, fully clothed and unconscious before her head hit the pillow. Then of course she was also working at the hospital and taking regular missions, as well as routine sparring sessions that lasted longer than all the rest with her team, mixing in visits to Kurenai-sensei and her daughter when she could and pushing herself to shop with Neji-nii-san when she had to, or else she might've withered away, though she highly doubted Neji-nii would ever let that happen.
Sakura had a very similar work ethic as Hinata and was one of the violet's most common sparring partners when she wasn't doing triple transplants, concocting antidotes to undiscovered poisons or saving entire squadrons from certain death. In one day. Sakura was a whole new kind of amazing that Hinata admired more than she could ever put into words. The woman slaved away at the hospital day and night and was in charge of hundreds of lives every week, including that of her staff and those she was mentoring. She helped Tsunade-sama in what little spare time she had after the hospital and had also been doing regular missions with her team, though Hinata was sure those missions were entirely different from the ones that team 8was being tasked to complete. Team 7 was a whole new animal, working like a well-oiled machine, unstoppable and unfathomable in strength, a powerhouse without match. It was no secret amongst the rookies that team 7 had a certain leverage that came from a combination of extreme work ethic, dedication, and God-given natural talent.
However, what differentiated Sakura's road to power from Hinata's was both the absence of someone like Neji-nii-san in her life and a variety of sparring partners. After Uchiha Sasuke had left the village, Sakura had gone through a powerful change spearheaded by her determination to prove herself strong. As a naturally more out-going and confident personality than Hinata, Sakura would frequently be seen sparring with different training partners almost every day, varying in time. She utilized Rock Lee's strength and asked him to put her on a backbreaking training regimen that hurt Hinata just to think about. She sought out Tenten for weapons training, Shikamaru to advance her technical and strategic mind, and several other shinobi of differing talents and abilities. Such training had made her arguably the most well-rounded shinobi that Konoha had to offer, though her strength alone was something to make her stand out exponentially. Hinata, however, was too shy and lacking in self-worth to garner the courage to ask people to take their time to train with her. Rather, she researched as many training methods to strengthen the mind, body, and soul as she could and put them to use on a daily basis. And though Hinata lacked Sakura's charisma and consequently the capability to ask her comrades for assistance as the pinkette had, there was one factor that Hinata had in her life that Sakura did not, and his name was Hyūga Neji.
If Hinata forgot to shop for herself or even feed herself, she'd no doubt find a very irritated cousin at her door with bags of groceries balanced perfectly on his arms. Sakura, however, didn't quite have that backup. She had Naruto, who encouraged sodium-induced comas at Ichiraku when he felt Sakura looked too thin—Sai who used to confuse her pale countenance as one needing its vitamins and had begun to stock her cabinets literally to bursting with every type of vitamin he could find—and Kakashi-sensei, who sweetly suggested she invest in a barstool at his favorite bar and proceed to help him drink himself under the table. Obviously Sakura had a lot on her plate, though none of it was the nutritious food she needed to consume. Luckily, she had Hinata and Ino to casually restock her fridge with essential fruits and small cartons of milk and as many protein bars with long-lasting expiration dates as they could find. Sakura had never given them a key, per say, but that didn't mean her two closest girlfriends couldn't challenge themselves to get past her traps and stock her up with basic nutrients her body needed.
And then there was Ino. The beautiful, eye-catching blonde bombshell that had been more interested in boys than in school and had found comfort in her family's flower arranging business when her childhood love abandoned the village. It was well known around the rookies that Ino liked to arrange flowers and by working at her mother's shop she was only further enhancing her charisma and confidence in getting her way. It was not, however, a well-known fact that at the same time that shinobi like Sakura and Hinata were sparring in the fields, that one Yamanaka Ino was being privately tutored by one scarred interrogator who towered over her and was four times her size. As someone taken to people watching, Hinata could remember seeing the change in Ino and wondering how she'd missed something so obviously different for so long.
Ino's turquoise eyes had always been brighter than the stone they were named after and as luminous as sunlight through a glass of water, but somewhere in between all of Hinata's training and working she had noticed that those eyes had become…hard. Practiced. Cold. Ino was the same girl she'd always been, lively and magnetic and amiable enough to spread endless amounts of gossip throughout the village without garnering hate. But if you looked closer and watched those eyes of hers you could see them study you, look into you, and she didn't even need to use her family's kekkai-genkai to get into your brain.
One simply had to be in her presence. That was enough to offer enough information to make a just call on what you were hiding if you were hiding something and then somehow she'd sweet talk it right out of you. Somewhere between the demands of their schedules, the three kunoichi had become three different kinds of dangerous that no one wanted to dabble in. The men on their teams knew that best. Sakura with her chakra-enhanced strength and masterful medical jutsu, Ino with her encroaching charisma and effortless ability to get into your deepest secrets, and Hinata with her nearly perfect chakra control and her ability to sense danger in a radius of kilometers around her. Three completely different sets of skills, with one very terrifying common denominator: each woman now had the ability to kill with a single fingertip.
Sakura could easily crush an entire ribcage with her pinky finger.
Ino only had to touch your forehead with her index to unravel your entire mind.
Hinata could touch the space over a heart and make it explode with mere chakra.
Konoha was filled with dangerous shinobi and though the most well known names were often males like Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyūga Neji, it was truly the women that should instill fear.
Hinata had not gotten close to Ino as quickly as she had with Sakura, but the pink and blonde duo had always been a package deal: you get one, you get the other. So not long after Hinata and Sakura started to bond over medicine, Ino started appearing more and more in the heiress's life, though Hinata couldn't exactly remember if she'd ever been explicitly invited.
Their friendship wasn't immediate, either. It wasn't a fast friendship that took off and secured itself without trials, arguments, and suspicion. But it was a friendship that took root like an oak tree, with a small seed implanted in a healthy fertilizer. It was watered and cared for and even though there were times when it was trampled over and halfway dug-up, it survived and it grew and prospered into a bond with more depth and love than Hinata ever could've hoped for, and now still to this day it continued to grow and cast a calming shade over the three of them, protecting them and comforting them in the bond of their love for each other.
The thought made Hinata smile as she shifted her pack to allow her back a brief burst of fresh air. The forest was muggy and stuffy and making her sweat more than she'd like to admit, which of course only made her more uncomfortable even though Naruto was a pace in front of her and couldn't see the stains she could clearly feel. He was sweating, too, but of course he managed to somehow make it look good with only a slight darkening to the fabric of his top on the small of his back. They had about another day's worth of running to do after they set up camp and rested for the night, though Hinata wasn't worried. They hadn't encountered much of anyone yet, and even with her constant Byakugan enhanced scouting she sensed no hostile chakra or energy around them.
They made camp about an hour after the sun settled behind the mountains, casting dark shades across the sky as the moon gradually began to take over. Naruto laid out both sleeping bags while Hinata started a fire, lifting her gaze with a single ember, watching it ascend through the smoke up into the canopy of trees surrounding them. They had chosen a spot deep in the forest, surrounded on all sides by trees of massive girth and height and covered in different species of birds and insects. The chirping of night critters rose up around them, helping to conceal any noise they might be making though with Hinata around the chance of a surprise attack was close to nil.
Springing to his feet, Naruto stretched his back and walked over to the fire, grinning at her as he rubbed his hands inches from the small flames. Sharing the pleasantness of the night and the warmth of the fire, Hinata walked over to his side and joined him before the fire, mimicking the movements of his hands.
"We should cherish this weather, since it'll be our last night without rain or mist." Hinata mumbled, taking a small moment to wonder whether she was brave enough to take her jacket off and embrace the gentle heat of the night. Too easily she decided against it, not wanting to offset the comfortable atmosphere she was currently in. In fact, she hadn't even really been that nervous with him, other than the first half-hour or so of their trip. In fact, the past hour of travel before they set camp had been filled with laughter and jokes, each telling their favorite stories and embracing the wonderful weather that Fire Country blessed them with.
Of course, Hinata was still very shy and felt a little awkward, blushing constantly and struggling to keep Naruto's gaze, but conversation steadily became easier and easier to hold. Before long it wasn't just Naruto telling stories and making her laugh, but Hinata adding her own fond memories and bringing Naruto to the precipice of tears when recounting a particular mission where she had gotten lost in an abnormally large bathhouse, resulting in her finding her way right into the men's section in only a towel. To Hinata, this had been cause enough for her to sprint into the nearest hiding spot and faint. For Naruto, this was enough to bring a familiar light of glee into his eyes and a bubbling laughter from his throat that charmed her through and through.
"I love this weather," Naruto agreed, smiling down at the flames. Hinata could see the reflections of embers in his eyes and wondered, briefly, if he could see the same in hers. "I love everything about this country. The sunshine and its heat, the people, the infrastructure and the buildings. I love the teachers and the academy and even our profession, no matter how terrible it can get. I couldn't imagine doing anything else." Hinata watched him speak, watched his lips form the words of the things he cherished and she felt love coil around her throat and choke off her breathing for just a moment. Looking away, Hinata centered her mind and focused on the embers breaking away from the wood.
"Sometimes I can." She whispered and from the corner of her eye she saw his face jerk towards her, obviously surprised. She smiled up at him, eyes searching his for just a moment.
"S-sometimes I wonder what it would be like just to live a civilian life, to look for a husband and have a family. To care for a home I'll always be in, rather than a compound or an apartment I barely see because I'm constantly traveling on missions. I've always dreamed of having a little house, just one story, with a beautiful garden. I'd tend to it every day with as much dedication as I would to my family, nourishing it like I hope to nourish my l-loved ones." Catching herself falling into the nostalgia of a dream she had never shared with anyone other than Neji-nii-san before, she glanced at Naruto's expression, wanting to see how he was taking it. He was looking at her strangely, as if she was a creature from another planet. Self conscious, she tucked her hair behind her ear and gave a quiet laugh.
"They're just thoughts, though. I love being a shinobi. I love being able to be strong enough to offer aid to my village and my people, and I love the time I get to spend with my precious people because of it. It may not lead to a stable life, but it's one I'm very glad to have nonetheless." He was still giving her that look, his mouth almost hanging open, eyes wide.
"What?" she whispered, laughing nervously.
"I'm sorry, I just never thought you'd ever say something like that. I mean…you're an heiress. And to the Hyūga clan! You're practically famous within the village and you have incredible connections already. It just amazes me that you'd ever dream of anything else, ya know?"
"Ah, Naruto-kun." She sighed, deciding in that moment to be utterly honest with him. She didn't fear telling him because she didn't trust him, quite the opposite in fact, but she knew that with this concession she was going to be giving away a lot of information about herself and that made her nervous. What if he thought less of her for it? She was willing to risk it, simply to take the chance to have him get to know her better. Someone had to take the first step and Hinata was certain it'd have to be her, because he was all too willing to share about his life and his inner thoughts. But for her, it'd be obvious that she was doing something out of the ordinary, something worth noting as significant.
"That's exactly why I dream of something else." Her gaze softened, her expression becoming serene with her honesty. "You're right, I am an heiress to a prestigious clan and because of that, I have a lot of c-connections within the village. But I am also very isolated from my peers and even my precious people because of it. I get singled out and many responsibilities have been resting on my shoulders since I was a young girl. I'm always busy with clan politics and events, constantly surrounded by my elders and isolated from anyone too intimidated by my family to visit or r-request time with me. It's…a lot to take in every day."
Openly staring, Naruto slowly nodded his head, frowning.
"I guess that makes sense. I didn't even realize you had to deal with things like that."
"Not many people do," she added, smiling softly. Then, realizing that she had essentially just told the boy who had grown up without parents or any form of positive attention that she had too much and disliked it, she began to feel distraught. Would he judge her for her truths? Would he think her selfish, a brat, because she who essentially had everything had the gall to complain about it in the face of a man who had never had anything but himself?
"Naruto-kun, I…I don't mean to say that I don't appreciate my family and I'm honored that they invest so much interest into my life and my future as clan leader. You must think me incredibly selfish to sometimes d-dream of a d-different lifestyle." Finding that her heart felt like it was in her throat and there were butterflies raging against her insides, she found herself subconsciously lowering herself into a comfortable crouch, resting her elbows between her thighs and staring down into the dirt lit around the fire. Shifting fabric beside her told her that Naruto had decided to crouch next to her, though he remained silent long enough for her to feel like a complete imbecile.
She must've offended him somewhere and he, now thinking that she was a brat, must be lost for words. She wanted to hide her face in her hands but refused to resort to something so childish in the face of an adult conversation. They stayed like that, crouched in what Hinata felt was an uncomfortable silence for an untraceable period of time, she staring into the dirt and wondering what he was looking at the entire time. Finally, just when she was about to turn to him and apologize, she felt his knuckles gently tapping against her left bicep.
Turning to his prodding, blush spreading through her face from her embarrassment, she studied the befuddled yet kind expression on his face and wondered how to interpret the frowning brows and the straight mouth facing her.
"Hinata, why would you say that?" his mouth turned then, the corners lowering into a frown that seemed etched into his skin. "Why would you say I must think that you're selfish for dreaming of a different life?"
Hinata didn't know how to respond, she really didn't. Was it worth another blatantly honest answer that could potentially lead to an even lower opinion of her? A small part of her was telling her it wasn't, but her heart was beating loud and strong and reminded her that this was Naruto and that even if it hurt his opinion of her, she would always be honest with him. She owed it to him, as a comrade, as a friend. As someone who cared deeply for him. She would never lie to him.
"What I m-meant w-was that it's very selfish of me to dream of a d-different life because I'm overwhelmed by constantly being w-watched and assessed. It's selfish of m-me to resent the attention g-given to m-me…w-when you…you grew up without any positive attention. It's not f-fair that I complain about getting too much attention to the one person who p-probably w-wanted it and n-needed it most." She could feel the symptoms that preface tears coming and she hated it, mentally pushing them back and forcing herself not to try to look at Naruto. She couldn't distinguish anything from him, not a single sound to give away his reaction. When she couldn't take it any longer, she forced herself to look over at him, mentally preparing for anything.
The shadows she saw in his eyes reminded her of death and the way his head was tilted cast shadows of its own across his features, sharpening them, making them appear more haggard. He was staring into the fire, unmoving except to breathe, elbows resting on his thighs with knuckles almost touching.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, feeling the hair tucked behind her ear come loose to allow a curtain to shield her face from his view.
"Hinata." His voice was quieter than she'd ever heard it and that scared her. Second-guessing the entire conversation and berating herself for even bringing up his past, she almost missed the words coming from beside her, mixed together with the crackling of the wood beneath the fire.
"You are probably the least selfish person I have ever met in my entire life." And she tensed, her muscles frozen, breath barely entering her lungs. What had he just said? She couldn't look at him, truly she could not; not now.
"You're right that all I ever wanted was attention, didn't necessarily have to be positive though I was desperate for it. I just wanted to be noticed. The people in the village, they tried to erase me. They isolated me and pretended I didn't exist until they saw me; that's when I'd get my attention. They threw everything they could think of at me, words, sticks, stones, kunai. If you were any other person I'd tell you that after a while I got used to being treated like that, but you're too perceptive to believe that, aren't ya? No one ever gets used to loneliness. Not truly."
She heard the rustling of his clothes a moment before his hand came into her view, gently pushing the curtain of hair separating them behind her shoulder. A single tear had swept down her cheek and left a wet trail behind it, but she didn't move to wipe it away because he was smiling at her, his honest and beautiful smile.
"You're not selfish, Hinata. Even though I struggled because I didn't have what you do, that doesn't mean that you didn't struggle, too. I grew up with too little notice and you grew up with too much; makes us quite a pair, dontcha think?"
"Hai." She managed to laugh, watching as his smiling eyes searched hers before crinkling with his signature grin.
"So don't worry about me, Hinata-chan! I think now I've managed to round up enough attention for a lifetime. Don't give up on those dreams of yours, either! You can still get a house and a garden if you want. You probably just have to hold clan meetings there or something, but I'm sure you'll figure it all out. If there's anyone who can bring some good old change to the clan system, it's gotta be you, dattebayo!"
A smile of her own rose to meet his, her cheeks lightly shaded pink with a happy blush she couldn't hold back.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun."
"No problem. But now onto the important stuff…what'd you pack to eat?"
A/N: I KNOW I KNOW I'M SORRY DON'T HURT ME. It's been a really long time in between updates and for that I do apologize, truly, but I've just been really busy lately. I'm in my last two weeks of finals with a part-time job and I recently got pretty sick, but now I'm getting better and I only have 2 finals left! However, I will have larger spaces between updates from now on. Please be patient with me. As always, thank you for your reviews and your time! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please do take care of yourselves! : )