Soul or Soulless

Chapter 2 – The Cherry Blossom in the Lingering Cloud

Hinata had just exited the Hyuuga household, eager to inhale the smell of autumn air. Though it was surprisingly warm this time of year, she wasn't complaining.

Hinata, looking left to right first, set off in the direction of Naruto's favourite Ramen shop; IchiRaku's. She was hoping to see him, to at least attempt to have a proper conversation with him. If she couldn't, she'd at least get a glimpse of him. To Hinata, it was always enough just to see his smile every once in a while.

Plus she just wanted to see how he was doing, ever since his Master was killed. She heard this from Ninja who knew of the tragedy. Master Jiraiya and Naruto seemed quite close as far as she could tell. She did not know him that well (although she did hear of him quite often), but she can tell that this was nowhere near comforting for Naruto, because it was obvious Master Jiraiya, the Legendary Sannin, was as close as a Father was to the Blonde haired boy.

Hinata knew he never knew his Father, or his Mother, but could tell it was almost as painful for Naruto to lose his precious teacher as to lose his family. She knew that he used to always think of the family he never had before he became a Shinobi. And she knew how horribly the villagers treated him, and she did not understand why or how it went that way for him in the first place. But Hinata would not care for what horrible crime Naruto would commit to make villagers shout at him, using words that used to send her beloved bawling to the depths of the earth. She didn't care. She knew that whatever he did, he did not know either, as far as she could tell. Unless he was keeping a secret, she would know that he was truly sorry for what he did that made all the villagers loathe him ever so much. It pleased her so much to see that he made so many great friends. Maybe even his very own Links held within his own chain, if it were possible that friendship like that really existed and was safe to handle.

Hinata clutched at her chest, thinking of the pain Naruto has to go through these days. If Master Jiraiya were like a Link, losing him was probably more painful for the boy than she thought. It pained her, as though she could feel his own pain. It was lucky for him that he had other friends to support him, and she, as his friend, was going to do the same.

Hinata, twisting and turning, taking different routes practically every 20 seconds, calmed herself by looking in the direction of the peaceful villagers, smiling happily. Children playing, Adults laughing together, the happy customers eating away in the restaurants she passed by. It made her feel revitalised to know how peaceful this village was, with the birds singing, the children's laughter, the cool Autumn breeze, the few prying eyes that lay upon her-

Wait! Prying eyes?

It was true; Hinata saw that some people were staring at her for an instant, then looking away as soon as her head turned in their direction. And the odd thing was that it was mostly boys, at least close to her age. The others, such as Adults and young children, were like bonuses that were just there to look surprised to see her for some reason. However, every guy she passed just stared at her, practically speechless.

Hinata did not get it. What is it about her that makes them gawk at her? Every time she tried to take a peek at them, they would stare in another direction. She didn't understand it. Was it her new look? Were they that surprised to see the Hyuuga heiress wearing her mother's old jacket? Did she look that strange in it? She was surprised that even one person was looking at her. She wasn't the type of person most people would be curious about, at least not in a good way. But today it was all too confusing. She had no idea what it was about her.

The Hyuuga heiress felt uncomfortable. It was too uncomfortable for her to direct unwanted attention. She was afraid that this much attention was because there was something revolting about herself; apparently Hinata always thought of herself as an "Eyesore".

She broke into a small run, ignoring the people staring into her. And, to her relief, she made it to her well known shortcut that would lead her to Ichiraku's much quicker; an alleyway that she entered on her right.

She began to slow down; quite sure there were no prying eyes to be found in a dark alley like this. She walked slowly down the path, pushing the thoughts of those who stared at her to the back of her mind.

What came back to her was what had happened to her that morning. She had no idea how she felt so happy and giddy. She sensed that she was overflowing with power, too much power. Yet she didn't feel overwhelmed at all. It was the opposite; she yielded the moment, and there were no consequences. Usually, it was said that in order to gain something, like what she suddenly gained that morning, you would have to give up something in return. In this case, it had nothing to do with possessions. For ninja's such as herself, using up to 60% of her Taijutsu leaves her stamina at 40% as she has used 60%. Using chakra for ninjutsu or genjutsu also needs the gain of Physical Energy/Mental Energy. Building up chakra to 30% from stamina leaves 70% of stamina remaining. And performing the ninjutsu/genjutsu using the chakra required, such as 20%, leaves 10% of your chakra left.

In Hinata's case, as a ninja in training, she felt as though she was at 100%. She needn't give up any amount of stamina she had for what she had gained at sunrise. It was like she had an endless amount of energy; it was like there was nothing that could push her down; she would just smile, like nothing was wrong, but right. Though she still wasn't sure what had happened, she knew, it was worth it. She hadn't felt that happy in ages. She wished for that feeling again, even if it were for one second. She would take the chance even if she were to give up something in return the next time. At least, if there was a next time. It all happened so suddenly.

Hinata was in a one track mind. Not noticing it, she hit the wall. Once more she was wide awake, remembering her intention of reaching Ichiraku's to see Naruto.

Hinata stayed close to the wall as she walked towards an opening that led to the route that would lead her to Ichiraku's.

'I wonder if what I felt this morning would come back to me as I attempt to...' Hinata thought, realising that maybe what she felt in the courtyard may have only been a natural occurrence. But then she thought, 'I not only felt completely positive of myself, but I felt as though my body had no flaws to it whatsoever. Just what was that?'

Hinata, straining her mind with all the confusion, felt quite dizzy. She then confirmed that what she felt was nothing to worry about. She pushed the subject to the back of her mind, once again.

Hinata, practically magnetic to the wall on her right, moved towards the opening to the next route. Though she needed to make sure that the blonde haired boy she admired was two steps ahead of her, she agreed with herself to look the other way before heading to Ichiraku's.

As soon as she reached the end of the alleyway, she turned right, but only to meet a pair of great, ocean blue, eyes. She knew those eyes all too well. As though time had come to a halt, she had time to stare straight into them for what was really an instant. To her, it felt like an eternity. The moment Hinata realised that the eyes were gradually getting closer, without thinking, she spun around what she thought was the person who owned those eyes instantly.

Her movements came to a halt; her feet were glued on the spot, and she knew the person she avoided was standing right behind her, back to back. Her breathing was heavy. Her face had just been an inch away from touching his own. Her face was ten shades of red. She was too afraid to look back at the one person she knew who could possess such amazing eyes.

Hinata heard movement from behind. Her heart was pounding faster every second. She heard his chuckling, and it only filled her with happiness. She was so delighted that he was still the same as he was 3 years ago.

The indigo haired girl began to shuffle her feet and tugged at her new jacket as soon as she regained the courage to make even the slightest movements. She had hoped that her favourite ninja had noticed the difference in her.

Waiting for what felt like forever, she finally heard his voice from behind.

"Hinata, is that you?" she heard him say.

Hinata slowly turned to face the boy of her dreams.

"Y-yes, hello, Naruto," she said, stuttering a little.

"Hey! I was just thinking about you!"

Hinata gasped and thought, 'No way. He was thinking of... me? ... DON'T FAINT, DON'T FAINT!'

Hinata, for the first time, thought this over slowly and steadily. She was not going to ruin this moment. This was probably one of the only few chances she had to even have a proper conversation with him. It was maybe one of her only few chances to confess her feelings to the blonde haired ninja. She wasn't going to let this chance slip by.

Hinata put on a cute smile, holding back her blush as much as she possibly could.

"You were thinking... about m-me?" she asked.

"Well yeah," said Naruto, who noticed how Hinata avoided eye contact. "That's okay, right? I was just thinking of how little we got to see each other. I mean I definitely wouldn't mind talking to you, maybe on how much you learned over the years since I left the village 3 years ago."

Hinata could not help but gawk at him. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Who would ever be interested in the training she went through over the years? Yet it was none other than the boy she cherished the most. She would be practically alone with him if she accepted. But Hinata wasn't sure she was ready for that. She was having second thoughts, she could probably try again some other time. But before she even attempted to get out of the situation, Naruto spoke again. But this time, he spoke in a more cheerless tone.

"I was also thinking that... it wouldn't be much fun to eat at Ichiraku's alone, you know? With no one to laugh with and... stuff." Naruto expression said it all: he was pretty depressed, and lonely. He would pick anyone just so he wouldn't feel so insecure and unaccompanied. It pained Hinata to see him this way. She knew exactly what he was going through.

"Um, Naruto?" she said, fidgeting whilst trying to think of the most appropriate way to ask the question she had been dreading. 'I probably shouldn't ask. It's way too inappropriate, especially at a time like this.'

"Hey, what is it?" Naruto asked. "Come on! What, you afraid of asking me a simple question? There's no need to be shy, Hinata." And saying this with a very encouraging smile encouraged Hinata to take the chance in asking.

'Naruto is very strong, it's not like he'll break down easily... would he?'

"Um, a-are you f-feeling okay, e-even after m-master Jiraiya... p-passed o-on? Y-you're not f-feeling lonely because of that, a-are you?"

Naruto took this by surprise. It was pretty obvious since he just stood on the spot with his mouth hanging half open. For what felt like a minute, the only answer she got from him were just random words such as I's and you's, etc. Just as he thought it was time to stop stuttering over a proper answer, he replied.

"Hehe, I uh... didn't know you knew about that," Naruto forced a smile, scratching the back of his head. "Well I... I'm fine. Man, hehe. I keep repeating myself; is it so wrong to invite a friend to chow down with?"

The idea of leaving Naruto alone had completely passed through Hinata's mind. Behind that smirk was the look of unwanted solitude. Now more than ever, she wanted to be by his side, ready or not.

"Hehehe, well if there's nothing else to talk about here, do you want to come eat at Ichi-!"

"Absolutely!" Hinata said, quite loudly. She excused herself as she saw, yet again, the look of surprise on Naruto's face.

"Really, that's great!" he said, feeling far more enthusiastic than he did a few minutes ago. "Well come on! Let's get some goooood Ramen!"

Hinata gave him a small smile as they both headed for Ichiraku's.

As the two of them walked, Naruto looked at Hinata for a second. The glimpse made him wonder.

'Huh, now that I get a good look at her...' Naruto thought but found himself confused. 'I can't shake the feeling, that there is something different about her. Something I've never noticed up until now, and after the 3 years I've been gone from the village. Hm, maybe it's...' Naruto's eyes wondered to Hinata's newfound jacket.

"Hey Hinata," Naruto broke the silence, getting Hinata's attention. "I've never actually seen you wear that before."

Hinata began pressing both her index fingers together as she went red in the face.

"Oh, u-um... y-you've n-noticed," she stuttered. "It's k-kind of o-old, but it's s-still a nice t-thing to wear. D-does it... does it look o-okay on m-me? I-I don't l-look...h-hideous in it, d-do I?

Hinata avoided his gaze, her eyes shut tight. Her whole face was now scarlet. She had no doubt in her mind that this was a stupid question, so she regretted asking in the first place. Naruto was probably going to act polite about this, but that would only make her feel even more embarrassed.

"What are you talking about?" she heard Naruto. "I actually think it suits you perfectly."

Hinata pried her eyes open, looking back at the genuine smile on the boys face. Hinata had a knack for telling whether the blonde ninja was telling the truth or a pathetic lie/an exaggerated story. In this truth, she felt that in his voice, there was a sense of pride for his honesty. This was no lie, yet she could hardly believe it.

"I think you look great in it!" said Naruto, raising his voice slightly. He even added in his 'Nice Guy' smile, using a thumbs up.

Hinata, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open, turned a bright red. His words sent a shiver down her spine and her legs felt like jelly as she continued to walk beside the boy she admired. Her heart pounded against her and her palms began to sweat. As soon as she realised what was coming, she immediately slapped herself across the face without thinking. Naruto was perplexed.

"H-Hinata?" Naruto practically had one giant question mark floating above his head.

"OH! Um... um, I-I'm s-sorry, N-Naruto," Hinata stuttered. She was half relieved that she didn't faint, yet she was half embarrassed for slapping her own face in front of Naruto (which was still throbbing in pain). She needed to think of an excuse. "Um, I f-felt s-sleepy, s-so I n-needed to s-slap the... drowsiness... o-out of... me."

One look at Naruto said it all: she was freaking him out. At that moment, Hinata's heart sank.

"Man, Hinata, you're so bizarre," Naruto said in quite a rude tone. Hinata's heart only sank deeper. "But that's alright, that's just one the reasons why I like people like you. You're such a great mystery, huh?"

Hinata came to a halt. Her heart rose to the occasion. He complimented her for being weird, and she never meant to be weird. And she was too busy playing and replaying the events that happened, before Naruto went up against Neji, in her mind. He practically said the same thing that day; he liked people like her. It was such a breathtaking memory. It almost made her feel that same sensation she felt that morning. In those days, he had more respect for her than he ever did before he became a ninja. He was so different, yet so much the same as her mother.

Hinata was so busy thinking over the past, she never noticed that Ichiraku's was roughly 10 feet away, and that Naruto was already running towards it.

"Hehe, hey Hinata, come on!" Naruto shouted over his shoulder. Hinata was back in reality. She looked up at the goofy ninja, who was smiling at her from a distance. He stopped in his tracks, giving the indigo haired girl a chance to catch up.

Hinata smiled back, practically feeling the warmth of his heart connect with hers. She ran, almost as briskly as he did.

They both entered the Ramen shop, being greeted by the Old man and his daughter behind the counter.

"Naruto?" said Teuchi, apparently surprised to see him, but quite pleased at the same time. "Hahaha, I haven't seen you since you were sent on that mission to find your old friend, Sasuke."

"It wasn't that long ago, was it?" Naruto asked.

"Um, if I may add for you, compared to how many times you've been here and how long it took you to set foot in this place since you went off on that mission, it feels like you've been gone for an eternity," said Ayame in a cheeky tone.

"Geez, sorry. I didn't realise that my social life was less important than your reputation of me," Naruto said in a sarcastic tone of voice. Then he remembered who he brought along. "This time though, I invited a friend."

Teuchi's eyes were now on the lavender haired Kunoichi. A wide mischievous grin spread across his face while his hand was placed over his chin. Even Naruto could tell that something was on his mind.

"What," asked Naruto, landing firmly on a stool, as did Hinata.

"So you're just hanging out with Miss Hyuuga here?" Teuchi asked.

"Well yeah, that's one way of putting it," said Naruto, looking over to Hinata who avoided direct eye contact. He looks back over to Teuchi. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Oh no, you misunderstand Naruto," Ayame jumped in. "You see what my father is trying to imply is, well, he wonders if you have made a good friend."

"Oh, is that all?" said Naruto, his trademark grin returning. Naruto turns his head towards Hinata. "Sure I have. Infact, I kinda think of Hinata as one of best friends."

With that said, along with the reassuring smile she knew all too well, Hinata blushed deeply. What Naruto had said touched her to an extent that may not yet exist.

"Oh, th-thank you, N-Naruto, I, um, I-I f-feel the s-same way," she stuttered, which Naruto found comforting in a way.

Both Teuchi and Ayame took notice of Hinata's constant stuttering and decided it was best to just change the subject.

"So, what'll it be kids?" asked Teuchi enthusiastically.

"Miso Ramen for me, please!" yelled Naruto, who couldn't wait any longer for his favourite dish since his stomach had been growling for nearly 30 minutes.

"Um, me too, please," said Hinata, still a bit astonished on how well she managed to gain this much respect from the Blonde haired ninja, hardly making so much of a great accomplishment in her life. To Hinata, she was doing such a mediocre job at gaining his high opinion of her. She had always thought that, as she failed miserably, he would progressively lose all his trust in her to get things right, and turn his back on her. Even if it's Naruto, what possible reason would he have to even like her? Why her, the pathetic mess?

As these thoughts swirled around her head, Teuchi and Ayame were busy preparing Miso Ramen. Though Ayame was so frustrated with her father. She stole a glare now and then until his eyes finally met hers.

"Is there a problem, Ayame?" he asked, apparently a little concerned for his own safety. Ayame's stolen glares suddenly transformed into an icy stare.

"You idiot!" Ayame raised her voice, fiercely throwing thick noodles into a boiling pot of water. "You were trying to give him the hint weren't you? What if you went on and on until he got the message? Do you think she's ready for him to know?"

Hinata, who had often visited Ichiraku's since Naruto departed from the village, always had long discussions with both Teuchi and Ayame about Naruto and the stories they heard from him during his own time at the Ramen shop. Having a pleasant conversation about his amazing adventures, such as his first C-ranked mission (really more like a B-ranked mission) escorting a bridge builder named Tazuna to The Land of Waves and protecting him from an evil merchant who controls the country and two of his best assailants, Zabuza Momochi and Haku, got Hinata the chance to get to know more about the boy than she recently knew. She also heard from them of the new techniques he's been learning, which really inspired her because she knew that he was working so hard on mastering new jutsu. There came a day when Hinata's constant reactions to all this newfound info on the boy that both Teuchi and Ayame realised that Hinata's feelings for the blonde haired ninja were more than just a simple crush. The way Hinata smiled and placed her hand over her chest as though she were pouring all the facts on Naruto into her heart, blushing then complimenting him significantly, even though he wasn't there beside her, they came to a conclusion that Hinata cared more for Naruto than anyone possible.

However, why Ayame looked furious with her father was pretty obvious, though his reply to her sudden outburst made him sound quite dense.

"What's wrong with him getting to know how she feels for him? She wants him to know how she feels."

"Not if someone, such as you, keeps blabbing!" Ayame yelled, though not loud enough for Naruto and Hinata to hear. "When a girl wants to confess her feelings to the man of her dreams, she wants to do it herself, not let some idiot," Ayame knocked Teuchi on the head, "do it for her!"

"Ow! I'm sorry, I just got a little excited," said Teuchi, rubbing the top of his head (where there was a massive bump). "It's just that I thought it would be great for Naruto to find that there's a girl out there who truly acknowledged him all this time."

"Okay, I think it would be great," Ayame said admittedly. "But apart from Hinata not being ready, there are a lot more reasons why we shouldn't leak out her secret; I mean Naruto is still probably preoccupied with things, such as You Know Who, Master Jiraiya's death (which I heard about through gossip) and...Naruto has those feelings for Sakura, right? I mean those two seem to be...close huh?"

Teuchi looked over to the two sitting at the counter, apparently having one of the best conversations they had with each other. They looked happy to be with each other, to talk with one another, to be the same and expressive with one another, without feeling embarrassed (Hinata may have failed miserably on that part) and to accept one another, even when they make mistakes.

Usually when Naruto made mistakes, mostly stupid ones, it always ended with Sakura giving him one solid punch to the face or some other part of the body. Yet they had a strong bond. Teuchi wasn't sure what to call it. Was it a Brother and Sister type of relationship, or was it a bitter sweet romance between the two? He couldn't really tell.

'Hm...are those two having a relationship far past the limit of being best friends?" Teuchi thought, scratching his chin. "If Naruto's happy to be with Sakura, then where does that leave Hinata? I'm not sure if I'm being biased or unbiased about this, but something about the image of Naruto picking Sakura over Hinata...there's just something not right about that, huh?'

Meanwhile, Naruto was discussing to Hinata how his morning went.

"-so she blows me off for work, and then I somehow end up vaguely asking her to join me for ramen. And then she declares that I should stop asking her out. She says our friendship is too great to be turned into something intense. Apparently, I'm too great of an Annoying Little Brother to be her date. So she quickly gets me into the mood of tracking down Sasuke, on purpose I bet. Still, I can't help but wonder where he is and why he hasn't come back himself after defeating Itachi. He got his revenge. What else could he be up to now?"

When he heard no answer after 6 seconds, Naruto turned to Hinata to find her looking very crushed and depressed. Just staring into her darkened pupiless eyes, which were usually filled with immeasurable kindness, made it seem as though Naruto had just told her he was dying, yet he said nothing that would get her in such a disheartened state, or so he thought.

Hinata sat there, just thinking of what Naruto said; firstly on what kinda morning he had asking Sakura to join him...instead of Hinata.

'Sakura...was his first choice,' she thought quietly and very dejectedly. It took so much of Hinata's will power not to shed a tear that she began to dig deep into her legs with her finger nails. 'I'm his...second choice? Just a replacement?' Hinata began to feel the moisture behind the lids of her eyes. 'I must not cry...I can't... It's not like I'm any better. Sakura's always strong, kind and so much fun to be with, especially when she's with Naruto. Looking at her now I can see that she looks gorgeous. Looking back on how I looked in the mirror...,' Hinata let out a small just thinking of herself 3 years ago. Today, Hinata is too scared to look in the mirror, even as she knew she was taken better care of herself. 'It's common knowledge that he would rather pick Sakura over me. She is...always there for him, whichever path he takes. But me, I'm stuck on the sidelines. I can never be with him like her anyway. I can never be with him, I can never understand exactly what he's going through unless if I were there with him.'

"H-Hinata?"

Naruto had notice the moisture in Hinata's eyes and was worried. As she turned bright red, quickly rubbing at her eyes, she turned to face him.

With closed eyes, to prevent Naruto from seeing the obvious sadness, she forced a smile.

"I-I'm sorry, N-Naruto," she said cheerfully, giving nothing away except her stuttering. Hinata took time to compose herself, wanting to show the blonde ninja that there was nothing wrong and that she was still hanging on every word that left his lips. Hinata, as she pushed everything about Sakura to the back of her mind, re-opened her eyes, leaving barely any signs her misfortune. "M-my eyes had gone a-all w-watery for s-some reason. I h-hope I'm n-not allergic to anything here."

Naruto wasn't totally convinced that she was telling the truth.

"Uh...you okay, Hinata?" he asked soothingly.

"I'm fine, n-not a p-problem," she said merrily, forcing her smile to spread.

Just before Naruto was about to accuse her of keeping secrets, Hinata spoke again, staring down at her thighs, fidgeting.

"A-and N-Naruto, you don't have to..." Hinata did her best to try to get as much words out without stuttering as she tried to gaze at Naruto's eyes again, "...you don't have to feel too badly about Sasuke not returning sooner. I mean, who knows? He probably has too much to think about."

"You really think so?" Naruto asked, almost completely forgetting to point the finger at her for not sharing whatever misfortune she carried.

"I g-guess so. I mean, if I h-had to guess, I w-would imagine that Sasuke is trying t-to understand w-what he f-finally did after a-all these y-years of yearning to put his b-brother down. I mean...there is n-no such thing as a p-person...that grows up not l-loving someone. I mean...if I'm c-correct, I would think that I-Itachi Uchiha was a prime e-example once. I think S-Sasuke may be thinking a lot a-after defeating him, 'cause he m-may be finding it h-hard to believe that the b-brother he once l-loved is n-no longer a-alive, and m-maybe he's finding it so h-hard to figure out where to go f-from there. As far as I know, I-Itachi was Sasuke's only b-blood relative and k-killing him was his m-main goal in life. Sasuke is confused N-Naruto. A-apparently, right now, he may not k-know what to do w-without him."

Naruto stared at her, enthralled by what she just said. He never knew that Hinata had known that much, and to know what she was saying. And as he thought about it, Naruto's expression had changed into a more concerned look.

"Wow, you may be right about that, Hinata," he said quietly, yet quite miserably as well. "But does that mean...I mean, is he okay? Is he on his own?"

"Oh N-N-Naruto, I-I'm t-terribly s-s-sorry," cried Hinata, worried she may have upset the blonde. "I-I didn't mean to d-disappoint, I j-just s-spoke from the m-mind and-,"

"No, no, wait a sec, Hinata!" said Naruto, now worried that he made Hinata feel guilty. "Really, it's okay. I'm just trying to take this all in. Truthfully, I feel kinda relieved. I mean sure, Sasuke may not possibly be in the best of shapes, but thinking of it this way, at least I can assume he's not doing anything nasty, right?" Naruto put on a smirk which Hinata analysed, immediately concluding that it was quite fake.

'There's...that mask again. I wish he would just slip it off...forever.' As she thought, Hinata sighed, and then spoke again. "If you're not a-alright with it, N-Naruto, at l-least k-know that...you lost a v-very, very dear f-friend, but also know th-that s-someone can relate t-to how you f-feel," Naruto looked over, just wondering who on earth could know and relate to how he felt about losing his friend. Hinata's eyes had wondered to the opposite direction of where Naruto sat, fidgeting a lot more as she came to the conclusion that she was giving a lot of herself away talking to Naruto. "...I too...have lost someone very dear to me." Surprising enough, she said this without stuttering.

"Huh?" This was all that Naruto could say. He started to ponder over what she just said. He never realised it at first, but at that moment he understood that he didn't know much about Hinata. In the past, he had always thought she was weird, but before the finals of the Chuunin Exam, he had a talk with her at the training grounds where he first became a Genin. It was about how she thought that he, Naruto, was a Proud Failure who made mistakes, but learned from them and that it inspired her. It was after he revealed his bitter depression as he started to doubt himself was when she said this. Naruto even confessed to her that he only acted strong because he was frustrated from screwing up all the time.

It was after this grand scene that Naruto's view on Hinata had changed dramatically. He realised then that he really liked people like her. He even wished, privately, that there could be more people like Hinata around, at least without the constant stuttering.

But just when he thought he had Hinata all figured out, at this present time, Naruto knew that his knowledge of Hinata was very slim. After hearing her part, on how she had also lost someone very precious to her, he was curious, about said person who she had lost and what type of life she lived.

Naruto was just about to get started, when their ramen was finally placed right in front of them, which distracted Naruto.

"Hey, old man, what the hell took you so long?" Naruto cried out in an irritated manner.

"Hehe, sorry for the wait, Naruto," said Teuchi scratching the back of his head whilst grinning nervously. "There was a bit of a "disturbance" and we left the water boiling for too long. The noodles were a bit too well done for your taste. Same goes for Hinata. So we had to start over. Anyway, enjoy!"

"Thanks! Finally! But uh, could you please-,"

"I'll get right on it, Naruto," Teuchi interrupted, apparently knowing exactly what Naruto wanted to ask.

"Um, Naruto, what d-did you want t-to ask him?" Hinata asked as Teuchi went to the back.

"For more Ramen, duh!" said Naruto, sounding like it was so obvious.

Finally, the two of them began to slurp their food. Although, Naruto was already half-way through his first bowl, while Hinata barely had her third bite.

"So Hinata," said Naruto, drinking the last of bowls contents. "...Wanna hear a little story about a mission I just went on last week?"

"I w-would love to hear about i-it, N-Naruto," she answered kindly, prodding her index fingers together. 'I have not often heard any of his somewhat exaggerated stories, not from him anyway.'

"Alright! Well...," before he began, his unknown order had come, revealed to be five more bowls of ramen. He took one bowl, then continued, "...it began about a week ago:

"From Sakura's point of view, before I got into the whole mess, she found this Rogue Cloud Ninja skulking around in an alley. Hiding didn't help him; he practically popped his out in front of Sakura when she was passing by. She said his stealth skills where-," Naruto pouts, added with a grumble, "worse than mine." Naruto felt kinda embarrassed. 'What gives Sakura the right to compare my skills with that bastard of a Ninja?'

"Naruto, it's okay," said Hinata without a stutter. Over the years she had been gaining more confidence and had been training herself not to stutter in front of anyone as much as possible. Here, Naruto had been her worst challenge yet, next to her father. She continued on, "I mean no-one's perfect. Besides, I like y-your skills as a Ninja just the way it is. You know that, right?"

Naruto grins widely. "Yeah! I remember you saying how strong I was." Naruto's grin swapped itself with a nervous smile. "Heh, you saying, that I was always a strong guy who would make mistakes but learned from them, as a Proud Failure... that, really inspired me, Hinata."

'I... inspired him,' Hinata thought. She simply could not believe what she was capable of. "Th-thank you, Naruto... you really inspired me too."

There was awkward silence between the two. Naruto had almost forgotten he still had a bowl of Ramen to finish. Naruto brought back sound, remembering the story he was telling.

"So, uh, where was I?" he asked quite nervously. He immediately began to wolf-down the remaining contents of his bowl before things got more dramatic. He finished his bowl and gasped, "Oh yeah! I remember now. Anyway:

"As soon as Sakura saw the guy, he took off. She chased him, but when she caught up, right before Sakura's deadly fists of fury collided with his spine, I think she said, he suddenly just disappeared right before her eyes, in a flash, like lightning."

Hinata wondered. What the former Cloud Ninja could have used was the Body Flicker Jutsu, but then there would be no flash.

"Well, that's what she thought at first," Naruto continued, as Hinata gave him a puzzled look.

(Flashback)

Sakura just stared in awe at what she just hit: thin-air. The intruder was right there, just a fraction of a second ago. Time seemed to be put to a halt the moment she was aware that her punch never reached the supposedly pitiful Ninja. And what she could add to her shock was the white flash of electricity that suddenly just exploded in her face during her that moment. Though that experience did blind her little (it's a good thing she had her eyes squinted, or else she would be blind completely), the worst case scenario was that the flash sent a strong shock through her body, which she was forced bear with, so she could focus on where the target disappeared to.

"Tch! What the hell... where did he run off to? Just what sort of technique is he pulling here?" she asked herself, flailing her punching arm so as to get some appropriate feeling to it. 'And most important, what's he doing here? ...I have to find him, capture him and then drag him to Lady Hokage as soon as possible.'

Sakura took a look around parts of the area she was in. Though she had no such luck at first, she did find him eventually. ...Except...

"He was right in front of me the whole time?" she said in a bored yet irritated tone of voice. Though, right she was, the Cloud Nin she was searching for was just down the road in front of one of the buildings in the direction she was looking before he vanished in a flash of light. And what really infuriated her was that he was sitting on the ground muttering loudly into himself as though he did something wrong.

She could barely perceive sound from what he was saying.

"Grr... darn it," he groaned, patting dust off of his clothes. It was surprising, from Sakura's point of view, that he looked to be about iher/i age on closer inspection as she slowly moved closer, hoping to hear more on who he was and what his objective is. He had light brown, spiky hair, dark brown eyes, wore a flimsy looking white jacket over a black shirt worn over a fish-net shirt and also wore blue-black Ninja trousers which held a weapons holster on the right leg and reached above his ankles. His Ninja headband was tied around his head like Naruto's, only his was scratch, symbolising that he no longer roamed his village, that he was a rogue and a fugitive.

Sakura moved closer like a normal person, considering that he'd be of no harm after seeing him in this current state, for now. She slowly began to make out what he was murmuring gruffly under his breath.

"Aw, damn it!" he cursed. "I really need to work on that technique, or else I'll just keep running into walls." He sighed out of frustration, then again out of depression, looking down at his currently crossed legs. He began to speak more solemnly. "... Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for me to come here. Maybe I should have just gone with the plan. But I just... couldn't wait any longer. I'm so close. If I could just capture the tar- ," he looked up, and before he was able to finish his sentence, his eyes met Sakura's.

For a very long moment, the two just at stared each other; one stared out of pity for whatever misfortune the other had to go through, and without the slightest clue on what strategy to use to obtain new fortune to wash away the assumed misfortune. The other ones face was pretty much dense looking. It seemed like the owner of said face was thinking very, very slowly as to what was happening at the moment.

After what felt like three minutes, which Sakura soon found increasingly irritating after the first two minutes, the young Rogue finally spoke in an uninterested manner.

"Oh..., I've been caught."

"CAN YOU BE ANY SLOWER?" Sakura yelled, but then quickly got to the point. "Never mind! Tell me, what business do you have in our village?"

"N-No business, I'm just a terrorist looking at the sights," he said with more confidence. Though at his answer, Sakura had resisted the urge to topple over.

"Uh...," Sakura face contorted, her eye twitching repeatedly, "I believe the term is 'I'm just a tourist looking at the sights'. Saying that you're a terrorist could, well, it could get you killed."

The former Cloud Nin considered the theory and after about 30 seconds, realisation kicked in.

"Oh, you're right, my bad," he said grinning from ear to ear, scratching the back of his head.

"OKAY, SERIOUSLY, CAN YOU BE ANY SLOWER?" she shouted with more emphasis.

"Okay, I admit I'm a little slow minded-,"

"Uh-huh."

He began to rise to his feet.

"-but slow? Pft, don't judge me there," a mischievous grin spread across his face.

Lightning chakra started to envelope the former Cloud Nins body. Suddenly, after he took a stance that looked like the type he would use to run, he had vanished in a flash like before, leaving static electricity behind. Before she did anything to go straight after him, Sakura noticed the human shaped burn marked on the wall in front of her.

TBC