Naruto waited outside Ichiraku Ramen, in hopes of seeing Hinata. He had wanted to see her, but she was always busy. It was nearing the new year and the fresh smell of preparations was in the air. No doubt, Hinata would probably be busy cleaning the house, cooking, perhaps training, etc. He drooled at the thought of her cooking flowing into his mouth, the sensation overpowering his other thoughts. His mind went back to finding Hinata. Nope, not there. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a giant dog leaping through the street. There were surprised shrieks, but nothing short of ordinary.

"Kiba!" Naruto called out. The dog and the boy came towards him and stopped abruptly, a few feet away.

"Yeah?" Kiba answered.

"Have you seen Hinata?"

"I think she went off to fit for her kimono or is sprucing up the house or cooking food or maybe.." Kiba rambled off. "Ah! She went to the flower store to get some…flowers. Go figure."

"Okay! Is she going to be done any time soon?" Naruto responded eagerly.

Kiba shrugged. "Beats me." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Hey, I heard about the 'birthday incident.' Man, you sure know how to get a girl – and you're not even good looking!" Naruto scoffed; Kiba went on. "Damn, running to her in the rain and all...don't worry, everybody knows already."

"Everybody knows?"

"Yeah, dork. I thought it was pretty stupid how you guys didn't notice everyone peeking out the window and eavesdropping on the whole convo. I mean, the window was so huge and all. Of course, you were probably all, 'Hinata, I love you! I need you!'" He began to pucker his lips mockingly and wrapped his arms around himself before continuing. "And she was all, 'Oh, Naruto-kun! Oh my!'" This time, Kiba not only puckered and hugged, but batted his eyelashes and swerved his hips side to side. His voice was high-pitched, a joke obviously."Oh, a kiss! More, Naruto more!" Kiba sniggered after finishing his act. "Har har har, guys."

"Oh, shut up." Naruto concluded and walked away. He passed the book store, sad that Old Pervert's books weren't on the front shelf anymore. He sat down on a bench and thought. Bah, I wonder what Hinata's doing….

From across the way, he spotted the Yamanaka's Flower Store. Inside, he could finally see Hinata, her long flowing hair and lovely gray-lavender eyes in the dim light. She held a bouquet in one hand, all wrapped up nicely and tied with a bow. She gave an unusually small smile to the cashier and thanked him (possibly) and left the store. Naruto watched with suspenseful eyes. Although really, he didn't really know why he was watching with such suspense. Lately, his mind had been transfixed to her, what she ate, watched, did, when she slept, trained, shopped, etc. It was like every second without her was time wasted. It was an odd sensation. He'd never really felt like this before, even for Sakura. Hinata had taken over his being completely. He thought it weird, the feelings. When she went up and talked with him, he didn't feel the ease he used to feel. He felt sweaty, his palms were clammy, his throat was tight and he couldn't release the right words. I wonder where all that confidence came from, last week…he thought to himself. He sighed.

She hadn't seemed to notice him and walked on her usual merry way. Her hair bounced behind her, as if floating on air. He felt warm just looking at her. Her beauty, her radiance, her sweetness all filled her aura. It was a lovely aura of purity that dazzled his brain. Finally, he decided to run up to her.

"Hey Hinata!" Naruto popped up behind her. Startled, Hinata stepped quickly to the side. When she had seen who it was, she turned a crimson red.

"Na-Naruto-kun!" she gasped, holding the bouquet to her heart.

"Oh, come on!" Naruto whimpered. "Call me Naruto! No formalities, okay? I mean, we're going out…right?"

"Errr…." Hinata blushed deeply. "Ahh…we…are?"

"Of course! And one day, we'll get married, be together and have babies! Lots of them!" Naruto blurted out. Hinata's face was now a scarlet rose, her body trembling, as if she were about to swoon. "Ah! I, uh, meant…well! I uh...Hinata? Are you okay?"

She looked sickly and faint. Quickly, Naruto grabbed a hold of her, one arm under her knees, the other around her shoulders. The bouquet was still in her arms, on her chest. She no longer looked red. Rather, she was pale. Pale and sweaty. Her breathing was odd and she felt hot – whether it was from Naruto or something else, we will never know – like a summer's day. By the time he had a grip, she had passed out. He ran to Lady Tsunade, who was free, thanks to no longer being the Hokage. She put Hinata on the bed and examined her.

"Is she okay? Is she fine? How is she doing? I need to know! Lady Tsunade…" he prodded.

"Shut up, will you? She's actually got a slight fever. Looks like she's been working too hard again. Really, this girl needs to lighten her load. First the decorations, then the baking, the cleaning, and the training? She does too much to herself. She must really like you to go through all this." She sighed.

"For me?"

"Yeah, a New Years Party, I heard. To make up for the crappy Christmas I heard you apparently had. What did you do again? Oh, you were in that battle with Sasuke. Reminds me, how was it?"

"Crappy. Don't ask me again."

"Ah. So I heard. Anyways, you'll have to take care of her. Her dad's out of town to visit a family friend. Turns out he's dying and there was a will and Hiashi got jumbled in it all. Poor man. Whatever. Take her to your house. Or theirs. I don't really care. Let her rest in bed, make sure she gets plenty of fluids and sleep, got it?"

"Got it. But, how am I supposed to take her all the way down to my house?"

"You're a smart boy, figure it out. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go out for a while."

"But you're not even Hokage anymore! Since you're the resident medical-nin, shouldn't you stay?"

"Eh. I've got some gambling to do. Anyways, Kakashi's doing a great job being Hokage. I think I'll find him a suitable wife in the clubs."

"Yeah, sure. Try finding yourself a husband first." Naruto scoffed and walked over to Hinata. He stroked her hair sweetly and took her up again. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm taking her home."

It was a long way to his house, even if it was closer to Granny's hospital. The streets were packed, some with more people, some with less. When he finally arrived at his house, the sun hadn't been as high as before. He was tired and sweaty after carrying her for so long. When he entered, he immediately set her down on his bed and found some uncooked ramen lying around. Quickly, he added hot water and let it settle. He checked to see if she was okay, he had heard coughing. She was still sleeping, twisting around on his bed left and right. He walked up to her and sat down. She looked so weak and vulnerable, her eyes squeezed shut, and her face sweating heavily. She felt warmer than before, much warmer. He scoured his house for a thermometer until he spotted one lying in his bathroom cabinet. He cleaned it thoroughly and took her temperature. 110˚. Much, much higher than before. He clenched his brows together. Hinata…

Naruto grabbed a towel and wet it. He set it lightly on her head as she groaned. Every time she would groan or cough, Naruto felt as if a part of him was breaking apart. Every day held a new experience for him. The pieces in his heart than had once been held together so tightly now loosened into shards. The sight of her sickly self almost made him cry. He felt so powerless. He couldn't do anything more to help her. He wanted to create a jutsu, right there and then, to cure her. Anything to remove her from her pain. Although, it did seem odd that her fever was going so high. Naruto felt confused on what to do.

He stayed with her, day and night, watching over her. He was determined not to fall asleep, but fell asleep anyways. When he had woken, it was early morning. The stars were still out and she was in a seemingly peaceful sleep. She had been there for a while now. Two days before, he had carried her here. Yesterday, she coughed and unconsciously threw up. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Naruto looked through the window and back at Hinata. Her mouth was dripping with blood. Frightened, Naruto sprung up and grabbed his clothes.

He carried her once again, only with more vigor. She was fading, fast. Pale and empty. He gathered all his strength and ran to the hospital as fast as he could. He could see her growing much more distant by the second. Halfway through, she coughed up a heap of blood onto the sidewalk. Determined, but worried, Naruto ran faster – with all he could. Every bone in his body was racing to save his heart.

At last they arrived at the hospital. Hinata was quickly taken into the hands of the nurses. They all gathered around her and her gurney. They whispered and yelled things Naruto didn't care for. He only focused on Hinata. Her face was tilted but he saw her try and open her eyes for a second. She was crying.

"I'm sorry, Naruto." She mouthed, and was whisked away in a flash. Naruto stared down the hall and fell to his knees. He tried to stop the tears, but he couldn't. They flowed like a river down his cheeks. They scattered along his face swiftly and heavily. His body was frozen in time, filled with horrible disbelief. When he had at last stood, he could barely keep upright. In his mind, questions ran through, What kind of fever is this? How could this have happened? Why her? Please don't be tuberculosis. Or, or AIDS or something. No…no…no…This isn't happening!

Sakura, Kiba, Shino and Neji all rushed into the room.

Neji was screaming with fury, "WHAT HAPPENED?! WHERE IS SHE?! NARUTO!" But Naruto couldn't keep his focus. He was scared. The most frightened had ever been in his life. He waited hours, hours, hours before hearing anything. Every hour was hell. Each minute he waited with much more anticipation than before, and each time, he would try to pick up the pieces of his heart.

Finally, Granny Tsunade came out, weak and tired. It was almost 9 AM. She walked up to Naruto, her eyes filled with weary.

"Sorry, Naruto. Guess it wasn't a small fever." She started.

"What happened? Is she alright? Granny….I need to know!" Naruto shook violently.

"Well, it's sort of…" she trailed.

"What? What?!" Naruto pleaded.

"It's, well, cancer." She finished. "She hasn't had any treatment. She might…die."

"Die?" Naruto repeated.

And his heart broke into a thousand pieces.