Chapter 9: Choose Already!

-Naruto

"Hit me chef!" I called out to Tenchi as I slid down into a seat at Ichiraku's.

"Alright! One Miso Ramen coming up!" he called back, dishing out the noodles. Ayame topped it off with some fresh vegetables and plopped the bowl in front of me.

"One cooked-to-perfection Miso Ramen, enjoy."

I grinned, said "Thanks, I will, "and dug in.

"I'll have the normal as well," a voice from behind me said: Sakura.

"Sakura-chan…you're eating dinner with me again?"

I could trace the angry lines on her forehead. "Just let me make it very clear to you that I will not hesitate to punch your lights out anymore."

"Geez, Sakura. I was just joking…"

"Yeah…I could believe that…" and Ayame put her bowl down in front of her, "Thank you," she said to her before turning her attention back to me. "Just like you were just joking when you left the village for 2 weeks on end without breathing a word to anyone, including me. I was sick in bed Naruto, and you didn't care."

"That's not true, I did care."

"Yeah…I could believe that."

"Yes, you could."

We ate in silence for awhile.

"Naruto…I…"

That was weird. "What's up?"

"I…" and everything became clear when my eyes met hers: she was madly in love with me. Her arms went around my neck and she started to pull me closer. There was no way I was doing this. I pushed away and she looked surprised.

"Don't even think about it Sakura. We're just friends, nothing more."

"Naruto…"

"I'm out of here…" and I left her in the restaurant alone.

-Hinata

I stalked him from the forest, getting as close to the edge as I could without losing sight of him. I wanted to tell him that I loved him, I wanted him to know, but I…I just couldn't do it. As he got farther and farther into town, I started jumping from trash can to trash can to hide. Strangely, he turned a corner and headed into an alley; I played along.

"Alright, what do you want?" he asked me.

I hadn't expected this. "Um…I…"

"Come on, why were you following me?"

I looked at his face and his expression horrified me. "I…I…"

"Say it!" he practically screamed at me and I couldn't help but break down and cry.

"Hinata, I…I didn't mean to…" he apologized, coming over to help me up. I dried my tears on my sleeve. "I'm really sorry; it's just that Sakura and I…" Had she broken up with him? "You know what, if you're okay, I'm just going to go home and think it over. I'll be fine…" He was completely stressed out.

"You don't look okay to me…"

"Oh, I'm fine, trust me," and he let my hands go. "I'll see you around…" and he headed towards his apartment.

-Naruto

What had I done? I'd completely ruined my life in one night. I knew I'd hurt Sakura's feelings and I felt bad about doing that to her. I should probably go apologize to her…and Hinata for that matter. Look what my sour attitude had gotten me. Geez, tomorrow was going to be a mess. It was kind of strange though. The things I'd said to Sakura, they'd been true. I really thought that we should be just friends, nothing more. And I still hadn't gotten back to Hinata. How was I supposed to tell her that I didn't love her either?

-Hinata

This was bad. I was sure I had broken my ankle, but I was so deep in the forest that no one could hear me when I called. I tried to move it and the fire shot up through my leg. There was no way I'd be able to get to town. I started looking around for any way to get up while keeping my leg straight. But there was nothing around but trees.

I sighed and just sat there, waiting for help to come. Soon, the crunching of leaves caught my attention. I strained my head and tried to see who it was that'd come this deep into the forest, but I couldn't lean that far forward to see anything; my leg would scream in protest. So I settled for a more verbal approach. "Whoever's there…could you help me?"

Whatever it was started darting towards me and I assumed it was human. As they came around the tree, I saw who it was: Naruto. My heart started racing and I felt like I might hyperventilate.

"Hinata…what are you doing so deep in the woods?" he asked, pulling a first-aid kit from his bag, something I stupidly didn't have with me.

"I was training but…I accidentally tripped and I think I broke my ankle."

He grabbed a bandage and unwound it. Then, he slowly wrapped it around my ankle, tenderly moving it ever so slightly with each wrap, but I couldn't help but wince from the pain.

"I'm sorry…" he told me, trying not to move it as much, "it's going to hurt a little bit."

"I'm fine…it's nothing, really."

He smiled an angelic smile while still concentrating on first-aid. "I happen to have a knack for telling when people are lying, and right now, my instincts are telling me that you are."

He was completely right. "How'd you now?"

"It's just instinctual. You sort of get this vibe…" The rest of the things he said became background noise as I stared at his face. Whatever had happened last night…it wasn't the same person. This was the normal Naruto, the Naruto I longed for. "You know what I mean?" he finished, looking up at my face.

"Uh, yeah, I got you." Even though I had no idea what he'd just said.

"So uh, are we good here?" I tried to move my foot and I groaned. "Whoa, don't strain yourself…"

"Do you offer piggybacks?"

He grinned. "You bet. How much do you want to pay?"

"How about it's free?"

"I'll take you up on that offer," and he came over to pick me up. Idiotically, I totally missed the decently-sized stone at my feet and he ended up tripping over it, on a collision course with me.

-Naruto

I fell over a rock, heading straight towards Hinata. I didn't know what to do; I was going to hit her no matter what. But apparently, fate intervened. Our faces came straight towards each other, and I could've sworn I was going to break her nose. But instead, my hands found ground and our lips ended up becoming interlocked.

I totally didn't want this to happen but…as I stared into her eyes…I found a part of myself I didn't know was there before. A part that had always longed for Hinata, overshadowed in my stupid fantasy for Sakura. To my surprise, her eyes closed and she grabbed my shoulders, separating our lips.

"Couldn't…breathe…" she gasped.

"Oh geez, uh…sorry about that. That wasn't supposed to happen…" but when our gazes met once again, it became clear to me just like the time with Sakura. I was madly in love with Hinata.

"Naruto, the truth is-"I cut her off by putting my hands on both sides of her face. Her eyes opened wide and she stared at my face. "I love you…" she finished in a somewhat distorted voice and I pulled her closer so that our lips touched once again.