The Portrait

Disclaimer: Today's disclaimer announcer is… Shiranui Genma!

Genma: Do I have to do this?

Megumi: -takes toothpick out of his mouth and pokes him with it-

Genma: Ouch…

Megumi: Say it. -pokes-

Genma: Megumi-chan doesn't own Naruto.

Megumi: Yay! -hugs Genma-

Kakashi: What about me?

Megumi: -glomps Kakashi-

Kakashi: Yay!

AN: I apologize for my random disclaimers and also if Naruto is getting really emo during the last and this chapter. I get annoyed when characters become emo but somehow the characters have acted out on their own and I do nothing but tell their story. Also, don't forget, Hinata sits behind Naruto in history class!

Also, again thank you for the huge support, it was so wonderful to see all the reviews, favourites and alerts! So please enjoy this chapter, the next chapter will come a little late. (I'm sorry!)

Chapter 4

"Look, I don't know what you are to the other Hinata but somehow I know you're connected with her but you're definitely NOT her. Just tell her… tell her that if I don't see her tonight, I'll kill myself. I'm completely serious. Tell her that."

He stared intensely in her eyes, which held a slightly tinge of fear: the only emotion she seemed to be able to express. With that, she walked away, leaving Naruto with a queasy feeling in his stomach.

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Sobs echoed in the small room. Naruto forced his eyes open to reveal Hinata in front of the no longer foreign window.

"Hinata…" His hands reached to touch her hair.

"You really s-shouldn't come anymore," she whispered.

"But I want to see you." Naruto drew himself upwards and set himself face to face with Hinata. "Don't you want to see me?"

She smiles, her delicate features on her face are highlighted by her small action. Although she smiles with her lips, her eyes still held a certain sadness.

"If you stay here, you might be stuck here forever," she said, her voice ending with a whisper. She did not look at Naruto as she said this.

"It wouldn't matter, I'll be stuck with you," he replied. Tears fall on her flushed cheeks. "Promise me that I'll see you every night." Hinata went rigid, her head began to turn sideways but Naruto interjected, "If you don't, I swear I'll die. Sakura and Sasuke will have each other, it won't matter to them if I'm gone. But I don't want to live if I can't see you Hinata."

She nods reluctantly in response.

After a few moments of silence, Hinata spoke.

"Is it really b-bad over there if you w-want to stay here?" she asked.

"It's not bad there at all! It used to be but it's great now," replies Naruto.

"Used t-to be bad?"

"Well you see, I was raised in an orphanage 'cause my parents died when I was young. A family friend, Iruka decided to adopt me but kids at school made fun of me because I was adopted. But then I found Sakura and Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei in high school and it's really not that bad anymore. Then again, Iruka's a great guy anyways, he's just like a father! With all my friends, I really don't need a family at all."

"That sounds w-wonderful," said Hinata, she smiled earnestly at Naruto for the first time. Naruto felt heat rise to his cheeks.

"What about you?" he blurted but realized too late. "I'm sorry… if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. Especially with this whole portrait business." The word portrait was said in a really low voice. Naruto looked at Hinata to remark on her expression but somehow, her honest smile did not fade away.

"It's o-okay. I'll t-tell you another d-day. T-tell me more about y-your f-friends."

"Well there's Sasuke," began Naruto. "He looks and acts all cool and stuff but I'm wayyy better than he is. He has a whole bunch of fangirls…"

He spent what seemed like hours telling Hinata about all his adventures with Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi and Iruka. Naruto didn't stop as Hinata did not stop smiling while he recounted his stories. At one point, she even laughed; the sound of her laughter made Naruto inexplicably happy. It was when he finally heard the dreaded footsteps that he stopped. He had one foot upon the windowsill as he said, "I'll see you tomorrow night then?"

Hinata's smile faded slightly for the first time after his stories but she nodded. With that, Naruto jumped out, his hand reaching out for hers as he fell further and further away.

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Naruto woke up tired but he felt wonderful for the first time in what seemed like ages. His alarm clock rang after he woke, its annoying shrill continuing. Naruto raised his arm to shut it off but his arm did not respond, it felt too heavy from fatigue to be moved.

"Oh well, five more minutes I guess…" Naruto laid in his bed until then.

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"Hey Naruto, you look better today," said Sakura at Naruto's locker. Behind her, Sasuke slapped him on the side of the head.

"Your reflexes are getting slower dobe," he said but with a smile on his face. Both friends were relieved at the fact that their friend did not seem upset or depressed.

"SHUT UP SASUKE, I'LL BEAT YOU UP ANY DAY OF THE WEEK!" yelled Naruto.

Yup… their friend was pretty much back to normal.

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Naruto's day went pretty well from then on. He had quite a lot of fun with Sakura and Sasuke, he had quite a nice nap in English class and he did a chemistry quiz without writing 'ramen' as the answer for any of the questions! When the day was over, he told Hinata about it.

"…And I think I passed the chemistry test Shizune sensei gave us today, I studied for it and I also checked a few of my answers with Sakura's quiz."

"W-were you supposed t-to do that?"

"Nope," he replied with a huge grin on his face. For the second time during their acquaintance, Hinata laughed again.

"Your laugh and smile is prettier than what they have on canvas at the art gallery," he noted. A flush came to Hinata's face and for once, she didn't seem upset that he was talking about her painted self. "By the way Hinata, what do you do in the day?"

Hinata's face became contemplative for a moment and she then answered, "Well, I really d-don't know…"

"Huh?"

"W-well you see… I r-remember your v-visits clearly N-naruto-kun, but what happens b-before and after is all a b-blank. I d-don't know w-why…" Her voice drifted into an embarrassed silence.

"No worries I guess!" said Naruto happily. "As long as you remember the parts with me in it!" He gave her one of his signature grins followed by the thumbs up sign. She smiled along with him.

"I-I love h-hearing your stories t-though."

"And I'm glad that you like them!"

"But it d-doesn't seem so b-bad over there."

"That's because it's not bad there at all!"

"Then why did you say that you didn't mind being stuck here?" Hinata's voice became cold, it was almost uncannily like the voice of Hinata in his world.

"B-because, it's nice being with you! You're a nice person and you didn't deserve to be here and i-it's just nice talking to you!" His face was beginning to flame with reasons unknown to him. Luckily for him, the sounds of the footsteps came,

"I'll see you tomorrow night," he said with a grin and jumped out the window.

Hinata and Naruto saw each other, the next night, and the night after, and the night after that…

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A week later…

Naruto jumped out the window with a wave. From the distance, he saw Hinata wave back. Lately, Hinata smiled more than usual during his visits although he could've sworn he saw her eyes flash with painful sadness everytime he left…

During his visits, he would tell her all about modern Konoha, about his lessons, anything he thought would be interesting. In exchange, Naruto learned a few things about Hinata. It was quite difficult as Naruto would continuously press for the answers but she gave them eventually. Naruto was now armed with the knowledge that Hinata enjoyed pressing flowers and that her favourite food was bean jam. She was from the old Hyuuga family, which still existed in modern Konoha. Sadly though, Naruto was still hankering for her story of her portrait but he waited patiently for her readiness to tell him the story. Still, he was unquestionably happy every time he met with her and he wasn't going to get her mad over a little story.

Today, Naruto's alarm clock woke him after a very pleasant meeting with Hinata. She told him the story of when she first ate crab as a child. It was one of her least favourite foods.

Smiling to himself, Naruto tried opening his eyes, but they would not open. He was becoming more and more weary as the days went by, it was getting harder and harder for Naruto to get up and at times, it took five to ten minutes before his body would respond to his desire of movement. Perhaps meeting Hinata at night took away some of his sleep but it didn't matter. Seeing her was well worth sleep, especially since he could sleep in class to make up for it. Finally, after fifteen minutes of lying in bed, Naruto got up to begin his day at school.

His day began well, he received an 89 on the chemistry quiz he wrote last week. Other than that, his day was not quite wonderful. Kurenai sensei yelled at the whole class for not putting enough emotion in their artwork. Sasuke was sick at home with a bad cold and during the whole day, Sakura made calls to make sure he was feeling well. It was quite sweet at first but it got irritating after hearing, 'Are you sure you're okay honey?' for the eighteenth time that day. In the end, Sakura skipped last period – history with Asuma sensei. Although Asuma sensei was quite lenient and let Naruto sleep most of the time, he seemed quite irate today and threw chalk at Naruto whenever he began drifting off to sleep again.

When the end of the day came, Naruto awoke from his slumber by the toll of the last bell. While Naruto was packing up his bag, he was still quite drowsy; he did not notice that the girl behind him was still there, staring at him intently.

"You should stay away from her," she said. This made Naruto fully awake instantaneously.

"You should stay away from her," she repeated, as she looked him straight in the eye. With that repetition she left, leaving Naruto frozen in place. He was shocked, in that brief moment when their eyes met, the lavender eyes held sadness. It was the same sadness he saw in dream-Hinata's eyes whenever he jumped out the window…

Is there another reason why dream-Hinata is sad when she sees Naruto leave the tower? Will Naruto stay away from dream-Hinata? What does dream-Hinata do in the day?