Hello everyone. Thanks to those of you who have stuck with me so far. Here is the next chapter.

Chapter 5: The Truth Hurts

"Kiba! What are you doing?" Hinata screamed as she, along with Akamaru and Kiba, jumped out the window. Now don't get her wrong, Hinata was not afraid of heights, nor was she worried that she would actually get hurt. But to be honest, she thought she had definitely had her fill of crazy for the day. Apparently, fate did not agree with her.

Akamaru landed on the ground and sprinted to an isolated street, wanting to draw as little attention as possible. Well, as little attention as one could draw after jumping out of the window of a hospital in plain sight of everyone. Akamaru skid to a stop and Hinata was thankful to be back on the ground. Before she could so much as take one step, Kiba grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"I think the question that should be asked here is what the hell did you think you were doing?" Kiba rarely got angry with Hinata but when he did, Hinata knew there must be a pretty damn good reason why.

Hinata suddenly felt the need to defend herself. "If someone tries to attack me I'm not going to just stand there and take a hit. I was only protecting myself."

Kiba ran his hand through his hair, getting frustrated. "Don't give me that crap Hinata! You should've gone on the defensive! Do you realize what could've happened? Someone could've gotten seriously hurt! Someone could've gotten killed!"

Hinata knew he was right, and she wasn't just ashamed, but she felt horrible. She shouldn't have countered with the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists. She could've jumped out of the way. She could've done a lot of other things. Kiba could see what he was doing to her, and he hated it. He always had a soft spot when it came to Hinata. He put his hand on her head. Hinata looked up, surprised to see Kiba smiling at her.

"Hey, don't get too down in the dumps. No harm no foul, right? Just watch yourself next time. Seriously Hinata, this isn't like you. What really happened back there?"

Hinata closed her eyes, those terrible words replaying in her mind over and over again. "It's not my fault Hinata that no matter how hard you try Naruto still doesn't love you! It's not my fault that even though you were willing to die for him that he didn't so much as thank you let alone tell you that he cares for you! Face it Hinata, he has never loved you!" And she knew Sakura was right. She knew it but to hear it was almost unbearable.

"Hinata…," Kiba was starting to get worried. His hand fell from her head to cup her cheek. "Tell me what's wrong."

Hinata looked at him and smiled. "Nothing's wrong Kiba, please don't worry. It's just been a rough morning. I think I need some time to think is all." And with that said, she turned and ran towards the end of the street.

Kiba wasn't going to just let her up and leave that easily. He went to go after her, but tripped almost instantly. He turned his head to see Akamaru biting onto the end of his pants.

"Akamaru, what the hell was that for!" The large dog let go of his pants and responded with two loud barks.

"Okay, okay! I get it, she needs some time to herself." Kiba got up and dusted himself off. "I guess she'll tell me when she's ready to tell me."

Akamaru nudged his owner's arm, and let out a sad whine. Kiba ruffled the fur on Akamaru's head and sighed.

"Yeah. I hope she'll be alright too."

Having been able to escape from Kiba, Hinata was wandering aimlessly, lost in her thoughts. She felt bad about leaving Kiba like that, she really did. But she didn't have it in her to tell him what happened. She stopped walking, thinking about what Sakura had said to her. I guess people know what they're talking about when they say the truth hurts. Before she could throw herself into a pit of depression, she was met with someone she clearly was not expecting.

"Well, look what we have here. I haven't seen you in a while."

Hinata looked up, realizing that she was the one being spoken to.

"So, I've heard you and Sakura had an exchange of words at the hospital."

Hinata was a bit alarmed. How did she know about that already?

The kunoichi smirked at her. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna bite your head off. I need some help in the flower shop. Mind giving me a hand?"

Hinata wasn't really in the mood right now, but it would be a bit rude of her to decline.

"Of course. I don't mind at all," she replied with a smile.

Deciding to lend a helping hand, Hinata followed the blond into the flower shop. She just hoped she wouldn't regret her decision later.

Thanks for reading you guys! If you feel up to it, I wouldn't mind a review.

Catherine3: I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the last chapter! I'm lucky to have such a great reviewer. Thanks a bunch for your review. :)

Darkmoon120: You are so sweet! Hearing that you think the last chapter was incredible makes me really happy! Thank you so much for reviewing. (Just to let you know I would've put the period after the "dark" part of your username but for some reason, whenever I did all that would show up was the 120 part. Sorry about that.)

sumo is: Well, here's how I like to think of it. To you and me it's really obvious that Hinata has a thing for Naruto. In the anime, I believe that when Hinata tried to save Naruto from Pein, Sakura said something along the lines of how Hinata must really love him. So, that could've been the point when Sakura realized it, but by the way she said it, I think she might have had a sneaking suspicion about it before then. Now if you're talking about whether Hinata's team mates knew about her crush, you would think they would since she would get red and faint or stutter a lot in front of them whenever Naruto was around, but then again, sometimes the boys in Naruto can be really dense when it comes to love, lol. As for everyone else knowing about her feelings, I guess it depends if you're considering someone like Shikamaru who doesn't overlook details, or someone like Choji who focuses most of his attention on his snacks lol. Thanks for the review.

thelastshanghai: Glad to see you like the tougher side of Hinata! To answer your question, no intentional bashing will be done to either character, at least nothing excessive. I want to try to let everyone see both sides of the story, and how both these girls deserve whatever they're searching for. Thanks again for reviewing.