Sasuke and Sakura were walking together in matching sweatshirts as they ate the food that they found in the container. They ditched it a long time ago so that Neji and Tenten would know that they got it and continued onward.
"I hope we made the right choice." Sakura said out loud.
"Sakura, we had to continue without everyone." He told her.
"No, I mean about taking this way after the fork in the water, but yeah leaving them is still getting to me." She said sadly.
"Well, what would you have rather done?" he asked getting her to look up at him questionably. "Swim across the water and go down the other side?"
"Okay no, but what if we're going down the wrong way and that way was the right way to go? I know we really didn't have a choice but I hope it's still the right one."
"I know what you mean." Sasuke told her sticking his hands in his sweatshirt pocket.
"You're done eating?" Sakura asked noticing his hands in his pocket.
"Yeah. I dropped the bag back there." He said motioning with his head.
"I didn't take you as a litter bug Sasuke." She smirked.
"Well don't think of it as littering. Think of it as letting the others know that we went this way." He said trying to make his littering sound like a good idea.
"Well wouldn't a light breeze just blow it away and send it somewhere else?" Sakura asked. Sasuke thought about this.
"Guess I really didn't count on the wind coming threw, but you're probably right. Oh well." He said making Sakura sweat drop.
"Whatever." She said giving up. When Sakura finished her food she dumped her crumbs out and put her trash in her sweatshirt pocket.
"I didn't take you as a tree hugger Sakura." Sasuke said making fun of Sakura's earlier comment on him being a litter bug.
"Hey! No I'm not!" she defended.
"Look if you wanna be a tree hugger, don't let me stop you." he smirked.
"I am NOT a tree hugger; I just have a conscience about littering is all." she said crossing her arms. They walked for a while in another awkward moment where neither of them could think of something to say.
'I wonder if following the side of the river will even get us to where we want to go.' Sakura thought to herself.
"So Sakura, what school do you go to?" Sasuke asked trying to both start up a conversation and get to know her better.
"I go to South Konoha for girls. It's where Hinata and Ino go too."
"Oh, actually I think I already knew that." Sasuke said realizing that his question was stupid. "Do you, like it up there?" he asked.
"Well it's a pretty nice school, the only down thing is no boys." She said.
"That's how it is at our school too with the no girls, except I kind of like that part since it means my fan club can't follow me everywhere." He told her. "That's the last thing I need is to be chased by girls between each of my classes."
"Sounds exciting!" Sakura told him sounding enthusiastic.
"Girls are just annoying, and they go on and on about absolutely nothing. They all seem to have strong A.D.D where they talk about one thing that leads to another." Sasuke said as he looked up at the sky. He was waiting for Sakura to respond but he got nothing. He looked over at her to see what the problem was but all he saw her do was give him a HUGE shocked face. "……what?" he asked confused.
"You think all girls are annoying?" she asked not changing her face.
"Pretty much, why?" he asked not understanding.
"Well jeepers Sasuke!" Sakura said trying to sound girly and nice. "The last time I checked….I was kind of….. A GIRL!" she yelled.
"Wait a second!" he said trying to fix what he had said. "I didn't mean you, I meant like, other girls." 'That was a close one!' he thought congratulating himself.
"So….you mean like my best friends Tenten, Ino, AND HINATA are annoying?" she asked fuming again.
'oops, never mind!' "Well, look I didn't mean to say anything. By all girls I meant my 'fan girls', and I guess I just forgot you were a girl since I'm so comfortable talking to you. You're definitely not like any other girl I've met." He said praying she wouldn't get mad. Sakura stared at him and then began to raise her hand. Sasuke closed his eyes ready for the hit that he knew he deserved. 'Shouldn't have said a thing Uchiha!' he thought waiting for the hit, but, to his surprise, Sakura raised her hand to put behind his head so she could kiss him. It only lasted a sweet ten seconds but there was something deep in that kiss that they both could feel.
"What was that for?" Sasuke asked with a few butterflies in his throat.
"That was so you remember I'm a girl." She told him satisfied. "But I'm also glad that you think of me as sort of like…..maybe a…..friend? And defiantly not a fan girl?" she asked.
"Sakura, you're definitely one of my friends." He told her as he raised both his eyebrows on the word 'definitely' so she could see it in his eyes what he meant.
"You're definitely one of mine too." She smiled. "And this makes you my first boyfriend. I MEAN….." Sakura began to blush at realizing her mistake. "My first friend who is a boy." She corrected.
"You're definitely my first friend who's a girl, and believe me I never thought I would have one of those again." He said smiling.
"What do you mean, again?" Sakura smiled as she grew curious.
"Hinata was one of my first friends and was probably my best even though she was a girl."
"How long ago did you know her?" she asked forgetting.
"Since preschool. You could say we were inseparable, and then we met Shikamaru who became one of our instant friends."
"So you guys were just a trio?" she asked wondering if that's all the friends they had.
"Pretty much. We were best friends all through preschool, but then me and Shikamaru moved separating us from her."
"How weird that you both moved at the same time."
"I called that a blessing since I didn't like to make new friends and since Shikamaru is just so lazy we never made friends right away. We didn't make friends at our school, but we did make a friend at the park." He said showing a faint smile as he thought about his past. "I don't think I'll ever forget that day, when we met a kid who changed our lives."
"Wanna tell me about it?" she asked growing curious.
"It's a long story." He told her. "You sure?"
"I'm sure it's not that long, and it's not like I'm going anywhere." She smiled.
"Good." He told her making her blush. "I guess it started in early October, maybe the first week. Shikamaru and I were going to the park and we could walk there together since where we live is really safe. We'd always meet by this ramen stand that was the midpoint from both our houses. After that we would just head together to the park. We did this almost every day since our teachers never gave us homework so we always had free time.
FLASHBACK
Sasuke and Shikamaru walked together to the park and headed straight for the swing set. It was where they always liked to hang out together, that or just a shady tree in the summer. When they got there they saw a bunch of kids making fun of some smaller kid with bright blonde hair. The small kid was wearing tattered green sweatpants with a ragged black shirt. The kids were yelling at him, calling him names and taking turns pushing him to the ground which he refused to stay on.
"Why don't you just stay down on the ground you loser!" yelled one of the boys who pushed him back down.
"Look at him trying to get back up!" yelled another boy.
"Then we push him right back down!" yelled a girl who pushed him back with her foot.
"I bet if we pelt him with rocks he'll stay down!" suggested another boy.
"But wont his parents ask about why he's bleeding?" asked the youngest boy.
"He doesn't have any!" laughed the girl. "And he's POOR!" she yelled extra louder so he could hear her.
"HEY!" yelled Shikamaru who surprised not only Sasuke and the group of kids, but even himself. "Leave that kid alone! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"HUH! He said a bad word!" said the littlest boy.
"I'll say whatever I damn feel like." Shikamaru told them. 'My mom is going to kill me if she hears me saying this bad stuff.' He thought grimly.
"So who are you to say anything at all?" asked one of the boys who walked over closer to him obviously not intimidated. "I see your family symbol, you're a Nara. You're not exactly high and mighty so you'd better watch yourself if you know what's good for you." the boy threatened.
"Hey loser, back off." Sasuke said stepping around from behind Shikamaru who walked in front of him.
"And who are you?" asked one of the boys.
"My name's Sasuke Uchiha." He told them. All the kids grew pale and wished to be anywhere but there.
"….Ohh….um, well…." They were all lost of words.
"Why don't all of you just get out of here, and don't come back because this is my playground now!" he told them. He didn't have to tell them twice, they were all out of there before Sasuke could do anything to them.
"You're playground?" Shikamaru laughed. Sasuke shook off what he had to say and went over to the boy who was struggling to get back on his feet. Sasuke and Shikamaru went over and helped him up.
"Are you okay?" Shikamaru asked putting the kid's arm around his neck. Sasuke did the exact same.
"…….Why….are you helping…..me…?" the boy asked sounding tired.
"I know what its like to be poor." Shikamaru said helping Sasuke bring the boy over to a bench.
"Look at him." Sasuke said as they sat him down. "He's bleeding. We should get him to one of our houses so he can get bandages."
"I think that's a bad idea!" the boy quickly shot. "You'll get in trouble if you're near me, thanks for the help now you can leave." Sasuke and Shikamaru stared confused at the injured boy who looked like he needed their help.
"No, let's take him to my house." Sasuke said. "You can wash up there."
"….but.."
"Up you go." Shikamaru said putting the boy around his shoulder again. Sasuke got the other side and together they brought the kid to Sasuke's house. When they arrived the boy stared at the house in complete awe.
"Where….are we?" he asked.
"My house." Sasuke told him as he pushed his front door open.
"SASUKE!" said a maid walking into the hall. "How was your day at…the…OH MY!"
"Our friend needs help." Sasuke told her as they continued to pull the boy along. They were both starting to get tired even though he wasn't that heavy.
"Give him to me, I'll run him to the infirmary!" she picked up the boy in her arms and hurried her self to the Uchiha's infirmary which was near the kitchen. Sasuke and Shikamaru ran right behind her.
"What do you want us to do?" Sasuke asked wanting to help.
"Stay with me and you both can be my helpers." She told them. Shikamaru noticed the door was coming up so he ran ahead of her to open the door. "Thank you Shikamaru." The maid placed the boy down on a bed and she took a look at him. He was bleeding on his hands, he had dirt everywhere, his clothes were ripped up, and on his knees he had blood seeping threw. "I can give him some bandages but first we'll have to clean him up, and I don't just mean some disinfectant. We'll have to clean him from head to toe. So it looks like I'll have to give him a bath." She said nodding her head making it final.
"…a…bath?" the boy asked tiredly.
"Sasuke get him some of your clothes, and you might want to get him some underwear too."
"Got it!" Sasuke said running to his room to grab the boy some spare clothes. Sasuke came back with an orange shirt and jeans along with socks shoes and underwear. He went back to the infirmary where Shikamaru was mixing some medicines together.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked putting the clothes down on a chair.
"Trying to make some disinfectant for that kid. It's not that hard, I read about how to do it." He said not taking his eyes off what he was doing.
'I had no idea Shikamaru was this smart. We're only six years old! Well he's seven but does that make a difference?' Sasuke thought to himself as he sat down on the bed. After an hour of waiting the maid and boy, who was wrapped in a towel, came back into the room.
"Oh good, the clothes are right here. While you get dressed I'll just get you bandages." She said sounding out of breath.
"What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked.
"He didn't want to take a bath." She said in a huff. "I had to force him in the tub."
"And I'm going to sue you for doing something to me against my wishes!" he told her as he continued to stand wrapped in a towel.
"You'll catch a cold and die if you don't get into your new dry clothes, so stop threatening me and do that." She yelled. The boy wasn't happy about it but he did as he was told so she wouldn't stay on his case. The maid turned to get some disinfectant but to her surprise there was a big mess of medicine instead. "Who made this mess?" she exclaimed in anger knowing she would have to clean it. She turned and looked at Sasuke who as fast as lightning pointed to Shikamaru.
"Shikamarudidit!" he yelled. Shikamaru rolled his eyes lazily.
"I was making the disinfectant, I thought it was a good idea." He said showing her a small jar of what he had made. The maid took it from his hand and peered inside. She knew Shikamaru was from the Nara family and they were known for their medicines so she thought it couldn't hurt to try it out. She took some cotton balls and rubbed it on what was inside the jar. The boy had on his pants at that moment so she told him to sit on the bed so she could get his upper chest and arms. Once he was sitting she began to put the ointment on him, and he just stared at her doing it.
"Sasuke can you grab me the bandages please?" she asked. Sasuke got up and grabbed the bandages that were next to Shikamaru's mess. He handed them to her and she began to wrap up the boy. "Sasuke after I'm done with this you'll have to bring him to your parents so they know he's here."
"Where's my mom?" Sasuke asked.
"She's in the green house, or your father's study, but I'm pretty sure she's in the green house. Lift up your pant leg dear so I can wrap your knee." After she was done with that she began to clean up the mess and the boy put on his shirt.
"Let's go find my mom." Sasuke said as he went to the door. Shikamaru followed him but the boy just stayed on the bed. "Aren't you coming?" Sasuke asked.
"I can come?...are you sure your parents wont be mad?" he asked.
"Why would they be mad?" Sasuke asked confused.
"…..I don't know." The boy said looking at his feet.
"Sasuke's mom is pretty nice, for a mom." Said Shikamaru. "You'll see, she likes anybody."
"I guess." The boy said jumping off the bed and walking after Sasuke and Shikamaru. They all headed towards the green house which was on the other side of the house so they had some walking to do.
"So," Sasuke began. "My name is Sasuke and this is my friend Shikamaru. I'm supposed to introduce myself right away but I forgot, sorry."
"What's your name?" Shikamaru asked.
"….I was told its Naruto." He said as he looked up at them. They both gave him confused looks.
"You were told?" Shikamaru asked.
"By what, your parents?" Sasuke asked.
"It's what people and the Hokage call me." He told them.
"You know the Hokage?" Shikamaru asked amazed. "You mean, you've actually talked to him?"
"Yeah, that old man likes to meet with me sometimes." He told them very nonchalantly. Sasuke started to laugh a bit.
"What's so funny?" Shikamaru asked him.
"Just that he calls him Old man. My parents would probably kill me if I called our Hokage that." He told them.
"But that's what he is, an old man." Naruto told them as he stuck his hands behind his head.
"Yeah, but you're supposed to be respectful of him since he is the leader of our village." Shikamaru told him as if he was supposed to know.
"So…people respect him because he's our Hokage?" the boy now called Naruto asked trying to figure it all out.
"Well he is our leader after all, and leads us and everything." Sasuke said. "The Hokage is the greatest person in our village who is supposed to come first."
"……wow…." Naruto said letting it escape his mouth.
"Didn't your parents ever tell you that?" Shikamaru asked.
"I don't have parents." He said looking down at the ground. Shikamaru and Sasuke practically stopped walking.
"No parents?" Sasuke asked.
"So those kids at the park were right about that." Shikamaru said.
"Then where do you live?" Sasuke asked.
"You were there…..I live in the park." He told them. "Sometimes I sleep in the slide or on a bench, but normally I'm there."
"Does the Hokage know about this?" Sasuke asked almost concerned.
"I'm not sure." Naruto told them thinking about it himself. "But whenever he's down here I always see him at Ichirakus and he buys me lunch. That old man isn't half bad sometimes, but he always wonders how I'm doing." Naruto said.
"I bet if you told him that you didn't live anywhere he would take care of you." Shikamaru said.
"But I think I'm doing just fine." He tried to reassure them. They approached the door that would lead them into the green house where Sasuke's mother was supposed to be. They opened up the door and a rush of smells filled their nostrils. Naruto had never smelt so many pretty things all at once, and when they all walked in and he decided he had never seen anything as beautiful so he stuck his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't hurt anything. They walked towards the back where they saw Sasuke's mom watering some plants.
"Hey mom!" Sasuke said tapping her on the back. She turned around and smiled very warmly at Sasuke. She placed her watering can down and gave him a hug.
"Hello Sasuke, and Shikamaru. How was the play ground? Why are you back already?" she asked not seeing Naruto who was behind Shikamaru.
"Mom this is Naruto, we found him at the park." Sasuke said turning towards where Shikamaru was. Mrs. Uchiha looked up to see what he was gesturing at.
"You brought another wild animal to the house? Just because you find one injured doesn't mean you can always bring it right to the house thinking it can be your pet." She said as she looked around the floor for an injured animal. Naruto thought she was talking directly to him so he began to silently let tears come out of his eyes along with some anger.
"NO mom, not an animal, we found a kid." Sasuke corrected.
"Where?" she asked looking around. Shikamaru stepped aside realizing he was in the way and Mrs. Uchiha saw the little blonde boy crying. She knew right away, mothers instinct, that he was upset about what she had said even though she didn't mean it.
"Oh no!" she tried to say. "I'm sorry I didn't say you were a wild animal, I thought they brought one in the house. I didn't see you there." She said, but it didn't faze Naruto. He continued to stare at the ground in anger not hearing the words coming out of his mouth. Mrs. Uchiha bent down and gave Naruto a hug and began to let out a short laugh. "Forgive me Naruto!" she told him as she made the hug tighter. "But I didn't see you there; I think Shikamaru needs a hair cut because I couldn't see around all of his hair." She laughed. Sasuke and Naruto let out short laughs too while Shikamaru only rolled his eyes and threw up his hands.
"I like me hair." He said to them all. "I don't need to change it."
"Maybe not change it, but trim it." Mrs. Uchiha said standing up. "So Naruto, I'm Mrs. Uchiha and it's very nice to meet you." she told him.
"I'm sorry….was I supposed to introduce myself first?" Naruto asked. "Sasuke told me that that's what you were supposed to do." Mrs. Uchiha smiled down at Sasuke.
"You mean your parents haven't taught you that?" she asked.
"He doesn't have parents." Shikamaru said. Mrs. Uchiha thought it was a joke at first but then she looked down at Naruto who looked down at his feet.
'Those clothes look like Sasuke's.' she thought.
"You don't have any family?" she asked.
"No…but that's okay." Naruto said trying to sound better about the whole thing.
"Mom people were being awful to Naruto." Sasuke said.
"Kids were throwing rocks at him, but they were also kicking him to the ground." Shikamaru said.
"HUH!" did you take him to the infirmary?" she asked.
"Already did that. We got him washed up and he has my clothes." Sasuke told her. "His old clothes were really worn out, and ripped up."
"Naruto, where do you live so we can tell your guardians." She asked.
"At the park." He told her.
"UNACCEPTABLE!" she yelled making the three boys shiver in fear. "Naruto you need a place to stay, you can't live outside. Why not stay a night or two at our house? Sasuke's brother and father aren't home so it won't be like one more mouth to feed." She explained to him. "What do you say?"
"….I don't know." He said thinking about it.
"Then you should at least stay with us for dinner." She said. His ears perked up at dinner.
"WELL, I guess I could stay for dinner. ARE WE HAVING RAMEN!?" he asked growing excited.
END FLASHBACK
"Wow." Sakura said sounding very sad. "Poor Naruto, it all sounds just awful." Sakura was holding her hands very close to her chest as she listened to Sasuke's story. "SO did he live with you?"
"No, he stayed with us for a while but when my mom found out that he knew the Hokage she set up a meeting to talk to him about Naruto. He decided that Naruto should go back to the adoption house that he originally stayed at before they kicked him out for being too overactive so he could be adopted, but he refused to go back to that place. So the Hokage decided that it would be alright for Naruto to live on his own in an apartment that the Hokage bought himself, but the Uchihas had to watch over him. My mom always worried about him so we visited him every day which is how we became best friends. When Naruto was eleven he began to do a paper route to raise his own money and as he got older he began to get more stops, and that's how I guess he became Hinata's paperboy. The Hokage continues to pay for the apartment for Naruto and visits him periodically."
"…..wow…" Sakura said. "That sure is something. I had no idea he lived such a life. When I was younger we really didn't have money and I thought that was absolutely terrible. Later my father got promoted and we ended up moving into a bigger house and I went to a better school, but poor Naruto. How does he afford to go to an all boy school?"
"My family pays for it, he doesn't know that though, he thinks the Hokage is, otherwise he wouldn't accept the money." The same thought kept going threw Sakura's mind. 'Poor Naruto.' Sasuke was about to tell her more when he heard something, someone yelling.
"Sakura….do you hear that!?" he asked.
"Hear….? HUH, is that?" Sakura began to look around for the source of the noise. It was coming from ahead of them so they both began to run towards.
"It's got to be, it's them! BUT how?" Sasuke asked her as they ran towards the noise.
"….sasuke…..sakura…" a voice called out.
"It sounds like……..Shikamaru!" Sasuke exclaimed.
"But they were WAY behind us…..how is that possible?" Sakura asked him.
"….forehead!" yelled another voice.
"INO!" Sakura yelled out loud hoping to get another response.
"…….SAKURA?" yelled a few voices.
"Sasuke it's them but where?" she asked still running at his heels.
"THERE!" Sasuke yelled pointing ahead to a group of people. Indeed it was Shikamaru and Ino along with some counselors.
"SAKURA!" Ino yelled as she ran over to her.
"INO!" Sakura yelled back as they both embraced in a very tight and emotional hug.
"I waAs…SoooOo..worried about you!"Ino cried.
"MeEE. TOO!" Sakura cried back as their hug became even tighter.
"I'm so glad….you're okay!" Ino said happy that her friend was safe and alive.
"Me too." Sakura said again.
"Sakura." Sasuke said cutting into their moment. "You need to get your cut checked, remember?"
"They have first aid." Shikamaru said coming over with three of the counselors who were all carrying first aid boxes. Two counselors were standing far away from the group on of them being on their cell phone. Shikamaru walked over to Sasuke and since they were guys they didn't hug but gave a quick guy handshake/back pat.
"How did you guys get down here before us?" Sasuke asked as he was being check out. "Come to think about it, where did all the water go?" Sasuke asked noticing that the river was gone.
"It was never really a river." Shikamaru told him.
"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked As Sakura walked over nearer so she could hear the explanation.
"Where are the others?" the counselor with the cell phone asked as he walked over to the four kids.
"We were all separated." Sasuke told them.
"But we do think Neji and Tenten are right behind us." Sakura added quickly. "They gave us these sweatshirts." Everyone, minus Sasuke, looked at her like she was crazy.
"Come again?" Ino asked.
"The point is we know that they weren't too far behind us, so we should get people to go back up the path we just came down to help them out." Sasuke explained.
"RIGHT!" One of the counselors yelled. Three of them left and went up the way Sasuke and Sakura came down.
"Now can someone explain to us how you got down here?" Sasuke asked growing impatient.
Tenten and Neji continued to walk but Tenten never stopped humming a song with no words. She was still a little giggly about Neji throwing the container at a rock that wasn't even surrounded by any other rocks.
"Are you ever going to stop your humming?" Neji asked getting really annoyed with her.
"NOO!" she laughed.
"..ugh…please?" he asked not wanting to plead.
"Only because you said please." She smiled. "But you have got to admit that that was pretty funny the way you threw the container at rock, and it was the only rock in that spot. I mean you just HIT IT!"
"So what! Why is that so funny?"
"Because no one expects Neji Hyuuga to do something that's funny." She laughed. "That'll probably be the last funny thing you ever do, and I'm just glad I got to watch you make a fool of yourself." Neji just stared at her.
"It WILL be the only time I ever make a full of myself." He told her as he looked forward. "And I WOOAH!" BOOM Neji fell flat on his face in the dirt.
"Neji are you okay?" Tenten asked bending down to help him out.
"Yeah, but I tripped on this." He said picking up a metallic bag.
"HEY!" Tenten yelled. "That's a chip bag. It could be Sasuke and Sakura's!"
"That means they got the container." He said as he stood up.
"I'm relieved." Tenten said. "That means they're warm too with the sweatshirts, and not a moment too soon either because now the sun is practically down."
"See, regardless of me throwing at a rock it made it to them anyways." Neji said defending himself. Tenten just stared at him with a blank expression.
"So, can I laugh at you now for falling over on a chip bag?" she asked.
"No." he put simply as he kept walking. "Ouch!" he said as he stopped.
"Neji what's wrong?" Tenten asked rushing to stand in front of him.
"I landed on me knee." He told her as he looked down at it.
"HUH! That's going to be some bruise." She told him. "So it hurts to walk on it?" she asked. Neji took a few steps forward and it hurt every time he used that leg.
"Yeah." He said. "But at least it's not bleeding." He told her.
"Hold on, I know how to make it better." She told him as she went down on her knees.
"What are you..HEY!" Tenten yanked his leg and he landed on his butt, HARD.
"So what hurts more? Your knee or your butt?" she asked.
"Still my knee." He told her. Tenten stared at the knee a little more when a light bulb lit above her head. She put her face closer to Neji's knee and began to blow on it. 'What is she doing?' he thought. His question was then quickly answered when she put her lips down on his knee. "You're……kissing my knee?" he asked as his heart began to beat rapidly.
"No, I'm kissing your booboo. You said I could the next time you got one." She told him.
"…….oh." he said simply. He looked down at his knee and then up at Tenten who was smiling at him. "Thanks." He said as he stood up. Tenten got up too and Neji began to walk again. He was walking with a dazed expression going over everything that just took place in his head.
'She just kissed me knee…..she just kissed my knee….wait! She already kissed me so why am I getting excited about her kissing my knee? Shikamaru was right, not only do girls make you do and think crazy things, but they're troublesome.' Neji continued to walk and he knew Tenten was to his right but he still couldn't stop thinking about her kissing his knee.
"It doesn't hurt any more, does it!" she told him as he looked down at his knee.
"You're right it doesn't, who knew something as dumb as kissing a booboo would work!" he told her but at the same time was telling himself. Neji looked up and saw her smile of satisfaction "What?" he asked knowing the answer.
"And you thought kissing a booboo wouldn't work." She smiled. "Yup, you were so wrong!"
"Does that kiss mean I won't have a bruise?" he asked. Tenten then sweat dropped.
"Uhhhh….well I guess…..IT STOPPED HURTING DIDN'T IT?" she yelled. Neji smirked.
"It did stop hurting, but I'll still be reminded of it whenever I see the bruise." Tenten crossed her arms and let out a hump.
"…..it did stop hurting." She mumbled to herself. Neji couldn't help but smile at her.
"So, your mom always kissed your booboos?" he asked her.
"Yes always, and believe me I always had booboos." She laughed.
"What did you do as a kid?" he asked her.
"Sports. I was always playing and always practicing. I used to practice until I got everything just perfect!" she said squeezing her fists. Neji's eyes grew wide as he looked slightly to his right to look at her face expression. She looked very determined, and must have been thinking about something from the past.
"That's how I was too." Neji said getting her to look up at him confused. "Before my father died…..he would always help me practice with sports and fencing. I would try to perfect everything we did so he would be proud of me." Tenten looked up at him sadly as he took another breath to finish his story. "After he died I had become even more determined to be the best at everything I touched whether it was sports or school. Later, and I think you were there when I came to realize this, but I learned all that time I wasted trying to always be the best got me to miss some really great things."
"Wait, so I was there?" she asked trying to backtrack, as she held her head.
"When Hinata and I fought together." He said looking at her. "I learned a lot that day." He said looking ahead of him again.
'I did learn a lot that day.' Neji thought to himself. 'I learned that I loved my cousin Hinata and that she wasn't just another high and noble main branch member, but was really looking to help the side branch family. I think I also learned something that's really important to me now.' He thought as his eyes slightly looked towards Tenten whose eyes were slowly shutting. 'Tenten, she looks pretty tired.' "Tenten are you okay?" he asked her noticing now that she was holding her head.
"Yeah Neji, I'm fine." She told him as she waved her hand at him like it was nothing. Neji could tell that she lying and that something was wrong. Before he could pry further into what was up with her she stumbled on herself almost falling over.
"WOE!" he yelled putting his arms up to grab her. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Just lost my balance!" she said trying to sound convincing, Neji didn't buy it. "Maybe I'm just tired." She said getting quiet.
"Tenten maybe I should...HEY!" Tenten began to fall backwards and Neji caught her. "Is this another trust test?" he asked jokingly. He tried to help her stand but then she went limp. Neji then realized that she was no longer with him. "Tenten?" he asked looking at her face noticing that her eyes were closed. "Tenten!" he yelled trying to get her to wince at the loudness, but he got nothing. Her face was lifeless and her breathing had slowed. Neji went down on his right knee and held her on it. He put his right hand on her face and felt it burning up. His eyes grew wide in fear when he realized that Tenten had fainted and he wasn't sure from exactly what, so he picked her up and put her on his back. "If you can hear me Tenten, you're going to be alright! I'll rush us to the finish line, just hold on!" Neji began to quicken his walking which was hard to do since Tenten was now on his back, but lucky for him she wasn't that heavy.
'How did this happen?' he thought as he almost tripped over a rock. 'It seemed so sudden that she would just…..FAINT! There's no logical explanation. If I had only paid some more attention to her earlier then we could have rested for a minute so she wouldn't have been so tired. But, would that have really made a difference?' he thought to himself as he looked up at the sky. 'What if going this way is just a bust! I wish there was a way for me to see far ahead of where I am so I would know already. If this is leading me no where then…..wait! Sasuke and Sakura! If it really is a dead end they would have come back up this way right? Even if it is they might have found another way to go, and I'm sure that they'll give us a sign to show which way to go. Hold on, it's getting dark out. What if I don't even see the sign they set for us? What do I do then? Tenten is relying on me and I'm screwing up! She really needs me and I blowing it, she could be in real danger and…..wait a minute.' Neji slowed down his running into a brisk walk. 'It just real quiet out here.' He looked around at his surroundings to see why it might have gotten so quiet so suddenly, but to his dismay he couldn't tell what was so different. While deeply thinking about why it had grown so quiet Neji stepped on a bunch of sticks that made a loud crunch noise which broke the silence that had grown eerie. 'Shit! What if that was another arrow telling us to go in a direction?!' Neji examined what he had stepped on closely. He determined that it was just a bunch of sticks on the ground with no value to him what so ever. He stood up and continued to walk forward in the original direction he was walking when he remembered something Tenten had said. 'Didn't she call this river 'Styx' earlier?' he thought as he looked over to his left to look at the water. "HUH!" Neji's eyes grew wide at the astonishing sight that was next to him. The river was absolutely gone, for the most part at least. "What the….where did it…." Neji's eyes were then forced to close tightly when a flash of light blinded him. "HEY! Wait a second…..WHO'S THERE?" he yelled frantically as he began to call out some more towards whoever was flashing a light at him.
"Are you alright?!" yelled a voice from behind the light that was coming closer to him. "HEY WE GOT MORE!" the voice yelled as more lights appeared ahead of Neji. Neji stopped walking as he waited for whomever to approach him. After a second of waiting and watching the lights come closer to him he saw it was a bunch of counselors with flashlights and first aids.
"Are you a kid from the camp?" a female counselor asked.
"YES, I'm Neji and my friend needs medical care right away!" he told them.
"We'll take it from here!" a male counselor said as he and another counselor took Tenten from Neji. After she was off his back Neji fell to one knee while he supported his left shoulder with his right hand.
"Someone help this kid out!" yelled a female counselor. The three other counselors rushed over and picked up Neji helping him walk which was hard for him to do since he was so tired. He didn't realize how tired he was until the took Tenten off of his back, that's when he knew she was in good hands and began to relax himself.
Tenten was rushed out of sight so Neji had no idea where she was, but from the distance he heard a loud shriek that made him so relieved.
"Tenten!" Ino yelled from the distance.
"….Ino?" Neji asked out loud. "Hey," he asked one of the counselors. "Are my….friends here too?"
"Sasuke Uchiha and Shikamaru are down there…" began to male counselor.
"Also Sakura and Ino are there as well." Finished the female counselor who was clearly wearing a "Camp Kunoichi" sweatshirt. They all continued dragging Neji along when they got into a big clearing with three ambulance and some more counselors. Although seeing all of that made Neji relieved that he and Tenten would be okay he became overwhelmed with joy when he saw all of his friends.
"Neji!" Ino and Sakura yelled as they jumped off of a stretcher that they had both been sharing. As they ran over to him Neji was then hoisted onto one himself as the began to examine his legs.
"Ino…Sakura!" yelled a very familiar voice. "Stay where you are until they are done checking Neji out." Sasuke said from a stretcher that was a few yards away from them. Shikamaru was in the stretcher too and they both had blankets over their shoulders along with a hot beverage in hand. Ino and Sakura crossed their arms and sat back down on their stretcher where they had abandoned their own blankets. Neji took note that all of them were wearing sweatpants now instead of their bathing suits, and Shikamaru had somehow obtained a "Camp Shinobi" sweatshirt. He looked over at Sakura who was wearing a green sweatshirt along with her blanket.
As the counselors finished putting on some bandages around Neji's knee they rolled his bed over in between the other two beds where his friends were. All of their faces were happy to see him, but before they began to talk to him a female counselor wrapped around him a blanket while also giving him a cup of hot chocolate.
"Ino…..Shikamaru…I can't believe that you're alright!" he said as he began to drink the warm liquid in his cup.
"Yeah it sure was lucky of us." Shikamaru told Neji.
"Luck didn't save us Shikamaru, you did!" Ino said smiling so warmly towards him. Shikamaru couldn't help but blush at this. "It was Shikamaru's idea to go back up the river and follow another stream down to the finish line." She told Neji. Neji's eyes widened at this. He tried to figure out what Shikamaru would do and he was only half right!
"So then what happened?" Neji asked wanting to know how they were saved.
"After going up the river we were back to where the paths began." Shikamaru started. "We knew that each one lead to the finish line so we weren't real picky on which one we would take. We walked along side it for a while but it was hard for Ino because she hurt her ankle while she was in the water from when she fell out of her boat. I had to carry her most of the way down on my back which wasn't hard at all, and it made it easier when it was actually the quick path. We saw the counselors across the rest of the water and yelled to get their attention. They saw us and paddled over to us in a boat they had. As they brought us to shore we told them everything and they called the camp to tell them what had happened."
"We were being checked out by the other counselors who had first aid kits with them." Ino said helping Shikamaru with his story. "While they were all trying to find out ways of finding you guys we were just concerned….if you were even still alive." Ino said showing some tears.
"Yeah, even I was wondering if there was a way for any of you to survive that water. Me and Ino barely got out our selves!"
"Shikamaru kept telling me it would be okay, and after I was calm he found that on one of the ambulance was a laptop."
"Why would he need that?" Neji asked as he looked over at Shikamaru.
"Well wasn't it just a little weird how Gai Sensei told us that there were three paths to choose from when we saw four?" Shikamaru asked.
"I thought about that a little, but so what?" Neji asked.
"So I used the laptop to find a map of the camp and the area around it. Apparently…"
"Apparently the path we went down wasn't an actual river but it was an actual path." Ino said cutting in.
"…what's that supposed to mean?" Neji asked confused.
"As it turns out," Shikamaru said giving Ino the evil eye while she sweat dropped. "An attraction up here is bolder pass. It's like a bunch of boulders that are laid out as a path. It goes on for miles around different places in the woods. A part of it where our boats went must have been consumed in water over the years."
"Kurenai Sensei told us that they hadn't done this canoe race as a tie breaker in years, so it all makes sense." Ino added.
"So you mean to say that before we even started this race the counselors didn't even bother to check everything out?" Neji asked.
"And I thought Shikamaru was lazy." Sasuke said. Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess you could say we could sue this place." Shikamaru said out loud. All the counselors who were listening in began to whistle and walk away from the group.
"So now what do you think about Naruto and Hinata?" Neji asked.
"I honestly don't know." Shikamaru said. "What side of the river did they go on?"
"Probably the opposite side of us." Sakura said.
"So then they'll probably make it here too, right?" Ino asked.
"Well they should since they did." Shikamaru stated.
"WAIT A MINUTE!" Sasuke yelled as he jumped off of his stretcher. "There was a fork in the water!" Everyone's eyes grew wide, including some of the counselors who heard Sasuke yell. Two of them immediately went to their cell phones to make a call.
"Shikamaru, can you go make on that laptop and find that map you were talking about earlier again?" Neji asked as he jumped off of his stretcher too.
"Yeah I can!" he said as he jumped off of his bed and ran to one of the ambulances.
"Why would you need that?" Sakura asked.
"We need to see if there is anything saying that the boulder pass divided up somewhere. If it did then they could be going in some completely opposite direction." Neji said.
"But they aren't that far off." Shikamaru said walking back with the laptop in his hand.
"Wow Shikamaru that was fast." Ino said.
"Well I never shut down the window." He said placing the laptop down on Ino and Sakura's bed right between them. "If you're telling me that there was a fork in the water and they were on the other side of you guys then their path is going to end soon." Everyone began to listen more carefully. "My guess is that while you were all walking down they must have been walking down at the same time as you were too. So if I'm right the water for them should be ending soon and they'll be greeted with nothing but some open hills. The hills were for picnics for tourists."
"Thanks Shikamaru," Sasuke said. "That last part was very informative." He said sounding sarcastic. "So what do you think they'll do?" Shikamaru began to think about it when Neji began to say something.
"You said there were hills?" he asked.
"For picnics." Sasuke said.
"So knowing Naruto he'll probably want to go to the top of one to see where he is." Neji said knowing that that was probably exactly what Naruto would do.
"You're right, he would probably do that." Shikamaru said stroking his chin.
"He would?" Ino asked out loud.
"So how does that help us?" Sakura asked not following at all.
"I see!" Shikamaru said with a blast of genius. "They'll be looking for us, so we need them to see us!" he said making it sound brilliant.
"……" (Sasuke)
"……" (Neji)
"……" (Ino)
"………..What now?" Sakura asked knowing they were all confused.
"If you're in a big crowd of people and the person you're looking for is on the other side how would you get their attention?" Shikamaru asked.
"I'd probably just yell." Ino said thinking about it.
"I'd get Naruto to call out to them." Sasuke said.
"I'd jump up and down a lot!" Sakura added.
"Well we have two out of three." Shikamaru said. "We need them to hear and see us."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Sasuke asked.
"Fireworks." Said a voice from behind all of them. They all turned around surprised to see who it was.
"Tenten!" Neji yelled as he went up to her to help her from the counselor who was helping her along. He brought her over to the bed he was using and placed her on it. "Tenten, are you alright? From here you look pale. Why aren't you resting in the ambulance?"
"Neji calm down." Sakura said. "You might give her a heart attack with your questions."
"…Sorry Neji." Tenten said laughing weakly. "I feel fine; they just gave me some bandages is all. I forget what they said happened to cause my fainting but it had to do with like heat…or lack of….I don't remember." Neji then looked down and noticed she was wearing sweatpants along with the same sweatshirt. "Don't worry they gave me a warmer shirt to wear under this, plus this blanket."
"How did you know I was thinking about that?" Neji asked confused. Tenten only shrugged her shoulders.
"Tenten," Sasuke said trying to get things going again. "You said something about fireworks?"
"Yeah, on the ambulance. It was either that or just flares you know?"
"Sasuke!" Neji said alert.
"Already on it!" he said as he ran to tell the counselors about the firework idea.
"This is good." Shikamaru said. "Now Naruto and Hinata will be able to find their way right to where we are.
"Yeah, it sounds like our best option." Neji said as he then began to turn back to Tenten.
"Shikamaru, come over here and explain this for them." Sasuke yelled from where he and a bunch of counselors, including one was also talking on his cell phone, were standing hearing out Sasuke's idea. Shikamaru then hurried himself over to them.
"I'm so glad that we're going to find Naruto and Hinata." Sakura said looking down at her feet happily. "Soon all of this will just be another summer memory." She then waited for Ino's response, but she got none. When she looked over at Ino she saw her head was down and tears were flowing down her face. "Ino, are you okay?" Sakura asked in a hushed voice. Ino then began to sniffle.
"…Sakura…did you see Naruto or Hinata when you fell out of your boat?" she asked not looking up at all.
"Well no, but…."
"Sakura…." She whispered. "What if they never made it out of the water?" Sakura's face then turned grim. Her entire body froze as she thought of the possibility of Naruto and Hinata being….
"NO!" Sakura said shaking her head hard as tears flew out of her eyes. "They're okay and alive. You'll See! Hinata's alive!" she said trying to drown out everything Ino had just said. "They're both fine!" she said with a crack in her voice. "They're….theY'Re…" Sakura then began to cry hard into her hands at realizing that they might not be fine at all. She started to wonder if this firework thing would just be a waste of time and if they were in danger.
"Sakura…Ino." Tenten said now standing in front of them with Neji right behind her. "They'll both be fine. I can feel that Hinata is okay." She said trying to get them to feel better. "You just need to have a positive attitude for these things. They'll be fine!" she smiled. Sakura began to rub her eyes.
"You're right." She said showing a strong face. "They are fine, and they'll be here soon. Right Ino?" she asked looking over at her friend who just stayed facing her feet.
"You're right, they'll be fine." She said as she looked up showing a smile. "They're both strong swimmers right? I'm sure they got out of the water."
'Not unless a boulder knocked them out first.' Thought one of the counselors who had just walked by them hearing their conversation.
"Neji!" yelled Shikamaru as he and Sasuke ran over to them. "We need your help with the flares!"
"They said that we could help them set up each flare and that we should do it over there where there are few trees." Sasuke said.
"We need you to go with a counselor to help them out." Shikamaru said.
"Right." He nodded. Before they all left Neji helped Tenten sit on the same stretcher as Ino and Sakura, then all three guys went over to an ambulance where the counselors had already got out the flares.
"Do we shoot them all at once?" a male counselor asked.
"Asuma says it's a good idea." Said another male counselor who was on his cell phone.
"Can I make a suggestion?" Shikamaru asked lazily.
"What is it?" the man with the cell phone asked.
"Shouldn't we just shoot them off one at a time?" they all looked at each other to see if it was a good idea.
"Asuma, did you hear that?" the counselor asked.
"Who's talking?" Asuma asked over the phone. "Is it Shikamaru, Kotetsu? Kakashi says you should do as he says."
"We should listen to this, kid?" Kotetsu asked wondering if Asuma was off his rocker.
"Kakashi says trust him." Asuma said.
"Fine." Kotetsu said looking over at the other counselor who was unloading the flares. "Do as this kid says Izumo." The man now known as Izumo nodded and then looked over at Shikamaru for instructions.
"First of all how loud do you think these flares are?" he asked.
"They'll make a decent boom, but if your friends are far off then we should probably use two to make a bigger boom." Izumo said.
"That sounds like a good idea." Shikamaru said. "Will send off two first then will send two more right after."
"That'll leave us with just three more." Izumo pointed out.
"Perfect, then after we send those four up we'll send the rest up one at a time. This way the light of the flare will light up the sky and they'll be able to see the stream of the smoke seeing the way they came from."
"If Naruto is smart enough." Sasuke commented.
"He's with Hinata." Neji pointed out.
"Oh. Then he'll definitely make it back." Sasuke said disappointed.
"Just make sure when you send up each pair of flares you aim them in the same direction, and after the first four go we'll have to wait for the smoke to clear." Shikamaru said ignoring Sasuke and Neji.
"Let's just do this already." Kotetsu said picking up the flares.
"Hey, look at this." Izumo said taking special interest in the flares. "It reads they do have a sparkler effect."
"So what does that mean?" Sasuke asked.
"They'll go off like real fireworks." Shikamaru said simply.
All of them went to a small clearing where it would be easy to shoot off the flares when Izumo realized something else about one of the flares. "This one's orange!" he said. Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru's eyes all grew wide.
"Then this will be too easy." Sasuke commented.
Hinata was getting pretty cold even though she was wearing her sweatshirt; however, her entire face was warm since Naruto had his arm around her shoulder which made her blush. Naruto still used his walking stick but lately he had just been carrying it instead of actually using it. The entire setting was intoxicating to Hinata but she was about to ask a question that would surely ruin the moment they were quietly having.
"Naruto," she began.
"Oh, I didn't know you were still here!" Naruto said teasingly. "This entire walk I was having and I thought I was alone since I had no one to talk to."
"Sorry, but I was enjoying it!" she told him. She then felt Naruto's spirit go down after she had said that. "OH, but I mean I was enjoying just a silent walk with you and your arm around me. It's pretty romantic." She said blushing hard.
"Oh! Well I sort of had that planned." He said teasingly as his smile grew happy with delight. Hinata was about to continue to say what she originally was going to say earlier when she suddenly realized something.
"Naruto! I think…I think the water is gone." She said stopping to look over to where the river was. They couldn't really see anything since it was so dark so they both walked closer to it. When they checked out the situation it seamed that the mighty river that had destroyed them had some how turned itself into a tiny bit of water flowing in and around huge boulders.
"Look at this." Naruto said. "The river of water turned into a river of…boulders?"
"Oh my God!" Hinata said letting out a few tears in her eyes. "We must have taken the wrong way in the fork. We did didn't we?" she said dropping the blankets and other sweatshirts in her hands. Naruto stared at the path of boulders in disgust. He knew this was his entire fault somehow. He chose to follow this side of the river, and he didn't even try to find another way that might have been better.
"Hinata….we might have picked the wrong way, but this just means that now we have find someone to help us instead of going to the finish line. I'm sure if we just keep going this way we'll find someone up ahead." He said with sternness in his voice. "I'm sorry about all of this Hinata, but now we're going to have to hurry it up too." Naruto took a few steps away from the path of boulders and stopped walking to wait for Hinata. She stared at his back and never had she felt so small. Before she met Naruto she would have probably tried to recommend another way to go or another plan, but something about him, him, made her want to follow him to the ends of the earth. And so she stood up without any complaints or any tears. She walked up to his right and waited for him to walk again so she could follow. They walked the same path in the woods they were using before and followed still along where the river should have been.
They only walked in silence, and Hinata refused to say a word with out consenting Naruto first.
'I really don't know what all these emotions are.' She thought. 'For some reason I feel proud of Naruto, and I feel like I want to show him off to the world!' she thought as she grew a little more giddy. 'He's so strong, and he really is amazing. I feel like I could tell him all of my secrets and know they were safe with him. It's so strange how people say love at first sight, and I always thought that would be amazing to have, but now I think I actually have that! And I know absolutely nothing about him!'
"Hey Naruto," Hinata began.
"Are you cold? Do you want me to my arm around you again?" Naruto asked but secretly hoped.
"Oh no I'm fine but, well….we're probably going to be here a while so….so you wanna talk?" she asked as she looked up at him. Naruto looked down into her eyes, and they sparkled in the moon light. He smiled and felt like if she had asked him anything at that moment he would have said yes in a heartbeat.
"Sure, what about?" he asked thinking of a bunch of topics he knew how to discuss very well.
"Well I know you know I have a cousin and a sister so what about your family? What's your family like?" she asked growing excited to know about Naruto's family. She wanted to know about the father that turned Naruto into a strapping young man, and his mother who made him such a fine gentleman. She also wondered if he had a younger sibling that he always got annoyed with just like her, or if he had an older brother he had always looked up to. Were his grandparents originally from Konoha or did they migrate from some other village? Was he even born in Konoha? That would be her next question, or he might just tell her. Did he have a dog named Pongo, or was he a cat person? What kind of house did he and his family have? Were the wealthy at all? They had to have been if Naruto was going to Konoha North for boys, unless he was really smart and got a scholarship there. Were his parents the kind of parents who were super proud of their son for doing so well in school, or did they boast about having a very athletic son? What kinds of jobs did his family have? Was his mother a stay at home mom or did she like to work too? Now the biggest question for Hinata was why wasn't Naruto answering her right away?
"Uh…Naruto?"
"I don't have a family." He said not even looking at her. "I've always been an orphan on my own." Hinata was absolutely shocked. She had no idea what to say to him. She didn't want to show him any pity because that might make him feel bad. "It's okay though, I don't live on the streets anymore I live in my own apartment." He said trying to pick up his mood.
"You mean, you lived on the streets?" Hinata asked worriedly.
'Shit, shouldn't have said anything. I can't believe she asked me about my family. I wanted to lie to her, and say that I had a nice family in a big house and that I'm worth her time. Now she'll never look at me the same. She'll….she'll probably never want to be near me anymore. Let's face she's like the princess of Konoha and I'm so poor that I'm even more pathetic then a beggar.'
"…Yeah, well it wasn't so bad." He said trying to make one of his huge grins. "I'm doing fine now, that stuff is all in my past and I never look back." He said trying to make it sound like no big deal.
"You never look back?" Hinata asked.
"I don't like to look back at the horrible things in my life. But I'm sure that's not just me, other people must feel that way too." He said.
"…..That's terrible Naruto." Hinata said. Naruto thought she meant it was terrible that his life was so bad, but he was surprised to hear what her real reason was. "I think it's terrible that you don't like to look back, even on those bad moments because what can't hurt you makes you stronger. My childhood wasn't as bad as yours must have been but Naruto you should know; I used to be the shiest person on the face of the planet." Naruto's eyebrows rose up in curiosity. "My father never told me he loved me, only that I was weak. I'm not weak anymore Naruto." She said proudly as she looked up at him. "But I'll always look back on those moments so I can see how far I've come, and how much I've changed." She told him. "I know your past could be full of bad things you want to forget, but think of all the good things you have now that you didn't have then."
Naruto looked ahead of himself to think of what he had now and what he didn't have then.
'A house for starters, and a well paying job. Well….a paying job. And it really isn't a house I guess, it's still that old apartment. It did have some renovations provided by the Uchihas just last year. Man that was a cool Christmas gift. I'm finally going to be able to get my friends gifts for Christmas this year, hell I'll probably even get them some birthday gifts too. Hey I guess that's another thing I didn't have back then. I didn't have great friends when I was little. I don't think I could have asked for better friends. Also…' Naruto was letting a small blush escape from him along with a small smile he couldn't contain. 'I guess a really great thing I now have is…well….Hinata. I didn't have her then and I sort of have her now.'
"See you're smiling!" Hinata said happily. "Something you have now was better then what you had back then."
"I guess you're right." He said looking down at her. "Hinata…you…" Nartuo then stopped his sentence when he noticed he and Hinata were walking on a hill. "Since when have we been walking on this hill?" Naruto asked looking around. Hinata stopped and noticed that they had left the woods and were climbing up a hill.
"Hey this is sort of good." Hinata said. "If we get to the top we can look for signs of people." She said.
"Great! Then we'll be out of this place." Naruto said as he ran to the top of the hill with Hinata trying to keep up right behind him. Once Hinata had reached him she began to breath heavy.
"Man Naruto, you run so fast. Next time warn me before you start running like that." She said still trying to catch her breath.
"Hinata, look." Naruto whispered. Hinata looked up at Naruto.
"What?" she asked. He pointed forward and she looked in front of them. The instant she saw what he wanted her to see she dropped the things she was holding. "The sky, it's so amazing." She said.
"I always thought the night sky was black, but this sky is like….purple." Naruto said.
"Juts like my picture." Hinata whispered to herself. "The stars, and the moon. Naruto this is almost perfect." She said turning to him. "It's just missing something." She said as she looked into his moonlit face. He stared into her moonlit eyes as she grabbed his left hand with her right.
"Fireworks?" he asked.
"Yeah." She whispered.
Naruto got closer to her as he took her other hand and just swung them a little. Hinata then leaned against his chest when she felt how wet his sweatshirt was.
"Naruto, you're still wet?" she laughed. "Now I'm wet." She said as she touched her own sweatshirt.
"You don't like that? Fine!" he laughed as he ripped off his sweatshirt. "Just give me a new one then." He asked putting his hand out. He knew she was probably to busy staring at his chest then actually listening to him, which is the reaction he was hoping to get.
"No." she said simply.
"…No?" he asked tilting his head.
"Not until I see fireworks." She said as she got close to him again.
Hinata got on her toes and kissed Naruto with all of the passion that had been building up in her ever since she first saw him. At first he was surprised at her actions but then he closed his eyes and went along with her. If the stars were people, they'd be cheering. If the moon had a face, it would be hooting. If their friends were there they all would have thought the same thing. "s'bout time."
But in the silence of the night, after a day they would never forget, Naruto and Hinata had their first kiss.
Hinata had her arms now wrapped up behind Naruto's head to deepen the kiss, and he had his arms around her waste pulling her as close as possible to him. Their kiss was getting harder and growing more passionate by the second. They both wanted some air but neither of them wanted to end their first kiss. It would be their last first kiss ever, and there was no way a little oxygen was going to get them to stop it right away.
After a while longer Hinata was the one to break the kiss, and she went back down to the souls of her feet trying to get air back into her lungs. She put her head happily against Naruto's chest as she smiled wide at her boldness. Naruto was left extremely happy as he rested his head on top of hers. His heart was racing and he could hear the angels cheering him on. If he could only scream it to her and the world he would at that moment yell that he loved Hinata, but instead he just let her know by the hug he continued to give her. It wasn't just a 'hold you close' hug, and it wasn't just a 'I love you hug' it was a 'Thank you hug'.
"Thank you." Hinata said which startled Naruto from his happy thoughts.
"For what?" he asked confused. He should have been the one thanking her.
"For the fireworks. I swear they were everywhere." She said as she looked up at him. To her surprise Naruto looked mad.
"Why didn't you let me come down to you?" he asked as he showed a teasing smile.
"You were taking too long." She teased.
"Then let me come to you now." He said as he held her down and came down to her face. Hinata did and waited for him to come down to kiss her, and he hit his target which he thought he would never get to do. He locked her in a passionate kiss even better then the first one. As soon as their lips touched red fireworks exploded in the background. They stopped kissing automatically and looked over at the sky.
"Hinata, I can see the fireworks now too." He said.
"But those are real!" she said. "I mean you see them too right? It's not just me this time."
"Fireworks mean people, PEOPLE MEAN HELP!" Naruto shouted excited.
"Look there go some more!!" Hinata cheered as two more red fireworks were shot.
"Now if we just wait for the next ones we can follow them." Naruto said.
So they waited for more to come but they never did.
"Do you think that was it…"
"No, they wouldn't have just shot up a few. I'm sure there's more." Naruto said trying to encourage her. As if on cue one more firework was shot up in the sky. "Look Hinata, we can find whose shooting the fireworks by following the trail of smoke it leaves behind." Naruto said as the sky grew darker again.
"Woe, I never would have thought of that." Hinata admitted as she picked the blankets and sweatshirts. "Let's hurry up then!" she said getting excited to find help.
"Alright that last one came from that direction." Naruto said pointing Southeast. "Hopefully they send another one….there it is!" Naruto yelled as they both ran down the hill.
"Naruto, who ever shot those off weren't very far off." Hinata said as she ran behind him.
"Good, then we'll have to hurry. I just hope they have a cell phone so we can call the camp."
"You know the camp's number?" Hinata asked.
"Oh…..I guess that would help huh?" Naruto laughed. Hinata sweat dropped. "Don't worry; let's just focus on finding these people first." He said still running.
"Naruto, did you realize that all of the fireworks were red?" Hinata asked. "What if they're not fireworks and they're flares?" she asked growing happy.
"You think the counselors are doing it?" Naruto asked.
"Well I hope it's them, I'm just saying they look like flares." Hinata yelled. "Flares are normally red."
"HEY! Check it out." Naruto yelled as he pointed to a firework that was practically above his head. "That one is….orange? ORANGE!!" Naruto yelled like a mad man.
"You okay Naruto?" Hinata asked a little worried.
"It's just my favorite color!" Naruto yelled as he picked up his speed. "Don't loose its trail before the light goes out!"
"No…problem….It's so close to us!" Hinata yelled with excitement.
"We're definitely going to find help now." Naruto said knowing in the pit of his stomach that they were going to be alright.
"And it's all thanks….to you!" Hinata huffed as she continued to run.
"Me?" Naruto asked wondering why she would give him all the credit. Soon they ran back into more woods and were back on flatter land.
"Naruto without you I would have been a broken wreck, but you took care of everything! If we weren't running, I would totally kiss you!" she laughed. Naruto then slowed down his pace causing Hinata to run past him, but she didn't get very far since he grabbed her arm causing her to drop all the things she was carrying, and he pulled her into a deep lip lock. Right as they broke Hinata could only think of one thing to say.
"Wow." She said standing stunned.
"You said if you weren't running you give me a kiss." Naruto pointed out as he grabbed all of her stuff.
"Yeah….but it was so unexpected!"
"Now you know how I felt." He said shoving the stuff back into her arms minus one sweatshirt that was for him. When he did he planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Come on." She laughed as she ran in the direction they were heading. He ran right behind her putting on his new sweatshirt and soon enough they began to hear some voices that they knew they would treasure forever.
"What the hell do you mean it's my fault that you fell on your ass because you tripped over my chip bag Hyuuga?" They heard Sasuke yell.
"SASUKE!!!!" Hinata and Naruto yelled as the emerged from a bunch of trees.
Was it worth the wait? I hope you liked it and this truely was my inspirtaion, Hinata and Naruto kissing on a hill with fireworks. You know months ago when i thought of that i thought that would be chapter four or something. PAH! I was such a fool back then. You know this was my longest chapter YET! And i wanted to celebrate that my last chapter was my chapter 20!!! WOOOOHOOO!Get ready for the next chappy!
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