Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Thanks for all of the positive feedback everybody who reviewed!

Chapter Fourteen: Owner of a Lonely Heart

Sakura used the majority of her chakra for healing Hinata. Sasuke stood by her the whole time, saying nothing, with his usual stoic face.

Naruto, for once, was quiet. His expression was thoughtful, yet brooding. Sai sat against a tree, drawing on his pad of paper.

Hinata didn't flinch while Sakura was healing her. The pain must have been great, but she took and accepted it with the dignity that came with being an heiress and a Hyuuga. Her violet-gray eyes kept straying to a certain blond ninja with cerulean eyes. She looked like she wanted to say something, so after she was done healing her Sakura let them have privacy.

Sasuke followed her, unbidden. When they were far enough away not to be heard, Sasuke stopped.

"Sakura."

Sakura stopped too, and turned around. She felt like something bad was going to happen. The feeling of dread quickly spread when she heard Sasuke's next words.

"I don't love you."

Sakura frowned. "I know. I told you that I would wait until-"

Sasuke's voice was cold and harsh. "No, you aren't hearing me. I don't love you. Nor will I ever."

Sakura flinched. "What…what are saying?"

"I'm saying that you're annoying. You nearly compromised the fight between me and Orochimaru, and then Hinata and Kabuto."

Sakura frowned. "But I defeated-"

"Sakura. Just keep quiet for five seconds. Are you capable of that?"

Sakura bit her lip, but said nothing, and nodded.

"Good. Now, as I was saying, stop chasing after me with your childhood fantasy of us loving each other. This is the real world, and it's never going to happen."

It seemed as if the light went out in Sakura's emerald-green eyes. But then another light lit in her eyes, this one much more dangerous. "Sasuke…you're lying."

"What?"

Sakura stood her ground. Tears shimmered in her eyes, but she didn't care anymore. It was high time he heard this.

"Sasuke, get off your high-horse! Stop trying to ruin every good thing that's ever happened to you! You say that you don't like being alone, yet you make yourself alone." Sakura stopped yelling and, quietly fuming, said, "I said that I would love you no matter what, and that I'd save you. Well," Sakura said, poking him, "I've got news for you. Nothing you say or do can ever make me hate you, Sasuke. I would've thought that a genius such as you would know that."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Sakura, why won't you accept that I won't ever love you?"

Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "Because I've spent the last seven years of my life wanting your love. I've grown accustomed to the fact that you'll never love me back. I've prepared for it, and I've accepted that no matter what I'll always love you. It's enough that you care enough about me to stand up for me and save me. I know you don't want to see me hurt, so that's a start."

Sasuke sighed. "Sakura, you are a pain in my ass."

Sakura grinned. "I know."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I know."

"Than why did you take it as such?"

"Because you wouldn't try to hurt me on purpose. If I distinctly remember, you said that you care about me after you very passionately and thoroughly kissed me." Sakura raised an eyebrow. She was no timid or shy girl anymore. "What have you to say to that?"

Sasuke growled as he grabbed her arms and lowered his lips to hers in a rough, though very passionate, kiss. Sakura enjoyed every minute of it. She eagerly opened her mouth to his exploring tongue and ran her fingers through his dark, soft hair. Sasuke's hand went to the back of her neck as he deepened the kiss even more. Sakura moaned as pleasure coursed through her entire body.

Sasuke broke the kiss and started kissing his way down her neck.

"Hey, knock it off you two! We should get going!"

Naruto's voice broke the moment between Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke swore, calling Naruto a very foul name, and Sakura groaned.

Sasuke rested his forehead against Sakura's as they tried to control their ragged breathing. After a few moments, Sakura asked, "Sasuke, why do you try so hard to push me away?"

Sasuke winced. It took him a few moments to answer. "Sakura…I'm afraid that I'll hurt you."

Sakura gently explored his face with her soft touch. "Sasuke…don't you understand that you'll hurt me worse if you push me away than you ever could if you let me in?"

"Hn. Either way, you'll get hurt."

"You don't know that. I'm willing to take that risk."

"What if I'm not willing to gamble-"

"Sasuke, I'd rather experience Mangekyou Sharingan a thousand times than have my heart broken again. Physical pain is fleeting; emotional pain lasts forever."

At the mention of the Mangekyou Sharingan, Sasuke scowled. "I'll kill him for what he did to you."

Sakura smiled gently. "You were already going to kill him."

"Hai. But now I'm going to make it slow and as painful as possible. He's going to wish he'd never been born when I'm through with him." Sasuke had grown colder and colder. Sakura shuddered despite the heat of the day and the warmth radiating from Sasuke. She was sorry that she mentioned the Mangekyou Sharingan now. She put a finger to Sasuke's lips to silence him.

"Sasuke, sometimes you talk too much." Before he could retort, Sakura raised herself to her tiptoes and touched her lips to his, softly at first, and then applied more pressure. This time, it was Sakura who dominated the kiss. She explored his mouth, and tasted him.

Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. Sasuke moaned, and Sakura saw stars when Sasuke's hands started roaming. Sasuke's hand went under Sakura's shirt to touch her stomach. Her muscles contracted at the touch, and goosebumps arose on her skin. His callused fingers began tracing patters on her back. Suddenly Sakura wanted to touch Sasuke as well. Her hands touched his chest, which was still bare because of the loose shirt he wore. She could feel Sasuke jerk at the contact with his flesh.

Sasuke broke the kiss when he felt Sakura touching him, before things would go too far. They were both breathing hard, and Sakura was shaking.

"Sasuke, that was-"

"Shh. Just enjoy the moment."

Sakura nodded against his forehead. After she regained her footing, and would be able to walk without her knees giving out on her, she stepped out of Sasuke's warm embrace.

"We've got to get back."

Sasuke nodded. They walked back to the others, who were pretending to be oblivious to everything they had just witnessed. Sakura's cheeks were bright pink, but they didn't know if it was from embarrassment or from…something else.

"Hinata, how are you feeling?" Sakura asked, the medic taking over.

"F-fine. Thank you for healing me, Sakura." Hinata looked down at the ground, shuffling the dirt with her feet.

Sakura smiled. "You're welcome, Hinata. I'm just glad that you weren't hurt. I'm pretty sure everyone else was too, right Naruto?" she asked slyly.

Naruto smiled brightly. "Yep!" He walked up and put his arm around Hinata. "Don't know what I'd do without her!"

Hinata blushed like crazy, and felt very faint with Naruto so near her. Naruto seemed oblivious to it all, though, and just hugged her closer. To which Hinata fainted. Naruto didn't notice anything was wrong until he was holding thin air.

"What the- Hinata? Hinata!" He knelt down and gently shook her, yelling her name.

Sakura shook her head. "Naruto, you idiot!"

Naruto looked confused. "I didn't do anything!"

Sasuke shook his head. "Naruto, you idiot."

"But I didn't do anything!"

Naruto looked to Sai for help, but Sai shook his head. "Don't look at me. I've only been dealing with feelings for a couple of weeks. Just smile!"

Naruto glared at him, but his attention focused on Hinata, who was stirring. She slowly opened her eyes, only to see Naruto inches away from her face. She gasped and sat up quickly, knocking their heads together.

Naruto attempted to pull away, but was yanked back by a tug on his neck. He promptly landed square on Hinata, who was so red she looked like a tomato.

"Ow! Sorry, Hinata!"

Hinata could not even summon up enough words for an "okay." Instead, she about near fainted again with Naruto on top of her.

Sakura grinned. "Well, we should get going, guys!" With that, she motioned for Sasuke and Sai to follow her as she quickly took off down the road. They quickly did just that, Sai waving to Naruto with a silly grin on his face.

Naruto had a look of horror. "Hey, wait guys! Damn!" Naruto attempted to get up again, but was yanked onto Hinata again.

"Oof!"

"Sorry Hinata!" Naruto looked down to see the source of the problem. The necklace that Tsunade had given him had gotten caught in the mesh in Hinata's shirt.

Naruto grinned to cover his embarrassment. "What are the chances of that?"

Hinata gulped. Naruto's face was so close to hers. She felt faint again, but forced herself to stay conscious. It wouldn't do for her to faint twice in front of Naruto.

Hinata reached out to try and help untangle the necklace, but Naruto went for it at the same time. They ended up grasping each other's hands. Hinata turned even redder.

Naruto looked at her and frowned. "Hinata, are you okay? You look like you might have a fever." Naruto used his other hand to touch Hinata's forehead.

Hinata swallowed the lump in her incredibly dry throat. "N-Naruto…"

Hinata quickly let go of his hand and avoided his gaze.

"Hinata…"

Hinata's violet-grey eyes roved everywhere until they rested on Naruto's sky blue ones. He had a very serious look on his face as he leaned closer to Hinata.

Hinata closed her eyes. Is he…is Naruto going to…kiss me? She waited for Naruto's lips to descend upon hers, but the only thing she felt was a feather-light touch on her cheek. Her eyelids lifted slowly, and then blinked rapidly when she saw Naruto grinning. Hinata frowned.

"Naruto-"

Naruto grinned even wider and held up a finger. "Got it!"

"Got what?" Hinata whispered.

"An eyelash!"

"W-what?"

"You had an eyelash on your cheek. A very long and pretty one, I might add. I thought I'd get it for you!" Naruto looked so proud of himself that Hinata didn't have the heart to be disappointed in him. He was her Naruto, after all.

Hinata managed a smile. "Th-thank you, Naruto."

Naruto stopped smiling when he heard the tone of her voice. "Are you sure you're not sick, Hinata?" he asked, his face full of a gentle concern.

Hinata gave a small shake of her head. "No, I'm fine."

Naruto seemed to believe her. He went to work on his tangled necklace and actually managed to get it undone without harming anyone or anything. He was rather proud of himself as he stood up. He offered a hand to Hinata, and she shyly took it and thanked him as he helped her up.

The sun was setting as they stood there in silence for a few moments. Naruto had a serious expression on his face as he stood gazing at the sunset.

Hinata thought that he would rather be alone and turned to leave, but was stopped by Naruto.

"Hinata?"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Do you believe in fate?"

Hinata thought for a moment. "I believe that you make your own destiny."

Naruto gave a small smile. "So do I."

After a few more moments of silence, Hinata turned to leave again, but was once again stopped by Naruto.

"Hinata, do you believe in love?"

"Of course. It is what drives us to do the things we do."

"Do you think it's possible to have loved someone without knowing it?"

Hinata's cheeks turned pink. "I…I don't know."

Naruto turned his gaze to her. She had to look up at him, as he had grown significantly taller than her over the last two and a half years.

"Why don't you know?" Naruto asked softly.

Hinata's cheeks turned an even darker shade of red. "B-because…"

"Because why?"

Hinata's grey orbs looked into his ocean-blue ones. "Because, I've known that I've love a special person for a long time now."

"When did you realize that you loved them?"

Hinata didn't know why Naruto asked these questions, especially to her, or why it had suddenly grown so hot.

She swallowed nervously. "I don't know, really. It just kind of…happened. I realized that I cared for…them…and it just grew into love."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding. He looked pensive.

"Naruto?"

"Do you believe in love?"

Naruto looked away, towards the darkening sky. "I thought I loved Sakura, but now I'm not so sure. I mean, I care about her, but more in a sisterly fashion than in the…girlfriend…fashion."

Hinata stood a little straighter. "Oh?"

"Do you believe that you could love someone without knowing it?" Hinata asked quietly, hope giving her a bold side that surfaced only rarely.

"Yes."

"How do you know?" Hinata asked breathlessly. She didn't realize how close they'd moved until now.

"You're proof of it."

Hinata's stomach dropped, and she couldn't summon enough moisture to swallow. She felt dizzy, and felt like she was going to faint.

"What-what are you saying?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well…I've got to know for awhile now. I realized during those two and a half years how much I missed my home…and the people in it."

Hinata nodded eagerly, silently asking him to continue.

"I…thought about everyone who meant something to me…everyone."

Naruto took Hinata's hand in his own. He rubbed his thumb gently over Hinata's delicate fingers. "It wasn't until I saw you get hurt that I realized how much you mean to me."

Hinata could not have gotten any redder than at that moment. Naruto grinned.

"You know, you're really cute when you blush like that."

Apparently it was possible for her to get redder. Before Hinata could faint, Naruto quickly asked, "Hinata…is there any possible chance that you could care for me as much as I care for you?"

"Naruto…" Hinata swallowed and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "I've…l-lo-" Hinata's breathing was short and uneven. Naruto squeezed her hand, urging her to go on.

Hinata closed her eyes and breathed in. This time her voice and breathing was clear. "I love you, Naruto."

Naruto bent his head down and gently kissed Hinata. She was so surprised that she didn't even close her eyes. The kiss was over before it had barely begun, but Naruto wasn't finished speaking.

"Hinata…there's something you should know."

Hinata's heart raced even faster. That didn't sound good…

"You'd better sit down." Naruto led her over to a tree and they both sat down.

Hinata had been scared before, but the possibility of Naruto rejecting her…she didn't know if she could survive a blow like that.

"Before we start a relationship, there's something you should know about me." Naruto grasped Hinata's hand, needing the her warmth and support.

"Naruto, if you don't want to tell me-"

"No, you need to hear this before you decide that you really love me."

Hinata nodded, and squeezed Naruto's hand, letting him know without words that there was nothing that could make her not love him.

"Do you remember how the Fourth Hokage died? He sealed the fox-demon Kyuubi inside a baby, and in doing so sacrificed his own life."

Hinata nodded, having heard the tale before. "Well, what you don't know is who that baby was."

Hinata looked curious, yet eager to learn more information on the subject. She always wondered what had happened to the child.

"That baby was me. I have the Kyuubi inside of me."

Hinata looked shocked, and released Naruto's hand. Naruto's shoulders were slumped, and his head was down.

It took a few moments for Hinata to get over the shock, but she quickly got over her stupor. She leaned forward and gently lifted Naruto's head with a finger.

"Naruto…everything you said just makes me love you even more."

Naruto looked incredulous. "How?"

"Everything makes sense now. It must have been so hard on you, with the village shunning you. Your heart must have been so…lonely. But you didn't turn cold, and hard. Instead you found a way to cope with it, and it made me admire you for being so brave because I could never be as brave as you are. Now that I know why they shunned you, I admire you even more because survived something like that. Not only that, you-" Hinata was silenced by Naruto's mouth on hers.

Hinata's eyes widened, and then closed. Naruto gently deepened the kiss, but was careful to move slowly so as not to scare Hinata.

For once, Naruto was grateful to Ero-Sannin for all those lessons of his.

They sat there until it grew dark and cold, learning new things about each other and talking, though the better part of it was spent in nonverbal communication of the most pleasurable kind.

Let's just say it was a very long time until Naruto and Hinata caught up to Sasuke, Sakura, and Sai.

Well, that was my first attempt at kissing scenes (other than chapter nine). I've never written one before so I hope it wasn't disappointing.

Okay, this chapter was mostly fluff, for those who have been asking for it. I realize that the characters were OOC a lot in this chapter, but they kind of have to be in order to participate in…teenage…activities.

Please review and let me know if I did a good job or not! And thank you for all of the reviews so far…they keep me going!

PS. I gave you guys this chapter early, so thank me by reviewing!