Chapter 5- "The Change Of Heart"
Naruto had been discharged and he began to heal the rest of the wounds himself, he was given medicine for his infection but he was still weak. Hinata hugged him tightly as he looked at Neji, his blue eyes looked up as he glared. Neji walked up to him and the three of them walked out. Hinata looked closely at Naruto as he smiled weakly, something was still bothering him.
"Naruto, are you okay?" she replied softly. "I promise Neji won't do that again, it's just that he is in a bad situation too."
"Well, takin' it out on you and me doesn't solve anything." Naruto still had anger in his emotions but he decided to cool down and move on. "Just stay out of my way, Neji..."
"Fine. It's still your fault though..." Naruto growled lightly but let his anger go as they continued down the path they went on. "I don't understand why we had to wait until morning, Naruto could heal himself...It's like he was just not thinking."
Hinata wanted to scream as she stood close to Naruto. "Neji, just let it go. Those wounds were harder for Naruto to heal, can't we just forget about it?"
"When I feel like it, Hinata..."
"..." Hinata didn't reply and decided that ignoring her cousin was the best thing to do. Naruto was still sad and she wanted him to be happy not sad.
They continued walking, the sun began to peak out of the clouds and the rain had stopped. Hinata was happy the rain was gone, they had been seeing it off and on for days and it made days boring for Naruto and her when they wanted to go outside. Naruto put his arm around Hinata as she blushed, Neji was getting sick of the two of them hugging, kissing, and cuddling with each other.
Hinata pulled something out of her bag as Naruto eyed it, he knew what it was. He grabbed it instantly and examined it, it was the flower pressing art that Hinata had finished. He was amazed at how much time it must of took to put the flowers in a twisting angle and add other effects to it. Naruto smiled at her and safely put it in his bag as he walked on, he turned back to her.
"Oh, Hinata...It's wonderful, I gotta get this framed so I can put this up on my wall at home." Naruto smiled as Hinata blushed, she seemed doubtful of her work. "It'll make me think of you when I see it..."
Hinata heart almost came out of her chest. "N-Naruto, it didn't come out the way I wanted...I wanted it to be better..."
"Aw Hinata, it's wonderful. I think anyone would feel that it's really good." Naruto had waited a few weeks for it to be done and he didn't care how it came out, he wanted something so he could remember Hinata. "Don't doubt yourself, you did fine..."
"Really? Thanks Naruto..." They shared a long kiss as Neji watched in disgust, he was so sick of the public affection that it seemed he was jealous and had feelings toward his cousin. They finished and hugged each other, Naruto still couldn't believe that this was the girl that saw right through him.
"Can we please move on? The two of you need to keep your public affection down and we need to get back to the site. I need to take Hinata home." Neji was getting impatient and Naruto was about ready to attack him but kept the thought out of his head. "Hinata, your father is worried..."
"I know..." Hinata replied, she wanted to stay in the forest with Naruto and not return home. "Well, Naruto we have to go home. We can't stay here forever..."
Naruto nodded his head. "I bet Kakashi-Sensei is worried sick and a lot of other people." He began laughing as Hinata joined in with him. "I'm gettin' homesick too, I miss my ramen!"
"So, how do we get out, Neji?" Neji looked blankly at Hinata, this seemed like bad news. "You do know how to get out, right? Naruto and I can't..."
Neji remained quiet as the wind blew quietly, they were all lost. Hinata thought Neji knew how to since he came the way he came but he forgot which path lead to what. They began walking as they tried to find a way out, the hospital was located almost in the middle of nowhere but it was near a town. Naruto realized that they couldn't cross the water, it was too rough and had too many currents. They were stuck, Hinata wanted to blame herself again.
Naruto made sure she didn't do that and she felt better. Neji quickly scanned the area again as Hinata and Naruto followed close behind him. He stopped at something and Naruto saw a pathway to cross the water but it would take more than one person to get over. Neji knew how to get out from there if they could reach it. A waterfall was a few miles down, the tension rose.
Naruto scratched his head. "Neji, we have to get this right. If we don't then we could end up down that waterfall, I had to make sure you knew 'bout that."
"I knew that, Naruto. It won't be easy..."
Neji jumped onto the log as Naruto grabbed his hands and they both tried to balance and walk across. Naruto extended his hand to Hinata as she reached for it, she got on the log and began to lose her balance. The log began to shift as Hinata began to panic, Naruto eyes lit up. He quickly grabbed Hinata away from the river as she safetly returned to land. Naruto hugged Hinata.
X X X
They continued moving on until they reached the next forest. Naruto went to look for food as Hinata and Neji waited for him to come back. Hinata wanted to say something but Neji approched her first and she didn't know what to do, she looked away as Neji eyed her. Hinata knew something was bothering him just by looking at him.
"Hinata." His voice sounded soothing to Hinata, she didn't even know if that was him. "I know why you ran away, it was because of me...I acted too harshly toward you..."
Was he confessing? Hinata eyes began glowing as she watched her cousin slowly confess. "I felt like it was the best option, I-I didn't know it would get you into trouble...I..."
"Hinata, I have to tell you something. I feel like I should apologize for how I treated you." Hinata backed away, Neji kept coming closer to her. "You have to know something..."
"Neji, I don't think I can forgive you...I-I..." Neji grabbed Hinata as she looked at him, she knew where this was going. Neji felt something more than just being cousins, he was feeling something else that he had been feeling for a long time. Hinata looked away as Neji touched her softly.
Hinata back was against a tree as Neji locked lips with her, she didn't know what to do. It was true, Neji was intrested in her. He kissed her softly as Hinata followed him, Naruto was still arguing with the shop owner and wasn't paying any attention to Neji and Hinata. He was away from them.
Neji stopped as Hinata looked at him, an almost grin appeared on his face. Hinata couldn't tell if Neji was changing or something was wrong with him. She began thinking that he was changing, it was hard for her to choose what she thought but she knew if Naruto had saw Neji that he would be in rage. Hinata stared blankly at her cousin as he embraced her, Neji had a crush on her.
Naruto came back as Neji let go of Hinata. They decided that it was too hard to keep going and decided to rest where they were for the night. Naruto fell asleep first as he began to lightly snore and toss in his sleep, Hinata tried waking him up but it was no use. Naruto was knocked out. She left him alone as she realized that Neji was staying up, she tried to forget what happened and began eating. Neji couldn't. He walked over to her as Hinata stood up to meet Neji.
"Good night, Hinata..." He whispered in Hinata's ear, she froze as Neji drew her closer and he kissed her. He put out the fire and went to bed, Hinata mind seemed somewhere else and she couldn't have any thoughts. She returned to normal as Neji looked at her before he closed his eyes.
Hinata didn't know what to do, Naruto and Neji both liked her. What was going to happen now?
That's Chapter 5, Please R&R