Chapter 5 Falling

"Damn it damn it damn it" Naruto stood on one of the tallest trees in Konoha looking down at the crowds below him. "Where is she?"

When Naruto realized that the dark haired girl he was taking care of was gone he went into a panic. "Where is she" Naruto was on his feet immediately and ran over to where he had last seen her. He looked and saw the small blue flowers she had been holding so close. He bent down and picked them up. "Sakura did you see her" he walked quickly back to his boots and Sakura.

"What are you talking about Naruto?"

"There was a girl here she had long dark hair, white skin she was in a purple dress too did you see her" Naruto bent down and started putting on his shoes.

"No I only noticed you maybe she just left to go do something"

"I highly doubt that she washed ashore last night she not from around here" a small pang of guilt hit Sakura's chest 'she washed ashore, was she in a ship wreck?'

"Damn it I should have kept a better eye on her. What if someone took her?" 'She's really pretty what if someone just saw her and wanted her' Naruto clenched his fist angry at himself for letting this happen. He started pacing back and forth worried on what he should do next.

Sakura placed a hand on Naruto's arm trying to calm him down. "I really don't think she was taken she would have yelled if someone took her"

"She can't she's a mute she…..can't even call help" this really hurt Naruto. "I gotta go I need to find her fast" Naruto took off at full speed towards the stairs that lead back to the village.

'She was a mute' Sakura stood on the beach guilt flooding her conscious.

Naruto had already been looking for an hour and was growing more and more worried by the second. 'Damn it I don't even know her name and no one has seen her' Naruto jumped down from the tree and landed on the road scaring a few villagers. He started scanning the crowds of people for any sign of her. 'no…no…no…' Naruto started moving making his way through when he noticed a flash of lavender out of the corner of his eye. He turned tried to follow it from between the few gaps of people he saw the lavender color flashing. He stared pushing people out of the way but it was no use whoever the person was he could not get near her in this crowd. Naruto took an alternative approach and jumped high into the air.

He looked down in the direction he saw the lavender fabric "there she is". Hinata was running at full blast but not of her own accord someone was pulling her arm forcing her to run so quickly. "I knew it someone did take her" Naruto jumped again but this time towards a building so as to get out of the crowd. He jumped up to the roof of the building and look again for Hinata. It did not take him long to spot her again and he prepared himself for his next jump.

Hinata was out of breath she did not know how much longer she could keep running. The boy with an odd haircut was pulling on her to keep running and she was sure any minute now she would trip. But before that could happen a flash of orange landed in front of her crumbling the ground under it. 'Naruto!'

The attack had managed to separate Hinata from her captor and made him turn to face his opponent.

"Well if it isn't Naruto" Lee raised his hand and got into a fighting stance.

"Lee what the hell are you doing" Naruto also so got into a fighting stance.

"I was just taking care of that young lady do you have a problem with it"

"Yes actually I do" Naruto started to run towards Lee but did not get far before 2 arms snaked around his stomach.

"What the" Naruto glanced under his arms and looked at Hinata. She started shaking her head side to side and Naruto turned to Lee. "uhhh what did you mean by take care of her"

Lee dropped his stance and smiled

Naruto, Hinata and Lee were now sitting on the fountain that was at the center of the village munching on some ice-cream.

"So you see Sakura noticed that the girl was new around here so she asked me to take care of her so I have been showing her around"

"So it was Sakura's idea" Naruto looked down at the popsicle in his hand 'why did she say she had not seen her then'.

"Sorry that I got you worried Naruto when I saw Sakura talking to you I figure she was telling you I was taking her away."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "It's ok I guess I did overreact a bit….." naruto finshed up his ice-cream Naruto thenwhispered to Lee "Hey Lee can I talk to you a bit"

"uhh ok" Lee finished his ice-cream and Naruto nodded his head to get up.

Lee and Naruto got up from their spot on the fountain. Hinata looked up at them and started getting up to follow them. "It's alright we are just gonna get something to drink" Hinata tiled her head to the side 'why don't they want me to come along' she nodded and sat back down.

Naruto and Lee walked until Naruto knew they were distant enough for Hinata to no longer be able to hear them but were close enough to be able to keep an eye on her.

"So what did you want to talk about Naruto?"

Naruto leaned against a wall of a nearby building thinking about how he should phrase his question. "You said Sakura was the one who told you someone should take care of her when she noticed me and ….her" Naruto pointed at Hinata. "But when I asked her where she" again he pointed to Hinata "was when I noticed she was gone Sakura said she did not notice anyone with me. Are you sure she said what you said" Naruto looked at Lee and Lee could sense the seriousness in his voice.

"I don't know what to tell you Naruto Sakura said someone should take care of her and I volunteered. Maybe she interpreted your question wrong when you asked her if you were with someone. You were a bit separated from her it was hard to tell you two were together. Which is something I wanted to talk to you about too. Naruto you said you were taking care of her right?"

"Yeah Sasuke told me to take care of her this morning and show her the village"

"Naruto I will be honest" lee glanced at Hinata to see if she was still where they left her "you were not doing a very good job of watching over her"

Naruto glared at Lee. "What do you mean I was not doing a good job?"

"Naruto it was fairly easy for me to take her from you she did not even put up a fight when I told her to come with me. She seems to have a very kind and trusting heart. But that can sometimes get you into trouble. She's also a mute if she does get into trouble no one will even notice she in trouble because she can't ask for help."

Naruto continued to glare at Lee.

"I'm not saying this to insult you I'm just saying this because if you want to protect her you need to keep a better eye on her and make sure you don't forget her." Lee put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You do want to protect her right"

Naruto looked down at the ground. He knew lee was right he had already lost Hinata a few times now and then there was Lee taking her. What if it had not been Lee? 'What if I had lost her' Naruto felt really guilty about forgetting about her all day.

The sound of water falling snapped Naruto out of his daze. He and Lee turned to see what it was. Sitting where they had left Hinata now sat a girl dripping water from head to toe. "What the heck"

Naruto and Lee ran to her and saw that she was shaking but not from the cold but from fear.

Hinata had been watching Lee and Naruto talk and noticed Naruto being very serious about what they were talking about Hinata was so curious at what they were talking about that she did not noticed when some kids had climbed into the fountain and started to jump about. But one of the kids though it was a good idea to bring a bucket in and splash his friends with even more water. When he had filled his bucket with water he flung it in the direction of the nearest friend but he ended up dodging leaving Hinata exposed behind him. When they realized what they had done they ran leaving Hinata dripping wet.

'Oh no, oh no, oh no' Hinata looked down at her dress she was soaked 'I'm gonna change, I'm gonna change' tears were rolling down Hinata's eyes she was so scared she was going to change in front of so many people.

"Naruto I'm going after those kids you take care of her" Lee ran in the direction of where the kids had ran off to.

Naruto bent down in front of the crying girl. "Hey you ok?" Hinata continued sobbing quietly 'uhh I'm such and idiot of course she not ok' Naruto really did not know what to do and a crowd was forming around them 'well I guess I should get her out of here'. Naruto grabbed Hinata and picked her up bridle style. Hinata looked up at Naruto as red as a tomato "You don't want to be here right now right". He jumped up on to the nearest building and started making his way back to the castle bouncing from one rooftop to the other.

'Wait what is he doing if he holds me like this he's going to feel my…legs' Hinata's dress was fluttering at the end and she noticed her feet peeking out. 'I did not change but the sea witch said if I touch….sea water' Hinata sighed.

She looked back up at Naruto who was so focused on where he was going he did not notice he was being watched.

It was almost sundown by the time Naruto and Hinata got back to the castle. Naruto handed Hinata over to Tenten who took her to the bathroom to get her cleaned up. She glared at Naruto "it wasn't me!" Naruto waved his hands in front of him. Tenten simply rolled her eyes and lead Hinata away.

Naruto headed to the dining hall to go get something to eat. When he got there he noticed that Sakura and Sasuke were already eating. He went to join them. A plate was quickly placed in front of him and he started digging in.

"So how was your day" Sasuke inquired after finishing his meal.

"It was nice it was a very eventful day I can tell you that much"

"So I'm guessing you enjoyed your new company"

Naruto actually chocked on his food when he heard that and was guzzling down his drink to stop his choking. He blushed lightly as Sasuke just sneakered at his reaction. Sakura on the other hand was not pleased at all.

Sakura smiled at Naruto and asked "so did you find your friend Naruto?" Sasuke raised an eye brow at Sakura's question. 'Did this goon lose the girl?'

Naruto looked at her. "Yeah she was with Lee for some odd reason but knowing him he was probably just being nice. He apparently noticed she was new in town and wanted to show her around"

"Oh well it's good to hear that she is alright I was worried"

"Yeah" Naruto went back to finishing his food.

Sakura could sense the tension in the air and was about to ask what was bothering Naruto but before she could Naruto got up and walked out the hall.

"I wonder what's bothering him" Sakura asked Sasuke

"Hmm" Sasuke also got up and left leaving Sakura alone.

"Sasuke"

Naruto fell on his bed not even bothering to change into a proper pajama he simply removed his pants and tunic and putting on some loose pants he had lying around. It was already sundown so his room was quickly getting dark and cold. "Damn it "Naruto got up and went to the chimney in his room and light a fire to warm his room up and let some light in. Naruto did not like sleeping in a dark room. He went back to his bed and started thinking about the day he had just had.

"You do want to protect her right". Lee's words keep repeating in his head.

"I barely even know her why do I want to protect her so badly" Naruto started thinking about the dark haired girl. He looked at the wall that separated his room from hers. He started imagining her long dark hair, her white skin, her light lavender eyes he started thinking about her face then he focused on her lips. Her soft, pink lips. Naruto touched his own 'how would they feel'. Naruto sat up. "What the heck was that" Naruto shook his head side to side violently. "I need to go to sleep" Naruto crawled under his covers and went to sleep.

After a while Naruto started tossing and turning. He was having a nightmare. He was on the cliff again but this time he was with Hinata instead of Sasuke. They were enjoying the view then Naruto walked to the edge and looked down remembering how high it was from his last visit. When he turned around to talk to Hinata she was gone. "No not again" Naruto ran around the cliff looking for her then he saw another cliff by him identical to the one he was one and there was Hinata but someone was by her. Naruto started running to her. Hinata started walking to the cliff's edge and looked down the figure that was behind Hinata also started walking forward. It started raising its arms reaching for Hinata. "NOOO" Naruto ran as fast as he could but he was too late the figure pushed Hinata off the cliff and she fell. He ran to the edge of the cliff and caught her hand just in time. "I got you I won't let go" Hinata looked up at him and smiled. Naruto tried his hardest to pull her back up the cliff but he could not he was not strong enough. Then his fears came to fruition Hinata's fingers started slipping from his grasp. "No please don't" Hinata looked up at Naruto and smiled again then closed her eyes and let go of Naruto's hand falling into the water. "NOOOOOOOOO"

Naruto woke up in a cold sweat. "It was just a dream just a dream". Naruto looked about his room. "It ok now". Naruto then felt a presence in his room. "Wait why is my balcony open" Naruto got out of bed and walked to the open window. He looked around his room "who's in here". A hand touched his shoulder and Naruto quickly grabbed it and pushed the intruder against the wall. It was then that he realized he was holding Hinata pushing his body against hers. "ahh! oh sorry" Naruto let go of her and started blushing furiously. "You scared me" Naruto scratched the back of his head. Hinata stared at him she had heard him crying out from her room and had come over to investigate. She put her hand on Naruto's forehead she noticed he was all wet and this confused her. 'Is he sick?' Naruto pulled away and sat on his bed. "Did you hear me crying out" Hinata nodded. "It's all right I was just having a nightmare I'll be fine".

'A nightmare Hanabi used to get those a lot of those maybe if I do what I did for her he will feel better'

"You can go ahead and go back to sleep but take the door this time", Naruto was getting back under his covers hoping this embarrassing event would just be forgotten. He then felt someone get into bed with him. Naruto opened his eyes to find two pale eyes looking back at him. 'What is she doing' Hinata then wrapped her arms around Naruto and held him to her chest. 'What the heck is she doing'? Hinata then started stroking the top of his head. 'I can't hum him a lullaby but hopefully this will be enough'. 'Wait is she trying to make me feel better' Naruto took a deep breath of her warm smell he did feel better Naruto wrapped his own arms around Hinata's stomach. Hinata blushed as he hugged her. Her heart was racing and she was really hoping Naruto could not hear it. He could it only calmed him down more and soon he was fast asleep. Hinata kept staring at Naruto's face falling in love with his sleeping face. She then remembered something and smiled down at Naruto. 'I think I'm falling for you'. She was soon fast asleep

On the shore bright flash of light spread through the beach. Making his way out of the water a figure headed for a nearby house that had left a clothes line out. He reached out and took some black pants and a white shirt. He started making his may down the dark streets of Konoha. His long dark hair waved behind him thanks to the night wind. His white eyes scanned the village. "Lady Hinata". Not finding his target he moved down the road.