A/N: Yay another chapter in less than 24 hours! You guys deserved it! Let's call it a Labor Day Special! Keep those reviews coming! They definitely help! Enjoy!

Five: Turnover

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His mind was made up but his palms were clammy and he couldn't get his heart to stop beating so hard. Walking to his destination, Naruto could have sworn that everyone's eyes were on him, judging him. It's been days since he walked around this place to contribute to the community but he knew deep down, his brain was all too messed up to even walk a straight line. The only thing on his mind right now was Hinata. The nightmares are gone but now he has to fix this so he can rest easy permanently. Just the thought of going to bed with nothing on his mind but sleep made satisfied him. Oh, how he missed a good night's rest.

Maybe that dream will be fulfilled once he explains everything to his number one fan.

Naruto was now standing before the Hyuuga residence. Now that it was almost time to face the music, he had the sudden urge to stick his tail between his legs and run back to the tent. How pathetic! But he shakes the thought from his mind and searched the area to see if maybe she was nearby. The last time he was here, he came charging here like a wild animal looking for Hinata. He also remembered seeing her hair tied up all pretty and wrapped snug in her yukata. And when she spotted him, her big doe like eyes stared at him in wonder. A part of Naruto wished that she wore that outfit again.

The sudden flash of him kissing her came to his mind and his fingertips tingled as if they remembered that day like it was moments ago. Her skin was so warm beneath his fingers, making Naruto's eyes almost close in an attempt to reminisce that day.

"Naruto?"

Quickly, his eyes flash open to the sound of a familiar male voice. It was Neji, who was standing before him with hands full of wooden planks.

"Oh! What's up, Neji? Have you seen Hinata?"

"She left not too long ago on a medical run with Kiba. They should be back within the hour."

Hearing that Hinata wasn't around almost made Naruto jump for joy. He was granted at least an hour more to think about what he's going to say to her when she gets back.

"Okay, great. Thanks a lot, Neji." He said turning on is heels and running to the village entrance.

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Thankfully, Naruto's nerved have calmed once he reached to the front entrance. During his sprint getting here, he somehow convinced himself that this encounter was going to be just fine. Hinata was a strong young woman and Naruto knew a way with words. As long as he keeps his cool, this might work out in his favor.

"And I can finally go back to normal." He mumbles, taking a little perch on the top of the gate.

The moment he gets comfortable on the top, the sound of a giggle caught his attention. Looking down to the ground, he noticed the large figure of a dog. Clearly, it was Akamaru and on top of him was Kiba and Hinata. Neji said it was going to be a while but I guess the errand was shorter than it needed to be.

The giggle emerges again and Naruto realizes that it was Hinata who was laughing. He continued to watch them from above, not wanting to jump down just yet. In a way, Naruto didn't want to see Hinata suddenly stop laughing because he had appeared. She tends to clam up when he's around. Other than that, he was also curious about why she was laughing. What ever it was, it sure had her very happy and entertained. As they headed closer, it was now Kiba's laugh that echoed down the path.

Naruto snorts. "What are they laughing at anyway?"

He suddenly didn't like the idea of the two laughing amongst themselves so he jumps down from the gate to meet up with them. The laughing continues and Naruto grows a bit more annoyed by it. He looks at Kiba and sees a goofy grin smeared all over his face.

"What a stupid grin. I bet he said something stupid to make her laugh." Naruto thought to himself.

It was Akamaru who sensed Naruto's presence and he barks happily. Kiba and Hinata looks over, their laughing coming to a halt. But Kiba remains smiling, even hopping down to greet his yellow haired friend.

"Hey Naruto! What's up?" Kiba said, patting Naruto's back cheerfully.

But Naruto didn't return the kind gesture. If anything, he was still irritated. "You guys came back pretty quickly."

"Oh, yeah. We just had to pick up a few herbs for medicinal purposes. Nothing major." Kiba said, turning his attention to Hinata, who recently hopped off of Akamaru.

Naruto eyed Hinata until she was standing by Kiba's side. She doesn't say a word but she quickly looks at Naruto before turning to her teammate. "We should drop these off soon, Kiba."

"Sure!" Kiba barked, nonchalantly resting his arm on Hinata's small shoulders. "Alright, Naruto! We'll see you around!"

"Actually. I wanted to speak to Hinata for a minute." Naruto added. "... If that's all right?"

Kiba pauses and looks at Hinata first. From what he can recall when Naruto had asked to see Hinata was that day he woke up from his two day sleep. The atmosphere that day was rather uncomfortable and as stupid Kiba can be sometimes, he knew that something was going on. He looks at Hinata first because he realized the moment she was before Naruto, her smiles had faded and her eyes had lost contact with everyone. Naturally, Kiba didn't like that and thought the idea of leaving the two alone doesn't sound too much of a good idea.

"Is it important?" Kiba asked, his hand squeezing Hinata's shoulder as a gesture for support.

Naruto watched Kiba's hand remain on her shoulders then looked over at Kiba himself. "It is. It won't be long."

"Uh, listen Naruto. I know it's none of my business but I don't think Hinata wants to speak right-"

"It's okay, Kiba." Hinata finally spoke up. "I'll be fine."

As much as Kiba wanted to just pick her up and run away, Hinata had already made up her mind to stay behind with Naruto. Which isn't much of a surprise for him but all he wanted to do was stay and defend her.

The thing was that Kiba was actually much in love with Hinata just as much as she loved Naruto. He always teased her about her crush on the goofy little ninja but only because it was in her interest. Kiba was fearless as Naruto but he never found the guts to tell Hinata anything. He also thought that she was just too good for the both of them and that it was no point in dragging a girl like her to his level. As long as she was happy, nothing else mattered to Kiba. His happiness was her happiness and that's enough for him.

"All right, fine. But if he does anything weird..." His eyes shot at Naruto before heading off along with Akamaru. "... I'll find you."

Naruto watched Kiba for a moment with squinty suspicious eyes. He snorts and turns to Hinata for a quick moment, with a bothered look on his face.

"Will ya look at that guy? What an idiot."

Hinata blinks a few times, watching Kiba from a distance.

"And he needs to keep his hands to himself! Pervert!" Naruto yells once again. "You shouldn't let him touch ya like that, Hinata. He was leaning on you and touching your shoulder like he was yours or something."

Hinata looks down to the ground, shrugging her shoulders slightly. "Well... You touched me too before..."

Naruto's rage face froze and was suddenly emerged in heat. His face and ears burned in embarrassment. He couldn't believe that she said that out loud. She was in no doubt correct but now the image of her kissing him back that day flashed in the back of Naruto's mind.

"Y-Yeah, well." Naruto couldn't even look at her now, still blushing deep red. "It all happened so suddenly."

Hinata grew silent, her eyes still not meeting his.

It wasn't just Naruto who is feeling awkward at the moment. Poor Hinata could hardly breathe right. While Naruto has been acting like a maniac for the past few days, Hinata has been such a nervous wreck the whole time. She was more silent than usual and whenever she thought she saw Naruto at the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she would have a panic attack. There was no doubt that she enjoyed kissing Naruto that day but for some reason, since that day her heart couldn't handle the encounter. This explains why she has hardly said a word and most of the time she'd rather stare at the ground than the boy before her. But hearing how Naruto is freaking out over the small touches Kiba had given her almost made her heart jump out of her chest in excitement. She sort of liked that he was jealous but there was no way that emotion would ever reach her face. Not now.

But now that she thinks about it, Naruto must have came here to apologize. It was such a typical Naruto move to try and make things right and for that, Hinata had already made up her mind to forgive him.

"But uh... I just want to say that I'm sorry for that day. I was being a crazy asshole. Ya shoulda kicked my ass for being so forceful to you." Naruto said, ruffling his hair out of frustration. She looks at him as he begins beating himself up and she almost smiles.

"It's... It's okay. Naruto." She said, doing her best to keep her eyes on him. He stops yanking at his hair and looks up at her in slight disbelief.

"Really? Because you can still hit me in the face if you want. I completely deserve it." He said, leaning in and grabbing hold of her hand to hit him in the face.

Finally, she laughs and shakes her head. "No, it's all right, Naruto. I really do forgive you."

Naruto felt a bit relieved that she forgave him. But he should have known that she would accept him again. He knew that she loved him dearly and it was probably the reason why he was let off so easily. Nonetheless, he was thankful.

He also felt better because she was smiling again. Not as widely when Kiba was here though. Naruto still wondered what was that little scruffy ninja yapping about anyway. In a way, he sort of wished he could make Hinata laugh right now. Because he feels that he have been causing Hinata a lot of trouble, the least he can do is cheer her up from time to time.

"Uhm, Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

She wiggles her hand that was still being held by him. Quickly, he lets go and shoves his hands in his pockets. "Oh, sorry!"

She laughs very lightly before placing her hands timidly to herself.

Again the atmosphere grew silent and awkward settled in. Naruto had only apologized but now he has to somehow tell her that he didn't want to be with her. He thought if maybe if he turned her down now, she wouldn't have to suffer later.

Don't make Hinata suffer anymore.

The words of Shino rang through his head. Without thinking, he closes his eyes and cringes to himself. He couldn't believe he was going to turn this poor girl down. She was standing here probably thinking Naruto had more good news for her to hear. Who knows? Maybe she's even hoping he'd come out and admit that he likes her. Just thinking about it only made Naruto feel worse. Guilt returned and he lowered his head.

"Naruto...?" Hinata spoke. She reaches for his hand this time. "I want to say thank you."

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I could feel her eyes on me. Her small hands rested on my wrist, signaling me to reach out to her again.

What was she thanking me for? I finally looked up at her and she was standing there with a sweet smile on her face. In a way just looking at her smile was comforting. Probably because when she is smiling, it's not usually at me.

"Thank you? For what?" I asked, still confused.

Her smile remains but now her eyes are aimed to the ground again. "For apologizing. You are so kind, Naruto."

Oh man. Goddammit. Why is she so nice to me? I felt my hands reach for hers as if it was a natural thing to do. What am I doing? My heart was beginning to beat like crazy. What was wrong with me? Gently, she squeezes my hand. I'm not sure what it was for but it calmed me. I felt good.

I looked at her and reached for her face with my free hand. What the hell am I doing? Stop it, Naruto. Stop touching her...

She suddenly faces me, her eyes wide like before. I wasn't going to force myself on her again... I can't!

"N-Naruto?" Hinata says my name and I found myself staring at her face for a moment.

Was this the first time I have looked at her? Was she this pretty before? Did she always look at me like this? Her eyes are wide but not wide with fear. They were filled with... With wonder. Like she was staring at some sort of treasure.

Her treasure. It was weird but I had the sudden urge to kiss her again. Like before. But if I kissed her again, what kind of message would I be sending her? But I leaned in closer, noses almost touching. I could taste her breath from his distance and the taste sent goosebumps down my arms. I wanted her a little bit. But I closed my eyes in frustration.

God, I'm so fucking confused... I'm so confused, I'M SO CONFUSED-

"I'm not afraid."

I opened my eyes to Hinata's words and her light eyes stared into my eyes. I know she wasn't afraid but I also knew that she was completely unaware of what I truly came here to do. I had to do it. I need to tell her the truth...

"I know, Hinata." I release her hand and cupped her face with my hands. "I know..."

Slowly, I rest my forehead on hers and she closes her eyes as if she was prepared for what ever I had in store for her. Our noses touched and I found myself trembling somewhat. Hinata's hands found mines again. Oh man...

"You're lips are trembling." She said, her eyes opening again. I couldn't look at her so I closed my eyes in guilt.

"Hinata... I can't do this." I finally said. "I can't... love you..."

I could feel her hands let go of mines, instantly falling to her sides. She steps back a bit silently. I drop my hands to my side as well, my eyes still closed. I can't believe I said it.

I told her what I wanted to tell her. What she needed to hear. Hinata had to hear the truth. But if she had to hear it, then why do I feel so bad? Why does it feel like I just drove a knife through her chest? Why... do I feel so cold?

A bit lost...

"Okay." Hinata suddenly says to me. My eyes flash open but she was already walking away. For a moment there, I thought I saw a glimpse of her face. It looked like she was crying. Goddammit. I made things worse. I didn't dare turn to call for her. I really fucked up this time. She must really hate me now, doesn't she?

I'm sorry, Hinata. You don't deserve any of that and above all else I don't deserve anyone like you. You are far too kind, too pretty... to chase after me.

The night, I couldn't sleep. At all. I stared at my hands as I lay in my bed. I should have kept my hands to myself. I should have just left her out of this. I should have dealt with my problems alone like I always did before. Sakura, Sai, and everyone else always told me that I didn't have to suffer alone with my problems. It might seem like a good idea to have a shoulder to lean on. But what good would that do if I get those other people involved? And they would have to suffer like me.

I'd rather just suffer alone... I dropped my hands to my face and sighed heavily into them.

I'm just the biggest asshole in the village...

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A/N: Right in the feels! Loved it? Hate it? I'm on a roll here guys! And I want to thank everyone for the faves, the follow and of course the reviews! They truly mean a lot! See you guys soon!