Book 1

Awakening

Chapter 2 - Food for Thought

A/N: First off, yes, this chapter is earlier than I said it would be, and it actually would have been even earlier, if I wasn't such a chronic procrastinator; check my profile for details as to why it's early. Now... I would like to thank everyone for the kind and somewhat overwhelming response; it was quite unexpected that this story would 'hit-it-off' with so many people after just one chapter... damn, now I feel like I owe you guys more... Or, that could just be me getting high on your motivational fumes. Whatever the case, please enjoy Chapter 2.

'I-Is he a-as-asking me o-out on a date?!' Hinata was in utter shock. This had been something she'd anxiously hoped to be asked for years now, yet her mind refused to accept, or rather, to allow her to accept, by refusing to restore motor and verbal capacity to her blissfully stunned person.

Naruto still had his eyes on Hinata, and he was beginning to wonder if she was alright...

Naruto, deciding it was best to ascertain her condition by more direct means, proceeded to inch forward; he craned his neck slightly to get a clearer look into her eyes. Not satisfied, however, with the results of his brief analysis, he persisted by waving a hand before her still unresponsive gaze while asking "Umm... Hinata-chan? Are you okay? You were fine a second ago, now you're bright re—"

But, before Naruto could finish his statement, he was abruptly cut off by the seemingly frozen girl in front of him beginning to slowly rock back and forth. It was then that Naruto realized—she had fainted.

"Ahh! Hinata!" he exclaimed in worry. Jumping into action, he swiftly—with reflexes to be expected of a ninja in training—wrapped his arms around her, pulling her forward slightly to prevent her otherwise inevitable crash. She fell slack against his frame, her head brought to rest on his shoulder.

'What happened to her?' Naruto wondered. 'I guess she's just tired... a lot happened today.'

Naruto silently continued his musings as he cautiously maneuvered Hinata off of himself and seated her (as best he could) against the conveniently nearby tree, wanting her to be as comfortable as possible when she arose.

'Well, I don't know when she'll wake up, and there's no way I'm going to just leave her here...' He let out a calm sigh. 'I guess... I'll just wait.' Naruto expertly lowered himself adjacent to his unconscious friend, legs settling from a perpendicular stance to one resembling a balanced triangle. Taking a deep breath he let his sight wander, occasionally allowing it to settle on one thing or another; he satiated his boredom, but more importantly, occupied his immediate thoughts with empty distraction.

Several minutes later, Hinata woke with a start.

'Where am I? D-Did I...' It was then that her memories began to come together, elucidating her situation.

'I-If that happened... then where is Naruto-kun...' Her heart slowly sank at the thought of Naruto having left... and perhaps even having changed his mind about the two of them being friends...

"Oh, Hinata-chan? You're awake! Ready to go get dinner?" Naruto let out in succession, pulling her from her distressing thoughts.

Up until now, Hinata hadn't noticed the presence right beside her; she hadn't even registered the pressure on her shoulder until this moment. Everything coming together at once, she hesitantly began to turn her head to the right, her newfound hold on the grass beneath her tightening with her hand's grip. Daring to open her eyes further as she turned, for a clearer view, she was happy to find Naruto, observing her with his usual brightness, a slight questioning tick evident in the positioning of his now raised eyebrows.

"Hinata?" he prompted.

She opened her mouth slightly, in an attempt to speak; but her words remained caught in her throat. 'N-Naruto-kun is s-so close. I-I—' Her blush returned with a vengeance, only intensifying with the continuation of her thoughts.

Her thought was never completed, however, as the sensory overload became too much for the poor girl to handle; alas, she once again entered the realm of unconsciousness, her head curtly slumping against her chest.

"Aww man, not again!" Admist a sigh, he managed, "At least she was already sitting this time... wouldn't want her to fall."

Resigning himself to patience, he chose to lay back against the tree; noting how peaceful it seemed to be, he let his gaze shift to the right, something he instantly regretted.

In front of his very eyes was one of the most powerful physical reminders of his childhood loneliness—something that happened to be particularly on his mind at the moment. Letting out a lightly pained sigh, he rose from his seat and, with more resolve, approached the dated swing.

As her eyes fluttered open, she immediately began to recall the events that had led to her fainting. 'So Naruto-kun wasn't asking me on a date... speaking of Naruto-kun, where is he?' she thought somewhat absentmindedly, as she let her eyes roam the area in search of the blond ninja.

She found him fairly quickly, sitting upon that swing that seemed to have become a second-home to him in the not-so-distant past. Hinata had observed from afar, even during his saddest times she had always been there, if to do nothing more than acknowledge him, whether he was aware of it or not. Though, what saddened her at the moment was the look in his eyes. It was a look Hinata had come to respect, but seeing it weighing on her crush broke her heart; it was a look of painfully determined pride, the truly heart-breaking part was, however, that it only served to reflect a fraction of that pain and determination. Yet, despite that, he was such a bright and happy person. The simple fact that he had that much love in his heart, where even after he had to make room for all the pain, he still had more than enough light to radiantly exude for all to see, was a truly inspiring and endearing quality that she'd come to love...

Today, though, she could see there was more to his expression, something it would take a genuinely experienced and dedicated eye to catch. She resolved to speak, and hopefully find out what was bothering him.

"N-Naruto-kun..." she started, as she rose from her position against the tree, "Are you alright?" She silently hoped for a revealing response.

Naruto was shocked out of his trance at the sound of Hinata's voice. He had been unaware of how deep in thought he was... he had at first perceived her voice as part of his contemplation, as his thoughts had, most recently, been about her. So, he was shocked when the 'Dream-Hinata' suddenly seemed so real and... worried.

He swiveled his head so fast, that he ended up pulling a muscle in his neck. Wincing slightly, he got his first look into her eyes... did she know? Still attempting to evade his thoughts, he deflected the question.

"Oh, Hinata-chan! You're finally awake, I was starting to get worried, heheh..." He exclaimed in his best imitation of his usual jubilant tone, rubbing the back of his head as he snickered on.

"You must have been hungrier than you let on, to keep fainting like that!"

"We'd better get going then," he added quickly, trying to assert finality. Despite the act, his eyes betrayed him, reflecting the same worry they did before. This was something Hinata did not miss.

"A-Alright, Naruto-kun..." she said, doing her best to smile, though she was slightly saddened that he was avoiding his emotions, again.

The pair walked through the village at a relaxed pace, both of them observing everything around them, except each other. They both knew they wanted to say something to each other, but, almost as a repeat of their experience in class earlier that day, they were both tongue-tied.

But as they neared their destination, they finally came across something that caught Naruto's eye.

"Hey, Hinata-chan. Isn't that guy over there a Hyūga? You think he might be looking for you?" Naruto questioned obliviously, bringing one hand above his eye, cupped in a searching gesture. Hinata however, once catching sight of the aforementioned man, visibly stiffened.

"Naruto-kun... L-Let's go this way," she quietly suggested, almost in a whisper; but the actuality of her intent was made evident as she lightly tugged on the arm of Naruto's jacket.

"H-Hinata, w-wait!" He struggled to get out as she was now pulling him toward a divergent street. "Aren't you even gonna say 'hi' to the guy?!" Naruto exclaimed, still being pulled.

Continuing to half-heartedly struggle, he persisted "H-Hinata! Ichiraku's is in the other direction! W-wait!"

Hinata, in a rare act of courage, completely tuned Naruto out as she continued to 'guide' him through the narrow alley; She forged on, her gaze straight ahead, and before Naruto could protest any further, Hinata gently interrupted, "N-Naruto-kun, we're here." Raising her hand, she pointed at the sign reading 'ラーメン一楽.'

Completely abandoning his previous train of thought, he glanced up, then, turning around to observe his surroundings, let out an exaggerated cry of distress. "Ahh! I can't believe I never noticed that before!" Slapping his hand against his face he continued in a muffled voice, "I've been walking around the block for years... every time I left from the academy!"

He continued to wallow in grief as Hinata led him to the ramen stand by the arm. "D-Don't feel bad Naruto-kun... I was just guessing, I h-had no idea about this path," she consoled him, as she pushed the cloth partition aside, allowing both of them to enter unobstructed.

"Oh! Naruto!" Teuchi, the proprietor of Ichiraku Ramen exclaimed exuberantly. He was overjoyed to see his favorite customer, and with a friend, no less! He knew he could use this. Even though Naruto and him have developed quite the friendly relationship over the years, with Naruto being such a frequent customer and all, they'd had many opportunities to talk. And, with friendship, comes harmless... fun(?) at each other's expense.

"Oi! Occhan!" Naruto greeted with identical ethusiasm, a hungry grin plastered on his face, waving his arm to and fro—despite the limited space in the humble restaurant.

"So, Naruto. Who's your girlfriend there?" Teuchi asked in mock curiosity. If one were to look closely enough, they'd notice a devious tick of a smile, tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"What! Occhan, what the hell are you talking about! Hinata-chan's not my girlfriend!" Naruto exclaimed in rapid succession, explicitly stressing the 'not.' "We just..." Naruto paused, visibly struggling to find the right way to word the day's previous... events.

Hinata, seeing his struggle, chimed in, "...formally met today, we're only f-friends—"

"Good friends," Naruto finished with a hesitant smile, glancing at Hinata. Upon seeing each other, both inexplicably blushed and sharply diverted their gazes; though both, albeit unconsciously, refused to move from their near shoulder-to-shoulder position.

Teuchi merely chuckled. "I see, I see..." 'Oh, Ayame would love to see this! Heheh, all the best things happen when you go out on delivery runs, my dear.'

Naruto, finally over his embarrassment, decided to move things along. "Alright! Let's eat, I've been waiting all day for this!" he cheered, whilst rubbing his hands together. Hinata took a seat at one of the barstools, patiently waiting for Naruto to come down from his ramen-fantasy-induced high.

"Alright, alright Naruto. So, what'll it be for you and your 'good friend'?" Teuchi asked, emphasizing the 'good,' with a wink aimed at Naruto for good measure.

"Occhan!" Naruto cried, clearly exasperated with his friend's behavior. Then, a thought occurred to Naruto: "Say, Hinata-chan" he asked, getting her attention, "Did you want me to order for you?" he finished, curiously—his eyes now focused on her.

"U-Umm... I-I'm s-sure you kn-know what's g-good here, Naruto-k-kun. I-If you don't m-mind ordering for me, Naruto-kun, I-I w-would like that..." she said with a reflexive bow, blushing furiously as she lowered her head slightly.

"Oh? Okay, g-great!" Naruto replied, still trying to process her reaction to such a (what he thought to be) simple question. Naruto settled for ordering them both a bowl of Tonkatsu (豚活) Ramen, as he knew he'd most likely be getting more; he wanted Hinata to get to try one of his favorites.

"Coming right up!" Teuchi replied, eager to get to work. With Teuchi turning around to get to work, Naruto decided that he was finally in the clear, but, to be safe, he still took a seat a safe 1-stool distance away from Hinata. In truth though, both of them knew why he opted for the small gap.

'I can't believe it, I still can't talk to her. What is it about this? Why is it so damn difficult!?' Naruto thought in frustration. He dared to spare a sideways glance toward Hinata, however, upon making eye contact, he quickly shifted his gaze back to its idle post—observing the already memorized Ichiraku menu.

'Naruto-kun... why won't you talk?'

'Why can't I talk! She cares about me, she actually said it... the others, they care, but... they're different, they, they... no. This is different... she actually...—'

Before his thoughts could consolidate, however, Teuchi re-engaged the casual conversation he had partially initiated earlier. "Say, Naruto, whatever happened with that Sakura girl? I saw you running by this morning with some flowers; did your plan work out?"

'P-Plan?' Hinata thought, slightly confused; she was intently listening, now.

Naruto, however, visibly stiffened at the mention of the pink-haired kunoichi's name. His gaze fell and his entire being seemed to take on a morose posture. This was something that didn't go unnoticed by Teuchi.

Genuinely concerned, Teuchi carefully probed, "What's wrong Naruto? Did something happen? I mean, I know you've said Sakura can be harsh, but you've never been s—"

He was cut off mid-sentence, not by Naruto's volume, but by his frightening lack of it. "I-It, didn't work out," he said without voice, as if he was mentally far away.

And far away he was.

"T-Teuchi-san, what was the plan you were talking about?" Hinata urgingly inquired.

"Ah, well, it was nothing much. A rather sweet gesture though, sweet but simple. You probably know this better than me, Hinata-chan, but Naruto's been quite smitten with that young girl for a while now. He wasn't a fool though, as dopey as he is, he was aware that she doesn't have much interest in him... to put it lightly. But, again, as you know, he's such a kind soul; as far as I was told, Sakura hadn't been feeling her best lately, apparently she'd been having some romantic problems of her own... he wanted to cheer her up, so, although he was trying to hopefully win her over in the process, he genuinely just wanted to make her smile, a 'real smile' as he put it. For a kid his age, he really is too well familiarized with human emotion, you know..."

Hinata merely nodded, a slow sad nod. At the moment, she was too awash with conflicting emotions to muster a verbal reply.

"Well, anyway, his plan was to try being as nice and romantic as possible... He did his research, spent what extra money he had, and even came up with some crazy little schemes that I remember him describing to me... all to make her happy. He was so convinced that that bouquet he got would work, he even came to me last night and told me; 'Occhan,' he said, 'I got an idea that I know'll work for sure, -ttebayo!' with that devilish little grin of his on his face..."

Hinata flinched at the mention of the rose bouquet. At the moment, sadness had claimed the reigns of her emotional palette; a stray tear found its way sliding down her delicate skin, falling off to land on the counter with a resounding plip.

"For him to be like this... what did that girl do to him..." Teuchi concluded, not really asking the question. Shaking his head in sad wonder, he continued to cook.

Wiping the threatening tears from her eyes, Hinata turned her head to look upon the still desolate Naruto.

"Naruto-kun..." she softly whispered, her heart aching in resonance with his.

Naruto unconsciously reacted to this. Moving forward slightly he brought his elbow up to rest upon the counter-top; propping the side of his face against his open palm, his splayed fingers served to partially cover his tired, blank stare. Emotionally and mentally exhausted, he subconsciously preferred to drown in thought.

Long after all the students had gone home, long after all the teachers had gone home, long after the day had ended, the sounds of someone arduously training could be heard echoing throughout each and every hallway, courtyard and classroom.

Amidst the scurry and scuffle, signifying the emergence of the more noctournally-inclined creatures, there rang out the distinct sound of metal colliding with metal, oddly harmonizing with the occasional dull thud of metal striking sturdy wood, along with the rare clawing sound of said metal embedding itself in or against gravely soil.

Upon closer inspection, if one were to follow the sounds, a young man was to be found. Deftly landing on both sandal-covered feet with a slight sway to his gravitationally influenced arms, the young man numbly whispered, "Again."

Jumping an impressive height in the air, having kicked off the ground with one foot, and having one knee raised to his chest; he began to acrobatically spin until his head was properly perpendicular to the ground. "Now..." came the barely audible, yet coarse whisper.

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, his eyes flickered open. They were an ashy onyx in color, with a cold expression tinting them. Flicking his wrists, two kunai came into view (to any observant audience). Throwing those two kunai, with two more subtle wrist motions, one upwards, and one at a 60 degree angle, he spun slightly; angling his arms just right he reached for more kunai.

Swinging his arms to and fro violently, releasing kunai as they went, he began to deflect some of the kunai off of others; others he would seem to let work out their own trajectory. However, his aerial acrobatics continued, he spun, twisted, and flipped, his eyes darting from metal projectile to projectile; seemingly locking them all in his sight—it was clear that this took incredible calculation.

Targets placed in an supposedly random order were struck, although not accurately, some kunai fell to the ground. As it appeared the deflection technique was nearing its ending, the young man threw one last kunai in the air, directly above himself; it quickly lost momentum, reaching it's peak, it turned and began to fall with increasing velocity, toward his vulnerable under-jaw. Apparently prepared for this, he reached into his holster for the final weapon. However, it was then that his expression changed, it changed from one of critical confidence and focus to one of anger and worry. Slightly angling his neck downward so he could confirm his fear, he realized that he was indeed, about to crash into the ground. With a generous pull of his lower back muscles and a twist of his hips, he was able to work his legs over himself and accomplish a 180 degree spin, successfully righting himself. Not having enough time, however, nor the proper positioning to complete his technique, he angrily swung the kunai currently in his hand in an arc above his head, resulting in a resounding metallic crack; he successfully blunted his final kunai, saving himself from potential injury.

Surveying the results, even though he already knew them to not be perfect, he let out a simple "Tch." in disgust and annoyance. His eye twitched slightly, as his eyebrow lowered into a passive glare. Raising the triangularly prism shaped blunted-kunai head up to his slightly reduced field of vision, due to the rapidly setting sun casting shadows over the beaten training field. He viewed his split reflection in the dull kunai's warped depiction, one face of the prism'd head, however, was overtly dark; gazing into this darkness, he found himself swimming through an actively repressed memory...

"Nī-san, Nī-san! Look at me, I can do the kunai throwing too!" a young Uchiha Sasuke exclaimed, proud of his supposed achievement.

"Oh? Is that so, Sasuke?" replied a characteristically stolid Uchiha Itachi, in his painfully apathetic tone. He gracefully landed from having perfectly executed the Uchiha's 'famous' Jōnin-class kunai deflection excercise; his fully mature Sharingan still active.

"Yeah! Don't do that Nī-san, I can tell you don't believe me! You're being mean again!" argued Sasuke.

"Am I? I apologize," he replied coolly, still not so much as glancing at his younger sibling.

"Ahh!" Sasuke shouted, running at Itachi.

Before he could commence with his 'surprise attack', however, Itachi intercepted his stride with an all-too-familiar 2-fingered jab to the forehead.

"Sasuke. Maybe next time, okay?" Itachi stated, completing his other signature deflection technique.

"Hmph." was all he got in reply.

"Sasuke. Look at me."

Sasuke turned one eye towards his older brother, the other still pursed in a pout, much like his lips; his arms still folded over his chest in exaggerated defiance.

"I care for you deeply. I'm just far too busy right now. Alright?" Itachi reasoned.

"Fine..." Sasuke whined out, though he was secretly happy with his brother, either way... he was happy.

Itachi reached out with one arm and lovingly ruffled his hair...

"NO!" Sasuke screamed out, disrupting his memory, and alarming several birds in the nearby area.

"It was all bullshit... After all, you told me yourself... Itachi," he venemously breathed out.

"Accept hatred... Learn hatred... Embody hatred..." he repeated through infuriatingly foggy memory...

"Fuck love," he stated with brutal finality, as he projected the blunted-kunai still in hand with enough force for it to wedge it's way into the coarse soil.

As Sasuke walked away, against the further setting sun, toward the village, the blunted-kunai's metallic surface could still be seen reflecting, with the ever changing shadows, a shadow of a younger Itachi, and a younger Sasuke, split evenly by the still present edge of the kunai. Along a side-face of the weapon, a single drop of clear liquid could be seen running down the reflective face, eventually reaching the buried tip, and sinking into the soil.

The sun had long since set.

Sasuke had opted to take the path less traveled... home, and had been fortunately able to avoid human contact en route. Falling through the air for a moment, he tensed, then landed stealthily on apartment's railing.

Taking a deep breath and checking for any (unwanted) visitors, he slowly stepped down from his perch and walked towards the door.

Reaching a single hand up and out for the door knob, he gripped it and turned. He paused, as if waiting for a delayed reaction to occur; none ever did. Realization slowly sunk in, and he lowered his hand.

He observed the door for what seemed like an hour... watching it blankly, intently, patiently. Then, as if deciding to stop waiting for the occupants of the home to let him inside, he reached into his pocket, extracted the key, pulled his hand out, reached it forward and pressed the key into the keyhole; turning it, he idly waited for the click to signify the shifting of the lock's internal chambers... releasing it's hold on the door.

The door swung open, inviting him into the darkness.

He entered.

Several hours had passed and many customers had come and gone, from Ichiraku Ramen. Two customers, however, remained, and so they had for several hours now.

Ayame walked in through the employee entrance and immediately addressed her father. "I'm back, Otō-san." She quickly spared a glance to the two customers, who still remained.

"Oh, welcome back Ayame. Was that the last delivery?" he answered in a slightly subdued tone.

"Mmhm," Ayame responded in turn.

"Alright..." Teuchi let out with a sigh, "We have to close up then, it's already past 10. Do you mind telling them, Ayame? I'll start cleaning up."

"O-Oh, sure," She responded, although slightly sad that she had kick out of their best guests.

"Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan..." She began, "We actually have to close up shop now, it's getting rather late. You guys should probably be getting home..." She hung on the end of the sentence, unsure how to end her statement.

Naruto replied, much to the surprise of all those present "It's alright, Ayame Nē-chan. We can go, right Hinata-chan?" he asked.

Hinata had been thinking all night, while Naruto had been silent, her mind had not been idle. She had made up her mind that she needed to talk with him; it was her duty as a friend... and her duty to herself, to uphold the promise she made to herself... to be strong for the person she cared about.

"N-Naruto-kun, w-we need to t—" Before she could finish though, Naruto interjected.

"I know, Hinata-chan. Come on, they need to close the store. Let's go for a walk," he said, a faint smile gliding over his lips. Taking a deep breath in an effort to build up his confidence.

He reached into his frog wallet—Gama-chan—pulling out enough Ryō to account for the collectively consumed ramen. He placed it on the counter, with a grateful nodded bow to both Teuchi and his daughter, he decisively turned to Hinata, and with an offering of his hand, gently pulled her from her seat, and out into the night.

The silence between them was peaceful, for a time. They both needed to organize their thoughts, but it was clear that they'd decided... it was the time to talk.

Hinata happened to speak first. "Naruto-kun... I w-want to apologize for what I did and said in class this morning. It was ignorant of me, and I'm truly sorry for meddling in something that was none of my business. I'm also sorry if I caused any problems between you and Sakura-sa—"

She was pulled from her statement by being wrapped in a powerful embrace... a friendly embrace, she struggled to remind herself.

"Hinata-chan, I don't know what you're apologizing for... I said it earlier, and I'll say it again... Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. You have no idea how much what you said means to me..."

Slowly releasing her from the embrace, he settled with his hands on her shoulders, as to make sure that he held her gaze.

"Hinata-chan. You've done something that no one has ever truly done for me. You've reminded me that there are people that care... that I do have people I can turn to. You reminded me that I'm not alone... no. You didn't just remind me, Hinata-chan..."

Her face took on an expression of moderate confusion "W-What do you m-mean Naruto-kun..." She was having exceptional trouble speaking, but she would not pass out, regardless of her proximity to Naruto.

Naruto smiled slightly at this, but it was a genuine smile. "What I mean, Hinata-chan, is that you promised me that I wouldn't be alone... You're my first real friend... Hinata-chan!" By the time the words had left his mouth, his smile had only multiplied in intensity.

After Naruto let go of Hinata's shoulders, they resumed their walk. With Naruto still wearing a happy smile.

After a few minutes, Hinata decided to resume their active conversation. "N-Naruto-kun. I'm h-honored to be your... first real friend," she said, with a steady pink blush lightly shading her face.

She continued with a heavy sigh... "You're sort of my first f-friend as well, Naruto-kun."

Naruto turned his head towards her in surprise "I...I am?" he exclaimed, nearly speechless.

"No way! What about that huge family that you live with? And the other kids at the academy?" He attempted to reason. There was no way someone like Hinata couldn't have any friends either...! Sure she was shy... but she was such a nice person!

"I-It's true, Naruto-kun," she began. "Th-That's part of the r-reason I was avoiding that clan member... earlier," she regretfully admitted.

Naruto was in shock. "Y-You were avoiding him?! But why?" He absolutely couldn't believe it... sure the man looked somewhat cold, snobbish, judgemental and vindictive... but he was family... wasn't he?

"The Hyūga clan is a little bit different... like a lot of the more noble clans, they're very... rigid. Especially in my case as the... ex-heiress of the clan. There was never an opportunity for friendship, or a very healthy childhood," she continued somberly.

'Ex-?' Naruto wondered to himself in surprise, making a mental note to ask about it later.

"That's terrible!" he verbalized. "There's gotta be some law or something against that..." Naruto was truly beginning to get upset, the more he learned about his new best friend... the more he began to realize how similar they truly were...

"O-Oh... we're here, Naruto-kun," Hinata commented, almost off-handedly.

Naruto, broken out of his escalating thoughts, looked up to see the engraved sign reading '日向.'

"W-Well, I-I'll see you later... Naruto-kun," Hinata said, as her mood visibly dropped to something even more devoid of happiness.

"Hinata-chan, wait," Naruto started.

Hinata quickly turned around, curious as to what her crush would ask of her. "Y-Yes, Naruto-kun?"

"Hinata-chan. I don't know the full extent of what you have to go through, but I do care, and I hope that you'll tell me some day. But as your first friend, I want to promise you that you never have to be alone again..." Naruto stated, with a rising intonation. As he spoke, he slowly begun to raise his hand, until he had a fist jutting straight out in front of him.

Hinata waited, her mouth slightly open in a gasp.

"Let's always be friends, Hinata-chan... It's a promise, -ttebayo!" he finished, promptly erecting his thumb from the raised fist in a powerful 'thumbs up', he accompanied it with an honest smile, and a look of... inspired determination.

Hinata merely nodded, for she was too overwhelmed with emotion to do more than that; this was the Naruto she'd grown to have such strong feelings for; shedding his burdens, despite the weight, and soaring beyond everything... uplifting those around him. He was her beacon of light.

Happy with the aftermath of his declaration, Naruto decided to bid his new best friend goodnight. After waving goodbye, he took to the roof-tops, in hopes of getting home as fast as possible, given how late it was.

Even after Naruto had left, Hinata stood there for a moment basking in the afterglow. She felt happier than she could remember feeling in a long time; she felt... bright.

Bringing her hands to her chest, gently clenched together, she crouched her head ever-so-slightly as a stray tear of joy ran down her face. Her eyes closed, she smiled and waited another moment... before turning towards the gates of the compound. No longer feeling intimdated by their plain and imposing standing... she stepped forward.

'Thank you... Naruto-kun.'