PART 18
Hinata wondered why Naruto had asked her to meet him at the training grounds of all places. She never trained with him, and he was usually too busy to.
She saw Naruto stride out from behind the trees, and approached him.
"Naruto-kun, is something wrong? You sounded urgent," Hinata said worriedly.
The way he looked at her made her feel weird. It was…different from other looks he had given her.
"Hinata, for so long, you've been by my side. And you always looked at me as if I was someone, not something. And you always cared for me. I'll put it simple: I love you." Naruto said solemnly.
She couldn't move, and her throat wouldn't make a sound. So he continued,
"I don't want to see you taken away by anyone, so…" He got down on his knees in front of her, and pulled a box out of his pocket with a hand.
With his other hand, he grasped Hinata's, and flicked the box open in a smooth moment.
"Will you marry me?"
At first, Hinata was speechless. She couldn't move either. Perhaps she would have said yes without hesitation, but something stopped her. The same image she saw when Naruto kissed her came back.
She said unsteadily, "Naruto-kun…this is so…sudden. C-could you give me time to think about it?"
He culd see that she was really shaken by the surprising question. He smiled warmly and said, "Of course Hinata. Tell me next week, ok?"
With a glance at his watch, he cried, "Aw, crap! I'm late for that dinner with Gaara! Gotta go!"
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Hinata was in turmoil. She didn't know how she felt. Did she love Naruto and want to marry him? If so, what was stopping her?
She groaned out loud, and thought, Maybe I can talk to Sasuke about it.
At the thought of Sasuke, she felt a strange feeling. It was a indescribable but nice feeling. One that she never had for Naruto.
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Sasuke,
Could you meet me at the usual place? There's something important I want to talk to you about.
Hinata
Sasuke wondered what was so important. His mind flitted to the memories of his childhood and he debated, as usual, on whether he should tell her or not.
But what about his feelings towards her?
Pushing that walk away, he strolled over to the fridge and opened it. Sasuke was hungry, but he had no food.
That meant he had to go the market…what would he buy?
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Hinata scanned the lines of tomatoes to see if they were fresh. She picked at them, and then sensed a familiar presence.
She turned and smiled. "Sasuke!"
Sasuke was a bit surprised to see her.
"I never see you here, except when you are on walks!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah…I need dinner…" Sasuke said unsteadily.
She giggled, and said, "Why don't I fix you dinner? I know you can't cook."
Sasuke smiled inside. He remembered the time he tried to cook for Hinata. They ended up eating out.
His head jerked up as he saw strange clouds roll in, and start drizzling.
"Come on, my house is closer," he said to Hinata. He reached out to grasp his hand, but then it started hailing.
Large chunks of ice, heavier than the weights Lee wore, poured down.
A boulder of ice came down right above Hinata, and Sasuke instinctly jumped over, shielding his body with his own. He didn't expect the weight of the ice to be so heavy, and he didn't expect it to be so sharp.
It plunged deep into the flesh of his back, and he gritted his back. His vision grew fuzzy, and he couldn't make out the words flying out of Hinata's mouth.
"SASUKE!!"
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Hinata was crying. She had been so clumsy, and now Sasuke was in the hospital because of her.
Tsunade and Sakura said it wasn't as bad compared to his other injuries, but it could have damaged his spine.
Now he was resting but unconscious at the moment, but he was allowed visitors.
Hinata has prepared a broth, knowing that the hospital food was terrible. She slid open the door of his room, and placed the broth on his bedside table.
She smiled and was about to leave when something caught her eye.
On the table, there was a plastic bag labeled, "Uchiha Sasuke's possessions".
She could see a chain inside, so she opened the bag, and pulled out a necklace.
Her body immediately began shaking. I know this necklace.
She recognized it as the necklace she had given Hero on his birthday.
Her gaze turned to the sleeping Sasuke on the bed, and her hand flew to her mouth.
Hero-kun!!