Hinata lay on her bed watching the fan on her ceiling lazy rotate through petrified eyes. She could barely breathe because of crushing weight of the thoughts that crowded her mind. Finally, finally she was dating Naruto and now she was cheating on him with a woman she barely knew. How could she possibly decide between the blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty that had captivated her with a glance and her blond-haired, blue-eyed crush that she -
Hinata at up abruptly. Her mind no longer clouded by infatuation or self-consciousness began to realize how similar they were. About the same height, always wore the same colors, similar hairstyle and face...Hinata cringed. Am I cheating on Naruto with his relative? She shook her head. Naruto was an only child. He had no known family. It had to be just a coincidence. Maybe Naru-san really respected Naruto and copied his style! Hinata nodded, lying back down shakily. "That has to to be it..." She sighed, returning her gaze to her ceiling fan.
And yet it wouldn't leave her alone. She tried to convince herself that the solution was that simple: Naru-san had copied Naruto, her idol, and dressed up like him. But how could that explain how much they looked alike in the face and how they seemed to be so close but never in the same place together? All this on top of the guilt of cheating on Naruto made Hinata unable to sit still. She stood up, pulled on her jacket and walked out of her room. She met up with Neji in the hallway. "Hinata-san! What are you doing out so late?" He asked. Hinata cast a glance out the window. The sky was dark and moonlight streamed into the mansion.
"Just going out for a walk. I don't feel well." Hinata said quickly brushing past Neji. Neji's eyes followed her for a time before he turned away, still suspicious.
The night air was cool and Hinata shivered in her jacket. It didn't take her long to find Naruto. He was talking to Teuchi at Ichiraku Ramen. Hinata took a seat next to him. He turned suddenly, surprised. "Oh hi!" He cried. "Hey Teuchi-san, this is Hinata-chan. I was talking to you about her earlier remember?" Teuchi smiled.
"Ah, so this is the beauty that stolen Naruto-kun's heart!" He laughed. "Shame about Sakura - you two looked cute together." Naruto grinned and shrugged. Hinata lowered her head. Teuchi moved away to prepare some music and Naruto turned to Hinata.
"What's up? You want some ramen?" Hinata shook her head. Naruto smiled. "Well I do! Teuchi-san! Some ramen here? Large with extra pork!"
"Sure Naruto-kun! This is the last one! I've got to close up some time!" Naruto nodded.
"Hinata-chan did you want to talk to me about something?" Naruto asked reaching for his cup of tea. Hinata clasped her hands and played with her thumbs.
"I-I, um, I need t-to talk to you about something...if that's okay with you." She glanced up at Naruto and looked down at her lap. Ayame came over to Naruto and refilled his cup.
"Sure Hinata-chan. Go ahead."
"Naruto-kun, your ramen."
"Thanks Teuchi-san! Hey could I have another egg?"
"Oh, fine. Eat up quickly though! It's getting late!"
"Right Teuchi-san!" Naruto turned to his ramen his eyes gleaming. "Itadakimasu!" He laughed, splitting a pair of chopsticks.
"Who is Naru-san?" Hinata blurted. Naruto turned to her pausing only slightly.
"She's a girl I met at the hot springs." He said distantly. "We started talking when we noticed how similar we looked. It was kind of funny actually." Hinata smiled. The answer was exactly what she needed: a nonchalant completely average story. "Don't worry. We're just friends." He flashed her a smile. "Thank you Teuchi-san!" Naruto bowed and left his payment on the counter. "Do you want me to walk you home or - "
"I'll be fine." Hinata said. "Thank you though."
"See you Hinata-chan." Naruto waved to her and disappeared into the bustling Konoha night. Hinata breathed in the cool breeze and looked at the sky.
Everything is fine. She sighed to herself. Everything is fine...
But why can't I just believe him?
:::
Two weeks had transpired since the night Hinata had accidentally asked out Naruto. Their relationship was going well. Every other day they would meet up and talk, sometimes by accident, sometimes on a date. Hinata's relationship with "Naru" was going smoothly as well. When she wasn't meeting with Naruto she was walking with Naruko. It was a relaxing change from Naruto. Hinata loved him but he was loud and she always felt so shy around him. Naruko was calmer and easy-going. She made Hinata feel safe and sleepy, while Naruto made her feel happy and exhilarated. And yet at the core they were both so alike - how could she choose?
Hinata spent a lot of time thinking about her relationship with Naruto and "Naru" - so much time in fact, that she barely slept or ate. She claimed whenever she at home that she was going out to eat with Naruto or Naru and with her boyfriend and girlfriend she claimed she had eaten a large meal at home. But the anxiety and hunger and weariness wore away when she was on a date. Naruto had the same problem to a lesser extent. He slept only for a few hours and skipped breakfast and dinner on most days. He put all the energy he could spare into training, sometimes passing out from exhaustion. But he had an obligation to Hinata and revealing his secret would break her; he knew that much.
The process of switching from Naruko to Naruto and back worked wonderfully for the two shinobi. Half a month later, though, Naruto ran into trouble when Tsunade called him to her office.
Captain Yamato, Kakashi, Sakura, Sai and Naruto stood in front of her desk, rigid with anticipation. "Team Kakashi," Tsunade began slowly, "I have a very imporant mission for you. I believe it will be to your liking." She leaned forward. "It has to do with Sasuke." Naruto swallowed. "There have been several complaints from neighboring villages about bandits. We've sent out squads to deal with the individual cases and help rebuild but just now I've gotten news of the bandits' hideout. It's in one of Orochimaru's old bases. I sent in an ANBU squad to scope it out and they said it has an expansive library with multiple records pertaining to other hideouts of Orochimaru. This may help lead us closer to Sasuke but I won't make any promises." Sakura held her breath and clenched a fist. Hope burned in her eyes. "The mission is simple: defeat the bandits. However I'm allowing you to look through the records. A few jonin will accompany you to help sort through the records. They're from my library so they're more than qualified." She looked up at the blond shinobi. He was stiff and looked almost frightened. "Is something wrong?"
"I can't go on this mission!" Naruto exploded. Team Kakashi simultaneously turned to look at Naruto. Tsunade frowned.
"What are you talking about? You've been begging me nonstop for a mission to go find Sasuke. This is the closest thing I can get to you just running out of the village and going on a haphazard search for him. I really go through a lot to get you this Naruto! People aren't open to the thought of the Kyuubi out in the open with Akatsuki looking for you."
"I just can't!" Naruto shouted taking a step forward. Hinata...She'll definitely suspect something if Naruko and I both leave like this. He thought desperatley.
"Naruto it's not your choice." She said. "I'm assigning this mission to Team Kakashi and as a Konoha shinobi you are obligated to accept it. Understand?" Naruto nodded.
"Yes."
"The team will meet at the Konoha Gates at noon two days from now. Dismissed."
:::
"Naruto-kun! You can't spend all your time chakra training!" Sakura shouted. Naruto looked down at her from the training log he was sitting on.
"Sakura-chan, I need to do this!" Sakura frowned and crossed her arms.
"You haven't been acting normal lately, Naruto. Is something wrong?" Naruto didn't answer for a moment.
"I'm fine Sakura-chan." He said eventually. "Really." Sakura shrugged.
"Okay." She sighed. Sakura held her heads in her hands and let out a groan. "That mean I have to train Sai." She frowned. "He's going to get it..."
Naruto let out a sigh of relief. If his plan was going to work he'd have to have all the chakra training he could take...
:::
"See you Hinata-chan!" Naruto grinned. He waved to her and jogged up to meet with Team Kakashi. Naruko squeezed Hinata around.
"Aww, your boyfriend is cute! I'm glad I was able to see him!" Hinata looked at her.
"You, you don't mind?" She murmured. Naruko laughed.
"Hinata-chan..." She sighed, looking Hinata in the eyes. "Just because you have a boyfriend doesn't make you any less my girlfriend." She held Hinata's hands. "I still think you're every bit as beautiful as when I first met you." Hinata couldn't control the rising blush on her face.
She's so like him...She thought. It's like he never left...
Naruko grabbed Hinata in a tight hug. "Aww!" She cooed. "You're so cute when you blush like that!" She pulled away from Hinata. "Come on! Let's go do something fun!"
"Ah! Naru-san! Not so fast!" Hinata cried running after Naruko.