Very brief authors note here, just to say, we're on Day Five! This has some slight NaruHina, and I do mean slight. It's most Hinata-centric, and it's probably my joint-favourite piece I've done so far (Next to the Sasuke and ShinoSaku ones). So, enjoy!

Hinata's life had always been slow.

It wasn't that she wanted life to be all high-octane partying and fast cars, she wasn't into that in the slightest. Rather, she felt that her progress as a person and a businesswoman was deeply stunted. Or, rather, it was.

Hinata had been born as the eldest child to a high sucessfully multi-million dollar company known as Hyūga Enterprises, which dealt with real estate and architectural design. The company was one of the most, if not the most highly regarded in all of Japan, famous for it's consistency with good work and the phenomenal work ethic of their employees. Her father, Hiashi Hyūga, was the current boss of the company, and had done well to improve it's already fantastic standing. And, of course, she was expected to fulfill her father's role when he passed, and had been groomed from the moment she was born to take the reigns.

The problem was, she really didn't want to.

She had been forced time and time again to work with all the, quite frankly, stingy workers that her father employed, studying architecture all the way from the time of the Daimyo's! It was a boring, pointless exercise, in her opinion. And while she respected those who managed to do so; it quite frankly wasn't for her.

And her father loathed her for it.

He was constantly barraging her with insults whenever possible. Worthless, foolish, pathetic, a disappointment. Those happened to be the most common ones. And he would do them anywhere; at the dinner table; before she left for school; at business conferences. It was just constant, all of the time. And it made her feel so, so sad. All she had ever wanted was for her family to love her. But, sadly, most of them seemed to hate her. Her cousin, Neji, absolutely despised her, though, quite frankly, no fault of her own. Her father was the oldest by about three minutes in a set of twins, and for some 'honourable' tradition this meant he would inherit the company, and his brother would be his... well, for lack of a better term, a secretary. Hizashi had not liked that one bit, and, so, had departed the company at the age of twenty-three, having fathered Neji. After trying to start up his own company, it bombed dramatically. Hizashi committed suicide, shooting himself through the head with a pistol. Neji had despised her and her family ever since.

And so, throughout most of her days since then, she had felt deeply melancholic and depressed.

Until she met him.

The boy with the sun-kissed tanned skin and the golden hair and the bright cerulean blue eyes and the bulging muscles and the foxiest and most orgasmic grin on the planet. She had, of course, met Naruto Uzumaki, currently hired as a waiter in Ichiraku Ramen. Not to mention a orphan to.

She had fallen so deeply in the love with the boy, gazing at him during class, watching his every move, trying her hardest to gain a shred of courage and warmth that he possessed.

She had never been a very sociable person. A wallflower, as it were, perfectly content to stick herself in a corner, blush like mad, and pray everyone ignored her. And when she was in social situations, it generally consisted of squeaks, stutters, constant apologizing, and quite a red tint all over her face.

The first time she had spoken to him, he had taken a nasty fall while running away from Kiba, and had sprained his ankle. And so, Hinata Hyūga, was forced to take the blonde all the way to the nurses office at the other side of the school. And she had to carry him! Well, help him hobble around, but it was something! She got to physically touch him!

While they had been walking, and he had been talking her ear off (not that she minded) the topic of conversation had focused on what she wanted to do when she graduated. That point was fast approaching, and the pressure had been mounting on her to take over her father's company.

She confessed to the blonde that she truly didn't want to take over, and instead wanted to be a writer. She had always had a passion for creating characters and imagining scenes, and putting them on paper was something she had dreamed of her entire life. But, alas, her father's constant barrage of insults had torn down any chance of that. But, to her surprise, Naruto had grinned widely, and told her to follow her dreams. And, that he would help her!

And that's how her friendship was born with Naruto Uzumaki.

Her father had not received the news of her decision well, and had disowned her, giving eventual leadership of the company to her younger sister, Hanabi. And, while that had been painful, it had needed to be done. She didn't want to be under her father's thumb anymore, she wanted to follow her own dreams!

And so, that night, she had arranged a meeting with Naruto in an old coffee shop, where she had decided to confess her feelings to him, and see what became of it. And that, was, in fact, where she sat now.

With the final tapping of the keys, Hinata let out a contented sigh, closing her laptop down for now. It had taken her roughly two hours to write up that basic plotline for her novel, and as she took in the rather dreary scenery, she couldn't help but feel... alive.

Rain pounded down onto the concrete of the street and pavement, the streetlights flickering dimly under the constant barrage. There was no sign of the moon tonight, it having decided to hide behind the looming grey clouds that spouted water down onto the small amount of unfortunate pedestrians that were wandering around at this time of night. It certainly wasn't bustling, but she preferred it that way.

As the rain hammered onto the bus stop she was sitting under, she gazed, with her soft lavender eyes, through the window of the coffee shop. The interior looked warmer than what it was outside, as she wrapped the small coat she had brought with her around herself. And, sat at one of the tables, smiling charmingly to himself, was Naruto. And tonight would be the night she confessed. Tonight would be the night that she would get her happy ending.

That wouldn't be the case for the book, though. With a smile, she drummed her hands on the top of her light blue laptop. No, with the outline now finished, she wouldn't extend it any further. The protagonist would stare across from the bus stop, proud of herself and ready to confess her love. In fairness, this was her first time doing an outline, so it probably needed work, but she liked the way it was flowing. And, it did represent her quite a bit.

With a grin, she stood from her seated position, picking up her cup of instant ramen; she figured that Naruto would adore this little gift from her. Clutching her laptop to her chest, she set out in the rain, and across the road.

Wiping the droplets of water from her eyes, Hinata couldn't help but feel truly alive. It had been so long since she felt so sure of herself, and how great it felt to have confidence.

"Oops!" She cried, slipping momentarily on the concrete, causing the cup of ramen to fall to the ground with a thud. Luckily, the lid had been firmly put in place, and there was no chance of the precious noodles from falling out.

As she bent down, Hinata couldn't help but realize how fast her life was moving now. And, quite frankly, she loved it! Only a week ago, she had been feeling hopeless and depressed, a future forced to lead a company she didn't desire to work at with a family that despised her. But, now, she was doing something that she loved, and was about to confess her love to someone else! She was finally moving from a crawl to a run, and nothing would stop her from gaining speed!

That was, of course, except for the speeding car that slammed into her, rupturing her internal organs, shattering her bones and killing her instantly.