La Madrugada

I was heading back to my apartment, but with the full moon shining so pretty, I wanted to watch it some more. I climbed up my favorite tree and laid back to look up. Some clouds veiled the moon, but I could still see its glow emitting behind. It was hidden, like Hinata. Even though her name means, "a place in the sun," there were a lot of things about her that remind me of the moon. What, how did Hinata come up? How did I even remember what her name meant? But I can't help but compare her to the moon. At least nobody can hear my thoughts. Besides, it's not like I can date Hinata or anything. But, still.

It's like how her long hair was as dark and ever flowing as outer space, though her hair shimmered like the stars and galaxies; how she may not always show her true self frequently like the full moon, but when she does, you can't help but stare at anything else; how the clouds may cover her face of a moon, but even behind them, you can see its subtle glow like how she hides herself; how you just wonder what secrets are buried behind the clouds and her eyes; how once the clouds pass over, like now, you can see her the full moon's true glowiness like seeing her kindness in action; how she has an air of calm around her like a tranquil, cool night; how pleasantly surprised you get when she reveals a hidden side of her like seeing a random harvest moon appearing; how her face is as pale as the moon; how her pearly eyes that barely had color to it, but came off as purity to me, looked like twin moons in themselves; and how even though she doesn't reflect as much light as the sun, she still has her own moonlight that enhances the endless stars behind her. Since she's like the moon, but her name references to the sun, she is... an eclipse!

Maybe Kiba and Sakura-chan had a point about Hinata she's someone who deserves to be loved deeply, someone better than me. I sighed, she's so out of my league. Then I remembered those times when she believed in me while everyone ignored me. Or when she came up to fight Pain for me; I nearly lost my soul to Kurama when I thought she died, Yamato-sensei said I unleashed six tails when I started fighting Pain. But strangely because of that, just as I was on the verge of being swallowed by Kurama's enticements of retaliating my pain onto Pain, the spirits of my ha-ha and chi-chi came to consult me. I would've never been able to meet them or even gain Kurama's trust after that experience. Who knew that this village dunce was actually the son of the Fourth Hokage? And that he and my mom did love me, after all?

Or most of all, during the Fourth Shinobi War when Neji died in front of us, instead of giving up like I was about to, Hinata reached her smooth hand towards my face, and I held it in my greasy, calloused hand.
Even recently, she helped me give out carnations to other girls on White Day without hesitation. She never complained, but she actually smiled during all of that. And frick, she took down those robbers like nobody's business, I'd hate to be on her bad side. She was there for me during the big moments and the small ones too. I'm an idiot, but she was willing to put up with me through her grace and endeavor. I have to admit it... I think I love Hinata, but in what way? She'd be the only person I could whisper all my secrets to and I'd know she'd take them to the grave. Not that I want her to die or anything, I already reacted enough from thinking she did! But, she will always persist, go on, and live by my, no, our nindou way- never give up! Just like how her name means, "a place in the sun," she, too, had a place in my heart. I wonder if I just noticed, or if I've always enjoyed her company and didn't know it. I suddenly felt my chest getting lighter. Either way, it was the truth, and the truth set me free... Wow, I'm such a cheesehead.

I looked around to make sure there was nobody around. Nope, I'm good. Thank goodness nobody can hear me but wait, I never talked. I'm getting paranoid. I sighed again, as I realized something else. Hinata's probably dating Shino now, ugh. I wonder if she accepted his confession on White Day? I was so mad when he did all of that for her then, while I only half-heartedly gave a leftover carnation to her. If she did give me chocolates, how did I not get them? I'm sure if I just close my eyes for a few seconds, I can think it over better. If I can't think of anything, I'll ask Sakura-chan in the morning. Yeah, that's what I'll do. This tree sure feels nice...

Birds sure sing loud. That magpie is getting really cranky, I wish he'd shut up. Wait, they've never been this loud before. The sun was barely up. Oh shoot, I didn't go home! As I reached back, I went too far and fell to the ground. Ow, that hurt. What was I going over? Right, I need to go to Sakura-chan's house first!

I rushed over to Sakura-chan's door. "Ohayou Naruto, are you okay?" she yawned. "Yeah, but I just need to ask you something real quick!" I shouted. "Okay, come in," she yawned again. I took off my shoes and sat down on her couch. "Hey Sakura-chan, can I ask you about some stuff? You have to promise not to tell anyone," I begged. "Okay, sure. Go ahead," she consented. "Okay, first, I was thinking about what you said at your birthday party and I gave it some thought," I started. "Keep going," she nodded. "You were right. I gave it some more thought and I realized that I think... I kinda like having Hinata around, what should I do?" I confessed. Sakura-chan started to smile, then laugh. "Whoa, what's so funny?" I stiffened. "It's about freaking time you realized that you dork!" she cheered and punched my arm. Ow, what did I do to deserve that?

"Wait, what do you mean?" I had to check. "Let's see. When one has symptoms of blood rushing to the face, stammering with stuttering, loss of cognition, incoherent thoughts, signs of panic, tachycardia, over productive sweating, social anxiety, hyperactive tendencies towards self-sacrifice, and in this case, fainting... Plus, all of this triggering from the presence of a certain human, the best diagnosis I proclaim it to be, as the apprentice of Tsunade-sama, greatest medical ninja in history, is love-sickness. This normally happens to homo sapiens who happen to catch the attention of their victims. The best cure is to counsel with the triggering subject and come to a conclusion that hopefully renders a positive response for both parties. Dude, Hinata's been head over heels over you ever since we were in kindergarten," Sakura-chan concluded. "What, that long?" I absorbed. Yeah, I definitely deserved that punch. "Yeah, you're so dense! Who knew that the great 'Hero of the Fourth Shinobi War' would totally be blind to the one who'd been admiring him even before he was a Genin? What was with all her stammering and blushing when you were around? How do you explain when she would be having a regular conversation, but then you happen to pass by and she'd babble like a mad man? When she'd make bentous for you and you claimed they were the next best thing after ramen? When people said Hinata totally went up against Pain for you? In fact, I was there when she used her Byakugan to see what was going on, then she charged straight for you two. It's love-sickness, I tell 'ya." So she didn't just get a cold when her face was red and when she fainted?

"Then again, I guess it would've been hard to comprehend, [since people didn't like you before, but now that they do, receiving acknowledgment deeper than mere admiration is something you've never experienced before,]" Sakura-chan's voice faded during the middle. "What did you say?" I asked. "Ah, nothing," she shrugged off. "Why? It sounds important," I continued. "No, it was about something else. It's okay," she repeated. If that's what's she's insisting, I'll let it go. I don't want to make her mad.
"So, what do I do now?" I asked Sakura-chan. "Easy- you tell her that you love her. Acknowledge her virtues or something, be creative," she winked. "Okay, I'll figure something out," I promised. I'm not sure how I'm going to do this, but I have an idea where to start. "Good, now go get her! Oh, by the way, not showering usually won't make a good impression on her, as well as brushing your teeth, girls don't want to taste your bad breath," Sakura-chan exclaimed. "Shut up!" I yelled from behind so she wouldn't see my "sick face."

Several long hours later, I made a plan to tell Hinata everything and went to her house. Her imouto, Hanabi, came to the gate. "Ooo, Naruto-nii-san! Hinata would be ecstatic to have you over, he he!" she greeted and let me in. "Hinata, you won't believe who just came in!" she called. "Hanabi, what are you talk- Oh!" Hinata looked over and jumped. "K-konnichiwa, Naruto-kun," she bowed. "Please forgive my sister, she gets excited over trivial matters," she added. She's so lovely, how haven't I really noticed her? Oh, there are some bandages on her cheek and nose. "What happened to your face?" I asked Hinata. "This? Oh, it's just from some training I did," she said and touched her face gingerly. "Oh okay, at least you're here. I need to tell you something," I started.

"So, um, how are things going with you and Shino?" I asked. "Okay, we're not dating now," she mentioned quietly. Heavens know how much relief came to me. "At first, I was really surprised to see Shino on White Day when he showed off the butterflies and fireflies, I did not expect that at all," she explained. Nobody did. "But he came the next day and invited me to see a bug collection he just finished, which I said yes to. I respected his interests, but I decided that he was still just a fellow brother and teammate to me, so I told him that a few days afterward. He was disappointed but eventually agreed with me. At least that ended smoothly, not in flames, like most breakup stories," she finished. "Yeah, that is good," I encouraged. Thank goodness, she doesn't need someone like Shino. I noticed an envelope on the ground addressed to Hinata, but no other information there. No postage, no addresses, nothing. Should I tell her now? Maybe I'll ask about this first.

"Oh, did Shino give this to you?" I inquired as I picked up the envelope and Hinata looked down. "N-no, it's nothing," she stammered, though something told me there was something deeper going on. "Are you sure? Something doesn't look right about it," I pointed out. Hinata sighed and looked up, bingo. "Yeah, someone's been sending some... unkind messages to me," she confessed. "Oh, that's horrible! It's kind of interesting, because I, too, also am getting bombarded with chocolates at my door every week, but I don't know who they're from," I brought up. "M-maybe, they're connected?" Hinata suggested. "Maybe, I've been getting the chocolates on Wednesday nights," I gathered. "And I, too, am getting this mail at that exact same time," she realized and her eyes grew wide.

I opened the envelope and read the letter inside. She tried to stop me, but I moved away. There were some horrid things that nobody should ever express to a living soul, more or less, to precious Hinata. It gave me shivers up my spine. "No, that's enough," she reached over again, but I ignored her. "No, this is serious, we have to stop this right now," I refused, shaken by these words. And that was only one letter!

I dropped the letter, pulled her to me, and gave her a long hug. Hinata is so warm and soft, I don't want to let her go. I twirled her hair and buried my nose in it. It was heady like lilacs, mmmm.

"N-next Wednesday, can I come with you to find out the person w-who's doing this?" Hinata requested with pleading eyes and a fallen tear. Oh, I'd do anything for her; I'd bend over backward for her, who has such faith in me of all people. "Of course, you'd be super helpful in figuring this out," I smiled. She smiled back and stifled a sob as she rested her head on my shoulder.

Wednesday night came and I brought Hinata below my apartment. "I think I see someone," Hinata pointed out. A shadowed person came up to my door and left something there. As the person turned around, I saw some red hair sticking out from a hat. Red hair, not like my mom's hair, but a bit lighter. Like that one girl- Sayori, right? "Let's go!" I told Hinata and we sneaked closer to her. I nodded for her to proceed. As Sayori-san was about to leave, Hinata caught her. "Stop right there!" she shouted.

Sayori-san stopped. "Who's that?" she venomously spat. "It's me, Hinata," she introduced. "What do you want?" Sayori-san continued in contempt. "Well, I figured it's time for you to stop harassing me, I could turn you to the authorities for your threats," Hinata stated. "Even better, I have written evidence of it," she added. "Who cares about that, tattletale? I've already done worse to you, was last time not enough?" Sayori-san sneered. What, she hurt Hinata, too? So that explains the bandages, how dare she do that! I can't take this, I gotta come in! "Hello Sayori-san, long time no see," I walked over from the corner.

Sayori-san's face paled. "Oh gosh, not you too, Naruto-kun!" she quivered. "Yes. I've been noticing you've been leaving these chocolates for me every week, while you leave nasty messages to Hinata here, and hurt her on top of that," I revealed. "No, it wasn't me, I swear!" she blatantly denied. "Well, you've done this for nearly two months now and it's time you stop," I almost growled. "Okay okay, I admit. I was the one who did that, and also stole and threw away Little Miss Perfect's Valentine! But, why are you being like this? I love you, Naruto-kun!" she blurted. What in the world? No, that's not love she's feeling. The feelings I have for Hinata is different than this obsession Sayori-san categorized as "love."

"No, obsessively following others is not love, that's fixation. Fixation is being possessive of someone as an object, fixation is not respecting boundaries, fixation is hurting others for your selfish purposes, fixation is idolizing someone they aren't and falling to a rage when they don't meet your expectations, all of which you've been doing," I accused.
"Meanwhile, love is about mutual respect, love is kindness in action, love is accepting the other's interests, love is recognizing the good in the other person when nobody sees it, love is giving and not expecting anything back, love is being patient for the other person after all these years; all of which you don't understand," I added and reached for Hinata's hand. I looked over to her, who was surprised at first, but she gave an understanding smile and nod to me. It's all thanks to her that I've learned this, and I want to repay her over and over again for all the wasted years.

"I don't want to hurt you, so just promise us you will stop of this and we'll let you go. And honestly, how would your brothers feel if they knew their big sister was hurting people like this?" I bluffed, but really I might cause harm if she does something like that against Hinata again. "No, not them! O-okay fine, I'll leave you despicable lovebirds alone! I hate you!" she screamed and ran. "And don't come back!" Hinata yelled back. We looked at the chocolates she left behind and walked towards a trash can. "Will you do the honors?" I gave the chocolates to Hinata. "Gladly," she smiled and dramatically dropped them. "Let's get out of here," I sighed. "Please," Hinata agreed.

I walked Hinata back to her house but stopped a little before the guards could see us. "Arigatou Hinata, you were brave," I complimented. "Y-you too," she blushed and looked away. "If it isn't too much trouble, I'd like to take you to the Summer Solstice Festival next week, is that okay? I can stop by your house to pick you up. Of course, I'll make sure to get your otou-san's permission before then," I offered her. She started to smile. "Hai, I'd love to come with you," she smiled. "See you then," I confirmed. To avoid conflict within her family, I gave her... a handshake. She giggled but shook my hand back. "See you too, Naruto-kun," she waved to me.