Chapter 29: Putting Down the Weight of Burden

Hinata debated with herself on what to do. I… I don't want to tell him" but the only way I can break out is by using Gentle Fist… and I don't want to hurt the man I love, for goodness sake! But what will I do? I wasn't ready for this…

Inside Naruto, Kurama was scolding him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LET THE POOR WOMAN GO!"

"Kurama, hear me-"
"NO, NARUTO. YOU LISTEN TO ME! I-"

"KURAMA, SHUT UP FOR TWO SECONDS! LET ME TALK, BAAKA!" Naruto shouted at the top of his voice. "I know Hinata, you don't."

"I-"

"LISTEN! I know if that I let go, Hinata will take off running to her room, and lock the door on me for hours before she'll decide what to do. If I do this, she can't escape unless she harms me with Gentle Fist. And Hinata wouldn't hurt me, no matter what."

"That's a good idea, but Hinata's big on her privacy too. She might use Gentle Fist… how about this? I'll transfer to Hinata's mind, and I'll talk to her and see what's going on. Maybe Hinata just doesn't want anyone to overhear and spread rumors."

"Good idea… but won't I pass out again?"

"You needn't worry. Once I go back to you, I'll summon some chakra from you so you won't go unconscious."
"Okay. Thanks, Kurama."

"You're welcome." Kurama started to transfer himself to Hinata using some of his chakra.

I should use Gentle Fist… Hinata thought. That way. I can-

"Hold on." A deep voice said. There was only are explanation… Naruto had let Kurama transfer to her. But why?

"K-Kurama… is that you?"

"Yes, it's me, Hyu-Hinata."

"Wh-wh-why are y-you here?"

"I'm here to ask you what's causing you to run away from Naruto."

"Ar-are you going to tell Naruto?"

"Yes… why else would I be here?"

"B-b-b-b-"

"Hinata, look. Both Naruto and I tolerate the fact that you're shy, but it's not right to try to be someone else in front of your lover. Naruto loves you for who you are, not for acting like someone else. There's no reason to be shy anymore, because the only way Naruto would despise of you was if you murdered someone dear to him, which, knowing you, will never, ever, happen."

"Okay, Kurama, I'll tell Naruto, but I want to go to the comfort of my room first. I-if h-he's okay with s-staying there."

"I'm sure he'd be happy with that. Thank you, Hinata."

"No, thank YOU, Kurama. Without you. I might've not been able to summon the courage to talk to Naruto. I might've hurt him with Gentle Fist…"

"Well, farewell."

"Farewell!" Hinata said with a smile on her face, as Kurama transferred himself back to Naruto. Naruto had fallen onto the floor from losing most of the chakra that he normally held. All of a sudden, a great mass of chakra boosted him, and Naruto slowly opened his eyes. Kurama relayed all the info that Hinata gave him to Naruto. Hinata stood over Naruto, waiting for his reply. "Sure, I'm fine with that." He said. Naruto and Hinata both strolled to Hinata's room walked in, closed the door behind them, and sat on the edge of Hinata's bed. Hinata looked down at her feet in embarrassment, while Naruto looked at Hinata.

"So…?" He asked, desperately wanting to know what was wrong with Hinata. "I-I'm sorry for grabbing onto your arm earlier… I just really wanted to know what was wrong with you…" Now they were both looking at their bare feet.

Hinata looked at Naruto. "I-It's fine. I shouldn't have even tried to run away anyway."

"So, what was the problem anyway?" Naruto said with a welcoming smile. The smile that Hinata loved. The smile that hid so much sadness that only Naruto and Kurama were aware of. The smile that could convince anyone that Naruto was fine, even if he had so much confusion and worry behind it. But, of course, only Naruto knew about the sadness. He figured that he'd wait until he and Hinata had bonded more until he told her about it. Maybe now was the time? No, he'd wait a little longer.

"Well… I thought about what you- "

"Wait, that's what you worried about?"

"Yes, I was going to see if I'd tell Ino about it for advice."

"Oh, well, you don't have to worry about that."

"Wh-why?" Hinata thought about the possibilities. Is he going to say 'because of this' and kiss me? Or something like that? Hinata couldn't help but blush.

"It wasn't me who did that; or at least, I didn't intend to do that. Kurama did it."

"R-r-r-r-really?!"

"Yeah… I meant to tell you that, but then so much happened, so…"

"Oh… Why would he do that?"

"Maybe for practice…"

"Practice? For who?"

"Let's just say it's a bijuu whose name means catnip and keep it at that, shall we?" Naruto said with a cute smirk. Yet another reason why Hinata loved Naruto. Those cute little expressions on his face he had at times…

X.A.N.A. had popped up again in front of the relieved couple, but dissipated right after… unwillingly.

"That was… weird." Naruto said.

"Yeah." Hinata agreed.

"Maybe they took him down."

"Well…"

"If we're right, which seems obvious, we should get some sleep."

"You're right. I didn't even realize how tired I was." Hinata yawned. She read the clock. It was 2 AM. Of course, they were tired.

"Well, good night then, Hinata." Naruto said.

"Good night, Naruto." The two kissed each other good night, and got ready for bed.

As Naruto got into bed, Hinata stepped into the room, blushing. "N-Naruto, is it o-okay i-if I-I sleep w-w-with y-you tonight?"

Naruto blushed madly. Thankfully, Naruto's bed was in a dark area, so Hinata couldn't see him well. "S-sure, H-Hinata."

Naruto woke up scared and sweaty. He had experienced what was most likely the worst nightmare he had ever had. He saw people walking up to Hinata with blowtorches, getting ready to burn her to death. She was struggling and yelling to get out, but she couldn't do anything. He couldn't move either. Someone set Hinata on fire, and she was screaming in peril. That was when Naruto woke up. As his mind wrenched itself to reality, Naruto remembered that Hinata should've been right next to him. He looked over. Surely, she was there. And awake. She was sitting up, and her hand was on Naruto's forehead.

"Naruto, are you awake?"

"Yeah."

Hinata immediately swept her hand off Naruto's forehead. "S-sorry." She stuttered. "I just felt heat and you were sweating, so…"

"I'm fine." Naruto said. "I just had a scary dream, that's all."

"What was it about?"

"There was a mob of people walking towards you with blowtorches. You were tied to some pole, and neither of us could move."

Hinata kissed Naruto on the cheek. "Well, at least that's not reality."

"Yeah."

The two held each one in the other's arms and slept peacefully for the night… and maybe a bit romantically, too.

A/N:

Okay, so the random chapter 30 in the chapter 29 was weird and unintended. I think I might've accidentally changed the number to 29 after I copied it from my Word Document (The chapters are all messed up on my Word Doc now). I'll try to change it. (There are also some other chapters that have that issue as well)