Hey guys

Hey guys! I know it's been a while. Ok a LONG while since I have posted but school just started for me and it's taken a while for me to get situated. Btw congrats to the thereviewer as you were my 300th reviewer. Please leave an idea for Naruto and Hinata's first date. IF it's good I will put it in the story. And personally I don't really like my title if anyone has a better title for my story I would greatly appreciate it. And please send me a Pm with ur favorite NaruHina story so I can add it to the c2. Oh and also I have notice some complaints about my grammar. So if anyone is a beta reader and would like to earn some brownie points, please tell me. And Kazengetsu I would be cool with u doing it but I need your email or something so I can reply. And now on to another great chapter!

'Let's go!" Naruto shouted happily as he marched out of Konoha. This was his first mission in weeks. Nothing was going to ruin his spirits.

"Where are we going again?" Ino asked for the third time.

Hinata sighed. "To a small village only a day's walk from here." Hinata reached into her pack and began to pull out a large, folded map.

Naruto eyed the map as his sense of bravado kicked in. "I'll do it!" Naruto said as he grabbed the map from Hinata.

"Alright! Follow me!" he yelled trying to take charge of the group.

Hinata and Ino glanced at each other as they tried to hold back a fit of laughter. They waited until Naruto was out of earshot.

"Look at him trying to be the leader. He's so cute." Ino giggled. "Hey Hinata… What makes you like him so much?"

Hinata blushed, however, she had asked herself that same question hundreds of times before. The answer was always the same.

"He is the strongest person I know. No matter how many times he gets knocked down, he always gets up. He never gives up. He is extremely courageous."

"And he is soooo hot!" Ino said with a dreamy look in her eyes. "And with his shadow clone he could do so many things……. So many things…." Ino mumbled as she began to drool a little.

"H-He is very c-cute." Hinata stuttered.

"I wonder if he has a six pack…?" Ino asked in a fantasy induced trance

Hinata's face exploded in crimson. "H-He …D-Does."

Ino snapped out of her trance. "What?! How do you know?"

'W-Well…. I… uh...I-I"

"OMG! You looked at him with your byuakugan!"

"No I didn't! I just saw him training shirtless once! ….and pantless" Hinata mumbled under her breathe.

"So you have never since him naked?"

"No!" Hinata shook her head vigorously.

Naruto suddenly sneezed loudly.

"So you don't know if he is hung?" Ino said lowering her voice.

"Hung?"

"If he has a big…" Ino made a rather risqué hand movement and Hinata's face flushed yet again.

"No! I haven't seen that!" Hinata whispered as loud as she could. Although she couldn't help but wonder a little too.

"Well with the amount of chakra he has I'd bet he has a HUGE-"

"INO!" Hinata interrupted loudly.

Ino laughed. "Sorry, girl. I can't help myself."

Pervert! Hinata said to herself

Damn! Ino thought. I'd better stop thinking about Naruto like that! Any longer and I'm going to start walking funny.

"So Hinata… What is it like living as a Hyuuga?" Ino asked trying to change the subject.

The two girls continued to talk for what seemed like hours. Then what seemed like hours eventually turned into hours. The sun had already begun to set.

"Um… Naruto? Shouldn't we be there by now?" Hinata asked hesitantly.

"I don't get it! This map doesn't make any sense!"

"Naruto! You're holding the map upside-down!" Ino shouted furiously.

"Oops…" Naruto smiled sheepishly.

Hinata was caught between wanting to laugh at Naruto's cuteness and wanting to scream as they were now probably miles away from any kind of village and they only brought a day's worth of food.

"We might as well set up camp for tonight." Hinata said trying to stay positive.

"Um…. About that…" Ino said as a blush crept along her cheeks. "We only have one emergency tent. We were supposed to bed at the village."

Hinata deadpanned as she realized what that meant. Tonight, she would be sharing a tent with Naruto. And not the large tent they had shared before, but a very small emergency tent. They would almost be sleeping in the same sleeping bag.

"We need to hurry. It will be dark in a matter of minutes."

The three quickly worked to set up camp in the limited amount of light they had. They soon had a roaring fire and the tent was set up with Ino snoring inside of it. She had complained about beauty sleep and had gone to bed early, leaving Naruto and Hinata alone at the campfire.

"Hinata? Look… I'm really sorry for getting us lost."

"Don't worry. I'm not mad at all. It's almost like we are camping." Hinata said happily.

Naruto smiled warmly. "Thanks, Hinata."

Hinata smiled back. Then as Naruto looked back towards the fire, Hinata tried to discreetly scoot closer to him.

Suddenly, Naruto placed his hands beside him so he could lay back. However, instead of his hands hitting the ground they hit a warm, soft surface.

He looked down and saw his hand on top on Hinata's. He looked back up and smiled at Hinata. Lucky for Hinata the crimson firelight had protected Naruto from seeing her tremendous blush.

Hinata struggled to keep her hand under Naruto's but her shyness was too great. She pulled her hand back and stared at the ground. Hinata silently cursed her shyness.

A loud howl abruptly broke the silence and Naruto jumped out of his skin. He quickly pulled Hinata close to him and buried his face in her chest.

Hinata was taken back by his sudden reaction and was about to scream. However, the scream died in her throat as she felt Naruto shaking in fear.

He is afraid? Of wolves?

"Naruto? A-Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh! I'm so sorry! I don't know what I was thinking!" Naruto scrambled away from Hinata.

Hinata crawled towards Naruto out of concern. "Naruto? Are you afraid of wolves?"

"What? Me?" Naruto forced himself to laugh. "O-Of course not! I'm not afraid of anything!"

Hinata gave him a stern look that told him she knew he was lying.

Naruto sighed. "Yes."

"Why?"

Naruto reached up slowly and stroked the scars on his cheeks.

Flashback

Naruto was four years old and he hadn't eaten in a week. The rain poured on him as he searched though a trashcan on the outskirts of the village. Desperate to find food, he had not even noticed the small cubs hidden behind the can.

Suddenly, he heard a loud growling sound. Fear gripped his heart as two claws reached around his face and pulled him from the trashcan.

Naruto screamed as the claws dug into the sides of his cheeks. He was thrown to the ground, blood flowing down his face.

Two large wolves circled him, bearing their fangs. Little Naruto was terrified and he began to lose consciousness from the loss of blood.

The last thing he could remember was hearing a rasp voice calling out. "We need a doctor! Now!

"Yes-sir, Hokage!"

End flashback

"It's a long story, Hinata." Naruto said as he traced his scars with his fingers.

"Oh... Ok." Hinata said sadly. She wished he would tell her. She wanted to know everything about him.

"Well… I guess I can tell you. Just promise you won't tell anyone."

"I promise." Hinata was elated. He trusted her enough to tell her about his childhood. This was a wondrous moment for Hinata.

Naruto took a deep breath. "When I was four I was attacked by some stray wolves that snuck into the village. The third Hokage found me bleeding in the middle of the night and carried me to a hospital. That's how I got these scars."

Hinata was flabbergasted. "S-So that's why you're afraid of wolves?"

"Pretty much. Kinda cowardly, huh?

"No! Having a fear doesn't make you a coward! It makes you human!"

"But I'm supposed to be a ninja! Ninja's don't have fear!"

"Ninja's are supposed to face their fears. That doesn't they can't have them." Ninja's also aren't supposed to love. Hinata sighed sadly.

Suddenly, Naruto pulled Hinata into a hug. "Thanks, Hinata. You are always there for me."

Hinata wanted to hug him back, but her arms wouldn't move.

"I guess we should get some sleep." Naruto said, standing up. He doused the fire and headed into the tent.

Hinata took a deep breath and followed him.

By the time Hinata had laid down, Naruto was already snoring. Hinata giggled to herself and laid next to him. She was surprises at the amount of heat radiating of him. She figured that she wouldn't need a blanket so she just snuggled closer to her love.

Naruto was the first one up the next morning. Yawning, he sat up and stretched his arms. He folded his animal hat and set it upon his bed. Then he stood up and walked outside.

His stomached growled loudly and he figured that the sooner they left the sooner he would be able to eat. He quickly gathered all their things and cleaned up the camp.

Meanwhile, both Hinata and Ino began to arouse from their sleep. They both noticed Naruto's vacant spot and rushed outside. They were relieved to see him standing outside waiting for them.

"I'm hungry! Let's go find some food!"

The girls giggled and suddenly turned into chicken drumsticks.

"What the?" Naruto panicked as he watched the two laughing fish.

Suddenly, Naruto sat up in his bed.

"Just a dream…" Naruto sighed. His stomach growled loudly. He needed food now! He poked his head out of the tent only to see that it was still dark.

There has got to be some apples or something around here. Naruto thought as he walked off in search of food.

Fifteen minutes later he was up in a tree straining to reach an apple. His fingers were only an inch away from the sweet fruit, but his balance was already starting to fail.

He reached further and wrapped his fingers around the apple and pulled. Unfortunately, the momentum of the pull carried his entire body to the ground.

Fear crawled up Naruto's spine as he heard a growl coming from behind. He turned around and saw a large wolf glaring at him. The wolf slashed at his head and Naruto barely managed to duck. However his black animal cap was torn to shreds. He screamed, dropped his apple and took off running.

He didn't stop running until his legs felt like jelly. Then he walked until he couldn't barely stand. There was a loud crack of thunder and rain poured down on Naruto.

Fortunately, Naruto could make out a small cave in the distance. He staggered towards it, desperate for some shelter. Thankfully there were no wolves in it.

Naruto curled up in the corner and tried to fall asleep, but to no avail. He was too terrified to close his eyes.

The next morning, Hinata woke up smiling. She had fallen sleep near Naruto and so she awoke already in heaven.

However, when she opened her eyes, he was nowhere to be seen. His animal hat was also gone. Hinata knew he always folded it up when left. Something must of happened to him! Hinata rushed outside only to see a empty campground.

She activated her byuakugan and desperately searched for Naruto. However, She saw no trace of him. The rain had destroyed all of his footprints.

Hinata sank to her knees. "He's gone."

Whoa another cliffhanger! Who would have guessed? Well I should post again in about 2 weeks or so. please leave me some opinions on the wolf thing. i was unsure on it but i think its a good addition and it explains the marks on his face. and did you guys know that psychologically, wearing orange attracts hostility? remind you of anyone?

Next time: Ino and Hinata awake only to see that Naruto is missing. Can they work together to find him or will their jealously drive them apart?