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Chapter 8

I still had Hinata pinned down. She was squirming more when I wasn't letting her up. It was funny to watch her squirm. She relaxed a bit when I told her I would let her up soon.

"Why didn't you tell me you liked me?" I asked her. I should have known because I started liking her couple of months ago. I didn't let anyone else know that because they would have made fun of me. They thought that she was the weakest person, but I could see the determination in her eyes. She was so cute.

"I didn't really know if you liked me or not. Every time I'm around you. I always get nervous. I didn't know what to say," she said.

"I started to like you a couple of months ago. I didn't know how to tell you. I thought you had a crush on me, but I couldn't be sure," I told her. She nodded and smiled at me. I was wondering what was going through her mind at the moment. I told her that no one knew. I didn't want them to make her feel less of a person. I didn't want people to treat her just as badly as everyone treated me. I know that her teammates would stick up for her for liking me. I wonder what the village would do if they found out that she liked me.

"Oh, I did and still do have a huge crush on you. You are my inspiration for wanting to get stronger as well. You are the reason I'm being pushed into not being as shy. I know I still get shy around you, but I wish I didn't," she said. I could see she was trying to not be so nervous. I know that it's hard to get over nerves sometimes though.

"What is your favorite color?" I asked her. I wanted to get to know her more.

"Purple, and how about you?" she asked.

"Orange, do you have any favorite actors or actresses?"

"I really don't know. I don't go see movies much," she responded.

"How many secret crushes do you have?"

"One and I'm talking to him," she said. I guess she wanted to get that out of her chest. That made me blush and smile.

"How old were you when you started liking me?"

"When I was five or so," she said. She liked me for that long? That must have been a long wait to get that off her chest.

"Who is your best friend?"

"I would have to say it would be both Shino and Kiba. I like having them to count on because they are a part of my team."

"Does your cousin drive you crazy?"

"All of the time, but that's just how family is," she responded. I still did wish that I had a family. She tried to console me when I go upset. She really was a nice girl. Maybe I shouldn't have brought up that question. I should have known it would make me sad.

"Do you like Sakura?" I had to ask that because I wanted to know if Sakura was driving her insane too.

"Not really. I just had to put up with her because she was your teammate and I knew you liked her. I just wish in the beginning you didn't like her as much," she said with a frown. I didn't like seeing a frown on her face. I kissed her on the cheek and she blushed.

"I have to be honest because I don't want to be honest with Sasuke. I did used to like her before she kept hurting me repeatedly. She always turned me down because of him. I just put up with her now too because I don't want to hurt Sasuke," I said. I was just glad that I could be honest with someone. She smiled a little bit. I could tell she was starting to get a little bit fidgety. I was still sitting on her after all.

"That is nice of you," she said.

"I guess." I asked her a couple more questions before I let her up. I helped her up from the floor and offered to walk her home. She wanted to fix her hair before she left though.

xxx

I walked her home after our two hour long date. I did question a lot of things because I wanted to get to know her. She answered all of my questions. I was glad that she did. I had a lot running through my mind.

"Hinata, I would like you to be my girlfriend," I told her. I was being serious too. Her face turned bright red and she just about fainted again. I caught her before she fell on the ground. I didn't want my lovely new girlfriend to be on the ground. She did seem a little shocked that I wanted to date her. I don't know why. I admitted to her that I liked her. I gave her a piggy back ride until she woke up.

"W-What happened?" She asked coming too.

"Are you okay? You fainted after I told you I wanted to date you. Would you like to go out with me for real?" I asked her again.

"I would love to go out with you," she said with a huge smile. Her smile was really beautiful. I can't believe didn't notice her before a couple of months ago. I shouldn't have ignored her so long because of Sakura. Sakura could care less about anyone, but my best friend. Everyone else she would just ignore or hurt. Ino was an exact carbon copy as her. They always fought over Sasuke and in the end Sakura won the battle.

I did ask Sakura out before and the results of that were terrible.

"Sakura, would you like to go out with me?" I asked her when we were first put on a squad together. She gave me a really mean glare and decided to crush me where I stood.

"No, I only have eyes for Sasuke. Why would I go out with a loser like you? No one even likes you," she said. That hurt badly.

"Can't you at least give me a chance? I know I could make you feel special."

"No, didn't you hear me say I only have eyes for Sasuke. Get out of here," she responded harshly. On the way home I frowned the whole time. I was really upset because of that. I just hid all of the feelings for the team's sake.

"I am so sorry…that I didn't notice you before this. You were always such a good person. I should have realized a lot sooner," I said.

"I'm sorry too," she said in a joking tone. That made us both laugh and I finally put her down and let her walk on her own.

When we got in front of her house I couldn't help, but notice that she was shaking a lot. The scared look that was on her face the other times I saw her were back. I was worried about her, but I knew she probably wouldn't answer my questions, but I tried anyway. "Hinata, why are you shaking so much? Are you okay?"

"It's n-nothing. I'm f-fine," she said. I didn't believe a word she just said.

"Are you lying? I know something is wrong. You can't lie to me," I told her. I could tell she was really scared of something, but I didn't know what. I knew she was going to lie.

"No, I'm not lying. I'm okay, really," she said. Was she trying to convin"e me or herself?

"It can't be anything," I told her and grabbed her into a hug. She calmed down a bit in my arms, but I was still going to get to the bottom of her being scared.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but I have to go. See you tomorrow," she said. I kissed her on the lips before she went into the house. I didn't leave though because I wanted to see what was going on with her.

xxx

"Where have you been girl?" I heard a yell from inside of the house. Was that her father? I hated her father, but I knew I couldn't do anything about it.

"With my friends," Hinata said so softly I could barely hear her. She was shaking worse now. I could hear everything from the window that I was standing behind. I was peeking inside to see what was going on. That looks creepy, doesn't it?

"You were supposed to be home an hour ago! Where in the almighty universe were you?" her father asked in a harsh tone. I couldn't help, but feel anger rising in my chest. It was my fault that she was getting home late. She never told me she had a curfew…

"I-I l-lost t-track," she said. She was getting pale. Before she could do anything else her father slapped her so hard in the face that she hit the door. She was looking at the ground crying. So this was what she's been hiding from everyone. I was just about ready to kill him.

"Next time you better be home on time," he said. He was about to leave the room, but I jumped in. I had a few choice words to say to him.

"You better apologize to her!"

"Who are you? Are you one of those friends she was with?"

"I am Naruto and I am one of those friends she was with," I said with a glare. I wasn't going to tell him that she was my girlfriend now. I would think that would get her more in trouble with her father.

"I will not apologize to my weak, pathetic, worthless daughter," he responded. Did her really just call her worthless? My blood was boiling at that point.

"She is not pathetic or worthless! She trains hard to become strong! Don't ever treat her like that again! You are a bad father," I said in a really angry tone.

"You should mind your business, kid. You are not her parent," he responded glaring back at me. Before he could leave the room or do anything I punched him dead in the face. He held his nose in pain. I guess that's where I did the most damage. His nose was bleeding after all. My blood was still boiling. "You are going to pay for that!"

"You will never lay another hand on, Hinata, ever again. If I ever catch you hitting her again…you will get worse," I said in a threatening voice. I could now see why she was scared to come home. I shouldn't have brought her there. I picked Hinata up from the floor. I put her on my back and jumped out of the window. I started running as fast as I could back to my house.

"Naruto, please, put me down," Hinata said begging me.

"I'm trying to keep you safe now, Hinata. Why didn't you tell me you were being abused? Don't you trust me," I asked her. I could see the tears in her eyes. I just wanted to hold her and not let her go. I wished she would have just told me. I would have protected her sooner.

"I know you want to help me, but I don't really think you can. My father will find me eventually and drag me away from you. I do trust you, Naruto," she said looking at the ground. She didn't really trust me. Well I didn't believe she did. We were at my house before I responded to her statement.

"If you trusted me…you would have told me an hour ago," I responded. I didn't want to upset her more than she already was. Her shoulders were shaking and she was crying. I felt bad and held her until she calmed down. My shirt front was wet when we went inside.

I turned the light on and went into my room for a couple of minutes. Hinata was sitting out on the couch. It looked like she had a lot on her mind. "N-Naruto?"

"Yes, Hinata, what is it?"

"I'm sorry. I just couldn't tell you. I never told anyone…no one else knows about what my father does to me," she responded.

"I know it was probably because you were scared. Don't worry. I know you didn't want me to find out, but I think it was good I stayed. He could have killed you," I responded. I sat down next to her on the couch and pulled her into my arms. She started crying again on my shoulder. "You should never be afraid to talk to me."

I kissed her forehead and stood up. It was getting late and I was getting tired. Hinata looked exhausted from crying so much. I had to figure out what I was going to give Hinata. I was going to have her stay. I didn't want her to go back to that house. I saw a white shirt in my drawer. It was one that I didn't use anymore. I knew it was going to be huge on her though. I handed her the shirt and told her she was going to be sleeping in my room. I was going to sleep on the couch. I didn't mind though.

Hinata was having trouble falling asleep so I sat up with her until she fell asleep. When she fell asleep I went into the bathroom. I took my old kunai knife out of its hiding place. I was thinking about a lot. I knew that Hinata couldn't really trust me just yet. We had just started dating. I put the kunai to my skin. I cut myself a few times because I was upset. Some of the blood dripped on the floor so I cleaned it up. After that I just went into the living room and fell asleep. I was drained after all the events that happened.