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Naruto's Resolve: When Dreams & Reality Embrace

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Bricks, lead pipes, everything and anything heavy piled in his head, pushing against the inner walls of his skull and spilling out as pounding through his ears. His heart already felt sucker-punched, might as well knock out his brain too. He groaned, feebly attempting to lift his head up.

"It seems that I underestimated the effects of the Kyuubi's healing…" A monotonous voice droned.

Naruto managed to twist his neck to the side and flop onto his cheek.

"Shino…? What the hell happened? Why is it so quiet?"

"I put everyone to sleep," he explained casually, as if making people fall unconscious was a daily part of Shino's life.

"You what?" Naruto screeched, regretting it immediately as his own voice shot a sharp pain through his head.

"It was getting…chaotic," Shino said calmly, "because my insects can digest all the alcohol for me, I always have to play chaperone for all of you."

"How did you…"

"One of my bugs can secrete a powder with sedative properties. I simply requested my bugs to spread it to your drinks."

"You drugged all of us?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I believe the correct term is tranquilized. Because−"

"You tranquilized all of us?!"

"Not all of you," Shino clarified, "some of you passed out on your own." He gestured to the seat next to him where Kiba−who was slumped down on the counter table− laid in a puddle of his own drool.

"Shino, you're so scary…" Naruto groaned as a fresh wave of pain thumped his brain. "So what happened? How'd I get so smashed?"

"Dare or Drink ended after Hinata's turn. You then challenged Uchiha to a drinking contest and pestered him until he accepted," Shino supplied. He lifted his chin towards Sasuke who leaned back stiffly in a chair, eyes closed and mouth ajar.

"Oh…" Vague memories of tailing Sasuke around and egging him on surfaced up. Before he could bombard Shino with more questions, the boy stood up and walked to the other side of Naruto. With almost no perceptible movement, he shrugged out of his jacket and placed it over a shivering, trembling body: Hinata's.

Naruto pressed his arms against the table and struggled to push his head up. "Hinata…got drunk?"

"Yes," Shino acknowledged.

"Oh…that's weird, I've never seen her drink before." Naruto tilted his head, leaning forward slightly.

"That's because she doesn't. Tonight's circumstances, however, pushed her to do so."

Shino situated his jacket higher on her body, making sure to shield her shoulders. Naruto didn't know if it was Shino's blunt words or ironically, his considerate gesture, but either way he soured at seeing the two of them together.

"Are you two going to date now?" He bit out, unable to keep the bitterness out of his tone.

Shino regarded him carefully, as if holding his tongue. "No. She does not hold romantic feelings for me," he decided on saying.

"Oh really," Naruto dully said.

The bug-user knitted his eyebrows together. "Naruto, you have no right to be jealous."

"I'm not…" He weakly denied.

Shino ignored him and continued, "Because you had many opportunities presented to you, and your continuous lack of action has spoken volumes."

"What do ya mean?" Frustration edged into his words.

"For one, you never responded to her confession. Even Hinata has limits to her patience."

"Oh…that," Naruto murmured, guilt sprinkling onto his chest.

Dissatisfied, and more than a little irritated at his casual dismissal, Shino fixed Naruto with a glare that penetrated through his lenses. "Do not take her emotions lightly. Hinata is always looking out for you, thinking about you, caring about you. Do not disregard her."

"I would never!" Naruto snapped back, bristling and matching Shino's glare with one of his own. "I would never do anything to hurt her!"

"Oh really?" Shino said, in a manner that neither sounded sarcastic nor fake. It only infuriated Naruto more that Shino truly didn't believe him. "Then why did you not kiss her during your turn?"

"That's because…I don't know, I didn't feel ready," Naruto sighed. "When it comes down to it, I'm still a big idiot about this sort of stuff."

Shino nodded, not refuting his claim. "But I thought that you had experience in loving Sakura. You were going to kiss Sakura, were you not? That is, until Shikamaru adjusted the rules to the game."

"What? What makes you think that?" He blurted out incredulously.

Raising an eyebrow, Shino elaborated, "Sakura is the only person you looked at, besides Uchiha I suppose."

"Oh, I mean, that's 'cause I knew Sakura-chan would just beat me up. And it'd be funny, you know, comedy in an awkward situation," he barked out one, dry laugh.

"I doubt that Hinata interpreted it that way. She never treats you as a joke," Shino said. Walking back to the barstool next to Naruto, he slid into his seat. "Naruto, no one will hold it against you if you do not choose to return Hinata's feelings. Believe it or not, all of us wish for you to be happy as well," Shino paused, "no never mind, some people will hold it against you. But not Hinata, and her opinion is the only one that truly matters."

Naruto turned towards the girl beside him. She slumbered peacefully beside him, arms folded on the counter and serving as a pillow for her head. "Hinata…" he called her name tenderly, sweeping a long bang behind her ears.

He pressed his thumb against his temples and buried his face into his hands. The bags under his eyes bulged larger than ever, tired eyes sunken in their sockets. "I-It's not… that I don't return her feelings. I just don't know what to make of them. Shino, is it true? Does she love me? Does she really?"

"Yes," Shino frankly answered.

"'How? Why?" More questions wanted to escape out of his thudding mind, but at the moment, this was the best he could muster.

"Naruto," Shino lowered his voice to a deep baritone. "This entire time, you've been looking at your predicament the wrong way."

"Huh?"

"You've only been thinking about what you feel. How you should interpret her feelings, how you feel yourself, how you think romance ought to be. Has it ever occurred to you that, love comes in many forms? Hinata may be shy about expressing her love, but that doesn't diminish its strength," Shino said slowly, making a point to keep his words simple and clean.

"Try seeing things from her perspective. Hinata grew up as someone who hated herself everyday. She accepted, believed in those labels of being useless as truth until she… gained inspiration from you. Then, she spent her entire life watching you harbor feelings for someone else. You talked about your crush on Sakura to anyone willing to listen, yet now you won't spend a little bit of time addressing Hinata's confession. For someone she cares so much about to ignore her…it is no wonder that she considers herself a consolation prize."

"Hey, whoa, stop right there," Naruto interrupted, holding a hand up. "A consolation prize? No way, you've got to be kidding me. Actually, she's not a prize at all! Hinata's a person! A person who means the absolute world to me," he confessed earnestly, his eyes glazing over as he looked back at Hinata's sleeping form.

Shino nodded, a ghost of a smile flashing on his lips. "Answer accepted. But you shouldn't be telling this to me."

Chuckling nervously, Naruto clasped his hands together and twiddled his thumbs. "You're right. About everything. I've been…selfish. There's still so many questions spinning in my head, sometimes I feel like I'm gonna explode."

"Then go find the answers to them," Shino all but ordered. "It's a simple solution to your complicated situation. What? You think all the answers are going to fall in your lap? You must conduct research, and more importantly consider her feelings."

Naruto remained silent for a few beats, but he stilled in fidgeting with his hands. "You…Shino. You're right, I−"

"Hinataaa! Pick the giant bunny it's totally your style! Aww you're going to give me the dog? Ya really mean it? You insist? Yahoo!" Kiba snored loudly, entering the conversation like a pile of rocks tumbling down a cliff.

"He is in his drunk sleep-talking phase," Shino explained, furrowing his brow. "This is not good, he will not be sober enough to return home anytime soon."

"Hey." Naruto rolled his body closer to Shino's and poked the stoic boy's bicep several times. "Let me bring Hinata back to her house, it's the least I could do. Your hands are gonna be full with Kiba."

"What about your teammates."

"Eh, they'll be fine. The teme will wake up soon and then he'll make sure Sakura-chan gets home safely. For Sai…I don't think he'd mind staying here."

Shino turned towards Naruto, his black glasses meeting him squarely in the eye.

"No," he deadpanned.

"What! Come on Shino, what gives?" Naruto complained.

"I am not certain if you can take care of her−" He abruptly cut himself off, shutting his mouth closed.

"I promise you that I will take care of her. It's a promise of a life time. And you know that I'm a man who never goes back on his word." Naruto placed both of his palms flat on the table, unwavering, fiery determination in his eyes.

Shino considered him cautiously. He couldn't help that he remained wary, but…

"Shinooo. What's behind your glasses? Do you even have eyes? Are there just gonna be bugs in there? Are you gonna be banned from more goldfish booths?" Boisterous laughter howled into his ears.

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly. "However, I'm holding you to your words." The threatening undertone didn't go unnoticed, and neither did the tiniest twinge of…sadness that hollowed Shino's words.

But maybe Naruto just imagined it.

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The night air was brisk and dry− every now and then, browning leaves would sail to the ground and his feet would automatically move to step on the crisp foliage. Looks like autumn had finally settled in. Naruto wasn't cold, however, far from it. Hinata's body radiated warmth as she lay draped like a blanket on his back.

"Let's see… Hyūga compound, Hyūga compound…where are you…" His feet shuffled to a stop. Small tree on the left looked sort of familiar, so did broken pavement on the ground and average stone bench. Ah huh. Therefore, in conclusion…he still had no idea where to go.

"Damn it," Naruto added some more choice words under his breath. "Shino's definitely gonna kick my ass…"

On top of him, Hinata stirred, shifting around. "Mm…let me down," she murmured.

"No can do, I've got to get you home safely," Naruto replied gently.

Hinata shook her head into his back, her hair tickling his neck. "I need to…let me down."

This time, Naruto surrendered, allowing Hinata to slip off his back. He tried to steady her as her feet touched the ground, but she broke out of his grasp. She teetered towards the side of the road, and leaning her head forward, vomited into a grassy ditch. Naruto rushed to pull her hair back, then pat her back in soothing circles as she continued to retch out yellow-brown, semi-solid puke.

When she finished, she sunk down into a squat, dropping her head into her knees.

"Hey…Hinata, let's move away from here," Naruto encouraged, tugging lightly on her arms.

She didn't respond, and Naruto couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at the acerbic odor of her splattered vomit.

"Hinata…" Forgoing trying to rouse her, Naruto moved to scoop her up in his arms. But he stopped in his movements when she suddenly snapped her head up.

"Naruto-kun…?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yes?"

Pale eyes narrowed, and she scowled at him with a burning, irate expression that he had never witnessed on her face before. "Ugh, why are you still here," she stated, forcing herself to her feet.

"Hinata?" Naruto called, flabbergasted at her cold reaction.

Pointedly ignoring him, she continued to stalk away, wobbling slightly on her feet.

"Hey!" He ran after her, catching her right before she stumbled on loose pavement.

"Mmm…" Hinata wormed out of his arms and collapsed to the ground. Her legs folded on top of each other and she leaned to the side, one arm supporting her weight.

Naruto kneeled down in front of her, placing his hand on her chin to try to get her to look at him. "Hinata? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" She echoed the words. "What's wrong is, why are you still showing up Dream-Naruto-kun? How am I going to get over you like this?"

"Dream-Naruto? No I'm the real thing!" Picking up her free hand, he moved her index finger to poke his cheeks, skating along the ridges of his whisker marks. "See, totally real!"

Hinata merely blinked. "My imagination is getting good at this…"

"That's 'cause I'm not your imagination!" Naruto insisted.

Giggling, Hinata placed her hand over her mouth. "Of course you are, this is nothing but a dream. A silly fantasy that I created. Hm. I wonder if Neji-nii-san and Hanabi-chan are spying on us somewhere," she whipped her head back and forth, but abruptly stopped, clutching onto her head as the world spun around her. Naruto placed his hand securely against the back of her head.

Deciding to just humor her, Naruto also pretended to scan the perimeter. "Hmm…looks like they're not here, so let's quickly get back to the Hyūga compound before they start to worry about you." He bent down on one knee, back facing her, and motioned for her to climb on.

Hinata frowned. "No."

"Aw, come on, please?"

"No," Hinata repeated. "Since you are a figment of my imagination, I will simply fall through."

Naruto shook his head from side to side. "That won't happen, I promise."

"I do not believe you."

"Well then." Naruto turned around and placed one arm behind her back, and the other beneath her knees. He scooped her up in one fluid motion. "Looks like we'll have to go with the alternative!"

She squeaked, blushing as red as a ripe strawberry. Ah, looks like some of her usual self had returned.

He couldn't help but burst into a smile. That was, until Hinata exhaled a resigned sigh. "Fine…Dream-Naruto-kun, you can stay for one more day. But I'm serious this time, after tonight, you've got to get out."

"And why is that? I like it in here!"

"Because," Hinata hesitated, but then figured it didn't matter since this was just Dream-Naruto. "Because I am absolutely certain now that the real Naruto-kun has no feelings for me. I can't keep hurting myself by allowing you to stay in my heart, Dream-Naruto-kun."

Naruto skidded to a stop like a halted train. Smile flipping into a frown, he met her eyes. "What makes you think that? The real Naruto didn't say he rejected your feelings, did he?"

"No…"

"And he's always nice to you, right? The real Naruto will always defend and protect you."

"All of that is true, Dream-Naruto-kun," she conceded.

"So why would you think he doesn't like you?" Naruto pressed on, sincerely curious.

"It's just…" Hinata squirmed under the intensity, the unwavering attention of his blue eyes, but didn't break eye contact. "Well, how do I put this." She put a finger to her chin.

"Say the real Naruto-kun has a day off, and he has a choice to use it between spending time with me, Sasuke-kun, or Konohamaru-kun. Who would he choose?"

"Umm…" Naruto puckered his lips. "To be honest just whoever he's in the mood to see. Most likely the one he hasn't seen for a while."

"Alright," Hinata nodded slowly…and continued to nod and nod. Naruto moved his arm higher up her back and squeezed her shoulder for her to stop.

"Okay then. What activity would he do with all of them?"

"Hm…" Naruto wracked his brain, but could only come up with the most basic answer. "I dunno. Probably train. Or eat ramen."

Hinata clapped her hands softly, a tight smile playing at her lips. "Bing-bong! Everyone will do exactly the same activity. You are correct, Dream-Naruto-kun."

"Huh? I don't get it," Naruto admitted, scrunching his face up in confusion.

"You see, Dream-Naruto-kun, there are many things important to the real Naruto-kun."

"Including you," Naruto affirmed.

"Yes, including me," Hinata agreed. She broke eye contact, and instead lifted her head towards the starry sky. "However, these important things are all equal to the real Naruto-kun. It's as if every person he knows is a shimmering star, they all brighten up his life in some way. But, they also all look pretty much…the same."

"I know that even Dream-Naruto-kun gets easily confused, so I'll explain it again. Everything is of equal importance to the real Naruto-kun, and I, Hyūga Hinata, hold absolutely no priority."

"All I'm saying is that you're not doing anything special." Sasuke's riddle suddenly held new meaning.

Naruto clutched onto Hinata a little tighter, relishing how soft her upper arm felt against his hands. "Hey…that's not true," he tried to refute.

"It's not a bad thing," Hinata continued, "It's actually just another thing I cherish about Naruto-kun. He values everyone so, so much. He wants to stretch himself so far, like he's made out of rubber, and give everyone little pieces of himself. The problem is simply…me." Cupping her chin with both of her palms, she sighed. "I'm acting selfish by wanting more of the little free time he has. No. It's even more selfish than that, I want…a little more of his heart. For him to choose to spend a day with me over Sasuke-kun, Konohamaru-kun, or…Sakura-san," she added reluctantly.

Naruto pondered over her words. An answer bypassed his brain and jumped to his lips.

"You know, if it's more of my heart that you want, I'll give you the whole thing," he blurted out.

To his surprise, Hinata released a peal of laughter. "Dream-Naruto-kun, that was incredibly out of character for you to say. My subconscious needs to work on its characterization."

Naruto didn't share her humor. "Hinata, I'm confused. So you don't…actually want my heart?"

"Of course I do," she replied. "However, I'm telling you to save it. It looks like Sasuke-kun accepts Sakura-san's feelings and is struggling to express his own."

"What are you−"

"So your window to chase after Sakura-san is closing fast, unless you act soon, such as now," Hinata pouted at Naruto for his rude interruption. "Although, I know you're much too kind-hearted to interfere with them."

"No, Hinata…stop."

"Fortunately for you, you have so many fans and admirers now…I'm sure that one of them is bound to have the qualities that you liked about Sakura-san. You have the entire village, maybe even the entire world to choose from."

"Where are you even getting all of this? It isn't like that. All of this is in your head."

"Well of course it is. We are in my dream right now, aren't we?" Hinata reminded.

"Hinata, you have all these great qualities that I like about you. You're strong, brave, super pretty−seriously, you're absolutely gorgeous− and you're the nicest person I've ever met. Yeah you're shy and quiet, which is different from Sakura, but so what? I don't care! Shy and quiet is cute and totally awesome, because that's who you are and you are totally awesome."

Naruto exhaled, suddenly realizing that he had been panting. When did he get so worked up?

Hinata didn't say anything.

"…Hinata?" Naruto lightly jiggled her arm. "Did ya hear me?"

Still nothing.

"Hinata?" He tried again, more quietly and more gently this time.

When there was no response, Naruto ducked his head down and squinted to see her face through her curtain of hair. Soft sniffles emerged, and she hastily swiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Ah! Hinata what's wrong?" Naruto lowered her to her feet and rushed to brush her hair out of her eyes.

"N-Nothing, nothing at all." Hinata continued to sniffle, but also started laughing, a bitter, stifled laugh that ended in a sharp intake of breath. "It's just…why would you go and say something like that, Dream-Naruto-kun? You're making it really, really difficult to let go." Her hands tentatively neared his torso. Reflexively, he opened his arms to the side, giving her room to wrap her arms around him and press into his chest.

"You're really warm, Dream-Naruto-kun," she murmured into his jacket. "I wish we could stay like this for a little while longer. Just a little, please? Then I'll set you free."

Naruto returned the hug, embracing her protectively. Hinata's body molded nicely, practically perfectly, against his own. "It's okay," he reassured. "I don't want to go anywhere," he whispered into her hair.

He could feel her smile against his chest. Naruto's heart swirled with emotion and bewilderment and warmth, a really nice, warmth that invaded his chest as she snuggled closer to him. He could now add another thing he knew for certain: Hinata harbored a very, very wrong perception of herself; he had a dark inkling that he may have innocently, and insensitively, played a part in it.

Had he been...hurting her? No…how long had he been hurting her?

His chest pinched, and his throat constricted. He was a bigger idiot than he thought.

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Blankets tucked snugly under her chin, head tilted so her cheek rested on his pillow, and trashcan ready below her in case she had the urge to vomit again.

Tomorrow, he would have to face the wrath of both her father and teammates…especially Shino. Shino was scary.

It was okay though. He'd take the blame. After all, everything could be traced back to being completely his fault.

Naruto quietly padded to the kitchen and rummaged through his cabinets for some aspirin, knowing that she would probably have a wicked hangover the next morning. He then poured a glass of filtered water from the sink and set the medicine and water on the bedside table.

It still didn't feel sufficient.

Because it wasn't.

He returned back to the kitchen and fumbled through his cabinets: Ramen…ramen…more ramen, fiber bars, oh, azuki beans! He could make red bean soup, soup was good for hangovers right?

Measuring out two cups of azuki beans, he poured them into a large container of water to soak, rattling like shiny pebbles as they plopped into the water. Then, he procured another pot, dumping several cups of water into it before placing it on the stove to boil. While he waited for the food to prepare, he delved through a drawer for a pen and paper.

Hi Hinata! I hope you're feeling better this morning! I made some red bean soup for you in the kitchen, just reheat it and it's good to eat. Make yourself at home! Feel free to take a shower or brush your teeth, there's an extra toothbrush in the drawer. Not that you need to shower or brush your teeth, you always smell nice! Except yesterday you sorta threw up in the grass so maybe you'd…you know this note is becoming a big mess...Anyways, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to find your house last night…actually I'm sorry for a lot of things. I think that I

Naruto straightened up, crumpling the train-wreck of a note in his hand and tossing it into the wastebasket. Nope. No good.

He re-wrote the note, attempting to make his messy scrawl more legible:

Hi Hinata! I hope you're feeling better this morning! I cooked some red bean soup for you in the kitchen, just reheat it and it's good to go. Make yourself at home! I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up. There's something I needed to do…something super duper important.

-Naruto

Better, he thought to himself.

As the water came to a boil, Naruto poured the softened beans into the pot and tended to the soup for half an hour, using a spoon to ladle out the foamy residue. After that, he changed the stove controls to a simmer and alternated between adding water and skimming the foam until he felt satisfied with the consistency. Finishing up with heaping amounts of sugar and pinches of salt, he tasted his own concoction.

He didn't think he was an expert chef, but nonetheless, he smiled in satisfaction.

Naruto turned off the stovetop and placed the lid over his soup. Retrieving his note, he returned back to his bedroom. Hinata breathed evenly under the mountain of his blankets, bundled up like a rabbit burrowed in her nest.

What a cute, adorable creature, he dreamily mused. He leaned over and parted her hair behind her back so it didn't cascade over her face. Would she remember anything when she sobered up in the morning? ...Would she even still like him?

Naruto arranged the glass of water, aspirin, and note in a neat line− organized more meticulously than anything in his life− and picked his jacket off the chair he threw it on earlier.

He walked backwards towards the door, ignoring the temptation to run back in and stay put by her side. Tonight had only illuminated to him that he still had much, much to learn.

Hinata had been patient for long enough.

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Author's Note: I've been waiting to write Chapter 8 since Chapter 1. Inspired by my own drunken friend, who emotionally, and with an abundance of tears, blurted out how much she loved her friends and would travel to the moon and back for them. Then, she promptly passed out. Forgot everything that happened the next morning. Thank you to everyone for all the reviews! (Special thanks to Usa-chan, Calliecature, jojo07, Mists, SpiceyWifey, and hqhqhq, for your constant support, sorry if I missed anyone.) I'm so pleasantly surprised with the attention this story is garnering.