As they walked away from the tent, Naruto began to wonder how Hinata had gotten there so fast. There wasn't much time between when he woke up and when he stormed out of the tent. She had to have been nearby, perhaps even right outside his tent already. He decided he would ask her later.
"So, what do you want to do?" Naruto asked as he looked around. The ground around them was decimated. There were no rivers, lakes, or even trees except for what remained of the giant one in the middle of the battleground. Outside of the giant crater that the Shinobi set up camp in, there were a few small hills.
"Um, the sky looks nice tonight, I was thinking w-we could stargaze and just... talk?" Hinata suggested. There really wasn't much else to do unless they wanted to stand around the bonfire. That didn't sound fun.
Besides, Hinata really wanted to practice talking to Naruto more. She hoped that eventually, she wouldn't stutter and she'd be able to meet his piercing gaze, like she did when Naruto knocked her down. She thought back to that moment... they were so close, maybe a few inches from each other's faces, and she didn't look away. She wanted to always be able to look at him that way, and even more so, she wanted him to look at her that way too.
"That sounds fun! Maybe we could hike up to one of those hills and set up our own little campfire? We can take some wood with us if that sounds good to you."
That sounded perfect. A late night campfire and stargazing with Naruto... away from everyone. Hinata couldn't think of a better way to spend time with him. Well, not a better way that would be... appropriate.
"That's a g-good idea, are you sure you're able to walk that far?" Hinata asked, still concerned about Naruto's physical condition. She had heard that Naruto and Sasuke had both nearly killed each other in their final battle, suffering extreme chakra loss, and both of them losing an arm. She was happy to see him back on his feet, but she didn't want him to overwork himself. The range of hills was about a mile walk from where they were.
"Yeah, I shouldn't have too much trouble getting up there. I'll make a shadow clone to help bring some fire wood. There's plenty of scrap wood laying around from that giant tree." Naruto said while weaving the hand sign for Shadow Clone Jutsu.
A second Naruto appeared before Hinata could object to him using his chakra, and the real Naruto seemed to stumble. Hinata grabbed his hand to keep him from falling. As soon as he was steady again, she let go and blushed. His physical body was okay, but Hinata could tell that his chakra reserves were still very low.
The cloned Naruto began picking up multiple pieces of fire wood, while the real Naruto grabbed one in his good hand. Hinata grabbed a few pieces. "Alright Hinata, lead the way!" Naruto said.
Hinata lead them on a walk away from the crater and into an area with a few hills, occasionally looking back to make sure Naruto wasn't about to keel over. She picked out a taller hill and got to the top. The shadow clone followed her, and the real Naruto was a little further back. Once the clone reached the top, Naruto dismissed the clone and it disappeared, its collection of wood falling to the ground. Hinata placed down her firewood and watched Naruto catch up.
"See? I'm not dead yet!" He said as he approached her. He set his single piece of wood down on the pile. "Sorry for making you do all the work, Hinata."
Hinata giggled and said, "It's no trouble. Maybe you can make it up to me somehow." Her eyes widened slightly after she said this. She didn't mean for it to sound so... suggestive.
"Oh yeah? And how am I going to do that?" Naruto said with his eyebrow raised.
"Um... well..." Hinata trailed off. She wasn't sure what to say. She knew what she wanted, but wouldn't dare say it to him. Not yet. She would play innocent, for now.
"You have to promise me to not over exert yourself. Your chakra level is still very low, and I don't want you to hurt yourself. Just take it easy and keep letting me help you. P-Promise?" She said in a serious but caring tone.
Naruto was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected Hinata to be so protective of him.
"Okay, I promise. I guess that means you're gonna have to be my own personal assistant until I'm better." He said as he smiled at her.
"I think I can work with that" she responded with a laugh. Hinata was getting excited. The thought of being around Naruto and taking care of him made her happy. She'd do anything for him, really, but if this was all she could do for now, then she wasn't going to complain.
"So should we get the fire going? It's kind of chilly out here." Naruto said.
"I'll take care of it, you relax." Hinata responded as she started building the fire.
"I guess I did make a promise didn't I?" He said as he sat on the ground and watched her. She had the fire going in seconds it seemed. "Wow, you're really good at that! I've never been good at camping stuff."
An idea struck her mind, and it made Hinata blush. "T-Thank you, Naruto. Maybe when we get back home, we can go camping together again and I'll teach you."
"I'd love that, Hinata." Naruto said as she sat down bedside him in front of the fire.
Hinata glanced at Naruto as he stared into the fire. His eyes looked like he was deep in thought. Like something was on his mind.
"Naruto, what are you thinking about?"
Naruto sighed and looked to her. "A little bit of everything I guess. Sasuke said he's going to leave again so that he can process everything that's happened. I'm glad to have him back on our side, I just wish he didn't have to go away so soon. But... he told me something else too. He told me that there's a girl in Konoha that has feelings for me. He said that pretty much everyone knows except for me."
Hinata's heart sank. 'He knows' was her first thought.
"He wouldn't tell me who it was, he said I needed to find out for myself." Whew. That was a relief. Hinata was safe for now.
"But what confuses me the most is that he said she's liked me for a long time. It just doesn't make sense, before I defeated Pain nobody really cared about me at all. How could someone have possibly-"
"That's not true, Naruto." Hinata interrupted. She understood why Naruto felt this way, for it was mostly true. But she was going to make damn sure he didn't feel that way about her too.
"What do you mean?"
"Naruto, I can't speak for everyone else, but I can tell you this. I have always cared about you. I saw the way people treated you and it made me sick." Hinata's pearly eyes were tearing up. It was true, Hinata often laid awake at night during the academy days, wishing Naruto wasn't hated so relentlessly.
She continued, "You stood up for me when I was too afraid. You gave me confidence I never knew I could have. I know I've never really shown it much, but you saved me more times than I can count, Naruto."
Technically Hinata had confessed this to him already, as well as her love, during Pain's assault on the village. But she knew Naruto had lost most of his memory of that fight and couldn't bring herself to proclaim her love again. Not yet.
Naruto looked at her with guilt in his eyes. "I... I'm sorry Hinata. I didn't mean to disregard you like that. You're right. You've always been kind to me, even if I didn't deserve it. Thank you. I hope you'll forgive me for talking like that."
Hinata wiped the tear that had made its way down her cheek. She smiled at him. "You don't have to apologize, Naruto. And you don't have to thank me either. I could never be hateful to you like they were."
"I don't doubt that, Hinata. You really are special." Naruto said, causing her to blush even further. She couldn't meet his gaze anymore. She was doing so good, no stuttering, keeping eye contact, but after that? She was back to her usual shy self again. She hated being so easily flustered by him, but she was happy knowing he was the only one who could make her feel like that. She only hoped that someday she could make him do the same.
Naruto laid on his back and watched the midnight sky. He couldn't get Hinata off of his mind. Even the stars above reminded him of her bright eyes. The blackness of the night reminded him of her hair. He had never really noticed how much he meant to her, and he felt guilty for it. But he saw her now, and couldn't be more thankful to have her as a friend. Friend. That almost didn't sound right.
Naruto's eyes widened. It was her. It had to be. She said it herself, she had always cared about him. What exactly did she mean by that? Was she who Sasuke was talking about? Naruto wasn't exactly sure, but she definitely had his attention. His thoughts were interrupted as Hinata laid down beside him on her back.
"Sorry for getting all emotional, Hinata. This camping was supposed to be fun" he laughed.
"Well, I'm having a g-great time. Aren't y-you?" Dammit. The stutter was back. He made her so nervous without even trying. It was torture.
"Of course I am! This was a really good idea. Ya know, we should hang out more often once we get home. I like being around you, Hinata." Naruto said.
Hinata glanced over at him and noticed his cheeks looked red, even in the fire light. Was he blushing? She hoped he was. "I really like... being around you too, Naruto."
Naruto felt his eyes getting heavier. Hinata herself was tired as well. She hadn't slept since she woke up from her Infinite Tsukuyomi dream. She had been too worried about Naruto. She tried to fight the exhaustion, but it eventually won.
As they laid there stargazing, Naruto looked over to Hinata and realized she had fallen asleep. He took this opportunity to study her. He admired her long silky hair and her gentle face. He had to admit, she looked really beautiful, especially in the light of the campfire. His eyes moved further down her body. He never really paid attention before, but even under her loose clothing, he could tell that Hinata had a very attractive body. He caught himself staring and had to force himself to look away.
This was so confusing. How had he never noticed her like this before? It tore him up inside. He swore to himself that if Hinata was the girl Sasuke was talking about, he would do everything to make it up to her for not seeing her before. And if she wasn't, then... whoever it was might be disappointed.
He was determined to find out for sure, and soon. He wanted to learn more about her. He wanted to know for sure that Hinata had these kinds of feelings for him. He wanted to know for sure that he had these kind of feelings for her. He had never experienced love, and didn't want to proclaim it if it wasn't real. He swore that he would know for sure, eventually. But for now, he would lay there at her side, stargazing.
