Part 6: Academy Days & The Blank Period, Hatsukoi

Summary: First encounters and first loves.

"…sorry…I'm so sorry…"

The sweet voice slowly brought Naruto out of his stupor. Funny, because he could listen to that voice all day, it was so soothing. All he wanted to do was stay blissfully asleep. But somebody was patting him gently on the chest trying to wake him and he knew it couldn't be ignored.

Unfortunately, too, whatever he was lying on was wet and very cold. That's when he realized he was lying on the snow—because he'd gotten his ass kicked by three of the biggest and meanest kids he'd ever seen.

But what was he supposed to do? Stand by and do nothing while those boys bullied a little girl?!

Hell, no! He was Naruto Uzumaki and he was not going to act like a coward and leave others defenseless.

Okay, granted, he probably wasn't any bigger than her, but still. People shouldn't be making fun of others and especially calling them monsters.

Still groggy, he heard her sniffle and say, "I'm sorry."

Naruto finally opened his eyes and looked at the girl he'd just rescued.

She looked uncertain, which made him plaster a smile onto his face to make her feel better.

"Don't worry!" he cried as he sat up.

Startled, she finally stopped apologizing and sat on her haunches while she gazed at him quietly.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice still sweet.

He shrugged and then grinned at her. He pointed to his torn clothes. "Yeah! This is nothing!"

She didn't say anything, only continued staring at him.

Naruto didn't tell her about the throbbing in his right eye, but he could tell that she sensed he was hurting. Still, he was grateful that she didn't comment on his injuries—or his pathetic attempts at a kage bunshin.

He placed a hand gingerly on his eye and winced. Oh, well. He would ice it later when he got home. Luckily, he'd just gotten his monthly allowance from Hokage-jichan so he had money to buy some ice cream to eat—and to ease the pain.

"Thank you for saving me," the girl finally said.

"Yup! No need to thank me, though!" Naruto laughed. "I didn't really do much."

"Oh, but you did a lot!"

He shook his head. "Nah!" Embarrassed now that he realized she was a witness to his ass-kicking, he quickly stood up and brushed the snow off his clothes. With a jaunty wave, he rushed away, calling over his shoulder, "See ya!"

Okay, the plan was to just brazen it all out. Today was just the first day. Really, nobody was expecting anything from him, he knew that.

Naruto was only at the Ninja Academy because San-dai-me had forced him to go. The Hokage had come to his apartment with a scary-looking guy named Iruka and had threatened to take away his allowance if he didn't go to school.

Of course, they all knew the threat was only because Naruto hadn't wanted to go in the first place.

Who would want to sit in a boring classroom and listen to old people drone on and on about things he wasn't interested in?

"But Naruto, it's the Ninja Academy," Iruka had said.

Okay. Good point. Naruto really did want to be shinobi. Still, it was the principle of the thing. He wasn't going to get tricked that easily! School was still school. School was still boring. Really!

Naruto frowned at the two adults standing before him. Didn't they understand that he was the one who had to sit still at a desk and actually do the learning of things?!

Before he could argue some more, though, San-dai-me had finally lost his patience and threatened him with the loss of his monthly money.

"Okay, okay!" Naruto had thrown his hands up and scowled at the two of them. "I'll go to school."

The Hokage had nodded with satisfaction and Iruka finally smiled at him. "I'll see you at the Academy, Naruto."

When they were finally out of his sight, he closed the door and whooped with joy.

At last! He was finally going to learn something useful.

But a few days later, as he stood in the hallway, lost and confused, he found himself suddenly overwhelmed. All the kids were ignoring him—of course. He didn't know anybody at the school. By contrast, all the other children seemed to already know each other and were clustering into groups. Normally, Naruto would have already forced himself and joined whatever conversation he could join in, but he was suddenly hit with indecision.

"Um…"

The quiet voice startled him out of his thoughts, it had come up so suddenly behind him. When he turned around to look, he saw another girl his age. All he saw was short, dark hair. Her eyes, he couldn't tell what color they were because her face was hidden, her head tipped down to the floor and refused to look up.

"What?" he asked.

When she finally looked up to answer his question, he finally saw her face even though her fingers were nervously tapping at each other. "Do you need help?" she mumbled.

He had to step closer and bring his face directly into hers so that he could see her eyes more clearly. He finally discovered that her eyes were some shade of light purple. Something about her seemed familiar.

"I didn't hear you! What was that?" he asked, which made her squeak nervously and jump. "Oh, sorry!" he said with an apologetic laugh. "I didn't mean to shout."

"It's okay," she finally responded. Then she looked around and realized that she held his complete attention. Naruto saw her swallow nervously, give a couple of pokes of her fingers. "I can show you around the Academy, if you like?"

His face immediately lit with a relieved smile. "You will?!"

She blinked a few times before she nodded.

She took him around school that first day, pointing out the areas he would later come to know intimately through the years: the gymnasium where they would learn taijutsu; the training grounds where he would throw his first shuriken; the outdoor playground where he would understand the significance of the shinobi Seal of Reconciliation; and finally, to the classroom where Iruka-sensei would take him under his wing and acknowledge his worth, his name, and give him the strength to become the hero he wanted to be.

But all that came later.

The first name he learned that day was hers.

"I'm Hnata Hyuuga," she said quietly.

"Oh! Hinata! Yoroshiku!" he said, so happy to finally be able to say he knew somebody at the academy that he excitedly and enthusiastically clapped her on the back, making her stumble forward. Luckily, he caught her before she fell.

"Sorry!"

Red in the face, Hinata could only nod. "It's okay. Yoroshiku, ne, Naruto-kun."

Fifteen years later, her voice was still sweet. The hand patting him on the chest was still gentle. But unlike that first day he'd met her, he wasn't lying on the cold, wet snow. Instead, Naruto was in his apartment, on his warm comfy bed, with Hinata wrapped around him.

"Then Iruka-sensei sat me next to Sakura and I instantly fell in love with her."

He glanced down at her when he heard her chuckle, but he was glad she wasn't looking at his face because he was beet red. Thankfully, Hinata was still recovering from their bout of lovemaking, drowsy and ready to fall asleep.

"You're the one who brought up the topic of first loves!" he added. And maybe his voice did sound a little defensive.

Her head pillowed in his arm, she finally glanced up at him. She was smiling at him, disbelief written on her face. "Sorry, I'm just impressed that you remembered all those details, the first time we met each other, and then the second time at the academy."

Naruto pressed a kiss on top of her head and hugged her more tightly. She snuggled closer to him with a deep sigh, making him respond with, "Of course I remember! I mean, you were my first friend…I think."

The hand patting him on his chest stilled momentarily. He felt her shake her head before she started to rise up, gathering the blankets to cover her chest before she looked at him.

Aw, Naruto thought with an inward smile as his eyes slid toward the blanket. What a waste!

She shook her head at him, her face in a slight smile. "No. That can't be right. I'm sure you had other friends before we ever met at the academy."

He thought for a minute and amended his earlier statement. "Okay, maybe you were the first true friend I met at the academy."

Hinata laughed, her smile brightening up the room despite the lateness of the hour. "Thank you, Naruto. That's so sweet! I actually really love that idea."

"Well, I mean it!" Then Naruto blushed while he stumbled over his explanation. "And you know, that thing with Sakura? It was kiddie love, something completely different! It's not the same thing that I feel for you now."

"I know," she responded, still with her smile. She leaned down and kissed him on the lips. "I was only teasing you."

"Damn straight!" he said with a relieved chuckle. "Besides, everyone knows it's not the first love that's important. It's your last love that matters the most."

Hinata had been back to smoothing a caress over his chest, the absent-minded kind born out of habit that she'd acquired only after she'd finally gotten comfortable enough from months of dating—on top of his all-out effort to convince her to sleep with him, he thought with a secret smile.

"I guess you're right, Naruto." Then she buried her face in his chest, where he felt the slight tremble of her lips from her soft laughter.

"What?" he finally asked.

She met his gaze, grinning. "I was just thinking that I'm doubly lucky that my first and last love was the same person."

He laughed and shook his head. "Nah! That's not it!"

That had her puzzled. "What?"

His eyes mischievous, he hugged her again and said, "Hinata, you're triple lucky."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

His smile was filled with teasing laughter. "Hinata, I'm your first, last, and only love!"