Series: Naruto

Pairing: NaruHina

Author: Lynns

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi

Type: Alternate Universe/Romance

Sparks Fly

Prologue

It had started snowing around noon.

At first, it wasn't a huge deal, but as the snowflakes got more prominent, the temperature dropped, and the wind picked up; mad chaos soon consumed the oilfield site of Konoha Energy. Production had come to a complete stop with some trades, especially for the welders, insulators, pipefitters, and landscapers. The wet conditions were certainly not ideal for them, and with the new deadlines coming up before Christmas, this was a setback they could not afford.

Fortunately, not everyone would be affected by the snowfall that much, which was a great relief to the Project Manager, Gaara. He had received word from the foreman under him that work was progressing as per usual aside from the workers taking the odd warm-up break. Hyuuga Electric & Controls had a reputation to uphold, and they had not missed a deadline yet. In fact, the electricians under his wing had battled this kind of weather last year, and they had even finished before the deadline, earning them great respect from the owners of Konoha Energy.

Gaara rubbed his temples in slow circles, wishing the headache that plagued his skull would disappear. However, he knew that until tomorrow his head would continue to pound. It was true that being a project manager was hard, but add it to being one of the top electrical companies in the business along with one of the busiest oilfield sites in the north just added to the young man's stress. At first, being named the youngest ever to succeed in this position had been exciting and honourable; however, after almost two years in, Gaara almost wished he was back on the tools as a regular Journeyman.

"If you keep rubbing your temples like that, you're going to make your headache worse . . . I know that's why my head is throbbing more."

Green eyes slowly opened to look at his partner across the desk from him. His head was down, and the computer monitor blocked most of his vision, but he could still see the tips of his gray spikey hair. While Gaara was the project manager on the Front Shift, Kakashi Hatake was the project manager on the Back Shift. They worked well together and kept things flowing smoothly when they transpired from one shift to another. Today was Tuesday, meaning it was the last full day Gaara and Kakashi would have together to work things out. Tomorrow at noon would be home day for the Backshift, meaning they wouldn't be seeing or discussing anything with each other until the following week. In times like this, Gaara wished Kakashi was staying to help him through this minor disaster, even though his laid-back personality sometimes drove him crazy.

"The moment I get the email or phone call back from head office, I'll stop stressing out. In the meantime, I'm focusing on the pain in my head to distract me from the mess we have to deal with at the end of this trailer." Mumbled Gaara, following his partner's idea and resting his head on the desk.

Kakashi asked if he would like a cup of coffee but politely refused. He watched his partner slowly get up from his seat and walk into the next room where the lead foreman's office was. He could hear their concerned voices asking how they were holding up and dealing with the situation.

The trailer they occupied was rather crammed together and only had three rooms.

The first was the project manager's office, which consisted of two desks facing together, meaning he and Kakashi had nothing but each other to look at all day. The second room had four desks side by side for the lead foreman's and had their fridge, microwave, water cooler, and coffee machine. Meaning most of the gossip and talk of the day took place there. Finally, at the end and the smallest room had been where the field administrator resided, the place where Gaara was too scared to see how much damage there really was.

Moments later, Kakashi returned, almost falling into the chair and spilling his coffee with a huge sigh. Gaara released his own sigh, looking back at the clock and wishing time would slow down. But, unfortunately, six o'clock was fast approaching, and if they did not hear an answer by then . . .

DING!

Gaara's head shot up at the sound of the new email while Kakashi knocked over his coffee, scrambling over to his partner's side of the desk. They stared at the screen, anxious and scared to see what their head boss Hizashi Hyuuga had to say.

"Well . . . here goes . . ." mumbled Gaara. Both of them leaned forward slightly to read the words of their leader.

Dear Gaara,

I have reviewed the information you sent me yesterday involving your recently released Field Administrator, Karin. From what I gathered from your email, the documents containing truck logs, Field Level Hazard Assessments, employee records, and many more papers are currently either filed wrong or cannot be found. It was her responsibility to keep these files organized and available to you and everyone else, meaning she has not fulfilled her duties in this position.

With the end of the year coming up soon, I understand your eagerness to get someone up to the Konoha Energy site ASAP to correct the mess this ex-employee has created. So, instead of hiring a new Field Administer, I will be sending my niece, Hinata Hyuuga, to help correct and organize your current paperwork situation. Here at the head office, she is the Service Administrator, a Master Electrician, and a Transformer Technician with our sister company Hyuuga Power Inc.

My son Neji is currently travelling to the site at this very moment and is bringing Hinata along with him. He will speak at your safety meeting tomorrow on the current projects that Hyuuga Electric has coming up next year; meanwhile, Hinata will be busy correcting and organizing the paperwork issue. Due to her knowledge and experience, she will work with your crew for the rest of the year. Her current work tasks at head office are up to speed and even ahead of schedule. When January is upon us, we will interview a new Field Administrator to join your team, and Hinata will return to Head Office.

If you have any more questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Hizashi Hyuuga

Owner

Hyuuga Electric & Controls

Both men sighed with relief.

"Well, Gaara, I don't know about you, but knowing that Hinata is coming to fix our problem just completely dropped my stress level, and I'm actually looking forward to my days off."

"You can say that again. I haven't seen Hinata in almost three years. Not since the last day we had class together for our Fourth Year Electrical Apprenticeship. In fact, most of the lead hands and safety coordinators here on site were in the same class for all four years of our schooling," said Gaara, his eyes hazing over a bit as he reminisced back to his earlier days of being an electrician, "It will certainly be good to see her familiar face here. Still, most importantly, I am confident Hinata will have no troubles cleaning up this mess."

Kakashi smiled, "Shall we inform everyone now that we will be having special guests tomorrow at the morning meeting?"

Gaara frowned at him, "You just like seeing the guy's anxious faces when they know a new woman is joining the crew. I swear you're just as bad as Kiba sometimes. But, no, we will wait until tomorrow. I just want to finish up here so we can head back to camp for supper."

0000000000000

The roads were snow-covered entirely and a bit icy from the current blizzard; however, Neji had driven on this highway many times before and knew the secrets of navigating safely. Moreover, traffic was rather slim as they had only met one other vehicle. He glanced over at his passenger, who was reading his speech for the safety meeting tomorrow for probably the fourth time. His pale violet eyes darted to the ditch now and then to look for wildlife.

"Trying to put yourself asleep?" he asked softly, knowing his cousin was tired already from working a full 8hr day and now dealing with this 7hr drive.

Hinata nodded softly, her half-closed eyes skimming the paperwork even though she knew the words off by heart. The story of how twin brothers Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuuga created the huge sister companies. Hyuuga Power Inc. was owned/created by Hiashi, specializing in building and installing transformers. In contrast, Hyuuga Electric & Controls, owned/created by Hizashi, distributed electricians all across the country for Industrial Electrical Installations at oilfield sites.

With their fathers as such successful business owners, it was only natural for their children to get involved in the company. He and his younger cousin Hanabi were Vice Presidents of the companies, shadowing their fathers so that they would be the ones to take over someday. While Hinata was only the Service Administrator for his father's company at the moment, next year, she would be moving up to Human Resources Director.

Many people had judged Hinata at first. They had expected her to obtain the Vice-President position instead of Hanabi since she was the oldest daughter. However, his younger cousin was a natural leader, showing excellent skills/knowledge of how a business needed to be run and maintained. While at first Hiashi had pushed his eldest daughter to the side, seeing her not accomplish anything beneficial to the companies, Hinata had proved him wrong. She completed all her hours and schooling to become a Journeyman Electrician starting from the ground up. Hinata then continued to get her Masters along with learning to be a Transformer Technician. She was a valuable worker not just for one company but also for having the knowledge/experience in the office and field. In fact, just recently, Hiashi had to call his daughter to repair a transformer since all of his technicians were busy at the time. Sometimes, both he and Hanabi were jealous of how much she knew as an electrician.

Neji leaned over and pulled the documents out of her hand, keeping his eyes still on the road, "I know you're tired, but I need you to stay awake for a bit longer. We are almost at the security gate, and I need you conscious so you can check into your room at the camp. So here, read this instead. It's a list of all the lead hands and foremen that are at the site. I'm pretty sure you will recognize most of the names."

Hinata groaned softly as she sat upright in her seat, adjusting her body position so she wouldn't doze off anytime soon. Her eyes skimming down the page:

Safety Coordinators

Sakura Haruno

Ino Yamanaka

QA/QC

Shikamaru Nara

Asuma Sarutobi

Choji Akimichi

Lead Foreman's

Iruka Umino

Itachi Uchiha

Field Foreman's

Might Guy

Rock Lee

Shino Aburame

Lead Hand's

Sasuke Uchiha

Kiba Inuzuka

Naruto Uzumaki

She recognized all of the names from either working with some of them before or attending the same school. Her breath hitched slightly as she read the last name, trying desperately to hide the redness in her cheeks.

Either Neji had not noticed her blushed face or chose to ignore it as he continued talking, "You will meet or rather be re-introduced to everyone tomorrow and some of the apprentices in the field. Mostly though, you will be in the office dealing with this mess of paperwork, which is why I don't understand you decided to bring up your tools and winter gear."

Hinata yawned and stretched her arms, attempting to hide her face, "Uncle said it was best I did, in case something goes wrong with one of the transformers being installed. Better I have my tools and gear here with me to fix it; then they wouldn't have to call someone else to come to deal with the problem. I know it's a slim chance that will happen, but better to be safe than sorry."

Neji frowned, "While I see the logic in that, I would rather see you stay in the warm office than working out in the cold. You've worked hard, Hinata, and we all know it, especially you're. . ."

Hinata cut him off, "I'm well aware of how proud my father is of me. It's just something I enjoy doing the odd time, you know? Getting my hands dirty and working out in the field is still something I like doing now and then. But you're right. I would rather enjoy the heat in the office instead of the cold weather of working outside."

Smiling at his cousin, Neji gave her hand a light squeeze before turning his attention back to the road.

Hinata turned her head to stare out the window, but instead of seeing her own reflection in the glass, she was met with a face that had plagued her mind for years. She had not seen him in over three years, but she could remember everything about him. His spikey blonde hair, those sharp blue eyes, and a smile that was so warm it made you want to smile back. The faded scars on his cheeks that looked like whiskers and a personality that was so bright and determined.

Naruto had worked with her Uncle's company for almost eight years now, the same as her. They had both started as apprentices, gone to school simultaneously, and even were in the same class. He had only seen her as just a friend and co-worker, but she had feelings that went beyond that. In fact, during their celebration party upon becoming Journeyman and passing their Red Seals exam, she had tried confessing her feelings to him. The words she had told him echoed in her mind . . .

Standing outside the college bar, Hinata stared at the ground, her hands twisting together. It had taken every ounce of courage to ask Naruto to speak with her outside, and now that they were alone, she couldn't seem to find the words she wanted to say to him.

While swaying from side to side a little in his drunken state, he kept asking her if she was alright and if anything was wrong. The longer they stood out there, the more she could see he was starting to grow impatient. Finally, closing her eyes tightly, she grabbed onto whatever bravery she could find and spoke the words that were in her heart. She would never get another opportunity to do this!

"Naruto, I have something I need to tell you. I . . . I like you!" she cried out loudly.

Hinata hadn't meant to say her confession so loudly, and she was scared to open her eyes to see his reaction.

The seconds ticked by, and he still had yet to respond. Finally, she peeked her eyes open to see him staring at her, his intoxicated mind not quite comprehending what she had said. Suddenly, he walked over to her, smiling and hugging her tightly, "I like you too, Hinata! You're a great friend and fantastic to work with!"

At first, she had been smiling, but a frown soon swept across her face. Naruto didn't understand the true meaning behind her words. Or perhaps . . .

He only sees me as a friend. Nothing more, nothing less.

She tried to keep herself together and not cry in front of her crush. A part of her just wanted to run away, but another side wanted to try again and see if he had fully understood what she had meant. But, before she could get the chance to, Sakura, who was also very intoxicated, opened the bar door and called them inside for another round of shots.

Naruto released her immediately, and she flinched as he quickly stumbled over to Sakura without giving her a second glance. Her female friend called her over, but she waved her off and said she wanted to stay outside a bit longer.

Once Sakura had left, she slowly started to walk away, tears slipping down her cheeks while trying to stay quiet as she cried.

Her eyes slowly opened, and it was only her own reflection staring back at her now. Naruto had been drinking lots and probably didn't even remember their conversation that night.

After that, she left the Industrial environment and moved on to a different electrical company that focused on Residential and Commercial Electrical, much to her Uncle's disappointment. It would be just under two years before she returned to the family company so she could gain more knowledge in the trade, which had helped her greatly when she had applied for her Masters.

Hinata was both excited and scared to see everybody tomorrow. She hadn't stayed in touch with any of them, except for Shino and Kiba. Even though she had been working at the head office building for over a year, if she heard wind that any of her old co-workers were in the building, she stayed in her office and kept the door closed, too scared to leave.

I've been acting like a complete coward. I should have stayed in touch with everyone, but after what happened with Naruto . . . I couldn't bring myself to. Just hearing his name would upset me, and I would have instant flashbacks to that night. I know it will be great to see everybody, even Naruto. He's probably in a relationship with Sakura, and my confession never even crossed his mind once. He's always had eyes for her and only her. I would be lying to myself if I didn't admit I was a little jealous.

Her pale eyes continued to stare out the window, hands clasping together as she tried not to get worked up again, thinking about his rejection.

I just need to keep my chin up. Naruto has always been my inspiration, and he helped me build up my confidence as an electrician! That's the reason why I fell for him. So the least I can do tomorrow is greet him with a smile on my face. Then, I can finally talk to him and close the book on my crush for him. Then, perhaps, I'll even listen to my father and start dating . . .

Her eyes started to close again, and she was slowly drifting off to sleep, but a sharp jab to her left shoulder abruptly snapped her out of it.

"I warned you not to fall asleep again. Now pass me your security card; we need to swipe in," said Neji, pointing to the security gate they had just pulled up to.

To Be Continued . . .