Autumn Breeze: NaruHina Story

Hinata walked out of her house and quietly closed the door. She took a deep breath and started to walk toward the main part of the Village. She hoped that she wouldn't run into Kiba or somebody like that. Everyone had been asking what happened during the fight with Pein but she didn't want to talk about it. She made a fool of herself, that's what happened. 'I confessed at a very wrong time.', she thought sadly. 'Naruto probably thinks I'm an idiot now.' She suddenly found herself wandering the streets of Konoha. She had no destination, she just needed to walk. She shivered a little as the crisp, autumn wind blew through her hair. She sighed and leaned against one of the wooden fences on the side of the street. She wanted to talk to Naruto so bad but, she knew that he had a lot more on his mind.

It had been six months since she confessed and the war was over. Madara was defeated by Naruto and Sasuke in the first and only battle of the war. Naruto fought to try to save everyone. No one but Naruto knows why Sasuke helped, they only know that he did. Now when Hinata saw Sakura it was usually when the medical nin was visiting her teammate in the jail. Sasuke's death sentence was taken off but he still had to serve a year in jail for some of his crimes. 'That must've hit Naruto-kun hard.' Hinata thought. Naruto was also very famous now. Everyone adored him and there was usually a huge crowd around him these days.

Hinata tilted her head back to rest against the fence and she closed her eyes, just feeling the wind and breathing in the leafy scent of autumn around her.

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Naruto sprinted down the street. He skidded at a corner and hid in an alley. He peeked around the corner to see the huge mob of people looking around for him. Naruto ran up the wall and leaped onto the roof of the building and leaped to the next one. He kept going until he came to the less crowded part of Konoha. He leaped down to the ground and he landed in another alley. He walked out and started to head down the street. He stuck his hands in his pockets and he walked around the corner. He looked up and stopped in his tracks.

Hinata was leaning against the fence and her eyes were closed. Naruto went back behind the corner and peeked out from behind the edge. She was just standing there. He saw her chest rise and fall as she breathed and a small smile appeared on her lips.

Naruto suddenly realized how pretty she was. "Wow, I'm blind." he mumbled to himself. He turned back around and leaned against the fence himself. He thought about her confession. "I've just ignored her since then, haven't I?" he said to himself. He looked back around the corner and suddenly realized something. "She and I are so alike." he whispered. Neji told him about how her father would look down on her for being so timid, and how hard she worked to get better and stronger. And she wanted to be noticed, by him. Neji told him that coldly. Now Naruto knew why his friend was kind of angry at him. Hinata risked her LIFE, for him. Naruto thought she was being stupid at the time but, he would have done the same thing in her position. He would have leaped in and tried to save the day.

'I never would have had the strength to say what she said though.' he thought. He sighed and just let the breeze flow through him too. 'Sorry, Mom.' he thought as he looked up at the sky. 'I kind of like a weird girl. And I'm pretty weird myself.' he thought with a laugh. Naruto took a deep breath and walked around the corner. Hinata gasped and they both froze in place. Naruto, acting like he just got there and Hinata, wishing she wasn't' there. "N-n-n-n-naruto-kun." she whispered. Her face turned beet red. Naruto almost laughed at his own stupidity. 'I always wondered why she acted so weird. Now it kind of makes sense.' he thought. "Hinata," he said as he walked over to her, "we need to talk." The wind picked up and blew her hair into her face. She brought her hand up to brush it back but Naruto's hand beat her to it. Her face got even redder, if that was even possible. She nodded and they started to walk down the street together. He led her to the stairs leading up to the top of the Hokage mountain and he started to walk up them. She followed behind slowly.

'I can't believe that he wants to talk to me. Was he looking for me or was it by chance?' she thought. Naruto was silent the whole way, which was making her nervous. He usually wasn't this quiet. 'He's probably going to say, "Sorry but I don't like stupid girls." or something like that.' she thought in dismay. They finally reached the top and Naruto looked out over the village. He sat down on the edge and looked back at her expectantly. She gulped and sat down next to him. 'We are sitting so close.' she thought as she looked down at their legs. Their thighs were inches from touching. 'No Hinata! Don't be timid now!' she thought.

"Hinata," he said after a few moments, "You probably already guessed why I wanted to talk to you." Hinata nodded and avoided looking at him. "All I want to say is….Is that I admire you." Hinata looked at him in surprise. "W-w-what?" Naruto smiled. "Yup. I wouldn't have had the guts to say what you said. I admire you for that." he said. Hinata pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her face in them. "Thank you." he said quietly after a few minutes. Hinata's head perked up and looked at him in shock. He looked sad at that moment. "I was ready to give up when I was fighting Pein. I was so scared when I thought he killed you. You gave me the strength to fight back again. So," he grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze, "Thank you." Hinata used all of her will power to nod start trembling. "Naruto-kun…" she whispered. "Hm?" "I-I don't know what to say." she said breathlessly. He looked at her for a moment and then he grinned.

"You know….I met someone very important to me a little after that. She told me to find a girl like her." Hinata was confused but she nodded anyway. "I'm going to have to apologize to her when I have the chance." "W-why?" He looked at her with a  huge grin, the wind started to blow and it caused his hair to dance around. She never thought that he could look more handsome then in that moment. "I like a weird girl." he said. Then he looked at her in a way he's never seen him look at anyone. "Hinata, I like you." he said when she didn't reply. It was too late though because Hinata passed out. Naruto caught her as she fell back and he almost laughed. "Some things never change huh?" he asked aloud.