My Darling Naruto, My Sweet Kyuubi

The early morning light of day spilled into the cave as Hinata finished packing away her items and put on
her jacket, looking over at the sleeping form of Naruto, sprawled out with his mouth wide open and snoring
loudly. She couldn't help but let out a small giggle. staring at him laying like that brought a small blush
to her cheeks, as she remembered a story she'd been read about a princess being woken up by the kiss of
a prince, even with the roles reversed Hinata let out a sigh. The memory of her attempt to tell him her
feelings the night before quickly coming back to mind like a cold shower, washing away the romantic ideas
she was having.

Although she had laughed at the time, and it had felt good to her, laughing so freely and openly with Naruto,
and she had to admit, her stomachs interruption had been amusing. "It made Naruto-kun laugh" Hinata said to
herself quietly, not wanting to wake the sleeping form of her obsession. Also, Naruto had immediately gone out
and caught some fish which they had cooked over the fire and eaten together, even if she had eaten in silence.
Naruto had rambled on for most of the evening, with Hinata twiddling her thumbs nervously, and agreeing in
the places that she thought counted, all the while not really listening to what he had to say, just content
in hearing his voice and spending time with him.

It had had something to do with Sasuke, and once or twice he had mentioned Sakura's name, she didn't really
care for Sasuke much, she knew that most of the girls in the academy thought he was cool, but she'd always
preferred "Naruto-Kun.." Hinata hadn't realised she'd said his name out loud, or with such longing, nor had
she noticed the bleary eyes of Naruto looking up at her. So lost in thought was she that she almost fell
over when she heard him ask "Hey Hinata, are you okay? Did you call me?"

Hinata steadied herself from the shock and smiled at the newly awake Naruto, "Yes, I'm just going to get us
some breakfast", it felt good to her, saying `us` like that, as if they were a couple, it brought a red tint
to her cheeks as she walked out of the cave and had her first glimpse of where they were.

The cave was set into the wall of a small cliff, weathered by heavy rains during the winter seasons had lost
most of it's jutting rocks and footholds, polished into an almost smooth and unclimbable surface. A few paces
from the mouth of the cave was the river which Hinata assumed had carried them to this place, by the way in
which there was very little dust close to the cave she could tell that the area suffered constant flooding
and was grateful that it had been hot for the past few weeks, as it had not only allowed them to use the cave
as shelter, but it also brought the water level of the river down, allowing her to fish a lot more easily with
her throwing knives.

Naruto got up slowly, picking up his jacket which had turned into a makeshift blanket while he slept, dusted
it off, and put it on. The cave had grown cold from the fire having died out and the night air, with a slight
shiver, Naruto stepped out into the warmer late morning air. He could clearly see Hinata stood up to her knees
at the shallow edge of the river, her gaze fixated on the fish within the water. With the morning light and
the occasional water splashing around her as her throwing knives flew into the water to catch their breakfast
Naruto realised for the first time just how beautiful she was. He had seen her naked yesterday, quite by
accident, but at the time his thoughts had been on how sexy she looked, now she looked truly beautiful.

Naruto walked a little further down stream and dipped his hands into the river, pulling out the cold water
and using it to wash his face, as well as wash the last of his sleepiness away. They had to make it back to
Konoha, and he wasn't quite sure of where they were. Still, he knew where the sun was and he knew if he kept
heading south then they'd soon reach ground he was familiar with, plus they had been heading in a north east
direction since they left Konoha on the mission.

He turned back and walked over to Hinata who had already lit a small fire using her throwing knife and the
remainder of the logs and twigs that Naruto had fetched from some small trees south of the cave when he had
been trying to keep Hinata warm when she was feverish.

They ate the fish quickly, both wanting to start the trek back to their home village as soon as possible.
Naruto and Hinata both checked that they had all their stuff, and that they hadn't left a knife from their
meal hunting before they shared nods and started heading south, Hinata following a little behind Naruto,
her eyes wandering sheepishly to his arse every so often.

The first days march went by without event, they hadn't stopped for lunch, wanting to cover as much distance
as they could in the hopes that they would see a familiar landmark, but they recognised nothing as they
headed south, along the river. Naruto hadn't been able to remain silent for long, and had talked a lot during
the walk, Hinata had caught herself staring into his eyes a number of times when he had turned to ask for her
opinion or support in his arguments. She was pretty sure she had blushed every time he had looked at her, but
it felt nice to be getting this sort of attention from her beloved.

By the time the sun had started to set and the sky had taken a lovely golden and pink hue to it Hinata found
herself deep in conversation with him, as if she'd been drawn in by his constantly turning to her for her
opinions. She found herself telling him of her history, how she'd been beaten by her younger sister and her
father had given up on her, calling her useless and the time she'd overheard him call her unfit to carry
the Hyuuga bloodline.

Naruto enjoyed talking with Hinata, it's true that she was always shy and quiet, but he found he liked that
about her and now that she was opening up to him Naruto found himself falling more and more for the girl.
She had been through so much in her life, just like him, although she hadn't been truly alone like him,
she'd been made to feel that way by her family.

"Say, Hinata... You've had it pretty tough haven't you..." As Naruto said those words he slowed down and
reached out to put his arm around her, it was an act of kindness that came naturally to Naruto only because
he knew how being alone felt, and how being with Iruka, Kakashi, Sakura, and even Sasuke, made him feel
happier than when he was alone.

Hinata gasped as his arm went around her shoulders, her heart beating as if it were trying to jump out of her
chest, but even with her nervousness she found herself responding to the situation, moving into his embrace,
trying to get more contact, to bring them closer, to make as much of her touch as much of him as possible.
She lent her head onto his shoulder and let out a sigh as they continued to walk in the fading sunlight.

Hinata felt so relaxed, so warm, but being this close to him was tearing at her heart, being this close and
not knowing how he felt, him not knowing the truth of her feelings. She stopped walking, Naruto doing
likewise, at first looking around to see if there was a reason to her stopping before turning to face her,
his arm moving from around her as he did so, but resting his hand on her shoulder as they came to face.

"What is it Hinata, what's wrong?"

Hinata looked into his eyes, tears forming in hears. How she loved him so, with all her heart, with all that
she was, and with all that she'd ever be. This wasn't going to be like the last time, she gathered every
bit of emotional strength she could and opened her mouth, closing it again not able to speak the words that
were caught in her throat.

"Hinata, tell me, is your fever coming back?"

A tear fell from her eyes, he was so kind, still worrying about her, she shook her head and stared back into
his eyes before whispering the words "Naruto-kun, I love you!".

Hinata was amazed with herself, although only a whisper, she had told him how she felt, and she had done it
without her stuttering or anything getting in the way, she moved forward bringing her hands up to clutch at
his jacket as she rested her head on his chest, not daring to look at his face for fear of rejection. Even
with all her fears she wanted to make sure that this wasn't a dream, that she wasn't back in the cave still
feverish or talking in her sleep.

She closed her eyes and lifted her head up as if to look at him, her eyes still shut tightly, and repeated
the words, although not much louder than the last time she hoped he would hear them...

"Naruto-kun, I love you!"