"Wake up Naruto!" Sakura said as she punched his head with the force of a stampede.

"Sakura why did you hit me, its been four days and we haven't even seen anything that proves you were right… it was probably just a dream… We all miss him, but seriously, if he wanted to come back he would have a long time ago" Naruto got up while rubbing his head to ease the pain.

"You're probably right, but, it has been a long time since we last saw him. five years after he killed his brother. I wonder what he is doing" Sakura's hair blew in the wind as the sun set on that crazy day.

"Lets go home, Sakura" Naruto told her with a goofy smile across his face.

As soon as they got back to the village they heard news of a kidnapping in the Hyuuga clan. Hanabi had been kidnapped and Naruto, Hinata and Kiba were sent to rescue her (Shino was on a mission with his father). Sakura asked to go along, but Tsunade had other plans for here to help in the hospital because the other medical ninjas were sent out on missions.

They had one day to prepare, Hinata was really nervous because she had heard Shino and Kiba talking about how much Kiba liked her and that he would really like to take her on a date. She didn't want to hurt his feelings because he was a great guy, but she really wanted to tell Naruto how she feels, so she sat and thought. But her thoughts became cloudy and then she drifted off to sleep.

"HINATA WAKE UP!"

"AHH!" she screamed and looked up, there stood Naruto, right over her bed, her face turned red and she rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't asleep.

"Hinata we have to go rescue your sister" Naruto grabbed her and pulled her out of bed, she looked down and saw her hand in Naruto's and smiled, then she passed out from the realization that this wasn't a dream. When she came to she was moving and heard two different voices.

"You could have waited till she woke up to go you know"

"But I really want to start the mission"

It was Kiba and Naruto fighting over…

'Wait, Naruto is carrying me… I'll pretend I'm still knocked out' she smiled and closed her eyes.

The next thing she felt was cold and wet.

"Wake up Hinata, nap time is over, your slowing us down" Kiba told her

"Sorry Kiba, I'll try to be better" Hinata looked at the ground the whole time she spoke to him.

" Hinata, its ok… look I'm sorry, I guess… oh never mind" Kiba rubbed the back of his head as he spoke, then he got down to face level and smiled at her. Akamaru licked her nose. She looked at him and knew what he was doing, but she was confused, she needed to talk to Naruto.

"Kiba where is Naruto?" She had concern in her voice. Annoyed by this he replied

"He was worried you might be hungry so he went to get some dinner, luckily me and Akamaru caught some fish earlier." He said holding up the fish in a proud manner. She giggled and helped build a fire.

Two hours later, dripping wet and dragging his feet up to the camp site Naruto rejoined the group.

"FOOD!" He yelled as he smelled the fish cooking and ran up to the fire and grabbed the biggest fish. He started to take a bite when he realized Hinata had woken up.
He felt bad and offered her the biggest fish instead.

"You probably need it more then me Hinata, you've been out all day." She blushed and turned it down.

"I'm not that hungry Naruto, you can have it." She blushed and watched him bite down on it. His smile mesmerized her. She loved every dimple he had.

"Hinata, aren't you hungry? Stop staring at me and eat" He said 'She is so odd, yet a mystery I want to solve, like why she always turns red when I try to talk to her.'

He looked at her in a puzzling way and She blushed and quickly turned in the other direction. Kiba was now intrigued by this look he'd never seen before. If Naruto did find out, did he stand a chance with her. Jealousy raged inside him and he threw his stick down, Akamaru picked at the fish bones while he walked to the river to cool off.

"Hinata, May I ask you a question" Naruto said as he walked over to the log where she sat on the other side of the fire.

"S-s-sure Naruto, What is it?" She blushed as he sat beside her and took her stick to throw on the fire. The flames danced in the night sky, Hinata watched them float into the sky and disappear.

"Tell me the truth, why do you always turn red when I'm around, do I stink?" Naruto sniffed himself and almost passed out.
"N-no, I-I I just… I" She looked into the fire and heard it crackle.

"Are you ok, I mean do I make you sick?" Naruto rubbed his head worried that she might say yes.

"No, it its just…"

"Just what?"

Kiba was headed back up to the camp site behind the woods when he heard the words he never wanted for her to say, the only chance he had, would soon be gone.

"I l-l-love you" She said and fled so he wouldn't have time to answer. She was glad to get it off her chest, but…

"Uh, KIBA" Hinata ran right into Kiba, neither one of them was paying much attention anyway.

"HINATA! WAIT" She heard Naruto screaming.

Kiba grabbed her and she struggled to get free but he liked her to much to let what happened to him happen to her, and if he hurt her, he would be there as a shoulder to cry on.

"Hinata, Wait… I-I get it now, I get why you act the way you do around me, I would act that way if I truly liked someone." He lowered his face and smiled, Kiba held her closer and she snuggled close to him. But she was confused, she was now trapped between two people she couldn't live without, one of her best friends and the love of her life.

"Hinata I'm not sure if I like you as much, but I'm willing to try to make it work. I've never had a girl friend and Sakura is way to Sasuke obsessed to care about me. And you might be a little weird, but your cute. So what do you think?" Hinata looked up at Kiba and he knew his chance was over.

"Naruto, you'd better not hurt her." She was shocked, she knew how much he cared for her and felt bad about being the only three on the mission, but he looked down at her and smiled. He then loosened his grip on her and Naruto held out his hand still with the goofy smile on his face. She was reluctant at first, still blushing and holding her hand near her mouth. But then she slowly lowered her hand into his and he walked her back to camp.

Kiba watched them head back to camp and thought that he would rather be anywhere else but here. He regretted letting her go, but he knew he couldn't control her. He just hoped Naruto would treat her like a queen. He chuckled, half out of self-pity and half out of happiness.

Back at camp Naruto spent the rest of the night trying to get Hinata to open up to him. It was sometimes hard to understand her, but he never stopped smiling.

"Hinata, I didn't know your life was so rough…" He told her

"Oh, no, Naruto, you've had a rougher life, but you've never let anything stop you from fulfilling your dreams. You always are proving people wrong and showing people that there is hope. I see it every time I look at you"

Naruto was shocked, he loved how Hinata made him feel when he was down. 'She should be an inspirational speaker' he thought to himself.

"Hinata, your so amazing, you know something, even though you've had a hard life you always look after others, and make sure that they are safe. But I want to look after you and make sure your safe. I never want you to be hurt again" He pushed her hair behind her ear and she grabbed his hand, one mere touch sent chills down his spine. They gazed into each other's eyes and he pushed his forehead against hers. Hinata closed her eyes and smiled, she had never been so happy in her whole life.

"We should probably get some sleep" she heard Naruto say, then she felt something soft against her cheek, Naruto had kissed her. She could handle the rest of the things that had happened but this was too much, she fainted.

When she woke up she was in Naruto's arms and smelt food. She smiled and slid her hand across his face. He smiled and pushed her up into a hug and then carried her out of the tent to the fire. Kiba was watching the fire and thinking about how jealous he was of Naruto.

Just then he saw Naruto carry Hinata out of the tent and just rolled his eyes. Then he grabbed some fish for Akamaru and himself.

"Just don't let your relationship get in the way of rescuing your sister, Hinata" Kiba warned her. She and Naruto nodded and then helped pack up the campsite.

After breakfast they were back off to find Hanabi. The only lead they had was that she was caught by ninja who wanted the secret of the byakugan and that time was of the essence. Kiba and Akamaru used their awesome sense of smell to follow Hanabi's scent to a small house outside the Snow village.

Hinata scanned the area and found traps set up almost everywhere, except through
an area where two ninja were having a meal.

"We can take them," Naruto said

" But guys I've seen this chakra somewhere before, I don't know it we can handle it" Hinata sounded concerned. She had an extreme look of terror on her face and held her hand against her chest.

"Naruto," She whispered

Its Tobi and Sasuke!"