(DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Kishi)

~Fragile~

-The Visit

The sterile odor of the medical facility slightly tingled her nose. Lights glared down at the dark, indigo-haired kunoichi as the soft murmur of hushed voices among the medical staff clad in white passed over her ears. The cool night air left her as the automatic doors slid shut behind her. The sandals of her chilled feet tapped lightly on the tiled flooring as she moved numbly through the sparsely populated lobby.

Pearly lavender eyes, half lidded under thick black lashes focused on the checkered square pattern below. The slight hugging of bright yellow and red carnation flowers caused a crisp crinkling sound of the compressed plastic wrap to break through the continuous hum of unbroken soft sounds around her. Hinata made her path slowly down the corridor, up the nearest stairwell a few flights, and to the recovery ward of the medical center. Each step was taken with a measured pain lingered within, her pounding heartbeats rushing blood in her ears as her stomach knotted with anxiety.

With the help of Sakura, Hinata had long since healed from her injury delivered by Pein of the Akatsuki. But it was Naruto who was still in the process of recovering, and it was Naruto who she had come to see. Naruto who her heart bled for. Had it been worth it…? Risking her life to defend Konaha's hero from that terrible man… Of course, how could she say it wasn't? But more importantly, had she accomplished anything by her sacrificial display? Naruto was still hurt, and the Hyuga heiress would have given anything, still, to see him well. To shed him from the shackles of pain…

Everything seemed different, now. Hinata slowly rounded a corner, too lost in thought to notice a passing Ino before accidentally bumping into her.

"Oh," Ino shuffled under the weight of the boxes of supplies she carried. "Pardon me, I didn't see you!" She peaked out from the neatly stacked cubes, her voice trailing off as she followed a distant Hinata continue by with her blue eyes.
"Hinata…?"

Beneath the boquet of flowers, Hinata's curled hand clutched at her chest where her heart throbbed as nervousness swelled within her. What would Naruto say to her? Oh, she wanted to see him. But she also, strangely dreaded him. No, she was afraid he was disappointed with her for getting in the way. For being a nuisance. What would he say? Especially now that she had confessed her love ot him? All the more heartbreaking- would he even remember that moment in time when she poured her heart out to him…?

Hinata slowed to a stop. Room 428. This was where Sakura said Naruto was at. Hinata felt the sting of threatening tears behind her eyes, and she grimaced, shaking her head from side to side and willed the tears not to show. Parting her pale lips, she drew in a shaky deep breath. For a long time she stood in front of that door under the watch of Ino Yanamako. It took her quite some time to summon up the courage to raise her quivering hand and tap lightly on the door.

"N-…Naru-to…kun…" Hinata was barely able to utter his name above a quivering whisper as the door fell open.

The light tapping was what drew Naruto back to reality. He was upright in bed, propped with several plush pillows behind his back, and the bed sheets pulled to his waist. The bandages on him had become a familiar sight. How many times had he sat in this hospital bed with yards of gauze covering his injuries? His head, his chest left bare, his right shoulder and lower arm. He was a sore sight for the entering Hyuga girl who had attempted to prepare herself for the worse.

"Hinata…" Naruto lifted his head, finding the fellow Shinobi at the doorway, half hidden behind the large floral arrangement she held in her arms. His bright blue eyes softened on her. Her emotional frailty was tangible in the air.

A gentle laugh from his froggy voice, and a goofy signature grin forming on his bruised face, Naruto greeted Hinata with as much cheer and enthusiasm as he could conjure up in the hopes of easing her tension.

"Hinata! Look at you, you're all better!!"

Hinata lifted her eyes from the swirling patterns of the carnations she had hidden her gaze in. His contagious enthusiasm touching her heart and caused the beginnings of a shy smile to curve on her lips.

"Thank goodness!" Naruto idly scratched the back of his head, closing his eyes as he gave a sigh. "I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to you, Hinata!" He peered at her again. "But hey, are you sure it's okay for you to be walking around? I mean, you aren't straining yourself, are you?"

"N-Naruto kun…" Her small, timid voice sounded as her eyes lit up. She was warmed and comforted by his cheerfulness. Her heart swelled with the same love she had for him for years, now. He was always smiling…even now. "Oh…I'm just fine, Naruto-kun!" She made an effort to give him her own smile, stepping into the room from the doorway.

"Um…Naruto-kun…" Shyly, she shuffled over to his bedside and held out the flowers with both hands. "Th-these are for you…"

A faint chuckle and a sincere smile to melt the heart of the Hyuga girl, Naruto took the fancy bouquet with is uninjured hand. For as battered up and injured he was, the boy made it a point to look as cheerful and upbeat as ever. "Thank you, Hinata."

The flowers rested on his lap, he turned his brilliant blue eyes on the pale-faced girl, and again the gaze softened as his heart twisted a little inside his chest. The images rushed back to him, a fresh echo in his mind.

I'm here of my own free will. The ever gentle, bell-like voice of the Hyuga heiress reached his ears before his eyes, blurred and smeared with blood and dirt, could clear up to see the Hinata in front of him. Her back turned to him as he looked up from the ground, her stance defensive and palms raised in the gentle-fist fighting fashion. Then came the wrenching of his heart from his chest.

I'm not afraid to die protecting you. Violet strands caressed by the wind, her gentility and bravery the image of a goddess. But her picturesque beauty was quick to fade.

Because…I…love you…

So suddenly had she been stuck down before his eyes. So suddenly and without warning. Her cry of strength contorted into a blood-curdling scream. Blood stained the ground, and she laid seemingly lifeless at the feet of her attacker, Pein of the Akatsuki. That battered body, the spilling of innocent blood…that was when he lost control and lost his memory to his violent and hell-raising rampage as the six-tailed Kyubi beast.

"Naruto-kun…?"

Naruto opened his vivid blue eyes, drawn to the soft voice of Hinata still at his bedside. Her pale face wearing a soft worried expression revealed in the lilac-lavender of her eyes.

"Are…you alright…Naruto-kun…?"

The boy's lips cracked into a half smile. His eyes half lid themselves. He dropped his gaze to one of many bandages on the arms he folded comfortably on his lap. "Hinata," Naruto's froggy voice was lowered to a sound barely above whispering. He felt his stomach tighten, and his heart twist inside him. The blood rushed in his veins, and his fist clenched lightly over the white blankets. A heavy, tense silence lingered in the air.

"There's…something I need to tell you…"

*****

(I'm honestly not sure where to go with this. I found the drabble on my computer just sitting there and so I slapped a few more paragraphs onto it and left room for growth if I felt like adding to it.

If you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to leave them in a feedback or message me personally.

The encouragement would be graciously received. ^___^

Thanks in advance! Otherwise I hope you enjoyed the mini drabble. ^.^ )