The Sniffles of a Ninja

"I have what?" The question was supposed to be forceful, but it came out nasally and weak.

"Allergies, Naruto," responded the doctor in front of him.

Naruto sniffled weakly. "But Sakura-chan…" he whined in that same nasally voice.

"Don't complain to me, Naruto," she replied hotly," There's only so much I can do."

The blonde sniffled again. "What can you do?" He received a prompt hit to the back of the head. "Ow!"

"I can do plenty, thank you!"

Naruto frowned exaggeratedly. "But that's not what I meant."

Sakura blinked at him owlishly before realization hit. "Oh! Sorry, Naruto."

The Kyuubi host sulked sarcastically on the medical bed. "No, you're not…"

Sakura's eyes took on a dangerous glint as she towered over her patient. "Naruto…" she started, cracking her knuckles, "Was that another insult?"

The blonde waved his hands in front of him defensively. "No, no, not at all! I would just think that someone with a brain as big as yours would be able to do something about this."

The kunoichi's eyes flashed angrily, and, a moment later, a certain orange clad shinobi broke through the nearby wall through no effort of his own. He skidded to a stop on his chin on the ground outside in the rubble of the wall. Thank Kami they were on the bottom floor. A shout followed after him.

"And never make fun of my forehead again!" Then, he felt something hit his rear, which was sticking up in the air from where he had landed. "Take one of those and stay inside, and your senses will be back to normal by this evening," yelled Sakura, "And don't come back!" The blonde heard a door slam behind him, no doubt the door to the former room.

He rolled so that he was sitting, facing his previous medical bed, grumbling. "That's not what I meant…" sniffling, he picked up the bottle of medicine that had been hurled at his rear. He briefly scanned over the label. One phrase caught his attention.

"May cause drowsiness."

Naruto scowled. No wonder Sakura wanted him to take it. She wanted to put him out like a light so she could get payback for all the pranks he had pulled on her over the years! She would shave his head and put whip cream in his hand while tickling his face and put his hand in warm water-oh the horrors!

He sniffled heavily. There was no way he was going to let that happen to him. He was the master of pranks! No one could take that from him!

He stood up, pocketing the medicine just in case he changed his mind later and looked around. Where could he go on this bright and sunny morning when he had no missions to complete?

He could go train, but his miniscule cautious side warned against that because if he did have these 'allergies', he didn't want to make them worse by exhausting his body. For once in his lifetime, he listened to it, though that was mostly attributed to the fact that he just didn't feel up to training.

He could go bug Tsunade to give him a mission…But said mission could be difficult, thus causing the same exhaustion that training would. Besides, he didn't feel like doing one of those easy D rank missions that it was most likely to be. In fact, he felt unusually tired and, oddly, sick.

Since when did he get sick? Usually, the Kyuubi's chakra kept out any illnesses somehow. How, Naruto had no idea. But, what made these 'allergies' different from a normal sickness?

He'd have to ask Shikamaru or Sakura later.

For now, he had to find something to occupy his time.

"Hey, Naruto, what's up?" he looked up, realizing he'd been walking through town staring at his feet. Marching toward him were Kiba and Shino. The previous voice had obviously been Kiba's.

The blonde sniffled weakly as they approached. "Hey, Kiba. Hey, Shino." Shino nodded stoically. A bark of protest came from Kiba's jacket. "Ah, and you, too, Akamaru." The dog user unzipped his jacket and said dog's head popped up, yipping happily.

Kiba punched Naruto softly on the arm as a friendly greeting, surprised when he wobbled and took a few steps sideways. "Jeese, Blondie, you look terrible. What wrong with you?"

the Kyuubi container mumbled incoherently for a moment before stating clearly, "Allergies."

The wild-nin nodded understandingly. "My sister has those. Allergic to cats. Most of my family hates cats already, but you should see her. She absolutely despises them. The first time she got close to one, it ruined her sense of smell for a week."

"A week!" blurted Naruto in astonishment.

Kiba nodded before continuing, "Then, she went to the doctor and got some pills, which brought he back to normal in a day." Naruto sighed in relief. "Now, she takes a pill every morning, and she's alright as long as she doesn't touch a cat."

The blonde took out the bottle of medicine Sakura had given him and reexamined it thoroughly. "So, if I take one of these, I'll feel better?" he asked in his still nasally voice. The dog user shrugged. Naruto pouted at the words on the bottle. He didn't want to be sleepy! He had things to do. He just didn't know what they were.

He pocketed the bottle, turning to Shino. "Is there anything you can do to help?"

The bug user stared at him blankly. "Usually, my insects are excellent aid when dealing with ailments. However, currently, I refuse to let any of my comrades anywhere near the specific orifices in which you need the help."

Naruto tilted his head to the side with a look of confusion. "That's a 'no', short-stuff," explained Kiba mockingly. The blonde's head drooped as his arms hung loosely by his side.

Kiba smirked, an idea forming in his head. He took a deep breath through his nose, watching as Naruto looked up at him. "Aw, don't ya just love the smell of ramen in the morning?"

The demon host stared at him, confused once more. "But we're more than a mile from the nearest ramen stall…"

The wild-nin tapped his nose. "Superhuman smell."

The orange clad ninja scowled at him. "That's dirty, Kiba. That's just dirty."

The dog user laughed as he walked past him, Shino following shortly afterwards. "Then, take one of those pills, Blondie. Trust me; you'll feel better afterward."

Naruto glared after him. Somehow, that statement made him want to take the medicine even less. Kiba must be in on the prank Sakura set him up for! And that whole story about his sister must've been completely faked! And Shino, too, or he would have used his bugs to help!

If those two know, who else knew?

Sakura seemed the mastermind behind the scheme, and she had no doubt told Sasuke, considering her crush, and Ino, considering their best friend/rival relationship. If Ino knew, Shikamaru and Chouji definitely knew since, even if it was supposed to be kept secret from the, the girl had too big of a mouth to keep it quiet long. Shikamaru had probably told Kiba, who would've told all of Team 8, meaning Hinata also knew, meaning that all of the old Rookie Nine was against him.

Naruto grimaced. This was quickly turning into a conspiracy. He just had to hope Team Gai was left out of it, or he had no hope at all.

He clutched his head, feeling the beginnings of a headache. "Ugh…Too much thinking is bad for my brain," he thought conclusively.

"Naruto-kun!" a voice yelled from his right. He turned to see a dust cloud fast approaching him at amazing speed. He recoiled as whatever was causing the cloud skidded to a stop in front of him a second later, kicking up more dust. "How are you on this wonderful morning, my youthful friend!?" the new figure shouted in a much too enthusiastic voice, making the blonde flinch back due to his newly acquired headache.

"It's hard enough to breath without the dust, Bushy Brows," he stated, coughing dust out of his lungs.

Lee's eyes widened considerably. "Ah, I am sorry, Naruto-kun! I will run 500 laps around Konoha as punishment later! And if I cannot do that, I will do 1000 push-ups! And if I cannot do that-"

"Lee!" interrupted Naruto, his headache on the edge of migraine level.

"Ah, right! How are you this wonderful morning, my youthful friend!?"

The demon host winced at the continued loudness of his voice. "Terrible," he murmured, not sure if he wanted to hear Lee's response.

"Oh no! Naruto-kun is losing his youthfulness!" the bowl cut shinobi exclaimed to no one in particular, making the blonde wince again. "Quickly! We must run around Konoha until your youth returns to you!"

Before he could protest, Lee had slung him over his back piggy-back style. "I shall run until you feel youthful enough to run with me!" Without another word, the hard Working Green Beast of Konoha took off around the perimeter of the city.

Naruto gasped as air rushed past his face, making it hard to breath. He mouthed something soundlessly in an effort to end the torture the boy was putting him through. He paused and gathered his strength before trying again.

"Put me down!"

Lee slid to a stop in the middle of a training area and gently lowered the Kyuubi host to the ground. As his feet hit the ground, Naruto collapsed onto his back thanks to lack of oxygen. "What's wrong, Naruto-kun?"

"He's obviously sick, you idiot," came a droned, lazy voice from nearby. The blonde sat up painfully, realizing that his throat had begun to hurt and look toward the source of the voice, where Lee was already looking. There, he saw Shikamaru laying in a patch of shade, staring at the clouds.

"Yeah, and training him to death isn't exactly helping his immune system," scolded Ino from where she stood next to the boy.

"Nor his digestive track," added Chouji helpfully as he sat, leaning against the base of a tree, gobbling down chips.

Ino was in his face in a flash. "That's not important right now, doofis!" Everything doesn't revolve around food! What he needs right now is to be left alone to sleep!"

"Yes, and being left alone doesn't involve someone yelling near him," Shikamaru cut in irritably, shutting Ino up with a 'hmph'. He turned his head slightly so he could see Lee out of the corner of his eye. "It's going to be troublesome, but you should leave Naruto with us. We'll make sure he gets back home, while you continue training."

"But Naruto-kun has lost his youth!"

The Nara sighed exasperatedly. "yes, and training will only make it worse." Lee started to argue, but Shikamaru continued, cutting him off. "By forcing him to train, you are wasting energy. Energy that could be used to heal his ailment. Let him rest and get better. Then, train him to death. He'll have more youth than he has ever had before."

Lee's teeth sparkled at the thought as he took on the nice-guy pose. "Excellent idea! That is exactly what I'll do! As punishment for my unthoughtful actions, I will do 1000 kicks! And if I cannot do that-!"

"Please, just go to your training area!" interrupted Ino rudely.

"Hai!" With that, he was gone in a puff of smoke at near unseeable speed. A slowly weakening shout could be heard from the way he had gone. "Take care of Naruto-kun!"

Shikamaru sighed heavily, muttering about how the Green Beast was 'troublesome'. Ino looked at the other blonde from a distance.

"You alright, Naruto?" she asked, only vaguely concerned.

The curled up form on the ground groaned sadly as he clutched his head in pain. "Remind me to kill Lee the next time I see him," he murmured to no one in particular.

The shadow user looked over with boredom in his eyes. "Ya got a cold?"

Naruto pushed himself to a sitting position, finding that his lids were heavier than usual. He sniffled weakly before responding simply, "Allergies."

Ino snorted irritably. "Have you gone to the doctor yet?" she asked, fully expecting a 'no'.

Instead, Chouji cut off his response, speaking with a typically full mouth. "Nah, you should eat."

Naruto stared at him, snot hanging out of his nose. "How will that help?"

Chouji shrugged. "I always feel better after I eat."

The kunoichi of the group glared at him. "Not everyone is like you, ya garbage disposal!" she yelled angrily.

The other blonde whimpered, his hands clasped over his ears. She turned around and frowned at the sight. "Jeese, Naruto, are you that much of a wimp?"

The demon host growled, pushing himself up, ready to defend himself, only to be surprised when Shikamaru did so for him. "You, obviously, have never had allergies, which is sad because they are quire contagious if you've not had them before."

Ino screeched in horror, causing Naruto to flinch at the sound, before running behind a nearby tree. "Keep him away from me!"

It took a second longer for the groggy Kyuubi host to finally register what the Nara had said, gasping in terror. "But that means I've already infected Bushy Brows and Sakura-chan and Kiba and Shino!" he yelled frantically, waving his arms in a flourish. "What'm I gonna do!? What'm I gonna do!? What'm I gonna do!?"

"Naruto!" called Shikamaru in an effort to calm him. The boy fell silent. The Nara looked at his teammates. "Since I've already had allergies before, I'll take him home. Tell Asuma-sensei where I went." He spun around and started walking, motioning for Naruto to follow.

Said shinobi vaulted to his feet and jogged to catch up. Once they were side by side, he groaned. "What'm I gonna do, Shika?"

The shadow user glanced over his shoulder, making sure they were out of earshot before answering. "Nothing. It's not contagious."

"Nani!?" Shikamaru clamped his hand over his jaw.

"Not so loud, idiot," he hissed.

Naruto pulled the hand away from his mouth far enough for him to speak. "But you said-"

"I said that so I could get out of training."

"So, it's not-?" Shika shook his head. The orange-clad ninja glared at him. "Don't scare me like that!"

The shadow user sighed in exasperation. "Did Sakura-san mention anything about it being contagious?" Ha glanced over and saw Naruto shaking his head. "Then, you shoulda known better."

"Wait! How did you know I've already been to see Sakur-chan?"

Shikamaru sighed again, annoyance getting the better of him. "It's troublesome, but I'll explain it to you in small words so you'll understand. You knew you had allergies, but you didn't know anything about them, otherwise you would've known they weren't contagious. You probably didn't even know your headache is being caused by congestion."

"It is?"

"Exactly. So, you've obviously already seen a doctor, and the only doctor I've ever seen you go to, besides Hokage-sama is Sakura-san. Get it now, idiot?" He watched as Naruto took in what he said and followed the logic.

"So, I know something, but I don't know something, and that means I've gone to see a doctor, who had to be Sakura-chan…How does that make sense?" he thought, instantly confused. Finally, he just nodded, not understanding but not caring any more.

There was a short silence before Shikamaru asked, "Did she give you any medication?"

The blonde eyed him warily. "…Yes…"

Ignoring the suspicious look he was receiving, the shadow user continued, knowing full well the other boy hadn't touched the medicine. "You should take it. It'll help."

"I knew it!" burst the Kyuubi container, "You're in on it, too! Well, I'm not going to fall for it! You can't prank the prankmaster of Konoha!" He ran off, laughing hysterically, leaving a stunned Shikamaru in his wake.

Naruto ran until he thought he was out of sight. Then, he stopped and immediately started coughing. Running had definitely not been the greatest idea. His throat was killing him now.

He coughed a few more times, leaning against a tree trunk, before clearing his throat. "That's it. I now officially hate allergies," he thought irritably.

He looked around, finding himself in another training area. Suddenly, leaves rustled in a nearby tree. He tensed, realizing he wasn't alone. He scanned the area, including the trees, but found no one.

Then, four kunai flew at him. Gasping, he flung his arms up in front of his face defensively, only for the weapons to pierce the clothing on the outline of his body, pinning him to the tree he had previously been leaning on. He raised his arms away from his face and looked down, seeing two kunai stuck into the trunk with attached cloth under his armpits and the other two in a similar position near his knees.

Grumbling, he glanced up to see a brunette with buns in her hair approaching. "Darn it, Tenten! I'm not for use as target practice!" he shouted furiously.

The weapons master raised an eyebrow in amusement. "It's what you deserve for interrupting our training.

Naruto looked at her in confusion. "Our?" His eyes widened in horror when he remembered who she always trained with. "Neji's here?" he croaked, terrified. One thing you didn't do was interrupt Neji's training. He learned that the last time when he received a body full of bruises that lasted a full week, which, for Naruto with the Kyuubi's chakra, was a long time.

He looked beyond Tenten to see the Hyuuga leaning against a tree, staring at him coldly. He gulped before raising his hands above his head in surrender. "I give up! Just don't let Neji hurt me!" he pleaded helplessly.

Two more kunai flew out and pinned his arms where they were above his head. He watched in horror as the weapons mistress walked up to him, another kunai idly spinning around her finger. Once she was within arms reach, she caught the knife firmly in her grip and ran it across his jaw, light enough that he could feel the cold steel without drawing blood.

"Who says Neji'll be the one to hurt you?" She smirked when the fright in his eyes multiplied tenfold. She turned her head slightly without taking her eyes off of Naruto and spoke to the Hyuuga over her shoulder. "You got an apple, Neji? I feel like experimenting."

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"Note for future reference: don't bother Tenten while she's training," Naruto thought as he walked away from the training zone that he had narrowly escaped with his life. If he thought Neji was scary when his training was interrupted, Tenten was downright terrifying. Oh no, she hadn't done him any physical harm, but she knew how to torture psychologically. He shivered just thinking about what she had done to him.

"Let me rephrase that: never bother Tenten while she's training. He anger's almost scarier than Skaura-chan's!" He sniffled as his thoughts went to the medic-nin and thus, the 'allergies' he now had.

Come to think of it, Tenten hadn't even noticed that he seemed sick. Her anger had overpowered any thoughts of concern. And Neji hadn't been any better! He just stood there, no doubt having noticed his ailment, looking mildly amused.

Naruto growled at the memory; an action that didn't agree with his throat, for it sent him into a fit of coughs.

Once he got control of his breathing again, he ralized something. Neither of the pair had paid any attention to the fact that he wasn't well. Thus, they hadn't told him to take his medicine. Lee hadn't either.

He frowned at the thought. Team Gai really had been left out of the loop on the prank they were trying to pull on him. He should have been grateful since it made things easier on him, but instead, he felt sad that his allies didn't trust them. Sure, Lee tended to ruin things with his overzealousness but still!

He was brought out of his reverie by a sharp jab to his stomach. He crumpled over, clutching it. "You going to listen now, dobe?" asked the figure standing in front of him.

Naruto looked up with a scowl. "Sasuke-teme! What do you want?"

The Uchiha looked down his nose at him in his typically arrogant way. "Sakura (-chan, -san) told me to come tell you to take your medicine."

The blonde quickly stood up. "But how does she know I haven't touched it yet?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, his way of saying, 'You're you. What would she expect?' without actually moving his lips. Naruto glared at him fiercely. "I am not going to fall for such a simple prank!"

The raven-haired shinobi stared at him emotionlessly. "It's not a prank, dobe."

The other genin hesitated. "…It's not?" Sasuke stared at him icily, as if it was obvious the whole time. Suspicion arose once more in the demon host. "Yes it is! Sakura-chan must've convinced you to play a part in the prank to get back at me!"

"What're you talking about, dobe?"

"Yeah, that's it! Well, I'm not going to fall for it! I won't be the victim today!" With that, he ran off again, leaving Sasuke to shake his head sullenly.

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Naruto groaned where h lay on a bench in the park. No one came near him, mostly thanks to a certain demon in his stomach. Nonetheless, for once, he was glad to be left alone. He felt absolutely terrible.

He pulled his arm across his face so that his eyes were hidden from the bright afternoon sun that refused to stop making his headache worse. His nose was completely clogged, seeming to make the 'congestion' Shikamaru mentioned even worse. His eyes felt amazingly swollen to the point where it was an effort to open them. Then, there was his throat, which burned acidly, especially when he swallowed.

He moaned as he sat up, causing him to go into a fit of coughs. As he stopped hacking, he groaned resting his head on his palms, which were supported at the elbows on his knees.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the bottle of medicine. "maybe I should take it…" he thought hesitantly. He held it in front of his drooping eyes. He really needed to take one.

But he really didn't want to get pranked. After all, his title as prankmaster of Konoha was on the line! He couldn't lose that!

Yet, he was absolutely miserable. And hadn't everyone told him that the medicine would help? He just hadn't listened through his paranoia.

And they wouldn't do that to him anyway.

Would they?

He finally caved and pulled out a pill, swallowing it without water.

He stoop up and started toward his apartment. If he was going to be pranked, he wouldn't let it be publicly. He just hoped the medicine didn't take effect and put him to sleep before he made it.

It wasn't long before he was wobbling as he walked. Okay, so maybe he wouldn't make it all the way home. But he could sure as hell try. He forced himself to straighten and continued walking through the park, but he couldn't help feeling drowsy.

Distantly, he felt his body give out and his form hit the ground. He heard a weak voice over the sounds of nature the park held.

"Naruto-kun?"

His mind fluttered briefly back to life. "Hinata?" Then, his thoughts gave way as he closed his eyes hopelessly.

"Naruto-kun!"

One thought crossed his mind before he drifted into unconsciousness. "I guess I just lost my title…"

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Naruto awoke in a damp, dark place with seemingly no end. A puddle of water lay in front of him. Naruto groaned. "How did I end up here…"

A guttural laught emitted from beside him. He turned to see giant prison bars, behind which stood an enormous set of teeth and red slitted eyes. The blonde growled.

"What do you want, Kyuubi?!" The fox only laughed harder. Naruto glared at the demon. "Why am I here?!"

Kyuubi's laughter stopped abruptly with a sinister smirk. "Maybe I should try taking over. I bet it wouldn't be too hard with you unconscious from medicine."

The host glowered at the caged beast before smirking. "If you could, you would have already.

The smirk faded from the Kyuubi's visage immediately. The boy had called his bluff and now there was no way he would be able to aggravate the boy into feeling enough emotion for him to take over. Thus, there was no point keeping the child's mind here.

Naruto's consciousness was sent reeling back into reality, where his body jumped to a sitting position due to instinct. Unfortunately, his head collided with a second one that happened to be above his. He heard a brief "Ow" as he fell back into a laying down position.

Oddly enough, he didn't meet with rough dirt as he expected, but instead, hard bench. He had been moved while he was out of it. He opened his eyes to see Hinata standing over him, rubbing her forehead softly. As soon as she saw that Naruto was awake, her eyes became worried.

"Ano…Are you alright, Naruto-kun?"

The boy blinked at her, surprised she was actually talking to him without being nervous. Then again, her care for others seemed to overcome her shyness at times. Finally, he responded groggily, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah…er…What happened?"

Hinata dropped her gaze and her hands came together to poke her index fingers against each other as her anxiety returned, amplified by the closeness of her and her crush. She stood up and took a step back, blushing heavily. "Ano…Y-you w-were w-walking through the park and-um-y-you collapsed."

Naruto sat up with a grunt, his still asleep muscles sending a wave of pain through his body as he did so. He closed his eyes, leaning back against the bench. "Were you the one who moved me to this bench?" he asked tiredly, finishing by lifting his eyelids just enough to see the girl in front of him.

The Hyuuga nodded shortly, eyes on the ground, not trusting her voice.

Naruto watched her cautiously before remembering why he hadn't taken the pills in the first place, and thus, panicked. He jumped to full alert, running his hands over his face and body, attempting to find any possible prank that had been played on him. This, of course, startled Hinata, causing her to look up at him quizzically.

The orange-clad shinobi quit his searching when he realized she was staring at him and glanced up at her with narrowed eyes. "You didn't prank me, did you?"

This only farther confused the Hyuuga girl. "Ano…N-no. W-why w-would I d-do that, N-naruto-kun?"

The Kyuubi container cocked his head to the side questioningly. "You mean they didn't let you in on the prank either?"

Their eyes met briefly before the girl lowered her head with a deepened blush. She barely managed to get her mouth to open enough for her to speak. "W-what p-prank, N-naruto-kun?"

"The prank Sakura-chan was planning on playing on me." He paused as he went into thought. "But, I thought everyone except Team Gai knew…" He looked up at her in confusion. "Are you sure you haven't heard of a prank?" She nodded her head without lifting her gaze to meet his. "Then, that means Kiba…And Shika…And even Sasuke…" he trailed off, trying to follow some train of the logic that was almost entirely lost to his primitive mind. He groaned and slumped his head as he came to a conclusion.

Hinata raised her eyes to look at him with concern. "N-naruto-kun?"

Said boy lifted his eyes with an exhausted sigh. "There was no prank, was there?"

The Hyuuga lowered her gaze, returning to the nervous habit of poking her index fingers together. "N-not that I know of, N-naruto-kun."

Naruto sighed again. "I was a fool." Hinata gave him a worried look, which was completely lost to him. He looked up with a wide, 100 false grin. "Ah, that doesn't matter though. At least my allergies seem to be gone." He took a deep breath as confirmation and tried to stand, only for his legs to cramp underneath him, causing him to grunt in agony and fall back onto the bench with a loud thud.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata stepped forward with an arm extended, worry evident on the whole of her face.

The orange-clad shinobi laughed a forced laugh. "Man, my body's sore all over, and I didn't even do any training," he said with forced humor, laughing hollowly at himself.

Hinata, however, knew him far better than that and easily saw how fake it all was. He was feeling weak and vulnerable and was trying to cover it up with humor. Normally, someone else would cheer him up and show him how strong he really was, or he would just sulk to a training area to become stronger as she watched helplessly from a distance. But now, that was kind of impossible. No one else was here to cheer him up, and she was already right next to him. She would just have to do the cheering up herself.

With a new resolve, she looked up at Naruto with slightly clenched teeth. She had to do it, or she would never forgive herself. "Y-you had allergies?" She mentally scolded herself for maintaining her stutter in such a circumstance.

He nodded. "Yeah. And Sakura-chan gave me some medicine for it."

"D-did the m-medicine have any s-side effects?"

"er…Yeah. Drowsiness. Here, look."

He pulled out the bottle and handed it to her pale fingers, which took it hesitantly. She looked it over and soon found the problem.

"N-naruto-kun…" He looked at her curiously, causing her to hesitate and blush before she continued with a heightened stutter. "I-it s-says h-here th-that i-it m-may c-cause c-cramps."

The demon host's eyes widened in realization. "So, that's why it hurts to move…" he stated conclusively. The kunoichi nodded, handing back the bottle of pills nervously. "No matter," he continued, forcing his body to stand up, "I'll make it home anyway!"

He took a step, only for his leg to surge in pain, causing him to gasp and his body to begin to fall sideways. However, instead of hitting dirt, he felt a body catch him underneath his arm. He glanced over to see a deeply blushing Hinata, who had apparently put herself there out of pure instinct, with her hand on his forearm and other arm around his waist.

It came as a surprise to him when she spoke first. "M-m-maybe I-I sh-should h-help," she said cautiously.

Naruto responded with a bright smile on his face, throwing all doubts in her mind to the wind. "That would be great." He continued at a mumble. "And remind me never to take medicine again."

Hinata couldn't help but smile at his last comment, despite the rapidly increasing redness of her cheeks. It was so…Naruto. One of the many reasons she admired him.

They began toward Naruto's apartment in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

The orange-clad shinobi was completely stunned by the kindness being shown to him. Him! The host of Kyuubi! Of course, she didn't know that, but still! The other kids hated and avoided him simply because their parents did the same. It was just one of those things easily passed down from parent to offspring. Sure, he had some friends, yes, but they were kind of…forced to be friends with him. Being put on the same team tends to build a bond despite previous sentiments. It was just…different…for him to experience kindness without a reason for it, or an ulterior motive. But this was Hinata! She didn't do ulterior motives, and he knew it. He simply couldn't place a reason behind her kindness.

In the end, he just resolved that it was Hinata being Hinata, kind to all as usual.

Hinata had thoughts of a very different nature running through her head. She was amazed that she had managed to get this close to him without fainting. This thought, of course, brought on a wave of imbalance, threatening to cause both of them to fall on their faces, as well as a new shade of red on her cheeks. Yet, she was resolved to help him, and she wouldn't let her own weakness cause her to fail in that goal. She wouldn't, couldn't, let herself faint. And maybe, when they got to his apartment, he would invite her in. It wasn't long before she was lost in her fantasy world with the Naruto of her dreams.

Oh yes, he would invite her in, and they would sit down on his couch side by side. Then, he would turn and look into her eyes meaningfully and say, "Arigatou Hinata-chan. I really appreciate it. If you ever need anything, Konoha's number one surprising ninja will do it in an instant. That's the promise of a lifetime."

And she would respond, "Kiss me." He would bring his hand up to her cheek softly and lean in, bringing their lips together in the most passionate kiss she had ever considered having with him.

"…You alright, Hinata?" The question was innocent enough, but it still made Hinata jump. She looked over to see the object of her latest daydream with an arm over her shoulder weakly. Her face took on a new shade of crimson, and she suddenly realized she was hyperventilating.

"Ano…um…er…I…uh…" she stuttered, unable to find words to justify her having been daydreaming such a thing right next to her crush. Needless to say, he was oblivious to her thoughts.

"Maybe we should both go see a doctor," he laughed humorlessly, trying to lighten the mood. The attempt was appreciated by the Hyuuga as it gave her the time to collect herself enough to keep from fainting.

"I-I'm f-fine," she finally managed in little more than a whisper to herself.

But, somehow, Naruto heard. "Eh, well good 'cause here's my stop, and I can't exactly walk a sick girl home in my condition." He laughed again at his own weakness.

Hinata looked at him wistfully as they came up to his apartment door. Despite the awkwardness, she had enjoyed walking him home, though it was probably more like carrying him there. She had enjoyed the comfortable warmth of his body over hers, like a protective barrier against all that was outside. Granted, a weakened barrier, but it was still her protective barrier.

Her eyes became sorrowful as he unhooked his arm from around her shoulder and reached for the door. It opened with a soft squeak from lack of use. She watched sullenly as he took a step toward his apartment-

-And fell flat on his face. "Naruto-kun!" She rushed to his side once more.

"Ow…" He looked sideways up at her from where his head had landed against the rug. "Okay, maybe I could use some help at least getting to the couch." Hinata nodded determinedly as she got underneath Naruto's warm arm again. The two walked into his messy apartment.

Hinata scanned the place as they walked to the lone couch that was there. It was messy and dirty. Everything that wasn't in the Hyuuga compound, made its home here, or if it was at the compound, it wasn't in the same place. Clothes were thrown all over the floor, dishes were piled up in the sink, and the bed was left unmade. It was like someone actually lived here. It was so different from what she was used to, but it was so…comforting. She definitely liked it.

She sat him down on the couch, forcing her to sit down as well so that he could get his arm out from around her. He looked down at the ground, nervously rubbing the back of his head. "Arigatou Hinata-chan. I really appreciate it. If you ever need anything, Konoha's number one surprising ninja will do it in an instant. That's the promise of a lifetime."

"Kiss me." Hinata gasped, bringing her hand up to her mouth. Her subconscious had gotten away with her at the repeat of what had happened in her previous dream. It hadn't been an exact repeat, what with him looking at the ground nervously and all, but it had been close enough for her inner hope to bloom and take hold of her body for just a short moment. A moment that now had a chance of ruining her life.

She watched as his eyes widened in shock. Before he could say anything, Hinata's nervous impulses took over. She jabbed her fingers together, stuttering all the while. "Ano-G-gomen-I-I d-didn't-I-I j-just-I-I-uh-G-gomen." She jumped up and ran out of the apartment, not waiting for any sort of reply from her crush.

He stared where she had sat for a good, long while, slowly taking in what she had said and what had happened that night. Gradually, a true, complete smile crept onto his face as he came to a new conclusion as to the reasons behind her kind actions for the day.

"She likes me!"