Hmm, been a while since I last cranked out a Naruto fic. Setting's during the filler arc of Part One. I got the idea from playing Fire Emblem where two characters can have three 'Support Conversations' which may or may not determine whether they end up together or not. I wondered to myself what if Naruto and Hinata did this, and hey presto! This fic came out. Enjoy my most generic idea to date.

Three Conversations

The midday sun shone brightly, casting a spell of exuberance over the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The streets were busy, resonating with the sound of cheerful hustle and bustle. Naruto Uzumaki, self-proclaimed future Hokage, walked down the footpath whistling an off-key tune. He only stopped whistling to say to himself cheerfully, "Today's a good day for ramen!" and as he did, he fingered his coupons from the Ichiraku noodle shop.

He trotted along, oblivious to everything, and only noticed that there was a world around him when he bumped into another person. Fellow Genin Hinata Hyuga squeaked in alarm.

"Hm?" Naruto blinked. Then he grinned. "Hey, it's Hinata!"

The girl looked up bashfully, hardly able to control the blush that was creeping up on her face. "Oh, N-Naruto!" she stuttered. "G-Good day, isn't it?"

Usually Naruto would frown and wonder why Hinata never seemed to know what to say in any situation; but today he was much too happily ignorant to wonder about any of this. "Perfect timing, Hinata!" he said. "My Ichiraku coupons run out today. Wanna come eat with me?"

"Want to come eat with me?" Oh, dear Lord. Her Ninja training had not prepared her for this!

"Oh, Naruto, w-well, I…"

He shrugged. "You don't wanna go? Okay, then." He turned his head around, glancing around the street for anyone else he recognised. Maybe Sakura could go with him.

Then he heard a THUD. Naruto blinked and turned around.

Hinata had collapsed on the footpath. Her face was completely white. Her skin was moist and sweaty. She may be dead!

On closer examination, Naruto realised that she had merely fainted. Her chest was rising and falling. Still, Naruto decided it might be prudent to take Hinata to the hospital or at least someplace shady. Poor girl must have been overworking herself or something. Perhaps that had been why her face had been so red when he had bumped into her.

It all made sense to him.

The next day…

Hinata sighed. Her head was down and her palm was pressed against a tree, her fingers scraping the coarse bark. She was alone in the forest just outside the village. The wind blew the still trees around her and she thought they sounded almost like a voice.

She straightened up and stared morosely at the tree in front of her. It was not quite a full grown tree but not a sapling either. It was about her height.

"Naruto," she said to the tree, "I, uh… r-really like you. I've had a crush on you all this time, y-you see and I, well, I thought you might have wanted t-to know…" She sighed again, more frustrated this time. "No, Hinata! That wasn't right! He would think you're weird if you said that."

She inhaled deeply.

"Try it again," she muttered as she closed her eyes in concentration. "Okay… Here we go…"

She cleared her throat in a determined manner and then began in a firm voice, "Naruto!"

"Yeah?" came the reply. From behind her.

Oh…

CRAP!

"N-Naruto?! Y-You were there?!" The world was starting to spin around for her.

Naruto blinked (He did that a lot) and shook his head. "No, I was just passing by," he explained. "Why?"

THUD.

"Wait a minute…" Naruto frowned. "Have you just fainted again, Hinata?"

Unfortunately, Hinata could not state the very obvious answer to that question.

Naruto sighed and bent to pick up the unconscious girl. "What is it with Hinata and fainting?" he muttered. "She shouldn't be a Ninja!"

When Hinata came to…

She was lying on one of those stiff hospital beds. She instantly knew that there was someone else in the room with her.

Sitting on a chair next to the empty vase was Naruto.

"Hinata," he said uncharacteristically seriously. His blue eyes were homed in on hers, making her feel things, making her body go all squeamish. It was horrible! And yet, so very, very nice.

Hinata only narrowly avoided fainting all over again.

"Y-yes, Naruto?" she stuttered questioningly.

"To tell you the truth," said Naruto, "I've been worrying about you recently."

Worrying… about her?

"W-What for?" Hinata asked. She felt as if her heart might explode in her chest any second now.

"If you keep fainting all the time, isn't that going to put you and your teammates in danger when you're out on missions?"

Oh.

Hinata said nothing.

"Well, Hinata?"

She was silent for another moment and then her voice managed to form a weak, affirmative "Yes" which Naruto nodded knowingly at.

"What makes you like that anyway?" he asked curiously. "You've been training too hard, haven't you?"

Hinata certainly wasn't going to say, "It's you, Naruto. I think you're so attractive that I faint every time I see you." So she took the easy way out and nodded.

"I'll get stronger," she said in a small voice. And then in an even smaller voice, she added, "For you, Naruto."

To Hinata's unending embarrassment, Naruto heard her. "Really?" His eyes smiled. "That's great, Hinata!"

Hinata smiled weakly. This was going better than she thought it would.

Naruto grinned broadly. "One day, when I'm Hokage, I'll make sure you're Hokage-ess! Then we'll both be strong, huh?"

Hinata was feeling too light-headed to perform the Anime-fall-over-thing. She settled with saying, "Uh huh."

"Well, see ya later, Hinata!"

She was silent for five minutes after he left.

Then she said aloud, "He didn't get it, did he?"