A/N: Hello to all readers! This is my first story… well, not really the first that I've written but the first I've published in fanfiction. Anyways, this story is inspired by the song in Disney Hercules "I won't Say (I'm In Love)", thus, the title :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Prologue

Blond and Pink…

Two people, a boy and a girl. No, more like a man and a woman. They were standing face-to-face, lips locked together.

That was the last thing the fifteen year old Hyuuga Hinata saw before she deactivated her Byakugan, her bloodline limit, and stared stunned in front of two closed wooden doors of the Hokage's office. Tears slid down her face as she took a step back and turned to leave in silence bringing with her a shattered heart.

Ever since that day, Hinata, a kunoichi, never allowed her heart to hurt again.

I Won't Say (I'm In Love)

Chapter 1

Hyuuga Hinata, heiress to the famous and powerful Hyuuga clan, an eighteen-year old female ninja with midnight-colored hair and pale eyes, stared at the window of her room as she witnessed the rising of the sun in the hidden village of the leaf, Konohagakure. Her pale complexion glowed as the sun shone on her and a smile formed on her lips. "It's a beautiful day today" she said to herself. A knock was then heard on her door.

"Hinata-sama?" a female voice called outside of her room.

"Yes?" the Hyuuga responded.

"It's time for breakfast."

"I understand. I'll be down in a minute."

Hinata got out of bed and immediately approached her closet. She put on her black pants, black fishnet shirt and her big light violet hooded jacket with white raglan sleeves – her usual outfit. Lastly, for her footwear, she wore a pair of black open sandals before she dashed out of her room to eat her breakfast.

When she arrived at the dining room of the Hyuuga compound, she saw her father, Hiashi, her younger sister, Hanabi, and Neji, her cousin, already seated at the rectangular table eating their morning meal in silence. When they saw her arrive, their pale eyes silently watched her make her way to her seat beside Neji.

"Good morning" Hinata said, addressing everyone present in the room.

"Good Morning, Hinata-sama." Neji responded with a warm smile, his pale eyes staring kindly at her.

"Good Morning, Neji-niisan." Hinata greeted back with the same warmth in her smile. It has been a long time since Neji and Hinata got along well. They were cousins but they treat each other like how real siblings would.

"Good morning Hinata-nee" Hanabi said in her small voice.

Hinata greeted her back with the same smile she showed Neji and began eating her meal. Once again, a comfortable silence fell over the room until Hiashi, who was seated at the head of the table, cleared his throat. Three pairs of eyes turned to look at the current head of the clan.

"Hinata, you should probably do something about those guys who keep coming here just with the intentions of wanting to see you." Hiashi said. Hinata's father used to dislike her calling her weak and useless when she was still so young. But as time passed by, he gradually realized that Hinata was more than that. She's a jounin now, together with Neji, and has the potential of being in the ANBU. She could be in the ANBU but she immediately refused when she was offered to. She may be a very strong kunoichi now but Hinata was still Hinata – a pacifist.

"Otou-sama (Father), I think it's more proper to call 'those guys' as Hinata-nee's fans." Hanabi said with a giggle as she glanced over her older sister whose face was a bit apologetic.

"My apologies, Hiashi-sama. It's my duty to drive away those guys away from Hinata-sama." Neji said as he intentionally stressed the words he spoke, his voice filled with annoyance towards Hinata's "fans". He obviously didn't like the sound of it – Hinata's fans.

Hinata giggled at Neji's obvious protectiveness towards her. "It's not your fault, Neji-niisan."

Neji just stared wide-eyed at Hinata who surprisingly was taking it easy. Though it wasn't the first time Neji saw Hinata without a hint of shyness, he still couldn't believe his cousin, who used to be overly shy and who faints easily, became someone who could laugh a matter off regarding her own love life. She used to be the type who would blush furiously when it came to discussions like this.

"Nee-san's right, Neji-nii. It's not your fault that they keep coming back at the Hyuuga compound asking for nee-san even after you tried your best to swat them off for countless consecutive days. They just can't help risking it all, even their lives, since Hinata-nee's so beautiful." Hanabi grinned, admiration present in her voice. And it was the truth! There were times when men would swarm over the gates of the Hyuuga compound and Neji kept on telling them that if they won't go away, he would use the gentle fist on them all and send them to the hospital making sure they won't be leaving the building ever again. Of course, there were those who got scared and left, it was Neji who they were facing after all! But still majority were persistent as hell and kept visiting the compound every single day waiting for Hinata to leave the place. And it wasn't because they weren't scared of Hyuuga Neji, it was because they knew Hinata wouldn't want him to hurt them and would stop him from doing so.

Poor Neji, ever since Hinata slowly overcame her shyness, men started to swoon over her one by one until disaster became a nightmare to Neji who continuously attempt to drive them all away from his cousin every single day, draining his energy in the process. Hinata, on the other hand, kept on telling her cousin to leave the swooning men alone since they won't listen to all the threats he made namely sending them to hospital to killing them slowly but surely. Neji didn't leave them be, but he wasn't threatening them any longer, for he sooner realized it was futile to do so.

"Which reminds me," Hiashi spoke again. "There are tons of bouquets and gifts lying near the entrance of the house…again. Get them later. If you don't need them, you could dispose of them. They're from those…fans." he finished, although reluctantly. Like Neji, Hiashi didn't like mentioning the word. Though he disliked the idea of men drooling over his daughter, he can't help but feel proud for his eldest.

"Yes, Otou-sama." Hinata nodded as she finished her meal and stood up. "I'll be going first then." with that said, Hinata left the dining room and went to the entrance where her father mentioned about the gifts for her. There were a lot of boxes and flowers, but Hinata wasn't surprised anymore. This sort of thing was already normal to her…ever since that day.

"They don't know how to give up, do they? Those men, villagers and ninjas alike." a female voice said behind Hinata. The heiress turned around to see a brown-haired kunoichi. Her hair was tied into a bun, each on one side of her head. The said kunoichi grinned as she saw the look on Hinata's face.

"Tenten-san!" Hinata called, a look of surprise evident on her face. "When did you arrive?"

"Just a moment ago. I was waiting for you guys to finish your breakfast when I saw you walk your way here. You finished eating?" Tenten asked. Of all people in the ninja village, Tenten was the closest female friend to Hinata.

"Yes, I just did. How about you? Why are you here so early?" Hinata asked as she ushered Tenten to the couch in the living room.

"I'm here to invite Neji for a morning walk." Hinata didn't miss the blush that crept up her friend's face as Tenten answered. Hinata knew that Tenten liked Neji – she always has ever since they became teammates. In fact, Hinata could understand Tenten's feelings more than anyone since she also experienced the same thing in the past, only a little different in circumstances. Yes, in the past. She also liked a certain blond blue-eyed ninja ever since they were kids.

Uzumaki Naruto, a ninja who used to have no value in his name, yet Hinata didn't care. She still saw him as someone who's worthy to be admired, worthy to be loved. All those people who used to hate and ignore him, those people who used to laugh at him and his "unreachable dream", or so they called, was now looking at him, respect in their eyes. And why not? He became Hokage after all. After the fourth ninja war, Tsunade, the fifth and current hokage at that time, retired and gave him the position. Now, Naruto has lots of girls chasing after him, although he doesn't realize that many had already attempted to make a move on him or flirt with him. He still hadn't taken the hint because of his "dumbness", as what the others name it. However, there is but one girl who could take all of his attention away without an effort – Haruno Sakura, a kunoichi with pink hair and green eyes, his teammate and friend.

"Hinata? Hinata?" Tenten called out while waving a hand near Hinata's face, cutting the heiress's trail of thoughts in the process. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Tenten-san. Why do you ask?" Hinata said forcing a smile.

"You looked like you were deep in thought. What were you thinking about anyway? Mind sharing it with me?" the brown-haired girl asked.

Hinata fell silent as she bowed her head to look at her hands that were now clasped together. She wasn't sure if she wanted to share it with Tenten. She wanted to confide to Tenten but she didn't want for her to know she was thinking that. She didn't want to remind her friend of what happened back then because if she knew –

"Oh my – perhaps…are you…thinking of that?" Tenten asked her voice dangerously low as emotions stirred inside her. Memories that Hinata wished for Tenten to forget were now gradually coming back to her.

"Tenten-san, please calm down." Hinata said, trying to control the situation before it gets any worse.

"It's been three years hasn't it, Hinata?" It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Tenten was now standing up and began pacing the room. "Three years ever since that stupid bastard broke your heart!"

"Tenten-san, please…" the heiress pleaded but was completely ignored.

"That dumb, all-time loser, jerk, sorry ass of a Hokage! That, that…!" Tenten bursted. Her face was red with anger. She continued shouting curses as Hinata continued to calm her down.

"Tenten-san, STOP IT!" Hinata finally shouted.

In an instant, Tenten was silenced. Hinata then slowly let her take her seat in the couch again. They were both silent for a while as they tried to compose themselves.

Then, Tenten spoke. "I'm sorry, Hinata. I guess I was just angry…for you."

Hinata gave her a weak smile. "Yes, I can see that. For that, I'm thankful."

For a second, Tenten just stared at the Hyuuga, amazement in her eyes. Then, she sighed. "Why can't you just show that you're angry, or so sad that you want to cry your heart out, Hinata? You know, you could be at ease and cry in front of me if you want to. I mean, what are friends for? Don't keep it all bottled up inside." Tenten said her voice full of concern.

"Thank you, Tenten-san. But I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me." Hinata said as she still kept her weak smile plastered on her face.

Tenten, on the other hand, sighed in exasperation. "Come on, Hinata! Everyone in the world would probably get angry if what happened to you happened to them, too! I mean, you were heart-broken and hurt because Naruto got your hopes up but in the end chose Sakura instead of you! Not to mention –"

"What did you just say?" a male voice asked.

The two kunoichis gulped as their heads slowly turned to the direction of the voice. At the doorway of the living room was a man with long brown hair and pale eyes who was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.

"Neji-niisan…" Hinata squeaked.

"What was it about Naruto hurting you, Hinata-sama?" he asked, his eyes fixed on Hinata. It was clear that he was trying to control the anger that was starting to boil up inside him. It was no surprise to Hinata and Tenten that he was asking such a question. Neji never knew what actually took place three years ago between Hinata and Naruto. In fact, no one knew about this except Tenten who Hinata confided in a few hours after the incident. When Hinata first told her friend what happened, Tenten unexpectedly threw a tantrum saying she was going to beat up Naruto and teach him a good lesson. Hinata frantically stopped Tenten, or rather, begged her to stop. She also made Tenten promise to keep it a secret especially to Neji who she knew would act worse than Tenten. She didn't want to be the one to ruin her cousin's friendship with Naruto and she never will be…or so she thought.

"Tenten, what were you two talking about?" Neji turned to the brown-haired girl who was frantically thinking up an excuse so as not to break a promise with Hinata.

"Uh…uh…" Tenten's eyes darted from Neji to Hinata then back to Neji.

"It's nothing, Neji-niisan." Hinata suddenly said. "It was just a small…argument between me and Naruto-kun, nothing more." The heiress flashed her cousin a fake smile of assurance.

Neji didn't say anything; he just stared at the two girls in front of him. After a few seconds of silence, Neji sighed. "Hinata-sama, you may be getting better and better at lying but that won't work on me, remember?"

Hinata stared at her cousin wide-eyed for a moment before bowing her head low, guilty of lying. Neji probably was the only person who could tell when she was lying or not. That was one of his gifts – he truly was a genius. "I-I'm sorry…Neji-niisan. I just don't want you to worry about me. I'm already causing you a lot of trouble, I couldn't just add more to your burdens."

Neji slowly made his way to his cousin and knelt in front of her. He gently placed a hand on top of Hinata's. "Hinata-sama," he said his voice gentle. "You are not a burden to me. I'm not just doing this out of duty but out of love for a relative. Hinata-sama, you are like a little sister to me so never would I think that you're a burden. Please, tell me everything that bothers you. Because if you won't, it'll only make me more worried for you."

Hinata stared into Neji's eyes, and then she turned her head to look at Tenten who looked like she was on the verge of shedding tears at Neji's speech earlier. Hinata turned to look at her cousin again who was patiently waiting for her to tell him about what really happened three years ago. "Okay, I'll tell you." Hinata finally spoke. Neji smiled warmly at Hinata as he rose to his feet and sat down beside Hinata in the couch ready to listen.

Hinata began narrating to him the incident that took place three years ago when Naruto was already Hokage. Hinata just returned in Konoha from a five-day long mission. Every ninja who just finished a mission are required to report to the Hokage's office as soon as they arrive. And that was just what the Hyuuga heiress was itching to do. Reporting to the Hokage's office means an opportunity to talk to Naruto – her lifetime crush. But as she was about to knock on the door to the Hokage's office, she heard a familiar voice talking inside the room.

"Now, I finally realize… my feelings for you. This time, I'm telling the truth." a female voice said. "I love you… Naruto."

It was then that Hinata activated her Byakugan. She wasn't supposed to be eavesdropping, but she can't just leave this alone. She wants to know what's going on – she needs to know. Who was it who spoke? Hinata's eyes widened in shock as she saw a pink haired girl – it was Sakura. And Naruto, who she had just confessed to, was standing in front of her, his eyes wide in shock. The room filled with silence. At that moment…Hinata saw her world crumble. Sakura's hands went to Naruto's cheeks. She gently lowered his face to hers until their lips met. Hinata just stood outside the room, frozen and unable to do anything besides stare in horror. It felt like the world was going to end, that she was dying. Her heart ached, her eyes watered. Soon enough, she deactivated her Byakugan, unable to see any more of it. With that, she began to leave the tower as she allowed her tears to continue falling.

"Perhaps…I should come and report another time." was what Hinata said for the last time before walking towards her home.

"Is that the reason why you began being bold?" Neji asked, hitting the mark. Hinata reluctantly nodded. "I see" with this, Neji quietly stood up and began to leave the room.

"N-Neji, where are you going?" Tenten asked. It was surprising that Neji was taking it easily and calmly. Both Hinata and Tenten were actually expecting a worse scenario once they've finished telling him.

"Isn't it obvious where I'm going? Of course I'm going to finish him off for Hinata-sama. I'll make sure no one would be able to recognize him once I'm done." Neji said as if it was the most rational thing to do.

They take it back…Neji was still Neji when it comes to protecting Hinata.

"Please don't do that!" Hinata quickly said. "Don't do anything, Neji-niisan. It's not his fault. I'm the one –"

"Don't blame yourself, Hinata-sama. Because it is clearly his fault for making you think like that." Neji said, his voice was menacing.

"He's right, Hinata." Tenten agreed. "Don't go blaming yourself for other's faults. You're always like that. You're such a saint it makes me cry."

Night came, showing the full moon glowing through the darkness. Hinata was in her room, seated on her bed with a pillow in her hands. She was remembering the conversation she had with Tenten earlier that morning.

"Why can't you just show that you're angry, or so sad that you want to cry your heart out, Hinata? You know, you could be at ease and cry in front of me if you want to. I mean, what are friends for? Don't keep it all bottled up inside." Tenten said her voice full of concern.

"Come on, Hinata! Everyone in the world would probably get angry if what happened to you happened to them, too!" Tenten shouted.

"It's not that I'm not angry…it's not that I can't cry." Hinata mumbled to herself while hugging her pillow tightly. "It's just that I…find myself unable to show my deepest emotions in front of someone anymore."

Tears silently slid down her cheeks, dripping to her pillow. "It looks like…I forgot how to show my emotions."

Hinata looked up at the sky from her window while asking no one in particular, "Ne, what…is love?"

A/N: I deeply apologize for all the drama in this chapter. Though, I still hope you guys liked it. Please do tell me of your opinions, be it negative or positive. I'll do my best in updating as soon as possible. Thank you.