SUMMARY: There is a reason why Hinata became manager of the basketball team. [High school AU]

WORDS: 3,076

RATED: T

A/N: This really was a one-shot. I've been writing it the whole day at around 8pm and barely finished it now. I hope you guys like it? There might be some errors, considering I did not do a full out spelling check on it. I also got this idea from the manga call Namaikizakari! So go read it rn if you haven't! I promise you will not regret it!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto :C

It had been three years already since Hinata became the manager of the Basketball Team. It was a little hectic at first, considering many of the players did not believe she was strong or loud enough to hold them all in place. But the young Hyuuga managed and proved them all wrong.

Though she had a voice of a mouse; Hinata never quivered or shied away when she had to huddle the boys together. She had never missed practiced before nor had she ever stopped making new gameplays. She was always there when it was game day and she was always the first one to cheer for them. The indigo beauty was more than what the team could have asked for.

People had talked about her before, asking and wondering why such a quiet, timid girl became the basketball manager. Some even stepped up to ask her why but she would just merely brush them off stating that it was because she liked the sport.

Truth was Hinata had a reason why she became the manager and why she chose to be one despite how shy she was.

"That was a good game everyone, great job on winning!"

Hinata tucked the folded piece of game paper under her arm and began clapping proudly as the basketball team cheered loudly along. "It's been a while since I've felt this excited!" Kiba howl cheerfully, throwing an arm around Shino's neck.

"Says the one who was out there raging like crazy," Naruto retorted, making the team sneer at the Inuzuka. Kiba tut offensively and raised his middle finger at the blonde.

"Okay guys, enough. We won and that's all that matters," Shikamaru; the team captain lousily announced with a wide yawn. "Anyway, I'll be going first if we're done talking here," the Nara uttered idly as he grabbed his sweater and stood up from the locker bench.

"Same here," Chouji announced, munching away the bag of chip in his hand.

"Ah, yes! We are finished for today but please make sure to come to school early in the morning though for morning practices. We have another game two days from now so we can't start slacking off just yet," Hinata called out hurriedly as some of the boys had already began getting up from the bench.

Naruto stood behind the door, letting each member leave first until it was just him and Hinata, with Sasuke coming back from his locker. The young Hyuuga blushed ferociously when Sasuke gave Naruto a stare then looked at her before letting out a scoff and walked towards the blonde. She silently grunted to herself when the dark haired male kicked Naruto by the ankle as if teasing him and finally left out the door, leaving just the two behind.

"That teme," Naruto tut angrily but sheepishly laughed when he turned his head back to the indigo beauty in front of him. "Anyway, where are you going now, just home?" He asked as he made his way towards her.

"Well, I think I'm gonna go and mop the gym before I go. I need to make sure it's clean before you guys get here tomorrow," her voice was small and gentle but she knew Naruto heard her just fine. He stood before her now and she bit down her bottom lips when he only looked at her with an intense stare. Her lilac eyes close instantly when the blonde male brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and caressed her cheeks softly.

"You're always cleaning the gym and making sure everything is alright for us but what about you, Hinata?" He inquired faintly, tilting her chin up to look at him when she had dropped them. "You're so busy thinking about the team, I think you sometimes forget that you have other priorities; like your studies, home works, applications for college, and me."

Hinata pulled away with a sigh as she brought her hands together, holding them together in front of her. "It's not that," her voice came out shaky and Naruto snickered.

"Then what, Hinata?" The blonde quickly asked. "You've been this way since you became manager. No, since we've dated. You only became manager so that we could see each other but why is it that it has to be during practice only? Even when we're at practice, I can't touch you or speak with you without you trying to avoid me. What is it that you're so scared of that we have to keep our relationship a secret? Why do we have to keep away from each other during school hours and only meeting after when practice is over? Is there something wrong with me? Are you… are you ashamed of me?"

Hinata gasped, looking up at Naruto with tear threatening eyes. He was wrong, he was so wrong. She was not ashamed of him at all.

"I don't get it, really. This whole 'secret' relationship that we have going on. I'm starting to really get tired of it. It's been three years already and the only people who knows about us are some of the basketball guys. You're a weird one, huh?"

The young Hyuuga could only slumped back down to the bench as Naruto turned on his heels and walked out of the locker room. He finally snapped, she thought. She knew one day he was going to get tired of their secret relationship and she was prepared but she did not know how much it would hurt them. Hurt him.

The next day when they were supposed to have morning practices, Naruto did not show up nor did he show up later for after school practices also. Kiba had stated he saw the blonde during lunch break and Shikamaru claimed he was present during class hours so where was he?

Hinata sighed as she tried to polish some of the balls inside the storage room when she felt a present come from behind her. She quickly spin around, hoping it was Naruto only to see dark, onyx eyes staring right back at her. Sasuke was giving her the no face expression look again.

"Aren't you worried about him at all?" The young Uchiha questioned, his face as stoic as ever. Hinata did not reply back and she guessed Sasuke took that as a no when he exhaled a deep sigh. "Look, I really don't care what you two have going on, but just letting you know that that idiot is crazy over you so I suggest you should stop leading him on if you don't feel the same."

Hinata watched the Uchiha go back to practice as she sat inside the storage room. She felt so guilty. Of course she knew that Naruto loved her and her feelings were the same but she couldn't afford to lose him. She didn't want to lose him by exposing their relationship but why was it that now she felt as if she had already lost him?

Naruto did not show up on the second day of practice either and those who did not know of the two's relationship had begun to get angry, thinking the Uzumaki was skipping on purpose. Shikamaru, being the captain had to order them to calm down while Hinata stood on the side, holding in her guilt as Sasuke stared at her accusingly.

She couldn't blame the Uchiha for blaming her. After all, it was her fault for Naruto's absence.

When the day of the tournament came, Hinata had gotten out of her way to haunt Naruto down during school hours and corner him. She found herself up on the school roof with the stubborn blonde leaning on the wall as he waited for her to speak. Although it had been only two days since she saw him, Hinata had missed him. She had even almost forgotten how handsome he looked.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata started. "Despite that you missed practice these last two days, you still have to go to the tournament today. We –"

"Are you seriously still talking about basketball, Hinata?" Naruto blurted out, cutting the girl off. "And here I thought that we were done with this topic. The nerve you have."

Hinata only inhaled a deep breath as Naruto walked pass her and went inside the school again. Maybe they had broken up or maybe they did not but she felt so guilty for putting Naruto through this with her. But she couldn't do anything about it and so she crouched down to her knees as she quietly cried to herself.

As the team sat down in the locker room, everyone asked for the absent Naruto. It was five minutes until the game started and he had not showed up. Shikamaru was pissed off, Sasuke still had his stoic face expression, Kiba was angry also and Chouji continued to worry.

"I really do hope Naruto comes, he's our ace!" Lee chanted enthusiastically.

"It's okay if he chooses to not show up, why, because we can still win even if we are a person short. We just need to have teamwork," Shino confidently replied as he picked up his jersey and putting it over his head. The rest of the guys followed along, all the while Hinata watched with guilt.

When everyone left out the door, leaving Hinata behind, she slumped to the bench. Her hands tighten around the game play paper, hoping and wishing Naruto would show up. She only snapped out of her thoughts when their coach called for her.

"Hinata," the male called, holding onto her shoulder. Hinata looked up to the tall, white haired male standing behind her. He knew of their relationship also and like the other guys, he had kept it a secret with them, "Do you really not know where Naruto is?" He sternly asked.

Ashamed, she shook her head, "He hasn't answered my texts. I – I don't think he's –"

"Coach Kakashi!" Lee shouted as he barged into the locker room with sweat dripping down his forehead, "N – Naruto is here! He was already sitting at the bench when we got inside the gym!" With that the hyperactive boy left with a surprised Hinata and Kakashi behind.

"Well, I guess we don't have to worry anymore, right?" The tall male assumed as he walked out the locker room also.

It took Hinata some time to register that Naruto was already inside the gym and that he had showed up for the game before she stood up quickly to rush out the door. She ran down the hallway from the locker room to the gym as fast as she could. Her heart was thundering loudly as she thought of what to say to the male. Knowing how he was, she knew he would probably still be angry at her, but she needed to make this right.

Maybe she had been selfish and only thought of herself but it was not too late to change, right? She only wished Naruto would still give her a chance.

Hinata released a deep breath when she saw that the game had already started and Naruto was the first five to start. Tiredly, she made her way to the bench, sitting down as her eyes never left the blonde. He was making the first few shots already and stealing balls from his opponents without mercy. She wanted so much to apologize to him, to hold him and tell him how much she was sorry as she watched him play with all his might.

God, she felt so guilty.

Naruto's non-stoppable speed only did halt when he had accidently stepped on one of the opponent's foot and making him twist his ankle. The referee blew his whistle immediately, stopping the game as Naruto was pulled to the side. He tut annoyingly, hiding his pain when he saw the Hyuuga rushing her way towards him.

Hinata instantly kneeled at his ankle and almost pulling his socks down when Naruto stopped her, "I'm fine," he insisted grimly.

"No, you're not. I'll sub you out for a –"

"I said I'm fine!"

Everyone watched as Naruto pulled his leg away from Hinata and stood up from the floor. And if they had felt the heavy tension between the two, they ignored it completely by walking away leaving Hinata. She watched as the blonde stood up and began to walk away. He was limping but she could only sigh, knowing that the blonde never believed in giving up.

The game continued with Naruto still in. Hinata saw the pain expression he would make each time he jumped or used his injure ankle to move and it pained her also knowing he was torturing himself on purpose. It was not until the last shot that he made did he finally collapsed to the floor and laid there as the team cheered for another victory.

"You should learn to stop being so stubborn, Naruto-kun," Hinata murmured lowly as she wrapped his injured ankle with an ankle band aid. Everyone had gone home happily after the meeting, leaving Hinata to tend the young Uzumaki's wound as they sat inside the nursery room.

After clipping the metal clip on to hold the band aid, Hinata stood up from her seat. She watched the male as he had his head lower to the floor. He had not said anything to her and it only made the young Hyuuga feel guiltier than she already was.

She wanted to touch him, to talk to him or just anything so that he would say something back but decided not to. Hinata knew Naruto was upset and when he was in that certain mood it would stay for a while. They had had fights before but it was never as big as the one they have now.

Three days of not being able to hold a nice conversation with Naruto was slowly killing her inside. She missed his sunshine smile, his bright personality that always seemed so contagious and his sparkling blue eyes that never wavered from hers. She missed him so much and it was all her fault.

"Naru –"

Hinata gasped, her words disappearing as soon as Naruto pulled to him by the waist. Her eyes soften when he tighten his one arm around her as he rested his head on her chest.

"I'm sorry," Naruto faintly whispered. "Sorry for yelling at you earlier, for ignoring you the past two days and… I don't know, I'm just so sorry." He squeezed her tighter to him, "I never meant to get angry at you for wanting to keep the basketball team healthy or for always wanting to help us win. I – I just don't get why we have to keep our relationship a secret, you know? I really don't and it bothers me because I want to show you off so much. I want to show everyone how awesome you are or how lucky I am, to be your boyfriend. Hinata, you mean so much to me and I don't like it when we argue like this. It's so ridiculous and stupid and –"

Hinata didn't let Naruto finish his sentence as she lifted his chin up and locked his lips with hers. Her fingers grazed along his whiskered cheeks and brushed through his blonde locks as she deepened the kiss. Their tongues touched but she did not pull away like usual and only continued to kiss the blonde male, expressing her love to him. She never knew how overwhelming it felt when she was with him until that moment and she regretted never showing off their love in the first place.

The timid girl broke away from the kiss, her cheeks tainted in a shade of dark red as she stared at the young Uzumaki with half-lidded eyes. "I'm sorry too, Naruto-kun," Hinata confessed as she gripped tighter onto the blonde's shoulders. "I didn't realize how you were feeling when I told you to keep our relationship a secret. I – I just didn't want you to get in trouble. My – my father would have forced me to transferred school if he ever found out that I was dating that was why I couldn't let you be found out. If Neji ever saw you or knew that you and I were dating, he would tell my father."

Naruto sneered at her reason, angry at the ridiculous threat that Hinata had on her shoulders. She didn't deserve to be hold back like this, he thought. "You're old enough to know what you are doing, Hinata," the blonde argued. "Your father or Neji has no right to control how you live your life. Yes, we are still young and yes, we will be naïve and do stupid things but that's why we learn from our mistakes. If they were so afraid of you having a boyfriend then why make enrolled you to a co-ed school? I don't care what your old man has to say, I don't like dating you secretly like this. Do you know how jealous I get when I see Sasuke and Sakura together during lunch? It makes me so crazy because I can't be with you all the time. I can't stand it at all."

He clutched her waist tighter and Hinata giggled as she held onto both of his cheeks. His eyes were glaring at her but she knew he was far from being angry. She pecked his lips and bumped heads with the sulking blonde as she pinched his nose. "And I can't stand it too, to be honest. I do hate it also when I see the two of them together or when I see Ino and Sai. Ah and then there's Chouji and Karui. Oh and I forgot to mention about Shikmaru and Tem –"

"Oh god, stop it already. You're making me angry because I see those people every day sucking each other's faces away as if they won't see one another the next day. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it."

"Will you hate it if I hold your hand tomorrow? Or if I kiss you before you go to class or if I eat lunch with you?" Hinata inquired teasingly as she grinned at the boy.

Naruto pulled her closer to him, their lips nearly touching as he whispered, "Under one condition; you will have to do that every day until we graduate." And they sealed the promise with a kiss.