Chapter 8

Good night

Naruto was sitting on the window, looking down to the yard. The night was falling to Konoha, and the village below the window became less and less observable, like the darkness would have been creeping up from below.

He heard Hinata rising up from the chair on where she had been sitting, laying her hands on the table in the dimly lit apartment. He turned over to look at her. Even in the hazy, modest light she looked amazingly beautiful. He desired to move over to hug that pale, fragile looking girl, to hold her and to protect her.

Hinata walked over to him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, turning to look at Hinata who now sat next to him to the windowsill.

"Better now", she said with a silent voice eyeing the village. 'Because you are here with me', she wanted to add but never dared.

"I'm still feeling tired but the physical pain is gone, no doubt thanks to the medicine Sakura gave me."

"Perhaps you should try to get some sleep", Naruto said still wanting desperately to reach over to hug her.

Hinata shook her head.

"No, I think I want to be awake", she said.

"Why is that?" Naruto asked.

"I just…" Hinata started looking conscientiously somewhere else than his direction.

She blushed. "I just don't feel like I would… w-want… to be alone. I k-kind of… like your…company N-naruto-kun."

When Naruto looked at her red face, he remembered that this was the first time this evening he heard her voice shaking.

"And I just… d-d-don't want to be alone… again."

She bit her lip suppressing a tear. Naruto didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell her how much he would have liked to hold her, he wanted to tell that she would never be left alone again, but the words died in his throat.

"I…" he began, "I care for… you", he said.

Hinata looked at him with her mouth left open, but she was not able to say anything.

"I mean… when you came to live with me I started to feel like you were my…"

Hinata closed her mouth not even trying to interrupt him.

"Family", Naruto said. Hinata nodded silently.

"L-like a sister?"

"Kind of."

"Oh." Hinata bit her lip again.

"No, no, I didn't mean to… I mean…" Naruto tried to correct the mistake he never noticed he made,

"I care for you, Hinata!" He jumped down and reached to hug her tight.

"You will never be left alone again!"

"Thank you, Naruto-kun", she whispered, hugging him back.

They held each others in dark silence just listening each others breathe. Naruto didn't know if his heart was beating this fast because of the girl in his arms or because of the fight he had challenged her psychopathic cousin to later that night.

Hinata knew exactly why her heart was beating this fast. The windowsill was cold and the night was dark and gloomy, but the arms of her nearly lifelong crush (or love?) felt warm and tight around her.

"T-this feels nice", Hinata broke the silence wondering if Naruto was even able to hear her words because of the loudness of her heart beats, "B-but strange. I… I don't remember ever being held before."

"Funny", Naruto said, "Me neither."

As if in common agreement they wrapped their hands tighter around each other.

"This feels good", he continued, moving his other hand to gently caress her hair.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun", Hinata whispered.

"What for?" Hinata laid her head against his shoulder.

"Thanks to you, I be-began trusting myself little more. A-a long time ago you showed me the right path. From you I learned I too could be stronger. And I've been walking that path ever since. I won't be dishonest now; I'll admit that what he did to me was horrible and painful in every way imaginable…"

Naruto felt his shirt getting damp because of her tears. "And that I wasn't able to defeat him today, but the day when I will be able to beat him will come and I will do everything and anything to gain enough power to overcome him."

Naruto moved her head gently with his hand and wiped the tears under her big white eyes with his fingers.

"Naruto?"

"Yes?"

"Pro-promise me you wont do anything to r-revenge for me or anything", she said, not daring to look at his kingfisher blue eyes and wondering why he was looking her into her eyes so keenly, still holding her head with his hands, "It would just get you into troubles with my family, and I don't want that. If I should beat him, that's okay because I don't really care what my father thinks of me anymore. I-I j-just… don't want you to get hurt. I-I m-mean not to s-s-say that Neji would be able to beat you, but if my father s-should know…"

Naruto wiped away her tear again.

She looked down.

"Hinata?"

"Yes?"

"Promise me that you will stay here with me, that you'll be safe. Promise it, if even just forfew nights."

"I… I should be getting sleep, I guess", she said.

"I guess so too", Naruto said, "It has probably been the worst day of your life."

Hinata smiled.

"I admit the day has been horrible, but I wouldn't say so about the night."

She jumped down from the windowsill, walked over to the bed and laid down. Naruto sat down to a chair next to the table, trying to realize what Hinata had meant. He sat there hugging his knees, watching how the moonlight from the window lit Hinata's pale cheeks as she fell asleep. Naruto listened her soft, quiet breathing in silence. He had to make sure she was tight and safely asleep, so that he could go out to make sure her dreams would remain peaceful.

It was nearly two o'clock.

It wouldn't hurt to go early.

He silently walked to Hinata just to make sure she was asleep.

"Hinata?" he whispered.

No answer.

He stood still for a while, thinking. He kissed her cheekbone lightly.

No reaction.

"Good night, Hinata", he whispered, gripped his jacket, pulled it on his shoulders and without a sound left the apartment to be the only guard of the sleeping girl.