She sat on the bench, nervously playing with her hair, fluffing her hoodie's fluffy bottom gently. She cursed herself, knowing that she wouldn't have to be here, wouldn't have to confront this challenge if she hadn't made a simple mistake.

I could be training, I should be training. I'm too weak right now, she thought, he'll never respect me, never think of me as an equal, never find it in him to love someone who could never come close to him. Hinata, who are you kidding? You needed more time to train, to hone your abilites so he would look at you next time you fixed a mission to be able to go with him. If you just hadn't accidentally mailed that letter...

It was the letter that had been the problem. She had written a few years ago, after the Chuunin exam, after he finally noticed her. She had edited it over the years, but the basic gist had been her explaining the way she felt about him, the reason she turned red whenever he brushed against her, the reason she retreated into the safety of her friends when he came near. As she had matured, so had the letter, becoming less and less naive, becoming more and more enticing. She had ended it with, "So, now you know the way I feel about you, Uzumaki Naruto. And I'd like to talk. When you recieve this letter, wait a day, and then meet me at the bench near the entrance to the hidden village... With Passion, Hyuuga Hinata."

The trouble was, she had accidentally sent it out with a bundle of letters meant to go to the Hokage, about her squad's recent ANBU missions.

I left the damned thing out the night before, she thought, remembering gathering up all the letters on the table together and tossing them into the ninja delivery box down the road as she dashed off to the ANBU headquarters to meet Shino-kun and Kiba-kun.

She returned home the evening before to her apartment away from the Hyuuga compound after having run into Naruto-kun on the landing (His apartment was two floors above hers, one of the reasons she moved into the complex.). She was red, and had been shy and nervous as he asked her something about ANBU business, about the new Genin, and how she was doing. She barely kept her composure, said ja ne, and rushed through her doorway, nearly fainting right then and there. She had pulled the letter out, read it again and again, hoping not to miss anything about him she desperately desired, the things she admired, the experiences she had held dear to her heart... And fell asleep, dreaming of him.

She blushed, remembering the dream she had that night. No wonder she demolished her alarm with the kunai she kept under the pillow that morning, and was therefore rushed out the door. The letters were gone, and when she returned home, her special letter was nowhere ot be found. After a frantic search that had sent Ino up to yell at her to be quiet, Hinata deduced that she had sent it with the other letters, and cried soflty that night, desperately searching for the right way to act when she met with him.

And I don't know which day he recived it, so I've had to wait out here every afternoon for three days, she thought. What about my proportions, what if I look bad? What if I sound pathetic and too shy? And was some of that stuff in the letter too much? What if he thinks I'm coming on too strong?

What if I'm not pretty enough?

It was a foolish thought that every girl had. She, of course, had matured well. She filled out her 18 year old form better than most, her waist thin and her breasts full, though somewhat hidden underneath her precious hoodie. She had grown taller, grown her hair longer, and still had her perfectly beautiful Hyuuga eyes, with their reflective surface one could gaze into for hours, the eyes that saw all things. And underneath her soft skin were poweful muscles she had trained ever since she was young. She was strong, stronger than she realized, and more desirable than she expected, with her well toned, mature, muscular body.

There was a rustle in the woods in front of her. Not concealed, it wasn't an attack, just somebody taking a shortcut. This is it, she reasoned with herself, and whispered in an almost inaudibly high nervous voice, "Byakugan..."

Her cheeks turned pink, because she knew who it was that was taking a shortcut, heading straight for her. It was unmistakable. The crazy amount of chakra oozing off his body, with the seemingly endless well of red chakra inside his tall, muscular body, his strong arms and his...

She shook her head, and stopped looking where she had been looking. I'm not going to invade his privacy, she thought. Slowly, she ended the Byakugan, though being unable to see him made her more nervous. Face it like a woman, Hinata, she thought, and squared her shoulders. You can do this. She smiled, practicing for when he would be there in front of her.

It seemed like an eternity before Naruto finally exited the forest and stepped onto the road across from the bench. Hinata felt her face burn, but forced herself to calm down. No shyness, she thought forcefully. You can do this.

"Hinata?" he asked, approaching the bench, holding the paper in his hand. She smiled at him nervously, and indicated the space next to her. "Please, Naruto-kun, sit down?"

Naruto did, gazing at her for a moment, then back at the letter one last time. "I, uh, got your letter," he said, his voice much deeper than when she had first met him at the academy. Hinata laughed inside. Naruto had always been a bit blunt, it made him cute, she thought.

"Did you read it?" she asked, only a hint of a quiver in her voice as she smiled, her legs together, hands in her lap. She was tempted to look at her feet, but forced herself to look him in the eyes.

Naruto nodded. "It was a bit of a surprise, for sure," he said, smiling uneasily. "I've never really recived a love letter before... It's not Valentine's day, is it?"

Hinata giggled, relaxing somewhat. "No, don't worry, you haven't forgotten anything. It was something I just wanted you to know, I didn't know if you knew yet. How I feel..."

Naruto smiled, pinking slightly around the ears. "Good, I hate it when I forget things," he said with his traditional huge Naruto-kun grin. "And I can never remember when White Day is, either."

They laughed together, oddly enough, and, even more unusual, they made small talk. About each other. They pointed things about, reminisced, and the like. But all too soon, their tones became serious again, and it came time for Naruto's response.

She threw caution to the wind, looking at him through the byakugan, though she hid it from him. Heightened heart rate, heightened chakra flow, she observed, and he was blushing, nervous. A sudden boldness seized her, and she slid over to his side as they sat on the bench. "Naruto-kun," she whispered, looking up at him with her cute eyes, "What do you think of me?"

He gulped, blushing, but gazed down at her, reveling in her nice figure, in her hair, in her skin. He took her hand and held it, smiling. "Hinata," he said, "I've never really thought about it, but right now, I can't deny not having feelings for you... Hell," he laughed nervously again, "In the academy, I thought you were really cute. But you were a Hyuuga, had a family, and I thought you might look down on an orphan..."

She wanted to interrupt, but was too enthralled by what he was saying. Where was he going with this? Yes or no?

"Hinata," he said finally, looking her straight in the eyes, "I would like to be with you... I don't know if I can match the way you feel, but out of all the other girls, YOU are the one I would rather spend my time and my emotions on..."

Hinata trembled, her face turning red, her hand shaking in his. "Really?" she said weakly, staring at his big blue eyes. He isn't lying?

"Sakura is fickle, and TenTen and Ino are nice, but I couldn't really like them more than friends or team members... And... You're probably the first to actually care for me like this..." he added. His voice fell to a low whisper. "Probably the only one who will..."

"Thats not true!" she said, "You're a great guy, Naruto-kun! People are just weird, but they're going to know how great you really are! You're going to make 'em know, and then everyone will look up to you and they'll feel respect and... and..." She looked down, smiling. "Gonna be the Hokage, dattebayo," she said softly, her eyes full of sincerity as she turned them up towards his.

"Hinata..."

"Naruto-kun, They'll look up to you because they'll see what I can see in you..." Hinata lost her composure, and turned red, blushing and completely turning her head to face away. What a cheesy line, she thought, and now he'll just write me off as a little girl and be on his way...

Naruto was silent for a long time. Finally, Hinata turned to look at him. She thought he would have that how-do-I-get-out-of-this-situation look. Instead, he was smiling.

"Hinata..." Nervously, Naruto bent forward, pressing his lips to hers in a slow fashion, as if he was unsure of himself, unsure if it was the right thing to do. She finally leaned forward, closing the distance, and they kissed, softly, their bodies warming from within. It wasn't as if Hinata had never been kissed before. She had a fling with Kiba a long time ago, back when she viewed their relationship as a brother/sisterly love, while he saw a more... intimate vision. But kissing Naruto, the one true object of her entire desires, just kissing him lightly like this was ecstacy, bliss eternia. They pulled apart, blushing like mad, their bodies warming and activating the correct responses. Their eyes met, then looked away nervously, they licked their lips tentatively, looked, blushed, smiled, and looked away again...

"You wanna, talk some more at my place?" Naruto asked. Hinata thought of all the possibilities, and nodded fervently, blushing. Her heart began to beat faster as she picked the fantasy she liked the most. She left the image in her head as they walked slowly towards the apartment complex.

It was too good to be the truth.

Slowly, as they approached the room, the world began to dim around them. Hinata barely noticed, breathing harder as she followed Naruto down his hallway, as he reached his door. There was a bright flash of the color black, and Hinata's eyes flew open.

She gazed at her own ceiling, lying in her own bed in her own room. Her heart was racing, her body hot and slightly damp with sweat, her breathing heavy... She sat up, and looked at her alarm. 5 AM.

Hyuuga Hinata cursed silently, reached a hand around to the letter she had edited before falling asleep, and curled into a ball beneath the warm sheets. Tears flowed softly, soundlessly from her eyes, dotting her pillow.