I wanted the last chapter to be really long.
The way the story went I could have made this into a oneshot!
Thank you for keeping up with this short story of mine!
I hope to see you on another one!
Last Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 11: Three Weeks Later

The mission was exhausting!

Who does that Sai guy think he is? He's always insulting us and Sasuke! I ought to punch him where it hurts!

(In case you're confused, Naruto just finished that mission about capturing a spy. I took out all the Danzo message, Orochimaru meeting, Four-tailed battle . . . basically the whole arc '-_-)

As I pulled out my shoes, I breathed a sigh of relief. My feet had been killing me! In the end, Sai wasn't a bad dude after all. Just a little . . . creepy.

I massaged my foot some more before putting it back on. I stretched, yawned, rubbed my eyes, and then, after seeing the clock, leaned down on my bed, hands behind my head.

Taiki and his father had gone home the day before the start of my mission. His dad figured out that maybe having a son that was Mizukage was better than being head of a clan. Tch, boy was he right! I mean, why wouldn't you want your own child to become kage? It's every parent's dream! To become the greatest ninja, so everyone will stop looking down on you, is what everyone wishes for! Oh, whoops. That's my dream and wish.

I looked at my clock again and saw that it had just been five minutes. I wasn't supposed to meet Hinata yet until after ten minutes. Maybe I should take a nap . . .

(A little bit later . . .)

I snapped my eyes open. I quickly grabbed my clock, and then paled. Shit, I'm twenty minutes late!

In a rush, I flew out my window and used chakra to dash from roof to roof. I hope Hinata will understand! We greeted each other when I returned to the village and we agreed to do our 'Welcome back' date after I do some resting. We made it a tradition that every time one of us returns from a mission, we'd go on a date after. I will say that I am the proud owner of that idea! In less than a minute, I stood at the flaps of the ramen shop. I could see Hinata sitting with someone. The person had a dark green cloak and a small pack on his back. That back could only mean . . .

"Shino, what are you doing here?" I asked, lifting the covers. Shino slowly turned his head in that creepy way of his; I suppressed a shudder.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said in an annoyingmonotone voice. "I'm dating Hinata."

I laughed. I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. "Oh, no," I said, wiping my eyes. "I'm not falling for it again." I folded my arms and jerked my head sideways. "Now, get out of my seat."

It was then that Hinata turned around, a small yet cute smile on her lips. Those lips can make all your troubles go away, except this time, they just created a problem. "Actually, Naruto, Shino's right. You took so long to get here that I got sad and wondered where you were. Shino comforted me and I realize now that I like him more than you. Sorry, but I'm dumping you." (Rejection! XD)

I stared at her in disbelief. No. Way. This can't be happening. Hinata is dumping me? Wh-why would she do that? What have I done? I started sweating all over and my breathing grew rapid. I've never had an asthma attack before in my life, but I think I'm having one right now! I can't breathe! I thought to myself. Is this how I'm going to die? I've always been dumped or rejected by Sakura, and I've always felt depressed. This is even worse! I could see concern replace Hinata's smile. She suddenly looked really worried.

"N-Naruto, are you all right?" I wanted to answer her, but my throat felt dry. I wanted to shake my head, but I was completely frozen.

I don't know what was happening to me but my vision started to go blurry and my hearing was warped. The next words that came out of Hinata's mouth sounded muffled, like I was underwater. I only caught a few of them.

"Naruto, calm . . . ! Me and Shino were . . . about dating! Naruto, Naruto! You're faint - "

I didn't hear the rest of that because the next thing I knew her face flew down, I felt a cloth brush my face, and then I hit the ground, making me black out.

"Hyperventilated? What a drag."

"That is not like Naruto at all."

"I never knew Naruto could even faint."

"Tell me about it! He's always full of energy!"

I heard voices I recognized. None of them were Hinata's, though.

The first one was Shikamaru's, then Lee's, then Ino's, and finally Sakura.

"Lately, he's been passing out in front of Hinata a lot." Shino.

"Aww, he's that in love?" Ino.

"Ha! I heard he passed out 'cuz Hinata dumped him!" Kiba.

And then I heard laughing. I didn't see what was so funny. Shouldn't they be sad for me? I just got dumped!

Someone started stroking my hair. I could feel soft, thin fingers massaging my scalp, just the way I like it. Only one person knew how to do that, and this person shouldn't be doing it anymore.

I forced my eyes open. I was looking at a white ceiling with a single lamp hanging in the middle. I grabbed the wrist that was above my head in a none too friendly way. I couldn't help myself; I was angry.

My sudden movement surprised everyone. They all were staring at me. I found out I was lying on a bed - a hospital bed. At the foot were Lee and Shikamaru. At my right was Ino and my left was Kiba. Behind Kiba was another hospital bed where Tenten and Neji sat. Behind Ino was Shino, leaning on the wall. Next to Shino, sitting on a chair, was Hinata with a shocked look. Instantly, I ignored everyone in the room and focused my attention on my ex-girlfriend.

"What are you doing?" I snapped. I almost growled.

"Naruto! You're awake!" was her only reply.

I glared at her before letting go of her wrist. She rubbed it gently.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" Tenten asked. "You sound angry."

I didn't answer her. I tried to sit up instead. I wave of pain shot through my head, especially in the back. I reached up to touch my temple. There was a cloth in my way. I felt all around my head an realized I had a bandage wrapped around my skull.

"Huh, what the heck - ?"

"If you're wondering about that," started my least favorite person in his monotone voice (that is so annoying!), "it's when you fainted. You fell so hard the back of your head started bleeding. Me and Hinata took you to the hospital right away."

"And good thing, too," added Sakura. "With that type of injury you would have either gotten a concussion or suffered amnesia."

I looked down at my bed sheets. "Having amnesia is better than remembering why I fainted in the first place," I muttered darkly.

Sakura and Ino gasped while everybody else frowned. "You didn't tell him yet, Hinata?" Ino asked, shaking her head. "No wonder he's grumpy."

"I tried to, but he was already - "

"I think Hinata will need some alone time with Naruto," Neji interrupted. Great. Alone time with the person who dumped you. What could be a worse way to heal a broken head?

Everyone filed out of my room except Hinata. As soon as the last one exited, Hinata sighed. As she talked, I didn't meet her eyes.

"Naruto, you do know we were only joking?" My eyes widened, but I still didn't look at her.

Hinata took another deep breath. "I was at Ichiraku's at our designated time, and Shino was already there, too. I wasn't surprised you were taking so long because I knew how tired you were, but I was getting worried. So Shino and I talked while I waited. In the middle of our conversation Shino decided we should play a joke on you. I didn't want to at first, but he said it would just be a harmless joke. Now I see that it wasn't."

Even if I wasn't looking, I could tell she was staring at my head while saying that. With another sigh, she continued. "I'm so sorry, Naruto. If I had known this would happen I would have never agreed."

"Why'd you agree in the first place?" I asked.

A minute passed by before Hinata answered. "Well, you know the saying that if you hang out with with a certain person a lot, some of their personality may rub on you?"

I gave a slight nod.

Hinata chuckled; I winced. I love her laugh so much, but she dumped me. I'm not supposed to love it anymore. Wait, didn't she say it was a joke? Was it really . . . ?

"Well, I guess I was always with you so much that your mischevious mind rubbed off on me."

I grinned. "Well I am the prank genius!"

Hinata giggled, which made me smile even more. Maybe they were kidding after all. But still . . .

My grin disappeared. "Hinata?"

"Yes?"

"Prove it."

After a few seconds, she said, "That you're the prank genius?"

"No, I mean, prove that the whole dumping me was just a joke."

She was thinking - I can sense that. However, it took her such a long time that I started to feel disappointment. She can't prove it, so I can't believe it.

Suddenly, Hinata grabbed my chin, forcing my face to look up into her eyes . . . only, they were closed. Before I could register what that meant she already pressed her soft lips gently on mine . . .

I sat there, stunned. I wanted to pull away, or shake my head, or something, but I couldn't. I wanted to be angry or disappointed, but again, I couldn't. Instead, I was incredibly happy!

Slowly, Hinata let go of my chin and placed both of her hands on my cheeks. It's only been three weeks since our first date, but when we first kissed, this is exactly what she did.

I let out the water works. Note that these were tears of happiness, not sadness. As they slid down, I could feel them pool between her thumb and index finger.

Hinata broke away to wipe the tears away. "Are you okay?" she asked in a soothing voice as she rubbed my back. Hinata is like the mother I never had, except of course, I wouldn't be kissing my mother like that. Ew.

I wiped the rest of the tears with the back of my hand. I finally looked at her. "Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

Hinata smiled. "It's okay." Then, with a sigh, "I thought you would have figured out the prank after my voice cracked after saying 'I'm dumping you.' Do you know how hard it is to say that to the person who you never want to break up with?"

We both laughed. "I never heard your voice crack. You sounded so serious." I thought back to when Hinata said the cursed words. "But you know, I should have figured out anyway since you were smiling like that."

"Oh, no! You caught that? I tried my best not to do that!" We laughed again, feeling like our old selves. Well, not really old because if we were our old selves, Hinata would either be passed out, or she wouldn't be laughing but blushing furiously.

Maybe I should leave the village more often. It could really change someone.

"C'mon, Hinata," I said after we took a breath. "We still haven't had our 'Welcome back' date!" I winked at her.

Sakura wouldn't let me out of the hospital since I was still injured, but she was glad that Hinata and I were a "thing" again.

So without hesitation, Hinata helped me take off the bandage and change my clothes (without looking of course) in my hospital room, and then we both dashed out the window. It's great being a ninja!

When we reached Ichiraku Ramen, two other people were there. Hinata and I recognized the boy right away.

"Taiki!" we cried at the same time. The said shinobi turned around, his mouth full of noodles. When he saw us, his eyes widened and he swallowed his food.

"Hey, guys! How long has it been since we last saw each other?"

"About three weeks," I answered. The girl sitting next to Taiki had turned around, too.

Taiki studied us for a minute. "Well, well. What do we have here? Holding hands?"

I looked down and saw that he was right. Hinata and I were holding hands, and I didn't even notice it! I guess it just came unconsciously.

"What are you doing here, Taiki?" Hinata asked. We sat down next to our friend, Hinata next to him, and I next to her.

"Oh. I just couldn't stay away from Ichiraku ramen!" He flashed a bright grin that was strangely similar to mine.

The girl that sat on the other side of Taiki grabbed his arm. She blushed as she spoke. "Taiki, wh-who are these people?" Her voice was soft and kind. She had long, wavy brown hair that ran down her back. Her skin was light brown and her eyes were so dark they were almost black.

Taiki looked down at the girl. "Oh, these are just some friends of mine!" He looked back at us. "This is Naruto Uzumaki - " he pointed at me " - and this is Hinata Hyuga." He pointed at Hinata. "Naruto, Hinata, I'd like you to meet Kiara Towashi." The girl - Kiara - blushed some more as she waved a shy hand at us. That gesture was as familiar to me as my face.

"H-hello," she squeaked. Stuttering? Yep, that's definitely someone I know.

"Hello, Kiara, it's nice to meet you," Hinata said.

Just then, Old Man Teuchi came to take our orders. Taiki and I ordered the same thing while the girls ordered the special. Hinata went to sit with Kiara so they can talk, which left us guys alone.

"So, uh, who is she?" I asked.

Taiki blinked. "Didn't I already tell you?"

"No, I mean, why is she with you?"

"Oh! I forgot to tell you! She's my girlfriend!"

If there was anything in my mouth I was sure I would have spit it out. "Really? Since when?"

Taiki thought for a while. "I think a week ago."

"Well, congratulations!"

Behind Taiki, the girls laughed. Were they talking about something funny?

Suddenly, I remembered something. "Hey Taiki! I thought you said Hinata's type wasn't your type! Kiara is the same type that Hinata is!"

My long-haired friend looked at me with confusion. "What? No she's not."

"Yeah! I mean, she's stuttering, being shy, being quiet - that's exactly like Hinata!"

"No it's not. Hinata doesn't stutter, and she's not shy. She might be quieter than most girls, but still talks."

This time, it was my turn to be confused. Hinata's like that? Oh yeah, she's not like that wallflower anymore! When I spent time with her, I realized Hinata wasn't the same. She was more . . . cheery? Well, she doesn't blush all the time! Kiara is like the old Hinata, and Taiki only met the new Hinata.

Taiki continued his talk. "You want to know my type? I like the ones who are kind, gentle, and listens well."

"But that's what you described Hinata."

Ignoring me, he kept going: "Also, I like the ones who are shy and sort of quiet. It's weird but I find that a cute trait."

I gulped. "Oh, r-really now?" If he had known Hinata in an earlier stage he would have fallen in love with her already, and then I wouldn't have a chance anymore.

Our dinner/double date went great! We laughed and talked about ourselves. Taiki told us about his new relationship with his father and his studies in being mizukage.

When we finished, Taiki and Kiara left the Leaf. It seemed they really were just visiting, but that sounded weird since his village is, like, across the sea.

Hinata and I finally had some alone time! Well, alone time that wasn't all awkward. As we walked down a street, my arm around Hinata's shoulder, I remembered something. "Hey, Hinata. Remember when we were in the forest and you told me about your arranged marriage?"

"Mm-hm," she replied.

"What did you mean by 'I've decided'?" I know that was more than three weeks ago, but I hope she still remembered.

There was silence before Hinata answered. "Oh, when I still wasn't sure about my feelings for you."

That's it! That was after "for"! But she never finished that sentence, so was that what she would still have said?

"When I said that I've decided, I meant I've decided that I still like you." I glanced down at my girlfriend, who was blushing. The last time I had seen her blush was when we were kissing for the first time.

I should have known. She was searching my face like that.

I chuckled. "Well, I've decided that I liked you from the very beginning, Hinata." Strangely, that wasn't fully a lie. In all the times I was with her, she may have been weird but she always surprised me - from being stronger than usual to telling me that she loved me.

Hinata sighed. "Isn't it a beautiful night?" she asked, looking at the moon.

I looked down at her. "It sure is," I said, and I kissed the top of her head.

The ending is so corny, I know, but it was all I could think of!
The story is done! Can you believe that?
I would have updated sooner, but unexpected things kept popping up!
Well, I'm so glad you read this story!
Thank you to all who reviewed! You were my fuel!
I know there are people out there who read but didn't review, so I just want you to know . . .
I enjoyed your support anyway! :D
Review one last time, please!