Wow, I was in such a hurry that I accidently uploaded the wrong chapter for this story -.-...

I'm sorry for that, guys...

Here's the actual chapter...

"Hey Hinata-chan," Naruto asked with a grunt. Both were sweating and panting heavily as they continued their activity.

"Yes?" She answered as she bent backwards.

"Oh, that was nice! I was going to ask-ah, not so rough!" Naruto whined.

"I'm sorry," she said with a giggle.

"You're really flexible," Naruto noted and Hinata nodded in agreement.

"You're not too bad yourself. Maybe one day, you'll be able to keep up with me," Hinata teased as she blushed greatly.

"Maybe you should raise up your stamina because you look like you're ready to fall from exhaustion," Naruto rebutted only to blush when Hinata bent backwards right in front of him, his eyes automatically going to her puffed out breasts.

Hinata didn't notice that she had inadvertently distracted Naruto but then again, it didn't matter because that moment of distraction was enough for Hinata to push Naruto back. Not wanting to give him a chance to recover, she pinned his arms down with her knees and pointed the tip of her zanpakutō to his neck. She kicked Hageshii Heijin from his right hand, making sure he couldn't defend himself.

"I win," she said with a cute smile. They both panted and were putting tomatoes to shame. Hinata for all the movements and physical strain she endured, Naruto for the position they were in. He had such a nice view but he wouldn't openly admit it. In fact, he was forsaking his own perverse mind for even thinking such a thought. If anyone else would come in on them at this moment, chances are he'd never hear the end of it.

"I suppose you do," Naruto said petulantly, his eyes connecting with hers. Even though he was a bit sore about the fact that she managed to get the win, he didn't really care. Though, that didn't mean he couldn't pretend, right?

"Don't be such a baby," Hinata said as she got off him. Naruto let out a silent sigh of relief and sat up, watching as Hinata returned her zanpakutō into its sheathe. Naruto watched her walk to the side where they had set their bottled water and snacks.

He couldn't help but watch the way her body moved as she walked. Currently, they were out of uniform, which was fine since they were off-duty. She had grey sweatpants and a white shirt on and he wore black shorts and an orange sleeveless shirt with a yellow spiral, a symbol of the Uzumaki clan, at the back of his collar.

Naruto stood and joined Hinata to the sidelines of the dojo where most of the Eleventh Division's members would go to train. Luckily, they were both early risers and the only other members up were probably on guard duty somewhere in the Seireitei or off on a mission.

Without a second thought, Naruto chugged down whatever water was left in his bottle and cried out in pleasure of having his body rehydrated.

"That must be some good water," Hinata mused with a giggle. Naruto only smirked happily as he placed the bottle down and sat on the floor. Hinata only shook her head and shifted her zanpakutō in her left hand while trying to finish the water bottle in her hands. Naruto stared at her zanpakutō.

The sheath was pure white, the same as freshly fallen snow on the first day of winter. The zanpakutō itself was generic except that the wrappings around the hilt was just as white as her sheath with the occasional black diamond imprinted on the wrappings.

"So, when's your zanpakutō going to reveal its name to you?" Naruto asked and Hinata hummed as she pondered.

"Only time will tell, I guess," she answered vaguely as she took a look at her zanpakutō. A thought popped into her head and she looked at Naruto as his eyes gained a vacant look.

"Naruto-kun?" she poked his shoulder, causing him to blink multiple times before looking up at her. "Are you okay?" she asked and he looked down again, a frown staining his lips.

"Not exactly," he answered, standing before heading for his fallen zanpakutō. "I'm still a little sore from that butt whooping," he added as a joke but there was no mirth in his tone.

"It's about Rukia, isn't it?" she asked and Naruto froze for a second. He then grabbed his zanpakutō and sheathed it.

"Yeah, a little," Naruto turned and forced a smile on his face and Hinata couldn't help but frown. "But I'm mostly hungry. Want to get some ramen with me?" he asked and Hinata shook her head.

"I promised Captain Kuchiki I'd meet him for an evaluation," Hinata told him after taking a look at the clock pinned to the wall. "I'm still early so I might be able to eat only one bowl,"

"Only one huh?" Naruto asked with a playful smirk. "Even I know you can't pull that off,"

Hinata pouted with a blush. "I can't help it,"

Naruto just laughed as he grabbed his towel and placed it over his shoulders. "No one can, it's okay,"

The walk to his sleeping quarters was short and soon enough, he started making four bowls of ramen, even though Hinata protested against it.

"Naruto-kun," Naruto faced her as she sat down in the dining room, just across from the kitchen. "You haven't talked about what happened a week ago. I know you must be devastated but you can't just keep it locked up all the time," she said and Naruto turned back to the ramen.

"I know Hinata-chan," he said as he stirred the ramen. He put the spoon down and exhaled deeply, his thoughts racing in his head. He turned and faced Hinata, his azure pools hard as ice.

"I just don't understand why she's being executed for nothing," he said and Hinata shook her head.

"She's not being executed for nothing, Naruto-kun. She transferred her powers over to a human. That's illegal," she explained, earning a scoff from Naruto.

"You sound like them," he said callously. Hinata sighed as she stood and hugged Naruto from behind, but nothing without blushing.

"I know it's hard for you to accept Naruto-kun, but there's not much we can do," she said, hoping to calm him down some. It worked for the most part but he knew that was a lie. There was always something he could do.

"Listen, Hinata-chan," Naruto said as he spun and faced Hinata. "We're in two different Divisions. Soon enough, you'll move into their barracks and I'll see you less. When we start our real missions and quite probably have different shifts, we'll see even less of each other,"

"Yes, I know," She said as she looked away. Surprisingly, Naruto gently placed his index finger under her chin and made her look up at him. Her blush deepened at the action and her mouth was left agape.

"I just wanted you to know that I," he paused, too afraid to continue. It hadn't been too hard to discover why he'd always react the way he did when he was around Hinata. He had been denying the notion for too long and finally, he admitted it to himself. He had a crush on Hinata, not some ordinary school-yard crush but a major one.

Still, he couldn't just outright and declare it to her here; especially here in his kitchen while he waited for their ramen to cook! What kind of nonsensical, cheesy romance-type movie did he think he was in? It wasn't a movie, for one, and for another, romance wasn't as easy as the movies made it seem. Life wasn't directed by a person with the whole ordeal already planned out and people weren't paid actors already knowing what to expect. Life was a game of chance; every decision was a gamble, no matter the odds.

With that said, he wasn't sure if he could keep his crush of her silent. Who knew when he'd see her again?

"It's not easy for me to say this so listen carefully," Hinata nodded, wondering what had come over Naruto. He's been acting strangely lately and Hinata could only guess the cause behind it. "Hinata-chan, I-"

Life was a game of chance; coincidentally, the afterlife was no different. As such, sometimes even the most outrageous and improbable events seem to beat the odds.

It was in that moment that Kushina returned, dragging her feet as she hit the couch with a groan. She took a second to relax before looking up, blinking at seeing Hinata sitting on the table and Naruto with his back turned, mixing the ramen in a pot.

"Hey guys," she greeted weakly, a tired smile appearing on her lips. Hinata looked up and smiled, while Naruto lifted his hand up and mumbled something under his breath before returning to mix the ramen. "What's up?" she asked.

"I was just leaving," Hinata politely as she stood, bowing to Kushina. "I need to go meet with Captain Kuchiki for my evaluation."

"What about your ramen?" Naruto asked and Hinata walked over to him and gave him a hug.

"It's fine. Just give it to your mother," she said after letting go and heading for the door. Naruto watched her for a while longer before reaching into the cabinet on his left.

"Hinata-chan!" he called out. She poked her head into the kitchen and grabbed the granola bar tossed to her by Naruto. He grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Good luck," she smiled before leaving the kitchen.

"I'll come by later to pick up my stuff," she informed the two and with a grunt of affirmation from both Uzumakis, the door slid to a close.

Kushina thrust her pelvis forward and used her arms to push the rest of her torso up and out of the couch. She stood with some imbalance. She found her equilibrium and thanked the heavens she didn't fall flat on her face; even in the comfort of her own home, that'd be embarrassing.

"So how'd it go?" Naruto asked as he poured the ramen in the pot into four bowls equally. He grabbed two with each hand and placed it all on the table where Kushina just sat down. She grabbed the bowl and then split the chopsticks down the middle before digging into her bowl.

Before Naruto could even sit down, Kushina was already slamming her bowl down, letting out a sigh of relief and pleasure.

"It was another false alarm," Kushina said before digging into her second bowl. Naruto just watched her oddly, wondering if that's how he looked like when he was in the mood to eat – no, devour, ramen.

"I swear, these Hollow sightings are starting to get on my last nerve," she said as she slammed her second bowl on the table. She blinked at Naruto's second bowl, smiling when he lazily pushed it towards her. Naruto just smiled as he watched his mother eat as if she'd been condemned to death and had only ten minutes to do whatever she pleased.

"Well mom, I'd love to chat about this more but I need to go talk to Kenpachi," he said as he stood, shoving his bowl of ramen to his mother's side of the table. She mumbled in the bowl before slurping up the last noodle.

"Have fun," she said before burying her head into the fourth bowl. Naruto just shook his head as he went into his room to change into his uniform. With his zanpakutō tied to his waist, he walked out of his living quarters and straight towards Kenpachi's office.

He grinned nostalgically, remembering when he first arrived to Kenpachi's office. All of it seemed so much bigger when he was younger. He needed to visit Nemu again, it'd been so long since he talked to her. So many memories, so little time.

"Fishcake!" Naruto groaned just as he touched Kenpachi's door. He turned to see a small girl with pink hair smiling at him.

"You and your nicknames," he muttered but she only giggled in response.

"You here to see Kenny?" she asked enthusiastically and Naruto nodded. "Kenny's not here,"

Naruto just stared at her with a blank expression. "What?"

"He left, all the captains did. Didn't you hear?" she asked and Naruto blinked; his response obvious to Yachiru. "Captain Ichimaru ran into some Ryoka just outside the gates of the Seireitei,"

At this, Naruto's eyes widened. "Ryoka huh?" Yachiru nodded and began to walk away with her hands behind her head. "Wait; do you know when he'll be back?" Yachiru shook her head, not stopping until she turned the corner.

"Tch, now what do I do?" Naruto grumbled, facing Kenpachi's door as if asking it.

"Looking for a fight?" Naruto turned, a grin already plastered on his face.

"You know it, Chrome dome," Naruto taunted before ducking under a zanpakutō that threatened to cut his head off. "Easy there, Ikkaku, I was only joking," he added as Ikkaku glared at him.

Ikkaku was a well-built man, but his most distinguished attribute was his shiny-as-a-diamond head and was always made fun of by a lot of people for it, especially 11th Division Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi. Naruto had caught him on several occasions trying to convince everyone that he was "shaven" even though it was obvious that it wasn't. He also had distinctive small red markings at the outer corner of his eyes. Unlike most Shinigami Naruto knew, Ikkaku didn't wear a tabi with his sandals on; other than that, he wore the standard Shinigami robes.

"You and every other asshole in this dump," Ikkaku growled as he grabbed his zanpakutō. His angry and gloomy demeanor disappeared as he faced Naruto with a challenging smirk. "So, up for a fight?"

Naruto just laughed. "You bet your shiny bald-" he stopped short when he saw the glare Ikkaku was throwing his way and he chuckled sheepishly. "Ass, I was going to say ass,"

"Whatever, are you in?" he asked.

"Hell yeah!" he shouted, thrusting his right fist in the air.

"No, he's not," a soft and stoic voice intervened. Naruto and Ikkaku both turned to see Nemu standing a few feet away. Naruto smiled warmly as he greeted Nemu like he usually did; with a brotherly hug and a huge smile.

"How you been?" Naruto asked, his smile never fading and Nemu couldn't help but smile. It was small and to be honest, looked a little forced, but Naruto could see that she could never truly hide a smile so long as he was around.

"I've been busy lately but other than that, I am alive," Naruto had to sweat drop at her answer. She was very socially awkward sometimes but she wasn't too bad. Not like cue-ball who gave her a blank look.

"Good to hear that you continue living, Nemu. So, what brings you here?" Naruto asked, prompting Nemu to adopt a serious demeanor.

"My father wishes for me to give you your annual evaluation," she informed him, noticing his shiver.

Naruto sighed before turning to his favorite sparing buddy. "Rain check on the fight, Baldy," Naruto laughed as he ducked under Ikkaku's kick and ran off, grabbing on to Nemu's arm as he began to drag her with him. They ran and ran until they were out of the barracks.

"So, let's talk Nemu," Naruto suggested as the two made their way to the Twelfth Division's Shinigami Research Institute. Naruto recounted the mission Byakuya had sent him and Hinata to do. He spent a little extra time with vivid adjectives to describe Byakuya, but other than that, he kept it short and sweet.

In return, Nemu described the things she and her father had done over the past week and a half. Naruto wished she would've talked about the weather or anything else for that matter. Her father was psychologically insane and the fact that he wasn't in an insane asylum amazed Naruto to no end.

Finally, they reached the institution and Naruto thanked the heavens that they did because Nemu was only a few minutes shy of talking about the dissection she and her father performed on a new species of Hollow they found not three days ago.

"I would think that doing such a thing was illegal, but I guess not," Naruto stated with a sheepish yet queasy smile. Nemu only smirked and shook her head. Still, Naruto sucked it up, for Nemu. She was a great listener and all but Naruto knew that even she had her own opinions and views and since her father wasn't going to listen to them, Naruto believed the responsibility fell on him. Not that he minded.

"So why are you and the mad scientist still acting as my doctors? Isn't that the Fourth Division's job?" Naruto asked and Nemu bit her lower lip.

"My father has taken a great interest in you and your… jailor, so to speak. Your mother had set a guideline for him to follow and so long as he doesn't go against them, she has no problem with it," she replied stoically, though Naruto could only imagine what was going on in her head when she turned and looked away.

"Please step inside and we'll start off with checking you blood pressure," she offered to open the door but Naruto just stepped around her and held the door for her. She hesitated, not used to such treatment, and then thanked him as she entered.

He let out an agonized sigh as he walked into the institute; was anyone in a worse predicament than him?

[*.*.*.*]

'No one could be worse off than me,' Hinata thought. She kept repeating and repeating that same phrase over and over again as she ran from Renji's Zabimaru which was in its Shikai form.

The blade rained down on Hinata, who managed to roll out of the way just as it dug its 'fangs' into the ground she was once standing on.

She should be glad, she supposed. If she couldn't even keep up with Renji, what chance would she have if she had fought with Byakuya?

Evaluation or not, Renji took his role seriously and the fact that he had released Zabimaru from its sealed form reinforced this theory.

"Why are you running? Take out your zanpakutō and fight back!" Renji called out and Hinata gripped the hilt of her zanpakutō before releasing it and dodging another of Zabimaru's strikes. Hinata panted as she watched Renji give her a calculating stare before retracting Zabimaru and sheathing it after returning to its sealed form.

"Go home," Renji stated as he turned to walk away. Hinata just blinked.

"Wha-What?" she asked breathlessly. Renji faced her with a impassive expression before sighing. He walked up to her, his hands on his hips.

"You are an incredible Shinigami, if your records have anything to say about it," he said, and Hinata blushed slightly at the praise. "But, Captain Kuchiki wants you to have learned your zanpakutō's name. That's what this whole evaluation was mostly about."

"But, why?" Hinata asked curiously.

"If you find out the name of your zanpakutō, you powers would increase exponentially," he explained and giving her some time to register this, he began to walk away. "Come back tomorrow, we'll continue the evaluation then with Captain. Until then, try to get your weapon's name. At the very least, get a hint as to what its name could be."

"I, uhm…" before she could even say another word, he was gone. She just looked down at the floor. "Ok."

She felt like crap. She felt helpless; almost as if she was a little kid again. Too weak to please everyone's expectations but too shy to speak out.

Suddenly, warmth overcame her as if someone was hugging her from behind. Her heart raced slightly but she felt so relaxed and safe that she almost didn't even care where the warmth came from. She looked around, trying to see if anyone had done something from afar but it didn't seem to be.

She collected herself with a deep exhale before walking back to the Eleventh Division's barracks, wanting to talk to Kushina more than anything. She had been sort of a mother-figure as of late and her pep-talks were only topped by her delicious ramen.

'My child,' Hinata stopped in her tracks and looked around. That was new. 'You cannot see me for I lie in your deepest subconscious,' the voice said, prompting Hinata to stop her search. She was speechless; to think that her depression has gotten her so low that she unconsciously created a voice in her head to talk to her.

'Not to be impolite, but this is too weird to be true,' Hinata thought, wondering if the voice in her head could even hear her.

'It's quite alright my child; I can understand why you would hesitate to believe that there is a voice in your head,'

Hinata shook her head and felt a pulse radiate from her zanpakutō. She looked down at it before contemplating an odd connection that formed in her mind.

'Are you the voice of my zanpakutō's spirit?' she asked and she heard a feminine giggle echo in her head.

'Why, yes, I am,' the voice answered and Hinata nodded in understanding. At least now she didn't think she was completely insane. Still, just to make sure, Hinata decided to walk to the peaceful isolation that a nearby forest provided her. Sitting in the lotus position with her zanpakutō, scabbard and all, in her lap, she began to travel deep into her subconscious until she appeared in a frozen wasteland. Snow rained down on the land as if Mother Nature thought it was too hot at the moment. It amazed Hinata to no end that even with all the snow falling from the sky, it never accumulated higher than her knees. Still, for some reason, Hinata could see miles away, even without her kekkei genkai.

"My child," Hinata jumped and turned to see a clump of snow starting to rise, vaguely forming into the figure of a woman. "I see you have honored me with a visit."

Hinata could only stare in awe. The last time she had tried this, the only thing to greet her was an echoing voice and oddly enough, the sort of warmth she experienced early, much like she was experiencing now. In fact, it was radiating from the snowwoman herself… er, itself…?

Who knew?

"I surmise that you have sought me out to speak to me?" she guess and Hinata nodded numbly.

Was that really what she came here to do?

"I… Well, if you don't mind me asking," she started but couldn't find the rest of the words to complete that thought.

"Hm?" the snowwoman's tone sounded soft and patient, taking most of Hinata's edge off of her. At the very least, her zanpakutō's spirit wasn't as hostile or as cold as her environment seemed to be.

Oh boy, now what?

[*.*.*.*]

Kushina grumpily stomped down her division's barracks, mumbling to herself as she passed her fellow Shinigami without sparring a second glance.

While one of the most beautiful women in all of Seireitei, Kushina Uzumaki was the one all the males wouldn't dare ask on a date.

Still, that never stopped some of local lechers in the Seireitei.

"Hey Kushina," Kushina stopped in her tracks, her head hung forward and her suave, beautiful crimson hair swished to a halt. She turned and gave the man who called her out a cold stare. "I heard you have nothing to do," the man added with a flirtatious smile.

Kushina's eyelids fractionally flicked lower. "So?" she deadpanned.

"Well, I was wondering," the Shinigami said as he stood besides her, smiling a megawatt smile. "Maybe we could help each other with our… ahem, stamina," he said lecherously. By now, a vein was throbbing in her forehead as her face colored with pink tint, mostly from anger. There was only one man she would ever tolerate and he was dead – and Naruto was still too young to be considered a man, in her eyes. Therefore…

"How about you go to hell?" she suggested with a overly sweet smile but unfortunately, the man couldn't take the hint.

"Oh, you like it hot, do ya?" he asked, his eyes gleaming with mischief. Kushina was running low on patient and if this perverted creep didn't back off soon, he'd never look at Kushina the same again.

"Hey you!" a voice barked as it closed on the pervert. The two turned but the pervert was immediately grabbed by his collar and was lifted off the air. Even his toes couldn't touch the ground as the newcomer glared into the pervert's eyes. "The lady said no, so why don't you beat it?" for a second, his eyes flashed from azure to crimson, but it was so fast that he almost didn't believe it.

"Naruto-chan, I can handle this," Kushina said with an exasperated sigh, though she did appreciate what he was doing. The blond continued to glare, almost as if he didn't hear his mother, but reluctantly, he dropped the man and watched his squirm away in mild panic. Naruto just watched the worm run off with disgust before facing his mother, both having the same frown on their faces.

"What's your problem?"

"Bored and have too much energy. Same?" she answered and asked, but Naruto shook his head.

"Came back from the 'doctor'," he replied, putting air quotes around doctor. Still annoyed, Kushina still found the will to smile at her son's misfortune. True, Mayuri Kurotsuchi was no sweetheart, but he did know what he was doing. Whenever something weird happened to Naruto, Mayuri would have the answer within the hour – for the most part. He was a scientist and he only focuses on that which captures his attention so whenever it seemed trivial to him, he'd send Naruto to Nemu; Naruto had no problem with that though.

"What's the prognosis?"

"I'm as healthy as a horse with five hearts, ten lungs and twenty-five stomachs."

"Only twenty-five?"

"I was surprised he picked such a low number, too," Naruto replied, a smile working its way to his lips. Kushina laughed into her right hand, glad that Naruto had shown up when he did. If he hadn't come along to unconsciously cheer her up, she would've ripped a new one into the Eleventh Division without batting an eye.

"Spar?"

"Definitely."

[*.*.*.*]

"I..." Hinata paused again, for what seemed like the thousandth time. If it were anyone else, they would've walked out or got angry at her by now. There was only less than a handful of people who she knew who had all the patience in the world for her: Nemu, Kushina and of course, Naruto. She didn't have a special relationship with Nemu like Naruto did but she did look up to her and was close enough that Nemu would share one of her rare smiles with her. Naruto had chuckled the first time Nemu smiled genuinely at Hinata and had told her that besides him and his mom, she never smiled like that for anyone. It made Hinata feel special.

"My child," the snowwoman said as she brought Hinata in for a hug. Hinata's eyes snapped wide open; even though those three wonderful people had all the patience in the world, none of them ever hugged her. And the snowwoman was as warm as a normal person; a constant source of heat radiated from the entity. Her action, along with her words, brought more warmth into Hinata's heart and she slowly raised her arms up and reciprocated the hug.

A new feeling began to swell up in her chest and she let out a sigh. "What is your name?" she softly blurted out without realizing it.

"I have many names," the spirit said as he held firmly onto the teen. "Unfortunately, you are not ready to hear it just yet," the snowwoman said with a heavy heart. Hinata looked up at her with sad, almost desperate eyes.

"I am, I am ready!" she argued but the entity shook its head.

"No, you are not. I can look deep into your heart, and while it is pure like the snow, it just isn't ready to control me, yet," she told her. Hinata opened her mouth but no words ever left. There was no time for her to speak.

"Don't talk back!" another voice, much harsher than the woman who was holding Hinata, said. Suddenly, an area near the two shifted into ice. Hinata and the snowwoman watched as a woman made of ice began to rise from the ice as if it was some sort of portal. Hinata was awe-struck as a sense of inferiority filled her entire being. She felt like she was in the presence of a queen, royalty of the highest caliber and she was only a lowly servant. The sudden warmth she felt from the snowwoman changed a bit. It was hard for Hinata to explain; it was as if the warmth was... protecting her?

"I told you I would handle this," the snowwoman chided angrily but the icewoman just scoffed it off as if the snowwoman was beneath her. She gracefully made her way to the two before stopping behind Hinata.

"You had your chance," the woman said as she let out a controlled giggle. She was a detailed as the snowwoman, with the only difference was that there was some sort of crown on the icewoman's head. She reached out and touched Hinata's shoulder. She flinched but tensed when she felt something rushing into her. It was cold, cold but precise; confidence and reassurance filled the Hyūga girl and a smile crossed her lips. Warmth protected her heart but the rest of her felt cold like ice. Oddly enough, she didn't care, it didn't bother her. She felt more confident in herself, like nothing was impossible and everything she wanted was within her reach.

"Can you feel it? That is my power. Do you like it?" she asked and Hinata nodded with enthusiasm. "Then come with me, child, and all your wildest wishes can be obtained through me."

Hinata wanted to jump at the chance to have the woman's power. Such confidence! Such power! She had never felt like this before, and she had to admit, it was intoxicating. With that confidence power, and assurance, she could finally confess her feelings for Naruto; hell she could have anyone she wanted, not just Naruto...

The blue-haired girl flinch and moved closer into the snowwoman and she panted as if she had been holding her breath for centuries. Those thoughts... they were not her own; she would never think like that, she only wanted Naruto. That was the only thing she was completely positive about.

The icewoman wasn't expecting Hinata to flinch. "Is this not what you want? What you seek... what you need?" the icewoman asked harshly.

"I do," Hinata answered, keeping her head on the snowwoman's torso. "I know I need it to become stronger," Hinata looked at the icewoman with a determined look on her face. "But I do not want your power if it means that I lose my freewill."

The icewoman stood still, presumably shocked by Hinata's words.

"I'm proud of you," the snowwoman said and Hinata sincerely smiled at her.

"You will need my power one day, child," the icewoman stated assuredly before giggling. "I look forward to that day," her smile faded as she turned her back to the two. "Now be gone."

Without warning, Hinata snapped her eyes opened and saw that she had returned from her subconscious. She shook her head and took note that it was close to nightfall, with the sun setting within the hour. The blue-haired Shinigami jumped to her feet and went to go to her temporary home that she shared with her second-mother and love. By the time she had reached it, though, she was surprised to see no one walking around. There was always something happening in the Eleventh Division. At least, most of the time there was something going on.

When she walked into her old home, she had to sweatdrop as she saw Naruto and Kushina sprawled on the floor, glaring at each other.

"What's..." Hinata paused, trying to assess the situation a second time. Both Uzumakis looked up at her and smiled. "Going on?"

"Well, it's like this Hinata-chan," Naruto started but was interrupted by Kushina who placed a hand over his mouth.

"Someone has a crush-" it was her turn to be interrupted as Naruto jumped on top of her and placed both hands on his mother's mouth. She got angry and rolled over to cover his mouth. "I am your mother, young man!"

"My mother with a big mouth!" Naruto retorted as the two continued to fight for dominance. Hinata just watched with morbid amusement before stepping outside again. The two stopped for a moment to stare at the door before resuming their match. Eventually, Kushina gained the upperhand and pinned Naruto's wrists down. Her long, red hair curtained the left side of her face and Naruto felt a few stray hairs tickle his face.

"Why won't you tell her?" Kushina asked sadly and yet, also confusedly. Naruto turned his head away with a slight blush.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Naruto said stubbornly, his eyes shifting to look at her. "You're getting crazier the older you get."

"We both know those two statements are wrong," Kushina said with a candy-sweet smile that scared Naruto. "First off, I'm not getting old, I'm just aging slightly; got it?" she asked and Naruto nodded smartly. "And second... I see the way you look at her. You really like her... a lot."

"Mom-"

"No, son," she said abruptly. "Don't make the same mistake I made!" Kushina got off Naruto and sat on her knees, her head bowed lowly. Naruto sat up and blinked at her. "I waited for something bad to happen to show me just how blind I was. It took a kidnapping for me to finally acknowledge your father. I might've still been young when it happened but it was then that I realized all of the things your father did for me, because he loved me. And poor Hinata is doing the same thing, but you're too blind to see."

"My relationship with Hinata is different than the one you had with dad," Naruto told her, half believing what he just said.

"You will lose her all the same," Kushina stated. Naruto looked deep into her eyes and he could see that she truly believed everything she said. He looked away, the intensity in her eyes becoming too much for him.

"...I just don't want her to reject me. I know we'll still be friends if she rejects me... but I don't want to risk it!" he growled as he punched the floor under him.

"She won't reject you," Kushina said with a reassuring smile. Naruto was about to question her but her smile stopped him. "Go for her! Do what you think you have to do to convince her that you truly, honestly, and desperately like her," she advised just as the door behind him slowly opened and Hinata popped her head in.

"Is the fighting over?" she asked. Kushina nodded as she stood, cracking her back as she did.

"That felt good," she stated before walking off. "I'm going to bed; night you two," she said as she took a step passed the threshold before stopping. "Oh, and don't forget what I said Naruto-chan," she reminded him before closing the door behind her. Naruto just kept his eyes on her door, his thoughts plaguing his mind.

"Naruto-kun? Naruto-kun!" Hinata said before speaking a bit louder. He had been sitting on the floor staring at the door for two minutes straight and Hinata was starting to get worried. Naruto blinked as he was brought back to the waking world and looked up at Hinata with confusion. "Are you okay?" she asked and Naruto nodded dumbly. Then she reverted to her shy self again. "Do you mind... if I sleep here for one more night? Maybe two?"

Naruto finally snapped out of her stupor and stood with a mile-long smile. "Of course, you know you're always welcomed here," he assured her and Hinata smiled fondly at him.

"Thank you," she said before walking to her room. It was funny to Naruto how those two simple words and one smile could make his heart race. He bit his lower lip and clenched his fist; he couldn't risk their friendship ending over his little crush. His hands released the tension they held and his right hand rose to cover over the area where his heart was. It was as if his heart pounding against its confinement.

Without prior warning, he ran up to catch up to Hinata who had reached her room. She heard his footsteps and waited for him at her door. She blinked when she saw the sweat dripping from his forehead; he couldn't have been sweating from the run, her room was only twelve feet away from where he once stood. She was about to ask what was wrong when suddenly, his hands gently framed her face and he kissed her. Her eyes snapped open and her body stiffened; Naruto was kissing her!

Her eyelids dropped halfway down and she could feel herself start to relax as her right hand slowly went up to touch his hand. He kept kissing her until he the need for air became priority. He took in a deep breath and then stared into her eyes seriously.

"I like you," he declared proudly and wholly. She blinked before going in for another kiss and smiling happily at him.

"I like you too!" she said quickly in a high-pitched voice before taking a step back and closing the door. Naruto leaned back, until his back hit the wall and he slowly moved down. When he was comfortably seated, something unexpected happened.

He fainted.

Meanwhile, Hinata sat on her bed, her fingers daintily touching her lips. A dumbfound smile appeared on said lips before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fainted right on her bed.

Sorry, I don't have enough time to comment...

All I can say is, I'm sorry for taking so long...

Well, gotta go!

Hope you enjoyed it!

See ya!