[A/N] Hey everyone, it's Tek again. Breaking away from my normal fare this time with another Naru/Hina one-shot… taken from a different angle this time. This has probably been done before, but you weren't going to see me apologize for giving it my own little twist. I hope you enjoy. ^_^ Also, as has been my standard message for the past while, please sign up and leave a signed review so I can send you a personalized reply. If you spot anything wrong or that needs improvement, please tell me. I work to improve endlessly. ^_^

WARNING: For those who don't like OOC canons, take heed: Hinata is going to be acting out of canon later on in the story, so if that's not your thing, read at your own discretion.[A/N]

Two months.

Two months, which comprised a relatively small portion of the last ten-to-twelve years of the blonde-haired young man's eighteen years of life. A period of time that, he now realized, had been wasted chasing after a pink-haired liar.

It had taken him years and years to break through his childhood crush's defenses. And when he did, he thought things would be flowers and walks in the park.

OH, HOW WRONG HE WAS, AFTER ALL.

Uzumaki Naruto was slumped against the inside of his bathroom door, outwardly bawling his eyes out. Inwardly, however, he was doing the one thing that had become a staple of his tenant's life over the past two months.

He was ranting, raving, fuming, raging… he was venting with only an unconscious end in sight. Only this time, he'd be crying himself to sleep; he wouldn't need that damnable pink-headed harpy to put him to sleep anymore.

Naruto had thought that once his childhood flame, Haruno Sakura, accepted his feelings and agreed to a date, that his life would only get better from there. He had been right to a degree…

…But, as the saying expresses, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction". And the simple action of Sakura agreeing to date him set off a chain reaction that led to his current downward spiral.

As soon as they finished their first date, things had started picking up. Naruto had more spring in his step, worked harder in team training, and always seemed to have a little more room for more ramen at Ichiraku's Ramen. Unfortunately, this new pep didn't translate into Sakura's behavior at all; in fact, it seemed to do exactly the opposite.

Sakura became slower, almost forcedly so, and held back her attacks far too much in practice spars. She became angrier, and more easily irritated by the absolute smallest of things. Naruto thanked whatever being was keeping him alive; had they not intervened and sent Kakashi to check on them during a practice match, Naruto could have kissed his shinobi career good-bye.

And, to the surprise of absolutely NO ONE who knew him, his recent dates with Sakura had had an equally, if not GREATER, adverse effect on a certain other girl.

Hyuuga Hinata had always admired Naruto from a distance, but over the years, her admiration had grown into a love more pure than most others had. Moreover, during a particularly dangerous point in their village's history, Hinata had stepped in to fight and try to save Naruto's life, while confessing her feelings to him. This had not only been a brave act, but had also nearly cost her life.

This, however, seemed to go ENTIRELY over Naruto's head, as almost immediately, he went back to his regular date-hounding, which had hit a tender spot in Hinata's heart and dealt a SERIOUS blow to her self-esteem. Over the two years following, her sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai, had witnessed her favorite student's gradual regression. The pride and confidence that Hinata had steadily built seemed to erode away, as if it had been held up by a simple wall of mud.

Hinata's degrading self-esteem translated into her performance as a ninja as well. Her team practices tended to end with her getting plastered to a rock wall with a thin layer of blood and tears, as she would demand her team mates hold nothing back, and then stand in place and take their attacks like a wooden dummy.

As time went on, Hinata slowly became a recluse, hiding away in her room and locking it tight so no one could get in except herself. She'd stay up at night, waiting for her family to fall asleep before she gathered food to eat. Her team began seeing less and less of her.

And as Hinata began to shut herself away, Naruto began to wish that things really WOULD pick up with Sakura. Nothing seemed to work; many of the kunoichi in his village simply glared at him lie he was a diseased parasite and shooed him away. The only people he could even hang around with were Sai and Shikamaru nowadays, as Sai couldn't have been bothered to care, and Shikamaru was too busy bustling around and dealing with more than he could manage to pay much attention.

Most of his nights with Sakura revolved around a similar routine: he would eat dinner, ask what was wrong, become subjected to a lecture about how HE was dragging HER down in training. This would lead to the same, tired old argument between the two that always ended with her stealing his bed or storming off to her house and leaving him to take the couch. He never took the bed; one unfortunate occasion involving a drunken Sakura coming in through the window and forcing him out of the room with the full force of her unrestrained brute strength had not only put him through the wall and on the street, but had knocked the fear of his own bed into him.

This went on for roughly a month and a half until Kakashi voiced that something was seriously wrong and sat the two down to try and help them figure out the issue at hand. They had never gotten to the core of the problem, but it had seemed that Kakashi's impromptu attempt at being a relationship councilor had been enough for a switch to be "flipped" in Sakura's head.

For the next two weeks, things had seemed to get off to a much better start. Sakura began doing much better in team practice, and, much like Naruto, seemed a lot happier.

However, as in most relationships, one slip of the tongue was all it took to send things spiraling completely out of control.

It was eight-thirty at night, and the two teens had sat down to watch a movie in Naruto's apartment. Naruto had supplied the snacks, Sakura had simply smiled, said "Thank you" and sat down. Naruto didn't mind; he was just happy things were looking up.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, Hinata had decided she'd had enough of hiding away where she couldn't be reached. On this night, she decided to get some fresh air. As she left her clan's compound at nine o'clock, she took her first breath of real fresh air in weeks… and noticed the toll her absence from the outside world had taken on her body. She was noticeably thinner and much paler beneath her clothes. She silently hoped there was still a restaurant or a meals-to-go stand still open at this time…

She thanked the gods above for allowing her the ability to sit down and eat; lucky or not, Ichiraku's Ramen was still open for business, and Hinata decided to sit down for a quick meal. As soon as Ayame, the daughter of the booth's owner, Teuchi, saw the pale young girl, she immediately whipped up several bowls of varied flavors and told Hinata they'd ALL be on the house, but only if she managed to finish them ALL off and ask for more. Hinata winced a little… tasty or not, ramen wasn't her favorite food, and Ayame was dead set on making sure she was at least a little better off when she left.

Just as she dug into her noodles, the movie Naruto and Sakura were watching was nearing a pivotal scene. Naruto watched in disgust as the tight-lipped business-woman and her fiancée's "best friend" entered a hotel room for a steamy sex scene, and he turned away.

"I can't believe she'd do that!" Naruto said quietly, grabbing around for the remote, "She's engaged, and she's cheating on her soon-to-be husband! What kind of person does that?"

That's when she said it.

Without even so much as a second's thought, Sakura turned in her spot on the couch to face Naruto and, in a matter-of-factly tone, she said, "What's your problem, Naruto? She's not married yet. It's not cheating; she's exploring her options. Lots of us women do it."

Naruto's eyes nearly imploded in their sockets; the only reason they didn't was because he had to close them as he struggled to piece together the meaning behind her words.

If he understood her correctly… the woman in the movie was "exploring her options"?

Naruto's eyes suddenly hardened and bent into a confused glare as he replied, "What are you talking about? If she wanted to do stuff like this and "explore her options" as you call it, wouldn't it have made more sense for her to do it BEFORE she got engaged in the first place? In fact, if what you're saying were to make sense at all, she should have just rejected her fiancée from the beginning!" Sakura gave him a look that was meant to tell him to be quiet; he caught the message she'd hidden in her glance, however.

Her glance, in all seriousness, was her not-so-subtle way of telling him that he didn't know what he was talking about, and that he should be silent before she hammered him with another fist to the face. Now that he knew what to expect, he finally grabbed the remote and clicked off the movie. He grabbed the bowl of popcorn off her lap and placed it gently on the table, despite the fact that his hands were now shaking violently.

"Get out NOW."

The impact of those three words held more weight to Sakura than any time Naruto had told her, "I love you". In seconds, she'd gotten off the couch and cocked her arm back to throw a skull-crushing rick hook.

When she threw her punch, however, she was surprised to find that Naruto didn't stand still and take it. Instead, as if he knew what was coming, he simply reached one arm back and caught her fist behind his head, effectively stopping hr cold. And, as she tried desperately to free her hand, she found that his grip was only getting tighter.

She soon understood why.

As Naruto slowly turned around to face her, her expression turned from one of aggression to one of fear. Naruto's face had twisted into a combination of deep sadness and utter rage, coupled with his whisker marks thickening, and his now red, fox-like eyes releasing steady streams of tears.

"That's how it is, huh?" Naruto asked, his voice deeper and cracking with every word, "You finally decide to give me a shot, and for what? Just so you could tell me that if you were to pull what that woman in the movie did, that you wouldn't actually be CHEATING on me?"

Sakura stared at Naruto angrily.

"If you weren't so clingy, I-OW!"

Sakura didn't finish her sentence. This was mainly due the fact that Naruto had firmly planted a tightly curled fist in her stomach… and had activated his Sage Mode, so the force of the blow was easily tripled. She doubled over and inhaled sharply, trying to fill her lungs with precious oxygen.

"I'M CLINGY?!" Naruto bellowed, "HOW AM I THE CLINGY ONE?! YOU'VE BEEN HOUNDING AFTER SASUKE THE SAME WAY I WAS AFTER YOU FOR ALL THOSE YEARS! HELL, I'VE BEEN OUT HERE IN THE LIVING ROOM MOST NIGHTS, AND I STILL HEAR YOU SHOUT EMO-TEME'S NAME IN YOUR SLEEP! Meanwhile, all I do is casually ask you for a date upwards of once a day for the past decade or so, which CLEARLY conveys my feelings… and YOU, the demented fan-girl stalker who'd be OH SO WILLING to break into the duck-ass-headed bastard's house and steal his UNDERWEAR are calling ME CLINGY?!"

Sakura turned to look up at Naruto and opened her mouth to speak, but found herself unable to form any decent comebacks.

When Naruto next spoke, it was in his normal voice, still cracked with pain:

"Pack all your garbage and get out of my apartment NOW. I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AROUND HERE AGAIN!"

The force of those words seemed to hit her far harder than the punch to the stomach and his earlier scream of "GET OUT!" combined. As Sakura scurried to her feet and ran about the tiny apartment to gather what meager possessions she'd move there, she considered a retort, but thought against it.

Finally, Just as she'd reached the door, Naruto shouted, "AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT SEEING ME IN TEAM TRAINING; I'M PUTTING IN A DEMAND FOR A TRANSFER WITH THE HOKAGE TOMORROW MORNING SO I'LL NEVER HAVE TO LOOK AT YOUR REPULSIVE FACE AGAIN! NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOME, AND OUT OF MY LIFE!"

Without even shedding a tear, Sakura tore the door open and stormed out, slamming it shut with enough force to rock the building to its foundation.

Seconds later, Naruto found himself in his bathroom, back pressed against the door and eyes closed tight; he'd traveled to the peaceful center of his mind to torture his tenant with the biggest rant of his life.

Therefore, the boy now sat against the bars of his tenant's cage, alternating between tears of pain and sadness and bursts of destructive rage involving random objects bursting to life before Naruto's eyes before he suddenly smashed them to pieces. The Fox had learned that this was NOT the ideal mood for Naruto to be in, even IF he were so inclined to let the great Kyuubi no Yoko have a little stretching room. Deep down the Kyuubi could tell that even if Naruto were to relinquish control to him now, the boy's roiling, broiling fury and almighty wrath would be more than enough to force the great beast back behind his seal.

It was nearing this point that Hinata saw Sakura storming past her from the direction of Naruto's apartment, muttering something that sounded like "how could he say that?"…

Young Hinata suddenly felt a spark of hope alight in her soul for the first time in weeks. And… for the first time in weeks, a beaming smile crept along her face, accompanied solely by a slight blush.

With the thought of seeing Naruto out of Sakura's presence in mind, she happily set off in search of her favorite blonde boy's abode.~However, neither she nor Naruto could have known that the events of this particular evening had been Kami's winning poker hand against her sister Yami that day. The darker of the two stared at her brighter sister and scowled as she tossed her losing hand onto their poker table and stormed off, leaving Kami alone to bask in her victory… for the hundredth time in the life of Kami's blonde young champion.

To her sister's credit, Yami's only victory to date was making Sakura date Naruto. Since then, it had been loss after another. Kami was smiling now… and especially one her chosen warrior. Little did he know that the worst night of his life was about to become something else entirely. ~

Naruto was in his mindscape, having switched to pacing about the room angrily, while mindlessly swatting at whatever popped into existence as he moved. The Fox sat in its cage, silently drowning out Naruto's shouts of rage by plugging her ears with her tails. This also had the side-effect of the Fox thanking Kami for allowing it to be created with extremely sound-resistant fur on its.

However, seconds after watching Naruto smash yet another steel wall like a pane of glass, all the while reveling in a feeling of perverse glee, the Fox's senses picked up a presence approaching the house. Another two feet…

PERFECT! The Fox's problem would be solved in two seconds!

"KIT, YOU'VE GOT A VISITOR!" The Fox shouted, hoping it would be loud enough For Naruto to hear it. It was, but just barely; Naruto spun on his heels and looked the Fox in the eyes with a bewildered expression.

"There's what?"

"There's a presence approaching the front door at a slow pace," The Fox said, a small smile playing upon its jaws, "I think you should take things easy and welcome your visitor with open-"

"I TOLD THAT WITCH NOT TO COME BACK HERE ANYMORE!" Naruto shouted. He turned and stormed off.

"KIT, NO! IT'S NOT WHO YOU THINK IT IS!" The Fox shouted from its cage, suddenly worried. However, it was too late; by the time he said "NO", Naruto was already long gone.

~Up in the heavens, Kami and Yami were playing another round of poker, and Kami had JUST lost her hand. She looked at the giant stack of chips in the middle of the table, which was accompanied by a single figurine shaped to resemble Hinata Hyuuga.

"DAMMIT," Kami muttered, placing her cards on the table as Yami puller the stack of chip and the figurine, as well as another on Kami's side of the table that resembled Naruto, over to her side of the table. A single derisive snort and a wicked chuckle later, the next hand was dealt, and the game began anew.

"I am NOT netting you win again, Yami-chan," Kami said confidently.

"Of this we can never be sure, Kami-nee-chan," Yami said coyly, "After all; their luck is decided by ours, and our luck is decided by the luck of the cards. It would seem yours is set to turn in my favor."

"I wouldn't blindly believe in a force I don't directly control, Yami-chan," Kami said, shaking her head with a small smile, "After all… We may have a hand in their destinies, but they ultimately decide their own fate. The most we can do with these little games of ours is point them in what we see as the correct direction."~

Back in his apartment, Naruto's eyes snapped open just as a knock rang out from the front door. His eyes bent back in an angry snarl; he nearly ripped the bathroom door off its hinges as he tore out of the bathroom and stormed toward the front door.

The Kyuubi closed its eyes and braced for the worst, which It knew was coming.

With fresh tears flowing out of his tightly closed eyes, he screamed, "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU ANYMORE! WHY DON'T YOU JUST GIVE ME THE PEACE AND QUIET YOU'VE DEPRIVED ME OF THE PAST TWO MONTHS AND LEAVE ME ALONE! I HATE YOU AND I HATE YOUR GUTS!"

He stopped screaming, took a deep breath… and received his reply in the form of a series of small, gasping sobs. The bad thing was, they were from a voice he knew well. Worse, it wasn't Sakura's voice making those sobs.

Worse still, as he opened his eyes, he almost fell back on his rear.

HE'D JUST SCREAMED THE WORDS "I HATE YOU" AT HINATA.

Inside his head, the Kyuubi slapped a paw against its large face and dragged it downward in aggravation and embarrassment.

And worst of all, as he knew it would occur, she thought he was talking TO her ABOUT herself, if the tears of pain spilling from her eyes were anything to go by.

"Oh Kami… Hinata-san, n-no, t-that wasn't … I wasn't-" Naruto was cut short when Hinata turned and fled, wailing for the world to hear. Naruto could only sit back and watch helplessly as someone he considered a friend now ran from him as if he was a diseased criminal.

And despite all the things he was thinking, the only thing he could think to say at this time was…

"DAMMIT!"

He felt his hand slam through the door frame, unaided by ninjutsu or his senjutsu chakra. As he hit his knees in despair, he lifted his fist and watched the trails of blood run down his wrist and into his shirt sleeve.

"I tried to warn you kit," The Fox scolded from his cage, "BUT NO. Little fleshbag thinks he's always right and knows EXACTLY what he's doing. Well, guess what? YOU SCREWED THIS ONE UP!"

'I SCREWED IT UP?' Naruto screamed mentally, 'IF YOU'D WARNED ME-OUCH!'

He doubled over onto the ground and panted a few moments, having just suffered a headache more powerful than any he had before.

"Don't you start blaming YOUR mistakes on me. I DID TRY TO WARN YOU, but again, with you being the "all-powerful Uzumaki Naruto, savior of all Shinobi", YOU believed you knew what you were doing and raged into the situation unknowing of what awaited you. So, whether you like it or not," The Fox said, retreating to the back of its cage, "You're on your own to fix this one. For once in your life, take responsibility for your own idiocy and fix the problem YOU just created. If you're so big and powerful, you won't need MY help."

And with that, The Fox took back all of its chakra, leaving Naruto gasping from the sudden withdrawal.

Naruto took five seconds to work through what the Fox has just told him before fresh tears once again welled up in his eyes. However, he knew, deep down, that now was NOT the time to sit around feeling sorry for himself.

On the contrary… He had only one goal, and he knew what he had to do.

Without another moment's hesitation, Naruto took off from his home, sprinting several feet before leaping to the trees. He didn't have to work too hard to track Hinata's movements… despite her only moving on foot on the ground, she managed to find a LOT of places to leaves shreds of clothing on. A rose bush by the Inuzuka house had a small piece of cream-colored fabric: she'd gotten snagged and torn her jacket. A thorny plant on the ground had a torn piece of blue rubber shoe sole: she'd hit the plant, thought something was grabbing her and wrenched hard to get away, breaking a chunk out of her shoe. Naruto's eyes followed the trail of clothing carnage to a place he knew all too well; the small park under the east wall, where Naruto and Hinata had first become friends.

'I should have known… After what I said, she'd still want even some form of connection to me…' Naruto thought before hanging from the tree by his knees.

Down below, Hinata sat on the lone swing crying loud enough that those asleep in the building across the street were throwing things form their windows in an attempt to make her stop. Hinata didn't have to do much to stop the assault; she absent-mindedly coated her hands in chakra and swung them around, knocking the incoming objects aside like they were rubber balls.

Naruto stayed the way he was for a couple minutes, thinking of what he'd say to Hinata to apologize.

And then…

"I-I know you're up t-there," Hinata stuttered through her sobs. Naruto's concentration was shaken enough for him to lose his balance and fall to the ground with a cream of "WHOA!" and a loud thud. He groaned as he sat up with his eyes closed. He slowly opened one eye and saw Hinata bent over him, trying to check for injuries.

"H-Hinata-san? What are you…" he managed, but only barely as a tear-stained finger paced itself on his lips to silence him.

"Just… don't say anything, alright?" Hinata said, as she continued her search, "You may hate me now… but in the short time I've had to sit and think, I've realized something important." Hinata gasped when Naruto whipped around and wrapped his arms around her from behind, keeping a firm, but gentle grip on her. In addition, despite her best efforts to resists and escape, Naruto's grip didn't let up. In a matter of moment, Hinata had managed to turn herself around in his arms, and was now finding herself faced with the same tearful face that had yelled at her not fifteen minutes prior.

Only now, that blue-eyed boy she knew and loved didn't have a pained expression of rage and sadness on his face as he cried… he had a look of apology written on it instead.

Hinata didn't know what to think.

Slowly, Naruto reigned in his tears, and, opening his eyes to look Hinata in hers as he spoke, calmly said, "That rant back at my house… wasn't meant for you. I thought you were Sakura come back to yell at me." Hinata's eyes widened.

"W-why would I be Sakura-san?" Hinata asked, perplexed, "And why would she be going back to your house to yell at you? She passed me on her way back to her house when I was out for an evening walk." Naruto nodded. He decided it was the right time to drop the bombshell.

"I broke up with Sakura tonight."

Hinata felt her heart fly in her chest, and the beginnings of a small smile began to play at her features once again, but she maintained a straight face as she calmly asked, "W-why? You were finally so happy together!"

Naruto spent five minutes explaining the events that had led up to the situation they were in now. Hinata, during the course of his short tale, had shifted position in his lap, and now sat side-saddle.

"She WHUB!?" Hinata almost shrieked; she would have shrieked, had Naruto not instinctively planted his right hand over her mouth to stifle the loud noise. She gave him an indignant look before seeming to remember where they were and what time of night it was.

"Yep; she defended cheating to my face. In those exact words, nonetheless," Naruto said. Hinata turned her head aside with an ashamed look on her face. She hoped Naruto wouldn't see her face; unfortunately, he did.

"Hinata-san, what's wrong?" he asked, and, when Hinata turned to give him a worried look, he knew right away it was something he probably shouldn't know.

"Sasuke's back in Konoha, isn't he?" he asked. Hinata's face turned beet red before she nodded.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" he asked, hurt.

"We weren't allowed!" Hinata said, "Hokage-sama made it an SSS-class secret. Banishment and death are the price to pay for revealing it."

"And since I figured it out on my own, you won't be punished now…" Naruto said in understanding. Hinata nodded in confirmation.

"How long has he been back?" Naruto asked. Hinata's face turned an even deeper shade of red and she gave him a knowing look. Naruto's eyes exploded from his head.

"She was already cheating on me, wasn't she?" he asked, receiving a nod of confirmation from Hinata, "He's been back from before I started dating Sakura… and not only did no one tell me, it was probably their plan to make me leave by doing this…" Naruto's eyes turned sad again for a moment before the full weight of this realization hit him.

"I finally understand. Damn it, I've wasted so much of my life on her…" Naruto said aloud. Hinata's face lost its red tint as she sat still, silently relishing the warmth in Naruto's arms. It was then that Naruto looked at Hinata and noticed her eyes were closed, while her mouth was curved up slightly in a small smile.

That's when it finally hit him.

She'd told him when she broke in on his fight with Pein two years before: She loved him. That must have been what she was talking about earlier as well.

~Yami through down her cards yet again and stormed off to take out her rage on something or other; she'd lost ANOTHER DAMN HAND! Meanwhile, Kami smiled a bit and looked at the crystal ball in front of her. In its glassy confines, she saw the image of Naruto smiling as he looked upon Hinata as she sat on his lap, smiling herself.

'You two kids deserve each other. I should never have started this infernal game with Yami-chan… I should have just steered the two of you closer together years ago,' Kami thought silently as Yami stormed back in, screaming angrily for the next hand to be served.

'Please,' Kami thought, 'Just bear with me a little longer. I'm doing the best I can for you two…'

Hinata jumped a bit when she felt Naruto's head rest gently against her own, but settled again and sighed contentedly with a smile. Several silent moments went by in this fashion before Naruto decided to break the silence.

"Hinata," he started, purposefully neglecting the use of honorifics, which both scared and excited Hinata, "I should have given up on that witch years ago. At the same time, I should have also immediately sought out someone else… someone who I know has always been there for me when no one else had my back." Hinata's entire body was turning a deep crimson, and her heart was beating so hard that Naruto could feel each and every beat through their clothes. She slowly angled her head upward to look him in the eyes with a combined expression of terror, excitement, and wonder.

"In all seriousness, I should have asked you this a long time ago, Hinata… Will you go out with me?"

Hinata's heart almost burst through her chest.

Her eyes began leaking tears of joy, her face took on an expression of pure joy and exhilaration, and she immediately clamped both arms around his back.

"YES! OH KAMI, NARUTO-KUN, YES!" she screamed aloud crying happily into his shoulder. Naruto didn't want to ruin her moment of happiness, but knew that staying there would only attract unwanted attention. So, without warning, he stood, raking Hinata into his arms as he moved, and took off in the direction of his apartment.

Hinata gasped at first, surprised to be off the ground, but soon settled into Naruto's arms and enjoyed the flying scenery.

In what felt to Hinata like hours, but had really been less than five minutes, they arrived inside Naruto's apartment through the window to see Sakura in the living room. Hinata looked up at Naruto and saw his look of happiness turn back to one of rage, and knew she had to do something. Moving slowly, she freed herself from Naruto's arms and quickly reached up to kiss him on the lips.

The surprise action stunned Naruto out of his anger, and soon Sakura's presence was forgotten for the briefest of moments.

When Hinata broke away, wearing the same dazed look as Naruto, she smiled and said, "Don't worry Naruto, I'll take care of HER." And with that, she turned around, two aural projections of lion heads sprouting to life around her hands.

Sakura barely had time to sling the sack of soon-to-be-stolen possessions over her back; a palm strike to the sternum knocked the wind from her lungs AND the bag from her hand, while a second to the head sent her flying back out of the open door. The burlap sack hit the ground with a thud and sat there, waiting for its contents to be put back where they belonged. Hinata walked over and closed the door, completely uncaring of whether or not she'd incapacitated or killed Sakura; as far as Hinata was concerned, the world would be a MUCH better place without the shrieking, pink-haired harpy in it. She turned back to smile at Naruto again.

"Shall we go to bed, Naruto?" she asked happily, ignoring the use of honorifics, as he had done not too long ago. Naruto smiled and nodded, striding over quickly to scoop Hinata back into his arms. With less than a thought given to locking the door to the apartment, the two entered the small bedroom, where Naruto deposited a blushing Hinata on the small bed. Looking at the situation before him, Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Looks like I'm going to need a bigger bed soon…" Naruto said before Hinata reached up, grabbed his collar and pulled him down to join her.

"What are you talking about? This is perfect; just enough room for the both of us. And that's good, because I plan to be spending a LOT of time over here!" she said happily. Naruto smiled back and quickly joined her, his fear of the bed suddenly long forgotten. As he reached down to pull the sheets up to cover them, he watched as Hinata's sweater went flying over the end of the bed, followed by her shoes and pants. Naruto's eyes widened.

"Uh… Hinata, what are you doing?" he asked, a little worried.

Her only response was to snuggle up closer to him and smile.

"We're going out now, Naruto. Not only that… but I've been waiting years for this. You can't be afraid of a little skin like this when you've no doubt seen more than you ever wanted to of HER?" Hinata said, hissing the word "HER" as if it was venom.

"A-Actually…" Naruto stammered, "The most skin I ever saw of her was her training clothes. She never changed out of them when I was around, and wouldn't let me look at her without them on. We never even slept in the bed together… I was a little too afraid of her beating on me to go anywhere NEAR this bed until now…" Hinata's look of shock would have been cute if it weren't entirely warranted.

"You… You're serious?" Hinata asked, "Then that would mean that…"

"That's right…" Naruto said, "You were my first kiss. And if I'm correct in guessing what you have in mind right now, we'll end up being each other's first time as well." Hinata's eyes widened; she was getting her greatest wish tonight!

"All the better for BOTH of us, then," Hinata said with a smile.

"While I personally think you're rushing this part of the relationship, I'm open to make up for lost time in any way you want, Hinata. So," Naruto said, kissing her on the nose, "What's first on your list?"

Hinata gave him a simple grin.

"What do you think, Naru-koi? Slow to start, and we figure it out from there."

Naruto nodded and worked on his own shirt and pants; he ignored his shoeless feet, as he'd elected to go after Hinata barefoot. He got his pants off just in time to see Hinata's bra go sailing over the sheets to land at the foot of the bed.

Both teens had the same thought: NO NEED FOR THESE SHEETS ANYMORE.

Both struggled to free themselves of the sheets, and when they did, Naruto was met with a sight he'd never witnessed up close before.

After all the years of believing Sakura was a goddess, Naruto was happy to have had those misconceptions shattered by the beast herself; now he had a chance to be with a ACTUAL goddess. Regardless of what other people, especially the elders of her family thought, Hinata was truly a queen amongst women.

Without hesitating, Naruto cupped Hinata's cheek in one hand and pulled her in for another kiss. The only difference his and Hinata's was the speed at which the kiss heated up. While Hinata's had stayed pure and loving, while Naruto, in an effort to show her he was ready, immediately sought out her tongue with his. It was a quick search, and one she took part in herself; as soon as she felt Naruto's tongue against her lips, she opened the doors to let him in without resistance. He gasped a bit in surprised when Naruto's free hand reached for her chest, but once again, she didn't resist. She trusted that he wouldn't hurt her, and allowed his hands to roam her body.

Naruto smiled a bit when he felt Hinata's arms move north to rest around the back of his neck and broke the kiss for a second to giggle a bit while gasping for air. Hinata took the opportunity to do the same. Taking a deep breath of air and letting out a small giggle before Naruto's lips once against sealed themselves to hers.

Hinata sighed a bit when Naruto's hand left her cheek, but gasped in surprised when, instead of joining its occupied brother at her impressive breasts, it shifted its way further south, brushing over the skin of her stomach in passing. Naruto felt Hinata shiver at the contact and smiled a little more as his hand continued downward to the hem of her panties. He felt Hinata's breath catch in her throat and pulled away to give her breathing room.

"I-it's alright… keep going…" Hinata said in a heavy breath as she closed her eyes in anticipation. Naruto nodded and resumed the kiss, slipping his hand slowly between her legs. Hinata's breath hitched again as he slid his fingers over the thin fabric that stood between them and her sex. Soon her gentle breaths became interspersed with deep, heated moans as Naruto gently rubbed her through the fabric. She soon broke the kiss and threw her head back, gasping as each successive stroke of Naruto's fingers caused her body to soak her panties further and further.

Naruto deftly slipped his fingers around the band of the thin underwear and pushed them aside, marveling at how thoroughly soaked they were, before taking his ministrations directly to her unguarded skin. Hinata's eyes opened half-way at the loss of the cloth barrier, and then shot open when she felt his fingers slide across her slick lips. Naruto hungrily sought her mouth for another kiss, but Hinata was too focused on milking his fingers for everything they could give her to notice. Undeterred, Naruto went for the next best thing.

Hinata almost screamed in surprise as Naruto's tongue flicked across the erect node of one of her nipples, and then clamped her hands over her mouth to stifle her cries of ecstasy when his mouth closed around it for a more thorough examination. With his left on her right breast, his mouth on the other, and his other hand working her slit, Hinata was about to lose her mind. She'd only started tending to herself a couple years ago, and not ONCE had it felt like this!

Naruto didn't let up, not even after Hinata's back arched up in the throes of orgasm. He continued his loving ministrations on her body as she soaked his lower hand in her juices, buried her left hand in his spiky, blonde hair, and used the other to latch onto the bed sheet for dear life. He continued even after her body had finished its orgasmic spasms, and was about to ramp up the pace when she stopped him. Looking up into her eyes, he understood why.

"Alright, Hinata, I understand," he said, getting on his hands and knees. His left hand gently gripped her hip, while the other returned to cupping her cheek lovingly.

There was no turning back now, not for either of them.

~Yami threw down her hand for the final time that night. She knew the rules she and Kami had set down for their game that night; if the two got down and dirty, the winner of their game would be determined solely by what actions Naruto and Hinata took. If Naruto forced Hinata down and raped her in the midst of a blind rage, Yami would win; thus, she would be allowed to lead the Blonde Protector of Konoha down the path of darkness. Moreover, she had big plans for him, just as she had big plans in store for the Uchiha Avenger Sasuke.

However, if Naruto abandoned his anger and went slowly, tending to every wish and request Hinata had during their first, mutually loving sexual adventure, Kami would win; this would mean Yami would never be allowed to do anything to interfere with Naruto's life again, from the moment he awoke the following day.

Yami had lost miserably.

Kami leaned back in her chair and stretched with a deep sigh.

"That takes care of that," Kami said, a beaming smile gracing her face as she looked into the crystal ball before her and watched the two lovers about to reach mutual orgasm.

"You make sure you cherish her, kid… you owe it to her," Kami said with another deep sigh, "And from this day, I solemnly swear I will not tamper in neither your life, nor the life of your lover Hinata Hyuuga. I will also do my best to keep Yami-chan from doing anything that will ruin your life. After all the horrible things you've been through tonight alone, you deserve even this small bit of happiness."

With that, Kami stood up from the table, willed the room blank, and left, willing the lights to go out as she closed the door behind her. Never again would she allow anyone, or anything, to interfere with the life, or lover, of Konoha's Blonde Protector. ~

Their lips met once more, gently at first, as Naruto moved his hand from her cheek to guide his tool towards her entrance. Their kiss didn't end, not even for an oxygen break, until Naruto had pushed inside and encountered her barrier. He broke the kiss just long enough to look his lover in the eyes for confirmation.

Hinata wasn't having any of THAT nonsense. Who goes this far and asks if the other side wants to back out now?

Without warning, Hinata reached her arms up to grab Naruto by his blonde hair and pull him into a vicious kiss mere moments before her legs wrapped around his back and pushed in, forcing him through her virgin wall. The pain of the sudden entry was enough to break their kiss and make Hinata yelp. Naruto waited.

His hesitance was for two reasons: one, to give her time to adjust to his size, while also waiting for her to tell him how to proceed. When she looked up, she smiled weakly and nodded.

"It's alright, Naruto… just be gentle for now, alright?" Hinata asked. Naruto smiled back and nodded; he could be gentle.

As soon as he felt Hinata's legs relinquish their hold on him, he pulled out until he was almost out and then slowly pushed back in. Hinata moaned as he left, but hissed her approval of his reentry. Naruto continued this way for several minutes, heeding every request Hinata made.

Within two minutes, Hinata's hisses became groans of pure, carnal bliss, while her moans became louder and longer. It became hard for Naruto to tell the two apart, but he did manage to make out a request for "more".

"More what?" he asked.

"EVERYTHING."

The answer was more than Naruto had expected, but he wasn't about to disappoint Hinata. With that, he sped up the pace, making sure to slam in to the hilt with each thrust. Her groans became screams. Naruto watched through sweat-drenched hair as Hinata's eyes began rolling up in her head, her tongue edged its way beyond her teeth, her hands pulled the sheets into a white-knuckled death drip and her back continued to arch. He used his hands hold her by the waist, holding her steady while he kept going strong.

Several times throughout the next two minutes, Hinata managed to mumble "more"; each time she did, she was met with an instant speed increase and lost more feeling in her pelvis. By the third time, she was starting to lose feeling in her thighs, and by the fifth, she could no longer feel anything from her knees up to her ribs. Naruto had long since hit her G spot hard enough to grant Hinata another powerful orgasm, and he made a point of hitting that spot repeatedly, especially while she was still riding out climax.

Finally, ten minutes after starting, Hinata was on the verge of passing out from sheer pleasure overload. Naruto had made her go over the edge seven times without hitting the edge himself. Naruto found he was approaching the end now, and was only too vocal about his predicament.

"H-HINATA, I'M CLOSE; WHERE SHOULD I…?" he shouted as he pulled her into a sitting position on his lap, wrapping an arm under each of her legs and around to her back in an attempt to hold her upright.

Hinata gasped out loud at the sudden lack of thrusting during the change of position, but screamed in ecstasy when the wild attacks on her inner walls returned with a vengeance. With each and every thrust, Naruto was kissing her womb with his tool, hitting her special place in passing. Hinata clamped her arms around Naruto's back, holding her body to his in an iron grip.

"INSIDE," Hinata shouted back, "I WANT IT ALL INSIDE! MAKE ME YOURS, NARUTO!"

Naruto needed no further prompting. With little more warning than a final crushing of his lips to hers, he finally hit his climax, sending a series of powerful bursts of his sperm directly into her womb.

This had two effects.

The first was that the force of each shot, combined with the fact that Naruto was still thrusting away, managed to push Hinata over the edge for the eighth time that night.

The second was her scream of pure bliss, which, with their lips smashed firmly together, became no more than a single, unending reverberating moan that bounced back and forth in their mouths, building the pleasure to insane heights. By the time both lovers came down from their orgasmic high, they were completely spent. With barely enough energy left to move, the two lovers flopped sideways on the bed, landing on their sides with their heads on the pillow. A single pulse of chakra from Naruto's feet was al it took to send the abandoned sheets flying up to cover their naked bodies, and soon the two fell asleep with Naruto's piece still firmly embedded in Hinata's dripping entrance.

_
Several weeks later, after unnecessarily announcing their relationship to the public, Hinata broke the news to Naruto AND her family over dinner at the Hyuuga Compound that she was expecting Naruto's child. Hiashi stared, dumbfounded, as Hanabi congratulated her older sister proudly. Neji, on the other hand, had not been expecting that news, and had promptly fainted into his bowl of soup. For several weeks after, he had to walk around the village with a nasty-looking burn on his face.

However, the only reaction Hinata was waiting for was Naruto's, and if anything else, his reaction stunned her to silence for several minutes afterward.

As soon as she looked him in the eyes and told him, "Naru-koi, you're a father," he'd grabbed her by the shoulders and smashed his lips to hers in front of her father and sister. Hanabi cheered harder than before, and Hiashi finally regained his composure enough to step forward and congratulate his daughter and her soon-to-be husband… while also leaving a simple threat hanging in the air.

"Congratulations to both of you," he had said, "And you especially, Hinata. I've known for many years how you felt about Naruto-san, and actively rooted for your success in your endeavors. However, I will leave you with a warning, Uzumaki… YOU HARM MY DAUGHTER, AND I WILL LEAVE YOU IN MUCH WORSE SHAPE THAN YOU'VE EVER BEEN. Am I understood?" Naruto could only nod his head quickly; the threat had taken most of the joy from the news. However, he bounced back quickly, swearing on his honor as a Shinobi that he would do everything in his power to not only keep Hinata safe, but immensely happy as well. Hiashi nodded and, smiling broadly, walked off to his study.

Shortly after finishing their meal and ensuring Neji wouldn't drown in his soup bowl, Naruto and Hinata set out from the compound to return to Naruto's apartment. They wouldn't have to worry too much about space for the baby; Naruto had summoned a group of Kage Bunshin to clear a large expanse of land close to the Forest of Death in order to construct a nice house for their soon-to-be family to live in. However, it seemed one more encounter was set to occur that day.

While on their stroll back, Naruto had been informed that the house was nearing half-completion status, and that it would be finished by the end of the week at the absolute latest. Naruto silently thanked Kami above for having given him the opportunity to learn such a vital technique. It was as they rounded a corner by Ichiraku's Ramen that Naruto and Hinata ran into the two people they MOST did NOT want to see.

Right before them, fresh from around the opposite bend, were Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura, who was hanging off Sasuke's arm like a small child. The second the two couples laid eyes on each other, Naruto's eyes hardened, Hinata's smile faded to a look of anger, Sasuke gained his trademark arrogant smirk, and Sakura remained the same, keeping an adoring look on her face while looking at Sasuke.

"Hnn, so it's the Dobe and his little whore. How are you two today? Not like I really care," Sasuke said, just in time for him to feel the cold stare of four eyes boring a hole through his skull. He studied Naruto and Hinata's eyes carefully. Hinata had activated her Byakugan, and was getting into a battle stance.

Naruto, on the other hand, despite his eyes bursting with an angry flame, quickly calmed and placed his hand on Hinata's shoulder to calm her.

"No, Hina-koi, we don't want to do this. We have to think of the baby now," he said seriously, watching as his love's eyes slowly reverted to normal. She nodded silently and gripped Naruto's arm tightly to keep herself from lashing out as she and Naruto silently walked past the Emo Prince and his Harpy girlfriend.

"What's wrong, dobe?" Sasuke called, "the health of your whore and her whore baby are more important than settling an old score with me?" he smirked when he finished talking… though soon, he wished he hadn't.

Hinata looked up to see Naruto's eyes had turned cold and angry.

"Naru-koi, think of the baby," she said. Naruto nodded.

"Hina-koi, I won't be too long. Please go on ahead and wait for me at the apartment, all right? I'm going to teach the teme his place… WITHOUT HURTING HIM."

Hinata nodded and took off at a stroll. Naruto turned to see Sakura now staring him coldly in the eyes. Sasuke looked him in the eyes as well.

However, not even two seconds later, Naruto's face changed; where he'd been holding a dark, raging scowl, he now held a happy face.

Naruto looked Sasuke in the eyes and said, "You can insult me all you want, teme, because I don't care anymore. However, I'm warning you now: the next time you take the insults, or any form of physical harm, to my love and child, you won't have to worry about recreating the Uchiha clan; I'll wipe you out, and use your little harpy witch there to mop the floor of your remains. In my mind, I have no further score to settle, and never will again, so long as you keep your distance from me and my family. Oh, and by the way, we've got something you never will." This seemed to strike a nerve, because Sasuke immediately stepped forward.

"AND WHAT'S THAT, DOBE?" Sasuke shouted.

"Love."

Sasuke's face twisted into a look of astonishment, as though he couldn't believe his former rival would dare utter such nonsense in his presence.

"You think I'm kidding?" Naruto asked, walking slowly towards Sasuke until he was two feet away, "I once thought I was in love with your pink-haired harpy here, but I was deluding myself. The only delusion I had that was greater than that was the one where I believed she was in love with me too, after we started dating. Now that I know what she's like, however, I know enough to stay away. Hinata and I love each other, and no amount of intervention or spite from either of you will break that."

Looking Sakura in the eyes, he said, "And by the way, Pinky? Thanks for opening my eyes. I'm sorry I ever wasted any of my affection on you at all." Sakura turned crimson at the statement and shrunk back behind Sasuke. Sasuke, however, was undaunted.

Taking a step forward and leaving Sakura behind, Sasuke laughed in Naruto's face, "Idiot. How'd you ever think that Sakura would like you? She hated you even when you two were dating! What do you have to say about that, dobe? And not only that, how do you like the fact that I effectively stole your woman?" Sakura looked at Sasuke with a scandalized look.

Naruto, however, simply smiled and turned to walk away. Just before he turned the corner he looked back and said, "Honestly? She wasn't "my woman" to begin with. She was yours from the moment she set eyes on you. And, really? You two are made for each other." Sasuke stared at him, but the full meaning of Naruto's words sank in as the blonde teen left the area, leaving only these last words:

"A traitor for a traitor."

-THE END-

Whew. DONE! This one's been nagging at me for months.

To be honest, the idea for this hit me after finding a comic online of two cartoon characters in the exact same predicament. The only difference is that, while Naruto went on to fall in love with Hinata, the male character of the comic simply points to the door and says "GTFO". I decided to take the nicer approach. ^_^

This is Part 1 of a three-part "One-Shot Surge" coming out; as soon as 2& 3 are finished, I'm going back to work on Star Sage. ^_^ To all who read Star Sage, please bear with me a little longer. ^_^

I'd also like to send out a big thank you to my friend Leonineus for his part in creating the "Title Drop Ending" I used at the end. I changed it up a little to make it work a bit more with how I wrote the story, but it still mostly fit with what was here. ^_^ I hope you enjoyed! ^_^