Laying in bed with his eyes closed, Naruto started to drift off into a deep sleep. It had been a hard day of training with Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. It felt good to finally rest his head against the pillow. All his aches and pains slipped away as he sank into the arms of sleep.
"Naruto...Naru..to," a voice came from the darkness waking Naruto out of a sound sleep. "Naru..Naruto..." Sitting up in his bed, Naruto started to rub his eyes. He looked around his small apartment.
"Who's there?" he groaned, feeling like he needed at least a few more hours sleep. "Damnit..I hate waking in the middle of the night like this..." Tossing the covers to the side, Naruto flipped his legs over the edge of the bed. He gave a small stretch and made his way towards the bathroom. "Well I might as well pee..." he thought.
Almost like a drunk, Naruto started to make his way towards the bathroom. Deciding not to turn on the light he pulled down his pants to relieve himself...until, "Naru...to. Naruto.." the strange voice started again.
Pulling up his pants in a hurry, Naruto called out again, "Okay, whoever is doing this to play a joke on me, I get it! Ha ha!" Naruto ran from his bathroom to flip on the light switch, only to see no one in the room. He was all alone with his house plant in the corner. As his eyes wondered he could see only his dinner table in the center of the room with a single chair nestled under it.
"My mind is playing tricks on me; maybe a small glass of milk first before going back to bed." Giving a nod of agreement to himself, Naruto went over to his tiny refrigerator. Pulling the door open, he looked around and found a small carton of milk. Opening the milk, he leaned back taking a healthy sip. "Ahhh..nothing tastes better than milk when you need to get back to..."
"Narutoo...Narutoooo," says a small voice. Naruto dropped the milk carton to the floor as he turned on his heels to see who was there. Still nothing; just him and milk spilled all over the floor.
"God Damnit! It just isn't my night..." he thought, picking up the milk carton, Naruto put it in the sink. Looking down at the mess, he grabbed a rag to clean the floor. As he started cleaning, he peered over at his alarm clock 3 am! "Shit...and I have an early morning...Baa-chan is going to kill me if I am late again!" Giving the floor one last good wipe, he threw the rag into the sink before getting back to bed.
"Now all I have to do is go right back to sleep and I wont have Baa-chan kill me in the morning." And with that, Naruto started to fall back into a deep slumber.
"Naruto, you don't seem focused and, honestly you're like a lump today," Sakura pointed out as she looked at her sleepy teammate.
"I am so sorry Sakura-chan. It was just a hard night last night." Naruto started to scratch the back of his head as he apologized.
"Well, tonight, try and get some sleep. My master wasn't too happy with you this morning and we have a lot of paperwork to go over. I know you are a Genin, but you have the responsibilities of a Chunnin. And if you slack off, you will never truly become a Chunnin." Sakura lectured pointing her finger down at the desk. All the scrolls and paperwork seemed endless to Naruto who just stared at it blankly.
"I swear, Sakura-chan, tonight I will go home eat dinner and go right to bed! I won't be any trouble tomorrow." Naruto promised. He gave a big smile to Sakura, who could only shake her head and smile back.
"Alright then, I guess we can call it a day so you can get some rest," Sakura said, caving into her friend's hardship.
"You are the best Sakura-chan!"
"Okay! I'm going to worry about the dishes tomorrow, and get right to bed." Naruto said to no one. He had made a promise to Sakura that he would be fully awake tomorrow.
Changing into his pj's Naruto flicked the light switch off and headed to his cozy bed. Pulling the covers back and then over himself, he felt all the weight of the day fall from him. "Now..." he yawned,"...all I need to do is just close my eyes.." Not a moment after he shut his eyes, he suddenly heard someone call his name.
"Naruto...Naruto..can you hear me..?" the voice was soft like the previous night.
"No..I am going to sleep no one is going to wake me..." Naruto mumbled to himself; closing his eyes tighter. He tried his best to ignore the voice, but the voice started to become louder and louder.
"Naruto..please...answer me..." the voice called, yearning for Naruto to answer it. Naruto tried tossing and turning, covering his head with the pillow to try and make the voice go away. But it was no use, the voice became even more persistent.
"ALRIGHT I HEAR YOU!" Giving in, Naruto sat up in bed, looking around. "I am here, I am AWAKE! What the hell do you want!?"
"Naruto..." The voice whispered, becoming soft again.
"Yes, I know you know my name! God...I am going crazy, I am answering a voice from no where..." Slapping his forehead, Naruto groaned.
"But I am here Naruto..." the voice called from a distance. Naruto leaned towards the light to turn it on but was stopped by a scream. "NO! Don't turn on the light!" Pulling his hand back, Naruto obeyed.
"Okay, okay! I wont turn on the light. Just, please tell me what the hell is going on..." he started to hit the bed with his fists. He was getting frustrated with the whole matter.
"Naruto...I came to see you..." the voice was starting to come closer. Naruto tried to focus his tired eyes to the position the voice was coming from. "Naruto...I have waited so long to tell you.." Suddenly, Naruto realized...it was Hinata.
"Hinata, why have you come here? Won't your father get mad?" Naruto questioned as his eyes started to adjust to darkness. He could see her small figure at the edge of his bed.
"I no long have to worry about what father says or does..." Hinata started to come closer to Naruto. As she approched, her hand searched for his hand. Taking hold of his hand, Hinata started to speak once more, "My whole life, I have looked at you from afar. Nothing could stop me from watching you."
Naruto took hold of her hand tightly, she had always been a mystery to him, and this moment only made it harder to understand her. "Hinata..I." Giving a gentle squeeze Hinata silenced him.
"Please,...let me finish...I want to tell you how much I care for you. I love you Naruto...I know I didn't tell you that. I know I always fainted, but for once I wanted to stand up and tell you my true feelings." Hinata's words were soft and sweet to Naruto's ears. He truly didn't know how Hinata felt until this moment but it made a warm feeling come over his whole body. Naruto had never felt such a lighthearted feeling before.
"Watching from afar for so long truly made my heart grow fonder. I truly wish that I could have told you sooner." Hinata whispered, as Naruto's heart started to beat faster.
"Hinata, I never knew my true feelings about you until you just spoke from you heart. I wish..." Hinata put her finger over Naruto's lips, stopping him in mid-sentence.
"Please Naruto...make me yours, if just for this one night..." Hinata whispered as she crept even closer to Naruto, who without words put his arms around her, pulling her even nearer. Putting his lips to her's, Naruto felt as if he was on a cloud; unsure of what was truly happening.
Without any words, they spent the night together becoming one and giving their true feelings for each other at last.
"Naruto! HEY, WAKE UP!" Naruto rubbed his eyes and started to open them. Turning on his side, he looked at his clock; it was 10:00 am. 10:00am?!
"SHIT!" Naruto tossed the covers off, running to the door to open it.
"Naruto! YOU SAID YOU WOULD GO TO BED EARLY! AND HERE YOU ARE, ASLEEP TILL 10!" Sakura shouted, sending Naruto's head into a spin.
"Wait, Sakura-chan, I can...well this is kind of embarrassing..Hinata came by last night and..." he paused feeling his face turn red, Naruto looked away.
"What the hell are you talking about now...God, making up stuff is one thing, but talking about someone who is dead...that's just low..."Sakura looked at Naruto with a cold stare.
"Wait what? She...wait..please Sakura-chan..." Naruto looked back towards his bed only to see his body impression left on the bed.
"Naruto...Hinata died...a few months ago..don't you remember? She was on a mission in the Hidden Mist Village when it happened." Sakura said in the kindest way she could. Suddenly it hit Naruto hard, he remembered...the cold memory hit him like a ton of bricks. He had been away on his own mission with Jiraya when he got wind of it. He pushed the memory back, far in his mind. He truly had forgotten.
"Sakura-chan...I am sorry. I don't know what came over me. Please, just give a few minutes and I will be right out," Naruto pleaded. Giving a nod, Sakura agreed and steped back from the door.
Closing the door behind him, Naruto went back to his bed. He looked down at the lonely bed, seeing no reminiscence of Hinata.
"Could it have been real? No, it had to be a dream..." Naruto thought, until he saw a blue hair on his single pillow. "She came back..." Taking the hair into his hand, Naruto put it to his chest. Feeling hot tears start to cover his eyes, he collapsed on his bed. "Hinata...I am so sorry I never told you...I am sorry...I love you..."