NaruHina
For most of his life, Uzumaki Naruto knew two things were certain when it comes to soulmates.
One, everyone has one.
Two, he doesn't.
The talk of soulmates had never really interested in him, since he had spent most of his time in the village running from angry adults and being mocked for his dreams. It really hadn't occur to him until after he overhears certain classmates talk about it, saw how giddy some adults were when they found their soulmate. From the little he gather, he knows it works like this...
Soulmates were the other half of you. Some say you'll never truly feel complete without them, and others say they'll always be a part of you, no matter if you knew them or not. Feelings don't just go away, even if they aren't yours, and most of the time, your soulmate amplifies that. To find your soulmate is a wonderful thing.
Naruto doesn't have a soulmate.
He knew this, always known this. Villagers would mock and jeer at him, at the thought of anyone wanting to spend time with him, and most kids would avoid and bully him. Nobody wants a dead last as their soulmate, they would say. Nobody wants you is what he hears.
It's a painful thing to hear, so Naruto doesn't dwell on it. He doesn't dwell on finding something as meaningless as soulmates, doesn't think twice about his other half - wherever they may be. He's curious, but not that curious. He knows he could live without them, if he wanted to.
The idea of soulmates was never brought up again until after he'd met Sakura. To him, she was very pretty and nice (at the time, before Uchiha Sasuke happened), and he thought to himself: she must be his soulmate. The idea of having her as his soulmate made him happy, so he'd been determine to make her see that whatever it is that she sees in that Uchiha bastard, he could probably do and more. He had spent most of his childhood not only chasing after his dream, but also after her. He had felt a lure towards her, so that must've meant she was his soulmate, right? Right?
Wrong.
Even though Naruto felt a tug towards Sakura, Sakura did not feel a tug towards him. This was proven again and again whenever she got angry at him, ignored his attempts of wooing her, and often left him in the dust whenever Sasuke was around. Each rejection had stung, but Naruto refused to give up. He knew there must've been something she liked that would gain her attention towards him, he just gotta figure out what.
For the time being, Naruto's dream of being Hokage was growing more and more, as he had passed the academy and became a full-fledge ninja. He still has a lot to learn, and his impatience often gets the better of him, but with time, Naruto knows being Hokage isn't out of his reach anymore. No matter what, his first goal will be achieved.
As he was doing this and focus on this, he never noticed a certain blue haired female watching him, admiring from afar.
Hinata Hyuuga knew about soulmates. She knew that they were often looked upon as blessing amongst the Hidden Leaf, and most kids (who aren't ninjas) spends most of their time trying to find them. The Hyuuga clan themselves had no opinion on soulmates, though, whatever they thought about it, it wasn't favorable. Whether the soulmate of a Hyuuga was acceptable or not didn't really matter to them as long as there was balance - as in, as long as the Main branch ruled overall. Other branch members and their soulmates were just that - other branch members.
Hinata knew there was no way her clan members would accept Naruto as her soulmate, not with her as the heir of the family.
It was bad enough she was looked down upon because of her shy and timid nature. She had already brought enough shame in the family because her stance was fairly weak, and because her younger sister could easily beat her. She could only imagine how horrid her father would be if she told him she was the soulmate of a clanless ninja like Naruto.
So she never said anything. She couldn't. It had hurt her, and made her miserable, but she absolutely refuse to say anything about it, about Naruto. The only people who even knew about her situation was her sensei and teammates, and after promising her that they wouldn't say a word to Naruto about it, to anyone in case word got back to her family, she knew her secret was safe. So long as no one besides her most trusted people knew, nothing bad will ever happen to Naruto because of her. If she could prevent something that she was able to control from happening, to protect Naruto, she would do it in a heartbeat.
Weird how life work sometimes.
Some time has passed and many things have happened; all of which ended with Naruto saving their village, becoming the hero he was meant to be and thoroughly recognized as, Sasuke finally returning home after going rouge, and Hinata.....
Hinata, after so many years of watching, admiring, feeling her heart clench whenever Naruto was brought up, her heart aching whenever Sakura treated him poorly, feeling like she could take on the world if she had him by her side. After so many attempts of trying to change the order in her family, being recognized as a failure to them, and knowing what she was doing wasn't enough to grant her wish to be by Naruto's side; after watching so many horrible things happening to him, to his team....
She had finally confessed. At least, she had confessed her feelings - not the soulmate part. She didn't know how he'll react to knowing that, and Hinata would rather have him take his time absorbing the news that Hinata has always been in love with him than to add onto the pile. She knew he wouldn't answer right away, not when he had spent a good chunk of trailing Sakura throughout most of his childhood, but Hinata was patient. She would wait forever, if it meant Naruto coming to terms with his own feelings towards her.
"Ne, Hinata-chan? Can we go out for some ramen today?" The thought popped into her mind, stopping her in her tracks. She could see Naruto looking at her with pleading, watery, blue eyes and lips quivering, hands folded together. She giggled.
"Naruto-kun, we went out for ramen yesterday. Now is time to try something else." She said, picking up a tomato and putting it in her bag. She could feel Naruto still pouting and placed a kiss on his cheek. "If you promise to try something new every week, I'll make you some ramen from scratch."
"REALLY?!" Naruto screamed, eyes gleaming. Since they've gotten together, Naruto knew Hinata was a good cook. Even better, Hinata had learned how to make ramen, and as much as it kills him to admit it, Hinata's ramen was better than Tuechi's. She rarely makes it because she wanted Naruto on a healthier diet, but every once and in a while, Hinata would give in.
"Of course, Naruto-kun. Now promise me."
"I promise! Hinata-chan, you're the best!"
Hinata smiled and continued to shop for her groceries.