Soul Mates

"Naruto, how long do I have to keep my eyes closed?"

"Just a little bit longer, Hinata. Just be patient. I promise this'll be worth it."

"Alright..." The blue haired female walked side by side with her boyfriend as he held her hand and guided her into the forest behind her house. Hinata didn't believe that he was going to play a prank on her or scare her the way he used to do when they were younger.

Naruto had changed a lot from his years as a child. When he was a little boy, he used to be an annoyance to the people of Konoha. Because he lost his parents at such a young age, the boy had grown up wanting love and acceptance from people. Unfortunately, he seldom received it, so he would act out to get it.

The good thing was that Naruto's godfather, Jiraiya, raised him and gave him the fatherly affection that he needed. Although, everyone in Konoha knew that Jiraiya had a seriously perverted mind - he wrote a large series of erotic novels called Ichi Ichi Paradise - he never exposed Naruto to any of that. Tsunade, a woman who had also taken Naruto under her wing as a godmother, would have killed Jiraiya if he'd gotten the boy into some of the stuff Jiraiya was involved with.

Tsunade provided Naruto with the motherly influence that he needed from a woman. The boy always called her 'Granny Tsunade', which never ceased to drive the woman crazy, but she allowed him to call her that anyway. She knew that he had it hard, losing his parents at such a young age and she had a soft spot for the boy, so she allowed it.

Hinata had also had a soft spot for Naruto. When she was eight years old, three boys bullied her and took her scarf. Naruto came upon them and tried to fight the boys off, but, as they outnumbered him, they easily beat him up. Hinata had felt bad about what happened to him and she took him home to her father, Hiashi, telling him how the brave boy had come to her rescue.

From that moment on, Naruto remained in good standing with the Hyuuga family and became a close friend of Hinata as well. Secretly, the girl had developed feelings for Naruto, but she didn't tell him because she lacked the courage to do it. All of her friends, Sakura, Ino, TenTen, Temari and even her little sister, Hanabi had encouraged her at different times to tell him how she felt.

Still, Hinata refused to budge. She would always lie and say that she was happy to be Naruto's friend - of course, there would always be tuts and scoffs when she said this. They had a great friendship that Hinata valued and she wouldn't trade that for anything more - also a lie.

Hanabi would sometimes talk to Hinata and ask her if she was sure that she could handle just being friends with Naruto.

"You know, he's really started to grow up and stop being as juvenile as he used to be as a kid. If you're not careful some other girl may show up and sweep him off his feet. Hinata...please, just make sure that what you decide is fair to the both of you. I'd hate for you to see him with someone else and suffer your feelings for him alone. Nobody deserves that."

Deep down, Hinata knew that her little sister was right. The girl always had an interesting, yet understandable view of things. Hinata had been writing in her journal about Naruto. Writing in one's journal about one's crush was cathartic in a way, but it only did so much. A journal couldn't talk back to you. It couldn't give you any advice or hug you and tell you that everything was going to be okay. A journal was just an inanimate object.

But Naruto...Naruto wasn't like a journal. He was a living, breathing human being who cared about her and Hinata knew there was no way he would purposely hurt her. He may not return her feelings, but if that was so, they could still preserve their friendship. After all, he was close to her family and Hinata knew that Naruto wouldn't cease being a friend of the Hyuuga clan simply because Hinata liked him.

Certainly, they might have a few awkward moments around each other after she told him, but that would go away in time, and things would go back to the way they were before in due time. So, after six years of harbouring her feelings for Naruto, Hinata told him on the night of her birthday party.

She had just turned fifteen years old and her father threw a celebration in her honour. Hinata wasn't one for big parties and what-not, but she knew how to be polite and accommodating to all of the people who came. As she opened her presents, in the back of her mind was the reminder of Naruto and telling him how she felt.

When it was midnight, the party was declared to be over, and Hinata decided not to waste any more time. She said goodbye to her guests, took Naruto by the hand and led him behind the house and to the little patch of woods. They didn't stop walking until they reached the little swing that hung from Hinata's favourite tree.

This spot was her hiding place, her safe haven when she needed a moment alone and away from people. It was here that Hinata told Naruto how she felt about him and, to her joy, he told her that he felt the same way. They both sat on the swing and shared a tender kiss, which didn't last long since the rope tore and the swing crashed to the ground.

Naruto and Hinata had fallen in a clumsy heap on the floor. Their legs were all tangled up together in a funny way and they couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up from their lungs. Once they caught their mutual breaths, they kissed again and this time, nothing interrupted the moment.

Fast forward a year later and it was Hinata's birthday again. However, this time, she celebrated it in a quiet dinner with her closest friends and Naruto, who was now her boyfriend. After they came back to the Hyuuga home, Naruto told Hinata that he had a surprise for her and to close her eyes. She did as he asked, curious to what the surprise would be.

They had only been walking for about a couple of minutes when he finally stopped walking and tugged her hand, letting her know that they'd arrived at their destination.

"Okay, Hina. You can open your eyes now," he whispered in her ear.

She did as he said, blinking several times as her vision adjusted to the darkening sky. In front of her was the little path in the forest behind her house that she loved to go to when she needed to escape from the world.

Hinata had brought Naruto here before many times when she felt like venting or telling him something important, so he was familiar with the place. What she didn't understand was why he brought her here? She opened her mouth to ask when her lavender eyes caught a glimpse of something hanging from her favourite tree.

She stepped forward, peering down at the object and gasped when she realized what it was. "Naruto! You made me another swing??" She put her hand to her lips and turned back to look at him in astonishment.

The grin on his face was big enough to move mountains. Naruto walked over to her and took her hand in his. "Yeah. I did. I know you said that you didn't care about getting another swing, but I figured since this place has special value to the both of us," - he held her hand up and pressed his lips to it - "I might as well put another swing up and bring back good memories from our first kiss."

Naruto walked over to the swing and sat on it, patting the wood in front of him. "Come on. There's enough room for the both of us. I made sure of it. There's no way this swing is going to break."

The blue haired girl smiled and sat down on the swing, facing her boyfriend. Once she was situated, he used his foot to give the swing a little push and they began moving back and forth.

Hinata entwined her fingers with Naruto's and squeezed them. "Thank you so much for this. You're the best boyfriend a girl could ever ask for. I had no idea you could be so sentimental."

"Disappointed?" He asked, but with a smirk.

"Of course not. I may not have expected this, but this is the best surprise birthday gift I've ever had. When did you find time to make it?"

"Oh, when you went on your family vacation to China."

Hinata gasped. "Three months ago! That makes so much sense. Neji, father and Hanabi had a hard time keeping me away from the forest. They were always telling me that there were a bunch of snakes back here and father wanted me to stay away until they were gotten rid of." The girl shook her head and laughed.

Naruto cocked his head. "What's so funny?"

"My whole family knew about this and you still managed not to let it slip out to someone? I'm really proud of you, Naruto. You're making leaps and bounds every day." The laughter turned into an express fit of hard giggles.

"Hey! That's not fair. I'm not a gossip or anything. Unlike some people, I can actually keep a secret. I know I used to be bad about that kind of thing before, but not now. You have to remember that it's you we're talking about, Hina. Keeping a secret for you so I could see that smile on your face when you find out? I could do that with a million times over and have no problem with it."

The look in Hinata's eyes softened and she caressed his cheek. "I'm happy that you're such a romantic, Naruto. I guess there's hope for anything to happen in this world."

"Damn right about that."

Naruto took Hinata's face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was heady and passionate, a lot different than the little pecks and smooches they'd shared the last year. And the best thing about the moment? This time, the swing didn't break.