NaruHina Hanakai

CHAPTER 19

Naruto POV

Love? She loved him? He had never had someone come out and say that to him before so it was a shock to say the least, but thinking about it made sense. He cared for her, he was protective of her and she made him feel good and safe. Not safe in the sense of protecting his life (though he knew she could do that no problem) but safe in the sense that he could express his insecurities to her without fear of being judged or laughed at. So, love huh, well that sounded good to him.

Hinata POV

"Ahh Naruto-kun" are you ok? It had been a few mins since she had summoned all her courage to confession to man she loved and finally let him know how she felt. She had watched his face go through about a million expressions the most obvious being confusion and then she what she hoped was acceptance. She continued to wait patiently for him to say something, not wanting to disrupt any thought process he was going through. The minutes ticked by when finally, she saw as if he finally settled on a reaction to her confession and it seemed he wasn't upset by what she had said. This made her hopeful and her once frantic heart was slowly slowing down.

"Ha-ha yeah, I'm ok, sorry about that. It's just when you said you loved me, I was confused for a bit but I understand now and I want to say, thank you Hinata and I love you too."

Her breath stopped, she couldn't believe it, this was it, this was what she had been hoping and praying for, that he would by some miracle return her feelings and now, now here he was not only accepting her feelings but he also shared in them. This had to be one of the best days of her life. Smiling and still flustered she replied "really, you do?".

"Of course, I do! I mean you are one of my closest friends and someone one who has always been there for me. When you told me you loved me just now it made me realise that what I was feeling for you all was love all along. You guys are like the family I never had and growing up without that family bond made it hard to put a name to the emotion I feel whenever I think of you all. Thank you Hinata for making me realise that!"

Her heart shattered at his words. She was so stupid, of course he wasn't in love with her, of course he would never return her feelings. How dumb could she be?! How could she ever think that Naruto would love someone like her. Someone who couldn't until recently speak to him without passing out, someone who was weak and couldn't even save her own cousin, someone who her own clan and father had rejected most of their life. She didn't deserve to stand at his side, she didn't deserve to be loved by him. She had always known this.

All this time! All this time he saw her as nothing more than a friend. Well, at least she thought she had moved up in his life, before she was a friend of a friend and now, she is a friend, well family according to him. She had thought she would be ready for his rejection, spent so long preparing for it but preparing for and living it was oh so different.

She should be grateful right? Grateful that someone as wonderful as Naruto thought of her as such and loved her in some capacity, even if it will never be the way she loved him. 'Oh God' she thought, this was it, it's too late there is no time to make him fall for me and even if I had a million years, he could never love someone like me. Before the tears that were fighting to burst forth ran down, she gave him a weak smile and hurriedly made an excuse to rush home. She couldn't stand to be close to him anymore, it hurt too much. Before, she could fool herself into thinking that maybe just maybe there was a one in a million chance he felt the same; but that dream has just crumbled before her eyes. Now she was left with nothing but the cold harsh truth that she would never be with the man she loved and, in a few days, she may not even remember his name.

Hinata ran, never looking back, with tears now running down her cheeks, she finally made up her mind. She would take the surgery.

Author's Notes: Thoughts, comments, let me know what you are thinking!