Redemption In Your Eyes

Rock, Paper, Scissors

Naruto glanced over at Hinata. They had their shoes off and were hanging their feet in the lake. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day. At this particular moment, Naruto was captivated by their reflections.

"I'm way better looking than that, dattebyo!" He pointed at his image on the water. His feet disappeared at the ankles where he put them in the lake, and he was distorted by the reflection's angle.

Hinata smiled. Much better looking... She blushed. "I-I think it's j-just the lake's p-perspective..."

"Huh?" The blonde raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? Between you and Sakura, I feel stupid..."

She sighed. He was talking about Sakura again. Naruto seemed to always have her on his mind, and the comparisons never ended. Sinking in on herself, Hinata felt hopeless. She couldn't find it in herself to blame him for the things he said to her, but whether he meant to or not, he was hurting her. "You're not stupid..." She said quietly.

Upon hearing her voice, Naruto froze. Just like in the hospital... He couldn't believe she'd said something without stuttering. Her voice is stunning... Turning to her abruptly, he looked her in the eyes. Hinata squirmed under his intent gaze, shy to so much attention. "Hinata-chan..." She thought she was

going to faint. I'm going to pass out and fall into the lake...! "Don't stammer anymore." He paused, slightly uncomfortable. "You have a nice voice," he admitted. She stared, dumbfounded and astonished. Seeing her reaction, he added. "It's very beautiful..."

Not wanting to disappoint, she tried to answer without tripping over her words. It was made all the harder by Naruto's rapt attention and compliment. Finally she replied quietly. "Thank you."

His grin grew to envelop his face and she was glad she was successful. He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly there was sound in the trees behind them. Sakura stepped out of the bushes.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto jumped up, waving and running to her. Biting her lip, Hinata tried to spurn her twinge of jealousy. It's not worth making an enemy of Sakura over... She told herself. Hyuuga Hinata wasn't a hateful person, and she wasn't about to let a crush turn her into one. Disliking herself just a little bit more, she stood up and waved greetings to Sakura, trying to hide her disgust with a growing envy towards the pink-haired object of Naruto's affections.

"NARUTO- Calm down!" Sakura was already seething with rage. "I just came back from Tsunade's office-!"

"We're going on a mission, dattebyo?!" Naruto's smile widened until it should have cracked his face. "Huh, are we?

"Shut up and let me talk!" She was on edge. It was indeed a mission, and it was knotting her nerves and making her stomach flip. Naruto backed down after she yelled at him. Still a little ways off, Hinata, chewed her lip until it was sore, upset by the way Sakura treated the blonde boy. Sighing to herself and regaining her composure, Sakura continued. "Yes... It is a mission... Remember what I said about the next time we'd be out on call being in a month?"

Taking a second to process what was said to him, Naruto nodded. "But we're going out on duty before that, aren't we? Isn't that why you're here?"

"No." Sakura shook her head. "Tsunade-sama finally told me what the mission was..."

There was an awkward pause, and Hinata stepped forward, curious about what Naruto would be doing. "Well... Sakura-chan, what is it?" The blonde looked serious for once, the smile fading.

His teammate took a breath, soothing herself. "Team Seven is going after the Akatsuki..." She trailed off.

Naruto scowled. "Good. I'm going to train this whole month, and then we're going to kick thei-..."