From Best Friend to Boyfriend

I'll Always Be Here

[Name] bounced a basketball and watched it as it made its way back into her hands.
One bounce...back in her hands.
Two bounce...back in her hands.
Three bounce...back in her hands.
Four bounce- the ball knocked against her foot and rolled off toward the sliding door to her left where she saw a pair of sneakers connected to a pair of legs which belonged to her best friend, Naruto Uzumaki.

She noticed him as he gave her a sad smile, before bending over to pick up the ball and bouncing it back to her.
"Hey [Nickname]...you feeling any better?"

It was as she caught the ball and lowered it to her stomach that [Name] was reminded of her current get-up. She was dressed in the hospital gown she had been sent home in a few hours earlier.

Tsunade had said she was suffering slight amnesia due to PTSD. Or at least it was her hypothesis for the time being.
All [Name] could remember was jumping off the cliff and blacking out the moment her body was submerged in water.

"[Name]? Look at me..." Naruto whispered as he reached out his hand to hold onto her shoulder, but she moved away.

She may not remember exactly what happened after she jumped off the cliff but she definitely remembered why she did it in the first place.
Talk about selective memory...or at least selective memory loss.

Naruto sighed and shoved his hand back into his pant pocket. He looked up his best friend and struggled to swallow as his eyes examined her. Her eyes were dull and stared blankly at him, her skin was unnaturally pale and her body looked frail and weak.

It had been a week since the incident at the waterfall.
The events that unfolded were as follows:
Naruto heard [Name] scream and immediately reacted. He instructed Hinata call the police for help. Her call was considered a prank which left them without any back up, however, while he jumped down the cliff to help [Name], Hinata had taken the walking route down to the lake and on her way she had seen two officers who were patrolling. She had gotten lucky and called them to assist her once she explained that she was with Naruto Uzumaki, the top priority of protection in Konoha at present.
Once they arrived on the scene, Naruto had already gotten [Name] out of the water and performed CPR on her to remove majority of the water from her lungs while the two policemen apprehended the suspect with the help of Tsubaki Hayashida.

A police report came back a few days later saying that the the man taken into custody was not mentally well and sent off to a mental institution for further evaluation. Not much about his punishment was heard. Meanwhile, [Name] had been take to hospital to ensure that her health was in good condition, however, remained comatosed for a few days until a few hours ago, when she was released and sent home in hopes that it would help her readjust.

But that wasn't the case. She still wasn't talking despite all of Naruto's efforts.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he stared at the ground in guilt. If he had just told her how he felt.
If only he had just had the guts to tell Hinata he really loved [Name] and not her.
If only he had been honest from the start with [Name] and rejected Hinata's kiss.
If only...he hadn't put her life in danger in return for the safety of his own.
None of this would be happening. Tears fell from his eyes as he shut them in shame. His body shook as he tried to compose himself.

"I'm sorry [Name]. Everything...it's all my fault. I should be the one protecting you. I should be the one getting hurt..not you. If only I weren't as weak and dense as I am. I wouldn't have to see you suffer like this..." he choked out.

Suddenly, her arms wrap around him. Naruto's eyes opened as he stared down in [Name]'s [eye colour] eyes. They were bright with light again. And they smiled at him as his tears fell on her face and rolled down her cheeks.

"You're making me cry. Wipe your tears." she whispered and smiled warmly at him.

He immediately obeyed and embraced her as tightly as he could.
"I can't breathe Naruto." She managed to choke out before he hastily let go and apologised profusely.

"About what I said," he began "I can't keep letting you risk your life for me-"

"Don't say that. I'm fine as I am." [Name] interrupted.

Naruto looked up as her and furrowed his brows.
[Name] simply chuckled and tossed the ball to him before taking a defensive stance.
Naruto looked at the ball in his hands then back his best friend and tilted his head before smiling ever so slightly and trying to break past her defense.

It proved futile each time as she easily predicted his moves and hit the ball from his hand each time he attempted to run past her.
"They don't keep me on defense for nothing you know. I may be shorter than most but I'm still a stick of dynamite on the court." She joked and scored her 20th "3" in a row.

Naruto chuckled and turned to watch her celebrate then scratched his head.
He watched her as he approached her and felt his cheeks heat up and she stopped in front of him and their eyes remained connected while her hand slowly moved up to his cheek and cupped it.

"Your life is not something I would ever play with. I would risk my own to keep you alive, 10 times over if I have to. It's not as if you're selfish and have never done anything for me...remember in 7th grade? How Ino stole my diary and you stood up for me? How you became my first ever friend? Or maybe even 8th grade when you stopped Sakura from trying to glue my chair by sitting on it yourself and walking around with a hole in your pants all day? It was all the little things you did for me that you don't consider amazing...but to me, you saved me and helped me build my confidence and become a better person. If anything I couldn't think of a better reason to risk my life for the person who made it worth living. And that person...is you Naruto..." she whispered as she stroked his cheek.

"I will always be here for you."

Naruto stared at her in disbelief.
She was putting her life on the line for him. He hadn't done much but she was willing to die for him.
She was saying to him...that he was her life.
Her world.
And she would lose it all...just to make sure he was happy.

He slowly took hold of her wrist and pulled her closer. Their bodies touched and created an extraordinary heat between them.
They stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity as both teens felt their cheeks heat up and change to a rosy pink.
And as [Name] was about to move away, Naruto strengthened his grip once more and pulled her as close as he could, before taking his opportunity and pressing his lips gently against hers.