Memories {NaruHina}

{Chapter 8}

{Chapter 8}

Naruto sure was thankful that he and Hinata were on good terms now, because otherwise, sitting beside her for the past hour in complete silence would've been thrice as awkward as it was. He found himself wishing Sakura and Sasuke were still here with them, but they had left a while ago, saying that they'd go scout the area to make sure there were no enemies around. Something told him that scouting for enemies wasn't the only reason that they had left on their own, but that was a whole other can of worms that he didn't want to unpack today.

All he could hear now was the crackling of the fire before them, which was the only source of light around, other than the glowing full moon above them. He couldn't stop himself from slowly turning to look at her, studying her features carefully, as if trying to memorize her.

Her pale eyes glowed under the moonlight, even when they were focused on the flames before her. Her hair was as dark as the night sky's and the wind softly brushed against her bangs, making them dance around a bit. She may not remember anything at all, but Hell, she didn't need to try much to look beautiful. He wanted to slap himself silly for having been so blind all those years, unable to realize just how amazing she truly was. Kindhearted, gentle, brave... She was everything he aspired to be. 

"Naruto?" her soft voice startled him, and he was thankful that it was dark, because he was probably blushing. "Is everything alright?"

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Y-Yeah. I was just... Looking at the moon."

Hinata seemed to believe him, as she glanced up herself and smiled as she watched the rounded moon above them. "I guess it helps make things seem less dark, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. It's... Beautiful," he says, not looking up, but glancing towards her with a grin. 

"Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"Ever since I lost my memories, for some reason... I frequently find myself looking at the moon. There's something about it that draws me to it, as if it were familiar."

"Well, I guess that makes sense, given how you're the Byakugan Princess and all," Naruto replied, while she looked back at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Byakugan Princess?"

"It's kind of a long story."

"Naruto... You and I... We've know each other for a while, haven't we?"

"Ever since we were kids."

"What... Are we? I mean... How close are we?"

Naruto found himself blushing once again, and in attempt to gain a little time to come up with an answer, he started giggling nervously. "Close? Well, it's... Uh... Actually, you and I are... Um..."

"We must be really good friends!" Hinata grinned, making Naruto widen his eyes. "I mean, because I feel so at ease talking to you."

"Well, Hinata, the thing is, you and I..."

"Hey, guys, you're still up?" Sakura's voice made the both of them turn their heads at her in unison, while Naruto cursed under his breath for being unable to tell Hinata the truth once and for all. "It's really late. You should get some rest while we still can."

"Good idea, Sakura," Hinata agreed, as Naruto realized, that once again, he had failed to be honest with her.

~🍥~🍥~

Hinata dreamt that night. But she didn't dream about her past at all. She dreamt about Naruto.

Just thinking about it already made her feel flustered. She knew well that it was wrong, but she couldn't keep denying it: she was starting to seriously fall for the blonde's charming personality, even though she knew she had a boyfriend somewhere out there. It made her feel like she was an awful person, but the truth was, she couldn't bring herself to be upset about feeling this way towards Naruto. There was something about the two of them that felt so natural, so meant-to-be, that there was no way she could hate herself for feeling that way towards him.