Rejection

“We did it Tsunade-sama! We did it!” Sakura Haruno shouted jovially.

“We have indeed Sakura, this is a step forward in the scientific, social and medical fields.” Tsunade said, holding up a small vial.

“H-Hokage-sama, I apologise for the intrusion,” Hinata Hyuga said, appearing in the small science lab. “M-My Otou-sama wishes to request an appointment with you.” Hinata smiled somewhat wryly, recalling her father’s actual words that were much harsher.

“Of course Hinata. Inform your father I will see him tomorrow morning at 10am in my office.”

Sakura was grinning as Tsunade handed her the small vial. Hinata noticed the happy grins of the two medi-nin and her smile turned from wry to genuine.

“Why are you so happy?” She asked.

Sakura held out the vial for inspection. “This vial holds our future. During war, disease or famine, what’s the most important thing for people to have?”

Hinata thought for a moment. “Hope…inner strength…”

“Hai, positive emotions. Hope, confidence, adrenaline and such. What we have done is isolated the hormones in the bloodstream that trigger these positive emotions. All you have to do is either inject this liquid compound or inhale the vapours is emits, and your mood will be lifted.”

“Th-that’s amazing, congratulations!”

“And that also means that we can work the reverse, using negative emotions in warfare.” The green-eyed girl continued.

Hinata looked slightly concerned. “A-Are you at risk if the vial breaks?”

“No, Tsunade-sama and I have had a vaccine that neutralises the effects of the drug. But thanks for worrying about our safety Hinata.”

“Oh that reminds me. Sakura, I need you to take that vial to the safety vault in my office.”

“Hai Hokage-sama…see you later Hinata.”

Sakura moved off but as she approached Hinata, who was standing at the door, she tripped over her own feet, sending herself sprawling to the floor, and taking the vial with her, it shattering on impact. The liquid chemical reacted with the air, and the resultant vapours were a sickly yellow. The fumes swirled upwards through the air and then thinned out and evaporated.

“Hinata hold your breath, do not breathe in!” Tsunade shouted.

“Ah Hinata, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” Sakura said, jumping up to her feet.

Hinata smiled brightly. “It’s cool Sakura…now if you’ll both excuse me, I’m off.”

And with that, she disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving two very shocked kunoichi in her wake.

“ ‘It’s cool’? Oh my…that’s not like Hinata at all.” Sakura gasped.

“She must have breathed it in! Sakura you have to find her!”

“Tsunade-sama, I’m so sorry, I broke our only vial.”

“Sakura, that’s not important at the moment. We don’t know what that’s going to do to a normal, healthy girl. It’s meant for people with lethargy and low spirits. I have no idea what it’s going to do to her. Find her!”

And Tsunade was alone as Sakura too disappeared in a puff of smoke.
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Naruto and Kiba were walking down the street towards Ichiraku Ramen, talking about nothing of consequence. Kiba was complaining about having to have ramen, but Naruto was trying to convince him with enthusiastic waves of his arms that ramen was great for lunch.

“Naruto-kun!”

The two boys turned around at the familiar voice, but with smiles on their faces. Hinata was walking confidently up to them, smiling brightly and eyes twinkling.

“Hey Hinata what’s u-”

Naruto was cut off when she placed her hands on either side of his face, pulling him down for a searing kiss. His, Kiba’s and Akamaru’s eyes widened in shock as Hinata kissed him passionately, her lips massaging his own. Naruto was so shocked that he didn’t move, but he didn’t pull away either because deep down he enjoyed the contact. His musings were cut off when she moaned against his lips, and he realised he’d closed his eyes, because they’d just snapped open.

“Hinata!”

Hinata pulled away from Naruto, and cussed loudly as Sakura came running up to her. She smiled sweetly at Naruto.

“Ja ne Naruto-kun.”

Then she again disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a nervous and slightly frustrated Sakura, and two shocked teenage boys.

“Kuso, where did she go?” Sakura followed Hinata in a puff of smoke.

Kiba remained, looking at Naruto with wide eyes and mouth. “D-Did she just use tongue?”
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Sakura searched for Hinata for the next hour, before running into Kiba, Naruto and Shikamaru too at a training ground. Naruto was looking confused as Shikamaru and Kiba were talking to him.

“A-Are you sure?” Naruto said.

“Naruto, it’s only been a secret from you. The rest of us knew.” Kiba said.

“She told you?”

“No, it’s just so painfully obvious. You were just…dense.” Shikamaru continued.

“I…okay…but what she did, that’s not like Hinata.” Naruto pondered.

“She’s overstimulated.” Sakura said, walking over to the boys.

Kiba raised an eyebrow. “She’s…aroused?”

Naruto blushed but Sakura shook her head. “No, it’s like she’s on an adrenaline rush and a sugar high at the same time. Not to mention she’s feeling a lot more confident.”

“That would explain why she kissed Naruto.” Shikamaru paused, chuckling at Naruto’s sudden blush. “But how did it happen?”

“She accidentally inhaled the fumes of a drug Tsunade-sama and I had just completed. It’s my fault, I dropped the vial.”

Shikamaru looked thoughtful. “Then it’s possible that you just have to wait for the drug to work its way out of her system.”

“Yeah but we don’t know what side-effects it’ll have on a mentally healthy girl. I need to find her!” Sakura said, pulling at her hair.

“You need to lure her out with something she can’t refuse.”

All gazes turned on Naruto, who looked clueless.
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Naruto was standing in the middle of the training ground, alone, shirtless and sweaty as he moved through some taijutsu moves.  He was cooling down by doing sit ups, when he was suddenly pressed firmly to the ground. Hinata was sitting a top him with a grin on her face.

“Naruto-kun, why are you teasing me so? Do you have any idea how hot you are?”

Without waiting for an answer, she leaned down and kissed him passionately, running her hands down his chiselled chest. Grabbing her wrists, Naruto pushed her up as he too sat up, leaving her sitting in his lap. She leaned forward, kissing him soundly on the lips, but he pulled back.

“Hinata, you have to stop, this isn’t like you.”

Hinata shook her head. “It should be, I love you but I’ve always been to scared to tell you.”

She broke off, tearing her wrists from his grasp and wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him again. Naruto tore his lips from her, looking her dead in the eyes.

“Exactly Hinata, that’s what I mean. This isn’t you, and I can’t return your feelings while you’re…not you.”

Her hold on him loosened, only for a hand to grip his hair, pulling on it forcefully. Naruto shouted in pain.

“You’re rejecting me? Why? I love you, always have. Even when everyone else hated you!”

“And I appreciate that Hinata, but-”

He was cut off when she punched him, sending him flying backwards. He sat up, shocked at Hinata’s action. She growled at him, before storming off, leaving the shocked boy in his wake.

“Naruto you baka! You were supposed to keep her here!” Sakura said, appearing in the field with Kiba and Shikamaru.

“But, but…I couldn’t let her kiss me when she’s like that!” He stood up. “In a weird way, that would be taking advantage of her. She’s not in her right mind.”

Sakura’s eyes softened. “Still, we have to find her-”

Akamaru suddenly barked, and Kiba sniffed the air too. “We can smell her.” He frowned. “Tears…”

Naruto looked suddenly guilty. “I made her cry?”

Sakura shook her head. “No, the effects of the drug must have worn off, she’s probably shocked and embarrassed.” She looked at Naruto with a tender smile. “I think you should go talk to her.”

“But what would I say?”

Shikamaru spoke first. “You said to her before that you couldn’t return her feelings when she was like she was. That implies that you can return her feelings when she’s her normal self. Is that correct?”

Naruto blushed slightly before nodding. Sakura smacked him on the back of the head.

“Then go and tell her that! Go!”

And he was gone, tracking her unique chakra signature.
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He found her in a very familiar training ground, the one where she’d raised his spirited before his fight with Neji. She was sitting at the base of one of the training posts, head on her knees and crying softly. Naruto’s face fell, he hated seeing her like that.

“Hinata…”

She froze. “O-Onegai…j-just leave m-m-me alone. I’m s-so embarrassed.”

He knelt down in front of her. “Hey, it’s okay. I knew the moment I saw you the first time that something was wrong. Sakura told us what happened. She’s worried about you, are you feeling sick?” She shook her head, and he too was relieved. “That’s good. Look Hinata, about what happened…”

“Th-that’s n-not the w-way I w-wanted to t-tell you. B-B-But it’s d-done now…I’ve h-heard your r-r-rejection.” Her tears increased. “S-So please…j-just l-leave m-m-me alone.”

“But Hinata, I wasn’t rejecting you. Okay, maybe I was, but I was rejecting ‘that’ Hinata, the one that pinned me to the ground…the one that pulled my hair and punched me. Not you. Hinata, I like you for who you are, the shy, weird and sweet girl who’s always rooted for me.”

Hinata looked up at him for the first time during the conversation, face streaked with tears. “N-Nani?”

“I know who you really are Hinata, and I’m not rejecting you…I never would have. I rejected you before because…” He paused, before grinning at her. “You were like the worst parts of Sakura and Ino combined. I like you for you, the way you are now…though I’d prefer it if you hadn’t been crying.”

He reached a hand forward and wiped the tears from her face with his thumb. Hinata blushed deep red and Naruto smiled.

“That’s the Hinata I like.”

She smiled despite herself. “I-It’s still n-not the way I wanted t-to tell you.”

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment and it made Hinata’s heart soar, he looked so cute. “Okay, how about this. We start over. We’ll pretend that never happened. Let’s pretend that I found you here alone, except you weren’t crying,” He wiped her face clean again. “And let’s pretend that I came over to you and took your hand,” He did so. “And I said this: Hinata, you’ve been my friend for a very long time. But recently, I’ve realised that you have always been kind to me, and all these little habits of yours, the blushing, the stuttering, and the finger poking, I really like them. Hinata, I came here today to tell you that I like you, more than a friend. And even though I don’t know if you’ll return my feelings, I thought I’d tell you anyway. I’m prepared for a rejection, because I know you’re way out of my league, but I just wanted you to know I care for you.”

Hinata stared at him; her face flushed a deep red. “R-Really?”

Naruto nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while. Really, I have. I know we’re not talking about the event that never happened, but when you kissed me, I was shocked…because I was so geared up for your rejection. But I know you, and you would never act like the evil lovechild of Sakura and Ino, so I wasn’t going to take advantage of you while something was clearly wrong with you.” Her face turned even deeper red. “But enough about the thing that didn’t happen…I’ve told you how I feel about you, and I was wondering how you feel about me.”

He smiled at her, and she smiled back weakly. She opened her mouth, and she stammered a few words, but then her eyelids closed, and she fainted. Naruto caught her, and a small smile flitted across his lips.

“That’s the Hinata I love.”