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Chapter Text

Naruto catches glimpses of her around the village as he works to help with the reconstruction. She’s fully recovered from her injuries thanks to Sakura and keeps busy helping with the hospital and the school. She alternates volunteering to care for the wounded/recovering and teaching short classes in the temporary school. Naruto is busy, often with dozens/hundreds of clones running around at once, a constant draw on even his immense chakra supply. He’s just a man after all, just another citizen and he’s pushing himself. 

Hinata sees this as clearly as she feels the need to reach out to him again. She holds herself back, not because she feels he wouldn’t welcome her but because she does feel a bit awkward after her “deathbed” confession. It wasn’t meant to receive an answer and she doesn’t regret it, well she doesn’t for the most part anyway. Okay, maybe a little, only because she would have liked it to happen differently. She hopes she would have eventually had enough courage to speak to him one day without the threat hanging over their heads. His silence after the battle hasn’t exactly spurred her confidence but she knows, knows that he’s not ignoring her. She could say something and he would spare her the time, even if it is to politely let her down. She smiles softly to herself as she puts supplies away in the makeshift storage cabinet near the medical buildings. 

Naruto watches her as she leaves the single story plywood structure, carrying an empty box and moving quickly. Her long hair is pulled up in a ponytail that swings and brushes just below her shoulders. He’s about to call out and drop down but one of his clones dispels and he’s up and moving in the other direction before his mind consciously makes the decision. They need more help with one of the residential buildings. As he’s moving another clone dispels from across town in the other direction with more requests for help. The exhaustion of the two clones hits him at the same time as their memories, but if he stumbles on his way it doesn’t slow him down and the additional 10 clones he creates and sends in the opposite direction don’t slow either. 

He’s tired, bone weary and he’s steadfastly ignoring the mental and emotional toll the last few months have had on him. Even as he leaps, lands heavily and slips a bit on the roof across the now wider thoroughfare of the slowly rebuilding village he considers her. Remembers the look in her eyes and soft smile on her lips. The memory of her speaking the words replays constantly, even as he works himself to the bone trying to make up for not being there when everything went to hell. He knows he’s not to blame, if he’s learned anything in his relatively short life, it’s that things just happen. Often chance takes the form of destiny, fate plays silly tricks and no one is actually at fault for how the world decides to turn. Still, he feels the guilt, the pressure to make amends. He saved those he could, changed the mindset of an enemy, received a confession. 

It’s the last thought that causes him to daydream more than is probably good for him. He’s bracing a wall, several clones in a line with him, trying to offer support as the construction team works to secure the beams. Her hair was so dark, a shiny curtain in the sun, her blood too red. He shakes his head, another clone from another area dispels. This one was as preoccupied as Naruto is himself and it certainly doesn’t help him focus. The clone was sent to let him know that area is clear. He can check that off the mental list he tries to keep straight in his mind until he can cross it off the physical one in his pocket. There’s a groaning noise above him and then the wall tilts. ‘Well hell’ he has time to think before he’s straining harder with the effort to hold. His shoulders are rock hard with the effort, and he feels a muscle tear. There’s yelling all around him and he can see in his peripheral vision as others come racing in to help and instinctively he rejects it. They can’t get hurt, so he takes the precious seconds to pull his hands from the wall, forms the seals and pulls on the remaining chakra his body doesn’t really want to part with. There are more clones forming in the smoke, more hands on the wall, more support. People are blinking and coughing but the wall is secure. He can’t say the same for himself. 

Hinata didn’t mean to lose herself in watching him. She was just passing by, but she felt him. His chakra is so distinct and it’s everywhere these days, spilling through the streets and wrapping the village in a blanket of warmth and protection. He doesn’t seem to realize it, doesn’t seem to see the way everyone breathes easier. Naruto has earned his place as their hero, maybe even savior. Still, he’s pushing himself too far, she can see the dark circles and the sallow cast under his bronze skin. She’s sure he isn’t sleeping, or only a bare minimum to keep himself from collapsing. This however, is inexcusable. She watches as he’s nearly crushed by the wall. The real him, mixed in with the clones. And it doesn’t take genius level intelligence to see the looks on the other villagers’ faces as they register the same thing she does. 

Naruto isn’t sitting somewhere, storing chakra and sending clones out to do the work. He’s working just as hard, and it’s draining him. There are looks exchanged all around and then everyone is moving. The wall is secured in record time. A granny is pulling Naruto out of the mix as soon as it’s safe to do so and pushing him down on a pile of wood, force feeding him water and ignoring his protests. Hinata is about to leave when she sees it, his eyes go blank for a split second and then his head turns. There’s likely something happening somewhere across town, he’s going to get up and move before he can recover. She doesn’t think, just moves. Similar to the battle, all she wants is to help him. 

She’s coming from behind him, he’s distracted and the granny in front of him is raising a ruckus as he tries to stand. Hinata reaches out and puts her hand on his shoulder, pressing down lightly, a butterfly’s touch compared to what it would actually take to hold him. His head turns and she watches in real time as he registers who she is. His eyes widen and his lips part in surprise, then he falls back into his seat on the pile and stares at her. Hinata didn’t think before she moved so she has no plan. The granny is still ranting and there’s another woman coming from the stall four buildings down. She’s got a bento wrapped in orange cloth. Hinata keeps her hand on his shoulder, even though she knows she should probably remove her hand. If it will hold him there, make him rest, she’ll never let go. 

Naruto isn’t sure how he should respond, if he should say anything. He’s staring, it’s rude but he can’t stop. It’s the first time since the battle that Hinata has approached him. He can’t remember the last time she touched him. The breath locks in his chest, and he’s horrified to feel a burn start behind his eyes. There’s a cup of water pressed into his hand and an orange bento sitting on his lap. His eyes move out of necessity, he needs to say thank you but there’s no one there any more. He’s staring blankly into space, wondering what just happened when he feels the light touch on his shoulder shift. He’s reaching for her hand before he means too. Catching her fingers in a light hold and pressing them back to his shoulder. He can’t look at her. He should be saying something but his throat is tight and his eyes are watering, there’s no way he can speak. There’s a quiet hum to his left, her hand is settling back on his shoulder, and then quietly “Eat Naruto-kun, you need to eat.”

His hand falls from hers and he does as he’s told. Slowly he places the cup next to him on the wood and then begins to unwrap the food. It’s simple but it’s the best food he’s had in forever. In fact, he’s not sure when he last ate instead of just taking one of Sakura’s soldier pills. All at once he realizes he’s starving. His stomach howls even as he’s putting the food in his mouth. He does try to pace himself, but he’s so eager to get food in his stomach he knows he’s likely eating too fast. 

“Slow down, easy.” He hears from his left, and again he listens. His stomach is starting to cramp just slightly. Okay, yea, he needs to slow down. He takes a moment to sip his water, breathes out and then pulls in a full breath for the first time in he doesn’t know how long. Her presence is a cool, calm, balm next to him. Her hand is still on his shoulder. 

Hinata stays with him until he’s finished with all the food and drinks all the water. Anytime she moves to pull her hand away, his comes up to catch hers. Hinata takes the silent cue and keeps her hand there. She’s not sure why it’s helping, how she’s holding him there but if it works that’s all she really needs to know. When he’s finished and is setting aside the trappings of the meal she knows he’s going to rise and go back to work. So she moves to stand in front of him, too close to be proper but it blocks his path for another minute. Her fingers slide along the fabric of his jacket as her hand spins on his shoulder. She feels him tense beneath her touch and guesses that she’s overstayed her insertion in his business for now, even if it appeared welcome at the time. “Let me take these for you”, she says quietly as she releases him and gathers the bento box and cup. “I think Ame-san wanted you to have the kerchief.”

Naruto hasn’t moved, but she can feel his eyes on her. So Hinata smiles a small smile to reassure him. He doesn’t need to feel uncomfortable around her, there’s no need to respond to something said in the heat of a life and death situation. 

She turns to walk away, looking back at him over her shoulder as she speaks, “Be careful Naruto-kun, take care of yourself too.” Then she turns and tries to refocus on the tasks she still needs to complete before heading home as the sun begins to dip below the trees. She doesn’t hear a response from him and doesn’t expect one. 

Chapter Text

His little apartment is dusty and filthy. He hasn’t been home much, hasn’t spent more than a few rushed minutes there throughout the reconstruction. A quick shower, a fast meal of instant ramen or a soldier pill. Catnaps, or brief sleeps. He’s so very tired, so very weary mentally, physically and emotionally. He feels like he’s losing his mind in slow motion. Sleep deprivation hasn’t helped, adding the watery cast of near hallucination to everything he does. He’s uncoordinated and stumbling when he reaches the threshold. Fumbling his hands through a complicated seal, it doesn’t work. Naruto’s eyes water in frustration, he’s shaking. Gritting his teeth and forcing his eyes to stay open long enough to work through the seal and then he’s tripping through his door, kicking off his sandals and stripping his jacket from his shoulders with numbing fingers he faceplants on his bed. He’s laying the wrong way, head at the foot of the bed, feet dangling off the side by his pillow, he couldn’t care less. The old, lumpy, stiff mattress has never felt so good before. 

Naruto sleeps that night, for the first time in a long time, he sleeps deeply and doesn’t dream. There are no nightmares. The clones he left working throughout the village seem to understand he needs the rest as well, none of them dispel, almost like they are holding on just for that purpose. 

Hinata is fairly tired when she returns to the newly built compound. It’s been a long and busy day. She mostly worked with the hospital, treating low level injuries and restocking supplies but she’s been on her feet all day. She managed to eat but it was rushed and she’s yawning as she pulls the tie from her hair to let the heavy weight of it settle over her shoulders. Her scalp aches but it was easier to have it out of her face for the small duties she was completing today. Her feet are quiet on the floorboards, hands hanging by her sides as she moves to her room through the mostly quiet halls. 

She can’t help but replay the interaction with Naruto from earlier. She can tell he’s at his limit, and she knows how strong he is, as well as anyone who has been saved by him does. However, there’s more to limits than just physical, not to mention the burn in his chakra pathways. He’s overusing his chakra, pulling or constantly routing chakra even as he rests, if he rests. He’ll burn out soon, he’s only human after all. When it happens it’s going to hurt, and he’s going to hate the recovery time. He’ll just end up blaming himself more. Hinata frowns to herself as she changes direction. 

The small room she uses to mix ointments and chakra infused medicines is messy. She used to keep it tidier but she’s been so rushed, so tired lately she’s let things slip. A grimace and she’s shifting bottles, ingredients and bases. A cloth clears the light debris from the tabletop and even that small change lightens her mind. Hinata inspects her stores of premade treatments and selects two. One will do nothing more than help him rest, it’s a lotion he can rub into his temples, under his jaw and into the back of his neck to relax the muscles and take the tension away long enough for him to sleep well. The second will help to treat the chakra burn, she can guess based on the limited view she got earlier that his hands must be sore and likely the nerves are sparking or going numb already. 

There are more she could choose, he might benefit from the pills that help to treat the chakra burn from within. She pulls those too. Then she sets them aside and pulls a medium sized jar from her empty stock. Carefully, she fills it with a neutral base, one that smells very faintly of lavender and vanilla. She doesn’t want things with a lot of fragrance but lavender is soothing and she has always thought of vanilla as giving a warmth to things and Naruto looked like he could use the comfort. From there she mixes in oils and essences she’s made from various herbs. If she saw correctly, Naruto was favoring his left arm. He heals quickly, so by the time she can get him the lotion he’ll likely be fine but he’s pushing so hard she’s sure he’ll end up injuring himself again. While she knows he might not necessarily need this particular ointment, he shouldn’t have to heal without support. 

It’s sometime later when Hinata looks up, rolls her shoulders and realizes that she never sat down. She’s been standing hunched over the counter the entire time, and her lower back and shoulders ache terribly. With a low groan of discomfort she arches back to stretch the muscles and then pulls a small basket from a pile to her left. She lays a soft cloth in the bottom, pulling it to lay so that it will cushion the jars and bottles of the medicines and lotions. Her fingers are gentle as she arranges them in the basket and then she sets it aside to tidy her bench. She’s smiling to herself and humming quietly, almost subvocally, as she finishes and picks up the basket to go to her room. 

Naruto groans himself awake, his eyes won’t focus and he can feel a wet patch under his cheek from his own drool. Ugh, gross, now he’s awake. When he goes to push himself up from his still sprawled position on his stomach his arms shake. Well, he’s not surprised exactly. This is the first time he’s slept for more than a few minutes at a time and his body is going to want to crash. He can’t let it, not yet. With another groan from deep in his chest he moves, and manages the grand total of flopping over on his back. His legs are still half off the bed, his right foot is numb. 

The light from under his curtain is golden, it’s far later in the day than he thought it would be. He’s slept too long, needs to get up and shower. A shower and a change of clothes will be the best thing he’s done in ages, if only he had the energy to move. He manages to turn his head away from the window, look through the shifting motes of dust in the air to really look at his apartment now that he’s not nearly catatonic from lack of sleep. He grimaces, well hell, he really needs to clean. He’s never been the most fastidious of people, was never brought up with a family that taught him the need for such things. He’s never been a full slob either though. Naruto pulls his arm up and over his eyes, he doesn’t even want to open his fridge. 

He’s about to push himself up, his foot is tingling in the horrible way limbs do when they come back to life after being numb too long and he knows moving it will make it stop quicker. The knock on his door has him bolting upright, much too quickly in the end and black dots rain down across his vision. “Whoa!” he doesn’t mean to shout but the dizziness that hits immediately following catches him by surprise. He’s back on the bed, hands pressed to his eyes and stomach rolling when his door opens. He doesn’t even try to move and see who it is. There are only a few people who would enter his apartment without him explicitly inviting them in so it’s not something he’s going to worry about as he focuses on trying to keep the contents of his stomach down. 

“Tch, really?! Naruto, what were you thinking?!” Sakura’s low shout has him groaning again. “Sakura-chan, I…”

“No, be quiet. I can see what’s going on. Stay there and don’t sit up until your color comes back, you’re white as a sheet.” There are noises that register sluggishly beneath the pounding of blood in his ears and he knows she’s moving around his apartment. He thinks she’s set something on the table, and then he hears her open his fridge and gag before slamming it shut immediately. Well that answers that question. “Oh my…you need help, and I don’t mean that nicely”, she says through gritted teeth. 

Naruto almost smiles at that, a knee jerk reaction to one of his best friends’ exasperation with him. “I know.”

Sakura is moving again, and he listens as she comes towards him. There’s a 50/50 chance he’s about to get hit, but if he looks pathetic enough it might be a light one, he really can’t afford the time it will take to find a new bed right now. So he lets out a performative whimper, and tries to make himself seem as pathetic as possible. 

There’s a snort above him and then fingers are carding through the spikes of blond hair hanging over his forehead. That gets him to open his eyes immediately, he didn’t realize that would really work, or that he was actually that pathetic looking. ‘Well, crap’ he thinks as his eyes readjust to the low light of the room. Sakura is standing over him, looking down at him with a concerned expression. “You need a shower, you stink and your hair is filthy” she says as a way of bypassing her need to care for him. He smiles up at her, a genuine smile and nods. “Yep, I was about to go when you got here.”

“Sure you were, I can see how far you made it.” Her voice is so sarcastic it makes him laugh out loud, voice scratching through his dry throat and suddenly he’s so thirsty he can’t think of anything but getting a glass of water. He pushes himself slowly to sitting as she lets go of his hair and he watches her as she moves to his table. Having a studio apartment means he can see everything she does as his stomach churns and his body adjusts to being upright. 

There are two baskets on his table, one with what looks like food and another with small bottles and jars. Sakura pulls the food from the first and goes to grab a plate and chopsticks from his cupboards. Naruto swallows thickly as she starts putting some food on a plate and brings it to him. Contrary to what most people believe, Naruto is not stupid, nor is he completely without self preservation skills. He rubs the back of his head, pastes a small grin on his face and asks in the most blase way he can “Did you make that?”

Sakura still narrows her eyes at him, “And if I did?” Her voice is low and dangerous. Naruto instantly drops the grin, reaches for the plate and says “Nothing! I didn’t mean anything by it, I’m very happy to eat something from Sakura-chan! Thank you!!” and takes the first bite. Internally he’s bracing, he’s not being mean, Sakura isn’t known for her culinary skills. But the food when it hits his tongue is delicious and he’s making a small noise of appreciation as he starts to inhale it. Sakura smirks a bit and waits until his mouth is full before saying “I didn’t make it, Hinata did.” She turns away as she hears him start to choke. 

Chapter Text

Hinata will admit to a tiny bit of cowardice, just a bit, a trifle really. Having Sakura deliver the food and medicines was accidental, not planned but Hinata can’t deny a bit of relief that she won’t have to face Naruto again so soon. It’s not that she is uncomfortable, well not really, just that she’s now confused. After their strange interaction the day before she isn’t sure where she stands with Naruto. The ease with which he let her direct him, seems to go against what she thought their first true interaction would be like after the battle. She knows that Naruto checked on her in the hospital, Kiba and Shino told her. She’s heard about Naruto’s reaction to her supposed ‘death’ after Pein stabbed her. Hinata herself had been minimally conscious when Naruto’s chakra had exploded , she had been at ground zero, felt the pressure of his rage. The moment his control slipped. She shivers as she shuffles papers on the desk, the students are busy working on another assignment. She’s teaching an older group today, in a few minutes they will head out to work on techniques. The quiet rustle of paper and scratch of pencils, whispered words and conversations between the students are all background. 

Hinata is aware that some of her compatriots think that it was her that triggered Naruto’s reaction, and in a way she’s sure they are right but it was more a final straw rather than the main reason. Naruto returned to his village destroyed, his sensei dead or near dead and so many others gone. There’s no way he wasn’t primed to lose control, even with how hard he had fought for years to gain that control. Watching anyone who is trying to defend you essentially be murdered and not being able to intervene no matter how much you want to would drive anyone over the edge. Hinata is sure that her confession means nothing in the grand scheme of his reaction.

Even though they have both been terribly busy, there have been down times. Short, harried, exasperatingly short times where they could have sought each other out. If Naruto wanted to respond, if he had feelings that matched her own then he would have found a way. His silence is an answer of its own and she doesn’t resent it. In fact it’s better this way.  There’s still so much that needs to be done. Naruto is still focused on Sasuke, and there are going to be more battles. Now is not the time to be thinking of confessions and responses. When the dust fully settles, when there is time, she hopes that her confession will be a distant memory they can both set aside in favor of a slide back into a quiet friendship. They have never been overly close, and her feelings have had years to build to where they are now. An infatuation that she is happy to let slowly fade. 

Naruto has finished his food, and is reading the instructions for the medicines in the basket after a thorough shower. Sakura left shortly after giving him a few rough smacks on his back to help him dislodge the food in his throat and strict instructions between gales of laughter to get himself clean. Her laughter lingered after the close of the door. Naruto is still a bit annoyed that she set him up like that but not enough to hold it against her. 

He feels so much better after the shower, finally clean and his shoulder is healed so it’s not twinging every time he moves anymore. The list of medicines is short and the instructions to the point. The writing is neat and easy to read, the paper crisp and only folded once in the middle. The medicines are in tidy jars and bottles, clean on the outside and labeled with sticky tabs that show the same neat writing as the instructions. Naruto steadfastly ignores how fast his heart is beating, and the flush on his cheeks. He reaches out and picks up the bottle of pills, sets down the paper and after opening the bottle shakes a single pill out. The cap is replaced and he’s downing the pill with a glass of water when the shock of several dissipations hits him. 

The clones that held on all this time have hit their limits. It nearly puts him to his knees and the exhaustion he had only just begun to address causes an implosion in his head, chest and gut. He feels ill, retches and then desperately tries to keep the pill he’d just swallowed down by sheer will. There are several items that need his attention, but he’s got black dots and sparkles chasing each other across the backs of his eyelids. His hands are gripping the edge of the table so hard he hears the cheap wood groan. It’s followed by one of his own and he lets himself sink down to sit and then lay back on the floor. Well, at least he knows now not to let the clones try to hold out that long. Lesson learned, in the worst way. Naruto brings him arms up to rest over his face, takes deep breaths and pulls on the chakra his body began to replenish. He can’t make any more clones right now, too unfocused and exhausted but he tests himself. Nope, he’ll need a bit more time. The clones were primarily from the west side of the village where they are rebuilding some of the boundary walls; there are no emergencies. There are several clones from other areas of the village as well, their memories are all jumbling together and he’s so tired. It’s hard to sort things out but he holds on to the knowledge that there are no urgent situations. He can stay still for a bit longer, continue just breathing. His stomach is slowly settling, the pill will hopefully kick in soon which should also bring some relief. Naruto doesn’t question for even a second that the medicine will help, Hinata sent it after all. He trusts her completely, and she would never give him something if she didn’t think it would do him good.

Minutes pass in a syrupy slowness, his mind sifting through memories and knowledge that is his and isn’t. The clones were busy, all of them exhausted. His ability to use his clones is unmatched and he hopes he only continues to get better, that doesn’t make sorting this much information easy. He’s used to using clones in battle, processing essentially the same information from various perspectives all focused on the same goal. Now his clones are spread over such a large area, doing a wide variety of activities and each has a slightly different focus. His mind feels pulled in too many different directions and a migraine is building behind his eyes. With another groan he rolls to his side and pushes himself up to his knees, fights another retch and keeps his eyes closed. The clones have been a constant draw, but they’ve mostly dissipated at controlled intervals, usually no more than ten at a time and never like this. There’s a curl of sarcastic humor deep in his mind, he ignores it. 

Some time later and with more effort than he wants to admit to, Naruto gets back to his feet and pulls the medicines close. There’s one that Hinata’s instructions said would help with tension and headaches. He squints against the light from his window and reads the labels. Finding the one he wants he unscrews the cap, dips his fingers in and begins to rub it carefully into his temples, the hinge of his jaw behind his ear and the base of his neck. The relief isn’t instantaneous but it comes quicker than he expected.

Hinata is tired, bruised and has a shallow cut on her left wrist. Teaching isn’t for the faint of heart, especially when you're working with weapons and hyperactive children. Hinata loves it all the same. She’s always enjoyed being with the children, some of whom are more affected by the war than others. Hinata makes sure they know they can come to her whenever they need, and is happy when they do. She’s scheduled at the hospital for a short shift after this and then tomorrow she’ll be back here for the morning classes. It’s a challenge but one that keeps her mind busy and allows her to feel like she’s contributing to the recovery. She’s waving goodbye to her students as they run from the yard of the school when she feels the chakra. The clone, at least she thinks it’s a clone, comes into view across the rooftops, a bit away and moving quickly on some errand. She watches as he passes, focused and moving fast. 

Hinata turns purposefully back to the doorway and goes in to clean up the classroom before heading to the hospital. The room is messy but not overly so. The students spent most of the class time outside today, working on practical skills with few mishaps, which Hinata is grateful for. The windows are open still and the air currents that swirl in the room carry the smell of chalk and chakra. Hinata thinks dreamily of the old school, the tree and the swing. She can remember seeing Naruto there, small body hunched, staring at nothing most days. On others, there was fire there, deep in the blue depths and what Hinata now recognizes as resentment. Something that could have become hatred, if Naruto was anyone else, if there hadn’t been people who had stepped in at just the right time. As she closes the door to her classroom and begins the trek to the hospital, she thinks of all the years of watching, as seeing the pain in Naruto and not being able to do anything for him. Her painful shyness, lack of confidence and fear of her father held her back from befriending a boy she had so badly wanted to know. Her feelings had started then, young and silly, butterflies in her stomach, warmth in her chest. An admiration for his resilience, his strength and courage. Now that she’s older she can recognize the differences in her feelings now from what they were then. They are still young, though perhaps old in shinobi years with all they have been through. Young lives lived in fast forward and death approaching faster than any of them acknowledge. Hinata shakes the dark thoughts loose as she crosses the threshold of the hospital, smiles a small smile at the nurse sitting at the folding table inside the door and steps up to receive her instructions for her shift. 

The headache is getting better, slowly by degrees, Naruto can tolerate small movements but still needs to keep his eyes closed. The pill and ointment Hinata gave him are working, even with his accelerated healing, Naruto can feel the difference. Or at least he tells himself that, placebo effect or not, he doesn’t care. The thought that she cared enough to send the food and medicine is a medicine in itself. It settles him and heals his concerns for the fact that he hasn’t answered her yet. 

He knows he should have. There’s no excuse for letting this drag on as he has done. If he can make clones to take care of every issue in the village and then run himself ragged physically as well, then he could have spared her the time to respond to something so serious. And it is serious to him, he has spent his whole life trying to make connections and form bonds with others. There may be a war, and he still needs to retrieve his best friend, but Naruto is still sixteen. Even shinobi recognize adolescent crushes and young loves. Maybe more so than the civilian population, maybe not. Naruto isn’t really sure, and it doesn’t really matter. He knows how important it must be to Hinata, for her to feel she needed to tell him before she died. So he knows it’s important for them both. This doesn’t make it any easier to sort out his own feelings. He’s been sure for most of his childhood and now into his teens that he likes Sakura. Not love maybe, but definitely a crush. Or he would have said that a few months ago, until he saw the look in Hinata’s eyes, heard the truth of feeling in her words and got a glimpse at what love is. In the last few months he’s come to the conclusion that he doesn’t love Sakura, probably doesn’t like her as he used to. She’s a cherished friend, a teammate, and perhaps family if he’s brave enough to claim that type of bond with her. He doesn’t think she’d reject it, but there’s no romantic love between them. He can see the same look in Sakura’s eyes and hear the same depth of feeling in her words when she speaks of Sasuke that he saw that day in Hinata. Sakura loves Sasuke deeply and likely has for a long time. 

So as the memories of his clones settle into the right places in his head he lets his mind drift through his memories of Hinata. Not actively seeking an answer, just remembering, anything that might let him see his feelings for what they could be. There are many, from before they started in the academy, all the way up to the day before when she’d placed her hand on his shoulder. In many she’s flustered and stuttering. Or her voice is so soft he can’t remember the words, because he couldn’t hear her the first time. In several, she faints as soon as he gets close. There are missions where they work together, where her shyness settles. Times in the village with their friends where she’s quiet but still present, though those times are fewer and far between. He’s surprised by the number of memories he has of her. The quality of them is sharper than he thought they would be. There are some where he remembers noticing her around the village, watching her as she went about her duties or spent time with her sister or team. Okay, so he can accept and acknowledge that he noticed her more than he thought he did. He does feel a strong protectiveness towards her but he’s not sure it’s that much different from his protectiveness towards his other friends. She is his friend, that he knows. Is she more? He can admit he finds her pretty, very pretty. The more he considers her looks he might say she’s beautiful, especially her eyes and dark hair. He feels a flush start in his cheeks, a blush, and shies away from further thoughts about her physically. So she’s his friend, who he finds physically attractive and who he feels strongly protective of. Does he love her? He’s not sure, but she deserves an answer.