“I didn’t give you a power, we’re building it together!” Naruto declared, his blue eyes shining with the intensity of the sun as he held Hinata’s hands. “We’re a real team! The best team in the world! Believe it!”

The joy in his voice was a force of nature, an explosion of pure, unbridled euphoria that filled every corner of the small, messy apartment. The revelation that their growth was intertwined, that he was not just a giver of power but also a recipient, was more intoxicating than any victory. For the first time, his secret power didn’t feel like a lonely burden, but like a connection, an invisible bridge that linked him to the girl standing before him.

Hinata looked at him, her face still flushed with a blush, but her eyes reflected the same astonished joy. The warmth of Naruto’s hands, the energy radiating from him, was contagious. She was living a dream, one that far surpassed the timid fantasies she had harbored in the silence of her room.

“T-together…” she whispered, the word feeling sacred on her lips.

“Together!” he confirmed, squeezing her hands enthusiastically. “We’re going to be invincible! Imagine the possibilities! We can train twice as fast! We’ll learn jutsus that…! That…!”

He stopped mid-sentence. The radiant light in his eyes flickered. The smile on his face faltered, losing its strength. His grip on Hinata’s hands, which had been so firm, suddenly loosened.

“Naruto-kun?” she asked, concern instantly coloring her voice.

“Whoa…” he mumbled, his voice suddenly a faint thread. The color began to drain from his face. “I think… I think yelling so much… uses a lot of… chakra…”

Naruto’s world tilted on its axis. The adrenaline and euphoria that had kept him standing vanished in an instant, revealing the abyss of exhaustion beneath. The Falna ritual, the massive transfer and reconfiguration of energy, had cost him far more than his excited body had let him feel. The chakra debt had just come to be collected, with devastating interest.

His knees gave out. His eyes rolled back, and before Hinata could even process what was happening, he collapsed forward, unconscious.

“Naruto-kun!”

Hinata’s choked cry was pure panic. Acting on an instinct much faster than her thoughts, she lunged toward him, getting between his inert body and the wooden floor. She caught him just in time, using her own body to cushion the fall and protect his head. They ended up kneeling on the floor in a clumsy, desperate embrace, with Naruto’s head resting on her shoulder.

For a second, she was frozen, panic chilling the blood in her veins. Was he hurt? Had the jutsu harmed him? With trembling hands, she gently pulled him away and laid him on the floor. She placed two fingers on his neck, searching for a pulse as she had been taught in the academy.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

It was there. Strong and steady. His chest rose and fell with a deep, regular breath. He wasn’t hurt. He was, plain and simple, passed out from total exhaustion.

The relief she felt was so immense that her own legs gave out, and she sank to the floor beside him. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the frantic hammering of her own heart. She looked at Naruto’s face, so peaceful in unconsciousness. The lines of tension and manic energy had vanished, leaving only the face of a twelve-year-old boy, vulnerable and fast asleep.

A protective tenderness flooded her chest. Very carefully, using a strength she didn’t know she possessed, she managed to drag him the few feet to his futon and arrange him as best she could. She covered him with a threadbare blanket.

She remained there, kneeling beside him, watching over him as he slept. And it was then that her eyes truly took in the room.

In her worry, she had barely noticed. Now, in the silence, she saw everything. The tower of ramen cups. The single lonely mug. The mess that wasn’t that of a lazy person, but of someone who had no one to teach them how to care for a home, or no one worth keeping it tidy for.

Every object was a silent scream of the loneliness he lived in. And Hinata heard it.

Her heart ached with an empathy so painful it brought a lump to her throat. He called me family, she remembered. And yet, he lived in a place that didn’t feel like a home.

In that moment, she made a decision. It wasn’t a logical one. It wasn’t a strategy. It was an impulse born of gratitude, affection, and an overwhelming desire to care for the person who, for the first time, had made her feel strong.

She stood up silently. She rolled up the sleeves of her lavender jacket. And she began to clean.

It was quiet, methodical work. She washed the mug and chopsticks, drying them with a clean cloth she found in a drawer. She collected all the empty ramen containers and put them in a trash bag. She folded the clothes that were strewn about and left them in a neat pile on the only chair. She found the withered plant on the windowsill and, using water from her own canteen, gave it a drink.

As she worked, she spoke to herself in whispers that were lost in the apartment’s silence.

No one should live like this… He smiles so much, gives so much light to the world… but then he comes back here, to this. It’s not fair.

This power he’s given me… I’ll use it to protect him. To make sure he never has to feel as alone as he seems to feel here.

I will protect his secret. I will protect him. It’s my first mission. And I’m not going to fail.

As the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the room, Hinata finished. The apartment wasn’t spotless—she couldn’t work miracles—but it was tidy. It was… calm. It felt a little more like a home.

Tired but satisfied, she sat in the chair, now clear of clothes, and settled in to wait for Naruto to wake up.

Naruto woke up with the feeling that his brain was wrapped in cotton. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at the familiar ceiling of his room. For a moment, he thought it had all been an incredibly vivid dream. The Falna, the ritual, Hinata…

Then, the smell of clean reached his nose. He sat up with a jolt, a movement that sent a pang of pain through every muscle. And he saw her.

Hinata was sitting in the chair, dozing, her head propped up on her hand. The evening light bathed her in a golden glow. The apartment was… unrecognizable.

****

Shame hit him with the force of a punch. She had cleaned his mess! While he was sleeping like a log!

“Hinata…?” his voice was a croak.

She started awake, her eyes blinking to focus. Seeing him awake, a smile of relief lit up her face.

“Naruto-kun! You’re awake! How do you feel?”

“Embarrassed,” he said, and he had never been so honest in his life. “You… you cleaned. You didn’t have to. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” she said, her voice soft. “I wanted to. You… you looked like you needed a rest.”

He looked at her. At the girl who had spent her afternoon cleaning his mess instead of going home. At the girl who had waited for him. The gratitude he felt was so immense he didn’t know how to put it into words. So he said the first thing that came to mind.

“You’re the best, Hinata. Believe it.”

They sat on the now-clean floor of the apartment. Night had already fallen outside. Hinata had given him a glass of water, and Naruto drank it in one gulp.

“Listen,” Naruto said, his tone turning serious. “I know we’ve talked about it, but I have to say it again. The Falna thing… it’s our secret. More than S-Rank. If anyone finds out… if the old men on the council discover I have this power…”

Genuine fear returned to his eyes.

“They already look at me like I’m a monster, Hinata. If they knew I could do… this… they wouldn’t hesitate. They’d lock me up, cut me open, and dissect me like a frog just to figure out how it works. And I swear, that would be super painful!”

Hinata looked at him, and the protective fury she had felt earlier returned with full force.

“That won’t happen,” she said, her voice as firm as a rock. “I promised you, Naruto-kun. I will protect your secret. No one will hurt you as long as I’m here.”

The intensity of her promise took his breath away for a moment. He nodded, believing her.

“It’s a shame we’re not on the same team,” he said, the thought returning to his mind. “We were going to be invincible.”

“We can still be friends,” she said, a small, shy smile returning to her lips.

“Of course we can!” he exclaimed. “But it feels like they split us up. Hey! I know!” his eyes lit up. “Tomorrow we have to go get our ninja registration photos taken. Would you come with me?”

Hinata blinked. “To… to your photo?”

“Yeah! It’s just… well… Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme will probably go together, or something. And everyone else will be with their teams. It feels weird to go alone. And you…” he paused, searching for the words, and what came out was a truth so simple and so profound it surprised even himself, “…you’re… like… the only family I have right now, you know?”

Hinata’s eyes filled with tears. Family. The word was a gift, the most precious one she had ever received.

“Y-yes,” she managed to say, her voice choked with emotion. “Y-yes, Naruto-kun. I’ll go with you.”

To break the emotional weight of the moment, Naruto jumped to his feet, ignoring the protest from his muscles.

“Awesome! But first, a little reality check! Just to see how fast you are now! Try to run to that wall and back! But be careful this time!”

Hinata laughed, a genuine, happy sound. She stood up.

“O-okay.”

She concentrated, but this time, instead of a burst of power, she tried to release just a thread of it. She ran. She was fast, incredibly fast, but this time she had a sliver of control. She touched the wall and turned to come back, but she misjudged the turn. Her feet got tangled, and she tripped.

Naruto, who was watching with a grin, reacted on instinct. He lunged to catch her. The result was an inevitable crash. They fell to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs, with Hinata landing softly on top of him.

They lay motionless for a second, surprise reflected on their faces, before the absurdity of the situation hit them. A muffled laugh erupted from Naruto’s throat, and Hinata’s joined it, filling the small apartment with the sound of pure, simple happiness.

****

Later, at the entrance to the Hyuga compound, the goodbye was different. The walk had been filled with easy, comfortable chatter.

“See you tomorrow, then,” Naruto said with a smile.

“Y-yes. Tomorrow,” she replied, her face still glowing with joy.

Naruto watched her enter her world of silence and order. As Hinata walked through the halls of her home, she replayed the day. The ritual, her power, the cleaning, the promise, the fall, the laughter. And she remembered Naruto’s compliment to Sakura. He notices the effort.

She stopped in front of the mirror in her room. Tomorrow wouldn’t just be a photo. It would be her first outing as his friend. As his… family.

Tomorrow, she decided with a new, brave resolution that made her heart skip a beat. I’ll put in a little effort, too.

She would fix her hair. She would pick out her best clothes. It would be her silent way of telling him that he was special to her, too. And the thought made her smile all through the night.