"I-I'm sorry Hinata, but it's how I feel" Naruto tried to soothe the first girl that declared her love to him after seemingly breaking her heart once and for all. He really didn't know what to do in such a situation, all his romance experience came from seeing his sensei Jiraiya getting constantly rejected or fooling around, not these kind of serious conversations. But Hinata solved the dilemma for him
"It's okay Naruto, thank you for being honest with me" Hinata raised her head and looked at him with a tender smile. She thought this would hurt her a lot and she would be crying her heart out at this point but somehow it felt ok. She kinda knew this would happen, and at last she got the confirmation needed to stop dreaming about what couldn't be. "I agree if that's how you feel it's best I stop bothering you, and I hope Sakura finally agrees to be your girlfriend!" she said, actually meaning it. Dream or no dream, she still wanted Naruto to be happy, he deserved it.
"You didn't bother me at all Hinata, and I'm sure many guys would kill to love you in the way I know I can't" Naruto said awkwardly, he was actually impressed at how well Hinata was taking his rejection, she didn't notice a trace of the shy girl he liked to mock around a bit anymore. "I hope we can continue to be friends and all, you know?"
"Sure!" Hinata said with another smile that made Naruto blush, it seemed like finally being free of her doubts helped her be more confident and beautiful, even if it wasn't the ending she dreamed about "Thanks again Naruto, but I have to go now. See ya around!"
As Hinata left Naruto smiled thinking how everything went better than expected, how much Hinata had changed for the better since their days at the ninja academy and finally, how Hinata was right and it was time to fight for his other dream and win Sakuras love
But alas, it didn't happen.
****
"Sorry Naruto, you know I don't like you that way. And Sasuke finally confessed to me!" Sakura tried to reject Naruto in the most polite way possible, but she just was too excited and couldn't help telling him the news that hit him like a ton of bricks, his rival got the girl of his dreams!
"WHAT!! S-Sasuke?? .. B-but he's going to leave the village...a-and I thought you would..." Naruto could only stammer, a completely dumbfounded expression on his face as the pain of rejection hit him harder than any of the great battles he endured to save his village and the ninja world.
"Come on Naruto, don't be so dramatic" Sakura told him rolling her eyes in a half teasing way. "It's Sasuke, you know I have always loved him. I really like you as a friend but never in that way"
"B-but.. Sakura-chan..p-please.. it was my dream to be with you" tears starting to flow from his eyes as he got on his knees before her, losing control of his emotions as he saw a perfect life as a Hokage with Sakura on his side
This only angered Sakura however, why was Naruto behaving so..pathetically?
"Naruto, stop making a show" she shouted as she hit him on the head trying to slap some sense into him "I've already made my decision, you will just need to move on.. I'm sure there are plenty of other girls for you out there" she said trying to sound sympathetic, but still a bit shocked he actually cried before her like that. He was going to be a Hokage for Kami's sake, he needed more self control than that
"But I wanted you and.. wahh, don't hit me anymore, OK I get it!" Naruto covered his head watching Sakura's annoyed expression and closed fist... Finally after a few seconds he calmed down.. "Sorry about that Sakura, I hope you are very happy with Sasuke" he said with a low voice, and couldn't help but sound bitter about it. Sakura remained quiet, knowing further conversation would maybe do more harm than good
"Bye, Sakura-chan" Naruto gave her a sad smile and walked away from her, not taking long to start running home as tears started to flow on his eyes again. This wasn't supposed to happen at all, but why was it affecting him so much?
****
As time passed Naruto found himself to be more and more lonely, it seemed that all his friends were now becoming a couple and he didn't find anyone he wanted to be with. Sakura's with Sasuke, Ino with Sai, Tenten with Neji, Temari with Shikamaru and.. Hinata with Kiba, as he found out when he was willing to give her a chance after Sakura rejected him and he finally stopped feeling bad about it, but couldn't even tell her anything as he got the news that she and her fellow teammate were now an item.
He found himself to be the only single ninja of his generation, even weirdos like Shino, Rock Lee and Choji found someone for them and, despite his reputation as a hero and a loyal friend he found out he wasn't the best flirting with girls, his attempts to date always ending in failure. As a result he started to become a bit antisocial, despite his friends' efforts to help him out something seemed to change in Naruto, he was no longer that kid with the optimist charm that managed to persuade everyone around him about how fighting for a better world was worth it, but was becoming more bitter, resenting how after all he did he still ended up being alone, just like when he was a kid, with little prospects of belonging to a happy family. Even Tsunade noticed something was off, as she started to reconsider the idea of making Naruto the next Hokage if the fire within him was no longer there.
And beyond the bitterness there was regret and desperation, as every day he lamented how foolish he was rejecting Hinata, who looked more beautiful than ever when she walked across the village locking arms with Kiba, and how much he wished something like that for him. He didn't want to acknowledge it but just as when he was the worst student in the academy, he felt inferior to all of his teammates as they found what for him was true happiness in their lives, just that this time things were a bit too complex to be solved with a simple forbidden scroll.
What happens next?
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