Your Beta Is My Alpha
Naruto et al are © Masashi Kishimoto
Story is © Eyebrows Raised, February 2009
Authors Note: My first completed Naruto fan fiction. Do bare with me, I can get silly sometimes, or ramble about unimportant stuff. I apologize to those who are fed up with sap, but I write what I write. And to those with problems with the couples or hinted couples in this, again I write what I write. Rated T for possible language and sexual scenes.
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Naruto marched proudly down the streets of Konoha, tightly gripping a bouquet of yellow flowers in his right hand. He greeted people on the streets, grinning wildly
The previous day he had asked Sakura out on a date, and for some reason she had decided to agree. He was ecstatic. This girl he had been chasing for years had finally agreed to go out with him.
He began to think about all the previous times he'd tried to get her to go out with him, and all the previous times he'd tried getting close just to have her push him away again.
But none of that mattered, because today he would get his girl!
He approached Sakura's door and knocked, stepping back slightly and straightening out the bouquet in his hands. The door was opened a crack and Naruto could hear from the inside.
"Mom, wait, it's for me." The door remained opened slightly until Sakura came and opened it fully. She was dressed in a long red silk dress, no headband on her head.
"Hey Sakura!" Naruto said with exuberance. Sakura looked at him with a forced smile. 'Didn't even dress up for me,' she thought.
"Hey Naruto." She pointed to his hand. "Are those for me?"
"Yeah, uh… here you go!" He passed the flowers to Sakura and she took them, smelling them slightly.
"They're lovely…" she said to him, gesturing for him to come inside whilst she unwrapped the bouquet and placed them in a vase already containing a few other flowers. "I'm sorry but we don't have any extra vases, they'll have to be with the others."
"That's okay," Naruto replied. He had noted that Sakura wasn't quite so lively as he was but didn't feel like this was the place to bring that up with Sakura's family around.
"Would you like something to drink?" Sakura offered. Naruto shook his head.
"If we don't get going soon we'll miss our reservations." Sakura perked up.
"Reservations?"
"Yeah. I've told pops to save us 20 bowls at Ichiraku's!" Sakura could hear her mother giggling in the other room. She was hoping for some expensive and fancy restaurant, not the same ramen shop as always. She stared at Naruto with a sardonic look and breathed out, speaking somewhat in monotone.
"Excellent. Let's go."
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The second Sakura closed the door she hit Naruto across the head.
"You couldn't have thought about anywhere else?" The blonde ninja rubbed his head sorely.
"I can't afford anywhere else!"
"Yet you could afford 10 bowls?!"
"20..." Sakura just hit him again.
"You're just asking for more aren't you?" Naruto kept holding his head and backed off.
"Okay, okay! So where do you want to go?" Sakura instantly calmed down and pondered on it.
"…Ichiraku's?"
"Then why'd you just freaking hit me?" Naruto yelled. Sakura tutted and waved her finger.
"Don't you shout at me Naruto Uzumaki, I might just decide to discontinue this date." Naruto groaned.
"Fine."
Sakura held out her hand and Naruto looked at it a few seconds before twigging. He held her hand and they began walking to Ichiraku Ramen together.
"Y'know I don't like you using my full name… It sounds evil coming from you…"
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The two weren't far from their destination when they were met with Kurenai's team.
"Hey Naruto, Sakura!" Kiba welcomed, Akamaru barking as though to reiterate the welcome. Shino, Hinata and everyone else in turn greeted one another. Naruto tugged at Sakura's arm.
"Sorry guys, we can't stop, we've got a schedule to keep."
"Heh, since when have you ever kept to a schedule?" Kiba joked. "Are you on a mission?"
"It's a date," Shino pointed out bluntly. Hinata's eyes widened, Sakura and Kiba's eyes averting from the rest of the group and looking away as though in guilt, Akamaru making a whining noise. Everyone knew that Hinata liked Naruto, everyone except the boy himself. Sakura glanced at Hinata briefly. Her expression was one of shock for a few seconds before her head lowered and she smiled.
"That's great…" she said quietly. "I'm really happy for you two." Naruto put his arm behind his head and grinned widely.
"Thanks Hinata!" The others glared at him. How could he be so oblivious? "Come on Sakura!" Naruto kept pulling at Sakura's arm and Sakura sighed in anger. She looked at Hinata again before heading off with Naruto.
Kiba put his hands on Hinata's shoulders, pulling her close slightly.
"Are you okay?" he asked. Hinata's fake smile remained.
"I'm fine," she lied.
"Kiba," Shino interrupted. "Let me talk to her. Alone, if you don't mind."
"Uh… sure," Kiba stumbled. He was confused by what Shino of all people could do to cheer Hinata up. "I'll see you guys at the rendezvous. Come on, boy."
Shino watched Kiba and Akamaru go off and then looked at Hinata. Her fake smile had gone but her head remained drooped.
"Hinata." Hinata looked up slightly. "Let it out."
Hinata turned her head away slightly and bit her lip. She forced her eyes shut and bit tighter, and then launched herself onto Shino, latching her arms around him and crying into his long coat. She said nothing, Shino putting his arms around her. She didn't cry long and quickly withdrew, apologizing for the short outburst.
"It's okay. I asked you to do it." He put one arm around Hinata and pushed her along gently. "Come on. Our teammates are waiting for us." Hinata sniffed and wiped her eyes.
"T-thank you, Shino…" Shino's smile hid under his coat as the two walked along to catch up.
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Naruto piled the food into his mouth, sighing contently after finishing his bowl. He raised his arm and ordered another bowl of ramen, then looked at Sakura. She was stirring the liquid that remained in her finished bowl, head cupped in her left hand.
"What's up?" Sakura stopped stirring.
"It's just…" She sighed and took a break in her talking and ordered another bowl. Naruto's bowl arrived first and he started inhaling it, then Sakura's bowl arrived and she dipped her chopsticks in it and then resumed talking. "I'm sorry Naruto, but this isn't going to work." Naruto started choking on his food and forced himself to swallow it quickly. He gulped it down and then stared at Sakura with a worried look in his eyes.
"Why, what's wrong?" Sakura smiled lightly at him and placed her hand on top of his.
"There's nothing wrong with you. I guess… I only really accepted this date because I wanted to know…"
"Wanted to know what?" Naruto asked, his voice high pitched and tense with the rising upset in his throat.
"I wanted to know if I was just lonely, if I was looking for anyone to be with." Naruto looked down.
"I see. So there's someone else…" Sakura gripped Naruto's hand softly.
"Sort of… I don't know yet. But I know now it's not just because I'm desperate."
There was a short silence, although it seemed to last much longer. Neither of the two ate.
"Besides," Sakura said, breaking up the silence. "I couldn't do it to Hinata." Naruto lifted his head a little.
"Hinata? What does she have to do with it?" Sakura grumbled.
"You really don't know, do you?"
"Know what?"
"Idiot! You're hopeless." Naruto began to raise his voice.
"What? What am I supposed to know?" Sakura sighed exasperatingly.
"It's not my place to say. You'll just have to ask her yourself." Naruto stood up abruptly but Sakura pulled him down to his seat. "Not now dummy. We still have a date to finish."
"I thought it was over."
"I'm not going to turn up a free meal," she winked and started eating again. Naruto brightened up and then laughed lightly.
"Yeah, I guess. Although…" Sakura stopped and glanced at him.
"Hmm?"
"Ah, heh… I had rather hoped you'd pay for half… I can't afford for the both of us…"
"You WHAT?"
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"And… you're not going to hold this against me?" Naruto asked. Sakura shook her head.
"Well considering how I kinda used you for my own experimentation… I guess the least I can do is pay my own half," she replied. Naruto sighed in relief. "Listen… thanks for being so understanding."
"It's okay, really." Though for now he was hurting a little inside he was starting to think that maybe this was for the best. He would've hated if dating Sakura had put a strain on his friendship. He treasured his bonds more than his life.
Sakura wrapped her arms around Naruto.
"Thanks… for the abysmal date," she teased.
"It wasn't that bad."
"You took me to a cheapo ramen shop! Girls want candles and, y'know… romance!"
"Romance," Naruto snorted. "Sounds like an overrated way for restaurants to make extra cash if you ask me."
"Well no one asked you, idiot!"
"I can't afford it anyway, when she does eventually give me something to do Granny Tsunade only sends me on D-Ranked missions."
"Well it doesn't have to be expensive," she added. "A picnic, a romantic walk, or watching a movie at your place. Anything but ramen." Naruto tilted his head to one side.
"Still sounds like a lot of effort. Besides, it's not like there's anyone I can do that sort of thing with." Sakura put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"Remember to talk to Hinata. She might help you there."
"You mean she can help me find someone?" Sakura laughed.
"Man you're dumb."
Sakura hugged Naruto again and started heading off, waving to him. Naruto waved back and walked home, hands in his pockets. He was very disappointed and still a little hurt, but he was also curious about what Sakura was really feeling. And what did Hinata have to do with all this? He then struck upon the, to him, only logical explanation.
"Sakura and Hinata like each other!" he yelled. He got a few stares from those around him and immediately regretted shouting something like that out loud. However, this new thought filled his head with dirty images. He would talk to Hinata tomorrow and something told him it was going to be a lot of fun.
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Hinata lay in bed, one hand close to her mouth. Her open curtains let in all the light from outside, beaming down on her face. She was already in a semi-awake state when she heard a knock at her door.
"What is it?" she asked. The door opened a crack and the face of her sister, Hanabi, poked through.
"You've got a visitor," Hanabi replied, wearing a grin that could almost be described 'cheeky'. Hinata sat up and yawned, rubbing her eyes.
"Could you let them in and tell me I'll be down in a few minutes? And ask if they want something." Hanabi nodded.
"'Kay." She closed the door and ran off, leaving Hinata to get up.
She took off her pyjamas and dressed in her usual attire, then headed to the bathroom to wash her face and brush quickly. She was up in less than 10 minutes and headed towards the front room where Hanabi was seated, keeping the visitor entertained.
Before noting whom it was, Hinata bowed politely with a smile.
"I apologize for making you wait," she said.
"No problem Hinata, I'm in no hurry!" Hinata took a double take. Naruto, her crush of many years, was sitting right there in her living room! She was quick to flush red, getting all the worse as Naruto started winking at her. "So, you got any little secrets you want to confess to?"
"Sis, this is your chance to say it!" Hanabi piped up, clearly excited.
"H-Hanabi!" Hinata yelled, stuttering again as usual.
"Ha ha, I knew it!" Naruto cheered.
Taking a deep breath Hinata grabbed Naruto's hand and yanked him across the room and outside.
"I think we need to go somewhere more private!" she said much louder than she had intended, just making everything all the more uncomfortable for her. She kept running until she reached the end of her garden. Once she stopped she leaned up against a towering stone wall surrounding the garden and house and slumped down to the floor. All the while Naruto was giggling like a child.
"Hee hee, I was definitely right wasn't I?" He laughed loudly. "Oh man Hinata, this has gotta be the juiciest thing ever!"
"N-Naruto… I, um…" She knew now that this was an opportunity she couldn't waste. If she didn't tell him her feelings now she'd never be able to do it. "I…" Naruto leaned down and placed a finger on her lip.
"It's okay, I can see this is hard for you." Though blushing immensely and near fainting, Hinata felt extremely calm by Naruto's gentleness and caring. "I'll make it a simple question then."
Hinata's heart was beating much faster than could be healthy. She was holding her breath trying to force herself to remain conscious. This was it, the moment she had been waiting years for.
"Are you a lesbian?"
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Hanabi brought in some tea for both Naruto and Hinata. Naruto was nursing his blackened eye with an ice pack, sitting quietly in embarrassment. However, he was clearly nowhere near as embarrassed, nor guilty, as Hinata was.
"Can I see it?" Hanabi asked Naruto. Naruto obligingly lifted the ice pack for a moment. "Ooh, that's a real shiner!" She turned round to look at Hinata. "Nice work, sis!"
"Hey, Hanabi, if you don't mind could you leave the two of us alone for a bit?" Naruto asked. Hanabi bowed and walked across the house to her own room.
There was a short but seemingly long silence as Naruto continued to nurse his eye, Hinata seated in front of him twiddling her fingers. She opened her mouth to speak but Naruto beat her to it.
"Look, Hinata…" He paused briefly. "…I'm sorry I thought that of you." He paused again as Hanabi came walking across the house again.
"Don't mind me," she said before heading out the door and across the street.
Now completely alone in the house somehow things were that much more awkward, yet that much simpler.
"Hinata, I'm…"
"No, Naruto…" Hinata interrupted, her words steady, almost calm. Naruto looked at Hinata surprised; she never interrupted anyone. "I should've told you earlier…"
"Told me what?"
Hinata had been sure she could say it now, but her gut suddenly wrenched and her nerves were getting to her. The smell of tea was rising up to reach her nose and she tried to take in as much as she could without sniffing in to calm herself down. She gulped and breathed out slowly, her head down and her eyes to the ground, making sure she couldn't see if Naruto was looking at her. With one hand she gripped the fingers on her other hand tightly, almost crushing them.
"I like you."
She began holding her breath again, crushing her fingers more and more. Naruto's good eye widened fully, his other eye opening partly. His mouth was slightly agape as he looked the girl all over. AS more seconds passed by, more things started to make sense.
"Hinata…" he finally spoke. Hinata was shivering slightly, her pale complexion as always red when around the blonde ninja. He placed the ice pack next to him and opened his arms. "Come here." Hinata's head shot up and stared into Naruto's with an expression mimicking fear. Naruto beckoned for her and very slowly Hinata got up and walked over to Naruto. As she neared, he grabbed her hands and guided her slowly into the seating area next to him, wrapping his arms around her once she was fully seated. He held her close, her head to his chest, saying nothing. He wanted to speak but felt there was nothing he could really say to her. As he started to feel her shivering he held her closer, panicking realizing that he was the reason for all of this.
Panic. That wasn't an emotion familiar to him. But he was worried for his friend. He didn't like the feeling of being responsible for her heartache. And now when looking over how he'd been in front of her on his date with Sakura it made him feel so much worse.
Half an hour passed by with Naruto's mind switching from subject to subject before coming back to the issue at hand. He snapped awake as it were when he heard the door and Hanabi coming home. She poked her head in looked at the two.
"Did she tell you?" she whispered. Naruto looked down at Hinata only just now realizing she was asleep.
"Yeah," he answered quietly. "I had no idea." Hanabi looked slightly jittery.
"Listen, you should get out of here soon. Father will be back and I don't think he'll like this." Naruto nodded.
"Should I wake her up?" Hanabi nodded.
"She might think she was dreaming otherwise." The two could hear voices from outside and Hanabi rushed towards the door. "Go out the back! I'll delay them."
"Thank you."
Naruto picked up the sleeping Hinata and rushed across the house heading out the back whilst Hanabi greeted Hiashi and Neji, who had come back from training. She was glad for the obvious signs that they were worn out from their training, otherwise they may have noticed someone else having been there.
Hanabi sighed in relief, as it was clear the two had gone and walked back into the front room where they had been. The ice pack! The cups of tea sitting there could be easily explainable, but the presence of an ice pack would be questioned. Neji walked in and found Hanabi holding it and fussing over where to hide it.
"Hanabi, what…" Hanabi quickly shushed him.
"I'll explain later. Please, help me hide this from father!" Neji was taken aback but none-the-less complied. He took the ice pack from her and placed it on an injury he'd received during training. As Hiashi walked in, Neji pressed the pack closer to his injury.
"Lady Hanabi kindly gave this to me to help with healing." Hiashi frowned. He was skilled in detecting whether or not someone was lying, but gave them the benefit of the doubt.
"That was considerate of you Hanabi." Hanabi nervously thanked her father. 'Sis, you owe me,' she thought.
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Sakura leant over her desk, grinding herbs with a pestle and mortar. Many things were on her mind as she continued. Her mind flipped back to her work and she winced inwardly. This wouldn't do! She'd ground the herbs too much, now they wouldn't go well with the medicine she was making. A rookie mistake, but she knew better by now.
"Here," a voice said, placing a small container of the herbs Sakura had been grinding, but these to the correct amount.
"Thank you, Lady Tsunade…" She picked up the container but Tsunade's hand was placed upon her own, stopping her.
"I think you've done enough for today. We don't want you wasting any more stock." Sakura lowered her head.
"Sorry, Lady Tsunade." Tsunade pressed the back of her hand to Sakura's head.
"You feel fine. But your work is off. Is everything alright?" Sakura shook her head.
"I'm sorry Lady Tsunade, I've just got things on my mind, that's all." Tsunade crossed her arms.
"Oh? Do tell." Sakura looked up to her master.
"Don't you have work to do?" she asked quietly, hoping her question wouldn't be read as an excuse to get rid of her.
"Ah…" Tsunade looked around. No sign of anyone but Sakura. "It can wait."
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Naruto opened the door to his apartment and opened it wide enough for the now awake Hinata to walk through. Having never been in here before she was surprised at how small it was. Four rooms, and all not as big as she was expecting. Naruto himself though was much more pleased with the way everything looked. Seeing as no one ever came round to visit him his big lonely apartment was suddenly that more snug. However, more than that, he was just pleased he'd cleaned the place over from top to bottom, trying to put out of his head that he'd originally done this incase Sakura wanted to come back to his place.
He took her on a short tour of the house, excluding his bedroom just to cut out the embarrassment he'd no doubt suffer if she were to see yesterday's underwear over the floor.
"Do you want to sit down?" Naruto asked, gesturing to his sofa. Hinata nodded silently and sat with her head down. "Do you want anything to drink?" She shook her head. Naruto wasn't used to having guests round so didn't know whether or not to press her for anything else she might possibly want.
He decided against asking if she wanted anything more and sat down next to her feeling rather uncomfortable. He kept looking at the girl then looking forward, unsure of what to do or say. Somehow this is easier in an emotionally heated moment.
"So…" he said eventually. "Do you want to kiss or something?" Hinata's spine erected, her eyes wide and facing forward. She did a little, but the embarrassment and awkwardness of it all right now was putting her off. And on top of that the abruptness of his asking was in a way uncouth. Naruto didn't know how to read this reaction so budged closer. He reached out his arm and put it around the bolt upright girl. Neither of the two stopped staring ahead of them; they couldn't think of where else to look and both in a semi state of shock.
But then it hit him. Sakura's advice!
Seeing as they were inside he figured he might as well stick to that option. He didn't have a television so watching a movie was out of the question. But people were often saying how reading a book was like watching a movie inside your head. It wasn't conventional but it might work. The only problem was that Naruto wasn't much of a reader and only had one book in his possession.
"I'll be right back," he said, getting up and walking into his room. He pulled a small green book out of his drawers with a white figure in a thinking position. He closed the drawers and for a brief second remembered moments he'd had with his sensei, thanking him inside his head for providing at least one release from love's discomfort.
He walked back into the living room and sat down besides Hinata, opening the book. He cleared his throat and began to read.
"Make-Out Paradise: Tactics. Chapter One: Desire…"
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Sakura peered behind a tree, sighing. She had told Tsunade everything and was following her orders. She had hoped for more advice, but unfortunately for both her and Tsunade, Shizune arrived in her usual huff about needing work to be done.
She stepped out from behind the tree and marched forward, pretending to be brave. She got up close to the person she was watching and was about ready to shout out to him when a large man appeared in front of her.
"Well hello there little lady, what can we fine men do for you?" Sakura stood there with a building ill temper.
"It doesn't matter Gai, it can wait," she answered irritably. She was rather hoping he wouldn't turn up.
"What kind of attitude is that? Don't put off today what you can do tomorrow! You have to grab life by the horns when you can and hold on with the power of youth! That's how you get things done."
"Yes, Gai sensei," Sakura replied monotonously. Rock Lee had come over, unaware of any happenings.
"Sakura," he greeted. Now in a bad mood thanks to Gai ruining her plans Sakura grabbed Lee and pulled him towards her as though she were threatening him.
"You, me, your place at 5. Alone," she said, motioning to Gai with a glance. She let the frightened boy go and marched off, leaving the two green-covered men staring.
"That's my boy!" Gai screamed. Lee rubbed just below his neck. What on Earth had that been about?
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Naruto and Hinata sat huddled over the book, giggling like mad.
"Okay, okay, it's your turn," Naruto said pushing the book towards Hinata. She quieted her laughter and took it, reading it out loud.
"'His hands caressed her hips, their bodies…' I can't!" she laughed. She tried handing the book back but Naruto pushed it away.
"Go on, you can do it." Hinata cleared her throat and tried speaking again but against burst out in laughter.
"I can't!"
"Yes you can! Come on Hinata, please?"
"Okay…" She cleared her throat again and calmed herself. "'…Their bodies pressed together. She could contain herself no longer and reached down to touch his…'"
She didn't have to continue. Naruto was already rolling all over the place holding his gut. Remarkably this had been a very good idea. Whilst the two weren't picturing it in their heads as intended, reading out from such a dirty book was supplying them with more than enough entertainment. And what's more, Hinata was coming out of her shell more and more. At first she shied away, but as soon as she let out her first titter it was all over and they had ended up taking it in turns to read paragraphs.
"Ooh man," Naruto said, wiping his eyes. "Go on, what next?" Hinata looked down at the book and began to read again.
"'…And reached down to touch his belt buckle.'" Naruto was in fits again.
"I thought you were going to say something else!" he chuckled. Childish as it was the two of them were having too much fun. "You know Hinata, when I first read this I couldn't get past the first chapter. It's so boring reading it alone. With you…"
The two fell into silence again. Naruto decided to break the silence early this time and got up.
"I'm hungry. Do you want anything to eat?"
"Y-Yes please…" she answered, nervous again now that the moment was over.
"Aw, Hinata. I liked it when you were confident."
"Y-Yes please!" she answered again, this time louder but still stuttering. It wasn't perfect but Naruto was flattered that she was trying just to please him.
He searched the cupboards, dismayed at the amount of instant ramen in there. Sakura's advice had gone well so far so he decided to keep searching for an alternative. For the first time ever he was wishing he bought something other than ramen and snack foods. After looking through the fridge with no success he closed it and sighed.
"Do you mind if it's instant ramen? It's all I have," he shouted over to her with a tone of disappointment.
"T-That's okay!" Hinata called back. Hearing that made things better.
He poured the contents of the packets into two cups and boiled some water. When it was done he poured the water into the cups and stirred. It felt strange having two cups at once. Sometimes he would make a second for himself, but he would always finish the first one and then continue to use the same cup.
He wanted to call Hinata into the kitchen as he normally ate at the table, but seeing as she seemed comfortable enough in the living room he didn't want to knock her confidence so instead brought it in for her.
Hinata thanked him and breathed on the cup to cool it, not wanting to mention that Naruto had forgotten to bring chopsticks in. Fortunately it was only a few seconds before he'd realized he'd forgotten and he put down his own cup on the ground and returned with a pair of chopsticks. He picked up his cup again and was about to eat but Hinata cleared her throat a little.
"Um… Naruto..?" Naruto looked at her.
"What is it?" he asked, but she didn't answer. He figured it out for himself and set his cup down again, delivering her a pair. "Okay then!" he said with enthusiasm. "Let's eat!"
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Naruto finished rinsing the cups out and began drying them. Ordinarily he'd just leave the washing up in the sink, but because he had a guest round he was trying to impress her with his cleanliness. But that was it though. He was trying to impress her. In only the few hours they'd spent together Naruto found himself drawn to this girl. He didn't quite like her back yet, but this was definitely someone he would consider dating.
He placed the clean cups in the cupboard and walked back into the living room to join Hinata on the sofa. This was going to be uncomfortable, he thought, but it was a subject he knew they shouldn't avoid.
"So Hinata…" Naruto started. Hinata's head was faced forward but her eyes looked towards him. "How long have you liked me?" Hinata raised her finger to her mouth and chewed on it lightly.
"S-Since the academy," she answered. Naruto raised his eyebrows.
"That long? Why didn't you say anything before?" Hinata looked away.
"I…" It was clear this was an embarrassing subject for her. Naruto smiled kindly at her and wrapped his arms around her in a quick movement.
"Come here," he said, squeezing her. It was cute how shy she was, for now. But Naruto had been annoyed in the past how Hinata wasn't confident of herself.
"So do you want to see more of me?" he asked. Hinata stiffened.
"I… uh, I…"
"Because I'd like to get to know you a bit better." Hinata clenched her eyes shut.
"Y-yes!" she shouted. She quickly shrank down having not meant to say that so loudly, but Naruto just ended up squeezing her tighter.
"So…" This was more embarrassing than Naruto wanted to let on. "Would you like to be my girlfriend?" Hinata held her breath and simply nodded. She could not believe what was happening and her thoughts slipped into wondering how long it would be before it set in what she'd agreed to.
Naruto sighed. That had been an ordeal. Short and painless, but an ordeal none-the-less. A grin quickly spread across his face as he thought of something wicked.
"Wanna kiss on it?" he put to her in a suggestive tone. He had said it only as a joke but was surprised when Hinata nodded quietly again. His face turned bright red. He couldn't take it back saying it had been a joke; that would hurt her feelings. And he couldn't think of any excuses to get out of it. He'd unwittingly signed a metaphorical contract.
Hinata faced him, blushing but not nearly so much as Naruto. He stared at her as though her face had transformed into that of a leech. He had no idea what to do. Are you supposed to use your tongue? Should you suck the other person's lips? Do you have to stop breathing during kissing? He wanted a manual telling him step by step exactly what to do. If he only had an excuse, but what?
Then it came to him.
"I gotta pee!" he exclaimed and jumped up running to the bathroom, leaving a bemused Hinata.
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Lee scrambled to get home. He didn't know what time it was now, but he was certain he was late. He wanted to get as much training in as he could but got caught up and now he was late for his appointment with Sakura! He beat himself up mentally. He'd promised a long time ago that he would protect her with his life, and he meant from more than just physical harm. And yet he couldn't keep a simple appointment time? He felt ashamed.
He jumped high up onto buildings rather than taking the conventional path, running so fast he was dislodging tiles as he went. After knocking one too many things over on the rooftops he moved down to the ground only to find himself having near misses with everyone on the ground. He was glad to get to his house as after apologizing to so many people it started to lose meaning.
Sakura wasn't around. He'd hoped she would wait for him, but he couldn't blame her for leaving already. Solemnly he opened the door and headed straight for the sofa. He fell back into it, worn out after a long day and somber after having let Sakura down.
He looked up to the clock to see just how late he was.
It was just gone 4pm.
"What?!" he yelled. He was absolutely certain he'd been late. This new fact put vigor into him and he leapt into the air. He would get to keep his appointment after all! And this gave him plenty of time to clean himself and his place up. However, despite reaching his home early he decided to scold himself for almost being late. His punishment would be to take and wear his heaviest weights when training tomorrow and then do twice as much as he had originally intended. All he had to do now was secretly hide from his own mind the fact that he would be glad to get the extra training in.
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Naruto exited the bathroom, his stomach churning. He really hoped Hinata didn't still want a kiss because he didn't feel in the slightest bit ready. But if she did want to he would have no choice but to do it because of his incessant need to never let people down.
He walked into his front room and looked round, but Hinata wasn't there. Now he was worried he'd done something wrong and she left.
"Hinata?" he called out. He received no reply, but found her in his bedroom by his window. "Hinata, there you are." He was quietly pleased Hinata had summed up the confidence to move from the sofa, but then turned red once he saw yesterday's underwear sitting only a few feet away. This was the embarrassment he wanted to avoid, and moved slyly across the room to kick it underneath his bed. Once done with this he stood next to her, looking out the window and trying to see what she was looking at.
"It's wonderful," she finally said. Naruto cocked his head slightly.
"What is?" Hinata turned to face Naruto, surprising him as she was wearing a smile, and one full of confidence. It was a beautiful smile, he thought to himself.
"Every morning you get to look down and see everyone. You get to see Konoha." Naruto looked outside again. His apartment was situated above a street with many people walking by. A few market stalls were open and adults, children and fellow ninja's were passing right under the window all the time.
"It's not that great," he replied. Hinata's smile halved and Naruto almost regretted saying that. "I mean… it does get noisy. But you're right, it is nice."
"And some day you're going to be Hokage," Hinata said, looking out the window again. Naruto was a little taken aback. Whilst that had always been his goal and he thought he would be able to do it if he worked hard enough, he had never thought anyone else really believed he could do it. There was Konohamaru, but he was young and Naruto had had a certain influence on him.
He looked down warmly.
"Hinata… thank you." Hinata closed her eyes and smiled. Having watched him so long she knew what it meant to him. But that was the extent to which she could read his mind. Naruto quickly opened his window and pulled Hinata close, sticking his head outside and with one arm around Hinata and the other pointing almost accusingly out to the world and began to yell. "Someday I will be Hokage! I will protect Konoha!" A few people on the streets looked up at the window. Some even gave a few replies, although not all positive.
Naruto pulled his head back in, looking at the now stiff and shocked Hinata.
"And it'll be easy," he said much more quietly. "If you think I can do it." Hinata's shyness had struck again and she simply held her breath and nodded.
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Sakura walked up to Lee's house with a small bag slung round her shoulder and knocked on the door. Before she even got a third knock in, Lee had opened the door.
"Please, come in," Lee said bowing slightly. Sakura bowed in return, calm and showing manners this time. She thanked him and walked inside, noting how fresh the place smelt. But what stood out more than that was the way Lee was dressed.
"I've never seen you like that," she said, pointing to his clothes. Lee looked down at himself. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and indigo shorts. It seemed normal enough to him, but he figured Sakura had never seen him out of his training clothes.
"I am sorry. Would you like me to change?" Sakura shook her head.
"No, you look good like that." She took the bag off her shoulder. "But is there anywhere I can change?" This question confused him, but agreed to the request and showed her to the bathroom.
He took a seat at his kitchen table where he waited for Sakura to come out, ready to ask if she would like some tea. But when she did come out a few minutes later, that slipped right to the back of his mind.
Sakura was wearing another red silk dress, only this one was much shorter and showed off more of her body. She was blushing but putting lots of effort into looking sexy for Lee. But Lee was just struck dumb.
"So… what do you think?" There was a long pause whilst Sakura waited for an answer.
"I… I am very glad you chose not to wear that outside," he answered. Not the response Sakura had hoped for, but at least she'd made an impression.
"And what else?" The pause was much longer this time.
Lee tried forming a sentence inside his head, and after what seemed like an eternity he let out the only complete one he could think of.
"Would you like some tea?" Sakura blinked rapidly, then dropped her head sighing.
"Yes please…" Lee then set about making tea, his body set on automatic. Sakura sat by the table, slumping down. This was not the big romantic moment she'd hoped for.
As the water boiled Lee stood over it, not daring to look at Sakura. His mind was conflicting with itself. He liked Sakura, and now she was here in his house in very revealing clothing. He was also a teenager with needs like any other, but he knew he shouldn't look. It wouldn't be honorable, and he scolded himself for wanting to look her over.
Once the kettle had boiled he poured the contents into a teapot and brought out two cups and saucers, as well as some spoons. This did not go missed by Sakura. When she made herself or others tea she used bags and poured boiling water straight into a cup. It was almost sweet how old-fashioned Lee was.
Sakura thanked him and stirred her cup, placing the wet spoon on the side of the saucer. Lee did the same, and they both sipped at their cups at the same time. However, when Lee put his cup back down on the saucer he jogged it and the spoon fell off the table and onto the floor. As an automatic response he leant down to pick it up, but whilst below the table he couldn't help but notice Sakura's legs protruding out of her short dress. He looked away very embarrassed and picked up the spoon, putting it back on his saucer.
"You're a ninja," Sakura laughed. "You should be able to hide it better than that."
"I-I did not mean for that to happen! Honest!" Sakura shook her head. She knew she could trust Lee's words, but in her head made the story work as though he had planned that. But she shrugged that off; she had to address the issue of why she'd wanted to see him now.
"Lee…" Lee's head was turned away out of embarrassment. "Lee, look at me." He turned his eyes to meet hers but didn't move his head. "Lee… I think I'm falling in love with you."
Lee quickly turned his head to face Sakura. Despite Sakura's advances, he had not considered this so it came to him as a complete surprise.
"You… are?" Sakura nodded shyly.
"Yeah. But… I still don't know if I want to be with you." Lee's heart was jumping up and down. He was thrilled that Sakura finally felt something for him, but now stricken at the thought of not being with her.
"W-Why?"
"You're a great guy, Lee. But I'm worried that you'd just treat me as that 'something precious' for you to protect. I… wanted to know if you had a more… 'normal' side."
"I see…"
"I want to be held. I want to be kissed. I want dates where it isn't the best place with the best food and the best flowers. And… I want you to feel something more than wanting to keep me safe."
Lee closed his eyes and continued to sip his tea, composing himself and taking all this information in. He would've liked to have been able to write this all down but his pencil and notebook were not in reach.
"I can do all of that," he replied. Sakura looked at him with hope. "I… you must know… you see…" He cursed his inability to form sentences at this time.
He took another sip of tea and collected his thoughts.
"Of course I see you as something more. In fact, I…" He looked at Sakura's figure and trailed off. He shook his head and pressed his fingers to his eyes. "I am sorry but this is difficult to admit." Sakura got up and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
"It's alright. At least now I know you've got that side to you."
Lee stood and faced Sakura, placing his hands around her arms.
"Please do not get angry as I would like to prove another side…" He pulled her body in close, slowly wrapping one arm around her body whilst the other reached to her head. He threaded his fingers through her hair as he brought his face close to hers.
"I won't get angry, promise…" she whispered, looking up into his eyes. Lee pressed his lips to hers, adrenalin pumping through his body and forcing him to become more passionate. The kiss didn't last much longer than 30 seconds, but by the time they were finished both felt a little out of breath. Their eyes were much softer when meeting one another and whilst their lips had unlocked their arms remained around each other and their bodies close.
For Sakura this was a big moment. She was getting the one thing she'd wanted for a short while now. But for Lee, big didn't even begin to describe it. He was getting everything he's ever wanted.
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Naruto and Hinata stood by the door, her hands in his. It had been agreed that it was getting late, so Hinata was ready to head off. Naruto didn't like this. He'd just spent his whole day with her and it had been one of the best. He didn't want her to leave.
"So… Hinata… would you like to go out sometime?" Naruto put out there. Hinata nodded in response. Naruto nervously stroked her cheek. "Alright. Tell me when you're available and I'll… arrange something." But what that something would be he didn't know yet. His wallet was void of life so many options weren't viable.
"T-Thank you. And… thank you for the evening, Naruto." Naruto brushed the back of his head and grinned widely.
"Ah it was nothing."
"I will try to be more confident!" Hinata let out louder than usual, a happy yet determined look on her face. Naruto looked softly at her. He squeezed her hands lightly and leaned close to her face and kissed her on the cheek. They both blushed and Naruto opened the door awkwardly.
"Seeya, Hinata," he said, his stomach wrenching.
"Goodbye, Naruto," she replied. Unlike Naruto she felt strong, stronger than she had been in a long time. She made her way out of the building and Naruto closed the door, pressing his back against it and slowly falling down until he was sitting on the floor and sighed. He was alone again. And it hurt.
He remained like that for a few second before he heard his name being called. He got up quickly and ran to his room where the noise was at its loudest. Poking his head out of his window he saw Hinata, waving to him from the street.
"Hinata, hey!" He shouted, waving back. A few people stopped and looked at the two, but neither of them really cared. Hinata ran off still waving with a giant smile on her face, appearing radiant and full of life.
Naruto watched her as she went until she was out of sight. He closed the window and slumped down onto his bed. Just that brief encounter and now suddenly he didn't feel so lonely. It wasn't that late in the evening, the sun had only just started to set, but Naruto pulled his clothes off and got ready for bed. He wanted to end the day on a high note, dream about what the future may bring, but more than anything else, he wanted to see the next day as soon as he could. After all, if his first day with Hinata had been this great, imagine what tomorrow might bring.
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