Title: The Sunflower Spiral

Rated: K
Author: SoulFire!
Genre: Romance
Pairing: NaruHina

Hyuuga Hinata carefully arranged the orange and yellow petals on the blotter paper before her. She sat back to study the spiral arrangement, a soft smile playing at her lips as she recalled the day she had been presented with the plant that produced the vibrantly colored flowers.

The small, dark haired girl closed her eyes and took a fighting stance, concentrating on balance and movement. She spun and lunged and her out-thrust open palm came into unexpected hard contact with something startlingly solid. A loud grunt and thud brought instant recoil. Hintata jumped back, eyes flying open to see a familiar shock of spikey blond hair above an orange jumpsuit.

"Oh! Naruto-kun! I-I'm so sorry!" she stammered, hands flying to her reddening face.

Uzumaki Naruto was already on his feet and brushing himself off.

"It's okay, Hinata. I should've known better than to come up on you in the middle of a workout." He flashed that toothy, heart melting grin as he bent to retrieve something that he had obviously dropped in the collision. "Kiba told me that you'd be out here on the training grounds and I-uh-I'd kinda like to ask you a favor." He shifted his load to one side and reached up to give his head a nervous scratch as he spoke.

Pale lavender eyes dared to meet eyes of bright blue. Naruto-kun had been looking for her? "F-favor?" she managed at last.

"See, I'm gonna be leaving the village for some special training in just a few days," he explained, his smile turning sheepish and a little uncertain, "and I've got this-" He pushed what Hinata at last noticed to be a clay pot overflowing with greenery in her direction. "-I grew it myself, y'know, and it-well-it sort of needs a home while I'm gone-"

"You'd like me to look after your plant for you?"

"That's right!" Naruto exclaimed, his confidence returning.

Hinata glanced down at her hands as she unconsciously tapped her index fingers together, "What about y-your team mate?"

"Sakura-chan? Naw-sure, she's learning the healing arts from Granny Tsunade and all, but-" he leaned in, his voice lowered as though he thought the hot tempered Haruno just might be within earshot, "-just between you and me she's got a black thumb. "

Hinata was unable to supress a giggle and was relieved to see that Naruto seemed not to notice.

"Besides," he continued with a shrug, "I just think that my plant would be in good hands with someone nice. Like you."

She was at a loss for words and felt the heat of the blush on her cheeks.

"So, what do you say, huh Hinata?"

"Oh!" The insistant question broke through her jumbled thoughts. "Naruto-kun, I-I'd be honored to care for your plant." As she shyly reached out to claim the pot, her fingers lightly brushed his. Her deepening blush went unnoticed as the excited blond babbled obliviously on.

"Hey, hey! That's great, Hinata!" he was saying, "It's a sunflower, y'know-sorry it's not blooming yet, but I think there's a bud in there somewhere. It's really fun to water it and watch it grow-and you can eat the seeds! Is that a great plant or what?!"

She could only smile and hug the much loved plant to her chest in reply.

As she studied the careful spiral of yellow and orange sunflower petals mounted in the old binder, Hinata chuckled at the memory of endless exuberance and complete cluelessness that had been twelve year old Uzumaki Naruto. The action was met with a sharp kick from her rounded middle. She gave her stomach a soothing rub, considering the source. Just as full of life and eager for attention as his father. Another bright blossom soon to bloom. She looked down at the sunflower spiral she had pressed so long ago and smiled.