A blush crept into her face as she crept her way through the trees. She knew he always practiced here and she felt strange spying on him like this. She finally reached the spot she was looking for. Settling herself into a bush to wait, she focused her chakra into her eyes. She quickly found him. Finding people was never hard for her, especially when it was Naruto she was looking for. She had been doing that for years.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Oodama Rasengan!" In just a few seconds, he left a hole in the ground easily large enough for him to curl up in. A huge grin spread across his face. For some strange reason, he found that extremely satisfying. His grin quickly disappeared as he lost all sense of balance and nearly fell on his face. Sakura was going to kill him for pushing his body too far again. He took off his shirt in an attempt to cool himself off.

All of a sudden he heard a squeak from the bushes to his left. Curious as ever, he tossed his shirt off to the side and went to investigate.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Seeing Naruto take his shirt off, she couldn't suppress a squeak of something between embarrassment and joy. When she opened her eyes, she heard another squeak escape her lips. Naruto was walking towards her hiding spot! Shirtless! She felt herself slipping into unconsciousness, and gladly welcomed it as an alternative to explaining her presence to Naruto.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

As he approached the bush, he heard another squeak and a thud. More curious than ever, he looked on the other side of the bush. "Hinata! And she's out cold… I wonder why she has a nosebleed."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Hinata! Hinata!" Hinata felt someone shake her "Hinata! Are you all right?"

"Mmmhmm… I'm fine. Where am I-" she stopped short, sheer terror kicking in as she recognized the voice.

"You're in the practice field. You must have passed out on your way here." He told her, concern evident in his voice.

"T-thank you." She slowly opened her eyes, only to almost pass out again when she saw a shirtless Naruto leaning over her. Her hands flew to her face as she felt her nose start to bleed again. "S-sorry." As hard as she tried, she couldn't tear her eyes off Naruto's chest iSo… Sexy… If only I could touch it… No! Stop thinking like that Hinata!i/ she thought. As she was thinking, her face turned a bright pink, close to Sakura's hair, then quickly turned a shade of red that would put Gaara's hair to shame.

"Huh? You okay Hina-"Naruto began, tracing her line of sight to his bare chest. "Oh! Sorry Hinata!" he reached over and grabbed his shirt.

Once that sight was gone, she gained some level of control over her thoughts and her nosebleed. She shakily stood up and made a futile effort to keep her balance.

"Whoa!" Naruto said, catching her mid-fall "Maybe you should just stay with me. I think you'll feel better once you walk it off." He put her arm around his neck and placed his hand on her hip.

"Na-Naruto-kun?'

"Yeah?"

"D-do you w-want to go get s-some ramen?"

"Sure! Ramen works wonders when you're not feeling good!

Hinata just smiled quietly. Naruto's buoyant and talkative nature left very little room for her in the conversation, but she didn't mind. Just the sound of his voice talking to her was heaven.

Before she even realized where they were, she was sitting in Ichiraku's. Naruto had ordered for both of them, and was talking animatedly to the lady behind the counter with his left hand. She realized with a start that his right hand was still firmly on her hip, even though she had removed her arm from around his neck long ago and promptly passed out again.

After waking up, Hinata managed to enjoy a delicious bowl of ramen. After putting her empty bowl next to Naruto's seventh bowl, she was starting to feel tired, while Naruto continued talking animatedly with his left hand to the old man. Deciding that he wouldn't be done anytime soon, she rested her head on his shoulder.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Naruto stopped short when he felt Hinata's head on his shoulder. The old man's amused chuckle grew to a roar of laughter. Naruto's face quickly grew pink with embarrassment.

"You two lovebirds get out of here. The dinner rush is almost here, and I don't want you two tainting the little kids' minds." This brought a small grin to Naruto's face, and caused both him and Hinata to blush madly, though Hinata smiled with pride when she didn't pass out again.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

They walked out of the shop, both blushing deeply. Iruka was walking down the street towards them, about to ask how their training was going, when he noticed Naruto's hand on Hinata's hip. Curious, he ducked into an alley so they wouldn't notice him.

"-want me to walk you home, Hinata?"

"T-that would b-be nice."

Iruka couldn't help but grin. He was very proud of the raven-haired kunoichi. After all these years, she had finally gotten Naruto.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

As they approached the Hyuuga complex, Naruto finally worked up the courage to do something he had wanted to do for a long time, but he knew he would have to do it quickly, before he lost his nerve.

As they approached the door, Naruto said "Um… Hinata…"

"Yeah?" she asked, turning towards him.

Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his lips to hers. Her eyes widened in surprise at first, but before she pushed him away, she realized what was happening and wrapped her arms around his neck. He took that as acceptance and pulled her closer, pushing his tongue into her mouth. Despite all the feelings rushing through her body, the only clear thought she could manage was iYummy.i/

They were so immersed in each other that neither of them noticed Neji opening the door and, seeing them kissing on the porch, quietly closed the door and went out the back way, grinning at his cousin's success.

After about another ten minutes of snogging, the door opened again, revealing Hiashi. This time they heard the door open and jumped away from each other. Hiashi got a demonic glint in his eye as he reached for his sword. Naruto sighed and said "I expected as much." He pecked Hinata on the lips and ran, with Hiashi chasing after him, waving his sword. "See you tomorrow, Hinata!" he yelled as he turned a corner and ran out of sight.