Twenty-five year old, Hinata Hyuga peered around the corner. Walking down the crowded street was just the man she wanted to see. As he got closer, Hinata sprung from her hiding place with a smile. "Kiba!" She squealed, throwing her arms around the man's neck, "Something wonderful happened." Akamaru gave a deep bark of greeting, and Hinata scratched his head.
"What is it?" Kiba Inuzuka asked with a smile and a laugh, a natural reaction to Hinata's bubbly behavior. He'd smelled his teammate from the other side of the block but hadn't expected a glomp ambush. "Is Shino drunk again?" The dog-nin recalled the rather hysterical antics of the intoxicated Abruame two years prior.
"Better than that." Hinata giggled. She took her left hand out from behind her back and showed Kiba a sparkling ring. "Naruto proposed." Kiba didn't seem to react. He stood staring at her hand with his mouth open slightly. At this unusual silence, Hinata grew worried, "What's wrong, Kiba?"
"What?" Kiba looked up at Hinata's face, "Oh, it's-it's nothing." He smiled at her and laughed loudly, scratching the back of his head, "That's great. He finally got the nerve to pop the question on you."
"I know," Hinata sighed, "I didn't even see it coming." She admired her hand at arm's length then giggled, "I almost fainted." They both laughed, recalling how Hinata had always passed out when Naruto showed up.
Then a thought occurred to Kiba and his brow knit in concern, "Did you tell your father yet?" Hiashi Hyuga had always been explicitly displeased with Naruto; Kiba worried about whether or not he could take such a big thing in his little girl's life in stride.
"N-No," Hinata murmured, clasping her hands over her chest. "I-I thought you should be the first to know." She threw her arms around Kiba's broad shoulders and said into his jacket, "Since you started it all."
---
A seventeen year old Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka crouched in the bushes near a clearing in which Naruto Uzumaki was training. "K-Kiba," Hinata whispered, "I d-don't think it's right to spy on N-Naruto like this."
"We're not spying," Kiba assured her, "We're getting ready to tell Naruto how we feel."
"W-We?" Hinata asked, mildly concerned about having to compete for Naruto's affections.
"You." Kiba corrected himself, gruffly, "How you feel, but I am here to help you. You've been hiding this for five years, Hinata." Kiba said strongly, holding her shoulders firmly and staring her in the eye. "That's way too long to keep something inside. You gotta let it out before it takes over you."
"Um, well, I-I don't know." Hinata stuttered, trying not to look at Kiba's determined face.
"Are you beautiful?" He asked in a deadpan voice. Hinata began to blush.
"K-Kiba, I-I-I," She tried to stammer but couldn't even accomplish that.
"Answer my question," He said in a low voice and repeated, "Are you beautiful."
"I-I guess so." Hinata looked down at her hands folded in her lap.
"Okay, are you strong?" Kiba went on, sliding down her arms to take her hands.
"K-Kiba, I don't think this is w-working." Hinata tried to stand up, but Kiba forced her back to the ground.
"I'm trying to help you," He growled, then softened his tone, "Are you strong?" He asked slowly.
"Y-Yes?" Hinata said slowly, looking at the ground to her right.
"That sounded like a question." Kiba barked right after, "Are you strong?"
"Yes." She repeated, lifting her eyes to meet Kiba's.
"Are you sweet, and kind, and generous?" Kiba pushed on with a determined smile as Hinata built up her confidence.
"Yes, I am." She said, matching her teammate's smile.
"Can you get anything you want?" Kiba switched gears, Hinata faltered for a second before answering.
"Yes." She replied with a nod.
"Well, what do you want?" Kiba slowly rose, peering over the bushes at the blonde throwing kunai at a log. Hinata slowly stood up and stared with him.
"Naruto." Her voice was barely above a whisper. If Kiba hadn't seen her lips move, he wouldn't have known that she'd spoken.
"I didn't hear you." He teased, leaning close to her, "What do you want?"
"Naruto." Hinata said louder, balling up her fists in determination.
"One more time." Kiba said, shaking Hinata's shoulders as though she was a boxer about to go into the ring.
"Naruto!" Hinata shouted. The blonde boy abruptly turned his head and scanned the forest.
"Well, go get 'im, girl!" Kiba shoved Hinata through the bushes and into the clearing.
"Ah, wait a second!" She squealed as she was pushed into the open, then slowly turned around to look at Naruto who was striding toward her.
"Hey, Hinata." He called, waving an arm over his head. The Hyuga froze. "How's to goin'?" Naruto asked as he came to a stop.
"H-Hi N-Naruto." Hinata mumbled, playing with her fingers and looking at the ground.
"Hey, did you hear someone yell my name a minute ago?" The blonde asked, looking around for the culprit. Hinata's blush grew deeper and she tried to hide her face inside her coat.
"T-That was m-me." She whispered, hoping that Naruto wouldn't hear her; to Hinata's duel delight and chagrin, he did.
"You?" Naruto chuckled, smiling at her, "No way. I've never heard you be that loud."
"I-It's true." Hinata said, poking her nose out of her jacket, "I came here to say something to you." She stood there paralyzed for almost two minutes.
"Well, what is it?" Naruto asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"W-W-Well, I-I," Hinata stammered; the drive that Kiba had instilled in her was still there, but it was being smothered by Hinata's usual behavior.
"Hold that thought." Naruto said, putting a hand to his stomach. Hinata could hear it grumbling over the five feet that separated the two. "I'm hungry," He grumbled before brightening as he got an idea. "Come on," Naruto cheered, grabbing Hinata's hand and starting to run toward Konoha, "We'll talk more over Ichiraku Ramen."
"O-Okay." Hinata gasped breathlessly as she was dragged along, glancing back she saw Kiba wink and wave after them. Hinata smiled, "Thanks Kiba."
"Hey, old man." Naruto called as he ducked into the Ichiraku Ramen Bar with Hinata in tow. The two sat as Teuchi came up to the counter.
"Hi, Naruto, what'll it be?" He said, nodding to them.
Naruto dug into his pocket to retrieve his very old frog purse. He opened the mouth and looked inside. "I think I only have enough for one bowl," He frowned, then turned to Hinata, "Do you have any money?" Hinata simply shook her head in response, "Damn." Naruto muttered.
"W-We could s-share one." Hinata offered, staring down at her fingers fiddling in her lap. She didn't really expect Naruto to accept the idea and was shocked when he did.
"That's not a bad idea," He muttered, "One bowl of your finest miso." Naruto said to Teuchi, placing his money on the counter.
When the steaming bowl of ramen was placed between the two, Naruto was quick to snatch a pair of chopsticks from the container and begin slurping with a shout of 'Itadakimasu'. Unfortunately for Hinata, Naruto had grabbed the last pair of chopsticks before she had even raised her hand; fortunately for her, Naruto was quick to pick up on this fault and remedied for it by pushing the bowl closer to Hinata and offering her the sticks.
"Oh, n-no, thank you." Hinata sputtered, putting up a hand, trying to deny the offer despite the smell wafting toward her.
"C'mon," Naruto urged the bowl closer and brandished the chopsticks, "It was your idea to share, plus it's creepy having you watch me eat. Try some."
Hesitantly, Hinata reached out and took the sticks. She pushed the noodles around in the bowl for a few seconds before pinching a few. Out of the corner of her eye, Naruto leaned his head on his hand against the counter; she empathized with his previous comment about it being creepy to be watched while eating.
As Hinata slowly slurped up the noodles, the idea came to her that this could count as a date, but she quickly shot it down. Dates were agreed upon, mutually enjoyed outings, rather than one party being dragged around by another. As the noodles came to an end, one flipped up and tapped Hinata's nose before sliding past her lips; she sat there for a moment with her eyes crossed and lips slightly parted. Beside her, Naruto chuckled.
'He's laughing at me." Hinata panicked in her head, staring down at her worried reflection in the ramen soup. Eager to keep her mistakes at a minimum and stop having to look at herself, she pushed the bowl back to Naruto. It hit his arm and the liquid sloshed close to the edge. Naruto slowly stopped laughing and sighed. "Ah, that was great, Hinata." He chuckled, picking up the chopsticks that had fallen between them. Without another word, the blonde finished the noodles and slurped down the broth. He sighed in contentment and linked arms with Hinata, leading her outside; the Hyuga did nothing to protest. By now she was in a mysterious bliss and everything felt like a dream; she wasn't scared or nervous: just happy.
Once out of the ramen bar and around the corner, Naruto unlinked his arm and patted Hinata roughly on the back. "This was great." He laughed as the slowly walked together, "We should do it again sometime. Maybe when one of us has a little money though, eh?" Naruto hadn't noticed that Hinata had stopped walking at the concept of going through this ordeal a second time; Naruto was almost four feet ahead of her. He turned around and trotted back. "Hey, Hinata." He waved a hand in front of her face, but Hinata's lavender eyes stared vaguely into the future with a little smile and a faint blush.
"S-Sure." She breathed, still two mental steps behind. "Sounds n-nice."
"Uh, alright." Naruto said slowly. "I'll see ya around." He turned and began heading toward home.
Hinata waited until it couldn't hear his steps anymore, then with a little sigh, she crumbled into the dust.
---
"Yeah, I guess I did." Kiba said quietly, standing with his arms around Hinata as she stood hugging him on her tiptoes. Then she leaned back and stared at Kiba's bemused face from arm's length and hugged him again. Kiba didn't feel like he could do anything and didn't know what to say. He looked over at Akamaru who cocked his head with a 'what do you expect me to do?' look. "So, Hinata," Kiba coughed, separating himself from her, "Don't you think you should maybe go tell your father sometime today?"
"Oh, right." Hinata muttered, "I'm just so grateful to you." She gave him one last hug, "Thank you for doing this for me." Then she turned and headed for home.
Once neither Kiba nor Akamaru could smell her, the large dog gave a whimpering groan of concern as Kiba sighed. "Nah, it's fine." He laughed it off, roughly scratching the dog's head, "As long as she's happy, I'm happy too." Then the Inuzuka and his dog turned the corner to take a shortcut home.