DISCLAIMER: The following is a non-profit fan-written story. It is intended for entertainment purposes only. I do not own any part of Naruto, Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters. Please support the official release.
G'day guys and girls! Since my last fic was incredibly sad, I figured I'd try and make one that was a little more light-hearted, aimed at a younger audience. Yes, it's another NaruHina fic. I love the coupling - what can I say?
Anyways, read and review and I hope you enjoy :D
Kiba sullenly threw another piece of bread towards Akamaru. The excited pup happily jumped into the air, caught the piece of crust and quickly chomped it down. Kiba released a disheartened sigh from the rooftops he sat upon as he gazed up at the moon, happily taunting him as he snarled in disappointment. Akamaru happily trotted up to him, making his way underneath his jacket and taking his usual spot at Kiba's chest. Kiba placed a hand over Akamaru's tummy as the pup reached up and licked his chin affectionately. Kiba looked down to see Akamaru's face, almost like it was grinning. He smiled gently.
"Heh, at least I'll always have you, right buddy?"
The pup yapped happily, his tongue hanging lazily to one side as he panted. Kiba laughed, returning his gaze to the moon as another sigh formed.
'Man… why did I even bother?' he thought, thinking back to barely twenty minutes ago…
"Oh, hey Hinata!"
Hinata performed a signature tiny gasp as she turned around, seeing Kiba walking towards her with a confident smile on his face. A hand was firmly fixed to the back of his head as Akamaru panted happily from inside his half-zipped jacket. Surprised, but far from rude, Hinata returned the greeting.
"Oh, hello Kiba! What are you doing out here by yourself?" she queried, smiling shyly. Kiba laughed warmly, bringing his arm down and resting it in his pocket, mirroring his other hand.
"Could ask the same for you. It's not like an heiress to be allowed out alone at night."
Hinata smiled, shaking her head as Akamaru released a contented bark.
"Oh, I-I'll be going home soon. I just enjoy spending time…" her thoughts quickly wandered to a bright and energetic young face, making her compulsively point her two index fingers together and blush. As Hinata was quickly becoming intensely fascinated in her shoes, Kiba looked her up and down, as if waiting for her to continue.
"… You… enjoy spending time around ramen stands?"
Hinata popped out of her blonde-haired day dream at the sound of Kiba's questioning tone, meeting his gaze. He was motioning to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar just a few metres away. She nervously looked around, desperately trying to find a conversational distraction from her quickly reddening cheeks.
"Oh, ummm… no, I, well… that is, I'm… ummm…" she stuttered hopelessly, as she met his eyes. He smiled and shrugged.
"Guess you just like being around the town, huh? I mean, the Hyuga Estate seems like a…" he paused for a moment. "… well, a pretty rough place to be, so I'll bet it's good to get out and see people smiling, right?"
Hinata smiled and nodded, thankful for the way around revealing her secret spying mission that Kiba's response had offered.
"I-I just enjoy being in town, yeah."
Kiba smiled, grinning nervously as he drew in a large breath. 'Come on, man! It's now or never! Prove that you've got a pair, come on!'
"Well, anyways, ummm… it's kinda late, and, uh… I'm pretty hungry. Did you… maybe wanna… uh…" He met her eyes and motioned quickly to Ichiraku's. Kiba quickly blinked and swallowed. "Did you wanna… grab something to eat?"
Hinata's small smile faded to a look of surprise. She met Kiba's eyes and half-confident grin with a very shy gaze and equally timid question.
"You… want to have dinner… with me?"
Kiba scratched the back of his head, quickly darting his eyes to the side.
"Well… yeah… I-I mean, if you want."
Kiba blushed as he darted his eyes back to hers.
"Like… like a date?"
Kiba grinned sheepishly, doing a rather poor job of hiding his nervousness.
"Well, ummm… you know, if… if you'd like…"
Kiba suddenly appeared very flustered as she furiously pointed her fingers together, averting her gaze to her shoes. Her cheeks burned as they acquired a crimson-esque glow.
"I'm… I-I'm really flattered, Kiba…"
Kiba's nervousness suddenly washed away as a fit of internal joy freight-trained around his body.
"… but…"
Then the train suddenly slowed down.
"… I'm actually… waiting for someone…"
The train then slammed on the breaks, derailed, killed a wild boar, ran into a train station and took out a couple of buildings, greatly injuring four families and causing some pretty severe damage to his own internal organs. The paperwork alone…
Kiba found his smile fading and, to attempt to avoid embarrassment, quickly shrugged it off and played it cool.
"Oh, yeah, that's…" He quickly cleared his throat. "… yeah, that's fine. No biggie. Just, ya know, wanted to see if… well, hah, ya know."
Hinata quickly took a few steps forward.
"I'm… I'm sorry, Kiba-"
Kiba quickly raised a hand, a confident smile cunningly disguised across his face.
"Forget about it. Friends?"
Hinata nodded, actually meeting his eyes.
"F-friends…"
Kiba returned the nod, quickly about-faced and then headed off into town.
"See you at class on Monday!" he called as he waved back.
"Ah, I shoulda known," Kiba complained, breaking off another piece of bread for Akamaru who happily nibbled at his fingers. "Always waiting after class, following the kid, hanging off his every dumb word…"
He released a discontented sigh as he shook his head.
"Now she's even waiting outside Ichiraku's for him! She's never gonna be over you, Naruto…"
Speak of the devil…
"HEY! WHAT'S UP, KIBA?"
Kiba cursed loudly and jumped as Akamaru yelped, quickly ducking his head under Kiba's jacket. After composing himself and growing frustrated at how Naruto had nearly scared him out of clean underwear, he turned towards the always-beaming blonde, ready to tear him a new one.
"Naruto! What the hell, man? You almost scared the crap outta me! Whaddaya think you're doin', screamin' your ass off at this time of night?"
Kiba ironically didn't realise how loud he'd suddenly become. Naruto laughed loudly, pointing at Kiba.
"Hahahaha! You shoulda seen your face! It was priceless!" he happily exclaimed between laughs. Akamaru had finally gained the courage to jump out from under the comfort of Kiba's jacket. He happily jumped over to Naruto as the boy sat down, quickly insisting on a pat.
"Hahaha, how ya doin', Akamaru?" Naruto asked, giving the pup a quick scratch on his back. After a few pats on the side of his stomach, Akamaru yapped happily and returned to Kiba. Kiba rolled his eyes at Naruto, shaking his head and then turning to him.
"What the heck are you doin' up here anyway?" he asked, scratching the back of his head as Akamaru climbed into his jacket once again.
"Well, I was just wandering around and saw you up here, so figured I'd say 'hi'. After all, it's been a while since we've had a chance to talk."
Kiba turned inquisitively to the blonde. Remembering all the times they'd snuck out of class with Choji and Shikamaru, a nostalgic smile spread across Kiba's face as Naruto took a seat next to him, smiling up at the moon. In truth, it had been a while. A couple of months, actually. After they all had become Genin, they didn't have much time to spend with anyone other than their fellow teammates. Being the more boisterous of the two, Naruto naturally broke the silence and began the conversation.
"So how's training going?" Naruto quizzed, not taking his gaze off the moon. Kiba laughed.
"Yeah, getting pretty intense, coming up to the exams and all. How about you guys?"
Naruto suddenly felt a prickle of pain shooting up his backside. An uncomfortable look spread across his face as Kiba turned towards him.
"Yeah, it's, uh… it's good. Kakashi is…" Naruto pondered quickly. "… he's really got some good pointers…"
The conversation continued like this, discussing anything new that had happened to the two after they'd been separated into their respective training teams. Naruto's growing complaints about Sasuke being a 'too-cool-for-school' douchebag and Shino's bugs constantly getting under Kiba's skin were two main points that the two Genin seemed to always return to. However, as with all young men, the conversation naturally and slowly turned to girls.
"Hah, yeah, about the same on my part…" Kiba thought back to roughly half an hour ago with Hinata and sighed sadly. "Eh, wouldn't have the time, anyway. Ah well… Still chasin' after Sakura, or have you finally found out that Hi-ahhh! Ummm..."
"Huh? What was that?"
Naruto turned to him as Kiba's eyes widened. Quickly realising what he was about to say, he corrected himself.
"Uh… h-have you finally found out that Hi… he's getting in the way?"
'Phew, nice save.'
Naruto frowned quickly, then smiled and shook his head. He had to admit, Sakura was becoming a rather distant memory as of late.
"Hah, yeah… still no luck, but I mean, ya know, whatever. Sakura has the hots for Sasuke, and Sasuke is…" he paused for a moment. "… Well, yeah. Anyway, how about you? I'm sure you've got your eyes on someone. Ino looks pretty good, and she's blonde! That's gotta be a bonus, huh? I'll bet you like Ino!"
Kiba released a short laugh, giving a quick side-glance to Naruto.
"Not even close, man. Besides, she's way outta my league."
Naruto was taken aback slightly. Ino had to be basically the prettiest girl he knew, so why wouldn't Kiba want her?
'Tenten is alright, but she's really grown up,' he thought, scratching his head quickly, but Naruto didn't think Kiba knew her all that well. Going through the list of girls he knew, he finally settled on wondering about the girl with the short dark hair – the shy and silent Hinata. He'd seen her just before, actually…
Naruto walked the streets of Konoha as blasé as he usually would. Ignoring the few looks of fear and contempt that he was often shown, he smiled happily at the thought of a large bowl of steaming hot Beef Ramen, just waiting to be devoured at Ichiraku's. His exuberant smile shone through as he grinned wide, baring his teeth as he placed both his hands behind his head.
"See you at class on Monday!"
Suddenly snapped out of a ramen-filled daydream, Naruto opened his eyes, turning to a scene in front of him. He noted Kiba walking into town by himself. Naruto readied himself to call out to him, but Kiba suddenly dashed into a mad sprint, taking off faster than he'd ever seen him go. Thinking indifferently about the scenario, Naruto excused the thought with a contented shrug and continued along happily – Ichiraku's was just around the corner! He dashed forwards, seeping joy throughout his system as his mind closely hung onto one thing-
"Oof!"
"Ouch!"
He suddenly found himself on his back, sorely snapped out of his happy daydream – and so close to having it realised! He gingerly rubbed his backside as he quickly jumped up, pointing accusedly and shouting angrily at the figure that'd been grounded along with him.
"Hey! Why doncha watch where you're going, you big klutz! I almost broke my butt-"
"I-I-I'm sorry! I was just… waiting for someone, I-I didn't mean to…!"
Naruto softened his gaze as he quickly recognised the shy voice. As Hinata turned to meet the gaze of the offender, she quickly realised whose cerulean eyes she'd been staring into. A thick sheet of red enveloped her cheeks as words began to fail her. Naruto scrambled clumsily to her side, helping her up.
"Oh, Hinata! Oh wow, I'm so sorry! I-I totally didn't mean it, I was just on my way to Ichiraku's, and…" Naruto quickly noticed the small smile spreading across her face after his apology, wondering why she was smiling as her cheeks began to redden rapidly. "… Wait, are you ok? You're really red! You're not sick are ya?"
Hinata shook her head quickly, placing a hand to her face as Naruto popped his head under her arm. Shooting her eyes forward, she tried her hardest to refrain from looking at him, embarrassingly realising what the aforementioned would cause.
"Well, come on, I'll help you up! It's the least I can do for knocking you down like a big dummy, right?"
Naruto smiled charmingly as Hinata's will-power quickly sapped itself. He unknowingly brushed his cheek against hers as she trembled, lowering her eyes as a large and untameable smile quickly crept across her face.
'N-N-N-Naruto is… he's so close! He… he's barely inches away from my… Oh! What if he k-kisses me? Oh gosh! Now, of all times? Th-th-that's s-so sudden! He's… he's…'
As the two found their feet, Hinata smiled as she quickly shook her head, finding the feeling in her legs rather fleeting.
'I will NOT faint, I WILL NOT faint… I WILL NOT FAINT!' she internally screamed at herself, gathering the strength to try and stop shaking. Little success from the attempt was apparent.
"H-Hinata! You're shaking like Choji at a buffet! Are you sure you're ok?"
Hinata suppressed the urge to kiss Naruto where he stood, instead opting to retrieve her arm from around Naruto and proceeding to poke her index fingers together. She couldn't believe he was so concerned about her! Maybe she should run into him more often…
"I… I'm fine, Naruto, really. Th-thank you…"
Hinata almost jumped as Naruto took her hand in his. Her spine snapped straight as a nervous smile plastered itself to her face.
"Well how about I take you home or something? You seem really shaken up! Oh, hang on a sec – weren't you waiting for someone?"
'Yes I was, but now that you're here it's fine! We could go for dinner and walking and through the town and look at the stars and… and… oh, I can't say that! Maybe something subtle… something Naruto will be able to pick up on!'
"… Not anymore."
She shyly turned to him, her hand still in his as Naruto turned to her. Not knowing why, the smile slowly crept from his face. He'd actually really wanted to walk Hinata home…
Noting how stupid that idea sounded, he then quickly proceeded to look around dimly, scanning his surroundings. 'Is it a guy or a girl that she's waiting for? Man, what if it's Kiba? I hope it's a gi-'
Naruto suddenly caught himself in a strange chain of thought. Where the heck did that come from?
"N-Naruto?"
Seemingly caught off guard, Naruto flicked his head to the side, taking Hinata almost completely by surprise. Thinking of nothing else but how silly he must have looked, he quickly darted around the scenery, thankfully remembering what she'd just said.
"O-oh, really Hinata? Oh, that's ok! I was just heading out anyway, just… ya know, going for a walk! So… where is… 'he'…?"
Naruto hesitated on the last part of the question as he swallowed. 'Please not Kiba, please not Kiba, please not… wait, what if it's Sasuke? Oh crap! PLEASE BE KIBA, PLEASE BE KIBA, PLEASE BE KIBA, PLEASE BE KIBA-'
"He's… he's right here."
Of course, anyone else would have immediately picked up on the signal. It was obvious to say the least. But not obvious enough for our Naruto!
Feeling a knot form in his stomach, Naruto embarrassingly released Hinata's hand. Of course it was a guy she was waiting for! He felt like an absolute moron. He quickly shoved his hand behind his head, rubbing it and laughing nervously.
"Oh, geez! I-I'm sorry, Hinata! Guess I'll l-leave you two alone, then…"
Without so much as a second glance, Naruto quickly dashed off into town, the hot bowl of beef ramen now a fleeting and fast forgotten thought in his head. Hinata longingly reached after Naruto, wondering if she'd been too vague…
After a moment, she inwardly sighed. Of course he wouldn't pick up on that! The idea itself was far too vague… on the other hand, they were the only two people around! How could he NOT pick up on that?
She looked forlornly at the cloud of dust Naruto left in his wake as she sighed, leaning against the wooden fence just across from Ichiraku's.
His thoughts returned to the timid girl, once again poking her fingers together as he talked to her. Maybe if he had any form of courage at all, he would have asked her to go for a walk, go to dinner… or something. Anything! Instead, as soon as he thought another guy was involved, he took off up the dusty roads, leaving a cloud and a very disappointed Hinata in his wake. Wandering Konoha alone as he usually did, he began to wonder why the hell he even attempted to try for Sakura.
But what about Hinata? She was a puzzle as well! Always poking her fingers together, blushing, smiling and nervously looking away at things… and anytime she spoke, it was barely above a whisper! Naruto had no idea why he was thinking about the shy, outspoken, timid, withdrawn, pretty, caring… adorable… sweet, kind… girl…?
"… You've gone real… quiet. What's wrong?"
Naruto turned to Kiba, quickly shooting a hand behind his head and rubbing it nervously.
"Oh, n-nothing! Just, ya know, thinking about… stuff…" he said through a large smile that quickly faded as soon as Kiba shrugged and turned away from him.
'What the hell is going on?' Naruto asked himself, cocking his head and closing his eyes tightly in thought. He had no idea what brought on thinking like this, but in his traditional brain-dead fashion, he decided to voice something without thinking about it. At all.
"Hey, I know!" Naruto said stupidly, slapping Kiba on the back as he released a yelp of agony. "Why don't you ask out Hinata? I think she likes you! She's always poking her fingers together whenever I see her and she's always around you."
If Naruto had paused to look at Kiba's reaction, he would have seen a look of utmost annoyance and disbelief. Instead, he continued his rambling as Kiba glumly turned away from him once again.
"Can't you see, Kiba? I'll bet she's just waiting for you to ask her out and-"
"Naruto, lemme ask you something."
"Huh?"
Naruto stared in surprise at Kiba as a look of annoyance ran across his face. He pulled out the half eaten loaf of bread that he was sharing with Akamaru, quickly elongating his nails and cutting a rather large slice from it. Returning his nails to normal, he picked up the piece of bread and flashed it across Naruto's face.
"What do you think is the difference between you and this piece of bread?"
Naruto was perplexed at the question, but answered impulsively… as usual.
"Well that's easy, Kiba! That's a piece of bread and I'm a hu-"
"The answer is 'nothing,' because you're both thick."
Once again, Naruto was confused - a situation that was starting to seem familiar to the blonde haired youth. Perplexed once again, he turned to Kiba and shouted.
"What are you talking about you weirdo! I'm not a piece of bread!"
"I did ask her out, ya dingbat," Kiba said, placing his arms behind his head and lying back down on the roof. "Believe it or not, just recently. Probably woulda been about a half hour before you showed up."
Naruto raised a brow suspiciously. He couldn't help but feel a twinge in the back of his mind.
'What the heck was that? Why do… why do I feel all weird after hearing that he asked Hinata out?' Naruto thought, deciding to snoop a little deeper. He forced a smile and grinned confidently, about to put forth that he was right.
"Well, see? I told ya. How'd it go? Are you gonna take her out? She said yes, didn't she?"
Kiba released a short grunt, shaking his head and then turning to Naruto.
"Nope. Turned me down."
Naruto suddenly felt relieved. He was really happy that Hinata wasn't going out with…
Wait, what?
'What the heck is going on? Why am I so happy that Kiba isn't going out with Hinata? More importantly, why is it any of my business?' Naruto asked himself, silently wracking his brain. 'Geez, anyone would think that I was jea-'
Without meaning to, Naruto kinda hit the nail right on the head. He was jealous that Kiba had asked Hinata out! He was actually jealous!
"Somethin' tells me you're finally putting two and two together, man."
Kiba's smarmy retort to Naruto's silence roused another impulsive response from the boy.
"Whaddaya mean? I don't know what the heck you're trying to tell me, dog-breath!"
Kiba's patience wore thin as he brought a fist down across the back of Naruto's head.
"HINATA'S GOT THE FREAKIN' HOTS FOR YOU, YA NIMROD!"
"Oww! What the heck was that f-… wait, huh?"
Kiba towered over Naruto as Akamaru once again took refuge beneath his jacket.
"Why d'ya think she's always pressing her fingers together when you talk to her? Why d'ya think she's always blushing around you? Why, Naruto, do ya think you see her almost everywhere you ALWAYS go?"
Much to Kiba's surprise, Naruto was finally putting the pieces together. Kiba's outburst had finally (and thankfully) awoken a bit of sense in the boy. He turned to Kiba, a questioning expression on his face.
"You mean… Hinata actually likes me?"
Kiba threw his hands up in mock astonishment.
"And the last horse crosses the finish line! She's liked you for ages, man! God… How the heck could you not see it?"
Naruto quickly ran through multiple scenarios with the timid girl. She always seemed to be doing exactly what Kiba had said: he constantly found her after classes and around Ichiraku's, she always blushed whenever she spoke to him, and he couldn't remember a time he'd caught her eye without pushing her fingers together at least a few times.
Quickly springing to his feet, Naruto clasped his hands around his head as a thought ran across his mind.
"… Oh, hang on a sec – weren't you waiting for someone?"
"… not anymore."
"O-oh, really Hinata? Oh, that's ok! I was just heading out anyway, just… ya know, going for a walk! So… where is… 'he'…?"
"He's… he's right here."
"OH MY GOD! SHE WAS… SHE WAS WAITING FOR ME!" Naruto exclaimed, fumbling across the roof and turning to Kiba. "W-w-what the heck should I do?"
Kiba rolled his eyes and laughed.
"Oh, come on, you gotta be kidding me, right? Get your ass over there and ask her out! I'm sure she'll still be there, probably still waiting out at Ichiraku's for ya."
Naruto jumped in a rare moment of astonishing realisation, proceeding to run in circles around the rooftop. Kiba looked on in amusement as Naruto suddenly stopped, stood still and turned towards Kiba. A sheepish grin climbed onto his face.
"… Which way to Ichiraku's from here?"
Kiba suddenly had an intensely dumbfounded look plastered on his mug. Akamaru joined the thought by releasing a low whine as Kiba half-heartedly pointed a finger in the direction of the ramen bar.
"Thanks, Kiba!"
Naruto waved a thank-you to Kiba as he took off over the rooftops, landing in the dusty street and dashing madly towards Ichiraku's. He shook his head as he watched him dash off into the distance, returning his gaze to the moon as Akamaru started on the thick slice of bread that had rolled from Kiba's hand. He found himself going through their conversations as he lay across the roof, using his hands as a make-shift pillow. As he paused on a certain part of the conversation, a smile crept onto his face.
'Hmmm… Ino, huh?'
His heels were practically hitting the back of his head as Naruto sprinted off towards Ichiraku's.
'Please be there, please be there, please be there, PLEASE be there, PLEASE be THERE, PLEASE BE THERE, PLEASE BE THERE, PLEASE BE THERE, PLEASE BE THERE, PLEASE BE-'
"N-Naruto?"
A shriek of panic echoed through the streets as Naruto tripped over his own foot, causing him to tumble and fall over himself quite a number of times. Upon repeating his face-to-floor technique for the fifth time, he found himself resting comfortably on his back, attempting to stop the world around him from spinning.
"Ah, N-Naruto! A-are you alright?"
'That voice…'
Naruto felt small hands lifting him up and shaking him. His head lazily swung behind his torso as he managed to blink a clear image in front of him.
"Naruto!"
"… Hinata?"
The pale-eyed girl ceased her shaking as she gasped.
"Oh, Naruto! I-I'm so sorry, I didn't think you'd fall like that, are yo-"
"Hinata!"
Naruto sprung up as Hinata jumped backwards, landing on her backside and staring up at the blonde boy. He smiled excitedly as butterflies ran around in his stomach.
"N-Naruto, what's wrong?"
"You're on the ground, that's what's wrong!" he said, laughing as he excitedly bent down to the girl's side. Taking in her reactions carefully, he saw her tiny smile, her quickly reddening cheeks and her inability to make eye contact. He almost squeaked in delight – he had never had a girl like him before! His smile was uncontrollable as he once again found his way under her arm, lifting her off the ground. She quickly withdrew her arm and dusted herself off, shyly pressing her fingers together again.
"Th-thank you, Naruto. Are… are you ok?" she asked timidly, quickly darting to his eyes. Naruto released a huge smile, quickly placing his hand behind his head nervously.
"Yeah, I'm fine… ummm…"
Hinata stopped poking her fingers together and brushed her hair back from her face. She turned to Naruto, looking at his face as he squirmed.
"Are you sure, y-you look sort of… oh! I know, you were going t-to Ichiraku's weren't you?"
An idea suddenly popped into Naruto's head. He lowered his arm, placing it into his pocket.
"Yeah, actually. Sasuke, Sakura and I just got back from a mission, so…" he pulled Gama-chan, Naruto's tiny frog-shaped wallet, out of his pocket. "Gama-chan's pretty full. I was just gonna head straight to Ichiraku's, but then I thought of something."
'Oh, no,' Hinata panicked, 'I made Naruto forget about his dinner! He must be starving! I've got to-'
"I had a chance to talk to that guy you were waiting for," he said, replacing Gama-chan in his pocket.
Hinata's eyes widened. Immediately lowering her eyes and looking away, an extremely panicked look washed over her as she pointed her fingers together furiously.
'He… he DID know what I meant! I… oh my, I'm so embarrassed… but… what is he-'
Naruto leaned down to catch her eyes, still smiling.
"He wanted to apologise for running off and he wants to know if you-"
Realising how stupid he sounded referring to himself in such a way, Naruto corrected his posture, cleared his throat and smiled confidently at the intensely blushing heiress.
"-the truth is, I wanted to apologise for running off… and I want to know if… ummm…"
Hinata suddenly received an intense moment of déjà vu. She remembered back to her earlier conversation with Kiba, and her heart fluttered.
'N-N-N-Naruto is… h-he is… w-we are… he's… we're… I-I'm…'
Naruto took her hand and pointed off to Ichiraku's in the distance.
"… Hinata, do you wanna go out to dinner with me?"
Her fluttering heart stopped as history was doomed to repeat itself.
"You… want to have dinner… with me?"
Naruto nodded, placing a hand behind his head and laughing nervously.
"Yeah, I do. A-a-and I can even pay for you!" he said excitedly, patting his pocket. "I'm sure Gama-chan won't mind."
Hinata's face turned as red as Sakura's outfit.
'… he… wants… he wants to… pay? This is… THIS IS…!'
"… like… like a… d-date?"
Naruto's smile remained as he tugged at her hand. She found her feet moving of their own accord, walking towards the ramen stand as she smiled gently, looking towards her crush. She smiled as well, wide enough to show her teeth as she happily wrapped her arms around Naruto's arm. Naruto turned to her, smiling as they continued to Ichiraku's. A thought occurred to Hinata and, while ecstatic, she looked up at Naruto.
"Y-you don't have t-to pay, N-Naruto. I-I have a little money…" she said softly, shyly reaching into the pocket of her lavender coat. Naruto laughed and shook his head.
"Nah, it's alright. Besides – you'll have to get used to it if you're going to be my girlfriend."
'Girlfriend.'
'Girlfriend.'
'Girlfriend.'
'Girlfriend.'
The word echoed in Hinata's head as she stopped where she was. Naruto felt a tug at his arm as he turned, meeting Hinata's eyes.
"Hinata?"
The poor girl nearly suffered heart failure as she became a proverbial tomato. Her eyes were wide and staring directly out in front of her. Naruto looked worriedly towards her as she spoke.
"…d-d-did y-you just… say… I-I'm g-going to b-b-be y-your…"
Hinata swallowed as an irrevocable smile graced her timid features. Naruto raised a brow.
"…g-g-girlfriend?"
Naruto smiled once more.
"Well, yeah! I wouldn't have asked you out if I didn't want you to be my girlfriend!"
An ecstatic red blur passed Naruto as Hinata fell lifelessly to the dusty road, her eyes spinning as an over-joyed smile was spread across her visage. Naruto's mouth swung wide open as a horrified yelp left his lips, quickly ducking to the pale girl's side.
"Hi-Hinata? HINATA?"
Bit of a cuter one, written with the anime-style in mind. Have a bit of a laugh, people ;)
Good writing to all!
LS.