Author's Note: This story came out rather clumsy and not quite as well written as I would have liked, but I decided not to change it. I don't know why, I just like the way it is now. Retarded child of mine that it is, I hope you all will like it as well.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. All rights to Naruto are copyrighted to and by Masashi Kishimoto, Viz Media, and it's affiliates.

"Sakura!"

Oh, no, not him. An annoyed and irritable Sakura Haruno turned in mid stride down the middle of the street and turned her head back over her shoulder to gaze behind her, pin pointing the source of the call as expectedly one Naruto Uzumaki was running toward her, full tilt down the side of the road with his arms waving erratically over his head. She felt her cheeks warm with embarrassment at his approach.

"Sakura! Here you are.. Been looking for you.." Naruto leaned against the wall at his side, separating the street from someone's fenced in home, Naruto was unsure of who lived there.

"I was just wonder- Ow!" Naruto yelped as Sakura promptly cuffed him across the side of his head.

"What was that for?" He whined.

"For acting no different then you usually do! Like a monkey!" Sakura hissed at him, cuffing him again with a resounding thump.

"Do you have no decency?! Sheesh, running around like that and yelling at people.. What do you want?" Sakura glared over at him, annoyed yet finally silent, her cheeks still sporting a red twinge.

Naruto hoped she wouldn't hit him again.

"Well, you see I was wondering if you wanted to go get some ramen with me." He grinned at her and reached up to place his hand's behind his head.

"Huh?" Sakura blinked.

"Ramen." Naruto repeated. "You know? Food? You eat it? Noodles?"

"I know what ramen is!" Sakura snapped, however her voice was not as rough as it had been moments before. Naruto had never asked her to go out and eat with him, yet he had always vied for her attention, she supposed it was rather a sweet thing to do.

Sweet? Sweet?! Naruto couldn't be sweet if he had his brains made out of sugar!

Snarling at herself more so then Naruto she shrugged her shoulders and turned away from him, continuing her walk down the street, but not before calling back to him.

"No thanks, maybe next time. I have things to do." Sakura actually had nothing that she had to do for several hours, but that was besides the point, to her anyway. Despite her turning down a trip for ramen with Naruto, Sakura was uncommonly pleasant to be around that day, much to her fellow students surprise.

Several minutes later a dejected Naruto had not left from the spot he and Sakura had occupied, his head hung with a sigh. So much for that.. He thought. With a shrug of his shoulders and a grin on his face Naruto marched down the street, turning a left and jogging several yards to the dense tree's surrounding Konoha, he had several training spots in the forest and he intended to put his favorite to use.

Leaping over a boulder blocking the path he nearly fell flat on his face as he stumbled, the slight whisper of voices snapping him to attention. He had ventured rather deep into the forest and was puzzled over why somebody would come all the way in her just to talk. On closer inspection he noticed that footprints lingered on the earth beneath his, running his hand along one he closed his eyes and cocked his head, the faint murmur of voices rising in pitch as he set off to find them.

Perhaps five minutes later, Naruto lay crouched underneath a rather large and prickly bush, gazing out and across a very small field, littered with boulders and dead tree stumps. He could hear the voices distinctly now, but was unable to see anyone from behind the bush.

".. An.. And now I don't know what to do.." A soft voice spoke, feminine, female.

Naruto thought that stutter sounded slightly familiar. Naruto couldn't quite place it.

"Well, simply be yourself, you should never be something your not for someone else. Then they will never know the real you." A male voice spoke this time, gentle and with a hint of humor.

Naruto nearly choked on the leaves hanging in front of his face from the bush he was currently hiding him as he gasped. That was Kakashi!

"Besides," he continued. Naruto had a fleeting feeling that he was behind watched, as Kakashi spoke his next words. "Naruto isn't that dense, usually."

The result was instantaneous. Naruto leaped up from his hiding place with a screech.

"I'm not dense!" He screamed

The female whom he had heard, he now recognized as Hinata Hyuga who yelped and fell backward off the stump and onto her rear, Kakashi's reaction however was to start laughing.

Naruto barely had time to think on what Kakashi and Hinata had been doing way out here, and why they had been discussion him.

"I'm not dense!" He repeated, scowling at the laughing Kakashi.

"No, of course not." He replied, helping Hinata sit up.

"What are you two doing out here?" Asked Naruto.

"We could ask you the same thing." Retorted Kakashi, Hinata had yet to speak.

"Well.." Naruto faltered slightly, rubbing his left hand against the side of his neck. "You see, I asked Sakura if she wanted to eat some ramen with me, but she said no, so I thought I would train instead."

Naruto missed the slight wrinkle in Hinata's brow and the forlorn look that entered her clear crystal eyes as he spoke of Sakura. Kakashi, however, did not.

"Why don't you take a break Naruto? Even Hokage's need a break once in a while." Kakashi suggested mildly.

Naruto stared at Kakashi as if he had stabbed him with a shuriken. "But if I don't train I can't become Hokage."

"I have an idea, why don't you take Hinata here out for that ramen?" Kakashi gently laid a hand on Hinata's's shoulder, she still had not spoken. Her fingers twitched slightly but her eyes never left Naruto's face.

"I.. I don't k-know.." She stuttered, she felt her cheeks warm instantly.

"It'll be find, what do you say Naruto?" Kakashi gestured slightly, casually pushing Hinata toward Naruto.

Naruto, ignorant of Hinata's state shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "Sure."

"B-but sir, would you like to come too?" Hinata spoke up hesitantly, glancing at Naruto nervously.

Kakashi shook his head. "No thanks, I have something I have to do first, go on."

Naruto turned and grinned at Hinata. "Come on, it's a long walk back."

The 'long way back' was spent in near absolute silence, save the crunch of leaves and gravel beneath the feet of the pair, Hinata to nervous to speak to Naruto, and Naruto seeming to enjoy the silence all in it's own.

"Finally! We're here!" Naruto grinned happily.

Hinata snapped out of her dazed state, her eyes burning a hole through Naruto's head, quietly looking around her, from left to right. They had indeed already made it back into the village and walked straight into the square, she hadn't been paying any attention at all to her surroundings, only Naruto. Hinata blushed at they thought of what Kurenai Yuhi would have said to her had she known.

"What ramen do you want?" Naruto asked Hinata, who blushed and shrugged her shoulders delicately, gazing around her at the many faces packed into the small diner.

"Oh, uh.. An-Anything will do." She stuttered out, groaning in her head at her own foolishness.

"Two ramen's, please!" Naruto asked the man behind the counter, who nodded and disappeared into a doorway leading back.

"How is stuff, Hinata?" Naruto turned in his chair to face the young girl, the grin from outside never leaving his face.

"Great," She replied shyly. "How are Sousuke and.. Sakura?" She had the force the girl's name from between her lips, leaving a bitter aftertaste on the tip of her tongue once she said it.

"I haven't seen Sousuke in a while.." Naruto retorted thoughtful. "But Sakura is just fine." Naruto grinned widened, Hinata thought she may be sick.

"That's gre-" She was about to reply when a voice rang out, the man that was behind the counter approached them with two large, steaming bowls filled with noodles.

"Here yeh' go!" He smiled at the two, setting the bowls down in front of them.

Naruto almost instantly set upon his bowl with relish, digging his chopsticks in and stuffing his mouth full.

"Franks fhor dis." His voice was muffled behind all the noodles.

Hinata, smiling to herself pick up her chopsticks and set down to eat on her own bowl, graceful and proper next to Naruto's slurping and shoveling.

"Hinata! Hinata! Where are you?!" A high voice cut through the air like a knife.

Hinata was a little more than half way done with her ramen as she lifted her head, Naruto was scratching at the counter with a finger tip, having finished his own meal, juice, and all, with lightning speed.

"That's Kurenai." Naruto turned in his seat.

"Oh, looks like I have to go.." She set down her chopsticks, pushing her half eaten bowl of ramen toward Naruto.

"H-Here," She spoke. "You look.. Hungry.."

Naruto blinked at her. "Are you sure?" He asked.

Hinata nodded. "Looks like I have to go anyway."

Naruto smiled and accepted the bowl, nodding at Hinata.

"Thank you, Naruto, for the meal." She spoke up, her voice firm, feeling emboldened she leaned forward and gently kisses Naruto's cheek. "See you later." And with that she turned and rushed out of the ramen shop, her cheeks flaming red.

Naruto blinked at her retreating figure, shrugged once, and dug his chopsticks into the ramen before him.