End
After saving the world from Ten Tailed Beast, Hinata Hyūga and Naruto Uzumaki became a true dynamic duo to hail from the Hidden Leaf Village. Naruto's raw power and determination combined with Hinata's intelligence and precision made them an unstoppable force on the battlefield. Together, they ensured that the world was at peace.
Off the battlefield, Hinata still had trouble expressing herself around Naruto; she was still timid in his presence. At her best, she would bow her head and blush whenever Naruto was in sight. At her worst, she would faint if they shared an intimate moment. It didn't matter how many missions they went on together, if she declared her undying admiration for him, or even if their close friends commented on how great of a team they were together. She was utterly awestruck and timid whenever he was around.
But there was no denying how much she was in love with him.
Naruto and Hinata returned to the Hidden Leaf Village from a week long mission to the Hidden Mist Village. It wasn't anything too exciting or dangerous but they did get to spend some time together. Any time Hinata can spend with Naruto is time well spent in her eyes. They walked through the village on their way to check in with Lady Tsunade. Naruto had his eyes fixated on the white clouds above while Hinata followed close behind. As he walked, she saw an orange aura shroud his body. He oozed confidence while keeping a nonchalant attitude. Anything Naruto did in Hinata's eyes was marvelous.
"Hey Hinata," Naruto called out behind him, "are you feeling alright? You're walking kinda slow, ya know."
Hinata snapped out of her daze as she saw Naruto make a full stop. "Nothing, I'm fine."
Naruto shrugged off Hinata's reply and kept walking. "I'm still bummed out that grandma gave us such an easy mission again. I may only be a genin, but I deserve better missions than these. Oh well. At least we're getting両50,000 out of it."
Hinata bowed her head and poked her index fingers together. She was happy Naruto was acknowledging her as his equal. "And, we got to spend time together."
Naruto paused to think about what Hinata had said and smiled, which made Hinata blush. After the World War, Hinata and Naruto didn't spend too much time together. The Hyūga clan had to plan Neji's funeral while Naruto kept training, eating ramen, and going on missions. They spent some time together but it was normally with their close friends while their missions kept them too preoccupied to bond.
"I don't know," Naruto said, "You'll probably get tired of me if we spend more time together."
"I promise I won't!" Hinata reassured.
"Ohhh I'm just teasing. We make a great team, believe it!"
"Thank you for saying that, Naruto." Hinata was deeply flattered that she finally had Naruto's full recognition. It didn't matter that she still couldn't fully express her true feelings to him. She was just glad that Naruto was lauding her.
"Do you remember when we faced off against Obito?" Naruto continued, "He couldn't match our power at all no matter how ultimate he thought he was."
"Well, our friends did help out," Hinata corrected.
Naruto groaned after Hinata had corrected him. "Okay, we had the rest of our friends to help us out. But their actions were spearheaded by us ya know."
"Spearheaded?" Hinata was surprised that Naruto was using words outside of his normal vocabulary.
"I saw the word in one of pervy sage's books. When I looked it up in a dictionary, I kinda liked it. It's even fun to say! Spearheaded." Hinata chuckled at Naruto's discretion for the new word, but was somewhat proud that he was trying new things.
Naruto heard Hinata's chuckle and started to laugh along with her. "You think it's funny too?"
"Yes actually," Hinata answered, "you're always pretty funny, Naruto."
"I knew someone would appreciate my sense of humor one day!"
Hinata's face turned red while Naruto smiled and looked into her eyes. They both giggled and shared a silence for a couple of moments, but it wasn't awkward. They both felt quite comfortable in their silence. Naruto maintained the eye contact but started to blush after awhile. He looked away and put his hands behind his head to begin walking again. Hinata followed him until they reached Lady Tsunade's office to receive their payment.
"So I assume there wasn't any trouble with the mission?" Tsunade asked.
"Of course not grandma," Naruto replied while Hinata nodded her head no, "it was a B-ranked mission with a crazy high payout. I wasn't gonna screw this up for any reason."
"Yes, that's nice Naruto," Tsunade retorted, "but I was actually asking Hinata."
Naruto grinned and stepped back while Hinata looked up to talk to the Hokage. "There was no trouble with the mission at all, Lady Tsunade. The families were quite headstrong but Naruto and I were able to ease tensions."
"That's good to hear," Shizune replied, "Lady Tsunade and I were really worried that this was going to escalate into a multinational affair. We're glad you two were successful."
"It was our pleasure," Hinata said while smiling. Naruto rubbed his hands together anticipating the reward.
"I know you're waiting for your money Naruto," Tsunade noted, "so here you go. You two deserved it. You two are dismissed."
Naruto and Hinata received their payouts from Lady Tsunade and left her office. Shizune inched towards the Hokage with a smile on her face.
"They're going to make such a good couple, won't they?" Shizune inquired.
"He's an impetuous, loudmouthed idiot," Tsunade responded with her arms crossed, "I have no idea what she sees in him."
"In her defense, so were my uncle and your brother. Also Jiraiya for that matter."
Tsunade shook her head and sighed, agreeing with Shizune's statement.
Naruto and Hinata continued walking through the village with nowhere to go. Neither of them seemed to mind, however. They simply enjoyed each other's company after being emotionally apart for so long. Naruto realized he was getting ahead of Hinata, so he slowed down to match her speed and hold her hand. This nearly caused Hinata to pass out but she maintained her composure, albeit with a beet red face. It was not because this was the first time they had an intimate moment; Naruto was just casual about it. Hinata thought it was best not to make such a great deal out of it, but inside she was elated.
"I should've asked this earlier, but what are you planning to do with your money?" Naruto asked.
"Umm," Hinata stuttered, "I probably will probably save more of it."
"I almost forgot," Naruto smirked, "you practically come from money."
"Yeah, I guess." Hinata had thought Naruto resented her family's wealth.
"But I guess you have a point," Naruto continued, "I'm probably going to put some of it away. It's not everyday I get paid両25,000 for a mission, ya know."
"That sounds like a good idea," Hinata replied.
"Though there is one thing I wanna do with some of my money, tonight."
Hinata tilted her head in confusion, wondering what Naruto would want to spend his money on.
Naruto took a deep breath before starting his next sentence; "I wanna take you out to dinner."
Hinata had to muster all of her strength to prevent herself from fainting in the middle of the Hidden Leaf Village. She couldn't believe that Naruto uttered the words she wanted to hear for so long. As much as she tried to maintain her composure, she started to teeter over but Naruto held onto her before she could hit the floor.
"I would love to." Hinata muttered as she looked into his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that," Naruto replied.
"I would love to!" Hinata replied with more vigor.
"Great! I'm gonna to train with Kakashi sensei and Sasuke for a while, so we'll meet in front of the academy before sunset."
Hinata's smile faded slightly as she tilted her head; "We're not going to eat ramen tonight?"
"Since I have money, I figure we could go somewhere nicer than Ichiraku's. I'm not trying to make such a big deal about this but…" Naruto paused their walking to get closer to Hinata and hold both of her hands.
"I really want this night to be special between us."
Hearing Naruto sound so tender and earnest made Hinata starry eyed.
"I can't wait to see you tonight, Naruto," Hinata declared.
"Awesome," Naruto answered, "I'll see you tonight."
Naruto left Hinata to head to the training grounds. As he left, Hinata's face lost its redness but she felt like she was floating on air. Naruto had actually asked her out on a date. She had so much to do before meeting up with him but all she could do was stare as he left for the training ground. Naruto looked back at Hinata to smile at her. Hinata smiled back until Naruto narrowly missed hitting a tree, nearly making her laugh.
She could still see the orange aura shroud him.