Disclaimer: Well I'm back with a new fic for everyone! Come on, I know you all missed me! *Hugs* As always, I don't own Naruto, this is written just for fun. Remember guys, updating on this is going to be slow. I've got lots of life things going on right now, and I really want to post up the best chapters possible, so there will be some waits. The first chapter is a little short, but I think you'll like it. I don't know how long each chapter will be, I'm just going to let the plots I have planned dictate their length.
And now, I'm pleased to present the sequel to "Yes, Naruto, Everyone Knew" and "Little Things" :
~Yes, Naruto, Propose!~
~By: Mists~
~To Make a House a Home~
It had been a little over a year since Naruto and Hinata had started going out. It was well into summer, and the days were hot and long. Naruto wiped the sweat off of his dripping brow. He went over to the cooler and pulled out a bottle of water. As he twisted the top off, the blond plopped down and looked proudly up at what he and his friends had accomplished.
Gone were the gnarled vines and the twisted wreckage of his mother's homestead. Hinata had been true to her word, and helped him every step of the way with the repairs. At first, the pair had started fixing the small things. They weeded the grounds, cleaned up the debris, and shored up the main support beam.
But Hinata quickly realized that they were not skilled enough to rebuild the entire structure alone. But Naruto had been admittedly against bringing on anyone else to help. It was his home and he would be the one to fix it!
Hinata-chan, of course, respected his wishes... while discreetly sending out feelers among Naruto's friends after the ceiling nearly collapsed on him for the third time. And then one day, out of the blue, Naruto's old friend Inari from the Land of Waves came to visit. It turned out that he had finally finished his apprenticeship with his grandfather Tazuna and was currently searching for carpentry work. And Naruto, being unable to deny his friends anything when they were in need, immediately brought Inari onto the project.
The blond thought it was a little odd that Hinata and Inari shared a wink after he agreed, but Naruto never really thought much of it. That is until, Inari had started speaking rather loudly about their plans during lunch at Ichiraku's one day. Iruka-sensei and the rest of his Ramen family jumped at the chance to help out. And then Ino got wind of it and yeah... pretty much every weekend from then on, half of the ninja population would show up at work-site offering assistance. And Naruto would welcome all their help with open arms...except for Sakura's that is. Because Naruto wasn't going to let her within a fifty-foot radius of the building-site after she had nearly destroyed her parents' house, twice. But, Naruto let her pulverize some boulders around the estate grounds from time to time. Her punch combined with that temper was going to get Sakura into a lot of trouble one of these days.
Today happened to be one of those busy volunteer days. Kiba and Shino were hammering shingles to the roof as Akamaru barked his support from the ground. Sai and Ino had a giant board with color swatches on it as they spoke with Hinata about the overall interior design. Choji was, of course, catering the event, providing lunch to all their hungry friends. Shikamaru was standing with Inari, inspecting the plans and trying to supervise everyone. Konohamaru and his team collected the best lumber they could find. Tenten was in charge of keeping the tools organized and in the best possible working condition. Lee was currently in a contest with Guy-sensei about who could hammer the most nails in a hour, and Iruka-sensei was busy measuring wood as his daughter Nori passed him the correct tools. The blond was deeply touched that all their friends came out to help as often as they could.
Hinata-chan had been right, he really should have sought out their assistance earlier.
Naruto snorted to himself as he looked up at the nearly completed structure. His girlfriend was a very clever woman. She knew the real reason he had hesitated bringing them in. Naruto didn't want his friends to feel obligated to help, they owed him nothing, and he would not take advantage of their kindness. So Hinata-chan found a way for them to just offer it anyway.
With his friends' assistance, the project was finally almost complete. He and Hinata had just finished painting the living room walls yesterday. The blond, being the klutz that he was, accidentally got some paint on Hinata when he wasn't paying attention. But his girlfriend quickly got her revenge, and the work session quickly devolved into a playful paint fight. After an hour, they collapsed to the floor completely out of breath, and held each other to admirer their um... work. The walls were absolutely covered in a multitude of different hues, streaks, and splatters. They then turned to one another and noticed that their clothes and faces looked exactly like the walls. They merrily laughed at the mess they had made and ravenously began to kiss under the paint drying lights.
Yes, it had been quite the night. Naruto smirked to himself as he inspected his nearly completed home with pride. It had taken a lot of work, but it seemed that the structure would finally be used as it had been intended, as Naruto's home.
But if the blond was honest with himself, it would simply be a house without a certain someone there as well.
Naruto blushed thinking this and looked back down at his water bottle with a small smile. He had meant it that day when he told Hinata that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. And with every day that passed, he became even more certain that fact. She was the cornerstone of his life. And Naruto felt that enough time had finally passed in order to make it official. Even with the cost of rebuilding, Naruto had been putting a little aside each month. And after all this time, he was confident that there was enough to afford a proper ring.
Naruto may have screwed up their first date, no matter how hard Hinata protested that he hadn't, but he was not going to allow it to happen again! He was determined to make his proposal everything Hinata-chan deserved. This was going to be a night she was truly going to remember.
And the blond would end up doing so... with more than a little help from his friends.
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Well there you have it! I think all of you will like what I have planned. Thanks again to all the people who faved and reviewed the last two fics. They really inspired me to write this next piece and I hope you continue to enjoy my work. Reviews help me write faster, LOL!
So please remember to read, fav, and review!
