Hinata looked up in surprise when she heard Kiba excitedly calling her name. She turned and saw the boy running toward her, excitement engulfing his features. What could have possibly happened?
Then Kiba said two words that answered everything, "Naruto's back!"
Hinata hadn't believed it then, but now, as she stood holding a sac of groceries and stared at the grinning blonde in front of her, she did.
"Hey, long time since I last saw you, huh Hinata?" The boy greeted cheerfully, his grin growing into a smile.
"Y-yes, it has," she stuttered in reply, trying not to blush. 'He's grown so much…' Hinata thought.
"Hehe, you've grown a lot, too" Hinata felt her face begin to burn. She hadn't meant to say it out loud!
"Well, I better get going. Sakura and Kakashi are probably waiting for me…" Naruto said, then as an after-thought added, "Well, maybe not Kakashi…"
Hinata watched as he walked away, and forced herself to gather every ounce of courage she had. After all, this may be the last chance she got.
"Wait!" She called, and when he turned and looked at her with curious blue eyes, she averted her gaze and began poking her two index fingers together. It was a habit she still hadn't broken.
"W-would you… would you like to, maybe, y-you know… Go out for lunch sometime?" She finally asked, unable to keep the hopeful sound out of her voice.
"Huh?" Naruto muttered in confusion. It was followed by a long silence, and Hinata began to worry he was going to reject her. Then he laughed.
'Why did I ask him that?! Of course he's going to reject me!' Hinata began mentally berating herself. But before she could apologize to Naruto, he said, " Sure, why not? How's tomorrow sound?"
Hinata managed to stammer a reply that went something like, " Oh, uh…um y-yeah, th-that sounds good." Then Naruto grinned and walked away, yelling his goodbye over his shoulder.
And then Hinata was the happiest girl in the world.
Autor's Note: Yeah, I decided to right another Naruto fic, since most of the stuff I have written is Avatar... Anyway, reviews are always appreciated. Unless they're reviews telling me I suck, that just makes me sad.
Disclaimer: Not my series. End of story.