Notes: This was written for my lovely friend, Renee. (Better known as duckasstheavenger on tumblr or I believe she goes by rmmmanzini here.) She is wonderful and the most avid NaruHina shipper I know. Yeah and this little oneshot is 100% fluff and I'll stop talking now.

...

One to Remember

...

It was nearing the end of October, the chill of winter was just beginning to set in. She had been out most of the night at one of Konoha's bars with her teammates celebrating the success of yet another mission.

It was a relatively minor mission really. A simple escort mission. It was only given a B ranking because the person they were tasked to escort had ties to the Fire Country's noble family. They had no trouble along the way. They were back in Konoha in less than a week. Hinata didn't see the need to celebrate completing such a mission, but Kiba had been grouching and complaining that they "hadn't been out in ages" and "needed to let loose and have fun once in a while." Eventually, Shino had gotten so irritated that he had agreed if only to make Kiba shut up. Hinata had agreed as well, but she wasn't particularly thrilled with the idea.

The bar wasn't her idea of fun. It was loud and rowdy and had a lingering smell of stale beer. It was one of those bars that catered strictly to Konoha's shinobi forces. This was where tired and weary shinobi came to unwind, and as such, it was packed. Hinata could barely move. She had spent the better part of ten minutes attempting to be heard over the roar of voices so that she could order a drink from the bartender. Thankfully, Kiba had come to her rescue and ordered for her.

But the problem was...She hadn't seen him since. She hadn't seen Shino, either. The bar was so full of off-duty ninja that once she lost sight of her teammates, it was next to impossible to find them again. She had looked, of course. She'd pushed and squeezed and excuse me'd around the perimeter of the bar at least twice, but with no luck.

And now it was getting late. Her father would certainly be wondering where she was. She didn't really want to leave her teammates at the bar and go home by herself, but by this point she didn't see another option. She was doing herself no favors by staying there. She wasn't having fun. She didn't know any of the other shinobi in the bar well enough to feel comfortable striking up a conversation. All she was doing was standing awkwardly in the one corner that was relatively free of the smoky cigarette haze which blanketed the rest of the bar.

And for all she knew, Shino had already left. He was the kind to quietly slip away without anyone noticing. Kiba was still here, of that she was certain, but she wasn't willing to search for him any longer.

Having made up her mind to leave, she set her barely touched drink down on a nearby table whose occupants surely wouldn't notice one more glass next to their dozen half-empty ones. She was just heading toward the bar's entrance when she heard his voice.

"I didn't expect to see you here so late, Hinata!"

She froze in her tracks. She hadn't expected to see him here either. The whole time she'd been here, she'd been searching the bar for her teammates. Surely, she would have noticed a bright blond head of hair as she looked for them, right?

Slowly, she turned to face him. He looked as if he had just returned from a mission as well. He still had his Konoha headband tied around his forehead and he was of course wearing his usual bright orange and black tracksuit. Although tonight, his jacket was unzipped to about midway down his chest. Hinata could see his mesh undershirt.

She looked into his (beautiful blue) eyes for a moment before quickly looking down at the floor.

"H-hello, Naruto-kun."

Naruto simply smiled at her in return. It was one of those lovely smiles of his that made his eyes crinkle. Knowing she was the cause of that smile, she felt her face grow hot as a blush spread across her cheeks. That reaction caused her to become embarrassed which even further reddened her cheeks. But she couldn't help it. She'd admired Naruto so much and for so long that to have his attention focussed on her made her stomach flutter and her head feel dizzy. She was shy by nature, but he was the only one to have this kind of effect on her. He made her feel absolutely wonderful. He inspired her. He made her feel like she was capable of anything.

Still smiling, Naruto moved a bit closer to her - having to use his elbow to nudge a few people out of the way in order to do so.

"You're not here alone are you?"

In order to be heard in the noisy bar, he had leaned very close to her when he spoke. She could feel his warm breath on her ear.

Not wanting to risk her blush spreading even further across her face, she continued to look down at her feet as she spoke.

"No, I came here with Kiba and Shino. But...we got separated not too long after we arrived. I can't find them anywhere." She bit her lip as she chanced a glance up at Naruto's face. "I was just getting ready to go home."

Naruto frowned and crossed his arms over his chest..

"Come to think of it, I saw Kiba over by the pool tables." He brought a hand up to scratch the back of his neck. "Hmmm, it's been a while since I saw him though. Never saw Shino."

He turned away from her and strained his neck trying to look out over the crowds of shinobi as if searching for her errant teammates.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun," she said with grateful smile. "I'm not trying to find them anymore. I need to get home before my father begins to worry."

Naruto looked back down at her questioningly.

"H-have a good night," she said with a little wave over her shoulder as she began to make her way back to the bar's entrance.

About halfway there, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She stiffened. This bar was full of shinobi, sure, but most of them were heavily intoxicated and she was a ninja as well. She could take care of herself. She readied herself for defense as she turned around and...she immediately relaxed.

Naruto had a sheepish expression on his face as he retracted his hand from her shoulder and brought it up to run through the back of his hair.

"Sorry for grabbing you like that," he said. "It's just...are you walking home by yourself?"

"Um, I-I-," she stuttered.

He quickly waved his hands in the air and cut her off before she could fully articulate her thoughts.

"I mean - I know you can get home by yourself. You're a kunoichi, I know that. I was just wondering..." He let out a shaky laugh and then cleared his throat. "I just wanted to know if you'd like me to walk you home?"

The blush returned as she opened and closed her mouth trying to find words.

He peered at her curiously.

"I won't if you don't want me to, but I know it gets kinda lonely walking home by yourself."

She took a deep breath and gathered her wits. This was it.

"Yes," she said without a single shake in her voice. "Yes, I would very much like it if you walked me home."

He gave her another of his brilliant smiles and she fidgeted with the hem of her jacket before tentatively returning the smile.

"Great!" he exclaimed. He extended an arm towards the heavy wooden doors of the bar. "Lead the way!"

After a few minutes of fighting their way to the exit, they stepped out into the cold night air.

Winter really had arrived. They could see their breath mist out in front of them as they trudged toward the Hyuuga compound. It wasn't a very long walk - no more than fifteen minutes - but it was long enough for Hinata to feel the chill creep into her very bones. She shivered and hugged her jacket closer to herself.

As she and Naruto veered off of one of Konoha's main streets, Hinata felt a warm presence against her side. She glanced up to see that Naruto had moved to walk closer to her. Much closer. His upper arm was pressing against her shoulder.

"You looked like you were cold," he said having noticed her looking at him.

Fighting down another blush, she flicked her gaze back down and mumbled a quick thank you. In return, and to her utter surprise, Naruto wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him.

"Can't let you freeze out here now, can I?" He was doing that crinkle-eyed smile again.

There was no stopping her blush now.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. But it wasn't an uncomfortable kind of silence. It was a kind of silence that could only be achieved by two people who were completely at ease in each other's company. The kind that didn't need to be punctuated by small talk or meaningless conversation. The kind that they could both simply enjoy.

Hinata had never expected her night to end like this - with Naruto walking by her side and with his strong arm wrapped around her shoulders. She could easily forget any awkwardness she had felt back at the bar.

They reached the Hyuuga compound far sooner than she would have liked. She thought she could walk by Naruto's side all her life and still not be satisfied.

Just in front of the doors, Naruto turned to her and smiled.

"Looks like we're here." He lifted a hand to rub at the back of his head again. "I know I didn't really need to, but thanks for letting me walk you home. It was...it was really nice."

Hinata clasped her hands in front of her and smiled shyly back at him.

"Yes. It was really nice, Naruto-kun." She directed her gaze towards her family home and prepared herself to be bold. "Maybe we could do this again some time..?"

She kept her line of sight away from Naruto, fearing his rejection...and so she was a bit startled when she felt his hand brush by her ear, tucking back her hair.

"I'd like that," he said.

...

Notes: maybe naruto is a little too smooth here, but if this were in his pov instead of hinata's you would understand that he is actually just stumbling into this smoothness by accident. he just seems smooth to her because 1) she doesn't know what he's thinking and 2) she's not looking at him half the time. yes, that's how i'm reconciling this.