Hinata's (Un)Luckiest Day
Since I'm trying to get my scanner to work, my other fanifics, To Find one Another, is on pause, simply because it would be cooler to have the hand-drawn versions of the characters and the story updated in the same phase. That, and I'm still in the middle of writing the other chapter, so I decided to have a cute little, three chapter story until then. Read and review!
Luck, yes, luck. The random factor that explained the universal aspect of the universe's extreme unpredictablility. Some people were born with good luck, that natural numerical number generator that gave them all of the good end of life's stick. Then some people were born with bad luck, and suffered deeply for the sheer unpredictabliity of the universe. But most are simply inbetween, good and bad befalling them depending on their point of view.
In the case of Hyuga Hinata, she herself believed her life to be of the more miserable kind. Steeped in sadness out of the fact that her family shunned her for her weakness, she too thought herself weak. Of course, there are those who do not rely on luck, and purely on hardwork, such as Rock Lee, or the person Hinata cared for most deeply in the world, Uzumaki Naruto. From him came insperation, and from her flowed ability, innate due to years of self loathing and disbelief in her own ability. In Hinata's mind, the person she had watched from afar for all those years was responsible for her newfound strength, and so she silently wished to repay him in anyway. It was more than that though, some might call it a crush, but Hinata believed it to be love.
Oh, woe it is to be in love with the someone she watched form afar, only for him to never see her. Naruto's own outgoing attitude, as well as some unwanted help from Sakura and Ino, had at least cured half of her problem. Naruto was well aware of Hinata's exitence at last, but was much too dense to be aware of her feelings. Thus, it continued, even after Naruto's return from his three year abscense, the two were friends, as close as any other, but Naruto none the wiser. That was, until luck came upon Hinata.
Hinata has adapted a taste for ramen in reverence for her most precious person, and had lunch at the Ichiraku on an almost daily basis. She would occasionally have lunch with Naruto there, but in most cases, she was much to shy to even enter the resteraunt. In the last two instances of having lunch with Naruto, she had accidentally lit Ayame's apron on fire and managed to almost drown in her bowl of Ramen.
From outside, Hinata could hear Naruto's loud boasting and slurping, much to Hinata's dismay. She would simply wait outside until he came out then. As she stood, looking in through the doorway, an old farmer with a donkey that hardly listened to him came right along. In the donkey's carelessnes, he bumped Hinata into the stand, and into Naruto.
"Oy! Who bumped into me!" Yelled Naruto as he normally would, dense as always, pointing out the obvious.
"G-gomen N-Naruto-kun" Hinata managed to reply, her face red with embarrasment.
"Hey Hinata-chan! Sit down, have lunch with me!" The young man exclaimed. Despite his turning of age, Naruto was still nothing more than an outlandish, hyper child on the inside, despite his mature looks. "C'mon Hinata-chan, I'll pay for your lunch."
At such an offer, Hinata simply couldn't refuse Naruto's pleading and the gentlemanly offer of paying for her, so she nodded her still beat red head, sat next to Naruto, and ordered a simple bowl of chicken ramen.
"So Hinata-chan, what've you been up to lately? I haven't seen you around that much." He asked inbetween slurps.
"Nothing much Naruto-kun." She replied as Ayame gave Hinata her bowl, fully aware of Hinata's crush due to several long conversations over the years, and thus tried not to interrupt the two.
"Well, I haven't got any missions or anything like that today, so how about the two of us hang out?" Naruto asked Hinata as he recieved another hot, steaming bowl of ramen.
"I-I-I would love to Naruto-kun." Hinata managed to stammer.
"Awesome Hinata-chan. You're better company than Sakura-chan or Sasuke-kun anyway. All they do is hang around each other nowadays." Naruto explained, prior to sipping down his bowl of ramen broth.
'Better company than Sakura-san? Did Naruto-kun just compliment me? Huzzah, triumph! And not only that, we're going to hang out for the day' Thought Hinata as she finished off the last of her ramen as well.
"Hoy, Hinata-chan, what should we do today?" Asked Naruto as he pulled out his frog shapped wallet and paied for the both of them.
"I don't know Naruto-kun, maybe walk around the village? Maybe we could see the acadamy and visit Iruka-sensei." She suggested, another thought forming in her head. 'One..Two.. Only two bowls? For once Naruto-kun isn't amazingly famished?' What a strange day, yet it was turning out to be quite lucky.
To reach the acadamy from the Ichiraku ramen stand, the two had to go through the infamous shopping district of Konoha. As the two walked, they were assailed by several differrent merchants, each calling to random passerbyers to come look at their wares. It was not one of these loud men that caught Hinata's attention, but rather, and old woman, sitting next to a table covered in differrent types of jewlery. On the table were two rings Hinata just couldn't stop looking at. Hinata simply stopped in the street, staring at the two rings.
That was, until Naruto got her attention, "Hoy Hinata-chan, what're you doing?"
"Gomen, N-Naruto-kun, I was just looking at these two pretty rings." She answered, walking towards the table and picking up one of the rings. It was made of black gold, and had a single round piece of ivory , whislt the other ring was made of ivory and had a single round dot of black gold.
"You like those rings Hinata-chan? How about I buy them for you?" Said Naruto as he whipped out his frog shapped wallet.
"N-Naruto-kun, I-I c-couldn't ask you to do that." She stammered.
"Well, you're not asking for them, I'm buying them for you as a gift. I missed your birthday right? Here's my really late birthday present." He said, handing bills to the old lady and giving both rings to Hinata
"I-I c-couldn't Naruto-kun... H-here, take one of the rings." As she said that, she held out the ring of ivory with the dot of black gold.
"Fine, it'll be a token of our friendship then, right Hinata-chan?" He told her, putting the ring on, then putting the other ring on Hinata's finger.
"R-right N-Naruto-kun." She said, beet red.
As they shared this intimate little moment, another blonde headed individual joined the duo.
"Hey, is this a date?" Ino asked, putting her arms around Naruto and Hinata's shoulders, "aww, how cute."
"What do you want Ino-chan?" Asked Naruto
"Just wondering what you two were up to, the village's loudest ninja and the quietest ninja, standing awfully close in a public place," As she paused, she brought a finger up to her mouth, " you're not doing anything naughty, are you?"
"Go away Ino-pig!" Yelled Naruto
"Fine, fine, whatever." Ino said, walking away.
Yet, Hinata knew that the damage had already been done. In a few minutes, gossip would spread around the village like wildfire, and everyone would presume that the loudest and quietest ninjas in the village were going out. Hinata rather liked the notion, but she thougtht that Naruto would simply be embarrassed by her. Another failing in Hinata's book, even though she didn't really even do anything.
So the two began towards the ninja academy, this time no interruptions from screaming merchants or annoying gossipers. Within the span of a few minutes they were in the acadamey, next to the door leading to Iruka-sensei's classroom. As Naruto reached for the door handle, Hinata interrupted him.
"Naruto-kun, maybe we should wait until class is over, or at least just knock."
"Don't worry Hinata-chan, Iruka-sensei already asked me if to help him teach a class, and I'm sure he'd like another helper too." Naruto assured her, already opening the door.
Iruka was in the middle of teaching a class, today's subject happened to be "Making a doppleganger, and how to figure out which one's the real one."
"Now class, there are several differrent ways to detect a doppleganger, who can tell me the most obvious way?" The chuunin said, writing on the board.
A hand went up, "Yes Konohamaru-kun?", and the annoying youth began, " The most obvious way is to hit one of 'em, if he's real, he'll get socked, if he's the clone, then he'll disappear."
"Correct, Konohamaru-kun."
"But what happens when the doppleganger can fight back?" Interrupted Naruto as he and Hinata strolled in.
"Ah, Naruto-kun, great timing, and you brought Hinata-chan too." Iruka said, glad for any assitance, "Okay then, Naruto-kun's going to show us a very advanced technique, a doppleganger made out of flesh and blood, not shadow. Because of this, they don't disappear so easily like a normal Doppleganger. Naruto, if you would."
At Iruka's request, Naruto created 18 bushins, each exact, flesh and blood clones of him. Many of the students sat amazed at such an advanced technique, save for Konohamaru and the rest of the Konohamaru corps, since they had hung around Naruto for so long, they had become used to seeing such a technique.
"Now Hinata-chan will demonstrate the Hyuga clan's blood limit, the Byakugan. Hinata-chan, please demonstrate." With her former teacher's request, Hinata activated her Byakugan, and saw the inner coils system of everyone in the room. If she wished to, she could enhance it to the point of seeing through walls, but she didn't feel compelled.
"Because of Hinata-chan's blood limit, she can see straight through my doppleganger," Said Iruka, pausing for a moment to summon three bushins, " Now which one is the real me Hinata-chan?"
Hinata could easily see through the shadow clones, since they were simply shadows, they had no internal organs or chakra systems she could see. "The middle one, Iruka-sensei."
"Excellent Hinata-chan. As you can see, normal shadow clones can easily be seen through thanks to her occular jutsu because normal shadow clones have no internal chakra stream. Naruto's however, because of their realistic property," Iruka said, pointing towards the small crowd of Naruto's, now walking about the classroom, making sure everyone was taking notes, or at least not sleeping, lest they recieve a punch from Naruto. " And the fact that Naruto-kun divides his chakra amongst all of his dopplegangers, its difficult to tell them apart."
"Right, and since my chakra's pleanty strong, my bushins don't die at a flick, you'd need to score a killing blow on one to cause one of me to disappear." Added the Naruto at the head of the classroom, obviously the real Naruto.
"I think everyone's getting a bit bored, so how about a real, live demonstration by Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan?" Suggested Iruka
"I-Iruka-sensei, I couldn't..."
"Aww, that's alright Hinata-chan, I'm going to have all twelve of my dopplegangers attack, and you just need to strike them at any point to block their chakra." Persuaded Naruto
"O-okay, Naruto-kun" Agreed Hinata, setting into a stance, her byakugan still active.
It took only a moment, all thirteen Naruto's attacked, yet Hinata was easily able to percieve where all thirteen were and were coming from. One...Two..Three...thirteen... And in an instant, all the dopplegangers disappeared into smoke, and Naruto was laying on the ground.
"N-Naruto-kun! Are you alright! I'm sorry, I thought that only your shadow clones were attacking!" Panicked Hinata, running over to the somewhat dazed Naruto
"It's alright Hinata-chan, I wanted to see if you could tell the real me apart, and I guess you did." Assured Naruto, but Hinata was still frowning.
As the class broke into applause, the bell rang, and in a few moments the students quickly cleared out, leaving only Hinata, Naruto, and Iruka.
"Thanks for the help Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan, although I wasn't expecting Hinata-chan to be here, she made the class more interesting." Thanked Iruka, helping Naruto up as he rubbed the part of his chest where he had been jabbed.
"Hey, did you just get that ring Naruto? I haven't seen you wear that ring before." Noticed Iruka as he let go of Naruto's hand, "Hey, Hinata-chan, you have one too." Turned Iruka as he was about to asked Hinata had seen the ring before, only to see her wearing a matching ring.
After years of teaching, Iruka had been around liars and the plots of school children for years, and this was pretty simple, putting one and one together. As with Ino, he immediately came upon the conclusion that Naruto and Hinata were on a date, and had come simply out of obligation, otherwise they would be off galavanting, doing the things young adults did.
"Oh, I'm sorry for bothering you two, here, go on out and enjoy the day, don't stay cooped up in this room all day, go to the park or something." Said Iruka as he pushed the two out the door.
"B-but I-Iruka-sensei," Hinata attempted, only to be cut off by Iruka, "Don't worry Hinata-chan, you two enjoy the day, now shoo!" he said as he slammed the door closed.
"Ah, Naruto-kun is becoming a man, and Hinata-chan's finally mustered up the courage to go out with Naruto-kun. Oh, I can hear wedding bells already." The schoolteacher said to himself.
"Well, that was weird Hinata-chan. Oh well, where should we go next?"
"Hmm...How about the park, like Iruka-sensei suggested?"
"Even better, I know the perfect little creek to spend the rest of the day!"
"O-okay, Naruto-kun."
Glee ran through Hinata.'Today's shaping up to be great! In a few minutes or so, I'm going to be alone with Naruto-kun, in the forest, alone!. Shit. Alone.' At this simple thought, Hinata's legs almost buckled, and she began to feel light headed. NO! She wouldn't succum to this! Hinata made a decsion to see this through to it's end, no matter how bad she screwed up their little date. 'Date...Oh no, is this a date? Can I call this my first date with Naruto-kun? No, it can't be, can't be a date. He hasn't called it a date, so it isn't one.'. Yet as Hinata attempted to clear up this nagging question, Naruto answered it for her.
"I'm glad we got to have this little date together, Hinata-chan."
'... ... .. . Date! Yes, yes yes! Date! I'm on a date with Naruto-kun, and nothing seriously bad has happened yet!' Hinata almost screamed with glee as she absorbed this new information.
"Me too, Naruto-kun."
By this point, they were a good way into the forest, and came upon the same little creek that Naruto had trained with Jiraiya, the pervert sennin.
"We're here Hinata-chan, like it? I've always found it was a great place to just sit down, relax, and think."
"I love it Naruto-kun, it's beautiful."
It was beautiful, Hinata wasn't just saying it for Naruto's sake. The angle at which the red setting sun hit the creek caused the water to turn a golden red hue, and the stones seemed to sparkle, and a cool breeze swept through the area, causing several leaves to rise up and circle Hinata, only to fall back down.
"C'mon Hinata-chan, take your sandles off and soak your feet, it's really cool." Suggested Naruto as he patted the smooth rock next to him, urging her to sit down.
Hinata reluctantly sat down and removed her foot gear, and slid her tender legs into the water, feeling its cooling effects.
For a few moments, they sat silently, simply enjoying one another's company, but Naruto felt the need to break the silence. So they spoke about one another, Naruto had never known Hinata liked drawing, in fact, she kept a small field sketchbook in her ninja pouch, he never knew she hated spice things but loved sweet things. Hinata knew almost everything there was to know about Naruto, so she didn't really learn much about Naruto, but he didn't know that. After a time, Naruto stumbled upon the fact that Hinata loved listening to the violin. Naruto stood up, bit his thumb and summoned a frog, oddly enough, holding a small violin, and it began to start playing.
"Hinata-chan, do you know how to walk on water?"
"H-hai.."
"Would you join me in a dance?"
Hinata couldn't believe what was happening in the next few moments. She had nodded yes, and her streched her hand out, and the two were standing face to face, on the water, listening to the music of the frog. Hinata was trembling out of nervousness, so he took the initiative, and started off. Hinata's mind was still racing as her feet frantically kept up with Naruto, 'Is this a dream? This has to be a dream, not real. No way. It couldn't happen, could it?', yet Hinata knew deep down that this wasn't a dream. So she waltzed with Naruto, for what seemed like hours, until the sun came down.
As the two stepped off the creek, Hinata just had to ask, "N-naruto-kun, how did you learn how to dance like that?"
"Oh, well I learned a few things after studying with Ero-sennin."
"Ero-sennin?"
"Oh, well thats a story for another time. Hey, frog, you're free to go." And with that, the frog vanished into smoke.
"Well Hinata-chan, its a bit late, how about you come join me at home for a steaming bowl of ramen?"
"I'd love to Naruto-kun."
So the two quickly, or slowly rather, in Hinata's mind, walked towards Naruto's appartment room.
"C'mon in Hinata-chan" He said, and with that, Hinata was in someplace she had never believed she would be in, Naruto's humble abode.
It was nothing fancy, but it was simple enough for one or two people, a small kitched connected the main room, where Naruto probably slept and ate, and another door leading to the bathroom, and yet another leading to what looked like a closet.
"It's a bit messy, but I managed to clean up a bit before leaving earlier." He explained, "Go have a seat at the table while I heat up the ramen.
As Hinata sat down at the table, she noticed a little drawer next to Naruto's bed, and on it were several pictures. From what she could see, there was one picture of him and team seven, another of Naruto and Iruka, but she was unprepared for the three other pictures she saw. One was of when he and Hinata had just returned from the failure of th bug mission, and had taken a picture to congradulate their failure/victory over the stone village. The next was a picture of both Naruto and Hinata, she remembered taking it with him after he had just returned from training, and was feveriously taking pictures of everyone. The last however, was unexpected, it was simply of Hinata, from the summer festival, wearing a beautiful Kimmono. She had assumed that the flash she saw that day was simply a misfire of someone else's camera, no one would want to take a picture of her, but there it was, on Naruto's dresser.
"Hey, Hinata-chan, ramen's done" said Naruto, walking to the table with two steaming bowls of instant ramen.
"A-arigato, Naruto-kun."
The two ate in silence, only the occasionall slurp was heard. They both finished at the same time, and thusly Naruto took both of their bowls to the sink. Yet Hinata was perplexed as to why Naruto had so many pictures of her. She'd ask him later she decided, to ask right now seemed a little weird.
"Well Hinata-chan, I'll walk you home now, since it's pretty late, who knows what kinds of creeps are out now?" He offered, pulling the seat out for Hinata so she could get out
"T-that's not necessary Naruto-kun." She continued, to two walking outside, and then stopping at Naruto's doormat.
"I couldn't help myself if I knew something bad happened to you, Hinata-chan..."
For a moment, they were locked in one another's stare, unable to look away. Unfortunately for them both, Naruto lived in an apartment complex. This meant annoying, noisy tennants.
A door slammed opened behind Hinata, and a loud crack was heard, followed by another slam and the yells of several children. Naruto found Hinata in his arms, her head had been hit by the door of those idiot children.
"Crap... Hinata-chan, wake up Hinata-chan..." Naruto shook Hinata, but she was out cold.
Naruto had a big problem on his hands, Hinata was out cold, and he hadn't the slightest idea where the Hyuga household was. After a few moments of attempting to decide what to do, Naruto brought her back into his little home.
