"thanks Hinata, these are awesome!"
Hinata blushes at receiving the compliment from the guy she likes. she covers her mouth with her hands and mumbles a reply. "um… you're welcome Naruto-kun." Then she runs off. you see, its was Naruto's birthday and she'd bought him a set of orange metal chopsticks since his favorite ones had been broken for some time now.
she knew this because she watched him. constantly. but not in a creepy way… okay maybe it was a little weird to follow him around all the time, but she would talk to him if she wasn't so intensely shy. she really likes him and he's always so nice to her. just whenever he's near she suddenly can't speak; and if he talks to her? forget it. she feels as if she may pass out.
later on she was spying on him again and trying to come up with an excuse to approach him she noticed he was using her gift at Ichiraku's. she was so happy that she nearly had a heart attack. she noticed over the next few days he continued to use the chopsticks. it was so unbelievably sweet Hinata almost went up to him to say so. of course, she didn't, it would be far too embarrassing.
roughly three weeks later Naruto is running errands and he keeps peering over his shoulder as if he knows Hinata is following him. She really hopes he doesn't know, it would be way too much for her to take if he were to find out she trails him. She puts more space between them just to be on the safe side. However, Naruto continues to randomly pause and look around, Sometimes Hinata has only a few seconds to dart behind a pole or between buildings so as not to get caught.
Just as she is about to follow him into a shop she hears her name called out followed by a few dog barks. she turns toward the noise and finds it is a member of her team, Kiba and his dog Akamaru. she walks towards them a bit reluctantly, keeping her head down.
"shino 'n me were gonna look for TenTen and Shikamaru's teams, maybe train altogether a bit. you wanna come?"
she quickly shakes her head no. in a quiet, mouse;like voice she says, "i was actually doing some errands right now. sorry."
Kiba shrugs in his usual laid-back way. "'s alright. maybe another time." he smiles warmly then jumps up to the roof of one of the many surrounding buildings and hops away with his dog close behind.
she really should train, and she is fond of her team; but Naruto was just more interesting by far. plus, he mentioned TenTen's group, which included her cousin Neji. he was always negative and shore tempered with her so she always got self-conscious and couldn't focus on the exercises.
she walks into the shop only to find that Naruto has already left. Disappointed, she goes back to the streets and looks through the crowd for bright yellow and screaming orange. not seeing him anywhere, she despairingly walks around, paying no real attention to the direction. soon she was smelling familiar spices and herbs. she was somehow at Ichiraku's.
on reflex she hides behind a pole about ten feet from the entrance. she takes a quick peek around and sees Naruto is sitting at one of the stools with a teacher from the academy. Hinata had noticed that they spend a great deal of time together. she thought his name was Iruka, at least that's what Naruto called him. she had been closed up tightly during her academy years so she didn't really remember the teachers
after a while the teacher departs, leaving Naruto alone with a steadily growing pile of bowls before him. out of nowhere he leans back and looks directly to where she is.
"hinata-chan, you don't have to hide. i don't bite."
she must have jumped ten feet into the air from the shock. blushing deep red she steps out of her hiding place and bows, covering her mouth again. "i'm sorry… i was just…"
Naruto smiles, making her heart skip a beat or three. "you were just looking for me right? well ya found me, so how 'bout some Ramen?"
stuttering more incoherent apologies and excuses Hinata approaches her crush and sits next to him. Naruto orders them two bowls. Hinata mumbles a thank you and begins eating. out of the corner of her eye she sees Naruto is once again using the chopsticks she'd given him. she blushes brightly yet again.
Naruto noticed this so he turns to face her. "thanks again for these Hinata, i love 'em. they're really cool!"
he winks and possibly all the blood in her body rushes to her face. "oh… it was nothing…. really…" she turns back to her food. by doing so she did not see Naruto had leaned closer to her and definitely did not expect it when he lightly pressed his lips to her cheek.
she felt her heart might actually burst from her chest. burying her face in her long sleeves, she attempts speech, but all words fail her.
"you can talk to me any time Hina-chan. you know, instead of following me; i'd like the company."
she knew Naruto was suspicious, but she had no idea he knew it was her all this time. she nods, which is all she can manage at the moment.
"and maybe if you come up to me our "walks" could be real dates. Believe it!" Naruto grins, blushing slightly; which is all Hinata sees betweens her fingertips before she faints.
end.