Author's note: I'm having a bad day so I wrote this to cheer myself up, it helped a bit so I thought I'd share it.
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Happy Pancakes
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Naruto was having a bad day, the worst he'd had in a while.
He had just returned home from a mission, bruised, beaten and completely soaked from the heavy rain which, of course, had stopped as soon as he stepped into his apartment.
He had immediately dropped his gear and soaked clothes by the door before stepping into the shower to clean the grime off of his body and warm up his muscles.
The unexpectedly icy cold water that had come rushing from the showerhead did absolutely nothing good for his sore muscles or his tired mind.
Stepping out of the cold shower he wrapped himself in a large towel and sighed. His body was painfully tense, but at least he was clean and with that in mind he began to dry off and got dressed.
Clean and clothed, he set to work on unpacking his gear and to his horror he found that Gama-chan, his beloved coin purse, had a large rip across the stomach. Most of the money he found scattered in his gear pack, but that gave him little comfort. Gama-chan had always been with him, but Naruto was not skilled in plush-froggy surgery and he didn't know how to save the poor thing.
He sighed sadly and put the frog in his pocket as he had always done, the weight of it felt comforting against his thigh.
Maybe he should just make his cup ramen and then go to bed, he thought to himself, everything would be better again tomorrow.
Of course life couldn't always be so easy and just as he set foot in his kitchen the power went out in the entire building. Naruto turned on his heel, grabbed his jacket and shoes and left the dark apartment to go to his favourite ramen stand.
...
It wasn't until he stood in front of Ichiraku Ramen that he remembered: today was the only day of the month that the stand was closed. The old man had even reminded him of it before he left for his mission but still, Naruto had completely forgotten.
Disappointed, the blond walked around trying to find another place to get his ramen, but everywhere he looked, the restaurants were filled with families and friends out for dinner together and for some reason it made his stomach knot.
He wondered what it would be like, to always have someone to come home to, someone to eat with every day, someone to hug you and say they'd missed you while you'd been gone. How would it feel to never have to be alone and feel lonely?
Eventually he passed an empty bench and decided he would just stay there for a while, until people started going home so he might get a chance to eat somewhere without feeling depressed and lonely.
...
Half an hour later, he was still sitting on the bench, staring at the ground, when a gentle voice called out to him "Naruto-kun?"
He looked around and saw Hinata walking towards him, carrying several bags of groceries in each hand.
"Hey Hinata, what's up?" he smiled but the concerned look he got in return told him she saw right through it.
"Are you alright Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, brow furrowed as she looked down at him.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, Hinata you worry so much" he laughed, but even to him it sounded forced.
The pale-eyed girl set her groceries on the ground and sat down next to him on the bench. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked and her voice was so kind, her eyes so warm that he couldn't stop the tumble of words that passed his lips.
He told her about the mission, about his return, the cold water, the power going out, the hole in Gama-chan and how all the happy families made him feel so alone.
At the end of his tale he felt exhausted, but also like a weight had been lifted from his back.
Hinata placed her hand gently atop of his "I'm sorry you've had such a bad day Naruto-kun"
"Thanks Hinata and thanks for listening, it helped" he assured her.
"Naruto-kun I.. I'm making pancakes for Kiba-kun and Shino-kun tonight, would.. would you like to join us?" she asked.
"R-really?" Naruto asked surprised.
"Mm, you're very welcome if you want to" Hinata nodded and smiled kindly, "And if you want I can take a look at Gama-chan, I might be able to help him"
"I'd like that a lot, thank you Hinata" the blond said, eyes filled with appreciation and stomach slowly unknotting, "C-can I help you with the bags?"
"Yes please" Hinata smiled getting up from the bench and handed him some of the bags.
...
The short walk to Hinata's apartment was spent mostly in comfortable silence until Naruto opened his mouth again, "Hey Hinata? Can I help make the pancakes?"
"You want to?" she asked pleasantly surprised.
"Yeah, I've never made pancakes before but maybe.. you could teach me?" he asked hopefully.
"Of course, I'd love to" she smiled.
...
"Please come in" Hinata said as she opened the door to her apartment and Naruto followed her inside. Her place was slightly smaller than his own, but it felt much warmer and more welcome.
Flowers and pictures with familiar faces greeted him as she led him to the kitchen. He stopped up when he caught his own face smiling out at him from one of the frames. In the picture he was standing between Hinata and her cousin Neji, all smiling at the camera.
He wondered if maybe Hinata felt lonely sometimes too.
"Naruto-kun?" Hinata called him from the kitchen.
"Sorry, I was looking at your pictures" he said walking into the kitchen, rubbing his neck with a smile, which she returned as she took the grocery bags from him.
...
Naruto helped Hinata get the ingredients ready and measured out before they began adding them to a big bowl.
"Now that we've added all the ingredients we just need to mix them together" Hinata said handing Naruto a whisk.
"Right!" the blond nodded and began whisking the batter together with vigorous movements.
"N-not too fast Naruto-kun or-" batter flew in every direction and a particularly large glob landed right on Naruto's nose, "-it will splatter" she finished with a giggle.
Naruto froze in surprise but when he heard Hinata's giggle he couldn't help but laugh with her.
...
"Would you like to try and bake them too Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked after she had checked that the batter was ready.
"Can I?" Naruto asked eagerly as he watched her pour oil onto a pan and turned on the heat.
"Of course! I'll show you how and then you can do it, okay?" she filled a small measuring cup with batter and poured it on the hot pan. When it was ready, she flipped the pancake over and once it was done she slipped it off the pan and onto a plate.
"Okay, I got it: pan, oil, batter, flip and off" Naruto listed and smiled when Hinata nodded her head in approval.
"I'll leave it to you then Naruto-kun, do your best!" she said with a smile.
...
Naruto had begun to zone out and startled slightly when Hinata kindly spoke up, "Naruto-kun, remember to flip it"
"Oh right right!" he quickly went to flip it but was disappointed to find that he'd zoned out for too long, the pancake was already black, "sorry Hinata, I burned it"
"Don't worry Naruto-kun, just try again" she smiled reassuringly, "We've got plenty of batter and we can always make more if we need it"
Another 3 burned pancakes later, Naruto was finally able to slip a perfectly golden brown pancake onto the plate. He couldn't help but feel please with himself when he showed it to Hinata and she smiled at him "Good job Naruto-kun!"
As Naruto happily continued to bake pancakes, Hinata settled down at the dining table with her sewing kit and began carefully stitching Gama-chan back together.
...
Awhile later, after he had used up the last of the batter and placed the cooked pancakes in the oven by Hinata's instructions, Naruto sat down at the table and watched as the dark haired woman fixed his beloved frog.
"Wow, you're really good at that Hinata! How can you do that so easily?" he asked as he watched the needle move in and out of the fabric.
"Oh, it's because I'm a trained Teddy-Bear Doctor" Hinata told him seriously.
"What?" Naruto asked confused and the woman smiled.
"I used to fix Hanabi's toys when she was younger," she told him with a smile, "when something broke, she brought it to me and once I was done, I would put a bandage on the toy and she would say 'Thank you Doctor Nee-chan'"
Naruto smiled at her story, "Hey Hinata.. Does Gama-chan need a bandage too?"
"I don't know, what do you think Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked kindly.
"I think he might need a bandage" he answered seriously and couldn't stop the warm feeling in his stomach when she smiled and agreed with him.
When Hinata was done stiching the frog back together, Naruto watched again as her nimble fingers tied a piece of bandage around it, treating it as gently as if it were alive. She smiled as she handed Gama-chan back to him, he returned the smile and thanked her.
...
Hinata was setting the table when there was a knock on the door, "Oh, they're here. Naruto-kun, would you let them in for me please?"
"Leave it to me" Naruto grinned and went to the front door to greet Kiba and Shino.
"Eh, Naruto? What the hell are you doing here?" Kiba asked, frowning at him.
"Hinata invited me" Naruto smiled, "she saw me feeling kinda lonely and I guess she wanted to help cheer me up"
Shino nodded, "Hinata's pancakes can always make one happy" he said in his ever monotonous voice as he entered the apartment.
"Don't sound too excited now" Kiba teased his friend as he kicked the door shut behind him, he looked to Naruto again, "seriously though, Hinata's pancakes are the best"
...
The three men entered the kitchen and Hinata received a hug from each of her team members, as Naruto spotted three plates with pancakes on the dining table, decorated for each of the guys.
Shino's plate had been decorated with different colourful fruit slices in the shape of a butterfly, Kiba's had an image of a dog made of whipped cream and chocolate and Naruto's had an Uzumaki swirl made of syrup, on top of it a smiling face made with a red bean paste and strawberry slices arranged around the pancakes like a sun's rays.
He noticed the last plate, still on the kitchen counter, hadn't been decorated yet.
"Hinata? Can I decorate your pancakes?" he asked as Kiba and Shino helped get the drinks out.
"Sure Naruto-kun" Hinata smiled and watched as the blond eagerly began filling the pancakes with fruits and chocolate.
...
"What the heck is that supposed to be?" Kiba wrinkled his nose at Naruto's artwork after he had presented it to Hinata.
"It's a bunny, isn't it?" Hinata asked and smiled happily when Naruto nodded, "It's very cute, thank you Naruto-kun"
"It's very weird is what it is" Kiba said and received an elbow to the side. He turned his head and scowled at Shino, "what the he-"
"Quiet Kiba," the bug user told him, "Eat your pancakes, it will make you feel better"
The dog nin rolled his eyes at his friend, but a small smile graced his lips as he watched Hinata praise Naruto for his skills while the blond beamed.
...
The four of them talked and laughed as they ate their pancakes. Once they'd finished their first plateful Kiba and Shino filled their plates with pancakes again and topped them with their favourite fruits and sweets. Naruto looked towards Hinata, wondering if it would be too much for him to ask her to decorate another plate for him.
The dark haired woman noticed him looking at her and with slightly rosy cheeks she asked him "Would you like me to make you another plate Naruto-kun?"
Naruto blinked and smiled happily, "Yeah thanks Hinata"
"Is there anything special you want?" she asked him as she piled pancakes onto his plate.
"Can you make me a frog?" he asked eagerly.
"There is too much sugar in this room" Kiba muttered as he watched the two, only to receive another elbow in his side, "will you stop that?!"
"Hinata is happy and she is helping Naruto feel better, so let them be for tonight" Shino told him.
"But come o-ohmp" the bug user stuffed a forkful of pancake in the others mouth to shut him up.
"You can tease them again tomorrow" he promised.
...
When Naruto returned home hours later, the power was still out and the water still icy, but he found that it didn't matter anymore.
Gama-chan was good as new, his stomach was full of delicious pancakes and his mind full of good memories of his evening with Hinata and her team members.
With the help of Hinata and her kindness towards him, he felt he had also gained some insight in what it would feel like to have someone care for him in the way he'd always dreamed of. It had felt as good as he'd always thought it would, if not better.
As he slipped under his sheet he felt warm and happy and thought to himself that he would have to find some way to repay Hinata for her kindness.
...