Author's Note: Okay, since my last story was a NaruSaku, and my writer friend doesn't like NaruSaku, I decided to write this piece for her. It's NaruHina, and that's about the only semblance it has to her original prompt. xD This is set after the time skip, but it's just a normal day in Konoha... I know I need at least one more chapter before this small story is finished up, but it's anyone's guess when that'll get done, since I have problems with sequential stuff. Hopefully it'll be written soon. (Reposting this because I needed to fix some errors. Oops xD)

Anyways, please enjoy this bit of NaruHina fluff. :)

Summary: Naruto has a boring mission ahead of him, but Hinata's arrival makes things much more interesting. Maybe this time Hinata will have the courage to confess? Not before a lot of playful banter. NaruHina fluff.

Naruto's Oblivious, Hinata's Shy-- You Know, The Usual

"D-rank missions are always stupid," Naruto muttered to himself as he peered into the dark recesses of the room. "I mean, really— who pays ninja to clean an attic?"

"Did you say something, boy?" the harsh voice of the Hokage murmured in his ear.

With a cursing yelp, Naruto spun around. He hadn't known she was there. Sneaky old lady. Trying to save face, he continued on as if the hag had been part of his earlier protest. "Well, yeah. This is almost," he pinched his fingers together "as bad as picking weeds. I can't believe you make us do this kinda stuff…"

Tsunade smirked. "Work is work, brat. This job happens to be for a friend of mine. I expect you to do your very best."

"But Sakura and Sai—!"

"—Have their own mission to complete," she declared, cutting him off. "They're grading papers at the Academy. We all know how fit you'd be for that, so I assigned you here instead," she finished with a low chuckle and a gesture around the cluttered room.

"I can grade papers fine…" Naruto insisted halfheartedly.

"And leave poor Hinata alone to clean the whole attic?" Tsunade exclaimed in tones of mock-horror. The girl in question peeked out from behind the Hokage.

"Ah! Hinata? You're here?" cried Naruto, taken aback.

"Ah…yes. Hello, Naruto."

"Hinata generously agreed to help you on this mission. Now why? I'll never know…" the Hokage teased, nudging the blushing ninja forward. "I'll be downstairs chatting with Hachirou if any dust bunnies get the better of you."

Her smile was almost malicious as she turned around and went downstairs. The silence between the two remaining teens was almost palpable. Hinata, looking down at her fingers, clearly didn't want to be the first one to break the ice… Naruto supposed it was up to him to get this show on the road.

Cleaning, he thought, and suppressed a shudder. It wouldn't be so hard. He'd cleaned his room tons of times. Well, maybe only four times in his whole life, but who was counting? Not him.

Tsunade's friend had even provided a pile of supplies to use. Naruto picked up a large and rather colorful feather duster. Might as well get to work.

Naruto attacked the dust with valiant fervor, only to pause when Hinata interrupted him a few moments later. "Na-Naruto? I think we should open the windows first…" She coughed softly.

Oh. They both laughed nervously, and Naruto crossed the room to a window. It took a few shoves but in the end the old window creaked open, letting in the midday sun. Hinata opened a window a few paces away, and they both enjoyed the fresh air.

Naruto turned around, resting his arms on the windowsill. "Hey… why are you here, anyways? You're chunin, you could probably get better than D missions…"

"Ah, well… Kiba and Akamaru are both in the hospital right now, so our team can't really be assigned any new missions…" she finished sadly.

"Oh crap, what happened to 'em?" His earnest question seemed to be the key to unlocking her talkative behavior. Well, as talkative as Hinata was ever going to get.

"Our last target was a specialist in poisons. Got them right in the nose, you know," she said, tapping her own nose. "Shino and Kurenai-sensei finished the mission. When we got back, Lady Tsunade fixed them up, but they both need a few days' bed rest."

Naruto snickered. "Bet Kiba doesn't like that."

"No," Hinata smiled, "He doesn't." Her face lit up. She walked a few steps closer to him. "After this is done, I'm going to visit him in the hospital. Do you… would you like to come? With me?"

Naruto had to think about it for a moment. He'd wanted to go bug his teammates at the school… but getting a chance to taunt Kiba was well worth skipping on that. He smiled his foxy grin, "Sure! It's a date!"

Hinata said something along the lines of "Ah!" and blushed pink. Naruto was also surprised, but for a different reason. He took a second to mentally review what had just happened. Blah blah blah, Kiba in hospital, blah blah, would you like to visit? uh, sure! Now how would that conversation cause that reaction? Oh oops— he'd said the word "date". If Hinata had been Sakura, he would have been pummeled. Naruto searched for a distraction before Hinata also could decide to proceed with the pummeling.

"You really need to work on that blushing, or you'll make a lousy kunoichi," he joked. Of course his words only made her blush harder. But hey, at least she seemed to forget about his slip-up.

"But— but I don't want to be a kunoichi!" she stammered, her face beet-red. To say that Naruto was taken aback by her reaction would be an understatement. This was twice now the quiet girl had confused him. Hinata doesn't want… huh? He couldn't reason it out. Didn't all girls want to be—?

"I want to be a ninja, not just a kunoichi," she clarified upon seeing his confusion.

"Oh," he replied, as if he understood. Which he didn't. What the heck was the difference?

"Kunoichi are known for being—" she cut off, blushing scarlet. "Anyways," she squeaked, "I want to be good at the ninja stuff too. And, I've been practicing! I've been getting better. I'm not as— as weak as I was before. And it's all--" she stopped herself, looking directly into his eyes,

"All what?" Naruto asked, sensing that this was something important.

"…never mind."

"Ah, Hina-ta!" Naruto protested. How could she end it there?

His companion wore a peculiar expression on her face, about halfway between hurt and embarrassment. "We'd better start cleaning," she changed the subject hurriedly, "Or else Lady Tsunade will scold us…"

Naruto was more than a bit confused. He knew that this was something important, he just knew it, and he wasn't a ninja known for letting things go.

That's why, when her hand reached for a rag, his hand was there to intercept her. "Please?" he begged, "Please tell me?"

"It's embarrassing…" she mumbled, averting her eyes.

"C'mon, I won't laugh. Promise?"

"…"

"Y'know Hinata, I'm your friend, I'd never—" He'd meant to reassure her that he'd never laugh at her, but something stopped him. Did she just flinch? It was small, to be sure, but it had definitely happened. Right after he'd said "friend", too… what was going on? "Hinata…?"

"It's— it's nothing…" she hesitated, "Just… you know how you have a crush on— on Sakura?" Her voice was quieter near the end.

Dumbly, Naruto nodded. He was still missing something; how had the conversation turned to him? They were supposed to be discussing Hinata.

"Well," she whispered, staring intently at the floorboards, "and, you know how… how she doesn't like you back?"

"She likes me fine!" Naruto contested. He wouldn't let anyone— Hinata included— talk bad about his teammates.

Hinata stammered. "Oh. Oh no, I know. That's not what I meant. I mean… she only likes you as a friend, right?"

"Well, yeah." Naruto admitted, trying not to let that sting. Hinata was only telling the truth, after all. It would be stupid to get upset about a fact he already knew. "But what's that got to do with you, Hinata?"

"I'm… I mean, it's that I'm in a… similar situation."

"You like Sakura!?" Naruto cried, shocked.

"Huh? No!" Hinata's voice was two octaves too high. "It's not that similar!"

"Oh," Naruto laughed, embarrassed for having jumped to conclusions. For the first time in the conversation, he was blushing too. "Wait— so then, who is it?"

Hinata looked very confused.

"Who's the lucky guy?" he joked. "Kiba?

She had an odd look on her face as she answered. "Ah, no."

"Shino?"

Hinata shivered, just a little. Her answer this time was a firm, "No." After she replied, she looked conflicted. "It's not that I don't like him, just…"

"…he's creepy?" Naruto guessed and Hinata's expression told him he'd hit the nail on the head. "I get that. All those little bugs." He made a grossed out face.

Hinata cracked a very small smile. Good; Hinata smiling was even cuter than Hinata blushing.

"Is it someone I know?" he asked eagerly.

"Um…" was her noncommittal answer. So he'd have to keep guessing, huh?

"…Choji?" The big, laid back ninja was the only other one in their age group he could see the shy girl with. But it turned out he was wrong again.

"I don't really see Choji, not anymore…" she paused, seeing that another vague answer wasn't allowed. "So, no… not Choji."

All through this conversation, Naruto had been getting the nagging feeling that he was missing something obvious. Again. He thought back to what she'd said before he had started name-dropping. "But wait, you said he doesn't like you back? Just friends?"

"Yes," she said softly.

"Man, he's an idiot. Tell me who he is so I can beat him up for you!"

"No!" she countered immediately.

"Hinata," he said in his Most Serious Voice, putting his hand on her shoulder, "Whatever guy is stupid enough not to notice you isn't worth it. He must be a moronic, knuckle-headed ninja!"

…And now she was laughing. What'd he say? She was giggling so hard she had to wipe tears from her eyes. It was very un-Hinata-like of her to be this loud.

"He's not that bad," she insisted when she could catch her breath again. "He's kind and strong. He gave me courage when I needed it most."

"Still sounds like a loser to me," Naruto grumbled.

"Well… it's my fault he doesn't know…"

"Huh? You mean you haven't told him?" This was a bit puzzling; weren't you supposed to tell the people you liked that you liked them? Naruto always told Sakura, and Sakura had told Sasuke… then again, it would be just like Hinata to keep quiet about her feelings; she kept quiet about just everything else. She looked him in the eyes.

"No, I haven't told him. And he's incredibly… dense." The way she said it, her smile so warm and genuine, it sounded like a compliment. "Dense for a ninja, I mean," she added, "So he doesn't know. I'm sure of it."

"Well, that sucks for you." Naruto frowned. "You should tell him straight out."

"Oh, but— but I couldn't possibly…" she stumbled over her words.

"Of course you can! I'll be right here, cheering you on." Naruto gave her his winning smile.

Hinata's eyes went wide.

...To Be Continued...