Casually walking down the road, a blonde teenager began to whistle a tune to him self. As he walked further down, he came up to a Ramen Bar, lifted the curtain, and took a seat. Eagerly waiting for his ramen, Naruto pulled out his ramen coupon and began to wiggle from his anxiety. The owner soon came out from the back storage room and smiled at Naruto as he asked "The usual?"
"Yeah, I get free ramen today! Iruka gave me this coupon today as a present for learning a new technique." Naruto watched him put a bowl at his place and widened his eyes as the soup was poured into the large bowl. Steam rose from the bowl and swirled around Naruto's nose as he breathed in the aroma. Then he picked up his chopsticks and began slurping away. Outside of the Ramen Bar, some twenty feet away, Kurenai was talking to a girl with indigo hair.
"Don't worry, I'll be there the whole time just in case you need back up." Kurenai spoke with a harsh yet gentle tone.
"O-o-okay." Hinata stuttered as she turned around to face the bar. Kurenai patted her on the back, saying, "You've killed men before and have actually eaten ramen with Naruto. Asking him on a date should be easy." Hinata nodded and began to walk toward the small Ramen Bar. She took in a deep breath and whispered, "I can do this." as she lifted the curtain and took a seat beside Naruto.
"Hi miss, Ramen for you?"
"Y-yes please." Naruto looked up from his bowl and smiled at Hinata.
"Hey, Hinata. I haven't seen you here for a while."
"Oh, well I've been on long missions lately."
"What kind of ramen, Hinata?" The owner asked as he placed a bowl in front of her.
"The same as Naruto-kun, he has a better taste in ramen than I do." Hinata blushed a deep red after saying this while Naruto chuckled a little. Kurenai was crouched in the bushes, looking at the couple through a small hole in the wall. From the back, she looked like a female version of Jiraiya and her addiction to match making was the same as Jiraiya's obsession of peeping. She watched the teenagers talk over their bowls of ramen.
"Come on, Hinata! Ask him on the freakin date already!"
"Um, Naruto, there's something I want to ask you." Hinata looked down and began to do that finger habit she did when she was nervous.
"Okay, what would you like?" Naruto asked as he smiled at Hinata's habit.
"Well, I wanted to do…some training…so I w-was wondering if y-you would like to help me." Hinata managed to get the words out.
"Yeah! I'd love to! What time?"
"How about ten thirty tomorrow?"
"That's great!" Naruto stood up and pulled out his manly frog purse while Hinata got up shakily. "Let me pay for you, later." Naruto placed money on the counter and disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Kurenai immediately jumped out of the bushes and caught Hinata before she fell.
"H-he said yes." Hinata said as Kurenai helped her to her feet.
"Well, it's not like he was going to say no. I mean, look how beautiful you are Hinata. You've grown into a very beautiful woman and since you two have trained several times before, it's proven to him how good a ninja you really are. Plus," Kurenai made sure to emphasize what she said next. "he's totally into you." Hinata looked surprisingly up at Kurenai who had a big grin on her face. It was true that Naruto and Hinata and been on a few missions together and ate occasionally, but they weren't yet a couple even though it was obvious to all that they soon would become one. Their 'dates' before Hinata's long missions were becoming more frequent and Naruto would go out of his way to see Hinata when she turned in her mission report. "Now," Kurenai walked out of the Ramen Bar with Hinata beside her. "let's go to your house and plan out what you're going to do tomorrow."
Naruto sat at a student's desk while he helped Iruka grade papers. After thinking the question over several times, he asked "Iruka, what would you think if I got involved with a girl and started a relationship?" Iruka stopped writing and looked up from his papers. The one thing that he wasn't looking forward to in Naruto's life was when he would really what to have a relationship.
"What do you mean?" Iruka questioned.
"Well, I've spent quite a lot of time with Hinata. We've gone on missions together and have eaten ramen but I want to go to the next step." Naruto stopped and looked at Iruka who had a blank expression on his face.
"What is the next step?" Iruka was hoping that he would not regret hearing Naruto's answer. Dealing with Hiashi Hyuga when it was over his eldest daughter was not a joking matter. If Naruto did something to Hinata and Hiashi didn't approve of it, than he would hunt Naruto and kill him.
"You know, when you and the girl are officially dating and announce that your boyfriend and girlfriend. I think now is the right time because I've been having a lot of those good dreams about her." Naruto paused to think about his pleasant dreams of Hinata.
"I say that you and Hinata would make a great couple and should continue dating. I do warn you though," Iruka watched the boy get up from his seat and place the papers on his desk. "don't do anything that Hiashi would disapprove of. If something happens to his precious Hinata then-"
"Yeah, thanks Iruka!" Naruto raised his hand and disappeared in a cloud of smoke before Iruka could finish.