Hinata awoke the next morning, unaware of when she had actually fallen asleep. Her body felt stiff as she rolled onto her side and lifted herself up into a seated position. She glanced over at the clock, it read 9:34 a.m., she had slept in much later than she normally did. She usually woke up around 6 a.m. to train with Kiba and Shino, but she had strict orders from her doctors to rest until her body fully recovered from the battle with Pain.
Which reminded her— Hinata was to go to Naruto's house to speak with him today. The thought made her stomach turn all over again and her heart began to race. She took a deep inhale in an attempt to calm herself. Just then, she heard a knock on her door.
"Come in!"
"Lady Hinata," One of the maids peeked her head into the young kunoichi's room "your breakfast is ready."
"Thank you!" Hinata bowed her head graciously. The maid shut the door so Hinata could get washed up.
She reached for her robe and buried her feet into the slippers that sat at the foot of her bed. She went into her bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. As she looked in the mirror. Hinata took a good long look at herself, unsure of what the day would bring, she just kept repeating to herself 'be strong, be brave, it'll all be alright. Believe it!'. As she left her room to go eat breakfast, she felt herself become just a little more excited about going to see Naruto later.
HInata was the only Hyuga left in the residence. All of her family members, including her father and sister had left for the day. Neji was probably out training with Tenten in the forrest, they liked their privacy. The Hyuga residence was quiet and Hinata didn't mind one bit. It was nice to have the morning to relax and prepare herself for the day. She also didn't want to face her father after the injuries she suffered in battle, that was one lecture she could do without. She sipped on her coffee and slowly ate her way through her omelette.
When she finished eating, Hinata cleared the dishes and returned to her room to change. Opening the doors to her closet, Hinata instinctively reached for her usual attire, but something stopped her. There was no need to wear her usual shinobi garments if she wasn't going to be training. Hinata took a look at her other clothes. They almost seemed foreign, like they belonged to a stranger. Hinata hardly ever had to wear anything besides her usual uniform, admittedly, it made getting ready a breeze. Now that she had so many options she felt overwhelmed.
After going back and forth between several different outfits, she settled on a light blue sundress and a pair of white sandals. She combed through her hair, taking a moment to notice how long it had gotten. She clipped the top layer of her hair up with a silver comb and dabbed a bit of rouge onto her cheeks and lips. She usually never bothered with any of this; what's the point of makeup if you're just going to sweat it off during sparring or training? She glanced over at the clock, it was now 11:30. It took her roughly 15 minutes to walk to Naruto's house. But she figured she better leave early, just incase her feet turn to lead or stone like they did yesterday.
Before heading out the door, Hinata instinctively reached for her Leaf village headband, recalling that she wouldn't need it today, she set it back on her dresser. She felt so bare without it, like she was leaving behind a part of her. Shaking the thought from her head, she remembered what she was about to do and took one last deep breath before locking the front door behind her.
The weather outside was warm, the sun was almost at it's peak and there wasn't a cloud for miles. A cool breeze ran through the trees as she made her way through the courtyard and out the front gates of the Hyuga residence. Just as she did yesterday, Hinata opted to take the long way to Naruto's house, to mentally prepare herself to see him without fainting. She tried not to think about what he was going to say, or else she might run back inside. About ten minutes into her walk she ran into Kiba and Shino who were returning from their morning sparring session.
"Hey Hinata! You're back on your feet!"
"Kiba! Shino!" She said, gracing them with a friendly smile.
"Good to see you're out of the hospital" Kiba said as Akamaru nuzzled Hinata's ankles.
"How are you feeling?" Shino inquired
"Much better. Everyone took really good care of me!"
"Good, now Naruto can stop bugging us about how you're doing. Man, that was getting annoying." Kiba let out a sigh as he scratched Akamaru's ears.
"I'm assuming he was concerned because he was the only one who saw first hand just how badly you were injured in the battle with Pain."
Hinata began feeling the blood rush to her cheeks and her stomach began to tighten.
"But thats all in the past! The point is your better now and that doofus can stop pesterin' us about it!"
Hinata had a lump in her throat that prevented her from responding. Her two teammates thought nothing of it, that usually happened whenever one of them mentioned Naruto. "Anyways, Shino and I are gonna go wash up and get some lunch. See ya around!"
They both waved as they continued on their way.
Hinata was still frozen in place but she managed to squeak out a small "goodbye" as they left.
She stared down intensely at her feet, which were refusing to move.
She furrowed her brow and thought to herself "I can do this". As she forced her toes to wiggle, which was followed by a flex of her ankle and eventually a small step, pushing her right foot in front of her left and then the left in front of the right.
As she looked ahead, she saw the clocktower in the center of town. It was now 11:56. She was going to be a few minutes late.
Meanwhile, Naruto was frantically preparing his apartment for her arrival. He was dawning a yellow apron with a feather duster in one hand and a burnt batch of cookies in the other. While trying to cram the rest of his empty ramen containers into the trash, he glanced over at the clock on his wall and caught a glimpse of the time… 11:56!
She's going to be here any minute!
He could feel his whole body break into a nervous sweat so he darted into the bathroom one final time to apply an extra layer of deodorant and run his fingers quickly through his hair to ensure he looked presentable. This was strange for Naruto. He never cared much about his appearance, in fact, he rarely gave it a second thought. But today was different, today he was going to see Hinata.
As she turned down Naruto's street, she thought back on what Kiba said "…the point is your better now and that doofus can stop pesterin' us about it…" The words played over and over again in her head. Had Naruto really been that worried about her? The thought made her stomach flip, so she decided not to continue dwelling on it further… besides, she had arrived.
She looked down at her feet and shuffled around a bit before slowly reaching up to knock, but before her hand could reach the door, it swung open.
"HINATA!" Naruto greeted her, a bit more loudly than he had intended, which implied that he was nervous. He was still wearing his bright yellow apron, which made Hinata chuckle. She moved her hand up to cover her blushing cheeks.
"C-Come in!" He ushered her in politely.
She took a look around his apartment. She had never actually been inside before. It was small, studio-style, with an open floor layout. The kitchen flowed seamlessly into the living room, which lead into the bedroom. Overall, it was rather empty. If it wasn't for the old Ramen containers overflowing out of the trashcan, there would be almost no evidence that Naruto actually lived here.
She decided to take a seat on the couch. From the way she was seated, it was clear she was still quite unsettled about being in his apartment, but was doing her best to look at ease. Naruto stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a bouquet of flowers sitting on the counter. "H-Here" He said, hastily handing them to her.
"F-for me?" She squeaked, stunned by the gesture.
"Hehe, yeah" Naruto blushed and scratched his head. "You see, I bought them for you when you were in the hospital, but since Sakura wouldn't let me visit you, I decided I better hold onto them until I could see you."
"Oh" She was blushing a bright shade of pink at this point and was hoping that by looking down at the flowers, he wouldn't notice. "Thank you, Naruto".
He took a seat next to her on the couch. "Yeah. Ino helped me pick them out. I chose these ones because they're a pale purple like your eyes" He explained, pointing at his own eyes. Hinata smiled. He always such a child-like heart.
It was then that Naruto actually took notice of Hinata's clothes. He had never seen her wear a dress before. He had never seen her wear anything besides her tan shinobi jacket… he had to admit, it stunned him a little. This must have been obvious to Hinata too, because she shot him a worried glance "Is something wrong, Naruto?"
"Huh!?" He snapped out of it. "Oh! No, it's just— uh… your dress! It's— it's blue. I've never seen you wear blue before. So you like the color blue?" He was spewing words out faster than she could comprehend them. She let out a sweet chuckle. She had never seen Naruto act this way. The boys she knew was always so bold and confident. Seeing him now was almost like seeing herself.
Naruto chuckled too, he was clearly embarrassed at how silly he was acting. Small talk was never his forte. So he decided to cut to the chase.
"Hinata…" He said, his tone softer and more serious "I guess you're probably wondering why I asked you to come over today…" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
Her eyes shot open. Her heart dropped. What was he about to say. Every muscle in her body cliched in suspense.
"I just wanted to tell you… how sorry I am."
"Sorry?" She said, her voice was so strained it was barely audible, but Naruto continued.
"…Sorry for what happened that day. I never wanted you to get hurt. It was all my fault…" he dropped his head below his shoulders, turning away from her gaze. All this time he had been feeling this guilt, blaming himself for what happened but little did he know…
"No," she said softly, placing her timid hand over his "what happened that day wasn't your fault." He looked up at her. "I chose to protect you with my life, Naruto, just as you chose to protect this village with yours…" She spoke with clear confidence, something Naruto hadn't seen from her.
"Why would you do that for me, Hinata? Why would you risk your life like that?" He looked at her in total awe.
She blushed as she thought of the answer. "Because, you taught me to protect the things I care about" She gave him a smile. Saying it out loud wasn't nearly as intimidating as she imagined it would be, in fact it was almost ea— Her thought was interrupted by a tight embrace. Naruto had wrapped his arms around her and buried his head in her shoulder. "I can't believe you would do that…for me…"
"…Believe it…" She said.
They both looked up at each other and laughed!
Hey internet. It's me. Two and a half years later and I finally have the second chapter to this story. Please forgive me. I may do a third chapter… but at this point, don't count on it.
