Holy Shit! I actually updated! First off I'd like to thank everyone who followed or favorited this story, seriously the support is amazing. Updates may not always be this 'fast' if I can even say that this was fast. Truth be told I was going to update on Thursday but alas the good ole' internet was down, and now I'm on vacation. Okay, Phew! Now I will shut up.
Chapter 2
The sun had crept through the blinds of the small apartment signaling the start of another peaceful day in Konoha. Birds were chirping merrily, and Naruto Uzumaki matched their melodic tune with loud, rasping snores.
It wasn't until his alarm went off that he stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom. Lazily he brushed his teeth and carried out the various tasks in his morning routine. Brush his teeth, take a shower, get dressed, cook up some ramen, repeat. That's how his mornings usually went, and then he would be off to either see Kakashi-Sensei or help Iruka-Sensei at the academy. But he was off for the foreseeable future, and he had a place to be today.
He was going to pick Hinata up, and take her to the hospital to visit her father. He had to admit; he wasn't too fond of being in such proximity to Hiashi Huyga all things considered. The man hadn't seemed to notice Naruto or his fondness for his daughter, which left Naruto a little nervous. He wasn't sure how the head of the Hyuga clan would respond when hearing he was dating his daughter and heir. Needless to say, Naruto wasn't too excited to have that conversation with the leader of the Hyuga, even if they had only been dating for a few days. The Hyuga were fiercely set in tradition, tradition that was often preserved at the expense of others. It didn't help that Naruto had sworn to break such traditions, he could only imagine how the other Hyuga's would react.
Naruto decided to cross that bridge when it came, but he wouldn't be caught with his pants down on this one. He knew the kind of hurdles he was going to face, and he was going to make damn sure he got through all the barriers so he and Hinata could be together.
He flicked off the lights to his apartment and headed to the Yamanaka's flower shop. He wanted to get something nice for Hinata before they went to the hospital. Of course, he knew next to nothing about flowers so he hoped Ino would help him out on this one.
XXX
Ino carelessly flipped through the pages of a beauty magazine she had picked up at the market. It was the only thing standing between her and complete and utter boredom. That and Sai's random questions about generally anything, he was an odd duck, but she found it all the more endearing. He had asked her earlier what it meant to be a "pretentious ass," an oddly specific question she recalled, he mentioned something about a bath house but left it at that. Aside from those stray inquires, he remained in the corner of the shop positively hooked onto an Icha Icha novel. He claimed that it was for "research purposes," but she suspected there was an ulterior motive to him reading romance novels of all things.
She sighed, crestfallen that her only source of entertainment was a stupid magazine and her increasingly pervy boyfriend.
She heard the bells to the shop jingle, breaking her out of her reverie. She quickly straightened her posture putting on a peppy facade, ready to make the first sale of the day. Although much to Ino's surprise, and Sai's to boot, the person who had entered the shop was Naruto.
"Naruto?" Ino began with disbelief, "Naruto Uzumaki is in a flower shop? Sai am I hallucinating?"
The blonde nervously threw his hands to the back of his neck, an uneasy grin on his face.
"It would appear you are not hallucinating beautiful; Naruto is standing right in front of you." Sai deadpanned, not aware that the question was rhetorical.
"Uhh- hey Ino, Sai. I was wondering if you guys could help me out, well it's more of a question for Ino." Naruto said, clearly uncomfortable in the shop.
Ino smirked, "Sure thing! Although before we get started who is the lucky gal?" She, of course, knew they were for Hinata, but she figured she'd toy with Naruto a little bit. Sure enough, his eyes shot to the ground, a blush making its way onto his whiskered face. "Well, they're for... Hinata, I'm picking her up before we go see her father, but I figured I'd get her something. Seeing how I didn't have time to get her something for our date last night, I guess I want to make up for that." He said sheepishly. "So I figured flowers were a good option, but I know nothing about flowers so I hoped you could help me with that."
Ino giggled merrily, "of course I'll help! But first, tell me about this date, where'd you go? More importantly, how did it go?"
"It went good, Sakura told me to keep it simple, we grabbed a bite to eat, and I walked her home." He smiled fondly, "It was really nice."
Ino moved from behind the counter and walked over to one of the various assortments of flowers.
"Well I must say it's about time, but I'm glad you and Hinata have finally found one another. Shikamaru told me about your kiss in the moonlight." Ino sniffed a rose deeply, "I gotta say, you know how to make your move. Which leads me to believe more happened last night than you two just talking if ya know what I mean." Ino wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Yes, I must say Naruto you have inspired me to research the ways of love more deeply. This novel is full of knowledge on the subject." Sai added, only furthering Naruto's discomfort. He gave Sai a particularly unsettled glare. He didn't like the idea of being Sai's inspiration for one of his weird bouts of "research." On top of that, Shikamaru tolled everyone? Had he been watching them that night, then again they didn't exactly hide it.
"Oh don't mind him Naruto, he's been acting kinda strange lately. Well, stranger than usual that is" Ino looked at Sai thoughtfully before turning her attention back to the matter at hand. "So what did you have in mind, what do you want to convey."
"Riiight... well I'm not sure, I've never had to buy anyone flowers. I want something that compliments Hinata, something beautiful, and sweet, but not too explosive." Naruto said, unaware that he sounded uncharacteristically thoughtful.
Ino mulled over his words for a moment, "I think I know just the right combo." She dragged Naruto around the shop, helping him pick and choose the right flowers. In the end, Naruto had selected an assortment of white daisies, Lavender flowers, and sunflowers. The Daisies symbolized Hinata's pure and loving nature, while the lavender was meant to compliment her grace and the sunflowers were meant to show his devotion to her.
Of course, Ino had to explain what each flower meant. But overall Ino was pretty impressed with Naruto's assortment, she had helped him sure, but he was the deciding factor. She also found his rationale behind his choices absolutely cute.
"So what do I owe you?" Naruto asked, reaching for his Gama-chan wallet.
Ino waved her hand, "don't worry about it, it's on the house. Just make sure to tell Hinata I said hello."
Naruto thanked Ino for her generosity and left the shop, making his way for the Hyuga compound.
XXX
Naruto had made the walk all the way to the Hyuga compound in good time. Mounting the steps to the front doors with determination. Guarding the entrance were two Hyuga guards, both of them giving Naruto an emotionless glare.
"State your name and business." The guard on his left declared, in a reserved yet authoritative manner, similar to how he had seen most Hyuga's act.
"Naruto Uzumaki, I'm here to see Hin- Lady Hinata." He gulped, thanking his stars he remembered to maintain formality. The last thing he needed was a gentle fist strike to the gut, and these guys meant business if there constant staring said anything.
The guard on the right looked at the one on the left and nodded to his comrade. "You may enter."
As Naruto made his way through the door, one of the guards grabbed him by the arm, leaning close to his ear and whispered. "Lady Hinata will be in her room, second floor, third room on the left, good luck Naruto." The guard winked at him before returning to his stonelike position. Naruto did a double take, realizing the guard was Ko Hyuga, Hinata's old caretaker. Naruto made a mental note to thank him later.
After wandering around the lower levels of the compound, he finally found the staircase. Making his way up he remembered Ko's directions and found Hinata's door. He instinctively combed his fingers through his hair and tested his breath, and to his pleasant surprise, it didn't smell like the ramen he had eaten for breakfast.
After mentally hyping himself up he gently knocked on the door. He then heard a soft, "come in." He slid the door open to find Hinata standing before a mirror, running a brush through her long hair. She smiled at him in the mirror, "you can sit down if you like, I'll be only another minute." He plopped down on the edge of her bed, careful not to cause any folds in the pristine sheets.
Naruto couldn't help but gaze at her, she wasn't wearing anything extravagant, just her usual outfit, but she just looked, beautiful. She'd always been beautiful, but lately, he'd been looking at her in more detail, and he was positively enamored by her. She was the essence of purity, grace, and compassion. His eyes began to track down her form, and for a moment his mind ran wild with thoughts only the Pervy Sage would be proud of. He hit himself on the head, trying hard to banish those thoughts away. Kurama laughed at his discontent. "It seems your blood runs hot for this woman. Otherwise, your thoughts wouldn't be so, dare I say, explicit." Naruto told the fox to shut its pervy mouth. He hated when Kurama perused his thoughts like a picture book. The fox laughed deeply before fading away in his conscious.
His arguing with Kurama had seemed to cause him to space out, his eyes still firmly glued to Hinata, causing the girl to blush. "N-Naruto?" He had been staring intently at her for several moments, causing her to feel self-conscious. She folded her hands and looked at her feet, was he displeased with the way she looked? "Is something wrong Naruto?"
Her voice seemed to give him a jolt, and he rubbed the back of his neck, "Huh, nothing wrong here, I uhh-just...well-you um-" He was getting flustered and started mumbling again before quickly getting his mind back on track. "It's just that you look, very nice today," Naruto's face turned a whole new shade of red, and Hinata looked much the same. They both averted each other's gazes for a while, too embarrassed.
"Oh... thank you Naruto," her voice had become so quiet, she tried so hard not to faint, she had promised herself she would stop doing that in front of him. Instead, she smiled at him, glancing at his face under her lashes. "You look good as well."
The two remained rooted to their spots, an awkward silence filling the air. "Umm- I got you these, it's not much, but I forgot to get you anything last night and soo." He said remembering the flowers. Ino had them sealed in a scroll to preserve their freshness. He fumbled around with the seal for a moment before, poof! The scroll turned into a bouquet of flowers.
"You got them, for me?" She asked, a fuzzy feeling making itself known in her chest.
"Yeah, of course, they're for you. Do you not like them? It's okay if you don't..." His trademark confidence was chipping away, and immediately Hinata shook her head, "no, no I love them, I just can't believe you got me flowers." She smiled warmly at him putting them in an empty vase. "Anyway we should probably get going, don't want to keep my father waiting."
XXX
The pair made it to the hospital, and after consulting with the receptionist, made their way to Hiashi's room.
Naruto noted that the man he had seen in Kakashi-Sensei's office was walking down the same hall. The man gave him a glare with his one blue eye and carried on walking, a small bag in his left hand. Boy that guy gave Naruto the creeps, what with his weird metal eyepatch and cold, beady eye. He shuddered at the thought of what kind of gnarled mess lay beneath that patch.
"I think this is the room," Hinata said meekly, Naruto twisted the door handle and let her in first following right behind her. He shut the door quietly, not wanting to wake the Hyuga leader.
The EKG rhythmically beeped while Hiashi laid on the bed, his eyes closed. If it hadn't been for the rise and fall of the man's chest, he would have thought the man was dead. His skin was pale, his forehead had a large bandage around it, undoubtedly due for changing because of the gross yellow color it had turned to. It truly was a miracle the man was still alive. Hinata opened up the window to let some fresh air in and adjusted her father's covers as to make him more comfortable.
She kept moving around the room, tiding things up making sure everything was where it should be, as a worker bee would. Naruto grinned, she had to be the most caring and thoughtful person he knew.
When all was said and done, Hinata pulled up a chair and sat at her father's side taking his hand into her own. Naruto perched himself up on the window and watched over the two of them.
He took the time to map out Hinata's face, the curvature of her nose, the lashes of her eyes, the way her eyebrows scrunched up when she was concerned. Naruto took it all in, something about her face made him feel at ease, at peace. A feeling he seldom felt after the war.
"You okay?" He asked her from across the room
She looked up at him with her pale eyes and nodded, "yeah, I'm just concerned is all. Rationally I know he's going to be okay, but I still worry." Her voice was soft, full of compassion. "It's funny, I used to think my father never cared for me, he was always cold and assertive, never believing in me. But I still loved him; he's my papa, the only one I've got. And to think he sustained these injuries to defend me." She wiped her eyes briefly, "It gives me joy to know that he cares for me, but it hurts to know I'm the cause of his pain."
Naruto got up from his perch and took a seat next to Hinata, taking her other hand in his bandaged one. "Oh come on now, that's no way to talk. You have nothing to do with his pain. This whole thing was entirely out of the blue, and there's nothing you did, or could have done to cause him pain." He told her soothingly, trying to lift her spirits. "I think he would tell you the same thing."
Hinata gave Naruto an appreciative smile, "thank you Naruto, for coming today. Just you being here brings me comfort."
"If it means making you happy I would do anything, believe it." Hinata giggled at the mention of his old catchphrase.
"Well isn't that sweet." A new voice commented from behind them.
Naruto and Hinata whipped their heads around, meeting Sakura's amused gaze. "Sakura! Don't sneak up on us like that!" Naruto spat, instantly annoyed.
The pinkette threw her hands up in mock surrender, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But you guys need to pack it up because I gotta make my rounds and Lord Hiashi's up next on the list."
The couple got up and made their way out, Hinata thanking Sakura as they exited. They made their way out of the hospital and into the cold, early afternoon air.
"You wanna hang out at my place, it's nice and warm, I could cook us up some ramen, and we can watch a movie or something," Naruto asked her.
"Yeah that would be nice, it would be great to get out of this cold." She agreed. Naruto wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, warming her up on their way. They then spent the rest of the way to his apartment deciding what to watch, finally coming to a conclusion to just cross that bridge when it came.
A/N: So how'd it go? I enjoyed writing this chap a lot, especially the interactions Naruto had with Sai and Ino. Maybe I'll write a chapter from Sai's perspective, maybe. Anyway, let me know what you guys thought if you want, reviews are always appreciated.
Until next time, -Mr. Block
