Disclaimer: I don't own any of the material that this fiction is about. I only own the plot.
Author's Note: Sorry It took as long as it did to get this chapter out; I've been down with a cold. Anyways as usual all reviews are appreciated and thank you for the hits on the first chapter! I'm writing full steam ahead for this next chapter so it won't take as long. Until next time!
Chapter 2:
'Naruto is actually making ME food' Hinata grinned at the romantic thought; although it wasn't intended to be romantic she still enjoyed the thought. 'But still, it would be nice to have something other than ramen'. Hinata had never really enjoyed ramen but she was happy to be eating anything at all with her crush. She was lost deep in thought left there staring at the blonde who was franticly working over the stove. He knew it wasn't anyone special but he still liked to try and show off any skill he had. He decided to break the silence when he saw Hinata just staring blankly at him.
"So Hinata, how's life been treatin' ya" the boy said with a grin on his face trying to look as friendly as he could.
"… hm? Oh yeah right, umm it's been going alright so far" she said blushing a little embarrassed at when she realised Naruto had seen her staring at him. "How've you been", the white eyed girl questioned.
"Oh you know, granny Tsunade's been riding me like a horse with these constant missions. It's nice to finally have some down time" Naruto smiled sheepishly. He really was glad to have some time off.
"Oh? What missions has she had you on" Hinata asked trying to instigate a conversation.
"Well, for one I and Sai had to do a double team mission to catch some spies from the hidden stone village. That wasn't too hard since it was just a B rank mission. Then team 7 had to go find and neutralize Akatsuki member Kisame, that didn't end to well" Naruto had a sad tone in his voice when he had recalled the mission team seven was sent on. It was a total failure with Kisame escaping and 2 of his teammates hospitalized. "Oh yeah! Then there was the one I just got off of, an A rank mission to capture two rouge ninja's from the land of grass, they were a bit of a hassle but me and Sakura pulled it off nicely" Naruto smirked remembering his victory. "That's about all I've done is the past few weeks. How about you" he questioned Hinata.
"oh, well I had to fill in for another chuunin who had caught the flue so I went on a few D rank and C rank missions, nothing to intense just garbage clean up and catching a few lost cats" Naruto flinched when he heard Hinata speak about chasing down cats, he remembered the horrible time he'd had when he had to catch some old lady's cat.
"Ha-ha yeah I remember catching my first cat" Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously as he remembered getting clawed at by the little devil. "The bugger nearly took my eye out!" Naruto shouted.
Hinata giggled remembering seeing him coming back from that mission with scratch marks all over his face, her giggling made Naruto grin. "Well you had it lucky then" Naruto said, glad that they had started a conversation.
"N-Naruto behind you!" Hinata shyly shouted as she saw smoke coming from Naruto's stove.
"OH CRAP!" Naruto shouted as he doused the burning food with some a bucket of water. "Well there goes our dinner" Naruto grimaced.
'Now's your chance' Hinata thought to herself. "U-umm I-if you w-wanted, I c-could m-make some food" she stuttered hardly getting it out of her mouth.
"Really? You cook?" Naruto asked, he never really saw her skills outside of battle. "That'd be great", he grinned scratching the back of his head.
"I'll get started then" Hinata smiled shyly at naruto's slight enthusiasm. She looked around his kitchen for some spices and other ingredients. She stumbled upon some fresh fish in his fridge which she used to make tempura. She then used assorted vegetables to make a make-shift salad with naruto's limited ingredients. Naruto was lifted off his feet at the smell of the food. 'Wow this all smells amazing' Naruto thought to himself. 'I bet it'll taste even better'. Naruto was mesmerized by the skill of her cooking; just watching her prepare food was almost like art.
A few more minutes of cooking and naruto's constant questions about her technique, she had finally produced their meal for the night. It was salmon tempura with mixed vegetable stir fry and iced tea. Naruto looked at the food practically drooling from the sight of the meal and the aroma it gave off. This mad Hinata smile brightly, she always appreciated it when people enjoyed her cooking.
"Awe man this looks great!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically.
"Well I try" Hinata smiled. "Dig in"
And Naruto did. He ate the food like he hadn't eaten in years, savouring the flavour as he munched away at his plate. Hinata just giggled and nibbled at her food. When Naruto was finished he thanked her for the great meal and they spent a good time talking about how she made it and the recipe for how to make it himself another time.
"Man Hinata you HAVE to teach me how to cook sometime" Naruto grinned at his friend.
"Of course" she said happy that he acknowledged her talents.
"Oh hey can you grab me my notebook" the blonde requested.
"Sure"
Hinata picked up the notebook and saw that it was turned to a page with some doodles. "did you do this Naruto?" she asked.
"Those? Yeah I guess they're not very good though" Naruto blushed, he didn't really mean for anyone to see his mediocre drawings.
"Do you have an interest in drawing" she asked curiously. Naruto didn't seem to be the artistic type.
"Well kinda yeah, I don't know why but it seems that all my skills are in fighting, I'd kinda like to have a skill that doesn't involve violence, a peaceful skill", Naruto shocked Hinata with this confession.
'Wow, I've never seen this side of Naruto before' Hinata thought. "Well, I've been considered to be quite good at drawing and sketching, maybe I could help you get better" Hinata said trying not to sound arrogant or offensive.
"Really Hinata, You'd do that?" Naruto asked in excitement. "And hey, in return I can help you train and get better with your ninja skills" he offered.
'I don't think that Naruto could necessarily help me with most of my style of fighting but maybe I could learn some new things, and it's more time to spend with Naruto' Hinata ran the scenario of her being close to Naruto and teaching him how to draw and him helping her train. She quite liked the thought. "Sure" she said and nodded excitedly
"Great! Hey why don't we go for a walk and talk about it" Naruto offered.
"U-u-ummm… Sure, yeah that'd be nice" she squeaked. 'Naruto is actually asking me to go for a walk with him! Okay girl, calm down it's just a walk, he didn't propose to you'. She thought to herself excitedly.
"Well what are ya waiting for, let's go" Naruto said and marched off. They both headed outside and proceeded to walk around Konoha.
X.X.X.X.X
Naruto and Hinata had been walking for a good half an hour, chatting it up and really starting to make a bond between them. They had walked down by the pond and around the training grounds. Neither of them had wanted to stop walking together because they were hitting it off so good, Naruto had even started to think of it as a date. But he would never tell Hinata that, he didn't know how she felt about him seeing as how oblivious he is to the obvious.
"brrrrrr" Hinata shivered. It was a nice night out but it had been cold and she didn't have very warm clothing on.
"Hey are you okay Hinata" Naruto asked his raven haired friend.
"y-yes I-I'm fine" she stuttered with her teeth clacking together.
"Here" Naruto said warmly as he took off his trademarked orange and black sweater.
"t-t-thank N-Naruto" Hinata stuttered amazing at the romantic offer. 'This is like a dream come true' Hinata thought to herself as Naruto wrapped her in his warm jacket. 'He may be awkward at times but I have to admit, he has style'
"Hey Hinata" Naruto said, "Let's go look at the stars. I know just the place to".
Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and ran with her to the stone faces, "C'mon it'll be great" he said to a beet red Hinata. She was flabbergasted when he grabbed her hand, whether or not with romantic intensions she enjoyed the rough yet surprisingly soft feel to naruto's hands. Naruto saw Hinata blushing and gave her a nice guy smile.
The two of them ran up the mountain face to reach naruto's father's statue. They sat atop of the Yondaime as they gazed into the stars. 'Now's your chance Hinata, go' she mentally shouted to herself. And almost instinctively she leaned her head on naruto's shoulder. It was warm just like his jacket and she loved every second of it. At first Naruto was shocked but then started to like the feeling. He proceeded to rest his head atop hers. He took in her sweet smelling hair, he didn't know why but he loved the smell of her raven locks. All Hinata could do was sit there and enjoy the moment.
They sat there like that together just gazing at the stars enjoying each other's company. Hinata decided to ask him a question that had been bothering her for quite some time. She needed to know the answer.
"Naruto", she said, "do you remember my confession to you during the battle with pain" she asked remembering her bravery and determination of that day. Naruto nodded in response. "what did it mean to you, when I told you that… I l-loved you" it was hardly comprehensible but Naruto understood what she said.
"Hinata, it meant more to me then you could know." He looked at the face of the shocked Hyuuga and continued, "I didn't really know how to feel at the time, no one had ever said that to me and I didn't even know that I was someone who was capable of having another love me. That confession meant the world to me" he smiled at the raven haired girl who was teary eyed.
Hinata moved closer and closer to his lips after hearing what Naruto had said to her about her confession. She couldn't help herself, her body moved on its own. Naruto leaned his head towards hers instinctively and slowly the two inched closer and closer together, when finally their lips met. It was a story book kiss, under the stars alone on top of a mountain. To Hinata it was pure bliss.