I Don't Know

Chapter 2: Girls and Boys

Hinata was somewhat ashamed to admit that there were a few "important" things that when it came to Naruto, she just couldn't remember when they had first occurred. For instance, she couldn't even remember when she had first gotten a crush on her beloved Naruto-kun, the class clown. She couldn't remember the first time that she had decided that her crush had become something more – blossoming into love. Neither could she remember the first time that she had desperately wished that Naruto would come home from his long training all those years ago, just so she could see him again.

But Hinata could remember the very first dream that she had that had made a very lasting impression on her young mind, a dream that was far from innocent.

It was this dream, and it was with those very vivid images in her mind that prevented her from going through with trying to speak with Naruto when she found him after Neji's encouraging words to find the blond.

Hinata had found Naruto in less than ten minutes after she had set off from her home. She had one of those strange inklings that he would be training near the river that she often went down to train at herself. Her instinct had been correct.

Hinata could only conclude that Naruto had been training for some time because when she got there, he was clearly taking a break. Taking a break in the water. Taking a break in the water with his orange jumpsuit on the bank by where he was. Hinata stopped dead, looking at the discarded jumpsuit, her eyes going wide as she slowly turned her head to where she could clearly see Naruto's head visible above the water.

Her mind flashed back to images of a recurring dream with Naruto. It started out exactly like this. She would find Naruto's jumpsuit on the bank of a river, and then notice him in the water. She would look over to him and just his head would be visible to her. He would notice her, call her name, and then emerge from the water, dripping wet, the water sliding over his chest, his hair plastered to his face. His smile would be wide and mischievous, but his body would be positioned in such a way that she would know that he wanted to be mischievous in a very, very naughty way indeed.

And of course, he would be buck-naked.

So when Naruto turned his head, seeing her on the bank of the river, and decided to wave at her merrily, Hinata's entire body froze as her mind registered that Naruto's jumpsuit was not on his body at the moment. He emerged from the water, dripping wet and-

Hinata woke up to the feel of water dripping down on her face. She opened her eyes groggily to notice that Naruto was looking down at her concerned.

"Hinata, are you okay?" Naruto asked, frowning. Hinata felt the heat of her blush fill not only her face but her entire body at her actions as she noticed that he was wearing his boxers and seemed anything but aroused at their current situation.

"Y-yes, Naruto-kun," Hinata squeaked out rather miserably. Naruto offered her a hand, and helped her to her feet, still frowning at her.

"You know, I've never met someone who faints as much as you do. Do you have some sort of illness or something? I'm sure Tsunade-baa-chan could help you fix whatever's wrong with you," Naruto said, putting his finger to his lip, looking up thoughtfully.

'Fix whatever's wrong with me?' Hinata thought to herself. 'You're what's wrong with me,' she was half tempted to say, but she didn't mean it in a bad way.

"I-I'm not ill," Hinata mumbled.

"You look really flushed though. Usually you're so pale like your eyes, but you look kinda feverish or something," Naruto said worriedly. Hinata could only stare in mute fascination as Naruto raised his wet hand to begin to feel her forehead to check for a fever. Hinata could feel her body temperature rising at the contact. Naruto nodded to himself, seeming to have confirmed that she did have a fever. Hinata had a feeling that she was just warming because of how near Naruto was to her, especially since he was only in his boxers. And dripping wet.

"I'm fine," Hinata managed to get out without stuttering around her beloved. She honestly didn't stutter as much as she used to: only when she was talking about or to Naruto. The fact that she had managed not to do so when he was half naked was a feat indeed.

"Have you had anything to eat yet today?" Naruto asked curiously.

"No," Hinata said, realizing that she had in fact not eaten anything before or after training.

"You should join me for a breakfast of ramen at Ichiraku!" Naruto said enthusiastically. "A good bowl of ramen, especially Ichiraku ramen, will cure whatever's making you sick. Unless it's just that you haven't eaten, because that's not good either," Naruto said, nodding his head firmly as he crossed his arms for emphasis.

"Join you for breakfast?" Hinata said breathlessly. She knew that he wasn't asking her out on a date or anything, but he was still asking her, her, Hinata, to join him for a meal. "Okay," she said barely registering what was going on. Her mind was in such a state of happy euphoria that she didn't even get a chance to watch Naruto put back on his jumpsuit. In fact, she was hardly aware of walking from the river to Ichiraku ramen. The next thing she remembered clearly was having a bowl of ramen placed before her.

"Ittadakimasu!" Naruto said enthusiastically before diving into his own bowl of ramen, blowing on it for about two seconds before shoveling it into his mouth. Hinata couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"So Naruto, I see you brought along a young friend," Teuchi, owner of Ichiraku ramen said kindly to Naruto. Hinata's hand froze mid-motion, her chopsticks suspended as she looked from the owner to Naruto, half mortified.

"Yeah! This is my friend Hinata. She looked pretty bad this morning," Hinata's self-esteem took a drastic dive at this comment, "and I figured that ramen would make her healthier. She looks so much better when she's smiling," Naruto said, flashing a smile at Hinata before returning to his meal.

Hinata almost groaned. He did this all the time. He would insult her (unknowingly), and then say something that made her feel like she wanted to fly. She clearly remembered the time before his match at the Chuunin exams when he had told her she was "gloomy, timid, always terrified and basically completely weird," and then had proceeded to say "But you know what? I actually like people like you!"

Teuchi gave her an encouraging smile, and it seemed like he too knew of her crush on Naruto. Did everyone in Konoha know except Naruto? Hinata wondered if her own father knew. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Looking down at her ramen, Hinata decided that she really didn't need to talk to Naruto in private about the fact that she liked him because it seemed like everyone knew. Perhaps if she did it now with others around, they would help to encourage her.

"N-Naruto-k-k-kun," Hinata said, gulping, and nibbling on her lip because her fingers were currently occupied with her chopsticks, preventing her from pressing her index fingers together. "I-I, uh, l-l-l-l-" Oh why couldn't she get the words out? Naruto turned towards Hinata, his gaze kind and curious.

"You what Hinata?" Naruto prompted. Hinata gulped again.

"I-I...l-l-like," she could do this, she knew she could, "l-l-like-"

"You like ramen?" Naruto asked, trying to fill in the gap, thinking she was trying to make him guess. She shook her head. Naruto blinked. "How can you not like ramen? You're eating it right now!" Naruto said, frowning at her.

"I mean, I-I like ramen, but I l-l-like-" 'Come on, just say it!' Hinata scolded herself.

"You like..." Naruto frowned at her, and then he smiled and sat up straighter. "Oh I get it! You want me to guess what you like!" Naruto said. "Hmm, let's see, well, you like ramen, which I knew because you're smart and all smart people like ramen..." And with that, Naruto began rambling off a list of things ranging from kunai to flowers that Hinata could possibly like, and all Hinata could do was nod or shake her head feebly. Teuchi shook his head, and then gave her a hand motion behind Naruto indicating that he thought Naruto had been hit in the head one too many times during his missions. Hinata's face fell. Naruto was not dumb. He was actually very smart and good at coming up with battle plans. He just was unable to tell when a girl was hitting on him. He was as impervious to understanding when a girl liked him as Sasuke was impervious to letting a girl like him.

"Wow Hinata, that was a great game to play! I learned a lot about you," Naruto said brightly. Hinata blinked, and she realized that she had indeed given him more information today about herself than she ever had before. "I didn't know you liked to take care of plants. I do that too! (1)" Naruto said enthusiastically. Hinata was slightly surprised to learn that Naruto also liked horticulture. She actually hadn't known that about Naruto. "You should come over to my apartment tomorrow. I have this really neat plant. I haven't been able to identify what it is. Maybe you could help me," Naruto suggested cheerfully. Hinata merely nodded before Naruto mentioned having to go meet Sasuke to "kick his prissy ass" and bounded off.

Then reality seemed to sink in. Naruto had invited her over to his apartment tomorrow. She was going to go to Naruto's apartment. Where Naruto lived. Where he slept. Where his bed was. Hinata was glad she was sitting down because she was afraid she would have fainted again.

"Hinata!" Hinata nearly fell over at the loud squeal behind her. It was a testament to how shocked she had been that she hadn't notice the brightly colored pink hair appear before her.

"Hello, Sakura-chan," Hinata said, wondering if she could slink away now before she got the third degree of Sakura asking her questions about Naruto. Seeing Ino flanking Sakura, she knew she would have no such luck. She gulped, knowing that if Sakura was with Ino, something was up. "Hello Ino-chan," Hinata added.

"Hey Hinata! I hear that Sakura is finally pushing you to tell Naruto that you like him. Well it's about time! I mean, Naruto is pretty dense and all-"

"No he's not," Hinata chimed in, but Ino went on as if she didn't hear her.

"-but he's gotten a lot cuter now that he's older. Still not as good looking as Sasuke-kun, but I'm sure Sasuke had some influence on Naruto's personality, so that's a plus too." Hinata frowned, thinking she wouldn't waste her breath explaining that she liked Naruto for who he was, and not because he had been "influenced" by Sasuke. Still, remembering hers and Neji's conversation from earlier that morning, she supposed that he and Naruto were pretty close.

"Anyway, we came here to ask you something. When you were talking to Naruto, did he mention anything juicy?" Sakura asked. Hinata blinked. She thought Naruto had asked her if she liked oranges, but she wasn't sure, and she had a feeling that wasn't the type of juicy Sakura was talking about either.

"No," Hinata said slowly.

"He didn't mention anything besides the two of you?" Ino asked, looking slightly crestfallen. Hinata shook her head. Sakura and Ino both sighed, and then turned back to Hinata.

"Well, at least that means he's paying attention to you," Sakura said brightly before waving and walking off. Hinata watched them leave unsure of what had just transpired.

"I told you forehead girl that Sasuke wouldn't tell Naruto something like that," Ino hissed as the two walked away.

"And I told you Ino-pig that Naruto just wouldn't tell anyone!" Sakura said, their voices trailing off in the distance. Hinata shook her head, realizing that they were probably talking about Sasuke, but wondering what Naruto had to do with it.

Reality seemed to hit her again as she remembered that she was going to Naruto's apartment tomorrow. She was half tempted to call out for Sakura and Ino to come back and give her some advice, but then she wasn't sure if she really wanted it. They were nice when they wanted to be, but when they were in "Oh my God, I love Sasuke-kun forever!" mode, they were scary and rather incoherent.

Come to think of it, neither of them had acted this way for several years, and she wondered why their fangirlishness was surfacing all of a sudden. Whatever it was it probably had to do with what they were just (so strangely) asking her about.

She sighed and decided to head back to her house. Maybe Hanabi would be able to give her some advice on how to woo Naruto. She had a boyfriend now after all, so she must have either been wooed or done something to intrigue her boyfriend. Hinata sighed, remembering that Hanabi had said something about liking Konohamaru at some point and time, and she had a feeling that her sister had succeeded in snaring the young Sarutobi. Since Konohamaru and Naruto were very similar, perhaps her baby sister wouldn't mind sharing some sisterly wisdom with her older sister.

Hinata hung her head. She realized that it should be the other way around; that she should be the one giving advice to her younger sister, but she had to go to someone! Hinata walked back to her house, deciding she didn't really care too much about her pride anyway.

Next Chapter: To Clean or Not to Clean? That is the Question.

(1) Naruto actually does like taking care of plants aka horticulture. It's mentioned in the manga but not the anime. But if you're all diligent at watching Naruto, and you can recall the scene where all the jounins are in Kakashi's room after he faints from his encounter with Itachi, the plant between the two pictures of his genin team and his team when he was a genin was a plant that Naruto gave him.

I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! Have a Happy Valentine's Day! - Jelp