The moon hangs above, silhouetted by the clear, dark sky and hums a gentle glow as if singing a lullaby to the denizens of a sleepy world.
But they are awake; they are so very much awake now.
The two of them stare at the dark expanse in prolonged silence, as they each gently breathe in the crisp night air tinted with the scent of pollen and flowers.
"We're back," Sakura finally says, almost in exaltation. "We're home."
She looks at her open hand, where the phantom tingling of a small velvet box remains, and hopes so much to find something besides just empty air, but…
She smiles, bittersweet. "Aren't we?" she whispers, and the feathery tingles in her palm is swept away in a small breath of wind.
The pinkette turns and finds her blond teammate close by and staring at the unblinking white eye that is the moon in sky.
"Yeah," he says. "We're home."
She clutches a loose fist to her chest, sucking in a worried breath. "Naruto…I'm sorry."
Naruto blinks, shifting his gaze to her. After a beat, he gives a small smile. "It's fine, Sakura-chan. I'm okay."
She returns a tentative smile. "Even so…I just wanted to say it. About what I said…about a lot of things…I'm sorry."
Naruto smiles a little wider. "Then, I'm sorry too. For other stuff."
Something unsaid between them unknots itself, and the two breathe easier now that their shoulders and the air seemed lighter.
Sakura blinks in alarm, and looks towards the veritable crater she created that deceptively seems like days and days ago. "Should we go and report this to Shishou? That person might've tried something while we were—"
"There's no point. He's far and long gone. We can tell Baa-chan tomorrow."
Sakura looks skeptical. "Are you sure? How do you know?"
Naruto just smiles. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan, he's not gonna try anything anytime soon. Trust me, I know."
She relents with a nod, and the two of them once again lapse into a contemplative silence as they bask in the ambiance of the night they've once again returned to resume.
"Say, Naruto," the pinkette begins after a few minutes. "Would you…would you like to join my family for dinner? My mom makes a mean sanuki udon soup. I know it's not exactly ramen, but I think you'll like it, and I'm sure my parents would love the chance to get to know you."
The blond blinks for a moment before a grateful grin parts his lips. "Thanks, Sakura-chan, really. But if it's okay with you, I think…I think I want to be alone tonight."
Sakura gives a small, sad smile. "I understand," she says, before biting her lower lip and skipping over to envelop the blond in a warm hug. "That offer will never expire, okay?"
Blinking away his surprise, Naruto grins cheekily and returns the embrace. "Geez, Sakura-chan, so forward~! Not even the first date yet and you're already pushing me to meet your folks. I knew you'd fall for my superior awesomeness eventually."
She laughs softly. "You big dummy," she says, cuffing him lightly at the side of his head, and pulls away, smiling earnestly despite herself. "Come on, let's head back."
When the two of them fully extricated themselves from each other, the two teammates send each other wry grins before Naruto yawns and stretches his arms behind his head as he and Sakura begin making their way away from the quiet playground. Images of an equally silent apartment fill his mind, but his gait doesn't slow and he palms his chest, feeling the edged shard beneath the fabrics. He's had a good dream, and if he's lucky enough, he can have another tonight, just in time for the new tomorrow and he's looking forward to it. More so than ever. But even so…smiling is a bit difficult at the prospect of solitude.
He shakes his head, bemused at himself. They then round the corner just in time to blink at the sight of Team Eight on a nightly stroll. Both Naruto and Sakura blink rapidly.
Kiba, who is walking ahead of his teammates, is just about to toothily greet the pair when the faces of both Naruto and Sakura zoom in way too close for comfort and the whiskered blond loudly demands, "Kiba! Cats versus Akamaru!"
"Akamaru forever the win!" the Inuzuka teen instinctively replies with gusto and a surprising quantity of spittle, while Akamaru barks his positive commentary.
Sakura then swivels and points an almost accusatory a finger at Shino. "Shino! Spiders and insects are totally ineffectual and gross!"
"First of all," Shino begins with his face hidden behind the cowl, but his shades reflect the jaundiced lights from the nearby lamppost like blades, "the creatures that which laymen consider spiders and insects are of separate scientific classifications distinguished by no less than several physical and biochemical characteristics. Furthermore, the entire ecological welfare from which we benefit is irreparably symbiotic with—"
Swiftly ignoring the Aburame heir, the blond and the pinkette then converge upon the remaining member of Team Eight in a well-oiled formation with fiery zeal, ready to fire off another set of heated query but soon relent in their almost oppressive demonstration of speed interrogation when the girl visibly flinches and they take stock of the zipped up lavender jacket and the long khaki pants and general lack of excessively exposed skin.
The two members of Team Seven sag with relief, almost to the point of hunching over, with Sakura simpering while Naruto plops to the ground.
After a moment, they simultaneously chant in breathless laughs, "Tadaima~."
The collective members of Team Eight blink in rapid succession, especially when the pair starts to laugh sporadically, as if sharing a joke known only to them.
"Okay~ ," Kiba intones. "What the heck was that all about? Did you guys have some 'shrooms to share or what?"
Sakura rolls her eyes and gives one more wry grin to her teammate before straightening her posture and absentmindedly smoothing out her clothes. "It's nothing, don't mind it. It's just, nothing at all."
"Doesn't sound like nothing," the dog-handler says before his lips split into a teasing smirk. "What, did we interrupt you guys and your late evening date—"
"NO!" come the panicked responses in stereo, with a shrilly 'please don't hurt me' thrown into the mix.
To the team's bewilderment, the practically frantic outburst is directed towards Hinata, who looks just as befuddled as the rest of her teammates at the joint response given the squeaking noise she is making when her hands are trapped in Sakura's gloved, imploring hands.
"No," the pinkette repeats in a much more subdued volume as she seems to visibly try to contain her shaking. "We weren't on a date! We were just hanging out as friends. Friends. Just like you and I are! Please believe me!"
"Um, I b-believe you, Sakura-san?" the long haired girl phrases, and awkwardly pats the pinkette on the head when the jittery girl seems to have trouble composing herself.
He should have missed it, he really should have. Indeed, he definitely would have missed it entirely not ten minutes ago, but that was ten minutes ago. Now, Naruto watches through the eyes of one who has walked through the long stretching shadows of dreams. Now he's paying attention, because finally, finally he knows where to start looking, and in doing so he does not miss Hinata's furtive glances towards him and the small breath of relief and a small hopeful smile that the girl tried to hide.
Deliberately catching the dark haired girl's eyes, Naruto smiles and gives her a small, friendly wave, and frowns slightly when she shyly returns the gesture but then soon chooses to avert eye contact.
He studies her profile, of her soft lilac eyes that are hidden behind rosy cheeks and the dark curtain of long hair that shines under the moon like refined gems alit by silver. Kiba is saying something, judging by the way his mouth is moving as the teen suddenly blocks his view of the girl with the gentle eyes and heart. But all the other voices are mute to him now, and he thinks he would really much prefer a different type of music; for a wholly more dulcet notes to grace his hearing.
In the lit shadows of his mind, where the treasured images of a kindly smiling blond man and a widely grinning red haired woman reside, comes also a candidly boisterous feminine voice that admonishes him and commands him to stop being such a bitchfaced-coward and to just go for broke.
So after taking a deep breath with his hand clutching at the emerald shard through the fabric of his track coat, he literally shoves Kiba aside and steps right into the juncture between him and the now slightly flustered girl.
"O-oi, Hinata," he stutters out, voice initially falsetto before it broke into normalcy, and he almost coughs in mild embarrassment before smiling when the girl's eyes light up at his approach and her cheeks begin to color.
Kiba quickly catches his footing after being rudely shoved aside and is about to give an angry verbal response when Akamaru bodily pins him to the ground from behind in such a way that nearly drives his chin into the ground like a stake, followed by Sakura and Shino both crouching down and physically silencing him with their hands like vice clamps.
"H-hello, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata nervously greets back, slightly resembling a doe caught in the limelight and seemingly unaware of the little scene occurring on the side.
"You were totally great earlier today," the blond compliments. "The way you kicked butt was all sorts of awesome."
The girl reddens considerably, and studies her feet. "I was just d-doing my b-best! Th-thank you very m-much for ch-cheering me on."
Naruto grins widely and edges slightly closer as he scratches the back of his head. "So, um, Ichiraku ran out of ramen today... I know, wicked crazy right? But Teuchi-jiji said he's got something called menma stocked up, and I was wondering if…if…"
Hinata blinks at him cutely, nervousness slightly superseded by optimistic curiosity. "Naruto-kun?"
On the side, the audience watches with rapt anticipation, judging by the Sakura's fingers were clawing up patches of dirt while her other hand is inducing need for reconstruction surgery for Kabi's jaw.
A bemused grin tugs at Naruto's lips, as he watches the girl before him tilt her head at him, her lilac eyes finally unhidden to him. For some reason, Naruto feels that he really wants to hear a 'suki' thrown in the girl's choice of words with his name, and a warm sensation within him suffuses across his chest and all the way to a smile. This isn't a dream, not anymore. But he thinks that maybe, maybe there's nothing wrong with trying to make it as good as one.
"I know it's kind of late, and it's totally cool if you're busy or something, but I was wondering if you would like to eat me," he says, giving the girl a sheepish smile.
Hinata tilts her head curiously, her brows scrunching together cutely.
The collective blatant eavesdroppers' jaws drop, with Kiba being the first to pitch in his professional review. "What the what!?"
Naruto gives a sour look, annoyed at the unwanted audience before his eyes widen in realization. "Ack! I mean, eat with me! With me!"
Hinata in particular seems to somehow have latched onto the earlier version of the invitation. "…eat…Naruto-kun?" she whispers, seemingly to herself.
The girl repeats the words quietly to herself a few more times, and her lilac eyes begin to widen and swirl like mini-whirlpools as understanding increases in arpeggio alongside the rising of her body temperature until she hits boiling point, upon which figurative steam whistles out her ears before the solid crimson color that paints her face quickly fades away along with her consciousness and she sways on her feet just before she topples backwards onto the—
"Hinata," Naruto gasps and swiftly intercepts her fall and cradles her as he gently lowers her legs to the ground. "Aw, man! Not again! Oi, Hinata!"
"Man, what is wrong with you, moron?" Kiba grouses, still pinned down by Akamaru's giant paws, while the giant nin-dog pants and barks in a conceivably snide manner.
Shino's entire set of shoulders seem to sag with a sigh in his own version of a double face palm.
Sakura sighs waspishly at the goof-up of her teammate before her eyes widen as saucers and she angrily points at the blond, who is trying to shake the girl in his arms awake. "Where the hell do you think you're touching!?"
"Touching?" Naruto says with a raised brow, before looking down and yelps as he yanks his unintentionally groping hand away and flushes all the way to the roots of his ears as he cringingly tries not to think about the soft tingling in his fingers and staunchly ignores the triumphant cackling of the little Jiraiya on his shoulder.
"I can't believe you're such a perverted idiot, Naruto!" Sakura screeches, and that negative sentiment quickly percolates to the conscious members of Team Eight if the way Kiba is snarling is any indication to go by.
Maybe it's the burning heat in his cheeks coupled with little Jiraiya's shameless demands of 'getting jiggy with it' that addles the already flimsy filter for his brain because he soon counters by shouting back, "Well I can't believe you think stuffing your bra is fooling anyone!"
The ensuing silence is suggestively violent all on its own, punctuated only by an eerily loud breeze like that of a stark desert wind drifting by.
Naruto audibly cringes as the entire canvas of expression on the pinkette makes Yamato's Face of Unmentionable Doom comparable to that of a mewling kitten rolling with a ball of yarn. It should be considered an art form, the way Sakura's facial veins manage to form the kanji for 'kill'.
He cycles with mulish panic between the increasingly hostile conflagration of rage and that of the girl in his arms whose face is framed by her long, black hair that seems aglow with silver from the serene moonlight. And it is on that girl does his gaze finally linger, and his rising anxiety cools and his blue eyes steel and the boy comes to a decision.
With an almost practiced grace, Naruto scoops his other arm under Hinata's legs as he stands to his full height, now carrying her bridal-style, before turning on his heels and flees.
The act is done so blatantly and oddly efficient without even the traditional billowing of dust trails that none present are actually able to react until the pair are almost out of sight and the echoing footsteps jolt them out of their respective stupors.
"Guh? Where the hell is he taking her!? After em', Akamaru!"
"Arf arf!"
"NARUTOOOOO!"
Shino, having already placed a female tracker on his teammates since the day began, merely watches as the others stomp off into the quiet distance, where the innumerable lantern lights loom like a sea of auburn gold.
He looks up at the moon, and decides it's a beautiful one tonight indeed, and hopes a certain girl will seize the unexpected opportunity given. With no one around to hear, Shino hums a soft tune as he leisurely follows the signals and distant screaming.
Neji stares down at the plastic cup of bubble tea placed before him as if it is poisoned and just made a wisecrack about his mother before directing his stupefied gaze across the table. "What."
Lee grins widely, white teeth flashing and unperturbed by the deadpan expression of his rival. "For this next challenge, we shall determine the victor by seeing who can finish their drink first." He pauses for effect. "By drinking through the nose!"
The portion of his brain dedicated to solving advanced mathematics breaks down quite splendidly as the Hyuuga tries to formulate a proper response. "…Why?"
Tenten, who has been enjoying her own bubble tea normally while simultaneously forming the words 'Team Gai' on the support beam behind her with toothpicks, almost does a spit-take as the girl almost laughingly chokes on her drink. To her credit, she still doesn't miss the last needed string of toothpicks to complete the small project.
Lee, for his part, doesn't seem at all perturbed by the notion of consuming a syrupy drink through the nasal cavity. "The score is currently at a tie with twenty points for each of us, Neji! And this match shall become the tie breaker and determine who shall lead in our glorious rivalry!"
"Lee," Neji spats tiredly after a full minute was spent forgetting how to do mathematical division, "we don't have a point system set up, let alone an apparently ongoing string of competitions. And since when did you decide we were 'tied' in anything?"
The taijutsu expert just smiles even wider. "If you do not wish to compete, you can always just forfeit, Neji."
Tenten's unabashed snickering clues in the Hyuuga as to the identity of the true conspirator of the whole ridiculous ordeal. His female teammate apparently wants to play a small joke and poke fun at his expense. Well, he can always turn the game around.
"Fine, I accept the terms of the challenge," Neji replies, keeping up a frown, but internally smirks when Tenten stops giggling and instead dons a look of surprise, which quickly turns into one of horror when he continues, "But only if you make it a team competition."
Lee blinks before he beams excitedly. "Yosh! A truly youthful suggestion, Neji! Undoubtedly you are a genius of the highest caliber!"
Tenten soon realizes that her little game has just been thwarted and turned against her and tries to salvage the situation. "Wait a second, Lee—"
But by then the energetic teen had run off already to procure her a new cup of bubble tea so that she can youthfully join in the splendid team bonding competition. Of youth!
Heaving a small sigh, Tenten directs her glare towards Neji, who is now quietly sipping on his own drink. "That was most youthless, Neji."
Neji gives a small smirk. "That's not even a real word, Tenten."
"It is if you're part of team Gai, which we are. And look at what you've done! Now Lee is going to pester both of us all the time for weird competitions!"
"I happen to find them intriguing."
Tenten scowls and huffs out, "Smartass. It was just a little joke. You were supposed to get all annoyed and flustered and just flat out refused the whole idea! Instead, you dragged me into the same mess! Oh, I don't want to drink milk tea through the nose!"
Neji decides that the girl will realize she has no actual obligation to participate in the ridiculous contest on her own soon enough, and stood up.
Tenten frowns. "What're you doing?"
"Leaving, of course."
"What? You can't leave me to deal with this on my own! Some teammate you are!"
Neji nearly roll his eyes. For such a skilled kunoichi, Tenten certainly has a knack for being sporadically dramatic. He extends a hand.
Tenten blinks.
Expression ever neutral, Neji keeps the invitation aloft. "There's a distinguished mochi eatery three streets down that I've wanted to inform you about."
Tenten blinks again.
Hyuuga don't get nervous, Neji reminds himself. "I'm paying."
Slowly, Tenten smirks. "Well, if you're paying..."
Neji consciously attempts to stifle the tingling sensation from their conjoined hands, and is ready to lead them out when Tenten's smile fades and she stares blankly.
"What is the matter?" the Hyuuga asks.
"Um," Tenten utters and points. "Naruto?"
Neji follows her direction and finds himself staring what seems to be a stampede made out of angry ninjas and civilians, with Naruto leading the charge, or, more accurately, fleeing the impending doom from likely justified violence, given the way Haruno Sakura seems to radiate murderous intent.
Neji huffs. "What has that fool done this time—Hinata-sama!?"
Indeed, there in the arms of the blonde, recent fugitive is the unconscious form of the heiress of the Hyuuga clan. So nonplussed is he, that Neji stares almost blankly for many seconds even after Naruto runs past them with a "Nice going, Neji!" and the ensuing mob screams "Rabble, rabble!" before he belatedly drops Tenten's hand and shouts, "Uzumaki Naruto! How dare you abduct Hinata-sama!" and tears down the street at high velocity.
A rough hurdle rouses her, and for a moment, the entire world swims around her before she blinks away the splotches of yellow. Soon she squeaks, because someone's arms are carrying her and she sees bright blue eyes staring at her and whiskered cheeks stretch into a wide grin and all of this is so close and so warm that she feels another fainting spell incoming.
But then he leaps, holding her even closer in the process, just in time to avoid being mutilated by a bucket of radishes, and the sounds of angry outcries blow away the encroaching white haze instantly.
She tilts her head backwards, and finds herself staring at a livid looking Sakura leading the charge of what looks like an entire battalion of villagers and shinobi and—is that Neji covered in wasabi? And why is Kiba's face painted green? And is that a group of angry cats?
Events certainly tend to transpire when one has been consciously absent. What in the world happened?
"N-Naruto-kun?"
"Hey, welcome back, Hinata-chan!"
She blinks at the newly attached suffix to her name, and her hearts starts racing wildly and she needs to modulate her breathing.
"Do you like cinnamon rolls?!" he asks her, ducking his head just as a wooden ladle sails overhead with the momentum to split cement.
She blinks again at the rather abrupt question. "E-eh?"
"Do you like cinnamon rolls?" he repeats, and if she didn't know better, looks as if he is nervous. "Cuz I know this teashop, and, if you like cinnamon rolls, I can maybe buy you some sometime?"
He can't be asking what she so dearly wishes he is asking, because she's dreamt of it so many times that the Voice of Dissent tells her this can't be anything but another dream, a thing of wishful thinking of a silly girl or maybe the delusions of a severe hypochondriac. But then another voice cuts through the echoes of hesitations, a voice that is accompanied by a wide, audacious grin, a voice that is somehow as familiar as it is crude, for it tells her to stop being such a pussy-wussy and take what she wants and to hell with the puny-shitty-dumbass-committee that is everyone else. After all, good things come to those who wait, but happiness comes to those who risk for the sky.
So she gathers all the iron vestige of her resolve to calm her breathing, and replies, "H-hai, I l-like cinnamon rolls."
The tightness in the blonde's smile softens, before taking on a more teasing nature. "What!? I can't hear you over the mob! You're gonna have to speak up, Hinata-chan!"
She blushes at the bright smile, before frowning a little and speaks a little louder, "I like cinnamon rolls."
"Still can't hear you~!"
Feeling something within her, like a small ball of fire, the girl clutches the cuffs of the blonde's jacket and pulls herself closer to his face and in a very unladylike manner shouts, "I like cinnamon rolls!"
"Now that's an outside voice," Naruto grins, blue eyes twinkling. "I hear ya loud and clear, Hinata-chan! Just give me a minute to ditch the grabby-stabby people!"
The boy then takes them to the rooftops, hopping from shingles to shingles in an attempt to thwart the pursuit of the violent mob, in particular a certain pink haired girl's attempt of using uprooted trees and man-sized benches as projectiles.
Instinctively, she reaches over the boy's shoulders, essentially a hug around the neck, and deflects several makeshift projectiles that are cooking utensils with her jyuuken, and hears Naruto throatily whoop in laughing appreciation while he begins popping shadow clones left and right.
The way her heart is pounding, she fears it will punch through her chest, but then again, she has given it away its essence long ago. And right now, with her heart next to his, she's probably closer to home than she has ever been.
She still doesn't know whether or not all of this is merely a vivid dream, and neither does she have any concrete idea on what's going on, though judging by the way Neji is actually conveying expletives via facial expressions alone, she will find out soon enough, and it probably won't be without certain consequences. But right now, at this moment, with her cheeks practically flushed against his, she wants to believe the rosy tint to the boy's skin to be no imagination.
"Ready to make this jump, Hinata-chan!?"
She pulls back, and finds that they've somehow climbed the Hokage Tower, and still there remain pursuers. In fact, most of them seem to be increasingly of higher ranks, if their garbs are any indications. It all seems surreal, and the dream theory is quickly gaining ground, but then again, what difference does it really make?
Staring into bright blue eyes, she replies in the best way she can, and smiles. "Hai!"
The wind is strong in their descent and drowns out the noise and almost all thoughts in a wave of cool thunder. Below, almost entire pillars of shadow clones await for their landing with bubbling grins, and it is a sight as reassuring as it is absurd.
Soon she feels herself softly laughing, hears a distant grin in the night air in her ears from the chase, and thinks it's a beautiful moon tonight. So she hangs on, and savors in the moment.
After all, it's nice to have a good dream once in a while.
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The world is a white void. Her senses spiral inward and outward in a maelstrom of cycles.
And yet, there is nothing but a prolonged blankness, like a sea of zeroes.
Suddenly, rain. A rain of noise. A rain of distorting black. From the black, an accelerating pulse of white.
She doesn't think to scream, even when everything seems to be polished with the flare of the sun.
Then, the white disperses, and she sees colors.
The spectrum twists and turns, a swirling vortex of imagination and light, when suddenly—
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Hinata blinks.
In the sky, an immaculate blue. Under her arms, textile wood. The feel of heat and the sounds of boiling water and sizzling morsel.
Plumes of water vapor bubbles from a nearby cooking pot, and she smells...ramen?
Hinata blinks again, and allows the quiet, idyllic ambiance to march on. She blinks some more, at the back of old man Teuchi, who is busying about his kitchen. She looks down, and sees her hands, folded over each other as she is seated in her reserved spot in a familiar setting. Her mouth hangs open, and thinks of making a sound, but can't quite bring herself to work past her stupor.
So she sits there, surrounding by the distant bustling noise of a quaint midday market of the village of Konohamaru.
After who knows how long, she looks to Teuchi again, and moves to—
"Hinata-chan~!"
Her breath catches in her throat, and for some reason, she is momentarily almost brought to tears. Hinata turns on the spot in her seat, just in time to face the rapidly decelerating figure of a blonde young man.
"Hinata-chan!" the teen greets eagerly, yet somehow seemingly nervous, and quickly thrusts a crudely arranged bouquet of roses into her immediate bewildered sight. "I'm so sorry sorry sorry for being late! B-but it's not my fault, I swear! It was all Kakashi-nii's idea to do extra morning rounds and I totally told him that you were more important but then he challenged me to a youthful two hundred laps around the compound and you know I can't resist a challenge and—"
"Naruto~!" a voice comes roaring down the other end of the street, and soon Uchiha Sasuke appears with what looks like a suspiciously foot-shaped discoloration stamped into the left side of his face, and he angrily stomps over as he begins rolling up both his sleeves to his elbows. "I should have you arrested for assault and robbery! Those roses are for Sakura-chan, you damn, dirty hairless ape!"
Naruto, as is tradition, roars right on back. "I told you it was an emergency, Teme! Besides, it's not like you don't have like dozens more sealed into your wrists, you creepy hoarder of flowering plants!"
"That's called being prepared, asswipe, something you clearly have no concept of! And you know the first freshly cut rose of the day always goes to Sakura-chan!"
"That she's going to just turn into kindling anyway! I'm actually putting it to better use!"
"Better use," Sasuke scoffs. "Like your rifling through that stack of discarded Kunoichi Leg Show magazines?"
Naruto gawks in utter betrayal and casts a nervous glance at the still silent Hinata, who is watching with an eerily rapt attention. "I h-have no idea what you're talking about! Don't listen to him, Hinata-chan! It's all lies! Libel, I say! He's just mad cuz I ratted him out to Itachi-nii about buying flavored condoms!"
"That was you!? Gah, Nii-san kept trying to lecture me about obscene fetishes and STD's all week!"
"Hey, I was just calling it as I see it, you perverted spade that is perverted!"
Hinata watches, blinkingly silent throughout the veritable shouting contest driven either by testosterone or stupidity, though most likely the latter when the blond begins referencing embarrassing hygiene habits that reveals the truth behind the raven haired teen's suspiciously smooth, hairless legs.
But she hears none of that. The world is a soundless background for a stage made for two. She watches the young man with animated blue eyes and sunny hair of whiskered, vibrant disposition and spirit as he wildly gesticulates, the obviously forgotten bouquet of roses tortured by his movements.
Like the chant of a spell, she utters his name, and just like that, tactile senses of real and flashing images of last moments in a water-washed world repaint themselves in place of a blank canvas. Slowly, her lips curl into a giant smile.
Naruto, for his part, is beginning to become immersed in the incrementally combative argument when he is suddenly tackled from behind.
He instinctively pivots in midair, thus landing on his back with the offender's limbs secured around his neck and his own right arm precariously wrapped around a smooth waist in return, and blinks when silky black hair teases his nose.
Sasuke, shocked by the transpiring event, can only blink silently at his friend and the girl atop of said friend.
The blond, expression blankly curious, tilts his head to find himself staring at coquettish lilac colored eyes accompanied by a cerise, haughty grin.
"You're going to have to do better than just a bunch of stinking roses," she says, with their noses almost touching.
After another blink, Naruto smirks right on back. "Whatcha got in mind?"
Her response is getting lipstick all over his face.
Old Man Teuchi, who is rather distracted from his cooking by the rather unrestrained commotion, turns around to see the spectacle unfolding before his stand. He gives a weary sigh, and instructs his daughter Ayame to get the usual hose.
Suddenly, high above, the very air distorts and soon an opaque pool of refractive shimmering expands like a swirling disc. And if that isn't cause enough for the collective witnesses to question the integrity of the local drinking water, the subsequent bewildered screaming certainly catches their attention.
"Sakura-chan!?" Sasuke shouts, and immediately springs into action. The Uchiha teen cleanly leaps up and traverses to the very vertical tip of a nearby shop, and propels himself like a rocket with a burst of chakra.
Sasuke sails through the very air, arms spread wide open, ready to be the heroic bishounen hero who catches his beloved plummeting, and somewhat flailing damsel in the safety of his embrace.
Then, Sakura loudly declares, "I am not crash landing again!" and spins in midair to generate massive torque.
Sasuke blinks just in time to have a boot dig into his face like an asteroid.
The two descend the rest of the way down in such a manner, loudly and roughly impacting the market street and creating a sizable fissure and a giant bank of billowing dust clouds.
When the dust particles finally clear, Hinata and Naruto, now sitting up but still in rather intimate embrace, stare blinkingly at the middle of the road, where Sakura stoically crouches in stillness, silently gauging herself for injuries, while two stiffly twitching legs sprout from the newly made chasm like a carcass plant.
After taking stock of her landing, but still unable to notice that she has the Uchiha literally underfoot, the pinkette exhales in relief before stepping off the squishy head she buried into the ground. She then spots blonde hair and skips over to belatedly greet her friend casually, as if she didn't just experience a free-fall through an inter-dimensional portal. "Whew. Oh, hey, Naruto, you're not going believe the story I'm about to tell you—what happened to your face?"
Upon better observation of the faint violet petal-like markings on her blond teammate's face and finally noticing the long haired girl who is hanging off of said blond like an expensive humanoid scarf, Sakura groans. "Ugh, now I remember about this part too. During lunchtime? Don't you two have any sense of propriety whatsoever? And give Naruto some air, Hinata-san, he looks ready to combust."
Hinata pulls away briefly to give the blond within her arms an amused onceover. Naruto, for his part, does indeed seem to have most of his facial pigments altered to a more crimson nature in a botched scientific experiment as the two of them sit in the middle of the market road while a small audience begins to gather.
But he's grinning because she's smiling, or maybe it's the other way around. Either way, the two of them were making a public spectacle of themselves with warm smiles to each other, and they both seem to decide that they're okay with that equilibrium.
Snuggling back in, Hinata smirks. "Nope. Never letting go again."