Naruto dried off as he climbed out of the shower. He wrapped one towel around his waist and then another around his unruly hair. He had been wanting to talk to Hinata ever since the war ended, but it seemed as if every moment that came about was lost seconds later. He was studying hard to become a jonin, and a year and a half had already passed without having that conversation. Something was bothering him about Hinata. It tugged at the edge of his mind, waking him up from his sleep at night.
It had not totally escaped his notice that Hinata threw herself out in front of him in a near death situation twice. Both times as he faced strong and dangerous enemies… much stronger than herself, and fully aware that she was recklessly sacrificing herself to save him. Such a selfless sacrifice for him had only happened once before and he had no memory of it. His parents had died that day.
Not long ago, he almost witnessed Hinata die and then he did witness Neji's death. At the time she said it was because she loved him. He took that as the type of love that shinobi comrades shared among each other. But after the war ended and peace set in, he was not quite sure this made sense. A parent recklessly throwing themselves in front of a moving train to save their child made sense. But that was not something that friends and comrades typically did for each other.
After he pulled on a large orange sweat shirt and some sweat pants, he found Hinata sitting at his dining table, staring out of the window at the village. He sat down across from her and clasped her hands as they rest on the table.
She turned and looked at him, her eyes were wide with surprise. Her cheeks turned a rosy red color. She said, "N-Naruto."
"I needed to thank you, Hinata!" Naruto blurted out. "Uggh!"
His head fell forward in frustration. This had sounded better in his head. Out loud it sounded like a paltry gesture to give someone who had basically sacrificed her life for him twice. He frowned… maybe he should have gotten her a gift or something. He would have to talk to Sakura about that.
"F-for what?" Hinata asked slowly.
"For what you did for me during the war… and Pain," Naruto said. His eyes softened, full of the sincere gratitude he felt for the young woman in front of him. He squeezed her hands. Her hands felt small and soft and warm inside of his larger callused hands. She blushed deeper. Naruto smiled.
Hinata was so shy. When he was younger, he did not fully understand the concept of shy. He actually thought she was just a weirdo like Shino. But more recently, he had come to respect her resolve. In his mind, she was the type of shinobi that he had always striven to be but had not yet become. While it was easy for him to throw himself in front of a dangerous enemy since he had the nine tail's strength and his mother's endurance. Hinata had neither, but she was still always willing to step up anyway.
"Oh… it was nothing." Hinata looked at their hands still intertwined together. She went to pull her hands from Naruto, but he held on tighter, not letting her go. Then she smiled and giggled carelessly before saying with more confidence. "I'd do it again of course Naruto! We are friends and shinobi comrades! That's what we do for each other, huh?"
"Sure." Naruto replied jovially. For some reason he felt a bit disappointed. Had he been expecting another answer? Then softly under his breath he said, "It was everything to me."
And he felt something stir inside of his chest. Something foreign and slightly uncomfortable. It made him look at Hinata again. He squinted his eyes. She seemed different. He was noticing for the first time that she was not just his old childhood friend but had grown into a fully formed young woman. A woman who was prettier than any of the other girls in the village. Maybe even Sakura.
She wore lose fitting clothes, but he could still see the outline of her curvaceous body underneath. And then it crossed his mind that they were alone and he was holding onto her hands like his life depended on it. The stirring in his chest moved further down towards his groin.
Naruto's blue eyes widened and his cheeks burned bright red. He quickly moved his left hand from Hinata's hands into his lap. His right hand went up to the back of his head, scratching nervously like he always did when he felt awkward. "Sorry Hinata! I'll be right back! I have to take a whiz and then we'll head over to Sasuke's place! OK!"
Before Hinata could reply, Naruto dashed from the room. He just hoped his sweatpants were loose enough that Hinata completely missed what was actually going on with him. Naruto was in the bathroom for about twenty minutes.