Chapter 4

Hinata sat at her desk trying her best to disappear as Tsukihana sat beside her, trying to engage Sabishi in a debate about Naruto's best qualities. He, of course, was unable to keep up the argument and proceeded to become a stuttering mess.

It had been around a month since the three created their fan club, and Sabishi still found it hard to talk to her without stuttering. Although, the good news was that they remained undiscovered. The majority of the meetings consisted of spying on Naruto as he trained, but Tsukihana always brought up the idea that they should actually talk to him. Each time, Sabishi and Hinata would immediately turn it down.

After she and Sabishi had shot her down so much, Hinata was afraid that the poor girl would snap. Unfortunately, it seemed that that snap was on its way.

"I can't take it anymore!" Tsukihana yelled, "I get that you two are silent supporters, and that if you talked to Naruto then you both would probably pass out, but all we've done so far is spy on his training for a month! I mean, he doesn't even know that he has a fan club!"

Hinata and Sabishi shrunk back as Tsukihana ranted at them. She had moved through her arguments as the two stared wide-eyed. She said he was alone. She said he had no friends. She said he had no one caring for him. Each thing she said struck the two of them harshly, but they knew the points were valid.

"Are you two listening? Hinata, I know that you are in love with him and are too afraid to say so."

Hinata blushed but didn't argue.

"Satoshi, I realize that you usually ask yourself what Naruto would do. Well, would Naruto act as you two are?"

Sabishi looked down in shame.

"That's right," she said, finishing up, "Now that you two realize the holes in your plans, how about we mix it up with something new."

Hinata sat up straight again, "A-alright. Y-you make valid points. W-what would you h-have us do?"

Hinata suddenly felt nervous at the other girl's wicked smile.

"Well," Tsukihana said, "The solution is simple. All you have to do is ask Naruto out."

Hinata didn't hear anymore because she was blissfully unconscious.

When she woke up, she looked up to see Sabishi looking down to her, worried. She gave him a shaky smile that he returned with his own small smile. Of course, her smile turned to a frown when she saw the form of Tsukihana crouched down beside him, shaking with laughter.

"Now that you're back, I can give the real suggestion," she said, earning a glare from the Hyūga heiress. She easily waved it off and continued, "Alright, so I was thinking that you guys could show your support without actually talking much."

Sabishi quirked an eyebrow, "H-how exactly d-do you expect to d-do that?"

Tsukihana smiled again, making Hinata uncomfortable, but her discomfort went away when the red-head spoke one word, "Bento."

Hinata blinked in confusion, "Huh?"

Tsukihana nodded, "Yup. A bento. If you two make a lunch for him and present it to him every day, then you'll support him and he'll think you're just being nice."

Hinata blushed at the thought, "Isn't t-that a little f-forward? I'm not s-sure he w-would want it even if w-we did."

Tsukihana rolled her eyes, "Sure sure, just trust me. I know what I'm doing."

Hinata tried to protest again, but it didn't come out loud enough to persuade Tsukihana otherwise, so she nodded in defeated agreement.

"Excellent!" Tsukihana cheered, "Time to start Operation: Lunchbox!"

Hinata went straight home after school. She didn't even get her usual eyeful of Naruto. She didn't want to say it, but she was glad to be able to finally show her love in another way other than silently cheering him on. She went to the kitchen in her house and asked one of the branch members to show her how to prepare a bento for the next day.

The member questioned her, but she said it was an important matter, so there were no more arguments. She already knew how to cook, but she just needed guidance of what to make. She just had to hope that the lunch would be suitable. She went to bed that night, nervous about her upcoming chance.

When she woke up, she quickly got dressed and found herself in front of a stove. She made rice, boiled vegetables and pork slices and meticulously molded them into onigiri shaped like Naruto's head. She then added some heart-shaped sweet cakes on the side. She placed the lid over the box and wrapped in a blue and orange bandana.

With that, she happily skipped to school. Unfortunately, she had to stop when she saw the bullies walking down the road toward her. She had to be careful because they would definitely try to take her bento, so she jumped into the nearby bushes and snuck through toward the school.

When she finally made it to the gate, she saw Sabishi standing and waiting and he had a bento as well. His was wrapped in a dark blue bandana. He was looking down, blushing. She had to resist the urge to scream kawaii and smother him. She jumped out from the bushed, causing him to startle.

"I-I asked you not t-to do that, H-Hinata-senpai." He whined.

Hinata smiled down at him, "Sorry about that. I was just trying to avoid some unwanted company."

Sabishi quirked an eyebrow, but decided not to comment, instead he looked back down, "I-I can't b-believe you g-guys convinced m-me to d-do this. Isn't th-this thing kind of weird?"

Hinata scratched her cheek, "I think that Tsukihana only wanted me to make a bento. You didn't actually have to."

This just caused Sabishi to shrink into himself under a little doom cloud, "I'm s-sorry," he said.

Hinata shook her head, "No, it might be easier if we do it together."

Sabishi meekly nodded in agreement.

"Hey all!" they heard Tsukihana before they saw her, but the fact that she was speeding toward them had that fixed in seconds. She too carried a bento. This one was wrapped in a bandana with a strawberry pattern, "Are you guys ready for our first club activity?" she paused, "Okay, the second club activity if you count spying."

Hinata nodded and Sabishi kept his head down. Tsukihana didn't seem to like this, so she walked over to the boy and playfully smacked him in the back, causing him to topple forward.

"Lighten up, Satoshi-kun! Naruto-kun's a nice guy, so I'm sure he won't completely refuse yours for the lunches of two beautiful ladies such as myself and Hinata-chan."

Sabishi didn't comment, choosing instead to keep his head down. She shrugged and led them to class. The three headed in, two in anxiousness, and one in bubble-headed bliss. Class was just as boring. Nothing new was taught, but Hinata noticed Sabishi taking thorough notes, no doubt to compare with previous ones he took. She smiled at his actions, but wisely chose not to comment. He probably needed the distraction.

Iruka seemed to have finished his lecture and was starting to wrap up. She smiled nervously at the other two as he released them for lunch. They quietly congregated at the door as the other students filed out. When the room cleared, it wasn't too difficult to find Naruto because the little blond was still napping from when Iruka was talking.

The three shared a glance before two gulped in anticipation and one stepped forward and tapped his desk. He didn't stir, so Tsukihana tapped harder. The only response she got was a loud snore and she gained a tick mark. She slammed her fist on the table.

Naruto was startled awake and stared up fearfully at Tsukihana. This, of course, turned to a look of guarded annoyance, "What do you want? Are you going to try to bully me too?"

Tsukihana frowned, "Why would I do that?" he looked like he was going to answer, so she just clapped her hands together beside her face and swooned, "We just noticed that you don't usually have a lunch at this time, so we wanted to help you out," she stepped to the side and the other two came forward and placed their bentos on the table along with Tsukihana's.

Naruto stared, wide-eyed at the three of them and Hinata and Sabishi bowed deeply to him before dragging Tsukihana off toward the abandoned classroom that acted as their official club room. Once they saw that no one was following, Hinata and Sabishi fell to the ground, the adrenaline slowly exiting their system.

Hinata nodded to Sabishi and he smiled back. Mission success! What's even better is that Naruto probably had no idea what was going on!

XxOxX

Sabishi was still winding down from the adrenaline rush as the three of them made their way into the classroom. He and Hinata joined Tsukihana as they sat in the back. He made sure to keep his gaze away from Naruto as the boy was frantically waving toward all three of them from his seat in the front. Finally, he gave in and he and Hinata waved back, earning a beaming smile from him. Sabishi was content in getting his stuff, but he was interrupted by a hand slapping the desk next to him.

He looked up and cringed back as he saw a smirking Ino, "So," she began, "when are you guys leaving?"

Sabishi furrowed his brows, "Wh-what do y-you mean? I-I don't plan on going anywhere."

Ino shook her head, letting her flowing blonde hair sway back and forth, "No, I heard that you and two girls were going to get together to become nomads and roam the land looking for the perfect ramen topping, and then today you were saying something about putting that ramen in a bento."

Sabishi placed his head on the desk, fighting the urge to smash his head. He really hated rumors.

XxOxX

Tsukihana watched from the back as Naruto fidgeted in his seat. As she had planned, Operation: Lunchbox's hidden mission was a success. She knew that he would become curious because of the lunch and would probably want to thank them. Then the two shy kids would be able to speak freely with their idol.

It's just too bad that Naruto had pranked Iruka at the beginning of class, thereby getting him stuck in the seat at the front of the room. Now they were going to have to wait for the end of class for the mission to be a full success.

She looked over to Satoshi and Hinata and they seemed to be fidgeting as well. No doubt they had too come up with the same conclusion. She did her best to suppress the evil smirk at her friends' expenses, choosing instead to face forward and pretend to be paying attention.

The time flew by too slowly for her tastes, but when Iruka finally released class for the day, there was an orange blur and Naruto was standing in front of them, searching through his pockets.

"Thanks for the lunch you guys! It was delicious" he said happily, "I was worried that I was going to have to skip lunch today. You guys really saved me!" He placed the three empty containers and their bandanas on the table.

Tsukihana smiled and nodded, looking toward her other friends for their conformation, and immediately had to suppress a giggle as Hinata and Satoshi were looking down, blushing, and mumbling something incoherent. She was about to try and snap them out of it, but she was stopped by the sound of a clang beside her. She looked down in surprise mirrored by the other two as Naruto placed down money in front of them.

"Um…" she started carefully, eying the money as he placed it down, as it seemed to be much more than their lunches would be worth even if they were charging him, "What are you doing?"

Naruto looked up with a blinding grin, "I'm paying for the meal. Since you guys didn't tell me how much it was, I decided to give you the same that I pay for the same stuff at the market."

Tsukihana, for once, was speechless. He was paying them as if he wasn't used to gifts before. She just gained a little more respect for him, and a bit of jealousy for Hinata since the other girl had called dibbs.

"That's not n-necessary." Tsukihana was shocked to hear Hinata's timid voice perk up, "It was a gift. We just w-wanted to help you out s-since you don't usually bring l-lunch and have to g-go out to eat."

Naruto gained a strange look on his face. It was like he didn't know how to react, and after what appeared to be internal debate, he decided on a worried look, "Are you sure you meant to give it to me? I mean, I did see the teme given lunches before, but he only turned it down. Did you want to give it to him?"

Hinata shook her head and Satoshi stepped forward, "N-no, we were h-hoping to help y-you out. It w-was meant f-for you."

Naruto's confusion turned into another beaming grin, "Thanks, you guys!" he said, "My name's Uzumaki Naruto!" He stuck out his hand.

Tsukihana took his hand and shook it, "Nice to meet you, Naruto-kun, I am Tsukihana, she's Hinata, and that's Sato-."

"Sabishi!"

Tsukihana looked back at Satoshi because of the outburst, but he didn't seem to be doing anything, so she just shrugged and looked back at Naruto. He smiled and nodded his head to each of them, "Nice to meet you, Tsukihana-chan, Hinata-chan, and Sabishi. Thanks again for the lunch."

Satoshi and Hinata nodded while Tsukihana laughed evilly behind her hand. He was about to say more, but they were interrupted by the clearing of a throat behind them. They looked up to see an angry Iruka.

"As precious as this is, I'm afraid that Naruto has a sentence to serve and I need the class cleared," he paused and eyed them each, "Unless you three want to join Naruto in detention?"

Before he even finished the sentence, the three were out the door and Tsukihana called back, "See you tomorrow, Naruto-kun!"

As she walked, she could feel her friends' glares on her back. She turned around while walking, "Why are you glaring at me? I think that went well."

Hinata frowned and crossed her arms. This, of course, had less effect due to the large blush that she was sporting, "Y-you planned that, d-didn't you?" she tried to reprimand.

Tsukihana let her eyes wander around, "I have no Idea what you're talking about."

As they split off, saying their goodbyes, Tsukihana snickered to herself.

Operation Lunchbox: Success.

Owari