A/N: I've updated Avarice though! Finally overcame that writer's block ! And yes, here is the awaited chapter! Be warned, there's tons of NaruHina interactions here. And Minori is so adorbs. And take note that Minori's words are what my six year-old nephew is likely to say so yes, Minori is inspired by my little nephew.
Do enjoy this chapter! And thank you for reading all this while. It will update soon! I promise :)
Interactions
"She'll be fine, just a little rush. That's all."
Lifting a hand from Hinata's forehead, Sakura finally stood up from her kneeling position and kept an expressionless face. Hinata was already awake and she tried to reassure both Naruto and Minori that she was fine, making excuses that it was the scorching weather. Of course, Sakura knew it wasn't because of that but she'll never voice that out after having a moody morning already.
Hinata was laid out on the couch; her fringe was pushed away to the side, revealing her forehead. Her eyes were half-closed but she could identify that Naruto and Sakura was next to her. Hinata was about to get up when Naruto gently pushed her back down, telling her to rest for a bit.
"W-where's Minori?" Hinata asked quickly, only to be responded by Minori himself, hugging a pillow tightly.
"I thought you died," Minori stated bluntly. Hinata made a slight smile when she heard that, trying to compose herself that Minori was worried about her.
They heard a loud buzzing until Sakura pressed a button on her phone, before tapping furiously on the keypad. The thing about Blackberry was that both Naruto and Hinata could listen to how quick Sakura was tapping onto her phone's keypad. If Sakura was truly mad, it was clearly displayed by the way she replied a message. Naruto had to butt in though.
"Are you text-fighting with Teme again?" Naruto leaned in to peek at Sakura's phone after recalling such events of his friends fighting through texting for 2 weeks. Sakura swiped her phone away to her purse before strutting towards the door.
"I'll be taking my leave," Sakura left the room without greeting "good-bye" and slammed Naruto's front door behind her. If it was because of the argument with Sasuke in the morning, Sakura wouldn't say.
"She looks scary," Minori clutched onto the pillow.
Naruto ruffled the boy's dark hair with his fingers, "I told you that they were both crazy."
Minori giggled before he left the room and ran back to the dinner table to finish the rest of his breakfast. Naruto, on the other hand, didn't move an inch. He gazed as Hinata's eyes full of uncertainty and stillness. She was thinking to herself, as if the people around her weren't there.
"Hinata," Naruto called just so he'd try to snap her back to reality and get her attention on him. He had to get used to this. He had to get used to female companion —which Sakura doesn't count, by now.
Hinata blinked her eyes before she glanced at Naruto, trying to reassure her with a smile and enduring herself from thinking back of what he just said to her. Hinata tried not to touch on the subject of remembering the fact that Naruto did just describe her as "pretty".
And she ever so failed that a deep shade of red was shown on her cheeks.
Hinata could feel it once again and flustered to keep her face hidden with a pillow. She threw another one at Naruto just to get his eyes away from her. She squinted her eyes shut, trying not to think how Naruto's face would look like.
Naruto could only snicker at her reaction. After seeing her face red and faint on the table after he complimented her, Naruto had already connected the dots. Of course he wasn't that stupid. He laughed a little before he made a genuine smile.
Too bad Hinata wasn't able to see it.
"So, Hinata wasn't complimented about how pretty she is that often...?" Naruto laid back on the sofa, staring up the ceiling fan swirling over their head. He spotted how dust had collected on the lamps built in with the fan and ought to clean up his apartment a little before he took a breath to get his mind back to the subject in front of him.
He sat back up, peeking at Minori whose back was facing him. The bright green dinosaur imprinted on his back gave Naruto a sly idea. Taking a small glance at Hinata who was lying restlessly on the armchair and a pillow covering her face, Naruto decided to ease the situation a little with something up his sleeve.
He quietly sneaked up next to Hinata's face that still had a pillow on her face, squished with her hands. Naruto tugged onto her smooth straight hair before Hinata took the pillow away from her face, only to be greeted with a shock of her life.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWH!" Naruto yelled with his hands over his head, trying hard to be a dinosaur or some sort and surprised Minori on the table too, making him drop the butter knife off the table. Hinata would giggle to a point that she would make a strange sound with her nose, making Naruto join in the laughter with her.
"What kind of sound was that?" Hinata tried to ask in between laughter, referring to Naruto's attempt of scaring people.
"I should ask you that!" Naruto pointed at her nose before he flung himself back laughing and hit his head on the coffee table behind.
It hurt, of course, but the both of them kept laughing to a point that tears were forming up their eyes.
"I don't think that pink woman and the scary uncle are the only ones crazy," Minori muttered under his breath as he observed the two "adults" laughing hysterically at the living room. He looked away to get back to chomping on his bacon but it was halted for a moment when Naruto and Hinata came up to him to give him a tickle.
There wasn't a reason or any occasion as to why Hinata and Naruto did such a thing. They just nodded at each other and pounced on Minori, who was giggling and asking them to stop.
The whole morning turned out that way until Minori asked if he could get more bacon. Well, you had to give it to Minori, since, Hinata was a great cook.
"I can't think of where to start," Naruto gulped down a glass of orange juice as he eyed on Minori, recalling the fact that they were going to spend a whole day together.
"You can't think of what?" Minori stared up at him, chomping into another bite of bacon. Hinata looked at the blonde in front of her, wondering the same thing.
"I can't think of a good place to start for Minori's tour around the city..." Naruto poured another glass of juice from the carton until it was empty. He had to take a mental note that he had to buy another one from the convenience store again. Hinata stood up from her chair and picked the empty dishes from Naruto's and hers. Naruto would tell her that it was fine but she would help out anyway.
Once she placed them on the sink, Hinata twirled around and gave a smile at the two boys who were either chewing the bits of bacon or circling his finger on the wooden table.
"Why don't we go visit the town fair today?" Hinata smiled. Of course there was a fair set up in town. It came by with the circus that had their tour around the country.
Naruto stood up with a grin up on his face.
"Good idea!"
Minori simply nodded, not caring about the plans Hinata and Naruto were exchanging about for the day. Minori just placed his attention on his bacon.
He had one last bite left.
"Time to savor it and chew slowly," Minori uttered under his childish voice.
Minori hang from both Naruto's and Hinata's hands, swinging back and forth like a swing as they strolled down the road to the carnival up ahead. Minori would laugh and point at things around him. He would hear the occasional booms of the jet planes across the sky, helicopters that breezed by and brought the strong wind with them, and the tall skyscrapers that made Minori's blue eyes go wide. Despite the afternoon sun towering over them, the three of them didn't mind the blistering heat. They simply had a smile on their faces. He would be curious over them repeatedly and ask what exactly were they but Naruto and Hinata never failed to get tired of it. Actually, they were happy to listen to Minori's idea of what the helicopter was.
"A spinning car...?" Was what Minori would say and Naruto and Hinata would tell them he had a close guess before telling him what exactly it was.
"Oh dear, what a young couple," an elderly lady covered her crooked hands as she smiled.
"No-! Um... It's not like that, baa-chan!" Naruto let go of Minori's hand, only to wave his hands around and tried to explain how she had it all wrong. He motioned his hands around.
Hinata could only nod in agreement to what Naruto was saying. I mean...
They just met.
They finally arrived down the large area covered with carnival rides, tents, booths and a large crowd of people. It was surprising that Minori grew quiet on the way there.
"Minori?" Hinata stared down in concern over the little boy, clutching onto his hands tightly.
But he'd answer with a shake on his head. Hinata smiled as she realized how excited the little boy had gotten after seeing the rides around him. Minori tugged onto her and a sparkle ran over his eyes when he said he wanted to try on a ride.
What ride did he say...? What ride did he just say that he wanted to be on?
"Roller coaster?!" Hinata stared at him with wide eyes.
"Yeah! It looks cool! I want to be on it!" Minori stared to the ride in a distance. His smile was visible on his face and he followed the cart that looped round and round into the air. The shrieks kept piercing into Hinata's ear, making her feel a little more distressed and nauseous...
"Hinata?" Naruto glimpsed at her for an approval with a grin until it faded from his face after seeing hers.
"Huh? Umm... Er... You can go on ahead with Minori," Hinata made a small smile; "I'll stay down here. I have a... Erm... a call to attend to."
It was obvious that Hinata couldn't make up a lie but she did anyway.
Naruto just nodded and got onto the line to wait with Minori. He didn't ask why after seeing through that lie but Naruto simply let it fall. He didn't have the guts to ask. He didn't have the position to ask and left wondering about instead. I mean...
Didn't they just meet...?
But that fact hurts a little more each time they were reminded.
"Naruto nii-san," Minori tugged onto Naruto's checkered Capri, "Is Hinata-san going to be alright? She's going to be alone."
Naruto looked down at Minori who was staring right up at him with the bright blue eyes. Maybe the kid didn't want to be alone but, he didn't want anyone to be alone either. Naruto completely understood that. After seeing anyone else in his middle school alone during recess, Naruto was the one who would talk them. Maybe people would call him friendly ( and weird ) then but, it was because he didn't want to see anyone lonely at all.
And maybe, he'll do the same with Hinata.
"Why? Do you want to cancel this ride?" Naruto heard himself ask. It was one thing that Hinata was sitting by the willow tree and watching the crowd pass by her but it was another thing for Minori to miss an experience. But Naruto had to rely on Minori's answer.
"I like the roller coaster," Minori fumbled with his dinosaur shirt, "But, I really like Hinata-san."
It was simple as that.
He grabbed Minori by the hand and in a booming voice, he yelled at people to "Get out of the way", "King coming through", "Major person walking here" and everything else just so the crowd of people that were queuing for the ride would move aside. Obviously, people had heard of Naruto's shouting as he continued to cross through the sea of people with Minori on hand. They would mutter and complain how indecent he was but Naruto didn't care. The grin on his face never disappeared.
"How does the merry-go-round sound, Minori?" Naruto took a short look behind him at where Minori was before he continued to walk past the crowd of people who were giving him annoyed looks to a point that Naruto grew irritated as well, "What? Can't a person walk wherever he wants?"
Naruto made the people around look at him in dismay and in astonishment. Speechless, in fact. But Naruto kept going until the both of them reached Hinata who had the same expression as the crowd not too long ago.
"Weren't you just about to–?" Hinata shot herself up from her comfortable seat on the grass.
Naruto ruffled Minori's dark hair before he shot his eyes back at Hinata with a proud grin, "This kid didn't want to leave you alone."
Hinata blinked her eyes twice, trying to think that this was just a good dream. Never in a million years had that she heard that from a little child, or Minori. Minori never said such things or confess about such personal things from his heart. What happened when Hinata left the car last night after having driven home?
"Thank you," Hinata offered a smile.
Minori quickly averted his face away from them before he demanded to go to the next ride, "When are we going? Let's go!"
"Alright, alright! You don't have to yell," Naruto scooped Minori and carried him over his shoulders. That way,Minori got a better view of the whole carnival itself. After each ride, Minori sat on Naruto's shoulders. He would point at the cotton-candy stand, then the popcorn and then the Ferris wheel after. You could tell how excited he was when he kept on talking and talking. The two adults, however, were silent, trying their best to feel comfortable in their walk together.
The sun was already setting, and bright blue cloudless sky was replaced by a magnificent mix of orange, pink and purple. In a distance, the three of them were able to see the docks and the ocean ahead of them seemed like it was painted into a dark black, contrasting the bright yellow of the setting sun. Everyone else around them eyed the scenery too. The lamp shades around them quickly lit up right on time like it did each day.
6 o' clock of the evening, it would tell them.
As much as Naruto attempted on moving on and forgetting over what happened earlier, he wanted to bring it up. He couldn't stop thinking that Hinata lied about something to him and he had to let it go just like that. He just couldn't. Even if they just met and his head kept telling him that he shouldn't pry on other's businesses, Naruto was curious. Not only was he curious, he was also concerned.
"Don't you think you could lie a little better?" Naruto made a reassuring smile until his expression changed when he quickly held onto the Minori's legs tighter when he almost fell off his back. Hinata made a short giggle before it became faint and there was silence again.
"Naruto nii-san," Minori scratched Naruto's messy blonde hair to gain his attention and pointed at the crowd ahead, "The circus is right there! It'll start soon!"
"Oh! Minori wants to see the circus, huh?" Naruto angled his head above him, only to be greeted by Minori's finger poking his nose. Naruto quickly turned away and stare back at Hinata who had a plastered smile. He just wanted to know but it seemed like Hinata wouldn't tell him.
Maybe it was wrong for him to bring it up.
They strolled towards the large tent, hearing the audible circus music playing. The music grew louder and louder with each step they took, and Minori could see the sight of Elephants and zebras in colorful and vibrant costumes moving near and around the tent. He grinned brightly.
In contrast to Minori, Naruto and Hinata just wanted to find the right words to say each other. Hinata knew how much it bothered Naruto about that little lie she made even though she didn't think it was necessary while Naruto was dying to tell her that she should just let it go and forget that it happened, after being embarrassed that Hinata didn't answer him. But it was so difficult since considering the fact that they just met and the way they met made things much more difficult.
"Um…" Naruto heard her speak in a faint whisper, "I'm just afraid of roller coasters."
Naruto stared at Hinata's composure. Her hands were held tight and she slumped forward. She bit on her lip, as if she could get her words to return. But, Naruto wouldn't let her regret her little confession. He just wanted to make things better, the atmosphere lighter.
"Figures," Naruto smiled at her, "Good thing I didn't force you to come with us."
"You both didn't get on the ride at all," Hinata creased an eyebrow as she giggled. The laugh that Naruto had been waiting for and the smile on her face to make him feel relieved. Of course she was thankful that he was worried.
They finally arrived by the entrance of the circus tent, greeted by another abundant amount of people and a bunch of clowns ushering them in with a large smile painted onto their mouths. Minori laughed at their painted faces and their bright red perky noses as they walked in. After finding a good spot to sit –they were at the middle with a great view of the vast ring and got one of the front rows' seats; Naruto brought Minori down to the ground and made him sit. Naruto swung his arms and stretched his shoulder, feeling sore. Naruto felt like an old man! Minori, on the other hand, swung his legs on his chair again, feeling rather excited as always.
Naruto leaned over to Hinata, almost touching her long straight hair when he tried his best to speak over the loud circus music, "Sakura asked if you wanted to join for dinner later."
It was more of a proposal than a statement and Hinata knew what to reply. She gave him a light nod and waited for the big show to start. Naruto eyed her for a moment before he directed his eyes back on the circus ring, waiting for the ringmaster to introduce himself.
Throughout the whole show, Naruto would steal glances at the girl beside him, laughing and hitting his arm out of habit. She had a cute laugh, this girl. And he wouldn't tell her that.
Not yet, anyway.
