He wasn't sure if he was awake or not, it felt far too real for it to have been just a simple dream. The blond was standing in a crowd surrounding the Ichiraku ramen shop, the raffle he had entered was being drawn today. The shop had been expanding so well lately that they had sold over 30,000 tickets for the prize of a free life-time supply of ramen. Naruto stood there rubbing his only ticket between his fingers, like a child with his favorite toy. Ayame grabbed onto the large basket full of stubs, giving it a powerful pull making it become a blur. Old man Teuchi waited for the spinning to cease, than reached into the basket and searched with his eyes closed tight.
"Alright our grand prize winner is number 13,472," he shouted into the mob before him, who as a mass was checking their numbers.
Naruto blinked twice making sure he wasn't imagining things as he stared at his ticket reading 13,472.
"I WON," he screamed, jumping up and making the crowd and old man Teuchi pale at the thought of feeding the bottomless ramen pit known only as Uzumaki Naruto.
He immediately ran through the crowd, pushing and shoving his way to the shop. It had to be a dream come true, not as amazing as when he planned to become Hokage, but this was his stomach's dream come true. He ran inside the shop, noticing a countless number of bowls lined up ahead of him.
"ITADAKIMATSU," he yelled at the top of his lungs, dashing as fast as he could to a stool, then suddenly dunking his face into a oversize bowl.
The sensation was indescribable, the flavors were dancing through his mouth and over his tongue. He was savoring his lifetime supply of noodle and salty broth joy.
He soon found himself needing air and decided it was time to actually eat like a human being, unless he figured he wouldn't be needing to be alive for much longer. He grabbed a pair of chopsticks and delicately picked up a bundle of noodles and guided it into the void which was his mouth.
"NARUTO-KUN," he heard the noodles scream at him and he wondered how the ramen was talking.
"NARUTO-KUN STOP," he heard it scream again, and recognized the voice as Hinata's.
Naruto groaned and opened his eyes to the morning light, he blinked a few times starting to come to terms with being part of the living again. He furrowed his brow as he allowed his morning urge to stretch take over. He began by wanting to reach his arms out, and soon came to realize his right hand was in his mouth. He felt something resembling skin and hair present also.
"Naruto-kun help me," he heard a muffled Hinata scream as she tried to keep his mouth from closing with her arms. The blond's eyes became saucers as he began to remove said person from his mouth. Hinata stared at him with a look of distrust and quite a bit of fright.
"Are you alright Hinata-chan," he asked, while trying to reach out and wipe some of the saliva from her hair. Hinata took a deep breath, happy to have access to air once again and not being in any danger due to razor sharp teeth.
"Naruto-kun…"
"Yes," he asked, waiting in anticipation.
"Can we please get clean," she begged, not wanting to sound too hurt, but her feelings of fright were still evident in her voice.
He gave an exasperated sigh and began his walk to the shower to begin day two of what was hopefully a less disastrous than the day before.
The morning had started in a state of disaster, since Naruto had nearly eaten Hinata thinking she was the ramen noodles of his dreams. Firstly, he was embarrassed that he nearly had consumed poor little Hinata, but also was distressed that she looked so afraid at that moment it made him feel sick to his stomach. He let the feelings flow into the back of his mind as he dried Hinata and himself after her much needed shower.
"I'm sorry, Hinata-chan."
"Hmm? What for Naruto-kun," she wondered why he was apologizing for no reason.
"I didn't mean to scare you this morning. I guess it can be problematic when I dream about eating things," he said, feeling guilty as he looked into her innocent lavender eyes.
"There isn't any reason to apologize, Naruto-kun. I know it wasn't your fault. You were dreaming about ramen weren't you," she asked while ruffling the last of the water from her hair.
Naruto blinked a few times, confused. She must have watched him for so long that she could predict what he even dreamed about.
"Yes, Hinata-chan. I dreamed I won a life-time supply of Ichiraku ramen," he smiled at the memory, though stunned by the way Hinata's smile brightened.
"If that's the case then I am very happy," she whispered, covering her body with the small wash cloth she was drying with.
"Nani," asked Naruto, even more dazed.
"I know how much ramen makes you happy, Naruto-kun. So its no surprise you would try your hardest to eat it even dreaming. I'm just glad you had a pleasant dream also, since spending time with you without fainting has always been one of mine," she whispered, blushing a dark red; but not fainting, which she was growing ever more thankful for.
Naruto was shocked at how freely Hinata forgave him. It was amazing to him how much kindness was hidden inside the shy girl. They both finished getting clean, then walked back to Naruto's bed to re bandage Hinata so she would be decent.
Naruto sweat dropped as he opened his medical case to find a now empty roll of medical tape.
"Damn," he mumbled, but it didn't go unnoticed by the miniature Hyuuga.
"What's wrong Naruto-kun," she questioned, keeping the cloth tightly around herself.
"We're out of bandages, so there isn't anything for you to wear," he groaned
"Oh don't worry I took care of that while you were sleeping," she proclaimed as she suddenly darted under the sheets and began swaying around underneath.
"TA DA," she yelled, coming out of the covers.
Naruto was beyond words, his kind companion was now wearing a tiny shirt which was over sized on her form. However, what surprised the hyperactive ninja more was the fact the shirt was entirely orange, except for the white wording on the front saying "I love Naruto-kun!" and the whirlpool symbol on the back.
"Well, what do you think," she asked with a light blush, slowly turning fully around giving Naruto a fashion show.
Naruto Uzumaki was, for once, unable to express himself in words. He couldn't bring himself to make sense of the numerous thoughts flowing about in his head. He was shocked, amazed, bewildered, and captivated at the same time.
"Beautiful," he barely whispered, making sense of his jumble of thoughts.
Hinata squealed, blushing madly into her hands to the point she gave a tomato a run for it's money.
"Thank you."
Naruto blinked a few times, finally starting to catch up with his random thoughts.
"Um Hinata-chan…where did you get that," he asked perplexed now, since it was doubtful she bought it.
"Oh…I made it while you were sleeping Naruto-kun."
"From what?"
"Well you damaged your orange jacket yesterday, and since I didn't think you would use it again I hoped you wouldn't mind if I used it to make some clothing for myself."
"Of course I don't mind, but I didn't think you would know how to sew. I thought the branch house of the Hyuuga clan did all the chores?"
"Yes. That's correct, Naruto-kun…," Hinata said lightly, rubbing her fingers together in nervousness.
"Then how do you know how to sew if others usually took care of it for you? I mean, you're possibly the only person in the whole village who is the closest thing to a princess."
Hinata poked her index fingers together, a blush spreading across her cheeks. If she was a princess did that mean Naruto was her prince? She quickly forgot that thought to answer Naruto's misconception of life as a clan heir.
"Naruto-kun, the branch house does take care of the chores, but that doesn't mean that the main house doesn't do things for themselves."
"Huh?"
"As a clan heir, Naruto-kun, I decided to take it upon myself to experience all the chores we force upon the branch house, so I could become a better clan leader for them just in hopes that I could bring the two houses together," she mumbled, feeling embarrassed to share her dreams with Naruto.
Naruto sat for a second and digested her words. He slowly smiled, thinking it was pretty cool that Hinata had a dream of one day becoming a better person to lead her clan into a more unified era. But the fact she didn't think the main house was superior to the branch one spoke greatly of her sense of equality, let alone kindness.
"Its pretty awesome for you to think like that Hinata, You would think with a father like Hiashi your outlook would be one of the superior part of the clan," he laughed.
Hinata rubbed her hands together feeling more distressed then usual, and it wasn't due to talking about her father.
Naruto noticed the frown on his companion's face causing him to start backpedaling the best he could.
"Um…well….I mean…I'm sure Hiashi-sama is a good man in..."
"Its okay, Naruto-kun."
"What," he asked, confused at her unwillingness to defend her father.
"Naruto-kun, its true that my father is convinced that the main house is higher than the branch family, but it was my mother who taught me that all of the members of the family are equal," she stated trying her hardest to not let any tears fall from her eyes.
"Your mother? Um... you never talked about her, I mean you haven't said much but you...?"
"Its okay, Naruto-kun. My mother, Hana, died when I was very young. It was only two years after my sister Hanabi was born."
Naruto went silent, not exactly sure what to say. He wanted to tell Hinata he was sorry, but he couldn't. He himself had never even gotten to know his mom, or dad, all he knew was how parents were supposed to treat their children. How they were supposed to love them, and comfort them. He didn't get that chance, but Hinata had lost that warmth after experiencing it even if it wasn't for as long as she hoped.
"I'm sorry, Hinata-chan," he spoke, trying to be kind and noticing how she slowly pressed her face against his chest.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun," she whispered back, feeling a bit sad when thinking of the things she had lost, yet happy to be spending time with someone who made her feel happy and special.
Naruto smiled and decided they couldn't spend their day feeling down, after all they were supposed to visit the shrine since Hinata had requested it.
"Um, Hinata-chan…we should start heading for the shrine shouldn't we?" He half laughed feeling her slowly loosen you grip on him.
"Al..alright," she whimpered as Naruto carried her to the front door, "Um, Naruto-kun?"
"Hmm," he grunted in question, putting a replica orange jacket on.
"Thank you," she said before forming a hand seal and becoming the shape of a normal right hand. Naruto gave her a confused look, but decided to ignore it since he needed to go and get some flowers before heading to the shrine.
*V*
She didn't understand why she was the only one of the family who was stuck with doing this, it was one thing to be feminine and good looking kunoichi. However, Ino didn't think that waking up at nine in the morning to open a flower shop, which would be empty until after noon, was a girly chore. She did her best to hide her displeasure, but like pushing a ball into water the harder she forced it down the harder it pushed right back at her. She gave a loud groan looking around after the fact to make sure no one had been present to witness her random act of aggravation.
Time seemed to stand still for her, while she watched the clock on the wall torment her, taking it's sweet time to complete another minute bringing her closer to her freedom when her mother returned.
'Why am I awake when I should be catching up on my sleep? I probably look horrible with these bags under my eyes,' she grumbled to herself while checking her tired face in the mirror.
*CLANG*
Ino jumped, feeling the sleepiness shake off as she began her routine of greeting a new customer.
"Welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop," she smiled with her eyes closed, only to note a familiar orange clad blond entering with a somewhat nervous look on his face.
"Hey, Naruto," she grumbled leaning her chin on her palm to rest.
She figured if it was one of her friends it wouldn't matter if she put on a poor work performance or not.
"Heya," he responded, carefully going along the walls of the store, focusing incredibly hard to find the flower that Hinata had told him to get.
5minutes earlier
Naruto carefully placed his back to a wall in an alley way so no one would be able to catch sight of him, or his now non transformed companion.
"Hinata-chan, what flowers are we looking for exactly?"
"Well…," she thought for a moment, trying to decide on the proper selection she was to make since she wasn't just going to pray alone to kami, she did have her beloved in tow.
"I think a apple blossom, gardenia, and a white lily will be what we need," she smiled, seeing Naruto sweat drop since he probably had no idea what the flowers looked like or meant.
"Don't worry, I'm sure Ino will be happy to help you find the right flowers."
Naruto gulped and sighed, feeling uneasy since they didn't have a set way of communicating with each other when in disguise. He would be on his own for a bit.
"Here we go," he gave a confident smile even though on the inside he was crying in fear of being caught.
Present.
"Um, Ino-chan, can you help me find a few flowers," he partly laughed, noticing the gloom around said girl. If he knew anything from his experience with Sakura-chan it could quickly turn into rage.
"Hmm? What do you need flowers for so early in the morning," she asked giving a slight yawn before rising from her chair.
"Its for something special," he deflected.
Ino's brow rapidly lifted at hearing that this was something special, and quickly thought she had it figured out.
"Planning to give forehead girl a beautiful bouquet to get a little kissy kissy," she asked, feeling some joy in knowing her best friend/rival at least had someone chasing after her.
Naruto turned his head away, trying not to blush. He had tried that before by using pink roses, which got him hit in the face since the young Sakura at the time was constantly teased about her hair color and figured he was being a jerk.
"Um, its actually for someone else beca…," he didn't have time to even finish his thought before Ino was nearly on him and trying to pull all the information out of him that she could.
"Really? So tell me, who is this someone? Is it somebody I know?"
Ino loved many things but when it came to gossip she had a uncontrollable desire to know everything about everyone. Hinata was trying her hardest to remain quiet, she knew better than anyone that Naruto had a crush on Sakura. Even knowing that didn't make her feel any less jealous when she heard Ino predicting that was what the flowers were for.
'Naruto-kun, please just get the flowers and lets go,' she thought, trying her hardest to keep from blurting out that the flowers were for a shrine visit.
Ino kept in Naruto's face and continued to press the question.
"Come on, Naruto. Who is the lucky girl," she pleaded, trying to get the loud mouth to let it leak.
"Well I just need them for something…not for someone," he laughed nervously, hoping that Ino would let him leave without further probing.
Ino furrowed her brow, and gave the blond boy a look which shouted "I don't trust you".
"Alright, Naruto, what type of flowers do you need?"
"All I need is an apple blossom, gardenia, and a white lily."
"That's a bit specific, but I think I have some in storage," she said, making a quick exit to the back room.
Naruto sighed. Why is it no one cared about his personal business until the day Hinata showed up on his right hand?
It took a few minutes, but Ino returned with the each flower inside a bouquet together.
"Alright will this be it? No roses for the special something," she half asked, though the intention to tease said blond was more than evident.
"No, I'll just take these," he gave one of his goofy smiles, laying the necessary money on the table.
"Thank you, Ino," he shouted as he left to the shrine.
Ino went and sat back behind the counter and made sure to note the fact Naruto was acting stranger than usual. He had known which flowers to pick so specifically, and she doubted he had any teaching about the meaning behind flowers. She was a little confused why he would take a white lily. It commonly meant purity and modesty, but if given to someone close it meant 'being with you is heavenly'. A mischievous smile spread across her lips at the thought of how much fun this was; because now she knew that Naruto was seeing somebody, and that gave her more reason to get forehead girl to help her figure it out.