Hinata gave a sigh of relief as she led her new friend down the street. That had been close. She may have had a crush on him, but a day with Naruto would have ended up being the death of her. Maybe after she got more experience she could actually try for it, but for now, she had another boy to entertain.

"So what exactly can we do?" Terri asked, "I'm unfamiliar with the town, and I'm not a ninja, so the training grounds would be out."

Hinata nodded in agreement, "So true. I was actually planning on walking around the park, I enjoy talking to you," she blushed and looked away, "I hope that's okay"

Terri nodded agreeably, completely oblivious to the implications, "That sounds fun, you're a really interesting girl."

Hinata nodded, but on the inside, she was mentally wailing. He was just as oblivious as Naruto. This was getting a little ridiculous. She straightened and she led the clueless boy to her favorite resting spot. When they sat together on the bench, she turned to him with one of her best smiles, "So tell me more about yourself."

Terri shrugged, "There's not much more to say. I'm just a simple civilian and when my brother and I got lost, we ended up here. It may be stressful, but we were able to each get jobs and hopefully we can find a way home soon."

Hinata nodded politely, "Yes, you told me that before, but what about your brother, Toby, was it? You two seemed rather close," she tried, and by the way that his face lit up, she guessed that she had chosen an appropriate, if not desired topic.

"I'm glad that you could tell. I would do anything for my family. I was actually born an orphan and when my mother and father took me in, they became the most precious person to me. Then when she adopted Toby as well, he became my most important friend. Once I discovered his meek personality, I took it upon myself to look out for him when I could. I would die if it were to make him smile.

Hinata listened calmly with a sweet, serene smile, but internally she was cursing whatever Kami was out there. Not only was this boy similar to Naruto that he was an orphan, but he also clung to his precious people as fervently as Naruto. He was like a parallel to her blonde crush.

Terri nervously chuckled, "Of course, I'd probably never gather the courage to actually stand up for him all the time. I may act all tough and secure when I'm with him, but that's just because I don't want him to worry. In reality, I'm actually not that strong. I just seem to get better when I try to protect Toby."

Hinata was silent as she rewound her thoughts. She had to mentally shake herself for forcing her views together. She was so desperate for a replacement for her crush that she was overlaying her view of Naruto on this boy and clinging to the smallest similarities, and that wasn't fair To Terri. The two were different people and he deserved better.

She nodded to herself and resolved to do better.

"Well," Hinata began, "I also have a sibling that I would die to protect, My sister Hanabi is my whole world. I would also die to make her smile." She decided not to mention the other people that she would not mind dying for, "I can agree with that sentiment completely."

She led Terri over to a fountain and sat down, being sure to pat the area next to her in invitation. After a moment of uncertainty, he joined her. They continued the conversations, both completely oblivious to the subtle build up of ice, that is, until Terri tried to stand up and he slipped backwards... right into the fountain.

Hinata tried to grab him, but his momentum worked against her and she went tumbling along with him, ending in a large Sploosh. Hinata was absolutely mortified, and by the sound of It, Terri wasn't too far off himself. She readied herself for the normal rejection, preparing o beg for forgiveness then go home in shame, but she was stopped when a giant wave hit her in the face.

If she could have seen, she would have noticed the bewildered look on Terri's face as he tried to figure out where the wave came from. However, she did not have such luxuries and instead drew her own conclusion, and she retaliated by sending a wave of her own in retaliation and she was pleased by the yelp she received when the wave hit its mark and Terri fell back into the water.

He popped his head out of the water, spluttering, only to see a giggling Hinata, which he didn't really appreciate. Her laughter was interrupted when another wave engulfed her, and she bristled. It was so on. She sent another wave at him, only to have to dodge a retaliating strike, giggling all the way. The park rang out with their laughter.

XxoxX

Amber smiled at the boy that walked along side her, "So what do you have planned, Blondie?"

Naruto crinkled his nose at the nickname, but shrugged it off, "We're going to my favorite spot in the whole village."

Before she could even think to respond, he picked her up and jumped up towards the rooftops. Her breath caught at the amazing view that she was allowed as he charioted her across the top of the village, but her eyes lit up when she saw a very familiar rock formation. There, right in front of her was the great stone faces, and the way that Naruto was jumping showed that they were headed right for the fourth's head, "Wow," she breathed, "I can't wait to see what else you have planned."

Naruto smiled gently, "Well, I really enjoy talking to you, and I would like to continue, but since I always think better on the monument, I thought, 'Hey! Why not kill two birds with one stone,' and here we are, You get an amazing view and I have a place to think and give you appropriate responses.

Amber leered playfully, "You're so romantic."

Naruto chuckled nervously, "I'm not really into that kinda thing, but I just thought it would be a good plan."

Amber opened her mouth to respond, but it was only a precursor for when her jaw dropped as she stared over the village. They were positioned where their downward angle gave the perfect view as the sun reflected off the mountain to practically make the buildings sparkle.

She was brought from her awe induced stupor by the chuckle next to her, "So I guess that you like the view," he said gently, he looked up to the sky and his eyes seemed to gloss over. I remember when I was young, I came up here when being alone was getting too hard to bear and I needed a distraction."

Amber blinked in confusion, "Alone? What do you mean?"

He gave a wry grin, "Since I grew up with no parents and no friends, I needed something that could cheer me up."

Amber automatically felt the mood drop and she instantly felt regret for bringing up bad memories for her blonde companion. Despite her inner protests, she opened her mouth, "You know, I may not know what its like to be physically alone, but I have had to suffer through mental isolation."

He blinked at her slowly and she mentally cringed. Of course he knew what mental isolation was like, but she saw the dejected look on his face and she couldn't help herself, however, it was far too late now. She had already started, so she might as well drop full burst. She swallowed thickly, "I may have been born in a family with four brothers, but I wouldn't say that our relationship was exactly a loving one.

My parents never actually wanted a daughter, so when I, the middle child, was the girl that they did not want, they made their opinion about me painfully clear. Sure, they tried to tolerate me at first, which was probably the only reason that I survived my childhood years. When I was seven, I found that my parents would no longer put up with me.

Sure, they provided food and a resting place, but it was barely that. By the time that I was 13, I found that the only way that I could escape the abuse was to act ditzy enough to annoy them, and they would allow me to leave." She paused her story to take in Naruto's odd expression, but he didn't protest her story, so she continued on, "The reason that I am telling you this is because your story is inspiring. You have had it worse than me, yet you sill have the ability to smile at those who turned on you. I just wanted to do what I could to show you gratitude for your inadvertent encouragement," she bit her lip for a moment of hesitation, but after a moment, she nodded her head decisively, "It may not even come close to expressing how I feel, but thank you."

Naruto was silent for a moment and he looked a little uncomfortable, and after a moment of awkward silence, he coughed nervously, "I really don't know how to respond. I guess I'm glad I could help."

She noticed his discomfort and decided to spare him, "Anyways, so what exactly do you do in this town? I understand that there's good ramen, but what of recreations?"

Naruto lit up in relief at the change of subject, "I train. I'm gonna be Hokage some day y'know."

Amber giggled, "From what I've seen, you've got the drive and the power. You're practically there already, now all you have to do is become more intellectual."

Naruto scratched his head, "Huh?"

Amber giggled again, "Smarter."

Naruto smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, Sakura-chan has been telling me that for a few weeks now."

Amber patted his chest lightly, "You'll do fine. I've got faith in you."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Really? Thanks, Amber-chan."

Amber smiled and couldn't help herself, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, and she inwardly cackled when the blonde lit up bright red, and she would swear up and down the streets that there was steam coming from the boy's ears.

"So," she said, adamantly ignoring the fact that she had extremely flustered her companion, "I really enjoyed our time together, but the magnificent view is pointing out that the day is almost over, and I still have to get together with my roommates and figure something out."

She stopped to admire the sunset, as their position made it truly look magnificent. Naruto took that time to pull himself together, "You're right. Thank you for what you said, it's nice to know that I can help."

The two nodded to each other and Naruto grabbed her hand before the two disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

XxoxX

I smiled and turned off the four monitors. It was a shame about Amber, but I supposed that I had jumped at her too quickly. There as no way that I could compete with the awesomeness that was Naruto, after all. Though I think that I was very helpful with the two dates that I just spied on. Operation: Matchmaker was a success.

I had gotten a little nervous at the beginning of Terri's date when he got up. I jumped the gun and thought that he was going to leave completely, so I tried to put ice down and make him slip back down, but I kinda forgot that they were sitting on a fountain. Good thing for my quick thinking when I splashed Hinata like that and implanted the idea for a game in their minds. I was glad when they ended the water fight peacefully and Hinata left to her house with a radiant smile.

Now Amber's date was easier. I suppose that I shouldn't dwell on her after all. I was a little impressed that Naruto had thought to bring her up to watch the sunset...until he said he did it for mental tranquility.

However, I could still work with that. I made the sun's reflection make the village look even better. While I also didn't necessarily know that about Amber's past, but I still gave her the mental nudge to try to find a way to relate to him.

I still feel a little guilty for spying on such a moment, even if that was not my original intention. I heard a knock on the door and I opened it to see a soaking Terri.

"Rough night?" I asked. When he made a move to come in, I held up a hand, "Hold up," I scribbled something down and after a moment, a giant gust of wind came through and completely dried him without disturbing the rest of the hall.

Terri smiled appreciatively, "Thanks," he said.

I nodded and let him in, only to see a flustered Amber running down the hall. When I let her in as well, she pressed her back to the wall and looked up before sighing dreamily.

I chuckled, "I take it you enjoyed your date as well?"

She swooned and I wouldn't have been surprised if she had fainted on the spot, "Naruto is so sweet. I hope he agrees to go out again. I wouldn't mind joining him at Ichiraku's again.

I chuckled to hide my disappointment. It looked like I really did lose my chance. I sighed. Ah well, C'est la vie.

End

Translate:

C'est la vie: Such is life. Synonym: That's the way the cookie crumbles.

So I reread this chapter and I was a little disgusted at how many typos there was. I tried to fix them, but I'm sure I missed some. If you see any I msed, please ignore them.

Anyway...

If you dislike the chapter because of the date scene, I would like to point out that I have no experience in writing love scenes and this is merely practice since I am still learning how to write.

If you dislike this chapter for the pairing, then my response is a flat stare. That is all.

If you dislike this chapter because there was no sex, I would suggest a different story.

If you like this chapter for any reason that does not emphasize my follies, then I feel all warm inside.

If you have actually read all of this author's note, then you have my respect. (but don't tell anyone.)