The next following days, the Hime visited the stables more and more often. She used the excuse "I wanted to visit Blaze" but I wonder if that is even the truth, but since she has taking such a liking to him, I wanted to take their 'relationship' a step further. Ever since she told me her reason for fearing horses, I have been using Blaze as a kind of medicine. I have helped her getting over her fear, by letting her feed and brush Blaze. It has been a slow progress but she will soon be completely over her fear, hopefully. Today when she visits the stables I will make her sit on Blaze' back and walk around with her. I know that she is ready for it but the question is, does she know. As I was cleaning the horse's boxes, I could hear footsteps coming near the stables. I have always had a better hearing that most other people, I wonder why though. During the short amount of time I have worked here, I have begun remembering the different people's footsteps. Neji's is always heavy and fast, while the King's was heavy and slow, but another trait about the King's arrival, is the footsteps of several guards who always accompany him. Hanabi-hime's steps were light and fast, and with the company of a guard or two. Hinata-hime's on the other hand, were much different than the others. She always came alone, and her steps was light and insecure. I bet she sometimes stops up and reconsider whether to continue or go back to the castle, but she never does. These footsteps I am hearing now though, doesn't belong to any of the royal family, but they were still very familiar to me, as I grew up with them. They belonged to a boy my age, with his best friend. A gigantic dog named Akamaru.
"Oi Naruto" Kiba said as he stood leaning up against the door. I stood up and placed the pitchfork up against a wall. I dried the sweat away from my forehead
"Hey dog-boy! What brings you to the castle?" I asked as I walked towards him
"My sister was going to check on the king's dog, so I decided to tag along"
"Ahh, I see… so… did you just arrive or what?
"Pretty much, my sis just entered the castle doors"
"Great, hey now that you are here, could I get you to take a look at the horses? You know… just to be on the safe side"
"Sure thing Naruto". As Kiba did a check-up on the horses, I continued to clean the boxes. We talked a bit back and forth about how we have been since we saw each other last.
"Eep!" We both looked towards the door where the sound came from, but no one was there.
"Hmm… that's odd" I said as I walked towards the door. Akamaru followed me slowly, as if he was on some kind of hunt. As I got closer to the door, I could see a little piece of lavender colored clothing, and I know only one person who wears that color. I smiled as I looked to the left when I
got the door.
"Hey hime, why are you hiding?" there against the wall, stood the princess with a face so red, she almost looked like a tomato. She slowly moved her head to the right to look at my face
"N-N-N-N-Naruto-kun…" Suddenly she began to lose her balance, but I managed to catch her before she fell to the ground.
"Hime? Oi Hime! Are you alright?" Her eyes were closed and she didn't respond to my words. Kiba came outside to see what was going on
"Looks like she fainted… oi! What did you do to the hime!? Naru-Baka!" He hit me on the head
"Ouch! I didn't do anything, dog-boy"
"mm…." We both looked down at the sleeping princess in my arms. She looked so peaceful, like she had no worries.
"*Sigh* I better carry her inside.. she can borrow my bed until she waked up" I said, and lifted her up, carrying her bridal style, and walked towards my little house.
"Oi! Don't get any ideas Naru-baka!" Kiba said as I walked away.
"Dammit Kiba, what kind of person do you think I am? Geesh" As I continued to walk, I could not help but feel like I was being watched.
-
'Mm… why is it so warm' I thought to myself as I began to wake up. I slowly opened my eyes, only to discover that I was not in my own room.
'huh?'
I slowly sat up in the unfamiliar bed I was in.
"Oh, I see you are awake"
"Eep!" That voice, I-I know it. I turned my head, only to be met by a certain blonde haired boy. He had taken off his light-beige colored vest, and his white blouse was not tied together, resulting in a little view of a beautiful muscular chest. I couldn't avoid blushing at both the, very good, view and situation.
"H-Hai" I managed to say. He walked towards me with a cup of water in his hands.
"Here, drink this"
"A-arigatou" I carefully took the cup and began to drink.
"You feel better? You had me worried there for a moment hime" He smiled kindly at me
"H-Hai… I am sorry"
"Hey, no worries! Something tells me that you needed a nap"
"Huh? How come?"
"Well I…" He blushed a little bit, and as I looked at him, he looked away.
"N-Nevermind.." Great, now he made me curious. There was a short amount of silence before he broke it by saying
"Well, want to join me in the stables? I have a surprise for you" I looked at him
'H-He has a surprise.. .for… me…?' I thought to myself. I wasn't used to anyone ever doing anything that nice to me
"Well?" He asked again as he held out a hand to help me up. I smiled at him
"Hai". As we got to the stables, Naruto-kun's facial expression suddenly changed.
"Naruto-kun.. is everything okay?" He looked at me with a rather embarrassed expression.
"W-Well… I just remembered that I haven't finished cleaning the boxes.." I couldn't help but giggle
"Hey! Why are you laughing?"
"I'm sorry Naruto-kun *giggle* But it's alright, I don't mind waiting" I smiled at him, and apparently, it made him blush.
"Really?" He asked me
"Yes, of course" He took my hands in his in excitement, making ME blush
"Thank's hime, I won't be long" I was taken back by his actions and just stood there with a surprised look.
"Hm?" It came from his throat as he seemed confused by my reaction. That was, until he looked down at our hands. He let go and jumped back in embarrassment.
"Ah.. G-Gomen Hime" he said as he bowed.
"Ano.. n-no need to apologize Naruto-kun.. it's… it's alright" He looked up and smiled at me
'He really is full of surprises' I thought to myself before we continued walking. As Naruto-kun finished his job, I went to get an apple from a nearby bucket that I could give to Blaze. Thanks to Naruto-kun, I've almost gotten over my fear of horses. I can still be insecure sometimes, and uncertain if I can ever ride a horse again. I really miss it. I miss the freedom you feel, when you run over the meadows and grass fields. I miss the special relationship you share with your horse as you let go of the reins and put all of your trust in your horse, that it won't let you fall.
"Hime? Oi, hime? Everything's okay?" I saw a hand waving in front of me, and snapped out of my thoughts.
"Naruto-kun!"
"Hm? Something bothering you?" he asked with a confused and concerned expression on his face.
"N-No nothing… I was just lost in thoughts for a moments… that's all"
"Really? What thoughts? If I may ask that is…" I giggled at his last comment
"You may! I was just thinking back to the time where I was riding freely over the meadows"
"Do you miss it?" he asked me while he picked up a saddle. I didn't really put a question mark to
what he was doing while we talked.
"A little…"
"I see…" that was all he had to say as a reply. Neither of us spoke a word before we walked to Blaze's box.
"Ano… Naruto-kun? Are you going for a ride?" I asked him, a tiny it jealous.
"I am not"
'Huh? If he isn't going for a ride… then who i-"
"You are Hime"
"EH?!"
-
I obviously surprised her when I told her that she was the one going for a ride. She looked at me with eyes wide open. I saw the perfect opportunity to tease her a little bit.
"You… don't trust me?" I asked with the most fake hurtful voice I could make
"N-No! that's not it! I-I do trust you Naruto-kun" She answered just the way I hoped she would
"W-Why are you laughing?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" I said in between small laughs
"I was just teasing you hime" Her face was completely red from the embarrassment. She looked cute that way though. I heard an up giving sigh from her, and I couldn't help but to smile at my triumph.
"You are such a tease Naruto-kun"
"That's only because I like y- Uhm… People… like you…"
'Nicely done, Baka' I thought to myself while I mentally made a facepalm. There were silence in the stables. She was blushing like crazy while looking down on the floor, and I fumbled with putting the saddle on Blaze, stealing small glimpses of her while doing so. My cheeks have never been more red than now.
"Ano…"
-
"That's because I like y- uhm… people.. like you…"
'W-What?!' I've often been told the same thing by all sorts of people, townspeople, knights, servants (ugh.. I don't like to think of them as servants) and lords from outside the kingdom, but why was it so different when it came from Naruto-kun? My heart was beating like crazy and I am sure that my face was all red as I looked down at the floor. Sometimes I would try to steal a glimpse of Naruto-kun. He fumbled with the saddle while blushing
'So cute..'
'No Hinata, you can not think like that'
'But he is.. just look at him'
'No Hinata… you are a princess… and he is a stableboy'
'Yes, THE stableboy' It was a neverending discussion I had with myself.
"Ano…"
