Day 22 & 23 - Caught in the rain & Staying warm by the fire
She blew a cold breath and placed her hands near the fire, letting warmth penetrate her stiff fingers. Across from her Naruto did the same but, being Naruto, he couldn't help himself from mumbling his displeasure. They were both drenched; hair plastered, flax jacket soaked and shirt sticking miserably. Hinata considered herself a quite patient person but having her damp shirts rub roughly while jumping through trees was just one of those experiences which was enough to make her want to cry with frustration. Not even being in Naruto's company was enough to keep her going through the rain.
Now they sat in a cave, well far from the entrance that they could still hear the steady drum of rain. Naruto managed to find usable wood and made a little fire while she placed rocks in a ring while they settled into a companionable silence. Now that she thought about it Naruto had been quite quiet these couple of days during their mission and it was not an okay silence but at the same time it wasn't a bad silence, Naruto just had a tendency to fall into deep thoughts during this mission more than he usually did, even though he rarely did because he was Konoha's iconic knucklehead.
"Hey Hinata, do you have blankets in your pack?"
That reminded her that she did pack blankets. She packed two and she was proud of herself because of it. Using blankets while they were this wet would get it quite wet as well. "Yes I do. Would you like one, Naruto-kun?"
"Yeah. Could you toss one here?"
Lying the blanket on the ground beside the fire, he went through a couple of hands signs before he grinned at her. "Look at this."
Grunting something she couldn't quite hear, she was quite surprised to see a wooden pole rise out from the ground. It stopped on Naruto's knees and he looked at her, blue eyes expectant.
She gave him a quizzical look. Was she suppose to praise him now? She wasn't really sure what he did but she praised him anyway because he looked so happy on what he had achieved. "Oh, that's great, Naruto-kun."
He saw the slightly quizzical look on her face but took her compliment anyway, looking slightly cheered. He then began unzipping his jacket and shrugging it off and Hinata felt a bit light headed looking at him. She was used to muscles, Kiba and Shino were quite defined, but she liked Naruto's the best. Naruto's hands went down to his pants and she looked away blushing, unprepared to see that much of him.
Naruto chuckled. "It's alright, I'm wearing boxers."
He sat on the blanket and tossed his clothes over the pole before watching it. She didn't realise she was shivering until he mentioned it.
"Hinata, grab your blanket and join me."
Which left her with a dilemma. She could die a cold death of freezing or die from her face being exploded at close skin contact with Naruto. But then a gust of cold wind blew into the cave, flickering the fire, and she made a decision. Shrugging out of her clothes until it was only her singlet and panties, blushing madly the whole way, before wrapping the blanket around her and sitting down beside him, a good space beside him, which he noticed and he scuttled closer before sneaking a hand around her and pulled her so she was closer to him. Grabbing one edge of the blanket, and being oblivious to her face blushing furiously, he made sure that the blanket covered him as well.
They sat like that, treasuring the warmth their skin radiated and watched the fire dance madly in front of them. Hinata felt her ears tickle at Naruto's breath.
"Sakura told me she loved me."
Hinata felt herself freeze slightly, all heat leaving her body. A different sensation began filling her now, a feeling of despair and pain.
"Sakura told me she loved me and she wanted me to give her a chance. She even kissed me."
She didn't know how to react to that. She really didn't. A twist in her stomach and a swelling pain in her chest grew. Averting her eyes away from his face, she tried to bury that stabbing pain and whispered, "And what did you... what did you do?"
There was a beat of silence. Before he said firmly, "Nothing."
She pulled the blanket tighter around her, as if to keep herself from spilling of heartbreak and gave it a small tug. "Nothing?"
"Nothing," he confirmed. "I did nothing about it."
His reply gave no detail, no clue as to what he was feeling. For someone so usually open and chatty, this strange for Naruto. So she tried poking a bit. "What do you mean when you said you did nothing?"
"I meant nothing. I didn't move while she kissed me and I didn't feel anything. She got angry after that but still, I felt nothing."
Eyes fixed on the flames, he paused. Letting the musty smell of damp dirt mix with the slightly sweet scent of vanilla from Hinata's shampoo. He could just lie in that scent all day if he could, it was a refreshing contrast to the smell of warm salted pork broth, and he acknowledged that anything was sweet and favourable to his senses of Hinata wore it. Even Akamaru's smell was tolerable when it was on Hinata and distasteful on Kiba. His senses were picky like that. Naruto took the scent in and continued, sensing that she wanted him to elaborate of what had happened.
"I expected to feel something, you know?" he asked her. "I expected to feel a bit of the old crush to come back or feel grossed out or maybe even tiredness from always dealing with her fluctuating emotions but I didn't. I felt nothing."
Her stiff shoulders loosened slightly. "Is that good?" she inquired quietly.
"Yeah," he said, vacantly pressing himself closer to her. "That's good because it confirmed something for me."
She let him press himself closer to her. Let him weave an arm around her waist and move her over his lap, wrapping the blanket solidly over them. Inside she was flustered that they were so close, but outside where her skin still prickled miserably from the cold and wet hair, she let herself move towards this bright radiant warmth. Naruto pressed his cold lips against her cheek, moved it closer to her mouth with each second and felt her shock as he mumbled, "It confirmed to me... It showed me.. that Sakura's not the one that I want."
And his lips sunk into hers. She was too shocked to do anything to but relish the warmth. It lasted for a second, for two seconds, for three before it moved away from her own and Naruto buried his head on the crook of her shoulder. Then the shock subsided to joy, quiet joy as she tangled her fingers in his hair.
He nuzzled her on the side of her neck. "Do you still love me, Hinata?"
She curled the fingers in his hair and rested her cheek against him. "I still love you, Naruto."
He rested his chin on her shoulder. "I don't feel like a weapon when I'm with you."
And there it was. This boy broke her heart in so many ways. She kept on stroking his hair as she whispered in his ear. "You're not a demon. You're not your tailed beast. You're not a weapon because you are Naruto-kun and do you know what Naruto-kun is?"
He shook his head.
"Always hungry."
He chuckled at that but let her continue, keeping her close to him.
"But you're Naruto-kun. Just Naruto-kun. No matter what anyone else makes him fee like."
A silence fell over them after that. A happier silence. It was until Hinata was reminded of something that Tsunade had told her before she left on this mission. "Naruto-kun?"
"Hm?"
"Why did you request me specifically for this mission?"
Naruto raised his head and looked at her before grinning slightly. "Oh. That was because I was supposed to be romancing you there and back."
Hinata frowned. "I don't feel very romanced," she pointed out. "I don't feel very romanced at all."
"Well I managed to get you in my arms didn't I?"
"I'm only using you for your body," she said, cuddling herself closer to him, the heat in her cheeks giving her slight pause to her response. "You have a very warm body."
And it was. The way his arms were encasing her were making sure her skin was getting warmed up quite nicely. She gave his head an appreciative pat.
"You just said I was hot. Thanks."
"Ridiculously so. You managed to charm my pants off of me."
Naruto looked very pleased. "Why yes I did. And on the first date too."
Hinata pursed her lips slightly in thought before she shook her head. "I can't tell that to my friends. They would never let it go. I want another first date."
"How about..." he said smoothly. "...we stop by the ruins of Whirlpool village. It's where my mum came from and its on the way home."
Glancing at Naruto's overly innocent expression, she realised the reason he took a detour on their journey home. She giggled. "...You sly fox."
"Guilty," he said, not looking guilty at all.
She locked her arms around his shoulders. "We should eat in this great buffet place, NekoBBQ. I heard they were good and we'll be passing them when we go there tomorrow."
There was only one thing that mattered to him. "Do they have ramen?" he inquired.
"I think so. But you're not allowed to bankrupt them."
Naruto took a while to answer and when he did, it was begrudgingly. But Hinata was proud anyways that Naruto made a resolve to be kind to the buffet owner. "Fine."
Another thought popped into his head. He and Hinata were tucked in quite comfortably under the blankets, merging their body heat to a snuggeable level. Going on a proper date would mean that they would have to get up and leave the blanket which made Naruto feel a bit stricken. He had an undressed Hinata under the blanket, although not fully, it was a good reason never to leave. Also going on a proper date would mean that... "Does this mean we have to have clothes on?" he pouted.
"Yes we have to have clothes on," she said, red in her cheeks.
He sighed. The things you do for love.
