A.N.: I really appreciate all your reviews, because they give me the confidence in my writing :)
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!
Snowed In
Naruto stared out the window in horror as the snow accumulated in the corner of the ledges. He wanted to curse so loud, the whole of Konoha could hear him, but he refrained himself because he was still in the presence of a lady.
"This is not cool at all", he whined, kneeling on the couch, his nose plastered against the cold glass. Hinata walked over and kneeled beside him.
"It's okay Naruto", she said soothingly, rubbing his forearm. But Naruto simply shook his head dejectedly.
"We were supposed to go out for a fancy dinner", he pouted like a five-year-old boy who was going to miss a visit to the candy store. Hinata tried to suppress a smile. "It's our first anniversary as a couple." Hinata turned to face him.
"I know", she brought her hands at the sides of his face. "But there's nothing we can do now. We can't go out in a blizzard like that."
"I'm sorry Hinata", he said meekly. Hinata scrunched her face in thought and after a few seconds, snapped her fingers.
"We can have fun here", she said chirpily, gesturing to the rest of the room. Naruto frowned.
"How?"
"We can cook dinner together", she said, getting up from the couch and pulling him along with her. Naruto dug his hands in his pants pockets and became lost in thought as he didn't answer immediately. Then he slammed his fist against his palm.
"Let's do it!" he grinned.
~/~
In the kitchen, the smell of spices and chocolate wafted in the air. Naruto chopped the vegetables, though rather haphazardly, while Hinata worked on making a chocolate cake batter. A pot of boiling water bubbled on the stove, letting off steam. Five minutes into their cooking venture, the couple had started humming to the songs on the radio- when it came to a rock song, they started singing loudly using ladles as pretend microphones. When it turned into a smooth paste form without any lumps, Hinata poured the cake batter into a square non-stick tray, and Naruto threw all the diced vegetables into the pot along with the noodles.
~/~
While they waited for the meal to cook and the cake to bake, Naruto thought it would be a good idea to play sock slides, something he loved to do when no one was around, but he could now share his absurd activity with his girlfriend. They rearranged the couches, pushing them back against the wall to create as much space as possible. The wooden floor was smooth enough, Naruto had mopped every inch of it early morning before Hinata arrived, and before the sudden blizzard ruined their plans for the day (getting in a relationship made him realise a few things- one of them being the importance of a clean apartment). After sliding across the floor and stumbling and falling and then trying to catch each other and then slipping some more, they crashed on the floor panting, the sweaters making them suddenly feel too hot for the weather.
~/~
Over a candlelight dinner, with the pot of ramen and the chocolate cake with butter-cream frosting and sliced strawberries, a pop song playing on the radio providing background music, they exchanged their anniversary gifts. Hinata gave Naruto a teal coloured scarf with his initials stitched in silver thread at the end in cursive. Naruto tried his best to not get too emotional over how much he loved her knitting, and gave Hinata a dainty silver locket shaped like a leaf, wrapped in a metallic red gift box. Hinata gasped upon opening the gift and held it out to Naruto so he could put it on her. She brought the end of her ponytail up, as Naruto tried to hook it with slightly trembling hands.
~/~
After a long day of cooking, sliding, singing, and a pillow fight (in which Hinata won. She can be quite competitive when she wants to), the two unwound in front of the electric heater, wrapped in a maroon blanket with two cups of hot chocolate, tiny marshmallows bobbing up and down in the drink.
"Maybe we should spend more of our anniversaries indoors", Naruto said.
"Mhm". Hinata nestled her head against his neck and he planted a kiss on top, and once again they entered that state where they would imagine themselves being the only two left in the world, but it was a blissful feeling.
