Disclaimer: (Insert amusing 'I own nothing' quote of your choice here)

Thank you all once again for all your reviews, and… eh heh… it looks like I have a small apology to make. It would seem I made a little slip in the last chapter, in that Hinata wouldn't know the Kyuubi had been sealed as the children of the village are – apparently – told that the Fourth killed him. If that is the case, I apologise profusely, and shall bear it in mind in future.

So… sorry?

…actually, I feel the need to make a second apology while I'm at it. The first half of this chapter didn't go half as well as I'd hoped, and I think I took them a little too far OOC. I tried to fix it, hence the later-than-usual update, but it just didn't want to work. So I apologise for that too – if they are too OOC for your liking, just consider it a semi-omakefan service piece, slap my wrists, and be done with it. I am still new to writing in this fandom, after all!

(And we'll ignore the fact that ff-dot-net hasn't let me upload documents for days too, because we're nice like that...)

On with the fic!

Naruto and Hinata returned to the campsite at a much more leisurely pace than they'd left at, taking the time to walk through the forest and talk quietly with each other. The subject of the Kyuubi wasn't brought up, and nor were Hinata's affections for Naruto discussed – instead, they spoke about everything and anything that came to mind, from childhood memories of watching the stars to their preferred foods to what Tsunade might really look like without her appearance-changing jutsu (the latter of which left Hinata in fits of giggles as Naruto did his best 'withered old hag' impression). On some level, they were probably doing it simply to relax after that revelation, but consciously, it just felt like the natural thing to do.

Their conversation only tailed off once they'd reached the clearing in which they'd been camping. While they knew perfectly well that they had nothing to hide, it would still be easier to not have to answer any questions about where they'd been at whatever-o'-clock in the morning. They stole silently across the glade and into their tent, certain they hadn't disturbed or woken the other two, and only dared to release breaths they hadn't realised they'd been holding once Naruto had zipped the flaps shut.

"Made it," Naruto remarked with a bright grin, before flopping down onto his sleeping bag with a groan. "Geez, I'm gonna regret missing this much sleep tomorrow though…"

Hinata made a soft noise of agreement, yawning a little, before shuffling across to her sleeping bag and removing her jacket, folding it neatly and setting it to one side. She opted to keep her other clothes on, both for the sake of decency and because the tent was currently as cold inside as it was out, since they'd left the flaps open. Slipping into her sleeping bag and bundling the fabric up tightly around her, Hinata couldn't help a soft squeak as the cold material brushed against her skin.

"Hmm?"

Naruto glanced across at the girl in surprise at the sudden noise, before grinning knowingly. "Cold, Hinata-chan?"

The girl managed a weak smile, and answered, "Just a little…" In truth, she was colder now than she had been before she'd climbed into the sack, but she was working on the assumption that it'd warm up soon enough due to her body heat. What she hadn't expected, though, was for Naruto to thrust a large orange bundle toward her.

"Here," he told her with that same smile on his face, unrolling the package to reveal his jacket, which he had tossed aside moments before. "Wrap this round you; it should keep you warm enough."

Hinata found herself staring blankly at the jacket for a moment, as if trying to work out what it was, before sitting up and shyly reaching out to take it. "A-arigatou, Naruto-kun…" she smiled gratefully, opening her sleeping bag up and wrapping the jacket round her shoulders. Sure enough, the thick coat warmed her up almost immediately – the fact that it was still warm from Naruto wearing it helped, of course – and she couldn't help burrowing into it a little as she laid down again, gently inhaling the scent that lingered on it.

Forests, she decided as she sniffed quietly at it again. Forests with a hint of miso – that's what Naruto's jacket smelt like, aside from the comforting smell of his own body.

"Is that better, Hinata-chan?"

The girl smiled at Naruto and nodded, bundling the jacket a little more tightly round herself. "Un – arigatou," she thanked him again. "Goodnight, Naruto-kun."

"Goodnight," the boy returned with a smile, before lying down and closing his eyes, ready to drift away to the land of dreams. After a few moments, though, he heard a soft shuffling sound beside him, and glanced across to see what it was. Much to his surprise, he was sure his sleeping partner was closer to him now than she had been a minute ago. "Hinata?"

The Hyuuga girl squeaked softly, blushing brightly at getting caught, before stammering her way through an explanation. "I-I was still a l-little cold, a-and thought… maybe, i-if I were a little closer…"

Hinata trailed off, unsure of quite how she should finish her story, and averted her eyes shyly, even feeling a little ashamed – firstly for getting caught, and secondly for what might have been misunderstood as trying to take advantage of Naruto while he was asleep. She hadn't been planning to do anything, after all – she'd just wanted to be a little closer to him, to assure herself that they didn't feel awkward around each other and weren't intentionally avoiding contact – but he might not see it that way. She began to gently gnaw at her lower lip as she worried about what he might say or do, her mind – as always – presenting her with the worst-case scenario.

What she hadn't expected was to feel a warm set of arms wrap around her. She tensed a little in surprise, before lifting her head cautiously, looking up into Naruto's face, which was now inches from hers.

"You'll be warm enough now," the boy told her with a smile. "And don't worry, I won't try anything – there's two sleeping bags in between us anyway."

A little hesitantly, Hinata nodded at this, before smiling and closing her eyes, shuffling a little closer to Naruto and relaxing, deciding that whether this evening had all been a dream or not – and she was beginning to suspect it was – she wasn't going to complain. Barely a minute later, the much slower rise and fall of her chest told Naruto that she had fallen asleep.

The blonde-haired boy, however, was now further from sleep than he had been all night. He didn't doubt that his sudden embrace had surprised Hinata, but in truth, it had caught him off-guard too. It had simply been an impulsive reaction, something he hadn't thought about before doing it… but that wasn't what bothered him. Impulses were nothing new to him, after all – a lot of his battle strategies revolved around them, for one – but he usually understood them. Usually, he'd realise what he'd done a second after he'd done it, and would immediately know whether it had been a good or bad idea and exactly what had led him to do that.

This time, Naruto wasn't sure what to make of his actions. Was it a good idea because he was giving Hinata a pleasant memory (Naruto had seen through her lie immediately, knowing well that his jacket could stand up to arctic conditions if needed), or a bad idea because he might be misleading her? In the morning, would she smile and blush at the thought of having spent the night in his arms, or be disappointed because she'd hoped it might be a sign of something more?

More importantly, why had he done it? That was something Naruto couldn't fathom at all – he'd known she wasn't cold, so it couldn't be that. He wasn't looking to take advantage of her like Ero-Sennin might, so it wasn't that either. He'd never had an urge to cuddle up to Sasuke whenever they'd shared a tent (Naruto couldn't help making a face at this thought), so it wasn't caused by their close proximity or him feeling a need to be shown he was accepted…

So what the hell was it?

Naruto puffed softly in exasperation, already tired of trying to second-guess himself when he didn't know what the answer was. "Whatever…" he murmured discontentedly, as if trying to shrug the matter off. He could always worry about it when there were less important things at hand – right now, their mission (and getting enough sleep for it) had to take priority.

'Emotionless tools and all that crap' he reminded himself, before removing one arm from around Hinata as he tried to roll over to sleep. The almost startled gasp that came from the sleeping girl at this surprised him, the sound equally as urgent as it was soft, and after a moment, he cottoned on to what she was protesting about.

"…alright," he conceded with a smile, and rolled back onto his side, draping his arm loosely round her again. "But this is only for tonight, you hear?" he added in a whisper, chuckling to himself. The content murmuring sound that answered him was agreement enough, he decided, and with a sigh he tried to settle down to sleep too. The haze of slumber crept over him faster than he'd expected, and he found himself regarding Hinata with weary eyes as he drifted off. The last thing he remembered was looking at the Hyuuga girl's peaceful face and smiling gently, a single thought floating through his mind as he closed his eyes for the last time that night.

'Actually, she's kinda pretty…'

Slap slap slap.

"Hey! You two!"

Slap slap slap.

"Aren't you awake yet?"

A soft groan came from the sleeping pair as Hyuuga Hinata's dreams were interrupted by the insistent slapping on the front of their tent and the sound of Sakura's voice.

"Oi! Are you two awake or not?"

Slowly, it dawned on Hinata that she was supposed to be up and about by now. They had to continue their mission, and had many days' searching ahead of them. Sleeping late wouldn't do anyone any good, would it?

"Mmm… I'll be out in a moment…" Hinata eventually managed to reply, before sighing regretfully. She usually wasn't too bothered about staying in bed, but she was so warm and comfy today, and she was sure that Naruto's soothing smell was close by…

Oh. Yes. He'd lent her his jacket last night, hadn't he? That'd explain it.

With another gentle groan, Hinata pushed herself up into a sitting position, rubbing at her eyes – or tried to, at least. She only got as far as trying to move her arms, before she realised they were restricted by something.

'What on Earth…?'

Blinking her eyes open, Hinata took a moment to focus on what was lying in front of her. A mass of something yellow… something skin-coloured below it… it looked head-shaped…

A shrill squeak escaped Hinata as she finally realised exactly what was pinning her arms in front of her, her full memory of the night before coming back to her. The girl's eyes widened further as she realised that she hadn't been dreaming – that she really had fallen asleep in Naruto's arms – and a vibrant blush spread across her whole face as it dawned on her just how close they actually were, sleeping bags between them or not.

"Nnn… Morning, Hinata-chan…" Naruto's voice greeted her as he half-opened his eyes, looking a little blearily at her before favouring her a soft smile. "Sleep well?"

Hinata suddenly felt like the metaphorical cat had quite literally gotten her tongue (as well as feeling incredibly light-headed), and stuttered badly as she tried to formulate any sort of reply for Naruto. "A-a-ano, uh-uhm, a-ah, I-I, ah…"

The boy chuckled softly, before taking his arm away from its snug hold around her, rolling over onto his back. "I guess we'd better get up, ne? Sakura-chan'll make us skip breakfast if we're much later."

"H-… Hai…" Hinata agreed almost inaudibly, nodding softly. She was somehow unable to move in any other way, though.

"Uhm… Hinata…" Naruto began, his voice a little softer than usual and almost sounding embarrassed. "You're still laying on my arm…"

"AH!"

Hinata suddenly found her body was able to spring into action, and was sat a few feet away from Naruto before she'd even realised she'd moved. "Gomen!" she cried softly, looking almost mortified. "I-I didn't mean to-"

"Ne, ne, daijoubu…" Naruto assured the girl, stretching with one arm before pushing himself up into a sitting position. "It's no prob- GAH!"

Naruto's sentence was cut off with a cry of surprise as he suddenly tipped over to one side, tumbling into an awkward heap. Groaning in embarrassment, he tried to push himself up again, but stopped short as he saw his arm flopping uselessly by his side. "WH-WHAT THE HELL? I CAN'T FEEL MY ARM!"

A moment of panic suddenly came over Naruto. What had happened? Was it broken? Had Hinata accidentally closed his tenketsu during the night? Had it been possessed or something? Was it-?

The boy twitched suddenly as feeling returned to the limb sharply – in quite a literal sense. "Itaitaitaitaitai!" he wailed, clutching at the appendage and rubbing it furiously. "Pins and needles!"

Hinata, who had been panicking almost as much as Naruto at his initial exclamation, first looked concerned, then embarrassed, then even managed to giggle a little. "Gomen, Naruto-kun…" she apologised, bringing a hand up to her mouth to hide her smile as the boy continued to whine softly. "I think that's my fault…"

"Oi! You two!" Sakura called again, sounded a little more irritated this time. "Come on! Stop messing about!"

Hinata had left the tent almost immediately, somewhat regretfully leaving Naruto's jacket behind, and Naruto had followed once his arm had returned to some semblance of working normally. It still tingled when he moved his fingers, but at least it was now able to function when he wanted it to. He was a bit clumsier than usual eating his ramen, his chopsticks occasionally slipping, but that didn't deter him from ploughing through his breakfast at his usual speed.

"A-are you sure your arm's okay now, Naruto-kun?" Hinata enquired softly, a look of concern in her eyes. She'd had a pretty much permanent blush on her face since she'd left their tent, but it was finally beginning to settle.

"Hai!" Naruto replied brightly around a mouthful of noodles, before swallowing them and grinning. "I'll be right as rain in a couple of- Ow!"

The boy nearly dropped his breakfast as Sakura leaned across and punched him in the arm, setting his bowl down and rubbing at the spot with a half-glower. "What was that for?"

"Just increasing your blood flow for a while," the girl answered sweetly. "Pins and needles is caused by blood suddenly flowing into an area that's been deprived of it for a while – if more blood gets through, it'll be over with faster. I used my chakra to expand the artery a little."

"But why did you have to punch me?" the boy groused in reply. "Couldn't you have just used that glowing hand thing you do?"

"It's more fun that way," Sakura informed the boy in that same sugary-sweet voice. "And that'll teach you not to take advantage of sleepy girls too – 'Hinata, you're still laying on my arm!'" she mimicked.

Both Naruto and Hinata flushed brightly at this teasing, Hinata prodded her fingers together and staring down at her feet while Naruto glanced aside. "I-It wasn't like that…" he informed Sakura defensively, huffing.

"Anyway," Shikamaru cut in, sensing that their discussion would probably escalate into an insulting match if he let it go on too long. "If we're all done eating-" He glanced pointedly at Naruto, who hurriedly scooped his bowl up and resumed shovelling his instant ramen into his mouth. "-we need to continue with this mission. We still need to sort the teams out, as well as confirming the order we'll search the regions in and where we'll meet each night."

"Ha! No worries!" Naruto responded, setting his bowl down with a satisfied sigh. "Me and Hinata work the best together, so we'll go on one team! Ne, Hinata-chan?"

Naruto made a point of ignoring the smug look on Sakura's face, facing the other way so he could see what Hinata thought. The girl initially looked startled, but hurriedly nodded at this proposition. While she appeared fairly calm on the outside, inside she was almost bouncing with joy. She'd possibly have nine whole days of just her and Naruto-kun? Could things get any better?

"Don't worry, Shikamaru," the blonde boy added with a grin. "I'm sure Sakura's genjutsu will keep you safe if anyone tries to attack you!"

The Chuunin almost face-faulted at this, but managed to keep himself in check. "I'm sure Hinata will protect you too," he returned, sounding almost bored with the discussion already. He would have taken a leaf out of Sasuke's book and added 'dobe' to the end of that sentence, but the resultant yelling from Naruto would have been too troublesome to deal with. "But since the teams are apparently settled, let's carry on."

The Chuunin glanced at Sakura to make sure she had no objection to teaming up with him, before spreading the map he'd bought in Shinko Town on the floor. "Here's what we're going to do…"

Translations:

Itaitaitaitaitai! – 'Itai' meaning 'ow', this would translate as 'Owowowowow!'

In case any of you have never experienced it – try sleeping awkwardly on your arm tonight so you cut off the blood flow, and for a few minutes in the morning you too can be subjected to the feeling of a truly dead arm!

Please review! (And I promise there'll be some plot advancement in the next chapter!)