Chapter 19: Kiss

Holy hell.

He was kissing Hinata, actually kissing her.

On first contact, they'd kept their lips closed, but he needed more. Her lips were soft, parting slightly when she sighed, so he moved his lips over to her top lip. He caught it between his lips and gently suckled. Then there were the corners of her mouth that needed his attention, too. He was quickly learning the difference in sensation. While her lips were lush, softly rounded, the corners of her lips were sweetly indented. Then he slowly moved to her lower lip, which Naruto was discovering was his favorite part to kiss because of its fullness. There was more to suckle and more to nibble.

He pulled back and looked at her face. His hands cupped her jaw, thumbs smoothing over her cheeks, her skin so delicate, he couldn't stop rubbing against the softness. Her eyes were closed, a hint of rosy color on her face. Her lips were plump and pink, and he knew he wasn't going to be able to stop kissing her. So he moved in again and brushed his mouth lightly against her lips, then her cheeks, and at her temple while his fingers still cradled her jaw.

"More, Hinata," he said against her ear. "Please?"

She nodded, her eyes still closed and Naruto's seeking mouth drifted back to her lips. She sighed and her breath fanned against his cheek. A thumb was rubbing against her jaw, gently urging her to open her mouth when Naruto suddenly sighed against her parted lips and stopped.

His Kyuubi mode immediately flared up as soon as he heard them. The kunais came flying first and Naruto blocked them with his back even as he wrapped Hinata in his arms and Kurama's protective cloak. The kunais fell ineffectively to the ground.

Twelve bodies came flying at him all at once.

"What are you doing to Hinata-senpai, you bastard?!" came the angry screams of boys and girls.

"You ass! Get your arms off her!"

His Nine-tails chakra arms stopped and caught them mid-air as he finally turned around. He glanced down at Hinata, who was blushing at getting caught kissing at work, but she was smiling at him, too.

"First of all, don't just throw your kunais haphazardly like that. You guys didn't even identify whether I'm an enemy or not," Naruto said patiently to Hinata's students.

He then added in a stern voice, "Plus, you could have missed me and hit her."

The kids stopped their squirming and looked at her with guilt.

"But I admire the fact that you want to defend her," he said with a grin. "Just don't attack someone when their back is turned, though. That's cowardly and not how shinobi fight."

He put them all down. The students stood around looking at each other then at him and Hinata.

"Wait, it's Naruto-senpai!" one of the kids finally realized. There was a hush as they gazed at him in awe. But it was short-lived.

"Why were you kissing her?" came an angry, demanding voice. It was the same boy with trouble-making eyes.

Hinata stiffened in his arms. Naruto blushed but he answered truthfully, "Because I wanted to and she said I could."

"Well, if you can do that, then I want to do it, too!" from the same boy. Other voices chorused the same.

Naruto suddenly glared at them. Competition already! From eleven-year-olds!

He was going to have to tell them straight.

"No way! She's mine!"

It was then that Hinata stepped in and took control of the situation before it got out of hand.

"All right! Everyone, calm down!" She put a hand on Naruto's chest. She looked him in the eyes and said, "You are leaving. I'm still in the middle of teaching this class."

He pouted and started to protest, so she smiled at him gently and said, "How about after, we continue?"

He brightened. "After?" he asked. There was a gleam in his eyes.

She couldn't control the blush that consumed her after she said the words. She'd meant their conversation since he still hadn't asked her out. But he obviously was thinking of the kissing.

"Naruto, we still have a conversation to finish," she said meaningfully. "Come back later when school lets out."

"Okay," he grinned at her, his smile bright and hopeful. Then, "I love you."

Oh, god, Hinata thought, flushing again. He was going to make her say it in front of the kids. She glanced at them quickly. Their eyes were glued to the two of them, looking on with unashamed interest.

But she looked at Naruto's happy, eager face and without any more hesitation, said, "I love you back."

He laughed, quickly kissed her again on the lips, waved to the students and left, leaving her to deal with the squealing kids. Squeals of happiness from the girls, disgust from the boys.

"Wait a minute! You just said you wanted to kiss her!" came a girl's voice.

"Hinata-senpai, yeah! But I don't want to see him kissing her! Ew!"

Hinata chuckled, but she was having trouble concentrating. She still couldn't believe how things had progressed so rapidly, all in the space of twenty minutes. He'd come to find her, declared his love for her, and kissed her. And he might even finally ask her out today.

She'd waited for him for years and years, but he'd quickly blasted through her patience and her long waiting and managed to lodge himself even more firmly in her heart with his simple declaration of love today.

Of course. Typical Naruto fashion.

But Naruto's feelings were genuine, and he'd looked like he really meant it and truly cared for her.

Her heart skipped a beat as she realized he'd looked the same when he'd talked about his mother and when he'd told her he loved her.

And now that he knew what the words meant, he'd been so natural with it. There had been so much ease when he said them and had even told her several times in the space of a few minutes.

Meanwhile, when Hinata had left a note for his birthday, she'd agonized for days whether signing it with the word love was the right thing to do.

She'd thought about her life after getting the scroll from Kakashi and what she was going to do when she got back to Konoha. She'd been in Iwa, working with Lord Rumoi on organizing shinobi exchange and information when she'd gotten the message from the Hokage that Hinata could take her time with the current mission. It was going to be her last one of these assignments. She was free to do whatever she wanted after she'd finish the business with Onoki's advisor.

Hinata had thought about it on her way home. In a few months, she was going to be twenty-one. Her career as a diplomat had been a success, had given her the confidence to deal with all kinds of people and with life in general.

But there was still one thing that she was unsure of, and it was Naruto. As she'd traveled back to Konoha, she decided that she wanted to take their relationship further. She wanted to be more than just his friend, which was why the note she'd written had also been a reminder to herself, to start something small that would hopefully get the ball rolling in the right direction.

She'd signed it Love, Hinata to reflect her own wish.

When he was back in town, she'd decided she was going to let him know her feelings again. And if he didn't want to have anything to do with her, then she would accept it. At least she'd tried, and that was all that mattered to her.

She'd steeled her heart for his rejection.

But Naruto had surprised her, had actually sought her out to tell her that he loved her. He'd figured it out himself. It had been his own choice. He'd chosen her, Hinata. He'd chosen to be with her above any other woman.

She wanted to cry with happiness, to indulge and soak in her feelings. In her mind and heart, she wanted to keep replaying his words and the way he'd looked when he'd told her he loved her. She wanted to replay the feeling of his lips against hers as they'd shared their first kiss.

But the kids were restless.

"Asshole! You better put that kunai down and stop poking me with it! If you don't, I'll hit you in the balls!"

She sighed.

Oh, Naruto! Why did you pick now to tell me you loved me when I'm in the middle of work?!

And then she laughed at herself.

She'd done the same thing to him when she'd confessed her love, all those years ago.

They were, she realized, both terrible with timing.

Naruto paced in front of Ichiraku after he'd finished eating. He'd never demolished a bowl of ramen so fast in his life. His thoughts were racing, filled mostly of Hinata: her closing her eyes for the kiss, smiling at him, then her tearing up when she'd listened to him babble on about his feelings. He remembered telling her he loved her, but the words that followed were a blur. He hoped he made sense when he'd been speaking.

But he was still fixated with her pursed lips, her face up to meet his mouth.

Naruto sighed. Damn, he still had a couple of hours before she finished work. He continued pacing, muttering to himself.

When the sun was setting in the sky, he walked back to the academy. She was waiting for him with a smile on her face, and he saw clearly that she'd always smiled at him in that sweet way of hers that made her look so luminous and radiant.

He realized with a twinge of sadness how much time he'd wasted not being with her, but he shook the thought away. No, maybe not as her man—if she would really have him today—but he'd always been her friend. Naruto recalled all their conversations, all the time he'd been with her in friendship, and he still felt blessed. She'd been a great friend, but now he wanted something more with her.

He was finally in love, and hopefully, there was still time to discover her and spend time in her presence.

With a shy smile, he opened his arms experimentally, and he felt his heart beat faster when her face turned pink, but her smile widened as she walked naturally into his embrace. Naruto wrapped his arms around her, still pinching himself that he could do this so freely with her.

"I'm here Hinata," he said into her hair, and there it was again, the scent of apples and cinnamon, reminding him of that night they'd been in Suna when he'd realized she was a woman, but she'd still been cloaked under the guise of friendship. His body had known, had recognized her for what she was, but his slow mind hadn't registered the reasons why he'd found her so irresistible that night.

"You are," she said, her voice filled with wonder, but it was muffled against his chest.

Then she looked up at him from the circle of his embrace with another smile, and Naruto was discovering that this was his favorite view of her.

"Naruto, do you mind if we finish our conversation at the cemetery?"

His grin widened. She didn't realize what she was saying. Taken out of context, and to any other person, the words sounded weird and macabre, but he knew what she meant. Of course.

She continued, "If you don't want to, it's okay. I'm going to be busy from here on out so this was the only time I had to visit Neji. I'd been planning this even before your confession, I'm sorry. Do you want to come with me?"

"Don't be sorry! I'll go with you because I want to see him, too. And I don't want to let you go just yet."

The smile he got in return was enough to dazzle him.

And so they walked, silence between the two of them until Naruto brushed her hand. He looked at her with a question in his eyes and she nodded. He grasped her smaller one in his. Looking at their joined hands, it just felt so right.

"I love this hand," Naruto said as he looked at how small hers was. They made their way to the cemetery. "I've seen you so many times touching others. And you've laid it in on me a couple times, those times we were in Suna, that night with Rumoi and then the next day when I was out of my mind when you kissed Kankuro."

She looked at him with surprise. "You remembered?"

He was glad the sun was setting because he'd lost count the times he'd turned red today. "Well, you don't really forget when a girl in a kimono hugs you one night and then kisses another guy the next day."

"Oh, Naruto," she cried softly. "I'm so sorry."

He groaned guiltily and gave her another hug, one filled with apology. "Hinata, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I was just reminding myself of how slow I am when it comes to love and romance. My body knew, and I think I was jealous of Kankuro at the time, but I just didn't know why."

Her face pinkened.

"And you're right," he added. "That wasn't a kiss with Kankuro."

He knew now the difference between a peck on the cheek and a kiss.

"Which doesn't change the fact that I still love your hand." He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her fingers. She laughed softly and he continued to hold her hand until they got to the cemetery.

They stopped in front of Neji's grave. She bowed her head and Naruto did the same beside her. She sat down and Naruto followed her a second later. His arms reached for her and she laid her head on his shoulder with a sigh.

"I've wanted to do this ever since we were young," Hinata said into the cool evening air.

Naruto started with surprise, even though he knew he shouldn't have been. He'd forgotten. She'd said she'd always loved him, had never stopped. Hinata had been so sure of her feelings for him since they were teenagers. She had even told him to his face many times four years ago—at this very same spot—but he'd just been so dense and so emotionally defective, he hadn't known what to do with her love.

He suddenly felt uncertain again. "Did you? Really?"

She laughed. "Naruto! I've wanted to do so many things with you!"

Hinata reached out and took his bandaged hand, brought it to her lips, and smiled at him. His heart twisted inside.

"But it feels nice now that I can finally do this with you, anytime I want."

She took his hand and placed it on her cheek. He sighed.

"Hinata? I just don't understand how. How in the world you could love me all these years? Why did you love me, though? I never did anything to you, for you."

She laughed again. "Don't say that! Not directly, maybe, but you just being you helped me. You were so bright, so undaunted and so courageous despite everything."

He looked at her, puzzled.

So she continued, "Oh, Naruto, you did plenty for me! When we were at the academy, just talking to you was enough. You were so kind speaking with me, even though I was shy and everybody left me alone. I mean, who would want to talk to this girl everybody thought was meek and boring? Plus, it didn't help that my relatives were always hovering about and made everything awkward. But you didn't care about any of that, it didn't bother you that I was strange."

Naruto felt another jolt in his heart. Since the academy?! Wait, that long?

"It was enough. Being with you made me feel like I could be different, that I didn't want to remain weak and helpless, that I could change the situation I'm in. You gave me so much hope in my life."

She was smiling at him, still holding the hand she'd placed on her cheek. He could feel the muscles of her cheeks gently lifting his fingers up. "You were just so inspiring, and I admired you for just never giving up and moving forward despite the hardships of your life. Then inspiration turned to love when I felt that maybe I could be more than just a classmate, a fellow shinobi, or a friend."

Naruto looked at her, his heart so full to see that love in her eyes.

"I'm sorry that I was so shy. I just couldn't break out of that until I found the courage to tell you how I felt when you were fighting Pain. Seeing you pinned to the ground struggling snapped me out of my fear."

"Hinata! Don't apologize for your personality!"

"See, there you go again," she said. "Acceptance."

He shook his head. "But you're exactly the same!"

"I guess so, then," she murmured with a smile. They looked at each other without saying anything, content to bask in each other's presence, taking the slow steps into this sudden turn of their relationship.

His hand left her face. Hers, meanwhile, reached up to touch the gash on his forehead. She frowned. "What happened?"

He laughed suddenly, remembering. "I fell for you."

Confusion lit her face and, still smiling, he kissed the tiny pucker on her forehead, making her eyes widen, sending another flutter through his heart. This was bad. Everything she did was too cute. He just wanted to spend the night kissing her.

Instead, he stopped and gave her an explanation. "I was at the hospital and Grandma Tsunade just made me realize my feelings for you. It was so intense, I fell off the chair and fainted."

"What?!" she gasped. "Naruto, are you okay?"

He brushed it off by grabbing her fingers and kissing them again. "It's nothing. It doesn't hurt at all. You know I heal really quickly."

"That's true." She was looking at him with so much concern in her eyes. "Why was it so intense?"

He sighed then. "Because I'm an idiot and I didn't realize how things could be so different if your fight with Pain had ended differently."

Naruto wanted to forget that day, not because she'd told him she loved him, but it was forever in his heart, the image of Hinata hurt and bleeding. He could have easily lost her then.

She'd jumped in and had tried to save him. She'd faced her fears, had confessed her love for him that day, then told him again and again after. But he'd never responded the way she'd hoped and he was reminded all over again of the time they could have had together, making him sad.

She must have felt his mood because Hinata leaned over and hugged him, squeezing and infusing him with her warmth. It was enough to banish his melancholy.

"There's no blame here," she whispered against his ear. "Never."

She looked him squarely in the eyes, then with a tremulous smile, she let him know what she wanted from him. "Don't worry about the past. We've got now and the future to look forward to."

"Hinata, I really don't deserve you," he said, shaking his head at himself.

"I love you, Naruto. I still do. Always will."

There was no way he could stop the kiss that came next. Overwhelmed with emotion, he'd reached for her, almost roughly, but she'd responded readily, wrapping her arms more tightly around him. Everything came instinctively to the both of them as the barriers that had held them back from feeling and touching finally broke with the declaration of Naruto's love.

She parted her lips and opened her mouth when he'd asked her without words. The shy brush of her tongue against his made him breathe in her cinnamony scent deeply and clasp her body more firmly against his. His hands were roving all over her, through her hair, threading through the strands as it grazed her back. Her hands, meanwhile, clutched at his shoulders and neck, but his lips remained steadfast on her mouth.

She laughed suddenly when he finally pulled back. "Okay, Naruto, you still haven't asked me out!"

He chuckled. "Sorry! You're right!"