Chapter 21: Romancing Naruto

On their second date, Hinata brought her birthday gift for Naruto. It was weeks late because it had taken longer than she'd anticipated to get everything done. She carried it in her bag and was planning on handing it to him after they had dinner, but she was so nervous that she'd caved in to her anxiety and just decided to hand it over as soon as she saw him.

"I promised you a birthday gift months ago. I'm sorry it's late, but happy birthday, Naruto," she said as she gave it to him.

Naruto looked at her with surprise and then a pleased smile stole over his face. "You didn't have to, you know. I was just happy to get your gift."

She had to laugh. "Naruto, I gave you a pebble. That's not a gift!"

"From you, it is!" He grinned and kissed her hand before he took the rectangular package. He shook it and placed it close to his ear. "Thank you!"

She blushed. "The note was only temporary, something to kind of hold you over until I got your gift ready. I already knew what I wanted to give you but I just needed time."

He laughed. "Is that even a thing? A temporary gift?"

But his fingers were already untying the cheerful bow wrapped around the orange packaging.

"I know it's a few months late," she said nervously as she watched him tear the wrapper. "But I just felt it was something I should hand to you directly and not just slip into your apartment when you're away."

He unwrapped it eagerly. When he opened the box, his breath came out in a gasp. He looked at her. Tears were in his eyes.

"Hinata…"

Two months before...

"A photo of Minato and Kushina together?" Kakashi asked her.

She nodded as she stood before the Hokage in his office, keeping her hands at her sides. She'd resisted the urge to tap her index fingers together, she was so proud. Hinata knew it was very bold of her to ask him, but he'd been the only one she could approach with her request. Since he had been part of Minato's team, the current Hokage was the only one she knew of who might have access to the things she needed.

Kakashi sighed regretfully. "I'm sorry Hinata, I don't have any photos of them, to my everlasting sorrow. There hadn't been any time to take such photos during our time."

Hinata swallowed her disappointment. She'd tried her best. Kakashi had been her last best hope.

"Okay, thank you anyway, Hokage-sama. I know you're a busy man, and I appreciate you taking the time to see me today."

During their trip to Kumo together, when she'd heard him talking about his mother, she'd wondered if Naruto had any photos of her. Instinctively, she'd known that he probably didn't, and her heart ached, had felt sorrow for the boy, the man he was if he didn't have any. She decided that she would like to do something about it if that was the case. For his birthday, she'd known that having a photo of his mother or his parents would be something that he might appreciate as a gift.

But to not have any photos now was crushing. Hinata hadn't been able to find any photos of Kushina Uzumaki anywhere.

She was going to have to get Naruto another gift, then.

"But," Kakashi said, making her look at him in hope. "Maybe Shikamaru could use your help?"

Shikamaru grinned at her. "If you don't mind, Hinata, we need help at the archives, organizing the personnel files and histories of previous Konoha shinobi. There might be a couple of profiles that you'd be interested in. Lots of things are included in those files, including pictures."

On hearing the news, Hinata had rushed forward and hugged Shikamaru with joy, dislodging the files he'd carried in his hands. Kakashi had laughed as she'd apologized to them both and hurriedly helped Shikamaru pick up the documents on the floor.

While Hinata had been at work organizing the files, she'd found the photos she needed and "borrowed" them for a couple of weeks. Even though it was against the archives' policies to take items out of the place, the fact that Shikamaru and the Hokage had suggested that she work on them surely meant it was okay.

She'd had to wait for Sai to come back home from his missions to ask him to help her out.

"You want me to make a painting of the two of them together?" he'd asked her as he glanced back at the two separate headshot photos she'd placed in his hands.

"They're Naruto's parents. I was wondering if you could create something from these two photos? Something I could frame and give to him for his birthday?"

Sai had looked dubious. "I'm not sure I can do it, Hinata. I've never done anything like this before."

"Can you give it a try, at least?" she'd asked. She smiled. "I'll take anything at this point. You're an amazing artist, Sai. I have complete faith in you. If you can get Ino to help you, it might be easier?"

Sai looked at her in surprise. "Did she tell you?"

She shook her head with a laugh. "No, she didn't need to. I see the way you guys are with each other."

And Sai smiled, finally understanding. "I'll see what I can do for you."

"Thanks, Sai," Hinata said as she grasped both of his hands, her heart in her eyes. "I really appreciate it."

And now, looking at the picture in Naruto's hands and the tears in his eyes, she was glad she'd hit upon the perfect gift to make him happy.

There they were, his parents. His mother, with her long, red hair flowing behind her, was looking up at Minato with adoration shining in her eyes. One dainty hand was resting on his father's chest. Minato, meanwhile, had an arm wrapped around her side, his hand was clasping the one Kushina had placed on his chest. He was looking down at her with such a tender look in his eyes and in his smile, Naruto couldn't bear it. It was exactly the way he'd imagined how his mother and father would be, gazing at each other with love and respect, both looking so happy to be with each other.

He recognized the brushstrokes of Sai's work.

He swallowed at the lump in his throat. He would treasure this gift always.

"Hinata...thank you," he was barely able to get out before he crushed her to him, the picture frame clutched against her back, his arms not long enough to wrap her in his love.

How he ever got lucky to have a woman like Hinata love him, he would never question. And the fact that she'd thought to give him this present even before he'd told her of his feelings made him still reel with wonder.

If he wasn't already so in love with her, this thoughtful gift would probably have pushed him over the cliff. Somehow, Hinata had always been so attuned to him, to his thoughts and his emotions. And he wondered again why it had taken him so long to recognize his feelings for her.

"I love you, Hinata," he whispered in her ear but it just seemed so inadequate for what he felt for her.

"And I love your birthday present. It's of my parents, but every time I look at it, I'll always remember that it came from you."

"I'm so glad you like it," she said against his chest, breathing in the scent of him. The smile on her face was filled with happiness, and he knew she was overjoyed because he was happy.

There was no hope for it. Naruto was sinking deeper into the pit, unequivocally falling more deeply in love with Hinata. He was never going to be able to escape from it, and he found that he really didn't want to.

"Sai! I know you're in there! Open up!" he yelled as he banged on the door to Sai's apartment. "I need to see you!"

He heard his friend sigh behind the closed door and the sound of a lock being unbolted.

"Naruto, you're kind of intruding right now," Sai said as he opened the door a crack.

"I know! And I'm sorry, but I just wanted to say thanks for—"

"Is that Naruto, Sai?" came a lilting voice from inside, and Naruto recognized Ino's voice.

He looked at Sai, whose face remained expressionless.

"Wait, did I just hear Ino?" he asked with surprise, and then more loudly, "In your apartment?!"

He heard laughter coming from inside the room. "Sai, why don't you let him in? You know he's dying with curiosity."

Sai sighed, but he answered, "I really don't want to, Ino."

More laughter. Then he opened the door wider and turned to Naruto, "All right. Come in then."

Naruto was quiet as he entered Sai's apartment. Ino was sitting on the couch, cross-legged, her hair was unbound, and she was leafing through a magazine. She was still in her pajamas. One hand held a mug of steaming coffee.

She smiled at him cheerfully, noting the pink that tinged his cheeks.

"Morning, Naruto," she said in a sing-song voice. "What brings you to Sai's apartment this early?"

Sai came to join her on the couch and Naruto stood looking awkwardly at the two of them, not knowing what to say. This was not what he was expecting when he'd come to see Sai.

"Wait, are you guys together now?" he asked in disbelief. "When did that happen?"

"Yes," Sai said. "We've been dating for a year now, but you just never asked or noticed."

Ino grinned at him. "Hinata knew, though."

"Huh?" Naruto asked. But at the mention of Hinata, he remembered why he'd barged in on the two of them unannounced. He sat down across from them on the rug.

"Oh, yeah! And that's why I'm here! I came to say thanks for the painting you did, Sai. Hinata gave me the present a week ago, but I kept forgetting to come say thanks to you. I only remembered it today and I didn't want to forget again, which is why I'm here now."

"Oh!" said Ino and she shared a look with Sai.

"Well, I'm glad you liked it, Naruto, but it wasn't my idea. Hinata dug up the photos and asked me to paint it. It was all her that did it."

"But I really do appreciate the painting, Sai. I finally have a picture of my parents in my apartment."

Sai finally smiled at him, a genuine smile filled with happiness. "That's good. She said that might be the case."

Naruto grinned at him, then he looked again from Ino to Sai, then from Sai to Ino. "So you guys are a couple, too."

"And you and Hinata, now, too!" Ino said with a smile. "Finally, you stupid idiot! I'm so happy for her, of course, but I'm relieved that you've figured it out for yourself. Hinata said she didn't even need to do anything. It was you who approached her, and all on your own."

Naruto's sigh was heartfelt. "Ino! You're not the only one who's ecstatic to know I can figure out this whole business of love."

Ino snorted with laughter. "Yeah! You and all of Konoha, pretty much!"

Naruto groaned. "Oh, god. So it was pretty much me who didn't know then?"

Another chuckle from Ino. "Even Sai saw it, which makes you the most clueless person in the world."

"Hey!" came Sai's mild protest, which made Ino laugh again.

Naruto momentarily buried his face in his arms as he placed them on top of Sai's coffee table. He groaned with embarrassment. "Yeah, I know, and that's saying a lot!"

He looked up and saw Ino was still smiling at him.

Her voice teasing, she said, "I still can't believe it took you so long to realize it! You're so dense!"

She'd expected him to reply in the same tone, but there was a serious, wistful look on his face. "Ino, I just found it really hard that anybody could love me the way Hinata does, you know? Of course, I've thought of girls and relationships, before, but I just never thought it was something for me. I was prepared to go through life alone because it seemed to be my fate. You guys know what I am."

He shrugged, and the smile on his face seemed a little sad.

"Oh, Naruto!" Ino cried softly as she got off the couch and came next to him. She gave him a hug, which startled Naruto and forced him to return it with a look of apology at Sai, who only smiled at them from the couch.

Sai's expression was filled with understanding. After all, Sai had been the one to see and understand how Karui had nearly beaten Naruto to death when he'd decided to take on the hate of the world. He could understand Naruto's feelings of inadequacy when it came to being loved. To become a vessel of hate, love needed to be purged out of you.

Naruto patted Ino on the back and she pulled back to look at his face and hear him speak.

"It just felt like it wasn't meant to be, you know what I mean? I've always felt like I'm not the type of guy that girls chase after. When we were younger, it was always guys like Sasuke who got the attention."

Ino didn't say anything but flushed as she looked at him then at Sai. Sai only raised a brow.

He continued, "Then we're talking about Hinata, who all this time, I've always thought of as a friend because she's just in a different class. I mean, just look at her. And then there's her being a Hyuuga and all. Even now, I still feel like I don't deserve her love."

Ino gave him another squeeze, which Naruto returned. She then went back to the couch and sat next to Sai, who took her hand and held it. She tried to reassure Naruto with her next words. "Well, Hinata clearly loves you. She's always loved you, always been loyal to you, if you can believe it."

Naruto nodded. "Oh, I do, Ino! Now, I can."

He looked up again with a rueful smile. "You're right, but I'm a slow learner, you know. Always have been. Ino, I'm going to make this right for Hinata."

She nodded with satisfaction. "You better!"

She then flashed another smile at him. "You know, that gift was so thoughtful. Hinata's just always had you in her heart all this time."

"I know," Naruto said, and they all heard the gratitude in his voice.

Since he was with Ino, he couldn't resist asking about their other friends. "So you obviously know that Shikamaru and Temari are getting married?"

"Yes, isn't it great?" Ino answered with delight. "I can't believe she said yes, but I'm happy for the both of them. Chouji hasn't proposed yet but he's working up the nerve to do it."

She then enlightened Naruto with other relationship news. "Tenten and Lee went out a couple of times but they haven't said anything about their relationship, whether they're together or not."

Naruto was surprised. "What?! I was with them a couple weeks ago and they both didn't say anything at all."

Sai answered for Ino. "Yeah, we just don't know what's going on with those two."

Naruto was quiet, wondering about Tenten and Lee. Soon, he said, "Imagine that, though. We might all be in relationships. It's a little strange if you think about it."

Ino laughed again and Sai smiled, too. They sat grinning at each other until Ino suddenly became serious.

"Naruto, speaking of relationships…"

"Ino, maybe not the time?" Sai asked as he laid a hand on her arm.

Ino shook her head, but smiled at him and turned back to Naruto. She continued, "Listen, I can tell that you guys are okay and that you're in love, but there's one thing I want you to understand."

Naruto was looking at her with a frown, not liking her tone.

Her voice hardened when she saw his frown. "Naruto, don't pressure Hinata into sex. You tend to get carried away with things, and you know how kind she is. I don't want you to make her feel like she's obligated to have sex with you!"

"Obligated to have sex with me?!" Naruto yelled in disbelief, glaring at her. "What the hell is that?! Is that even a thing?!"

"Yes," Sai quickly said.

From his tone of voice, it sounded like he had experience so Naruto looked curiously at the both of them.

Ino made a fist and punched Sai in the arm, growling, "Sai! The way you just said it, you made it seem like I forced you to have sex with me!"

Naruto laughed.

Sai took a moment to realize that he'd made a mistake and his face set into an expression that resembled embarrassment. "That's not what I meant!"

He quickly rifled through the stacks of magazines on his coffee table and grabbed the one he was searching for. "No, not us personally. It's a real thing! Not for me and Ino, but it says so in this magazine here."

He found the page and handed it to Naruto.

"Okay, okay," Naruto said as he glanced at the title, How to Have Obligatory Sex in Ten Easy Steps.

"I get it. No, I'm not going to pressure her. I promise you, Ino. It's only going to happen when Hinata says she's okay with the whole thing. I never go back on my word. But you don't have to worry about it! Hinata's not the type of girl to be asking for sex."

Sai nodded in understanding.

Ino only shook her head at him, fighting a laugh. Yeah, keep thinking that, Naruto.

Then she grinned at him, keeping a secret to herself.

She might just surprise you.