Drabble request! Naruto surprises Hinata (with help from the konoha 11) after having been a way in a year-long mission?

"Hi-Hinata?!"

The woman before him turned around and blinked lavender eyes in surprise. "Naruto? Is that you?"

Naruto was tongue-tied as he stared at Hinata Hyuuga, back from her year-long mission. As part of her duties for her clan, Hinata had been sent to research other clans with powerful kekkei genkai doujutsu.

Initially, Kakashi and Hiashi had estimated that the mission would only take a few months. But Hinata had realized that despite her careful planning, it was going to take more than that. She'd had to travel to distant lands in order to make sure her research was thorough and completed. She'd started with the Chinoike clan in the Land of Lightning, then gone on to Kiri to visit with Ranmaru, and then finally to the Land of Demons to talk to the priestess Shion.

Naruto had said good-bye to her a year before. "Good luck, Hinata! And be safe traveling."

But when she'd left, he'd grumbled to the rest of their friends about her being away from home and all by herself.

"She'll be fine," Kiba said, his voice full of confidence.

"Why?" Shino asked, then answered his own question. "Because she's a capable shinobi, one of the best in Konoha."

Ino and Sakura had shared a look. "Are you going to miss her, Naruto?"

"Of course I am!" he answered candidly. "She's a very important friend."

Ino's jaw hung slack momentarily but she snapped it shut with irritation. She was about to rip into him, but Sakura stopped her. "He's not going to understand it, so don't bother."

"Haaaaah?! What the hell are you talking about?" he asked.

"See?" And the two girls laughed.

All the while, a puzzled frown was on Sai's face as he listened to their banter. "Friend? Comrade," he muttered under his breath.

Lee came up to Naruto and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "She's a Hyuuga. She will accomplish her goal and will come home with much success."

Naruto nodded at him just as Tenten grinned at him and said, "Yup! Neji's trained her so she knows her stuff."

Chouji, standing next to Shikamaru, popped open a bag of potato chips and offered him the first crack at it. Naruto shook his head.

"This mission sounds like a major pain in the ass," Shikamaru muttered. "I'm so glad I'm not doing it."

But Hinata was already past the gates a few miles away from all of them. Before she disappeared from sight, though, she turned around, smiled, and gave all of them a little wave.

They waved back to her and then she was gone. Everyone turned back and headed towards the center of town.

Despite the loud and cheerful chatter of his friends around him, Naruto somehow felt lost and bewildered to know that Hinata was going to be gone from Konoha for a while.

But Hinata was finally back. She was standing in front of him, a soft smile on her face but he was suddenly tongue-tied and didn't know what to say to her.

And damn it, but she looked different...and the same?

He couldn't figure it out.

Until Naruto heard somebody say, "Hey, sweetness!"

Hinata and Naruto turned around to see a young man sauntering up to them.

"Are you new here in Konoha? Want me to show you around?" he asked her, a charming smile on his face. He completely ignored the suddenly-glowering Naruto by her side.

Hinata frowned at him then said, "No, thank you. I live here."

The man grinned wider. "Oh, yeah? How about you show me around then?"

But before Hinata could respond, Naruto stepped in front of her, folded his arms and glared at this stranger. "Get lost."

The cheeky bastard only laughed and raised his hands up in the air. "Okay, okay! Sorry about that."

But he turned around and left.

Naruto faced Hinata and finally said, "I'm so happy you're back, Hinata. It's good to see one of my friends safe again in Konoha."

The cheeky bastard held up a hand in front of him and performed a hand seal. His disguise disappeared in a puff of smoke to reveal Ino with a frustrated scowl on her face. She'd heard the last bit that Naruto had told Hinata.

The rest of the group waited to hear her answer. "Well?!"

Ino looked at Sakura, Sai, Tenten, and Lee with displeasure. "Diagnosis: He's still an idiot."

Everyone groaned.

"I thought they had a chance when he got jealous and told me to leave, but he hasn't realized that Hinata got new mission gear, even though her whole shape is clearly outlined. He's still figuring it out!"

Tenten sighed. "He's hopeless! How can you not hug her when you haven't seen her all year?!"

"He is very slow," Lee agreed.

"What about her, though?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, it's still plain to see! Hinata still loves him. She's practically overflowing with it, but he's so dense, it's not getting through his thick skull."

"We need to call the others. This is an emergency!" Sakura declared.

"This is a girl."

Kiba was holding a long stick and pointing at a picture on the blackboard that looked remarkably like Hinata.

Earlier, Naruto had watched Sai draw the figure on the board.

He glanced around the classroom. They were at the Ninja Academy and all but one of his former classmates were there with him. Sakura and Ino flanked him. Any time he wanted to get up, their nails would dig painfully into his thighs and forced him to sit down. Tenten was directly behind him. Her job seemed to be to bop him on the head with the tessen, the fan-like weapon in her hand, any time he said anything they didn't like.

Chouji, Lee, and Shikamaru were at the door, blocking any retreat.

Sai was sitting in the row ahead of him taking copious notes.

Shino was in front with Kiba. His job was to write down, on the board, anything Kiba said that was important.

Kiba pointed to the girl's hand. "This is her hand. You hold it."

The pointer then traveled upward. "This is her hair. You admire it."

He lowered the pointer a couple inches lower. "These are her eyes. You gaze into them."

Lower again. "These are her lips. You kiss them."

"Kiba!" Naruto yelled as he held a hand up in the air. "What the hell?! Why are you telling me all of this?!"

Kiba continued speaking as if he hadn't interrupted. "This is a girl," he said again. "You ask her out on a date."

"D-Date?!" Naruto sputtered.

"Yes."

Naruto sat in shocked silence. Huh? Who? What? Date?!

What the hell was happening?!

"Okay, Professor Kiba," Sai interrupted. "You haven't pointed to the girl's breasts and what I should do with them."

Kiba picked up an eraser and threw it at Sai. It hit him on the head.

"That is an idiot."

Ino suddenly stood up and cried, "She's here! Hinata's on her way!"

Kiba and Shino quickly erased the board while everyone else scrambled out of their seats and left in a hurry. Shikamaru, though, trapped Naruto in his seat with his shadow binding that he was able to control from outside the classroom.

Naruto was stuck. He couldn't move, but even if he did, he didn't know why everyone had left.

He suddenly found himself sharing space in his mind with Ino. She clapped a hand over his mental mouth and found himself frozen outside in the real world.

He watched as Hinata walked into the classroom with a smile on her face. She seemed to be shimmering with light, like a halo surrounded her.

Then Ino took over as she commanded his body. Even though he wasn't really doing it, he heard himself clearly say, "Hinata, will you go out with me?"

Hinata's eyes lit up. "Oh, Naruto! Yes!"

Ino abruptly disappeared from his inner mind, leaving him back in control of himself. He was gazing into Hinata's beautiful lavender eyes just as Kiba had instructed earlier.

Somehow, his eyes also traveled over her hair and admired the way the light gleamed off her dark locks.

And for some reason, Naruto's hand was reaching out because he suddenly felt the need to hold hers.