Unless I say so, a good portion of these one-shots will be in Hinata's POV. Why? Because she thinks like me, so it's easier to write about someone who has a similar mindset as me.

I also like making her inner thoughts a little more confident than what she shows on the outside, because honestly, we've all done something in our minds that we'd never actually do.

AND I'M SORRY FOR BEING GONE FOR LONG! I DIDN'T REALIZE HOW MUCH TIME HAD PASSED AND NEXT THING I KNOW IT'S A WEEK INTO MAY ALREADY!

~Enjoy~

The haziness of a missing memory haunted Hinata as the seven other Konoha-nin traveled beside her, tree hopping back to their home village.

She had nearly no recollection of what happened the night before and it frustrated her on the inside to no end.

The girl had woken up with a very faint idea of how she got there, but no matter how much she tried to search her mind, she couldn't remember what had happened to her for the life of her.

She knew something happened, she could tell something happened, but alas, it never revealed itself. Not even when they bid their farewells to the band of caravans that they escorted safely to the Land of Rice Paddies.

(AN; That was a short paragraph, I know. I just didn't know what else to add.)

It was around midday when they returned to the village, right on time for the Founding Festival.

The Founding Festival is exactly what it sounded like, it was a festival held on the day that Konoha was founded by Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. Though, the only difference between this festival and all the others that the leaf village held was the fact that it only occurred every decade or so. The last time Hinata had attended, she had been only 2 years old, far too young to remember anything about it. So, in her own mind, this was her first time attending it and she was rather excited to say the least.

So excited, in fact, that her crush talking to her animatedly on her right while they proceeded to walk through the village towards the Hokage's office didn't even send her into an internal frenzy.

He was telling the Hyuga girl about his adventures and the pranks he used to pull back at the academy. It's not like she didn't know about them, everyone in their class knew about the types of tricks he pulled, but to hear it from his point of view was a much more lively experience than just hearing about it from the occasional gossip-loving adult.

"And then the guy came out completely covered in flour! He looked so bad that I couldn't even wait until I was farther away to laugh, y'know! Aw man! That was hilarious! Oh oh, and then there was this other time where-"

"Jeez Naruto, tone it down a bit and stick to one story before you end up killing the girl." And familiar voice sounded from a little ways away, interrupting his tale.

"Ah, Ino!" Sakura says, surprised to see her rival.

"How ya doin', Billboard Brow? Have a nice mission- SASUKE-KUN!" Ino promptly latched herself onto the last loyal Uchiha, gaining nothing but an irritated look on his face at her boldness.

"How was your mission, Sasuke-kun? Did it go well? Did you kick butts and take names? Did you show the other boys who was boss? Eh, no offense Shino, you're fine."

Shino said nothing in response. Meanwhile, Naruto and Kiba seemed to have taken major offense to the platinum blonde's words.

"Oi, Ino, I'll have you know that I'm waaaayyyy better than Sasuke, y'know!"

"Yeah, the duckbutt barely did anything! We, on the other hand- Ackk!" Kiba stopped his rant as a pale fist bashed itself on top of both his and his blond friend's heads.

"Will you two shut up already?! Stop lying, we didn't even do anything like that, jeez. Idiots, the both of you. " Sakura shouted, putting a stop to her former classmates' meaningless rants.

"Ah, I feel a bit sorry for you Hinata, it seems you have your own loudmouth to deal with."

An awkward, quiet laugh came from the blue haired girl as she put her hands up in a way of saying 'I'm fine, it's alright'.

Giving a quiet fond sigh at her friends' weirdness, Hinata thought again about the upcoming festival.

Excitement jolting up once again, the Hyuga girl waited until after the two teams reported their mission a success to the Hokage before breaking away from her teammates, fully intent on heading home and asking her strict father if he would grant her permission to attend the celebrations that night.

"You may go."

A pause of surprise as Hinata stared wide eyed at her stoic father.

"F-father?" She asked quietly, unsure if she heard him correctly.

"You heard me, daughter. I am granting ur request." Hiashi repeated, albeit a little more forceful this time.

"Of course, thank you father, but..." she paused.

Raising in eyebrow, Hiashi spoke, "What has you so confused, daughter?"

Hinata straightened her back, "It is a very rare occurrence for you to grant my wishes of attending any sort of gathering, so may I ask why you permit this one, as opposed to any other?"

Hinata could've sworn she saw her father's eyes soften a bit before returning to their usual hardness.

"That is a question with a simple answer. It's the Founding Festival, a festival that comes around once every 10 years, therefore, it is a special occasion I believe every person should be granted permission to attend. After all, it is the celebration of the founding of Konoha, our home. What better a day to accept than today?"

Eyes shining in understanding, the dark blue haired girl bowed politely to her father, "Thank you, father."

Getting to her feet and exiting the room, sliding the door shut behind her, Hinata walked a bit until she was half way to her room before she let out a sigh of relief.

'It's always so hard to control my stutter around him. His aura is never not serious and overwhelming. Well, I guess I should just be happy I get to go tonight. I wonder what I should wear. Should I request to bring Hanabi with me as well? No. Father's done enough for me already, I can't ask any more of him. So could I go with my team? That might be a better idea...'

Silent steps came from her as she made her way to her bedroom, lost in thought.

Upon arriving, Hinata slid her door open before closing it gently again. Walking to her closet, she searched for a kimono to prepare for the night.

'The festival starts at 5 right? Or is it 6? Should I ask someone? I probably should. I need to find Shino-kun and Kiba-kun to ask if they would like to attend with me. Wait no, they're probably with their families. What about Kurenai-sensei? No, she's probably with the other Jonin senseis. Who else could I ask? Should I just go alone? I think I might do that.'

Her mind buzzed with different things as she sorted through her abundant collection of formal kimonos.

Hinata had nearly scanned through her entire wardrobe before her fingers met the silky cloth of a kimono she had nearly forgotten about.

'This is...'

Skin brushing against cold, smooth fabric, Hinata unfolded the article of clothing to reveal a gorgeous grey kimono with two cherry blossom trees decorating the right and left side of where her torso would be, as if reaching to hug her. Glistening threads of pink petals and the twisting and intertwining of black and brown fabric created the beautiful plant as the storm grey color behind it gave it a calm feeling. Stray pink petals were sprinkled across the chest and back area as the bottom of the tree faded to small, barely visible, white shining thread that were supposed to resemble roots.

Looking back at the place where she found it, Hinata saw that it had a dark grey Obi to go with it.

"This... this is the kimono I was planning to wear to the festival for the inauguration of the 5th Hokage. How could I have forgotten about it? This is so beautiful." Hinata said to herself, completely captivated by its look.

"I-I should find a hair pin or something to go with this. It has to be perfect."

With that, she laid out the clothing on her futon and searched through her jewelry box for the perfect hair accessorie for such a special occasion.

Only to come up empty handed.

'Nothing I have here could go with it... Should I buy a new one? I think I have enough money for that because of my mission today. I should, shouldn't I? Yeah, I will... but do I really need it? I'm not sure. Maybe I should just look? Yeah, I-I'll just look.'

A new mission in mind, Hinata made her way through the halls of the Hyūga compound after letting a branch member know that she was leaving for a bit.

Slipping her shoes on, Hinata began her journey to the front gates and on to the only shop she knew sold the items she wanted to browse through.

The shop didn't end up having what she needed, much to her own surprise.

So now, she was walking back home in slightly lower spirites than when she left.

'It's too bad I couldn't find anything. I guess I'll have to make do with the hair pieces that I have at home... or I could always just go without one.'

Hinata rolled the image around of her in the beautiful kimono without a hair pin in her head before discarding the idea.

'No, it's better if I have one.'

"Hinata-chan!" Yelled a cheery voice from behind her.

Heart racing, face burning and mind whirling, the Hyuga slowly turned around to see the one and only Uzumaki Naruto walking out the Ichiraku ramen shop.

"N-Naruto-kun? W-what are you doing here? Did y-you just f-inish eating?"

'What kind of question is that? Of course he did! You're so stupid, Hinata!'

"Yeah! I just got done when I saw you walking by! I wanted to say hi and tell you that it was great doing a mission with you, y'know!"

Her face was now glowing cherry red.

"R-r-really!"

"Yep! Sure, you're a bit weird."

She internally deflated.

"But I like people like you, y'know!"

She inflated.

"O-o-oh... I en-njoyed the m-mission as we-well, Naruto-kun." Hinata whispered, index finger pressing together shyly in front of her chest.

"Cool! Well, anyway, I actually stopped for one more reason!" The blond exclaimed once more.

Curiosity peaked, Hinata hesitantly looked up and into her crush's eyes.

"Well, here's the thing. You know the festival goin' on tonight?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, well I asked Sakura-chan if she wanted to go with me, but she said she was already gonna ask that stupid Sasuke. And then I asked a few more people if they wanted to hang out too, they said no, and so I wanted to see if you wanted to come with! Unless you already have plans though. Cause if you do, I understand."

Hinata's brain was now going into overdrive and was on the verge of failure.

'N-no way. N-N-Naruto-kun, he's...ASKING ME OUT! This m-must be some sort of fever dream or-or something. But... h-how could I say no!'

"No!"

'WHAT!?'

Horror spread on Hinata's face as she registered her involuntary answer and the depressed look on her crush's face.

'That's not what I wanted to say!'

"Oh, you must have plans then. Alright. I'll see ya around, Hinata." Naruto said before waving at her and walking off.

The pre-teen girl was about to stop the boy before she halted herself, noticing the time.

'The festival in just about an hour based on the position of the sun, I need to get ready.'

She bit her lip, conflicted.

'But I can't just leave Naruto-kun alone like that. It's not right.'

After thinking it over for a few seconds, she figured that she'd get ready and then wait for him near his home and... she guessed she's just have to wing it from there.

It hadn't taken her very long to get ready, prepping her clothing and tying the various types of garments around her body in order for her kimono to properly fit had become second nature for Hinata, having had to attend various political meetings and parties in the past.

The lack of a fitting hair piece dampened her mood a bit but the thought of getting, or attempting, to spend the entire night with her blond haired crush brightened her feelings again.

Soon enough, it was time for her to go.

Letting her father know that she was leaving and then saying her temporary farewells to other fellow clanmates that were scattered sparsely around the compound, Hinata was off in the direction of Uzumaki Naruto's apartment.

As it turns out, Naruto's place of living was located in the dirtier, sketchier part of Konoha, much to her own disappointment for where someone as warm and bright as the Uzumaki should be placed.

Honestly, if it was up to her, she would offer him only the best, warmest, brightest, most spacious mansion to live in.

For Kami-sama knows Naruto deserves nothing short of the world.

Gaining strange, questioning stares as she walks hastily throughout the streets, the evening sun glowing orange, Hinata finally spots the Uzumaki's apartment complex a short distance away.

Eyes lighting up and excitement rising, Hinata quickens her pace further, breaking out into a slow jog.

As the building came closer and closer towards the young woman, her excitement quickly turned sour as she thought about the things she had done.

'What if he doesn't want to see me? What if he hates me!? I didn't even mean to say no! I don't even know why that came out my mouth! Oh no, I probably hurt him. What if he doesn't ever want to speak to me again because I was so stupid! Oh kami...'

Hinata's inner musings came to an end when she realized she was standing directly outside the building.

Taking a deep, shaky, anxiety filled breathe in, momentarily squashing all her poisonous thoughts down into the deepest recesses of her brain, the dark blue haired girl made her way up the stairs, taking note of the poor condition of the building.

Careful to be as quiet as she could in order to not disturb the other people also taking residence on the top floor, Hinata walked up to the door with the red spiral, a pattern she knew was something Naruto wore almost as often as he wore orange.

Lifting her fist to knock, she hesitated, questioning whether she should actually make her presence known or not.

Head spinning from her conflicting ideas, she was startled when she heard the sound of the door unlocking.

Panic rising, Hinata quickly stepped to the side and faced away, a small blush rising to her cheeks.

The squeaking of a door that opened, revealing a rather down looking blond young man, was all she saw from the corner of her eye.

Raising his azure eyes up to meet the person that was standing beside his doorway, a small sound of confusion arose from him as he saw that it was the very same Hyuga that turned down his invitation not even 2 hours before,

"Hinata-chan?" He asked while closing the door and locking it, his pale blue yukata swaying softly as a small breeze passed by, "What are you doing here? I thought you had plans already? Did you change your mind?"

The small flare of hope burning in his eyes had her wanting to answer and confirm his suspicions as quickly as she could.

Opening her mouth to reply, Hinata's vocal cords, once again, had different plans as what she wanted to say was not what came out.

"Y-no."

Frustration growing, an angry pout developed on the young heiress's face.

"Well, if you didn't then why are you here?" Naruto asked once again, confusion clear on his face and hope slowly losing it's already small flame.

About to reply verbally again, Hinata thought against it in the last second and instead opted to do something that would be considered bold by her terms on any other day.

Shaking her head and building what little confidence she had, the young teen slowly made her up to her blond crush, his puzzlement growing by the second.

As she continued approaching him, her left hand stuck out hesitantly before gently grabbing the hem of his yukata. Turning to face the way he was facing, Hinata brought her right hand up to her chest to soothe her pounding heart and ducked her head down, too embarrassed to look the blond in his eyes.

"Hinata? What are you doing?"

Slightly angered that she couldn't get her point across, the Hyuga tightened her grip on his sleeve and stepped a bit closer to him, nudging him with her arm a bit to get him to walk.

"Uhmmm... you want to come with me?"

Nodding 'yes' vigorously, happy that her reason finally reached him, the Uzumaki genin's lips contorted into a blinding smile, overjoyed that he had someone to attend the festival with.

"Well, come on! Let's go have some fun, y'know!" He exclaimed, grabbing her hand and basically dragging her down the stairs.

Hinata, on any other day, would've asked him to slow down. To lower the pace in order for her to walk properly beside him, but tonight, she just couldn't find it in her heart to tell him to calm down.

Seeing that shining, beautiful smile on his face was enough to make her shut up and deal with the fact that he was practically speeding down the flight of stairs like a madman.

"Ne ne, Hinata-chan, whaddya wanna do?"

Naruto asked with his hands resting behind his head as he walked, having let go of the Hyuga heiress's hand once they reached the center of town, where most of the action was happening.

Light lavender eyes shining with thought as the orange sun finished its decent below the horizon, Hinata scanned the various game stalls, all occupied by people of all kinds.

Children played together and walked down the crowded streets hand in hand with their parents.

Young couples looked into each other's eyes with tender warmth and love while older couples relished in the time they had left with their life long mate.

Friends chatted amongst each other and a small array of shinobi were also having fun at food stalls and festival games.

"I-I'm not sure... w-well, what would y-you like to d-uh-do, Naruto-kun?"

Humming in thought, the blond took a few seconds before his eyes lit up. He clearly had an idea in mind.

"We should get some food first! We're gonna need all the energy we can get if we're gonna win these games, y'know!"

Nodding along at his proclamation, a soft smile and a light blush appeared on her face.

"W-where would you like t-to go?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer, she just liked engaging him in conversation.

"We should go to Ichiraku's!"

Giggling a bit at his boldness and strange love for the noddle-based dish, Hinata tried to answer, momentarily forgetting her odd predicament.

"O-of cou-definitely not..."

Anger rising once more at her inability to say what she wanted, Hinata tried again as Naruto gave her an odd look.

"Ye-no, I would lov-hate-" a grunt of annoyance and frustration left her lips as her fists clenched, nails digging into her palms.

"So, do ya wanna go or not?"

Sighing in defeat, Hinata nodded her agreement instead of actually saying it.

'Why can't I say yes? Does it have something to do with what happened to me last night? It could be connected to it somehow... but if it is, how do I stop it? I don't want to keep saying no for the rest of my life. But what if I can't fix it? What if it's irreversible! Oh no! Oh Kami-sama, no!'

The walk to Ichiraku ramen shop was short, since the stall wasn't very far from the center of Konoha.

"'Sup, old man Teuchi! Hey, Ayame-nee-chan!" Naruto greeted enthusiastically while Hinata said her hello's with a polite and fond bow.

"Oh! Hello, Naruto-kun! Back so soon? You were here not even 2 hours ago, you know. Sometimes I wonder where all that food goes." The older man says from behind the counter, gaining a sheepish look from the blond boy.

"Eheh, yeah... anyway, me and Hinata-chan want to fuel up before we hit the gaming stalls, y'know!"

"Oh really, well, I guess I best get you guys' orders soon so you'll have enough time to play, huh? Alright, the usual, Naruto?"

Earning a nod from the whiskered young teen, the tan ramen chef turned to the dark blue haired girl.

"And what would you like, young lady?"

Tapping her fingers together in anxiousness at the spotlight being passed on to her, the already present blush on her cheeks deepened further.

"A-ano, I'll just take t-the same thing N-Naruto-kun is having, p-please."

"Alright! Two miso pork ramens coming right up!"

Sighing in relief as Teuchi turned back to the kitchen, the teen listened to the older male and Naruto while they chatted about their days and the blond's newest mission.

Turning to her extroverted crush, Hinata couldn't help but admire the warm, appreciative twinkle in the genin's azure orbs.

She was glad he had someone he could talk to about anything.

Hinata knew he didn't really have friends growing up and that people hated and avoided him for reasons unknown to her, and most nights she kicks herself for not making an effort to be more present during their academy days, but whenever Naruto talks to Iruka-sensei or Teuchi-san, she can't help but feel her heart grow warm, happy that he always has someone to turn to.

"Orders up! Enjoy!" Teuchi announced, placing the bowls of steaming soup and noodles down in front of the two teens.

Taking a pair of wooden chopstick from the cup containing them, she put her hands together in a sort of prayer before muttering, "Ittadakimasu" and breaking apart her eating utensils.

Adjusting them in her right hand as she dipped the familiar sticks into the steaming dish, Hinata caught a healthy serving of noodles and placed them in her mouth, watching Naruto do the same from the corner of her eye.

A content sigh escaped the blond as he dug into his meal with gusto.

"Aw man! I love me some good old Ichiraku's, y'know!"

Just then, the oddly familiar high pitched chime of a bell rang out loudly through her head, causing her to wince a bit in brief pain.

Taking notice of her discomfort, Naruto turned to her curiously.

"You alright, Hinata-chan?"

"Ah, y-yes, I'm fine."

Realizing what she said, her eyes widened into the size of saucers.

"Y-yes...yes..yes! I can say yes!" Hinata exclaimed with relief and joy running through her body while her blond companion looked at her, not understanding why she was suddenly yelling 'yes'.

Hyuga Hinata had gone home that night happier than she had in a long while, lips still upturned in a smile and a small stained glass pin of a lavender held gently in her hands.

Naruto, after many, many tries on a ring toss game, had won the chance to claim two stained glass trinkets.

At first, he kept refusing to choose one, having forgotten that he'd shown her his garden a while back already, but when she reminded him of her knowledge of his love for caring for plants, he came up with the idea of choosing a flower for each other and whatever reminds them of the other person.

When she asked why he chose that particular way of choosing their gifts, he had said he saw it once in a movie, causing her to chuckle a bit at his obliviousness towards his unintentionally romantic idea.

In the end, he had chosen her the lavender one, since she always wore purple, while she picked for him a blue rose glass gift, all while the blush on her face was rising by the second, having known the meaning of a blue rose.

In the end, the night was one she would cherish in her mind forever, same with the beautiful glass lavender in her pale hands.

Blue roses symbolize striving for the unreachable or impossible, which fits nicely with Naruto's goal for seemingly unachievable peace, it's also the color of his eyes so...

Anyway, lavender symbolizes purity, calmness, silence and the color purple is often associated with royalty, so lavender fits Hinata's character quite well.

(And, not that Naruto knows it, but he unknowingly called Hinata gentle, pure and calm. Also, the word that broke Hinata out of her inability to say yes was love, so when Naruto said he loved ramen, that broke her out. The old woman cast that hypnosis on Hinata with the trigger word as love in order for Naruto to 'hopefully' tell her he loves her, but nope! It didn't really work out the way she wanted.)

This chapter was a lot longer than all my other ones so it took a long time to write.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter my honeybuns!