Uzumaki Naruto's life wasn't meaningful. He was just another sidelined character, forced to spend his life waiting for something to happen to him.
He had what some would consider a good life; he had a decent paying job at Byakugan, a high end restaurant who's menu items cost more than his salary, and he was healthy. He had two dead parents, which he thought was the most interesting thing about him. His godfather Jiraiya raised him, and taught him everything he knew.
He fell in love with everyone he ever dated. He didn't do flings, knowing he was the type to get attached easily. Maybe it was because everyone he ever cared about eventually left him, or maybe it was because he was just that type of person. Regardless, his relationships always ended the same. The small bursts of excitement eventually fizzled out for the other person, and he would be left with nothing. Just as he feared.
He dealt with the five stages of grief after every breakup, and Sasuke always told him he was overdramatic. It always felt the same; like he'll never become whole again, and he'd never move on. He eventually always did though, and he'd move onto his next passion.
He decided he was fine with living his life alone with no one to share it with. That was six months ago, and he thought he was doing fine.
And then she walked in.
Long black hair with a hue of purple that shined in the bright restaurant lights. Perfectly fringed bangs that rest gently against her forehead. She's wearing a turtleneck dress, which shows him that she's modest. And possibly timid, but the dress hugs her enough for him to see the curvature of her body. The dress stops just underneath the knee, but has a slit on the right side that stops right at her thigh. She's shy, but she's not afraid to be bold. He likes that.
She's not wearing heels, but instead went for flats. She's comfortable in this atmosphere, and probably with the person who brought her here.
His gaze moves to her face, but can't make out her defining features. It doesn't matter what she looks like at this point; all he knows is that he's enamored.
Naruto gulps as she starts walking towards her table, and a slap on his back tears him out of his world with her and into reality.
"Table 26."
Sasuke, who was unfortunately his best friend, pushes him forward when he doesn't move. He's too busy looking at her table. Which just so happens to be table 26. Great.
"I can't."
He knows he's going to make a fool out of himself. He'll stumble over his words, and look like a complete idiot. She'll judge him, and will possibly be disgusted by his obvious drooling. He knows he won't be able to hide it.
"You don't have a choice."
Sasuke pushes the menu in his arms, and Naruto takes a step forward. It'll be fine. He won't do anything stupid, and he'll treat her like a normal customer. She won't realize he's awestruck with her already. So he takes another step forward. And another. And another, until eventually he's in front of her. He keeps his gaze at her companion.
"Hi, I'm Naruto and I'll be your server-"
"I'll take the Buta Bara Nikomi."
The man's pale blue eyes stare at him, and they blend in well with his muted skin tone. His hair is a blue-ish shade of silver, and it's long and shaggy although he looks put together. The man has an air of confidence to him, with a hint of arrogance.
"And what can I get for you, miss?"
He finally is forced to look at her, and he doesn't regret it when he does. Her eyes shine a shade of lavender as she glances down at her menu. His eyes focus on the slope of her nose, and slowly gaze down to her small, perfectly plump pink lips. She's not wearing makeup, or at least, a lot of it. But she doesn't need to.
She's perfect.
And when she looks up at him, her lavender eyes focused on him, he realizes he's fallen. Hard.
Fuck.
"Sir?"
Her voice is soft, and melodic, and she's speaking to him and he can hardly process it. He shakes his head, and smiles.
"I'm sorry, I didn't um...I didn't hear what you said."
If he squeezes his notepad any tighter it'll tear, and he tries to relax. To focus.
"I'll take the Gyu Suji."
She smiles at him, and it causes his unstill heart to beat even faster. She's nothing like his exes; and he finds himself judging his past few loves. He sees the problems with them now; why it never worked out. They were either too loud, clashing with his boisterous personality, or too headstrong, causing them to butt heads easily.
But she.
She's soft, and quiet, and he has a feeling there's a deeper level to her. There's something that lies underneath those beautiful lavender eyes that he can't wait to uncover. She's kind, and patient, and everything his exes weren't.
She's fucking perfect.
And he doesn't even know her.
"Sir, if you could stop drooling over my fiance and ask us what drinks we want-"
"I'm so sorry!" His voice cracks, and he clears his throat. She giggles, and covers one hand over her mouth. It's adorable, and so her, and he falls even deeper. "What would you like to drink?"
"Just water. For both of us."
He nods, and quickly runs off to grab their beverages.
He's screwed. It was a good six months of staying single, but now he realizes she exists, and she's so perfect, and now he wants to relapse.
He wants to dive into the depths of whoever she is, and he wants to get to know her. He wants to hug her, and kiss her, and be around her.
He wants her.
"Sasuke, I can't go back out there." He pleads with his friend, who's grabbing two plates and setting it down on another waiters tray.
"What is it this time, Naruto?"
He can't tell Sasuke he's falling in deep again. So he makes up another excuse.
"The guy is really mean."
Sasuke scoffs, and elbows him as he makes his way behind him.
"You'll get over it."
Naruto pours two waters with shaky hands, and puts it back on his tray.
"Kill them with kindness."
It's ironic Sasuke is giving him that advice given he's an asshole, but Naruto listens anyway.
He decides he'll pretend like she doesn't exist. Or pretend she has a mustache, or something that distracts him from the perfection that is her.
He tears their order out his notepad and hands it to Sasuke before heading back out.
"Here's your drinks."
He places them in front of the two, and she mutters out a thank you as she sips out her glass. Her lips touch the glass, and he watches as she drinks the cold water. What he would give to have her-
"Shouldn't you be leaving?"
Naruto looks at her fiance once again, who's glaring at him.
"I'm sorry."
With the man grumbling about how 'the wait staff is so incompetent', Naruto leaves.
He comes to the conclusion that her fiance doesn't deserve her. He's a rich entitled prick just like most of the people that dine at this restaurant.
But she's different.
She's kind, and respectful, and polite. And it's not just him assuming this about her; he'd seen it in her. From the time she sat down, to him taking her order. He had a talent for reading people, and she was by far his favorite to read.
He doesn't want to keep assuming things about her though. No, he wants to get to know her. He wants her to tell him everything there is to know about her. From her favorite book to her deepest fear. Naruto was a talkative person, but he'd listen. For her.
"Naruto, their food is ready."
Sasuke puts their plates back on their tray, and Naruto prepares himself for having to interact with her again.
He won't screw it up this time, like he did the last two. He'll make a good impression.
But he trips on the way over when he sees her looking at him with a smile on her face.
"Here's your food." He places their orders in front of them.
"Thank you so much." She looks up at him, and he feels like he could die happy.
"Enjoy your meal." He walks his way back to the kitchen, blushing like a maniac because they just had their first conversation.
He knows this is a bad idea. He's showing the same signs of obsession as he did with Emiko. And Kioshi. And Kuni. And…Shion.
But he didn't want to think about that. Or them. Because she'll be different. She's the one, he knows it, and all he needs is a chance. Some sort of opening to show her he deserved her. He needed a way to get her fiance out the way.
That soon wouldn't be a problem, because when he comes back to their table to ask them how their dinner is going, she's crying and her fiance is emotionlessly staring at her.
"I just don't think-"
"Is everything okay?"
He looks directly at her; he doesn't need to look at the man across from her.
"Everything is fine. We just need the bill."
Everything is obviously not fine, given tears are streaming down her face. He finds himself glaring at the silver haired man, for having the audacity to make her cry.
"D-don't take the bill yet. Toneri please don't-don't do this."
She's sniffling, and Naruto looks back at her. He doesn't know whether or not he should get the bill, so he resorts to standing in place.
"It's for the best Hinata. The bill please."
So Hinata is her name. It fits her. It's beautiful, and warm, and makes butterflies bubble in his stomach. But they quickly fade when he sees her continuing to cry.
"Toneri-"
"I'm leaving."
'Toneri' abruptly stands up, and makes his way out of the restaurant. Hinata covers her beautiful face in her hands, and he can hear soft whimpers escape her mouth.
He wasn't the smartest person in the universe, but he knew when someone was getting broken up with.
"Are you okay?" Naruto finds the strength to speak to her, and she shakes her head.
He decides to pull up a chair next to her. People are staring at them, but Naruto doesn't care. His only focus is Hinata, and making sure she's okay.
"This is-is so em-embarrassing."
He pulls a rolled up fabric napkin from the table, and hands it to her.
"It's okay. It happens to everyone."
Well, not everyone got broken up with by their fiance in a restaurant, but they never trained him for situations like this.
"Y'know, I got broken up with in public before too. I was about to propose too." She looks up at him. "It was so embarrassing." It really was.
She's still crying, and he hates for his Hinata to be this upset.
"There was this one time, one of my exes threw a drink on me."
She giggles, and he smiles. He'd tell a thousand embarrassing ex stories as long as he could hear her laugh.
"I'm sorry." She wipes her face with the napkin he gave her.
"Why are you apologizing?" His brows furrow in confusion.
"I laughed. A-and everyone is staring at us."
He looks around, and can see judgemental faces subtly looking in their direction. Some aren't so subtle, and are gawking at them.
"It's fine."
It's the only response he can come up with. Internally, he's freaking out because he's talking to her, and comforting her in a way no one else will.
She sniffles, and it's quiet until he starts talking again.
"It sucks when someone breaks up with you. Especially when you really love them."
She looks back at him.
"But eventually you'll move on, and forget how they made you feel, because you'll find someone else."
He hopes that the next person she falls for will be him.
"It'll end up being okay." He smiles at her, and he can see the side of her mouth slightly tilt upwards.
"Thank you."
He stares at her as she continues to wipe her falling tears. She somehow manages to make sadness look beautiful, and he sighs as he looks at her.
She's like a vision that's stepped out of his dreams.
She suddenly gets up to leave, and he stops her.
"You forgot to pay the bill."
It's the only excuse he can come up with to get her to stay, just for a few more minutes.
"It's okay. My father will take care of it."
His brows furrow in confusion once again, but before he can question her, she's walking out the restaurant.
And just like that, the woman of his dreams walks out of the restaurant, never to be seen again.
But then again, that's never stopped Naruto before.