Chapter 6

"Naruto?" the blond muttered softly in confusion. This newcomer who most likely was Hinata's little sister knew his name?

"Hi, my name is Hanabi." the girl said cheerfully as she waved a hand at Naruto. The blond was about to say a 'hi' back but Hinata spoke before he could.

"Hanabi, how many times do I have to tell you to knock before barging in?" scolded the older Hyuuga.

"I'm sorry." Hanabi apologized but still even without asking for permission she walked towards Hinata. "But nee-sama, when I heard Natsu said you have a boy over, I just had to see him. Especially since it's…"

"Hanabi!" Hinata yelled out her name in order to stop what she was about to say. Her innocent but utterly curious sister was going to let out her secret crush to Naruto if she didn't stop talking. She made a pleading look at her, hoping that she would understand without Hinata even saying a word.

"I…"

"Don't tell him anything." Hinata whispered in her direction in order to make sure she would keep quiet about that 'forbidden topic'. Even with Naruto just beside her, it was almost inaudible but Hanabi understood her.

"Hanabi, the two of us are busy doing a project. Would you please go back to the living room?" she requested.

"But I wanna stay." the young girl insisted.

"Hanabi." Hinata said firmly. The girl was about to give in to her elder sister's request but not before Naruto spoke up.

"Hinata, aren't you being a bit too strict?" he said, surprising both girls. "Come on, let your sister stay. Maybe she can even help us do some of our tasks."

Hanabi's eyes beamed with joy upon hearing that. She knew Hinata had no choice but to let her stay now that Naruto was the one who suggested it. She would never go against his request.

"Wh- I uh- okay." Hinata could only agree in defeat. "Hanabi, you can sit to my left. Just get a pillow over there."

Hanabi skipped towards the shelves at the edge of the room, got her pillow and sat next to Hinata. After that, her eyes were fixed on Naruto. The blond noticed this and gave a smile to her.

"Hi Hanabi-chan." he greeted her, in response to the one she gave from before. "I'm Naruto, but I suppose you already knew that. How'd you know my name anyway?"

Hinata's heart thumped erratically upon that. She had no idea what Hanabi would answer to that and it wasn't like she was in a position to tell her what to say. The truth was Hanabi accidentally saw Hinata scrolling through her FB app in her phone, looking at the different pictures of Naruto nearly more than a year ago. Hanabi, as a curious fifth grader girl didn't let Hinata off the hook until she made her elder sister confess that Naruto was her crush. That was how Hanabi knows who Naruto is and if Hanabi ever mentioned anything about that, Hinata would probably die in embarrassment.

"Uhm, well…" Hanabi paused for a few seconds, thinking about what to say. Even without Hinata telling her, she knew that her sister wouldn't appreciate if she told Naruto the true story. It was tempting to do it just to see what her sister's reaction would be but she wasn't that cruel. "Hinata-nee-sama told me she had a partner for a project yesterday. She told me your name and that you're blond. When Natsu-san told me that you're here after I've come home from school, I immediately went here. My sister's never brought home a schoolmate before, especially a boy." Hanabi winked at Naruto upon saying the word 'boy'.

"That explains it." Naruto smiled at her. "Well then, I suppose we should continue with the project. Hinata?"

"Ye-yes." Hinata nervously agreed.

"I wanna help." Hanabi reminded them.

"It's okay with me." said Naruto then he asked Hinata if she was okay with it. Having no choice again in fear of looking bad in front of Naruto, she agreed.

"Sure. You can cut out these wires to these specific lengths written on this paper." Hinata showed her the outline, borrowing it from Naruto for a moment.

"I've already cut out the first 10 lengths of wire Hanabi-chan." Naruto informed. "You can do the bottom ten while I do the middle 15. Here, you can use this pair of scissors."

Hanabi took the pair of scissors from Naruto and with a bit of instruction from Hinata, she went on with her task. Hinata resumed with drawing the outline on the board while Naruto focused on his own task too.

The room went silent once each of them concentrated on what they were assigned to do. Somehow making conversation became awkward now that Hanabi was also inside the room. Hinata didn't want to start a random conversation with Naruto now that her sister was there and while Hanabi was itching to do the exact opposite and bombard Naruto with questions, she felt that it wouldn't look good to be a distraction for him.

The silence was only broken when Hanabi announced that she was finished with her task, much to Naruto's surprise.

"Whoa, that fast?" Naruto looked at the lengths of wiring that Hanabi finished cutting. Indeed she was done with her task.

"Yup."

"Well, thank you Hanabi-chan. I'll be finished with mine shortly." Naruto informed.

"I'll help." Hanabi offered and even before Hinata or Naruto could say something, Hanabi stood up, took her pillow and scissors and made her way across to sit beside Naruto. Now the blond had both Hyuuga sisters on each of his sides.

"It's okay if I sit here, right?" Hanabi asked.

"Yeah of course. We can finish cutting up the remaining length needed and even peel out the ends afterwards."

"I don't know how to peel the wires so you have to teach me."

"No problem."

Hanabi then proceeded to helping Naruto finish his task. Hinata on the other hand couldn't help but be distracted by the sight before her. Her sister was actually sitting next to Naruto comfortably. He's warmed up to her so fast and it was just the first time they met. Somehow she felt a bit jealous on the fact that her sister could talk with him so naturally while it took all she had just to control her nervousness and to speak straight.

More than that though was her fear of Hanabi saying something 'unwanted' to Naruto was increasing by the bit. If she ever let out about her secret crush on Naruto, she wouldn't know what to do.

"So uhm," Naruto voiced out, calling the attention of Hanabi. "May I ask which school you go to?"

"I attend Konoha Elementary School." Hanabi replied.

"Well that figures. It's the same school Hinata and I attended." Naruto chuckled at how he didn't think about that before he asked. "Did you ever have Iruka-sensei as your adviser?"

"Oh Iruka-sensei? Not an adviser but he did teach us in Maths and Science during 2nd grade I think."

"Cool. I remember how I used to give that guy a lot of trouble." Naruto snickered, remembering the times he pulled pranks on that said teacher. Sometimes even Kiba would help him do those pranks and they'd be sent to detention together.

Hanabi didn't continue the conversation on that topic after that but after just a few seconds, she tapped her finger on Naruto's shoulder to get his attention. When the blond turned his head, he saw Hanabi motioning for him to move his head closer so she could whisper something to him. Naruto, curious as to why complied and Hanabi leaned over, closing the gap between her lips and Naruto's ears while she covered the area with both of her hands so Hinata couldn't hear.

"Sorry if I'm a bit distracting but I just wanna ask. Are you really just my sister's project partner or are you her boyfriend?"

"W-what?!" Naruto retreated from Hanabi upon hearing her very unexpected question. Hinata almost jumped out in surprise upon Naruto's sudden loud reaction.

"O-of course I'm just her project partner." Naruto said in defense. He couldn't believe she just asked him that and he was caught off guard. He looked at her to see if she believed him but Hanabi gave him a doubtful look, making him explain to her something that she, and especially Hinata would never expect to hear.

"And besides, it's not like I like your sister in that way. I'm not her boyfriend." he reiterated.

The room felt silent after that. Hanabi sat still in her place not knowing what to say. She didn't mean for things to go that way when she asked him that. She just wanted to tease him a little and maybe find out if Naruto possibly liked her sister back but never did she expect that Naruto would respond like that.

And it was the worst for Hinata. As soon as those words escaped Naruto's lips, she felt as if her insides were being twisted by a supernatural force. She couldn't move, couldn't say a word. Naruto, the boy of her dreams just said that he didn't like her.

She had no idea what Hanabi said to him but she could guess. Hanabi probably asked him if he was her boyfriend and Naruto denied it. But to top that he just had to say that he didn't like her in that way. The way a boyfriend and girlfriend likes each other.

She hadn't even confessed to him yet and he's already rejected her in a way. And nothing hurt more than that.

"I-I was just teasing." she heard Hanabi say to Naruto, her voice shaking a bit. Hinata couldn't even look in their direction at the embarrassment she was feeling right then. "I'll just... go back to my room now."

Without even waiting for a response from Naruto or Hinata, Hanabi stood up and made her way out of the room as fast as she could. She knew she messed up bad and that she would certainly have to apologize to her sister.

"What's up with her?" Naruto questioned once Hanabi was out of the room. He half expected Hinata to respond but she didn't. Naruto sat there not knowing of the tension that has just been created by his response to Hanabi's curious question. In truth he was not even fully aware of what he said in response. It was just in his panicked state that he rashly came up with those answers to defend himself. And him knowing about how Hinata was off-limits because of Kiba probably had something to do with that.

"I'm sorry if my little sister's any trouble." Hinata said, doing all she could to set aside the words she heard just moments before. She had to make it look like she wasn't affected by it in any way. They have a project to finish after all.

"Oh no don't. She's not really any trouble at all. I was just really surprised about what she asked me." Naruto explained. "Anyway, how are things at your side?"

"Oh, I'm actually nearly finished with the outline. Just a few more minutes and we can attach the bulb sockets and switches."

"Really? Let me see." Naruto said excitedly as he scooted closer to Hinata and leaned his head down to take a closer inspection on the board. Hinata's breath hitched when Naruto was suddenly so close to her again.

"Wow. You're amazing Hinata." Naruto complimented. "I'm so lucky I got you as a partner because there's no way I'd be able to create something like this by myself. And you do it so fast too."

"Th-thank you." Hinata stuttered to say back. Naruto just complimented her and she couldn't prevent her cheeks from turning red again and the blond didn't fail to notice it.

"Hey, you're turning red again. Seriously Hinata, I've never met anyone who blushes as much as you do. It was just a compliment."

"I..." Hinata tried to defend herself but found herself stuck for words.

"Come on, you really need to work on that shyness of yours."

"Bu-but… I can't help it."

"Why not?"

"Because..." 'Because it's you.' Hinata said in her thoughts. But there was no way she was gonna say that out loud.

"Because of what?"

"Because I... because..." and Hinata was stuck in a predicament. What should she say? Should she make up an excuse as to why she acts so nervous and always blushing around Naruto? Or should she just tell him the truth right now that it's because of him that she's like this? But if she did and Naruto doesn't feel the same about her, just like what he said earlier, then she'd probably lose any chance of being with him. She couldn't even dare think about the thought of Naruto avoiding her.

"It's because..." she was able to look at Naruto one last time before her vision suddenly darkened and she fainted.

"HINATA!" Naruto yelled in panic as he saw her leaning backwards for a fall. He lunged for her and was able to catch her head with his left hand just in the nick of time before she hit the floor.

"Phew! That was close." Naruto sighed in relief. He couldn't believe that she actually fainted. He's never seen anyone faint before and for such a weird reason. He didn't know what to do so he tried to rouse her up by shaking her body and calling out her name. He was really worried and he feared something bad might have happened when Hinata wouldn't respond for the first few seconds. He then stopped gently shaking her and brought the thumb of the hand he used to support her head to her cheek and began to rub mildly on it, hoping that it would wake her up. Upon doing that though, he was surprised at how soft and smooth Hinata's cheek was and for a few seconds his gaze fell on her unconscious face.

'She looks so… cute.' he thought but instantly caught himself saying that. 'Ah, this is not the time to be admiring her. She's Kiba's girl.' he reminded himself.

"Na-naruto-kun?" Hinata who was in a dazed state asked. This shook Naruto from his musing and he looked back at Hinata. She was confused at the situation she was in. Naruto was above her and his face was so close to her. And then she realized that he was holding her, his left thumb on her cheek and yet she didn't know why. Was she dreaming? Why does it look like Naruto was about to kiss her, like in those dreams she had about him for so many times.

"Hinata, thank God. Are you okay?" Naruto asked with worry. Hinata didn't understand why he was asking her that so she just answered him honestly.

"I'm fi-fine, I guess. I feel a bit light headed though."

"Do you think you can sit down or do you wanna lay down for a bit to rest?"

"La-lay down?" she asked with a look of even more confusion. Why would Naruto ask her something like that?

"Hinata you fainted just barely a minute ago." Naruto told her, seeing as she was completely unaware of what just transpired. "I was lucky enough to catch you before you hit your head on the floor."

"I fainted?" she asked surprised. Then it all clicked to her the reason why Naruto was holding her in that way. Not wanting to trouble him any longer, she helped herself sit up and thus Naruto let go of her.

"Yeah. So, are you feeling okay now or do you want me to call Natsu?"

"I'm okay now. Thank you for catching me."

"No problem. Well it's not like it's the first time I've caught…" Naruto began to say, recalling the incident that happened yesterday but then he stopped after remembering how he 'caught' Hinata in such an inappropriate way. And for the first time, instead of Hinata blushing, it was Naruto who's face began to turn into a shade of red and he had to look away from Hinata's direction.

"Uhm, about yesterday... I didn't mean to... you know... catch you in that way." Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head as he looked down. Because of this he didn't see Hinata's reaction to that.

It wasn't only Naruto who's been bugged by that incident ever since it happened. Hinata of course couldn't help but think of it too. She of course knew it was an accident in trying to save her from a fall but she definitely felt his hands on her chest. She felt them as they gave a squeeze that made her yelp out in surprise. And the feeling of those hands didn't fade until she returned home.

"I know Naruto-kun. You really shouldn't think about it too much. You saved me after all, and that would be twice now. So thank you."

"No biggie. And I glad to hear that you're okay with it. I don't want you to think I'm a perv or something."

"Of course not. Like you said, it wasn't intentional."

"Yeah. So uh, by the way... I wonder what time it is." Naruto suddenly thought. He looked at his wristwatch and saw it was already past five. "Hm, I didn't realize we've already worked on this for more than an hour. I can still stay for half an hour more though if you want us to finish this project early."

"I'm okay continuing the project although we still do have that homework in Maths and that quiz on English tomorrow." Hinata reminded him.

"Oh yeah, gee i almost forgot. I suppose I have to work on that too."

"The Physics project's not due until the week after the next one so we still have time to do it. It's okay with me if you want to go home now so you can do the homework and study." Hinata said, although a part of her hoped that Naruto would stay so she could spend more time with him. But then again if they finish the project early, then she wouldn't have the opportunity to work with Naruto in the longer run.

"I suppose we can just continue this. The outline's done and the wires have been cut. Next meeting we can start with placing the sockets, peeling off the wires and connecting them. And besides, you might wanna rest for now after fainting like that."

"I guess so..."

"Well then, let's store this somewhere safe and I'll head home. Kō's gonna drive me home right 'cause I don't think I can walk all the way back."

"Of course he'll drive you home."

"Hehe. I was just joking. I knew that."

And so the two of them stored the materials on the shelf in the study room. Hinata called for Natsu and she took care of the plates and glasses on the table. Once they were finished cleaning up, Hinata accompanied Naruto to the main entrance and outside there was Kō already waiting for Naruto.

Naruto said his goodbye to Hinata and that he'll see her tomorrow. Hinata did the same and watched as the car left their estate. When the car was out of view she returned to the living room and was surprised to see Hanabi waiting for her, her hands clasped together with her two index fingers twirling around each other.

"Nee-sama, I'm sorry about earlier. I was just teasing him I swear. I asked if you were really just partners for the project or if he's secretly your boyfriend. I didn't know he would respond like that." Hanabi explained in a very guilt-filled voice.

Upon hearing that, Hinata's earlier thoughts were confirmed. Naruto did say those words thinking about her in that way. He really said that he didn't like Hinata in the way she likes him.

But then again didn't she also want to know what Naruto thought of her? She never imagined she would hear it like that but maybe it was better than her confessing her love for him and then getting rejected. She probably wouldn't be able to take it if Naruto told her that he didn't like her in that way while talking straight to her. She would be utterly crushed.

"Don't worry about it Hanabi. At least now I know what he thinks of me." Hinata said sadly with a sigh. "It's not like I didn't expect it. I know that Naruto-kun's in love with Sakura. But at least thanks to this project I get to spend time with him."

"I'm sorry nee-sama." Hanabi once again apologized but now not of what she did but more of being sorry of her elder sister's unrequited love.

"Hanabi, it's okay. Come here." she motioned for her sister and she held her in a hug. Hanabi hugged her back tightly. It was their own way of showing their care for each other.

"I still want you to be with Naruto." whispered Hanabi. "You're the most beautiful girl I know nee-sama. Naruto just doesn't see it yet. You still have more time to spend with him right?"

"Yes. I think we'll need at least three more meetings to finish the project."

"Then make him fall in love with you." Hanabi told her. "It could be your one and only chance."

"I know Hanabi. I know."

A/N:

Almost four weeks for this chapter. I have a lot of free time and yet I couldn't even post once a week. I must admit this story is the hardest for me to write. This is my first multi-chapter straight story and it's just so different from what I used to write before.

Do you guys think that the pace of the story is slow? I originally planned this to be a shorter multi-chapter fic but it looks like this will take more chapters than I expected. I can't just let Naruto fall in love with Hinata all of a sudden. Remember that he still likes Sakura. It's hard to see other girls in a different way when you have your eyes on one girl. It also doesn't help that Naruto knows Kiba's after Hinata.

Next chapter will feature a conversation between Naruto and Sasuke and this will probably help push the NaruHina we want.

Leave your thoughts about the chapter in a review. It would really help me with writing future chapters, especially now that I'm having a harder time with this story.

P/S: Hanabi's 11 years old by the way and in sixth grade. I believe that even at an age like that, Hanabi is capable of understanding crushes and about teenage relationships. You know how kids these days can even get a girlfriend in elementary.