Chapter 7

"Thanks Kō-san." Naruto said as he got off the car just in front of his house.

"Just Kō is fine." the Hyūga responded. "I'm not really that much older than you."

"Really?" the blond's eyebrows raised in surprise. "How old are you then?"

"22. Well then, see you tomorrow Naruto." Kō waved off and as soon as he shut the window tight, he zoomed off, headed back to the Hyūga estate.

"22 huh? I never thought Hinata's guard is just 6 years older than us. Probably just finished college." Naruto muttered under his breath as he walked towards the door. He knew that Karin and Sasuke were probably working on the project hence the lights being open. Just like yesterday it was Karin who opened the door for him.

"You're later than usual. You went to Hinata's place?" she asked curiously. She was well aware that Hinata was his partner and of him going over there.

"Yeah. We started on the project and we might finish it in two more meets." Naruto told her as he took off his shoes.

"Hinata must really be happy she's got to be paired with you." Karin said with a hint of excitement.

"Huh? Why do you say so?" Naruto asked without a clue of what his sister was talking about. Karin on the other hand could only stare at him in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Wait, what do you mean? What am I kidding about?"

"Ugh, you have got to be the densest person I've ever met." Karin said with a shake of her head. "I haven't even have to look out for it but even I can see that she likes you."

"Hinata likes me? What are you talking about?" the blond narrowed his eyes on her. What was this all of a sudden? Was Karin making some kind of joke? She does that often so this must be one of thoae times.

"Hinata likes you, dumbass." Karin reiterated, stressing out each word to point it out to his slow-pick-up brother. She couldn't believe she was actually going to say this. For all the few times she saw Naruto interact with the Hyūga girl, it was so clear that she likes him by the way she would freeze up, stutter and blush. Karin was a girl and she notices those things about other girls, especially those who speak with Sasuke. Hinata never showed any nervousness talking with the other boys in their class. Maybe a bit of shyness, but not in the same level as it was with Naruto.

"Karin, this is not some sort of joke is it?"

"Who knows, maybe it is..." Karin smiled, but deep inside was facepalming herself at the obliviousness of her brother. "OR maybe I'm not! Seriously, how in the hell do you not freaking know that already? I swear half the class probably knows that, maybe even your bestfriend Kiba knows about it too."

"What?! There's no way Hinata likes me like that. And if Kiba knows about it then wouldn't he have told me, especially when he's the one who likes her?"

"Are you an idiot? Of course he wouldn't tell you because he likes her."

"Hey, you two could you keep the noise down!" the sudden shout from the direction of the dining room alarmed the two and stopped them from their exchange.

"Oh, it's Sasuke-temē." Naruto grunted.

"Well I got to get back. Sasuke-kun's probably gonna be annoyed at me taking too long because of your cluelessness." Karin muttered before heading quickly back to Sasuke but Naruto grabbed her by the forearm to stop her.

"Wait, you're not really joking huh? You really think she likes me?" And this time Naruto sounded curious.

"Naruto, I may pull pranks on you some times but this is definitely not one of those."

"But how do you know for sure? Did you ever hear from anybody that she said that she likes me?"

"I do overhear some girl talks. TenTen and Ino sometimes teases her or tries to give her advice on how to make you notice her." Karin supplied.

"Why are you only telling me this now?"

"'Cause I had hope that brain of yours would eventually pick it up but I suppose you're just that dense." Karin smirked and it made Naruto frown due to the teasing about his lack of awareness. "So now that you know, will you try go for..."

"KARIN! Hurry up with the chitchat." an annoyed shout from Sasuke echoed.

"Gotta go. Well good luck." And Karin ran back to the dining room leaving a very shocked and confused Naruto.

'Hinata likes me?' he asked himself. And because of that question he ran through his mind the few times that he has ever interacted with Hinata.

And after more than a minute of recollecting, the realization hit him like a train.

"How did I not see this before? No wonder she's so shy around me, how she stutters almost all the time and why her face gets red when I get too close." he whispered to himself as he climbed upstairs headed to his room. He placed his bag on the chair and let himself fall on the bed, arms spread out wide and let his eyes shut close.

'But if Hinata does like me, then that means...'

Then his eyes shot open and he abruptly sat up upon another realization. "Aw shit, I'm the reason Hinata's not agreeing to date Kiba. What am I gonna do? Do I reject her? Ah, but she hasn't even confessed and what if Karin is just assuming things and she really doesn't like me like that. Man, this is so confusing."

Naruto let himself fall on the bed again, his thoughts about Hinata making his head hurt. Never had he thought about something like this before. As far as he knew no girl has ever shown interest in him and this was all new to him.

Now he dreaded Kiba's call. He knew he would later call to ask how things went and what Naruto found out about Hinata. There wasn't much to tell though as the topic of Kiba liking Hinata was cut-off due to Hinata's reluctancy to answer.

But then he was also curious as to how it went over at Sakura's place. It took a lot of effort from him to get hold of those anmitsus and he was really hoping Sakura would like them enough for her to reconsider his request to go out on a date with him, even if just one. Somehow that thought balanced out his dreading for Kiba's call.

Then his phone beeped, indicating he received a new message. He grabbed it out of his pocket and saw it was from Kiba. His heart pounded hard from both anxiety and excitement.

I got a lot to tell you. Thought of calling but maybe it's better to just tell you tomorrow. Sakura and I just called it and we'll probably finish the project by tomorrow. We still have other assignments and stuff to study so it's best if we get to that first before reporting to each other. See yah tomorrow.

Naruto frowned upon reading the message. He wanted to know immediately how it went with the anmitsus and now he'd be left to wander all about it for the rest of the night. But Kiba had a point. He needed to work on more important stuff and maybe doing so will help keep his mind off Hinata.

Sighing he picked up his bag and took his Maths book, flipping to the page where there were items that needed solving. He slammed it uninterestedly on the study table and took a seat, opened the little white lamp and began to read the problems. It was gonna be a long and boring night.

...

Naruto was walking past the hallway filled with students when he saw a glimpse of cherry blossom colored hair. It was no doubt Sakura and she was placing books inside her locker. Naruto smiled, ran up to her excitedly and waited until she turned around to notice him.

"Hi Sakura-chan." he cheerfully greeted his crush.

"Naruto, what is it?" the girl responded and to his surprise, she wasn't showing any hint of annoyance like usual. He thought that maybe it was because of the anmitsus he sent for her.

"So, did you get the anmitsu I had Kiba give for you?"

"Yes. I loved them. Thank you Naruto."

"Really?" Naruto couldn't contain his excitement at her responses. "Well speaking of anmitsus, I was wondering, on Sunday, there's a new diner that opened and they're serving some really delicious anmitsus. Maybe you'd want to visit it with me. We could watch a movie together and then head for the diner. It will be my treat." Naruto asked of her very hopingly.

"I I- wo-would love to, Na-naruto-kun." she replied and Naruto couldn't have felt any happier upon hearing that. Finally, Sakura has agreed to go on a date with her. But then, why did her voice sound completely different? It was soft, and higher pitched and she sounded so shy. She was stuterring and did she just say 'kun' after his name? Sakura never called her Naruto-kun.

After those thoughts got in his head, Sakura suddenly disappeared in front of him and right there looking at him was Hinata. Naruto blinked a few times just to see if what he was seeing wasn't a trick in his mind.

"Hi-hinata? What are you doing here? Where's Sakura-chan?" he asked confused and looked around for the pinkette.

"What do you mean Naruto-kun? Sakura-san isn't here. It was me you were talking to earlier." she informed him.

"You?"

"Yes. You asked if I wanted to go out and have some ramen at Ichiraku's. I'd really love to go out with you Naruto-kun." Hinata cheerfully said as she grabbed hold of Naruto's arm and leaned onto him. This made Naruto still and blush at how close Hinata was to him and on the fact that she was holding onto him in that affectionate kind of way. He could also feel how her breasts, her really gifted breasts pushed against him, how big and soft they felt against him. His heart thumped erratically and he didn't know how to react nor what to say.

"Hinata, is it true you want to go out with me?" he asked, dismissing the earlier thought that he was supposedly speaking with Sakura.

"Of course Naruto-kun, be-because... I like you." she confessed.

"You, you do?"

"Of course." Hinata smiled at him. "Do you... do you like me too?" And it was her turn to ask.

"H-huh? Do I like you too?" Naruto repeated her words. Hinata was looking at him in the eyes and he found himself staring right back. It was as if the world around them stopped and he was captured in a trance by those eyes. Those lavender eyes.

They were beautiful. Mesmerizing. How was it that he only noticed that now?

Hinata. She was beautiful.

Then the school bell rang. Suddenly Hinata vanished from his sight and the hallway collapsed. The ringing got even louder until he found himself awake inside his bedroom. It took him a few seconds to realize that the school bell was actually the alarm from his cellphone and so he reached out to dismiss it.

"A dream?" he asked himself.

"Oh my god, I just had a dream about Hinata!" he shouted out loud.

...

"So, you wanna hear what about what happened yesterday at Sakura's?" Kiba asked as he took a huge bite off his large double cheeseburger. He and Naruto were eating lunch outside, sitting on one of the many benches around the school just like the one Naruto and Hinata used when they talked about their project.

"Well duh! I wanted you tell me since last night. It's just you who insisted you tell it to me only now." Naruto replied, unable to hide his impatience. "So, did Sakura like the anmitsus I bought for her? You did tell her it was from me right?"

"Chill down. Of course I told her and surprisingly she accepted and she liked it." Kiba finally told him.

"Oh yeah, that's sweet. Seriously, there was that part of me that thought she was gonna refuse once she learned it was from me. She must really love anmitsus. I wonder if maybe she'll warm up to me now." Just like in the earlier part of his dream, Naruto thought.

"About that Naruto..." Kiba looked at the blond with a grim expression and Naruto didn't like it. "Man, you know you're my best friend and I just wanna be honest with you."

"Be honest? Did she say something bad?"

"I don't think Sakura would agree to go out with you, even if you continue to do this."

"But why? You're the one who said she liked them. You gotta agree that's at least a step closer."

"It's not that. It's because of what she said to me. You probably wouldn't want to hear this but I think you should."

"If you think I should then tell me Kiba." the blond said determined. Kiba sighed and took a deep breath to ready himself because even if he did say Naruto should hear it, he didn't want to be the one telling him.

"She doesn't like you Naruto. She told me, all those times you asked her, she was just trying her best to be polite in refusing. And she said she refuses you because she doesn't want to lead you on. She doesn't want you to think that if she agreed to go on one date with you that she'll consider continuing it. That's why she won't give you even one date."

Kiba looked at Naruto for his reaction and he could clearly see the change in his expression. He waited to see if he was gonna say something but it appeared he wasn't so he continued.

"And more than that, she said that you're not his type and that I shouldn't even try convincing her. Then I tried to ask her that if Sasuke ends up dating Karin, if she would give you a chance. She said she still won't and that there was no way she'd let Karin date Sasuke if she had anything to do about it."

After that, Kiba went silent. It was all he was going to tell Naruto and right now he was waiting for the blond's reply. He knew that it was gonna be hard to take. Heck, Naruto might even try to argue about how wrong he was and that there's still a chance with Sakura. He might even make a scene with how loud and affirmative he could be with his arguments.

But nothing like that came. All he heard was a defeated sound from Naruto.

"So that's it huh?" the blond uttered. He was looking down at the ground, unable to face his best friend. He felt a really great pang in his stomach, the same feeling you get when you're on top of the rollercoaster, uncertain when you're gonna start falling, and it was the same feeling when you get embarrassed.

Yes, that was how he felt. He felt embarrassed about the fact that it was Kiba who heard it from Sakura. That he was the one who had to tell him about it. Maybe it would have been less worse if Sakura just said to him herself and not have Kiba know it. He felt that Kiba must be pitying him and he didn't want that.

"Yes, that's it." Kiba affirmed.

"Thank you Kiba. At least now I know."

"So are you still going to ask her out, now that you know what she thinks?" Kiba asked in a soft voice, not really wanting to ask Naruto for the blond's sake, but the need to hear the answer getting the better of him.

"I don't know yet Kiba. It's what you said to me, but it's not what Sakura said to me. I need to hear it from her. If she really doesn't want to go out with me, even if I tried my best, then I'd want to hear it from her." Naruto said firmly.

"So-" Kiba was about to say 'sorry' but caught himself before he could. He didn't want Naruto to think he pitied him. Naruto took a bite out of his own burger, not seeming to hear what Kiba was about to say.

"Thank you Kiba." Naruto said after swallowing and gave a weak smile. "I really appreciate that you were able to ask her that. I just feel bad that I couldn't do the same with Hinata."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I tried my best to find out why she's not agreeing to go out with you but then she gets all shy and uncomfortable. I didn't want to put her in that situation." he told him.

"What did you tell her?"

"Oh that. I didn't know how to ask her cause you never told me what to say. I just mentioned about how much you like talking about her cause of how much you like her. Then I gave her some cinnamon rolls I bought from the same store and gave it to her, saying it was from you."

"You gave her cinnamon rolls? Why didn't you tell me you were gonna do that? Did she like them though?" Kiba asked with a bit of worry.

"Yeah. She said it's her favorite bread." Naruto told him putting his mind at ease. "Then again I said to her that she of course must already know that you like her. She told me yes but she also said that she didn't believe you. So I asked why and again I told her that you really do like her but then it was when she got even more shy and looked uneasy so I apologized and stopped probing there. I was supposed to ask her if it was because she liked someone else but I went against it."

'If it was because she likes me.' That thought suddenly came to his mind, making Naruto sit still and stop telling Kiba his tale.

"I see. You did what you could. Anyway, I don't wanna be all prying about her. If she doesn't want to tell you then don't force her." Kiba requested.

"Do you think it's because she likes someone else, like Sakura-chan?"

"It's possible. I've never asked her before."

"Do you have any idea who it could be if she does like some other guy?"

"I- No, I don't." Kiba said but Naruto didn't fail to notice that slight hesitation on the answer and this made Naruto suspicious about him..

"So what are you gonna do about it if you find out she does already like someone else?"

"Well, I don't know. I'm still gonna try to win her over but if she still wouldn't want me, then I guess I won't force her."

"You're gonna give up just like that?"

"Well, maybe not but I've asked her out lots of times before. I know we made this agreement of finding out about Sakura and Hinata to help our chances with them but if Hinata won't give me a chance, then I don't want to insist on her."

"But right now we don't know who she likes yet, or if she really does like another guy."

"So try to find out. You told me she became uncomfortable when you brought the subject of me asking her out. So, maybe you can try talking about other things first to make her comfortable and more open, then tell her that you're curious and then bring the topic up." Kiba suggested.

"How do I do that though?"

"I'll leave it up to you. I'm sure you'll think about something."

"Great." Naruto said sarcastically. "Just don't blame me if I mess up."

"You won't. I have complete trust in you."

A/N:

I don't know what to say. It's been so long. It's just this has been the most difficult story for me to write. I don't even think this chapter is necessary. There's way too much words and the progression is slow (and that's why I had to use Karin into telling Naruto about Hinata's crush on him to up the pace). Hopefully I can find a remedy for the next chapter.

From time to time I see people following the story and it makes me feel bad I can't produce fast enough. For those of you who will stay through with this story, please know I'm really grateful for the patience.