Once, when she was younger, Hinata spotted a tee shirt in a local shop that read: If you're lucky enough to get a second chance, don't waste it. It also had a picture of a zombie nomming someone's brains on it, but (gruesome image aside) the message always stuck.

She wants to think she's smart enough not to waste this chance with Naruto.

She hopes he feels the same way.

It's fight night.

Hinata had been both excited and anxious for the better part of the past week, regarding Naruto's upcoming battle, and both of those feelings converged in the hours before weigh in, when Jiraiya weighed Naruto and found him a couple of pounds over.

This resulted in Naruto being wrapped in plastic and put on a bike to sweat his ass off.

It made Hinata's stomach turn to watch the beads of sweat roll off of Naruto's red (too red) face as he pushed and pushed himself to shed the last bits of weight that he could before his official weigh in.

It caused worry to blossom in her chest and clench at her gut, because she knew just how dangerous this rapid dehydration was. Sensei did not allow any form of cutting at his gym. He would rather take a forfeit than harm one of his fighters...of course, that was rarely the case at Eight Gates. Fighters were regularly driven hard. Not as punishment, but for achievement. Being better today than you were yesterday, and all of that.

Jiraiya, it seemed, only cared about Naruto stepping into the ring. Didn't matter if he stayed standing once he got there. And Naruto… she presses her lips together and swallows back her complaints, because he's an adult. It wasn't up to her to agree with his decision.

It's very, very , hard for her not to fall back into the familiar role of 'taking care of', but she's not his mother. She's his...girlfriend? That seems like such an inadequate term, but that itself is an entirely other gut-clenching train of thought, so she shoves it aside for the moment in favor of glowering darkly at Naruto's sweat slick form.

She catches his glance flicking her way from time to time, and the old her would have tried to hide her displeasure. She doesn't now. She wouldn't cajole or criticize or beg him, but she'd be damned if she pretended she was fine with the grueling task he was putting himself through.

So, she stands, mutinously silent as he is weighed in for his first MMA fight. Jiraiya stands beside her, but not too close, and the both cross their arms over their chests.

Naruto comes in just under the cut.

"Nice," he says, ruffling his sweat-damp locks. He glances over at her and Jiraiya. "What? I made weight." He points defensively at the scale, as if that justifies any of it.

"By one ounce." Jiraiya snaps. "Fucking fatty."

Hinata flinches a bit at that. It brings her back to sitting in her room, with tears rolling down her cheeks as her father rails at her for being a chubby failure that's too fat and soft, so no dinner for her until she can learn some self control.

Jiraiya's voice pulls her back to the present.

"You've been shoving your face from that falafel cart again haven't you."

"No." Naruto denies with a guilty side-glance.

"It was the cinnamon dessert pizza," Hinata realizes, her voice tight.

Naruto swings his head towards her in mock horror. "Hinata, how could you?"

"Dessert pizza!" Jiraiya's normally red, ruddy face turns a near purple shade and his cheeks tremble a bit in his rage.

Naruto, for his part, seems unaffected by his coach's fury. He shrugs at him, instead, reaching for a water bottle. "Well, I mean this wouldn't be a problem if you let me go up to Middleweight."

The game official looks up from his check board and snorts.

"If you say Middleweight one more fucking time I'm gonna snap you in half." Jiraiya spits out.

Hinata presses her lips even tighter, because she's the one that put the idea in Naruto's head. In her opinion, Middleweight would suit him better. He's tall and his frame is broad. If given the chance to put some weight on and tone it into muscle, he could really be a formidable force. He was now but he was being restricted. At least, that was what she thought, but she wasn't his coach.

"Gloves." The official broke into any further conversation, holding out Naruto's gloves to be taped and initialed. "They'll come grab you as soon as the mat dries." He informs them before leaving the room.

Hinata's momentarily distracted by a vibrating buzz, so she pulls her phone out from her purse. She reads the text on the lock screen: Where are you? This place is smells like testosterone and mommy issues.

"I think Ino is here," she tells Naruto, needlessly, because in the next breath Ino is striding into the room.

"There you are. It smells disgusting down here. Like testosterone and m...oldy towels." Hinata spots her friend's subtle glance towards Naruto before Ino modifies her complaint. Ino may seem crass, but she cares, in her own way, and Hinata loves her for it. And a bit for her crassness.

"Hey, Ino." Naruto waves a gloved hand.

"Naruto." Her expression is still one of displeasure, but she's not fooling Hinata.

From the corner of her eye, Hinata spots Jiraiya sit up a little straighter, but he's surprisingly silent.

"This is my boyfriend: Sai." Ino gestures towards Sai, who (as usual) looks completely unaffected by anything but at least he's sort of smiling. Hinata knows from experience how off-putting his neutral expression can be. It took her awhile to realize that he wasn't being cold, but Sai likes to process things, and take in new experiences almost through different filters. He likes to be 'open' as Ino calls it, not letting his own bias frame his perception.

"Hey." Naruto gives another little wave, glancing at Hinata, one brow lifted. She can imagine his questions, but she's not one to judge who her friends love, anymore than they are to judge her choice, so she simply shrugs at him.

"Stop fucking around and get ready." Jiraiya pushes against Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto rolls his eyes but does as instructed. He reaches over his head to tug at his shirt, pulling it over his head in that ridiculously, stupidly, sexy way men had. Hinata finds her teeth rubbing at her bottom lip as she watches him shed his joggers next, revealing his bright orange compression shorts that hugged his thighs and backside nicely.

She catches Ino's eye and her cheeks pinken.

Ino's smile is feral. "Wow, Naruto, are you trying out to be one of those Twilight wolves?" She asks as Jiraiya sprays him down.

Naruto's brows scrunch."A what?"

"Or like a model in one of those slutty car magazines?" Ino's gaze travels over Naruto, flicks to Hinata, then back towards Naruto.

Hinata blushes at the pointed look. So what if she had that one calendar?

Never one to miss a chance to tease her, Naruto peers at her. "Oh, Hinata, you got some secrets? Hmm."

"No!" She can feel her face flood in color. She taps a foot against the floor, in the vain hope it will open up and swallow her. Nope. No such luck.

"Maybe Naruto can hook up Sai with a work out routine." Ino contemplates, eyes on Naruto's abdomen as it flexes with each breath he takes.

Naruto's lip curls as he lets out a disdainful huff. "Art History major?"

Hinata's never really reasoned out why Naruto is always so defensive when it comes to her friends, so she tries to be patient, but she won't take any unwarranted hostility. "Naruto."

Sai gives her a look, then shrugs easily, his slight smile unchanged. "It's okay, I'm not compensating for anything."

Naruto's eyes widen marginally, and his mouth opens and closes a few times before he musters an elegant, "What the fuck did you just say?"

"Sai!" Ino squeals with a little laugh, delighted.

"I said you must have a small dick." Sai tilts his head, still smiling. He lets his gaze drop down, noting Naruto's form fitting trunks, before raising again.

"Wha-Hey! Hinata." Naruto swings his head in her direction but Hinata is already shaking her head.

"We're going to go sit down." She shoves her phone back into her purse and grabs a water bottle for herself.

"Hina!" Naruto pleads, looking slightly (and comically) betrayed

Ino and Sai are already out the door. Hinata pauses long enough to give him a small wave and an earnest look. "Good luck," she tells him.

On her way up to her seat, she frets a little. Over an hour on the bike with minimal to eat all day did not add anything favorable to his odds. Still, it's Naruto and she has to believe that he'll come out the winner. So she takes a breath and settles herself next to Ino.

"How you holding up?" Ino asks once they were situated.

Hinata gives her a look. "I'm not the one in the ring," she murmurs, fingers plucking at her sweater.

Ino nods, bumping her shoulder. "Yeah, but I saw your face when we came in. What's up?"

Hinata shrugs. "Naruto had to shed some weight before his match."

Ino blinks at that, her teal eyes wide. "There was not an ounce of fat on that boy. Trust me, I looked."

Hinata blushes a bit. "Yeah, well...I think he should jump up two weight classes, but Jiraiya disagrees."

"Why two?" Sai leans around Ino to ask.

"Because he has the body for it, and it leaves him in Cruiser weight for Muay Thai. Right now he's fighting at a weight that he can only maintain through punishment, as opposed to one that suits his natural body type." She gives a little shrug.

"Wow, you've thought a lot about this," Ino comments, looking impressed.

Hinata nods. "It would be more work, but I think he could do it."

"Do you fight?" Sai asks.

Hinata blinks owlishly for a moment. "Uhm, oh, no...that's not my thing. I, uh, I just like to relax."

Ino cants her head, her gaze appraising. "Uh-huh. You know, Ms. Hyuuga...I don't entirely think that's true."

Any response Hinata had was cut off by loud music wafting in from the speakers and the announcer's voice declaring the next match about to start. They are closer to the ring than last time, as Naruto had managed to reserve a seat for Hinata. He hadn't had any for Ino or Sai, but the reserved section wasn't always full, so they were able to make due. Hinata sits up a little straighter, straining to spot Naruto walking in.

She spots Jiraiya's silver mane first, but then Naruto. He's barefoot, walking out on the cement, up to the cage and as he approaches Hinata's heart starts to thunder in her chest. Unconsciously she reaches for Ino's hand, which she finds ready for hers.

Ino knew her so well.

Hinata takes a moment to study the other man-Naruto's opponent. Zabuza Momochi looked to be in his thirties with a lean frame. His arms were corded with sinew and muscle. The sword tattoos on his back flexed with each of his stretches. He looked completely relaxed.

Hinata squeezed Ino's fingers when the attendants shut the door and locked it.

Hinata's gaze went back to Naruto. He looks... ready . It's a hard look to put into words-but it's like he was focused and alert and any fatigue that he had in the locker room was wiped clean away.

He looks intense.

And sexy as all hell.

She wasn't the only one to think that, as she heard several whistles and calls of his name.

If he heard them from the ring, Naruto ignored them.

"Your boy is popular," Ino states, glaring at those around them on Hinata's behalf.

Hinata nods absently, her focus on the two fighters as they tapped gloves.

Here we go.

Anyone that had seen Narruto's previous fight was probably expecting him to rush in and take a beating, hoping to get some hits in. So, it was no surprise that Zabuza doesn't see the kick coming. Hinata winces, seeing how hard it connected, but to his credit, the older fighter simply steps back to open the gap-his expression unchanged. Naruto steps up to lay another one, targeted in the same exact spot and this time Zabuza winces.

In retaliation Zabuza throws a quick right that Naruto catches in the face, busting his lip open. Naruto doesn't recoil, instead, using his forrward momentm to kick the other man's hip, knocking him down. Naruto follows him down and what happens next is over before anyone really knows what's happening. Naruto drops a knee into the man's ribs and simply hammers into Zabuza's head and face-mercilessly.

He doesn't stop.

Not until the ref pulls him back.

Hinata watches-a bit awed and a little worried-as Naruto seems to shake himself into awareness and regains himself. The announcer declares him the winner through boos and cheers and in the ring, Naruto smiles victoriously-blood smearing across his teeth.

"Holy shit," Ino breathes. She looks over at Hinata. "That was...like raw ." She glances at Sai. "I'd probably lose the dick jokes, babe. Funny as they are. He'll beat your ass."

Sai shrugs, unbothered. "If that's what you want," he concedes with a smirk.

"God, those are my favorite words from your mouth," Ino teases.

"I thought your favorite words were-"

"Nope!" Hinata shakes her head, plugging her ears, as she shoves to her feet-though she can still hear her friends' cackling laughter.

On their way back towards the lockers Ino asks for a ride back into the city. "I thought we'd be here longer-like last time. We have time to go do stuff, if you want," she suggests.

"That will depend on Naruto," Hinata says, but acquiesces to the ride.

He's already in the shower by the time they get through, so they wait just outside the locker room. Jiraiya pushes out a few minutes later, glowering. Hinata can't imagine why-his fighter won , but Jiraiya looks not only pissed, but worried. He stops near her, just for a minute.

"The idiot's nose took a solid hit. I can't tell if it's broke or not, have one of the onsite doctors look at it."

"Oh, okay," she nods.

He sniffs, glances at Ino and then leaves in a huff.

"What's up his ass?" Ino asks her.

Hinata frowns, puzzled. "I don't know." She exhales, letting her irritation and questions go.

It doesn't take long before the doors swing open again and Naruto strides out-no longer in fight clothes and shiny skinned, but in dark jeans and a well-worn hoodie with his backpack slung over one shoulder.

"We barely got to sit down." Ino complains teasingly.

Naruto ignores her completely in favor of approaching Hinata. "Hey." He smiles.

"Hey," she murmurs in reply. She takes in his clean skin, but the split on his lip looks nasty. She peers at his nose. She also can't tell if it's broken or not, but there's no under-eye swelling, so that's good. "Jiraiya already left, but he says one of the doctors can look at your nose."

"Naruto, you basically went ape shit." Ino interjects, a little smile pulling at her lips. She hadn't stayed around after the last fight, so she hadn't had the chance to tease him then. She takes full advantage now.

Naruto finally glances at her and flips his hood up, making low monkey sounds.

"Cesar is home." Ino presses her hand against her chest in a fake swoon.

Sai kicks his heel into a crack in the concrete, for the first time showing slight annoyance. "Are you guys done, yet?"

Naruto looks back to Hinata. "Lets bounce. I'm fucking starving."

As much as Hinata is sure that he is hungry, she's not sure hanging out is the best call. He really should get his nose checked, plus he looks a little off to her, and she'd really rather get some fluids into him and know that he's getting some rest.

Ino stalls her rebuttal, though with a swish of her long hair. "Thank god. This place is dingy AF. Manhattan has so many good places." She's already making her way out, Sai following dutifully behind her.

"Wait, wait, wait. They're coming with?" Naruto's voice pulls her up short. He looks at her with an almost wistful expression, even as his shoulders sag and he looks slightly defeated, which is ironic, considering.

"They came on the subway and asked for a ride back." She tells him, gently.

He gives their surroundings a look, then returns his eyes back towards her. "And we have to stay here?"

Hinata slips her arm into his, slowly leading him to the exit. She doesn't really want to hang out in the concrete basement anymore. "How often are we over here?" She redirects, quietly.

He doesn't reply, but his hand moves down into her hand, lacing their fingers together. It's as good as an affirmative. She gives him a small squeeze.

Outside, the air is cooler, but not chilly. It was actually quite nice, for the time of year. "It's a nice night," she says. If she peered enough, she could almost see a star or two in the sky...maybe…?

"It smells like shit." Naruto huffs in counter-sidestepping a rustling pile of trash. "Fucking rats."

"There's rats back home too." She reminds him, a little amused at his fluster over rats in New York.

"We don't live together." It's a very barbed dig. Intentional, or not. It reminds her that while their old place-Naruto's place-isn't a dive, it's in a part of the city more well known for rats while hers is not...and that thier home was not the same place anymore.

Oh. Well, okay.

She inhales, turning away on the pretense of looking for Ino.

Beside her, he exhales. There's a longer pause and then, "So what do you wanna go do?" He asks with forced cheerfulness in his voice.

Go home.

Go to bed.

Curl up with Argus.

The parking garage is just ahead of them, with Ino and Sai blending into the shadows in their dark pants and leather coats. Hinata's not sure how they can dress so chic and not freeze-even on a balmy night like this. Just thinking it has her pulling her coat a bit tighter. Yes, curling up with Argus sounded perfect right about now.

"Is that a new scarf?" Naruto asks her, suddenly, gripping her fingers a little tighter.

She glances down and then shrugs. "I made it."

"No shit?" He pulls her up short once more, halthing them. "Lemme see."

They're on the sidewalk with other people milling about. She raises her gaze to his, questioningly. "Right now?"

"Yeah. Put up." He holds out his free hand, fingers wiggling.

She hesitates.

"What're you hiding? Mad hickeys?" His eyes go wide and then narrow. "Am I gonna have to go apeshit on a motherfucker again?"

His words have their desired reaction. She feels herself fluster and the residual unease starts to slide away. "Stop." She pouts a bit, but it's more playful than irritated now.

He nods to his hand impatiently.

Sighing, she reaches up and detangles the wool knit from around her neck, handing it over for his inspection.

He gives her a little whistle, perring at the yarn like he's an inspector. "This looks pretty good, Hina."

She feels oddly charmed by his praise-like when he's watching her in her circle. "I think I dropped a couple stitches here and there," she mumbles.

"Blah, blah, blah. Look at this damn good scarf. I ain't seen nobody else make nothing like this."

She cocks her head to the side a little, thinking about Maddie and her sweaters. "Trust me, there are these ladies that can knit a thousand times better than that."

Naruto makes a raspberry sound-that had to hurt with his busted lip. "Psht. Where them hoes at. I ain't seen shit." He takes his hood down, looping one end of her scarf around his neck with a smug little smile.

"Hey, that's mine." She makes a half-hearted grab at it.

"Hell naw, the scarf heard you talking shit. 'S mine now." He tugs is his hoodie back up over his ears, leaving the scarf around his neck, the two longer pieces laying on his chest. He starts to walk away, towards the garage.

She can't help the giggle the breaks from her. "Give it back."

"Fight me for it. Muay Thai means eight limbs but they call me 'Nine'." He makes a quick forward motion, almost like he was going to head-butt her, but stops short and plants a quick kiss on her mouth.

He's there and gone before she can respond to it, leaving her lips tingling.

She flushes, embarrassed at the public affection, and reaches for the scarf again. He evades, playfully.

"Can you stop making out and unlock the door?" Ino yells from her place beside the locked car in the garage.

Hinata's heart thumps over. She had literally forgotten Ino and Sai were with them. What a terrible friend! She rustles for her keys, giving Ino a hasty apology, but before she can do more than fumble, Naruto has her around her waist, hoisting her up against him. He begins, unabashedly, peppering her face and neck with kisses. "Naruto!" She giggles helplessly.

"Kiss me back woman!" He demands with a playful growl.

Hinata is braced against his shoulders, her hands pressed firm. She blushes, but leans forward, brushing her mouth gently over his-careful of his injury. When she pulls back he looks a bit insulted by her attempt.

He shakes his head. "Try again." His voice is rougher-huskier-and she feels her own blood warm and sizzle in response. She looks into his eyes. So soft and blue and vulnerable . She can't deny him anything on her best day, much less when he's looking at her like that.

She's never really been the initiator of intimacy between them-and she's not now-but she thinks, that maybe, someday, she'd like to be. She'd like to surprise him. With that thought in mind, she bends her elbows, pressing her mouth against his slowly-intentionally. When his lips soften beneath hers she tentatively parts her lips, her tongue trailing against the seam of his-tasting a bit of his blood and sweat-and she makes a soft sound.

He tastes so good.

So familiar.

She wants to melt into him.

He moans a little in response, his arms tightening around her as he angles his head up, chasing her fleeting tongue with his own. She sighs, pressing herself even closer. More . She thinks as her arms curl behind his neck.

"Boo!" Ino's voice breaks in once more. "It's cold out, you whores."

Hinata pulls back, blushing. Naruto lets her down-reluctantly-and she's so flustered it still takes her several seconds to locate her keys. She presses the button, unlocking the car.

Naruto chuckles beside her, handing her scarf over. She grabs it quickly, lopping it around and tucking her face down-hoping (in vain) to hide the red of her flaming cheeks. He loops his arm around her, holding her close to his chest.

"So whatcha wanna do? Bet we could find a good pastry shop, still open." He squeezes her shoulder affectionately.

He knows all of her weaknesses, she thinks, but she's interested in that idea. Something tame. "That sounds nice".

He shuffles around his backpack for his wallet before dumping it into her trunk and closing it for her. They take their places as driver and side-seat respectively.

Ino is giving Hinata a look of approval, and Hinata blushes again. "Anything you guys want to do?" she asks, to prevent Ino from teasing her.

"These are your stomping grounds, Naru." Ino reaches up and pinches his ear.

Naru.

Hinata hadn't heard that nickname since their college days. It brings back some happy and not so happy memories, but she recognizes what Ino using that name really means. It's Ino giving her stamp of approval. Hinata exhales in relief. Ino would never try and stop her, but it was nice to have support on her reconciliation.

Naruto pushes Ino's hand aside half-heartedly, his gaze on the visor mirror as he checks out his face.

"Why don't you show us your hometown?" Ino nudges.

"Clinton?" He makes a dismissive gesture. "Not much to see."

"There are quite a number of theatres down that way. Probably a couple of photo opportunities." Sai suggests to Ino.

"Photos? What, you some Instagram baddie or some shit?" Naruto closes the visor abruptly.

"I'm every kind of baddie." Ino tucks her bangs behind her ear. "Hina?"

Hinata has been listening to the exchange, trying to gauge Naruto's mood. While he's trying his best to sound off-hand, he's tense beside her and his words are clipped. She turns her gaze on him, searching his expression.

It has to be his choice.

She doesn't want to control or mother him.

She has to let him make decisions on his own.

Even ones she may not agree with.

"Hinata?" Ino presses.

She blinks back to life and gives her best friend a little smile. "As long as everyone is okay with that."

Sai and Ino nod from the back, but Hinata's gaze is still on Naruto.

He flicks her a side glance, but pulls his hoodie up. She can't read his face. "Yeah, Broadway traffic. Sounds fun."

She wants to press him, but Ino and Sai are in the car, so she simply nods, shifting into gear.

The drive was slow but nothing out of the ordinary for the city on the weekend. Before long they found another parking garage and decided to hoof it for a bit.

Ino and Sai went ahead, which Hinata knew was more Ino's idea than anything. Every so often the two of them would stop at interesting graffiti or a well decorated stoop for Ino to pose and Sai could get a couple snapshots.

Ino was naturally beautiful, but breathtaking when she put her mind to it. She radiated strength and confidence in every pose. Sai was completely enraptured with her, too, which gave Hinata and Naruto some time to just be.

He wrapped his arms around her from behind, standing together as they watched the impromptu photo session. Hinata leaned back, allowing his warmth to seep into her. It was so good being together. There were still some wounds-as evident by his earlier barb-and she, too, had some healing left to do, but this was them and it was good and she was happy.

He was too.

She could tell.

Well...for the most part. He was definitely less than happy at the moment-no matter how he tried to hide it. "Something wrong?" She asks, grabbing her hand in his as they made their way along the street. Ino and Sai were looking for a place with a manageable wait time.

"I'm not going to lie… I fucking hate this place." Naruto finally replies, looking at her.

Hinata cuddles into his side, wrapping her arms around him. She understands that. She thinks about how hard it had been to be in her childhood home. "Sorry."

He nods, slinging his arm around her shoulder.

"You've never told me much about it." She hedges, voice soft.

He shrugs, but it's tight. "There ain't much to say."

"Tell me something." She presses, gently. "About when you were little."

Naruto looks away from her, chewing his busted lip a bit. She's not sure if it's a nervous habit or if it's one of his old 'pain to cope' moments.

He distracts that line of thought a moment later when he speaks. "Uh… When I was little? I wanted to be a Westie."

She blinks at him. "A Westie. Like the gang?"

He nods with a shrug. "That's all people talked about back then. Before they got put away. Somebody went missing, someone getting stabbed, it was the Westies."

"You wanted to be that?" That's not at all like the Naruto she knows and loves. The one that stood up for people. That tries to better himself and the world.

"I was little." He sounds defensive. "When you're getting the shit beat out of you everyday, you wanna be the strong man. You wanna have the boot on their back. You wanna be someone that nobody's going to fuck with. Plus, it's not like I really understood what any of that actually meant."

She can see that. It still doesn't sit well, but she understands.

"Every night, the streets were just crawling with hookers. I'd sneak out just so I could stare at them."

Hinata turns to him, a bit startled by the diverted topic and also that he would do such a thing-especially when he's so critical of Jiraiya being a pervert. His smirk tells her that he's trying to get a reaction out of her, even as he tells her the truth.

Naruto continues, "If you stared too long, they'd yell at you to fuck off. Unless you had money."

"How old were you?"

"I dunno. Ten?"

She feels like her heart is breaking. In her mind she pictures young Naruto-so bright and full of love-living that life. She's appalled. Not at him, but that the people around him could bear witness to his struggle and not help him. That he was so unloved for so long. That he was in need for so long...

"That's… disgusting." She whispers quietly, blinking away the sting in her eyes.

"I used to think that was like the pinnacle of what a woman were supposed to look like. Tiny dresses, massive heels, the big hair. Ya'know?"

Oh.

She feels her face flush.

She was nothing like those bold women.

She frowns, feeling both flustered and slightly miffed.

Naruto makes a soft hissing sound, nuzzling his nose in her hair at the part, separating her bangs from the rest. "Don't get to sassy. My tastes have since evolved." He whispers into her ear, nipping it.

Shivers chase one another along her back. She is forced to clear her throat. "Oh have they?" She pulls away slightly in order to see his expression.

"Definitely. They're more tailored to really short, quiet, successful woman with three legged dogs that do Baguazhang and have big tits- ow!" He recoils from her pinch.

She's less miffed, but still flustered. "That's a very specific set of tastes."

"Well, when you love someone, you love someone. Ya'know. It doesn't matter if they start doing different, cool shit like knitting or leading projects at work, or whatever. That's just cool new stuff to talk about. Know what I mean?"

Love.

Her throat tightens up.

He still loved her.

She knew-somewhere deep down-but to hear it. She can barely breathe for a moment. "Yeah." She whispers quietly.

He tips his chin down so that he can see her face clearly. "I love you." He promises, squeezing her closer to him.

She looks back up at him as openly as she's ever gazed at him and hopes that he sees how true the words are when she speaks them. "I love you, too."

His smile is both relief and cockiness. "Fucking better."

She purses her lips. And they say romance is dead. "Oh really?"

He nods, smug and sure. "Yeah, baby. We're meant to be. It would be kinda shitty if you didn't love me."

She's always loved him.

Longer than he's loved her.

It's ingrained into her very soul.

That was never the problem.

"Are we?" The question is a near whisper-full of all the hope she carries in her heart.

He nods assuredly. "Hell yeah! You better believe it, Hina. It's me and you. Forever."

Forever.

She could deal with forever.

She sniffs, feeling a bit overwhelmed. "Even though I don't wear short dresses and tall heels and have big hair?"

He glares at her a little bit for teasing him. "I love you." He repeats it; absolutely certain.

Hinata can't hold his gaze and not cry, so she looks away.

From a little ways away Ino's voice floats to them. "It's only a twenty minute wait!"

Hinata's gaze finds her and Sai in the line outside a small bar. She turns her attention back to Naruto, whose gaze never left her face. "Are you okay with a bar?" She won't drink, since she's the driver, but she knows that Ino and Sai can sometimes get a little tipsy and pushy.

He pauses-for barely a second-but she catches it. Even so, he nods. "Do you think they have nachos?"

She frowns, recalling how he had to spend time in a trash bag and nearly puking. "You need to eat healthier, mister. You shouldn't have cut like that today." She catches the way his gaze skirts hers.

"After the nachos." He vows, leading her towards the line with his arm curved around her.

He loves me.