Author's note: Hello everyone! Long time, no see! Sorry about the wait, but I hope you enjoy what I have for you. The misunderstandings just keep growing and it's going to get interesting before everything gets set right.

Chapter Eight

"Hey guys," Naruto said enthusiastically with one of his bright smiles that always made Hinata feel weak in the knees.

"Dobe," was Sasuke's acknowledgement. The blond was about to open his mouth and tell Sasuke he ought to be nicer, but Hinata's greeting stopped the words in his throat.

"Hello, Naruto-kun," she said sweetly.

"Hi," Naruto breathed out, while smiling even wider.

Sasuke watched the two stare at each other for a few seconds before rolling his eyes. Honestly, they were ridiculous.

"This conversation is riveting, but I'm ready to eat," he said, causing his two companions to look away from each other, completely missing the other's blush.

Hopeless. Those two were hopeless.

"Where are you going to eat?" Naruto asked, wanting to join.

"Ichiraku's. Do you want to come?" was Hinata's reply.

"Yeah! I'd love to!" the Uzumaki responded, before turning back toward the stand.

Sasuke was positive he'd seen the blond coming from there and thought about commenting, but kept his mouth shut. He actually raised an eyebrow when Naruto grabbed her hand and started to pull her with him. The blond wasn't particularly good at observing personal space, but he didn't usually touch her.

When Hinata 'eeped', Naruto seemed to realize what he had done and dropped her hand like it was on fire, looking at Sasuke nervously for a reason the Uchiha didn't understand and didn't feel like figuring out.

"Sorry about that. Heh. Just got a little excited. Y'know… ramen and all…"

"O-oh, it's okay. I know you didn't mean anything by it," Hinata said, a little sadly.

Sasuke wanted to hit himself in the face, but refused to do so when people might see. Especially with Ino staring intently at them. Seriously, what was her problem?

Hinata stepped closer to Sasuke, hoping she could hide behind him for a second to collect herself. Naruto saw this and a mix of emotions flickered in his eyes before he turned and asked if they were coming or not.

The three walked with an awkward silence between them until they reached the stand.

"When Naruto lifted the curtain and ducked in, he yelled to the chef in the back, "Hey old man, we're here for some ramen!"

Ino was still sitting there, eyeing the trio intently.

"Naruto, you just had like 3 bowls and ran off," she said, unable to shake the suspicion that something was off.

He looked at her in a small panic, as if he had forgotten that she was there and had been there while he ate before.

"Naruto-kun, you've already eaten?"

"Uh, yeah, but it was a bit ago and I'm hungry again," he said nervously.

Ino narrowed her eyes, now even more suspicious. "Naruto, that was like five minutes ago."

The Uzumaki turned to her, giving her a look that said to back off, before turning back to Hinata and saying, "Never can get enough ramen, y'know?" He chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. Hinata just nodded in acceptance - everyone knew of his love for ramen - and sat down between him and Sasuke to order her own food.

Naruto sighed in relief, glad Hinata had accepted his excuse. Then again, she always seemed to accept the things he said. When somebody else might call him a baka or yell at him for saying something, Hinata would never do that. Sometimes she would even help him explain himself. He couldn't help but look at the sweet young woman next to him as he thought about how nice she had always been to him.

He noticed her smooth, milky skin that never seemed to darken or harden, despite how many hours he knew she spent outside training each day. He noticed how her dark hair shone a deep indigo in the light - he'd asked Sai about the color. He noticed how her forehead would crease just slightly when she looked at him, confused - oh shit.

"Is there something on my face?" she was asking. She rubbed her cheek and looked at her hand, thinking she might find some dirt or something. She had come straight from training after all and she couldn't think of any other reason Naruto would be staring like he had just been.

"Uh, yeah, just a small smudge right there," he said, trying to cover for his blatant ogling. He pretended to brush the nonexistent speck of dirt off her cheek, realizing they felt as soft as they looked.

Hinata's eyes widened and her previously pink tinted cheeks flushed a dark red at the contact. She sat back, startled, and he snapped his hand back, putting it on the counter with his other and drumming his fingers to try to distract from what he had just done.

'Holy shit,' thought Ino, watching the whole thing. She was actually speechless for a moment. She really wished Shikamaru and Choji had stuck around so they could be her witnesses that this had actually happened.

No one spoke for another minute until Teuchi set three bowls in front of the corresponding customer, smiling widely and telling them to enjoy.

It knocked Ino back to her senses and made her want to investigate a little more. "So, Hinata, what brings you Ichiraku?"

"Oh, Sasuke-kun and I were just getting a bite to eat after lunch. He suggested ramen."

"No way, Teme, you suggested ramen?!" Naruto was incredulous.

"I didn't mean to. I just didn't want to eat dango again."

Hinata frowned slightly, "But you didn't even have any yesterday. You just sat there while I ate some."

"Yeah, well I had to smell it while you ate it so it counts."

Ino noticed their comfortable conversation, as well as the fact that Hinata and Sasuke had apparently gotten some food together the day before - meaning they had spent time together at least two days in a row. She must have really been missing something while being caught up with Sai! She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Naruto beat her to it.

"Huh? Why did you guys get dango yesterday? Hinata made those awesome lunches!" Naruto had stopped by their training yesterday - entirely by accident, of course - and they had just been sitting down for a break. When he asked about the bento she was handing Sasuke, she had taken another out of her bag and handed it to him. He asked about her and she had just shaken her head saying she would eat in a little bit.

"You ate her lunch, Dobe."

"What? No way! She said she was saving hers!"

"No, she just gave hers to you and said she would eat later. She was so hungry after training I had to take her to get food."

Honestly, Sasuke didn't know why he was so nice.

"Hinata, is that true?" Naruto turned to her with eyes wide. Why would she do that?

"Um, yes, but it's fine. I don't mind."

"That's not fine! I stole your food and you were training hard! Let me make it up to you. I'll take you out for dinner tomorrow."

Even the kitchen seemed to have gone silent after his statement. Ino's mouth had practically hit the floor and Hinata's face was frozen in shock.

"Did you just ask her on a date?"

At first Sasuke hadn't realized that he had been the one to ask that question. After weeks of Naruto barging in on their training sessions and shamelessly flirting with Hinata, while simultaneously seeming so oblivious to his own attentions, he had been shocked.

Naruto, however, took the question as confirmation that he had just royally pissed off Sasuke. What had he been thinking? Had he really just asked Hinata out to dinner in front of the guy she was slee - seeing? His best friend? Fuck.

"Uh, no, nothing like that. I just felt bad for eating her food is all. I wouldn't ask her on a date or anything. You know that! Heh…"

Well that hadn't been smooth, but Sasuke didn't look like he wanted to kill him for hitting on his girlfriend so Naruto guessed it had worked.

He was jerked out of his worry by the sound of a bowl being pushed away on the counter.

Hinata's head was low and her bangs were hanging in front of her eyes. She had pushed her still half full bowl away from her and laid her chopsticks across the rim. She pulled some money from her pocket and laid it on the counter next to the bowl before sliding of the stool.

"You're not going to finish?" Naruto asked, surprised by the suddenness of her departure. He had been hoping to talk to her a bit longer.

Without looking at him, she shook her head and said, "I'm not hungry anymore. I'll see you guys later."

She started to walk off and Naruto couldn't help but feel like something bad had happened.

Although she wasn't sure what exactly was going on between her three friends, Ino knew for a fact that Hinata was feeling hurt. She was about to get up to follow her friend and comfort her, but Sasuke beat her to it.

The Uchiha stood up, placed some money beside his bowl as well, and followed after Hinata. She had promised to help him with one of his recipes and though he knew she might not be in the mood for it at the moment, he wanted to make sure she would do it soon. He would even let her eat some since she was obviously not feeling well.

At that thought, Sasuke growled. He was getting soft.

Naruto stared after the two with a look that Ino thought, but couldn't believe, was jealousy in his eyes. Was he finally starting to reciprocate Hinata's feelings? If so then what was that backtracking about earlier? And what was going on between her and Sasuke? Damn she needed to talk to Sakura. She would have to know what was going on with her team, right?

I've missed you guys! Please let me know what you think!