Author's note: Hi, I'm back! And cancer free! I'm so thankful for all of you who left notes of support and encouragement. I have hardly been on this site so I'll be trying to reply to some of my private messages soon, but wanted to get these up and going now that I have a chapter ready!

Getting back in the groove of writing hasn't been the easiest, but I'm consistently writing almost every day again (not always tons of words, but at least writing) and will be trying to update as often as possible. Maybe I'll eventually get into a posting schedule, but until them I'll just try to get things to you guys as quickly as possible.

Thank you again for all of your support. It meant so much to me at a dark time in my life when I wasn't sure what was ahead or if I even had anything ahead of me. My husband appreciated the comments, too, because they made me smile. You guys are the best and I'm going to do my best for you!

Chapter Sixteen

Naruto had been on edge all day but he didn't dare leave his apartment. After his interaction at the Yamanaka flower shop he was sure it was only a matter of time until Ino heard about his date tonight. He may not have confirmed it with words, but he was sure Mrs. Yamanaka had seen him falter when she had yelled after him. Damn his clumsy nature!

It didn't help that he felt entirely out of his depth in this situation. He'd never been on a real date. If this even counted as a real date. He was about to take a girl he liked to dinner. He was pretty sure that sounded like a date, but then again if she was already seeing someone did it still count? If she was having… sessions with Sasuke then she probably just thought of this as a friendly dinner. Would he scare her off when he showed up with flowers and a nice outfit? Would she reject him right there and chastise him for trying something with his best friend's girl?

'No,' he thought, shaking his head to rid his mind of his panicked train of thought. She would never yell at him. Even if she thought he was doing something wrong he couldn't imagine her yelling at him. She'd probably try to talk to him about it. Honestly all she would need to do was frown and he'd immediately feel like he'd dropped a baby. He groaned at that thought. He was in serious trouble.

What he really wanted was to go blow off some steam, but he was too afraid Ino would find him and grill him. Damn it. Why did the Yamanaka clan have to be so damn nosy? He could understand now why they were usually assigned to gathering intelligence. He wondered if their mind jutsus had first been developed to get better gossip. Kurama chortled in his mindscape and Naruto grumbled. He'd already picked up his apartment, swept, and watered his plants. At least his nervous energy had been good for something, he supposed.

With nothing left to occupy himself, he showered and dressed. He looked at his reflection after brushing his teeth and scowled at his hair. Should he comb it? He owned a comb, but rarely used it. Why brush his hair when he was just going to train most of the time? But he wanted to look nice for tonight. Maybe he'd try.

A few minutes later and Kurama was laughing hysterically at him while he frantically tried to get his hair back to it's usual spikes. He looked ridiculous with his hair combed back!

"Shit, shit, shit," he cursed as he rubbed his head with a damp towel. He sighed as the familiar spikes began to poke back up. Well that hadn't gone as planned, but at least now he knew this was as good as it got. Maybe he'd get a haircut someday soon.

He looked at his clock when he left the bathroom and saw that it was a little after five. If he left now he'd get there a little early, but that was good, right? He definitely didn't want to be late. And wasn't he supposed to talk to her dad before he took her out? Her family was one of those old fashioned clans so he was pretty sure they had rules about this kind of thing.

Damn, he should have asked someone about all of this. But who could he have asked? He definitely couldn't have gone to Sasuke to ask him how to properly date his… whatever Hinata was to him. And he couldn't ask one of the rookies or it would have definitely gotten around.

Gah, he would just do what he was best at and figure things out as he went. He was sure it couldn't go too horribly. Probably. He decided to leave before he freaked himself out too badly and grabbed the flowers from his table and walked out the door. He was going to do this.

Hinata sat in front of her mirror, braiding some hair to decorate the bun she'd put it into. While she didn't want to look like she'd tried too hard, she also did not plan to look anything less than nice on her friendly date - or whatever it was supposed to be - with Naruto.

She'd picked one of her favorite yukata - a deep blue with silver trim and a slight sheen. The material wasn't too fine, but it complimented her skin tone and would be appropriate for a variety of possible venues.

When she had arrived home from training and lunch earlier that day, she had gone once again to the large bath and scrubbed herself clean with both soap and scrub that exfoliated her skin until it was smooth as silk. She'd added a couple drops of essential oil to the bathwater and lay back to let the warmth soothe and relax her strained muscles.

She recalled Sasuke's words earlier that day about letting Naruto see more of her body and blushed profusely. She knew he was saying it to throw her off and gain an advantage, but she can't deny that when she was younger she'd debated being a little flashier to try to get her crush's attention. Sakura was lean and lovely and always wore clothes that were both practical and complimented her figure and coloring. Hinata had wondered if that contributed to Naruto's attentions. In fact, she was sure it had when they were younger. Ultimately, she'd been too uncomfortable to do anything drastic. Some of her clothes now fit a little closer, but she didn't have anything she would consider showy or too tight. As much as she wanted Naruto to notice her she'd rather he did it when she was being herself because there was no way she could keep up an act for long.

Once she'd finished soaking, she dried herself off and applied one of the special lotions she made to her body. It made her skin soft and had a subtle smell, flowery but nothing too strong. With a little charcoal around the eyes and some lip gloss, she would look and smell just right.

When she'd finished dressing and applying her light makeup, her hair was dry enough to put up. Now, as she pinned the final strands in place, she looked at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath. She could see her hands shaking with nerves, but tried to steel herself for what was to come. This may not be a romantic date, but it was the closest she had ever had with Naruto and she was going to treasure the time and memory. It wasn't the smartest thing to do as someone trying to get over him, but she hoped it would allow her something to look back in the future with fondness.

As Hinata began to wonder what she would do to pass the remaining time until dinner she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in," she said.

A branch Hyuga slid the door opened and bowed. "Hinata-sama, Hiashi-sama has requested a word with you before your outing this evening. He asks that you join him in his study."

Hinata was a little surprised. Her father did not ask for many meetings formally, but she was unconcerned he would cause her to be late - Hyugas prided themselves on punctuality - so she told her visitor to inform her father that she would be with him shortly.

The branch Hyuga nodded and closed the door. Hinata checked herself in the mirror one last time and placed two simple diamond studs in her ears. Nodding in approval at her appearance, she made her way out of her bedroom and down the hall. She wasn't sure what her father would have to talk to her about, but at least it would help keep her mind occupied until Naruto arrived.