Naruto sighed as he sat up against a tree trunk. Sunlight filtered down through the foliage, tearing holes through shadows and bathing Naruto in a warm glow. He'd often come here to think. Or train. Or do anything he wanted when he himself wasn't wanted. He laced his fingers and put them behind his head as he usually did when he was relaxing. He closed his eyes for a moment and just listened to the sounds of the forest. Birds chirping, leaves rustling, and footsteps approaching. Footsteps? He opened his eyes and was surprised to see Hinata walking towards him.

"What's she doing here?" he asked himself.

"H…hi, Naruto-k..kun." she said in her usual nervous manner.

"Hey Hinata. What brings you around here? Looking for something?"

It wasn't unusual for Naruto to lose things. And most of the time, he did in fact, lose them in the forest, but in this case, he was just being his naïve little self.

"N…no, I, I just w-wanted to talk to you…."she finished lamely.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Why would she want to talk to me?"

"Sup?"

"Uh…ano…" she started to do her thing where she played with her fingers.

"Hehe, Hinata is so cute when she does that…." thought Naruto.

"Hey Hinata, how come you don't have a boyfriend?"

Hinata's head snapped up to look at him. Her creamy white eyes met his cerulean and she quickly looked away blushing.

"Um…I-I d-don't know…m-maybe because I…I'm no g-good…"

"Hey! Don't say that! You're a great person! I mean, you have lots of friends, you get to live in a big house, and you even have a super cool bloodline."

Hinata's eyes squinted in pain. Sure she had her teammates , and she got to live in a huge estate, and she had her bloodline, but it didn't mean anything to her. She felt an emptiness that could only be filled when she was with Naruto. When she was with him, she felt safe and secure. She didn't care about her family troubles. And most of all, he made her feel special.

"N-Naruto-kun…wh…what are you doing t-tonight?" she asked him.

"Uh…probably nothing…why?"

Hinata bowed her head down. "Do…do you w-want to h…have dinner with me?"

Naruto's eyes went wide. He was never asked out to dinner. Not even his teammates offered, let alone Iruka-sensei.

Naruto gave her a warm smile and nodded, "Sure Hinata-chan!"

"Hinata-chan?" she thought. It made her feel all warm and tingly on the inside.

"So is ramen okay with you?" he asked.

Hinata laughed and nodded, "Sure!"

"It's a date then. I'll see you round 7, okay?"

"Mmm…I-I have to get g…going Naruto-k…kun. My father might be a-angry with m..me staying out to l-late. I'll s-see you tonight, o…okay?"

"Sure."

Naruto watched as Hinata hurried off. He didn't notice her blushing or the fact she was shaking. He was too caught up in his own excitement.

"Man, my first time out to dinner with someone for a change. Should I get her something? Wait, no…should I?" he shrugged his shoulders and got up. "I could always ask ero-senni…hmm. I better ask Oba-chan instead."

Naruto walked toward Tsunade's office with a skip in his step and a smile on his face.

a/n

Ahah…ha….sorry, it's been a while. Been busy and mostly lazy. Sorry for the short chapter too.