hank you so much for all the love and messages while I've been away! I took some much-needed time off from pretty much all things internet (besides watching anime cause let's be real) to take care of some personal matters. I have every intention of finishing this story, but now I'm officially back and ready to write!
February 14th
Hinata lightly pulls her arm from around Naruto's waist, incoherent mumbles pass through his lips as she brushes hers against them.
He looks so much younger when he's asleep. Hinata thinks to herself, her eyes tracing over his face. Cutting his hair made him look older. Visions Naruto during the war, his longer than she had ever seen before coming to mind.
Standing at the side of the bed Hinata suddenly feels exposed, normally after they had finished Naruto would hand her his shirt and pull her body against his. But now she stood, naked, in his large empty room. We really should get him more furniture. She thought, slowly opening a drawer to the small shelf she assumed he called a dresser, fishing a light grey top out for the stack. Pulling the shirt over her head, the heme hanging around her thighs she turns to face her boyfriend, sound asleep, mouth open, the sheet wrapped around his legs and hips.
I really should let him sleep. Hinata thought, taking a step towards him, her foot brushing something solid under his bed. Kneeling to investigate, Hinata finds herself looking at a tattered brown box. Her curiosity peaks as she slides the box from beneath the bed. Surely, he won't mind. Naruto did say he wanted me to be comfortable here and to make myself at home. A slight bit of nerves joined the excitement swirling around her head. Moving to sit at the foot of the bed, Hinatas eases herself onto the floor and lifts the lid from the box.
A soft smile pulls at her lips, the green scarf she had worried about on their mission lays in the box. She had suspected another girl had beaten her to her goal and confessed their feelings with the gift, only to come to learn it had been made by his late mother. Moving the scarf aside, revealing a stack of photos. Pulling them from the box and leaning back against the bed Hinata runs her fingers over the glossy pages.
Pictures fall in her lap, smiling faces for their academy days looking up at her. Shikamaru, Naruto, and Choji sitting on a window ledge while potato chips fell to the ground. Iruka-sensei ruffling an annoyed but happy looking Naruto's hair as the class laughs behind them at the training grounds, Hinata finds her face in the crowd, a hesitant smile pulling at the corner of her lips, her eyes trained on the young Naruto. Next a picture she had seen before, sitting on the Hokage's desk, team seven on their first day. Hinata smiles at the memory, I was so sad to not be on a team with Naruto back then, but I gained Kiba and Shino as my family.
Continuing to sift through the pictures Hinata comes to the part of Naruto's life she wasn't all too familiar with. Pictures of him growing with Jiraiya, happy snapshots she assumed were taken by a villager when they had visited during his training. Setting those aside, the next sending a jolt of surprise through her body, Naruto's arms stretched out holding the camera, Sakura's body leaning into a bandaged covered Sasuke. The sullen ninja sporting a rare smile. This must be from before he was released from the hospital after the war. I knew he was offered the same surgery as Naruto but declined. Naruto had mentioned something to do with his pride and how losing his arm was his atonement to the ninja world.
The last few were clearly the oldest, the first of a pretty redheaded woman laughing in a somewhat familiar apartment, her feet resting on the table that Hinata was sure now sat in Naruto's kitchen. Is this… she thought, is this his mom? Did they live in his apartment before that night? Flipping through the stack, her suspicion confirmed, pictures of Namikaze Minato with his arms wrapped around a clearly pregnant Uzumaki Kushina. Hinata gasps, this has to be the only picture of the three of them, feeling the tears sting her eyes Hinata runs her fingers over the faces of his beloved's' parents. They look so happy, ready to start a family. A rustling from behind, pulling her from her thoughts.
"Hinata?" Naruto's groggy voice sounds from above
"Down here." She replies
"What are you doing?" He questions, laying with his chest at the foot of the bed, propping his head up with his hand.
"I found this box and well I guess my curiosity got the best of me." Hinata looks up at Naruto, shyly meeting his eyes
"Hhhmmpp." Naruto sounds, yawning "I've been meaning to go through those now that I actually have room to hang some" He eyes the photo in her hand. "Yeah that's them." Naruto answers Hinata's unheard question.
"I saw your dad, during the war and in his Hokage picture in the office, but your mom, well your mom she is beautiful. You weren't kidding about her hair either, I tried to picture you with this color when I saw it."
"And?" A playful smile matching Naruto's tone spreads across his face
"I'm not sure," Hinata wrinkles her nose, reaching to run her fingers across Naruto's hair line and down his cheek "I'm quite fond of you the way you are."
Silence falls onto the room, as the couple look at the picture of Naruto's late parents.
"I wish I could have met them." Sadness covering Hinata's voices, as she places the pictures back in the box. Climbing onto the bed she curls up next to Naruto's side resting her cheek against his back, finding comfort in his steady breathing.
"There is no one I wish they could have met more. I've kicked myself over that, ya know." Naruto moves to turn, causing Hinata to sit up, they sit legs crossed opposite of one another.
"What do you mean?" Hinata asks
"Well when he was reincarnated dad kinda got to meet Sakura and Sia, not formally but enough to know they were my friends. If I hadn't been dumb, I don't know Hinata I guess I've thought about that battle. You were there, if anyone deserved to meet him even for that brief moment it should have been you."
"You didn't know though; you were in the middle of a battle trying to save this world. No one, including myself, blames you for not introducing your dad to people. What matters is that they know you're doing good, and that you have me now."
"How do I deserve you Hina?" Naruto plays with the nickname he had heard Kiba call her on occasion.
Without a second thought, Hinata climbs across the small space between them crawling into his lap.
"By being kind," she runs her fingers down his chest "and smart" her fingers trail through the smattering of hair below his belly button "and funny" skimming back up his chest "and caring" across his left collar bone "and considerate" drawing a pattern down his arm "and just genuinely being the love of my life." Her fingers trace back up Naruto's arm, to his face cupping his cheek in her hand.
"Thank you." Naruto closes his eyes, allowing his head to rest in her hand, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist.
"I might have something we can do to help my second surprise." Hinata breaks the silence.
"Hhmm?" Naruto answers, not opening his eyes.
"Well this bed is a little small, and my father is out of town until the 16th, so I thought I would stay the night!" She pulls back to see his reaction.
Naruto's eyes snapped open, a wide childlike smile covering his face.
"Seriously, you'll stay?!" Happiness radiates through his voice. "I didn't think we'd get to do that until we were married. We can go get a movie, and stay up late, and not wake up early…." Naruto continues to ramble as he stands. "Wait did you say we need to go get something?
"Yeah," Hinata laughs. "I just didn't expect you to be this excited about a sleepover."
"Well, I don't know," Naruto shrugs. "You leaving sometimes just bums me out. I've never had someone to come home to, well actually excluding missions I've never slept in the same room with someone."
"But I was saying until you went off on your adorable rant." Hinata smirks at Naruto "That this bed may be a tad small for the two of us and that it might be fun to go pick out a new one and we could go pick up some picture frames as well."
"That sounds great! I was meaning to go and get a TV for downstairs, and a few more things for up here anyways." Naruto trails off as Hinata pulls his shirt over her head and walks over picking up a bag he hadn't noticed sitting by the bathroom door.
"Are you ever going to stop doing that?" Hinata asks, motioning to his slightly open mouth.
"If you're asking if I'm ever going to stop staring at you, the answer is no." He stands dropping the sheet, hearing Hinata giggle as her footsteps draw near, her hand lightly swatting his naked butt.
"Keep that up and we won't leave this house." Naruto threatens, pulling on a clean pair of boxers as he turns in time to see Hinata pull a sports bra over her head.
"This is nice." Naruto comments as they continue to dress
Hinata shooting him a questioning look.
"This," he motions between them "being together like this it's almost like we're…" Naruto bites his lip at the word.
"Married." Hinata finishes "I'd say, but without the formalities."
"Do we need formalities? I know plenty of couples who did without all that" It being Naruto's turn to question now.
"I think my family would prefer it, plus don't you want it?"
"It depends on what 'it' you're talking about."
"Picture this if you will, cherry blossoms blooming, flowers floating in a slight breeze, being surrounded by our friends and family, us in traditional wedding clothes."
"You do look pretty good in a kimono." Naruto chuckles, leaning in kissing Hinata on the forehead. "If a traditional wedding is what you want, then that's what we'll have." Naruto pulls gently on her hand leading her out of the house.
Making their way to the shopping district, Naruto begins to look at the trees. Bare branches would soon be covered in the flowers Hinata had described.
I bet that's what she's wanted since she was little, she said it with such certainty. Naruto thinks, pausing to shift his gaze to Hinata.
"Yes?" She asks.
"So, the cherry blossoms, you want them to be blooming when we get married, ya know?"
"Oh, yes!" Excitement fills her voice. "You see, there are a few pictures from my parents' wedding, and my favorite one is them standing under the largest tree in the park, with petals all around and flowers swirling in the air. I've seen that picture since I was young and that's what I've always wanted."
"They'll be blooming soon, ya know." Naruto tries hard to hide the growing sense of worry in his voice.
"I know." Hinata smiles up at him. "I look forward to it every year." Her smile drops at the look on her boyfriend's face. "What is it Naruto?"
Naruto stops, pulling Hinata to the side of the busy street.
"Do you see where I'm going with this?" Naruto asks
"Not really no." Hinata giggles at the confusion covering his face
"The trees Hinata, the trees will be how you want them for a wedding in three months."
"Oh…oh!" Hinata realizes why Naruto, happy go lucky Naruto, was suddenly panicking in the middle of the busy Konoha street. "Come here." Hinata pulls Naruto by his arm, all but dragging him into the nearby alleyway.
"Why are you panicking?" Hinata asks, her eyes scanning over his face. Taking in his frightened reaction, and tense body stance.
Does he think? No, he couldn't. I promised him everything would be a conversation just between us. He shouldn't think that I mean to get married in three months.
"I just…I mean…the trees Hinata." Naruto stammers out, Hinata's eyes meet his, the frantic look covering his face causing her to double over laughing.
"Naruto…" Hinata bends over holding her sides. "What do you mean?"
"It's what you want Hina, and that's my job, ya know, to make you happy and give you what you want, ya know." Naruto's lips pursed, as he watches Hinata laughs at him.
"But what about what you want silly?" Hinata asks, reaching out, shoving Naruto in the shoulder. "Yes, I want the cherry blossoms, but they come and go every year, and yes they'll be at peak blooming in three months but they stay around for another month. They'll be here, they'll wait till we're ready."
"But what if I don't want to wait another year?" Naruto mumbled, looking down at his hands.
Now this is something I've never seen. Hinata thought to herself. A shy, and timid Naruto.
"Oh." Hinata manages, her mind racing at his words.
Are we ready? Marriage is such a huge step, and we only just started dating two months ago. The sensible side of her mind begins counting back the dates to their mission, thinking of what everyone in the village would think. They'd think I was pregnant, that we screwed up and now we're covering our mistakes. Hinata silently shakes her head. But do I care what they think? Her other side comes to mind. I don't want anyone else; I'll never want anyone else. Naruto's it for me so does it matter how long it's been?
"Just 'oh'"? Naruto questions, the smile completely gone from his face.
Anger? Hinata thinks
"No, not just oh, I'm sorry. I just needed to wrap my head around what you said." It now being Hinata's turn to look down at her hands, feeling the all too familiar blush creep up her cheeks. "Can we go shopping, and talk about this tonight? I just don't think this is a conversation we need to be having in an alleyway."
"Fine." Naruto grabs her hand, walking off in the direction of the furniture store.