Hinata sat at the bar of the ramen shop, twiddling her fingers and biting her lip in anxiety. She played with the money in her pocket…when five struck on the clock nearby, she didn't see Naruto in the bar. She hung her head and sighed, he wasn't coming…
But as she walked the door to leave, Naruto's face appeared out of thin air about two inches from hers. The only problem was, it was upside down…Naruto stood on the ceiling, looking at Hinata with a warm smile. She blushed more impressively than anyone had ever seen her do before, and began to feel faint. Naruto saw this and quickly jumped down and took her arm, leading her to the bar where she could sit.
Hinata cursed her shy nature; she had almost fainted in front of Naruto, AGAIN. She had been so good about not doing it lately too…
Naruto took her hand and said "Please stay awake, I want to be able to thank you in person." She blushed and turned to look down at the bar.
Naruto saw this nervous reaction and his head finally felt something click. Hinata always did that…but only around him. She could never seem to talk to him without stuttering, was always kind to him when nobody else was, she even saved his life on a few missions. The fainting, the blushing…he couldn't believe he didn't see it before. Could he really have been that dense?
"You know Hinata-chan…suddenly I'm not very hungry right now…would you…like to go for a walk with me?" Hinata looked up at him and blushed again, but managed to squeak out, "Y-yes…I would."
He took Hinata's arm in his as they left the shop, Naruto's blush finally beginning to equal Hinata's. They walked for a long time, until they had reached the deepest parts of the forest, by a large lake. They stood looking out at the water for quite some time, until Naruto could not hold his curiosity anymore.
"Hinata-chan…why did you get me a present?" Hinata instantly blushed and her eyes shot back down to her feet, as if she suddenly found something very intriguing about them. "I-it's your birthday…why wouldn't I h-have g-gotten…" Naruto shook his head and said, "No, that's not what I mean. You are the only person to ever consider my birthday as something to celebrate, everyone else in the village thinks it's a day for torturing the fox kid. It's a day to blame me for what happened to them so many years ago…"
"That's not true! Not everybody hates you! I don't hate you!"
Naruto looked surprised at her sudden outburst. She had never spoken so assertively or without stuttering like that. "Well…I can see that you don't hate me. I have friends, and yet you're the only one who saw fit to help me enjoy today. You care to explain why that is?"
Hinata blushed again and looked back down at the ground. Naruto was becoming weary of her eyes not meeting his…
"Hinata-chan, look at me." He said assertively but gently. Hinata did, however nervously so. "Hinata-chan, I know you tend to get edgy around people, and it seems like you feel so awkward around me." Hinata stammered, "I…well, y-you see I…" He asked again, "Why did you get me this present?" Hinata swallowed her nerves and began to stutter out, "I…I just w-wanted to…to…" Naruto finished her sentence, "To…help me?"
Hinata looked away again and stuttered, "Well, I couldn't just let y-you keep d-dreading your own b-birthday…" That wasn't the whole reason and Naruto knew it now. He gently took her face in his hands and once again directed her eyes to his. "Hinata…I can't believe I never realized how much you cared…but I need to know this for sure before I do something I'll regret."
Hinata looked at him in mingled confusion and awe. "Hinata-chan…tell me the truth. Do you love me or not?" Hinata's eyes grew wide and her blush increased to a shade of red never seen in a human before. She was trapped…she had to let it out or she would die right there. "I….I…I do…I do love you, Naruto-kun…"
She tried to look down again, but found herself incapable of tearing her eyes away from his. Much to her surprise, a soft smile graced his lips. "Hinata-chan…" His face began inching closer, Hinata began feeling faint…and just before their lips touched, he whispered, "I love you too Hinata-chan…"
Her eyes shot open wide as Naruto pressed his lips against hers. She could barely believe what she just heard. She soon realized that he was still kissing her and was more than happy to return the affections. She jumped into his arms, her arms wrapping around his neck as she plunged into the kiss with all the pent-up emotion form the past six years.
They slowly drew apart for air and leaned their foreheads against each other, both smiling broadly. "Happy birthday, Naruto-kun…" Naruto chuckled and kissed her lightly. "I love you too Hinata-chan…"
Naruto's eyes creaked open in the early morning light. He must've fallen asleep on the couch again…but something felt different…there was a weight on top of him…it felt warm and soft…
His eyes turned and he found, much to his pleasant surprise, Hinata had fallen asleep on top of him, head resting on his muscular chest. Neither of them had changed clothes from yesterday, but he didn't care. He stayed where he was, idly playing with a few locks of her soft indigo hair, his nose taking in her scent…it was lavender, just like her eyes.
"Nice going kid. The boy who's never been kissed just spent a whole night making out with the heiress to the most influential family in Konoha, short of the Hokage himself."
Naruto blushed as he remembered last night. Indeed, many emotions were released on that couch. For being so shy, he realized that Hinata was one hell of a good kisser… "Well, what can I say Kyuubi…the woman loves me."
"But you know what our problem is going to be now, right?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Hiashi."
Naruto sighed and nodded. While his friends would be ecstatic that they were finally together, Hinata's father would probably be less than thrilled. The fact that Naruto was Hokage now did not really seem to improve Hiashi Hyuuga's opinion of him. To him, Naruto was still the little prankster orphan, not caring about his elders' approval. But his eyes once again returned to his love sleeping in his arms.
He knew at that moment that no man short of the gods themselves could keep him away from her any longer. He would fight to the death for her, and a little thing like her intimidating father would not stand in his way. He would tell Hiashi straight up that they loved each other, and that his opinion of him would not change that.
"That's what I like to hear kid. You'll show him who's the boss around here. Speaking of Hyuuga, your little angel is waking up."
Naruto smiled as Hinata opened her eyes. For the first time ever, her blush kept down to a minimum as she smiled at him. Naruto chuckled and said, "Morning, beautiful." Hinata kissed him softly and snuggled closer to him. "Naruto-kun…thank you so much for last night…" Naruto smiled and said, "I should be thanking you, thanks to you I now am officially no longer single, well, I will be once we tell your father we're together."
Hinata sighed. "My father…how are we going to explain this? I'm afraid his opinion of you is less than accurate…he kind of…" Naruto chuckled and said, "Hates my guts?" Hinata blushed again. "Well, yes…but he's was never right about you. He doesn't know the wonderful man I see before me…" Naruto smiled warmly and softly said, "Hinata-chan…you're not stuttering anymore." Hinata smiled and blushed.
"Well, we'll tell him straight up about us. And if he doesn't like it…well…that's his problem, not ours." Hinata smiled but she still felt nervous. "I've never stood up for myself around him…he always scares me so much…I don't know if I can convince him to leave us alone."
Naruto took her chin in his hand and gazed into her pale pearl eyes. "Hinata-chan, I fully believe when the time comes, you'll show him what you're really made of. Because if he hates me as much as you say, you're anger at him will give you enough drive to tell him off. And if it comes down to it…you're a damn good kunoichi, and could easily whip him in a fight."
Hinata blushed again. They rose off the couch and brushed themselves off. Naruto made to walk to the kitchen but gasped slightly as Hinata grabbed his arm and whipped him around into a very deep and passionate kiss. She slowly drew away after about five minutes and smiled, "Thank you Naruto-kun…"
Naruto winked and took her by the waist, both of them leaving the house, heading towards the Hyuuga compound.
Upon arriving, they stopped at the front gates. "Naruto-kun…maybe we should wait to tell my father. Him knowing will only complicate things right now…we need to know what we are going to say to him before we do anything else."
Naruto sighed but smiled. "Yeah, I suppose so…I'll be thinking of you at the office today. And don't you worry, you'll see me soon." Hinata smiled and embraced him tightly. He smiled as he took her shoulders and kissed her very deeply, very suddenly. He let her go and smirked, "I'll see you this afternoon Hinata-chan!"
The Hokage ran off, leaving a dazed and dreamy-eyed Hinata to stumble back to the palace on her own. She was in her own personal heaven as she waltzed through the house, completely ignoring her father as he tried to berate her for never coming home last night.
"Hinata, you will listen to me or I will…" he heard her bedroom door shut upstairs and could only gawk at her actions. Neji appeared at that moment and Hiashi barked, "Go upstairs and find out what it is that has my daughter so worked up this morning."
Neji shook his head and sighed, "I don't know Hiashi-sama…she seemed fairly content to me." Hiashi gave him a withering glare and he sighed once again. "Go talk to Hinata-sama…right, I'm on it." Neji walked upstairs and cautiously knocked on her door.
She instantly snapped out of her trance and stammered, "W-who is it?" A voice responded, "It's Neji. Hinata-sama, may I talk to you for a moment?" Hinata stuttered but assertively said, "If my f-father sent you t-then you can j-just tell him that…" Neji quickly said, "No! I just want to talk…Hiashi doesn't need to know about what, and I'm assuming you'd prefer that as well."
Hinata let in her cousin and bit her lip nervously. Neji motioned for her to sit and he started. "Hinata-sama, you seem to be in an awfully bright and bold mood this morning. Your father is furious at you for not coming home last night. What happened?" Hinata blushed and looked away, she really did not want to have to explain this to Neji so soon…but it seemed she had no choice.
"Neji-sama…I was…I w-was out last night…on a…d-date." Whatever Neji was expecting, it wasn't that. "But….with who?" Hinata blushed impressively and looked down, focusing on a spot that seemed to appear near her feet. Neji had only seen her blush so impressively when around one person…
"N-Naruto-sama! You were on a date with the Hokage!" Hinata nodded nervously, blushing even more fiercely. Neji sighed in relief and said, "Oh good…I was starting to it was somebody bad." Hinata looked at him incredulously. Then she remembered what Neji had gone through, smiling.
Ever since Naruto had defeated Neji all those years ago in the Chunin exams, he seemed a lot more warm and friendly towards her, in fact, Naruto's victory was what inspired him to change himself, indirectly helping him win the heart of a certain brown haired weapons master…Ten-Ten.
"Hinata-sama, I am personally very happy for you. I know how you feel about the Hokage and I personally think you two are a smart match. Ten-Ten-chan thinks so as well." Hinata sighed in relief and smiled. "However…I'm afraid Hiashi won't be so happy about this. How do you hope to tell him about this?" Hinata shrugged and said, "Naruto-kun and I will figure out something. When comes down to it, we'll tell him exactly what we want. How he reacts is all up to him."
Neji smiled and said, "Hinata-sama…you have grown so much these past few years. I look forward to the day when you can finally put this cold house behind you, as I have done." Hinata eyed the wedding band on his finger and smiled inwardly. He did seem much more happy lately ever since he and Ten-Ten were married. She yearned inside to wear a band herself…her and Naruto…
