A/N: Hello, everybody. I appreciate the feedback on the first chapter. I would appreciate it if you all continued to review, it really does help we writers out quite a bit. Either way, I hope this next one is to your liking :)
Time for Chapter 2
Enjoy!
Hinata sighed dejectedly as she seated herself at one of the academy's picnic tables. It was the scheduled lunch period for the students of the educational facility, and the weather was pleasant. As such, they had been granted the privilege of eating their meals outside for the first time in several months. Such days were fairly common nine months out of the year, but winter months tended to be harsh. Despite the somewhat special occasion, Hinata still found herself disappointed by the day as it stood. The previous night, the young heiress had sworn up and down that she would take steps to initiate conversation with Naruto, and she had failed to do so beyond a feeble attempt at a greeting that morning.
'I know what I want to say, and even a bit of what I'd use for topics, but I just can't speak properly' she thought to herself dejectedly. The girl's stutter was a consistent speech impediment, but it was only a legitimate issue when face to face with the subject of her admiration. Usually, she could speak relatively clearly, with only a few breaks in her sentences. With Naruto, however, she often struggled to even form words to begin speaking at all, and when she could bring herself to speak, she regularly spoke in a tone akin to a whisper. The previous day had been the closest thing to stability she had managed to achieve in his presence, but she had still fallen to pieces at the very end.
'Maybe I could ask another classmate to take his seat before he arrives next hour. Then I could offer him the empty seat next to mine' she pondered. After a moment's consideration, she shook her head and rested her chin on her hands.
'That would be selfish, though. I shouldn't be so devious' she scolded herself. The Hyuga girl then opened her lunch pale and extracted a trio of rice balls, setting them on a napkin in front of her to begin her meal. Before she could even take hold of one of the morsels of food, the sound of approaching footsteps caught her attention and drew her gaze upwards from the table. Seemingly in scorn of her stress at the idea of encountering Naruto alone once again, the blonde stood in front of her chosen table.
"Sorry for barging in, but you forgot these yesterday" Naruto said, scratching the back of his head as he laid three pencils down on the table in front of her. Hinata simply stared at her lost supplies for a moment, earning an odd look from her classmate.
"You alright?" he asked skeptically. His words snapped the heiress out of her shock-induced stupor instantly. She quickly nodded her head and took the pencils one by one. She placed them on top of her notebook that sat to her left.
'Y-yes. Forgive my r-rudeness. I was...spacing o-out" she said apologetically. Naruto stifled a laugh at her comical levels of discomfort and gave her an all-too-familiar grin.
"No, you're all good. No need to apologize" he assured her jovially. Hinata did her best to gather herself as subtly as possible.
"T-thank you, I g-guess. I appreciate y-you returning my t-things" she said with a seated bow. To her surprise, Naruto laughed aloud at the gesture. She gave him a look of embarrassed confusion, which prompted the outcast boy to calm himself to speak.
"Man, you're real formal. Loosen up a little" he said humorously. Hinata reddened and lowered her eyes to the table.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry. I'll w-work on it" she said quietly. It took her only a moment to realize what she had done. She immediately sighed and hid her face with her hands to conceal her burning cheeks.
"I apologized a-again, didn't I?" she asked in a muttering tone. Naruto nodded and scratched the back of his head.
"That's a habit for you, isn't it?" he inquired in response. Hinata removed her hands from her face and looked at him again.
"Just a l-l-little" she said, clamping her mouth shut afterwards to prevent another awful stutter. She then took a bite from her rice ball and chewed it slowly to calm herself. Unfortunately, the action sent the incorrect message to Naruto, who took a step back and turned around.
"Well, I'll leave you to eat. See ya 'round, Hinata" he said with a backwards wave. Hinata's stomach dropped and her eyes widened. She then surprised them both.
"No, wait!" she called out to him, her timidity and stutter momentarily vanishing. The blonde stopped in his tracks and glanced back at her over his shoulder.
"Need something?" he asked. The young heiress forced herself to remain straight in posture as she gathered her words.
"U-uhm, I w-was just wondering if you w-wanted to...s-sit with me? You d-don't have to if you don't w-want to" she replied, tapping her index fingers together nervously. Naruto turned around fully and shrugged his shoulders.
"Sure, if you want me to" he said, much to Hinata's delight. He then sat down across from her at the picnic table and rested his elbows atop the platform.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun. I...d-don't get much c-company" she said gratefully. Naruto chuckled a bit and drummed his fingers on the table.
"Yeah, neither do I. Lunch is usually pretty quiet for me" he replied. Hinata smiled and took another small bite of her rice.
"W-well, I don't r-really see why that s-should be the case. You're p-perfectly pleasant" she said kindly. Naruto gave her a look resembling one of skepticism.
"Sorry if this comes off as rude, but how would you know? We haven't really talked much" he asked. Not having expected to be put on the spot, Hinata fumbled for a feasible response that didn't involve revealing her habit of watching him.
"I...j-just haven't s-seen anything t-that suggests otherwise. Y-you've b-been nice to me" she stammered, tripping over her words several times. Naruto remained silent, seemingly deciding whether or not he found the explanation to be sufficient to quell his curiosity. After a painstaking minute and a half, he nodded and rested his face in one of his hands.
"Yeah, alright. You've been pretty nice too, so thanks for that" he said. Hinata released the breath she had been unconsciously holding and relaxed considerably. She then finished the last of her first rice ball. Her following action to take hold of her second caught Naruto's attention, who, for the first time, noticed the actual identity of the food she was eating.
"Rice balls? That's kinda fancy. Where'd you buy them?" he asked. The heiress wiped a few stray grains of rice from her lips and shook her head.
"A-actually, I made t-them. My lunches are s-self-prepared" she corrected quietly. The blonde mouthed the word 'wow' and studied the remaining rice ball.
"That's well made. You've gotta be a decent cook" he said, clearly impressed by the information being presented to him by his lunchmate. Hinata began tapping her index fingers together again, which went unnoticed by Naruto.
"I j-just have lots of practice. I've been m-making this kind of t-thing for years" she said in an attempt to downplay her culinary skill. Naruto shrugged again and scratched the side of his face.
"Maybe, but that's still impressive as hell" he praised, causing HInata to redden further. She quickly searched for a smooth way to change the topic, as her composure was unlikely to hold on the current track. What she hit upon, however, was more concerning than she had hoped to find.
"W-where is y-your lunch, Naruto-kun?" she asked curiously. Naruto's posture and demeanor instantly changed. His comfort gave way to obvious discomfort, and his positive expression fell a tad. None of the changes were extreme, but they were noticeable.
"I already ate. I finish up pretty quick most of the time" he responded robotically. Hinata furrowed her eyebrows in concern and studied him. It was an obvious lie, and a poor one at that. Beyond the blatantly stilted nature of his tone when responding, he was still eyeing the rice, likely subconsciously.
"I doubt that. You still appear quite hungry to me" Hinata challenged, her stutter gone entirely. Naruto did an almost imperceptible double-take before sighing.
"Yeah, fine. I didn't bring any" he admitted quietly. There was then a silence as both searched for the next path to take conversationally. It was Hinata who found it first. She held out her final rice ball to him across the table.
"Take it. You need to eat" she urged him, her sudden surge of firmness continuing on. The blonde stared at her outstretched hand blankly for a few seconds before reaching out and gingerly taking it from her.
"T-thanks, Hinata" he muttered, taking a bite of the rice as he spoke. After a few moments of chewing, Naruto rapidly consumed the rest of the rice. Once he was finished, he looked back to Hinata, who was looking tense.
"Damn, that's really good" he said with a thumbs-up. Whatever mystical confidence Hinata had conjured to offer him a portion of her food instantly gave way to shyness.
"I'm g-glad you liked it, Naruto-kun. I w-wish I had m-more to give you, but I don't" she said, her tone growing glum by the end. The blonde shook his head.
"No, don't waste your energy on that. I'm fine with just one. Really, thank you" he said sincerely. The heiress made a mental note to make five instead of three the following morning, but feigned agreement.
"Okay, j-just feel f-free to ask if you ever f-forget your food" she said. Before Naruto could respond, a bell sounded off to signify the end of the lunch period. The noise prompted the outcast boy to stand to his feet and stretch.
"Thanks for sharing with me. I appreciate it, Hinata. I'll see you around" he said as he prepared to leave. For the second time that hour, the heiress stepped outside of her own boundaries.
"N-Naruto-kun?" she called meekly. Her classmate turned to face her and motioned for her to continue.
"Yeah?" he asked skeptically. Hinata gestured to the table they had eaten at and then clasped her hands together down in front of her waste to hide the slight tremor in them.
"C-could we do this again? E-eating together, I m-mean" she requested. Naruto cracked a smile and nodded before turning to make his way into the academy building.
"Fine with me" he said before jogging off. Hinata watched him leave for several moments before allowing the heat in her face to take full effect.
She then stood up and followed after him to return to the main building.
Hiashi studied his daughter carefully as she entered through the gates of the Hyuga Estate property. For the second consecutive day that week, her demeanor was deviant from her usual meek sulk. The previous day, she had looked several steps beyond stressed, and had openly sprinted to her personal quarters before shutting herself in until dinner. Now, she was quite the opposite. She wore a look of contentment rather than one of terror or depressive glumness. She looked quite pleased with herself, if anything.
"Quite a shift. How interesting"
The clan head glanced to his left to face the voice, where Neji now stood with the tea he had requested several minutes beforehand. After accepting the near-boiling liquid and setting it aside to cool for the time being, Hiashi nodded in agreement.
"Interesting indeed. Certainly not unwelcome, but quite curious in its extremity" he replied as Hinata disappeared into the doorway of the main house. Once she was entirely out of earshot, Hiashi looked back to Neji, who had sat down to his right in a nearby chair.
"Have you any idea as to the cause?" he asked. The younger of the two Hyuga shrugged his shoulders and leaned back in his chair.
"Nothing especially specific, no. Perhaps she scored excellently on a test of some kind?" he suggested. Hiashi shook his head and stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"No, I doubt that's the cause. Her marks are quite consistently sublime. The academy occasionally hosts in-class competitions, so there's a chance she placed well in one of them" he said, seeming to think aloud. Neji chuckled and kicked off one of his sandals.
"That still wouldn't explain her mood yesterday. Hinata-sama has never been an extrovert, but that was unusual even by her standards. She had the eyes of a hunted deer" he said with a touch of humor in his voice. Hiashi sighed.
"True, which is what makes this all so puzzling. Maybe concerning myself with it is a poor choice. Sitting and watching may be my best choice" he pondered. Neji gave him an odd look.
"With all due respect, Hiashi-sama, letting things play out on their own has never been a strength of yours" he pointed out. The clan head nodded in agreement.
"Especially in regards to my children. I tend to overreact a bit moment to moment. The last time something like this happened, it turned out that Hanabi was simply caring for a stray kitten" he said, searching for lessons to be learned from the previous experience.
"And now that cat is terrified of me" he muttered under his breath. Neji stifled a laugh and stood to his feet in order to return to his duties.
"In all fairness, most infantile animals are afraid of you on some level" he said. Then, he put his stray sandal back on his foot and went on his way. Once he was gone, Hiashi reached for his tea and sipped it for a few moments. The temperature was nearly perfect now.
'It's probably nothing at all. All the same, I find this all to be quite interesting. Lets see how long this change lasts' he thought to himself. A raindrop then struck his forehead. Breathing another sigh, Hiashi stood to his feet and quickly made his way back into the main house.
'Ever changing weather. How fitting'
Rare was the day that Naruto Uzumaki was legitimately exhausted by the time nine o'clock rolled around. Most of the time, it wouldn't be until nearly one in the morning that Naruto would be sufficiently tired enough to fall asleep easily. Fortunately or unfortunately, one of those uncommon occasions had arrived for the blonde. Reasons for his lack of energy were numerous, both in the physical and mental realms. Physically speaking, he had worked himself into the ground after his instruction at the academy had concluded. Four miles of running, over an hour of short drilling, and seventy-five pushups had left his body ragged.
On the more psychological level, he had been wrestling with several unanswered questions for the majority of his day past lunch. The first that had been circling his subconscious was not new, as it was the very same that he had been struggling with from the moment that he had discovered his name on Hinata's slip of paper. The simple question of 'why' troubled him greatly, and the answer had become no less clear. The other unknowns bothering him where far more recently formed. They were questions of 'when' and another case of 'why'.
Naruto, who was situated on the edge of his bed, pondered these three questions repeatedly, approaching each from different angles. Frustratingly, his lack of information prevented him from advancing his analysis any further than it had already gone. Sighing heavily, Naruto took one final crack at the most recent of these questions.
'Since when have you been so friendly, Hinata? How long have you been willing to actually be nice to me?' he wondered to himself. It was easily the most pressing of his concerns regarding the shy girl he had eaten with earlier that day, as it was the most perplexing in nature.
'First, she asks me to stay and eat with her, then she gives me food, then she says she wants to eat with me more often. If she's always felt that open to it, why hasn't she offered before? I'd have been open to the company' he thought to himself. Shaking his head to clear his mind, the blonde laid back flat on the bed.
'I guess complaining about it is stupid. At least she's willing now. Not like I have many options for friends' he conceded. Deciding to take his thoughts in a more positive direction to avoid poor sleep, Naruto moved to another perspective.
'You'd think somebody with her last name would be a real drag to be around, but she's actually...pretty nice. Really, really weird, but definitely nice. Wonder why she's always red-faced, though' he mused to himself. The memory of the food she had given him then returned to the forefront of his mind.
'I don't even like rice, but that was really good. It actually had some flavor to it. Maybe I should forget my lunch more often' he joked. Another aspect of their interactions soon came into the spotlight of his focus.
'Why does she always call me 'Naruto-kun'? Isn't that kinda thing supposed to be for people you're close with? I don't hate it, honestly, but it's still weird' he pondered. For the next few minutes, he reviewed his day as a whole down to fairly minute details. Eventually, his eyelids began to grow heavy. Feeling the need to sleep, Naruto crawled underneath the thin covers of his bed and closed his eyes.
He was asleep within sixty seconds of laying his head down.
A/N: This one is very easy to update, which is nice. Means I can be consistent with uploading chapters. Every two days is about what you should expect. And yeah, I made Hiashi much less of a dick, and Neji isn't anywhere near as antagonizing (it'll be explained later) I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :)
See you next chapter! Read and Review!