"What did you do to her!?" Sakura screamed from across the gym.
"NOTHING!" Naruto defended nervously.
"I swear! I didn't! She used to faint all the time!" Naruto added with exasperation and maybe a hint of guilt. He used his hand to fan her, nervously looking down her pale, impassive face.
It was true that Hinata used to faint back in middle school - not all the time - but just about every time it did happen, Naruto was around.
Unbeknownst to Naruto, he was often the cause.
He had very little concept of personal space back then. Standing too close and maybe giving too many friendly touches. Such attention from her crush often overwhelmed the younger, even shyer Hinata.
Hinata murmured softly as she regained consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open and the first thing she saw was Naruto's face, so close to hers she almost fainted again.
"Hinata! Are you okay?!" he asked with genuine concern.
"Give her some room to breathe, you dunce!" Sakura scolded. Hinata's eyes flickered to her pink-haired friend and Sakura's face softened significantly. "Are you okay to sit up?" she sweetly asked. Hinata nodded as Sakura and Naruto helped her up to sit.
"Did you want some water?" Naruto asked, pushing a big, orange reusable water bottle in front of her. With her mind still a bit hazy, Hinata quizzically stared at his offering.
"That isn't my water bottle," she whispered.
"Oh yeah," Naruto chuckled. "It's mine! I didn't want to go digging through your bag. But you can drink from it, I don't mind!"
Hinata's pale eyes flickered from Naruto to the water bottle, then to Naruto's totally kissable lips back to his water bottle. She felt her face heat again. She was totally overthinking this! Sharing a water bottle isn't like indirectly kissing him. That's so silly!
Noticing Hinata's hesitation, Sakura chimed in. "She doesn't want to share your water bottle! We don't know where your mouth has been!"
Naruto frowned at the insult.
"I'll go grab your water bottle from your bag," Sakura told Hinata, in a much softer voice than she ever used when talking to Naruto. After giving Hinata a soothing rub on the shoulder, Sakura stood to go retrieve her friend's drink.
"My mouth isn't gross," Naruto mumbled. More to himself than Hinata, but she still felt compelled to respond.
"I didn't think that!" she quietly defended. "I think your mouth is…" her gaze fell to his lips again. Staring for way longer than could be considered normal. "...nice," Hinata finished awkwardly, finally looking back up into his eyes.
Why did he have to sit so close to her?! She could barely think straight! His hand still rested on her back from after he helped her sit up. Maybe he thought he was being comforting... or maybe touching her just had no effect on him whatsoever.
Naruto broke out into a big grin, "I think you're nice, Hinata!" She could feel the heat from her blush spreading to her ears from his words. But when his smile faltered, Hinata began to worry.
"I'm sorry I didn't exactly catch you," Naruto apologized. "Ino already yelled at me, so please don't be mad."
Hinata shook her head softly. "Oh, I'm not mad at you, Naruto. I'm just…" her gaze fell to the floor. "I'm just so embarrassed. I haven't fainted in so long."
"You don't have to be embarrassed!" Naruto said with a sympathetic smile. "Ino told me my number one job on this team is to never let you hit the floor, so even if you faint again I'll be there to catch you! Believe it!"
Hinata didn't know what to say, her heart just fluttered at the thought of being in Naruto's arms.
"This last time doesn't count, okay?" he whispered and then immediately laughed at his own joke.
"Hinata!" Naruto called jogging up behind her as all the students filed out of the school on Friday afternoon. She must not have heard him over the hustle and bustle of excited students eager for the weekend. "Hey, Hinata!" he tried again, grabbing her by the wrist to get her attention.
A surprised Hinata turned around suddenly, bumping right into Naruto. Her hands instinctively came up to guard her face, accidentally landing on his broad chest. To avoid knocking her over completely, Naruto caught her shoulders.
"Oops! Sorry about that!" he chuckled, not bothering to let go, even as passersby bumbled around them and glanced their way.
It had been a week since they started cheer practice, so Hinata had grown more comfortable being touched by him and yet this still felt like a rather intimate position.
He looked down at her with his usual bright smile. She didn't have the willpower to push away from him.
"Are busy tonight?" Naruto asked. Her eyes widened in surprise at his question.
Was he really about to ask her out on a date?! Hinata's hopeful heart began beating faster.
"I, uh-" she could barely speak.
"I was thinking if you aren't, we could do my tumbling lesson! I'm getting really excited to learn!" he beamed.
Hinata's stomach dropped. She was so stupid. Of course, he wasn't asking her on a date…
She tried to hide the disappointment in her face. When she finally found the power to push him away enough to take a step back, he easily let her go. "Sorry," Naruto laughed again as if he hadn't even realized the way he was holding her.
She didn't even notice the pink that tinged his cheeks.
"Umm, I…" Hinata pushed her hair behind her ear. "I'm teaching a beginners class tonight actually, but maybe you can come after and we can work on stuff for a little while."
"Well if it's a beginners' class then maybe I could sit in! That way we wouldn't have to start from scratch in our lesson!"
"Are- are you sure?" Hinata asked, her brow slightly furrowed.
"Of course!" Naruto grinned. "Let me see your phone. I'll put in my number so you can text me where and when!" Hinata handed her phone over, allowing Naruto to add his contact.
She self-consciously looked around at their passing classmates wondering what people thought was going on between them. If they even cared to notice that is. Hinata was overthinking this.
"Naruto, let's go!" someone called from a distance.
"Oops, sorry! I'm giving Choji a ride home, but I'll see you later!" Naruto quickly handed her phone back and jogged up to his chubby friend.
"Bye," Hinata said with a sigh as she watched him leave.
Naruto made his way to Hyuga Gymnastics not really knowing what to expect, but when he entered the huge warehouse-like building, it was like a giant playground!
Trampolines and springy floors. Balance beams and monkey bar looking things. And there was even a foam pit!
Hinata's beginner class congregated on an expanse of red mats at the center of the massive room, rather similar to the ones the cheer team laid out on the gym floor for practice. But it was quickly apparent that these mats had springs under them or something because Naruto felt like he could jump twice as high.
Maybe he should've suspected something was up when Hinata acted like it would be weird for him to join her beginners' class. It honestly hadn't occurred to him that all the other students would be 6 years old.
"Who are you?" a young girl in a bright pink leotard asked, staring up at Naruto. He smiled down at her awkwardly, unsure how to explain his presence.
"Oh that's my friend, Naruto," Hinata answered. "He's going to be joining our class today." Suddenly he had half a dozen pairs of big eyes staring at him expectantly.
Of the kids in the class, there were five girls and one boy, all of whom Naruto was about twice their height.
"Show us a cool trick!" One of them demanded.
Naruto was confused at first but then frowned. Duh! When these little kids see someone older than them at their gym, they assume they're more advanced.
"I don't have any tricks!" Naruto laughed, scratching the back of his head as he tried to ignore their looks of disappointment.
"He's actually here to work on his skills," Hinata chimed in, her voice even sweeter than her usual. "I told him you were my very best students and he really wanted to learn from you guys! Can you all be good examples for Naruto today?"
All of the children beamed with pride and eagerly agreed. Naruto couldn't help but smile, Hinata seemed so comfortable handling kids (at least way more than he was).
Hinata continued talking to the kids as they started class with their stretches. She explained the importance of warming up their muscles and asked the kids what their goals were for class that day.
Maybe it was that she was just good at teaching, but as he watched her he felt like she seemed more confident here than she was at school. Like she was really in her element.
"Do you have a goal you want to share with us, Naruto?" she asked as they all reached forward in their straddle stretch.
"Oh, uh. I guess my goal is... to do a backflip?" he answered with a hint of uncertainty.
"What kind of backflip?" one of the kids asked.
Naruto grimaced. What kind?! How many kinds were there?!
"I think he means a back tuck," Hinata answered her student before turning her gaze to Naruto. "I think we'll have to work up to that one, okay?" she smiled softly.
Naruto didn't know why he blushed. He suddenly felt silly, as if Hinata was giving him the same gentle treatment as her 6-year-old students. He really needed to learn all these damn terms so he could stop embarrassing himself.
The class continued with the kids working on their basic skills. They did forward rolls, cartwheels, and round offs across the mat as Hinata worked with each of them individually on their backbends and back walkovers.
Naruto was surprised when she called him over for a turn. Hinata stood up as he approached.
"So I'm thinking we can have you try some back walkovers, it's almost like a slow-motion back handspring, and then we'll work our way up. Sound good?" Naruto nodded eagerly. If these 6-year-olds could do it then he was sure he could figure out.
"Good," she smiled. "I'll demonstrate and then I'll spot you and you can give it a try."
Hinata turned, sticking her hands out in front of her. "So an easy trick is going to be to watch your hands," she instructed as she lifted her hands above her head, stretching further and arching her back until her hands hit the floor and she was in a backbend. "Then kick over." Hinata lifted one leg and pushed off the other and landed back to standing on her feet. "Make sense?"
Naruto furrowed his brow. "Ooh yeah. I don't know if I'm flexible enough for that."
"Oh no," Hinata said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I've seen you at cheer practice, I think you'll be fine."
Naruto couldn't help but smirk. "Were you watching me stretch?" He asked, parroting her words from the first day of practice.
"Um- Uh..." Hinata stuttered, her face turning red.
"I'm just joking!" Naruto laughed. But when he noticed how much Hinata didn't appreciate being teased he threw in an apology. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he said, even though he was still chuckling. "If you think I can, I'll try!"
After a few attempts that Hinata told him were 'pretty good', the kids all took another turn with her. Even as he followed along with the other beginners attempting to cartwheel across the floor, he found his gaze gravitating toward Hinata. Her soft smile and the gentle encouragement she gave each of her students.
A/N: thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed! I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments!
Please note, this fic is unbeta'd apologies for any grammar mistakes.