"Okay, now you're just messing around," Hinata pouted cutely. Naruto laid flat on the mat, grinning up at her.
The beginners' class had ended long ago and Hinata had given at least an additional hour of her attention to helping him.
Naruto sat up and glanced around the empty gym. Or maybe they had been there longer than an hour? The other classes and gymnasts that were practicing had cleared out a while ago.
Hinata plopped down on the mat next to him with a sigh. "Maybe we should call it a night. You worked really hard today and I think you've made some really great progress," she smiled.
Naruto immediately smiled back. Thanks to Hinata, he felt like he had come really far, even just from the beginning of their session. Hinata was so patient and willing to explain things to him. She was the perfect teacher for him.
"Okay, let's be done for today. But we can't leave just yet!" he told her.
Hinata raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"I still want to play!" he grinned.
"Play?" Hinata giggled, covering her mouth in that adorable way girls do.
"Yeah! You can't just bring me here and not expect me to jump in that foam pit at least once! And aren't gymnastics trampolines like extra bouncy?"
"Okay fine," she relented.
At her agreement, Naruto jumped up and made his way across the gym to the most fun looking props. "We can play, but only for a little bit. I have to go home and do some homework," she added.
"Homework?! On a Friday night? What are you!? A ner-" Naruto stopped himself before calling her a 'nerd' remembering how he had accidentally hurt her feelings before. "What I meant to say was, wow Hinata you're so responsible and very cool."
Hinata shook her head. "You're dumb," she mumbled, trying to hide her smile.
"Ow!" Naruto clutched at his chest, near his heart. "You wound me!" he called dramatically before falling backwards into the foam pit.
A blonde head of spiky hair poked out. "Whoa this feels weird!" he declared as he tried to make his way to the edge to climb out but struggled to find his footing squishy foam blocks.
"Ugh," he groaned, starting to get frustrated. "This shit is like quicksand!"
He looked up at the sweet sound of Hinata's quiet giggles. Obviously entertained by his struggles.
"Can I get a little help here?" he begged. Hinata nodded and approached the edge of the foam pit, still wearing an amused smile.
Bending down she offered her hand in assistance, but instead of taking the help, Naruto pulled her down into the foam pit with him. Hinata let out a startled yelp as she landed partially on top of him.
"That's what you get for laughing at me!"
Naruto was surprised when Hinata grabbed one of the foam cubes and bopped him on the head. Suddenly Hinata's rescue mission had turned into an all-out brawl. They laughed as they threw the foam blocks and wrestled one another. Hinata pushed him down and he sunk even further into the pit.
"Help! I'm drowning!" he laughed, as he struggled to push himself back to the surface. How deep was this damn thing! He was about to grab Hinata's leg and pull her under when a new deep voice cut through their laughter.
"What are you doing?"
The voice was annoyed, but authoritative. And maybe kinda familiar?
"Oh, I'm just…" Hinata mumbled nervously. Naruto emerged from the abyss of foam blocks to find Hinata blushing furiously and Neji standing there staring at them.
"Naruto Uzumaki?" Neji said as if Naruto was the last person he expected to see.
"Oh uh, what's up, Neji?" Naruto replied awkwardly.
Neji was a year older than them, already in college, and Hinata's cousin. He and Naruto never really had any beef, but Naruto just always thought Neji hated him for a reason he didn't really understand.
Neji frowned. "You better keep it in your pants, Uzumaki."
"What!?" Naruto wretched his head back. That comment seemed pretty uncalled for in his opinion.
"Neji!" Hinata cried, her face redder than Naruto had ever seen. "Don't say stuff like that." She climbed out of the foam pit with such ease that he realized she had wrestled him in there just to be silly with him.
Neji watched as Naruto struggled to finally pull himself out of the foam pit. Rolling his eyes before turning to Hinata.
"What is he doing here? Past close, I might add," Neji crossed his arms over his chest.
"I was giving him a private tumbling lesson," Hinata replied, frowning at her cousin's completely unwarranted interrogation.
"Yeah, that's what that looked like," Neji scoffed. The heat in Hinata's cheeks worsened, but she chose not to reply to his comment.
"We're on the cheer team together now," Hinata said.
"Are you kidding me?"
"What?! You got a problem with male cheerleaders, Neji?!" Suddenly Naruto was feeling defensive.
Neji turned his unimpressed glare to Naruto. "I wouldn't have a problem if I thought you actually cared about the sport, but to be frank I'm sure you're just there to dick around and chase girls," Neji scowled. "Tell me I'm wrong."
Naruto swallowed. Sure, that was kind of the initial idea, but now he found he actually really liked it.
"Neji, stop it," Hinata snapped, in a loud uncharacteristic way that had both Naruto and Neji a bit startled. "Naruto works really hard! That's why we're here because he's learning to tumble. He shows up to practice and even puts in this extra time. So please don't speak about things you know nothing about!"
Naruto was honestly touched that Hinata had noticed and appreciated his efforts so much. Ino and Sakura were often snipping at him during practice. He told himself it was because they believed he could do better, but he would be lying if he said he didn't wholeheartedly prefer Hinata's method of encouragement.
She was so sweet, giving him praise for all his little improvements. Naruto felt good about himself when he was with her.
Neji sighed. "You know I'm just looking out for you Hinata. While you're spending all this time helping him, you could be studying to get into a good university..."
"...Especially since you gave up on gymnastics, you won't be getting an athletics scholarship," Neji added under his breath.
"Oh, so that's what this is really about!" Hinata groaned.
'Who even was this loud, sassy Hinata?' Naruto wondered with a hint of intrigue.
"Why do you even care so much, Neji?" Hinata glared at her cousin. Two pairs of pale lavender eyes clashed. "You of all people know that I wasn't good enough to compete at the collegiate level anyway. I'm not like you and Hanabi! "
"If you worked harder this year, you may have been good enough!" he insisted.
"Yeah, sure I could've busted my ass all year in hopes of maybe getting recruited by a decent college team," Hinata sighed tiredly. "But you know what? I decided to actually have fun for once! Cheerleading is fun for me! The girls are great and I have more friends than I've ever had before! Why can't you just be happy for me?!"
Neji didn't say anything, his hardened gaze flickered to an uncomfortable Naruto then back to Hinata. "Let's go, we can talk about this later," he said dismissing the conversation.
"I don't want to ride home with you. I'll walk!" Hinata pouted and crossed her arms.
"Stop being so ridiculous!" Neji growled. "You're not walking home, alone, at night!"
"I can give her a ride," Naruto interjected quietly.
Hinata's gaze snapped to him like she had forgotten he was even standing there.
"Perfect, let's go," she finally said. Hinata grabbed Naruto by the arm, pulling him out of the gym before Neji could object. "You can lock up, Neji!"
Naruto barely had time to get on his shoes before they were out the door. They silently slipped into Naruto's car. He was feeling a little uncomfortable, unsure of the right thing to say as he kept awkwardly readjusting his grip on the steering wheel. Blue eyes peeked at her sitting in the passenger seat, concern written all over his face.
It seemed the more soft, quiet Hinata had returned. Her expression was sad, as she quietly buckled her seatbelt.
"Are you okay?" Naruto asked. "That was… kinda intense."
Hinata sighed, "I'm sorry you had to watch that."
"Hey! Hey! None of that!" He told her. "You don't have to apologize to me for sticking up for yourself. I kinda like feisty Hinata!"
Her cheeks flushed scarlet, as she shook her head. Still not able to look at him. His little smirk shifted into something a bit sadder.
"If giving me private lessons takes up too much of your time, we don't have to do them," he offered, unable to hide the disappointment in his voice. Tonight had been fun, he was really looking forward to improving, but he didn't want to impede on her other obligations.
"No, don't listen to Neji. We can do our lessons." Hinata finally turned to look at Naruto, who offered her a small smile. "I want to do our lessons," she affirmed.
"Good," he replied with a nod. "Me too."
They drove to Hinata's house with little conversation, just the quiet sound of the radio and her giving him directions.
When they pulled up to the Hyuga estate, Naruto resisted the urge to gape. It was pretty well known that Hinata was rich. She wore nice clothes and had nice things. But he hadn't realized she was like rich rich.
"Thanks for the ride," she mumbled, gathering her belongings. Hinata was still embarrassed about the whole Neji thing. Getting in a fight with her cousin was probably the worst way to end an otherwise really good night.
"Wait," Naruto said, finally finding his voice. Hinata paused with her fingers on the door handle.
Naruto was still staring at the steering wheel, feeling a little guilty. Should he have tried to stand up for her? She didn't actually seem to need it. But was there more he could've done?
"You know you can talk to me," Naruto said. His blue gaze landed on her, his eyes earnest. "We're friends right?"
He was surprised when Hinata reached out and grabbed his forearm and gave it a squeeze.
"We're friends," she smiled. "Thanks again for the ride." She got out of the car and Naruto made sure she got inside safely.
He didn't even notice the big grin he wore his entire drive home.