The weekend came and went, and on Monday morning Naruto was surprised how excited he was for cheer practice that afternoon. He had originally joined the team on a whim, but the more time he spent doing it, the more he enjoyed it.
At first, he gravitated toward Kiba at every practice, but now he was finding he was friends with most of the girls on the team. The warm-up run and stretches they did at the start of each practice were becoming much easier, and he found he could actually now follow the conversations that included all the jargon.
After practice instead of leaving with everyone else, Naruto went to the locker room and changed back into his normal clothes from the school day. He had plans to go meet up with Sasuke to hang out and study.
Most other students were long gone, being that school ended hours ago, and many of the cheer girls rushed home right after practice was over. Walking out of the school, Naruto was surprised to find Hinata waiting by the parking lot, staring at her phone with a furrowed brow.
"Hinata!" he called in greeting. She jumped slightly, obviously expecting to be the only one left at the school at this hour.
"Oh hello, Naruto. Umm, good work at practice today."
"Haha, thanks! You too!" He stopped next to her. "What are you still doing here? Are you waiting for someone?"
She looked down at her phone, then back to Naruto. "Um, kind of. I was supposed to have Neji come pick me up, but I haven't called him. I haven't really spoken to him since… well, you know."
Naruto nodded in understanding. He wasn't that familiar with Hinata and Neji's relationship, but he knew enough to know they were close. Not speaking for a few days was probably a big deal for them.
"I just don't want him to corner me in the car and make me feel bad for my choices. I was thinking I might call Sakura... but she's probably already half home by now…"
"Let me give you a ride," he offered without any hesitation.
"Oh Naruto, you don't have to do that! You look like you have plans! I wouldn't want to impose!" she rambled out in one breath.
"C'mon, you already are doing me such a big favor with the tumbling lessons, the least I could do is give you a ride!"
"Are you sure?"
"Of course," he said. Grabbing her cheer bag off the ground and made his way towards his car before she could object any further.
Hinata jogged up to him and she tried to grab her bag from him. Their fingers brushed against each other. Both blushed suddenly and quickly pulled away only to let her bag drop to the ground.
"Oh, I'm so sor—"
"Oops! I thought you had—"
They said at the same time. Both bent down to retrieve the bag only to bonk heads.
"Oof!" Naruto exclaimed as Hinata winced and rubbed the bump on her forehead.
"Gosh Hinata, I was just trying to help you! You didn't have to head butt me!"
"I didn't mean to!"
"I know," Naruto laughed, "I was just teasing."
He smiled at the way she blushed and looked away. It was kind of funny how easily Hinata got flustered. She quickly grabbed her bag and made her way to the passenger side of the car.
The following day after practice everyone was packing up when Naruto noticed in his peripherals someone standing near to him. He peeked over his shoulder to find a shy Hinata. She was holding her cheer duffle in front of her and biting her lip.
"What's up, Hinata?" he smiled. Her nervous posture made him nervous. Was she about to tell him he had been doing something wrong? Was she still feeling bad about elbowing him in the face when she fell out of that stunt early? It honestly hadn't hurt that bad.
She looked up to meet his eyes. "Umm… if it's not too much trouble, do you think you could give me a ride home again today?"
"Oh yeah, of course," Naruto smiled as he threw his duffle over his shoulder. "But I'm starving, you mind if we grab a snack on the way?"
Hinata's eyes widened with surprise. She had obviously spent more time with Naruto lately but always with a purpose, she was kind of excited to just hang out with him.
When she didn't respond right away, Naruto added, "if you're not in a hurry to get home that is!"
"Oh no! I'd love to!" she said quickly, then immediately blushed at the overly eager way her voice came out.
Naruto had taken them to a cute little smoothie place, they both ordered before sliding into a booth across from one another.
"My usual go-to after school snack is ramen, but I learned after my first tumbling lesson that eating something so rich and salty like that and then trying to do flips is not a great combo," he laughed as he pretended to be sick. Hinata giggled at his theatrics.
They made polite chit chat about classes and cheer for a while as they sipped their smoothies before Naruto got the nerve to ask what had been on his mind. "So... umm, like don't get me wrong, I totally don't mind giving you rides home whenever, but I was just wondering… are you and Neji gonna be alright?"
Hinata looked down her smoothie and sighed. "Yeah, I'm sure we'll be fine eventually," she answered quietly.
"Why is he so mad about you quitting gymnastics anyway?" Naruto frowned. He really didn't understand why her cousin would be so mean to her about something that didn't even really affect him.
Hinata's earlier smile had dissolved into something more solemn and thoughtful, and Naruto found himself regretting even bringing up the subject when they were having such a nice time.
"You don't have to answer that if you don't want to," he said. "It's really none of my business."
"No it's okay," Hinata replied with a shake of her head. With a deep breath, she dove into the story. "So I'm sure you figured that with my family owning Hyuga Gymnastics and all that, me and Neji and even my little sister have been practicing together basically our whole lives. Some of my fondest memories from my childhood were of traveling and competing together, but it was also really hard. I just remember my muscles always feeling sore and my hands aching from practicing so hard. My father was the coach and he pushed us to be the best. People like Neji or Hanabi were so naturally talented, and well, I had to work twice as hard just to catch up."
"What are you talking about!?" Naruto interjected. "You're so talented! You make everything look so effortless!"
Hinata gave him a soft smile, flattered by his compliments. "Thanks," she whispered, "for saying that."
"But it's a little more complicated than that. I excelled at floor routines, which is why cheerleading came pretty easy to me. I could hold my own on the balance beam, but when it came to vault or the uneven bars, I wasn't as good as I should've been. And that's really where the problem lies. Neji is disappointed I'm not trying to compete at the collegiate level, but you have to be exceptional at every event to even be recruited."
Naruto nodded, starting to finally understand.
"So when Sakura asked me to join the cheer team, I weighed my options between using my existing skills and having fun with new friends or suffering through grueling training on my least favorite gymnastics events to maybe get recruited. Honestly, the choice felt simple," she shrugged. "At first I thought my father wouldn't allow it, but lately he's been so focused on Hanabi since she joined the Junior Olympic team anyway. He said as long as I was still doing well in school and teaching my classes at the gym that he was happy to support me."
"If your dad can get behind it, why can't Neji?" he insisted.
Hinata sighed. "To be honest, I believe Neji just wants me to do what he thinks is best for me, rather than supporting me in what I think is best for me. I meant what I said to him that day, cheer is all the fun without the crazy pressure and I wish he could just be happy for me."
"Well I for one, am happy for you," Naruto said. "To be honest, I was actually surprised how much fun I'm having with cheer too... and I'm glad I get to do it with you."
Hinata almost stopped breathing, as Naruto reached towards her hand resting on the table (seemingly in slow motion). Oh my god. Was he really going to hold her hand?! That's so romantic! Hinata squealed internally.
But the spell was broken when his phone vibrated violently against the surface of the table with an incoming call. His attention diverted and he grabbed the phone instead of her hand. Hinata fought the urge to pout.
"What's up?... I told you I'd be home later… Yeah, no, I will… Okay, I'll see you then." Naruto hung up the phone.
"Sorry about that! We should probably get going," he said.
"Oh, right," Hinata nodded and grabbed her smoothie as the pair slid out of the booth.
"That was exactly what I said!" Naruto laughed, as he playfully bumped into Hinata as they walked out of the school on Friday afternoon. She giggled as she bumped him back. Feeling practically giddy about how close they were growing.
Hinata asked for a ride again the day after they got smoothies, and then again the next day. And now she doesn't even have to ask and Naruto will still wait for her after practice and they walk out together. Often grabbing a quick snack on their way home.
"What should we eat today?" he asked. "I was thinking maybe boba."
"I like boba!" Hinata smiled.
"Aye Naruto!" Shikamaru greeted, as the pair spotted a group of Naruto's friends in the parking lot. "You coming to the arcade with us?" All the boys eyed him expectantly.
"Oh sorry fellas," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. "I'll have to pass! I actually have plans with Hinata today!"
Sasuke booed.
"Didn't you hang out with her like every day this week?" Kiba asked. Hinata found herself blushing at the question. It was true that she and Naruto had started spending a lot more time together.
"Yeah! What about your bros?" Choji added.
"Oh stop it, you guys!" Naruto laughed. "We're just on a tight schedule. We're gonna grab a bite and get over to Hyuga Gym before Hinata's class and then we have my tumbling lesson."
We? They were a 'we'? A smile spread across Hinata's lips. They were a 'we'!
"I never pegged you as the guy who ditches his friends for a girl," Shikamaru muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Don't be jealous just because Hinata has replaced you as my best friend," Naruto teased as he threw an arm around Hinata's shoulders and stuck his tongue out at his friends.
Usually, Hinata would be elated by his physical affection, but she was too hung up on his words. They weren't really a 'we', according to him they were just friends...
Hinata tried to keep up her smile. What did she really expect? Naruto was just a nice guy. She really shouldn't read so much into all his kind gestures... His sweet compliments... His lingering touches...
Dammit. She was doomed.