"Saaakurraaaa," Naruto sang as he peeked at her from behind her locker door.
The pinkette glanced at him and grabbed her textbook. "What do you want, Naruto?"
He fully expected Sakura to ignore him or meet him with a firm 'no', so Naruto perked up when she shut her locker and gave him her full attention.
"Can I copy your Chemistry notes from class yesterday?"
She huffed at his question. "I'm not giving you my notebook..." Despite the rejection, Naruto was unperturbed; he had come to her prepared to beg. Choji was in their class too, but Sakura's notes were sure to be neater and more detailed.
"Pleeeeassse!" Naruto pleaded.
"I'll text you pictures of my notes though."
"Really?!" Naruto beamed. That was a better idea than borrowing her notebook anyway. "You rock!"
"I know," Sakura replied, the corner of her mouth curving up in the tiniest smile. "I'll see you at lunch, okay?"
"Wait, one more thing…" he said before she could turn away. Sakura looked at him expectantly. "So, uh... you and Sasuke?"
"Goodbye, Naruto," she dismissed and walked away. Her abnormally quick pace had him laughing to himself.
"Aye, Naruto!" Ino called as she jogged to catch up with him in the hallway. "You going to lunch?"
He nodded and Ino smiled before looping her arm with his and declared, "I'll walk with you!"
Naruto was a little surprised by the random affection but didn't protest as they made their way to the cafeteria. Well, he didn't protest until Ino started squeezing his bicep.
"Excuse me!" Ino squawked. "When did you get so buff?!"
"You think I'm buff?!" he grinned. "I mean, since I started cheer, I guess." He gave her a little shrug to play off that he was preening on the inside. He definitely felt stronger than he did a few months ago, but it was always flattering to have someone notice.
"Oh, of course! Aren't you so lucky I recruited you?!"
Naruto shook his head with an amused smile. It was just like Ino to take credit for his newly acquired muscles.
"So are you getting excited for the competition?! It's coming up so soon!" Ino beamed. She let go of his arm when they approached their lunch table.
"Yeah, for sure!"
He wondered if anyone from their table, notably Shion, noticed the way Ino had been hanging on him. If she did, she didn't say anything. Instead, she launched into her usual nonstop conversation with Ino. The two blondes gossiped the entirety of the lunch period like they did most days.
Naruto noticed the empty chair next to him, and asked the rest of his friends at the table, "where's Hinata?"
When Naruto found Hinata during Free Period she was in the library, standing on her tiptoes reaching for a book on the very top shelf. She was wearing a chunky sweater that hung loosely on her petite frame and covered the majority of her small skirt.
He opened his mouth, but his greeting dried up on his tongue when he noticed the way her strained reach made her skirt ride up every so slightly, exposing a near scandalous amount of her pale, milky thighs.
Her skin looked so soft...
Wait! What the fuck was he doing?!
"Hey, Hinata! Let me help you!" Naruto called as he approached her, easily grabbing the book she needed and willed away any lewd thoughts his mind tried to conjure up.
She accepted the book gratefully and hugged it close to her chest. "Thank you, Naruto," she smiled softly. She stood directly in front of him, blinking up at him with those impossibly big lavender eyes. They seemed more noticeable today for some reason, the flecks of pale purple and opal easily distinguished. Maybe it was just the lighting or maybe she did something different with her makeup.
"No worries," he replied attempting to sound casual, once he realized he had just been staring at her. He scratched the back of his head and grinned. He couldn't remember why he sought her out anymore. Was it just to say 'hey'? Just to see what she was doing?
"Excuse me," mumbled another student as he attempted to pass by them in the narrow walkway between bookshelves.
Naruto took a step, his back pressed against the shelf. Hinata also attempted to make room, but when the student passed he must have bumped her with his oversized backpack, because she stumbled forward, catching herself against Naruto's chest.
The only thing between them was the book Hinata held against herself. Naruto was a little confused when she didn't immediately step away. Instead, she looked up into his eyes. Suddenly that book felt extremely thin and his face was inexplicably warm.
"Oops," Hinata whispered innocently. She was close enough that he could feel her breath against his lips.
Why was it so hot in this library?! His damn palms were sweating!
Naruto searched for something intelligent to say but for some unidentifiable reason, his mind felt like complete mush. "Oops," he repeated.
She gave him a small smile before she dropped her gaze, and Naruto exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"Do you think…" she began shyly, and he suddenly felt his skin tingling as her finger skated over his pec. He vaguely wondered if she could feel the sudden increase in his heart rate. Hinata looked back up at him, but his attention was torn between her face and her hand's gentle movement. "...you could do me another favor?"
"Uh-huh," he replied dumbly. Naruto couldn't understand his inability to speak. Hinata was his friend. Between cheer, his tumbling lessons, and their normal friendly affection, they touched all the time. But for some reason, her nearness was making him act like a bumbling idiot! What was his problem?!
"Are you sure? It's…" she bit her lip. "It's a little embarrassing…"
Embarrassing for him or embarrassing for her? He wasn't exactly sure. For some reason, Naruto found himself nodding his agreement without uttering his question aloud.
"Do you think… I could come over again this weekend? … I need help with my Calculus again."
Despite that request not being at all embarrassing, Naruto felt himself blush. Why though?! Why was he being so weird?!
"Oh yeah, of course," he said, finally finding his voice.
"Thank you, Naruto. You're so good to me," she said sweetly. Her palm flattened against his chest and he was almost certain she could feel his heart now. "I don't know what I can do… to thank you properly…"
He almost choked. Was he hallucinating or did she actually look at his lips as she said that?! Did she realize what that implied? Surely not… right?!
"You, uh, you don't have to get me anything."
"But I want to," she insisted before she leaned even closer. Hinata stood up on her tiptoes, her lips ghosted over his ear. His whole body stiffened as she purred, "I'm sure I can think of something you'll like."
Before he could even comprehend the possible innuendo, Hinata's warmth was gone.
She took a step back and hugged the book to her chest with both hands. Her cheeks dusted with their usual cute, rosy hue. "I should probably get going, but I'll see you at practice."
Without waiting for him to reply, she walked away, her usually bouncy steps making her skirt flutter. Slumped against the bookshelf, he watched her retreat as he tried to puzzle together what just happened and why the library was so abnormally hot today.
The arcade was loud with the sound of chatter and the various rings and chimes of the games. With a furrowed brow, Naruto leaned up against one of the consoles, too deep in thought to play.
"What's up with you?" Sasuke asked without looking up, he continued to vigorously mash the buttons on his game. Sitting at a neighboring machine, Shikamaru glanced at Naruto from the corner of his eye, silently expressing interest in learning why their boisterous friend was being so uncharacteristically quiet.
"It's nothing…" Naruto sighed, still wearing the same confounded look.
"Good, I didn't actually care anyway," Sasuke muttered.
"It's just that…" Naruto began. Sasuke rolled his eyes, while a knowing smirk tugged at his lips. His best friend never missed the chance to vent about what's on his mind. "...I feel like every girl I know is being weird to me ever since I started dating Shion."
Shikamaru raised a curious brow. "Weird how?"
Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, scrunched his shoulders, and hummed to himself as he tried to find the right words. "Weird like… like they're being overly nice all of the sudden… and more touchy...I kinda feel like they're coming onto me or something."
"Maybe they're all trying to steal you from Shion."
"Really?! You think?!"
Sasuke finally pulled his gaze away from his game just long enough to shoot Naruto a look that said 'that was sarcasm and you are an idiot'.
Shikamaru chuckled to himself. "Okay, but like what does that even mean?"
Naruto sighed, "Let's see, so like today Sakura…" Sasuke turned to Naruto again, suddenly more interested in the conversation. His game made some sad noises indicating he had lost. "She was nicer to me than she usually is, didn't call me any names and listened when I was talking to her. She even sent me pictures of her Chemistry notes."
"You just described her treating you like another human being. She doesn't like you as anything more than that," Sasuke dismissed. He huffed as he pulled some more change out of his pocket to start his game again, a bit miffed that he lost just to listen to something so lame.
"She was probably so standoffish before because she didn't want you to misconstrue her kindness and ask her out again," Shikamaru added. Naruto tilted his head and considered that point for a moment.
"Okay, but then Ino today too! She was cuddling up to me when we walked to lunch and complimented me on my body!"
"Ino isn't a good example," Shikamaru shook his head. "She's just overly touchy-feely like that with her friends. She hangs all over me too. Even Choji. You're not special."
Naruto pursed his lips. "But there was also this thing with Hinata today. She was just… ya know… being different. She asked if she could come over to my house and study."
Naruto had replayed that conversation in his mind several times throughout that day. The words themselves weren't anything out of the ordinary, Hinata was just super nice. It wasn't that weird that she would want to show him her gratitude. But the way she said it… it was almost suggestive.
Sasuke grumbled. "What are you even saying? You and Hinata have been good friends for a while now. Hasn't she already been over to your house?"
"Well, yeah... But this time was just… different."
"Didn't you say she wanted to study?"
"Yes, but-"
"Just because you have a girlfriend now doesn't mean every girl in school wants your D."
"That wasn't what I was trying to say!" Naruto pouted. Then again Hinata was normal when they interacted at practice later in the day… was he just imagining things? Trying to make the situation into something it wasn't?
"But you guys probably right. I'm just overthinking this whole thing."
A/N: Thank you all so much for your support! I love reading your comments! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to hearing what you think!