*Knock Knock*

Guess whose lazy bum decided to come back from the dead and post a One-Shot? (﹏)

Yes I have been MIA and yes, I might not be regular even now. But I'm going to try. A huge thanks to MystiKoorime for motivating me to post this. This ones dedicated to Mysti and Nana. :3 (~)~

It's my first time writing a NaruHina fic. Hope you enjoy. ლ(・﹏・ლ)

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Naruto or any of the characters. Thanks Bye. Onto the story. ._.

Luncheon

It was just food. "How hard was it to cook for one person?" Hinata asked herself as she paced around the house in a disarray.

Naruto had called a few minutes ago to tell her that he would be in town for a short stopover and would like to catch up. God knows what possessed her to invite him over for lunch to cash in on the short time together.

'It's just lunch. We haven't met in forever. I'm just being paranoid', she repeated these words to herself like a mantra.

Naruto. She sighed his name wistfully, 'Was he the same cheerful goof with no filters?' she wondered to herself as she was doing final checks of the food and her house, he certainly sounded like himself over the phone.

12.30 PM the clock flashed. Lunch was ready. Her heart was not.

"Any moment now" she whispered to herself, still pacing.

As if on cue, the bell rang startling her out of her reverie. She quickly rushed to the door, but just before opening it she took a second to calm herself, smoothen the non-existent wrinkles and wipe the obvious sweat from her forehead as she opened the door with her well practiced smile.

"Welcome Naruto...please come in" she uttered in practiced fashion. He beamed at her, goodness he was magnificent even after all this time, her insides already turning to putty.

He ruffled her hair as he stepped in, "Nice house. Took me forever to find it though."

Hinata tried to flatten and rearrange her hair while pouting, her face tinting the slightest shade of pink and her hands were shaking. She had long since gotten over her insistent blushing mostly cause she convinced herself that it certainly couldn't be healthy to have blood rushing to your face all the time without it actually turning into a medical emergency. 'Old habits die hard' she made a mental note.

Naruto walked into the house as though he were already familiar with the layout, then again it was a standard house, there wasn't an elaborate layout to begin with, nothing grand and confusing like the Hyuga households were so famous for. His eyes eagerly looking around.

"Would you like to eat now? Or in sometime" Hinata interrupted him recovering herself from her initial stupor as she trailed behind him.

"Now...I'm starving" he said stopping abruptly in front of the kitchen. He sniffed the air, "Is that your famous chicken I smell."

She was instantly in her element. "The one and only", the grin oozing from her tone.

Hinata took the lead and pulled him to the table with all the food laid. "Sit", she instructed authoritatively and he followed obediently. Wasting no time she served him with some rice, chicken and curry.

She joined him on the other side, mostly to get a better look at him while he ate.

"Goodness. This tastes just as good as I remember it" he hummed as he began slowly devouring the food.

She gazed at him fondly. They were never strangers, were never lovers. They had no bad blood, but there were a lot of things unsaid.

She couldn't place any memories of them together. They had always been good friends. It was Naruto then again, he was friends with everyone. It was just in his nature to be his usual cheerful self. He had always been good to her and in that kindness, she had fallen for him.

It hurt for her to admit it, but she knew he did not feel that same way, he was always friendly, but she knew that Naruto only ever saw her as the quiet girl who blushed way more than normal and yet she pursued it. Against her better judgment. If she were being honest with herself, there was no real judgment that weighed in. Just her heart following what she wanted.

They never had a falling out, just an unspoken unraveling, they wouldn't be the same again.

Thankfully their time together had also come to an end, a part of her was thankful that she decided to tell Naruto just before they went their separate ways. It was sneaky on her part, but she needed to keep some of her sanity and might she even say it her Hyuga dignity intact.

He was caught off guard, but not entirely unaware of her affections. Heck! Half the university knew about it. He grinned and rubbed the back of his head, something that he usually did when he was often embarrassed or just plain confused.

To Naruto she was always a good friend who was painfully shy and was probably born with an ever present blush. He did not have an answer for her, it was not as though she had asked him, she has just stated that she liked him. She had played her move and left it at that.

A few years ago, she had reached out and apologized for tainting their friendship and not for feeling the way she did. Naruto being well Naruto, laughed it off and was glad that she was talking to him again. Not that she had ever stopped. There was a definite shift in their dynamics.

Yet, seeing him again opened up a flood of emotions she was not ready for. Emotions she had apparently dealt with or buried deep within. She wasn't sure anymore. The distance had made her heart firm. She was perfectly fine. She would see this lunch through, Hinata mentally reminded herself.

Had she really not moved on? What had she been clinging onto? A silly infatuation, a wistful moment.

Hinata sighed out loud, shaking her head at him. Naruto looked up from his food, staring at her oddly. Confusion marring his flawless features.

She pointed to the forming stain on his shirt. She chuckled lightly, moving from her spot to get him a wet cloth.

"Here, wipe it off before it stains" she said offering.

He placed his cutlery down and took her hand along with the cloth and guided her to sit next to him. She stared at him dumbly, confusion written all over her face.

"Are you really not going to ask why I'm here?" he said seriously.

She blinked at him, opening and closing her mouth, oddly resembling a fish as she tried to form coherent words.

"I came to see you", he said.

The gears turning in her head. Hinata laughed and she shook her head lightly tapping the table. Her own private joke that no one was privy to.

"Of course. Who else would you come visit?" she offered with her cheeky humor.

Naruto smiled wearily, reaching out and placing a hand on her cheek, she instantly stilled. Her heart beating a mile a minute, this was not happening. She was having an elaborate nightmare and yet she found her eyes close on instinct. The food long forgotten.

She clearly heard his chair move closer, felt him move closer, she felt his breath close to her face, inches away and she felt his hands tremble. Their proximity too close for comfort, any movement on either side would seal this unmistakable moment.

Bodies stilled, hearts racing.

He finally did move, only to place the gentlest kiss on her forehead. Hinata felt her heart stop, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do if this moment extended.

It did, Naruto moved from her forehead and pressed his lips onto hers. His lips were gentle on hers but without a hint of doubt, they were firm. She felt her eyes burn with unshed tears. He pulled back and she was still scared to open her eyes again, her tears threatening to fall and the moment threatening her very existence.

She did open her lavender eyes, glassy. Tears of redemption, fondness or just pure joy of finally being acknowledged, threatening to fall and yet she held her ground.

Hinata stared at him the question on her lips, but no words to express it. So she did the most natural thing that came to her, she reached out to placed her hand on his cheek, as though to remind herself that this moment existed. That Naruto was in front of her and she was the only thing that reflected back in his ocean eyes. He smiled and leaned into her palm.

"Perhaps, we need more than one luncheon to work this out" he offered.

She slowly nodded, vaguely wondering how hard was it to cook for one person, it was just food.

~ The End ~

Ahoy! Hope you enjoyed that, my skills (assuming that I have any) are a little rusty. But I had fun writing this. T_T Alsoo 3000 points for guessing the random Billie Eilish reference, it was totally unintentional.*shrugs* (๑•﹏•)

Also I have forgotten how to use FF, so excuse the lame editing.Thank you all the lovelies for sticking around and Welcome to all the new readers (Thanks Quarantine). (~‾‾)~

Hope you're all safe.( ꈨຶ ̫̮ ꈨຶ )

Do drop in a review, I would love to hear from you.

Love,

Always MIA Anouk \_ಠ_ಠ/