A/N: Well, here we are, this is my last update before the Naruto Shippuden manga comes to an end, it's kind of bittersweet really. I am looking forward to seeing how Kishimoto ends the series, but a source of inspiration will now be gone. At least I will still have the anime releases for a while to give me something to feed my love of the series.
Disclaimer: Anyways, I don't own Naruto, it's Kishimoto's property. I am just an obsessed fan.
With Moegi's prize now acquired, and the fireworks soon to be starting, the friends split apart; Ino, Kiba, Shino and Tenten head off in one direction. While Moegi, who had promised to be home in time to enjoy the fireworks with her family, is being escorted by Udon who is struggling to carry the stuffed tiger by himself without dragging it on the ground. As she is about to walk away Moegi gives Konohamaru a slight wave, almost like she was expecting him to run over and join his two teammates.
Konohamaru returns the wave and shakes his head before gesturing towards Naruto. "I'm going to hang with them tonight, I'll see you two tomorrow for our team training exercises okay?" He gives Udon a slight nod.
Udon's eyes widen and he nods back happily before turning to Moegi. "If we don't hurry we won't make it to your parent's place before the fireworks start.
Moegi looks thoughtfully over at the smiling Udon before shrugging. "I guess you're right." She gives Konohamaru one last look before walking away, while Udon nearly drops the tiger in his haste to keep up with Moegi.
Hanabi looks over at Konohamaru and watches him for a moment before asking, "Is everything okay? Moegi seemed like she was expecting you to go along with them tonight."
Konohamaru looks at Hanabi with a nervous smile and scratches the back his head. "Yeah, everything is just fine. We've been hanging out and watching the fireworks together for as long as the three of us could stay up that late. I guess that it feels a little weird because this is the first time in a while that we are not all three together for the end of the festival."
"You can go if you want to, I'll be okay." Hanabi glances over at Naruto and her sister to see Hinata giggling happily as he describes trying to catch that big goldfish. "I can sit quietly off to the side and just watch the fireworks by myself, it's no big deal really." She hopes that her voice sounds more certain than her heart feels about sitting all alone.
Konohamaru shakes his head defiantly as he stands a little straighter and gives Hanabi a thumb up gesture. "Nope, I said that I would keep you company tonight and I am not going to break my promise. So you are just stuck with me till after the fireworks show is over, okay." He looks down the road and can still see the very tips of Moegi's hair bobbing up and down amongst the mass of people filling the streets. 'Besides, I don't want to break two promises.'
Naruto leads the others up to the Hokage tower and smiles when Hinata gives him a curious look. "It's okay Hinata, I got permission from Baa-chan to have the top of the tower all to ourselves tonight to watch the fireworks." He chuckles and gives her a big smile. "She said something about trusting us to be alone on top of the tower together a lot more than some of the other shinobi that she knows."
Hinata just covers her mouth and giggles at the memory of what she and Naruto had found that last time they had been to the top of the tower. This time when they reached the top the surprise she receives does not embarrass her, but makes her gasp in awe.
There set up in the open area are four comfortable looking chairs and two small tables with cups and a thermos on each table, along with a covered plate. In the center of each table is a small paper lantern, whose soft glow increases the intimate sensation for each table. As she looks closer Hinata recognizes the chairs and tables. "Are those…"
"The comfy chairs from the conference room downstairs? Yup, I thought it would be nice to just sit up here and watch the fireworks show in style." Naruto smiles as he leads her over to one of the tables while gesturing for Hanabi and Konohamaru to take the other set of chairs and table.
Hinata looks at him a little concerned. "If the Hokage finds out she might not be happy about what you did, besides when did you move these up here anyways?" She knows from experience that some of the village council members can be very particular about their chairs, and she remembers one time that a meeting was halted because the cleaning crew had not put the chairs back in the correct order. A lot of time had been wasted while the head of the merchant guild had to find his chair and get it readjusted after Choji's father had already sat in the chair and made himself comfortable.
Naruto just shrugs as if unconcerned about what might happen. "IF, she finds out she might yell and give me some sort of extra work for punishment, but I am sure it would be worth the price. How I got it all up here is easy, remember earlier when you went to the ladies room? Well, while you were in there I made a few shadow clones and sent them to go pick up some fresh tea and mochi for us, plus bring up a couple of small tables and the comfortable chairs to sit on while we wait for the countdown, in comfort." He pours Hinata a cup of hot tea and smiles. "When we are ready to leave I will make some more shadow clones to put everything back the way it is supposed to be, so don't worry." After she nods he holds up his cup to her and gives her a gentle smile. "Happy New Year, Hinata."
Hinata looks deeply into his blue eyes and returns his smile with a happy one of her own. "You too, Naruto-kun." As they turn towards the Hokage Monument and look at the tower built there for the New Year's countdown Hinata notices that Naruto is nibbling slowly at a piece of mochi. 'What is wrong? He only nibbles at food like that when he is nervous. Did I scare him with my concern over the chairs? That seems unlikely after how he answered my question, so something else is bothering him.' She reaches out and puts a comforting hand on his arm.
Naruto turns as he senses Hinata touch him gently on the arm and feels his pulse quicken as he looks into those lavender pools. 'Hey Kurama, you asked me the other day if I had made my decision. Well the answer is yes I have made up my mind. I am going to take a chance.' He only gets silence as a reply. "Hinata, I…"
"Yes, what is it Naruto-kun?" She feels herself tremble a little when his hand brushes hers lightly as he takes the warm cup from her hand and puts both of their cups on the table. When he turns back around and looks nervously into her eyes she feels her knees weaken a little, and as if sensing her plight Naruto places his hands timidly on her waist. The contact between them seems to help steady them both, enough at least for Naruto to find his voice again.
"You know how you have always called me Naruto-kun?" He smiles as she nods nervously. "Well, you see… I was wondering… if you…" He looks up into the sky and inhales deeply trying to gather some strength.
'What is the matter? Why is he so concerned about the honorific I use? Is he going to ask me to stop using such a childish honorific with his name? Maybe he is right, Naruto-k.., I mean Naruto is a true hero and should be addressed by people, even me, with more respect.' She places both hands on his chest and can feel the rapid beat of his strong heart. 'He's trembling. I can feel his muscles twitch wherever I place my hands.' She grips his robes and gently tugs at them to force him to look down into her eyes. "What is it you want to ask, Naruto-kun? Please tell me."
Looking back into her eyes somehow makes him feel immensely strong and terribly vulnerable all at the same time. "Would you be... uh… okay if I called you... tenshi, Hinata? I mean, you have been watching me and been there so many times when I felt like I had lost all hope, kind of like a guardian angel. So, would you be my tenshi, Hinata?" For anyone else this should have been a simple question to ask, but to him this required more of his courage then it would for him to fight Orochimaru, Tobi and Madara all at the same time. To him, asking her this meant one more frightening step closer to obtaining what he has wanted all his life, but fate has always seemed to snatch out of his grasp just as it seems to be possible. All he has ever truly wanted to make him happy was to be accepted as part of something, kind of like a family. His old team was his first real taste of that inclusion and it had gone all to hell when Sasuke left and even worse after the war. His relationship with Jiraiya had been his longest continual feeling of family and that had been destroyed by Pain. He was afraid, deep down, that he is one step closer to losing her now, a thought that amplifies his nervous jitters, with a shiver of fear.
Her answer is so simple and direct that Naruto has no trouble understanding its true meaning. Hinata just pulls him down and gives him a kiss, but this time it was not a timid brush of the lips. She wants to show him exactly how happy his question makes her feel. In her heart she wonders, 'How could three other words from him make me any happier than I am feeling right now?' A tear of pure joy works its way down her cheek as she continues to kiss Naruto.
'THAT'S IT? THAT IS YOUR CHOICE? YOU HAVE BEEN AGONIZING FOR DAYS ON THIS SIMPLE QUESTION? IT IS MOMENTS LIKE THIS THAT I CURSE THE NAME NAMIKAZE MINATO FOR PUTTING ME INSIDE YOUR BODY. COME INSIDE RIGHT NOW, I HAVE A SUDDEN NEED TO SLAP YOU AROUND A FEW TIMES, VERY HARD.'
Naruto, trying not to flinch at the suddenly irate kyubi raging inside him, thinks calmly back at his friend. 'Will you please calm down? You are making it really difficult for me to talk and think at the moment.'
'THINKING? THINKING! I AM NOT REALLY SURE HOW MUCH OF THAT OCCURS INSIDE THAT HEAD OF YOURS AT TIMES. BESIDES, WITH HER LIPS PRESSED AGAINST YOURS I DOUBT THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE SAYING ANYTHING ANY TIME SOON, AS LONG AS YOU DON'T DO SOMETHING STUPID.'
Hinata feels his body change from trembling like a newborn lamb to completely rigid like a stone. She pulls back to look at him and can see the signs of him in the trance he has when he talks with Kurama. She watches and waits and even shakes him a little to see if she can pull him from his trance.
Naruto notices that Hinata has leaned back and is now staring at him with concern. 'Listen, you damn well know what I have been thinking and even dreaming about for a long time.' Hinata has begun to gently shake him, but he was too caught up talking with Kurama and trying not to get pulled all the way inside to confront the irate kyubi face to face, to respond to her prodding. 'Just let me have this one step okay, just for now.'
Kurama gives a deep rumbling sigh. 'I KNOW BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE, BESIDES YOURSELF, WHAT YOU SEE WHEN YOU DREAM. YOU HUMANS DO NOT HAVE A LOT OF TIME IN THIS WORLD, EVEN ONES OF YOUR BLOODLINE, AND I HATE TO SEE YOU WASTE WHAT LITTLE TIME YOU HAVE ON SUCH A SIMPLE DESCISION. I WILL ABIDE BY YOUR CHOICE KIT, HOWEVER AGONIZINGLY SLOW IT MAY BE FOR YOU TO MAKE IT, AND I WILL BE QUIET AND WAIT CALMLY FOR YOU TO FIND THE COURAGE TO CLAIM YOUR VIXEN, FOR NOW.'
'Why, why do you care so much about what decision I make in regards to Hinata?' There is only silence. 'Dammit answer me you big fur ball.' Naruto only hears a grunt and then the feeling of movement as if Kurama had just turned his back and walked away.
As Naruto begins to shows signs of coming out of the trance Hinata starts talking, hoping that nothing is wrong. "Is everything okay?"
Naruto blinks a few times before his head is completely clear. "Yeah, Kurama was just telling me that I am an idiot for waiting so long to ask you something so simple, Hinata-tenshi." His tongue nearly stumbles across the unfamiliar phrase, but his mouth curls up in a smile at how happy saying it makes him feel. "I never did hear an answer, tenshi." His heart swells up in his chest as he sees the obvious joy on Hinata's face each time he says that word. 'Kurama's right, I am an idiot for waiting so long. If I knew calling her tenshi would make her this happy I would have asked her on our first date.'
She was amazed how just one simple word from his lips could make her heart feel as if it was going to explode from happiness.
FLASH! BOOM!
They both turn their heads in shock as the first fireworks of the New Year has gone off, seemingly right above their heads. The night sky lights up in all sorts of colors and shapes as the two embrace and watch as the show intensifies.
"We missed the countdown." He pulls her closer, as she rests her back against his chest.
Hinata sighs happily at how wonderfully the New Year has begun. "I don't care." She reaches into a concealed space within the sleeve of her kimono and pulls out a slender box. Hinata smiles for a moment before holding it up for him to see.
Naruto looks at the small slender box with confusion. "What is this tenshi?" He smiles again at just saying the word and feeling her press up against him happily in response.
"I wanted your first gift of the year to be from me, Naruto-kun. I hope you like what I bought." Hinata's hands shake a little as she watches him take the slender box out of her hands.
Naruto opens the box and inside is a pendant that looks to be made of the same lavender jade and blue topaz as the earrings he bought Hinata for her birthday. The stones had been crafted to resemble the yin-yang symbol and hangs from two golden chains.
"Do you like the pendant?" Hinata asks in an anxious voice.
He looks at the pendant for a moment before nervously licking his lips. "It is very beautiful, Hinata-tenshi."
"You see… I remember the… old necklace you used to wear… it was pretty… and I thought you looked very nice wearing it, but…"
Naruto, understanding what she was about to say places a gentle hand on her arm. "It got destroyed when I lost control after…" Images of her bloody face smiling at him flood his mind and he has to turn his head for a moment or he knows he will start crying.
"You lost control because of me Naruto-kun and broke the Hokage's gift." Hinata places a hand gently on his arm hoping to get him to look towards her again. "I know this is not much, but…"
Naruto could not think about that day, not now, not tonight when it was the dawn of a new year and that memory belongs in the past with so many other painful ones. He turns back, placing his face against the back of her head and quickly gives her a hug so that she will not see his tears. "It means a lot to me Hinata and I accept your gift, thank you. I have one question though, why are there two chains?"
Hinata reaches up and slides the tiny hidden catch on the pendant, which causes it to separate into two halves. She places the lavender jade half with its chain into his hand and closes his fingers around it with a nervous smile. "I-I-I thought that we could each wear half and that it is only c-c-complete when the two parts are together." Hinata's hands nervously fidgets with her half of the pendant not knowing what else to do while she waits for Naruto's response. 'I really hope he likes my idea, because it's really how I feel these days. We've spent so much time together lately that when he is not around I feel like part of me is missing.'
Naruto reaches down and takes the pendant from her shaking hands. After undoing the clasp he raises the chain around her neck and hooks the chain back into place leaving the bright blue pendant nestled perfectly at the top of her décolletage. "I think that is a great idea, we can each carry part of the other with us even when we are separated." He puts his arms around her and wraps her in a warm embrace.
Hinata feels tears as they drop onto her neck and feels herself wanting to weep as well. 'I hope those are happy tears?' She takes his half of the pendant from his hand and spins around in his embrace, not realizing till it was too late how close this would put their faces together and she blushes slightly. He slides his hands down to her waist as she reaches up to hang the pendant around his neck, their eyes never veering from each other.
Once done, she leans forward to kiss the lavender jade pendant and then smiles as she tells him the last bit of information about his gift. "There is one more thing you should know about the pendants. The gold around each pendant is an alloy of gold and the metal used to make chakra blades. If you focus on the pendant you can feel the chakra of the last person to infuse some of theirs into the pendant." After nods in agreement she places her palm on the one he is wearing and slides it over his heart. As she infuses her chakra into the pendant she cannot help but imagine her own chakra overflowing her gift and directly into his heart combining their two charkas. 'I wonder if mine will feel warm to him like the chakra he gave me during the war felt?'
Naruto feels a slight tingling sensation as she focuses her chakra into the pendant over one of his strongest chakra points, the one over his heart. Over his life he has been infused with so many different chakras and like all the others Hinata's is distinct and reflects her personality in many ways. Unlike Kurama's, which is chaotic and intense like a forest fire running through his body, or natural chakra that is immense and powerful, Hinata's chakra feels gentle and soothing as it enters his body. He can feel Kurama take notice and shift to inspect the new chakra entering his host's body and after a moment or two of inspection the fox returns to his nap.
While she is so focused on this simple task, Naruto takes the rare opportunity of having her so close, and not shyly looking away, to study her face up close and try to commit to memory how she looks tonight. 'Man, all I want to do right now is pull her close and never let go, to never let this night end.' His thoughts are broken when he realizes that she is done and is looking back at him with a smile.
"Would you do the same to mine Naruto-kun?" When his hand hesitates over the pendant she can see a blush beginning to creep over his face. "It's okay, you have my permission." It took all of her self-control to not stammer out those words as she places his palm on top of the pendant and traps them between her hand and the section of her kimono that is covering her heart. She is not sure if the trembling she feels is from Naruto or her own body's longing to succumb to its desires, whether that is to faint or something far more intimate she is afraid to risk knowing the answer. She stares up into his blushing face and can see that he is struggling to calm himself as well. It wasn't helping her stay calm either by the way that his free hand is absently caressing her hip in a very stimulating manner.
Naruto's mind becomes a whirlwind of thoughts as he tries to focus on what should be a simple task, but at this moment he is finding it to be anything but simple. 'I've never touched her… here before. The skin underneath her kimono seems so soft. Dammit, just try and focus on your chakra and infusing some of it inside the pendant. Her skin is so warm, too. Okay, just slowly infuse your chakra inside. Warm and soft. You don't want to do it too fast and mess up, so slow down. She really does smell nice tonight, is that a new perfume? You are almost finished, so just ease up and try not to stare down her cleavage so much. Eyes, focus on her eyes, girls prefer eye contact. Yeah, Hinata has pretty… eyes.' Once completed he notices Hinata has a firm grip on his kimono and seems to be taking calming breaths of her own. "Wow, I never imagined that doing something like that would be so… intense."
'Oh Kami, that felt… wonderful. It all happened so fast during the war, but the feeling of him slowly infusing the charka was… oh Kami…' Hinata, not trusting herself to act rationally at this moment, when her sister was most likely watching everything that they were doing, so she turns back around to enjoy watching the fireworks nestled in his arms. "Yes, that was… amazing, Naruto-kun." How could she tell him that her insides now felt soft and warm, like melted butter, and the only thing keeper her standing at the moment was his support.
After a few minutes her head clears and she feels the need to apologize to him for being upset with him earlier in the night. "I have to ask your forgiveness Naruto-kun I was a little hurt when I first heard you call my sister Hanabi-chan, and was wondering why you were not saying that to me. I didn't know you were thinking about calling me something else."
"I am sorry tenshi, but you deserve more than to simply be called 'chan', but I could never get up the courage till tonight to ask if I could call you 'tenshi', and I am sorry it took me so long. Also, I hope you don't mind, but after being around Hanabi so much recently I have begun to think of her like a little sister. Would you be upset with me if I kind of treated her like a little sister, Hinata-tenshi?" He could not stop himself from calling her an angel, it fit her too perfectly. "It's kind of nice to feel like I have a little sister in my life and Konohamaru has felt like a little brother to me sometimes."
At hearing his words Hinata realizes how she has been letting her own insecurities get in the way of the obvious. After seeing how he acted around Sakura for all those years, and more recently his actions towards her, Hinata realizes that he was treating Hanabi completely different. He had been treating Hanabi kindly and lovingly in his own gentle way, but not romantically in any way. 'I've been such a fool and instead of paying attention to his actions I have let my silly fears take hold.'
With a look of shame on her face Hinata looks into his eyes and can see nothing but nervous honesty being reflected back. "You want to think of Hanabi-chan as a little sister?" After Naruto nods the inner Hinata fist pumps victoriously and just wants to walk up to Hanabi and shout 'That's right, in your face little sister, Naruto-kun is all mine,' but instead she gives him a warm happy smile. "I think that is very sweet and I completely approve of you treating Hanabi-chan like a little sister." She adds quietly to herself, 'Who knows one day if I get my wish she might be your little sister-in-law.'
Naruto squeezes her tighter and whispers in her ear. "Thanks Hinata-tenshi, you have always been so much nicer to me than I ever deserved."
She squeezes his forearms firmly. "That is where you are wrong? You have deserved so much more than life ever gave you and I am only doing my small little part to give back some of what you have earned."
'Small… little… part?' He thinks to himself. 'My life is fuller right now than all my years combined up to this point. How could this just be a small part?' He nuzzles her hair and inhales deeply the scent of lavender and vanilla with just a hint of cinnamon. "I need to get you a first gift too."
Hinata brushes her hand along one of his enveloping arms. "You already have, Naruto-kun." She smiles as he cocks his head to look at her curiously. "You made me your angel tonight. That is the best gift I could ever ask for."
"I asked you before the end of the year and technically that was last year I asked you, so I need to do something for this year." He turns her around and stares deeply in her eyes.
"I never gave you an answer, so if you ask me again we could make it official this year. How about that, Naruto-kun?" Hinata reaches up and traces the lines on his left cheek as she waits for his reply.
"Okay, Hyuga Hinata may I call you tenshi, will you be my angel?" He smiles at her confidently waiting for her reply and hopefully another kiss.
Hinata purses her lips thoughtfully and looks deeply into his eyes. "I'll think about it, but I am the heiress to my clan and should not allow just anyone to speak to me is such a familiar fashion." While he is still stunned from her response Hinata turns around and leans into his chest to excitedly await his reaction. 'That was so much fun. I wish I had a camera, the look on his face was priceless.'
Naruto just stares up into the sky, not registering the beautiful display, trying to comprehend what just occurred. 'What, just happened? Did I… miss something?'
All Naruto could hear now was a rumbling laughter coming from somewhere deep inside. 'I'LL TELL YOU WHAT JUST HAPPENED. YOU GOT WHAT YOU HUMANS CALL, PUNKED, BUT A HYUGA NO LESS. KIT I THINK THAT YOU ARE PROBABLY THE ONLY PERSON TO EVER GET PUNKED BY A HYUGA.' The rumbling laughter picks up its pace to an almost hysterical rhythm. 'I JUST DIDN'T THINK SUCH A THING WAS EVEN POSSIBLE. OH KAMI… I CAN'T BREATH… IT HURTS… OH KAMI… IT HURTS.'
'Shut up you big fur ball.' A sudden thought crosses his mind. 'Wait, you were listening? Just how often do you eavesdrop into my conversations?' Naruto could feel his ears' burning as the kyubi's laughter begins to fade. 'We are going to talk about this later, you hear me Kurama?' Right now he needs to focus his attention on the young lady who just pulled a prank on him, him the king of pranks just got punked by Hinata.
Hinata feels his body go tense and was starting to get afraid that she might have finally gotten too bold. 'Did I make him mad? I thought it would be funny, but maybe I was wrong.' Her own body becomes tense as she feels his warm breath on her neck.
"You are right Hinata, maybe we should get to know each other better before we progress to me calling you tenshi." He rubs his cheek against the side of her neck and feels a shiver run through her body has he inhales deeply the rich scent of her perfume. "I don't even know if you liked being kissed on the neck." He can feel the vibrations of a little moan on his lips as it escapes her throat as his lips gently touch her exposed neck. Encouraged by the reaction, and more than a little aroused, he picks another spot and tries again.
'I-I-I didn't k-k-know either.' Hinata is caught by surprise at the sudden sensation of his warm soft lips as they gently touch the side of her neck. She feels a tingling wave start at that spot and run its way down her body as if it was cool sparkling water running through her veins on its way to her feet. Her gasp at the sensation comes out as a moan that vibrates somewhere deep inside her body. As his lips find a new spot to touch, one of her hands involuntarily reaches up and grasps the hair on the back of his head and latches on tightly as her knees began to weaken. Her other hand goes to her mouth where she bites deeply into her index finger to stifle the second, more intense, gasp that is threatening to issue forth as another moan.
As she grabs his hair and pulls, Naruto for a moment wonders if he is going to have a bald spot there, or even worse his head might become detached from a more intense tug. Undeterred, he changes spots again, but this time something urges him to try something different. 'Let's see how she likes being kissed and then nibbled.' As his lips touch the soft flesh of her neck his lips part ever so slowly and he takes the most gentle of tentative bites.
Hinata feels her body begin to quiver as his lips touch yet a different spot, and her hands tremble slightly as his lips part, spreading the sensation. When his teeth pluck ever so gently against her flesh over her collarbone she feels a spasm in her diaphragm so intense that the hand she was biting reaches down in vain to try and calm the trembling muscles. With her mouth no longer covered her head tilts back and she lets out a loud groan, enhanced by the sudden contraction of her diaphragm. "Yeessss!" She stares up into the night sky not really knowing if the flashes of light are from the fireworks or something more personal.
Naruto can feel her body quiver intensely and then go rigid as she lets out a loud groan and the hand grasping his hair jerks so suddenly he worries that she might have damaged his neck. Hinata lets out a long heavy sigh and her body goes limp in his arms. He twists her around and can see in her flushed face that she has fainted. "Oh man, I guess I went too far, but at least I got my answer." He picks her up in his arms and takes a seat in one of the comfy chairs. Naruto holds her in his lap and watches the fireworks display till she begins to awaken.
Not too far away Konohamaru looks over at the suddenly slumping figure of Hinata in Naruto's arms and asks Hanabi. "Oh crap, is Hinata okay? Do we need to take her to the hospital?"
Hanabi, who has been occasionally peeking over at Naruto and her sister, and at one point realizes that Konohamaru is watching the embracing couple with a wide-eyed expression. Their eyes had locked for a moment and then had they looked quickly away, suddenly feeling very self-conscious of what they were watching and of each other. Now her sister has fainted in Naruto-kun's arms while… he was…, her face turns pink at the thought of what it might feel like to be kissed like that on the neck. "She'll be just FINE!" She turns with a slight pain in her chest, thinking about how she will never be able to find someone as nice as Naruto, and looks back up into the sky. 'I'll probably end up in some loveless arranged marriage with a guy I can barely be in the room with, let alone a bed.'
Konohamaru, a little shocked by the sudden bitterness in Hanabi's voice, looks back up into the sky. He occasionally glances over to check on his friend, mentor and somewhat adopted older brother and sees something knew on his face. It takes him a couple of glances to figure out what that look signifies and finally in dawns on him that the only other time her had seen Naruto look like that was after a dozen or so bowls of ramen, Naruto looks happily content.
As Konohamaru looks over towards Naruto he also looks at Hanabi and feels a little sad at seeing the young girl looking up forlornly at the night sky. He reaches down and picks up the plate of mochi and holds it out to Hanabi in hopes that something sweet might take her mind off whatever is bothering her at the moment. At first she either was ignoring him or just was lost in her own thoughts, but finally she looks down and notices the plate. She takes one of the red ones and gives him a slight smile of thanks.
Seeing her smile felt like a great accomplishment for some reason, so Konohamaru rewards himself by picking up a green mochi and holds it up towards Hanabi in a toast-like gesture before taking a big bite. "Happy New Year, Hyuga Hanabi. I hope that the year ahead brings you much happiness.""
Smiling, in spite of feeling like she was completely shattered inside on how badly the whole night has gone, she holds up her own mochi in a return salute before taking a small bite. "Thank you Sarutobi Konohamaru, and the same to you as well." After thinking for a moment she looks back at Konohamaru. "It's okay for you to call me Hanabi, if you want too."
A little surprised at her offer he gives her a big grin. "Okay, but only if you call me Konohamaru." Without saying anything else they both look back up to finish watching the show.
Hinata was only unconscious for a few minutes and she finally wakes up near the end of the fireworks show. She nuzzles in the warmth that is wrapped about her with a smile. A particularly loud explosion erupts right above her and she sits up completely startled. It takes her a moment to get her bearings and recollect what was occurring just before everything went black and exactly where she is now. She turns and sees his blue eyes looking back at her, a sheepish smile across his perfect face.
"Hi tenshi, are you feeling okay?" He asks and when she just nods he pulls her blushing face down onto his chest and shifts so that they could watch the last of the show together. Neither of them saying anything, they just sit there together enjoying each other's presence, as Hinata gently touches the pendant he is wearing.
After the show ends Naruto summons several clones to clean up and return everything back to where it belongs while he and Konohamaru walk the girls back home. Along the way Naruto reaches down and brushes his hand slightly against Hinata's and after a shared smile he wraps his hand around her smaller one, their fingers intertwined.
The inner Hinata explodes in a squeal of delight. 'He did it, he is holding my hand. I am walking with my Naruto-kun through the village and we are holding hands like an official couple.' She smiles happily at Naruto as her inner self goes on celebrating loudly the rest of the walk home.
The guard on duty greets them with a bow as they all walk through the gate. Naruto and Hinata share a brief kiss knowing that Konohamaru and Hanabi were likely not the only eyes watching them at the moment. Naruto turns his head towards the younger couple and lifts and eyebrow, suggesting silently that they look elsewhere.
The two genin politely turn away while Naruto and Hinata tell each other goodnight. Hanabi bows politely and gives Konohamaru a slight smile. "Thank you for your company this evening. It was very nice having someone else with us tonight." Hanabi actually is grateful that Konohamaru had been asked by Naruto to join them tonight, otherwise she would have been completely alone and miserable while her sister monopolized all of Naruto's attention and won his heart.
"It was my pleasure Hanabi. I had fun tonight, and I hope my company wasn't too boring." He returns her bow and both of them seeing that Naruto was still busy saying goodnight to Hinata, look about nervously trying to think of something else to say or do until they were done. Konohamaru has an idea and holds out his fist to Hanabi with a smile.
Hanabi sees the signature gesture that she has seen Naruto use and smiles slightly before returning the gesture. 'I don't care what everyone else was saying, he's not my date. Companion? No that sounds too weird. Escort? Maybe, that doesn't sound too weird. Friend, I like that, we are just friends who kept each other company tonight, that's it. We are just friends, that's all. Wait, that means I am now friends with the class pervert. Oh Kami, what a way to start the year.' Hanabi starts trying to think up something to tell her teammates once they find out that she was seen at the festival tonight with Konohamau by her side. Ookami is going to be insufferable, I should have never told her about Konohamaru seeing me at the hot spring.'
Naruto and Hinata, both of them nervous of saying something wrong, just stare at each other smiling after their kiss. Hinata is the one that finally breaks the silence. "Will I see you in the morning for the sunrise ceremony?"
"Absolutely, I have never been to a bell tolling ceremony before. I usually just sleep until lunchtime and then go to have ramen at Ichiraku's the first day of a new year." He smiles as she giggles at hearing his not so surprising tradition.
Hinata raises her chin as she speaks formally to Naruto. "Well, I cannot ask that you observe one of my family's traditions without being willing to do the same for one of yours, so why don't we plan on going to Ichiraku's and trying the rest of the ramen specials for lunch tomorrow."
Naruto arches an eyebrow at the firm tone in her voice. "Is that an order tenshi-sama?"
Hinata tries, but fails, to not giggle at his mixture of honorifics. "It is Naruto-kun." They share a playful bow before both girls walk away towards the main house.
Naruto walks with Konohamaru back towards the boy's home. "I want to say thanks for helping me out tonight. It was getting a little weird having both girls at my elbow and trying not to be rude to Hanabi while not neglecting Hinata. I hope you and Hanabi had a good time together."
"Yeah, I guess so." Konohamaru kicks at a piece of trash on the sidewalk. "It was just kind of weird though."
Naruto looks down with a smirk. "Yeah, how so?"
"Well, it was kind of weird hanging out with somebody who is neither Udon or Moegi, since we have nearly spent ever free moment together since we were kids, even before we went to the academy." He gives a confused shake of his head. "Plus, my team will most likely be going up against Hanabi's in the chunin exams in a few months."
Naruto can sense there is more than what his friend is saying. "Is there something else?"
"Well, I guess so, but please don't say anything, okay." After Naruto agrees Konohamaru fidgets for a few moments before speaking. "It's just whenever she looks at me with those eyes of hers. I feel like she is looking not just at me, but right inside me, like right at my soul or something." He gives a slight shiver. "It felt like she knew exactly what was going on inside my head when she would look at me tonight."
Naruto chuckles and puts a friendly arm around the boy's shoulder. "Yeah, it does feel like that sometimes." He looks down and smirks. "Do you have any plans for tomorrow morning, around sunrise?"
Inside the Hyuga compound, just outside the entrance to the main house, Hinata looks over at her sister with an uncontainable smile on her face. "Did you have fun tonight Hanabi-chan?" She has to keep her smile from becoming smug as she says the honorific. She would have to wait till the right moment to tell her little sister how Naruto really feels about her, because she doesn't want to see Hanabi hurt, but she knows that her sister needs to realize the truth of his feelings.
Hanabi could not hide how disappointed she is in how the night had not gone as she had planned. "I guess, the ramen was cool and the fireworks were pretty good. Not that you saw much of the display." She gave her sister a look that made it clear she had seen what her sister had been doing there upon the roof with Naruto.
Hinata is not surprised by her sister's admission that she had been watching, but her sister's tone sounded almost like a threat, but before she could reply Hanabi holds up a hand in a dismissive gesture.
"Don't worry, I am not going to say anything to Otou-sama about what you were doing tonight with Naruto during the fireworks." She waits until Hinata's body begins to relax before stepping inside the house and announcing over her shoulder. "I won't have to tell him anything, once he sees that bite mark on your neck I am pretty sure he'll guess exactly what you were doing tonight." Hanabi shuts the door and a loud clicking of the lock being engaged can be heard as Hinata just stands there in shock.
A/N: I am so happy to have finally reached this point in the story. I first wrote down the scene between Naruto and Hinata during the fireworks right after Christmas last year and have been looking forward to getting here all this time. Now a new year is about to begin for the couple and their friends.