Chapter 63

Hinata and Naruto visit Kurenai

Naruto and Hinata made it to Kurenai's place right after leaving the flower shop.

"You knock this time, I woke everyone up when I did it last time," he remarked to Hinata.

She smiled at him while he made a sheepish look and knocked on the door.

After a moment the door was opened and Konoahmaru answered. "Hey, Naruto!" he said as
he kept a hold on the door. "I'd let you in but Kurenai is pretty strict." He mentioned.

"Konahamaru, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"I'm babysitting," he replied, he was sure Naruto would make fun of him.

"So he's your cousin, isn't he?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, he is," Konahamaru asked. "Hey, is she your girlfriend," he asked in an obnoxious tone.

"She sure is," Naruto replied with a smug look as he held Hinata's hand again.

"Whoa," Konahmaru's mouth was hanging open, he was surprised Naruto finally got a girlfriend. "Aren't you Hanabi's sister," he asked Hinata.

"You know my sister?" she asked, she knew she had seen Hanabi turn red at the mention of his name. She handed the flowers to him before he could answer "Is there any way that you could leave these for Kurenai and let her know we stopped by to visit?"

"Sure," he said as he took the flowers.

"Thanks Konahmaru," she replied as she pulled on Naruto's arm.

"See you later Konahmaru," Naruto waved as he walked back the way he came with Hinata.

"Bye Naruto," he said as he closed the door.

"Well that wasn't what I expected," Naruto said as he and Hinata were walking back through town.

"I haven't seen your place since I've been back," she began, wondering if he ever was able to get his apartment straightened out.

"Yeah, that's an idea," he replied, "but I thought you had a big day planned?" He asked. There hadn't been much that had gone on since they left the house in the morning.

Hinata started to blush. "I was expecting our visit with Kurenai to take awhile. Then afterwards, I was hoping we could spend some time together," she looked to the side as she added in a soft voice "alone..."

"Oh, yeah, um, sure," Naruto replied, finally taking the hint. He wasn't used to feeling nervous, but he was starting to. He hadn't been completely alone with Hinata since the night she left the Sand village.

When they got to his place he opened the door and motioned for Hinata to come in.

She stepped in and noticed the place hadn't changed much from when she had been there last. "Naruto," she paused, "it doesn't look any different from before," she started giggling.

Naruto started laughing too as he rubbed his hand on the back of his head, "yeah, I guess you're right."

She turned and noticed something in the corner that was new but looked familiar to her. When she saw it she became speechless.

Naruto was watching her carefully and noticed that she had stopped and what she had seen. He wasn't sure what she would think.

A plant of light purple flowers, exactly like the ones she gave Naruto when he stayed in the hospital were in the corner. Hinata had several of the same plants in her garden back home. Since this wasn't a normal plant to find around the village, she knew that it came from her garden.

"I hope you're not upset that I took it from your garden Hinata," Naruto began, talking to the back of Hinata. She hadn't responded and he moved closer to her and reached out to cup her shoulder. "Having these around made me feel like you might not be that far away, ya know?" When she still didn't respond her lightly pulled her around and he could see that she had tears rolling down her face.

When Naruto saw her she reached up and tried to quickly wipe her tears. Naruto was shocked about her reaction and couldn't understand what she might be thinking. "Hinata, you've gotta tell me what's on your mind."

"I'm sorry Naruto…it's just that today has felt like a dream. And coming back here and seeing this, it shows me that you really care about me" she faltered as Naruto relaxed his grip on her shoulder.

"Hinata, can I ask you a question?" he dropped his hand from her shoulder and took a step closer to her.

"Do you not see that I'm in love with you?" He asked her with a serious look on his face.

"Naruto…" she froze at the mention of the word 'love' coming from his lips. "I…I guess I have been used to loving you for such a long time and not knowing if you felt anything for me…" she replied softly.

"I see" he said as he scowled and looked down.

"What I mean to say is that I'm still getting used to you showing me how you feel, it takes me by surprise..."

He looked back up at her, his scowl fading and being replaced by a light smile on his face.

She loved it when he smiled and wanted to reassure him. "I like it," she added as she leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. When she pulled back she smiled and then sat down on the floor. He followed suit and sat next to her.

"Me too," he added. He looked around his apartment and imagined what living with Hinata would feel like, and how spending everyday with her would feel. The image of that in his mind made him realize how lonely he really was on his own. Hinata could see that Naruto was lost in thought and wanted to know what he was thinking about.

"Naruto?" she asked, "Now it's your turn to tell me what you're thinking." She said with a smile.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her, not because he didn't want it to happen, but because once it was out there, he would have a hard time when things didn't or couldn't change. Hinata could see that he was struggling and didn't want to push him.

"It's okay Naruto, we can change the subject if you…" she tried.

"No," he interrupted. "It's just that it can get pretty lonely living here by myself, I've never lived with anyone before and I wonder what it would be like if we could spend everyday together, and just live together."

Hinata's eyes were wide as she thought of a reply. Naruto could sense a change in her but couldn't tell what. He decided to change the subject and stood up.

"Are you getting hungry?" Hinata asked as she got up and went into the kitchen to see what he had to cook.

"Not really," he smiled as his stomach growled. He laughed a little "okay, yes, but I didn't want you to come here just to cook for me," he added.

She was taken aback, "I know that," she added puzzled "why did you want me to come," she asked, putting him on the spot.

Naruto started to blush, "because I like spending time with you," he answered, he looked up to see her face, wondering what she would say.

She smiled at him "I like spending time with you too Naruto." She was blushing even more than before.

He walked into the kitchen with her and started picking out some things to cook. "I can probably stir something," he added.

She helped him open the packages so he could add things to the pan to cook and they made lunch together. When they got done they realized they still hadn't got an extra plate or utensils.

"I guess I'm just not used to thinking about having people over, sorry about that," he added.

"I don't mind," she smiled at him as he slid the food onto the plate she just washed. Naruto stood next to her holding the pan and she was next to him with the plate, after he was done he sat the pan down and just stood there, he appeared to be deep in thought. Hinata squeezed his shoulder to bring him back to earth. "Naruto?"

He looked down into her eyes and saw that she was blushing with a concerned look on her face; her porcelain skin glowing softly again in the sunlight. He brought his hand up to her stroke her jaw and then moved a piece of her dark hair behind her ear. When she didn't move away he continued running his fingers through her hair and pulling some over the top of her shoulder. He moved his hand back to her jaw and rested his fingers lightly under her chin and leaned forward to kiss her. She closed her eyes and felt his lips on hers, the kiss only lasted a few seconds but she felt like time had stopped. When it was over she opened her eyes to Naruto still looking at her.

She gazed into his eyes, seeing that he was blushing too, and wanted to kiss him again. She stood up on the tips of her toes while watching the look on his face as he had watched hers, and then kissed him back. She lost her balance and started to fall but Naruto was able to steady her with his chest and to him it just seemed like she wanted to kiss him more passionately. His eyes widened and so did hers and they broke the kiss.

"Sorry, Naruto, I lost my balance," she added, embarrassed that it might look that she was coming on too strong.

"No," he reassured, "I, I liked it," he said in a bashful tone as he turned to hide his face, afraid she would look at him like a major pervert with the things he was thinking about. She grabbed his hand and pulled him closer to her and pressed his body up against hers while she was up against the kitchen wall, she waited, wanting him to kiss her again. He could sense what she wanted and he wanted to too, he leaned forward again to kiss her and it was several minutes later before they stopped again.

After a few minutes had passed, Hinata remembered how hungry Naruto was, and felt guilty for not wanting to stop. He was still recovering from his surgery and needed to preserve his energy.

"I think the food is probably cold," Hinata mentioned.

He had completely forgotten about food altogether, and his stomach started to growl again.

"Yeah, you're probably right," he added as he picked himself up off of her, she regretted reminding him as soon as he separated himself from her.

She walked over to the counter and grabbed the plate and utensil and sat down next to him on the floor. They ate their lunch in silence with smiles on their faces but passed the utensil back and forth to each other after each bite.