As the day progressed the Hyuuga household could notice a distinct difference in their weakling young lady. Even Neji of the Cadet Branch, who was at the household for the day to train, noticed a difference in her demeanor, and, more for exploiting a weakness rather than concern did he follow her as she...wait, were her feet even touching the ground as she walked! Oh yes, something was going on, and Neji intended to find out. "Lady Hinata, what has you so giddy?" Hinata simply smiled and waved her hand nonchalantly at him, a sign of indifference that, on a normal day, would never be given to another of the family by the shy girl, and would usually infuriate the Cadet Hyuuga if not for his already complete confusion. "I do not know what you are talking about, Big Brother Neji." And with that she, for lack of a better word, floated on down the hall to her room. As the evening drew nearer Hinata lost her giddy behavior as it was quickly replaced by sheer terror. "Oh, should I dress up? No, that would be too obvious! But what if, no, but maybe, ugghh! Noo!" She decided to split halfway and donned her usual jacket, her headband tied around her neck, but wearing a more formal top under the jacket than she usually wore. She brushed her hair and sat on the floor and looked at the clock, curious as to how much time was left before dinner. ...3 hours...hmmm, perhaps I'm getting a little too excited...
After a few more odd jobs Naruto had enough money for the night plus some extra for ramen the next day. As supper time got closer and closer he began to think a little more about the dinner and Hinata 'Where are we gonna eat? Should I change? Is this a date with Hinata?' When the third question made it into his head he sat down and began to think 'It can't be a date Hinata does not like me like that, does she?' he recalled the events of today and and the past. 'Well I can't think of anything that would make me think she liked me' he thought, if you can call it thinking with something like that as his answer, so he decided he was going to put that out of his mind and just act normal. He went home to shower, he did not want to stink, even if it wasn't a date. After he cleaned himself up he began his journey to Hinata's house. When he arrived he knocked on the door and waited.
Master Hyuuga sighed as he heard the knock at his door. "Neji, please get that will you?" Neji sighed as he got up from his meditation. He was shocked to see Naruto at the door, but allowed a sneer to curl his lips. "What are you doing here, loser?" He blinked as he started piecing things together. "Wait a second...are you and-" Before he could say anything else Hinata was out the door, dressed up semi-formal and wearing a slightly more dressy bag around her waist rather than her plain one. "Thank you for getting the door Big Brother Neji. I am sorry your training was interrupted." She bowed to him and then turned shyly to Naruto, the blush returning to her cheeks. "G-good evening, Naruto-kun..." She looked down at the ground as she continued, "Y-you smell n-nice, clean..." Neji stood there, shocked, thoroughly confused, and slightly repulsed.
'Loser! As I recall I beat you at the exams, all you managed to do was poke me a lot' is what Naruto was thinking and would have said if Hinata hadn't shown up. "Thank you Hinata, you look nice, is that a new bag the shirt looks new as well." he said to Hinata, completely ignoring Neji. He reached out and took Hinata by the hand "Let's go Hinata, I'm hungry" he said with a smile and started walking away from the house still holding her hand.
T-thank you, Naruto-ku-" She stifled a gasp as he took her hand and Neji's eyes grew to the size of saucer plates watching them leave from the doorway. "Neji, where are y-" Master Hyuuga's eyes also went wide at watching Hinata walk off with Naruto. Hinata meanwhile was trying not to pass out from partial nervousness and partial giddiness and, whether she was merely trying to keep herself standing upright or she was actually following what her heart was telling her, she dared to walk closer to Naruto, hoping she wouldn't get yelled at or pushed away. "T-thank you for t-taking me to dinner, Naruto-kun.
You're Welcome" he said as he smiled at her, Naruto and Hinata had been walking for a little bit before he realized he was still holding her hand and she was pretty close to him. He let go of her hand to see how she would react. "Sorry Hinata, I forgot I was still holding your hand... guess I just got distracted." He watched her from the corner of his eye to make sure he didn't miss a single motion she made, he had a feeling this was a little more than just a meal, it might even be a date, his first date to be more specific.
She immediately downcast her eyes and hastily moved over slightly, worried that she was looking foolish. Of course he wasn't holding her hand because he liked her! N-no p-problem, N-Naruto-kun..." She tried to keep the hint of disappointment from her face. She timidly wrapped her arms crossed around the front of her body and kept her eyes away from Naruto, feeling very small and timid. "W-where are we going to eat, Naruto-kun?" She tried to make small talk to calm herself down.
Naruto noticed that when he let go of her hand, her mood changed and she was unhappy now. What did this mean? Did she like him, he was very confused. 'Why else would she be sad if I let go of her hand, maybe she's mad cause I got distracted and was not paying attention to her, but that still makes me think that she likes me, AGHHH I don't know what to do' he thought but didn't show any of those emotions on the outside. Even if she did like him he did not ever think of her as a girlfriend, but now that he was thinking of it, he figured it wouldn't be bad at all, but he still had feelings for Sakura, even though she obviously had none in return for him. He just wanted to stop walking and sit in the street and figure out what to do, but that was not an option, after a few moments of thought he decided that this was in fact a date with Hinata and that it was not a bad thing at all. When he heard her ask the question he answered, "Well actually at my house, on my roof to be more specific, it's such a nice day I thought it was a good idea, also I didn't have enough money for a fancy restaurant and the ramen shop did not feel right for this kind of situation, but we will be eating ramen, I made it myself from scratch just for the occasion," he said with a smile. He wanted to make a move on her like put his arm around her or hold her hand again, but he didn't want to come on strong because of how timid she was, so he slowly began to walk colser to her until they were almost touching.
T-that sounds lovely, Naruto-kun." She felt herself blushing more and more as she noticed their body distance becoming smaller and smaller. She tried to hide her giddiness but couldn't help but smile, and for some reason rather than getting more nervous she actually felt more relaxed the closer they got. She noticed it significantly as she said the next part without stuttering, "I'm sure the ramen will be wonderful." And she actually built up the courage to look up at him straight to his face and smile a genuine smile.
When she finished her last sentence he was surprised, he couldn't remember talking to her in casual conversation without her stuttering, this made him smile a bit. "Thank you Hinata, I hope it will be" he said to her, he decided he was going to do something he had seen done a lot but wasn't sure if it would work, but he was willing to take the chance. He put his arms above his head and let out an obviously fake yawn, although he thought it sounded real, and when he went to put his arms down put one of them around Hinata's shoulder and waited for a reaction from her, and he could only hope it would be a good one.
Hinata blushed and near gasped when she felt his arm find its way around her, but found herself trying to supress a giggle. "Your yawn could use work, Naruto-kun!" She made the same yawning motion and did the same thing, but bringing her arm back to her as she put it to her mouth as she giggled. As soon as the giggle came out she truly did gasp and froze in her tracks. Did I just flirt with him! She quickly snapped out of her shock and bowed profusely to Naruto, repeating apologies. "Oh, I'm sorry Naruto-kun! I'm really sorry!" She felt really embarassed but couldn't help noticing that she wasn't stuttering, even with her apologies.
What are you saying sorry for? You've done nothing wrong" he said "And was the yawn really that obvious, I thought I did a good job" he said with a small laugh, moving his arm to behind her back, only because it was easier for him to walk that way. "You don't mind though, that I'm putting my arm around you? The last think I want is for you to be uncomfortable' he said looking her in the eyes, and as he did almost became hypnotized, he had never really looked into her eyes, they were beautiful. He could have looked at them all day, but would settle for the end of the conversation.
She sighed a breath of relief when she realized that he took no offense and relaxed again. "I don't mind, Naruto-kun. I am...very comfortable." She smiled and blushed as he looked into her eyes. She liked this feeling in her stomach, the feeling in her heart. She leaned her head slightly to the side of his torso (about where she came to him) and let it rest there as they walked, her eyes closed, hoping that he wouldn't push her away. Normally this action would have been so far out of her comfort zone she probably would have passed out, but for some reason she felt as if it was supposed to be done, like her body told her to. Maybe not her body, maybe her heart.
Naruto was very happy at the way things had turned out so far, he had never expected that borrowing some money from someone could ever turn into such a good thing. He decided to take a couple of detours along the way to his house just so he could stay like this with Hinata for as long as possible. "Hinata... I was wondering have you liked me for a while or is this a recent thing? If you don't mind me asking." he said looking to her again. He was pretty sure he knew the answer, but was not sure and he wanted to talk to her as well, although he did not mind just being with her.
She blushed slightly but remained how she was, still leaned up against him comfortably walking. "Umm, well, yes, it's been a while." She pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes, smiling. "It's just...when I was younger, you gave me strength. Your ability to fight through anything gave me the will to keep pursuing my goal." She looked down at the ground. "If it hadn't have been for you back then, I probably wouldn't still be a ninja today...I suppose I did like you for sometime, Naruto-kun, but I didn't ever dream that you'd share the same feelings, it seemed like, well, they were saved for someone else..." She paused for a moment, then looked partially up at him. "...do you share my feelings, Naruto-kun?" She blushed. "I-it's okay if you don't, I'd understand." She was surprised that when she thought of the possibility of her feelings not being returned her stuttering returned.
"Well I never really thought of you as anything more then a friend until recently, and I never imagined I was such an inspiration to anyone, even you. And well as you know I have always liked someone, Sakura-chan, but she has never liked me as anything more then a friend, and sometimes less then that, and right now I'm happier then I have ever thought I would be with Sakura, if that makes any sense" he said and pulled her closer to him "And don't think you're just a replacement because Sakura does not like me, because if I had the choice between you and her I would choose you a million times over, you are a much better person then you give yourself credit for" he said in a serious and caring voice looking her in the eyes deeply again "I really like you" He said in case she had not figured it out by now, but he knew she did.
Hinata smiled and hugged him, simply happy to hear what he had said. She didn't know quite what to do for sure, but she figured that she would learn along the way. This had always been her dream, and until now she had always thought it would remain as such - merely a dream. And even though it took years for him to actually return her feelings, she felt more than happy for the wait. She wasn't sure what she could say, the only thing that came to her mind was, "You make me believe it..."