Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
When they finally passed over the Kusagakure border they decided to stay in an inn on the outskirts of town, low rent and low-key. Settling in and making a game-plan was easy enough, but finding the target in the spot that Tsunade-sama had specifically designated was proving to be a little more difficult than expected, even with Hinata's Byakugan.
Hinata knew that if Naruto had been with her he would've said, well if you can't see him he obviously isn't here. And she would have to agree with him on that, since she had searched high and low for their target, Byakugan activated, and was still walking circles around herself, feeling useless and discouraged after so many days of raw travel. Frustrated, she decided to meet back up with Naruto in hopes of discussing their options from this point forward. She waded through the town, surprised at the vivacity of the familial lifestyles moving around her like a living mass, all working in sync with one another. Kids bustled by her, mothers padded past with arms full of folded cloths, grocery bags, and the occasional weapons set. Men dawdled here and there; mostly moving with variations of the same straightforward, no-distractions gait.
As she continued to head towards the last recorded spot Naruto had been searching in, Hinata played with her fingertips and felt a dull throb echoing through her temples. She'd had the Byakugan activated for too long looking for their target, and now she was paying the price, albeit a small one. She was a mednin after all.
Turning the last corner before their meet-up destination, Hinata felt a tingling on the back of her neck, the delicate hairs on her nape standing on end all at once. Before she could even turn her body, her knees bent and she let gravity take her to the ground, flattening her palms against the dirt road for just a second, waiting as the last thunk of the incoming kunai resounded in the wood behind her. She shot straight up and whipped around, fingers ready in her signature style, Byakugan once again activated.
"That was pretty good." The attacker was standing right in front of her and with such open body language Hinata almost felt offended. She stared at him and pointedly looked at his hands, which had just flung six kunai at her but were now tucked carelessly inside his pockets. When she didn't move from her defensive stance, a jaunty grin rose upon his face, his light eyes twinkling in the fading rays of the sun.
"Oh come on, it was just a friendly hello, one heavily armed person to another."
"Luckily for me, I'm quite used to that variety of welcome." She responded coolly, keeping her stance even as he tried to talk her out of it. There was no trusting ninja that weren't familiar, that weren't your own. Even if they were allies, there was always a possibility for betrayal, and though that was a pessimistic way of viewing life, it was also an experienced view. One that Hinata had been forced to take up after one too many of those betrayals endangered her safety and the safety of those she cared for. She watched his grin turn sultry, sly, a smirk rather than a smile. When he spoke it was only a word but his pronunciation turned it into a sneer, dripping with malevolence.
"Indeed." And then, very slowly, he began to move his hands from his pockets. It was apparent he knew she could see them, knew that she had the Byakugan and knew what that meant she could do. She allowed it, knowing all he had in those pockets were fists, even though fists were enough of a weapon to still be cautious.
"Hyūga Hinata, is it? You can call me Ryūko. I'm your tour guide for the night." Chills ran down her spine, mostly from the tone of his voice but also because he knew her name and was alluding to knowing that she was to meet a contact in this town. He didn't fit the description that they'd been given perfectly, though the differences were in shades of color, while his body type and build matched their mark. Anyone could dye their hair and change the color of their eyes, but he was missing some very telltale scars he'd had his whole life and that made Hinata wary. Of course, he could've had them touched up by an advanced medic, but grass country wasn't particularly known for their expertise in medicine.
"I am here on business, but none that concerns you, sir." She slowly fell out of her defensive position, bowed her head as politely as she could in a way that was as much a dismissal as if she had turned away, and waited for his response, hoping he'd leave. But even then, from her experience with both stubborn men and ninja in general, she had an inkling that he'd stay, even if it was just to press her buttons. She didn't have time for this, and where in the world was Naruto?
"Oh, what? You don't like what you see? Wondering why my hair isn't green anymore? You know, we are in grass country, right? I want to blend in, but not right into the landscape." At her continued silence, he let out a sigh and jolted towards her, reaching out with his long arms as if to grab her. With the length of his long legs the single step made him appear to be leaping towards her, his large hands coming straight for her. Without pause, she used his momentum against him and pushed him face down into the dirt, her hands reaching down to incapacitate him only to be batted away as he rolled out from under her, flipping backwards to land back on his feet. For such a tall man he certainly was agile. Hinata came at him again, not giving him enough time to completely recover, her hands flying, the veins beside her eyes standing out against her skin. She deflected his incoming punch to her gut and managed to barely avoid his other hand's mimicking swing, briefly surprised to note that he was ambidextrous.
His long leg finally caught her, fast and hard right in the hip, bruising her almost instantly. She turned with the blow and ducked under his outstretched arm, chopping into his side with a chakra laced palm. He grunted and went down with the blow, and from there she proceeded to seal off the major pressure points in what seemed to be his dominant arm. She was about to flicker to his other side and finish the job when a shouting voice startled her, coming closer as the seconds ticked by. She kept her eyes on her opponent but watched Naruto turn the corner with her Byakugan, waving his arms at her and running full speed towards her. He called her name the whole way until he reached her, skidding to a stop right beside her and leaning with his hands on his thighs, breathing heavily.
"Shit," he huffed, catching his breath and looking up between sweaty blonde bangs. The stranger groaned from below her, holding his right arm to his body so it wouldn't jostle. Hinata knew the feeling that would be coursing up and down that arm and into the shoulder, even going so far as to tighten the muscles in the neck. She had not held back.
"This is Ryūko," Naruto panted, still out of breath. She wondered why he was so tired when she was in the spot he was supposed to have been in. He couldn't have been far, unless he had gone looking for her the same time she'd decided to come back to him.
"He's our target. I already hashed out the interrogation and made sure he was the real deal, I was gonna bring him over to greet you but when I got to your spot you weren't there and he wasn't with me again. I mean I figured you'd come to my spot eventually but man, I didn't think I'd find you kickin' his ass! I mean we need him but that was awesome Hinata!"
A deep blush settled over her cheeks and spread to the tops of her ears, her Byakugan diminishing and disappearing altogether as she stared at the big man in front of her, grumbling something she didn't feel comfortable repeating. She didn't hesitate, kneeling beside him and reaching out with hands glowing so that she could heal that arm of his. She ignored his flinch and the way he instantly snapped, "Hey, hey, hey!" And began opening the chakra points she had just closed. She muttered a sincere apology and ignored Naruto's laughter, which seemed to both embarrass and irritate their target.
"Hey, shut up kid. This is your fault."
"What? How is this my fault? Those kunai in the side of that building aren't Hinata's."
"How do you know? You came so late to the party you didn't even see who threw them."
"I came early enough to see her wipe the floor with you, though. And Hinata's blades have insignia from her clan on the handles," Naruto spoke as he plucked the blades from the wall, brushing his callused fingertips over the holes. Ryūko got to his feet, begrudgingly thanking Hinata as she stood with him, bowing her head once, still utterly embarrassed. Coming back to stand with them, Naruto chucked the blades back at the taller man all at once, which Hinata thought was a little tactless, but he managed to catch them easily enough. After securing them back into his leg holster, Ryūko turned to look at them both, shaking his head.
"Man, you all are just a bunch of kids. I've heard of this dipshit, but I never thought he'd be so small, ya know?" Dropping his elbow atop Naruto's head, the big man grinned brightly at Hinata, who wore a small smile now that she could sense that he wasn't mad at her for the fight and the resulting pain that was still dwindling in his arm and neck. Naruto shoved him away and cursed at him, saying something about how he was still growing. Hinata watched them bicker for a little bit, laughing to hide her embarrassment when they get a little too obscene, and found herself recalling how Naruto used to act around Sasuke as surprisingly similar to his interaction with this stranger. Though he was definitely much more sociable and sleazy than Sasuke ever had been, the man was surprisingly similar to the childhood Sasuke that their generation had known. Argumentative and boastful and willing to go toe-to-toe with a rowdy and ruffled Naruto. Finally, when it seemed that fists and kunai were going to be getting involved, Hinata cleared her throat and directed their attention back to the mission.
"My sincerest apologies for our earlier dispute, Ryūko-san. But we are on a tight schedule, so if you wouldn't mind producing our package…?" Ryūko smiled at her and lifted a hand to self-consciously rub the back of his neck, something that she had never seen anyone but Naruto do. It was a curious feeling, seeing someone else do that. Naruto had his arms crossed and seemed to be pouting, but there was a glint of seriousness in his eyes that told her he was prepared to follow up on the mission and give up on their little contest.
"Ah, of course Hinata-chan." Startled, Hinata looked first at Ryūko who had a suspicious color change occurring over his cheeks, then to Naruto, who had straightened at the same time she had. She didn't mind the forwardness, really, but it was surprising all the same.
"Here it is, the good ol' package, from my hands to yours." He must've realized how awkward his wording was because the light pink over his cheeks darkened and spread further, confusing Hinata even more. He was almost acting as if he was nervous around her, which made no sense on account of them practically wrestling earlier. There was no way he was…frightened of her, was there? Naruto was flickering his gaze between them suspiciously, arms still crossed, but when Ryūko went to hand the scroll into Hinata's shaking hands, Naruto moved quickly and ripped it away from him. Hinata watched him closely, ignoring the new insults slipping from Ryūko's lips at the abrupt gesture. It was true that Naruto was acting a little suspiciously, a little unlike his usual self, but the expression on his face made Hinata think that he had surprised even himself. He wasn't usually this irritable, even with people who verbally or physically sparred with him. As he tucked the scroll into his pack, unopened as per their orders, his scrunched face cleared like the opening curtains of a show and he was once again jubilant and eager to move forward, his previous confusion disbanded.
"And now we have to give this idiot his package too, ne, Hinata-chan?" Shooting him a questioning look, Hinata merely nodded, unsure as to what his change in attitude would lead to. She reached into her own pack and grasped the rough, rolled up paper in her hand. When it appeared before them and she went to hand it to Ryūko, Naruto's hand came into her field of vision first. She looked him in the eyes, trying to find the answer to a question she didn't even understand in the deep pools of blue there. Instead, she found the reflections of the sunset lighting his blue irises on fire as the sun slowly descended behind the mountains. She hesitantly handed him the scroll and watched with a drawn brow as he handed it to Ryūko, then dusted his hands together. Ryūko grumbled something neither of them heard and let out a huge sigh, before turning to face Hinata with eyes curiously reminiscent of Akamaru's. The memory of the big dog made Hinata feel relaxed and even a measure more comfortable.
"My name's Ryūko Daisuke, by the way. Dipshit got it out of me, but I thought you should know too, right?"
"Oh," Hinata hummed, unsure of how to respond. "That's a nice name."
"Thanks. It's kinda generic, I think, doesn't mean anything too cool like yours does, Hinata-chan. But it's a good name for a fighter, a good match for a tough guy like me."
"Tough guy?" Naruto was obviously amused and holding in laughter but Ryūko somehow managed to completely ignore him and focus all of his attention on Hinata, who really just wanted to leave. She played with her fingertips again, hating the habit but soaking up the comfort it offered her in the face of a nerve-wracking situation.
"That's right though, you were pretty tough too. I'd like to go head-to-head with you, like full on. I'm a lot better than what you saw today, I promise, you just caught me off-guard. I'm good, really good. So what d'you say? Next time you're around grass country maybe we could—"
"Well, that's it, nice meeting you but now we have to get going. Come on, Hinata-chan." Naruto sang, either oblivious or callously uncaring that he had just blatantly interrupted Ryūko's inquiry. And then he did something so uncharacteristic that Hinata lost her footing and tripped as he dipped forward and grasped her wrist, pulling her along right behind him. Ryūko sputtered, turning to watch them as Naruto marched them in the direction they'd entered the village.
"Hey. Hey! Next time you come around I want that fight, okay Hinata-chan?" Hinata looked back at him, feeling lost and a little dizzy. She couldn't remember if she managed to respond, verbally or through a gesture, but she wouldn't mind getting to fight him to gauge her strengths against him, though something was telling her that she wouldn't get the chance.
Naruto's grip around her wrist was hard enough to create pressure but it didn't hurt, and the contact didn't bother her at all. She allowed him to pull her along, though her cheeks were hot and her brain was out of commission due to the simple fact that Naruto was voluntarily touching her. He marched her right through the town, now lit with streetlights and the every now and again torch lamp, with less people out on the streets than earlier but still enough that they had to move in a single file method. Hinata stayed close to his back, careful not to step on the backs of his feet but close enough for his jacket to brush against her tummy.
They arrived at the inn they'd booked for one night at Naruto's insistence, something about taking a breather from so many days in the forest with no good food to eat. Naruto still hadn't released her, in fact, he didn't let go of her wrist until they were at their door and he had to slip the key in the lock. She massaged the area he'd held, partly to encourage blood flow and partly to have her hand where his had been. She was embarrassed at herself for doing such a childish thing, thinking that because he'd had his hand on her skin that if she laid hers over the same space, it was like she was touching his hand too. She watched him approach his bed and chuck his holster onto his pillow, uncaring how dirty it was. Hinata moved around him to her own bed, bending down to unwrap her own holster and grab her sleepwear: a plain black shirt and matching pants. She was planning to use the shower and rub the sweat and grime from the day off her body, but as she stood up she watched as Naruto ran a hand shakily through his hair, abnormally unbalanced.
"Naruto-kun?" she whispered in concern, too quietly for him to hear.
"Who did that guy think he was, though?" he asked, though his tone made it obvious the question was rhetorical. "As if he could even come close to fighting head-to-head with you. You pushed his face into the dirt in minutes and he couldn't even land a solid hit on you! I mean obviously going against someone as strong as you, it's not gonna be easy, but if he can't even get one punch in? You'd kick his ass, believe it." The latter was whispered so low Hinata wondered if he even knew she was in the room with him anymore, though she was charmed by his words and felt that he was subconsciously praising her strength. Did he know that his words were compliments to her, that those words caused flowers to bloom in her ears, and birds to take flight in her stomach, flapping their wings and making her feel fluttery?
"Naruto-kun?" she asked again, a little louder this time. He turned to look at her, looking as though he really had forgotten she was there, his eyes big and his hair wildly tussled from running his fingers through it. He raised a brow at her, crossed his arms and leaned back on the heels of his feet.
"We both know you would've kicked his ass, that's obvious. So would you have still fought him? Even after all those shady things he was saying?" Hinata looked at him, really looked at him, trying to figure this unknown mood of his out. She watched his eyes watching her, felt her fingertips connect with one another subconsciously, and finally she came to a conclusion she almost couldn't make herself believe.
Was he jealous?
It would stick to his character if he was jealous but didn't understand it, didn't understand why he was jealous of Ryūko or why it mattered. He was kind of clueless when it came to understanding the why of things, usually he just pushed through them and went straight for presenting the what of it all. It was like how he felt with his team: he loved them more than anything, and that was enough. He didn't have to explain why, didn't really have the experience with explaining away his feelings to detail why he loved them other than the fact that they had always been his, and he would always protect them.
Was it true, then? Was he jealous of Ryūko? Jealous for her? She didn't have experience with anyone becoming jealous of someone because that person paid her special attention, or at least, not that she knew of. Sometimes her teammates followed her around for no apparent reason when she was going to her favorite hole in the wall vender with the young man with the kind smile and smooth temperament. Neji always went with her to the market and over time, now that she was thinking about it, whenever she'd had suitors, her teammates all seemed to become even more present in her everyday routines. Kiba didn't like when Neji stole her away for personal training and, though it was incredibly rare, Shino had expressed a darker temperament than usual when Hinata had gone on a few dates with her father's chosen suitor, Mako-san. Had that been because he didn't like him, or had he been jealous? She was almost certain it was the former, because Shino had known how devastated Hinata had been upon hearing her father demand she let Mako-san take her out a few times. Her heart had been entirely secured by Naruto, and yet she had a duty as heiress, and so she'd fulfilled it. Although, she had gone into those dates treating them as friendly information sessions, both about him and herself. So Shino must've sensed her unease and reacted accordingly, with anger and distrust towards the young blonde her father had chosen for her. But beyond that, had her teammates ever had moments of jealousy over her, over their loss of time with her? She wasn't sure, didn't really think they'd be so particular over the time they got to spend with her, especially since she spent most of her time with them anyways, but it was definitely possible. Though, thinking back on it, she felt bad that she might have made her teammates and Neji feel uncomfortable or sad because she didn't show them enough attention. There wasn't really any positive emotion other than a small amusement and deep feeling of belonging that they might covet her so closely.
This feeling, however, with Naruto, was different. Somehow, it made her feel so happy. As if her feet weren't even touching the ground, as if she was floating and the only thing anchoring her was her uncertainty. But then again, it didn't make sense for Naruto to be jealous of Ryūko, a complete stranger to them. If anything, wouldn't he have been jealous of Neji, who spends more time with her than anyone in the world, even more so than her teammates? Or what about her teammates? Had Naruto ever been jealous of them before, or was this some strange outlier experience where Naruto just reacted strangely to Ryūko's personality? Some small, quiet part of her thought maybe this was Naruto's first time realizing he cared about her enough to be jealous for her. And an even smaller part of her hoped that this was Naruto's way of realizing, that maybe, maybe, he actually liked her.
In response to his question, nervous and jittery after such hopeful but fragile thoughts, Hinata maintained her honesty with him and nodded her head. Of course she would allow Ryūko to fight her. Knowing almost nothing about him, she could enjoy going against a complete stranger with all she had and seeing how much she'd managed to grow. She lifted her eyes and watched Naruto frown, his brows pulling down in displeasure. Knowing that Naruto, for whatever reason, wasn't exactly himself right now, she decided to take it easy on him and help him get back to his usual stability. She knew how to bring him back.
"Naruto-kun, if a ninja you didn't know wanted to fight you, a friendly spar with win or lose consequences, what would you say to him or her?" Naruto didn't answer right away, another sign that he wasn't feeling quite himself. He thought about it, his eyes flickering over her face, and she knew he was chasing her trail, following her breadcrumbs.
"I'd fight them." She nodded, smiling.
"So would I."
"So it's not because it was Ryūko you'd be fighting, it's because it could be a good fight." The way he said it, she knew right away that this was what he was getting so hung up on—the fact that she might have wanted to fight Ryūko because there was something about him as a person, and not just the thrill of a good fight. Naruto's eyes were clear as day; he needed this confirmation. Taking the situation as seriously as he was, she simply nodded her head once. Just a dip of her chin, confidently done while holding his gaze. He understood immediately, his natural grin rising to curl his lips and crinkle his eyes as his hand reached back to scratch his neck—back to normal.
"Okay but you'd totally kick his ass, Hinata! It wouldn't even be fair!" he sang, turning and practically skipping into the bathroom. Hinata stood still, not really looking at anything, just listening as the sound of the shower turning on filled the room. She set her essentials down on her bed, not minding that Naruto had taken the shower first when she'd been planning to. She smiled, lifting her hands to press them against her cheeks and talk herself out of acting like such a lovesick child.
"You don't know if he was really jealous, don't be a fool," she whispered, closing her eyes and patting her cheeks a few times as if that would make them cool down a little. She kept thinking about his face when he'd turned to her for the first time since they got back to their room, his face so naturally childlike in its jubilance had been screwed up into one of very grown up frustration, incredibly unusual for him outside of a battlefield. She couldn't get the memory of his eyes, burning with sincerity, pools of fire she realized now that she looked at them in retrospect. She was about to give herself a good talk about behaving like the mature woman she was when she was interrupted by an acoustic distraction coming from the bathroom. She fell silent, opening her eyes and listening closely, wondering what it was she was hearing, and then she realized: Naruto was humming.
"Idiot," she whispered as her cheeks became even hotter.
After that night they had surprisingly fortunate weather and sleep cycles their entire journey back to Konoha, with fluid conversation and plenty of amusement between the two of them. It was almost like what had happened with Ryūko and the following conversation in their room hadn't even happened at all, if Hinata was being honest. Naruto had been his cheerful self and hadn't brought it up once and if that was how he wanted it to be then she would follow his lead. They walked through the front gates with smiles on their faces, greeting the guards and letting out their own respective sighs as they headed straight for the Hokage tower. They were to deliver the scroll, by hand, to Tsunade directly, wait for her to read the contents and follow up by corresponding to obey her next orders. Their following mission in Amegakure could possibly change depending on what was written in the scroll, though Naruto seemed to think there wouldn't really be much change no matter what the scroll said.
And it seemed he was right, on account of Tsunade deciding to keep the contents of the scroll to herself and a few choice Jonin, much to Naruto's disappointment and starving curiosity.
"We went all the way over there just to get something we don't even get to see," he grumbled, fingers laced behind his head as he and Hinata walked out of the tower. They had one day to rest before they were to move out once again, this time heading for the poor country shrouded in dark, weeping skies. Naruto was a little depressed about it, but Hinata had a more optimistic opinion on the matter. She quite liked the rain and thought it would be a nice change from the constantly sunny skies in Konoha, though she loved them too.
"Well, as Hokage, it is up to her discretion."
"Yeah, well, when I'm Hokage it'll be my discretion." Naruto grinned over at her when she laughed, his eyes crinkling and little crow's feet wrinkles appearing at the sides of his eyes. Hinata studied them for a brief moment before turning away, feeling light as a feather. They came down the stairs and waved at a passing Shikamaru who looked absolutely labored with a clipboard tucked under his arm and a yawn stretching his mouth wide.
"Yo," he yawned, slouching as he passed by them. Hinata smiled kindly and returned the greeting while Naruto did the same. When they came to the front of the tower they moved to part ways, Hinata to head back to the compound and begin packing and having a thought to find Neji and ask for some of his time just to talk, since she hadn't seem him in a little over a week. She suspected Naruto would run off to find Sakura and ask her to spar and so she turned and gave a polite nod of her head and whispered a goodbye, telling him she'd see him the next morning. Just as she was turning, his voice reached out and stopped her dead in her tracks.
"Hey Hinata, you hungry?"
She turned slowly, almost disbelieving. What were his intentions? Was he just curious? Did she look hungry? Unconsciously lifting a hand to press against her stomach, she nodded, wary of his response.
"Wanna get some ramen? I'm starving." His hand lifted and hesitated in the air, almost as if he had caught himself in the act that seemed second nature to him, though he tried to cover it up as his fingers continued reaching down to massage the nape of his neck. She didn't know what she had been expecting, really, but his easy comfort in asking her to eat with him threw her off kilter, though she accepted all the same. His grin lit his entire face up and he turned, gesturing for her to walk with him, already jumping into describing the best items on the menu for her so that by the time they got to Ichiraku, they'd be ready to eat immediately. Hinata could only smile, attributing the clenching muscles in her stomach to hunger and not the nervous butterflies that seemed to commute whenever Naruto was around her.
She moved to walk beside him, staring anywhere but in his direction, wondering how she looked being that she was still in her travel-wear and was probably dirty and her hair needed to be washed. She wanted to sigh, to hold her face in her hands. Of course the first time Naruto asks her to eat with him she would look disgusting and there was even a very definite possibility that she smelled. Naruto himself was sweating bullets, his black and orange jacket sticking to his broad shoulders. She decided that it didn't matter, that he was just as dirty as she was and therefore they were even. Or at least, that's what she told herself, and for once she actually believed herself and ended up feeling comfortable regardless of her disgusting state.
Until Naruto reached over and settled his hand in the center of her back, as if to help propel her forward, as if to steer her in his direction. If not for her own strict self-training in confidence and stability in reactions near Naruto over the years, Hinata would've fainted right then and there. Her face heated and she glanced around at the people passing by and sure enough, they were capturing the attention of quite a few patrons. Hinata bowed her head, allowing her hair to curtain around her, a protection she still hadn't grown out of. Naruto's hand was burning a hole in her back and the heat was too delicious for her to focus on anything else. She was surprised she didn't stumble, or full on trip and fall face first into the dirt. She could hear whispers around her and she wondered if they were talking about her? What would they say? She glanced at Naruto, noting how he still wore that easy smile though his eyes were more serious now, almost…contemplative. It was rare to see Naruto actively lost in his own thoughts on account of him being so easily distracted. He could usually walk down a street and find at least fifty new things to look at, talk about, or connect to a story.
But for some reason, even after she picked up his rhythm and was right beside him, he didn't remove that hand. It ghosted over her like a breath down her spine, sending shivers in its wake. She tucked one side of her hair behind her ear and checked the crowds around them, both those walking past and those at vendors. There were still far too many gazes focused on them for her to feel relaxed, especially when some of them were cupping their mouths and speaking into a neighbors' ear. She hoped they didn't get the wrong idea, for Naruto's sake.
Ever since he had saved the village from Pain and become a hero, famous on a level where his face and name were known in every country, he had had a lot more attention from the population but most especially the female variety. It seemed that Naruto, who had always been envious of the female attention Sasuke had garnered in the academy days now had his own little fan club running around causing trouble. Not that he knew what to do with it, though. Hinata thought it was cute and hoped that it made him happy, or at least gave him a novel sense of being desirable enough to have an actual following.
Now that she thought about it, she was probably on the hit list of several young women now that this scene was out in the open. Hinata didn't mind being on their hit lists, she could take care of herself, but she didn't want anyone to misinterpret the situation and have it put Naruto into an uncomfortable position. Naruto was the kind of guy that just did things like this on impulse, he liked to make contact, to initiate touch and he was most certainly a hugger. This was just something that Naruto did, and she knew it, but she hoped the people witnessing it knew it too. From their mischievous looks and the sneaky gleams in many pairs of eyes she saw watching them, Hinata realized they were most definitely misinterpreting the situation. She just hoped that when this came back to Naruto—most likely through Sakura given the gossip that was sure to go through the mill and end up on Ino Yamanaka's doorstep—he wouldn't feel awkward or uncomfortable and try to explain to her that he was just being himself. Not only would that be just crushingly awkward, but she was positive it would make for a few weeks of Naruto feeling uncomfortable around her because he wouldn't want to hurt her feelings.
She let out a small sigh, covering her little bout of distress with a smile when Naruto glanced over at her. She wondered if his hand was as hot as it felt, or if that was just her hyperawareness creating the effect of leaving the mark of his handprint on her skin.
She wasn't entirely sure yet, but Hinata was beginning to think that there was a pattern forming between her and Naruto.
It had been a week since they'd left Konoha and settled in a broken down Amegakure inn where they were the only guests but were still charged as if they had four other people with them. And in that week of travel and adventure, Naruto had not once brought up either the mission in Kusagakure or the time when they went to eat together. Hinata refused to bring it up, having convinced herself that Naruto had forgotten all about those things, or hadn't even really noticed them as anything peculiar. Maybe that was it, she had found herself into thinking during their travels; maybe those instances were insignificant enough that they weren't even on his radar? Or maybe they were moments Naruto had gotten out of his system, just a little extra friendliness to make her feel comfortable around him. Hinata had convinced herself that that was the case: that Naruto had been trying to help her feel at ease since she was so awkward, and now that she was able to move freely around him without any hesitation, he would put an end to such behavior.
She threw that theory out on travelling day three, when she and Naruto had been sitting in front of their fire together, watching the embers flare up and disappear into the darkness of the night sky. She'd been leaning forward, chin resting in her hands and hair falling around her face, enjoying a beautiful moment of complete relaxation next to one of her most cherished friends. Actually, now that she thought back to it, she realized how ironic it was that she'd been thinking about her latest theory at the exact moment he decided to obliterate it. She'd been staring at a rock that had slipped into the coals underneath the logs, blazing red-hot right along with the rest of them when Naruto's raspy voice cut into the silence.
"Hey Hinata?"
"Mm?" she'd hummed, so amazingly comfortable with him that she allowed herself to be informal. According to her clan, she might as well have grunted at him.
"I was thinking about something." And he paused, which at the time Hinata hadn't thought much of, though in retrospect that was a little strange. It was the new contemplative Naruto that she wasn't quite used to, the part of him she didn't know how to react to quite yet. She hummed again, still staring at that red-hot rock, watching it burn brighter than all the wood coals beside it, wondering if in time the heat would break it.
"I was thinking, when we get to Ame, and we have some free time," and there was another pause, strategic and purposeful, just before he took her theory and threw it into the fire to burn and become nothing more than a puff of smoke. He leaned forward until he could see her face around her hair, a small smile curling his lips at the corners, his eyes burning brighter than the fire even in the night. He reached forward, his fingers gently tucking the curtain of hair separating her face from his sight right behind her ear, and then he left his hand there for long enough that she began to overheat. She could've sworn her ears were hot enough he could feel the change in temperature.
"Would you wanna spar?" he finished, his voice a shadow of his normal volume. Hinata would've agreed to anything he asked, she thought, as long as he kept his knuckles resting against her cheek and his fingertips on the shell of her ear, using that tone that was low and gruff. She'd nodded her head, breathless, embarrassed that she reacted so intensely to something so simple, but her mind had been spinning out of control. Her acquiescence made his eyes squint happily, and then his fingertips and knuckles moved against her cheek, just once, so gently she almost didn't feel it, a careful touch he probably didn't even realize he'd done.
That's what she'd thought, anyways. If she'd have been able to read his mind in that moment, all she would've gotten was a reflection of her own, a spiraling turmoil sewn through with confusion that left him feeling unstable but at the same time, somehow, comfortable. As if it was okay that he was spiraling so long as he could touch her skin and feel anchored, stable in the fact that his fingertips could feel the softness of her heated cheek. Naruto couldn't figure any of it out and it was frustrating not to understand what was happening to him, but ever since their mission to Kusagakure he'd felt different around Hinata. He'd look at her randomly and want to touch her, her hand, her cheek, her shoulder, anywhere he could. And more than anything else, he'd wanted to spar with her. The thought of her sparring with that sleaze ball Ryūko made him want to barf, but it also made him feel dangerous, which also scared him. In fact, it had scared him enough that he'd actually ignored his behavior that night, which he knew she didn't deserve, tugging her along after him like that, demanding things of her he had no right to. And damned if she didn't set him straight, albeit in that kind, gentle way she had in doing things.
He felt like a child discovering the world for the first time. Everything he experienced with her was new and amazing and he wanted it all, but it scared him, because he couldn't understand it. And for a while, that had made him back down, had made him feel defeated, until the one night he had between their missions where he sought Sakura out and just put it all out in the open, everything he was feeling, all his confusion, the way the world seemed a different place, a better place, when he was with Hinata.
He could still remember the look in Sakura's eyes, it had made him nervous, the knowledge, the sympathy kindled with genuine happiness. She hadn't explained that look, or the feelings behind it, but he had a feeling he'd understand it some day soon. He'd taken her advice and her challenge, Naruto Uzumaki letting something tough defeat him so easily? Not fighting back? Are you serious? And he'd realized, damn, she was right, when was the last time he ever backed down from a challenge? Had he ever, before this moment? The answer was clear and easy: he hadn't. And he wouldn't now. He didn't care if it scared him or made him frustrated that he didn't understand, he'd take his own instinct and Sakura's advice and he'd just do what makes him happy and never back down, not to any challenge, especially not to one that isn't between fists, or words, but of the heart.
And as for Sakura-chan's advice, to tell Hinata everything he'd shared with his best friend, he felt that he'd come to a mature decision regarding that advice. He wanted to figure himself out, at least a little bit, before he goes spouting things out all jumbled and unclear. He was not the boy he used to be, he did have control of his emotions to an extent and he could put a lid on it when it mattered. He had changed a lot since he was a young boy, and if anyone deserved a mature and sincere approach, it was Hinata. So he'd changed his mind around and decided that starting the first day of their travels, Naruto was just going to go with the flow. He wouldn't ignore his actions anymore either, because even he knew without Sakura's added punch in the gut that putting Hinata in those strange situations that probably made her feel really uncomfortable was really disrespectful to her. Soon he'd be able to put his feelings into words, he knew it, if he could just make himself understand them.
He couldn't even distinguish if his feelings for Hinata were the same as his feelings for Sakura. Maybe Sakura wasn't a good model for comparison, since he'd met her when they were just children and had been close for years. Hinata's friendship was new and fresh and maybe that was why it was confusing to him, because she was a beautiful girl that was his friend but he hadn't had years to figure her out or get used to her like he had with Sakura. He didn't really have any close female friends other than Sakura, did he? Was this new and confusing time due to him growing close to Hinata in a way that was similar but not exactly the same as with Sakura? His feisty pink-haired friend was the only female friend he had to compare Hinata to, and that made it difficult to match his feelings well enough to put him at ease.
As far as Hinata was concerned, however, Naruto was still following through with this pattern of doing something that at the time he doesn't realize twists her up inside and then ignoring that it ever happened in the first place. How could he graze her cheek with his knuckles like that, let his eyes light up when she agreed to spar with him, and let them crinkle closed when he tells her, "I won't go easy on you!" And she feels those damn butterflies in her stomach take flight all at once? It just didn't seem fair, but so long as she could convince herself that he was done with this pattern of his, she wasn't going to say anything. She wasn't going to make it any more awkward than it probably already was.
And so they managed to make it to this Amegakure inn, paying double the expected rate. Though, neither Naruto nor Hinata minded, really, because they'd had to walk through some pretty devastating areas in order to even find a working inn and were relatively willing to help as much as they could in any way possible. As she'd thought, though, the rain was a welcome change from the always-sunny weather in Konoha, at least for her. Naruto looked like a drowned rat because he'd refused to put his hood up the entire way in, but Hinata had managed to keep the majority of her hair dry, save for the tips.
They moved into their room, a tiny space with one bed that came with no sheets or blanket, and a fireplace that seemed dangerous but usable if they were careful. The bathroom could only hold one person at a time and the walls, toilet, shower, sink, and tiles on the floor were all variably covered in rust and mold. Hinata was thankful that they'd be spending so much time outside doing reconnaissance rather than staying in this room, but it was humbling coming into such an impoverished area when she was an heiress with a bathroom bigger than this entire room back in Konoha.
"What side of the bed do you want?" Naruto asked, setting his pack down by the bed and staring down at the mattress and it's thin sheet cover. Hinata had purchased one rather small blanket in a village they'd passed through a few days ago, just in case. It seemed to be a wise choice, since there was no way they were going to sleep on the bed sheet without catching something and continuing on the mission sick with fever or the flu. Moving around him, she spread the blanket over the bed and leaned back up to stare at the small space, her face heating when she finally realized they'd be sharing this tiny bed and they'd have no blankets to hide anything or keep them warm.
"Doesn't matter to me, Naruto-kun. You choose."
"I'll take the side closer to the door."
"Okay." Since the rain in Ame never seemed to stop pouring down, there was never complete silence. The pitter patter of the water falling in sheets against the roof and the window comforted Hinata, made her feel relaxed even in the midst of a mission. She changed her clothes in the bathroom and came out in her all-black sleepwear, coming out to find Naruto sitting on the floor with a kunai in hand and a map laid out before him. Following suit, she sat down beside him, knees bent and legs folded beneath her, leaving enough space between them to be comfortable. Naruto pointed with the kunai at the place where he encountered Mangetsu, then at a few specific places where he guessed there could possibly be activity. Hinata soaked in the knowledge, memorized the areas and instantly began planning how she could be most effective with her sight. They both sat there, listening to the rain crash against the window and the rooftop, thinking over their own personal strategies on account of planning to split up and cover twice the ground, since they only had clearance for a week in Ame.
After a few more minutes of reflection, Naruto rose to his feet, stretched, and took his shirt off all in one motion. Hinata averted her gaze, cheeks blazing, and rose to her own feet, stretching her knees, which were used to the polite sitting position but still had a dull ache that was inescapable. She wandered over to the bed, telling herself that this sometimes happened, that not everyone was privileged enough to always get a two-bed room, that ninja and kunoichi shared sleeping quarters all the time and it was normal.
But it wasn't normal for her, not when her teammate was also the man she was in love with. Still, she forced herself to lay down wither back facing Naruto's side of the bed, and closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep before Naruto could get out of the bathroom and join her. She didn't get very far given that she was stiff as a board and wired from nerves. She heard the bathroom door open, the quiet padding steps of him approaching the bed and the moment of hesitation before he crawled onto the bed behind her. They weren't touching and they'd both settled, so Hinata felt herself slowly becoming more and more drowsy, comfortable enough to let her heavy eyelids slip shut.
She didn't know for how long she'd fallen asleep, the room was still as dark as it had been when she'd laid down though in Ame it was always dark. The rain was still falling in sheets against the window, playing a harsh but rhythmic lullaby against their room, comforting her back into relaxation, her eyes slipping closed. They shot right back open when she felt an arm come around her and Naruto's knees tuck up under her own so that her backside was pressed entirely to his front. Her body went rigid instantly, her heart racing in her chest, pounding so hard she was sure he could feel it. His arm was wrapped around her tummy, an area she was self-conscious of, and now she felt like she could barely breathe. She forced herself to calm down, reminded herself that they didn't have a blanket, that he was probably cold. She managed to convince herself pretty thoroughly before she felt his nose nestle into the side of her neck, and then a curious softness ghost over her nape.
Naruto was nuzzling her neck.
There was no way she was going to be able to get any sleep, she was so completely energized and awake and aware of everything in the entire room. She felt his hot breath against her skin and she fidgeted nervously, unable to stay still. She heard his breath leave his body, felt his arm tighten around her and his cold feet press hers to the mattress.
"Hey, stop moving around." He whispered, his breath blowing the hair around her ear forward. She went rigid again, thought she might've squeaked an answer in response though she wasn't sure, and stared ahead in the darkness. She wanted so badly to activate her Byakugan and actually see him pressed against her like this, because she'd only ever seen this scenario in her dreams. She wanted to hide her face in her hands but she didn't want to move, either, so instead she stayed completely still, and completely awake. She stayed like this for a few minutes, scared to even breathe, when she felt Naruto's thumb rub back and forth against her clothed stomach.
"It's okay, Hinata, I promise. Get some sleep, okay?" he whispered. Hinata took a big breath, held it, and released it slowly. She focused on the rhythmic pattern of his finger as it gently moved back and forth on her stomach, allowed it to calm her down and bring her back to herself, sans the intensified nerves. She took another deep breath before letting her entire body relax, slinking back into the hard muscles of his chest and stomach just slightly, feeling his chin rest on her shoulder. A smile stole over her lips, her eyes closed tight and her heart fluttering in her chest like a bird in a cage. His words had settled her down, had reminded her that she could trust him. It's okay, he'd said. And it was, or it would be. With Naruto's arm around her, she would be okay.
"Okay."
A/N: Um...hi everyone (≖﹏≖✿) I am so sorry for how utterly late this update is, but my life's gotten really hectic. I mean, I just moved to my own place for the first time, I'm at a new university, and my classes are intense. So yeah I'm very short on free time lately but I really do try to update this story whenever I can. I'm doing my best! Hopefully you're all doing well, thanks for your time and your reviews!Take care of yourselves~