This chapter is mainly focused on NaruHina Romance. I have the next chapter almost ready and will update when I get enough reviews. Yep. I'm evil indeed. Reviews practically keep me alive now. Enjoy :)
When Hinata woke up, she had no idea where she was. Memories of her first kidnapping attempt, which was the starting of all her doubts, started resurfacing. Hinata was starting to shiver slightly when she heard a voice she often heard even in her dreams. "Yo, Hinata. You fainted in the middle of the road and I didn't know your house. I know its improper and all, but the closest place was my house. I had a shower and a change so let's go and get something for ourselves to eat." What she didn't know was that Naruto was trying to put as much as possible in the sentence before she fainted.
This brought all the memories back to Hinata, who yet again started blushing.
"Hinata, if you start fainting again I'll seriously start have to take you to the hospital."
Must not faint. Must not faint. Her mind went back to its motto.
"Sh….shall we g…ggo Naruto-kun" She slowly said gathering all her courage.
"Nice! Your stammer is decreasing. We should work on that a bit." The very statement was a disaster. It caused Hinata's stammer to increase tenfold.
"T….th…..thha…..than….thank Yo…you…NN..Naruto…k…kkun" The very thought that Naruto thought she had improved was enough to make her that nervous. Naruto however was seething on the inside. This is all because the temes in the stuck up clan thought she was good for nothing and insulted her. I will NOT let that happen again. This time around she will have me to depend on. Each time her clan attacks her confidence, I will boost it. No matter what, Hinata will not be insulted as a weakling heir this time. When Hinata turned around she saw Naruto lost in thought, but what surprised her was the look of fierce determination in his eyes.
"I..is any…anything the matter N..Naruto-k..kun? Y..you have a f..fierce l..look on…your face"
This seemed to have bought the blond back to this world as his eyes lost the twinkle and he focused back on her. Now his eyes seemed to have a different sort of flame. The warm one that made you feel all safe and homely. "Nope, Nothings wrong Hinata-Chan. Let's go"
He opened the door and led Hinata out. The outside of the building is so shabby and considering Naruto-kun's habits I thought the inside would also be like that. However it is very neat in there.
"N..naruto-kun, have you gone to th..this c..cafe before?" She wanted to get some conversation going.
"No, not actually. I heard it was pretty good from around and I thought you might like it if our first date was there." Hinata immediately went back to full blush mode. She even found out three more new shades of red. "D….da…date?" She somehow managed to whisper out. "Please, Hinata. I know I was somewhat dense, but what sort of a ninja am I if I don't find out someone stalking me now and then. The blush every time I looked at you was also a giveaway." In truth Naruto had never found Hinata even once during their Academy days, he found about it all during the war days. But all's well that ends well and all so he went with it.
"Then why are you acting on it only now? You knew all these years!" Hinata looked livid with anger.
Naruto however turned serious. "That is part of what I want to tell you once we reach there. I promise you there is a reason. So shall we be Hime?" He ended the last part teasingly.
Hinata was wondering whether she had used up all her life's luck in one day. If she had, she did not regret it at all as long as the date went well. "S..so c…can we h..hold h..hands Naruto-kun"
Naruto looked surprised. In truth he was not sure whether he could be that upfront with Hinata so he had decided not to make things awkward. If she was fine with it, then who was he to change her mind. He said "Ah! Where are my manners? May I have the honour of escorting you?" offering his hand. Hinata shyly accepted the offer and put his hand in hers. They set of towards the café which was not far from there.
(PLAY NARUTO OST (unreleased) – Konoha Peace)
As Naruto and Hinata walked, people on the road had started to notice. Some of the younger girls who had never met Naruto started giggling. They thought Naruto and Hinata were a new couple on their first date or something. The air of awkwardness around Naruto and Hinata gave them this impression. On the other hand some of the older citizens were worried. Why is the Kyuubi with the Hyuuga Princess? Is he trying to bewitch her to gain more power? Is this the start of its plans?" Many of them did not even hold back on the glares. Naruto however did not want Hinata to be troubled by the glares. So he told Hinata "Hey Hinata! We are Ninja right? Let's just roof hop." Hinata was very observant and she knew Naruto didn't want her to be upset because of the glares that he seemed to keep getting. "Fine N-Naruto-kun." She knew there was no way all these glares were because of his pranks. There was definitely something else also involved.
Hinata and Naruto hopped on to the nearest Balcony and started hopping from roof to roof. Hinata saw that Naruto had absolutely no problem even on Vertical surfaces. "Could It be you know the tree climbing exercise Naruto kun?" She asked. "Ya, well you see I was somewhat stupid in the Academy right?" "Yes, you were pretty stupid Naruto-kun" She said with a teasing smile. Naruto was shocked he didn't fall. His precious stammering shy Hinata had just teased him! Getting the astonished look out of his face Naruto told Hinata as if he was whining "You weren't supposed to agree to that Hinata-chan" If Hinata-chan still has this much confidence. This will be too easy. In no time Hinata will be the one I know from the war times. "I-i-i-im So-sor-rry N-Naru-t-to kun" Her stuttering was at new levels. Damn, I guess that was too much to hope for. I have got work cut out for me. "It's fine Hinata-Chan. Left from the next roof." And they continued till they reached a café.
It was a two story building with the first floor having glass windows that showed the street and the second floor mainly composed of balcony which seemed to have picnic tables for customers. The board read "Anteiku." It was a new café and that was the reason he had brought Hinata here. He really didn't want the first date with Hinata to be in Ichiraku Ramen. It was the best on earth but he read the first date should be a bit more elegant. Any other restaurant would give him cold glares or straight out refuse him service. A new store might not do that. Key word might. When they approached the café they noticed something. There was no door on the ground floor. The door seemed to be in the terrace on the first floor. Naruto burst into a smile. "Look at that Hinata, that is the smartest and the most polite way of saying Shinobi only please. Since civilians can't hop to the first floor thy just can't enter. So there is no need to write "Restricted to Shinobi" or anything like that." Even Hinata seemed amused by this new idea. "So, shall we go in, my lady" Naruto asked in a gentlemanly tone. "N-Naruto-kun. Please stop teasing me" A pink Hinata replied. "Sorry, Sorry. I just couldn't resist seeing you in pink Hinata. You are just too cute that way." A goofy Naruto replied.
Needless to say, Hinata's mind went back to chanting Must not faint. Must not faint.
Hinata and Naruto just hoped on to the terrace and entered inside. The café seemed to be made in an entirely different architectural style. Wooden flooring and brown seemed to be the main focus. It was a definite contrast to the traditional bars and tea stands of konoha. The customers were all Shinobi. Not that it was expected of civilians to jump a floor just to get into a café. A waitress came to them "Welcome to café Anteiku. Would you like a window seat or would you pick a picnic table, Private spaces are also available" She had purple hair, much like Hinata's and her bangs completely covered her right eye."
"A private space would be the best." Naruto replied. She nodded. "Please follow me" She led the couple to the ground floor which seemed to have little cabin like rooms also. She led them into one. "Please decide on your order soon." And she left. "Man, this place is really tailor made for Shinobi. They've even kept rooms were we can discuss secrets." "Y-yes, e-even t-the a-air is so c-calming. It s-smells of f-flowers and grass." Came Hinata's reply. Naruto had to agree to that. If Ichiraku's didn't exist he would have made this his new hideout. The staff didn't even glare at him!
The waitress soon came back for their orders but Naruto and Hinata were busy talking about things that they had forgotten the order part. "Umm I will have some tea and … do you have ramen?" Naruto questioned. "I'm afraid we don't have either of them, we usually serve coffee and other snacks here. You see, we are not originally from this continent. We are refugees of the Great War in the northern lands. Since Hokage-sama was so gracious as to allow us to settle here. We decided to make sure the Ninja's of this village got to enjoy our cuisine. That is the least we can do. The civilians have not been very happy with outsiders and were causing problems for the "outsider's store" so we had to use the little door trick. I assure you Coffee tastes pretty good. We even have some traditional snacks like cinnamon buns." Naruto expected Hinata to jump at the name of cinnamon buns. After all it was her ramen…..or something like that but she just seemed intrigued just as Naruto. Oh! So she doesn't know about cinnamon buns yet. Might as well as introduce her to her own comfort food. "Say Hinata, Let's try some coffee and cinnamon buns. Shall we?" "That is fine Naruto-kun." "Ok, then. Two coffees and a plate of cinnamon buns please." The waitress nodded and left closing the door.
Naruto's face turned grim. "Hinata-Chan, what I am about to tell you is an S rank secret of the village under the punishment of death to all except Hokage and myself. Under no circumstances are you to reveal this to anyone without express permission from either the reigning Hokage or myself. Are we clear?" "Yes, Naruto-kun" Hinata's mind was reeling. Is someone as weak as me ready to know something like this. Will I betray Naruto-kun's secret by mistake. Naruto's eyes lost their stern touch. He looked at Hinata in a soothing manner. "It's ok Hinata-Chan, I trust you" and then Naruto told her about his Jinchuriiki status. At the end of it, he was slightly nervous. He was not sure as to how this Hinata would take this news. However Hinata was giggling. "So you are a living sealing scroll, Naruto-kun." Now he was sure that Hinata was teasing him. "Hinaaata-chaaan" He started whining again. "Don't be like that. I actually expected you to be in hysterics or something. I would have even understood if you wanted to stay away from me." As soon as he finished his words He saw Hinata glaring at him. Wait, Hinata and glaring? Naruto put his hands together and said "Kai" as he released a short burst of chakra. This seemed to intensify the glare. "Uh… Why are you glaring Hinata-Chan?" "Did you really believe I would leave you just because you had some monster sealed in you?"
"Hinata, what you just called "just" is the reason civilians keep trying to make holes in me by glaring" "Then they are idiots and I'm least bothered by their opinions" Her Byakugan was active and he was sure if the glare Hinata was giving off was directed at him, it would burn a serious part of his head off. Then something struck him. "You know Hinata, you didn't stutter even once throughout the whole conversation." Hinata immediately continued her mission of finding new additions to the red world through her face colour. "Besides, it's not like I doesn't have any benefits. I mean epic healing and ultimate stamina are good for any Shinobi"
Hearing the last part Hinata grew even read till she fainted, a trail of blood oozing from her nose. Naruto took a while processing her loss of consciousness and suddenly grew shocked. "DAMN! MY GIRLFRIEND IS A PERVERT!" Thankfully, Hinata woke up soon and Naruto completely avoided their last conversation lest she fainted again. Soon, there was a knock on the sliding door and Naruto told them to enter. It was the waitress with their order. The two were served with coffee and Cinnamon buns. Naruto was about to take a sip when the waitress told him. "Since it's your fist time drinking coffee, I suggest you add a bit of sugar." Both Naruto and Hinata took the advice and helped themselves to generous amounts of sugar from the sugar packets provided. From the very first sip, Naruto knew he was hooked. Tea held no comparison to the delicious beverage he was holding. It was almost at ramen levels. The burst of energy it provided him was also wonderful. However deep in his brain the RPC (Ramen Protection Centre) was not amused. Bad, Bad Naruto, how dare he compare this brow liquid to the delicious food of gods, the Ramen. Blasphemy. It immediately responded.
"Brat, I order you to immediately get me the taste of some more of that heavenly liquid" A booming voice ordered from inside him. Kurama, is that you? Was his response. "Shut up and get me more of it. Or I will start singing songs" This immediately shut up the blond who very hastily got to drinking the next sip. No one deserved such a torture as Kurama's singing. Not even Kaguya.
Then Naruto saw Hinata timidly pick up a cinnamon bun and eat it. As soon as it touched her tongue, her expression changed. The graceful Hyuuga princess gave way to a very Chibi Hinata who was munching on the cinnamon bun while moaning in all sorts of ways. Naruto chuckled wondering whether this was how he reacted when he first had Ramen. His hand went to pick a cinnamon bun when he heard a growl. He looked up to see Chibi Hinata glaring at him with red devilish-looking-eyes. He retracted his arm lest he even lost it forever. But his Hinata-chan wouldn't do something like that….would she?When it came to cinnamon buns, Hinata was just brutal! So he didn't want to provoke her.
The rest of the date went well with Hinata ordering another two more plates of her new favourite food and Naruto having to order something else to eat. Hinata seemed to get very comfortable talking to Naruto, and they flirted, rather pointlessly, for some time. They talked about various things which he knew Hinata was comfortable talking about. He didn't want to see her land in hard-to-talk areas like her family or her mother so he steered clear of them. He would wait and give Hinata some time to think and talk when she was ready to. The date was soon over and Naruto paid the bill, which proved to be a slimming exercise for his beloved Gama-chan. I wonder if this is how Iruka-Sensei feels when he treats me to Ramen he thought, crying Anime tears.
Naruto escorted her back to the Hyuuga compound. The guards their wrinkled their eyes and were about to glare at Naruto. When they felt Hinata Hyuuga, the gentlest and according to them the most un-Hyuuga-ish Main branch member giving them the Hyuuga Glare no.24®, one of their strongest glares only matched by Uchiha Glare No. 17®, so perfect that Hiashi-sama himself would have been proud. They felt cold shivers going through their spines at the look which thankfully had not been reinforced with the Byakugan, that version was the "Forbidden Hyuuga Glare No®", a technique so difficult that people like Neji, the clan prodigy, couldn't pull it off. Naruto was chuckling the whole while and soon he said bye to her. He would have attempted a peck on her cheeks if he wasn't scared of Hiashi-teme. As much as Naruto hated him, that man was a true master of the ancient Hyuuga glare techniques. He would have to access Kyubii mode to keep up and he was not sure if he could manage that right now. Naruto turned and left to find an empty training ground. If he wanted to keep up to at least some amount of his old power, he needed to train a lot more and this time he was not going to be a one trick pony who depended on Kyuubi for every single problem. That he was sure of.
So, how was Anteiku? Next part will show some training and I'm sure I will start canon in other one or two chappy. I have the next chappy almost ready. So review and I will update.
CharmerDark