A/N: Sorry for the late update. I had writer's block and I didn't want to disappoint you guys because you've been giving me nice and encouraging reviews. There's a NaruHina moment here, so I hope you like this chapter! ^_^
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.Chapter 16 - A morning walk
Naruto slowly opened his eyes when he heard his alarm clock ringing. He looked so determined to win their bet so he made sure that he won't mess up. He turned off the alarm and stood up. After taking a 10-minute bath, he took some toast and headed for school. He looked at his watch and saw that there's still more than 30 minutes before class starts. The park was quite near the school, so Naruto decided to kill some time there. He was feeling refreshed with his new routine. After 10 minutes of walking, he finally reached the park. It only takes 5 minutes to walk from the park to the school so he decided to stay there for around 10 minutes just to be sure.
He walked for a bit. He saw a couple of joggers and only a few people there. He was approaching the center of the park when he saw a girl surrounded by birds. The rays of the morning sun made the girl look even more beautiful. She was wearing her school uniform and the uniform is from Konoha Gakuen, the same school Naruto goes to. He was stunned for a few seconds until he snapped out of his daze. He knew that girl really well. So Naruto ran to her with a cheerful face and said, "Good Morning, Hinata!".
The girl turned around gracefully, her eyes like pearls. She gave him a warm smile while saying, "Oh, Naruto. Good morning." Naruto smiled and they both sat at a nearby park bench.
Hinata suddenly looked at Naruto's face. "Naruto, are you sick? Why is your face so red?" Hinata asked worriedly. Naruto didn't notice that he was already blushing. Hinata noticed it and misunderstood.
"Oh, no, I'm sorry about that. I'm fine." Naruto hid his blush and chuckled a bit. He thought that it was very embarrassing to blush, specially in front of a girl. "So, feeding birds again, huh? You seem to be quite fond of them." Naruto eagerly changed the subject.
"Oh, yeah. But I also like other animals, not just birds. Though I like birds best." Hinata smiled, she looked so happy.
"Wow, feeding them seems to be fun." Naruto was amused.
"Yeah, it is. Do you want to try?" Hinata offered.
"Sure. That's be great." Hinata put some bird feed on Naruto's hand. Naruto took some feed and threw it in front of him, the birds instantly went to where the food was. Naruto was like a little kid. He was smiling. Hinata glanced at him and blushed because of Naruto's child-like smile. She resumed feeding the birds in order to avoid blushing any further because Naruto might see it. They both fed the birds happily.
"Uhm, why are you up so early, Naruto? This is quite unexpected." Hinata giggled and continued to feed the birds. Naruto felt that he was starting to blush again but he quickly hid it before Hinata saw it.
"Oh, that. You remember that Sasuke and I had a bet, right? I don't want to lose to him." Naruto scratched the back of his head.
"Uhm, yeah. I remember that. You really hate losing, huh?" Hinata smiled.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. It's just that I really don't want to lose against Sasuke." Naruto looked up at the sky.
"Really? But, why Sasuke?" Hinata glanced at Naruto for a second, then continued to feed the birds.
"I'm not really sure why. It's probably because everyone looks up to him because he's one of those who has the best grades in class, he's really popular, he's really good at sports, and he has everything. While people look down on me because I'm not really good in class, I'm a bit clumsy, and people treats me as an outcast. That was probably the reason why I treat him as my rival." said Naruto. Hinata looked at him with a worried look, but Naruto just smiled.
"I'll do my best and have everyone respect me. But I'd also have to beat Sasuke. And I will definitely do it. Believe it!" Naruto gave a huge grin, and Hinata can't help it but smile back. Hinata was greatly amazed by his determination. Her face was as red as a strawberry.
"Hey, something wrong, Hinata?" Naruto asked. Hinata shook her head and looked down. They returned to feeding the birds. A few more minutes later, they both noticed the time and they agreed to go to school already, before end up getting late for class, which would make Naruto lose their bet.
"Come on, let's go together. We better hurry up, or we'll be late." Naruto suggested and Hinata agreed.
After a couple of minutes, they reached the school and they both entered their classroom. Naruto's friends were cheering for him because he managed to go to school on time. But Kiba wasn't quite happy when he saw Naruto and Hinata come inside the classroom together. Naruto walked towards his friends and Hinata went to Sakura and the other girls.
"Hey you guys! What's up?" Naruto greeted. Kiba put his arm around Naruto's neck and ruffled his hair just like a brother does. Everyone laughed.
"Good thing you're early today." Kiba chuckled.
"I have to, cause I'm gonna win our bet!" Naruto looked at Sasuke.
"Hn. I don't think so. You still have to be early for two more days. I bet you can't pull it off." Sasuke said mockingly.
"Oh yeah? Just watch me! I'll win and you'll have to treat us all to some ramen." Naruto was acting like a child again.
"It will be you who's going to treat us." Sasuke returned the comment.
"No way. It's gonna be you!" Naruto insisted. "I'm not going to lose!"
"I won't be losing either." Sasuke was successful in annoying Naruto. Naruto and Sasuke started arguing again.
"And there they go again. Uh, what a drag." Shikamaru sighed.
"Will they ever stop arguing?" asked Choji.
"If they didn't argue, they'd miss each other." Kiba teased. But Naruto and Sasuke heard him.
"I will never miss this guy!" They both diverted their attention to Kiba and said at the same time. Then they started arguing again. Sasuke was still being cool even while arguing, but Naruto was going hyper again. He reacts with every word Sasuke says.
"They're like crazy brothers of some sort. Man, these two are nuts." Kankuro mentioned. The two "brothers" shot a glare at him and continued to argue. Kankuro sighed.
"That's the power of youth!" Lee gave a thumbs up sign.
"Sir Gai really had influenced you." Neji pretended to shiver. [A/N: Sir Gai is Maito Gai or Might Guy in English. ^_^]
"But you have admit, their friendship is very strong." Sai mentioned. "Their brother-like bond with each other is amazing."
"Well, perhaps. But I still think they're crazy." said Kankuro and they laughed.
"Okay. Settle down now everyone." Sir Iruka entered the room. Everyone sat on their chairs. Iruka noticed that Naruto was in the room and was quite surprised.
"Naruto, it's a good thing that you're starting to go to school early. Keep it up." Sir Iruka complimented. Naruto scratched the back of his head and gave him a goofy grin. Class proceeded quickly, and in no time at all, it was already lunch time.
"Okay, let's go have some lunch! I'm starving!" Naruto suggested. The gang [A/N: Naruto and the guys, girls are not included…for now. ^_^] headed to the cafeteria to have some lunch, and as usual, they're planning to eat at their favorite place at school, the rooftop.
"Hmmm…what should I pick?" Naruto pondered while looking at the different kinds of food in front of him.
"Pick faster, idiot." Sasuke murmured.
"Argh! Shut up!" Naruto glared at Sasuke and Sasuke just rolled his eyes. "Hmm…then I'm gonna have a bowl of pork ramen, a chicken sandwich, a bottle of orange juice, and…hmmm…oh! A slice of the chocolate cake for dessert." After Naruto and the guys received their lunch, they went up the rooftop.
"Time to eat!" Naruto said happily.
"Hey, isn't that a bit too much?" Sasuke asked.
"Nah. I should eat plenty because lunch is the most important meal of the day. Besides, Choji eats twice the amount I'm eating." Naruto defended.
"Idiot. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, not lunch. And don't include Choji in this." Sasuke sighed. Everyone laughed at Naruto. And Choji needs to eat more food than an average human because he's different. He just wants to eat because he enjoys doing so. But the word FAT is a taboo around Choji. Because he considers himself chubby, but not fat.
"Oh…right." Naruto chuckled. "Anyway, let's just eat."
So they ate merrily. They are all really good friends.
And that's the end of this chapter. I hope the NaruHina fans reading this liked it! I'll make it even cheesier and fluffier next time, so please keep supporting me! ^_^
Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW cause I'd know what you think about this chapter. It's one of my bests, so I'd really like to know. ^_^