Chapter Five

Spending time with you

As the blonde haired boy and the dark haired girl was walking Naruto turned to look at Hinata. Hinata felt Naruto looking at her so she started blushing.

"What is it Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked while giggling.

"You're so beautiful Hinata-chan" Naruto thought to himself as he looked at Hinata.

"Oh it's nothing Hinata-chan, come on let's go" Naruto said as he started to pull her arm.

"N-Naruto-kun slow down a bit" Hinata as he continued running until he finally made it to Ichiraku Ramen shop.

"Oi Naruto-kun it's been a while since I last seen you…I'd say about almost a good three years. Where have you been?" The owner of the shop asked as he smiled at the teenage boy.

"Well I've been training" Naruto grinned.

"Well I'm glad you back…oh hello Hinata-chan and how are you?" Ichiraku asked as he gave the young girl a smile.

"I've been good" Hinata replied.

"Well what can I get you two?" He asked.

"I'll have three bowls of chicken favor ramen" Naruto said as he grinned.

"Ano…I'll have miso" Hinata said as she blushed lightly.

"Already then three chicken favor ramen and one miso coming right up" Ichiraku said as he turned around back to his kitchen.

Hinata turned towards Naruto. She had been meaning to ask him what had happened when he saw Sasuke, but she didn't want to bring the subject up because seeing Naruto's expression whenever she brought Sasuke's name up he would get very mad.

Naruto looked at Hinata and noticed that she was staring at him but she seemed to be in a deep thought. Naruto waved his hand in Hinata's face but that didn't help.

"Hinata-chan" Naruto called out to her. But she still didn't hear him. Naruto leaned towards Hinata's face, he was nearly inches away from her face getting ready to yell her name to get her attention. Naruto blushed for a moment at how close he was to her face.

"What if I kissed her right now, what would she say? What I'm I thinking I already did that before and she was mad at me…plus she's with Sasuke still if he's ever really coming back, the jerk really changed for the worst" Naruto snapped out of his trained of thought and had noticed that Hinata had already snapped out of hers and she was blushing like crazy when she realized how close he was in her face.

Naruto leaned back into his seat blushing of embarrassment as Hinata stared at him.

"Naruto-kun what were you doing?" Hinata asked while still blushing.

"I-I…um was trying to snap you out of you're trance but I ended up…being lost in thought myself" Naruto laughed nervously.

"But…that still doesn't explain why you were so close in my face" Hinata pointed out while looking at Naruto. Naruto looked away from Hinata blushing.

"Well…you see I-"

"Here is your three bowls of ramen and here's miso" Ichiraku said as he handed them their order. Naruto sighed in relief when he's food came. Hinata stared at Naruto for a while before she too started to eat.

"Um…Naruto-kun…I've been wondering this for a while now" Hinata started as she looked at her miso in the bowl. Naruto looked at Hinata waiting for her to finish her sentence.

"W-What exactly happened when you saw Sasuke-kun" Hinata asked quietly. Naruto looked away from Hinata when she heard her say Sasuke's name as he frowned.

"……"

"If you don't want to talk about it you don't have to" Hinata implied as she continued to look down.

"We should finish up we don't wanna waste our whole day here do we?" Naruto grinned as he stood up. He had already finished all three of his bowls. Hinata at Naruto, she was kind of disappointed that he wouldn't talk about it but she didn't want to press the issue so she smiled back at him.

"Ichiraku, here's the money for our meal" Naruto said as he took out his frog shape wallet. Ichiraku shook his head. "It's on the house" the grey haired man said.

"Are you sure" Naruto asked. This wasn't the first time he's done this; the first time was his fight before Neji.

"Yes…I'm sure Naruto-kun you've been such a loyal customer and you're a favorite and I always enjoy having you here" the man smiled. Naruto grinned.

"Thanks a lot" Naruto said as he waved bye to the man.

Naruto didn't really feel like talking about Sasuke when Hinata had asked about what had happened between them because the thought of Sasuke made him angry. His best friend, like a brother to him had betrayed him, their team and the village. But he still was going to try to keep his promise to bring him back.

"Naruto-kun what do you think about Akira-kun?" Hinata asked as she looked up at Naruto. The blonde haired ninja frowned. "And be honest" she added.

"Well…I don't like him" Naruto said as he looked straight ahead of them.

"Why not…he's a really nice guy" Hinata exclaimed. "I just don't…I mean he's okay…but another part of me doesn't like him" Naruto confessed.

"You're not the first person to say that about Akira-kun" Hinata said as she looked to the ground.

"I'm not?" Naruto asked as he looked at Hinata in shock. Hinata shook her head.

"Sakura-chan doesn't trust him, Neji-niisan thinks of him like a rival, Ino just hates him because she thinks that he's mean; but I think it's just because he doesn't like her that's the only reason why she doesn't like him, Kiba-kun and Shino-kun don't like him either because they too don't trust him, Gaara-sama doesn't like him but the reason why I'm not sure" Hinata explained as she frowned. She didn't like the idea of no one liking her friend because he was very dear to her, not like she liked him or anything but Akira was a very close friend of hers and all of her friends even cousin didn't like him. Akira didn't seem to mind though, he always told her that as long as she was always his friend that's all he cared about.

"Wow…I didn't know all of them didn't like him" Naruto said as he looked to the ground. "What about his teammates…do they like him?" Naruto asked.

"Mizuki and Kiyoshi are close to him…well try to be but Akira…well he's always annoyed by them" Hinata explained. "I see…" is all he said.

"But Akira-kun really likes you Naruto-kun…I think he may admire you" Hinata said as she looked at him and smiled.

"Really" Naruto said as he looked at her in disbelief. He kind of figured that he did because when he met him he had told him that it was an honor to meet him. Naruto grinned.

"Well enough talk about that Miyazki guy…this is your day with me and I want to talk about you" Naruto said as he looked at her.

"You what have you been up to for the last two years?" Naruto asked.

"Well…-"before Hinata could even finish well more like start her sentence Naruto interrupted her.

"I notice that you say Gaara-sama instead of Gaara-san…are you two friends or something?" Naruto asked with one eyebrow cocked up. Hinata nodded her head.

"Yes…we are. Why do you ask?" Hinata asked.

"Well…how did that happen" Naruto asked. He missed a lot while he was gone, he is the only one of his former-Genin social circle (known as the "Rookie 9") who is still a Genin. During his absence, the rest have become Chunnin (and Hyuuga Neji even made Jōnin), Hinata being a medical nin, and now she friends with Gaara not that anything was wrong with that but it seemed odd to him they were so different from each other.

(Flashback)

It was pretty late outside and the young Hyuuga was trying to hurry home. She had been training all day and had lost track of time. As she was walking she saw someone sitting on the ground near the river.

"That's Gaara-san" Hinata thought to herself as she walked towards him. "I wonder what's he's doing out here all by himself" Hinata asked herself.

"What do you want?" Gaara asked in a bone chilling tone. Hinata had jumped she didn't know that he had already noticed her. "Ano…I was just wondering why are you out here all by yourself?" Hinata asked standing in her same spot not walking any closer towards him.

"I could ask you the same thing" the red head said.

"…I was on my way home…I was training and lost track of the time" Hinata explained. Gaara said nothing as he continued looked at the moon in the sky. Hinata stared at him watching the moon. She could tell that he held so much pain just from the look in his eyes.

"Why to you keep staring at me like that? I don't like that" Gaara stated as he turned his head slightly to looked at Hinata from the corner of his eye. Hinata took a step back.

"Ano…I'm sorry" Hinata said in mumble. Gaara looked at her and could tell that she still feared him even after he told her that he wouldn't hurt her. Gaara frowned as he turned back around as he stood up.

Gaara walked towards Hinata. Hinata noticed that he was getting closer and closer towards her, each step he took she took back until she couldn't take anymore steps because she was now trapped between Gaara and the tree behind her.

Gaara stared at her really hard, but she wouldn't meet his stare. "I told you once before that I will not hurt you, but you still fear me…why is that?" Gaara asked while he continued staring at her. Hinata wouldn't answer him but she did look up at him with the fear still written all over her face.

"Answer me" Gaara demanded. Hinata looked up at Gaara, she couldn't even get a word out. "I-I…don't know" Hinata mumbled.

"Hn…whatever" Gaara said as he turned his back on her getting ready to walk away. Hinata stopped him from walking away as she grabbed his arm. Gaara flinched when he felt her touch him. He wasn't use to people touching him…people looking at him with fear in their eyes that he was use to, but this was new to him.

Gaara turned around and glared at her. "Don't touch me" Gaara said as he looked at her. Hinata looked into his sea green eyes and when she did she saw his sadness.

"Gaara-san…I'm sorry…but I would like to be you're friend"

"Why would you want to be a friend with someone that you're afraid of?" Gaara asked being quite puzzled why she wanted to be friends with him. No one had ever said that they wanted to be his friend before…well not a girl.

"…Ano…I just want to get to know you a little that's all…I'm not that afraid of you" Hinata said as she looked at him giving a small smile. She was starting to get use to him little by little. Seeing the sad look in his eyes she could tell that he was lonely. Hinata took a step towards Gaara.

Gaara watched her for a while before talking. "…Why are you acting this way…you're different from the others" Gaara said as he looked at her. Sure she was a little afraid of him but she was trying her best not to fear him…plus she wanted to be his friend.

"I better get going now Gaara-san…I'll see you around" Hinata gave him a smile before she began to walk away. Gaara stared at her retreat for a while before he started to follow her. Hinata turned around when she noticed that he was following her.

"I'll walk you home" Gaara said softly so soft Hinata barely heard him, but kind of figured out what he said when he was walking with her.

It was quiet for the longest until Hinata finally arrived at her home. She turned towards Gaara and gave him a smile along with a faint blush.

"T-Thank you for walking me home" Hinata said as she looked down at the ground. Gaara just nodded as he watched Hinata walked away.

"I would like to be your friend too Hinata" Gaara said in a whisper as he disappeared in his sand tornado.

Hinata turned around and noticed that Gaara had already left. Hinata smiled to herself when she heard what Gaara had just said as walked inside her home getting herself ready for her father yelling at her.

(End Flashback)

"And ever since then we have been really close" Hinata explained to the blonde haired teen. Naruto stared at Hinata in disbelief.

"Wow…you two are so different I would have never had thought that you two would become friends" Naruto stated as he looked at her. Hinata nodded her head.

"So what is it that you want to know about me?" Hinata asked as she looked at Naruto smiling. Naruto felt his face redden when she smiled at him as he turned his head away from her.

"Well…what made you what to become a medical ninja?' Naruto asked.

"Well…to be honest Naruto-kun…I never really wanted to be a ninja but my father wanted me to become a ninja so I just went along with it and I always was very obedient to people but…I love to help people so I started to make my own ointment for healing people's injures"

"Oh yeah that stuff really works" Naruto exclaimed as he grinned. Hinata blushed.

"…So anyway I told Hokage-sama that wanted her to train me…in the medical field and she agreed that she'll help me, but my father wasn't happy about it and wanted me to quit but I told him that I wouldn't because…that this is what I wanted to be…so he got mad at me saying that Hyuuga's are meant to be fighters not medical ninja's and he told me that he didn't want me in his house anymore and that he'll pay for my new house but I couldn't stay there anymore" Hinata said as she looked down at the ground.

"I can't believe that you had to live with someone like that" Naruto said as he looked at Hinata. Hinata just sighed as she looked up in the sky.

"So…what do you want to do-"Hinata was cut off by her words when someone yelled her name.

"OI HINATA OVER HERE" The blue haired teen yelled. Hinata looked over to see her close friend waving at her. Naruto frowned as he looked at Akira.

"Hello Akira-kun" Hinata said as she walked over towards him. Naruto continued to frown as he looked at Akira who wasn't paying him any attention because his focus was on Hinata.

"Hinata…I'm glad I saw you…I was wondering if you want to hang out today?" Akira asked while looking at her.

"Well…I would love to but I'm hanging out with Naruto-kun today" Hinata said as she looked at Naruto smiling. Akira looked at Naruto and noticed that he was smiling at him.

"Oh well that's okay…I understand after all he is your friend and he hasn't been here long and you probably want to be with him" Akira stated as he looked back at Hinata.

"Yeah…I'm sorry Akira-kun…maybe we could hang out tomorrow" Hinata asked as she looked at him. Akira just nodded. Hinata had known that Akira was mad but knowing him he wouldn't show it. Akira would rarely show his feelings so it was always hard to tell what he was thinking, rather if he was mad, happy, jealous whatever it was he wouldn't show it. He would smile and grin just like Naruto but he could also be very cold and mean like Sasuke, because Akira did have his days where he wouldn't want to be bothered with no one not even Hinata but she understood because he had been through so much just like Naruto and Sasuke. Some things he was still going through, he had wanted to know what it was like to have a family, and to be loved but the only person he had was Hinata…his one true friend that stuck by his side. Even though all of her friends don't like him she's always ignored their comments about him and she still was his friend.

"Yeah we can always hang out Hinata…so…I'll um see you later" Akira said as he looked at Hinata. "Ja ne Akira-kun" Hinata smiled as she waved at him.

"Later Naruto" Akira said as he disappeared in a poof of smoke. Naruto looked at Hinata. "You really like him don't you?" Naruto asked as he looked at Hinata. Hinata looked at Naruto and blushed. "Not like that…he's just a good friend that I really care about just like you and Gaara-sama" Hinata stated as she looked at Naruto. She had notice a slight frown on his face when she called him his friend. She knew that Naruto still loved her and she did too, but the person that she was with, the person she loved more than the world is Sasuke and she would never betray him and go off to someone else while he was gone.

"Naruto-kun…do want to maybe come to my place…just to hang out and maybe watch a movie or something?" Hinata asked as she looked at Naruto.

"Of course I'd love to" Naruto grinned. Hinata smiled as she smiled at Naruto.

The two finally made it back to Hinata's apartment and were inside watching a movie. Hinata was sitting on the far side of Naruto on the couch as Naruto was sitting on the other side looking at Hinata.

"Do you have to sit so far Hinata-chan? Come over here we're not strangers" Naruto explained as he smiled at her. Hinata gave Naruto a small smile as she scooted closer towards Naruto. She still wasn't that close as Naruto wanted her but she was close enough for him to at least touch her.

Naruto smiled as he looked at her. "I'm glad that I'm back…and I'm that I'm spending time with you Hinata-chan" Naruto said as he glanced over at the girl sitting next to him. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Me too…me too Naruto-kun" Hinata said as she looked back at the T.V to finish watching the movie.

When the movie went off Naruto yawned. "Man that was really Hinata-chan ne?" Naruto asked as he looked at her. He had really had fell asleep during the middle of the movie and only caught the last 20 seconds of the ending. Naruto looked at Hinata and noticed that she too had falling asleep and had her head on his shoulder.

Naruto looked at her and smiled at her sleeping form. Naruto slowly and quietly got up and picked Hinata up in his arms bridal style.

Naruto started to walk around looking in each room trying to find Hinata's bedroom and he finally spotted it. As he walked inside he laid Hinata down on her bed and pulled the covers up and over her. Naruto looked at Hinata and smiled as he leaned down and place a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Good-night Hinata-chan" Naruto said in a whisper as he walked out of her room and out the door to go back home.