Hi again! Well onto chapter two! -again , I'm sorry if I get wordy...blah PLEASE feel free to critique me!- Thanks to my reviewers/ story alerters for your support! =gives kissess=

"Hey there, Hinata-chan... It's been a long time, ne?" Naruto handed her the fallen grocery bags and then rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yes, it's been a long time," She responded coolly, her white eyes a dull gray. Naruto's eyebrow twitched. Hadn't her eyes been a brighter white a moment ago? Or maybe a brighter glow in her eyes was how he has remembered her after the long separation of distance and time. Speaking of time, Hinata had grown into a rather lovely woman, supple and curvy in the right places, though still petite and modest. He had grown in height a bit more as well but he noticed in Hinata her enhanced auras of grace and gentleness and something he did not remember from his childhood: a sense of unfamiliarity. There was something different that he couldn't quite place, something foreign and distant like the dull look in her eyes.

They both stood up together and Naruto blurted, "You've changed a bit. Not too much though." And he laughed.

She smiled curtly, responding while cocking her head to the side, "Is that a compliment, Naruto-san?"

Naruto's laughing face faltered, not ever recalling Hinata calling him Naruto-san. And then his cheeks flushed, supposing what he said could have been a compliment or insult which wasn't his intention. "Gomen...I've never been good with words heheh."

"It's alright. I see." And that was all she said. Naruto couldn't remember Hinata being the most talkative, that was usually Sakura or Ino or most times himself, but the silence that followed her response shouldn't have been so...awkward. The lack of talking lay a heavy quietness between them as they continued to stare politely at each other. Naruto increased the rubbing of his neck to scratching the back of his head, while Hinata just stood erect with her groceries in hand. "Well, it was good to see you Naruto-san. However I must get going; I need to finish getting the ingredients for tonight's dinner. Take care." Her voice cracked subtly at the end of her farewell, but at least she hadn't stuttered.

And with that she turned on her heel and went about her way leaving a very confused Naruto behind. First reason that Naruto was confused: he realized that the entire time they were speaking, though albeit not that long at all, Hinata did not stutter once. It was a puzzling and extremely surprising phenomena indeed. Second reason Naruto was confused: her composure was very businesslike and formal. It was like they were never even friends. Naruto really didn't understand how that happened but it bothered him. It bothered him how she now called him 'san', a term he had never heard her use for him. It wasn't the same Hinata that's for sure. But she seemed more confident in herself, more composed and sophisticated. Maybe that was the good part of her change. She didn't even show a sign of fainting near him. That was an even better part. But still if he hadn't seen her eyes, because he knew her eyes, he would have believed that she was any other Hyuuga than Hyuuga Hinata. 'although I probably could tell if it was Neji...' He followed the girl as she returned to the market. "Hey, Hinata-chan!"

She didn't hear him and thus didn't turn.

"Hinata chan!"

Still no response.

"Hinata-chaaann!" He put a tanned hand on her small shoulder, causing her to look up in surprise. Her mouth hung open slightly and she merely said "Hai?"

Naruto flushed again, furrowing his brows and instantly removing his hand from her shoulder as if it burned him. Hinata didn't seem at all phased and still stared questioningly at him. "Uhm, do...do you want me to carry your groceries home for you?"

"Oh Naruto-san, there's no need. I can handle it, and the mansion is really not that far from town. Thank you very much though!"

"Uh, but I really want to. I wanted to talk." She stared up at him, expecting another answer, a better answer maybe. "We haven't seen each other for almost two years. I thought maybe we'd, I don't know, catch up?"

She smiled again, that strange upward curve of her lips with her pretty eyes closed. 'That would be a weird face to get stuck like that,' he thought out of the blue. 'It's really not natural at all. I wonder if she thinks that that is convincing. Wait did I just refer to her eyes as pretty. He looked next to him. Well I'm not really lying! So it's not bad to say. She even gives Sakura a run for her money in the looks department. ' "Here," Naruto smiled, moving close to her and freeing her hands, receiving the groceries. They then started down the road to the mansion of Hyuuga. They took a few paces staring straight ahead in the most chilling awkward silences Naruto had ever experienced. He gave her a sideways glance with his bright blue eyes but she didn't notice. They hadn't seen each other for a while, there must be plenty to talk about!

"So, Hinata chan, how have you been! What have you been up to?" he grinned brightly. She seemed to back away from his eagerness but responded with a similar vigor in her voice that did not reach her eyes.

"I am well. Clan duty has been very prominent in my everyday life." She stopped. Naruto waited. "And you?"

'Oh... I guess she's done,' Naruto thought. " I had to start vigorously training with the Killer Bee and ..." He continued talking about the after effects of Pein and the Madara uprising. He mentioned the Kages uniting and villages preparing for the war. He stopped, realizing he had been talking enthusiastically for a while. Naruto, in his older, more mature age, knew to back off a bit to prevent being too overwhelming which he tended to be when he got on talking. "Heh, sorry. I haven't spoken to anyone about all that in a while. I kinda get like that, even with speaking I think, I'm so deadest on getting a job done that I don't quit 'til it's all finished, whether it be a story or a mission. Like...oh, when we were looking for that weird beetle that could hunt down Sasuke's scent, remember?"

"I don't"

"...huh?"

"Gomen Naruto-san. I don't really recall that at all..."

He gave a strange laugh. "What's with this 'san' stuff?"

"Uhm, pardon?" Hinata looked completely perplexed.

"N-nevermind..." Wow, now he was stuttering over his words. What a weird turn around. "Well, it doesn't matter about that beetle thing, I guess. It was a long time ago. Silly memory-ttebayo!"

" 'ttebayo?"

"Ne, Hinata-chan?"

"What is 'ttebayo'?" The word sounded foreign on her tongue like she had never heard it's utterance before. Naruto just stared dumbly at her. He even stopped walking, falling a few paces behind Hinata. She pretty much mispronounced it! Shaking his head quickly, he caught back up to her and said, "Uhm... Nothing. Just something I say..."

"Oh." She changed the subject since Naruto seemed a bit disheartened about the previous one. "Have you seen anyone else since you came back?"

"Uhm no, not really. After talking to Sakura once we arrived I pretty much scaled the Konoha market."

At the mention of Sakura, Hinata's eyes turned cold yet her smile remained. "Ah Sakura-san. I presume your relationship is well?" If this question alone didn't catch Naruto off guard, then the sudden tense atmosphere that simply engulfed them certainly did.

"Uhm, yea sorta."

"Quite nice."

"Yea... Quite."

She didn't notice he seemed a little dejected when he responded. He thought he had been obvious, by accident, by letting the tone of his answer be an example of his emotions but when Hinata said nothing and didn't give a look of concern, Naruto decided it wasn't the time to mention Sakura anymore, for both their sakes.

"You know, you should keep looking for old friends to revisit. There are those who have missed you." She could have meant her. She really could have, he almost expected that to be the case based on her word choice. But actually, how she said her statement implied that the group of 'those' people did not include her. Naruto tried to smile again and said he definitely would keep looking for people to catch up with. By then they arrived at the Hyuuga Mansion Gate Entrance.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around," Naruto said, handing her the grocery bags once again. "Yes." She turned to open the gate. Naruto stood there, leaning on one leg, and just waited. These silences were continually making him uncomfortable.

"…I-I'll be in Konoha for a little bit. Since ya know, we still have to go after Sasuke-teme." He felt the need to explain to her what his reasons were. But her disinterest showed through, as she made no reaction to such news, and Naruto couldn't allow himself to say anything else on the matter. Because of this, he almost felt as if what was going on with him wasn't even worth her time and he supposed he couldn't blame her, seeing as they hadn't even spoken for almost two years. Yet, even with that reasoning, he couldn't understand why he himself felt rather uneasy about it.

"Yes. I see." She nodded her head once in understanding. Naruto swallowed hard, trying to think of something else to say, when he noticed a scratch on the back of Hinata's ankle. It was a bit red and bruised, as if just recently sliced with a fingernail.

"Hinata-chan…your leg…" Hinata turned to him with that smile etched on her face, her long dark hair swishing around her.

"Arigato, Naruto-san, for helping me out today." She opened the gate, the gate of many purposes, one of which to separate. "Take care of yourself." And with that, the swift noise of the shutting gate rang in Naruto's ears. 'Her words were so…final.' Naruto thought, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away. '...like she planned on not meeting again.' He stared at his feet as he went. Where to, only his feet knew, for they were simply taking him upon their own will.

I've got a whole buncha chapters lined up... and I STILL don't know exactly where this is going xD oh well, please keep reading and REVIEWINGGGG! ;) much love!