I'm back! Hello there, lovely readers/reviewers/Naruhina shippers, etcetcc :D I like this chapterr, haha I'm starting to enjoy this story...I guess it's about time? haha ENJOY!
Naruto slurped his noodles, and then gobbled up some shrimp-naruto from the bottom of his bowl. Somehow ramen always made him feel better. It had taken him a while, meaning a couple of days, to boost his spirits up; he did see old friends like Shikamaru who was getting to look a lot like his former sensei, Azuma-san, and Rock Lee who was filled with the spirit of youth more than ever. Talking with them had cheered him up a bit, but his mind was still occupied with Hinata. He tried doing things used to do, for nostalgia purposes, such as sitting on the Hokage monument in thought, passing by his old academy swing, and doing a few jutsus at the training grounds. Still, nothing seemed to shake the depressing feelings he dealt with since his run-in with the former Team 8.
Ayame the waitress, noticed Naruto was less than enthusiastic than normal as he finished another bowl. She wiped the counter down, rubbing her cloth around in circles to clean the surface and said, "Something on your mind, Naruto?"
It took him a while to pick his head up. "Just...a lot of crap. The usual."
"Well maybe you should take a break from thinking. That's why you came back, isn't it? To relax?"
He cupped his empty bowl in his hands. "I guess..."
She took the bowl and the others around him, piling one on top of the other. "Clear your head. Do something you want to do."
Naruto was silent. He had no idea what he wanted; he'd always been preparing for the missions that he HAD to accomplish. Now he had a choice. And he was stuck on deciding, with so many opportunities.
"And don't go alone because, you'll just end up getting lost in thought again."
"That makes sense..." He seemed kind of indifferent to the idea.
"Go on," she insisted. "Look for some people to hang out with!"
"People..." he murmured, getting up from his stool. He couldn't remember a day where he'd do activities just because he wanted to do them. Becoming a hero, a protector and a savior really didn't leave time for that; it was a pretty selfless and time consuming job. He could take a break. Sure, that'd be nice. Brushing the fabric above the Ichiraku doorway past his head with a risen hand, Naruto blinked as he emerged into the sunlight.
He took a walk, vaguely thinking that Ayame suggested finding someone to spend time with. He dismissed the feeling of obligation. He would find someone soon; it was his day to do what he wanted after all.
And Naruto proceeded to think about nothing, observing the sky and trees. Small thoughts popped up in his head, for example about the small birds on the tree branches and how cool it must be to be able to fly, or about the forest and how it looks at night as opposed to day. Other than his few observations and ponderings, his mind was completely blank. And it was pretty wonderful.
Hinata stood near the pond in the middle of the woods. The small waterfall flowing down into the basin of the pond looked pristine and crystal clear. She just gazed at the beauty of it all, the flowing water, the solitude of the surrounding trees, the sunlight that peaked in through holes in the canopy of leaves. She breathed in deeply, her mind clear. Suddenly, she heard a rustling behind her; she turned and saw Naruto approaching from behind a few trees.
Naruto saw Hinata and, despite the previous events that had occurred between the two, was actually really happy to see her. It must have been something about the way they had left off, but he wanted to make it better. Whether she could remember or not, they had been friends and if Hinata had suffered while he was gone, he at least wanted to make sure she was okay now. That sort of reasoning was logical; it made sense, but it didn't explain why something inside him warmed right up when she turned to face him. He waved his arm above his head energetically, "What a coincidence, eh Hinata-chan?"
"Yes. Very much so, Naruto-san," Hinata answered and swiftly turned back around to the waterfall. Naruto's arm stayed in the air hesitantly as he saw her turn her back to him, but Kiba's words rung in his ears.
And try being nice to Hinata. Like Shino said, she's been through a lot...
'Maybe the coldness is a result of her suffering.' Naruto guessed and shrugged off the creeping feeling running through him, the one that made him feel like he wasn't even worth acknowledging further than what she had done. 'C'mon, Naruto, be strong!'
'Because you fail, you have the strength to get back up...I believe that's what true strength is...'
Naruto grinned instantly, recalling something she had said to him long ago, and went to stand next to the girl, who was now closing her eyes. He waited for her to open her eyes again. When she did, she gave a little jump when she saw him suddenly there. It also didn't help that he was staring. "What are you thinking about?" he said bluntly, but with a genuinely soft tone.
"Nothing," she answered, smiling. He raised his brows, but she continued. "I come here a lot... and when I do... the tranquility just makes me want to ...stop thinking." She created pauses in between her speech; it reminded Naruto of her old stuttering, something he sorely missed since it just seemed to fit Hinata.
"It becomes relaxing...and sometimes 'nothing' can be... pretty wonderful." She hadn't meant to answer in such personal detail, but in any sense she got her point across; Naruto smiled toothily now.
"Yea, pretty wonderful." They both closed their eyes and thought of nothing together.
And for a while, it was peaceful. Then Hinata opened her eyes and began to walk away. "So long." she said.
Naruto's eyes snapped opened. "Huh, what?" he saw her leaving and went after her.
"I must go to the market," she said.
"W-wait!" He reached out and grabbed her wrist. A chill ran up her spine and she instinctively looked to him, though she did not want to. "I could...carry your bags home again... if you want."
She looked at his hand around her wrist and slipped her arm free. He looked a bit disheartened, but she tentatively said "Alright." She then continued walking towards town. He followed her, walked her home, as they chatted idly and a little more warmly this time for a good bit of time. So much time past in fact, by the time they had finished talking, it was dusk outside and Naruto was about to pop back over to Ichiraku's for dinner. He wasn't going to tell Hinata that, that he couldn't even cook for himself, while there she was about to cook dinner for her whole family, but he was going to give Ayame a big thanks for the advice.
They said their goodbyes with curt waves and shy, awkward smiles. Naruto turned to go as Hinata went through the gate, and with a last look at one another, they parted, feeling rather good about their day.
And it continued. The next day Naruto ran into her again and offered once again to take her groceries home. Her smiling face had faltered while she thought about it. She couldn't find the harm in it; the coincidences that kept coming up just perplexed her a bit. So she nodded and they were on their way once again.
The day after that Naruto was talking to Sakura, well more like getting his ear chewed off by Sakura when he saw Hinata out of the corner of his eye. Completely ignoring Sakura's last few statements, he waved to Hinata and called a greeting rather loudly. In his enthusiasm he knocked Sakura over, and earned such a good punch to the face that it blew him twenty yards, at which he landed in a heap at Hinata's feet. Sakura yelled from where he once stood, something about a jackass who doesn't know how to listen or keep his cool in public, and stomped away. Hinata helped him up, asking if he was alright.
When he stood holding his cheek, their eyes locked; the expression on Naruto's face caused Hinata to giggle and the pretty tone of her laugh caused Naruto to laugh. They continued laughing, their chuckles erupting into a fit of contagious peals, not noticing the confused passerbys. And they stood there in the middle of town, just laughing.
When they calmed down, Naruto noticed the plastic bags in Hinata's hands. Giving her a crooked smile, he said "I could carry those home for you."
Lines crinkled around her eyes and she said, "I suppose."
Every day for about a week, this occurred; Hinata and Naruto would run into each other, he'd be wandering, she'd be shopping, he'd offer and she'd accept, they'd walk and talk, laugh and smile. They'd part for the evening with a last look behind them and a good feeling afterwards. It was a satisfying pattern, and people around them noticed. Sakura didn't have much to say about it, but she eyed Naruto with a weird look frequently whenever he mentioned Hinata's name. Ayame and ol' Teuchi always had knowing smiles on their faces whenever Naruto mumbled something about Hinata through splutters and slurps of noodles, which was more comforting than Sakura's typical reaction. For Hinata, on the other hand, Hanabi would always be waiting behind the gate when Hinata walked in. She'd ask vague questions about Hinata's day and who she spent it with.
One night, Hanabi was waiting on the steps outside the front gate, playing cat's cradle. Naruto and Hinata approached her, "Hanabi-chan." Hinata smiled. "What are you doing out here?"
"Waiting." The young girl replied, performing a unique trick with her thread.
Naruto, who couldn't even remember properly meeting Hinata's little sister, bowed politely with his head. "Hi there. I'm Uzamaki Naruto." He grinned with his eyes closed.
"I know." She simply said.
"Hanabi!" Hinata scolded lightly.
"Hyuuga Hanabi. Nice to finally meet you, Uzamaki Naruto."
Naruto half-smiled and laughed at her bluntness.
"Hanabi-chan, what are you waiting for?" Hinata asked, receiving the grocery bags from Naruto.
"I was waiting for you two. You've been coming every night, Uzamaki Naruto-"
"I-it's really just fine to call me Naruto…" Naruto cut in. "Uzamaki Naruto sounds way too formal!"
Hanabi looked at him with her piercing white eyes; they were much sharper and harder than her sister's, like finely cut diamonds. "Are you proposing I should become informal with you? Are you becoming familiar with the family?"
Naruto felt like he had just gotten punched in the gut. Hinata also became flustered and coughed lightly, sighing afterwards. "N-n-no! That's really not what I meant at all. It just kind of made me uncomfortable with the whole- name deal, but if you want to call me that…y-you know…I'm totally cool with that!"
Hanabi continued to look at him with her impressionable eyes. Shrugging, she played her cat's cradle without even glancing down at her fingers. "Like I said before, you've been a frequent companion with my onee-chan on her walks home. I figure that since you've been so helpful in the past week, keeping her company, protecting her on her travels, carrying her bags…"
Hinata and Naruto looked as if they wanted to say, it really wasn't that big of a deal, but didn't want to hurt the other's feelings, -and also was a bit afraid of interrupting Hanabi again-, so they let her continue.
"…you should receive a reward."
This Naruto had to object to. "No, really. I absolutely don't want anything for this. I'm really not looking to get anything out of this, like besides friendship!" He gave an embarrassed laugh and looked at Hinata, who if she didn't have her bags to hold, would have her hands covering her face in embarrassment from her sister and Naruto's statements.
Hanabi stood. "I only mean that since you go home without a finely cooked meal every night, that you deserve my sister's cooking once in a while, especially since you kindly help her every day."
"Hey, Ichiraku has finely cooked meals!" Naruto tried to defend it, but again, Hanabi's gaze towards him stopped him from saying anything even remotely convincing.
Hinata turned to him, looking absolutely horrified. Naruto looked back at her, more confused. "You eat ramen noodles every night, Naruto-s-san?"
She stuttered. Naruto was dumbfounded. She had actually stuttered; it was small, unnoticed by most, but it was there. Even Hanabi's eyebrows furrowed in shocked. "Y-yea, I guess I do." Naruto answered her, smiling with his own eyebrows drawing together. "I'm a really lousy cook myself."
"Like I said." Hanabi responded and went to open the gate. "I insist you come on inside." And with that, she headed on in. Hinata and Naruto looked at each other, both knowing instantly they couldn't refuse her. Hinata even began to insist, having the most trouble fathoming the reality that Naruto maybe never had a home cooked meal in his life. Naruto followed her, hesitating as he passed through the gate, but continued to the mansion inside, looking at the gardens and the nice front view of the big house.
"Hinata tends to the gardens," Hanabi said from the front of their little line, noticing Naruto appreciating the flowers and well-grown plants.
"Does she really?" He smiled broadly, sounding exceptionally impressed. He waited for it, he waited for the blush to come. But it didn't; Hinata just hung her head, growing more embarrassed. Naruto shrugged it off, nudged her lightly on the shoulder, "This is all really great, Hinata-chan! I had no idea!"
"Thank you, Naruto-san." She said, with a hint of a smile on her face. Upon entering the halls of the mansion, they lost Hanabi along the way; she wanted to stop by to tell her father the exciting news of the Uzamaki boy staying for dinner.
"Is this your Okaa-san?" Naruto said as they approached a small, quaint shrine in one of the many hallways. He stopped and knelt by the shrine, picking up his hands in respect.
"H-hai." He had heard the small stutter again and smiled even wider. "She was very pretty; a skilled ninja. My father talks her sometimes fondly of her kindness and pure compassion."
"Sounds like you two are a lot alike." Naruto turned to her and smiled warmly from his kneeling position. Hinata's cheeks flushed; it was the first time he had seen her blush since he arrived back in Konoha. There it was, Naruto was elated. He'd have to tell her someday, when she could recall her old habits, how happy he had been to hear a stutter. Her cheeks pink, her hands tried to over her face in embarrassment.
"I'm sure you miss her." Naruto said softly, saying a quick prayer and getting to his feet. Hinata couldn't respond, fighting a lump that was rising in her throat as her face contorted in sadness and embarrassment. She suddenly started slapping her cheeks hardly, desperate to stop the slow, involuntary rush of blood to her face. It stung. It was painful. She didn't notice it much. She just needed to stop the blush. Just to stop it.
The slapping stopped. Hinata opened surprised eyes. Naruto had taken both her hands in his and brought them down from her red face. His face was solemn and he gently pulled their joined hands towards his chest. Taking a few steps backwards, he led her away from the shrine. He released a hand and they continued to walk hand in hand to the dining parlor where dinner would be served.
Well there you go. A rather longer chapter than the usual...I just didn't know where to split it...and kind of didn't want to. I'm starting to build up some fluff! Do you see it? Can you see it? haha Please Revieww!