Come on, guys. Get your heads in the game. Now, for those of you who read this on Gaia, you may notice that I revised a part of it to make Naruto more...IC (In Character). You'll know the spot.

Chapter 5 – Finding Naruto

"Gimme some more, old man!"

Naruto Uzumaki was now on his third bowl of barbecued pork ramen today. It takes a lot of strength to keep up his unending energy. And perhaps even more strength to keep the Nine-Tailed Fox at bay. After all, with the Fox Spirit inside him, he was now eating for two! But no amount of strength could prepare him for what slowly shuffled closer to him.

Hinata was gritting her teeth as she slowly stepped closer and closer to her crush. Her palms felt a little sweaty, but she kept them out of her pockets nonetheless. She briefly looked back at Sakura and Ino, both of whom gave her a thumbs-up while hiding behind a random building. Though this didn't do much for her confidence (while making for a perfect sweatdrop moment), Hinata continued to step toward Naruto, who took a quick break for some water before going back to his ramen. Hinata did her best to reach out and touch Naruto's shoulder, but her hand started to shake before it could get close. It seemed like it could take all day before she could talk to him. In fact, the sun was just starting to set.

"Why doesn't she say something?" Sakura said quietly through gritted teeth. Ino's patience was wearing thin.

"That's it. I'm taking over." Ino started to make the hand signs for her Mind Transfer Jutsu, but Sakura quickly grabbed her wrist.

"No, wait," Sakura told her. It was good timing that Sakura grabbed Ino's wrist, as Hinata finally spoke up.

"N…Naruto-kun?"

Naruto swallowed his food before looking back at Hinata, who was blushing again. "Huh? Hinata?"

"Do you…do you mind if I eat with you?"

Naruto grinned. "Knock yourself out!"

Hinata sat next to Naruto, but still couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with him. Well…I came this far. Now what do I do? Hinata was brought back to her senses when Teuchi, the owner of the bar, spoke to her.

"Miss Hinata," Teuchi said, cheerfully, "I didn't expect to see you here. Can I get you anything?"

"Um…" Hinata eyed the menu carefully. "…Miso ramen, please."

"Coming right up," Teuchi said, heading back with his daughter, Ayame, to start cooking.

"So far so good," Ino said to herself. "All we have to do is leave the rest to…hm?" Ino looked at Sakura, who seemed to be deep in thought. "Are you okay? Earth to Forehead-chan!"

Sakura snapped back to reality. "Oh. I was just thinking…when we were little, you used to do the same thing for me."

"Huh?"

"When all the kids used to make fun of my…'outstanding' forehead (she still remembered what she read in Jiraiya's notes), you told me my forehead was something to be proud of. You gave me confidence in myself, just like we did for Hinata…"

"Hold that thought," Ino interrupted. It looked like something was about to happen at Ichiraku.

"So did you want to talk to me about something?" Naruto asked Hinata, making her accidentally choke on her miso ramen. Naruto had to hit her in the back to get her food to go down properly.

"Thank you," she said hoarsely, before letting out one last cough. "And…yes. I did want to talk to you. (Ino and Sakura listened carefully) Do you…I mean…y-you know of the Konoha Fireworks Festival?"

"Oh man," Naruto said, excited. "I love fireworks! They're so cool!" That's when Naruto actually made the motions of fireworks zooming and bursting in the sky, complete with explosive noises from the back of his throat. While most girls would find this immature ("What is he doing?!" Sakura whispered in fury), Hinata actually smiled and giggled at Naruto's antics until he fell back off his seat.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, getting back in his seat. "I've had worse hits. Wait, why'd you ask me about that?"

"Well…you see, I…" Hinata was having trouble keeping eye contact (which was saying something since he was squinting again), "…I don't know if you know…but the Fireworks Festival is this weekend…and…well…" She was trying hard not to rub her fingers together. She hated doing that! It was a reflex she developed as a child and she wished she could stop it. "…I w-wanted to know…if…maybe…"

"Come on," Sakura quietly cheered her on. "You can do it."

"...you would..." Hinata gulped. "...like to...go...with me?"

Naruto's eyes opened. He couldn't believe what was unfolding in front of him. Or rather, struggling to unfold. Did she just ask him out on a date? An actual date?

"I mean..." Hinata looked up at him. "...if you want to..."

Naruto folded his arms and closed his eyes again to consider his options. Yes, Hinata was pretty, but his crown jewel would always be Sakura Haruno. But if Naruto so much as opened his mouth to her, she would just close it. With her fist. Ouch. But then again...no other girl would even consider asking him on a date. And yet, there she was: the ultra shy Hinata Hyuga, asking him on a real date! Stuff like this doesn't happen every day, especially to him!

"N-Naruto-kun?"

Naruto opened his eyes again and smiled. "...Sure."

It was as if the music and fireworks had already started. Hinata couldn't believe what she just heard. Sure. That means yes! YES! OH GOD, YES! Neither one of them realized that Sakura and Ino were grinning like idiots, but they probably wouldn't have cared. Hinata simply stared at Naruto, as if she were going to cry again.

Naruto blinked. "So...what time should I meet you there?"

This comment snapped Hinata back to reality. "You're...not going to pick me up?"

"Don't get me wrong," Naruto continued. "I want to pick you up. Believe it. But...your dad probably won't let me in." Not that I'd blame him. He probably knows about the fox, too. "Besides, I've seen where you live. It's HUGE."

"Oh," Hinata said, "I-I see...Well...whatever time's fine with you..."

"Great! I'll see you there at six!" Naruto put some money on the counter to pay for his food and decided to head home. He stopped halfway when he was called back.

"Naruto-kun!"

"Yeah?"

"Six, you said?"

"Yeah!"

"O-okay."

"Later!"

"Bye…"

In that order, it was Hinata, Naruto, Hinata, Naruto, Hinata, Naruto, and then Hinata, who simply sat in her seat and stared blankly into her half empty bowl of Miso ramen, which was starting to get cold. Even old man Teuchi was starting to worry.

"Miss Hinata?"

That was when Sakura and Ino came out of hiding and smacked Hinata on the back.

"Way to go!" Sakura shouted. "You did it! I mean, it didn't go exactly as I expected. But you did it anyway!"

Hinata didn't respond. There were only a few times where Hinata turned red enough for steam to spout from her ears. One of those times was when Naruto told Kiba about the girl at the waterfall. This was another time. Me...and Naruto-kun...my first date...

"Hinata?"

Hinata only responded by fainting face first into her ramen.

"OMIGOD!" Ino yelled. "I THINK WE BROKE HER!"


Naruto: It's here! It's here at last!

Lee: YES! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! I have finally managed Sakura-chan to go on a date with me! ARE YOU WATCHING, GAI-SENSEI?!

Naruto: WHAT?!

Hinata: ...

Naruto: Whoa! Hinata! Is that really you?!

Hinata:blush: ...It's...nothing, really.

Next Chapter: A Different Kind of Fireworks

Naruto: Hey, Bushy Brow! What the heck are you doing?!


No, you did not hear wrong. Come next chapter, it's time for the main event!