Sapphire eyes scanned the room of the neat apartment cautiously before relaxing with a small breath of relief. Naruto looked around the room curiously before taking a seat on the couch to await his black haired companion, however after two agonizingly long minutes decided he'd much rather spend his time snooping around. The apartment, which was arguably the size of a small house in his opinion (befitting of the Hyuuga heiress, he presumed), was arranged comfortably. The living room was neat and clean yet warm and very much home-y, and the blonde could see essences of Hinata in everything– from the light purple of the walls, to the hand knit throw blanket strewn neatly over the head of the couch, to the small vase of lavender flowers adorning the stand by the door. He ran his fingers over the petals gently and inhaled their scent, before an image of her flowing black hair entered his mind causing him to blush. This was the scent he'd smelled on her as she leaned against him, and the memory of the potion came flooding back into his mind. He shook the thoughts away, disregarding the small voice in his mind saying that the only reason he liked the smell was because they reminded him of her.

He walked into her kitchen, easily making himself at home, and looked through the cabinets for something to eat. He looked behind each door, hoping to find some instant ramen, when his eyes settled on a small brown box. He picked it up, opening the lid and breathing in the rich chocolate aroma.

That's right, he remembered the times he'd come to her apartment with Kiba and Shino before the war to prepare for a mission, Hinata loves hot chocolate.

He lifted the box to his nose again and, after sniffing once more, decided that it strangely smelt identical to the Poculum Amoris potion. He furrowed his brow in thought, before shrugging it off as a coincidence and placing the box back onto the shelf and leaving the kitchen. He walked down the hall, further exploring the apartment, until he came to a wooden door. He walked inside, eyes widening when his eyes landed on a purple bedspread and decorated walls, and he quickly realized that this was Hinata's room. His lips curved into a small smile at how much the room reflected everything that Hinata was: neat, humble, warm, pretty –

Wait, did I just call Hinata pretty? He stood still in her doorway, blinking repeatedly as he tried to understand his own train of thought. N-No, I'm talking about her room! Her room is pretty, and it's a lot like her! So I guess she's pretty too then? Not that she's ugly! She's beautiful! Now I think she's beautiful?!

"Gah!" He slapped his head to his forehead in exasperation, his jumbled thoughts giving him a headache and he almost turned to leave the room with a frown on his face when he glimpsed something out of the corner of his eye.

He made his way to the far wall which was partially covered with various pictures, and scanned his way through each of them. He smiled at a picture of a young, smiling Hinata with big pearl eyes holding a baby Hanabi, who looked almost equally as annoyed as an infant as she does now. His eyes moved across the wall as he studied each chapter of her life. She looked (fortunately) much more like her mother he learned, and her love of cinnamon rolls began in her childhood as he chuckled lightly at a picture of her and a very young Neji eating some happily. He saw a more recent one of her, Kiba, and Shino, resting in the forest during a mission, the sun shining on her prettily, and even some with her, Tenten, Ino, and Sakura. He'd never known they were that close, he realized, though he never paid much attention to girls anyway. He laughed loudly at a picture of a sullen, grown Neji sitting on the floor while Hinata smiled behind him braiding his hair, and was even (happily) surprised to find one of himself, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino on one of their earliest missions together all those years ago. He was grinning cheekily at the camera while Hinata peeked at him out of the corner of her eye with a blush on her face. He smile soon turned into a frown, however, as his eyes rested upon a photo of a grinning Kiba.

No Hinata, no other people. Just Kiba.

He scrunched up his nose and suddenly felt angry for no reason other than the fact that Hinata had a picture of Kiba here on her wall, filled with the people who were obviously special to her. Never mind the fact that he was her teammate, he found himself wondering what made Kiba so special that he had his own place on her wall. Could they be dating? And why did it bother him so much that they might be? He crossed his arms stubbornly, refusing to admit any form of jealousy at his smelly dog-friend, even though he very much noticed the fact that Kiba was wearing casual clothes in the picture meaning that it was obviously taken during their down time. Meaning that Kiba and Hinata hung out during their free time, a fact that upset him very much for a reason he couldn't quite understand and he (immaturely) moved another picture over to slightly cover Kiba's face. Smirking with satisfaction, he found himself moving on to the next picture and felt all the air escape his lungs. He tugged the picture off the wall lightly, and gazed at it intently. Her mouth was open in a wide smile, white teeth bright in the sunlight and eyes crinkled in the corners as she laughed at – well, it didn't matter what she was laughing at, because all he could think about was how beautiful she looked, with her black hair pulled up into a loose bun on the top of her head, loose strands hanging down and framing her face as she reached a hand out to try to block the camera but failed. A light orange sweater hung off one of her shoulders, revealing the smooth skin underneath.

"Woah, Hinata…" he said breathlessly, and glancing around the room as though someone could be watching him before hastily tucking the picture into his pocket with the utmost care, then moving some pictures around to cover the space he'd created.

"Naruto?"

"H-Hinata!" he jumped in surprise, wheeling around in a panic to find her staring at him questioningly. "I was just, I didn't mean – uh, sorry I was just looking at the um, pictures."

She smiled at him and walked over to stand next to him, looking at the pictures on the wall fondly. She pointed out a picture of himself that he'd missed with a quiet giggle, and he smiled as he gazed at the picture of a young him standing next to Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji in their early days as children at the academy. Her smile faltered when she scanned over a recent picture of her and Neji, and she lifted her hand to touch the corner of the photo before sighing and dropping it back to her side.

"Um, I have something to show you," she looked up at him and he nodded before following her back into the living room. She was walking normally, he noticed with relief, and she motioned for him to sit on the couch as she began pulling various books off of the shelf.

"Is this about what you had to go and get?" he asked her as she spread the books out across the table and unzipped her weapons pouch on her thigh.

"Y-Yes, see why I couldn't wait?" she asked with a smile as she held up a tiny bottle between her fingers and he gasped when he saw the opalescent liquid floating inside.

"That's the potion! How'd you get it!?" he exclaimed and she looked away from him shyly, looking proud of herself.

"I had to sneak into Tsunade's secret room. I wanted to get a look at the bottle and see if anything was written on it and I managed to salvage a tiny bit of it."

"Nice going, Hinata!" he complimented her and she blushed prettily before turning towards the books and searching through each of them in turn.

"I knew what potion you were talking about because I'd read about it before. Here, here, and here," she pointed to different pages, each containing words so small and various intricate diagrams that they made him tired just looking at them. As if reading his mind, she began explaining their contents.

"This explains completely why all of the women in Konoha are chasing after you: Poculum Amoris is the most powerful love potion in the world," she looked at him sympathetically when his eyes widened in shock.

"Love potion?! So it just makes everyone I meet fall in love with me!?"

"U-um, not exactly. It doesn't create actual love, more like, um, a very powerful infatuation or obsession with whoever drinks or in your case touches it."

"Wait, so none of those girls really like me? So, when Sakura said she was in love with me she didn't really mean it?" he asked and she looked away from him and looked at the ground for a moment before answering.

"No. I'm sorry, Naruto," she apologized but he didn't feel that bad about it. Actually, he didn't really care about it at all and he realized he didn't really care if Sakura loved him romantically because he didn't feel that way about her. After everything they'd been through, she was more of a sister to him and one of the closest things to family he had.

"Eh, I don't like her like that anyway." He shrugged nonchalantly as Hinata looked at him with complete surprise.

"You don't?" she repeated, almost as though she didn't believe it. He didn't blame her considering he'd been pining after his teammate for half his life.

"Nah, she's more of a sister to me," he grinned and Hinata couldn't prevent herself from grinning back.

He doesn't love Sakura! He doesn't even mind that she didn't mean what she said to him! She thought to herself ecstatically, happily entertaining the thought that, once again, she might have the slightest chance at catching his eye.

"So what else do these say about the potion?" he scooted closer to her to get a better look at the pages set out in front of them and her heart fluttered happily as she lost her train of thought.

"U-um, well let's see. It smells differently to every person, mimicking scents that remind them of the person they love."

"No way," he piped up, suddenly very interested. "So whatever you smell is what the person you love is supposed to smell like?"

"Basically, yes…W-What did it, um, smell like to you?" she asked shyly, not entirely sure she wanted to hear his answer but unable to live with herself if she didn't ask anyway. He took the bottle from her hands, his fingers rubbing against hers lightly and sending electricity through her hands. She fought off her hundredth blush that day as he lifted the bottle to his nose and inhaled the aroma, setting the bottle down with a smile.

"It smells even better than it did earlier; hot chocolate, lavender, and cinnamon rolls." He looked at her with a dazzling smile and she nearly fainted, for he clearly didn't realize he'd just named off her three favorite things in the world (not including himself).

Calm down Hinata, there's no way he could be talking about you. It's meant to smell like the person you love, so if he hasn't said anything about it then he must already know who she is…

"Hina, did you hear me?" Naruto waved his hand in front of her face and she jumped slightly in surprise. "What does it smell like to you?"

She followed the length of his arm to find him holding the bottle out towards her face gently, and she seriously considered flinging the remaining liquid onto herself as a last ditch effort to get his attention. She took the bottle from his hand hesitantly, lifting it to her nose as a wave of the most amazing scents she'd ever smelled filled her nostrils. She found herself smiling, opening her eyes to find Naruto looking at her expectantly, nearly begging her to tell him.

"I-It smells like, um, black coffee." Your favorite drink. "Earthy, too, like freshly cut grass and spring rain." The smell of your skin. "And…"

"And?" he leaned very close to her, deeply anticipating her answer and leaving mere inches of space between the two of them. She lifted the bottle to her nose once more to allow her mind to memorize the smell and giggled softly.

"Come on, I told you so you have to tell me!" he exclaimed, unable to explain his want – no, need to know what the man she loved smelled like.

"I-It smells like ramen." She laughed at how perfectly the potion was able to epitomize his smell and he leaned back against the couch.

"Ramen, huh? Hm, whoever this guy is he sure has good taste," he told himself, trying to hide the bitterness in his tone.

Was it coincidence that he just happened to like black coffee, and have ramen as his favorite food? There must be a million guys out there who like black coffee and ramen, he rationalized to himself, yet couldn't shake his disappointment. Somewhere out there, in this very village perhaps, was the guy that Hinata was in love with. And he couldn't understand why knowing that hurt his heart so much more than it should.

"Yes, he does have very good taste." She replied with a small blush, looking down at her hands as though lost in thought.

"Wait, so you know who this guy is?" he asked and she looked at him with confusion.

"O-of course I know who he is. Don't you know who the girl you love is, the girl who smells like those things…?" she finished quiet and he thought she looked almost sad.

"I'm not sure…it all smells so familiar, it's like it's on the tip of my tongue but I just can't quite reach it."

"Maybe it's the last person you'd think…someone w-who's been there all along that you just maybe haven't opened your eyes to see." She said quietly, blushing lightly but holding his gaze as he soaked in her words.

"Well to be honest…" he trailed off.

"Yes?" she encouraged him to continue, feeling the tiniest bit of hope fluttering inside her as he looked at her deeply.

"It kind of smells like, well….never mind. I'm just imagining things," he broke away from her gaze before he got lost in her endless eyes.

"Oh…"

What are you supposed to say, idiot? It smells like you, Hinata, every single thing about it reminds me of you? Or do I just want it to be you? Get a hold of yourself, baka, she's just your friend. She has her guy out there who she loves and he's not me.

She bit her lip, crestfallen after building herself up to hope for the best only to be let down and disappointed.

You've said it once, what's so hard about saying it again? 'I love you, Naruto', it's just three tiny words…How can I say that to him though, when he loves another girl?

She cherished his close proximity for another moment before leaning forward and occupying herself with a different book. She read the information aloud to him.

"The potion has to be taken constantly in order to maintain the false love in those affected by it or they regain their free will. The effects are near instantaneous to every member of the opposite gender, causing them to become excited or even dangerously unstable towards others," she explained as he nodded his head in concentration.

"Well that explains a lot, but I still don't understand why you weren't affected by it Hina?" he scratched his chin in confusion, looking at her with curious blue eyes and she looked away before he could see the fervent blush appear on her face.

Because I'm already in love with you, Naruto…Don't you remember? She thought sadly to herself, folding her hands together on her lap nervously.

"I-I'm not sure, Naruto," she replied softly, still blushing at the name he'd called her.

"How long will it last?" he asked and she grimaced lightly, looking at him cautiously.

"Well, um, twenty four hours…"

"Twenty four hours!?" he yelled loudly and she reached her hands out hurriedly and covered his mouth before he could resume his shouting.

"Naruto, shh! These aren't just normal girls after you; you're in a village full of ninjas. They won't stop until they track you down and when they do, it won't be very pleasant," she gazed at him desperately as he sat in astonishment. He could only meekly nod his head, a small blush appearing on his face as he enjoyed the feel of her fingers on his skin. She pulled her hands back slowly with a blush, leaving his skin tingling in their absence.

"But what am I supposed to do for twenty four hours? I can't go outside without being mobbed!" he whispered vehemently and color rose to her cheeks at the only plan (not that she thought about it very hard) she could come up with.

"W-w-well, you could, um, stay here, maybe? If you want?" she sputtered out shyly, refusing to make eye contact as Naruto balked at the suggestion.

Stay the night, here? Just you and me? Alone? He didn't have to think about it much.

"Sure, thanks Hinata!" he grinned at her brightly and she looked at him in surprise before smiling back shyly.

"O-Okay. If you took the potion about an hour and a half ago, you should be fine here until around 1:00 tomorrow," she said and he looked his watching and was surprised to see it was already almost 3. "Hopefully no one will find you here until-"

*knock knock knock*

She cut of suddenly, eyes widening in surprise as three knocks resounded through the air loudly. They made eye contact, looking at each other helplessly as four more knocks rang in quick succession and she approached the door slowly.

"W-Who is it?" she called lightly.

"Hinata! It's Kiba, open up!" a familiar voice called out and he saw immense relief wash over her face as a happy smile appeared on her lips, much to his displeasure.

"Kiba!" she exclaimed, opening the door for him to step through. He quickly enveloped her in a tight hug as she closed the door behind him and Naruto felt his hand clench into a tight fist while his jaw hardened as he listed off all of the things that he hated about Kiba Inuzuka in his mind.

"I've been looking for you everywhere! Something weird is going on, all the girls are going psycho! They're all screaming that they love Naruto and fighting each other, everyone is running around looking for – Naruto?!" Kiba yelled in shock, making eye contact with the blonde on the couch and releasing Hinata from his grasp to point an accusing finger between the two.

"Yo," Naruto greeted a bit more harshly than he could help, shoving his hands into his pockets as he stood while Hinata gazed between the two of them anxiously.

"Hinata, what is Naruto doing in your house!?" he exclaimed before she could quiet him. "Don't tell me something's wrong with you too?! Did he take advantage of you?!"

"K-Kiba!" Hinata flushed dark red, covering her face with her hands in pure embarrassment as she shook her head quickly in denial.

"You think I'd take advantage of Hinata, idiot?!" Naruto stood angrily, raising a fist to the brown haired boy and Kiba held up his hands defensively.

"Calm down! It's just that something crazy is happening in the village, every single girl is talking about how she's in love with you and then I find you here with Hinata…" he trailed off, scratching his head in confusion while Hinata looked as though she might faint.

"What's so weird about all the girls loving me, huh? I mean, I did save the world and all." Naruto pouted, offended. A girl would have to be crazy to not be into him, he told himself, jutting out his chest confidently.

"Baka, like you did it all by yourself!" Kiba yelled angrily and Hinata placed a hand on his arm to calm him down, which only served to further anger Naruto.

"I-It's alright, Kiba. Naruto accidently got affected by a love potion that makes everyone of the opposite gender become obsessed with him, that's why all of the women in the village are acting that way. We ran into each other and it didn't affect me, so he's going to hide out here until it wears off tomorrow morning," she explained as Naruto and Kiba glared at each other.

"Wait, it didn't affect you Hinata?" Kiba repeated, breaking eye contact with Naruto and looking down at his teammate.

"No, she's the only one I ran into that wasn't acting all crazy but we don't know why," Naruto answered for her, walking over and standing next to Hinata to make himself a part of the conversation.

He was irrationally angry at his "friend" (the term being applied very loosely at this time), and as much as he couldn't believe it, he was actually jealous of the dog boy for the first time in his entire life. He didn't know if it was the fact that Kiba had been looking for her, showing his obvious deep concern for her in the situation. He didn't know if it was the relief and happiness that he saw in her face when she heard his voice calling from the other side of the door. He didn't know if it was the way he pulled her into his arms the moment he walked in, chest sagging in relief as he saw that she was okay. He didn't even know if it was a million other things that had nothing to do with the current situation but that he suddenly found himself despising about Kiba; like the fact that she had the picture of him in her room, or that he'd been assigned to her team when they were 12, or that he was quite obviously her very good friend (he didn't want to believe that he might be more), or that they probably hung out and spent a lot of time together. But in that moment, he hated Kiba for being everything to Hinata that he wasn't.

"You don't know why? But Hinata, couldn't it be because you already lo-"

"Like Naruto said," she interrupted suddenly, exchanging a frantic and knowing look with her friend that clearly stated Oh my God Kiba, were you seriously about to say that I love him, can you not see that he's standing right there, are you out of your mind please shut your mouth immediately. "We don't know why it isn't having any effect on me."

Kiba blinked for a moment before catching on, a sly grin appearing on his face as he glanced back and forth between his teammate and friend.

"Oh yeah, that's really weird." He chuckled to himself, deeply enjoying Hinata's obvious discomfort. "You do remember what day it is though, right?"

"Hm? What day it – oh!" she gasped, clapping her hands over her cheeks as she comprehended the meaning of his words. "The meeting!"

"Eh? What meeting?" Naruto asked in confusion as Hinata scurried into her room leaving him and Kiba standing in the doorway to her apartment.

"The huge Hyuuga Clan meeting! They're announcing who the next head of the clan will be, Hinata or Hanabi," Kiba answered as Hinata ran into the living room in a panic, frantically pulling scrolls off of her bookshelf and shoving them into a small bag.

"But isn't Hinata the oldest?" Naruto asked in confusion, not entirely sure he even understood the workings of the clans, much less one as prodigious and traditional as the Hyuuga's. "Why would there need to be a decision at all?"

"Baka, don't you know anything!? Half of the Elders don't even want Hinata to be the head, they don't think she's 'worthy' enough or has what it takes." He saw Kiba's fist clench in anger. "Why do you think it took her so long to learn and perfect her clan jutsus? She had to teach them to herself because Hiashi was training Hanabi half her life! It wasn't until a few months before the war that he even started acknowledging how strong of a ninja Hinata had become."

Wow...That explains everything! Her shyness, her hesitancy– All this time she's had to try to live up to the high expectations of her family while they just put her down… He felt his own fist clench and he had to restrain himself back from punching something.

"That's not fair! How could they think she doesn't have what it takes?! I mean come on, it's Hinata! She's, well – she's amazing! She's one of the strongest kunoichi I know and by far the bravest! She definitely is worthy enough to be the head!"

He looked at Kiba, wanting to find some kind of answer hidden in his face, but found him looking at him with a smirk that was far too mischievous for his liking. He opened his mouth to ask him why the hell he was giving him that smug look for when he heard a small scuffle behind his back, turning quickly to find Hinata standing in the doorway looking at him with wide eyes.

"H-Hinata! I, uh…" he trailed off as he looked her up and down. Her hands were clasped together loosely in front of her, draped by a light purple kimono with a darker violet band around her waist. Her hair was pulled back into a loose but pretty bun that reminded him very much of the picture he had hidden in his pocket, with a purple flower above her right ear. He felt a blush rise to his cheeks as he wondered how long she'd been standing there and praying that she didn't just notice him obviously checking her out.

"Y-You think I'm brave?" she asked him quietly, staring into his eyes and making him fidget in his place as she took a few steps towards him. "You really believe that I have what it takes lead the clan?"

Something about the hesitance in her voice made his heart ache and he placed his hand lightly on her shoulder.

"You'll definitely be a great head, Hina. Believe it," he smiled at her and the two stared at each other for what felt like hours until Kiba coughed awkwardly and broke the silence, Naruto pulling his hand off of her shoulder and scratching the back of his neck while Hinata looked at the floor with a bright blush.

"You'd better get going, I'll stay here with Naruto," Kiba said to her and she nervously nodded her head, stepping past both of them and reaching for the door handle.

"You won't leave…?" she held her hand on the door handle, looking back at Naruto shyly and he smiled and shook his head.

"And have to face all those crazy girls out there? No thanks."

"Promise, Naruto. N-No matter who you hear calling for you a-and no matter what they say, you have to stay in here," she gave him a look filled with so much worry it made his heart ache. "They'll do anything to find you, anything. Until that potion wears off…you're not safe around them."

"I promise." He swore to her, and she sighed with relief and gave him a nervous smile. She looked at Kiba, reaching her hand out for his.

"You'll do great. Don't worry about Naruto, I'll babysit him. Just come back as soon as you can with good news." He squeezed her hand reassuringly and then she was gone.

Naruto sighed, feeling as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders now that she was gone, and leaned against the wall. Kiba chuckled and Naruto looked at him questioningly.

"So she's amazing huh?" Kiba smirked, immensely satisfied when color flushed to Naruto's cheeks for the briefest instant before he coughed self consciously and crossed his arms.

"So, you and Hinata…are you two, you know…dating?" Naruto asked, refusing to meet his friends gaze, and Kiba laughed loudly. He was gaining too much pleasure at how obviously jealous Naruto was of his and Hinata's friendship, but this – this was just the icing on the cake. This is going to be way too fun.

"Come on idiot," he waved for Naruto to follow as he walked into the kitchen. "She says she likes to eat healthy, but I know where she hides her instant ramen. Let's eat and have a nice little chat about how big of a crush you have on Hinata."

Thanks for reading! 3