I kind of felt like I should write something cuter after yesterday's entry and I really enjoyed writing that AU entry the other day so here's another AU for you!

Day Five: Ramen

Hinata walked into the Konoha Museum of Modern art and relished in the quiet that enveloped her as the door closed behind her. This was her space, somewhere she would go to get away from the demands of her family, her job, and sometimes even her friends.

Things had been rather crazy at the bakery this past month. It was coming close to June and that meant that brides were coming for cake consultations all day, every day. It was honestly her least favorite time because most of these wedding cakes were so basic, so unimaginative, that it grated on her.

She had gotten into cake decorating because she loved baking and she loved art. Most of the time she was able to express her creativity and Bakery Number Eight was becoming more and more popular because of the interesting cakes she had created. The downside to that publicity was an influx of demanding brides who were determined to get cakes there that they could have purchased anywhere else.

Hinata couldn't complain too much, however, because she and the other workers at the bakery had been profiting quite well. Kurenai was always nice enough to give her, Kiba, and Shino bonuses around wedding season to let them know she appreciated their extra effort.

That morning, after a few consultations that resulted in reservations of vanilla cake with white icing and either roses or lilies, she had gone out back to take a break. Kurenai had noticed her stress and offered to take the rest of the consultations for the day and let Hinata have the afternoon off.

Normally she would have refused the kind offer, but all she wanted to do at that moment was get away and so she thanked her boss profusely, grabbed her purse, and made her way across town to the Museum of Modern Art.

She noticed a sign off to the side for an exhibit named "Untitled" and she tried to recall any information or announcements for it. Normally, their special exhibits were highly publicized so it was odd that she hadn't heard anything about it yet. When she looked at the name of the artist, an Uzumaki Naruto, it wasn't someone she'd heard of before. She thought that perhaps he was fairly unknown and that was why they hadn't advertised it very much.

The front desk worker, Genma, was familiar with her and waved her past when she went to pull out her membership card. She was tempted to ask about the exhibit, but decided she could just go check it out for herself.

As she walked into the room, she studied the set up. They left the exhibit room entirely open with a few benches set up in the middle of the room, one facing each wall. The walls were lined with large, colorful paintings. Everything was abstract, colors blended and blocked and faded and the room felt like it was brimming with energy.

Oddly enough, in the middle of this energetic room on one of the benches was a man, who looked to be about her age, laying down with his eyes closed. He was tan, with bright blond hair, and his hand was over his eyes blocking out the light.

It was a strange place for a nap and she felt like it was actually a bit rude, but she definitely understood the need to find a quiet place. Maybe he was just exhausted and liked to come here like she did. If that was the case, she was surprised she had never seen him before, but there were many reasons that might happen so she just left him and began to walk around and look at the paintings, not noticing a blue eye peeking out and watching her from behind the hand.

Hinata started on one end, slowly making her way towards the centerpiece and she was astounded at the feelings these paintings were able to evoke.

There was one that was mostly black and dark blues with occasional flecks of red and white and it vibrated with a kind of electric energy. There was another one that had white and red mixed with a soft pink that radiated strength and felt oddly soothing.

Once she reached the centerpiece she stood in front of it feeling slightly confused. It was much larger than the others, but while those paintings had felt personal, perhaps representative of people the artist knew, this didn't feel quite the same. The strokes were thinner and there were more colors and even an occasional swirl.

Disappointed that she was having a hard time comprehending it, she sat back on the bench that faced it and stared, trying to make sense of it.

Suddenly a deep voice piped up from behind her.

"What do you think of that one?"

Startled, she turned around and wide lavender eyes met deep blue. This was the man who had been resting on one of the benches and she had forgotten he was there in her exploration of the paintings.

His face was rather close to hers, since he was sitting on the bench right behind her, and she squeaked and backed up a bit, her cheeks infused with a light blush.

That blush darkened as she heard him chuckle and his handsome features mesmerized her as he laughed. His smile was beautiful and she found herself struggling to say something, anything, to respond to his question.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he said apologetically, while rubbing the back of his head. He did look a little embarrassed about it.

"I was just curious to know what you thought about that piece. You looked for a long time at all the others, but sat down to look at that one and I wasn't sure if that meant something good or bad."

"Oh!" she said, a little embarrassed that he had been watching her admire the artwork. She tended to get very into what she was doing and hoped that she hadn't seemed strange.

"Um, I just needed to look at it a little longer. It felt different from the other paintings."

"How so?"

"Well, the others each felt kind of personal, like maybe they represented people the artist was close to, but although this one is obviously important, I don't get that same kind of feeling. At first I thought maybe it was the artist himself, but I just don't feel like it represents a person and I can't figure out what it might be."

"Hm, that's very interesting," the young man said, looking intrigued by her analysis. "What do you feel when you look at it?"

Hinata furrowed her brows, unsure what she should say. He caught her reluctance and said, "Don't try to think about anything or compare it to any of the others. Just say the first thing that pops into your head when I ask what you feel."

"Hungry," she says, and quickly slaps her hand over her mouth. What did she even mean by that? Here was a hot guy actually talking to her about art and she just told him that a painting made her feel hungry?

The blond began laughing, a deep hearty laugh and while she was still fascinated by his smile and the way his eyes crinkled, she was also mortified that he was laughing at her. She started to get up, but he quickly noticed and stopped her.

"Where are you going?"

"I, um, I just thought it was probably time I headed out," she wouldn't look at him, instead focusing intently on a spot on the floor and he wasn't buying it.

"Are you sure? I'm sorry if I upset you. I just thought it was funny because I know what the painting represents."

Hinata stopped, still feeling flustered, but also genuinely interested in finding out what the centerpiece was. She wavered for a moment before settling back down on the bench and looking at him questioningly.

He gave her a cheeky grin and leaned in, saying, "Are you sure you want to know?"

She nodded, hesitantly enjoying the way he was trying to make it dramatic.

"It's ramen."

Her eyes widened and she quickly retreated away from him, realizing that he must be messing with her. She was a little hurt, but instead of running like she had tried to do before, she looked at him with an angry pout.

He found her expression adorable, but could tell she was upset with him so he quickly began talking again.

"It's ramen, I swear. It's the artist's favorite food and something that's accompanied a lot of great moments in his life. That's why it's the centerpiece, because all of the others are important in some way, but he's shared a bowl of ramen with all of them so it connects everything."

Hinata was hesitant. The explanation sounded pretty deep, but she still felt like it was not possible that an artist would make a huge fuss about something like ramen.

"See, your reaction is exactly the reason the exhibit doesn't have a name. The lady in charge of the museum thought that no one would be interested in something about ramen so she figured they should make it so that none of the inspirations or names of the paintings were revealed until the last day of the exhibit."

She nodded slowly. This man seemed honest enough, she was actually pretty good at being able to tell when someone was lying, and although ramen seemed like a bizarre theme for an exhibit, his story sounded feasible.

Hinata actually started to feel a little special, realizing that she now knew something about the exhibit and the artist that no one else would be privy to until the big finish. It made her wonder, though, exactly who this person she was talking to was and she realized that she hadn't gotten his name.

"Thank you for telling me," she said, "I would never have guessed that."

"It's no problem, you really seemed to connect with the paintings so I thought you actually deserved to know. Of course, you realize you can't tell anyone on pain of death."

At her terrified face, the blond quickly backtracked, "I'm kidding! Totally kidding! I forget that if someone doesn't know me that my jokes aren't always the best. Heh, sorry."

"It's okay," she replied. She had always been rather forgiving and he was extremely attractive.

"So, uh, now that I've jokingly threatened you I guess you don't really want to tell me your name?"

Hinata hadn't blushed this much since she was a painfully shy girl in grade school, but something about this man caused her cheeks to burn whenever he spoke.

"Hinata. I'm Hyuga Hinata," she said shyly.

"Awesome!" He grinned that grin that made her melt. "I guess I should probably tell you my name as well, huh?"

He chuckled when she nodded and said, "I'm Naruto."

She breathed in sharply, remembering the name from the sign for the exhibit. "Naruto? Like the artist?"

The blond beamed proudly and said, "Not like the artist, I am the artist! Uzumaki Naruto! Sorry if you feel like I was being dishonest. Like I said, you looked like you were really connecting with my paintings and I wanted to get your unbiased opinion."

Now that she had made the connection, Hinata definitely understood how the bright man in front of her could have created the vibrant paintings surrounding them.

"I, um, really like your work," she said shyly. "Sorry, I'm sure you get that a lot."

"Actually, this is the first time I've ever been able to get an official exhibit in a museum so I haven't really heard that from people who don't already know me."

"Oh! Well, I do. It's really… vibrant. It feels kind of alive and it's really interesting."

She couldn't decipher the look Naruto was giving her and she started to feel like maybe it was time for her to leave.

"Well, um, I think I am going to head out. I'll definitely tell others about the exhibit, though, so you'll get more visitors."

He looked slightly disappointed, but she couldn't quite tell if that was actually the case or just her hoping he didn't want her to leave.

"Actually, we've been sitting in front of that painting for quite a while. Does it still make you hungry? Because if so, and you have some time now, we could go grab something to eat. I'd like to talk to you more about art and just get to know you, if that's okay. I mean, I understand if that sounds weird and I don't want you to think you have to or that I'm some creepy guy who sits in museums to pick up pretty ladies, because that's not it…"

He trailed off, feeling like he probably messed that up. Hinata, however, could only focus on the fact that he had indirectly called her pretty. She decided that perhaps leaving her comfort zone for a meal would not be such a bad thing.

"I'd like that," she said with a small smile and he looked both relieved and excited.

"Great! Do you have anything in particular you'd like to eat?"

Hinata shook her head. There were a lot of good places to eat around the museum so she was pretty comfortable with anything he wanted.

"Hmm, I actually know a great place that's just a couple of blocks away. Would you be okay with ramen?"

She recalled what he'd said about how ramen was special to him and the fact that she'd be sharing something with him that he'd shared with all of the other important people in his life made her feel warm.

"Ramen sounds lovely," she said with a smile.

So, I actually really love this universe and I'm thinking I might write some more in it sometime. Hope you all enjoyed as much as I did!