It's late, I know, but I hope you'll forgive me! This one is nothing but fluff. Just pure cuteness to enjoy. Now, I'll go get to work on today's prompt :-P

Day Eleven: Kiss

Naruto and Hinata were sitting in Naruto's apartment, enjoying their day off together. It had gotten a little cool outside and they had opted to have a day in. So there they sat, snuggled together on Naruto's couch, just talking and laughing together.

He had never imagined himself doing something like this. They had been together for four months. Naruto had had a girlfriend for four whole months and the experience was both amazing and somewhat surreal. Here next to him was an incredible young woman. She was smart, pretty, nice, and a great cook, and she had been inexplicably in love with him for most of her life.

Even when she had jumped in to save him from Pein and declared her love for him, he had had a hard time wrapping his mind around it. She was the heiress of probably the most powerful clan in Konoha and she was forfeiting her own life for his.

When he had finally had a chance later to sit and think about it, he realized that she had always been there. She had always been off to the side, quietly cheering him on, offering her test for him to cheat off of, giving him handmade medicine, calling him a proud failure and telling him that she admired him. She had encouraged him enough to beat Neji. She had jumped in to save his life when Pein had him pinned. When he had joined in the war, she had convinced everyone that it was him and not some Zetsu clone with just a look in his eyes. And when she had yet again risked her own life to save him, and Neji had died in her stead, she had been the one to bring him out of his despair so that he could go on to win.

She was amazing and because of his childhood, he had a hard time wrapping his mind around someone being that dedicated to him. Why him? Naruto knew he was now considered a hero. He was also on the fast track to becoming Hokage and he had quite a few fans. But she had been dedicated to him before all that, before he was even a good at being a ninja. And sometimes it overwhelmed him and he felt afraid that she would disappear, that he would wake up one day and find out this whole thing was over.

Naruto was constantly afraid that he would do something to upset her. Sakura was a great friend, but growing up with her on his team made him wary of the many ways it was possible to anger a female. Hinata was not like Sakura much at all, but he was still afraid that one day he would find that one thing that set Hinata off and caused her to leave.

And so, it had taken a month before he gathered up the courage to put his arm around her. It was two months into their relationship when she had initiated hand holding. Finally, three months in they had shared their first real hug. After that, they quickly realized how much they both enjoyed being close to one another and had begun hugging, and also cuddling, as much as possible.

However, they had yet to kiss.

Hinata was much too shy to initiate it. Their other physical contact had been hard enough for her to handle at first. Besides the fact that she used to stutter and faint just in the presence of Naruto, she had also grown up in a clan where there was little to no physical contact. When your clan practiced a taijutsu that could literally kill with the smallest touch, it was just not common to go around hugging family members or even patting another on the back.

Kiba had helped her get over some of her hang ups. The Inuzuka was very affectionate, but it was still different from the touches she shared with Naruto. Just the idea of touching him with her lips sent her brain into a frenzy. It's not that it didn't sound nice, but she had no idea how to go about it.

Thus, the young couple sat together and secretly relished one another's warmth as they talked. Hinata had no inkling of the turmoil going on inside Naruto's mind. The feeling of comfort and familiarity that he had while spending time with Hinata was something that made him so happy. The fact that she loved him and wanted to spend time with him, even if it was just talking like this, was the best feeling in the world.

However, the emotions he was feeling also spilled over into his physical reactions. The tension he felt when next to her, the desire to let her know how much he cared for her through physical touch, was becoming overwhelming and their snuggling just didn't seem to be doing the trick.

After a while, Hinata noticed something was off when she asked a question and Naruto didn't respond. She looked up to ask if something was the matter and found blue eyes staring intently at her. His gaze was intense, and she bit her lip out of nervousness.

When Naruto saw her bite her lip, he couldn't take it anymore. He snaked his hand around the back of her neck and leaned down to capture her lips.

It wasn't hesitant like the first time he had put his arm around her, or gentle like the first time they had held hands. The kiss was fierce and passionate, and although startled at first, Hinata saw stars as she began to respond. She moved herself closer to him, weaving her fingers into his golden hair as they moved their lips against one another.

When they finally broke apart, even Naruto felt a little lightheaded. They were both breathing heavily, not out of exertion, but because adrenaline was coursing through their systems almost as intensely as on some of their missions.

Kissing was on a whole other level than any other physical gesture they had shared before. It felt much more intimate and the experience had both of their stomachs in knots.

At first Naruto had felt like he needed to apologize. He felt like he had practically attacked her, with no warning at all, but when he saw her dazed eyes and her rosy cheeks, he knew she had enjoyed it as much as he did.

Blushing a bit himself, he smiled at his girlfriend, wanting her to know how much she meant to him.

"I love you, you know?" he said.

Hinata beamed up at him, her eyes prickling with tears of joy from hearing him say those words. Instead of saying them back, however, she decided to show him how she felt with her new favorite gesture.

Surprised, but no less pleased by her actions, Naruto thought to himself that they were going to start staying in a lot more often.