Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Author note: does anyone actually read this??

The wind blew. Golden leaves were carried with it, the same type of gold as the hair of the young man waiting at the gates of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
The wind blew some leaves in his face. He pushed them away.

He saws somebody running to him from a distance. He focused his eyes. It was early in the morning, and the sun was still low in the sky. The sunbeams shone in his eyes, so he could only see the outlines of the approaching person. He narrowed his eyes a little more, holding his hands above them, trying to see if it was her.

'I-I'm sorry I'm late N-Naruto...'
'Don't worry! I was only waiting for a few minutes so you weren't that late. In fact, I was late myself because the microwave broke down this morning so I couldn't warm up the instant ramen so I had to go to Ichiraku's to have breakfast but I forgot my money so I had to go back and..' and so he went on and on.
She smiled. Only he could put so many words in one sentence without tripping over them...
'...and then I came running here, and you showed up only minutes after that.'
She nodded.
'W-Well, I guess we should go...'

The leaves were rustling in the trees as two Konoha ninja jumped from branch to branch, barely leaving a trace.
'How long will it take us to get to the Land of Water?'
'I-I think about two days.'
'Hmm that's an awful long period of time dattebayo. I'd rather spend those two days to train. Why is this mission to important anyway?' he grumbled.
Great, he'd rather train than spend time with me on a mission... Her heart sunk into her chest.
'Well, Tsunade-sama t-told me to explain the mission on the way, so...It's our assignment to find a certain herb in the forests of the Land of Water. It's a very rare herb, called a 'Lavender Tear', and Tsunade-sama's information says it's only found deep in the forests.'
Because he was behind her, she couldn't see his face, and she felt her stuttering decreasing while talking to him. 'It seems to grow well in places where moonlight has full access, therefore it blooms when it's a full moon and dies when it's a new moon. Since it was a full moon last week, we'll have to be quick and find it before it dies.'
'But why do we have to find it?' he asked
'I-It is believed to have great healing powers, so Tsunade-sama probably wants to examine it.'
He kept silent, satisfied with the answer.
'B-But we'll have to be careful, because the forests are good hiding places for missing nins and other criminals, and if we get into a fight, the Lavender Tear might be harmed, so we'll have to avoid them.'
He nodded, mostly to himself, watching the dark-haired kunoichi gracefully moving forward through the woods.

They had been travelling for more then twelve hours now, and the sun was already setting. Her legs had been aching since a few hours, but now they really hurt. Her empty stomach wasn't doing any good either.
'N-Naruto...?'
'Yeah?'
'I-Is it a good idea if we pitch up our camp and f-find something to eat?'
'Already? But I'm not tired at all! I could go on for hours like this!'
But a few minutes later, she just couldn't go any further, and she stopped moving. She was breathing heavily as her knees could no longer hold her weight.
When he heard the noise he quickly turned around and jumped towards her.
'Hinata! Are you okay?' he asked worried.
'I-I'm sorry Naruto, I'm just out of energy.'
'No, Hinata, I'm sorry, I should have noticed you were tired' he said smiling kindly.
'Well, since you can't go further, let's find a place to spend the night.'
She could feel his every touch as he helped her to her feet and supported her while jumping from tree to tree.
After a little while, they found an open spot, close to a stream.
'How about here?' he asked, his face covered with his famous grin.

It was dark already. The camp was pitched up: one small tent for him and one for her. She didn't mind they were sleeping in separate tents, because the nightwear she had brought was very small and very, very shine-through. All her other pyjamas were thrown in the laundry when she was packing, so she had no other choice. It's very embarrassing, actually, to be forced to wear such a...slutty thing... She never felt comfortable wearing clothing that didn't leave anything to one's imagination, especially not with him around.
She sighed and decided to do something about the campfire, while he was gone to the stream to catch some fish for dinner. She took the tinderbox out of her backpack and did several attempts to light up a fire. Hey, why isn't it working? The branches are dry, I checked it myself... She tried again, and failed again. This is ridiculous, I've done this a thousand times while I was on mission with Shino-kun and Kiba-kun, so why won't it work? Am I nervous because this is an mission with Naruto? That would be reasonable if he was sitting next to me and watching my every move, but he isn't even around here!
She was so busy figuring out why she couldn't make a fire, she didn't hear the footsteps coming at her.
'Hey I'm back! he shouted, startling her, and held up two big fish. 'Oh did I scare you?'
'N-No it's fine, I was just thinking.'
'That must've been some pretty deep thinking then dattebayo, if I scared you like that hehe. Anyway, how's the fire doing?'
'W-Well, i-it's not really working..'
'Let me help you then.' He sat down next to her and took her hands in his. Her heart skipped a few beats. 'Just rub them gently, but forcefully', he said, and while he did that, holding her hands, a spark was formed.
As well as she could see the spark, she could feel it. But it wasn't just a spark, it felt as if an electrical storm was rushing through her body, while he was so close to her. She was surprised her heart didn't stop beating from the shock caused by the fire lit in her.
'There, you see? It's actually very easy...' he said smiling as the fire ignited, and took two branches to hold the fish into the newborn fire.
Great, now he's laughing at me...

They talked a little while roasting their fish, and she thought about how it would be under other circumstances. This place just breathed romance, with the trees surrounding them, little golden fireflies flying around them, a small fire lighting up their faces and silver moonlight reflected in the gurgling stream a few yards away.
'...and then I said 'you bet I will!' and I punched him in the stomach with my clone and he went like 'AAAAAH!' and...hey are you listening?'
'Oh Y-Yes, I'm sorry, I just spaced out a bit', she said giggling a little, and he continued his story. For now, she would keep her fantasies to herself. Although it certainly was the place, it just wasn't the right time yet to do what she had in mind.

He yawned. 'I think we should call it a day, I'm pretty tired. How about you?'
'Th-that's a good idea, we'll have to get up early tomorrow, so...' Although her energy had returned to her after having dinner and sitting by a nice hot fire, she could still use some sleep.
He stood up and walked to his tent. 'Well then, goodnight Hinata!'
'Goodnight Naruto' she said, and headed to her tent after putting out the fire.

She sat down on her sleepingbag and searched in her backpack for her nightwear. Ah, there it is.. She held it against her body. Oh no, it's even smaller than I thought! It was a white dress made of silk, that barely reached halfway her thighs. If we weren't sleeping in separate tents, I really would have been in trouble..
She changed into the little white dress and looked down at her body. It really showed every curve and every line.
Why did I buy this again?

She lay down on her bed, wishing she hadn't thrown her light purple pyjamas in the laundry along with the others the day she had to pack. Luckily it wasn't a very cold night, so she wouldn't have to spend the night shivering in her sleeping bag and chattering her teeth.
She wrapped herself up in her sleeping bag and wondered if he was already asleep. Probably. He was the first one to fall asleep during our Bikouchuu-mission...It didn't matter how hard he had shouted he wasn't tired, as soon as his head had touched his pillow, he had left this earth.
I should follow his example...
She turned over to her other side and tried to fall asleep.

A few hours later, he still wasn't asleep. Gah, this is so annoying! I need to get going early tomorrow morning, so I need my rest! He punched his pillow and threw his blankets off. Come on, come on, fall asleep, fall asleep, fall asleep dattebayo!, he thought, squeezing his eyelids.
One minute went by, two minutes, three...
This isn't working... He sighed. Maybe a walk in the night air will do me some good...

A moment later he stood in the open air, sniffing in the freshness of it. He looked up, it was a clear sky tonight, and the stars were shimmering as if they were winking to him. As if they knew a secret so hidden, only stars can know.
He looked to Hinata's tent. He listened closely, trying to hear if there were any noises coming from her direction, but it was all quiet around the kunoichi's tent. Just as I thought...she isn't a snoring type...
He decided to go to the stream where he'd caught the fish that evening, he remembered there was a small waterfall located over there.
Maybe the soothing sound of flowing water will calm my mind so I'll be able to sleep...
Suddenly he heard sounds that immediately alarmed him. And they were coming from the waterfall's direction...