Bit of a shorter one, but still cute, I assure you ^-^

Enjoy!

Hinata sat underneath the cool shade near the waterfall that she (and ever so recently, Naruto) frequented. Deciding to spend some time away from Konoha on a break between missions, she happily fumbled with the flower in her hair – the very same flower Naruto had given her only yesterday. She'd cut and preserved it as best she could so it could be worn above her ear, and she honestly didn't mind walking through town, showing it off to her girlfriends who were only too happy to shower her with questions.

"Have you kissed him yet?"

"Has he kissed YOU yet?"

"Did he ask you out?"

"What's he like?"

"Do you think it's serious?"

She giggled girlishly as she shook her head, butterflies welling up inside her as she fondly thought of her crush…

'Mh-mh-mh! Not just a crush anymore! Naruto asked me to be… his girlfriend!'

She released a squeal of excitement as she still attempted to come to grips with the fact that Naruto Uzumaki had finally asked her out. Granted she'd passed out afterwards, but upon waking to his eyes, a prominent 'yes' had left her lips as he smiled from ear to ear.

'That smile… that cheeky, cheeky smile!'

"Hinata!"

She quickly ducked out of view, smiling and closing her eyes. Hiding from him was something she'd become increasingly good at – what with how many times she'd followed him around town simply waiting for an opportunity to talk to him, she could practically walk right behind the boy without him noticing!

"Hinata?"

He was attempting to find her. Since they'd gone out for dinner almost a week ago, they'd seen each other every day to 'hang out' for at least a few hours after the end of training. She giggled quietly, edging towards the tree that she'd coveted as her camouflage to peer across the pool towards her boyfriend. He lazily placed his hands behind his head, looking from side to side.

"Awww man, I was sure she'd be here! Ah well, maybe Anko knows where she is?"

She watched him turn towards the entrance, walking slowly as he looked to the sky, hands still on the back of his head. His jumpsuit practically shone in the sunlight, 'forcing' the Hyuga heiress to admire him for just a little longer. As she was about to call out to him, he suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Taken by surprise, she took a step forward.

"Found ya."

She shrieked as she turned around quickly, closing her eyes and drawing chakra into her fingers as she aimed a strike for the victims most prominent chakra point – the temple - intending to knock them out cold. Unfortunately, for poor Naruto, she succeeded.

"Ooo…" was all that left the boys mouth before he prominently fell backwards, sprawling himself on the ground. Hinata quickly opened her eyes, realised that their standard situation had been reversed and rushed to his side, kneeling next to him.

"O-o-oh m-my goodness! N-Naruto! A-are you o-ok? N-NARUTO, S-SAY SOMETHING!"

"Hahaha, I'm fine, Hinata!"

Once again surprised by Naruto vanishing in a puff of smoke, she leaned back, turning to the new voice. Naruto was leaning happily against a tree, that mischievous smile she so dearly loved plastered across his face. As a prankster, he'd learned the hard way when to and when to not be seen. After he'd learned the 'Shadow Clone' jutsu, he'd begun incorporating the technique into almost every practical joke to date. She stood up, releasing a sigh and folding her arms.

"Y-you really scared m-me, you know!" she said, attempting to act grumpy, although the small smile that she couldn't keep from her face made it rather unconvincing. Naruto placed both hands behind his head as he laughed.

"I know, I wanted to! That's why I tricked you… twice! Hahaha, you should have seen your face when you thought you knocked me out!" he teased, poking a finger towards her as she rolled her eyes and walked towards him, poking her fingers together and averting her gaze from his.

"Well, I-I thought I'd hurt you," she said innocently, darting from her fingers to his eyes, "but… this one's the real you, right?"

Naruto's smile slowly faded as the timid girl approached him, nervously catching his gaze over and over again. He released a nervous laugh as he looked her up and down, suddenly feeling butterflies well in his stomach as he stepped away from the tree.

"Y-yeah, this one's the real… me… why?" he asked hesitantly, almost wanting to take a step backwards. Hinata advanced further towards him, blushing gently as she lifted her gaze to meet his eyes. She seemed just as jittery as he was…

"Really? A-are you…"

Naruto's eyes widened as she stopped just before him, rising to her toes and leaning her face towards him. She stopped just inches from his face, almost touching his nose with hers.

"… sure?"

Naruto swallowed nervously as he squeaked a laugh. Hinata closed her eyes, easing her hands from his stomach up to his chest. Naruto managed to remain somewhat calm on the outside while internally having a panic attack.

'Oh god! Hi-Hinata's so close to me! Is… is she gonna kiss me? NOW? Of all times! Gosh, that's… that's so sudden! What if… what if she doesn't like it? What if I don't like it? Oh, crap! She's almost… at my…'

"Y-y-yeah… i-it's the r-real m-me, alright…"

Hinata suddenly opened her eyes, smiled and winked.

"Good."

Taken aback as his view suddenly turned into the bright blue sky, Naruto released a shout of surprise as Hinata pushed him backwards, sending the flabbergasted blonde into the crystal clear body of water behind him. Quickly surfacing with a large breath and coughing a few times, he pouted as he turned around, focusing on a giggling Hinata.

"… cheap shot," he mumbled, fruitlessly splashing water towards her, unable to even reach the edge that she stood on. She smiled and laughed, placing her hands behind her black shirt and rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet.

"Awww, I'm sorry Naruto…" she chimed, shooting him an innocent look, to which he responded with a smirk and wink.

"You're gonna regret that."

Hinata was swiftly scooped up into a shadow clone's arms. She screamed excitedly as the clone jumped as high as he could into the air, right above the water. Hinata would have been fine with this – except that the clone that carried her suddenly disappeared. Even a fake Naruto holding her held some kind of comfort! Shrieking as she flailed her arms wildly, the real Naruto quickly leapt from the pool, catching her in his arms as they now both plummeted towards the water. Feeling the presence of fear suddenly melting away, Hinata found the courage to open her eyes. In that moment – that one fleeting moment – Hinata caught the azure gaze of her beloved and glimpsed an eternity of laughter, happiness and the two of them, always together.

A fleeting dream of forever…

She latched onto him as they fell, seeming to fall forever as a smile replaced the apparent fear on her face. The impact of the water was barely noticeable as the two smiling Genin closed their eyes and held each other as tight as they could. Landing in the deepest part and continuing to sink ever so slightly, the two reached the bottom as Naruto pushed off with his feet, sending them almost immediately to the surface. After the two shared a deep breath while Hinata was still cradled within Naruto's arms, he gently started swimming to the edge, carefully keeping Hinata's head propped up next to his own. She laughed as she leaned against his shoulder, her wet hair melding with his.

"Well, you're wrong."

Naruto turned to her, still paddling.

"Hmm? Whaddaya mean?" he asked, turning to her and meeting her gentle pale eyes. Hinata gave very little warning as she swiftly placed a peck on his cheek. Surprising the youth, fate seemed to have turned the tables as Naruto began to blush, even though Hinata quickly retreated back to his shoulder, blushing herself and averting her eyes from his.

"I-I don't regret it, not one bit."

Finding himself able to touch the steadily shallowing bottom, a largely content Naruto made his way to his feet, still only just being able to get his shoulders out of the water. Hinata looped her arms around his neck as he made his way closer to the edge, affectionately pulling her out of the water.

"Well, that's good," Naruto said, smiling as Hinata looked up to him, captivated by his eyes, although they were partly hidden by his currently slumping blonde hair, "because I don't regret it either."

Promptly lifting her up and placing her on the rocky edge of the pool, Naruto and Hinata found themselves in the same position that they were when Naruto had asked her to be his girlfriend – Hinata dangling her legs in the water and Naruto leaning against them eagerly. Remembering a certain part of Hinata that ended up on his face during the aforementioned, Naruto found himself quickly turning an unhealthy shade of red.

"Naruto? A-are you ok?" Hinata queried, tilting her head towards the usually loud youth as he seemed rather distracted… and red. Quickly removing the slightly racy thoughts from his boyish mind, he shook his head and turned to her with a large smile, watching bemusedly as droplets of water fell from her chin and maverick strands of hair.

"Yup!" he replied and quickly eyed the flower that still remained fastened above her ear. He smiled widely as he took her hand and motioned towards it, beaming as waves gently lapped at the water's edge against his movements.

"Hey! You brought my flower! That means you really do like it!" he exclaimed happily, lifting himself to meet her eyes. Hinata laughed and placed a hand gingerly on the flower, adjusting it delicately as she blinked her eyes towards Naruto.

"O-of course, I-I love it," she said, carefully withdrawing her arm and placing it on Naruto's. Turning his hand beneath hers, he gently caressed his thumb over the back of her hand, still feeling the faint traces of water gliding underneath his touch. Naruto averted his gaze from her eyes, turning adoringly to the soft, gentle hand he had taken in his own. He was enraptured by the girl, truly. Allowing himself to come to terms with how much he did indeed like Hinata, he'd continuously grown more enchanted by her. As the days passed, he only continued to find things he treasured about the reserved heiress. Returning to her eyes, he matched her smile as he pulled her into a loving embrace, allowing Hinata to almost instinctually wrap her legs around his lower back – a position that, just like the current situation, seemed rather familiar. Loosely hanging her arms around his neck, she closed her eyes and pushed her body forwards, pressing her body to his and burying her head in his damp jumpsuit. She'd have been content to allow this for the remainder of her days. With Naruto, she felt safe, like someone could understand… like she wasn't an outcast anymore. She had someone, someone who cared for her deeply - someone who was willing to spend hours with her, if only just to have her company! Although it had been scarcely a week since their first date, Hinata cherished every moment they had spent together, truly.

However, even the happiest of days is swallowed by night. Hinata dreaded so many things. She never wanted to be alone; in truth, she detested it whole-heartedly. Naruto had made her so happy in such a short time – what if he left? What if something happened to force him away? She couldn't bear the thought of losing him, but most of all… She couldn't ignore what her father would think of this. Even at the best of times he was intensely strict and, like many of the Konoha villagers, harboured an unyielding grudge towards Naruto. Hinata was the heiress to the Hyuga Estate! Her father would never allow a relationship between her and Naruto, who he deemed unworthy of even the title of 'Genin'. To this day, she couldn't understand what they – her father or the villagers - saw when they looked towards him. All she saw was confidence, determination, courage… and maybe a little bit of a girlish crush. Hinata tightened her hold around Naruto slightly as these thoughts began to steal away the happiness that she so desperately wished to feel. She gently shook her head – she wouldn't allow them to dampen her spirits, nor would she frown. Not while her reason for smiling was there.

"Thank you, Hinata."

Hinata immediately popped out of her thoughts, quickly opening her eyes as Naruto pulled himself back from her to meet her eyes. He took both of her hands in his, grasping them firmly and bringing them to his mouth. Hinata blushed feverishly as Naruto closed his eyes and gently kissed her fingers. Still keeping her legs entwined behind him, Hinata felt her smile return as he slackened his grip on her hands, allowing her to place her hand over his still soaking face.

"Wh-what for?"

Naruto shrugged.

"A lot of the villagers don't like me, and I don't know why. I've heard that it's maybe 'cause of something my parents did, but I don't know that for sure, and I won't believe it. I never met them, but I always imagined they'd be awesome - really cool, ya know? Like, dad would be a famous ninja and mum would be a super-strong Shinobi! All I'd wanna do is make them proud - to be as awesome as they were!"

Hinata observed Naruto lighting up as he talked about the parents he never knew. Even after everything that he'd been through, he still held out hope that his parents were people worth looking up to - great people, great ninjas! Hinata couldn't believe how someone that had been through what Naruto had been through could still turn out so… happy, so positive… so amazing. Hinata felt herself choke as she admired the kindred spirit in front of her, full of nothing but positivity and life… and it was tearing her apart.

"It's those thoughts that have kept me going so far, kept pushing me to be better, even better than Sasuke! I thought that was enough, until you came along," Naruto said, suddenly sounding more serious as Hinata began to tear up. "You gave me a reason to smile – a real reason – and… well, apart from that, I guess I wanted to say thanks mainly because… well…"

Naruto released a sigh and bowed his head.

"… you treat me like I'm a person, not a dead-last, or… whatever everyone else thinks I am. I know I've got some great friends in Konoha, but none of them have made me smile like you! These past couple of days have been a lot of fun, really! You… you mean a lot to me, Hinata, and…"

Naruto placed a hand on Hinata's face as a single tear left her eye. 'Naruto didn't even know his parents!' she thought, welling up as she faced the pain held captive in his cerulean gaze.

"… I'm really glad you said yes."

Any doubt that remained in Hinata's mind quickly vanished as she threw her arms around Naruto, despairingly wanting to hold him until there was no more pain in his eyes. She felt absolutely useless as he wrapped his arms around her, returning her tight embrace with his own.

"I-I'm… I'm r-really glad th-that…" she began, stuttering uncontrollably as she attempted and failed to form a coherent sentence. The fleeting glimpse of forever that she found before suddenly flared inside her again, setting off the butterflies in her stomach and sending her mind into a whirlwind. She couldn't imagine anything that would give her more happiness than the boy whose arms she'd found herself safely inside of. She may be young, but she was far from immature – she could read him, sense him… she could see him.

"N-Naruto…"

Hinata pushed herself out of Naruto's embrace, placing her hands on his chest as she hesitantly met his eyes. Naruto, clued on to nothing more than the fact that Hinata was now crying, suddenly seemed very flustered.

"Whoa, Hinata! What's wrong? Why are you crying? You shouldn't be crying, you should be happy! Was it something I… oh, wait! I know! It's the flower, isn't it? You need another one! One for each ear, of course! I knew Ino was wrong; girls like lots of flowers! I shoulda thought of tha-!"

Naruto was cut off as Hinata promptly sealed his lips with hers, pushing the two together as they (finally) shared their first kiss. Naruto's expression swiftly transformed from panic to peace as two perfectly matching smiles formed on either side. Quickly placing his hands around Hinata who, in turn, placed her hands gently on his chest, an eternity passed the two as they finally sealed their relationship, unbeknownst to everyone else.

Well… almost everyone else…

"… Wow…"

Pulling apart just in time to release a contented sigh before she happily cascaded backwards, Hinata prominently fainted after voicing the only plausible reaction she could register to rightly describe what she'd just felt. She had used every ounce of strength that she had to assure that she remained conscious so as not to forget their very first kiss – her very first kiss with Naruto! And it was that thought alone that tipped Hinata over the edge, sending her 'over the hill and far away', so to speak. Although clearly enjoyable for both sides, Naruto was left with a look of puzzlement as he stared at the lifeless Hinata, whose lips were still an undeniably evident smile as her pale eyes swooned in ecstasy. Naruto found himself pondering only one thought:

"… this is gonna become a habit, isn't it?"

"And that means…?"

Kakashi held out an expectant hand, a large look of satisfaction gleaming off his features as Anko leaned against the tree that the two Jonin had used to spy on Hinata and Naruto only the day before. Anko begrudgingly pulled a small bag of money out of her pocket and placed it in Kakashi's outstretched arm.

"Fine, fine… you win, but only because they finished the kiss first! She still fainted, Kakashi," she said playfully, poking fun at the silver-haired Jonin who triumphantly tossed the coin bag up and down, "and I'm sure I don't need to tell you who that reminds me of?"

Kakashi stared at Anko blankly, having mixed emotions about yesterday's events, but reminding himself of just one thing…

"No reminder necessary. However, seeing as dessert didn't exactly fill me up yesterday, I could really use some Anko right about now."

Anko smirked, raising a brow as she folded her arms and backed against the tree.

"Well, if you don't mind me saying, dessert filled me rather well," she said, her silky tone thickly stained with sensuality. Kakashi raised a brow as he approached her.

"Little early for innuendo, wouldn't you say?" he quizzed, meeting her cheeky gaze with his as she laughed and shook her head.

"Never too early," she chimed, smiling widely as she turned and readied herself to jump off the giant tree branch. "Come on then, let's go get you some dango."

Swiftly using a 'Body Flicker' jutsu to appear beside Anko, Kakashi quickly placed an arm against the tree, blocking her path. Anko seemed taken aback as Kakashi lowered his mask, revealing a cunning smirk as he met Anko's eyes.

"Who said anything about 'dango', hmm?"

Deftly sweeping an arm behind her back, Kakashi pulled Anko into a deep and passionate kiss, startling the violet-haired Jonin. Kakashi was always so timid – she was usually the primary instigator to every one of their many frivolous encounters…
But hell, she wasn't about to say no. Grabbing his collar and pulling him against the tree, she met his lips fiercely as his hands quickly found their way underneath her shirt. Anko shuddered in delight – she could tell that this would almost make up for her losing the bet.

… almost.

Yeah, it's a little shorter, but I honestly don't think the chapter needed much else :D

R 'n' R, next chapter will hopefully be up within three or four days! Also, expect more pairings and a little more naughtiness ;)

Good writing to all!

LS.