Chapter 12
Naruto was jumping around on the rooftops of Konoha, his heart beating wildly in excitement. He was racing Kiba and they both knew they were inconveniencing many people with their pastimes. Kiba was on the row of buildings across from Naruto and they were neck and neck. The wind flew through Naruto's thick blonde hair, causing it to rustle dramatically. Naruto ran his hand through his hair for further effect.
"Show off!" Kiba called from across the road.
"Heh heh, look who's talking!" Naruto replied back, adding in a sudden burst of speed to get an inch ahead of Kiba.
"Oh, yeah? Well, let's play that way," Kiba said with a feral smile. They both sprang higher and farther than any sane ninja should, pushing the limits of physics to even greater tests than just their average villager hair (for example, Kakashi).
"Hey, Naruto!" a girl's voice said.
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Naruto yelled so loudly that the noise alone should have blown over the girl, but instead, he crashed into her, and they both fell from the rooftops.
"Ino!" Kiba cried, his black slitted eyes filled with worry. He leapt down from the roof he was on. "You okay?"
"Yeah….I'm fine….." Naruto grumbled, sitting up.
"Uh, hello? He was talking to me!" Ino cried from underneath Naruto. "Get off!"
Naruto looked down in surprise. "Oh. Yeah. Sure." He got up, and Ino followed up, dusting herself off, stretching, and testing her limbs.
"You okay?" Kiba asked again.
Ino looked at him with pride in her eyes. "Why, thank you, Kiba, I am," she replied deliberately. "What a gentleman!"
"Haha, Kiba? Hahahaha!" Naruto laughed, and Kiba snorted at Naruto, like, You wish you were me.
Ino turned back to Naruto, obviously forgiving him because of the task she had given herself. "Well, you better be practicin' your gentleman skills!" Ino said to Naruto. "Hinata's wanting you to help her finish off that paperwork that you totally forgot about!"
Naruto gave her a confused look.
"Not that it was any surprise that you forgot," Ino said, sneaking in a snarky comment.
"Well, she's going to the Hokage's building to pick up those papers," Ino said, purposely sounding as if she didn't care what happened. "You can go..if you want… Not my problem… Though she did ask me to tell you… Oh, well. Later!"
She leapt away, only to be hiding behind the next corner, still watching the boys. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could see them perfectly.
"Wow, you still didn't finish the papers?" Kiba asked, with a mocking look.
"As if you like doing paperwork," Naruto grumbled.
"True that, dude. Sucks for you."
"Well, at least I'm getting help," Naruto said. "And Hinata's really smart! So, HA!"
Kiba shot Naruto a death glare. "Oh, so you've gotten Hinata to help you now, huh?"
Naruto returned Kiba's stare with an arched eyebrow. "What? No…"
"Well, you'd better get going then," Kiba's mouth twisted into a snarl. "Don't want to keep poor Hinata waiting, now do we?"
"No siree, bub," Naruto replied, not oblivious to Kiba's change in tone, but choosing to appear so.
As Naruto turned to ninja-leap away, Kiba called after him, "By the way. I win by default. You forfeited before we finished, so, later, loser!"
Naruto wanted to whip around and punch Kiba in the face and demand a rematch but his thoughts were occupied with something else. He reached the Hokage's building, and scanned around for a girl with long, glossy black hair, and light colored clothes. He spotted the girl and ninja-leaped right in front of her. She almost bumped into him, and looked really flustered.
"Oi, Hinata, what's up?" Naruto asked, his voice catching in his throat. What was wrong with him? Maybe he was getting sick. He'd have to take it easy for a while…That meant postponing the rematch with Kiba…
"E-heh, nothing…" came the reply from Hinata.
Naruto arched an eyebrow. What? But… "Really?" Naruto asked, making sure. "Ino told me that we were going to finish that paperwork about our mission. Remember that mission we did back during the Ice Age? I completely forgot about that paperwork part, too!"
"Imagine that," Hinata whispered, but loudly enough for Naruto to hear.
Naruto widened his eyes. Sarcasm…from Hinata! Naruto gazed at Hinata's large lavender eyes, always alert, and almost as if she were constantly afraid of something. What was she afraid of? Naruto found himself wondering that sometimes, when he was thinking about her. Was she even afraid of something? Could he help? Then Naruto felt like laughing. Humor! From Hinata? Awesome! Funny people were always good people. Usually. Unless they were evil funny….
"Aaaand guess what?" Naruto asked, trying to be funny by acting like a little kid. "I brought a pen! I found it." He dug in his pocket for a moment, panic rising inside him for a second. Did he have it? That whole show would have been for nothing if he forgot it! How lame…Oh, wait! Whew! He found it.
"Thank you, Naruto…Never know when we'll need one of those."
Naruto looked at her longer this time. Sarcasm, again. She thought he was just stupid, didn't she? Naruto wanted to curse. He wasn't stupid! He certainly didn't want Hinata thinking that he was useless. He was a heck of a ninja! But did she know that? She usually spent time fainting around him. And if she fainted then she couldn't see how awesome he really was…And he was sure that he wasn't just some chump-ninja. Maybe he needed to stop acting stupid all the time… Not that he really cared about impressions…he just gave off the most natural one…but…for some reason being around Hinata called for something else. He saw Hinata blushing again, and for the first time, noticed it as cute, and not weird. What? What in the world…Cute? Naruto couldn't even think for a minute, then decided that he had to say something or it would be even more weird.
"If you don't have anything else in mind," Naruto began, going back to the point, trying to show Hinata that he actually did care about stuff, "I was thinking we could just finish those papers outside somewhere. Don't you like fresh air?"
Don't you like fresh air? Lame! What the heck? What was he trying to do….Just act natural! Then he realized that natural was not even doing paperwork…Sigh. He needed to change natural, then.
"Yes, very much."
Okay, then. Stop fooling around. It's fine! Maybe she thought I was funny. "Cool! I know a great place! No one will bother us there!" Whoa. Wait. Why did he ask that? Did she think that was weird? Why would it matter if any one bothered them…maybe it was good if someone bothered them…oh, what was he thinking? If anyone bothered them it would break their concentration! It was good! Ahhh! "Let's go!" Naruto added, trying to cover up the silence that had lapsed. He shot off, not looking back to see if Hinata was following. He took some deep breathes. Okay, what was going on? He was acting normal, and yet he was questioning his every move! That wasn't good in battle (bygones are bygones) and that wasn't really beneficial here, either! It was giving him a headache…and before they even started writing, too!
Naruto wasn't actually sure where he was going…he had tons of places he liked to hang out, but none of them were any more special that the last. He realized he was already at the outskirts of the city, and a snap decision came to him. Luckily, he was so good at those. He eventually reached a small clearing, with a short, stubby tree stump—perfect for writing on.
He glanced at Hinata to check her reaction. She was looking around, but Naruto wasn't sure whether it was just curiosity, or if it was disapproval. "Here it is!" Naruto said unnecessarily. "Right in the middle of nature."
"Maybe not the middle," Hinata whispered, to which Naruto inwardly sighed. He hadn't remembered Hinata as being so…difficult. Well, it wouldn't bother him! (Or would it?) "But it's still good," Hinata said quickly afterwards. "Thank you Naruto."
"Don't mention it," Naruto muttered, feeling totally let down. Well, maybe he was the one letting Hinata down. Hinata's compliment had seemed forced, which could only mean that Hinata thought the opposite, right? Naruto didn't want to think about those things. They were sure to give him a headache. He tried to avoid those. They weren't fun. He felt Hinata's gaze on him, and he jumped a little. "Okay, let's start!" Naruto said, fazed.
"Okay," Hinata whispered. She sat down at the tree stump, and stacked the papers together. Naruto sat down beside Hinata, looking over her writing hand. "The mission?" Hinata asked.
"Investigate raiders in the Village Hidden in the Rice," Naruto replied promptly. Easy, peasy.
"Y-yes, that's all the Lady Hokage told us to do," Hinata agreed. She wrote Naruto's words down carefully. Naruto marveled at Hinata's perfect handwriting. He also felt impatient that she was taking forever.
Naruto waited patiently for Hinata to finish the word Hidden. "Why can't I write?" Naruto asked. "You are such a slow writer!"
"O-oh….okay…" Hinata said, putting the pen down. Oh. Wait. He had hurt her feelings. Ugh! How totally untactful. But since when was Naruto the expert on tact? Oh, man. Naruto looked at Hinata with a little worry. Naruto tried to tell her sorry with his eyes but it probably didn't working. She looked even more frazzled now.
"You can finish now," Naruto grumbled. He felt awful, yes, but it was in the past. He couldn't take it back.
"Was the mission completed?" Naruto read out loud, taking the pen from Hinata's hand. Her skin was soft and warm to the touch, and sent a spark up Naruto's arm. He wanted to shiver but it wasn't even cold outside. "Yeah, duh!" Naruto cried, answering the paper's question.
"W-w-w-wait!" Hinata squeaked. Naruto looked at her again, with a questioning glance. What could she possibly have to say now? "Are y-y-y-you s-sure?"
Naruto arched an eyebrow but seemed to think for a minute. Okay, good question, I guess… "Well…we don't know who the raiders are…"
"W-w-we only f-f-fought them off f-for a while." Hinata whispered. "W-we don't know if they are actually g-gone."
"So….no?" Naruto asked, looking a little sad. They hadn't finished the mission? Would that mean a follow up mission? When would that be? Would the Grandma assign more ninjas to the mission? Would Naruto and Hinata go?
"R-right," Hinata whispered. "D-Don't you think the Lady Hokage should assign a f-follow-up mission?"
"I guess…" Naruto replied, sounding sad, even though he hadn't meant to. Now she would think he hated going on the mission with her, which was not true! Everything he did today seemed to be the wrong thing.
"Y-you want to f-finish what you st-start, r-right?" Hinata asked, her pale eyes meeting Narutu's electric blue ones. It caused his heart to freeze for a long moment before starting irregularly.
"Yeah!" Naruto replied, now with conviction. "A ninja shouldn't just do half the work." He wrote down "No" instead. Why does she have to be so smart? Naruto thought, half as a joke. The next question asked "If no, explain."
"So, what you just said," Naruto said, referring to that question. Time to focus on the papers again. Then a thought began to form in his mind, and it linked directly to his mouth. "I guess you can write…you have better handwriting…." Wow, was that the right thing to say? It sounded pretty dumb. Maybe I need to practice thinking more first….Everything I'm doing today is the wrong thing!
Hinata looked up. Naruto wondered if he saw a little surprise in her pale, lavender eyes. Naruto grinned widely at her. This caused her to blush of course, to which Naruto felt an unexplainable joy. She's so cute when she blushes. Wait, what? Cute? Since when? She managed a shy grin back, and Naruto forgot all this thoughts. How pretty. "Okay, write!" he encouraged her. She nodded, and penned the answer.
They went through the papers quickly. As they reached the end, both of them felt a pang of regret that their writing time together would soon be over. Well, now I can't mess up anymore, right? Naruto asked himself wryly.
"Is that all?" Hinata asked. "We should write more details."
"Huh? Details?" Naruto asked. "Why?" Okay, wow, really? That sounded so dumb! Well, I probably am compared to Hinata…
"It looks good." Hinata replied simply.
"I think we put enough details in…" Naruto trailed off, not wanting to contradict Hinata. What would she think? Would she be angry? Offended? No, what the heck, he could think for himself and give valuable input too! That's what Iruka Sensei always said, anyway… "Grandma might get mad if you write too much…It's more work, you know."
Hinata looked thoughtful for a moment, then looked down at the paper. She signed her name in her pretty script, and then moved the pen to the next name line.
"I can!" Naruto muttered instantly, not thinking again, and he pulled the pen out of her hands.
"Okay!" Hinata said in a voice definitely above a whisper. Naruto glanced up at her in surprise. Her voice was so melodious even in one word. Was that even possible? Who cares. It just is. Naruto finally penned his name.
"We're done," Hinata said, sounding satisfying.
"Hm." Naruto said, thinking. If anyone else had been his mission partner rather than Hinata, would he still have helped with the paperwork? He decided he'd think about that later…if later ever came. "Who knew paperwork could be this bearable? Thanks, Hinata."
Hinata blushed furiously again. Naruto felt happy again. Naruto hoped Hinata blushed when she was happy. He wouldn't want anything else.
"W-why are you thanking me…" she whispered under her breath.
Naruto didn't reply, but instead got up and stretched. He put his hand back down, and Hinata just stared at it. Again with the not-thinking… Well, it's already done. How would it look if he took back his hand? But Hinata was just staring at it, and discomfort prickled down Naruto's back. Okay, she doesn't need help getting up. Not that he thought she had anyway. He took back his hand quickly, and looked around the forest, trying to admire the…trees. Wow, they are so interesting…he could not believe himself just then.
Hinata finally stood up shakily, which Naruto saw from the corner of his eye.
"Well, I guess we can head ba—" Naruto began, before he turned to look at Hinata properly. "You okay, there?" Naruto let the question slip out. Well, she did look a little weird suddenly. "You look really dizzy…"
"Huh? No…I'm fine…."
Naruto shrugged. "Okay, whatever you say…" He wasn't sure whether he believed her or not, but what could he do about it, anyway?
"We should drop the papers off right away," Hinata said, changing the subject to a more decisive one.
"Okay, I'll do it." Naruto said, reaching for the papers.
Hinata held onto them. "We can go together," she whispered.
Naruto tried not to grin too much. What, it was just walking together…Not that big of a deal…People walked everywhere everyday…
Naruto also tried not to skip out of the forest with Hinata at his side. The warm sunlight felt good on his neck after sitting for what felt like forever. Or maybe it had felt like a second, with Hinata there. Oh, who could tell? And did it really matter? There's a word called timeless and Naruto thought it fit pretty well just then.