Hinata studied Naruto out of the corner of her eye. The little porcelain figurine portraying a horse went from one hand to another as he played with it, trying to figure out what it was. His blue eyes focused solely on the figurine and took no notice of anything else. Hinata thought that she could probably have thrown the couch out the window and he wouldn't have noticed. She envied him the ability to be so completely lost in such a simple thing; she would definitely like to have that ability. At least now, after what had happened the same morning, she needed to get her thoughts over on something else.

She had woken up earlier than usual, because of an immense heat. She thought for a panicky moment that something was burning, but when she looked around in the dimly lit room, she saw no trace of orange flames licking their way up the closed curtains, and neither could she smell smoke. She turned around, intent on continuing her sleep, but came face to face with a hot breath on her face. Feeling overly uncomfortable, she turned around again. Her mind was too fogged with sleep to really register anything, but when it finally did as she wondered more and more what was really happening, she tore away the covers and jumped out of the bed faster than she would have run from an angry dog. Her hair whipped at her face as she spun around and stared at the bed. There, on her white satin covers, lay Naruto, soundly asleep and looking as peaceful as a newborn cub. Talk about a surprise wakeup. She had been so confused, dizzy and all over bewildered that she had fallen over, which in turn made Naruto wake and jump on her with a happy smile.

Breakfast had been an embarrassing event. Hinata had tried to keep herself from blushing as she tried to learn Naruto how to use cutlery, which he didn't get at all. Both Neji and Hiashi had watched with a growing frown as Naruto eventually brushed away Hinata's hand with the fork she tried to make him hold and started eating with his hands. She had made sure they left as quickly as possible.

Naruto put down the figurine and looked around. He noticed Hinata looking at him, and with a feral smile he came towards her. Hinata blushed and quickly looked away, but he came closer nonetheless. She could smell him; he smelled of the soap he had been bathed in, a sweet, clean smell of lavender. Neji had used her soap on him, the nerve. A faint smell of plain forest lay underneath, and made for a strange, but fresh mixture. He stopped a few feet or so away from her, and remained there. Hinata was thankful for that. This was more than awkward enough already, and he wasn't exactly helping.

"So, Naruto, what do you want to do today?" she chirped with a voice so full of false cheeriness that it gave her the chills. He gave her a curious look, and tipped his head to one side as if to ask: 'What are you saying? Tell me in a way I can understand!'

"Umm," she said nervously and looked around to see if there was something that could help her explain. "Urgh, I don't know how to tell you – "

She was interrupted quite elegantly when Naruto placed a careful finger on her lip. He managed to tug a little on it and send her an intrigued glance before she tore away, spluttering and red as a tomato. He followed, and before she could stop him he once again put a finger on her lip. She was rendered completely unable to act, disbelieving at the curious stare he gave her.

"U-um – "

Once again, a new tug. She thought she was starting to understand what he wanted. To her it seemed like he was, in his own innocent way, asking what she was doing when she was talking. He had probably never heard anyone talk before he came to live with them. Somehow, that didn't make the matter less embarrassing for her, sadly enough.

She gently pulled his hand away, and instead pointed on her lip herself.

"These are my lips," she said, emphasizing the word 'lips'. She tried to ignore the red roses crawling over her skin. "Lips, can you say that?"

"L-lipps," Naruto drawled. The word came out awkwardly and sounded unfamiliar, and it seemed he almost curled his tongue in the effort to try to voice that one word. "Lips."

"That's right!" she beamed up at him. "Lips! And this is my n – "

"Lips."

Naruto was suddenly way too close for her liking. He once again put a finger on her lips, stilling the word 'nose' which was about to slip out, and whispered the word again. He seemed completely absorbed in his own little world, and Hinata pushed him away with an annoyed yet embarrassed shove.

***

"Neji and I will be leaving here for a couple of days."

Hinata looked up from her lunch. Her father continued.

"Apparently there are complications with our punctuation of the last months, and the cargo of one of our ships didn't keep the standard we put. So unfortunately," he grumbled and sent Naruto, who was watching in awe at how Hinata used the cutlery, a glare with barely concealed dislike, "we have to attain a meeting regarding the cleaning up of this mess. We won't be gone longer than three days."

Neji nodded his consent, and Hinata uttered an agreeing sound. It was unusual that her father had to go to the harbor he owned to handle everything; normally he did it from his office here, at the manor. She knew his business consisted of trading and shipping, but other than that she had no specific interest in it. Neji was the one who was going to take over anyway.

"I'll leave you with the responsibility for this place and the servants."

Hinata nodded again and said; "Yes, father."

Naruto perked up when he heard her talk. Hinata quickly put a piece of her lunch in his mouth just as he opened it. Luckily Neji and Hiashi didn't notice. He had fallen into the bad and extremely embarrassing habit of saying 'lips' every time Hinata spoke. Hinata wasn't sure, but she thought she might die from sheer embarrassment if her cousin or her father ever heard him say that.

***

She saw them off an hour later, after gently but repeatedly reassuring her father that she would make sure that 'that boy' kept his hands to himself and behaved.

"And try to teach him basic gentleman behavior," Hiashi added sourly before he stepped into the carriage with Neji following suit. Naruto let out a small growl from where he stood behind Hinata's shoulder at the glare Neji sent him. Hiashi told the coachman to get going, and a moment later all Hinata could see was the dust cloud left by the horses' hooves.

A/N: It's very short, I know. But what's going to happen next has to happen as the start of a new chapter. At least I think so. :P Hope you enjoyed it either way, and remember: Review equals win, not to equals fail. -.-