Midnight

March 28-Haruno, Sakura's Birthday

Sakura-chan invited the Konoha 10 to her birthday party. We were talking and hanging out in her house, and I was eating some pink cake. I wonder if Hinata's here, I haven't seen her yet. Then again, I did come a bit late. I finished the cake and went up to Inuzuka, Kiba and his dog Akamaru. "'Sup, Dogbreath?" I punched him. "Nothin', Your Hyperness," he stated apathetically. "Have you seen Hinata around?" I asked. "Hinata, huh?" he wickedly grinned. "What's wrong with that?" I asked. "It seems you've been very interested in knowing where Hinata is these days," Kiba teased while petting Akamaru. "Oy, what are you talking about?" I took back. I have? "I just noticed that she hasn't arrived at the party yet, so I just wanted to know where she was at," I explained. "Oh yeah sure, whatever you say," he shrugged off. "Whatever, you're not helpful," I disregarded and Kiba laughed, while Akamaru mockingly barked. What was that about?

I went over to Sakura-chan, who was sitting down next to a table. "Hey, happy birthday, Sakura-chan." I placed her present (just a bracelet) there. "Thanks," she sighed. "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked and turned around. "Well, Sasuke-kun's on a mission and he promised he'd be here for my birthday, but he's not here yet," she sighed. "That baka, I'll drag him over here!" I growled. "Nah, Tenten-chan told me he's on the way," she disregarded and waved her hand away. Sweet, I wanna arm-wrestle him again. "So, what's new with you and Hinata?" she lightened up. Huh? That was random.

"What do you mean, Hinata and me?" I questioned. "Well, it was very nice of you to give that carnation to her on White Day, did you like her special chocolate?" she mentioned. "Hinata gave me tomo-choco?" I asked and pointed to myself. "Well yeah, she made some for all of us, even Lee-kun here," she waved her hand around the room and grimaced at his name. "What, even Bushy Brows got some, but I didn't?" I speculated. "Maybe someone took them or something," she thought out loud. "Well, where is she, anyway?" I looked around the room. "Hu hu, she already left to help her imouto with a school project," she explained. I remembered Kiba's dumb comments about finding Hinata, so I acted disinterested.

"Okay, cool," I looked away. "You should catch up to her," she suggested. "Nah, I'm good," I declined and was about to stand up. "Wait," Sakura-chan called out and I stopped. "Hinata will kill me, but I have to tell you this." She scooted closer. "Hinata is someone you need to keep very close to in your life. Keep that in mind," she whispered to my ear. Why does everyone keep mentioning Hinata around me? I don't get it.

The party eventually ended and I walked home. I saw some chocolates on my door, with no note. The next day, I gave it to Chouji, who ate it on the spot. "Oh, it's not like normal chocolate," he noted. "Sorry man, someone gave them to me," I shrugged. "Don't worry, it's not your fault," he shrugged back and wiped his mouth.

I didn't give it much thought until I started seeing some chocolates at my door every week. Valentine's Day was done nearly two months ago, but they kept coming. I wanted to ask Sakura-chan about it, but then Sarutobi, Konohamaru knocked on my door. "Nii-san, Kakashi-sama's calling you to a mission," he said. "Okay, I'll be there right away," I told him and left my house. Sweet, I wonder what kind of baddies will get a taste of my fist soon!

I went to the Hokage's office and looked to see Kiba and Hinata among us. The Hokage and my former sensei, Hatake, Kakashi wore his unfazed look like usual. "Okay everyone, I'm sending all of you out on a C-rank mission to guard an old lady who's been reporting stolen crops from her farm. All of you will investigate this and if it happens again, stop this. Kiba will be the team captain," Kakashi-sensei stated. "Are you serious? It's C-ranked, and Kiba's the team captain at that?" I had to protest. "Looks like Kakashi-sensei here is cutting our noble hero some slack," Kiba joked. "Come on Naruto, you've done a lot already. I just need you here since everyone else is already on other missions," Kakashi-sensei sighed. "Ugh, seriously?" I complained. "Naruto-kun, I'll do my best to help you, don't worry," Hinata smiled. Sakura-chan's words started to echo in me; I had to shrug myself and focus. "Okay, I'll do it," I relented. "Good, let's continue. The farm is just a mile away, it's right around here," he pointed on a map. "It's nothing too big, just watch for petty robbers; any questions? Good, you're dismissed," he said and we left the office. "Okay, the farm is along the east side of the gates," Kiba mentioned and lead the way.

We found the farm and greeted the little granny there. "Konbanwa, thank you so much for coming, I'm Nakahara, Tamiko! These robbers keep stealing so much of my stored crops, and it's already been hard because of winter!" she panicked. "It's okay obaa-san, we'll take care of them," Kiba promised her. "I heard some whispering from outside say that they were going to come again at midnight in a few days while I was washing the dishes inside. If you could watch over my farm during the night, I'd really appreciate it," she explained. If the robbers were this dumb, they're going to have a hard time around us!
"Okay obaa-san, we'll stay close until those robbers come," I promised and Tamiko-obaa-san smiled. Kiba let Akamaru sniff out the farm and where the robbers last came. "Okay, so it looks like these robbers came through the attic and stole the crops from there. Since they most likely are going to use that same way, I'll stand around the front, while you and Hinata guard the back. We'll most likely stay like this for the next few days," he told us and Akamaru barked in agreement. He turned to Hinata. "Hinata, when it gets close to midnight or whenever they come, I need you to use your Byakugan to scan around the area when they come and signal Naruto, so he can use his Shadow Clones to catch them. If I notice anything, I'll let you guys know," he told her. "Un," Hinata nodded. "Naruto, after you get those robbers, you'll interrogate them by mentioning your Shinobi Hero shindig, cool?" "Un," I nodded. "Okay, sounds good!" Kiba executed.

After we finished planning, Tamiko-obaa-san invited us to dinner. We helped her cook and set up the dishes. "I'm sorry I don't have much, I usually only cook for two," she apologized. I don't know why she is since her food is farm fresh and yummy. "Why? It tastes great!" I exclaimed. "Oh, arigatou," she smiled quickly. "Yes, I have a husband, but he's trading with other farmers now, so I can't get any help from him," Tamiko-obaa-san sighed. "These robbers will be stopped," Hinata resolved. She had a determined face on her, I like it.

After we finished dinner, we went back out and hid. Nobody came. The next few nights got kind of boring, just walking around and looking for something that wasn't there. Bodyguarding missions are annoying in that way.

On the fourth night, Hinata let out a bird call. I looked for the robbers. There, I see five of them coming towards the back. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" I summoned. My clones came and we charged towards the robbers, but I was surprised to see them already lying on the ground, twitching. I let my clones hold them down, just in case, when I saw Hinata, Akamaru, and Kiba comes next to me. "You did that, Hinata?" I asked and her Byakugan eyes relaxed. "Gomenasai, they were coming towards my direction. I only stopped their chakra points, that's all," she pointed out. Right, she must've used her Gentle Fist technique. Even then, I did not see that coming. "Dang, you got fast!" I pointed out. Then Kiba looked towards me. I nodded.

"Who are you guys?" the middle robber asked. "I'm Uzumaki, Naruto, the hero of the Fourth Shinobi War," I bluffed and the other robbers started to get nervous. "Now, explain yourselves!" I shouted and one of them quivered. "Don't hurt us, we're just poor farmers trying to feed our families, the last few harvests were bad," he pleaded. "As farmers, stealing from another one is pretty low," Kiba pointed out. "Even for that, I will have to apprehend you to the authorities and let them choose your just desserts," I warned. "F-fine, just don't close our farms!" they requested. Mission accomplished.

We just got done reporting back to Kakashi-sensei and the robbers were given their sentences- give back the crops, do some community service, and make a written apology to Tamiko-obaa-san. "Hey N-Naruto-kun, you did such a great job out there," Hinata complimented. For some reason, that makes me feel really good. But why? The mission was a piece of cake, compared to misguided terrorists and corrupt folks I've had to deal with. "Aw, it was nothing you were the one who took down those robbers anyways, you've gotten quicker," I thanked.
"Regardless of what mission you do, you always put in your best effort in each of them and succeed every time. I-I've admired that about you," she added. I started to feel a bit warm on my cheeks and sucked my breath in. Oh snap, maybe Sakura-chan had a point. "It's just another mission," I returned and looked away. Please, nobody notice!
"Ack, you guys are too much!" Kiba fake-gagged from behind. We jumped and quickly sobered from our conversation. "Wait, what? No, we were just talking about the mission," I said. "Whatever you say," Kiba sarcastically snorted. It was just a friendly conversation, right?