Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

No napkins were harmed in the making of this Fan Fiction

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Ino sat in Hinata's room with her, Sakura and Temari. Tenten was at school prepping for the game, and the others were planning on going once they had 'completely maximized Hinata's hotness', as Ino put it. Hinata was wearing a gray mini skirt Ino had brought her, black tights that went down to her ankles, a dusty blue tank top, and a green sweater. Ino had wanted her to wear a jean jacket and a scarf instead, but Hinata was too self-conscious not too wear a sweater over the tank top. Ino was trying to convince her to wear some more makeup.

"Come on, Hinata," Ino said, holding up a tube. "It's just some lip liner and gloss… and mascara and eyes liner… and eye shadow, but still. All you normally wear is a little lip balm and some shadow on your eyes. It's time to show Naruto what you've got!" Ino said. Ino herself was wearing pink fishnets with sports shorts over them, a red tank top in their schools colors with a sports jacket over it, and had a streak of red on each cheek.

Hinata shook her head. Ino sighed. "Just the mascara and eye liner then. Please?" Hinata sighed.

"F-fine…" Ino grinned triumphantly and began to put the mascara on. Temari and Sakura watched with amused expressions.

"By the way Sakura," said Temari. "How did your date go last night?" Sakura blushed. "Oh, my god," Temari said, sounding excited. "Did you guys make out?"

"A little," Sakura admitted. "It was fantastic," she said, smiling as she remembered it. Hinata gave her a smile back, a little strained as Ino started lining her eyes lightly with black.

"I am so thrilled about it," said Ino. "That means Sakura and Tenten have boyfriends, and Temari and Hinata are well on their way. My karma is so rockin' right now."

She stepped back from Hinata. "Ok, I'm done!" Hinata stood up nervously, her eyes now more defined and even bigger then they were before. Temari clapped.

"You look gorgeous," Sakura said earnestly. Hinata gave them both grateful smiles. Ino clapped her hands together.

"Ok! To the game!"

At the soccer game…

"Shithead cut me off," Ino muttered as they pulled into the school parking lot. Temari snorted and shook her head.

"Don't worry about it Ino…" Sakura said soothingly. Ino sighed and turned the car off.

"B-by the way Ino… w-weren't you going t-to try out for c-cheerleading again this y-year?" Hinata asked as they got out of the car and walked towards the field. Ino sighed.

"I was thinking about it, but all of those cheerleaders are so vile this year. It's amazing," she said, flicking something off of one of her fingernails. She shrugged. "I'm not going to waste my time with it. Besides, this means more parties," she said, laughing.

"Oh Ino," Sakura said, giggling. They walked towards the bleachers. They were already filled with people. Everyone was milling around and chatting as people slowly poured in. Ino spotted Naruto and nudged Hinata.

"Have fun," Ino said, winking and pulling the other two off so she could go find Sai. Hinata swallowed and walked towards Naruto, who looked like he was looking for someone.

K-konichiwa, N-Naruto-kun," she said, smiling at him. He looked at her when he heard her and his face broke out into a grin.

"Hey Hinata-chan," he said. She clasped her hands behind her back, blushing. He looked at her. "Something wrong?"

"N-no, Naruto-kun," she said, forcing herself not to stutter when she said his name. She hesitantly linked her arm through his, shocked by her ability to do it without Ino telling her too. He seemed a little surprised to, but he didn't say anything, and they started to move towards the bleachers. "So, Hinata-chan, how are you?" he asked.

"I'I-m good, Naruto-kun," she said. "I spent some t-time with Ino today. By the w-way, how is y-your homework g-going? I know w-we talked about it y-yesterday but I just w-wanted to make sure…"

"It's going good," he said with a laugh. "You're a good teacher."

She blushed. "A-arigato, Naruto-kun."

It took a little while before Hinata started opening up again, and when she did, she completely forgot that she should have been embarrassed. She was still stuttering, but not as much as before. Then the game started. She was a little disappointed, but she put that aside while the game started.

A few hours later…

It was dark by the time the game was over. Konoha had won by a little, and everyone was planning on celebrating by going to an after-game party at one of the player's house. Hinata and Naruto decided to go, so they walked over. They talked about a few things. Mainly Naruto talked, but Hinata liked listening.

By the time they got to the party someone had started a fire in the pit in the back yard. A few people sat around it, and Naruto and Hinata went over to as well. Hinata rubbed her hands in front of the fire. It was chillier out now that it was autumn, and Hinata's sweater wasn't doing much for her. Naruto took his coat off and put it over her shoulders. "Arigato, N-Naruto-kun," she said, blushing a little. She looked a little strange with a large leather trench coat on, but she didn't care. Unfortunately someone else did. They grabbed Naruto from behind and pulled him up.

"Didn't you hear me the first time, Uzumaki?" Neji snarled. Hinata gasped and turned around, looking up. 'Where's Tenten?' Hinata thought, looking around frantically. Tenten was nowhere in sight though.

Naruto shoved Neji away from him. "I'll need a few more reminders," he said in a taunting tone. Everyone around him started to back away from the fire. Neji moved back towards Naruto, and Naruto seemed to try and stabilize himself.

"Neji, s-stop it," Hinata said, as she started to stand up. Naruto pushed Hinata back.

"Stay out of this Hinata," Neji said. Neji turned his attention back to Naruto. "I've told you before, stay the fuck away from my cousin," Neji said.

"Maybe you should let Hinata decide for herself," Naruto said. "Or are you too worried she'd pick me over you?" he asked, smirking.

Neji started towards Naruto again and Naruto seemed to move to meet him. Neji punched Naruto in the nose, before Naruto kneed him in the stomach. Hinata looked between the two of them, and ran forwards, grabbing Naruto and trying to pull him back. "Stop!" she yelled. Both Neji and Naruto looked at her. She positioned herself between both of them. "This is my life Neji," Hinata said, looking at Neji. "You can't control it like this."

Naruto stared at Hinata and broke into a grin, even though his nose was bleeding. "What?" Neji spat. "Hinata, didn't you get what I told you before? Nothing good comes from being around Naruto."

Hinata shook her head. "I don't care," she exclaimed. "I'm not going to let you hurt him!"

Hinata saw Tenten run out of the house out of the corner of her eye, but she gave all her attention to Naruto and Neji. Neji was still staring at her. Hinata just stared him in the eye though. She felt stronger then she had in ages. "Please, Neji-sama, just leave us alone," she said.

She saw Tenten moving closer a little, but her friend was giving Hinata space for herself. Hinata kept looking at her cousin, before he walked away. She felt like she had been deprived of air so she breathed in a few huge gulps of it before turning around to face Naruto. He was grinning down at her. "That was amazing Hinata, you didn't even stutter," Naruto said, ignoring his nose.

"Naruto-kun, your n-nose," Hinata said. He realized there was blood dripping down his face and he groaned, grabbing a napkin he had used to eat something with earlier and pinched his nose with it.

"By the way Hinata, what made you do that? You didn't have to," Naruto said.

Hinata looked down. "I t-think I kind of did… and y-you deserve some of the credit," she said, before looking back up at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, blinking.

"Naruto, its because of y-you I was able to finally stand up for myself. Y-you never seem to let anyone tell y-you what to do… y-you're always so confident… it's inspiring," she said.

He just stared at her. She felt her cheeks growing warmer and she looked around. No one was there anymore. Not even Tenten. She heard something and saw him laughing. "I can't believe you think of me that way," he said. "I'm not someone people normally look up too," he said.

"Well… I-I do," she said. He looked down at her, and suddenly he was kissing her. Hinata thought she had gone into shock. She got over it quickly though, and was soon kissing him back. Her arms circled his neck as her eyes closed. She felt his arms going around her waist, pulling her a little closer to her, as they kept kissing. Naruto pulled back a little soon for Hinata and they just looked at each other.

"Oh…" was all she said, before she kissed him again.