Hinata sat in the grass at the foot of Neji's grave. Fingers combed through the soft blades while she talked to him about the changes in the village over the past year. Yes, she had made frequent visits to her cousin's grave, to make sure it stayed clean, complained about this and that, the things she used to tell him as they had grown closer with each other.
She had woken that morning feeling refreshed, with no alarm buzzing to send her off on a mission, no Hanabi banging on her door asking her to train or go shopping. Hinata rolled over, enjoying the rare peaceful morning before the calendar on the wall caught her eye. The date exactly one year since the mass funeral the Leaf had held to honor all those who had fallen in the war. One year since she had said her final goodbyes to the cousin who had become more like a brother to her.
Hinata had chastised herself for not remembering and sleeping in. Throwing on a long skirt and loose-fitting shirt before racing to the front door to slip on her shoes and walk to the cemetery. The sun was still not high in the village sky, with it only being a little past ten in the morning, but she still felt as if she should have been there earlier, it was respectful after all.
A cool breeze wound its way through the tombstones, goosebumps prickling at Hinata's exposed arms. She had forgotten that the weather had been turning cold. Gone were the last of the brisk fall days where she could get away with a short sleeve shirt once the sun was high in the village. With a hard gust of wind, Hinata said her goodbyes to Neji, standing, and giving a bow before brushing a stray leaf from the stone before her. People had been walking through the cemetery all morning, Hinata had paid no mind to the others, only saying quiet hello's to the few that stopped to pay respects at Neji's grave. So when she stood, she had not expected to turn and run directly into someone's outstretched arms.
"Sorry!" a familiar voice sounded. "I was just about to say something when you turned." She feels a hand on each of her forearms bracing her, the smell of a crisp male body wash fills her nose.
Hinata looked up, meeting Naruto's eyes. Feeling the heat spread across her face. "Oh! Good morning, Naruto-Kun."
"I wanted to make sure I said my thanks to Neji, but I saw you sitting here and thought you looked cold, so." At that Hinata realized that Naruto had taken off his jacket, the warm fabric between one of his hands and her arm.
"I'm fine really, I was just going to head home." She looks from his face to his jacket, an orange casual thing, however, it did look warm.
"Your arms are freezing." Naruto had dropped the hand holding the jacket while the other maintained his firm grip. "Take it."
"Naruto-Kun." Hinata starts, not able to hide the slight shiver that runs through her body as the wind gusts again.
Naruto just laughs. Ignoring her objections, he reaches around her back draping the jacket over her shoulders. Bringing the front together he zips it with nimble fingers.
"There, I know it's a short walk back to your house but I run hot so don't worry about it. Just get it back to me at the dinner Sakura and Ino have been planning for all of us tonight okay?" Naruto gazes down at her, watching as she moves her arms to fit into the sleeves, hands not visible at the ends.
"Okay," Hinata says in a voice that Naruto can barely hear, and turns to walk away.
Naruto watches her walk through the rows, hands moving to fold his jacket sleeves up around her wrist, the hem reaching the top of her thighs.
Cute. Naruto rubs at the back of his neck at the thought, intrigued at the way his jacket looks on Hinata.
-Later That Evening-
The boys in their group had walked ahead making their way to the bar they had all agreed to go to after dinner, leaving the girls behind.
"Now Hinata," Sakura starts, "wanna explain to us why you gave Naruto his jacket back?" The others laugh as Hinata blushes, recounting their interaction earlier that day. But she had no explanation as to why when she had returned his jacket Naruto had reached out and played with the zipper of her jacket, pulling it slightly up her body. Sakura and Ino just giggled at the way Hinata stammered, tripping over her words.
Ahead of them, Kiba was having a similar conversation with Naruto. Hinata had given him his jacket back when she arrived earlier. Kiba had watched him joke with her about how he was glad she had remembered her own.
"Pretty nice of you to keep Hinata warm," Kiba smirked sideways at him. Naruto just shrugged, smiling at the memory of her blushing, pushing down the feeling of how it would have been alright if she had kept wearing his.
"I think I'm going to head home." Naruto hears Hinata's voice from behind him. Followed by a chorus of goodbyes from the girls. He turns, catching her eye before giving her a brief wave.
Sakura might have been wrong, but she thought she saw Naruto's smile falter. The normal happy gleam in his eye slipped for a second while he watched Hinata leave. Is that dummy finally figuring things out? She wondered, linking her arm through Ino's as they walked into the bar.
Oooooohhhh is our boy finally maybe having some feelings?