Naruto was, as expected, completely thrilled to be able to eat with the two of them.
"Sakura-chan, look! Iruka-sensei put some sweets in my bento this time! He told me that if I behaved and got a better grade in math he would let me eat sweets again! But he still refuses to let me eat ramen for lunch… he said we can eat that for dinner but not all the time because I'm still growing and need more nutrients but I don't think that's enough you know!"
Sakura sighed, nodding tiredly as she picked at her food, sending a look towards Hinata. Understanding, she cleared her throat as she got closer to Naruto.
"That's very nice of Iruka-sensei. Does he make the food himself? What did he prepare for you?"
"Eh?" Naruto tilted his head, attention deviated from Sakura. "I don't know, I never asked him. Does Iruka-sensei even know how to cook?!"
"Surely he wouldn't have lived off convenience store food his whole life" Sakura added, frowning, unable to believe a teacher would be so careless with his own health. Naruto's eyes snapped back at her at this comment, and Sakura bit her lips at having caused that by inadvertently speaking.
"Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan! You know, I'm happy you finally accepted to eat with me! When Hinata never answered back last year after I asked her if I could eat with the two of you, I thought I must have done something to annoy you again, so I'm glad that we can now eat all together!"
"Never answered…?" Sakura glanced at Hinata as the other girl shrunk a little into herself. A look of understanding came to her eyes, as well as a small smile of amusement. "Yeah, well, as long as you behave I don't mind eating with you from now on" she declared with mirth.
Naruto's smile could have outshined the sun.
"Cool! So we're gonna do this every day now? Hinata, we will need your bentos too! Did you eat Hinata's food, Sakura-chan? She's an amazing cook!" Naruto spoke without pause, his food completely forgotten.
Sakura frowned, clenching her chospticks as she looked at Naruto with an annoyed expression. "What do you mean we'll need Hinata-chan's bentos? Are you planning to make her cook…?" she started going on a rant, but before she could go further, her eyes strayed momentarily towards Hinata, who was still blushing at the compliment that Naruto had given her. Then, as if a bulb lighted up in her head, Sakura's frown vanished and a mischievous smile curved her lips. "I mean, I haven't eaten a lot of Hinata-chan's cooking, but what I did taste was certainly very good. Don't you think that means she'll make a good wife one day?"
"S-Sakura-chan?" Hinata exclaimed, glancing at her with big eyes.
Naruto immediately agreed, crossing his arms and nodding his head repeatedly. "Of course! Hinata is the best at cooking!"
"And not only that! She's also very pretty and polite" Sakura kept talking just as Naruto continued nodding.
"Incredibly cute! On top of that, she's a good listener! When she asks after your well-being you can't help but feel taken care of!"
"Right? As a friend it's a very reassuring trait, but as a wife it must be even more so! Whoever Hinata-chan ends up marrying will be a lucky guy!"
"That he will be!"
"I-I-I…!" Hinata's eyes were swimming, unable to do anything but listen as Sakura and Naruto kept on listing all of her qualities, one after another. Temperatures were rising, and it took her a moment to realize it was just her own blush, and not the, admittedly tempered, summer day, what was causing her to feel as if she was on fire.
Of course, the final nail on the coffin had to be when, realizing she was as red as a tomato, Naruto got close to her, blinking up her face with those incredible blue eyes of his, and asked; "hey, you alright? Sakura-chan, I think Hinata's feeling sick! She's red all over!"
"Put your hand on her forehead. Maybe she has a fever" the girl provided, sly smile on full display.
"You're right! Hey, Hinata, do you–?"
The moment Naruto's hand touched her skin, something happened that had not in a very, very long time.
She fainted.
I'm going to make something clear, and I hope it's the first and last time I have to do so. If you want to make complementary fanart based on this fanfic, you are more than welcomed to. This is fanfiction after all, not my intellectual property even if the story is mine. It wouldn't be the first time someone makes fanart based on another person's fanfic, or viceversa, and it is flattering and I will be happy if someone wants to do it.
What I WILL NOT DO is commission anyone to make art based on this fanfic. This is a labor of love, like I think fanart is. To come and send me at least ten PMs per week telling me to commission you, to fill my review page with your requests, and on top of that with signed accounts, that I can't delete, just makes me angry, and I'm warning all of you, if this continues, I will stop posting in this page. I'm already not posting new works here as it is, seeing all the problems fanfiction dot net has and how engagement has been lowering, but I thought I would at least finish the ones I have here for those that still follow only fanfiction dot net. However, if I have to wake up to two to three messages from someone telling me they're 'inspired by my beautiful work and want me to grant them the honor of commission them to make art of it' I. Will. Stop. Posting. Here. Forever.
I apologize for the aggressive tone of this message but I'm honestly tired. Stop. I'm serious.
Behla out.