Watching Naruto play with Kiba, Chouji and Shikamaru filled Hinata's heart with joy.
"Geez, I wonder how I never noticed you liked him before" Sakura's voice penetrated her thoughts. She was sitting by her side, chopsticks holding a bit of rice halfway to her mouth as she looked from her to where Naruto was with a small frown. "You look at him all the time."
Hinata huffed, picking up her own food. It was lunch break, one of the few times they could be together. All in all, the return to classes had been pretty unentventul. Not that she expected it to be different, but maybe some part of her wanted it to, seeing how close they were to finishing the academy. For what reason and how exactly, she wasn't certain.
"You look at Sasuke-kun all the time as well" she retorted in response to her friend's jab.
"Yeah, but it's different. Everyone knows I like him" Sakura answered with a shrug. Then, swallowing another mouthful of rice, she put on a pensive expression. "It isn't that much better, but he has been hanging out with those three a lot lately. Do you think they're friends?"
Hinata hummed, glancing towards them. "I believe so… although they might not see it that way. Not even Naruto" she admitted, a bit disheartened. It was just the way things were, she supposed. Spending so much time isolated and shunned, Naruto of all people would probably not realize it when others started caring for him.
"Most likely you're right" Sakura agreed, her voice neutral. A bit of silence followed, in which they kept eating, until, a few seconds later, the girl's voice returned, hesitancy hanging from every one of her words. "I've been thinking… maybe we could invite Naruto to lunch sometime."
"Eh?" Hinata turned to her, unable to hide her surprise. Sakura wasn't looking at her, her eyes and face turned away, only a little bit of pink betraying her embarrassment.
"Because you like him, no? And I've realized you're right and Naruto, though still annoying no matter how you try to play it down, isn't really so bad, no? So, eating lunch together… I think we could do that, from time to time…" she explained, her chopsticks playing around with her food. Hinata's mouth fell open, just a little, as a wave of different emotions and thoughts assaulted her.
Eating lunch with Naruto… it has actually been a while since the last time she did that. They still spoke regularly, of course, but with both of them opening themselves to other people, it did look like they spent less time together than they used to. Sakura suggesting this idea was also a shock, although one she was mostly happy to hear. It was a big difference to how she used to be, not so long ago, and also a positive sign for both her and Naruto, to have her open up to the possibility of spending time with him.
Of course, she was mostly happy because… regardless of how good this was, Sakura was still the girl Naruto liked. Was Sakura aware of this? Hinata didn't think so, having found out her dear friend could be a bit self-absorved most of the time, and so small details like this would often escape her.
Still… saying no would be incredibly selfish of her, especially considering the request Naruto himself had given her some time ago and that she never went through for fear of… Sakura snatching even more of his attention than she already did.
And so, resolutely and incredibly divided, she nodded, smiling as best she could. "That sounds great, Sakura-chan. Let's invite him tomorrow, ok?"
Maybe she could use this opportunity to prepare him a bento, after so long.