Hinata went out of her way to walk past Ichiraku's ramen shop on her way home from training. However, even the briefest of glances from the other side of the road told her that Naruto was not there. With a mixture of relief and disappointment she hurried on, head down. She was terrified and anxious for this situation to be resolved, but Naruto appeared as indifferent to her as always. It was true that he had become much more friendly since the Chuunin Exams, but so had everyone. Even Neji.
She was woken from her reverie by a hand on her shoulder. An orange sleeved hand.
"Hinata?"
As always a dozen responses flitted through her mind, but all she could articulate was a faint "oh!" followed by "Naruto-kun."
"What are you doing here?" he asked not unkindly.
"Umm... eto... ah" Hinata stuttered. She felt a blush welling up under her cheek. Naruto laughed. For a few seconds the question had seemed important, but his mind had moved on already.
"I'm on a top secret mission for Tsunade Oba-san," he said loudly, indicating a clanking bag of what were unmistakably sake bottles. "Well, see you later!" He turned back and began to leave.
Why was it always like this? They never had a proper conversation. Naruto always rushed off, and she... she never said anything anyway. It was her own fault. Hinata's head drooped.
"Oh, Hinata?"
She spun round. Naruto had turned back.
"People have been saying I should talk to you. About you liking someone or something?" His eyes were narrow and inscrutable.
Now she blushed properly, she could feel the blood rushing to her face.
"Well, if it's Sasuke, don't worry. I already promised Sakura-chan I'd rescue him. You can count on me!" He grinned widely. Once again a bitter mixture of relief and disappointment welled up in her. It must have been Kiba that had talked to Naruto - she would talk to him later and set him right. This was her business! She didn't want anyone meddling.
"Umm, umm," She stuttered again, her face downcast.
"Is it something else?" He sounded suddenly serious.
'Someone else,', she wanted to whisper. He was never going to wake up to her feelings! And it seemed he would never change his fellings for her. Hinata sighed.
"Well, anything you want, just tell me! I'll always be here for you," he said with a wide smile, touching her shoulder again and running off, bottles clanking.
Perhaps things weren't so bad after all. A small smile crept onto Hinata's face. And maybe she wouldn't talk to Kiba. He was only trying to help, and she didn't want to argue, especially not with a teammate.
A warm glow spread through her body as she wandered home, her thoughts somewhere else. She didn't even notice her hand come to rest on her shoulder, where the glow seemed to originate.
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Story notes: NaruHina one-shots(chs. 1-3)/fluff(4-12)/adventure(12+) beginning during the time lapse. Suggest if you're not an extreme NaruHina fan you skip the first few chapters...
Chapter notes: I'm not really a NaruHina fan, but I love their 'moments.' So here I'm just trying to accurately portray the characters in a realistic scenario. I hope you enjoy, I've an idea for another one if popular. This is set after episode 136, but before Shippuden.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Hinata, or anything from their world.