Chapter 2 - Walking Home

Heya, I’m finally updatingthis story.  I know it’s been forever,but I have a bad habit of ignoring my fickies. Plus, I have another Naruto fickie going and when I wait too long toupdate it, I feel bad (And receive threats at times…).  Anywho, I had to read the first chapter,‘cause I had totally forgotten where I had left off, heh.  I’m not sure where I’m going with this, soI’ll just make it up as I go along.  Notthat I ever do it differently…
 
Naruto does not belong tome.  I’m sure you knew that, but Ithought I’d just go ahead and make sure.
 
.Chapter Two......
 
In the time it took for Hinatato finish one bowl of ramen, Naruto had polished off three.  It had turned out that Naruto hadn’t beenworried about having enough money for one bowl, but for as many as it wouldtake to fill him up.  Hinata was justglad to see him stop eating before the bill got too high.
 
“Ah~!!  That was delicious!” Naruto exclaimed as herubbed his belly happily.
 
Hinata smiled shyly.  “Yes, it was really good.  Do you eat here a lot, Naruto-kun?”
 
“Huh?  Yeah, I eat here all the time.”  He examined her bowl.  “Is that all you’re going to eat?”
 
She looked down.  “Yes, I-I’m full.”
 
“Eh?  You need to eat more, Hinata!”  He grinned. “You’ll get hungry later.”
 
“T-thank you, Naruto-kun,” Shereplied quietly.  “But I’ll be fine…”
 
“Whatever you say…  Oh yeah!” He pulled out his froggy wallet. “Here’s all the money I have on me.”
 
“Oh!  I-it’s okay, Naruto-kun.  I don’t mind paying…”
 
“Well, at least take this,” Hetook her hand and dumped out his wallet’s contents into her palm.  “I can pay you back for the rest later.”
 
The dark-haired girl blushedfuriously as she stared at her hand in Naruto’s.  Oh mygod…!!  He’s holding my hand!  Maybe it’s not in the way I had hoped, buthe’s still holding it![/i]
 [/i]
“Eh…?  What’s wrong, Hinata?”
 
“Oh!”  She suddenly came to her senses.  “N-nothing’s wrong, sorry!”  She took the money and smiled, trying toignore how hot her face felt.  “Thankyou, Naruto-kun.  I… you don’t have topay the rest.”
 
“Thanks, Hinata!”  That blonde smiled broadly. “I’ll buy youramen some time, okay?”
 
“Y-yes… that would be nice.”
 
Naruto checked the time.  “Do you have to be home any time soon?”
 
She looked at the small clockon the wall.  It was 8:32.  “I…”  She knew it wouldn’t be good to get home toolate, but she didn’t want to say so.  Shewanted to get as much Naruto time as she possibly could.
 
“Do you want me to walk youhome or something?”
 
“N-Naruto-kun!”  Her cheeks which had temporarily returned tothere original color, went right back to being red.  “I… if it’s okay…”
 
“Yeah, I don’t mind.”  Naruto paused for a moment.  “You’ll have to show me the way though, sinceI don’t know where you live…”
 
“Uhm, okay.”  She began to get up.  “Do… do you want to leave now?”
 
“If you’re done.”  He was already standing. 
 
Hinata quickly paid for theirfood and faced Naruto again.  She couldhardly keep herself steady.  Everythingfelt like a dream.  I can’t believe what’s happening!  We went on a date and he’s even going to walkme home!  Or… is this a date? [/i]
 [/i]
She was snapped back toreality when Naruto said her name.
 
“Hinata… is something wrong?”
 
“N-no!”  She took a step forward.  “…Let’s go”
 
She began walking out of theramen shop.  She avoided Naruto’s eyes asshe stepped outside.  Don’t mess this up.  Just try and act normal…![/i]
 [/i]
“So where do you live,Hinata?”  Naruto asked with his hands inhis pockets. 
 
“Uhm… I live kind offar…”  She looked away.  “You don’t have to walk me all the way…”
 
“Since you paid for most ofthe food, I should at least keep you company all the way there,” He saidbrightly. 
 
“Oh…”
 
She explained to him where shelived, and they made their way to her house. Naruto was talkative the whole way there.  He told her about the missions he went on andabout how annoying Sasuke was.  Hinatalistened eagerly.  It really didn’tmatter to her what he said, just as long as he was saying it.  She loved how energetic he was.  She said very little the entire time.  Whenever it was necessary, she would reply toa question, or make a small comment, but other than that, she kept quiet.  She was too nervous to talk.
 
“Wow…!!”  Naruto exclaimed once they had reached themansion where Hinata resided.  “This iswhere you live??”
 
“Y-yes…”  She said, embarrassed.  She took a few steps toward the gate.  “Do… do you want to come in for a littlewhile, Naruto-kun?”
 
He looked as though he wascontemplating her question.  “Hmm…no.  Maybe some other time…”
 
“Oh… okay.” 
 
Naruto brightened and smiledat her.  “Well, I’ll see you later,Hinata!”
 
“Oh?  Okay, Naruto-kun.  I’ll see you.”
 
He waved and turned away.
 
“Good night, Naruto-kun…” Shesaid in barely a whisper.
 
“Did you say something?”Naruto asked, turning back around to face her.
 
“Uhm… G-good night, Naruto-kun!”She stammered.
 
“Yeah, g’night, Hinata!”  He waved and walked away.
 
Hinata stood at the gate andwatched the boy until he disappeared from sight.  She opened the gate in a daze, and walkedlightly through the door, and to her room. The butterflies in her stomach didn’t dissipate until she flopped downon her bed and sighed.  Tonight has been a very good night.[/i]
 [/i]
……
 
The next morning, she woke upearly to meet with her teammates.  It wasa crisp fall morning, and it was nice to have her coat on for a reason for achange.  She smiled and hummed to herselfas she walked to the designated place where they met.  She was in such a good mood; she nearlywalked right passed without noticing. Actually, she would have if it hadn’t been for Kiba.
 
“Hinata… where are you going?”
 
She came to her senses andblushed.  “Oh… Kiba-kun!”  She looked at the ground as she approachedher teammates.  “Sorry… I wasn’t payingattention”
 
Kiba laughed.  “Yeah, you probably would have walked rightout of Konoha if I hadn’t said anything!”
 
Hinata smiled apologetically.
 
“Did something happen,Hinata?” Kurenai asked.
 
“Huh?”  She looked at her instructorquizzically.  “No, Kurenai-sensei, why?”
 
“Nothing…  You seem a bit distracted.  Is something on your mind?”
 
“N-no, Kurenai-sensei.”  Am Ireally acting different?[/i]  She blusheda little.  Maybe I’m thinking of Naruto too much…[/i]
 [/i]
Kurenai looked at her a bitlonger before moving on.  “Well, now thatyou’re all here, I’ll explain today’s mission…”
 
Hinata moved closer to thegroup and stood near Shino.  Even thoughshe felt more comfortable with her team members than with anyone else, shestill couldn’t be at ease when she was around them.  Even so, she felt the most comfortable aroundShino.  It was strange that she wouldfeel that way, since she had been a little afraid of him when they had firstbeen teamed up.  After spending timearound him, she realized that he was a nice person.  He was really quiet, but she never felt likeshe had to say anything when she was near him. He never expected anything from her, and she appreciated that more thananything. 
 
Of course, she didn’t dislikeKurenai or Kiba.  She liked things aboutthem too.  What she liked about Kiba wasthat he could make you feel more comfortable with him without even trying.  He was such an outgoing person; it was hardto dislike him after you got to know him. The only thing she didn’t like about Kiba was that he had a bit of amean streak.  He was never mean to her,but he made fun of others sometimes.  Shealso didn’t like that he didn’t get along very well with Naruto.  She couldn’t understand why.  They seemed a little bit similar to eachother to her in some ways.  Maybe thatwas why.
 
She liked Kurenai because shewas so patient.  She was never too harshon them, but at the same time, she wasn’t too lenient, either.  When she messed up, Kurenai never got angry,or yelled at her.  She would always justcalmly tell her to try again.  Hinata washappy to have them all as part of her team.
 
“…Alright, did you guys getall of that?” Kurenai finished.
 
The three of them said yes.
 
“Good,” She nodded inapproval.  “Now let’s all get thisfinished in time for lunch, okay?”
 
“Yes, Kurenai-sensei.”
 
……
 
 Yay, I’m finished!  I even forced my self to write a bit longerthan I wanted to.  I was going to stopright after she got home, but that would have been just too disgustingly shortfor even me to handle.  I know it’s stillshort, but just keep in mind that it could have been worse.
 
How did I do with her thoughtson her teammates?  I always thought itwould make sense that she’d get along well with Shino.  They’re both such quiet people.  I’m not sure if that last part really fit inthough…  It seemed a bit out of placewith the rest of the story, I think. Maybe I should have just left off when she got home…
 
I’m still having somedifficulty adjusting to writing such a shy character.  I love Hinata to death, but I’m really afraidI’ll make her out of character…  Plus, Ifeel like I’m over doing it with all the stuttering and such, but whenever Ileave it out, it feels like she’s too relaxed. She’s so shy!  It’s adorable, butdifficult to write, heh.
 
Well, comments and suggestionsare muchly appreciated.  Especially[/i] suggestions.  I’m having trouble thinking of what to donext.

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