Prompt: 'You run in looking really panicked and you ask for 6 gallons of milk why' AU

Authors: unfitpuzzle (First Half/ Naruto) & LovelyLori (Second Half/ Hinata). This is unfortunately our last prompt, we came together for our mutual love for Naruhina and we had so much fun doing it, please enjoy (and checkout our other stories if you haven't already, what a shameless plug)

Authors Last Note: Kae: Writing with Lori helped me become a better writer she's seriously so good, and I'm sad to see this go but it was a really fun experience and I'm sorry it took so long we kinda slacked off, lmao

Lori: I had a lot of fun with this and it was a pleasure to write and share this with everyone (and I'm sorry for how long it took lol)

Title: Cat Got Your Tongue?

Description: There was a lot about Hinata that Naruto didn't know, well; except the fact that she seemed to really like milk.

Looking at the ginormous amount of milk Hyuga Hinata was buying Uzumaki Naruto couldn't help but raise his brows at his classmate. Just glancing at the pile he could estimate there was about twenty-three cartons, all lactose free. He was sure that there was no believable reason in the whole world that could even attempt to explain the strange sight.

"Hinata, t-that's…a lot of milk." He said slightly a gape.

Silently he wondered how someone as small as her would even manage to carry all of it. As Naruto could recall from some of their conversations Hinata was the only one in their class to not have her driver's license as her birthday wasn't until December.

How she was planning to carry all twenty-three cartons of milk by her lonesome, the boy wasn't sure.

"Yeah…" she squeamishly replied, airing out a wave of awkwardness that he had somehow managed to create.

Holding up his hands in front of him Naruto offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry, didn't mean to pry but it's just- really unbelievable ya know?"

Tutting out her bottom lip, his tiny classmate blew the top of her bangs in frustration.

"How so Naruto?" she asked seemingly annoyed, and in Naruto's eyes completely adorable. He had never seen her wear quite an expression before, it interested him to say the least.

Grinning Naruto felt the hairs on his arms spike up in excitement. The spiky haired blond always prided himself in being a people person. He found that with the right amount of teeth in a smile anybody, no matter who they were, was always willing to have a conversation.

Often times he found that the best part of working in a grocery store was the small connections he managed to make with interesting customers, some even turning into friendships (Though that stubborn Uchiha refuses to call it as such).

Hyuga Hinata was someone he knew mostly by name, any sort of conversation they ever had was in the company of mutual friends, had little to no eye contact and usually lasted no more than fifteen minutes. However regardless of how short and awkward their talks were they still managed to be rather interesting.

The blond haired teen didn't know why but he was sure Hinata had some sort of bad impression of him. If he had to guess as to why she was so hostile he figured it was probably because he came off as some type of hoodlum. If he could somehow change her mind, he would feel really relieved, he could see someone like her becoming his really close friend.

Seeing this as an opportunity to make a new connection Naruto allowed the devilish grin his face adorned to stretch even further.

Inquisitively placing his hand on his jaw Naruto suspiciously narrowed his eyes, "It's just that having this much milk seems pretty unethical. It would spoil before you even drank it all."

"It's no problem really," She quietly disagreed, smiling gently, "I'll be sure t-to put it to good use."

"Well it's not only that. The lactose-free milk is really expensive and you're a student so…"

Licking her bottom lip nervously the pearl eyed young woman quickly reached into her purse for her wallet, one printed with various cartoon cats. Supressing a chuckle Naruto absentmindedly shook his head. Of course she'd be more of a cat person, the milk practically spoke for itself.

Whipping out a black AmEx, Hinata thrust the card just inches away from his face. Seeing the card Naruto's eyes widened, those things were really hard to obtain if you weren't filthy rich.

"I can pay for it no p-problem if that's the issue."

Gently pushing the card away Naruto offered a tense smile as he inwardly cursed himself. Racking his brain for any indication of her background Naruto remembered hearing that Hinata's family owned a handful of very successful martial arts chains. It was a wonder how he had forgotten, they had Hyuga dojos set up all over Konoha, and her cousin Neji had even showcased his genius talent during a scuffle they had gotten into.

Feeling his eye twitch the grocer raced his self to come up with another excuse, he couldn't let her get away that easily, not until her awful opinion of him changed.

Reaching a solution Naruto held his bright smile firm. Glancing behind Hinata, he could see that apart from her the store wasn't really busy. Returning his gaze back to hers he held up his index finger, signaling for her to give him a minute. At the nod of her head he made his way towards the door behind the register that led to the employee area.

Reaching inside Naruto cleared his throat to catch the attention of his mother Kushina Uzumaki. Her long red hair was tied back in a ponytail and she adorned her reading glasses as she looked over the list of produce that needed to be restocked.

With a smile much like his own Kushina looked at Naruto. "Hey sunshine, what's up? Something wrong?"

Returning her smile Naruto shook his head, "Nope. I was just wondering if you'd let me take my break a little earlier today."

Setting down the pile of papers she was looking at, Naruto's mother made her way across the room and placed her hand on his head.

"Hm," she frowned, "You don't feel like you have a fever, you feeling alright? Is there a bad customer? Want me to take care of them?"

Holding his hands in front of him Naruto heartily laughed, "No Mom I'm not sick and the customers have been fine."

Raising a brow Kushina crossed her arms. "Then what's wrong? You're not planning to slack off again are you Naruto, because I swear-"

Sensing his mother's escalating frustration Naruto quickly raced to defuse the situation, an angry Kushina Uzumaki was not a pleasant sight at all. They didn't call her Red Hot Habanero for nothing.

"No that's not it, it's just there's a customer here who I'm also classmates with. She's purchasing a large amount of stuff and I know she doesn't drive so I wanted to help her out that's all."

"Huh, 'she'?"

Opening the door behind them Kushina peered outside and gasped, quickly closing it back.

"Oi Naruto, she's kind of cute! You didn't tell me you had a crush!"

Profusely shaking his head, Naruto tried to dispel his mother's bold notions, desperately combatting the blush spreading across his cheeks. He couldn't imagine what his mother would go out there and do to painfully shy Hinata if she thought he liked her.

Probably embarrass him beyond repair.

"M-mom, it's not like that I swear! Don't go doing anything weird!"

Swatting him away Kushina made her way back to the table flittered with papers, "Don't worry Naruto! I used to be a teenager too ya know! I understand the complexities of young love."

"Mom I told you it's not like that!"

Laughing Kushina reached for her reading glasses across the table, returning them to her face, "Go ahead and help her I'll be out in a minute. But make sure to turn the sign on your way out, last time you forgot I had a horde of angry letters coming in for a whole month!"

Pumping his fist an energized Naruto ran smiling across the room to give his mother a hug, squeezing her as tightly as he could manage, "Thanks mom," he said. "I'll make sure to be quick about it!"

"Naruto, honey," Kushina gasped. "You're crushing me."

Letting go of his mother, Naruto shamelessly scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, I'll be going now!"

Waving his hand goodbye, He quickly shuffled out the back room and returned to the cash register. Crouching down he opened one of the cabinets located behind the counter and pulled out a sign that read "Closed", placing it on the top of the table, much to his classmate's surprise.

"W-what're you doing?" Hinata queried staring at the sign in puzzlement.

"Don't worry," Naruto said, assuring her. "I'm going to ring you up no problem. It's just that I'm going to help you with your groceries after."

"You r-really don't have to do that…"

Smiling brilliantly Naruto jabbed a thumb towards his chest, "But I want to! It's the kind of guy I am ya know! Besides," he grinned, "I've got to make sure you aren't planning to do anything weird with all that milk!"

Blushing profusely Hinata turned her dumbfounded face away from the blond much to his disappointment. It seemed he would have to work harder in order for her to like him, she could still hardly look him in the face.

Ringing up her purchase Naruto carefully arranged the milk bags, making sure to equally distribute the weight. Even though he planned on driving, his car was parked in the employee section of the parking lot located at the back of the store. He would prefer not to feel like his arms were falling off as he held his cars steering wheel.

Pushing Hinata's hands away from the bags the cashier made his way from behind the counter, "Allow me." Naruto insisted, grabbing the heavy bags before his customer could even protest.

"I said I would help wouldn't I?" He chuckled, the weight of the bags sitting comfortably in his hands. The energetic teen was surprised it wasn't as hefty as he'd imagined, he made a mental note to thank his godfather Jiraiya for constantly dragging him to the gym later.

Motioning with his chin towards the stores exit Naruto yelled a quick, "Follow me," over his shoulder, leading the way towards his red Camaro. It was a little dated and bruised but it had been a gift from Jiraiya for his getting his license. He remembered how his dad and mom had made sure to get the car cleaned at least twenty times, stating that the shameful old man could've done God knows what inside of it.

The small voice of his companion reminded Naruto of his whereabouts. Laughing, he reached into his pocket for his car keys to open her side of the door.

"Sorry," Naruto apologized with a slight chuckle, "I can be a little dense sometimes."

"T-that's not true," Hinata disagreed, situating herself in the passenger seat, "You really didn't have to do this Naruto…"

Setting the bags down carefully and returning to the driver's seat Naruto turned towards Hinata with a wide smile.

"I told you, that's just who I am." He laughed.

Feeling the purr of the engine Naruto glanced at the dashboard clock, he had about thirty minutes to become a completely new person in Hinata's eyes, twenty if he included traffic. Gripping the steering wheel the boy held on to his determination, he had accomplished tougher things before, this would be no sweat.

Making his way out of the parking lot, Naruto glanced at Hinata from the corner of his eye, "Where to?" he asked, not exactly sure of where they were heading.

At her silence Naruto slowed down until he came at a complete stop near the exit's curb. Facing his passenger Naruto's bright eyes widened. Hinata was looking through the window as her luminous dark hair cascaded around her face. Her features stayed firmly twisted into one of deep reflection, a wistful vignette.

Naruto couldn't help thinking how pretty she looked despite the bleak display. His mother had been absolutely correct, Hinata really was pretty. How had he never noticed before?

Slipping out of his thoughts Naruto managed to focus, he was falling off track of his goal.

Tapping his classmate on her shoulder Naruto managed to get her attention, turning towards him with reddened cheeks Hinata quickly shifted her iridescent eyes away from his.

"Something wrong Hinata? You seem kind of down." Naruto asked, his eyebrows shooting up in emphasis.

Biting her lip the girl in question clenched her fists, "It's j-just that," She hesitated.

Looking at the young Hyuga inquisitively Naruto motioned his hand for her to continue, "It's just that…what?"

"It's so embarrassing…"

"What are you talking about? What's so embarrassing?"

"My d-destination." She quietly replied, taking to poking her two index fingers together.

At her words Naruto's eyes narrowed in confusion. He had no idea what Hinata was trying to convey to him. Was this her way of telling him she was uncomfortable with the situation?

Suddenly it hit him. Frowning his brows burrowed as his lips formed into a pout.

"You don't want me knowing where you live isn't it?"

At his words Hinata's features contorted with a quizzical expression. "Naruto I don't-"

"It's ok," he interjected, heaving a heavy sigh, "I know you don't like me much."

"I-I what?"

Choosing to wallow in his own self-pity Naruto ignored the confused question of his classmate and rambled on, "I just thought that maybe if I helped you out I could change your mind about me. Not that I don't understand why you would think of me like that because I do! It's just… I thought that if you really gave me a chance we could become really great friends, but it wasn't really right of me to force my agenda on you and I'm really sorry! I thought that if I told you that you wouldn't go along with me so easily. Argh! It's just so frustrating!"

"Why would I dislike you?" Hinata asked, twisting around in her seat to face him properly.

"Why not?" he offered, piercing his azure eyes into her pearly gaze.

Sighing Naruto leaned back in his chair, a humorless laugh escaping his lips. He didn't know why he felt so offended by Hinata probably not liking him. He was used to it. But somehow she was different. The golden haired teen felt like he needed her to like him for some reason.

"I'm not exactly the smartest person," Naruto said, looking down at his own calloused hands, there were times where he had to fight people into acknowledging him, he didn't like having to take that approach.

"I'm loud and nosy and sometimes I tend to rub people the wrong way," he continued, smiling sadly, "It's no secret that I've made a few critics along the way. I just I really don't want you to be one of them."

Clutching his head in his hands Naruto took a deep breath, he wasn't supposed to flip out like that! She probably thought he was an even bigger loser now.

Feeling a light tap the embarrassed teen's head shot up glancing at the hand on his shoulder. Looking up from her dainty fingers Naruto caught Hinata's pointed gaze.

"Naruto," she began, pursing her glossed lips, "I… I don't know where you got that idea from b-but you're wrong!"

"I'm wrong?" he repeated, completely bewildered.

"I don't hate you Naruto," Hinata smiled, "In fact it's sort of the o-opposite..."

"Then why do you avoid me so much?"

At his question her eyes widened, if Naruto could put a name to the expression he would compare it to a deer caught in headlights.

"I…I" she stuttered, choosing to look anywhere but him. Her blush had come back in full force and had now over taken her whole face, resembling a tomato.

Though he didn't exactly know why Hinata was so flustered Naruto couldn't help but think that the expression was quite charming on her face.

"So… you don't hate me?"

"N-never!"

"Then what's with all the secrecy of your destination?" he challenged, narrowing his eyes.

"I told you," Hinata muttered, biting her bottom lip, "It's embarrassing…"

"It can't be that bad!" Naruto countered, startling the girl by grabbing both of her shoulders, "You can tell me anything!"

"You p-promise you won't judge me?"

"I would never judge anyone," Naruto promised his eyes glossing over in conviction, "You can trust me!"

"O-ok…" Hinata smiled.

Realizing he was still gripping onto her shoulders Naruto let go of them swiftly, his hands dropping to his sides. Her shoulders fit so seamlessly into his hands he didn't even notice he still had them in his grasp.

"So ready to tell me?" Naruto awkwardly laughed, absentmindedly scratching his cheek.

"Well," Hinata began, gnawing on her bottom lip once again and drawing Naruto's attention to her lips. They looked really great at the moment, he wondered how they felt.

Shaking his head Naruto tried to center himself, he couldn't let his mind wander towards such vulgar thoughts. His father Minato was right about him spending too much time around his godfather, only Jiraiya would influence his thoughts to become so dirty.

"Please continue!" Naruto quietly pleaded, if he was forced to share such a small space with his classmate any longer he would surely go crazy.

"F-Fine," Hinata relented, "But you have to promise not to laugh at me when we get there."

"I promise." He agreed, putting the car into ignition and moving onto the open road.

"You know that old cake restaurant turned warehouse?" Hinata asked, now fidgeting with the hem of her pink blouse.

"The one we all used to hang out at? Chouza's Cakes?"

"Y-yeah, just bring me there."

Curiously peering over at Hinata, Naruto wondered what on earth she could be doing there with all that milk. The restaurant had belonged to their friend Chouji's father and closed a little over a year ago in favour of them opening a BBQ spot. Soon after their group of friends had all moved on to hanging out at Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto's favourite restaurant.

They drove mostly in silence, Naruto sneaking a peek at his passenger every once in a while. She was dressed sort of cute that day, wearing a pink blouse with bows at either side of her shoulders. The shorts she adorned stopped just above her thighs giving way to long legs, despite her true petite height. Her skin looked like it felt incredibly soft, the ivory colour of it shimmering under the window's light.

Gulping Naruto peeled his surveying eyes away. He was just shamelessly ogling Hinata. Poor sweet innocent Hinata. He really had to stop hanging around Jiraiya, he was practically a pervert now!

Reaching their destination Naruto brought the red car to a stop. The source behind Hinata's strange behaviour was about to be revealed and he was more than excited.

Grinning from ear to ear Naruto quickly made his way out of his car to open Hinata's side of the door, his mother would freak if she found out he neglected to behave like a gentleman.

"My lady." He joked, laughing as he bowed.

Taking Hinata's hands in his he pulled her out of the car to stand in front of him. Her skin felt smoother than he imagined it would, her dainty hand fitting right into his larger one. He didn't know why but a feeling of tranquility washed over him, if he could stand there holding her hand for a while he was sure he would be content.

Glancing down at her much shorter stature Naruto allowed her hands to slip from his hold, instantly missing the warmth of it. Hastily he opened the back door of the car and pulled out the grocery bags, holding them up for Hinata to see.

"Ready?" he asked, staring at her with concern, hopefully she didn't combust into a fumbling mess like he witnessed her do countless times at school.

Staring wistfully at the entrance of the warehouse Hinata fidgeted, "I guess," She sighed.

Naruto watched attentively as Hinata shuffled in front of him, leading the way. Eagerly keeping her step he could feel the anticipation building.

As they got closer Naruto could swear he was hearing the cries of a small animal coming from the warehouse, but that was impossible it was abandoned.

"Well," he thought, glancing over at his nervous classmate, "Not completely."

The closer they got the more prominent the sounds became, enough so that Naruto couldn't deny them anymore. It clearly sounded like an army of meows and they were definitely coming from the warehouse.

Before he could fully ask Hinata if she heard them too she swung open the entrance of the old restaurant, what lied before him almost causing him to drop the bags.

Behind the doors were a plethora of kittens waiting excitedly. At the sight of the two the animals sprang into action purring and rubbing their little heads against both of their legs. Naruto could count at least thirty kittens around them.

"T- That's a lot of cats!" he gawked, amazed at the sheer absurdity of the entire situation.

"Yeah…" Hinata agreed, leaning down to pet the kittens around her.

Suddenly Hinata's large dairy purchase wasn't the strangest thing about his classmate anymore. He had promised her that he wouldn't judge, but he honestly wouldn't have had anything to say regardless.

"Milk huh?" he joked, picking up a small orange kitten by his foot.

He was right, this explanation wasn't believable in the slightest.

Despite Naruto's good-natured tone, Hinata still couldn't quell the apprehensive feeling that resided in the pit of her stomach. Although this time, the nervousness stemmed from something else. Here she was, in a mostly abandoned warehouse with the boy she's been crushing on since elementary school.

How could she not get butterflies in her stomach at the thought of being alone with him?

And it certainly wasn't helping that as she watched Naruto hold the orange in his strong arms, gently scratching behind his ear as his azure eyes looked at the purring cat with such tenderness, she could feel a surge of warmth through her chest. It certainly was hard to keep her eyes off Uzumaki Naruto.

Hinata always thought him to be handsome, with his chiseled jawline, infectious smile, and his unique set of whisker marks that adorned his face. Paired with the carefree, easygoing he possessed, Uzumaki Naruto was someone that Hinata always found herself drawn to.

Lavender eyes lingered on him for a moment longer before the kitten she'd been giving attention to before let out a sort of high-pitched mewl, begging for her attention. The tiniest blush crept on her face when she realized that she'd been staring for way too long as she busied herself with the little brown and white kitten by her feet.

"They um… they go through milk so fast," Hinata spoke quietly as she moved to fill the empty tin bowls she'd purchased some time ago. "This is the second time I've had to do shopping this week."

Naruto gently set the orange kitten in his arms down on the ground and watched it scurry over to one of the bowls that Hinata filled with milk. "So, how long have you been doing this?"

She remembered the first time she passed by the abandoned factory. It was the day she was feeling particularly down about not being able to hold a decent conversation with Naruto, funnily enough. Her voice, drowned out by her peers, wasn't able to reach him, and she couldn't muster up enough courage to tap him on the shoulder and start a conversation.

Hinata had decided to take the long way home to clear her head, and that was when she heard the crying of that same orange kitten that seemed to take quite a liking to Naruto. At first, he was the only kitten there, and Hinata thought she'd be able to feed him that day and take him to a shelter the next.

When she came back for him the next day, there had been four more waiting to be fed. Each day, the quantity of cats kept increasing, and Hinata found herself buying two or three cartons of milk every three or four days.

Although she felt as if she'd been doing this forever, if she considered today's date… "F-for a little over a month, now that I think about it," Hinata said.

"That long!?" Naruto cried. "Why didn't you ask for help? I would've helped out if I'd known that!"

"Um… I didn't think anyone would believe me…" Hinata gave a small sigh before she caught the way that Naruto's eyes had softened at the sight of her. Her hear rate sped up at least two times faster as he moved to crouch next to her. He shook the carton in his hand briefly before opening it, and pored milk into one of the empty cat bowls as more kittens toppled over themselves to eat.

A low, yet comforting chuckle escaped him, and Hinata couldn't help but eye him with curiosity before he turned to face her. The corners of his lips had been pulled into a smile she had yet to see before. It wasn't as wide and bright as his usual ones. No, this one had a calming aura about it.

"I do," he spoke quietly, "and I wouldn't mind coming back here with you to feed the cats."

Her eyes widened in surprise. Naruto wanted to come back here? With her? Shaking off her initial shock, Hinata gave a somber smile. "Y-you don't have to do that… I know you're busy with club activities at school, a-and then you also help out at the grocery store too, so you really don't–"

"But I want to," Naruto said suddenly, startling her quite a bit when he reached for her hand that gently rested on her lap. He did it again. He held her hand again. They were large and callous, a sign of all the hard work he's ever done.

They're as warm as they are comforting, and with the way his blue eyes peered into her opalescent ones, Hinata was sure her heart would burst at any moment.

"Taking care of all these kittens on your own must be tough, right?" He grinned. "It'll be easier to take care of them together. And besides…" Naruto trailed off, sheepishly scratching the side of his cheek with his index finger, "it'll give us the chance to spend more time together."

"T-together?" Hinata questioned, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks.

Suddenly, Naruto quickly retracted his hand from her own, probably realizing how intimate this whole thing was. "Uh, yeah! I mean, only if you want to, of course…" Hinata wasn't really sure if she'd ever seen a pop of color on Naruto's whiskered cheeks before.

It was rather endearing – so much so that she couldn't help the gentle laugh that escaped past her lips. That's when Hinata saw how quickly Naruto's face grew a shade darker, and despite her bout of laughter, she managed to shake her head.

"I… I'm not laughing at you," she giggled. "I've just never seen you so flustered. U-usually, I'm the one who's always so nervous."

"Yeah, why is that?" Naruto asked in all seriousness and Hinata mentally cursed herself for starting up a conversation that they'd left behind in his car. It was when she began to play with the hem of her shirt that Naruto let out a small laugh. "I get it, you don't wanna tell me. I won't make you."

That's not true, Hinata thought to herself. I want to tell you, but I'm such a coward.

"So, do you have names for all these cats?" Naruto asked, taking Hinata's mind off of their previous subject.

Names? "I couldn't possibly name all 30 of them, Naruto," she laughed.

Naruto picked up the same orange cat that found himself sitting right by Naruto's feet when he first walked in. "Well, we can start now. I want to name this little guy Kurama."

"Kurama?" Hinata parroted. "Why's that?"

"Dunno. He just looks like a Kurama, doesn't he?" Naruto beamed as he pushed his face up on the kitten. Although the kitten, excuse her, that would be Kurama now, donned his usual jaded look, he made no fuss to get out of Naruto's hold.

Hinata gave a laugh.

All of a sudden, talking to Naruto just felt natural to her. The nervousness that once plagued her had washed away, and there was a kind of easiness and fluidity to their conversation. Hinata wasn't sure how long they had spent playing with the cat before Naruto cried out, "Crap! I'm late!"

"L-late for what?" Hinata asked frantically.

"I'm on break, but I was supposed to be back 20 minutes ago!" Naruto cried. "Augh, my mom's gonna kill me! She'll think I was just goofing off!"

Hinata bit down on her bottom lip, feeling guilty for all of this. It was her fault that all of this had happened. Of course he was on break, why else would he have gone to the back room? To ask his manager for permission of course.

"What if I explain the situation?" Hinata asked. "You were only doing this out of kindness. A-at least let me tell her that you were only trying to help me."

"You're so nice, Hinata," he laughed. "You don't need to do all that for me. Besides, this is our secret now, isn't it?"

Hinata was sure she'd melt at the wink that accompanied the end of his sentence. Still, he wouldn't shake her resolve with his easygoing smile. "N-no! I don't want you to get in trouble because of me!" she huffed, and Naruto looked at her with just a hint of astonishment, Hinata wondered if she was a little too aggressive.

Then he smiled. "Heh, well alright then."

It wasn't until the two of them entered his car that Naruto had given her this look (of what? She couldn't tell) before he said, "You're so interesting, y'know?"

"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked timidly.

"It's just that, when you get that look of determination on your face, you're like a different person," he said. "And when you're playing with the cats, you look different too. I thought, 'this isn't the Hinata I know' but now that I think about it a little more, maybe I just don't know the real you. I'd like to though."

At that point, Hinata wasn't sure what to say to him. It was as if she was overheating and ready to shut down. And then, for some unearthly reason, the words, "A-aren't you late?" left her lips and Naruto scrambled to put his key into the ignition.

"Ah, you're right! I forgot!" he cried, as he sped off in the direction of the supermarket. They sat in silence for the entire ride, mostly because Hinata was internally berating herself for that silly response to even attempt to hold a conversation with him right now.

As soon as they entered the grocery store, Kushina was just finishing up with her last customer before dark blue eyes landed on Naruto. Hinata watched as they narrowed at him, only to widen when they fell on her. "You brought your friend back?" she asked, a bit surprised.

"U-um, Miss Uzumaki, I'm so sorry for keeping Naruto so long!" she cried, and gave a respectful bow. "He was only trying to help, and everything took way more time than expected, s-so…"

Just then, Kushina's bubbly laughter broke out, startling her and Naruto from what she could tell. "Aww, how can I stay upset when you're just so sweet? Tell me, what took you two so long anyway?"

When the two of them couldn't answer, Naruto's mother let out another bout of laughter. "Hah! I see how it is."

"Wha? Mom, it's not like that!" Naruto cried. Hinata felt as if her soul had just ascended from her body. This was truly embarrassing.

"Now, now Naruto. Relax," Kushina said. "I'm only teasing. You tell your… friend goodbye. It is your turn to handle the register, after all." With that, his mother disappeared into the backroom as Naruto desperately tried to tell his mother about how wrong she was, but to no avail.

He gave a small sigh. "I'm really sorry, Hinata. She's always like this…"

"N-no, no. It's okay, honestly…" she paused momentarily. "Um… you have work now, a-and I should probably head home right now, so…" As she moved to leave, his hand grabbed hers in an attempt to stop her, and it was rather successful.

Slowly, she turned to face him, and as much as she hated it, it was then that he let go of her hand. "I was serious when I said I wanted to know the real you."

Once again, Hinata played with the hem of her shirt. It was somewhat of a nervous tic. "Wh-what… um, how would you do that?"

"Well, I'm free tomorrow. Maybe after we visit the kittens, we could go out somewhere? Just you n' me?" he suggested.

"Y-you mean like a date?" Hinata blurted out before slapping her hands over her mouth. What was wrong with her!? Why would she say something like that to him!? "I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to imply–"

"It's okay! You don't have to apologize for it," Naruto cut in. "I… wouldn't mind calling it that. Unless you do."

Never in a million years would she mind a date with Naruto. With a coy smile, Hinata said, "I don't mind either."

"Perfect!" he grinned. "It's a date then!"

Just hearing Naruto call their outing a date sent a wave of butterflies through her stomach. A date, Hinata thought with a smile. She could hardly wait.