Author's note: So, I know you're all thinking, 'What are you doing? Where are your updates? Why do you hate us?' and the answer is simply writer's block and work (and also, I don't hate you!). I'm having a hard time getting what's in my head for my other stories down on paper and hardly have any time to do it. This story was actually written on a flight for a business trip. AUs are my brain's way of getting itself back in creation mode without interfering with my in universe stories.

I promise I'm working on the other stuff, but I do hope you like this. The idea popped into my head, and I laughed out loud at a couple rough ideas for it so I thought you guys might like to see it. Enjoy!

Stranger Things Have Happened

The first time we met you accidentally saw me in my underwear and then ended up fighting my boyfriend for my honor until someone called the police.

Hinata sat in her apartment, rubbing her bare arms and practicing some of her breathing techniques to calm herself down. She looked down at the dark violet lingerie she was wearing and could feel her face heating up with embarrassment. Her heart began to beat faster and she tried to forget what she was wearing and focus on what she was planning.

She had been dating Toneri for more than a year now, since just after her college graduation, and although they had been intimate in a number of ways, they had never actually had sex. This was mostly because Hinata had always told him she wanted to wait, preferably until they were engaged or married. However, he had become rather distant lately, as well as unusually jealous and irritable. She wasn't sure what was wrong so she had called up her close friends and asked them for advice.

Her sister and best friend both told her to dump him, but they had never liked him in the first place so she sought the advice of one of her old classmates named Ino Yamanaka. She had been in quite a few of the same classes as Hinata and they had worked on multiple projects together. They met each other for meals occasionally and although they weren't as close as Hinata was to her sister and TenTen, she thought advice from an unbiased source might be what she needed in this situation.

Hinata's cheeks had flamed up when Ino started to inquire immediately about her sex life. When she explained to her blonde friend that they had never actually had sex, Ino's eyes widened before she started squealing about how cute Hinata was.

"Men don't just enjoy sex, they also need it sometimes for tension relief. The irritability could be caused by stress and couple that with the fact that he might feel undesirable or like you think the relationship isn't going to last then that could be what's going on," Ino had said. Now that Hinata thought back on it, sex for the sake of relieving his tension, when there were a multitude of other ways to help with that, didn't seem like a smart idea, but she hated to back down from a decision.

Besides, she didn't want Toneri thinking she wasn't serious about him. Just because she wanted to wait until they were engaged or married didn't mean she didn't trust that they were going to last. She just knew that sometimes life didn't happen like you plan and not everything is guaranteed. She did care about him - he was handsome and sweet and he had gone above and beyond to woo her. He was actually the first guy to ever pursue her and he had done it with such fervor that she had been hard pressed not to oblige.

The best part - and she was ashamed to admit this to herself - was that her family (sans little sister) approved of him. Actually, that would be putting it lightly. His family, the Otsusuki, was an old and powerful family in their country and her father and grandparents were practically salivating over being tied to them by marriage. Her father had never been proud of her for anything in her life and she had to admit part of the allure of her relationship was that Hiashi was finally excited about one of her choices. Maybe one day it would help lead him to respect other decisions of hers.

Hinata frowned, as she continued her train of thought. Was this really what she thought of the relationship? No, she did care about Toneri for reasons other than what her family thought of her. He was smart and until recently had been very good to her. If this would help show him that she cared then so be it.

She took another deep breath, thankful that she hadn't agreed to one of the corsets Ino had made her try on. The Hyuga had explained to her friend that she had no idea how to initiate this kind of thing. Just the thought of voicing it out loud to her boyfriend made her lightheaded so she couldn't imagine actually bringing it up to him. Ino had suggested surprising him in some lacy underwear the next time he came over. She assured Hinata that he would be able to take the hint and go from there. All Hinata had to do was get herself to the door in some sexy lingerie.

Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of knocking at the door. She took one last deep breath before running her fingers through her hair and walking towards the entrance to her apartment, stopping only briefly to check her makeup in the mirror.

She could do this.

Naruto Uzumaki knocked a second time on the apartment door, hoping this was the right place and that the cashier hadn't taken the number down wrong. The girl was brand new and had been absurdly nervous for her first day of the job. So, when she'd come to him as he sat in one of the booths working on on the restaurant's P&L and proudly told him she'd taken her first delivery order, he hadn't had the heart to make her call the customer back and tell them they didn't deliver.

Instead, he'd left the shift lead in charge of the store and set out to hand deliver the food himself. Moegi had been mortified of her misunderstanding at first, but relaxed a little when she saw the boss himself willing to take it. Konohamaru, her friend who had gotten her the job at the noodle store, had patted her on the back and assured her that Naruto wasn't the kind of guy who got mad over little things.

Quite frankly, Naruto was actually glad to get away from the store for a minute. Numbers and spreadsheets always made him a bit stir crazy so he would take any excuse he could to get some air. He grumbled under his breath a bit at how old man Ichiraku never warned him about all the paperwork that came with owning a restaurant, but all grumbling - and thoughts - completely left his mind at the vision that appeared when the door in front of him opened.

A young woman with long indigo hair and the most unique eyes he had ever seen stood in the doorway. She was stunning on her own, but the fact that she wore a set of lace lingerie - a deep violet that contrasted beautifully with her ivory skin - rendered him completely speechless.

"I, uh, I just, uh - food?" he said, wincing internally at how stupid he must sound. The young woman stared at him for a second, eyes widening in what seemed like terror before she turned red and fainted.

"Oh shit!" he said, dropping the food on the ground in an attempt to catch her before she hurt herself.

"Miss, Miss, please wake up," he said, frantically trying to shake her out of her fainting spell. When she didn't make so much as a noise he made the decision to at least carry her to her couch or something. If someone walked by and saw him with a half naked unconscious woman, he didn't even want to begin to try to explain it.

Picking her up and trying his hardest to ignore the way her mostly naked body felt against his, Naruto made his way inside the apartment. He looked around for a couch or chair, anything to set her down as quickly as possible since she'd started nuzzling into him a bit and it was getting really hard not to let his thoughts go to a bad place. He was relieved to find a pale blue sofa was just around the corner of the entryway.

Laying the young woman down carefully, he couldn't stop himself from admiring her for a moment - just a short moment - before turning to grab the food. If it hadn't spilled when he had dropped it to catch her, then he'd just leave it on the coffee table. It wasn't exactly his fault she answered the door like that, but if she was traumatized enough to faint then the least he could do was give her a free lunch.

He grabbed the bag at the door, checking inside it to make sure everything looked okay, and walked back to set it on the coffee table. He glanced once more at the mystery woman and noticed her head was starting to fall off the edge of the sofa. He fought with himself for a moment, not sure what would be appropriate before placing one of the throw pillows beneath her head and moving her upper body back a bit so she wouldn't be at risk of falling again. He stepped back to admire his handiwork before immediately averting his gaze as it drifted to her rather generous bosom rising and falling with each breath.

"Not a pervert, not a pervert," he chanted in his mind before turning around and running straight into another man around his age, with white hair and light eyes that were narrowed in anger.

Naruto realized this was probably the young woman's boyfriend, and likely the intended audience of her lingerie greeting. He ignored the small pang of disappointment in lieu of focusing on the understandably upset man in front of him.

"What the hell is this?!" the white haired man growled.

The blond raised his hands in front of him, showing he meant no harm. "I realize how this looks, but it's not what you're thinking."

"Don't try to cover it up now that you're caught, asshole!"

Not appreciating the guy's tone when he was trying to be nice, Naruto took a deep breath and tried again. "I know it looks bad, but there is a reasonable explanation for this."

"Bullshit. Do you think I'm stupid? It's obvious what was going on!"

"Apparently not that obvious since you have it all wrong," Naruto bit out, starting to get frustrated.

"How dare you take that tone with me. Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah, a guy who's hard of hearing!"

Stirred by the sound of yelling, Hinata sat up and blinked, trying to regain her bearings. She remembered walking to the door, but once she opened it… oh. Her cheeks burned again, but as her senses returned she realized she was not alone and that her boyfriend and the guy who had been at her door were standing in her living room arguing. Wondering for a moment why the tall blond was still there, she decided it would probably be best to find out later since the men in front of her looked ready to come to blows.

"I swear, she just opened the door like that and passed out! I didn't want to leave her in the doorway like that so I brought her in here."

Hinata squeaked at the embarrassing idea of having been left in her doorway dressed like this for all passing neighbors to see. Now that she realized why he was still here she was thankful.

Unfortunately for her, the squeak brought the attention of her wrathful boyfriend who confronted her immediately, "What the hell? You won't fuck me but you'll fuck some random delivery guy?!"

Her eyes widened at the foul language and vulgar implications.

"N-no! I wouldn't cheat on you! He's telling the truth!"

"You can't honestly expect me to believe that. I put up with your prudishness thinking eventually you'd get over it, but I come over to find you in that with some random guy in the apartment? I didn't realize you were such a whore," he said with a sneer.

Her eyes started to water, never having seen this side of Toneri before. Sure he'd been frustrated at times when she'd stopped some of their more heated embraces, but he'd never been so degrading.

"Th-that's not fair," she said, choking up a bit. She couldn't believe he would think those things about her. She opened her mouth to try to explain that she had been dressed like this to surprise him, but was interrupted.

"To think I waited patiently, getting what I needed elsewhere until you were ready to give it up. What a disappointment," he said harshly.

At the revelation that he had been cheating, her hand flew to her mouth and a sob racked her body. Was that why he'd been acting that way lately?

Obviously enjoying the devastating effect his words were having and feeling somewhat vindicated for being made a fool of, he opened his mouth to say more before he was struck hard across the jaw.

The hit blindsided both Hinata and Toneri, who had forgotten the blond stranger's presence for a moment.

Toneri rubbed his jaw, pissed that the guy had taken a shot at him

"Hitting someone who isn't paying attention is a cowardly move!" the white haired man yelled before lunging at the offender.

"Not as cowardly as making her cry!" Naruto yelled back, grappling with the surprisingly strong other male.

"Says the man who fucked her!" Toneri growled while throwing a punch at the infuriating stranger.

"That didn't happen!" Naruto replied, dodging the other male's wide swing. "Even if I was that kind of guy - which I'm not - she would definitely never cheat on you!"

"You don't even know her!"

"Oh so first I slept with her and now I don't know her? I don't have to know her to know she was telling the truth when she said she wouldn't cheat! You're obviously the one who doesn't know her."

Hinata's mouth dropped open and she stared at the strange man who was so confidently standing up for her when they hadn't even met before.

Suddenly Toneri gained some extra leverage and toppled the two over, Naruto's head barely missing the edge of the coffee table.

Naruto quickly flipped them over and put Toneri in a head lock, dragging him to the entryway.

"What are you doing?" Toneri gasped out, finding it difficult to breathe while being dragged by the neck and collar.

"Taking this outside so I don't break her stuff when I kick your ass," Naruto replied.

Her eyes widened and she couldn't stop the blush that came to her cheeks at his odd consideration. She was feeling a little confused, but snapped out of it at a pained curse outside her door. It was definitely the stranger's voice rather than her boyfriend's… or ex boyfriend's?

Hinata ran to the door and saw Naruto had a large red mark and slight cut on his cheek. The men were still engaged in a heated fight and while Toneri was skilled, the stranger seemed to be fueled by righteous anger and he kept beating him back. She wasn't a stranger to fighting, but there was no safe way to break them up without getting in the way or getting hurt.

Hinata noticed a couple people stick their heads out of their doors, wondering at the commotion in the hall. Before things could get any more out of hand she decided she had to put a stop to things. Luckily, before she could get herself hurt, the elevator dinged and two police officers stepped out of the opened doors.

They quickly restrained the two men and for a moment everything was quiet. Hinata found herself looking at the blond now sitting on the floor and breathing heavily. He was pretty beat up and she found herself both amazed and embarrassed that he would have gone so far for her.

She glanced at Toneri who was still having to be restrained as he ranted and raved on the ground. His jaw and nose were swollen and turning a sickly purple.

"Ha! You're screwed now!" he said almost deliriously, "My family practically owns the police!"

Hinata gasped at the reminder that his family was indeed quite powerful and suddenly worried for her blond knight - because honestly that was basically what he was at this point.

The blond, however, just threw his head back and laughed heartily.

"Your family owns the police? I'll be sure to tell my father that," said the dark haired man sitting on top of her (definitely ex) boyfriend. As she looked closer she saw the man had the Uchiha crest on his sleeve, meaning he was a member of the family who had established the police force in Konoha. From his words she gathered his dad was likely either chief of police or something high up.

"Can you believe this guy, Sasuke?" the blond asked somewhat gleefully and Hinata realized he knew the officer who was still restraining Toneri. No wonder he seemed unbothered by the police presence.

It also confirmed that this was Sasuke Uchiha, son of the commissioner Fugaku Uchiha, meaning Toneri probably couldn't play the family card.

"What are you doing, that man attacked me!" the Otsusuki yelled, starting to panic as he realized he might actually get taken to jail.

"Did you attack him, Naruto?" asked the other officer, who had longer black hair that was pulled up in a spiky ponytail on top of his head.

When Naruto appeared to pause and think for a moment, the other officer sighed and mumbled under his breath.

"See? This is assault!" Toneri yelled, annoyed that Officer Sasuke seemed to have made himself comfortable sitting on his back.

"I just swatted at a bug that happened to be near his face."

The dark haired officers looked at Naruto incredulously as he rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. He'd definitely have to do better than that to get away with attacking an Otsusuki.

"He was defending me," Hinata piped up.

The policemen looked over at her in surprise and looked back at the man - whose name she now knew was Naruto - for confirmation. He looked at her carefully.

"Is that true?" the man with the ponytail asked.

Naruto thought for a moment before realizing that yes, technically he was defending her. They just didn't have to go into detail.

"Yup! That's exactly what happened, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru looked back at Hinata shrewdly, as if he knew what she was trying to do. "Miss, did you feel threatened by this man?" he gestured towards Toneri.

She bit her lip and nodded, setting off the white haired male who screamed, "You bitch! You fucking bitch! Just wait, I will get you for this!"

Hinata tried not to be relieved that his outburst was giving validity to their story. Toneri had attacked her, even if it had been with words rather than his fists, and she could honestly say that she had been scared of him before Naruto had punched him.

Besides, her cousin was the best up and coming lawyer in Konoha. She was confident she could help Naruto if he ended up needing it.

She looked across the hall, lavender eyes meeting a bright blue and found she couldn't look away.

Noticing the changing atmosphere, Sasuke and Shikamaru stood up, keeping Toneri's hands behind his back and leading him to the elevator after getting her number in case they needed more of a statement later.

Soon they were alone and she saw Naruto wince as he tried to stand up. She noticed his hand was scuffed and realized she had just been standing there while the man who had defended her so valiantly was just sitting on the floor hurt.

"Oh goodness, you're hurt! I'm so sorry, please let me help you!"

She ran over and crouched down, holding out her hand in an offer to help him up.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment before he took it and pulled himself up.

"Heh, thanks," he said, rubbing the back of his head again in what she guessed was a nervous habit.

"Please come in. I have some ice and ointment."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Naruto said.

"Nonsense! You can't possibly think I'd let you leave like that? I'm going to fix you up," she said stubbornly.

"Okay, okay," he said, kind of intrigued by this new side of her. "But, uh, and you don't have to or anything, but you might want to put something more on?" Naruto suggested as she entered the threshold to her apartment.

She stopped suddenly, having completely forgotten she was still in the underwear. She let out a mortified squeak and slammed the door out of reflex, unfortunately hitting Naruto's already bruised nose in the process. At his pained yell she reopened the door and apologized profusely.

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine," he said, holding his nose with his hand and squinting in pain.

Hinata grabbed his unoccupied hand and pulled him into her living area. She sat him down on the couch, telling him to wait for a second before she came back clad in a giant fluffy purple bathrobe with a small basket of what looked like first aid supplies.

She set the basket down and disappeared for a minute before returning with a bag of ice and a bowl of warm water.

She took his hand and began rinsing it, before applying some ointment. As she gently tended to his hands, Naruto took the opportunity to look around her apartment. He noticed some pictures on the wall of what appeared to be various family and friends. He saw a small shelf of movies next to her tv and although he couldn't make out all of the titles, he recognized a couple of his favorites. His gaze shifted to the side table at the end of the couch where he saw some yarn and what he thought might be knitting needles.

"Woah, do you live with your grandmother?" he asked.

Startled by the sudden question, Hinata looked at him with brows furrowed and shook her head.

"No, why do you say that?"

"Oh, I just saw that stuff down there for knitting and thought it might be your grandma's."

"No, those a-are mine. I like to knit."

"Really? That's weird," he said offhandedly, immediately regretting it when he noticed her downcast expression.

"Not bad weird! Cool weird. I've never met anyone our age who does something like that."

She chanced a glance at him and found his bright, reassuring smile to be contagious. His expression told her he was telling her the truth.

Hinata smiled softly and replied, "Thank you. I started when I was a girl. I wanted to make my family their gifts for Christmas instead of buying them with my father's money. But when they opened their gifts my father asked why I would have made something so cheap when we could afford the finest silks."

"What an asshole," Naruto said.

The blunt statement caught her off guard and she looked up from wrapping his hand, eyes wide with surprise.

"Uh, sorry, he just sounded like an asshole. If someone goes to the trouble of making you something you should be touched they spent all that time and effort on you. It's awesome that you wanted to do that. Not many people think that way."

Hinata blushed at the praise and nodded, "He can be a little harsh at times. We just don't tend to agree on much. Actually, he's only ever liked one of my decisions. But I guess that's over now..."

"You're not telling me he actually liked your asshole boyfriend?!" When Hinata nodded he said, "Well that's it. Your dad obviously has all the wrong opinions. So if he doesn't like something you do then now you know it's probably an awesome thing to do."

She giggled at his conclusion and he smiled, excited he could make her happy after the crazy ordeal she'd just gone through.

She let go of his other hand and scooted a little closer, bringing the warm towel up to his face to begin cleaning it up. She tried not to feel flustered at the proximity, not realizing he was feeling the same way. There was a strange kind of tension between them.

Naruto swallowed thickly as she tilted his head toward her and started applying some ointment to his cheek. He could feel her breath ghost along his skin and it made him shudder.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that sting?" She asked, completely unaware of what she was doing to him.

"Uh, no! I'm fine, just one of those random shivers," he said, his voice breaking awkwardly at the beginning and he prayed she believed him. When she just continued her treatment he sighed in relief.

She moved his head again to work on his other cheek and they were now face to face, his nose only inches from her own. He noticed her dark lashes and the pink tinge deepening in her cheeks. His eyes slid down to her mouth, pursed slightly in concentration. He looked off to the side for a moment, but couldn't keep his eyes from wandering back to her mouth. When her tongue darted out to lick her lips he couldn't help himself. He leaned in and touched her lips with his own.

It only lasted a few seconds before he realized what he was doing. Naruto jumped back, putting a foot or two of space between them. Her eyes and mouth were open and she was staring at him.

"Shit, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. That was so inappropriate. It's just you were - and I - shit I really can't excuse it. Please don't hate me."

Hinata didn't say anything for a moment and Naruto put his head in his hands, thinking he'd really screwed up. How could he kiss her after everything that had just happened? He'd just beat the crap out of her boyfriend and they hadn't even technically broken up. It was safe to say she wouldn't stay with him, but still, he shouldn't have done that.

"I don't hate you. I don't think I could ever hate you," she said softly, causing him to look up at her in surprise.

"Really?"

She nodded. "You saved me today."

"Eh, if I hadn't been here then none of that would have even happened."

"Maybe," she acquiesced, "but if this was how he truly was then something would have happened eventually. Actually, I'm kind of glad it did before things went any further between us. Especially since he's been cheating on me."

Her lip trembled and a few tears slipped down her cheek.

"Hey there," Naruto said, scooting closer once more and putting his arm around her before patting her awkwardly. "It'll be okay. If he was too blind to see what a catch you are then he didn't deserve you in the first place."

Hinata shook her head, "How can you say that? You don't even know me."

"Well I know you're kind. You brought me in here to fix me up after I beat up your boyfriend. And I know you're understanding because you didn't kick me out or scream at me after I kissed you. And I know you're thoughtful because you learned how to knit just to make thoughtful gifts for your family. And I know you're gorgeous because, well, I have seen quite a bit of you. And even if I hadn't, you're stunning. You're even adorable in that giant robe."

She peered up at him, surprised he sounded so serious about it all. She had been an early bloomer and when the girls started calling her fat she'd begun wearing oversized clothing to hide her body. People had also thought she was stupid when she was younger because she stuttered and was often too anxious to speak out loud in class to answer questions. Toneri had been her first boyfriend and considering how it had ended, he obviously hadn't thought very highly of her either.

"Y-you really think all of that?"

"Yeah! Of course! Any guy would be lucky to have you!"

Hinata blushed again, wiping her eyes and smiling a bit.

"Thank you. I, um, I think you're pretty nice too."

Naruto's heart started beating quickly and he felt torn. Part of him wanted to take this opportunity to ask her on a date. The other part, however, knew that she'd been through a lot this afternoon and now didn't seem like the best time to ask her out. In the end, he decided he would wait.

They settled into a comfortable silence as she finished tending to his wounds and when she was finished, he realized he hardly felt sore at all.

"Wow, thank you, uh, oh shit, I don't even know your name." He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed that he hadn't realized that until now.

"Hinata," she said kindly, not seeming to mind that he hadn't asked until now.

"I'm Naruto," he said, wanting to return the favor.

"I know, the officers said it earlier."

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that. Those guys are actually close friends of mine, by the way. I don't want you thinking I'm in fights often enough for the cops to know me by name or anything."

"Suuure," she said with a wink, feeling uncharacteristically teasing. She giggled at his shocked face and stood up, walking him to the door.

He started to open it, but thought better of it and turned to face her.

"Hey, uh, you should stop by my restaurant sometime. Get a free meal to replace that old one. It's definitely not good anymore."

Hinata tilted her head in confusion, before she remembered the brown bag on her coffee table and the fact that Toneri had called him a delivery guy.

"Oh no! Won't you get in trouble for being gone so long? Do you need me to call and talk to the manager? I don't want you to lose your job because of all this!"

Naruto chuckled and smiled reassuringly, "Nah, they can't exactly fire the owner now can they? I'm sure they wish they could sometimes. They'll definitely have something to say when they see my face."

"Owner?"

"Yeah! I own Ichiraku Ramen. I was a regular customer growing up and I went to college for business so when I graduated and the old man who ran the place was looking to retire and close the shop, I offered to buy it from him. It's been a bit of a learning curve sometimes, but I've enjoyed it."

"Why were you taking a delivery if you own the restaurant?"

"Heh, well we don't actually do delivery, but there was a new girl manning the front counter and she didn't know so I decided to bring it to you myself."

"But I didn't order anything."

Blue eyes widened for a moment before he threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh.

"So, so you're telling me after all this that you weren't even the one who ordered the food?"

Hinata nodded and giggled again, realizing the absurdity of it all.

"I brought you food that you didn't order, from my restaurant that doesn't deliver, and somehow ended up brawling until the police came."

They both laughed a little harder at that. Once they'd calmed down they looked at each other with smiles on their faces.

"I'm, uh, sorry again for kissing you."

Hinata bit her lip and blushed.

"It's okay. I d-didn't mind."

"Would... it be terrible if I said I wanted to do it again?"

Lavender eyes widened at his candid confession.

"N-not terrible, no," she said shyly, averting her eyes in embarrassment. She noticed him step a little closer and suddenly panicked.

"No!" she exclaimed, immediately feeling bad at the reproachful look that crossed Naruto's face.

"I just mean, not right now. Not after today. I think it would be nice, maybe after we got to know each other a little more?"

The blond nodded, feeling a little ashamed that he'd misinterpreted her earlier statement, but hopeful that she'd give him an actual chance. He pulled out his phone and handed it to her, telling her to program her number in since she obviously wasn't carrying her phone on her.

"Can I call you later?" He asked, when she handed the device back to him. She just nodded shyly.

He smiled widely, his eyes crinkling at the corners, and she suddenly found she much preferred his vivid blue to Toneri's cold gray.

They exchanged goodbyes and she let him out the door, smiling to herself as she heard his excited yell in the hallway. His good mood was contagious and she found herself feeling a little giddy as well.

It may have been a crazy day, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wonderful was going to come out of it. And besides, stranger things have happened.

There you have it! Please let me know what you think. Reviews are like fuel to the creative fire :-)