"I just ate lunch a while ago… but I'm hungry again, datte bayo! Jeez, what's with my stomach?"

A certain blonde-haired ninja decided to stroll around Konoha and eat something before he starts training again. He left Sakura and Sai in the training field because of this little problem. Maybe the kyuubi inside him keeps on using all the food he eats instead of letting the nourishment circulate around his body. Damn… that annoying red-chakra fox…

"Ah… that girl… Sakura-san would probably be so pissed about this… It's the third time I'm going to eat ramen, and to think; an hour ago was lunch time!"

His hungry eyes glanced around.

"Clothes shop… vegetable market… Aha! Found it, datte bayo!"

Naruto ran to his favourite shop, and hurriedly sat on his favourite chair. The owner of the Ichiraku heard him, and he faced the eager boy seated on the stool. "Hey, Naruto, it's you again!" he chirped to the young lad. After a few moments, a confused look replaced the happy face. "Weird… it seems like the second déjà vu that happened today…"

The teen merely laughed at the old man's comment. "Blame my stomach, datte bayo!"

He stopped chuckling, and proceeded to making an order.

"I'll have one bowl of your special ramen please!"

"This is such a bad idea…"

The Hyuuga slowly put one foot in front of the other, not wanting to walk any further. But as every second passed, she got a bit closer to Ichiraku ramen. She swallowed hard every now and then, and it can be noticed that she has become paler than before, for her skin when from very pale to almost white.

"M-Maybe I can postpone this… I'll just tell the kids that I've acquired a sudden fever, and need to be treated quickly or else my condition will worsen -"

"OI, HINATA!"

"Eeep!"

She looked up, squinted, and saw him. He was smiling that killer smile of his, the one that always made her faint (thus, called killer smile). She stopped completely, and she almost dropped her gift due to her slight shivering.

Naruto squinted at the girl. "Oi, Hinata, is that you, datte bayo? You're so far, I can't see if it's really you!"

Hinata blushed harder, making her look like a tomato. From far away, Kisame and the others can see her critical situation.

"Hurry up! Tell her something that would make her snap out of her trance!"

"She's about to faint, hmm! Do something Sharky!"

Kisame gave them a frustrated look, and then he used the microphone. "Hey, Hinata-nee! Wake up! Come on, walk to him, you're not even close to that guy!"

*Pssssshht! Hey, Hinata-nee! Wake up! Come on, walk to him, you're not even close to that guy! Pssssshht!*

The crackling sound made her jump a little, and she was instantly dragged back to reality.

She made a quick blush. "Sorry, Sameki-kun… I just, you know… I-I wasn't… um –"

*Pssssshht! That's okay Hinata-nee! Just relax, take a deep breath, and slowly approach him. Pssssshht!*

"But… B-b-but…"

*Pssssshht! No buts Hinata-nee! Come on, do this for us, pleeeeeeaaaaaase! Pssssshht!*

The girl could easily imagine her student's face as he talked on the microphone. He's probably smiling that big grin, showing almost all of his sharp shark teeth.

She didn't want to see that adorable smile disappear.

"Okay… I-I'll do it… but… sigh."

Her pale violet orbs detached from her surroundings and focused to the Naruto, waving crazily at her from the stall. "HINATA! Come here, datte bayo!"

"Be brave, Hinata. You can do this! Do this for the kids!"

"Huff… H-Hi Naruto-kun…"

She slowly looked up to his face, starting with that killer smile…

then to his beautifully shaped nose…

then to his magical blue eyes…

up to his shiny blonde hair…

Oh gosh.

Naruto stared at the lady with a red face. "Oi Hinata, are you *sluuuurp* alright? Did someone *sluuuuuurp* paint your face red, cause it looks like *sluuuuurp* someone did so, datte bayo!"

"N-No! No one did… uhm… N-Naruto-kun… I just w-want to say something to y-you…"

The blonde boy stopped slurping his ramen, and looked at Hinata curiously. With noodles in his mouth, he asked the girl, "Weoll, whot ishhh iht shu wont tcho shay? (Well, what is it you want to say?)"

Her index fingers fiddled with each other. "A-ano… I… I… I'm…"

She gets redder by the minute. Her hands slowly reached down to her pocket, where she kept her little pink box.

"I… I… I…- "

"Ah! You're hungry aren't you? Ne, uncle!"

The old man from the stall smiled to Naruto. "Is there something I can do for you, Naruto?"

"Can I get another bowl of ramen for her? She's as hungry as I am, datte bayo!"

Hinata's heart fell.

"That w-wasn't what I was trying to tell you, N-Naruto-kun…", she mumbled softly.

*Pssssssht! Hinata-nee, go on; tell him that you have something to give to him! Don't think of what negative things would happen next, just think about him accepting your love! Psssssht*

She blushed again.

"Nanruto-kun… I-I'm not hungry, I-I just wanted t-to tell you that… I… I…"

*Psssssht! Hinata, this is Satachi. Remember what I said to you earlier? Say it to him! I'll help you. I'll dictate what I said and you slowly tell him, okay? Psssssht!

She turned a lot redder… but even though it's a bit embarrassing, she agreed to what Satachi said.

"Okay S-Satachi… *breathe in, breathe out* I'll do it", she said softly through her almost unseen microphone.

Itachi, on the other end of the line, smiled inwardly. He put on his squeaky, happy voice. "Okay neesan, here I go!"

"This is it, Hinata", thought Itachi.

"Hey Hinata! You're spacing out again, datte bayo! Uncle has already given you your soup… and it's slowly getting cold!" Naruto whined. "Well, I don't know… but if you're not going to eat that, then I'll happily gobble it down for you – "

"I love you."

Naruto stopped talking, and looked at Hinata's now calm, yet slightly reddish face.

*I love every little thing about you*

"I love every little thing about you…"

*I love your cute smile, your magical eyes, and the sound of your voice.*

"I love your cute smile, your magical eyes, and the sound of your voice…"

*I love your gentle touch, and I love the warmth I feel when I'm by your side.*

"I love your gentle touch, and I love the warmth I feel when I'm by your side…"

And she went on, slowly losing her fear, slowly gaining confidence and slowly making her uneasy heart feel lighter.

The boy, on the other hand, stared at her with a shocked, yet slightly blushing face.

"…I love each and every moment I share with you."

She reached into her pocket, and with shivering arms, gave her gift to Naruto.

"N-N-Naruto-kun! This is for you!"

The pink box was now in front of the blonde boy. He didn't accept it, he just stared at the gift.

Hinata felt a bit depressed.

"W-Well if y-you don't accept i-it… It's okay…"

The blonde boy looked into her eyes, and smiled. "Whoa, Hinata… I never knew that you'd actually make it!"

"Huh?"

Naruto (or is it?) reached into his pocket to get a money bag.

With a smiley face stitched to it.

"N-Naruto-kun's wallet is… supposed to be frog shaped… then that means…!"

"I know what you're thinking."

Hinata cut her thoughts and looked at curiously at the person beside her.

"You're probably thinking about the wallet aren't you? Well… it's not froggy shaped cause…"

"He's not Naruto"

"I'm not Naruto"

Silence filled the air.

"I'm sorry… I know that you're probably annoyed or sad about this… it's just that well… my friends and I were a bit scared that you might not be able to make it, considering what happened earlier…"

Hinata blushed again as she remembered the event.

"It's just that we didn't want you to end up heartbroken or what…"

Hinata smiled at the boy. "It's okay… In fact, I regret nothing at all… You've helped me a lot, and I even feel embarrassed about giving so much trouble to you guys…"

*Pssssssht! You never did give us trouble Hinata-nee! In fact, we had lots of fun helping you out, hmm! Pssssssht!*

The Hyuuga girl chuckled heartily. "Really? I always thought that I was a bother to you guys."

Kakuzu, currently in a henge of Naruto, shook his head. "You were never a bother to us. And you know what? I actually never expected you to… you know, do the confession so quickly. I always thought that you were going to faint again. But turns out that our little 'training' paid off. I'm pretty proud of what you did earlier, and I think that you're ready for the real thing."

Hinata blushed again (50th time?). "Th-thank you… Thank you all for helping me with my little problems… I never knew that a group of kids would actually do a lot for me, especially with my love problems… I think I could confess to him already without fainting, because you've given me the inspiration to express my feelings to him… I'm so happy that I met you all!

Kakuzu gave her a genuine smile (he didn't know that he was doing so). "We're happy too that we met you, Hinata-nee – "

"HINATA!"

Both ninjas seated on the Ichiraku stools turned towards the source of the voice.

And they saw a certain pink-haired kunoichi.

She quickly walked towards them, and placed one of her feet on a stool. "Hey, how're my b******? Bet you a**** did the kissy thing, no? So, are you f****** ready for some hot f****** on bed?"

Hinata stared wide eyed at her. The colour red crept up to her pale face. "S-S-S-S-Sakura-san!"

Then she fainted.

Sakura just laughed. "Haha! Bet the f***** isn't ready for the ride, right ugly b****?"

A dark aura surrounded the blonde nin.

"Come here, Hideki… I've got something to give you…"

Hidan smiled evilly, and shouted, "Come at me bro!"

Then the two ran away towards the training grounds. Kind of awkward though, seeing an angry Naruto chase a smiling Sakura. And don't worry; Kakuzu was really strong this time, for he actually paid the two bowls of ramen. It took a lot of determination for him to do so, though.

See? Even evil ninjas can change.

"Hinata-nee? Hinata-nee?"

"Wakey wakey, weird eyed-girl!"

Sasori slapped her softly. "Looks like she's out cold. May she rest in peace – "

SLAP!

Konan slapped him with force. "Don't say stuff like that!"

"Hmm…"

Deidara smiled. "Hey! It looks like she's waking up, yeah!"

Hinata slowly stood up, and looked at her surroundings. "W-Where am I?"

The kids all smiled at her. "You're here near the Ichiraku stall."

She looked at the faces of the little kids. "Thank you again for everything…"

"You're welcome!" chirped Nagato.

Satachi came close to Hinata, and sat beside her. "So… when will you give him the gift?"

Hinata looked at him. "Maybe when the right time comes, Satachi-kun…"

Oh yeah! I'm finally moving on! YEAH! I assure you people that although it took a damn long time for me to update this thing, it's still not dead! YEAH I'm alive and back from the dead, baby!

YEAH!

Oh, and please comment. I want to know your reactions to the chapter :)

Love, Dr Maggie