Author's note: Sorry about the delay everyone, not that I have an actual posting schedule, but it has been longer than I intended, mainly because I spent a few weeks feeling extremely demotivated waiting for and worrying over the results of my exams and the possibility of failing my first semester, then I finally got the results and it turned out I'd passed everything with top grades, which made me super excited for all of 24 hours and then I promptly got sick and slept through the next 3 days. Woo...

Anyways, I can't tell you all how much I appreciate all of you for following and for sending me such nice reviews and messages and for all the love! It really brightens my day to have such amazing fans! Thank you all for sticking with me!

...

The Youthful Heart

...

The most youthful of shinobis, with the bushiest brows and the tightest spandex, ran on his hands around the village of Konoha, in search of a certain pale-eyed individual.
By now, most villagers had become used to the sight and sound of green clad men with bowl cuts running around the village in the strangest of ways, chanting encouragements about youth and power. This, however, didn't stop more than a handful of people from startling and turning to stare, when the young shinobi made a sudden and loud exclamation of "AH! HINATA-SAN!"

After many years of conversations with the older man in this exact position and at this volume, the pale-eyed woman didn't so much as flinch or raise a brow at the man in front of her, like so many around her had done, instead she simply smiled and greeted him warmly, "Hello Lee-san".

"Hinata-san! I have realised something!" Lee told her, quickly jumping back onto his feet and looking at her seriously.

"O-oh? What did you realise?" Hinata asked curiously, tilting her head at him.

"You know Team Gai has been one member short for a while yes? For some reason, every candidate has been removed after barely a week - hardly youthful at all! - and we are left where we started-"

Hinata cringed inwardly, knowing exactly what had happened to make those candidates practically run away as soon as they heard they were assigned to Team Gai - Maito Gai's and Rock Lee's reputations left most people as scared as they left them awed - but she couldn't bring herself to tell the poor man in front of her, and so she merely nodded sympathetically.

"BUT!"

This time Hinata did startle slightly at the outburst, but Lee paid it no mind.

"I have realised that to make our team truly spurting with youth again, we need Neji to re-join our team!"

The woman frowned worriedly, about to say something when the thick-browed man suddenly took a deep breath and leaned in so close she had trouble focusing, "Hinata-san! I have realised that you and Neji are very similar in many ways!"

"W-well I suppose that is true" the woman agreed, smiling gently.

Lee nodded enthusiastically, "And that is why you must take Neji's place on Team Gai!"

"Lee-san, you know I already have a team" she said apologetically, "I can't join Team Gai"

"But you are the perfect candidate! With you, it would be just as if Neji was still with us I'm sure!" the man exclaimed, full of excited energy "Tenten and I already know you and the way you fight, we have trained many years with Neji and are therefore perfectly capable of fighting-formations which fits the Hyuuga's fighting techniques! And most importantly – you look very similar to Neji!"

Lee paused, taking in the mildly stunned woman in front of him and tilted his head thoughtfully. "Well, you look very similar in almost every area except of course this one" he said, waving his hands in front of Hinata's ample chest, "In this competition, Neji would surely suffer the greatest defeat of his life!"*

"L-Lee-san!" the pale woman's eyes were wide in shock, cheeks bright with colour and her arms automatically wrapped around herself in an attempt to hide her chest.

"GEEJIIMAAAYYYUU!"

The sudden and loud yell caused both shinobis to turn in time to see a blur of orange running towards them, before it set off from the ground and flew through the air.

"SHE'S GOT A BOYFRIIIIEEEND!" Naruto yelled before his foot made perfect contact with Lee's jaw, sending him flying backwards, shouting something about 'the power of youthful love' as he went.

...

Standing in front of Hinata, whose cheeks were still flushed and eyes turned downward away from his own, Naruto suddenly felt slightly embarrassed at his rushed reaction, "Ahhahehe, uhm... a-are you alright, Hinata?"

The dark-haired woman nodded, and after a moment she glanced up at him, "N-Naruto-kun, y-you said boyfriend"

"Yeah, well since Kiba and Shino are always saying that, I thought I should do it too-ttebayo" the blond explained, rubbing at the back of his neck, grinning nervously.

"O-oh, of course" the Hyuuga nodded, looking down again. She couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed, but at the same time, it was rather nice to know that Naruto felt a sense of the same protectiveness towards her as her teammates did, even if it wasn't always necessary.

"And well, you know, I thought it would be okay for me to say it too, because I am your boyfriend right?" Naruto continued.

Hinata's eyes flew back to Naruto, flush reappearing on her cheeks at those words, but before she had a chance to react more than that, the Uzumaki had started to ramble nervously, a mass of words flowing from his lips in quick waves.

"I mean, I guess we never really actually talked about it and I just assumed that you were my girlfriend, which I probably shouldn't have, I mean, I did spend years with Ero-Sennin, so I really should have learned something right? Hahhaa.."

"Naruto-kun?"

"I didn't even ask if you wanted to be my girlfriend or if I could be your boyfriend-ttebayo! Aah my mum is gonna haunt me for this!"

"Naruto-kun!"

"I should've probably asked-no I should definitely have asked-why didn't I ask-ttebayo?"

"Naruto!"

"Eh?" the sound of Hinata's voice saying his name like that, without any form of honorifics, which was so unlike her, left his mind blank and his cheeks warming. He looked down at the gentle woman in front of him, eyes full of wonder.

"You were rambling," Hinata said softly, smiling as she reached a hand up to brush against his warm cheek.

"Heh, sorry" Naruto sighed happily, lifting his own hand to cover hers and keep it in place.

The ebony-haired woman worried her bottom lip for a moment, looking thoughtful and just a bit nervous, before she took a calming breath and looked at the blond confidently, "N-Naruto-kun?"

"Mh?" the man hummed distractedly, eyes locked on her lips.

"W-will you be my boyfriend?" she asked, bottom lip catching between her teeth again when wide blue eyes locked on hers.

Naruto gaped for all of two seconds, completely taken aback by the sudden and sweet question, before his face broke into a wide grin. "Of course-ttebayo!" he exclaimed, and then as an afterthought, he gave her a playful pout and said "I thought I was supposed to be the one asking"

"W-well, you can still ask me.. if you want" Hinata offered sweetly with a smile.

The blond's grin softened, warmth bubbling inside of him, "Hinata, will you be my girlfriend?"

"I'd love to" Hinata replied, pearlescent eyes sparkling and cheeks flushing happily.

...

"Nah, Hinata?" the blond asked, glancing to the side at woman walking next to him.

"Hm?" the dark-haired woman hummed, looking up at him curiously.

"Can you say my name again? Y'know, like you did before?" he asked, whiskered cheeks tinting red.

"Y-you mean 'Naruto-kun' ?" she asked, slightly confused at his request.

Naruto brought them to a halt and shook his head, looking down at her seriously, "Like you did earlier. Without the honorifics-ttebayo"

"E-eh?! I-I- b-but- that is-" Hinata's face flushed so quickly and strongly that she was sure it might burst into flames any second.

"Please?" he asked, giving her his best puppy-eyes and held her hand to his chest.

The woman made a quiet sound, finding it hard to refuse, and scrunched up her face, collecting every ounce of courage she could find, "N-Naruto-k-.." she took a deep breath, "N-Naruto"

"A-again?" Naruto's voice asked quietly, hopefully.

"Again?!" Hinata asked horrified, but then she caught sight of the blond's face.

His cheeks were flushed, lips caught in a crooked smile and his sparkling blue eyes full of such warmth and wonder - the same face he made when she told him she loved him. She would have never imagined that her saying his name, without the use of honorifics, could bring out such a reaction from him, but now that she was seeing it, she knew she couldn't deny him the request.

Sighing in defeat, Hinata pushed back the nerves and the embarrassment, and held his eyes with her own, "Naruto".

"One more time?" he asked eagerly, eyes never leaving hers.

"Naruto" she repeated and before he had the chance to ask again, she leaned into his chest and hid her face in his shirt, murmuring "N-no more, or I think I might pass out from embarrassment".

Naruto grinned and wrapped his arms tightly around her, "Thank you, Hinata-chan" he said softly. He felt Hinata clench at his shirt, face burrowing deeper, as a soft whine of "Naruto-kun so mean" escaped her and he couldn't help but laugh happily.

...

Next Up:

Learning To Share

*This "competition" is directly inspired by Rock Lee no Seishun Full Power Ninden and the episode "Tenten vs. Temari" where Lee creates a "boob-size" competition, which he challenges Gaara in. And wins.