"Heading out boss?"

Zabuza grunted in confirmation, tossing on his coat, "Haku."

The boy looked up from his movie, bowl of popcorn in his lap. He was squished between Meizu and Gozu on the couch, watching some cheesy comedy if Zabuza had to guess. Meizu's night to pick, most likely. "Yes, sir?"

"Bed when the movies done, if I'm not back." Zabuza ordered, ignoring the pout on the child's face. He'd dealt with those puppy dog eyes for years, and he'd built up an immunity. "You got class tomorrow." He warned.

Haku nodded, popping another small handful of popcorn into his mouth. "Yes sir." He said, all smiles since he was allowed to finish the movie. "Tell her happy new years for me!"

"If he's up when I'm back..." Zabuza warned, getting dismissive waves from the twins. They'd put Haku to sleep at a reasonable time. With that done, Zabuza grabbed his keys and left to a chorus of voices wishing him a good night.

Hinata blew into her hands, rubbing them together to drive away the pins and needles sensation as she waited in the snow. Should have worn gloves, she chided herself. It was the dead of winter, past midnight and well below freezing as she stood outside her front door.

She needed to get out of the house, even if it meant doing so at two in the morning. She loved her family but two weeks in the family compound with various relatives and never-ending streams of questions were driving her to a breaking point.

Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long as she spotted a familiar blue car down the road. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing if he'd taken much longer, she'd have to wait inside. Instead she walked to the passenger side door and piled in, an unflattering bundle of winter wear that was tossed into the backseat as her driver backed out.

"Hi." She said, cheeks flushed from the cold as she straightened her sweater out.

Zabuza nodded in greeting, as he took a left turn towards downtown. He had no destination in mind yet, but it was good a place as any to start. "You alright?" He asked as Hinata began to fiddle with the radio to find something they'd both enjoy instead of the low rock currently coming through the speakers. It was hard to hear, but Hinata couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at noticing the under current of worry to Zabuza's otherwise bored question.

"Yes, just.." She faltered, trying to think of what to say. "Just needed to get away for a bit..." Hinata finished as she continued to toy with the radio, eventually deciding to put it back to it's original channel with the volume lowered, background noise.

"Mmm." Zabuza hummed. "Where to?"

"Oh, I didn't think about that..."

"Not a lot of places open at this time." He reminded her.

"Wacdonald's okay?" Hinata smiled shyly, the tips of her dark blue hair still damp from the snow. Another nod from Zabuza and he merged into a different lane.

"Haku told me to tell you happy new years."

"Thank him for me, will you?"

"Will do." Zabuza said, attention on the road as he watched Hinata from the corner of his eye. She'd leaned back against the seat, resting her forehead against the window as she watched traffic streak by. The passing streetlights and shop fronts gave her a soft glow that he had to force himself from staring at.

"And how was your holidays?" She asked.

"Quiet. The twins didn't cause any issues, and Haku had fun. You?" He noticed the small sigh at his question, but didn't ask just yet.

"The usual..."

"Relatives that couldn't keep their opinions to themselves, or just fuck off?"

Hinata giggled at the accuracy of the statement. "Close enough... some of them are just..." She blew out a puff of air, instead of using one or more of the various rude words she'd learned in her time with Zabuza.

He chuckled at that. "Got to love family fun time, huh?"

"One way to put it..." She muttered, drawing another chuckle from Zabuza.

"Want to go in?" Zabuza asked as he cruised by. Hinata shook her head, catching a glimpse of a trio of blonde, pink and black heads already inside and she didn't want to deal with them, ruining an otherwise pleasant evening. Thankfully, he didn't question her decision. That was one of the things she liked about Zabuza, he knew when to push, and when to leave her to her silence.

He gently pushed her back into her seat as she reached into the back to grab her purse. "It's my turn to pay?" She questioned.

"My treat." He responded, Hinata's pout doing little to dissuade him.

"I dragged you out here." She argued back, voice gentle but firm.

"And I am the one closer to the window, so I'm paying." He countered as she crossed her arms with a small smile before sighing, knowing it was a lost argument.

"That, is why they are paid minimum wage." Zabuza grumbled as he parked the car in a nearby parking lot. He trusted himself to talk and drive, not talk, drive and eat as Hinata began to divide up their midnight snack, giving him a light smack to his shoulder.

"They may have been busy." She defended, knowing that six minutes was still a bit too long to be waiting in drive thru, but felt compelled to speak up. Fries and packets of chicken nuggets were put on dashboard and picked at as they quietly talked, catching up after not seeing each other for two weeks over the holidays. There were few jokes, both just enjoying the company.

Zabuza had pulled down his scarf just before they started eating, and it had taken her usual amounts of self-restraint to stop from staring. More out of fascination than anything rude, the jagged and sharp teeth that she'd come to associate with him always drew her eye on the rare occasion when they weren't hidden behind a layer of fabric.

They looked nice on him, added an beastly touch to an already deceptively intimidating frame. It was this attention to his face that caused her to notice the tiny smudge of sauce at the corner of his lips. Without think about it, she'd leaned across her seat and into Zabuza's, running a finger over the spot before placing the finger in her mouth.

She noticed how close they had gotten as she looked up, Zabuza's eyes inches from hers. She could feel the blood rushing to her head as her brain caught up with her actions. He didn't look offended, which was good in her mind. He just looked confused at her actions, dark brown eyes watching her carefully as if to see what her next action was.

Later, she wouldn't be sure what it was that gave her the confidence for her next action, but she was thankful it happened. She closed the remaining distance between them and gently pressed her lips against his. It was awkward, the gear shift keeping them from getting to close together, and neither having a lot of experience, but as Hinata finally pulled herself away, red-faced from lack of air, she brought her hand to her lips and savored the taste of him.

"I.. well.. I'm sorry, I didn't think that.." She sputtered, unable to look Zabuza in the eye, not wanting to know if he hated her for jumping to conclusions. Her rambling was cut off as a hand took hold of her chin and Zabuza returned the favor. She found herself pressed against him, arms thrown over his shoulders to bring him closer as his hands palmed her hips, massaging the soft flesh under them.

It had taken them pulling away for air on the fourth time for Hinata to meet Zabuza's eyes. Dark brown meeting lavender as he grinned down at her. "Didn't take you for the type to attack someone in their car."

"What can I say? You are a terrible influence on me." She teased back, extremely aware of Zabuza's hand on the small of her back, and drawing confidence from it. "So... what does this mean for us?"

"That depends, was this a one time thing, or would you like more?"

Hinata's hands gripped the collar of Zabuza's shirt, pulling him closer. "More please."

An: I'll admit, I find this a cute pairing, and would like to explore how it'd work in future fics. For now, fluff though. This is hella AU though. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the fic, and have a good day ^.^