Heya! Here's some lemony goodness for you all, with added fluff of course. Cause who doesn't like smut and fluff? I sure do!

This story does diverge from the original timeline and it does so right after the fight with Pein/Nagato. And I can totally get away with that because this is fanfiction :).

Now please read, review and enjoy!

"This time I'm going to save you, Naruto-kun."

Her words pierced through him like Pein's binding rods had done, though the weapons only left a temporary mark. What Hinata said lifted a fog from his mind, it erased this pressing feeling in his gut that forced him to always be the hero. He couldn't do a thing and here she was standing in front of him, her shoulders straight and her head up high. Her resolution was clear.

Still, the protests wouldn't just die on his tongue. He yelled at her to get away but she wouldn't listen. Naruto didn't want to see her get hurt. Nobody needed to be in pain anymore. The hurt had been too strong for too long. And Hinata did not deserve to suffer in his stead. That wasn't her role in this grand scheme of life. If anyone was born to suffer hatred and pain, it was him, Naruto.

And yet...

"I was always crying, and giving up before even trying. I made the wrong turns so many times. But you helped me find my way and take the correct path, Naruto-kun."

But why couldn't she understand that this wasn't supposed to be her path? That this wasn't her destiny? Naruto struggled against the rods as well as his thoughts. No, not Hinata. Anyone but her. If she were to get hurt, or worse... He couldn't predict what he would do. All that his mind showed him was darkness. Darkness and palpable rage.

"I always chased after you. I wanted to catch up to you. I wanted to walk beside you all the time."

And finally the fight went out of him. His ragged breathing came to pass and a strange sort of serenity enveloped him. Was this the Hinata he thought he knew? He had always liked her well enough, but Naruto had never been able to see past her shy self. The stuttering and the fainting and the running away whenever he was near. This had never struck him as odd. He had always assumed her to be like that with everyone.

But now he saw that it wasn't the case.

If what she said was true, then that would mean that Hinata held him in a place in her heart where no one else was allowed to exist. Her shyness and her inability to hold a conversation with him would signify something much deeper than an inherent timidness. And if he now understood what she was really trying to say, it would bring the sound of change.

"I want to be at your side, always." Even with her back to him he could see her determination. She was so firm in her conviction that it made him proud. She had once said to Neji how she did not want to be weak anymore. That she would adopt Naruto's way of the ninja and fight for what she believed in and the ones she loved. And now she was going to fight for him. Because she believed in him. Because...

"You changed me, Naruto-kun. Your smile is what changed me. That's why I'm not afraid to die if it means I can protect you! Because...

I love you."

Those final three words never managed to leave him alone. Spoken with such passion and belief. How could he forget?

Seeing Hinata stand up for him that day had shaken Naruto to his core. Everything he had thought to be the truth had been tossed out of the window to disappear with the winds. Clarity had made way for confusion. And it had him reeling.

For a long time his thoughts would turn to this moment whenever he wasn't thinking of anything else. And even when the Akatsuki were supposed to be at the front of his mind, Hinata would creep back in, taking away the sensation of threat and filling his entire being with a warmth that he couldn't describe.

Or well, couldn't describe... The best way for Naruto to file it away for analysis was to put it against its polar opposite. If this strange feeling in his belly was what Hinata meant to him, his unbridled rage upon believing her dead was the counter to it. And that rage had been big. It had consumed all of him and had shattered his perception of reality. He had wanted nothing more than to make the source of this anger disappear. He wanted the process to be painful. He wanted to kill.

Naruto had struggled a lot to comprehend these feelings as Konoha was being rebuilt. He would walk around town, waving and smiling at the people who now considered him their hero. The smile was a façade though. The only thing that kept his lips curving upward was the knowledge that when he had sorted his own mess out, he could relish in their gratitude and recognition of him.

And as the days dragged on and summer turned to autumn and autumn began to die and make way for winter, Naruto had begun to understand a lot of things. Hinata had told him that she loved him. These words had been spoken with such fierceness. Her desire to protect him had taken all the protest away from him and had slapped some dignity into him, impossible as that may have sounded a year ago.

The agony that he had gone through when Pein had stabbed her, when he all but believed that Hinata was dead, that had been the missing link to puzzle the enigma that was Hinata together. One cold evening it had dawned on him with such clarity that he had stopped in his tracks, his footsteps no longer crunching the snow beneath his soles. He had reared his head up at the sky and he had understood.

Hinata loved him. And he loved her just as much.

This understanding lead to a lot of things making a whole lot of sense. At the exact moment that his affection for her had pierced through him, Naruto had just been on his way home. He had assisted Yamato throughout the town, though the activity had given him the room to regress into his thoughts. And Hinata had encompassed his thinking again, now more than ever.

While he walked home he began to comprehend why Hinata had always been a special case to him. Even when he hadn't understood his love for her, or even the concept of love that went beyond liking, Hinata had always caught his eye. There was something in that timid nature of hers that drew her to him. For years he had claimed to be in love with Sakura, even when he didn't understand what that grouping of words actually meant. But it was Hinata that his gaze lingered on as she passed by.

It had never been enough to register in his mind as anything more than fascination, but now that the facts were out on the table he realized that it was more than that. Obsession wasn't the right way to put it, but there was a sense of magnetism that couldn't be ignored. Even as a child he had wanted to protect Hinata above anyone else. When he was still young and dense -though his naivety would probably never go away completely-, he chalked this up to the belief that he wanted to put an end to bullying and hatred, but new insights had led him to see that he wanted to keep Hinata safe because she had roused something in him. An innate urge to safeguard who she was and what she stood for. Kindness, compassion, love. Hinata was a shining example for all of these things. And even back when he couldn't pinpoint these things about her he had wanted to make sure she wouldn't ever lose them.

That night he had sat in front of his window and he had watched as snowflakes blanketed the streets of the town that he would one day lead. Their journies to the earth reflected the serenity that had crept through him along with the realization. And as the final light left the sky and the world was shrouded in darkness, Naruto spoke the words that now cemented the truth.

"I love you too, Hinata."

Two weeks later the statement was still floating around in his mind. Naruto dragged it along everywhere he went. It took up so much space in his thoughts that it seemed impossible to pay attention to what everyone around him considered to be important. Kakashi had yelled at him today for not keeping his head in the game. The Akatsuki were on the verge of unleashing the full force of their power and that was not to be taken lightly. Of course this was the truth, but that wasn't what he wanted to be thinking about.

Despite the fate of the world hanging by a thread, there were things that he considered to be more important.

Eventually Kakashi has shooed him away after turning to Shikaku. Naruto was not to return until he had screwed his head on right and was ready to fully devote himself to the task at hand. But doing so seemed impossible now.

Even so, Kakashi had it right. Now was not the time to focus on his infatuations. There were other, more pressing matters. And yet Naruto chose to ignore them.

These past two weeks had breathed a new sense of life into him that he didn't even knew existed. That charade of a smile that he put on so forcefully had begun to grow genuine. Joy gripped at his heart and clenched it into such a tight fist that it sometimes made him short of breath. Never had asphyxiation felt so desirable.

His eyes always roamed the streets for Hinata. When he didn't catch a glimpse of her he would feel defeated, but if he did manage to spot her somewhere in town his spirits would rise and he would feel asleep at night while grinning into his pillow. So this is what love did to people.

It made them feel happy.

It would be a gross lie to say that he hadn't been happy before now. His friends and teachers had shown him the meaning of bliss. He had had it rough as a child and most of his younger years were connected to each other by a string of tears, but after crying for so many times he had decided that this wasn't any way to live. And he had started to feel happy. Though it had been a struggle of epic proportions, people had begun to see him as more than a child with a monster inside of him. They had begun to view him as their peer and that was Naruto's confirmation that yes, he was truly happy.

Only that didn't compare to the joy he was feeling now.

Just thinking of Hinata alone was enough to split his face into a grin that was far from the one that used to adorn his features when he still played pranks and pulled stupid stunts. It was always accompanied by a warm sensation spreading over his cheeks and an inability to form coherent sentences. He was a mess and he loved every second of it.

All of these thoughts passed through his mind in these space of a few seconds as Naruto left the Hokage's office. Whenever his head went through these motions it always ended with a particular idea. It was bold and daring to say the least. On the other hand it was downright stupid. His feet took him into Konoha's shopping street, which was a very long row of storefronts and restaurants. Naruto didn't even bother glaincing at most of them, but there was a special store that drew in his eye every time he walked past it. The window display was alluring and his need to act on it grew stronger every single day.

When he saw it again he made up his mind. He was going to do this.

It took a few minutes for him to work up the nerve to actually do it. As he waited a sharp, biting wind began to build up, sending small twisters of snow to dance before him. Naruto shivered at the cold; he wasn't made for winter. The dark clouds that had amassed in the sky promised another blanket of white powder. That had him doubting for half a second. but that was when he gave his plan voice. It must've been a strange sight, Konoha's hero muttering into thin air, no one around to hear what kept him so occupied. And now that the words had been spoken, there was no going back.

Him and his freaking way of the ninja.

Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, Naruto went into the store, throwing the hood of his coat up in order to keep a low profile. He had celebrity status after all, and it wouldn't do to be spotted and for word to travel around town.

Because that would ruin the surprise of a lifetime.

The sun was already beginning to set when Naruto left the store and made his way to the Hyuuga compound. While he had been inside more snow had fallen and a crisp layer of it was now crunching beneath his feet. A shiver ran up his spine to remind him that it was cold outside and that he hadn't dressed to match the season. He prayed to whatever deity above that someone would be kind enough to let him inside, but chances were that members of the branch family would deny him access. He had never been popular with the higher ups of the prestigious family.

His fears turned out to be unfounded. The two Hyuugas by the main entrance only gave him a deep bow before beckoning him inside. Neither of them inquired about his business there, but Naruto deduced that Hiashi had ordered them to stop treating him like a second class citizen, which was a refreshing take on things. That was going to take some getting used to.

Once in the courtyard, Naruto made his way to one of the sliding doors connected to it. He knew that this was Hinata's bedroom and if there was a place he could expect to find her, this was it. He didn't have high hopes, though; if Hinata had been in her room, Neji would have been standing guard right outside the door. Even so Naruto gave a knock.

"She's not here right now," a voice spoke from behind. Naruto wheeled around and saw Hanabi standing there, her arms crossed in front of her and an amused smile playing her lips.

"Oi, Hanabi," Naruto said, returning the grin. "Any idea when she will be back?"

"I think she should be back before midnight," Hanabi answered. "Why, did something important happen?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Well if you want to talk to her that badly maybe you should come inside. Father would love to hear about your training with Jiraiya-sensei. I'd bring you to Neji-niisan as well, but he's in the Country of the Wave for a mission." Hanabi raised an eyebrow, as if trying to goad him into caving. It made Naruto chuckle.

"How about next time? I really want to talk to your sister and I want to surprise her. If she has to run around her own house to find me it wouldn't be a surprise, now wouldn't it?"

"I suppose that's true," Hanabi admitted. "But still, you shouldn't wait out in the cold."

"I think I can handle it."

"...Okay, whatever you say. I'm going inside now, dinner should be ready any minute." And with that the girl was off, leaving Naruto alone in the courtyard.

A giant sigh escaped him. Great, so he would have to wait at least several hours before Hinata would come back. He thought of going home and waiting until midnight, but by then Hinata would have returned and another Hyuuga would tell her that he had come by. He didn't want to risk blowing the opportunity, in part because he feared that his courage would leave him and also because he was so convinced that what he was about to do was the right thing. He could fight the cold for that long, he supposed.

Naruto sat down next to the door to Hinata's bedroom and drew his knees up to his chest. It was going to be a long night, but he would see it through until the end. He hoped.

It had been a very long day for Hinata. Why Kakashi didn't let any of the new Genin chase around the Fuedal Lord's wife's cat was beyond her. Complaining wasn't going to help anyway; she was already cold to her bones and tired from running around all day. When she got home she would grab herself something quick to eat and after that she would take a long, relaxing bath to unwind. And then it was off to the land of dreams.

Branch family members almost grazed their knees with their noses when she stepped through the main entrance and into the courtyard. What she saw there made her forget all about the cold, if only for a few seconds. The entire yard was a pure white. A thick layer of snow had formed a blanket that hadn't yet been disturbed by anyone in the compound. It caught the moonlight and bathed everything around her in an ethereal glow. Then the wind picked up and broke the illusion, cutting through every layer of her clothing and making her yearn for the warmth that she was about to head into.

The gusts had thrown the snow beyond the boundaries of the courtyard. Much of it had been scattered to underneath the canopy surrounding the yard. Hinata was glad that she had closed her bedroom door, because if she hadn't her futon would now be as white as the ground around her.

And speaking of her bedroom, as soon as she saw the door she noticed something else that was out of place.

Why on earth was Naruto sitting next to it?

Hinata walked over to him, so stunned that she didn't even think to call out to him. Naruto was sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest and his jacket wrapped around his entire form. Thick plumes of condensation trailed from his mouth on every breath and a fine spray of snow had covered him during some point in the night. Just looking at him made Hinata shiver with cold, and she was dressed in twice the amount of clothes as he was.

Naruto's gaze was trimmed at his feet. Hinata wasn't sure whether or not his mind was really with his body. If she hadn't seen his breath hanging in the air she might've thought him dead. If he stayed like this for much longer he was sure to croak, that much she knew.

She didn't speak until she was right in front of him. "Naruto-kun?"

He reared his head up at the sound of her voice and what she saw then almost made her scream. His lips were as blue as his eyes. The fingers that were curled into his jacket were going on purple. He was already starting to suffer hypothermia.

"H-H-H-H-H-H..." Naruto did his best to speak, but his teeth chattered together so much that all the left him was a rapid clicking sound.

"What are you doing here?" Hinata asked. Normally she would've stuttered on the first word, but her concern for Naruto had taken her choice of vernacular away from her. She sank through her knees so that she could look him in the eye.

"I-I-I... w-w-w-an-ted..." Naruto struggled to make his message clear. Hinata felt a frown appear on her face. This just wouldn't do. Naruto had to get inside right this instant to warm up or else it would be the death of him. Hinata didn't say anything as she yanked him to his feet. His jacket was wet with melted snow. The rest of his clothes were in a similar condition.

She led him inside of her bedroom and turned on the dimmer lights, casting a warm glow throughout. She immediately set about making a fire in the brazier at the back of the room. It was roaring and spitting heat in less than a minute and Hinata's cheeks grew warm as soon as the first flames sprang into life. When she turned around Naruto was still standing motionless, too cold to get his muscles to do what he wanted.

"Come on, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, walking up to him and dragging him along towards a couch in front of the fire. "Naruto-kun, you can't stay like this. If I had come here an hour later you would've lost your fingers to the cold." She took his hands in hers and turned them up so he could see his purple limbs.

Naruto gave a shaky nod once some of the warmth had managed to creep back into his muscles. He was still quaking, though. This caused Hinata to walk to the linen closet in the hallway and pull out the thickest and biggest blanket that she could find.

"Please take off your clothes, Naruto-kun," she told him. Despite his inability to both speak and move freely, Naruto's eyes grew wide at those words. Hinata immediately realized what she had said and waved the blanket at him, her face growing a deep shade of red. "Y-You know, because they're all wet and cold."

"O-O-Oh, r-right," Naruto said, standing up to undress. His fingers didn't find any purchase when he fiddled with the zipper of his jacket. Hinata's cheeks flared up even more if that was possible. If he couldn't take his clothes off himself, she was going to have to help him.

"Here, I'll help you," she said, slapping his hands away and pulling his zipper down. His jacket fell on the floor with a heavy thud. The thing was soaked through. Naruto's gaze lingered on it, maybe because he hadn't realized himself to what conditions he had exposed himself.

Hinata helped him do away with everything but his underwear. Once he was naked but for one item of clothing, Hinata sat him down on the couch and threw him the blanket. Naruto wrapped himself in it, but not before giving a look of utter disgust.

"S-Sorry, Hinata," he said. His voice was coming back to him and his teeth had stopped chattering for the most part. "But I just have to get this out of the way. I didn't even know I got this wet." He pooled the blanket around his waist, giving her a good view of his tan chest and arms. Hinata wanted to look away, but couldn't. And why should she, if she was being honest. This was the boy that she had been in love with for as long as she could remember. And he was here for her. Why, she still didn't know.

Naruto raised his legs up a bit and freed himself from his soaked underwear, throwing it on top of the pile by the end of the sofa. He let out a deep sigh and wrapped himself into the blanket again, a smile creeping onto his face. "Muuuuuch better," he said, grinning.

Hinata thought that she would be able to fry an egg on her forehead. Naruto was in her bedroom. Naruto was naked. In her bedroom. Naked. Naruto.

If her father came in to check up on her now she would probably die. Either of shame or by her father's hands. If it were the latter Naruto wouldn't live to see another day either.

Doing her very best to keep herself composed, Hinata turned to Naruto. "S-So, why did you come to see me, Naruto-kun?" she asked, her eyes glued to her feet.

Much to her surprise, Naruto didn't answer right away. This struck her as off, because Naruto was anything but a quiet person. It distracted her enough to seek out his gaze, which found hers right away. There was something in his look that made Hinata a little nervous.

What he did then threw her for a loop even more. He patted the empty spot beside him and beckoned her to come sit with him. And despite every nerve in her body telling her not to do it, her heart said something else. Okay, so she was going to take a seat next to naked Naruto. Today was not a normal day.

Naruto threw the blanket over her legs as soon as she took her seat. He made certain that he did not expose anything that she did not need to see and for that she was thankful. It took her nearly all of her courage to join him when he was this... free, and if she caught a glimpse of what made Naruto a biological boy she was sure to pass out. She sat there with her hands in her lap, twiddling her thumbs and waiting for Naruto to say something.

But he still didn't talk. He just kept scaring the life out of her with his boldness. Instead of explaining his intentions to her, he scooted in closer and laid his arm in her neck the way lovers do in the movies. Hinata felt herself lose control of her breathing. Never before had she been this close to Naruto. Or not in a physical sense anyway. There had been a time when she had laid out her soul for him to see, but that was a while ago now and he hadn't remarked on it since. She had assumed that he had forgotten, but his frozen appearance by her bedroom door had instilled doubt within her. Something told her that once he did speak, he would tell her something that would turn her whole life upside down.

Naruto rested his head in the crook of her neck and that was when Hinata could no longer think at all. This was too much Naruto to take in at once. And yet she didn't want him to move another inch. She could probably die and go to heaven like this.

"I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds here," Naruto said to her, now once again in control of his own words.

"W-What do you mean, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked him, feeling dumb for letting the question spill over her lips.

"Well, I'm not exactly dressed to impress, ya know," he told her. That made her giggle despite the nerves that were trying to wreck her.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun," she replied. And it was. The situation might be new for her, but she could feel the affection coming from him. She understood that if she turned her head now she would see him looking at her with a smile. And she heard the words in her mind before he spoke them out loud.

"I love you too, Hinata-chan."

Her insides exploded with happiness then. So he had heard her say it. When she had faced Pein without fear she had told him that she loved him. She had meant every word of it and just like she had said, she would have gladly died for him as long as she could protect him. But when time had passed and the seasons had changed, Naruto had kept the distance between them the same as it had always been. For a while Hinata feared that he had gotten the meaning of her declaration wrong, but now he proved her the opposite.

He had understood. And he felt the same.

She turned her head and showed him a smile that wouldn't be beaten off with all of Tsunade's punching force. His blue eyes twinkled in cheeky joy when they met her lavender ones. His lips formed happy arches underneath his whiskers. And those lips seemed so appealing now, so close and finally within her reach.

He kissed her first and for that she was glad; she might've lost courage halfway there. His mouth was no longer blue but an inviting shade of pink. When his lips fell on hers every thought ceased to be. Naruto had consumed her entire world with one simple move.

Naruto was under the impression that he should try this softly at first. Hinata had probably never experienced a kiss, much like himself, not counting the little incident with Sasuke several years ago. He wanted it to be special. He wanted her to never forget it. In hindsight his nakedness might have contributed to that, but it was the last thing on his mind when Hinata's hand suddenly shot up, cupping his chin and pulling him deeper into their endeavor.

Words could not describe how much joy that made him feel. A part of him would forever feel guilty that he had been so dense for so long and that he had made Hinata wait all those years. If he had caught on faster they could've shared each other's happiness much sooner. But all of that was in the past and this was the now. And Naruto was curious where this moment would take them.

It was even a bit scary to see how eager Hinata was. He couldn't blame her; she had probably been dreaming of this for a very, very long time. Still, when he opened his eyes to break off their very first kiss, Hinata had rid herself of her own jacket and forehead protector. Naruto gulped. That could only mean one thing.

"Eh, Hinata," he said, making her look at him. "That... that kiss... it was great and all, but..." He wasn't sure how to put the next part. "Do you think it's wise to get naked just because I am?"

A wave of giggling laughter erupted from her. And instead of explaining what was so funny to her, Hinata rose from the couch and kicked off her sandals. She had removed her shirt even before Naruto could protest. She didn't speak until she had sat herself down again.

"Naruto-kun, look," she said, grabbing his hands and smiling at him. "You may have figured this out by now, but I've liked you for a very long time. And during that time I got to make up my mind on a lot of things. One thing that I decided was that if I ever got to have you..." Her thumbs circled the back of his hands and a pink tinge crept into her face. "...I wanted to have you all the way."

"All the way? Are you sure about that? I mean, not that I mind, ya know, but there are things to consider. Your old man killing me, for example. Plus we're virgins, so we'd suck at it. And... and..." Naruto's mind was racing to make more excuses. This unrestrained Hinata had him entranced; he both wanted her so much that it hurt and he wanted to keep a mile away from her because, on some level that made sense only to him, he wasn't worthy of her.

He ended up telling her a part of the truth. "And I wouldn't want to do this right off the bat. It would be like taking advantage of you, and I don't want to do that."

She surprised him by smiling wider.

"So you were lying just now?" she asked, pulling her eyebrows up high. "You don't love me too?"

"Of course I do!" Naruto responded, trying his best not to sound offended. "That's the whole reason why I want to take a step back, because I don't want you to do something that you'll regret later, ya know. I'd hate to hurt you."

She robbed him of his voice by kissing him hard. Her hands went back to his face and tickled at his neck, setting the hair there on end and making him shudder. Before he knew it she had forced her tongue into his mouth and that was when he let go. Fine. If she wanted this, she could have it.

Now that the restraints were off he allowed his own hands to play around a bit. She had already removed her shirt and that made his destination quite obvious; he found the snaps of her bra and figured out how to undo the damned thing very quickly. Because that was what he needed on his first time having sex: a fifteen minute struggle with underwear.

And just like that Hinata's breasts were on display for him to gawk at. When Naruto had returned after his training with Jiraiya he had not failed to notice the changes that Hinata had gone through. The girl had done some growing, and lots of it to be exact. She had acquired the body of a woman, a beautiful, luscious curvy woman.

As their tongues were busy playing soldiers, Naruto reached out and took both of her breasts into his hands. They were so big that he couldn't fit them properly. This made him focus on her nipples as much as he could. He brushed them with his thumbs a few times to test the waters. When Hinata gave a little shiver he knew he was doing something right. He did it again and was rewarded with a moan from who was now his girlfriend.

The sound of her sent enough blood to his groin to work up a proper erection. He could feel it throbbing underneath the blanket. The head of his cock brushed against the fabric and gave him a strange sort of ecstasy. If that felt good already, there was no way to try and expect what the actual act of sex felt like.

Hinata was full of surprises today. She broke off their experimenting and drew back a good distance. Naruto watched as if hypnotized as she stood up and unbuttoned her jeans. He didn't get to enjoy the sight of her in her splendid white panties for too long, because she dropped them to the floor right after her pants.

She herself didn't know where this sudden rush was coming from. Or well, she did know, but she refused to give into the lewdness of it. She had wanted to kiss Naruto for years. And as time had passed she had wanted to do more than just kiss him. The thing was that she hadn't realized how bad she had desired him until right now.

Impatient hands ripped the blanket away and exposed Naruto's nudity to her hungry eyes. She had never seen a man naked before but still the sight of him was enough to make her head spin. Naruto was looking at her with a curious expression, though understanding seemed to be dawning on him.

"Already?" he asked her.

She nodded and moved towards him. She straddled his hips with hers and felt his hardened length brushing against her core. She was already dripping.

"Screw the foreplay," she said, unaware that she was breathing the words rather than speaking them. "We have the rest of our lives to figure that out. I want you right now, Naruto-kun."

She took her manhood into her hand, making him gasp. She positioned right underneath her entrance and let gravity do most of the work. And even then it still hurt.

"Hinata, are you okay?" Naruto asked her. His face was as red with hers and unlike Hinata he was already overcome with the incredible feeling of her walls closing around him.

She let out a shaky breath and nodded, holding up a hand to signal him to wait just a minute. She was slowly getting used to the feeling, though she supposed that the first few times they would do this would turn out to be painful anyhow.

She allowed some more minutes to tick by and after a while she felt ready. Taking the time to register the sensation of Naruto filling her up, she lifted her hips with care. She never would have guessed that it would make her feel so complete. Now confident, she brought her pelvis down and repeated the motion.

Naruto let out an aroused growl underneath her. One of his hands found hers and their fingers intertwined. He tried to guide her into a steady rhythm and as soon as she found it the pleasure increased tenfold. Every time his length filled her completely she let out another cry. She didn't even muffle herself. If someone heard, someone heard.

He had never expected Hinata to be able to get so crazy. Naruto couldn't help but admire her for it as she rode him, throwing her head into her neck to vocalize her wanting. She felt so amazing, so tight. He never wanted to pull out ever again. Perhaps it was a pity that they had rushed their first time so much, but at the moment he couldn't find it in himself to care. It was impossible to focus on anything else but the sight of Hinata groaning and moaning for him and the feeling of his orgasm already approaching. Shit, that wasn't good. He had to keep her at his level or else he would be done long before her.

It took some difficulty, but Naruto managed to hoist himself up a little, putting his free hand behind her shoulderblades. He then started his assault of kisses, placing them everywhere he could reach. He spared nothing; her jaw, her neck, her collarbones, her throat. he kissed wherever his lips happened to be at the time. And it was a good move too, Hinata's nails clawing into his back told him that.

She pressed her sweaty forehead against his and when their eyes met the rest of the world ceased to be. If any factor of it could still get through to them before, it was impossible now. They could only relish in each other and drink one another in.

"Naruto-kun, I..." Hinata suddenly mumbled. She didn't say anything else; from seemingly out of nowhere her entire body began to shake. For a split second Naruto feared that he had done something wrong, but when her walls convulsed around his cock and her warm, sweet juices spilled onto his stomach, he understood that she had just observed the outer reaches of space with her orgasm. Her pace stopped dead and her body grew limp. And Naruto smiled.

She sat there for a while, not doing a whole lot more than trying to compose herself. Once Naruto could see some of the dullness leaving her eyes, he kissed her so hard that his lips bruised.

He helped her off him and laid her by his side. His erection was pointing up at the ceiling and was still firm enough to break through a brick wall. But he knew just the remedy. His hand closed around his shaft and began a slow stroking motion, looking at Hinata's content face all the while. He didn't last for very long.

Naruto came so hard that he saw white spots dance in his vision as the orgasm coursed through him. His cock shot stream after stream of sperm with enough force to catch him in shoulder; a few inches further and he'd have blinded himself. A hoarse cry was all that managed to leave his lips.

Once he had come to a bit, he found the blanket and used it to clean the both of them up as much as possible. They'd have to burn the damn thing if they didn't want any awkward questions, Naruto supposed. At least they wouldn't need it for the warmth anymore. His skin was burning and so was Hinata's. As they laid there, her arms over his chest and her face in his neck, Naruto found himself staring at her and how the flames danced the tango on her pale skin.

'Beautiful' wasn't a strong enough word to describe her.

They remained like they were for a very long time. Not a thing was said between them, but that wasn't necessary. All had been conveyed when they had looked into each other's eyes. It was all the confirmation that they could ask for.

Hinata was the first to find her voice again. What she said almost gave Naruto a heart attack; how could he possibly forget something so important? Granted, he had been very distracted, but still.

"I'm so glad you came over," Hinata said, nuzzling her nose against his neck. "I never thought you would come by to tell me you loved me."

He almost threw her over the backrest of the couch in his hurry to find his jacket.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. "Is there something wrong?"

"Not really," Naruto said, having found the damn garment and now searching the pockets. "Aha!"

He rolled back onto the couch and sought out her eyes. He showed her his bunched fist and drew a grin on his face big enough to be seen from space.

"Okay, Hinata-chan, so hear me out. When you fought Pein to try and protect me, you told me that you loved me. And then it all kinda clicked, ya know?" His nerves crept up on him and he swallowed the lump that threatened to grow in his throat.

"So I got to thinking and the more I thought about it the more I realized that I loved you too. And I meant it, too. It kinda made me wonder how I could be so dense and stupid for so long, ya know? Anyway, I tried to think of a way to show you that I love you too. And there was only one thing that made sense to me."

He opened his fist and showed Hinata the little box that he had been holding. When she drew in her breath he knew that he would be victorious.

"I spent all of my savings on this thing here, so I hope you like it. I was kinda trying to save up for a new house, but there were things more important than that." He flicked open the box and revealed the ring inside. It was a pink diamond, not very big but certainly noticeable.

"Hyuuga Hinata," Naruto said, taking the ring out and sliding it over her finger. "I don't care that we're too young and dumb to make decisions like these. All I care about is you. So please, please please, will you marry me?"

Young and dumb indeed. Young, dumb, and happy.