22: What Happened at the End of the Day
Dusk had begun to settle over Konoha. The sun was just about set and the air was peaceful. A good portion of the snow had melted during the afternoon. Grass once again began to peek out from the melting blanket of white snow.
Yuuhi Kurenai sat out by the woods. Her A-rank mission with the other Jounin had just ended, and she had gone to see if Hinata and Naruto had returned from Wonka-san's factory. She had asked around, but people had told her that all of the other children who'd also had already left the village, and Hinata was nowhere to be found. Now she sat outside the woods, which served as her team's meeting place, hoping that Hinata would return safely.
"I wonder…" she said to herself, "what Hinata was able to see in that…amazing place." She smiled and let her imagination take over. She had done the best she could have during her mission to block thoughts of Hinata and the factory from her mind, knowing they would only prove to be a distraction. But now that it was over, she was free to indulge in a bit of daydreaming. She hoped she would see Hinata soon.
All of the sudden, a breeze had kicked up. Kurenai shivered in the cold. She looked up, and something caught her eye. She saw something moving in the sky that wasn't a bird. Far too big to be a bird, she thought to herself, but what was it? She squinted her eyes at the sky, trying to make the object out.
Suddenly, she found that it was growing quite rapidly. Whatever the thing was, it was big, and it was headed right towards her. In a matter of moments, the object was almost upon her. The sight of it completely baffled her. It looked like some sort of box…made entirely of glass! Inside of it, she saw someone she thought she recognized. Suddenly it occurred to her, and she shouted out…
"Hinata!" Kurenai shouted as they landed.
Hinata was overjoyed to see that her sensei had waited for her. She looked at Wonka-san impatiently, waiting for him to open the doors so she could see her. The top hat wearing man smiled at her and did exactly what she wished for him to do. Naruto and Hinata leaped out of the great glass elevator and towards Kurenai.
"Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata shouted as she ran up to her. "K-Kurenai-sensei!"
"Hinata! Naruto! You two are back! Whatever is this thing! Where were you two? Who's this?" Kurenai pointed to Wonka-san, who was still inside the elevator. Hinata wasn't sure she could answer all of her questions at once.
"Kurenai-sensei, why don't you sit down, we'll tell you all about it." Hinata said happily.
So Kurenai sat and Hinata began to tell the tale of what had happened throughout their day. All of the wonderful things they had seen, how each of the other children had some way or another, been excluded from the final prize, and how Hinata had been the winner out of the five children. Kurenai took all of this in, not interrupting at all, until…
"W-wait!" she said abruptly, staring at the man across from her. "This…" she pointed to him, "is Willy Wonka-san?"
Wonka-san smiled. "Indeed I am." He said with a little bow.
Kurenai's smile quivered ever so slightly. She got up and walked towards him a bit.
"I remember…I saw you once! When your factory opened again! You were a young man wearing a top hat, giving candy bars to all of us children…" she said breathlessly.
"Ah, and I remember you," Wonka-san smiled, "a small child with rich dark hair and red eyes. I remember you were exceptionally fond of my chocolate at the time. I see that you've grown up since then," he said dreamily, Kurenai blushed a severe pink colour when he mentioned this, "and I must say that you've filled out nicely as well!"
Kurenai's blush deepened about a few shades of pink, and couldn't help but laugh. She giggled at Wonka-san's crude compliment, then asked Hinata to continue.
"Well," Hinata said again, "after we left the factory, Wonka-san told me that I had won something. He told me I'd won his entire chocolate factory!"
Kurenai laughed again, "Hinata, don't be silly, what did you really win?" she asked, chuckling.
"But sensei," Hinata protested, "It's really true! Wonka-san has made me his heir to the company!"
Kurenai's mouth dropped open. She turned to Wonka-san for some explanation.
"It's quite true. We even went so far as to discuss the matter with Hinata's father, whom we were very adamant with. He's agreed completely to our terms."
Kurenai wasn't sure what shocked her more, the fact that Hinata had won an entire chocolate factory, or the fact that she had confronted her father about something. She listened as Hinata continued.
"Once I've come of age," Hinata said, "when I've completed my shinobi training, I'll be running the factory with Wonka-san all the time!"
Kurenai felt that all of what everyone was saying was far too much information for her to digest in one evening. Still, she couldn't hold back her joy, either. She grabbed Hinata and hugged her tightly.
"Oh, Hinata," she said, holding the girl tightly, "I'm so proud of you! This is the most incredible and fantastic thing that's ever happened to you! It's phenomenal!"
"K-K-Kurenai-sensei," Hinata gasped, "You're holding me to tight, I c-can't breath!" With that, Kurenai released her student and beamed at her. Wonka-san began to stand and head towards the elevator.
"Well, this has certainly been an adventure," he said happily, smiling on the two children and their teacher. "but, like all things, this day must come to an end. I'm afraid I have a tremendous amount of work to do back at the factory. Many people need to be contacted about today's happenings."
Hinata looked at him as he stood in front of the elevator.
"When will I see you again?" she asked.
"Oh, sooner or later," he smiled.
"Wait," Kurenai cried as Wonk-san was about to step in, "you're leaving? B-but it's so late! W-won't you at least stay for some dinner? It doesn't sound like any of you have eaten today, aside from candy." Kurenai blushed as she made this proposal.
"Sorry, but I cannot stay…" he said mournfully, but then his eyes perked up, "…but, I'd be happy to have you over for dinner. Perhaps I could give you a small tour of the factory before you leave. How does that sound?"
Kurenai couldn't contain how she felt. Hinata watched as her teacher gave a great cry of joy and walked along to join Wonka-san. The two linked arms and stepped into the elevator.
"Until next time!" Wonka-san said to Naruto and Hinata. He then pushed a button on the elevator wall and the doors slid shut. A moment later, the elevator was off the ground and hovering through the air back towards the factory. Naruto and Hinata called out their goodbyes and waved as it left.
"Sayonara!" Hinata cried, waving as hard as she could.
"Goodbye! Take care of Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto laughed as he waved.
The two genins stood just outside of the forest, watching the great glass elevator rise into the sky…until it passed out of sight.
Naruto and Hinata stood in front of the forest for a while afterwards. They didn't say anything to each other or look at each other. Hinata finally worked up the nerve to speak.
"W-well," she stammered, "I-I g-guess I'll head home now, it was good to see you again, goodbye!" then, she turned on her heel and started to walk away.
"Wha? Wait, hold on a minute!" Naruto called after her, "Kurenai was right, w-would you like to go get something to eat with me? It'll be my treat."
Hinata turned around and smiled nervously. "Um…t-that's quite alright, I'm not all that hungry and…"
Naruto had cut her off, "Hinata," he said, walking up to her, "I…I really wanted to thank you for today, letting me come with you and all, I had an amazing time with you, a-and I wanted to say that it meant a lot to me."
Hinata wasn't sure what to make of what Naruto was saying, she nodded and fiddled with her fingers. "I-It was no problem," she said, "I-I had a really great time as well. I-I'm very glad that you were able to come along with me. I-It…" she mumbled, "It meant a lot to me too…"
Hinata could see that Naruto was now very close to her, she looked down, not wanting to let him see her blush. It was then that she saw that his hands were trembling. She looked up to him, "N-Naruto-kun?"
"Hinata-chan," he said slowly, "w-what I want to say is…well…what I mean is…" he began to trail off.
Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing. She swallowed hard, remembering the words that Wonka-san had told her. She couldn't bear it anymore. She knew that it was now or never. She screwed up her eyes and stammered the words.
"N-Naruto-kun, I really like you!"
…
…every second seemed like an eternity for Hinata. She finally opened her eyes to see Naruto's shocked face. All at once, she immediately regretted what she'd said. Oh no, she thought, he must think I'm a total fool!
"Naruto-kun, wha-what I-I mean t-to say is…"
"I really like you too, Hinata-chan!"
Hinata's eyes widened. She stared at Naruto, who had begun to smile. She noticed his hands were still shaking. "Y-you, really like me?" she asked.
"I do!" he said earnestly, "I've been trying to tell you the whole day, but I couldn't work up the nerve to…a-and," he looked at her, "you like me too?"
Hinata couldn't help herself, it all just started coming out.
"I do! I've liked you for as long as I can remember! You were always such a strong person to me, Naruto-kun. I've wanted to tell you how I feel about you forever…" she said breathlessly.
Naruto moved up to Hinata, and she felt his arms wrap around her body. She felt the warmth of him holding her. She brought her arms up as well and embraced him. She felt his cheek brush against hers. She didn't want this moment to end.
Finally, the two let go of each other, but remained very close. Naruto looked to her and gave Hinata the smile that she admired so much. She smiled back at him, the biggest smile she had ever given.
"Ano, would it be okay if I took you up on your offer for dinner?" she said at last.
Naruto laughed.
"Of course. How does ramen sound? I know a place that serves the best in Konoha. I think you might know it too." He continued to grin.
"It sounds really good." Hinata said happily, "But we should go and have something sweet afterwards. Is that alright?"
"It sounds perfect." Naruto replied.
The two held hands, and walked away from the forest and into town. The sun was just setting as they did, giving the entire village a perfect orange glow for just a moment.
In the end, Hinata Hyuuga had won a chocolate factory, but she had also gained so much more. One thing was certain for both Hinata and Naruto: life had never been sweeter.
THE END
Author's Final Note:
Oh man…my fingers…I think they're bleeding…oh…well, I hope you've enjoyed reading "Hinata and the Chocolate Factory" as much as I did writing it. I'm pretty satisfied with the overall ending, and while I'm sure there are a few loose ends/plot holes that haven't been tied up, I'm also sure that in the long run, they aren't that important.
I'd like to thank my friends, Nayo-Chan, Sorien, Hatake Hiroshi, and Kirigakure from the Konoha Village proboards, as well as all of the wonderful people at who left me reviews. I've loved reading them and they continually encouraged me to give this fan fiction my all. Thank you.
Finally, I'd like to say that this work of fan fiction was a labour of love, and that it wouldn't have been truly possible if not for the original creators (Roald Dahl and Masashi Kishamoto), as well as Johnny Depp for his wonderful portrayal of Willy Wonka in the 2005 film version. Johnny, whether you know it or not, this fic is for you.
Now…I think I'm going to go eat some chocolate if you don't mind
Kiel Chenier, August 8, 2005