Mashu: "Heheh, Cynny-san's a softy!"
Lord Cynic: "Damnit, you've been reading way too much Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. You're starting to sound like that damn Mokona."
Mashu: "Heh, that's true. You gotta admit though, this isn't your usual work."
Cynic: "Bah, I know. I wanted more humour, but it went spiralling out of control about halfway through this thing. I hate being soppy!"
Mashu: "Too late now, eh? Still, this was done very quickly for our standards. No notes or anything. In less than two hours, subtracting time we spent watching TV in-between. Makes me wonder how slow we are when we draft everything."
Cynic: "I didn't start wanting to draft stuff until this year. So be quiet."
Mashu: "Aww, Cyn-rin's so mean!"
Cynic: "Damnit, now you're being Fai! Shut up!"
Cynic: "We don't own anything. And I gotta wait until November for the Australian release of Ultimate Ninja. Damn!"
Mashu: "We're so behind the rest of the world… Oh, and this isn't the fanfic we planned in the release schedule, obviously. It's still coming."
Let me see
"C'mon, pleeeeeeeease! I just wanna looksy!"
Naruto pouted childishly, causing Hinata to blush, before gently gripping her wrists and trying to wrench her hands away. Despite the dark hue literally smothering the Hyuuga girl's face, she was surprisingly stubborn about not letting her crush/boyfriend win. When Naruto deemed it a temporarily lost cause yet again, he left his hands fall by his sides, before crossing his arms barely a second later.
"What's wrong, Hinata-chan? Why won't you let me look?"
Hinata racked her brains for an excuse other than the real reason.
"B-B-Because… um… p-people might… m-might be w-watching," she ventured timidly, keeping her hands firmly where they lay.
Naruto pondered Hinata's words before grinning confidently. "Don't worry," he assured her with an odd twinkle in his blue eyes, "no one's around. Not Ero-Sennin, not Kakashi-sensei, no one but us." He added, in a husky voice that made Hinata shiver and almost surrender, "We're all alone, Hinata-chan."
And indeed, they were, inside Naruto's apartment. He considered them safe and sound in his rundown fortress of solitude, away from prying eyes. He intended to make the best of their fortunes. But Hinata was being so adorably stubborn. Well, he couldn't blame her… he supposed.
"A-Are you sure?" Hinata asked apprehensively, eyes darting around the dilapidated apartment. Oh, the environment was far from sleazy; Naruto wasn't that type of guy. He was actually rather gentle and tender, despite the treatment, that he'd received the majority of his life. But still, it was sort of embarrassing.
Naruto hummed and tapped his foot, trying to figure out the puzzle that was his girlfriend (for some reason, he fought the urge to giggle like his Sexy counterpart at that). He knew she was terribly shy, and after finding out why a few months ago (background check: they're about 15-16, just for the hell of it), he had felt like summoning a Kage Bunshin and kicking his (or their?) own ass. Only Hinata's consoling and forgiving words prevented that sort of humiliation. In the middle of Ichiraku's, no less. Still, this was him! She didn't need to be shy around him anymore!
"You know," he began slowly, "I have seen them before."
Hinata's eyes widened in shock, and a little horror. Had he really – did he always – had he ever… she couldn't comprehend the implications of what he'd just said.
And it seemed he wasn't done.
"I know you think I've never watched you or noticed you (Hinata's blush intensified beyond healthy boundaries), but... that's not true. Well, not all the time, obviously." Naruto laughed nervously and scratched his left whisker marks. Hinata resisted the urge to squeal and just glomp him senseless. "Sometimes, I just seem to catch you by accident, but I'm always… well, I just seem to stare sometimes."
Naruto uncharacteristically ducked his head to hide a flustered blush, to which Hinata giggled softly. Hearing the melodious sound, he swerved on her with a scandalised expression on his face. That definitely broke the dam, and Hinata couldn't help herself as she laughed loudly and helplessly, unconsciously loosening her hands. Naruto was too light-heartedly annoyed to notice, but when Hinata did, her hands immediately returned to their previous positions. She blushed horribly at the almost slip.
"It's not that funny," Naruto huffed with feigned irritation. He grinned when he realised Hinata was being sincere. "Okay, okay, you got me." He surprised her by leaning in until they were but a breath away. "But you still have something I want."
"S… Something y-you w-want?" Hinata asked nervously, witnessing the hungry gleam in Naruto's eyes. She wasn't sure if she liked the tone of his voice, and the way he smiled at her. But at the same time, she was intrigued.
"That's right," Naruto whispered, sending a chill down Hinata's spine. She almost succumbed to temptation and let her guard slip, but she knew he was playing. He had to be. That twinkle in his eyes was only there when he was scheming or being mischievous.
"I… I don't have anything you… you want," she uttered in a whisper, her eyes downcast. "It's not… not nice to… to lie, N… Naruto-kun…"
"You could never be more wrong, Hinata-chan," Naruto objected firmly. Throughout the exchange, the distance never wavered, never decreased, never increased. They simply stayed that as they were. "You do have something I want. When I realised it, you've always had something that I want." He grinned slightly, baring his canines. "Ya wanna know? Ya wanna know what you have that I want?"
Hinata felt like she couldn't breathe. It wasn't a life-threatening sensation, but it was overwhelming all the time. Slowly, her hands dropped from their defensive positions, especially when Naruto gripped them in his. She stared up at him with wondrous, hopeful, daring lavender eyes.
"Y… Yes." That was all she could say.
Naruto suddenly leaned even closer, edging millimetres from her face, from… from her lips. She could now see the sincerity, the warmth, the… love, in his clear blue eyes. The words that next came out of his mouth made her heart melt ten times, no, one hundred times over.
"I want you."
She couldn't even respond before he kissed her with such passion, yet such tenderness only she knew he could possess. It took a moment for her brain to register, but her body barely needed a second before she intensified the kiss. They were young, so they were inexperienced, but they knew they were the only ones who could ever complete one another. The kiss simply reaffirmed and strengthened their belief in each other, their bond with one another, and their love for the person whom they were sharing such an intimate moment with.
Finally, when Naruto released the intoxicating hold on Hinata, he gazed deeply into his eyes. She blushed at the intensity of his stare, but didn't back down. When she realised her hands were free, she didn't move them. She just left them at her sides.
He grinned at his victory.
"See? There was nothing to be afraid of. You never have to be too shy to show me, you know that."
She nodded in somewhat of a daze, but finally let him see what she'd been too embarrassed to hide.
She smiled for him, a smile only he could have the privilege to see, enjoy and cherish.
The End
Cynic: (twitches) "I'm going to assume the majority of readers didn't get it. Read the last line. He was trying to coax her hands from her face so he could see the smile."
Mashu: "Heh..."
Cynic: "SHUT UP!"