It was the morning after an entire bottle of sake between two teenagers that the world realized why there was an age limit on alcohol.

Hinata had jumped out of bed with a yelp and stared at Naruto accusingly. The last she remembered was finishing up her rice balls after a lovely dinner and then getting into bed, alone.

When she woke up, Naruto and herself were in a rather compromising position, and although she didn't mind it, she was hoping that they didn't do anything... that could compromise their future.

Naruto groaned as the sunlight hit his eyes. "Hinata? Come back to bed."

Hinata yelped again, and Naruto sat up shocked. This was not a dream, and she was standing right there, looking like they really cuddled throughout the night. Her hair was disheveled, and the bathrobes she wore looked creased. He thought she was perfect in every aspect of her imperfection. He tried his best to ignore his morning wood. As he stayed under the blankets, trying not to scare her further. 

"Naruto-kun, we didn't?" She questioned her hand in front of her mouth.

Naruto waved his hands defensively in front of his face, "No, not at all. You just invited me to sleep next to you because I looked uncomfortable, and we cuddled a bit, that's all."

"Cuddled... with... N-naruto-kun." That was it for the purple haired girl as her vision became blurry, and she felt the world close in on her. The last thing she heard was Naruto yelling her name.

Soon enough, Hinata woke up in the bed again, above her Naruto looked worried. He was already dressed in his mission clothes, and he had a cup of water waiting for her.

Naruto sat beside her as Hinata took little sips from the cup.

"I checked your vital signs, and you're okay. Looks like you just fainted. I was worried there. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." He said while looking at his hands.

Hinata looked at him, "No, Naruto-kun. I thought it was a dream. I'm just shocked, that's all."

"So, you'd like to do it again sometime?" He asked.

"Hm, maybe after you take me on a real date?" She replied. Perhaps she needed to get close to him in certain aspects, to become bolder towards him. It was a good step.

"As soon as Tsunade-no-baa-chan allows us time off together, we can go anywhere you like." He stated.

Hinata threw the blankets off her and made her to her bags.

"I'm happy with Ichiraku ramen." Naruto could hear the smile on her face as she spoke.

"I'll hold you to it then." He said before leaving the room and giving her some privacy to change.

___________________________________________

The mission went by smoothly thereafter. The pair decided to use tents from then on, and they got their information from the Raikage. They hadn't encountered any trouble with regards to missing nin or bandits. They really could just connect with each other as they traveled. They spoke about everything, they even flirted a little, and Naruto was the absolute gentleman, always making the Hyuuga princess feel comfortable and ensuring she was well fed and hydrated.

If Hinata had a crush before the mission, she was irrevocably and inexplicably in love with Naruto now.

Naruto could say the same. Neither of them could bear to say anything to the other right now. It would be too soon. They should spend more time together and perhaps become official. There was nothing wrong with taking things slow and savoring the moments they shared and the sneaky glances. It was rather intimate.

Regardless of all the fun and laughter, they had to return to the village eventually. And this was where they stood before Tsunade.

"The Raikage has given word that the 2 tails jinchuuriki has been captured. He has also stated that they have Intel of the Akatsuki head quarters being the land of rain." Naruto relayed the contents of their mission.

"Hm, so their captures are calculated." Tsunade stated.

"My spy networks have led me to believe they may have already moved ahead with capturing the up to the 5 tails. They're playing the divide and conquer." Jiraya stated.

Naruto nodded at his words.

"It is not without loss, though. We have deployed a few of our Shinobi to assist in neighboring nations. Even though our teams managed to defeat 2 of theirs, we've lost a number on our side. Including Sarutobi Asuma." Tsunade stated, looking over at Hinata, who gasped. The girl couldn't believe that while she was off having the most relaxed mission with Naruto, there was this much tragedy in the village and so close to home as well.

"Kurenai-sensei." She whispered.

"Hinata, you are dismissed for the moment. Thank you for your hard work." Tsunade stated. Hinata bowed and left the room.

Naruto stood at attention.

"They'll be coming after you soon, and in the meantime, you will have to be prepared." She stated seriously.

"I need to find out more about the Akatsuki." Stated Jiraya. He wanted to train his Godson, but he wasn't too sure how it would work if he wasn't sure what to prepare for.

"Jiraya!" Yelled Tsunade slamming her first in the table and glaring at him, "You will not do this alone." Her voice softened.

"I can go with him." Naruto offered.

"Are you crazy? And waltz into their territory?" Now it was Naruto's turn to be glared at.

"I'll be okay. " Jiraya waved down their concerns.

"You're not going, and that's an order!" Tsunade commanded.

"Yeah, Pervy-sage, let's just wait it out. Remember, you said you'd take me to Mount Myouboku." Naruto basically begged the man to stay. It was definitely a suicide mission.

"Okay, but are you sure you're ready to be away from your little girlfriend right now?" Jiraya teased, having noticed the side glances the pair had sneakily made at each other.

Naruto blushed and started sputtering at the notion of Hinata being his girlfriend, "She is not my girlfriend." He muttered, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

"Well, you two definitely took quite some time on this mission. It should've been done in a week, but you took two." Chirped Tsunade joining in on the conversation. She remembered how they had been when they were younger, and it seemed Naruto was at the right age for advancing his relationship with the Hyuuga heir.

"Oh ho ho, what were you doing for two weeks, Naruto?" Jiraya chuckled and folded his arms as he raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"We just took our time, okay?" Naruto yelled, unsure of how to get himself out of this situation.

"Hm, I don't know you to take your time with anything, Naruto." Tsunades' snide remark made Naruto stomp his feet in frustration before he yelled at them.

"It was one time at the hotsprings!" The pair of Sannin gasped simultaneously.

"Naruto, you better not have defiled that girl!" Tsunade admonished him.

Jiraya chuckled and said something about 'hotsprings' and 'my boy' earning a well-deserved punch to the head from his partner.

"We just cuddled geez." He admitted shyly.

Naruto rather enjoyed the teasing it made him feel whole somehow. He felt like his old self was creeping back on him. He knew he wouldn't be exactly the same because he enjoyed the power, and he enjoyed being smarter, but he also missed the laughter he used to share and have some type of emotional reaction at least.

Tsunade released a sigh of relief. Cuddling, that was definitely something that could be considered appropriate for shinobi their age.

Jiraya looked slightly disappointed, but he accepted the facts.

The three moved on with making plans for Naruto's training, and they made sure that he would leave as soon as possible to learn Sage Jutsu from the toads.
___________________________________________

Naruto would go to tell Hinata about his absence that night, but once he arrived at the Hyuuga compound, he was rejected from entering.

He asked if she could come outside, but the guard at the gate practically told him to piss off and that she wasn't home. The Hyuuga could have been nicer about it.

He dejectedly left and made his way to Ichiraku so he could once again eat alone.

Naruto sat down and ordered pork misu ramen with extra Naruto fish cakes.

He didn't slurp and gobble the food anymore. He had become more sophisticated, and it specifically showed when he ate ramen. So he would delicately gather some noodles between his chopsticks and gently blow on the hot food so that his mouth wouldn't burn. He would repeat the motion over as he worked his way through the meat and other toppings in his bowl.

Halfway through his meal depression got to him, and he sighed. He wanted to train, but a month away would place a halt on his relationship. He couldn't even say goodbye.

The thought had barely manifested as he heard the loud yell of a certain shinobi. A bark. Then , a grunt in agreement. The voices grew closer, and he managed to catch snippets of their conversation.

"Well, well! You have certainly become bodacious!" Even though the word bodacious seemed like a stretch, Naruto was almost certain that voice belonged to one Inuzuka Kiba.

"He's right. To do that out of a relationship, it could cause scandal." He heard the other voice say monotonously.

"Ano, it was a mistake. Kiba-kun, Shino-kun." He heard a third voice finally speak up. Naruto perked at the sound and swiveled around in his seat to see a laughing Kiba lift up the flap of material that hung over Ichiraku's entrance.

"A mistake!" Laughed the Inuzuka rambunctiously.

Kibas eyes widened as he spotted Naruto sitting in front of him, and as he paused to take in the sight, he let out a wicked grin. Hinata curiously looked at Kiba as she entered the shop. His sudden silence signified that there was trouble, and his smile said it was good for her. She peeked beyond the flap that Kiba held up and shrieked as she saw the bright smile her favorite blonde was giving her.

It certainly was not good. Kiba was so loud on the road that she was almost certain Naruto had heard everything they spoke about. Perhaps he didn't put two and two together?

The teenage girl blushed bright red and managed to squeak a 'Naruto-kun' as her team sat on either side of Naruto, leaving her a space right next to her crush. Hinata awkwardly slid into the spot next to Naruto, and he grinned wildly at her.

Naruto got up and embraced her in a warm hug, and she got even redder in the face. If he had heard, he didn't mind, and even though they had just seen each other, only three hours ago, he seemed extremely happy to see her.

Hinata decided to bring this up.

"Naruto-kun, we just saw each other." She had to giggle after she spoke. He was really sweet, and she rather enjoyed it.

"Well, I was looking for you at home, and I ended up coming here alone." He said sadly, but then smiled at her again as he reminded himself that she was in front of him and their timing was perfect. They were like two lines that ran together. They were perfectly in sync, even though they would be split apart once again. The universe was saying everything would be okay.

"You were looking for me?" She questioned. Her teammates had decided to give her a little privacy while talking and ordered food for the group. They were almost certain that Naruto would have another bowl, so they ordered for him, too.

"Yeah, well." He stuttered. He suddenly felt like he was suffocating. Kiba and Shino were really important to Hinata, and it made him feel as if he was under pressure to say the right thing.

"I-uhm. Well, I wanted to see about that date." He muttered.

"Naruto-kun." She giggled before continuing, "We still have plenty of time for that."

Shino and Kiba shared a glance.
They didn't say anything as they started to dig into their bowls of ramen. They were clearly going to tease Hinata about this interaction with Naruto at a later stage.

"About that. We don't. I'm leaving for a while to train." He said to her, Hinatas' face dropped.

"But, when I come back, we can definitely go out." He said, trying to cheer her up as best as he could. It broke his heart to see her look so downtrodden. He ultimately shared her anguish, but there was nothing he could do about it. This was something that couldn't be helped, especially if the Akatsuki were to come after him soon.

Hinata nodded with a small smile and turned to the bowl of ramen in front of her.

"Maybe this can count." She suggested, taking some noodles into her mouth.

"Definitely." He responded. It wasn't ideal that her teammates were on their first 'date,' but at least he got to see her before he left. They made for good conversation, and Naruto felt at home in Konoha once again. He felt like even though he hadn't hung out with team 8 in a long time, they were like a sort of extended family. He could trust them enough to let his guard down, and he felt warm and whole again even if it were only for a little while.

Naruto would walk Hinata home. It didn't take a while, but it felt good to have her alone for a few minutes. They decidedly had taken the long route to her home, walking through parks, then through the village center. They'd gone past the academy on the opposite end of the village. Eventually, they were resigned to walk towards her home but they took their sweet time to get there, all the while chatting and staring into each other's eyes as if the other person held the secrets of the universe within them.

They stopped in front of the Hyuuga compound and turned to face each other.

"Thank you for walking me home, Naruto-kun." She said softly.

"Thank you for a lovely evening, Hinata." He responded. There was a long pause as they both tried to walk away from each other. However, their feet were unmoving, and neither were their eyes.

Naruto felt his heart beat rush as he knew this was it. This was the feeling that you get when you don't ever want to leave someone's side. He felt the urge to do something to signify that they were going to part ways now, but a hug wasn't going to do it. A hug would just be awkward and so would turning away and waving goodbye. He knew what to do. He knew what came next, but it took courage, and he had to do it quickly before Hinata decided to go inside.

Naruto stepped forward and brushed the stray hair out of Hinata's face. He cupped her cheek, and his eyes flitted from her eyes to her slightly parted and pink lips.

Hinata was shocked , she wasn't too sure if they were about to kiss or if he was removing something from her hair. She guessed it was the former as he seemed to be cupping her cheek.

Her breath quickened, in front of her compounds gate, under the moonlit sky of Konoha. The man she had intense feelings for was inching closely towards her face with his own. She closed her eyes and felt herself leaning into his hold.

His body was warm, and she radiated heat herself, but she still shivered as the hand that wasn't holding face slicked around her waist.

She could feel his breath, so close to her own now. They mixed together, and it felt like they stood like this forever. Hinata's stomach was filled with butterflies, and she suddenly opened her eyes to look at him. She made to pull away, but in that moment of her absence, Naruto decided to close the space between them by grasping her lips with his own.

Hinata closed her eyes and melted in the kiss.

Heat spread through her body as he pulled her very closely to himself.

Naruto couldn't get enough as he held her tightly against him. He had never felt so passionate in his life. Her lips were not only warm they were soft and wet, and they welcomed his own so openly. His stomach did a backflip as he felt her body against his own. The world had completely slowed around him as he kissed the girl in front of him, who didn't seem to protest at the intimacy they were sharing, as she brought her hands up around his neck.

They both knew they couldn't kiss like this forever, so regrettably, they pulled away from each other. Panting heavily, they held each other in a tight embrace, looking at each other in wonderment.

"Goodnight, Hinata." He said before releasing her from his hold and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"G-goodnight, Naruto-kun." She whispered, elated and still reeling from the close contact her, and Naruto just shared.

Naruto stepped back and began to make his way down the road, turning around every few steps just to see her standing at the gates watching him leave. Eventually, she was out of sight and he grinned madly as he began hopping on the rooftops towards his home.