Chapter 78 Alone at last

Hinata walked through the village going to Naruto's place to meet up with him. She felt both nervous and yet she couldn't wait for this. They hadn't had much time together after they were made ninja so when they finally had become a couple they had to find the moments when they could. Walking down the streets she saw everyone doing something the village always felt full of life one of the reasons she loved living in the village.

She was passing by a side street when suddenly she felt a pair of hands grab her and pull her in. She was about to let out a scream as she felt a hand on her mouth and suddenly there was something behind her pressing against her. She panicked for a moment, although most didn't know it, she hated being suddenly grabbed by strangers. That night when she had been a child and kidnapped let her with a fear about that happening again. It wasn't as bad as it had been when she was a child but she still didn't like it.

"Surprise Hinata-chan," Naruto's voice whispered into her ear.

"N-Naruto-kun!?"

He pulled away chuckling at surprising her, he had been traveling the rooftops to try and get ahead of her as he had been worried he was running late plus he had another reason for taking the rooftops. He wanted to check to see if any other Hyuga were around or seemed to always be keeping a certain distance from her. When he had finally spotted her he just couldn't help surprising her, so he got ahead and cut into an alley that he knew she would have to pass.

She pouted at him not pleased by the scare.

Naruto noticed the look on her face and scratched the back of his head. "Ah, sorry I was just joking plus I wanted to be sure about something."

Now she looked confused about the meaning of that. "What do you mean?"

"Just let me check," he edged to the end of the ally and pulled out a small mirror from his vest. He used it to look around the corner for the person he had seen shadowing Hinata. She hadn't thought to look for a tail and it looks like it was Neji. At first Naruto thought Neji was just out but given that he was keeping a certain distance from her he recognized standard shadowing tactics. He had used the same skills from his dad for years.

"Yep I thought as much," Naruto muttered as he also noticed that a Hyuga couple had been also not far away. The same couple that looked to be shopping but not actually buying anything or going into any stores plus the guy looked like one of the gate guards. Given all the times he passed through the main gates he could place the faces of most of them. So he figured Hinata's father might have had one of the guards (the woman might be the man's wife or another guard he wasn't sure) just to make sure nothing happened to Hinata or it was just something the branch family did normally as a duty.

So was Neji part of it or was he doing this on his own? Again Naruto couldn't tell but none of that mattered he planned for this.

"W-what is it?"

"Oh I just have to get rid of some unwanted eyes," He chuckled as he made several shadow clones. Then he had half of them turn into a copy of Hinata. "Alright you guys know the plan."

"You got it," All of them nodded as they left the alley in both ends at different times and going in different directions. The Hyuga might be able to see in all directions but if they were focused on a certain pair even they could miss something. So with all the decoys deployed it would be fairly easy to get some alone time with her.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata questioned why he was doing all of this.

"Looks like you had a few people following you."

"What?" She was surprised by that and a little shocked.

"Don't worry I think they were just keeping an eye on you," then muttered maybe it was to keep an eye on him in case he did anything he shouldn't. Honestly that whole incident with her in her room that her father walked in on had been a misunderstanding. He had been alone with Hinata plenty of times of course that had been before they were dating. Well at least as long as he stayed ahead of everyone he could get some time alone with her.

"Come on I got everything ready," Naruto took her hand as he led her through the streets. He made sure that the clones knew what route to take that would lead anyone away from their destination. He led her through the village taking a few side streets and turns just in case, he never considered himself paranoid but then you could never be too careful with a group of people that could see through solid objects. Besides it was kind of fun this way, reminded him of when he was younger and tried to sneak into the Hyuga compound as many times as he could just to test them out.

Apparently he had found a few holes in the security of course if he knew now when he knew then he would have kept a few of those secret. Sneaking in was nearly impossible now so if he wanted a late night visit with her he better have a good reason for the gate guards to let him in.

At any rate now they had some alone time and he was going to enjoy it. There was no telling when the next mission would come from or how long either of them would be on it. So he was going to enjoy the time they had together when they had it. Plus he wanted to make this a really cool date for her so leading her to the training areas he hoped everything was ready. He had placed a few shadow clones on guard just in case as he didn't want to leave it all that stuff alone.

There were animals about as well in the area and he didn't want them picking at the food.

Hinata had no idea where he was leading them but it was kind of exciting the mystery of it all and what he had planned. They moved through the wooded area of the training fields the smells of the forest were everywhere. She always loved that about the village the smells of the forest especially after a raining morning she liked to go into the woods. Soon they came to a stop as Naruto looked at her as she noticed that look in his eyes when he was getting an idea.

"You know I really want this to be a good surprise, you trust me?"

She nodded her head as she watched him move behind her. He slowly and gently took the forehead protector from around her neck and placed it over her eyes. She swallowed getting a little nervous as she felt his hands on the naked bare neck. When his fingers touched it she felt a shiver run through her that she hadn't even known that part of her was sensitive.

When she was perfectly blind she was wondering when he was going to take her hand to lead her but she squealed when he suddenly picked her up in his arms. He told her to hold on and she did tightly as he started moving quickly through the forest. She didn't know what was going on or what he had planned but her heart was racing. He was jumping around most likely he was using the tree branches to quickly move through the forest. Then they landed and he was on flat ground, she could have used her eyes to see where they were but she restrained herself.

He was trying to make this a surprise and she didn't want to spoil things plus a part of her did enjoy the feeling of being carried in his arms. She blushed feeling her whole body feeling warm all of a sudden as she was starting to feel a little light headed but quickly fought it down. She had been trying so hard to not faint so much when she was with him like this.

Eventually he set her down as he took off the modified blindfold. "Here we are!"

She found herself in a small clearing here there was a blanket all set up and a basket. He had brought her out for a picnic but it wasn't just any field. There close by was a large patch of sunflowers that were growing.

"I saw this place and kind of thought about you," Naruto admitted scratching the back of his head. He had gotten rid of the clones before he showed her where they were. Plus he was glad the clones hadn't seemed to try and sneak a snack from the basket. "I wanted to find a really cool place where we could just relax together sort of a special place all for us."

"I like it," she told him as she sat down on the blanket.

Naruto grinned happy to hear that she liked the area if this worked out when this could be their own little spot where they could meet up in secret. He had found this while exploring the village and it hadn't looked like many if any came this way. So it had been the perfect to him and Naruto had spent a few days planning it all out and so far so good. He sat down next to her as he opened the basket and took out the food.

"That looks really good," Hinata said eyeing the food she noticed a few foods she really liked as most likely Naruto picked them just for her. That kind of thoughtfulness made her happy that he knew her so well and also cared enough to do it for her. In fact this whole thing had been just for her and she appreciated it a lot.

"Hope it tastes as good then," He grinned at her and he hoped it did. Now he knew how to make simple things especially instant food like the ramen cups he liked to eat. Unfortunately more complicated dishes were a bit of a challenge to him. So he had to buy the food from a few restaurants and the clones repackaged them to look like they were cooked.

Yeah it was 'cheating' but honestly he wanted this to turn out really nice and giving her food poison or indigestion wasn't exactly the best way to go about it. Not after all the planning for this and all the hard work. This was their first major date and he was going to make this a good memory for both of them.

Hinata tried a rice ball and liked the small taste of honey found in it in fact it tasted kind of like that kind that the one shop near the center of the village sold. She smiled wondering if he hadn't made the food she knew that he wasn't that good of a cook so might have bought it. She didn't mind after all, he seemed to put a lot of effort into all of this. So she wouldn't ask him or call him out on it because in the end the food didn't really matter.

The fact that they were alone and together was the really important thing about all of this and she was enjoying herself so far. The place was beautiful and she liked the sunflowers, she giggled as they kind of reminded her of Naruto's hair. How it was yellow and stuck out everywhere in little spikes his head kind of did look like a sunflower.

"Huh, something funny?" He asked her.

She shook her head she didn't want to tell him in case she laughed. The clueless face he made just looked so cute to her in that moment. She watched him shrug and pull down his mask as they started to eat together. She also liked these moments when he pulled down the mask around just for her. She knew that he did it because he idolized his dad Kakashi but sometimes she wanted to see his full face like when they first met. Then again only she got to see his full face so she felt very special that he trusted only her to show it whenever they were alone.

To her she knew that it spoke volumes of how much he trusted her and how close they were when he didn't show anyone outside of his family. Even his teammates didn't get to see his face all the time.

They spent the lunch talking about anything that came to mind, usually catching up and what everyone else was doing. They laughed and made jokes well Naruto made most of them if only because he liked the little laughing she did. It wasn't a full on laugh it was more of a quiet giggling like even her laugh was too shy to come out. Naruto always wondered if he could make her laugh out loud one day and what it would sound like.

Eventually they ate all the food and were just finishing up with the last of the drinks. Naruto looked at her and found that once again she was very cute. How had he not noticed it before, maybe just being his best friend growing up had blinded him to certain things. But looking at her now he couldn't help but notice her looks these days. As they sat together as she took her last drink left in her cup enjoying the moment when he suddenly leaned closer to her. She felt herself blush a bit but smiled at him as he was inches from her face now.

"I ever tell you that you're really cute when you blush?"

She shook her head not trusting her voice at the moment as he grinned at her.

"Well you are, makes me want to do this," he leaned in the last bit as his lips touched her. Her pale eyes widened as she felt their lips touch.

Her heart was hammering in her chest as she was frozen at the moment. So many thoughts rushed through her.

Should she kiss him back, if so how much should she, should she do something or just let him take control, his lips were nice, I really should do something now but what. I can't move what do I do what should I do? It will get awkward if I don't do anything I have to..k-kiss back.

I wonder what's for supper...For that last thought she had no idea why it entered her mind, even after the date and she had been laying on her bed staring up at the ceiling thinking about the day that totally random thought was still strange.

So she took action forcing herself to kiss him back as she moaned slightly as she fell into kiss her mind starting to go blank as her instincts started to take over for her.

Naruto took the initiative as he felt her kissing him back her lips were so soft as he leaned into it. Making small lingering kisses against her lips as they experimented to see how the other reacted. Soon they were getting into the moment although Naruto's arm and back was starting to ache from the unnatural angle he was in but he didn't care. This made it all worth it as he could taste her lips and the light flowery smell from her hair reached his nose too.

Hinata felt herself getting faint again as her heart was beating so fast it might burst. She couldn't keep herself propped up anymore and slowly started to fall onto her back. Naruto went with her as she was on top of her kissing her again. She hadn't known it at first but her arms snaked around his body as she pulled him in for more. She wasn't thinking anymore she couldn't think as her mind was lost in a haze of happiness as the two young lovers made out with each other.

Naruto thought about something he once read in his dad's books and wanted to try it. He pulled away from her lips and lightly sucked on her ear lobe.

Hinata squeaked in surprise at the sudden change and bit he lip feeling a jolt run through her spine unlike anything she had ever felt before. She thought that the kisses on her lips were something but this was something totally different, alien and yet very pleasurable for her. She had no idea that her ears were sensitive like this and with all the things he was doing was opening a whole new world for her. She might never look at ears the same way again after this.

She tried to fight it a but a small cute moan escaped her throat, Naruto liked the sound she made and wondered if the next part of the book was right. He moved aside the forehead protector she wore around her neck and kissed the side of the exposed skin. He sucked on the pale and smooth skin lightly before kissing it trying to emulate what he had read.

Hinata's eyes widened even more as she tensed up and actually groaned the sound was surprising even to her and she had no idea that she could make such noises. She whimpered as she was torn part of her wanted to stop but another wanted to explore these new experiences but knowing the kinds of things that might happen if they didn't stop, well she wasn't ready for it.

"W-w-wait," She told him panting for breath now as she felt him stop and pushed himself up so he was looking down at her.

"I-I don't t-think I can take much more," she told him.

Well Naruto knew that they were in no way ready for other things he had read about but a small part of him did feel a little disappointed. He was starting to have a lot of fun her skin was very smooth to him and he wanted to feel more of it, plus the cute little noises she made was something he wanted to hear more of as well. But he didn't want to push her too far too fast they did have the rest of their lives together after all.

He smiled as he lay down next to her, "No worries all you got to do it just tell me to stop and I'll stop, you know that I'll never do anything to hurt you."

She turned her head to look at him and smiled, "I know I'm just not ready for...certain things...Um...where did you learn that from?" She blushed remembering all the things he had just done.

"Oh I just read about it in my dad's books is all."

"Oh," she knew about those books but she never once even thought about reading them. They were for adults and she would never do something as improper as that. Although for the first time she was actually wondering what was in those books.

"Well anyways let's just enjoy ourselves we got plenty of time before you have to get back right?"

She nodded her head as she wanted to try to be a bit more expressive with her own emotions at the moment. Naruto was willing to show her affection so maybe she should too, with a small inhale of breath she readied her nerves and rolled over slightly. She was now resting against him her head on his shoulder as she was blushing all over now. Shutting her eyes as she didn't think she could open them, Naruto was surprised by smiled anyway. He shifted a little as he put his arm around her feeling her slightly tensed body slowly relaxed.

Hinata felt his body against hers and relaxed into it, it felt warm and safe like this. She didn't know it when slowly drifted off to sleep as Naruto watched over her enjoying the peaceful moment they had together.

-Konoha Village-

Neji had been following Hinata and Naruto for awhile now and honestly he had no idea what they were doing. They just seemed to be looking around and not going in any particular direction. That seemed odd to him as he figured that Naruto was going to do something special for a date with Hinata or at least something more than just walking around the village together. Plus something seemed off, he just couldn't place his finger on it.

Neji was standing by a vendor focused on the couple that he hadn't noticed someone walking up behind him.

Tenten was out buying some special oils to use on her weapons that prevent rust build up. She had a small bag of the metal tin cans as well as a few rags to wipe on and off the oils, and finally she had just gotten a new wet stone she needed for sharpening. Given all the pointed weapons she had she actually ran through wet stones faster than you'd think. That was when she noticed Neji there and walked over wondering what he was doing.

"Neji?" She was surprised when he nearly jumped normally it was hard to sneak up on him as he usually kept himself very alert.

"Tenten? I thought you were busy today?"

She held up the bag, "Yeah I needed a few things so what are you up to?"

Neji shifted as he looked to see Naruto and Hinata still in sight but they were slowly moving away. He didn't want to blow off his teammate but he couldn't afford to lose track of them either. Tenten gave him a curious look and then noticed his eyes flashing in a certain direction. She looked to see what had his attention when she noticed them.

She looked back at him giving him a leveled look, "Please tell me you're not spying on Hinata and Naruto."

"I'm not spying on them," He crossed his arms looking slightly offended that he was doing such a thing. "I'm just...looking after them is all."

"You're spying on them," she said deadpanned. She wasn't sure if she was more disappointed that he didn't trust them or was curious as to what they were doing. She saw him fidget as the two were slowly getting too far away. She had to admit that she was getting more curious as to what she had missed and what he might have seen.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Well come on we're going to lose them if we keep standing here." She told him walking in their direction. Neji didn't lose step with her although he did have a curious look on his face. She could see him wanting to question why she was going along with it and decided to tell him before he asked.

"I'm just curious," She told him. "So what have I missed?"

Some might think of her as not very 'girly' simply because she took her ninja life seriously, trained a lot and didn't spend her time off chasing down boys or wearing dresses and makeup, but that didn't mean she wasn't a girl. She actually liked romance and she liked being complimented and being chased by good looking boys just like any other girl her age. And where there was something very interesting like a couple she knew on a date she had to know how it went, even if she could only so far live vicariously through her friends.

"Nothing of note," Neji shrugged. "They've been looking around stores mainly."

Tenten looked at him and then quickly back to the couple. "Honestly? I thought on a date you'd, well you know, things like going out to dinner or walking in the park or something but window shopping, really?"

Neji just shrugged he didn't know what others did on dates but Tenten seemed to have a better idea. Had she been on a date before now? He knew that Naruto used to flirt with her when he was around but had stopped plus if he had gone out with Tenten he would know. Then he remembered how the Uchiha had been around her lately. The thought of him and Tenten didn't sit well with him as he started to wonder.

"Have...you been on a date before?" He asked trying hard not to blush but failing while keeping his eyes forward.

Tenten paused as she blushed as felt like maybe she had said too much. She fidgeted as she was thinking on answering him with the truth or not but she didn't want to lie about something like that. Yes it was embarrassing but she trusted him enough with it.

"Well no," She wished though, why couldn't a nice guy come up and ask her out? Sure she wasn't super girly but she had her charms she felt.

He gave her a look, "Oh, you sounded like you had experience."

"Well it's the basics," she crossed her arms being mindful of her bags looking away from him. "Just because no one's asked me yet doesn't mean I wouldn't like to go out with a nice guy."

That gave him thought that she did want to date this was the first he ever heard about it from her. Then again given their other two teammates where was the time for such talk? Looking at her he couldn't help but feel that she did have her charms. She was a lot more focused and mature than other girls their own age something he liked about her. Plus she had a grace about her, she could fight dirty and yet he had seen her fight with weapons like a dancer.

Tenten caught him starting and felt her face heat up. "W-what? What are you looking at?"

"Nothing, sorry," He went back to looking at the couple feeling his face heating up. For the next few moments there was a bit of a tense silence between them. Both of them unsure what to say or do next so they focused on the task at hand.

That was when Tenten started to notice a few odd things mainly that the two members were just hanging out more like friends than a couple. She kept noticing little things in fact something really did seem off about the whole thing.

"Hasn't Hinata usually been a lot more nervous around people?" Tenten suddenly asked him. "I mean she looks calmer then I can ever remember seeing her."

That was it, Neji realized suddenly. Their actions were totally off, Naruto would be trying to get closer to her and she would be blushing as she accepted. They would at least be holding hands but they were side by side as if they were just two buddies out for the day hanging out. Not only that but as he really looked closer he suddenly realized that Hinata was all wrong. It looked like her but she didn't move like Hinata. She moved with a more lumbering way, as a Hyuga trained in their specific fighting style it gave you a sense of poise and grace.

Not only that but as the eldest daughter of the main house she would have been trained for years on how to walk, how to keep her back straight and yet none of that was seen. She didn't move or act like Hinata and he knew the girl very well. She and Hanabi were more like little sisters to him than cousins so it was no wonder that something had been nagging at him.

Quickly he walked forward as Tenten startled matched his pace quickly asking him what was going on but he wasn't answering. Soon he came upon the two of them and the two looked at Neji.

"Oh hey there Neji," Naruto spoke up and then noticed Tenten. "Heeey, are you guys on a date?"

Both young teens blushed but Neji ignored it as he stepped up to Hinata and looked at her very closely.

"Uh...is something the matter?" Hinata asked.

Neji frowned looking at her now she sounded like Hinata but didn't talk like her. She was nervous but it wasn't the shy nervous that she usually had this was something totally different. That was then he realized what must have been going on. Suddenly he punched the fake in the chest as she burst into smoke.

"What the hell!?" Tenten shouted out surprised by his actions.

"Oh crap," Naruto muttered.

Neji turned to Naruto glaring, "Shadow clones with one in a henge. Where are they really?"

"Heh, figured me out huh?" Naruto grinned. "Well you're too late the boss and Hinata-chan are way gone by now, so good luck finding them!"With that the clone released himself as he too turned into a puff of smoke.

Leaving a very frustrated Neji behind he had been fooled and he can bet that Naruto wouldn't have just make one fake couple. There was no telling where the real ones could be in the village by now. All this time Naruto had been leading him around like a fool. He swore the next time he found Naruto he was going to have some words with him, maybe by using his fists for all the punctuations.

"Well at least we know why they were acting so odd," Tenten spoke up surprised by it all. He didn't say anything and she could tell he was very annoyed either by being duped by Naruto or by not knowing where they were or what they were doing. Honestly he could be a little overprotective at times.

Although she might have to calm him down or else he looked like he might go and hunt down Naruto by this point. She knew she had to do something so even though she was slightly embarrassed she slipped an arm through his leading him away. The sudden contact snapped him out of his thoughts of retribution as Tenten pulled him away.

"T-Tenten?"

"I'm hungry and I was going to get some lunch but since I was watching those two with you I'm really starting to get hungry now." She wasn't lying she was starting to get hungry and it was the perfect excuse to get his mind off things. She didn't noticed how it looked to others at first, her arm around Neji's and her carrying a shopping bag it looked like they had been out on a date already.

Neji felt a little uncomfortable with such intimate contact it also didn't help that his arm kept brushing up against a certain part of her chest lightly which made it all too painful how much of a girl Tenten really was. Of course he knew she was a girl but the physical reminder wasn't helping him stay calm. He started sweating slightly as his thoughts were more on her and less on Naruto.

"So given that we can't find them we might as well eat," she told him feeling herself getting warm feeling him against her like this. She knew that she was just trying to distract him but she couldn't help but the feeling of him on her arm felt...nice. It wasn't like when they were on missions or training this felt different than any time they were physically touching in the past. This felt more intimate with him as they walked through the village.

"Well...I suppose I do feel a little hungry myself," Neji had no idea what to say so he just went with the first thing in his head.

"Good I know a good place where we can eat then," she saw a few people looking at them a few women pointed and giggled as she realized how it finally looked to everyone. Suddenly she felt her race picking up a little as she realized that without even trying she had in a way gotten a 'date' with Neji. Sure it wasn't a real one but some part of her felt happy about it. She had been saying earlier that she would at least like to go on a date but she hadn't thought that it would happen so fast.

At any rate she had no idea how long or if ever something like this was going to happen again so she was going to enjoy it as much as she could.

Next up Chapter 16: New Duties and Responsibilities