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Apart Chapter 4: The Date

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"Hello Hinata," the old man said with a wrinkly smile, "You just want the usual?"

Hinata nodded, and sat down next to Naruto, who was shoveling down ramen as fast as he could. Finally, he slowed, and with ramen hanging out of his mouth, looked over and saw the girl sitting next to him.

"Hinata!" he said, or at least, attempted to say, choking a bit on his ramen. Hinata blushed slightly, but decided it was time to stop running. Carpe Diem, she thought, just go with it, and show no fear.

Full of determination, Hinata said, "I'll have a bowl of whatever Naruto-kun is having today." The old man smiled, and winked at her in a kind way.

"Coming right up."

Naruto pounded on his chest, coughed a few times, and turned to face HInata. "I had no idea you ate here! I've never seen you in here before!"

Hinata smiled cutely. "I love this place, I eat here all the time."

"Guess it's a wonder we've never bumped into each other," Naruto said, smiling.

"I'll say," the old ramen man said, "You two practically keep this place in business." He had planned on continuing with, "Hinata always comes in right after you, Naruto," but stopped when he saw Hinata give him the look of please-shut-up.

It was true that Hinata had become almost as much a regular at the shop as Naruto, but it was definitely no coincidence they had never before seen each other in the small shop. Hinata was always just outside, off to the side and out of sight, arguing with herself, deciding whether she should go in and have breakfast/lunch/dinner with the only person she loved or eat alone in safety.

Hinata smiled, and for a minute or two they just talked about ramen, which Hinata knew to be Naruto's favorite thing, second only to training. She had become quite the expert on ramen in the past few years.

"I never thought you'd like ramen so much. Of course, I've never been a very good mind reader," Naruto said with an embarrassed smile, rubbing the back of his head slightly. "Probably means I haven't spent enough time with you."

Hinata nodded, reddening even more. Her ears were now completely pink, and it was beginning to seep brightly across her cheeks. Thank goodness my hair covers my ears, she thought.

"Yeah," she said, and then, on a sudden rush of courage, continued softly with, "we should... um... h-hang out sometime..."

How red am I? she thought. Calm down Hinata, don't lose it, you're doing great! Don't feel nervous dont feel nervous...

And please don't faint.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Naruto said, "How about now?"

Hinata's heart stopped for about two seconds. Once it had begun to beat again, she spoke quietly.

"Um, okay," she said. After a second's pause, she nodded, smiling. "I'd like that," she added genuinely.

"Good, I was going to ask Neji, but I don't know where he is, and you're probably better with a sword than he is anyhow," Naruto said as he rose from his chair. With a flourish, he handed his bowl back to the owner. "So, you'll be my sparring partner?"

Not exactly what I expected, Hinata conceded, but definitely not a strange request for Naruto. With an important mission, he'd want to train. So it's not a date, but it's a start.

Hinata, however, couldn't help but feel a little let down. Her first thought of hanging out had involved much less violence, and she was slightly disappointed. But in the split second she sat thinking about it, realization dawned on her.

Wait, this isn't a disappointment, this... this is the chance I've been waiting for!

Hinata nodded, heartened more with the idea that maybe she could prove her strength to him. "Of course! I was planning on practicing today anyway," she answered, slurping up some ramen.

"Alright!" Naruto yelled, pumping his fist in the air with his usual grin, "Lemme go back to my apartment and get my sword. Meet me at the training grounds as soon as you're finished!"

The old man coughed conspiratorially, looking at Naruto and jerking his head slightly towards Hinata. Naruto returned his look with a look of ignorance. "Huh?"

"Naruto," the old man said, reaching across the counter and putting a hand on his shoudler in a grandfatherly gesture, "A gentleman would pay for this pretty young lady's ramen."

"Huh?" Naruto said again, then suddenly, the light bulb exploded with light. "Ah! Yeah, um... Here, Hinata, I'll pay for lunch." Naruto fished out his froggie-wallet from his pocket, and pulled some money out of the mouth. He placed it next to Hinata with a smile, blushing slightly. Hinata had the impression that Naruto was blushing out of embarrassment for not thinking of it first.

He's proabably thinking, I shoulda remembered that, dattebayo! Okay, when you eat lunch with girls, pay for it, cuz girls like that... Wait, is that right? Aw, whatever.

She would have laughed had she not been so nervous. It was definately a very Naruto-esque thought.

"Th-thank you," Hinata said, smiling. Years of shy instinct told her to retreat slightly into her hoodie, but she caught herself before she could, and forced herself to sit up straight and tall.

"Well, hurry up!" Naruto said. He grinned, waved, and dashed out of the small shop, leaving the curtain fluttering behind him. There was a crash in the street, and the sound of commotion as Hinata relaxed and blushed profusely, smiling. This was it, she would finally have the chance to show him her strength!

And its almost like a d-date... she thought to herself, smiling and reddening even more. I mean, kinda, at least...

She felt like she could die happily right then and there in the ramen shop. She softly placed her head down on the counter and sighed, feeling that it was safe to let out all the blushing she had kept inside. A content smile on her face, Hinata closed her eyes and laughed softly to herself.

I really am still that shy, shy girl, she thought as she turned bright red just thinking about their lunch together.

"I'm impressed," the old ramen man said, absently cleaning a bowl, "You didn't seem too incredibly nervous at all."

"Thank you," she said softly, smiling as she closed her eyes and semed to rest next to her bowl of ramen.

"So now you've got a date with him," the old man said, smiling at her.

"Well, Oji-san, it's not really a date," she said, sitting up to face him. "It's training. There's more chance of one of us dying than anything romantic happening."

The old man laughed. "Oh come now," he said, "I'm sure Naruto equates violence with romance. He'd enjoy a good fight just as much as a normal person would enjoy going on a date or something."

Hinata gave him a friendly, quizzical look. "How do you know so much about Naruto?" she asked.

The old man smiled, and put on an over-dramatic air of mysteriousness. "You learn many things watching people eat," he said mystically.

They both laughed together, though Hinata didn't doubt that the man knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Thank you," she said, "for the ramen and for teaching Naruto a valuable lesson about 'dates.'"

The man laughed and took her bowl. "Don't even worry about it," he said, "just try your hardest when you fight him. Don't hold back."

Hinata nodded. Off to the training grounds, she thought as she picked up her bag full of supplies and slung it on her back. It contained her ANBU sword, her mask, and a variety of scrolls, kunai, shuriken, and bombs. She was walking out of the shop, the large duffel bag swinging on her shoulder, when she heard the old man call after her.

"And PLEASE don't kill each other!" he yelled, "I'd lose all my profits!"

"Can't promise anything, Oji-san," she called back, giggling. She decided to avoid the crowds this time, and leapt into the air, flipping gracefully onto a nearby rooftop, her hair flowing out behind her. In a flash, she was off, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, finding obstacles to spin around, to flip over. She used the mad dash as a way to stretch out her muscles, to warm up for an intense battle.

I need to be ready, Hinata thought with a smile, Naruto-kun never does anything halfway.
Chapter 4 of Apart. Rawk.

I don't own naruto and stuff, you all know that. Don't sue.

More to come very soon! As in, like, a few minutes, I'm updating my DA account with all the Chapters so far. Have fun with them.

Spread the word if you enjoy Apart!

Fanart and fanwallpapers are appreciated (an increase of fan activity = an increase of updates ^_^ ). More to come! Promise! Drop me a line!

Orignal Apart: [link]

My Central Hub: [link]

Chapter 1 [link]
Chapter 2 [link]
Chapter 3 [link]
Chapter 4 [link]
Chapter 5 [link]
Chapter 6 [link]
Chapter 7 [link]
Chapter 8 [link]
Chapter 9 [link]
Chapter 10 [link]
Chapter 11 [link]
Chapter 12 [link]
© 2007 - 2024 Heart-Bound-By-Kyubi
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Dagger3084's avatar
Agreed very romantic  ⚔️❤️⚔️