A Fox, a Dog and a Raven - Chapter 16 (The Date - Part 2)
#17 of A Fox, a Dog and a Raven
For those of you not familiar with the Naruto series there may be some words or terminology that you are not familiar with. I have listed such words in a journal.Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, this is a non-profit fan-fiction written for fun.
In any case, you came here for the story, so I hope you enjoy it.******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
"Just waiting for Kurenai-sensei." Kiba explained. "She wants us to go training this afternoon, pain in the ass!"
"That's just because you're lazy Kiba." Came a voice from behind them. They both turned to see Shino walking towards them, wearing a heavy green trench coat with the hood up, despite the hot weather, and wearing sun glasses. The glasses and the collar of the coat hid most of his face from view. "It's good to see you again Naruto."
"Oh... yeah you too..." Naruto smiled. "Uh... What's your name again?" Shino visibly deflated, his shoulder slumped and seemed very depressed.
"You should remember the names of the people you grow up with..." Shino sulked.
"Sorry, but I've been away for a couple of years. You can't expect me to remember every ones name!"
"But you remembered Kiba and Akamaru's names!"
"Sorry..." Naruto felt bad because he had obviously hurt his feelings.
"H-hello... N-Naruto-kun." Came a squeaky voice behind Naruto. Naruto turned to see Hinata, she had grown taller since he had last seen her, her hair had grown a longer as well, her black hair flowed down her shoulders giving her a much more womanly look compared to the girl he remembered. She stood there looking to the side with a blush on her face and pressing her index fingers together nervously, just like he wondered how Shino could wear such a heavy coat in the middle of summer, he wondered how she could wear a fleece in this weather, it was zipped all the way up, Naruto mistook her blush for her feeling too warm.
"Hey, Hinata!" He grinned.
"Get over it Shino!" Kiba yelled, Naruto turned to see that Shino was now slumped against a wooden fence acting even more depressed than he was a few moments ago.
'Shit! Shino, that's his name! Kiba got me so flustered...' Naruto silently cursed, 'I can't let Kiba get to me, I have to follow Iruka's advice and tell him to... wait that's it!'
"Hinata!" Naruto yelled suddenly leaning in so close that his face was inches away from Hinata's her white eyes as wide as dinner plates and the blush on her face intensified. "Will you go on a date with me?*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
The Date - Part 2
Hinata went into a state of shock, her entire body went rigid and she felt her face blush so hot it she thought she might just explode, her heart was pounding so hard in her chest she was sure that Naruto could hear it, it was like a dream come true!
It seemed like an eternity to Hinata, but to everyone else it was a matter of seconds, between the time that Naruto had asked her out to the moment that she fainted.
"Hinata!" Naruto reached out to grab her but it was too late, she was already on the ground. "Is she still doing that?" Naruto asked aloud, concerned as he looked down at the unconscious girl unsure what to do, completely oblivious to the fact that the reason that Hinata fainted; even back in the days when they were in the academy was because of him. Kiba on the other hand wasn't concerned about Hinata, he was red in the face with rage that Naruto had asked Hinata out, in front of him no less!
'He thinks that he can act like what we did together never happened?!' Kiba seethed, doing a poor job in hiding his anger. 'Just you wait Naruto! You can deny it all you want but in the end you 'will' be mine!'
"You're looking a little flushed too Kiba." Naruto commented as he turned to look at him. "Maybe you should sit down before you faint like Hinata."
'Sit down? Sit down!? The only one going to be sitting down around here is you, as you side your ass down on my cock!' Kiba shouted in his head, he was about to speak when he heard Kurenai's voice behind him.
"What happened to Hinata?" Kurenai asked, her red eyes wide with concern. As Kiba turned round to face her he moved so that she could see Naruto standing behind him, answering her question. A smile graced her lips and she placed her hand on her hip, she still wore the same outfit, which seemed to comprise of a length of long white fabric which wrapped around her with the pattern of rose thorns along its length, which she wore above a red mesh blouse which only had a right sleeve. "So Naruto, how was your trip with Jiraiya?"
"Oh it was great!" Naruto exclaimed with a large smile. "I learned loads of new jutsu and... should we really be leaving Hinata lying in the middle of the street like that?"
"She'll be fine in a couple of minutes."
"Oh... okay..." Naruto replied, a little unsure of Kurenai's casual attitude to Hinata's current state.
'Think you can just wish me away do you?' Kiba seethed as he stared at Naruto who continued to talk to Kurenai about his journey. 'And he asked Hinata, that girls been in love with him since... forever! Hinata will try to make this work, try to take him away from me, I won't let that happen!' Picking up on his masters feeling Akamaru let out noise that was not quite a bark or a whimper and licked his hand. Kiba felt his anger fade slightly and he smiled to his canine partner and stroked his ears the way he liked. Kiba knew he was being possessive, he couldn't help it, his mother always said he was more like a canine than a human; he had always taken it as a compliment. Maybe it wasn't always a good thing.
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Naruto was excited and at the same time extremely nervous, Hinata had finally stayed conscious long enough between her faints to say yes to going out on a date with him tonight. There was no set plan, only that Naruto would meet her at her home which meant... meeting her parents. How would they react to him dating her? Only one way to find out.
He had spent the last few hours worrying if he should buy a new outfit, his current one was a little scruffy, and it was one of the few outfits left in his wardrobe that actually fit him, he had grown over the two years he was away. The problem was he had very little money and doubted if he could afford anything of a high enough standard to impress Hinata, or her parents. So his choice was his usual black and orange track suit or a loose fitting orange t-shirt and black pants.
"I really need to expand my wardrobe options... need more orange!" Settling on wearing the T-shirt and black pants as they were clean Naruto got ready and head out to pick up his date.
"Date... wow! I actually have a date!" Naruto laughed in disbelief. He had always been asking Sakura for dates when he was younger but was always turned down, the fact that Hinata had said yes, made him feel warm inside.
His journey to the Hyuga compound passed in what seemed like seconds due to his excitement. Upon seeing the tall white walls that surrounded the compound, and the large wooden gates at the entrance, he began to feel nervous. Taking a deep breath he gripped the leather strap of his sword, which was slung across his back, in an attempt to steady his nerves. He walked up to the gate and knocked. A few moments later a hatch slid open revealing two pale white eyes which narrowed as they focused on him.
"State your name and business!"
"Uhhh... I'm Naruto Uzamaki... I'm here to take Hinata... on a date?" Naruto cursed silently when his voice cracked and his answer sounded more like a question. The white eyes continued to stare at him silently, for what seemed like an eternity, before the hatch slid closed. Moments later several loud clunking noises emanated from the other side of the gate as the locks were opened. The gates swung open to reveal two Hyuga guards, their eyes taking in every detail about him as they assessed if he was a potential threat..
"You're expected. Please follow me." One of the guards said before motioning for Naruto to follow him. Naruto quickly followed him to the door of the main building where Hinata stood with two other people, one male, one female. Both of them were dressed in kimonos, the woman wore a light pink Kimono and the man wore a white and blue Kimono, they stared at Naruto with cold curiosity. It didn't take much for Naruto to work out that these were Hinata's parents.
"Naruto-kun..." Hinata whispered with a blush.
"You must be Hinata's father. I'm Naruto Uzamaki." Naruto announced formally with a bow. "I would like your permission to court your daughter this evening." This was line he remembered from a movie and Naruto hoped it was appropriate.
"So you are Naruto..." Hinata's father replied, Naruto looked up to see a look of icy indifference. "I suppose you're decent enough to date my daughter, but be warned, if you hurt my daughter in any way I will kill you!" The statement hung in the air. Naruto swallowed nervously. If his fight back during the chunnin exams with Neji was anything to go by, he really didn't want to suffer the wrath of the head of the Hyuga clan.
"Thank you Hyuga-san." Naruto said bowing once again. Hinata was motioned over by her father and she complied quickly and blushed as she and Naruto made eye contact. Naruto was looking straight at her and was smiling, she wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
"Seeing as my daughter is a ninja," He said it as if he doubted the truth of the words which confused Naruto, but he decided it was best to just remain silent. "I'm not going to set a curfew, but I do expect her home at a reasonable hour Uzamaki." His words were laced with threat and Naruto knew that he was not a man that was not willing to back up his threats.
"Yes sir."
"Good. I hope that our next meeting will be as pleasant as this one." He warned obviously restating his threat of killing him should he somehow upset his daughter.
'Maybe asking Hinata out to confirm whether or not I'm gay was a dumb thing to do." Naruto thought solemnly. 'Too late now, might as well make the most of it.' He held his arm out for Hinata, once she had wrapped her arm round his, he wasted little time in leaving the Hyuga compound and getting as far away from her father as possible.
"S-so... Naruto-kun... what are we doing?" Hinata asked timidly.
"Well I thought we could go and get something to eat." He suggested, he was famished. "So where would you like to go for dinner?" He asked hoping that she wouldn't pick some ridiculously expensive place to eat. He would be more than happy to go and have some ramen.
Hinata paused to think about it, her family was rich and she was fairly used to going to expensive restaurants, but she knew that Naruto wouldn't be able to afford them. That's when she remembered that Naruto loved ramen, and had frequently eaten it when she had followed him around when they were younger. "Umm... how about some... Ramen?"
"Great!" Naruto grinned ecstatic at her choice. "I know the perfect place!"