.NaruHina, T

F-I-R-S-T-S

Chapter 2

Firework

(Our First Date)

Uzumaki Naruto was widely regarded as one of the most powerful shinobi alive. Already it was commonplace knowledge that he was to be named the next Hokage, though he was only a tender nineteen years of age. He had defeated Pain, saved the village of Konoha, and had been the instrumental force in turning the tide of the fourth great shinobi war, defeating Kaguya and dispelling the infinite tsukuyomi which held the world captive. Against impossible odds, he had tamed the kyuubi and made friends with the tailed beasts. He had been victorious in his battle over Uchiha Sasuke and convinced the rogue-nin to denounce his evil ways, breaking the long curse of hatred on the Uchiha Clan. He had proven himself capable of overcoming nearly any obstacle through sheer force of determination and great inner strength. He had gone from a hated orphan to one of the most respected and well-recognized people in his village—and even all the world. Yet our intrepid Hero was about to embark on one of his greatest challenges yet:

The date.

He almost felt as though he would prefer going into battle. Naruto was a hardened shinobi and he'd never really had a fear of injury or death—so long as it was for the sake of protecting his friends. But he was afraid of making a fool of himself in front of Hinata. Their relationship was a new one—at least so far as its romantic nature. He had known Hinata for ages, and never felt uncomfortable talking with her or spending time with her; they had been friends but now they were something more—ever since they had confessed their mutual feelings for each in the events following the Hanabi rescue mission. It had been so easy then for him to say what he had wanted to say. He had even kissed her in the moonlight, inspired by passion and feeling of the moment ... but now the mission was over, Hinata and her sister were safely returned to the village, they were back in the ordinary and unexciting routine of daily life and he was left with the awkward realization that he had never had a girlfriend before and he didn't know what to do.

Was Hinata even his girlfriend? Could she be his girlfriend if they hadn't even gone on a single proper date yet? (This, of course, he was about to remedy but the question remained the same.) Were they exclusively dating now? He wanted her to be his girlfriend, even though he did not know exactly what all that entailed. They would kiss, he supposed, and hold hands, and go on other dates—and then maybe they would have sex and get married (not necessarily in that order?) and have children and spend the rest of their lives together; he had told her that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and he'd meant it. But how did one progress from here to there?

He wasn't really sure who he could ask about his love troubles. Jiraiya-sensei would have been the obvious choice, he thought with a hint of sadness. He missed his mentor most at times like this, when he felt like there was still so much that Jiraiya had to teach him—about life and love, and not just ninjutsu. He wondered why the pervy sage had stayed single all his life, when judging on the subject matter of his most popular books, he had a very healthy interest in women (or perhaps just all the things that one could do with women; these things Naruto tried not to think about too much around or about Hinata, as it felt rather sinful of him to do so.) The next obvious choice was Kakashi-sensei, but he was busy as of late with his Hokage duties and Naruto didn't want to trouble him with trivial things. Shikamaru had a girlfriend—maybe he could as him? (Only somehow he had a premonition that Shikamaru's advice would be not to get involved with women as they were 'too troublesome.') Surprisingly, not many other of his peers were dating; Ino and Sai had been spending a lot of time around each other lately, but it was nothing 'official' according to the latest gossip. Naturally Sakura-chan wasn't dating either—she was still carrying a flame for Sasuke, and always would. Sakura wouldn't be Sakura if she didn't love Sasuke.

Eventually he settled on asking Sai, who seemed like the likeliest and most easily accessible choice. His intuition did not steer him wrong; because Sai was the most socially awkward of the bunch, he also had the most reading material on how to navigate social situations. He had an entire book about dating protocol. After reading his fill (apparently it was customary for the man to pay for all the expenses on the date; he checked his wallet gama-chan, who was looking a little thin as of late) he left Sai's apartment feeling somewhat more confident and left to meet Hinata for their date.

He waited for her outside of the academy entrance. It was a fine day for a date, sunny and warm and quiet in the village. It was convenient that neither of them had missions today—that didn't often happen, because they were on different teams and therefore operated on different schedules. Sometimes Naruto wondered what it would have been like if he and Hinata had been put on the same team as genins; not that he would ever want to replace Sakura or Sasuke, as they were as much his family as his teammates, but it seemed inevitable that if they had been brought closer sooner he would have only fallen in love with her that much quicker.

"Sorry Naruto-kun, am I late?"

He lifted up his head as she approached and found himself blinking little stars out of his eyes at the sight of her. She was dressed conservatively, wearing a mid-length skirt with a blouse, and it suited her so well; she looked both classy and sweet. He didn't often have the chance to see her in her civilian clothes. Golden sunlight caught and reflecting in the glossy strands of her long, indigo hair. Hinata honestly had the prettiest hair of any woman he'd ever seen. He'd never understand how it fell so perfectly straight or managed to be so shiny and sleek-looking, when his own was a little coarse and stuck out at all ends chaotically.

He longed to touch her hair beautiful hair.

"Nope." he managed finally, flashing her a grin and trying not to ogle her too much. "Just on time."

'Make sure to compliment her,' Sai's manual had said. Clearing his throat, he flushed a faint shade of red.

"You—you look super nice today-ttebayo, Hinata." he blurted.

Now it was Hinata's turn to blush and she did so, matching the colour of his cheeks shade for shade. "T-thank-you," she shuffled, "... you ... look very handsome today, too, Naruto-kun."

"Huh? Me?" he gestured at himself obliviously (and somewhat unnecessarily as she had clearly said 'you' and 'Naruto-kun.') She nodded shyly in response and the two of them stood there in an awkward, flustered silence for a moment before he went on: "Ah, er, thanks. Well, should we be going?"

Hinata nodded once more. "What would you like to do, Naruto-kun?"

'Always plan activities beforehand, so that your date doesn't get bored.' "Well," he said, "I thought we could start by going for a walk in the park, and then maybe wander down main street and see if there are any movies playing at the theatre... Unless there was something else you'd like to do?"

"No, not really," she said. "That sounds nice."

At first they walked together side by side and made small-talk here and there to fill in the silences; he commented on the weather, from there began to talk about his recent missions and soon enough the slightly embarrassed atmosphere between them began to dwindle as he warmed up and chatted more boisterously. He did most of the talking and Hinata seemed content to listen to him regaling her with his best anecdotes.

"And then ... after all the trouble we went through and all the failed attempts at tricking him into showing us, we just asked Kakashi-sensei what he was hiding under his mask—and so he agreed to show us, and underneath,"

Hinata leaned in, clearly curious.

"Was another mask."

Hinata's pearly eyes widened, and then she let out a musical laugh like the tinkling of a bell. He brightened and felt that making her laugh was the best feeling in the world. "Really? ... Come to think of it, I've never seen the sixth's face either. Even on the mountain, it's carved with his mask on... I wonder why."

Naruto nodded his head vigorously, scratching at his chin as he pondered the same question. "Mhm! It's the greatest mystery of our lifetime."

She smiled at him and his heart did flip-flops in his chest. They passed a bridge that stretched over a little winding creek and he glanced down at her hand, staring at it intently. Would it be alright for him to hold it, he wondered? He wanted to hold her hand. If they were on a date, was it normal and expected for him to hold her hand? It hadn't mentioned anything about that in Sai's manual. If so, should he do it on the first date or was that to soon, and should he wait for subsequent ones? Did he ask her permission first or would that be silly? No, he determined after much deliberation: he was a man and he was just going to reach out and hold her hand like a man. His fingers began creeping towards hers until they were just a fraction of an inch away, so close that they were almost touching, and then...

"W-what do you suppose that is?" Hinata spoke suddenly, startling him and he quickly withdrew his hand, casually acting as if he hadn't been reaching for her at all. He looked in the direction she indicated—on the other end of the park across the lake was a small outdoor stage, and there seemed to be a gathering of people of some sort going on.

"Dunno." he replied. "Want to go take a look?"

As they followed the pathway along the curve of the lake and drew nearer to the commotion the crowd had begun to grow. As they approached he saw a sign posted that read: THE GREAT NANAKEN: HYPNOTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE. FREE SHOW, 11:15, 3:15, 7:15. TODAY ONLY

"A hypnotist?" Naruto wondered aloud. "Like, genjutsu?"

"Um ... I don't think it's a ninja art." Hinata explained. "It's more like ... suggestion, or manipulation after putting someone in a trance."

"Oh." he blinked, intrigued and skeptical. How could something like that work if it wasn't genjutsu? "Huuuh. Do you want to check it out-ttebayo?"

"O-okay." she agreed readily, and they eked their way forwards into the growing audience. It was ten past eleven and the show was nearly about to begin. They found a spot where they could both see, standing just below the raised wooden stage which was slightly aged and weather-worn. "I've never watched anything like this." Hinata added conversationally.

The news didn't especially surprise him, but he wondered what Hinata did do in her spare time. He knew that she could knit, and that she trained hard, but what other things did she do when she was not doing those things? Did she like to read or go for walks? Paint or draw? He wanted to know everything about her, and if he knew what she liked it would be easier to buy little presents for her—for birthdays and Christmases and such. He opened his mouth to ask, but before he had the chance a figure walked out on stage: it was a woman dressed in some sort of glittery, slinky dress, wearing entirely too much face paint with her hair piled like a beehive on top of her head.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she spoke up in a silky voice and the crowd hushed, turning their attention on to the stage. "Thank you for joining us for the show. It is my pleasure to introduce to you The Great Nanaken!"

With a flourishing wave she indicated the man who had just stepped up on stage, middle-aged and nondescript, wearing a plain yukata and geta. Naruto did not think he looked all that 'great'; he just seemed like an ordinary old man. There was a smattering of applause which died out when the hypnotist held a hand up to speak.

"Thank you, thank you. My lovely assistant Kiko, everyone. Now, to begin I'd like to say that everything you are about to say is real. There are no paid actors waiting in the crowd. Furthermore, my hypnosis is always completely safe. I will never ask a person to do anything harmful to themselves or others while they are suggestible ... exempting a little embarrassment, of course, but this is a comedy show." Although the man himself was rather unextraordinary-looking, he was charismatic and spoke well; already the audience had perked up and was listening more intently. Naruto leaned in, his eyes bright and curious, and peeked at Hinata beside him who seemed equally entertained. "We rely on willing volunteers from the crowd, and on that note, is there anyone who would like to volunteer? I will warn you, if you do not like looking a bit silly in front of others, you might not want to put up your hand."

Naruto's hand immediately shot up into the air. "Oh! Me!" he said, waving his arm as the hypnotist began to pick from other volunteers. It was not that he wanted to be hypnotized or look silly, but he was convinced that it was all a trick—or that only the weak-minded were susceptible, and he would display his mental prowess by resisting the hypnosis.

"Ah yes, you, young lady—and let's have this gentleman here, and this young lad, come on stage." When Naruto was not immediately selected he began hopping up and down and waving his hand more vigorously. "And two more, let's have a couple—you there."

At first Naruto thought that the man had meant he and Hinata, and grinned, looking towards her—but as it turned out this Nanaken fellow had been pointing at the young man and woman standing directly behind them, who let out a few excited giggles before making their way quickly on stage. Naruto put down his hand and slumped, disappointed.

"S-sorry, Naruto-kun." Hinata consoled him, patting him on the arm. Her hand lingered there and he was instantaneously cheered. It was incredible that Hinata could have that sort of rapid effect on his mood, that with a touch or a look she could make him feel like he was floating on air.

The show began, and Naruto's skepticism gradually melted away into absolute wonderment and entertainment. The hypnotist started off simply, relaxing his participants through a series of verbal cues until they were in a 'trance'; he made them lift their arms and clap their hands and stop their feet, fall asleep and wake up with a snap of his fingers. "How is he doing that?" Naruto pondered loudly.

To which Hinata mumbled, "...I wonder..." and giggled at Naruto's amusing range of reactions as the show went on, and The Great Nanaken began giving more interesting and hilarious suggestions to his participants: An enormous, muscly man danced across the stage like a lithe ballerina, a young lady clucked like a chicken and hopped on one foot, while another pair of volunteers were screaming at each other about which was better: ice cream for dinner or breakfast. Naruto laughed so hard that his sides hurt (and Hinata enjoyed Naruto's hearty laughter as much as she enjoyed the show.)

Before long the show concluded, but not before The Great Nanaken left his volunteers with some post-show suggestions to cause them trouble and give their companions great amusement for the rest of the day: "You, sir, believe that you are, in truth, a werewolf. Anytime you hear someone say the word "moon" you will strip off your shirt and begin howling. And you, miss, are deathly allergic to sunlight. Anytime today that someone says the word "sun," you will run to the nearest shade or shelter. And you, young couple—ah, young love. You are deeply and passionately enamoured of one another. The next time you both hear someone say the word "firework," you will give each other the most heated, passionate, uninhibited kiss of your lifetime, heedless of where you are and who might be watching."

Naruto sniggered loudly; something tickled at the back of his brain but he ignored it.

"Thank you for watching, ladies and gentlemen, shinobi and kunoichi. Let's have a round of applause for our volunteers," there was an enthusiastic roar of clapping and Naruto and Hinata both joined in, "and again, my lovely assistant Kiko."

"Thank you, thank you," said the lovely assistant Kiko, and gestured again to the hypnotist. "Everyone, the The Great Nanaken!"

More applause, and then the hypnotist gave a quick self-promotion ("need help quitting smoking? Weight loss? I also offer my services for behavioural conditioning...") and the crowd began to disperse. Hinata and Naruto, bright-eyed and smiling, wandered back towards the lake.

"That was sooooo funny, wasn't it, Hinata?" Naruto chattered animatedly. "When that girl was making noises like a chicken ... or when that boy was chasing that man around the stage, barking at him like a dog!"

"Mmn." She nodded her head in agreement. "I've never watched anything like that. It was very amusing!"

"And when that guy in the hat started singing... ahahaha, oh it was so terrible-ttebayo. Say, Hinata, what shall we do next?"

After the show in the park they had lunch at Ichiraku's (he was glad that Hinata had wanted ramen, as gama-chan was in need of some serious fattening) and then caught a matinee. Just before dinner he dropped her back off at the Hyuuga complex. They stood outside the main entrance and Naruto stole repeated glances at her pretty, pink lips as they said their farewells.

"I had so much fun today, Hinata." he told her, and wondered if it would be alright if he kissed her. He hadn't managed to hold her hand so now was his last chance to make a move. "We should do this again soon."

"Yeah. I-I had a great time, too." she answered him.

Pause. She fidgeted with her hands, her fingers twisting together. He swallowed. She lifted her chin towards him and their eyes met; his face burned bright red.

He'd kissed her once before. But it had been different then—he'd just finished rescuing her after a battle on the moon with Otsutsuki Toneri, who had been trying to marry her just after Naruto had finally confessed his feelings. There had been all sorts of adrenaline and stuff pumping through his system and when they'd been floating in midair it had just been so natural and automatic to lean in and put his lips to hers and kiss her. But now, when it was not-quite dusk and they were standing outside her house, and anyone could come around the street corner at any minute and see them, it wasn't so easy or simple. His heart was pounding in his chest and he felt unbelievably nervous. He forced himself to look away from her slightly-agape lips which were just begging to be kissed, and looked at her eyes instead. It was not much better; she had such pretty eyes, such big, pale, enchanting eyes ... that ... could ... see through solid objects ... that her father and sister and everyone else in the Hyuuga Clan also possessed, all of whom were just beyond those doors.

The last of his courage failed him.

"Ah, erm, well, bye, Hinata." he said quickly. "See ya later."

He turned and scurried away so quickly that he did not see the look of disappointment on her face.

ONE WEEK LATER

Uzumaki Naruto was largely considered to be one of the most formidable ninjas in all the world. He was on the fast track to being named one of the youngest Hokage in Konoha history. He was a master of sage-jutsu and controlled the Chakra of the nine-tailed beast. He was son of the powerful Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, and had been trained both by the legendary Hatake Kakashi and one of the three Sannin, Jiraiya. He was reincarnate of Otsutsuki Asura. He was the Child of Prophecy. Yet our intrepid Hero was about to embark on one of his greatest challenges yet:

Meeting his girlfriend's father.

He had tried to escape this very situation in any way possible, claiming missions, doctor's appointments, and finally that he had a very bad case of the runs, but Hinata would only look at him with her lips pursed and her all-seeing eyes and he knew that she wasn't believing him for a moment. She insisted that it had to be done. The Hyuuga were an old, respected family, and her father had demanded to meet him. Of course, Naruto knew of Hyuuga Hiashi just as he was sure that Hyuuga Hiashi knew of him (most people did nowadays), but it was one thing to know and respect Naruto as a fellow shinobi and to be introduced to him as his daughter's boyfriend.

Naruto was ninety-percent certain that he was going to die.

"Y-you're not going to die, Naruto-kun." Hinata reassured him for the umpteenth time. But Naruto remained nervous, fussing with his clothes. He had worn his most formal outfit and attempted to sweep his hair back into some semblance of order so he looked presentable, but mostly felt that he looked quite ridiculous and like he was trying too hard to impress.

"But what if he doesn't like me?" What little he had heard or knew of the Hyuuga patriarch wasn't exactly promising. It was his understanding that he was a very stern and forbidding character, and Naruto was the worst at dealing with people like that.

"H-he will." Hinata promised. They were sitting in the large, tatami-mat tea room in the front building of the Hyuuga complex, waiting for Hiashi to arrive. Hinata reached over and smoothed back a lock of Naruto's blond hair which was sticking up oddly and her hand pause there by his sunny tresses. "Probably."

At Naruto's subsequent dismayed expression, Hinata giggled quietly. Sometimes, he noticed, she liked to tease him. It was always so pleasantly unexpected when she did. He pinkened. "Geez, Hinata..."

The sliding paper door flew open. Naruto sat up abruptly, his back ramrod straight. Hinata quickly withdrew her hand and turned to face her father.

"H-Hello, Father." she greeted him timidly.

"Hn." he grunted in reply, standing over the couple with his arms crossed over his chest. He stared down at them so intensely that a fine sheen of sweat broke over Naruto's brow and his hands grew clammy—he was moments away from his teeth chattering nervously.

"H-h-h-h-hello. That is, good afternoon." Naruto greeted stiffly. "Father. I mean, Hinata's Father. Hyuuga-san. My name is Uzumaki Naruto."

"I'm well aware of who you are, Naruto." Hiashi replied, and sat down cross-legged across the low-sitting table from them. "Don't think that just because you are the Hero of Konoha, I will give my daughter to you."

"F-father..." Hinata chided him mildly.

"I expect a proper courtship." Hiashi said. "No funny business. I know that you are a young man and my daughter is a lovely young woman, but you will comport yourself in a manner respectful of the fact that she is the Hyuuga heiress. I expect her to be brought home no later than eleven on ... date nights."

"Yes sir!" Naruto conceded quickly, embarrassed that her father might think that he had any sort of ... untoward intentions concerning Hinata. Well, he did—a little—as it was only natural that he should think about such things of the girl he loved and wanted to someday marry, but he would never dream of disrespecting her. "I—I love your daughter very much."

Hinata's face blazed scarlet, and Hiashi blinked, taken aback by the sudden confession.

"Ah... is that so?" Hiashi broke the silence finally, stroking his chin and seeming marginally softened. "Well, that is all very well and good, but I still expect that you will treat her respectfully, of course. And yes, there was another matter of business I wished to discuss with you while you are here. I never did have the chance to thank you properly for rescuing her and my younger daughter, Hanabi—"

'Firework.'

It was like a taut wire had snapped inside of him—or a dam had broke, unleashing an immense flood. The world around them faded until it was only he and Hinata—nothing else in the world, and he wanted to kiss her more than he had ever wanted anything in his life. He needed to kiss her. The feeling was so intense that he thought he might burst out of his skin if he didn't, and so he did. He practically flung himself on top of her and she was instantly receptive; her arms wound around his neck, tugging him closer in desperation as they tumbled to the tatami-mat and he lay half-on top of her, her breasts crushed against his chest. His mouth slanted over hers hard, and he kissed her like a man starving and her lips were a sweet, sweet feast. She mewled her approval into his mouth, her hands sliding up and tangling in his short, blond hair and her lips parted to give his tongue entrance. His tongue slid along hers and he groaned, his own, rough hands sliding down to her waist, feeling along the luscious curves of her body, and they broke apart for air, and—

"What. In. God's. Name. Are. You. Doing?"

Naruto froze, emerging slowly from the haze of his mind and coming quickly back to a full, conscious awareness of where he was and what he was doing. To Hinata. In front of her father.

Hinata let out a dazed moan, and blinked her half-lidded eyes. Then she glanced over her shoulder at her Hiashi, and paled.

"Naruto-kun." she whispered to him. "R-Run."

He didn't need to be told twice.

Thanks to mrdbznarutofan for the awesome prompt! I like the idea that Hinata and Naruto would be super adorable but awkward around each other to begin with. x3 Sometimes they might need ... a little encouragement.

The name 'Hanabi' means firework, by the way, if that wasn't clear.

This one-shot takes place concurrently with the Naruto special chapter "AFTER THE LAST" (Chapter 699.5) and, obviously, after the movie "The Last." If you haven't seen it and want to know about the events that I reference in this chapter, there's a good article about the movie on Narutopedia or you can watch the korean dub with subtitles on

Also, I have a tumblr now where I post my fanfiction and some fanart. You can find me by the name t-a-c-o-c-a-t-writes. Thanks for reading, and remember to leave a review if you liked!