The day has been dragging on long enough. The weather, recently, has been blazing hot; there was no air-conditioning in the school; none of the senseis allowed any of the boys to come to school with shorts, or let anyone off the hook with wearing tank tops during class time. So everyone as of now, during Iruka-sensei's sophomore year class of Japanese Literature (he was subbing for Kakashi-sensei), had damp skin and sweat-soaked clothes sticking to their almost entirely red-flushed skin due to the heat. No one looked as gross as it seemed. The girls in the class didn't seem to mind ogling at the boys they liked. In particular, there was Sasuke. The raven-haired teen brought his own Uchiha fan to cool himself off. Some of his hair was pulled back, thanks to the consideration of his best friend, Naruto, who supplied him with rubber bands he suspects was stolen from the teacher's desk.

While nearly every girl ignored listening to Iruka-sensei discuss the important meanings behind a maiden's call for help during wartimes, Hinata especially paid her attention to the only other blond in the room, besides Ino, who was a girl. Hinata, the good girl she is, who does her best to pay her respects to her teachers and concentrate on lessons, could not seem to get Uzumaki Naruto out of her mind. On most days, the boy sat on the right side of the room, opposite to her. But since it was a hot day and the windows were open, he had chosen the seat closest to the window; his seat happened to be right in front of hers.

Hinata was not a pervert by any means, but she has observed that boys take to wearing undershirts under their white uniform shirts. On this day, however, it was clear as day that the boy in front of her was not wearing an undershirt of any kind. The teenage boy was so hot and sweaty—literally—that his white shirt clung tightly to his tan skin.

Hinata knew she was blushing. Embarrassed all by herself, she tried covering her face with her book, but it was futile—the image had already been burned into her mind: she can clearly see the outline of his back muscles and a hint of the red of his boxers.

Her admiration for the blond intensified in the small amount of time she allowed herself to observe him again.

We're only sixteen. What on earth does he do after school to make him build up and gain all that musculature? Hinata wondered.

Naruto's blond hair blew gently in the soft breeze of the wind that would enter the classroom. His nonchalant, bored expression described how everyone else felt; even Iruka-sensei was getting tired of lecturing. Naruto sat back in his chair, stretching his arms out. The knicks in his back cracked loudly, gathering the attention of some girls sitting around Hinata.

Hinata caught sight of a girl whose name she had yet to learn. When the girl's eyes landed on the blond teen and a faint blush painted across her cheeks, Hinata felt a strange pull at her heart at the thought of someone else liking Naruto. Immediately, she felt guilty about it.

Other people can like him. He's not your property, Hinata, she scolded herself.

Naruto turned to his right and left, continuing with his stretch. Hinata was shocked at how flexible he seemed to be. It looked as if he could have done a whole one-eighty degrees until she suddenly made eye contact with bright blue eyes. A gasp escaped her after realizing she'd been caught staring. Her face turned a dark shade of pink as she felt more embarrassed.

Naruto laughed wholeheartedly, shooting a wide grin at her; it was almost as bright as the sun, like his whole demeanor.

"Hi, Hinata-chan!" he greeted her, his voice raspy and deep in that subtle teenage-boy-to-a-man sort of way. His voice instantly sent a shiver down her spine, yet it calmed her nerves as well. Weird. Not as weird and surprising once she remembered her crush just spoke to her!

The girl bowed her head politely in greeting, quietly acknowledging him. "Hi, Naruto-kun," she mumbled softly.

Naruto leaned back in his chair with his right arm lying across Hinata's desk; he made sure to stay careful of not getting in the way of her books.

"Today's sure hot as hell, huh?" he muttered conversationally. Hinata nodded.

Is he really talking to you? Hinata asked herself, bewildered.

A glimpse in her peripheral vision, Hinata saw the girl from before give a scowl in her direction, then she turned away, probably deciding to go back to staring at Sasuke.

Iruka-sensei cleared his throat at the front of the room. He shot a stern look to Naruto and grunted loudly. "Naruto! Pay attention!" the older man yelled.

Naruto rolled his eyes, giving their teacher an easygoing smile. "Iruka-sensei, you know I can't read," he joked. That got a laugh out of everyone in the class; even Sasuke smirked, muttering "Baka" under his breath.

Naruto glanced sideways at the girl sitting behind him and winked at her when she met his gaze again. "Wanna hang out after school?" he suddenly asked her. From the wide-eyed look Hinata gave him, Naruto guessed she was surprised by the invite. Naruto cleared his throat and continued speaking, "Me and the guys—and the girls, too—are going out to eat. Bet you're gonna be hungry, right?"

Hinata didn't respond fast enough, so Naruto cut her off before she could give her response.

"I'll pay for your meal, if you're worried about money," he said in a gentlemanly manner, both soothing and comfortable that made Hinata's heart do imaginary flips. Hinata smiled at him, finally giving him a soft reply in her small, quiet voice.

"Thank you," she said. Naruto nodded at her, then turned back around in his seat.

It's not a date if you're with friends, right? Naruto questioned. Well, as long as we have a good time. Hinata's not that sociable, so don't make her uncomfortable!

Groans erupted from the teens once the last bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Everyone was desperate for a cool shower, but nice, barbequed meat and several bowls of ramen awaited them first. Choji's favorite restaurant was the group's destination.

The owners weren't surprised to find the large group of hungry teenagers. Choji, Shikamaru, Ino, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, with the addition of Hinata, had arrived. Shikamaru said it'd be a drag if all of their friends came out to eat. Naruto had to admit they would be a large crowd. Most people already gave him crap about being a high school student, because as much as people think little kids are annoying, no one wants to deal with teenagers.

"They're so edgy and hormonal!"

No. That's just Sasuke and Naruto.

Naruto chuckled to himself. Almost as if he knew what he was thinking, Sasuke shook his head at the blond.

"Just don't," Sasuke grumbled. Naruto shrugged his shoulders, displaying an impressive, innocent pout.

"What?" asked Naruto. Sasuke simply rolled his eyes at the other teen.

The teenagers got their table fairly quickly; all of them piled into seats and eagerly scanned their menus for the food that was going to cease their hunger once and for all.

Naruto had sat himself at the table's end, next to Hinata. Sakura sat next to Sasuke. Ino was on Sakura's right, and Choji and Shikamaru followed suit. They were all squished into a rounded booth with Choji and Naruto being the first ones seated at the ends.

Their waiter had already gotten their appetizers, so they stood, ready to jot down their entrée meals. By that time, everyone respectfully gave their orders without talking over each other. When it was Hinata's turn, Naruto glanced down at her.

The invisible spotlight had been put on the girl. She already seemed anxious; she stuttered trying to get her order out.

Naruto glanced downwards at her order on the menu, immediately scanning the price. Naruto sighed to himself. He leaned down and whispered to Hinata, "You don't have to get something cheap and unfulfilling. Order what you want."

Hinata gave him a worried look, as if asking telepathically if he was sure. Naruto simply smiled at her and nudged her gently with his arm.

After Hinata told the waiter her order—by Naruto's approval that it was more than just a salad—the group's comfortable, patient silence all of a sudden became one full of suspicion. All eyes were focused on the two of them.

Hinata didn't seem to notice, but Naruto understood the smirks his boys were giving him. Naruto leaned his head back against the seat.

They're not thinking I have a thing for Hinata, are they? We're just friends. Naruto snuck a glance to Hinata as she leaned forward to reach for a piece of bread in the middle of the table. She's adorable . . . but we're just friends . . .

"So, Naruto," Shikamaru spoke up, grabbing everyone's attention from their own side conversations. Naruto took a sip of his blue soda while meeting his friend's gaze across from him. "How's that new job going for you?" Naruto inwardly sighed.

They're not gonna bug me. Yes! the blond cheered in relief.

Naruto nonchalantly shrugged, he reached his hand out for a buffalo wing while being careful not to bump his arm into Hinata. All of them were squeezed into the booth, yet Naruto tried making sure the girl had enough room so as not to be uncomfortable. Naruto believes the family she's come from is a bit conservative, which would explain why Hinata turns bright red anytime the guys joke around about pretty much anything, because making things sound vulgar is so easy; it's like a second language to them.

Naruto took a bite of the wing before speaking. "Well, I get paid a decent amount, but the hours are pretty long."

Shikamaru nodded. Ino whipped her long ponytail from her face, in turn, she smacked both Sakura and Shikamaru; both of them gave her irritated looks. Ino merely chuckled at them as her form of an apology.

"What do you do?" Ino asked him. Naruto's used to getting attention, but sometimes he gets uncomfortable because he never knows why he gets the attention.

For instance, his blond hair. He can't change it, so he knows other people have to deal with it. It's not his problem if someone has an issue with it. Naruto really likes his hair, so he wouldn't change how it is anyway. Besides, he's been told he gets his hair from his father.

"I'm a part-time construction worker."

Hinata's eyes widened in intrigue. "Really?" she asked. Naruto nodded curtly.

"That's for one job, though. I also work at the local rec center. I supervise over the rock-climbers." The girls awed at him, which caused him to blush a bit. Sasuke smirked at him from the other side of the table.

"I guess that's what you become after being a tree-climber," Sasuke grinned at him. Naruto snorted.

"I'm not a tree-climber!" The other boys laughed at him.

"Face it," Choji's deep voice grumbled through his chewing, "We were all climbing trees."

Sakura rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Boys." Ino nodded in agreement. Hinata muffled her giggle between her hands.

"Whatever," Naruto grumbled in mock irritation. "I work, so what?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "You've just been sleeping more in class. More than you usually do."

Hinata's noticed boys shrug a lot. Every time Naruto shrugged, his broad shoulder would press against her. She wasn't entirely sure if he was aware of it, but she didn't say anything. She wasn't bothered by him, after all.

Shikamaru got extremely angry once half of their table was taken up by Naruto and Choji's gigantic portions of food. "Are you kidding me?" the teen griped. "Choji, I know how you eat. But Naruto, why so many bowls of ramen?!"

The blond looked up from already downing his first two bowls and burped unceremoniously. He excused himself, blushing when he heard Hinata's frightened laugh and his name being shouted by her in surprise.

"Shika, who doesn't like ramen?" Naruto asked, his voice sounding small and pure, like a sad child who was refused candy after behaving well. His friend shot him an aggravated look and groaned.

"You like ramen too much! We're definitely splitting the bill."

Sasuke was the only other guy, besides Choji and Naruto, who ate in peace, ignoring Shikamaru's complaints.

After having some cooked meat and another bowl of ramen, Naruto turned to his tablemate and gently regarded her.

"How's your meal?" he inquired politely. Hinata blushed at the intense gaze he had focused on her.

"It's delicious." Hinata smiled. "Thank you for inviting me. I'm having fun talking with you guys." Naruto returned the smile and chuckled.

"That's great." He brought his hand to quickly scratch the back of his neck. "I'm glad you're here," he said softly.

Hinata noticed the smug looks aimed at her and Naruto. In an attempt to remove attention from her, she distractedly pulled a stray ramen bowl towards her and started slurping up noodles as ladylike as she could. Not only did she receive amused grins from her friends, but she realized the tall blond sitting next to her was gawking at her with a faint blush on his cheeks.

"H-Hinata-chan," Naruto stuttered. "My ramen . . ."

Shikamaru snorted out a laugh. Sakura turned her face away and duck into Sasuke's shoulder to hide her laugh.

Hinata was about to apologize until Naruto leaned forward with a wide grin displayed on his once saddened features, chuckling again.

"It's good, isn't it?" There was no doubt in Naruto's mind that Hinata would say no. By the looks of it, she also enjoyed his favorite meal.

Naruto left work around eleven o'clock. He arrived home at twelve. His apartment was dark and empty, save for the furniture Sarutobi supplied him with the day he moved in. The lack of company always left him feeling a little off.

For a long time, he's always been alone. For the past couple of years now, Naruto's understood what it means and how it feels to have friends, and how friends can become his family. Him and Sasuke have been through a lot. They're only sixteen, but so much physically and mentally has happened between them. They truly are brothers at heart. Naruto's even considered Sasuke's brother, Itachi, to be his own older brother.

He's glad he had the chance to eat out with his friends. He thinks about Hinata and wonders what it'd be like if the two of them spent enough time together. Naruto would be able to get to know her better and find out what her favorite foods are.

The teen smiled to himself. He had stripped off his work clothes and readied himself for a steamy shower.

"Maybe we can go out this Saturday?" Naruto mumbled aloud in the apartment.

Trying to ask out a girl without raising suspicions of their mutual friends and what they suspect his intentions might be was definitely not an easy task to do.

Naruto's asked out Sakura before, but she either turned him down or scoffed at him and told him to go away. Whenever he was rejected by her, he'd take Sasuke from her, just so she could feel how he felt.

This time, though, Naruto strangely feels that Hinata won't disregard him like that. It's not because she's a nice girl or that he can take advantage of her kindness—he's not a scumbag.

He senses something about her . . . like she's one of the people who genuinely enjoys his company. They could be total opposites: Naruto's outgoing and Hinata's shy, but he suspects the girl could totally speak her mind if she was encouraged to, and Naruto feels like he could help her do that.

He wants to get close to her. He'll admit it to himself: this girl with the bright, opaque eyes, pale skin, small voice, and long, dark blue hair, intrigues him. He is interested in her and wants to understand her on a personal level.

Naruto's always been wary of letting someone get too close, so close to his heart so they could effortlessly break it into pieces.

Hinata's not like that. Just one look at her and he can guarantee she'd rather rip off a stuffed bear's arm than rip a rejected love letter into shreds. She'd sew up the bear after that deed is done, too. The point is, Hinata has a heart . . . and Naruto wants to claim it.

This doesn't seem so evilllll, now does it? I think this is actually quite a cute story! It's not what I usually go with, ever, in my writing (the subtleness, I mean), but I really like how it is. It's descriptive and tunes into the characters' insights. I really enjoy that, so to see it in my own writing gives me hope!

I hope everyone enjoyed reading this, I hope to continue on with this short fic.

This is for the fluffy NaruHina event occurring throughout May 8th-15th!

Please Review, Favorite, and Follow!

-SullyR