And so, it continues…

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Naruto finished washing his hands, but for some reason, he still felt as if he had soap on his hands. Ignoring it for the moment, he unlocked the door and began to open it slowly, still not shaking the feeling of soap from his hands.

Hinata

The door finally opened, revealing the presence of… "NARUTO?!" Hinata screamed in her mind. Her mind, in a surprised shock, did not register that she was standing here before Naruto… in a very sexy, very revealing red dress.

Naruto paused for a moment. "Ok… let's see. I just came back from the bathroom. Right. And… here's Hinata. Hinata….. wow…" Naruto thought as his eyes wandered towards Hinata's buxom chest.

Naruto raised his hand, then extended one finger. "Hey Hinata… when did you get… those?" He said as his hand lowered and now was pointing at her chest. He vaguely noted that her face had turned a deep crimson red and that her knees were starting to shake. "Whoa… her… legs…" Naruto thought absentmindedly. He had never seen this side of Hinata before, heck, he didn't even know this side of Hinata could exist! Talk about revealing the beast.

"Umm…" Hinata fidgeted around nervously, hugging her chest, trying to hide what she had never wanted to show the world… except maybe Naruto. Her face turned a darker shade of red at that last thought. She felt her body rise in temperature as she actually started feeling hot in the skimpy dress. Her heart was beating faster and her breath came out shorter, in small little gasps. Her anxiety began overwhelming her to the brink of tears. What if Naruto thought she was some sort of…slut? If he thought that… she wouldn't be able to live anymore. Biting her lip, she shut her eyes, feeling the sting of salty tears begin to pool in the corner of her eyes. What if Naruto didn't like her anymore, even as just a friend because of this moment? She couldn't bear to lose Naruto. She let out an emotional tear.

Naruto panicked upon seeing a lone tear slide down her smooth and gentle face, a face that never sent a malicious look before, a face that seemed to care way too much about others. Not really knowing how to handle a situation like this, Naruto simply blurted out a semi-thought out sentence, "But umm! It's not like I don't like it! Your br— YOU! Look nice… in that dress umm… I like it. I-It… fits you… you look pretty…" Then, a moment of silence.

Hinata looked up, shocked and relieved, and saw Naruto grinning goofily with his hand behind his back. A swelling within her heart caused her to do something she would've never had the courage to do before and in future retrospect, would make her wonder how she had the courage to do it. She hugged him.

"Eh?!" Naruto exclaimed, completely caught by surprise when he suddenly found himself being grasped into a tight embrace. For some odd reason, he began remembering the time when he hugged Hinata after Hinata found that weird bug thing that would help in the retrieval of Sasuke. Naruto heard a small sob come from the Hyuuga Heiress and strangely, he began remembering his conversation with Ten-Ten.

Chat with Ten-Ten

"Naruto-kun!" Naruto turned around as he saw Ten-Ten walking towards him, grinning brightly.

"Yo!" Naruto replied with a wave of his hand.

"Hey, Naruto. What do you think of Hinata?" Ten-Ten asked bluntly.

"Hinata?Well… she's kind I guess. She's nice to everyone and likes to help out." Naruto grinned for a moment, "She has the same nindo as me, so she must be strong too."

Naruto failed to see the mischievous glint in her eye and only had a moment before Ten-Ten asked, "Do you like her Naruto?"

Without any hesitation, Naruto replied, "Yea, I do." Something didn't click with how easily Naruto replied. Then she figured it out, Naruto was an idiot. Of course he didn't think of 'liking' like everyone else did. He thought of 'like' as friendship instead of love. But then, she got an idea.

"Hey Naruto, any time Hinata's feeling bad. You should say that to raise her spirits!" Ten-Ten smiled excitedly, for some strange reason.

"Doesn't she already know I like her?" Naruto asked, a bit confused. Ten-Ten merely shook her head before coming closer to Naruto and whispering in his ear, "Maybe you could give her a small kiss?"

Naruto's eyes bulged to huge proportions as he exclaimed, "W-What?!" The, he thought about it for a moment and found it that he actually quite liked the idea. "Well… maybe… I guess."

Naruto had to cover his ears as Ten-Ten let loose a high-pitched squeal of delight before grabbing his collar and dragging him closer to her. "Naruto." She said seriously, "When you kiss a girl, tilt her chin up so that she's facing you and looking into your eyes," She paused briefly before getting a nod of understanding from Naruto, "Then, you gently whisper her name before kissing her and afterwards, tell her how you feel about her." Naruto nodded again.

"Yatta! Well, that's all there is to it. Have fun Naruto!" Ten-Ten then walked away to find Sakura, but not before giving him one last piece of advice, "Also Naruto, giving a girl a kiss when she's feeling sad or depressed is a must! Well, see ya!" Naruto merely stood there, rooted into his spot, trying to make sense of what Ten-Ten had told him. It actually didn't make sense, but he was sure he'd figure it out when the time came.

Naruto and Hinata (present)

Seeing as this was a perfect time to make use of Ten-Ten's words, Naruto gently pulled away, which slightly confused Hinata. But the confusion soon lost out to surprise when Naruto gently placed a finger beneath her chin, making her look directly into Naruto's cerulean blue eyes. "Hinata…" They way he said her name sent an electrical shiver down her spine. Then, Hinata's heart began pumping wildly as she looked on and noticed that Naruto was closing the gap between their faces.

"I-Is this… no… it can't be… this is!" Thought Hinata's excited mind. This was the moment she had always dreamed for, something she thought impossible. But yet, it seemed like her dream was about to come true. Hinata closed her eyes, slightly moistening her lips as she ran her tongue over them, and waited for the heart stopping kiss.

It arrived, but not on the spot she expected. Hinata felt Naruto's lips make contact with her cheek and she opened her eyes as he pulled away. What just happened? But before her train of thought could continue, Naruto spoke.

"Hey Hinata, you're a good friend and uh… you know, nothing you do could ever make me hate you, or dislike you. It's actually kinda hard to not like someone whose so nice." Naruto grinned from ear to ear as he said this, hoping he had followed Ten-Ten's instructions correctly. Poor Naruto, he did follow the instructions, but they weren't used correctly.

Hinata, stunned, did not expect this. "No, no, no, no! This is not how it's supposed to be!" Whether by some internal strength or some supernatural force, Hinata spoke to Naruto for once, without a stutter. "Naruto! That is not how you kiss someone!" Hinata exclaimed.

"E-Eh?!" Naruto now was extremely confused. What did Hinata mean? And, why did she drop the suffix at the end of his name?

"This is how you do it Naruto!" With unfathomable resolve and courage, she grabbed Naruto's face and mashed her lips against his in a passionate fury. She took in his lips hungrily, desperately, finally being able to satisfy one of her long awaited passions. Her heart began beating faster and faster with every second she kissed and her insides felt as if they were on fire. Kami it felt good. Finally, after an intense make-out session (to which Naruto barely even kissed back due to surprise), she pulled away, her chest heaving from lack of breath.

In a soft, but satisfied voice, Hinata said, "I love you… Naruto-kun." She looked into Naruto's surprised, yet dazed eyes and gave him a small smile, "That's how you do it…"

"H-Hinata…" Naruto was at a loss of words, needless to say. He had no idea what had just taken place, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he had enjoyed it. The smell of lavender swarmed his sense of smell and the taste of strawberries penetrated his taste buds as he subconsciously ran his tongue across his lips. Naruto noted that Hinata tasted very good.

Hinata blushed in response, but a curious thing happened. She saw Naruto lick his lips… and he seemed to be enjoying what he tasted. Unconsciously, Hinata's heart began beating like a Congo Drum as she realized that the only thing that had touched his lips were hers. What made her heart beat even faster was that she just realized that she actually not only hugged Naruto, but kissed him as well. It was a miracle her heart hadn't stopped beating.

"Hinata…" Naruto called out.

"Y-Y-Yes N-Naruto-kun?" She asked, nervous that he might be mad, even though she had just witnessed a reaction that had been the opposite of anger AND that it was him who kissed her first.

"I think… I'm going to kiss you again..." And before Hinata even let out a word, she felt Naruto's deliciously warm and most lips press against hers in a passion similar to hers. Hinata's body immediately weakened at the kiss and her knees began to tremble when she felt Naruto caress her back gently. Shivers ran up and down her spine as Naruto dragged a finger up the curvature of her spine, then back down again. Hinata's mind became filled with the haze of pleasure and all of her senses shut down, only feeling Naruto's kiss and touch at the moment. All this felt surreal to Hinata, like if she wasn't even there, but she couldn't deny the warmth that began accumulating within her, sensitizing every nerve of her body. Vaguely, she realized that Naruto tasted like ramen. But nothing is ever perfect in life, and, to ruin such a good moment, someone walked into the room.

"H-Hinata?" Naruto and Hinata froze in their spot, with locked lips. Then, Hinata slowly pulled away to find who the voice belonged too. Neji.

"Wait, no. You can't be Hinata, of course not! What am I thinking?" Neji looked at Hinata, specifically, at the very skimpy and revealing dress, "No, Hinata wouldn't dress like that, never in a million years!" Then he looked and saw Naruto, who had been kissing the girl who looked like Hinata.

"Naruto, no, that's not Naruto either. How could he possibly know the location of Hinata's room? No, not likely, this is all illogical." Turning around, he opened to the door and just as he was about to leave, he took one last look at the two nervous people in the room. "Definitely not them." And so, with a sigh, a traumatized Hyuuga Neji left the room, promising himself that he would never try Sasuke's 'special' tomato recipe ever again.

A moment later, Naruto and Hinata heard a frustrated yell outside the bedroom, followed by someone who seemed to be falling down the stairs. They looked at each other, both realizing that they were still in an intimate position. Immediately, they let go of each other, embarrassed, but at the same time, happy beyond belief. Naruto, though, had to keep his eyes from wandering to certain parts of the Hyuuga's luscious body, not that anyone blamed him. He had never seen her figure before and now that she was such a provocative dress, he couldn't help but be surprised, shock, and pleased all at once.

Hinata seemed to have caught a trace of Naruto's thoughts as she looked at Naruto's wandering eyes. Immediately, she covered herself with her arms as much as possible, even turning around so that her legs would be hidden by the back part, which was the only part that covered her legs. Hinata's reaction made Naruto realize he was acting perverted and he mentally berated himself before speaking up.

"S-Sorry Hinata… I just, is that, you uhh… l-looked really…good." For the first time ever, Naruto blushed.

Since it was Hinata, she too blushed as she replied in a quiet voice, "T-Thank you N-Naruto-kun." A moment of silence filled the room, neither speaking out of embarrassment. Hinata was still facing away from Naruto. Then, Naruto quipped up.

"Oh yea! I forgot!" Almost seemingly forgetting what had just transpired, Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box wrapped in purple paper. "This is your birthday present Hinata!" Naruto grinned, making Hinata turn full around to face him. After all, it was impolite not to look at a person who was giving you a present.

"T-Thank you Naruto-kun." She said as she took the box gratefully. It warmed her heart that Naruto had even gotten a present for her, but, she also became curious as to what the present was because after all, Naruto was Naruto. She wouldn't be surprised if Naruto had given her ramen vouchers, not that she would complain, any gift from Naruto was a reward in of itself.

Unwrapping the paper, she saw the box underneath the paper was a lavender color, just like her eyes. She couldn't help but wonder if Naruto had been thinking of her eyes when he chose the box, if he had chosen the box that is. The mere thought of Naruto thinking of her made her blush even redder, but enough stalling. Hinata gently opened to box and was shocked to see what was inside.

She pulled out a silver necklace. Attached to it was a silver locket, and on the inside was the Hyuuga Symbol with Hinata's name written on the inside of the locket. Hinata, was shocked and happy, to say the least.

"So… do you, like it? Hinata?" Naruto asked, seemingly nervous. When he had been shopping earlier, he had no idea what Hinata liked. But he did remember Jiraiya telling him that girls loved Jewelry, especially if they had a special touch by the present-giver. Following Jiraiya's instructions, Naruto had begun his search and found the silver necklace with the attached locket and bought it… mostly because it was the only thing he could really afford unless he wanted to give up eating for the next week or two. Then, they had asked him what to add inside the locket. Naruto had given them the details and they did what he asked. Once he had looked at it, he nodded, thinking that it would be a good birthday present.

Hinata, in a dazed stupor, looked at the necklace, then at Naruto, then back at the necklace, then back at Naruto. With a tear of happiness streaking down her cheek, she replied, "It's absolutely beautiful Naruto-kun!"

Naruto grinned. "Heh, Happy birthday Hinata!" He then saw Hinata put on the necklace, and she looked positively radiant as she smiled.

"This is the birthday present ever Naruto-kun!" She was absolutely radiating happiness, which completely overrode her usual reactions to Naruto. This made Naruto feel very good inside, good that he was the source of such happiness.

"Heh, well, you haven't opened the other gifts, so how would you know if mine was the best?" Naruto grinned as Hinata blushed cutely and smiled, even though she was being teased by her object of affection.

Suddenly, Naruto remembered Hinata tellimg him that he loved her. So, making sure he heard right, he asked, "Ne Hinata, is it true that you… umm… love me?"

Hinata's eyes widened in surprise, but she replied with form conviction as she said softly, "Yes Naruto-kun. Very much so." Hinata closed her eyes, fearing that his response to her confession would be bad. Hinata indeed was a silly girl.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out what to do. 'Never deny a girl's feelings, always give them a chance! If they confess, take them out later on' Rang Jiraiya's advice. He didn't know whether he loved Hinata or not, but he knew that he did like her. So, he followed Jiraiya's advice.

"So… would you like to go out on a date with me, to Ichiraku's ramen then?" Naruto found himself saying, which oddly gave him of feeling of water sloshing around in his stomach. Later on, Naruto would find out that this feeling was called 'being nervous'.

Hinata looked up and even before she could think about it, she immediately replied, "YES!" She covered her mouth immediately and blushed, embarrassed about her reaction. She heard Naruto chuckle a bit, but she was glad to see him smile.

"So, how about tomorrow?" Naruto asked, oddly overjoyed that she had agreed.

Hinata smiled, "That would be lovely Naruto-kun."

Naruto then realized something, "Ne, we should be getting back to the party Hinata."

"Yea…" For a moment the two stared at each other, gazing into each other's eyes. The light inside the room turned to a soft orange glow, indicating the sunset that was showing through Hinata's window. A new bond was forming between them, one that would be unbreakable even if death claimed them because after all, true love never dies.

El Fin

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I hope you guys liked the ending. This is my first NaruHina story after not writing for what seemed like the longest time (My NaruShizu doesn't count). Well, read and review, tell me whether you liked it or hated it. I at least hope that it satisfied some of you NaruHina lovers and turned some SasuHina into NaruHina lovers as well 

Well, Ja!