Title: Coming of Age

Claimer/Author: This story is written by and belongs to Emmy Kay.

Pairing: Hinata/Naruto

Summary: What sort of troublesome mission is this? Is it a job Naruto will take? NaruHina. First half – funny. Second half – fluffy. Oneshot.

Disclaimer: Naruto and all affiliated characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This story is written without permission and for personal/fan/nonprofit entertainment purposes only.

Personal Note: This could be seen as a sort of follow up to "A Prior Engagement" but not necessarily.

Naruto held his hands up to his face, warming them, his breath visible in the dim light of the winter moon. "Troublesome," he muttered, borrowing his friend Shikamaru's favorite word.

The last week had been cold with some sleet, unusual for Konoha's normally warm climate. Naruto wore a hooded cloak and full boots over his usual orange and black tracksuit to combat the chill. He was grumpy – every ninja of age who remained in the village on January 14 had to report for duty at the Hokage's palace at 11pm. Sharp. Tsunade-baachan brooked no defiance on this point. This fact, however, did not make him feel any better about things.

Of course, Shikamaru had gotten out of this particular task – but to be honest, Naruto wouldn't want to be in his shoes. Shikamaru was spending an extended New Year's holiday with his new Sand Village in-laws. A grin touched Naruto's mouth. Having Gaara as a brother-in-law, and potentially, if Shikamaru and Temari decided to settle there, a boss – truly, that would be troublesome.

Naruto arrived at the palace, making his way to the banquet room on the second floor. After dumping his outerwear at the cloakroom, he looked around – and made a beeline for Sasuke and Sakura, who were standing near the entrance. "You here too?"

"Hn," Sasuke said. "You're almost late."

Sakura said, "All people over 21 who remain in Konoha on Coming of Age Day are obligated to attend the ceremony."

Naruto had forgotten that Sakura could be a little bit of a know-it-all. Since she had started dating Sasuke, she had done less of it, but it was apparently a hard character trait to kill off. Naruto pulled a face. "It's just a pain – plain old babysitting. Like we don't have anything better to do – I want to go on a real mission - "

Sasuke nudged Naruto – within easy earshot stood Hinata and Iruka, who in their respective jobs as teachers of young children, it could be argued by the less kind, might actually been seen as babysitting, every working day.

Oops, thought Naruto. He hoped they hadn't heard, as they seemed to have been involved in a serious conversation. "What're they doing here? Don't they have to work tomorrow?"

Sakura tsked. "Looked at a calendar lately? Seijin no Hi is a holiday – no school tomorrow."

"Naruto!" Ino bubbled as she came upon old Team 7, dressed in a jaw-droppingly scanty outfit. "Like I was telling Sakura the other day - isn't this amazing? Look how everybody's paired up. I'm engaged." She flashed the diamond ring on her hand. "Sakura and Sasuke have been dating for years. Choji's with the heiress to the barbeque restaurant, Shikamaru's got Temari. Even Shino got engaged. It's only you and Hinata and Kiba left."

Hinata, who had clearly gathered the trend of the conversation, tried to create some distance between herself and Ino by stepping away. This only caught Ino's attention, and she grabbed Hinata's arm in a friendly fashion. Based on Hinata's alarmed expression, this was not expected to be a pleasant experience. "I was saying to Naruto – it's only you and him and Kiba left single! What a sandwich that would make, wouldn't?"

"Sandwich?" Hinata asked anxiously, looking around for help, and not finding any.

"Don't play dumb, Hinata!" chided Ino. "We're all adults here." Ino demonstrated with her left hand held out flat towards Hinata, palm up. "This is Naruto." She gestured with her right hand out flat, palm up. "This is Kiba." Then she smacked both hands together. "And you're in the middle! Naru-Hina-Kiba sandwich!"

Hinata's eyes widened in horror, as color completely left her face. Naruto felt his ears turning unpleasantly hot – certain that anybody who had heard Ino's comment was terribly uncomfortable, and Ino had made sure everybody heard. Wasn't there anybody here who would take on Ino's outrageousness?

"Ino!" cried Sakura. "That's enough! Look at you – on your second engagement this year – and January's not over yet!"

Ino turned to Sakura with an unholy light in her eye. "Hey, Forehead! Don't tell me you never thought of a Naru-Saku-Sasu –"

Hinata gasped so loudly Naruto thought she might have swallowed her tongue. Then she flung her hands in front of her mouth in dismay as Shizune turned towards them, black eyes predatory, lips moving as she took names and counted bodies.

Shizune broke up the groups with a short speech as to their duties. Unlike many other locales, the Village of the Hidden Leaf started their Seijin Shiki at the same time the Seijin no Hi began – at the stroke of midnight on January 15.

The Ceremony was for the young people who had turned 20 in the past year. There would be a meal, and then some speeches. Following the speeches, there would be a small gift-giving, and then a drink with the Hokage. The rationale being that since the Day of Adults was about to break, why not seal the contract with their village with a drink on the hour that such contracts could begin?

After the ceremony, many of the bars and restaurants that normally would have closed remained open to serve the new adults. Those who wished it were escorted home from the palace. Those who wanted to try out their new credentials were left to their own devices, although patrols were given to the remainder of the over-20 ninjas to support the local constabulary, and make sure no unusual mischief was made.

Naruto noticed that Hinata tried not to sit next him – and tried not to take it personally. With the show Ino had performed, how could he not feel a little relieved she was trying to create some distance between them?

Shizune didn't have any patience for it, briskly herding them into their seating area; several long tables over a tatami-covered floor, already set up for a simple meal. The main seating area was similarly prepared, but with much more complicated table settings.

Naruto found himself sitting between Hinata and Sakura, with Sasuke on Sakura's other side. A simple noodle dish was provided. After slamming down his meal, Naruto eyed Sakura's half-consumed dish. She pointedly ignored him, despite the enormous puppy-dog eyes he was giving her. Then he noticed that Hinata hadn't had any of hers. When she caught Naruto's hopeful look, she silently slid the bowl over to him. "You're the best," he whispered.

As he listened to the various speeches given by various elders of Konoha droning on and on, Naruto shifted, his feet starting to fall asleep. He caught Sakura's warning eye, and stopped. A moment later, he saw Sakura starting to list to the right. Sasuke leaned over casually and gave Sakura a small poke in the side so quickly that Naruto wasn't certain if he actually saw it. Sakura immediately straightened up.

Hinata sat, in perfect seiza form, as if she were molded of wood. Naruto hissed, "How come you can sit so still?"

Out of the corner of her mouth, she murmured, "Traditional family. We sit like this all the time."

Naruto made a face. He did not come from any kind of traditional family. He slid his legs out from under and, with a sigh of relief, sat cross-legged, pushing Sakura and Hinata out of the way with his knees.

It was a good thing they were at a public event – Sakura had a look about her that indicated she would have punched him but good if they were elsewhere. Hinata merely turned a little pink and scooched over as far as she could, whispering apologies to the ninja on her other side.

Tsunade handed out a pen and shuriken gift set to every twenty year old in the village who attended the ceremony.

"What're those for?" asked Naruto.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Don't you pay any attention?"

"I wasn't here three years ago!" he protested.

Hinata whispered, "The pen is for the contracts they can now legally make, and the shuriken is a reminder of their continued allegiance to Konoha."

It must be her job that made her explanation so much easier to take than Sakura's, Naruto thought. "Hey, Hinata, what did you do with your pen and shuriken?"

She was still looking forward, acting interested in the speeches, although he could see a full, satisfied smile curled about her lips. "I used the pen to sign my first lease agreement." Her eyes slid to his. "What did you do?"

"I can't remember," he said, thinking hard. "I don't know if I got one."

"Tsunade-sama must have given you one. You're one of her favorites."

Her words made his grin grow little crooked. "You think so?"

Hinata nodded. "Oh yes."

He reached both hands up behind his head, pleased. "Really?" He thought a moment. "I think I used the pen to pry a can open – but the shuriken is definitely better for that."

She raised a hand up to cover her mouth. Over her hand, he could see laughter crinkles around her grey eyes.

Naruto opened his mouth - right then, Sakura reached over, grabbed a thick pinch of sleeve and a chunk of the flesh of the back part of his upper arm, and twisted. "SH!" He subsided with a wounded look.

At the stroke of midnight, Tsunade raised a shallow cup of warm sake, while the new adults raised their own drinks in response. "Your first drink is on me!" she shouted, then downed the contents of the cup in a single swig, swallowing the double-mouthful with the ease of great experience.

This could not be said for many of the newly minted adults, who sputtered and coughed at the burning sensation that ran down their gullets and continued to churn in their guts. The next round was poured, and this time, many approached the drink with greater respect for its kick-back.

"You two," directed Shizune to Hinata and Naruto, "You're taking them home." She pointed to a trio of rather tipsy young men, who had clearly started their festivities some time before the Hokage had started hers.

They all got their cloaks and started off. Aside from the usual silliness of the mildly inebriated, there wasn't much trouble with the young men. They were walking along Konoha's main thoroughfare with its shops, restaurants and bars when Hinata started at something Naruto couldn't see.

"Naruto-kun – would you mind waiting here just for a minute, please?" Before he could answer, she disappeared into one of the open bars.

"Heh, heh, heh," snorted the shortest of the trio. He mimicked Hinata's soft tones, warping them into something waspish, "Naruto-kun….wait here!"

The others snickered. Naruto tried to keep his cool with the thought – this is a mission, this is a mission, this is a mission. Using that phrase as a mediation was a mistake, he realized, as the half-forgotten resentment at the "mission" he hadn't wanted started to rise.

The tallest repeated, "Naruto-kun," shrilly, and then laughed hysterically.

The fat one said, "I'd wait for that, all right." Naruto went into a serious simmer, holding his breath and then counting, trying to keep a leash on his temper.

"I wouldn't mind taking "Naruto-kun" from a kunoichi like that," commented the short one. "Did you see her – " then he gestured crudely with both hands across his chest.

"That's it!" Naruto blew, activating Kage Bunshin. And before they knew it, the three simultaneously found themselves dragged into the nearest alleyway, pushed up against the wall, facing the business ends of kunai. "You can say whatever you like about me – but don't talk about her like that!" he snarled. He imagined smashing in their faces, one at a time, and a happy little light of impending violence glinted in his blue eyes as he raised a fist.

As Naruto began his swing, he was startled at his inability to connect. He looked down at his arm, and found Hinata had a firm grip of his elbow, and was holding on with all her weight. "Hinata!" he exclaimed. "What're you doing?!"

She looked deeply apologetic. "I'm terribly sorry, Naruto-kun, but I think Tsunade-sama might want this handled differently."

Hinata stepped up to the short one, whose grin slowly faded as she stated, "Your sister is Reiko, who teaches third grade at the Ninja Academy, right? I teach there too."

To the tall one, she said, "You're Akira – I see your mother at the temple all the time."

He whimpered, and then pointed to the short one. "He started it."

The fat one flinched as she turned her attention to him. "You're Granny Meiji's only grandson. She makes the best cinnamon rolls."

She took all three of them into her gaze. Then she spoke in a tone Naruto had never heard before from her – but it frightened him to the bone. It was somehow more threatening than physical violence. It was soft and yet it promised the never-ending misery of female-relation retribution. He shivered.

"Imagine how proud your sister, your mother, or your granny are of you, becoming men today. Remember how they raised you, all the sacrifices they have made for you, what they did without so you could have the best. And this is how you act." She sighed sadly.

"I don't think your sister, or your mother, or your granny would be very happy with you right now. Imagine how disappointed they'd be if they knew how badly you behaved today, in front of the Hokage, of all people. What would they say?" Then, in the voice of all the teachers Naruto had ever had, Hinata shot a final, painful guilt-laden arrow. "Think about it."

The fat one started to cry. "Granny, I'm sorry!" The other two started a blubbering chorus right behind him.

"All right then," Hinata said. "Let's get going."

She walked ahead of them for a few steps, ending up at the front door of the bar she had just come out of. A slender cloaked figure was waiting and joined them. "Onee-san?" asked the figure in a small voice.

Oh, thought Naruto. Hanabi. What was she doing out tonight?

"We'll talk later," said Hinata, firmly.

The walk was somber and quiet, except for the occasional choked sob from one of the trio as he considered his crime and, more importantly, his potential punishment.

The last to be dropped off was Hanabi. They were still a good block away from Hyuuga House when she broke the silence. "You won't tell Father, will you, Onee-san?"

"If you hand it over," Hinata said. Reluctantly, Hanabi dropped an ID card into the waiting hand. Hinata looked at it. "You took my ID?"

Hanabi nodded, a little reluctantly.

Hinata's lips compressed into a thin line. "Where'd you get it?"

The younger girl looked away. "I just found it."

"Imouto, what are you doing? You are the heir of Hyuuga – you need to remember what that means." Stubbornly, Hanabi refused to meet Hinata's eyes, staring at the ground. Only a redness creeping up her face indicated that she was listening at all.

Suddenly, Hanabi burst out, "Who cares about being a Hyuuga, anyway?"

"I care, and I know you care. We're family, we take care of each other. That's what a Hyuuga is."

"I can take care of myself!"

"Not if you're drunk!" snapped Hinata. "Really terrible things can happen to young girls - it doesn't matter if you're a Hyuuga or not - those kinds of people don't care. You have to be careful." She seemed to regret her flash of temper immediately. Tears glimmered in her eyes. "Promise me - you won't do it again."

The teenager turned away.

Hinata sighed. "If you do it again, I'm going to tell Father, and Neji-nii-san."

The girl looked terrified. "Not Neji-nii-san! He's worse than Father!"

"Go inside, Hanabi. We'll talk later."

After one last pleading look, Hanabi entered the quiet darkness of Hyuuga House. Hinata stared at the wooden doors for a moment, with an expression Naruto had never seen before on her normally calm face. Disappointment, anger, and worry, certainly were there, but also a deep, deep sorrow.

Naruto had never spent any time thinking about Hinata's little sister – but now, he wondered. What was it like to know your little sister, someone you took care of your whole life, had done something wrong? Someone whose every fault and strength you had some part in shaping - would that make you feel like a failure? Would you try to save them?

Slowly, Hinata pocketed the ID card. Then she turned around and started walking, and Naruto hurried to follow her. After a few minutes, she stated, "I think the mission is over. I'm just going home now."

"Oh," he paused. "It's a nice night for a walk. Maybe I'll come along for a bit."

Side by side, they strode, the air between them strained and hushed. Naruto looked at Hinata with some concern from time to time. They went back across some of the merrily lit streets of the commercial district of Konoha – laughter and music spilling out of the doors, the windows full of young people toasting each other. They came to a stop in front of an apartment building of medium height.

Naruto and Hinata stood there for a moment – looking at each other, breath visible in the moonlight. He noticed how the light turned her eyes to pure silver.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked, a little hesitantly. "Just to warm up a little?"

It was cold and dark, and he just didn't want to be alone, not when there were bundles of young people merry-making in the streets. "Yeah," he said.

They climbed several flights in silence, and ended up on a landing that was lit by a low-wattage bulb behind a small sconce. Hinata stuck her hand in her jacket pocket, and as she pulled her keys out, an explosion of scraps of paper and little bits of litter followed. "Oh, no," she groaned.

Naruto knelt down to help her pick it all up. "It happens to me all the time," he tried to reassure her.

She covered her face with her hands. "What you must think of me – and my family. I'm a terrible sister, and after what I said to those boys – what my father's going to say if he ever finds out – and what I should have said to Hanabi – and Neji – I am going to be in such trouble with Neji…." She scrubbed at her eyes with the backs of her hands, tiredly, sadly. "I'm not even making any sense."

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Naruto said. "We're friends, right? It's all okay between friends." He handed her a crumpled fistful of paper.

With a shaky sniff, she accepted the paper and stuffed it all back into her pocket. Then Hinata unlocked her door and flicked on the lights. She took off her boots as she entered, he followed suit. Chill permeated the room. Naruto got a quick impression of a small studio apartment with high ceilings and a full bank of curtained windows. She took off her cloak, and asked him for his, both of which she hung on a rack by the door.

He had never been there before – and he would have thought, given what he knew about the general Hyuuga disposition towards color, that it would be a large, austere place decorated mainly in white or grey. Instead, pale yellow walls were livened up with a few landscape paintings. The majority of her furniture consisted of tansu of a variety of sizes and a range of ages, which she used as a coffee table, bookcases, and end tables. An old-looking naginata hung over a large chestnut tansu. There were several potted plants, small area rugs, and in a small alcove right off the living room were tacked a handful of childish drawings in a rainbow of colors.

She saw where he was looking, and seemed a little embarrassed. "It's just some of my students' artwork." She ushered him into the small kitchen, where he took a seat on a floor cushion at a kotatsu with a beaten-up wooden surface. She reached under the table top and clicked on the heating element. "What would you like to drink?" She opened the refrigerator, and he caught a glimpse of a 12-pack of diet soda, a large number of individual-sized yogurt tubs, a few takeout containers, and a single, sad-looking yuzu. "I've got milk, diet soda, tea, hot chocolate – "

"Milk."

She pulled out the carton. "Do you want it warmed up? It's easy."

"Only if it's no trouble."

"Oh, no," she assured him. "I like to drink warm milk in the winter."

She poured some milk into a small saucepan and turned on the stove. Then she reached over, pulled out a cookie jar, opened it, and hesitated. "I've got apples," she offered.

"Don't you have any cookies, Hinata?" he asked, hopefully.

She turned to him, biting her bottom lip. "I have these." In her hand she held a Double-Stuf Oreo.

Naruto coughed. "Maybe an apple, then."

Hinata went back to the fridge and obtained the fruit. Then she washed her hands and a few apples. She set a paring knife and a couple of plates on the tabletop. She sat down. Their legs touched, and she pulled back quickly, rearranging her legs on the large cushion.

Then Hinata picked up the knife and started peeling an apple. Carefully, she said, "Kiba's seeing somebody. It seems serious."

"Oh yeah? Anybody we know?"

"She's a kunoichi from the Rock Village in the Land of Earth. I think her family raises leopards."

"You know what that means, eh? Eh?" Naruto grinned.

"What?" she asked, puzzled. She finished peeling the apple. Then she cut slices out of it and placed them on the dish in front of him.

"They must fight like cats and dogs!" Naruto gave a shout of laughter.

Hinata raised a hand to cover her laugh. "Oh, that's so terrible."

He reached forward and took a piece of fruit. He bit into it, and crunched happily.

Hinata leapt up and turned to the stove. Within a moment, she had handed him a mug of steaming milk. She sat down across from him, cupping her own mug in both hands. She sipped her drink, and then exhaled a little. Unaccountably, he felt deeply grateful, and warmed by her small gestures.

Once she had put down the mug, he reached over and turned it until he could read "Hang In There!" which was written below a picture of a kitten barely holding on to a branch with both front paws. He read his own mug, which informed him "It's A Girl!" over a pair of cartoon pink booties.

"Nice mugs," he teased, gently.

She colored a little. "I got it all out of the storage at my father's house," she retorted, a little defensively. "I don't know whose they were, or who gave them – it's just that nobody else wanted them, and I needed mugs, and – " she gestured around the apartment, "furniture, and everything."

"I didn't know you had moved out of Hyuuga House," he tried. "Or when you had moved."

"I moved last year. Because it was time." A frown drew her eyebrows together. "I suppose I wanted to live someplace where my relatives weren't afraid I'd snap and scramble their brains with a wave of my hand." At his questioning look, she continued, a little less confidently. "I wasn't going to be the heir, and I just wanted to see what it was like to not be living in my father's house – and live on just what I earn."

"Hn," he said. He had never not lived alone.

"How come you've never moved out of your place?" she asked.

"Because – " he paused. He had never thought about it. Now with the kind of money he was earning, he could well afford a nicer place, in a better location. "It's just home." He held up both his hands in surrender. "If I moved, I think I'd never be able to remember where I'm supposed to be that night."

"Look," she reached over and opened a cupboard. It was stuffed with at least a dozen cereal boxes, all the same kind. "I went shopping a couple of weeks ago, and I forgot I didn't have to buy for the whole house. So now, I've got cereal for the rest of the year."

He savored the moment, feeling amused, wanting to laugh with her. Then Hinata asked, "What did you do for your coming of age?"

"Well…." He wondered how to explain his round of drinks with Gamabunta, as the toad set out to prove exactly how acceptable Naruto was as an underling – the thought of the differences between their levels of alcohol tolerance based on sheer bulk, not occurring to the boss toad. "So you know Kuchiyose no Jutsu?"

"Sure."

Before he really knew how it happened, he found himself trying to explain Gamabunta, as if it were possible to explain the force of nature stuffed into the bumpy skin of a giant amphibian. This led to how he summoned Gamabunta during his fight with Gaara.

"And you saved Sakura and Sasuke," Hinata finished. At his questioning look, she replied, "Sakura told me the story – what she knew of it." She looked down at the table, and gulped. "Sakura and Sasuke, they've been together a long time, huh?"

"Yeah," he said.

"That's good, right?"

He'd never really questioned it before. Hinata's gaze sharpened on his face as the pause lengthened. Slowly, he said, "Yes." Then he grinned. "Sakura's much nicer than she used to be, oh boy. She's stopped punching me all the time. And Sasuke – he's really like a brother to me now. The thing is - I don't know why they're not married – with Sasuke wanting to rebuild the Uchiha clan and all - but it's one of those things that only the two of them understand." He thought a moment. "Maybe that's what happens when people are together. Things happen that people outside can't see." With a great show of casualness, he said, "I heard you were seeing a matchmaker – "

She groaned and covered her face with both hands. "I don't want to talk about it – it's so awful."

"Oh, c'mon. We're good friends, aren't we?"

She peeked up at him between her fingers, the grey eyes dancing merrily. "Not that good."

"Please?" He put his hands together prayerfully. "Puh-leeze? Pretty please?"

"Okay, okay," she surrendered. "But only if you tell me who told you."

He thought a moment. "I can't remember. Maybe Shino?"

"Shino?!" Hinata exclaimed. "I don't believe it!"

"I guess it could have been Kiba. Or, I don't know – Kurenai-sensei. Maybe Neji. It could have been Neji."

"Who didn't tell you?" she gasped, as if overcome with the level of treachery that surrounded her.

"You." The word dropped like a feather on the still surface of a pond, the ripples pushing outward, gaining as the silence between them lengthened.

Naruto quickly spoke to cover the growing quiet. "So, what happened? Why didn't the matchmaker make you a match?"

Disarmed, she looked rueful. "I saw a lot more of that matchmaker than I did anybody she found for me. So I just stopped it. She wasn't very happy," Hinata said with a trace of guilt. "But I wasn't very happy either." She sighed, and turned to look out the window. She turned back, and with a wry smile said, "But if you know any eligible singles who would be interested in the services of a matchmaker, I have a recommendation for them."

"What?"

"Don't do it." She paused. "That's not right. Shino was very happy with his matchmaker, and his match." She considered her words carefully. "Shino said he knew what he wanted, and his fiancee knew what she wanted – and those were the same." She shrugged. "I guess I wanted something a matchmaker couldn't provide. And that was useful to learn."

"What's that?"

She ducked her head, looking deeply into the mug's depths. Finally, she said, "I wanted freedom. Like – like Hanabi."

It was interesting, Naruto thought, how he had once thought of Hinata as dark and weird and quiet. All it took was a little time learning to read her expressions and pauses – the meaning under the meaning – and suddenly, she was an open book. He knew that wasn't the first thing she was going to say. "Freedom?" he asked. Then he waited. Naruto's short temper was legendary, but with Hinata, it seemed as if he had all the time in the world to wait, to listen.

Hinata sighed. "Freedom to choose how I live – and – and," she struggled briefly, "to find someone that's right for me."

Like a hammer striking a bell, the answer resonated within him. Something deep inside of Naruto released a tension he hadn't known he was carrying. He smiled at her. Shyly, Hinata smiled back.

He felt so warm, and safe, he could fall asleep so easily, in this warm little kitchen, with the quiet hum of the heater as background noise, its warmth creeping up his body. A vague thought flitted in and out of Naruto's head – was this happiness? Contentment?

He yawned. Hinata yawned, but covered her mouth, and looked slightly embarrassed when she was done. He yawned again, this time, so hard he felt tears well up in his eyes.

Outside, there was the shattering of glass, and the drift of drunken laughter up in the air. He glanced at the clock on the oven. The time! It was nearly 4am!

"Oh," he said, regretfully, "I really should go." Was it his imagination, or did Hinata seem sorry he said that?

She stood when he got up, and, like any good host, followed him to the door. He pulled his cloak on. "I really would have liked to have stayed a little longer – "

"Then come back," she burst out, and seemed surprised by her own words. "I mean – if you really want to."

"I do." Naruto smiled at her, already thinking of the next time he might come by. She tentatively started to smile back, until a full, happy smile bloomed upon her lips.

Naruto went to put on his boots, and as he did so, he noticed a little slip of paper stuck to the bottom. He pulled it off and put it in his pocket. He crossed the threshold, and turned to wave, nearly colliding with Hinata as she had followed him out to give a customary farewell. He put out his hands to steady her shoulders as she wobbled backwards.

He turned his head to make sure she was all right, bending slightly to accommodate for the difference in their heights. "Are you –"

Hinata had lifted her own head and turned towards him, and Naruto had the impression of eyes open in shock at his sudden proximity. She was whispering, "Good night." Her words brushed against his skin, her soft lips skimming against his cheek, tracing down to the corner of his mouth, as lightly as a dream. She stepped back, clutching the open door, blushing deeply, looking as astonished as he felt.

She watched as he went down the steps, and every few steps he would turn to see that she still had the door open, and was still watching him, until he turned the corner and was out of sight. He knew it was the polite thing to do, and yet somehow, this seemed so special, and just for him.

Once outside, he stared up at Hinata's windows, glowing from the lights within.

As a kid, wandering around alone, in the dark, he had wondered what was behind all those lit windows in town. Like stars in the sky, those lights seemed so welcoming, and yet so distant, and ultimately, cold comfort in the night. As he grew older, he had reasoned that not every light would be good to come home to – surely there were all sorts of things happening behind those windows and doors no one could guess at. But still, he had wondered. But no longer.

Now, he had an idea of what went on in those spaces. He had been part of that tonight. Perhaps somebody else had looked up and wondered what was happening in that illumination behind the glass. If asked, he would have said it was as welcoming, as warm, as good as they might have wondered. For this much he had Hinata to thank.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, startling himself with the crinkle of paper. He pulled out the note that had been stuck to his boot. He walked to the yellow glow of a streetlamp.

It was a receipt for cold medicine, with ink bleeding through from writing on the other side. He flipped it over. It was Hinata's handwriting, a little blurred from having been damp. She had doodled a couple of stars, and flowers, and a crescent moon. She had also drawn a lop-sided heart with a single line spiraling inside. With a grin, Naruto slid it into the interior chest pocket of his jacket. He patted it to make sure it was secure and took off for home.

A/N –

Seijin Shiki (Adult Ceremony) is held on the Seijin no Hi (Day of Adults). Young adults reach legal age on their 20th birthday and from there on are entitled to vote, allowed to smoke tobacco, purchase alcohol, etc. Local governments hold special ceremonies to mark the rite of passage. Seijin Shiki's original date was January 15. Even though the current calendar has moved the date to the second Monday in January – I chose to use the old date, as dates set in Naruto seem to take place before the change.

seiza = a form of floor sitting – consisting of knees and feet together and flat on the floor, while resting the rear end on the heels – the unaccustomed can have their feet fall asleep fairly quickly

imouto = little sister (here I apologize for any clumsiness with the honorifics)

tansu = storage chest, often made with asymmetrical doors and elaborate metal hardware

The alcove in Hinata's living room is a take-off on the tokomona – a small raised alcove where decorative scrolls are hung. Ikebana and/or bonsai are also often displayed there.

kotatsu = a low, wooden table frame covered by a futon, or heavy blanket, upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source, often built into the table itself.

Oreo = chocolate sandwich cookie with cream filling (double the filling = Double Stuf).

Yuzu = a citrus fruit used in Japanese cuisine, similar to a small grapefruit

#24 ("good night") of the 30 kisses challenge.

I wanted to find the point of mutual awareness – that hovering moment of acknowledgement from both sides. Please let me know how I did. Thanks. Also - first time writing from Naruto's POV. It's the hardest thing for me to stick to a single POV, and it's Naruto - for heaven's sake! Getting inside there is a challenge. A little bit for mech pencil name and for Shawny Wong - both of whom wanted more fluff.