Author's Note: Call me a one-trick pony if you will, but just the same as my previous one-shot, I was inspired after listening to Maxence Cyrin's incredibly potent rendition of Arcade Fire's "No Cars Go," as well as from a story I read in a local newspaper. And all the same, I think you might enjoy listening to it while you read.

~My Love For You Grows~

On their first Valentine's Day, the poor boy had absolutely no idea what he was doing.

Naruto had arrived twenty minutes late, embarrassed to see Hinata dressed so formally for the occasion, when he himself was wearing nothing more than what he usually did. She had giggled to herself, and insisted it made no difference what he was wearing. 'You look handsome as you are,' she had told him.

Her date was no suave romantic, no expert in the wooing of women. On their first, he took her to Ichiraku's. Teuchi and Ayame scolded him for bringing such a beautiful young woman to a ramen stand on Valentine's Day of all days, but Hinata had smiled, shaken her head, and said that there was nothing she would love more.

The conversation had been lively, and Naruto was endlessly pampering her, ordering more ramen than she could have ever eaten. As fate would have it, several other clueless men had dragged their dates along to Ichiraku's, and Teuchi welcomed them all the same. The boys spent that night trying to make up for their foolishness, and the girls had spent that night shaking their heads and laughing, as if they had known each other all their lives.

Naruto had never gotten past Ichiraku's, he confessed later that night, and had no idea what they might do next. It started to rain, and they were forced to take shelter underneath a tree they happened to be walking by. Naruto had given her his coat, but the two of them were soaked to the bone, and with gritted teeth, Naruto apologized for his complete and utter stupidity. 'I've ruined everything,' he insisted.

She had smiled, leaned in, and pecked him on the lips. Once. Twice. Three times.

'You've ruined nothing,' she told him. 'This is the best night of my life.'

Hinata returned home dripping water all over the floor, with a bellyful of ramen tumbling around inside as she tiptoed all the way to her room. To her surprise, on the edge of her bed sat a bouquet of flowers, of every color and shape and size and smell. Daintily, she picked them up, turning them in her hands. She spied a small card attached.

'My love for you grows,' the card told her, hastily scribbled in his own handwriting. 'Just like these flowers.'

They were wrinkled and smushed the next morning. She never let go.

On their first, Naruto had realized he loved her.

On their second, Naruto promised he would not make the same mistakes.

He dressed in his finest clothes, and arrived as on time as one possibly could. Putting her on his arm, Naruto led her through the streets of the village, entertaining her with stories or whatever silly little thoughts might pop into his head.

Such luxury! How on earth had Naruto managed reservations at such a place? With a wink of his eye, Naruto assured his date that she would not be wanting for the rest of the night. A booth for two, next to a man softly crooning into a microphone, spinning songs of love and loss. Hinata thought he was cute, thought not nearly as cute as the young man sitting across from her.

The array of food dazzled Hinata's taste buds, with more courses than she cared to admit she had room for. Naruto inhaled everything as a vacuum might, only remembering his manners when Hinata would stare at him, and try to hide her smile.

'This is just the beginning!' he had told her. 'You haven't seen anything yet.'

Fireworks. Dancing. A stroll through the woods, guided by flickering flames and the light of the moon. He had a picnic spread laid out for them in a clearing, with sweets and candies of all kinds. Hinata wanted to know how he planned all this. 'Magic,' he had said, with a twinkle in his eye. She pouted. He laughed. To call this place heaven would have been insulting. Hinata did not want it to end, but her eyes felt heavy, and she fell into his lap, into a deep sleep.

She awoke in his arms, halfway to her front door, where Naruto would kiss her goodnight, and leave her there. He had his own bed, his own home to get back to. The night was over.

But she didn't want that.

'I want you,' she had whispered into his ear, blushing a fierce red. Naruto, with a lump in his throat, needed a moment to understand. He was as red as she was, maybe even redder, when it dawned upon him. Without another word, he turned around, Hinata Hyūga still in tow.

They barely made it inside his own apartment before she was upon him. Hands explored, and tongues entwined, they somehow found the bed, and Hinata and Naruto found one another.

'This is the best night of my life,' she breathed in hushed tones, wrapped in sheet and skin and sweat.

She awoke the second time in his bed, with the smells of a cooking breakfast wafting into the room. On the bed next to her was a beautiful arrangement of flowers, each flower more exotic than the one before. She breathed deeply, the fragrances entrancing her senses.

'My love for you grows,' the card read.

On their second, two became one.

On their eighth, there was a surprise waiting for her.

Naruto was unusually quiet that night. 'A night for just the two of us,' he had offered. 'You'll see. I know you'll love it.'

Hinata had been on duty all that day, as sour as can be. With every passing hour, she wished more and more that she could only rush home, into his arms. Something seemed to be bothering him, and she desperately wanted to be there for him.

The hour struck, and Hinata raced home as fast as she could. She opened the door, and smiled.

Tiny chocolates dotted the floor, leading her all the way around the house like a scavenger hunt. A single rose petal sat underneath each, so she could eat them if she wanted. Along the way, she found more and more gifts. A teddy bear on the kitchen table, a necklace on the stairs, and when they lead to the bedroom…

Naruto Uzumaki, as naked as can be, laying on the bed in what he thought was a seductive pose. Hinata nearly keeled over laughing, until she noticed what was covering up Naruto's…well, her eyes widened when she saw what it was.

The Hokage's hat.

'Why do you have that?' she asked. 'Naruto-kun, if Tsunade-sama were to find out about this…'

He grinned. 'Did you like the presents?' he replied.

She nodded, but wanted Naruto to answer her question. 'Naruto-kun, why do you have Tsunade-sama's hat?' she repeated, her heart thudding in her chest.

'I'm glad you like them,' Naruto said, with a smile. 'After all, the Hokage's wife should have only the finest.'

Hinata's mouth gaped open. A trick? Some joke just to tease and annoy her? The look in his eyes dared her to think that.

She ran to him, cheering and squealing with joy for her boyfriend. Tsunade had chosen to step down, he had explained, and the hat would be passed onto him. Naruto Uzumaki was to become the Hokage. Hinata was overcome with happiness, until she remembered what he had said. What were the words he had used? The Hokage's wife…

He grinned, realizing she had finally caught on. Reaching behind him, he offered her a bouquet of roses, a fiery red, to represent the village he would soon lead.

'My love for you grows,' the card said. But attached to the card, almost hidden from view, was a tiny box. With shaking hands, Naruto opened the box, and slipped the ring onto her finger.

'This is the best night of my life,' she cried, hugging his neck as the tears flowed down her cheeks.

On their eighth, their dreams, which they had shared with one another, had come true.

On their twelfth, he was gone.

A mission. An urgent one, he had told her. War was on the horizon, and there was only one who had the power to stop it. She hadn't wanted to let him go. 'I'm the Hokage,' he had told her. 'I'll be fine!'

She wandered about the village, lost for what to do.

She passed the swing he used to sit on, hoping for a friend.

She passed the training ground, where he had shared his fears with her.

She passed the clearing where they had married, and the hospital where in a few months' time, a beautiful baby boy would be brought into the world, wrinkled and pink.

Hinata did not realize when she had gotten home. Their home just seemed empty without him, lonely and joyless. She crawled into bed, said a little prayer, and drifted into fitful sleep.

The sound of the door slamming frightened her. She drew back in surprise, cowering in the bed. The clock next to her bathed her face in red light. 11:59, just before the stroke of midnight.

Their bedroom door flew open, and Naruto Uzumaki breathed hard in the doorway, a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

'I'm not too late, am I?' he had asked. Utterly serious, he watched her intently with those piercing blue eyes. As if that was what she was worried about.

With tears in her eyes, Hinata leapt up to greet him, hugging him so tightly, she feared he couldn't breathe. He hugged her back, breathing in her scent and sighing with happiness.

'This is the best night of my life,' she insisted, burying her face in his chest. The flowers sat on the floor, abandoned.

'My love for you grows,' the card said.

On their twelfth, he made it just in the nick of time.

Seasons came and went. Days, weeks, months, years, and decades. Naruto loved the village he served, almost as much as he loved her. Every year, without fail, there would be a bouquet of flowers waiting for her. Naruto loved his wife fiercely, and he insisted it grew with every passing day, just like the flowers he gave her.

Danger. Hundreds of innocent lives at stake. The mission was suicide, they had warned. Many people already dead, but Naruto was anything but patient. He only had a few years as Hokage left in him, many insisted, despite the strength and vitality he had long been famous for. 'Have I stopped being the Hokage?' he had demanded. 'Am I to leave them to die?'

So he had left, promising to return as soon as he could. She waited by the door, waiting and waiting. Friends would come by and visit, reassuring her. Their children would stay over, taking care of her. Hinata waited until she heard a knock at the door.

The man was a stranger, no one she knew. He opened his mouth, but Hinata knew the words before he ever needed to speak them. She shut her ears to those horrible, horrible words, and felt weak. Hinata Hyūga fell to the ground, and cried.

On their Seventy-Fifth, she was alone.

There she stood, at the memorial they had made in his honor. Naruto Uzumaki, the greatest Hokage that had ever lived. He had lived for his village, and he had died for his village, just as he had lived and died for her. Hinata hated looking at the stone of his face. Where was the life? Where was the joy and happiness he brought to all he looked upon? This paled in comparison, in every way.

But something caught her eye, something she had not noticed before. A single flower was tied to the statue, and as she reached up and plucked it into her hand, a note fell to her feet.

'Where I kissed you,' the note teased.

On the tree where they had shared a kiss, on the night of their first, she found another flower, and another note.

Each time, the notes lead her to another place they had spent their Valentine's Day, another year of their many together. The flowers grew and grew, until she had another bouquet, the most beautiful she had ever seen. There were more colors than she could imagine, and the smell delighted her nose.

'Home,' was all the last note had to say, and when Hinata arrived, there was a young man pinning something to the front door.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

The man spun around, flustered. "Hinata-sama! We were not expecting you home so early."

He did not speak further, despite Hinata's several inquiries. He merely patted her on the shoulder, gave her a soft smile, and walked away. Confused, Hinata turned back towards the door.

She gasped.

The final flower was pinned to the front of their door, with another note. She added the flower to the others, and flipped the card over. Tears dotted the flowers, like a morning rain, as she read the words over and over again, in his handwriting.

'My love for you is eternal,' the card proclaimed. 'And as long as I had you, every night was the best night of my life.'

There came a warmth. Draped across her shoulders like the strong arms of the man she loved, they brought her comfort and happiness. She felt him next to her, kissing her cheek, and telling a joke. All to herself, Hinata smiled from ear to ear, and she disappeared inside.

On their Seventy-Fifth Valentine's Day, Hinata Hyūga realized that she was not, nor would she ever be, alone.

Author's Note: I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff, aren't I?

Oh well. I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day (assuming you take part. Political correctness ftw).