Bandage

A/N: This is a very fluffy, somewhat goofy NaruHina one-shot, inspired by an idea by Magma823.

You can find her work here: u/1921765/Magma823

I credit the original inspiration behind this to her & this was written with her permission.

I originally had something different in mind, but it became lighter and more humorous as I went so I just went with the flow. Other one-shots may not be *quite* this fluffy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. This is only for fun/enjoyment; I do not make and never will make any profit from this!

'Alright Hinata, don't panic. You know there is a perfectly good explanation for this.'

Oh who was I kidding? I was panicking. I was beyond panicking. I was an overly worried, nail-nibbling, need-a-brown-bag-to-breath mess. The source of this unyielding emotional turmoil was a certain reckless blonde, who as it happened, was over three hours late for our rendezvous.

Others probably wouldn't be worried that such a powerful shinobi was late. Obviously, Naruto-kun is a very strong person. It's not like I don't think he's capable, it's just that he's never this late for these meetings. And, if I'm honest, I do tend to worry a lot. People would probably think I was neurotic if I wasn't so muffled by shyness. With a brain like mine, things tended to escalate. And this was a prime example.

After the first hour, I imagined that Naruto-kun had stopped for a bowl of ramen. I secretly hoped he would bring one back for me.

After the second hour, I imagined that Naruto-kun had decided to have a feast of several bowls of ramen. Perhaps it was a ramen eating contest. I was sure he would win.

After the third hour, I imagined that Naruto-kun had entered a ramen eating contest and that in his unquenchable thirst for noodles and victory he had aspirated his name-sake fishcake and choked to death. I pictured him on the ground, crying out for help! 'Hinata! Help me! Save me from myself!' Bandits would probably come to finish the job…

Wait. Why would he be eating ramen shirtless? Gah! I knocked on my head a few times, trying to dispel the perverted thoughts. Naruto-kun was probably dead and I was having impure thoughts about him!

Because I was undercover, I couldn't risk going out to look for him. Well, the mission statement said I couldn't break my cover for anything; that the Intel was too important but I was starting to have my doubts. Naruto-kun was more important than any information we could collect here. I was sure he had run into trouble. It was up to me to save him, and it probably wouldn't be from a fishcake. I steeled myself and made my way towards the door.

CLACK!

I nearly had a heart attack when I heard a key wrestling with the mutilated lock of the old hotel room door and I nearly fainted with relief when a blonde ninja walked through the door, looking very much worse for the wear. I was moving before I knew what I was doing, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Ahh! Hinata-chan! I think you're squeezing my broken ribs!"

I let go and peered upwards, trying to hide the wetness in my eye with extra blinking. His face was scratched up and one of his eyes was nearly swollen shut, but he was smiling.

"Sorry Hina-"

"N-Naruto-kun I was s-so worried! I thought you had been attacked by b-bandits or died eating f-fishcake!" Naruto-kun looked a little baffled by the last bit.

"Well," he started, with a hand running through his wayward hair, "I did sort of get captured by these gang-member guys. They roughed me up pretty good out of nowhere! I got conked on the head from behind and before I knew what was happening I woke up in this shack. I ended up just going Nine-tails to destroy the ropes. Once they weren't sneaking up behind me it was pretty easy to deal with them, ya know! Stupid bastards!"

Those guys were truly lucky I hadn't found them first. My eyes narrowed slightly. I did need to test out my new upgraded Twin Lions…

Naruto-kun limped over to the bed, distracting me from my imagined but glorious revenge.

"Okay, N-Naruto-kun," I said, grabbing the medkit, "let me have a look at those r-ribs."

My heart-rate was already starting to speed up. This was the fourth time that this mission had required me to give Naruto first aid, and I was little disgusted that I remembered the exact count. It was memorable though, because it involved me, Hyuga Hinata, handling Naruto-kun's naked upper body.

I tried to shove the thought from my head. 'This is just regular medicine, Hinata. Keep it together!'How many times had I done the exact same thing for Kiba? Or Shino? This was just like that, exactly the same. I turned back to the bed just as Naruto was taking off his tank top. A slight hiss of pain escaped his lips at the uncomfortable movement and then he gingerly lay down on the shoddy hotel bed, free of clothing from the waist up. I swallowed as a blush rose to my face, and chastised myself again for deriving any enjoyment out of what was essentially Naruto-kun's pain.

I bit my lip, and started inspecting my teammates' body for injuries. My eyes were immediately drawn to his muscular chest and well-built arms. 'That isn't where the ribs are, Hina-perv!'I thought acidly. My eyes dropped lower, and gazed over his tight abdominals. 'That isn't either!'

Thankfully, Naruto-kun had his own azure eyes closed and didn't catch my covert stares. My focus shifted to a massive purple bruise that had blossomed on his side. I gently placed my finger tips on it, and my patient exhaled sharply.

"Tender there, huh?"

"Y-yeah. Just a little!" He was grinning again, but I could tell that it was forced. It really must be hurting him. Frowning, I set to work, using the little bit of basic medical jutsu that I knew. I wasn't truly a medic-nin but I was a pretty good first aider. Not that it mattered that much with Naruto-kun's healing ability. Soon I had reached the limit of what I could do with chakra. My heart was absolute hammering now.

"O-okay. Now I need to b-bandage it."

Naruto-kun sat up slowly, with his hand over the bruise. He relaxed once he was upright. "Okay! I'm ready!"

My hands shook slightly as I placed my hand over the bruise to hold one end of the bandage in place and used the other to start binding the fractured bones. I would have bit my nails if both my hands weren't busy. I was desperately hoping he wouldn't notice my shakiness. True to form though, Naruto-kun was oblivious. Or was he? He was focused very intently on my hands as I finished the bandage.

"There. A-all done." With a small twinge of reluctance and accompanying guilt, I removed my hands from my crush's body.

"Thanks Hinata-chan," he said in a strangely soft voice. He sounded a little distracted. I looked up to face him, and my breath hitched as I noticed how close his face was to my own, his eyes full of concern. The constant blush I'd been sporting deepened by about five shades.

His larger, warm hands grabbed my own and he pulled my right hand up between our faces and inspected it. "What happened to your thumb, Hinata-chan? You're bleeding!"

"I-I…well..I a-accidently slammed it i-in the door!" I lied through my teeth. There was no way I was going to tell him, the bravest man I knew, that I had chewed my thumbnail out of nervousness until it bled.

His serious face disappeared as a huge smile crossed his face. "Well, now I'm going to return the favor of healing you!" he declared, over enthused.

"Really, Naruto-kun, y-you don't need to do that!"

"Don't even try to stop me!"

Naruto-kun pulled me down onto the bed beside him and grabbed the gauze out of the medkit. I was going to protest again but then I just…stopped. Naruto-kun was holding my hand. Sure, it was bleeding, but I'm not that picky. A small smile played on my lips, and I quietly savored the contact of our legs on the bed.

He bandaged my hand with surprising gentleness, grinning when he was finally done.

"There! Good as new!"

My smile was wider than my usual shyness generally allowed. "T-Thank you, Naruto-kun."

His face morphed into a surprised 'O'. "I forgot one thing!" Once again, my smaller hand was dwarfed in his as he quickly brought the injured digit to his lips, giving it a quick kiss. I felt my face go slightly slack with shock. Had he just kissed me?

He smiled at me earnestly. "I've heard that doing that makes it heal faster!" If I wasn't mistaken, it almost looked like Naruto-kun was blushing. Or was it a bruise on his face? I couldn't be too sure. My brain didn't seem to be functioning that well, probably because so much blood had just rushed to my face, giving my cheeks the deepest red hue they have ever managed because… Naruto-kun had kissed me! Sure, it was a peck on the thumb, rather than the, er, more passionate kissing I'd been envisioning earlier but hey! Like I said, I'm not that picky.

The moment came crashing down around my ears as I hear a groaning rumble coming from Naruto-kun's stomach. He looked at me slyly." I know we can't be seen together because of your cover, so why don't I send a shadow clone out to grab us some ramen before you give your report? I'll buy since I made you wait for so long tonight!"

"Sure but Naruto-kun, c-could you do me a favor?"

"No problem, Hinata-chan!"

"Just don't order any extra fishcake."