After for months or so of waiting i finally bring this to you. Though i'm a bit sad that it didn't quite turn out the way i wished it would. It just felt too much of a story chapter than a follow up one-shot... but whatever i guess. Have a few more complaints but that could wait till after the story. Just hope you enjoy :D

Don't forget to review, psh i shouldn't have to remind you... only lame people forget :P

(A/N - tamagoyaki is a type of egg omlet, Kotatsu is a very short japanese table that has a heater built in)

Disclaimer: Whoops! almost forgot again haha. Kishimoto pwns err i mean owns Naruto

Before her eyes had a chance to open, she was comforted by surrounding warmth. Powerful arms capable of defeating many opponents wrapped around her torso protectively. There was no confusion this time around. Hinata knew exactly who this arm belonged to and sighed happily. Even as she rested her head against the blonds' forearms, there was no going back to sleep. She'd already had enough sleep to last her the whole day and maybe the next.

Ever so carefully she rolled over to face the boy of her dreams. Unconsciously her hands started roaming towards his abdomens. His face showed much bliss, though he wasn't smiling, the young woman knew he was happy. The longer her lavender eyes gazed at his tanned face, the more her mind wandered. These past couple days seemed to unrealistic to be... well real. But here she was in bed with him again... for the third time.

Part of her blushed at the thought of it but a bolder part of her giggled, 'Naruto-kun... it's as if we skipped so many steps with you being here,' she thought daringly, something she would never say aloud. 'Three days ago I never would have believe we've become… I've become…' what was she to him exactly? Something in the back of her mind kept whispering 'lovers' but that was too much, especially since the voice sounded too much like her blond hero.

When she finally fell out of her little trance she realized her face were mere inches away from his. Her lips ghosting his and deep even breaths tickling her nose. Hinata lay frozen, too afraid to back off but not courageous enough to move forward. The only movements she made were the curling and uncurling of her toes and the small movements of her fingers against his warm stomach… which led to this.

Feeling a slight tickle on his belly, Naruto's body shifted which resulted in the accidental kiss.

Hinata's eyes widened and after a short delay the girl body recoiled and rolled away. She completely forgot about the two hands trapped between a thin layer of fabric and Naruto. The yank was just enough to wake him from his slumber.

With a scratch of his belly and a half-silent yawn, the young blond stretched himself out of the cocoon of blankets. His azure eyes turned right to see his sleeping partner sitting straight up on the side of the bed, hands folded neatly on her lap and head looking straight down, "Hyaah… you ok 'Nata?" he said with a yawn.

"Hai!" she said rather quickly.

Luckily for her, Naruto was still too drowsy to be suspicious. "Wow that was a good nap" he said with a grin. The teen kicked the blankets off his body and searched for the ground with his feet, "It's already early morning ne? I should probably go before everyone wakes up,"

Hinata kept still the entire time until she felt a tap on her shoulder, "Thanks again," Pale lavender met sparkling blue when she felt pressure against her lips. It was only a second but it felt like her mind decided to take a mental picture of the moment. What really fascinated her was that he had done it consciously and purposely. And much like what Naruto had done earlier that night, her hand shot straight towards the area of the kiss.

The young Casanova looked away sheepishly with a blush, "I can do that right? Ne… since we're lovers now so… it's ok," he asked without actually asking.

She knew it was impossible but the girl couldn't help but think her brain was melting, first the sleep-kiss then the conscious kiss and now the proclamation of lovers, "Lo-lov-vers?" she spluttered.

He just grinned, "Yeah. Remember last night?" referring to the time he called themselves lovers.

Soft dainty hands ran across her body making sure she was indeed fully clothed. Hinata wanted him to pause, to take a second and explain exactly what he meant and to just take a breath in. Sadly her voice betrayed her as it had decided to close shop for the morning.

Naruto scanned the room for his jacket and sandals then shifted towards her window sill. "Ne… I think that's it. Well, sayonara Hinata-chan," he waved goodbye and leaped towards the ground leaving a stone stiff female behind.

There were only a handful of times she wished she would pass out, this being one of them, but her body just wouldn't listen to her all morning. So she sat there, eyes stuck on the open window, and brain wrapped around the simple word, 'lover'. Oh how the young heir was plagued with relentless waves of risqué thoughts.

Naruto had gained enough sleep that night to satisfy his physical need, but noting the sun wouldn't rise for another hour or so he decided he'd try to get a little bit more at his apartment. After all, the blond had all day to find his target and get his side of the wage.

Only an hour after he rose with the sun the blond was already planted butt on leather at his favorite ramen stand. "Ten bowls of Miso coming right up," yelled a male voice from the back of the stand.

"You should be glad I'm taking it easy on you Sai. I'm only ordering half of what I was planning on getting," the blue-eyed genin said with a laugh.

The pale teen kept his eerie smile in place, "I lost our bet and my wager was a blank check. I'll accept whatever reward you wish for dickless," still unable to differentiate between insult and complement.

Sai's comment raised a vein from the blonds' forehead but he'd be damned if his mood was spoiled, "Urg… I'm gonna let that one slide this time, but only because that stupid bet got me and Hinata together," his face quickly turned into a smile.

The pale skinned nin gave him a questioning look, "Does that imply a commitment in relationship?" he'd been doing his reading.

"Yup! We're lovers now," Naruto was ok with bragging.

With creepy smile back in place he did something Naruto wasn't expecting, "Well then I take back what I said about your penis," It was Naruto's turn to hook an eyebrow, "You must definitely have a penis since you engaged in sexual intercourse,"

Naruto nearly fell out of his chair, "N-Nani!"

Teuchi stuck his head through the rubber flaps guarding the doorway, "What's the trouble?"

Sai turned towards the man, "I'm congratulating Naruto in finally having sex,"

The old man was a bit taken back by the sudden topic but let out a loose smile, "Well ah, congratulations then. Who's the lucky girl?"

The blond now felt what Hinata had felt only a couple hours earlier, "I-no… I never said sex!" he shouted quite loudly, at least loud enough to hear from the kitchen.

"Naruto-kun's doing what!?" a young brunet cried as she shot towards the counter.

"Nee-chan! No i… damn it Sai. I never said I had sex ok!" his frustration began to build.

This was odd for Sai. According to his readings, the term lovers were reserved for two people who have partaken in the act of sex. "So you never slept with Hinata?" these were poor choice of words for Naruto.

He rubbed his elbows shyly, "Hai… I did sleep with her a few times,"

"Well then… ramen's on the house to celebrate," Teuchi said between laughs while his daughter tried kicking him out of the area.

"Ok old man, that's enough out of you," Once the chef was back in the kitchen Ayame turned around and gave the blond a criticizing glare, "Naruto… what did you do," she said dangerously.

"Since the food is already paid for, I'll take my leave," Sai said before quickly fleeing via Shunshin.

Feeling trapped the boy sighed and began explaining the entire situation from the very beginning. By the end of it all, he had gone through ten bowls of ramen and one large headache. Ayame wasn't fairing much better.

The brunet rubbed her bandana as she normally did when she felt stressed, "Naruto, do you know exactly what lovers are?"

He frowned, "Of course! It's when two people like each other and you know, they go out on dates and be boyfriend and girlfriend,"

That wasn't enough for the chef in training, "And what about sex?" she said with crossed arms.

Naruto blushed, "Well eventually they do that. I mean, in all of Ero-sensei's books they end up doing it, but they don't have to right away… right?"

She sighed. The older girl really shouldn't be the one explaining this to him, "Being 'boyfriend and girlfriend' and being 'lovers' aren't the same. Yeah you can be both but 'lovers' mean you've already have had sex. You get it now?"

The teen felt itchy all over. He felt so foolish. After having been forced to proofread his sensei's books he just figure words like 'couple' 'lovers' 'partners' and all that were just synonyms, "Yeah… that was… really dumb. That's why Sai said… and then Hinata… shit!"

"What's wrong now?" she was a bit more tired than worried at the moment, 'I'm getting this boy a thesaurus for yuletide,'

He set the empty bowls of ramen aside as he hopped of the stool, "I need to talk to Hinata. I ano… I kinda mentioned the whole 'lovers' thing to her… twice,"

She let out a small chuckle and shooed him off, "Go,"

The blond smiled and turned to leave. Sadly he was halted from his trip, "Naruto-kun! The Hokage wants to meet with us. I'm sure it is news about a new mission," the bushy-browed teen cried with passion.

The other didn't feel as excited, 'The one time I'm too busy for a mission…', "Hai let's go," he nodded to his teammate.

"Yosh!"

Ayame watched the two leave towards the large tower. She grabbed the empty bowls and headed towards the kitchen, "Otou-san, I'm gonna go take another shower. I'll be back real quick," she bolted out the back door before the stand owner could reply, 'I need a shower after that. Ohh… I really wished someone else could have explained that to him,' she mentally groaned.

Hinata had spent that morning trying to sort out her thoughts, though she gained no progress. After sitting on her bed watching the wind blow her curtains she decided to tidy up her room. There was always a feeling of peace knowing there wasn't a mess in sight. After all, sorting out a room helps with sorting out your mind, or at least that was what she hoped for.

The thing was, her room was already clean aside her bed and curtain, but that was all handled within a few minutes. Now she was back to square one, nothing to do with a mind foggy as a marsh. So she did the next best thing.

The Hyuuga felt very comfortable in the kitchen, as much as she did in the battle field, though she couldn't deny the thrill of battle was much more alluring than creating a recipe. The next hour was filled with the aroma of a five-star breakfast buffet. Hinata continued contemplating what she wanted to say to Naruto and everything else in between while her body was running solely on memory. Before she really knew it the young chef had run out of counter space.

She sighed once more, "I should probably restock the pantry,"

Hyuuga Hanabi had picked a wonderful day to wake up hungry. It was still early in the morning and she thought she was the first to rise, which was hardly ever the case. The young academy student expected to go the kitchen and toast some bread then probably wait for Hinata or one of the branch members to cook a meal. Instead she walked straight into an early morning smorgasbord.

"Sugoi," she exclaimed. Her surprised eyes were able to pick up a spread of dark hair sprawled between a stack of toasted bread and a large bowl of lemongrass, "Nee-chan… did you cook all this," still groggy from having just woken up.

Hinata picked her head up to see her little sister walking nose first towards the early feast, "Oh! Ohayo gozaimasu Hanabi-chan,"

The younger Hyuuga waved it off feeling it was much too early for formalities. Her hair was frizzy and she was still in her pajamas, "I'm going to grab a plate… are you planning to eat out of the serving dish?" though it was meant as a joke, her face seemed a bit serious. The girl walked around and stood next to her older sibling, "If you plan on eating this all, you're going to get fat… then I doubt Naruto would like you,"

Her sister blushed and waved her hands across, "No no, I wasn't planning on eating yet. I was just going to rest for a bit,"

Hanabi only meant it as a joke. She had no intention of driving her sister out, though she did have the entire table of food all to herself. The little girl scratched her neck with a pair of chopstick in a non-ladylike fashion before picking at the plate of rolled tamagoyaki, "Itadakimasu,"

Hinata sat her butt on the floor and slid her legs underneath the Kotatsu, "Maybe I should just write out what I'll say," she whispered to herself. After reaching out for a pencil and paper, she got to work. 'How about…'

Naruto-kun, I really like you but we can't be lovers…

She quickly scratched over the line. 'That sounds too much like a rejection,'

There's nothing I'd want more than to be you lover!

That was squiggled over as fast as she had written it, 'I couldn't say that to him!'

Lovers have sex and we haven't… yet…

She groaned, 'I can't do this…' Her hair fanned out behind her as she laid her back against the rug around the short table. "When I see him… I'll think of something," Hinata thought positively. Perhaps she has gotten stronger.

"You mission is quite clear. There is a rather large village in River Country that houses a band of thugs. One of which has impressionable blackmail on the village's mayor. He, the Mayor, wishes for us to retrieve it without causing alarm," the Hokage spoke.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "I don't see the big deal. If they're just thugs why is it B ranked?"

The busty leader leaned back on her chair, "I wasn't finished yet. This village is notoriously against Ninjas and wants nothing to do with any Shinobi. The mayor hired us in secrecy. If people find out he hired Shinobis then the villager's support is shot along with any chance in continuing his job. Because of this you must refrain from molding chakra and disguise yourselves as a rival gang,"

"Yosh! I will use my disadvantage as an advantage and ensure the success of this mission!" Lee exclaimed.

"I expect nothing less," she praised.

Naruto crossed his arms, "Is it just us? Not that I mind, but a gang of two seems suspicious,"

Tsunade smirked, "Clever observation, but there will be one more… Neji Hyuuga,"

"Yosh! His presence will make us an unstoppable force of youthfulness!"

"One more thing!" Naruto shouted.

Tsunade grumbled. It was much too early to be troubled with anything more. She would've been happy to brief them later in the afternoon, but Lee had come in early, "Yes," she answer impatiently.

The younger blond tried not to look suspicious, "Do we have to leave today?"

The Hokage hooked an eyebrow, "You have other plans?" she received an uncharacteristically shy nod, "You have the rest of the day to prepare your leave. At the very most you should be gone by dawn tomorrow,"

"Great! That's all I need, Tsankyou Baa-chan," he grinned. A second later he received an imprint of a pen on his forehead. He was glad that was the only thing within arm's reach at the time. The two quickly exited before being pelted with anything else.

The young Uzumaki wandered around the business district before remembering the importance of his extended stay. Trailing over rooftops he made his way towards the Hyuuga Compound.

It took some tries to find Hinata after checking a couple places on the way. Finally after walking around the corner near Konoha's best bakery he spotted a familiar batch of indigo hair. "Oi! Hinata," he shouted from across the street.

The sixteen year old heiress turned her head towards his voice. A small but nervous smile grew on her face, "Naruto-kun," she said, though not loud enough for the blond to hear.

He weaved through the crowds and caught up to her, "Hinata I've been looking for you,"

The girl blushed, "Oh ano… I have as well,"

And simultaneously, they spoke, "We need to talk. Nani? Oh/Ano" after a brief pause they started again, "You first, Nani?" this time Naruto laughed loudly as Hinata turned her head away to hide a blush.

Before the Hyuuga had a chance to talk, the blond covered her mouth lightly, "Here, you go first ok?" she nodded, with his hand still attached. The blond chuckled before letting go.

Hesitantly she took a hold of his sleeve, "Ano… can we talk somewhere more private?"

He nodded and took her hand in his. His instincts led the way while he relished in the warmth of the indigo-haired girl's smaller hand. They found themselves at a park bench not far from where they were, "So… what did you want to talk about?"

She had the strong urge to twiddle her fingers together but her right hand was still encased in the young male's grip, not that she was complaining, "Ano… about last night,"

He swiftly cut in, "Hai, I wanted to… apologize. Ne I guess I didn't really know what I was saying you know, I just ah… gomen," The blond had his eyes away from her but felt her grip tighten. Then he felt her head rest against his shoulder.

"I'm not mad Naruto-kun… I'm a-actually ano… flattered you said… said that," she couldn't help but let that stutter slip.

"Oh…oh!" this was where the Jiraiya implanted thinking set in. The way she seemed nervous and not angry of what happened gave him the impression that the girl may have been ok with the idea. "So you're really not mad. I mean, you're ok?"

"Mhm" she nodded while snaking both arms around his left. Hinata let herself snuggle onto his shoulder feeling happy that the misunderstanding was over.

"Ne, that's uh, that's great. I just didn't think you, well I certainly… It's not like I haven't thought about it," he rambled.

Ok perhaps there was still a few things left unclear, "Ano what are you talking about?" She looked up towards his face to find him completely flushed.

"That you're ok with this. If you're fine with being lovers then I am too. So I guess we have to er… get to do that ne?" he tried to look at her but at the last second looked down instead. Unfortunately, the only real thing to stare at in that angle was Hinata's well endowed chest.

Hinata would usually do two things in this case, freeze up and pass out. But this time her instincts went a different direction. Without even thinking her arms shoved towards the sides knocking the blond off the bench. It was only after realizing what she had done that she ran over to help him up.

For a moment he just looked at her with a blank face. This soon contorted to a smile which led to a boisterous laugh. Hinata was mortified. She couldn't believe she just did that to him, and now the object of her affection was laughing right at her face. Tears began welling up as she turned away, prepping to flee the site.

The lavender-eyed kunoichi didn't get a chance, "Matte!" he grabbed her wrist before the teen could get too far, "Calm down 'Nata, there's no need to cry. I was just laughing… at myself not you,"

Hinata lowered her sniffles, "Gomen… I just thought…" the words died there. She wasn't sure what she thought.

"It's ok. It doesn't matter," Naruto picked himself up and dusted his knees, "I think we've gone through this all wrong. I mean this whole situation has been crazy and confusing. I guess I'm trying to say… I'm just glad we're friends," He let the silence continue for a few seconds before grabbing her hand, sadly not interlacing their hands. "C'mon, let's go get something to eat ne?"

The boy pressed forward but was surprised she hadn't budged. Just as he was about to turn around, she spoke, "No… don't turn around just yet. I need to saying something first,"

Without turning back, he nodded his head. The blond only hoped this wasn't bad news, "I'm listening,"

Gathering her courage, she took a deep breath, "You said you wanted to be friends but I… I don't want that," Naruto flinched. He was even more hurt when he felt her hand let go, "These past couple days… I really enjoyed. Even though you said it was crazy and confusing… I wouldn't want to change it. It's just ano…" the pause she took seemed too long, but she needed to do this right, "Naruto-kun, please let me be your girlfriend!" she said in a bow.

Her eyes were shut tight afraid of the possible rejection, but the gut feeling inside her told her otherwise. This was what gave her the courage to finally open her eyes and witness Naruto crouched down looking right up at her.

"Jeez 'Nata… that's what I wanted all along," he said with a wide smile.

The heiress blinked… blinked again. She confessed and he returned her feelings. Her scared face quickly became a happy one as she tackled the boy to the ground with a hug.

"Ah! Oi, this was what gave me the wrong impression in the first place," he chuckled.

Feeling embarrassed, the young woman stood off of him and dusted herself off. Naruto quickly followed before joining their hands once more, "Let's go celebrate with some food!"

Hinata let out a beautiful smile and hugged his arm, "Hai,"

They walked away from the bench together hand in hand. Ironically it had been the same bench Sakura had confessed to, but neither of them had known that, "Naruto-kun… do you think we can get some cinnamon buns before we go to Ichiraku's?"

"Course!"

The couple sat at the booth of Ichiraku Ramen Stand, "Oi Ojii-san, I still get free ramen today?" Teuchi laughed and gave a thumbs up before returning back to the kitchen.

"Naruto?" called the apprentice, "So how'd it go with… Hinata!" the brunet saw her as soon as she passed through the rubber flaps.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Let me introduce my girlfriend," It made the both of them feel nice just being hearing that.

Hinata chuckled, "We already know each other,"

"Yeah but she only knows Hinata. She hasn't met Hinata my girlfriend yet," obviously he could never get enough saying it out loud.

Ayame smiled, "You two are adorable," she sighed wondering why she doesn't have a guy act like that with her, "I'll go ahead and help get those orders for you,"

When she left, Hinata returned to her beloved cinnamon buns, "I feel kinda bad that I didn't even know my girlfriend's favorite food," 'nope, can't get enough saying 'my girlfriend'

She smiled and excused him, "Well you know now,"

Naruto nodded, "Yup! I want to learn all about you, but I have a mission tomorrow," he suddenly frowned.

"Then let's have a picnic when we get back. I can make ramen if you want," she smiled warmly by the way he nodded so excitedly.

"I always knew Hinata really was the best!" this made the girl blush, more that she had been already, "And I was thinking… since I'll be gone for a while, you think I can come over tonight and you know… sleep over?" somehow he was shyer to ask now than he had been the last time.

Hinata only smiled. She wouldn't deny him one last night before a mission.

"Great! I'll come by an hour after sundown and leave in the morning before we get caught," he said the last part jokingly.

"You're seventeen words too late," spoke a deep and slightly angry voice.

"Neji-nii-san!"

"Shit!"

You know... i'm really surprised i haven't been called up on the fact that i'm HEEELLA overdoing the 'accidental kiss/touch/misunderstanding that leads to embarrasing moment'. If i had a quarter for every time i did the accidental thing i'd have enough to win a decent prize at chucky cheese lol.

Well anyways. As you can tell there will be one more chapter to this fluff series... maybe an epilogue but i seriously doubt it. I already have the next chapter planned...

I can't help but feel this chapter isn't at the same standard as the previous ones... really hope it's ok. I mean i feel intimidated by the amount of reviews from the last chapter... wow i intimidated myself??? that's kinda sad haha

!!REVIEW or LAmeNeSS!!

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