Bad Influence

Halloween

I do not own Naruto.

It had been about four months now since that night. He had taken her out to dinner and everyone kept whispering about how they thought he was going to propose. A small smile tugged at her lips as she thought back to how excited they had all been, even her father had been hopeful. Now imagine their disappointment when they had come home and there was no ring on her finger. They had all been upset, but not at Madara or her. They just wanted the two of them to be happy with each other.

Hinata's gentle fingers kneaded the dough before her in silence, she honestly wanted nothing more for Madara to propose to her as well, but she knew he had many other things he was taking care of. She knew that he had all these things he wanted to get settled before he could even think about marrying her. His credit was in the gutter, his mental health was improving but he still wanted to continue therapy, he was still in debt that he hadn't told her about and she was not allowed to touch this debt. She smiled softly as she thought about how he had matured through the process of rehabilitation. He was no longer taking things for granted and she was proud of him.

She still understood why he had yet to come back to work, but she still missed him while she worked. She caught a glimpse of black out of the corner of her eye and she looked over to see Tajima pulling on an apron. Well at least someone was coming in to help her... she loved when Tajima came in to work with her because he always made sure she didn't overwork herself. Which she had done many days in a row this week already. It was the week before Halloween and business was booming right now. She glanced over and saw that Izuna was in the kitchen now too. She raised a small brow at this and she wondered what on earth he was doing here rather than being at his own shop.

Her heart fluttered at the thought of Madara actually coming in today. She didn't know what he had been doing for the last few months, but she was excited at the idea of him continuously getting better. "Hey Izuna!" she called with a small wave and he grinned at her as he dodged his father throwing a tray of pastries in the oven. He grinned sheepishly at his father as he side stepped out of the way of a second tray. She was thoroughly amused by his goofy antics.

She turned back to what she was doing and began laying dough braids on the tray next to her silently. She wondered why they were all here today seeing as Aurora had just made her way in through the front door. She had seen a glimpse of her through the small window of the kitchen door. She shrugged and continued on with what she was doing. She didn't know how many more of them were going to be able to fit in here, seeing as the shop wasn't very big in the slightest.

Her sharp eyesight caught sight of some flyers and she wondered what Aurora was doing with those. She dusted herself off and made her way over to the kitchen door and pushed it open with her hip. She snatched one off the top of the pile and her eyes went wide as she looked over the paper in her grasp. Tears welled up in her eyes as she read the thing once more. How could they not tell her? she had poured her heart and soul into this place and she was the last to know?

"Please join us for our final day."

She tugged her apron off and threw it at the hooks on the wall and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked over at Izuna and it seemed he had caught her gaze, seeing as he shivered uncomfortably. That same gaze turned to Tajima, who also shivered under her glare. The two men sputtered under her enraged glare, but that glare turned to tears the moment a familiar set of arms wrapped around her and hugged her gently. The tears fell over her cheeks and she fisted her hands at her sides as she turned in his embrace.

"I have a surprise for you." He said softly as he brushed his nose over hers. She couldn't help but be angry with him, seeing as she had done everything in her power to keep this place up and running for him. She didn't care about his surprise right now. She pulled out of his grasp, and that was when her eyes landed on a rolled up paper on the counter. She made her way over to it and he slipped his hands within hers gently. "Please don't be angry with me, I should have told you about this, but I wanted to surprise you." He said softly and she nodded as she turned back to the paper.