NaruHina Hanakai

CHAPTER 8

"Let's rest here for the night Hinata" Naruto said as he landed next to the mouth of a cave, it was the first night of their three days journey to the Hidden Sand, where their mission would officially begin, they had been travelling since this morning with very little stops along the way.

"Are you sure Naruto, I mean we can keep going, I'm not tired yet and I think the sooner we get there, the better, so we can put a stop to what this village is planning" She responded to him, though her words were opposite of her actions as she had indeed stopped and activated her Byakugan, to see if there were any dangers close by, needing to make sure this was safe place to rest for the night.

"Yeah, I'm sure, I want to make sure we are plenty rested for this mission; and besides I think we should get to know each other more yah know" he spoke the words with his signature stance, right hand out and thumbs up. She was shocked by his words, never had he requested to get to know her more, she felt her heart rate pick up pace and she was sure he could hear it in the quiet of the night.

"We sss-hould?" the question came out less confident than she had hoped, since they started this mission together, she had not once reverted back to her usual stutter around him, but his statement caught her so off guard she couldn't help it. Inwardly chastising herself, she took a deep breath giving herself time before answering. "Ah-"

"Yeah, I mean, if we are going to pretend to be aa married couple, we need to know things about each other that couples normally would" he had interrupted what she was going to say, giving further clarity to his previous statement. Hinata felt her cheeks getting warm from embarrassment, of course that's what he meant, all this time they had known each other and he had never before expressed his willingness to know her more, so why should he start now. Feeling foolish for even thinking he was talking about something else, she reminded herself that they had a job to do and her feelings had no part in that.

"Yes, that's a good idea Naruto" her stutter now gone as she was refocused on the mission. "We can start off with the basics such as favourite colour, food, hobbies, birthdays and go from there."

He looked at her with an expression she couldn't fully understand, it was a cross between confusion and something else she couldn't place. "Aqhhh well I already know those things about you, so I can just tell you my answers to those questions so you can know". At his answer she looked at him quicky and with surprise written on her face, "what, you, you know all that already?"

"I mean yeah, of course, its purple, zenzai and cinnamon rolls, oh and your least favourite is crabs and shrimp, you like to press flowers as a hobby, and your birthday is December 27th-" he had stopped talking when he noticed the look on her face, she looked at him like she was shocked he knew all these things about her, but why should she be, I mean they cared about each other and people who cared knew things about each other right?

"Well," Kurama said, "maybe she is shocked you are smart enough to remember" he snickered inside Naruto's head. "I mean, you aren't the sharpest kunai in the set" he continued laughing while throwing out insults at Naruto, now normally Naruto would respond but he was more interested in why Hinata seemed surprised he knew all this.

"Hey Hinata you, ok?" he asked waving his hands in front of her face as she seemed frozen. Coming out of her stupor by his closeness, she responded "yeah I'm fine Naruto-kun, sorry about that, its just that I didn't expect you to know all this."

"I mean why, we are friends right and friends care about each other and if you care for someone then you take the time to get to know them right?" he asked her still not sure why she was surprised. "Yes, that's true, I guess its because well you never asked these questions so I thought you didn't know"

"Oh, well when you put it like that, I guess I can understand its just that I didn't need to ask, I just pay attention to the things you do" he answered her but still felt unsatisfied, he couldn't understand it but he needed to make sure she knew he noticed the things she does, that he pays attention to her.

"Oh" that's all she said, she didn't know what else to really say, I mean he was right, she paid attention to him because she cared about him so even though he didn't tell her these things about himself either she still knew the answer to all these questions. When she thought of it like that her surprise went away, Naruto may not be in love with her but he did care for the people around him. Knowing he knows all this about her made her feel warm inside and made her rethink her earlier thought; huh so it seems I'm not just a friend of a friend to him, I'm a friend after all. Though she wanted to be more, the fact that she meant something to him even a little was enough for her right now, she was still in love with him yes but in this moment, being his friend was enough.

Author's Notes: Thoughts, comments, let me know what you are thinking!