Three Months (A Naruto Fanfic)

Asking Chouji

Hinata nearly fainted five times before she'd even crossed the street. She felt sick to her stomach, realizing that facing down enemy shinobi was less gut-wrenching than what she was about to face. The purple-haired kunoichi stopped just outside of the tanner's shop. Her head was buzzing and the edges of her vision were turning dark.

Sudden pain snapped her back to reality as someone slapped her hard on the back.

"Breathe." Hissed TenTen, who'd hurried away from the other girls as she'd seen Hinata's steps becoming slower …and slower ..and slower.

Air rushed into her lungs and Hinata nodded her thanks, her stomach settling a bit as oxygen flooded her system once more.

"You don't have to do this now. No one will think less of you." TenTen said gently, rubbing a small circle on Hinata's back.

"Thank you." Hinata whispered, then turned and saw the other girls at the café waving at her to come back over. Her brain ground to a halt.

TenTen tried to urge the girl to move, but Hinata's feet felt frozen in place.

"They think I can't d…do it." Hinata stammered a bit, wincing at the strained sound of her own voice.

The weapons kunoichi hugged the other girl slightly. "It's okay. We'll work up to this."

Hinata still didn't move though. "This isn't life or death." She mused to herself.

"What?" TenTen strained to hear the other girl's voice.

Hinata turned to look at the tanner's shop. "This isn't Naruto. This is Chouji."

"Right." TenTen smiled uncertainly. "So?"

Hinata gave the other girl a small smile and straightened her shoulders. "Chouji may turn me down, but I know him. I know he'll never see past me without ever hearing what I have to say at least."

The light was slow to dawn, but the older girl played along at least. "Yes, exactly!" TenTen told her encouragingly, though she wasn't exactly clear on what was going on in the Hyuuga girl's mind. "Go for it!"

Hinata gave a rough nod, then walked right up to the door of the shop. She was through the door and inside before she could change her mind.

TenTen twirled around to look at the other girls who were all grinning and clapping. She rushed back over to them.

"Nice job!" Ino crowed. "What did you say to her?"

TenTen shrugged. "I don't know. It wasn't really me. She mumbled something about this not being Naruto, then went inside."

Sakura laughed and nodded. "I get what she means."

"Really? Because I don't." TenTen said. "I'm just glad she's going through with it."

The pink-haired medical nin smiled. "I had no problems asking out Kiba. None."

Ino frowned at that, twirling her finger in the air. "So what? Rub it in that you're the only one with a date so far. Just remember, the rest of us are asking guys who aren't even in town yet."

Sakura shook her head, laughing again. "No! No, I didn't mean it like that. I mean, that when I was crushing on Sasuke, it literally turned my tongue into bow knots. And we've all seen how Hinata has reacted to even the mention of Naruto's name in the past."

"So?" TenTen said as Temari rolled her expressive eyes.

Ino nodded though, her frown smoothing out. "I get it. Kiba was easy to ask out because you weren't tripping all over your own tongue. If the Inuzuka said 'no', it wouldn't tear out your heart and stomp it into a mushy pulp like it would have with Sasuke."