Red Cheeks - Kiba x Hinata (Naruto Classic)

A date?!

"Ow!" Hinata exclaimed as she flopped backwards onto her butt, eyes narrowed.
"Hinata-chan!! Are you okay?!" Kiba hurried after her. When he stopped in front of her, he crouched down and gave her a worried look.
She just started to shake her head slightly, rubbing the back of her neck. But then she gave a start and nodded hastily.
"H-Hai!!" she squeaked softly and then looked at the floor, blushing.
Her face and her clothes were covered in dirt. Akamaru stuck his head out of Kiba's parka and began to whimper. Hinata looked at him, then smiled a little and nodded in embarrassment. Kiba could clearly see her nervousness again.
Then he glanced over his shoulder. "You didn't need to hit that hard, Shino," he teased his teammate, nodding at Hinata.
At that moment she felt more than bad again. Once again, she was indirectly labeled as weak. She didn't like that. She wanted to prove to Kiba and Shino that she too had strength and stamina! At that thought, she clenched both fists and fixed her gaze a bit while still sitting on the floor.
But when Shino then said rather coolly: "Training is training. She just has to get stronger." Hinata's newfound steadfastness evaporated instantly and she was sucked down into a deep, horrible hole of sadness and despair...
But suddenly a face appeared in front of her inner eye.
Naruto.
He was strong. He had courage. He... was just great! She had immense admiration for him and his unwavering confidence. And maybe even one or another little feeling more...?
"Hinata! Come on, let's go!" She was pulled out of her thoughts by Kiba's voice.
He waved her behind him while Shino was already a few meters ahead. The girl, plagued by her own reticence and shyness, stood up slowly, brushed the dirt off her jacket, and then hurriedly ran after the two boys.

"Hrm..." An exasperated grunt murmured through Ichiraku's ramen bar. "I really don't think that's fair. We have to train while Kurenai-sensei hangs out with Asuma!" Kiba complained.
He'd been upset about it for full fifteen minutes now. But after all, that really wasn't very fair... Akamaru, noticing the smell of the steaming noodles, gave a short bark. Kiba got confirmation from at least one! And just as he was slurping the next portion of noodles into his mouth with a chopstick, Akamaru nudged his hand with his head.
Kiba nodded minimally. "But don't let this become a habit, my boy!"
He held out the ends of his chopsticks to Akamaru, who immediately grabbed some noodles with his teeth and gobbled them up in one go. Some soup dripped from his furry chin and Kiba wiped it off with his sleeve while shoving the rest of the noodles into his mouth.
Shino, who was sitting two seats next to him, let out a sinister sigh. He folded his hands over the table and had that typical super-cool expression on his face.
"They don't hang around. They have a date," came the monotonous tone of his deep voice.
"A date?" Kiba repeated, wrinkling his nose.
But Shino obviously didn't feel like going into it any further, because he immediately changed the subject. "Does not matter. Training is a must."
"Yeah, I know that! But it's still unfair, isn't it?" Kiba replied grumbling, furrowing his eyebrows angrily. Then he turned his animalistic pupils to the third in the group. "What do you think of that, Hinata?"
She sat in their middle and had not even touched her food. Ramen just reminded her too much of Naruto... And on top of that, this exciting word was buzzing around in her head now!
//A d-date...//
Would Naruto ever go on a date with--?
//Kyah!!//
Just the mere idea made her blush again. Sitting on the bar stool, she nervously crumpled the bottom of her jacket.
"Hinata?"
...
"Hinata-chan?" Kiba spoke to her for the third time now.
And then finally she realized that she was meant.
"AH?! uh y-yes? K-Kiba... Kiba-kun?" she stammered, looking at him, her face turning the color of an overripe tomato.
"Oh... um... oh forget it. It's okay!" the Inuzuka then replied.
He was aware of her constant nervousness, but he still had to look at her a little confused.
//She's even more upset than usual!//, he thought.
He guessed that she was still worrying about the last training together...
"Naaah, don't worry about it," he then persuaded her, smiling at her encouragingly while continuing to feed Akamaru noodles.
Then he leaned his forearm on the counter and let out a soft, slightly annoyed sounding sigh. "Tz... Honestly, don't you think Kurenai-sensei should at least--"
He didn't finish his sentence, because a loud, joyful cry came from behind them, which made all three jump in shock. Kiba and Hinata turned around while Shino could already guess who that was...
"Hey guys!!"
Suddenly, Hinata's face flushed with blood and she averted her gaze.
//N-N-Naruto-k-kun!!//
"Hey Naruto!!" Kiba roared back, his pointy canines flashing, and raised his hand in greeting.
As the blond boy approached and joined them, he grinned at him. "Hi Kiba! Hinata!" He turned his head to the side. "Shino!"
But he ignored him completely.
//Urrr... Does he always have to be so super cool?!// Naruto thought to himself, hunching his shoulders while bowing his head and putting on an extremely stupid face.
But the next moment he didn't seem to care because he grinned broadly and clapped his hands. "Once--Well... the usual, Ichiraku-san!"
He just nodded and smiled friendly. "Miso ramen, Naruto. That's clear."
Then he started preparing it. Meanwhile, Naruto sat down next to Shino. He rested his hands on his thighs and tilted his head forward.
"Haaaah! How wonderful that smells!"
Hinata glanced at him uneasily out of the corner of her eye, the blush stubbornly on her face. Suddenly Naruto looked past Shino and grinned straight at her.
"Well, what have you been up to?" he wanted to know.
Instead of answering, however, Hinata jerked her head down. "U-Uhm..." Intimidated, she tapped fingertips together and swallowed.
Kiba looked at her and then in Naruto's direction.
"Guess what, you freak? We've been training!" he announced proudly, scratching Akamaru's head and pushing the empty bowl back with his other hand. Then he let out a disgusting belch and closed his eyes. "Tch!"
Naruto swung his arm up and pointed across the table at the dog boy with the big mouth. "Hey Kiba!! Watch your words, okay?!" he yelled, clenching his other hand into fists vigorously.
Kiba only opened one eye. "Otherwise?"
"Hnnnrgh--"
"Enough."
"...?!"
Shino had his outstretched arm forward. The light reflected off his glasses.
...
And with the words "You're annoying me" he slowly pulled his hand back again. He then continued to eat his noodles almost silently.
Naruto mumbled something unintelligible to himself and gave him a grumpy look. In his head, however, the envy of Shino's infinite coolness was spreading again. //ARGH!! Damn you, bug boy!!//
Hinata just looked from one to the other, blushing. Her noodles were cold now.
"Uhm... uh... ah." She seemed about to say something.
Kiba was the only one looking at her questioningly. Naruto didn't even notice her mumbling just as his bowl of ramen was placed in front of him.
"Arigatoo!!" he thanked with his usual gesture, grinning from ear to ear with narrowed eyes. Then he rolled up his sleeves, took the chopsticks and broke them apart. "Itadakimasu!" he wished himself and the others a good appetite, then he started eating.
Hinata had already looked away again.
"N-Naruto... Naruto-kun... uhm..."
She spoke so softly that probably only Akamaru heard her. This peeked out of Kiba's parka and now looked in her direction.
Then Shino got up. "I'm going," he said, putting his hands in his jacket pockets and turning around. "See you tomorrow."
After this brief farewell, he simply walked away.
"See ya, Shino!" Kiba called after him.
Hinata just nodded slightly. Then she suddenly flinched and turned quickly in her chair. "G-Good night, Shino-kun!"
She had no idea why she was saying that... It was only just lunchtime, after all.
Naruto grinned as he slurped his noodles. "Does he always go to bed that early?" he asked with a sideways glance.
Kiba shrugged. "No idea..." He couldn't help but look at Hinata, still a bit confused.
And the only thing on her mind at that moment was the fact that, now that Shino was gone, she was just one empty seat away from Naruto. She narrowed her eyes slightly and was on the verge of breaking a sweat as she tried to speak to him again.
"S-So... uhm N-Naruto-kun..." she squeaked without looking at him.
And this time he had finally heard her.
„Mh?" With full cheeks and noodles hanging out of his mouth, he looked over at her.
"I-I... w-well..." she stuttered on.
Kiba, who was sitting a little sideways with his elbows on the table, just gave her a sideways gaze.
//What's wrong with her...? Whenever Naruto is around, she acts even worse than usual...// he mused, glancing at the ramen freak. //Hmmm... I almost think she's--//
"N-Naruto-kun? S-So... N-Naruto-kun... I-I uh..."
Naruto didn't understand anything, just kept blinking at her, a bit perplexed, waiting for her to get to the point. By now his bowl was half eaten.
"I-I...um..." She shook her head slightly and then narrowed her eyes, fists clenched in front of her face. "H-How... how are you today, Naruto-kun?" she finally chirped out a full sentence.
After that, she was stared at by both Naruto and Kiba, with the latter's face gradually derailing.
//Oh man... and it took her so long for THAT?!//, he thought and slapped his face with his flat hand.
Naruto swallowed the rest of the noodles and finally said, "Uh? Well..." He scratched the back of his head, with a goofy grin on his face. "I guess I'm fine. Hehe..."
He wasn't quite sure what else to say. Or what she expected of him... Was that just a rhetorical question maybe?
"Oh..." Hinata just glanced at him. "T-That... makes me happy..."
Then she turned her bright red face to the side so that Kiba could look directly at her. With a skeptical raised eyebrow, he examined her extensively.
//W-Would she maybe...really...?// he thought and then looked at Naruto. //Hm... Well, if that's the case...//
Then he turned his head away. And there was a faint surprise in his eyes. Akamaru licked his chin and few moments later Kiba turned around and jumped off his stool.
He stretched and announced, "Well! I'll go home then."
"Really!?" Naruto called out, tilting his head.
"Yeah man!" he muttered back, shoving a hand in the pocket of his light gray parka. He held out his other hand in farewell. "Bye Hinata."
Then he turned and gone. Again, Hinata failed to say goodbye to her teammate in time.
And just as she was raising her hand with a shoulder look, Sasuke Uchiha suddenly sauntered by the ramen bar. In his usual pose. His face betrayed his mood.
"Sasuke-kuuuuuuuun!!" Shortly thereafter, a familiar girl's voice was heard. "Wait a moment!!"
Just as Hinata began to realize that she was now alone with Naruto, she had to watch as he jerked his head up and turned around. He beamed all over his face and then jumped off the stool with a bang.
"Sakura-chaaan!!" he yelled, waving both hands around like an idiot.
But the pink-haired girl with the forehead the size of a soccer field just walked ignorantly because she had only focused all her attention on her crush, on her great love, on her number one, SASUKE!
Hinata sadly bowed her head and put one hand on the tabletop, looking down sadly. //Hmm...//
Because Naruto had run after Sakura without saying goodbye to her. He certainly hadn't intended this - but he could be a really absent-minded oaf sometimes...

Later that evening, as Hinata was about to get ready for bed, the Hyuugas' front doorbell rang.
Her father Hiashi stuck his head into her room. "Hinata, there's someone for you."
"Um? F-For me?" she murmured in astonishment and put her nightgown back on her bed.
Arriving at the front door, she pushed past her sister Hanabi... and she was instantly shocked.
//AH!!//
Her breath caught and her heart began to pound wildly in her chest when she saw the unexpected visitor. The blood rushed to her face and she had to hold on to the door frame to keep from falling.
"N-Naruto-kun..." she stated in a mouse's voice and blinked at the boy in surprise.
He just grinned and nodded. "Yes! Ehh... it's me!" he said with a crooked grin and then rubbed the back of his neck. "Hinata. Would you like to go out on the hill with me... and... eat some dango?"
He held up a small paper bag.
"N-N-Nani?!" Hinata couldn't believe what he had just said to her. She was almost fainting.
Was that something like... a date?!