A Growing Affection

Chapter 39: The Best Laid Plans

Hinata Hyuga awoke with a smile, for the sixteenth consecutive day. Since that wondrous event, each day had been better than the last. They had been spending just as much time together as before, but now their meetings were not just training and Dutch Treat meals. She was adapting to romantic encounters with Naruto, managing not to faint on any of their last three dates. To his credit, Naruto was still taking it slow, and he never displayed any annoyance or impatience when she became overwhelmed.

She stretched, and gently turned off her alarm. She looked out her window, and the rain did not diminish her grin. She folded back her covers, and her nightclothes fluttered around her. Her white eyes fell on the calendar on the wall, and she realized it was time to turn to the next month. September had come and gone faster than she had expected. But as she flipped the placard up, Hinata was suddenly filled with panic. There it was, something she had noted almost eleven months ago, when she had no inkling of how the year would play out.

"Naruto Uzumaki – 16" was written in her neat script on the 10th of October. When she had marked it in the box, Naruto had been a friend, and not an especially close one. Then she had eavesdropped, and misunderstood, leading to the slowly growing affections that had made them great friends, partners, and finally a romantic couple.

Sixteen was the coming of age year in the Land of Fire, the most conservative of the five great nations. In nine days, Naruto would be a full legal adult, no longer trapped in the semi-adult limbo of an underage shinobi. He would be able to vote in village civilian matters, own commercial property, get married...

Hinata felt weak in the knees when she considered that. But she forcefully recalled her earlier terror. She only had nine days, and she hadn't even started planning. Normally, a sixteen-year old's family would throw them a big party for their graduation to adulthood. But Naruto was alone, and so Hinata felt the privilege, and the burden, fell to her. She was sure Kakashi or Tsunade... or Sakura... would help if she asked, but she wanted to do this for Naruto on her own.

"I need to send out invitations," she muttered to herself, taking pen and paper from her desk, and beginning to write down names. Then she stopped, and set the notebook down.

"But I can't send out invitations until I have a location," she told herself, her anxiety growing, "It has to be some place big enough for everyone. So Naruto's apartment is out. I don't think father will agree to host it here. The Golden Shoe would be great, but it might be too expensive... Maybe just an outdoor party."

Hinata pulled on her summer robe, and wandered downstairs to the dining room, still mumbling to herself. She grabbed a slice of toast, spread some jam on it, and began to absently chew on the morsel, all without acknowledging her father or sister. The Chunin exited while still eating, murmuring, "...and it can't just be ninja tools, not now, and especially not for his sixteenth."

"What was that all about?" Hiashi queried his younger daughter.

"Naruto's birthday is soon," she only slightly sneered when she said the teen's name, "And my guess is she forgot."

The Hyuga clan leader nodded, a thoughtful look on his face.

Naruto glanced up at the sun again, trying to gauge the time. His teachers would have yelled at him, for still having trouble with such a basic skill. He would have checked his phone, but he had 'accidentally' left it in the charger on his desk, as he often did.

Uzumaki was starting to get worried. Though he did occasionally arrive at their usual spot first, it was very rare for Hinata to make him wait more than a few minutes. By his inexpert evaluation, his partner was either twenty minutes late, or just under two hours past due, depending on whether or not the sun had passed the midpoint.