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happyocelot · 1 year

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The Moon Sure Is Beautiful Tonight

My entry for NaruHina Month 2022 Day 6: Blank Period! This is a gift for BornOnTheBreakOfDawn, who has been so kind and encouraging to me. Additionally, I would like to dedicate this to Katarina-hime, who passed on in July.

I hope you all liked this! Tell me what you think! :)

@nh2022

Summary: Technically, Hinata was a chuunin. Technically, Naruto was still a genin. Technically, genin were supposed to be led by jounin, forming groups of three, barring special occasions. Technically, Hinata wasn't supposed to be Naruto's squad captain at all for this mission. But technically, Kakashi was Hokage, and technically he could play Cupid for them.

Wakame blinked at her. She blinked back, eyes shining like the sea at sunset –

Slurp, slurp, slurp –

She'd always been there for him, looking at him (he noticed...sometimes). Looking for him (he didn't notice that...ever). Looking out for him (she did that, a few times, times when he never expected her to, and it was like an earthquake knocking him off his feet). Believing in him when no one else did –

"Ahhh, a good miso ramen always hits the spot after a hard mission, doesn't it?"

He just didn't realize it. Until now. Because he was the stupidest ninja Tree Branch Village had ever nurtured.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei, Gama-chan doesn't have any spare change, so could..."

Nothing made sense to him. Until that moment. It didn't click, the reason she looked away when he looked at her. Why she covered her smile in her sleeve. Why she didn't want him to disappear. Why she wasn't afraid to die, if it meant she could protect him.

Because –

"Kakashi-sensei?" A hand invaded his vision, marring the perfection of the final lines of Icha Icha Violence. "Are you listening? Kakashi-sensei? Do you have any spare change? Because – "

Because –

"Because Hinata ate a lot last time we were here – "

– she –

" – and I ended up paying a huge tab and now I don't have any left – "

– loved –

"So could you help me out?"

– him.

Kakashi finally looked up. Catharsis.

His cute little student was staring at him quizzically, blonde eyebrows scrunched up.

Oh, right. Spare change. Naruto didn't have any.

Because of Hinata.

He smiled, eyes crinkling into happy crescents.

Yes. Sensei would help.

***

His cute little student really needed a girlfriend, after all. Just like Wakame.

Technically, Hinata was a chuunin. Technically, Naruto was still a genin. Technically, genin were supposed to be led by jounin, forming groups of three, barring special occasions.

Technically, Hinata wasn't supposed to be Naruto's squad captain at all for this mission. But technically, Kakashi was the Hokage, and he could declare things special occasions even when they weren't!

He shot the pair – the pair – his kindest eye-smile. Naruto once again quirked his eyebrows suspiciously, knowing that when Kakashi eye-smiled like that, it meant he was up to something. He subtly shifted his position, stepping in front of Hinata like a protective boyfriend. He probably didn't even realize he'd done it. It was, in all likelihood, instinct.

Kakashi barely stifled his delighted giggle.

Now it was Hinata who gave him a quizzical look.

"Good morning, you two!" the Rokudaime chirped.

"It's the middle of the night," Naruto protested.

"Right! Night!"

Her eyes had been gleaming like the sea at sunset. Sunset was followed by nightfall, and nightfall was when the moon came out, and when the moon came out, people enjoyed walking together, and sometimes they enjoyed holding hands, and sometimes they enjoyed walking together and holding hands, and sometimes they enjoyed walking together and holding hands and hiding in bushes so that no one could see them –

"Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata asked.

The moon sure is beautiful tonight.

He had a hunch. They just needed to spend time. Together. Walking along in the moonlight. Together. If they did that, they would get...together. He just had a hunch.

"I want you two to be together."

They stared.

Oh. He said that out loud.

"For a mission. There have been disturbances near the Aun Gates the past few nights," he clarified. "Hinata's Byakugan provides wide visual range, and Naruto is a natural sensor. If you pool your resources together, you could definitely find the source of the disturbance."

"But Kakashi-sensei, what about Izumo nii-chan and Kotetsu nii-chan? Isn't this their job?"

He sighed. Trust Naruto to magically develop common sense at the most inopportune times.

"Izumo is busy."

Naruto sighed audibly. Kakashi flexed his fingers, eye-smiling again at the chance to tell his cute little student the absolutely inane story.

"He was helping an old lady cross the street, and she fell, and her cane broke, so he went to buy her a new cane, but all the stores in Konoha were out of stock, so he went to Tanzaku Town to get one, and Tanzaku Town has a curfew, and Izumo misplaced the new cane he bought right before the curfew, and now Tanzaku Town's authorities have waylaid him..."

Now it was Hinata. Hinata staring at him like he'd dropped onto earth for a pleasant jaunt, all the way from Jupiter.

"...because they suspect that he's a criminal, and he just sent me word by hawk asking me to vouch for him, so I did, but by the time the letter reached the leader of Tanzaku Town, it was already 10 pm and like I said, Tanzaku Town has a curfew, so he won't be able to make it back until morning."

"That sounds like such bullshit, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto protested. "At least tell me that Kotetsu nii-chan just got scratched by a cat and needs to go to a hospital."

Kakashi's eyes sparkled.

"Kotetsu was attacked by a herd of stampeding ostriches. Thankfully, he escaped, but then he tripped and a pole fell on him, and then it started raining and thundering, and he got struck by lightning because the metal pole fell on him, but he escaped that without injuries too, but his hair got all burned and now he's waiting for an appointment with the barbershop so that he can fix his hair – "

"Kakashi-sensei, what the fu – "

"And that's why I need you two to complete this mission! It's a special occasion!"

"This makes no sense!" Naruto burst out. "What do you think, Hinata?"

"Um – "

"Kakashi-sensei always says things like this. 'A black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way, that's why I'm ten hours late to our meeting.' 'There was this old lady, and she needed a piggyback ride, and then she turned out to be a missing-nin, and she possessed a rare and dangerous kekkei genkai and I had to use my Sharingan and I was at the hospital for the past sixteen hours, that's why I wasn't at Ichiraku last night.' 'Something exploded in Sunagakure, maybe it was a gas tank, or maybe it was a gardening experiment gone wrong, but I need to ask Gaara-kun about it, so I can't pay for your ramen, now bye!' And then he just runs away!"

"Um – "

"C'mon, Hinata, you and Team 8 were with him on that one mission to the Land of Hot Springs, did he pull anything like this back then?"

"Actually, Kakashi-sensei was very – "

Kakashi was saved, blessedly saved, when someone came bursting into his office screaming.

"HOKAGE-SAMA, THE LEADER OF TANZAKU TOWN HAS THREATENED TO BOIL IZUMO-SAN IN OIL. WHAT SHOULD WE DO?"

"Wait, it was all true?"

"Kakashi-sensei, is Izumo-san all ri – "

Kakashi bounded across his office forcefully in a move that would have done Guy proud.

"Hinata, you're Naruto's captain! The Aun Gates are all yours! I'm counting on you to work together! Report back to me on what you find!"

He fled the scene with his ever-so-convenient screaming messenger, crossing his fingers in hope.

The moon was beautiful, and Naruto and Hinata needed to walk together. And hold hands. And hide in the bushes so that no one could see them. And...

Oh, and Izumo needed to be rescued from being boiled in oil. There was that too.

***

Hinata glanced at Naruto from the corner of her eye. Usually, he was bright and gold and sparkling, eyes lighting up like the forever and ever of the blue sky, smile lighting up like the sun billions of years ago, newly born.

Now, moonlight soaked through his arms, his face, his broad chest. It sliced through the trees, casting leaf-shaped shadows on the profile of his face, pooling on his warm hands, turning them as pale as plaster of paris.

Usually, he was bright and gold and sparkling, so fiery that he was hard to look at (so she would look away whenever he looked at her, hiding her smile in her sleeve). But tonight...tonight...

As if in a trance, her hand moved on its own, inching closer and closer –

"Hinata? What's wrong?" His hand mirrored hers, a long finger poking at his left cheek. "Is there something on my face?"

She stared a little more at the little indent his index finger made in the smoothness of his face. Then she blinked.

"Ah, no, it's nothing, Naruto-kun." She shook her head, distracting herself by activating her Byakugan, letting the excess blood in her cheeks surge into the veins near her eyes. The bushes near the Aun Gates rustled. She turned her sharp eyes towards the disturbance, heartbeat chasing heartbeat, thumping furiously –

The bushes rustled still more. Hinata raised her hands, battle-ready –

"Meow?"

Golden eyes and silver whiskers glinted in the dark, and her heartbeats stopped chasing each other, tripping and falling flat.

She sighed. A cat. The disturbance that Kakashi-sensei wanted them to check out. It was a cat.

Naruto cursed. "It's that stupid one again, ya know? Tora? The one that beat me up when I was a kid."

"What?"

Naruto blinked at her, like he had simply been discussing the weather. "It's...Tora?"

"No, I mean..." She hid her face in her sleeve again. Whenever he said something funny, silly, or cute, she always had to do this. Cover her face in her sleeve.

Fortunately, he frequently said a lot of funny things. Last week, it was that he once threw a teapot at Kakashi-sensei, to see what was under that mask, and the week before that, it was how he'd played a prank on Iruka-sensei during their Academy days, putting spicy hot pepper sprinkles into his coffee, sneaking into the teachers' break room to do so. He'd made her pinky swear that day to never tell Iruka-sensei about it, ever. She obliged, gladly, and before he could change his mind (though a scolding part of her heart told her that he would never go back on his word) –

– before he could change his mind about it, she reached out like a lightning flash and grabbed his pinky with hers, her heartbeat thudding in her ears like a thunderclap. She'd keep that secret, even if she had to eat a thousand needles and chop off her little finger.

And now, he was claiming that he'd gotten beaten up by a cat.

She ducked her head, to better disguise the little seisms of laughter that he pushed her into. It wasn't fair, she thought. Naruto had to work so hard to master every tiny facet of being a ninja, with his blood and sweat soaking the earth, whether it was Shadow Clone Jutsu or Rasengan or any number of things. But with no effort, not even trying, not even consciously meaning to, he was able to make her heartbeats chase her heartbeats and make those heartbeats thunder in her ears. Week after week, he made her hide her face in her sleeve because his smile kept making her smile, kept changing her, kept giving her this intense feeling in her heart.

And all because he said that he'd gotten beaten up. By a cat.

So she paused for a nanosecond that lasted an eternity, and then she lifted up her eyes, cautiously, cautiously, rewarded with the sight of the moonlight casting leaf-shaped shadows on his face.

For some reason, Hinata was very grateful to Kakashi-sensei. He could have put them on different missions, or worse, he could have put them on the same mission but with several other people, or he could have assigned them a mission on a cloudy night when she couldn't see his face.

But this night, he had made Hinata the captain of this mission, just Hinata and no one else, and the moon rays pooled everywhere, casting the golden young man in the most pristine of light. Usually, he was so fiery that it was hard to look at him.

But not tonight.

***

Naruto had gotten beaten up by a cat. Again.

If Kakashi wasn't mistaken, it was the very same dear little kitten that had pounced on Naruto, battering him brutally with its hind legs, slicing through his face with the same ease as a knife would slice through butter.

Madam Shijimi's little feline friend. They had to catch him, hadn't they? Naruto had whined about that mission in front of Iruka-sensei, hadn't he? He'd whined in front of the Hokage, hadn't he? He'd inadvertently sent them off on that fateful improperly classified C-ranked mission that had led to them freeing an entire country, hadn't he?

"Kakashi-sensei."

Ahhh, how Kakashi knew that tone from a bygone era. Back when Naruto had accused him of having an "ossan smell" during the bell test, back when he'd bordered on rupturing Kakashi's eardrums by bellowing into his walkie-talkie. Back when his cute little student hadn't a clue how to keep house and home, drinking expired milk and getting bound to the porcelain bathroom god for the rest of the day. It had seemed like Kakashi had to restrain Naruto by the collar every other hour and dangle shiny ramen in front of his face to get him to focus on anything related to those D-rank genin missions they'd been assigned.

Ah, good times. Kakashi smiled nostalgically. He really did love those guys, no matter how much of a handful they'd been.

Naruto always looked so adorable, no matter his age, twelve or eighteen going on nineteen. Still the same. Never change (not that Kakashi ever wanted him to). Still getting beaten up by cats. It looked like a piano had fallen on Naruto, his poor scratched-up face with its purpling bruises and the twigs stuck in his hair.

Ahhh, looked like that bygone era wasn't actually bygone. He braced himself for the explosion.

"Kakashi-sensei! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT MISSION?"

And there it was. The explosion.

"Do you know what I went through? Do you? That DEMON ripped my face open and now I look HIDEOUS and – "

"I don't think you look hideous."

Kakashi whipped his head towards Hinata so fast he got vertigo.

"Don't joke around like that, Hinata," Naruto said with a pout. "Of course I look hideo – "

Hinata's hand moved in slow, slow, super slow motion. Kakashi watched, etching the whole scene in his mind even though he no longer had the Sharingan.

What was she going to –

Her pinky reached out to grab Naruto's, still in that slow, slow, super slow motion.

"You don't look hideous. You've never looked hideous, Naruto-kun. Ever."

Hinata's voice was calm and firm and steady, all characteristic nervousness dissipating as she fixed Naruto with her pale, pale eyes, just like the moon.

Rose spread from Naruto's veins and blossomed fully on his cheeks as she reached into her pocket and produced a tub of ointment. Like the one she'd given him. From back then.

Ahhh, truly there was no such thing as a bygone era.

Kakashi watched, his heartbeat chasing his heartbeats, as Hinata gently rubbed Naruto's reddening scratches and purpling bruises with the ointment, her fingers making small indents on the smoothness of his face.

His loudmouthed student was, for once, speechless.

And the Rokudaime barely restrained himself from letting out an extremely dignified giggle.

His plan was working.

***

Since bygone times weren't actually bygone, and Naruto had decided to whine about his cat-catching mission again, Kakashi had decided in his infinite wisdom as the Hokage that really, what he truly needed to spice things up was to send both Naruto and Hinata on the most difficult A-ranked mission possible. Technically, Hinata was a chuunin, and technically, Naruto was a genin, and technically these types of missions required a jounin leader with a cell of three or more ninja, who should definitely not be genin, but special occasions were special occasions!

There was nothing like the thrill of battle to bring two sweet lovers together, just as it happened in Icha Icha Violence. At least, he hoped. Honestly, there were no threats on the planet that were above Naruto's skill level now. He was the most overqualified genin in existence.

Kakashi could only cross his fingers, distract himself with his favorite novels, and pray to the god of love to strike.

Naruto glanced at Hinata from the corner of his eye. He didn't get to go on missions with her that much. They were on different teams, hers specializing in tracking and his in absolute chaos, as Kakashi-sensei liked to joke. If they were on the same mission, usually it would end up with him getting into some sort of foolish competitive jockeying with Kiba, like deer locking antlers, while Shino fumed because they didn't think to consult him on whether they should set up camp at 7 pm or 7:10 pm (no...that had actually happened once – Shino was the type to sulk over anything).

But Hinata...Hinata was different. She'd walk along behind the rest of the group when they were traveling together, giving off this strange, strange energy, like she was ecstatic and jittery and nervous and filled with sheer terror, all at once. She mystified him, made no sense to him at all. Still, she was the one who –

"Um, Naruto-kun?"

He went from glancing at her from the corner of his eye to facing her head-on.

She was the one who –

"I've always wanted to say this..."

He gulped. She was shy and dark and weird, a regular invisible girl. She looked away when he looked at her. It was easy to miss her. But right now, he was facing her head-on, and were her eyes usually as white as the sea spray? The boat they were on was swaying gently with the swell of the waves, and for a moment, Naruto's whole world tilted sideways.

He held his breath. What did she want to say?

It was important. He knew it was, from the strange energy emanating from her, like she was ecstatic and jittery and nervous and filled with sheer terror, all at once, the way she turned her eyes first to face him, and then to face the sun, and then the deep, deep sea. She was doing that thing again. Looking away when he looked at her, but she was impossible to miss this time, with her eyes as white as sea spray and with the sunlight bouncing off her long, dark hair and with that small, small smile.

He was still holding his breath.

"But...I...um, like...being on missions."

He blinked.

"With you. I like being on missions. With you."

Warmth spread from his chest and into his stomach, like the biggest bowl of miso ramen after a long, hard mission.

"Yeah?"

Hinata nodded. "It...ah. It makes me really happy to spend time with you."

He grinned at her. "Yeah? You're pretty fun to hang out with too, ya know?"

She looked away again, staring into the chop waves, the strange energy dissipating into something a bit less spiky and agitated, something calmer and heartbeat-slowing.

He puffed out his chest. She was happy. To go on missions with him. Spend time with him.

He had friends, true, friends who obviously liked spending time with him. They had other ways of expressing this. Sakura-chan with her friendly arm punches and Sasuke with his eye rolls. Shikamaru smirking and shaking his head at Naruto's antics, saying that he was troublesome. Kiba bickering with him and Shino sulking.

Even so. This was something only Hinata would ever say. She was different. It was true. She was easy to miss. Unless he looked at her, first from the corner of his eye, then head-on, at her sea spray eyes and her long, dark hair. Then she was as bold and defined as a thunderclap –

If she was weird, he never wanted her to be normal.

A few minutes later, he blinked again.

She'd always wanted to say that to him?

***

Kakashi waited with bated breath as he turned on his walkie-talkie. "Tenzo? What are the two up to?"

Static morphed into an exhausted, miserable voice. "They're fine. Talking to each other over at the corner of the boat."

"Did they hug?"

"No."

"Kiss?"

"No."

"Did they – "

"For heaven's sake. They're on an official A-ranked mission to escort me. Why would they do anything like that in public?"

"On page 56 of Icha Icha Violence, on which I've based this mission, Wakame realizes his true feelings for – "

"Wakame?"

"The Icha Icha protagonists all have ramen topping names," Kakashi said dreamily.

"What is wrong with you, Kakashi-senpai?"

"Drop the senpai. And is it wrong for me to wish that my cute little student would find happiness? She's the one who believed in him first, and he's the one who believed in her first, so I feel that it's my duty to help things along – "

"You are so weird, Kakashi-senpai. One day, you'll be kicked by a horse for meddling like this."

"I've cut lightning in half, Tenzo. I can handle being kicked by a horse," Kakashi chirped.

"...I demand a pay raise. You've invented a bogus A-rank, and you're putting me in the line of fire."

"Done. Just...help them along, and you'll be recompensated nicely."

Being an Anbu sucked, in Yamato's opinion.

He used to have an actual, meaningful job, one that involved restraining the Kyuubi. One that involved carrying out S-ranked missions for the sake of the village. One that involved chaperoning the most unstable team he had ever clapped eyes on. Now the war was over and he found himself moonlighting as a matchmaker, of all things, because according to their dear new Hokage, the hero of the war needed not a gentle push, but a hard shove in the right direction.

Masking his chakra signature so that Naruto and Hinata didn't find him out was draining. Disguising himself as a wealthy merchant and making polite small talk was mind-numbing. And now, Kakashi-senpai expected him to up the ante to ludicrous proportions because of something that he'd read in those godforsaken Icha Icha novels.

The small, choppy waves suddenly swelled to tsunami proportions and Yamato found himself hoping against hope that the sea monsters on this part of the coastline weren't too big.

"IT'S A SQUID!"

Yamato resisted the urge to slam his head against the wooden planks and pass out.

"It's an octopus. And – hey, stop counting them! You can tell by looking!"

***

He hated this A-rank mission. Kakashi-senpai was really willing to put him in the line of fire like this.

He hated bring manhandled like he was five years old, swept up by an octopus tentacle. He hated the saltwater and the briny ocean air, cracking his lips and burning his eyes.

He hated Naruto's new moves that he'd learned during the war, some kind of monstrous giant bijuu Rasengan pulsing with dense black energy, blasting the enormous sq – octopus – in the face and blistering Yamato's poor skin.

He hated how the giant sq – octopus still wasn't finished off, as persistent as Kakuzu had been during that awful mission from last year.

He hated how just as Kakashi-senpai had dealt the finishing blow to Kakuzu with his Raikiri, Hyuuga Hinata was the one to do so to this octopus, finishing it off with a deadly-looking combo that she had also developed during the war, a combo of Twin Lion Fists and Sixty-Four Palms.

Most of all, he hated how he finally swam back to the boat, spluttering out mouthfuls of water, only to be greeted by Naruto not paying attention to him at all, focused on Hinata, just Hinata, only Hinata, like Yamato hadn't just been almost eaten by a giant sq – octopus and had barely escaped with his life.

Okay, he could have finished it off with his Wood Release if it was a real, full-blown emergency and he had no choice but to blow his cover (Kakashi-senpai wasn't so cruel as to put him on a mission that much out of his league, despite his penchant for making Yamato suffer).

But it was the principle of the matter. The principle.

Naruto was staring at Hinata like he had never seen her before, sky blue eyes blown out, pupils wide in wonder. Hinata was sopping wet, her traveling cloak heavy with ocean water, bangs plastered to her forehead.

"HINATA!" the fool yelled, almost rupturing poor Yamato's eardrums.

"That was so awesome. I didn't know you invented a new technique!"

"Um – "

"We need to combine it with all my new Rasengan variants!"

"Um – "

"We would be the BEST team, dontcha think, uhhh – " Naruto turned around, staring blankly at Yamato like he had only just registered his presence.

"Tenji," he said, spitting out his pseudonym like it was poison.

"Yeah, Tenji-san! Hinata and me, we would be the BEST, most AWESOME team that Konoha had ever seen, right? Like if the moon were to ever crash into the earth or something – "

He really, really wished he could let loose, slam his head against a wooden plank, and pass out –

" – Hinata 'n' me, we could save the world! With a combo like that! Right, Hinata?"

Hinata blinked a few times, clearly trying desperately to keep up with Naruto's rapid-fire machine gun fast questions. Then her face bloomed with a quiet, quiet smile.

"Right."

Naruto beamed, reaching out and grabbing her pinky with his, as if they were schoolchildren, picky swearing to keep a secret, or else they would each swallow a thousand needles and chop their little fingers off.

"Ya know, Hinata, I like being on missions with you too."

Hinata's blooming smile grew bigger and bigger, the widest Yamato had ever seen her smile.

She squeezed Naruto's pinky as tight as she could.

They were supposed to be on an A-rank mission. To "escort" him. They were in public.

Why?

***

Okay, they didn't hug. Or kiss. Or hold hands and walk in the moonlight. Or hide in the bushes where no one could see. But Hinata did, apparently, enjoy rubbing cream on Naruto's face. And she didn't think he was hideous (ever).

And according to Yamato, Naruto had used a Tailed Beast Ball-Rasengan combo on a giant octopus, Hinata had used a Twin Lion Fists-Sixty-Four Palms combo on a giant octopus, and after the giant octopus had been finished off, Naruto completely ignored Yamato and had been pinky swearing that he and Hinata would be the "BEST" team in Konoha, ready to save the world in case the moon came crashing into the earth or something.

Yamato's voice was dead and empty as he reported this to Kakashi. He only felt a little bit bad about it. His plan was working. His plan was working.

Sort of. It was all well and good for them to team up against a giant octopus and come up with a great combo attack. It was touching and honestly cute, how Hinata didn't think that Naruto was hideous, how she rubbed cream on his face, and how both of them enjoyed pinky swearing like they were still in the Academy.

But...but there needed to be more than that! They...they needed –

His eyes landed on the teapot on his desk.

***

It was an accident. No one could ever prove that it wasn't an accident.

So his hand may have just...slipped while it was grasping a teapot. And maybe the teapot flew in an implausible arc towards Naruto, who was just innocently hanging out at Hokage Tower, because Kakashi had summoned both him and Hinata.

"Oops," he said, in what was a completely remorseful tone of voice. It wasn't like he did it on purpose.

"Naruto-kun, look out!"

And before he could even blink, a dark blur collided with Naruto, pushing him out of the way, saving him from decapitation by teapot. Said teapot hit the wall and exploded in a scalding dark rain all over his carpet. Tonton raced over to the scene and eagerly began cleaning up the mess, ensuring that no drop would be wasted. That pig sure loved green tea.

Kakashi didn't care.

He held his breath, eyes sparkling as Naruto and Hinata adjusted to their new position on the floor. Hinata stared directly into Naruto's face, his eyes like the summer sky and hers like the ocean spray. Kakashi would have thought that at least one of them would blush at the close contact, before bolting up and pretending that the whole situation had never happened. Then they would make excuses, both going home and thinking about the moment for hours...days...hopefully soon, really soon, they would realize...

Unbidden, his mind came to the last few lines of Icha Icha Violence.

Now ki –

Hinata abruptly got off Naruto, uncharacteristically frowning at Kakashi, Naruto following suit.

"That was mean, Kakashi-sensei," she said, not...coldly or anything, but definitely not as pleasant as she usually was. "Naruto-kun could have been hurt by your prank."

"Yeah!"

"Now, now," Kakashi said mildly, raising his hands. "It was an accident, Hinata. I would never want to hurt my cute little students."

She gave him a deeply skeptical look. He moved into crisis management mode.

"Anyway, I have a mission for you two! As you know, there have been death threats made against Naruto – "

"There have?" Naruto asked.

"So we need to find out who's been sending the threats – "

"Wait, WAIT. Kakashi-sensei, when did I start getting death th – "

"But in the meantime, we need to find you a bodyguard while we figure out who's been sending the threats – "

"That makes no sense – "

"And Hinata would be a great choice for this mission!" Kakashi finished, powering through each and every interruption with a sparkling eye-smile. "As your bodyguard, she would need to be with you for every second of every day – "

"Wait, every second? But what about when we need to go to the bathr – "

"It's for the good of the village, the good of your team, the good of her team, the good of her clan, the good of your clan, the good of the world – "

"This is SUCH bullshit, Kakashi-sensei – "

"Your well-being is paramount, and I'm sure that Hinata would agree. Right, Hinata?" He turned to beam at her, and wasn't at all surprised when she nodded firmly.

"Right, Kakashi-sensei."

She always took Naruto seriously.

It was a good trait, honestly. Kakashi would not have approved any random person being Naruto's companion.

His cute little student only deserved someone who took him seriously. Someone who had always been there for him. Someone who would face Pain for him. Someone who would face death for him. Someone who would glow like the sun rays at spending time with him, someone who would push him out of the way and then tell off the Hokage himself for a prank that could have harmed him.

Likewise, Hinata only deserved someone who always believed in her, someone who had always rooted for her. Someone who would face death for her. Someone who would glow like the sun rays at spending time with her, someone who would face the end of the world for her.

Hinata had never been assigned to Kakashi's genin team, yet he knew, somewhere in his bones, that if Iruka-sensei had made a paperwork error –

He knew that Hinata would have passed the bell test too.

***

There were, actually, no death threats made against Naruto. Well, none that Kakashi ever had to take seriously. But it was one of the major storylines in Icha Icha Violence, how the young, beautiful noblewoman needed a bodyguard to protect against enemy ninja who wanted to destroy her, and maybe in the process, she and the bodyguard spent a lot of time together, eating their favorite foods and drinking soda through a shared straw and then they had a moment in front of the moon and that was Kakashi's favorite, FAVORITE part of Icha Icha Violence, that moment when Wakame and –

"HOKAGE-SAMA!" someone yelled, sprinting into his office again. "HELP! THERE'S BEEN A HUGE ACCIDENT WITH NARUTO-SAN AND HINATA-SAN! THERE WAS THIS MASSIVE FIGHT AND NOW – "

Now!

He bounded across the room in a move that would've once again done Guy proud and ran off with his screaming messenger, crossing his fingers.

He had been under the impression that there were no death threats made against Naruto that he needed to take seriously.

He was right.

He couldn't help but be pleased at the giant, smoking crater in the outskirts of the village, the knocked-out missing-nin in some far-flung corner of the battleground, and the blue chakra sparking from Hinata's arms, her pop-out veins and ghostly white eyes looking rather terrifying.

Naruto was kneeling on the ground, looking somewhat scuffed-up but otherwise unharmed.

And...Kakashi almost giggled in delight again.

Naruto was staring, staring at Hinata with wide, blown-out pupils, like a cat's eyes in the dark. Lips parted slightly like he was thunderstruck. Lost for words where he was usually a motormouth.

It was that look. That one look he'd always had whenever this young lady did something incredible.

That look that made him start thinking that maybe they'd be a good pair.

Hinata turned around, finally spotting Kakashi. Her veins receded.

"Ah, sensei!" She bowed deeply. "Thank you for entrusting Naruto-kun's well-being to me. I hope you'll find that he's in good hands."

Kakashi's chest seized up as he realized that it was just like the scene in Icha Icha Violence when Wakame asked the father of the bride for his blessing.

He didn't have Obito's Sharingan anymore –

But his eyes were still has good as ever.

***

He started getting a bit more creative with the missions after that. It was the best way that he could give the soon-to-be pair his blessing. Well, at least until it was time for wedding planning.

Making them retrieve a special medicinal herb that Sakura definitely didn't need. The herb was located in the Land of Volcanoes in a volcanic town that had a volcano which coincidentally had fertile volcanic soil in which incredible volcanic medicinal herbs just happened to be growing.

He wasn't that worried. Naruto was the most powerful ninja on the planet. And besides, he hadn't forgetten Kaguya and her volcano dimension, so it wasn't like Naruto didn't have experience with this kind of thing.

In Icha Icha Violence, there was a furious volcanic eruption that darkened the sky and brought about a year of winter, and obviously when it was winter, people preferred to stay indoors and huddle together to warm up, and his number one preferred coupling also huddled together indoors for warmth, and – okay, he was getting ahead of himself.

The mission worked...sort of. Except that it was super hot inside the volcano, not super cold. And Naruto, unable to bear the searing heat, had apparently decided to take off his shirt completely out of the blue, catching Hinata off-guard. And apparently she had suddenly developed a mysterious fever and Naruto had decided to use the some of the medicinal herb they'd just found to cure her. When they both got back, his foolish little student just wouldn't stop asking him why that was, and whether he ought to take Hinata to the hospital, "'cuz she was really burning up."

Then there was the time when he sent them out to check out a haunted bath house (Naruto had screamed and clung to Hinata like a koala, according to Team 8).

And then there was that other time when – he winced. The village would never recover from that day with the demon squirrels and Teuchi-san's rolling pin. That one had been a mistake.

Kakashi was supposed to be doing paperwork. But he turned to the final few pages of Icha Icha Violence again, allowing himself to be lost in daydreams.

Wakame blinked at her. She blinked back, eyes shining like the sea at sunset. She'd always been there for him, looking at him (he noticed...sometimes). Looking for him (he didn't notice that...ever). Looking out for him (she did that, a few times, times when he never expected her to, and it was like an earthquake knocking him off his feet). Believing in him when no one else did.

He just didn't realize it. Until now. Because he was the stupidest ninja Tree Branch Village had ever nurtured.

Because.

She.

Loved.

Him.

They were really similar to this one couple in Icha Icha Violence.

Icha Icha Violence had a happy ending. People always thought he loved Icha Icha because of the extremely, extremely graphic scenes, but that wasn't the reason. Well, not the main reason.

Maybe...maybe he just wanted Naruto and Hinata to have a happy ending. It would be just and fair, for them to have one.

They were close, so close, that they just needed a little time, just a little. These things didn't happen in a day. No, they required years of watching and waiting and hoping and mining Icha Icha for ever more scenarios to enact in the real world.

But they were far, so far, and he'd put them on (count them up) thirty-two D-ranks, fifteen B-ranks, and ten A-ranks together, and they still weren't a pair. Yet.

"Kakashi-sensei?" asked a familar voice. "Oh, I mean, Hok – "

"No, no, please don't call me Hokage-sama!" he said desperately. "Everyone calls me Hokage-sama. You don't have to do that too, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka blinked at him skeptically, arms laden with cardboard boxes.

"Anyway, Hokage-sama – "

"Kakashi-sensei – "

"This is all paperwork related to the Academy's new library being opened, and I'd really appreciate it if you looked into it."

"Of course, sensei."

Iruka set the boxes on Kakashi's desk, frowning thoughtfully. "You look worried, Hokage-sama."

"Kakashi-sensei."

"What's the problem?"

Kakashi groaned, hiding his face in slender, gloved fingers.

"It's Naruto."

Iruka's eyes flashed in alarm.

"He's not in any danger!" Kakashi said hurriedly. "He's...just..."

"Is this about him and Hinata?" Iruka asked dryly.

"How did you – "

"He told me everything during our weekly lunches at Ichiraku. Saying that 'Kakashi-sensei keeps sending me on bullshit missions, ya know, but since it's HINATA, I don't really mind.'" Naruto's first teacher sighed. "Did you really think that sending them to the Land of Volcanoes together would work? Or making them fight sea monsters, or whatever – "

"Sensei," Kakashi complained. "Those things all happened in Icha Icha Violence. The main character got together with his one true love in those ways."

Iruka raised an eyebrow.

"Kakashi-sensei."

The Hokage blinked. Iruka had finally said his name.

His voice was calm, every bit a patient schoolteacher.

"You of all people should know that Naruto writes his own story. No one can predict him, not even me." Iruka smiled, a long-buried memory rising to the front of his mind and crinkling up his eyes in a smile. "I wouldn't be surprised if it takes the end of the world and the moon crashing into the earth for him to declare that he wants to be with Hinata."

Kakashi's heart warmed, and then his eyes crinkled into a smile of their own.

"You really are a great teacher, aren't you, Iruka-sensei?" he said cheerfully. "Well, if you say so. I suppose I'll just leave it to Naruto to show me how his story will unfold."

***

The moon had been so big and bright lately. Getting closer, closer, ever closer to the earth, raining chunks of rock and heating up the dark night sky.

Usually, when the moon came out, it was the perfect time to go on walks and admire the cold, pale light casting everything in a silver glow. The perfect time to hold hands, and maybe hide in bushes where no one could see. If this were any other time, any other mission, Kakashi would have been beside himself at the irony.

But the moon was too big, too bright, far too close to the earth, those meteor showers putting the world in real, tangible danger.

He glanced at the clock in his palm.

Please make it on time.

They needed to work together, just as they had on that cat-catching mission some time ago.

He liked to think that maybe, just maybe, there would be some sort of new combo. One that his cute little student could invent alongside Hinata. Something that could save the world if the moon were to come crashing into the earth.

Maybe that wouldn't actually happen, but Tsunade-sama always did say that no one should ever bet against Naruto.

Maybe this time, his plan would work.

He had a hunch.

#naruhina #nh2022 #nhmonth2022 #nhmonth22 #nhmonth #naruhina month #naruto

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saradesuchiha · 1 year

Text

DES Ü'S NARUHINA FAIR WRAPPED!

PS. LONG POST LMAO

hogwarts au // this was alot of fun to make. this was supposed to be like a quick draw but i was enjoying the moment rendering this comic i ended up w a full blown illustration lmao

1. sunshine family 2. vampire 3. arranged marriage 4. forbidden 5. right person, wrong time

i discovered alot of new creators and very much loved and enjoyed @lavdiiaa and @narutosgirl7's entries :D

//in no particular order

powerful_niya day 12/15/28 entry @powerful-niya - arranged marriage / gifted & cursed / royalty HISTORICAL AU IS MY WEAKNESS. I'M SUPER IN LOVE W THIS. i loved the combination of the elements and it is beautifully written. 100/10 STARS *CHEF'S KISS*

narutosgirl7 day 27 entry @narutosgirl7 - smile FLUFF. FLUFF. FLUFF. i was a smiling idiot reading this. U OWNED MY HEART

secrettastemakerland day 27 entry @secrettastemakerland - smile DORKY IN LOVE NARUTO UGHHHHH hinata w braces ashflaksfhakla + sakura being the best wingwoman!! this fic is so adorable

croissantandmacarons day 8 entry @croissantandmacarons - in-laws HINATA MEETING NARUTO'S FAMILYYYYY AAAAAAAHHHH i love their interactions. minato and kushina and jiraiya in this story. very heartwarming

jimni_soo day 6 entry -sick this is a portuguese fic. i read this w google translate. i balled my eyes reading this. i couldn't think straight. i'm too soft and very emotional for fic like this and yet i loved it

//in no particular order

nuella day 3 entry - study dates NUELLAAAA GURL U KNOW I LOVE U AND UR ART. i'm so in love w this. this was inspired by our times. i adore that film sm!!

hyorinbaek day 23 entry @hyorinbaek - cottagecore I LOVE THE COLORSSS. SO PRETTYYYYYY

jjoneechan day 28 entry @jjoneechan - video game THIS IS SO COOL. JEI IS SO TALENTED.

av_bocetos day 28 entry @avbocetos - royalty AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA this was for prompt exchange. i love royalty aus. i didn't expect her to make so many entries in this prompt. GURL U SPOILED ME SMMMM ILY

lavdiiaa day 9 entry @lavdiiaa -crossover for the nth time, i love historical aus LSHFALSKFHSALKFHAF THIS IS TOO CUTE. LOOK AT THEM FLIRTING. ANDDDD HANABI IS TOO DAMN ADORABLE. for some reason ur art reminds me of one of julia quinn's book covers. i can't recall which is it but it's one of the illustrated versions

//in no particular order

@sessakag @powerful-niya @secrettastemakerland @narutosgirl7 @/fernand53914020 (twitter)

i was patiently waiting and also always excited to see ur entries. i literally put off my reading list to read fics this month. i read fics in the morning and didn't expect to read some smut at that time lmao. thank u sm for all ur wonderful works.

//in no particular order

@/nuella (twitter) @/toyokonotokoro (twitter) @shamylicious-blog @/hinahimalena (twitter) @popipapepu

talented. amazing. wonderful. beautiful. idk how many adjectives to put here abt u and ur art/socmed au. thank u for blessing us w ur work.

funny, we had nh fair idea + plans wayyy back feb 2022.

it was supposedly for nh week (april) but considering we just finished nhmonth2021 and sunshine siblings week (jan) we thought creators needed a creativity break.

we were also considering the possibility that someone might host nhmonth2022 around may. bc last year, we had a backlash setting nhmonth2021 in december. some ppl told us it's overshadowing hinata's birth month and told us to move it around november instead or may since they told us it's naruhina's wedding month. but our main concern was for the participants bc they were the ones needed more time to prepare their entries for we announced it last september.

this year, that one anon ask ignited this to happen.

tbh i was hesitant at first to host again bc of last year's experience. it was fun but it was quite nerve-wracking bc i thought no one will participate considering there were ppl boycotting nhmonth2021. i was afraid it may happen again. very grateful for ate @quirrrky uplifting my spirit to continue hosting this event.

this year's celebration was a BLAST

i literally had the time of my life.

i did mention earlier that i experienced emotional stressed. it's bc of some internal fandom conflict but it wasn't related to the event. but some misinformation happened and the event was thrown in between, so i had to put myself in the situation and mediate. i didn't expect to be this emotionally attached to this fandom. i don't like seeing my mutuals fighting and it was quite hard for me to deal w the situation. it somehow got into me and derailed my momentum, so i took a break.

very grateful for all the entries bc it has kept me going every day. my heart swells w pride and joy seeing everyone's work. i enjoyed seeing and reading each one knowing the creator put their heart and soul into making it for naruhina. i wish i could express myself better w words and tell everyone i truly feel. i just hoped u feel our gratitude and our love and respect through our thank u cards.

i also loved seeing ppl commenting to the creator's post. sending their love. some got inspired to write or draw based on ones entry. i also love seeing ppl giving ideas according to a specific prompt and maybe someone will took inspiration from it.

how i wish i could have more entries. i only have 12 prepared before the event started. i wanted to draw the remaining days on the same day to challenge myself like i did last year, but i failed this year lmao. i was also anticipating some random things to happen that may inspire me to make art.

well, it turns out it did. one for the dilf thread and one from my crazy interactions w ate @bornonthebreakofdawn and @keycipo. i was just innocently scrolling through twitter, i did not expect to see that underwear huhuhuhu. i always send ate born anything naruto related and when i saw that post, i immediately sent it to her. didn't expect senny's posts abt giving naruto little hats. then suddenly both random ideas merged KLASHFKASHFSALKFA IT WAS CRAZY. i was smiling the entire day. i wasn't expecting @wickermayne to join in and write something too hahaha thank u sm for that wonderful, smutty fic. it was such a treat!

my total entry count is 16 but i have +2 more pending bc it's a collab w @keycipo. +2 more i didn't release; one is i decided to delayed posting for personal purposes. the second felt like it didn't fit the prompt. but i'll post these soon at the right time.

speaking of collabs, i'm very grateful for the ppl i collaborated w this month:

@powerful-niya, i can never thank u enough. u are such a sweet heart and a visionary. i very much loved and enjoyed working w u. i'm so happy i met u. my door is always open for ur wonderful ideas. can't wait for us to collaborate more in the future.

@mysummerchoi i know u very much hate angst but i'm very grateful u jumped in and took time and effort to make our collab possible. thank u for always putting up w my crazy ideas. love u always ancient one.

@jjoneechan so happy that we're able to collaborate! jei is one of my fav artists in narutwt. we both have different styles and putting our drawings together was quite challenging. i was scared at first that i might ruin their art when i was editing them together. but i really loved how it turned out. IT WORKED SO WELL *chef's kiss*

@avbocetos AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH u are a wonderful wonderful person. so happy we did this huhuhu. i didn't expect for u to make THREE/FOUR ART from the prompt i choose HUHUHUHU thank u thank u smmmm~

@keycipo I BELIEVE IN U. take ur time. we can post anytime ;)))

THIS GETTING SO LONG. I STILL HAVE MORE TO SAY HAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHA but i'll cut to the chase.

to the ppl who donated and bought the printables on my ko-fi, thank u sm. i hoped u enjoyed the materials and goodies we have for this event.

i already express my gratitude abt creator spotlight. huhuhu

I'M FOREVER GRATEFUL TO THIS COMMUNITY. my love for naruhina has extended for u guys. thank u for welcoming me and my art. thank u for giving me an opportunity to host an event for naruhina. thank u for always believing in me. thank u for the friendship and love and support and everything. i love all very very much.

🌤️

#💗💗💗#nhmonth2022 #nh2022 #des ü sabaw thoughts

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