• A DATE...¿ •

Hinata saw Naruto's message when she was about to retire for bed. She thought about it for a second and decided that there was no way she would be allowed to go out on Saturday. Not if she had something to do about it.

So by the next morning she had Sakura convince her mother to let her off for the weekend. The pink haired girl had to lie that she needed Hinata that Saturday in order for Mebuki to allow her but she got the approval she needed and was able to tell Naruto the next day that she could hang out with him that day.

The blond had been elated that she was going out with him and showed it by working really hard on the omelette rice she was teaching him to make for that week. Though what Hinata didn't tell Naruto was that she was probably going to find the opera house boring. The performers showing off their unbelievable pitch range would only serve as lullabies for her but she had hope that she wouldn't embarrass herself in front of Naruto on Saturday.

Said day couldn't have come any faster but maybe that was just Hinata's nervousness speaking. She never thought she would be one of those girls who would fret over what to wear on a date but here she was, fretting. Well in her defense she wouldn't have if Sakura hadn't looked so appalled at the everyday jeans and shirt she initially put on.

Said girl stood over her box of clothes in surprise and something Hinata couldn't read on her face. "These are all your clothes?!" Sakura asked, more like exclaimed. Hinata didn't see what the big deal was but she guessed if she had a wardrobe as big as Sakura's, seeing her little box of over used clothes would come as a shock.

"Yeah. I thought you noticed."

The snark was lost on Sakura who was genuinely surprised to find that her stepsister owned so little in comparison to what she owned. "I thought you just didn't have a fashion sense!" She yelled in her defense. Before Hinata could speak she grabbed her by her arm and dragged her out of the attic. "No no no no, this wouldn't do. I can't believe I missed this detail for years! If you weren't going on a date I would drag you to the mall with me. But that's for later. Now, we have to get you dressed for your date."

They both stopped in front of Sakura's walk in closet thrown open wide by the pinkette herself. While they were about the same size the difference in their busts would make choosing difficult for Hinata but luckily Sakura had some big clothes that wouldn't stop at Hinata's chest when she wore them. After a lot of deciding and tryouts they both agreed that the oversized off-white t-shirt on biker shorts that Hinata tried out was the best for the date and hot weather.

Sakura gave her a pair of white and black sneakers to match and Hinata accepted it gratefully. She was dragged back by the scruff of her shirt when she was about to leave Sakura's room however. "And where are you going?" Her stepsister asked sternly.

"Uhm... to the rendezvous point?" Hinata replied, unsure of why Sakura was looking at her disapprovingly.

"With that hair?!" Sakura balked. "Hinata you have to put effort into this thing or you'd give off the wrong signal to your date. You'll make him feel rejected." She lectured as she dragged Hinata off to her vanity mirror where lots of beauty products were waiting to be used.

"It isn't a date Sakura." Hinata repeated for the perhaps hundredth time that day but as before, Sakura thought she was denying it.

"I have the perfect look to go with this outfit. Sit tight and trust me okay?" And so Sakura started working on her hair and makeup. When she was done Hinata looked like an entirely new person. Her hair was in two simple braids over her shoulders. Hair rings adorned the braids but that wasn't what made Hinata look different, it was the make up.

She had been in too much of a hurry to see when Hanabi did it for her on the night of Sasuke's birthday but now she saw how different her face looked with makeup. It was light and natural but it highlighted her face in the best ways possible. "It's beautiful." Hinata gasped honestly and Sakura grinned.

"It's all you."

Just then the intercom came alive with Naruto's raspy voice. He was here to pick Hinata up already. Sakura pulled Hinata to her feet and handed her a black waist purse. "Go get 'em girl. And remember to use protection."

Hinata flushed. "It's not a date!" She yelled but Sakura was disbelieving.

"Right." She drawled in the way people did when they clearly didn't believe you. "Good luck on your not date then!"

Hinata rushed to the gate feeling nervous. Why was she though? She spent time with Naruto alone every day for crying out loud. It was Sakura's fault for continuing to call their hangout a date, Hinata decided as her stomach did a funny dive when she saw how incredibly handsome Naruto looked with his tousled hair and black earrings. He was wearing an orange t-shirt on black jeans and orange and black shoes. Only people like him could make something simple look like it came out of a magazine front page.

"Hey." The blond greeted with an easy smile. His blue eyes skimmed over her body once, almost shyly and he complimented her outfit. "You look cute."

"So do you." Hinata had blurted before her mind caught up to her mouth. Was it alright to tell a boy he looked cute? Gah! All these date protocols wasn't for her! "Handsome I mean. You look...I didn't realize you had piercings." Hinata changed the topic when she was beginning to lose control of her words. Her face was flushed pink by the end of it.

"Well it's against school rules to wear earrings so nobody notices the holes in my ears. Shall we?" Naruto opened the door of his car for her and she blushed once again. Nobody had opened a door for her before. Then again there was never an opportunity to so it never happened.

"Let's." Hinata mumbled as she stepped into the car.

Only when they got to the opera house did the both of them realise that they were underdressed for the occasion, well in music enthusiasts eyes that is. It was awkward being the only ones in jeans and shorts while other people were in semi formal or even formal clothes. Some over enthusiastic opera lovers shot them disapproving looks but neither of them cared about it, easily finding their seats among the crowd.

Hinata tried her hardest not to fall asleep, she really did but she couldn't help it. Singers singing in unknown languages and incredibly high or incredibly low notes weren't just her thing. The flute solo did it for her and she was out like a light. She awoke to somebody shaking her lightly. Everybody had cleared out of the theatre except some people who were giving her stink eyes, the person waking her up and of course Naruto who was sleeping soundly on her shoulder.

They both slept off sometime during the ministration, it seemed. The blond jumped awake with a 'I swear I'm not sleeping!' on his lips and they were promptly kicked out of the opera house.

"Well that was eventful." Naruto commented on their way out.

"I can't believe the both of us slept off like that." Hinata laughed at the memory. And here she was thinking she would embarrass herself in front of Naruto.

"Did you see the way that old lady looked at us?" Naruto guffawed. There had been an old woman who eyed them both from the moment they stepped into the hall. At the moment it was kind of scary the way she was glaring but now that they thought about it, it was a funny situation. "If she had a stick she would have hit us with it."

"Totally. I was kinda relived when our seat didn't fall in front of hers. Surely she would have poked us to death with her opera glasses."

They both continued to laugh at every person that gave them judgemental eyes at the opera house until they reached Naruto's bright orange car (you could never miss it) and the boy's stomach gave a loud groan. Naruto rubbed his tummy as if he was pregnant. "You're hungry right? I am too." He whispered to it much to Hinata's amusement.

"When are you never hungry?" She laughed.

"Contrary to popular belief I am not hungry all the time." Naruto pouted indignantly.

"I find that hard to believe."

Naruto gasped, scandalized. "It is true!  I only eat eight times in a day!"

Hinata burst out laughing again at his antics. "Nevermind that a normal person eats three times in a day Naruto." She giggled and Naruto pouted before his face lit up like a bulb.

"I know a delicious ramen place that we could go to! Take it coming from me that Ichiraku has the best ramen in the world."

"Nothing is ever going to separate you and ramen, isn't it?" Hinata commented amusedly as she got into his car after he had opened the door for her again. This time she was occupied with how funny Naruto was being to even blush.

"She's the love of my life. We're together for richer for poorer." The blond replied as he closed the door behind her.

Ichiraku was a lot smaller than Hinata imagined. For a reason she was coming up with a five star restaurant and not a small establishment at a corner in a street. She should have known though, Naruto wasn't the kind to discriminate when it came to food. They entered the small shop where the owner greeted Naruto familiarly as he had been frequenting the place a lot.

"You're finally here with a girl, congratulations!" A waitress whom she found out was the daughter of the shop owner cooed at the sight of Hinata beside Naruto and once again her face heated up.

Naruto's face did too. "It's not what you're thinking!" He denied quickly. "By the way what is this?" He changed topics by pointing to a poster hanging on the wall beside him.

"Oh you've not been here in a while so you don't know. It's a ramen eating contest. The customer who eats the most bowls in a sitting wins a prize. Our current record beater is Akimichi Choza with thirty bowls. Think you can top that?"

Naruto contemplated for a second. "Does the prize have something to do with more ramen?" Hinata didn't understand how somebody would eat that much ramen and still crave for more but Naruto was fired up when Ayame, the waitress, confirmed his thoughts.

Naruto was five bowls in when Hinata decided that it looked fun and she wanted to participate too. "Another bowl please." She ordered and Naruto perked up from beside her.

"You seriously think you can defeat me?" He asked haughtily.

"Oh I'd never. I just wanted to try cause it looked fun." Hinata smiled amusedly.

"Just don't get constipated okay?" He gulped down the soup in his bowl and slammed it down. "Another bowl!"

Naruto was thirty five bowls in when he finally gave up. By then noodles was poking out of nose like snot and he heaved once or twice with threatening nausea. "I– I did it! I broke the record!" He exclaimed weakly as he fell onto the table. He wouldn't be able to eat for the next few hours!

The sound of slurping caused Naruto to snap his eyes open as if he were in a horror movie. He couldn't believe it! Slowly, he turned his head to face Hinata and found the girl carefully slurping on her noodles with a noodle spoon and chopsticks. It would have been comical had there not been a pile of plates way higher than his would ever be beside her. Hinata drank her soup and exclaimed happily. "I'm full!"

"That's 46 bowls for Hyuga Hinata!" The shop owner, Teuchi announced and everyone that was in the shop and had been watching shouted in surprise. Naruto's jaw was on the ground in utmost surprise. Sure enough Hinata's stomach bulged from eating too much but where the hell did she eat that to? She didn't even look the least affected while he was here battling with nausea!

Speaking of nausea, Naruto ran out of the store in a hurry while Hinata followed with a bottle of water. Let's just end this chapter like this; after the days events Naruto looked at Hinata with a newfound respect from then on.

***

Hinata being a glutton is seriously underrated in the series. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm a glutton for votes and comments in case you didn't know so feed me! See you next chapter.

-Star.