◤──•~❉᯽❉~•──◥

❀𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖❀

December 3rd.

❀ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕥 𝕋𝕠𝕡𝕚𝕔❀

Right Person/Wrong Time + Study Dates

❀ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘❀

Teen Rated.

❀𝕊𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪❀

As a result of a toxic relationship that left her broken, Hinata Hyuga made the decision to stop dating and concentrate completely on her college studies; nevertheless, she fell blind to the signs of love Naruto Uzumaki, her closest friend and childhood pal, has been sending her.

❀𝕋𝕒𝕘𝕤❀

College AU • Fluff • Angst • Hurt/Comfort • Unrequited Love • Friendship • Childhood Friends • Study Date • Mention Of Toxic Relationship •

❀𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝔹𝕠𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕤❀

Hinata:

Naruto:

❀𝕆𝕟𝕖 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘❀

This prompt is another mild one. It's all fluff and just tad bit angsty.

I also wanted to keep this particular prompt short. I tend to have a hard time writing short prompts so I had to go the extra mile to make sure this prompt was nice and short but still executed exactly how I wanted.

But anywho, enough of hearing about my troubles, haha, I hope you all enjoy!

Don't forget to comment and vote!

◤──•~❉᯽❉~•──◥

A Love Unseen

"Question twelve! What do both the mitochondria and chloroplasts have in common?"

In a low tone, a young woman spoke the words that were found within her biology book, bringing to light her soft, angelic voice. Her voice sprung forth within the quiet library she currently resided in to reach the fellow that sat before her.

There was silence across the entire area as many college students used this time after classes to study, finish their homework, work on projects, or read novels.

The library at Konoha University was filled with the sounds of rustling papers, soft murmurs from students, and computer keyboard tapping that occasionally broke through the oppressive quiet that pervaded the entire space.

Two college students were having yet another study date while seated right in the midst of the library. Study dates were a routine for the two college friends because they would get together after school and study for their classes.

For biology class mainly.

That particular class was severely kicking both of their butts so the two spent most of their time studying for that particular class together.

The young collage woman, Hinata, sat before her blonde best friend as she kept her eyes plastered on him, just silently waiting for the male to think of an answer to the question she previously gave him.

Her hopeful lavender eyes switched from-her large biology textbook which lay before her, set wide open on the table-and back towards two twinkling blue eyes which look to reveal confusion.

"Wait what?" Naruto, the male who possesses such blue eyes, shot back, feigning as if he did not hear the biology question that was given to him to cover up his confusion. He even scrunched his face up, bringing his shoulders in an upward motion as well.

Hinata smacked her lips, tilting her head in slight annoyance, "Naruto-kun, are you even listening?" She asked in relation to his outburst of cluelessness. Naruto's responses of confusion were really starting to bother her.

This was the third time Hinata heard Naruto respond to her many questions with a "what." And don't get her started on the "huh's"-he's used that response four times in a row now.

Hinata could only guess that the blonde seemed to be either spacing out or completely perplexed by the content-that Naruto did not in fact know how to answer the many questions that she was giving him.

He doesn't usually space out so much during their many study dates, so something has to be the matter, right?

Hinata groaned and shook her head as she just stared at the blonde, who was currently scratching the back of his head with one hand, his fingers rubbing his blonde hair, which hung over his tan face and covered his forehead and cerulean orbs.

Naruto's eyes trailed away from her to avoid eye contact, to prevent her from staring into his eyes and, in turn, figuring out his issue. Hinata always seemed to see right through him.

Even now, he knew Hinata was onto him.

The young man watched as Hinata pouted, her fingers gripping the edges of her biology textbook, "You don't know, do you?" She bit her lip briefly, "Th-The answer?"

Naruto gulped at Hinata's rather abrupt question. It shocked the blonde male, it really did. He didn't want to admit to Hinata that he actually didn't know anything about today's lesson in biology or the subjects that were most likely going to be on the weekly chapter test.

Naruto didn't know nor cared anything about biology, hell, or his other classes. He was only attending college for the thrill, for the freedom, for the laughs and, to spend quality time with...

Hinata Hyuga-his childhood friend.

Schoolwork, tests, studying, and graduating were all things Hinata cared about, not him. The young woman has always aspired to be intelligent, well rounded, and educated. Hinata wanted to be the best of the best, and because she cared deeply about her friend, she wanted Naruto to strive to be the same.

But he just wasn't mentally ready for it all. His heart wasn't in it.

So the reason Naruto consistently accepts to establish study dates with his closest friend is not to study and ensure his own understanding of the countless college teachings that he's been "taught" in order to pass his classes and graduate college.

No.

It was all to spend time with his best friend, to see her smile and to hear her laugh. Naruto finds himself enjoying Hinata's company more than usual. He found himself becoming extremely fascinated by her unwavering commitment to excellence.

Naruto marveled at Hinata's intelligence, her gentle nature, her kindness, and her drive to never give up.

Naruto has begun to love everything about Hinata, and he has found that such feelings increase more and more every day.

He was in love with her, he cannot deny that fact. But he can never have her.

Never.

Naruto bit his lip to conceal his emotions, to repress his thoughts and instead answer Hinata's questions, to do away with her worries.

The blonde college student pulled his head up to smile nervously at his best friend, all the while rubbing the back of his blonde hair. He used his other hand to wave it back and forth in the air, to wave Hinata's misgivings off, "Yes, yes. Of course, I know the answer, Hinata-chan. I just need for you, um, to repeat the question, that's all."

Naruto knew his words were lies, but he just didn't want to disappoint Hinata. After all, it brought him joy to see her express contentment because of his attentiveness and investment in their studies.

Naruto didn't want to give away just how much of a fraud he's been.

Hinata gave her best friend a thorough lookover, squinting her lavender eyes at him as she processed his previous words and took in his facial features.

Naruto's nervous grin grew wider. He also increased the rubbing of his hair, a tactic of comfort to deal with the anxiety he felt.

Hinata raised an eyebrow at the spiky blonde, giving her biology book a tap with her finger, "Fine, I can read the question again. But please listen this time. Question twelve is an easy one, I have total faith that you will answer it correctly." Hinata scoffed, looking back to her textbook, "We literally just learned all of this in class, during our third period."

"Okay, okay." Naruto put up his hands to beckon Hinata, in an attempt to further calm her worries, "I'm sorry, Hinata-chan, I'm gonna listen this time, I promise."

Hinata smiled, once more giving Naruto a look that always makes his heart flutter. Hinata's eyes were so gorgeous as they lit up due to her act of giving off such a positive gesture.

Her eyes were gentle, crinkling lightly at the ends as a result of her putting her all into expressing a smile full of passion and solicitude.

The lavender hue that dominated her pupils stood out to him most in the moments Hinata smiled. Seeing such a color of lavender as Hinata's eye pigment always amazed as well as intrigued him.

Naruto always found himself in awe of her eyes, even as a young kid. He never saw anyone that possessed lavender eyes before and even now that he's twenty-one, he still hasn't met a single person that has eyes like Hinata's.

Her eyes were one of a kind. Hinata was one of a kind.

As she smiled, Naruto took in how her cheeks glowed a light pink tint, letting the blonde know that the young woman was blushing, a sight that always makes the young man's heart beat faster and his breathing increase.

Hinata's smile alone was stunning, absolutely stunning. Such a smile conveys to him how much she values him and every word he speaks.

She was absolutely beautiful, even with her simply smiling faintly in response to his words of compliance to her wishes. That's just how goregous Hinata was to the blonde.

Naruto watched in his stunned state as the midnight blue-haired woman gave him a nod, once more causing the bun she had her hair in to sway and rock about, disrupting it.

Naruto's blue eyes watched closely as a few of her hair strands fell from their places tucked within the tight confines of her bun to fall against her forehead and cheeks.

"Alrighty then. Here's to repeating question twelve over again." Hinata voiced, giving the blonde a cautionary announcement, in a way he could hear without fail.

Naruto cleared his throat, disrupting the silence with a guttural grunt as a way to pull himself out of the trance he's fallen into and instead focus his mind on Hinata's next words. He wanted to be attentive this time, for Hinata's sake. He didn't want to disappoint her again.

He pulled his hands forward to clasp them together, to proceeded rub them back and forth in excitement, "Yeah, I'm ready! Hit me, Hinata-chan hit me!" Naruto exclaimed in glee, raising his voice while he was at it, which caused Hinata to giggle from her side of the table.

"Shh!"

Naruto growled in annoyance before whipping his head around in response to the sound of being shushed by an unknown individual.

By turning his head, the college's librarian, who was standing a few steps away by a tall, wooden bookcase full of books listed under the author's last name-P., caught his attention.

The elderly woman was observed holding a few hefty books in her hands that were all shades of brown.

The librarian that wore-glasses, along with a large white blazer, a black and white polka dot dress underneath, and white sandals-had her head turned entirely in Naruto's direction. The short brown-haired woman glared at Naruto through her glasses as a way to further exert her dominance, and in turn, ensure the male's obedience.

But Naruto remained unshakened. He actually had to refrain from sticking his tongue out at the woman. He was enjoying his time with his best friend, why in the hell was she ruining his mood?

So, to help the librarian feel a little more at ease, Naruto only gave her a thumbs up and then smirked slyly. He then turned to face his best friend, who was calmly watching the scenario before her, resisting the impulse to laugh.

Hinata ruffled the pages of her textbook, all the while biting her lip to deal with her amusement. She then leaned forward in her seat, the fabric of her light blue cardigan brushing against the edges of the table she sat at, "Hmm, in trouble yet again, huh, mister? It seems you can't stay out of it." Hinata chastised before reaching over the table to bury her hand into her best friend's blonde locks only to rustle them back and forth in amusement.

Naruto laughed amiably as he reveled in the frivolous attention that his crush, er, best friend, was giving him

The spiky haired college student was grateful for Hinata's touch, his spiky blonde hair rocking every which way in a wild manner due to Hinata's vigorous rubbing.

With his arms crossed over each other on the wooden table in front of him, the blonde chuckled amusingly. His entire body was leaning towards Hinata's outstretched hand, demonstrating how much he cherished her action of ruffling his hair. Much like a dog yearns for the attention of its devoted owner, Naruto yearned to experience more of his dearest best friend's touch.

Nevertheless, Hinata quickly retracted her hand from Naruto's head, bringing it back into her own space. Her hand was once more gripping the edge of her biology book as she resumed her original stance. But the amused grin that was on her pallid face never faltered.

That gave Naruto the opportunity to answer back and snap out of his stupor, a mischievous grin sliding across his own lips.

"Oh, you know me." From across the table, Naruto wiggled his eyebrows at Hinata in an overtly flirtatious manner, "I can never stay out of trouble for long." He admitted playfully, with a comical laugh.

But his response was one that caused Hinata to gasp in shock, her hands quickly picking up her textbook to use it to brush it playfully against the male's broad shoulders, reaching over the table to do so.

The delighted blonde male laughed again as he received positive attention from the woman he secretly and passionately loves.

Hinata giggled as she whacked Naruto with her textbook, using the thick side of the book to make delicate blows at both of the male's shoulder, "And that's why you, mister, are a very bad influence on me." Hinata teased happily.

Naruto cowered away from Hinata's playful hits, doing so with laughter escaping his lips.

All the while, both college students continued to ignore the numerous shushes they were getting from the librarian behind him. They both also chose to ignore the numerous odd looks they got from the students in the area as well.

They even disregarded how loud they were being; as a result, their voices were the only sounds immensely audible in the expanse of the room, which truly irritated the librarian.

"Be quiet, you two! You are causing a disturbance!"

Naruto turned his body to the right once he received a blow from Hinata on his left shoulder. Once more, they both ignored the librarian to only give the other one their full attention.

Naruto put his hands up innocently as he moved about hysterically, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Hina. I promise to be a good boy. I promise."

Hinata paused in her movements, bringing the textbook away from his side of the table and into the air. She raised an eyebrow at him, "You promise, Naruto-kun?"

"Promise." Naruto pushed his hands close to his chest, gripping the front of his brown sweater, "I cross my heart and hope to die."

Naruto was serious. He hated lying to Hinata. He hated disappointing her. So he took his words seriously.

Hinata, on the other hand, was quite anxious due to his word choice, for she felt it was a little too much and a bit unnecessary. She wished to correct him.

Hinata bit her lip nervously and pulled her textbook back on the table, setting it flat on its backside with a soft flump.

She shook her head, her lavender eyes expressing slight sadness, "No, no, don't say such things like that, Naruto-kun. Don't speak such things into existence."

Naruto's eyes widened at her words. He precisely felt his heart beat faster due to hearing Hinata express concern for him, "S-Sorry, I just-"

"You're like family to me, Naruto-kun. You're here for me when I really need you. You make me laugh. You make me smile. You respect my wishes. Y-You allow me to use my voice as much as I please. You love me for who I am a-and allow me to be myself. I wouldn't know what to do if you were to leave or die. I would simply crumble apart and I-I-oh gosh..." Hinata sulked in her seat as she felt herself spiral down a depressing road, a road where her troubles, her feelings and all of her pain were beginning to crawl up to the surface.

She was being utterly ridiculous.

Hinata gripped her forehead with one hand, turning her head away from Naruto to spare herself the agony his expression at her random confession would bring her. She was being ridiculous, and Naruto's facial expression will no doubt show her just how ridiculous she really is. She couldn't bear to face him.

Unknowingly enough, Naruto was biting back the urge to confess feelings of his own. He was literally biting his tongue, keeping his top teeth pushed against it to keep words from passing his mouth.

It was absolutely wonderful to hear that Hinata appreciated his company, just as he appreciated hers. Naruto loved her confession, loved that she felt the yearning to tell him how he made her feel and how significant a role he has in her life.

But one word in her confession dimmed his world entirely. One word Hinata said made him rethink telling him his feelings. One word she said made him completely feel as if he was indeed not the man she was looking for or even had eyes on.

'Family. She referred to me as family' Naruto thought dismally, his shoulders slumping.

Yes, it felt great to be a part of Hinata's world. It felt great to know that he was kept in a special place deep within her heart but Naruto didn't want to be portrayed as family, not by her when he has such intense feelings for her; feelings no family member would have for another member.

He loves Hinata.

But Hinata does not see his love. She doesn't even see him as a potential love interest.

And that's because...

Naruto found himself bowing his head, all thoughts of studying now put on a hold due to the tension that was prominent in the air, between them.

Naruto bit his lip, picking at the wood of the table with his fingers, "You're still hurt, aren't you? You're saying these things because of that Toneri guy, isn't it? He-"

"Please don't bring him up, Naruto-kun."

Hinata was now cowering, remaining in a position where all eye contact was cut off between the two. That irked the hell out of Naruto.

The mood between them was now bitter due to Naruto's decision to bring up Hinata's ex-lover.

Toneri Otsutsuki-another college student here at Konoha University.

'Now presenting the toxic asshole.' Naruto thought to himself with a roll of his eyes, his head bowed still causing his spiky blonde hair to droop down his face, covering his eyes from the world.

Naruto stared at Hinata through his dangling blonde hair, watching as she squirmed in her seat, keeping her head turned away from him.

The blonde sighed gruffly, "Hinata-chan, I know bringing that bastard up hurts. But you do not have to cower away at the sound of his name in my presence. You are safe with me. You are safe because I seek only to comfort you, to protect you, to be there for you through your struggles, and um..."

Naruto's words stopped dead in their tracks when he spotted Hinata finally peek one eye at him from where her head was turned. But from what Naruto can now see, her eyes were teary, and her lips were pouty.

Hinata was still suffering from the major breakup she had with her ex. She was still suffering from the toxicity and the emotional abuse he put her through.

Her major breakup happened only four months ago, and because of it, Hinata has been in a bad place ever since.

Hinata hides the hurt and the pain well. She hides it all too well but Naruto can see straight through her. He knew Hinata long enough to notice a difference in her behavior.

Seeing Hinata go through something so gravely by herself pains Naruto. It pains him deeply because that white-haired bastard was another reason why Hinata would never accept him as a lover, never look at him as someone to love, to be intimate with him, and start a true relationship with.

Hinata was now terrified of romance, of having a domestic partner and loving wholeheartedly without any restraints, without any mistrust or fear. She was scared of all the aspects that came with romance.

All because of Toneri.

'Dammit all.' Naruto cursed to himself in frustration while keeping his eyes trained on Hinata, who was slowly showing more and more of her beautiful face to him again. However, her cheeks had turned quite red, and instead of having light and joy in her eyes as before, her lavender eyes were now flooded with grief and tears.

Just bringing up that bastard's name has brought sorrow to Hinata.

Naruto slowly began to regret bringing Toneri up, but he was still eager to hear more about how their relationship ended up being so chaotic.

The blonde student has only heard bits and pieces from Hinata, only when she's venting and needs someone to talk to. But she only presented him with little splurges of what her relationship with Toneri was really like.

And Naruto knows from the bit Hinata has told him that the relationship between Hinata and Toneri was a total nightmare.

Hinata sniffed and crunched her textbook's pages between her fingers, "Naruto-kun, I-I want to tell you everything. I want to reveal everything to you. You're my best friend, and I trust you with all of my heart. B-But remembering those painful memories just makes me feel so awful." A sob broke through Hinata's lips causing her to choke on her words.

In pity, Naruto's brows furrowed.

Hinata whimpered, spilling tears, "Toneri, the real Toneri, was not the man I fell in love with. H-He tricked me. He lied to me. He h-hurt my pride. He hurt my feelings. He made me feel like I was alone, Naruto-kun. He rid me of the love I had for myself... He made me hate myself." Another sob broke through her lips, but that didn't stop her. She was finally giving Naruto more of what the Toneri asshole was really like.

Hinata pulled her gaze up into the air as more and more tears fell down her cheeks, "Toneri was a monster, an abuser that took total advantage of me and my love. I'm just..." Hinata shook her head wildly, pulling her head back down to face her textbook, allowing her wet tears to fall upon the white pages below her, doing so with soft splats following.

Naruto frowned at the sorrowful sight before him, a sight that made his heart crumble to pieces. The sight of Hinata crying, expressing fear and sorrow due to a fucking human being irritated the blonde to no end.

Now, Naruto was filled with rage. He wanted so badly to avenge his closest friend for the purpose of defending her, for being her voice and her strong arm.

He wanted to beat Toneri to a bloody pulp for Hinata. Naruto rarely gets into fights, but he will get into a match to the bloody death with the damn man in hopes of regaining Hinata's dignity.

Naruto will risk everything to put a smile back on Hinata's face, heal her heart, and free her from the trauma she is now dealing with; trauma she is attempting to avoid by overburdening herself with academics and indulging in profuse study sessions with him.

Hinata's running and hiding. Always running and hiding.

If Naruto couldn't make her see that he loved her, he at least wanted to make her see that she no longer has to run and hide, or fake as if everything was okay. Naruto wanted to open her eyes to the fact that he was right here for her, a place he will remain for as long as humanly possible. He wanted her to know that she was comfortable with him and that all he would give her was the love and joy she deserved.

He wanted her to know that.

Naruto watched as Hinata sniffed once more, her eyes set on the table before her as she shed more tears, "I'm just not ready to talk about any of it, Naruto-kun. I'm not ready to o-open my heart again, not after him. I just-"

"Shh." Naruto shushed Hinata's sorrowful rants, one hand of his rushing forward, across the table to place itself on top of her hand.

There, Naruto gripped Hinata's hand tight, for comfort. As a reward, Naruto gave him a smile due to his gracious actions.

The blonde smiled back, giving her a nod, "And you do not have to, Hinata-chan. It's wrong of me to force you to talk about something you do not want to. If you don't want to talk about Toneri, then that's fine. Just know that when you are ready, I am always here to listen. Also..." Naruto began to caress Hinata's hand with his thumb, rubbing it back and forth, which slowly but surely dried up her tears.

Hinata let out a small gasp as she stared in awe at the sight of their entwined hands. Naruto watched as she pouted in deep emotion.

Naruto's smile brightened, "just know. Hina, even if your heart is tired, even if you are at your breaking point and no longer want to try romance again, just know I will always love you regardless. I love you and will always be there for you, Hinata-chan. No bastard like Toneri will ever take me away from you. Never."

For once in Naruto's life, he was pouring his heart out on a matter that he deemed serious. Numerous words that Naruto was once not sure he was capable of speaking flowed out of his mouth to touch the heart of his best friend, which in turn successfully pulled her out of the rough patch she was in and instead instilled love, warmth, and relief in her.

Just by hearing Naruto's words, Hinata's light was restored, and no longer did she allow the toxicity of Toneri's actions have a devastating effect on her. She no longer allowed Toneri to win.

Hinata turned back to face Naruto, displaying her puffy, red eyes and a brilliant smile in stark contrast, a gesture indicating that she found his remarks to be both admirable and appreciative.

The midnight blue-haired woman held back a sob, pouting to conceal her happy cries, "Oh Naruto-kun. What would I do without you?" She whimpered as she pushed herself to a standing posture, revealing her full outfit-a floral knit top with a long blue cardigan adorned over top of it. She matched her top with a pair of light blue trousers with three buttons lining down the front. Lastly, the young woman wore white converses to cover her feet in order to match her kawaii outfit.

In response to Hinata getting up from her seat, Naruto did the same, displaying his winter attire, which included a men's cashmere brown turtleneck sweater, cream-colored mid-rise trousers, and matching white chunky tennis shoes.

As soon as Naruto raised his tall body to a stand, he was startled to feel small arms draw him into a close embrace.

Such arms wrapped around his neck, bringing his body over the table and into a woman's bosom.

Hinata embraced her dear friend, marveling him whole, "Oh thank you, Naruto-kun. Thank you!"

Hinata was overjoyed by Naruto's words of comfort. She was quite taken aback by his choice of words, for she has always known Naruto to be quite the knucklehead who was quite dense when it came to love.

But Naruto surprised her. He truly did. He said just the right words the young woman needed to hear, and finally, after a terrible four months of sorrow due to her departure from Toneri, the young woman finally felt her heart smile.

Hinata snuggled deep within Naruto's warm sweater, deep within his chest, as she held him tight around the neck, bringing his larger body into her smaller frame to embrace him.

Naruto swore he felt like he was melting.

As he cuddled deep within the crack of Hinata's breasts, his face slammed into her petite body, a massive red blush appeared on both of his whiskered tan cheeks.

His heart was currently beating so fast, it rivaled the speed of a hummingbird's wings which caused his body to tingle all over.

A stupid grin was found on his face, and there, he went to wrap his arms around Hinata as well, to accept her, and embrace her back.

Hinata deeply enjoyed that.

As they hovered over the work table below them, Naruto hummed and swayed their bodies side to side amusingly, "Mmm, you're welcome, Hinata-chan. I'm always here, don't forget that."

"Oh, Naruto-kun, you're the best. Thank you so much for helping me."

"Of course, Hina. Of course."

Once again, the two held one other tightly in a big hug that felt very different from their other hugs.

Hugging between the two teenagers was not at all unusual. As best friends, they embrace frequently to show how much they value and care for one another.

But the hug that they were currently involved in felt different. Totally different.

For both Naruto and Hinata, the hug they inaugurated was significant and profoundly important. Both of them greatly valued the hug, therefore, neither of them wanted to let go or break it up.

So they didn't.

The pair spent a couple of seconds more hugging one another as tight as they could. They allowed the embrace to soothe their hearts, fill them with joy and warmth, and alleviate their sentiments of negativity and sorrow.

But soon after, the hug ended, and the two removed their arms from each other to regain their seats again.

The two sat down with a sigh, bright lavender eyes falling upon the biology textbook on the table. Hinata read question twelve again and grimaced.

She raised her head to glance back at Naruto, who was still in shock over what had just happened. A goofy grin once more adorned his whiskered face, and his warm blue eyes were glued to the table like a love-struck idiot.

Hinata bit her lip before examining the white watch that was on her wrist, doing so to check what time it was.

5:05 P.M.

She clicked her tongue at such a sight, bringing her gaze back to Naruto, "N-Now that's all done, are you ready to resume our study session?" Hinata smiled, her lavender eyes lighting up, "Afterwards, we could go get bubble milk teas-"

As soon as she brought up boba tea, Naruto snapped out of his trance, but now with a watery mouth. He whipped his head up to face Hinata with a eyes filled with excitement.

The blonde nodded his head wildly, causing his spiky blonde hair to flap back and forth, "Heck yeah! Let's study hard so we can get the hell out of here-!

"Shhh!!!!"

"Okay!" Naruto snapped back at the librarian in irritation. For a moment, the male's lips underturned to put up a scowl as he spared a glance at the older woman over his shoulder.

After he made his outburst, he turned back to Hinata only to turn his lips up again, to smile at her.

In reaction to his frenzy, Hinata laughed before nodding, "Sounds like the plan. Now!"

Her words trailed off so she could pull her head down to identify the question they were on.

Question 12.

"What do both the mitochondria and chloroplasts have in common?"

"Uhh..." Naruto could no longer pretend as if he didn't hear Hinata. She said the question loud and proud, leaving him no choice but to guess. He didn't have the answer to such a question anyhow.

Chloroplasts and the godforsaken mitochondria were both mysteries to him.

Naruto clicked his tongue as he used his mind to think. 'Are they food?' Naruto thought to himself obliviously. 'Yeah, mitochondria and chloroplasts sound similar to food.'

The blonde was truly relying on his growling stomach to answer question twelve of his biology studies.

Naruto bit his lip deviously, planting his eyes on his surroundings, "Um, damn. I don't know." Naruto shrugged, improvising his next response, "Shiitake mushrooms?"

Hinata groaned due to Naruto's highly incorrect answer before sulking in her seat, causing the blonde to let out a series of laughs.

The midnight blue-haired woman wanted to face-palm herself because she found question twelve to be relatively easy.

Simply put, the mitochondria, or "powerhouse" of animal cells, are the organelles that produce the chemical energy required to drive metabolic activities within cells. The membranes known as chloroplasts, which are mostly present in the cells of green plants, are responsible for the oxygen release and energy production processes that support plant growth.

DNA and ribosomes are found in both chloroplasts and the mitochondria, and both cells play a role in cellular energy generation processes.

'See, simple.' Hinata exclaimed triumphantly to herself.

Hinata shook her head, bringing one hand up to run it down her face, "Oh kami, we have a lot of work to do-"

"But we'll do it together." Naruto chimed in with a huff.

In response to his comment, Hinata gave Naruto a fleeting smile and straightened herself up in her seat once more.

She felt very relieved to have Naruto by her side and to see that he has a passion for their studies.

Hinata felt so much better here with Naruto. So much better.

The midnight blue-haired student agreed with her best friend, revealing she did by nodding. Now, her pale face was brightened entirely, revealing the happiness she now felt deep inside.

"Yes, we will, Naruto-kun."

◤──•~❉᯽❉~•──◥

A.N.

See, this prompt was pretty mild, a little angst and of course, short.

With this prompt, I wanted to take a fresh approach. Instead of simply saying that Naruto and Hinata were in relationships, I wanted to be more realistic and include another reason why they might won't start a relationship with one another.

Ya know, to stay in terms of the right person/wrong time trope?

I instead presented that Hinata is terrified of romance and therefore seeks to indulge her time in her studies while Naruto seeks to simply enjoy college life and all the fun that comes along with it.

That, in my opinion, will ultimately send the two traveling down separate roads.

Also, I revolved Hinata and Naruto's studies around biology in this prompt because I'm actually taking a biology course in college at the moment, lol! It's just a little easter egg, haha.

This is probably the final sweet, innocent, fluffy prompt I will submit to the NH event, so I hoped you enjoyed it. All of my other prompts are going to be intense and explicit. (Actually, there could be two or three more cute prompts coming, I think)

But anywho, just know I have lots of surprises for you all.

I hope you're ready! I know I am, haha!

Love ya!

-Powerful_Niya