A small crack in perfection

A small crack in perfection
By eternalshiva

Disclaimer:
I do not own Naruto or any of the characters portrayed by Masashi Kishimoto, nor do I make any monies off this fanfiction.

AN – Check my profile / comment box for all the puns from chapter four :P I’d list them here but you’re not interested in my Author’s Notes! *rambles on* Enjoy the chapter!
Thank you Jolly Green for the beta, I appreciate it (and your plot bunnies).

Chapter 5
Ramen is the key to my heart

Sakura eyed her cell phone and grumbled. She hadn’t heard from him since he’d left his house earlier that evening and tried to ignore the fact he was breaking a promise. Although she knew he was probably still setting up, obsessing over his graph table, redecorating the room and, god forbid, trying to convince his host to eat ramen.

He was predictable in his unpredictability.

She shifted in her bed. The blankets were uncomfortable, she duly noted, and laid on her back while staring at the ceiling. ‘Maybe I should text him, see how things are going,’ she thought as her eyes drifted to the red glare of her digital clock and she reconsidered. It was one in the morning – what if he was asleep?

She let out a small laugh and shook her head. ‘No way, he’s probably leaned over the table, chewing on the end of his pencil with the eraser bits stuck to the palm of his hands, grumbling over something he can’t quite get right.’ She grinned, remembering him in detail: the frown in concentration, his bottom lip sucked in, she could even hear the pencil scratching on the paper. How many nights had she stayed awake in his bed, listening to it? Too many; she’d lost count years ago. He was always so focused on his projects, his visions.

He was relentless in his convictions to bring out the best in everything he designed, or whomever he met. She sighed and rolled over towards the clock, tucked her arm under the pillow and curled into herself. She bit her lower lip slightly as she reached out to the phone, a weird feeling knotted in her stomach.

‘What’s wrong with me? I always call him whenever I feel like it,’ she berated herself.

‘Yeah, but he’s not usually sleeping at your boss’s house!’ inner-Sakura retorted.

‘True...’ She stared at the phone. Her fingers glided across the smooth button pad as she debated a little further, making an invisible list of worst possible scenarios. She rolled her eyes and shoved the imaginary list off the imaginary table and told her worries to stuff it as she texted him.

* * *

Naruto stood behind Hinata as he pushed her lightly behind the shoulders into the mouth of the waiting kitchen, she protested lightly, but he wouldn’t hear anything of it and spouted out in a strange robotic voice ‘Resistance is futile.' He expected the usual giggle he got from Sakura, but she glanced over her shoulder and looked confused, if anything.

‘Guess she’s not a fan of Star Trek.’ He pouted a little and apologised to Picard by sighing out-loud to the ceiling and shaking his head. She frowned slightly at his obvious disappointment, but it was soon forgotten once he grabbed her hand and dragged her to the center of the kitchen, pointing at the seat.

His eyes twinkled in mischief as he made his way around her once she was secured at the kitchen island. She watched him carefully as he opened all her cupboards and set upon his task to seek out various utensils and her skillet. Whatever that was. He suddenly stood up from his four-legged position on the ground and stalked over to the fridge, grumbling. He opened the cooling container and pressed his lips together.

“For Pete’s sake, you have nothing here to make Ramen with,” he pointedly said to her, receiving a raised eyebrow in response.

“I did say I was not familiar with the dish, so why would I have the necessary equipment to cook it with?” she replied. Naruto only stood there, blinked once and mentally conceded a point to Hinata on the Kiba board of moments he’d been rendered speechless.

“Point taken. Put a sweater on, we’re going on a little trip.” He marched out of the kitchen towards his room, she blinked.

“W-w-what?” she stuttered out. He grinned before turning to her in the darkness of the hall.

“We’re going shopping.”

“At one in the morning?” she continued to argue. He nodded and opened his door. She followed behind him and continued to mumble out excuses as to why it was too late to wander out into the city and shop for ramen, of all things. He ignored her rambling as he pulled open the closet door and yanked out a raggedy orange cotton sweatshirt.

She’d gone silent while he was busy seeking out clothes. He peered over his shoulder and puzzled over her lack of comments. She was in shock. The bedroom was completely in disarray; months of careful planning and decorating had been thrown out the window in the space of couple of hours by this... thing claiming to be a man.

“Wha…” she started, he looked around and didn’t see what the problem was. He had managed to get that horrendous stiffness out of the room and made it a little bit more comfortable. He even changed the furniture around a bit so he could fit his portable draft table near the patio doors; he liked windows to contemplate things while designing. His bed was terribly uncomfortable. He’d gotten used to the mattress his god-father had given him before he’d been killed by a freak accident caused by an old student of his.

He couldn’t understand her reaction at all.

“I made a few changes. I can tell you love it.” He grinned while he pulled on his jeans. She wanted to glare at him, but she was a bit entranced by the way he was leaned over. The jeans slipped over his rump and she was at a loss for words; the boxers did not hide the well defined muscles there as they flexed in response to his actions. He turned around and raised a brow, wondering what she was still doing in her pj’s.

“Go get dressed! Time's a wasting!” He quickly walked to her, grabbed one of her arms and pulled her out the door. She let herself get dragged about. This was highly unusual for her to be so limp, so easily manipulated, but his charisma was making it hard for her to put two thoughts together coherently. The constant invasion of her personal space was infuriating to say the least, but the second he focused those blue eyes on her, all reason flew out the window.

She had to get control back! This Hinata in the driver seat was unfit and she struggled to summon her persona, but she was distracted by the warmth of his fingers imbedding itself on her flesh and the musical timbre of his voice as he drabbled on about food, kitchen appliances and the shopping he was about to do.

“Ok, you've got ten minutes to get dressed and prettied up to sex my car.” He winked at her before he shoved her inside her bedroom ungracefully and shut the door behind her. She was beet red.

‘Sex his car?’ she mentally repeated as she stared ahead of herself in complete disbelief.

She heard a strange chime of music from the other side of the door. It was followed shortly after by the distinct sound of flesh slapping against flesh and a soft thump as he leaned against the hard wood threshold. She walked to her closet and felt the disbelief turn into slight anger.

Scratch that, she was furious. Never in her life had she been so… so… manhandled.

* * *

Naruto stared at his phone; he’d forgotten all about Sakura and slapped his forehead. He heard a distinct muffled growl from Hinata’s room and he pondered if he’d gone a little too far with her. 'But she had just been standing there!' he defended to himself. He was getting tired of waiting for her to decide what to do next.

He read the text his ex-lover sent him and raised a brow, wondering why she was texting him instead of her usual phone call to drag him out of a good night sleep.

He dialled her number, leaned against door to Hinata’s room and waited for the familiar sound of the ring.

“Why are you sending me texts?” he piped up before she had the chance to say hello.

“I thought your ringer might be on and it might disturb your host,” she hissed, a bit embarrassed at her excuse.

“What?” She could hear the amused tone in his question, but she ignored it.

“How are things going there? Are you all settled in?” she pried.

“It’s going well, although Hinata’s a bit upset with how I changed the room I’m staying in.” Sakura’s laugh escaped the curve of his ear as he tilted his head towards the door, listening for Hinata inside the room.

“What are you doing to the poor woman? Don’t get me fired!” she jokingly warned. He grinned as he shifted his weight.

“No worries. I’m taking her out right now.”

“What? Why?” Sakura puzzled, “It’s too late for romance, Naruto.”

“Oh for…” he started. Why did everyone think he was out to get laid? “I’m introducing Hinata to the Art of Ramen. She just doesn’t have anything whatsoever to cook with.” He grumbled, which extracted another deep belly laugh from Sakura; he even heard a slight snort.

“I knew it! You’re so predictable.” She snorted again. He was a bit miffed that she figured out his plans, but chose to focus on the awkward pig sound she made.

“Did you just snort?” he laughed as she denied it.

“A woman does not snort, it’s undignified,” she huffed. He laughed even harder.

“You’re the last person to be deemed ‘dignified’, Sakura.” He tried to hold his laugh in check, but her continued denial only made it worst. The door behind him opened suddenly without warning. He lost his footing and followed the momentum. Sakura heard some strangled sounds and a crash. She sat up in bed and pressed the phone against her ear, trying to figure out what was happening.

“Are you ok?” she asked. A grunt was her answer.

Hinata side-stepped out of the way and watched the blond blur fall at her feet. She blinked as he rolled over and sighed. This could have gone a lot smoother.

“Hinata’s ready to go, I’ll call you when I get back.”

“Ok, have fun!” he heard Sakura exclaim before he flipped the phone shut. She glared at him and he smiled sheepishly. He knew he’d crossed the line with her.

* * *

Naruto shook off a chill as he entered his car. He leaned over and popped the lock on the passenger side to let Hinata in; she pulled the door open and settled in. She was still silent and he felt a little bit awkward.

“I’m sorry,” he offered. She glanced at him while putting the buckle in its holder. She held a contemplative look, but said nothing. She folded her hands on her lap and stared ahead, not yet ready to forgive him. He sighed and put the key in the ignition, twisted the engine to life and pressed the gas, letting it purr a moment longer.

He put on his classics mixed CD, flicked through until ‘Yesterday’ filled the cab, put the volume on low and pulled out of the parking spot. Hinata watched the stars twinkle in the darkness. The cold air made the night seem crisper and clearer than usual. She sunk into the leather seat and, without realising it, let herself be carried by the notes of the song. She could hear her mother’s voice humming along the music.

‘She used to sing this.’ She could see it clearly in her memories; her mother humming while she brushed her daughter’s hair. She could see her clearly in the mirror’s reflection, smiling at Hinata while she counted the strokes. She closed her eyes, fighting a tear that threaten to come out.

Naruto watched her in the mirror. She closed her eyes and calmness took over her as she sunk into the seat. The pale yellow flashing of the street lights caressed her smooth surface of her face, the flickering of emotion was barely there but he could see it. He wanted to look away; this was something private. She was remembering something.

They rode in silence as the song played, but the moment of peace was broken when ‘Love Shack’ broke her out of the trance. She stared at the player a little confused and Naruto belted along with the lyrics, extracting a smile from the heiress. She let out a giggle when he let out a high pitch “Woo!” with the girls on the track. His fingers drummed on the steering wheel and his head bopped left to right to the beat. She got easily swept away in his good mood despite her struggle to summon the heiress.

“Where are we headed?” she finally asked. He glanced at her, his lips still moved to the lyrics as he thought on her question.

“We’re going to my favourite place.” He evaded her question, but answered it at the same time. She frowned and looked out the window as the song ended and flicked to ‘Hotel California’. His off key signing did not end with the B-52’s and she couldn’t decide whether she should laugh or cringe.

He took an exit off the highway and slowed down; she listened to the lyrics and wondered why it was only old songs on the CD. He seemed a little bit too hyper to listen to this kind of music.

“Why is it only classics?” she asked. He turned his head towards her a second while his eyes remained on the road, he turned a corner onto a smaller road and pressed on the gas once more.

“My god-father used to listen to these all the time,” he began to explain. She made an ‘O’ with her mouth. “He was a big fan of the music - always said that this was the best thing that inspired him to be what he was.” He left out the exotic writer part. That was Naruto’s secret shame from his upbringing.

“I listen to it now in remembrance of the old pervert,” he absentmindedly added as he checked his mirror before turning to the right, into another alleyway.

“Pervert?” she asked, puzzled. Naruto blinked and laughed. ‘So much for being discreet about my past shame.’

“Yeah, he was a smut writer, or ‘Erotica’ as he put it. Frankly there’s not a big difference in what he wrote and porn. Had no shame to be honest. His wife had a love hate relationship with his writings.” He smiled sheepishly. Hinata raised a brow in curiosity.

“Who is he?” She saw his face falter a moment and he let out a small sigh that was barely audible.

“His name was Jiraiya. He passed away several years ago.” The sadness in his voice was hard to miss. She looked at her hands, suddenly feeling ashamed that she’d asked such a personal question, but the name shook a memory loose in her head.

‘Are you Naruto’s little girlfriend?’ A man with long white hair smiled at her, his eyes mischievously twinkled as he cornered her and Naruto after their failed martial arts competition. Naruto fisted his hands before crossing them and his boyish voice sputtered out incomprehensible words as she turned bright red.

‘You perverted old man! She’s not my g-g-girlfriend!’

She smiled and looked up towards the boy turned man next to her. “I think I remember him,” she whispered. Naruto glanced her way and gave her a barely there smile. “He seemed quite the character from what I can recall.” She added, he didn’t miss the tone of amusement lacing her words.

“Yeah?” she nodded as he looked to the road again. “He was something alright. I miss him.”

“How did he pass away?” she asked, her mind tried to recall all the details of the important person Naruto was speaking about. She remembered he had two red tattoos on his face, lined from the eyes to the jaw bone. She found that detail odd.

“He was killed by one of his old students.” He avoided looking at her, allowing them both time to recover from the awkward conversation. He could see the Japanese store in the distance, the light was still on as he expected. The owner wasn’t one to close at all since his daughter was the night shift employee.

“It was a big misunderstanding, at the time, on his death. Nagato felt abandoned and such; big mess.” He surmised. He didn’t really want to get into the details. The man had killed himself several days after while waiting for trial and it had all been swept under the rug by the lawyers. Tsunade had been devastated.

He focused on parking the car, trying to push away the memory. He pulled out his keys from the ignition and paused a moment. Hinata was still looking at him and he smiled before reaching for the door handle, pushing it open. She mimicked his actions and stepped out of the car.

“Ichiraku’s Ramen?” she read the words in Japanese on the store’s tacky illuminated sign. Naruto puffed up his chest in pride.

“The best damned ramen ever,” he called out. She rolled her eyes.

* * *

Kiba narrowed his eyes at the monitor as the light flickered and the hard drive kicked into overdrive. It had turned on out of the blue and he was a bit perturbed. He didn’t normally spend nights in the office this time of the week or in Naruto’s for that matter, but he liked the windows. He watched as a program opened all the design files and began to flicker through the newer designs Sai had implemented for the Hyuuga contract and his eyes widen as understanding descended on him.

“Fuck!” he ran from the office and headed out to the server room, running faster than imaginable. The desktop showed someone downloading the latest plans. Someone was hacking into the business and stealing Naruto’s work.

He curbed the corner at the end of the hall, his feet were barely touching the ground as he zoned in on the target. He flung the door open and ran to the main server line.

“Naruto’s going to fucking kill me.” He muttered as he broke the glass on the Fire Axe casing with his elbow and grabbed the tool with both hands. He grabbed the gloves and threw them on as an afterthought and prayed he wasn’t too late as the axe descended on the main server line and severed it. The room went dead and he sighed, wondering how much data had been stolen.

He threw the axe away from him and looked at the damage before he reached for his cell phone and dialled a number from memory while wondering who would want anything of Naruto’s.

“Yeah?” the voice at the other end sounded sleepy, but Kiba knew better; this man always sounded sleepy.

“Shikamaru, I need your help with something.” There was a pause at the end of the line.

“Kiba?”

“Yeah, sorry for calling so late. Someone just hacked our network and I know you’re the man who can figure this shit out. You’ve got brains bigger than Sasuke’s ego.” The other man laughed at the comparison.

“Well, with flattery like that, how can I say no?”

Kiba grinned. “Before this crap happened, Naruto said he was fine with you looking at things finally as long as you’re just a friend looking into things.” He paused a moment, trying to figure out how to word it so he could convince his friend to come post haste.

“Now that we’ve been hacked, I’m sure he’d be dragging you over here personally if he was here. I’ll just have to figure out how to pay you without arousing suspicion from our contracted IT guys.”

“Well, I don’t mind. It’s on the house if this leads to me snatching Rasengan Landscape as a client.” Shikamaru smirked. “Let me grab my laptop and I’ll head over there. Did you disconnect the server?” he asked. There was a pause and an uncomfortable chuckle.

“Does taking an axe to the main server line count?”

Shikamaru covered his eyes with his hand and groaned. “For fuck’s sake, Kiba. You’re a moron.”

Kiba was distracted momentarily by the sparks of electricity vomited by the severed server line as it twitched, screeching in protest at its premature death. Kiba had to agree with his friend.

* * *

Ayame turned towards the sound of the doors sliding open; she began her usual greeting when she saw a familiar mop of yellow hair enter and raise a hand to wave at her. She grinned and motioned the same greeting to her most infamous customer.

“Why, isn’t this a rare occasion?” she squawked out, Naruto snorted at her question.

“Don’t be silly, I’m in here practically every day.” He tugged on Hinata’s sleeve as she stood behind him, a bit taken aback at the simplicity of the store. She followed the tug as her blonde friend chirped and babbled to the shop keeper.

“What brings you in here at this late hour?” Ayame’s twinkled with the obvious answer, but she liked playing this game.

“Oh, well you know. I want a hamburger and some fries.” He grinned as she laughed. “Actually, I’m here to introduce this poor virgin to ramen.” He pointed at the girl behind him. Ayame smiled at Hinata and glanced at Naruto, her lips never faltering.

“Ramen virgin?” she puzzled. “Is there such a thing considering she’s in your company?” she smirked. Naruto shook his head dramatically and pointed at Hinata with a grandeur motion that would have shamed Shakespeare.

“Yes, this poor soul has never tasted the wonders of Miso Ramen, so I’m going to make some for her.” The shop keeper cringed and Naruto took offense to the reaction.

“You’re going to make some?” she said with disbelief, “Naruto, you can’t make yourself a bowl of cereal, let alone something as complicated as ramen,” she teased. He huffed and ignored her as he disappeared down an aisle and took one of the store baskets with him. Hinata watched the top of his head as he walked down the aisle, muttering to himself.

“Is he really going to cook you ramen?” Hinata was brought out of her reverie by the question. Ayame was watching her carefully, her expression amused.

“I guess so. He was quite adamant on introducing me to the dish.” She simply stated. Ayame was a bit surprised by the girl’s proper tone; it made her want to bow to her like a servant.

“He’s not that good of a cook,” she warned the indigo haired girl, but she was met with a blank eyed stare which unsettled her.
“Where’s the prepared broth soup?” he barked at the shop keeper. She rolled her eyes and walked around the desk she was seated behind.

“Sorry miss, I’ll be right back.” She gave a small bow before skipping towards her favourite customer.

“Dumb ass, it’s the same spot it’s always in,” the girl’s voice floated down the aisle and Hinata raised a brow at the familiarity between the two.

“I’m not a dumb ass!” he retorted before the top of his head moved further away down the aisle. Hinata had trouble keeping her lips from smiling as they argued back and forth.

“Take this, it’s better than that kind,” she suggested, but he refused by adding “I like the chicken base from this company!” Hinata heard the shop keeper sigh before the quiet hush of the door slipping open reached her ears. Hinata turned towards the entrance and eyed the man who walked in.

He glanced at her, nodded in acknowledgement and quietly made his way past her. She was struck by the sense of nobility he etched in his step; his dark hair was unusual and his pale skin screamed of high stature. He silently made his way down the opposite end from where the shop keeper and Naruto were arguing, plucked up a couple bags of onigri, walked back towards Hinata, and dug out money from his pocket.

He dropped the correct change on the counter and walked back out before Naruto’s voice filtered through his mind. The man paused a moment at the entrance and glanced over his shoulder, his onyx eyes narrowed in thought, before he continued on his route. The heiress frowned as the doors closed again.

“You have everything?” Ayame asked him as she rounded the corner. She spied Hinata looking confused and noticed money on the counter.

“Oh. I missed my midnight visitor.” She grinned as she plucked the money from the counter and rang up the four bags of onigri he usually bought every couple of days.

“He’s a regular here?” she asked. Naruto knitted his brow in confusion, wondering what they could possibly be talking about.

“Yes, he always buys the same thing.” She glanced over to Naruto and sighed. “I feel sorry for you,” she said with sympathy. Hinata looked at her guest and wondered why he needed so much for a simple bowl of soup.

“You’re just jealous I’m cooking for Hinata,” he mumbled, putting all the items on the counter. Ayame laughed and shook her head.

“My dear, if you’re not dead after eating Naruto’s Ramen, come back for my father’s. He cooks it during the day and it’s to die for.” She winked at the girl and ignored the blonde’s objections.

“Your father taught me how to make this! Don’t belittle my skill!” he whined.
Hinata was growing seriously worried as Naruto glared at the laughing Ayame.

* * *

Shikamaru arrived nearly thirty minutes after the attempted hacking; carrying a laptop bag and what Kiba estimated was several hundred feet of cable over his shoulder. He had a lot of work on his hands considering his idiot friend had hacked the server line clean through to stop the download. He stared at the wires and muttered at how troublesome this was going to be.

“Did you really have to use an axe?” he asked rhetorically as he dropped his burdens and moved over to inspect the damage closer.

“I kinda reacted without thinking.” He laughed nervously as his old friend glared back at him.

Upon closer examination, he found that the broken sections only connected to other devices in the room; not into the wall as he’d feared. With a relieved sigh, Shikamaru quickly replaced the broken wires with the equipment he’d brought and took the servers offline before connecting the wires back into it to prevent any more downloads. He connected his laptop to the console port and began to run diagnostics. The grimace on his face told Kiba one important fact: this could take a long time.

“Did you call Naruto yet?” he asked as he glanced over at his company. Kiba shrugged, aware that he should’ve, but wasn’t in the mood to deal with Naruto’s irate screaming about destroying the servers. Especially right after he’d gotten his boss to cave on the issue and give him full reign on the company.

“Once you figure out what’s going on, I will.” Shikamaru rolled his eyes and typed furiously, trying to access the logs of the server.

* * *

Naruto grabbed the bags out of the car and followed behind Hinata while she unlocked the door to her home. He struggled momentarily with the heap of bags, but refused to lose the battle. She was hard pressed not to laugh as she watched him tip left to right climbing the stairs as he grumbled.

“Why do you need stairs? You should get rid of them and get an elevator.”

“I’m rather fond of the path,” she replied while opening the door for him. “Plus I’m not sure why you need this much. It’s just soup,” she stated. Naruto peeked around the bags and scowled at her.

“This is not ‘just soup’, and there’s nothing simple about it. You’re lucky I’m not making the base or noodles from scratch. We’d be at this for hours.” She didn’t believe him. They entered her home and made their way to the kitchen once more.

“Put your hand on mine and guide me, I can’t see anything with all these packages,” he said without concern. He didn’t realise that she stared at him as though he requested something unreasonable. He peered around again since she didn’t move and raised a brow.

“Ok, never mind,” he said when she didn’t reply. He started to move ahead, praying that he didn’t break anything, but was stopped mid-thought when he felt her hand brush his. There was no spark this time; the one that seemed to harass them when they touched. He mentally took note that she didn’t have any carpets so, of course, it wouldn’t affect them here.

She turned away from him before he had the chance to peek around the packages again. A light blush dusted her cheeks as she guided him to their destination. He hid a smile as he noticed the small shake in her hand against his.

“This way,” she tried to sound confident but it came out as a whisper. She berated herself again on her weird reactions to the man and tried to gain control of the heat on her cheeks to no avail.

They reached the kitchen and she had yet to control her heart beat. Naruto walked around her, unconcerned with her secret battle between the Heiress and this emerging Hinata. She watched him place the bags in a strange order on the counter and he motioned for her to come close.

“First, let’s get all the ingredients ready.” He pulled out two large knives and the chopping block. “You take care of chopping the shitake mushrooms and the green onion; mince the garlic cloves and do some damage with the dried chilli peppers.” He handed her each item as she grabbed an apron. He absent-mindedly watched her as she pulled her lose hair into a top bun and set herself to work. She caught him staring as she reached for the mushrooms and she blushed lightly when he grinned.

“I’ll get the soup and base ready,” he finally said as he pulled out a pot and unwrapped the new skillet. He poured a large amount of water in the pot and added the chicken broth. She watched as he chopped fresh ginger, bok choy, Chinese cabbage and spring onion tops expertly. So far she was impressed.

“How often do you make ramen?” She set aside the first set of ingredients she was charged with and moved on to the next as he dumped the heap he’d prepared into the stock.

“Uh. Not often. I’d rather buy it from Ichiraku when he makes it.” He measured the salt and added it to the boiling water.

“And why is that?”

“I’m lazy. I hate waiting for ramen,” he said simply. She had to press down the urge to laugh; he seemed far from lazy considering the line of work he was in. The smell of the soup was beginning to fill the kitchen and she had to admit it made her mouth water a little.

He grabbed the cooking and sesame oils and turned on the skillet. Poured in a small amount of each and grabbed the minced garlic she’d just finished. As the garlic fried slowly, he added the miso paste and soya sauce. He hummed an unknown tune as he threw in a bit of vegetable oil and eyed her progress on the chilli peppers. She took that as a hint that they would be needed next.

He grabbed what she had finished and poured it in, flicking the items quickly and taking it off the heat. She watched him dump the noodles in the now boiling water and taste the soup in a separate pot. Once the egg timer rang, he yanked the hot noodles off the stove and strained them from the water.

“Slice the pork very thinly and fry them,” he ordered as she idly stood there. She nodded and thinned the pork, threw them in a fresh hot pan and let them fry for a few seconds before removing the skillet from the flames. He grinned as he poured the base into two large bowls and then slowly added the soup base before mixing the two. He grabbed the noodles and added the toppings.

“Do you want Tofu or bean sprouts?” he asked her. She pointed at the white heap and he nodded, choosing the sprouts for himself. The watake went in last and he grinned at her, winking before reaching inside the bag from the store.

“And last but not least,” he quickly pulled out two sets of disposable wooden chop sticks and motioned at Hinata to sit down at the Island. She complied and grabbed one of the chop sticks offered by him.

“Let’s eat!” he exclaimed. His stomach growled in response, but he ignored it and took the first bite.
To Hinata’s amazement, it was delicious. Naruto grinned when he heard her quiet, yet satisfied, moan as she slurped the noodles.

* * *

It was four in the morning before he returned to his room. The night was saying good bye to the sky as he contemplated what to do. He wasn’t sleepy yet and he eyed his graph table.

‘I could start a draft,’ he thought but he didn’t really want to. His mind wandered across the hall to his host, sleeping in her bed. She had managed to not get upset with his strange behaviour most of the night and tagged along as he made unreasonable demands and forced her to eat a dish she’d never eaten before.

‘She’s a trooper.’ He grinned. He sat down at the edge of the bed and grabbed the phone out of his jean pocket before stripping them off. He sent Sakura a text, knowing full well she’d be asleep by now, but he’d promised to let her know how things had gone.

‘Converted robot to Naruto Ramen Church, bible scripture to be added in celebration.’ He hit send and dropped the phone next to him. He laid down and let his thoughts wander over the delicate features of this intriguing woman. He listened for any movement across the hallway, but it was dead silent.

Was he falling for her? He wasn’t sure. She was still so tightly wound around her memory loss that she was exuding two personas and he couldn’t quite decide if he was falling for the challenge or if he was falling for her. Before he could come up with an answer to satisfy him, his phone rang. He frowned, wondering who could possibly be calling him this early in the morning.

Kiba’s number flashed and he flipped the phone open, a little concerned as to why he would call.

“Yeah?”

“Naruto, we got a major problem.”

* * *

Leave a review if you want! Hope this wasn’t boring XD –

References:
The Beatles - Yesterday
The B-52's - Love Shack
The Eagles - Hotel California

The delicious miso ramen recipe I used (and use at home) is located here: http : / / www. geocities. com / Tokyo / Temple / 9151 / ramen . html – remove the spaces to get to the link :P FF hates urls.

Answers to chapter 4 puns:

Victory
mission
flawless logic
slugs
medicine
cherries
spiraling
“She was a little weird... a little dark”
manga
Sakura-chan
Team Seven
tomatoes
Naruto saving the tomato
life-long dream
Kiba pawing stuff
old fake grin
Kiba constantly twirling in the chair (should remind you of his tornado like move!)
Naruto’s obsession with THE CHAIR (He’s the big boss )
orange purple sky (hee hee NaruHina colours!)
orange car
kyuubi
Every Breath You Take by The Police is the ultimate Hinata stalker song
purple pj’s
black shirt with the trademark Konoha whirlpool
Hinata nearly falling
the sun / darkness references
water references in general throughout the fic
ramen

How many did you catch out of this?! Dun lie!