When Naruto finally decided to appr

When Naruto finally decided to approach her, he acted like his normal, loud self and greeted her with that goofy grin of his that never failed him. And every time he did, she never failed to become the usual nervous wreck. Initially, he had thought this was due to his imposing presence as Hokage, so he reminded her that she was his friend—since the academy, actually—therefore, there was no need for her to be so tense, or for formalities.

Naruto never did get used to formalities, after all. Hokage etiquette practically went out the window once he came to power, and he made it a point to have everyone call him by his first name. The reality was, however, people had no trouble doing that, as it still shocked many that he had become the leader of their village, especially at such a young age. Many simply called him Naruto because they were childhood friends, or his senior at one point or another, and others because regardless of his strength and him proving himself worthy of the title, were too proud to give him the deserved respect. The only person who deferred from calling him by his name was Hinata. With her, it was always Hokage-sama, and when he berated her for it, the lowest she was willing to go in the respect scale was Naruto-sama, never again Naruto-kun. That is, of course, until they started dating. But even then, at the beginning Hinata had a terrible time readjusting to being personal.

Surprisingly, after talking with Sakura at the hospital, Naruto had realized he was incredibly hungry and decided to head to Ichiraku’s. On the same token, Hinata had managed to find some free time from her meeting with the Hyuuga elders who seemed to be seasoned naggers and experts at bickering amongst themselves every time they were summoned. She knew that it was a safe bet that several times throughout the day the Hokage would visit the well-known ramen stand, so it was okay to assume he’d be there. What she hadn’t counted on was being caught peeping by Naruto himself.

“Hey, Hinata-chan! Wha’cha doin’?”

“Eep!” Immediately she started trembling, and the paleness of her cheeks turned into a bright crimson.

She turned slowly to face her childhood crush and prayed his question was just a form of greeting.

“H-… hel- hello, Ho-ho-ho… Hokage-sama…” God, how she wished she would stop stuttering once and for all!