AS 'February 14th'

The Orange Fox And The Lioness

It was a snowy February morning, as the white light from the sun attempted to break the clouds. Ignoring the signal of awaking from the world, a raven-haired girl shifted her body in queen-sized bed in order to snuggle against her partner. When she felt nothing, the girl's eyes opened as her mind instantly woke up. "Naruto?" She called out, sleepily. Her boyfriend was not beside her—which should have been obvious the second she didn't hear his snoring—nor in the bathroom. She sat up, when she suddenly heard a clanking coming from the direction of the kitchen.

Hinata got out of bed, being sure to make it as she exited (as much as she loved that boy he wasn't the cleanest person when it comes to housing). Not bothering to check her hair in the mirror she left their bedroom and headed down the hall of their apartment. She found her blond haired companion cooking, the counters covering in supplies as he sporadically made breakfast.

Resting a hand on her cheek, elbow in her opposite hand, she gave a small smile and a shake of her head. It would be so much easier to watch the carnage if he had copies of himself to help clean up behind him. She entered the room and came up behind him, giving a quick hug around the waist. "Naruto, what are you doing exactly?"

He was completely focused on stir his batter, blinking when her voice had finally reached his ears. The blond gave a wide grin that she couldn't see as she rested her head on his back. "Makin' breakfast! You do it all the time, so I thought it would be nice if I gave it a try. Nobody ever told me cooking was so hard!"

Despite how happy and proud of himself he sounded, Hinata's heart still pinged with pain. The love of her life had grown up alone really, going from one foster family to another. Lucky enough all the families he had stayed with all lived within distance the K-12 school that they had both attended when they had been younger.

It wasn't until he had been adopted by his childhood friend's family, Sasuke Uchiha, that he really had anyone truly special in his life….well except for her. She had always had feelings for him and now they had been together for several years. In the years that he had been with those families, he had to steal food from shops in order to survive, living off the streets as a thief. So it was rare that Naruto cooked (except for ramen. Man, could he make him some ramen!).

That and the kitchen would be in the condition it was now: a complete and utter mess. Though Hinata wasn't worried about that, as she let went to the table and let him finish his cooking. She was too curious as to why exactly he was cooking for her. "What could he possibly be up to?" The purpled haired woman could only watch her boyfriend as he rampage around the kitchen, stirring one thing, flipping another, and have to pull out the fire extinguisher once or twice.  Anything he did was always considered a fiasco, but he apparently had the devil's luck, since always ended out extremely well.

She held a smile on her face, sitting herself up when he saw him turn. He carefully cared a tray of food over to the table. He had truly gone all out with the meal: bacon, toast, sunny side eggs, and his famous chocolate pancakes. Naruto went to go get her some orange juice, as Hinata eyes surveyed the meal before. "Naruto, why are the pancakes shaped like hearts?" It clicked as she suddenly looked at the closest digital clocks and saw the date on display. Febuary 14th. Valentine's Day!

She didn't say anything, but gave a little gasp at the realization. Hinata couldn't believe she could forget! She was talking to Sakura and Ino about it just yesterday! Taking a deep breath in order to recompose herself, she picked up her fork to begin eating—only to instantly drop it after reading the message spelled out in whip cream on top of the pancakes.

She couldn't bring herself to say something as the words "Will you marry me?" looped in her mind.  "So, I hope you say yes, because honestly, I never want to work as Sasuke's assistant ever again." A voice from behind her said, the clinking of a glass hitting the table. Naruto had come from behind her, smiling as he rested his head on her right shoulder. She was shocked for sure, the tiny tears of joy lingering on the edges of her eyes telling him all he needed to know.