Title: Winter and Mittens
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance/Fluff
Summary: Naruto shows Hinata a new way to keep warm.

The snow welcomed them home.
Naruto and Hinata were walking home in comfortable silence. They were both pretty tired from the lengthy mission they just completed. Nothing too difficult, a couple bandits here and there but Hinata and Naruto managed to make it out alive and deliver the message successfully. The silence of their hometown was reassuring more than anything.

Hinata was exhausted to say the least, and she hadn't come prepared for the cold weather. She hated snow. The moonlight merely made her even more ready for bed. The Cloud Village wasn't snowing and none of the small towns they'd come across showed any sign of cold weather. Konoha happened to be the sunniest of places, who knew it would be the first to snow.
A small grunt interrupted her reverie.

She looked over to find the blonde holding out his tongue in midair. She furrowed her brows, looking at him with only admiration at his carefree attitude. He must have felt her gaze on him, because he looked at her out of the corner of his eye without moving his tongue.

"What?" He managed to say with a stiff tongue, he stopped walking. Hinata let out a timid giggle, her shyness had been lost while they were on their mission but now that it was completed and their life wasn't threatened anymore, she found herself crawling back into her shell slowly. "What are you d-doing?" She asked, standing in front of him.

"Eating snowflakes." He simply explained, stopping to flash Hinata a smile. No matter how icy cold Hinata could've been on the outside, Naruto was the only person could warm her heart enough to make it melt. "I-I see..." She continued to laugh quietly. "Try it!" He suggested, elbowing her playfully.

The heiress saw no harm in attempting, she let out her tongue into the cold winter air and after a few adjustments in positions, she felt the embrace of a snowflake melting on the tip of her tongue. "I got one!" She exclaimed. Naruto chuckled, "I bet you I can catch more than you!"

"I'm n-not so sure..." She teased him, letting her tongue indicate the start of a competition. Naruto simply smirked, beginning to walk again. He mimicked her and soon they were walking side by side, slowly moving their heads to lure snowflakes onto their tongues.

Hinata found herself pausing to peep at Naruto. He wore his usual attire, an orange suit and matching pants. Both of which had worn out, and had multiple cuts and holes in them because of the brawls they encountered. Hinata had them as well but not as severe as him. Despite it, he hadn't complained at all. He had to of been more cold than her, she could tell by the bright rosy tint in his cheeks. She suddenly felt really guilty for whining to herself about the cold, while Naruto was probably colder than her this whole time.

Naruto caught her gaze once again, squinting at her. She felt her face warm, and it wasn't because of the lack of a coat this time. "How many did you catch? No cheating, I saw you counting mine." He narrowed his eyes at her. She felt herself shrink before his eyes, they were so big and enchanting.

"T-Two." She confessed, hiding her eyes behind her bangs. "Alright, I win!" He laughed and took off one of his mittens to give Hinata a high-five. She happily clapped her hand onto his. She couldn't help but hold it there for a few seconds as she felt the warmth from his palm.

"Oh man, your hands are so cold, Hinata." He said with concern, "Do you want my mittens?"
"No, n-no! It's fine...I don't want your hands to be cold." She reassured him with a small smile. Unconvinced, Naruto took off his mittens and handed them to her.
She hesitated, peering up into his eyes, "What a-about you, Naruto-kun?"
"I'll be okay, really." He smiled. Hinata took the mittens reluctantly, feeling even more guilty. He had holes all over his entire suit and he still lent her his mittens.

Hinata was grateful for the mittens, but she couldn't help but notice Naruto's hands get pinker and pinker as they strolled in silence. He spoke about how he enjoyed the winter, and expressed his excitement for the next couple weeks of snow. Hinata listened intently, but studied his hands restlessly.

Naruto rubbed his hands together often as he spoke. But Hinata couldn't take it anymore, she took off the mittens and offered them back. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. B-But I feel bad, I d-don't want you to b-be cold..." She explained earnestly, feeling her face flush with every word. Once she was done stumbling over her words, she plucked up the courage to peer into his eyes.

She was surprised to find him smirking. She felt herself shrink even more under his warm gaze. He thinks I'm an idiot. "I have an idea." He took one mitten put it on one of his hands and put one mitten on Hinata's hand. She was skeptical, now both of them only had one warm hand. "It's better t-than two cold hands, I suppose..." She commented.

Naruto hesitated but quickly took Hinata's bare hand with a firm but gentle grasp.

Her heart skipped a beat and all the butterflies that inhabited her stomach flew up to her head.
"We can be...each other's mitten, can't we?" He said timidly, giving her a sheepish grin. For the first time, Hinata caught the possibility that Naruto was perhaps...nervous.

"Yes." She smiled at him, blushing so hard she could almost feel steam blowing out of her ears. Her hand felt so small compared to his. They were rough, and had several calluses. Regardless, his touch was so gentle. It was only evidence that he was a hardworking man, a strongwilled and couragous person that Hinata was so in love with.

She tightened her grip on them, she wanted so bad to comfort him, to kiss all his scars away.

Naruto tightened his grip on Hinata's small hand as well. Surprisingly, his idea worked. In fact, the hand that was enveloped in Naruto's palm was warmer than the one with the mitten.

With every step they took, the closer their bodies touched. Hinata's arm was touching his, it was surprisingly comfortable. Not awkward, not forced, just...natural. Naruto resumed to gush about winter and everything he wanted to do before all the snow was gone.

Hinata listened intently, steadily falling more and more in love with him. She gazed at him while he spoke, always so sure of himself and so cheerful. He caught her looking at him yet another time. He always does that! She shyly dropped her gaze, but her blushing made her seem even more suspicious.
"Don't think you're off the hook, I'll be asking for a rematch. Best two out of three matches." He teased, elbowing her again. She smiled, nodding.

She only had the snow to thank for a new closeness to Naruto. Maybe winter wasn't so bad.