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The sun mightily raged from the sky, and everything Naruto could do was to walk around the streets of Konoha with his head hung low.
"This heat is making me crazy," he muttered from under his breath, but he kept on walking. He needed to go to the Hokage Tower to meet up with Team 7, and as much as he wanted to simply run around or leap on the roofs, the sun beat him down.
He raised his head sweltering with beads of sweat. He pushed the bottom of his forehead protector upwards, his black sleeves wiping the oozing sweat from his temples. Now that he was only a few steps away from the Hokage Tower's entrance, he readied himself for a run.
"Okay, here I go—" Just when he was about to step forward, he noticed somebody standing in front of the gates—it was a lady he had never seen before.
Naruto straightened his back while watching how the locks of her dark purple hair lazily hovered a few inches above the small of her back, after she had tied it into a single ponytail. With her back facing him, Naruto could not decipher who she was, but he felt a familiar tug in his gut after glimpsing at the striped, sleeveless lavender top that she donned. Curiosity still unsated, he kept on watching as she shifted her weight from one foot to another, and her slender but well-toned legs were not left unnoticed by his wondering eyes; she also lifted a hand and fanned at her cheeks, and she sighed.
He held back his breath, and it was as if the sun was radiating directly on his back. A trail of sweat trickled on his spine. Who's this nee-san? He asked himself.
To his surprise, he got his answer immediately.
"Oi, Hinata!!" Kiba came running forward, Akamaru's large body bounding beside him. "Eh? Naruto?"
"Eh? N-Naruto-kun??"
H-Hinata? His eyebrows knit together, and just when he was thinking that it was impossible — she always wore a hoodie! — the lady standing a few feet in front of him turned, her long, tied hair arching gracefully in a way that Naruto, for the life of him, could not comprehend. His lips slowly parted while his eyes widened, mesmerized by the scene in front of him.
Also, there was no mistaking that soft voice that seemed to melt with the heat, and her gentle, white eyes, which were staring back at him in equal surprise.
Hinata cringed and put her hands in front of her, and her cheeks were deeply flushed red, and Kiba knew that it had nothing to do with the heat by the sun.
Kiba smirked and placed his hands in his pockets, as Shino finally made his way beside him. "Heeh, it's so hot in here! Right, Naruto?"
Naruto pursed his lips, gulped, and blinked, gave Hinata a brief look, then gradually turned to Kiba. "Y-Yeah, somehow it's really unreasonably hot!" He grumbled while scratching his cheek.
"You know why?" Kiba grinned, and before he could continue, Hinata immediately piped in, knowing what her teammate was up to.
"E-Everyone! Aren't we going inside the office?" She asked, her voice a little bit louder. Caught by her question, Naruto glanced back at her, and her shoulders hitched. She flashed an embarrassed smile, and added, "Let's go, it's really hot here!" With that, she began weaving her way towards the door.
Kiba snortled, and he looked at Naruto mischievously. "What's so funny?" Naruto pouted at him while he also motioned forward, suspicious whatever the dog-man might be thinking.
"Nothing," Kiba let his laughter die in his throat. "It's really hot, right?"
Naruto huffed. "That's what I've been saying! Stupid Kiba."
When he looked in front of him - at Hinata - he could not help but notice how the short strands of hair stuck out from her nape, as well as the sweat rolling from the skin of her neck.
It's really hot...
He swiped away the sweat breaking out from his forehead, and he kept on doing it even if they were already inside the well-ventilated office.