He was so surprised that he was speechless.

Yet, he knew very well that he'd offered one of his flat keys to his girlfriend a few days after they came back from the moon mission. However, never did he think she would've used it to wait for him while cooking.

It's at this moment that the strange feeling spread through his whole body, becoming identifiable. He'd felt it when he met his parents' chakra and when Iruka waited for him at his home with dinner ready. And he swore to himself to never forget this serenity.

This was it, he was home.

"Hinata" he murmured. "I'm home."

Tears were about to fall on her and on his cheeks, still cold from the low temperatures from outside, but he squeezed a little bit more Hinata against his chest because he missed all of this a lot.

Once his loneliness forgotten, he slowly put her down on the floorboard, but kept one of her hands in his, never letting go of her with his eyes. He was grinning as she was shyly smiling. Still, she was the first one to speak.

"You know, Naruto-kun, I missed you very much." She blushed, but was still looking at him with her caring eyes. That's why it was easier for Hinata to talk about her feelings.

Wanting to ease her, he leaned down and he kissed her perfect lips. "Me too, Hinata... I really missed you." He answered with a blush.

They kept smiling at each other while they now both had tears in their eyes.

But Hinata suddenly realised, "What do you want to do? Maybe you're hungry? Or do you prefer to take a shower before eating? Or maybe you want to lie down?" She was speaking fast.

It made Naruto understand that she was slowly getting uncomfortable with his eyes on her again. Hinata maybe knew a lot about her feelings and her boyfriend's feelings, she was still trying to fight her shyness.

"Let me help you with your bag."

Naruto didn't know what to do. He didn't want to give her more work. She had already cooked dinner for him. But, just by looking at her, he understood it was making Hinata happy. Her lavender eyes were shining and her smile was warm.

Does she really want to take care of my staff? Naruto asked himself.

Tentatively, he gave her his bag and Hinata regained her self-confidence. She took his bag and pressed it against her chest before a Naruto with a pounding heart.

He oh so wanted to touch her. To touch her face so bright of happiness before he, Uzumaki Nartuo, the undesired orphan, was making her happy.

Giving to tentation, he thanked her as he caressed her cheek right where she was blushing. "It's fine. It makes me happy." she assured him.

What about the other times when she cooked for me? Was she happy too? I know I was, I love to have her around.

"I can't wait to eat what you made", he confessed.

Hinata felt her heart being filled with love for the man before her. It's him that she loved, she repeated it for herself since forever. After all, he was the one who always believed in her.

"I hope you'll like it." she said before leaving towards the kitchen.

"Hinata, stop having doubts. I'm sure it'll be delicious as always."

His words lightened the grip she had knotted in her guts. Because, yes. She was afraid of Naruto's reaction so she thought for a long while about the possibility of her welcoming Naruto at his home. She said to herself that maybe he would have preferred to be alone after he spent several weeks with his teammates. Or maybe, he would have thought that it was already too much for their relationship. It's only been a few months since they started this relationship. But, eventually, she did well. He had said to her that he missed her too.

Hinata put the bag in a corner then she set up the table.

"It smells so good, Hinata!" Naruto said once next to her.

Now without his shoes, his Konoha headband and his black jacket, he looked less like a ninja and more like a young man really hungry.

"Do... Do you want to taste it?" Hinata asked shyly

Nodding his head quickly, he watched Hinata drop the ladle into the saucepan then she handed it to him. As he was looking at his girlfriend with his blue eyes, Naruto leaned down and opened his mouth. "Mmh, that's delicious! Let's go eat!"

Once everything was ready, they sat before his small table and wished each other "bon appétit".

As the evening went on, Naruto, who had always lived in his small flat, felt like his room was bigger and warmer with Hinata.

Hinata saw Naruto enjoy each bite he was eating, "I'm glad you like it, Naruto-kun."

"And I'm very happy you came." he added, his mouth full.

His words surprise him. It was the truth, he was really happy, but he was shocked by how easy those words came out of his mouth.

"I wanted to see you at your house and we'd have gone to eat some ramen at Ichiraku, but I wanted to change my clothes first." He added while scratching the back of his head. "It's been a while since I last ate ramen."

"I thought that maybe you would've preferred a peaceful place since you just came back from mission." Hinata explained. "Plus, I ate at Ichiraku today with Kiba-kun and Shino-kun."

"Huh, really?"

"Yes. Because we had just finished training, we stopped and ate a bowl." Hinata smiled. "But, we can always go back tomorrow... if you want. My next mission is planned for the end of the week. By the way, how did your mission go?"

Naruto looked down, his throat suddenly dry. He stood up, took his plate and put it in the sink. The warmth of the room was gone and he started to see corpses again. Despite the war, he was still not used to seeing tons of dead bodies. Even his nightmares were still as dark as before.

He put his hands on the edge of the sink. He didn't want her to see his face.

"I'm sorry", Hinata said quickly. "I didn't know that-"

"It went well. Sakura and Sai are fine." Naruto spoke. "A young mother came at Konoha looking for help because her children disappeared. It was impossible to say if it was a kidnapping or not."

Naruto paused to swallow.

"Their footprints led us to a village's ruins in the Land of Whirlpools. I didn't know anything about this village before Kakashi-sensei told us about the rumors: this village was haunted by red hair ghosts. Uzumaki ghosts killed during the war."

Looking for a source of light in the darkness of his thoughts, Naruto turned around, failing to move his eyes from the floor.

"The longest part was the trip." Naruto continued. "But, fortunately, we quickly found the children. One of them was injured, but Sakura healed him. I have to confess, I was hoping to find somebody else, another Uzumaki. So, with Sai, we searched the village... but we only found corpses, hundred of them. I imagined how they would look if they had red hair... like my mom... If they had survived. But, aside from the three children, there's nobody alive. It was just a destroyed village."

Shaking, Naruto didn't notice that he was crying. Hinata's eyes were as wet as his, but he failed to see it, too lost in his memories.

Naruto-kun. Seeing him experimenting his darkest emotions that were accompanying him since childhood again, Hinata stood up and approached him. This time, I'm not going to watch you and do nothing.

"I felt so alone. So, so alone. It was like I was having a nightmare. Loneliness was back. I never knew my parents, and the only link by blood I could've had is dead in a forgotten village..."

Hinata softly put her hands on Naruto's cheeks to slip away his tears. He finally looked at her and she could read fear, anxiety and sadness.

"Naruto-kun..."

"Hinata. I looked for you, but you weren't by my side. Sakura has a family, and Saï doesn't even understand what an emotion is. I needed you, but I endured because I'm a ninja, y'know. I had to focus on my mission." Naruto couldn't stop his tears anymore. "So, I took the piece of scarf - you know, the one you made for me - and it never left my pocket. It reminded me you were safe in Konoha. I felt less alone, Hinata, thanks to you."

Feeling the need to have her against him again, he hugged her. She was his anchor. Only she could bring him back to the light. That's why when he felt her trying to escape from him, he squeezed her more, not ready to let her go.

"Naruto-kun" Hinata called. "Look at me!"

Her soft but firm voice made Naruto's hands fall on her waist for her to free her arms. Hinata cupped his face right away, forcing him to meet her lavender eyes. Naruto didn't see pity. He was relieved to see determination and love.

"I never dared to talk to you before because I didn't have the strength to pull you out of your loneliness which was hurting you. But now I can and I'm at your side, I'll never let you be alone again. Do you hear me? Never. I love you, Naruto-kun. I love you."

Each word she said was ringing in his head and warmed his heart up, leaving him with wide, wet blue eyes.

"Can you repeat?" Naruto asked.

"I love you."

"Again."

"Naruto-kun, I love you."