For The Rest of My Life

For The Rest of My Life

I want to protect you for the rest of my life.

The boy stares up at the ceiling of his room, thinking, these words unable to escape his mind. Her face shows in his memories and he frowns to himself, unhappy with the fact that he was incapable of telling her that. Rolling over onto his side, he looks out the window of his room, the sky just barely visible above his neighbors' home. It was nearly noon, and all day he had done nothing but lay there, what a waste. Sighing, he sits up and runs his fingers through his messy hair, he has to tell her, or soon he won't be able to deal with it. Standing up, he picks up his glasses off of a small table, walks over to his door and walks out in to the main part of his families' house, today he'll tell her.

"I'm going to be out for a while father," a young girl says softly, bowing respectively to her parent. He nods to her, almost hardly noticing her, then turns back to what he was doing. Silently, she leaves the building and steps onto the long and crowded street, glancing left and right. Today I will tell him the truth, she tells herself, it's been so long since it started, and he deserves to know. She blushes just thinking about his face, and searches the town with her eyes. The bright sun shines down, not as hotly as it seems like it should be, the autumn air rushes about, carrying brown, red, and orange leaves on its invisible and cold fingertips. She pauses for a moment, thinking over where he would be and smiles, because the first place he'd be is so obvious. A delicious smell drifts through the air and she follows it to where she hoped her crush would be.

Walking down the street silently, he can't help but be frustrated, where would she be? Passing her household, he longs to go and knock on the door and ask for her, but he knows he can't. He bows his head, embarrassed, what if she's there and I'm just avoiding the chance because I'm scared of what she'll say? He asks himself, sadly. He looks at the building, yearning to go to the door, and then starts forward on the street again. If I can't find her in town, then I'll go to her house, he decides. If I go there first and she's not there, then her family may bother me with questions, he tries to figure out where in town she would be, and then realizes something. She's been hanging around the Ichiraku Noodle Shop a lot lately, maybe she's there, and I could even buy her a bowl of ramen! He thinks, smiling to himself. Turning his path down another street, he walks towards where the restaurant is.

Silently she arrives, pushing forward through the crowd; she searches the bar seats, looking for his clothing, after not seeing him, she sighs, disappointed. I guess I can just wait, she thinks to herself, sitting on a stool that was a distance from the other two people dining there. The man behind the bar moves around, dishes rattling and boiling water sizzles as few drops escape off onto the stove. Steam rises from bowls as he hands them to the customers, then turns to her. "How can I help you?" he questions, smiling. She looks at him thoughtfully, and then decides to ask.

Sifting his way through the town's crowd he dodges others, hating being so close to everyone. The Ichiraku noodle Shop comes into view, and he withholds a smile, not wanting his intentions to be too obvious, there she was, sitting at the counter and talking to the cook. The cook shakes his head to her and goes off to dry some bowls- she looks down sadly. Now could be my chance, he thinks to himself, suddenly aware of how messy his hair was and the fact that he was wearing the same thing as yesterday. She turns her head, obviously looking for something or someone. He tries to discourage himself- I should go clean up some, maybe now isn't the best ti-

"Hi Shino!" she says, turning around and seeing him, she smiles a little and waves him over softly. He stares at her, knowing it was too late to get away, and smiles inwardly at how sweet she is at times like this, maybe it won't be so hard… Walking over, he takes a seat next to her, glad that his glasses hid his eyes so that she wouldn't see him staring at her. His cheeks blush the slightest bit, but he hopes she won't notice.

"Hinata, what is the matter?" he asks, unable to ignore the distant and thoughtful look that seemed to be glued on her face. She looks up at him, blushing out of embarrassment that he noticed- is it so obvious? She glances at the cook, wondering if he had figured it out by now. Biting her lip worriedly, she looks back to Shino.

"I- I need to ask you something," she said softly, looking down at her hands that were together in her lap. Shino nods to her for her to go on. What could she want from me? He asks himself, unable to keep from being flattered by this. She looks up at him, her cheeks turning a bright shade of red. "Am I braver now?" she asks, not keeping eye contact, her sight drifting all around. He smiles, this time showing it, at her shyness to ask this.