Nothing Is Easy In Konohagakure

Hinata Hyuuga truly felt that she had hit her stride. By the help of Shino, Kurenai, and Kiba, she became less shy around others, and was able to pretty much eliminate her stutter. After many attempts at talking with Naruto, she was finally able to have a full conversation with him without passing out. After Neji had found out the truth to his family, as a sort of peace offering towards Hinata, he would help her with the Juken and Byakugan every now and again. Hiashi Hyuuga had, unfortunately, named Hanabi the heir—but, then again, that took the pressure off of Hinata's mind. She was able to relax and just work towards the goal of happiness, instead of working towards the goal of becoming a successful heir to the Hyuuga family.

However, not every story has a happy ending. Because she wouldn't be the heir, after Hanabi became heir, Hinata would either be marked as a Branch member, or she would be married to the heir of another clan. There was only one other clan who had an available male heir that was around her age, available, and ready to be wedded.

And that, of course, was Shino Aburame—one of her best friends—heir to the bug-using Aburame clan.

And, of course, Hinata didn't look far enough into the future to see that coming up. She only lived for the moment—working towards talking to Naruto, training to become a better shinobi, and working towards getting enough courage to ask for medic-nin training.

So, when her father told her to wear 'that' kimono—the one reserved for weddings and other meetings related to marriage—she was, needless to say, shocked. A few maids helped her don the elegant white kimono and put on some very light and subtle (yet, of course, beautiful) makeup. They tied her hair back and clipped it to the back of her head, leaving a few strands of hair to frame her face. She walked very reluctantly to the room where the meeting would be held, not wanting to know who would be behind the door.

She finally arrived at the door, almost exactly at the time she had been told to be there. She took a small breath before opening the door, and nearly passing out in shock. Shibi Aburame and Shino where sitting side-by-side, Shibi across from Hiashi, and an empty spot across from Shino.

"Sit," her father commanded.

"H-hai," Hinata replied, so nervous that her stutter was beginning to show.

"She stutters?" Shibi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not usually. It just comes up sometimes," Shino replied.

"Shino! Talk in a more polite form!" his father hissed.

"… Gomen-nasai, father," Shino replied.

"Here is the contact, which I took the liberty of writing personally," Shibi said, his tone so business-like that a shiver went up her back. Even Shino wasn't as cold, as professional as Shibi could be.

Hiashi read the contract, the room becoming so silent and tense that Hinata couldn't help but fidget. "Agreed," Hiashi said after a few, long minutes of reading.

Hiashi slid the contract in front of Hinata, and commanded sternly, "Sign."

"… I… I d-don't…." she began, not sure of how to tell her father no.

"Do you not wish to marry Shino?" Shibi asked, the professional tone giving Hinata goose bumps once again.

"I-I…"

"If I may take the liberty of answering for her, I believe she is saying, 'no'," Shino said calmly.

"Then I'll sign," Hiashi said simply before taking the contract from in front of Hinata and placing it in front of himself. He bit his thumb and immediately pressed his thumb onto the paper. Using the other hand, so he wouldn't get blood on the paper, he slid the contract in front of Shino.

"Shino, will you sign?" Shibi asked, waiting to see what he would do.

Shino nodded before biting his thumb and pressing it onto the paper. Hinata's eyes shot open as she watched him do this, shocked that he was signing.

"Either he wants to marry my daughter or he knows of the loophole," Hiashi grumbled.

"I believe he knows of the loophole, Hyuuga-san," Shibi explained.

"Hai. I know of the loophole. And the loophole states that you must tell Hinata-chan of the loophole now," Shino said coldly, staring at Hiashi (though Hiashi couldn't tell, since Shino's eyes were covered up by his glasses).

Hiashi turned to Hinata and explained, "The loophole is one of the few laws that the Fourth passed before his passing. It is a loophole for young women in clans—if she does not sign, but the one she is to marry does, instead of both parents signing, then the woman may marry someone of a different family if their status is higher than his own."

"B-but Shino-kun is ANBU…" Hinata pointed out.

"True. But I gave Shino a piece of information that he has used to his advantage in the situation," Shibi explained with a small sigh.

"The Hokage will soon be retiring, Hinata-chan," Shino explained.

"So… if I marry whomever becomes the next Hokage, I… won't have to marry Shino-kun?"

"Exactly," Shino confirmed with a nod.

"Ah, yes—but don't forget, you have to become married before the wedding date Aburame-san and I choose," Hiashi pointed out, an evil smirk on his face.

"… We have no need to rush. Besides, one of the top candidates for Hokage is Shino, another top candidate is a woman, another is Hyuuga Neji, and the last one…" Shibi explained, trailing off at the end.

"The other?" Hiashi asked, wondering whom the other could be.

"Is Uzumaki Naruto," Shibi finished.

"So, Hinata only has a one-fourth chance, and even then, it's him…" Hiashi concluded. "Very well. We'll allow them to be wedded after the Hokage's inauguration," he said before rising to his feet.

"Gomen, father, but… What do you mean by 'it's him'?" Hinata asked, her voice uncharacteristically cold.

"… Hinata, do not speak to me in such a manner, especially not in front of guests," Hiashi answered back, his voice equally cold.

"Hiashi-san, Hinata-chan might give up Naruto if she knew…" Shibi hinted at subtly.

"Yes, but that would be a breach of the law," Hiashi said, automatically throwing the suggestion to the side.

"No one obeys the law. If a penalty were to be given, it would be very light—especially on you, Hiashi-san," Shibi replied.

"Very well—your logic has swayed me. Hinata… Naruto is the one who holds the Kyuubi," Hiashi explained.

Hinata, however, was remained unfazed. "Does it not surprise you, Hinata-chan?" Shibi asked, his curiosity forcing him to wonder why she wasn't surprised—at all.

"It does… somewhat. But it explains why he's such a fast regenerator and why he has immeasurable amounts of chakra. The only thing that surprises me is that Naruto can be so… warm and still have that monster sealed inside of him," Hinata explained.

Shino hid a small smile beneath his collar, smiling at how loyal Hinata was and how much she idealized Naruto—for instance; she never said anything of his idiocy, but only of his loyalty, kindness, and warmth.

Hiashi scoffed lightly before saying, "At any rate, Naruto cannot possibly beat a Hyuuga who has had proper training. Hinata, you shall be wed to Shino Aburame," Hiashi said coldly. "I believe that concludes this meeting," he directed at Shibi, who nodded in turn.

Shibi stood up and gave a low bow, which Hiashi copied at Shibi's exact level to show equality. Shino and Hinata rose almost simultaneously, and Hinata glanced over at Shino, wondering what his motives were.

"We'll talk later," Shino explained before following his father out of the room and then out of the house, leaving Hinata alone in the room with Hiashi.

"Your punishment for speaking out of character and out of place, Hinata, is sparring with Hanabi. Go, change into fighting clothes, and meet me out in the courtyard," Hiashi commanded coldly before walking out of the room.

----

The next day, Hinata woke up and automatically winced. She could feel the pain now—but last night, Hanabi had bruised her and attack her so much that she was numbed. She could see ugly, dark marks everywhere but her face—and her insides especially felt sore. She felt like she had torn some muscles from Hanabi's Juken, but Hanabi had taken care not to hit any organs. After all, if she hit an organ, it could be potentially fatal. Hinata sighed and sat up slowly, knowing already what she had to do. She needed to take a cool bath, put on her baggy, long-sleeved clothing (which was much hotter than she made it look), and put layers of makeup on any area of shown skin that was bruised. The maids were forbidden in helping with any of this, for the more Hinata had to do for herself, the more she felt the pain and the punishment.

The only one who knew was Kurenai—and she had figured it out by herself—so, when they had training and Hinata had 'sparred' (it was more like a fierce beating, really) with Hanabi, Kurenai would go light on giving Hinata work and just give them another 'independent training' day, which meant they could do whatever they wished and Hinata wouldn't have to move as much. Because of this, however, Team 8 had more down time than any other team.

Hinata fixed her bath, applying ice to the swollen areas while the tub was filling up. She took off her clothes and climbed into the tub gingerly, gasping in shock as her body slid beneath the surface of the water. She felt the water begin to numb her body a little, and she laid in the tub for about an hour, doing nothing but thinking, before she finally washed herself slowly and washed her hair. She used the faucet of the tub to help pull herself out of the cold water, her legs shaky underneath the weight of her body.

She climbed over the tub and grabbed a towel, patting her body dry tenderly to avoid any added pain. She wrapped the towel around herself and walked to the sink. She pulled a hair dryer out of the cabinet above the sink, plugged it in, and began to blow dry her hair.

After her hair was completely dry, Hinata put on her clothes and applied the makeup. She feigned stoicism as she walked out of the bathroom, though the pain of walking was immense. She grabbed her (now thinner) coat and put it on, despite the sweltering heat outside. The only one who ever actually thought to ask why she wore the coats even in hot weather was Naruto—who stripped down to his black undershirt when it got to hot for his full suit. It somewhat made sense, though, since Kiba and Shino also wore heavy coats—and their jackets were heavier than hers. She had wanted to ask them for a long time why they wore their coats, but that would involved having to tell them her reason.

And, to tell someone, was a taboo.

So, she made her way for their usual training spot. Kiba and Shino were going through extra training together for the upcoming ANBU evaluations—if they didn't pass them, then they'd be demoted to Jonin, and it would be five years before they'd be considered for ANBU again. Hinata was working towards becoming Jonin as well, but the exam had just passed, and she had failed once again. She only wanted to be a Jonin so that she could command a three-man team herself, but Kurenai said that the odds were against her—even if she made it to Jonin and managed to convince her father to let her have a three man team, it would be many yeas before she could find a team that was worth passing and training.

Hinata arrived at the training site, avoiding Shino's gaze for the first part of the meeting. Shino knew that she didn't feel like talking, so he decided he could spar with Kiba and wait a little while. Hinata simply walked around, using the Byakugan to look around the forest. She caught sight of Naruto, working on what had to be a new jutsu, and Hinata decided that no harm would come of visiting Naruto.

She walked through the bushes and around the trees, making her way slowly but surely towards Naruto.

She finally arrived where he was producing a sort of beam of blue chakra from in between his hands. He lost concentration, and the chakra beam dissipated. He cursed loudly, turning around and finally noticing Hinata.

"Oh! Hi, Hina-chan!" Naruto called. Hinata blushed slightly at his nickname for her before walking up to him. "What's new?" he asked, before continuing to work on his new jutsu.

"…" Hinata considered tell him of her father's misdeeds, but decided against it. "Not much, Naruto-kun. Kiba and Shino are sparring together, and Kurenai left us for another independent study course," Hinata admitted. After thinking over it for a moment, she decided on a piece of information from the night before she could, however, tell him.

"Also, did you hear that the Fifth will be retiring soon?" Hinata asked casually, grabbing Naruto's attention quickly.

"Really? Obaa-sama is retiring?" Naruto asked, shocked.

"Hai… There are a lot of candidates for the position of Hokage… I've heard that she even recommended you as one, Naruto-kun," Hinata informed him, excited to see his reaction.

"Yatta!" he cried, jumping into the air and shoving a fist towards the sky. He landed gracefully and threw his arms around Hinata, making her automatically tense up and blush, but she laughed at his reaction all the same. He pulled away just as quickly as he had hugged her, a bright smile on his face.

"We need to celebrate," Hinata suggested. Naruto looked down at his hands, almost as if he was trying to decide between celebrating—which included, of course, ramen—and training. "… You can tell me about the jutsu you're working on as well," she suggested.

Naruto's head shot back up from his hands to Hinata, and he smiled brightly. "Deal!"

A/B: I changed the candidates, and I've also started developing Naruto and Hinata more. I think that this way is better, and that the (re)first chapter is better than the other. –nods- Well, I hope you all enjoyed the new old installment of NEK:D