Hinata was tired. Really tired. She had trained for around two hours straight, and dried blood caked her delicate hands. She lied down on the grass panting hard. It had been around a year since the Fourth Great Shinobi War had ended, but people were still struggling to recover from it. True, for the first time in recorded history all five nations joined hands, and it didn't just end after the war was over. No, the five kages still kept in touch to discuss how they could help each other rebuild. However, the losses were great, greater than any war before. Many shinobi families lost at least one member, and the number of orphans in the hidden villages were at a record high. New programs were attempting to be initiated almost every day, but with the heavy costs of the war, the hidden villages were near bankruptcy. But somehow, people managed to smile. People managed to laugh and joke, and rebuilding didn't seem that bad. Everyone chipped in, from the village elders to the academy students. Konoha was especially in trouble, as the Pain attack that obliterated the village almost exactly preceded the War. They had to work on reconstructing the entire village while also dealing with the losses and lack of funds. But it was getting better. Little by little, the Konoha she remembered was reforming. And in no little part to Naruto.

Hinata let out a soft sigh when she thought of his name. Naruto. After the Pain attack, Naruto was hailed as the village hero. After the Fourth Shinobi War, the closest thing that could describe him was an international celebrity. People wanted to see him, and they couldn't get enough of him. He was their savior, the reason they weren't trapped in an illusion forever. Of course, without Sasuke's help, it wouldn't have been possible, but the general public were a little less willing to accept Sasuke because of his shaky past. And now Naruto was taken in as Tsunade's disciple, an act that basically procured his position as the Hokage. Hinata was happy for him, she honestly, truly was. But she was also frustrated. Since now, Naruto could barely be seen. Between the missions he took, his training, and his time with his fans, Hinata had scarcely glanced him in the past six months. And he still hadn't gotten back to her about her confession.

She let out a soft groan. "Maybe I shouldn't have told him. Maybe it intimidated him and now he thinks I'm a freaky stalker who doesn't have any life." But that couldn't be true. He wouldn't have held her hand or talked to her the way he did on the battlefield. "I'm just overthinking this. He's just busy is all. Even I'm more busy than usual. Everyone's busy. We're recovering from a war! Get your head in the game, Hinata." But regardless of how much she tried to convince herself, she felt an uneasy feeling in her stomach and a hard flutter in her heart. She stood up. "I'm not going to let this take over my life. I have better things to do." And with that thought, she gathered her things and started towards the Konoha cemetery. It had gotten bigger, and was still expanding as new bodies were found in expeditions. She continued down the long lines of flat, gray stones until she reached the one she was looking for. On it read "Neji Hyuga". Just that. Hinata and even her father to some extent had fought to write something on the grave that he would have liked, such as "Finally Free", but the Hyuga elders vehemently disagreed on writing anything, since he was merely a branch member. Plus, writing something so patronizing would give the Hyuga family as a whole a bad name.

She kneeled down next to the grave. "Hi Neji-nii-san. How are you doing? I'm doing great! Today I trained for a whole two hours and it reminded me of the times we used to-"Hinata cut herself off when the tears began to form. She wiped them away and said with a shaky voice "When we used to fight. Remember how hard you trained me? I could never have gotten here without you. I….I miss you a lot."

"I see you're here too."
Hinata turned around, startled. She instantly calmed down when she found out it was only Ten-Ten. She and Ten-Ten had gotten a lot closer these past couple of months, mostly because of the death of Neji. When the war had ended, and they finally had time for themselves, that's when the full realization hit. Neji was dead. He was never coming back. Ever. This wasn't going to be like the Pain invasion, where everybody who died magically revived. No. He was gone. This was real, it was happening. Once the pain began, Hinata and Ten-Ten met often, just to talk. Talk about Neji, the Hyuga clan, and sometimes just life. Over the year, they had become extremely close without even realizing it. Hinata considered Ten-Ten like a sister now, and Ten-Ten the same.

"Yeah. I was feeling down about something, so I thought talking to Neji- nii- san would help." Hinata said, turning her attention to the grave.

"Is it about Naruto?" Ten-Ten asked, kneeling down with her.

Hinata let out a surprised yelp and widened her eyes "H-how did you know?"

Ten-Ten just laughed. "Girl, everybody knows. Well, everybody who's in our friend circle anyways." She sat down and softened her expression, giving a far-off look at the grave. "You should just tell him." She said softly. "One of my biggest regrets was not telling Neji, and I still think about it at night." Her voice became softer. "Maybe telling him wouldn't have changed what happened. Maybe he still would've died. But… but maybe it would've changed everything. Maybe he would still be here. Maybe we would've been dating. Heck, maybe we would've even gone on double dates with Shikamaru and Temari!" Ten-Ten laughingly said the last line, with her hand on the back of her neck sheepishly. "The point is. Don't ever live life with regrets. What's the worst Naruto can say? No?"

"More like nothing." Hinata said, pulling her legs to her chest and looking steadily down.

"Wait, what? I mean, I know Naruto can be a dufus sometimes, but no guy's a jerk enough to leave a girl hanging like that." Ten-Ten said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Um…Well….The truth is Ten-Ten san, I've already confessed to him." Hinata said, blushing a cherry red.

"Wait, what?! When , how?! Why haven't you told me this before." Ten-Ten basically screamed, the look of surprise clearly splattered over her face.

"I-I-I…. I actually confessed when Pain attacked."

"WAIT WHAT?" Ten-Ten stood up and shouted. Nearby visitors turned their heads to see what the spectacle was about.

"Please be a bit more quiet, Ten-Ten san!"

"NO! I WILL NOT BE QUIET! THAT WAS OVER A YEAR AND A HALF AGO! A YEAR AND A HALF AGO! AND THAT LITTLE SHIT HAS THE NERVE TO NEVER GET BACK TO YOU ON A CONFESSION? I'LL GO TEACH HIM A LESSON." Ten-Ten started walking away, grumbling under her breath.

Hinata stood up and ran after her. "Please don't, Ten-Ten san! I'm sure he's just busy, we're all busy!"

Ten-Ten stopped and gave her a hard look. "He's not busy all the time! Just the other day I saw him at Ichiraku's with Sakura! You know something? I see him all the time lounging around with Sakura! And he has the audacity to stand you up!"

"Um…Well…We're not dating so he can't stand me-"

"Stop It Hinata!"

"Stop what?"

"Stop getting down on yourself! Stop letting others take advantage of you! You poured your heart out into that confession, right?"

"Y-yes."

"You meant every word, didn't you?"

"Of course! But-"

"No buts! Come with me. I don't care if he's doing some super special hokage training or not, we're going to find him, and he's going to answer. Otherwise he might just find a couple of ninja tools lodged into his intestines." Ten-Ten had an evil gleam in her eye when she said that last part.

"P-please don't make me do this Ten-Ten san! I'm sure when he's ready, he'll find me!"

"Like hell he will! Look, let's just go and talk to him, ok? If he says no, well, you're too good for him anyways."

"O-Ok."

Hinata reluctantly followed Ten-Ten out of the cemetery and towards the Hokage's building. Well, the makeshift one until the actual building was reconstructed. As soon as they got to the outside, Hinata stopped. She couldn't do it, she just couldn't. It was too…too…

"Hinata, please." Ten-Ten said, giving her a look of understanding. "You've gotta do this sooner or later. Might as well be now."

Hinata took a deep breath. Her heart was fluttering like it never had before and she felt nauseous. "I can do this. I'm going to do this. I deserve this." And with one more deep breath, she went into the Hokage's building.