-1Hokage Baby-Sitting Service Day

By: demonfox123

Note- I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters

This popped in my head one day, and I decided, why not? This is an intended oneshot, so I'm not planning on making a chapter 2. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

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"My turn wasn't over! Sasuke, give it back!"

"You had it for a long time. It's my turn now!"

"No it isn't! I barely played with it!"

"Hey! I'm the turn checker, remember?" Arashi crossed his arms.

"But daddy!" A blonde whined. "He stole it! It was still my turn!"

"It's Sasuke's turn. He waited patiently and you have to do the same."

"Noooo!" The same blonde stomped his 6-year-old foot.

"Naruto, don't start. Learn to share." Arashi shook his finger at his son.

"Hmph." Naruto crossed his arms and looked away.

"Yeah, Naruto. Learn to share." Sasuke repeated, taking the ninja tools out of Naruto's tanned hands.

"You're not helping, Sasuke." Arashi muttered, shaking his head.

"Sasuke!" Naruto growled and launched after him. Sasuke started running around, Naruto about three feet behind him. Arashi sighed. How could he handle being a Hokage, but barely able to get by being a parent? Naruto's boundless energy and Sasuke's remarks never helped. The boys had grown up together, yet they acted like they were enemies half the time. Fugaku said it would shake off and they'd be great friends, but somehow Arashi doubted that. Naruto and Sasuke were both too stubborn.

"Greetings, Arashi."

The Hokage whirled around to find Hiashi Hyuga, along with his daughter Hinata, who was half-hiding behind her father.

"Ah, Hiashi. I'm glad you're here. I'm about to rip my hair out with these two!" Arashi smiled. Hiashi would surely help him out, right?

"Actually," At this word, Arashi gulped. "I have clan business to attend to. I was wondering if you could watch Hinata for the next five hours."

Arashi's eyebrow twitched. What was it? Hokage baby-sitting service day? He had his hands full with the two boys already! But then again, Hinata was pretty shy. She wouldn't be too much of a handful, right?

"Uh, sure. No problem."

"Good, thank you Arashi. My apologies for such short notice." The clan head bowed his head slightly.

"It's no big deal. If I can handle these two, Hinata shouldn't be that hard."

"You have my gratitude." Hiashi let go of his daughter's pale hand. She stood there, motionless for a little while. Arashi smiled and beckoned her over. She nodded and stood next to him. "I must bid you farewell."

"Bye, Hiashi." The Hyuga left in a swirl of leaves. Naruto was the first one to notice Hinata.

"Hey Hinata! What're you doing here?" Because Naruto stopped, Sasuke was able to find a safe place to play in the woods next to him.

"I…um…" Hinata looked down, twiddling her fingers. Arashi smiled.

"She's going to be playing with you guys." Arashi said.

"Really? That's cool! She can help me get Sasuke!" Naruto paused and looked around. "What! Where'd he go!?"

Arashi laughed and Hinata started giggling as they watched Naruto yell and hold his head in confusion. "Did you see where he went!? He just disappeared!"

"Let him play, Naruto. While you're waiting, why don't you and Hinata do something?" Arashi noticed out of the corner of his eye that Hinata bit her lip slightly.

"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed rather loudly. "But, what should we do? Sasuke has all the fun stuff."

"You could show her the place you found yesterday." Arashi suggested.

"Oh yeah! C'mon, Hinata." Naruto ran over, took the Hyuga's hand, and eagerly led her into the woods. Hinata said nothing, she didn't even realize Naruto was holding her hand until she was surrounded by trees. Arashi smiled and leaned against a lone tree, crossing his arms. What should he do now? He knew where the Uchiha was. He knew where Naruto was leading Hinata. And he knew that nothing bad was going to happen. So why was he worried? He was just probably being paranoid. After all, Naruto nearly gave him a heart attack countless times. Naruto would stand on the refrigerator, his toes touching the edges. Or he'd be sitting in the tallest branch on the tallest tree. Helping complete strangers, anything! But Hinata was with him. She'd keep him in line, right?

The cerulean-eyed troublemaker and the indigo-haired shy heiress were wading through the thick mud that had accumulated over the past couple of days, due to rain. Hinata was uneasy about this idea at first, for her mother would dislike the idea of getting her shoes completely covered in sludge. But Naruto eventually convinced her that it was worth it. So now she found herself running through the mud, her hand still in Naruto's. She forced herself not to blush, and she succeeded, if not only a little. Hinata almost tripped when Naruto stopped abruptly.

"We have to jump over this to get there." He explained, pointing at a four-foot deep trench. Naruto let go of her hand, got a running start and jumped over the five-foot long ditch. "C'mon, Hinata!" Naruto gestured for her to jump over it too.

"I… I can't." She replied, taking a step back.

"What do mean?" Naruto cocked his head to one side. "Oh, is it your shoes again?"

"…No."

"Then what is it?"

"If I jump, I'll fall."

There was a brief pause. "You don't think you can do it?"

Hinata looked down, obviously ashamed.

"What are you talking about!? Of course you can do it!" Hinata's head shot up in surprise, her pearl-colored eyes were wide. "You just gotta try! Get a running start, jump, and spread your legs out!"

"But…"

"You can do it, Hinata! Believe me!" Naruto shot his trademark grin.

"Really?"

"I'm right here, Hinata. You can make it."

Shaking off her doubts, Hinata nodded bravely. She took a few steps back, ready to get a running start as Naruto had suggested. She suddenly felt her heart swell with something unfamiliar. Within two seconds, that unfamiliar feeling was pulsing through every vein in her body, giving her a new strength. She could do this. She just knew she could.

Using that unfamiliar feeling, Hinata began running full speed toward the drench. Without a single ounce of hesitation, she jumped. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Hinata knew she was in danger, but the strange feeling inside of her told her to ignore it. When the timing seemed right, Hinata spread her legs out as far as she could, reaching for the end. She could see Naruto, a huge grin on his face. He was waiting at the edge, just in case. When she saw him, Hinata smiled back. She somehow knew that this feeling that she got came from Naruto. It was an amazing feeling that Hinata wanted to live with. She felt like she could do anything.

Hinata felt herself nearing the edge. She was almost there! Just a little more… Her heel connected with the ground and the rest of her foot followed. A sudden rush of a familiar feeling tried to replace the new one. And before Hinata could lean her weight on that foot, she began falling backwards. No! She had made it! How could she just fall at the end?! Suddenly, that new founded feeling she had earlier rapidly left her body and an old one replaced it. Doubt. Hinata knew she would fail, she just knew it. She winced, preparing for a rather harsh landing. But Hinata soon found herself suspended in the air. What? Was she flying?

Hinata's eyes shot open and found that Naruto had caught her. He was grasping her forearm, a grin was still painted on his face. With his other hand, he clasped Hinata's right hand and heaved her up, grunting a bit. Once Hinata was completely out of the ditch, Naruto fell backward on his rear end.

"It's a good thing you're not heavy, Hinata!" He laughed a bit before adding, "But you did it! See? It was nothing to be worried about!"

"But…I didn't actually…" Hinata looked down again. She didn't actually get across. She didn't actually accomplish the jump.

"You did, Hinata. You made it all the way across."

"But… You had to…"

"C'mon, Hinata! You can't do everything alone! You made it all the way across, just doubted yourself at the end a bit. The only thing that matters is that you had the confidence to actually jump." Naruto smiled reassuringly.

"You're…you're right, Naruto. Thank you." Hinata smiled back.

"Um, are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Naruto suddenly had a concerned expression on his face.

"I'm fine, Naruto."

"Alright then, let's go!" Naruto scrambled to his feet and gestured Hinata to follow him. She nodded and complied, blushing a bit when Naruto took her hand again. "It's just a little further." He explained anxiously.

"W-What's it like?" The shy girl asked quietly.

Naruto laughed. "I can't tell you! It's gonna be a surprise!"

"O…Okay." The rest of the trip took no more than 10 minutes. Hinata was relieved that there was not as much of mud as there was before.

"We have to go through the secret entrance." Naruto announced, veering their direction to the left. Hinata looked around. There didn't seem to be anything special here. Unless it was behind that tall grass… Naruto stopped abruptly again which caused Hinata to actually trip this time.

"Hey, Hinata. Are you okay?" Naruto helped her back to her feet. Hinata nodded, brushing off some dirt that stuck to her white capris.

"I'm fine." She answered.

"Good. Once we climb through that log, we're there." Hinata turned to understand what he meant. There was a hollow log that ran through the grass, but didn't seem to be compressing the grass with its weight.

"You can go first." Naruto offered.

"Alright." Hinata got on her knees and started to crawl through the hollow wood. It wasn't that long, about eight feet. However, when Hinata was halfway, she was surprised to hear rushing water on the other side. She was confused. Why hadn't she heard it before? Anxious, Hinata scurried faster to the end. She stood up immediately once she was out. What she saw shocked her, even leaving her mouth agape. The first thing she noticed was the river, which flowed to her left ever so gently. The color, which reminded her of Naruto's eyes, sparkled gleefully in the high sun. Even from this distance, the young Hyuga could spot fish swimming about in its depths. Directly in front of her was an area shaved off of grass. The remains of a fire sat in the middle, and logs, much like the one she just crawled through, were surrounding it. The only difference was that they were solid. And finally, to her far right, was a tree with a giant hole in it, revealing that it was hollow. Birds were chirping happily and Hinata heard some soft rustles in the bushes, signaling that small animals like rabbits lingered here.

"So, what do think?" Naruto asked, stepping up from behind her.

"It's… amazing." Hinata whispered.

"Yeah, it is. I found it while I was walking in the woods with Dad last week." Naruto put his hands on his hips and inhaled deeply, taking in the scents of the forest.

"Naruto… the river… why couldn't we hear it before?"

"Oh, I actually asked Dad about that!" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "He said it was something special a ninja did to it."

"So… this is someone else's? A ninja's?" Hinata looked at Naruto.

"It probably was, but I don't think they use it anymore."

"That's a relief." Hinata sighed.

"I like this place because it's so relaxing." Naruto said, crossing his arms behind his head.

"It does seem peaceful." Hinata put in, stealing a glance at the chirping birds.

"I have an idea." Naruto announced, taking a proud stance. "How about whenever we're angry or sad, we can come here. This can be our place, where we're totally ourselves. What do you think?" Naruto turned to his friend.

"You… You want to share this with me?" Hinata gasped.

Naruto nodded. "Why not? I think it'd be great!"

"Alright. Thanks… Naruto." Hinata blushed.

"Great! Why don't we think of some ideas for it?" Hinata nodded eagerly. So they sat down on their logs and began brainstorming. Hinata had suggested a hammock, which Naruto enthusiastically agreed with. However, neither of them knew how to make one, so they put that one on hold for now. They came up with a lot more ideas like a bridge for the river, a fishing net, an alternate entrance, etc.

They brainstormed for hours, until the sunlight was thinning. They hadn't even realized the time before they heard voices in the distance.

"Naruto!"

"Hinata!"

Both of them froze. It was Sasuke and Arashi. How long had they been away? A quick glance to the sky answered their question.

"C'mon, Hinata. We need to get outta here. I don't want Sasuke to see this place!" Naruto whispered loudly. Hinata nodded and followed him back to the hollow log. Once they were out, Naruto called back.

"Dad! Sasuke! We're over here!" Naruto flailed his arms in the air. They heard leaves crunching as two hurried bodies headed for their direction. The first to emerge was Arashi, who at the sight of Naruto, ran even faster. He collapsed to his knees once he was in front of his son, and hugged him tightly.

"Ack!" Naruto gagged, awkwardly patting his father on the back.

Arashi drew back. "Naruto! I as so worried about you! I was about to use a tracking jutsu! Or even an ANBU squad to come and find you and Hinata!"

"Dad, we're fine. We were at the place we were supposed to be at." Naruto would've rolled his eyes, but he was happy seeing his dad again, too.

"Ugh," Arashi bent his head low and shook it. "And what would Hiashi think if I lost his daughter? Aw, man."

"Jeez! There you are!" Sasuke gasped, coming up from behind. "I had four extra turns without you around!"

Composing himself, Arashi stood up. "We should get you guys home." He said, gesturing at Hinata and Sasuke. They both nodded, a smile on their faces.

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There ya have it! Constructive criticism is welcome. But please keep in mind that I'm just almost 13 and I'm trying my best here. Hoped you liked it! Review!