A cool breeze blow from the east causing a shiver to travel up her legs starting at her bear ankles and working its way up. The draft caused goose bumps that she tried desperately to rub away. Normally she would ware shorts and jacket, but today was a sakura festival. She didn't much like these things much, due to all of the people that would show up, but as the first born of the Hyuga clan she was expected to be there. Looking in the mirror she noticed how much she had grown over the last three years. Her hair had grown to the bottom of her back, her baby fat in her cheeks had smoothed out only leaving toned shin, and her height was that of a Hyuga, tall for a girl about 5'8, not only her looks had changed, her abilities as a ninja had as well. She was now a Jonin, with a squad of her own. After her father noticed how strong she was he wanted her to quite, and be the heir she was born to be but she refused him and continued her training, to get where she was today. She didn't see much of the rookies she went to school with anymore, if she did it was in passing. Ino and Sakura had married (neither was sasuke) Ino married a chunin that worked at the academy, and she ran her families flower shop. Sakura married Lee. It took a while but he had finally won her heart, sakura had become a med-nin and Lee had his own group of genin. Sasuke was an Anbu, he was always on special assignment. Choji and his wife opened up their own restaurant, and had two kids. Shikumaru had been teaching at the academy and in his spare time would go to see Temari in Suna. Neji, he had made amines with Hiashi and was know trying to bring both sides of the Hyuga family back together, him and Hinata wanted that very badly. Shino was a Jonin but, mostly kept to him self. Kiba would come by every now an again just to caught up and make her laugh. He had his own team as well, he had matured a lot. Naruto… well… he was the new Hokage. Tsunade had stepped down when he had turned 18. She had tried to tell him her feeling a thousand times with no success. They found them self as best friends, the only thing they didn't do was sleep together, well they did but, it was just sleep, and only when she had fallen asleep on accident. When ever you saw the Hokage you would see Hinata. As a matter of fact that was who she was waiting for now.

A shadow quickly appeared over her reflection, and she looked up. There he was, learning against the window dressed in the Hokage hat and the white robe, but his own clothes underneath with a wide smile spread across his face. She had to admit he was handsome, shaggy blond hair, bright blue eyes and a great body to boot. No wonder she still loved him.

"Hey, Hinata." He said walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning his chin on her shoulder, looking in the mirror.

"Hello, Naruto." She said with a smile as she leaned back into the hug that the Hokage was offering. At moments like this she would wonder why they were not together. Then she remembered the silent moments and fights that always happened when they had been alone.

"Come on Beautiful, the festival is going to start without us." He said grabbing her hand and pulling her out of her room at the Hyuga compound. Running though the halls was like a maze, but a maze that Naruto had learned to maneuver over the last few years. He didn't want to pull her out the window, the way he had gotten there. Because he was afraid of getting the lecture again, the one Hiashi would give him every time that he would kidnap her from the balcony. "You are Hokage, and she is a Lady of the Hyuga clan, how would this look to people?" Naruto had gotten so use to it that he could recite it from memory. Of course it had changed a little over the past year; before he had become Hokage it was…lets say… a lot harsher. "What makes you think you are even worthy of my daughter. She is a Lady of the Hyuga clan and you are an orphan with nothing to offer her, get out." OK it had changed a lot over the past year. Now at the end of the 1 hour lecher would be the question that poor Naruto and Hinata knew was coming. "Are you going to ask for her hand Hokage?" It never failed. Like he wanted to get rid of her or something.

Or it could be that they said they were thinking about it so her father would stop trying to marry her off. Her father had tried to arrange a marriage between her and Neji, that way the family would be reunited. Her and Neji would do anything to bring the family together but that. Its not like they did not try its that they had grown to more like brother and sister over the years. After Naruto found out he was furious, that was the first time he had made it to Hinata's window. He even snuck in, just to ask her if she loved Neji. Things had evened out a lot since then though.

She could barely keep up as Naruto ran past the gathering room. She had just enough time to glance at her father and see the disapproval on his face before they were out the door and to the festival.

Everything was beautiful, the colors, the music, the smiles on everyone's faces. They walked in the last bit of sunshine before dusk as the streets were beginning to be lit for the party. "Its beautiful." Hinata said looking around to all the shops on each side of the street. Vendors had set up stands with goods to sell, kids were running by with their komodos and masks on, random villagers were waving and saying hello to Naruto as they passed by.

"So what do you want to do first Hinata?" he asked as they reached the main street of the festival. She looked up to look around as Naruto looked at her. She was beautiful. Tall, slender, she was wearing a light blue komodo that brought out the light in her eyes perfectly. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. 'Why do I do this to myself?' he asked as he looked into her face. 'I'm Hokage; I can any women I want.' Then he felt a squeeze on his hand and noticed that she was looking right at him. 'But, she is the women I want.' He was wishing that she couldn't tell what he was thinking at that moment.

"Come on Naruto," she paused "is something wrong?" she asked in a quite voice.

"No No No nothing at all Hinata." He said starting to walk in the direction of a game stand.

"Step right up and win a price." The game stand owner yelled trying to bring customs. Naruto and Hinata happened to be right next to it when he did. "How about you Lord Hokage?" Naruto looked in direction. "ME?" "Yeah, step right up and win your lovly Lady a price." He said giving Hinata a wink. "Well, that is if you can?" he added smiling even bigger in Hinata's direction. Naruto looked at a blushing Hinata to the stand owner then back to Hinata. Then he quickly stepped in between the too.

"Of course I can do it, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, believe it!" he said grapping three rings that were lying in front of him. By now a small crowd was gathering to watch the Hokage. Since Naruto had become Hokage he had gotten really popular, especially with the girls. Before Hinata knew it she was surrounded by them. Naruto had just thrown his ninth ring and ordering more. Then the commits came. "Hokage your so cute." "Come on Hokage, you can do anything." " Yeah, go Lord Hokage."

Slowly Hinata looked around. Any of those girls could be with Naruto, they are all gorgeous and wouldn't waste no time in marrying the next Hokage. The only thing that was stopping any of them from getting close to Naruto was…HER. She had to admit they were always around each other, so when would he ever have a chance to meet someone, he would never tell her to leave him alone, he wasn't that kind of person. So, it was up to her to leave on her own. Without another thought she took a step back, then another and another until she was swallowed up by the crowd.

"Hey, I got one." Naruto yelled as the ring settled over a small black box with a small ring resting inside of it. The owner looked around and grabbed the tiny silver ring box and handed it to Naruto. "Yeah, hey Hinata I won this for…" he stopped mid sentence when he looked around he saw all the girls around him. He still wasn't quite uses to it, he went from being enored to being swooned over. He could have sworn every girl in the village was there, but Hinata. 'She was standing right there beside me.' He said looking over the crowd. Quickly he put the box in his pocket and scratched the back of his head. "Thanks for watching Ladies but, I have someone I have to find ok." He said disappearing in a flash of yellow.

She found her self walking away from the crowd as she entered to darker part of town. She could still hear the crowd and the laughing of the people in the background as she walked away from it. The streets were dark and getting darker as she made her way closer to the training grounds. Then all of a sudden something came out from behind a building and hit into her. She fell to the ground with a 'umph' looking up she saw, one of her students. "Sukimaru?" she said looking up at a red headed young boy. He was strong for his age and always curious. She had never seen his eyes due to the headband that always covered them. He was born blind but never let that bother him.

"Hinata-sensei? I am sorry, let me help you up." He said grabbing her hand and helping her to her feet.

"That's ok Sukimaru." She said with the same sweet voice she had always used with her students. She was determined never to scream or yell around her students or any child.

"Hinata-sensei the festival is that way." He said pointing towards the middle of town. He gave a small smirk. "I'm blind and even I can tell that." He added with a monaton voice. She smiled at the kid, a lot of people underestimate him, but she knew better. He was a lot smarter then he would let on.

"I know but I thought I would go for a walk that's all, why aren't you at the party?" she asked trying to change the subject.

"Hate parties, people, and just about everything else." He said leaning against a wall. In reality he was lying, he did like something, a lot, only problem was it was his sensei.

"Oh no Sukimaru, you must not think like that, it will be good for you to go to the festival and meet new people, and make friends." She said placing both of her heads on his shoulders. He was hoping the small blush on his cheeks wasn't visible in the dark, he never had gotten to see his sensei but, her voice was like the birds songs in the morning, and her behavior was gentle like the breeze that would wake him every day. He was in love and it sucked, for one he was 6 years younger then her, second she was his teacher and third she was in love with someone else.

"Sure" he said reluctantly as she released his shoulders and he started walking towards the noise. Then he turned back towards her. "Are you coming Sensei?"

"No, not right now. You go and have fun." She said turning and walking away.

Narutos pov

'Where is she?' Naruto thought as he jumped down from her balcony and landed in the Hyuga's back yard. 'She was standing beside me, then I throw the rings, then…' he was walking though the situation again. "Ahhh! Were did she go!" he yelled grabbing at his hat in frustration.

"What are you doing?" came a voice from the dark part of the grounds. He looked up to see Neji walking out of the shadows.

"Oh Hi Neji" he said regaining his composer. "I was just looking for Hinata."

"Didn't you storm out of here with her earlier this afternoon?" he asked standing straight before the Hokage.

"Yea, I did but…" he stopped and thought about what he was going to tell Neji, he didn't even know what happened. "…but I lost track of her." He said giving Neji a small smile.

"You lost her?" he said with a smirk.

"NO, I just lost track, its crowded and she just kinda vanished." He said looking down.

"You shouldn't worry about me cousin she is good at making her self invisible. That is why she makes and great ninja." He said starting to walk past Naruto.

"I know how good she is." He said walking away.

"Naruto," Neji said stopped him were he stood.

"Yeah."

"No disrespect, but your even more childish now then when we were genin." He said looking over his shoulder to the Hokage.

"WHAT!" Naruto said taking a step back.

"Just tell her your feeling and get it over with." He said bluntly.

"My feelings? But me and Hinata are friends."

"Do you think I am stupid Naruto?" he said turning to face him. "I have the Byakuganit gives me the ability to see chakra points yes but it also gives me the ability to see other things as well."

"Like what?" Naruto asked taking another step back.

"Like your heart picking up speed when ever you are around her, like your body heat raising when she steps into a room." He paused "but, even I fool could see the way you look at her to know that you are in love with her …" he turned and started to walk away as he finished his statement. "…Lord Hokage."

It was silent for a minute as the wind blows his hair. 'Was it that easy to notice?' Yeah, they acted like that around her father just to keep him guessing but, if what Neji said was true then wouldn't her father Hiashi be able to do it to. And maybe that was the reason he stopped trying to marry her off, because he could see that he really did want her. 'Yes, I love Hinata. I don't know when it happened but, somehow it did.'He said to himself. Then he stuck his hands inside of his pockets and starting walking. 'But does she love me.'

The night was cool and it held a since of quite as she sat near the middle stump on the training ground. She liked the quite, it was peaceful, she didn't have to prove anything here, she didn't have to act tough or pretend here, she didn't have to hide her true feeling here, the ones that she had to keep hidden away from everyone. The feeling she had towards her father, her sister, the ones toward her students, which she loved every much but was afraid to show. The ones that told her she was stupid for starting fake augments with Naruto get to find a way to not be with him. She hated her self for it, she started to notice how much it hurt when she wasn't around him, so she thought she could make him mad at her and he would be so mad at her he wouldn't come around anymore, knowing she couldn't pull her self away from him and she knew she couldn't tell him the truth that her loved him, that would ruin their friendship and she didn't want that. Yes, she had lied about every augment they had ever had. 'Why?' she asked her self. In the weird moments where it was just quite between them, she had told him it was because they had nothing in common, but actual those were the times when she had learned the most about him. Those were the moment she longed for, just to be with him and not have to say anything. She said that they were not mint to be together. That in her heart was the biggest lie there was. She wanted him like none other, but she wasn't what the new Lord Hokage needed. The Hokage needed someone strong, someone that had some ambition, something she could give back to the leaf village. She didn't believe she had any of that.

She sat there in the dark, just thinking. Then a breeze came out of no where and made her shiver. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared into the open field. Then without warning a white robe is placed over her shoulders. She looks up in surprise, to see non other then Naruto looking down at her.

"Naruto?!" she said in surprise.

"Hey, what are you doing out her? I been looking everywhere for you." He said with a touch of relieve in his voice at finding her.

"Why didn't you stay at the festival?" she asked a little shocked.

"What?" he asked like she was crazy. She bowed her head back down towards the ground. "You just disappear and I'm just support stay alone without you." He asked kneeling before her.

"No, you didn't have to be alone." She said looking up at him. "There were many people around you Naruto, a lot of girls that would have been pleased to be worth the sixth Hokage." His eyes got big for a second and without thinking, which is normal for him. He reaches out his hand and touches her check.

"I didn't want to be with any other girl, I wanted to go with you." He said flatly.

"Naruto," she said shyly as she touched the hand on her face.

"Why did you leave me?" he asked caressing her check with his thumb. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," she protected. "You need to find someone to be with you Naruto, someone you can love, someone that can help you." She said looking down again, this time with tears in her eyes, cause those words hurt so badly.

"I have found someone like that Hinata." He said tilting her head up, so her eyes were starring into his. "You." He said as he leaned in a pressed his lips to her soft ones. Her lips; they were so warm and soft. Then she gave a small moan, and that caused him to press a little harder. The kiss last mere seconds but, it felt like it could have lasted a life time. "I love you Hinata." He whispered into her ear as he leaned forward and took her into an embrace. She was stunned. After everything she had said, after all of the lies that she had told he wanted her.

"This is where you first actually talked to me Naruto." She said pulling back slowly. He just looked at her, he had just said he loved her and she said something like that.

"Yeah, right before the chunin exams."

"Do you know that is why I keep coming back here." She said looking into his eyes.

"You do?"

"All these years I keep coming here, to remember you Naruto. It was the first time you said that you like people like me. It was the first time I remembered you excepting me, as a friend." She said looking into those bright blue eyes. Then she pulled away and stood up standing right in front of the stump. "And a friend is all I can be to you Naruto." Naruto looked at her with wide eyes. She didn't love him. She wouldn't be with him. He had become Hokage, he had proven himself to the village, he had won back his friend Sasuke, befriended Gaara of the sand and Suna, succeed with peace between the nations, but lost the only thing that made him truly happy. She pulled away a quickly turned to leave when he heard a slight whisper come from her lips.

"I'm not what the Hokage needs." Before she could take a step she felt an arm wrap around her waist and push her back to the stomp. She was wide eyed to a moment until she looked at Naruto.

"Maybe you're not the strongest kunoichi in the village, maybe your not strong in diplomacy, or a strong speaker, but that doesn't mean your…" he paused. He couldn't believe she thought that it mattered how good she was at stuff.

"I'm not…?" she was silenced by a slightly augury Hokage starring at her.

"Yea, maybe you're not what the Hokage needs…" he said tilting his hat up and then looked down at her with a soft smile touching his lips. "…but you are what I need." Her breath was caught in her throat for a moment. He reached his hand in his pocket and pulled out the smell black box, opening he pulled out the small silver ring. It was only custom jewelry, but it was perfect for the moment. Picking up her hand he slipped it onto her left figure. She looked up at him and knew she couldn't lie anymore. She slowly reached one hand up and touched one side of his face. Drifting her light figures over his whisker marks lightly.

"I – I" she started to say but it came out a studded, she hadn't done that in a very long time, but nothing like this had happened before. He looked down and smiled at her. "I love you to Naruto." She said learning on her tippy toes and kissing him on the lips lightly. He smiled into the kiss and pushed her back into the stump and continued the kiss more deeply. She now knew what she wanted out of life, she wanted to be loved. And not by just anyone but by Naruto.