This one-shot takes place during Part II, sometime after the war, and is set in my Jump Stars universe.
I only own Koichi Kasuchi, who is older here than I usually write him.
-:-
"And why are we here again, Forehead? This better be important."
"Shut up, Ino-pig! It is important!"
"Would you two stop being troublesome for once?"
The two chunin kunoichi glared at the lazy ninja, though it didn't seem to faze him. Sakura then cleared her throat and went on to explain her plan to the group, which consisted of herself, Ino, Shikamaru, Sai, Choji, Kiba, Shino, Lee, and Tenten. The group was currently at Sakura's place as she had called them there to discuss something important.
"Okay, as we all know, Hinata had confessed her love to Naruto, but that baka has yet to respond to her in any way. I say we take things into our own hands and make him do something about it!" explained the cherry blossom.
Kiba was the first to speak up. "I don't know, Sakura. I mean, yeah, Hinata deserves an answer, but you think this is the way to get it?"
"Arf!" barked Akamaru, agreeing with his partner.
"Of course it is!" said Ino, getting in on the idea. "Like you said, Hinata deserves an answer. Plus they would look so cute together!"
The guys – except Lee, who was going on about Naruto and Hinata's flames of youth and Sai, who honestly had no idea what was going on – sweatdropped at Ino's gushing. Shino spoke up next.
"I do not think it is wise for us to meddle in Hinata and Naruto-san's lives like this."
Sakura waved him off. "Nonsense, Shino. Once we're done with Naruto, he and Hinata will be a happy couple."
"The only way Naruto and Hinata will be a happy couple is if you lot don't interfere," said a new voice.
The Konoha shinobi looked over at the now open window to see a young man of sixteen years. He had black hair tied into a small ponytail and spiky bangs. On the sides of his head, the hair was green in strips going straight starting from his temples and ended close to the crown in three spikes. His eyes were a bright emerald green. He wore a pair of black pants, black sneakers, and a dark green leather trench coat that had two tails like a tuxedo coat. Lastly, hanging on his side by a chain, which also acted as a belt, was a sword in a sheath.
"Koichi? What are you doing here?" asked Tenten.
"And what do you mean we shouldn't interfere?" demanded Sakura, narrowing her eyes at the swordsman.
Koichi shook his head in what could be seen as disappointment. "I finally get some free time back home and come to Konoha for a visit and what do I find? You lot sneaking and planning behind Naruto and Hinata's backs."
"But Koichi-san, we were just going to help them," said Lee.
"But Lee, it is considered unyouthful do it in this way," countered Koichi, knowing he got Lee to back out.
This was proven when Lee let out a gasp. "How did I not see this? For being unyouthful, I shall punish myself by doing five hundred laps around the village on my hands and if I cannot do that, then I shall add five hundred more!"
With that, Lee left the apartment to work on his training. Sakura glared at Koichi, who was giving a lizard-like grin back at her.
"Something wrong, Cherry Pie?" asked Koichi, the grin still on his face.
"If anyone is going to ruin the chances of Naruto and Hinata together, it would be you, Koichi," stated Sakura, her hands on her narrow hips.
"Doubtful. Unlike you, I actually know Naruto enough to know that what your doing will not work."
"I know Naruto! I'm his teammate after all!"
"Really now?" questioned Koichi with a smirk. The others just sat back and watched the exchange between the cherry blossom and the swordsman.
"Yes I do and I know that Naruto is a baka for ignoring Hinata for so long."
"Well damn. You must be right then. Although, aside from the war that had happened recently, have you ever considered the fact that maybe the reason Naruto never answered Hinata's confession is because he has absolutely no idea what love really is?"
That got a few raised eyebrows. Choji was the one to ask the question on everyone's minds. "What do you mean, Koichi?"
"Unlike most people in the village, hell, unlike most people in general, Naruto has been an orphan since birth for obvious reasons. Now, most people tend to get their first taste of love from whom else, but their parents. Of course Naruto never got to experience such love from his parents, nor from anyone else as a child, again, for obvious reasons.
And you, Sakura, expect him to just go to Hinata and confess an emotion he has no clue about. Clearly you know nothing about Naruto, 'cause if you did, you wouldn't make things worse for him."
The silence was thick as the group took in those words and Koichi could feel that they felt bad, Sakura more so than the others. Sai spoke up this time.
"Koichi-kun, is there something we can do that might work?"
The swordsman gave off his fanged grin. "Watch and learn, you lot."
-:-
At the Hyuga compound, Neji and Hinata were currently sparing each other.
"You have improved greatly since the war, Hinata-sama," spoke Neji.
"Arigatou, Neji-niisan," came the soft voice of the Hyuga princess.
"Of course she improved, Okama. Considering who her inspiration is there'd be no way she'd fall behind!"
Neji's eye twitched violently at the nickname, while Hinata became beet red at the slight mention of her favorite blond. Koichi dropped down onto the field and made his way over to the Hyuga siblings.
"What are you doing here, Kasuchi?" demanded Neji, glaring at the younger teen.
"Just here to talk to Hinata about Naruto."
That made Hinata's face become even redder.
"Wh-Why do you w-want to t-talk about N-Naruto-kun, K-Koichi-san?" asked the shy Hyuga.
"I hear you finally confessed to him, right?" questioned the swordsman with a smirk. His smirk widened when Hinata gave a small nod in confirmation. "Did he ever reply to your confession?"
A look of sadness crossed Hinata's face at the question. "N-No."
Koichi gave a nod. "Do you happen to know why he hasn't?"
More sadness crossed Hinata's face, but Koichi and Neji noticed that it was a different type of sadness. "Hai."
Neji spoke up next. "What reason could Naruto have for not answering you, Hinata-sama?"
Though reluctant, Hinata explained why, which happened to be pretty much the same thing Koichi explained to the others. This surprised Neji, while Koichi just had an eyebrow raised, though one could still see the surprise in his eyes. The young swordsman turned to Neji.
"How is it that you're the prodigy, when Hinata seems to be the one who can see more than any one else? Hell, no one else knew that about Naruto," said Koichi, giving sideways glare towards the tree, where the others were watching. He turned back to Hinata. "Tell me, Hinata, why haven't you confronted Naruto about this yourself?"
Hinata's eyes widened at the question. "I c-couldn't! Wh-What if he hates me b-because of this?"
"Remember, Hinata, you know Naruto more than anyone. Now, do you really think he'd hate you over this?" questioned Koichi, putting his hands in his pockets.
The lavender-eyed beauty thought about this. She felt foolish thinking Naruto would ever hate anyone, let alone her.
"No."
"Good! Now let us go off and find your favorite blond so you can talk to him!" exclaimed Koichi with a grin. He then turned and headed out of the compound.
Blushing, Hinata followed after the swordsman, leaving Neji behind. Neji, not wanting to leave Hinata alone with Koichi, went after them.
With the group of hiding shinobi, they too followed after.
-:-
At the newly established Uzumaki-Namikaze compound, another spar was taking place, this one between Naruto and Karin.
"Get ready, Neechan! I'm going all out!" exclaimed Naruto with his fox-like grin.
Karin gave a smirk as she activated her chakra scalpels. "Not like it will do any good, Otouto."
Naruto created a few Kage Bunshin and had them charge forward. Karin though was not worried as she fought them off with ease. Ever since she joined Konoha's ranks and started training under Tsunade, Karin became a force to be reckoned with.
The two Uzumaki were about to go at it again, when Karin suddenly stopped.
"Time-out, Naruto."
"Huh? What's wrong, Neechan?"
"It seems that we have some company."
Naruto turned around to see who was coming, but stiffened when he saw that it was Hinata. Putting the small feeling of fear away, Naruto put on a brave face and called out to the shy girl.
"Oi, Hinata-chan!"
"H-Hello, N-Naruto-kun."
"So…what's up?"
"Ano, I wanted t-to talk t-to you about wh-what happened."
Karin raised an eyebrow. "What happened? What's she talking about, Naruto?"
The fox shinobi scratched the back of his head in nervousness. If it was anyone else, they would have lied and tried to get out of this situation, but since this was Naruto, lying was out of the question. "Well, Hinata-chan kinda admitted that she loved me…and I kinda never gave her a response."
It was silent, but that didn't last long as Karin grabbed Naruto by the front of his jacket and started shaking him.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! You don't leave a girl hanging like that!" yelled the livid redhead as she shook her cousin. Hinata was a little scared seeing how angry Karin looked.
"Neechan! It's not like I wanted to leave Hinata-chan hanging like I did!"
"Then why did you do it?" demanded Karin with a growl.
Naruto gulped, nervous about what his cousin would do to him. "I just wasn't sure…on how to handle it."
Karin looked as if she didn't buy that answer. Luckily for Naruto, Hinata spoke up.
"It's because you d-don't exactly know wh-what love is, do you, N-Naruto-kun?"
The Uzumaki cousins looked at Hinata, making her nervous. Naruto was the first to break out of his stupor and spoke.
"Hai, that's pretty much the reason," said the blond, sounding ashamed to admit such a thing. "All my life I've wanted people to notice me and respect me because I was hated as a kid. As time went on, I gained that, but it still felt as if something was missing. It wasn't until Hinata-chan told me that she loved me right before fighting Pein did I realize that that was what was missing. Hinata-chan, did you know you were the first person to ever tell me those three words?"
"Naruto-kun," came the small voice of Hinata's. She had tears in her eyes, sad that Naruto went through so much.
"As I thought about what Hinata-chan said to me, I found that I really had no idea what love really was. I know I used to go after Sakura-chan's affection, but looking back, I realized that I just wanted the same kind of attention Sasuke-teme had back then. That couldn't have been real love."
Naruto stopped speaking when he felt arms wrap around his torso from behind. Looking back, he saw that it was Hinata.
"Gomen, Naruto-kun."
"Nani? Why are you apologizing, Hinata-chan? I'm the one who should be apologizing," said Naruto, turning around and wrapping his arms around the indigo-haired girl. "I made you wait for too long. I'm still unsure about the whole love subject, but maybe you could teach me?"
With a small smile, Hinata snuggled closer into Naruto's chest. "Of course, N-Naruto-kun."
"Yatta! Come on, we can go celebrate at Ichiraku's!" exclaimed Naruto, his fox-like grin back upon his face.
Karin rolled her eyes. "Can't you go one day without ramen?"
Naruto looked at her as if she was crazy. "Do you want me to starve?! Ramen is the food of the gods! …Although, Hinata-chan's cooking is pretty tasty as well, not that I think about it."
Hinata blushed at the compliment. "A-Arigatou, N-Naruto-kun."
"You're welcome, Hinata-chan! Come on, let's get going to Ichiraku's!"
Naruto was about to lead the way, but Hinata stopped him short. Turning back to her with a confused look, he awaited an explanation.
"Ano, b-before we go t-to Ichiraku's, I n-need to thank K-Koichi-san."
Naruto's eyes widened at that. "Koichi? Koichi's here? Wait, why would you need to thank him?"
"He's the one who h-helped me find the c-courage t-to t-talk to you," answered Hinata.
Nodding at that, Naruto turned back to the open space. "Oi, Koichi! I know you're there so come on out!"
Hearing the shout, said swordsman shimmered into sight, while Neji followed with a Shunshin.
Koichi gave off a lizard-like grin. "It's been a while, Naruto."
"So you talked Hinata into this?" questioned Naruto, getting right to the point.
"Had to be done. Either you or her had to be the one to end hasn't been going on between you two and Hinata was the best choice to do so," explained Koichi. He then gave shrug. "Besides, if I hadn't stepped in, Sakura would have since she was planning something behind your and Hinata's back."
That got everyone's attention. Karin was the first to speak and it didn't look like she was happy. "What exactly was she planning?"
"Not real sure, but it most likely going to fail. I wouldn't really trust her with romance advice," replied the lizard swordsman.
"And you could be trusted?" questioned Neji with a raised eyebrow.
"Who would you rather trust, a guy who actually knows what he's talking about or a girl who still has feelings for an international criminal who had gone batshit insane?" asked Koichi, referring to a certain Uchiha who was currently rotting in Konoha Prison.
Up in the trees, Sakura was struggling to get down there and pummel Koichi for that crack he made about her. Luckily for Koichi, Choji, Sai, and Tenten were holding Sakura back. Kiba and Ino were busy holding in their laughter, while Shikamaru found the whole thing troublesome. Shino couldn't help but agree with Shikamaru for once.
"…You make an excellent point," said Naruto after a small bout of silence.
"That I do," said Koichi, his grin back up. "Anyway, aren't you and Hinata supposed to be on a date right now?"
Naruto grinned his signature grin, while Hinata blushed heavily. Neji could only roll his eyes at the scene, while Karin let out a giggle.
"You know, you two really do look cute together," said the redhead.
Naruto blushed faintly at this. "You really think so, Neechan?"
"Of course I do, Otouto. I want you and Hinata to have a long and happy life together…and hopefully have a cute little blond-haired lavender-eyed baby or two that I'd get to spoil!" said Karin, gushing a bit at the end.
The three males could only sweatdrop, seeing the usually tomboyish Karin act so girly. Hinata almost fainted right there at the thought of having Naruto's children.
"I would hope that Naruto and Hinata-sama would not go that far so soon or else I will have to deal out some punishment," stated Neji, activating his Byakugan and locking eyes with Naruto. Naruto couldn't help but feel a little nervous as he felt the overprotective aura Neji was giving off.
"Neji, I swear that if you ruin any chance of me getting a niece or nephew, I will castrate you!" growled Karin, activating her chakra scalpels.
The elder Uzumaki girl locked eyes with the elder Hyuga boy, sparks flying as the glared at each other. Naruto and Hinata sweatdropped at seeing the "rivalry" between the two.
"You know, most in-laws don't fight until after the two families are united. At least wait until Naruto makes Hinata his mate to start fighting," stated Koichi.
That seemed to do it for Hinata as the world suddenly went black. Luckily, Naruto was able to catch her before she fell to the ground.
"Hinata-chan!"
Koichi couldn't help the chuckle that came out. "Kekeke, she'll be okay, Naruto. Just start heading to Ichiraku's and I'm sure she'll wake up by time you get there."
Nodding at that, Naruto lifted Hinata into his arms, carrying her bridal style and started making his way back into the village. Neji was about to follow, but was stopped by Karin.
"Leave them alone, Neji. You know Naruto won't do anything bad to Hinata."
"I know that!"
"The leave them alone!"
With a grimace, Neji relented.
Before anything else could be said, a feral screech echoed through the air and Sakura burst through the trees, making a beeline right to Koichi.
"And that's my cue to leave!" said the swordsman as he made a dash for it with the cherry blossom right on his tail.
Karin let out a sigh. "Think we should go and help him?"
Neji just turned and started walking away. "Frankly, I could care less about what Haruno-san does to Kasuchi."
FIN
-:-
That's the end of that. I mainly wrote this because I got tired of seeing similar one-shots from people who are impatient when it comes to Naruto confronting Hinata. This one-shot was more or less to show a real possibility of why he hasn't, aside from the more important things like the war.
Sorry about making Sakura a pseudo-antagonist in this, but since she's usually the main plotter in those one-shots I tire of seeing, she was the obvious choice.
Also had to take a shot at Sasuke, 'cause another thing I'm sick of seeing in fics is seeing Sasuke walking around the village as if he never did anything wrong. He gets no punishment; he's welcomed back with open arms. After all the shit he's done in the manga, there is no damn way he's going to get off scot-free, especially since he's an enemy of all of the Hidden Villages.