A tall blonde rubbed sleep from his eyes as he shuffled towards the incessant pounding on his apartment door. Stifling a yawn, he called in a raspy voice. "Alright, Alright! I'm comin'..."

Opening the door, a raven haired girl flew into him, causing him to lose his balance. Startled, he looked at her limp form siting in his lap, "Wha? Hin-Hinata?! What happened?"

"Naruto... He... My father..."

Blue eyes widened as he noticed there were tears streaming down her cheeks and her grabbed her shoulders, "What happened?! Did he do someth-!" His sentence cut short as he noticed the angry red mark across her cheek, his teeth setting as he seethed with anger. "Did he hit you?"

Lavender orbs closed and she nodded, holding back a sob. "He... He saw us earlier... When we were eating lunch..."

He wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. "Hinata... It's okay..." His hand worked it's way to stroke her head. "As long as you're here, he won't lay a finger on you. I swear it."

The kunoichi sniffed loudly, her body wracking with fresh sobs, burying her face into his chest. "Naruto..."

"Shh... It's alright." He cradled the girl in his arms, slowly rocking back and forth as she cried herself to sleep.

Satisfied that she was asleep, he slowly lifted them off of the floor, taking care not to let her head drop. The ninja walked to his bedroom, gently laying her on the bed and draping the covers over her. He placed a kiss on her forehead before walking to his fridge to get a drink. Cracking open the can of juice, he glanced at the kitchen clock. "1:30 in the morning..."

His eyes hardened. "That asshole. He had absolutely no right to hit her." He growled and crushed the now empty can, "He'll never lay his hands on her again. Not as long as I'm alive."

The whiskered man glanced at the can before throwing it into his garbage and shuffling back towards his bed. He lifted the covers and slid in next to the sleeping girl, draping his arm around her waist in a protective embrace.

The morning rays forced the Hyuuga heiress to open her eyes, turning her head and groaning at the pain the sudden flash brought her. Her pale orbs drifted to the man next to her. He looked so peaceful, despite her rude awaking she gave him earlier. She rolled her body to face him, the hand around her waist not moving an inch. She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, enjoying the warmth that radiated off of his bare chest before he nuzzled back.

"Mm. Mornin' Hina." The hand around her waist reached up to bush the mark on her cheek.

"What do you want for breakfast? I've got some eggs, bacon, lot's of stuff."

The byakugan wielder smiled at the grin that followed his question, gently bringing her lips to his. "Whatever you want."

"I guess it's a surprise, then."

She watched him plant a kiss on her forehead before removing himself from the blankets. Her eyes trailed his shirtless form as every muscle seemed to flex when he raised his hands to the ceiling, a satisfied grunt spilling from his lips as a joint popped somewhere.

"Naruto, I'm going to borrow some clothes and take a shower."

He waved his hand at his dresser, "Take what you want. I should be done with breakfast when you get out."

Emerging from the bathroom in the black t-shirt and blue boxers she borrowed, her attention was drawn to her lover cracking the eggs into a pan. She crept up behind him, snaking her arms around his waist and pushing her forehead into his back. "Thank you for letting me stay last night..."

"Hina... You can stay whenever you want."

Her arms tightened, "But I ended up waking you up..."

He scooped the finished eggs onto two plates before spinning around. "Hinata... He hit you. You had every right to come to me." He pulled her into a tight hug, "I'm your boyfriend, there was nothing wrong with coming here."

"Thank you, Naruto..." She backed up enough to give him a chaste kiss. "I love you so much..."

"I know." He grinned, "Now let's eat before it gets cold."

Their peaceful breakfast was interrupted as his apartment door flew off of its hinges, slamming against the wall on the other side of the room. "Naruto Uzumaki!"

The man in question jumped upright and growled, moving to shield the woman clutching his arm. Her eyes showed fear, the primal emotion causing her entire body to quake.

The man who kicked his door open glanced in their direction. "Give her to me."

Whiskered cheeks shifted, revealing the snarl that graced his lips. "No way."

"Now, boy."

The blonde bared his teeth. "There is no way in hell she's going back there with your abusive ass."

"Boy," The man shook with rage. "She is my daughter. You have no say in what I do to her."

He felt her bury her face into his back. "She's not going back with you. Get out of my apartment."

The older male's cold gaze pierced his eyes. "Not without my flesh and blood."

Naruto's rage rolled off of him in waves, his blue eyes shifting into a dangerous red, a single black slit appearing. The whiskers on his cheeks frayed and grew longer. His nails lengthened. A dangerous growl emitted from his throat. "I said leave, Hiashi."

The Hyuuga leader scoffed. "As if some puny display of power would scare me. You're but a mere container for that demon. You can't control it."

"It," He spat the word, "has a name. Kurama."

Pupiless eyes narrowed and the man crouched down. "Don't make me use force."

"That'll be quite enough, Hiashi."

The man wheeled around, noticing Kakashi leaning against the broken door frame.

"Tch. Fine." He stopped in the doorway, eying the Uzumaki heir, "This isn't over. She will obey my wishes. She will obey the clan."

The sharingan user's visible eye followed the clan elder as he stormed down the hallway.

"Kakashi-sensei, how did you know to show up?"

The elite jounin shrugged. "I could feel a horrible killing intent from the street, so I followed it."

He glanced at the shaking girl behind his former pupil. "Are you alright, Hinata?"

She pulled her face away from Naruto's back, her eyes filled with tears. "I... Yes. Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

The silver haired man scanned the room lazily, "Does Kurenai know?"

She nodded and sniffed. "Ye-Yeah... She's been trying to stop him for years..." Her eyes hollowed, remembering the past, "He would stop for a little bit... But... Ever since Mother died..."

Naruto squeezed her shoulders in a tight hug. "He'll never touch you again, I swear my life on it."

The chidori master nodded. "I'll have some of the others keep an eye on him until he cools down." He smiled under the mask. "Why don't you two go and visit Lady Tsunade? See if she has any missions for you? I'll have your door fixed by then."

The busty blonde grinned at the young adult pair. "My favorite special jounin! And Naruto, too! Hello~"

Naruto rolled his eyes at the Fifth Hokage, "How drunk are you, Baa-chan?"

Her brow twitched. "Call me by my proper title, you insolent brat!"

The brat sighed, "Fine, Baa-san."

The empty sake bottle she had stashed under her desk made contact with his face. "Ho-Ka-Ge! Is it that hard of a thing to say!? Especially since you want the title so badly!"

He grimaced and rubbed where the container collided. It hurt, but he enjoyed pressing her buttons, oh so much. "Fine. Baa-kage."

"Why you little shi-!"

Hinata intervened before her lover got punched through the multitude of floors beneath them, "H-Hokage-sama, do you have any new missions?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah." She rummaged through a drawer behind her desk, selecting a neatly rolled scroll and setting it next to her sake cup. "It's an A-rank, so it might be a bit difficult."

Naruto's ears perked up, "Come on, aren't there any S-rank?"

The woman shook her head. "Ino and Chouji took it."

Naruto scowled. "Why did they get the awesome one?"

Tsunade pinched her brow. It was an obvious answer. "Because you lack the finesse to do an infiltration mission. The Yamanaka family has the best technique for this, so I sent her."

"Then why send that fatass with her?"

"Ino's a strong fighter, but the Mind-Transfer jutsu takes a lot of chakra, so I sent Chouji to be her guard. Plus, the two had experience working together."

"Then what's the mission for us?"

"Delivery of a scroll to a small damiyo by the Land of Tea."

"Whaaaaat?! Why such a boring mission?!"

"Oh!" Tsunade slammed her fist into her hand in thought. "I forgot. We received another one earlier today, it's an S-Rank."

"I accept."

"But you haven't even-"

"It's an S-Rank, I already accept."

She hid her grin at his determination. She knew him all too well.

"It's an escort mission."

"Who?"

"The heiress of a prominent clan. There seems to be some turmoil within the clan." The legendary sannin suddenly looked sober. "I know you can protect her."

The kyuubi vessel nodded solemnly, his eyes straying to the Hyuuga next to him. "Alright. I'll do it."

Hinata shifted her pale eyes down. "I'm sorry... This is my fault..."

The older woman shook her head and smiled gently, "No it's not. Not at all, Hinata."

"What... What will you do to him?" She asked.

"We won't make a move, unless he does something unbecoming of a Clan Elder."

"O-Okay. Where should we go?"

The older woman poured herself another cup of sake, "You should stay with your escort, Hinata."

The heiress looked down. "What about my things? They're all at the compound..."

"I was prepared for that." The Hokage raised her voice. "Enter, please."

The door clicked open and a tall man with long, black, flowing hair walked over with a backpack.

"Neji..."

Her cousin smiled. "Hinata-sama."

"You... You're helping me?"

"Of course. You are the heiress of our great clan, the next leader. More importantly you're my cousin. My family." He smiled again. "What kind of man would I be if I don't protect my own when something bad happens?"

She smiled back. "Thank you, Nii-san."

"Now, you should get going before the Elder gets wind of this."

Naruto stood and grasped the branch member's shoulder. "Neji... I owe you one."

The genius shook his head. "No, you don't. You made me the man I am today. You owe me nothing. If anything, I owe you."

The blonde nodded. "I think we'll be off then, Neji, Baa-kage." He spun on his heel and sprinted out the door, the pale girl right on his heels.

Neji stared at Tsunade, a puzzled expression written all over his face. "Baa-kage? What does he mean by that Hokage-sama?"

She waved her hand and scoffed. "It's something I've been trying to pound into his head since he was twelve... He doesn't seem to grasp the whole 'respect' thing..." She took a sip of her sake and smiled. "He's just like Jiraya in a way..."

"I need to return to my preparations. I apologize for leaving so abruptly, Hokage-sama."

"Not a problem, Neji. Just make sure you don't get too involved in this."

The man bowed before disappearing in a puff of smoke, "Yes, Ma'am."

The Fifth Hokage stared at her sake glass and sighed. "I think I'm going to have to do something I don't want to, Jiraya... But it is to protect those two kids." She smiled at the nearly empty glass, "Minato and Kushina definitely chose the right name from your book... He really is a gutsy ninja."

She downed the rest of the cup and stood, walking silently out of her office.