I read through this fic some days ago (I do it to remind myself of the plot) and found that, it didn't suck, but it wasn't that good either. So, here's the revised version of TTLoHH, and if you've already read the previous version, you don't have to read this one, since the plot is much the same. I have just added a couple of scenes, shortened some and elongated some others.

By the way, this fic is an AU and starts of during the filler arc, sometime after the bikouchuu mission, and then diverges to form a new story line.

Disclaimer: Guess what, I don't own it.

The Tragic Life of Hyuuga Hinata

By Ausir

Chapter 1

Hiashi Hyuga, undisputed leader of the Hyuga clan, was sitting in a meditative position in one of the countless rooms of the Hyuga mansion. Even though Hiashi was in his best years, he still knew that he wouldn't live forever. The reason for his deep pondering was therefore the very crucial question of who would succeed him once he was gone.

By tradition, Hinata, as his oldest child, would become head of the clan; however, Hiashi was strongly opposed to this. His eldest daughter was much too weak to in his opinion. Hinata's younger sister, Hanabi, would have become a far better leader, and their cousin Neji would have exceeded them both. Alas, there was no way to make any of those two his successor.

Yet suddenly he remembered a paragraph in the Hyuga law, which he had studied in his younger days. Hiashi immediately ordered a branch member to go and fetch the scroll in question; he had to make sure. But should the scroll contain what he remembered, it would solve all of his problems.

When the servant had returned with the scroll and excused himself, Hiashi began to furiously read through the ancient manuscript until he found what he sought.

'There it is!' he cheered 'the law which states that the husband of a female clan leader will automatically receive clan leadership once they are married!'

Hiashi smiled. This would indeed save the clan, and to think that some of the elders had wanted the law removed in favour of 'greater equality between the sexes', ha!

A few months ago, Hiashi would have had great doubts about being able to pull of getting the two cousins to exchange vows. Even though he could have bluntly forced them to, a certain amount of mutual feelings were required to produce the next generation. However, since Hinata and Neji had lately become visibly friendlier towards each other, that didn't bother the scheming clan head very much.

Since he had been reading well into the small hours of the night, Hiashi decided to postpone the announcement of Hinata and Neji's wedding to the next morning. Thus, the leader of the Hyuga clan went to bed and slept very well that night, content with the knowledge that he had been able to change the fate of his clan for the better.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

In another part of the Hyuga complex, the young Hinata was having one of her worst nightmares ever.

She dreamt of finding the courage to confess to 'Naruto-kun', a fairly reoccurring theme in her dreamscape. Yet, as she was about to, her dream shifted, and in place of Konoha's number one hyperactive ninja and the soft pink background was her cousin Neji surrounded by black smoke. He was wearing the same expression as he had during the chuunin exams, the one of loathing and murderous intent. Hinata spun around in search of Naruto or anyone else who could help her.

The only other person present however was her father, with the all too familiar grim expression on his face. He would call her a failure, a disgrace and a weakling, until the poor girl fell into tears. That was the point which dream-Neji decided to begin his merciless attack, and this time Hinata was all alone.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The following morning Hinata was sitting in her room doing a little early reading in a scroll concerning medical jutsu. She had become interested in the subject when she had seen Sakura perform a few and wanted to try it out, although it proved quite difficult. Hinata was so much into her reading that she became quite startled when she heard a soft knock on her door.

"Hinata-sama" came the voice of a servant "Your father wishes to have a talk with you" Hinata was immediately put on edge.

The last time her father had wanted to 'have a talk' he had chewed her out for her extremely poor performance during missions, openly asked all the kami why they had cursed him with such a weak daughter and proven his point by delivering a painful juuken to her chest. Hinata winced at the memory. That had not been one of her better days.

She put down the scroll on the floor and quickly got dressed. Once she was finished she began to walk towards her father's chamber with very hesitant steps. She stopped right in front of the door and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. It didn't work. After a few minutes of repeated deep-breaths she finally managed to muster what seemed to be enough courage and timidly announced her presence.

"F-father s-sent for m-me" She almost peed her pants when Hiashi told her she had permission to enter. Taking one last breath and bracing herself, she carefully opened the door and entered.

"Good morning Hinata, you look tired, did you not sleep well?" His unforeseen greeting nearly made Hinata faint from relief; he wouldn't ask her if she had slept well if he was going to chew her out, right?

"A-ano… I-I had a b-bad dream, F-father, I had problems sleeping afterwards" Hiashi looked as if he could have cared less.

"I see" he said simply in a tone hinting that he could have cared less "however you should try to sleep better from now on, for there will soon be a very important event which you need to attend" Hinata looked quizzical.

"E-event, Father?" she asked.

"Why of course" Hiashi said with the faintest smile "It wouldn't look good for a bride to look tired on her wedding, now, would it?"

"What do you mean Tousan?" The shock from knowing she was about to get married effectively rid her of her stuttering, at least temporarily.

"Don't worry my daughter; I would never let you marry a complete stranger" he said reassuringly "in fact, your husband- to-be is someone you have known for years and one I know you have grown to become very fond of" Hinata's heart skipped a beat.

'Could he be talking about Naruto-kun?' she thought.

"And I know as a fact that he likes you quite a bit also" Hiashi continued.

"P-please T-tousan, tell me who it is!" Hinata pleaded, unable to float around in her sea of uncertainty any longer. Once again Hiashi smiled.

"I would have thought you had worked that out already" he said, with his smile now growing mischievous "but if you really don't know then I guess I will have to tell you" he made a pause for dramatic effect.

"Your future husband will be…" Hinata held her breath "…your cousin, Neji-kun"

'Neji-niisan?' Hinata's mind was in shock. 'But… but he's my COUSIN! I can't marry him; he's like a brother to me!"

On the outside the young girl still looked calm and collected; however, her mind had by now fallen into complete chaos.

"It's Naruto-kun I love! Its HIM I want to marry, not Neji!" she had to make use of extreme self control not to break into tears then and there.

Hinata knew however that she wouldn't have any say in this matter and that arguing with her father would be a lost cause. After all, he did have the authority to make her marry whomever he saw fit. Hinata could feel the control of her unfazed façade beginning to crumble.

"M-may I be e-excused, T-tousan?" she asked. Hiashi seemed to think this over for a few seconds before he nodded.

Hinata thankfully got to her feet, surprised that they would still carry her, and with bow accompanied by a barely audible "E-excuse me", she left. She quickly walked back to her own room, and once she had closed the door behind her she fell down on the floor and began to cry her heart out.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Several hours later, the tears had run dry, though Hinata was still crying in her heart. She snuck out of the Hyuga mansion, unable to find peace within its confining walls, and into the main streets of Konohgakure. She wanted, no, needed someone to talk to. Sadly, her number of confidants was depressingly low, and she wouldn't resort to talking to any of the other Hyugas.

'They'd just be taking father's side on this' she thought grimly. 'Wait! What about Neji-niisan?' Hinata felt the cold hand of paranoia grabbing for her mind.

'He couldn't want this, right?' she franticly shook her head; trying to shake away the suspicions 'No of course not, he likes Tenten-san' Hinata knew this for a fact.

It had been quite a few weeks ago, Neji had been watching Hinata practice her Shugohakke, and suddenly he asked her what it felt like to be in love. Hinata had become so surprised that she lost her control of the chakra laser and almost struck herself down.

When Neji repeated his inquiry Hinata had told him, while stuttering and blushing furiously, of how she herself felt each time she thought about Naruto. After her rather messy explanation (she had jumped around from topic to topic and back again), Neji had closed his eyes and given a short nod.

"I see" he had said "I believe then that I might be in love with… Tenten" he had said the name with a slightly softer tone of voice.

Hinata had at first been greatly surprised by her cousin's sudden display of… well, emotion, but then she began to giggle. Her cousin had been a little confused by this, but when Hinata explained that they, in some respects, weren't really that different, Neji had smiled as well. The two had become closer friends after that small conversation. They had even taken up to giving each other advice on how to approach the ones who held their respective hearts. As a result, Hinata had also become good friends with Tenten.

Actually, when she recalled these events they gave Hinata an idea. Why couldn't she talk to Tenten? At least it would be worth a shot. Hinata tried to remember where Tenten lived and began to walk in that general direction.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"An arranged marriage, Hiashi-sama?" Neji gave his uncle an inquiring look. They were both sitting on the floor in Hiashi's chambers, where Neji had been called a few minutes prior. The Hyuga clan leader nodded solemnly.

"Yes, Neji-kun"

"May I ask with whom?" Neji ventured. Hiashi gave a smile which to Neji seemed more intimidating than reassuring.

"Your bride shall be my eldest daughter, Hinata" Neji flinched unnoticeably.

"With all due respect, Hiashi-sama, I am not sure that would be one of the best decisions" Hiashi's smile faded.

"Why is that, Neji-kun?" Even though Hiashi's byakugan wasn't activated, Neji could feel his eyes prying into his very soul. Neji stood his ground.

"It would not be proper for a branch family member to marry one from the main family, Hiashi-sama" Hiashi seemed to think this over.

"Besides" Neji continued "I am sure Hinata–sama would have objections of her own against us exchanging vows" By the mentioning of his eldest daughter, the clan leader's face darkened considerably.

"I am quite confident that there will be no objections from my daughter" he said in a voice which implied that if there where objections, they would be duly ignored. Then Hiashi's smile returned.

"Why so hesitant, Neji-kun" he asked "You care for Hinata, I know as much"

"Yes, but…" 'Just not like THAT' His uncle continued to smile.

"And this arrangement would be most favourable for you, Neji-kun" Hiashi had decided to play his trump card.

"Favorable?" Neji was clearly confused.

"Oh, yes, Neji-kun. Not only would you eventually succeed me as leader of the Hyuga clan, but you would also be considered a main family member, in other words…" Hiashi left the implications hanging.

'I would be… free' the offer hung like a golden apple before Neji's inner eyes.

Even though Neji was far better at controlling his thoughts than his cousin, inner turmoil was still beginning to brew. Could he betray Hinata-sama like that, betray her trust in him, her love for Naruto. Betray her… and Tenten… just to be rid of that cursed seal?

"I will give you time to consider this, Neji-kun" Hiashi graciously offered, he knew that with time, the prospect of ridding himself of the seal would drive Neji to make the right decision.

The young genius nodded, got to his feet and after giving his clan leader a deep bow, went out of the room.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Neji quickly walked towards the gardens of the Hyuga mansion to find a place to sort his mind out. He eventually found a nice spot near a small water spring, and went to sit down in a tailoring position. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

'I can't believe I'm actually considering this' he thought in self disgust 'You pulled a really dirty trick back there, dear uncle'

It made Neji furious that his uncle had tried to manipulate him so. Indeed if it hadn't been for Hiashi's power over him, Neji would probably have punched the clan leader in the face. And even if he was quite unable to beat his leader into changing opinion, Neji would try his best to get the arrangement abolished.

'Hinata-sama is my future clan leader, and my friend, I could never let her life be ruined in such a way' he sighed 'And I couldn't bare to never get to be with Tenten either'

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

After about forty minutes of searching and, occasionally, asking the way, Hinata now stood in front of Tenten's door. She timidly knocked a few times. The door was shortly opened by a middle aged lady in a kimono and buns on her head similar to Tenten's. Hinata's courage faltered a little.

"Yes, what may I help you with?" the lady asked, smiling nicely at Hinata.

"A-ano, excuse me b-but I was w-wondering if T-tenten is home?" The lady, presumably Tenten's mother, shock her head

"I'm sorry, dear, she left on a mission some days ago, and I can't really tell when she's coming back"

"I see…" Hinata hung her head in resignation.

"Oh, but don't worry, dear" the nice lady comforted her "I'm sure she'll be back in a few weeks"

'Hooray, she'd be just in time for the ceremony then' Hinata thought glumly.

"It doesn't matter" the lavender eyed girl said "I'm sorry I disturbed you"

Hinata gave the lady a quick bow and began to walk away. Tenten's mother watched as the young Hyuga girl disappeared down the street.

'Such a sweet child' she thought 'I wonder what could be bothering her so'

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Shizune was walking through the corridors of the Hokage's mansion towards Tsunade's office carrying a fresh pile of forms and mission requests. Yesterday she had spotted a bare spot on Tsunade's desk.

'She must've finally begun to take some responsibility for her work' she thought happily.

For Shizune, this meant that the Hokage wouldn't force her already over worked attendant to do the work for her. When said attendant neared the door to her boss' office, she heard that the Fifth was arguing furiously with another all too familiar voice, namely the one belonging to Konoha's number one hyperactive ninja. The two were in fact so loud that Shizune, and probably half of the village as well, was able to overhear the exchange.

"Ne, ne, Tsunade-obaachan, do you have any missions for me yet!"

"For the last time, Naruto, NO!" Tsunade roared "Why don't you go of and train or something!" Shizune let out a heavy sigh.

'Those two are like brother and sister' she thought.

"Awww, but it's no fun training all alone, baachan" Naruto whined.

"I don't care! Just leave me alone! And stop calling me baachan!"

"Fine then, I'll go over to old man Ichiruka's"

The door opened and slightly grumpy Naruto walked out past Shizune towards the stairs leading down, his hands laid to rest behind his neck. Shizune carefully ventured a peak into her boss' office.

"Shizune!" She stepped to attention. Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples "I need a drink, do some paperwork for me, please while I go and fetch some sake" The Hokage stepped out, leaving her assistant with the mountain of paperwork.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

After her failure to find and talk to Tenten, Hinata returned to her brooding and aimless walking. Beside the bun-haired girl, she didn't really know any of the other girls, Sakura and Ino, other than what was written in the information sheets. No, she couldn't talk to any of them, but who else was there? The answer came down as suddenly and unexpected as lightning from a clear sky.

'Kurenai-sensei!'

Hinata mentally kicked herself for not thinking of her team leader from the beginning. Kurenai knew of Hinata's crush on Naruto and would surely be able to give her some advice. Indeed, the red eyed jounin had often tried to encourage Hinata to tell the blonde nin about her feelings. Filled with new hope Hinata headed for the training grounds. She knew that Kurenai would probably be there with Shino and Kiba.

This time around, Hinata found who she was looking for. Kurenai was presently occupied with overseeing a sparring taijutsu match between her two other pupils. Hinata politely stood and watched as her team mates had their mock battle. Initially, Kiba and Shino's fight was fairly even; however, once Kiba noticed Hinata's presence, his moves became slightly more exaggerated and aggressive. This ultimately led him to defeat by the hands of the cool and calculating Shino.

"What happened Kiba?" Kurenai scolded him "You were doing just fine until just a minute ago!" Kiba rubbed his neck in embarrassment

"I, um… well… the thing is…" his eyes only flickered once in Hinata's direction.

"He got distracted" Shino stated laconically. No-one knew except him, but Shino's lips had curled ever so slightly upwards, forming a knowing smile hidden beneath his coat. Kurenai sighed and rubbed her temples

"Kiba, had this been a real fight, you would have been dead by now, you need to focus more" She turned to Hinata, as if noticing her just then.

"Hi, Hinata, here to train?" she chirped happily.

"Um, no" Hinata began to pock her index fingers together in her standard fidgeting stance "a-actually I was wondering if I c-could t-talk to you a-about something, sensei"

"Hmm? Talk about what, Hinata?" Hinata blushed and shoot a glance at her team mates.

"A-ano… I'd rather t-talk to you alone, s-sensei" there was a pleading look in her lavender eyes. Kurenai got the hint and nodded

"Ok, just a sec Hinata" she turned to Kiba and Shino.

"You two can train for yourselves while I talk with Hinata" Both teens nodded in acknowledgement.

While Kiba and Shino began to viciously attack a party of unsuspecting logs and target marks, Kurenai led Hinata a bit into the forest. When they were sure that they could talk privately, Kurenai spoke.

"So, Hinata, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Since it was only the two, Hinata seemed to be a little less nervous, although it wasn't much.

"Sensei, I…" she inhaled deeply "…I'm… g-getting married" Kurenai totally misunderstood.

"Oh, Hinata, that's wonderful!" Kurenai gave her pupil a big hug "It's with Naruto, isn't it? So you finally confessed! Although I think it's to rush things a bit, and you're only thirteen but…" She stopped when she heard Hinata sniffling.

"Hinata? What's the matter? Shouldn't you be happy you're getting married?" by those words Hinata wailed as if she had been mortally wounded and fell to the ground, crying even more than she had that morning.

"It's… It's not Naruto I'm marrying!" she howled "f-father h-has arranged a-a marriage… with Neji!

Kurenai had become as shocked by the news as she was by Hinata's sudden outburst. She soon found herself however and went down on her knees to try to comfort her crying pupil. She let Hinata cry onto her lap while she stroked her blue hair and made soothing sounds. Hinata's howls slowly quieted down into sobs and she lifted her tear streaked face to look at her teacher.

"I… I f-feel s-so helpless" she said "a-at this rate… I would n-n-never be able to t-tell N-naruto-kun h-how I f-feel about him" Once again she collapsed into her sensei's lap.

"What are you going to do about it?" Kurenai asked and stood up. Hinata's sniffling stopped and the blue haired girl gave her teacher a bewildered look.

"W-what do you mean, sensei?" she asked, still sitting on the forest floor. Hinata's meek inquiry made the red eyed woman angry.

"Dammit Hinata!" she shouted "You're not just going to let this happen are you?"

"B-but what c-could I d-do, sensei?" Hinata answered with her eyes downcast. Kurenai's voice became a little less stern.

"The first thing you should do is what you should have done long ago, just tell Naruto about how you feel, if you don't, you'll regret it for the rest of your life"

"I-I'll try, s-sensei…"

"Promise?" Kurenai gave her pupil an inquiring look.

"I p-promise" Hinata said. Satisfied by the answer, her teacher nodded.

"Good, then I'll go talk to Hokage-sama, she might be able to convince your father to cancel the marriage" Hinata began to shed new tears, this time out of joy.

"Thank you, sensei!"

Kurenai smiled "Now, now, stop crying, Hinata, go wash your face and start looking for Naruto" Hinata wiped away the last tears on her face and nodded.

"H-hai!" she went to do what her teacher had said.

Kurenai watched as her pupil disappeared towards the village.

'Just be honest, Hinata, be honest and everything will work out all right'

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Hinata had gone searching for a nearby creek to wash her face in. She didn't want to go home because she was afraid that her father might suspect something. The creek had been easy to find and she felt quite refreshed after splashing its cool water in her face. Finding Naruto however, proved to be a lot harder for. Hinata had checked Ichiruka twice, even been over at Naruto's apartment and knocked on his door, although she had almost fainted when she did. But she seemed to be completely out of luck. Hinata was about to give up when she heard a voice from right behind her.

"Hey, Hinata!"

She yelped and jumped several feet straight into the air. She soon recognised the voice however and turned around to see: "N-naruto-kun!"

"Ah, sorry if I scared you Hinata!" The blonde ninja gave her a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head apologetically.

"No, i-it's o-okay, N-naruto-kun" Naruto seemed to come to think of something.

"Say, are you doing anything?" he asked.

"Ah, um, no, I don't" she said shyly while pocking her fingers together 'Stop being so nervous already!' she scolded herself.

"Great! Would you like to join me then?" Naruto flashed his foxy grin.

"Huh?" Hinata blinked 'Wait, did he just ask me what I think he asked?'

"Would you like to train with me? No-one else seems to have any time" Hinata deflated a bit.

'Oh, he didn't ask me out then…' she mentally kicked herself 'stop moping Hinata! You should be able to talk to him while we train'

Seeing as Hinata seemed to be a bit unsure, Naruto's smile faded into a slightly disappointed one, since he thought she was being reluctant.

"Ah, it's okay if you don't feel up to it, Hinata, I'll just go training by myself" Naruto was used to doing that, although he didn't like it all that much. It reminded him of when he barely had any friends at all. Naruto turned to leave.

That immediately brought Hinata back from her thoughts.

"W-wait, Naruto-kun… um… I r-really would like to t-train with you!" Naruto lit up like the sun.

"Great! Let's go then!" the blonde nin grabbed Hinata's arm and began to run towards the training grounds.

'Naruto-kun is holding me!' Hinata thought blissfully as she tried to keep up while desperately fighting against the urge to faint. Even though Naruto only held her by her arm Hinata couldn't be happier.

Unnoticed by both teens, were a pair of cold white eyes, the property of a little girl with long black hair. They followed the duo until they came out of sight, then they and their owner vanished into the shadows.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Hinata had intended to confess to Naruto while they were training, however this proved quite impossible. The main reason was that there simply wasn't any time; Naruto really deserved the title of number one hyperactive ninja. As soon as they were done with kunai throwing, Naruto wanted to go on with taijutsu training, and once they were done with that he wanted to train chakra control. Hinata became quite dizzy from Naruto's seemingly endless energy.

'Naruto-kun has got really great stamina' she thought admiringly, and instantly blushed when the thought led her into some steamy fantasies. 'Kyaaaaa! Stop thinking like that!' she ordered herself

"Hm, Hinata?" Naruto said "Is something wrong? You look a little hot" The blonde nin walked up to Hinata and put his hand on her forehead.

"Ah, n-no" Hinata stammered "I'm just a little tired"

"Already?" Naruto looked quite incredulous, then he flashed a grin "Say, let's go to Ichiruka's, I always get more energy after eating some ramen" Hinata nearly fainted.

'Oh, kami! It's like he's asking me out to dinner!' she thought 'Maybe I could make this into a date with Naruto-kun!'

"T-that sounds n-nice" Hinata answered with yet another blush.

"Yatta, ramen!" Naruto exclaimed as they began their walk towards the ramen stand.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Even if it was quite good, Hinata couldn't eat more than one bowl of ramen. However, as per usual, Naruto downed one after another. Hinata watched in fascination, vaguely wondering where it all went after passing through his mouth. When, after some time, Naruto too was finished and they had gone out on the street again, Hinata tried to muster courage to talk to him.

"A-ano, N-naruto-kun…" she tried.

Naruto, quite oblivious, just took a look at the darkening sky.

"Ne, Hinata, it's getting kinda late" he said matter-of-factly "I don't think we're able to train anymore so let's call it a day" Naruto gave the indigo eyed girl a wave and started walking home.

"Um, wait, Naruto-kun!" Hinata called after him. Naruto turned around looking a bit perplexed.

"Eh, what is it?" he asked. Hinata began to pock her fingers together.

"Um… c-could you w-walk me h-home? She asked shyly.

"Hm? Eh, sure, why not" Naruto said with a shrug.

They walked in silence towards the Hyuga mansion, Hinata quite reluctantly. She was ransacking her mind for a way to start a conversation, but seemed quite unable too. Unintentionally, Naruto provided her with a topic.

"Man I hope Tsunade-obaachan will give me a mission to go looking for Sasuke soon" he whined. That gave Hinata an idea.

"Um, Naruto-kun…" she began. Naruto turned to look at her.

"Hm?" he said.

"D-do you… do you r-remember" Hinata said "that night… w-when we were searching f-for the b-bikouchuu and y-you t-thought you s-saw… s-someone?" Naruto took a while to remember, but finally it all came back to him.

"Oh, yeah, I saw this ultra cute girl who was dancing naked under a waterfall" Hinata blushed a bright red when he reminded her that he'd seen her naked "why do you ask?"

"W-well, N-naruto-kun, that girl…" She took a deep breath "… in fact… t-that wa-wa-was" She stuttered so fiercely now that she was barely able to speak

'I can't do this!' she thought 'I'm gonna faint, I'm gonna faint, I'm gonna…NO! I can't faint now, I HAVE to say it!' She took one final deep breath.

"T-that w-was… me, Naruto-kun, under the waterfall" Naruto was dumbstruck.

"That was you? No way!" Hinata had gained some courage now, and was reducing the space between them, inch by inch.

"I-its true Naruto-kun, I'm the 'ultra cute' girl you saw" Their faces were so close now, their noses were almost touching. Hinata locked with her gaze the boy who for so long had been the object of her admiration and longing.

"I… I…love you Naruto" she finally said.

'She loves me?' Naruto thought incredulously.

Being ignored by most of the village for his whole life, the blonde nin had never really believed that he would ever hear those words from anyone. He had liked Sakura a lot and had always tried to make her like him in turn, but she never seemed to care. But now Hinata was proclaiming her love to him, and Naruto was unable to even think of a way to answer.

"I have for such a long time" Hinata continued "… but I never thought you would notice me" her eyes began to moisten.

Naruto felt ashamed and disgusted of his own inability to see the blue haired girl's affection of him until now. He had always felt sorry for himself because he thought no one cared about him, and now he found out that he had been doing the same thing to poor Hinata.

The moon had risen and cast its glow over the sleeping village. The pure light was reflected by Hinata's skin, giving her an ethereal glow, and her eyes, now similar to the moon's reflection in two ponds of crystalline water. Naruto looked into Hinata's lavender coloured eyes.

'She's really cute like this' he thought 'I can't believe I ever thought she was weird'

"Hinata" he said with a small smile "can you ever forgive me for being so stupid?" Hinata smiled back at him.

"I-I forgive you Naruto-kun, if you forgive me for never being able to tell you how I felt"

Then, in response to a feeling grown from the two's life long quest to feel needed, and their lips began to brush tenderly against each other. The kiss deepened, Hinata placed her hands on Narutos chest and Naruto swept his arms around her and pulled her close. They continued until all they could feel were each other, as if everything else had ceased to exist. A single tear fell down Hinata's cheek, she was truly happy.

Alas, that happiness was not meant to last. The sound of several pairs of feet landing around them brought the two newly found lovers back to reality. They were surrounded by five ANBU, all of whom were pointing their weapons against Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" a wolf masked one barked "You are hereby under arrest for abducting Hyuga Hinata, and, by request from Hiashi-sama, you will be brought back to the Hyuga mansion for imprisonment and later execution!"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

To be continued…

AN: Now, I tried to ease the pace on this fic, although I'm not sure if it worked.

Also, if you didn't catch it, the girl with white eyes who spied on Hinata and Naruto was Hanabi, and you'll get the explanation to her spying and the ANBU arrest in the next chapter.

Oh and please review and tell me what you think, even if you read the previous version you can drop a line to tell me if I made a better job this time.

Hmm…I think that's about it, well see y'all later!

Sincerely: Ausir