Hello everyone! I decided to re-upload all the chapters, because of the typos and mistakes. I'm sure there are still some in them, but I just couldn't leave the ones that I discovered. I will try to be more careful in the future. The only parts I edited are strictly the chapters, the answers to the reviews and such were left the same, because when I posted those were relevant the way they are. I don't think it would be right to alter them.

Hello readers! This is my second fanfic, and first I'd like to express my gratitude toward the persons who not just read my first fic, More than I thought, but told/showed me how much they liked it by writing a review and/or favouriting it (and even following me ^_^).

Beth Sanchez

Atykka

augistina

Dotch13

mythologyfreakgirl

Thank you so much! Also, I'm so sorry Beth, but More than I thought is a one-shot. If I was diversionary because of my wrongly choosen words, I'm very sorry. I can only hope that I will be able to propitiate you with this new story. This will be multy-chapter ^_^.

About the story: Yes, said kunoichi is Hinata, the Hokage is Kakashi they will be the main pair I will concentrate on. They are older than they are in the manga, so you may find them a little OOC, even if I try to evade it. The story isn't exactly Canon, but it's more close to it than an AU. That's because this is a romantic comedy, so I found it inappropriate to write something like this after the big war with Madara and Kaguya. So every important part is the same as in the manga, except the war. That traumatic experience would make my story strange, so in this fanfiction that never happened. And sorry about Raidou, but someone had to go.

Sadly English is still not my native language, so there will be some typo and maybe you will find some expressions funny, but I hope you will like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Leaves in the Wind

Chapter 1

"Congratulations Hinata! From today onwards, you are my bodyguard! Yoroshku (1)" The (presumably) smiling Hokage reached a scroll to the (obviously) smiling Hinata, which contained the detailes of her new assignement.

Two years ago

Hinata was looking at Naruto, not knowing what to say. Actually, she wasn't even sure what to feel. The seventeen years old blond was simply standing before her, showing nothing but his back.

Recently one slight difference was discoverable in Sakura. The pink-haired girl was still loud and gave hard punches to the blond Uzumaki, but the way she looked at the Hokage-aspirant held more light. Hinata noticed it. Everyone noticed it.

Naruto noticed it.

And of course, Hinata noticed this too.

So the young kunoichi had known the time for her rejection was coming. And now she was standing and waiting, her back straight, respiration controlled. She was a Hyuuga, she wasn't going to run away from something she knew was impossible to escape from. She was clinging to her dignity, reminding of a martyr who was waiting for her damning in a show trial.

A big part of her didn't want to hear it, desperately holding to the girlish fantasy she was nurturing for years now. But at the same time a small part of her wanted the boy to finally say it, so she could let it go, take a step toward a little less pink but at least realistic future. So she could have a chance to gain true happiness.

Actually, this small and wise part of Hinata started to get impatient since Naruto was doing nothing but fidgeting for quite some time now. Hinata was about to ask him if everything was okay, but before she could say anything Naruto turned around.

He was crying like a four year old who was bereft of his favourite candy by a big bully.

"Hina … hic … I'msor … hic … sorr … sorry … I'mso … I'm so sorry, Hinata!" Naruto's face was a mess, and he was wailing so much that (except his yell) it was really hard to understand him.

It's wonderful how a person becomes the strong and sure one when the other shows weakness and insecurity. Hinata did not shed a single tear, only showed Naruto a beautiful and gentle smile. It couldn't be helped, the boy was simply endearing. He was crying and hurting because she was important, because she didn't deserve it, and because despite of him not wanting to cause pain it was unavoidable.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun."

Hearing that the blond couldn't hold back and suddenly hugged the girl who had a heart of gold. He again succesfully made the impossible possible: he was crying harder then before. Hinata was stroking his back telling him she wasn't angry, that she knew, that she accepted.

Fate can be quite ironic, making the rejected girl console the boy who rejected her. In this overwhelming moment Hinata couldn't decide if she should cry too or just laugh. So she did both.

In the future, when she thinks back of these moments, she will only laugh with a warm and fuzzy feeling in her chest, but right now it was still painful, which justified the small salty drops slowly sliding down on her porcelan cheeks.

One month before Hinata's new assignment

"Hinata, are you going to train?" Hyuuga Hiashi asked his 20 years old daughter (2). They just had lunch, and Hinata was about to go to the river and waterfall nearby. In the afternoons she always trained with the help of water. She also used it as an instrument in meditating, calming her soul after the workout.

"I was planning, yes. Or do you need me for something, Otou-sama?"

Hiashi was truly proud of Hinata, and their father-doughter relationship was never better. (Of course, Hiashi didn't hug her, used petnames, gave kisses like 'silly' or 'doting' parenst, but the air between Hinata and her father radiated warmth and calmness). When Hanabi showed potential to be a strong leader with firm hands, the pressure on Hinata was lifted and she got the opportunity to take things on her own pace. Her gentle nature didn't make her a good leader-material, but at the same time it will make her the perfect advisor and right-hand of Hanabi. Hiashi thought as he drew out something from his haori.

"It's just I think it's time to give you this scroll."

Hinata has become a jounin a month ago. During the test she had shown everyone how strong she was. She had mastered many powerful techniques, but of course that still wouldn't have been enough. Hinata knew how and when to use them, and even after her success, she was still eager to learn and make further progress. She reached for the scroll curiosity shining in her eyes, the only evidence of her excitement. It wasn't like she wanted feign disinterest, but she certainly couldn't behave like a child before her father.

"What do you mean, Otou-sama?"

"You know that the Hyuuga clan has a summoning contract with the Hedgehogs (3). Of course, only the members who had signed a contract with them are able to summon them. The scroll you are holding in your hand explains the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (4) and allows you a one-time summoning, so you can make a contract too. Study it carefully before you use it."

"Thank you, Otou-sama!" Said Hinata with no-longer-suppressed enthusiasm, picked her tools and was about to fly to the river when her father stopped her to gave her some advice.

"Hinata, before you go …"

Some hours later Hinata felt confident enough to use the scroll. She had spent her time with training as every other day, after that she'd learned everything the long paper her father gave her could offer. The sun was still up, and the only thing remained was the actual summoning and contract-signing. She followed the instructions of the scroll flawlessly, and with a puff of smoke appeared an old granny-looking hedgehog.

"What is it?" The little old hedgehog's tone hid nothing of her displeasure.

Did I wake her up? The old hedgehog was wearing something that looked like pyjamas, adding to that her grousing that could have been the best assumption. Only it was somewhat contradictory that she weared a pair of shoes that looked dangerously like sneakers. For what Hinata knew, this get-up could be fashionable by hedgehog-standards.

"Good evening! I'm Hyuuga Hinata, Hyuuga Hiashi's eldest doughter. My father …"

"I see, I see. You want to sign a contract with us hedgehogs. Just you know, little lass, you may got the approval of your daddy, but that doesn't mean anything. So, tell me why should we make a contract with you?"

After the granny-hedgehogs rude interruption, Hinata had to tell her status, her techniques, she even had to show the more powerful ones. She was tired and the sun was almost touching the horizon, so she wanted to somehow stop the display. She remembered her father's words. "Hinata, before you go, I'd like to tell you two things. First: take this bottle applewine with you and offer the hedgehog a cup of it".

"These were the more powerful techniques that were developed by me. I think the Kuchiyose no Jutsu would be a real enrichment next to these. If you think the same and found me acceptable, then we could sign the contract and celebrate it. As it's traditional in the Hyuuga clan, I brought a bottle of our best wines." If someone listened attentively would have noticed how hard Hinata tried to end the one-performer-show, but the old hedgehog's attention was focused too much on the last sentence.

"Oooh, Hinata-san!"

Hinata-san? Last time I was a 'little lass'.

The old little hedgehog's voice became musical, even her face became less wrinkled, eyes (which were only slits before) more open, her pose less rigid. She was now the personalization of friendliness.

"Why didn't you say it sooner? Hiashi-sama was right, your strenght is truly creditable."

Things sure become fast. Hinata blinked and the huge scroll with names and bloody fingerprints was located before her. Just where has she kept it? She looked at the granny, who looked back at Hinata eagerly. Does she like applewine that much? She reminds me of Tsunade-sama. She wrote down her name and sealed the contract with her fingerprints just like her ancestors. When she was done, she looked at it with wonder: her neat writing was next to her fathers.

But she couldn't enjoy the moment, because the old hedgehog looked more and more like an impatient child. Hinata was kind of afraid that she would pounce on her if she didn't give her alcohol in the next second, so she poured and offered the wine.

"Secondly: hedgehogs hate rabbits. It is said they had a good relationship, but rabbits somehow offended the hedgehogs. It happened centuries ago, so long that actually no one remembers what the rabbits did."

"I'm … so glad that I could make a contract with you hedgehogs. Um … I'm especially glad that it wasn't with the rabbits." Of course Hinata had nothing against rabbits. No, she thought they were cute. And imagine a hare in the size of a house: with its strong teeth it could bite anything in two and with its limbs it would be really fast, its kick would be fearsome. But then again, hedgehogs were cute too, and a huge hedgehog would be just as scary.

"Ooooh Hinata-sama!"

Otou-sama, thank you so much. If the old hedgehog was the epitome of friendliness before, then now she was the embodiment of friendliness and recognition. While it was a little disheartening that the granny's respect was mostly thanks to the alcohol and the comment on rabbits, Hinata was sure she wouldn't have been allowed to sign anything if her display would have been disappointing.

"I, oh, how rude of me! I hadn't even introduced myself! My name is Gorotsuki Ibara (5), I'm one of the elders. Khm … So, I, Gorotsuki Ibara, am truly honoured that I was the one who could make the contract with you, Hyuuga Hinata-sama."

The next hours were spent with friendly and comfortable conversation under the bright stars next to the waterfall.

A week before the assignment

"So, Raidou's illness is so severe that he will never recover totally." The Hokage's, Hatake Kakashi's voice was calm but quiet and regretful. All of the three occupants of the Hokage's office were low-spirited.

"His illness is a rebellious one. It's not contagious, but unfortunately it leaves sequelae behind. He doesn't have to retire, but you will have to find someone else to fill his position."

"Thank you, Sakura. You can go now."

Sakura left, the door was shut and the sound of the girl's footsteps had gradually died away. There were some silent moments, the air heavy.

"I'm sorry Genma, but I will have to nominate someone in place of Raidou."

"I know Kakashi, I know."

On the day of the assignment

"Kakashi, you still have not found anyone?"

Why was Genma annoying him with this? He wanted to be considerate to Genma and the others, giving them some time. (And anyway, it wasn't an urgent matter, Konoha and the Land of Fire has been in peace for some time now). Raidou was probably touched how hard it was to the Hokage to replace him (when actually Kakashi wasn't even trying), but Genma didn't seem nearly as grateful. Probably thanks to his extended workload.

"I'm looking!" He wasn't, but Genma couldn't see it since he was standing outside and the door of the office was shut. Maybe I really should start. At least he will stop bugging me. With a sigh he put down his favourite book and started to look at the profiles of his shinobis.

He promptly took the datas of chuunins aside. They weren't skilled enough and/or they were inexperienced. So he skanned through the files of the jounins.

"No … no … noooo … no … pfft, definitely no …" In a record time he was blinking owlishly at his empty hands while the files were sitting on his right side in an unruly pile.

Maybe I was a little hasty? It wasn't really Kakashi's fault. He had to be sure the chosen person was strong and that they could tolerate each other for long hours. Every single day.

So he dutifully ran through the data again, paying a little more attention this time. And he found the same emptiness in his hands. With a heavy sigh he slumpled into his chair. Was there some kind of rule that the stronger the shinobi was the more aggravating he/she was? No, I don't think I'm that bad. But again, this doesn't refute anything, I can be simply an exception.

He was pondering if he should skan the files a third time, when he remembered something. When someones profile needed an update (for example he mastered a new technique), said file laid separated from the others for a while.

He had found the freshly updated files after some fumbling. With reborn hope he started with the process anew. Said hope died a little every time as he disregarded the files one after the other. It seemed all of them were chuunins, which wasn't that surprising, their data needed to be updated much more frequently.

Kakashi almost gave up when he reached the last file, but his heart started to pound stronger when he noticed that this person was a jounin.

Hyuuga Hinata, 20 years old, became a jounin two month ago. Her file needed to be corrected because she learned Kuchiyose no Jutsu. She was a little inexperienced to his liking, but the data was still impressive. The girl had many self-developed techniques, so she must have known her own power well, that was a good enough compensation for her verdancy. Strenght check.

Personality?

Oh, this was almost too good to be true. The girl was good-natured and had manners. She wasn't loud or demanding, she was clever so she probably didn't have stupid questions. The Hokage didn't know much about her, but what he knew definitely made her appealing. Personality check.

And it didn't really hurt that the girl was nice to look at. Just how could someone look this good on a ID photo?

Kakashi quickly and happily wrote down the details of the new bodyguard's commission.

"Kotetsu!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" Kotetsu appeared after some seconds.

"Go and find Hyuuga Hinata. Tell her that the Hokage asks for her."

"Understood."

As Kotetsu left Kakashi yelled to Genma, while he was contentedly flipping and catching the scroll.

"Rejoice Genma! Today I'm going to introduce my new bodyguard!"

Present

Kakashi was very satisfied. He found the ideal candidate less than an hour. And that ID photo wasn't lying either. He and the other bodyguards were truly lucky, since all of them were male.

And Hinata? Hinata was so happy she wasn't sure her feet were still touching the floor. While she shook hands with the Hokage, she could only think how proud her father will be when he hears this. She hadn't had the remotest conception that in the future many times she would think 'If only I hadn't accepted it!'.

Explanations

(1) "Please, treat me well!" In Japan, when people become coworker (or family) it's appropriate to say "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu" or simply "Yoroshiku". With Kakashi's personality I found the informal term more fitting, so I used that.

(2) According to Narutopedia, Hinata is a little older than Naruto. I didn't know it, but I have read the same often in fanfics, so I made a little "research" before using this little age-gap. And if my source is correct, Kakashi is somewhere between 33 and 36.

(3) There's no such thing in the manga or the anime, that was made up by me. It wasn't easy to decide, since I think there's no animal that did not get an important role in another manga, anime or fanfic already. So I said: "it's true that hedgehog can be found in KHR, but even if I choose something else it would still seem like a rip off. So why not? Hedgehogs are cute, they would be good in battle, and I can use them to my purposes." I hope you are okey with my decision.

(4) Summoning Technique. The way Hinata summons without a contract was also made up. I wanted her to be alone with Ibara-sama, so I came up with the idea of a one-time 'presummoning'.

(5) Gorotsuki means mishievous person, Ibara means thorn-bush. I don't find it creative, but I liked the sound of it, and I found the meaning fitting. You will see in the future what I mean.

It was really hard for me to write this chapter. After uploading More than I trought I realised I was a little impatient with that one, I could have made it better if I have worked on it a little more. So I decided not to make the same mistake, but I'd still like you to write me, even if something displeased you (I don't mean 'what happened' in the chapter (sorry, but I'm the author ^_^), but the way I used the words, funny or out-of-place expressions etc). And of course, you can write if you liked it!

Thank you for reading! Until the next time!