MENDING HEARTS

Author Notes:

I KNOW! I KNOW! Don't look at me like that! Will I ever finish a fic? I don't know! my stories have been gotten bigger over time…

Ok, Right, 'Her Eyes Were Green' isn't abandoned… is just, the characters refuse to do anything so I'm doing this to unclog my writer's block hopefully

What I have been doing all this time?… mostly playing Fallout 4 and Skyrim, yeah, hopefully, I can get back into a good writing rhythm.

This is an adaptation of 'Recuperando el Amor' by Susuna, one of the most popular NaruHina Real world AU fics in Spanish. I found that fic several months ago and liked the concept, unfortunately, the author seems to have disappeared from the FF community around 2013 and hasn't logged ever since.

I sent her a PM asking for permission to translate it but I haven't received an answer, so I'm going ahead and publish this adaptation, I'm going to change a lot of things and while this chapter is heavily based on her first chapters things will start to change more and more at about chapter 4.

Warnings: some characters may be slightly OOC, there will be one instance of cheating (chapter 2), and maybe PG13 sexy stuff later on.

.-o=O=o-.

CHAPTER 1: A KIND SMILE (PROLOGUE)

It was late in the evening, the sky was overcast and the weather was humid. Naruto followed his parents along the large garden; his hands in his pockets and pout on his face, he stomped the grass with each step, the only reason he wasn't throwing a tantrum was that he wasn't a baby anymore.

He was eleven years old!

Why did he have to come to some baby's birthday party?

If his parents hadn't dragged him to this stupid, boring place full of stuck up, boring people, he could be at Sakura-chan's house or at least he would be practicing Karate with the bastard. Naruto's thoughts were cut short when he collided with something, It was his father's back who had stopped walking

"Naruto," his father said, "stop pouting, I'm sure you'll have fun!"

Naruto huffed and crossed his arms over his chest "I'm not pouting" he asked his father raising his eyebrows a bit "and I'm sure I'll have tons of fun babysitting a three years old" His mom ruffled his hair to his dismay

"Hinata-chan turns six today," said his mother matter of factly and with a condescending smile on her face

"Six? Three?" he shrugged indicating that he didn't see the difference "She's a child! I'm sure I'll be bored to death" both his mom and dad smiled at him "Why couldn't I bring my PFP?" His father squatted in front of him so his face was level with Naruto's, He put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and looked him directly into his eyes

"Naruto, you are a big boy, right?" Naruto nodded a bit nervous, his father, for once, had a serious expression on his face "Hyuga Hiashi, Hinata-chan's father, is a very important friend and business partner, I want you to make a good impression on him and his daughter" Naruto nodded again "so no more pouting!"

"I wasn't pouting" Naruto pouted

"Right" his father stood up "Naruto, you know how you will Inherit the business right?" Naruto nodded again, his parents owned a chain of Hospitals all over the country, Konoha Clinics, it was started by Naruto's great-great maternal grandfather. Hagaromo Uzumaki.

"Yes, dad," he said with a practiced sing-song voice.

"Well, Hinata-chan is the same, so It will be good to maintain an amicable relationship with her"

"Yeah, Yeah"

"On yeah is sufficient" his father chuckled and with that, the tension seemed to ease up, he ruffled Naruto's hair and gave him a smile. "I'm glad you understand"

When they reached the house's porch his father ringed the bell, it didn't take long before a butler opened the door and invited them to come.

The Hyuga's house was big, the entrance hall to the mansion was a little bit bigger than Naruto's house's, it had two stairways to the second floor, the floor was made of soft tatami mats and the decoration was traditional in style with classical paintings and kanji scrolls lining the walls.

The other guests were already mingling among themselves, Naruto searched for someone close to his age, but to no one's surprise, everyone was either a five years old baby or an old geezer. He knew that he was going to get bored to death.

"Naruto, Isn't Neji-kun your classmate?" Said his mother as she saw Neji sitting on a corner reading a book, Naruto rolled his eyes

"Mom, Neji is a year older than me, we barely talk, also, he is a nerd"

"Naruto," said his father with a dangerous voice, Naruto shrugged and put his hands in his pockets "Why don't you go and try to talk to him"

"I rather go without ramen for a week" he sighed "Can I— I don't know, sit in a corner until we can go home" his father opened his mouth but was interrupted by a deep baritone voice

"Minato! I'm glad you and your family could make it!" Naruto turned to look at a tall man with long brown hair and pale eyes, for a moment Naruto thought the man was blind but then he set his eyes on him "This must be Naruto" the man offered his hand to Naruto and he shook it out of courtesy "you have grown so much, last time I saw you, you were a baby, I'm Hyuga Hiashi and this—" the man cleared his throat and Naruto could swear he heard a mouse squeak.

A small girl with short dark blue hair in a hime cut was grasping the man's Yukata, she was hiding almost all of her body behind her father, and her face was flushed red. Hiashi put a hand on the little girl's shoulder and, quite skillfully, moved her in front of him

"This is my daughter, Hinata," The girl's pale eyes set themselves on Naruto and when Naruto looked at her she averted her gaze, she stared at her sandals

Weirdo. It was the first thing Naruto thought

"Wow, little Hinata-chan has grown a lot!" His mom gushed over Hinata "Minato, Isn't she cute?" his father only gave her a smile

"Sure she is," said his father making the girl start fidgeting with her fingers while her whole face and ears turned a dark shade of red. Then Hiashi gave her a little push, Hinata Took a step forward.

"Wel-welcome to our home, I ho-hope y-you enjoy your sta-stay" Hinata stuttered, Naruto frowned at the girl, because of this weirdo he had to come to this boring party? He could be with Sakura-chan instead of wasting his time here.

He felt a mild pain in his back, his mom had pinched him. so he smiled at the girl, the girl blushed again and hid behind her father who let out a sigh

"Naruto, why don't you give her her present?" Naruto gave his mom a pained look while she retrieved from her purse a small box warped in pale-blue paper with small red swirls.

Not only he was dragged to a baby's birthday party, in what would probably be the most boring day of his life, he also had to give her the gift which was embarrassing! Naruto let out a sigh and took the box from his mom's hands then took a step forward and around Hiashi, he inclined his head and looked at the girl's pale eyes, the girl buried her face into her dad's yukata.

Naruto's left eye twitched.

"Happy Birthday Hinata," Naruto said stiffly and offered the small box to the girl, Hiashi, again, pushed the girl lightly, she turned her head and saw the offered box with wide eyes and hesitantly took it.

"Th-thank you…" she stared at it for a few seconds, then, to his surprise, she smiled before turning her eyes towards Naruto "Can— can I open it?"

"If you want, it's yours after all" said Naruto feigning indifference, even though the girl was a weirdo, and he didn't want to accept it, the girl was extremely cute, her pale skin contrasted with her dark blue hair and gave her the appearance of a porcelain doll, her eyes were pale like her father's, but had a faint lavender tint, her nose was small like a button and her lips were rosy, and she seemed to have a permanent blush on her cheeks.

She was cute, but a total weirdo.

Once she finished opening the present, she took more time than necessary because she refused to tear apart the warping paper, her eyes went wide with surprise when she found on her hands a silver necklace with two small bells, one was made of normal gold and had a sun engraved on it, the other one was silver and had a half-moon on it.

The girl looked at Naruto and gave him the brightest smile he had ever seen, she walked out of her hiding place behind her father and bowed deeply to Naruto.

"Thank you very much for this present, Naruto-kun" the overtly formal way he was addressed made Naruto's face warm up, his hand found the back of his neck and he rubbed his nape.

"I-It's Nothing" he laughed nervously, looking sideways trying to hide his, probably, own blushing face

"Naruto chose it especially for you Hinata-chan" Naruto couldn't help but let out a groan and glare at his mom, he was about to deny it but one look at Hinata's wide smile and shining eyes made him stop.

Whatever.

It was true that he had chosen it, but it hadn't been 'specially' or anything like that, a few days ago his mother had almost dragged him to go chose a present for Hinata, once they had arrived in Shinjuku Naruto had decided to buy the first thing that her mother approved and be done with it.

They spent the whole day there.

About the time Naruto was ready to give up and buy her some toy or something, he saw from the corner of his eyes, a small jewelry shop that people seemed to pass by without a second glance.

Somehow intrigued, he walked closer and looked through the shop's window, there was a variety of jewelry on display: rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets made of gold, silver, and other precious metals.

Naruto considered it, maybe a ring or necklace was too much for a five-year-old baby, so he turned around but found his path blocked a by a tall lady with purple hair and a paper flower adorning it.

"Excuse me—" he said politely, but before he could walk away the lady spoke

"Are you looking for a present? … a birthday present, perhaps?" Naruto looked at the woman before frowning and nodding, "Come in, I have exactly what you are looking for" Naruto wanted to run away from the creepy lady but instead he followed her inside the shop.

She walked behind the counter and started rummaging through the shelves until she retrieved a necklace with two bells, she offered it to Naruto, so he took it.

He looked at it and noted the sun and moon motif, it seemed made of gold and silver, it was probably too expensive for a six years old's present

"The sun bell is made of gold and the moon one is made out of silver, the chain is made of platinum."

Naruto grimaced "It sounds expensive," the woman smiled at Naruto but didn't say anything.

"That's so cute!" Naruto winced before he turned around and saw her mother looking at the necklace, she snatched it away from his hands, "Hinata-chan is going to love it"

"Mom, isn't she, like, way too young for expensive jewelry?" his mom clicked her tongue

"Naruto, you still don't understand a girls heart, there is no girl, no matter her age, that wouldn't love a good piece of fine jewelry.

"It looks too expensive, she probably would lose it within a week" her mom rolled her eyes and ignored him, she looked at the woman with the purple hair

"How much is it"

The woman took a small slip of paper and wrote on it, then she handed it to his mom, Kushina's eyes went wide, she looked at the slip and then the woman, several times.

"Is this right? Aren't you missing a few zeros?" Said his mom.

"It's all right," Said the woman with a calm voice "the prices of this shop's products varies depending on the client, I can assure you this necklace was waiting for you," She looked at Naruto and gave him a slight smile "the person you give this to will be someone important in your life" She smiled again, Naruto frowned not understanding what the woman was saying, maybe if this was a gift for Sakura-chan her comment would make sense, but for a complete stranger— he didn't have time to think more about it as his mom paid for the necklace before running home to show dad the gift Naruto had chosen.

At first, the woman with the paper flower on her head seemed like a lunatic, but now seeing Hinata showing her father the necklace with an excited expression and a huge smile on her face, he couldn't agree more, the necklace seemed to have been made especially for Hinata.

The person you give this to would be someone important in your life.

He frowned as he remembered the woman's words, he shook his head to clear his mind, Naruto watched as Hiashi put the necklace on Hinata, she smiled at him again. Naruto felt something on his chest but ignored it.

"Well, Minato, Kushina, Naruto-kun, Please enjoy the party, we need to greet the other guests." both Hinata and Hiashi bowed and Hiashi, looking over his dad's shoulder continued "Otsutsuki-san! where is Toneri?" Naruto glanced at the Otsutsuki man as he followed her mom and dad to the back patio, he was a tall, pale and had long grey hair.

"Hyuga-san, I'm sorry, but Toneri caught a cold—" Naruto couldn't hear the rest as they walked to the patio. There were already a lot of guests there, some sitting on chairs, eating snacks, some little kids playing tag, Naruto followed his parents completely bored out of his mind while being forced to greet old geezers and grannies, he couldn't remember any of their names

So he just nodded and smiled.

At the end of what seemed an eternity Naruto ended sitting by a tall tree away from everyone, next to him there was an empty plate. When the time had come to cut the cake and hand out the slices all the little kids had piled up and started pushing and yelling.

Naruto didn't want to have anything to do with that.

So he had chosen to stay away from the rampage.

A slice of cake wasn't worth getting between these little monsters, maybe if it had been ramen he had taken his chances, he sighed before closing his eyes and resting his head on the tree's bark, he was about to fall asleep when he heard the sound of dry leaves being crushed, he opened one eye and saw Hinata walking towards him precariously balancing a plate with cake in her hands. Her face was red and her knees seemed to tremble with every step but she didn't stop until she was a few paces away from him.

Then she bowed and offered Naruto the cake.

"For me?" Hinata nodded vigorously, Naruto took the plate from her hands "Thanks!" He said and smiled a toothy grin at her, Hinata looked up and meet eyes with Naruto, she let out a weird sound like 'eep' and bolted away, Naruto shrugged and started eating the cake, it was a soft, fluffy and delicious chocolate cake. He devoured it in no time and after he finished, bored out of his mind, he started to watch the kids playing a game of tag.

He remembered playing like that when he was little, Sasuke always won and Sakura-chan always sided with him, He plucked a fistful of grass and threw it away, Naruto frowned.

He could be with Sakura-chan right now! How was he supposed to make her realize that he was cooler than the bastard if he had to come to these boring parties?

After about ten minutes he realized Hinata wasn't playing with the other kids, he started looking for her, it was a bit hard, the girl had no presence, but found her hiding behind a tree staring at the boys and girls running.

Naruto looked up at the sky and then back at Hinata who was still staring at the other kids, he noticed she was pushing both her forefingers together, she took a step forward as if she was going to join the other kids but one of them chose that moment to yell loudly at another, Hinata was behind the tree again before Naruto could even notice it.

He hesitated for a moment, he didn't really have to do anything, it wasn't his problem, and he would get nothing out of it.

Then he stared at the empty plate resting beside him and remembered her smile when he gave her her present, and how politely she thanked him.

He let out an exasperated sigh before standing up, Naruto walked stealthily towards where Hinata was hiding trying not to startle her.

I better find a way to get mom to buy me that new PFP game for this!

"Hinata?" He whispered, the girl jumped on her spot almost two feet up, Naruto chuckled "Calm down," He said and did a calming motion with his hands "It's me, Naruto, do you remember me right?" he felt stupid saying that, it hadn't been an hour since the girl had brought him the cake, or maybe he was sounding too sarcastic, the girl nodded looking at her own sandals.

"do—" he let out a sigh this was too embarrassing "do you want to play with the little kids?" Hinata head snapped up and she stared at Naruto, for a second Naruto thought she looked like she wanted to run away but Naruto was blocking her path, she hesitated for a moment but then she nodded and continued to stare at her sandals.

"right— can I tell you a secret?" He said the girl looked back at Naruto, good, he had her attention now, he leaned forward a few inches away from her hears, which instantly turned red, and using his hand to block the view as if he was telling her the secrets of life the universe and everything "That necklace is magical" he wanted to kick himself for saying something so stupid.

"Magi-Magical?" she said, Naruto grimaced internally, little kids were so gullible

"Yeah!" he said cheerfully "if you ring the bells you can do anything without fail!" Hinata's eyes went wide "for example if you want to play with the other kids, you can ring the bell to activate its magic and for sure they will want to play with you!" the girl looked dubiously at Naruto, Naruto tried to put on a confident façade by smiling at her

Hinata smiled at Naruto, again for the second time that day Naruto felt something weird in his chest.

Hinata retrieved the necklace from under her kimono and ringed one bell, then took a step forward and walked to the kids playing. Naruto leaned on the wall and saw her speak with one of the boys, the kid seemed surprised at first but quickly invited her to play with them, he explained the rules and in no time Hinata was running around with the other small kids.

Naruto smiled to himself, feeling unusually proud for that.

-=o=O=o=-

"Danzo has been trying to buy, under different aliases, shares from minor shareholders, He has been using some rather underhanded tactics to bully them to let their shares go" Said Minato to Hiashi, both of them were in the back patio drinking tea from two finely decorated cups, kids laughing and running where the background sounds. Hiashi nodded at Minato

"I— I see…" Hiashi said sounding distracted and then smiled, something he rarely did, he was looking over Minato's shoulder, that made him turn his head, where he found his son talking with Hinata beside a large pear tree, It was too far away to hear what they were talking about, but then Hinata did something with her necklace and went to play with the other kids. When Minato turned to Hiashi he had a surprised expression on his face.

"Hiashi?" said Minato with concern

"Your kid, Naruto, he is something else," Minato tilted his head to the side, not understanding "Hinata is extremely shy," he said before taking a sip from his cup "but she is soft-spoken, polite and extremely kind, just like Honoka was," a sad smile set itself on Hiashi's face, he stayed silent for a beat before continuing "this the first time I've seen her approach other kids." He smiled more genuinely this time, Minato didn't know how to respond to that so he decided to simply stay silent.

"Naruto is a good boy, I wish for her to marry a person like him one day," Hiashi said this when Minato was in the process of drinking from his tea, so he spat it out at the same time he started to choke with it. It took him a little time out of time

"—Wha— What are you saying!?" Minato took out his handkerchief to clean his mouth

"Nothing definite, not yet, but it may be our only option," Minato looked for a moment at Hiashi and realized he was being completely serious, he turned and looked at Hinata who was laughing while being chased by a red-haired girl and then at Naruto who was watching the kids play with a smile of his own.

"Do you mean—" He trailed and Hiashi stood beside him looking at his daughter.

"if Danzo is planing what I think, we may have no other options," He said, his voice almost a whisper

"We can't really force them, you know… We can't throw away their happiness, their freedom, four our own greed," He grimaced when he said the last word "sorry, I know more is at risk than our money," Hiashi nodded "but we don't live in the Edo period anymore, these… kind of deals—" he pinched the bridge of his nose "they aren't done any longer"

"Youko and I were betrothed at around the time she was Hinata's age" Minato raised his eyebrows, that was something he didn't know of his friend. When he had met him he was already in a steady happy relationship with Honoka.

"I— I didn't know that," she said breathlessly "and… you, were you ok with it?" Hiashi locked eyes with him and smiled "Sorry, what a stupid question on my part." They stayed in silence for a moment

"Naruto is way older than Hinata," Minato said with not much conviction

"I was ten years older than Honoka, when Hinata becomes twenty he'll be twenty-five" both men fell into another silence as they drank their tea

"I don't feel comfortable with this," said Minato finally

"Me neither," said Hiashi as he saw her daughter tagging a boy with blond curly hair and laughing hysterically.

"They are too young," said Minato

"But—" Said Hiashi

"Maybe, it won't be necessary," Minato drank the last of his tea "maybe we can find another way."

"Maybe, but— even if not, I have the feeling that everything would work out somehow," Hiashi finished his tea and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I think so," then he smiled "It wouldn't be bad for Naruto to have a kind and gentle wife unlike—"

"Minato!" both men jumped a bit when they heard the voice of Kushina, they turned around to see the woman approaching them

They both laughed at her timing, Kushina started to speak so fast to Minato that he had a hard time following the conversation, so he just nodded and smiled, that always seemed to work with her, when she got bored she went to talk with the other moms gathered next to the snack table.

Both men watched Kushina talking while gesturing wildly, Minato smiled kindly at his wife while Hiashi grimaced.

"What do you say?" he turned to look at Hiashi who had a serious expression on his face his hand stretched offering him a handshake, Minato let out a long dragged out sigh, then took Hiashi's hand and shook it

"But if they don't agree with it we won't force them, right?" Hiashi nodded "I mean, Kushina would murder me for that" Hiashi smirked again

"Then It's a deal"

-=o=O=o=-

It was a few years later, or at least it felt like that for Naruto, when her mother called him to leave for home, Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he followed his parents, and like always they stopped every few seconds to say goodbye to someone, at this rate they would take even longer to finally get into the car.

At the Mansion's front door Hinata's dad was waiting for them, Hinata was, again, Hiding behind her father while grabbing his Yukata, Naruto rolled his eyes, this was going to take forever.

"Minato, Kushina" he smiled, then turned to Naruto "Naruto-kun" Naruto looked at the man then at his parents, they seemed odd, especially his mom, it was like she was angry but resigned at the same time.

"Hiashi, Thank you for a great evening, I'm sure Naruto enjoyed it" Naruto's grimace grew a tad bit

"Yes, it was fun," Naruto said stiffly, he saw Hinata hide even deeper behind her father.

"Hinata" Said Hiashi a bit sternly, Naruto heard the ring of a bell, and then Hinata appeared from behind her father.

"Na-Naruto-kun," said Hinata while whispering the honorific "Tha— Thank you for the present I'll treasure it forever," Naruto smiled at Hinata whose ears became red, then she bowed deeply and extended her hand, offering him something "P-Please accept this!" Naruto extended his hand instinctively to receive what he was being offered and lightly brushed Hinata hand, again a bell rang as something small and hard fell into his hand, Naruto looked at his hand and found the silver bell from the necklace he had gifted Hinata, Naruto looked at the girl with a questioning look on his face

"Uh? This is yours—" Naruto said a little bit confused

"I— I want you to have it— so you too can do anything," Hinata gave Naruto the brightest smile yet, and Naruto couldn't help but feel his face warm a bit, he put his hand behind his back a little bit embarrassed. He laughed nervously.

"Thank you, I guess," Naruto tried to say this nonchalantly before pocketing the bell. The adults stared at them with weird smiles for a moment before they said their goodbyes.

It was a few minutes later, Naruto sitting in the backseat of his father's car, he was really tired and his eyes were feeling heavier and heavier, then his father finally spoke to him.

"So, Naruto, did you have fun?" His father asked and Naruto saw her mother's shoulders tense, he frowned.

"Eh, the cake was good," He said, he wouldn't use the word fun to describe the time he spent in that party

"Oh, then, what do you think of Hinata-chan?" Naruto barely heard his father's question as his eyes closed

"She is a weirdo," Said Naruto and heard a sharp intake of air "but, she is cute and seem nice—" Naruto yawned

"I'm glad that you think like that because—"

"Dear," Said his mom with a dangerous undertone "Don't you think it is too soon?" Naruto was barely fighting his own drowsiness, before falling asleep the last thing he heard was his mother saying something about it may be not being necessary.