A/N: This is the sequel to The Rokudaime (which has surprisingly received positive reviews) and yes, it IS about the yacht cruise! Enjoy ;)
Disclaimer- I own nothing except for this decrepit old laptop that I'm typing on.
A Night on the Kaori
Hinata knew that something was off when she entered her apartments in the Hyuuga compound and found two mischievously beaming women – Ino and Sakura.
Or more specifically, Ino and Sakura wearing civilian clothes.
Did we have an outing planned that I forgot, thought Hinata dazedly, rubbing her bleary eyes to make sure they were not products of a night filled with tossing and turning and dreading the outcome of the coming weekend… and her undercover mission.
Shoot.
"Ohayo, Hinata," chirped an extremely happy looking Sakura, waving her engagement-ring-adorned hand and beckoning her closer.
"Ohayo," echoed Ino, looking at a picture of Hinata's genin team meet-up from last month, eyeing Kiba's goofy grin with decidedly more interest than she bestowed upon the rest of the smiling group.
"Ohayo, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan," replied a tired Hinata. She sat down on the plush sofa that was occupied by the two other women.
"Rough night?" asked Ino, smiling sympathetically.
"Yeah kinda. Couldn't sleep since my… my mission was bothering me," she finished somewhat reluctantly, a blush spreading across her cheeks without her consent.
Sakura thrust a steaming go-to cup of coffee she'd obviously picked up before coming to the Hyuuga compound. "Here," she said. "This'll help you wake up a bit."
"So, Hinata," began Ino with a glint in her eye. "Tell us about your upcoming… mission."
The first coherent thought that ran through Hinata's mind was they know. The second, was highly unlike her gentle demeanour, and was shit.
"What is there to tell," she started awkwardly. "It's just a standard undercover mission for Naruto-ku – uh – Hokage-sama."
Sakura smirked. So did Ino.
Hinata gulped.
"Okay, Hinata. Your game plan is to be as attached to Naruto as possible without seeming too clingy, to drive his fangirls – gosh I never thought I'd see the day Naruto had more fangirls than Sasuke and Neji combined. What was I saying? Oh yes, to drive his fangirls away. And these outfits we've bought you will make you look effortlessly sexy but not trashy. This is gonna be so much fun!"
Much of the past five hours were filled with such rants, courtesy of both bubbly kunoichi.
The trio were now seated in a little café a few streets away from the Hokage tower. They'd thoroughly tired themselves out after hours of store-jumping. The enormous assortment of bags at their feet was proof that Hinata now had enough clothes to start a new wardrobe, give some away, and then some.
Her official mission briefing said that she was to go undercover as Naruto's girlfriend, since extra protection was required and the yacht cruise's invitations did not extend to security.
Which, in retrospect was a bit stupid, since the yacht was most probably going to be filled to the brim with snot nosed dignitaries and their trophy wives. Although, the yacht's staff did include a security team, so that explained that.
That was the official representation of the mission. But apparently all members of Konoha Eleven, including Sai, Sasuke and Kakashi, knew it was really to ward off any of Naruto's more annoying hopeful future brides.
"We haven't had this much fun since Sasuke came back and tried to kiss Miss Billboard Brow here. And then me. And then Tenten. I think he was in the hospital for a couple of weeks after that last one."
"Yeah, pissing off Neji when Tenten is involved is like signing a contract confirming the end of your life."
"I know. That guy is easy on the eyes, but he's got a stick up his ass to rival Sasuke's."
"That reminds me, did you hear about..."
The mindless chatter between the two kunoichi went on, as Hinata pored over a dating manual that was cleverly disguised as a murder mystery thriller. She was full of doubts as to how she was supposed to handle the mission. Her personality had admittedly undergone a drastic change in the past few years, but the Hyuuga heiress was still prone to bouts of her old shyness when faced with embarrassing situations much like this mission of hers. She supposed it was only natural, especially since Naruto was involved.
As if reading her thoughts, Sakura turned to face the indigo haired woman, effectively cutting off Ino's stream of gossip, as the blonde turned to Hinata as well. "I can't believe I almost forgot," she said, looking like she wanted to smack herself. "Pig and I got carried away, Hinata, I'm so sorry."
"It's alright, Sakura-chan. I was reading this manual for tips anyway," replied the Hyuuga.
"Okay, Hinata. As Forehead here mentioned, you've gotta be possessive of Naruto. He's your man, see? You can't let him go to those power-hungry sharks masquerading as women, can you?" Ino barked, eliciting a yelp of affirmation from Hinata. Ino frowned at this."None of that, Hinata. You are a kunoichi, heiress of the Hyuuga clan, inheritor of the Byakugan and master of Jūho Sōshiken. Have confidence in yourself!" she said harshly, but not unkindly.
"Hai!" came Hinata's immediate response, a warm feeling spreading throughout her, as it always did when someone acknowledged her accomplishments.
Her self-confidence now boosted, it was time for the next stage of the two kunoichi's plans.
Hinata remembered a few days of her life with flawless accuracy.
One was the day she'd stumbled upon a four year old Naruto, clad in a ratty t-shirt that was too big for his small frame. He had been chasing a butterfly that day. The untroubled giggles that had flowed freely from his mouth as he fruitlessly pursued the beautiful insect had made Hinata wonder about the simple joys of life.
Another was the day that her father, seeing her achievements in the war, had acknowledged her efforts to be a strong kunoichi and had renamed her clan heir.
Today, she realized, would join that list.
She had (unexpectedly) had so much fun today. In her mind's eye, she recalled Ino and Sakura and herself giggling while the Yamanaka's clone transformed into a replica of their reigning Hokage, albeit without the trademark, tousled blond strands atop his head. Ino had quickly sobered up, and in no time, she was busy barking orders like she was in charge of a particularly disobedient group of recruits in bootcamp. This had only served, however, to make the other two kunoichi fall over each other in their laughter.
It was only a death glare from the blonde and promises of particularly violent and creative deaths that made them more serious, with shouts of "Sir, yes sir!"
It had been a fun day where she had gotten to bond with her girlfriends, a rarity when it came to their line of work.
She smiled as she drifted off to sleep, her dreams filled with blond Hokages and red headed monstrosities.
Be as attached to Naruto-kun as possible without seeming too clingy.
Effortlessly sexy but not trashy.
Be possessive of Naruto-kun.
He's your man.
Oh Kami.
Hinata was on board a yacht that was pretentiously named The Kaori, by a pretentious lord, after his even more pretentious daughter.
But all that aside, a very inadequately dressed woman was currently flashing her obviously... enhanced cleavage at her boyf- well, fake boyfriend.
Hinata's grasp on Naruto's arm became a tiny bit tighter, as her feminine instincts kicked in. She narrowed her eyes just so, like Ino and Sakura had drilled into her head, the universal signal to all fellow females that this was her man.
"So how's ruling a village going, Naruto-kun?" asked one of the sharks - young ladies (sharks).
Apparently Hinata's eye-narrowing wasn't working. Or maybe she just looked like she had some sort of eye infection.
Naruto cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the current situation. "I don't know if I could've managed it without Hina-chan here," he said, appearing for all the world like a normal man-in-love as he gazed adoringly at said kunoichi in his arms.
He was rather good at acting. Maybe he had been reading one of Sai's books again.
Hinata saw this as an opening for her. She hadn't been doing much other than standing in Naruto's arms, which, admittedly, was a heavenly place to be in (warm, soft, and he smelled so good), but she had to speak some time. Or risk looking like a piece of Hyuuga flavored eye-candy.
"Yes, Naruto-kun is hopeless when it comes to paperwork," said Hinata smiling up at the man in question. "Sometimes I have to threaten him to read all the documents so that he won't just sign them without what they actually are. If Naruto-kun had his way, Konoha would've gone to the dogs, isn't that so, Naruto-kun?" she giggled and gave him an innocent look.
The other women spared Hinata a look of thinly veiled disdain before continuing to bombard Naruto with more suggestive glances and stupid questions.
"Who's she, Naruto-kun?" asked one of them, barely suppressing her contempt at Hinata.
"She's Hinata Hyuuga, heiress to the Hyuuga clan, and well... I'm in love with her," finished the Uzumaki rather lamely.
Even though Hinata knew those words were faked and just to get the fangirls off his back, she still felt the flutter of emotion in her heart, paired with a warm feeling on her face, which let her know that she probably resembled an over-ripe tomato at the moment.
TBC
A/N- Looks like this one's gonna be a two-shot!