Hi! I'm sorry for any typos - it's only ethnological. I just wanted to say that there is a minor SPOILER for anyone who only watches the Anime. If you read and watch or just read Naruto, you're good to keep going. Read and Review! :)

Drops of rain from a passing drizzle trickled off the leaves in Konoha. The sky was an ink blue with flickering stars. There was a cool breeze making its way around. Laughter and merriment resounded from all corners of the village.
Tonight, they were celebrating the end of the war and the beginning of the influence of a new Hokage.
There was one name on every ones mind- Naruto Uzumaki.

Lanterns lit up the pathway to the Hyuuga Manor. Naruto followed them with his eyes and tried to keep his mind as blank as possible.
Tomorrow was the Hokage ceremony- they would give him his title, his robes, his duties and his vows. It had been his dream for as long as he could remember. There was so much ahead, but somehow earlier in the day found him revisiting his past...

He had gone to see his parents first. Their gravestones were side by side. Small yellow flowers cavorted with each other in the cracks around them.
'Minato Namikaze' was engraved into the red stone that was unique to the Hokage of Konoha. It was almost as though the fiery flame of their spirits were still there. Naruto got down to his knees. He closed his eyes as he thought of all the times this man was there for him, even when he wasn't. His mothers name 'Kushina Uzumaki' reflected the red from his father under the sunlight. He hadn't known anybody was capable of that much love until he had met her. His mother had once told him that the only thing she regretted was not being able to see him grow up and teach him the things that she had learnt in her lifetime. He wished now that he could tell her that the two of them had already taught him so much. His wind style chakra swirled around him, gathering up his hair and sweeping the dried leaves away from his parents.
"Thank you for letting me be your son" he whispered.

He made his way across the field. There were so many lives here, so much meaning. So many families, so many ties. He'd always wished he'd had a family growing up. Tomorrow, the entire village would be his family, his home. All these people would be tied to him too.

He stopped in his tracks again. 'Jiraiya', the stone spelled. He thought of his godfather, his teacher, his friend. Naruto owed him everything. Jiraiya didn't have any duty towards him, and yet, he chose to place his faith in Naruto.
There were old flowers at the foot of his grave, presumably from Granny Tsunade. Naruto hoped he had made his mentor proud. If anything, he wished that most of anything he'd done was to ensure his Sensei had not died in vain.
There was a time when Naruto believed Jiraiya and Tsunade were both unfit to be Hokage because they didn't want the job, but as time passed Naruto came to discern that Jiraiya didn't accept the post because he thought himself to be unworthy.
"You deserved to be Hokage, Pervy Sage, but I'm glad you didn't accept. Not only because it would've been so difficult to live up to you, but also because you and I would have never met otherwise"

This dream of Narutos that was finally being realized had come at such a cost. Sarutobi Sensei, Nagato, Asuma Sensei, Granny Chiyo, Shikaku-san, Inoichi-san... he'd met so many people on his journey who'd influenced his life without even knowing it.
This last war, he swore would be the last of them all. It had taken more from him than it had given and he could do anything but block it out.
His comrades had called out to him and he had been too late to save them all.
Neji...

Naruto looked up to the sky and back to the lanterns again. His path stopped and transformed into the large wooden doors of the Hyuuga Manor. He raised his fist and knocked twice.
His breath was shaky, he had no idea how to do this. He just knew that he had to, it was a besetting feeling urging him. He had never been one to hide what he was thinking before, and he wasn't about to start now.

Hinata responded to the knocking. Everyone else was getting ready for the celebrations. She opened the door to find Naruto. She didn't think she hid her surprise all that well. Of all the places he could have been, at her doorstep was the last she expected.
His eyes seemed tired and restless at the same time. He had grown years in the last few months and sometimes she wished that he shouldn't have had to. He looked handsome in his new properly fitted orange jacket and Hinata blushed despite her best efforts. A year ago, she most likely would have fainted on the spot. But times and feelings had changed and she was stronger now than she ever was before.

Naruto held his breath as Hinatas silhouette materialized on the porch. She must have sensed that this wasn't going to be small talk as she closed the door behind her and looked to him intently. Her hands that usually fumbled and trembled at the sight of him were still and confident now as she tucked a strand of her long raven hair behind her ear. Naruto was glad she wasn't hiding her face anymore. She was wearing a lavender kimono and her smile was radiant. She really was beautiful. He forced his blue eyes to her white ones.

"What is it Naruto?", she asked, her voice was soft but there was no stammer. Naruto resented her ability to not give anything away in her voice anymore.
"Hinata, I-I"
This was strange. Naruto was usually never at a loss for words.
"Are you all right, Naruto?"
He wanted to say that he was, not to worry her. But when he looked at her again, he couldn't lie.
"No, I'm not" his lips were forming the words and it took all he had to will them not to stop "I've been trying to feel all right for a while now, but the truth is, I'm still adrift."
"What happened?" she still maintained her composure while Naruto felt uncomfortable with all the distance between them.
"I always thought I was alone. I thought the reason I never gave up on my dream was because I wanted to be understood by someone".
There was a silence.

Naruto went on, "I know that isn't true now. I wasn't alone"
"You never were" she stated, still a small smile on her fair face.
"You understood me. Before anybody else. You cared, and I- I didn't"
Hinata didn't know what she could say. She wanted to make him feel better, but she didn't want to lie. It was the truth- She cared and she had wished, on more than one occasion, that he had too.
But you don't choose the ones you love and if Narutos heart told him that it wasn't her, she would have to live with it.

"Hinata, I'm so sorry"
"There's nothing to apologize fo-"
"Don't say that! Don't be so nice to me, I don't deserve it", his eyes had that fire that she loved in them now, "I failed to understand you. How am I supposed to understand the people in my village that I don't even know?"

Hinata reached for his hand. This was one of the bravest things she had ever done and she was so sure that any minute now, her demeanor would fall apart and she'd run away.
"Naruto, of all the people I've ever known. You understand me the best", his shattered face wasn't looking so bleak anymore "You had faith in me when my own family didn't and you made them see strength in me what I couldn't see it myself."
Her smile prompted a slight one of his.
"Naruto, you'll be the best Hokage this village will ever know"

He closed his fingers around hers tighter. He should have been nervous but his palms were unusually dry. She brought out a sense of serenity in him.
"You really believe that?"
"I do. It's my word and I will never go back on my word because that's my ninja way"
"I wouldn't have come this far without you"
"That's not true. You would have come this far without me, without anyone, because you are your own person Naruto, and you always do what you know is to be right. You're so strong and you have this unbreakable resolve to be the best you can be"
Hinata realized what she'd said after she had said it and decided she didn't want to take it back.

"I haven't done the best I could" Naruto was falling again. The ashes of burnt leaves of the Konoha souls seemed to eclipse his face, "I couldn't save Neji"
Hinata paused for a moment. Not because she blamed Naruto, but because the memory of her brother and guide was still painful.
"Neji looked up to you Naruto. He constantly thought there were new things to learn from you. He would never blame you for what happened and neither would I. It wasn't your fault, it could never be."
Naruto took a moment for the words to sink in, they meant so much to him. He remembered the first time he had met Neji, when Neji was far superior to him in both jutsu and intellect. He couldn't fully comprehend the idea that Neji was inspired by him.

"Naruto, you would be tarnishing his memory if you thought he died because of you" Hinatas lip quivered a little, "He was my brother and I'm telling you that he is proud of you wherever he is now"
Naruto hugged her. He didn't bother to hold back, he needed her right now.
She seemed to know exactly what to say. Hinata was a force in his world that he was just coming to know the effects of.

The air went right out of her. Narutos arms were around her and his head was in the crook of her neck, against her hair. Hinata never thought she could be more in love with this boy, but she was. Every minute made her love him more.

"Hinata, promise me you'll always see yourself the way I see you" Naruto pulled back slightly and looked into her eyes again.
She nodded.
One of his hands came up to the side of her face, cradling it. Hinata could feel the callouses on his palms, and yet it was the softest touch she'd ever felt.
Naruto didn't ever want to have to be without the love he felt here. He was happy, finally. She knew him, all of him. She always had and he perceived that she always would.

"I love you Naruto" she said. Her voice hitched in an embarrassing way. How had she managed to put what she felt into just those words?
Naruto bent down to kiss her.
It was something she'd dreamed of for almost all her life. Naruto wondered how this hadn't been his dream as well.

Her lips were soft and she kissed him gently, her fingers wound themselves into his blond hair. He closed the distance between them as he held her against him under the light of fireworks streaking the sky.
Naruto looked up for a minute, the was the red trail among the stars- his 'red thread of fate'.
His eyes closed once again as he deepened the kiss, he put all the years of neglect in those longest seconds of their lives.

As they reluctantly broke apart, he put his finger under her chin and brought her face up to his.
"I love you too Hinata"

"Do you really mean it?" she said, his eyes were reflected in her own.
"I do. It's my word and I will never go back on my word because that's my ninja way" He took her hand and they made their way to the celebrations that night.