AN: Next chapter, will go back to their early beginnings, as well as start introducing the rest of the Konoha Rookies. Shout outs to Solvdrage, who graciously agreed to be my sounding board, as well as the account-less Mizuouji, for the high praise! Also thanks to everyone who favorited!
listening to: You're all that I have by Snow Patrol
The morning sun peeks into her room.
Her eyes snap open.
With a sleepy smile, Hyuuga Hinata sits up in her futon and stretches her lethargy away.
Kicking off the blankets, she bounces towards the vanity mirror, combs through her lustrous black hair, and checks her skin. Satisfied, she blows a kiss to the nearby picture of one Namikaze Naruto before throwing off her tank-top. Browsing through her wardrobe with a thoughtful frown, she eventually decides upon a sports-bra-like mesh shirt and blue short shorts. Why mess with success, after all?
She grabs her lavender jacket before she closes the door.
Moments later, the sliding door to the dining room snaps loudly to the side.
"Mornin', everyone~," Hinata greets with a broad, cocky grin.
Hyuuga Hiashi grunts, engrossed in the morning papers.
Hyuuga Hizashi smiles. "Good morning, Hinata-sama."
Hyuuga Neji gives a muffled greeting through a mouthful of meat buns.
Hyuuga Hanabi waves excitedly. "Mornin', Ane-sama~!"
"Good morning, Hinata-chan," Hyuuga Kiyoko responds with a gentle smile. "There's a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice, just the way you like it."
"Thank you, Kaa-chan," she says as she slips into her seat, and takes a huge gulp of her drink.
She sighs in content. "That was refreshing," she exhales, before her gaze sharpens. "Neji-taichou!"
The mentioned young man immediately stands at attention.
Hanabi, though not prompted, does the same, grinning excitedly.
"What's the current situation with the Old Ones?"
Neji straightens his back. "Hyuuga Isao continues to decline negotiations, and has evidently been having secret rendezvous with several of the other elders."
Hinata frowns. "Hmph, contemptuous old faggots. What about the Branch House?"
"Your support within the Brach House as of now reaches nearly the ninety percentile. The undecided have all but vanished."
Hinata nods, arms crossed. "The rest are just scared, but, they'll come around eventually. As for the old crones…"
Her smile is that of a predator. A dark, unrestrained predator. "They need to le~arn. Neji-taichou, cut off all their supplies of their favorite brand of prune juice and herbal tea! And make sure sprained hips are the least of their accidents."
Neji nods with gusto. "Understood!"
Hanabi's eyes sparkle with admiration.
But Hinata grins darker still. "As I recall, Isao has a grandson who is hoping to enter the chuunin exams this year, is that correct?"
Neji nods his affirmative, before his eyes widen. "Hinata-sama?"
"Remember, Neji-taichou," the Hyuuga heiress chirps, a dark aura radiating from her smirk. "When a man has a child, that man will never be free."
Neji takes a moment to absorb this, before nodding resolutely. "I understand, Hinata-sama."
Hanabi is busy taking notes.
Kiyoko smiles and refills her daughter's cup.
Hiashi flips the page.
As if on cue, Hinata blinks as her nose suddenly starts twitching. "Oh, Naruto-kun is almost awake! Neji-taichou! Report!"
"Affirmative," Neji responds, and speaks into his earpiece. "Unit Eleven, report! I see. Good." He turns to his superior. "Hinata-sama, it seems Namikaze-sama has returned from his mission and is currently staying over at the Namikaze household."
"Probably visiting for the weekends," Hinata affirms with a smile. Rising to her feet with a broad smirk she declares, "All right then, let's wrap this up! You have your orders, Neji-taichou! Uber-Colonel Hanabi! What is your mission!"
Now standing at attention, Hanabi cheerful exclaims, "To continue maintaining a high grade average at the academy as well as a friendly, proper social circle that is befitting of my station!"
Hinata nods, crossing her arms. "For what purpose?"
"To be seen but not be heard! To maintain a constant surveillance on allies as well as foes! So that when the time is right, to be able to support the friends from the shadows and tear down the enemies from within without leaving nary a trace!"
Hinata nods, smiling proudly. "Good! Meeting adjourned!" She then downs the rest of her orange juice and opens the sliding doors to the garden.
"Be back by ten," Hiashi calls out, eyes still glued to the morning papers.
"No promises, Tou-sa~an," Hinata chirps, bouncing over to give her father a quick kiss on the cheek, and waves to her mother and uncle. "Don't wait up~!"
"Be careful, Hinata-chan," Kiyoko says with a gentle wave and smile.
Hizashi nods, smiling, and takes another sip of his tea.
"Bye~, Ane-sama!" Hanabi waves.
Hinata grins her acknowledgement, and with a sprint, she cleanly leaps over the tall compound walls and performs shunshin in midair.
Neji and Hanabi both excuse themselves from the table, each energized by the morning meal and looking forward to their respective tasks.
Kiyoko refills both her husband and her brother-in-law's teacups before excusing herself to attend to the garden. The cherry blossom trees will be exceptionally beautiful this year.
The Hyuuga twins sit in comfortable silence.
Hiashi flips a page. "Huh. The Akimichi clan is throwing a big Spring Cleaning discount at all their retail stores this week."
Hizashi sips his tea. "You don't say."
Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure, is arguably a happy man.
That is not to say, of course, that he has not suffered. Some days have been dark, filled with blood and tears; times have been bleak, with dark claws chasing and no light at the end of the tunnel; he has seen both life in death and death in life in a perpetual cycle of merciless irony and cruel comedy. And as was the case with all his heroic predecessors, he too faces the pancreatic cancer that is paperwork on a daily basis.
But he has persevered in the face of all that. Now, the morning sun warms his beloved village; he sits in his quaint, spacey kitchen, reading the morning papers while his kind, beautiful wife is making him her award winning banana waffles; his son—his pride and joy—is visiting for the weekends and will soon awake to greet both of them in his always energetic and uplifting spirit.
So, yes, he is a happy man.
Now, if only his son's not-girlfriend would start using the front door.
With a squeak, the kitchen window pops open and the Hyuuga heiress climbs in with a swoosh.
Upon touching ground, she gives a bright, grand smile.
"Hyuuga Hinata is here to greet a wondrous good morning to you both, Hokage-sama, Kushina-sama," she says in a cheerful voice complete with sugary sweet smile and a dainty bow.
Sure, he can call mental bullshit, but in all honesty, he's just thanking the stars she's polite to them. The smile comes naturally at that thought. "And a good morning to you too, Hinata-san."
Kushina beams, setting down a plate of toasts before her husband. "Good morning, Hinata-chan. I think Naru-chan might still be asleep. He just got back late last night from a mission. Would you like to join us?"
Hinata smiles back. "No thank you, Kushina-sama. I already ate at the compound. And don't worry about Naruto-kun, I'll go wake him now~!"
Before either parental unit could intervene, the girl is already by the stairs.
Well, Lady Amaterasu help my son, who I dearly love, Minata thinks as he watches his son's not-girlfriend disappear up the stairs.
To this day, he's still not entirely certain how his son can refrain from flying into a rage whenever the male populace ogles the Hyuuga heiress, who shows enough skin to almost defeat the purpose of clothing, at great frequency. Well, supposedly the threats of castration from the girl herself might play a factor, but it's not an absolute deterrent.
Oh, well. At least Jiraiya-sensei approved. Immensely.
"Anata~?"
Oh, crap. That was the sound of an annoyed wife. Did he stare too long, again?
He turns to see the rigid smile and pulsing cranial artery and knows that he is looking at the preliminary stage of the Bloody Habanero.
Kushina leans a little closer, her hair seemingly fanning unseen flames. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you want a side dish of divorce papers to go with your waffles?"
Well, a Hokage has to do what a Hokage has got to do.
Not for the first time, Namikaze Minato grovels with expertise.
She doesn't knock, knowing that such an act has never been remotely useful. Naruto has always been a heavy sleeper at home, and doesn't make a habit of reinforcing his old room with seals.
She slips in, closing the door quietly behind her.
She smiles, genuine and happy, at the sight of the messy sleeper snoring into his pillow, the curtains open, silver rays painting his unruly hair and whiskered face in a golden hue.
The blonde is the only person she knows who can sleep through the morning sunlight combing through him so. Then again, she doesn't have the knowledge of sleeping habits of many other people, and is determined to keep it that way. The only important one is before her anyhow.
With a small squeak of the mattress, she settles on the bed, and leans over the sleeping young man.
Her long hair drapes over both of them, like a curtain that enshrouds them in a world entirely of their own. She smiles at the thought.
"Naruto-ku~un…" she whispers, a smaller but equally sweet smile upon her lips. "Time to wake u~up."
Naruto mumbles in his sleep with a smile, and she giggles, guessing it's something about ramen he's dreaming of.
"…mm~, Hinata-chan…"
For a moment, she thinks he's awake, but knows otherwise when the young man snuggles his pillow closer.
"…you're so friggin' prettiful, Hinata-hime…"
…wow, when did the world catch on fire?
She briefly wonders what her expression is right now but that thought gets quickly buried into the swirl of oblivion that is her state of mind.
Her mind mostly a blank, she stares at his blonde locks, at his tanned, whiskered cheeks, at his very inviting lips.
Slowly, steadily, she leans further, and further in…
…until she tastes sunshine made manifest.
"…mm~, oranges…"
Before she knows it, he's forgone his pillow to wrap his arms around her shoulder and back, pulling her down to him and suckles her neck.
She decides she quite enjoys it.
Somehow, the sound of her enjoyment stirs him, and slowly, Namikaze Naruto opens his eyes to the sight of flushed, pearly skin and the feel of dark, silky hair.
"Bwuh?" he blinks rapidly, his hold slackening. "H-Hinata-chan?"
She tucks strands of hair behind her ear, still smiling dreamily. "Good mo~orning, Naruto-kun…"
He blinks a few more times before smirking. "Hey, now, is this a morning wake-up call?"
She laughs softly, and leans in until they are nose to nose. "More like, service in bed."
He flushes, but his grin widens and he cups her cheek and brings her—
"Ahem."
Both of them freeze instantly, and slowly, turn towards the door.
Kushina stares with a wry grin. "Naru-chan, I know you're on the verge of becoming a man and everything, but your waffles are getting cold."
"Wah~, Kaa-chan!" Naruto blushes wildly and pulls the blankets over his head, and soon forms a Naruto-esque ball.
"Hmm," Kushina grins, staring at Hinata, who at this point found something very interesting just outside the window. "Well, since Naru-chan is awake now, I expect the two of you to be down within five minutes. Understand?"
"Hai~, Kushina-sama~," Hinata responds, finally meeting the older woman's eyes.
A muffled grunt resonates within the ball of wool and flustered teenager.
With an amused shake of her head, Kushina walks out of sight, but leaves the door open.
Hinata stares blinkingly at the open door for a few moments, before Naruto peeks out from under the blankets.
Their eyes meet.
Both flushing, they smile broadly at each other.
And so begins another morning in Konohagakure.
