A/N - Thank you to everyone who has been showing support for this story so far! There are two reviewers I wanted to give a specific shout out to:
FluffAddict001 - Thank you for taking the time to provide detailed feedback! I do want to clarify that Naruto's confession to Sakura in the last chapter wasn't an impulse; he had planned it out. He knew she always loved Sasuke, but with him defecting from the village and Naruto & Sakura growing closer through their shared pain, Naruto believed he had picked the right time to confess to her. I do see your point about him sounding like a 12-year old at times though lol I've given him the short-temper he has in canon but he is a more mature character in this fic so it's a tricky balance. I've adjusted some things in material that I've already written so I hope you'll see an improvement in future chapters :)
Guest (the one who said they normally don't review) - Your review made my day when I read it, thank you so much! :)
Hinata walked through the halls of the Hyuga Mansion with her head held high. She was elegantly beautiful this evening with a shimmery midnight blue kimono that accentuated her porcelain skin. The kimono was embroidered with white butterflies and violet flowers towards the bottom of her sleeves and hem, all held together with a silver obi. She wore her dark hair down, save for the shorter pieces that normally fell next to her cheeks, which were tied back into a loose bun behind her head with two silver, ornate pins.
Tonight she and her father were having dinner with her supposed future fiancé and father-in-law. After the news had sunk in that a marriage was being proposed between her and one of the most dangerous shinobi out of Konoha, Hinata was able to find a silver lining. This was her chance to restore her self-honor as well as to do her part to ensure the future of her clan was bright; particularly for those from the branch family. It was for those reasons alone that Hinata had spent the whole day brushing up on her knowledge on topics such as futon ninjutsu, the history of Konoha's Hokages, and the Uchiha clan. It was also the reason why she had selected her favorite kimono to wear tonight. She would play the role of the type of woman that Naruto Namikaze would want to marry and she would play it well.
However, she refused to ever fall in love with him. That was the only way she could maintain any sense of control over the situation. She would stay focused on her end goal of creating a better life for the poorer members of her clan. She also realized that she probably wouldn't see much of Naruto anyway after they were married; a shinobi of his rank would be off on missions the majority of the time, especially if a war were still going on. Once they were married, she couldn't care less if he was rarely home with her or even if he took up a mistress back in Konoha.
Fate had already taken away her one chance for a life of love. If a life of duty was what was in store for her, then so be it.
Hinata reached the formal dining room where her father was waiting for her and stopped to take a deep breath before placing her hand over the shoji door to slide it open. Like a warrior stepping into battle, Hinata entered the room with determination to face her fate.
Naruto walked two steps behind his father as they made their silent journey towards the Hyuga compound. He had spent most of his day with his father's assistant, Shizune, as she gave him a crash course about the Hyuga's traditional customs and mannerisms. Despite her best efforts, Shizune had abruptly ended the etiquette lesson by telling Naruto he would do best to keep his big mouth shut for most of the evening. The blonde ninja's brash mannerisms were clearly something that would not be tamed to the Hyuga's polished standards in just one day.
The two men were dressed in their formal shinobi uniform, which was similar to their combat uniform with the difference being a uniform jacket instead of a flak jacket over a long-sleeved shirt. Naruto also had a red armband over his left bicep with the Konoha leaf symbol, which indicated his rank as a jonin, while Minato wore his while Hokage haori over his uniform.
Naruto's stomach tightened up with each step that took them closer to the compound. He still had no idea why his father thought that Naruto would be open at all to something like this. Sure, Hinata was a pretty young woman, but there was no way that an unconventional smart-ass like him could ever fit in with the conservative, uptight Hyuga clan. He was eager to get this evening over with so that he could tell his dad that there was no way he was going through with an arranged marriage.
"Ah! We're almost there!" Minato exclaimed, interrupting Naruto's train of thought.
Naruto looked up and could see the tall wooden gates of the compound just several yards in front of them. As they got closer, the tall tiled roof of the Hyuga Mansion could be seen peeking over the gate.
'Shit…this clan is more loaded than I thought!' Naruto thought in dumbstruck to himself.
When they reached the gate, there were two guards standing post. Both bowed towards Minato, with the one on the left greeting, "Lord Hokage! Thank you for coming, Lord Hiashi is expecting both of you. Follow me."
"Great, thank you!" Minato responded back.
As they followed the Hyuga guard, Naruto couldn't help but notice the well-kept grounds and the ornate statues that line their path to the mansion. With the exception of the Capital, Naruto had never been to such an opulent place. If this clan was so well-off, Naruto thought to himself, why would they want to join forces with a working-class village like Konoha?
When they finally entered the mansion, the inside was even more lavish than the outside. Paper shoji walls lined the hallways, decorated with colorful artwork and ornate decorations. The smooth wooden floors were pristine and nearly glistened underneath the silver candle-lit chandeliers that hung elegantly above.
They continued to follow the guard down what seemed to be an endless maze until they finally reached a set of closed shoji doors. The guard slid one of the doors open enough to allow him to speak to whoever was on the other side, but not enough for Naruto to actually see who was in there.
"Lord Hiashi, your guests have arrived," the guard announced.
"Good," a stern voice answered, "send them in."
"Yes, sir," the guard bowed and then turned towards the two Konoha visitors.
Naruto's heartbeat became faster and his palms started to sweat as he watched the guard slide the shoji door further to reveal the occupants on the other side.
"Lord Hiashi and Lady Hinata will see you both now," the guard said before stepping away.
"Thank you!" Minato answered back.
On the other side of the doors was a tall man close to Minato's age, with long dark hair and featureless, pale eyes. He wore a traditional kimono and hakama pants with a dark haori, which had the Hyuga clan symbol etched on the front. The man wore a deep frown on his hardened face, making Naruto further nervous to meet the man who was proposed to be his own father-in-law someday.
"Hiashi! Good to see you again so soon!" Minato greeted warmly as he stepped into the room. The frown on Hiashi's face immediately turned into an amiable smile as he moved in to hug Minato, much to Naruto's shock.
"Minato, it's good to see you as well my friend!"
Naruto stared at them for a moment, trying to process two of the most powerful men in the Land of Fire being so casual and informal with one another. The young shinobi then hesitantly turned his attention to the young woman standing just behind Hiashi.
She was a young, petite woman wearing a dark blue kimono and had long indigo hair that went down to her mid-back. She had a little bit of make-up on; just enough to highlight her pearlescent eyes and kind face. She smiled as she watched the two men greet one another before her eyes drifted to where Naruto was. The blonde jinchuriki quickly looked nervously away when she made eye contact.
"You must be Naruto, I'm glad to finally meet you," Hiashi said cordially as he turned his attention towards the young man, "I've heard so much about you from your father over the years!"
Naruto remained frozen in place, unsure of how to properly respond to the Hyuga Clan Head. It was then that Minato discretely shoved his elbow into his son's side, making him bend over to bow towards Hiashi.
"The pleasure is all mine, sir!" Naruto answered stiffly before shakily straightening back up.
The corner of Hiashi's mouth twitched slightly in amusement at Naruto's obvious uneasiness. He then gestured for the young woman in the room to step forward.
"This is my daughter, Hinata."
Hinata bowed smoothly towards both of them and smiled warmly, "It's an honor to see you again, Lord Hokage, and to meet you as well, Naruto," she greeted softly.
"Lady Hinata, it's good to see you again as well! You've certainly grown quite a bit since I last saw you!" Minato said.
The room then waited on Naruto to say something back, but the young man found himself frozen in place once again. Hinata was much prettier up close and her mannerisms were more elegant than what Naruto was used to in comparison to the other girls he was usually around. His head was spinning over the fact that this young woman was being proposed to become his wife someday. He felt his father jab him once again, making Naruto clench his eyes and bend forward awkwardly.
"Um, nice to meet you too, Hinata!"
'Oh shit…was I supposed to call her Lady Hinata? Or Ma'am? Or am I allowed to just call her Hinata? Damn! I'm not used to all this formal crap…'
Hinata studied the nervous young man in front of her and felt her own emotions mirroring his. Her stomach was in knots and she had to stop herself from fidgeting too much with her hands. In front of her was supposed to be the infamous Demon of Konoha; a shinobi possessed by the feared Kyuubi spirit who had slaughtered hundreds of enemies in battle. Yet, all she could see right now was a boy who was frightened by his surroundings and the prospect of meeting his future wife and father-in-law.
Minato clapped his son on the shoulder, subtly bringing him back up to a standing position. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I can sure go for something to eat soon! Shall we all sit down for dinner?"
Hiashi nodded in agreement, "Yes, let's have a seat in the dining room. Our meal should be ready."
The two Hyuga hosts then led the way into an adjacent room.
Minato squeezed Naruto's shoulder reassuringly, "Just relax and enjoy the company, my son."
Dinner was fairly uneventful. Hiashi and Minato swapped old war stories and discussed current politics occurring within their realms of responsibility like old friends do. Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata sat across from one another in awkward silence slowly picking at their food. Hinata would occasionally smile over towards her father and his old friend whenever a humorous story or a clever remark came up, but Naruto remained still during the course of their meal. His nerves had killed his appetite and he also wasn't used to the rich foods provided by the Hyuga household. He'd gladly take his Ichiraku ramen or even his field rations over tonight's meal.
Hinata couldn't help but notice Naruto's clear disinterest in being there. He hadn't spoken a word to her all evening nor had he even looked at her. She had started the evening determined to be the confident, sociable woman she had always aspired to be instead of the shy, timid girl she actually was. This arrangement was certainly not her first choice, but it was her last chance to redeem herself and actually do something good for her clan. She would not let the past repeat itself.
Yet when the four of them sat down to dinner, and her and Naruto were left on their own to start a conversation, all of the topics that Hinata had planned out in her head ahead of time, quickly slipped away. There were a few moments where Hinata felt brave enough to overcome her nervousness, but each time she glanced over at the blond shinobi across from her, her overwhelming shyness took over and she would quickly look back down towards her food. As the meal neared its' end, Hinata felt the heat of embarrassment all over her body and a solid rock of nerves lying in the pit of her stomach. She was a fool to think that she could suddenly transform herself into a charming, sociable young woman through sheer willpower and a pretty kimono. She pushed her food to the side of her plate feeling defeated. Naruto and Lord Hokage would leave tonight, and then her father would call her into his office the following morning to inform her that Naruto would not be going through with the arrangement. She would disappoint her father and let down her clan once again as a hopeless failure.
As the servants took away the last plates from the table, Minato and Hiashi exchanged knowing glances with the other. It was not lost on them that their children had not spoken a single word to each other during the whole meal.
Hiashi cleared his throat. "Hinata?"
Hinata snapped out of her thoughts and looked over. "Yes, Father?"
"Lord Hokage and I have some private business to discuss for a little while. Why don't you take Naruto on a tour of the gardens? It would give you two some time to get to know each other a little better without the interfering presence of your fathers," Hiashi suggested.
Hinata felt all the blood in her face rushing to her cheeks but managed to forge a small smile. "I would be happy to, Father," she bowed respectfully towards Hiashi before standing up from the table and turning towards Naruto, too nervous to look at him directly, "N-Naruto, follow me this way please."
As Hinata stepped quietly out of the room, Naruto stole an uncomfortable glance towards his father who was gazing sternly back at him. Quickly getting the hint, Naruto scrambled to his feet to follow the young lady.
"Uh sure! Right behind you!" he called out.
When the would-be couple left, the two men remaining in the room sighed.
"My apologies, Hiashi. I knew that Naruto would not be very receptive to the idea of an arranged marriage, but I thought that he at least would have made an effort to at least have a conversation with Hinata tonight," Minato mused out loud.
"There's no need to apologize for your son's demeanor, Minato. After all, I wasn't keen on this idea either," the Hyuga leader replied.
The Yondaime gave a rueful grin, "Yes that's true! I was the one who had to convince you that my son and your daughter would potentially be a good match for each other."
Hiashi sighed. "Given Hinata's recent embarrassment a few months ago, I only want her to be happy. She's grown up with a heavy burden on her shoulders placed by our clan's Elders. I'm still worried about history repeating itself but if your son is really the man you say he is, I think this could work out."
Minato nodded in agreement but was curious about something. "Hiashi, how did you persuade Hinata to support the arrangement with her and Naruto?"
Hiashi took a sip of his tea and placed the cup firmly back onto the table. "I'm not proud of this, but I didn't give Hinata a choice about the arrangement." Minato's eyes slightly widened in surprise. Hiashi continued, "Hinata was raised to place duty before anything else and at the end of the day, that is what she follows. If I had approached this with her as a proposal that would make her happy, she never would have gone along with it. In her mind, her chance at happiness has already been taken away from her."
Minato studied his friend's sad expression before glancing down, "I see…"
"But be rest assured, Namikaze," Hiashi started again, looking determinedly towards his old friend, "I will not allow my daughter to suffer any more embarrassment or hurt than she already has. I appreciate you as a father, allowing your son to have a choice in all of this, but your son will have to make his decision swiftly or I will make it for him."
Minato held his hands up sheepishly, "Of course, I understand Hiashi! Give Naruto a chance, I have full confidence that he will make the right choice here."
Hiashi gave a self-assured smile before sipping his tea again, "I hope you're right, my friend."
The young couple had been walking in silence for the past ten minutes, save for Hinata's occasional remark about out a particular feature in the gardens and Naruto's stiff responses. The blonde shinobi observed the pretty young woman walking in front of him. She was clearly uncomfortable with having to entertain him while their fathers were having their private meeting, but at least she was trying. He on the other hand had made no effort so far this evening to make the whole experience any less awkward. If anything, his lack of effort probably made things worse. He sighed to himself. Hinata had to be just as dissatisfied with the proposed marriage as he was, and there was no point in further punishing her with his indifference.
"So, um, Hina- er, I mean Lady Hin-," he started, prompting both of them to stop and Hinata to turn around. Naruto nervously rubbed the back of his head, "I'm sorry, I'm not very good at all this formal stuff. What's the right name to call you by?"
Hinata was surprised by Naruto's question, but from the sheepish expression on his whiskered face, she could tell that he was being sincere. It was hard to believe that she was standing in front of a man that was the vessel to the feared Kyuubi.
She gave him a small, reassuring smile, "You can just call me Hinata."
Naruto relaxed and smiled back at her, "Easy enough!" He then realized that she was waiting on him to finish what he had started to say earlier. "So, these gardens look pretty big," he observed, "how much time does it take to care for all this?"
Hinata's earlier nerves calmed down though Naruto's simple question on a topic she was very knowledgeable about.
"Actually, we have a small team of clansman who are very skilled at gardening to take care of the Mansion grounds full-time," she answered, "I also have a small section that I take care of myself."
Her response surprised Naruto. From looking at her and knowing about her high-class upbringing, he would assume that the Hyuga princess wouldn't go anything near something that even resembled manual labor.
"Really?" he replied, "Where at?"
Hinata's expression brightened, "I can show you! There's something that I wanted to check on anyway."
Naruto grinned, "Lead the way!"
He followed her down a small stone path and over a wooden bridge that sat over one of the vast koi ponds in the gardens. They stopped just in front of a dormant cherry blossom tree with a small stone bench nearby. Naruto could see a small patch of dirt with a wooden trellis wrapped with flowing green stems and buds.
Hinata knelt down in front of the trellis and delicately lifted one of the buds with her fingers. "Not tonight I guess…" she sighed.
"What is that?" Naruto asked.
Hinata smiled at him and replied, "This is a moonflower."
"Moonflower?"
"Yes, normally they're very difficult to grow this time of year but one of the gardeners helped me to find just the right spot that would help give it the best chance of thriving." She stood up and turned towards her blond guest. "What's special about the moonflower is that it only blooms a few times before it dies, and it will only bloom at night time. I've been checking every night since it started to grow to see if the flowers have bloomed."
Naruto raised one of his eyebrows quizzically. "Seems like a lot of work for a flower that only one person will ever see."
Hinata smiled. "Yes, perhaps it is but," she turned towards her beloved flower once again, "I think that only makes the flower more beautiful. It's easy to admire a flower that blooms in the daylight for many weeks so that it can be seen by everyone. But it's also easy to take a flower like that for granted. That's why I'm so drawn to the moonflower, the fact that it will only bloom a few times makes me pay more attention to it and appreciate its' beauty even more…"
Naruto watched Hinata with slight fascination as she shared her deep musings over something as simple as a flower and would be lying if he said that he wasn't mesmerized by her line of thinking.
Hinata suddenly jolted, as if someone had pinched her, and she quickly turned back towards Naruto.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to ramble on like that! I must sound so silly…" she lamented with embarrassment.
Naruto gave her one of his reassuring Namikaze grins. "Hey, don't worry about it, Hinata! I actually think it's pretty cool that you've put so much care and thought into something like that! I haven't met many people who think the way you do." That last comment made the Hyuga princess blush causing Naruto to look away nervously and rub the back of his head once again. "I mean that as a compliment of course!" he added.
Hinata smiled as she tried to tone down her blush. "Thank you, Naruto, that's very kind of you to say." She stepped away from her small, personal garden and went towards the path they came from. "I'm sure that you and your father will need to head home soon, so we should return to the mansion," she said as she turned towards Naruto.
He nodded in reply, "Yeah, okay."
The two walked beside the other on their journey back. Their conversation along the way was still limited to the topic of the various sights and features of the Hyuga grounds, but it came easier this time around.
Minato and Naruto were quietly making their way back to Konoha from the Hyuga Compound. The Yondaime glanced over towards his son who had been silent since they left to return to the village.
"Well, Naruto you know I'm a man of my word and I promised that tonight's dinner was all that I would be asking of you — the rest of this is all up to you. So, what did you think of Lady Hinata?"
Naruto stopped. When the evening started, he couldn't wait to reach this moment where he could tell his dad about how terrible of an idea this all was. Yet now, he found himself seriously pondering his father's question and kept seeing the image of Hinata kneeling in her small garden, talking passionately about the beauty of the flower she had been patiently waiting to bloom. There was a glimmer in her pearlescent eyes as she had spoke that Naruto found himself strangely drawn to. The idea of getting married to someone he barely knew was still absurd to him, but the idea of getting to know the Hyuga princess better…now that was something that he couldn't get out of his head. He lifted the corner of his mouth into a pleased smirk before responding to his father's question.
"Actually, I kind of like her."
A/N: Let me know what you think by leaving a review :)
