The trip to the Sand Village went mostly uneventfully. During the five-day trip, the only major problem was an attack of wild animals on the border of the Wind Country when Naruto forgot to put the food away.
Upon arrival in the Sand Village, they were promptly greeted with a huge flying boulder. Naruto was about to knock in away with a Wind Style jutsu when Hinata shot a thin beam of chakra directly at the center of the boulder. It exploded and showered both of them with dust. Another boulder was fired, but before either of them could make a move to stop it, it was knocked away by a geyser of sand.
"Enough."Naruto heard a familiar voice rasp "Naruto Uzumaki is a friend."
"But the girl-"
"Any friend of Uzumaki's is a friend of mine." He retorted sharply.
"We're in luck then!"Naruto yelled, using chakra to project his voice "She's more than a friend!"
The massive gates opened wide, revealing the Kazekage standing, arms crossed, behind them. "Naruto Uzumaki."Gaara grinned."What brings you here? And why the change in headband? I thought you were a Leaf Ninja." He remarked upon closer inspection.
"It's the Hyuuga family symbol" Hinata explained.
"Crossed out Akatsuki-style?" Gaara asked, the look on his face suggesting that if he had eyebrows, they would be raised.
"We'll explain later. Right now all I can say is that Hinata and I are no longer Leaf Ninja."Naruto shrugged
"Interesting. I'll get Temari and Kankuro. I want to hear this one." Gaara turned to walk back to the wall.
"We're already here, Gaara." Kankuro announced from behind Naruto. He and Temari walked up behind Naruto and Hinata. "So… What's new?"
"Were you listening at all?"Temari groaned "Jeez Kankuro…" she walked up behind Gaara and ruffled his hair "Anyways, we need to get to Teddy Bear's office before we hear anything."Temari grinned widely.
"I've asked you not to call me that."Gaara growled, his face as red as his hair.
"Sorry, Gaara. I couldn't resist. So, Naruto. How's Shikamaru?" Temari's grin widened at the thought of her Leaf ANBU boyfriend.
"I have no idea." Naruto shook his head. "I gave up trying to understand him long ago. The only change in him since he was promoted to ANBU is that now he watches clouds istealthilyi/"
"What he means is now Shikamaru-kun has to hide from his mother to watch clouds" Hinata sighed.
"Let's go into my office before we get into this, okay?" Gaara glared at Temari. Naruto grinned and walked in a random door before anyone could stop him.
"Any reason your office is covered in pictures of Shikamaru?" Naruto's eyes were about the size of Gaara's Kazekage hat.
"Ummm… Naruto?" Hinata whispered "That's Temari's room."
Naruto stared at the wall for a minute, and then walked quickly out of the room, making a point of avoiding Temari, whose face was possibly inventing a new shade of red.
"S-sorry." Naruto muttered, his mental trauma evident by his rampantly twitching eye. Hinata took one look at the look on his face and fell into a fit of giggles. Naruto's face was just as red as Temari's. Trying to control her giggling, Hinata wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently on the lips. This woke him out of his trance, and he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. They stood there kissing for a while, Temari giggling, Gaara smiling a small smile, and Kankuro trying his best to keep his nose from bleeding on the floor.
Finally, Gaara grinned and cleared his throat and Naruto and Hinata jumped away from each other, blushing madly. Gaara let them into the right room and closed the door.
Naruto and Hinata managed to explain everything that had happened since Hinata lost to Neji, and with every word, understanding grew in Gaara's face.
"But Hinata, wouldn't it give the idea that you aren't a Hyuuga if you wear that headband?"Temari asked.
"I don't consider myself a Hyuuga anymore." Hinata replied confidently.
"Then what-"
"I consider myself an Uzumaki." Hinata announced. Naruto felt his face burn again, this time with pride. "We need to see the Raikage to make it official, but that comes later."
"Hey, I've got a question."Kankuro said."Do you guys mind if I travel with you for a bit? I've been feeling the call of the open road for a while now."
"As long as you bring your own tent." Naruto said quietly, grinning his trademark toothy grin when he saw the shocked look on Temari's face. "What? It's a two-person tent. Trying to fit a third person in there would be torture."
"Ugh… Temari… Ever since you started dating Shikamaru." Kankuro sighed, resting his head on his hand, and Gaara just hung his head.
"Get packed, Kankuro."Gaara waved him away."And Temari, stop. Just stop."
Kankuro grinned at Naruto and walked out. Temari blushed and tried to leave the room, but was stopped by a hand made of sand. Naruto looked over at Gaara, who smirked back at the loud blonde. "Temari, show these two to their room." Gaara turned to Naruto and Hinata "It will take Kankuro a few days to get ready. He takes forever getting ready to go anywhere."
"He's a terror to get ready in the mornings."Temari grumbled.
Temari walked Naruto and Hinata through the halls of the Kazekage building, making innuendos the whole way, causing Hinata to blush redder than Gaara's hair. Most of them went way over Naruto's head, but those he understood caused him to blush from collar to scalp.
"Here we are!" Temari grinned "Sorry, but the bed is really creaky." Naruto scratched his head, utterly confused, while Hinata did an impromptu tomato impression.
"T-Temari-kun, thank y-you f-for showing us t-to the room."Hinata stuttered.
"You're welcome. Get a good night's sleep, you two!" Temari joked, winking at Naruto. Before his brain could process the innuendo, Hinata pushed him into the room and locked the door.
"It's been a while since I've heard you stutter." Naruto commented, laying down, spread-eagled on the bed.
"Well that was really embarrassing." Hinata sighed, unzipping her hoodie and untying her headband.
"Temari needs to get her mind out of the gutter sometimes." Naruto grumbled, muffled by the sweatshirt he was taking off. "Here" he said, tossing Hinata a pair of sweats. "I may have more self-control than Sai, but I still have raging hormones."Naruto joked, referring to the time Sai tried to have some fun with Hinata. Sai and Kiba had gotten so wasted that as Sai walked out of the bar, he noticed Hinata and decided to try his luck. However, he made the mistake of trying that right as Naruto and Sakura were walking by the bar. Naruto smiled, thinking about the fact that Sai couldn't remember anything, only that he had woken up with two broken arms and a smashed face. According to Tsunade, she had barely been able to save his manhood.
When they were both dressed in sweatpants and one of Naruto's black undershirts, they went around the room turning off lights. Naruto was about to turn off the last one, when Hinata beat him to it. Grabbing his shirt, she threw him on the bed and sat on his chest, holding his hands down. Naruto pretended to give up and went limp, but when she bent her head down to kiss him, he rolled her onto her back and pressed his lips to hers. Now that he was in control, Naruto rolled his girlfriend onto her stomach and pinned her down. Hinata tried to fight him, but the moment he started rubbing her neck. As he moved down her back, her self control disappeared and she began to moan in ecstasy. Outside the door, a wide-eyed Temari was listening to Hinata moan with her ear to the door and a towel to her face, trying unsuccessfully to control her nosebleed.
