A Single Call

by hinatasgreatestfan

Naruto was about to give up to Kiba in the preliminaries when he heard her call. With new confidence, he refused to give up.

4. True Dream

Author's Note: I plan on this fic being quite long. So the story behind Naruto's drastic change won't come out for another 3 or 4 chapters, at least. Like I said before, there is a reason for it, so don't hate me for it, but it's not ready to come out just yet. I hope you enjoyed the Hiashi bit last chapter. As I said, that's why Hinata and Hiashi are how they are. I like Hiashi in the anime, so I think this is how he would be if he could. And if he was, Hinata would be how I've written her. Please, be patient with Naruto's character. He is this way for a reason. And there are a few incidents I have in mind that will explain it. And no, they aren't spoilers for stuff he finds out later (for instance, who his father is). Like I said, just be patient with him. There's a reason for his attitude, and you'll see it soon. And just a side note, I will not "bleep" out swearing; if you see -! or some such thing, it's the person being shocked or what have you, and not being able to say anything. Enjoy.

Chapter 4

Upon awakening, Hinata, Naruto, and Hiashi had three very different reactions to yesterday's events, and three very different outlooks on the events that were likely to occur today.

Hinata awoke slowly, feeling like she had just awoken from a very long dream. She immediately thought of everything that had happened since she had called to Naruto, and she knew it had to be a dream. She fully believed none of it was real. She sighed and began to ridicule herself. She got up, showered, and dressed with no real enthusiasm. She didn't bother to check her calendar, assuming the second exam was going to begin that day. She shook her head at herself, thinking how foolish Naruto would think she was if he knew about her dream. She walked to the dining area and nearly lost her balance when she saw Neji there, sitting at the table. She lifted her finger to her mouth, an old nervous habit, and was about to turn and leave when he spoke.

"Why do you flee from me, cousin?" he asked, genuinely confused. He had thought after their last talk that they would be able to eat together and speak this day. He was, for the first time in his life, legitimately interested in getting to know his younger cousin. "Or am I not worthy to eat with you?" He said this last bit lightly, teasing his cousin.

Hinata turned and looked at him, slowly realizing that at least that part of her "dream" had been real. She sat across from Neji, smiling softly, and told him, "I'm sorry, Neji, I forgot about what happened. I'm so used to you being cold and hateful, it's just hard to break the habit. Forgive me?"

"Of course, cousin. After all, you've forgiven me for much worse than that." He grinned and held a hand out to her. She took it softly and they shook hands. It felt right for some reason. Then she sat, and soon they were talking easily while they waited for breakfast.

Meanwhile, Hiashi was waking up and showering with a similar lack of enthusiasm to Hinata's, though his was for a totally different reason. He couldn't help smiling for his daughter's happiness, but he was dreading telling the family council that he had arranged for his daughter, the heiress of the clan, to marry the Jinchuriki. He knew they'd just LOVE that. Then he laughed at himself and reminded himself that if Hinata was happy, it'd be worth it. He dressed, somewhat lighter at heart, and made his way to the dining hall as well. When he arrived, he found Hinata and Neji talking and laughing easily. He came in and sat at the head of the table.

"Good morning, Lord Hiashi," Neji greeted him.

"Good morning, Father," Hinata said, smiling.

Hiashi smiled at the two cousins. "Good morning, children. I'm glad to see you two being so friendly to one another now." The two cousins smiled at him and one another happily. They were glad the tension between them was gone as well.

After a few moments, Hinata finally spoke up, determined to confirm or refute her "dream"; she said to her father, deciding to act as if the dream was real, "Father, have you told anyone about your discussion with Naruto last night?"

Hiashi laughed, realizing what Hinata was doing, then told her, "Not yet, and I'm sure the council will just LOVE this one. Though, you are certainly welcome to talk about it if you wish."

"So...it was real?" she asked. Hiashi nodded. Hinata blushed, realizing what this meant. Then she remembered Naruto's "ring", and looked at her finger. Sure enough, the mark it had left was there. She giggled and squealed a little at how happy she was.

Neji couldn't take it. He was curious, and Hinata's squeal was too much. He had to ask. "What happened, Hinata?" Hinata blushed and smiled at Neji, then looked at her father, who nodded.

Hinata held up her hand, so both her cousin and her father could see the mark on her finger. Hiashi realized what it meant, and grinned. Neji raised his eyebrow, waiting for her to start talking. "You see the mark here on my finger?" Neji nodded. "I'm engaged." Neji jumped visibly at this.

"E-e-engaged?" he choked out. He couldn't believe he had just stuttered like that, but he was shocked. Hinata nodded. "To whom?"

"Naruto." She smiled even wider, the reality setting in on her, that her "dream" really was real.

Neji was even more shocked by this and looked at Hiashi. "You knew?" Hiashi nodded. "And you approve?"

Hiashi grinned. "I arranged it, Neji."

Neji thought things couldn't get any weirder, but that did it. "What in the world do you mean, uncle? You arranged for Naruto and Hinata to be married?" Hiashi nodded, watching Neji closely. "Why?"

Hiashi burst out laughing again. "Neji, you know I love my daughter. And you know I want her to be happy, yes?" Neji nodded, thinking to himself that only a total moron would be unaware of how Hiashi felt for his daughter. "And you can see that she is happier now than she has ever been, can you not?" Neji nodded again, then smiled, seeing his uncle's point.

Neji bowed to Hinata slightly. "You have my congratulations, cousin." Hinata smiled and blushed, then Neji continued, "I hope I may find the same happiness someday."

Hinata blushed slightly, then remembered hearing Tenten mention to Lee that she liked Neji. She wasn't privy to the conversation, but perhaps she could use the information to her (and Tenten's) benefit. She grinned and told Neji, "You should ask Tenten out." Neji jumped, wondering how Hinata had known of his crush on his teammate, but Hinata continued, "I think she has a crush on you."

Neji blushed, but asked, "You think so?"

Hinata laughed, "I don't think so, I know so, cousin." Neji stiffened slightly, but Hinata said, "I heard her talking to Lee one day, and she was saying she wished you'd ask her out." Hinata shrugged, then said, "I figure you may find what you seek there."

Neji thought a moment, then nodded to Hinata. "Thank you, cousin." He took her hand gently and they smiled at one another, happy with the bond between them. Then he turned to Hiashi. "Uncle, may I ask a favor of you and Hinata?" They each looked at him curiously and nodded. Neji continued, "You two are the closest I have to a father and a sister. I was wondering...if you would mind if I were to refer to you as such?" He looked down, sure one or the other would be offended and tell him no.

Hiashi grinned. "I would be honored, Neji. You are like a son to me, so to have you call me Father would be a great pleasure." Neji looked at him, surprised, then smiled. Then he turned slowly to Hinata.

Hinata smiled softly and nodded. "You do us both a great honor, brother."

Neji smiled at the change in term. "Father, sister, I thank you both." They each smiled and nodded to him. It was then that several Branch Family members came and served the three of them breakfast. The three ate in silence, then Neji rose and said, "Please excuse me. I have training to get to." The other two nodded and he fled quickly, letting go with the happy tears he had been holding in since they had allowed him into their circle.

Hinata looked to her father, then said, "I'm sorry Father. I didn't know how to get you to confirm what had happened. I woke up this morning and was so sure it was just a dream. That's why I said what I did. To get you to either tell me that it was real or confirm my fear that it was a dream."

Hiashi nodded. "I figured it was something like that, daughter. And I'm not offended. I'm just happy for you. And don't worry about the council. They won't dare oppose me." She smiled, knowing how forceful her father could be if he so chose.

Then Hinata thought of something. "Father, I should tell you something. Last night, when you told me Naruto had refused, I nearly panicked. The thing is, I told him before your talk that you were going to do that. And he proposed to me." She indicated her finger again. "He gave me a chakra ring of sorts for now. So when you said he refused, I was afraid he had been toying with me. But when you said he accepted...Father, I've never been so happy in my life."

Hiashi smiled. "Daughter, I would do anything for your happiness, so I'm glad to see you so happy. And I did offer Naruto power, money, all of the things I said I did, and he did turn them all away. Then I told him it would make you and me happy and that's all he wanted. That's when he accepted. He truly desires your happiness, so I am happy for you both."

Hinata looked shocked. "What do you mean Father? Why would you offer him money?"

Hiashi laughed, "Not like a dowry, daughter. I told him he would have the Hyuga fortune because of being married to you. He turned me down flat. I told him he'd have power, respect, influence, and he told me he wasn't interested in any of that. Then I told him it would make you happy and he said he would be happy to marry you."

Hinata smiled, realizing what that meant. Naruto didn't want her for her money, or her family, or their position. He just wanted her. She'd have to talk to him about that. She rose and bowed to her father, then went to him and hugged him. "I'm heading out for the day, Father. I love you."

He hugged her back and said, "I love you too, daughter. And have a good time with Naruto." She smiled at that.

"I'm sure I will Father. And thank you again." She kissed his cheek then ran off, skipping lightly. Hiashi smiled and touched his cheek where her lips had touched. Hinata didn't remember until she was already gone that she and Naruto hadn't planned a date for that day. She decided to surprise him. She just hoped he was sleeping in that day.

She skipped to his house, moving lighter and faster than she had in a long time. She got to his small apartment and picked the lock using her chakra, laughing at how easy it was. She went in and found him still asleep. She turned his alarm off, just in case, and looked around his one-room apartment. He had a small main room of sorts, where his table (if you could call it that), bed (futon really), and two chairs took up most of the room. The "kitchen" was along one wall, with a stove (two burners), small oven (Hinata would have been hard-pressed to fit inside it), a sink that could barely hold the three bowls the boy seemed to own, and his refrigerator, which was the only full-sized appliance in the apartment. In his bathroom were his washing machine and dryer, a single unit that had the dryer above and the washer below, a shower stall that she knew he'd barely have room to turn around in, a sink even smaller than the kitchen one, which shocked her, and his toilet, with about four square feet of empty floor space between them. The whole apartment felt very cramped, especially to Hinata, who was used to the Hyuga mansion. Hinata found the mess in the apartment was a bit much for how small the place was, but it wasn't much really. She picked up and did a little dusting and cleaned the windows in about twenty minutes. Then she checked what food he had and made him some breakfast. She was surprised he had food other than ramen, but she wasn't complaining. She threw his clothes in the washer (it filled, to her surprise) and turned it on. Everything was so quiet he hadn't even awoken yet.

Giggling to herself, she set his breakfast on the table, then walked over and kissed his forehead. He groaned slightly and wrinkled up his nose and forehead. She giggled again, then cupped his cheek in one of her hands and whispered, "Naruto, wake up."

Naruto sat up straight at the sound of her voice. He looked at her and gasped. "Hinata, what are you doing here?" This seemed the obvious question to him.

She giggled at his look of shock and handed him his breakfast. He gasped again and was fighting back tears as she said, "I made you breakfast." He took it from her and ate slowly, savoring the crisp bacon, the light fluffy eggs, and the warm toast. After he finished, she asked, "How was it?"

"Hinata, this was probably the best breakfast I've ever had. Thank you." She blushed at the compliment. Then he remembered where they were and when. "But you never answered me. What are you doing here?"

Hinata smiled. "I wanted to see you. And I decided to come over here and surprise you. I picked your lock with my chakra and came in, cleaned up, and made you breakfast."

Naruto looked around and saw that it was true. The place was clean, dusted, neat, and his clothes...where were they? "Where are my clothes?"

"In the washer." She got up at that point, checked the washer, which was done, and moved them to the dryer. She came back and sat down in front of him again. "In the dryer now."

He blushed as he realized she had been handling his clothing. But she didn't seem to mind. He turned to her, looked her in the eyes and said, "Hinata, this is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you so much. But...why are you doing all this?"

Hinata smiled and said, "I told you. I wanted to surprise you. And I wanted to see you. Besides, I wouldn't be a very good fiancée if I didn't see to it you got a good breakfast, now would I?" She put her hands on her hips at the last part and gave him a mock-stern glare.

Naruto blanched. Fiancée? So...he had just woken up so he hadn't really remembered the events of the previous day yet. Hearing that reminded him though, and he smiled. He said softly, "I truly thank you, Hinata. You've done more for me already than anyone else has ever bothered to do."

Hinata sighed, happy in his praise, then remembered her conversation with her father. "Naruto, Father was telling me about your discussion with him last night." He looked slightly worried at this, so she continued, "He told me you turned down money, power, influence, all that, and that you only agreed when he said it would make me happy."

Naruto sighed, relieved, then said, "Yes, Hinata, that's true. I don't want money or power, or any of that. I just want you to be happy."

She blushed prettily, but pushed on, "Why is that, Naruto? Why would you be so determined to make me happy? I mean, it's not like we've been together long or anything, and already your determination to make me happy is astounding."

Naruto blanched slightly, then said, "I can't tell you yet, Hinata. I will tell you, and soon, I promise, but not yet, okay?"

Hinata was slightly disappointed, but she thought a moment and nodded, "I don't want to push you, Naruto. I was just curious."

He came to her and took her hands in his, saying, "There is a reason, Hinata. And I promise you I'll tell you as soon as I can. Just...not yet. Trust me, okay?" She nodded again, and he lifted her to her feet.

She grinned and let him pull her to him. Then he took her right hand in his left, and put his right hand on her waist. She put her free hand on his shoulder, then asked him, "What are you doing, Naruto?"

He grinned and told her, "I've always wanted to try this." He led her into a slow dance. She followed, letting him set the beat. After a few steps, he spun her away and pulled her back, keeping the beat perfectly. She was impressed. They danced a little longer, then he spun her again, this time pulling her into an embrace when she came back. They stood there a while in one another's arms, just happy to be close to each other and to not be alone anymore.

After a few minutes, Hinata reluctantly pulled back. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but I've got to go. I have to meet my team in half an hour for our training for today." He nodded.

"Hinata?" She looked at him. "When you get done training for today, come back by, okay?" She gave him an odd look and he explained, "Your father told me that whenever you're with me, he wants me to make sure you get back to him and only him. You're with me now, and you're going there, so I need to see to it you get back to him after that." She smiled and nodded.

"I'll see you in a while then, Naruto." She left, smiling happily at his thoughtfulness.

Naruto, meanwhile, laid back on his bed and smiled, thinking. He couldn't believe this had happened. After all, just a few days ago, he had been ready to give in to all the hate in the village and to just slink away in shame. Now, days later, he had a girl who loved him, who was his fiancée, who had just cooked him breakfast and cleaned up his place just because she wanted to, and who was quite honestly the prettiest girl in the whole village. He laughed at himself as he thought of that. He had thought Sakura was the prettiest at one time, but now she paled in comparison to Hinata. Maybe it was true what they said, that the more you got to know someone, the more they look different to you. Maybe. He put his hands behind his head as he remembered what had happened with Sakura that had made him see her differently. Then he thought of how Hinata had yelled at him to not give up, and that he could do it.

He closed his eyes and replayed that day in his head, realizing again how much a difference a single call could make. He laughed quietly, thinking to himself that if she hadn't done that, he wouldn't have even noticed her. He smiled. He was so glad she had called out to him. He grinned, then thought to himself that he'd have to make sure he didn't let anything come between them and that he never did anything to hurt her. He laughed softly at himself when he realized the very thought of hurting her was like a dagger in his heart. He knew then and there that he'd never hurt her. He got up and got showered, got his clothes out of the dryer, and got dressed.

Ten Minutes Later, Naruto's Special Place

Naruto smiled as he arrived at the place. He'd found this place some years before, back when everyone in the village hated him. He only came here because it somehow felt like home. He had gotten in through a window after learning the tree-climbing technique. It hadn't been locked, and when he got in, he found a room full of scrolls. One of them had detailed the jutsu he had just recently showed Hinata. It was the only one in the entire collection with no name, so it was the first one he had learned. He had found a few wind-style scrolls as well, and had been able to pick those up pretty easily, much to his surprise. Some were just ways to blow things away, literally, others were slicing moves, and still others allowed him to "blow" at the ground and push himself up or redirect himself in the air using wind. These had all come naturally to him for some odd reason. Yet when he tried the fire, water, earth, and lightning techniques in the scrolls, they had been harder, and nowhere near as strong as the wind ones, so he had ignored most of those. He had learned one that allowed him to electrify his fingers to shock people or whatever, one to create a fireball, which wasn't large, but still, it was enough for him, one to make a shield out of water, and one to make the earth shoot up spikes, though those were almost so short as to be useless. Once he realized those elements didn't work as well for him, he'd passed on them and concentrated on wind moves. They cut, blew, and were good for both offense and defense anyway, so he didn't mind. Lately, he was working on trying to mix elements into his "chakra-spinning" move, which he hadn't named yet. He had found five scrolls detailing how to "manipulate" each element, and was using his spin move to try to do it.

Wind chakra, naturally, he found easy to mix into the move. The other four were harder. Lightning wasn't too hard, fire was harder, water somewhat easier than fire, but not as easy as lightning, but earth was dang near impossible. Earth chakra was just too damn stiff to get into those spinning patterns; he'd managed it once, which was interesting to see. It made the chakra turn gold, but he couldn't keep it up very long. He did all this on his own. Just like the shadow clone jutsu he'd learned from that sealing scroll when he was trying to become a Gennin, he'd done all this just working alone, practicing for hours on end, trying hard, and every so often having a breakthrough. He was proud of what he'd done, but it wasn't easy. He laughed as he thought about how he'd learned to make that spinning sphere. The scroll just said how to do it, not how to learn it. He'd had to improvise somewhat, using anything spherical he could find to make the shape, then he had to figure out how to make the chakra spin and how to make it strong enough. He used a balloon to make the sphere first. Then he used a rubber ball to get the spinning part down. He used his chakra to roll the ball around. It was kinda weird, but he managed. Then, to get the force, he figured out that if he got enough, he could break the ball. Sure enough, that worked. Now he could do it almost without thinking. And he could fire off about forty of them before he even noticed the drain. He didn't know how he had so much chakra, but he sure wasn't going to complain about it. He was sitting there thinking about all this, when he remembered Hinata's question from that morning.

He grimaced, thinking of how everyone else had reacted when they found out what he was. She was one of the very few now who didn't know. And everyone else...Sakura, Sasuke...Kakashi already knew, but the others...Kiba...they all rejected him when they found out. He didn't think Shino cared much one way or the other, but all the others, even Ino, had rejected him. He was afraid Hinata would too. But he knew he'd have to tell her sooner or later. Especially since she'd asked him why he was so willing to move so fast. As he was thinking about this, he didn't notice what he was doing, but he was changing the shape of the spheres he was holding in his hands (he held one in each hand while he thought; it helped him focus); the one in his left hand became the heart he had shown Hinata before while the one in his right hand became a flat disc, much like a shuriken when it's spinning. That one was also getting smaller and sharper, and he was unconsciously adding wind chakra to it. Suddenly, he came out of his daze and looked at it.

He thought a moment, then threw it; he was somewhat surprised that it actually flew and didn't just dissolve, but he got the real shock when it hit the wall and went right through it. He used his chakra to repair the hole (he had learned a couple hole-fixing jutsu; figured they'd be useful to heal wounds and the like), then looked out the window where the chakra shuriken had sliced up about a dozen trees with glancing blows before slamming into a rock. The shuriken stopped, but the rock had a large cut in it. He was stunned. He hadn't even been trying to do that.

About a Mile from Naruto's "Special" Place

A large man with spiky white hair was peeking into the women's bath when he heard a loud crack, followed by a few sounds like trees being cut, followed by what sounded like a stone shattering. He jumped at the first, then thought hard about the others. He headed off in that direction, curious. After all, it had come from a direction where he knew only one house was, and that house wasn't exactly being used anymore. In a few jumps, he was within sight of the house, just behind the rock he'd heard. Sure enough, the trees leading from the rock to the house were cut up and he watched as a hole in the wall of the house was repaired from within, obviously with chakra. Okay, what the hell was this? He headed over to the front door and used his key to get in.

With Naruto

Naruto heard a key in the front door turn and the door open. He panicked. He'd been sure this place was no longer used. He was about to run when he heard it.

"Someone in here?" A voice called out from downstairs before heading up to the room he was in. He couldn't get out fast enough, even if he'd wanted to. The door opened and a man stood there. Other than his white hair, he could have been in his twenties, but was more likely in his forties. Naruto was shocked to find this man, who he had never seen before, standing here in this house. The man gave him a look and asked, "Who are you?"

Naruto noticed the look. It wasn't the look everyone else gave him. It was a look of surprise and curiosity, not that cold stare everyone had when they looked at him. He hesitated. This man was old enough to know about his...guest. Should he tell him his real name or hide it? He decided to take a chance. "I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."

"I thought so. You're the spitting image of your father."

Naruto jumped, stiffened, then slowly, stiffly, looked at the old man. "MY FATHER?" he exclaimed louder than he intended, his shock making him yell.

"Yes, your father, kid. You look just like him."

"You know who my father is?"

"Of course I know who he is, I was his sensei. And you're in his house."

"Wait...this is my father's house? But..."

"Wait, kid, you mean you don't know who your father is?" Naruto shook his head. "Then how are you here? In this room, in this house? How did you know to come here?"

"I didn't. I found this place by mistake a year or so ago. I was just exploring the village and happened to find it. I had just learned how to climb trees with chakra, so I walked up and found this window was unlocked, and I came in. I've been kinda hiding out here, learning jutsu and stuff since then. I didn't know it was my father's place."

"Wow. I'm impressed kid. So was it you that broke the wall and hit that rock out there?"

"Yeah. Is that why you're here?"

"Yeah, I heard the rock shatter. I decided to come see what was up over here. But wait. If you were in here, how the hell did you do that?"

"A jutsu I learned from one of these scrolls." Naruto gestured at the ones in the room as he said this. "It didn't have a name on it, so I don't know what it's called."

"Show me." Naruto looked a little surprised, but he held out his hand and formed the sphere in his hand. "HOLY -!" the old man shouted in shock.

Naruto looked at him, then suddenly realized something. "Okay, old man, you've told me everything but what I want to know. First off, just who the hell are you?"

"Oh, sorry kid. My name's Jiraiya. I'm the Toad Sage. Don't ask. Believe me, you don't want to know."

Naruto accepted that, then said, "Okay, fine, Jiraiya. You say you were my father's sensei. Who was my father?"

"The Yondaime Hokage, of course."

Naruto's jaw dropped so hard it popped. He shook his head, then muttered, "Wait a second, the Fourth was my father?" Jiraiya nodded. "Why the hell did no one ever tell me this?"

"To protect you. Your father had a lot of enemies, kid. Now, you said that jutsu didn't have a name?" Naruto shook his head and showed the old man the scroll he'd learned it from. "And you learned this all on your own?" Naruto nodded this time. "It's called the Rasengan. Your father developed it. But that didn't do what I saw was done to that rock out there. How did you do that?"

Naruto smiled. "Rasengan, huh? Then I guess you could call what did that the Rasenshuriken. Actually, I like that name. Here, I'll show you." He held out his hand, created a Rasengan, as he now knew it to be called, then flattened it to a disc and added his wind chakra to it.

Jiraiya watched this in rapt fascination. "And you did this all on your own?" Naruto nodded again, happy that someone was actually paying attention to him. Then Jiraiya remembered. "You're the Kyuubi container, aren't you?" Naruto looked scared, but nodded. "I guess you're a hero then." Naruto looked at him, shocked. "What? You saved the village from that beast by containing him within you. You're a hero as much as the Fourth. He sealed the beast, and you contained it. Neither one would have been possible without the other. So you're a hero. I'm sorry the rest of the idiots in this village don't see it that way."

Naruto smiled, then looked at Jiraiya and asked, "Would you consider taking me on as a student? Please?"

Jiraiya was surprised to be asked this, then thought a moment and nodded, "I'd be happy to, Naruto."

Naruto ran over and hugged the man, then pulled back and said, "Thank you, Jiraiya-sensei! This means a lot to me!"

Jiraiya laughed, "Jiraiya-sensei, huh? It's been a long time since Minato called me that, and no one has since. It's nice to hear it again." Naruto grinned and Jiraiya continued, "Okay, Naruto, I'll take you on as my apprentice. And you'll be my focus from now on. Let's go let Sarutobi know." Naruto looked confused at the name. "I mean the Third, knucklehead." Naruto grinned and nodded.

Half an Hour Later, Hokage's Office

The Third Hokage looked up when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in," he said quietly. The door opened, and Jiraiya and Naruto walked in. He grinned at Naruto, then looked at the man with him and his jaw dropped in shock when he recognized the Toad Sage. "Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Yes, it's me, Sarutobi-sensei."

"What are you doing here? Are you looking for Orochimaru?" Naruto looked at the Third when he mentioned that name, surprised. After all, he'd met that snake already.

"Nope, can't say that I am," Jiraiya answered. He was about to continue when Naruto interrupted.

"Orochimaru is here!" Jiraiya and the Third both looked at him in shock, and he explained, "My team ran into him during the second part of the exams, and he put some kind of mark on Sasuke...and a seal on me."

Jiraiya said, "Show me." Naruto did as he was told, peeling his shirts off and making his seal appear.

"You learned all those jutsu with THAT on you?" Naruto nodded. "Wow, kid, you're good."

Jiraiya put a hand out in front of him and chakra flared on his fingers. He yelled out "FIVE PRONGED SEAL RELEASE!" and plunged his hand into Naruto's stomach. Naruto gasped, but sighed in relief when he saw the seal disappear. Jiraiya then said, "Now, show the Hokage that jutsu you showed me. Sarutobi, you're not going to believe this."

Naruto decided to try something. He held his hand out and formed the Rasengan and tried to infuse it with earth chakra (the hardest) and found it shockingly easy. Soon there was a golden sphere swirling in his hand. Jiraiya looked shocked.

"You didn't tell me you could infuse it with elemental chakra, kid. Can you do that with other elements?"

Naruto grinned, released the sphere, then recreated it first with wind, then lightning, then fire, and finally, water chakra. "I tried earth first here, because that's been the hardest for me. Wind's the easiest."

Jiraiya looked ready to faint, then looked at the Third, who of course recognized the jutsu too. The Third finally found his voice and said, "Naruto, I'm sorry I haven't done more for you in the past. I knew the villagers were cruel to you, and I didn't do anything to stop it. But I really couldn't, the council wouldn't allow it." Naruto nodded at this, showing he understood. Jiraiya told the Third about telling Naruto about his father, about the Rasenshuriken as Naruto called it, finding his father's house, all of it. Naruto grinned when he talked about the Rasenshuriken, smiled quietly when he talked about him finding the house, and looked embarrassed when he talked about the scrolls and how Naruto had been learning up there. The Third told Naruto, "I want you to know, Naruto, that when you turn 18, your dream will come true. You always said you wanted to be Hokage. If I live that long, on that day, you will be named the Fifth Hokage." Naruto gasped and then smiled at that. "Just so we're clear, that does NOT leave this room, got it?" Both Naruto and Jiraiya nodded. Then he looked at Naruto, and added, "And that includes Hinata." Naruto looked down a bit, then nodded.

Ten Minutes Later

As they were leaving the Hokage's office, Jiraiya turned to Naruto. "So, who's Hinata?"

Naruto grinned at Jiraiya, "Oh, she's my fiancée, Jiraiya-sensei." Jiraiya looked surprised.

"Fiancée, huh? Aren't you a bit young for that?"

"Yeah, I guess so, but it's an arranged marriage. I'm more than happy to be with her, and I know she's happy to be with me, so no one's objecting to it. And her father arranged it, so that's all good too."

Jiraiya nodded, realizing this kid was mature enough for this, and then smiled. "So, when do I get to meet the young lady?" Naruto gasped, remembering that he'd told Hinata to come back to his place after her training.

"I gotta get home. She'll be on her way there soon."

"I'm coming with you. I want to meet the young lady." Naruto nodded and ran off to his apartment, Jiraiya keeping up easily.

After just a few minutes, they came into sight of Naruto's building. Just as they came into view of it, Naruto saw Hinata going in the front door. He gasped and ran around to the back and leaped to his balcony. Jiraiya followed as he opened the door there and they went in, just as there was a knock at his door. Naruto caught his breath quickly and went to open the door.

Hinata was standing there, waiting patiently, when he opened the door. He pulled her in and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back, then they pulled away from each other and kissed gently. When they separated, Hinata saw Jiraiya and blushed.

"Hinata, this is my new sensei, Jiraiya," Naruto told her.

"Hello, Jiraiya-sensei, it's a pleasure to meet you," Hinata said, bowing.

"You as well, young lady. I can see why Naruto here is so bowled over by you." He grinned teasingly as he said this, and Hinata blushed deeper.

"Sensei, don't tease her, she's really shy," Naruto said, defending his fiancée. Hinata smiled at this.

"Okay, sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you, young lady." Then Jiraiya smiled. "So, you two are engaged, huh?" She smiled and nodded emphatically.

Naruto grinned and told him, "I told you so. And believe me, it's not just her looks, I care about her for who she is too." Naruto put his arm around her waist as he said this. "You'll see, sensei. She's a really sweet girl."

Hinata, blushing at her love's praise, said, "Naruto, you told me to come by so you could take me home. We should get going before Father starts to worry."

Naruto grinned, and said to Jiraiya, "I'll be back in a little bit, okay, sensei?" The old man nodded, and Naruto left hand-in-hand with Hinata, smiling. They made small talk on the way there, Naruto telling her about his day, leaving out the Hokage's news, along with the bit about his father and him and the fox, and soon they were at the Hyuga compound.

Naruto knocked on the door, then kissed her deeply, pulling back so she was blushing when the door opened. Neji was there.

"Good evening, Neji. Could you let Lord Hiashi know that I'm here, please?" Neji nodded and went to get his uncle. A moment later, Hiashi was there. "Hello Father, I'm here returning your daughter to you, as per our arrangement." Hiashi smiled.

"I didn't know she was with you, Naruto." Naruto grinned, thinking of that morning. "But I thank you for returning her to me." He held out his hand, and Naruto handed Hinata's hand to him. He took it gently, and led Hinata into the house, then smiled at Naruto. "Have a good evening, Naruto." Naruto nodded and they parted. Naruto went home, while Hinata went to her room and Hiashi went to the meeting room where the council was waiting for him.

Naruto arrived back home fifteen minutes after leaving, and Jiraiya grinned at him, "Did you have a good time with your girl?" Naruto gave him a confused look, and Jiraiya groaned, "You mean to tell me you two are virgins?"

Naruto realized what the old man meant, and snapped, "OF COURSE WE ARE, YOU OLD PERVERT! WE'RE ONLY 12!" Jiraiya laughed. Naruto glared. "All right, Pervy Sage, knock it off."

Jiraiya glared at him, but couldn't deny it, so instead, he changed the subject, hoping the nickname wouldn't stick (fat chance!). "Naruto, you've been training alone a long time, I see." Naruto nodded. "I may not be the best teacher out there, but I'll try to help you with anything you want to learn. First, I need to see how good your chakra control is. What shapes can you make with the Rasengan?"

"Well, I've only tried a few. I made a ring out of it for Hinata, and the sphere of course, and the shuriken from earlier. That...and one more."

"Show me." Naruto grimaced, but formed the Rasengan heart he'd made for Hinata. Jiraiya was stunned by this. "And you can infuse it with all five elements of chakra. Wow, kid, you must be some kind of genius." Naruto grinned. "Let's see if we can't improve it even more." Jiraiya spent the next few hours teaching Naruto to make the Rasengan larger, smaller, stronger, weaker, different shapes (a tube, for instance), all kinds of variants. Naruto practiced for hours, then eventually he had to get to bed for the night. As Jiraiya was leaving, he asked, "How many Rasengans can you fire off in a day?"

Naruto shrugged, then told him, "I start to feel the drain after I've done about forty of them, if I don't release any of them and use them all." Jiraiya, knowing how much chakra the jutsu took, was stunned, but he couldn't show it. "If I absorb them back, I don't feel it till I've fired off about a hundred of them," Naruto finished. THAT didn't surprise Jiraiya much, since he himself could fire off about twenty of them without noticing much if he took them back in, but forty USED without feeling it? Sheesh, this kid had one hell of a reserve. Jiraiya was just glad the kid wasn't his enemy. He got up, shook hands with his new student, then left.

Naruto chuckled at Jiraiya's reaction, then went and got ready for bed. He fell into bed with a satisfied smile on his face. His dream was going to come true, he had someone who loved him, and now he had a sensei who thought he was a hero. What a day! He fell asleep happily, and was soon having a happy dream of his wedding day, and being Hokage.

With Hiashi

As Naruto was falling into bed and sleep, Hiashi was walking into the council chambers to confront the rest of his family leaders. He grinned, thinking of how they'd react to this one. He opened the door and saw the council arrayed around the table therein. He bowed to them slightly, and knelt at the head of the table. He laid his papers down in front of him and immediately sealed the room. They weren't leaving without his permission. And he wasn't giving it till he had what he wanted.

"What is the meaning of this, Lord Hiashi?" a Branch Family member asked.

"I've called you all here for one reason and one reason only," Hiashi stated. "I've arranged a marriage for Hinata."

"WHAT?" the whole council yelled as one.

Hiashi glared them back into order. "YOU WILL NOT OPPOSE ME IN THIS!" he shouted at them. "YOU WON'T DARE!" They waited for him to calm down. He did, then continued, "I have arranged for Hinata to marry Naruto Uzumaki."

This, of course, set off a ton of responses. "THE DEMON?" "WHAT?" "NO!" were a few. With the whole council yelling, Hiashi just glared at them all.

"I warn you, do NOT get in my way." His quiet anger was more frightening than his yelling. The council calmed down.

One member finally spoke for them all. "Why would you arrange for her to marry him?"

"Because she desires it. And because the young man truly desires my daughter's happiness."

"How can you say that? The boy is an orphan; he must be after our money, our influence."

Hiashi grinned. "I knew you'd say that." He handed them all a copy of the paperwork he had with him. "Read that." He waited while they did. It was a transcript of his conversation with Naruto about Hinata and his marriage. It was signed by himself, the typist, and two witnesses who had been in earshot of the conversation, saying it was accurate.

"This must be a mistake," the same member spoke.

"With four signatures?" Hiashi grinned. "And you know our typist doesn't make mistakes. I can have Naruto sign it as well, if you'd like." The member shook his head and fell silent. "I thought so. Now, this is done, and you will NOT do ANYTHING to get in their way, got me?" They all nodded, not daring his anger again. Even the Main Family members knew he wouldn't hesitate to cut them down if they did, so they all agreed. A couple didn't like it, but most were happy enough to deal with it. Hiashi released the seal on the room and said, "Get out of here. You all have things to do, I'm sure, and I have to go speak to my daughter."

Once they were all gone, he went to Hinata's room and knocked softly, in case she was asleep.

Hinata jumped slightly at the knock, but answered quickly, "Come in." Her father entered, smiling. She waited for him to sit near her, then queried, "Yes, Father?"

"I've just spoken to the council about your marriage, Hinata," he said, still smiling. "A couple of the members were dead-set against you marrying Naruto, but I...well, brought them around. Your marriage is in the clear. We'll announce it to the rest of the village tomorrow."

Hinata smiled and hugged her father. "I love you, Father. Thank you so much." He smiled and hugged her back. "Father, do me one favor?" He looked at her. "I want to tell someone first, so could you not announce it till after lunchtime tomorrow?" He smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Father."

"You're most welcome daughter. Now, I suggest you get some sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow. Oh, and tell Naruto to be out front of the Hokage's Mansion at one o'clock PM tomorrow, all right?"

"Yes, Father, we'll both be there. I'll make sure." He smiled at her, then left her room. He retreated to his own bedroom, did his own evening routine, and fell into bed, relieved and happy for his daughter. He fell asleep smiling gently.

Hinata was so happy, she couldn't sit still. She took a long hot shower, relaxing her muscles, then went through her normal night routine, and fell into bed herself. Soon enough, she was asleep, dreaming of Naruto. Tomorrow, she kept thinking. Tomorrow everyone would know about him and her. Then they'd all have to accept it. That's all there was to it.

Little did she know that Naruto still had a secret to tell her. Several secrets, actually. But that night, she was just happy that he was hers. Would she be able to stay that way after Naruto revealed himself to her? And would he do it in time? Only time would tell, but for now, Hinata was just glad she had called out to him that day, which wasn't even a week earlier, yet felt like a lifetime ago. She laughed softly, thinking of how a single call really had made all the difference, and how sometimes dreams do come true.