Author's note: Hello again! I've finished the fourth chapter and it's the longest one yet! Some of the scenes took on a life of their own and I just went with it so I hope you enjoy what you find.
All of this takes place at the same time as the last chapter, just in Konoha instead of Suna. This chapter is a lot of Naruto working through and coming to terms his feelings thus far so it can be a little confusing at times because he is rather confused about it as well. I think at the end of it all he ends up right where he needs to be to have written the letter at the end of the last chapter.
As always, your reviews and messages have meant the world to me and keep me writing whenever I'm feeling stuck. I love your feedback and take it into consideration as I continue to write.
This chapter does have a couple of people give Naruto a hard time, but I promise I didn't let them be very mean. I know a lot of you expressed concern over that. Girls (and Kiba, because I get that big brother vibe from him) are very protective of their friends so I felt like what happens makes sense, and it all gets righted so that by the end of the chapter pretty much everyone is team NaruHina.
I also just wanted to say that I am up to date with the manga, but I planned the story and started writing it when the manga was at a certain point so I am not going to incorporate everything that has happened since. I will adjust what I can, but don't plan on worrying about it much. Just wanted to give you a heads up.
Enough of me trying to explain a chapter you haven't read yet. Hope you like it!
Hinata: Sweetheart of the Allied Nations
Chapter Four: Konoha - The First Six Months
Naruto woke up the next day, squinting his eyes against the brightness pouring into his apartment from the windows. His mind, still groggy from slumber, took a minute to process the fact that the sun was much brighter than it should have been if he had indeed woken when he had planned to. A glance at the clock quickly snapped Naruto out of his sleepy state and he cursed as he tumbled out of bed, frustrated that he was already behind on the limited plan he had been able to come up with the night before.
It turns out, saying that you are going to make a plan and actually making a plan are two very different things. And apparently executing a plan was yet another challenge in the already complicated process, especially since Naruto was never really one for planning in the first place. Kakashi didn't call him unpredictable for no reason and Naruto had embraced his instinct and improvisation to create a truly unique and impressive fighting style.
That's not to say the blond ninja was incapable of planning. As Naruto matured through the years he recognized the importance of being able to strategize in situations that were too dangerous to jump straight into. However, his training in battle strategy did not seem to help him in the girl department. He had no idea where to start when it came to the fairer sex. For almost a decade he had made advances on his pink-haired teammate and that never went well. He realized that Hinata was very different from Sakura and would probably not react so violently, but he still felt he should modify his usual approach to accommodate their history. Unfortunately, this was the point where he hit a wall.
As Naruto had walked from the memorial through the town, he thought about asking someone for advice, but quickly realized he didn't know who to talk to about this. He grew up with two perverted senseis, only one of whom was still alive, and shuddered at the idea of anything Kakashi might suggest. Iruka had never been in a serious relationship that he was aware of and Shikamaru was the only guy in his age group who was currently in some kind of relationship, but he was still in denial about it.
Needing the comfort of familiarity and food, Naruto headed to Ichiraku. As he ducked into the stand and seated himself at the counter he was greeted by a smiling Ayame.
"Hello, Naruto! Would you like the usual?"
Her only response was a nod, which caused her to furrow her brow. As her father walked out from the back, he too noticed his favorite customer and greeted him warmly.
"Naruto, my boy! It's been a while! Were you on a mission?"
"Yeah. We had to go get Sasuke."
Teuchi shared a worried look with his daughter as she continued to cook Naruto's order. They had never heard the blond mention his best friend and rival with such lackluster. He wondered if something had gone wrong.
"Is everything okay? If anyone is giving him a hard time, you know any friend of yours will always be welcome here. We'll do what we can."
The genuine concern in Teuchi's voice made Naruto crack a small smile. He shook his head, letting the ramen chef know that that wasn't the issue.
"Actually, I'm having a different kind of problem. I, uh, well I'm not really sure how to start."
Ayame gave him a sisterly smile as she handed him his first bowl of ramen.
"Well, why don't you just start from the beginning?" she suggested.
"I dunno, it's a really long story."
"We have time. After all, that's only your first bowl and it's been a slow night."
"Well, there's kind of this girl..." Naruto began, still not sure how to tell them all that had happened. The more he thought about it, the more he realized this whole thing actually started back when they were genin. He started to get depressed again when he realized just how long Hinata had had feelings for him.
"Is it Sakura-san?" Ayame asked a bit reluctantly. She knew Naruto had had a crush on his teammate for a long time, but she had a feeling that Sasuke's return had probably ruined any chance of the pink haired girl ever having romantic feelings for the blond sitting in front of her. The girl had always seemed to treat him more like a brother, anyway. The brunette breathed a sigh of relief when Naruto shook his head.
"No, it's someone else. She's actually had feelings for me for a long time."
"Ah, is it Hinata-san? Such a sweet girl." Teuchi said.
"What?! How did you know?" Naruto asked, bewildered.
"Oh, she and her teammates come in here all the time. Those boys love to tease her about you and you know we can't help but listen when conversation involves our best customer," he responded with a smile.
Unfortunately, this just caused Naruto to groan. "Oh my god, even you guys knew how she felt about me?"
This time Ayame was the one to respond, "Well, like dad says, we can't really help but hear. But, I thought you knew? There was a lot of gossip a while back saying that she had confessed. It was a lot stronger than the usual rumors so we were pretty sure it was true. We kind of assumed you had already dealt with that and were looking for someone else."
At this point Naruto had to stop himself from hitting his head repeatedly on the counter.
Ayame saw his expression and started to apologize, "I'm sorry, Naruto. We would have said something if we knew it was so important to you. We honestly thought you knew."
Seeing that this was quickly going downhill, Teuchi decided to step in. "Naruto, why don't you tell us what is wrong and we'll see if we can help."
Naruto let out a long sigh and said, "What do you do when you've really messed up with a girl?"
Sensing that he didn't want to get more in-depth than that at the moment, Teuchi decided to give him the standard. "Flowers. Give her flowers."
Naruto looked at him, confused. Here he had been racking his brain trying to come up with a way to make things up to Hinata and apparently all he needed was flowers. It seemed too good to be true. "Flowers? Is that all?"
"No, Naruto," Ayame looked at her father slightly annoyed, "that is not all. And you don't actually have to give her flowers. Really, a heartfelt apology is all it takes."
"Yes, but flowers certainly don't hurt. In fact, sometimes a bouquet of flowers is what convinces her to listen to the apology," the ramen chef said, as he nodded sagely.
"I don't get it. Why are flowers such a big deal?"
"They are pretty and they smell nice. Girls like that," Teuchi responded.
Ayame sighed, a little sad that no one had really taken the time to teach Naruto about these things. "It's not so much the flowers specifically, but the gesture. If you present a girl with flowers when you want to apologize it's similar to raising a white flag in battle. But don't you dare go on thinking that all you have to do when you mess up is get a girl some flowers. As I said before, the flowers are a gesture, but the apology is most important."
Naruto mulled this over. It was certainly the best shot he had currently. He wanted Hinata to listen to him and if flowers would do the trick then flowers he would get. After finishing his ramen, Naruto walked home and debated when exactly he should give her flowers. He figured morning would be ideal since he could find her at her house instead of having to search the village or ask around. He actually wanted to do this as quietly as possible, unsure of what his "groupies" -as Sakura referred to them- would do if they heard about it. He knew that if he was heard asking around for the Hyuga heiress's whereabouts while carrying flowers there would be lots of talk.
With that part of the plan set in stone Naruto had attempted to sleep, but couldn't seem to stop his mind from running through what he might say to Hinata. He was on edge and his brain was on overdrive, which lead to a rather unsuccessful night of sleep. That, in turn, lead to his current predicament of waking up late for a rushed shower and sprint to Ino's flower shop. If he could convince her to keep her mouth shut, he knew she would be most helpful in picking out flowers for her friend. Little did he know, his delay had allowed a certain little sister to make her way to the Yamanaka shop first.
It was often remarked in the Hyuga household that Hinata was the spitting image of her mother whereas Hanabi was the spitting image of her father. Most never looked past their outward appearances before confirming this fact, but the similarities were also apparent in their personalities.
Hinata was a sweet girl, caring and she forgave easily. She would go out of her way to make sure she didn't offend or upset anyone, including those that didn't even know her. Hanabi, on the other hand, only cared for the opinions of those she held dear. She could be cutthroat, but those that knew her well knew that she would do anything for the people she loved, and this included her sister. Although she was only thirteen, it was well known that you did not want her scheming to be directed at you. Unfortunately for one blond Uzumaki, she was rather frustrated with what she considered a slight against her awesome older sister. Thus, after she saw her sister off that morning, she quickly headed to the Yamanaka flower shop, knowing that Ino would be working.
The young Hyuga was not disappointed when she walked into the flower shop and found Ino standing behind the counter, head resting on her hand, waiting for customers. The shop had just been opened so everything was already cleaned and organized and the blonde was eagerly awaiting a customer to come entertain her. She smiled brightly at her friend's little sister, though she was a little confused to see her in the store as she had only ever visited once before with Hinata.
"Hey there, Hanabi," she greeted, "Did Hinata get off well this morning?"
"She did. There was way too much hugging, but she had that determined look on her face when she left so I'm sure my sister will be just fine."
Ino smiled. She always wondered how Hinata had survived in a family whose main method of physical contact was sparring.
"Yeah, Hinata was made for this kind of mission. I know everyone is going to love her just as much as we do. Now, what can I help you with today?"
Hanabi smirked before saying, "What if I told you I had a way to get back at Uzumaki for ignoring my big sister?"
Ino was intrigued, but hesitant. "I don't know, Hanabi. Hinata was pretty clear about not wanting us to do anything to Naruto. TenTen was practically ready to use him as moving target practice, but your sister quickly shut it down."
"Tch. Hinata's too soft-hearted for her own good. Besides, it's not so much us doing something to him as us not doing something specific."
The young Hyuga smirked as she saw the blonde's face go from unsure to curious. She knew that once Ino was interested in something, she would not rest until satisfied.
"I'm listening."
"Well, I'm merely suggesting we neglect to tell Uzumaki Naruto that Hinata has left on a two year mission."
"I don't understand. What is that supposed to do? And how are we supposed to keep him from finding out?"
"You'd be surprised at how few people know about the mission. Hinata left so quickly that she didn't really have time to tell a lot of people. Kurenai's too busy with her son to gossip and we all know Uchiha hardly says a word about anything ever. Also, TenTen and Sakura both left on that emergency mission this morning with Lee and Gai and Hinata's team has a piggyback mission to complete after escorting her to Suna so they won't be back for a while."
Ino was impressed. Hanabi had certainly covered her bases.
"What about your clan? Don't they all know where their heiress is going?"
"Oh, they won't be a problem. I have my ways of ensuring they don't mess this up."
The blonde's eyes widened at how sinister that sounded. "You don't mean the curse seal?" she asked indignantly. Hinata would have a fit if she knew her sister had threatened anyone with that barbaric status symbol.
Hanabi merely rolled her eyes. "Please, do you really think I would need to resort to something like that? Honestly, I have blackmail on pretty much everyone in the clan. Not that I need to use it. They all love Hinata. I just have to tell them to keep their mouths shut for a short while in order to get back at someone who messed with their princess and they will do just that."
Ino was now both impressed and a little terrified of the little girl in front of her. She had definitely not been this devious at that age. Hinata had mentioned something about it to the girls before, but none of them had really believed her. She knew that Sakura had left this morning to treat someone in the Daimyo's immediate family who had apparently been poisoned in an assassination attempt. Team Gai left with them to ensure no further attempts were made on either the Daimyo's family or the medic and they would be gone until that was resolved.
"Supposing I agree to this, do you really think this is okay? Hinata was pretty clear…"
"Come on, if my sister can't depend on her friends to get back at him for her then who can she depend on? I know you have seen what him ignoring her confession has done to her all this time. And besides, it's not like we're really doing all that much. He'll obviously find out at some point that she's gone. We are merely postponing it so that it's more shocking and has a bigger effect. I don't see how Hinata could really complain about that.
"So what do you say, do we have a deal?"
The blonde had to admit that Hanabi had a way of putting things that made them not seem so bad. She and the other girls had seen Hinata's face when Naruto would ask Sakura out in front of her. Sasuke had always been brutal when rebuffing a girl's advances, but at least he was upfront and he told them how he felt. Hinata on the other hand was smart enough to infer from Naruto's inaction what his answer was, but without that definitive response she couldn't help but hold onto a little hope. Ino supposed that her blue haired friend couldn't be that upset even if she managed to hear what her little sister planned.
"I'm in."
As Naruto entered the Yamanaka flower shop, he was relieved when he saw that Ino was the one currently tending the counter. He had come here specifically hoping that she would be there since he figured she would know what kind of flowers Hinata might like.
"Hey, Ino!" he greeted happily.
Ino was surprised to see the person she had talked with Hanabi about so soon. She often saw the other members of the Konoha 12 around the village, but only Shikamaru and Choji made regular appearances at her shop because of their closeness.
"Hey, Naruto, is there something I can help you with?" she asked, curiosity and nervousness raging within her.
"Uh, yeah, actually," Naruto responded, while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "I was looking to buy some flowers."
Now Ino was really curious. She was about to ask who they were for, but realized there was a good chance he wanted some for Hinata and she did not want to bring her up if she could help it. The blonde bit her tongue instead and nodded.
"I can definitely help with that. Is there anything in particular you are looking for? A particular color, or is there something you are trying to say with them?"
"Trying to say?"
"Yes, different flowers have different meanings. If you are unsure what kind or color someone might prefer then I usually suggest getting a flower that has the meaning you are trying to convey. That way you can't go wrong."
This was too good to be true for Naruto. Instead of asking his fellow blonde what Hinata's favorite flowers were, he could just tell her what he was trying to say with them and she didn't even have to know who they were for. Ino was a notorious gossip so he had been worried about making sure she didn't tell anyone what he was doing. Now, he no longer had to fret.
"Ah, well I was told that I should get a girl flowers if I messed up. So, I guess what I'm trying to say with them is that I'm sorry."
Based on the story she had heard yesterday, Ino was positive he was talking about Hinata. Luckily for her, he seemed hesitant to actually bring her up so she didn't even have to worry about hiding the fact she was gone.
"I have the perfect flower for that," she said as she pulled some purple hyacinths and began to wrap them. She finished the bouquet with a ribbon and handed it to Naruto. "There you go!"
"Thanks, Ino! This looks great!" he exclaimed as he placed some money on the counter and ran out of the shop, eager to get to the Hyuga compound as quickly as possible.
"See you later!" he yelled over his shoulder.
Naruto quickly found himself standing at the gates of the Hyuga compound, pleased that buying flowers had taken less time than he had originally thought so he could get on with the rest of his plan. Bouquet in hand, he approached the guards in order to request entrance.
The guards inspected the young man in front of them and the flowers he held. With a conspiratorial glance at one another they acknowledged both their awareness and compliance with the orders previously given to them by Hanabi.
"What is your business here?" the one on the left demanded, before Naruto had a chance to ask to be let in.
The blond ninja was involuntarily a little intimidated by the tone and gazes of the two men. They weren't openly hostile, but they certainly weren't friendly and suddenly he felt foolish for assuming he would just be able to march right into the compound to find their heiress and talk to her.
"I'm here to talk to Hinata."
"We're afraid she is currently unavailable. If you would like we can get a message to her."
Although their words made it sound as though they wanted to help, their cool tone was starting to rub him the wrong way. However, Naruto figured he needed to remain friendly if he wanted them to let him in.
"Um, it's actually pretty important that I say this face to face. Is there somewhere I can wait until she's available?"
"You are welcome to remain here, but we are under orders not to let you inside the compound."
"What? Who gave you those orders? Was it Hinata?"
"You have no authority to ask us that."
"Please, just tell me if it was Hinata. I need to talk to her."
"Our orders were from Hiashi-sama's daughter," the guard on the right responded, hoping Hanabi-sama would be pleased with his misdirection. Unfortunately, Naruto proved to be very persistent.
"It's fine. I don't need to go in there. Just send someone to let her know I want to talk to her and I'll stay out here the whole time."
Now the guards were starting to sweat a bit. Luckily, Hanabi had heard of a commotion at the front gate and came to their rescue.
She pushed open the door and walked outside. With her arms crossed she glared at Naruto and said, "My sister does not want to see you."
The blond Uzumaki took in the young girl in front of him. He noted her resemblance to Neji and her unmarked forehead and concluded that she was indeed Hinata's younger sibling. It seemed to him that she was around Konohamaru's age and he grinned. He had experience with kids her age so he would definitely be able to convince her to let him see her sister.
"Hey there!" he said, giving her his friendliest smile. "My name's Naruto. Do you think you could get Hinata for me?"
"No."
Undeterred by the tone it seemed every Hyuga but Hinata was adept in using, Naruto tried again.
"Please? There's something important I need to talk with her about."
"Oh?" Hanabi asked, while lifting a brow. "And what would that be?"
Naruto was beginning to get a little agitated. What was with these people? He knew talking to Hinata was going to be difficult, but he hadn't thought the process itself of getting to talk to her was going to be this bad.
"Look, it's kind of personal. Tell you what, if you go get her then I will see about teaching you an awesome justu," he said, while extending his hand out to ruffle her hair. The promise of a jutsu always worked on Konohamaru.
The blond ninja immediately noticed her glare go from cool to positively glacier and he snapped his arm back just before it made contact with the top of her head. This girl was nothing like the Konohamaru corps. In his flustered state, he didn't notice Hanabi's smirk as she saw the purple flowers in his hand.
"Are those for Nee-chan?" she asked, pointing to the bouquet.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, these are for Hinata," Naruto replied. Looking at the purple blossoms, he suddenly remembered what Teuchi and Ayame had said the night before. Maybe if he just sent the flowers and gave Hinata some time to mull things over, he would be allowed to see her the next day.
"Actually, would you mind giving these to her?" he asked as he held them out to the young Hyuga.
Hanabi smiled impishly. "I'll take them straight to her room."
"Great, thanks!" Naruto exclaimed, thankful that she suddenly seemed to cooperate. Maybe flowers really were as effective as Teuchi had made them sound. "Just tell her they're from me and that I want to talk to her. I'll come back tomorrow."
With a wave, the blond Uzumaki ran off, looking forward to the next morning when he hoped to get the opportunity to talk to Hinata.
Naruto was many things, but patient was not one of them. When he was younger he even went so far as to declare his hate for the few minutes it took instant ramen to cook. Therefore, after a couple of weeks passed and all of Naruto's visits to the Hyuga compound ended the same way, he decided enough was enough.
Each day he would ask to talk to Hinata, the guards would tell him he wasn't allowed in, he would leave flowers and a message, then return the next morning hoping she would talk to him. He was honestly fine with this routine for the first week or so. He understood that Hinata would need some time to think and he was a little relieved to have more time to consider what he wanted to say to her. The only reason he continued to let this go on longer than that first week was because he realized he was starting to get a taste of what she must have felt. What was a couple of weeks compared to years of no answer to what he had to admit was probably the most epic confession he had ever heard of. And he trained under the most theatrical pervert around!
The morning after two weeks had passed, instead of getting up and heading to the Yamanaka flower shop as usual, he waited around his apartment until lunchtime. It seemed as though Hinata was hiding away in her compound in the mornings, but he was a little surprised he hadn't run into her at some point later in the day. Then again, the Byakugan would make it extremely easy to avoid someone if determined enough. Naruto cringed at the idea that he had really upset her to the point where she would use her bloodline to avoid him, but admitted to himself that it was possible.
Today, however, he would wait until the afternoon when she was more likely to leave the compound, then he would use his Sage mode to find her. The blond ninja had given her as much space as he could, but now it was time to settle things.
Sitting atop his father's head on the Hokage Monument, Naruto got into his meditative position and remained perfectly still while collecting nature chakra. As his eyes changed, he savored the feeling of the chakra of the people and things around him. It made him feel as if he was the Hokage already, watching over Konoha the way the shinobi whose faces were under him watched over it.
Pushing that to the side, he began to feel around, looking for Hinata's unique signature. The blond furrowed his eyebrows a bit when he found himself unable to locate her. Naruto checked the Hyuga compound, then in and around the entire village. Realizing that he was starting to panic, he forced himself to relax and think about what this could mean. He hadn't spoken to her in a couple of weeks so it was possible she had left on a mission that morning that he wasn't aware of. He quickly felt around for Kiba and Shino's chakra signatures. As her teammates, if their signatures were also absent he could safely assume she was on a mission and go ask Tsunade about it.
Naruto did not find their chakra signatures in the village, however when he spread his senses outward, he found them rapidly approaching from the West. Hinata, he noted quickly, was not with them. The blond shinobi decided to ask them for her whereabouts. Tsunade had been in a sour mood lately and he figured he'd rather take his chance with a post-mission Kiba and Shino than an annoyed Tsunade.
With his enhanced speed Naruto arrived at the gates minutes before Kiba and Shino. When they stopped to check in with the guards he deactivated his Sage mode and walked over to them. But before he could say anything, Kiba charged at him and punched him across the jaw, knocking him down to the ground. Before the Inuzuka could continue his assault, however, a swarm of bugs detained him.
"Kiba," said Shino cooly, "you said you wouldn't do this."
At that reminder, the Inuzuka stopped struggling and was released from the bugs. He did not, however, stop glaring at the blond on the ground.
"What the hell, Kiba?!" screamed a confused Naruto while rubbing his jaw. "I came here to ask you guys something and you just punch me in the jaw?!"
"This is your fault, you asshole!" Kiba yelled back. Before he could continue, however, his stoic teammate interrupted him.
"You said you had something to ask us?" inquired Shino, wondering if it would be about his now absent teammate.
"Yeah," Naruto affirmed, as he stood back up and dusted himself off, "I couldn't find Hinata so I thought maybe she was on a mission with you guys. But then I saw you heading this way without her and figured that even if she wasn't with you that you might know where she was."
"You are correct both for thinking that she would leave with us on a mission and in noticing that she is no longer with us," Shino informed him.
It took Naruto a moment to process Shino's roundabout way of saying things, but as soon as he grasped what the stoic man had said he began to panic.
"What? So she did leave with you? Why isn't she with you now? Oh my god, is she hurt? How can you guys be so calm?! Is she okay? Where is she? Do we need to send someone to get her?"
The blond's questions were cut short by some growling from Kiba, followed by, "What the hell? Are you suggesting that we would just leave her somewhere to die? And what do you mean is she hurt? Of course she is! You're the reason she's hurt! You're the reason we're not going to see her for two fucking years!"
At this Shino had to hold his wilder teammate back from punching Naruto again, but the Uzumaki didn't even notice. As soon as he had heard Kiba say the words "two years" it was like the world ceased to exist around him.
'Two years? Did he just say two years? What does he mean we won't see her for two years?'
Naruto contemplated what the Inuzuka had said to him and started to recover from the shock of what he was pretty sure it meant. He began to tune back in when he heard Shino talking to his teammate.
"Now Kiba, it is incorrect to say that Naruto is the reason we are not going to see Hinata for two years. Why? Because Hokage-sama was set on her taking the mission and it is a wonderful opportunity for our comrade."
A pouting Kiba was about to respond, but Naruto cut in.
"Wait, what mission? What are you saying we're not going to see her for two years? Where is she?"
Annoyed at being interrupted and still sore about learning that Naruto had never actually responded to Hinata's feelings, Kiba snapped back, "Hinata's gone on a political mission in the other Elemental Nations. She's staying six months in each nation so she'll be gone two years. Not like it matters to you. I can't believe that after what happened it took you two weeks to decide to talk to her."
"That's not fair!" Naruto snapped back. "I didn't just decide to start looking for her today! I've been at the Hyuga compound every morning for the last two weeks sending her flowers and trying to apologize and they keep telling me she doesn't want to talk to me!"
When he said this Kiba and Shino looked at each other, then back at the blond. Shino was the one to respond.
"Naruto, we left to escort Hinata to Suna two weeks ago so she cannot have been home."
"What? But I've been bringing her flowers every day!"
This time Kiba was the one who responded, "Unless you've been shipping them to Suna, Hinata hasn't been getting them."
"That can't be right. Hanabi said that she didn't want to talk to me, but she'd give her my flowers. I even got the kind that meant I was sorry! I checked with Ino and everything!"
Naruto was starting to panic. None of this made sense. He had been under the impression that he had been working to make amends the past couple of weeks and now these two were saying Hinata hadn't even been here.
When they heard Naruto bring up Hanabi, Kiba and Shino shared another look. Both had experience with the devious younger Hyuga and they were starting to feel bad for the guy who had obviously been trying to make things right.
"Naruto," Kiba began, "did Hanabi actually say that Hinata was there?"
"Yeah, the guards even said she had requested that I not be allowed into the compound."
Shino interjected, "Kiba seems to be implying that the Hyugas may have masked the fact Hinata was gone by not being upfront with you."
At this the blond shook his head, "No, I would have known if they weren't telling the truth. Ever since Kurama and I started working together I have the ability to sense when someone is lying. It's not perfect if I'm not in full Kyubi mode, but I would definitely be able to sense something as big as saying she was there when she wasn't."
"Why don't you tell us exactly what they told you?" Shino suggested.
Naruto thought for a moment before responding, "The guards told me that Hiashi's daughter had ordered them not to let me in, then Hanabi told me that Hinata didn't want to talk to me and that she would take the flowers straight to her room for me."
"It sounds as though Hanabi was able to hide the fact that Hinata was gone. Why? Because they didn't technically lie. Hanabi is also Hiashi's daughter and she could have taken the flowers elsewhere after passing Hinata's room. It is also true that Hinata does not want to speak with you. That is the reason she left so quickly when she could have waited a few weeks."
Naruto's head was spinning. "But, why would she do that? I've never even met her!"
"Hanabi can be pretty over-protective when it comes to Hinata," Kiba said, ignoring Naruto's mumbling about pots and kettles.
"Indeed," added Shino, "If Hinata told her sister about what happened then it is likely that Hanabi wanted to get back at you in some way."
"Yeah, dude, you should be freaking glad it wasn't worse. About a year ago I made a stupid judgement call on a mission and Hinata took some damage because of it. Hanabi somehow figured out what happened and saturated all of my clothes in some pheromones that made all the female dogs in our compound go into heat around me. It was terrible." Kiba shuddered, remembering that awful time. It was even worse because his family was able to actually understand the dogs. He still had nightmares of the things he heard and saw.
"It is likely that Hinata asked her sister not to do anything to Naruto," Shino postulated. "After all, she asked the same of us and the girls before she left. She would never want harm to come to someone she cared about and she stated that she just wanted to leave all this behind."
Naruto wanted to give Ino a piece of his mind for letting him buy all those flowers while knowing damn well that Hinata wasn't there. Even if he hadn't stated outright that they were for her, he was sure the female Yamanaka knew exactly what he was up to. That thought, however, was put on hold as he registered what Shino had said.
Hinata wanted to leave this behind. She wanted to leave him behind. She'd already done so physically and now it was just a matter of time before she did it emotionally. He could not let that happen, not after he finally began to figure out his feelings for her.
"No!" he said forcefully. Shino and Kiba, who had been absorbed in their conversation were startled by the outburst.
"She can't," Naruto continued, "I won't let her." He was too afraid to specify out loud that he wouldn't let her forget him. "I am going to fix this, no matter what."
Kiba recognized the determination in his voice and realized he had to say something. "Look, Naruto, I know you don't like it when someone you care about is hurt. And I know you hate it even more when they are hurt because of you. But I think in this case you need to leave it alone. Whether or not you meant exactly what you said, Hinata finally got some closure out of it. And now she has the chance to get away and come to terms with it. I think you need to let her."
"What? No, you've got it all wrong!" Naruto said. Before he could continue, however, Shino interrupted him.
"I believe what my teammate is trying to say is that this is the perfect opportunity for Hinata to get over her feelings for you. Thus, any attempt you make at reconciling your friendship could only hinder her progress in that area. I agree that it would be best if you waited to rebuild your rapport with her until after she returns."
"I was trying to tell you I don't want to just rebuild a friendship. I don't want Hinata to get over her feelings for me because I want to return them!"
At this statement, the atmosphere around the three males changed.
"Naruto, she waited years, years for you to return her feelings. Hell she's waited that long even for you tell her you didn't return her feelings. You didn't acknowledge them at all. And you expect us to believe that you suddenly care about her that way? Don't you dare mess with us," Kiba growled.
"Kiba has a point," Shino said. "It is difficult to believe that you reciprocate our teammate's affections when you have always acted indifferent. However, Hinata's happiness is important to me so I am willing to hear you out. When did you begin to realize these feelings?"
"Uh, I guess it was right after the mission." Naruto didn't want to admit that he had eavesdropped on her at Neji's grave. "I started thinking about how she's been there and how she really seemed to get me. It's like she just understands me in this way that I've never really experienced. Plus, she's pretty and nice. So I figured I wanted to give it a chance."
The Inuzuka shook his head. "Sorry, but that's not good enough."
"You have to understand where we are coming from," Shino said. "Hinata finally has a chance to make peace with herself. We cannot allow you to disrupt that based on a whim. I know it seems unfair to ask this of you, but you must decide before doing anything whether you want to work for a serious relationship with her or not. There is no simply 'giving it a chance' or 'seeing how you feel.' You either want to pursue her seriously or not at all. We will not allow you to disrupt her for anything less."
The blond was rendered speechless for a moment. He could definitely see where these guys were coming from and didn't blame them for being skeptical. Naruto had been so eager to apologize and repair his relationship with the Hyuga that he ended up going about it in exactly the same way he had with Sakura all those years ago, headfirst, despite his intentions not to. He had already recognized that he could fall for the heiress. He now had to decide whether he really wanted to and what exactly that would mean. This was much more intense than he had originally let himself believe.
"Okay," Naruto replied, "I see what you are saying."
Kiba was surprised. He had been sure the blond would not understand what they were trying to say. The Uzumaki was very much an act first, think later kind of guy. He was amazing on the battlefield, but this was an entirely different area.
"Look man," he said, "I'm glad you get it and the fact that you do makes me think that maybe you already care about her more than you realize. Just think about what we said and let us know when you've made your choice. We've got your back and if you are actually serious about this we'll be happy to help."
"Indeed," agreed Shino before he began to buzz ominously. "However, if you end up hurting her then know that there will be nothing you can do to stop us from destroying you. Hero of the shinobi world or not, there will be hell to pay if you play with her feelings."
Naruto was more than a little terrified of the Aburame. He could deal with Kiba's yelling and occasional punch, but the blond shinobi was positive that whatever Hinata's darker teammate could come up with would be very bad.
"You have my word that I'll take this seriously. And I never go back on my word."
Seemingly satisfied with this promise, the two young men and their canine companion continued on their way to the Hokage tower, leaving a very conflicted Naruto to contemplate the conversation they just had. He turned towards the hot springs, hoping a long soak might help him with this decision.
A week later, Naruto was sitting in his apartment, discussing the situation with a couple of shadow clones. If he was going to talk to himself, he might as well do it the right way. Unfortunately, their discussion was going exactly the same as all the others from earlier in the week.
It didn't seem fair to him that he had to go from zero romantic experience to deciding whether or not he wanted to pursue a serious relationship. And this wasn't a relationship with just anyone, but with Hyuga Hinata. She was important to him as a comrade, she played a major part in his group of friends, she was a very big deal in Konoha and, thanks to her current mission, the entirety of the Allied Nations. Their potential relationship would be watched closely by everyone.
He also had to take into account what her teammates had said to him. She had the chance right now to get away and have closure. The blue haired beauty could put all of this behind her and be at peace. Shino had been right in saying that it would be wrong for Naruto to ruin that for a whim. He couldn't deny that he felt something for her, but he wasn't experienced with romantic feelings. Who was he to say what was the result of actually caring for her and what was the result of guilt and loneliness?
In the midst of his thinking, there was a knock on his door. Naruto dispelled his clones and got up to answer it. He was very surprised to see Sakura standing there when he opened the door, though he was quickly on his guard.
"What, are you here to punch me, too?" he asked his pink haired teammate.
She looked at him sadly before shaking her head. "No," she responded, "Ino told me what happened. I wanted to come see if you were okay."
This was odd. He and Sakura looked out for one another on missions and cared about the other's well-being in general, but they didn't actually spend much time together outside of team meals and get-togethers with their friends. The blond stepped back and let her come inside.
"So, did she tell you about Kiba punching me in the face or about keeping Hinata's mission from me?" he asked bitterly. He was still pretty upset with his fellow blonde.
Sakura sighed. "She told me everything she knew. She also told me about the ultimatum Kiba and Shino gave you. I thought it might be a lot to take in so I came to see if I could help."
Naruto just looked confused. "Why are you acting like this? It's weird."
"What do you mean it's weird? I can't see how my teammate is feeling?" She asked aggressively.
Waving his hands in front of him to try to calm her down, he responded, "It's not that I don't appreciate it, but it's not like you came over because you heard I'd broken my leg and you wanted to help heal it. That, I'm used to. You've never talked to me about this stuff before so why start now?"
His teammate ran her hand through pink locks and said, "I know. I'm sorry I've not really been there for you emotionally. This might sound really awful, but I think I was always afraid you might take it the wrong way. Besides, before now your dating questions usually centered around how to get me to agree to a date and I was obviously not going to help you with that.
"It's just with Sasuke coming back and everything that happened with Hinata, I kind of want to turn over a new leaf for our team. Teams Eight and Ten are super close both in and out of missions. I would like for us to be friends. And friends help one another when they are having a hard time. So, for the last time, do you want to talk about it?"
Naruto gestured for her to take a seat at his table and he sat across from her. They sat in silence for a few minutes as he tried to figure out where to start.
"How do you know if you care about someone?" he finally asked.
Sakura laughed, "Well, I might not be the best person to ask that question. I decided I liked Sasuke when I was too young to really know what it even meant. At the time he was what most girls look for at that age: cool, smart, strong, and cute."
Naruto scoffed as he heard her description of Sasuke as a kid. "More like an arrogant asshole," he said.
The pinkette shook her head. "Now, notice I said most girls and not all. Obviously there was one who didn't care at all about coolness or ability. Hinata only had eyes for you. For the longest time we would all laugh when you said you were going to be the Hokage. You were the dead-last so it just seemed absurd to us. Little did we know, you would become the hero to save our world. Hinata knew, though. She never laughed."
"Really?" asked Naruto. He remembered that she had told him that he inspired her, but he hadn't known that she had believed in him even when he was a hot mess in the Academy. The thought of her believing in him even then made him feel warm.
"Mhm," Sakura nodded. "But back to your first question, I guess my feelings turned into something more than a school crush when we were on the same team. He was so broken, and once I stopped mindlessly praising him I could see that. I just wanted to help him, make him understand that he wasn't alone. I wanted him to know that I would stand by him through everything."
The blond listened to his teammate, surprised at how easy it was to hear her talk about her love for Sasuke. He had been chasing her for so long that he was sure it would hurt, but instead he just found himself curious. She'd never really opened up to him like this.
"After Pein attacked, when I went after Sasuke myself, I was convinced that killing him was the only way to save him. I know that's crazy now, but at the time it seemed like it was the right choice. He just kept hurting himself more and more with his hatred. Even then, though, I loved him. And now. After everything he's done and all the havoc he's wreaked, I love him. That's how I know I have feelings for him."
The pinkette looked at her teammate apologetically, "I'm sorry, Naruto. I know that was probably not as helpful as you would have liked. Our situations are very different. Actually, my situation is part of the reason I bonded with Hinata when she started her medic training."
At the mention of Hinata, the blond cocked his head to the side, hoping for some insight.
"I've never told you this, but when Sasuke left for Orochimaru I offered to go with him."
Naruto's eyebrows shot up his forehead when he heard this.
"I know, it was pretty impulsive, but I was serious then. I wanted to be with him, be by his side and help him accomplish his goals. When you came back from that retrieval mission so banged up, I felt awful. I had offered to go with Sasuke to help him, but I wasn't even considered strong enough to help try to get him back to the village.
"That was my reason for getting stronger. I wanted to be strong so that I could help get Sasuke back. Once I accomplished that then maybe he would consider me worthy to stand by him like I wanted to.
"Hinata felt the same way about you. You were an inspiration to her, but you were also her goal. She always knew that you would go on to do great things and she wanted to be able to stand by you, to help you when you needed it. We talked about it a lot when she first got comfortable with me during her medic training. I just thought you should know."
Naruto was silent as he processed this new information. Sakura watched his face, wondering how he was feeling about her revelation. She felt a little guilty about giving out such personal information on her friend, but the pinkette wanted her teammate to know how devoted the bluenette was to him. She figured that since Hinata couldn't be there, she would have to speak on her behalf so that Naruto could factor it into his decision.
After a few minutes, Sakura found herself curious about something. "Naruto," she began hesitantly, "can I ask you something?"
"Huh?" he looked up at her, startled. He had been deep in thought after what she had just told him and had forgotten for a moment that she was still there. It was hard to comprehend someone being so dedicated to him. "Sure, ask me anything."
"Why didn't you ever respond to Hinata's confession?"
The Uzumaki sighed before giving her the same response he had given Sasuke, "I just didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to respond to something like that, I wasn't sure how I felt about it and I just let it go for so long that I felt ridiculous bringing it up."
Sakura was quiet for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, no that doesn't make sense. I get that you probably wouldn't know what to say, but you're Uzumaki Naruto. You jump straight into all kinds of situations and make it work, it's just who you are. So, I have a hard time believing that you never responded to her because you just weren't sure what to say."
Naruto flinched a bit under her scrutiny. When she put it that way it really didn't make sense.
The pinkette could see that he was getting uncomfortable so she said, "Look, you don't have to answer me. I was just curious. But I do think it's something you should think about, and I mean really think about. Maybe the reason you never responded can help you identify something about your feelings. Just tell me you'll consider it."
"Yeah," the blond said, "that's not a bad idea."
Sakura stood up to leave and Naruto walked with her to the door. Before opening it, she turned to look at him.
"Naruto, I know you're really confused right now and I want you to know that I'm proud that you took what Hinata's teammates said to heart. I think that you caring so much about messing with her emotions means that you have at least some feelings for her."
The blond rubbed the back of his head with a bashful look on his face. "Heh, Kiba said the same thing."
"Well, I agree. And for what it's worth, I was there when Pein attacked. I saw what happened when she jumped in and I saw how you reacted when he almost killed her. You immediately transformed to six tails. That's two more tails than when Orochimaru pissed you off by talking about taking Sasuke's body. I know you're confused right now, but that has to mean something."
Naruto furrowed his brows. That was not something he had considered after his talk with Kiba and Shino. He knew Hinata meant a lot to him, but there were very few times he was so emotionally distraught that he had gone into a tailed beast transformation immediately. He would have to ruminate on that.
"Thanks, Sakura, that was helpful. I appreciate it."
"No problem," she said with a friendly punch on his arm, "that's what friends are for."
"Yeah," he responded with a smile, "friends."
An orange and black blur with a shock of yellow flew through the trees towards Konoha. He was returning from the latest of a string of back to back missions given to him by the Hokage. Naruto knew that this mission debriefing had to be the one in which he convinced Tsunade to send him to Suna. He had been trying to talk to her about it for the last couple of months, but as soon as he'd try to breach the subject she would quickly assign him whatever mission she had sitting around and order him to leave ASAP.
He had initially just accepted it since he figured the more missions he successfully accomplished, the easier it would be to convince Tsunade to let him go on a political mission. Now, however, Shikamaru would be leaving for Suna in just a few weeks time and he could no longer afford to let Tsunade dodge his request. Hinata was there and he was going after her.
Kiba, Shino, and even Kurenai had all given him their blessing. First, Naruto had told Hinata's teammates where he stood. The blond was still having a difficult time defining the emotions he felt towards the girl. However, the more he thought about how she had always believed in him and how she had helped him through some of his worst moments, the more he realized that if he was going to pursue a relationship with anyone, it had to be Hinata. And he was definitely ready for a relationship.
The Uzumaki had wanted a family ever since he was a young orphan. Now that the war was over, he had also started to think about really working towards his goal as Hokage. He had trained to become strong, but knew there was more to it than just that. He wanted someone by his side who could support him and make up for some of his shortcomings. After everything she had confessed and done for him through the years, the blue haired Hyuga was the only one he could see in that role.
When Naruto had explained all this to the two young men, they had nodded and told him to talk to Kurenai. As a sort of mother figure to Hinata, they agreed it would be good to get her blessing as well. Once the blond had finished explaining everything to her, she smiled at him and told him to go for it. She suggested that he tell Hinata about everything he had been thinking and feeling. The crimson eyed woman seemed certain that her former student would be able to help him define his emotions. She also informed him that he was welcome to talk to her if he ever felt the need to.
Now, with Shikamaru's trip to Suna rapidly approaching, he had to convince Tsunade to let him go. As he knocked on her door and announced himself for his mission debriefing, he reminded himself to be as formal and polite as he could muster. Even if she didn't grant him his request based on that, it should confound her enough to give him an edge.
Tsunade watched as the young man she considered family walked into the room. It had been a long day and she was eager to finish her paperwork and head home for some sake and a relaxing bath. Thus, she was a little short with him.
"Report."
"The item was delivered with no trouble aside from a small group of bandits who didn't even bother fighting once they saw I was a ninja. No missing nin or anything out of the ordinary to report, Hokage-sama."
Caramel colored eyes narrowed at the well mannered young man in front of her. Something was up. However, that bath was calling her name and she did not deem it necessary at the moment to focus on anything other than the stack of papers in front of her.
"Very well, you are dismissed," she said as she turned her attention back to her work. After a minute, when Naruto still hadn't moved from his spot, she sighed.
"Is there something else, brat?"
This was it. He would be as direct as possible so she couldn't dodge it again.
"I want to go to Suna with Shikamaru."
"No. Now, dismissed," she said, though she knew it wouldn't be that easy.
"Why not? I have successfully completed all of my missions since the war and I am on even better terms with the Kazekage than you are!"
Tsunade sighed. She knew why her fellow blond wanted to go to Suna and while she was definitely eager for the two to get together, Hinata had been so upset when she left that Tsunade really didn't want to disrupt what was shaping up to be an extremely lucrative mission, in many regards.
"There's no need for you to go. This is a trip to make plans for the upcoming Chunin exams. They always send Temari here and we always send Shikamaru there. They trust us to take care of their emissary and it would be insulting to send someone with Shikamaru as, politically, it would seem like we were saying we don't trust them to be able to take care of our emissary."
"That's ridiculous! Besides, we're all in an alliance now so we shouldn't have to worry about something like that."
"Actually, Naruto, it's because of that alliance that we need to be even more careful. Alliances are fragile things."
"I'm sure Gaara would understand! He's my friend!"
"Yeah, well Madara and my grandfather were friends and you see how well that turned out!"
"Me and Gaara aren't like them and you know it!"
At this point both were yelling. Tsunade took a breath in and decided to argue a different point.
"Look, brat, even if he would understand, I don't need to send one of my most in demand shinobi out on a social visit."
"In demand, my ass! I didn't have any missions for like a month after we brought Sasuke back!"
"Damnit, Naruto, we had you here because you are the one most able to deal with Sasuke! It was a precaution and I had to disappoint more than a few clients during that month to let them know you were unavailable."
"I know for a fact that not all of these missions were specific requests for me. I just got back from delivering an expensive vase to some guy's aunt for her birthday! And even if they did ask for me, missions like that aren't as important!"
"Not as important as what, Naruto? Money for the village is more important than you going off to chase some girl!"
"She's not just some girl! She's amazing and I have to talk to her!"
Tsunade just sat back and smirked, pleased that she finally got Naruto to admit why he wanted to go. When he realized his slip up he grimaced.
"Fine," Naruto said, "you caught me. But you have to help me out! You know how long she's going to be gone. I can't let her go that long without knowing how I feel."
The Hokage raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh really? Last I heard, you were rather indifferent to her. I think she can go two years without hearing that from you."
"That's not what I want to say! Please, Baa-chan, I really messed up. Please help me fix it. You're the only one who can help me with this."
Tsunade sighed. She really loved Naruto, but as Hokage she had responsibilities. "Look, I'd love to help you, honestly I would, but the argument still stands that you have no real reason to go with Shikamaru to Suna. I love peace as much as the next person, but it's not the best for business. I need a good reason to send one of my best ninja off."
The Uzumaki could see her point, albeit reluctantly. However, he suddenly remembered something from earlier in the conversation and got an idea.
"What if you sent me as training?"
"What are you talking about?"
"With my lineage, training under both Jiraiya and Kakashi, and role in the last war I know that I could be seriously considered as a Hokage candidate. Earlier, though, I didn't get why sending an extra shinobi could be considered insulting so obviously I need to learn some things. Just say the trip is training so I can learn about the Chunin exams."
"...That's actually a good idea."
"Oi, don't act so surprised! I can come up with good ideas!"
"Just shut up and be happy I'll let you go!"
Naruto, who had not been prepared for her to agree so quickly, just stared at her for a moment.
"Huh?"
"I said you can go. Now leave before I change my mind. I really want to finish this work so I can go relax."
Naruto bit back a retort about relaxing or drinking and instead opted for a loud, sincere thanks before bolting out the door.
Tsunade shook her head at his antics before getting back to the work in front of her. One glance at the papers on her desk, however, and a wicked grin spread across her lips. Unfortunately for Naruto, his idea had been a little too good. Now the Godaime was going to do some matchmaking and decrease her workload as an added bonus. It was times like these she was glad to be Hokage.
True to her word, Tsunade sent Naruto with Shikamaru under the guise of training. The lazy genius, however wasn't buying it. He knew the real reason the Uzumaki was so eager to travel to Suna. Ino wasn't exactly quiet about these kinds of things.
At first, Shikamaru was sure the blond would be teasing him the entire way about his almost relationship with Temari. The Nara was too lazy to bring up the subject with her and she was too stubborn to bring it up herself. Fortunately for Shikamaru's peace of mind, the situation with Hinata seemed to be occupying Naruto's attention and they had a relatively quiet journey.
Upon arrival, Gaara and his siblings greeted the Konoha shinobi warmly. Or, they greeted Naruto warmly while Shikamaru received a nod from Gaara, a small smile and elbow bump from Temari, and a sly look from Kankuro. Naruto looked back at the genius and Kazekage's sister who walked a few steps behind and wiggled his eyebrows. Apparently his excitement at being in the same city as Hinata was starting to make him act more like normal.
Once in the Kazekage's office, Shikamaru talked with the leader and his sister about any issues they would need to look out for other than the usual. The initial meeting was short, but Naruto was constantly shifting from foot to foot, obviously eager for the meeting to end so he could look for Hinata.
When the meeting was adjourned and a time set for the next one, Naruto didn't waste a moment in asking where Hinata was. Shikamaru noticed Temari tense at the blond's question and found himself grudgingly curious about what would happen. Gaara quickly informed the Uzumaki that she was away on a diplomatic visit and everyone in the room watched as he processed the information.
His disappointment was apparent, but quickly turned into disbelief. Naruto began to ask about her mission, how long it was going to be, if she had really already gone, and anything he could think of hoping that somehow one of the answers would be what he wanted to hear. The unruly blond was just short of searching the Kazekage mansion from top to bottom when Gaara reached a hand out and placed it on his shoulder, confirming with a firm yet sympathetic gaze that the kunoichi was indeed away.
A visibly crestfallen Naruto was invited to dinner with his red headed friend, while Shikamaru was entrusted to Temari who blushed almost imperceptibly at the command to 'see to his needs'. And so, Naruto found himself sitting across from Gaara in a nice restaurant that he apparently frequented enough to have a table reserved. The Uzumaki was down about Hinata's absence, but at the same time very glad to see his friend again. As they settled in with their food, Naruto's found his mood lifting while they talked.
"My usual companion is currently away and while I am sorry she is unable to join us, I find myself eager to catch up with you," Gaara said.
Naruto did not miss the 'she' in Gaara's statement and immediately zeroed in on it.
"Gaara, you didn't tell me you were seeing someone!"
Not realizing the implications of the phrase, the redhead nodded, "I see her often. She accompanies me to my weekly dinner and sometimes cooks for and eats with me and my family. We also work closely together."
"Wait, you have family meals with her? What do Kankuro and Temari think of her?"
"Well, she is a good cook, so Kankuro likes her. And Temari is quite fond of her. She practically thinks of her as a sister."
Naruto's eyes widened. This sounded really serious!
"Congratulations, man! I'm so happy for you! You have to tell me about her!"
At this Gaara looked confused. He knew he was not the most social of people, but Naruto sounded like he wanted to throw him a parade for having a friend.
"I don't think I could tell you much you don't already know. After all, you've known Hinata-san longer than I have."
If Naruto had had water in his mouth when he heard that, he would certainly have spit it out all over the Kazekage across from him.
"What?!" He exclaimed, "You're dating Hinata?!"
The blond was starting to panic. Was he already too late? Had his friend seen what it had taken him so long to notice and already made a move? If that was true, he couldn't take away Gaara's happiness! Naruto, better than most, understood Gaara's life and he didn't want to hurt him, but he couldn't give up on Hinata! Not when he'd just started to work out his feelings for her!
As Naruto descended further into a panic, Gaara sat there taken aback. He now understood why his friend had sounded so excited for him. From the blond's current expression, however, it seemed that was no longer the case. Instead, Naruto looked extremely conflicted. That was certainly interesting. The redhead watched him closely as he made his next statement.
"I am not dating Hinata-san."
The relief that flooded his friend's face was palpable. Definitely interesting.
"I am not sure what gave you that impression, but we are merely good friends."
Naruto was indignant, "You gave me that impression! You said you were seeing her!"
"I did not realize the connotation of your question. You jumped to conclusions."
Now Gaara was just messing with the Uzumaki. This was a pretty rare opportunity, after all. He made sure to keep his usual stoic expression during his next comment.
"Hm, though now that you've pointed out that we are practically dating already it might not be such a bad idea. I certainly enjoy her company."
The redhead pretended to ignore the horrified look on Naruto's face and continued.
"And she is quite pretty."
Unfortunately for the Kazekage's fun (and fortunately for Naruto's blood pressure), the blond caught the tiny smirk that emerged after his last statement. He couldn't believe this!
"Gaara, you-you're messing with me!"
"Am I?" he asked, though he knew he was caught. "If you are so sure then why do you look so nervous?"
Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "It just made me realize that I can't afford to waste any more time," he said.
The Kazekage stared at the person he considered his first friend. Hinata had not reacted well when he'd brought up what had happened with her, but this seemed like a different situation.
"I heard what happened between you two."
Naruto's horrified expression had him rethinking his decision.
"What? How did you hear?" The blond questioned, sure that however close they had become Hinata would not have broached the subject herself.
"Temari informed me."
Ah, that certainly explained her wariness when he was asking about Hinata earlier.
"Should I not have brought it up? I thought you might want to talk about it, but you're seem as uncomfortable as Hinata-san did when I brought it up with her."
This startled the blond. "You talked to her about it?"
"Yes. I mentioned it at our first dinner."
Naruto hesitated before inquiring, "So what did she say?"
Without missing a beat Gaara responded, "She thought I was gay."
"Huh? How did that even come up?"
"That is not important. I merely wanted to let you know that you and I could talk about it if you wanted to. I am your friend, after all."
"There's not much to talk about. I just said something without thinking and I guess it escalated. I was really hoping she would be here so that I could talk to her and make things right."
The redhead cocked his head to the side, "Why didn't you wait for her to return? I am happy to see you, but you've gone rather out of your way for an apology."
"Nah, she's waited long enough."
"You don't sound as though you are only talking about the incident I was mentioning."
Naruto hesitated to elaborate, but then realized that his fellow jinchuriki might be able to help him in a way his other friends couldn't. So, he told him about his past interactions with Hinata and what he had learned so far about her affections for him. From her words and actions towards him in the Chunin exam, to her confession during Pein, and their interactions in the war.
To say that Gaara was surprised would be an understatement. Hinata's confidence had increased significantly during her time in Suna, but her actions toward the blond were much bolder than he would have thought possible considering her demeanor upon arrival. Not to mention, Naruto's wish to avenge Hinata both against Neji and Pein and the effect her words seemed to have on him made Gaara think that his friend felt some affection towards the girl as well.
"I see. So why have you not told her of your feelings before now?"
"What do you mean?" responded Naruto, genuinely confused. He was unsure what Gaara was referring to.
Gaara realized then that Naruto must not be quite aware of said feelings. He had to admit that he did not have much experience himself in romantic matters so he decided it would be best to leave his friend to discover them on his own. Instead, he rephrased his question.
"From what you have told me, it seems as though you never addressed Hinata-san's confession and I am curious as to why. I don't mean to pry, but it seemed rather unlike you."
The blond sighed. He was glad that everyone found it unusual for him to ignore Hinata's feelings. Unfortunately, he had actually done it and that meant these same people wanted an explanation. He supposed he couldn't blame them since he'd been trying to understand it as well.
"I'm not sure, really," he began. "I told Sasuke and Sakura that I didn't know what to say, but they pretty much called that bullshit. So I thought about it and I remember seeing her after the war, she must've been on her way to her cousin's grave or something because she was wearing black and carrying some flowers in that direction. I thought about going over to her and telling her I was sorry about what happened to Neji and thanking her for what she did during the war and during the Pein attack. Then it made me remember what she said about not being afraid to die for me because she loved me and I just froze. I couldn't move. And I had no idea what to say or why I couldn't say anything at all and so I just didn't. After that I just started to ignore it like it never happened."
The two young men were silent for a couple of minutes. Gaara was the one to speak first.
"You know, after you defeated me and I decided to change my ways, I was afraid."
Naruto remained quiet, curious to see where the redhead was going with this.
"Even though I wanted to be like you, I was afraid that what happened with my uncle would happen again. He was the only one I felt close to as a child, and his betrayal was devastating. I didn't think I could take it if I decided to care for anyone other than myself and then lost that bond.
"For people like us, who grew up like we did, I think one of our biggest fears is losing the ones who are precious to us, whether through betrayal or death. We don't want to lose the bonds we worked so hard to make. To us, that is more painful than death. Perhaps that has something to do with your predicament."
Naruto was taken aback as he considered the Kazekage's suggestion. For someone who didn't have much experience with social interaction, he had been very insightful.
"That actually makes a lot of sense."
"I'm glad," Gaara responded, genuinely pleased he could help his friend.
"Though now that I think about it, maybe I shouldn't see Hinata. Maybe I should just let it go. Because you're right! I don't want to lose anyone who's precious to me. She's risked her life for me twice and flat out said she wanted to because she loved me. Neji died protecting both of us because she was about to take a hit that would've killed me. How can I be okay with that? At least if she hates me and gets over her feelings, she'll be safe."
"That is not true." Gaara shook his head. "Hinata-san is just that kind of person. She will put herself at risk to help people. Just because she is no longer interested in you romantically does not mean she would hesitate to die protecting you. You two are actually very similar in that regard. And as shinobi you both enter life threatening situations constantly anyway. At least if you allow yourself to have a relationship with her then you can both be happy."
The Uzumaki digested his friend's words. They made sense, but he was still wary.
"Besides," Gaara added, "is it not easier to protect someone when they are close to you rather than far away?"
He had a point.
"You're right. I just don't want to lose her."
"There is more than one way to lose someone."
Gaara let his friend mull over everything that had just been said as he ate quietly. Without warning, Naruto's hands shot across the table to clasp his just as he was about to grab another bite with his chopsticks. The movement was so sudden that sand had unconsciously surrounded the blond's hands in warning. The redhead found himself staring into blue eyes that shone with both gratitude and excitement. Once their eyes locked, Naruto broke out into a wide grin. Apparently he had come to some kind of decision.
"Thank you, Gaara," he said sincerely.
The Kazekage was somewhat dazed by the sudden mood swing, but he was glad he was able to help his friend and told him as much.
"In that case, do you think you could do one more thing for me?" Naruto asked.
"Of course," he said. The blond had that look on his face that promised he would accomplish his plan with or without his help. It would be easier to keep an eye on him if he was involved.
Naruto was pleased, which showed as his smile got impossibly wider. "I'm going to need to talk to your sister."
There you have it! I hope everything made sense!
I originally had a lot of Naruto and Gaara's conversation planned to happen during his talk with Sakura, but realized it fit better with Gaara. However, I still wanted to work on establishing an actual friendship between Naruto and Sakura for the story.
I know I said last chapter that I would combine Iwa and Kiri, but due to a review I received I am actually going to separate them. I want to make sure Hinata is at the point she is supposed to be when she returns and to do that it's important to have her grow some more on her own. Not to worry, though, as I had a little less planned for Iwa and Kiri originally than for Suna and Kumo so the chapters shouldn't take quite as long to get out. Also, I won't have a Konoha break in between and will combine that year into one single chapter.
Let me know what you think so far!