Author Note: Don't hate me. This chapter was hard to write. I hated writing it, which is why it took me so long to write it. Also, like I mentioned, there's something that will happen around chapter 8 unless I get huge review numbers against it, and this chapter makes that development obvious and shows why. Like I said, this chapter was torture to write, so bear with me. Also, this chapter is very short because I didn't want to have a huge emotional mess like this one mixed in with anything else. Chapter 7 will be much less tense, chapter 8 will involve the resolution of this chapter, then around chapter 10, Naruto's past will come out. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else I'm going to do, but yeah. Hope you guys like it, even though I hated writing part of this chapter.

Chapter 6

Naruto awoke the next morning, chuckling as he thought of the announcement the day before. He and Hinata were engaged, and now there was nothing anyone could do about it. He couldn't help wondering what he had done to deserve this, but he didn't really care. He got up, showered, dressed, all the normal morning stuff, and was about to walk out his door when there was a knock at the door. He jumped, surprised, then opened the door. Standing there was a very distraught Hinata. He immediately stepped back so she could come in, which she did.

"What's wrong, Hinata?" he asked her. He could tell this was something serious, and naturally, he was concerned.

"Naruto..." She came over and wrapped her arms around him, crying on his chest. He put his arms around her awkwardly, truly afraid now. What in the world could have happened to Hinata to have her here, crying, this early in the morning? It couldn't be Neji or her father...so what in the world had happened? While he was thinking this, he just held her and let her cry, not sure what to say or do.

While holding her, he made a shadow clone. It shut the door so they could have privacy, then set about doing a few chores, picking up, cutting some fruit for Hinata's breakfast, things like that. Once it was done, it dispelled itself. After several minutes, Hinata calmed down, and Naruto turned her to the table where some fruit and a cinnamon roll was sitting. She sat down and ate slowly, shaking a little. Naruto was always there, never getting out of her arms' reach. He made her some calming tea and she drank it slowly, carefully, so she didn't burn herself. Naruto waited patiently. He was burning with curiosity, but he knew she'd tell him when she was ready, so he waited.

Hinata watched the boy she loved, had loved for so long, knowing he must be curious as to what was going on, but she smiled as he waited. He was just there for her, and that was enough. As she ate and drank her tea, she felt herself calming down somewhat. By the time the fruit and pastry were eaten and the tea consumed as well, she was almost herself again. And still he said nothing, just sat there, watching her, waiting for her to speak. She knew this would happen eventually, she just hadn't thought it would happen yet. Damn it! Just when everything was so good, why did it all have to be ruined now? She knew after she showed Naruto this, she would lose him. She just knew it.

Naruto saw Hinata was getting ready to cry again, so he took her hand. She looked at him, and he said, "Hinata, I'm here. You can tell me. What's happened? What's going on?"

She was using a transformation at the moment, so she released it. That's when Naruto saw the first indication that something wasn't right. A large nasty bruise colored Hinata's face beside her eye. It stretched from her temple down her cheek to her jawline. On the other side, there was a bruise going from her temple up to her forehead. Her jaw looked like it had been abused as well, and though it wasn't bruised, it was obvious she moved it with considerable pain. Naruto was glad he had given her soft foods. Her neck had what looked like finger marks on it, also bruises, like she had been strangled, or someone had attempted to anyway. Naruto looked at her in shock, taking all this in. Her hands were also hurt, though not as bad. It looked like she had fought someone off and taken a few small wounds on her hands in the process.

Hinata saw the look in Naruto's eyes. He was shocked. She knew that would be the case, but she wasn't even showing him half of it yet. She knew...when he saw everything, he'd see how weak she really was, and she would lose him. She wouldn't even blame him, so she had already found out how to undo the blood oath and was going to release him so he could live and find happiness without her.

Hinata stood and took her coat off, hanging it on the door, and Naruto saw her arms were bruised as well. Not as badly as some other areas, but they were. Then she peeled out of her shirt (NO YOU PERVERTS, she's not topless, she has her bra on, she's just showing him what happened) and he could see that all around her waist she was bruised badly. She put her top back on, then rolled up her pant legs so he could see her bruised legs. She made the expression about feeling like one big bruise pretty damn literally true. The only parts of her body that weren't bruised or injured were her feet.

Naruto's shock was growing with everything Hinata did. What in the world had happened to her? That was his first thought. His second thought was, who did this to her? Hinata watched him closely and saw his worry and his anger. She mistook the anger as being directed at her for being weak and she started to cry again. Just as she started to sob, he took her in his arms and kissed her gently, carefully, not wanting to hurt her any more than she was already. Hinata pulled back and looked at him. In his eyes were anger, worry, but mostly love. She sighed. She had been wrong. She'd never been so happy to be proven wrong before. She pulled Naruto to her and hugged him as tight as she could in spite of her bruises. The pain didn't matter, she was in his arms. She sighed and cuddled closer to him. She felt his hands running through her hair and she whimpered in pleasure.

Naruto rocked her slightly, holding her close, running his fingers through her hair, careful not to touch her anywhere where she was bruised, not wanting to cause her pain at all. She seemed to be calming down, just having him hold her, so that's what he kept doing. He just held her and waited for her to calm down. It took her a while, but she eventually did calm down. She pulled back and looked up at him, and both realized that through this whole event, neither of them had spoken a word.

"Hinata...what happened?" Naruto broke the silence, somewhat reluctantly. He wanted...no, he NEEDED to know what had happened to his precious person, but the silence was comfortable.

Hinata looked down. "I was too weak, Naruto. I was so sure you would leave me when you saw this, but I needed to show you. I was too weak to defend myself." She looked up at Naruto, who just smiled comfortingly, waiting for her to continue.

Half an hour earlier, Hyuga compound

Hinata was already up and dressed and ready to leave for her day when it happened. She was on her way down the stairs to head out the front door when she heard a cold, sarcastic voice.

"Lady Hinata," it said. She turned and saw a member of the branch family looking at her with a cold look in his brown eyes. Brown eyes? Oh, right, she'd heard of this man, he didn't inherit the Byakugan from his father for some reason. "It seems my chance has come," he said. The next thing Hinata knew, she was at the bottom of the stairs, bruised as she was when Naruto saw her. The branch member had grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off her feet, and threw her into a wall, bruising her back pretty badly. He threw her down the stairs, and during her fall she hit her legs, head, face, and arms on the stairs. Her hands got hurt when she tried to grab the stairs, and they got dragged along the hard wood instead. The man watched her for a few moments, during which she didn't move, then he stalked off, probably believing she was dead. When she was sure he was gone, Hinata rose, whimpering in pain. She put up a transformation so she would look normal, then ran as fast as she could to Naruto's. That's how she came to be there so early.

At Naruto's

Hinata slowly, hesitantly, told Naruto what had happened. Naruto comforted her, holding her close and running his fingers through her hair, a gesture that seemed to calm them both a good deal, as she told her story. His rage was boiling, but he kept it in check. For Hinata, she was thinking of everything the two of them had already been through together. First her cheering him on, then her finding out about the fox, and now this. He had stuck with her throughout it all, and now he was showing that he wasn't going to leave her for being weak either. She backed away from him slowly, wishing she didn't have to, then went and sat down on his sofa to relieve the pain in her legs. Naruto followed and sat with her, taking her hands in his gently, needing the physical contact. She smiled; she craved it as well.

After sitting there and holding hands for some time, the two of them were calmed by one another's presence somewhat, and Naruto finally asked Hinata, "Now what?"

Hinata looked surprised. She hadn't thought of that. She didn't feel safe at home anymore. She looked at him, thinking. Here she was, sitting with Naruto at barely nine in the morning. He had opened his door to her, given her food (her favorite food at that), listened to her, held her, and when she showed him the bruises, he was shocked but he accepted her nonetheless. And she had seen the rage in his eyes. She now realized that his rage was directed at the one who had hurt her, not her herself. She suddenly realized she had been thinking for a couple minutes and hadn't answered his question.

"I...I don't know, Naruto." He waited. "I don't really feel safe at home. No one would believe me, they'd just say I must have fallen from tripping or something. And I know when he finds out that I'm still alive, he'll try something again if I go back. But I don't know what to do."

"Well, for tonight, you can stay here. We'll figure things out after that. Oh, crud." He made a shadow clone and sent it out the door.

"What was that for?" she asked, curious.

"I sent that one to get Jiraiya. He's our teacher, after all." She nodded, realizing he had a good idea. "And you're not going to be up for training today, so Jiraiya and I will stay here with you. Tonight you'll stay here, and we'll figure things out between now and tomorrow morning."

Hinata was surprised. Naruto was this willing to help her? Why? What in the world had she done to earn this loyalty? She didn't know, but she was glad she had it. Naruto still had his arms around her and was smiling at her gently as they talked and waited. They were both so involved in their own thoughts, neither was really paying attention to the conversation.

To prove my point, Hinata commented at one point, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Naruto's response was, "I don't see why you'd ever go out without your shoes."

To which Hinata answered, never missing a beat, "I'd go out with you anywhere Naruto."

Such is the result of being too absorbed in one's own thoughts to really pay attention to the conversation one is involved in. In any case, it wasn't long before a very worried Jiraiya opened Naruto's front door.

"What in the world is going on here?" he asked upon finding Naruto and Hinata wrapped in one another's arms. He came around in front of them, saw Hinata's bruised face and Naruto's worried look, and sat down in one of Naruto's chairs hard.

It took Naruto about ten minutes to fill Jiraiya in on what had happened to Hinata and how she had told him about it and so on. The only part he left out was about Hinata taking her shirt off. He didn't need Jiraiya getting a nosebleed just now. Jiraiya listened attentively to what Naruto was telling him, nodding a few times, stopping him with a couple questions here and there, but mostly just listening. Naruto, while surprised, was glad the pervert could take things seriously if necessary. He didn't even look at Hinata in an inappropriate way even once the whole time, which for Jiraiya was a major milestone. Naruto held Hinata possessively as he talked to the sage.

Jiraiya told them to take the day off, and told Naruto to take care of Hinata. He told them both that he'd make sure to let Hiashi know where Hinata was and what had happened, then he left.

Hinata turned to Naruto, "Are you sure I can stay here tonight?"

Naruto nodded. "And you can have the bed, I'll stay out here. I'll be right here if you need me. And if anything is wrong, don't hesitate to yell for me, all right?" She nodded.

Naruto spent the rest of the next day pampering Hinata, comforting her when she was in pain, making her lunch and then supper, eating with her, holding her when she was scared or sad, doing everything he could to make sure she was okay. Hinata appreciated this more than she could say, and she was surprised to find Naruto so willing to do it, yet she was happy with him. Naruto eventually carried her to his bed and laid her down on it. It wasn't the most comfortable one ever, but to Hinata it was better even than her oh-so-soft mattress at the Hyuga compound. Odd, she thought, that she didn't think of that place as home anymore. After all, after what she had gone through there, who would call it home?

After Hinata fell asleep that night, Jiraiya came back and sat Naruto down. They had some things to discuss. "Naruto, tell me, how much does this girl mean to you?"

"I love her. She's my fiancée, and she's the only one to ever really accept me, other than you. I want her to be happy more than anything. Why?"

"I spoke to her father, Lord Hiashi, and he felt that he would be unable to guarantee Hinata's safety in the Hyuga compound after the events of this morning. He said I should warn you that he may have to remove her from there for her safety."

Naruto almost volunteered to have her stay there, but he decided to wait until it came to be, if it did. Time would tell on that one, he knew, so he'd wait and see what happened. It felt good to have her there in his home with him, though, and he was glad to know she was safe, for tonight at least.

After Jiraiya left, Naruto went into the bedroom and watched over Hinata as she slept. She was so peaceful, so beautiful in her sleep. He didn't touch her, he just watched her sleep. As he watched her, he renewed his determination to protect her and to make sure no one ever hurt her...well, never again, anyway. He was still angry at the man who had hurt her, but he wouldn't do anything about it unless she asked him to do something, which he rather doubted she would. Naruto checked the time. It was two in the morning. He slipped out of the room, leaving Hinata asleep, and laid on the futon and fell asleep himself. He and Hinata each dreamed of the other. They were peaceful, sweet dreams that both needed after this stressful day.

A/N: Hope you didn't hate this too much. I'm making a poll for my chapter 8 plan. Also, I may well up the rating of this one for blood soon as well as possible other reasons later. We'll see. Anyway, hope to hear from you guys soon, vote in the poll, review this, whatever.