The story continues. Thanks for the reviews so far and keep them coming!

CHAPTER 7

Today was the day. That was the only thing going through Hinata's mind. It was either she would be disowned and leave or they could possibly use harsher methods to get her to co-operate. She hadn't ruled out the possibility of them using the seal on her and killing her in the process, but it didn't matter because she wasn't leaving Hanabi here alone. What if she died? If she was killed then Hanabi wouldn't have a sister anymore and she would play right into the fingers of the elders. She hated them for forcing this upon her! Making her suffer just because she showed kindness and caring to people. If she was Hyuuga head she would band the caged bird seal and make sure that the main and branch families had equal rights, but that couldn't happen anymore because she was branded and therefore couldn't retain her heiress status in order for her to have the opportunity become Hyuuga head. She woke up a bit later then she normally would. She made her way through the branch family dorm rooms and noticed that there wasn't a soul in sight making her worry. Was this their plan? To get her alone to make sure she couldn't resist them when they strike? She heard voices in the cafeteria, in the distance and sighed in relief. She must have slept longer then she thought to be missing out on her cafeteria duties. Before she could walk over a voice stopped her cold.

"Hey Hinata-chan!" shouted the hyperactive ninja who was standing on the roof of the dorms.

Hinata looked like a dear caught in headlights. Never in a million years did she expect anything like this to happen. Naruto was here! How did he get in? Maybe Neji let him in? She couldn't move her body. She just looked as frozen as a popsicle.

"Uhh Hinata-chan?" Naruto tried again when he saw the faraway look on her face.

That snapped her out of her thoughts and she came back to reality.

"H-Hi N-Naruto-k-kun," Hinata stuttered with a huge blush on her face. Curses her shyness was back! She was trying to look anywhere but her crush because she knew if she stared into those beautiful cerulean irises she would faint. Why did her confidence leave her now of all time? She was already starting to feel light headed and had to concentrate to make sure she didn't fall.

Naruto looked at Hinata carefully. She was acting weird again, seriously did he have bad breath or something? He also noticed the seal on her forehead and couldn't help the anger that bubbled within him but that anger quickly turned into his famous foxy grin. He looked around to make sure they were the only people around before he jumped from the roof and landed right next to her.

"Look Hinata-chan I'm not really supposed to be here but I need to talk to you in private," he said seriously, looking around to make sure that it was still clear.

Hinata's heart skipped a beat. He wanted to talk to her in private? He came here for her? He must have heard about the bird seal already. He was probably here more out of pity then anything. Hinata's head dropped a bit.

"S-Sure," she said nervously but Naruto also caught a hint of disappointment.

"Great! Follow me," Naruto said as he started to jump from roof to roof making his way outside the Hyuuga compound with Hinata following shortly after him.

They made their way through a forest until they found themselves at a clearing with a huge pond in the middle. Hinata never came around here but it looked so beautiful and romantic that for a fleeting moment she thought Naruto bought her here because he wanted to confess his undying love for her, then promptly squashed the idea as soon as it came to mind. She was scared. She didn't want his pity if that's what they came here for, she was strong enough to endure the suffering until the end. She looked at Naruto and saw that he wasn't even focused on anything, he seemed pretty out of it but she was too scared of stuttering something stupid to call out to him.

Naruto however was having a conversation with his tenant at the moment.

"We here now. So what's next?" Naruto thought to Kurama. It was her idea to bring Hinata to this place but he didn't think too much on it, he came here dozens of times.

"Now first make your fingers into the ram seal. Then expel a little amount of chakra from your body. Your chakra needs to be mixed with my chakra in order for this to work and keep in mind that both chakra signatures need to be distributed equally. Make sure Hinata closes her eyes too," Kurama stated seriously. There wouldn't be any damage if he got it wrong but it would be annoying to do it over and over again until they got it right.

Naruto took a few steps away from Hinata and then faced her again. He could tell she was confused and worried, she didn't know why she was here after all.

"Please trust me Hinata-chan and close your eyes," Naruto said as started the process and made his hands into the ram seal. He kept his eyes on her and used her image to focus. Strips of blue chakra emitted from his body than the chakra color turned into a light lavender.

Hinata was pretty scared right now. What was he doing? Was he going to hurt her? Hinata mentally kicked herself for the second thought, her Naruto-kun would never hurt her! She stood there and closed her eyes, waiting for whatever was going to happen.

"Well done Naruto-kun! The process is complete! You can get rid of the seal now!" Kurama said happily.

"How do I do that?" Naruto asked confused.

"You have to kiss her," Kurama said and waited until she heard him scream "What!?" before she giggled.

Hinata was startled when she heard Naruto scream.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?" she asked with her eyes still closed. It seemed that it was easier to speak to him without becoming a nervous wreck when she couldn't see him.

"Uhh nothing! Everything's fine," Naruto said nervously but Hinata didn't catch it and relaxed again.

"Hahahaha relax Naruto-kun. You only have to kiss her on the forehead where the seal is so the counter seal can do its work and before you ask there isn't any other way to do this." The last part was a lie though, he could use his fingers too but Kurama was getting tired of Naruto's obliviousness to Hinata's feelings.

"Okay then. If this is what needs to be done then I gotta do it," Naruto said determinedly.

"Do what?" Hinata asked when she heard him.

Hinata could here footsteps coming to her and since she and Naruto were the only people in this area then she knew it had to be him. What was he up to? Before she could ponder anything she felt something wet and soft pressed to her forehead. She opened her eyes a bit and found herself staring at Naruto's close chest than she quickly shut her eyes again as she gasped. Oh my god! He was kissing her forehead! Hinata legs were like jelly and her face was burning up a storm. This couldn't be real. It had to be a genjutsu or a really vivid dream somehow. The love of her life was actually kissing her? He never expressed any interest in her before. God it felt so good. Her forehead was giving off a lovely sensation and she moaned quietly. Hinata didn't move, she was too afraid that if she did then this would all end. Any coherent thought she may have had was shattered as she enjoyed this moment.

Naruto for this moment felt really embarrassed. He felt he should have asked her if she wanted him to kiss her forehead but his sense of duty overruled everything and he just rushed in. He couldn't see her face clearly so he didn't know what she thought about this but he hoped she would forgive him. His face was as red as a tomato but he couldn't stop until the seal was destroyed. He glanced down and saw the caged bird seal glowing faintly, than it started to disappear altogether. He watched as it vanished from Hinata's forehead as if it never existed before he pulled away from the kiss.

Hinata opened her eyes slowly when she felt him pull away. The kiss was incredible! She felt so light headed that she couldn't focus but she did look into his cerulean eyes, those hypnotic cerulean eyes and knew she was going to faint. Before darkness could claim her she heard her crush say "Hinata Hyuuga. You are free." and then everything went blank.

She didn't know how long she was out when she finally came to. She sat up and realized that she was close to the pond. She looked to her right and saw Naruto looking at her happily.

"Welcome back Hinata-chan," Naruto said happily.

"W-Whats g-going o-on N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata questioned and then cursed her shyness.

"Look inside the pond," was all he said.

Hinata looked at him confusedly before she made her way to the pond. She looked inside and only saw fish swimming around, she also heard somthing that suspiciously sounded like Naruto chuckling quietly. She focused her eyes but still couldn't see anything in the lake. She was about to ask what she was looking for when she saw her mirror image and gasped. Her forehead was clear. The seal wasn't there and Hinata was shocked to the core. She slowly looked at Naruto.

"The seal," she whispered shocked.

"Yep! It's gone!" Naruto said with a foxy grin.

"How?" was all she could ask.

"When I heard that you got branded with that thing I couldn't just sit back and let you suffer," he said.

"How did you do it?" Hinata asked stupefied. There wasn't supposed to be anything that could destroy the cage bird seal, it was permanent.

"Friends in high places," he said and got a "You got that right" from Kurama.

Hinata stared at him. He did this for her. He found a way to break the seal to save her. The man she loved. She couldn't take her eyes off him, she wasn't even afraid of fainting right now. He was everything to her. Her love for him only deepened and she couldn't picture him with any other woman but herself. She didn't know what it was, whether it was all the pain she'd been through or what he did for her but she couldn't stop herself as she flung herself at him and cried on his chest, letting all her emotions out.

Naruto stiffened when Hinata's arms encircled on his neck and she cried her heart out. He looked around nervously not really knowing how to deal with this.

"Just relax and hold her" Kurama chimed in as she watched and ate some ice cream. If she was going to stay in the mindscape forever then at least she would indulge herself.

Naruto held Hinata and let her cry for as long as needed. When Hinata finished she looked up at him with adoration and love. She wanted him. She wanted him so badly.

"Naruto," she breathed as she closed her eyes and leaned in for a kiss.

Naruto looked up into the sky and realized that it was getting a bit late into the day.

"Come on Hinata-chan. We better get you back home before people start getting worried," Naruto said as he disengaged from the hug and made his way in the direction of the Hyuuga compound.

Hinata pouted. She was so close! Oh well it would have to happen at another time. She quickly tore a part of her clothing and made a make shift headband to cover up her forehead, she didn't need any chaos right now because she lost the seal. If Naruto could destroy the bird seal then Hinata knew that somehow the Hyuuga branch family could be saved from this burden but for now she had to get back or people might start getting suspicious. She made her way home with Naruto, so happy that the Hyuuga compound could possibly have a peaceful future.

AN: Chapter complete. Thanks for reading. Please review. Next chapter will be up soon. I do not own Naruto.