When Naruto emerged from the Hokage Tower, Hinata was anticipated a few things. Him wearing a new chuunin vest and his trademark grin, then taking her into his strong arms before spinning her around and shouting to Konoha and beyond he was finally a chuunin and one step closer to their next hokage. Then they'd go for ramen to celebrate and back to his place for some heavy sexual stuff that would embarrass even Jiraiya to think about.
What she had not expected was for him to stomp out nearly breaking the door off its hinges looking more outraged than Neji had back when he treated her like she might have well have given Hizashi to Kumo with a bow wrapped around him.
"Naruto-kun?" She asked, stepping up to him trying not to make herself look like a threat. "What happened?"
Seeing her Naruto closed his eyes, unable to drop his glare but refusing to aim it at her. "She betrayed me. That wrinkled old bitch refuses to make me a chuunin."
"She what?" Hinata asked, shocked that Tsunade would go back on her promise like that. Why would she do such a thing?
Naruto nodded and opened his eyes, now trusting himself to look at her without anger, or at least less anger. "Yeah, she said I haven't changed at all since I was a kid. I'm still out of control and immature. It's the exact same excuse she gave me years ago when I asked why she kept me genin despite fighting a bijuu and Orochimaru, right in front of her in fact. Three years of training with her own teammate and she thinks I've only gotten stupider."
Now Hinata frowned. "That bitch!" She said before realizing she said it, but couldn't find herself to take back.
Naruto nodded. "This entire government is against me. You saw the note, you know I'm not exaggerating." She nodded, remembering the footnote that was incredibly rude to her loved one. Naruto then put his arms around her. "I think you're right Hinata-chan, I think you really are the only one I can trust."
"I'm sorry." She said, knowing it hurt him that despite how much he wanted to make bonds with others they weren't willing to return the effort. "At least you have me."
"Hinata-chan..." He said softly, at a loss for words and simply engulfed her in a hug she made no attempt to escape from. "I... don't want to be alone tonight. I don't know what I might do. Can you stay with me today?"
"I'll stay as long as you want me to Naruto-kun." She told him soothingly, nestling into him. 'We can't celebrate his promotion tonight, but he deserves a good night. And I will give him one. He deserves it.'
"Get your hands off her scum!" A furious shout cried out, ruining the moment. Both teens turned and saw Hiashi running to them looking like he wanted to murder one of them, and both knew which one he was aiming for.
Right away Hinata left Naruto's embrace but rather than back away she got in front of him and took a stance, byakugan active but waiting to act. Hiashi saw this but didn't bother telling her to move. 'He doesn't care if I'm caught up in his assault. Claims he's protecting me yet doesn't care if I'm a victim of his own hands. This man is the true scum.'
Once Hiashi got close enough, Hinata made her move. "Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms!"
Hiashi ran right into his daughter's defensive technique, one he had chewed her out for creating claiming that the Kaiten was all a Hyuuga needed in terms of defense. Hyuuga's believed that the best defense was an unstoppable offense. But all too late Hiashi realized one mistake on his part, he never stopped to consider that this jutsu could be used for offense as well.
From her palms grew two thin chakra blades, and Hinata starting swinging her arms at her father like she was trying to hack him to pieces. She cut open his skin and tore his clothes, and because Hiashi wasn't an active ninja anymore he was long out of the habit of wearing mesh armor clothing, unlike his daughter, so he took more damage than he normally would have.
Injured but not beaten, Hiashi backed away and winced greatly, trying his hardest to ignore the pain his daughter had inflicted on him. "Hinata, you're going to regret this."
"The only thing I would regret is letting you try to kill him, Oyaji." Hinata replied, taking pleasure in his shocked expression.
"What did you just call me?" He asked with an offended hiss.
"You heard me. Are your ears as dull as your intelligence?"
"I am your father and you will address me with respect!" Hiashi demanded.
"You're no father. You're the exact opposite of what a father should be."
SMACK!
The sound was loud and audible as Hiashi's hand connected with the side of Hinata's face and knocked her to the ground.
Naruto's eyes widened. Then he felt something stirring in him, something he had only felt a few times before in his life, the desire to kill. He had felt this before, but never like this. No this was different. He did not just want to kill Hiashi, he wanted to tear him apart. He wanted to rip his throat out and split this man's arrogant head open.
'Do it.' A series of dark voices whispered in his ear.
'Tear his heart out.'
'Make him choke on his own guts.'
'Kill him.'
Naruto narrowed his eyes and took a menacing step towards Hiashi, but Hinata, who held her hand up to prevent Naruto from moving a step forward, brought him to his senses. Once he stopped, she simply got back on her feet and glared at her father.
"You just made a powerful enemy today, Oyaji." Hinata warned, actually referring to Naruto. If she knew him as well as she thought she did, there was no way Hiashi was not someone Naruto wanted to hurt right now. And Kami help the Hyuuga leader when Naruto decided to act on that desire.
Hiashi, for some reason, when he looked into those eyes he did not see his daughter for a moment. Instead he saw something dark and malicious. Like he was staring into the eyes of a coiled cobra ready to strike just for the fun of it. Not willing to be intimidated by something smaller than himself, he quickly shook off the feeling and regained his poise.
"And what makes you think you're powerful enough to be a threat to me?" Hiashi hissed, mistaking her true message. "You think you know better than me and can judge me? You know nothing about being a parent or a clan head. Weakness is all you know, a weakness that is an embarrassment to the proud Hyuuga name. As Kami-sama is my witness, you'll never be either a parent or clan head if I have anything to say about it!"
Hinata surprised him by giving him a rather venomous smirk as she stood up, something he thought was a physical impossibility for her. "In that case Oyaji, I intend to remove myself from the clan."
Hiashi looked momentarily surprised, then enraged. "You dare invoke a Nigeguchi? I won't allow it!"
"What's the matter? Surprised to have the first one to invoke it in nearly three generations be your own flesh and blood?" Hinata taunted.
If there was one thing Hiashi disliked more than being insulted, it was being challenged. Especially by his own kin. He glared at Hinata then at Naruto before letting out a loud scoff. "Very well, go live in squalor with this pathetic boy or better yet go die in a ditch. I curse the day you crawled forth from your mother's womb." He said in so much anger he was nearly foaming at the mouth.
Hiashi turned heal and started to walk away, as he did he couldn't resist getting in one more remark over his shoulder. "You have one hour to collect your garbage from the compound. Anything you leave behind I am burning." With that he continued to walk away and out of sight.
"Hinata-chan, what did he mean by that?" Naruto asked, trying to withhold some anger since the only person around him was not the source. "It sounded like he wanted to murder you. If I had any faith in the old hag right now I'd get her to do something about it."
"Let's go to one of the training grounds. You'll need something to hit there." Hinata told him gently taking his arm, the moment she did he began to feel his anger dissipate and he nodded, trusting her, but worried since she said he was only going to get madder.
The two went to Naruto's usual training ground when he started out as a ninja, stopping by the bridge he, Sakura, and Sasuke would wait for Kakashi on. The nostalgia of the place would hopefully help him keep some degree of calmness.
"Naruto-kun, you know how sometimes a clan will banish a member they find unfit to keep among them?" Hinata started.
He nodded. "Yes, and I always thought that was stupid."
"Well, there's this custom called Nigeguchi. It's when a person in a clan decides to escape the clan by basically banishing themselves from it. It's like the clan equivalent of emancipation."
"Wait, you want to kick yourself out of your own family?" Naruto asked, not really understanding what emancipation was but understanding this at least.
"It's for my own good Naruto-kun. They will never let me be happy as long as you're a part of what makes me happy. And without you in my life then it is not worth living."
Naruto felt a wave of emotion go through him at that statement. 'Why did I not see her feelings years ago?' He asked and cursed himself for chasing after Sakura for so long when there was someone who already loved him.
Hinata let a small smile form on her face. "Besides, I don't believe they ever intend for me to be happy anyway."
"You really think he wasn't just speaking in anger?" Naruto asked, hoping Hinata was exaggerating but she wasn't the type to believe the worst about someone. So for her to say this, and about her own relatives, something really had to be wrong about them. Besides, looking at her father and what Neji used to be like, it wasn't that hard to believe someone in her clan would intentionally ruin her happiness out of spite.
"I wish I could say he was, but I know he wasn't. He honestly meant what he said about me." Hinata said with a nod, leaning on the bridge railing to look into the water underneath. Naruto did the same once she did. "To the Hyuuga, happiness is based on what's good for the clan, not the members. Or to be more precise, what's good for the head and the elders. Imagine a genin team where the jounin sensei wasn't concerned about their students and only was concerned about how the genin made him look to others. Or at best, was only concerned about the most talented genin and said 'screw you' to the others."
Naruto frowned, images of Kakashi and Sasuke coming to his mind at her words.
"That's essentially how the Hyuuga clan leaders treat the Hyuuga clan itself." Hinata continued. "They value the reputation of the clan more than its well-being. They don't care what people like me think, just what everyone else thinks. Or I should say, everyone else they actually want to impress thinks. People like the hokage, daimyo, nobles, clients, those kind of people. But people like you and me, as far as they're concerned anything we say isn't worth the breath we say it with."
"Normally the elders and head of the Hyuuga don't care who marries who as long as it doesn't hurt the clan. But in my case, they refuse to let me have any option that cannot be used to their favor. One time my father actually looked me in the eye and said 'Happiness is a luxury you are forbidden from having'."
Naruto's eyes widened, the whiskered blonde looking like he wanted to explode and truly become a reincarnated Kyuubi to hear this. "What the fuck kind of father would say that to his own daughter? If I had a daughter I wouldn't try to control who she falls in love with."
Hinata smiled, briefly picturing a young girl who had both her and Naruto's traits before getting back to the important issue. "For a while I've wanted to try and change my clan from within, not with force but with persuasion. I didn't want to bully them the way they bullied me, I wanted to lead by example and convince them I was right, not merely forbid them from openly disagreeing. That way the Branch House could be freed from their seal and the elders would no longer act like the clan exists solely to benefit them."
"And I still intend to change the Hyuuga clan too. Like I swore to Neji." Naruto added, wrapping his arms around the white-eyed girl, like just holding her was preventing anything bad from ever being possible to her.
Feeling better, Hinata scooted over and leaned comfortably against him, and she put her arm around him. "I know."
He had no complaints and hugged her back. "I need you Hinata-chan." He whispered to her. "I'm just so afraid of what would happen if you weren't with me. I can't lose you Hinata-chan. You already mean more to me than anyone else in this village."
Hinata smiled warmly at his words. Naruto already had her heart, and she practically already has his. He wasn't yet in love with her but right now he trusted her completely, and that was the first step to love. "Naruto-kun, trust me, you won't ever lose me."
"What will you do when you leave?" Naruto asked.
"I'll find a place to live, with your help of course." She started.
"Absolutely! No way I'm making you sleep on the streets. You can even stay with me until you find your own place." He said firmly. He wanted to even say 'just stay with me' but he did not want to come on too strong, not just yet.
"I'd like that. Anyway, then we work at helping you become hokage so you can improve both the Hyuuga and Konoha by taking it away from the current self-interested rulers." She added. "For now though, we have to go inform the hokage. I issued the statement, it's my duty to set it up and have her agree to it.
Naruto frowned. "I don't like the idea of seeing her now, but-"
"Sorry Naruto-kun, but you can't be involved in this." She told him. "Only the hokage can be involved, if she approves then..." Hinata paused there.
Naruto arched an eyebrow. "What happens if she doesn't approve? It sounds like you're implying something."
Hinata sighed. "If she doesn't approve, then she's required to sentence me to death to prevent me from ever betraying my clan, from ever becoming a potential Uchiha Itachi."
Naruto eyes narrowed and he felt the dark feeling returning to him, he quickly tightened his hold on her. "I'm coming with you on this. If she even thinks about killing you..." He didn't want to finish that thought.
"Tsunade-sama, Naruto's back." Shizune told her mentor. "And he's not in a good mood."
"But he is back, that's good." The female hokage said aloud, but then reconsidered. 'To return this soon... maybe not so much.' The blonde woman turned her attention back to Shizune. "Let him come in."
Naruto soon came in, and Tsunade saw that his expression was still unforgiving. Next to him was Hinata, his arm still around her. This didn't make the hokage feel better. "Naruto-"
"I'm not here for me, I'm here for her." Naruto cut her off, patting Hinata to emphasize his point. "I'm here to make sure you don't screw her over like you did me."
"I didn't..." Tsunade hissed, ready to yell, but knowing Naruto was too stubborn right now to give her anything other then in-one-ear-out-the-other treatment. "What is this even about anyway?"
"Hokage-sama, I am issuing a Nigeguchi to my clan." Hinata admitted.
Tsunade's reaction to this was much milder than Naruto's had been, though she was no less shocked. "You what?"
"I cannot live with the Hyuuga clan anymore. I want out, I am done, I wish to cease being a member of the Hyuuga." Hinata calmly explained.
"You can't be serious." Tsunade protested, though she could see in Hinata's eyes that she was.
"A Nigeguchi has already been issued. All that's left is your role." Hinata countered.
'Dammit, I don't want to be involved in a Nigeguchi.' Tsunade mentally groaned. "No one has ever asked for a Nigeguchi in my term in office. In fact there has not been one in almost a hundred years, not since my grandfather was Hokage. Most of the people sort out these problems thru conversation, hell most of them were probably too afraid the hokage would refuse."
"Are you?" Naruto hissed, his expression promised hell itself if Tsunade essentially sentenced Hinata to die.
"I don't suppose there's a way out of it, is there?" Tsunade tested.
"It's my father, you expect him to let there be a way out for me?" Hinata asked.
Tsunade sighed in defeat. "I suppose not. I guess I have no choice then. But for the record I think this is a very stupid idea and personally I'm disappointed in you Hinata. I thought you were more level-headed than this."
"I guess you don't know me any better than you know Naruto-kun." Hinata said sharply. Without waiting for permisson, both teens left.
Tsunade sat back in her chair for a moment and shook her head "What a day this has turned out to be."
But something deep down in her warned that the storm had only just begun.
Hinata returned to her compound with Naruto accompanying her.
"He is not welcome here Hinata-sama." One of the guards said, pointing to the Uzumaki as if he were some kind of stray dog with mange.
"I invited him. That is all the welcome he needs." Hinata said bluntly, walking right past the guards.
As they walked thru the compound Naruto noticed the glares that were directed their way. He was not sure if they were directed at him or if they were directed at Hinata. Hinata simply walked on, not taking any heed but Naruto just glared right back, his eyes daring anyone to try anything.
"So what do you want to get from your room Hinata? I can make plenty of shadow clones to carry boxes." Naruto offered as they approached Hinata's room.
She simply shook her head. "That won't be necessary Naruto. I only want to collect a few personal items and some clothes. Leave the rest for Oyaji to burn like he wants. Let him have his little tantrum, then he'll be less likely to take out his anger on us later."
"Ah, a decoy tactic." Naruto noted.
They entered her room and quickly got to work gathering up the items that Hinata wanted to keep with her. Mainly the stuff she couldn't replace or had sentimental attachment too. In just a few short minutes virtually all of Hinata's life was packed up into three medium-sized boxes.
They were just about to pick up the boxes and leave when suddenly the door opened and in burst Hanabi. "Onee-san!" The younger sister of the broken family cried as she wrapped her arms around her elder sibling, tears streaming down her face. "Please… please tell me it's not true."
Hinata nodded and embraced Hanabi tightly in a hug. "Yes, it is."
"Please… please don't go. I'll talk to Otou-sama. Maybe I can-"
Hinata shook her head. "No, this has been coming for a long time now. I need to leave."
Tears continued to flow from Hanabi's eyes down her cheeks. "But Onee-san, I love you. Please don't leave me."
"I love you too Hanabi-chan, the only regret I will have to leaving this place is leaving you behind." Hinata said as she gently kissed her sister's forehead.
"Ahem." A voice interrupted. Everyone turned to see Neji standing there, his face cold and empty of emotion.
"Hinata-san, Naruto-san, by order of the Hyuuga clan leader, Hiashi-sama, you are both ordered to leave the Hyuuga compound now and to not return."
Hinata released her sister from her embrace and looked at her cousin. "No heart-felt goodbye from you Nii-san?"
Neji stood to the side. "Please leave the compound now before you are escorted out." He said plainly.
Silently, Hinata picked up the lightest box and Naruto the heavier two, then they began to exit the room. Hinata was the first to leave but before Naruto could Neji held his arm up as a barrier.
The blonde looked at the Hyuuga who continued to stare straight ahead as to not make eye contact. "Protect her, Naruto-san."
"With my life." Was all Naruto said and he was allowed to pass.
Naruto and Hinata walked through the gates of the Hyuuga compound that were forcefully shut behind them.
And never once did either of them look back.
"Are you truly letting that worthless girl leave that easily?" Tesshi Hyuuga, Hiashi's father and former clan head, asked his son and current clan head while they watched the former heiress and the Kyuubi boy walk away from the clan estate from a second floor window.
"Legally we have to." Hiashi rued. 'She's smiling. How dare she act like leaving the Hyuuga is a good thing. Even worse, leaving with that boy of all people.'
"Damn that bitch hokage. How dare she grant a Nigeguchi of all things. She could have refused and given us the satisfaction of doing away with that girl." Tesshi complained.
"I suspect the reason she did it is because of the boy." Hiashi commented as the teens left their view. "He has clearly been giving her ideas."
"As much as I agree with you, the fault cannot be entirely his." Tesshi argued. "Your daughter was stupid enough to listen to him."
"I told the Hokage that having those two around each other was a bad idea. Now there's no telling what may happen." Hiashi stated. "For all we know, she will get pregnant and have byakugan-bearing bastards that are beyond our authority."
"Over my dead body will there be a byakugan outside of the clan. I didn't give up Hizashi for nothing." Tesshi insisted.
Hiashi subtly nodded. "My brother died to ensure others did not obtain our doujutsu. I will not let his sacrifice be in vain. Hinata must not be allowed to have children."
"We should just kill her." Tesshi suggested.
"And risk the Hokage getting ideas? As stupid as she is, she would notice if someone who was granted freedom from a clan were to suddenly die within the village. And as much as I hate to acknowledge it, the boy is getting close to her. If he gets the idea that we killed her, I foresee that he will release the Kyuubi and say to hell with us and Konoha."
"Doing nothing is not an option Hiashi." Tesshi said very firmly, showing he had every intention of hurting Hinata in some form because of her actions.
"I agree, but we are above brash and impulsive decisions. We will not stoop to such commoner resorts to get what we deserve." Hiashi told his father.
"Do you have a plan?" Tesshi asked, hoping the answer was yes.
"Well, welcome home." Naruto said when he and Hinata went inside, not sure what else to say.
'He sounds upset. Does he feel responsible for what I did?' Hinata worried, knowing full well that he wasn't worried about having her here. "Naruto-kun, I want you to know that what I did was not your fault. I chose to do it, you had nothing to do with it."
"But if I hadn't hugged you, your father-"
"Would have still been a jerk even if you weren't touching me." Hinata cut off. "Remember, I chose to leave my clan Naruto-kun. I chose it. No one can be held responsible for my actions but me."
The blonde sighed and then gave her a fiercely protective look. "I just know your old man isn't going to just let this happen. He's probably going to bitch to Baa-chan and demand you return to him. Or come take you back himself without bothering to see the hokage."
"If he tries then we will stand up to him." The white-eyed girl reassured him, pulling him into a hug to make him feel better. Naruto was so angry, at what had happened to him and what had happened to her. He wanted to hurt someone and he wanted to make her feel better. But he was suspended from active duty and if he acted wrongly it would only turn the village against him more.
"I don't know what to do. If I try to stand up to him, I know the bastards running this village will make me the bad guy." Naruto added.
"Let's not worry about that. We're here, I'm safe and you're not the bad guy. You are the best guy in the world. I'm the luckiest girl in the world to be here with you."
Naruto put his forehead against hers gently. "No, I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have you trust and care about me. I would do anything for you Hinata-chan."
"Anything?" She asked, hoping she could get what she had in mind.
Naruto nodded. "Anything. Everyone else has basically given up on me, but not you. I would do anything to avoid disappointing you too."
Hinata smiled. "I want to share something with you. Something very special, and will prove beyond all doubt that I love you." She said in a whisper.
"What's that?" He asked, curious.
"I want you to make love to me."
