Hinata sighed her head leant against Naruto's chest. Putting down his book Naruto looked questioningly at her, they where sat on the sofa in his living room and until she had sighed Naruto had been sure that Hinata had fallen asleep.
"What's the matter?" He asked.
Looking up at him Hinata sighed again lightly before asking him; "How long have we been together now?"
Naruto thought for a moment, "Just under three months, why?"
"How many people know we're together?"
"Including us… five." Naruto was beginning to see what had her so down.
"And how many of those people are not currently in your flat?" Hinata asked.
Looking behind him to where he could see Kuro and Mai working on some of Iruka-sensei's work through the kitchen door he sighed. "One."
The only people who knew about his and Hinata's relationship where Him, Hinata, his daughter, his daughters best friend and Shikamaru. He sighed, "But you know we can't tell anyone else – your father would murder me."
Hinata smiled slightly, "You could take him."
Naruto smiled back, "Maybe but how likely would he be to approve you marrying me if I beat the shit out of him?"
"DAD! Language!" Came a shout from the kitchen.
Sighing again Naruto shouted back, "You know where my wallet is!" a few moments later he could hear a coin being dropped into the swear box Iruka insisted he have with small children around.
Looking back at Hinata he saw she had a teasing expression on her face, "What?" he asked a sinking feeling in his gut – he had come to fear that expression.
"Who said anything about marriage? I was just talking about our relationship." She smirked as Naruto turned red and sputtered.
"Well… I… you… one day… maybe… possibly…"
"What's the matter Naruto-kun, maybe you don't want to marry me?" Hinata feigned a hurt expression.
"I... you... well..."
"I would suggest you try to talk after removing your foot from your mouth Mr. Uzumaki." Came Kuro's voice from the kitchen causing Naruto to turn even redder and Hinata to roll off the sofa laughing.
Naruto was still reeling from inadvertently semi-proposing when he was walking Mai to school the next day, fortunately Hinata knew he meant nothing by it so it hadn't been blown out of proportion but it was still embarrassing. Stopping outside a small block of flats he watched Mai run up the stairs and ring a doorbell, after several seconds Kuro emerged locking the door behind him.
"Morning Kuro!" Naruto shouted from the bottom of the stairs.
"Good morning Mr. Uzumaki." Kuro replied.
"How many times do I have to tell you? You can call me Naruto."
Kuro just nodded as they began their daily walk to school, "You do not have to collect me every day Mr… Naruto."
Naruto smiled, "No I don't but if I didn't Mai would be upset with me, wouldn't you Mai-chan."
Mai blushed and punched her fathers leg in embarrassment causing him to grin even wider, "How are you doing for food at the moment?" Naruto asked the boy.
"I am doing fine thank you, I rarely seem to use any as you insist on me eating at your home every night."
"I know how hard it is to live alone, I lived alone since I was old enough to be kicked out of the orphanage."
Kuro looked at him, "I was not aware it was common in Konoha."
"It isn't," Naruto replied sadly, "We both just happen to have terrible luck with the villages prejudice."
Kuro nodded sadly and Naruto suddenly smiled, "Let's move on to happier subjects shall we? How did you two find that homework last night?"
Mai shrugged, "It was hard, it was about the rules of being a Shinobi."
Naruto sighed, "Never show any emotion and all that crap?"
The two children looked at him oddly, "I know, I'll put it in the box when I get home." He sighed.
"But why did you describe the rules in that way?" Kuro asked, "They are the fundamentals of how you should act in battle."
Naruto sighed, "I have my own version, much shorter than those endless rules and in my opinion much better, if Iruka asks you what the rules are tell him these instead…"
Hinata made her way into the Hokage's office to receive a mission she was naturally surprised to see Naruto there but she faked her act perfectly. Upon seeing him she made herself blush and looked at the floor so as not to attract attention to their relationship. Behind her desk the Hokage sighed, she was sending these two on a mission and the girl couldn't even look at Naruto without blushing – god save them.
"I have called you two here as I have a mission for you."
"The two of us?" Naruto asked, "Why us two – why not send one of the usual teams?"
"Because," The woman replied, "It is a diplomatic mission to Suna, Hinata is going as she is the heir to the Hyuuga clan and as such experienced with politics and diplomacy, You are going because you wish to be Hokage and therefore need the experience – plus you are friends with the Kazekage."
Hinata pushed her fingers together and muttered, "How long are we going for."
"A week starting tomorrow, Naruto I have already informed Iruka and he has agreed to take care of Mai," Naruto began to open his mouth but she continued, "And feed Kuro as you seem to have taken a shine to the boy."
Hinata suppressed a giggle.
"Further information is in the mission scroll, Dismissed!" She announced.
Iruka looked up at the class before him, "Ok then, can anyone tell me the twenty third rule of Shinobi conduct… Mai?"
He looked at the girl, "Ano… Iruka-sensei, my Dad told me that if you asked me about the rules of Shinobi conduct I should tell you a set of his rules."
Iruka frowned, "Your father has always had an… unorthodox opinion of how Shinobi should act, let's hear them at least."
Mai nodded, "He said that, in battle and in everything we do we should remember the following and know it to be true:
'If I defend, you will not break through,
If I attack, you shall fall,
If I give chase, you shall be caught,
If I protect, no one shall be harmed,
And if I take your life, I had no choice.'"
As she finished Mai looked to Iruka to see his expression grow sad then a smile break through, turning he wrote exactly what Mai had said, word for word, on the board.
"Mai, your father is wise beyond his years," She smiled at the girl before turning to the rest of the class, "OK class, please copy this down and remember it, this may not be the official Shinobi code but it would do you well to remember it." 'if anything it's better than the official rules.'
A/N: Yes I know it's another short one but for some reason that's just how they are coming out at the moment. Before anyone starts shouting 'Kuro is a jinchuuriki' or anything of the sort due to him being forced out of the orphanage he is not. The reason for him living alone will become apparent in one of the coming chapters - just how soon depends on how long it takes for certain events to happen. Updates on this story may become slower again for the next month or so as I have to revise a years worth of work as for some reason the chemistry department at my university has all it's exams at once - it's the only department that does it and I am stuck in it. Don't get me wrong I love my course but revising all the modules may kill me, if I have to read the words 'Reaction Kinetics' or 'Gibbs free energy' one more time I may throw my notes through a wall.
I am aware that this means I really shouldn't have started another story but I did... I know it wasn't smart to spread myself even thinner but that's just what I do - I'm a bit of a idiot that way. If you are interested you can find my story 'to love a demon' thorugh my profile, it's just a silly story without any of the foreward planning that went into my other two - it's pretty much my attempt at a gag-a-chapter piece. Anywho I have work to do, sleep to catch up on and new CD's to listen to - until next time.