Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Naruto or anything affiliated with said show.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

The Surprise

Hinata sat on the hill overlooking the village and watched as the people went about their lives. Sighing softly, she absentmindedly picked at the grass under her fingers as she thought about nothing in particular. It was days like today that made her wish she was a better ninja so she could go on missions with the others. That's not to say she never went on missions, but she always seemed to get the easy ones that kept her near the village and away from danger. 'They're probably afraid I'll get hurt or something.' She thought to herself with a huff. 'I may not be as coordinated or strong as the others, but I know how to fight and I've gotten better at using my Byakugan too.' Looking up at the clear blue sky, Hinata sighed. "It's not fair." She muttered as she stood up and brushed herself off. Taking a deep breath, she wiped her hands together and began her trek back down the hillside. "Oh well, I'd better go and get my latest mission out of the way so I can spend the rest of the day wallowing in self pity." Laughing to herself, Hinata smiled. "Now I'm starting to act like Sasuke."

It didn't take her long to reach Hokage Tower and soon Hinata was knocking on Tsunade's door. Hearing what sounded like a muffled 'Enter', she pulled the door open and stepped inside. "Good afternoon Hokage-sama." Hinata said politely, bowing in respect. "I have come for my mission assignment."

Glancing up from her newest mound of paperwork, Tsunade smiled at the quiet young woman before her. "Ah, Hinata, I was wondering when you'd get here. I just got a request for someone to help out at Kirinama's farm for a few hours and I'd like you to go and do it." Sifting through the papers on her desk, the older woman frowned. "Just give me a second to find the paper; I know I put it in here somewhere."

"Um…Tsunade…I…well…" Hinata stumbled as she tried to figure out how to phrase her question.

Picking up the paper she had finally found, Tsunade raised her eyebrow at Hinata. "Yes, what do you need?" She asked.

"I was wondering why I keep getting all these D rank missions while everyone else is getting B and C rank missions." Hinata questioned quietly. "Not to sound ungrateful for the missions I'm getting or anything, but I feel like I'm being held back on purpose."

Smiling softly, Tsunade sat back in her chair. "I'm sorry that you feel that way, but believe me when I say that I am not doing this to hold you back. I was asked to keep you safe near the village and because of the situation and who was asking, I agreed to do so." When Hinata's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to speak, Tsunade cut her off. "I can't tell you who asked me to do this so don't even ask, let's just say it was for a very good cause."

Hinata nodded her head and sighed. "As you wish Hokage-sama." She said as she reached over to grab the paper for her mission. "I'll be going now." And with that Hinata left the office, her head hanging slightly in both sadness and confusion.

Once her door was shut, Tsunade shook her head and smiled. "Well it took her longer than I thought to question what is going on, but then Hinata never was one to question her elders." Picking up a paper that she had shoved out of sight as soon as Hinata had arrived, Tsunade glanced over what it said once more before grinning widely. "Don't worry Hinata, everything will be revealed to you soon." She said quietly as she went back to her paperwork.

Hinata hadn't gone far when she saw Sakura and Lee whispering quietly to each other and glancing around nervously. 'I wonder what they're doing.' She thought as she made her way towards her fellow ninja. "Hey you two, what's going on?" Hinata asked softly. "Is it someone's birthday?"

Eyes widening, Sakura clamped her hand over Lee's mouth so he wouldn't say anything. "Oh hey Hinata, didn't see you there. How are you?" Sakura asked with a nervous smile.

Raising an eyebrow slightly, Hinata glanced from the now blue turning Lee to Sakura who was fidgeting nervously. "Um, I'm fine." She replied as she continued to look at the couple before her who seemed to be getting even more nervous as the time went on. "So what's going on? Are you two planning a surprise party for someone or something?"

"O-of course not, what makes you say that?" Sakura asked, stumbling slightly. Seeing that Hinata was about to respond, Sakura continued on. "We were just discussing our last missions with each other and Lee here said he would help me train with Taijutsu. Isn't that right Lee?" She said, narrowing her eyes and silently promising pain if he disagreed.

"Of course my dear Sakura-chan." Lee said with a sudden smile. "Why don't we go and train right now?"

"Lead the way." Sakura said as she motioned her hand down the road. Smiling back at Hinata, she waved. "Well I guess we'll see you later then, bye." And just like that they both disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Ok, that was strange." Hinata mumbled to herself as she headed towards the edge of town to begin her mission. "Usually Sakura loves to share gossip with everyone. Whatever's going on must be really important if she can't talk about it." Shrugging her shoulders lightly, Hinata decided that it wasn't worth thinking about since she had a mission to complete. 'Maybe I'll ask Naruto tonight when I see him; he'll tell me what's going on.' She thought as she continued on her way.

ooooo

Hours later Hinata was sitting at Ichiraku's waiting for Naruto to show up for their dinner date. When an hour had gone by and she still hadn't seen her blonde haired boyfriend, Hinata sighed and decided to leave. "I guess he got held up on another one of his missions." She said to herself as she began to walk home. "Come to think of it, he's been out on missions a lot this last month so I haven't been able to see him that much. I wonder why he's taken so many." Shaking her head at her thoughts, Hinata decided to just head over to his apartment and wait for him to get home so she could ask him.

Since she was taking her time, it took Hinata a little over ten minutes to reach Naruto's little apartment. Pulling out the spare key he kept hidden above the door, Hinata stared at the lock for several minutes. "I hope he's not unhappy with me." She said suddenly as her mind began to supply her with reasons that Naruto might want to take on extra missions. "I know I'm not that pretty or talented, but I love him and I thought he loved me." Hinata said softly as tears began to well up in her eyes. With a shaking hand, she put the key in the lock and pushed the door to Naruto's apartment open. "Maybe that's why he didn't want me to move in with him." She choked out. "He doesn't want me anymore." Collapsing to the ground, Hinata pulled her knees to her chest and began to sob quietly.

Naruto blinked and stopped rummaging through his closet when the soft sound of crying met his ears. 'Who could that be?' He thought curiously. 'Jiraiya's out doing research so I know it's not him crying over his wounds, and no one else would come here just to cry…unless.' "Hinata." He whispered suddenly. "Oh no." Throwing his outfit down, which happened to be the only thing he owned that wasn't currently wrinkled, Naruto rushed out of his room and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his girlfriend crying in front of his door. Dropping to his knees by her side, Naruto wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her to his chest. "Hinata." He said softly. "What's the matter, why are you crying?"

Pulling his arms tighter around her body, Hinata buried her head in his chest and attempted to speak through her sobs. "I know I'm not perfect, but please don't leave me!" She cried out as her grip on his shirt tightened. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Leave you, why would I ever do that?" Naruto asked in confusion. "I love you."

Sniffling, Hinata calmed down enough so she could pull away slightly and look into his eyes. "You're not planning on dumping me then?" She asked as the tears continued to fall down her face.

"Of course not, whatever gave you that idea?" Naruto asked as he smiled softly and wiped away some of her tears. "I love you, you know that."

Staring into his eyes, Hinata shyly returned his smile and nodded her head. "I know you do, I just suddenly had the thought that all your extra missions were a way of getting away from me. I guess I've had too much time to think since I haven't had any real missions in awhile." She said as she ran her hand over Naruto's cheek.

Naruto's eyes fell to the floor and he scratched the back of his head nervously. "I'm sorry about that, I never thought that keeping you in the village would end up hurting you like this." He said. "If I had known that then I never would have asked Baa-chan to keep you here."

Hinata narrowed her eyes and poked Naruto in the chest. "You mean to say it was you who asked her to give me these low ranked missions, why would you do that?" She asked as her anger began to rise. "I've been stuck in the village for weeks now with hardly anything to do and on top of that I rarely get to see you, and now you're telling me it was all because of you. Why?!"

"It was a surprise." Naruto mumbled out after several moments of silence. "I didn't want you to know about it until it was finished. That's why I had to keep you inside the village."

Whatever Hinata had been about to say died on her lips as she stared at the man she loved. "What was a surprise?" She asked, her anger forgotten. "What have you been up to?"

Standing up, Naruto held out his hand. "Well I was planning on showing you after I took you out to dinner tonight, but it took a little longer than planned to finish. I was just getting ready so I could pick you up when I heard you crying. Come on and I'll show you."

Taking his hand, Hinata got to her feet and followed Naruto as he led her to the outskirts of the village. They took a freshly cleared path that ran up the side of Hokage Mountain when Naruto stopped suddenly and turned to face her. "I'm sorry I made you worry like that, but this is what I've been working on." Naruto said as he took her hand in his and led her down a path that had pretty flowers planted along the sides.

Hinata's eyes widened as she stared over at the beautiful little cottage that was nestled amongst the trees. Glancing back to Naruto, she opened her mouth, but couldn't find the words.

Smiling, Naruto pulled her towards the door. "I made this house for us, with a lot help from everyone else of course, now we can finally live together."

"This is why you didn't want me to move in with you." Hinata said as tears began to fall once more. "You were building us a house." Seeing Naruto nod, she jumped up and wrapped her arms around him. "I love it, it's beautiful."

"I'm glad you like it, but that's not everything." Naruto said as he got down on one knee. Pulling a small box out of his pocket, he looked up at the love of his life and smiled. "Hinata, will you marry me?"

Nodding her head, Hinata dropped to the ground and kissed Naruto softly. "Of course I will, I love you." She said as he held her in his arms. "And I always will."

The newly engaged couple continued to embrace under the night sky while Tsunade and Sakura smiled on from the bushes. "I love happy endings." Sakura said with a smile as she wiped a tear from her eye.