The Boy Who Wanted Love
By: Enigma508

Hey guys I'm not dead, SURPRISE! Well just to recap what I've been up to, college applications are a bitch, SAT's are boring and AP World History takes forever. But now I have a four day weekend to write my next chapter. BTW Doherty Highlanders (the team I play for) is 4-0 =3

Chapter 11: Return

Hinata awoke to the sound of machinery beep and a soothing tan color that surrounded her. Looking down, she realized she was in the hospital. Trying to retrace what happened, Hinata twiddled he fingers to keep her focus on something.

'That's right, we fought those Akatsuki guys. I hit that blonde guy who liked explosives and then I flew back and then… what happened after that?' As she tried to recall on the past she twitched her wrist which sent a bolt of pain up her spine.

She looked down to see her whole left wrist and hand in a plaster cast, allowing her to remember what had happened. The explosive clone detonated around her wrist, luckily her piercing shot strike covered her wrist with chakra and left it still attached to her limb.

The indigo princess was brought out of her daze when she heard some rustling in the adjacent chair.

"Hmm? Hinata-chan, you're awake!" the blonde heir instantly lurched forward and enveloped his fiancé in a warm embrace. This was promptly followed by a chaste kiss on the lips. "I'm so glad you're okay, hime. I… I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to protect you, because of my incompetence, you got hurt!" Naruto's eyes began to well up with tears and he hung his head low in shame.

Hinata, seeing her love in distress placed two fingers from her good hand underneath his chin. Looking into his cerulean eyes, Hinata said with honesty, "Naru-kun, I'm a Kunoichi of Konoha, damn it! You need to realize we're both shinobi, you will get hurt and so will I. And trust me, I am more than capable than defending myself, or have you forgotten who can shut your body down with a touch." Hinata finished with a smirk and a twist of her head.

Naruto perked his head up at his lover's words. It was true, they were warriors, they would get hurt on missions and he wouldn't always be there to protect her. If he stayed the over-protective asshole, he'd be no better than Hiashi was.

"You're right Hina-chan, can you forgive me?" Naruto gave his best puppy dog eyes and looked with a quivering lip.

Smiling and flicking his nose she responded, "Of course you lovable oaf, now come here." Hinata then used her free arm to pull Naruto into another kiss. As their reinvigorated make-out session resumed, the hospital opened to reveal the rest of team seven and team Gai.

"Ahh, it seems Hinata's flames of youth have finally returned to her!" Gai yelled, ever so nonchalantly. Hinata and Naruto instantly straightened up and looked at their guests. They looked to each other, blushed and laughed nervously.

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose at his rival's actions and then looked to his student. "Ohayo you two. Hinata, I'm glad to see you awake and conscious; Naruto, glad to see you greeting your love with such… passion." Naruto rubbed the back of his head and gave his trademark grin.

"Yeah gomenasai everyone, I just haven't heard Hinata's voice or seen the life in her face in three days so sue me for being overjoyed for her awakening." Naruto looked at his fiancé, expecting a smile but instead was met with a look of shock and horror.

"T…three days!?" Hinata was confused as it seemed like an instantaneous transfer from her passing out from shock to unknowingly dying to waking up.

"Oh yeah, your body needed to heal properly and your chakra needed to built back up, so the medical staff put you in a coma for three days." Hinata was shocked at the blonde's words. Now truly inspecting her surroundings, Hinata saw a feeding tube I.V. hooked to her right hand, a saline drop that stuck out right below the intruding feeding tube.

"Why take all these measures for just passing out? I mean it's not like I died or anything… right?" Hinata looked to each of her comrades faces for a reassuring answer. Of course the final face her eyes fell upon was that of Naruto's, whose face was now downtrodden and gloomy.

"Actually Hina-chan, you did die. You were impaled by a tree branch after being blasted backwards. Your heart stopped, your chakra signature faded and your lungs didn't draw any more breath." Naruto was explaining but held his hand up when Hinata looked like she was about to ask another question.

"Before you ask, 'How am I alive?' well Chiyo baa-sama used a specialized medical kinjustu to trade her life to resuscitate you from the dead." Hinata bowed her head and said a silent prayer of thanks to the woman who saved her life.

The indigo heiress looked up with determination in her eyes, "Chiyo-sama's sacrifice will not be in vain. I will become a better medic than she ever was, so Sakura watch your ass." The room was lifted as everyone beamed with a new sense of happiness that Hinata's spirit was not broken, yet quite the opposite.

"Well Hinata-nii san," started Neji, "As soon as you're cleared we'll leave for Konoha." She nodded her head and all guests left the room. Naruto told Hinata he needed to see Gaara before he left and would meet her at the gates.

Kazekage's office

As Naruto walked towards Gaara's office he was accompanied by Temari and Kankuro. Naruto, being the brash knucklehead he was barged into Gaara's office unannounced.

"Hey Gaara pal, how… are… you… uhh…" Naruto was stunned by the sight in front of him.

There Gaara was sitting in his Kazekage chair but it was not only him in that chair. Sitting on his lap, with her back away from Gaara, was Matsuri. Matsuri was a fair looking gal who had short brown hair that went to her neck; she was geared with the common Suna chunin gear and her hitai-ate was tied as a necklace.

To say Gaara was embarrassed was an understatement. Not only did his best friend slash demon brother catch him in a heated moment with his girlfriend, so did his actual brother and sister. Temari's expression was one of shock and then anger when she saw the look on Kankuro's face, which was one of a goof with a noticeable nosebleed.

"Ahem, Naruto-san, so glad you came to see me. I don't believe you've met my girlfriend, Matsuri. Matsuri, this is Naruto Uzumaki; Konoha's top ninja, best friend someone can have and best ruiner of good moments I've ever met." Gaara dripped that last bit with as much disdain as he could as Matsuri stood, blushing, next to Gaara.

"Hello Naruto-kun, pleasure to meet you. Gaara-ku… I mean Sama has told me many stories of you, almost all are good." She said with a chuckle.

Said shinobi glared at his fellow jinjuriki and coughed, "Well Gaara-kun," this caused the whole room to burst into laughter until Gaara put Naruto in a Sabaku Kyū (sand coffin) "Go ahead Naruto, laugh; just chuckle one more time!" Naruto noticed Gaara's playful bloodlust and gulped.

"Okay, okay, gomenasai." Naruto apologized and then was released from his sandy jacket. "Now Gaara, the main reason I am here is to inform you that my fiancé is now awake and recovered, we will be taking our leave in a few hours."

The red head shifted from his sitting position and stood before his friend. "Naruto, I hope I can see you in the same position I have obtained. It makes me truly happy to see you have found love and clarity in your wife-to-be and the announcement of your clan."

"Wait how do you…" Naruto was then interrupted by the one tailed jinjuriki. "You forget Naruto, I am the Kazekage and news travels fast; the Uzumaki and Namikaze Clans, hmm? Well I can't say I know anything about those two clans but I can do some research, with your permission." Gaara looked to his friend and reached his hand out.

The leaf nin just stared at Gaara's hand and before anyone could blink, Naruto slapped Gaara's hand away. Kankuro and Temari became out raged, but only for a moment when they saw Naruto pull Gaara into a full on bro-hug.

"Of course Gaara, you have the consent of the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans to conduct research on said clans, on the stipulation that report all findings to the clan leaders." Getting a nod from his compatriot, Naruto let go and turned to leave.

"Oh and Naruto, if you or my siblings ever come into my office without knocking; I will kill you." All three shinobi opened their eyes wide and gulped at the threat that seemed all too legit.

"Uh, yeah, of course Gaara-sama." Naruto bolted out the door with Kankuro in tow. Only Temari remained to face her older brother with a simple request.

"Temari, aren't you going to meet the group at the gate?" Gaara asked in sincere curiosity. His sister had a look of worry on her face and his duty as her brother was to make her as happy as possible.

"Well otouto, I have one request that I need to make of you." Without hesitation she closed her eyes, "I wish travel to Konoha but not for a simple liaison job."

Gaara, who now sat at his desk folded his hands in front of his mouth and raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? What will you do as a visitor of Konoha? Are you asking for vacation time?"

Temari waved her hands in defense, "Oh no, no it's nothing like that. The matter is there's a person I… I…"

"Love?" Gaara asked smirking as his, now flustered, sister who was blushing furiously.

"Worry not nee-san, I grant you permission to be with Nara-san. He has proven himself many times to be a worthy shinobi, though his mannerisms when it comes to taking action are something you can compromise quite easily, wouldn't you say?"

"H-how did you know?" Temari asked, knowing that over the past few years has made sure to not to show any shred of her crush on Shikamaru.

"Ugh, why is everyone underestimating my intelligence today. Temari, not only am I the Kazekage, I am your brother as well. It's my job to make sure you are as happy as possible. And I have never seen you as happy as when you are with that Nara boy."

Temari sprung forward and crushed her baby brother in a bone crushing hug that even Shukaku couldn't undo. After drawing oxygen into his lungs again they stepped apart. Temari stepped back and brushed the tears of joy away.

"Thank you Gaara-otouto, I hope you and Matsuri-chan have the same kind of love that Shika-kun and I have." Spinning on her heels Temari gently closed the door as she left. Gaara then scooped up his girlfriend in a swirl of sand.

"So where were we my suna-hime?" Gaara said pulling Matsuri into anther chaste kiss, with locked doors this time.

Suna Gates

Team Gai, Team Kakashi, and Temari all stood at the Suna gates facing away from the good-bye party. And there to say good-bye to their friends was Kankuro, Gaara, Matsuri, Baki, and many civilians and councilmen.

"Naruto and company, congrats on taking down two of the Akatsuki, you have Suna's eternal gratitude and respect. When you come back; feel free to ask for anything your heart's desire. Best of luck in your journeys; and take care of my sister." Gaara extended his hand to Naruto who this time extended his hand and pulled Gaara in close to whisper.

"Gaara, you're extremely welcome. If you ever need help with Shukaku and his stick up his ass, let me know, Kurama and I can fix that real quick!" Naruto turned and chuckled as he waved his hand in a farewell. The red headed Kazekage though was left with his demon raging.

"Kurama! You stuck up son of a bitch. When we meet again, I'll fucking kill you! Ugh let's go Gaara, we need a plan to put Kurama in his place."

Gaara just chuckled at the tanooki's actions, 'Sure Shukaku, of course.'

Outside Konoha Gates

Naruto and his comrades were within a mile of the gates of their home happy to be home to rest. Kakashi, thanks to the two medics on his squad, was able to make it to Konoha on his own power, though would need a look over from Tsunade.

Team Gai was beat up from their fights but overall were fine. Gai and Lee saw that their target was in sight and made a competition out of it as usual. The two bolted off in a flash of dust, making all present sigh at the relative silence.

Sakura was just fine from her fight with Sasori and was able to cure the puppet master's poison, so all she walked away with was a small scar on her right hip. Unfortunately she had news to spill that she obtained from Sasori before he died, but she would save that for the report.

Naruto and Hinata walked hand-in-hand down the dirt path. Hinata was still weak and in no condition to fight. Her scar was above her left breast but covered nicely by her gray jacket. She winced whenever something brushed against it, so like Kakashi, she would be checked on by Tsunade.

Naruto was just happy to be home and to have the ability to see his pals again. Though there was one person Naruto did not wanna see, Hiashi. When Hinata was injured and resurrected, Naruto sent a letter directly to Hiashi and the Hyuuga clan via messenger toad. Luckily the letter held the key phrase 'she is alive and is planned to have a recovery' or else the Hyuuga would pick him apart tenketsu point from bloody tenketsu point.

Izumo and Kotetsu did their usual spiel and let the two teams and ambassador pass with ease. Temari broke off immediately to find her beloved leaving the one and half teams to face Tsunade.

The six walked through the streets smiling and waving at those who passed. Faces look upon a certain blonde with a foreign feeling. Naruto now felt widely accepted by the people he protected. Just a few weeks ago these same people looked upon him with disdain and hatred. Just a simple announcement of his lineage changed their opinions of him.

It made him sick seeing the hypocrisy of the Konoha civilians. It would take a long time before he trusted them even partially. This did not change his nindo, however. He still would keep his word of protecting and help the Konoha people as much as he could.

As the sextet of shinobi walked into the Hokage building, they were greeted with the familiar sight of a very exhausted Shizune.

"Oh thank god you guys are here! For the past weeks Tsunade's been going on major drinking ventures out of pure nervousness. Now that you're back she'll hopefully cut back, hopefully." Shizune lead the six into the office only to have a heavy green bottle hurled at them.

"Get out of here Shizne, can't you see I'm griefing?" Tsunade said sloppily. "Come back when you bring back the Namikami brat and his team of hooligans." Shizune only shook her head as she opened the door fully revealing said brat and his hooligan friends.

Tsunade snapped up immediately and used her chakra to burn off the alcohol in her system. And with a face that was still rosy from her drunkenness, she put her hands in the usual spot in front of her face.

"Ahh, Naruto… heh heh, about the whole brat thing…" Naruto waved his hand knowing it was the alcohol and a little bit of Tsunade's crudeness that was talking earlier, not her.

"It's okay baa-chan. Well I have some pressing matters to attend to so I will give the mission debriefing here and get the report to you in a few days." Getting a nod from the buxom Hokage, he continued.

"To start with, Deidara and Sasori of the Akatsuki are now deceased. Sakura and Chiyo-sama defeated Sasori in a puppeteer battle, though it was Sakura-san who delivered the final blow." Tsunade flashed a smile at one her top apprentices, knowing she would ask for details of Sake tonight. Coughing Naruto continued.

"After Gai-sensei and his team broke the seals to the cave containing the Bijuu extraction chamber, we split into teams. As mentioned before, Sakura and Chiyo fought Sasori while Kakashi-sensei, Hinata-chan and I perused Deidara, who escaped with Gaara-sama on his clay summon."

Kakashi, to give Naruto a break joined in, "In order to ground the explosives expert, I used a new technique of mine, the Kamui. This jutsu though devastating to its target, is equally devastating on its caster, which by the way I will need medical attention after this meeting. Anyways, my jutsu missed Deidara by mere centimeters and it hit his bird instead."

Hinata joined the choir of reports and put her two cents in, "After snatching Gaara-sama and crash landing in an open field, we caught up to him. After a few explosions here and there, Naruto-kun and I distracted Deidara enough long enough for Kakashi-sensei to escape with Gaara-sama. Once he lost one jinjuriki, Deidara thought he could get another."

Naruto, being tired of being silent decided to finish the report, "Well he succeeded in incapacitating me for a few minutes after one of his jutsu's hit me in the back of the head. That's when Hinata-chan went toe to toe with him, to protect me. Luckily our hypothesis of her Jyuuken strikes disabling his explosives was spot on."

"After a few minutes, Hinata was rearing up her final strike, a new jutsu Neji-san and I helped her develop, that pierced though any flesh, light armor or light chakra barrier it touched. Unfortunately that teme switched his body out for a nendo bunshin. The following explosion broke Hinata-chan's wrist in multiple places and sent her flying in the direction of the forest."

"This is when I came back into consciousness, but I was… too late." Choking back some tears, Naruto recounted the ordeal he went through, "I got to my knees to see Hinata-chan pierced through her upper left chest by a stray branch. She lurched forward, vomited blood and fell onto the earth. I in a state of shock, I unconsciously sent a clone to check on her only to find her… dead."

This is when Tsunade got a confused look on her face, "But how is she standing in my office, I'm sure I burned off all the alcohol in my system."

"Don't worry baa-chan, you'll find out why in a moment. But to continue, when I received the news from my clone, Kurama and I went into a rage. Deidara, who thought he could get a cheap shot on me while I was down, was caught in my chakra tails, one for each limbs, give or take a few, my memory gets hazy after I pass three."

"I'll spare you the gory details of his death, and believe that I clearly remember that bit, but I can assure you he's having a blast with the Shinigami. After sealing him and closing Hinata-chan's wound, I set out for the rendezvous point. I was met with a crowd of Suna civilians and shinobi alike. On the ground laid Gaara, who seemed dead but was actually barely grasping onto life, due to his bijuu not fully being extracted."

"Finally to answer the mystery of Hinata's appearance in the world of the living, Chiyo-sama used a kinjustu, one that you probably heard of, that put her remaining life force into Hinata, resurrecting her from the dead. After sending those two the hospital, Kurama told me of Gaara's condition and we pumped a whole tail's worth of chakra into him, saving them both."

Tsunade took the cup of sake in her hand she was casually sipping throughout the report and chucked it out the window, thinking that the liquid was making her hear the story wrong.

"So you're telling me that both of my apprentices went toe to toe with Akatsuki, kicked their respective asses and now both are dead? Not only that Kakashi has advanced his Sharingan further, my rival in the medical field is dead and that my respective Kage is back to full health?"

Neji stepped in and decided to add to the load, "Not only that, Hokage-sama, when my team was undoing the seals, we were heading back to regroup when Gai and Lee were ambushed by what we thought was Kisame Hoshigaki. Respectively Tenten and I ran into what we believed to be Itachi Uchiha."

"You have to be fucking kidding me, right?" Tsunade was about to slam her head on the table at the sheer overload of information.

Tenten merely shook her head, "Sorry but we're not kidding Lady Tsunade, Neji-kun and fought Itachi vigorously. I used my weapons to lure the Akatsuki into Neji's field of divination. After that Itachi went down easily, too easily. Turns out we were fighting a powered down henge of Itachi. It was unidentifiable shinobi who had similar abilities of the original."

"With Gai-sensei's and Lee's speed, they easily overwhelmed the powered down henge of Kisame and discovered the same exact results. Gai-sensei rested up for a few days after opening a few gates during the fight but was fit for travel when we departed a few days ago."

Tsunade slumped back in her chair and called five words that made the room cringe, "SHIZUNE! SAKE! LOTS OF IT!" Shizune showed up a minute later with three bottles of fine Sake and seven cups then bolted for the exit.

The Hokage then poured a shot for all her shinobi and each took their glasses, with some coaxing and threats from their commander. Tsunade then raised her shot and toasted, "To team seven and nine for a job well done, take the next week off and your pay will come in tomorrow."

All the glasses clinked in the middle of the circle and everyone took their shot. "Now Kakashi, Hinata let's get to the hospital to check over your wounds. Sakura come by my mansion tonight for training and stories, no buts! Naruto, Neji, Tenten you three are dismissed. And Naruto I will send Anbu to the Namikaze estate when I fully check over Hinata to update you, okay?"

Naruto nodded and then shunshined away to the one place he didn't want to but he knew he had to. When touching down he noticed he wasn't alone.

"Neji? Tenten? Why are you at the Hyuuga compound too? Well Neji I can see, but Tenten?" Naruto was thoroughly confused at the presence of the weapon mistress. Neji was caught off guard not thinking that Naruto would forgo the hospital for his meeting with his uncle.

"Um, you see… Tenten and I were planning on some training, Tenten's accuracy is suffering at night, you see." Naruto just pinched the bridge of his nose while the weapon mistress was a few seconds from smacking the prodigy upside the head.

"Neji, if you're going to lie to me, be good about it. I'm not one to judge, it's not my place to." Naruto started off for the meeting when he turned back to Neji, "And Tenten, good job for finally getting the stick out of Neji's ass." With that the blonde knucklehead disappeared inside, leaving behind a flustered Hyuuga and his secret girlfriend laughing on the ground.

Inside the Hyuuga Compound

Naruto stood inside the main hall of the Hyuuga mansion, when a branch member ran up to him, "Namikaze-sama, what bring you to the Hyuuga manor?"

"Well Hyuuga-san, I have a meeting with Hiashi-dono, do you know where he is?" After the branch servant nodded his head and told Naruto he'd go get him, another female branch member came up to him guiding him to the meeting room.

After a minute or two, Naruto heard the door slide open and closed behind him revealing Hiashi Hyuuga in his official robes.

"Naruto-san, I'm guessing by the message you sent last week, this meeting is about your previous mission, am I wrong?" Hiashi knelt across from his fellow clan head and offered him tea, which he politely refused.

"Yes, Hiashi-dono, this is about the partially successful mission." This statement had Hiashi baffled.

"Partially successful, what do you mean, in your letter you wrote of the death of two Akatsuki members. In my book taking down two S-ranked missing nin is a job well done." Before Hiashi could pat his future son-in-law on the back Naruto snapped back.

"How about the part where Hinata died, huh?! The part where I let her get hurt and broke my nindo, my promise to not only to you and myself but to Hinata-chan too!" When those words blurted from Naruto's mouth a small thud could be heard outside. Hiashi rushed to the door to find Hanabi sobbing on the floor.

"Tou-san, is… is nee-chan… dead?" Hanabi took deep, jagged breaths in between the words. She then stood and buried her face into her father's robes, yelling and crying.

"Hush, shh, it's okay Hinabi, your sister is fine. An elder from Suna used a technique to bring her back to life. She's at the hospital at the moment, getting checked over by Hokage-sama." Hiashi patted the back of Hanabi's head and calmed her down.

With tear streak stains flowing down her cheeks, Hinabi looked to the Namikaze heir, "Naruto-sama, c…can we go see nee-chan when you're done?" Naruto was taken aback by the words of the youngling, even though she heard that her precious sister was hurt because of his negligence, she still was talking to him.

"Y…you're not mad at me, why? Why are neither of you angry with me, Hinata was hurt because of me." Hiashi stepped forward and put his reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Though it's true that Hinata was fatally wounded, it wasn't because of you. You even said you were knocked unconscious; and last time I checked unconscious people cannot move and I do believe Hinata got the Akatsuki member on the defensive. As for why we still talk to you and don't look at you with spite is simple, you're part of this family now, so you can either beat yourself up forever, or we can go see my daughter." Hiashi smirked sincerely as he removed his hand from Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto stood shocked at the simple fact he over looked that simple fact. He was no longer alone in the world, he had a family, though not one of blood; it was one of love. He hung his head low, letting the tears roll of his nose. Taking a sharp breath in, he looked up at the two Hyuugas before him. He smiled his blinding smile and enveloped the two in a hug of warmth and love.

"Yeah let's go see our Hinata."

To be continued…

Yeah I know cheesy ending but I thought it brings a little more development into the roles the Hyuugas bring into Naruto's life.

I'm also glad people like the Gaara-Matsuri pairing, it was either that or Gaara-Sakura but I chose the former.

Sorry for the absence recently, I have school to thank for that.

If you guys have any questions at all, whether personally for me or about what's to happen or you want to make suggestions please leave a review or PM me.

As always, Share and Review my story (I've reached 25k views) =)

-Mike/ Enigma508