It's so damn early, Naruto thought grumpily, rubbing his eyes and pulling up his pants. Where the hell did he forget his belt? It didn't matter, he shrugged, plodding up the stairs to Tsunade's office. He gave a few greetings to various chuunin before stepping in unannounced.

The Fifth Hokage glared at him, "It took you long enough," she accused, "Sit down."

He sat down, she must have had a rough night, he thought, if the bags under her eyes were any clue, "What's up?" he asked, wisely ignoring her appearance.

Tsunade sighed, pushing herself up, "Me, all night," she said cryptically, then gave him a closer look over, "Why are you yawning?"

Naruto finished aforementioned yawn, "I dunno," he shrugged, leaning back in the chair. He wasn't about to tell her that he hardly got any sleep last night, spending most of it wandering about the village before heading back to his apartment only a couple hours ago.

Something was bothering him, something in the back of his mind that he couldn't quite grasp. After taking Hinata home he had spent the better part of the night wondering what it was before the sun came up over the treetops, brightening the dusty streets. He had paused, sitting on a park bench not quite believing he had been out all night just thinking.

And he didn't even have an answer. Naruto shrugged again and asked, "What did you want, Tsunade-baa-chan?"

A frown, "Well that's one thing we'll have to work on, your manners," she muttered, before clearing her throat, "First things first, I'm recommending you for jounin. You'll be up before the committee in two weeks," she warned, "So make sure you're ready."

That sparked his attention, "Jounin?" he said, blinking a few times, "Seriously?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Seriously," she deadpanned, "It's past time really, but with you being gone from the village so much it's been hard to convince the committee. They've just recently been accepting new applications, so I recommended you."

"Ha!" he cheered, jumping up his fatigue forgotten, "You're the best, Baa-chan!" Naruto smiled widely. This is great! he thought ecstatic, his excitement running through his veins, and pride surging through him.

Tsunade smiled, "Alright, sit down," she laughed, taking years off her sleep deprived if youthful face, "There's more."

Sitting again, "More?" Naruto asked.

She nodded, "More. I've been in discussions with many of the village elders. Many, many discussions," a sigh, "And while we don't see eye to eye on a great many subjects, we do agree on one thing."

"What's that?"

"That I need to start thinking about looking for a Sixth."

Holy crap, "No way."

"Don't get ahead of yourself," she said sharply at the dazed look on his face, "No one is suggesting you."

"Eh? Why not?" he complained, getting defensive, "I've been working hard! I brought Sasuke back when everyone said forget about it, and Pein isn't a problem anymore! And you're recommending me for jounin!"

"It's not that."

"Then is it because I'm the jinchuuriki?" he asked, gritting his teeth and clenching his fist. It they thought that they could hold that over him...

"No," she shook her head, "You have it wrong. Many of the elders are impressed with your progress and consider you an exemplary shinobi. The few dissenting are definitely in the minority."

The flush of acknowledgment was short lived, "Then what is it?" he asked, grasping.

"You're too young," she explained, "Even the Fourth, the youngest Hokage yet, had years on you when he was first considered."

"But Gaara became Kazekage when he was fifteen!" he pointed out.

"This isn't Suna," she reminded him, "They have had a decreased ninja force for years and then their Kazekage was betrayed and assassinated. It was a very different situation than the one we're in now."

Naruto pressed both hands to the sides of his head, "Then what are you telling me?"

"You need more experience," Tsunade said simply, "Make jounin, go on missions."

"That's it?" incredulously.

"Well, no," she admitted, "That's what I wanted to talk to you about too. I've already told you you'd make an excellent Hokage, " she looked at him, "And I believe that."

"But..."

"However," she continued, "The elders have brought up several legitimate concerns that I think can be easily addressed with a simple solution."

"Huh?"

She smirked, "How would you like to be my assistant?"

He narrowed his eyes, "Assistant?"

"Yes," she nodded, "When you're not on missions I'd put you to work for me."

"Doing what exactly?"

"Officially nothing more than paperwork," at his sound of protest she interrupted him, "Unofficially you'd be observing, taking in whatever you can."

Seeing underneath the underneath, he mentally finished for her, "I see."

"Good," she smiled, "That's the first step. I'll be expecting you to keep your eyes and ears open. I can't hold your hand with this, you have to pick it up on your own. Otherwise the elders, and myself, won't consider you any further."

No pressure or anything, he scowled, "I understand."

"That's a relief," Tsunade sighed, standing up and cracking her back. A series of loud pops made him grimace, "That feels better."

He leaned back, putting his hands behind his head, "Don't worry about it! I've got it covered."

"You seem confident."

"Before I came in this morning kinda sucked," he admitted, then smiled, "But this is great news!"

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "So I guess you heard."

Huh? "What?" he asked, confused.

"Sakura told me today," she was watching him intently, "About the engagement."

"Oh that," he shrugged, he hadn't really given it much thought recently, "I already knew."

"You did?" she seemed surprised, "When?"

"A while ago, I wasn't supposed to tell. Sakura-chan would've beaten me up," he laughed, "I think she wanted to rub it in Ino's nose when she got back from her mission."

Tsunade sat back down, resting her hands on her desk, "You're taking it rather well," she observed.

It took him a moment, "Oh, well, Sasuke can be an ass, but if she's happy then it's okay." He had been surprised at first, but after the initial shock wore off he realized that he really shouldn't have been surprised at all.

It was just that... did they have to get engaged while he was gone?

"I'm glad," she said, "I thought you'd be mad."

Mad? "Nah, I get to give a toast at the party," he grinned evilly, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Payback was sweet.

"You'd better not embarrass my student," she warned, a gleam in her eye, "If you have something planned..." she trailed off then made a slitting motion with her hand.

He understood that well enough, "No-no-no-no! It's nothing like that!" he smiled sweetly.

"You're a terrible liar," she called him on it, but that nagging in the back of his mind clicked suddenly and his eyes widened while she continued, "But I can't punish you for something you haven't done... yet," Tsunade seemed awfully disappointed in that, "So you'd better behave yourself or I might just have to change that."

"Yeah," he answered, distracted. His mind running a million questions at once, "Er, I just remembered something and have to go."

She quirked an eyebrow, "Something suddenly came up?"

"Yeah," he repeated, not noticing the sarcasm in her voice, "I gotta go."

"If you humiliate her, not amount of running will save you," she called after him, but he had already left.

Naruto stopped at the bottom of the stair, frowning. A pair of chuunin greeted him but he brushed past them with a wave and a promise to catch up later. He walked quickly down the street not really paying attention to exactly where he was going.

Hinata-chan had lied to him.

She had smiled sweetly and told him nothing was wrong. Even though he had noticed her acting weird for days. Even though he had tried to figure out what was wrong and even asked her.

But she said it was teaching. That couldn't be right, he thought, she was awesome at it. And she wouldn't act strange because of that, not for so long. She hadn't before. It had to be something else, he decided.

But what? He honestly had no clue.

He ran a hand through his hair and groaned, earning some interested looks from the others on the street. Naruto smiled sheepishly and continued onward before rounding a corner and walking at a more sedate pace.

She didn't have to lie to me, he thought morosely, kicking a rock. He had just wanted to know what was wrong, why she had been so distracted and quiet recently. That wasn't a big deal, right?

She didn't have to lie.

She could have just told him, he just asked a question. He was just worried about her.

He had thought taking her out for ramen might cheer her up, every other time she seemed to enjoy herself. But she was silent and tended to stare at nothing while he prattled on instead of giggling at his stories like usual. It wasn't like he needed the attention, but it was nice, he admitted leaning against a nearby wall.

She was nice and if something was bothering her then he wanted to help! He squeezed his head in frustration, not really knowing how to deal with this. Sakura-chan was usually so loud she told everyone whether they wanted to hear her problems or not , however Hinata-chan was so quiet it was hard to tell, but he was sure something was wrong.

She didn't have to tell me, he stared at the ground, or maybe she didn't want to, he sighed at the thought, wondering why this was bothering him so much anyway. Naruto couldn't think of an answer and finally pushed himself off the wall and walked home.

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.

A/N: So this one is actually on time! Huzzah! A few notes:

So this is the next day after the previous chapter, things are moving much more quickly now.

If Tsunade ever lets Naruto become the next Hokage, I just can't see it happening until he's older.

So they tables are turned a bit. Now that Naruto has time, Hinata is pressured.

Thanks for reading!