These are author's notes.
There are more of them at the bottom. (also sorry for no update in a while, but I don't update on weekends…)
….
Hinata sat at the end of the table. It was one of the smaller meeting rooms within the castle, it felt more cozy than most. Hinata spend most of her time during the day in this room. This is where she went over documents, made plans, took naps when she could, and met with anyone that she had summoned. The room had grown to have its own personal touches of hers. Instead of sending fresh flowers to her room every day, she would have them sent here for her to enjoy. Her meals were sent here, and sometimes Naruto would even join her for lunch if he wasn't busy. The stiff wooden chair that was originally in here she had replaced with something more cushioned, and was much more comfy. One of the drawers in the cabinets along the walls had a stash of blankets for her if she ever wanted them. She kept the windows opened most of the time, to have a breeze flow though, since the castle was hotter during the spring and summer.
There was a knock at the door.
Hinata lifted her head from the pages in front of her, both thankful for the interruption, but loathing what it might be.
"Yes?" Hinata responded after clearing her throat. The door opened rather clumsily as Tsunade and Naruto walked in.
They both had stacks of papers in their hands, which Hinata figured is why they had so much trouble with the door.
"If your hands we're full you could have said something." She commented, watching them sigh in relief once they sat the stacks of paper down. They must have been a foot and a half tall each.
Tsunade put her hand on the top of the stack, catching her breath.
"Why are there so many stairs you have to climb to get up here?" she asked, putting a hand on her back. Naruto, on the other hand, didn't seem to have any issues.
"Maybe it's because you're old…" Naruto said just loud enough for Hinata to hear. She tried to hold in her laugh as Tsunade turned around towards him.
"You say something, brat?!" She yelled at him, holding up a fist.
"No, no I didn't say anything!" He defended, over exaggerating his response. Tsunade glared at him before she huffed.
"Anyway," She put her hand back on the stack of paper. "These are the applications for the next military training class that starts in a few months. You have to review them, and approve or deny them." Tsunade explained.
They both saw Hinata's shoulder's drop at the thought of more work to do.
"I see… when do you need them done?" she asked, a bit optimistic she didn't have to rush them.
"Well, by the end of the week would be preferred, so we can get swords and armor ordered, and train more horses and make sure we have enough training equipment." Tsunade explained.
Hinata lowered her head with a sigh.
"…I'll get them done, I promise." She replied.
Naruto started to walk over to her, wanting to tell her that she'll get it done and to not worry, but Tsunade put a hand on his shoulder.
"Naruto, give the Queen and I a moment alone, will you? Just wait outside." Tsunade asked him.
Naruto hesitated, but eventually agreed to her wish. He left the room, closing the door as quietly as he could. On the other, his ear was pressed firmly against the door, wanting to hear anything he could.
Tsunade, of course, knew he would do this.
She walked over to Hinata, and spoke softly.
"Hinata, why don't you just ask him for help?" She asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I… I can't do that to him. I don't want to burden him more than I already do." She admitted, resting her head in her hands.
Tsunade laughed.
"I don't think I'm the person that needs to remind you of this, but the kid loves you, he'd do anything to spend more time with you. All he talks about all day is how he's so excited to see you at dinner, and how some days I'll catch him staring off at nothing, and I know he's thinking about you." She explained, sitting in a chair diagonal to her.
"I know he loves me, but he wouldn't even know where to start. At least I've had experience with these things all my life where as he... didn't" Hinata felt horribly saying it, but it was true.
Tsunade paused.
"What are you doing to him then?"
Hinata looked up at her, confused.
"I don't know what you mean."
Tsunade stared at her, leaning in closer.
"Do you expect him to always be with you, for the rest of your life? You do know what that means, right? You know what would happen if you married him." Tsunade told her.
Hinata stared at her, comprehending her words. When they finally sank in, she looked off to the side.
"He'd be King…" She paused, closing her eyes. It was a thought that was always in the back of her mind, but she had just been so overwhelmed by everything to give it more thought than that.
"And I don't know if that's your end game here or not with him, but if it's not, then you're just going to end up hurting him if you keep this up." Tsunade explained to her. She didn't know why she was so heated about this, maybe she just wanted what was best for Naruto, and he in complete heartbreak wasn't that.
"…Bring him back in here." She told Tsunade, pulling herself together.
Tsunade gave her a smile before she got up from her chair, headed towards the door. She paused for a moment, looking back at Hinata with a smirk.
She kicked the door.
"Gah!" They both heard from the other side. Tsunade opened the door, laughing, and as much as Hinata didn't want to, she laughed too.
"What was that for?!" Naruto yelled, getting up from the floor, holding the side of his face.
"Eavesdropping!" Tsunade replied, crossing her arms.
Naruto glared at her as he walked back into the room. He was already upset that he couldn't hear what they were talking about, but now he was even more so since he got hit by the door.
"Naruto." Hinata spoke. Naruto looked over at her and noticed how serious she looked in the moment. He straightened up.
"What is it?" He asked, walking over to her. She took a breath.
"I want your help." Hinata told him. Naruto could tell she was embarrassed, but couldn't figure out why.
"Sure, of course I will… what is it?" Naruto asked her, wanting to grab her hand.
Hinata looked at Tsunade, and she got the message to leave. She closed the door in a similar fashion to Naruto, and Hinata let out the breath she had been holding. Her shoulders and back relaxed again, and she slumped back in her chair.
"I need you to go through the applications." She explained, gesturing to the stack of papers they had brought in.
Naruto's heart sunk as he looked at the papers.
"… How do I do that?" he asked her, not taking his eyes off the stacks.
"Easy, you look over it, and get a feel if they would be a good fit for the military. Typically you do it twice, the first time taking out anyone that won't work, the second time to narrow it down to around one hundred and fifty." She explained.
She knew the process well, she had done it before. She even remembered passing Naruto's application.
"I mean…. You think I'm qualified to do this?" he asked, shifting his eyes between her and the papers.
Hinata laughed. "I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think so. Here, grab the first one."
Naruto took the first application down from the top of the stack.
"So, they seem to be in good shape, no existing health problems, no family member that has been to jail or had foreign affiliation, and his test scores are fairly good." Hinata explained, going through all the different fields on the page with him.
"So he's good?" he asked her, still staring at the page.
"Yep! You just put that application in one pile, and the ones that fail in a different pile." She explained.
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "That seems easy enough, yeah, I've got this!" He said with confidence as he grabbed the next applicant.
"Good, good, good… this one scores didn't meet the goal, so they get thrown in the no pile?" He asked.
Hinata nodded.
Naruto grabbed another, yes. Then another, yes. Then another, no. Hinata watched him work, and he wasn't skipping any detail.
Hinata thought for a moment about what Tsunade said. She watched him work, as his eyebrows furrowed while reading, they raised as he put the application into either pile, and how they leveled out when he grabbed a new one, just to start the process over again. She thought for a moment how fit he would be as King, and to be married to him.
She started blushing, turning her head away from him. Naruto noticed.
"… You okay?" he asked her, pausing from the paper in his hand. Hinata waved her own hand at him.
"Yes, I'm fine, I just have my own work to do!" she said, trying to cover up her embarrassment.
Naruto stared at her for a moment before continuing what he was doing.
Hinata stared down at the bill in front of her. It was about raising the tax on alcohol, but she wasn't reading it, her mind still on the subject of him being king.
'Married… to him…' she thought to herself.
She was never allowed relationships beforehand, her father always telling her that she would have marry someone in a high status as well, to keep the royal family 'pure" is what he always said. Getting the opportunity to fall in love with someone, especially someone like him, was incredible. How she dreamed about his touch, wished to wake up to his smile, and just be with him, that's all she wanted. Just his presence made her feel better, made her feel like she could be herself. Once her mother died, her father was devastated. They were fortunate enough to fall in love after they were announced to be married. It wasn't until her death that he started changing towards her. She thought it was because she reminded him of her mother.
She never really thought about being married, but now, when she had someone that loved her for more than just being royalty, maybe it was time that she did.
She shook her head, not wanting to think about it anymore. Besides, they had only known each other for less than a year, and she had her own work to get done.
…...
Tsunade stared at the pile Naruto had delivered to her desk. It had only been two hours since she had dropped them off with Hinata, he couldn't have sorted through every one of them already. He had his hand placed on top of the stack, with a smile on his face.
"There's 157 of 'em." He told her. Tsunade blinked a few times.
"There was 973 applicants, and you narrowed it down already? To 157?!" She replied, still shocked he got them done so fast.
"Yep! They're organized from top applicants, to the weakest at the bottom." He said, felling proud of himself.
"And you checked their medical history?" She asked him.
"Yep."
"Background?"
"Yep"
"Test scores?"
"Of course."
Tsunade picked one randomly out of the stack, double-checking his work. She stared at it, reading over every detail. Nothing was missed.
She sighed, having a smile on her face.
"Well, good job kid, I was expecting to have them by the end of the week, but now it's just more work that I have to do now!" she laughed to herself. Naruto scratched the side of his cheek sheepishly, feeling bad for Tsunade.
"Well, Hinata has a few other things she wants my help with, so I have get going." Naruto told her, turning to head out her office.
"Naruto, wait." Tsunade said. Naruto stopped and turned around.
"Hm? You need something else?" He asked, turning to face her again.
"Just… sit down for a moment, I want to talk to you." She told him, gesturing to the chair in front of her desk. Naruto walked hesitantly over to the chair, everything he's done in the past week rushing through his head. He sat down with his back straight and his hands balled into fists on his knees. Completely tense. Tsunade never asks anyone to sit down if they weren't in trouble.
Tsunade sighed, folding her hands together in front of her face.
"Naruto, have you ever thought about your future?" she asked him.
Naruto jerked his head back at the question, not sure what she meant. This didn't seem to qualify as a 'sit down' kind of topic.
"I mean, I like what I'm doing now, but I don't really understand your question." He stated truthfully. Tsunade closed her eyes and breathed in.
"What I mean is, have you put any thought towards what it would mean for you to stay with Queen Hinata? Any idea what you would have to do?" she replied.
She hated doing this, she didn't want to be the one that was the reason he had to break his ties off with Hinata, but this was a country they were talking about, not something you typically marry into.
Naruto stayed silent, his eyes off to the side. Tsunade gave him a moment to respond, not wanting to rush him.
"You think I haven't?" He murmured.
He slumped back into the chair, running a hand though his short blonde hair. He sighed, a look of worry on his face.
"I think about that constantly." He finally admitted.
"And you think that you'd be able to do that?" she asked him seriously.
"I… absolutely not." He simply put it.
Tsunade kept her eyes on him.
"Then why are you still here? Still with her? It's only going to be harder to break it off." She explained.
Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, like he was thinking.
Of course he knew that. Ever since they were stranded together he knew that. He had no idea what it meant to run a country, and Hinata? She was doing it by herself. It was incredible to watch her, making decisions with such confidence, something he was sure that he could never have. He could remember when he would tell her that she would be great as a queen and she had nothing to worry about and how that he would be there to support her, and to see her now was a day and night difference.
Tsunade was getting impatient with him. She was about to ask him again, but his facial expression changed.
He smiled.
… "I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think so." …
"I'm still here because she believes in me. And if she believes I could do it, then I'm sure I can." He told her firmly.
That's the answer Tsunade was looking for. She relaxed her face, leaning back in her own chair.
"Go ahead, she's waiting for you, isn't she?"
…
Well well! You've reached the end! Like I said this arc is going to be very much centered towards Naruto and Hinata and their growing relationship and all these things mmhm mmhm.
Also I think there were only about 2 people that did not want a smut chapter, so what I'm going to do is publish two that day, the smut and then the follow up, which IMO is going to be one of the best chapters this arc, I'm v excited to do it) so that's the master plan.
And of course, keep reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing!