I'll make this author notes short and sweet. This chapter is going to be a more laidback, which explains why isn't that long. While it might be short it's still worth checking out so enjoy. For the disclaimer, I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 21
Ring

"Are you here Naruto?" Entering the house, Hinata didn't hear or see the person in question. Having just returned from a mission with her team and was hoping to see the blond. At the very least, to see how he was doing while she was gone.

Been a couple of weeks since Jiraiya had passed away and from what Hinata could tell, Naruto was recovering nicely from the loss. Another thing that seemed to help him get back to his old self was the young Hyuga coming to terms with what was inside of him. Took a while but Hinata came to the realization that Naruto was a human with a demon inside him, not the other way around.

Making a quick sweep of the place, the last being his room, the spiky haired blond was nowhere to be found. "He probably had to go out and do something." The Hyuga was about to leave when she happen to notice something on his dresser that was never seen before. It was a small red box that wasn't overall.

She was going to let it go without a second thought but her curiosity got the better of her. Grabbing the box, Hinata opened it and was shocked by the contents. "It can't be. Why does he-"

"Hinata, you're home?" asked Naruto as he entered the house. Quickly the young woman in question closed the box and put it back where it was found. "Oh, there you are." Going over he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's waist Naruto gave her a tender kiss on the lips. "I was told that your team got back earlier today. Glad to see that was true. Had any trouble with the mission?"

In the past, such an act of affection by Naruto would've likely caused Hinata to become completely flustered but now it made her smile. "Not really. Just find and apprehend some bandits. Hardly B-rank but who am I to complain?" Reluctantly she freed herself from her boyfriend's grasp. "What about you? Had any missions of your own?"

"Wish that was the case." grumbled Naruto as he had no problem voicing his annoyance. "I've been stuck in the village to help decode a message that Jiraiya managed to send before…" The rest was left unsaid as the subject of his godfather being gone was hard for him to say. "Hey how about the two of us go out for dinner?"

Liking the idea she agreed to the idea and the two went to get changed. When she was in the privacy of her room, Hinata thought back to what she discovered before her boyfriend showed up. "Why would Naruto have such a thing? What reason would there be for him to have a ring?"

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Next Day…

"A ring you say?" The Hyuga girl just nodded her head. "Got to say that's…interesting." Sakura tried to sound normal but was failing to do so.

"Way to sound positive, forehead girl." muttered Ino. "Remind me to not come to you the next time I need emotional support." Quickly the two of them got into an argument but it would end as soon as it started. "Maybe it's something that he wants to give you as a present."

"Or maybe it's an engagement ring." commented Kin. While not that close with her, she was a teammate of Naruto and Hinata figured that she should get to know her better. "Honestly, doesn't that sound like something he would do?"

"Stop it." Tenten scolded. She was sitting beside her teammate's cousin and could see her discomfort. "Yeah, Hinata and Naruto have gotten close. They're living together after all. But that doesn't mean that they've gotten any closer." Tenten waited for confirmation from Hinata but noticed that she was blushing extremely, avoiding eye contact and regretting coming to this gathering. Reason for it became clear. "That's…surprising." Truly it was as the others were caught off guard by what they learned.

"I guess I wasn't that far off with the whole engagement possibility." reminded Kin but not in a cocky manner. None of them really responded as they were still surprised at what could possibly happen. No one more so than Hinata as she wondered if that possibility could actually be true.

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"Have to say that it's indeed a possibility." confessed Kurenai. That didn't make Hinata feel better. After the group gathering with the girls she decided to go visit her sensei that was still on inactive duty due to her pregnancy. While seeing how she was doing was a reason for coming over, another was to get her opinion about the whole ring situation.

Noticing the expression on her student's face, Kurenai tired to be sympathetic. "It may be that Naruto could propose but everything could just be jumping to conclusions. Even if it isn't would it be so bad? You love him, right?"

"Of course I do." responded Hinata without the slightest bit of hesitation. "I love him more than I thought possible and nothing will change that." Recent events helped proved that. "But I just don't know if I'm ready for that yet."

Again wanting to give support, Kurenai placed a hand on the one that belonged to who she considered as her own daughter. "You should then give it some real thought. Just because you love Naruto, it doesn't mean that you should do something that you feel that you're not ready for." Although Hinata didn't say anything, what was said helped.

00000000

"Thank goodness that's over with." It was night in Konoha and Naruto was just now heading home. "Just wish it helped to clear things up. What could Jiraiya have been trying to say with that message?" He was referring to the code that the sannin managed to send before dieing at the hands of the Akatsuki leader. The code was able to be broken but what it said was confusing. "What could 'the real one is not amongst them' mean?"

"Maybe it has something to do with how Jiraiya was taken out." assumed Kyuubi. Nothing was aid but Naruto wanted him to continue. "We were told that the sannin fought six people who seemingly had the same eye bloodline ability. Strange since there was suppose to be only one living person to have it. Another is that apparently all six of them called themselves Pain."

"So what are you trying to say? That Pain somehow cloned himself?" Just the thought of it sounded too farfetched to be even option.

"Don't be absurd. But do you remember when we went to save the host of the two-tailed biju?" That was stupid question to ask as obviously Naruto remembered. "Then you should recall the five unknown individuals that came after us as we were getting away. They all felt similar to the one identified as the Akatsuki leader but were slightly off. It was almost as though they were all the same but at the same time different."

"Basically what you're trying to say is that this Pain person is off somewhere and is controlling six different bodies at the same time?" After a moment of silence Naruto started to laugh and that annoyed Kyuubi greatly.

The rest of the way home was in silence and when he got inside the young demon host knew that something was up as he saw his girlfriend sitting on the couch with hardly any light in the room. "Uh, is something wrong, Hinata?" Naruto's voice seemed to snap her out of whatever trance she was in as Hinata finally notice that he was there. "What's the matter?"

"Naruto, could you please sit down?" asked the Hyuga in a quiet voice. Recognizing that something was up, her boyfriend sat on the other end of the couch and waited for her to say whatever it was that she needed to get off her chest. "Before we start I'm asking you to just listen to what I have to say before you respond. Is that okay?" All she got was a nod.

"First off, I want you to know how happy you've made me and I wouldn't' trade that for anything." That comment cause Naruto to smile as he felt the same way. "However, I think we shouldn't let things between us go further than they already have." Now the blond looked confused but Hinata continued. "It's not like I wouldn't like us to get married one day but I'm not ready. Our relationship is at a good place right now and I don't want to have things go bad because we rush things."

Getting out everything that she wanted to say, Hinata waited to hear what Naruto's response would be. "What are you talking about?" By his expression he didn't understand. Starting to become confused as well, she gave a very brief telling of what she found yesterday.

Stopping her, Naruto went to his room and came back with the item in question. "Are you talking about this?" Unable to speak at the moment, Hinata simply nodded. Surprisingly it made him laugh. "Oh, there's been a misunderstanding." Naruto stated in-between bouts of laughter. Completely in the dark and in a way being laughed at didn't sit well with Hinata as she gave him a glare of annoyance.

Calming himself, Naruto stopped his bout of laughter. "This ring was my mother's wedding ring." The revelation put a stop to whatever irritation that Hinata may have had as she didn't expect that.

"Their anniversary is coming up and I must've felt it was a good idea to take it out from where it was safely kept and have it with me when I go visit their graves." Putting the items away he looked at the girl beside him. "So, you thought that I was going to propose?"

"No! I-I me-mean that…maybe I did." Hinata stuttered in embarrassment. "I feel like such a fool."

"Don't be." Placing his hand on top of hers, Naruto smile at her fondly while brushing his thumb over the hand he was holding. "To be honest, I never actually considered the thought of us getting married. Although, now that I think about it, I've got to say that I wouldn't mind that happening. But neither of us are ready for that. I promise you though that if were to happen, I would do everything I could to make sure that you'd never regret it."

His words seemed to do the trick as Hinata became more at ease. The concern she had earlier was now forgotten. "However, I believe that you should make it up to me for going into my room and going through my stuff. I've got a good idea what that could be." A mischievous smile appeared on Naruto's face and the Hyuga wasn't sure she was going to like whatever he had planned.

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"Where are those two? We've been waiting for them for the last ten minutes." At one of Konoha's restaurants the teams of Anko, Kurenai, Asuma and Gai were waiting in a reserved room for the ones behind the get together. "This is something that Naruto might do but Hinata usually shows up on time." grumbled Kiba.

"Complaining isn't going to change anything." commented Shino in his usual monotone. What he said irritated his teammate but was ignored. "They did say that they had a surprise that they wanted to tell us."

"You don't think it could be…" Ino left the rest unsaid but the other females there knew what she was alluding to. Honestly, they subconsciously wondered if that was going to be the announcement.

They wouldn't have to wait much longer as Naruto and Hinata arrived. Everyone quickly noticed that the two of them were standing close to one another as Naruto had his arm around Hinata's waist while she had her head resting against his shoulder. Perhaps what most of them really noticed was what on the Hyuga's left ring finger.

"Holy shit, he actually did it." proclaimed Kin in astonishment. She wasn't the only one as when the others took notice of that particular item they were equally shocked as they immediately knew what it meant. "What brought this on?"

Becoming somewhat embarrassed, Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Well, why not? We care for one another deeply. Also, I felt that I should. I mean, with the child and all."

"Child?" Neji almost shouted. He was just getting over the ring and what was heard brought back the puzzlement. "What is he talking about?" His question was directed toward his cousin who become bashful and hid her face in Naruto's shoulder.

The stunned expressions of everyone were too much as Naruto started laughing and though she tried to hide it, Hinata was laughed as well. Their friends didn't understand what was so funny but would soon realize the ruse. Hinata tried denying it but she found the whole joke hilarious.

As I mentioned earlier, this chapter wasn't going to be anything epic. Felt like something like this was needed to help settle things down from the events in the last few chapters. Expect things to pick back up in the next chapter, which I hope to have out later this month.