secret lovers

After the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto was gradually falling in love with Hinata and the whole village of Konoha knows it…Well, aside from him. Chronological One-Shots / Canon-Compliant / Post-War / Pre-Last / Contains references from Hiden novels.

Disclaimer: Characters and several scenarios in this work belong to Masashi Kishimoto et al.

entry twenty six

prompt

She idolizes Naruto-senpai and would scream out his name just to get his attention.
However, while tracking him, she ended up admiring someone else.

He was getting annoyed. He just wanted to be with her.

*POV shifts between Naruto and the girl*

/admire/

to regard someone with high respect

"Kiba! Shino!" Naruto approached as he saw his friends heading out of the Yakiniku shop.

"Naruto!" The Inuzuka called back gleefully.

"Where's Hinata?"

Kiba scoffed and grinned mischievously. "Aren't we supposed to be the ones asking you that, since you two are always together recently?"

"Well, I haven't seen her for a very long time." Naruto even forgot the last time they talked with each other. It only meant that it had really been a while.

"You mean, a week ago?" Shino's question sounded more like a statement.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "Oh, is it just a week ago?"

"Yeah…"

"You make it sound like it has been a year." Kiba quipped. "Get a hold of yourself. She might be busy, but she's here in the village."

With renewed spirit, Naruto thanked his friends and went on his way. Behind him, were the girls who always followed him around. He sighed heavily. Perhaps, this was what Sasuke was feeling all this time. They were squealing and hooting. Sometimes, he was exhausted and worn out that he just let himself be dragged away by them.

He stopped by the Training Ground 3. A smile appeared on his face as soon as he saw Hinata training. However, he heard the girls calling out his name.

Tsk!

It was dusking when a girl and her friends, followed Naruto-senpai as he stopped on his tracks and stared at the training ground where he usually trained.

Perhaps, it's because the training ground was already taken by a girl, who was practicing her Taijutsu. All she knew about her was she's one of the Konoha-nins who fought during the war. She's known in their village as the Princess. Possibly, because she was said to be the heiress of Konoha's strongest clan.

The girl watched as Naruto-senpai sprinted away; some of them called out his name for attention, while he went to Ichiraku's.

The last time Naruto approached Hinata, with the girls following him around, she turned him down and said she was going to attend to something else. But he knew her very well, he knew that she's just being nice, but deep inside she was bothered by the horde of girls that tailed him.

Naruto knew that Hinata was not meant for this kind of crowd. She was always peaceful, shy and quiet, thus he discerned that he'd only make her uncomfortable if he would approach her back at the training ground. He knew that he would only disrupt her training.

With a defeated sigh, he reluctantly accepted his fate and decided to turn around and head off to Ichiraku's. He might not be able to talk to Hinata again today, but at least he could get some ramen.

The girls entertained him over ramen with their questions about the missions he already accomplished. He told them about the ones he thought was interesting, but he remembered that he already told him about those over and over again.

Naruto talked about jutsu and the other awesome things they could do with Chakra control, but they just looked at him with weird eyes. He didn't even know if they got any of the lessons he was imparting unlike Konohamaru who always took the details into heart nor Hinata who could also share her own knowledge.

He didn't mean to be such an ingrate but…

Okay, he should never think this way.

Fine! He couldn't lie to himself, but he's starting to lose…interest.

It's just different.

Whenever, he'd talk to his friends, they'd talk about their recent missions, which made him happy since they were his friends and comrades in battle.

With Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei, he would feel like the original Team 7 was intact and blazing just like before. They'd talk about the past and, of course, Sasuke.

Then, there he had Hinata. He could talk anything with her. Regardless, if it's all about missions, pasts, Sasuke, Neji, his ramen problems, his rants about Konoha life in general and just everything. Even the flying plastic bag that they saw as they walked the street together was exciting to talk about with her.

He just didn't know but there was something fascinating about her reactions that always drew him in–there was something about the way she would secretly pout whenever he would tease her; there's something about her fidgeting, which he accepted as an odd habit of hers. Sometimes, he couldn't understand why she would just suddenly burst into shy giggles, but it always made him incredibly happy.

Naruto exasperatedly dropped his head on the table. He should definitely catch up with her.

With the girls' relentless talking in the background, he let out a deep exhale and closed his eyes.

Ever since the Fourth Shinobi World War had been successfully won, one Konoha-nin acquired massive popularity and fan-following and that's no other than, Uzumaki Naruto.

Presently, he often taught basic Kata movements at the Academy, aiding their Iruka-sensei. Most of the times, he could be seen hanging out at his favorite ramen place, Ichiraku's.

The girl knew this. Why? Because she's a big fan.

Naruto-senpai had been a common topic among her circle of friends. They even had their own collector's items with his own signature! Can you believe that? His own signature!

Now, most of them are saving up in preparation for the Rinne Festival, so they could buy him extravagant presents. She also knew that some of them would be professing their love for him, which made her wonder who the lucky admirer could be at the end of the day. Perhaps, he'd be turning all of them down again just like during the White Day.

As for her, it was her goal to know more about him and to unveil what made Uzumaki Naruto the gentleman that he was.

Somehow, she was feeling like all they had were just shallow information on his devotion to bring their teammate back and his loyalty to his friends and comrades. There were stories about his missions, but at some point it didn't answer several questions.

First was, what was his type of girl? Yes, it's a common question among them. They figured out that their Naruto-senpai was not seriously making a move towards his female teammate, the renowned medic-nin, Sakura-san. They were all hopeful that there could only be something else rather than someone else.

Second, why was he always getting up so early everyday he didn't have any missions? Last, but not the least, why was he always passing down a certain street, when it could only make his travel longer?

She believed that all of this were related to each other. Never did she expect that this night was the night when she could finally unravel the mystery behind them.

All of them suddenly circled around their senpai, each bringing out their own phones. They took pictures as it seemed like Naruto-senpai fell asleep. Maybe, from exhaustion.

It's a good thing that the girl was just seated right beside him, because she's one of those who marveled at his sleeping face. There's no wonder why a lot of girls were following him around. He had very manly features, which made him seem like someone who would fight for you until the end of the world.

His lips started moving, as if he was mumbling something

The girl gulped. Was she just making things up by herself? But it couldn't be wrong. She totally heard Naruto-senpai whispered that name on his sleep just now!

She focused more and keenly observed as Naruto gave a sweet smile.

"Hinata…"

She heard it right straight from Naruto-senpai himself. Yes, she was right. Her head turned around looking for any of her friends who heard the same but they were all too busy gushing about him.

There could only be one Hinata.

Hyuga Hinata.

Could she be…Could she be the answer to all her questions?

The girl woke up early in the morning to find out the correlation of all her concerns to each other, most especially to Hyuga Hinata–the girl in Naruto-senpai's dream.

1. Why is he always getting up so early everyday he didn't have any missions?

2. Why is he often lingering over a certain street?

Walking by a flowershop, she saw Naruto passed by and lifelessly greeted his friends. She was supposed to tail him, but she heard the blonde Yamanaka lady and Sakura-san talking to each other.

"What's up with Naruto? He looks like he's having a period." The Yamanaka asked.

Sakura-san shrugged and sighed. "He's always like that whenever he won't get to see Hinata in a week. I'm guessing he was not able to catch up to her at Neji's grave."

"Yeah, I heard that Hinata was dispatched for a mission with Team Guy last night. She should be back by today, though."

The pink-haired girl guided her friend inside the shop, while shaking her head. "What a situation."

The girl's eyes widened in realization.

So it meant that the reason why Naruto-senpai was up so early in the morning was to visit his late comrade, the known-genius, Hyuga Neji. And she was correct, Hinata-san had a significant connection with this. Based on what she heard, he time with Hinata-san at the memorial park. It just made sense. The late Hyuga Neji was her cousin.

"He's always like that whenever he won't get to see Hinata in a week."

Could Naruto-senpai be…

The girl shrugged the thought away and resumed on her investigation.

If she was right, Naruto-senpai would head to the Academy to aid Iruka-sensei. He was usually doing this whenever he didn't have any missions, and the same could be said for today.

This was also the time he would be taking the usual detour on his way to the Academy. It was very unlikely and that was what made it a mystery for her. She was hoping that this day was her lucky day when she could finally have the answer.

Playing the role of a normal Konoha citizen strolling the street, she carefully followed Naruto. She hid in a corner as soon as he stopped and she watched him lingered for several seconds in front of a huge compound. His face lit up and she immediately averted her direction towards his focus.

Hyuga Hinata

Naruto spent his morning studying scrolls with Shikamaru. His friend released him off the lessons, complaining about his recent cantankerous behavior. Naruto didn't know the cause of this, but Shikamaru was, in every way, right. Naruto, indeed, was easily irritated these past few days. It's like he was running out of patience with everything and with everyone!

He stretched his arms, his stiffened joints crackling as he did so, as he waited for the vending machine to dispense his canned soda.

He started walking and took a sip of his drink. Even this could not satiate the bad blood circulating in his head!

It was a great thing, though, that he was enjoying teaching the basics to the little kids at the Academy. Add to that, he had Iruka-sensei to talk with over ramen.

Yes, those things made him happy.

But still…something's missing. He sighed dejectedly, his shoulders limping.

Heading down his usual route, he felt that warm chakra which ignited his spirits up!

Naruto specifically preferred this street because this was where he would often catch her then he would ask her to train with him or to hang out anywhere. Just the thought of having some quality time with her was getting him excited.

And he was right! She was just around corner. He grinned as he hurried, stopping at where that comfortable feeling was coming from.

At last!

There she is!

"Hina-" Naruto was about to call her when a shinobi approached her. He observed that shift in her expression to worry as she leaped away wearing her kunoichi face.

The can of soda was crushed from his grip. He was irrationally aggravated again with an annoyance weighing probably greater than Chouji's transformations.

He marched the street with a ridiculous snarl on his face.

God, he couldn't help it! Why was he so irritable that he couldn't handle it? It was as if the universe was conspiring for him not to see nor have any interaction with Hinata.

What's wrong –ttebayo!?

After all, she was right that even her second clarification led to Hinata-san. She bumped her fist on her palm.

The huge compound…

It was the Hyuga Main House. How could she miss that!

So it only meant that Naruto-senpai always chose to take that route to the academy in hopes to see the heiress of the clan.

With all the information she gathered, things were becoming clearer. All this time, she was so consumed on acquiring merchandise and following her senpai that she was missing the most important thing that lied beneath the big picture.

Everything was making sense now.

That means Naruto-senpai is…

The girl knew this by the way he smiled. It was a very special smile, which she had never seen him gave to anyone else aside from that moment ago when he saw Hinata-san. They would only see him smiling that way after he came back from an activity, most probably with the Hinata-san.

Looking back, all those times when their hero would slip from their sight, he was spending those with her. It was as if he was intentionally concealing his moments with her away from the crowd. That's how much he was treasuring those times.

Her face fell in sadness. As a fan, of course, she had dreams to be the girl his idol would fall in love with. But how could she be, when he already set his eyes on someone else and that someone else was considered a royalty in the village and she fought with him during the war.

But was that all the reason why Naruto-senpai was drawn to her?

The girl rejoined her friends and it was like she got the right timing as they were talking about what type of girl their senpai likes.

They guessed that she would be someone outspoken and energetic–a girl akin to his outgoing and vibrant personality. She must also be voluptuous and confident to show her assets.

The girl sighed. At face value, everyone would think that their senpai preferred that kind of girl.

If they only knew…

The next day, the girl made sure to track Hinata-san. She watched as the Hyuga heiress walked out of her home, wearing an off-white skirt and pink shirt. She was plain, simple and a tad shy. Her walk was not making any statement, albeit she was low-key.

Hinata-san's fashion was not trying to impress, but even from afar, the peaceful expression on Hinata-san's face was exuding an uncanny warmth. Her smooth hair swayed as the breeze blew softly. Her eyes alone were one of a kind. There's a unique softness on her features, something you can't just find elsewhere. It was without question that her beauty was beyond compare.

Yes, Hinata-san might not be striking, but you'll be mesmerized once you've laid your eyes on her.

She followed her and entered on a dessert shop where Hinata unexpectedly met with a blonde kunoichi from Suna. The girl listened carefully as the two conversed about their respective villages, current missions and some clan-related matters. Then, they shifted to some girl talk.

"I actually admire you, you know. A lot of people are calling me a tomboy because of how I act. But you…sometimes I wish to know how to be you." Temari commented, while toying on her spoon.

"M-Me?!" Hinata blushed in surprise. She never really thought that someone would like be like her.

"Well, yeah…I mean, it looks like you already got the boy you admire." The blonde teased.

"T-The boy I admire?!" Hinata panicked. How did Temari-san know? Oh, wait! What was Temari-san even talking about?

"Yeah…" Temari looked up at her, wearing a playful grin. "Aaah, so he's not making a move yet, huh?" That Naruto is certainly as dense as my brother!

"Well, that's…"

"Never mind." Temari resigned.

Hinata looked up at her and observed the blonde's demotivated expression. Mastering the courage to be upfront, she warily started, "Well, I actually look up to you, because I don't talk too much and-"

"Yeah, I actually think that's our difference. I guess it would be difficult for me to change that. You can't teach old dogs new tricks." Temari sighed and admitted.

"N-No! Tha-That's not what I mean! What I mean is…Temari-san, you don't have to change in that way. I think…I think that both being timid and outspoken have their own positive aspects." Hinata looked at her comrade and beamed amicably. "The important thing is, if you'll change, you'll change to be the best at being who you are."

Temari exhaled with a satisfied smiled. "You're right, you're right. What am I thinking? I guess, I'm thinking such things because Shikamaru is so quiet, which makes me reflect on how talkative I can be."

"Maybe Shikamaru-kun likes listening to you."

"Wh-What?! That's!" The blonde blushed and enthusiastically waved off the topic.

The two kunoichis laughed and talked some more. Soon, they headed out of the shop and parted ways.

The girl remained in her seat, contemplating on what Hinata-san said.

"The important thing is, if you'll change, you'll change to be the best at being who you are."

In their circle, it was a well-known fact that Naruto-senpai had a crush on his teammate, Sakura-san, when they were younger. Although they didn't appear like more than friends, their circle figured that they have to be confident, outspoken and aggressive just like her. Just to fit what they think was the girl their hero would like.

But they all seemed to be losing their own identities.

They all seemed to forget the beauty of being loved for whoever you are.

The girl stood and left the shop, bringing with her a newfound lesson.

She still had high respect and admiration for Naruto-senpai, but she realized that a virtuous man like him would not only fall for looks and personality.

There must be something that's more than what meets the eye.

He must've shared a strong bond with Hinata-san, which drew him to her. Perhaps, she was his inspiration. Maybe it was Hinata-san who always reminded Naruto-senpai the strength of being himself. Just like how Hinata-san's words touched her. It's funny how following the Hyuga Princess for just half a day would inspire her to become the best of herself and not someone else nor someone else's ideal.

The girl was on her way home that late in the afternoon. She dropped by in a novelty shop to get her little sister's birthday, a limited edition porcelain doll.

From somewhere, several villages shouted and panicked. Before she knew it, a bandit snatched her bag from her. She ran after the masked man. The present she saved up for her little sister was inside that bag! The said bandit became aware of her presence and started throwing kunai at her direction. She fell from a tree after being inflicted by of the kunai thrown.

Above the girl, a swift figure appeared. A kunoichi with a sling-bag wearing an off-white skirt and pink shirt.

Hinata-san!

Hinata-san entered the scene with a rigorous flying side kick. The piece of kunai thrown against her were immediately deflected by her gentle fists. She wasn't even using her Byakugan!

"Hinata!"

Beside the girl, appeared a worried Naruto. His eyes were raging in anger and he looked as if he was ready to enter the action, however he was just as stunned as the girl. The way his moth hung open served as a proof.

Hinata was fighting without even breaking a sweat, judging by how calm she still remained. Neither her skirt nor her sling bag were hindrance in the fight. It appeared as though she was just dancing, her movements were nimble and rhythmic; it was simply fantastic.

The bandit fought back with jabs and punches, which Hinata easily dodged. She's fast like a flash that the foe was having a hard time to duck. The tables were turned now, Hinata-san was out of the defensive and in the offensive already.

From the looks of it, the bandit had some skills of his own, effectively evading Hinata's gentle fists. However, Hinata's unexpected and swift Spinning Hook rendered the bandit immobilized despite his own skills. This caused the masked man to fall from a tree branch, dragging along with him the bags he managed to steal.

Naruto immediately approached Hinata as soon as she went down. He gripped both of her shoulders and his eyes perused her condition, searching for any inflictions. "Are you alright, Hinata? No wounds, broken bones, anything?! Are you fine?"

Hinata gave Naruto a smile. "I'm just fine, Naruto-kun."

He never let go of his hands on her―he'd been missing contact with her for a week, and he was feeling as if he just wanted to hold her like this.

"Naruto, since you seem to forget about me and it sure looks you're busy with Hinata-san, I'll be the one to bring this rogue-nin down to the authorities." Sai made his presence known, flustering Hinata and causing her to jump, upon the realization of Naruto-kun's warm hands on her upper-arms.

Oh, kami! She wasn't even wearing her mission clothes.

Naruto reflexively rubbed the back of his head at her reaction, still clueless about his effect on her.

Hinata approached the girl and stooped by her side.

"You're hurt." Hinata commented with an apparent worry in her eyes.

The girl just silently looked at her, still in awe of what she just witnessed.

"Here," Hinata said as she pulled out her first aid kit from her bag and started tending to the girl's wounds. "This would stop the bleeding and pain for a while, but make sure to get proper treatment, okay?"

Naruto squatted beside Hinata, bringing along with him the bags stolen by the bandit. He stared at her and couldn't help but admire that warm smile she had, contrary to the kunoichi face she was wearing while in combat.

Yes, Hinata had that kunoichi face. Naruto observed that everytime they were on missions. When things were needed to be dealt with seriously, sternness and disturbing coldness would surface her features and he must admit that he was slightly scared of that sometimes.

Luckily, he was always exempted from her kunoichi face. Her eyes would always be very welcoming to him even if the going had gotten rough. He was fortunate and thank god, because he never ever would want to see her kunoichi face directed to him.

Naruto quietly studied as Hinata gently applied sufficient amount of special ointment on the girl's wounds. Her movements, though simple, were very graceful and the girl sure saw Naruto-senpai's eyes glistened as he watched Hinata-san.

"You're very amazing up there, Hinata! I'm pretty sure that no one in this village would dare mess with you dattebayo!"

Hinata slightly blushed and elicited a soft giggle. "Thanks, Naruto-kun."

The girl only observed their exchange, until she saw her bag on Naruto's hand.

"That one's mine!" The girl suddenly informed Naruto when he lifted up a green messenger bag from the bunch of stuff the rogue-nin stole. He gave it to the girl and she immediately opened it, checking out on the doll she bought as present.

Hinata noticed the girl's crestfallen expression. Her eyes took in the familiarity of the broken porcelain doll on the girl's hand.

"I saved up for this for my little sister." The girl said as tears started to fall from her eyes. "It's her birthday."

Naruto smiled at the girl. "Perhaps, there's still another one. We can accompany you in buying."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata interjected, sadly. "It's limited edition. The only shop selling that here in Konoha ran out of stock already and…It's…kind of pricey."

The blonde fell in silence as he had no solution for the situation. Maybe, he could suggest that the girl could buy a different present, since what matters was the thought. But he never knew though, he never had a sibling.

"I know that because I found the little doll cute too." Hinata said, as she brought out a piece of the doll from her bag and handed it over to the girl. "I fell in line early this morning to buy one. You can have this. It's for your sister's birthday, isn't it? It's more important."

"Hinata-senpai?" The girl voiced out, not knowing what to say.

Hinata just smiled at her and nodded in affirmation. The girl muttered a small 'Thank you' as she was still at lost for words.

Indeed, there was no doubt on why Naruto-senpai admired Hinata-san. Correction, Hinata-senpai, now. She was simply…such an angel. There's no other way to put how to describe her.

Hinata-senpai's kindness could melt the hearts of the people who would open up to her. Her smile alone was very warm and comforting. What great luck it would be to have her as someone close.

The girl was overwhelmed. No one had ever shown her such kindness, especially from someone who was a renowned kunoichi in their village; more so, from someone considered a royalty, like Hinata-senpai.

Most importantly, despite the outgoing and aggressive personalities of the kunoichis that surrounded her, Hinata-senpai stayed true to herself. Remaining to be gentle, while finding and perfecting her own strength, exactly being the best for who she truly was.

The girl smiled. Maybe, this was what it truly meant to admire someone.

Perhaps, this was what Naruto-senpai was feeling all this time.

Hinata started to wrap a bandage around the girl's ankle and Naruto blurted out, "You're really kind, Hinata. I really like that about you."

Hinata just stayed still, hiding the satisfaction she got from Naruto-kun's compliment.

Flustered by Hinata's non-response, Naruto started slipping out things from his mouth without even thinking. "Well, y'know, that's not the only thing I liked about you. There are other things…Many things, many other things and…"

He shut his mouth as soon as he realized that he was acting so much like his mom, spewing words unintelligibly.

Naruto turned his head away, hiding his embarrassment. He stood up and let out an inward cough, catching Hinata's attention. She, in turn, hummed in a questioning tone.

"Well, I guess, I have to go." Naruto announced, sadness and annoyance evident on his ambience. He gave out a heavy sigh. "Even though, it's been a long while since we've last seen each other."

"You mean…" Hinata looked up at him. "Just about a week ago, Naruto-kun?"

"Hey! That one week feels super long, y'know!" He pouted and complained. Like, why do people kept telling him it was just a week! "Sai's waiting for me, gotta' go!"

"Take care, Naruto-kun." Hinata muttered as Naruto began walking the other direction.

'Take care,' that's it?! However, Naruto couldn't contain it in himself, he turned around and announced, "I'll definitely find time –ttebayo!"

Then he sprinted away, leaving Hinata blushing.

The girl noticed this and giggled internally. She was relieved that the two people, whom she admired the most, felt the same for each other.

The girl finally figured out what she wanted for herself. Having realized her forte in acquiring information, she was planning to be a part of the Intelligence Division. She already left the idea of being a medic-nin as it was not what she really liked doing and her skills inclined more into gathering information and analysis.

Just like what Hinata-senpai said, "The important thing is, if you'll change, you'll change to be the best at being who you are."

She was also no longer following Naruto around. She figured out that he deserved quality time to be alone or to spend it with someone he wanted to hang out with.

Automatically, her mind recalled that this time was the usual time Naruto-senpai would pass by the Hyuga compound and she was correct. He was excitedly jogging down the road. Probably, hoping to invite Hinata-senpai, if she was around.

Well, what can she say? She admired them both.

The smile on her face faded as soon as she heard her other friends' squeals. Normally, she would go down with them and hunt their senpai, but…

Things were different now for her.

She learned that if you sincerely admire someone, you've got to respect them and value the time they should be spending out of their own will. She shouted towards her friends, misleading them to a different direction.

Finally, no longer a fan girl.

The girl smiled to herself when, from afar, she saw Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and he led her to somewhere. Probably, somewhere only the both of them know.

ANNOUNCEMENT (PLEASE READ)

I will be uploading every other week for the month of May, my bad. I will be having a vacation and the preparations for it is cracking up my schedule. That means, next update would be on May 19 and it's going to be a long and fun one!

This Chapter

Naruto's missing Hinata in this chapter, so I have to make you guys feel it by writing less scenes of them together. This chapter as I've mentioned above is composed of, mostly, one of Naruto's fan girls POV. I made it a point in her POV to show scenes of Naruto missing Hinata. Well, we also have Naruto's POV on that, but I'd rather have it that other people are noticing his own affection. Mainly, someone who was not a part of his circle of friends, so we have an unbiased perspective.

Plus, I really really love the idea that Naruto's fan girls would turn to admire Hinata as soon as they familiarize themselves with her, so we started out with one of them, since we know that some of them were pretty persistent during The Last.

My fave scene on this one was when Naruto was calling out Hinata's name on his sleep. 3

Previous Chapter

Nope, I didn't write the divergence one-shot as I've realized that it will affect the reading experience in general. Y'know, let's keep the anticipation boiling.

So you might ask me what happened afterwards. This chapter pretty much summed up what happened during the previous chapter. This is just a chronological one-shots, so I shouldn't be inter-connecting entries with each other, but of course, I have to tie lose ends to make it more organic.

Again, the end is dawning. I'm already plotting out the chapter outline of the possible stand-alone sequel series. You may send me as early as now any prompts when they're already in a relationship, so I could include them!

Thank you very much and see ya' next next week!

Fern~

Elliehandesu: OMG! You know what? It's better late than never! I'm so glad that you liked my story and thank you for voicing it out!

Tormint: Sorry, I have to be a bug ass cliffhanger and get you guys with little development on this chapter but the next one's gonna be BIG so stay tuned!

mj1011: I'm sorry to have put you in such an unsettling position.

XxXangellostXxX, Kayna96, Ahu & Guests: I really apologize! Gomen, gomen! The canon-divergence chapter won't be out until this series finished. HUHUHUHU TT-TT

J. D: TBH, the canon Naruto-verse lacked his POV on his affections. That's why I felt the need to pull his strings mooooore. Thank you very much, for being a loyal reviewer of this story. I'm really touched.

MrAwesome8: Yeah, the movie part is about to happen. SOON.

XianiaHarMione: Peace out! I really need to pull that cliffhanger!

PartyinLA: TBH, I won't ask for a big payment if they decided to canonize this. They just have to give us quality NaruHina time before the Last and I'm more than satisfied.

kawaiihinahime08: AHAHAHA! Sorry, I have to separate them for a while to build up Naruto's uneasiness whenever she's not around ;)

LB Cat: Don't pull it! I don't want you to go bald because of my cliffhanger!

Rosedove: I WAS UNSETTLED WHILE WRITING TOOO! I just want them to kiss right at that freaking moment!

EmalynPeachPixie: Yep, next is The Last so hold on! I immediately added Temari here for a smoother flow of story. I have a headcanon that they got close together due to the fact that both their hubby's work together all the time.

itsxoi: Trueeeeee! I want more of Naruto realizing how neglectful he had been and I want to establish him as someone craving for love before The Last and was finding it difficult to discern it, when he just have to look deeper and deeper beneath his own feelings! No way! No mooooreeee! Waaaah!