A/N: Hey guys so here's the thing. I thought that I had put this up right so I started working on chapter 37. I finish the chapter and was just about to upload it when it found that I only had 35 chapters on ff. I'm like "Wait what?" So I look at my story and realized that I haven't put this up yet so basically I was this close to confusing the hello Kitty out of everyone hahahaha annnyyywayyss so yeah I'm uploading both of them today so I guess that's good haha so here we go!

Chapter 36-The Heroes Set Off Once More

"Aww how cute!" Hachiro and Hinata looked up to see the whole village smiling and cheering as the couple walked towards the crowd. All of them were roaring praises for him saying phrases like 'Takigakure's new hero' and 'Hachiro the great' Hachiro never thought that there would ever be a crowd cheering for him in his life so this was a huge shock for him. Seeing all of them cheering him on, celebrating his victory against the threat…his father and his family showing pride in their eyes and smiles…it was almost like a dream. He looked up and saw Shibuki grinning in his direction. Of course due to Shibuki's massive injuries he now had to walk with a crouch under his arm but that did not stop him from joining the crowd in cheering on the new hero of Takigakure.

"Hachiro…." Shibuki chuckled. "Thank you…" Hachiro smiled at his leader. Hinata jumped out of his arms and gently touched his hand. The both stared at each other before facing the leader of the village and bowed with respect. Shibuki did not see this coming but smiled and bowed to them as well. Now the debt that his village had for Konoha has certainly grown but that was not an issue for neither him nor the villagers of Takigakure, for they were far too overjoyed that their village was now save to care about something as minimal as that.

Hachiro jumped, feeling a hand on his back and looked up to see Akihiko smiling down at him. "Well look who it is, the Hero of Takigakure." He chuckled.

"Like you and Hinata were like sooo awesome." Aimi giggled. Akiko rolled her eyes but smirked.

"Not bad little bro." He punched his arm lightly. Hideo and Tadao smiled at Hachiro, knowing that they did not need to say anything to show their brother that they were proud of him. Fumiko giggled and shook his hair.

"Nice job Chibi." Hachiro smiled at his sister but stopped seeing Toshio with his arms crossed staring at him. The two brothers stared at each other for a moment until Toshio gave him a small smirk and nod, catching the new hero off guard. It is well known that Hachiro and Toshio have a love hate relationship; they loved to hate each other. But Hachiro would have never thought that the brother that had always been better at him in nearly everything that he had tried to do. The brother that got on his nerves the most…would give him a nod of approval. This warmed Hachiro's heart to the point where he almost shed a tear….almost.

"Wait a go Hachiro!" Tamotsu chuckled loudly .Kiyomi jumped over the man in front of her and embraced Hachiro with a huge grin on her face.

"You were awesome!" Hachiro chuckled as everyone continued to congratulate him and praise him for his amazing work in saving the village. Hachiro had finally felt loved, he finally felt accepted…..but…then again he had always been accepted, he had always been loved. Hinata….she had accepted and loved him since the very beginning. She had cheered him on and gave him the courage and strength to move forward. If it wasn't for her….he would not have been strong enough to fight that beast, he would not have been brave enough to defend himself against his family. If it wasn't for her….Hachiro looked around and saw Hinata walking over to her family and quickly ran up to her.

"Hinata…." Hinata turned and gasped as Hachiro gently placed his lips onto her, sending a wave of awes throughout the large crowd of citizens. Hachiro back away slowly with a blush on his face. "Thank you….for believing in me…" Hinata smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'll always believe in you Hachiro…." She whispered into his ear. Hachiro grinned and wrapped his arms around her waist, tightening the embrace. Any with a good head on their shoulders could tell that those two were truly in love, and that Hachiro was loving the view of Hinata's bottom from where he was standing.

Hinata's Respite

"Man let me tell you I have never been so happy!" Fumiko shook her head at her obviously intoxicated brother. "Who wants to sing with me?" She watched him wander off to a crowd of young ladies and sighed. She would never understand how Akihiro could be so powerful yet so…simple minded.

"Like omg Hinata I like love your hair." Aimi said while touching the soft locks of Hinata's head. "Like for real I would like die to have this hair, wouldn't you die to have this hair Akiko?" Akiko glanced at her sister with an annoyed look in her eyes.

"Geez you're annoying…" Aimi gasped with an offended look on her face.

"You just can't appreciate the finer things in life like I can." She stuck her tongue out before facing Hinata. "Soooo you and my brother make like the best couple like omg you guess are sooo cute!" Hinata blushed. 'She's like Ino and Sakura combined.' Hinata thought to herself.

"Aimi, don't you think that you're bothering her a little bit." Fumiko stepped in.

"Oh she's not bothered with us!" Aimi waved her hand. "I mean we're practically like sister now so don't be mad because I'm her new bff!"

"Hey I thought I was Hinata's new bff!" Kiyomi whined. Hinata's blushed deepened as the girls continued to argue on who is Hinata's 'BFF'

"Like we'll just let Hinata decide!" Aimi turned to face Hinata. "So like who's you're BFF?" Hachiro chuckled at the scene before him but looked to see Miki standing off in the distance. Being the social butterfly that he was, Hachiro slowly began to walk up to her with concerned look on his face.

"Hey Miki." Miki turned to see Hachiro walking up to her. "Why don't you join the party?" He grinned. Miki gave him a soft smile before returning to frown at the floor. Hachiro did not like to see his friend's frowning so he quickly took her hand, causing her to blush and pulled her outside of the restaurant. "Okay Miki what's wrong?"

Miki looked away for a moment before facing him. "Remember when we were kids and you found me crying at your secret spot?" Hachiro gave her thoughtful look before nodding with a smile.

"Yeah and I called you the prettiest girl in the village." Miki smiled and nodded. "But what does that have to do with why you're upset?"

The smile quickly disappeared being replaced with a frown. "It has to do with everything you idiot! Can't you see that after that day I…?" She stopped. "After that day I started liking you…." Hachiro stepped back and a large blush grew on his face.

"Y-You like me…?" Miki rolled her eyes.

"Of course I like you why the hell do you think I act the way I do around you?!" Hachiro scratched the back of his head.

"I um…" truthfully Hachiro knew that she had a small crush on him but since he did not feel the same way he thought that maybe if he had pretended that he did not notice…she would move on. "But Hinata…"

"What about Hinata?! I knew you the longest I was there-."

"You may know me the longest but you don't know me the most." Miki stepped back. "Hinata…Hinata understands me more than I understand myself, she gave strength that I never thought I could have. I…I love her Miki and I'm sorry but I…just don't feel the same way." Miki looked down, trying hard to fight the tears. "But you are one of my best friends and I don't want anything to come between us….You know that right?" Miki nodded slowly.

"It's just…you were the first person that was kind to me…you saw me for who I was."

"I may have been the first person but…" He glanced over at his brother who was trying hard to not be noticed. "…I'm not the only person." This confused Miki. "Miki, there are guys out there who would kill to be on your radar, don't waste your time on me." Miki saw the sincere look in his eyes and sighed. "Wanna come back into the party?" Miki shook her head.

"I'm…just gonna stay out here for a bit." Hachiro nodded and slowly walked back into the restaurant where he spotted his brother Akihiko losing a drinking contest to Neji.

Miki stood out there and sighed into the air. Maybe Hachiro was right…Maybe she should stop wasting her time chasing him and look for someone who returned the feelings that she would send out. Maybe….She jumped feeling a presence behind her. She looked to see Toshio walking up to her.

"Guess you heard me getting rejected huh?" Toshio shrugged with his hands in his pockets. "All well, I guess Hachiro and I weren't mean to be…."

"Yeah…" Toshio muttered. "But he is right you know."

"About what?" Miki glanced at Toshio.

"He may have been the first but he's defiantly not the only one." Miki blinked and watched Toshio running inside and if she was not mistaken….he had blush on his face. 'What was that all about?'

"Come on Neji teach this guy a lesson!" Hanabi cheered.

"Don't let this guy beat you Akihiko!" Hachiro cheered on his brother. Both men narrowed their eyes at each other before passing out on the table, causing the crowd to roar with laughter.

"It's a tie!" Hideo shouted, causing Hachiro and Hanabi to groan. Hinata watched with a small smile on her face. It was nice to see Hachiro and Hanabi bond, even if it was at the expense of her cousin and his brother….'They would make great in laws….' Hinata gasped and shook her head. What was she doing thinking of such thoughts, she was way too young to be thinking of something as serious as that. Then again….Hinata stared at Hachiro who was laughing as Hanabi tried to drag Neji back to his seat. Usually she would be full on against Neji engaging in a drinking contest, due to the strict drinking laws in Konoha. But since they were slightly more laid back in the Waterfall village, she figured what harm could it really do? She stared at the smile on his face, the joy in his eyes…..Maybe….

Hachiro chuckled with Hanabi until he felt a presence from behind him. He turned and saw his father standing behind him with a serious look on his face. "Hachiro….may I have a small word with you." Hachiro nodded slowly and followed his father out of the bustling restaurant and out into the quiet streets.

"Yeah Dad…." Hachiro asked his suspiciously behaving father.

"Hachiro I…" His father stopped for a moment. "I'm…sorry about how I've treated you these past years…" Everything stopped…Hachiro could not breathe; he could not move…his brain was frozen in place. Was this a dream…was this an illusion…If this is a dream then what kind of cruel monster would do this to him? Did they not know of how he dreamed of this? Did they not know of how much he longed for this moment…why did they do this to him….why….? "I know that I haven't been the best father…in fact I do not even believe I was ever a father to you." He looked away. "I was just…." Hachiro looked into his father eyes and saw nothing but sadness, regret and pain.

"Dad…."

"When your mother died…I was so hurt I was…" He stopped as more emotions flooded into his eyes. "….I didn't want any of my children to share the same fate so I tried to push you eight so that you would be able to protect yourselves. I only did what I did and said what I said because my father did the same to me…He was hard and critical but…" He stopped as the memories of how he felt when his father had compared him to his siblings; how his father had hurt him so much….He remembered the loneliness, the pain…had he caused his own son to have the same feelings that he had been forced to experience. Has he…repeated his father's legacy? "Hachiro I….I don't deserve you're forgiveness…I don't deserve to have you as a son. You are a brave, strong and kind shinobi that I am proud to say is my son and you shouldn't have gone through the hell that I had subconscious created for you." Akihiro knew that he would not be able to win back his son's affections but…he wanted Hachiro to at least know that he was sorry for the things he has said and done in that past and that he hoped, as small of chance that he had, that his son would find it in his heart to forgive his father for being such a bastard to him.

"Dad I…." Hachiro stopped for a moment. "…I forgive you…" Akihiro stared at his with such bewilderment and surprise. How could this…why would he…?

"Hachiro…."

"I mean...for a while I thought that you hated me." Hachiro looked at his feet. "I thought that I was the problem child, the misfit. I wasn't the smartest and I wasn't the strongest. I didn't excel in much of anything in the Academy and I'm still struggling to understand what the hell goes on now. I thought that because of all that…you hated me. I thought that I would never be able to receive your acceptance because I was just too unacceptable…" Seeing the hurt in Hachiro's posture, hearing the hurt in his voice broke the older male down. He wanted to scream at himself for being such a horrible… "But now…I don't feel like that…" Hachiro looked back up and stared at his father with confidence. "…I no longer feel that loneliness…I can smile a true smile now. I don't have to hide my pain anymore because I have someone that accepts me for who I am. They understand me and love me for being just me and not a Nakamura child. So Dad…there's no need to apologize because I've forgiven you a long time ago." Hachiro grinned and stuck his hand out. "So why don't we just put the past behind us and start over."

Akihiro stared at his son's hand before slowly taking it. The two slowly shook each other's hand before turning to face the entrance of the restaurant. "Hachiro…thank you…"

Hachiro gave his Father another grin before facing the entrance. "No problem…Dad." The two smiled as they walked back inside with a new found bond between them. Sure there will always be that fear in Hachiro, that fear that he would disappoint his father and his father will always have that fear that he would hurt Hachiro…But…to them it only motivated each other more to try harder and to not let the past relationship that he had with his father affect the way he treated his children.

Hinata's respite

"Are you ready Hinata?" Hinata turned to see Neji and Hanabi standing at the doorway with bags in their hands. It was finally time for them to begin their journey back to Konoha and back to their somewhat normal lives. Hinata was actually pretty excited about going back to Konoha and telling her friends of the adventure that she had experienced. And to tell her father of the enemy that she had fought.

"Yes…" Hinata grabbed her bag and walked out of the room and into the long hall. She jumped as someone ran up to her but sighed seeing that it was just Hachiro. He quickly grabbed her hand and gave her his usual grin.

"Hey Cutie." Hinata blushed at the nickname that Hachiro had given to her since the first day that she had met him. Hinata noticed that he did not have his protector on his forehead and giggled.

"Why don't you have your protector?" Hachiro gave her a confused expression before realization came to him.

"Crap! Be right back!" He hurried down the hall to his room, leaving the Hyuga smiling to themselves.

"Man you sure know how to pick them, huh Hinata?" Hinata giggled and nodded.

"I must say your taste in men is very….interesting." Neji chuckled to himself. It is so strange that Hinata would fall in love with someone who was so similar to the boy that she had once cared for long ago.

"Yeah what's with you and hyperactive dumbasses?" Hanabi chuckled at her blushing sister. What surprised her though was how Hinata was reacting. She was…laughing. Hanabi and Neji had just mentioned her past crush on Naruto and she didn't respond with a distant look or saddened expression but she…laughed?

"Yeah…my taste in men is strange isn't it?" Hanabi and Neji glanced at each other before small smiles grew on their faces. "But…I guess you c-can't help who you fall for….right Hanabi?" Hinata smiled down at her sister who had a confused look on her face. "What about you and Konohamaru?" Hanabi immediately blushed and looked away. "I see that I'm not the only one interested in loud boys." Neji smirked and crossed his arms.

"Oh yes I forgot about Konohamaru." Hanabi narrowed her eyes at the two older Hyugas before turning her back to them.

"U-Um aren't we going to go now….?" Hanabi quickly walked away with her face heating in embarrassment. Neji glanced at his cousin with a serious look on his face.

"So….you're telling your father of what has happened correct?" Hinata nodded slowly.

"I had a dream once…." Hinata stopped. "No…it was a vision of the past….that man has threatened my father and mother once before…." Neji was in complete awe at what his cousin has told him. 'Hinata saw a glance into the past.' "I know that it is my ancestors telling something. That something happened that day that not only involved my mother and Father…but now involves me." Hinata knew that they were trying to tell her something from the past and that the only person that could give her the right answers would be none other than her Father.

"Are you sure Lady Hinata?"

Hinata glanced at her cousin and nodded once more. "Yes…I know he is hiding something and I need to know what." Neji had never seen Hinata so determined before, it was so uncharacteristic and….uncomfortable….

"Lady Hi-."

"Hey I'm back!" The two cousins turned and saw Hachiro running back towards them with his head band placed back on his forehead. He bent down in front of Hinata trying hard to retake his breath. "….Man….my room's pretty far…" He looked and grinned. Hinata smiled and gently took his hand.

"Come on Hachiro, your family is waiting for you." Hachiro gave Hinata a soft smile before nodding and walking with her and ninja to the exit of his home.

Hinata's Respite

"Now Hachiro I pack you a lunch just in case you don't stop for food." Hachiro blushed at his older brother gave him the small back.

"Hideo…not in front of everyone…" Hachiro will certainly miss a lot about his family but the one thing that he could live without would have to be his older brother's dotting ways. He knew that he meant well but sometimes he could be a little overbearing.

Hideo smiled at his little brother before sighing. "Fine I'll stop." Hideo stepped back. Akihiko chuckled and patted his brother, rather hard in the back.

"Go on Hachiro and be as brave and heroic as your older brother!" Hachiro rolled his eyes and sighed.

Fumiko walked over and pulled him away. "Will you stop for one second?!" Hachiro chuckled for a moment before facing his father and Lord Shibuki.

"I know that you all will do well on your journey." Shibuki smiled at the young teens before him.

"Don't worry Lord Shibuki we got this in the bag." Tamotsu chuckled with a large grin on his face.

"Yeah don't worry about us!" Kiyomi said then looked over at her brother. "Don't worry Daisuke, I'm gonna be fine."

"I know that…." Daisuke smiled at his sister. "I trust you."

Tamotsu looked over at Kiyomi before jumping at the sound of his mother.

"Don't do anything stupid out there do you hear me?" Tamotsu rolled his eyes and nodded. She gave him a rare smile and nodded. Sure she was hard on him on plenty of things, always telling him to do this and to not do that, but Tamotsu knew that she only did that because she cared about him. In a way every shout was like a loud I love you to him, at least that's what he tells himself. "But I swear if you come back here and someone is pregnant I swear imam kick yo ass so hard-."

"Don't worry Mom geez." Tamotsu sighed and walked over to Hachiro and the others.

Shibuki turned to face Hinata and the other Hyuga with a small smile on his face. "Thank you so much for doing this…I can't tell you how grateful I am of you three." He bowed. Hinata blushed and bowed as well.

"It's no trouble Lord Shibuki, in fact thanks to you I have learned more about my mother's past so I should be thanking you." She smiled at him. It was still weird to see such a Hyuga in his presence, due to the Hyuga being notorious stoic and serious. But he did not want to question it, he was grateful that such a Hyuga existed.

"If the Hyuga or Konoha needs us for anything, do not hesitate to ask for our assistance." Hinata stood back up and nodded. "I guess you should be leaving." He looked behind him and saw Masami finally making her entrance but she was not alone. Walking next to her with a small blush gracing his now brown skin was a very familiar man.

"Isao-sensei?" Hachiro looked completely confused as to way Isao and Masami were walking together. Sure he had seen them together a bunch of times but never like this, as if they were trying to hide something.

Kiyomi on the other hand knew exactly what they were hiding and couldn't help her glee in seeing them together. "Yeah I knew this would happen!" Kiyomi jumped. "But seriously what took you so long?!" Masami frowned at her student before motioning for Isao to say something to the Hyuga teens.

"Hey um sorry about what happened in the forest um…" He said in a deep rich voice that had Hinata and Hanabi blush. "..I just wasn't myself I guess."

Hinata giggled. "Oh it's quite alright." She bowed. "I am happy to see that you are back to normal."

"Yeah Masami knock some sense into me good." He smirked, causing everyone to blush and avoided the two's eyes.

"Okay that's enough sharing!" She pushed him away. "It's time for us to go!" She marched on with a blush on her cheeks. Tamotsu chuckled and followed, waving goodbye to his mother. Kiyomi gave her brother a last hug before running to catch up.

"Hachiro…" Hachiro stopped and turned to see his father. "…Do your best son." He gave him a smile, something that no one thought he was able to do. Hachiro was shocked but quickly recovered and smiled back.

"Thanks Dad." Hachiro gave him a thumbs up before taking Hinata's hand. Hinata smiled at the ninja then faced his family.

"It was a great pleasure meeting you all."

"Well we might as well get to know our future sister in law." Fumiko chuckled, causing Hachiro great embarrassment.

"Hey um…let's get going!" He pulled Hinata away from his family with a smirking Hanabi and frowning Neji following suite. Hachiro took one last look at his home before giving it a sad grin. He always felt strange whenever he left his village to continue his mission. It hurt to know that he won't be seeing his family for a while, that he won't be seeing his friends either. Sometimes he wished that he did not have to continue the mission. That he could return to being a normal shinobi and live his life as he should be. But then he looked at Hinata and forgot those emotions. For if it wasn't for this mission then…he would have never met Hinata, so he guessed that it wasn't as bad as it seemed. He would still miss his old life but he is defiantly happy with his new one. A life where his father was proud of him and his siblings would see him as a shinobi and not just a brother was a life he never thought would be able to come true but now…he could see it, he could see his dream coming true but brighter, better.

Hinata's Respite

"Lady Tsunade, have you found anything yet?" Hiashi asked the busty Kunoichi. Tsunade hated seeing Hiashi like this, so full of worry and pain. She had hoped that this day would not come, that Hinata would have been spared the same fate as her Hikari. Unfortunately those prayers have been unanswered and she was left to work out this situation as best as she could. 'How did you do this Sensei…?' She had never wished that her Sensei was beside her as much as she does now. He was always good in these situations. He always had a well thought out plan. He was calm and collected; complete opposite of her. She wished that he could speak to her and he could tell her what to do next but no….he was gone….and she was left to handle this herself.

"I'm sorry Hiashi but….the blood work came back with no results. The lack of information on the clan has limited our research." She said with a heavy heart. After that whole incident with Orochimaru and the sound and sand village, most of the information that pertained to the Miyamoto clan was destroyed during the invasion, leaving Tsunade literally staring at pieces of paper. "I tried sending Sakura, Ino and Tenten out in search of something that could benefit us but unfortunately they too have found nothing…." She sighed. "…Hiashi…there has to be something that your wife has told you, something that could help us."

Hiashi shook his head. "Everything you know now is everything that she has told me." Hiashi sighed in frustration. He could not lose Hinata to this power, not like he had lost his wife. But there was nothing he could do. He looked through every scroll he could find but nothing told him of how to decrease the power from accelerating. He was lost…confused…scared.

"Hiashi…I don't know what else I can tell you. The seals that we have been placing on her secretly are not helping. This power…it's unstoppable. We can't figure out why it's doing this other than-."

"The curse…." Tsunade stopped and nodded.

"Yes, that demon that cursed her family was not planning games; this power will stop at nothing until…."

"Every last member is…." Hiashi stopped. "….dead…"

Tsunade saw the hollowed look in his eyes before looking away. "Hiashi I can't…I can't imagine how hard this is but…" She never wanted to be in this situation. "We'll run as many test as we can Hiashi." She stood up and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I promise that we will beat this…no one is going to die." She tried to assure him. Hiashi nodded slowly before standing up.

"Thank you Lady Tsunade…now I must be going." He said then bowed and walked away. She knew that he was breaking inside, who wouldn't, knowing that their daughter was cursed to die. Tsunade touched her chest and bit her lip. She knew how he felt; watching helplessly as someone you care for disappears….She couldn't put someone else through that. Tsunade narrowed her eyes before grabbing her robe and walking out of her office. She looked to see Shizune walking up to her.

"Shizune, I need you to get Sakura and Ino here pronto!" Shizune was startled but nodded. "I also need you to retrieve sealing scrolls, highly advance ones, and the blood samples of Hinata Hyuga." Shizune knew what this meant and nodded once more.

"Yes Lady Tsunade!" She bowed before running off. They were going to beat this…no matter what the cost.

A/N: Hope you guys liked! I know that it wasn't the best but hey I tried my best hahaha don't forget to review! Tell next time lol