A/N: This chapter won't be as heavy as the last one, but it'll still be somewhat unsettling at points. Regardless, should be good, I think. Hope you all like it either way.

Time for Chapter 9

Enjoy!

Hiashi straightened his robes and took a deep breath before opening the sliding door before him. With slow, measured steps, he entered the room. As he had been informed of prior, the scene was bleak. Naruto Uzumaki was seated on the floor, his shirt cast aside. At either side of him were two of the main house's most prominent medical specialists, who were both making careful stitches across an inordinate amount of cuts and scratches. Some were deeper than others, but they all bled.

Also present in the room was Hinata, who was sitting in a chair just behind the blonde with her hands rigidly folded in her lap. Her gaze was firmly fixed on her own legs with her eyes hidden behind her bangs. She was visibly struggling. The sight garnered a wave of sympathy to wash over the older man. He quickly regained his composure and silently observed the care being provided to the young boy. They were doing their jobs, and they were doing them well. After several minutes, the medics stepped away from Naruto.

"We've done all that we can. Most of it has been mended by medical jutsu, but we're opting to let gauze and a few stitches do the work for some of it." Hideo Hyuga, the medic to Naruto's left, said with a bow. Hiashi nodded and looked the blonde up and down. Upon finding that he was satisfied with his condition, he gestured toward the door.

"Leave us. I'd like to speak with him." he ordered. The pair of medics did as they were told and briskly exited the room. All that remained was Naruto and Hinata. Sensing the oncoming argument that was bound to occur, Hiashi eyed his daughter intently.

"That means you, Hinata. I'll only be a few minutes." he said. The heiress shook her head and remained in her seat. For the first time since Hiashi's arrival, Naruto spoke.

"It's okay, Hinata. There's nothing to worry about." he urged her as firmly as he could. The girl finally looked up from her lap and met his eyes.

"I already told you. You're not leaving my sight. I meant that." she countered with a surprising degree of abrasiveness. Hiashi observed the interaction for a moment before stepping forward and clearing his throat.

"Let me be your eyes for now, then. There's something I must do before I come to a decision regarding your suggested arrangement." he cut in. When his daughter shot him a look of defiance, the Clan Head narrowed his eyes and stood a bit taller.

"This isn't up for debate. Go to the kitchen, and stay there until I come retrieve you." he said authoritatively. Despite her clear dislike of the notion, the girl knew better than to disrespect her father repeatedly. With great reluctance, Hinata rose from her chair and began to head for the door. Before she exited, however, she knelt down in front of Naruto and placed a kiss on his forehead. She then swiftly left the space.

Hiashi intently assessed Naruto's reaction to the affectionate gesture. The boy's face had reddened a tad, and he clearly wasn't entirely used to being treated in such a way, but he also did not appear offended in any way.

"I hope you understand that she holds you in exceptionally high regard." the older man said as Naruto regained his wits and relaxed a bit. The blonde slowly rose to his feet, flinching a bit as his stitches visibly ached.

"She made that real clear to me. She yelled at me until I understood." he muttered. Hiashi raised an eyebrow and stepped back so as to give the boy space to gain his bearings.

"Did she now? She did seem quite tightly wound just now. I'm assuming you argued before she brought you here?" he asked. Naruto nodded and let out a sigh.

"About the Fox, correct?" the clan head inquired calmly. The academy student instantly tensed and looked on at the older man fearfully. Hiashi put up a hand and shook his head.

"I've been aware of it since long before you were, and I hardly care. Though, your reaction tells me that you aren't especially comfortable with the knowledge yet." Naruto took several deep breaths to calm himself down before collapsing backwards onto the chair Hinata had recently occupied.

"How could I be? It...ruined everything. The way I look at myself, the way I look at other people, everything. I used to think they just didn't like that I was loud, but now I know that they have a good reason." he said glumly. Hiashi remained on his feet and gathered his thoughts.

"You do realize that the vast majority of your classmates aren't actually aware, right? Much like their politics, children your age haven't a clue as to why they feel the way they do about you. They're simply emulating your parents." he said pointedly. Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"It still sucks. You try getting made fun of every day for no reason. It'd get to you too." he replied tiredly. Much to his surprise, Hiashi simply nodded.

"I'm sure it would, and I can't claim to fully understand how you feel, but what I can say is that anybody with a functioning ability to reason would quickly realize that you aren't the thing they should be hating." he said. Naruto pursed his lips and drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair.

"Hinata said something like that. I guess it makes sense, but that doesn't change the way I'm treated." he said sadly. It was a fair point, and one that Hiashi recognized. Opting to change the topic somewhat, the older man shifted focus.

"How exactly did Hinata react to the knowledge of you being the fox's container? Be detailed." he asked curiously. The blonde leaned back in his seat and seemed to lose himself in thought momentarily.

"She went quiet at first, and just kinda muttered to herself. Then I told her that I'd understand if she wanted to stop checking on me. She started yelling after I said that. She screamed about how stupid I was to think I was a monster, and then she…" he began, going quiet before he could finish the last section.

"...then she kissed me. It was sorta sudden, so I just laid there. After that, she made me come here to get patched up." he concluded after a break of silence between thoughts. The Clan Head nodded along throughout.

"Well, that certainly explains some things, but it also sounds about like what I expected. For several years now, she's had eyes for you." he replied. Naruto did a double take at the revelation.

"Wait, what? Are you serious?" he asked skeptically. Hiashi chuckled and shook his head at the boy's sheer density.

"She's hardly subtle, my young friend. She even tried to give you hints. It's only proper for a girl to refer to her male classmates properly in most cases, but for whatever reason, she's always referred to them very, very formally. With you, she's always tacked on that honorific she's so fond of. Beyond that, I'm sure you remember the Valentine's day incident." he said humorously. Naruto stared at him blankly for a number of seconds before hanging his head.

"You make it all sound so obvious. Maybe it was. I'm just not all that great with people." he replied quietly. The older man nodded in agreement.

"Neither is she. The odds were never favorable when it came to the two of you coming together. I suppose you could call it fate that she was called on to be your supervisor. All of that aside, I personally have no problem with you, and neither does the rest of this clan as far as I'm concerned." he said firmly. The pair then lapsed into silence. For a time, nothing was said, but the streak was eventually broken by Naruto.

"What's the real reason you sent her out of the room? Nothing you said here is anything she doesn't already know." he asked pointedly. At this, Hiashi's expression darkened.

"Come out, devil. I can feel you dwelling just beneath his skin." he commanded sharply. Though he initially wore a look of uneasy confusion, Naruto quickly doubled over in pain as his skull erupted with searing anguish.

'Forgive me, Naruto, but I need to confirm something.' the older man thought sympathetically as Naruto convulsed. Mercifully, the process stopped in less than a minute, leaving the blonde sitting up right with his neck limp and head hanging. When he came to a moment later, a clear change had occurred.

"Weak as he is, forcing my way to the surface still took months of work." came the voice of a demon. Hiashi felt his blood run cold. The tones and inflections of the words weren't human. They outwardly sounded like they could be, but their essence screamed of a darkness no mortal man could possess naturally.

"So you finally speak. I must say, your voice doesn't exactly match his frame." he replied as calmly as he could. It was then that Naruto's eyes opened. They were blood red with slitted pupils.

"You have no idea how much it pains me to be looking up at an insect like you rather than the other way around. But that's neither here nor there. Why is it that you called me forth?" the fox asked with a half-lidded smirk. The clan head held eye contact with the ancient atrocity.

"Why are you tormenting him? What do you stand to gain?" he questioned bluntly. The demon folded one of his legs over the other and studied his serrated nails.

"That should be a fairly simple mystery to solve. What would a great, powerful being like myself desire given my situation?" he riddled casually. The clan head folded his arms across his chest and scowled.

"You're more likely to drive him to suicide than convince him to unleash you. I don't know him particularly well, but he doesn't strike me as the type to endanger those around him to quell his own pain." he countered. The fox glanced up from his nails and let his fangs show in the form of a sick grin.

"I know him better than he knows himself. I've been a part of him since his infancy. He despises them for what they've done to him. He suppresses it, but he's never been above wishing an early grave upon his tormentors. With enough prompting, I'm sure he'll oblige." he said confidently. Before Hiashi could retort, something unexpected happened. For the briefest of moments, the demon's red eyes reverted back to their original blue color.

"So you've finally grown a spine. I'm almost proud of you." the fox hissed as he gripped the side of his head. Hiashi looked on with slightly wide eyes as Naruto silently fought back for control of his body. After struggling for a number of moments, the ancient being looked back to the clan head.

"We'll continue this another day. I can't do two things at once." he growled before going limp once more. Like before, the boy awoke quickly, and when he did, a change had occurred. Luckily for the both of them, it was a positive one.

"Why'd you have to do that, huh?" Naruto grumbled in a pained tone. A stream of blood then began to leak from his nose. At the sight, Hiashi's expression softened.

'The amount of effort it must have taken to battle his way back into control is staggering. His body can hardly take it.' he thought, a touch of regret finding its way into his emotional spectrum.

"I needed to confirm his intentions. They were more or less what I figured they would be, but a verbatim account has given more faith in my own ability to plan for the worst." he replied. The blonde wiped the blood from his nose and met the man's eyes.

"So, what's your plan, then? You know what Hinata wants to do, so the ball's in your court." he asked wearily. Hiashi considered the question for a moment.

"I'm willing to go through with what she has in mind, but with a few modifications. I never thought I'd approve of her spending nights with a boy, but if my assessment of you is correct, perversion isn't an issue of yours. The conditions I'll be adding are that you eat your meals in the Hyuga Estate, and that you spend as much time as possible out and about rather than cooped up indoors." he explained. Naruto frowned at one specific detail.

"Why do you want me to eat here? That feels kind of pointless." he asked skeptically. The clan head gestured to the boy's abdomen.

"You're horribly malnourished. Even if you were a proper amount each day, which you aren't, you hardly have the money to afford a balanced diet. That changes starting tomorrow." he said. Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but quickly closed it.

"Why're you trying so hard to help me? What have I ever done for you?" he asked quietly. Hiashi shrugged his shoulders and shifted in place.

"I see no reason not to. How could I ever expect to be respected by my daughters if I turned away a suffering child? Besides, Hinata tends to be a good judge of character. She isn't particularly social, but she has a decent handle on who most of her classmates are as people. Of them all, she considers you to be the finest. I take that very seriously." he said simply. Naruto kept his silence initially, but eventually conceded.

"I'll try not to be too much trouble for you." he muttered. He was then ushered to his feet by Hiashi and led out to the kitchen, where a clearly-stressed Hinata awaited them. Predictably, the first thing the heiress did was tightly embrace her classmate. Whether or not she knew of what had transpired in her absence, Hiashi was unsure.

What he was sure of, above all else, was the rightness of his decision upon seeing his daughter's eyes light up at Naruto's safety.

Naruto lay awake in silence as he stared up at the ceiling of a room that was not his. Though he had originally planned on returning home that night to sleep, Hiashi had put a stop to the idea upon learning just how bloody his mattress was from Hinata. He had been placed in a guest room, much to the heiress' chagrin. As a whole, the day had been utterly exhausting. He hadn't slept in over thirty-six hours, and he was still in quite a bit of pain.

After his conversation with Hiashi had concluded, he had taken perhaps the longest shower of his life, clocking in at nearly a full hour. Once he was serviceably clean, he had been given a long, detailed tour of the many halls and subdivisions of the estate by Hinata as a way to pass time. That part of the day had been fairly pleasant, as the girl's attentiveness and eagerness to make him feel comfortable had been greatly calming.

'This place is insanely huge. All of it is polished, too. Not sure how whoever cleans it all manages to keep up.' he thought to himself. His mind then slowly drifted back to the worst part of his day, which had been the momentary possession by the fox. Though he understood the reasoning behind Hiashi's actions, he still found himself holding a small amount of disdain toward the man for initiating such a sequence of events. To not be in control of his own body was a violating feeling. One that he never wished to revisit.

'At least Hinata didn't see it. For all that she talks about not caring about the fox, I doubt she'd feel that way if she met him.' he thought gratefully. As though in direct response to the thought, the sound of soft footsteps then caught the blonde's ear. Before he could begin to consider theories as to who they may belong to, he was given an answer. Slowly and carefully, the door to his guest room was pushed open and then closed again.

In the darkness, Naruto could only make out the outline of the person who had just entered his room, but logic dictated that there was only a single person who would have any reason for visiting him at nearly midnight.

"That you, Hinata?" he asked the figure. A slight squeaking sound confirmed his suspicions as the girl began to fidget.

"Did I wake you? I'm sorry if I did." Hinata whispered as she approached his bedside. Naruto sat up in bed and shook his head.

"No, I haven't gotten a wink. Kinda hard to sleep right now." he replied. The Hyuga girl, who he could now somewhat see as his eyes adjusted, gave a nod and let her hands relax themselves at her sides.

"As with me. For all that I love about you, the amount that you make me lose sleep isn't exactly pleasant." she said. Naruto then lowered his eyes to the covers again.

"Sorry about that…" he apologized. Hinata, who was now standing over him at the left side of the mattress, sighed heavily.

"I'm not very good at sarcasm, am I?" she asked. Quickly realizing that she had not been complaining seriously, relief washed over Naruto.

"You're not great, but you'll get there. You can be funny sometimes, actually." he said optimistically. The heiress smiled at this and then walked around to the other side of the bed. Skeptical as to what she was doing, Naruto followed her with his eyes. Said eyes promptly widened to saucers when he saw her sliding herself under the covers with him.

"Well, I'm glad I can return some of the humor you give to me." she said softly as she settled a few feet from him on the mattress. Still taken aback by her presence in the bed with him, Naruto took a moment to respond.

"What're you doing?" he asked densely. The heiress' cheeks gained a pink tint at the question, but she did not shy away.

"I'm sharing a bed with you. Father can try as hard as he likes, but I'm not leaving you alone at night anymore. Especially not tonight. Don't worry, I won't...try anything." she said shyly. Naruto tried and failed to reply several times before finally forcing words out of his throat.

"Are you sure you really want to be doing that?" he asked weakly. Immediately and accurately detected the hidden meaning behind his words, Hinata scooted herself just close enough to him to latch onto one of his hands and pull him toward her. Within moments, they were shoulder to shoulder.

"Yes, I'm sure. Completely sure. To be honest, I've dreamt of this." she said in a small voice. The Jinchuuriki meekly averted his eyes from her.

"W-Why's that?" he asked. Hinata then reached out and put a hand on his cheek so as to turn his head to look her way. When he finally complied, she gave him a smile and laid her free hand over her heart.

"Because, It's what a husband and wife do." she admitted warmly. Suddenly confounded by an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach, one that was being greatly amplified by Hinata's gentle gaze, Naruto blinked several times.

"Yeah, I guess it is, isn't it?" he said ponderously. Hinata then let her hand slowly slide off of his cheek and drift back down to her side.

"If I'm making you uncomfortable, I'll stay as far to my side of the bed as possible." she said. Naruto quickly reviewed his feelings, and found that discomfort was not among them in spite of his naivetee.

"No, you're fine. I'm just worried that you'll get in trouble with your dad." he replied. Hinata relaxed a tad and laced her fingers through his under the blankets.

"He can complain all he likes. You're my top priority. I may quite like laying here with you, but I'm still here to make sure you're okay. Call me melodramatic, but I'm protecting you from yourself." she said dismissively. Naruto returned his gaze to the ceiling.

"You get why I don't like myself very much, right?" he asked carefully. Hinata gave his hand a squeeze and fully latched onto his arm.

"You consider yourself to be disgusting for harboring a demon. The more I've thought about it, the more I understand why you have such a hard time appreciating yourself, but I still need you to understand just how wrong you are." she said before turning his head back toward her for a second time.

"I'm not fond of using my status for comparisons, but consider for a moment that you're sharing a bed with the heiress of the largest clan in this entire country, even outside of Konoha. I came to you. If that doesn't say something about how precious you are, then I don't know what else does." she reasoned kindly. The Jinchuuriki's expression remained conflicted.

"You're fixation on me is still kinda confusing. Nobody else has ever looked my way." he said honestly. Hinata traced the whisker markings on his face and sighed.

"You're a hard working, kind-hearted, selfless person. Quite handsome too, I think. Why other girls can't see any of that is beyond me. It makes me sad that you're so underappreciated, but at the same time, it did open up a doorway for me to get to you. I feel very blessed to have been given a chance to be here for you." she said. At this, Naruto surprised them both by reaching out and hugging her into himself.

"Thank you for that. All of it. You being here for me...probably saved my life, even if I haven't exactly made it easy on you. I'm not all that sure of feelings and all that, I'm still really new to that stuff, but you're a really sweet girl. I know that for sure." he said kindly. Hinata gladly and happily returned the embrace.

"You're more than worth the trouble. Getting to be with you so much has been the joy of my life." she replied affectionately. The pair then lapsed into silence for a time, with Naruto eventually releasing her from his grip and returning them to their previous shoulder-to-shoulder position.

"I want to repay you somehow. I know that there really isn't anything I can give you, but still." the Jinchuuriki said quietly. Hinata gave him a shy look.

"I know how you could pay me back. At least for now." she said vaguely. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the reply.

"Let's hear it then." he pressed. The heiress then nestled into him again and latched her arms around his abdomen.

"Hold me again. Let me sleep in your arms. Nothing more, nothing less." she requested. Though he was taken aback by the simplistic innocence of her conditions, Naruto obliged and wrapped her up in another hug.

"Like this?" he asked awkwardly. Hinata smiled contentedly and curled up against him to begin submitting herself to unconsciousness.

"Yes, that's perfect."

A/N: I like how this one turned out. Adore wholesome bed-sharing scenes when I get to write them, so this was nice. They aren't quite a couple yet (more like Hinata just has no reservations about being affectionate at this point), but the remainder of the fic will center around their journey toward it. Lots of lovin' coming up.

Tell me what you thought :)

See you in the next chapter! Read and Review!