: deserve :

: worthy of (something) due to the recognition (someone) has


A young teenage boy in his with spiky black hair and dark colored eyes ecstatically ran across the village with an excited look.

"Inari! Hold up, you brat!"

Ignoring his grandfather as he tried to catch up, waving his cane around to at least try and intimidate him, Inari looked around.

"Hey, mister!" He called out to a shinobi passing by, "Do you happen to know where Uzumaki Naruto is?"

The shinobi tapped his chin twice before snapping his fingers, "It's Sunday, he's probably outside the village right now, he always hangs out there at these times"

"Do you know where exactly?" Inari pressed, making the man nod and say "Just follow the third trail from the main gate, and then at the first dark oak that you see, turn right. Hike up a small hill, it's either he's on the top of the tree or down at the clearing"

"Thanks a lot!" Inari quickly saluted before running off back into the direction he came from, passing Tazuna, "Quit running!"

"Huh... I should've told the kid he's with Hinata-sama" The Hyƫga thought out loud, but then he shrugged and said "Oh well"


It had been a year and a half since he last saw Naruto and Sakura, and they were all busy at the time.

But now that things had been slow for the ninjas, or so Inari's heard, he thought it would be the perfect time to visit Konoha to come see his idol. Besides, he'd been saving up eversince the war, he could afford at least a week here without old man Tazuna's help.

"Oh wow... That was far" Inari said to himself as he found the first dark oak, then his eyes started to sparkle in amazement as he thought out loud "Maybe he's training and he's too strong to be inside the village to do it!"

He jogged straight ahead for a few meters before he found the hill the white-eyed man told him about. Good thing he was good with directions, it's an essential for an aspiring carpenter.

He found an average sized tree on the top of the hill, and it was the only tree that he could around its area, that proves that he was heading the right direction.

Inari remembers hearing that Naruto lost his arm during the war, but now he had this super awesome prosthetic. Maybe it was made out of super advanced technology! With super cool seals around it like tattoos!

And when he reached the top, it wasn't hard to miss the man in black and orange standing in the middle of the field.

"Naruto!!!" Inari excitedly yelled, waving his hand high up, making the man turn his attention to him.

The young teen ran down the hill, holding the towel draped over his shoulder to keep it from falling.

"Hey, it's you, kid!" Naruto laughed as Inari reached him, "Man, you've grown!"

"You too!" The younger one yelled ecstatically, before his face fell into a weirded out look, making the blonde nervously ask "What's with the face, Inari?"

Inari eyed the Uzumaki in front of him. He looked like a man, especially in his current attire that was different from the one he wore before.

The pants were black, unlike his previous orange ones, and the top was still orange, but this one had an opened black collar, showing off his strong looking neck and the collar, and he had his black hitai ate hanging from the side of his pants.

Over all, he looked like a man any girl would swoon over. Manly man. Except-

Naruto was wearing a very colorful flower crown.

"Are you seriously wearing a flower crown?" Inari asked, making Naruto blush and cross his arms "Yeah, I am"

"You look less manly wearing that, take it off" The boy said, making the blonde quickly shake his head and say "No way! No way! She made it for me!"

"Just who is this 'she'?" Inari asked before snapping his fingers "Is it Sakura? Oh wow, I never took her for a 'flower crown' type of girl. Last time I saw her, she was super awesome and looked like a very strong kunoichi!"

"No, it's not Sakura" Naruto said in a tone that sounded too prideful, "Her name's-"

"Neh, Naruto-kun, I found a- Oh..!"

Inari turned and, to his surprise, he saw a woman that resembles a Japanese porcelain doll, from the tone of her skin to her simple yet expensive-looking yukata.

"Hinata! You're back!" Naruto cheered with a wide grin, "Here! I want you to meet Inari! I met him on my first real mission"

"Pleasure to finally meet you, Inari-kun" Hinata said with a serene smile, giving the young boy a respectful bow, "I have heard stories about you"

Inari's eye twitched, "Yeah. Can't say the same about you though"

How come it bothered him more that she looked hurt by that comment? Why wasn't she mad at his rude remark? Shouldn't she be smacking sense into his head right now?

"And I'm sorry to tell you, lady" He continued to babble, "But we're entering a modern world, you're all dressed up for nothing"

"Inari!" Naruto growled, standing in between the young boy and the girl, "What's up with you?!"

"There's something about her that I don't like" Inari stated as he crossed his arms, "Anywho, where's Sakura? Off on a mission? Why're you not with her?"

"Sakura-chan? She's in the hospital" The blonde said, calming down from his little annoyance, "She's working on some super secret hospital-y stuff or something like that, I don't remember"

The young teen smiled brightly and grabbed the man by his forearm, "Come on! Let's go see her!"

"But- Hinata and I were-!" "No no, don't worry, Naruto-kun, you could go" Hinata said with an understanding smile, she blushed and held her cheek as she gestured to her clothes, "A-And Inari-kun is right, I should really change"

"Nahh, you're fine!" Naruto cheered before grabbing her hand and dragging her with him, "Come on, Inari! Let's go!"

Inari's eyes squinted at the humiliating act they were putting on. Why was she so red?! With a huff, he quickly followed and yelled "To Sakura!"

"Yeah! To Sakura-chan!" The blonde laughed, leading the two.


"Come in!" Sakura yelled as she stapled pieces of papers together.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto screamed as he jumped in Tsunade's office, nearly breaking the door, "You'll never guess who dropped by!"

"Shanaro!!! Naruto!" The pinkette yelled "What did Tsunade-sama tell you about your entrances?!"

"Next time, knock" The blonde mockingly said before pulling in Inari, "But, hey! Inari's here!"

"Oh, Inari! What a nice surprise!" Sakura said with a bright smile, then she noticed a bunch of flowers in Naruto's hands, she gave him an annoyed glance before groaning, "Are those for me?"

"These are mine!" Naruto yelled, shoving the flowers behind his back as he hid it from her view, "Get your own flower crown, Sakura-chan!"

"Ohoho, you're giving me attitude!" The Haruno said as she crossed her arms, "I'll tell on you to Tsunade-sama! Don't think I forgot that you kicked open the door when she specifically told you not to!"

The Uzumaki suddenly paled, the he feigned looking outside the door and yelled "What's that?! Sakura-chan! Kakashi-sensei's calling me to help him on paperwork! Gotta go! Bye!!!"

"Oi!!" Sakura screamed as Naruto sprinted out the room in panic, leaving some leaves behind from the crown in his hands, "Geeze, I swear, that guy"

Sakura sighed and shook her head, then she turned towards Inari and found him looking out the window, "Hey, Inari! What's up?"

"I don't get it..." He grumbled, loosening up when he felt her hand rest on his shoulder, "Sakura-nee, you- Naruto, he- Gah!"

The pinkette patted his shoulder to ease him up some more, the young boy sighed and said "Sakura-nee, we heard lots and lots of stories about Naruto and your team back at the Wave, and I heard that he really liked you"

"And?" Sakura asked, raising a brow, making Inari groan and say "He used to be so cool! Going on badass missions here and there! I tried my best to keep up with the news about you three! Just a year ago, he saved this village from Pain! So cool! I even volunteered with construction work in hopes to see him! Naruto was so cool... And then suddenly, now that I met him again, he's..."

The Haruno looked out the window and found out what, or who, Inari was looking at, she recognized Hinata down at the hospital playground, surrounded by little children who were enthusiastically running around her and looked to be telling her wild stories.

"Mmmmm... GAH!!!" Inari screamed as he messed up his own hair, "They're nothing alike! He never even talked about her before! Why's is- What does he- I don't get it!"

"Ahh, I get it" Sakura chuckled as she shook her head, "Inari... Naruto and I? We were never like that. Not one bit"

Inari looked shocked.

"Look at that idiot" Sakura laughed quietly to herself as they finally saw Naruto run out of the building and jumping into the group of kids while frantically waving his arms around, explaining to Hinata what happened.

Hinata slightly nodded her head, trying to understand the situation, making Naruto point up to Tsunade's office window, screaming when he saw Sakura standing there.

"He's more of a brother to me, anyway" The pinkette said before she nudged Inari and winked at him before feigning a glare at Naruto, picking up the telephone and pointing at it threateningly.

The blonde shook his head in fear before grabbing the bluenette by her wrist and running off with her, the kids waving their goodbyes.

Sakura laughed loudly. She then stopped and lookef at the kid beside her softly, resting her hand on his shoulder as she turned her gaze back to where the kids were playing, "Besides... I've never seen Naruto happier"

Inari felt guilty. He was trying to force Naruto to be with Sakura, even though he was already happy with someone else. "Um... Hinata-san, right? Who... Who is she?"

"Well, let's see... Back in the academy, I thought she was freaky, honestly" She said with a sad smile "Especially because she gives Naruto the time of day, and always pays attention to him. Doing those back in the days were looked down upon. People talk, and they say not to even come close to Naruto, because of what's inside him... So when I noticed her praising Naruto to our teacher after he chased away some of her bullies, I thought she was freaky as hell. What did she see in that monster?"

"Naruto was... Treated like that? That bad?" Inari thought sadly.

"But you know what?" Sakura said as she scratched her cheek, "Now that I think of it? Maybe Hinata was the first to ever see Naruto as a person, not a monster like we were told to believe. Maybe even the first to see him as a hero, too"

She faced the boy fully and held both his shoulders, "Inari, she might not look like it, but she also is the one who saved Naruto multiple times. Ask Naruto himself, he won't shut up about her feats. You might know me because I'm his teammate, and I admit, Hinata is fairly new to be known to be involved with Naruto. That's because she was busy building up her own story"

That girl? She saved Naruto?

"I mean, look at her. Dressed in traditional clothing, she must've gone out of a clan meeting and went out immediately to hang out with Naruto! She always does that" Sakura laughed "You see, she's one of the heirs of this village's most prestigious clans. Before... She lost her honor and was disowned, now she's back up there because of her strides. Now that she's successful within her clan, she's now freely forming and strengthening bonds outside"

"Wow..." Inari was shocked, amazed.

"They both suffered greatly, and I'm going to say firmly, for this is my belief" Sakura said as she pumped her fist with a proud smile, "Naruto deserves Hinata, and Hinata deserves Naruto. They're the most happy when they're around each other, and they deserve to be happy! Who are we to rob them of their happiness?"

"She has fire in her eyes!" Inari thought, "She's right! How does she know so much?"

"How about you, Sakura-nee?" Inari asked curiously, "Don't you deserve happiness too?"

"That's why I'm waiting for it" Sakura said with a proud smile, "I'll be as patient as Hinata and Naruto was for theirs"

The young man felt as if he was seeing the world in a whole new perspective. Who knew you could feel so enlightened just by listening and understanding? It was so heavy refusing to see the truth... He was glad he opened his eyes.

"Oh, it's almost lunch! Shanaro!" Sakura cheered, "Hey, Inari! Do you have somewhere else to be? Maybe I could treat you to some food"

"Ah, shit!" Inari gasped in realization "I'm here with gramps! I left him somewhere earlier!"

"Don't worry, come on! Let's go find him and go for lunch" Sakura said as she lead him out the door.

"Oh! Wait! I'm still yet to see Sasuke!"

"H-Hey now! He's not even here at the moment!"

"Ehh?! But why? You and Naruto are here!"

"That's a whole different story, shanaro!"


Addressing the couple few who had been bullying me for this book, this is my take on it.

I don't see the point of having to go out of your way to hate on people just because of something that we had no control over. In the end of the day, NH and SS are together, they're happy, they have a family, and they love their own respectable partner.

I don't think Sakura was ever jealous of Hinata for Naruto, because she never liked him that way. She ain't hating on the girl for being mutually inlove. And you shouldn't either.

I'm sorry if this book ever offended you, but I oughta say, don't read if you don't like. Consider the effects you have on people when you're reaching out to them just to hate.

I get it, Hinata's new, she didn't have as much screen time as Sakura, she wasn't there in most of Naruto's missions. That's why I made this, to show how Naruto and Hinata bonded and built their relationship before even 'The Last: Naruto the Movie'.

Stop calling me stupid, biased, low, or anything else distasteful just because I was being creative and making content not meant for you. Feel free to keep messaging me hate, just know I won't reply anymore.

I did not fight with any of you simply because I chose not to argue with you, not because NH is senseless.

It is what it is. Just accept the truth, you'll make it lighter for yourself and the ones you've been inflicting hate upon.

Sakura accepted it, was not upset about it. Why should you? She was completely content.

To those who were waiting for the updates, I'm sorry. I was stupid enough to get the hate get to my head that I even considered stopping. No one knew of the situation I was in, I told no one. But now that I'm trying to resolve it, I think it's only fair that you guys know why I stopped here for a while.

I did try to reach out to others to talk about it, but went against it since I didn't want them to get involved.

I finally came out with it, boy do I feel lighter. I won't tell any of their names, because I can not risk them getting attacked. No one deserves to be attacked for their opinion.

To those who messaged me to hate on me, thank you for keeping it civil enough not to actually comment here on this book publicly.

I'm trying to end this peacefully, so if you still have beef with my work, just know that I still won't fight back.

Anyway! See'ya guys soon! We're back on track!

-OrenjiRabenda