As the new year unfolded, Naruto and Hinata found themselves as busy as ever. Not that either of them minded much, after all, the faster time passed by, the sooner they'd be wed.
Hinata smiled to herself as she held her necklace between her fingers, remembering her goodbye with Naruto earlier that morning as she headed to the Yamanaka flower shop. They had gotten more practiced at sneaking in time together earlier in the day, or in between training sessions. Still, this particular morning he seemed a touch forlorn, sadly looking at Hinata as she scribbled away in her planner.
"I'm sorry I keep leaving you with all of this wedding stuff," He lamented, bashfully looking away from her, "I just keep getting pulled every which way these days, you know?"
Hinata smiled as she closed what she had been working on and hopped onto Naruto's bed. She gently traced the whisker mark upon his cheek she so adored before placing a kiss upon him.
Naruto's training had gotten more rigorous now that he was being allowed to take on strenuous missions, and his time studying with Kakashi and Shikamaru had also intensified. Not to mention the occasional lecture he taught with Iruka at the academy, or the days Konohamaru needed a little more mentoring than usual.
He couldn't help but pout when Hinata would tell him she was busy as well. Apart from her own missions and training, she had taken on the wedding preparations. She was also assisting Hanabi with her studies, at her father's request. With only weeks to go before the nuptials, she had nearly every moment of her day planned down to the minute, making it more and more difficult for Naruto to steal her away.
"It's okay, Naruto-Kun. If it gets to be too much, I'll let you know."
He looked at her worriedly, "Would you really?"
"Yes, stop being silly."
Naruto sighed, "It just all feels...too perfect. It can't be this good all the time can it?" His fingers wandered to her chest, studying the necklace he gave her.
She wrapped her fingers around his and shook her head, "Why can't it be this good?"
"I don't know...No one can be this happy, can they?" He mumbled, meeting her gaze.
Hinata studied him for a moment before playfully asking, "Are you just upset you're leaving for a whole week?"
He chuckled as he pulled her into his embrace, "You think you know me so well, don't you."
"I'd hope so if we're getting married."
He breathed her in, deliberately kissing the top of her head. She could feel him tense slightly, making her want to take him into her embrace and never let him go.
Naruto whispered, "You were with me when it was the hardest...what if..." He sighed, "What if it all falls apart again?"
Hinata furrowed her brow, her hand instinctively reaching for his and protectively squeezing it, she hadn't heard him speak this way in a long time, "Did you have the nightmare again?"
Naruto shook his head, "No, no...nothing like that."
"Then what is it, Naruto-kun?"
He smiled sheepishly, "You'll think I'm being dumb."
"I'd never think that."
"Really?"
"I promise."
Naruto took a breath as he asked, "Well...it's just that...we still have things to talk about...don't we? What if...I don't know...what if we don't agree on the big things. What if there's something we can't get past?"
"Like what?" Hinata laid back next to him, wrapping an arm tightly around his waist.
"I don't know, Hina."
"You had to be thinking of something."
He turned on his side, pressing his hand to her cheek, "Well, where are we going to live for starters?"
She smiled, "Wouldn't we just live here?"
"You want to live in this dump? After living at the Hyuga compound your entire life?"
"Your home is not a dump, Naruto-Kun."
"So we're just going to move into my apartment after the wedding?" Naruto asked warm hand clasped in hers. He pressed her hand to his lips, making her giggle.
"I think that would be best for now considering we're getting married so soon," She replied, trying to compose herself.
"We'd have time to look around at something else, wouldn't we?"
She looked at him with a furrowed brow, "You want to add apartment hunting onto our already full list?"
He chuckled, "Well, how about after? Maybe we look at houses too?"
"A house?"
"I'm just saying," Naruto muttered, "eventually we'll want to move into a house, won't we?"
"I like your apartment, though, Naruto-Kun. There's no need for us to move just yet. Honestly, we could stay there for a while, couldn't we?"
He shook his head, "There's no space."
"All we need is one room for now."
"But...when we have kids..."
"Kids?" She asked.
Naruto didn't dare look at her head-on, instead, he simply nodded.
She looked at him and remembered that night they were lying side by side, imagining what their family would look like. She had asked him the same thing then that she was about to know, except, this time she already knew the answer, "And how soon do we want to have children?"
His face immediately reddened, "Well, um, I don't want to assume. I know you started taking the um..the..."
"Contraceptive?" She said in a low voice, finishing the thought he was fumbling over.
"Yeah, um, I know we're being careful...and we're not having, um, sex until the wedding. But I'm just saying...do we have to be when we do? If we're getting married I mean, why can't we just...see what happens."
"See what happens?"
"We don't have to try, you know? We're so young, I know. But if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't then later on we really start trying."
"Oh, I see," Her mind was racing, she wasn't sure what to say.
Hinata looked up at her husband-to-be and felt her heart skip a beat. Only in her wildest dreams had she allowed herself to imagine a child that looked like them both, a life that rivaled a fairy tale. They were young, but they were so very in love. She wanted nothing more than to give him the family he deserved.
She knew they were moving quickly, that perhaps people wouldn't understand. But when you've been confronted with your mortality at such a young age, when all you've known is destruction and turmoil, the opportunity of normalcy, of love and family, is one you jump at without a second thought. Still, though, she couldn't quite muster the courage to say yes.
Her biggest dream had always been to have a family of her own. Every lonely day she had spent dreaming of someone to love, of someone to care for, she thought of her future children. Of the meals she'd cook for them, of the lessons she'd teach them. Her heart's desire was to pass on everything she had learned to her children, to raise the next generation of splendid ninja. To allow her children the freedom to be whoever they wanted to be.
She'd fought in a war already, defended her home and family. Hinata was a powerful ninja in her own right, carried out extensive missions, and fought beside Naruto on multiple occasions. So why did she find it so hard to follow her heart and put aside that part of her life? She had been longing to for so very long, and now that she finally had the chance to, she just couldn't bear to say yes.
It was almost as if she was scared.
She then quickly realized she and Naruto were one and the same. Just as he was terrified about their happiness being too much and it having to come to an end, she was panicked at the thought of her outlandish daydreams becoming a reality.
Life surely couldn't be that kind to them, could it? They couldn't be the two luckiest people in the world, could they? Deep down she too knew that it had to end at some point. Their honeymoon phase wouldn't last long, and in the end, Naruto's infatuation would surely fade if hers didn't first.
She was being cynical, she knew it. Listening to gossip and allowing murmurs from people who barely knew them to affect her. She had risen above it for so long, she didn't know why, now that things were coming together, she decided to start listening to such petty banter.
Naruto, sensing her apprehension, quickly backtracked, "I'm sorry, this is way too much to think about right now."
As if snapped out of a trance, Hinata quickly sat up and placed both hands on Naruto's cheeks, her eyes meeting his as she said, "Naruto, I know you. I know you'd be a great father."
"You'd be a great mother," His gaze locked onto hers and never once faltered, it gave her butterflies.
"Maybe we're too young...but I don't know..." She just couldn't bring herself to make a decision. She was terrified, it was a fact. She felt silly for making fun of Naruto earlier, she should have known better.
"We don't have to decide this now, you know? I'm really putting you on the spot."
She shook her head, "It's not like we haven't discussed it before."
"Yeah...but this time it's for real."
Naruto looked up at her as she contemplated what he said, and quickly kissed her furrowed brow, "Just forget I said anything, okay?"
"N-Naruto."
He waved his hand, cheeks red, and clearly flustered, "Seriously. I never brought it up. We'll figure out the apartment situation after we get back from our honeymoon."
For the moment she'd let it go, Naruto had enough on his mind, and now she did too. She also didn't want to have him go on such an awkward note. So she kissed away his embarrassment and allowed him to return the favor. Eventually, they were half undressed and so unaware of the time that they both had to hop out of bed and quickly ensure everything of Naruto's was packed and ready before he ran off to meet Shikamaru and Kiba, who, without a doubt, teased him relentlessly for being late—once again.
She had tidied his apartment before heading off that morning. All the while thinking about the conversation they had earlier. It wouldn't stop running through her mind.
Even now, hours later, as she approached the door to the flower shop, she had to take a breath and try to compose herself. All this planning for their futures was getting to her, and the last thing she needed was for Ino or Hanabi to notice.
Hinata sat perfectly still as Ino ran her fingers through her hair. She had learned long ago to let the beautiful Yamanaka girl do whatever her heart desired, there wouldn't be much she could say to stop her anyways.
"Are you going to wear it up on the big day?" Ino asked, brushing Hinata's long tresses back and up into a ponytail, "Oh!" She exclaimed looking at the bruises upon Hinata's neck, "Maybe not?"
Hinata quickly swatted Ino away and pulled her hair back over her shoulder, covering her neck, "Ino, please!"
"Onee-San was over at Naruto's again this morning," Hanabi said plainly, flipping through a catalog Ino had picked for the Hyuga sisters to sift through.
"Of course she was," Ino said, wagging her finger playfully at Hinata, "These two just can't keep their hands off of each other."
"Onee-chan?"
Cautiously Hinata looked up and sighed, knowing her sister was going to inevitably say something to make her blush, "Yes, Hanabi?"
"I'd like both a niece and a nephew. Maybe two of each?"
"Hanabi!"
"What? At this rate, you'll be with child in months."
Remembering her conversation with Naruto from earlier, Hanabi's words made her more flustered than they normally would have. She quickly yelled, "Please stop!"
Ino giggled, "Don't be embarrassed."
"How could I not be?" Hinata breathed out, "The entire village is talking about us."
Ino put a hand on Hinata's shoulder and squeezed it.
"Can you blame them?" Ino asked, looking at her head-on, "Naruto has been the most eligible bachelor since the end of the war, and you managed to snag him before anyone could even go on a date with him."
Hinata reddened, making Ino laugh, "Now don't get me wrong, though. He's the lucky one here. Beauty, brains, and a brilliant kunoichi. He's lucky he got you before someone else did."
"She's right," Hanabi said matter-of-factly.
"We're both lucky," Hinata's lips curled into a serene smile, "It's finally our time."
"That's right!" Ino said excitedly, "You two were meant to be. And, you know, maybe a baby is just the next logical step."
"Not you too," Hinata pouted.
"It's a different time, Hinata. We can finally just settle down and live in peace."
"So...you and Sai?"
For the first time ever Hinata saw Ino turn a bright red. Quickly the kunoichi cleared her throat and managed to say, "We've thought about it."
"Oh?"
"At this point who hasn't? Our parents weren't much older than us when we were born."
"Yes. That's right."
"And after everything that's happened...I don't know, bringing some joy around here wouldn't be a bad thing."
"It...it definitely wouldn't," Hinata cautiously managed to choke out. She hadn't expected someone her age admitting to thinking of having children already, "But...what if I'm not ready?"
Ino furrowed her brow, but before she could respond Hanabi quickly cut her off, "Then don't do it. Women aren't just around to have babies."
"You just said you wanted nieces and nephews," Hinata pointedly mumbled.
"Yeah, well, I just like teasing you. If you're not ready to have kids, don't.
"There's more to life than getting married and having babies," Ino chimed in.
"Y-you just...you just said..."
"Well, like Hanabi said, we just like playing around with you because you're so cute when you're embarrassed," She playfully pinched Hinata's cheek for emphasis, "But you know we're going to be the leaders of this village one day, Naruto isn't the only one with big dreams," Ino's bright blue eyes sparkled as she spoke, reassuring Hinata.
Hanabi nodded, "I personally don't want kids."
"Oh? So that's why you want so many nieces and nephews," Hinata muttered, obviously unimpressed.
"You've always wanted them, I haven't."
"You're fourteen."
"You were like what...six when you realized you were in love with Naruto? When you know you know."
Hinata knew her sister was right, and in a way, was envious that both she and Ino had aspirations bigger than hers.
Almost as if reading her mind, Hanabi quickly added, "You've always known what you wanted to do, what you wanted to be. You're going to be an incredible wife and mother, onee-chan...when the time comes of course."
Ino nodded, "And whatever other big dreams you have living in that head of yours? We'll support you with those too."
Hinata's heart swelled, "T-Thank you both."
"Alright, that's enough of that. We have to finish picking these flowers," Hanabi said, clearly trying to get their appointment back on track, "Onee-chan, I think these would go best with your kimono, don't you?" Hanabi asked as she walked towards Hinata and Ino with the catalog in hand. She pointed to a beautiful red bloom that Hinata immediately loved.
"Camellias," Ino said as she looked at the catalog over Hinata's shoulder, "I couldn't think of anything more fitting for you two."
The three girls spent the rest of the afternoon finalizing the order for the big day, Hanabi, of course, leading the charge and ensuring everything would be perfect. Hinata was happy to take a backseat, after all, there were many other things she'd have to take care of.
As the sisters headed back home that evening, hearts full and big smiles still upon their lips, Hanabi took Hinata's hand in hers, something she hadn't done since she was little, and refused to let go until they reached the Hyuga compound. Hinata, knowing better by now, said nothing and went along with her little sister's show of affection.
"It won't be long now," Hanabi said, looking at the sun setting before them.
"You know I'm going to be around all the time."
"It won't be the same. And don't get me wrong, it shouldn't be. It'll be different, I know. But you'll be happy, that's all I could ever ask for."
Hanabi didn't wait for Hinata to respond, simply opened the gate and went ahead, leaving her older sister behind.
Hinata huffed as she shook her head. As strong of a front as her sister put on, she could see behind it clearly. Hanabi putting so much into planning and making sure everything went off without a hitch was her way of showing her love for Hinata.
With a plethora of things to think about, Hinata took a step forward and made her way home as well. She wasn't sure what she'd say to Naruto when he returned, but knowing she had so many people standing behind her, no matter what she chose, made her realize how truly lucky she was.
Now it was up to her to decide what came next.
