I was pulling the frittata out of the oven when I heard a portal open in the room across from us.
As I put the dish on the side table I heard Hinata's distressed cry as she ran into the room.
"HesaidyeswhatdoIdo?" She cried.
Ahri pounced on her, "Calm down, Hinata. Tell us what happened."
"Umm… I was sparring with Naruto and he told me that he was really impressed by how much better I've gotten since the Chunin exams, and then I pinned him and I could feel his…" Hinata tried to get out the next word, but her embarrassed stutters wouldn't let her spit it out.
"His dick, I'm assuming." Ahri noted, "And then what?"
"Well, Naruto tried apologising but I told him that I liked the idea of him being… like that for me. He was very surprised and didn't talk to me for the rest of the day. And then this morning he asked me to get lunch with him. What do I do!" Hinata was almost in tears.
I settled down next to her and popped a few bite-sized pieces of the frittata in front of her, "First take some deep breaths, making a decision when you are panicked is very difficult. Take a few deep breaths and have some food. Take a moment to relax."
She slowly calmed down as she slowly nibbled on one of the pieces of the egg dish.
As her breathing returned to normal, I put my hand on her shoulder again, "Now, I'll assume you said yes?"
She nodded shyly.
I smiled and put my hand on her shoulder to reassure her, "Don't worry, Naruto is probably just as nervous as you are."
I turn to the others, mentally interrogating my model of Hinata for more information about her culture, "I think she needs some new clothes, I don't believe she has anything other than her new combat outfits on her. If I'm not mistaken, fashion should be roughly equivalent to late Edo-period Japan, with modern twists."
Pausing, I turned back to her, "Do you know where you are going to be eating?"
"Umm…. He didn't say, but the town is pretty small so I guess the only thing that we could buy would be the stalls in the market." Hinata offered.
I nodded, "Or maybe a picnic. If he asked Jiraya for advice like I suspect he did, I wouldn't be surprised if he was told to find a private place to spend time together."
Hinata fretted for a moment, "But… what do I do when I'm there? I don't know!"
"Just talk to him. Get to know each other a little better. Is Naruto read in on the Planar Pact?"
Hinata shook her head, "I don't think so."
"Speak to Jiraya and confirm what he's allowed to know." I told her, "You don't need the stress of not knowing what you can and can't tell him when you are on the date. Military secrets and the like can make this pretty messy. It's probably a good idea to let him know that you know about the Kyuubi and that it doesn't bother you."
Hinata looked at me for clarification, and I paused to think, "Secrets… secrets make things hard in a relationship. I tried dating when I was working under an NDA once and it was hell that I couldn't tell her about my day. If I had a good day, I couldn't share it. If I had a bad day, I had to bear it on my own. The few people I dated during that time couldn't really get to know me. None of those relationships went anywhere."
Hinata looked at me with worry and I raised a hand to pat her on the head, "Don't worry about it. Even if Jiraya doesn't give permission for Naruto to be read in, he has no command over me. I'll do it myself if I need to."
"Really?" She asked quietly.
I pulled her chin up and looked her in the eyes, "Hinata, you're a good kid. You deserve no less than any help I can give you, especially for something like this that will cost me nothing and make you so happy."
Hinata blushed and I pulled her into a hug for a moment.
As she calmed down, I head Ahri call from her room, "Hinata, come here, we have some clothes for you to try on!"
"Go ahead. I'll have a present ready for when you are heading back." I offered.
She looked at me in confusion, "A present?"
"The best dates have something to remember them by. It doesn't need to be big, so I figured that I could put something together that you would like." I said with a smile, "Now go on, have some fun and unwind before your date."
Hinata nodded and haled along with me out of the room.
I dropped her off with Ahri and the rest of the ladies as I retreated to my workshop.
A few hours wasn't much, but Naruto was a Prophesied Child. With my research into the summoning ritual for Raven, I had some ideas that I could put together as a present for the young man.
It would have to be a small thing, basically by necessity, but small didn't mean that it wouldn't be useful.
My magic reached out, winding into the room. I felt it burrow ingot the tools and the computers connecting me with them as I prepared to cast a spell.
I'd nicknamed it Fabricate, after the D&D spell, but this particular version was so much more. The manufacturing might that nearly a million dollars had bought me was brought to bear on a small segment of low carbon steel, a disk of mother-of-pearl and a small sapphire rod.
As I began to process half the steel with spider-string ash, I started chiselling away at the sapphire, carving into the shape of a spiralling emblem. Small bads of sap were used to affix it to the mother-of-pearl, framing the small lustrous disk.
The steel came out of the forge and was quickly beaten into a flat plate, the other piece of steel already being cut into segments.
They came together, covered in flux and hammered together red hot.
The distinctive swirls of Damascus steel took shape and the sacrifice reactors under me began to run. Eldritch green flames began to fill the forges as I began to carefully draw the damascened metal into a simple rod and then wrapped around the gemstone encrusted seashell.
Life, enough to raise the recently dead a hundred times over, flowed through the room swirling in a golden vortex as a focused. Unbidden, an arcane aria began to fall from my lips until it was joined by the instrumental roar of the whiling life force.
I felt the sapphire strain, nearly shattering before my magic began to contain the energy, letting it flow through it into the steel ring.
Ferrite pins fell into place, carefully holding the sapphire in place as the magic took hold and began settling in the steel.
Eventually, the piece came together.
A simple pendant, a sapphire in the shape of the Uzumaki crest bound in Damascus steel. It was a heroic little thing and would lend its strength to allow its wearer to fulfil their destiny. And that little thing wasn't weak.
Support oriented true, but I didn't want Hinata to ever worry about losing him. As long as that thing was on him, he would always find his way to success.
No matter what it took.
I let the pendant cool down in mid-air before taking a moment to knick out a quick birch box for the thing, lining it with some crushed velvet.
I took a look at it and smiled, tucking away the small box before carrying myself to the portal room.
Hinata was there, nervously adjusting her grip on a blue cloth bundle."
She looked at the box, "You made this?"
I laughed and opened it up, letting them all see the pendant.
She breathed in, "It's so beautiful."
"Tell him to wear it always, so that he can remember all the good times he has with you. I've enchanted it to make sure that you don't need to worry about him going on a mission and never coming back." I offer.
She runs forward and envelops me in a hug, "Thank you."
"And do you want to know what the best part is?" I asked.
She looked at me in confusion.
I poked her head teasingly, "When he wears it, everyone will know he's your man."
I chuckled as Hinata blushed brilliantly and unconsciously pulled the box closer to her. I pulled her in for another hug and crouched down to look her in the eye.
"Hinata, don't worry." I said, "If he can't see that you are an amazing young woman, then it's because he doesn't deserve you, not because you did anything wrong."
She blushed and looked down.
"And Hinata, promise me one thing," I said seriously.
She looked up at me, "What?"
"Tell me how your date went." I said, "I want to know if I have to go over there and punt a brat."
"Jon!" Hinata yelled.