As the sun came out of the horizon the people of Konoha slowly got ready for the day at the street stalls and shops while some decided to sleep in. Hinata was not one of those people as she had woken up quite early with a warm sensation under her that she missed dearly for the last month. Her eyes opened slowly and her consciousness was greeted with the slow, rhythmic rising and falling of Naruto's chest and his calming heartbeat pressed against her ear.

Normally, she would get up to discretely change and make him breakfast but this time she couldn't get her body to leave his. Thinking of the night before, her heart raced and she swallowed trying to moisten her dry throat.

Last night he had convinced her to stay the night even though her father expected her back home that night. He didn't convince her with words however, but by covering her neck and collar bones with a long sequence of kisses then nibbling her ear lobes. She had never felt anything like it and she froze under his touch not knowing how to respond until he gently guided her hands to his chest. She blushed and stayed stiff. What was she supposed to do? Caress it like he would trace his fingers gently over her back while he kissed her neck? Kiss him back? Or… something other than that? Naruto's voice broke her out of her reverie as he stopped and gripped her hands to his chest.

"Why are you shaking so much? Relax, I won't do anything, I promise." He smiled.

"N-n-no, I –it's just t-that…" She closed her eyes in embarrassment. "What am I s-supposed t-t-o…?"

He blinked at her in surprise. "What do you want to do?"

"Huh?" She opened her eyes slowly.

He tilted his head. "Why are you always so scared of touching me when we kiss?"

"W-what?"

"It happens a lot. You'd hug me and stuff but when we kiss you'd just pinch my shirt like you don't want to touch me and when I put your hands on me you'd just make them into fists and start shaking. Am I doing something you don't like?"

She started to shake even more in fear that she had offended him. "N-no! I j-just… I…" Tears welled up in her eyes.

His eyes widened. "Hey, hey! Don't cry! Whatever I was doing, I'm sorry! You should have told me it bothered you."

She shook her head. "No! You didn't do anything wrong! It's me…I… when I touch you I just… I don't know what y-you l-like… so I don't know what to do…" She trailed off and her voice became a whisper. "I don't even know if you are ticklish but somehow you know all my weak spots…" She pouted.

He blinked and chuckled. "Because all of your spots are your weak spots, Hinata." He lightly poked the side of her stomach and she squealed. "See?"

She pouted again.

"You're adorable, ya know?" He grinned.

She blushed. "So… are you ticklish?" She smiled lightly.

He grinned and took off his shirt making her blush heavily. "One way you can find out." He chuckled.

Her eyes shyly trailed over his torso before finally landing on his necklace. "Uh… what is that?"

"Hm?" He looked down at his chest. "Oh, this? I didn't show you yet?"

She shook her head slowly.

"Well… it's a long story so how about we sit down?"

She nodded and followed him back to the couch watching his bare back with a blush. He sat down and grinned at her patting his lap. She gulped and he laughed. "Come 'ere." She obliged and slowly lowered herself onto his lap. He wrapped one of his arms around her waist and pointed at his necklace with the other. "This was grandma Tsunade's, and I guess it used to be cursed but it seems I broke the curse." She listened carefully as he told his story about the bet and the curse. He then moved onto describing the battle and his expression became more excited while hers became worried.

"And then she said that I started breathing again. The rest I don't remember cuz I woke up in my room afterwards." He finished and smiled at her but it quickly dropped as her shaky hand slowly touched the crystal on the necklace. "Y-you almost…"

"Don't think about that. I'm fine and I'm here, that's all that matters."

Tears threatened to leave her lashes again as she firmly wrapped her arms around his neck and sniffled. "Please, Naruto… be careful… please…" She pleaded.

He sat there stunned for a few seconds before hugging her back. "Don't worry, I will… for you."

She sighed in relief and gently traced her fingers down his back making him shiver. She smiled at his reaction before tickling his sides causing him to suppress a chuckle.

She giggled into his shoulder. "Got you."

"Do you?" He kissed her neck again quickly covering it with goose bumps. She sighed in delight before yawning lightly.

"Sleepy?" He pecked her nose.

She nodded trying to keep her eyes open.

He smiled and wrapped his arm under her knees swiftly lifting her up and walking towards his bed.

The next thing she knows she's waking up with her head resting on top of his chest. She traced his skin with her finger going down his rib cage.

"What would have happened if I hadn't gotten sleepy? Would he have…"

Her finger then touched the waistband of his pajama bottoms causing her to flinch.

"No! He wouldn't… not yet…"

She slowly got up and rushed to the bathroom splashing cold water on her face. She then sprinted to the kitchen and made him a quick breakfast. She couldn't stop thinking about her earlier musings causing her shaky hands to drop a spoon on the floor making it ring throughout the apartment. She flinched in annoyance at her own clumsiness and bent down to pick it up. Getting back up, she was startled by the blonde peaking out of the bedroom. She squealed and dropped the spoon again. He laughed at her and walked over.

"You ok? Did you sleep well? You're kinda pale."

"Umm…" She picked up the spoon again. "I… I need to go back to the compound so my father wouldn't get worried, meanwhile please have some breakfast."

"Ok, thanks. Will you come back later?"

She nodded. "I will be back soon if he is not angry. I will see you in a bit." She started putting on her shoes.

"And hey, don't let him give you any crap."

She nodded.

"That's my girl."

"Look at all of this!" Tsunade pointed towards the literal mountain of paperwork on her office desk. "I haven't even officially become the new Hokage yet and I have to take care of this crap?! Hiruzen, you lazy bag of bones!"

"Well, he has been in the hospital for the past few weeks, Lady Tsunade." Shizune responded sorting through the scattered papers.

"Oink!" TonTon agreed.

Tsunade sighed and slumped in her chair before sighing again as she heard a knock on the door. She reluctantly sat up straight. "Yes?"

"Good morning, Lady Hokage. I am here to inform you that Lord Third requests you presence at the hospital."

"Thank you, I shall head there immediately." She answered with a smile glad that she has an excuse to get away from the paperwork.

"Oh, pardon me, Lady Hokage. My name is Iruka Umino, I used to be Naruto Uzumaki's academy teacher." The guest introduced himself. "He came to the hospital a bit ago and we talked. I would just like to thank you for saving his life." He bowed.

Tsunade blinked in surprise. "Well, nice to meet you and it was my pleasure." She smiled. "Are you close to Naruto, Umino-san?"

He scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Oh! Iruka is fine. And yes, I'd like to think I've been sort of a father figure to him." He grinned.

"Then would you mind coming back here in a couple of hours? I'd like to have a conversation with you."

"Yes, of course. Is it about Naruto?"

"Yes… I've heard some things about him since I came here and I would like to know if they are true or not."

Iruka's smile dropped. "Well, if you heard any of those things from the merchants, chances are they are not."

"We shall see. Now, excuse me, I will get going." She walked out of the office with a blank expression on her face. "Something tells me that will be a loooooong conversation."

Hinata made her way back to Naruto's apartment in a quick pace after bolting out of her compound. Right after stepping into the training area her eyes met the confused glare of her father who pestered her about her whereabouts. After her explanation he simply shook his head and walked back into the dojo.

"He probably still does not approve..." She sighed.

"Hey, Hinata!" A voice made her stop and turn around to see Ino, Sakura and Tenten waving at her. "Are you busy? We're having a girls' day out, we'd love for you to join us!" Ino smiled.

Hinata blinked. "Oh, I would love to but… Naruto just came home and… I m-missed h-him so w-we were going t-to…" She trailed off with a blush, twiddling with her fingers.

The three giggled at her. "We get it, it's alright." Tenten smiled with a hand on her hip. "Some other time then."

Hinata nodded vigorously. "Y-yes! I will see you later!" She ran off with a shy wave.

"Wow." Ino commented. "Hinata and Naruto, who would have thought?"

They continued walking to a nearby dumpling shop and took a seat. "I mean, I'm happy for them but what a match. A shy, refined princess with a brash, annoying idiot." Ino continued.

"That's exactly it, Ino." Tenten added. "That's all that he's to us but to her he's much more, she can see way more in him."

"Yeah, have you noticed how he acts in front of her now? Remember when they got all lovey-dovey in the Chunin exams? Looks like the wallflower managed to tame the untamable."

Sakura laughed. "You're so right. It's kind of surprising."

"Well, true love has no limits, they say." Tenten blushed a bit. "Neji has changed since his fight with Naruto, too."

"Everyone changes after they fight Naruto…" Ino replied lamely. The other two laughed.

"True." Sakura shook her head before turning towards Tenten. "Now, what's been going on with you and Neji?"

"Ack!" Tenten blushed and gulped.

Ino's eyes widened. "Ooohh, I sense some gossip. Spill!"

Iruka knocked lightly on the door of the Hokage's office. He had been hesitantly stopping himself from knocking for a few minutes debating if he's even ready to talk about his former students' childhood. But after the dreaded response: "Come in." He took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Ah, Iruka. Come in, please. Take a seat."

He complied. "So, what is it that you heard, Lady Hokage?"

"I walked through the village earlier today and I overheard a couple of Jounin belittling Naruto, saying how there is no way he was the one who saved the Third Hokage and brought the Fourth Hokage. I admit, the boy is easily underestimated by just looking at him but it takes a good battle to reveal his true potential." Tsunade smiled.

"What exactly happened while he was away?" Iruka raised a brow.

After a brief explanation of events, Iruka sat back in his chair with his mouth open. "He mastered the Rasengan… in a week…?"

"Yup."

"Oink!"

Iruka smiled proudly. "Minato would be amazed."

"I agree." Tsunade replied earning a look of surprise from the Chunin.

"Wait, what do you know about him?" He sat up.

"I know who his parents were and I know about what he possesses. I've been told he had a rough childhood but that's about it." She glanced at Shizune. "Naruto told her a bit about his past but there's more to it, isn't there?"

"Yes, a lot more." Iruka replied and Tsunade leaned against her table. "I'm all ears."

"Well, first of all, for the record, he's never lost a bet."

Tsunade chuckled and Shizune smiled.

"I supposed I should start at the beginning." He licked his lips in preparation for the long story he was about to tell. "One afternoon Lord Third called me into his office to ask me to be Naruto's homeroom teacher. Turns out that nobody else wanted him in their class so I was his last resort, otherwise he would have been expelled from the academy. I initially didn't want to but he practically said please, which a Hokage never does, so I couldn't say no. Naruto was nothing but trouble back then, he even pulled three pranks on me on the first day. He wouldn't study so his scores were very low, he would ditch class a lot and when he was there he'd just sleep until I would land my book on his head."

Tsunade chuckled.

"He was ignored by the others so he'd get in trouble to get their attention… just like I did when I was his age… the irony." He smiled. "The other kids bullied him and made fun of him every day so he had no friends. He even failed the graduation exam three times."

Tsunade blinked in shock. "Then how did he graduate?"

Iruka grinned. "One second." He got up and walked towards the document drawers pulling out a thick file labeled 'Mizuki' and put it on her desk. "Like this. I suggest you read over it afterwards. It's a good read, trust me."

Tsunade looked at the file in confusion before Shizune took it and opened it.

He sat back down. "Where was I? Ah, yes… so after he failed for the third time… that happened." He pointed to the file. "That's when he learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu and I was so impressed I let him graduate. The headband he wears now used to be mine." He chuckled. "I remember him asking me to try it on once before he graduated. I could tell how bad he wanted it. He always used to wear these green goggles on his head because he couldn't wear the headband yet. When he failed I really felt bad but there was nothing I could-"

"Excuse me." Shizune interrupted lifting her head from the file. "He stole the sacred scroll?"

"What?" Tsunade barked.

"Isn't that scroll supposed to be heavily protected?" Shizune raised a brow.

Iruka chuckled nervously scratching his cheek. "Heh… yeah, well…"

Tsunade sighed. "Brother…"

"Well, anyway… is there anything else you wanted to know?" Iruka asked.

"What is this?" Shizune asked pointing towards a small picture in the file. The picture was of Naruto making a face covered in white and red paint.

"Oh, heheh, that was Naruto's original identification picture. Lord Third made him retake it, of course."

Tsunade chuckled again.

"Paint?" Shizune asked.

"Oh! Did I mention that his greatest prank was covering the entire Hokage monument with graffiti?" He smiled awkwardly.

Tsunade paled. "What's going to happen when they put my face up there?"

Shizune muffled a laugh.

Iruka laughed. "He doesn't do graffiti anymore, I convinced him to stop."

Tsunade sighed again. "He won't behave, will he?"

"He doesn't like being ordered around but now that he's in a relationship he seems to be more obedient." He grinned.

"Speaking of which… how did that happen? Knowing his history, I'm sure the Hyugas aren't pleased with whom the heiress chose."

"Hinata has always cared for Naruto. She was the only one who never made fun of him. However, she's his complete opposite. Her father wasn't pleased with her progress and her shy demeanor so I believe she isn't even the heiress anymore. She was always insecure and unsure of herself, but Naruto made her a lot stronger, both mentally and physically."

Tsunade smiled. "Can I count on you to keep me updated on his progress along with Kakashi?"

"Of course." Iruka smiled. "Seems like he made you develop a soft spot for him, didn't he?"

Tsunade sighed once again.

Iruka chuckled. "He seems to have that effect on people."

"I bet." Tsunade blinked. "What was that about merchants you mention when I asked you to meet me back here?"

"Oh, well the merchant quarter still has remnants of paint on every single wall in the entire street."

Shizune finally laughed.

Tsunade let out a long breath and leaned back in her chair. She dismissed Iruka and opened the file for herself. "Shizune, get me a bottle of sake, will you?"

She read the first line in the file and blinked.

"You know what? Make that two bottles."