Chapter 1: Prologue

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Naruto wasn't sure what his delusional intention had been, as he had pinned Hinata against a tree after returning her kiss as want and lust guided his behavior and action, for she was so beautiful.

No, but this was wrong. An uncomfortable realization had set in of what he had just done as he took a step away from Hinata.

He was supposed to protect her…

"I'm sorry, Hinata," Naruto said, knowing he had betrayed Hinata's trust and was unable to keep a simple promise to Neji.

Hinata's brow furrowed, as she looked away from Naruto's lips. But once Naruto's eyes were in focus, the look in his eyes was a greater teller of what his apology meant.

Panic quickly turned to dread, as it never occurred to him that he would be the reason she would cry.

Naruto felt like a scumbag, realizing all those months with her in his life were more of an escape from the pain and guilt he felt after Neji's sacrifice. He had promised Neji that he would protect her; he just didn't know how.

A few months had gone by since then, and Naruto wondered how she was doing.

Rolling out of bed, Naruto's mind swirled with thoughts of what he had to work on to save his friendship with Hinata. He would make it up to her, perhaps by helping her achieve her goals and dreams, one day at a time. Not knowing much about the Hyuga clan, and it's history, he decided he should dive deep into the subject before having any clues on where to even start. If he helps her achieve one of her dreams, perhaps she may forgive him.

"Alright, let's do this!"

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Shikamaru walked down the halls and stopped in front of his mother's office, opening it.

"Are you sure you don't mind finishing the contract on my behalf?" Shikamaru asked his mother, knowing the answer, as she had already been inside her office working on such.

"This is how I always supported your father, Shika," His mother replied. "Not to mention you have a big role, you're helping in nurturing the next Hokage. Your father would've been so proud that you were chosen."

Sometimes Shikamaru got the feeling that his mother enjoyed performing clan duties, the administrating kind, a little too much. His work at the Hokage office took up a lot of his time, thus his mother took it upon herself to keep busy in the clan by taking on some of his duties which once used to be performed by his late father.

She shooed him away from her office and went back to the paperwork before her. He closed the door behind him with a smile before taking off.

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When Shikamaru arrived at the Hokage tower, he beelined to the office he shared with Naruto. His task at the time was to help Naruto study history and political subjects.

He found Naruto in his usual spot, sitting behind a desk. Shikamaru didn't take offense that his friend didn't look up from the book to greet him.

The cautious look in Naruto's eyes didn't suit him, as he squinted and glared at certain passages from the textbook. This piqued his interest, since he couldn't fathom what subject would have Naruto so immersed in literature. Shikamaru settled behind his desk and continued to watch all kinds of emotions transition in Naruto's eyes.

Eventually, Naruto looked as though his life force was being sucked out of him.

Shaking his head, Shikamaru looked away and picked up a scroll from the stack that he had on the side of his desk. He stared off into the written document of importance, his eyes seeing beyond what's in front of him, to travel back to those intense couple of months in which the entire village was in despair. After long months of laborious missions, the village was brought back to an almost uncanny resemblance to what it once was. He remembered being approached by Kakashi soon afterward in regard to joining his team to help train Naruto in academics.

As the only heir, Shikamaru was entrusted with leading and making all the decisions for his clan. But as a Shinobi, he had been asked to aid in the village's future. His mother, Yoshino saw how overwhelming making a decision was. She offered to help manage the clan while he focused his energy on helping Naruto.

Shikamaru smiled, being part of the team left him feeling proud, as though he had accomplished something his late father would approve of.

Finally, acknowledging him, Naruto dropped the book over the desk and motioned him to come over.

"Oi, Shikamaru, come here and look at this,"

The closer he got, the more Shikamaru theorized what was going through Naruto's mind. His friend had chosen to study the history of the Hyuga clan. How curious that was. After all, it was just a few months ago that anything concerning the Hyugas was almost a taboo subject when around Naruto.

"So you finally got around to it," Shikamaru said casually as he went around the desk and hovered.

"Am I reading this correctly?" Naruto moved to the side, giving Shikamaru access to the book. He waited and fidgeted, as Shikamaru seemed to take his time to read the passage. However, the shadow user did not understand why Naruto seemed to be so upset over the particular passage.

"Hmm, I'm sure your comprehension isn't an issue,"

"It says something about an arranged marriage between cousins…" Pausing, he looked over at Shikamaru as his eyes widened. "Was Neji supposed to marry Hinata?"

"I doubt it," Shikamaru reminded him that Neji used to be a branch member, but his words were not enough to ease Naruto's thoughts.

Getting off his chair, Naruto began to pace about the room. He bit his thumbnail as he wrecked his brain for answers. He was trying to figure out why Hinata had confessed to him a couple of months ago.

"There seems to be a way out, but those greedy Hyuga lawmakers made sure to make it troublesome." Shikamaru flipped the pages to a particular section. It stated that the only outsider worthy enough of an heiress was a Kage.

Naruto made a face as he read this over Shikamaru's shoulder.

"Those fucking bastards," Sighing, Naruto leaned against his desk, glancing over at Shikamaru. "Hinata-chan most likely knew this, but kept it from me on purpose." He wondered if Hinata had no choice but to believe in him, so she can escape her fate.

Shikamaru regarded Naruto's statement for a moment before commenting, "I don't know her very well,"

He gave Naruto a slight pat on the shoulder as he moved away from his friend. But the young man in front of him seemed angry.

"Damn it...what exactly am I supposed to do to protect her from this?"

"Naruto, isn't it a little too early for this emotional crap?"

"You don't get it at all! She should've told me!" Knowing Hinata, Naruto believed she probably didn't want to burden him with the truth.

"And what difference would that have made?"

"I probably would've married her if it meant saving her from this," He motioned to the word in the book that he couldn't bring himself to say out loud.

Shikamaru didn't know her personally, but he had enough sense to know that's probably not what Hinata Hyuga would've wanted. His friend was an idiot, and he didn't know what to do about that sometimes

Shikamaru was already halfway out the door when he called over his shoulder.

"I'm getting some coffee. Do you want some?"

"Naw, I'm okay."

Leaving his friend, and future Hokage, to his thoughts, Shikamaru hung out by the coffee maker located inside the Hokage's office. He took a sip of coffee, his clouded mind becoming clear just by the smell of it.

Peace and quiet.

When he returned to the room, the blond looked completely defeated.

"Can I really change the Hyuga clan?" He groaned, his body slumped forward over the table.

"There's no use in making the Hyugas an enemy before you even become Hokage. I suggest you keep your radical point of view to yourself, Naruto."

"But why do they do it? Do you know?"

Shikamaru sipped his coffee as he leaned back into his chair. "Whatever their reasons, I find a system like that will collapse sooner or later, even if you don't do anything about it."

"Maybe I should wait until the system weakens, and then do something."

"Sounds like treason to me."

"Ugh, you're no fun."

"It's part of my job Naruto, I can't have you starting internal clan wars or revolutions."

"If the dobe wants to change something so badly, I say let him."

Shikamaru didn't react to the newcomer and continued on as if he didn't exist.

The Uchiha was the least pleasant part of this new era of peace. Although his best friend loved to forget what he was put through, Shikamaru never will.

"Oi, Sasuke! I'm trying to study here!"

"Where the hell is Kakashi?" When Sasuke saw that the Hokage's office was empty, he did not bother waiting. Instead, he went to the one person who was likely to know.

"He went to visit the Hyuga clan. He mentioned something about clan stuff-I don't know, I wasn't paying attention," Naruto replied.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's choice of words when debriefing.

"How useful," He dropped his mission report in front of Naruto. "Make sure he gets this."

When the last Uchiha left the room, Naruto turned to Shikamaru and raised a brow.

"Shikamaru, when are you going to come around? Sasuke's here to stay, you know."

Shikamaru continued to sip his coffee while reading the important document in his hand. He didn't see the point in reacting to Naruto's words.

"Ne, why is Kakashi-sensei visiting the Hyuga clan?"

"He'll let us know eventually," Shikamaru replied, while his eyes remained glued to a piece of paper.

"Do you think he's performing a wellness check on Hinata?"

"Wellness check?" Shikamaru glanced up and raised a brow.

Naruto explained how no one has seen Hinata Hyuga in the last nine or ten months. Rumor has it that she succumbed to depression. Then again, you can't trust the rumors that come from people who had no personal connection with her.

"Naruto, just go visit her if it bothers you that much,"

"I can't. She hates me."

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Edited: 9-24-2021

Edited: 2-5-2021 - added dialogue

Edited: 8-23-22 - removed unnecessary sentences and shorted it up a little

Edited: 9-6-22 - I'm trying to add titles to the chapters