Sorry for the long delay, lot of transitions going on in life.

Disclaimer : I don't own anything from the Naruto manga. I do own the characters I make up.

The kanji for Hinata means "Sunny place"

Naruto raised one eyebrow slightly. His imagination had become rather active of late, it seemed. He sat up in bed, and slumped his shoulders forward. With a sigh he raked his hand through his blonde hair, and started to lie back down.

"Naruto, darn it boy, I know you can hear me."

Naruto blasted out of bed and walked hastily in a tight circle in the middle of his room. For a moment, thoughts of insanity flashed through his mind, but he quickly brushed them aside. He wasn't entirely sure why a voice was talking to him, but he didn't like it one bit.

"NARUTO! It's me, Kyuubi. Respond or something, will you?"

Naruto ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Nope, nothing attached to him. He squinted his eyes at his image displayed on the glass surface. Nothing appeared to be out of place.

"So that's what you've grown up to look like eh? You look very much like your father."

Realization dawned on Naruto as to what was happening. He pointed an accusative finger at his own image in the mirror, and howled "You said you just wanted to see through my eyes! You didn't say anything about me having to listen to you all the time!!!" The consciousness in his mind seemed to sigh.

"Do you really think you would have let me, if I had have told you?" the voice asked.

Naruto knitted his eyebrows. As much as he didn't like the idea, he still had some measure of sympathy for the lonely being inside him. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, as long as the fox kept to himself for the most part. Inside his mind, Naruto acknowledged the fox's request, without uttering a word. He had already come to grips with the power of the bond in his mind. Even the fox's emotion was connected to his mind, and vice versa. At the base of his bed, Naruto found a new pair of pants and a clean white shirt, along with a sport jacket. Apparently this was to be his party clothes, and he dressed himself in them accordingly. Naruto slipped the very expensive looking western style sport jacket and paused as he looked down at himself.

"You can stay like this on one condition… my mind is my own!" He muttered. Kyuubi grunted in assent. Simple, Naruto thought. Problem solved. Now he and Kyuubi could coexist, and he wouldn't have to listen to the fox anymore.

A sharp tap sounded on the door panel to his room, and Naruto slid it open to allow the person waiting inside in. The servant bowed to him, and gestured to the doorway, signifying that Naruto was to follow him. Naruto was ushered through the grand halls of the Hyuuga manor, across bridges and numerous gardens, to a large open garden area, decorated with Chinese lanterns and numerous other party decorations. A small creek ran through the middle of the area, with bamboo bridges spanning them at several locations. Several tables were set up at strategic locations in the grassy area, with generous amounts of food and drink magnificently arranged across them. The sun had most set behind the hills, giving the candle lit area a very festive feel. Not many people had arrived yet, and Naruto was guided to a chair next to the water's edge, where he took his seat and waited. Gradually the sun completed its journey beyond the horizon, and crickets chirped happily in the cool evening air. Numerous important guests had begun to filter in, each paying their respects to Hiashi and Hinata, who were positioned at the doorway, before proceeding to mill about the area. Laugher filled the night air as the party was started. The servants closed off the large doorway to the exit, and Hiashi led his daughter to the area where Naruto sat. She was clad in a silky flowered purple summer dress, with sandals laced up to the middle of her calves. Her hair was put up in a bun, and small amounts of makeup had been carefully applied to her eyes and lips, giving her a much more mature air. Naruto stood up, and remembering his manners, politely offered Hinata his chair. "Hinata-chan, you look nice!" he smiled, emanating his usual cheerful aura.

"Th-Thank you Naruto-kun…" Hinata blushed, taking the seat that Naruto had offered. Naruto scratched his head awkwardly, as he still had no idea why the pretty girl was so nervous around him. He looked around for an extra chair, and snatched one up from across the grounds, and placed himself with Hinata at the water's edge. She squeezed her shoulders together, shuffling her feet nervously with her crush so near her. She inwardly begged herself to start a conversation with him, after all, tonight she looked pretty good, she thought. Maybe if she could work up the courage, tonight would be the night he finally noticed her. Sakura wasn't here to distract him, nor Sasuke to bother him. Yes, she would try, she must. She shyly looked over at him, and began to open her mouth to compliment him back on his sharp attire, when a guest came up to her to congratulate her on her coming of age. She mentally beat up the intruding guest, but managed a weak smile and a polite response. She was quickly swept away in the crowd, all of them giving her a cheerful smile and a word of wisdom. Gradually she was directed through the crowd to a table piled high with gifts from the various nobles and other guests. Naruto, who had been trailing behind, gaped at the massive pile of wrapped things. Never had he seen so many gifts in one place. He looked over at Hinata with awe, but the look on Hinata's face did not express any form of excitement or awe. After all, she had seen this kind of party many times; this one would be no different. People brought gifts for her merely out of obligation and courtesy. Never had she received a gift that had any sentimental value to her. She politely bowed and began to open each gift one by one, thanking the giver personally. Her face did not express any joy at sheer number of presents, but just obligation to open them. As the pile of presents dwindled, and the pile of opened things grew, Hinata's eyes came to rest on a small, simply wrapped package toward the bottom. She carefully wiggled it free and read the label.

"From Naruto", it simply read. Hinata's eyes widened a little, and then she smirked, knowing that her father probably required him to bring one. Naruto, who was busy inspecting the ridiculous pile of gifts, noticed the small package in her hands, and recognized it as his own gift to her. He scratched the back of his neck nervously, and said, as she started to open it, "I thought you would like it. It fits your name and all…"

The wrapping paper fell to the wayside as the dress unfolded in Hinata's hands. Her gaze fell upon the sunrise, and the rays that stretched across the fabric's design. Hinata: a bright and sunny place. Her mind went back to the days when she was a small child, when her father told her the meaning of her name. Those were the best days of her childhood, before she grew old enough to be considered as the heir. A tear welled up in her eyes, and she looked up at Naruto. Naruto panicked at the sight of her starting to cry, and started to stammer about how she could pick out something better if she wanted, but the warm look she gave him brought his sentence to a stop. He was mystified at her gaze, but he looked on silently and….

She smiled.

Not the plastic smile that she was so used to giving the guests and her friends. Not the smile that was designed to cover up her inner grief. Not even the kind of smile that is given when someone makes a funny joke. This smile was pure and innocent, and emanated love. Naruto realized at that moment that this was the very first time he had even seen the girl smile. Perhaps that's why he never noticed her before this moment, but at this moment, time seemed to come to a standstill for him. His heartbeat slowly thrummed in his ears and everything else in the area seemed to be completely gone. It was just him and this somewhat strange girl that he now found himself uncharacteristically nervous with. He couldn't stop himself from swallowing hard when a small blush formed on her cheeks, and she told him thank you in her quiet voice. He had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, and though uncomfortable, was not entirely unpleasant. He found himself, for the first time in his life, completely at a loss for words.

Naruto's mind was snapped back to reality as a wall of smoke veiled his eyes. Somewhere behind him he heard several people shout in shock. "Smoke bomb" flashed into his mind as he sought to escape from the cloudy darkness. Around him, utter chaos had ensued. People were running for cover, as shuriken flew through the air, some finding their targets in the bodies of the people fleeing. Naruto heard a small squeak in front of him, no further than an arm's reach ahead, and he charged into the smoke blindly to halt Hinata's assailant. He was met by a sharp blow to the stomach by a man about 6 feet tall, with long golden hair that stopped in the middle of his back. He had strange tattoos along his arms, which wrapped around his hand and stopped in the middle of his palm, appearing to form a focusing point. He wore nothing but a pair of haidate and sandals, and a curious ring on his left ring finger. Hinata's unconscious form was carelessly slung of his left shoulder. As Naruto doubled over in pain from the blow, the man chuckled, raising his eyebrows in amazement.

"Well well, what do we have here? Looks like it's my lucky day! Two birds with one stone is certainly a good day's work!" he loudly cackled.

"Naruto, jump left, NOW" Kyuubi shouted into Naruto's mind. Naruto complied and narrowly dodged as the man brought his fist down toward the ground at the spot where he was just moments before. He landed and readied his kunai, but was stopped by another shout in his mind's eye. "Naruto, listen to me. Run, now, do not fight this man, he will kill you without hesitation!" the voice said, danger clearly evident in his voice.

Naruto shook his head and said out loud "I will not run away. I've got to save Hinata-chan!" He formed some quick seals and shouted "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!" At his call, 12 clones appeared surrounding the blonde man, and each readied their kunai aggressively. The man raised one eyebrow and began to laugh a vicious maniacal chuckle. Naruto's clones each gritted their teeth and charged at the intruder, but he just stood in place, arms at his side, clearly disinterested in his opponent's assault. He formed a quick seal into the middle of his right hand, and slammed his hand palm down onto the ground as Naruto's clones jumped into the air to attempt to dog pile him. Naruto, who was trying to sneak up behind the man, stopped in shock as he watched the air ripple around his target. He felt and enormous energy emanating from the man, and knew he was in trouble. He threw himself to the ground and shielded his head as the ground flexed and buckled under the man's palm. A humongous shockwave blasted outward from its epicenter, instantly disintegrating all of the clones. Naruto expected to be swept aside by the blast, but instead found that the wave of energy passed directly through him. He attempted to get to his feet, but was dismayed to find that he was completely unable to move. He felt completely exhausted, like the times when he trained with Jiraiya. The man stepped up to Naruto's prostrate form and knitted his eyebrows, curling his lip in disgust. He passed off Hinata to a cloaked figure behind him, and dropped down to his haunches, hands resting limply on his knees, and snorted, "I really don't see why they're so interested in you."

See you next time!