Started: Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Finished: Friday, July, 08, 2005
Disclaimer: The characters and names of Naruto characters are own by Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei. The plot belongs to me.
Anime: Naruto
Pairings: Naruto/Hinata, Sasuke/Sakura
Genre: Romance/ Humor
Fiction: One-Shot
Rated: PG-13
Summary: A funny story of how Naruto comes up with a plan to ask Hiashi for Hinata's hand in marriage. Upon thinking and dreaming, Naruto, with the help of his team mates, Sasuke and Sakura, learns that a proposal is more than just a question. All you just have to do is . . .
"Tell It As It Is"
Yawn
Naruto has yawned for the hundredth time this afternoon. Sitting in a pillow that is usually called a 'seat', the 18-year-old male tried to stay awake as he wiped a little tear from his eye. The room was very well decorated with ancient wall scrolls of calligraphy and art. Set on the corners of the room were glass vases, displaying not even one speck of dirt on their shiny surface. Outside the sun was shining, signifying a beautiful day as the rays of the yellow orb beam down at the village of Konoha. Lazily, he plop an elbow on the table in front of him and rests his right cheek in the palm of his hand. Closing his tired eyes, he waited in the room with the least amount of worries.
'I bet he's making me wait on purpose,' Naruto thought as he continued to 'sit' in his 'seat.' Today, he is to discuss 'the date of when the marriage is taking place' with Hinata's father. Although the 'unpleasant' memories of the past should not be mentioned, some of the 'wonderful speech' the Uzumaki had . . . ahem . . . composed, should be enough entertainment for the time being as the blond Jounin awaits his future 'father-in-law' to show up.
It all started on a beautiful day like this. It was a sunny day with fluffy white clouds floating across the warm atmosphere we call the sky. Birds were chirping happily and the sweet melodies filled the air until--
"SHUT UP! I'M TRYING TO THINK HERE!" He rustled his golden hair with his hands, making it even messier. "Can't I think in peace!" Sitting in his favorite restaurant, Ichiraku, the male sat down on the stool with numerous empty bowls of ramen beside him, waiting for his 'advisors' to come and 'help' him 'think'.
"Dobe. The world does not revolve around you." A male said as he stood beside the serious-thinking-Naruto.
"ARGH! Sasuke-teme! Where the heck were you! I waited for you to come and--WHERE"S SAKURA-CHAN!" A knock over his head answered him.
"Baka! Couldn't you wait for at least a little longer?" Rubbing the large bump on his head, the blond looked up to the pink hair nin before him.
"But Sakura-chan, I waited ten whole minutes! I was starting to get hungry so I--"
"You're always hungry!" Sakura replied. "You know that today is one of the most important day of your life and you still manage to--"
"Give me a break, you guys! I wouldn't have asked you two to help me if I knew you two would act like this. Come on, you two are the smartest, most beautiful, most talented, most--"
"Okay, okay, we get it, Naruto. If we knew you were going to be so desperate, we would have asked Kakashi-sensei to come and have this 'talk' with you."
"HEY! I was trying to be nice!"
"Whatever." The raven haired Jounin said as he sat down next to Sakura. The female nin could see the nervousness coming from her team mate. His palms were sweaty and the constant blinking and rubbing of his temples made it easy to comprehend otherwise. Today, he was going to confront to Hinata's father, Hyuuga Hiashi. Naruto was going to ask permission for the hand of the Hyuuga Heiress.
"Naruto, it's okay. You can calm down. Just be yourself and it should be fine," said Sakura with a warm smile.
"Yeah, I know. I can do this!"
"Have you come up with a speech?" asked the Uchiha.
"What? A speech?"
"Dobe."
"Sasuke-kun, be nice." The Sharingan user grunted. Crossing his arms on the table, he sat there as his girlfriend scowl at him. Sasuke's bored expression turned into amusement as he smirked at the female beside him. He could still remember the night he was invited over for dinner at the Haruno residence. The Harunos were a little overly excited for their daughter to have a boyfriend, and the Uchiha heir for that matter. Mrs. Haruno went overboard and cooked a large dinner that consisted of six courses, all decorated and garnished with wonderful pieces of flowers and cut vegetables like a professional chef.
Sasuke came and soon, he was bombarded with numerous questions. The quiet Uchiha was obligated to answer the question, one after another. Sakura, on the other hand was so embarrassed, her face was flushed red that seemed to drown out the color of her hair. When the question led to marriage, the Uchiha had the last straw, and left that evening with a 'stomach ache.' Some things are not to be discussed. For that night, it was the most embarrassing night of all for poor Sakura.
"I was only trying to help."
"Oh, that speech!" said Naruto. Digging through his clothes and Jounin vest, he patted every inch of his body to find the piece of paper he hid just incase he would lose it. His two team mates watched as Naruto frantically zipped open every pocket, un-velcro every pouch, and searched through all hidden flaps of his vest. Sighing, they both ordered their ramen and sat there watching the soon-to-be-dead-man-if-he-didn't-find-his-speech-in-time. After a good few inspections of his pockets, the golden hair male took a very winkled piece of parchment out and unfolded it. Quickly, he looked it over to see if it was the right copy. Satisfied with it, he cleared his throat.
"Ahem. I am going to read the speech I've wrote." His mouth watered as two bowls of beef ramen arrived at the table and was placed in front of his two team mates. Breaking the conjoined chopsticks, Sakura began to eat.
"You can start," said Sakura in between mouthfuls. The medic nin hadn't eaten any breakfast. It was past noon and she was hungry. All morning, she had been training and studying and didn't even look at the time until Sasuke showed up at the hospital to pick her up. When he arrived, Sakura could see the jealous looks she was getting because THE Uchiha was her boyfriend. But Sakura couldn't complain. She was happy and didn't do anything wrong. She doesn't need to feel guilty about their relationship. She and Sasuke are happy with one another and they don't care what other people think. It's their life, let them live it however they want it.
"Okay! Ahem. 'I, Uzumaki Naruto, am here to ask you for Hinata's hand in marriage.' "
'This is going well.' Sasuke thought as he started to eat his ramen.
" 'I want to marry her and make her my wife. I would make her happy for the rest of my life. It would be my honor to have you as a father-in-law. I know it that marriage is going to be a ball. Hinata means the world to me. And she is worthy as a queen bee. I will never forget, the day we had met. The day was sunny and Hinata's voice was like honey. It filled my heart with joy as I was just a little boy. The world stop spinning and my ears were ringing--' "
Sakura nearly chocked as he continued to read his 'speech.' Hitting her chest the make the food go down, the female nin couldn't help but laugh like crazy.
"Ack. Was cough ack," she asked as she tried to clear her throat so air can come through. After a few moments and help from Sasuke, Sakura managed to come together and stop laughing. Wiping her mouth with napkins and choking back on the giggles, her face was still flushed from the lack of air.
"What the HELL was that!" exclaimed Sakura.
"It was a speech!" Naruto answered.
"THAT was SO NOT a speech. IT sounded more like a POEM!"
"Well, I thought it was 'creative' to more a speech made into a poem."
"Naruto, you baka! It is not 'CREATIVE' to make a speech into a POEM. Did you listen all the stuff you had just said? Half of the stuff didn't even make sense! Your 'ears were ringing'? What the HELL was that supposed to mean! You're supposed to be serious about this!"
"Hey! I tired my best. It's your guys' fault anyway! You two said you were going to help me! And the 'ears are ringing' is a classic! It means you've fallen in LOVE!" Naruto explained. "One thing led to another and I just thought it might calm me if I made it funnier. You know, have a couple of laughs and call it a speech. Come on, talk to me here!"
"Dobe."
"SHUT UP, SASUKE-TEME! It was you who told me to prepare for the DAMN speech. You didn't even help me with it when I asked you to!"
"That's why we're here right now."
"Yeah right! I bet YOU don't even know how to write a decent POEM! You were going to leave me hanging! Good thing Sakura got my back!"
"You should be grateful Sakura is helping you at all."
"Of course I am! Not like your lazy ass!"
"Training is not being lazy, Dobe."
"Hah! Say that to the mission we went on just a few weeks ago. I was the one doing all the ass kicking! Care to explain where you WERE, Mr. I-can-handle-this-situation-on-my-own-because-I-am-the-great-Uchiha!"
"Idiot, I told you that I was going to fight off the other rogue nins. Maybe it slipped your mind since you were 'busy' saving a bowl of ramen."
"It was Miso flavored! How could I've abandoned it! Seriously, Sasuke-teme, you have no heart!"
"Tell that to Sakura. I think she'll beg to differ."
"Guys, cut it out! You both are acting like Genins. It's embarrassing!"
"Hmph."
"I'm not the embarrassment! It's Sasuke! Come on, he can't even write a POEM!"
"I can write one if I wanted to, idiot!"
"MY ASS! I asked you to help me on one and you told me to go to the library!"
"Where else would there be POEMS!"
"HELL! I couldn't even find them! The DAMN library was HUGE!"
"Ever heard of 'asking'?"
"I DID ASK! THAT OLD LADY THAT WORKS THERE SAID I NEED TO 'APPLY' FOR A LIBRARY CARD! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT! YOU NEED A FREAKING CARD JUST TO READ BOOKS!"
"That's why it's called a 'library, you moron"
"I bet you don't even HAVE one!"
Pulling out his wallet, Sasuke flipped through the flaps and took out a rectangular piece of blue plastic. On it, the bold white print read 'Konoha Public Library.'
"You were saying?"
"SCREW IT! I DON'T NEED A CARD TO TELL ME I HAVE BOOKS CHECKED OUT! THAT OLD LADY HAD SOMETHING AGAINST ME! POETRY IS DUMB ANYWAYS!
"Maybe she had something against you because you were being loud."
"The place said 'public!' Of course I can be loud."
"Not in a library, you dolt."
"I'm telling you, that old lady had something against me. I didn't even say 'hi' and she was all looking at me weird like I was going to murder someone."
"It's probably the stupid grin you always wear on your face."
"At least I 'smile.' Look at you! Does your face stay like that when you're asleep?"
"Whatever."
"So, how are we going to get our hands on a speech?"
"You can't just buy a speech, Naruto! You have to come up with one! Didn't you learn that in school?"
"I slept through all of my classes. How should I know I would one day need that skill!"
"It's called 'SCHOOL!'!
"Just teach it to me, Sakura-chan! You're my only hope!"
"You need take classes to write speeches."
"ARGH!"
"He can't help it if he's a dobe."
"I DIDN'T FLUNK ALL OF MY CLASSES!"
"Name one thing you passed in school."
"That's easy, Home Economics!"
"You cooked!" Sakura said in disbelief. If you put Naruto in a kitchen, who knows what would happen. He would probably burn the whole house down by turning on the stove. No wonder he always ate 'instant.' All you need to do was boil some water. At least there are instructions on the back of the ramen packages. Heck, she even saw some packages that have hotlines on them. 'If you need have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please call 1-800-RAMEN.' There is probably an automated service for midnight snackers. The bottom line is: Naruto plus kitchen equals not a good idea.
"What was on the menu? Instant Ramen?"
"How did you know, Sakura-chan?"
"Lucky guess," the female said sarcastically.
Ripping his 'speech' to shreds, the blond ordered a miso ramen and sat along the sides of his team mates.
"I guess the speech was just a waste. Did you know how long it took me to right that poem!
"One minute." Sasuke guessed flatly. He could see the chicken scratches on the pieces of paper next to him.
"NO! It took me like TWO HOURS! Do you know how hard it is to come up a poem that makes sense!"
"Naruto, yours didn't even make sense!"
"Whatever. I had to think up the words to rhyme with!"
"There is a pattern on rhyming, you know."
"Like Anna, banana. I KNOW! I"M NOT STUPID! I just got stuck with the word 'orange.'
"BAKA! There's not word that rhymes with orange!"
"Um . . . poorange?"
"That's not even a WORD!"
"HEY! GIVE ME A BREAK! THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I EVER USED POETRY!"
"What did you do for the poem project back at the academy?"
"You mean the one where you had to write you own poem and read it to the class?"
Sakura nodded.
"Oh, that was easy. I wrote a haiku."
"About ramen?" she asked meekly.
"Yeah, that was pretty much it."
"Do you want to hear it?"
"NO!" Sakura and Sasuke said in unison.
"Fine! Geez!"
Grumbling, Naruto ordered another bowl of ramen. All this talk about poems and ramen made him hunger. He'll just leave the thinking to his advisors. Sakura was in her 'thinking pose' trying to come up with a solution. Sasuke, who being a bastard, in Naruto's opinion, just sat there. Some advisor. Upon eating, Naruto looked out the window and saw someone that caught his eye.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto greeted as he hopped off his stool and went to her. The violet-colored hair girl turned to meet her boyfriend. A smiled plastered on her face at the sight of the energetic blond.
"Hello, N-N-Naruto-k-kun."
Grinning, he gave Hinata a peck on her cheek, making her face blush bright red. "You came!" Pulling her over to the ramen booth, where Sakura and Sasuke sat, Naruto and she plopped across from them. Giving them a slight wink, Naruto ordered ramen for Hinata and one for himself. Noticing the signal, the cherry blossom knew what she had to do.
This was phase one of the plan. First, Naruto would invite Hinata over to have 'ramen' with him. Then he would excuse himself with Sasuke to do some 'training', leaving Sakura to keep Hinata company. Sasuke would help him with any last minute questions, and by the end of the day, Hinata will become his fiancee! The plan was fool proof. That's what Naruto thought when he first came up with it, though the 'speech' part was a total failure. With the help of his 'advisors,' they organized it more and gave him a great overall plan. You can't carry out a plan all by yourself, you know. You need a team to do that, and what better team than the one and only Team 7. Well, almost all of Team 7. Kakashi-sensei is always busy now a days. For all they know, he was probably still at home in his bed sleeping and dreaming up ways to boost up their survival training, along with lame excuses. The lazy Jounin hasn't changed one bit.
When the bowl of ramen arrived, Naruto started to eat and gulped all the soup in one breath. "Hehe . . . Hinata-chan, I have to go and train with Sasuke-teme today. Don't worry, Sakura-chan will be here with you! Won't you, Sakura-chan?" winked the Jounin. Taking it as a hint, Sakura smiled warmly at Hinata.
"Let's go shopping today, Hinata-chan. Ino-chan and Ten-Ten-chan told us to meet them at the mall! It'll be fun!" said the medic nin.
"O-okay," Hinata grinned. Naruto took Hinata's hand and squeezed it warmly.
"I'll be back in an hour Hinata-chan. I promise!" exclaimed Naruto as he gave his girlfriend another kiss.
Sasuke smirked and gave a nod to Sakura. He knew the Dobe is going to mess up somehow, so why not him help him out. Although he knew nothing about proposals, Naruto would be the perfect example of what he should not do. The Uchiha heir had helped him this far, along with by his girlfriend. He was meaning to do the same thing for a certain pink haired medic nin, but he needed to do it on his own, without a plan. It can't be that hard to ask someone to marry them, is it? Unfortunately, it is.
Sticking his hands in the pockets of his shorts, Sasuke walked out of the Ichiraku with Naruto along his side. Naruto was now ready for phase two of his 'Asking-The-Head-of-the-Hyuuga-Clan-Member-a.k.a.-Hinata-chan's-father-permission-for-Hinata's-hand-in-marriage is about to commend. Who knew he had it in him to read all of those petty poems and romance novels all in a week. Now, all the 'useful' practices and yelling was about to pay off. . . . er . . . something like that, he'd hoped.
"I want to marry your daughter!" yelled the overly-excited and nervous Naruto. Every pearl eyed person in the room watched in silence as the blond shinobi shouted those words to THE Hiashi Hyuuga. Darting their attention to the boy who requested almost certain death, the members of the Hyuuga clan remain as they were. The Head of the Hyuuga clan did not look happy. Then again, when did he look happy now a days? His elder daughter has not been home for the last couple of days. Hinata would be on missions or out doing something with her group of female friends. Going around shopping or training to prepare for another mission is what she had been doing for the last few months. On the other hand, Hanabi had done almost the same thing. His youngest daughter would train for the majority of the day, passing the abilities of her team mates, and then she would spend some of her time outside the Hyuuga residence with some of her companions.
Right now, the whole room was filled with silence. No one dare to speak or gasp for that matter. Lips pressed grimed, waiting for their head of the clan to respond to the statement, which seemed more like a demand. The eye of the storm is in motion, but for how long? An example of this is, well . . . right now. Then it happened. What happen, did you ask? Well, the unthinkable happened. The most unexpected thing had occurred. The last thing in the world had just been witnessed. Sitting in front of them, they saw THE Hiashi Hyuuga laugh. Yes, he laughed. It was not a chuckle. It was not a scoff of amusement. It was a full hearted laugh. The vibration of the laughter echoed in the room as they all watched in shock. Did THE Hiashi Hyuuga just did what they think that saw or was it just a trick? A genjutsu perhaps? Blinking their lids for insurance and pinching themselves, the members of the Hyuuga clan confirmed that they were NOT dreaming and that THE head of the Hyuuga House just LAUGHED. Now that was something out of the ordinary. It just seems beyond belief. Then again, it is happening before their very eyes. A weird site indeed.
"YOU want to MARRY MY daughter?" Hiashi asked after a good two seconds.
"Isn't that what I just said?" The puzzled Naruto crocked a brow. Cracks of amusement answered his absent mind.
"Is this some kind of a joke?" Naruto cringed at the seriousness of his tone.
"No, it isn't, Hyuuga-sama," answered the shinobi.
"Stop wasting my time and tell me what business you have here."
"THAT was the business I was getting at!"
Silence.
"I want to marry Hinata-chan!" Again, laughter can be heard all around as he continued. "I am serious about this!"
"Why would you want to marry my daughter?"
"Because I LOVE her!"
Hiashi narrowed his eyes at the bold response.
"What do you KNOW of love?"
Naruto looked down at his fists that curled tightly, making his knuckles turn white. Exhaling to calm himself, he turned to the Hyuuga.
"I knew nothing of love when I was little. Everywhere I go, people would avoid me and whisper remarks about me. I didn't know what was going on then, but soon I founded out. I knew why they hated me so much. They kept their children away and isolated me from their lives. I was not loved, no one cared about me. No one, except Iruka-sensei. He was a great teacher, even if he scolds at me or punishes me for being a slacker. He was the one who always encouraged me to do my best and I always try my best. I try my best because I WANT to be the best. It is my dream to be the Hokage of this village. I want this dream to become a reality. I try my best at everything I do. I try to learn everything I can to become stronger so I can protect the ones I love. I may not have experience the kind of 'love' from anyone, but I know one thing: Everyone has a precious person and that person is the most important person in their life. I may have not tried to 'love' or been 'loved', but I know I have many friends that care about me as I do about them. They are the reason I live today."
Calm and posed, the Head Clan Member sat there rendering the speech complied by the Jounin before him.
"Bold words coming from a person like you." Naruto gulped at the statement. Surely he had not said so much, or did he say a little too much? What he had said came from his heart. Not one word was a lie, nor did he had that speech in his mind when he got here. Where is 'here', exactly? Well, 'here' was the Hyuuga household. It took every once of insanity to come here and he wasn't going to back out now. It was now or never. Exhaling, Hiashi looked at the foolish male in front of him. His spiky golden hair stuck out in every direction covering most of his ears. The hitai-ate with the symbol of Konoha was wore on his forehead, partly hidden from his bangs. The whiskers on his cheeks show maturity to match the solemn facade of his expression. Pools of blue stared back at the Hiashi, waiting for an answer to his request.
"Name three reasons I should hand MY daughter over to you. If you do succeed, I would even consider the marriage." This is the part that Naruto got stumped on. Three reason! Hiashi smirk slightly at the nervous man in front of him. Surely, he would fail to answer three fully, different reasons why his daughter should be wed to the only Uzumaki in the village.
"Um . . . I . . . " he began.
"Reason one: Hinata-chan is fond of me." He smiled cheekily, showing his teeth. He knew that was true. The Hyuuga Heiress had feelings for him during the years at the academy, even though Naruto liked Sakura. But she did not give up. She still remain shy, avoiding the negatives of her failure from her father, and tried to become a better person. All she needed was a chance to prove that she, Hyuuga Hinata, was not a worthless human being. She was not a person that is willing to except failure and be punished for being weak. Hinata was anything but weak. She has a strong will and a strong heart. In her heart is filled with thoughts and memories of the family and friends she cares. But out of all the memories, her heart remains with the thoughts of the one and only Naruto. Everyone knew this was true.
"Reason two: I. . .um . . . I make your daughter happy." Naruto continued.
"Reason three: I really, really like your daughter!" Hiashi's face held a blank expression. The stone cold orbs of the Hyuuga stared into the cerulean eyes in front of him. Not even a twitch was made from Hiashi. The Head of the Clan sat as still as a statue, and remained immobile. Asking himself if this was a good sign or a bad one, the spiky haired blond stood there, looking back to the pupil-less eyes of Hinata's father. He had done what was asked of him. Naruto had just stated the three reasons why Hinata should marry him. Those reasons were surely enough to see that they belong together. When two people love each other wouldn't they want to get married? Marriage is a commitment. It was something to cherish. To be with someone your love for a life time. That is what he want, more than anything. Well, that and being the Hokage of Konoha. He wanted to be with Hinata. Is that too much to ask?
Sapphire orbs gleamed with determination as he confronts the Head of the Hyuuga clan. Hiashi stared back at the sudden change of mood from the well-known prankster years back. Though he had doubts of meeting the blond, this proved that it wasn't a waste of his valuable time after all. So he had hoped . . .
"Very well." Naruto blinked unbelievingly at what he had just heard.
Closing his eyes, Hiashi continued. "We will discuss this matter another time. I will make note of this request. For the time being, please leave me to my thoughts."
Grinning like he own the biggest ramen restaurant in the world, Naruto bowed his head and walked out the doors of the Hyuuga Household, ignoring the whispers of the other members of the unique bloodline in Konoha. He was going to marry Hinata-chan, the person he loves. The only thing he needed to do now is propose.
Turning in the direction of the mall, the Jounin couldn't help but think how he was going to pop the question. Should he do it himself or should he rent a big blimp and have the words flash on the side of it in big white lights? How about buying her a cake and place the ring on top of it?
'Naw,' Naruto thought. Women would want to watch their weight when it come to their 'biggest day of their life.' After all of the 'brainstorming' and 'speeches' he remembered, there was only one more thing he had to do.
'Hmm . . . ' Naruto wondered with his hands on top of his head as he looked toward the sky. 'What rhymes with 'Hinata-chan?'
A/N: Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Please excuse my spelling and grammar mistakes! I thought the steps of how to propose was a bit of a stretch, so why not make Naruto do it? Give me any thoughts you might have about my writing. I don't mind concrete criticism just as long it is in an intelligent manner.
Thank you for reading!