The day following Naruto's birthday, was a dreary one. The rain was coming down so hard that all non-essential missions and operations in the village were canceled. As such, the former members of the 'rookie nine' had the day off. Naruto went to visit Sasuke, since the Uchiha genius couldn't do much, and the majority of the group simply went home to rest. Ino and Sakura had dragged Hinata into Ino's house, since they had to meet in the Hokage's office, and the Hyuuga estate was a long distance from the office. There they locked themselves in Ino's room and began questioning Hinata about here whereabouts after the party yesterday.
"So, Hinata, Tsunade-sensai told me that you and Naruto went to his apartment after the party. What did you two do?" Sakura asked.
"N-no-nothing m-much," Hinata stammered "We w-went back and had s-some t-tea and talked about s-some t-things."
"Oh, like what kind of things?" Asked Ino, sweetly.
"W-well, we t-talked about t-tr-training and t-that was a-about it. H-he thanked m-me for the party though." Hinata answered.
"Oh and how did he thank you?" Asked Sakura with an evil look in her eye that said 'I know, but I'm gonna torture you until you tell us anyways'.
"W-well, h-he hugged me." She said, so quietly that no one heard her.
"What was that Hinata, I couldn't hear you, speak up." Said Sakura.
"He h-hugged me." The shy girl answered, blushing.
As the other two girls continued to press for information, Hinata eventually opened up a little bit.
"Hey, Hinata I heard some rumors that your father attacked the Hyuuga council the night before we left to get Sasuke back, is that true?" Asked Sakura.
"H-hai, although I c-can't tell you w-why, b-because it is a Hyuuga m-matter." She replied.
As the three girls were talking and gossiping in Ino's house, Tsunade was doing paperwork. Normally she would have been very angry, but this was interesting. It was the autopsy report of Uchiha Itachi.
The body of Uchiha Itachi is in such a condition that it is hardly recognizable. There is a hole in his left side and another in his back. The hole on his side is clean through his body, however the attack to his back is deep, but not entirely through. There is also a hole in his chest from a chidori. Between these attacks and the use of his life as seal fortification for the Fuuja Houin, it is impossible to determine the fatal attack.
Note: The body contains what appears to be a version of the Hyuuga Bunke Juinjutsu. Upon his death, the sharingan ability has sealed itself up. His body sports the ANBU tattoo as well as another one. The final tattoo appears to be a perfect copy of the seal used to imprison the Kyuubi inside of Uzumaki Naruto.
Personal Articles: Aside from the clothing, the body contained only two personal affects. Both are scrolls, one is addressed to the Hokage, and the other is addressed to Uchiha Sasuke. Both are enclosed with the report.
It was then that Tsunade shifted her attention to the two scrolls, spattered with blood. She took the one addressed to her, and began to read. Inside was a description of the Akatsuki's plans and why they are interested in the vessels of the tailed beasts. What she read was not in the least bit good.
Hyuuga Hiashi was meeting with the new council. He found the new council much more willing to implement change than the old one, and was grateful for it. As the discussion on the last item ended, Hiashi moved to end the meeting; however, the head of the new council spoke up.
"Hiashi-sama, we have one last order of business for the day and it concerns your daughter. As you know, 16 is considered the legal age for marriage here and before you get the idea that we are trying to marry her off, please hear us out. In light of her new found power, we do not think that it would be safe for her to stop her instruction, but we wish for the clan to at least have its future secure, at least in all outward appearances. What we ask, is that by Hinata-sama's seventeenth birthday, she have a fiancée. We will not force her to marry anyone she doesn't want to, nor will we set a day for her marriage. All that we ask is that she marry someone from Konoha, and be engaged by her seventeenth birthday."
Hiashi thought about what the council was proposing. It wasn't entirely unreasonable; actually, it was very reasonable.
"I will agree with only one additional term to be considered. If Hinata is considering, who I think she is, than he will not wish to marry into the family. I wish to make the marriage so that Hinata will still be the head, but that her Husband isn't forced to take the Hyuuga name. Other than that stipulation, I find nothing wrong in your request." He stated.
"Very well, I don't think there is anything wrong with that stipulation Hiashi-sama; we will allow you to inform your daughter of the council's decision at your leisure." Replied the council head.
"I have but one additional question regarding this topic" Hiashi asked "will this become Hyuuga tradition, or is it simply in the case of my daughter and possibly future clan heads?"
"We have not yet decided on any long-term plans yet. After we see the results of this we will make our decision."
With that, the meeting was adjourned, and Hiashi returned to his study to attend to other matters.
When Hinata returned that night Hiashi took her aside to discuss her future.
"What d-did you wish to t-talk a-about Otou-san?" Hinata asked.
"The council and I have reached a decision regarding the future of the clan today, and it involves you. Under the old council, you would have been married off in a few months as a political move. The new council has decided that you would benefit most from staying here and training for a time. Under the agreement, you must have a fiancée by your seventeenth birthday, however it can be anyone of your choice, and you do not have to be married until you are ready, also, this boy must be a citizen of Konoha."
Hinata was shocked at the news, but she was also pleased. The council wasn't trying to rule her life, and all they were asking, was that she have a fiancée in a little over a year. Plus, it could be anyone, that included Naruto, but one thing crossed her mind.
"Ano, f-father, I know it is custom for s-someone m-marrying into the clan t-to t-take the Hyuuga name, b-but I d-don't know, if the p-pe-person that I'm thinking o-of w-will l-like that." She said.
Hiashi's face softened a bit, seeing how thoughtful his daughter could be.
"I have dealt with that. Should your future husband not wish to take our name, he doesn't have to, and you will still remain head of the clan." He stated.
Hinata's eyes widened in surprise and happiness.
"R-really? Arigatou Otou-san!" She exclaimed.
"It's the least I could do for my daughter." He said smiling. "Now why don't you get some sleep, you'll have a tough day tomorrow." He said.
Hinata simply smiled and bowed as she exited. As she drifted off to sleep her mind kept playing images of her and Naruto doing different things, eating together, going out, and finally getting married. She fell asleep grinning.
Naruto was walking back to his apartment. He had just polished off twelve bowls of ramen at Ichiraku's and was feeling particularly happy. He kept seeing Hinata in his mind; it was like a movie, visions of Hinata smiling or blushing, or both. 'I don't know how I could have missed her before, she's so beautiful' he thought. 'She's smart, and quick, and strong, plus she has those eyes. They look like pearls, or ivory, or…I don't know, but they're damn pretty! I think tomorrow I should take her out for lunch, and tell her how I feel, I hope she understands.' As he entered his apartment and readied for bed he made a promise that tomorrow he would tell Hinata that he loved her. And Naruto never goes back on a promise.
The next day came with much better weather than the previous one. The sun shone brightly only occasionally being covered by a stray cloud as Naruto and Hinata met to train. As usual Hinata arrived earlier than her training partner. When Naruto arrived five minutes later and panting heavily, he saw Hinata practicing her Jyuuken with a training log. She seemed to be deeply in thought.
"Hey Hinata-chan, how are you?" He asked innocently, trying to see what she was thinking about.
"Ohayo, Naruto-kun, I'm fine, I'm just thinking about something my father told me yesterday."
"Oh, alright then, how about we spar a bit to warm up?" The blonde asked.
Hinata adopted a combative stance and waited for Naruto to make the first move. He didn't disappoint, charging directly towards her, right fist drawn back. She saw his attack easily and ducked to her right, in an attempt to land a strike to his side, but as her hand reached out, Naruto disappeared in a flash of yellow. Since her attack hit nothing, Hinata was thrown off balance. As she fell forward, Naruto re-appeared in another flash, and caught her.
"You okay, Hinata-chan?" He asked as he righted her into a standing position.
"Hai, I'm fine, but what was that technique that you used?" She asked
"Oh, that's the shunshin or body flicker. It's the move that I used to beat fish-face." He said.
"But I thought the Kyuubi was controlling you when you did that, so how can you do it?" She asked in a perplexed tone of voice.
"You know, I'm not sure, but I think it might be because of my ability."
"Do you mean like a bloodline?" Hinata asked, interrupting.
"Well, I wouldn't say that, mostly because I don't know my family, but whenever my body does a jutsu correctly, I can perform that jutsu perfectly again, without practicing. As far as I know, no one has ever been able to do that before, so I call it my ability." He explained.
"Oh, I see. You might be right, whenever I lean a new jutsu, it takes a long time for me to do it once correctly, and then I still have troubles with it sometimes." She replied grinning.
They continued their practice for a while longer, until Naruto suggested that they stop and go for lunch.
"Neh, Hinata-chan, where would you like to go for lunch?" Naruto asked.
"I don't know, what would you like?" She asked
"Well, I could go for some ramen right now, but what ever you would like would be fine."
"I know, you go get some ramen, and I'll go to the dango shop across from Ichiraku and then we could go eat in the park." Hinata suggested.
With their lunch plans decided, the two teenagers left to pick up their food and headed towards one of the parks in the village. As they sat and ate, Naruto's stomach was inverting itself rapidly despite having a good amount of ramen in it. 'What if she doesn't like me?' he thought. 'Maybe things will get really weird and we might stop being friends. Oh hell, there's no time like the present so just do it already!' he mentally screamed at himself.
"H-Hinata-chan, um can I um tell you something?" He stammered, scratching his neck.
"Sure Naruto-kun, you can tell me anything." Replied the quiet girl.
'Please don't hate me, please don't hate me!' he thought "Well, I don't really know how to say this, so I'm gonna be kinda blunt, um Hinata-chan I…I…I think that…that…Iloveyou!" He blurted out very quickly.
Hinata almost choked, fainted and cried when she heard Naruto's admission. Her body chose the fainting option. As Naruto caught her, and laid her down on the ground he was worried she had choked.
"Hinata-chan, Hinata-chan are you okay!" he yelled at the unconscious girl.
As he was panicking, Hinata regained consciousness in time to prevent him from running to get the Hokage.
"I'm fine Naruto-kun, it's just that…I…I think I love you too." She said her voice getting quieter after each word.
Now it was Naruto's turn to almost faint. Instead, he simply fell to the ground in shock.
"R…really?" He squeaked out.
"Hai, aishiteru Naruto-kun." She said, meekly.
He just pulled her into a hug and tried to hold back tears of joy. Although Hinata was a bit surprised at the sudden contact, she quickly returned the affection, burying her head in his chest. After a minute or so, they broke the embrace, a red tint to both of their cheeks. Hinata had to return to the Hyuuga estate for training, but the two agreed to go out that night to talk some more. As he watched the one he loves disappear into the distance, Naruto's only thought was
'I'm lucky to have found someone like her.'