Sasuke looked at the scroll he held in his hands. It was addressed to him, in his older brother's hand writing. He almost didn't want to read it, but some part of him forced him to open it up, and begin to read it.

Sasuke,

If you are reading this, than congratulations, it means that you've finally killed me. I don't know why I'm doing this, maybe out of habit, or maybe I feel the need to explain my actions more fully. What I told you all those years ago was no lie. I killed our clan to test my strength, at the time that was all I cared about. I saw what I had become, and to some extent I loathed it. I was the greatest shinobi of my generation, I had gained everything I could have wanted, yet something was missing. As time passed on, I saw you train yourself so that you could kill me, it brought me a kind of ease, knowing that you lived, solely for revenge, and that one day, you might actually be able to kill me. After a while, especially after your graduation, I devised a new reason for you to live. I wished to pit my ideals against yours. I watched, as you grew closer to your teacher, and teammates and I saw that, slowly, your façade began to crack and chip. You started to see yourself as part of a family. That is why I wished you to kill me, in a way I wished to be proven wrong. I wanted to pit the strength of your 'family' against the might of the Uchiha clan. Sadly, it seems that I may have pushed you too far, when you defected to Orochimaru, I was disappointed in you, for while I hold no attachment to our clan, I do hold some allegiance to Konoha, despite my status as its most infamous missing-nin. Due to my loyalty, I couldn't let the sharingan fall into the snake's hands. The information, that you no doubt received, stating that I was near Konoha, was actually a trap to lure you away from Orochimaru, so that he wouldn't be able to posses your body. I know of your previous goals, to kill me and revive the Uchiha clan, however, I want you to think about life with the clan. Yes, there were parents, and you were happy, but was there love? I didn't think so, I still don't think so. That is why I don't want you to revive the Uchiha clan. I want you to start your own family, and find love, I don't wish for another clan that only values its members only for how strong they become. I want you to have a real family, that you love, and they love you back. I hope that you will consider this as my final wish, and grant it accordingly.

Uchiha Itachi

As Sasuke read over his brother's final request, he was able to gain a small amount of insight into the inner workings of his deranged brother's mind. He found a large amount of truth in the final request of his brother as well. 'I always felt as though Father loved Itachi more than me, and Mom wasbetter, but Itachi was right, I felt no love from them as a clan. Maybe…maybe he's right about this family thing.' Sasuke lost himself in contemplation over the scroll as night descended onto Konoha.

While Sasuke was coming to terms with his brother, Tsunade was looking over her own scroll. Itachi's words troubled her, it seemed as though he was loyal to the leaf still. He had outlined the workings of Akatsuki, and told them how the remaining members would react to his death. All of is information seemed credible, it had confirmed what Jiraiya already knew, and then some. Although privy to many secrets of the organization, Itachi didn't know the identity of its leader, or why they wanted the demon vessels. He had specifically gone over the procedure each member was to follow in the event of a successful capture. If the vessel was cooperative, they would be allowed entrance to the organization, so that they could use its great power. If the vessel didn't want to join, then a special process was implemented. It was a two step process. First, the soul of the demon was extracted from the host as well as the host's own soul. The demon would be carefully sealed into a member of the organization. That is why each member carried a tattoo copy of the seal that corresponded to which demon, they were to control. Itachi was to have the Kyuubi transferred to him, while Kisame was granted the Nibi, and a Stone-nin was given the Shukaku. While sealing a demon with the amount of power that the nine different tailed-beasts have would normally kill an adult, the members of the Akatsuki were different. Each member had a trait that would allow them to house the demons without dying. It wasn't explained how though, and that left a few questions in Tsunade's mind. And so, a very confused Hokage once again read over the scroll in her possession, trying to make sense of it.

Hiashi was greatly impressed with Hinata's improvement. He stared his daughter over, checking her form and posture. Everything was correct. He nodded in approval and called for a break.

"You did very well today, Hinata, I'd say it'll only take you a month or so to master the 'Hakkeshou: Rokujuu Yonshou'."

"Thank you very much." Was all she could say. She had recently quit stuttering around her father, but speaking with any kind of volume was still hard.

"I noticed that you were thinking a lot today, did something happen?" Hiashi asked.

"Hai, um Naruto-kun…asked me to go out tonight." She replied, blushing.

Hiashi was happy for his daughter. She had finally gained the attention of the one she loved.

"Very well, when will he be meeting you?" He asked, going from instructor to father mode very quickly.

"Ano, I'm not sure, we never set a time." Hinata replied realizing that her first official date with Naruto might not happen if he didn't remember to come.

"Well, whenever you two leave, please be back by eleven. Now, if you weren't planning on having dinner, perhaps we should join Hanabi." Hiashi replied smiling.

The aforementioned blonde was currently showering and cleaning himself up for his date tonight.

'I wish I had something other than my usual outfit to wear.' He thought. While the black and orange shirt and black pants were good for missions, he wished he had something a little nicer, should he have to meet Hiashi.'

He continued to ready himself for the night until a stray though crossed his mind.

'Oh crap! I didn't say what time I was going to meet Hinata-chan!' With that, Uzumaki Naruto franticly finished getting dressed, and ran towards the Hyuuga compound.

Hinata had just finished dinner and was getting ready for her date, when Naruto arrived at the Hyuuga compound. She quickly put on a Chinese style silk shirt, colored lavender, and some black pants. Quickly brushing her hair, she hurried towards Naruto, who was waiting for her, outside the main building.

"Ohayo, Hinata-chan!" He greeted her, when she came into view.

"Ohayo, Naruto-kun." She replied.

"Um, well, this is the first time, that I've been on a date before," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head "so I don't really know, what to do, is there something that you'd like to do Hinata-chan?"

"I already ate dinner, but…well; we could get some ice cream." The shy girl suggested.

"Okay!" Naruto yelled "Ice cream it is. Oh, by the way, you look very pretty tonight." He added, blushing a deep red.

"T-thank you, Naruto-kun." Replied Hinata. 'He thinks I look pretty!' He mentally squealed.

As the two made their way towards the closest ice cream store, they passed a shop, where Ino and Sakura were shopping.

"Was that Naruto and Hinata?" Asked Sakura. "Together. Was she dressed up? Do you think that…? ARE THEY ON A DATE?"

All Ino could do was blink at the two, and then try to calm Sakura down

The two teenagers bought their ice cream, and headed to the park to eat in relative peace.

"Ne, Hinata-chan, how is training with you father going?" Naruto asked, between bites of his ice cream.

"It's going fine, he started to teach me Hakkeshou: Rokujuu Yonshou and he thinks I'll be able to master it in about a month, but I don't know if it'll be good enough." She stated, reverting to timid Hinata.

"Don't say that, I'm sure it'll be great." Naruto comforted her.

Hinata's face suddenly hardened with resolve. "You're right, Naruto-kun, I just need to practice, and I'll learn to perform it with out any problems."

"Exactly!" Naruto replied. "You just need to practice it, and with your hard work, I'm sure you'll do fine."

They finished their dessert, and continued to walk around until it was time for Hinata to return home. Naruto accompanied her to the front of her house.

"Naruto-kun, I… I had a great time tonight." Hinata said, very softly.

"Thanks, so did I, um would you like to go out for dinner tomorrow night?" He asked nervously.

"I'd love to!" Hinata exclaimed rather loudly, eliciting a blush from the shy girl as she clasped her hands over her mouth.

"Ok, great, how about I pick you up around seven, or actually, when do you finish training with your father?" He asked.

"Seven o'clock would be fine." She replied.

"All right, then I'll pick you up at seven." He repeated. "Well, I should go now, have a good night, Hinata-chan."

"Good night, Naruto-kun." She replied "Thank you for the evening."

"It was nothing." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head nervously.

As he was about to leave, Hinata managed to muster enough courage to grab his arm and…kiss him on the right side of his face. Naruto stopped in his tracks. Hinata had just kissed him, and it was the first kiss he had ever received in his life. Hinata turned a violent shade of red, and simply said "Good-night" before entering the grounds to her house. For the next few minutes, Naruto stood rooted to the ground. He was in a deep state of shock after what had just transpired. He then began to walk towards his apartment in a kind of daze. He didn't notice that there was someone in front of him until he almost bumped into them.

"Sorry" he muttered, as he moved to the right of the road.

"Uzumaki Naruto" replied the figure "I wish to speak with you."

Naruto looked up and almost fainted, when he realized that he almost walked into the patriarch of the Hyuuga family, Hiashi. He nodded his head and followed Hiashi to his office inside the Hyuuga compound.

"I understand that you went on a date with my daughter tonight." Hiashi stated in a neutral tone of voice.

"Y-yes sir, we went out for ice cream and a walk around the village." Naruto replied, barely making eye contact.

Hiashi stared the boy over for a minute before asking his next question.

"Tell me, do you care for my daughter?" He asked rather bluntly.

Naruto's body jerked a slight bit at the question before he answered "Hai, Hyuuga-sama, I care for her a lot."

Hiashi once again stared him down before continuing.

"Why is that?" He asked plainly.

Naruto thought a moment, going through all of the reasons why he loved Hinata in his head.

"Well, for one, she's very nice, and she's always caring for others, rather than herself. Plus, she's smart and is very good with medical things. She's always there for you whenever someone needs something, and she's loyal to a fault." He was about to continue, when Hiashi cut him off.

"That's enough. I have something I wish to tell you. It was decided a couple of days ago, that Hinata needed to have a fiancée by her seventeenth birthday. I know for a fact that my daughter cares for you enough that if she had the strength of will, she would have asked you to marry her today. I don't wish to force you to do anything that you don't want to, but if you care about Hinata as much as you say, than you will reach your own conclusion, about your future." Hiashi said.

"Wait, you're saying that you want me to marry Hinata?" Naruto asked slightly confused. He was sure, Hiashi was about to kill him, for kissing his daughter.

"What I'm saying, is that Hinata loves you, and that she must be engaged in a years time. To whom, is up to her. I want you to spend more time with Hinata, and if in a year, you realize that you love her, than it would honor me, if you would become engaged to Hinata." Hiashi said.

"Wait, you'd be honored? I thought that the Hyuuga didn't like people like me?" Naruto said, getting more confused by the minute.

"In times past, yes, you would have been forbidden from seeing my daughter, let alone marrying her. However, there is a new council, and they wish that she marry some man of her choice. She obviously chooses you, but won't say it because of her nature. I would indeed be honored, to have you as a son in law because you bring out the best in her. You are her inspiration, and if she were to marry you, than she would undoubtedly become a great leader of the clan. I just wished for you to know about the decree by the council.

Naruto was dumbstruck. He didn't know what to say, he had just received permission from Hyuuga Hiashi to court his oldest daughter. He was, for the second time that night, in shock. He asked to be excused and headed towards his apartment.

'Hinata-chan has to be engaged by her seventeenth birthday, and Hiashi would be honored, if I were her fiancée. This is just weird. I do love Hinata, I really do, but…ARGGH, there shouldn't be any buts, I love her, she loves me. What's so hard about this?' He thought. Suddenly a thought from the back of his mind popped into the foreground. 'I…I'm afraid. I'm afraid that this is too good to be true, that maybe I don't really love her, and it's just some kind of crush. NO! I'm sure that I love her; I never felt this way with Sakura-chan, or anyone for that matter. I mean, we have a year, if things don't work out, than we'll know, and than she'll be engaged to somebody else.' He finished his thought on that depressing note. He walked towards his apartment door, and searched his pockets for his keys. As he unlocked his door, he once again became lost in thought. It wasn't until he closed the door, that he realized something was wrong. Feeling a small amount of chakra behind him, he spun around to find an exploding note burning itself out. As the note exploded in his face, he noticed that there was a pair of figures in his apartment. As he lost consciousness, he realized, with a tinge of horror, that they wore black cloaks with red clouds on them.

(A/N: Wow, this is the first one of these I've done, so I'd just like to thank everyone that has reviewed this story, and everyone who's put it on their favorite's list or their alert list. Please keep reading and please review some more. Any suggestions as to how this, or anything I might write in the future, will help immensely. Thank you and I hope to keep updating every weekend.)