ACADEMY DAYS X - TANGLED THREADS

Yamanaka flower shop

There was a lot of work involved around the Shinobi Union meeting. It was such a big gathering, much bigger than what the security measures at the time could handle. But, with the work of the Sensory Unit, the new Police Department, and the ANBU, it all went off with no issue.

Now, it's time for Ino to relax a bit. Back in the flower shop, surrounded by flowers and doing what she loves. Some might think it's a step down, that getting behind a counter is less exciting than leading teams, managing personnel, barking orders… and it is. That's also why it's such a breath of fresh air.

The way Ino sees, it's exactly because she has such close contact with the people that she can do her job as a shinobi better. You also just need to relax in general.

Right now, the shop has a few people looking through the selection she has; some looking for bouquets for a loved one or a potted plant to spruce up the home.

One person she didn't really expect to come into her shop, ever, was Naruto. And yet, here he is, walking through the door, setting off the little bell, and looking around like a lost puppy.

"Naruto, hey!" Ino greets him. "What brings you here?" She leans over her counter with a smirk. "Trying to woo Hinata?"

"Uh, something like that?" Naruto scratches his head.

"What, just going to mildly impress her?" Ino chuckles. "Setting the bar low, I guess that's a strategy. Unless…" Ino steps back in faux shock. "It's not for some other girl, is it, Naruto? Tell me you're not-"

"Of course not!" Naruto interrupts in a louder voice than he intended. The looks he gathered make him shrink in his spot so he steps closer to the counter to talk more privately. "What kinda guy do you take me for?!"

"I'm just kidding, Naruto, geez. Alright, what do you need?"

He shuffles his foot on the ground, drawing imaginary shapes. "Uh, well, I was thinking, and I wasn't really sure how to do it and I figured since you run a shop and all that you could help although I dunno if there's a-"

Ino snaps her fingers to draw his attention. "Naruto. I can't help you if you don't tell me with what."

"I… wanted to ask…" He grumbles before looking up at her with eyes pleading for help. "How do I propose?"

Ino stares blankly. She doesn't blink for a good while as she absorbs his question. After a few moments of very awkward silence, a smile creeps across her face. The smile grows wider and wider into a grin before she shrieks with glee and reaches over to hug him.

Everyone else in the store raises the brow at the reaction.

Ino lets go of her death grip and addresses the patron. "Alright, everyone, the store's closing. This is an alpha level code red emergency." She goes around the ones present to hurriedly assist them with their purchases. "Grandma's birthday? Chrysanthemums." She picks out a bouquet and moves to another patron. "Hanging pots? Have to go with Begonias."

Once everyone is out, she flips the 'Closed' sign and locks the door, and turns around with a wide smile. "Alright, what do you have so far?"

"Um, nothing?" Naruto rubs the back of his neck, knowing he's ill-prepared for all of this.

"Oh, you poor boy." Ino gives him a sympathetic look. "We have a lot to work on."

"Hey, look, it's not like I had a chance to ever learn this stuff. Or anyone to teach me to begin with. And besides, Hinata's from a big clan so I dunno what the deal is."

Ino winces, remembering Naruto's position. "Yeah, sorry. I didn't think." She walks over to him and pats him on the shoulder. "But you are right; the Hyuga are going to need you follow some specific rituals if they're going to let you marry their daughter."

"It's why I figured I'd ask you. The Yamanaka are a big clan, too, right?"

"Yeah, but we're not really as stuffy as the Hyuga. Most clans kind of let the older tradition die out but not them. Alright!" She claps her hands and grabs chairs for them to sit down. "First things first. Parental permission. You have to go over to Hiashi Hyuga and tell him in no uncertain terms 'Sir, I wish to marry your daughter'."

Naruto nods. "Yeah, I don't think this'll work."

"Don't be stupid." She dismisses his worries. "Lord Hiashi likes you. In... his own way. Point, I don't think you have to worry about being rejected. If he was going to reject you, you never would've been allowed to live together."

"I guess."

"Next step is to set up a dinner where both families meet and exchange gifts." Ino takes a second to pause, seeing Naruto's hesitation again. "Although, I can see where that might be an issue."

"Yeah, I don't… really have a family." Naruto looks down. "So would it just be a dinner with hers?"

"But you do have a clan!" Ino tries to cheer him up. "You have a lot of people who care for you like a family would, right? It's gonna be alright, Naruto." She pats him on the shoulder. "That's something you can figure out with Lord Hiashi."

"So, for this dinner. Could we just-"

"No ramen." She cuts him off.

"Okay."

"The food at the engagement dinner is actually picked by the families, so you have nothing to worry about there. Each dish on the table is meant to represent a different wish for the new family. Like 'healthy children' or 'prosperity'. That kinda thing."

Naruto raises a brow. "Sounds kinda silly to me. Isn't food just food?"

"It is how it is." Ino shrugs. "So by the end of dinner, you two exchange ceremonial rings and congratulations! You're engaged!"

"That's it?" Naruto sounds surprised. "I thought there'd be a whole lot more ceremony and stuff, but it's just dinner."

"Ah, but my dear boy,"

"Why do you keep calling me 'boy'?"

"The most important thing isn't the engagement ceremony; that's just old, stuffy formalities. Where you really need to shine is the proposal itself! The beautiful moment when it's just you and Hinata and you ask her to spend the rest of your lives together! So, lay it on me. You've talked to Lord Hiashi and he gave you his full approval. How do you propose? And I swear, if it has anything to do with ramen..."

"I was… just thinking of asking her when we're at home."

"... At home?"

"I feel like that was the wrong answer."

"Good. You're learning." Ino sighs and drapes an arm over his shoulder. "Listen, Naruto, this is the most important moment of your lives! It has to be beautiful, unforgettable, romantic! You can't just ask her like you're asking her what's for dinner. Take her out for a picnic, or for a moonlit stroll, just… anything besides whatever you said."

"I guess I can think of something else." Naruto scratches his chin. "I don't really know what she'd like."

"Well, you mull that over. In the meantime, I'm going to show you around some good places to host the engagement dinner." She walks over behind the counter to grab her personal possessions.

"You don't really need to do that, Ino. You've already done a lot for me, I can look around for some places on my own."

"Yeah, I suppose you can. But one, I don't trust you enough to do that and two, I'm seeing this through to the end. I'm fully committed to you two becoming engaged."

-x-

Walking through the streets, Ino's already filled Naruto's head with more information than he can process right now. The engagement itself is a fairly short process but there's still plenty of etiquette surrounding it which Naruto is not all that familiar with, although Ino's surprised to find he knows more than she thought. Hinata must've drilled some manner into that thick skull.

She stops him in front of a particular establishment. "This one's pretty good, too. Food is good, the atmosphere is good, and you can make reservations so it'll only be you guys. All in all, this place is…" Something catches Ino's eye. Through the window she sees two overly familiar figures dining alone inside. She approaches and practically glues herself to the window. "Shikamaru and Temari?!"

Naruto stares at her. "I don't think this place is Shikamaru and Temari. Not even sure how that makes sense."

"No, you doofus! Shikamaru and Temari are inside!" She beckons him to come to the window.

Sure enough, the two of them are inside, enjoying a nice meal in each other's company. They also seem to be enjoying each other's company in general, being overly familiar and sitting very, very close.

"Hey, we can ask them what they think of the place." Naruto offers.

Ino stops him before he can go inside. "We're not doing that! We can't interrupt this."

A cough snaps their attention to the door. "May I assist you with something?" A man dressed in a formal suit stares them down. The question was more of a polite way to tell them to leave.

"No, that's quite alright." Ino pulls Naruto away. "We're just… admiring. It's a very nice establishment you have here."

"Not mine." The man mumbles as he walks back inside.

-x-

Continuing their walk through the streets, Naruto acquired a notebook to write down everything Ino tells him. Well, Ino actually acquired it for him.

There's only a few places left to visit to mark as potential sites for either the engagement party or even for the proposal. Reserving a fancy place just for you and that special someone could be pretty romantic in and of itself.

During this final stretch of their journey, Ino still has her mind on what by all accounts was a date between Shikamaru and Temari. All of her theories were proven true and she has a lot of work to do to find out all the juicy details.

As if that wasn't enough new information for her, in the distance she sees Sai. Nothing that unusual about seeing him walk the streets; he does that more than a person might expect. What one might not expect is for ihm to be accompanied by… a woman?

Once again, Ino pulls Naruto by the collar of his orange cloak behind a corner.

"You really gotta stop doing that!" Naruto complains.

"Shh. Look." She pokes her head, followed by Naruto. "Sai's with some mystery woman."

He has to look around to actually see where Sai is but his darker clothing is easy enough to spot out of a crowd. "Oh, hey, is that Yakumo?"

She looks up to him in surprise. "Yakumo? Who's Yakumo? And why do you know who Yakumo is?"

"Uhh, it's kind of a long story. She's Kurenai-sensei's student, before Team 8 and she's really good with genjutsu."

"I guess that makes sense. Then why's she with Sai?"

Naruto shrugs. "Beats me."

They watch for a bit as the two walk over to a particular shop, which upon closer inspection is a painting supply store. They stand by the window, which has displayed some paints offered, showing off the range of their colours. Sai and Yakumo enter and emerge not long after, each carrying a bag.

"Interesting." Ino smirks. "Very, very interesting."

"What're you two doing?" Kiba's voice startles them both, causing them to duck back further into the alley.

Ino breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's you. Don't sneak up on me like that." She smacks him on the shoulder.

Naruto points back toward the street. "Sai's out shopping with Yakumo."

"For real?" Kiba peaks out. "Guess they are both into painting."

"It's obviously more than that! Look how close she's sticking to him. This, my friends, is a date."

Kiba watches for a moment, giving a low hum. "I doubt it. Sai doesn't do dates."

"Yeah, I don't see it, either." Naruto scratches his heads.

"Well I didn't see either of your knuckleheads ever getting a date but you both did." Ino jokes.

Kiba smirks. "So if you agreed to date a knucklehead, does that make you one, too?"

"Not even gonna answer." Ino shakes her head before turning back to Naruto. "I think we're about done for the day, anyway."

Naruto leans back against the wall with a heavy thud. "Oh thank goodness. I don't think I could've remembered any more stuff."

Kiba looks between the two of them. "So, what are you two doing?" he repeats his initial question.

"Ah, well, I kinda asked Ino for help with some clan stuff." Not technically a lie. He doesn't really want to lie to Kiba, especially since he's Hinata's teammate, but for right now he'd prefer people don't really know about his plans.

"Oh? Does that involve spying on friends?"

Ino shrugs. "That was more of a side effect."

"Alright, I'll be leavin' you two to it. Thanks for the help, Ino. Seriously." Naruto gives a thumbsup.

"Anytime." Ino smiles.

With that, the Shadow Clone disappears in a puff of smoke. A lone notebook falls to the ground, some pages bending from the fall.

Ino facepalms. "Of course it's not going to travel with you."

Kiba laughs. "I'll get it back to him." He picks up the notebook and tries to smooth out the pages.

"Hey, Kiba?" Ino leans on his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"When are you going to propose?" She asks wistfully.

He nearly drops the notebook again. "W-W-Where's that coming from?!"

Hyuga household

Realizing that he left behind the notebook, Naruto decides to leave the job of getting back to a Clone. The real one had a much more important task ahead. Before he could begin planning proposals and dinners, he had to speak to one of the most influential people in the village.

The head of the Hyuga clan, Hiashi Hyuga, has to first give his permission before any marriage can go through.

He's welcomed into the compound easily enough. Sometimes he forgets he's now a clan head and so the way he's treated has drastically changed. An attendant leads him through the compound and to Hiashi's office.

She kneels in front of the door and knocks on the wooden frame. "Lord Hiashi, Lord Naruto Uzumaki is here to see you."

"He may enter." Hiashi's response comes from inside.

The woman opens the sliding door, allowing Naruto to go inside. When he does, the woman closes the door and takes her leave. Naruto steels his nerves and sits down in front of Hiashi's desk.

"It's been some time since we spoke." Hiashi sets his smoking pipe by his side. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well, I… uh," Didn't steel those nerves enough. "Heard Hanabi made Chunin! That's pretty awesome. Thought I'd come here and give my congratulations."

Hiashi nods. "She performed admirably. I'm often surprised by my daughter's growth. Both of them, for that matter."

"They're definitely somethin' else, alright." Naruto gives a nervous laugh.

Hiashi looks him over, taking in his reactions, his somewhat nervous demeanor. The Byakugan doesn't just see far, these eyes of his have been trained to read people; a skill useful to both a shinobi and a politician. "However, I get the feeling something else brought you here."

Naruto fidgets in his seat. "Actually, yes, sir." He clears his throat; can't sound hoarse when asking for one's daughter's hand in marriage, after all. "I, uh, I wanted to…" Terrible start. He shakes his head clear of the uncertainty which was never really part of his personality to begin with. "I'd like your permission to marry Hinata."

Hiashi has no immediate reaction, only staring him down with his colder gaze. Naruto tries not to break eye contact but it's becoming increasingly difficult; this man is way too scary, especially when he looks like he can peer into your soul.

"I see." Hiashi finally replies. "I'm pleased; I don't think I could have kept the Elder at bay for much longer." He chuckles lightly.

Naruto cocks his head in confusion. "Uh, so does that mean.."

"You've my full support, Naruto Uzumaki." Hiashi smiles. "Please continue to look after my daughter."

"I will!" Naruto bows deeply.

"And as for you…" Hiashi takes his smoking pipe and throws it through the screen door like a kunai. A girlish yelp and a thud follow.

"Oh, Father!" Hanabi enters the room, trying her best to act oblivious. "I wasn't aware you were here. My, my, what a coincidence. Oh, and Naruto, too! My, my, what a coincidence."

"You said that already." Hiashi sighs.

"Hi, Hanabi?" Naruto greets her apprehensively. 'How long has she been here?'

Hanabi sways innocently in place with a large smile on her face. Her movements become more fidgety and animated until she finally breaks and rushes to tackle Naruto in a big hug.

"So, so, how are you going to propose? Where are you going to propose? When? Tell me everything!" She barrages him with questions; her eyes practically sparkling from excitement.

"Hanabi!" Hiashi scolds her. "Mind your manners."

"Yes, Father." Hanabi lets go of Naruto and sits down seiza-style, although she's still too close to Naruto than proper etiquette would require.

"It's fine, really. I'm grateful to be accepted." Naruto smiles.

"Well, of course you are." Hanabi relaxes. "You're basically the only thing that's been on her mind for years."

"Hanabi." There's Hiashi's scolding tone again. "That's not something one shares with others, is it?"

"I mean, he knows, doesn't he? So it's fine."

"Yeah." Naruto nods. "I found out what a fool I was all these years. I've been oblivious about a lot of things; I didn't even really know how an engagement would even work." He rubs the back of his head in embarrassment. "I was told it'd be best to talk to you about that kind of thing."

Hiashi nods and reaches for his smoking pipe, remembering that he threw it through the door earlier. "It's true our traditionalist lifestyle might be a bit… stuffy to others, even to clans as old as us. Normally what would follow is a conversation between the two households, however…"

"Yeah. I kinda figured that'd be a problem."

"Typically in lieu of parental figures, the clan head would fulfill that role, but… that's you." Hiashi scratches his chin."

"Maybe I could just leave a Shadow Clone to act as clan head." Naruto chuckles.

Hiashi gives a hearty laugh, much to the surprise of both Naruto and Hanabi. "As amusing as that would be, I'd have to advise against it. It needn't be an issue. We might not be able to have a proper conversation but I see no reason for that to stop us." Hiashi stands up, evening his robes.

"Meaning?" Naruto looks at him in confusion, as does Hanabi.

"Follow me. We've a family gathering to attend." With just that, Hiashi walks out the door.

-x-

Hidden Leaf cemetery

"So this is what you meant." Naruto looks down to the graves in front of them, of a woman he doesn't know. "Is this…"

Hiashi kneels down and cleans the grave. "My wife, yes. I thought she should know her eldest is to be married. And you most likely have someone to speak to, as well, don't you?"

Naruto looks to the monument at the very back of the cemetery. A large memorial rather than a grave marker designated to honour the Kage who came before, in the shape of a stylistic flame.

"Yeah, I suppose I do. Thank you." Naruto slowly walks over to it.

"There's no need for thanks." Hiashi places a flower on the marker.

He and Hanabi then walk over to two other markers not far from his wife's. He cleans Hizashi and Neji's markers and they both place a flower for them, as well. Hanabi clings onto her father's arm and the two remain for a while longer.

Meanwhile, Naruto walks up the steps that go up to the Kage memorial. He takes a moment to soak in the atmosphere, trying to put his own thoughts in order.

"I'm sorry, mom, dad. I wish you could've met her. She's… something else. Kind, understanding, patient… Basically my exact opposite." He sits down in front of the stone. "Seriously don't know how I haven't said something dumb to chase her away. Guess I was due some luck eventually, huh?" He chuckles before quieting down for another moment. "There's so much I don't know about any of this, so much I want to ask you… But I'll do my best. I'll do all I can to be a good husband, a good father,... a good Kage. I'll tell you all about it over a drink when we meet."

Hiashi and Hanabi walk over to him.

"I'm sure they're already proud of who you are, Naruto." Hiashi clasps him by the shoulder. "I know your life has been full of hurdles but you no longer stand alone. Hinata and, by extension, we will be your family."

"Yup!" Hanabi hops over next to him. "I mean, someone has to look after you two, right?"

"Thanks." Naruto smiles as he looks down to the ground.

Shushu-ya

Later in the evening, something of a triple date was planned. Naruto, Hinata, Karin, Jugo, and Sasuke had agreed to meet up and talk; put the past behind them once and for all. The problem being that Naruto and Hinata are a couple and Jugo and Karin… well, there's definitely something going on there.

So, to hopefully avoid an awkward situation, Sasuke needed help.

"Thank you for coming." He turns to Sakura, both of them being the first to arrive and waiting outside for the two couples.

"Well, you needed back-up, right? We can be a 5th and 6th wheel together. Besides, we don't have that much time to catch up."

"Yeah."

The two stay in somewhat awkward silence for a while. Sakura has no idea what to say to Sasuke, despite all the years wanting him to be here and to talk to him… With everything that's happened, any topic feels off.

"Those four sure are late, huh?" She tries to make painful small talk.

"Yeah."

Okay, where the hell are the-

"Hey!" Karin waves to them, just rounding the corner with Jugo. "Sorry we're late."

"Oh, it's fine. We just got here." Sakura reassures her.

Sasuke and Jugo exchange a polite nod.

On que, Naruto and Hinata join them from the opposite side of the street.

"Yo!" Naruto gives a mock salute.

Hinata bows. "I apologize for our tardiness."

"It's okay, really." Sakura raises her hands in front of her. "We were only…" She pauses as Naruto gets closer. "Did something happen?"

"Huh?" Naruto cocks his head. "Why'd ya ask?"

"I dunno, you just… look different for some reason." Sakura leans in for a closer look.

Naruto tries to hide his face from the intrusive observation, his eyes subconsciously darting to Hinata. "It's nothing. I'm just…" He quickly flashes a grin and drapes an arm around Sasuke and Sakura. "I'm just happy we're all here to share a drink, y'know? Let's go!"