A/N: Well, this is it. The fifth and final (and by far the longest) full chapter. I will also post the Epilogue tonight, since I was in the writer's groove last night and finished it. It's been quite a ride, writing this, and I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed it from my side.
Chapter 5
The two stood there, aware only of each other, for what seemed like an eternity. Not nearly long enough, by the thoughts of both.
"N-Naruto-kun… I love you."
There. I said it, what I've been wanting to say for so many years. Please, let him love me back!"
"I love you, too. You saved me from myself, Hinata-chan, when nobody else would."
He… he said it! He loves me!
And though her natural reactions had been damped by urgency, it is at this point that her shyness, combined with the fatigue and stress of the past day and a half, finally got to her. She passed out in his arms.
---
Much though Shizune would have liked to leave the two to their own private bliss, the world still turned. She delayed as long as she could, by setting up camp downstream a bit, around a bend and thus out of sight. However, as the sun set and Naruto carried a sleeping Hinata over to the camp, she realized that the young couple's problems were not over.
Oh, they may be happy together, but I know of at least one person who is going to object, rather strenuously. Her father would die before he saw a Hyuuga marry outside of the clan, especially to Naruto. We'll have to see how that goes.
---
Although Naruto was finally feeling the weight of fatigue from the past week's stresses and the last two days' effort, he found enough in him to get Hinata into a bedroll and find Shizune afterward. "Shizune-sama, why did you guys follow, me?"
"You haven't been yourself lately, Naruto. There are many people who have noticed your recent depression, and Lady Tsunade finally thought it was getting to a dangerous point. Hinata and I were sent out to keep you from killing yourself this mission. As it turns out, it was a good choice."
"You can say that again," he said with a huge yawn. "Man, am I tired. Am I still going to complete my missions, or should I come back to Konoha with you guys?" The weight of the decision was not an easy thing on him, between abandoning a mission for the first time or being separated from Hinata for the five days it would take.
"That much, you don't have to worry about. Our mission was to keep an eye on you for the duration of yours, estimated at seven days. I think you still warrant that observation, right?"
He smiled that huge, goofy smile of his. "Whatever you think, Shizune-sama." And with that he dropped from sitting straight onto his back, lights out as thoroughly as Hinata's.
---
The rest of Naruto's mission passed uneventfully, especially when compared to how it started. There were no more fights, the supplies were all in place, and all of them took the pace down several steps. After all, with the time saved in the opening phase, there was no need to hurry. Especially when each and every one of them knew the kind of welcome their recent revelations would find.
That week of relative peace allowed Naruto and Hinata to truly get to know each other. Say, rather, it let Naruto get to know Hinata better, since there wasn't really much about him that Hinata did not already know. What he learned of the past years only secured her place in his heart, filling him with a determination all his own.
---
"So, I see that all three of your missions have been completed. Good work, all," Tsunade said to them. She did not miss how close to each other Naruto and Hinata were standing, or how their hands kept on finding their way together, without them ever seeming to notice. Nor did she miss the fact that Naruto's old attitude had returned in full force, and that he had his mind dead-set on something. "Hinata, Naruto, you are dismissed. Shizune, I need you here."
The young couple left, hand in hand before they even got out of the door. "Shizune, what exactly happened out there, and what is Naruto gearing up for? I made sure to open up an hour for this, so take your time."
"Well, Tsunade-sama, I have to start by saying that you were correct in sending the watch…"
---
Hinata may have needed to go back to her home to report to her father, but that didn't mean that she was about to rush it, not with Naruto there next to her. Still, she was more than a little surprised when he accompanied her all the way home, despite that they had passed right by his apartment and Ichiraku on the way.
Neji and Tenten, though, were somewhat less surprised to see the two walking openly together. The word spread quickly among Naruto's friends, and soon all knew that their friend was back to his old self… and that he'd finally decided to stop being so blind and actually looked at Hinata. It was a short hop from there to proposed bets on how the inevitable confrontation between Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hiashi would go, although none were actually made.
Everyone who knew Naruto agreed that there could only be one outcome.
---
"Hinata, why have you brought Naruto here? This is the sanctum of the Hyuuga family. No outsiders are allowed here!" Hiashi nearly roared at his cringing daughter.
"F-father… Naruto asked me to bring him to you. He has i-information about his half of the mission that I do not know."
If I'd known your father was like this, Hinata, I wouldn't have given you that story to get me in here. Still, this is important. Enough that I need to try to stay polite to him. Even if it kills me.
"Yes, Hiashi-san." It was all Naruto could do to get that title through his lips, inadequate as it was. He'd much have preferred ending with –teme. "I can only say what I have to in front of you and Hinata-chan."
Hiashi's ears, long trained by the politics of his house, did not miss catching the titles, and the tone with which each was said. Still, he had to have what information Naruto had brought. Hinata's punishment could wait. "Fine." He looked sharply at the rest of the room, and the other observers left the three alone. "Now, continue."
"Hinata-chan saved my life in her mission. Saved me from myself, since I'd been on the edge of suicide when she caught up to me. I would like, now, to ask your permission to court her." Do all Hyuugas look that same way when they're surprised? Both Hinata and her father are wearing the same expression.
Hiashi broke the silence with a harsh laugh. "You? I think not. What future have you, orphan, to give to this family? Even were you Hokage, I would not let my daughter marry you."
Naruto's reaction this was fairly predictable, and started with his azure eyes flaring gold. What was somewhat less predictable was Hinata's reaction. Anger showed in her white eyes, but with one delicate hand on his shoulder, she kept Naruto back. He, who would do anything to keep from hurting her, immediately restrained himself.
---
Oh… father, I can't believe you went that far! This is it. If I never stand up for anything ever again, this would be worth it.
"Father…"
"What? You heard me clearly. I would not let someone with no future, no Bloodline, marry you."
"You… are not thinking about it closely enough. I agree with his claim, and had he parents to ask, I would have done so already."
Hiashi's expression only grew darker. "Hinata! You will not show such disrespect for your own father in your home, especially not in front of an outsider! I know what is best for the Hyuuga line, and he is not it."
With one hand still on Naruto's shoulder, her response contained all of the pain and scorn she had ever been stifled with, dripping with contempt as much as with the power of tradition and will behind it. Her words had not been heard in those halls since the founding of the family, nor have they been heard since. That did nothing to change the fact that she now invoked one of her family's most ancient laws.
"If Naruto-kun is not what is best for a Hyuuga, then a Hyuuga I am no longer!"
---
There was a deadly silence in the room. Indeed, the words had not been quietly said. They had been clearly heard by eager ears throughout the Hyuuga estate, and the same sense of shock permeated each and every person those words found.
"You… you would give up a life of privilege for that boy?"
Naruto spoke up, his words for once bearing contempt of their own. He would not be silenced. "Hiashi, I have seen what you call privilege, and I'd rather live on the street. Too much comes with it to let it be truly privilege."
"Boy! I did not-"
"He's right."
Once again, Hiashi was stunned into silence. Where was the shy, stuttering girl of the past seventeen years? Here stood someone who dared to even interrupt him, something nobody had done since the death of his brother, Hizashi. "Hinata, you would give up not only the privilege, but the security of a clan of the finest shinobi of Konoha?"
"We are both Chuunin, and it's not like Naruto is homeless. And in case you have forgotten, Father, Naruto has accomplished things that nobody among this exalted bloodline ever dreamed of, with no help at all. No tutors, no fortune, barely even a friend to draw on. That has now changed. I would rather lose my sight forever than live separated from Naruto-kun."
"Hinata, I can not stop you if that is your wish. But know this: you may never come back here if you walk out those doors. Forever more, you will never have a claim on our name."
"If that is the price I have to pay, then I have a name I prefer."
"What?"
"Uzumaki. I would rather be known as an Uzumaki."