CHAPTER 2

Dinner was delicious. Naruto complimented the chef for making the best ramen in town. Then again, Ichiraku Ramen was always his favorite.

As confident as he was in every battle he had faced, he was nervous as hell when it came to dating someone. This would be his first official date and already, he was running out of topic to discuss. His eyes kept reverting to his date and every time their eyes met, he would quickly look elsewhere.

Hyūga Hinata looked exquisite tonight. She wore a purple V-neck dress, exposing her long neckline that brought out the color on her pale smooth skin. Her updo hair decorated with flowers ornaments. She wore high heels, giving her the standard height of an elegant lady. Though thick makeup was necessary to enhance her beauty, she preferred the natural looks.

Naruto, on the other hand, was shabby in his orange-and-black tracksuit.

"I'm s – sorry," said Hinata. Her hands nervously clamped together.

"Whatever for?"

"I – I overdressed for tonight's occasion. Oh, please don't get it wrong! Tonight is special indeed! I just wanted to dress specially for y- you."

"You don't have to apologize. I was the one who should be. Well, it is my fault for not dressing for this special occasion," he smiled guiltily.

"I should have known that you wanted a simple date. I – I'm really sorry." Hinata paused in her steps and bowed apologetically.

Naruto quickly bowed as well.

They continued to walk in awkward silence. Running out of topic to discuss, Hinata made the first conversation to break the ice.

"My family has reinstated me to be their leader and heiress of the Hyūga clan," she said. "I – I thought that my sister was going to take the lead. I guess they've changed their decision. I – I mean, I wasn't con- confident and in truth, it's not exactly what I wanted."

In truth, she has never wanted the position of an heiress to begin with. Since young, she was placed under the cruel and harsh trainings of the Hyūga clan. Her father had high expectations of her to lead. The kidnap incident, along with the lack of training improvement, had her father deemed her as a lost cause. As the result, she was thrown out of the high position and was replaced by her younger sister – Hanabi – as the new heiress of the clan. She was once again pushed aside from the role as Neji took the lead position clan during the Fourth War.

"That's great news! They've finally acknowledged you. Without a doubt, you'll be a great clan leader. I'm very proud of you. Congratulations, Hinata!" He posed a two-thumbs up.

It was not the outcome she was hoping to hear. He did not listen to the last part of her conversation. How she wished she could be more outspoken and obtained the ability to speak whatever that came to her heart and mind. Her lack of confidence has always been her struggles.

Yet those struggles could not be compared to Naruto's life. During the Fourth War, a mind connection was triggered between every shinobi and the Hero of Konoha. She saw one of his earliest memories and felt his hardship. Due to this, she wanted to ditch the Hyūga leadership role, and rather be with Naruto for he has no clan and no one to build a family with. The only heritage he has left was a name – Uzumaki.

Clouds was partially covering the moonlight, casting shadows on their path to the Hyūga's mansion. Darkness was never an issue for her as she has the Byakugan. Naruto, on the other hand, kept stumbling into small drains and stone paths.

"I hope you have enjoyed this date as much as I do," he smiled as they reached the main gate of the Hyūga's mansion. He scratched his head, trying to find the right word to say goodnight.

The gesture was cute; though she never wanted this night to end. She questioned herself if she should be the one to make the first move. Ino had mentioned that in this modern age, women needed to revolutionize their thoughts, approaches, and behaviors when wanting something. She called it – grasping the bull by the horns. Her cryptic words such as wet tongues and hunger feeling puzzled her even more. When Hinata asked her to explain further, she replied, you'll figure it out soon enough.

How soon is soon? she wondered. Ino's advice were not helpful. She continued to wait patiently as the Hero of Konoha kept gazing to her house, the lights, his feet, and the night sky – practically anything to avoid looking at her. Was he waiting for her to make the first kiss?

The level of awkwardness was building up, and if neither make the first move, the guards would be suspicious. Hinata licked her lips, closing her eyes and leaning in – lips puckered and ready for the action. She waited for him but found herself hanging in the balance. She peeked and surprisingly noticed that Naruto was leaning back. His face was rather shock in expression than an expectation of a kiss.

"I – I'm sorry! I – I thought–" she began to stutter, bound to shame for life. "Na – Naruto-kun. It's okay. This is just our first date. There is no need for pressure. We can have our second."

Neither has spoken a word after that. Naruto avoided looking at her overall. His features were more confused than it was before.

"I'm sorry, Hinata. I didn't mean to ruin this date. I really want this to be perfect. I–" he sighed, "You can hit me if you want to. I'm such an idiot."

The awkwardness grew tremendously, and it suddenly hit her – he was not ready.

"You really missed her, don't you? You miss Sakura-chan. You wouldn't ask this kind of punishment if you do," she paused and continued, "I'm sorry that my team couldn't be of any help. Shino, Kiba and I did our best trying to find her."

Naruto did not answer immediately, but his sad smile gave it away.

"You guys did great; everyone did," he acknowledged. "The deal with Sakura-chan is difficult for me to comprehend. I couldn't understand her decision to leave Konoha and turn against us. That's just not her."

"Maybe she has her reasons."

"Maybe she does. Mine stands the fact that she is with him right now, and it's been eating my conscious ever since. I apologize again as this is not part of our dating conversation."

Hinata remembered vividly on that day. Sakura was caught in the middle of the battle, trying to stop both sides. There was a brief exchange – not in punches but in words. She was too far away to listen, but she did catch a few words through her gifted eyes on reading lips.

"She said she was sorry, right before she was taken away," Naruto explained. "Can you believe it? Those were her last words. As if that would explain her reason to leave me."

She noted the strain in his voice, and the emphasis of using "me" instead of the village.

"What about Sakura-chan's final words to Sasuke-kun?" she asked. Something about his explanation did not link to what she has remembered about that day.

"What are you talking about? I was the last person she talked to on that unfaithful day."

"Except that it wasn't you, but Sasuke-kun," she shook her head. "I know exactly what I saw. Right after you were knocked away, I saw Sakura-chan mumbled something to Sasuke-kun. It was just a moment, but–"

"But what?!" Naruto cut her off before she could explain further. She jumped at his sudden burst of anger. Those friendly eyes turned into intense stare. His teeth grounded, waiting impatiently for her to explain as though he would eat her alive had she refused.

"I couldn't catch what she was talking about, but I did manage to get one word."

"What is it?" he demanded.

"It was your name."

It took every ounce of his strength – physically and mentally – to stop himself from turning around and stomping into Sasuke's mansion to beat the living daylights out of his friend.

Five years. He has been searching for Sakura – any clue, trace, or whisper that would lead to her. Yet such vital information was kept from him by the very person whom he trusted the most.

So much for friendship, he thought as he slammed the door of his apartment.

Naruto-yo, I sense your anger... A deep tone voice warned him.

"I'm sorry, Kurama. These acts of deceits and betrayal from Sasuke was too much for me to handle. I couldn't control my anger," he explained as he lay back on his couch.

If what that Hyūga girl said was true, then you understand what we must do.

"Ah, we need to find out what Sasuke knows; what he and Sakura-chan have been hiding from me."

Wake me up when the time is right...

Naruto grinned at the thoughts of Kurama's attitude – he was the type who would make a comment, and then sleep right after he was done talking. The beast might have said that he did not care physically, but emotionally he did. With the fact that he has agreed to help him on the trust issues of Sasuke evidently proved that he did care enough about the bond.

Naruto re-analyzed the new information that Hinata had recently shared – the involvement of his name. Indeed, it seemed suspicious now that he thought about it. Every time he had mentioned Sakura, the raven-hair shinobi would either kept himself in silence, avoid direct answers or change the topic. He was always told to leave the matter to the Anbu. Yet, there was no news about Sakura since.

Does that mean he didn't care about Sakura-chan? Impossible, he assured.

An Uchiha would never break their promise. Sasuke has made an oath to find her and bring her home, but he did not make any promise about not lying to him.

"Sakura-chan," he sweetly whispered her name, "just what are you trying to hide from me, and make Sasuke lied to me all this time?"

For now, he decided not to lose his cool. He would make Sasuke spill the truth on his own terms. Once he got what he needed, he would punch his friend in the face for wasted his time.