Hey guys, I'm here with another chapter, I'm glad that people are actually reading this fanfiction of mine even if it's not that good. I was surprised that I actually got reviews and I'm happy that people are being honest with their thoughts on the story. So far people say it is good, except that they don't really like the NaruHina pairing. Hey, I understand some people don't like the cannon pairing, but I do since I have researched and 'looked underneath the underneath' in their bond and I was completely blown away by how deep Naruto's feelings were for Hinata.

Some people I'm guessing ship NaruHina, but I'm probably not doing it justice with how much I stuff into these chapters. Anyway, with that said please read and enjoy (or not) then give me an honest review.

I also have the poll open in my profile now, so please check it out!

Notice: I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden and every other franchise using its name. It's owned by Masashi Kishimoto.

Warning: For hardcore Naruto fans and theorists, this chapter will be using my theory on how Ninshu works, what chakra is and finally what he can now do with his Dual Nodachi.

Chapter 2: Old times, New lessons

February 5th, a month after the weapons purchase…

During mid-day in Konoha, we find our world-renowned knuckle-headed ninja walking towards the Academy for his daily Jounin lesson with Iruka-sensei with a stride in his step. Despite Naruto's initial reluctance to studying, he found that the things he has missed out on and the additional subjects about more advanced Shinobi topics were quite intriguing such as: the fundamentals of chakra explained how no matter what form, or what purpose chakra is used for, to its most basic platform it is still the same type of energy that is always connected to everything else chakra wise.

This law about chakra being a universal medium reminded him of Ninshu: The Ninja creed. How chakra was meant to connect and understand one another leading to peace, but was later weaponized into Ninjutsu. But from the memories Naruto has gained from his past ancestor and the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo himself gifted upon him, he couldn't help but frown at just how much more versatile and lethal Ninshu was than its modern counterpart.

He saw in his memories that often, Indra and Ashura, especially Ashura could manipulate chakra inside and outside of their bodies by simply willing it to do what they imagined as if it was second nature. Now Indra, being the genius who created hand-signs of course could be called the father, or progenitor of the base for modern Ninjutsu. Whereas Ashura, the good-for-nothing to a God-like entity inherited his father's will and ambition for peace that he mostly stuck to intended purpose of chakra with his older brother's influence mixed in; of course, Ashura used hand-signs but he found it easier just to manipulate the chakra within him or the environment to pull off jutsu through willpower and imagination much like Naruto himself.

His thoughts lead Naruto to one thing; could it be possible for the reverse to happen: the relearning of Ninshu. He remembered a conversation he had with Kurama two weeks ago during training.

Flashback

Naruto was in the middle of his daily training schedule. After he somehow gotten use to his constantly changing Taijutsu patterns, he began mixing in moves he managed to snag off Lee during one of their bouts and a few Taijutsu patterns he found from his Jounin studies recently to change things up.

He also gotten the hang of using his Dual Nodachi he purchased from Tenten a week ago. He found that they were an amazing substitute for his dormant Truth-seeking Orbs that he moulded into rods during his fight against Madara. He could now enhance the blades with his golden chakra; a side effect from the perfect mixing of his, Kurama's and the Six Paths Senjutsu Chakra he achieved from the perfect balancing of all the Tailed Beast Chakra along with the Sage's Yang power. What his chakra did to the blades aside from its golden shroud made the blades stronger, sharper, more durable (nigh unbreakable) and overall enhancing all of the weapons qualities bringing it on par with the Truth-seeking Orbs he once used. It even made it lighter and he could use it with more skill than the average user to the point he could deal 20 to 30 slashes in about one second. Although he was no way near as skilled as Sasuke, Naruto's unique way of fighting could still give him some trouble if they fought with swords now.

Suddenly he was pulled into his mindscape.

[In Naruto's mindscape]

A loud and regal voice filed the corridors

"Yo Kit, you've come along nicely so far!" Kurama complimented, which was rare so Naruto beamed.

"You bet I am! Just wait til I finish the new seal I'm working on to let you come outside my body without killing me so we can spar, tebayo!" Naruto excitedly said.

Kurama grinned in anticipation "Yes, I'm looking forward to that! To believe the little runt-sized brat grew up to be a surprising smart yet immature man in all but mind!" he teased back.

Naruto despite being much calmer than he was back then, he still had a short-temper "Oi! Screw you Kurama, I am a grown-ass man mentally too! I'm pretty good at seals now which is said to the hardest thing for a ninja to learn! How about that, tebayo!" Making Kurama laugh in amusement at how easy it was to make fun of him.

Once Kurama stopped laughing and Naruto cooled off, Kurama's presence suddenly became heavy telling Naruto that whatever the fox had on his mind was important.

Kurama began "Naruto, since we are training you to become the next 'Sage', I believe it would also be a good idea to revive Ninshu" Naruto was at a loss for words, he knew that the Sage and Ashura wanted peace through chakra connection but he wondered what the benefit would be if he did learn it.

"I know what you're thinking Kit, but bear with me and this will make sense." Naruto dropped his idiotic mask and paid close attention at what the fox was going to mention next.

Kurama continued "Ninshu was meant to create peace by understanding one another through a connection via chakra. What this basically meant is that your chakra and everybody else's is connected." Naruto nodded in understanding "You already know that Ninshu will allow you to use chakra for jutsu without hand-signs, which is what you normally find easy anyway." Gaining another nod from Naruto "What completely learning Ninshu will do for you is, allow you to expand your sensory abilities by syncing your chakra with everyone else's to the point you will be able to read their thoughts and feelings letting you know the best course of action to satisfy both parties; a handy ability to have once you become Hokage."

Naruto had stars in his eyes "Cool! So, it's like your Negative Emotions Sensing, but Ninshu lets me see the positive side of it right!?"

Kurama confirmed "That's basically what Ninshu will let you do for our desires. That's why I want you to master Ninshu, it shouldn't be too hard since you've done sage training which is a requirement to truly master it. There are some people who are deceptive to the point that they can smoothly lie without lying avoiding my Negative Emotions Sense if you know what I mean" Naruto nodded in agreement since he has had people who have somehow bypassed that ability and knowing that Ninshu will erase that loophole would come in handy.

"Well then, how you think I sure start off Kurama?" Naruto inquired

Kurama advised him "Well it's basically your Sage mode training, but instead of gathering Natural Energy to become one with nature. You are spreading your chakra's reach to connect with others, in other words making you one with the people. Therefore, do the reverse without leaking your chakra, you just want to connect with their chakra not let them know where you are"

Naruto took a determined look and left his mindscape to use the last 30 minutes uses to meditate instead to train in connect his chakra with others.

[Outside his mindscape]

Naruto began to meditate and tried to let his chakra touch others, but instead he ended up making a chakra flare alerting anything and anyone within the vicinity to his presence. Luckily, he shot out so much chakra, nothing could pinpoint his location within the 300-kilometre radius, it wouldn't do to have his fans bother him.

In the back of his mind, he heard Kurama sigh loudly saying that this will take a while.

Flashback end

It indeed took quite some time to get used to learn the basics of Ninshu but he managed to do it. The problem was that he was trying to connect his chakra to others, knowing that chakra from others has different signals, frequencies and essences that people unconsciously have a natural firewall against the connection, like an enemy trying to storm a castle's wall only to be pushed back by its defenses.

The trick was actually quite simply in nature: chakra no matter the differences was still chakra down to its purest; one and the same. All Naruto had to do was pre-program his chakra to connect with others, then filter out his essence and what made it 'his' chakra before letting it spread out to connect to other people's chakra. Since the chakra is 'pure chakra', it is readily accepted by other people's chakra and since it was originally from Naruto it made the connection allowing him to hear their thoughts and feelings. He finally learnt Ninshu!

Although Naruto was proud of this achievement after a month of practice. He was still limited to having to meditate to connect with many people's chakras at once. He could only subconsciously do it if he was doing a one-on-one conversation with someone, but it still took a bit of willpower to start the Ninshu process as Naruto calls it.

Once he arrived at the Academy, he walks into the class expecting to see a bunch of books and scrolls with Iruka-sensei. But instead he found only him.

Naruto greeted Iruka "Yo Iruka-sensei, what's going on today? Why are there no books" he asked.

Iruka warmly greeted back before saying "Well, I have something important to do today, so you have a day off today" Iruka happily told him. Though most of Naruto was excited not to have to study today, a small bit of him was looking forward to class as things got more interesting as he progressed.

Wanting to know what Iruka was up to, Naruto focused a bit on filtering his chakra after commanding it to connect to Iruka's. What he found out put a huge shit-eating grin on Naruto's face; half of it had to do was that Iruka-sensei confirmed that Naruto has gone through most of the Jounin material at a phenomenal rate to the point that Iruka needed more time to prepare more topics for him he said in his mind, at the rate Naruto was going, he finish his three-year course in one, but that wasn't what gave Naruto that face.

"So…. Iruka-sensei," Naruto started off slyly "You got a yourself a date with Anko-sensei aayyyy!" he teased.

Iruka went red from embarrassment and shock "What! How the hell did you know!? Are you spying on me Naruto!?" Iruka questioned whilst using his Big-headed jutsu.

Naruto gave a small chuckle clearly proud of himself that Ninshu works. "No, why would I do that Iruka-sensei. No, I have just been training myself in Ninshu" Iruka asked "Ninshu?" in a questioning voice, not because he didn't know what it was but rather what does it have anything to do with how he knew.

Naruto then explained to him what Ninshu was meant to be used for and how it'll let read people's thoughts and feelings, a handy ability for important political negotiations once he starts attending meetings. Iruka found himself quite impressed.

"Wow, Naruto, you have come such a long way from that little troublemaker I used to catch all the time" Iruka reminisced.

Naruto joined in too talking about his old pranks with Iruka earning a few laughs here and there. Maybe a few scolding glares from Iruka when Naruto mentioned how he had some ideas he wanted to try out next.

Eventually Iruka rushed out so he could make it on time for his date with Anko. Naruto still using Ninshu knew that he would be broke at the end of it since he had saved up to take Anko out to an All-you-can-eat dango restaurant.

Shortly after Naruto took his leave.

Somewhere near the park

With so much time on his hands, Naruto decided to travel towards an old park he used to frequent when he was a kid and to his surprise, he found Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji hanging around.

The old class skipping squad was back together!

Naruto became excited at the thought of maybe finally having some 'guy time' to fool around a bit that he loudly made his presence known.

"Yo! Kiba! Shikamaru! Chouji! How have y'all been!?" as full of life his voice could possibly be filled with.

Kiba replied happily "Hey Naruto!", Shikamaru smiled and mutter "Troublesome" and Chouji said "Hey 'munch' we've been 'munch' good".

After the rather loud greeting, they started talking about whatever they could come up with, such as how their lives were now and any missions the guys have been taking which somehow lead up to them joking around about how nice it was to be back being monkeys in the trees courtesy of Kiba and Naruto talking about tree huggers. The group laughed loudly except Shikamaru who gave a small snicker.

The said genius then out of nowhere came up with "Man, this reminds me of the times when we were back in the Academy" he said absent-mindedly.

Kiba went next "Yeah, I know what you mean, how we all use to skip class and sometimes help Naruto with his pranks or what not" he reminisced.

Chouji kept munching on his chips, but had a faraway look in his eyes obviously remembering the Academy days.

Naruto in one of his rare wise moments spoke up "Ah… Those were good times indeed. To think we use to be those children that we now protect… Remember that time you guys helped me with that prank on one of the Akimichi clan's main competitors in the Korean BBQ business."

Flashback Start

Ten years-old versions of the group

We find a young and upbeat Naruto bouncing around along with an equally excited Kiba though not as bouncy, a tired-looking Shikamaru and Chouji munching on a huge bag of chips. All of them were hiding in a surprising clean dumpster in the back of a Korean BBQ restaurant snickering about what they were going to do.

Naruto told them "Alright guys, you know what to do" he said and they all nodded before jumping out of the dumpster to initiate his prank.

Naruto snuck into the staff's kitchen undetected, taking a few bites out of what they had pre-made along the way. He his 'special ingredient' to the marinade, meat and other edibles if they could be covered up. He then replaced the ones that couldn't be tampered with rubber versions that looked real. Once he was done, he escaped the restaurant without anyone noticing that he was there.

Kiba could be seen adding extra chilli sauce to all the marinades and sauces. Following Shikamaru's advice and Chouji's knowledge about food, he added a bit of coconut flavouring to mask the heat.

Chouji and Shikamaru just waltzed in the restaurant asking for a table for two and ordered everything on the menu. Then when they saw Kiba and Naruto outside on a rooftop, they knew the magic was gonna start.

They people who starting chowing down on their food started complaining about the meat being too chewy like rubber, people getting up with the need to go to the bathroom after having one piece of meat, courtesy of the chilli Kiba added and the laxative Naruto added. People then started complaining about how this restaurant is a fraud for selling fake food for premium prices. At this point, Shikamaru and Chouji's part was now on.

Chouji suddenly had a 'stomach ache' with a loud groan of pain, Shikamaru quickly came to his aid whilst demanding to see the manager. When the manager came, Shikamaru told him that his friend was having a lethal reaction due to the poor food quality of the restaurant giving him 'food poisoning', with that the manager was panicking about how this happened since he made sure everything was perfect. Shikamaru said that if he wanted to really help, then they want the amount they paid for their meal to cover the hospital expenses (the manager was in such a panic that he didn't realise these kids didn't even pay yet) which of course included interest. Once that was done, Shikamaru was rolling a 'sick' Chouji out of the establishment.

The prank was a success and we find the group celebrating at Chouji's family's Korean BBQ establishment (the only other place that let Naruto in due to Chouza and the rest of the clan knowing the boy's father). They had a good feast with Naruto and Chouji coming to a draw, Kiba had long ago 'died' halfway and Shikamaru was asleep with a satisfied smile on his face. Not only did they have a lot to spend for the week, the prank indirectly helped the Akimichi clan's BBQ establishment's business boom due to the bad review the pranked restaurant had ever since. The best part was no one knew who did, except for a fuming Iruka-sensei who dragged the boys in front of class scolding them for skipping class some reason; okay, maybe he didn't know.

Flashback end

Back to their 17-year-old counterparts

The group laughed out loud at that memory. It has been so long since the old troublemakers had laughed to their hearts content like that.

Naruto continued once they all stopped laughing "… it's those times that want the future generation to experience, heck, maybe even better. That's why we are all here now, to ensure they get to live the lives we never were able to." He spoke in a sagely manner.

Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji who stopped eating his chips all nodded slowly letting Naruto's words sink in. They knew what he meant, everyone wants to let the new generation live happier lives than they led, never experience the hardships they endured and most of all appreciate life more than anything.

As the mood became more towards the serious side of the spectrum. Naruto as well as the others bid their farewells to each other.

That conversation ran deep into their hearts since they all shared one thing in common: they now have something more important to fight for and that is the future generations' prosperity.

With Naruto 20 minutes later

As Naruto walked back into the centre of town, he began to remember other times like his first mission to the Land of Waves where he found his strength from Haku, the Chunin Exams when he saw Hinata battle to her very limit against Neji and the most beautiful girl Naruto saw on the waterfall that one night; the thought of Neji came with grief since Naruto firmly believed that Neji would change the Hyuga clan, however, with him gone that promise Naruto made to him during the Chunin Exams rang clear in his head: when he became Hokage he will change the Hyuga clan via an alternative for the Caged Bird Seal.

The solution looked simple at a glance; remove the seal and that's that. But Naruto wasn't that shallow despite what he would say to maintain that image, he knew that the Hyuga clan wouldn't just get rid of the seal as it does protect their precious Byakugan, so what they needed was a seal that does the same thing just much better. He knows that only a Hyuga of the main bloodline can activate the seal, however, Naruto looking at the sealing stash he received from his mother's clan surprised him; his family made the dreaded Caged Bird Seal! Not only that, but it was incomplete as it could easily be modified by any run-of-the-mill Fuinjutsu practitioner claiming to be a Sealing Master when really, their biggest accomplishment was just the modification of an existing seal that happens to be 'improved' like an explosive tag with a bigger blast radius. It's not that hard to pump more chakra into the sealing matrix or, adding a chakra condenser function to the seal to get more out of the same amount of chakra.

Apparently, the infamous Caged Bird Seal was just meant to protect a clan's bloodline by other means rather than just destruction upon death. The notes from Senju, formerly Uzumaki Mito intended to design the seal to not allow anything about the bloodline to be taken, like for dojutsu users, if the eyes are in danger it'll make a barrier around it, if that's broken through and the eyes are taken, then the seal will make the eyes useless no matter what the thief does to activate it. For every other bloodline, any blood or other samples of your DNA that is taken outside of your body is automatically made sterile and obsolete meaning nothing is obtained no matter how large the blood sample. Also, for breeding purposes, any unintentional or forced means to reproduce the bloodline will cause the seal to render the bearer's reproductive functions locked meaning what Kumo tried to do with his mother, Kushina and Hinata is not an option. To top it off, the seal is unbreakable and impossible to tamper with once completed and placed unless you have sufficient skills which is around Minato's level, this is for several reasons:

The sealing matrix and composition would rearrange itself every five minutes and be unpredictable (it may look like an explosive sealing matrix or a rare barrier seal that doesn't work) whilst scrambling the real formula by spreading it with the decoy seals and the bearer's own chakra. Also, it only obeys the bearer's chakra and will meaning it cannot control anyone and Naruto was already looking to add a feature that nullifies any malicious sealing attempts at all. With the progress Fuinjutsu he has made in secret; the projects he won't tell anyone about, he has secretly worked on the Caged Bird Seal alternative and so far, he can confidently say he had outdone himself because his seal he calls "The Freedom Cry Seal" did just what Mito's intention was, but Naruto was still adamant on adding that extra function to nullify any sealing attempts on the wearer. The next problem was going to be the Clan elders who don't want to give up their power and traditions. He wasn't sure how to give it to them, he sure as hell couldn't just go in one day and request a meeting to offer it as a sign of a good friendship and say it'd look cool when they do that 'The Hyuga Clan is the Strongest in the Leaf' pose with the palms facing out with the 'Unity' kanji glowing on their palms. He needed to somehow get them to agree to having the whole clan wear it, but that came later.

Thinking back on Neji, he decided to go pay him a visit but first he needed some flowers for him and Hinata; he gets some for her every now and then since his death affected her the most. So, he headed to the one place he does know where to get them.

Mid-afternoon, Yamanaka Flowers

Business at the Yamanaka's has been at an all-time high for the last couple of months, though it has been slowly declining due to the loved ones' people have lost to the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

Ino when the store was empty, sighed sadly as she thought about her late father, Yamanaka Inoichi, oh what things her overbearing father would have to say and how proud he would have been of the fine Kunoichi she became. Years of wanting her father off her back, now she wishes he was here telling her off. It was even worse for her mother, who often tended to the flower who always used to find red roses planted by her father to tell her that his heart was always only belong to her and now that he was gone she would silently cry to herself.

A jingle knocked her out of her thoughts reminding her that she was still working. She warmly welcomed the customer but was shocked to see who it was.

"Hey! Naruto, what made you come here out of all places!?" Ino loudly questioned, Naruto sweat dropped 'All that fangirling must have strengthened her vocal chords' he thought.

Naruto replied with his usual grin "Oh, just needed a bouquet and a few lavender lilies" he answered. Ino's eyes shined with mischief "Oh, who's the lucky lady?" she asked slyly.

"Noone, it's for Neji" he waved her off, Ino piped down suddenly feeling a little guilty knowing just how big an impact Neji made in Naruto's life.

"Oh, my bad. I didn't mean to be…" Ino tried to apologise.

"It's fine really! I can see how it would be like that" Naruto reaasured Ino. Naruto, however, was still purifying some of his chakra and letting it connect to Ino's allowing him to read her thoughts and feelings, which made him do something unexpected.

"Oh, can you make another bouquet, one for your dad since you probably don't have time to visit him" Naruto offered catching Ino off-guard with how accurate his guess was.

"Really? You'd do that for me? Wow Naruto, you really are a good friend!" Ino gratefully thanked him. Naruto modestly replied that it was the least he could do for a friend and he wanted to thank her dad for his help back when he was a kid referring to his tough childhood, to which Ino nodded.

After getting the two bouquets, Naruto stopped her "Oh, can you make the lavender lilies separate from the bouquets they're for another friend of mine" surprising Ino again "Really? Who's getting these?" she asked.

Naruto replied "Hinata" Ino hid a smile "She's more effected by Neji's death than anyone else, so I thought getting her these flowers which reminded me of her quiet resolve to make her feel better and remember just how strong she is" Naruto reasoned, Ino had to stop herself from 'Awing' at the unintentional romantic gesture.

"That's sweet Naruto, I'm sure coming from you she'd be ecstatic!" Ino assured whilst hinting at Hinata's feelings. Naruto thanked her before leaving seemingly not getting the hint.

When he left, also said "I left a surprise for your mother" leaving Ino confused. Ino's mother walked in greeting Ino before tending to the flowers in the shop and gasped in happiest shedding tears of joy. Ino being a curious gossip went to check what made her mother so happy and found a red rose in the exact places her dad would leave them for her mother. Suddenly, Naruto's words clicked, he did this for her mother to let her know no matter what, her father would always love them. How he did it she would never know. Nobody noticed the seals that were put in place that allowed the red roses to appear in certain places at specified times of the day; when Ino's mother comes in the store to care for the flowers.

The Leaf Cemetery

Back with Naruto, we can see he had just arrived at in the area with a slight smile on his face at what he did for Ino and her mother. He quickly went to Inoichi's memorial stone to drop off his bouquet for Ino's family whilst thanking Inoichi for helping him when he went through trauma when he first got beaten by a mob.

Then Naruto slowly made his way to Neji's gravestone he shared with his father, Hyuga Hizashi. Naruto placed down the bouquet he had beside the white and lavender flowers place on it already, telling him that Hinata already made a stop here. Naruto then began recounting his day to the gravestone and what he has been training in so far.

Then came his deepest thoughts.

"Hey Neji, I finally have it down, a little bit soon though but nevertheless I can fulfil my promise I made to you back during our first fight together" Naruto said.

"I wonder what face you'd have right now if you were still here. Probably an impassive look you usually have, as if you were constipated 24/7" Naruto mused. However, a little white apparition appeared looking not too pleased.

Naruto then continued "I have the new seal ready to go anytime, but since I'm technically still a grunt and I'm of the Uzumaki clan who made the seal, the Hyuga clan probably won't even give me an audience to voice my solution. I don't know how to do it soon, but when I become Hokage, then I could probably request for a meeting. But you wouldn't believe that I, the dead-last of my year made the solution to ending the feud between your Clan's houses! You definitely be turning your robes brown if you were here!" Naruto joked. Until he heard a familiar stoic voice.

"Oh, really now! Whose clothes are going to turn brown!?" the white transparent figure loudly questioned. Naruto turned around and almost did what he joked about earlier at what or rather who he saw.

"AHHHH!" Naruto screamed, luckily no one was around at the time which was odd "N-N-N-NEJI! What are you doing here!? I thought t-t-that you were…!" But he was cut by the now reveal ghost-Neji's hand.

"Yes, Naruto, now before you ask I am dead, I'm just a spirit or in other words a ghost of…" But was interrupted by Naruto who tried to hug him but fell through him instead. Ghost-Neji shook his head in amusement "You still are and always will be an idiot" he said playfully. Naruto paid no mind to the comment with tears of joy in his eyes "Neji, I can't believe it! I can talk to you now! Say you live in the afterlife right!? What is it like? Did you meet cool old people who haven't aged? If that's so how's Ero… I mean Jiraiya-sensei!? And also…" but Ghost-Neji stopped him "TOO MANY QUESTIONS!" he yelled.

"But yes, the afterlife is quite stunning in short. I have spoken to legends who have passed, including the Sage of Six Paths and his son, Ashura which I am pleasantly surprised to see you have awakened his power. Master Jiraiya is doing well and is proud of you" Ghost-Neji told Naruto. At the mention of Jiraiya being proud of him he was brought to tears knowing that Jiraiya was in fact still watching over him.

Quickly wiping away his tears Naruto was going to tell him about how he can now fulfil his promise he made to him but was yet again halted in his tracks. Ghost-Neji confirmed to him

"I have already heard you tell me about the seal's completed status and your predicament with my clan. I'm honestly blown away that you've thought about that hurdle" Ghost-Neji said.

"Yeah, about that what do you think I can do about the Elders? I know now that they never hated me for the fox, but rather of my bloodline that allows me to have a natural and unrivalled understanding of Fuinjutsu if I spend enough time on it, which will soon lead to the riddance of the Caged bird seal." Naruto told him.

Ghost-Neji thought for a moment before replying "Contrary to what you may believe Naruto, your actions and heroics…" Naruto grunted at that last word since he couldn't save Ghost-Neji, he continued "… as I was saying… you reputation far exceeds that of the Hyuga clan meaning it'd be of the highest honour to have you in their home, so making a request for a meeting shouldn't be nerve-wracking but rather a breeze for you" Naruto beamed at how his fame can come in handy sometimes, other than half-priced items he still pays full price for unless Gama-chan is skinny or the seal he placed in his account tells him he doesn't have much left.

Ghost-Neji then told him "But what will be difficult is convincing the Main house elders to give up their ways as you have said. They want to hang on to power and traditions believing that makes the Hyuga strong when it obviously has done the opposite" Naruto nodded

"What I can suggest, may be a little extensive, but you could offer yourself as well" Ghost-Neji said with a devilish smile. However, Naruto tilted his head in confusion but still had that smile on his face.

Ghost-Neji continued "What I'm saying is you could if they don't want accept the seal, you could ask for my cousin's hand in marriage in return for accepting the seal" he proposed.

Naruto however, started pouting "Hmmm, that could work, but I don't think I can live the rest of my life with a random cousin of yours. I mean I know you respect that much but still…" Ghost-Neji then blew up in his face "You idiot! I'm talking about Hinata-sama!"

At the mention of her name and piecing together the topic of marriage. Naruto's face took on an atomic blush that would put anything Hinata had to shame. Naruto's incoherent sputtering made Ghost-Neji chuckle; a rare thing for the stoic former Hyuga genius to do.

Naruto then recovered "M-M-Marry Hinata!? B-But wouldn't that…" he tried to form a sentence.

Ghost-Neji took over the conversation "From your reaction, I can guess you do think of my cousin that way" Ghost Neji smiled even wider at the fact Naruto became even more crimson instead of denying it answering Ghost-Neji's question.

Naruto's face then darkened "But I don't think I should do that" he said, if he wasn't so absorbed in his thoughts, he would have heard a gasp coming from the nearby trees, something Ghost-Neji took notice of.

"Why is that Naruto" Ghost-Neji suddenly back to his serious demeanour "Why can't you be with my cousin? Do you not find her attractive enough? Do you have any dislikes about her that you want to bring up? Is she not good enough…" but Ghost-Neji was cut off by an enraged Naruto.

"No! That's not it" He defended.

Neji asked "Then what's holding you back? Why haven't you brought up her confession, seeing as she is now your best friend as I have seen"

Naruto then cracked under the pressure and stated spilling his heart out.

"The reason why I haven't responded to her confession is because I feel like I don't deserve someone as good as her" shocking Ghost-Neji and the unknown eavesdropper with his response. Ghost-Neji wanted to question him further but Naruto already began answering the unspoken question.

"She has done so much for me whereas I have done nothing at all for her. Not only that, when I first met her and told everyone including her I first thought of her as weird, I was lying! I just said that to cover up that was actually how she made me feel!" he shocked Ghost-Neji even more at learning that was a lie waited in anticipation as well the eavesdropper in the trees.

Naruto then calmed down a bit in a more heartfelt tone "When I first met Hinata, when I first laid eyes on Hinata I actually thought she was the most beautiful person there was in the world. That has changed with time and the more I learnt about her, her sweet and caring personality began to surface making her in my opinion a real-life angel who brought me joy with her radiance" impressing Ghost-Neji with his poetry and surprising him and the eavesdropper with his thoughts about Hinata.

Naruto continued "She was just so great, to the point that she was just too good to be true that the words beautiful would be an insult to her since she's more than that. She strong, kind, caring and everything the world could imagine in an angel. I always thought that there was no way someone like that could ever think of me that way. So, imagine how happy I was to learn that she loved me back the whole time and angry I was at the thought that I lost her right after."

Naruto took a deep breath.

"I wanted to start dating her, getting to know her personally and more. But when I went to the Hyuga Clan compound after the battle finished, the guards wouldn't even let me thank her for saving me" Naruto told them, at the mention of this Ghost-Neji was furious that Naruto, the man he respected most wasn't even allowed to see Hinata and the person hiding in the trees wasn't too happy either.

"One of them mentioned, how whenever I even get into her life, bad things seem to happen to her like her near-death experience during the Chunin Exams and the battle against Pain. It made me feel like that I just brought sadness to her life and I really do care for her more than me, so I thought that if I really do love her then I want her to be happy." Naruto admitted making Ghost-Neji and the eavesdropper smile as they knew he wasn't lying.

"But I heard it was her dream to be married to me, but I also know that it's her dream to abolish the Caged Bird Seal and reunite the Hyuga clan making them a family once more. One of which I can fulfil." He said confusing Ghost-Neji and the person hiding.

"The seal was the easy one, that can be done anytime now if I play my cards right. But Hinata is a being from a realm whose standards surpass our world's best. She deserves someone who can make her happy, someone worthy and is willing to fulfil every promise to her even if they are unwanted, but unfortunately that guy doesn't exist" Naruto stated with a grim tone. Ghost-Neji and the eavesdropper were shocked that Naruto thought of Hinata that highly.

What came next reminded them of who Ghost-Neji was talking to.

Naruto stated with a firm resolve "That's why I vow to become that man who is able to make her happy, encourage her to achieve her dreams and willing to do anything for her even if she doesn't end up with me. Why? I love her too much to ever weigh her down with me."

Ghost-Neji smiled a true smile before replying "If that's what you really think, then you are in my eyes, in fact, the whole world, you are already the only man who can be with Hinata-sama" completely throwing Naruto off.

"If you simply just said you are the only one for her, that would have been too easy to say. It's even harder to admit that you believe yourself to not be worthy or capable of ensuring the one you love lives the rest of their life being as happy is one can possibly be. Even then, you still find that you can be a better man for her if there is no other. So, I see that your love for Hinata-sama is one that can last beyond death." Ghost-Neji said with a satisfied smirk. Naruto however, stood wide-eyed.

Ghost-Neji began to fade "I guess what I have to say is you have my blessings and I look forward to when you finally become the man you believe is fit to be with Hinata-sama" he told Naruto before he disappeared leaving Naruto who was smiling to himself as someone saw him worthy of being there for Hinata every step of the way. With that he decided to head back home.

After Naruto left the Cemetery

The figure who was hiding behind the came out in the open, with teary eyes that they were trying to hold in and this figure who was listening was Hinata who was saw Naruto coming to the cemetery earlier and decided to hide as she still had some shy tendencies around him.

Listening to how Naruto really felt about her was the greatest surprise to her. Learning that he did have feelings for her so far back in the Academy days as Sakura theorised and she was right.

Hinata was also happy that Naruto thought of to be so amazing to the point he felt like he needed to be a better man for her. But hearing him vow to himself to become that man already made him the man that she would be happy with for the rest of her life.

But, she could wait a bit longer for Naruto. It was something he must do for himself, he has proven countless times that he was the only man who could ever truly make her happy. But never has she thought that Naruto needed to prove to himself that he was.

Knowing that, Hinata vowed she would wait for the time Naruto became the man he believed could make her happy.

Omake: Shrunken, but not beaten!

Naruto was hanging out with Sai one day, they were heading towards the public bathhouse for Naruto to give Sai some advice on what he could do to start getting Ino to see how much he liked her.

At least that was the plan... Oh boy here we go!

As the two young men settled into the hot water, Sai decided to have some fun and insult Naruto on his 'package'. It wasn't that Naruto was small, in fact he was actually many sizes larger than others to the point even the most adventurous of women would wish he was smaller, possibly due to his Uzumaki linage extending the period of his growth spurts and whatnot. For you see Danzo had informed Sai about everything he knew about the Uzumaki Clan, what was considered above average for them was considered small for them and this was apparently genetically pre-programmed in their blood. Apparently, that rumor was true as Naruto's outburst have proven so.

Sai teased "So, your the hero of the world and you haven't gotten yourself a girlfriend. Probably because you are Dickless!"

This had the desired affect on Naruto, he was furious saying he wasn't Dickless, he has one and it's decently sized as well.

Sai ended up continuing this for a while until Naruto out of nowhere used a Jutsu that made himself shrink. Sai was surprised and confused but didn't show it as he watch on.

Naruto them challenged him in a now high-pitched voice "Alright Sai, let's compare!" Sai was nervous as he actually never let anyone see his 'package', so he tried to talk his way out.

"There's no need to compare since it's obvious that you don't have a dick." He calmly said.

Naruto however kept pestering him "Oh come on, if you are so proud of yours, then you'll put me to shame, dattebayo!" he exclaimed loud enough for the girls to start paying attention, the ones who already were, being Sakura, Ino, Tenten, Temari and Hinata with a little blush on her cheeks due to the nature of the topic the two men were talking about. They heard Sai say something next.

Boys side

Sai said back in his usual tone, although he was sweating this time "Um... No I don't want to show it to you" he replied seemly calm but was panicking inwardly as he ran out of snappy responses.

Naruto in his mini size saw this and decided to drop the ultimatum "What!? Even in this size, are you scared its bigger than yours!?" Which had some of the girls laughing and saying 'oohhh' at the insult.

Sai finally gave in and stood up let the towel drop sucking in his pride. What Naruto saw made him sweat drop, all that teasing and this is what Sai had to hide.

Naruto returned to his normal size and bluntly said without realizing the girls were listening intently to know how 'big' Sai was (mostly Ino).

Naruto began "Really!?"Sai nodded with his fake smile somehow emitting pride in himself but came crashing down when Naruto showed his 'package'.

Naruto continued 'That's about five inches!" making Ino nosebleed and the rest blush at his size. But what came next blew them away, especially Hinata who was going to have some new fantasies.

"That's less than a third of make own size! And I'm talking in both length and thickness here, tebayo!" he shouted in triumph.

Girls side

"Oh my god, Naruto hides that thing!?" and comments like that were thrown around between the girls.

Except Hinata who sink into the water a bit more sighing happily. Daydreaming about Naruto letting her have 'it'. But she still couldn't help but worry.

'I always wanted him to be big, but I never thought that I'd wish he was smaller, especially with his stamina' she thought scared about doing 'it' with Naruto.

This wasn't lost on the girls who looked at Hinata worryingly with the same thought.

'I hope Naruto goes easy on Hinata." they hoped.

HAHAHA! Yeah an OMAKE! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

Yes, I know that Naruto's true thoughts and feelings were revealed a bit too soon, but I wanted to add a logical reason for Hinata still being able to wait a bit longer for Naruto's answer to her confession. I wanted to delay this revelation myself, but since I added Neji's ghost in this chapter. I thought with his no nonsense attitude, he'd wouldn't beat around the bush and would just in true Neji-style, straight up ask Naruto why he hasn't done anything to answer her confession despite what she has done for him, so, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to put Naruto in a situation where he spills his heart's deepest feelings.

When I did my own research into the practice of Ninshu. Many sources simply stated that it was used to connect people via chakra in order to understand one another. This lead me to give Naruto another task he must do in order to become the next Sage in Kurama's words. I even rationalized its importance to Naruto by adding in the fact that his Negative Emotions Sensing ability will only work so far since some people can just change their word up a bit to tell another story without lying. He will encounter stuff like this a lot when he start doing things like clan affairs and Hokage duties.

I hope you liked my theory and explanation of Ninshu and its abilities.

In the meantime, give me some honest reviews! Say my story is shit or good, I don't care, just shoot!