Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto because if I did then Hinata would have had been in more episodes.

The next morning Naruto paces nervously outside Ichiraku's ramen shop looking up and down the street impatiently. He was trying to come up with gift ideas if Shizune did not show up and knew he would need as much time as possible to find something on his own. "What about flowers? Girls seem to like flowers, but they would be hard to wrap and not make a mess." Besides that means going to the flower shop owned by Ino's family and that could cause more problems because somebody else spends their free time there talking with Ino.

"Maybe clothes, I know what colors she likes to wear." He starts walking towards a nearby clothing shop.

'WHAT ABOUT SIZE? DON'T YOU HUMANS COME IN DIFFERENT SIZES?' The voice of Kurama rings out in his mind with a hint of amusement. 'SHE DOES SEEEM TO BE A DELICATE THING AND HER FEELINGS MIGHT BE HURT IF YOU GIVE HER SOMETHING THAT SHE CAN'T WEAR, BUT MOST LIKELY SHE WILL BE TOO NICE TO TELL YOU OR EVEN TO RETURN IT FOR SOMETHING THAT SHE COULD WEAR.'

Naruto stops in the middle of the street and cocks his head to the side in disbelief. 'Wait, you don't talk to me for months and now you decide that you feel like talking. I am really not in the mood for this right now.'

'IF I REMEMBER RIGHT I WAS TRYING TO ADVISE YOU AGAINST A STUPID AND POTENTIALLY SUICIDAL COURSE OF ACTION AND YOU TOLD ME TO SHUT UP, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I DID. I DID NOT EVEN SAY I TOLD YOU SO WHEN YOU ENDED UP IN THE HOSPITAL LATER ON.'

Noticing the stares of people walking by Naruto walks into an alley to carry on his conversation. 'I am getting an 'I told you so' vibe from you right now besides you told me that I would die and I didn't. Besides the look on that guys face when I smashed two Rasengans together inches from his face was priceless. Till there was nothing left of him after the explosion I guess, but the guy was a real creep and deserved what he got after we found what he did to those kids.' He gives a shiver at that memory. "So what should I get her; a new jacket, shirt, or a cloak?"

'HOW WOULD I KNOW YOU HUMANS LOOK ALL THE SAME TO ME; SMALL, FRAGILE AND UGLY. MAYBE YOU SHOULD ASK THAT WOMAN RUNNING DOWN THE STREET.'

He nearly collapses in relief when he sees Shizune coming down the street waving.

"I'm sorry if you have been waiting long. I was writing down a list of everything I thought you might need or want to know for tonight, plus I had to make a list of everyone I have not bought gifts for yet. Let's eat and get started we are going to need to hit the clothing store first just in case they need to make any alterations."

They ordered and even though she eats with haste Naruto still wolfs down five bowls of ramen by the time she has finished her first bowl. "Okay, I'm good to go. Let's talk while we head to the tailors." She waits for him to pay for their meal and make his well wishes. "The Hyuga clan's family gatherings all center on tradition which includes attire, so I would suggest that we get you something that will meet those requirements, but also allows you to express who you are and why you deserve the honor of dining with her family."

He looks down at his usual clothing thinking that he had just bought this outfit after the last one got shredded in his match with Gaara. 'I guess I should not show up for a family style dinner dressed like I was ready to fight. Though I might regret not wearing my combat gear if I make Hinata's father upset and he throws me out.' He looks at Shizune and nods, "Okay, you are the expert here I will do what you suggest."

Sometime later at the tailors Naruto's head was starting to ache from looking at fabrics and making choices that he was not sure were correct. If Shizune had not been there, and had been so supportive, he might have just ditched the whole thing and apologized to Hinata later. Looking at himself in the mirror he had to admit that he was starting to look pretty good. He was wearing a white juban kimono under an orange montuki kimono with a black haori jacket and hakama. The seamstress said she could have the Uzumaki symbols stitched and ready in plenty of time for him to be ready for tonight's dinner. At first she would not take anything for the outfit saying that her son was initially killed during the Pain attack and was alive now because of what he had done. She told him that a single outfit was not nearly enough to repay her gratitude, but ultimately he got her to agree on letting him pay for the material cost at least.

While they were there Shizune had him model a few different outfits and after some verbal prodding he got her to admit the outfit was for Kakashi and that the two of them had been seeing each other over the last few months. So to help Shizune out he made a shadow clone in the image of his old sensei and the two of them worked together on figuring out the perfect gift.

After a little more shopping a gift for Hinata was selected and Naruto suggested that they take a look at jewelry for a birthday present. Shizune was surprised at his suggestion and thought the idea was a good one. They ended up at a shop that Lady Tsunade favors when she is in the mood for something flashy but tasteful to wear at events with influential guests to the village.

The shopkeeper immediately recognized Shizune and then Naruto second. "Welcome back to Senjima Jewelry Miss Shizune are you here on business for the Hokage?" He glances towards Naruto who has begun looking at the nearly overwhelming variety of jewelry laid out in the cases and then back to her. "Or are you here for personal business?" He adds with a mischievous smile.

Blushing slightly at the suggestion that she would be cougaring around with the handsome young shinobi she shakes her head. "My friend here is looking for a gift to give a girl for her birthday."

"Hey Shizune, how about this, it is really pretty and I am sure this would look good on her." He leans down to take a closer look and seeing a shadow he looks up to see the shopkeeper smiling down at him.

"Do you have someone special in mind sir? It is my very best and you would be hard pressed to find any better within a week's walk from the village. Would you like me to take it out of the case so you can get a better look?" He starts to slide the door open to reach in and take out the case.

Naruto looks over to ask Shizune for her opinion and becomes confused at the look of shock upon her face. "Are you okay? You are hungry too, right? I knew we should have stopped for lunch before jewelry shopping." He starts waving his hand back and forth to try and get her attention. "Shizune."

She blinks and swallows hard before replying. "Naruto, do you know where you are?"

"Yeah, we are in a jewelry store and I am looking at a really pretty ring." He is completely confused at what is wrong with her and is afraid she might need to go to Tsunade for medical attention before they finish their shopping.

"Naruto, those are engagement rings."

"Yeah rings, she might like a ring."

"SHE SAID ENGAGEMENT RINGS. WHY DON'T YOU LISTEN TO THE WHOLE SENTENCE FOR A CHANGE, BOY." Kurama seemed to be laughing, actually laughing.

"Yeah, rings. En-gage-ment… "The boy pauses as the three syllables have finally begun to coalesce into a complete word and his brain has become stuck on the definition of the word and its implications.

"Ring." The shopkeeper holds out the ring in its case for the boy to have a closer look.

The boy's face turns blue and he goes up on one foot in fright as if the ring was actually a poisonous serpent. "Ahhh… ahhh… ahhh."

Shizune now recovered from her own shock takes the boy's hand and leads him over to another section of the shop to look at something with far less implications. 'If I had not been here he would have bought that and gave it to Hinata. The poor girl might have ended up in the coma ward.'

After the shock wore off they were able to find a more suitable present for the young woman's birthday. Naruto was pleased with the selections for Hinata and thanked Shizune profusely. "I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the help you gave me today. I might have given up if you had not been kind enough to help and I have the notes you gave me and I promised to look over then during lunch." He holds up his completely deflated frog wallet and sighs deeply. "Can you ask Granny Tsunade to find me a mission soon? I am going to be eating instant ramen until I have the chance to earn more after tonight. I'll even do a B-rank mission, but please not a C-rank or lower if possible."

She pats the top of head as he bows. "I'll see what we can do, but after what happened with Gaara she is wary of sending you back out, so soon." She wanted to pull him aside and wanted to tell him more about how his recent activities are hurting his reputation in and out of the village. She decided not to say anything knowing that it would upset him before his dinner with the Hyuga's and most likely cause an incident if he decided to confront Hinata's father.

Shizune reaches into a pocket and hands Naruto two scrolls both of them have his name written on them with the familiar handwriting of his of teacher Jiraiya.

"These are from Pervy Sage?" He looks up at the woman with a confused look.

"Yes, he left them with Lady Tsunade to be given to you when the time was right and she felt that now was the appropriate time for you to receive his last words of advice." She bows and gathers her bags. "Good luck tonight and remember what we talked about, giving people nicknames is fun among friends, but people used to a certain level of respect do not always appreciate being addressed any other way."

Naruto barely notices her leaving as he stares down at the scroll. Memories of those years studying with his old master come flooding back to him and he swallows to push away the lump in his throat. He does not remember the walk home or even sitting down at the table as he relives what had been some of the happiest times of his childhood. He opens the first scroll and it contains some sort of legal document. He sets that one aside and checks the other scroll and it is a message meant for him from Jiraiya.

My boy,

If you are reading this then I am dead and hopefully your troubles with the Akatsuki have been resolved. I am leaving to check out where I believe their headquarters are hidden and to see if I can learn anything about their leader and hopefully what is their ultimate plan. If I do not return then I wanted you to know that I am glad we had our time together and that your parents would have been proud of the young man you have become. I have faith that in time you will be able to surpass me and fulfill my vision of a more peaceful world.

One piece of advice from an old man who has been around and seen so many things over the years. You often spoke of your future and what is in your heart and I worry that two of your goals might one day conflict with each other. You often spoke of a pink-haired girl with green eyes and I could tell that she holds a very special place in your heart just by the way you say her name. You also talked of how you promised to one day save your friend and bring him back to the village, but this girl you hold so very special is in love with your friend and if he returns you might never be able to be part of that girl's life in the way you hope.

Let me tell you about another young man who faced a similar situation and how he handled the problem he had with the girl of his dreams. The two of them were in a team much like the two of you and they grew up together, fought side-by-side through so many hardships and when the two of them were together it felt like nobody could stand in their way. He fell in love with his teammate and would have done nearly anything in his power to get her attention even acting like a fool just so she would look at him even if it was to yell. She cared for him too, but her heart belonged to somebody else and deep down he knew that was true, but the thoughts of losing her made him blind to this fact and over time his love became desperate and words were spoken that should have never been uttered. Later, during a mission, her lover was killed and died in her arms and no amount of tenderness could repair the damage done by her old teammate's hasty words and so he lost her twice. They went their separate ways and did speak from time to time, but never again like they had before the fight until a young boy came into their lives and forced them to look beyond those old hurts and once again to the future.

As you might have guessed those two shinobi were Tsunade and I. We lost so much time together throwing ourselves into our work and our vices to try and ignore the pain of being apart from each other. So much time wasted with nothing to show for it until we met you and we had something to bridge that rift and come to terms with our wasted time. It was too late though and we will never be more than friends, but at least after so long I have my best friend back in my life.

What I am saying my boy is that in time you might have to sacrifice one dream to make another come true. Make a better choice than your old master and don't lose her friendship, lovers come and go but something that special leaves a hole when it is gone. I know she holds a special place in your heart, but our hearts can hold a spot for multiple people, each in their own special place. I just don't want you to live a life of regret like I did; if I could have gone back and done it all over I would have kept my friendship. My life became a lonely one filled with meaningless distractions when she was gone; don't let that happen to your life. Maybe there is someone else out there for you that you have been overlooking while you have been focused on your one goal. Let's face it boy you tend to be single-minded and ignore everything else when you have a goal in mind.

If you truly want to become Hokage one day then you will have to look beyond yourself and see everything and everyone around you and how they fit into place. A Hokage holds their entire village in their heart, but not so closely that it blinds them to the needs of the whole.

There should be another scroll along with this one and I have named you my heir and all of the future proceeds to my book series will be yours my boy. Just remember me from time to time and toast a drink to my memory.

Yours,

Jiraiya

He sits there for a while staring at the letter letting his old master's words sink into his heart before standing up and going to a nearby cabinet. He pulls out a large half empty bottle of sake that he has been drinking lately on nights when he could not sleep and just did not want to think anymore. He pours himself a drink and walks out onto the balcony looks up into the sky and raises his cup. "Here's to you Pervy Sage. It looks like you had one last lesson to teach me after all and I'll do my best, but it is so hard to let go of your dreams." He drinks down the fiery liquid and turns to the Hokage monument and stares at his father's image on the mountain. "How about you dad? Do you have any words of wisdom to give me about a broken heart?"

Hinata and her sister Hanabi were nearby shopping for last minute items she wanted to make tonight's party perfect. Growing up the two sisters had not been very close and in many ways they had been enemies. Due to the family tradition that any siblings of the clan leader were to have the caged bird seal placed upon their forehead to ensure the loyalty of those siblings Hanabi saw what this had done to their cousin Neji. She did not want to end up being lesser than the child her father had called weak and a disappointment to the Hyuga clan. Hanabi had been praised for her strength and skill by not only her father but by Neji himself and was afraid that her sister would use the seal against her once she became the clan leader to silence a potential rival.

After the war Neji had failed to return alive and her sister had come back changed by the experience their father had made it formal that Hinata had proved herself worthy during the war to be the next heir. Hinata had went to her devastated sister and told her of Neji's death and made her a promise that if their father did not end the horrible clan tradition that as her first act she would abolish all current seals and promise that the clan would never again do that to a family member. Since that time the two girls had become closer and spent time together training or just talking.

Hinabi also knew from talking to Neji before the war and her sister afterwards that their dinner guest tonight had been instrumental in changing her cousin's heart, but also the whole clan's outlook in the old practice. She had begged her sister to allow her to come along today and help with purchasing the last of the needed items to help tonight be special. She had only seen Naruto from a distance on a few occasions but had never spoken to him directly and wanted to see for herself what made her sister's face turn red every time she mentioned his name.

They had already picked up the fresh ingredients for the last minute meal changes and all that was left was to pick up some fresh flowers for the centerpiece. The Yamanaka had a grower nearby that provided fresh flowers all year long from their greenhouse which also had a deal with the hospital growing certain herbs that would lose their potency if dried.

They were greeted by Ino who walked up to them with a big smile. "So, how did it go last night?"

Hinata blushed at the question knowing exactly what the girl was asking about and seeing the questioning glance from her sister. "W-well we just walked for a while and then we stopped to talk in the park."

"He sure did look comfortable with his head in your lap." Ino looked down at Hinabi with nod and a wide grin when the girl's mouth dropped open in shock when she saw Hinata's face go crimson.

"He-he fell asleep while we talking and I…"

Ino gave the girl a hug. "We were happy to see him looking so peaceful Hinata. Kiba won't say it but he thinks of Naruto like a brother and you like a sister and as we were walking away I heard him sniffing and rubbing one eye. He tried to play it off that a snowflake got into his eye, but he can't fool somebody from the Yamanaka clan." Kiba had been quiet for some time after that and just smiled that goofy grin he gets when he is happy. "So I guess you two are here for flowers for your family's big dinner tonight. Well we got in some fresh flowers this morning so look around and let me know if I can be of help, ever." She gives Hinata's hand a gentle squeeze with the last comment.

Hinata smiled thinking about her over-protective teammate and hearing Ino's words about how he had acted. She turned to see her sister still looking at her with a shocked expression. "Can we talk about this later? I'll explain everything later, just not here okay." Her sister nodded and they started looking through the available fresh flowers.

They were about done when the door to the shop opened and Hanabi noticed that something suddenly changed with her sister. She looked over and saw that Hinata's body had become stiff and her facial expression hard. On anyone else she would have said the person was angry, but she had never seen Hinata cast a harsh look at anyone so the expression was so foreign that Hanabi had to stare for a few moments before she was sure that was what she was seeing upon her sister's face. Hinata's body and face were positioned as if she was still trying to decide between two bunches of flowers, but her eyes were focused elsewhere.

Hanabi leaned out slightly and caught a flash of pink hair talking to Ino and knew immediately that it was Sakura, the Hokage's protégé in the healing arts and one of Naruto's old teammate's when they were training under Kakashi. She knew her sister had graduated in the same class as the young woman, but had no idea why her sister would react so uncharacteristically to the girl's presents. The two girls talked and laughed for a while before Sakura mentioned something about having someone over for dinner tonight and the two girl's conversation became whispers and giggling.

Hanabi looked back over to see that her sister had not moved or even changed her expression so she reached out and gently touched her hand. "Do you want to leave?"

Hinata blinked and looked at her sister. "Not yet, but soon." Once the pink-haired girl began to look around the store Hinata took what she had selected so far and headed to the counter.

Ino looked at the flowers and nodded her approval. "These are beautiful and should make a wonderful centerpiece for tonight." She smiles at Hinata when she picks up the bundle of orange flowers and wraps them up carefully along with the others. Hinata quickly pays and was halfway to the door when Sakura stepped out holding a bunch of red flowers.

Sakura smiles warmly at them both. "Hinata, I haven't seen you for a while how have you been?"

"Fine." Hinata replies flatly.

"Good." Sakura replies with confused look on her face and she turns to Hanabi. "Look how you have grown. I hear that you will be taking the chunin exam in the spring. Your father must be so proud."

Hanabi unsure about how to act, or what to say to this friendly girl in front of them, glances over at Hinata before replying. "Yes, he has stepped up my training lately to make sure that I am completely ready to make chunin on my first try."

"I am sure you will Hanabi, I remember Neji once saying how talented you were using the Gentle Fist Technique." She gives the beaming girl a genuinely friendly smile.

Hinata was unsure if Sakura meant that last comment as compliment to her sister or a dig at how Neji used to complain how useless she was when they were children. That was before his first try at becoming a chunin came to a halt when he was defeated by Naruto and his attitude towards the Hyuga clan was changed by the boy's words. Either way she could not look upon the person who had hurt Naruto so badly without the desire to slap the smile off the girl's face. How dare she walk around laughing and talking like nothing was wrong when he was out there trying to get himself killed to forget about how his broken heart. She tried to not wonder if he would ever think of her the same way he did over someone who obviously did not love him. If she thought about him not ever loving her that way she knew she would start crying.

"We need to get home and finish the decorations before the family dinner Hanabi." She looks at Sakura briefly before walking towards the door. "Bye." She was almost out when Sakura speaks again her voice changing from the friendly tone to one more serious and heartfelt.

"Hinata, if you see… well I just wanted…" The girl seemed unsure of what to say or even how. "Happy Holiday." She gives Hinata a friendly smile, but her eyes showed that she wanted to say so much more. Hinata just turns without replying and leaves the store before she says something she might one day regret.

Hanabi struggles to keep up with her sister's pace. "Can you explain to me why you were so freaked out back there? I have never seen you act rudely to anyone in my life." Hanabi could not think of anything that this girl who was highly respected in the village could have possibly done to have made her sister act in such a hostile manner. She did not even talk about the man who killed Neji to prove a point in such a blatantly hostile tone.

Hinata turned and addressed her sister with red rimmed eyes her lips set in a hard line. "Don't, just don't ask me about what happened back there and don't you ever say a word about this to anyone or I will never forgive you okay." She turns and heads home her happy mood destroyed by one chance encounter.

Hanabi hurt by her sister's tone followed closely behind and decided to find out what could one person possibly do make the porcelain doll of the Hyuga Clan turn to iron by her very presence. The question was who to ask without breaking her promise to never say anything about what had just happened at the flower shop. She was beginning to wonder if all of this had something to do with Naruto since Sakura had once been his teammate. Since the end of the War she had wished her cousin was still alive, at this moment she would have given just about anything to talk to Neji. She was sure that he would have known what was wrong with her sister and how to fix the problem and make her smile again. Tomorrow she would go back to the flower shop after practice and talk to Ino since she is a notorious gossip and had witnessed her sister's rude behavior.