A/N: I have been on an update schedule of about every two weeks, but I was rightfully chastised that this was too long between updates by Crystal Moon Princess. So, I have cut my next planned chapter into smaller sections so that my proof reader could edit and return it more quickly. Which is probably for the best since my handwritten notes for this chapter was exceeding 30 pages and my proof reader was starting to sweat. Once I get some more free time I will transpose my notes over to an electronic document, edit and upload the next chapter.

As to your question Crystal Moon Hime, I promise that by the end of chapter 9 the mystery of the birthday gift will be solved. I hope you all find the reveal worth the wait.

Disclaimer: You know the drill, I do not own Naruto. If did Sasuke would have contracted a bad case of pink-eye by now due to all of the eye transplants he has had.

With his lunch over Nara Shikamaru sits at his desk reading the most recent post mission reports from the teams that the village sends out to fulfill the various contracts. After the war he had been offered his father's old position as Junin Commander, but he had declined the offer saying that he felt that there were others with far more experience that deserved the post. Shikamaru did take the offered Junin Captain position vacated by his father's most trusted junior when he took the Commander's position. Shikamaru felt the captain position would be less troublesome and allow him a little more freedom to do other things till he was more ready to be locked into such a demanding job. Now he read the daily reports on how the teams were doing and looked for any information they may have gathered about other things going on outside the village that may indicate potential trouble in the future.

He was one of the few people who had actually read the complete report from Suna after the training accident. He was not surprised that the Hokage had left certain details of the incident out of the final report that was given to the council, but was worried that she was playing a dangerous game. If the full truth does come out the council could vote against her and try to have her removed from her position. The reactionaries on the council would try this, but the only candidates actively pursuing the Hokage position are the two the reactionaries don't want to be the next Hokage. It is amazing how even after all those two sacrificed during the war that some still see them as pariahs, fortunately there were not enough of the reactionaries to cause any real damage.

He took a sip of his tea and was returning his attention to a file when the familiar sound of boisterous laughter could be heard outside his front door. An unfamiliar shy giggle, that could only have one source, could barely be heard too as Shikamaru got up and opened the front door to his home just as they began to knock. There standing at his doorstep is an likely pair of shinobi; one a young man with bright blue eyes and spiky blonde hair and the other a pale skinned female with long dark hair and the pale pupiless eyes of the Hyuga clan.

"Seriously Hinata you have known that old lady your entire life and can you honestly say that you have even seen her blink? I mean every time I would look in her direction she was staring at me, eyes wide open looking for me to make a mistake." Naruto had both hands up to his face making a wide-eyed gesture while talking loudly about something that the young woman was finding to be quiet amusing.

"Well obviously you were not paying as much attention as you were supposed to be to Tinico-san." The girl held up a hand to cover her mouth as she began to giggle again. "I saw her close her eyes and shake her head a couple of times today as you were trying to recite the Fire Daimyo's lineage." Hinata had to stifle her giggles as she remembered Naruto and Tinico, the woman who has been teaching the youth of the Hyuga clan before they go to the Academy for many years, had gotten into a full blown argument. Tinico took her job of teaching the young very seriously, and while she had accepted Hinata's request to help her put together a curriculum for helping Naruto better prepare to be a Hokage, she did not take any disrespect from anyone. It was rumored that her father still avoided direct contact with his old teacher as well.

"Why the heck do I need to know about a bunch of dead rulers anyways?" He looks towards Shikamaru for help in this matter and quickly sees that the young man is not going to be of any help on this subject.

Shikamaru looks at his friend not for the first time this week with a tired look and he knows this will not be the last time today. It should be interesting to see his reaction to today's lesson. "You need to know this because the village signed a treaty with one of his ancestors and so we are subjects of the Fire Daimyo. It is part of the Hokage's duty to continue the good relations between the village and the Fire Daimyo and by knowing his ancestors you show respect. Also knowing the past between the village and his predecessors can help you cite precedents of how his ancestors handled similar situations in the past which may help calm a tense situation. The Lords require a delicate hand when being dealt with so you would be wise to listen to Hinata and anyone she feels has useful information that you should know."

Naruto looks at Hinata with a chastised look. "He is right and I am sorry Hinata. I should be more grateful for all of the help that you both of you are giving me, mission or not." His face takes on a more serious look. "But if she hits me with that stick again so help me..." He can't keep a straight face as she begins to giggle again and they both start laughing.

Hinata was thinking on whether to warn him that Tinico was a kenjutsu master in her youth, but decided that it might be more fun to let him find it out for himself. Besides she won't do him any permanent harm, unless he calls her old lady to her face. Lady Tsunade told her to make sure he learned to address others properly, so maybe this would be a good lesson.

She can't help but smile as she looked at Naruto, she was so happy they had spent the last few days together and had many more full days like these ahead of them. With the near constant exposure to Naruto she has felt less shy around him and her stuttering had nearly ceased in just the last few days. After her talk the other night with Kurenai-sensei she felt more confident about what she wanted and during lunch today she had nearly confessed to him again what was in her heart.

As they entered into the Nara family dojo they can see that several tables have been setup each with its own shogi board. "More of this Shikamaru, I thought we were supposed to be training, not playing more games?" Naruto's dislike for the game was obvious by the tone of his voice. "I mean we have played over the last few days and I thought it would be time to get serious with training." Behind him Hinata nodded in agreement to Naruto's question.

Shikamaru shakes his head and rubs the bridge of his nose before he speaks. "We are doing more of this because you have not even begun to master the basics of the game, let alone understand the games more complicated maneuvers. That is why we are playing again. I was assigned by the Hokage to help you with patience and tactical thinking. Shogi is an excellent tool to learn how to form a plan and to put it into action, but the player must also be able to adapt to an opponent's strategy. You have shown that you are skilled in being able to adapt in the heat of battle, but battle can often be won before the first kunai has been drawn with proper planning."

Shikamaru takes a seat and gestures for the other two to take one as well. He begins moving pieces on both sides playing a game against himself to prove his point. "Madara's plan ultimately failed because the Fourth Hokage made a move he did not anticipate when he sealed the Kyubi inside of you Naruto. His plan had been well thought out, but took too long to execute giving others an opportunity to adapt. A plan made too complicated will have flaws just like one made rashly and these can be exploited if the right counter is used correctly." He punctuates this by finishing the game with the loser, who had a tough defensive posture was outmaneuvered by the other player who had lost half of its pieces before breaking through.

Naruto puts his hands up in surrender and gives Shikamaru and defeated smirk. "Okay, I get it, you feel that this sort of training is important and I promised both of you that I would not argue and do my best." Naruto looks around the room at the other tables. "So are you expecting more people to come over and play, to show me different shogi playing styles?"

Shikamaru smirks at the question thinking that might not be a bad idea to try later once he can get Naruto to really understand the game. "Not today, after thinking about how you were able to quickly develop a new jutsu by using shadow clones I thought that you could use the same thing to learn the game quicker and we can move on to something different. I have set up six boards for you to play on and the last one is for Hinata." The Hokage had talked with him privately that she wanted him to work with Hinata to try and help strengthen her confidence. She feels that Naruto's presence has a positive effect on the girl and wants to take advantage of the situation. He has made the same observations over the years that the two of them seem to have a mutually beneficial effect on the other when they are nearby. The Hokage is afraid that unless Hinata learns to assert herself more then it could spell trouble down the road as more aggressive factions within her clan and on the council might try to use her timid spirit to their advantage.

Thinking back Shikamaru has to say that the Third Hokage knew what he was doing when he paired Sasuke and Naruto together all those years ago. If he had not, then Sasuke might not have had any connection back to the village and the outcome of the entire war might have been different. He might have fought with Obito and Madara to change the entire world. Again, a subtle move on the board that helped lead to victory.

Looking over at Hinata he gestures to a nearby table. "Also, I thought it would give you something to do Hinata. There may come a time that my other duties will interrupt our training sessions so I thought it would be nice for Naruto to have another opponent." He could not help but mentally sigh at the blush that colored the young woman's cheeks. He wonders if he should not have put her table in another room so that she might be able to focus on learning to play. Being in the same room as the Naruto might be too big of a distraction, but that would have been so troublesome to have to go between the rooms to play.

"M-m-me, play against Naruto-kun?" She liked the idea of having another reason to spend time together, but was unsure if competing against Naruto was such a good idea. Would he get mad at her if she was able to win? She was okay with losing because that is all she ever did growing up training with Neji and her father, but he was different. Naruto was very competitive and did not like to lose, and usually got frustrated when he lost.

Naruto turns and seems to hypnotize her with his blue-eyed smile. "Come on Hinata it will be fun, besides you are really smart and can show me what I am doing wrong against Shikamaru."

'He thinks I am smart.' She blushes and averts her gaze from both of the young men and takes a seat at the far table. "O-okay, let's play some shogi."

Shikamaru watches Naruto whose smiling gaze never seems to leave Hinata as she walks to her table. If he is going to have to deal with the emotional tension between these two, then he might have to demand this be an A-rank mission. Or at least get some extra time off once he is done with his part of Naruto's training. He does have that trip to Suna planned in the early spring to work with Temari on the final details for the next chunin exam. 'I wonder what she is doing these days? I need to respond to her last letter.'

"Hey, are you there Shikamaru? We are ready to play." An echoing voice brings him out of his thoughts and looks over to see six Narutos all seated and ready to play. He mumbles something about troublesome and takes his place at the first board.

A few hours and dozens of clones later Naruto leans back mentally tired and frustrated by how easily Shikamaru defeated him at shogi every time. "Man Shikamaru you are really good at this game, or I am really just that bad. I can barely scratch your defense before you take me out, but at least Hinata was able to give you some completion and last a lot longer. He dismisses the last of his clones and looks up at the ceiling with a smile not even noticing how his compliment made Hinata blush.

Shikamaru lets out a bored sigh and takes a seat across from Naruto. "Try not to let it bother you, I have been playing as long as I can remember. You made good progress today, but I think that we all need to take a break till tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, we will be spending part of the time going over the current political situation in the Land of Earth." Shikamaru does his best to just ignore the bored groan that comes from Naruto and looks over to Hinata. "I understand that today is your birthday. I hope that spending the day working with Naruto was not too much of a drag?"

"No, I enjoy spending time with Naruto-kun and today was a lot of fun playing shogi. I hope that my inexperience did not bore you too much." Hinata starts touching her fingers together in her old nervous gesture.

"Yeah, Hinata and I should be going if we are going to get any training in today before dinner." Naruto misses Shikamaru's head shake of just how clueless he thinks his friend is acting as he stands up and stretches. He looks over to Hinata and asks, "I hope you did not think that I had forgotten my promise." After she smiles and shakes her head he scratches his head and continues. "Did you decide where you wanted to go for you birthday dinner?"

"Y-Y-Yes, and I hope that you don't mind that I have already m-m-made the reservations?" Hinata shyly smiles as she joins Naruto at the doorway.

Naruto is actually relieved that she has already made a choice so that he did not have to come up with a plan. He only eats out at Ichiraku's and really does not have clue about many other good places to go for a meal in the village. "No, actually I am grateful that you did that so we won't have to wait for a seat if they are busy. What place did you choose?"

"I-I-It's a secret, I'll tell you when you pick me up tonight." She really hopes that he does not mind her being mysterious with the location. Kurenai had suggested that she do this when she had gone to her sensei for advice.

FLASHBACK

The evening after she had been given her assignment by the Hokage, Hinata went to see her old sensei Yuhi Kurenai for some advice. She had gone after dinner and her old sensei had greeted her with a warm hug and a smile. Thankfully the baby had been asleep and the two of them got to chat over some tea in peace. She loved Kurenai and Asuma's child like it was a little cousin, but she really did not know how her sensei dealt with the little bundle of energy all by herself.

Kurenai took a sip of her tea and smiled at the shy little girl who had become a beautiful young woman. "So what brings the flower of the Hyuga clan to my doorstep this time of night? I guess this visit might have something to do with a certain young boy by the way you are fidgeting"

Hinata choked on her tea and blushed deeply looking down towards her feet. "W-W-Well, I guess so. You see the Hokage has asked me and Shikamaru to help Naruto-kun to become better prepared to assume the role as the next Hokage. S-S-Since I have never been a teacher before I was hoping that you would have some advice for me on how to be a good teacher. The Hokage said if Naruto-kun fails then she will not choose him to be her successor and pick someone else. I don't want to be the reason Naruto-kun fails."

"Teaching is not an easy job Hinata, but the rewards can be very fulfilling when you can see that your hard work resulted in something that makes you proud. When I see how you, Kiba and Shino turned out it makes me so very proud that I was your sensei. All three of you have come a long way from the little kids fresh out of the academy. My job was easy compared to what you have been assigned."

She smiles at the unhappy look that Hinata gives her and lets out a small laugh. "I did not mean any disrespect to Naruto, but you kids were young and ready to absorb whatever knowledge that I was ready to dispense. Naruto is a man now, the hero of the war, and has always been a little head-strong which probably has not gotten any better." They both laughed at the mental image of Naruto with his arms crossed and pouting over some issue in which he did not agree with the outcome.

"You will need to find a way to keep him focused on his goal and he will need gentle reminders when he lets his focus slip on more tempting subjects. Just remember, to keep him on task you might have to assert yourself from time-to-time with him, just like if you were in a relationship." Kurenai could not help but add that last part just to see Hinata's embarrassed reaction. "Now coming to me for advice on how to be a good teacher was not the real reason you came to talk to me, there is something else you want to ask I can tell."

Hinata looks down with her index fingers touching. "Y-Y-Yes, I invited Naruto-kun to our Hyuga family dinner as a guest and he bought me two gifts, one of them was a beautiful kimono." The happy smile that blossomed across HInata's face made Kurenai feel like she was young again and she thought back to her first gift from the person she had loved. The memory of that day and the feeling that it brings is one of those things she holds onto dearly late at night sometimes when she feels all alone.

"When Naruto-kun offered me the birthday gift I asked him if he would wait and give it to me on my birthday. I wanted to see him again and thought that this would be a good way to make sure that he would come back." She looks at Kurenai, her eyes questing for reassurance that what she had done was okay and that she was not being too selfish.

"I think that was a good plan Hinata, and very bold if you don't mind me saying. So what is the problem?" Kurenai was so happy to see Hinata take such a step, even if it was a small one, to tap the potential she had buried so deeply under her insecurities as she grew up.

"W-W-Well, he told me to pick any place I wanted to eat and he would take me out for a birthday meal. I chose dinner and now I have to come up with someplace for us to eat and I don't know where to tell him."

"Then don't tell him." She takes Hinata's hands into her own. "Let me give you a little advice about men. Most men have a problem staying focused on one thing for very long, but you give them a little mystery they can't help themselves. Men in general get bored easily and their minds tend to wander if there is not something to force them to pay attention, but get them focused on something and it can be very difficult to pry them away. Understanding this principle helped to make me so effective with my genjutsu, especially against men. Stay a little mysterious and unpredictable with Naruto at times and watch him pay more attention, but just don't overdo it with him or he might get lost."

Hinata could not help but giggle along with her sensei. "Okay, I will do my best Kurenai-sensei."

Kurenai's face takes on a more somber expression. "Continue to be bolder Hinata. I know it can be difficult, but Asuma and I waited too long to express how we truly felt for each other and now I am the one living with the regrets. Like so many shinobi Asuma died without ever getting to see his child and if we had only been bolder we would have married and maybe had other children that he would have seen before he died." She tightens he grip on Hinata's hand. "Please don't let fear rob you of the happiness that both of you deserve." The two of them hugged and chatted for a little while before Hinata went home thinking about all that Kurenai had shared with her.

END FLASHBACK

Naruto stares at Hinata confused for a moment before he just chuckles and puts both hands behind his head as they leave Shikamaru's house. "Okay, a little mystery sounds like fun. I can't wait to find out where you have picked. Do they have ramen? No wait don't tell me it might ruin the surprise."

Along the way to the Hyuga training grounds they pick up a snack and talk about the announcement of the fireworks display set for midnight at the end of the New Year's festival next month. They made plans to shorten their training session that day so that they could check out the festival. Naruto was very excited about the announcement from Ichiraku that he would be serving a special ramen for that night only.