A/N: As you can see I am back from my vacation. I did not get much reading or writing done while I was away, but I did get some time to organize my thoughts on the story as I drove the family truckster for several hours to and from our vacation destination. Thanks to that time I was able to write and edit this new chapter at a fairly fast pace, for me at least, and get this new arc started off pretty well.

Also, I reached the 600 review mark with chapter 33. YEAH! Congratulations to PotassiumNitrate for being number 600.

Anyways, enjoy reading the first chapter of this new arc while I head back to my writing desk.

Inside the waiting room at the Leaf Village Hospital Hyuga Hinata is waiting for her name to be called. She is doing her best to not let the nervousness she is feeling be evident to the man sitting beside her, or to any of the other people in the waiting room. To give herself an outlet she strikes up a conversation with Kira, hoping that talking to a familiar face will distract her from why she is here and from whom she might inevitably run into. "Kira, you don't need to stay here with me, because it might be a while before I am called. I-I-I don't want to keep you from your duties."

Kira shakes his head before replying. "I am doing my duty Hyuga-sama. When our clan leader ordered you to come to the hospital this morning, I was just coming off of guard duty and was happy to volunteer to come along and keep you company. He then told me to make sure that you came here to have that arm looked at, and I was to take no protestations of you being fine as an excuse. I am sorry but he was very clear in his instructions."

Kira gives a little shrug. "Anyways, I am here to get my physical exam done for my application into the ANBU black ops, so it works out for me to come along with you and get this done as well."

Hinata looks over and gives him a genuine smile. "That is such good news, Kira. You are one of the veterans of the last war too and deserve such an opportunity." After he gives her a bow of thanks Hinata claps her hands together. "I will talk with otou-sama tonight, and if he hasn't already written you a letter of recommendation I will ask him if he will, to give you a better chance of receiving the promotion."

Kira bows again. "You are too kind Hyuga-sama." He then looks up at her curiously. "If you don't mine me asking, how does it feel to have the new best time for the combat test in the Diplomatic Division's entrance exams? Even those members of the Hyuga clan who are not in the Diplomatic Division have heard rumors about your score."

Hinata turns away and blushes brightly. "I-I-I was just doing my best." She begins to nervously touch her index fingers together. "I guess I just got a little… carried away that's all." Hinata feels her blush deepen as she thinks about the test. 'Otou-sama was probably right, I was just trying to show off a little, and what I had done was not really a sound tactical plan. If I had not been successful, then I would have been in a bad position for a counter-attack.'

"I hope that you don't mind me asking this Hyuga-sama, but are the rumors about what the Proctor said to you true?" Kira smirks slightly, but quickly reverts his features to the normal Hygua stone-like stare as he glances around at the rest of the people in the room to make sure that nobody was trying to listen in on their private conversation.

Hinata covers her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Yes, he said that if he knew I was going to be done so quick he would have not bothered to try and take notes, either that, or just have sent in more people for me to fight."

The test had been a 'what if scenario' about where the person she was to be assisting in negotiations had been kidnapped by a rogue-nin leading a small group of revolutionaries that were wearing strange black masks that obscured their facial features, even from her byakugan. 'I guess it was done to frighten me, since I could not see the face of my opponent, or maybe it was done so that I would not know who I was fighting, and could predict their attack.'

Her mission was to locate the hostage, take out the kidnappers and get the target out alive. It had gone fairly easily really, she played on the fact that the people she was testing against had personal knowledge about her, not only about her kekkei genkai but her penchant for being very timid as well. She had used her byakugan to pinpoint the exact location of everyone, and then placed herself in a position where it was very tempting to surround her and to attempt to overwhelm her with their sheer numbers.

Taking the bait had been a poor tactical choice against a veteran of the Fourth Shinobi War, who had fought against the nearly overwhelming numbers of the white zetsu army. 'Plus, I have sparred against waves of Uzumaki Naruto's shadow clones to practice using my Water Transformation jutsus for a number of months now. So I let them think they had me surrounded, but really they were lining themselves us for my attack.'

Only one of the six, the rogue-nin, had stayed with the hostage while the others had moved quickly into position. After a quick jutsu, and a graceful spin, five orbs of chakra infused water had flown away and taken out her would-be attackers through the walls that they had been using as cover. Fortunately, for them she had held back a little and only put enough force into her attack to knock them out of the fight, but not do any permanent damage. 'Nobody but my old teammates, otou-sama, and my boyfriend have seen my new jutsu so the kidnappers were not prepared for me to attack them from a distance through a wall, instead of using my gentle fist attack to take them out one at a time.'

The fight with the remaining masked kidnapper went okay, except for one odd twist. The rogue-nin had used some sort of earth style stoneskin technique that she had disregarded at first, in her attempt to knock him out just as quickly as the others. Her first palm attack had no effect on her target's chakra points since the armor was also filled with chakra that had negated her gentle fist attack. Her opponent had then made a back handed swipe with an armored fist that had struck her in the forearm, sending a jolt of pain up her arm from the damage done to the bone and to at least one of her chakra points, nearly rendering the arm useless.

She had used the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm with her other hand to knock him away from herself, and the hostage, to give herself a moment to recover. She was thankfully able to use the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fist to continue fighting since it did not require her to make a hand sign to use. It had been her plan from the start to try and beat the record time for finishing this scenario in a bid to maximize her score, plus to try and engage the final kidnapper before he thought of killing the hostage. So with the hostage and the kidnapper safely separated, she had launched an attack before he could use jutsu that could harm the hostage and ruin her score. Doing this had made her momentarily think of her boyfriend and how this would have been the exact thing that he would have done, rushing at an opponent without any hesitation. Not too long ago she would have paused before attacking, probably for too long, and given her opponent an opening.

Seeing her rushing towards him, two great blue lion's heads surrounding her hands, must have unnerved the pseudo rogue-nin because he had quickly surrendered. 'Maybe he wasn't sure if his armor was capable of withstanding an assault from one of the Hyuga clan's secret techniques, I don't know. I am just glad that I didn't have to find out.'

Hinata was relieved that he had surrendered without a fight, because the pain from the damaged chakra point in her arm was making it very difficult to maintain the jutsu, and she was unsure just how many strikes she could make before the jutsu completely faltered. 'If he had called my bluff and continued to fight I don't think that I would have been able to beat the record time, or ever worse I might have failed the test if my Lion Fists could not defeat his armor jutsu.'

"I guess they will have to increase the difficulty level the next time a member of the Hyuga Clan's main branch is taking that test?" Kira gives the barest of smirks as Hinata lets out a little giggle from his joke.

A nurse calls out from the door leading back to the examination rooms. "Hyuga Hinata, follow me please."

Just before she goes through the door Hinata turns back to Kira. "I am going inside, so your promise is complete and you can leave once your tests are done. I have some errands I want to do before I go home. Naruto-kun should be back any day now and I want to pick up a few things to make something special for his return."

Kira's mouth twitches for a moment before he bows. "As you wish Hyuga-sama."

A few minutes later Hinata is sitting on the edge of the examination table in nervous anticipation of who might soon be walking through the door. 'Why did otou-sama have to send somebody to come along and make sure that I actually came to the hospital?' She signs heavily as she crinkles the edge of the paper on the table. 'Easy, he knew that I would not come after all of the protestation I made of being fine when my arm is obviously causing me discomfort. That was a dirty trick for him to ask me to pass the salt so he could catch me wincing and then start asking questions.' Hinata tears off a corner of the paper in embarrassment of the memory of her father giving 'that look of his' when she let out a hiss of pain. 'I have been avoiding coming here for my physical for the last few days, and now thanks to this I had to come.' She throws the wadded up paper into the trashcan to try and help vent her frustrations. Hinata lets out a slight hiss from the sudden sting of pain in her arm.

The door to the exam room opens and Hinata lets out a sigh of relief when the medical-nin standing there is not the person she had feared would walk through that door. The woman sees Hinata's obvious relief and looks at her curiously. "Is everything okay Hyuga-sama?"

Hinata looks up with embarrassment, realizing that she had vocalized her sigh of relief. "Oh, I am sorry." She bows apologetically. "I am just relieved to see someone so soon. I have some errands that I need to do today and I was worried that I would be sitting here for a long time, that's all."

The medical-nin nods and looks down at the chart she is holding to hide the smirk on her face. "My name is Oyone, and I see here that you need to have a physical exam as part of your entrance into the Diplomatic Division since your yearly physical is nearly due anyways." The medical-nin's eyes wander down to the arm that Hinata is absently massaging. "Is there any other medical issues that you would like to discuss before I start the physical?"

Hinata nods shyly, happy that it is somebody other than Sakura that she needs to ask for medical care. Basically, she just does not want to feel beholden to Sakura for anything, just in case the pink-haired kunoichi might try and use that as leverage at a later time. 'Also, I just know that she would come in here with a smug look on her face and probably make some comment about my weight. I work very hard to maintain my figure, because not all of us are born with a body more suited as a boy than a girl. Furthermore, when it came time for her to do my physical examination I just don't think that I could lay here and let her touch me, even if it is part of her duties as a medical-nin to protect the health of all of the Leaf Villages people. I don't like these yearly physicals anyways, and I feel even more unsettled just thinking about her being the one doing the examination.'

Hinata realizes that Oyone is staring at her expectantly and begins to rub her arm again. "Y-Y-Yes, I hurt my arm yesterday during my combat exam for my entrance into the Diplomatic Division. It has been very sore since yesterday and it hurts a little when I grasp onto stuff like a kunai."

Oyone reaches out and places her hands above Hinata's arm and they begin to glow a light green color. After a few moments the glow stops and she pushes aside a strand of hair from her face as she looks up. "Yes, it looks like you have some small hairline fractures in your arm, plus at least one of your chakra points has been damaged as well."

Hinata nods in agreement. "I have had some basic medical training, and that is what I thought was wrong when I looked at it with my byakugan. How long will this keep me from my duties, or from me resuming my training?"

Just outside the examination room Haruno Sakura is unhappily leaning up against the wall beside the door. 'Damn, this whole thing is now affecting my workplace. After my recent argument with Hinata, I just don't know if the two of us could be civil long enough right now for her to let me do my job properly. I'll be damned if I am going to let her goad me into losing my temper and accidentally do damage to the hospital, Lady Tsunade would have my head if that was to happen. Though, it would have been a little amusing to have cracked a joke about her BMI, there is just no way with a chest that big that she could be within what is considered a normal body mass index.'

Sakura looks down at her own chest a lets out a slightly jealous sigh. 'Of course I have the opposite problem. Trying to find a dress off the rack that looks flattering without needing to wear a padded bra is such a pain.'

'At least Oyone was willing to trade off patients without asking too many nosey questions.' Sakura looks down at the chart in her hand without really reading its contents. 'Too bad Naruto was not in town, because he might have come along with her to keep her company rather than that Kira guy from her clan. I could have tried to talk with him while Hinata was having her examination.' Sakura lets out a disappointed sigh and is about to walk away when she overhears Oyone asking Hinata a question that freezes her in her tracks, even though she knows that she should just keep walking.

"I would like to send you down to get some x-rays on your arm to make sure there is nothing that I missed. While you are down in the labs section let's go ahead and get your blood work and urinalysis done." Oyone gives Hinata a little smirk as her pen hovers above the chart. "Should I have them do a pregnancy test as well? It will help me choose the correct pain medications and it's dosage for you if you are, and I will skip the x-ray as a precaution."

All Hinata can do for a moment is stare at the woman completely dumbfounded before the burning sensation coming from her cheeks brings her thoughts back into focus. "W-W-What?" Her hands absently cross over her stomach.

Oyone's face becomes serious as she stares at Hinata. "I asked if there is any chance that you might be pregnant? I heard from Ino that you have been dating Uzumaki Naruto, so should I add a pregnancy test to your lab work?"

Hinata covers her mouth and shakes her head from side. "N-N-No, we haven't… I mean… I am still a…" Hinata can feel the room starting to sway about a little as she tries to not faint.

"Oh really?" The medic-nin asks in a disbelieving voice.

'Oh really?' Sakura turns and looks at the door in surprise before walking away. 'Maybe I should have taken her as my patient today. That probably would have been an interesting conversation to have with Hinata.'

Oyone's tone touches a raw spot in Hinata's psyche that has been there for a while now, and was recently irritated more after her argument with Sakura. 'Why does everyone immediately assume that Naruto has tried to… that we have…' The memory of seeing a shirtless Naruto in his bedroom comes unbidden to her mind as she wonders, not for the first time, what it really would be like to have her face pressed up against his warm naked chest in a lovers embrace. Is the scent she smells different from when he is clothed, or is the intensity just different?

A flash of concern that this may never know if she is not careful brings her out of her momentary daydream as she looks up at the woman firmly, irritation burning away the last remnants of her shock. "Yes really, and why is that such a surprise?" She straightens up and tries to glare unhappily at the woman for suggesting that the heir of the Hyuga clan would have sexual relations outside the confines of marriage. Hinata channels her irritation that people seem to immediately assume the worst of Naruto when it comes to women, into her glare. 'I feel insecure enough about that subject without people bringing it up, even Kurenai-sensei seemed surprised when I told her that he and I haven't done it… yet. I am actually surprised that Hanabi hasn't already started asking me questions about his other women, maybe she has not heard about those rumors. If that is the case, then I hope she stays in the dark for a long time.'

Oyone holds up both hands defensively. "I am sorry if I offended you, but this is a standard question that I have to ask my female patients within a certain age bracket. It can be an uncomfortable subject to discuss, especially for an unmarried woman, but I have to also take the safety of the unborn into account."

Hinata takes a deep breath and gets her emotions back under control. "I understand, and I am sorry for my overreaction." Hinata bows her head in acceptance and in an apology as well. 'I can't wait for Naruto-kun to come home. I have been so on edge lately with what happened with Sakura and what this new promotion will mean for our future. I just need to be with him right now and have him hold me tightly while we spend some quality time alone. I don't care if he does not say a word, or talks the whole time about his recent mission. I just want the comfort of his presence and to feel like I am the only woman in his life.'

Hinata smirks slightly as she thinks back on the recent exam. 'Part of me wishes that the kidnapper had not conceded the fight so quickly, that way I could have taken out some of my anxiety on something more cathartic than a defenseless practice log. Maybe I should see if otou-sama would like to practice with me some more using lightning transformation, once I am released to resume training again. It would be a real surprise for Naruto-kun if I were to suddenly be able to use lightning when we are sparing together. I could save it for a moment when he thinks he is about to win, and… POW.' The mental image of Naruto smiling at her proudly keeps her mind happily preoccupied till the physical exam and tests are completed.

A while later Hinata is walking home while gently rubbing the brace hidden under the sleeve of her jacket. After she had healed the worst of the damage, Oyone had told Hinata to wear the brace to protect her arm while her body finishes the healing process. She had also said that Hinata could return to active duty in a week, but to take it easy on that arm for a few more weeks and let her body tell her if the activity is too much by any pain she might feel. "I am sure Naruto-kun and I can come up with something else to do together besides combat practice till my arm is fully healed, maybe some more synchronization practice." Hinata blushes as a tingling sensation courses through her body at the remembrance of the first and only time they had completely synchronized their chakras.

"Or I could take Oyone's advice and Naruto-kun and I could go dancing, or a walk in the park like a normal couple, but who said being the girlfriend of Uzumaki Naruto is going to be what most people would call a normal relationship." She looks up into the azure sky and imagines his bright blue eyes looking into her own. "I'll take abnormal, and embrace it with everything that I have."

As the gates of her family estate come into view Hinata sees the familiar form of Yamanaka Ino standing outside, holding what looks like a bouquet of flowers. 'Did Naruto-kun pay to have another bouquet delivered as a surprise, or could this mean…' She picks up her pace and quickly closes the distance between her and Ino, who is politely talking with Kodi.

After a gesture from Kodi, Ino turns around and gives Hinata a big smile. "Hey, I have a flower delivery for Uzumaki Naruto's girlfriend. Would you by chance know where I could find someone meeting that description?"

Hinata has to calm herself as she reaches for the purple roses, to keep from ripping them out of Ino's grasp. She closes her eyes and inhales deeply the rich floral scent of the roses as her cheeks begin to ache from the broad smile that now dominates her features. She looks up at Ino with happy tears forming at the corner of her eyes. "Thank you Ino for delivering the flowers, these roses smell wonderful, they must have been cut recently."

"Just this morning actually, I had a hunch that I would need them soon so I placed an order the other day." Ino holds up a small envelope. "You wouldn't by chance want to have this too, or can I have it for myself? I am curious if Naruto is the romantic type in his writing, or if he is as direct with it as he is with his fighting."

Hinata ignores her friend's laughter as she snatches the envelope and quickly reads its contents once, and then again to make sure that she did not misread what he had written. She looks up with tears trailing down her cheeks. "He's… home." Is all she can say with a trembling voice.

Ino smirks and nods her head. "That's right, one of his shadow clones came into my shop not long ago to buy you those flowers. He asked if I could have them delivered as soon as possible, so my guess is that once he is done talking with the Hokage that he doesn't plan on wasting much time, so I closed the shop and brought them over as soon as I got the bouquet assembled and wrapped. I just hope for your sake that he at least takes a shower before coming over."

Hinata reaches out and gives Ino a warm hug of thanks for bring such wonderful news. "I wouldn't care if he came over covered in so much stinky mud that the only thing I could see is his eyes, I just want to see him as soon as I can." She steps back and runs a hand across he tear stained cheeks. "Oh kami, he's home and I must look like a mess right now." After reaching up to check her hair, Hinata's facial expression becomes unhappy. "I got to go and get ready, I don't want him seeing me like this, Ino."

Ino and Kodi just look at each other with a smirk as Hinata disappears through the now open gate. As she is about to leave Kodi bows deeply to Ino and speaks. "Yamanaka-san, thank you very much for delivering those flowers so quickly. That is the happiest I have seen Hyuga-sama in days." He gives her another, deeper bow.

Ino bows in acceptance of the guards thanks and walks away. 'Yeah, I feel guilty about my part in the fight she had with Sakura recently, and I wanted to make up for it a little by making sure I had the best flowers available when Naruto came back into town.' Ino lets out a heavy sigh. 'If I had not interfered and tried to help get things fixed, Sakura might not have come over at quite possibly the worst possible time, or even at all, and made things worse. Now, Sakura is not just depressed, but she is angry at Hinata for being stubborn. Hinata is upset about the whole thing with Sakura, on top being worried about her new assignment and how it may impact the relationship she has finally gotten with Naruto.'

She rubs her now throbbing forehead in an attempt to try and sooth her slowly growing headache. 'Some days I wish that I would not be so nosey, or at least not get involved and let things resolve themselves at their own pace.'

A short time later Hyuga Hanabi approaches the main gate of her family estate and after exchanging pleasantries with Kodi she asks him one simple question. "Is my sister home?"

Kodi bows as he opens the gate. "Yes, she came home not too long ago. She heard that you had returned from your mission, I hope everything went well Hyuga-sama, and I believe she went to go and prepare for a visit from Uzumaki Naruto."

"Good." Is all Hanabi says as she walks through the gate and towards main house.