Chapter 82

Not ready for marriage

Later that evening Naruto walked Hinata home so she could see her family for the first time since her arrival. Her father was happy to see her and seemed to leave their disagreement in the past.

"Hinata, you're home!" he said as we went up and hugged her. That was out of character for him but he felt bad about the way he and his daughter had left things.

"Nice to see you father," she said returning his hug. "Where's Hanabi?" She looked around and didn't see her sister.

"She's on a mission," he replied, "she was assigned a squad and has been doing small missions and training ever since." He beamed with pride.

"I remember one of the first missions I went on was getting an old lady's stupid cat back," Naruto declared from the door way. He was half speaking to himself, but his tone was loud enough to stick in the silence. Lord Hiashi hadn't greeted him yet.

"Ah, Naruto, welcome back," he moved closer and patted Naruto on the back a couple of times.

"Are you feeling okay?" Naruto had never seen this side to Hinata's father. After arguments he was always much softer. It was his way of apologizing since a verbal one wasn't likely to cross his lips.

"Yeah, just glad you guys are back. Are you guys hungry?" He motioned to the kitchen.

"No, we just ate at Shikamaru's," Naruto said as Lord Hiashi nodded.

"I'm going to put my things away and then I'll put on some tea for us," Hinata moved towards her room and shut the door.

"I've been thinking about our last conversation Lord Hiashi," Naruto began.

"Oh, the one where you promised to keep your hands to yourself?" He asked as he eyed Naruto suspiciously.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about the other half of our conversation. I want to ask permission for Hinata to be my wife. You have to know that I'll protect her and that I'll treat her better than myself."

Hinata had come out of her room and briefly looked at Naruto and her father before going into the kitchen to make tea. Her father had an unusually calm voice when talking and speaking to Naruto tonight, but she was tired of getting involved. She had only just gotten home and it seemed like Naruto was already on her father's nerves

Lord Hiashi sighed…he knew this was coming, Naruto had warned him before he left. In the past he worried that if Hinata ever married, he would lose his daughter, but he considered Naruto his son in law from the moment he left the village to retrieve Hinata from the Sand. He had actually brought his daughter back to him. "If my daughter agrees, you have my blessing," he replied.

"Really?" Naruto's suprize didn't excape her father.

He tapped Naruto playfully on the back, his happiness at seeing them return had come back. "Yes, Naruto, I've been certain of this for some time."

Hinata had brought the tea into the living room and was relieved to see that whatever passed between her father and Naruto was now apparently resolved.

"What did you do while we were away father?" She considered that he was probably lonely without the two extra people he normally had in his life.

"Just training with Hanabi, not much other than that. What about your mission?" He asked.

Hinata highlighted the finer points of the mission and what they had been able to achieve so far, and that the Kage Summit would be taking place tomorrow.

He was impressed with his daughter and her success at the mission. "Now that you've worked so hard to try to secure happiness for others, it must have made you think about your own happiness, right Hinata?" He had never spoken to his daughter this way and it caught her off guard.

Naruto wasn't sure if he should stay or go, did Hinata want privacy to express herself to her father? He stood up and prepared to leave. "I'd like you to stay Naruto," Lord Hiashi motioned for him to sit down, "I think the three of us have something to talk about."

"Father?" Hinata questioned as Naruto sat back down.

"Well, have you thought about your own happiness," he repeated.

"I am happy, what are you talking about?" She asked.

Naruto looked uncomfortable. He knew he had just asked for her father's blessing, but Hinata had already made it clear to him that she wanted to wait to get married. He wasn't sure that this conversation with her father was going to cause him anything but pain.

"I'm talking about you and Naruto, haven't you considered the future Hinata?" He pressed.

"Yes, I have. I'm not ready to get married if that's what you're asking me." She said abruptly.

Lord Hiashi looked back and forth between Naruto and Hinata, hoping she didn't just crush the poor guy.

"He knows that already," she answered her fathers questioning look.

"You do?" he asked Naruto, surprised.

Naruto just nodded his head, hoping the conversation was close to over. He knew that she wasn't ready and that this was just her feelings, but he took it personally every time the subject came up.

Lord Hiashi wasn't sure if he should continue the conversation. "But Hinata, I hope I'm correct in assuming that you plan to marry Naruto one day?"As he said this Naruto started to pull his collar away from his neck and fan some air into his coat. He was heating up.

Naruto stood up again, he couldn't take another awkward moment of this conversation. "I gotta go," he said as he quickly moved to the door and left. He knew that Hinata wasn't going to be ready and he didn't like the pressure the conversation was putting on her. He knew one thing, she was worth the wait and he would wait as long as it took. The idea of marrying her was so tempting for her that he couldn't think of anything else. He wanted to be with her every day, to live with her, to be a part of her family. Once his mind was set on something, disappointment was hard to accept.

Lord Hiashi and Hinata continued their conversation after Naruto left.

"Why would he ask for my blessing for your marriage when he knew how you felt?" Lord Hiashi asked her.

Her next breath caught in her throat, "he did what?!" she gasped. It looked like Naruto was keeping a few secrets from her and not just the one about the summit.

"How can you be caught off guard by this Hinata? He's crazy about you and although I'm in no rush to see my oldest daughter married, I'm not sure why you've chosen to wait any longer."

Hinata hadn't told Naruto her reasons, and didn't want to share them with her father either. She didn't feel like she could avoid the subject any further. "I do hope to marry him father, very much."

"But something is stopping you?" he gave her another questioning look.

She hoped to explain this to him calmly, worried about upsetting him. "Father, over the last several years you've been through one heart break after another. Between my mother, your brother, and Neji, I'm not sure you can take much more. I…don't want to leave you…not just yet." She finished.

Her father was taken aback by how thoughtful his daughter's heart was, he never realized she saw it as her place to take care of him. He wiped his eyes and turned away from his daughter. "I am honored Hinata, that you hold me in such high esteem. But what any father wants is to see his daughter happy."

"I told you that I am, father," she said as he turned back towards her.

He gave her a sad smile. "You think you're helping me, but no matter what you'll always be my daughter Hinata. Please don't hurt your future husband and degrade him on my account. He's hurt by your actions Hinata, as he should be."

"Why would you think he's hurt? He knows how I feel about him," she started blushing, revealing her feelings to her father.

"Being with you is what he wants, but don't you realize how much he's wanted to belong to a family? He's never had one before Hinata, and our every day breakfast as a family is purely a novelty to him. How can you continue to put him off like you are if you truly care about him? Don't you think you're being a little cold?"

The last words hit her like a kuni knife in the heart. Could this really be how Naruto had been feeling? Could her desire to wait be causing him pain?

When she didn't speak her father continued. "I want you to think about your future with him Hinata, I've already given him my blessing and I feel he's worthy of it."

Meanwhile, Naruto had arrived back home and just stared at his empty apartment. He kept imagining all the ways it would look different if Hinata lived with him, and he had to force himself to stop. His loneliness when we wasn't with Hinata was too much to tolerate, so he headed out to walk around the villiage.

He needed some advice about girls, and he definitely couldn't ask Hinata. Sakura was also out of the question, she would just mock him or accuse him of not thinking. He truly didn't understand women sometimes. Then it hit him, grandma Tsunade was a woman, he could ask her, she could make him understand.

He got to the hospital and the lady at the front mentioned that Lady Tsunade was still at the hospital in her office. He knocked on her door and let himself in before she could give an answer.

"Do you mind," she said as the door opened, not realizing who was on the other side.

"Sorry grandma," he said, "should I come back later?"

"Oh, Naruto, no, come on in. It's been a while. Did you come for a check up? If so, you're a little overdue…"

"No, nothing like that," he disregarded her question as she rolled her eyes. "I need some advice…about…women." He said with a serious look on his face.

"Women, huh?" She smirked. "Well, what do you want to know."

"When she says she wants to wait before getting married, what does that mean?" He asked, his voice cracking a little.

Tsunade knew that what Naruto needed most right now was a mother, and that she needed to give him her undivided attention. She got up from where she was and walked over to Naruto, put her hand behind his back and guided him over to a place to sit down.

"We're talking about Hinata?" she asked.

"Who else, it's only ever been her grandma."

"I can see that you're really broken up about her waiting, why is that?" She was trying to understand his perspective.

"I just don't want to have a life without her. When I'm by myself all I do is think about her, and I can't wait to go see her, even if we don't talk. I feel like we were headed in the right direction, but now, I don't know if she does feel the same way I do. I'm so lonely without her, does that sound crazy." He asked.

"Why do you think I'm still here when almost everyone has gone home? It's not crazy Naruto. I know how you feel. It's lonely to go home when you don't have anyone to go home to." Her voice dropped.

Naruto looked up at her, realizing that she was in close to the same boat that he was; other people were feeling this same pain all the time. "But how do you deal with it?"

"It's not always easy. You just have to appreciate what you do have and be happy with that. Every day, just put one foot in front of the other and continue to move forward." She sighed. "Naruto, can I ask you a question?" It wasn't like her usual self to be this gentle with him, be he didn't usually take the time to listen either.

"Hmm" he said as he nodded his head.

"Hinata obviously loves you and has for quite a while. Have you discussed her reasons with her?"

"Not really, she just said she was too young. Do you think there was more to it?"

"If there's any advice I can give you tonight Naruto, it's that with women there is always more to it." She smiled for the first time in their meeting.

"So I should just be happy with what we have, even if I want more?"

"Yes, give her time to come around. It's that or not having her at all."

Naruto quickly turned his head to Lady Tsunade at her last few words; that was a path he wasn't going to travel. "I can't lose her. And I can't go back to my place and not see her there. I'm going to crash at Shikamaru's. Thanks for the advice grandma!" He said as he got up to go.

She nodded her head and turned her back to Naruto. These were the moments she missed out on when her brother passed away at such a young age. She thought of him often when she spoke to Naruto.

"Are you okay?" he asked before leaving

"Yeah," she said as she turned back around. "I'm just a little tired is all."

He walked back over to where she sat and bent down to give her a hug. "Try to get some rest grandma, I know it isn't easy, but you need it."

"Thanks for the visit Naruto, I'm sure things will get better with Hinata. Keep me posted." She smiled as she stood up and prepared for him to leave.

"I will!" He returned as he headed out the door.

A few minutes later he was knocking on Shikamaru's door. It was late and when Shikamaru answered he was speaking in an irritated tone. "It's late! What do you want…" he paused "Oh, it's you Naruto…"

"Yeah, sorry it's so late. Can I just crash here for tonight?" he asked.

"What's wrong with your place?" He asked, as Naruto began to turn away. He didn't want to talk about Hinanta any more tonight.

"Hey, Naruto, come on in, I didn't mean anything by it." Shikamaru said as Naruto turned back around and came in. "You can sleep here," he said as he pointed to a couch.

"Wake me up for the Summit," Naruto said as he laid down and within minutes he was asleep.

Hinata went to go look for Naruto after she finished talking to her father. She went by his apartment and when he wasn't there, she checked Ichiraku. She felt guilty thinking that her words had caused him pain. She also felt confident in what her father said about being free to chase her own happiness. Naruto was her happiness. He always had been.

The talk with her father made her see Naruto's perspective in a new light and made her think of the conversation her and Naruto had when she told him that she was his family now. She knew he had longed to have a family, and that her sister and father already considered him a member of theirs.

She stopped by Shikamaru's to see if Naruto was there, but at that point he wasn't. "The last time I saw him he left with you. Everything okay?

"Yeah, thanks Shikamaru. If you see him tell him I'm at his place." She returned as she left.

She went back to Naruto's and let herself inside and waited for him until she fell asleep. She woke up in the early morning and realized that he had never made it home. She looked around at his place and saw it looked just as plain as the day he moved in, it could get lonely living here. She pictured herself making a home with him and it just felt right to her.

She decided to leave and went back to her house. When she got home her father was up.

"You didn't make it home last night," he said to her.

"I waited for Naruto at his place but he never came back home. I've thought a lot about what you said and he is my future. I've come to get my things so I can move in with him."

"So you will accept his offer soon?" He smiled, happy that his daughter was moving forward with her life.

"As soon as I see him. I couldn't find him, but I know he'll be at the Kage Summit today." She replied.

"You should be there too, since it was both of you that made this Summit possible. Get cleaned up, it should be starting in about an hour Hinata.