The shadow loomed over the sleeping couple, looking on as the Hyuuga girl smiled in her sleep, the Kyuubi's container wrapped around her. Something held in the intruder's hand was raised above the sleeping couple, and as Hinata's eyelids fluttered, the hand was retracted and the figure vanished from the room, the door closing just as her eyes opened.

Hinata expected her eyes to sham shut, to scream, to flail, to throw Naruto across the room, something that would have her teammates come running and she'd end up embarrassing herself in front of them for the hundredth time. She didn't. She blushed, of course. Smiled, but didn't scream. Her arms stayed where they were, and actually tightened around the blonde in her arms.

"I…really said it, didn't I?"

Hinata felt…different, somehow. She had seen Naruto in pain, and just…said what she needed to say. Naruto murmured something in his sleep and pressed tighter against her. One of his ears flicked across her nose, and without hesitation, grabbed the tip of it with her lips and began to nibble on it, laughing as Naruto fidgeted at the feeling.

Whatever it was, it felt good.

After tormenting Naruto's ear for a few more minutes, the foxboy squirmed away from her and sat up, sitting up in the path of a sunbeam and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. A moment later, he looked down at Hinata with something akin to disbelief, reaching out and poking her a few times. Hinata giggled and sat up, kissing him full-on. It was Naruto's turn to be shocked, falling flat on his back and scrambling away. He stared at her and sat up, crawling back towards her, and after a few sniffs and a curious look, leaned forward, a ghost of a kiss before dropping his head and preparing to be throttled. Instead, he got another kiss on his head, and looked up to see Hinata heading out the door, humming a song to herself. Her fox was close behind.

"'Morning, Shino."

"Good Morning, Ki…Kiba, what's with that expression?"

"Hmm?"

"Arf!"

"That grin."

"You'll see…oh, where's Hinata? Is she up yet?"

The sound of running water was his answer, a showerhead being turned on upstairs.

"Ah. I'll set a place for her and-"

A knock on the door, and Shino stood while Kiba set the table for breakfast. Shino came back with Kurenai-sensei, who stepped into the room with a small flourish that made the two genin stare.

"Kurenai-sensei?"

"I just came to tell you that a nin-bird arrived this morning carrying instructions on how to remove the seal from Naruto."

"That's great! How long till he's back to normal?"

"Preparations are already underway, so a few hours, perhaps. Naruto needs to undergo some testing first, so we need to bring him to the Hokage, and…where is he?"

"Probably still asleep. I'll have Hinata get him ready."

"Hinata? How is she handling things?"

"Oh ho…she's handling Naruto pretty well, actually…"

"What do you mean?"

Kiba didn't say anything more, only offering a spot at the table for his sensei, and the three relaxed until Hinata came downstairs with Naruto close behind. Hinata jumped with joy at the news, and after breakfast, the three were bouncing over rooftops towards Konoha hospital.

Unsurprisingly, Kiba could sense several nin shadowing them from the moment they left the Inuzuka complex, all the way to the shinobi wing of the hospital, and down into the specialized treatment area. There was little else to do but sit and wait after Naruto was separated from them. Almost.

"Hey, Kurenai-sensei?"

"Yes, Kiba?"

"Are you…doing anything tonight?"

"Ung…"

Naruto rapped his skull a few times as he walked back towards Kiba's home. His head still felt fuzzy, though Sakura assured him that was nothing unusual, smirking as she did. Alongside them, Kakashi-sensei feigned disinterest, his nose buried in one of his perverted books, though Kurenai-sensei was staring openly at Hinata, who was walking side-by-side with Naruto, smiling and blushing but not incapacitated.

"Hey, Naruto!"

"Enh?"

Naruto paused, his arms piled with his belongings, a few steps from the door to his apartment. Kiba had a decidedly maniacal grin on his face, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Tonight, my place. Eight o' clock. We're…having a little party. You're the guest of honor!"

"Huh? I am?"

"Of course! So don't be late!"

"Right!"

"Kiba…"

"Yeah mom?"

"You said, 'a few people' Not half of Konoha!"

The assembled genin and sensei grinned as Kiba's mother loomed over him, and he shifted nervously.

"And what is that?"

That was a screen covering one wall, with Shino setting up a projector opposite it.

"Oh, that's…"

A doorbell interrupted him, and he dashed off with his mother yelling at him. He returned with a normal-looking Naruto, and his mother suddenly quieted, shifting uncomfortably as he guided Naruto onto the sofa, right next to Hinata.

"OKAY! Lights!"

Shino flicked the lights off, and Kiba jumped in front of the screen, motioning for everyone to sit down. Once they were seated, he picked up the remote for the projector and stood to one side, holding a kunai like a microphone, gesturing towards the screen.

"Fellow genin of Konoha, honored sensei, I present to you, our mission report for your review! First!"

He pushed a button, and the screen flickered, a fox-eared Naruto coming into focus.

"Sit!"

"Chapter one! Feeding your foxboy!"

Naruto yelled in surprise, and tried to stand, but he realized, too late, that he had been bound in place.

"As you can see, foxes are very messy eaters with no table manners to speak of…"

The genin burst out in laughter, while Naruto tried in vain to free himself and flee.

"Get him!"

"Also, they require regular cleaning, and can be total slobs if left to themselves…"

Even the jounin, who seemed apprehensive at first glance of the video, had started to relax as the montage continued.

"Unfortunately, we forgot Foxes could be intensely curious creatures…"

"Kiba! You told me you erased this!"

"I lied."

Kiba shrugged as the fox on screen snuck up behind Hinata while she was doing laundry, nose twitching and poking his head into her basket, coming out with a pair of her unmentionables on his head. Hinata shrieked, onscreen and off, and the foxboy startled at the sound, running rings around the girl as she tried to steal back her laundry. On the couch, Naruto finally stopped squirming, blushing in embarrassment, and Hinata curled up, trying to be small enough to hide from the other genin's grins and glances.

"Finally, the most important thing we learned was that foxboys are very social animals…"

As he spoke, Kiba kept a close eye on the expressions worn by the jounin, eyes darting back and forth so as not to miss anything.

"For proper growth, they need plenty of attention, friendship and acknowledgement…"

There was no way Kiba could keep the tone of his voice from changing. Behind the seated genin, the jounin collectively locked their gazes on Kiba, who kept his eyes fixed on them in turn, his eyes narrowed slightly, almost in accusation.

The camera snuck down a dark hallway, a hand opening a door slowly and sliding into the room, the view approaching a covered bundle of the floor. As the moment approached, Kiba's voice and expression lifted, along with the camera, pointed down at two figures wrapped around each other under the blankets.

"…And lots of love!"

Dark hair next to fuzzy ears, a smiling Hinata was pressed against Naruto's back, arms tight around him. Hinata fainted at the sight, falling onto Naruto, who was gawking at the sight on screen. The girls present laughed and giggled and cooed as Hinata whispered something and began nibbling on an ear, cheering and clapping for Hinata as she kissed him.

The wires around Naruto loosened, and after looking back and forth between the screen, the genin in front of him, the jounin behind him, and the girl in his lap, he carefully picked Hinata up and tried to wake her.

"Umm…Hinata…"

"Mmmmm…Naruto…"

Half-awake, with the room perfectly quiet, Hinata didn't hesitate grabbing Naruto by the collar, yanking him forward, and kissing him shamelessly. Until the louder males present decided to shout their approval, of course. Then Hinata screamed, pushing Naruto away and over the back of the couch, who landed with a 'thud' and groaning as he pulled himself back up.

"Ouch…"

"S-s-sorry!"

"Girls are weird…"

"Naruto, you idiot!"

Sakura came up behind him and slapped him across the back of the head, a light tap that still sent him back over the sofa and next to Hinata.

"She just kissed you, stupid! Don't call her weird!"

"Ahh, sorry sorry…what am I supposed to do?"

"You kiss her!"

The two genin startled at the shout, the rest either laughing or shaking their heads in disbelief. After a minute of awkward looks, Hinata and Naruto shifted closer to each other, and an arm went out, pulling the girl even closer. After another breathless minute, Naruto pulled her tight, and a cheer went up when their lips finally met.