This is my first story. Don't hate for no reason. Will take fair criticism though.
I do not own Naruto or anything related. That goes to Masashi Kishimoto
CHAPTER 10
Hinata woke up in a bedroom that wasn't hers but was concerningly familiar. As she looked around it was a large room and extremely organized. Looking at the clock it said 11:12. Activating her byakugan she saw that she was still in Konoha and not alone. Deactivating her byakugan she opened the door out of the bedroom and saw two Naruto clones. One was reading a book and the other seemed to be rewriting the same seal over and over again at very quick speeds.
While one kept reading the other looked up and smiled, "Good Morning, I hope you had a nice nap."
Hinata nodded, "I-I d-did. W-where are w-we?"
"This is my apartment."
Hinata blushed furiously, "H-h-how d-did w-we g-g-get h-here?"
"After you fell asleep in my arms Kurenai thought it would be best to let you sleep."
Hinata's blush somehow got redder, "W-w-why d-d-didn't y-you t-t-take m-me h-home?"
Naruto's clone's smile began to fade, "You cried yourself to sleep in my arms. Something happened where you live, would you mind telling me?"
HInata's increasing blush vanished instantly as she slowly became despondent. "M-m-my f-father, h-he–"
Her voiced hitched as tears began to from in her eyes, "W-w-when I t-told him a-about m-my a-a-affinity h-he s-said–"
She fell to the ground but Naruto caught her, "Hey it's okay I'm here. I'm listening."
"H-he said s-someone t-t-that c-could n-n-never f-fully m-master the j-jyuken w-wasn't w-worthy e-enough to b-be c-clan heir."
With one final whimper she cried, "H-he's g-going to s-seal m-me at t-the end of t-the m-month."
Though she couldn't see it bawling into the chest of Naruto's clone, they were explosively angry. They couldn't believe that her clan was taking away her birthright because she wasn't the same as everyone else.
The clone holding Hinata turned to the other, "Go tell boss. NOW!"
As the clone poofed behind him. The clone continued to soothe Hinata as she fell apart in his arms for the second time. Team 8 did not take a mission that day so Naruto had gotten home not long after he received the clone's memories. Seeing Hinata beginning to calm down he replaced the clone and held Hinata in his arms.
Naruto stroked her hair and asked, "How can I help you through this?"
Hinata stuttered "W-when I g-get sealed. I w-will be m-m-moved to the b-branch h-house. How am I s-s-supposed t-to unite m-m-my clan if a-any the m-main house members c-could k-kill me if I even t-try."
"Prove them wrong."
Hinata with tears in her eyes looked to Naruto confused, "W-what do y-you m-mean?"
Naruto pulls her off the ground, "Come over here."
Naruto guides her to the bookshelf in his room. Sitting her on the bed he takes a single book off the shelf.
Holding his hand in the books he begins, "This is a bingo book. This specific one contains every S rank shinobi to come out of Konoha. I will give you 100 ryo for every Hyuga you find in this book."
Hinata looks confused, "Are y-you s-sure?"
"Just look," Naurto insisted.
As Hinata flipped page by page she was growing more and more confused and surprised, "Why aren't there any Hyuga in here?"
Naruto smiled, "You know I want to be Hokage so I learned about what it took to be one. I checked the bingo book and found out that every single Kage, without exception, was at minimum an S-rank Shinobi. This led to finding out how to be one. And I came to the conclusion that every single S-rank shinobi has something special that separates them from everyone else. Something nearly irreplicable."
Hinata was scared, "B-but h-how am I s-supposed t-to prove m-my f-family wrong?"
"Become an S-rank shinobi. If the Hyuga respect power above all then show them how powerful the Hyuga can be. Show them that they were wrong to seal you, that Hyugas can do more than just the Jyuken."
"B-b-but how am I s-supposed to d-do that if t-they can k-kill me if I g-get t-too strong?"
Holding Hinata by the shoulders he reassured her, "I can't do anything about them moving you to the branch house. But what I can do is remove that seal. I have over 20 clones learning every single thing they can about fuinjutsu and juinjutsu. If you're going to get sealed at the end of the month then I'm going to learn to remove it by then."
Hinata looked petrified, "W-what if m-my c-clan f-finds out?"
"Live with me."
From the time Hinata had spent with him and following (*cough* stalking) him. She knew that Naruto rarely made any careless decisions. As boisterous he could be, Naruto was also very calculative. So it surprised her when Naruto suggested something so rash.
There was a prolonged silence as Hinata began to blush harder than she ever had before, "L-l-live w-with y-y-you?"
"When you get sealed your clan won't care about you anymore, you'll just be another branch member to them. Maybe even less so because of your affinity. Live with me so that you don't have to be a second class citizen in your own home."
While the thought of living with her long standing crush had pleased her greatly, she was still disheartened by the fact that her clan would no longer care about her once she was branded.
Are y-you s-sure? I w-w-wouldn't want t-to be a b-b-burden."
Holding her hands Naruto speaks very clearly, "You will never be a burden to me. You were my first friend. You are precious to me and I would do anything to help you. I want you to be able to wake up with a smile."
Instilled with the slightest bit of confidence Hinata asked, "What do I need to do?"
"Do you think it would be possible for you to get me a copy of the seal?"
-one week later-
You could tell Hinata was extremely nervous as she walked towards the Hyuga compound, and though next to her Naruto showed a very calm and confident exterior, he was just as nervous. Arriving at the gates they both bowed to the guards as Hinata spoke, "G-good Afternoon Raku-san, Yomite-san. W-we w-would l-like to s-see my f-father p-please."
As they opened the gates Raku answered, "You will find Hiashi-sama in his study. Have a nice day Hinata-sama."
Though Hinata was let in they blocked Naruto's path and Yomite spoke, "You are not allowed in here."
"H-he is w-w-with m-me." Hinata squeaked.
Sighing they both stepped out of the way and Naruto began to follow Hinata. As they walked through the compound Naruto was in awe of the luxurious houses and beautiful gardens. But all his nervousness came back as they stepped through the doors of the biggest, most luxurious building of them all.
'I know that Hyugas are very important, but I didn't know Hinata's dad was this important.'
As they both walked towards the back Naruto could tell Hinata was getting more and more nervous, he grabbed her by the hand and squeezed it. Looking back Hinata saw Naruto give a confident nod so she took a breath and kept walking. Arriving at a large door Hinata knocked.
They hear a muffled, "Enter!"
Sliding the door to the right they both walk in and while Hiashi's face remained stoic he was confused at Naruto's presence.
"Who is this?"
Naruto bowed, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I am your daughter's teammate. It is nice to meet you Hyuga-sama."
"A pleasure. Why are you here?"
"I am here as moral support for Hinata's request."
Hiashi turned to his daughter, "Request?"
"W-w-well I-I w-w-wan…y-y-you s-see I-I-I" Hinata couldn't get a word out.
Hiashi was getting tired of Hinata's stutter and was about to speak on it but he stopped himself.
Naruto touches Hinata's shoulder, "Hey, just breathe."
Hinata turned to Naruto and he saw how scared she was in her pale lavender eyes, "It's okay. Just breathe, and speak clearly."
Hiashi watched the peculiar interaction with interest as Hinata took a breath, "I am requesting to move out of the Hyuga compound after my seal is placed."
Though she wasn't able to meet his eyes, it was the first time in years that he heard her speak without a stutter. Nobody was ever able to calm her like that, "No Hyuga has ever lived outside of this compound, and it would be foolish of me as clan head to let you because of the possibility of someone stealing your byakugan."
Hinata began getting nervous, "I w-would be s-sealed, isn't t-that impossible?"
"Not if you are captured. Like when you were three?"
Hinata instantly became petrified. Seeing this Naruto cut in, "Well assuming that she was kidnapped directly from this compound, it would be much riskier to kidnap someone from the center of the village."
Raising an eyebrow Hiashi comments, "You speak as if you already know where she would live.
After taking a breath in preparation Naruto speaks, "She would be living with me."
Hiashi managed to keep a stoic face, "Why would I let you do that?"
This time Hinata cut in, "W-well, b-because we l-live together we c-could s-split the bills. And b-because we are t-teammates w-we would h-have identical s-schedules."
Hiashi stared at them both and the silence made it extremely uncomfortable for the both of them. "Hinata please leave the room."
The two genin looked at each other nervously but Hinata still got up to leave. After Hinata closed the door behind her Hiashi spoke, "Although I do not show it, I care for my daughters very much. However, the well being of the clan is my top priority. Last week when Hinata came to me telling me her affinity I was forced to forgo my responsibility as a father and seal her for the betterment of the clan. When I told her of my decision I could almost see her heart break."
Naruto met Hiashi's eyes and although he tried to show confidence, he could feel Hiashi glare straight through him.
"When you two came in today I saw you do something that I couldn't do, something that I thought no one could do, you gave Hinata confidence. For years me and other Hyugas have done our best to instill some Hyuga pride into her, but she still kept her meek personality. But today, you managed to calm her from that annoying, incessant stutter and momentarily grant her some confidence."
Naruto's mask of confidence began to break as Hiashi kept his stoicism.
"Today, I am choosing my daughter. Whatever contact she has had with you seems to give her confidence. So I am leaving her with you in the hopes that she finally gains the confidence she should have always had, and that she can grow into someone that can motivate this clan to change."
As a smile was about to spread across his face when Hiashi activated his byakugan to give the most menacing glare, "But if I ever find out that you have hurt her in any way, I will punish you in ways that you cannot comprehend. Do you understand?"
Though Naruto kept his happy grin, he was extremely scared of his teammates father so he nodded expeditiously.
Hiashi shouted, "Come in Hinata."
She quickly slid open the door and looked at Naruto who was grinning. As she stepped inside she looked to her father, "I will allow you to live with Uzumaki-san. You have next week to begin the moving process and three days to move out after the sealing."
Happily she hugged her father and though he kept his stoicism he did hug her back, "May you please both leave? I need to continue my paperwork."
Standing up they both chorused, "Thank you."
Stepping out of the room they smiled and hugged. The blush Hinata had made her glow but she calmed down enough to not faint and enjoy the hug.
Separating Naruto smiled and asked, "How about I help you start packing up?
To be Continued…
I will post every one to two weeks. Thank you for reading.