Woo hoo! Another upload! Man, I'm seriously feeling good about my senior year. Seems like only yesterday I was starting with middle school, and now look where I am now! Took a long time, but finally close to leaving this hell-hole called Oakland!

Well, anyways, it's been a while since I uploaded RCS, but here's chapter 5 for you all who like it!

Last chapter recap:

"Hey. Can you do me a favor?" She asked the figure. All she received was a nod. "Good. It'll be easy. Just try and get close to that Hinata." The figure stood there to await further instructions, his pale eyes cold.

Rose Colored Snow 5: Wishes and a Minor Fall


After meeting with Matsuri Hyuuga, Hinata's grandfather let her train wit Neji and Hanabi for a few hours. Once that was done, she was taken back to Tetsu, Hanabi and Neji in tow.

"Good. We need to discuss the current market proposal set forth by Hiashi before his passing, and we need to finish planning the treaty with the Taki leader, Shibuki. We are not to be relying on them for military strength, but rather a share of their lands for the growing of some of the nation's crops in order to further put us in power over the other nations." Tetsu explained, placing a copy of the treaty that they have written in front of Hinata. Hinata skimmed over it lightly and frowned.

She didn't like some of the ways that they were going to do these things, but it really was up to the Hokage to decide.

"Grandfather, have we informed the Hokage about these terms and the new rule of the Hyuuga?" Hanabi asked, voicing her older sister's thoughts. Neji and Hinata both looked up at their grandfather.

"Not yet. We wish to get Hinata settled in at her position before heading off to tell the Hokage." He simply stated before sitting in a chair opposite form the siblings. Hinata, after a few moments, stood up.

"I think that it is time to tell the Hokage about the new leadership. I'll just go myself, okay?" She directed the last question to her siblings and then headed off.

The streets were as crowded as usual as Hinata walked down to the Hokage's office. She hummed softly and kept thinking about how she was going to get the nerve to tell a certain boy that she really likes him.

After walking for maybe ten minutes, she finally found the building she was looking for and walked inside. She knocked on the door to the Hokage's office and waited until she heard the word to enter.

"Hokage-sama—"Her breath was caught in her throat as she saw the object of her affections standing inside, getting briefed on a mission it seemed.

"I-I'm sorry to interrupt…" She said softly, but Tsunade just smiled.

"Just the girl I was looking for!" Hinata jumped and stepped closer to where she could hold Naruto's hand if she had the nerve to.

"U-Um… A-Am I n-needed…?" She asked, not noticing that Naruto was now looking at her with a questioning look.

"Yes, actually. We just received a letter asking for a substitute for the princess of the Land of the Sky. She's here already, but all of the other kunoichi are busy with other matters. So, I'm asking you, Hinata, to be the substitute, while Naruto is to be your body guard for the trip until negotiations between the Land of the Sky and the Land of Earth have been successful."

"I-Is the princess in danger…?" She asked, wondering if she was just going to go on a mission like Ino's not too long ago.

"Yes." Tsunade laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them. "Since the negotiations began, the princess has felt someone watching her every move, and has had a few incidents happen to almost hurt her. See, the King doesn't want his daughter to be harmed, because if she is, she won't be eligible for marriage between the nations and a war between the two lands will erupt. We believe, judging by the intel gathered from some scouts, that the Land of Rice is trying to stop the negotiations."

"Isn't the Lad of Rice a big trader with the Land of Earth and Sake?" Naruto finally spoke up, making Hinata jump slightly.

"Yes, and that's exactly why they wish to stop the peace treaty. They know that if the Land of Earth and Sky were to make amends, a large portion of their profits would drop because trade is being conducted elsewhere."

"That makes sense. When do we leave?" Naruto said with his big grin on his face. Before Tsunade could answer, Hinata placed her hands on the table.

"Hokage-sama, If we complete this mission in time, may we also combine it with the negotiations with the Land of the Waterfall? Basically extending the mission to help me complete my own?" She asked with a less shy approach on the matter. Tsunade looked shocked that the girl finally spoke up for something slightly selfish, but smiled and nodded.

"Of course. Now, is there something else that you'd like to tell me before you two leave?"

Hinata smiled. "I am now the official ruler of the Hyuuga clan." Naruto looked shocked as he heard her new title.

"Leader? Can you handle all that responsibility, Hinata?" Tsunade asked her with a serious look in her eyes.

"Hell yeah she can!" Naruto said, smirking. Hinata nodded, relieved that he had her back on this matter.

"Well then, I'll send out an announcement when you return in two weeks time. Now, please, follow me to meet the clients." She stood up from her desk and the two teens followed her down the hall, past the Elder's meeting room, into a waiting room.

Inside where three people; one was definitely the King, decked out in regal clothing and he showed the fine lines of a man in his early forties. His slightly gray beard showed his age, and his expression was somewhat stern-looking. Next to him seemed to be a bodyguard, judging by the blade at his side. The man seemed to be in his mid thirties, seeing as his body looked well built to support the job of a bodyguard.

The princess, on the other hand, was a true beauty. Her pale skin was just a tad darker than Hinata's, which contrasted well with her dark brown hair. The ends reached down to the bottom of her royal blue kimono, and the plum butterfly decal greatly accentuated her brown eyes.

Hinata was shocked to see that the girl was almost the exact same as her in looks and body type, and the eyes were the only thing that really set the two girls apart. Naruto and Hinata both got onto their knees and bowed to the regal family.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto and this is Hyuuga Hinata. We have been assigned to be in charge of maintaining the princess safe." Naruto clearly stated, trying to hold back from jumping the gun this time. The girl nodded and the King stood up.

"Very well, ninja. The princess's life is in your hands." They both looked up and nodded. Hinata looked at the girl and blushed a bit when the girl smiled.

"Do not worry. We do not bite, and we hope that you will be safe for the next week." She said in her polite voice. Hinata nodded slowly.

"Princess, I wish to not say this, but in order to protect you, you must play a maid-in-waiting while Naruto and I be the bait for the enemies. This way, they'll attack me, thinking that I am you." The princess saw the logic in the plan and nodded. "But I will not let you do anything out of character, except that you mustn't order the other servants around for the next week. Is that understood?"

The girl again nodded before both of them went off to switch clothing. Naruto stayed with the men in order to start discussing the matters, like guard duty and any other trivial things. When the girls returned, Naruto couldn't help but stare at Hinata.

Hinata had used a partial transformation to make her hair longer and brown. Her bangs remained the same, and so did the Byakugan eyes. She was wearing a similar kimono to that of the princess, except that instead of the butterflies, there were white rabbits on a navy background. Her now brown hair was thrown in a loose braid and pinned up with lavender flower-shaped clips.

Hinata saw Naruto gawking and turned a slight crimson. The princess saw the exchange and giggled softly. The girl had changed as well. Her hair, thanks to a few tricks, had been parted in half, made into two separate braids, tied at the base of the braid, and making them into rings. Her clothing had dramatically changed from a multi-layer kimono to a simple dark pink furisode, tied at the waist with a sky blue obi.

Naruto finally stopped gawking at Hinata long enough to clear his mind. He stood up and led the way, making sure that their decoy was placed in between the guards. Hinata, although she didn't want to, had to ride in the carriage with the king while the princess was to walk on the side of the vehicle.

The ride was quiet, until Hinata began to ask the king about the history of the Land of the Sky. But after a while, it became dull. She continued to pay attention to the king, but couldn't help notice that the princess seemed to enjoy talking to her Naruto.

Wait.

Her Naruto?

'Oh god, I'm delusional!' She blushed and averted her eyes, knowing that she could never use those two words in the same sentence.

She sighed and watched the two talk, wishing that it was her with him, talking and joking without her passing out. But it was all just wishful thinking on her part. She finally looked up and saw the castle.

The castle, however, seemed like it didn't want to be seen. Without highly-trained eyes, no one would notice the barrier around it, making it disappear from sight. It had many lookout towers, and they seemed to go on forever into the clouds. The castle itself, however, seemed a bit old. There was ivy growing up along the walls, and the stones seemed worn from rain. She could even see where the mortar was starting to wear away.

On the base, however, there seemed to be people there, working diligently to fix the worn down stones.

She seemed satisfied and turned back to the king, smiling and pretending that she had been listening to his entire conversation.


Naruto was, in all actuality, uncomfortable with walking alongside with the princess.

"Your Highness, you didn't have to come and walk with myself. You could have just as easily ridden with Hinata and your father." He threw a glance back at the carriage and saw the faintest shows of pearly white and red. He was worried about his partner in that carriage. The girl shook her head and stretched.

"Yes, we could have, but we'd much prefer to walk out here in the sunshine and talk to you, Uzumaki Naruto." She looked at him, her brown eyes laughing. He smiled back at her, but all he could think about was how those laughing eyes would seem even nicer on Hinata. He snapped out of it and focused on the road.

All of a sudden, he stopped. The girl stopped beside him, a confused look in her eyes. He shook his head at her questioning glance and made her get into the carriage. Hinata stuck her head out as he did so and he whispered into her ear,

"Use your Byakugan, scout the area. We're not alone here." She nodded and settled back down in her seat before activating her eyes. She looked around them within a three mile radius and saw about seven unusual chakra networks.

"Uzumaki-san…" She said in a careful voice, wincing at how she had to say it all so formally, "…We would be very happy if you would get for us seven flowers from the surrounding area…" She pointed out where the shinobi were and then stood up. "In fact, please escort us to the area."

He opened the door and extended his hand to her, making it seem like she was truly the princess. Hinata took a deep breath and took his hand before stepping down. She made her appearance daintily so as not to arouse suspicion and waited patiently while Naruto closed the door and whispered an assuring word to the royals.

Hinata stepped forward and Naruto followed, making sure that if he needed a kunai, he could pull one out of his sleeve easily. Hinata had exactly the same plan, only instead of hiding her kunai in her sleeves, she had sown her shuriken onto the inside of the sleeve. Her kunai holster was where it always is, on her right thigh. In her hands were tiny paper bombs.

As they made their trip, pretending to be taking up flowers, Hinata left a paper bomb buried in the grass in front of the men, making sure that it couldn't be seen. At the same time, she lifted a flower at each spot.

Naruto, while following her, started to feel the hostility in these shinobi rising. Once the final bomb was set, he bowed to Hinata.

"Excuse me, but I must attend to your father as well…" He did it so that the men could finally show their faces. Hinata nodded and stepped closer to one of them. Just as she had planned, the one there sprung.

She screamed like a woman in distress and tried to fight back, as any normal person would. But what she hadn't counted on was that he was stronger than she thought. She struggled, but gasped as a kunai was pushed against her throat.

"Now princess… Our lord would like to have a word with you…" She bit his wrist and he yelped in pain. That was all she needed. She kicked him where she knew it would hurt and ran towards Naruto. She turned around and then all of the others showed. She gave them a smile.

"Never underestimate a woman." She made a hand seal and all the paper bombs detonated. She covered herself with her arms, but when she opened her eyes, Naruto had his arms werapped around her, protecting her from the blast.

"Y-you okay, Hinata?" He asked her in a soft whisper. She turned a violent red and nodded.

"Y-Yes, but you didn't have to…" He grinned, making it hard for her to stay upright.

"Without you, the mission's a bust." Her image of him broke and she gave him a fake smile. She pushed him off and looked away.

"We would have been fine, Uzumaki-san. Please check up on my father." She seemed angry and stepped towards the carriage. What she hadn't counted on was that the force of the bombs made a chasm in the earth, and from it, a huge spurt of water.

Hinata didn't sense it and gasped as the water pushed her up into the air. She shut her eyes as the water pushed her so high that when it stopped, she plummeted to the ground. Naruto saw her falling and jumped to try and catch her, but he hadn't counted on the cliff.

He caught her in his arms, but they both fell.

"We'll find you all again!" Naruto shouted at them before they vanished into the forest below.