A/N: This oneshot is only a really short look into Naruto's memories as he marries Hinata. I plan to write a full story on just how they got together, so keep your eyes peeled! Enjoy!

The Golden Couple

As Naruto stared at the radiant face of his soon-to-be wife, he wondered how he'd gotten here, how he'd become as lucky as to have a girl like Hinata fall for him.

It was laughable, really. He was such a goofball and he knew it. He didn't care. But Hinata…she was something else.

He remembered how she was when they were twelve. He'd barely noticed her because she was so shy and also because he was just so set on becoming Hokage he saw nothing else, certainly not her. And he'd had a crush on Sakura back then.

The first time he'd really noticed her was when she fought Neji during the chunin exams. Her courage in the face of such negative odds made him want to protect her, to look out for her. And when Neji had almost killed her he wanted to rip his heart out. At the time he didn't understand why he was so viciously protective, but now he realized it had been the beginning of something.

But that something had taken a step back when Orochimaru had attacked the village. And after that he'd been consumed with his training. He didn't have time to notice Hinata. Besides, she was busy getting stronger herself.

For a while he'd been obsessed with getting Sasuke back, but after a while that ambition had faded into the background in light of other prospects. He still wanted Sasuke back more than anything, but he knew he couldn't get him back if he didn't get stronger. It was like Sasuke wanted rescuing anyway. And he saw no point chasing after Sasuke on his own once Sakura didn't even want to talk about him anymore.

And then came the day he noticed Hinata for the first time. Reallynoticed. He remembered it as though it were yesterday, not two years ago.

He had been training with Sakura near the lake. They had been practicing their water jutsus. They were really getting into it and then they came. Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru and Shino.

He hadn't really noticed Hinata at first. Not really. Sure, she'd looked a lot different. He'd seen her around town. But then she took off her outer layers of clothing and dived into the water in a bathing suit.

He'd noticed her then, especially when Sakura dumped a heap of water on his face with one of her jutsus. It was just as well. He'd felt a hard-on coming. It was hard for a sixteen-year-old to control his body.

He'd tried to focus on the training, but his eyes kept wandering back to her. She had been laughing. She had looked so carefree and…confident.

Then Sakura had made that comment about it and he couldn't get her out of his head after that.

When they'd been assigned on a recon mission together, just the two of them, he'd almost flipped out. He could tell she was nervous about spending up to a week alone with him, but she hadn't lost her cool.

That was when he'd really gotten to know her and he'd been hopelessly in love with her ever since.

He remembered their first kiss. They'd been going out for about six months and his desire for her was driving him insane. Every time he'd touched her he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless, but he couldn't. She was shy when it came to physical contact. He wasn't. He never had been. Those six months were probably the hardest of his life. He'd had to maintain self control like never before.

But one day, as he was heading out on a solo S-class mission, Hinata had come running up to him and without saying anything, kissed him. She told him between sobs that she'd had a nightmare last night that he'd left and been killed and she hadn't wanted him to leave without telling him that she loved him or without knowing what it was like to kiss the man she loved.

He'd just told her he loved her and kissed her senseless like he'd wanted to do ever since he saw her swimming in the lake.

He remembered their first time. He was assigned to a particularly dangerous S-class mission and was not sure he'd make it back. Sure, he never showed that he was scared, but Hinata knew. And she'd given him a reason to stay alive.

Some people may say it was messy…but for him it was the most beautiful experience of his life. Never had she looked more beautiful to him than at that moment.

And now she was to be his wife. His forever. His heart swelled with love and happiness. She belonged to him and he belonged to her.

"Hinata Hyuga."

Naruto couldn't take his eyes off his beautiful bride, even though she looked up at Tsunade, who was performing the ceremony.

"Do you take Naruto Uzamaki to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

She looked back at him, her face aglow with all the love she had for him. He didn't deserve her.

"I do."

"Naruto Uzamaki."

Naruto didn't look up at Tsunade. He couldn't. He didn't want to. He didn't want to miss a moment of this.

"Do you take Hinata Hyuga to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Wife…

Naruto swallowed deeply. This was it.

"I do."