Disclaimer: I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

Chapter II

"Alright, everybody! I want this place sparkly clean within thirty minutes. You, polish the windows. You, clean the floor. You, stock the papers in the cabinets. You, wipe the table. You, arrange the furniture. Everyone else, do something useful. Move faster. I want this done in twenty minutes. Do I make myself clear?" the Rokudaime commanded his twenty bunshins /1/ efficiently, like a general sending his men to war.

The bunshins were confused on the Rokudaime's ability to address them as 'you'; well in fact they were of the same person. Either way, they nodded and attended to their designated tasks.

What he really liked in Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was multitasking. He could enjoy a steamy serving of Large Portion Pork Miso Ramen while working overtime in his office doing paperwork. He could attend a conference or an assembly while working overtime in his office doing paperwork. Actually, he could practically do anything and everything while working overtime in his office doing paperwork.

"Hey, you! I mean... me. Oh! Who cares! Hold your horses, cloak-wearing other Naruto!" a bunshin called out, for the lack of better term.

Naruto spared him a glance. "Yes?"

"You're not leaving us while we make this place fit for a visiting, right?" Immediately, the other bunshins stopped working and listened to the upcoming argument. "'Coz that's not nice and it's unfair for us. I know... you know... we know that we live, eat, and breathe your chakra but you don't have to enslave us just for that. That's not right."

To their surprise, a smile beamed at the brave bunshin from the original Naruto nonetheless. "For your information, I was about to go to the bathroom and make myself presentable. It's not like you're the ones who'll talk to her. Make refreshments while I pamper myself, will you? And be Hokage while I am gone!" With that, the Hokage slipped quietly out of the room and headed to the nearest male powder room, or so the girls dubbed.

Precisely thirty minutes later, Hinata was sure she could never do the plan. She had spent fifteen minutes pacing at the corridors, ten minutes debating if she should go or not, and five minutes staring at the great oak doors of the Hokage Office. She knew very well how this situation would run. First, take a deep breath, relax, knock, straighten yourself, enter when the door opened, and confess to her life-long love about her true feelings.

It sounds easy to do-her being part of one of the most brave and dignified clan in the whole wide world-and it would have been if only the billions of butterflies decided to take residence in other places than her stomach.

Oh, why was she getting these cowardly attacks again? She's a Hyuuga, for God's sake! All she had to do first was to knock.

So why does she feel like the whole world was crumbling beneath her feet? Oh, whom was she joking? How would the world end with just a simple tap on the wood?

Finally, deciding to throw all her hesitations to the window, she accomplished the boldest mission in her life. She knocked lightly.

A mild shuffling was heard from the other side, followed shortly by the opening of the door. There stood a young man of her age, with unruly blonde hair and blue eyes. Surprisingly, no matter how much he looked like Uzumaki Naruto, Hinata felt that this person was a complete stranger.

"Um…" Before she got a chance to talk, the stranger started speaking.

"It's a about time you've return!" The stranger finally looked at her then. "Who are you?"

"I'm Hinata. Hyuuga Hinata. Is Naruto-kun, I mean… Is the Hokage in there?" she tried hard to sound polite despite her confusion. Knowing Hinata, she didn't have to try very hard though.

"Hinata," the guy said her name while simultaneously remembering who she was. "Oh! You're that girl! Hi, I'm Naruto but I'm not the Hokage."

"Huh?" That statement was weird. The last time she checked, she was sure the Hokage was Naruto. And vice versa.

"Oh, no! I forgot. I'm supposed to be Naruto and the Hokage while he went away," the person berated himself. "Uh… Could you come inside while I go fetch him?" Without another word, the stranger took her by the hand and led her to a chair near the Hokage table that wasn't normally there. "And don't go anywhere. We'll… I mean, I'll… No, that's not right… He! He'll be right back!"

She nodded warily and smiled, but before she could thank the guy properly, he was gone. With a poof.

Strange…

It was not long enough though when the whole office rumbled and rattled under her feet as thunder of hooves resembling to an intensity nine earthquake approached the office. And with a bang, if one may add.

Hinata quickly glanced at the dorrway where the bang sounded. Her heart almost stoped. There stood the man who resembled a lot to the stranger she met earlier, but she was sure that this was not a stranger, for standing there panting at the doorway was her problem, her Hokage, and her future husband if fate shall permit.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Said man flashed a boyish smile. "Hello. Sorry, I'm late. It's just that I had a problem with the faucet, which refused to cooperate with me." 'Oh great,' Naruto thought. 'What better way to explain why your late than telling the girl about faucet problems. Very impressive, your Excellency.'

"Were you waiting for a long time?" He quickly straightened himself and sat in full dignity on his revolving chair.

Hinata stood as though the chair electrified her. "N-no…" Somehow, speaking became a very hard task for her. His presence does wonders for her. "I... I just arrived, actually, H-hokage-sama..."

"That's a relief." He smiled though internally he was frowning. Hinata adressing him as 'Hokage-sama' did not sound pleasing to him, much to his surprise. "You can stop calling me Hokage-sama, you know."

"A-alright, R-rokudaime-sama"

"If you insist on calling me by my title, then may I address you as Hyuuga heiress? That would really be fair on my side."

She frowned. "I don't think that sounds right..."

"Then I'll take that as a no." His smile widened. "So Hinata, would you honor me by calling me by my name?"

"But that would be a… a sign of disrespect in your authority, wouldn't it?"

"Hardly." Naruto saw he was nowhere in winning this name war with her and so he dropped his ultimate weapon: puppy-dog eyes. "Please, Hinata. Naruto-kun /3/ isjust fine."

"O-Okay." She blushed a lovely shade of red before she acquiesced. "Naruto-kun..."

"Good." He smiled again. "Now, why are you standing? A chair is made to be seated on." No response. "You wanted to talk, am I correct? Now, how will I talk to someone if I'm staring up at her? Sit. I won't bite."

When she was seated, he offered her cookies. She declined. "How about a drink?" She nodded at that. He poured her an ice-filled glass.

She took a sip them quickly grimaced at the taste. "Tea over ice?"

"Iced tea. You're supposed to put sugar on it before you drink it or it will taste bad." He placed three sugar cubes on her drink. "I take it that it didn't taste like your cup of tea?"

"Arigatou..." She wasn't used in drinking such concoction although she must admit, it did stated nice. It's just that it was new.

As new as the Hokage's next question.

"So, what did you want to talk about, Hinata?"

She almost choked what she was drinking. Thankfully, her esophagus decided to cough instead.

"Are you okay, Hinata?"

She coughed one last before she set her drink aside. She was sure she'd drop it at any moment. "Y-yes. I'm quite alright." she whispered so softly that Naruto almost didn't catch it. She swallowed hard to gain her composure. It's now or never. "I-I... Well... I... wanted to have your suggestion on..."

"On?"

"On…" Her heart started to beat faster.

"On?"

"HowtotellaguyIlikehim?" Hinata looked hopeful.

It was Naruto's turn to choke. Sure, she spoke so fast he barely recognized what she said. But the Hokage was trained to such speeches; he had Sakura to thank. Unlike Hinata's though, his respiratory system wasn't cooperating with him making him cough like there is no tomorrow. 'She wanted to ask him how to tell a guy she likes him,' he thought over a fistful of coughs.

"Hokage-sama? Daijoubu?" she asked.

He winced. He wished she lost the title already. "I am... quite... fine." He managed a shaky smile. "You... wanted to ask me how to tell a guy you like... him?"

Hinata quickly looked away. "Yes…"

He didn't know why but suddenly, when she told him that, he felt a twisting in his stomach that was somehow unbearable. He quickly shrugged the nauseating feeling as a probable cause of indigestion. He should have taken Kakashi-sensei's advice that too much iced tea in a day is bad for once health. With that, he replied, "But… Hinata, I'm not a girl. How am I supposed to know?"

She blushed a glorious shade of pink. "Anou… He… he's…" She lowered her head so that he wouldn't see her expression. "You… you see… he's a lot like… like you, Naruto-kun… so I thought you might understand him…" She stole a glance at his eyes only to see two very shocked sapphires.

'Does she like me? Is there a possibility that the Hyuuga heiress was deeply fond, more than friends, of the Sixth?' He considered it for a while before his brain concluded: Nah!'

"I see… Well, what characteristics do you find… appealing… to him?"

She twiddled her fingers. "Umm… You see… He's… very kind and lively, but he can really be sweet sometimes. He always cheers everyone up… but what I really like about him is that…" Her voice trailed off as she's back to yesterday's world. "He's willing to defend Konoha even though he's only a genin ."

"Uh huh…" She fell in love with a genin. Although, Naruto has nothing against genins (he was one for a long time), he thought Hinata would have preferred... better. Or at least Hiashi-sama would. "Does he know what you feel for him?"

She saddened at that. "I couldn't tell him; I'd just stutter and not make any sense… I tried showing him it to him in countless of ways but he still gets me wrong."

The nauseating feeling intensified in his stomach. What the heck was happening to him? Naruto shrugged it off, this time with a clear of throat. "If that's the case then I think you should try the direct route."

Hinata looked curious. "What's that?"

"Walk up to him, then kiss him. If he is like me then, he'll appreciate a little honesty." With an afterthought, he added, "Unless you have bad breath. Who's the lucky guy, anyway? Perhaps I could give him a hint."

"He… he's…" Her heart beat faster. "He's… He's… umm… His name… is… U-uzu…" Her sentence was cut-off by a big amount of smoke that erupted out of nowhere.

"Hey, there, bratling!" said a very young lady with light blonde hair tied in two pigtails.

"Granny!"

"Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade didn't seem to mind she just broke the bubble. "What?"