The elders of the Hyuga clan gathered in the large, circular council room. In the center of the room was a large, crescent shaped table with an open center. Within the open center, designed into the carpet was the yin and yang sign surrounded by numbers. There were eleven councilors of the Hyuga clan, three of which were Hinata, Hanabi, and Neji. The other eight were four old main branch men with their wives. The eleven of them took their seats on the outside of the table. Also present, Gaara, Tsunade, Sakura, and Naruto sat at the table as well, not to mention the dozens of ANBU sent to keep the peace. Tsunade took the seat that would have been taken by Lord Hiashi if he had not died.

"Welcome everyone," began Tsunade, "before we begin, allow me to express my condolences for the death of Lord Hiashi."

"We cannot change what has happened," said an old man in the council.

"The binds of destiny has chosen," continued the old man's wife, "and now is the time for the Hyuga's to move on."

"Of course that is true," remarked Tsunade, "but we cannot deny Lord Hiashi's contributions to the village."

"Never mind the past," said an old woman, "we must now decide on a new leader of the Hyuga clan. We must preserve the clan. We must preserve tradition. We must choose Lady Hanabi."

"No," said another old man, "Lord Hiashi decided that his heir will be his brother's son. Lord Neji must be made leader of the clan."

"How dare you say that!" shouted the first old man to speak, "How dare you include the term Lord in front of a cadet branch member. Besides, it does not matter what Hiashi wants, he is bound to the traditions as much as you and me.

"Then perhaps," Tsunade added, "if we wish to stay with tradition, then Lady Hinata should be made leader of the Hyuga clan, her being the true heir of Lord Hiashi."

"No!" said another old man, "Hiashi has already disowned Hinata; she cannot become head of the clan."

"Nonsense," said an old woman, "Hiashi overturned his disownment a long time ago, after Orochimaru's invasion all those years ago."

"It doesn't matter if Hiashi overturned his disownment," said an old man, "Hinata has already signed papers of abdication."

All eyes were on Hinata. "Is this true, Hinata?" asked Tsunade.

Hinata nodded. "Yes," she whimpered, "I renounced my heirdom without renouncing my name."

"Therefore," said the old Hyuga, "Hinata is a main branch Hyuga who cannot become clan leader."

"Then it is between Neji and Hanabi," said Tsunade, "how many in this council can vote?"

"The eight of us elders can vote," said an old woman, "for Neji and Hinata cannot vote."

"But we end up in a tie every time we do vote!" exclaimed another old woman.

"It doesn't matter if it ends with a draw," said an old man, "Hanabi is rightful heiress, therefore she gains precedence."

"But wait," said an old man who supported Neji, "Hinata can vote, can she not?"

"No," said an old woman, "she does not fulfill the requirements."

"Why not," said the old man, "She is a member of the main branch and is Hiashi's daughter."

"But Hiashi disowned her," said an old woman.

"We already stated that he overturned that!" shouted an old woman.

Throughout the conversation, Sakura kept looking at Hinata. Sakura feared that Hinata had revealed the truth to Naruto, but honestly, Sakura was the only one thinking about that at the moment. For everyone else, this problem of Hyuga clan leadership had to be resolved.

"Lady Hokage," asked an old woman, "do you believe Hinata has the right to cast a vote?"

Tsunade thought for a moment. "In all honesty, I do."

"Be careful what you say, my Lady," said an old man, "you risk civil unrest between Konoha and the Hyuga clan."

"I don't fear that at all," said Tsunade, raising her eyebrow.

"What will you do?" laughed an old man, "kill us like the village did to the Uchiha clan?"

Naruto rested his head on his arm. He hated how these old men and women acted like children, digging up ancient history just to make a point. He didn't really want to be there right then. Sakura had been invited as Tsunade's aide, and Naruto was in charge of the security during the meeting, but, besides duty, Naruto did want to see what Hinata would do.

"Well," said Tsunade, "say whatever you like about the Uchihas, but that was not my decision. You realize that my position as Hokage gives me precedence in decision making in conflicts like this. I am only allowing this meeting to convene because precedence dictates that I respect clans to make their own decisions."

An old man laughed, "you will risk making the Hyuga clan angry? You will risk losing the Byakugan now that the Sharingan is extinct and the Rinnegan is uncontrollable?"

Tsunade sighed. The old man was right. No matter how strong the shinobi of Konoha were, the Byakugan was one of the gifts that made Konoha powerful. She could not risk having the Hyuga move to a new village.

"May I suggest something?" asked Gaara.

"Yes, Lord Kazekage?" responded an old woman.

"Why not we have a vote to allow Hinata into the the Hyuga clan council of elders?"

"It will end up in tie," said an old man, "the four traditionalists will vote for and the four restructurists will vote against."

"No, no" said Tsunade, "Neji and Hanabi will be allowed to vote on this matter."

"It's still the same thing," said the old man.

"Is it not worth a try?" asked Gaara.

"Fine," said another old man, "we will put it to vote."

The old man, a Hanabi supporter, stood up. "A motion to vote Hinata Hyuga into the council of elders of the Hyuga clan."

"Second," said Hanabi.

"Then let us vote," continued the old man, "Lady Hokage, will you moderate?"

Tsuande nodded and stood up. "All in favor of making Hinata Hyuga an elder of the Hyuga clan raise your hand."

All four of the Hanabi supporters, Hanabi, and Neji raised their hands, leaving the Neji supporters in disarray.

"All opposed?" asked Tsunade.

The four Neji supporters rose their hands.

"Then it is official," said Tsunade, "Hinata Hyuga is the eleventh member of the Hyuga clan council of elders."

A Neji supporter pulled Neji toward her. "What have you done?" she said, "you have destroyed you chances. Hinata will vote with her sister."

"I trust Hinata," Neji said back, "if she thinks Hanabi will be the better leader, then I trust her."

"Very well, Hinata," asked an old woman who was a Hanabi supporter. "You know how we vote, now, how do you decide?"

"Yes," said an old man who was also a Hanabi supporter, "give us your reasoning to why you believe whoever you want to be leader."

Hinata began to breathe quickly, now was the time everyone was anticipating. It was time for her to make her speech. She stood up and looked around at the people around the table. As she looked around, her eyes met Neji and Hanabi. Both of them trusted her, and both of them knew she could do this. Hinata took a deep breath, keeping her eyes on Gaara.

"Everyone, n-n-now is the time that we must make the difficult decisions that may change the rest of our life."

As she stuttered, the elders began to lose some of their respect. The Hanabi supporters all grinned with delight, and the Neji supporters were all discouraged. Hinata began to lose faith, and her eyes moved away from Gaara.

"We….um…we have to…well…I think that…I mean, it's not …I may be wrong but…"

Hinata's eyes moved around the room. She couldn't do it. All her old habits began to haunt her again. Suddenly, the calming blue eyes of Naruto met hers. As she stared into his whiskered face, Naruto gave a soft smile, then, a bizarre courage filled Hinata. She felt as if she could do anything, in fact, she knew the power she had in the next few words and the responsibilities that were on her shoulders. It didn't matter how heavy the burden was anymore, with Naruto with her, she knew she could lift it.

Hinata continued. It cannot be said that she was completely changed. It was not as if she spoke with a new voice. Her voice was still soft and sweet, but it spoke with a new strength and affirmation.

"At this time, we now see the importance of a new leader, being that our clan is in a weakened position after the deadly war. I think that we have to choose someone who is ready to lead. Someone who has always been ready to lead."

The Hanabi supporters began to squirm in their chairs. Their once sure thoughts were becoming challenged.

"Also, at this time, now that the clan is weakened, we need a leader who can give the Hyugas a new reason to be proud of themselves. We need to appoint the strongest user of the Byakugan and the most talented of the Hyuga clan."

The Hanabi supports began to raise their hands, but the ANBU agents told them this was not the time for questions.

"Now, I understand the importance of tradition in all our lives. We are who we are because of tradition, but we cannot allow tradition to stop us from choosing the best and the brightest."

Naruto's soft smile grew into a large smile as Hinata said those words. All this time Hanabi sat quietly.

"It is then that I must throw my support for Neji to be our next clan leader."

The eyes of the Neji supporters eyes widened and the Hanabi supporters stood up to leave.

"This is not because of any lack of love, but rather because of love. Hanabi is young and is still a genin. She must learn to become a great ninja, but Neji, Neji was the first of his class to become a Jonin, and today serves as one of the most talented of the jonin. Now Hanabi is a wonderful genin, and I know she will become a great ninja, but Neji is here, Neji is ready, and even my father knew this. Therefore, I hope that we all will support Neji as the new leader of our clan."

With that, Hinata sat down. The four Hanabi supporters got up to leave, but they were stopped by the ANBU.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said an old Neji supporter, "Hinata has made her decision, let us vote."

"All in favor of Neji as leader raise your hands," said Tsunade.

The four Neji supporters raised their hands and Hinata joined in.

"All who vote for Hanabi raise your hands."

With that, nobody raised their hands.
"All who abstain?"

The four Hanabi supporters raised their hands.

"Then it settles it," said Tsunade, "Neji Hyuga is hereby appointed to be leader of the Hyuga clan. This decision is now formally recognized by the Hokage. Therefore, it will be done."

With that the meeting adjourned and the four Hanabi supporters left the building as quickly as they could. The others conglomerated near the door.

Hinata approached Hanabi. "I'm sorry Hanabi," said Hinata.

"It's okay Hinata," responded Hanabi, "you were just thinking about the clan." Hanabi smiled slightly. "Do you really think I'll become a great ninja?"

Hinata smiled at her little sister, "Of course." The two sisters smiled at each other as Neji approached.

"Lady Hinata, Lady Hanabi," said Neji.

The girls smiled at their cousin. "Yes, Lord Neji?"

Neji smiled. "Thank you Hinata."

"Don't say thank you, Neji," smiled Hinata, "this job isn't a gift, its' a curse."

Neji smiled. "Yes, I will prove myself to the council, I have to."

Neji looked over to Hanabi. "And we'll make sure that this clan succeeds."

The three Hyugas smiled. "Well, goodbye guys," said Neji.

"Yeah, I have to go to," said Hanabi.

The three of them said their goodbyes and Hinata approached Gaara, Naruto, and Sakura.

"Hi guys," said Hinata.

"Hello, my lady," laughed Naruto.

The group laughed and Naruto continued. "This must be the world's most powerful couple, eh Sakura? The Kazekage of Suna and the Elder of the Hyuga clan. Bet those kids will be the strongest in the world."

Gaara laughed and turned his head away from Naruto, but the girls eyes sank to the floor. For the first time since she walked into the council room, Hinata felt bad again. Sakura also didn't look Naruto in the eyes.

"Anyway," said Gaara, "should we go somewhere tonight?"

"Yeah!" said Naruto, "I got an idea! Let's invite everyone for dinner! It'll be just like old times!"

Gaara gave one of his half-smiles. "Yeah, I've wanted to see Lee again. What do you think, Hinata?"

Hinata, realizing that her name had just been called lifted her head up and gave a soft smile, was nodding. "Sure, that would be fun." She really didn't care, but she didn't want to argue just that moment.

"Alright then," said Naruto, "lets meet at Ichiraku at eigth then, okay?"

"Ichiraku?" said Sakura, still looking down, "that place has four seats, we should go somewhere bigger. We are bringing everyone after all."

Naruto laughed. "She has a point. How about we go to that barbecue place where Shikamaru and Choji always go?"

"Sounds good to me," said Gaara, "what about you girls?"

"Yeah," said Hinata.

"Sure," said Sakura.

"Well, it's settled then," said Naruto, "we'll meet there at eight."

The two couples split up. Naruto and Sakura walked together town the road.

"I'm glad everything turned out all right," said Naruto happily.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah," said Sakura half-heartedly.

"You don't seem happy," said Naruto, "I think Hinata's speech just assured peace in the Hyuga clan!"

"Let's hope so," said Sakura quietly.

"Come on, Sakura," said Naruto, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"Well, okay," said Naruto, unsatisfied.

On another part of town, Gaara and Hinata walked together along the streets.
"You were amazing," said Gaara, "I knew you could do it."

Hinata nodded. "Thank you, Gaara. No one could have helped me as much as you."

For the first time in Hinata's life, she lied right up front someone she cared about. No, there was someone who helped Hinata more than Gaara ever could, in fact, he did. The conflicting thoughts in Hinata's mind clashed and confused her. She knew that she had to choose, but she couldn't, not just yet.