A/N - Hi there, fellow Fanfic Nuts! Finally got another chapter done and dusted. I had a whole week with no internet so it really helped my creativity, not being sidetracked by sites like this LOL. Hope you enjoy it, and for those of you who posted questions in your reviews - thanks a LOAD for those reviews, too, by the way! - I'll answer them in A/N at the end of the chapter! :D

The wind seemed to pick up as Hinata sped hastily out of the forest training grounds. It caught in her hair, attempting to pull strands free of the loose plait. In response she slowed to a walk, flicking the tie around to her face, and slid it from the ends in one swift movement. Her confidence was waning, and she found comfort in the simple task of unbinding her silky tresses, allowing the spring breeze to caress them. She closed her pupil-less eyes for one long moment, listening to the song of the wind, drawing energy and strength from it.

Hinata Hyuuga took a deep, calming breath, opened her eyes, and then continued on into Konoha's village proper.

It only took her minutes to make her way to the centre of the village; the streets, though still bustling with activity, no longer served as thoroughfares for refugees and migrants, as they had during the wars that ravaged the Fire Country two years previously. Those days had been rough, even for those who had trained their entire lives for such times, and shinobi and civilian alike had been more than happy to return to their reasonably normal lives once the Akatsuki had been dissolved and relative peace had returned to the world.

The Fifth Hokage had been adamant from the beginning, however, that vigilance had to be upheld, with Team Hawk having fled to the former Whirlpool Country - Naruto's mother's homeland - to train in secret. Sasuke Uchiha and his team of shinobi had not been seen since their final attempt to destroy Konoha, and Tsunade had to assume that it was only a matter of time until the Missing Nin returned to wreak vengeance on his own village.

Despite the urgency with which the Hokage had made her announcement soon after the war, only a handful of shinobi had actually been trusted with the information pertaining to Team Hawk and the chance of their return. Most of the current Jounins were under the impression that this peacetime would be constant, that all threat had been eliminated. They continued to train, mostly out of habit, because that was what they knew how to do.

Hinata Hyuuga knew otherwise. She and but a few other Jounins her age - namely Sakura Haruno, Shikamaru Nara, Neji Hyuuga, and Naruto Uzumaki himself, though there were several others - were aware of the current circumstances, and she knew that it was only a matter of time before she would have to step up and take charge, to lead. She was all-too aware of the fact that time was precious, and that soon enough her simple life - and that of every other person in Konoha - would change.

It was this knowledge that propelled her into the main street, where she stood to calm herself and prepare to face her biggest fear. She knew that this would be the only chance she would get to confess to Naruto her true feelings; not just because of the invasion that she knew was on its way, but because she understood that she would never feel as confident as she did at that moment. Kiba's soft words of encouragement had soldified her intent, had given her the final boost.

"I'm going to tell him. I am going to tell him, no matter what. I... I've waited too long."

"Then go."

Those two words had been enough to give her final resolve. She just needed to tackle it in the same way she tackled all of her missions; with precision, planning, and strength of heart.

Avoiding the sideways glances from passers-by, Hinata spun in a quick circle to face the Hokage's Residence, the large red building that stood at the very head of the village. Behind it towered the faces of all four previous Hokages, as well as the current leader, Tsunade. She studied the face of the Fourth Hokage - who reminded her so much of her current target - and then unleashed her Byakugan.

Everything in her direct line of sight became a mass of flowing chakra. Individuals casually wandering down the main street turned into human flames, their chakra levels flickering and altering. She could see the chakra that seeped from each person into the world around them; the ground, the air, other people. It had been amazing for her to finally discover, quite recently, due to her intense training and changes to her Byakugan, that chakra was not a constant; humans, animals and plants alike shed it and gained it every second of every day, just as they breathed in and out. It was a revelation that she had tried to explain to Neji, Hanabi, and even Hiashi. Both her sister and her father had given her looks of consternation, not understanding her strange new ability to see living chakra, but Neji had listened raptly as she had recounted what she had seen that day in training.

"It seems as though you have taken a step to the side, Hinata-sama," Neji had pondered aloud as they sat cross-legged in the Hyuuga compound courtyard. "The Byakugan usually matures in the same way for all of us; the ability to see an opponent's chakra levels comes first, followed by an increase in distance, and ultimately the ability to seek out any object within that radius. The distances to which we can see these objects grows constantly and each user's is different.

"Perhaps, instead of merely just increasing the physical limit of your Byakugan, Hinata-sama, you have instead taken a different path and your senses within that limit are now becoming more acute. You can see the minutae of chakra flow in the world, and have discovered a secret. You have an ability that it seems no other Hyuuga before you has had. Think of it like this; while I may be able to see a line of ants on the ground ten kilometres away, you can see the tiny specks of dirt that are on their feet."

That explanation had stayed with her, as it was the only theory that had seemed even remotely possible. No other member of the community could give her any answers. All she knew was that she could see and track the smallest amount of chakra, even as it passed from one person to another. While every being had its own identifying chakra that it produced itself, there were times when paths would cross and a being would take on the chakra of another being.

However, there was one being she knew of that was an exception to this rule, and that being was Naruto Uzumaki, and ultimately the Kyuubi that resided within his body.

She narrowed her field of vision to the Hokage's Residence, where she had heard Naruto was meeting with Tsunade, and immediately felt the distinct chakra that radiated from his body, the strange mix of the Nine Tailed Fox's scorching indentity and that of its cooler host. Hinata's heart began to beat rapidly as she drank in the sensation of contact, the deep thread that she could feel tugging on her mind at the touch of such interesting chakra. She often found it was her curiosity and instincts that took hold of her when she used her Byakugan and sought Naruto out; it was almost a drug to see the flickering, multicoloured flame of his lifeforce and feel it in her own veins.

She could see him now, his inner flames alight and bright. He was in the Hokage's office, sitting opposite her at the large desk, filling out paperwork and organising missions; it was a task he had been given shortly after the wars, one that he took very seriously and spent most of his free time puzzling over.

She saw the muscles in his back ripple and tense, the chakra in them flaring rainbow colours at something she did not see or feel. He seemed disconcerted for a brief moment, before returning to his list of Jounin, which she knew contained herself, Kiba, and Shino. It looked as though the three of them were to be going on a mission soon, though what that mission was had not been written down yet.

Hesitating for just a second, Hinata took a deep breath, releasing her Byakugan, and began to jog down the street towards the Residence.

At the base of the mountain, where the entrance to the Residence stood, the kunoichi slowed to a reverent walk and greeted the guards who stood ever-vigilant at the doors. One of the guards, a distant cousin of hers and head of a branch Hyuuga family, scanned her perfunctorily with his opaque eyes, the veins in his temples pulsing, and nodded her entry to the other guard, who opened the doors and led her into the foyer.

There were very few rooms in the Residence where the everyday shinobi were allowed to enter. Most were escorted directly to the Hokage's office, at the very top of the mansion, and all doors along the way were barred and sealed. It was rumoured that most of them contained scroll after scroll of forbidden jutsu, and history the likes of which the previous kages had deemed unnecessary to be public knowledge. Hinata herself had been let into a few of the usually locked rooms, only to find but one or two items in each, such as weapons or scrolls.

The main hallway spiralled up and around the mansion, leading directly to the office of the Hokage. She and her guard reached the thick panel doors in little time at all, and Hinata began to feel tense. Her heart constricted dangerously, beating out of time, and she held a hand to her chest in an attempt to calm it. Naruto was beyond those doors; this was the be-all and end-all for her.

The doors before her, which had been still and silent, burst open in a flash and Hinata barely saw anything before she was blinded by a figure. Standing before her, one head taller, was Naruto Uzumaki, his arms crossed. These days he wore a cloak of white and red, the same worn by his father Minato, and inner robes of black and red.

It took Hinata a few moments to get her bearings, and when she did she realised he was but a foot away from her, and she looked up into his face, her own beginning to redden at his sudden closeness.

He had matured greatly in the past two years, growing in both body and mind. His hair was longer, worn in the same fashion as his father had worn his, and his forehead protector had been cleaned and polished. His mouth was set in a thin, hard line, the ever-present scores on his cheeks hinting at the demon within.

What always stunned Hinata the most, however, were his piercing blue eyes, icy in their appearance but warm in the emotion they usually held. Deep within them she saw a sadness that seemed constant, and also a shadow of the fire that burned inside the Kyuubi.

At this time, however, he seemed distressed more than sad, and he fixed her with a look of consternation. "Hinata?" His voice was warm, like sweet honey, and when he turned to close the doors behind him Hinata took the opportunity to fight back the urge to faint. "Why did you seek me out? Is there news from outside?"

It took Hinata a few moments to comprehend what he was asking her. Even when it finally dawned that he was asking her if she had any new information on Team Hawk - which she did not - she was still confused.

Naruto, understanding that look of confusion and realising its source, clarified. "I felt you use your Byakugan when you directed at me. I thought maybe you had some urgent news and wanted to find me quickly."

"Oh," Hinata said weakly, suddenly feeling dizzy. She hadn't known that Naruto could sense her gaze, but she had to concede that she was not surprised. He had always had strange abilities. She blinked rapidly to clear her swirling vision and shook her head. "No, I'm sorry, N-Naruto-kun. I haven't h-heard anything." She recalled her meeting with Neji that morning, and decided now would be a good a time as any to relay the message he had sent with her. "Neji-nii-san would l-like to have a w-word with you, though. W-when you are free."

Naruto deflated visibly, which she decided was a good thing; once the sadness disappeared from his expression he took a deep breath and fixed her with a mischievous smile instead. "That's all you sought me out to tell me?"

Hinata blushed madly, stuttering incoherently, before swallowing and forming a proper sentence. "I-I was actually... wondering i-if I could s-s-speak to you... i-if you're not t-t-too busy..."

A blank expression crossed the taller shinobi's countenance, but then he grinned, and her heart skipped a beat or two. "Of course, Hinata! I just finished up here, let's go!" He took her upper arm and spun her around gently, leading her away from the Hokage's office and down the spiral hallway once again.

By the time the two reached the entrance to the Hokage's Residence, Hinata had lost all train of thought, and could only concentrate on the heat where his hand had been resting.

MORE A/N YAY!

How'd you like the chapter?! NOW I would like some creative input; would you like to actually READ the confession, or would you rather see it in a short flashback? The next chapter is Kiba-centric, but in the chapter after that, what would you rather read? Let me know in your review!

I want to explain about the way I see chakra, and about the kids' new abilities, but I think it would take up too much A/N, so just let me know if you want more information and I'll chuck it in with the next chapter.

Thanks to Bumble555 for pointing out a flaw in the first chapter. To answer your question, this fic is set about two-and-a-half years after Shippuuden, about September, which is spring in Australia, where I'm from. Hinata is 17 (she'll be 18 on December 27th) and Kiba is 18 (his birthday was July 7th). Hinata's hair is down to her thighs, she puts it in a plait, and she wears a tighter jacket with the Hyuuga clan symbol on the cuffs. Still wears her forehead protector on her neck, and a jounin vest. Kiba's hair is longer, and he usually just wears a mesh shirt and leather pants *drools* He's also very muscular, bulky.

Reviews requested! :D