The next day, Naruto and Hinata went to the hospital with Emi. She only cried once at 2:23 am and was silent the rest of the night. As soon as they arrived Hanabi had this enormous smile on her face. She ran over to Hinata, hugged her, grabbed her hand and hauled her out of the room. Hanabi took her sister down to the lobby and told her the fantastic news.
"Sasuke might be released tomorrow! They say that he improved only after the last week, but the condition has gone done to almost non-existent. He has to stay over night for observation, but if he is still well tomorrow we can finally leave the hospital." A giant smile formed across her face.
"Oh, Hanabi, that's great. But what are you guys going to do after that? Are you going to stay here in town or head off immediately after he is released?"
"I'm not sure… I'll check, but we will probably just leave, I was lucky enough to not be caught by father hiding for eight months here in the hospital. And the cover you and Naruto gave us at the market a couple days ago. I'm so grateful for you Hinata. If you weren't around I'd be a dead woman. Thank you" Hanabi wrapped her arms around her sister.
"Well, I try. I don't want you to get hurt; after all I'm your big sister and I want to make sure that good things can come in life, even if you mess up in one area. I am glad you found happiness Hanabi." They then headed back to the room where they found Naruto playing with Hiroshi. Hanabi took Hiroshi from Naruto, he gave her a frown, however she just smiled at him and walked back over to Sasuke's bed. Hinata went over to Naruto's side and handed him Emi. His expression quickly changed, he leaned over and kissed Hinata on the cheek. He looked down to see she was sleeping, which was the reason for the new look on his face. He just wasn't having luck with babies today.
When Emi woke up this morning, he told Hinata he could handle it. He couldn't, Emi just kept crying, no matter what Naruto did. He changed her diaper, feed her, he even sang to her. It just wasn't meant to be. But as soon as he handed her over to Hinata, she fell asleep. 'That's just my luck' Naruto thought. He got back into bed and snuggled close to Hinata. However his frown never left his face, even while he was sleeping.
When Hinata woke up, she turned over and looked at Naruto. She giggled when she saw his frowning face. He woke up to this sight, which made him a little frustrated.
"Are you laughing at me?" He joked
Still giggling she stated, "Me, laugh at you? Never!"
"Yeah, well, just for that I'm gunna have to tickle you"
"Please don't Naruto," He started toward. She got off the bed and grabbed Emi.
"Now you can't, or you'll make Emi cry" She happily proclaimed. He rubbed the back of his head.
"You're right, I'm going to go get breakfast." Naruto headed to the kitchen. She came out holding Emi. She got in front of him stuck her arm out and said "I'm making breakfast today. I'll stick Emi in her carrier."
"I can do that Hinata," Doubtful, she handed Emi over and luckily she didn't cry.
"See, I don't make her cry, I just can't make her stop." He smiled at Hinata. Instead of putting her in her carrier, he just rocked her back and forth. Once she was asleep, he just looked at her. She looked so peaceful, so serene, and so elegant. He had only had this responsibly shoved on him a few days ago, but every day his love grew for Emi. If he had this much love for a kid that wasn't even his… he looked over at Hinata. He really wanted one of his own, but in order to that, they would need to set a date. He was just so eager to get it over with. He made up his mind. he would ask her to marry him tomorrow.
Hinata brought the pan over to the table. She had learned that she should have people serve themselves. She looked over at Naruto who looked like he had a lot on his mind, but what? This mess was almost over, maybe he didn't know.
"So Hanabi told me that Sasuke might be released tomorrow."
Naruto looked up at her in shock. That might ruin his plan for tomorrow, but he wasn't going to give up. He started to turn red which confused Hinata.
"Naruto, what's wrong? Are you sick, because you shouldn't be embarrassed or nervous around me, we're engaged." She tilted her head and smiled.
He started to play with his food on his plate, still red faced. "I… I'm just… thinking about tomorrow too."
"Why are you thinking about tomorrow?"
"Well, I just wanted to ask if…" Just then Emi started to cry.
"Hold that thought," Hinata ran over to Emi and fed her, then rocked her back to sleep. She headed back to the table, but was stopped when Naruto got up, took her hand, and rushed her out the door.
'This is it, this is how I can use my engagement idea' he thought.
"Naruto, we can't leave Emi by herself…"
"Don't worry, I've got it covered."
Back at Naruto's house Shikamaru and Ino enter.
"Why did we agree to this again, babies are so troublesome." Shikamaru stated.
"Because, Naruto needs to ask Hinata something romantic, and I can't stop true love, now help me find where Hinata left her."
'Being in love is too troublesome,' Shikamaru thought as he looked all over Naruto's apartment for Emi.
"Found her," Ino called out, "she is so adorable, she looks exactly like Hinata," Shikamaru came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Well, she should since she is theirs, right?" Shikamaru pointed out.
"True, hopefully ours is as cute as this little one." She spoke in the most annoying voice, but somehow it was cute annoying.
Shikamaru bent down to Ino's stomach and asked the baby "Please, don't be as troublesome as your mom." She lightly smacked the top of his head. "See how troublesome she can be." He got up while rubbing the spot Ino hit. He wrapped his arm back around her waist and smiled at her.
"You might be troublesome, but I still love you." He gave her a small kiss.
On the outskirts of town, in a dark little cave, two figures (one of which, had their hands over their eyes) slowly entered a lighted area. It had a huge waterfall and fireflies buzzing around a glowing blue arena. At the edge of the pool was a little bench Naruto had brought from the town, the night they got caught by Hinata's father was the night he was going to propose, and so he set everything up, but never got the chance to tear everything down. For this, he was thankful because now he had the chance for this.
"Ok, open them." She lifted her hand off her eyes to find this sight before her. Her heart pounded at this gorgeous sight. Naruto walked her over to the little bench.
"Naruto, this place is so beautiful, how did you find it?"
"When I was little, I used to come here to think, I never knew why people hated me so much. When I found that I came here to think about what I should do about it. After that, I learned that it was my father that put it there, I ran here. This has been my spot ever since I can remember." He looked up at the waterfall.
"Plus, sometimes, me, Choji, Shikamaru, and Kiba would come here when we skipped school and use the waterfall as a waterslide." She giggled.
"But I didn't bring you here to tell you that, I brought you here to ask, well…" He started to rub the back of his head.
'How am I going to ask her? I don't want to sound pushy'
"What is it? Are you ok Naruto?"
"Yeah, well, with your sister leaving tomorrow and everything, wouldn't you like for her to attend your wedding?"
"Yeah, but she might not leave tomorrow, so she might be able to go."
"Yeah, but as soon as… never mind that, Look, ever since we got Emi I've been doing a lot of thinking. And I think that since we have new responsibilities in our life… that maybe getting married sooner would be better." He stared at the ground as he spoke those last few words. He didn't want to see Hinata's expression, weather good or bad.
"You are probably right, but how soon do you think, a month? A week? A day?" He looked up at her when she said 'a day'. She looked at him like he was crazy. "Y-y-you want t-to m-marry me t-tomorrow?" Her heart started pounding passionately.
"We don't have to, I don't want to rush you, it was just a thought. Just in case your sister isn't here." He felt bad for lying to Hinata, but to tell her the truth wouldn't help the situation.
"I-I guess I can go talk to Hanabi," Naruto cut her off.
"Look. This has nothing to do with anyone else. Just us, I don't want your decision to be based on someone else's thoughts." He pushed her hair back behind her ear. She grabbed his hand, as she had down many times before, but this time, it was a lighter almost reluctant, grip around his hand. He looked at her but she turned away.
'What should I do? If we get married tomorrow, that, that will be too soon… but then again having Emi around, I want a child of my own, and a playmate around Emi's age might be nice, but I still have time.' She looked back over at Naruto, who now had a concerned look on his face.
'Maybe this was a bad idea, I messed up, what if she doesn't want to marry me now because I am too pushy? But to not get married soon would drive me up a wall. I'm going to lose it soon,'
"Naruto…" He turned around and saw her, fireflies dancing in the background as the blue light descended upon them made her glow and look even more dazzling.
She tilted her head and smiled "Its alright, I agree… tomorrow is good." Her voice didn't sound 100 sure, but then again, neither was he. They had been together for eight months, her father thinks they already have a child, and they were living together.
"We basically already are, right?" She told him. He gave her an enormous hug. Then grabbed her hand and took her over to the pool. They started playing around, then making out, but Naruto got in a hurry and started to lift up her shirt. She slapped him and said "Not till tomorrow." He frowned then just shrugged it off.
"Anyway, I'm going to go get ready for tomorrow, and I'm not staying with you tonight Naruto, I think I'll ask Sakura if I can stay over there. Bye" She waved and ran off.
She ran to the hospital, grabbed Hanabi and Sakura and told them she was getting married tomorrow.
"TOMORROW?" Sakura screamed.
"Sh, yes I am getting married tomorrow, and since it is bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, and since my father has shunned me, I was wondering if I could stay with you tonight Sakura."
"Of course you can, we'll have a bachelorete party." Hinata didn't look very amused by this, but agreed to it anyway.
"Hanabi, will you be my maid of honor?" She looked shocked,
"I would love to, but are you sure you wouldn't want Sakura to be? She is a better friend then I am a sister."
"Well, it's my choice, and I chose you Hanabi." She smiled at her sister, who returned the gesture.
"Of course, Sakura can be a brides maid too, along with Ino and Ten Ten."
"Well, I'm not sure if Ino wants to walked down the aisle being pregnant and all. But I'll go ask her and the others if they are interested in the party and you can ask her about it then." And with that Sakura was off.
"Well, I'm going to go to, I'm going to go look for a dress, and talk to Kurenai about using her child as part of the wedding. You want to come with me and get out for a while or just hang around her till the party?"
"I'll come with you, I've been here long enough, I'll be right there, I'm just going to tell Sasuke where I'm going. Be right back."
Hinata sat in the lobby for just a couple minutes, when her sister came back and they headed off to look for the perfect dress. They went downtown to the wedding store, which was having a going out of business sale.
"Wow, I wonder why its going out of business, its only been here a year. Well, that'll save me some of my mission money." She walked in and started to browse through the wedding dresses but nothing really caught her eye.
She continued through the store, when in the back corner she saw the perfect dress on a manikin. It was a white strapless dress that flowed perfectly all the way to the ground. It had a slight train, and beaded sparkling off white flowers that started at the top right and wrapped around the entire dress. She ran to Hanabi, grabbed her, and pulled her over to the dress.
"Oh my! You weren't kidding, Hinata this dress was made for you, so elegant and reserved, yet still just unbelievable. You HAVE to get it." Hanabi told her sister, slightly tugging on her shirt.
"Ok, I'll see if they have one in my size." She walked over to the counter and asked the salesperson if they had any more of those dresses.
"Sorry kid, that's our last one, but if you want to try it on, I'll be happy to get it for you."
"If its not to much trouble."
"Hey, that's why I'm here, right." He smiled at her slightly and she smiled back.
Then went over to the manikin the dress was on. He took it off and handed it over to Hinata, who gladly took it from him. She went into the dressing and moments later came out looking an angel.
"H-H-Hinata, you look… amazing!" She started to blush, but wait, that wasn't her sister voice. Both Hanabi and Hinata turned their attention toward the door. There stood a jaw dropped Kiba.
"What are you doing here?" Hinata asked him.
"Well, word around town is that there is a wedding tomorrow. So can I come or what?"
"Oh, yeah… sorry, this is all so sudden, I have no time for anything."
"Well, why did you agree to it then, if you're not ready, I'm sure Naruto would understand." Kiba questioned Hinata.
"I don't think so, plus it's not fair to make him wait any longer. No, tomorrow it is!"
"Well, I'll help out if you need anything." Kiba suggested.
"Really, that would be great, can you make sure Naruto gets his tux, knowing him he'll forget and end up getting married in that orange jumpsuit off his. Just make sure he is ready for tomorrow. That would be a load off my mind."
"Ok, I'll make sure he gets what needs to be done accomplished." With that Kiba was off to find Naruto.
When Kiba finally found Naruto, he was back at the spot where they had skipped school so many times, just sitting on the bench facing directly toward the waterfall.
"This place brings back memories."
"Kiba, " Naruto turned around, and Kiba joined him on the bench.
"So, are you ready for tomorrow?" Kiba asked him
"I guess so, I kinda feel guilty about rushing it and everything, but…" Naruto looked down at the ground directly below him.
"Look, I would have probably asked her to do the same thing. Don't feel too bad, and don't worry, she is ready for you. She spent her whole life waiting for you, she was probably ready to ask to set a date soon anyway. " Kiba patted Naruto on the back. Naruto, however, didn't even look up, or blink for that matter.
" Your so lucky, Naruto. Even though a year ago you would have never seen any of this coming, and I thought I'd have my chance, its amazing what can happen in one night isn't it? In one night you realized Hinata was more then the girl from the academy, the one you saw that day on your way to the chunnin exams, had grown up even more, and had learned how to become something more then she was back then, if that was even possible. I saw her change and develop all for your sake. So that one day you would see that she was worth something. She took your ninja path, and made her own. Well, I guess I always knew that you'd wake up one day, but prayed I'd not be around to see that day. I always thought that you and Sakura would end up together. But time sure does change us all. Now, you and Hinata, Shikamaru and Ino, Neji and TenTen, even Sakura and Lee, you all have that special someone in your lives, Hold on to that. Don't feel guilty because you think you are forcing her to marry you. She has wanted this her whole life. I hope though… that you are ready too." Kiba got up and walked half way between the bench and the cave exit.
"Like I said before, You'd better not hurt her Naruto!" He continued out of the cave, back turned and yelled out
"Oh yeah, don't forget to get a tux, Hinata will kill you if you get married in that orange jumpsuit." Naruto chuckled at that thought. Getting married in his orange jumpsuit. That would be fun, but he couldn't ruin it for her. So he got up and headed into the dark cave before him.
'Tomorrow,' he thought 'my future will be my present.'