Hello!

How was you summer holidays? I hope they were easier than mine! hahaha but it was fun anyways!

Well now, back to business! I know the chapter is late, but well I moved back from Europe and all got a surgery to heal my pair of shiny brown eyes so that I don't need to wear glasses anymore, and other stuff because of all that I couldn't find the time to focus and concentrate on the writting.

However! As an apology this chapter is 30% longer than the usual ^^

And as I come back so does our favorite girl Okami! Who as usual was the Beta reader, grammar and orthography checker, and style corrector ^_^ (Honestly, what would I do with out you?)

No more to say! Charge!

Feelings on the Horizon

I walked down from the winners stand and returned to the backstage, where my friends were waiting for me. The large trophy and the bouquet of flowers I was carrying almost covered my upper body, but still weren't large enough to stop the girls from running to me and hug me while screeching congratulations on my winning. A sudden flash called my attention.

"Good work Hinata-chan" standing nearby were Sore-nee-san and Kohaze, she had her camera on her hand.

"Sora-nee-san" I greeted her with a big smile "What are you doing here?" I was happy, yet surprised, about seeing her here.

"Well, you haven't forgotten about Kohaze, have you? His job is to let me know pretty much everything you guys are doing, so I knew about this contest since you started practicing. Besides, it wasn't as if you were keeping it a secret"

"Congratulations, Hinata-hime" said Kohaze in a courteous voice while he did a deep bow.

"Thank you Kohaze" I replied the bird's with a little bow of my own before addressing the young woman once away "But, what are you doing in the backstage?" I said pointing the identification cards that read 'Staff' from the neck of my friends

"Yeah, well, about that..." Sora-nee-san's tone and expression suddenly became stiffy "this is a civilian contest but we are at a ninja village, and as such...the influence of 'the family' allows for certain privileges" she finished as my father came out of the shadows

"Father!"

"Her dad?" asked surprised all the girls

"Good evening Hinata" he greeted almost without seeing me "Good evening to you too, young girls" instantly all the girls adjusted their standing and bowed.

"Good evening Hyuuga-sama"

I was completely petrified. One thing was to confess my love for Naruto-kun in front of my friends, my rival and a lot of strangers; but his sister, and my father? That was another story completely!

"When you get home, come to my office. I will have a word with you there" his voice was serious and the tone imperative.

"Yes father" I said lowering my face. I was in trouble, I knew it.

"Don't be late" he said turning around.

"See you later Hiashi-san" waved good-bye Sora-nee-san

"I have told you to call me Hyu- You know what? Nevermind" replied my father as he left.

We all fell into an uncomfortable silence.

"So, uh, yeah! Those wings were amazing Hinata-chan!" ventured Sora-nee-san breaking the heavy mood. All the girls agreed joining the talk.

"Yes, I was wondering about it, it was a nice touch, but why did you change everything in the last minute? It wasn't supposed to be wings what broke the chains but hearts" said Sakura-chan "you used another dress too"

"I-I appreciated the dress" I recognized nonchalantly "I wasn't exactly looking forward to wear that thing in public" even less in front of my father! "I was somewhat ashamed of wearing that awkward outfit"

"Say what?" Ino-chan was clearly surprised "Hinata-chan didn't you like the outfit I put together for you?"

"It's not that I didn't like it" I replied as fast as I could apologetically "it's just that...it's...so bold..." I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks

"Ha, ha, ha" laughed Sakura-chan "it's not usual to see the old Hinata-chan"

I blinked twice "'Old Hinata'? What do you mean?" I questioned her, Ino-chan giggled.

"She means, that just now you were playing with your fingertips, like you're doing again now" she smiled.

I lowered my sight, as my cheeks reached a nearly unbearable heat I noticed how the tips of my index were touching each other, coming and going, how could I be doing it unconsciously?

"A-a-a-a-ah! F-f-for how long have I been doing this?" I asked.

"Just a few seconds n-" began to answer Sakura-chan but I interrupted her.

"No, no, no. I mean, since what age?"

"Pretty much since the academy" replied Ino-chan "that was like your trademark when we were young"

"No way!"

"I'm afraid so, yes" acknowledged Sakura-chan.

"Returning to the topic at hand… about your act" dared to say Midori-sempai "I'm guilty on the dress, but I really had to deliver it to Hinata; however, I didn't change the plan" she explained "In fact I thought it was you, Sakura-chan, who had changed my genjutsu. You are the only one here with a good genjutsu level" all the girls looked at each other searching for possible culprits. All of a sudden their eyes locked on me.

"I?" I questioned back "I didn't do it!" I argued back "I'm not that good with genjutsu! Besides! I was too focused on singing to even do something as complex as that"

"I guess that's true..." Midori-sempai fell into a deep thoughtful stance.

"Let's not worry about it!" cheered on Tenten-chan "all's well what ends well, right?"

"She's right!" seconded Sora-nee-san "let's go party to celebrate!"

"YAY" all the girls cheered.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

I got home a few hours later, the night was now at its peak, the streetlights illuminated the village in a lovely fashion, creating a romantic mood...that I wasn't able to enjoy as much as I'd have wanted since I was missing Naruto-kun.

The moment Sora-nee-san and I crossed the gates of the haven I knew my father was already expecting me at his office. I could see the light coming out from his window.

"Sora-nee-san, I'll go see my father now"

"Ok, Hinata-chan, have a good night" she said kissing my forehead "once again, congratulations on winning. Come Kohaze"

"Good night Hime" said the hawk following the older girl. I waved them good bye as I went my way.

I climbed up the stairs and walked down the hallway, as usual. When I reached the door I heard my father's voice ordering from the inside:

"Come in, Hinata"

I slid the door open and let myself in. My father was looking outside the window towards the gardens. He turned around and placed a picture frame back at his desk, the photograph showed the smiling face of my mother in her young years.

"You are late" he said simply as he sat down at his large chair.

"I'm sorry father, Sora-nee-san took us to celebrate" I hurried to explain.

He didn't answer, he just looked at me in silence. I could feel my nervousness building up.

"Tell me, Hinata, why...did you participated in that contest?" he asked me in silence

"W-w-well I..." my stuttering was clear, and denoted my insecurity.

"I'll ask you something different then" he said almost as if he had already expected me to be late on my answer "how come you participated without talking it over with me before?"

"I'm sorry father!" I said faster this time, not wanting him to change the question again, I didn't want him to think that I didn't want to answer him "it's just that one thing led to the other and I found myself at it almost without noticing"

"So you didn't want to do it?" he asked inquiring.

"At first I did not, but it seems like I'm talented for this, and I actually enjoyed it at the end"

"You did?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Y-yes! I-I-I-I know it's not really what a ninja from a prestigious clan would do and that it's not worthy of the heiress to do so, but truth is, that in the end, my feelings...and about the song..." I had no real idea of what was I saying, I had the concept of what I wanted to say but I just couldn't translate it to words.

"Is that what you are worrying about, Hinata? The clan?" he asked me seriously.

"Y-yes!" I tried to sound calm and serious. My father stood up, and walked around his desk, passing my seat and disappearing from my sight. I stopped hearing his footsteps, which meant he was standing a few feet away behind me.

"Tell me Hinata, you are aware of the fact that your mother was a great shinobi, right?"

"Yes father I am"

"But did you know that your mother also had a special talent?"

"Special?" did he mean my mother had some kind of special jutsu? Maybe this could help me know more about Habataku.

"Yes... do you see all the embroidery adorning this room?" I took a minute to appreciate the different frames that featured multiple pieces of cloth. All of them presented a gorgeous and fancy needlework in varied colors and styles; they were clearly the work of a master artisan.

"Yes father, they are all beautiful"

"Did you know they are all you mother's work?" he said with a light tone.

"They are?" I asked surprised turning around to see him.

"Yes they are" was my father...smiling? "Your mother had a very special talent for knitting and sewing, she was a master tailor"

"My mother was?" I was amazed by the news, my mother definitely was incredible.

"She was a very capable kunoichi, however, she still loved to do these things and she was, as you can see, very talented for it. You have a great talent too Hinata. Tonight's performance was very inspiring, don't be afraid of giving your all, and be proud of it, and be proud to be a Hyuuga, daughter of your mother, daughter of mine" he placed his hands over my shoulders "and I hope you mention it next time, I'll be glad to assist" I couldn't help to smile "Now, go to bed, you had a long and tough day, you must be tired"

"Yes father!" I said cheerfully as I stood up from the chair and placed myself in front of him looking at his face, with a warm smile on my face. There, for the first time in my life, I gave my father a hug "I love you dad" I squeezed him lightly "Good night"

"Good night Hinata" he said as I walked out of the office.

I walked to my room, almost skipping all the way up to my bed. My father didn't dislike the fact that I could sing, he even praised and supported me "So my mother had a talent for tailor work"

"Yes, her pieces were gorgeous" admitted Habataku

"Do you...know how to knit and sew?" I dared to ask her; maybe this was a chance to know a little more about my mother

"Well, yes, a little, everyone said I was very good at it, but I wasn't that good at it in my own opinion, my mother was the real artist, and as far as I know grandmother was the one who taught her, rumors said she was a legendary artisan that made works for lords and kages of all the nations, big, small, close and far away, even from beyond the sea"

I moved into the sheets once I had put on my pajamas. So, the most amazing of all was my great grandma right? That means it was a family skill? "Habataku, do you think, maybe, you could teach me?"

"How to knit? Sure, if you want to"

"That would be great" I smiled "It was a good show right? The song...although we never found out who made those wings"

"Oh about that! It was me" she admitted.

"You did? But how?"

"Well, you remember when I replenished your chakra on the fight on Wave Country?"

"I could never forget about it..." and even less as everyone seemed to make me remember it every three days.

"Well, it seems I can also channel a little chakra and perform basic techniques in a similar way to that" she explained.

"I guess the other girls will never know, they don't know a thing about you..."

"And I think it's better for it to stay that way..."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The following morning I woke up early, and for the first time in years I went to the family dojo, and practiced my Jyuuken.

Amazingly not only had I not forgotten the stances, but my shape had also improved!

"As I told you, the Lunar Fist style has several elements from Jyuuken, as such it's logical to assume that even if it's not perfect, your Jyuuken level would increase a little bit by practicing it" explained Habataku.

I trained until the sun appeared clearly in the sky and the sunlight bathed the gardens of the house. Time flew and it was until my father and Hanabi arrived at the dojo that I noticed the time and had to run to catch up to Sora-nee-san's training.

For some reason even after I had practiced for myself quite a while at the dojo I was able to cope and perform decently enough at her training, at which Naruto-kun appeared. It had been a nice surprise.

After training we went and had breakfast all together, and for the first time I suddenly felt like we were all a family. I was able to talk with my father, Sora-nee-san tried all the time to get on my father's nerves without much success and even Hanabi joined the talk from to time. The only detail that somewhat casted a shadow on the morning was that Naruto-kun was still somewhat avoiding eye contact with me.

But it was on a somewhat different way from what it had been up until now...as such I decided to act upon it.

After brushing my teeth to remove any trails of breakfast from my mouth, I looked for Naruto-kun. I prepared myself psychologically for several minutes before going to talk to him.

Finally I found him at the front door; he was putting on his sandals, clearly preparing to go out.

"Naruto-kun?" I called his attention. This was it, I hoped that it would be enough to somewhat heal our shaking relationship.

"Hinata!" he jumped in his place "uh-uh-mm" was he out of words? That was something uncommon at best.

"Do you have a minute? I'd like to talk to you"

"Uh, sure"

I swallowed "Um...About yesterda-"

"Oh! Yeah!" Naruto-kun suddenly recognized "You were amazing! It was a beautiful song!"

I could feel the blood rushing to my cheek as he complimented me, but I quickly pushed down the feeling "thank you but, I actually wanted to talk about something else" I breathed in and tried to relax...here I come "I've noticed that...you've been avoiding me lately" his face suddenly shown the signs of shame, like a kid caught doing trickeries "actually since we were at Wave Country"

"Hinata, about tha-"

"There's no need for you to say anything, please, just...listen to what I need to say for a second" I asked him "I assume this is because of something I said" his cheeks turned pink as he turned his face away and scratched his temple with a finger. Bullseye "I'm not expecting and answer" his eyes suddenly widened and locked themselves on my face, I could feel my blood rushing up again, it felt like ages since he had seen me with such a fixed gaze "I-I-I only meant to let you know how I feel, merely because I felt like doing so. So, please, please, just treat me like you always did, treat me as usual, I don't mind if my feelings don't reach you, I'm happy with you being my friend and I don't want our friendship to disappear because of it. If it's necessary, forget everything I said about that topic, but please, let's return to being friends. Let's return to how we were, stop ignoring me, and stop avoiding me...it...it hurts when you do it..." I didn't know what else could I say, but at least I had got to express how I felt.

Our eyes kept locked into each other's for what seemed like an eternity...he didn't answer.

"W-well that was all I wanted to say to you. Please think about it, I miss my friend" I turned around planning to go away, but his words pulled me back again.

"Hinata" he had said my name in such a way that almost sounded like a plea not to go, I turned around, like hypnotized "since Anko-sensei gave us the day off I promised the Konohamaru Corps to play ninja with them" he was talking to me after what seemed like years "would you like to come with me?"

"What?" I couldn't believe it, had he just invited me to join?

"Is that a 'no'?" he asked puzzled.

"No! No, no, no! Of course I'll go! I'd love too!" and for the first time since what seemed like so long he showed me his usual toothy grin. I couldn't help it and smiled too.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOo

We walked together on the streets of Konoha for several minutes until we reached a small plaza in the intersection of several streets. We waited for the kids to arrive a few minutes, but Naruto-kun was rampaging around about their lateness since we arrived.

It wasn't long until we noticed that a part of the wall seemed to move. We focused our attention and noticed that it was a large piece of cloth barely of the color of the wall that had little fingers holding it from the uppermost part; three figures could be noticed behind the cloth because of the shape. I found it very cute how they were trying to sneak on us.

"Konohomaru, stop fooling around! Since when has a wall that shape? And the color is wrong too!" yelled Naruto-kun a the kids, who surprised about being discovered, tripped and fell to the ground, revealing their makeshift concealment.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, I see you were able to see through our disguise, as expected of the man I see as my rival!" said Konohomaru as he stood up. Two other kids were with him.

"Who in hell wouldn't see past it?" demanded Naruto-kun.

Suddenly the kids drew small smoke bombs from their clothes and threw them at the ground, big cloud of colored smoke rose from their position... however, they were still coughing when the smoke dissipated.

"The young kunoichi with the sex appeal of an adult! Moegi!" said a little girl of red hair tied into tall tails.

"The one who loves dividing numbers! Udon!" said a kid with glasses and a running nose.

"The one and only genius ninja of the village! Konohamaru!"

"And together we're the Konohamaru Corps!" said the three of them introducing themselves.

All the people in the plaza were already watching us.

"What are you doing in a place like this, fool!" said Naruto-kun approaching them and hitting Konohamaru-kun. At that moment I noticed that they were all wearing green goggles over their forehead.

"What with the goggles?" I asked the little kids.

"We're copying Leader on his younger days!" explained the girl, Moegi

"Leader-nii-chan, you brought your girlfriend with you today!" said Konohamaru-kun as he noticed me

"Ah, well! About that...you see..." started Naruto-kun nervously, it was still clearly a delicate matter.

"I'm noting of the sort" I said crouching to see the kids to the eye "I'm merely his teammate and friend, nice to meet you all, my name is Hinata"

"Hinata-onee-chan is very pretty!" said Moegi.

"My, thank you Moegi-chan"

"Naruto-no-nii-chan, I thought better of you why haven't you made her your girl already!" demanded Konohamaru-kun.

"H-hey you kid, watch your tone" said my teammate with a light hearted scolding.

"Leader, you promised to play ninja with us" reminded him Udon-kun.

"I know, I know, but I guess we should go somewhere less crowded, suggested Naruto-kun noticing how everyone's eyes were still fixed on us.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

We played with them for several hours, until it happened. All of a sudden Konohamaru-kun, who was running ahead of us, crashed into someone else.

"Careful!" I tried to warn him, but it was too late, he hit a tall young boy dressed in black clothes and painted as a Kabuki actor. He kind of reminded him of Naruto-kun the day he presented his photograph for the ninja registry. A few steps behind him was a tall girl who seemed to be probably as old as Midori-sempai, she was blond, her hair tied in four short tails and had green sea colored eyes; both of them carried a big item on their backs: he had something like a pole involved in bandages and she had a large folded fan. They were using protectors embodied with another village's mark, which I recognized as Sand's from Wind Country thanks to my classes at the academy. Still, they were walking in a very relaxed manner to be invaders, and the Leaf had a somewhat good relationship with the Sand.

"Hey, that hurt, you brat!" said the older boy as he grabbed Konohamaru by his scarf, rising him above his feet.

"Please, we're sorry, we were just playing and-"I tried to explain to him the situation but the icy gaze he paid to me made me stop on my tracks.

"Hey you bastard, put him down!" demanded Naruto-kun in a menacing tone.

"Let's not cause a ruckus" recommended the foreign girl to the boy that was holding a struggling Konohamaru.

"We can play a little with them while we wait" said the boy in black as Konohamaru tried to kick his chest with no results "besides this kid's pretty energetic"

"I will not be responsible for any of this" said the girl crossing her arms as if bored

"Hey you, don't you dare to ignore me!" yelled Naruto-kun as he charged towards him in an attempt to rescue Konohamaru.

But the sand shinobi in a quick and simple movement for his fingers sent a string of wire to trip Naruto-kun as he run towards him. The wire was nearly invisible, but it was very resistant, clearly high quality.

"What the hell happened?" said a frustrated Naruto-kun as he tried to stand up.

"Well, now then..." the foreign teenager pulled back his fist, preparing to hit Konohamaru, when a stone hit his wrist, forcing him to drop the kid.

"What do you think you're doing in another people's village?" from a nearby tree came the voice of Sasuke-san, he was sitting on a branch of the tree, a stone in his hand "I don't know who you are or what you're doing here, but I recommend you go away" he said crushing the stone in his hand to mere powder. The foreign boy's anger showed in his painted face while the face of the girl blushed.

"Nii-chan! I'm disappointed! Why are you not as cool as he is?" asked a sad Konohamaru, Naruto-kun turned to see Sasuke pissed.

"You...I'll make you pay for this" the boy in black removed the item from his back and placed it on the floor, the girl seemed worried.

"H-hey! Are you seriously going to use Crow here?" I wondered what she meant by that, but it was clear that much as the fan on her back, the thing this boy had was a ninja tool meant for combat.

"Kankuro, that will be enough" a voice as creepy as Zabuza's sounded around us "you are a disgrace to the village" I could see how even Sasuke was surprised by the sudden appearance of this new character. Especially because he was just a few feet away, hanging upside down from the same tree as he was. How long had he been there? He arrived as silently as the wind "We are not here to fool around"

"G-Gaara!" said the alluded "they were the ones who started it" he justified himself.

"Silence, why do you think we came all the way to Konoha?" he asked in an intimidating tone "If you do any other stupidity I'll kill you"

The boy who seemed so confident in his abilities when he stopped Naruto-kun with just one hand while having Konohamaru grabbed in the other was now frozen with fear, sweat running down his forehead. He was clearly afraid of this guy, and honestly, so was I.

"I understand, I'm sorry!" he excused himself.

"I didn't do anything" the girl added hurriedly, the newcomer turned around to see Sasuke-san as if he was the representative of all of us.

"Excuse these fools" all of a sudden he became sand and fell to the ground in front of the other people from the Sand Village "Let's go" he ordered. He was clearly the leader despite being smaller and younger than the other two. He had short red hair, bright green eyes that were framed black, as if he hadn't slept in days. As the other two, he was carrying an item on his back: a large gourd. I wondered if it was also a weapon. A large red kanji showed on his forehead: "Love"

All three of them turned around and began to walk away.

"Please, wait" I asked politely walking in front of Naruto-kun and the kids; the foreign ninja stopped and turned around "you are from the Hidden Sand Village, from Wind Country are you not? The Leaf and your village have an alliance, but a treaty stops ninja from entering without permission, as such, as a ninja of the Leaf I politely demand to see some identification papers and to state your business in the village"

"What a surprise to find an educated girl with etiquette" said the older girl smiling, she pulled out a small card with his photograph and the seal from both Wind Country and Fire Country "as you said we're from Hidden Sand, this is a traffic paper, we're here legally in order to take the Chunnin exam" she explained.

"What's a 'Chunnin exam'?" asked a curious Naruto-kun.

"You take the exam to pass from Gennin to Chunnin rank" explained Konohamaru.

"Really? Then I should take the exam too!" said the blond boy excited.

"Thank you very much" I said bowing to the girl "sorry to bother you, and please, keep your behavior in check while in the village" the girl bowed back and they started to walk away again.

Sasuke-san jumped down from the tree and landed in front of me, but paid me no mind "you there, I'm interested in you, what's your name?" The girl turned around, her cheeks pink.

"M-me?" she said with her hopes high, it was clear that Sasuke-san had earned another fan.

"No, the one over there, the one with the gourd" explained the raven haired. The read headed turned around.

"Gaara of the Desert. I'm also interested, your name?"

"It's Uchiha Sasuke"

"Hey hey! What about me? Won't you ask my name?" demanded Naruto-kun.

"I'm not interested in you." said Gaara "Let's go" in a second the ninja from the sand had already jumped away from there.

"Damn you Sasuke! Always putting your nose into other people's business! I was about to kick their asses!" complained a furious Naruto-kun.

But while he and Sasuke-san argued I kept wondering what new development was starting...I could feel a dark presence lurking around; clearly hardships were showing themselves in the horizon.

"So it's that time of the year already?" asked rhetorically Habataku, clearly she could feel it too.

Editor's notes: I'm sorry, it seems my lack of adequate reading abilities delayed this chapter, can you believe I sent it to the wrong e-mail?

By the way, did anyone else thought Hiashi's parenting abilities, despite the credibility were really heart-warming? I did… but I still think the whole sewing thing is more of a Tohru's spouse-character thing…

Author's note: Well that's our chapter! Now! Before I get all the reviews about Hiashi being OOC just please consider that in the canon he traits Hinata like he does because she didn't shows that great of a performance...however, this time she does considerably better so he thinks differently of her...just take it into account

Now please! Read and Review!