I do not own Naruto…

The veins around her eyes and temples slowly disappeared while her distinct pupils receded. After deactivating her Byakugan, Hinata slowly lifted a hand and knocked at the door.

"Come in," Naruto answered.

Silently, she opened the door to the Hokage's office and walked in, immediately giving a respectful bow to the general people in the room.

"Hinata?" the blonde-haired Hokage called, surprised to see his wife in his office at this time of the day.

"Hokage-sama…" she formally addressed before turning to the few guests from the Land of Oil. "Good morning...," she said as she walked forward. "My name is Hinata and… you must be Kazuhiro-sama," she uttered, before giving another bow toward a short, portly man who was probably in his fifties. He was also the only guest sitting down.

"Yes, yes I am," the man said, smiling portentously as he stood up. He was with four other younger men from a village called Oiru.

"I am Kazuo," one of the men said as he immediately walked forward to take Hinata's hand.

Other than the fact that this younger man was thin and much taller, Hinata noticed that he had a close resemblance to the older man which came in the form of their very pale skin and curly, brown hair. There was little need to prove that the two were father and son. "What an honour to meet such a beautiful girl…" he added before Hinata quickly pulled her hand away, "…and I thought I've seen them all."

"Erm…," Naruto started, a little irritated at how Kazuo had taken his wife's hand earlier. "Hinata, what are you…"

"I want to take on the mission to Oiru," she quickly enlightened. She had been standing outside the Hokage's office for a good ten minutes, perusing the situation within before making her move at the precise moment.

"You…" the Hokage spluttered as he quickly stood up.

"A woman?" the leader of the group questioned.

At that, Naruto looked incredulously between the guest from Oil and his wife. He was shocked and dismayed at the same time, not knowing exactly how to react. On one hand, Hinata had made an almost capricious offer, even though he could somehow guess what had prompted her to do so. On the other, Kazuhiro-sama's words sounded like an insult to the kunoichi of his village and especially to his wife. Even though she was a woman, Hinata was nothing short of capable.

The Hokage's wife simply smiled before continuing, "I might be a woman but that doesn't mean I'm incompetent towards this mission. And if I may add, I'm a Hyuga… and in general, the Hyuga clan…"

"…Is one of the oldest and most respectable clan in the Leaf!" Kazuo intercepted with zest. "And they're also well-known for their superior skills and exceptional abilities… especially since they possess the highly coveted white eyes… and that explains these extraordinarily beautiful eyes," he said while leaning in for a closer look.

At that, Yamato, who had been standing quietly beside the Hokage made a soft coughing sound. "You do know that this is a long-term mission, don't you, Hinata-sam…?" the assistant with the happuri-style forehead protector casually asked.

"I do know the details to this mission, Yamato-san," Hinata interrupted as she flashed a smile toward her husband's subordinate.

"Ah… two to three years passes very quickly," Kazuo quickly offered.

"Hinata…" Naruto finally croaked out, his voice close to pleading.

"Hokage-sama…" Hinata tried to reason. She couldn't look into those bright blue eyes for fear they would make her change her mind. "You should know that this is a great opportunity for me. I do have much to offer... and much more to learn… so, if you would consent, I really hope you'd let me take on this mission."

"Well, if she is of such competency, I wouldn't mind taking her in," Kazuhiro-sama happily stated. By some means, he was also aware that the Hyuga were very systematic people, with a strict organizational structure. It would be advantageous to actually have one to help him with the setting up of a ninja academy in his village.

"But she…" the Hokage snapped out.

"Thank you for accepting me, Kazuhiro-sama," Hinata cleverly disrupted her husband's sentence, giving Naruto no room to counter her offer. "I would be happy to assist in every possible way."

"Oh, this is just great!" Kazuo exclaimed. "This is settled then. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."

There was a nod of agreement as the party celebrated the choice of candidate for the mission. Naruto however, fell helplessly back onto his chair. He was trapped. Away from the public eyes, he would have argued and pleaded with his wife. But now, in front of his guests and as the Hokage to his village, he could only keep quiet, soon realizing that Hinata had probably planned the whole situation. Planned how he would have looked imprudent and foolish should he refuse her proposal. Planned how he would have no choice but to accept her offer.

Standing beside the Hokage, Yamato could only narrow his eyes as he questioned the whole affair. Something awful must have happened between Naruto and his wife. Otherwise, what could have prompted her to want to depart for such a long time…?

%%%

The doorbell started ringing incessantly just as she was putting some cartons of milk into the refrigerator. Quickly shoving all the milk in, Hinata hurried to the door. Somehow, she had a clear idea who the visitor would be and without a doubt, as she opened the door, Kiba was standing right outside, hand still jabbing at the doorbell while Akamaru gave a loud bark. Behind them, Shino was standing a few paces away with his hands in his coat pockets, as usual.

The Inuzuka, with distinctive red fang markings on his cheeks didn't bother with courtesy. "You're leaving?" he immediately asked. "Why?"

Hinata looked from Kiba to Shino. She had already guessed they would show up at her place. Nevertheless, she also knew that whatever explanation she would provide would be insufficient… at least not to Inuzuka Kiba. One way or another, she had always appreciated how much he had continuously cared for her - he was constantly protecting her, encouraging her and lending her an ear whenever she wanted someone to talk to.

But then, there was one aspect that she had never gotten to know – Kiba had actually been in love with her for a long time. He had never told her that because all three of them from Team Eight had always known that Hinata would only love Naruto. Even though Shino knew about his teammate's feeling, he too wouldn't bring it up. It was useless. Hinata's feelings towards Naruto had been consistent ever since they were young. It would have been foolish to even encourage the Inuzuka in any way.

"Why?" Kiba asked again, his expression almost pitiful to witness.

"Kiba…" Hinata started as she reached out to give Akamaru a pat on its head. "I just want to go."

"I don't understand, Hinata. Why would you want to leave for three long years?"

"It's a good opportunity."

"And what kind of opportunities do you really want? S-class? A-class? What? There're plenty of opportunities here, Hinata. I'm sure your husband can come up with some. I just don't understand why… Why choose to go that far and…"

"Kiba…," Shino pacified. "Let her talk."

"Okay, I'm listening. Just tell me why."

"Like I said, this is a chance for me to…" Hinata continued.

"No! Don't try this again…"

"Kiba…" Shino interrupted for a second time. Even though the Aburame knew how disturbed his teammate was, he could understand that Kiba was being too forceful. Frustrated, the Inuzuka ran both his hands through his hair and gave a low growl.

The Hokage's wife involuntarily placed a hand on his cheek. "Please don't be angry with me."

That little action was all she needed to calm the aggravated Inuzuka. If only she knew how much he loved her. If only she knew that even though she was married, he was contented to just be able to occasionally see her. Kiba gave a submissive sigh and dropped his head.

"Are you really sure you want to go?" Shino continued this time.

Hinata nodded.

"Is there something you want to tell us?" the Aburame prodded further. "Or something you need us to help you with?"

The Hokage's wife started to shake her head slowly before quickly saying, "I'd like you guys to help me take care of Naruto when I'm gone."

"Like how?" Kiba scoffed. "Babysit him?"

"Kiba, please," Hinata pleaded.

"That's not a problem," Shino offered. "The Hokage only needs to ask."

She smiled, "Thank you."

"You really want to go?" Kiba raised the question again, this time in a resigned, almost static tone.

Hinata nodded, "I want to do something different. This is my chance to prove what I'm capable of. To set up something from scratch. To achieve something new."

"But…" the Inuzuka tried to counter.

"I know three years is a long time but, think about it, Kiba. Once the whole thing starts running on its own, I'd be the co-founder of the academy… Sounds great, doesn't it?"

Kiba shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "Such names don't give me any pleasure."

Once again, Hinata turned towards Shino. Behind his glasses, her quiet teammate didn't even blink as he furtively deliberated her reasoning. It was true that she had always struggled to achieve a kind of recognition ever since young. He had understood that growing up as a Hyuga had been very demanding for Hinata and being the eldest daughter of Hyuga Hiashi had only served to make things worse. For years, she had fought really hard to prove her competence. Yet the Hyuga had never given her a satisfactory nod for her achievements… except for the time when she married Naruto, the Hokage. That 'achievement' sure helped lightened all the expectations they had for her.

Nevertheless, as he slowly digested her explanations and taking into consideration all the anguish she had endured and overcome, Shino could only suspect that Hinata was actually putting on a pretense. She was never one to seek fame and recognition in such a way. And if he may add, she was usually the one standing behind, comfortable in being the shadow rather than in the limelight. Furthermore, there really was no such need for her to want to excel now…. or to want to leave for so long.

As Shino slowly mulled over the situation, he noticed that from the time she had appeared at the door, Hinata had been intermittently twisting the ring on her finger. Though the action seemed totally innocent, in some ways, Shino was sure his teammate was hiding something from them…

%%%

Naruto sat motionless in his office, playing and replaying the morning's event in his mind. Too many things had happened earlier. He thought that everything had started out really well in the morning until Hinata chose to enlighten him about his unconscious mis-step. How could he have called out Sakura's name in his sleep? Feeling a little shameful with that little detail, he ruffled his hair and gave a defeated sigh. Had he forced Hinata to leave? Was that the reason she had decided to go?

It wasn't his first time, she had told him. Undeniably, Naruto could only feel disappointed with himself. Had he really been that obvious? Somehow, he thought that he had gotten over the whole episode of losing Sakura. True, he was devastated when she married Sasuke. In fact, he had never felt as heartbroken as he had felt when they had told him they were getting married. But then, he thought that marrying Hinata would change everything. She was what he needed and for six months, he actually thought that things were fine and he was coping well too. Apparently, he had been wrong…

Hinata didn't say anything else after she had told him that last night was the third time he had called Sakura's name in his sleep. He had tried to disregard her statements with laugh. But she had kept quiet. Now that he thought about it, she was probably upset with him. He couldn't blame her – he was upset with himself as well.

Then again, now that his whole masquerade had been revealed, it was probably time for him to start looking within, he thought. Maybe it was time to draw out all his feelings for Sakura and throw them away for good. Time to give his heart to the one person who had cared for him the most. Yet, he had no idea how to go about this whole affair. Hinata had made up her mind to leave. He had never seen her that resolved before and somehow, he really didn't know how to make her stay.

Overwhelmed, Naruto heaved a heavy sigh before propping his forehead onto his wooden desk…

%%%

The house smelled of great food as he walked in. For a spell, Naruto couldn't distinguish between feeling happy or sad because as far as he knew, great food was always associated with happy times. Putting himself in a positive spirit, he quickly took off his shoes and coat, before running towards the kitchen. Apparently, Hinata had been cooking up a storm. He realized that when his wife came through the door with plates of barbequed pork and tempura prawns on either hand.

"Wow, what a feast," Naruto commented as he took the plates from her hands and placed them onto the dining table which was already laden with a variety of food.

"Let's eat!" Hinata smiled before quickly turning around to get the utensils.

That was all she needed to do or not, to alert him that this whole feast was just a façade. She didn't even give him a 'welcome home' kiss.

Quietly, Naruto took his seat as Hinata took hers.

"I bought milk," the Hokage's wife said, as she picked up her pair of chopsticks. "It won't last you too long. One week or so..."

"Hinata…" Naruto started.

"I've arranged for Momo-baachan to come once a week to help clean up the place. She'll do the laundry and the…"

"Hinata…" he called again.

She wouldn't look at him as she picked on her food. "Ichiraku would be a nice place to go back to. Teuchi-san's ramen is still the best in town."

This time however, Naruto chose to keep quiet for a second before finally sighing, "Not as good as yours."

She fell quiet. Somehow, she still couldn't bring herself to look into those pair of blue eyes, fearing that she would give in. Truth was, she really didn't want to leave and a big part of her knew that this whole arrangement was too sudden. She had acted on a kind of offense and had let herself be governed by her very own impulse. She was upset with Naruto and disappointed with herself at the same time. Nevertheless, she knew that going away was the best thing for them at the moment. Perhaps it was because she was afraid she'd hear him utter the name again in his sleep. Perhaps she was afraid of what she might have to do in the end. Although she didn't really want to leave, she didn't want to pretend that everything was fine too. At this point in time, even though she knew that Naruto needed her, she felt that she would have to be selfish. This time, she would put herself before him…

A/N: My thanks to those who have so kindly left me a review. It really made my day and I really appreciate all of them. Next chapter would be the conclusion so until then …won't you entertain me with some more reviews? Thanks!

- softwinds -