Naruto and Hinata traveled for a night and a day before stopping to rest.
"Naruto-kun, where are we going to go? We've already passed the border of Fire, so where now?" Hinata asked.
"Hm, I don't know. For know, let's just get to sleep, okay?" Hinata pitched the tent and they unsealed their sleeping bags and went to sleep.
Mean while, Tsunade was up late doing paperwork.
Damn it, paperwork, the bane of my existence. Why? Why? Tsunade thought, as she signed sheet after sheet of paper. A scroll fell from one of the piles on her desk. She immediately spotted the Namikaze and Uzumaki crests and a complex blood seal.
Hm, seems this should have gone with Naruto. I'll send a slug to him. Hopefully Tsukai will be able to find them.
She performed the seals for her summoning, and a slug poofed into existence on her desk.
"Tsukai, I need you to bring this to Naruto and Hinata. It is urgent, so I chose you, since you are the fastest slug," Tsunade said.
"As you wish, Tsunade-sama," Tsukai replied. She took the scroll in her mouth and slithered out.
The next morning, a slimy feeling on her cheek awakened Hinata. As she opened her eyes, Hinata almost screamed at the slug looming over her. A scroll dropped out of its mouth.
"This is from Tsunade-sama," Tsukai said.
"Arigato..." Hinata trailed off.
"Oh, forgive me, my name is Tsukai."
"Then arigato Tsukai." Tsukai poofed away.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata said, stirring him from his sleep. "This came from Tsunade-sama."
Naruto rubbed his eyes and sat up. He took the scroll and examined it.
"Blood seal. Seems someone of Uzumaki blood needs to open it. I don't know what clan the other crest is for though," Naruto determined.
He sliced his finger and dripped a bit of blood on the seal before the wound sizzled and closed up. The blood seal shimmered gold and disappeared. Naruto unrolled the scroll, and began reading it.
'Dear Naruto,
If you are reading this, you are either a jonin, have been banished by the council, or have left the village. Most likely the latter. I was no fool; the villagers have a one-track mind and would not realize that you were not the Kyuubi if it bit them. That is why I wrote this scroll with instructions for it to be given to you. Now, you may be wondering who I am. I, Naruto, am your father, Minato Namikaze. Yes, I sealed the Kyuubi into you, but what choice did I have? I could not ask for another parent to simply hand over their child, now could I? I am extremely sorry, which is why I asked Jiraiya and Kakashi to look over you. Although, knowing Jiraiya, he'll be off peeping.
I have sealed the scrolls for my most famed jutsu into this scroll, the Rasengan and Hirashin. I wish you luck, and know that I will always be looking over you, son.
Minato Namikaze.'
Naruto gasped in shock. Hinata's eyes widened.
"Naruto-kun…what does Yondaime-sama mean about the Kyuubi?" Hinata asked. She had read the letter, but wanted to hear it from Naruto.
"Damn it…" Naruto muttered.
If I tell Hinata, she'll probably hate me…I can't avoid it now…thanks dad… Naruto thought.
"Well, as you know, my dad sealed the beast away in my belly at the cost of his life. Old Man Sandaime wanted to protect me by keeping it a secret, but that didn't work out too well. I've talked to Kyuubi a few times, but mostly only when I needed his chakra. If I hold the fact that if I die, he dies over his head, he obeys me pretty well," Naruto explained. He turned, expecting Hinata to hate him. Instead, he felt a soft pair of arms envelope him.
"I don't hate you Naruto-kun. You are definitely not the demon, otherwise you would never have been so nice to me," Hinata said.
"Arigato, Hina-chan," Naruto said. He continued to read the scroll. The next letter was from his mother. The handwriting was shaky, and hard to read at some points. There were a few tearstains on the letter as well.
'Dear Naruto-chan,
I'm Uzumaki Kushina, your birth mother. I am really sorry that you will grow up without your parents. Your father is going to seal the Kyuubi into you in a matter of hours, and I'm not going to recover from childbirth. (Here, tears blurred the words, making them unreadable.) Before I do die, though, I want to tell you something. The Land of Whirlpool, or Uzugakure, is still alive and thriving, you just have to know where to look. Again, I wish I could have seen you grow up.
Love,
Uzumaki Kushina.'
A tear slid down Naruto's cheek onto the letter.
"Hinata-chan, I do believe we are going to find the Land of Whirlpool."
Naruto and Hinata packed up their things before heading off to the land that used to be Uzugakure. Naruto had a theory as to where the missing country of Uzugakure was. His mother, Uzumaki Kushina, was a refugee. There were only refugees if a country had either been conquered or had fallen apart. Plus, if Kushina ran to the nearest village, then it had to border Konoha somehow.
"Hina-chan, were going to River Country."
The duo trekked through the forest and other terrain towards the River Country.
"Ne, Naruto-kun, how much longer?" Hinata asked.
"Not much longer. From my estimation..." Naruto paused to look up at the sun. "We should be there within the next half hour.
Fifteen minutes later, Naruto and Hinata started to hear the sounds of a waterfall. They emerged from the tree line to behold a waterfall pouring over a cliff. Hinata gaped.
"Naruto-kun...it's so...pretty," Hinata said, trying to put into words something that was incredibly beautiful. Naruto smiled as he walked towards to edge.
"Uh, Naruto-kun...could you...by any chance...come away...from the edge?" Hinata asked.
"Don't worry, Hina-chan. I'll be...FIIIIIIIINNNEEE!" Naruto yelled as he plunged over the edge.
"NARUTO!" Hinata yelled, diving after him. Naruto landed in the water and began to sink. Hinata dove in after Naruto, leaving their things on the cliff. Grabbing Naruto's arm, she tried to kick towards the surface, but couldn't. Instead, she was being drawn towards the bottom. As she looked down, she spotted a whirlpool sucking them towards it.
Damn it! was Hinata's last conscious thought before they both blacked out...
When Naruto opened his eyes, he was staring at a ceiling the color of the ocean. As he looked to his left, he found Hinata curled up next to him, stirring as well. A girl about 18 years of age entered the room. She had deep blue, almost black, hair with ocean blue eyes.
"Ohayo! I see you and your friend are both awake. May I ask what your name is? My name is Takara," the young girl said. Naruto noticed she was a ninja, for she had a headband adorning her neck. The symbol looked like three spirals connected at the middle.
"Why do you want to know?" Naruto asked, a bit rudely.
"I have to report to Uzumaki-sama who you are," Takara replied.
"Well, then, do you know of one 'Uzumaki Kushina'?" Hinata asked.
"Ah, yes, Kushina-sama was the heiress until she ran away with that jonin from Konoha. Why do you ask?"
"Okay, I suppose we can tell you who we are then," Hinata replied. "My name is Hyuuga Hinata, Takara-chan."
"Uh, hey, my name's Uzumaki Naruto...I am Uzumaki Kushina's only child," Naruto told the girl.
"Ah, that's why you wanted to know," Takara said. Naruto nodded.
"Hm, I must tell Uzumaki-sama about this. He'll want to know," she muttered under her breath. Composing herself, Takara smiled at them, and left the room. A second later, another person came in, this time it was an older woman, about 38. She had brown hair and the same color eyes as Takara.
"Hello! I'm Misora! I see you have met my daughter. Well, let's get you checked over," the woman said, green chakra flowing from her hands.
"Both of you are in tip top condition, I think you'll be able to leave now," Misora told them.
"If you don't mind, where are we?" Hinata asked.
"Why, you're in Uzugakure, The City of Whirlpools. To be more specific, you're in our hospital."
"Arigato, for letting us stay here and taking care of us," Naruto said. He got out of the bed, and walked to the door. Just as he was about to open the door, a man in shinobi garb opened it from the other side.
"I assume you are Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata, right?" he asked. Misora's eyes widened. Naruto and Hinata nodded.
"Then please come with me, Uzumaki-sama would like to see you." He led them through the village to the outskirts. There, they walked through some gates to a mansion. The man knocked on the door, and a maid greeted them.
"Hello there! You must be Uzumaki-sama's guests. Please, do come in." She led them through the house to a room where a man and woman sat side by side. They both had gray hair, and looking surprisingly at the pair. A small smile crept across the old woman's face.
"Well, look who we have here, Shippuu, seems our grandson landed himself a Hyuuga," the old woman said, motioning for them to come forward. Naruto and Hinata did a double take.
"Wait a minute, how did you know I was a Hyuuga? I have contacts in..." Hinata mentioned. She took out one of the contacts, showing her white eye.
"You seem to have forgotten that you told Miss Takara," the old man, who was called Shippuu, said.
"Oh, right…" Hinata said, somewhat embarrassed.
"Naruto-kun, are you going to tell them...about you know what?" Hinata asked quietly.
"Yes, in one second," Naruto whispered back.
"Hm, secrets, secrets. Hikari, what could they possibly have to hide, I wonder," Shippuu said.
Naruto and Hinata turned back to them.
"Hikari-obaa-chan, there is something I want to tell you..." Naruto said.
"You know about the Kyuubi attack on Konoha, right?" Hinata asked. They nodded.
"Well, my dad was the Hokage at that time, and the only way to stop a demon is to seal it. So...he sealed it into me," Naruto said, showing his whiskers.
"What...what happened to Kushina?" Hikari asked.
"She...died in childbirth. I'm sorry." Shippuu consoled Hikari.
"I'm glad you were able to protect the village, but why you?" Shippuu asked.
"Yondaime-sama couldn't just ask someone to give up their child if he wasn't willing to give up his," Hinata explained.
"You said I was your...grandson, right? Then you must be my mom's parents!" Naruto said.
"Yes, Naruto, you are my grandson. And Hikari here, well, suffices to say we wish we could have seen your mother one last time after she left with your father. She could have at least told us that she had a son," the old man said.
"Why did you call me here? And what does this have to do with Hinata?" Naruto inquired.
"Ah, yes. As you know, your mother came from here. She was supposed to inherit the throne, but she ran away with your father. That leaves us with no heir, and we didn't even know you existed until yesterday when you found your way into here. Do you see our predicament?" Shippuu asked. Naruto nodded.
"Then, you want Naruto-kun to become the next...what do you call your ruler?" Hinata asked.
"Uzukage."
"So, you want Naruto-kun to become the Uzukage, right? How do I fit into this?" Hinata asked.
"Well, when you got down here, you seemed to be very protective of Naruto here, even in your sleep. You clutched him with a death grip; we practically had to pry you off him. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but still, we can tell you are very close to each other. If he becomes the Rokudaime Uzukage, you do know that he will need a partner in crime, no?" Hikari asked. Naruto and Hinata blushed.
"Y-you m-mean me...and Hinata...like...m-married?" Naruto asked. He dropped onto the floor, as Hinata had done the moment the words came out of the old lady's mouth.
"Hikari, I told you they would freak out. Why did you do that?" Shippuu asked.
"Well, the boy's going to get a lot of requests for marriage, so I though that I should play a little matchmaking before he gains the title," Hikari replied.
"Hikari, you sly dog."
When Hinata came to, the first thing she remembered was what Hikari had been talking about.
"Ah, thinking about what Hikari-obaa-chan said?" Naruto asked. He leaned down to give Hinata a sweet kiss before getting out of the bed they were in. Hinata followed suit, and they grabbed their weapons that were sitting in a pile near the bed. Strapping everything on, they ventured out into the house.
"Hinata, I...I was thinking...about last night...even if it's not now, I don't want to spend my life with anyone else then you..." Naruto started.
"Are you asking me...what I think you're asking me..."
"Yeah. I know your clan wouldn't approve, but no one can stop us here. What do you say?" Naruto asked. Hinata cracked a smile.
"Of course I will marry you...when we're older, that is." Naruto smiled a broad smile, and hugged the living daylights out of Hinata. He kissed her forehead, and continued walking.
"Hey Hina-chan, can you find Hikari-obaa-chan and Shippuu?" Naruto asked. Hinata nodded.
"Byakugan!" Hinata searched the humongous house, and spotted the aged leaders. She lead Naruto to the kitchen where they were eating breakfast.
"How long were we out?" asked Naruto.
"Well, you fainted right about 9 p.m., and woke up at 8 a.m. Cinnamon roll?" Hikari asked. Hinata snatched one up, and began eating it.
"About what you said...y'know...last night..." Naruto started.
"What about it?" Shippuu asked.
"Well, when we're older...like 18 or 19...we'd actually like to get married. But, Konoha can't know about this, the Hyuuga didn't even know that Hinata was my girlfriend," Naruto said.
"Mum's the word," replied Hikari, smiling.