The following evening Hinata found herself falling asleep faster than she usually would. The day had been taxing, to say the least, and getting Naruto to stay calm in the room where he was supposed to sleep had taken quite a bit of time, so the clock had been nearing midnight before she was finally able to put her head on her pillow. The boy had been very reluctant to separate from her, so reluctant in fact that Neji had found it best to lock the door before they left him. Hinata felt a little bad about leaving him to his own device, especially since he was expected to sleep in such an unfamiliar place, but there was little she could do about it. She turned on her side and felt heavy waves of sleepiness washing over her, and a minute later she was unconscious.

She awoke with a start after what only seemed like a few minutes. A massive crash was what woke her, followed up by yelling and faint stomping of feet. She glanced over at the clock on her night table, trying to keep her eyelids from closing again. It read a quarter past one. She groaned and slipped out of bed, swaying a little. Sleep still had a heavy grip on her, but she managed to hold herself up. Another loud crash came from downstairs. It sounded like someone had been flung into a wall. Hinata stumbled over to her door, having a good idea ofwhat was going on, and opened it. The hall was dark, but since she had the mayhem to follow, it did not bother her much. She reached the top of the stairs, and called gently:

"Uhm, excuse me, but what's going on?"

The commotion calmed down for a second, and then the silence was followed by several feet running up the stairs. She stood waiting, recognizing the easily recognizable mop of blond hair. Someone called her name, and she distinguished the voice to belong to Hagane. He sounded worried, and she should probably also be, but she just felt tired and a little peeved that this seemed to happen quite often. And just as she knew he would, a second later Naruto came jumping off the last stair, spotted her and lightened up in a bright, genuine smile. No questioning that it was her he had been looking for. She managed to stop him before he got his arms around her, but she still couldn't keep him more than two or three feet away from her. He seemed sincerely happy to see her, almost jumping up and down where he stood, and Hinata couldn't help but smile. She regarded the short-breathed pack of men in front of her with amusement, and could hardly keep her laughter no matter how tired she was when she asked Hagane what was going on.

He took a moment to catch his breath before he answered her, and when he did speak it was still with a huff. Clearly none of them were in the best of shapes, seeing as Naruto was hardly breathing any faster than usual.

"Neji didn't trust him, so he put the four of us on guard after you had left, Lady Hinata. He was calm at first, but I think he figured out that he had been locked up, and he didn't like it. Or maybe he understood that… that you weren't there. Anyway, he started pounding on the door and trashing what little was inside the room before we got in to stop him. He managed to push past us, and, well, now we're here."

Hagane straightened and glared mildly at Naruto. "I doubt he will tolerate staying confined, no matter where. I think you should reconsider where you place him, because we're simply not able to keep him in one place." He sent her a meaningful look, which probably was supposed to tell her something, only it didn't. She was about to ask him what he meant, but before she could do so they were interrupted.

"What is going on here?"

Hiashi strode towards them, and it was evident that he was not happy to have been woken up in the middle of the night. Neji followed right behind him, and judging by the scowl he wore he was very well aware of what had caused the disturbance.

Naruto reacted immediately when he saw Neji. He gently broke free from Hinata's loose hold on his arm, and held her close, all the while making sure that he was positioned between her and Neji. He stared at him with a distrusting glare, and Neji repaid it with an equally skeptical frown. Hiashi's jaw clenched when he saw the boy holding his daughter, but he said no more. He glared at Hinata, and with a small blush of embarrassment regarding her current… enclosure, she told him what Hagane had told her minutes before. Hiashi listened through, and when she finished he rubbed his eyes with a heavy, annoyed sigh.

"Hinata," he started and put down his hand again. "When I agreed to let you take this boy in, you said that you would make sure he was of no disturbance to me. I do not know how you regard this incidence, but to me this is a disturbance. I have an important meeting tomorrow, and would like to have fully rested before it. If this is something that will continue, he will have to leave."

Hinata felt an icy feeling fill her stomach, but she didn't talk back at him. After all, she had said that he wouldn't be a problem to anyone. Seemed like her promise came back to slap her in the face.

"I'll make sure it doesn't happen again," she said meekly, wondering silently just how she was supposed to prevent it. She wiggled out of Naruto's arms, and he looked just as offended as he had earlier, but she didn't care. It was just a tad bit too embarrassing to be held like that when everyone was watching her.

"How will you do that?" Hiashi prompted, but before she could think of an answer, Hagane spoke up. He spoke a little hesitantly, as if he was afraid of talking when he was not expected to.

"Forgive me for interrupting, Hiashi-sama, but I think he would keep quiet at night if he was kept in the same room Lady Hinata." He continued in a hurry, because Hiashi seemed to fire up when he heard that. "The reason he broke out now was to look for her, and you could see for yourself how he protected her up until a minute ago."

Hiashi's face was red as a beetroot, but he calmed himself and asked in a stoic manner: "Protecting her? From what, if I may ask?"

"Um, from Neji, I think. Ever since Neji tried to pull her away from him in the forest he has reacted by covering Lady Hinata's body with his own every time he sees Neji. I think he thinks Neji wants to harm her."

"That is ridiculous!" Hiashi snorted and sent a glare towards the boy. "Neji would never hurt my daughter!"

"Of course not," Hagane reassured him. "We know that. But he doesn't."

"So you are saying," Hiashi strained and sent Hagane a menacing glower. "That this – this animal makes such a mayhem because he wants to be with my daughter, and should therefore sleep in the same room as her?!"

"That would be only reasonable, if you – "

"I will not allow it!" Hiashi bellowed. "You will see me dead before I let that thing closer to her than he already is!"

"He is not a 'thing', father, and neither is he an animal," Hinata said irritatedly. She had grown tired of how everyone treated Naruto like he was something of lower value than themselves, or as if he wasn't there at all. "I gave him a name, which is Naruto."

Her father's scowl fell for a moment.

"Naruto? But that is a fish cake."

"I know," Hinata said and felt her cheeks burn a little. "But Sakura gave him narutos when he was hungry and he liked them, therefore we named him after them."

Hiashi snorted, and so did Neji, so she sent them a timid glare. She couldn't blame them, though. She knew it was a strange name. But by now it seemed that the boy with the strange name had grown bored, because he started to play gently with Hinata's hair. This seemed to aggravate both Hiashi and Neji, because Hiashi strode over to her in two long steps and ripped her away from Naruto. His fingers were still tangled in her hair, and they pulled on her hair roots as she was dragged away and she let out a small whine of pain. Naruto reacted instantly. In a flash he was beside her, his arms going around her and ripping her away from Hiashi. A loud growl rumbled deep in his throat, and his grip on her was tighter than what it had been up to now. Hiashi stared at him, completely in shock, but Neji had seen it before and warily took a step back, remembering how that had helped before. Hinata tried to calm her father, but he seemed to only work himself more and more towards his peak of rage, and it didn't help that Naruto was constantly trying to drag her away from him. She dug her heels into the floor the best she could and made him let go with a small smack on his arm and a stern 'let me go'. He let go, but not without a small snarl, and he kept close.

"Father, please calm down," she said calmingly, silently begging that he would listen to her. The last thing she wanted was her father and Naruto to fight. "He didn't mean to – "

"I will not have him oppose me!" Hiashi roared. "If he is to stay here I demand he keep his hands to himself and does not show such inappropriate behavior!"

"But he doesn't know better, father! Remember how he has lived until now! He hasn't had any contact with humans, and – "

"Doesn't matter! He will behave!"

Hinata understood that her father would not budge, and relented with only a nod. Then came the next issue: How would they keep Naruto calm at night? It was Hagane who brought it up, after a little silence. Hiashi fired instantly and told them loud and clear no; his daughter was certainly not to sleep in the same room as a boy. But as the increasingly sleepy Neji and Hagane laid out their reasoning, he became more and more wavering, and in the end he gave in. It took them a good hour of convincing, though. But he had demands; Naruto were to be on the other side of the room, tied to the bed, and there had to constantly be guards outside the door. And Hinata wasn't allowed to approach him, either. Hinata didn't seem to have a say in the matter, and she didn't really care. The thought of having a boy in her room was a lot less disturbing when said boy had no idea what it would normally involve.

After Hiashi was finished with his ranting, he added as an afterthought: "Is this all right with you, Hinata?" He looked like he hoped she would say no, so that she could give him an excuse to throw Naruto out. Hinata only gave a slight nod, and Hiashi scowled. Naruto stirred behind her, obviously becoming impatient. Hiashi shook his head, and with a sigh he turned to leave.

"Hagane, Kiba, follow Hinata and that…boy back to her room. Make sure that he cannot reach her in any way."

Hagane and Kiba gave a short nod, and with that Hiashi left. Neji followed soon, after he had dismissed the rest of the men. He gave Hinata a worried glance before he left, but she only smiled at him to tell him not to worry. She could handle this, or so she hoped. The only thing she didn't really feel comfortable about was that her father had ordered Naruto tied up. She knew little of the boy, but she was fairly certain that he wouldn't agree to it.

The two men said nothing as she led them into her room, obviously a little aggraveted since they had to take the first shift. She blushed a little, painfully aware that it was for her sake they had to keep awake, but she pushed most of the blame on her father. She was quite sure that Naruto wouldn't harm her, and so she had tried to tell him, but he had pointedly ignored her. As he always did.

"Uhm," Hagane started uncertainly. "Where should we put him? There's not an extra bed here." He looked pointedly at Kiba, expecting him to come up with an answer. Kiba in his turn looked at Hinata.

"I-I guess he can sleep on my couch," she said and looked at said furniture. It wasn't the biggest sofa in the world, and he would probably have to curl up a bit, but at least it wasn't the floor. Both of the men nodded in agreement, and pulled out a rope. Naruto instantly tensed behind her, and she could feel him take a wary step backwards.

"Wait!" Hinata exclaimed and took a quick step toward them to stop them. "I-I don't want you to tie him up."

Both of them looked confused. "But Hiashi-sama ordered it," Hagane said and looked unsurely at Kiba. Kiba just shrugged and lowered the rope. "Doesn't matter to me," he said and flashed both Hinata and Hagane a grin. "For the moment it is Lady Hinata who gives the orders, and not Mister Almighty himself."

Hagane cringed at the way his companion addressed their master and made ready to scold him when Hinata gave a small, quiet laugh. He stared in surprise at her.

"Lady Hinata…?"

"Please, I don't want him to be tied up like an animal," Hinata pleaded, grasping Hagane's hand lightly. Naruto stirred behind her. "Father doesn't have to know. Please?"

Hagane blushed and muttered something about being killed by Hiashi for not following orders, but he couldn't really disobey her either. So it ended with them leaving, Hagane casting wary glances behind him as they closed the door. Hinata and Naruto were left in a dim darkness, but Hinata compensated for it with lighting some candles. Naruto regarded her curiously as she used the matches to light the candle, and flinched away when she lifted it up and turned with it as if he was afraid that she was going to set him afire. Hinata couldn't help but laugh a little at the snubbed expression he wore, and guided him towards the couch. She tried to make him sit down, but no matter how much pressure she put on his shoulder it seemed he still didn't understand that he was supposed to sit. A chair in a kitchen was one thing, but something as scary as a soft couch was obviously a heck of a lot worse. She gave up when he gave her a small glare, afraid that she had annoyed him. She was left standing there for a minute without really knowing what to do, and then she figured she'd show him. Gods, all the things she had to do.

"See here now," she told him. He followed her with his eyes, curious as ever. She lay down, feeling just a little bit embarrassed, got up and then mimicked for him to do the same. This time it seemed to work. Albeit a little hesitantly, he lay down, awkwardly putting his hands in front of his head. He looked up at her, as if to see if she was satisfied, and she offered him a small smile. She went over to her bed, picked up one of the blankets covering it and laid it over him. He stared puzzled at her, but didn't stir. She told him goodnight, to which he didn't answer, lay down on her own bed and pulled the covers over herself and blew out the light. It only took her a few minutes to fall asleep.

Hinata wasn't sure, but sometime during the rest of the night it felt like an extra warmth came sneaking into her bed. She was barely conscious, so she just settled with how good it felt and slipped into unconsciousness again.

TBC

A/N: Ok, from now on updates are going to take a while longer. The chapters I have posted up until now I have moved from my dA account. And seriously, when I re-read them I noticed how crappy they are. I'll do much better in the chapters to come.