Chapter 2

Hinata finished putting on her dress for the night and finished combing her hair as she faced the mirror on her dresser in her room. She was anxious for the night to begin and was blushing as she thought about Naruto in a suit. As she was lost in the thought, there was a knock at her door and Hinata set down her comb so that she could answer it. To her surprise and dismay, it was her cousin Neji with his arms crossed as he saw Hinata in her dress.

"So, are you going somewhere tonight, Hinata?" asked Neji. Hinata could feel her blood run cold as she knew Neji wasn't going to let her leave so easily.

"N-Neji!" she said in surprise. Neji smiled and walked into her room and closed the door behind him so that they could talk in private. "I-I was j-just..." Hinata just couldn't say it. She knew how Neji would react.

"Why not just tell me the truth, Hinata?" asked Neji. Hinata looked at him confused by what he meant.

"What?" said Hinata. Neji took one of her hands and insisted. "You're going out to see Naruto, aren't you?" Neji accused. Hinata gasped as she thought that no one knew about their relationship.

"W-What! N-Never! I-I know you and father don't approve of him so I-"

"Your father doesn't approve. I didn't say that I didn't." said Neji. There was a silence in the room as Hinata heard him speak.

"What?" said Hinata. Neji nodded and smiled. Hinata looked away, blushed, and then nodded in agreement.

"That's great, Hinata. I'm happy for you." said Neji being genuanly kind and with a smile. Hinata smiled back and gave Neji a hug.

"Y-You won't tell father about this... will you?" asked Hinata. Neji shook his head.

"Of course not. I know how much Naruto means to you, and that you really care about him. I promise to keep this our little secret." said Neji. Hinata's face lit up with joy immediately and she sqweezed Neji tight in a hug.

"Oh, thank you Neji!" she said. She let go of him, grabbed a few things and started to leave for the door.

"Hinata." said Neji. Before leaving, Hinata turned around and smiled at him.

"Yes?"

"Are you... being safe?" asked Neji. Hinata didn't understand.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Neji crossed his arms again and frowned as he thought about Naruto.

"Naruto was gone from the village for three years alone with that Jaraiya man. I assume you know what kind of person Jaraiya is?" asked Neji. Hinata nodded and then her face grew bright red with shock as she realized what he was talking about.

"Ne-Ne-Ne-Neji! H-How could you even th-think about that! N-Naruto would never..." said Hinata. Neji stood up and walked over to her.

"Listen, for all I know, Naruto could have picked up a few "tricks" from Jaraiya while they were gone. I just want to make sure that he doesn't try anything." said Neji. Hinata almost screamed as she listened to Neji talk.

"Look, N-Naruto and I have been together for only a few days. Please don't say things like that..." said Hinata blushing heavily. Now she was going to be thinking about it all night. She just hoped it wouldn't ruin the evening. Neji nodded and backed off a bit.

"I'll tell Haishi that you went out to do some late night training. I'll help you get back in without him seeing." said Neji. Hinata nodded and gave him another huge hug.

"Thank you, Neji. Really." she said. With that, she left the house and headed over to Naruto's appartment.

Naruto struggled with his tie to try and put it on the correct way. Hinata was going to be at his house at any minute, and he still looked like a piece of trash! (overexagerated)

"Aw damn it! How do you even put this thing on anyway!" yelled Naruto out of frustration. As he continued to fiddle with it, Naruto's doorbell rang. He sighed and went to answer it and was nearly blown away. Hinata stood at his doorway in a stunningly beautiful, white, sleevless dress. It was just long enough to where the skirt part reached three-fourth's down her thighs. She was whearing black opentoed sandles (Tsunade's sandles, sort of :/) and was also whearing her hair in a fancy ponytail. Her face was lightly covered with make-up and was whearing something on her lips. Lips. That was what caught Naruto's eye the most. He was struck dumb as Hinata giggled and smiled at Naruto.

"Hey." she said with a glimmer in her eye.

"W-Woah..." was all Naruto could say. Compared to her, Naruto felt like he was way out of her league. Hinata gave a small laugh again and came into Naruto's appartment and brought him close to her.

"You're tie is messed up. Here, let me help." she said. Naruto blushed as Hinata's body pressed against his as she reached up to fix his tie. When it was finished, Naruto looked in a mirror and was dumbfounded.

"Oh, so that's how it goes..." he said. Hinata smiled and grabbed onto Naruto's arm. Hinata was almost speachless herself. Naruto looked slightly a bit taller in a suit than in his normal clothes. He looked really good in it.

"So are you ready to go?" asked Hinata. Naruto nodded and headed out of his house and started to walk in the late night streets to go to where he had planned.

"Where are we going?" asked Hinata. Naruto winked at her, making her heart jump.

"It's a surprise, so you'll just have to wait and see." said Naruto. Hinata was a little worried at first that they were just going to Ichiraku Ramen shop, but was thoroughly impressed that Naruto had chosen one of the most exensive places to eat in the Hidden Leaf Village called, Yukoni Resutouran. Even better, Naruto had already made reservations that night and was ready to pay for everything himself. As they sat down inside the restraunt, Naruto remembered most of the table manners that Kakashi taught him and was sure to be a gentlemen and pull out Hinata's chair so that she could sit down when they got their seats. Naruto was nervous most of the night, but Naruto remembered what Kakashi said: just be yourself. With that in mind, Naruto did his best to try and make Hinata laugh and tell her all about what happened on his journey away from home. He spoke a lot about how he was training most of the time, but was also able to see lots of different things while he was gone.

Hinata was glad that he was working so hard. She talked about how she trained with Neji everyday while he was gone and was able to become a much better ninja with Neji there to support her. She learned lots of things from Neji, and while she was on missions, she was able to hone her skills even more than when she was training. She had decided to change a little and grew her hair out, hoping that would help her come out of her shell a little bit. She also talked about how her family was a lot more stable now and they were all closer than they had been in a long time. Her father though, was still as strict and cold as he had ever been, and she was sad that there was almost no way to change that. Naruto could only understand all too well how she was feeling. The feeling of being rejected and looked down upon. Naruto assured her however, that they would always be there to lift eachother's spirits. So far, the entire night was going perfectly well. As they had finished eating for the night, Naruto and Hinata went to go and talk some more around the village. As they were talking, Hinata decided that it was time.

"Naruto?" said Hinata. Naruto looked down at her with a blush on his cheeks.

"Yeah?" Hinata looked down and sighed.

"I... M-My father doesn't like you..." she said. Naruto looked down at the ground as they walked and nodded.

"Is that so..." said Naruto. There was a silence between them. "Well, I had a feeling that he would." Hinata looked at him. "A lot of people that fought the fox about sixteen years ago don't like me at all, which is a good majority of the people in this village."

"But that's not fair! They don't even know you!" said Hinata insistantly. Naruto stopped walking and took both of Hinata's hands and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Yeah, it's not. But you know what?" asked Naruto. Hinata waited for his answer. "I don't care about them. Not anymore."

"You don't?" she said. Naruto shook his head and grabbed onto her hands a little tighter.

"Not at all. I was about to give up the second I failed the graduation exam back at the academy for the third time. But then, Iruka Sensei showed me that he actually cared about me, and from there, I had Kakashi sensei, Sakura and..." Naruto couldn't say Saskuke's name. It was too painful. "After I had them, I started to make friends everywhere I went. I realized further down the road, that as long as I have my friends, I can always be happy. I love my friends like they are my family, and I would do anything to protect them." said Naruto. Hinata looked at him in wonder.

"Really?" asked Hinata. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. But most importantly, I have you. The one person who has always been so kind to me and always supported me... and always cared about me the most, was you. I didn't really acknowledge it until we went on that mission together, and then I really began to see you." said Naruto. Hinata could feel tears in her eyes as Naruto said these kind words. She hugged him tightly and nearly burried her face in Naruto's chest and neck.

"Thank you... Naruto." said Hinata. Naruto nodded and rubbed her back as they were stuck in their embrace.

"That's why Hinata, I'm not gonna worry about your dad. If he doesn't like me, then fine. All I care about is if you still like me." said Naruto. Hinata nodded.

"I do. I will." she said. Naruto smiled and held her close to him. He was the luckiest guy on the planet to have someone so kind to him. After their little "dramatic conversation", Naruto took Hinata back to her home where they could say their goodbyes to eachother.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" asked Naruto. Hinata nodded and blushed.

"Of course you will. And thank you, Naruto. Tonight was a lot of fun." she said. Naruto grabbed one of Hinata's hands and lightly kissed it, leaving Hinata's face completely red from the intimate contact.

"I'm glad you thought so. And thank you Hinata, for being with me." said Naruto. Hinata nodded and withdrew her hand. She reached and gave Naruto another tight hug, accidentally pressing her body against him. With the final hug, Naruto and Hinata parted ways. As Hinata entered into her house, Neji was there to greet her, seeming sad.

"Neji! It was great! I had a lot of fun!" she said. Neji looked at her with a pained face and then looked down at the floor. "Neji? What's wrong?" asked Hinata. Haishi came out from a room leading into the hallway with a face of fury. As Hinata saw this face, she looked at Neji, knowing what had happened.

"I'm so... so sorry Hinata..." said Neji.

"W-Why! You promised you wouldn't tell!" yelled Hinata. Haishi stepped closer to her and shook his head. "He didn't tell me willingly, Hinata. I had to force it out of him when he wouldn't say where you were. And he tried to lie to me too." said Haishi. He used his Byankugan at Neji, making Neji feel fear beyond understanding. "So I had to use my Byankugan to force him to tell the truth." he said. Haishi walked closer to Hinata with those same cold eyes, and slapped Hinata across the face. She fell down on the floor by the door, shocked that her father had struck her. "You shouldn't have lied to me Hinata. I forbid you to ever see or speak to or about Naruto Uzumaki ever again. If you do, the consequences will be most costly."