A/N: 'Sup! So, to make up for my long absense, I'm already posting a new chapter and already am working on the next. I hope you like it. Don't forget to review it later, if you're up to it.

chemistry kim: Haha, yes. Except for the times he would hand their diuretics juices recipes saying "hey, you should try them out" :'D

Allytsuki: ;)

Hektols: Well, actually I have something like that planned... For now I will say this: you haven't seen the last of Harumi.

And as for Sasuke, well, I work on making he act more... human here, even though, in the manga, if you try really hard, you can see some cute emotions buried under his nonchalant shell.

Chris Uzumaki-sensei: I know :(. Even if I blame my autocorrect for a few things, the blame is on me for never checking and double check the things I write. I really need to learn that!

madeyemoody95: Thank you! Here it goes the next chapter! And seriously, DON'T TRY THE SUNSCREEN!

asianbadass101: Thanks, I'll try!

SpicyWifey: Yes, I really had fun writing about her on that situation.

Hokori-Hori-Chan: Yeah, that's why you gotta love that Sai: his bluntness works both for good and bad sides and either way is very fun to write about!

Naruhina lover: Tnx, since I kinda try to balance the numbers of chap/couple, it'll might take a while to another SaiXIno.

lostlove & IsaParadox: Thank you guys. This fic is about canons, though. I let my creativity run the wildest on chapter 13 and I was already unsure if should write it or not... I hope you guys enjoy these new chaps, anyway! Lemme hear/read what you think later!

itchy uchiha: Thanks! You see, I don't actually know why I made Ino go to ShikaTema's house, haha. Maybe, since Sai and Temari are close - at least, here -, Ino subconsciously chose their house because it would be easier for Sai find her...?

elkyouya: Aww, thank you very very much ;)

"Why did he make us wait here? Is this the Hyuuga's dungeon?" Naruto asked.

Hinata laughed. "We have no dungeons… that I know of."

Naruto gulped and looked at her. "As I thought, isn't better to ask for his blessings through a letter? I sound way smarter through letters."

Hinata opened her mouth to answer but someone opened the door of the waiting room.

"Hinata-sama, Hiashi-sama is waiting for you two on the second dojo."

"Hai, thank you, Nao-kun." She said with a smile. Then to Naruto: "Let's go?"

Naruto nodded stiffly and he followed Hinata through the Hyuuga state. He noticed on the way that a lot of the people there, when spotted them, giggled and would whisper something to each other.

That wasn't really helping with his jitters.

"Hinata, why a dojo? Do you think your father wants to… spar or something?"

Hinata just shrugged. It actually seemed something that her father would do.

They got to the second dojo. Before they could do anything, Hiashi's voice told them to come in.

"I see…" Hiashi said slowly after Naruto asked his permission to marry Hinata. He got up and walked to the door, looking at the veranda. "Raise your head, kid." He told Naruto, who was still bowing.

The young man rose his head slowly, confused. He looked at Hinata, looking for a hint of what was going on, but she also looked clueless.

"Hinata, leave us alone for a moment." Hiashi said, still looking outside.

"Huh? Hmm, right…" Hinata squeezed her fiancée's hand and smiled softly before leaving.

The head of Hyuuga clan sized Naruto up over his shoulder. "Come here. I want to show you something."

Naruto hurried to get up and stand beside Hiashi, kicking the kettle with tea by accident on his way.

"Ops, sorry, there's a rag around I can use? I'm really sorry."

Hiashi almost smiled. "Leave it. Someone can take care of it latter. Now, come here." When he did, Hiashi pointed to a camellia tree on the garden, just a few feet away from them. "Can you see that tree?"

"Hm, yeah." Naruto said.

"It's a camellia tree. Pink camellias mean something like 'greatness of the soul', did you know that?"

"No. Hm, Hiashi-san… what about my…?"

"Look at that tree carefully. How many flowers do you think it has?" Hiashi interrupted.

"Let's see… Twenty, thirty? Maybe mor… Wait, there's a lady there… Hinata?"

The lady sitting under the camellia tree turned to Naruto and opened a gentle - and terribly familiar - smile.

"Do we really look alike so much?" She said tilting her head.

It really wasn't Hinata. That woman had a more elongated face and her eyes were dark instead of the pale tone of Hinata's, but the hair, the skin, the smile…

"You're… Hinata's mother." He realized.

"That's right. You must be Naruto-kun, right? I heard a lot about you." She said. "Will you sit here with me for a second? I would like to get to know you better."

"Ahhh…" Naruto tried to spot Hiashi where he was seconds ago to ask his permission, but he was nowhere to be seeing. "Okay, I guess."

Naruto ran to the tree and sat in front of her. He bowed his head.

"It's a honor to meet you, ma'am."

She shook her head quickly. "We can drop the formalities, can't we? We will be family soon, after all."

Naruto smirked. "Yeah, that is, if your husband accept me."

"Of course he will! He already did, actually. A-chan is just a bit theatrical." She said with a chuckle.

"A-chan?" Naruto laughed.

"Yes. I call him like that since we were kids. You see, I was friends with Hizashi too and the only different letter on their names is the middle one. So I called A-chan and Za-chan… of course I stopped calling Hizashi like that when we grew up, but somehow, I never could associate my A-chan with Hiashi, the clan head, he became." She explained with a sigh, she leaned towards him a bit. "Naruto-kun, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Why do you want to marry Hinata?" She asked with a serious tone.

Naruto gave it a thought. "It's very hard to explain."

Hinata's mom raised and eyebrow. "Is it? You can say whatever reason pops up on your head when I ask. I just want to know you better." Naruto nodded. "So, let's try again: why do you wanna marry my daughter?"

"Peanut!" Naruto answered quick. "Wait, no. That makes no sense. Please, let's go again."

She placed her hands on her chin. "Why do you wanna marry her?!"

"Because there's no way I wouldn't!" He said back.

The gentle smile was back now. "And why is that?"

"She's… a part of me already. Hinata made a home out my heart and I get the feeling that she's with me even when she's not and… and it's quite creepy actually, isn't it?"

"No, it's not." She looked away, lost in her thoughts. "You know, Naruto-kun, Hinata can be a very easy girl to deal with since she won't ever nag or complain but that doesn't mean she won't ever get hurt. That's why you should always watch her closely."

"I know that." Naruto said, playing with his sleeves. He smiled to his hands. "Even though I would like her to be outgoing, it's one of the things that make Hinata the wonderful person she is. Besides, it can't be a big issue if it gives me an excuse to spoil her and watch her closely, right?"

She renewed her smile. "I really like your way of thinking. I can see now why my daughter chose you."

Naruto smiled shyly and scratched the back of his head.

"Naruto-kun, please take a good care of my precious girl and don't you ever... Well, I would say 'don't ever make her sad' but that's not what is important, so always give your best to make her happy and, if you ever mess up on doing that, give all you got to fix it."

Naruto lowered his head. "Yes, thank you very much."

"Now, I think you must go back. If Hinata walk in the dojo and see you now, she might think that A-chan killed you." She told him.

"Huh? Why? I don't get it."

She just shrugged gently and waved him goodbye. Her image started to fade and Naruto found himself on the floor of the second dojo, lying on the spot he was sitting before Hiashi called him over.

The only other person in the room - Hiashi -was sitting by the door, drinking tea calmly and looking at the garden outside, probably at the camellia tree.

Naruto got up and called: "Hiashi-san?"

He looked back. "Oh, you're finally up. I wasn't sure if my genjutsu would work on such an infamous shinobi like you, but you swallowed it hook, line and sinker."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm not that strong against genjutsu. But, Hiashi-san, why did you...?"

Hiashi called him closer with a gesture. Naruto obeyed, but this time a bit hesitantly.

"Can you see that tree?"

"The camellia tree? Yeah. Wait, did you trapped me again?!"

Hiashi smirked. "Calm down. This is real now. I was saying, that tree was my wife's last will. On her deathbed, Saya called me over and told me to plant a pink camellia tree on the special spot in our garden where she used to sit with the girls to read to them. 'The pink camellia means greatness of soul', she said, 'and that will be my legacy to our daughters."

Naruto watched the tree closely. No one appeared under it now.

"Saya-san? That was her name?"

"Yes. She was... special. We were childhood friends, Saya, my brother and I, and no one knew me better than her. I lost a part of my heart when she passed... and probably all my kindness too. That would explain why I was such a poor excuse for a father to Hinata."

"Hinata loves you!" Naruto argued.

"That says more about her kindness than mine, but it's okay. I'm well aware of my sins."

They remained silent for a while till Naruto said:

"Hiashi-san, why are you telling me all this?"

He shrugged. "I didn't know what else should I say to a young man to whom I will entrust my daughter. I thought that maybe Saya would help me up. My mental impression of her is nothing compared to the original, but I hope it was enough to convey our feelings to you."

"It sure was. Wait, Hiashi-san, does that mean that you are giving us your blessings?"

"Did you really think I would oppose?"

"Well… I did kinda mocked your clan traditions in front of everyone seven years ago and you'd always do a face like this" Naruto mimicked Hiashi's stern frown "whenever I'd drop by."

The Hyuuga head laughed openly. Naruto was surprised. He never noticed Hiashi had teeth.

"That's true. But you're also the Fourth War hero and saved both Hinata and Hanabi from that Toneri guy. Besides, it's not like I'm surprised: you were probably the last person on this village to find out that Hinata is in love with you. When I heard you two were dating, I knew it was just a matter of time."

They looked at the tree one more time. Once again, there was a dark haired lady sitting under the tree, but now it was really Hinata. She looked at her father and fiancée and waved at them. Naruto immediately ran to her, probably forgetting he was talking to Hiashi and that the conversation wasn't really over.

Seeing the joyous smile Hinata gave to Naruto, Hiashi remembered a conversation he had with his wife years ago, after a long training with Hinata, in which he commanded his daughter to stay with her byakugan activated for four hours straight.

"May I remind you, A-chan, not even you could use your eyes for so long when you were so young." She had scolded, crossing her arms tightly.

"Hinata is… weak. Although I wasn't able to do it at her age, I would never give up so easily like her. Not when my father told me to try harder."

Saya smiled kindly. "Hinata isn't weak, A-chan. She's your daughter, how could she be? You're just blaming her for not taking her training seriously when her sole existence has cost so much for your beloved brother's son. And, like you, Hinata is the legitimate heir to the Hyuuga household even though she has a younger sibling who might be a lot more eager to succeed."

Hiashi looked straight to her eyes, looking for comfort. "So what am I supposed to do, Saya? To let her act so nonchalantly towards her legacy is an insult to Hizashi's memory!"

She pulled him close, placing his head on her shoulder and caressing his arm. "Let them be, A-chan. I'm sure Neji-kun will find his way out and Hinata… well, Hinata is not very ambitious, so she won't fight for the power of being the clan's head but I'm sure one day she will find her own reasons to fight for. And when that happens, you will see, Hinata will fly the highest, at her very own way."

Now looking at the young couple chatting lively by his wife tree, Hiashi finally thought on a piece of advice he should give to Naruto: wives always, always, know best.