A/N: Hiashi is not the Hiashi you're used to. Him being sassy and iconic is now my forever head canon after seeing how extra he got in Boruto. Also I find the general narrative on Hyugas boring and redundant so I always like tweaking their dynamic to what I think would have been their chaotic family in our day and age without all the weird side-branch drama.

TW: body dysmorphia and eating disorder

Christmas Chaos

Chapter 4: The Cookie Festival

December 20th

Seven thousand, eight hundred and thirty-six seconds to be exact.

Or one hundred and thirty minutes, to be less exact.

Well, a bit over two hours to be simple.

That's the amount of time Hinata tried to even out her breathing because she was seated no less than twenty centimeters away from her forever crush, the most handsome Naruto-kun.

It was not planned that Naruto would be the one driving her home. It all started like it always started : with a fight between her best friend and her brother-like cousin.

They had all agreed to meet up at the Hyugas' flat Hinata shared with Neji, so the siblings could give their guests more information on how to find their estate that was so skillfully hidden in tortuous rocky mountain roads through the pine forest.

"You didn't read the document I sent you?" Neji glared at the petite woman in front of him.

"You mean the thirty-eight pages essay you sent me last night?" She countered with a scowl of her own.

"That essay has all the data necessary to make this work. What are you going to say when people'll ask how we met, huh?" He challenged her.

"That you barged in my ED, scolding me for a mere echo." She raised her eyebrows in defiance.

Neji's hands tightened into white-knuckles-fists. "You're really smart aren't you." He snarled. "So what will you answer when my uncle asks you trivial things about me?"

"Oh my gosh, Neji, I'll improvise, why are you so uptight?"

Neji's teeth grinded against one another. "One does not simply improvise with Hiashi Hyuga, Tenten."

Well, long story short Naruto cut through that thick tension and proposed he took Hinata while Neji took Tenten so they both had time to prepare whatever illusion they needed to plan out. Maybe then it would at least be a bit less embarrassingly unconvincing.

Because that's what they were, unconvincing to say the least. Both Hinata and Naruto were wildly unconvinced by the plan their friends laid out in front of them. It was bound to fail, nobody could believe for a second that two people who loathed each other as much as Tenten and Neji did would be able to fool the dozens of Hyuga reuniting tomorrow that they were in love. Really, the only thing they had going for them was the pent up sexual tension that was almost overwhelming to watch at times.

But as of now, Hinata had other problems than their failing-from-the-get-go plan. Problems like impeding her fluttering heart from going into full blown atrial fibrillation because, again, she was sitting mere centimeters apart from, she was convinced, the man of her life. He just didn't know it yet.

So far they had been awfully silent during the whole car ride and Hinata had been excruciately aware of their lack of conversation for the past two hours and almost a half. Each missed second felt like a missed opportunity to cease this extraordinary chance to get to know him better and maybe make him like her back.

Because as much as Hinata wanted to believe her friends when they claimed, and swore, and shouted that the blond boy obviously had feelings for her; the Hyuga heiress could never reconcile her mind with that idea that a man like Naruto would be content with someone like her.

It did not matter that her friends and sister called her one of the most beautiful women they saw. It didn't matter, all the compliments she received on a daily basis from strangers at the bar to her colleagues. It did not matter how many times her father, uncle and her brother had treated her like she was the most prized possession of the Hyuga clan.

Hinata Hyuga carried shame and guilt for as long as she could name those feelings. Hinata Hyuga had never known peace with herself, for as long as she could remember. Because Hinata Hyuga had been at war with her body for as long as she had noticed it all its flaws.

If she had to pin-point exactly the moment where it had really begun, she'd probably go back to the summer she turned fourteen and her shapes had started to blossom. She had always been a bit more curvy than her other friends. But that summer, her hips and breasts just made it all the more obvious. In post-heroin chic era, Hinata grew up thinking her body was a social anomaly.

Nobody told her that subcutaneous fat was normal, that you should be able to pinch it and feel it's there; that stomach rolls were the most natural thing and that everyone's thighs jiggled. Nobody mentioned that pimples on your skin were to be expected or that stretch marks were a rite of passage for many growing bodies, or that breasts didn't have to be firm or perky. Sometimes they were squishy, and saggy, and it pointed south instead of north. Sometimes the aureola was big and sometimes it was small, sometimes it was rosy and sometimes it was tan. And in all cases, it was always beautiful and bountiful and a legacy of women who thrived for centuries to bestow their genes to you so you could nurture a new generation in return.

Nobody ever said anything like this to her.

What she was told was that she could lose ten pounds in two weeks just in time for summer if she ate only cabbages or that if she exercised intensely one hour a day with a waist trainer, she'd own her right to wear a bikini.

Nobody ever taught her to instead learn to listen to her body, to find the activities that made her heart race, from effort, but also from happiness. That it was ok to hate running, maybe your thing was swimming? Hot yoga? Walking by the river? Playing with your dog?

Nobody talked about health around Hinata and everyone always talked about beauty instead, sometimes masking it for health.

Nobody told Hinata she looked stronger and healthier when she gained two pounds of muscles, but everyone told her she looked prettier when she lost two pounds of water after an intensive regimen.

So by the time she turned seventeen, she had a severe eating disorder that nobody had suspected because her body did an amazing at not getting skinnier. At staying round and curvy, at fucking keeping her alive despite her best attempts at starving it by eating next to nothing and vomiting or exercising off everything else she couldn't help but eat.

She hid her abnormalities behind oversized sweaters and joggings and kept a rigorous journal of everything she ate and the daily measurements she took while scrutinizing herself in front of her mirror.

Thankfully, when she stopped menstruating, that's when her grandmother started getting worried and noticing her eating behaviour. It took months of therapy and the support of all her doting family for Hinata to regain a positive relationship with food and her body.

Yet, choosing to love herself was a constant battle, a choice she had to make everyday waking up, or when reading a magazine or watching a movie where she always looked more like the best friend than the main character. She was never going to be a size 0 or a size six, her jeans will probably always be a size ten or twelve. She'd never be skinny, but she learned to feel comfortable with being a proud midsize woman.

Sometimes, she envied Tenten a bit. She was just so thoroughly comfortable with her body it fascinated Hinata. Even Ino who represented every beauty norms to a T had her own insecurities. Sakura complained about her breasts or her hair all the time. And even her little sister had her moments. But she had never seen Tenten indulge in self-hate. She was the type of woman to storm into a bathhouse without thinking twice about her naked body, walking around without a care in the world, opening her legs for her bikini wax without an ounce of shame.

In a way, Tenten's strong sense of self made her think often of her cousin who walked through like with the same resolute confidence. And she couldn't help but smile, thinking that's probably why it was so easy for one another to confront each other, because not many people could withstand how they ran each other down. But they could, because they each had steeled internal validation.

One time, Tenten had forced her on a camping trip with the girls - something they had sworn they would never do again. And during the hikes and the climbing she made them do, Hinata had a sort of epiphany, because as she was dangling on the ragged cliff of Konoha Mountains Chain, she was in awe that her body could cling her to life in such a way. And each step towards the summit, each beat of her racing hard, it just clicked, how her body had always been there for her, how it fought for her when she had forsaken it.

It was not instantaneous, but it was a start, a spark and she had been kindling that flamme ever since.

Unfortunately, during stressful periods like the holidays - or sitting just next to the love of your life in tense silence for two hours, for example - her doubts and insecurities seemed to resurface because when she is anxious, it becomes harder for her to control her thoughts distorsion.

Suddenly, she felt too fat, even though she knew fat was not a feeling. She felt undesirable, unloveable, and unworthy. And she knew how horrible it was to think this way about herself, but she couldn't help herself.

Because Naruto barely looked at her and the intrusive thoughts came rushing in. Maybe he thought she was too fat? Did her thighs look wider in his car seat? And she couldn't stop clutching her stomach out of fear he would notice the rolls that formed when she sat. Gosh, she looked at her phone again.

Eight thousand seven hundred and sixty-two seconds now.

Message from Ino to you, Sakura and Tenten : HINATA, HAVE Y'ALL KISSED YET.

Message from Sakura to you, Ino and Tenten : Let her be Ino-pig, it has not even been three hours.

Message from Ino to you, Sakura and Tenten : All I'm saying is that I strongly encourage it.

Message from Tenten to you, Sakura and Ino : Same here. Also, update : your cousin is still a pain in my ass.

Message from Ino to you, Sakura and Tenten : Please tell us it's literally cause he finally banged your fine ass.

Message from Ino to you, Sakura and Tenten : Also, Sakura is back with Sasuke.

Message from Sakura to you, Ino and Tenten : Not true!

Message from Ino to you, Sakura and Tenten : Fine, she will probably be back with him before the end of the holidays.

Message from Tenten to you, Ino and Sakura : Do we want that?

Message from Sakura to you, Ino and Tenten : … maybe.

Message from Tenten to you, Ino and Sakura : I love this. Keep me updated.

Message from Ino to you, Sakura and Tenten : Keep US updated, little Tenten.

Message from Tenten to you, Sakura and Ino : Oh my God, Ino, stop calling me that.

Message from Sakura to you, Ino and Tenten : Why? I think it's cute.

Message from Tenten to you, Sakura and Ino : It's childish.

Message from Ino to you, Sakura and Tenten : And I'm continuing just for that. HINATA IF YOU NEED HELP CALL US.

Hinata's eyes widened, she always forgot how much her friends texted, she was more a calling someone over the phone type of girl, well, once she felt comfortable enough.

Message to Tenten, Sakura and Ino: Guys! It's horrible, we haven't talked at all for the whole ride. What do I do?

It didn't take more than five seconds for her phone to blow up with three messages coming in at the same time.

Ino: KISS HIM SPONTANEOUSLY!

Tenten: Mock how he drives, I swear he'll talk about it for hours.

Sakura: Play 20 questions!

Message to Tenten, Sakura and Ino: No, no and yesss, great idea!

"Na-naruto-k-kun?"

God, she hated that. She cleared her throat before continuing, more confidently.

"Naruto-kun," She smiled at him even though his eyes were fixed on the road. "Let's play 20 questions."

And she doesn't know how she mustered her best -brand new?- seductress voice, but she must have because he turned around as if awed, eyes wide, mouth a bit agape and he nodded with a bit more enthusiasm than the idea of 20 questions should induce.

Naruto Uzumaki was a dunce, there was no other probable explanation in the whole wide world that could otherwise explain his situation.

Or at least that's what Naruto thought of himself. From the moment Neji and Tenten left in Neji's car, bickering like they had done all their lives, to this exact moment he involuntarily implied Hinata had a nice ass.

Just in front of her father on top of everything else.

He could just punch himself.

Ok, to his defence, at the beginning, Naruto had tried to mitigate the risk of humiliating himself by staying awfully quiet. If he opened his mouth, he was sure to fuck up. She just had that effect on him, he lost all his alphabet, his tongue just wouldn't move properly when she looked at him with those big lavender eyes.

And that truth became excruciatingly evident from the moment he opened the passenger door for her and said :

"For you my lady."

He had laughed nervously, screaming inside.

For. You. My. Lady?. !. !?.

And later when they stopped at a gaz station, he offered to buy her coffee and she politely decline he felt like slapping his forehead. Obviously you don't just buy gas station coffee for someone like Hinata.

Then, he tried to fill in the silence by playing some music, and obviously Spotify had to screw him over - as if he needed any help for that- and started playing Ass Like That from eminem. He hadn't listened to that song in years so why the music app brought it in his shuffled rotation, he had absolutely no idea.

Just my fucking luck, he thought.

Without thinking twice, he shut off the music, exchanging an awkward glance with Hinata and resigned himself to nervously whistling and tapping the driving wheel with his fingers.

Then there was when he stopped at a convenience store for snacks. He brought her back Twizzlers and chips and soda, thinking this would make her happy. After all, his experience with Ino, Sakura and Tenten was that they liked sweets and junkfood. But what a moron, he admonished himself when Hinata took the bag with uncertainty, he should have asked her what she wanted instead of just assuming.

And it was then he realized the discrepancy between what he brought for himself and what he brought her. He got himself, veggies, an apple and carrots and he brought her junk food.

Did he look like a pretentious asshole? Because he worried this was maybe giving the wrong message. Maybe she thought he thought himself better by eating healthy. And he wanted to shout that it was not what she thought it was! Or what he thought she thought it was! This was getting confusing for Naruto's overthinking brains. It's just that whenever he eats candies, which he adores by the way, he has a severe sugar crash that usually ends with him drowsy. With hours left on the road, he wanted to be hyper alert.

He was always a bit anxious when driving, needing to keep his eyes on the road all the time. Thus, a distracting presence like Hinata made it already hard to concentrate and he didn't need to add junk food in his system on top of it all, no matter how much he craved them at the moment.

And who in the world would even think about feeding Hinata convenience store food? Maybe he should stop and get her to a nice restaurant? No, no, no. No, that would be way too bold.

Before he could think about his action, he snatched the convenience store bag out of her still hesitant hands.

Oh, Lord, what did I just do?

To say Naruto wanted the ground to swallow him up would be the understatement of the year.

"I-" He swallowed his thick saliva. "That's for me." He laughed nervously. "I. I. I mean unless you want…?"

"N-no!" Came the swift reply of Hinata, the last thing she needed was for him to think she was desperate for food, which she very much was at the moment.

Then it was back to tense silence again until Hinata's voice broke him out of his reverie and whenever did Hinata get such a sultry voice?

It left him even more stunned than usual, nodding his head like an idiot. But by the heavens this turned out to be the biggest blessing of the year. In a matter of few minutes the mood in the car had tremendously changed.

By the fifth question, they were wholeheartedly laughing at their worst childhood memories, or Hinata's trip with her little sister a few years back where they both took the wrong bus to another city, or Naruto's clumsy promposal that ended up in a small fire in his high school gymnasium.

And Naruto realized there was probably few sounds that could be as sweet and heartwarming as the laugh of Hinata when it became so true, her cheeks and her neck flushed with merriment. And a bit too much to his taste, his eyes wandered over the perfectly sculpted features of her delicate visage and the silky smooth skin of her cleavage.

Eyes on the road, Naruto. Eyes on the road.

By the eleventh question, he learned Hinata's favourite colour was lavender and that she named her pony after the colour when she was young. That her favourite time of the year was actually winter and that her favourite song was Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen.

"What!" He shouted in glee. "Are you serious?" His wide-eyed stare settled on her energetic nod and bright grin. "I LOVE THAT SONG."

"C-can I put it on?" She asked him timidly.

"Sure!"

It was probably magic. There must have been magic in the air that day because the sky was bluer, the clouds fluffier, snowflakes glistened like crushed diamonds, the landscape was more breathtaking and he was having the time of his life singing along Call me maybe, with Hinata Hyuga, the woman he'd spent the rest of his life with if she gave him the honour.

"Hey! I just met you!" She sang, moving her hips on the seat, her hands moving along the beat.

"And this is crazy," He sang with her, sharing gleeful glances in between the lyrics.

"And all the other boys!" She was now full on dancing and Naruto couldn't help but steal awed glances. She was so graceful, her milky-white wrists effortlessly jutting from her puffy black jacket, her slender fingers moving to rythm and the white pompom of her knitted hat bouncing to her movements, from which silky strands of indigo hair perfectly shaped her porcelain doll-like face.

Fuck. She was breathtaking, painfully breathtaking. She was everything and when she looked at him he felt everything and saw all of it.

All of the future he imagined himself sharing with someone, he imagined all of it with her.

Like all good things, the song had to end but the fun did not stop there. After that Hinata became in charge of their roadtrip playlist and he was very pleased to discover they had common taste in music.

Just like he discovered they shared a love for Money Heist and Harry Potter was both their favourite childhood books.

"Oh! I love this song." Naruto turned the volume of All Too Well (Taylor's Version) (10 Minutes Version).

"You do?" Hinata was surprised to hear that, she didn't listen to it that much, it was mostly Tenten who had harassed them with the singer's new album and she ended up quite liking the song.

"Yeah!" He grinned at her. "But it's a bit slower than the original, no?"

Hinata nodded. "It's the Sad Girl Autumn version." She smiled sheepishly at him.

"Were-are you sad?" He started worrying but immediately relaxed when she giggled behind her hand.

"No, it's more like an aesthetic, like sad girl vibes. It's mostly Tenten who's into that." She waved it off.

"Makes sense," He laughed. "She's been blasting that song for days now in her room. I think the approaching wedding of her ex is affecting her more than she lets on."

"Maybe…" Hinata mumbled, suddenly thoughtful. "Some people really do affect our lives more than we'd like them to, I guess."

They exchanged a look and quickly looked away.

'Singing in the car, getting lost upstate, Autumn leaves falling like pieces into place'

At that moment, Naruto thought this might as well describe them perfectly at the moment, as snowflakes fell perfectly into place.

"So, next question." Naruto changed the subject. "Your favourite Christmas tradition?"

"Oh! That's easy!" Hinata's eyes gleamed with bliss. "The Christmas Cookie Festival in the small town next to our home. It was my grandfather who started the tradition and it became a staple of Christmas celebrations there." She remembered fondly.

"Your grandfather must have been quite the man, you always talk about him with such love." He noted.

Hinata nodded and her smile brightened. "He was the most amazing grandfather. He used to lift Neji and I in the air to make us think we were like rockets in the sky. And he was so loving, gave the biggest bear hugs. I think it's the only person Neji accepted willingly hugs from. We were both devastated when he passed away. Seeing him go through dementia in old age is actually the reason Neji got into medicine."

She sniffed and Naruto's heart shattered. "Oh, I'm so sorry Hinata-chan." He looked at her pained, stabbed in the gut by the tears she tried to blink away by focusing her gaze on the horizon.

"Don't worry about it." She laughed it off, dabbing with her mitten in the corner of her eyes. "I always get emotional when talking about him. Mostly because I haven't been to that Cookie Festival in so long. There was this baa-chan who made the most scrumptious butter pecan bites, I loved them so much. My grandpa would always ask the woman to fill a bucket - a bucket I kid you not!- full of it so I could eat it out with my siblings over the holidays."

Naruto grinned. "Why don't you go anymore?"

Hinata shrugged. "With residency and hospital's schedule it was difficult to find the time."

"You said it was next to the home we're driving to, right?" He asked and when she acquiesed he continued : "Then let's go there tomorrow!"

"Today's the last day unfortunately." She bit her lip, she had thought of it, but it was just not meant to be, it seemed.

"When does it close?" Naruto did not abandon that easily.

"Around six, why?" She frowned at him.

"Then let's go now! It must be near, we're not far from your place. Check the GPS!" He urged.

"It says we're about forty-five minutes from the village." She looked up at him.

"Perfect, it's four in the afternoon. We'll have time to get there!" He grinned at her and her heart leaped higher than the idyllic mountains they were driving by.

"O-ok then." She grinned back. She was so excited by the idea of spending more time with Naruto and share with him her favourite Christmas activity she hadn't done in so long. "I'll text my siblings to see if they want to come too!"

"Your turn, by the way. That's your last question." He warned her with a mischievous smile. "So it better be good."

She laughed. "Fine," She took some time to ponder what she could possibly ask him. Tenten did say something about his driving, should she tease him about? Hinata laughed in her head. Fine, she'll do it:

"Why do you drive so slowly?" She taunted him with a smile.

"Ah," Naruto chuckled, embarrassed. "Tenten says I drive like a granny but it's just that when I was little my parents and I got into a car accident."

She brought her hands to her face and gasped.

"Don't worry," He tapped her shoulder reassuringly with a light laugh. "We all ended up being fine, more fear than hurt. It's just since then, driving always makes me anxious."

"What?" She exclaimed. "And I made you drive six hours through a blizzard. Oh, no, had I known I would have never-"

"No, no. Hinata." He cut her off amused. "First off, you didn't make me do anything. Your deranged cousin and his feud with Tenten, and by extension Ino and Sakura, made me do it. You're probably just as much a victim in all of this as I am. Secondly, that's not a blizzard and it would have taken us half the time if I didn't drive like a snail. It stresses me out but I'm generally ok if I drive slow and," He laughed. "And third, I…I really liked driving with you. It was super fun."

Hinata blushed and had to consciously remember how to breathe properly.

"D-do you want me to drive?" She finally proposed.

"You.. you would?" He looked at her surprised. "I mean, I really don't mind and-"

"No, I love driving!" She said a bit too passionately, but really, she was at ease with driving and she'd do anything if it helped Naruto feel better.

"O-ok, then." He parked on the side road.

Naruto realized he really liked being driven by and it came with the biggest advantage of seeing Hinata to his heart's content and how the golden light of the setting sun reflected on her ivory skin and her silky hair. He could swear he'd want nothing more out of life if he got to fall asleep every night looking at her.

They had made it an hour before closing time which gave them ample time to look around and even try their hand at some of the game stands that were brought up for the festival.

He also discovered the fiery side of Hinata, which reminded him much of his mother, when she had tried winning a teddy bear at a stand where you needed to throw balls in jar and her balls kept ricochetting.

"This is a scam, I cannot believe!" She pointed an accusatory finger at the guy managing the stand. "I'm sure the balls are to big to get in there!"

And he didn't know what he had loved more, seeing her intimidate this poor teenager or when she jumped up and down in joy when he won at that exact same game and the employee finally gave her the teddy bear she had wanted so much.

It was probably when she hugged it tightly against her chest like a child and gave him her largest smile, her cheeks pink from the cold and her eyes reflecting all the string lights around them when she said: "thank you, Naruto-kun."

Oh, his heart.

So now there were idly walking through the stands, looking at the famous butter pecan cookies that had warranted this impromptu trip. They were sipping the hot chocolate he had provided for them, after realizing Hinata was probably the most simple person he had ever met. Someone who only needed cocoa powder diluted in water and a teddy bear to be in heaven.

"So, that's your last question." She winked at him and he could have died there on the spot. "Make it count." She challenged him.

He also realized Hinata was probably the most awesome human being ever, mostly now that she was comfortable with him and he got to see her teasing side.

"Ok, let's see." Naruto thought about it carefully. "Earlier you said Neji got into medicine because of your grandfather, but what about you?"

Hinata seemed suddenly uncomfortable and Naruto immediately wanted to change his question. She came to a halt and was now fidgeting with the plushie he got her, avoiding his stare.

"I can ask something else, you don't have to-"

"No, it's alright." She assured him. She wanted to share that with him, to have that emotional connection, to be vulnerable and create the beginning of a more intimate relationship. "I," She stopped looking for the words. "I had an eating disorder when I was a teenager and someone who really helped me through that was my pediatrician, Kurenai-sensei." She smiled when she saw him connect the dots. Kurenai was the head department of pediatrics at the Gen.

"I see."

For the next half hour they sat next to the bonfire and she told him all about it while he carefully listened and nodded.

"I don't know, sometimes the insecurities still hit." Hinata shrugged, her eyes lost in the dancing flames of the fire in front of her. "Like does this t-shirt fit well? Should I eat this in front of people? Is my butt too big-"

Oh, no. Hinata stopped her babbling. She hadn't noticed how comfortable she got with Naruto until she started unpacking her deepest fears. But damn it, talking to him just felt so right.

As Hinata got silent Naruto took this as an opportunity to say something comforting but he felt oddly unprepared to find the right thing to say and instead just blurted out ,without thinking, how he truly felt :

"I know it does not matter what anyone else," He whispered, deadly serious, his cerulean eyes desperately looking for her moonlike ones. "But I think you're the most beautiful woman on earth."

The young woman sharply turned her head to face the bashful blond man in front of her. Naruto started thinking he should maybe invest in tape and seal his over active mouth with it.

"Y-you d-do?" She looked at him, even redder than he was, eyes wide.

He nodded frantically, even less aware of himself for he was so flustered and her eyes looking straight into his certainly did not help. He didn't even think twice when he added : "And I think your butt is just perfect!"

"Oh, really?" A voice rang behind Naruto who fearfully turned around to see the towering forms of Hiashi Hyuga and his twin.

It is this exact moment that lead him to think that he, Naruto Uzumaki, was a dunce. There was no other probable explanation in the whole wide world that could otherwise explain his situation.

He quickly got up and bowed to the patriarch, stumbling and stuttering a string of excuses to the utter amusement of the Hyuga twins.

"So you don't think she has a nice butt?" Hiashi raised a brow before breaking into a mocking smirk.

The blond man was opening and closing his mouth helplessly, wringing his knitted hat in his hands like a sheepish boy caught red handed.

"That is, I mean. I just-"

"Oh, for Christmas' sake, Hiashi. Stop messing with the boy." Hizashi chuckled which allowed Hiashi to boom with the laughter he was containing inside.

"Don't worry, boy." Hiashi clapped Naruto's shoulders. "She got it from me. So I'm flattered, really."

Now, Naruto had a zillion expectations about meeting the feared Hiashi Hyuga, but none prepared him to the older man turning around and wiggling his hips to emphasize his statement much to the mortification of the Hyuga heiress who hid behind both her hands from sheer embarassment.

"Dad!" She squealed, horried.

But that had made him almost instantly comfortable, laughing his tension away with the two other men.

Yet, nothing, really nothing, nothing, could have prepared him for what came next.

Tenten and Neji coming their way with Tenten's arm interlinked with his arm like a loving girlfriend, plastering on her worst fake smile and Neji looking like he wanted to be anywhere else but here.

"Neji-bear." She used her most sickening sweet voice that Naruto knew she used only when she was about to spew venom. "Why don't you get me a teddy bear just like Hinata-chan."

Neji-bear!?

Now Naruto had to bring his hand over his mouth to stifle the laugh that threatened to rip through him. Thank God he had his phone ready to snap a quick picture so Ino and Sakura wouldn't kill him for presenting no proof when he told them all about it over the phone.

"Tenten, my love." Neji gritted through his fake smile. "I'm sure I can buy you one better."

"But Nejiii-kun, I-" She began.

"You can stop this now, Tenten dear." Hiashi cut her off. "No one believes this masquerade."

"Oh thank God," The brunette breathed out, pushing Neji as soon as Hiashi finished speaking, making the poor young man stumble and almost fall on the snow.

"Nice," Neji stabilized himself again, dusting off his jacket. "Very nice, Tenten." He glared at her which she returned gladly, so relieved their false pretense was finally over, even though it had lasted at most four hours.

"What?" She challenged him.

"I told you, you should have read the document." He hissed at her.

"Oh, shut up." She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms defensively.

"I'll improvise!" He mimicked her dumbly.

"You're such an ass Hyuga." She spat back.

"How could you say by favourite colour was red?" He shouted in exasperation. "Or that I liked chocolate! I hate sweets."

She looked him up and down. "Hm, it does fit your jerk personality." She touched her chin in a thoughtful manner. "I should have guessed."

"You're such a pain to deal with." He sighed.

And not that they could see the gleaming eyes of Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga because they were so entranced in their new reason to bicker, but both men were thoroughly fascinated by their interaction.

"Tenten," Hiashi wrapped his arm around the petite woman. "I like you." He raised his other hand when he saw she was about to say something. "No, I do and it does not happen often, so just take it. For that reason I'll give you a few pointers for tomorrow."

She pouted. "But I thought we didn't need to anymore-"

"Oh, yes. Yes, you do." Hizashi confirmed. "You really, really do." Neji's father gave her a pointed look.

Hiashi nodded in solemn agreement. "Yes, because tomorrow when our other snakes-like relatives come for Hanabi's engagement party, you'll have to be top notch. Or they'll come for you and Neji, and rip you both to shreds."

He smirked at her shocked expression before continuing. "Toxicity is a Hyuga's favourite trait. And trust me you don't want to experience it first hand. So let's review a few thing shall we? Because trust me," The oldest Hyuga looked deep in her eyes. "You don't improvise with Hyugas."

"I told her that," Neji grumbled, following his uncle who was walking ahead with Tenten still tightly imprisoned in his arm.

Hizashi turned his tender gaze on his still blushing niece while Naruto was too absorbed filming Neji and Tenten departing.

"So," Her uncled gave her a knowing smile. "Had fun today?"

Hinata could still die from all the butterflies and the confettis that exploded in her gut.

You're the most beautiful woman on earth.

She had just positively inwardly squealed with joy.

And Hizashi knew that just by the smile she gave him and how her eyes shone that she probably had the best day.

Omigoooosh, I can't with how cute Naruto and Hinata turned out to be. I also hope you liked it!