Hey, hey!

The farewell of Naruto and Hinata's friends. Hope you enjoy this sweet, comforting chapter.

"What's on the menu tonight Nata?"

Naruto laid his chin on Hinata's shoulder as she was cooking in their large kitchen. He finally found a moment when she was alone. The other females went to bring drinks to everyone outside. They had setup the bonfire pit and lounging seats around the fire. The sun was setting and everyone was relaxed having a good time. It was nice weather this weekend, reason why they planned the wedding around Spring.

Hinata smiled as she continued to cook. A light giggle escaping her. "Miso soup for starters along with onigiri. Oyakodon and Yakizakana. Red bean pancake to snack on for something sweet."

Naruto gave a low whistle as he wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling himself closer to her back. He moved her hair behind her left ear, leaned over and kissed the space between her ear and her jaw. It was also a sensitive spot of Hinata's, especially when he whispered in her ear afterwards.

Which he was doing now. "Don't tire yourself out too much. I don't want you tired for when we're alone."

When Naruto heard their female friends enter back into the kitchen he leaned up from Hinata and kissed her cheek again. "Do you need any help?" He bit back a grin as he watched Hinata silently become flustered.

"Ah-Ah! None of that Naruto! You'll have Hinata all to yourself soon enough! Shoo! Go back out there with the guys." Tenten smiled as she lightly separated Naruto from Hinata and shooed him back outside.

Naruto pouted at this. Half serious and half not. He was having fun, this is how him and Hinata always set the mood when they were alone. They didn't do anything until after dinner anyways. Sometimes he did help her cook and their best conversations were in between the times of cooking.

Sometimes he couldn't wait to have their peace back. Naruto had to remind himself to enjoy family while they were there.

"Okay, okay. I hope you guys are actually helping Hinata, and not just talking her head off." That was the last thing Naruto said before he left. Tenten blinked at Naruto's retreating form before a grin came across her face.

"Damn. I had no clue Naruto was this in love. Snappy much?"

Sakura made a 'pfft' sound and leaned against the kitchen counter as she sipped on her cocktail she made for herself. "You should have seen him when Hinata got sick. He turned into a whole different person. Every enemy we've come up against had nothing on the Naruto I saw. He even snapped at me."

Hinata stopped what she was doing and looked at Sakura concerned. "Oh my. I hope he didn't really do that to you Sakura. I've never seen Naruto upset like how you just said."

Naruto has expressed very personal things to Hinata. His feelings of rejection from certain people. His paranoia that people are being nice to him now, simply because he's gotten positive recognition.

Growing up in such dark times and being neglected really did work a number on Naruto. He wasn't happy go lucky as much as he portrayed. Hinata certainly believed being on a team with Naruto for so long, Sakura knew that. Surely Sakura knew a great deal about Naruto compared to what Hinata knew.

Sakura has been there more for Naruto than herself and has saved his life on different occasions. She has defended Naruto while he was the only one trying to preserve Sasuke's life.

So, to hear Sakura say Naruto was downright vile to her was very shocking.

Sakura looked at Hinata a little flabbergasted. "Did Naruto like…not tell you about that day? When you got sick, and was in the bed all day. That night?"

Hinata still looked a bit upset that Naruto was harsh to someone he viewed as a sister, but she went back to finish cooking. "I don't remember that night very well. I was struggling with my headaches in the morning and afternoon. So, I was in and out of it. Everything was very vague. However, every time I woke up, Naruto was right there beside me. He did tell me the next day, that he didn't want to leave me while I was down. That he overreacted a little with my safety."

Sakura laughed bitterly at this. "I guess him threatening to burn down your clan's compound and killing whoever got in his way can be classified as 'overreacting'. Also can be seen as a solid threat, because just like in that moment, I still believe Naruto is very much serious on that threat."

Temari looked completely flabbergasted hearing this. Her voice even lowered because she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Not Naruto Uzumaki making a threat like that against his own village. "Naruto literally fought that Akatsuki man, Pain, to save Konoha. Yet you're saying he threatened to destroy the same place and it's people? Why?"

Sakura looked over at Hinata, who was mute. Sakura felt like Hinata was purposely being mute, because Hinata had just now put the pieces together. "Yeah Hinata. Why? Naruto said why, but I refused to believe your family would do such a thing to you. Is it true? Would they take you away now if you go back to Konoha. Is that why just your father and sister came? They know too. That you going back to Konoha would result in your clan trying to pull a fast one. That they would take you away, and try to make you a dōjutsu baby mill for the Tenseigan?"

Hinata thinned her lips as she listened. She turned and looked at Sakura with somber eyes. A saddened smile gracing her face. Breaking Sakura's heart. "How could they do that to you Hinata? You're a decorated ninja. Fought in a war. You've done more than enough for your family to respect you. How could they?"

Hinata shrugged her shoulders and continued cooking. "It is not enough Sakura. For some, I will never be enough. For some, I will always be a failure in their eyes. A nobody. A loser. The Tenseigan is the only good thing I could provide the Hyuga clan, and a child with Naruto-kun would lessen the chances of that happening. A child with another Byakugan user, promises success in creating a long line of Tenseigan users. Not only do I not want to go back, I cannot go back right now. Please understand."

Ino bit her bottom lip as she looked at Hinata sadly. She shook her head and looked off to the side. "Forgive me for saying this Hinata, but your family aside from you and Neji, are complete assholes. I'm sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. You're an amazing person. I just don't really understand how you constantly get the short end of the stick with them."

Tenten walked up beside Hinata and tilted her head as she looked at her and smiled. "Oh Hinata. Don't get so gloomy. Did you hear what Sakura said? You have one of the strongest men in the world, that is willing to go to war over you. That is willing to turn this world upside down if anyone even makes you upset. That's some deep love Hinata, so while your family may not hold you close to their hearts. You have Naruto, who loves you ten times more and better than your family ever could. So, smile."

Hinata did smile as she heard Tenten speak. She looked over at Tenten and gave a soft laugh. "Naruto is an amazing man. He has always been very kind to me. He truly makes me happy. Thank you Tenten. Thank you girls."

The women in the kitchen smiled. They stopped their conversation short when they sensed Naruto quickly approaching. He poked his head from behind the wall and looked directly at Hinata. "You okay?"

Hinata blushed. Naruto could just sense when she was feeling off and emotional. She smiled at him shyly and nodded her head. "Oh! Um yes. The food is ready. We're going to bring it out now."

Naruto tilted his head at Hinata. His eyes studying her over. Females could have emotional conversations anywhere. He could tell it ended well though. Hinata didn't look upset and her aura had mellowed out by the time he reached her. "Okay. Need my help?"

Hinata bit her bottom lip as she shook her head. "No. We can bring it all out." Hinata blushed even more because usually before they left one another, even for a moment, they said something enduring to one another. Flirted or something. She poked her fingers together and looked at him bashfully. Too nervous to be the first to say it in front of the girls.

Naruto grinned at her. Already knowing what Hinata wanted. "Okay. I'll leave you ladies to it then. Love you Nata."

Hinata beamed when Naruto said this and her eyes lit up. "I l-love you too." She watched Naruto smile at her before leaving and Hinata still felt butterflies in her stomach when he did this.

Sakura and Ino looked at Hinata with mischief in their eyes. Ino the first one to burst, "You are GLOWING Hinata. Good gracious. That man has you in a chokehold!"

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at Ino's remark. "It's adorable though! I love how Naruto is so mellowed out now, and I love that he treats you like a princess, Hinata. You two really deserve each other."

Hinata smiled at her friends and the group of women proceeded to bring the food outside. Hinata walked outside with a large tray of food, and Naruto was standing near the back door waiting for her. He looked down at Hinata and smiled as he took the tray. He knew she said she didn't need assistance, but he couldn't help himself. Plus what type of man would he be if he didn't help his wife.

The food was on the outside table now and plates were being passed around. Everyone sat near their partners and ate happily.

Majority of their guest, that were present for the wedding, had left. So Hinata's father, sister and many of Naruto's guests had left and it was more on a personal level of friends left. A group that Hinata was more comfortable being open with.

Which Naruto took advantage of.

Naruto and Hinata sat near the bonfire. Naruto wanted him and Hinata to be in the center so she could get the most heat. He had a fluffy blanket for her while they sat in an oversized, couch sized beanbag. After giving Naruto his food, Hinata got comfortable beside him and he placed the blanket on their laps.

Hinata smiled at Naruto. He remembered what made her comfortable and wanted her to be nothing but relaxed. She smiled at Naruto before bringing up some conversation. "How was the sauna? I enjoyed my time in the hot springs."

Naruto nodded his head and smiled that Hinata enjoyed her time in the springs. He took a few bites before he looked at her with a sly grin. "Fine. I almost put Kiba's head through a wall, a few times, but other than that. We made up and it was a good time."

Hinata looked at Naruto completely confused. She even lowered her voice even more than what she normally talked. "Why?"

Naruto arched his brow and looked around his peers before he leaned over and whispered in Hinata's ear. "You never told me he had the hots for you."

Hinata pulled back to look at Naruto, still confused. She shook her head and laughed a little, "You must be mistaken Naruto-kun. Kiba has never came to me that way."

Naruto looked at Hinata and she stared at him straight in his eyes. He could see she was serious and didn't know what he was talking about. "Kiba said he asked you out a few times and you turned him down."

Hinata turned and looked at the fire in thought. What? "He has asked me if I was hungry for lunch or dinner a few times. I wasn't hungry a lot back then. Was that a form of asking me out? I've asked you out to eat before, even though I liked you, I didn't mean it as a date."

Naruto smiled at Hinata. She didn't even know Kiba was asking her out. Now he saw Hinata was just as socially inept as him. She was so focused on him, she didn't see other guys flirting with her. Meanwhile he was so focused on Sakura, he didn't see Hinata's obvious crush.

Naruto was lucky Hinata didn't see Kiba's flirting. He was lucky Sakura didn't try to 'get over' Sasuke, because she would have surely used him for it. Naruto was just happy everything turned out the way it did. Minus Hinata literally almost dying.

Naruto leaned his forehead against Hinata's and gave her an eskimo kiss. He pulled back and went back to eating. "You're so cute."

Hinata lit up with a bright blush and silently ate. Fully flustered. Naruto said this in front of their friends. It was so public!

Still, it made her smile. She couldn't stop smiling. She never felt so whole and complete. "I love you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked at Hinata and his own light blush formed. Hinata was a private person, especially around their peers. So he knew this took a lot out of her. He also knew she must have been really happy to express herself like this. He swelled with pride knowing he made her that happy.

"Yo! Love birds. You have guest ya know."

Naruto gave Kiba a pointed look and rolled his eyes. He still grinned at his friend though. Sakura looked over at Naruto and tilted her head as she pointed to Naruto's hair. "I've been curious. What made you grow your hair back out? You've been rocking the short cut for like two years."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and touched his hair. It was longer than his hair he had when he was 15, definitely gave the appearance of his father. "I don't know. It's just hair I guess, plus Hinata likes my hair this way. She asked me to grow it out."

Sakura blinked at this and she turned to Ino, who looked just as scandalous as Sakura. Naruto gave Sakura and Ino a bland look. "Yeah. What's wrong with that? I asked Hinata to cut her hair. I like her hair shorter. It caught my attention a lot when we were younger. I like short on her. She likes long on me."

Tenten made an 'o' shape with her mouth as she sat beside Rock Lee. "Oh. Isn't it a culture thing for your clan Hinata? The longer your hair, the stronger you are? It shows you can protect yourself well enough that no one could use your hair as leverage. The shorter your hair…well you know."

Hinata nodded her head at this. Tenten wasn't wrong. "Yes. That is why my hair was short growing up."

Naruto immediately intercepted the conversation. Why was this a conversation piece anyways? "Yeah, and you looked fucking awesome back then. Like you look fucking awesome now." Naruto arched his brow and looked at Hinata. The look in his eyes told her that he didn't want her to keep downing herself. He could sense that was what happened in the kitchen anyways. "Besides. You danced for me a lot better with short hair when we were younger."

He grinned at her and Hinata held her burning cheeks. "N-Naruto-kun!"

Temari blinked as she looked at Shikamaru. "Danced for him? I thought they didn't hook up until recently." Shikamaru even looked confused at this. "That's what I thought too. Hey! You can't just say that and leave an open ending. What dance?"

Naruto was still looking at Hinata with mischief in his eyes. He shook his head as he looked at Shikamaru. "Nothing important. Just memories."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, but didn't harp on it. He wasn't the type to feed into gossip anyways. It was a special secret between the two of them, he respected that. "Yeah whatever. What's with the jewelry too? Didn't take you as a jewelry type of guy."

Shikamaru looked at Naruto's attire for the night. A black short sleeve, V-neck shirt with burnt orange cargo shorts that were slightly oversized. Naruto had took out his diamond earrings, because heaven forbid he loses those things. He replaced them with nugget gold earrings, another gift from Hinata along with a flat gold chain necklace about 18 inches. Replacing his nose ring with a gold stud as well.

Only thing not gold was Naruto's titanium wedding band, that was black with diamonds wrapped around it indicating infinity. Naruto ran his hands through his hair and grinned. "Alright, alright. My style has changed a bit."

Shikamaru chuckled at this. Longer blonde hair. Jewelry. Piercings. Naruto was a 'pretty boy' now. Naruto shrugged his shoulders again and looked at Hinata. He smiled at her handsomely and she bit her bottom lip as she looked at him. "Hinata likes to spoil me with jewelry. Who am I to deny my rich wife's gifts."

The group laughed at this and Ino looked at Sai. "You've bought one of Hinata's paintings before. Right? We have it hanging up in our dining room." Sai nodded his head as he looked at Ino and then Hinata. "I support artists. You're very talented Lady Hinata. I didn't think you were into the arts, but I'm glad you ventured in it. Your work shows your emotions. The emotions of every ninja in their career time span. Your work is amazing."

Hinata started to poke her fingers together at the praise. "Not as amazing as yours Sai. I-I have bought your artwork as well. Last month, at the art show hosted here. You came here with several paintings that were sold out in minutes."

Shikamaru whistled at this. "So you're saying Sai is loaded too. Fine, you won't need the Nara's to help fund for the lavish wedding that I know Ino will request."

Ino gave Shikamaru a pointed look. Don't even think about it.

Sakura giggled at the two before she looked at Hinata. "I guess being out here and away from the stick in the mud Hyuga's, you can dress more how you like Hinata. Look, you have Naruto dressed like some model. You have a razor sharp chic bob. Jewelry out the ass. Like I had no clue you liked jewelry this much."

Naruto chuckled at this and looked at Hinata. He looked more amused than anything. "I thought that too. Then her dad brought family albums in. Her family really sticks to the upper class persona. They liked to live and dress flashy when not at ninja events. Even Neji. He was a jewelry person too."

Tenten giggled at this. "Neji did enjoy dressing up if we went out somewhere nice on a date. He always had a favorite chained necklace. Bought me jewelry too. Hinata let me have his chain, the day of his visual."

Hinata smiled at the memory. She closed her eyes at feeling Naruto fondly rub the back of her neck. She leaned into his touch and let out a relaxed sigh. Hinata herself was wearing a black oversized sweater that stopped above her knees. She had on mini-shorts so you couldn't see them under her large sweater. Her pale legs glowed against the fire and her toes were painted black.

Naruto's favorite hairstyle on Hinata was the bob haircut and half her hair pulled up slightly in an updo that cascaded down like an umbrella. He mainly liked her hair like this in a personal setting. With just the two of them.

He liked to see her hair bounce if you catch his drift. It was more exotic for him than anything.

However, Hinata wore her hair tonight like this. She looked so beautiful with her golden hoop earrings and thin golden chain necklace with a heart pendant. Hinata naturally had rosy lips that complimented her pale skin marvelously. Just staring at her made Naruto at peace. She was so beautiful and she was all his.

Hinata cracked her eyes open and saw Naruto staring at her. She blushed at this and hid her face in his chest. Naruto watched her with hooded eyes and bit his bottom lip. "You're beautiful. Ya know?"

He really was the luckiest guy in the world. He couldn't believe he was so fortunate to get a second chance with Hinata.

Naruto looked at the fire pit before he looked around at their friends. "Hey. I umm. I really want to thank you guys for coming all the way out here for the wedding. It really means a lot to us. I know we came all the way out here, and just kind of been stuck in our own world, but we had things we had to work out. Thanks for being there for us."

The women in the group gushed and smiled at Naruto. While the men smirked and brushed off the emotional speech. Naruto cleared his throat as he looked at Hinata. "Yeah, well this isn't goodbye anyways. It's more like, see ya around. We'll be there for the weddings, and birthday parties. For your kids accomplishments and stuff! Believe it!"

Sakura gave Naruto a watery smile in return. "Yeah. We'll keep in touch. We'll just you know, miss the everyday fun stuff. The latest gossip. Random achievements. It'll suck for a while."

Sasuke looked at Sakura and wrapped one arm around her shoulder. Pulling her closer to him to console her and stop her from getting too worked up.

Naruto and Sakura were social butterflies. Their partners were almost the polar opposite. Sasuke didn't care for the social gatherings and Hinata was almost terrified of it.

Hinata laid her head on Naruto's shoulder. She boldly leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, making him smile brightly at her. "Aww shucks Hinata. You'll make me forget that our friends are here."

Naruto bit his bottom lip again as he gazed at Hinata. She looked back at him just as passionate. "You don't have to feel alone Naruto." She leaned over to his ear and whispered. A blush dusting her cheeks. "I'm here for you. Always. I'm yours."

Naruto leaned his forehead against Hinata's and closed his eyes. Whispering to her. "I love you. My joy." He touched her cheek and smiled in complete peace. Feeling as Hinata relaxed in his hold. He was able to get her to relax and tune out their whole environment. Only Naruto could have such a hold on her.

Sakura laid her head on Sasuke's shoulder and cuddled next to him as she relaxed. The bonfire bringing her peace and the sight of seeing someone she classifies as a brother, in complete tranquility.

Ino mimicked Sakura and cuddled next to Sai. The same atmosphere bringing her relaxation. It was crazy that they were all grown up now. In relationships. They survived the war and a gruesome period of being ninja's. Now they were living their lives.

Shikamaru looked at Temari as she laid her head on his lap. He loved this woman, and he couldn't wait to start his life with her. To have children. To raise their family in a time of peace. He was happy to see Naruto was happy. He deserved this. Hinata deserved this.

It was time for new beginnings.

End of chapter.

Cheers to new beginnings!

Maybe the ride won't be so smooth for NaruHina, but they'll get there.

Next chapter is hurt/comfort and talks of adoption! I'll let you guess, but I'm using some Boruto reference for this.

See you Sunday! Wellll...actually see you tomorrow. 'Leash kid' part 1 of 2, I am posting tomorrow. 10k words, so I hope you have time to give it a read!