Minato sat at his desk after having dismissed his assistant for some time to himself. He slowly pulled out a scroll and unsealed it to look over the notes he'd already memorized in case something new magically appeared, sighing when that wasn't the case. He had been tormenting himself on who he could possibly entrust with such a mission, but his mind either went to Kakashi or no one else.

He reminded himself that he'd be putting Team 7 at risk if he were to do that. He'd be violating Hinata's trust in him and putting her family in danger through her, which she stressed she did not want. He sighed again, his eyes burning a hole in the scroll of information Hiruzen and Hinata had given him.

When he first looked everything over together, it became clear that the Third Hokage wanted to avoid internal conflict and he wholeheartedly supported that. His methods, however, were distasteful. Letting a young shinobi they were meant to be protecting take the fall and give up the life he had was something he never imagined Hiruzen doing. He was aware of the not-so-pure things being the Hokage entailed but he hoped to never find himself in a similar situation. And to make a different choice if it did happen.

Resting his chin on his hand, he looked over the scroll once again, the sun just beginning to rise.


"Daughter, remember that you represent our clan while you are out," Hiashi said as Hinata was putting on a blue kimono. Hinata smiled at him with an innocence that made his chest squeeze.

"Yes, father. Sasuke-san is a gentleman," she assured him. "He would never touch me inappropriately, especially on a first date."

"Very well, then. Enjoy your date and be home at a proper time." He waited for Hinata to agree before leaving back to his office. He noted that while his daughter was engaged to someone at twelve, she was still his daughter and seeing her go on her first date made him feel sadder than he thought. She was growing up fast, technically an adult when she got her ninja headband but still just a child to him.

Hinata tied her hair up in a high ponytail before putting the clip Shisui had gifted her back in its usual spot. She stood and looked at herself in the mirror, turning this way and that, to make sure everything looked as it was supposed to. Her face held a light blush as she thought about going on a date with one of her best friends.

Earlier in the week, Sasuke had sent Hiashi a request to take Hinata out on a date to formally mark the beginning of their courtship. Hiashi had brought it up to him briefly that Hinata deserved a fiancé who would go above and beyond for her, especially after Itachi had also abandoned her. Sasuke eagerly agreed, ready to prove himself as better and more of a man than his elder brother.

Mitsuki knocked at her door before sliding it open. "Hinata-sama, Sasuke-sama is waiting for you," she said.

"Thank you. I'm coming," she said, straightening out her clothes and checking herself in the mirror once again. "I look…okay?"

Mitsuki smiled gently. "You look very pretty, Hinata-sama. I think you'll find that he will be unable to take his eyes away from you."

Hinata giggled, blushing harder as he followed Mitsuki to the front door. "I think you're giving me too much credit."

Mitsuki wished her luck and left her side just before getting to the front of the house. Hinata took a deep breath before turning a corner and smiling at Sasuke, who was also wearing a summer outfit. They had unknowingly matched colors, though she suspected that had something to do with knowing what the other liked.

Sasuke bowed his head and offered her his arm as she slipped her sandals on. "You look beautiful," Sasuke mumbled just loud enough for her to hear. Hinata stared up into his eyes and giggled at the soft blush on his cheeks.

"You look very handsome, yourself," she replied, returning his greeting as he opened the front door for her. They walked out of the compound arm-in-arm before he stopped and turned to her.

"I have something for you," he said as he took out a box from his yukata and held it out to her. She took it with a soft thanks and opened it right then, gasping softly at its contents. It was a hairclip similar to the one she wore, only it had a small sapphire gem in the empty spot at the top.

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Sasuke, this is…"

He cleared his throat nervously, avoiding eye contact. "Turn it around," he urged. She did so and her eyes went even wider to see the Uchiha Clan symbol carefully carved on the back. "I know you can't technically wear my clan's insignia until we're married, but I don't exactly care so much about customs."

Hinata reached up and took off the clip Shisui had given her, staring at it for a long moment with saddened eyes before clipping it to her clothing and pinning her newly-gifted one in its place.

"I love it. Thank you. I'll cherish it forever."

"You don't have to wear it anytime soon," he assured her, noticing the sad look in her eyes. "I know how much the one Shisui gave you means to you and I'm not trying to replace it. I just…wanted to give you something you'd like."

Hinata smiled warmly at his words. "I know. It's okay. I want to do this," she said. She wasn't sure if he understood if he knew this was her way of saying that she was beginning to accept him into her heart, but she trusted that he would figure it out soon.

Sasuke took her hand. "Let's get going. I have it all planned out." Hinata blushed at how excited he sounded and walked beside him.


Sakura and Ino were eating ice cream with a group of girls they had gone to the academy with, though a lot were peeved that they had to return to the academy after failing their survival tests. They didn't hold much of a grudge on the two kunoichi's though they had expressed their distaste for Hinata having become one, going so far as to quietly accuse the Hokage of nepotism.

"Oh, God, there she is," one of them groaned with a roll of her eyes. "Holding his hand out like that in public with no shame."

At this, the two kunoichi had halted their conversation and turned to look in the direction the others were, frowning just a bit as they saw Hinata and Sasuke engrossed in a conversation with their hands clasped tightly together. They were both dressed up in matching yukatas and not giving anyone else the time of day.

"I bet you she begged her father to set up a contract between the two of them," another said. "With that innocent look of hers, I'm sure her father folded pretty instantly."

Sakura and Ino shared a look, both remembering how apologetic Hinata was but also standing her ground and knowing that it was the best outcome anyone could hope for politically. Sakura didn't understand much of it but Ino was aware of how much internal animosity there had been between the two clans and how lucky everyone was that Itachi's desertion hadn't messed everything up.

"There's no way Sasuke-kun's happy with someone like her. A freaky psycho with disgusting eyes."

"Hinata-chan's not like that," Ino snapped, taking their attention away from the heirs who had quite clearly heard those hurtful words. "You don't get what it's like being in a clan, let alone an heir."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "Hinata-chan's a kind person and she's only doing what's best for their families and our village. We should be thanking them!"

"Thanking them?" They scoffed. "Like marrying him is so hard."

"That's not the point!" Ino said, getting to her feet. "They have their lives planned out for them by their parents. You really wanna be mad at someone, take it up with them." She grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her up. "We don't need to associate with people who do nothing but talk ugly about people they don't know."

Sakura stood by her side. "Exactly. If you think this is gonna earn you any favors with Sasuke-kun, think again. You remember what happened with Ame and those other girls, right?" The girls visibly paled. "That's what I thought. Whether we like it or not, Hinata-chan is someone he's going to marry…and more importantly, she's one of his best friends."

They turned around with huffs and took off, ignoring the angry grumbling of the girls behind them. From the corner of Sakura's eye, she saw them smiling at them thankfully and she couldn't help but giggle as she leaned her head closer to Ino's.

"They're so mad!" She laughed.

Ino snickered. "Those idiots," she chuckled. "C'mon, let's go get some training done. The chunin exams are coming up in a couple of days." They raced each other to the closest training field.


After hearing Ino and Sakura defend her so adamantly, Hinata felt warm inside. She knew they were nice to her, but part of her doubted that they saw her as a friend at all. That feeling was just pushed away.

"I didn't know they felt that way about you," Sasuke said. "I thought they just annoyed you because they wanted to get closer to me."

Hinata giggled. "I think that's what it was at first, but I talked with them a little while ago. They were upset about our engagement, but understood when I explained it to them."

"Seeing them stand up for you, and me in a way…I guess they're not that bad."

"They'll explode if they hear you say that," Hinata playfully wanted them.

"You afraid of some competition, Hyuuga?" Sasuke said smugly.

"No," Hinata said without hesitation, smiling confidently at him. Sasuke blushed and turned his head so she couldn't see as he dragged her to a nice restaurant.

"Whatever. I made a reservation at this place so let's hurry." He pulled her along, holding her hand tighter so she wouldn't slip from his grip.

"Oh, hello, do you two have a reservation?" The hostess asked when they arrived at the restaurant. Hinata took in their surroundings, noting how fancy it was and suddenly felt a bit underdressed in such a nice place but seeing how Sasuke was unbothered, she decided to follow his lead.

"Yes. Uchiha," Sasuke said, grinning at Hinata's awe-filled look as she looked around.

"Oh, yes!" The woman said. "Right his way. We are very honored to have such guests for this evening." Sasuke and Hinata both thanked her and followed her to a private room in the back. The door was opened for them by the hostess and they took their shoes off as they stepped into it. Hinata smiled widely as their room was connected to the outside garden that was in full bloom and she admired the array of flowers peeking out from the green.

"Here are your menus." Sasuke took the lead and took them from the hostess, sitting across from Hinata despite how much he wanted to sit beside her. "Your server for this evening will be here shortly to take your drink orders."

"Thank you very much," Hinata said. Sasuke nodded and the hostess left them be. "This is a very nice restaurant."

"Yes, it's been busy since its opening night last year," he explained as he looked over the menu. Hinata skimmed the drinks and the food choices. "I made these reservations a couple of weeks ago."

Hinata nodded and continued to look down at their choices until she looked up at Sasuke, only to find him staring at her. She ducked her head a bit, her cheeks a bright red.

"Sorry, I just…don't see you with your hair up often and it looks great on you," he muttered, looking back down at his menu. "Do you know what you want to drink?"

"I think the raspberry tea looks good. What about you?"

"I think I'll get that, too. How about for food?"

"The roasted duck and fried rice are calling to me," she grinned.

"I'm getting the spicy seafood platter." He looked down at the desserts and smiled when they saw they had one of Hinata's favorite foods. They sat in a peaceful silence until their server knocked and entered the room.

Sasuke placed their orders and ordered a dessert—zenzai—to be delivered after their dinner plates were picked up for Hinata. She hadn't even looked at the desserts as her father is so strict about her diet that she became accustomed to not giving in to any cravings she was having.

"What your father doesn't know won't hurt him," Sasuke said quietly, causing her to stifle a laugh. He understood her almost as much as she did and it made her feel warm and safe knowing that there was someone like that in the world that she could count on.

"When do you think our next big mission will be?" Hinata questioned, tilting her head. The server came in and poured them their tea before leaving just as quickly. "I know we have the chunin exams, but we could possibly be chunin on our next mission! Isn't that exciting?"

Sasuke hummed. "We're advancing faster than I thought we were going to, but I still feel like we're still so far behind our goals."

Hinata took a sip of her tea. "We still have plenty of time to do the things we're going to do."

Sasuke sighed. "Itachi was in the anbu by the time he was our age," he snapped. "I just feel like we should be further along."

"I know, but things were a little different then. Had the rules not changed, we would've been able to graduate from the academy long ago," she acknowledged. "But you know what our decision was even if we had graduated early. We all wanted to train under Hokage-sama for as long as we could."

"He barely has time to see his own son. There's no way he's going to have time to train us again any time soon."

Hinata grimaced at how harshly he spoke. "I'm sure Naruto is just as frustrated about that as you are," she pointed out. At this, Sasuke's shoulders visibly slumped.

"You're right. I know," she said. "I shouldn't be complaining so much when we've accomplished more than the other rookie teams."

"We just have to focus on passing the chunin exams and advancing together."

Sasuke smirked. "We sometimes sound like we're all a bit codependent on each other," he chuckled. He took a sip of his drink and looked out toward the garden. The waiting list as well as the price for this room had been longer and more expensive than the others but the look on Hinata's face when she saw it had made it worth it.

"I don't think it has to be such a bad thing," Hinata replied amusedly, following his gaze to the garden and relaxing more than she should be as a heiress in public. Sasuke quietly agreed, his eyes never leaving the morning glories weaving their way along the tall fence, instead choosing to follow it until he lost sight of the path. Moving his gaze to the sky, he took in the purple, orange, and blue shining across the sky and thought to his team.

With how things have gone the last month, there have been multiple chances for something to go wrong. Naruto could've hated them—hated him. Hinata could've died. Ino and Sakura could've caused trouble rather than help. But he wondered if everything going so well at the moment was to gear up for something horrible to happen. Fortune and misfortune are forever intertwined, and things were going too well. It made him anxious.

Sasuke was about to ask for Hinata's input when their food arrived. Their dishes were placed in front of them and they were offered in-house music but they politely declined in favor of silence and small talk as they ate.

One of the things Sasuke liked about Hinata was how graceful she moved no matter what she was doing. Eating, sleeping, training, walking, and even running. She somehow managed to move fluidly during these actions. He wondered if she viewed him the same way, but he had to remind himself that Hinata had been solely focused on becoming a competent Clan Head since she became an older sister. Right now, Hanabi was the one she trained as hard as she did for. Part of it, he thought surely, was to make sure she was never too weak to protect her loved ones as well, but being her absolute best so her sister could live life however she wanted was a main part.

He admired that about her.

He admired a lot about her. She often reminded him of who Itachi was supposed to be—what he had been at one point. Once, he questioned his feelings for her. Did he think he was in love with her because she reminded him of an easier time or was it pure? It didn't take long to realize that he wouldn't have made it this far without her (and Naruto) by his side.

He paused in his eating when that word had come into his head. Love. He looked up at her from across the table with eyes wider than he wished for them to be. He knew he held strong feelings for her, but he didn't know if that meant he loved her or not. However, staring at her eating her food so happily with just a splash of sauce on her chin, relaxed in his presence, he knew.

The feeling worked its way up from his chest and into his throat, wanting to be released like a fireball jutsu. He wanted her to know. He wanted his future wife to know that he loved her, but he didn't want to accidentally push her away by expressing a feeling so strong when she was still figuring herself out. He pushed that fireball back down and let it sit in the pit of his stomach, painful but bearable. He continued eating with a small smile on his face, laughing when he pointed out the sauce on her chin which caused her to squeak cutely in embarrassment.

Having nothing but moments like this for the rest of their lives, he would be content with that. She didn't have to tell him that she loved him, she didn't even have to like him romantically. Her sitting across from him like that with that blush on her face and the warmth and comfort she emitted was more than enough to fill him for multiple lifetimes.

He reached for the hand she kept on the table and held it, caressing it with his thumb. Her face went bright red but she squeezed his hand back and it was moments like this that gave him hope of his feelings being returned. He watched her stare at their hands for a moment before being taken aback when there seemed to be something like sorrow in her eyes for a brief moment. Had he not been looking, he would definitely have missed it. He wondered what she was thinking about.

He wanted to ask her, but he was too afraid of the answer…so he left it.


They held hands as they took the long way home, meandering through the park and ignoring the looks from villagers. The sun was dangerously close to setting and they were well aware of her needing to be home before then, but they couldn't find it in them to care at this moment.

"Dinner was amazing. Thank you, Sasuke," she said, her voice barely above a whisper as though she was afraid to break the comfortable silence.

"Thank you for coming with me. I've enjoyed myself," he replied. They went silent again and only picked up the pace when the streetlights were beginning to turn on. "Your father may not let me take you out again if we're late."

Hinata couldn't argue with that and they took off in flickers through the park, surprising the villagers that had been around. This made Sasuke laugh. Too often they forgot they were shinobi and not just "pampered" heirs. They were the furthest thing from pampered.

Just before they turned down the road that led to their compounds, Hinata stopped and turned to him. He was going to question her but was rendered speechless when he felt her lips press against his cheek in a chaste kiss. She pulled back with a dark red face and he was positive he looked similar.

"I…I just wanted to thank you, um, again," she said, slightly stumbling through her words. It was so like her that Sasuke was able to shake off his stupor and smile assuringly at her.

"I'll have to do this often then," he teased, ignoring the breeze of the wind revealing the slight wetness she'd left upon his cheek.

"S-Sasuke!" She yelped, covering her face.

He laughed, something he rarely did so openly. "Come on," he said, pulling her by the hand again. "I'll take you out again soon." This was a promise. He was going to do his best to earn a kiss on the lips from her. Thinking back to the kiss he gave her in the Land of Waves, he wondered when he could do it again.

"Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"You really…feel that way about me?" She asked.

"I do," he replied easily, looking over at her as they walked, getting closer and closer to the Hyuuga Compound. He noticed her fidgeting, like she was steeling herself for what she was about to say so he waited patiently.

"Then—then please don't ever abandon me." She said these words so fast that he was afraid he had misheard her, but the look in her pleading eyes confirmed it all for him. No matter how much she tried not to bring up Itachi or how he just left her when they had a commitment to one another, he knew. He was aware she struggled with the changes that Itachi leaving had brought.

He wasn't sure if it was because she loved his older brother or if it was because she had just gotten used to their dynamic and his leaving flipped everything she knew upside down. That's what he struggled with the most. Being unsure.

When they arrived at the compound, he turned to face her fully under the light above the door and grabbed her other hand as well.

"Hinata," he whispered. "I won't ever leave you behind." The conviction in his eyes drove the words into her heart. She looked into his eyes for a few moments before stepping forward and pressing her face into his chest, her hands clutching the back of his kimono as she hugged him tightly.

Sasuke stood stunned as she had only possibly hugged him once before. She hardly initiated physical contact unless it was a comforting hand squeezing his. He pulled her closer, not wanting to miss this chance and leaned his head against hers as they embraced just as the sun fully set behind them. He made a promise to himself that he would not toss her aside as Itachi did. He promised he would not hurt her the same way. Never.


Minato sat in his seat in the darkness of the office as he looked out the windows behind him. After getting his work done for the day, he thought back to the dangerous mission and who could possibly help him. Rubbing his temples, he concluded that there was absolutely no one in the village who could help him. Gasping at this, he quickly rose to his feet with widened eyes.

"That's right!" He exclaimed to himself. He quickly bit his thumb and summoned a toad to deliver a message. "Kosuke, I need to deliver something to a mutual friend of ours."

"Leave it to me, Boss!" The red and black toad with goggles around its neck replied with a salute. Minato quickly wrote an encoded message on a scroll and handed it to the summon toad. It was promptly swallowed and it took off in a flash.

"Please hurry back home, sensei," Minato said as he looked out the window and down at his village.

Jiraiya


We hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! A nice little date chapter before we really kick off the exams. I'm so excited to see what y'all think about it 3 I am so close to finishing the Konoha Crush arc that I'm getting impatient about it :( But I want to do it right. We may have to take a two-week break after this arc if I don't get ahead enough, so be prepared for that possibility. Let us know what you thought about this chapter! And thank you to those who have reviewed, followed, and favorited; it means the world! 3

-hina

NEXT UPDATE: 10/28/23