Summary:

The great shinobi war has just ended and all of Konoha was expected to return to their normal lives. For Hinata Hyuga, this meant reestablishing her role in her clan. And it also meant finally having the opportunity to confront Naruto about her confession.

For Sasuke Uchiha, this meant reentering society at large and finally remembering his original goals in life. He had wanted to get revenge against his brother and restart his clan. Yeah. Restart his clan. He wasn't too sure this was an option for him anymore.

As fate would have it, both of them would get what they wanted. But not in the way anybody could have expected.

Notes:

Hello there everyone! This is my very first fanfic and as such I would like to request any constructive criticism or feedback so I can improve as the story progresses! As stated this fic will be a slow burn that accounts for the fact that Hinata and Sasuke have no pre-existing ties, but don't worry, I am set on having smut come in down the line. Also, let me know if any of the characters start to come off as too ooc (they will be slightly for plot purposes but I still want the characters to feel like them.) Having said that, please enjoy)

Chapter 1Chapter Text

Neji didn't have his own funeral. His grave was but a single line on a stone surrounded by the hundreds of other names of those lost in the war. Hinata didn't think this was fair at all. She stood at the front of her clan; her father stood to her left and her younger sister to her right. The entire clan wore simple white robes in honor of the dead. As far as Hinata was aware, she was the only one crying. How noble and honorable of her clan, to maintain their stoic faces under these circumstances. Hanabi clutched Hinata's hand lightly, looking as though she was more lost and confused than saddened by the mass funeral. Nearly every other person in Konoha was present as well; a speech had been delivered by Lady Tsunade at the beginning. And now everyone stood in silence or near silence; many couldn't hold back their sobbing. Hinata thought she should be sobbing too, but many different emotions filtered through her on top of the sadness. The biggest one she could feel was uncertainty; about her life, her future, and especially her role as clan leader. Hinata wasn't stupid, she knew what being the head of the clan entailed for her. This included a likely marriage to Neji; one of the ways the clan kept the byakugan so pure and strong.

Hinata had never wanted to marry Neji. She loved him, yes, but he was her older brother and nothing more. And Hinata knew that Neji felt the same way towards her. Plus Hinata was infatuated with another, Naruto Uzumaki. The hero of the village. He was currently standing a few people down from Hinata; also paying his respects to Neji and all the others that had been lost. Hinata looked at his profile in the gloomy weather. His jaw was strong and if you looked close enough you could see pale blond stubble beginning to line it. His normally bright and cheery blue eyes were downcast and stormy like the clouds above and his spiky golden hair was dampened across the top of his head. Hinata quite liked the way he looked in the rain, and then she immediately felt immense guilt for these thoughts. She was here to mourn her cousin and other fallen clan members, not to keep staring at her childhood crush like some lost puppy. And there was the problem again. If Hinata were to no longer marry Neji, then who would it be? She averted her gaze to take a peek at her father's gloomy face. Hiashi has always had a near-permanent scowl on his features which included a furrowed brow. On this day the lines seemed to be deeper than ever, but his face gave the impression less of tenseness and more of a weariness that has been building and building over the years.

Hinata acknowledged at that moment that her father couldn't be clan leader forever, no matter how much she wished for it. And neither would Hanabi. Hinata had previously been revoked of her status as clan heiress when Hanabi had bested her in their youth, but after the war, Hiashi was forced to recognize the strength and experience that Hinata now possessed as a ninja. And Hinata was grateful that she could take this burden away from Hanabi. She recognized that the younger girl hadn't had the opportunity to enjoy her childhood once that title had been placed on her, and Hinata hoped that she would be free from her previous responsibilities. In the same vein, Hinata had lost the freedoms that she once enjoyed. When she had been denounced as heiress she had felt immense shame and guilt for failing her father and her clan, but that was also the first time in a long time that Hinata felt she could finally breathe again. She had thought she would be free to love and marry whoever she wanted when she wanted. She thought she could marry Naruto Uzumaki.

A hand placed itself on Hinata's shoulder, jolting her out of her ruminations. "We should head back to the compound, the rain is worsening," her father said quietly.
Hinata simply nodded her head and gave Hanabi's hand a quick squeeze before the entire clan turned to walk away.

"Oi! Hinata! Wait!" A lightly tousled Naruto appeared next to Hinata after she had taken but a few steps away from her previous spot. Her eyes widened comically, genuinely surprised by his outburst. The entire clan also turned to look at him.

"Oh uh, I just wanted to talk to Hinata for a bit. . ." Now that he was staring down the white eyes of all of the Hyuga clan, he seemed to feel a bit more remorse over his loud nature.

"I'll catch up a bit," Hinata said while looking at Hanabi. In reality, she was addressing the entire clan who then shrugged off the interruption and continued their path back into the village. Hiashi squinted his eyes at Naruto briefly before turning too with his hand on Hanabi's back.

"Heh, sorry about that Hinata, didn't mean to startle ya," He said with an apologetic smile on his face. Rubbing the back of his head in his usual fashion.

"It's no problem at all Naruto-kun, what did you need?" Hinata could feel a light blush on her cheeks and the tips of her ears. How pathetic. No matter how long they know each other she can never seem to fully relax her nerves in his presence. She always feels like she's a schoolgirl who can barely get out a sentence to him without a stutter. (Which she used to be)

"I wanted to say sorry about Neji," Naruto began to fiddle with the sleeve of his plain black shirt. Hinata drooped back down again. The nerves that had been flooding her body fled as the pain overtook her again. And just when her eyes had finally dried again. Great. "And I wanted to ask if you wanted to meet up sometime?"

At this Hinata startled once again, color beginning to spread right back into her face, as though it belonged there. Nope nope nope. He's your friend Hinata, don't get so worked up.

"Yes, of course, we could go get lunch together tomorrow if you'd like," Hinata managed to say with an even voice. But she wasn't quite able to meet his eyes as the suggestion was made. She put her best effort into remaining neutral.

"Yeah, that'd be great! I'll come by the compound tomorrow afternoon to get you then!" Naruto grinned at Hinata, her agreement seemed to brighten him back to his normal self for the moment. The events of the day being momentarily forgotten.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow Naruto-kun," Hinata paused for a moment, "And thank you for honoring Neji, I'm sure he appreciates it." At this Naruto's cheeriness lessened into a closed-mouth smile.

"Yeah. Of course," He then turned back towards the gravestones where Hinata watched him meet back up with the other two members of the original team 7. Sakura had an arm wrapped securely around Ino, who was still mopping away a steady flow of tears and Sasuke Uchiha stood by her other side, appearing vaguely concerned over Ino as shown by the furrow of his brow, but unsure of how to handle the situation by the way he fidgeted in his stance. He glanced back over once he noticed Naruto reapproaching the group, and then his gaze followed back to where he came from. Sasuke and Hinata's eyes met.

At this, Hinata turned away from the group, scared she appeared to have been staring. But who would fault her? Everybody in the original Konoha Rookie 9 was put off by the reappearance of Sasuke in their daily lives. It's not that Hinata had any particular feelings towards him in any way, but she knew how much he meant to both Naruto and Sakura and as such he presented a completely new dynamic to the friend group they had established since graduating from the academy. Hinata did not linger long on this line of thought, however, since her spirits had been brightened by the prospect of what tomorrow would bring for her. She chose instead to steadily combat the thoughts dogging her that were implying that she was going on a date. She was not. Naruto was simply being friendly with her and making sure that she felt included.

She hoped she was wrong.