Changes

Chapter 7

-3 days later-

Naruto woke up feeling exhausted and so sore that it hurt to move. 'Guess fighting a bijuu will do that to you.' Naruto thought with a smirk.

"Yeah it will. And you fought the weakest one of us. Imagine if you fought me!" Kurama exclaimed with a smirk.

'I'd probably still win. Maybe just a teensie weensie bit more sore than I am now.' Naruto teased the mighty bijuu.

"Why you arrogant little piece of sh-"

"Naruto-kun?"

Naruto broke out of his trance and looked to where the owner of the voice was, which was right on top of his lap. Hinata was leaning down on his lap while still sitting down on the chair. It looked like she woke up while he was talking with Kyuubi. As Hinata was leaning up Naruto gave her a warm smile and a wave.

"Good Morning Hinata. How'd ya sleep?"

Hinata, now realising that she slept on Naruto's lap, blushed redder than a tomato and jumped in her chair while shouting "eep!". Once she got her heartbeat under control and the blush lessened, she looked at him in the eye. "S-Sorry Naruto-kun, I didn't mean to sleep in your l-lap. I was just so worried about you that I didn't get much sleep last night."

At this Naruto blushed like a tomato. "Eheh, I'm alright Hinata. It'll take more than that to keep me down. I'm not gonna die until way after I become Hokage!" After he said that he flashed Hinata one of his signature grins, making her lightly blush.

"I'm glad to hear that. I wouldn't want to lose our future Hokage before he gets to become Hokage. So be more careful ok?" Hinata asked with teary eyes at the end making Naruto feel bad about making her worry so much about him.

'She's right. I have to be safer and think smarter. Otherwise I won't get to make my dream come true.' Naruto thought. Looking at Hinata in the eyes, he gave her the warmest and gentlest smile he could. "You're right Hinata, I'm sorry for making you worry about me. I'll be more careful, yea?"

Hinata smiled at Naruto's words and blushed at his smile. Giving him a nod of conformation they proceeded to talk about other things for five more minutes before they were interrupted.

"Hey Naruto, we got a mission."

Naruto and Hinata turn to see Jiraiya standing next to the doorway, leaning on the wall. Hinata, confused on how Naruto knew one of the Sannins, looked at Naruto hoping he'd explain. Seeing her look, Naruto explained his relationship with Jiraiya, leaving Hinata dumbfounded on how Naruto was the godson of the Sannin. Once she got over the surprise, she felt sad knowing that Naruto would be gone for who knows how long.

"What's the mission about Pervy Sage?"

"I SAID TO STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

"I'll stop when you stop being a perv." Naruto replied, earning giggles from Hinata. 'Man that's got to be the cutest noise I've ever heard.' Naruto thought while smiling at Hinata. Hinata looked at Naruto to see him smiling at her which made her blush harder than before. Naruto, seeing he was caught, blushed just as hard as Hinata.

Jiraiya, witnessing this, quickly pulled out his notebook and was furiously writing down notes for his new book. Kurama, also witnessing this, burned the memory into Naruto's brain so he can use this as teasing material against the poor blonde. 'Someone's gonna regret being an ass to me.' Kurama thought with a smirk.

"Alright as much as I'd love to see you two flirt all day, me and Naruto need to go. We need to find my old teammate, Tsunade." Jiraiya announced, breaking them out of their blush off.

"What do we need to get her for sensei?" Naruto asked with a serious voice, which made Hinata blush and fall for the blonde more.

'Wow, he's matured more since the academy... I wonder what else martur- NO! NO NO NO! BAD HINATA!' Hinata was now redder than before and looked like she was going to pass out at any second.

"Hey Hinata, are you ok?" Naruto asked sitting up and reaching to feel her forehead to feel for a fever.

Hinata seeing this managed to calm herself down. "I-I'm f-fine N-Naruto-k-kun. I-It was n-nice seeing you. I have to go help with the reconstruction though." Hinata said, letting out a long sigh at the end.

"Oh... well alright... be safe Hinata." Naruto said a little disappointed she couldn't stay longer. 'Wait. Why am I sad? She's just a friend... Right?' Naruto thought to himself.

"Don't worry you can both see each other when we come back. And we're going to get my old teammate to become the next Hokage. They asked me but my spy network is too important to give up. Plus I won't be able to sit behind a desk all day and fill out paperwork like your father and sensei did." Jiraiya did not notice what he said till it was too late.

Naruto's eyes widened at Jiraiya's slip up and looked at Hinata so fast that he almost snapped his neck. Hinata on the other hand was left confused by what Jiraiya said. 'Like his father and sensei? But his sensei was the Third Hokage... which would mean that Naruto's dad... was also... Hokage...' After finishing her thought process, Hinata looked at Naruto, then at the Fourth Hokage's head on the monument, then back at Naruto.

Realizing that Hinata figured out, he quickly explained to her that she couldn't tell anyone. If she did, his loved one's would be put in danger just because he was his son. Hinata was left speechless but nevertheless nodded, not wanting to make things more difficult for Naruto. After chatting for a little longer, Hinata left to go help with the village's reconstruction.

Jiraiya explained that after the funeral, they were to set out immediately to go find the Fifth Hokage.

After the funeral and packing, he went around saying goodbye to all of his friends. He first went to say bye to his teammates, then to the Ichiraku's, then to the rest of the rookies and Gai's team but saved Hinata for last. After finding her training, Naruto walked up behind her calling out her name so he wouldn't scare her, but still did anyway.

"Oh... Hello Naruto-kun."

"Hey Hinata it's time on me to go on the mission, sensei said it might take a month so I came to say goodbye." Naruto said with a small smile, with sadness in his eyes that he couldn't understand why.

"Oh." Hinata was devastated at hearing her crush would be gone that long. Hinata then raised her head and gave a sad smile."Well promise me that you'll be safe ok?"

Naruto couldn't help but widen his smile at her concern for his safety. It made him feel... wanted... loved. Something that he rarely ever got growing up. "You bet Hinata-chan! I'll bring back the Fifth Hokage safely. Believe it!" Naruto declared, not realizing that he added an affectionate honorific to her name, as he ran towards the gates.

Hinata was still shocked hearing that Naruto added an honorific, an affectionate one at that, after her name stood completely still and couldn't say anything until he was long gone. After recovering from her stupor, Hinata had the widest smile she ever wore on her face. After jumping up and around in joy, Hinata looked towards the way he left. "Be safe Naruto-kun."