Didn't think I'd be able to re-write it. I was wrong. Hope this is a little better.

The first thing Hinata noticed was that her ceiling was very clean. It seemed strange. You would think there would be some dust, at least, but she supposed the Hyuuga's servants were just very thorough in their work. Did they cart ladders around the house, or did they employ some sort of dusting-nin? Maybe she could ask someone.

Also, Naruto had turned into some kind of monster and tried to eat her after coming to rescue her from Hideyoshi.

Hinata shrieked and fell out of bed, trying to untangle herself from the sheets and accidentally tearing an I.V. drip from her arm. She slapped a hand over the blood welling out of her arm and stumbled the rest of the way to the door, wrenching it open.

Hiashi stood outside, looking slightly less imposing then usual but managing to stop Hinata from erupting with babble with a look. He waited for her to collect herself, and in a few moments Hinata was standing up straight and at attention before him, if still trembling slightly.

"Good morning, Hinata. How are you feeling?"

"I...I'm fine. Just a little tired-father what-"

He held up a hand to silence her, and motioned her back into the room. The bed was set by the time she'd sat back down, servants and doctors hovering on the edge of her perception. They were gone when she looked up, with only Hiashi remaining. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, his gaze finding the new picture on Hinata's nightstand, before he turned back to her and spoke.

"We feared the worst when you went missing. I am taken to understand Hideyoshi kidnapped you, but we don't know what he hoped to accomplish by doing so."

"Hideyoshi...wanted to convince me not to marry Naruto. He wanted to explain...to show...Naruto...Naruto! Where is he? Is he alright? What...what happened to him?"

Hiashi sighed, and didn't even try to conceal it, though it was one of exhaustion and not displeasure.

"Naruto is recovering. The strain of...of tapping the Kyuubi's chakra will pass quickly."

"Kyuubi?"

Hiashi sat down at the foot of her bed, a very ignoble pose for her father. It shocked her to see a range of emotions play out on his face, if only for a moment, before he continued.

"As you may know, many years ago, the Kyuubi no Kitsune laid siege to Konoha. Too powerful to be defeated, the Fourth Hokage had no choice but to use a forbidden sealing technique at the the cost of his own life. Such techniques had not seen use since the last great ninja war, when the hidden villages hunted down the tailed beasts and sealed them within shinobi to use as living weapons. The Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi within the only suitable candidate within the village...his own newborn son."

"Naruto."

"Yes. But the seal isn't perfect. The more the host draws upon the Kyuubi's power, the more influence it has over him. Fortunately there are contingencies in place, and we were somehow able to make it in time. Such an event...was one of the reasons we feared to allow your relationship with Naruto to develop. If he was to truly care for someone, he would be protective of them, and be enraged by any threat to them. That anger would be a liability, a fatal flaw in his self-control that could allow the Kyuubi to take control."

"Is...is that why everyone acts the way they do towards him? So that he would never care for anyone?"

"No. No, the townpeople that knew his secret merely feared and hated him for what he carried inside of him. But...it was one of the reasons we chose to do nothing to stop it."

Hinata's eyes were wide with horror. Her mind raced as years upon years of unanswered questions came together in perfect, terrible understanding.

"We...have done him a disservice. All of us. Only Iruka-san chose to...treat him as human. Only his legacy as the Yondaime's son kept others from..taking him and molding him into the weapon they saw. And now...he has fallen in love. Most would consider this the worst of all possible outcomes. Knowing what he is, you must understand the danger you will be putting yourself in to even be near him."

"He wouldn't...he wouldn't let the kyuubi hurt me. H-he s-stopped it before it c-could..."

"And the next time? And the next? Doubtless, his feelings will give him strength to resist the kyuubi's influence. But if you are harmed, worse, if he is one to harm you, he will be driven to a state that no one can bring him back from. And then, everyone will suffer for it."

Hiashi stood, turning his face away, unwilling to let his daughter see any more of the thoughts playing out in gaze.

"But...it is still your choice to make. We are content that you understand what may come of this, and we have prepared for the consequences, whatever they may be."

Nothing more was said, and Hinata did not noticed as left her alone to her thoughts.

Seated around him, the elders among the Hyuuga were quiet and subdued. The staunchest of Naruto's opponents had stated their case, and any pretense of pettiness had long been dropped. The arguments had been made, over issues political and practical, and all that was left was to cast their votes.

Hinata knelt quietly and pulled the screen aside, greeting her father and the assembled elders. No one felt it necessary to speak of the state she was in, politely ignoring the redness around her eyes or the tear-stains on her shirt.

"We have made our decision, Hinata."

Despite everything, she was still a scion of the Hyuuga, and she demanded it of herself to appear composed as she rose to address them, despite the feelings raging inside her..

"So have I."

Around him, the Hyuuga compound was silent. Naruto and his entourage padded soundlessly through the halls, leading him towards the worst moment of his life. He had awoken in Konoha hospital, his memory a red haze of blood and anger. Despite Sakura appearing and assuring him that Hinata was alright, Naruto dreaded seeing her again. A part of him, tiny and scoured raw by fear, kept him moving forwards, wanting to see her on last time, to explain, to apologize to do...something, before she was lost to him forever.

The attendants vanished at the end. Naruto was alone in front of the same door to where he'd been questioned and picked apart on his first 'test.' He didn't have time to kneel before a voice bade him enter. He slid the door open to see the empty but for two people – Hiashi, sitting at his place before the symbols and family shrine of the Hyuuga, and Hinata, kneeling to his right. She looked up as Naruto entered, and he looked away, stepping blindly up to where he would kneel before Hiashi, and seeing Hinata's head bowed out of the corner of his eye.

"Uzumaki Naruto. You have caused the Hyuuga household a great deal of trouble with your advances towards my daughter. You have taken the life of a respected clansmen. Strife has been sown both between brothers and between the Hyuuga and other noble houses as a result of this episode. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I...when I realized...what Hinata felt for me, I couldn't...I couldn't let that go. I've lost...so many important things...people...but I've never had feelings like this for anyone before...I couldn't bear to lose them...to lose her. But I never meant to hurt...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

Hiashi stared dispassionately down at the boy, stretched out before him. He looked to his side. His daughter raised her head, the pain on her face giving way to a smile. Hiashi nodded and rose.

"I understand. At least, seeing what you have fought through, I wish I could truly say that I did. You have shown unparallelled character and fortitude to survive, to thrive, after everything you have endured. And one day, I will be proud to accept you as my son."

On the floor, Naruto eyes snapped open. Streaked with tears, he raised his face to see Hiashi bow before turning to leave without another word. Naruto stared at him in confusion, a part of him refusing to accept what he had heard, stunned by disbelief.

"I accept your apology."

Naruto turned, finally, to look at Hinata. She looked neither afraid nor disgusted.

"Hinata, I..."

"Father told me. Everything."

"Hinata...I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, so badly...I wanted to accept me no matter what..."

"I do. You've taught me so much, inspired me, helped me, and more then anything else, shown me to never give up. No matter what. I love you, Naruto, and nothing has changed."

Hiashi paused outside, leaving the door ajar. He could see Naruto stumbling towards Hinata and fall, see Hinata catch him, see them fall to their knees and wrap their arms around each other and squeeze as if they were terrified the world would come to tear them apart at any moment. By the laws of courtship, they'd need a chaperone of some sort for every meeting together. He smiled to himself and closed the door.

He would break the rules for them.

Just this once.