Happily Never After, a naruto fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, in any way, shape, or form. The characters and setting used all belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Happily Never After

by insert cliche

You hear the news first from Sakura and Ino, right before the Jounin exam starts. "Naruto likes you," they tease, "and he told us to tell you that." They say it loudly and boldly, not caring that other people are most definitely listening eavesdropping (This is, after all, an exam where anything and everything is heard). Everyone turns around to face you, wondering what will happen now. You hide your face behind your long curtain of hair, trying not to look at anyone and give away your "feelings" on the matter.

Tenten-san, Neji-nii-san's teammate and almost-girlfriend, shoos them all away. It's not to save you from your misery-it's for her own sadistic interrogation purposes. (You're still slightly scared of her-with good reason. You've seen what she can do to Neji-nii-san when she's mad. It's not pretty.) She asks what you think of him, whether or not you'd go out with him. Everyone knows the answer-you've liked him since even before the Academy, and even you know that you're too transparent for your own good. It's too much for you to take in, the fact that he's finally noticed you, after all these years and years and years of waiting.

So right now, you squeak and hide in your oversized jacket, and let the happiness bubble within you.

You fail the exams, but better things happen.

When Temari comes and hears of the news, she has two major reactions. The first is the immediate "Awww" sound that every girl has the capability of making when something romantic happens. The second is to hunt Naruto down, beat him up, and threaten him. You're very sure you know what the conversation's about.

You're proven wrong an hour later, when a blushing, scratched-up, and completely adorable Naruto asks if he can walk you home. (It was a girl's night out in honor of Temari's arrival, until Tenten-san was stolen by Neji-nii-san and Lee-san for a mission and Sakura-chan was called to the hospital to help Tsunade-sama. That was when Ino-chan decided to share the good news.) He says it's because a Jounin should always protect those under him, but Ino-chan and Temari-san are both smirking and you know something's up again.

You say yes. Because what harm can come from a simple walk? Kiba-kun and Shino-kun escort you to the compound after practice all the time, and Father is completely fine with them.

It's a beautiful night out, he says. And you agree, because it really is.

The next few encounters are slightly awkward, but eventually you loosen up and start talking to him a little more than before. Your stutter has gotten a little bit better, but your blush is just as uncontrollable as ever. At least you've stopped fainting every time you see him.

"Hinata-chan? Are you okay?"

His face appears in your line of sight, just a little too close for comfort. You feel a sense of déja vu, before the darkness comes up to claim you.

You faint like the Academy schoolgirl you were (and still are, by the looks of it).

Neji-nii-san finds out that night, when a bewildered Naruto rushes all the way back to the compound for help with you in his arms. (Sakura-chan says that she would have been the better choice, considering the circumstances.) He is startled for a while, but recovers quickly enough to fix Naruto with a burning stare. Tenten-san, who is by his side, giggles quietly.

"What have you done to Hinata-sama, you imbecile?"

"I-I don't know? She was spacing out, but when I went to talk to her, she fainted! Is she sick or something?"

"And why, pray tell, were you about to engage her in conversation?"

"Hinata-chan and I are friends, okay? Friends talk to each other!"

Neji-nii-san stiffens slightly, and then glares even more. "Is that so?"

"Yes! Hinata-chan and I are very good friends!"

Tenten-san steps in this time. She glares at Neji-nii-san for a second before looking at the two of you. "You two have to be careful. Have you forgotten that Hinata-san is the Hyuuga heiress? If somebody important finds out, it could be the end."

You wonder how Tenten-san knows all of this, but then realizes that she's been Neji-nii-san's teammate for a very long time. She's been in the compound many times already, and it's not like the Hyuugas are completely cut off from Konoha. Outsiders still know about clan politics.

Naruto responds for both of you. "We will." His face is completely serious, and this isn't a one-time thing anymore. This is your future in his hands.

Before long, it's the spring festival. Somehow, your father has allowed you to be escorted by none other than Uzumaki Naruto. (Neji-nii-san may or may not have had something to do with convincing him.)

It's the last night, and the old Rookie Nine (plus Sai) is gathered in front of Ichiraku's, eating ramen and chatting. Your escort is currently on his sixteenth bowl of his favorite noodles, but you don't mind, because you're having too much fun laughing with the girls.

Of course, your friends aren't going to let you hang out with them the entire night. They want to have fun at your expense, so they push you together with Naruto and run off. It doesn't help that now everyone around you, shinobi and civilians alike, thinks you two are dating. Even some of the older jounin are looking at you strangely, because "isn't that the heiress? What is she doing with Uzumaki?"

You don't think that Naruto is courting you, but everyone else does.

You might as well make the best of this, so you sit down on an abandoned bench, and, when you see him standing around awkwardly, unsure of what to do, you invite him to do the same. You try to ignore the laughs from your friends, who are all hidden in various locations (you can see them with your Byakugan), since you can just get back at them later.

You talk the night away with Naruto, and it's only until the fireworks start that you realize how much time has passed. You stare up at the sky in awe, until a laugh from beside you brings you back down to earth.

"You like fireworks, Hinata-chan? I never knew that about you."

"I-I do. They're so beautiful."

You turn back to watching them, and you don't see Naruto look at you softly, don't hear what he says.

"You're prettier."

After the trip, everything settles back into the normal routine. You talk and laugh and watch the days go by.

The two of you don't talk about the future, because there's that nagging in the back of your head that knows there won't be a happy ending.

Before you know it, you've passed the Jounin exams with flying colors, and Father has decided that it's high time for you to get engaged. Everything starts going by in a rush, and between meetings with potential suitors and training to take the place of the clan head (the elders have finally accepted you as the rightful heir), there's less time to meet with your friends and enjoy yourself.

Even so, you meet with Naruto every once in a while, tell him about your troubles, listen to his complaints about not being acknowledged by the village council for the place of Hokage. There's a rumor going around saying that Tsunade-sama is going to be stepping down soon, and the village is getting whipped up into a frenzy because of it. Naruto believes this rumor, and is trying harder than ever to be considered. (You think that after saving the entire village after the war would win him some recognition. Evidently not.)

You tell him about how you're being forced to marry, how you'd rather be the weak little genin you once were than the sought-after heiress who can't do anything on her own anymore. Every action needs to be cleared by your father and the elders, and it's getting harder and harder to break free.

He's reassuring and kind, as always, and he gives you some hope for the future.

"Someday, we'll change this place together. Right?"

This time, you don't stutter as you respond, and you're quite proud of it.

"Right."

You know you're truly falling in love with him now. Your optimistic side hopes and dreams for freedom (is this how Neji-nii-san felt when he was young?), but your pessimistic side says that there's no chance for true happiness, not with all of your current situations.

And then Naruto's voice comes into your head and says, "We'll make it through, Hinata-chan. You'll see."

You can't tell if this is good or bad, but you choose to let it be.

It's been a few months now, and nothing is happening. You dislike your suitors, your training just gets more tedious, and Naruto is still trying to make his own name and live up to his father's legacy.

You two are sitting down talking again, just like the old times, when he suddenly leans over and kisses you. Then he pulls back and stares at you like you're the only person in the world. You stare back and know that this is love.

"We're in love, aren't we, Hinata-chan?"

"Yes."

"And this isn't going to be easy, right, Hinata-chan?"

"Right."

He kisses you again, before pulling back and staring at the sky.

This is the calm before the storm.

After two days of nonstop deliberation and one day of worrying, you find an answer to this mess. You tell him while he's sitting on the Hokage Mountain staring at the sunset.

"Naruto, ask for my hand in marriage."

He stares into your eyes, and you stare back. The two of you hold an entire conversation with your eyes, and he understands everything. You wish you could go back in time to when you could spend your days laughing with him about anything, but this is the only choice if you want even a chance of happiness.

He leans over and kisses you once, softer than air.

"I'll see you tonight."

You should have known that something bad was going to happen after you gave him an answer. The "something bad" comes in the form of an irate father.

He yells at you in an uncharacteristic display of temper, and asks you how long this "affair" has been going on for. Before you have time to respond, he proceeds to list out every single detail that is wrong about this "atrocious brat."

"That boy has no status, nothing! He has the Kyuubi in him, for Kami's sake! Do you understand what will happen if you marry someone like him? Did you think at all, girl, when you were blinded so stupidly by love?"

Your heart breaks with each word, because this is the beginning of the end. You know that you'll never be allowed to visit Naruto again, never be able to talk to him like the friend you once were. Your gut feeling is, for once, completely correct.

As you leave for your rooms, your father gives one final command: cut off all relations with this boy. You'll never see him again.

So you follow his instructions. You ignore his hopeful letters, one of which contains a pressed flower, made just for you. You throw it into the food disposal as a final goodbye.

You avoid him as much as possible, but sometimes, two negatives make a positive. When he tries to avoid you and you try to ignore him, life is so wonderfully twisted that it makes you two bump into each other at every possible moment. You seeing him in the Hokage's office before your own mission briefing. You having to walk-run past him every morning to get to your friends when they schedule a lunch date. You two accidentally bumping into each other in the market, him holding a handful of pronged kunai and you carrying a new katana as a gift to Hanabi-chan for making ANBU.

You don't want to give him one more word from yourself, spoken or sent. You shut down, lock your heart away again in the case that it escaped from. You act like nothing has ever happened, erasing a year and a half of (almost-not-really) mutual attraction. You turn back into the girl that was innocent, who clung to her friends all the time. The one who avoided almost all boys in the world, who thought they were too loud and dangerous to be around. (Your teammates are a different matter.)

You forget.

But inside, your heart is breaking. For him, not for you, because the part of your heart that is only yours has already been broken beyond repair.

But you can't undo everything in life. You can't erase all of your memories, even if the Yamanakas are willing to perform their mind-change jutsus on you.

Being with him has left marks on you. You travel to the Hokage Mountain a little bit more (he's never around-you check with the Byakugan), and spend many lonely hours sitting above the stone heads. Sometimes, when you have nothing to do, you go to Ichiraku's for a bowl of miso ramen, because the taste has grown on you after all these years.

Even so, you continue to shut yourself in, not reaching out anymore and tightening the bonds between yourself and everyone important to you (besides him, even if he's the most important one of all). You ignore every comment from his friends, like how he's concerned about you, how he thinks he's done something wrong.

But you don't answer. You can't risk anything again.

The first and only breakdown happens during a meal with Ino-chan and Temari-san (you ignore the sense of déjà vu). They ask how things are with Naruto, and you burst out in tears. They try and comfort you, but it's hard to rectify a situation when they don't even know what's going on.

(Later, you vow, they'll know everything that they should never have needed to know.)

Tenten-san comes after a panicked Sakura-chan (who was called by her best friend) fetches her from training, and she immediately whisks you off to an abandoned training ground. She tells you how the clan elders are bastards and how they'll do anything to keep you from happiness. She says that unless you suck it up and do something, nothing good will ever come.

You wonder how she knows what she's talking about, until you remember that she and Neji-nii-san are currently also fighting the elders to be together. It's an outside perspective, and the fact that they might even be victorious (the clan gossips are talking about it every day) gives you the tiniest bit of hope.

We'll make it through. Together.

Naruto becomes Hokage.

You hear all of the village gossipping about it day after day, and wonder why it's so suprising. He keeps his promises, after all.

(Including the one that you'll be together with him someday. Hopefully)

The rational you, the one created after the entire marriage mess blew over (you rejected even the thought of seeing potential suitors after Naruto is turned down), takes it all in stride. Konoha is happy, you love your village, and you are happy.

The irrational you, whatever is still left, sighs inwardly and wonders how much longer you'll have to wait.

Through a stroke of luck (buy you don't want to think like that), you don't see Naruto again for almost a year, not until Neji-nii-san and Tenten-chan's wedding. The bride and groom are happier than you've ever seen them before (yes, even your genius cousin), and the entire occasion is amazing and perfect and wonderful and everything you wanted (still want) your own wedding to be like.

Ino-chan, your ever-plotting friend, pushes her Hokage in front of you before anybody can react (including your father, who is watching the entire affair unfold with narrowed eyes). He blinks quickly, then bows like tradition dictates and asks for a dance. It's an honor to be chosen by the village leader, so you respond in the affirmative and allow yourself to be pulled onto the dance floor.

Instead of sharing one dance, which is normal during functions such as these, you share your entire night with Naruto. The strangest thing is that the two of you do not speak at all, not even to complement the other's finesse. The crowd around you is loud and merry, chattering the hours away, but you know nothing except that Naruto and you are together again, if only for a moment.

And at midnight, Cinderella ran from her prince and transformed back into the servant girl she was before.

You leave at midnight.

Your prince does not run after you.

You bid each other adieu.

It isn't the fairytale ending that little children dream about.

Naruto marries Sakura, and the village is happy for the two of them. Their Hokage and their top medic are leading everyone into an era of peace, and even shinobi children can dream once more.

You are sent away to marry a clan head from Suna. You regard your husband as a companion, not as a lover. He thinks the same of you.

We broke our promise, Naruto, didn't we?

No matter. I'm okay now.

I hope you are too.

-fin-

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