I don’t own Naruto.

Tsunade paced in her office, the walls felt so oddly thin as she listened to the chatter in the halls. Every bit of it was about how Naruto and the others were going on a mission to retrieve Hinata. She worried for their safety, as this jutsu was one that had only been used once before. It was the one that had been used to take her from her own time in the first place. Kiba and Naruto were essential in being able to perform the jutsu, as it was one that required both the Inuzuka bloodline and Kurama’s chakra. Kaira Inuzuka had been intent on keeping them from returning Hinata home, ensuring that only one with a similar chakra would be able to do so.

A hand made its way to her shoulder in an attempt to stop her pacing and she looked over to the man. His eyes held empathy for her worries, but his lips were tugged down into a frown. A sigh made its way from her lips and she reached up and touched the hand on her shoulder. She knew he was worried for them as well, but she also knew he was getting irritated with her persistent worrying. She released yet another sigh and sat down in her chair, only to begin tapping her nails on the desk. Jiraiya grumbled something under his breath but did nothing to stop her.

She turned to stare out the window, wondering how the were faring in her grandfather’s time. She wished she hadn’t sent them there but she knew she needed to at least offer Hinata the chance to come home, even if she didn’t return. Her eyes fell to look at the pictures she had found and decided to frame. The option was there, but she knew Hinata probably wouldn’t take it. A soft smile crossed her lips as she picked up the one where Hinata was holding her father and smiling so brightly. She didn’t regret sending Kiba back with a camera and photobook in the slightest, she was getting pictures that she never would have had before.
She reached into the desk and pulled the massive album out of her desk drawer. Her fingers brushed over the cover of the large album and embraced every bit of the worn and frayed cover. She opened it and touched her finger to the picture of Hinata and Hashirama, the shy woman looked nervous to be so close to Hashirama. She glanced to the picture beside it and released a small laugh as Hinata stood with Madara and Izuna, but rather than her normal shy demeanor she knew the woman was irritated with the two of them hanging off her shoulders and grinning.

There was a picture of Mito with Itsuki, where the woman was genuinely smiling. She flipped the page and Jiraiya released a laugh when he saw an uncomfortable Madara with Kaira leaning close to him, the pink tint on his cheeks the tell all sign that the woman was flirting once more. She was more so amused with the man in the background, glowering at the two. The next picture had Kaira on Tobirama’s back grinning while her great uncle just looked fed up with the woman. She knew he loved her dearly though, she could see it in the next picture where they were sitting beside one another. The ever so slight upturn of his lips and their entwined fingers said it all. Not to mention he hadn’t even been looking at the camera, but at her.

The last picture that had been added was her absolute favorite so far.
Every last one of them sat together on the ground. Hashirama and Madara dead center, an arm tossed over each others shoulders and their grins exuded pure joy. Naruto and Sasuke stood behind Hashirama and Madara, mirroring the grins the two below them held, although Sasuke’s was more of a smirk than anything. Hinata sat beside Hashirama, while Neji stood behind her adorning a small smile as well. Tobirama and Kaira sat to Hinata’s left while Shino stood behind Tobirama and Kiba stood behind Kaira. Izuna sat beside Madara on the right side and was grinning as well, while Mito sat to his right with Itsuki in her lap.
She loved every bit of this picture and she couldn’t wait to see more of them.

:-:-:-:

Hinata watched with a smile as the three Uchiha sat next to one another, Izuna chatting happily with Sasuke. Madara sat between the two of them looking from one to the other. She couldn’t help the smile that broke out the moment Madara seemed to have an idea pop into his mind. “Ok!” he called out suddenly and the group looked over at him in confusion. “I like this one! You guys can take that one home with you. You can have the pervert.” Madara said with a grin as he wrapped an arm around Sasuke and pointed to Izuna. Sasuke just looked up at Madara like he had lost his mind, while Izuna attempted to choke his older brother for being so willing to give him away. Naruto and Hashirama just burst out laughing, while Tobirama and Shino both sighed neither of them wanted to deal with this much social interaction. Kaira and Kiba just kept grinning at one another, those two were in a whole other world and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what their subliminal messages were saying to one another.

She looked over to Neji who was also just watching the others as well. “They get along so well.” He said and she nodded. “They take good care of me as well…” she said and he just turned to look at her. “Hey, we will be right back, most likely before all the food gets here so don’t worry about us.” Neji said and stood motioning for her to follow him. She turned back and caught Hashirama’s gaze as he held out a hand to her. She smiled as she held his hand for a second then turned to follow after Neji. She noticed all the chatter from her friends had ceased and they had just watched the interaction between the two, well except Naruto who was super confused by what had just happened.

She turned to see Neji watching her, an interested glimmer in his eyes. She walked over and stood outside the restaurant with him as he stared up at the sky. “So, you moved on from one goof to the next I see.” He said and she blushed a soft pink. “I have to give you credit though, you are an amazing person.” He said and she furrowed her brow at him. “What do you mean?” she asked and he chuckled softly. “Hinata… I was dead. You changed the course of history, and you didn’t even have to use brute force like the rest of us. You have this… calming aura that soothes everyone around you.” He said and she rolled her eyes, which he caught and could only let an amused chuckle escape him.

He opened his mouth to speak, but an arm snaked around his shoulder and he stood frozen. Hinata bit back her amusement as Kaira made her presence known. Ah yes, the flirt was back in full force. “Hinata help…” he managed as she began whispering things in his ear that Hinata was sure to make him uncomfortable. “Oh sweetheart. It’s a right of passage at this point.” Kaira mused only for Neji to swipe at her the moment her other hand reached its intended target. “Ooh, he’s feisty too… I like that.” She mused and Hinata sighed as she tapped Kaira on the shoulder. “Not my cousin please.” She sighed and Kaira only laughed as she apologized to Neji, who preferred to keep his distance now.

“She’s grabby. I should have mentioned that, sorry.” Hinata laughed and Neji just glared at the woman. “Don’t worry, Sasuke is next. Then the one in the hoodie.” Kaira said as she strolled back to sit down. “Should I warn them?” Neji asked and Hinata shook her head. “Nope. She’s with Tobirama, so she’s not going to do anything too horrible because she absolutely loves him. I honestly think he will be grateful for the reprieve seeing as she follows him around doing that to him all the time now.” Hinata sighed and he shook his head and shivered. “I did not appreciate no warning.” He grumbled and Hinata only smiled at him.

“Have you figured out what you want to do?” he asked and she frowned. She didn’t want to think about that right now. She didn’t want to leave anymore, because she wanted to be with Hashirama. But she also didn’t want to have to say goodbye to her friends either. She knew whatever jutsu they had used to get them here, it had taken a lot out of them and she knew they were trying to build up the chakra to get them home. “Honestly… I’ve wanted to go back home since the day I got here…” she sighed and he only offered a small twitch of the lips signifying a smile. “I understand, Hinata. If anyone understands, it’s me.” He said and motioned for her to follow her back in.

She returned to her seat beside Hashirama, while Neji looked to see that his seat between her and Madara was now taken. He made his way over and sat between Tobirama and Shino, while sending a sympathetic glance towards the three Uchiha. Hinata watched as Madara stood and pulled Sasuke and his chair out and swapped them around, eliciting a wicked smirk from Kaira beside her. Hinata looked over to see Tobirama with his face in his hands and she offered him a small smile. He couldn’t keep his embarrassment in check any longer.

She looked over to see that Sasuke was confused about the sudden change of seating, while Madara and Izuna were whispering sorry to him as if the brothers hadn’t just offered him up as a sacrifice to the flirt queen herself. Kaira soon found herself disinterested in the younger Uchiha because he just stared at her. Hinata knew this was a defense mechanism Sasuke had because he was used to fighting off fangirls. However, her attentions soon turned to Shino, who had no such defense mechanisms which was why he always kept himself hidden within his coat. Before she could turn the poor Aburame into putty in her palm Hashirama called out to her and told her to take her seat and leave the poor man alone.

Shino made his way over and sat beside Sasuke, rearranging the table setup once more. Hinata watched as Shino’s shaky fingers meddled with the sleeve of his hoodie. She reached over and patted him on the shoulder. “Sorry, Shino-kun… she tried to pull that on me before as well.” She said and all eyes were on her, although Kaira was just grinning at her. “I mean, I can do it again if you want me to. Maybe I could even get a feel this time.” Kaira said making a grabby motion from across the table. Hinata’s face flushed dark red and she tried her best to glare at the Inuzuka. Shino’s head hit the table and she looked over to see he held a goofy look on his face, a small stream of blood trailing from his nose.

Izuna was leaned over backwards with the same idiotic look on his face and blood streaming from his nose as well. Madara and Sasuke were both looking away trying to hide their pink blushes. She looked at Tobirama and he was just staring at Kaira with a raised brow, there was no visible blush so she just assumed he was sick of her shit. Naruto had a goofy look on his face and she shook her head at him. Neji was appalled, but honestly he shouldn’t be surprised. Kiba was just amused with this as it had once been him being the flirtatious Inuzuka following her around. She glanced up to see Hashirama watching her intently. She reached under the table and nudged him slightly.

He cleared his throat and reached to grab Hinata’s hand under the table. “As always, Kaira is a conversation starter.” He said and Hinata knew he felt awkward now. She smiled as he began rubbing his thumb over her hand. “So, how long are you going to be staying here?” he asked and they all looked around at each other. “Honestly, we’ve been ready to go for a few days now… we were just trying to figure a few things out.” Neji said and Hinata watched them carefully.

“What things would that be?” Hashirama asked and Naruto grinned at him. “Well for one, we wanted to make sure Hinata would be safe if she decided not to come with us.” He said and the group nodded. “We also wanted to get to know you all, to ensure we wouldn’t be leaving her to the wolves.” Sasuke sighed with a pointed look at Kaira, who sent him a wicked smirk. “We also wanted to come and see the dynamic of things… to see if we should even offer for Hinata to come back.” Shino said and Hinata looked over to him in shock. They weren’t going to even ask her?
“You have to understand Hinata, we have been scouting for a while to see if there would be any use even asking you to come home. We had been doing recon as best as we could for the entire week before you came to us that day. But when we were discovered within the first thirty minutes of arriving here, we knew that there was little to no use in really hiding anymore.” Neji mused and Tobirama sent him a smirk. Hinata knew full well Tobirama could find anyone anywhere.

“Why weren’t you going to even ask me if I wanted to go home?” she asked and even Sasuke released an amused chuckle at this. “Hinata, anytime we saw you, you were almost always with Hashirama. If you weren’t with him, you were holding a baby.” Neji said and the others nodded. “I kinda assumed it might have been your baby and I told them that.” Kiba said as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Don’t worry brat, sometimes my nose gets confused when it comes to that too.” Kaira mused and Kiba just continued to scratch his head.

Hinata began giggling behind her hand and the two Inuzuka blinked at her oddly. “What you got our sniffers fucked up and you’re laughing?” Kaira grumbled and Hinata nodded. Hashirama squeezed her hand softly and she looked up at him still smiling. He was smiling at her as well as he leaned down and whispered something in her ear. Her face flushed dark red and she folded both hands in her lap and stared down at them. Kiba and Kaira let loose an uproar of laughter while the others were confused as they hadn’t heard what Hashirama had said.

“D-don’t say anything!” Hinata stammered and the two just continued to laugh. “Thank you all for coming to find me.” Hinata managed and they all offered her small smiles at this, except Shino, who grumbled something under his breath which made Naruto groan in irritation. “Look man! Let it go already!” he whined. The food finally arrived at the table and she looked to see Hashirama offering her vegetable tempura once more. She leaned to take a bite from the food and was caught off guard when instead of the bite of food, she ended up getting a kiss. He only grinned at her as he offered her the bite once more and actually gave it to her.

“That is why we weren’t going to make this hard on you, Hinata.” Neji said as he fiddled with the rice in his bowl using his chopsticks. She finished chewing her bite and looked at them and they all shared the same look. It wasn’t sad, it was more so happy that she had found someone who could take care of her better. “Thank you for coming for me. I missed you guys.” She said and they all nodded to her. “I wish I could go with you… but I can’t. I want to stay.” She said and they all nodded to her once more.

:-:-:-:

Hashirama couldn’t help himself. Those words… he had been begging to hear that because he hadn’t wanted her to leave, but he also knew he couldn’t ask her to stay either. “I will take good care of her.” He said and received a dirty look from Madara and Izuna. “You know damn well it won’t be just you!” Madara grumbled and Izuna nodded in agreement. “Even I kinda like the mouse.” Tobirama said and he smiled upon hearing Hinata’s giggles. “You didn’t used to.” She said and he huffed. “Honestly back then I thought you were too soft to be a shinobi. Proved me wrong huh?’ he mused and she laughed once more.

“Hell yeah, she did. Izuna was down for the count for an entire week.” Madara chuckled and he was amused once more when all eyes were on Hinata once more. “You fought Izuna?” Naruto asked and Hashirama chuckled as she sighed. “She fought both of them at the same time.” He said and Hinata sent him a dirty look. He knew she didn’t want him trying to hype her up in this situation so he wasn’t going to any further. He watched as her lips formed a small smile.

He wanted to explore what a relationship with her could hold. She was so tender and kind, a heart so pure and filled with love. She was such a wonderful person and he loved that about her. Which is why he was so willing to let her leave. He knew she was once in love with the blonde man and he didn’t want to get in the way if she wanted to go home with him once more. He just watched her as she tried to change the topic and eventually they found something else to talk about.

He looked down to his plate and just continued to use his chopsticks to push food around his plate. She actually said she wasn’t going to leave… he honestly couldn’t believe it. all he had heard her say as she tossed in turned in her sleep was that she wanted to go home. Now she wanted to stay? His gaze flicked up to her and he watched as she smiled brightly as she spoke to the others. Was she staying for him? Every movement of her lips drew him in. He wanted to feel his lips against hers once more. The softness of her lips was intoxicating to him and she was like a drug he couldn’t shake.

He yearned to run his fingers through her hair once more, the dark depths of her hair engulfing his fingers in its softness. He looked down to see her hand still entwined with his and he couldn’t stop the smile that crawled across his lips. When he glanced back up, he saw that Madara was smirking at him from across the table. He sent his friend a pleading glance to which the Uchiha just smirked more. “Looks like we may need to end our lunch, seems Hashirama wants a different kind of snack. Everyone’s eyes were on him now and he sent Madara a dirty look while trying to laugh to play off his embarrassment at having been caught staring at Hinata.

He was going to kill Madara.

He paid for the food and made his way to stand, all of them following suit. Madara scrambled to chase him out, as did the rest of them. “I’m going to kill you.” He bit out and Madara only laughed as he slung an arm over his shoulder. Hashirama glared intently at the offending arm and shrugged it off. His blush deepened as he heard Kaira flirt with his younger brother once more. “If Hashirama gets some does that mean I can as well?” he pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to will away the blush. He ignored the sound of struggling behind him, which he knew was most likely Tobirama trying to get away from his flirtatious girlfriend.

He jumped slightly as he felt fingers link with his own and he blinked down at Hinata. “I know Madara was just teasing.” She said softly and he faked a small smile at her. She may not think about it that way, but he was most definitely thinking those things about her and he was embarrassed to think that way. He had been ashamed of his thoughts because he had wanted to kiss her and run his fingers through those locks of hers, well before they were even… well… whatever they were now. He understood that they both liked one another and had feelings for each other, but they honestly hadn’t discussed what was next between them. Were they going to officiate this as a relationship or were they going to see how this went as time passed?

She was a good woman, one who he knew wanted things in life that he could certainly give her. He knew she wanted a husband, children, a family of her own… but he wasn’t sure if she honestly wanted that with him. She loved his son, which he absolutely adored about her. She was a gentle and kind woman who deserved only the best things in life, and if that wasn’t him he could be ok with that. He looked down at her once more and he smiled a real smile this time.
“Hashirama?” she said it softly, so softly that he almost hadn’t heard it. “Yes?” he asked and she blushed softly, which he honestly didn’t understand. “Do you really want me to stay?” she asked and he nodded. “Not sure why you would honestly ask that…” he sighed and she blushed a little darker, her face tilting down to try to hide it from him. “So, you weren’t just flirting with me when you kissed me?” she asked and he released a laugh, which made her watch him with widened eyes.

“Do you really think so little of me that I would toy with you like Madara does?” he asked and she snapped her gaze back down to her hands. “How you wound me. Sitting here holding my hand this whole time only to try and spring that one on me.” He chuckled and he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. Her cheeks were still a rosy color and her lips were pouting outward. He reached over and touched two fingers under her chin. He gently made her look up at him and the moment he leaned down to try and kiss her, he felt a hand slap itself to his lips.

Oh… he was going to kill Madara alright. There was no doubt about it. All the man did anymore was meddle in things he could handle himself, get in the way, and do his best to embarrass him at every given moment…  “Sorry. We just need to borrow you for a second.” He glanced back to her once more as they pulled him away. She just smiled up at him as he left and he sighed. He looked back towards the two that had pulled him away and he shot them an irritated look. “What?” he grumbled and Madara and Tobirama both rolled their eyes.

The two of them pointed to where Hinata and Neji were talking and he frowned as they seemed to be having a small argument. “We figured they could use some time to speak amongst themselves.” Tobirama said and he nodded, his brother was right. They did have things to discuss, such as the fact Hinata had made it clear she didn’t want to return home with them. He smiled softly as she stood her ground against them, for a soft spoken woman she was clearly capable of making her feelings known. The group of them didn’t seem upset by her willingness to stay, but more so prideful of her tenacity.

The brown haired male made his way over to him, not wanting to be in the Naruto-Neji-Hinata argument that was going on the short distance away from them. “You know… I’m happy for her. She’s figuring out who she wants to be as well as finding the strength to stand up against them.” He said and he looked down to the younger Inuzuka and watched him curiously. “Her sitting over there arguing with them means she actually wants to stay. Which means you better not hurt her. She’s staying for you.” He said and he offered the younger man a small smile.
The last thing he would ever do would be to hurt her…

:-:_:-:

Hinata watched as Kiba and Naruto flew through the hand signs for the jutsu that would send them home. She was going to miss her friends, but they had taken enough pictures for her to be able to look back and smile. When the swirling vortex of energy opened up in the middle of their group she waved as they each took turns saying their goodbyes to her before making their way into the vortex. She waved to them enthusiastically even though her soul hurt. She jumped slightly as fingertips brushed over the palm of the hand that wasn’t waving at them.

She tore her eyes away from the group as they left and they drifted up to meet with those chocolate brown eyes she adored. She smiled up at him and tightened her grasp on his hand as she did so. His hair was fully down and she liked it that way. He grinned down at her and her heart fluttered. She had chosen to stay in the past with him… and he looked absolutely thrilled. She gripped his hand a little tighter as she watched the vortex close once and for all. She knew this wasn’t a mistake, this was what she truly wanted. She turned to face him, gently pulling her hand from his grasp. Before she could even say anything his hands found her cheeks and his lips found hers.

She felt her cheeks flush and she couldn’t contain the joy that flooded her. Her arms wrapped around his neck and he pulled her closer to him. This time there was no one around to interrupt them like there had been every time they had tried to kiss before. This was a relief to her, as she had missed the feeling of his lips against hers. She moved her lips against his and she could feel him smile against hers. Her eyes remained shut even after he pulled away from her, she hadn’t wanted their connection to break and she knew he hadn’t wanted it either. What told her that was the fact that the moment he sat down, he had pulled her back to him once more.

She watched him carefully as he pulled her into his lap, tossing her legs around both sides of his waist. They just sat there for a moment in silence, only for their lips to meet once more. When they parted this time, he sighed, slipping his eyes shut. She watched him carefully, wondering if something was upsetting him. Her fingers made their way up to his cheeks and she traced over his cheekbones before beginning to play with the hair that framed his face. “What’s wrong, Hashirama?” she asked softly, her eyes searching his features for anything that could tell her what he was thinking.

“It’s… just so odd…” he sighed and she furrowed her brows lightly. She couldn’t understand what he meant by that. Before she could even part her lips to ask him about it, he continued speaking. “This whole thing between us… I tried so hard to make things work with Mito, but that proved so… difficult…” he sighed and she just watched him silently. She knew he was going to continue because this was something he seemed to really want to talk about.
“With you… I tried so hard not to feel this way for you… but I fell in love with you so easily…” he said and her heart fluttered once more. She couldn’t find the words to say to him because she honestly didn't know what to say in all reality. She just wanted to be right here with him for as long as she could be. Not because being with him would make her stronger, but because being in such close proximity to  It made her feel… whole. Like she had finally found the missing piece of her puzzle.

She understood what he meant though… falling in love so easily? She had tried her best not to fall in love with him too… she had fought day in and day out to tell herself she wasn't in love with him and that she just admired him. But that honestly wasn't the case anymore. Her avoidance of him made her want to be near him, her denial of her feelings only made them so much stronger. Sure… some would say it was just pent up sexual frustration between the two, but she knew that wasn't what this was. She knew this… this was a love that had built up from a friendship where they were forced apart.

Her eyes met his once more and she couldn't help but give into the urge to place her hands in both of his cheeks and press her forehead against his. She didn't kiss him, even though the urge was there she denied herself of that. Her eyes were closed as she was just listening… to the thumping of her own heart and the soft words that escaped his lips. “I fell in love with you and I never even tried…” those words made her smile. “I never had to try either… it just… happened and I didn't realize it…” she said softly and he chuckled at this.

“So, Kaira was right.  Soulmates do just fall out of the sky.” He mused and she couldn't help the smile that broke out over her lips at this. Her friend hadn’t been wrong in the slightest. Her leaned away from her and she just watched him silently trying to figure out what he could be thinking about. Her was just watching her, searching for something, but his eyes have nothing away as to what.

“Hinata… I… I just want to be sure that this… you and I… this is something you truly want to pursue. I want to ensure you will have no regrets on staying here with me when you could have left with them…” he said softly and she just sat there for a moment. She honestly couldn't find any regrets in staying, she had no doubts about staying with him in the slightest.

A small smile crossed her lips over more as she scanned over his features, drinking in every detail of his face. He was… infuriatingly handsome with a bright personality that shined light even in the darkest of places… She loved that about him though. “Oh… Hashirama…” she sighed softly as she hugged him tightly. “There was never a doubt in my mind that I wanted to stay… I want to pursue a relationship with you. You honestly think I would leave you and Itsuki?” She whispered softly as she gauged him for his reaction. He just grinned at her as she tucked his hair over his shoulders gently. She loved him and she loved Itsuki… there was no way she would ever be ok with leaving them behind.

“Even though Itsuki is not my son I love him as if he were.” She whispered and he only grinned brighter. He started his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly, burying his face in her neck. He whispered something against her skin and her face flushed darkly. She couldn't have heard him right… could she? He whispered it again and her heart skipped a beat, she had heard him ccorrectly… She could feel the embarrassment creeping up, not because of what he said per se… but the fact he would spring it on her like this… her eyes fluttered shut and she felt the darkness ebbing in.  The only thing echoing in her mind were those words and she honestly felt… happy… So, why had she fainted?

“Hinata… I want more children someday… but I don't want them with just anyone… I want them with you…”

Perhaps it was the fact that she was quite literally straddling him when he said it… or maybe it was the way he said it… she wasn't sure honestly… all she knew was now she was taking an unwilling nap and he caused it…