Chapter 3: Together, We Bond

After 2 and a half months of leadership training, they were finally free to do their duties by themselves.

Naruto basically memorized everything there was to know about Konoha: its past, its people, its economic and market status, its history of past Hokages, its relation with neighboring villages, and he probably knew the name of every clan there was in the village. He was head of all trading affairs, he was board leader of every meeting there was to be, he had the authority to send out teams and conduct whatever mission there was needed to completed, and he was required to attend every important event that will happen in the village.

Hinata was now an expert at knowing how the education system ran in the ninja academies, she knew every jutsu and tricks in the books that there was to know, and she had more knowledge of everything about Konoha right now than she's ever had because of reading all those documents. She's spoken and worked with respected ninjas in the village that she's only ever dreamt of meeting and she had the authority to share whatever responsibilities Naruto was in charge of.

It was a lot to take in.

They were exhausted by the end of the training and the real thing just started.

Naruto sat in his office, with a major headache, signing off a team of jounin to a mission. "Report back to me within a month. Since I am assigning you guys to an A-rank mission, if there are any complications or life-threatening situations, notify me and I will send help immediately." He replied before the masked ninjas dispersed from his office.

He sighed and turned his chair around so that he was looking out at the village. He wondered what Hinata was doing right now...it's been a while since they've even spoken. He didn't really expect that there would be so much distance between them when he became Hokage. He didn't know how their marital bond would grow when they didn't even have time to see each other. He didn't know if he would ever learn to love her back if he didn't even get to know her on a personal level.

His thoughts were cut short when he heard the door open. The chakra presence felt all too familiar and then to his surprise, he turned to see Hinata walk in, holding a bag.

Hinata spent her morning going over what trade products were being imported and exported out of Konoha right now. She didn't even know how the trade system worked until now.

She also paid a short visit to Ino's flower shop and the hospital to see Sakura. She hasn't even seen or talked to them since the wedding ceremony so she figured she might as well drop by and greet them.

She also stopped by for a short while at the Hyuuga household to say hello to her father and sister and to pay her respects to Neji, whose picture was hung on the wall in their main Hyuuga compound before she continued on with her busy day.

After reviewing the progress of the Genin at the ninja academy, she rushed home to quickly make some food because she had an hour before she and Naruto were going to go see and approve the grounds for the Chunin Exams.

She smiled proudly at her bento boxes and set them nicely in a small bag before she headed out. This would be the first time she will be visiting Naruto in his office and it would also be the first time they would be eating lunch together.

She barely had time to make breakfast because they both had to be up early to tend to important matters, so this was special to her.

On her way up to the Hokage's official workplace, she had to bow countless times because there were so many people in the Konoha headquarters that greeted her. She sighed in relief when she finally made it to his door and she quickly fixed herself before reaching for the doorknob.

"Good afternoon, Hokage." She greeted him and closed the door behind her.

"You don't have to be so formal." Naruto chuckled at her as she sat across from him. "What are you doing here? It's the first time you've ever visited me in my office."

"The next Chunin exams are coming up, remember?"

Naruto blinked for a moment, and then his eyes widened. "Oh shoot! I totally forgot about that!" He remembered that he and Hinata were required to go oversee and approve the training grounds, arena, and the designated places where the tournaments were going to be held.

Wow, talk about luck. He was just thinking about how he didn't get to spend time with her and now they get to do this together. This was also the first time they would be out in public together since their marriage ceremony in front of the village.

Hinata held up the bag in her hand. "We have an hour till we have to be there, so I had some extra time to make some food. I was thinking maybe we can have our first lunch together?" She almost laughed when his eyes immediately lit up.

"Of course! That'd be awesome...I was just having a headache and I didn't have breakfast either."

Hinata took out the two bento boxes from the bag and placed one in front of him and one in front of herself. In each bento box, there was onigiri, yakisoba (Japanese noodles), tamagoyaki (rolled up omelets), salted teriyaki salmon, slices of fish cake, small steamed buns, and a small batch of salad on the side. She also took out a small pitcher of tea and two cups and placed it on the desk.

"Enjoy." She replied before handing him the chopsticks.

He excitedly took the chopsticks from her and opened his bento. "I'm so lucky to have you! You always cook the best things ever!"

Hinata blushed at his statement and then Naruto also felt embarrassed when he realized what he just blurted out.

"Well, you do always cook delicious foods, hehe." Naruto grinned cheekily at her, trying to lighten up the suddenly tense mood.

Hinata was glad and loved the fact that he wasn't such an awkward person. She picked up her own chopsticks, but before she ate, she once again glanced up at him and made a faint smile.

"...I'm lucky to have you, too."

Memories came rushing back when they were in the Forest of Death.

"Oh man, this is where everything started." Naruto sighed nostalgically.

There were a group of three jounins, including Shikamaru, Kiba, and Tenten, that came with him and Hinata. They were chosen to be in charge of the Chunin exams during this season.

"Will we be using this place for the second round again?"

Naruto glanced over at Hinata. "Should we? It did create multiple challenges for us so I think it'd be good to use it again. This was the place where true teamwork was being tested."

Hinata looked around for a moment before nodding. "Ok, then. Write this place down as the official grounds for the second stage...but we should use a different part of the forest to ensure that there will be no cheats. Teams will also be changed to four instead of three." She directed and looked at Tenten to make sure she recorded every decision that was being made at this moment.

Naruto was quite impressed that she was able to come up and stand by her own choices. Normally, she would probably just wait for his decision and go along with whatever he wanted.

"And the finals?" Hinata averted her attention back to him.

"I've talked to the Kazekage and he has agreed to let us use the Sunagakure Arena, so we'll go with that. Temari and Kankuro are already doing preparations. We'll travel to Suna in three weeks to see if everything's done." Naruto turned to Shikamaru. "Make sure Temari sends in the scroll with the information that we need within a week. I need to know the list of the names of both all the jounins that are participating and the team that they're leading."

Shikamaru nodded and then let out a small sigh. Temari was his fiancée now and he knew it was going to be troublesome to run into her again after a whole month of not contacting her after she returned to Suna to help Gaara for a while.

"Kiba, can you and Akamaru scan the region of this forest and then report back to me by tomorrow morning once you find a good area? Be safe. There are unknown parts that have yet to be discovered in this forest, so retreat immediately if you feel as if there's a threat."

Kiba bowed slightly. "Yes, Hokage sama."

Naruto still wasn't used to that. Instead of just calling him "Naruto," all of his friends referred to him has Hokage...which he knew was a sign of respect and because it would be dishonorable to call him anything otherwise, but he just needed time to get adjusted to it.

"We'll get things finalized by tomorrow night and report back to you as soon as possible." Tenten replied as she and the others bowed before dispersing back into the village.

Hinata and Naruto stood there alone, in silence.

"...you know, you just keep surprising me." Naruto spoke up.

Hinata was a bit confused. "What do you mean?"

"It's just that...you're still the Hinata that I've always known, but you're so much more outspoken and firm than before. It's different, but in a good way."

Hinata felt her pride swell up at his compliment. He was always the only one who saw her achievements and her growth. In her younger days, when people would question why she was in love with the number one hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja, she would just think to herself...how could she not fall in love with him, when he such an amazing person, inside and out?

He was strong-willed, determined, he genuinely and sincerely cared for his friends, he would do anything to protect this village, and he never gave up on anything or anyone. And she proud to be married to such a man.

"Well, I am the wife of an Hokage now. It wouldn't be fitting if I was always hesitant and shy would it?"

Naruto smiled at her response and then he realized that surprisingly, he really didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day. And the sun wasn't even setting yet.

"Are you busy after this?" He asked.

She thought for a few moments...she didn't have anything scheduled after coming to examine the grounds for the Chunin Exam. The Konoha Council probably thought it would take far longer than just one or two hours, but she and Naruto had already finished in just 45 minutes.

"No, I'm free."

"Me too!"

Hinata blinked. "But don't you have to sign documents? There was a pile of them on your desk earlier-,"

"I can always do those later. Didn't you tell me that you wanted to spend time together? Since we're both not busy right now, what did you have in mind?"

Hinata's heart fluttered because she didn't expect he would remember that. It made her happy that he'd rather be with her right now than to be in his office...and it gave her a small hope that it was possible for him to love her back. She's already accepted the idea that she was going to be in this marriage with an unrequited love for the rest of her life, but now...she might possibly have the happy ending that she's always wanted.

Her eyes roamed around the forest and then an idea struck her.

Naruto immediately blushed and turned around when she suddenly untied her mid-length lavender robe and let it drop to the ground. She was now left in black tights, a short tight-fitted black top, and she had bandages wrapped around her stomach so she wouldn't be showing too much skin. She laughed softly at his reaction and admired the fact that he still respected her enough to look away from her body even though they were now married.

"Naruto, I'm fully clothed. I was just thinking maybe we could spar...it's been a while since I've had a good fight."

Well damn, she just keeps surprising him to no end. Out of all things, she wanted to spar? He expected her to say that she wanted to go on a nice walk together or do something more mellow.

He turned around and yes, although she was fully clothed, he could still see her curves and her feminine figure because her outfit wasn't entirely that modest. She transitioned into a stance and then activated her Byakugan.

Oho. So she was serious about this enough to even use her Byakugan?

Naruto initially had no complaints. It's been a while since he's had a good fight also, and he's never trained or battled with her before, so it was going to be fun to find out what she's capable of.

He smirked and then also let his Hokage robe drop to the ground, leaving him in a more comfortable outfit. He shifted his stance and then focused his attention on her.

"Come at me."

What seemed like hours later, they were now laying on the ground opposite of each other, head to head, and was now staring up at the red tainted sky. They were both panting and sweating with small scratches and bruises here and there from the intense sparring.

"Wow, Hinata..." Naruto breathed out. "...you're super strong. My chakra feels completely drained right now!"

Hinata let out a small laugh. "So are you. I barely managed to even get one punch at you."

"No way! You hit me so many times!"

"But you blocked all of them."

"Because if I really let you hit me, it would've hurt like crazy!" Naruto grinned and turned his head so he could look at her.

She also smiled and turned her head and when their eyes met, she was surprised that she didn't even feel nervous at the fact that they were so close to each other right now. It didn't at feel awkward or nerve wrecking.

Boldly, she reached over and gently patted away the sweat on his forehead. "You've been working hard, haven't you?"

"Yes, but so have you."

"Well, it's convenient that we coincidentally have this time to just relax like this. It feels nice."

Naruto agreed. It was a really good stress reliever when he and Hinata sparred just now...and it was even more relaxing just laying like this with her. He never thought that after just merely three months, he would grow to be so comfortable with her. Even though they didn't see each other often, and there was still so much room to grow in in their marriage, his perspective was slowly changing.

Maybe he was going to get over Sakura faster than he thought.

He still couldn't say that he loved Hinata...but he couldn't deny the fact that she slowly paving a way to his heart.

He reached up and took a hold of her hand that was patting his forehead and he held it, gently running his thumb over her knuckles.

"...during that fight with Pain when I was pinned down...and I asked you why you would risk your life for me..." He gazed into her pearl lavender eyes with a serious expression. "...do you still mean those words that you confessed?"

Hinata's heart skipped a beat. She remembered that moment so clearly. It was the moment where she told him that she would throw away her life for him, to protect him, because she loved him. She didn't have anything to lose in that instant and she felt like it was far too long since she's kept her true feelings hidden. It was just unexpected that he would bring that up right now. She never thought that he would be the first to bring up the topic of love in their marriage, nor even talk about it at all. Just because he was Naruto, and love wasn't something he knew on a comfortable level.

But she answered him. Because he was her husband, and she truly did love him.

"I meant it...and I always will."

All credits to the author and Masashi Kishimoto