Disclaimer: I, the author of this work of fiction, hold no claims to any an all references, names, places, Ideas or objects that belong to their respective owners. This is a no-profit work of fiction, based of the works of Naruto, owned by Masashi Kishimoto. This is for entertainment purposes only, and the Original Ideas are the property of the author. Please do not distribute, duplicate or in any way use in any form without consent of the author.

A/N: Hey all! And welcome to my first 90 pure Naru/Hina fiction! This story is AU, and takes place after the time skip. Also, It contains hints of the following pairings; ShikaTem, NejiTen. Hope you all like it!

Chapter 1: The Choice is Obvious

Shino and Kiba stood in Hokage's office once again. It seemed like after every mission they were asked to stay behind after Hinata had left. Of course, they weren't mad at all. Quite the contrary. Hinata was their friend, and they were happy to defend her. The Godaime entered, flashing each a cold glare before sitting behind her desk, staring down Shino and Kiba. Kiba was having a hard time figuring out if the look in the Godaime's eyes was anger or disappointment. Shino didn't look, since he didn't care..

"So...you failed another mission. And once again, it seems that it was Hinata's fault. Is that true?"

Kiba opened his mouth as to formulate a sentence, but his mind had yet to form the words, and so no sound came out. Shino cleared his throat, looking up at Tsunade. He already had this conversation mapped out.

"Yes Godaime. However I do not believe that it is of any concern."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"Not of any concern? This is the 5th time Shino. The 5th. I need to take some course of action!"

Shino pushed up his glasses passively.

"And what...action...are you planning to take?"

A tone in Shino's voice, made Tsunade shiver slightly. He was good at that. Shinzune stepped in.

"Shino-kun...please listen. Hinata is already a chunin yet her abilities are-"

"Are just not up to standards." Tsunade interjected.

Shino raised an eyebrow.

"Her Skills? No, that's not it. Hinata-chan has plenty of skill. What she lacks is-"

It was Kiba's turn to speak, he had finally found the words.

"Confidence. She's strong, hell Neji spars with her, but she just doesn't believe in herself. Always second guessing, always saying 'mabey' and 'I don't think I can...' As a result..."

Tsunade nodded.

"Yes, I see. So it's not a question of skill, it's a matter of self respect. Sigh...well that's not nearly as easy..."

Shino stood up.

"If that's all you need Godaime, then I will depart."

Kiba followed suit, and both left the room. Tsunade turned to Shinzune, here eyes calculating.

"Damn...this won't be easy. Have any suggestions on how to raise her confidence?"

"Well I don't-"

Shinzune's eyes caught a name on the Active Ninja list, a certain name caught her eye, and they were returning this very day. A giant smile spread across her face.

"Yes, I do have one..."

Hinata felt miserable. She was trudging slowly towards her home, head hung and feet dragging. Hinata had stopped by Ichiraku to watch Naruto eat, but he hadn't been there, only dragging Hinata's spirits down lower. Also, Ino had tried once to engage Hinata in conversation, but was met with silence. Hinata didn't feel like doing anything, she just wanted to go home and lie in bed. Hinata approached the Hyuga Manor gates while Neji walked past, his travel pack on his shoulder. Apparently he was headed out for a mission.

"Hinata...Uncle is upset with you over your last mission."

Hinata lifted her head a bit, looking into Neji's eyes.

"An informant told him that is was your fault that the mission was a failure, so be careful."

Hinata gave a small nod, dragging herself forward towards the house. Neji looked back, but Tenten came up behind him.

"Hey Neji, Ready to go?"

Neji nodded, still looking back to where his cousin once stood.

"Is something wrong?"

Neji sighed heavily before composing himself.

"No, nothing. Let us be off."

As the two left, Neji closed his eyes.

"Somebody really needs to boost that girls confidence..."

Hinata walked down the hallway to her room, making sure not to make a sound. About half way to her room a beckon of "Hyuga Hinata, enter at once," rang out from the tea room. She had been afraid of this, Her Father was going to punish her. No matter how much she wanted to just run into her room and lock the door, she knew she had to fess up, so she walked back down the hall and into the tea room, only to be met with a cold gaze from her father.

"Sit down and explain yourself."

Hinata sat down as she was told too, taking a sip from the tea that had been placed before her. She knew that, eventually, she would have to explain her blunder, but she was going to stall for as long as possible.

"W-What do you mean father?"

Hiashi, as a Hyuga, had total control of his emotions. Even so, the gaze given to his daughter contained a hint of venomous anger, shaking Hinata to the core.

"Don't even think of trying to stall for time Hyuga Hinata, now as I said before, explain yourself."

Hinata began to shake, clutching her knees with her hands.

"I..I just...I couldn't stop thinking that I would fail...or make a mistake and...and I..."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow.

"And so you completely failed the mission because you were wondering if you would fail? Where is your confidence?! You are a Hyuga, and if you continue to doubt yourself in this way, you shall shame us all! God knows how much shame you've brought on us already. This makes five missions in a row Hinata!"

Hinata hung her head, tears stinging her eyes, threatening to come gushing forth.

"I...I'm sorry father. I promise...I won't..."

Hiashi waved a hand.

"Leave now. And remember this. If I hear that you fail another mission because you've doubted yourself, be sure that I will personally pick you up and throw you out of this Manor! Now be gone."

Hinata, all too happy to leave, stood up perhaps rather too quickly and left the room. She walked for a few feet, but when she was out of eye shot Hinata ran from the house, tears now flowing from her eyes. From the gates to the dirt path up to her house she ran all the way down to her favorite training grounds. Her form quivering, she walked to the center of the field and fell down into the grass face first. There she lie, face in the grass, sobbing quietly to herself.

"Gah!!! Kage Bushin no Jutsu!!"

Hinata's head suddenly perked up, looking over towards the source of the sound.

"T-That voice is-!!"

Suddenly a Naruto clone fell from the sky, crashing to the ground and disappearing with a loud "poof!" A few more clones and the real Naruto hit the ground, as did Rock Lee. The group of clones continued to throw punches of all kinds and dodge their opponent's. After a few well aimed kicks, All that was left was Rock Lee and Naruto, staring each other down.. Both ran forward, disappearing in a flash and appearing a few yards away, both with a fist in contact with the other's cheek. The two skidded way from one another, big smiles on their faces.

"Hah...hah...not bad...Fuzzy Brows...hah..."

"hah...Same to you...Naruto-kun! Your taijutsu, hah...has improved, however..."

Rock Lee was gone in a flash, and almost instantly a leg appeared out of nowhere, slashing rapidly towards Naruto's head. It connected, and the head "poofed" out of existence.

"W-What!?"

Naruto came up from behind, delivering a powerful kick to Rock Lee's lower back. Naruto than grasped Rock Lee's shoulder and slammed a powerful chakra coated fist into his stomach, sending the Green Beast crumpling on the ground.

"Heh, however what!?"

Rock Lee sputtered, huffing like mad.

"Very impressive...Naruto-kun."

With that, Rock Lee fell to the ground. Naruto jumped up into the air.

"Ha ha, alright!! Now the score is 45 to 44, I'm back in the lead baby!!"

Hinata was only a few feet away, still lying on the ground.

"Dammit Hinata, say something to him!! Stop being so timid and just SAY SOMETHING!!"

"T-That was...that w-was very..im-impressive N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto stopped jumping up and down, turning his attention to the girl on the ground. His eyes widened in surprise, but soon his face was lined with his trademark smile.

"Oh, thanks Hinata! Sorry, I didn't see you there!"

Naruto stopped rubbing the back of his head, narrowing his eyes to look at Hinata.

"...Hey, Hinata, have you been crying?"

Hinata gasped, putting a hand to her face. Sure enough, there were still some tears in her eye. As she was finding the words to explain, Naruto knelt down, wiping the tears from her eye.

"You were...what were you crying about Hinata?"

Hinata turned beet red. The prospect of Naruto not only being this close to her, but the fact that he had just touched her face, wiped away her tear...

"I...I-!!

With that, Hinata promptly fainted.

Naruto gasped, catching her limp form.

"Ah! Hinata! Hinata! Damn, she's gone and fainted..."

"Ah, Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto turned to see a runner heading towards him. He stopped a few feet away from Naruto, huffing.

"Ah...and Hinata Hyuga as well, perfect. You two have been summoned by the Hokage."

Naruto stood up, laying Hinata carefully on the ground.

"Did she say why?"

The runner shook his head.

"The Hokage did not give me such information. However she wants you there post haste."

Naruto nodded, picking up Hinata bridal style, no clue that this act could be easily interprited the wrong way. The messenger gave Hinata an uneasy look, turning to Naruto.

"Um...is she alright?"

Naruto gave the man a weak smile.

"Yeah, it happens all the time. Don't worry."

With that, Naruto headed off towards the Hokage's office, Hinata's form in his arms.

Tsunade reclined back into her chair, smiling wide. Her assistant had proved quite resourceful.

"I must say Shinzune, you're a genius! Never would I have come up with such an obvious plan."

Shinzune was smiling herself, pleased at Tsunade's praise.

"Thank you Godaime. I'm just glad we can get this resolved."

Tsunade nodded.

"Yes, so am I. Now that we have it all worked out. I've picked a location where, despite the objective, they're bound to run into more danger than they'll think."

"Should we tell Naruto? You know...about the real objective of this mission?"

Tsunade waved a dismissive hand.

"Nope. If we do, he'll get nervous, and suck at what he does best. We'll leave it alone and let him do his thing. Besides, he has an effect just be being near her."

"Yes, that's true."

Tsunade laughed.

"It'll all work out for the best, I'm sure they'll do fine!"

A knock was issued from the door, and a chunin poked his head in.

"Godaime? Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga are here to see you."

Tsunade laughed.

"Just who we were talking about, send them in."

The chunin nodded, and in came Naruto and Hinata, the latter of whom had a major blush (Having just found out Naruto had carried her bridal style across town, Hinata was still in shock...)

"Hey, Tsunade-baachan! Why did you call me here? I just got off mission a few hours ago! I love a challenge, but I haven't even had time to grab some ramen!!"

Tsunade laughed, throwing Naruto off his stride.

"Yes, yes I know Naruto. That's exactly why I picked this mission for you. It's relatively easy-going, and since you've been swamped with missions day in and day out, I thought you might like it. As for you Hinata..."

Hinata looked up towards Tsunade, averting her eyes.

"You need to unwind, take a small break. And since this mission only requires two people, I thought it would be perfect for the both of you!"

Naruto laughed to himself, giving Tsunade a thumbs up.

"Alright! So what's this mission you've got for us?"

Tsunade cleared her throat, grabbing a file from her desk.

"There's a small village on the boarder of the Lands of Fire and Earth called Tenchiku. It's quite small, a population well below 1,000. Lately, they've been under attack from bandits. They have no idea where their base is located, so they've requested two shinobi to work under cover as guards and defend from bandits, and draw out their leader. They've requested assistance for one month. So, here is your mission. You are to head to Tenchiku by the morning tomorrow. When you arrive, tell them who you are, and they will give you a house, money, all that. You are to live there for one month and fend off any bandits and, if possible, find their leader. Understood?

Naruto nodded, but Hinata was flipping out.

"W-What!? A month! A month alone with Naruto-kun! I'm...I'm so happy but...Oh no, can I do it!? I can't even go 10 minutes without fainting in front of him...how will I last a month!?!"

Hinata was snapped out of her panic by a warm hand on her shoulder.

"What do you think Hinata? We're totally going to blow this mission out of the water, right!?"

Hinata smiled, Naruto's embracing hand, his warm, confident voice, they had their affect on her.

"Yes, let's do our best!"

Naruto smiled.

"Yeah! Alright Hinata, let's go get some ramen and discuss the mission. I haven't had ramen in a week! Ah well, I'll just eat one bowl for every day I was gone. Oh, and I guess I have to eat a bowl for every day I'll be gone during this mission. And I'll also have to..."

As Naruto, his arm around a very red in the face Hinata, walked away, Tsunade smiled.

"See Shinzune? Your plan's already working, and it's only been a few minutes! Everything'll go fine!

Shinzune nodded.

"Yes, I hope so..."

That's it for chapter 1. Please review, this is my first pure NaruHina fic.