I would like to apologize for my long hiatus. My hard drive crashed and I lost about 9 chapters worth of content past chapter six, along with another two chapters for my other fic, Why It's Forbidden.

I also have dealt with a lot of personal stuff over the past year or so and I'm hoping now that it's all said and done I can get back into it. So, once more I apologize.

Ok Chapter 7 here we go!

Hinata woke up with a bounce in her step. She had set her alarm a little earlier than normal so she could get ready for her date with Naruto. When she had got home last night her father and sister seemed utterly confused. She was smiling and graceful, not that she wasn't usually, but nothing could damage her spirits at the time.

She decided to actually get a little more dressed up for her date than what she would usually. She chose a knee length white dress that covered her shoulders and most of her upper torso. The dress had a black bow that wrapped around the back and tied in the front a few inches beneath her bust and right above the waist. 'If Ino were here she would be forcing me to show off more of my 'assets' as she would say.'

Hinata blushed at the thought of showing more than what she was ready for. 'But would Naruto want me to show off more? He is the only person I would ever want to show them to, but even so. Would he even like my breasts? Maybe he doesn't like larger chested women. No! I can't think like that. It's only going to deter me from my date with Naruto.'

Once she was dressed, she sat down in front of the vanity in her room. She decided to change her hairstyle some for her date. She began curling her the bottom part of her hair, giving the top a straight style coming into the curl that rested right at her shoulder blades, all the while thinking about her date. 'I wonder where he is going to take me. So long as I'm with him I couldn't care less. But am I overdressed? Maybe I should- No! Again, no depressing thoughts, I'm going to be on a date with Naruto, it doesn't matter, I at least do hope he wears something other than his track suit though.'

Hinata finished with her hair and gave a smile at her reflection. She really hoped Naruto liked what she had done. 'Maybe just a bit of makeup.' She turned her attention to the makeup supplies she did have. She never used much but it was a special occasion, her first date with Naruto! She wouldn't get tired of thinking about it any time soon. A little lip gloss and blush later and she was ready for her date with Naruto.

She checked the clock it was still only half past ten in the morning she would have to wait another hour before Naruto stopped by to pick her up. She couldn't think of anything else to do so she decided to read some.

She scanned over several of the books skipping over the Icha Icha books, she didn't need those kind of thoughts before her date. So she settled on one of the lesser known books by Jiraiya of the Sannin, Tales of a Gutsy Ninja. She loved the book when she was growing up. It always reminded her of her blonde haired crush. 'I wonder, is this book where Lord Hokage and Lady Kushina got their name for Naruto? If it is then that would kind of make Lord Jiraiya his godfather in a sense. After all, he did teach Lord Fourth Hokage, so maybe a grandfather figure? Also he could have chosen a less favorable name, like Menma. I don't think Naruto even likes menma.' Hinata barely noticed that she hadn't flipped a page and she was stuck on just the name of the main character in the book.

'Naruto. You have no idea how happy I am right now.' A pleasant sigh escaped her lips as she began reading more into the novel, it wasn't much longer until her date. Once again she smiled.

XXX

"Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze!" Kushina's voice sounded out. "Where do you think you're going!?" She shouted at him as he took a step out the front door. Her fiery red hair standing on end, irked with her son.

"I told you that I was going on my date with Hinata." He had turned back to see his mother scolding him. He flinched as he saw the anger in her eyes.

"Not in that tracksuit you're not." She grabbed Naruto by the ear and dragged him in a similar fashion Sakura would. In fact, his mom reminded him A LOT of Sakura.

"Ow, ow, ow! You're killing my ear!" Naruto whined as his limbs flailed and he tried to get free but to no avail.

"You're getting in that shower! You haven't properly bathed in several months." She said as she threw him into the bathroom with a loud 'thud' from him hitting his head on the toilet. He laid there sprawled out rubbing his head.

"I would have just done it you know. You didn't have to throw me in here." He sat up still rubbing his sore head.

"Don't talk back to me Naruto. I'll set some clean clothes out for you so when you're done you can get going. And it's not going to be those clothes you always wear! Oh, you two make suck a sweet couple." She finished very happily, almost giddy for her son's first real date.

Stripping off his clothes Naruto took a sniff at his under arm. While it didn't smell bad to him, his mom was right that he needed to shower properly. He could take a twenty-minute shower to get all nice and clean before his date with Hinata.

Stepping into the shower he turned the water to a temperature he was comfortable with. As he washed his mind started to wander. "When DID Sasuke come back to the village? He was still with Orochimaru last I remember. And that story that he told me, I have a vague memory of it but did I really go with them? Sakura agreed so it must be true. AWWWWWW none of this makes any sense to me at all!" Finishing showering all of the suds off of his body, he turned the water off and grabbed the towel to dry. Checking the hand clock, he took in the time. He still had plenty of time to spare before he had to pick Hinata up.

He wrapped the towel around his waist and quickly brushed his teeth again. Stepping out of the now completely steamed bathroom and into his bedroom he noticed the clean pile of clothes on his bed, along with a note from his mom.

"Wear this to your date with Hinata, and NO arguments Naru, GOT IT?"

Sensing the strictness of her voice in the not alone he quickly got dressed in the clothes. She left a pair of black pants along with a nice gray button-down shirt with the sleeves of the shirt rolled up, clasped at the top by another button on the shoulders. Naruto was never really a vain person, that was always the girls in his class, but he did have to say, he did look nice in the outfit.

Heading out to leave he was once again stopped by his mom. She inspected his attire, making sure it was all in order. Stepping around to make sure everything was right, and back in front, she let out a squeal. "You look just like your father, so handsome!" As she gave him a quick hug. "Now go pick her up, and remember, she's a Hyuga, USE. YOUR. MANNERS."

Pushing him out the door and quickly shutting the door behind him, he sweated. "It's not a life or death situation, I think I can handle a date with Hinata." He stepped off the porch and down into the streets of the Leaf Village, on his way to the Hyuga compound.

"Hey, Boss!" Naruto heard a familiar voice and turned around.

"Oh, not now!"

XXX

A knock on the door of the hokage's office sounded through the room. "Come in." Came Minato's voice from the other side.

In walked Tsunade in her usual attire. "You wanted to see me Minato?"

Standing up from his desk he turned to look out the windows of the office on the all too familiar streets of Konoha. "There's a couple of things I wanted to talk to you about. With the upcoming chunin exams, I have entered the temporary squad of Sasuke, Naruto, and Fu."

She smirked. "Interesting. And is Fu already registered as a leaf shinobi then?"

"I saw to all of the paperwork today. I also gave her the official leaf village headband. However, I don't think this sits right with the village hidden in the waterfall."

"What do you mean by that?" Tsunade questioned.

"She's the seven tails jinchuriki. I'm surprised they haven't retaliated, but they also don't know the whole scenario. My fear is, that her leaving her village could lead to conflict. The first hokage spread the tailed beasts out to different villages evenly, and by us having two of them, especially two of the larger number tailed beasts, the other villages might see it as an attempt to raise more power to attain more land or worse, start another war."

Tsunade stayed quiet for a short period. Thinking of what to say next. "Well then? What do you propose?"

"While we were simply helping a young girl, the other villages don't see it like that. I would like to avoid any issues at all with that, so I was going to ask for you to oversee Fu for a bit while we prepare for the chunin exams."

"Is that all? Minato you acted as if war had already been declared. Though, I suppose it is better that we keep the situation quiet." She looked at his expression and quickly added, "That's not all you wanted to talk about, is it?"

"No. Naruto just woke up and he's getting better, from what I can see with his healing. There's still some concern for his seal though. I want to keep an eye on him away from others. Which means I want to leave the village for a short while before the chunin exams in five months. I would also like to train him some during this time period. So I will be leaving the village temporarily."

"Minato, you're the hokage. You cant just take a three month vacation while you train Naruto. The village needs you along with all of the work that's involved."

"That's why Tsunade, I'm having you fill in as hokage in the meantime."

AGAIN, SO SO SORRY. I promise these will start coming regularly again. This was also a short chapter so I could just get back into it. I may come back and edit this chapter as well so I can probably get it more flowing into the rest of the story. I appreciate the wait you guys.