AN: Holy crap an update. Sorry about my long absence, but I usually go through phases of interest and I quit watching anime and writing fan fiction for the past eight months or so, but now I'm back. I hope to update this story again sometime in the near future, but I have several active stories so I don't know when that will be exactly. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

Naruto dressed in his finest orange and black track suit was walking towards the Hyuga compound; however he was walking at a pace far slower than his usual strut. He was about to have the first date of his life and he was nervous as hell. Yesterday when he got back to the village and heard about Hinata's engagement meeting, he knew he had to do something to stop it. He couldn't let Hinata get married to another guy. So he came up with what he thought was a pretty cool plan and successfully broke it up. Yesterday in front of the whole Hyuga clan he felt confident and calm, but now when it was just going to be the two of them he had no idea what to do or how to act.

Naruto was still adjusting to his feelings for Hinata. Girls had never been a big part of Naruto's life, and when he did think about them most of those thoughts centered on his pink haired teammate Sakura. She had always been around. She was a normal girl with whom Naruto had grown up with playing and fighting with since they were little kids. She was the girl he knew, and that knew him. Naruto always felt like Sakura was the girl he could get and when she always preferred Sasuke, Naruto's life long rival, that naturally fueled his desire to steal her away from him so that he could beat Sasuke in something else.

That's not to say that his feelings for Sakura weren't real. He would still do anything to protect her, and a part of him would always love her, but at some point he came to realize that they were never meant to be. They would always share the bond of teammates and best friends. She also could understand his feelings about Sasuke, as she was the only one in the world who shared that pain and burden with him. Naruto knew that her heart still belonged to Sasuke, and a year ago that would have angered him, but now it made him admire her even more.

Naruto knew full well that Sasuke had done unimaginable evil, and how much pain he caused the world. It would have been easy to forsake him like everyone else had, but Naruto saw that Sakura still held him in her heart, and that took great strength. Naruto now wanted more than anything to save Sasuke, and bring him back to Sakura to make her happy. When Naruto let go of Sakura, it left a wide hole in his heart, a hole that would quickly be filled by the last girl Naruto ever would have expected, Hinata Hyuga.

It's not that Naruto didn't like Hinata, or wasn't attracted to her. Actually since the first time he ever saw her he thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world. Naruto had always believed that Hinata was absolutely perfect; she was beautiful, smart, tough, and so kind-hearted. She truly was the princess of Konoha. The problem with Hinata was that Naruto never concieved that she could have any interest in him. He had faith in himself and his ability to become Hokage, but he never once imagined that a girl like Hinata Hyuga could be his.

Naruto always prided himself on not letting the anger and hatred of the villagers get him down, but now that he had grown up some he realized that they did do some damage. All these years around Hinata and no matter how incredible he thought she was his brain would never let him look at her like he did Sakura. He didn't feel like they were in the same world, he never believed someone like her could ever see him as more than a pathetic orphan. He was always grateful that she treated him like a friend when every other Hyuga treated him like dirt, but never once did he believe that it was anything other than pity from a pure heart.

That day when she stood up to Pain and said that she loved him it shocked him. Even after the battle Naruto still couldn't believe it, Hinata was the dream that he never knew he wanted. Immediately after he was too confused and scared to see her, but after months away with time to reflect he realized that Hinata was his future. If he was lucky enough to be the man that amazing and beautiful woman loved he was not going to let anything stand in their way.

Naruto stopped in front of the gate to the Hyuga Compound and took a deep breath. While he was very determined and confident about his decision to marry Hinata, he still had no idea how to be a boyfriend let alone a fiancé and husband. Now that he had allowed himself to dream about a future with Hinata he was really scared of screwing up. He thought about all the advice Pervy Sage had ever given him about dating, but he immediately shook that out of his head; certain that following any of it would lead to Neji or Hiashi murdering him and Hinata thinking he was a creepy perv.

Naruto reached his hand up to knock on the door but saw it swing open in front of his eyes before he could. Neji stepped out and grabbed Naruto by the arm and dragged him off to the side. Naruto shouted, "Hey Neji, what the heck?"

Neji stopped and let go of Naruto and stared at him severely as he said, "Listen well Naruto, my uncle has instructed me to chaperone your date. Now the last thing I want to do is watch my cousin out with a guy so I will be keeping my distance. But don't get any ideas."

Neji then motioned towards his eyes as he continued, "I will never be out of Byakugan range."

Naruto nodded and then rubbed the back of his head and said, "Ok Neji, we'll just go eat and then maybe train a little. I've got some cool new moves to show her."

Neji continued to stare on with the same serious stare as he said, "Look Naruto I'm glad that you asked Lady Hinata to marry you. I've never seen her so happy. But I am warning you if you do anything to hurt her or treat her badly I don't care if you beat me the last time we fought, or that you've mastered control of the nine tailed fox, I will kill you."

Neji then held out his hand which Naruto shook and winced a little as Neji squeezed it menacingly. They eventually pulled away and Neji said, "Well have fun and remember, I can see you whenever I want to."

Neji then stepped to the side as Hinata, Hanabi and Hiashi came out from the compound. Hiashi walked up to Naruto and held out his hand which Naruto shook. Hiashi asked, "So what is your plan for today Naruto?"

Naruto swallowed nervously and said, "I thought we'd go to my favorite ramen shop and then train together."

Hiashi looked him up and down and said, "That sounds acceptable have her back by a reasonable hour."

He then turned back and walked inside the compound. Hanabi giggled and said, "You guys have fun. Naruto make sure to take care of my big sis, and you have to never be more than an arms-length away as she might faint at any time."

Hinata turned towards her sister blushing with anger and stared daggers at her as Naruto chuckled and joked back, "I think I'd like that."

Hanabi then pushed her sister hard and laughed as she fell forwards only to be caught by Naruto. Hanabi winked at Naruto as she said, "Good job, I approve. Naruto I expect you to be a perfect gentleman because I'm sure she'll let you get away with whatever you want."

Hinata felt her whole body heat up as she was wrapped in Naruto's arms. She was also incredibly embarrassed by her sister's words, but she felt her heart flutter as Naruto smiled one of his wide goofy grins and said, "Are you Ok Hinata? I've never been much of a gentleman but for Hinata I'll try my best."

Hinata smiled back shyly and in a voice barely above a whisper answered, "Thanks Naruto-kun I am fine."

Naruto then helped Hinata get back onto her feet again and then his stomach grumbled ridiculously loud which caused both Hyuga girls to giggle and Naruto to blush as he said, "Sorry."

Neji said, "I'll be off now, but I will be close."

Hanabi turned back and headed into the compound as she said, "Well I'll let you two lovebirds go, Naruto-kun sounds hungry."

Naruto smiled at Hinata and then nervously held out his hand for her to hold. She couldn't believe that this was actually happening. She was going on her first date and just like in all of her childhood fantasies and dreams it was with Naruto. She reached her hand out and felt her heart jump in her chest when Naruto grabbed it and pulled her off towards Ichiraku ramen.

Sasuke Uchiha rolled over in his bed, still surprised by how painful his eyes were, and how drained he felt. He was annoyed at being told to stay put and do nothing by Tobi, but he was also glad to not be involved with this stupid Shinobi war that was coming. Zetsu and Tobi were busy with Kabuto making preparations for it and they mostly ignored Sasuke. Zetsu would come and check on him every once in a while but would always tell him to rest more and take more time.

Sasuke would always ignore Zetsu but decided to not do anything for his own reasons. He really didn't care whether Tobi won or lost this war. For the time being Sasuke only tolerated Tobi as a tool to help him perfect his sharingan, and the day would come when he would no longer be of any use. He really thought Tobi was just another fool out to create his perfect world just like so many others before him. Sasuke knew that there was no such thing as a perfect world, there was just the one that he stood on now, and truly that was nothing but a pile of shit.

Sasuke stood up and got himself a drink of water. These past days had been tedious, but he could tell that soon his eyes would be ready. He had no interest in the war, but it would serve its purpose. It would undoubtedly weaken the Leaf Village. Sasuke did however want that the allies to win in the end, as that would save him the trouble of dealing with Kabuto and Tobi himself. Not that it actaully mattered, but he did have two goals left. The first was to destroy the village that had betrayed his family and turned him against his brother. The small amount of vengeance he had enacted on Danzo was far too little to satiate him. The whole of Konoha needed to be erased from existence, which would be the only punishment appropriate to fit the crimes they had committed against the Uchiha.

The second goal he had luckily could be accomplished right along side the first. He wanted to show Naruto just how pathetic his ninja way was. Strange as it was that stupid blonde haired idiot was the closest thing Sasuke had to a rival and a friend. While his skills and intelligence lacked, Sasuke could not deny that there was something inside him, other than the Nine Tailed Beast, that made him a high level Shinobi.

Sasuke believed that nothing really mattered. He would die just like his brother and the rest of the world. While he was living though he wanted a vessel to measure himself against, and the only man who could be that vessel was Naruto. However to truly defeat Naruto would not be something as trivial as killing him in a battle. Sasuke had no doubt that if it came to that he would emerge victorious over the jinchuriki, but that would not be a worthy victory for Sasuke.

Sasuke wanted a true victory over Naruto and everything he stood for. He fought so hard for things like friendship, loyalty, love; all things that Sasuke knew were meaningless. Sasuke didn't want to kill Naruto, quite the contrary actually. He wanted to break Naruto. Make him see that everything he believes in, everyone he loves, everything he has ever fought for was nothing. It was all a waste. Sasuke wanted to see the look in those blue eyes as he finally understood what it meant to live. That would be Sasuke's greatest victory in life, to share this ennui with Naruto until the day they died.

AN: Thanks for reading, I'll have more cute Naruto and Hinata moments next chapter. I'm taking a very nihilistic approach (And maybe a little gay too) to Sasuke and his character will be bleak throughout. I only started watching Naruto again like yesterday so i am way behind on what's currenttly happening. My story I guess is mildly AU because Naruto has come back from training with Killer B and the war still hasn't started. I haven't decided exactly how to deal with that going forward, but Sasuke will be the main villain throughout and he will be the third biggest character behind the main couple of course. Thanks again for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts.