Tenten's POV:

I jumped up and was about to spike the ball right into Sasuke's stupid face when I saw something out of the corner of my. Whatever it was distracted me enough to miss the ball. Irritated about missing my shot I looked to see what it was.

I looked towards the hot tub and saw Hinata and Naruto talking and sitting by each other and smiling.

That's good. I'm glad she's finally not being so timid arou – HOLY HELL SHE'S KISSING HIM!!!!!!!

My eyes tried to pop out of my head and my jaw dropped to the ground in shock.

"Tenten what's wrong?" Neji asked. My shocked expression quickly grew into a wide smile as I pointed to our lip-locked friends. They all turned to look and they copied my shocked face, except Sasuke who was too cool to react and Neji who looked very angry.

"Well it's about time!" Ino yelled with excitement.

Our two friends stop staring into each other's eyes to turn and look at us. Naruto seemed happy that we had all seen them. Hinata, on the other hand, looked like she wanted to change her name and move to Canada where she'd open her own little bed and breakfast.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Neji growled.

Oh no, this won't end well.

Hinata started rambling but Naruto took the opportunity to throw fuel on the fire.

"We're dating now, ya know!" he said as he put his arm around Hinata.

Baka. Doesn't he see that Neji wants to murder him?

I saw Neji start to move towards them. I knew nothing good would come from him getting into a fight, so as soon as he got out of the pool, I was in front of him and dragging him into the house.

Before we got inside, my eyes connected with Hinata's and she gave me a silent "thank you".

We got inside and I locked the door behind me, and made sure I was between him and the door.

"Tenten move... now!" he ordered.

I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

Who does he think he's talking to?

"Care to try again?" I asked sarcastically.

"Tenten I don't have time for this, move!" he said again.

I just stood there looking at him and after I made no move to step aside he tried to reach past me for the door knob.

*SMACK*

He staggered back and held the side of his face which had a very amusing look of surprise spread across it.

"What the hell was that for Tenten? That really hurt," he said with a bit of a whine in his voice.

That's better.

"For being an asshole," I said matter-of-factly.

This is why Neji and I make such a great couple. He's kind of stuck up, and petty, and likes to order people around, and very guarded about his emotions. Most people don't get along with him because of that, but I only saw how impressive he was. And I'm the only person who can handle him and isn't afraid of him.

He stood up straight and looked me in the eyes. The fire they previously held was gone, and in place of the fire, there was irritation and disapproving, but there was a third emotion that no one else except me could recognize... concern.

I walked over to him and gave him a strong hug.

"I know you don't always get along with him, and I know you think of her as someone who needs to be protected... but I also know that you just want her to be happy. So please, at least hear her out before you decide to kill him.... besides if you tried to beat him up now, it wouldn't be any fun for you since he's already so hurt and weak," I heard him chuckle dryly as I said the last part. I could feel his heart beat slowly become normal as I spoke and held him.

"Ok," he said as he gave me a light squeeze as his way of saying "thank you" without actually having to say it.

Him and his fragile ego... Oh well, I still love him.

I pulled back and gave him a smile and he kissed my forehead. I pouted at him and he smiled at me and then leaned down and gave me a real kiss.

"Can you go get Hinata for me? I'd like to talk to her," he asked after we ended the kiss.

"Of course, I'll go get her," I smiled and kissed him on the cheek before walking out the door.

Neji's POV:

After Tenten left to go get Hinata, I grabbed a chair and sat down to think about what I was going to say. I closed my eyes and leaned back to try and clear my head so I could do my best to think logically.

I heard the door knob turn and I opened my eyes and stood up to face the door. It opened and I prepared myself to apologize and talk to my cousin. But someone else walked in.

"Oh, it's just you," I said dryly to the spiky haired blonde that walked in. "What do you want Uzumaki?" I asked irritated and turned away so I wasn't looking at him.

"I want to talk to you," he said with a serious tone that I never in a million years would expect to come from him. His tone caught my attention so I turned to look at him and I almost didn't recognize the Naruto I had come to know. His posture was rigid, his jaw was set, and his eyes were filled with determination. Despite this, however, he showed no hostility.

I've never seen Naruto be serious about anything before. Well not this kind of serious. Normally his version of "serious" was exploding in anger and trying to rip someone's head off but now he's... calm.

"Alright, I'm listening," I said as I walked to stand in front of him.

"I'd like your blessing to date Hinata," he said seriously.

"Why mine?" I was taken aback by his answer but I refused to show any sign of weakness around him. "It's her father you have to convince," I added.

"Yes, but yours matters more to me... and to her," he said.

"How do you mean?" I asked again.

"I want Hiashi's blessing because if he doesn't approve, then he'll make it incredibly hard for us to be together because of the amount of physical influence he has over her life, also he is her father and it's only right that I ask him. But you mean more to her than Hiashi does. Neji she loves you like a brother. I know when I see her look at you and talk to you that you are who she truly looks up to. She would do anything for your approval and to make you proud. She could never live with herself if she felt like she let you down... I'm not afraid of trying to get Hiashi to like me and approve of us because no matter what he does, it won't stop her... the only one who maybe can, is you," he finished.

I smiled internally at learning how highly Hinata thought of me.

"Ok, so why should I give you my blessing?" I asked curious about what he would say.

"Listen Neji, I know you and I have never agreed on anything before, and before we never had anything in common but when I see the way to look at her when you think no one is watching I can tell that now we do," he said.

"And what would that be?" I asked.

"We both would do anything to protect her and make her happy. When I got hit by that car and I was unconscious... the only thing I could think about was how much I.... how much I love her... and how much I wanted to open my eyes so I could see her face just one more time. Neji I promise you that there isn't a thing I wouldn't do for her, if it meant I could keep her safe and make her smile," he finished.

I thought about what he said, or more importantly how he said it. I could tell he meant every word.

"I'll think about it. Hinata should be here any minute and after I hear what she says... you'll have an answer," I said after a while.

"Ok, but just... d-don't tell her about what I said... I'm still waiting to say it until the right moment," he said, slightly reverting back to Naruto I was used to.

"What do you mean by "right moment"?" I asked.

"Well, she's never been in a relationship before and she gets scared off kind of easily sometimes... I just don't want to say it too soon and make her feel like we're rushing things too fast. I want her to feel comfortable with everything first, ya know," he explained.

Well he's got a point.

"Alright I won't say anything but –"
I was cut off when the door opened and my cousin walked in. When she saw the two of us together, she became very worried.

"Don't worry Hina, we're being civil. I was just leaving," Naruto said before giving her a bright smile and walking out, closing the door behind him.

"S-so what w-were you two t-talking about?" she asked me nervously in her sweet voice.

I grinned at her and relaxed my posture to make her feel more comfortable.

"Nothing really.... Hinata, I'm.... I'm sorry for how I reacted when I saw you two... you know. I just –"

"I know Neji, it's ok. I just d-don't understand why you d-dislike Naruto-kun so much?" she interrupted to spare my pride.

I laughed dryly at her question.

"Honestly I don't know either.... Jealousy I suppose," I answered.

"W-what do you have to b-be jealous of?" she asked and tilted her head.

"Maybe jealous isn't quite the right word... he just makes me feel so weak. Everyone always says what a genius I am and all the cool stuff I can do, but there are things that I can't do... things no one can do... and yet somehow he can. That and he always takes everything so lightly and never seems to take anything seriously... it just irritates me," I explained.

We stood in silence, neither of us knowing what to say to the other. When I was talking about why I didn't get along with him, I couldn't help but notice the corner of her mouth fighting to curl into a smile. Like she loved everything about him that I couldn't stand.

How could the two of us, who were practically raised together, end up so different?

"Do you love him?" I asked, breaking the silence.

At first she blushed and seemed taken aback by my question, but that soon went away, and instead I saw a side of her that I never knew existed. Her posture was so straight yet relaxed and welcoming, her face was so calm and bright even though she only wore a small smile, but the most interesting change was in her eyes. They were filled with their usual kindness and happiness, but there was something else in them that can only be described as absolute.

"Yes... yes I do. I really, truly do love him," her voice was so light and happy and her eyes sparkled with joy as she spoke those words.

"Then there's nothing I can do except be happy for you," I said pretending to be disappointed by her answer.

"R-really?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah, if he really makes you happy, then I'm happy for you," I barely got the words out before she tackled me into a hug, and I hugged her back.

"Thank you Neji, thank you," she said still hugging me.

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome. But if he ever hurts you in any way or makes you cry for any reason, I will not hesitate to kill him," I said it as a joke but we both knew that I was not only serious, but fully capable as well.

"I know Neji, h-he won't," she said as we separated.

"So when are you going to tell Hiashi-sama?" I asked as we ended the hug.

"W-we're going to tell him t-tomorrow after school.... Neji what if he d-doesn't accept us, what if –"

"Everything is going to be ok Hinata, trust me," I said, cutting her off to keep her from panicking.

"B-but how can you be sure?" she asked worriedly.

"Because I was called genius," I answered and she smiled.

We walked back outside to join everyone else. Hinata left my side and jumped into Naruto's arms. He set her down and walked over to me and stuck out his hand.

I slowly shook his hand and we stared at each other.

"'Thank you Neji," he said.

"Take care of her, or else I will kill you," I promised.

"I will, I promise. And I never go back on my word, believe it!" he let go of my hand as he said the last part and the serious version of him disappeared.

What a shame, I was starting to like the serious Naruto.

"Let's go join the others," he said and walked back to Hinata and picked her up and spun her around.

Hinata's POV:

After Naruto and Neji came back to the group I made sure everything was taken care of. I told everyone that they were not allowed to tell anyone outside of our group about our relationship until Friday and I also filled Tenten in on the gossip she had missed while she was with Neji. It had started to get cold by the time I had finished making sure I hadn't forgotten anything, so everyone dried off and went inside.

Ino ordered a bunch of pizzas for everyone and we all sat down to watch a movie. I didn't know what movie it was or what it was about because I wasn't paying attention at all. When we sat down Naruto pulled me into his lap and I sat in his arms. I spent the whole movie just being happy and soaking in every second of what had become my reality.

After the movie ended we all were sitting around and talking when suddenly Ino got an idea.

"Hey! How about we do some karaoke!" she suggested hopefully.

"Yeah that sounds like fun," Sakura agreed and eventually everyone else agreed too.

"Ok great! Who wants to go first?" Ino asked.

No one volunteered so Ino wrote all our names down on separate pieces of paper, along with some pieces of paper with multiple names on it for duets, and she put them all in a bowl and mixed them up.

"Naruto, since I guess this whole thing is kind of for you, would you please pick a name?" Ino asked as she thrust the bowl into my boyfriend's face.

"Uh yeah sure," he said as he shuffled around the pieces of paper before finally pulling one out and reading it. "Sorry Shino, but it looks like you're up first," he said after he read the name.

"Don't apologize. I'm glad I get to go first. Why? So that I get it out of the way sooner," he said in his usual monotonic voice.

Ino handed him the mic and he picked his song before stepping up to the "stage". The music started and I couldn't believe what he had chosen.

No way he's actually going to try and do "Rap God"? That's like one of the hardest songs ever based on the number of words alone.

We all sat and waited for him to start.

"I'm beginning to feel like a rap god, rap god..."

As he continued with the song, we all became more and more surprised and impressed. By the time he finished we all sat wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

He just rapped the entire song flawlessly.

"Shino-kun... th-that was incredible," I said, still shocked.

"Thank you Hinata," he said as he walked back to his seat.

"W-where did you... when d-did you... how did you do that?" I finally got the words out.

"I practiced," he said like that was a sufficient answer.

"That's it!? You just flawlessly rapped every single word of one of the hardest songs ever, and your only explanation as to how is YOU PRACTICED!?" Kiba exclaimed, obviously not happy that he didn't know his own best friend was capable of this.

"I practiced a lot," Shino said, and we could that was all he was going to say.

"Shino-kun, you should d-do that for the talent show next s-semester," I suggested.

"I'll think about it," he answered.

"Ok, who's next?" Ino asked.

"How about the new couple sings a duet!" Tenten suggested, giving me a teasing smile.

Tenten why do you do this to me? What did I ever do to you to deserve such hostility?

"Yeah that's a great idea! Common Hina let's do it!" Naruto said excitedly.

He's looking at me with those eyes... and that smile... and that face... ugh I really can't say no to him can I.

"O-ok, sure," I said, blushing a little bit.

"Yes! Hina you're the best, ya know! How about you pick the song," he said with excitement.

I smiled and blushed at how adorable and sweet he is.

"Ok," I picked the song and Ino handed me a second me as I walked to stand beside my boyfriend.

"So what song did you pick?" he asked.

I just smiled and winked at him.

"Hit it Ino-chan," and she happily pressed play.

When the music started, Naruto's eyes lit up like Christmas lights.

"Alright Hina-chan, let's do this," he said with a smile and offered me his fist. I bumped my fist with his and gave him a smile and a nod.

(A/N: play song.)

When we finished, we were both smiling at each other just like we had done after our first kiss. We had so much fun singing and we were being super silly and goofy about it as we performed. We, or at least I, had again forgotten that we had spectators.

"OMG they're so adorable I can't even take it!" Ino squealed. I looked over to see her and Sakura fan-girling with each other.

Oh Kami help me... but yeah, we are.

I blushed at the attention but I was still so happy about how unbelievable that this was actually reality and not just a dream any more.

He put his arm around me and I looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back and I got on my tip toes and kissed him on the cheek.

I love you so much Naruto-kun.

-Chapter End-