Chapters: 1-8
The story begins as Naruto, Hinata, and several of their teammates pursue a team of bandits, former Leaf ninja who turned criminal and have kidnapped the child of a Konoha noble. The child is rescued, but the bandits escape and in the process, knock Hinata off a cliff where she is rescued from almost certain death by Naruto. This turns out to be just the thing to break the ice between them and they begin to speak to each other in more serious terms and become open to the idea of dating and seeing where exactly that takes them.
In the meantime the bandits, who are a dating couple called Masaru and Hotaru (herself the sister of Inoichi Yamanaka and therefore Ino Yamanaka's aunt), the talented but subservient Jun, and Rokuro, a former disciple of Orochimaru, make their next plans. It is shown that the reason for their criminal status from Konoha came about because several years prior, as young Leaf ninjas, they had kidnapped Naruto, only a young boy at the time, and used a dangerous ritual to attempt to steal his Nine Tails chakra. The ritual was only partially successful and they were found out in the process. In the present, Rokuro leads them to an old base of Orochimaru's near Konoha and they set up shop. With the job they took of kidnapping a noble child ruined and missing out on the ransom it would have bought, they turn their attention towards Naruto. Now much stronger and better prepared than they were, they plan to steal his chakra and finish what they started. Hotaru and Jun, though, are skeptical about the plan and, in speaking with themselves, reveal that Hotaru is pregnant with Masaru's child.
As this is going on, Sasuke Uchiha reveals himself to a Konoha team and surrenders himself to the village, willing to accept whatever consequences there are to come. Naruto, Sakura, and sensei Kakashi are all happy to have him back, and he himself appears much calmer and better disposed towards the village and his teammates, no longer consumed by hate and revenge. Almost unusually so...
Hotaru and Rokuro infiltrate Konoha to get the lay of the land. Hotaru comes across Ino and tries to withdraw before she is recognized, but Rokuro comes on the scene and accuses Hotaru of ignoring her mission to visit family, inadvertently spilling the beans to Ino. Attempting to eliminate the witness, Rokuro attacks Ino, but is intercepted by Hotaru. Both she and Rokuro are badly injured; Rokuro escapes and Hotaru is captured and led to Konoha's hospital. Rokuro makes it back to their base, where Masaru and Jun have been preparing chakra seals in order to capture the Nine Tails chakra. In order to heal himself and out of sheer malice, Rokuro uses the seals to forcibly rip the Masaru's fragment of Nine Tails chakra, originally stolen in their initial attempt years ago, from him, killing him in the process.
Rokuro comes upon Naruto and Hinata on one of their dates and uses the Nine Tails chakra to capture Hinata, compelling Naruto to come with him back to the base and its chakra seals to fully extract the chakra from him. Once there, they fight and Rokuro is ultimately successful in extracting not just the Nine Tails chakra, but the Nine Tails itself from Naruto. Rokuro becomes the new jinchuriki but cannot control it and disintegrates into a mass of fox-shaped destructive energy. Naruto, his strength fading, leaps into the mass of energy and reabsorbs it into himself.
A month later, Sasuke is released on parole and will be able to resume in time his career as a Konoha ninja. Likewise, Hotaru recovers from her injuries and is released into her brother Inoichi's custody on probation on the condition that he not practice her ninja arts, which she is okay with, as she is still pregnant and finds the life of a civilian to have its appeal. She also renews a friendship with Iruka, who was a teammate of hers when they were younger.
And finally, Naruto continues his relationship with Hinata, but is troubled. In his inner mindscape, he has found that after reabsorbing the Nine Tails, that he has also absorbed Rokuro into himself. He begins to show signs of mental stress.
Tropes
- Almost Kiss: The fourth chapter has Naruto and Hinata almost kissing each other, only for the latter to remember she has to return home for a clan meeting.
- And This Is for...: While fighting Rokuro, Naruto yells "This is for hurting Hinata-chan you son of a bitch!!!" before punching him.
- Anger Born of Worry: After Naruto saved Hinata by jumping off a cliff with her, Sakura finds them hours later and checks his injuries. Naruto then notices that Sakura seems angry, to which she responds by doing an angry rant over him being a complete moron for what he's done and how much she and their teammates were worried over whether or not he and Hinata were still alive.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: Hinata initially thought that Hiashi wouldn't approve of her dating Naruto because of Hyuga standards, even going so far as to lie to her father while her boyfriend was present by claiming he's just a friend. After she explains the whole situation to Hiashi, he replies that he indeed does not approve... of her lying to him while Naruto was present. He then tells her to go apologize to Naruto and that he expects them to be present at the Hyuga residence the next day so they can have a talk and lay down ground rules.
- The Big Damn Kiss: There's the one Naruto and Hinata have when they are sitting on a seat during their first date, which cemented their Relationship Upgrade. He asks if he could kiss her, but she kisses him before he even finishes his question.
- Big Damn Reunion: The final page of Chapter 3 and a good chunk of Chapter 4 focus on Sakura being reunited with Sasuke after the latter decided to return to Konoha for the first time since his Face–Heel Turn, with Naruto joining the reunion halfway through Chapter 4.
- Big "WHAT?!": Both Sakura and Ino do this upon seeing Naruto asking Hinata out on a date for the first time.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the second chapter, in the panel where Sakura and Ino are doing their Big "WHAT?!", Kiba asks Shino "Why are we over here?", only for the latter to reply "I wanted to be in the picture."
- Bridal Carry: After Mina manages to save Akamaru, she is unable to move and tells Kiba to leave her in the forest that they are currently. Kiba decides against it and carries her in his arms.
- I Have Your Wife: In Chapter 6, Rokuro grabs Hinata with a giant hand and threatens to squeeze her if Naruto doesn't give him his fox power.
- Jaw Drop: Both Sakura and Ino do this while shouting a Big "WHAT?!" when Naruto asks Hinata to go on a date with him for the first time.
- Kissing Discretion Shot: The First Kiss between Naruto and Hinata has never been shown.
- Loud Gulp: Naruto does this right before he asks Hinata if she wants to go on a date with him for the first time.
- Love Bubbles: The second chapter uses the flower variant when Naruto asks Hinata to go on a date with him while offering her a flower.
- Mood Whiplash: Sasuke and Naruto's reunion is taken as seriously as you'd expect... right up until Naruto punches Sasuke on the head.
- Official Kiss:
- Naruto and Hinata officially become a couple when they kiss at the end of their first date. He asks her if he can kiss her, but she interrupts him before he even finishes his question.
- When Kiba tries to help Mina back into her bed at the hospital, she instead falls off and drags him on the floor, resulting in their official kiss.
- Picnic Episode: For his first date with Hinata, Naruto decides to have a picnic with her. However, it doesn't go so well, culminating with rain that forces them to go to Ichiraku instead.
- Rescue Romance: In the first chapter, Hinata is knocked off a cliff by one of the bad guys. Naruto tries to grab her hand, but it's too late as they both fall into a body of water down below. Fortunately, they both survive and, with one thing leading to another, Naruto starts to develop feelings towards Hinata.
- Right Behind Me: When Ino is at the hospital, she learns that Mina brought her there instead of helping Hotaru in her fight against Rokuro. Ino then makes an angry rant against Mina, calling her "a coward who didn't want to get injured", only for Mina to hear it and leave the room in tears.
- "Shut Up" Kiss:
- Naruto has a dream in the second chapter where Hinata is lying on top of him and asks him why he keeps running away from her. He explains that she has only ever been a friend and fellow shinobi to him and says "Until now, I... I've never realized how cu..." only to be interrupted by a kiss from her, followed by him waking up.
- During their first date, after Naruto apologizes to Hinata for the way he handled their date and compliments her for looking pretty in a dress, he asks her "Um... Hinata-chan. Can I...", which is immediately followed by her kissing him for the second time:Naruto: (grinning after the kiss is over) Hey! You never let me finish asking!
- Speak in Unison: Both Sakura and Ino end up shouting a Big "WHAT?!" in unison when Naruto is asking Hinata to go on a date with him for the first time.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Naruto and Hinata are eating ice cream alongside Konohamaru (the latter using his ice cream to heal the black eye he got after doing the Hinata version of the Sexy Jutsu). Then, Hinata nervously asks Naruto if they can go somewhere alone and do "boyfriend girlfriend stuff". This is followed by Konohamaru not noticing they're gone until after he comments that he could do with another ice cream.
- Tears of Joy:
- Hinata has this kind of tears after Naruto asks her if she wants to go on a date with him for the first time.
- Sakura does this in the third chapter upon seeing Sasuke in Tsunade's office and realizing he has finally returned to the village for the first time since his Face–Heel Turn.
