"Naruto, please hold still for a minute." Hinata sighed as she straightened the tie of her date. Weeks of training together, eating together; even bathing together (And her ears still turned pink at the memory. He promised not to look during the mixed-bath sessions at the local onsen, but it was still... a little embarrassing.) had the village talking, rumours flinging themselves from mouth to mouth until they lighted on the ears of one Hyuuga Hiashi.
At the revelation that his daughter, who while not the woman he needed to uphold the fine honour of the clan (But still capable of bringing scandal upon the main house), was dating none other than the Demon vessel, it was quite akin to a hurricane in a teacup.
To say all hell broke loose is quite incorrect. Even the most disgusting of the netherworlds have standards; there wouldn't have been nearly as much carnage if Satan and all his little minions burned through the earth and began the Apocalypse then when the Hyuuga head snapped.
After picking through the wreckage of what used to be the main dojo, Neji enquired as to the possible solutions regarding the affairs of the heart his daughter was experiencing. They came up with three outcomes.
The first, predictably, was the gruesome demise of Naruto, which Neji admitted had a certain charm to it, but was ultimately ruled out on the basis that it would cause no end of Paperwork. That, and he had saved the village, something that a few of the more lax clans were accepting far too easily.
The second, which met with a cold glare from the Hyuuga Prodigy when voiced, was the emplacement of the Branch seal on Hinata's forehead. Hiashi contemplated it, but eventually gave up the idea declaiming that even if it was only a Branch member (Neji's fists clenched at the 'only') who had a liaison with the Demon Boy, it would still be an unforgivable stain on the Hyuuga name.
The third, voiced by Neji, was the inauguration of one Uzumaki Naruto into the finer art of etiquette and deportment. Hiashi gave him a rare display of emotion, a face set into the 'OMGWTFBBQ' series of lines that quite told of the elder's bewilderment. The talk continued into the night, ranging from the hows and whys to the whens, wheres and who's. As the dawn broke, with surveyors and a token architect measuring the perimeter of the new proposed dojo, Neji and Hiashi were still unrelenting in their debate.
Finally, due to an unspoken condition of Hiashi's involving nine of the morning and his intestinal tract, the plan was decided. Take the boy to a social, refined event, and observe his behaviour.
Art galleries weren't much to go for, as it bored the Hyuuga, not given to introspection, far too quickly for it to be much use. Besides, with the Byakugan at their beck and call, a whole gallery of works could be seen, summarized and noted within the space of a minute.
A formal ball might have been a token gesture of acceptance, and as such was immediately ruled out.
For some strange reason, both of them had decided on European Opera at the same time, rather than Kabuki theatre. Something about watching effeminate men in long hair wigs and white faces pretending to be females made the Hyuuga strangely uncomfortable. Something like Deja'vu.
(Wherever he was, Haku was sniggering to himself)
And that, Hinata thought to herself, was about half an hour before Naruto-kun found himself tressed up by his ankles to have Otou-sama yell at him until his throat grew hoarse, an hour before Neji explained what the entire deal was actually about, two hours before Neji and Lee strung him along to go shopping for tuxedos...
She huffed, giving his tie one last tug before standing back to observe her handiwork.
And three days before anybody told me what was going on!
