Ren stood in his kitchen, his arms around Hinata as they kissed. Her small hands were clutching at his casual white shirt as her tongue eagerly explored Ren's mouth. He almost wanted to take the hem of her loose lavender shirt and pull it off her, his fingers twitching to do it.
But reason prevailed, and in the end, Ren only sneaked his hands underneath her shirt, enjoying the feel of her warm skin on her lower back.
Glancing at the stove, Ren suddenly pulled away from Hinata, much to her mewling protest as she subconsciously leaned forward, wishing to continue, but Ren just pecked her forehead and shook his head.
"The dinner is done." He said, making Hinata reluctantly turn her head away from him with a small blush as a happy smile appeared on her face.
So far, their date was very casual. Just him and her in his house, spending time together while talking, cooking, and kissing. Ren knew Hinata. She did not need anything fancy. She had enough fancy in her clan. So much that she was sick of it.
No, she was an affection-starved girl who felt under constant pressure in her own home. So, Ren tried to make this experience as comfortable and homey as he could while showering her with casual affection.
And if the enamored expression on her face was anything to go by, she was absolutely loving it.
They worked together to prepare the table and clean up the kitchen before they sat down with plates of the food they cooked and started eating.
Ren had to admit, Hinata was a great cook, and he told the girl so, making her proudly straighten her back even though she tried to deflect the praise. The sweet smile she gave him, though, almost melted his edgy black heart.
They talked about training, her time at the academy, and she even complained about her home life, and Ren listened with a small wry smile.
It was... a bit sad that they didn't have much of a common topic that didn't involve ninja-ing in some way. But Hinata was the Hyuga princess. She was not really allowed to have hobbies that wouldn't prove useful in her future. Everything she did was some sort of training or would have some sort of use for her future ninja career.
The only thing she confessed she was allowed to do that didn't stink of 'preparations for her duties' was knitting. And she was quite good at it, too.
The mittens she had given him for his birthday were very nice.
But even that was pretty much considered a good skill for a traditional Hyuga woman to have and a great way to train the finger dexterity.
The girl was really upset about it. When she was younger, she wanted to play ninja with other kids, but well, that was beneath her station as a Main Branch Hyuga Heiress.
When she wanted to participate in a sleepover she was invited to? That was beneath her station as a Main Branch Hyuga Heiress.
When she wanted to paint her nails? Even that was beneath her station as a Main Branch Hyuga Heiress!
When she…
Like, holy hell, it was no wonder the Hyugas were such stuck-up sad sacks if this was how their childhood looked like.
Hinata's life revolved around two things. Ninja training and education to be the future head of the clan.
When it came to the ninja training, she had utterly hated it before she had met Ren, who made it enjoyable for her. She was always demanded to give it her all only to be always scolded that her all was not good enough.
She won a spar in the academy and came home to tell her dad about it, wanting to be praised and acknowledged like any normal kid? She could dream on. Winning was expected from a Hyuga. She better win all her spars from now on, or else!
She had gotten full marks on a test? Good. Anything less would be besmirching the good name of the Hyuga clan. She better not disappoint the clan's expectations!
Hinata had a lot to complain about, and Ren just held her hand while patiently listening to her rant and pour her heart out to him, wiping a stray tear or two here and there when the relief of being able to just let go overwhelmed her enough to tear up.
She had never even wanted to be a kunoichi. But her path was locked in since she was born. She resented it for the longest time. But she also wanted to make her father proud.
With an embarrassed smile, she did admit that she loved the fantasy of being Ren's personal kunoichi, and Ren felt his pants become quite tight out of nowhere.
Personal kunoichi were something the nobles kept, and let's just say they served more on their knees and backs than in other capacities. The girl was clearly reading the kinky sort of romance books.
Ren just smirked at her and graciously accepted her fealty, making her stutter and stammer with an adorable blush, even though she had not made any oath.
At least the joke lightened her upset mood.
And as for the education to become the next clan head? Hinata was still getting lessons in that direction despite Hanabi being declared the heiress.
And that was only natural. What many people in Ren's previous life missed, but they really couldn't be nagged at because even Hinata did not think of it, was that Hinata and Hanabi were females.
That is a hugely important fact.
Between Hiashi and Hizashi? One was getting sealed. Both are male. There is no other way.
But both Hinata and Hanabi had the option to become a wife of some other Main Branch man and thus wouldn't be sealed. Hinata was so hyper-focused on the cursed seal and overly worried about the future that she completely missed the fact that there was no chance of Hanabi ever getting sealed.
Explaining that to her made her very embarrassed and uncomfortable, but she needed to hear it. Her motivation was misguided. Half of the reason for her training was to save her sister, but her sister didn't need saving.
The only one who was under the threat of being sealed was Hinata herself. And that was because of her opinions on the cursed seal. She had stated out loud in the past that she hated it. And as future Heiress? That instantly made her the enemy of the elders. No matter that she was just a child back then.
Frankly, it was cartoonishly petty, in Ren's opinion.
They made problems for her every step of the way because of a few words she said as a kid. They did not want somebody like her as clan head. They were so salty about it that they demanded to seal her rather than betroth her to one of their grandsons and let her be a trophy wife fit only for breeding more Hyugas without sealing her.
But even if she got sealed, the heiress' lessons would still be useful to her because Hinata would not be just another servant. Instead, she would fall into Hizashi's previous position by default and would be the head of the Branch House.
Heck, even if she became the wife of some Main Branch male, these lessons would still be useful for managing the household of her future husband.
So, she had no other way than to go through them.
Not that Hinata seemed amenable to the idea of getting it on with one of her cousins. Nor would Ren allow it. He had the brass balls to bomb even Danzo for the attempt on his life.
He was willing to do far worse for Hinata. If they pushed it, Ren was not above giving them some selective Itachi-ing.
The two of them talked more, topics changing as time passed until Hinata hit something that gave Ren a small pause.
"You have never told me what your goal is. What do you want to do in the future?" She asked curiously, making Ren owlishly blink.
What did he want to do, indeed?