Their Eyes
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters, I'm just borrowing them for this story and not for financial profit. I do however own two swords and a collection of knives. The importance of this is anyone's guess.
Chapter 1: This Feeling
"I'm sorry Hinata," said Naruto. He had turned around at the sound of her voice and accidently touched her lips with his own.
"Naruto-kun," was all Hinata could say. Naruto was about to say something when Shizune appeared.
"Naruto, your presence is requested by the Hokage," said Shizune. She noticed Hinata's red face and that Naruto was silent. "Is something wrong with you two?"
They both replied no and said goodbye to each other. Shizunecould tell that something had happened between the two, but she decided that it was best not to meddle in their affairs. Besides, Tsunade-sama had stressed the urgency in picking up Naruto and the importance of the two guests. The first one was the Kazekage, an important person for sure, but the second was a man who she remembered to be a missing-nin in one of the old bingo books. His name was only in one addition 18 years ago. It was odd that he would be in Konoha, but Shizune didn't dare question Tsunade.
Naruto was feeling weird inside his self-consciousness. It was this longing for something unknown. This feeling confused him and made everything else seem less significant than this longing that he felt. What was this feeling? Was it love? And if so, then for who?These were the questions that plagued his mind now.
The sound of a door opening brought Naruto out of his thoughts. He finally noticed Anko, who had been waiting at the door impatiently for someone to let her in. Inside the room was the gondaime, Tsunade, who looked very young for her old age do to her jutstu. He also noticed Garra, the Kazekage, standing right next to a man he had never seen before. The man had long black hair and an eye patch. The man looked like something out of children's stories about war heroes. The man's gaze was directed at Anko.
"It's been far too long Anko," said the man. In a flash, he was thrown across the room by Anko's fist, her face displaying pure rage.
"You bastard," she said slowly and dangerously. "How dare you come back after leaving the way you did. Do you know how much hurt you caused when you left?" She turned to Tsunade and said, "You do realize he was once in the bingo book for trying to kill the Sandaime?"
"Yes, I know who he is," said Tsunade. "I knew him while he was growing up and instructed him for a year as did Jiraiya and the Yondaime. I trust him now because it was the Sandaime himself that put Keiji's name out of the bingo books. Now he is the only person who can help Naruto."
Naruto was happy to hear that someone might be able to explain what was happening to him ever since he brought Sasuke back. Sasuke had brought his group that he made to help him hunt down Itachi, into the Akatsuki stronghold. Naruto, Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Garra had followed Sasuke. In the process Garra regained the Shukaku, but the demon had calmed enough not to be a danger to Garra. More importantly, the seal for the Kyuubi was broken and it's power was given to Naruto, but Naruto was still alive and any sign of the Kyuubi trying to take over Naruto had remained to be seen.
By now the man had gotten up and was standing in front of Naruto. He held out his hand, which had a miniature statue of the Kyuubi in it.
"Take it," said the man. Naruto took the statue in his hand and saw the statue come to life.
"So you came," said the statue in the Kyuubi's voice. "Before I attacked this village Ihad heard about you and the Okami."
"I'm sorry I was late," said the man. "Now tell me fox, what's going on?"
"During the fight with the leader of the Akatsuki complications arose," said the Kyuubi. "At the beginning of the fight, that Uchiha boy was helping Naruto in the same way that Naruto had helped him fight his brother. Oddly enough, Orochimaru broke free from the young Uchiha's mind and inhabited a body provided by the one called Kabuto. This left the young Uchiha in a weakened state when his brother, who did not die from Sasuke's final blow as was believed, decided to take advantage of the boy's status. He would have killed him if not for the unexpected intervention from Orochimaru. Orochimaru left, however, and Naruto was facing his most dangerous enemy alone. Over the years, I have watched him grow and I have grown fond of the boy. We've gotten to be on more friendly terms thanks to him finding out the truth about why attacked the village. No one had ever asked the question, 'did we do something to provoke it?' I would have never attacked your village had it not been for the slaying of the foxes. Even a demon finds kin with the animals. How unfortunate, that I did not know that it was another person destroying the foxes in hopes of enraging me.
"That boy apologized for how bad humans had treated my kin. I decided to help him as long as I was inside of him. The seal, however, prevented me from giving him my real power without hurting him. It was then that I realized that fate had called for me, as it had called for the boy's father. I told him to use a jutsu that would merge us together. He didn't know at the time that it would merge us together. I used the last card I had so that he could become the Hokage and accomplish his dream."
"That still doesn't answer my question," said the man. "What is happening to Naruto?"
"He's becoming me," said the Kyuubi. "He will become the new nine tailed Kyuubi. Listen closely boy because I don't have much time left. You will be a demon lord withal my powers and control over Konoha's entire summons and then some. I don't know the specifics of physical change, but I doubt you will become a fox."
"But what about you," asked Naruto.
"I will die," said the kyuubi. "Only one Kyuubi is needed and you will be it. I always wondered who my successor would be. I never imagined someone like you though, I always thought it would be someone with more knowledge."
"What did you say you lousy fox," asked Naruto. "I hope you do die. You've been nothing but trouble for me my whole life."
"Don't worry I'll be gone soon."
"Wait! I didn't mean what I said. Please don't die and leave me alone. I can't be a demon lord."
"Naruto you shouldn't worry about a thing. You have heart enough to make up for any lack of knowledge that you have and I have placed a fragment of my self-consciousness in your mind. Just call on it when you need help or a friend, but I doubt you'll need the latter. I give you the gift of my power and the knowledge of all my demonic jutsu. Goodbye Naruto and I'm sorry for messing up your life."
Naruto cried over the statue as the fox slowly began to fade. That's when his body became numb and he collapsed to the floor. Tsunade had him rushed to the hospital.
The man, Keiji had noticed the girl who came to see him. She was one of his friends, but from the way she looked at him it was apparent that she loved him. From what he had heard, Naruto had been too focused on his crush on his teammate, Sakura, but had considered the girl a friend. They often gave each other courage. 'Freakin idiot,' thought Keiji. How the hell can't he tell her feelings for him? Probably doesn't even realize that he has the same feelings for her. That girl's name was Hyuuga Hinata. She was cute in her shy fashion, a fact that overshadowed her pure white eyes. She used to have the word fragile stamped on her head till the day when Naruto gave her support in the fight against her cousin. Her black hair was long and flowed with the wind, making her look like a princess. She wasn't in the room today because she wasn't supposed to know about the Kyuubi or about Naruto's transformation. The other people in the room were Jiraiya, Kakashi, Iruka, Tsunade, Gaara, and Anko. Keiji loved that she and him were now on even footing. It took him a week of apologizing just to get her back as a friend. Keiji was just about to give in to the temptation of whispering "I love you" into her ear when Naruto awoke.
"Are you okay Naruto," asked Tsunade. It was no secret in the village that Tsunade had come to consider Naruto as a little brother. It was also, coincidently, how Sakura had come to consider Naruto.
"I'm fine Oba-sama," replied Naruto. He immediately began to notice that he had fox ears and nine tails."Life is going to get harder for me isn't it?"
"That is the price of becoming a Hokage," said Keiji.
"Your name is Keiji right," said Naruto. "I remember Anko calling you that when she punched you."
"Yes, I'm Keiji and only Keiji. My parents died before giving me a name. More importantly, I knew your father. He was the Yondaime, and a like a mentor to me. When I became a jounin, I and your father were thick as thieves. I witnessed your birth and took a picture of it. It was before the Kyuubi was put in your stomach that your father named me your godfather. He asked me to watch over you so that you wouldn't go through a miserable childhood. That was three days before I was force to flee this village."
Keiji knelt down to Naruto's bedside and said, "Please forgive me for abandoning you to live that lonely childhood."
Naruto smiled. "That's alright," said Naruto. "My childhood made me stronger and gave me clarity of vision on what I truly need. Finding friends later on helped me become even stronger and I have now found what I always prayed for. True love."
"Finally you noticed your feelings," said Jiraiya. "You almost lost the girl of your destiny. I never really put much stock in that whole "made for each other" thing, but you two are made for each other. Go tell her how you feel."
"Come with me," said Keiji. Anko followed him since Tsunade put her in charge of keeping him from causing harm. "Oh, Naruto, if you want to look normal, just picture yourself looking normal."
Naruto had been followed by Sasuke and Sakura, both of whom had become an item and were trying to help Naruto realize Hinata liked him. Keiji led them to the old abandoned house complex, where an entire clan was murdered under false charges. Everyone avoided that place like the plague with good reason. It had all the warmth you'd find in a graveyard with spider webs decorating decaying walls. Sakura was the type of person who would find this place chilling to the bone.
"You don't think those stories of ghosts are true do you," said Sakura, her voice giving away her fear.
"Of course not," said Keiji in a scary voice with a flashlight under his chin and had a horror mask on. Sakura fainted at the sight of him and Anko knocked him up side the head.
"What the hell did you do that for baka," said Anko in a pissed of voice.
"She was so scared that I couldn't help myself," replied Keiji.
One of the doors to a room opened, scaring the group except for Keiji, and out stepped Hinata. She was blushing at the sight of Naruto.
"What are you doing here Naruto-kun," she said. She looked cute as she stared at him like a deer in the headlights.
"It took me a long time to realize how I truly felt about you," said Naruto. "I'm sorry for taking so long because of my stupidity. I know now that the only reason I had a crush on Sakura was because she was popular, but now I know that the one I love is you, Hinata."
"Naruto-kun, is this true? Do you really love me?"
"I want to always be by your side and to love you so much that you'll say it's too much. Do you feel the same way about me?"
"Yes, Naruto-kun!"
The two embraced each other with tears trickling down her eyes. Naruto held her head up with his chin and kissed her. The warmth of her lips made him feel at ease. She kissed him back till they both needed air to breath. Warmth filled the room from where the two bodies became one with love.
"We'll just leave now," said Keiji, breaking the silence and bringing the couple back to reality. Anko punched him for breaking the mood and offered to take them all to Ichiruki Ramen, Keiji's treat.
The new couple talked over ramen about the future, their future.
"I don't know how my dad would react to it," said Hinata. "I don't think he would accept us."
"He accepted you as the heir to the Hyuuga clan," said Naruto. "I'm positive he'll accept us. If not then he's just being stupid and caught up in tradition."
"Who's caught up in tradition," said a voice that made the young couple jump. The two turned around to see Hinata's father smiling at them.
"Father."
"Araishi-san."
"I hope you don't mind me joining you two," said Hiraishi as he sat next to Hinata. "I have heard from Neiji that you two were leaving the Keiji complex with its only surviving member. I'm not angry at you two; in fact I'm happy that you two have gotten together. The Yondaime and I were great friends; I'd be more than happy if you two were to stay together for the rest of your lives. I have come not only to speak my part, but to deliver to you Naruto, your inheritance."
Araishi handed Naruto a bunch of keys on a ring. Naruto, a bit confused, asked, "what are these?"
"These are the keys to your father's compound. Your father was a descendant of the Saigen clan, a clan that was the foundation of ANBU. When its members were still alive, it had more influence than my own clan. Sadly, most died from missions or a genetic disease, but your father was lucky enough to not bear the trait. The Uzumaki clan was a smaller clan that grew out of the Siagens, but also shared the same misfortune. When your father became Hokage, he used the Saigen surname to gain favor with some of the Elders, but he did leave you with the Uzumaki surname. You are its sole heir and I hope that you complete your father's dream of resurrecting the Saigen clan."
Araish turned to leave, but noticed Keiji sitting next to Anko.
"I see you came back to fufill your promise," said Araishi. "But it seems like it takes a back seat to other matters."
"Who do you think organized today's events," asked Keiji. "I helped show my godson what he truly felt. As I recall, you haven't been that good of a father to your daughter and have been known to be more than little harsh on her."
"That was me, but not today. I'm going to become the father I should have been. Everything I ever did only made her more fragile, but the son of one of my old friends helped change my entire family. My nephew and I are closer, as is my nephew and my daughter. Hinata has grown stronger and is now the heiress that I tried to force her to be. I owe so much to that boy."
With that, Araishi departed from the Ichiraku Ramen stand. Anko was having her own problems with Keiji. She had noticed that he was the only person who hadn't ordered anything. His stomach was growling and he had money to pay for it, but still he hadn't ordered a bowl of ramen.
"Here try some of mine," said Anko. "Come on; don't tell me you don't like ramen."
"I've never had ramen," said Keiji. Naruto stopped eating, Sasuke and Sakura turned away from each other and looked at Keiji, Hinata stared at him in confusion, Anko looked shocked, and everyone at the stand had stopped their conversations and looked at the man who never tasted ramen.
"I haven't either," said a voice behind Naruto.
"Gaara, I didn't notice you were there," said Sasuke.
"You've never had ramen either," said Naruto.
"Nope," said Gaara.
"But I made ramen for you once Keiji," said Anko, ignoring Gaara completely.
"That was after I came back from that terrible mission," said Keiji, his eyes had a soft tone to them. "I didn't eat it that night, if you can recall. I just stared at it and went to sleep in your comforting arms. Your love was all I needed then, not food. I heated up the ramen and took it with me on the day I fled the village. It was the last token of your love that you had given me. I couldn't bring myself to eat it, in fact every time I saw the thermos I carried it in, I would hang my head and cry. I still have the thermos, but it probably smells like something died in my thermos."
"Quick, somebody get these deprived souls two bowls," shouted Naruto.
Later on in the day when it evening was setting in to the sky, Naruto and Hinata walked to the Saigen compound. Sasuke and Sakura were trailing the two, hoping to see a good show. Naruto's sharpened sense of hearing would have picked up the sounds of their footsteps if Naruto wasn't so busy trying to figure out how to explain his problem to Hinata. He was afraid of her reaction towards him. The compound itself was huger than the Uchiha and Hyuuga compounds. It sported seventy rooms: thirty bedrooms including one master bedroom, twenty studies, two kitchens, ten bathrooms, a library, and seven dojos. The back yard was immense, with a waterfall to give a natural wonder. The door was made especially to keep out intruders because it only opened by someone of Saigen descent touching the seals on the main gates. That was when Sakura and Sasuke made themselves known so they could get in. They had all spent a great deal of time getting lost inside the huge complex that when they got out it was already dark. Sasuke and Sakura decided to spend the night in two of the guest bedrooms that were right next to each other.
Naruto took Hinata outside to reveal his secret to her.
"Naruto-kun, why have you brought me here," asked Hinata, nervous as to what his intentions might be.
"I wanted to reveal to you my deepest, darkest secret," said Naruto. "You know that I am the son of the Yondaime, but what you don't know is that I was also the vessel of the Kyuubi hat attacked our village."
"But didn't your father kill it," asked Hinata.
"It was too powerful to be killed, so he had to seal into an infant that hadn't developed its chakra yet. My father didn't want to burden another family with this curse, so he chose his only son, whose mother had died in childbirth. That is why the village has hated me so much."
"Naruto-kun, I'm sorry," said Hinata. "If only I had more courage than I would have been able to keep you from being lonely for all this time. But what did you mean by was the vessel of the Kyuubi?"
"During my fight with the Akatsuki, I was having trouble and the seal that was prevented me from using enough of the Kyuubi's chakra. We had become close friends at the time, and he, not wanting to see me hurt or killed, sacrificed his life by merging with me. In short, I have become the Kyuubi. I just wanted you to know and see, but do you still love me?"
Naruto's eyes showed his hope that she would accept him. He had changed back into his now natural form with the fox ears and nine tails. Hinata looked at him with eyes that held none of the coldness that the villagers had shown him his whole life, but the love and care that he had longed for all his life.
"I will always love you," said Hinata. "No matter what you look like or what you are, you will still be the person who gave me strength when I was weak."
"You've given me strength to Hinata," said Naruto. "Your love fills this whole inside my very being that has been missing something. I wanted to put the pieces in with anything I could find, blindly going after the first girl I saw, but now I know that the person I want to fill that most important piece of me is you. I love you Hinata-chan."
He pressed his lips against hers to feel the warmth of her love, to feel that heat that was the most intoxicating drug. She kissed him back and they both found their way to the main bedroom. They just laid on the bed, kissing and whispering words of love as they held each other in loves embrace.
Chapter 2: Vacation
The rookie nine, as they were still called and Gai's team were standing in Tsunade's office. Also in the office were Anko and the suna siblings. The only person not present was Kakshi(you were expecting Lurch?). Amazingly, he arrived only two seconds before he would be a minute late, just on time for once. This shocked everyone in the room except for Keiji.
"What," asked Kakashi. "Was I that late?"
"NO," shouted Sakura. "You're on time for once Kakashi sensei."
"I told Kakashi to be here three hours ago so that he'd be on time," said Keiji as laughed maniacally. "I finally figured out a way to make you arrive on time."
"I'm going to have to remember that one," said Tsunade. "Alright I know you're all anxious to find out why you've been called here. I am giving you all clearance to go with the Kazekage to Gakko Island, known for its world famous beaches. The Kazekage is going there on business and I've asked the Hokage if you could all come. This will not just be a vacation; some time will be spent teaching you new techniques to help you all improve. I also would like to announce to appointments to jounin. Naruto and Sasuke, congratulations, even with periods of absence you have both reached jounin before some of your other peers. Now… wait where the fuck is Gai? He should be here, that guy is always notoriously early."
It was at that exact moment that Gai walked into the room and saw Rock Lee.
"LEE!"
"GAI SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GAI SENSEI!"
"LEEEEE!"
"GAI SENSEEIIIII!"
The two hugged each other, sobbing with a sunset in the background.
"How the hell is that possible," said Keiji. "It's noon and we're inside."
"They always do that," said Kurenai, sweat dropping like everyone else.
"Well I guess now I have to bring you up to date Gai," said Keiji.
"NO I WAS LISTENING OUTSIDE THE WHOLE TIME," said Gai.
"And you didn't come in why?"
"I WANTED TO MAKE A DRAMATIC ENTRANCE."
"Okay Gai, if you ever, ever, do that again or yell like you are yelling now, inside or outside, I WILL MAKE YOU A SOPRANO. Everyone else, pack your bags and be in front of the village entrance tomorrow."
"Why didn't you tell us this before," asked Ino. "Don't you think we need time to shop."
"Ino, that's your name right, I have full confidence in your ability to shop for everything and pack a bag for three weeks in a day. You don't need to buy a new swimsuit to impress the fat boy that you like."
No one had told Keiji that fat jokes were a taboo around Choji, who immediately used his Baika no Jutsu to attack Keiji. Keiji didn't consider Choji a threat and drop kicked the heavy chuunin. The ball of fat busted through the Hokage's door and left Choji in a daze. Knuckles cracked as Keiji turned around to see both Anko and Tsunade with scary faces. In seconds Keiji was a bloody pulp on Tsunade's floor.
The bush ride to the airport plagued by Gai's annoyingly lame style and Rock Lee's hyper activeness. The next dread came at the airport. They were stopped by their worst enemy, the metal detector. Kakashi, Gai, and Anko immediately had oh-shit expressions on their faces.
"Don't worry, the Hokage wrote a special note to let Tenten pass," said Kurenai, who didn't realize that the weapons mistress wasn't what they worried about.
"It's not Tenten that's the problem," said Kakashi. "The real problem is that Keiji is the original weapons master and Tenten couldn't even hold a candle to him."
This was proven in two hours, when Keiji had filled a three overflowing boxes full of weapons and was still going. Everyone watched with shocked expressions (yes even Shino) except for Tenten, who was crying because of how outclassed she was by Keiji. It was another three hours and Keiji was still putting away his kunais. To every one's dismay, he revealed to also be carrying needles. The security guard had decided that he had enough of this, having had once made the mistake of asking Tenten to remove all her weapons.
"It's okay sir," said the guard. "Just go on ahead; you can put away your weapons."
"Are you sure," asked Keiji. "I wouldn't want you to lose your job because of me."
"JUST GO!"
Hinata and Naruto sat next to each other on the plane just behind Sakura and Sasuke, who were just behind Anko and Keiji. Naruto was talking to Hinata about the three years he spent training with Jiraiya. Hinata laughed at Naruto's impersonations of Jiraiya and Naruto was about to impersonate Tsunade for an encore when he felt a tap on the back of his head. He turned around to see Gaara with Kankuro. At that moment he noticed a depressed Keiji walking over next to Kakashi.
Kurenai was trying to cheer Anko up while her so-called male counterpart tried to cheer Keiji up.
"You two were close," asked Kurenai.
"As close as you and Asuma were," said Anko. She turned to notice tears in Kurenai's eyes.