Late Blossom
Chapter 1
Hyuuga Hinata had a small secret. While it may not have been a very significant secret, it was a secret nonetheless. And despite her efforts, it was quite difficult to conceal this secret. Try as she might to hide it, it was quite evident every time she spoke to a certain person; to her credit, she did do her best to think of other things, and at times that was enough, but as the days passed, she had to admit that Uzumaki Naruto was always playing across her mind. And it wasn't entirely her fault either; the blonde just had to be so…captivating. Whenever he turned those innocent, soft blue eyes to her, she could feel her knees tremble. And when he flashed that wide, baby-like smile, she could not prevent her stomach from fluttering. Still, she was a shy, soft-spoken girl, and could not summon the courage to project her feelings.
"Kakashi sensei!" yelped Naruto, "You have to take me to Ichikaru Ramen today! RAMEN, RAMEN!"
The silver-haired jounin's previously bright eyes drooped significantly.
"And is there a reason why I should do that, Naruto?"
"Yes!"
"Why?"
"Because you're my sensei and you're the best, right?" The blonde challenged, poking his former teacher's side.
"Okay, okay stop shouting and bouncing around. Then I'll take you there." Kakashi replied dejectedly. The energetic chuunin cheered, running around the jounin in dizzying circles. The jounin sighed balefully, already regretting his blatantly idiotic decision.
Hinata was on her way home when an orange blur barreled into her, knocking her head over heels across the arid dirt. Had her reflexes been functioning properly, she probably would have twisted out of danger with ease. The fact, however, that the only person in Konoha who wore blinding orange was none other than Uzumaki Naruto threw her instincts off for a split second, and in that time, the excited teen had plowed into her.
Now she sat amid an unattractive cloud of yellow dust in the middle of the populated busy street, covered in filth and small scrapes. Under normal circumstances, such a position would have been embarrassing enough for the Hyuuga. The fact, however, that a certain blonde-haired boy lay pressed on top of her made the entire situation far more appalling.
"Oi, sorry…Hinata," apologized Naruto, sheepishly. Then, realizing he was lying spread-eagled across her effeminate form, got up and held out a hand to the still-seated girl.
But she was not looking at him. Hinata was staring at the ground, blushing so fiercely that her face could hardly be distinguished from an overly ripe tomato.
"Um…um…tha-that's okay, Naruto-kun," she stuttered softly. Far too unsettled to reach for his hand, or anything related to him, for that matter, she stood up herself and fled in humiliation.
"Hey, Hinata, where are you going?!" the blonde called after her, clearly puzzled, but she had already disappeared.
Hinata raced into her room, slammed the door behind her, and blocked it with her back. She was panting, partly from her hasty departure, but mostly because being positioned under Naruto had made her heart beat uncontrollably fast.
"Get a grip," she scolded herself, "You're too old to react this way."
She grabbed her teddy bear and hugged it so tightly it seemed like she intended to choke it; its soft fur was a comforting solace and its shiny, black eyes almost seemed to convey a caring message: that it was alright and not a big deal. She exhaled slowly, letting the heated tension that had invaded and rushed through her entire body permeate out, and became composed once more. Exhaustion from the extremity of adrenaline that had ravaged her body made sleep the logical next choice of action. She kicked off her originally-black sandals (which had become the unappealing yellow characteristic of the village dirt roads) and pulled off her large, light lilac jacket, which had also suffered from the unfortunate fate of her shoes. With a muffled breath, she toddled over to her lavender mattress and plopped like a rag doll onto its plushy surface. In a matter of moments, she floated off into needed slumber.
Evening was only just starting its insidious encroachment on the warm afternoon when the delicate Hyuuga's blissful ignorance of outside activities was abruptly wrenched away.
"Hinata, get out of your room! Godaime Hokage requires your presence in her office, right now! You inconsiderate disgrace to our noble family's name, go answer her summons at once, and don't you dare be late." Hiashi shouted, impatiently banging the wooden door so forcibly that little fist-sized shapes dented the formerly-even surface.
"Ye-yes father…" she called back, meekly. She heard Hiashi's footsteps stomping back down the hall to his room, and then scrambled hurriedly out of the house. She moved quickly, as the Hokage was not one to tolerate tardiness.
Tsunade had just briefed Naruto on an emergency mission, and was immediately regretting it, as complaints were now rolling freely off the blonde shinobi's tongue.
"But…this is an A rank mission!" protested Naruto, "How about Sakura-chan or…fuzzy brows or someone else? I mean, I've never worked with Hinata, and she has never worked with me…and we barely KNOW each other. Oi, granny, are you listening?"
This question was completely unnecessary, as Tsunade's face quite frankly showed she had been. In fact, it practically radiated her irritation. She raised her clenched fist, opened her mouth, and was about to yell out a particular string of inappropriate words at the blonde, when the door opened and Hyuuga Hinata walked in.
Instantly, her infuriated countenance became one of serene dignity.
"Good to see you, Hinata" the Sannin greeted. Without waiting for a reply, she continued, "I was just explaining this mission's overview to Naruto," and at this point she shot a glare at the boy, "but I guess I should explain it again seeing as you have arrived and he didn't hear a word I said. To begin, I chose you two for this task because I know it is very important to both of you. Recently, I sent a team out to gather information on Orochimaru's whereabouts, as we've received information that he must switch a host soon. I hoped that they could've found him in his weakened state, but I was wrong. He found them, instead. Jiraiya investigated the area where they were last seen and discovered their bodies, barely alive. He brought them back to me two days ago, and I had to perform medical jutsus so complex I almost decided against them."
"Are they alright? Where are they now-?" Naruto cut in.
"Let me finish!" snapped Tsunade, "They will be alright in a few days. But that is not the problem…you see, Orochimaru has disappeared again. And along with him, another Konoha shinobi has become missing. This is where we come to the heart of the mission. Naruto, Hinata, it is crucial you bring this person back as soon as humanly possible, before Orochimaru has a chance to perform his infamous and irreversible body exchanging jutsu. But I'm sure I don't need to tell you two this, because the shinobi that was taken holds a rather prominent amount of both of your affections-"
"Who?" demanded the blonde urgently, as Hinata stared wide-eyed at the Godaime. Tsunade shot a glance of death at his repetitive intrusions on her speech, then continued her disturbing mission description with a sigh of a thousand lamentations.
"Hyuuga Neji"
Okay that was quite humiliating. I think I'll go run into a corner and die now, thanks.
