Chapter 1
Anticipation
"Neeee, Ero-sennin, are we there yet?" A loud impatient voice interrupted the serene silence of the morning, belonging to a teenage boy wearing a familiar orange and black suit. Baring his hitai-ate proudly on his forehead, the shining metal gleaming in the morning sun, displaying the fire-nations Hidden leaf Village sign for all to see.
"No, Naruto." replied a deeper and more relaxed voice.
This male was older, maybe in is 50's, and was calmly walking along the wide dirt path, the fidgety teen a few paces in front of him.
They continued to walk silently for a few steps, until- "Neeee, when are we going to get there?"
The older male sighed. Wasn't it obvious that they were less than a minute away from the village? "Soon Naruto." He replied for, what felt like, the hundredth time that day.
"Neeee, how long is 'soon', Ojii-sennin?"
Silence.
"Neeee, are you going to answer me ojii-" A loud smack echoed through the forest, startling a few birds from their perches atop the trees.
"Itai!!" The younger male clutched his head in pain, a visible bump forming on the offended spot. "Why'd you hit me?!"
"Because, you disrespectful runt, Konoha's righ-"
"We're here Ero-sennin!"
The man, with long white hair dressed in semi-formal Japanese garb, which was commonly known as Jiriya: 'The legendary Toad Hermit', watched as his hyperactive student bounded off towards the large gates of his home village, Konohakure.
He sighed in relief when Naruto's shouts of excitement faded into the distance. 'It's about time I get this brat out of my hair.' He thought joyously. 'Hehehe, Tsunade's going to have a heck of a time handling him now that he's back.'
Thinking of the recently acclaimed Godaime, his joyous behavior quickly changed into one of irritation at the meaning behind Naruto's new nickname for him (which was somewhat similar to Tsunades), finally sank in. "Did you just call me Ojii-sennin?!'"
Another smack echoed through the forest.
"Itai!!"
"SHIZUNE!"
A loud scream could be heard throughout Konoha. Many of the villagers glanced in the direction of the Hokage tower in fear, and a few continued there days with a simple shrug of the shoulders. It was rather common for the streets to be so loud in the early mornings.
"H-Hai Tsunade-sama!" A somewhat short middle-aged woman with shoulder length black hair straightened in her seat next to the Hokage's desk and turned to the woman behind it. "Do you need something?" Shizune asked nervously, while still maintaining a certain amount of authority.
Blonde hair, which had been pulled back into two long pigtails, could be seen over the looming pile of un-read documents spread about the acorn-tinted oak of the desk. Followed by a pair of angry amber eyes, covered slightly by two thick bangs. A purple diamond-shaped marking on her forehead was apparent on the pale skin of the noticeably female-like features the women held...
Of course, to the average person, none of these features could be as noticeable as her tremendously large breasts and her impossibly thin waist, which were barely covered by her usual attire.
The woman, identified as Tsunade, or formally known as one of the legendary Sannin: Tsunade-Hime, glared menacingly at her assistant and waved an empty bottle above her head with an impatient gesture. "You know full well what I need Shizune." She replied.
Shizune's eyes glared accusingly at the empty Sake bottle in her superior's hands and swiftly removed it from her grasp. "Tsunade-sama, it is only because of this 'poison' you constantly consume, that your work isn't being completed as consistently or efficiently as per your normal schedule." She stated, throwing the bottle into the garbage bin in the far corner of the room. A loud groan of defeat sounded behind her. "I've stored your supply in a secret place. Only until you have finished today's requests and mission reports, will you get a reasonably healthy amount of Sake." Her arms folded across her chest and she faces Tsunade again, making it seem as if she were scolding a toddler by confiscating their most valued treasure.
In this particular case: Tsunade was the toddler, Shizune was the responsible adult and the alcoholic beverage was the treasure.
"Ahhhh," Tsunade whined helplessly. "How could you Shizune? My precious Sake." Her arm stretched across the expanse of her desk in a pathetic attempt to reach into the garbage bin. Her assistant sighed and walked calmly behind her seat.
Shizune's slender arms curled expertly under Tsunade's as she lifted her up straight and grabbed a particular document from the pile and placed it in the middle of the desk. "There are certain things that are much more important than Sake Tsunade-sama." She said with false-seriousness in her voice.
Suddenly more aware, Tsunade picked up the particular document and began skimming the page, amber eyes growing larger as each sentence was read, while remaining oblivious to the small smile etched into the smaller woman's face.
'You'd better get here soon Naruto-san.' Shizune thought excitedly and watched a grin form on the Slug-princess's face. 'We can't wait to see how you've improved.'
Emerald eyes gazed at her patients arm with an analytical expression, pushing a strand of pink hair back behind her ear. She jotted down a few notes on her clipboard and smiled gently at the young boys tear-streaked face. She moved to look at his mother who was trying to comfort her son. "Is it anything serious Miss Haruno?" The older woman asked.
"Please just call me Sakura! Adding 'Miss' makes me sound old." Sakura said with a nervous wave of her hand.
The child's mother nodded meekly still worried for her son. Sakura was quick to notice her expression. "Well, it looks like Kyo has a slightly sprained wrist. It's not a serious sprain but he should keep it wrapped up so that it heals faster. He also shouldn't make any excessive movements with it, or it may get worse. After a week it should be back to normal." She explained expertly, handing kyo's mother a bandage.
The woman let out a breath of relief and took her son's uninjured hand in her own. She smiled gratefully at the young kunoichi. "Thank you so much Sakura."
Sakura blushed lightly and smiled in return. "I'm glad I could help." She kneeled down to Kyos level and patted his head. "You get better soon alright Kyo?" The boy nodded and ran out the room; his mother bowed politely once more before quickly following after her son.
Once they were out of earshot Sakura sighed tiredly. 'I've been working way to late lately.' She thought while standing up and stretching her arms above her head. 'About time for a break I think.'
She walked out of the room and made her way down the hall, placing the clipboard on the front desk, telling the attendant there that she was on break. After receiving conformation she rushed out the hospital and walked briskly towards the Hokage Tower. She was half way there when a figure came running through the crowd of people in front of her. 'Wow. Someone's in a rush.'
The figured skidded to a halt a few feet in front of her, breathing heavily, the long blue scarf around his neck dragging on the ground. Sakura blinked at him and waited for him to catch his breath. "What is it Konohamaru? Does Tsunade have a mission for me?" She questioned patiently. When Tsunade sends Konohamaru out to relay messages to people it was usually urgent.
Konohamaru took a deep breath and looked up at her, excitement etched into his childish features. "Naruto-nii-chan is coming back today!" He exclaimed, bringing his hands up and waving them around frantically. "Naruto-nii-chan is coming back today!!" He repeated, louder than the first time. A few villagers gave them an annoyed glance.
Sakura's eyes widened in surprise, only to narrow dangerously when she remembered whom she was talking to. "Really?! You'd better not be joking around Konohamaru or I swear-!"
"It's true Sakura-nee-chan! Baa-san just told me! She sent me here to tell you!" He replied quickly, holding his hands up in front of his face. "Baa-san said that if you and some of Naruto-nii-chan's friends wanted to greet him at the gate, you could." He pouted, clearly discouraged. "I can't go though, since my team has a low-ass mission to complete."
She just stood there for a minute, silently in shock.
Naruto is coming home…
Naruto is coming home!
Sakura smiled widely, turned around, and sped through the streets toward the training grounds. 'She should be there around this time.' she contemplated excitedly to herself. Man was that girl in for a surprise. Her vision became blurred as tears began building up at the corners of her eyes when she realized just how much she really missed her blonde teammate. "It's about time Naruto..."
'we've been waiting'
A gentle wind blew through the clearing, rustling the grass and the leaves in the trees that surrounding the area. A bird whistled in the distance, flapped its wings, and flew off into the sky with a grace known only to its onlookers.
A sigh washed past a pair of small plump lips, becoming one with the breeze to be swept away. Long beautiful dark blue hair ruffled in the wind, obscuring its owner's eyes from the world, creating a curtain of solitude.
Solitude.
A petite hand forcefully placed the strands back behind her ear; sad, pale lavender eyes opened. Her lips parted. "Alone..." She whispered.
Ever since he left, things just haven't been as lively. Like the sun has become duller. I know that I have become stronger, but will it be enough to impress him when he returns?
'No!' Her head shook wildly, her hands clenched. 'I can't let myself think that way! Naruto-kun wouldn't approve of it. I'm becoming stronger for myself as well; soon father will acknowledge me and see me fit to rule the Hyuga Clan. Courage and confidence Hinata. Courage and confidence, just like Naruto-kun.' Her eyes clouded over as her mind wandered back to when he left.
Naruto has been gone for such a long time now that It was a wonder how Hinata was still alive. She had based so many of her beliefs around Naruto that she had nearly given up hope. Of course, at that time, it was mostly admiration for him that she felt, or at least that's what she thinks it was. Maybe she had fallen for him long before that, maybe she always felt this way for him and it took a huge thing like him leaving for her to finally realized the extent of her 'crush'.
"Her eyes had been opened." As the old saying goes, but had gone blind shortly afterward.
She had been waiting for such a long time that days, hours, and minutes became infinite. Time itself is the enemy. But no matter how long it took, she would wait. She would wait forever. Besides, If she had been waiting for an infinite amount of time, surely she could wait a while longer.
Naruto-kun.
A voice broke through the silence like a battering ram. "Hinata!"
"Eeeek!" Splash.
"Hinata?! Oi! You alright?!" The voice asked with concern. "Arf!" A familiar deep bark echoed through the surrounding woods immediately after.
"H-Hai Kiba-kun...I just fell, I'm alright." Lifting the long sleeves of her light blue, flower embroidered kimono, Hinata slowly pushed herself upright and walked toward the streams edge, while her hair stuck to parts of her face. 'Great,' she thought with disappointment, 'now I'll have to change clothes and fix my hair again. Maybe meditating so close to running water wasn't such a great idea.' A chuckle emitted from Kiba's direction.
Hinata looked up and found his amused expression strangely agitating. Thinking about Naruto always made her more emotional.
She couldn't help that she was so hopelessly in love with him. It also wasn't her fault he was just too dense to see it. 'Not that he is even here to figure it out himself,' She thought with a blush, 'and it's not like I could gather up enough courage to tell him in the first place.'
"I don't see what so funny Kiba-kun." She stated sourly, wringing out the bottom of the kimono. 'I hope it dries quickly, I don't want to face father like this, and he would be so displeased.'
Kiba burst out laughing and offered her his hand for support, which she took gracefully. "If you were looking at yourself," He explained while lifting her up and releasing her when she was on stable ground, "I'm positive you'd be laughing too!"
Akamaru, Kiba's trusty sidekick-or rather, brother in every possible definition of the word- barked in agreement and ran up beside her leg, offering support as well. "Besides the humor," Kiba continued, giving Hinata a quick once-over, "I think the look matches you."
A blush rose quickly to Hinata's face at his sudden statement. She fisted her hands at her sides and stuck out her bottom lip slightly, it was childish, but Kiba's teasing was becoming annoying. 'He could at least tease while saying something believable, instead of stuff that seemed more fit for someone like Sakura or Ino,' Her eyes began to shine with tears of frustration. 'I'll never compare to them, beauty wise. Kiba has to keep pouring salt in my wounds with his lies.' She turned to grab her sandals from the ground beside the stream and stomped off in the direction of the training grounds.
"Wait!" Kiba called, chasing after her.
Pretending to ignore him, Hinata walked a few more steps. A minute later, her pace slowed, giving Kiba a chance to catch up before running again.
'Being angry like this is pointless,' She focused her eyes forward, begrudging herself for acting so childish. 'Besides, Kiba isn't at fault, he was trying to make me feel better, and that's all. Kiba is like that, always kind in his own way.' Her running turned gradually into a walk, 'He's like a brother too me, I should be treating him better than this.' When he was matching her pace beside her, Hinata turned to give Kiba an apologetic smile. "Gomen, Kiba-kun. I didn't mean to be so rude." Small smiles were all she could muster up these days.
Her sun was gone below the horizon and her world had become encased in twilight, why smile when the world was too dark to see it?
Akamaru jumped up in front of her and let off a small whine, his way of offering her a ride on his back. Hinata gave Kiba a questioning glance and received a nod. It was always customary for Hinata to ask permission for everything. It was how she was brought up.
One time, when Team Eight was just starting out, Kiba had gotten angry about her attitude and had told her to stop asking all the time.
'G-Gomen na s-sai K-Kiba-K-kun!' Hinata had stuttered pathetically, lowering her head and letting her long bangs cover her blushing face. Kiba growled loudly and crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance, the sight had reminded Hinata too much of her father and it had made tears come to her eyes. He must have realized he'd upset her because he'd loosed his stance and let out a frustrated sigh.
"You know," He'd said, his tone more gentle than she had ever heard it, "you don't have to apologize for something like that. What you should be saying is; "I will try!" or "Will you help me work on it?" I mean that's what we teammates are for right?"
His question and tone had surprised her and had caused her to look up at him, he looked nervous. "I-I'm not saying I'll do it! I m-mean, w-well you know? I c-could if you asked super nice!" It was like he was hinting something to her, telling her a secret during a hard test. She could practically feel the confusion on her face.
Kiba blinked and sighed loudly, scratching his head in what Hinata thought was defeat. "Couldn't you at least help me out here? My pride is practically down the drain!" The pieces suddenly clicked together. "Helping out a girl with her emotional problems isn't really something a guy like me would do." He whispered with embarrassment, looking nervously right to left.
He wanted to help her? He was going to help her? It seemed so strange; she never really had much assistance in her life, other than with training. Could she do it? All Kiba wanted her to do was ask right? It was too good to be true! But it was. It was happening, with only a question she could get the help she wanted.
Kiba was still mumbling under his breath when Hinata squared her shoulders and glared confidently at Kiba's shoes. "P-Please help me K-Kiba-kun!!" She bowed low and added, "I-I would greatly appreciate it!!"
The silence was deafening.
Then a booming laugh deafened Hinata worse than the silence, she cringed.
'I-I S-Said it w-wrong d-didn't I?! S-Something I-I s-said?!' She was going into internal shock when Kiba's hand interrupted her confused thoughts, extended towards her for her to shake. Her head rose to look into his eyes; he was relieved.
"Sure hinata! I'd be happy to help you!"
A light smile lit Hinata's face as she shyly grasped his outstretched hand. "A-Arigato!"
Hinata smiled at the memory, it had been a turning point for her.
Now, as she climbed onto Akamarus back, it was customary for Hinata not to ask Kiba for permission, not with her words anyway. It was a little pact they made between each other, their own little secret.
"Naw! Don't worry about it," He stared ahead as he spoke. "Though I'm not going to say sorry or anything," A smirk found its way to his face.
Eager to change the subject, Hinata asked him a question she was going to ask a while ago, before she had acted so rudely. "Ne, Kiba-kun?"
"What is it?" His tone was questioning, while dodged a tree branch inches before it hit his face.
"I was just wondering. What made you come looking for me? Does Hokage-sama have a mission for us?"
His eyes flickered to her face and back forward.
Was that disappointment in his eyes? Yes, she saw it everyday on her fathers face...but Kiba's looked more...sad, than disappointed. What could she have done to give him that expression?
"No, well, I don't think she does," He explained, "I kinda just...wanted to spend time with you...that's all." trailing off slightly toward the end, he averted his eyes opposite from Hinata, but quickly regained composure and grinned at her before she could make anything of it, "we've got a rare day off! Don't you want to spend it somewhere else? Can't be training all the time you know, don't want to get to buff Hinata or nobody is going to think you're pretty anymore!"
Again, Hinata blushed scarlet.
"I'll let you in on a secret Hinata." Kiba said with sudden severe ness in his voice.
Hinata's blush didn't deteriorate, but her curiousness got the better of her so she bent her head to the side in a questioning gesture. Kiba smirked wide and moved to her and Akamaru's side.
He bent down until his mouth was an inch from her ear and whispered slowly: "I don't like girls with huge muscles..."
His breath had nearly made her giggle, but his words made her throat seem dried out and her giggle turned into a small squeak.
Her mind was a confused jumble; so she was hardly aware of the fact that Akamaru had already come to a stop in the clearing, she also wasn't aware of the person currently occupying it, and she was most certainly unaware of Kiba's face that was moving closer and closer to her own.
"HINATA!!"
The persons scream snapped Hinata out of her trance a second too late.
A/N: Hiyo my fellow NaruHina fans (or readers...or writers)! I'm back!
Wow, a cliffhanger on the first chapter. I thought it was a good way to end, ne? I wonder who screamed her name at the end? Could it be Sakura? Naruto? SHINO?! Ok, even you know it couldn't have been Shino...Besides I like starting stories out with a BANG! Just don't shot me please...I didn't mean it literally.
Ok, I don't really understand where this story is headed. At the beginning, I was just going to write a sweet scene where Naruto and Hinata are reunited after the years while Naruto is off training with Jiriya, but ended up not...obviously. There are quite a few stories like that already, right? Why not write a story that isn't so bloody obvious? Ne? So this is where my not so imaginative story begins!
The rest is kind of hard to explain...but there are things that I will point out right now:
-Time is ALWAYS moving at the same pace! The break in POVs DOES NOT mean a break in the time line!
-Almost everyone in the anime will get their own time in the POV spotlight! I want you guys to know what I think the characters are thinking. There's nothing more annoying than an unsolved mystery to keep you up at night, eh? Plus, they all deserve it! Hinata will be starring most though…because she's me favorite…and she's practically the main character.
-The classic "Starts out the paragraph with a scene describing the area around the characters." will not last long. Well, maybe with Shino's POV.
Other than that, I'm sort of winging it! In a way, it's fun. I haven't thought of anything other than this chapter, so each one is going to be a surprise for me as well as you!
Naruto's time in the POV spotlight is next(OBVIOUSLY!)! Please Review!
-Hinata-Chan