Summary: Uzumaki Hinata's dead cousin sets off a series of events that allow seven useless people in their wartime society to come together to defeat demons. Hinata and her companions set out to become the strongest guild in the empire.
Pairings: Hinata/Shikamaru, Ino/Naruto, Tenten/Sasuke, Lee/Gaara (other pairings to be decided)
A/N: I've been watching a lot of animes where the characters get stuck in a game and have parties.
Bellenero:
The Troll, The Demon & The Nun
Prologue
"NARUTO, IT'S BEST IF YOU LEFT THE ORPHANAGE."
Hinata gasped quietly and lunged back into the shadows. She wasn't supposed to hear any of that. She was trying to get water from the downstairs fountain since that one works way better. It also had fresh flowers she, by tradition, had to smell before going to dreamland.
She didn't even mean to come this way. Now she's left with this mess to observe. She couldn't step on the particularly squeaky planks. Her toes were curling up and she trembled.
She wasn't also allowed out of her room after lights out. Sister Hera falls asleep early and both Hinata and Naruto were screwed.
Crabs.
Hinata was in the hallway near the main dining room with all the dark ceilings and bunches of tables. Moonlight coloured the room mysteriously.
Hinata's mouth tasted of sulphur. Her tongue was dry with worry.
Sister Hera was the most intolerant nun who've terrorized the children of the orphan for twenty years. She enforced the rules and laid down the law of the land like a tyrant.
She knew how to punish people and kick them out if she smelled the slightest whiff of trouble.
She's always preyed on the 'blasphemous' children and did brutal and unusual punishments to them. She was the most unforgiving and fear-worthy of the nuns.
Sister Hera just loved picking on Naruto and made it known how much she despised the blonde.
The blonde Naruto requested an orange ensemble of clothing. They were neon and stood out. Even the pyjamas that he wore was brighter than any diamond.
Naruto just had to make waves when others were no more than slight splatters.
"I'm sorry, Naruto. You mustn't make this more enduring and harder than it needs to be." Sister Hera said with a kind but hoarse voice.
Hinata wondered if it was fake emotion or just sympathy. Her heart pounded in her tight chest.
Sister Hera's narrow face, creases and wrinkles around her crow's feet eyes always became heavy with violence. Her pale, faint complexion made her look ghostly.
Sister Hera always had something against Naruto.
He would have to be the one to get firewood when it rained. Clean the whiteboards and tape up the bibles. Kill the rats. Fix the broken tables that gave splinters the size of femur bones. Was it because Naruto wasn't modest, yelled too much and couldn't remember sermons that well because he constantly fell asleep?
He was much of a prankster as well and a hyper boy at that.
Is that why they're trying to get rid of him?
"But- Sister Hera, why would you? I got nowhere else to go." Naruto pled with Hera. "I'm not even eighteen yet. How am I supposed to get on in the world?"
"We taught you everything you need to know, young man," said Sister Hera loudly. "God always gives you the right path-"
"God isn't getting kicked outta home by you!" Naruto shouted. "I don't know anything but the bible. I don't know how to clean or cook or get a job. All I know is how to be bored and follow your stinking orders. Isn't that what you're supposed to know? How to live without this place?"
Sister Hera's voice became sickly sweet, like the taste of almonds on someone's tongue. "Now you must be on your own. You are no longer a baby. The bed you are sleeping in may be needed for a child who has been abandoned."
But almonds are famous for tasting like poison.
"I don't know how to fight but I could take care of the kids. I like 'em. They're my only family." Naruto's voice got more grit.
"If you want to learn to fight, go to the Capital. Join a guild, find a party and gallivant in the dungeons."
Naruto sucked in a breath and he scrambled to his feet. "You're just kicking me out because you don't like me. Isn't that why, Hairless-Sister Hera?"
"You know, as I must be honest, I'll say that I do not like you. You've always been trouble for the sisters, a nightmare to deal with. A demon lies within you and we cannot danger the other, normal children of God. I cannot help or save you, demon."
"I am not a demon! Stop saying that shit!"
Hinata's body tensed up. Lady Morgana, the orphanage Hinata has grown up in, had a special set of children the nuns called demons.
Lady Morgana's orphanage was famous for its high concentration of strange, peculiar children. Some are sent to orphanages due to parents dying but that's the least common reason. Yeah, people are reckless with their lives but not all parents were weak.
Children here have danger-prone tendencies, overly aggressive behaviour, body deformities in their levels of energy, and powers or skills people call curses.
Dubbed by the commoners around the place, the orphanage is called Moron-land. No one expected any of the many kids here to succeed after they get kicked out, much like Naruto is getting booted right now.
Lady Morgana's ex-orphans become beggars. The desperation roughening Naruto's voice understands this path for him.
Hinata's heart arched and got heavy. The beggar's hands were constantly coated in filth, clothes riddled with holes, and the redness of alcohol on their cheeks. Before that fate, all is futile. Why is Naruto still arguing? Why is he getting unfairly kicked out?
"We called the Adventurers to kick you out if you do not leave at this instant." snapped Sister Hera.
"Sister Hera-"
"Would you like to be branded a criminal? Live out the rest of your days as a felon? Be my guest! You are trespassing."
Hinata looked at the situation. She loved this place; the routines, the glass stained windows, the high ceilings and the sense of community. Yeah, she got annoyed but all the younger kids were didn't want to leave because that would hurt. The pain must be ruining Naruto. He didn't want to leave.
"Sister Hera-" Naruto cut himself off. "You can't make me go. You could drag me away but I'll just come back. You could punish me but I'll be back with proud scars. You could starve me but I'll drink water and return. You can't get rid of me, hag."
Sister Hera's nostrils flared. Her arm swung back before Hinata understood what that violent action led to.
The slap was louder than any explosion she's ever heard. His face was red with the outline of a bruising slap. Her fingertips' outlines were clearly sesn. That's how hard she hit him. It was as clear as daytime in the wispy blue of the moonlight.
"Go." Sister Hera said, stuffing her iron hand into her sleeves. "Move on."
"Move on? Where do I go?" Naruto asked harshly.
"The Adventurers will be here to collect you... You only waste my time and use my resources." Sister Hera pulled back for another swing. "Now go-"
Hinata's stubby legs moved before her mind caught up. She was out of the shadows and right in front of Naruto. It was more of a blow to her than to him. Why was Hinata running? She really- why? She was internally screaming on another plane of existence. She's dumb! Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.
Hinata was... in between them.
Sister Hera was willowy and taller than Hinata remembered. Her black robes and white cape and folds framing her stern face were suddenly shadowy and menacing. The planks creaked under her and the air was suddenly musty. The chances of escape seemed very, very small. Sister Hera blocked the exit. All exits.
Hinata perilously looked over her shoulder. Naruto was on his knees and Hinata wasn't much taller than him. She gulped. Why did she think she could change anything?
Naruto looked at her, kind of fascinated. Like she was a light in the dark hall he was trudging down. Then he looked sad as if he forced her into a terrible situation.
"Shouldn't you be in bed? What's the meaning of this, young lady?" Sister Hera demanded quietly. She was shocked too.
"Don't hit Naruto-kun! He should stay!" Hinata's small voice trembled. Her knees were bowling balls and it was hard to stay upright.
Naruto's shoulders tensed when Sister Hera's arm flinched. Instead of striking Hinata, Sister Hera settled her wrinkled hands on her hips. Her hooked nose and narrowed eyes sharpened her glare.
The lump in Hinata's throat wouldn't dislodge. She wasn't sure how she could talk. Now she couldn't run, her feet were cinder blocks.
"I thought I heard a pathetic mouse creeping in the hallways," Sister Hera leaned forward. "I never knew it would be you with the Troll eyes."
Hinata unconsciously leaned backwards, to avoid the minty smell of Sister Hera's loud canine huffs.
"Troll Eyes" has been Hinata's nickname since she learned what the other children were referring to. Hinata's eyes were the peculiar shade of purple. People likened her to trolls with the infamous violet in their beady, veined eyes.
Despite how terrified Hinata was, she wouldn't let white horses drag her away from Naruto in this situation.
"Troll, are you going to give me what I am asking for? An answer?" Sister Hera snarled. Her eyes and voice lowered as if she were disappointed... Heartbroken. "I never expected you to act out in this insolent manner. What happened to the politeness I knew coming from you? Trolls are dumb and obedient. Why aren't you?"
Hinata recoiled. "I want to live with him. That's why."
"I cannot take any more of his uncouth behaviour. Don't you feel like you're living with a curse, a loaded gun," Sister Hera's voice became hushed, "a sin?"
"I don't feel that at all. How could you feel that way towards Naruto-kun? He's practically your child!" Hinata protested.
"You raised me and now you're leaving me out in the streets on my ass! Not cool!" added Naruto, rubbing his cheek.
"I never liked you. None of us sisters believed you to be our family much less our child," Sister Hera said so coldly to Naruto, Hinata's heart shivered.
Naruto clenched his fist. "I never liked you but I love everyone else! I'm not eighteen yet, you damn sure can't kick me out."
Sister Hera clicked her tongue, every wrinkle on her face disagreeing with Naruto. "You are sixteen, mister, that is considered an adult in the Capital."
"We aren't in the Capital! Th-this is MY home. This is all I need. They're my blood." Naruto called out, practically growling.
"Tough crackers, Uzumaki Naruto! You're gone and that's final." Sister gave her authority to every syllable of the hurtful, outing words.
Naruto gritted his teeth, glaring furiously while the ferocious lioness Sister Hera met his look. They were two flames trying to burn the other with the stubbornness in every flare of their muscles.
The inside of Hinata's cheek was raw from her biting down and keeping quiet but she couldn't! Not anymore! All the cards were against him and she wasn't allowing him to go down like this.
Not without a fair fight.
"But that isn't fair!" Hinata interjected loudly. Her voice echoed in her skull and in the halls.
"Oh, you! Troll, you let all your chances to repent and go to bed to sleep with the dogs. You are to be punished harshly in the morning," declared Sister Hera.
Well. Now Hianta can't go back without a punishment. What's one more?
Hinata's lip quivered. "I don't c-care about punishment. Me being punished doesn't make you right..." Hinata stomped her foot. "At all!"
Hinata's nullification of Sister Hera's normally terrifying effect enraged the woman. The nun's face was flushed with wrath. She imposed even more daunting things on Hinata.
"You will weed the champs and clean the aisles and get twenty-five good whips! If you cry, we shall commence again. If you move, we shall commence again. If you close your eyes, we shall commence again. If you ever so much as flinch, we shall commence again." Sister Hera grimaced.
Hinata instinctively flinched. She knew the whip all too well. Minor infractions gained that evil thing. The person who got hit needed bandages and herbs for the pain. If the child was really bad, they wouldn't get any healing medicine or bandages.
Bad behaviour was usually nipped at the bud with the threat of the whip or maybe a couple of whips.
Sister Hera was still being a horrible person with her ways.
Hinata wanted to stand up to that. She didn't know the limits of Hera's insults, how hard Hera hit or how fast Hera cut the stem of a growing flower. Sister Hera can't just kick them out like this! Naruto was one of the good guys. It wasn't right!
Sister Hera pounced on that fear Hinata tried to dismiss. "With the willow stick." Sister Hera finished.
Naruto waved his arms, immediately appalled and boisterous. "That isn't fair!" he looked at Hinata. "Twenty doesn't hurt that much but I get punished a hell lot more than everyone. The whip is my FRIEND!" he directed a dark look at Sister Hera- "Twenty is too much. She doesn't know the whip."
The silence was loud and heavy.
Hinata won't be a coward.
Hinata unfurled her limbs and swallowed shakily. "I want fifty!" she whispered.
Sister Hera's brown eyes betrayed no disbelief. "You've never been hit before, child. Why are you doing this?" she asked in an irritated voice. "For him."
"If you can't help and save Naruto-kun, I will." Hinata said firmly.
Naruto stopped protesting in the background. Hinata's throat clenched. She can't believe she said that! She- this is bad news! Bad news!
Sister Hera rubbed her temple. "God will be disappointed in you and your blasphemous friend during Sunday classes."
"Let God hath fury thrust upon both Naruto-kun and I because..."
Hinata looked back at the surprised and anguished Naruto. She stood taller and straightened her spine. Her voice gained more firmness and volume.
More drama and threat coloured her weak voice. "Because... I'm not going to Sunday classes if Naruto-kun won't be there," Hinata said resolutely.
Hinata almost collapsed when the harsh silence left her hanging. Naruto cursed under his breath.
Sister Hera blinked twice, thoroughly transfixed by Hinata's complete change in confidence and behaviour.
The nun sucked on her teeth like she tasted something sour. "Alright. I certainly do not need two rebellious children with impulses that could undo the purity of Lady Morgana." A sweet smile was plastered on her thin beastly face. "Very well, you both are banished from ever setting foot in this orphanage. Effective immediately."
The words tore Hinata to pieces as they took her world apart. She's been... kicked out? For doing the right thing?
Naruto bolted to his feet. "You can't kick her out!"
Sister Hera looked at the pale, immobilized Hinata and turned around. Sister Hera grabbed two swords crossed over the fireplace. The sharpness of the sword worried Hinata.
"Go on, Troll, save Naruto in the big, bad world after you are arrested by the adventurers or killed. Heaven won't take any of you sinners." Sister Hera threw them.
The swords cackled at their feet with dust rising and falling like the last breath. Naruto shielded Hinata. They listened as the metal's metal clanged and sounded like a church bell.
It was ominous, a sign of the bad to come. Hinata's never held a sword. She never wanted to kill. Never.
The swords were musty and cracked, barely able to perform. Hinata hoped they never would make use of it.
"Heaven wouldn't ever take a hag like you, either." Naruto sneered. "When I become king, you will go to hell, Sister Hera. If you don't fall in, I will push you down there."
Sister Hera smirked. "My Adventurers will hunt you down and they will send you to jail where you will rot."
Naruto glared at the swords she ever so graciously offered. Hinata picked one up. They weren't light and Naruto grabbed one. He even had trouble with the weights.
Hinata tugged at the orange cuffs of the rigid man. His eyes glowed a fearsome yellow. It was a frightening colour... unsettling and loud with killing and poisonous intent.
"This isn't over," Naruto said, every word infused in tension.
"Where shall the demon and the troll end up?" Sister Hera chuckled. "O where, o where, o where?"
Her laughs were more sinister than any monster, threat or promise of death. They had to run from the Adventurers. They could seriously do some damage to this building if they can't get their target, which was them.
Adventurers were aggressive like hungry, selfish creatures. They are paid to do missions and when their missions are carried out to a degree of satisfaction, they receive their promised amount.
If they do their mission with the swiftness or brutality that their payer ordered, they will receive extra and be rewarded.
In this cracked up world, Adventurers will do anything and not care about those who get trampled or fall in the process. If both Hinata and Naruto were targets, they will do anything to see to it that they get paid.
Hinata tugged Naruto's sleeve. "Let's go."
Naruto finally obliged as he ripped his venom glare away from their older feminine torturer. "Yeah," he said hoarsely. He blinked away any emotion.
Hinata did the same. She couldn't... drown in the memories. Not how they laughed and sang all the time. How they picked apples and on the really dry, humid days- the church smells of apples and candy molasses. Hinata got to help in the kitchen and make the best chicken or bread. How they slept on each other when it was cold. If had a nightmare, they would all cuddle and do rituals until those bad spirits are sent away.
She'll miss it.
Naruto breathed and was calm. Certain. Hinata was falling apart. She's trying not to cry when this suffocated her.
She was breathing through his lungs, to calm down. She chose this. She chose to help him. She couldn't think straight.
He's so strong; breathing for two.
He's so strong while she led him through the blackness. Being a lamp didn't burn too much.
Bustling through the dark wooden halls as their makeshift family slept was an eerie thing. She was quite slow out of the door. They kindly ran out of the only home they've ever known, their hearts, feet and eyes aching.
Aching.
-End Prologue-
A/N- Soooo. What'd you think? I am working out the kinks. And NaruHina will be platonic. More like brother and sister. Shikamaru (Hinata's main love interest) will come in with his POV every third chapter. Will be long or short. Haven't decided...