A/N: Hello, and welcome to the first chapter in my story. I decided to make this story mostly out of displeasure with how Kishimoto wrote a story with such potential. That said, check out this chapter and let me know what you think. Please review and comment if you like the story. I look forward to seeing where this goes. : )
By the way, I have decided to set this story a year before the rookies graduate. The reasons for that will become clear later, I promise. Enjoy!
Change
Underneath the stoic stone faces on the side of a mountain, the citizens of Konohagakure could be seen closing their shops and turning in for an approaching night. However, in the shadow of the sunset, the ninja inhabiting the village remain active to protect its precious residents. Suddenly, several fleets of the village's defenders could be seen moving with great haste towards the massive building at this village's center.
Inside of that building, a man with great stature stood looking outside of the window of his chambers. Despite his age, he commanded the respect of every member of the very people he had sworn to protect, including the shinobi and kunoichi now filling his room.
"What's up, dad." He put out his cigarette he was smoking on his flak jacket and tucked it into a pocket. His lax attitude betrayed how serious he knew receiving a call from the Hokage was.
The elderly man known as the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sighed, showing his exhaustion, and turned around to face the most elite of his ninja, who had gathered before him.
"Thank you for assembling here today. I will cut to the point, as time is of the essence. The Fuin no Sho (Scroll of Seals) has been stolen."
The Jonin in the room grew stone-faced at the announcement, but remained silent.
"I need you all to search for the culprit. You should be able to recognize whomever stole the scroll, as they should still have it on their person. Scour every corner of this village until you find them...And bring them alive. Dismissed." he said, turning back around.
The moment his back faced them, a giant cloud of smoke masked the disappearance of everyone in the room. Hiruzen could see his shinobi jumping along the rooftops in various directions in accordance with his commands.
While he should have felt assured that his most trusted ninja were on the case, something about all of this wore on him. He couldn't help but think that the turnout of this coming night would shape the future of this village.
"I got it!"
Bouncing from branch to branch to an isolated part of the forests of Konohagakure, an orange-clad 12-year old boy carrying a large scroll on his back could be seen moving with great haste.
"I can't wait to be a Genin!" he thought.
"Naruto!"
The voice of his teacher stopped him cold. Shortly after he stopped, he looked behind him to find the disappointed visage of a man with a scar on his face.
"Hey, Iruka-sensei!"
"Don't 'hey' me, Naruto. Why do you have that scroll? The contents of that scroll are extremely dangerous and shouldn't be in the hands of anyone but the Hokage. How did you even get past all the ninja guarding the vault...?" Iruka asked. His tone dictated his annoyance, but he was relieved to find that the scroll was not taken by an enemy or rogue ninja.
"I've pranked Hokage-jiji so many times that I know that place like the back of my hand, Iruka-sensei. My mind is scary." Naruto said with a grin.
"Indeed it is. Well done, Naruto."
The two turned to face a silver-haired man, somewhat older than Iruka, clad in the same uniform. His visage was much less friendly. The two large shuriken on his back seemed unusually foreboding for someone that was meant to be an ally. Naruto stood at his teacher's side, clearly alarmed and fearful, feeling the dangerous aura put out by the arrival of this ninja.
"So that's it." Iruka said, getting into a low stance with a hand on his weapon's pouch. "You made Naruto get the scroll. Why, Mizuki!?"
The Chuunin put his hand on his forehead and chuckled. Slowly, his expression grew more manic.
"Idiot...the kid can't graduate if he can't make a simple Bunshin (Clone). It wasn't that much trouble to trick him into getting me the scroll. As for the 'why', I don't think it matters to you. I don't believe I need to answer to some second-rate ninja anyway."
The sounds of the forest grew quiet after the heinous act of the academy instructor had been revealed.
"W-wait...you tricked me?" Naruto said, clenching his hands. He was noticeably frozen in place, out of anger or disappointment nobody could tell.
Mizuki merely scoffed and lowered his stance, taking one of the massive shuriken on his back and hurling it toward Naruto. Iruka's eyes locked onto the shuriken as his adrenaline rose, signaling the beginning of the battle. However, the weapon's massive size and speed left Iruka few options for a response. The scarred man grabbed Naruto by his jacket and tossed him out of the way before dodging the large metal star with a well-timed jump to the side. The blond-haired boy hit the floor hard, but he was safe. At least, before Mizuki decided to charge at him.
"Shit...he separated us!" Iruka exclaimed.
Upon realizing that his student was in danger, he pulled out a few kunai. Feeling the black metal secured in between his fingers, he tossed them at a spot slightly in front of the scared boy and followed his knives with another kunai in his grip. Mizuki scowled when he noticed the oncoming projectiles and was forced to jump into the air to avoid the deadly kunai. The silver-haired Chuunin failed to notice that his opponent was hot on his heels, however. The knife that Iruka was holding had been thrown and was sailing through the air en-route to Mizuki's location. Grunting in frustration, the silver-haired Chuunin curled up and covered himself as the kunai cut through his guard, embedding itself slightly in his arm.
As he landed, he angrily ripped it out of his arm and took the second massive shuriken off the holster on his back into his hands.
"You mediocre bastard! I'm going to kill you first. You've been a thorn in my side ever since we were children!" he exclaimed, giving into his rage at a good plan going awry.
"I can't believe you would stoop so low as to attack an academy student!" Iruka said with some anger of his own.
"He's not worth being called a student...He's a monster! He killed your parents! That brat's even terrorized the villagers with his ridiculous pranks! I'd be doing everyone a favor if I just killed him now...And all I want is a little...compensation for my deeds."
Naruto flinched at hearing the hatred spewing from the academy instructor. Staying behind Iruka and trying to appear as invisible as possible behind the large scroll that he was holding, he wondered what he did to deserve all of the torment that he endured during his short 12 year life. Sure he performed tons of pranks, but he only did that to be acknowledged by everyone who clearly didn't believe in him. They never hurt anyone, nor was it anything that was irreparable.
"He's not a monster!" Iruka shouted with fervor. "Now come quietly before I have to hurt you and drag you into the Sandaime's office myself."
Suddenly, Iruka recoiled, wondering how the massive bladed weapon in Mizuki's hands ended up in his back. He knew that his spine wasn't impaled, but it was pretty damn close. Within seconds after Iruka's observation of his injuries, the Mizuki in front of him popped into smoke, leaving a log behind.
"Basic Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Technique)."
Iruka looked behind him and saw that Mizuki was on a branch above Naruto and Iruka.
"Maybe if you didn't let your skills go to waste, you would have seen that I set one up at the beginning of this fight."
Iruka found the damage from the massive shuriken in his back so debilitating that he fell over, taking to his knee to keep him upright. He began to sweat profusely as his very life blood began to pool, creating a dark red stain on his jacket. The silver-haired shinobi gave the two a dangerous smile as he realized that he was near his goal with little effort. However, as quickly as his roguish smile came, a frown took hold of his face when he noticed Naruto taking a defensive stance in front of Iruka.
"Surely you can't think that you're strong enough to take me on, you damned brat." Mizuki said.
"You won't hurt my sensei anymore." he said, crossing his fingers in a hand sign.
"Oh?"
"Yeah! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Jutsu)!" he yelled.
A massive burst of smoke surrounded the small clearing that the battle was taking place in. After a brief moment, Mizuki saw that Naruto had vanished completely. Mizuki grit his teeth after realizing that he had been fooled into believing that a talentless kid could have possibly mastered a Jonin level technique.
"Enough of your pranks!" Mizuki said.
"This isn't a game." a voice from above him said.
Mizuki looked up and immediately felt his heart drop like a stone. As he stared upon the angered faces of hundreds of clones of Naruto, he felt his mouth dry up in his fear. The voice came from the Naruto standing on a rigid branch across from him. He began to speak again once he had Mizuki's attention.
"You know, I should thank you for showing me the reality of what it means to be a ninja...But I also want to smash your face in." Naruto said with a venom that would intimidate any ninja. "I've always been dead-last in my class...but I guess that's gotta change if I have any hope of dealing with scum like you."
Mizuki paled, but grew even more angry.
"I'm not scum, you demon!"
Now it was Naruto's turn to show his rage. The blond's eyes began to flash red while his pupils became thinner and appeared much like a snake's. Suddenly, one of the clone that was on a branch above the silver-haired chunin jumped off and threw a punch to the back of Mizuki's head. The tightened fist struck him, sending him off the branch and slamming him into the cold dirt below. After a slight recovery, the chunin dug his fingers into the dirt and banged a fist into the ground in frustration.
"Damn you!" he shouted, looking in the direction that he was hit from.
However, Naruto was more focused on mounting his offensive to end this fight - permanently - instead of sending an equally venomous retort. All of the orange-clad clones jumped off their branches, diving toward Mizuki with chambered fists. With a massive battle-cry, the first clone fell with a fist to Mizuki's face, dispelling in a cloud of smoke upon hitting the floor. Through the smoke, the next one delivered a punch to the back, flatting Mizuki out onto the floor. As each clone followed, Mizuki screamed as he was beaten into the ground under the cover of the smoke. Iruka was absolutely astonished that Naruto could do so much damage in such a coordinated manner. He knew that Mizuki wasn't able to substitute out of the punishment either, since he hadn't made a hand sign earlier. Soon after the relentless barrage, Mizuki's screams stopped. As the smoke cleared, Mizuki's body was seen half-buried in the ground.
The real Naruto, who had been standing on the same branch the entire time, jumped down, looking at Mizuki's body for signs of movement. After he was satisfied that he was put down, he walked over to Iruka.
"Sorry sensei. It was my fault that you got hurt." Naruto said with genuine concern. Iruka looked at Naruto, realizing that his eyes had become more hardened. He chalked it up to the already tormented boy being faced with the death of someone that he held dear. He simply nodded in acknowledgment of Naruto's concern and pointed to the large metal object in his back that had seemingly gone ignored.
"Can you pull this out?" Iruka said.
Before Naruto could, a jonin with a cigarette in his mouth and messy, spiky black hair hopped down from the trees.
"I wouldn't do that, kid. He might have some spinal injuries if that isn't handled properly. With all that smoke, you've alerted pretty much everybody in the area. He'll get some medical attention soon."
Iruka nodded and relaxed when he saw the man. The damage wasn't so extensive that he couldn't wait a few minutes. Naruto, on the other hand, stood in front of Iruka, keeping his eyes on the newcomer.
"Thank you, Asuma-san." Iruka said, tempering his breaths so the pangs of pain shooting through his body would be dulled.
Asuma grunted and walked over to the body of the silver-haired chunin that was half-buried. He immediately noted his torn muscles and broken bones. After putting a hand on his back, he saw that his spine was crushed, effectively paralyzing him, if not killing him.
After observing the damage done, the dark-haired smoker looked over to Naruto, noticing his defensive stare. This wasn't his first time seeing the carrier of the Kyuubi, but back then his eyes looked desolate. Looking at the state of Iruka, there was no way that he could have done this kind of damage. Slowly piecing together the state of the battlefield allowed him to deduce that Naruto took out this chunin on his own. With a smile, he picked up the body and threw it over his shoulder. Looking at Naruto once more, Asuma leapt into the trees and out of sight.
When Iruka and his pupil were alone again, Naruto sighed and fell onto his back. Iruka was initially worried, however upon further inspection, the scarred man found that the blond dozed off.
"You might not being doing well in your classes now, but I have a feeling that it won't stop you will it, Naruto?" he thought with a soft smile.
"You may just be a worthy vessel after all..."
Naruto woke up with a start at the sound of the evil, imposing voice. He found himself staring at a wall directly in front of him. After looking around, he realized that he was in his room. Moving his cerulean eyes left and right, he discerned that his room was in the state that he had left it yesterday.
Yesterday! That's right! The rush of memories informed him of his events in the past day! The blond grimaced. His sensei got hurt and it was his fault. He was too weak. All this time that he spent pulling pranks just to get attention from people that still hate him. He could have spent his time training and getting closer to his dream of being Hokage!
He hopped out of bed, barely feeling the cold wood floor of his apartment on his toes due to his excitement. After stretching his muscles out, Naruto threw off his dirty clothes and took a fresh, bright orange jumpsuit, befitting only of a future Hokage.
"I should train today." he thought, a full smile gracing his face.
The driven boy entered the bathroom in his apartment to brush his teeth and wash himself up in preparation for a day of training. He ran out minutes later, passing his bedroom and living room area and found his way into the kitchen.
Crouching near the sink, he glided his hand on the wooden cupboard until he found the small handle. Pulling it open and reaching inside, he found a plastic cup with his favorite golden treat inside.
"Ah...no matter what changes in my life, I'll always have the food of the gods." he said, holding up the cup ramen in front of his face.
After his small breakfast, the ninja-hopeful threw the still-warm cup into the trash bin.
"Alright! I wonder if I can check out the library..."
He pondered about getting into the library, however, he knew that the ones in charge of the establishment, like the shopkeepers of Konoha, wouldn't let him in. He sat down on the floor of his kitchen for what must have been half an hour before smacking himself in the forehead.
"Duh...I can just Henge (Transform) into someone else." Naruto said, picking himself up off the floor and raising two fingers in front of his chest.
After gathering some chakra and visualizing a random shinobi that he saw on the street one day, a burst of smoke stretched out from his body. As the vapor diffused, Naruto appeared as a completely different young shinobi with short brown hair. After checking his appearance in a mirror for the signature Konoha headband that would get him into the library, he walked out into the warm and sunny village that he called home.
Upon arriving at the library, the disguised blond looked around and spotted an old man at the receptionist desk. Reasoning that he was the one to talk to about where to find ninja scrolls with techniques inside, Naruto walked over to him. Each step that he took made him more nervous.
"...It's one thing when you're planning it, but it's completely different when you're doing it." Naruto thought.
When he finally arrived at the front of the reception desk, he cleared his throat with enthusiasm - perhaps, too much - and, with a clearly made-up voice, asked for the location of the scrolls of interest. The elderly man looked at him up and down. Naruto found himself nearly sweating and took to tapping the desk to relieve his anxiety. After what felt like minutes, the elderly man nodded and pointed to a particular path at the far end of the hallway. With a smile, the transformed Naruto walked calmly, looking around as he walked. The library was rather simple. The entrance led to a foyer area with a door leading to the massive space used for the library. There were shelves upon shelves of scrolls and books all lined up in cases. The cases were lined up in rows so that one could enter the space and remove scrolls or books at their leisure. The ninja techniques, however, were restricted to ninja and those permitted by the receptionist or the Hokage.
Naruto walked down the path, smiling with glee since he knew he would be learning some new techniques soon.
"Why didn't I do this earlier?" Naruto asked himself.
Suddenly, he stopped. A book in a row that he didn't intend to enter had drawn his eyes. The spine of the book contained the same spiral symbol that one would see on any official Konoha garb, but it also contained the word 'Uzushiogakure' in black text. He grabbed the book and stared at it for a second, wondering exactly what this book contained. Naruto's curiosity led him to opening the book before he reached a desk. If he wasn't curious before, now he was driven to know the contents of this book as his eyes locked onto a word that he was very familiar with.
"Uzumaki..." he whispered.
Flipping to the beginning of the book, he read everything about Uzushiogakure's history, from its inception to its partnership with Konoha to its eventual destruction. Before the young Uzumaki knew it, several hours had passed. After reading the last sentence of the passage he closed the book. To say that he was upset would have been an understatement. He had lost his entire family, which was apparently deeply respected in Konoha, to people that felt threatened by them. To him, the fact that there were survivors, coupled with the fact that he was born in Konoha meant that it was possible that there might be some Uzumaki remaining in the village.
"Then why wouldn't Jiji tell me anything?!" he whispered with poorly-controlled anger.
The Hokage must have had a reason for not telling him about his family. The more pressing question was that if his family was so respected, then why was he so hated? He knew that these questions needed some answering, but he took solace in the fact that he knew something about where he came from. The boy made it a point to visit the ruins of Uzushiogakure one day. For now, however, he decided to get more information on his family.
He got up from his chair and checked himself to make sure that his transformation was still active. He silently thanked his parents, whoever they may be, for gifting him with such a massive chakra reserve; normally, there was no way someone could hold a transformation for this long.
"You seem troubled by what you've read."
Naruto looked over and saw the short, elderly man that greeted him when he entered. He noticed the orange glow of the setting sun on his tan skin. It was not bright enough to cause a glare from his bald head. The Uzumaki realized that it must have been afternoon. It was a long book, after all.
"I know who you are, you know."
Naruto didn't say anything and continued to look at the man with curiosity.
"Perhaps you should take these two." the old man said, holding out a scroll and another book. "I was waiting for you to come here, Uzumaki Naruto."
The flinch from Naruto was detected by the old man, and he laughed.
"I've seen many ninja come and go through the doors of this library. I can detect a simple Henge, young man. I would like to speak with you. I believe we have much to talk about." he said with a kind voice.
The fear on Naruto's face made itself known to the old man as he began to shiver and retreat, separating himself and the man with the chair he was sitting at.
"So this is what the population of Konoha has done to you...poor child. Be assured that I will not hurt you, however, I understand that you may be hesitant to trust me. How about you take these items and give them a look. I think you will find that I could be useful to you."
Naruto looked at the items that he was being presented and took them quickly.
"Since the library is about to close, you may take those items with you and go back home. Feel free to take that book on Uzushiogakure and keep it as well. I feel that it is your right."
He stared at the man in disbelief. Was he really just giving him these items for free? Nobody ever gave him anything for free. But he wasn't about to refuse the man's offer. Grabbing the book off the table, he ran away, failing noticing the smile on the man's face.
Within a few minutes, he was home again. After dropping his transformation and locking his door, he sighed deeply and pressed his back against the wall. He slowly looked down at the objects in his hand. In his right hand, the book and scroll he was given, and in his left, the book on the history of Uzushiogakure. Before he could make his next move, however, he realized that he had not eaten since the morning. After placing the books and scroll underneath a sofa cushion in his living room, he opened the door and took a step out into the fading light.
The prankster decided to take the rooftops to his favorite eatery, Ichiraku Ramen, to avoid the hateful villagers that would undoubtedly bother him. Upon dropping down in front of the ramen stand, a soft gasp reached Naruto's ears. Upon turning to the direction of the sound, he saw someone disappear around the corner of the stand. Believing that it was weird that someone would hide from him, he dashed to the corner with the hope of catching whoever it was before they got away. Unfortunately, that person did not leave, leading to an embarrassing collision. Fortunately, neither of them lost their balance enough for them to fall on their backs.
"Agh. I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Naruto said with some concern.
The girl staring back at him with a heavy blush on her face was not unfamiliar to him. In fact, the young lady would be graduating with him in the next year. Despite how familiar they were to each other, he still didn't understand why this particular girl acted differently than literally every female he's known in his life. He couldn't even say her name without her stammering over her next words.
"Hinata? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.
She tried to find words to answer him, but she couldn't.
"Oh no. I didn't hurt you, did I?" Naruto said with a worried expression on his face.
"No I-I'm okay, Naruto-kun. What are you doing here?" Hinata asked, desperately trying to derail Naruto's train of questioning.
"Well, I was about to have some dinner."
"Success." she thought when her gambit proved to be effective.
"Want to join me?" he asked with a characteristic, wide grin.
She silently gasped. There was the smile that constantly made her heart jump. The amount of confidence that the blond had in himself never ceased to floor her. She hoped that, one day soon, she would be able to speak to him confidently. She knew though that the only way for her confidence to improve was to practice it. What better of an opportunity did she have than now, with the object of her affection?
"I'd love to." she said, possibly coming off as a little too excited.
"Great! Ramen always tastes better with a friend." Naruto said with noticeable happiness.
The two walked around the corner of his favorite ramen joint and took their seats.
"Hoh-hoh..."
A brown-haired female grinned and chuckled slowly at Naruto sitting down with a girl of a similar age.
"Hiya, Ayame-neechan. This is Hinata-chan." he said, completely oblivious to the tone she used to greet the two.
Hinata lowered her head in a small bow and silently looked at the menu placed in front of her. The brunette known as Ayame looked at her features - the most prominent being the light blush on her face - and smiled. Hinata caught her smile and lowered her head again, her blush growing slightly.
"She's shy, but she's sweet on Naruto. That baka." the brown-haired waitress thought.
"I'll have two bowls of chashu ramen." he said to Ayame. The blond turned to Hinata. "I'm gonna pay for whatever you want, Hinata-chan. Feel free to order whatever."
"Y-You don't have t-to do that, Naruto-kun." she responded.
"Nonsense. I want to. It feels nice having ramen with a friend, as I said."
"Alright." she said, resigning to accepting his offer to not sound rude. "I'll also have a chashu ramen."
She did not really care for pork, but she just wanted to try what Naruto was having. Ayame put away her notepad after hearing the orders and walked to the room behind the kitchen. The brunette called out to her father, Teuchi, so that they could get the orders cooking. He and Ayame came out holding some dough, presumably to create some fresh ramen noodles. Teuchi made sure to greet his favorite customer and make small talk with the young Hyuuga that he had bought with him.
"This is nice." Naruto said so that only Hinata could hear. "I'm hoping we can keep doing this." he continued, not knowing the effect his words would have on Hinata.
The girl's face expanded into one of surprise, and her head looked similar to a tomato with hair on it, but she managed to keep her consciousness under control. She was enjoying herself way too much for it to end now. Nevertheless, the chaos that was taking place in her mind right now seemed almost intent on making her pass out. Apparently, she had been mulling over his words for quite a while, as the ramen she ordered was placed in front of her.
Naruto grinned at her, shutting her down again.
"I can't even look at him!?" the Hyuuga heiress thought, frustrated with herself. "Let's try making conversation."
"S-So, Naruto-kun. What d-did you do today?" she asked.
He finished slurping his noodles and sighed.
"Well, I found out that I am from an extinct clan because they were masters of feared techniques...But I don't know anything about them or if they had any kind of techniques that would get them destroyed." he said with a thoughtful expression.
"Really? That's amazing, Naruto-kun!" she said, completely comfortable with the conversation.
"Have we learned anything about the Uzumaki in Academy? I haven't really paid attention." he sheepishly said as he ate.
"I-I'm afraid not, Naruto-kun."
"I guess another trip to the library is in order..." he said, concluding with a sigh.
Hinata took a sip of ramen broth, realizing how delicious it was.
"I'll help you, if you want." she said absent-mindedly. After a few seconds of silence, she realized what she had said and looked up from her food. Teuchi and Ayame were smiling and Naruto was shocked. After all, only Iruka had ever wanted to hang out with him before.
"Awesome! I'll have an extra bowl to celebrate, old man!" he said after recovering.
Hinata, meanwhile, buried her face into her bowl of ramen and continued eating silently, hoping to hide her blush with her hair as she wondered what came over her.
Naruto received and finished his second bowl by the time she finished her first one. He paid for both of their meals and hopped off the bar stool, waving to Ayame and Teuchi with Hinata in tow.
Naruto decided to take Hinata to her home after dinner. She, however, noticed an immense lack of comfort when he offered - hidden somewhat poorly by a grin. Of course, the lavender-eyed girl knew the difference between his genuine grin and the fake one he hid behind now. The two decided to take the streets on their way back to the Hyuuga district. Immediately, Hinata understood the source of his displeasure; the amount of hatred felt by the villagers they passed was tangible. She, of course, did not understand why the villagers acted like this, but she did not care at the moment. Her thoughts were on the confidence that Naruto showed daily. She began to ponder about exactly how strong he must be to shoulder hatred that he didn't even understand. She decided then that it was time for her to step-up. She had already vowed to better herself, but it was time for her to take action, especially now that she was going to graduate next year. For too long she had been afraid of showing her skill due to the cruel ideologies of the Hyuuga clan. She truly did not want to become like the rest of the main branch. But she could change those with her strength too.
"Naruto-kun." she started.
Naruto turned to look at her, immediately noticing a different aura about her.
"I'll do whatever it takes to help you...with whatever you need. Be sure to come to me first, okay?" she asked him with a genuine smile and a light blush.
Naruto immediately noticed her changed attitude.
"Yeah! Okay!" he said with a smile. "How about tomorrow? I'm probably going to be training at Field 9 since it's so close to my place. we can meet there for some training and then go to the library to learn some more about...my clan."
Saying those last two words definitely felt weird to him, but it gave him a sense of pride that he had not felt before.
"Alright." she said. The verbal response may have been simple, but her mind spiraled for what she felt was, at least, the tenth time tonight. She liked just how easy it was to be confident around Naruto, and she appreciated that he was taking interest in her enough to invite her to hang out with him. That was another quality of Naruto that she enjoyed; he always went out of his way to maintain his friendships.
After the small conversation, Naruto could see the Hyuuga district within sight. Naruto suddenly stopped. The violet-haired girl looked at him curiously.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't think your clan would like me very much. I've seen how some of them look at me. I don't want them to think I've hurt you or anything." he said seriously.
Hinata wanted to laugh at the prospect of Naruto hurting her, but stymied it when she realized he was being serious.
"Actually, I think it would be good if you introduced yourself to my father, Naruto-kun. At least if he knows you took me home, he'll trust you a little more." she said.
"Really?" he asked, very wary of his new friend's words.
"Just make sure to address him as 'Hyuuga-sama', since he's the head of our family, and refer to me as 'Hinata-san'. I don't think it's a good idea to show him that you are that familiar with me...even though I don't mind." she said with a small blush, pressing her index fingers against each other.
Naruto hesitated with a frown, clearly not sure of her offer, but she assured him that it would be a good idea.
"Okay, Hinata-chan." he said with an accepting smile.
With that, Hinata took the lead, walking through the district with Naruto following closely behind. His nervousness was apparent, even if he wasn't in an area with a bunch of Byakugan users. Eventually, they had reached the compound where the main branch of the Hyuuga clan and some branch family servants resided. There were two guards outside of the compound that eyed Naruto with extreme bias. The cold eyes of the guards made Naruto shrink. However, Hinata clearing her throat, brought their attention to her. She grabbed Naruto's hand and walked inside without saying a word to the guards, much to their shock. Once they were inside, Hinata took note of what she had just done. Her pale eyes widened in realization of what she felt. She had felt strangely empowered by taking control of the situation. Perhaps she could get used to being a little more confident after all. In a flash, she felt a warm hand in hers. The feeling brought her to the brink of bliss as she felt the rough, but gentle grip that Naruto held her hand with. However, that feeling was cut short when a middle-aged man rounded the corner of the foyer.
He looked at Hinata, then Naruto. Neither made him react. What made his brow furrow was the sight of their hands connected.
"Hinata. It's late. Where were you?" the man asked.
Hinata let go of Naruto's hand and bowed.
"My apologies, Father. Naruto-san invited me to eat with him and I accepted his offer. He offered to bring me home and wanted to introduce himself to you." she said, raising herself from her bow, but still not looking at his eyes.
"Yes, sir. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. It is great to meet you, Hyuuga-sama." he said, mimicking Hinata's actions down to the words that he used.
Hiashi looked at him with indifference and kept silent. He knew of this boy. Indeed, he is one of the few in the village that knew of his parentage. He truly respected the late Yondaime Hokage, and would have been glad to put his son under the protection of the Hyuuga. Unfortunately, the negativity that the child drew due to his 'tenant' prevented Hiashi from truly interacting with him, lest his clan be drawn into scrutiny. He believed this friendship that he seemed to have with Hinata could really only be positive - the Fourth's son would have a friend directly connected to the Hyuuga and Hinata would perhaps learn to be more confident.
"Then, thanks are in order for you watching over my daughter, Uzumaki-san." Hiashi said with a small smile.
Naruto was not expecting a smile from this man, given how cold the guards outside seemed. However, he decided to not comment on it.
"You don't have to do that, Hyuuga-sama." the blond Uzumaki sheepishly said.
"Nonsense. I would love if you could join us for dinner tomorrow." the older Hyuuga said.
Naruto was about to respond when he felt a poke at his side, calling his attention to Hinata who was slowly nodding at him with rosy cheeks.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." he said maintaining his nervous grin.
"Father, I intend to train with Naruto tomorrow." Hinata said.
Hiashi was noticeably shocked at how forward his typically shy daughter was, and immediately rethought letting her spend so much time with Naruto. However, the confidence that she displayed when she was around him, if harnessed, was a good thing. The hardheaded Hyuuga elders would probably not appreciate the container of the Kyuubi around their clan's future leader, but he would be willing to gamble on her ability to become stronger while she was with him. After all, just by observing her body language toward him, he could tell that Hinata was attached to the young Uzumaki. Perhaps if they trained together more, he could see why Hinata was attracted to him.
He nodded in response to Hinata's comment.
"Well then, Uzumaki-san. Until then." he said, turning on his heel and continuing down the hall.
Once Hiashi was out of eyesight, Naruto sighed, relaxing his stiff body. Hinata looked at him and stifled a chuckle.
"He's not usually so kind toward unannounced guests. You handled yourself well, Naruto-kun." she said, confident in how Naruto handled speaking to her intimidating father.
"I thought I was going to die." he mumbled.
Hinata tried to hide a laugh, but failed, resulting in a chuckle that resounded in the immediate area. Naruto watched her laugh for a moment before cracking a smile of his own.
"I've never seen you laugh before. You should definitely do that more." he said, innocently. "Anyway, I should probably get out of here. See ya later, Hinata-chan."
With that, Naruto dashed away, leaving a silent pale-eyed girl with a flushed face wondering if her laughter made Naruto just a bit happier.
It did not take long for Naruto to reach his home. Finally, he could answer some of the questions that were plaguing his mind all night. After grabbing the scroll and books that he had deposited underneath a sofa cushion, he dashed up to his bedroom. He looked at the book, realizing this had been the first time he had seen the title, and was immediately interested.
"Fuinjutsu Volume 1..." he said aloud.
Putting the book aside, he looked at the scroll and opened it. In the center of the parchment, the whirlpool symbol worn on the Konoha vests could be seen. Naruto traced the symbol with his finger, trying to visualize the intent of the one who drew it. He couldn't crack it.
"What exactly is this scroll supposed to do?" he asked no one in particular.
Then he realized that he was given a book to go along with the scroll.
"Maybe the answer is in here." Naruto said as he picked up the book and turned to the first, aged page.
There, he saw an intricate seal, beautifully woven. Turning to the next page, the first words made themselves known. He found himself strangely absorbed in the intricacies of sealing, accurately mirroring the example seals in the book with his finger. He could not place exactly why he felt this way, but it simply felt right for him to know these techniques. Before he knew it, he was at the end of the book. The chapter he was on covered seals that drew themselves, such as the seals in the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique). Naruto read that the catalyst for those seals was the blood of the contracted summoner. Immediately he looked at the scroll. Then he grabbed the book on Uzushiogakure and noticed the same spiral symbol on the spine. He continued reading, deciding to finish the Fuinjutsu book before doing anything else. The last section was on notable individuals that used Fuinjutsu. He came across the fact that the Uzumaki were renowned Fuinjutsu users, making the reason for his comfort somewhat clear. He was also informed that the Uzumaki were gifted with incredible life spans, vitality and penmanship.
Almost immediately, he bit his finger to draw blood and traced the symbol on the scroll exactly. The symbol grew bright blue before starting to spin rapidly. Smoke exploded from the scroll, as if a Kage Bunshin was being called. Naruto coughed and waved away the smoke in an attempt to see what had happened. He was shocked to find more books, but these looked more aged. Some of them were clearly damaged. However, the one on top was in perfect condition. It was also the largest.
"Uzumaki Fuin..." he whispered.
Looking outside his window, Naruto noticed it was pitch black. He decided that it would be best if he got some sleep to be ready for his training with Hinata. The blond put the books on the side of his bed, and got comfortable. He did not have the energy to change into night clothes, and so, he closed his eyes and let sleep take him after his eventful day.
As the warm sun rose, Hinata put the finishing touches on some food that she was preparing. Hinata made sure to sleep early just so that she could wake up at dawn. Her excitement caused her to get up an hour or so earlier. The reason for her plan was to make lunches for herself and Naruto. If he enjoyed her cooking, then maybe he would want to have more of it and she could use that as an excuse to invite him over. After preparing the lunches, she walked out of the kitchen of the compound. The kind Hyuuga noticed that some of the branch-family were up and about beginning their duties for the day. She bowed to the branch-family members that she passed. However, the last one that she ran into did not seem happy at all to see the future heir.
"Hinata-sama." the brown-haired boy said without emotion.
"H-Hello Neji-niisan." Hinata said, looking away from his piercing stare. She recognized that her stammering returned with a vengeance and understood that her confidence still needed work. What bothered her the most though was the disgust emanating off her cousin. It was similar to the disappointment that she felt by the elders and her father. That made her wonder exactly why her father was so nice last night.
"Excuse me." she said as she ran past the boy who only seemed to be getting angrier as his fists clenched tighter.
When she was out of the compound, she sighed sadly. Why did her family have to be so broken? Her father was cold to everyone he didn't deem important, her sister was so competitive that her one-track mind only served to widen the gap between them, and her cousin couldn't stand being in the same place with her for too long. At least Naruto was a constant light in her life. The thought of him being her friend and training with her was intoxicating. She could only call it a dream come true. As she was daydreaming and seemingly operating on auto-pilot towards the training field, her all-seeing eyes failed to detect the fanged smile coming from one Inuzuka Kiba. The ninken trainer stared at the purple-haired girl with great interest, wondering where she was going. His companion, Akamaru, seemed to understand where he was going with his thoughts and hopped out of his arms to tail Hinata. The Inuzuka was more than happy to silently follow.
After a few minutes, Hinata found herself at her destination. Naruto was already there, which wasn't surprising to her at all, given how driven the boy was. He seemed to be practicing some kind of strangely random and aggressive form. He noticed that he had tossed his trademark orange jumpsuit jacket to the floor, meaning he had probably been practicing for a some amount of time.
"Oh. Hinata!"
He noticed her and wiped the sweat off his brow with the bottom of his shirt while walking toward her, causing her to blush at seeing his naked torso. When he was nearby, she could smell the scent of ramen and trees on him. The realization that she had been standing there and sniffing the object of her affection caused her blush to deepen.
"You're blushing again. You know, that's kind of cute." he said, honestly.
"C-c-cute?!" she said, catching herself against a tree before she passed out.
"Yeah!" he said with his conventional grin.
Hinata nodded in approval at Naruto's well-thought out plan.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I was reading a book last night and it showed this form, Hagaude (Steel Arm), which the Uzumaki were taught, so I was just practicing." he said. He sat down and invited her to sit next to him.
"It looks like my clan was a major one. So big that it was destroyed in the last ninja war for how good it was at fuinjutsu. Awesome, huh?" he said with a laugh. "Some of the books and scrolls must have ended up here in Konoha since Uzushio had a good relationship with Konoha. I'm thinking about reading them to get used to some fuinjutsu techniques. I figured that it was my birthright, you know?" he said with some sadness.
Hinata saw his sadness and flinched. The girl immediately wanted to give him a hug, but when he recovered, she decided against it.
"How about a spar? I'd love to see how you fight." he said with a smile.
"I-it's n-nothing special, Naruto-kun." she said humbly, pressing her fingers together, knowing fully that her fighting style was fairly unique.
"Don't be silly. Come on." he said as he began to walk over to an open area in the field. Hinata followed closely behind him, sparing a glance at the clone that was still reading a fuinjutsu book with fervor.
After they had settled on a spot and stretched, Naruto settled into a fighting stance. Hinata noticed that it was extremely open. Hinata went into her own stance and prepared for Naruto's first move, knowing that he would strike first.
He did not let her down. Naruto kicked off the hard ground. Hinata recoiled at how fast he was. He didn't show this level of speed in the academy. However, she was still able to detect his speed. The openness of his stance made it easy to counter the punch that he was preparing. Hinata stepped into his body when he got close enough and jabbed his body three times before parrying the punch he threw. Finally, she threw an elbow to knock him off balance. Naruto felt an intense pain in his chest as he was stumbling backward. Hinata jumped away from him with a worried expression, wondering if he was okay. The Juuken (Gentle Fist) was a style that involved disrupting one's chakra with that of the attacker through the body's tenketsu (pressure points). However, since the chakra network of any individual is close to the organs of the body, they cause intense pain and can even be traumatic. Hinata was hoping that she didn't cause a massive problem. After a few seconds, his eyes widened with a surprised face.
"Woah! What did you do?" he asked, still somewhat in pain.
Hinata dropped her stance, recognizing that the match, although incredibly short, was probably over after that.
"Hyuuga have trained for centuries on a technique that attacks the chakra network rather than trying to damage the body externally. I used the Juuken on you, which is our clan's specialty taijutsu. It's amplified by our kekkei genkai (bloodline limit)." she explained.
Naruto thought about it for a second.
"That's the Byakugan (White Eye), right?" Naruto asked.
Hinata was surprised that Naruto knew already. She didn't think he paid attention to that class.
"You might be thinking that there's no way I paid attention to that class..." he started, causing Hinata to blush. "I paid attention to pretty much all classes involving combat or famous shinobi though."
"I see..."
"Yeah. Anyway, I don't think I have a chance against your taijutsu style."
"I could help you out with your taijutsu if you want, Naruto-kun. We just need to find a style that suits you."
Naruto's mouth opened wide. The blond's mouth slowly formed a smile.
"It looks like I've just got the answer to that problem." Naruto said as he dropped into another fighting stance. Hinata recognized it as the stance of Hagaude that Naruto was practicing earlier. Hinata trained her eyes on it, analyzing it with practiced skill. His legs were close to each other with his back foot flat on the ground and his front foot balancing on the toes. One of Naruto's palms was facing outward toward Hinata and his arm was fully stretched out. The other palm was cocked back near his ear as if he was about to throw a punch. Overall, a solid stance, but she wondered where it came from.
Hinata entered into her stance once more, but this time she charged at him. She threw a palm at his midsection once again, but this time, he parried it with his outstretched arm. Stepping into the Hyuuga, like she did earlier, he hit her stomach with the heel of his hand and then quickly followed up with a punch to the same region. Hinata grimaced due to the pain that she felt, but she knew that this was all a part of training - after all, it's better to hurt in training than in a fatal battle. She recovered with a start and, using two fingers, jabbed at his outstretched arm near the shoulder. His arm immediately dropped. Naruto stared at his arm in disbelief; despite his attempts, he could not move it. When his eyes dropped to his arm, Hinata saw an opening and repeatedly jabbed at his legs and arms. Within seconds, the Uzumaki felt as if his muscles had been weighed down by several tons.
"Woah..." he began. "I can't move..."
Hinata's tried to catch her breath, finding the task very hard with how much she had exerted herself.
"I can't fight anymore." she said.
Naruto smiled in response.
"That's alright. We can do some exercise while we rest from the spar...Now I just need to figure out how to move..." he said to himself.
Hinata put her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from laughing and her crush's antics. The pale-eyed girl stood still and made a hand-seal.
"Byakugan!" she cried, as she felt the chakra pumping to her eyes.
"That is probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen, Hinata-chan." he said with an slightly open mouth.
"Eep!" she cried in response to his praise. "I-I-I-..."
Hinata tried to respond but did not know how to take her blond friend's compliments in stride. She decided to not respond at all and, instead, walked up to Naruto and tapped him in the same places that she struck him in their spar. She noted that she had missed some tenketsu; she would have to work on using her Juuken without her Byakugan. After she was done, she deactivated her kekkei genkai and stared at Naruto's face with her usual blush. The whiskered boy blinked a few times and suddenly felt his arms respond to his desires, despite some soreness.
"I'm going to have to come up with a way to fight Hyuuga." he said with a smile. "You're really strong, Hinata. Thanks for training with me."
The purple-haired girl was momentarily floored. After hearing that she was cute, cool and strong from her favorite person, she felt an unfamiliar lightness take over her body. She found herself wondering if this was what euphoria felt like. As she fell backwards, Naruto caught her by her shoulders. Noticing that her legs weren't rigid, he lowered her down to the ground softly, but kept his grip on her shoulders. Naruto had no idea what just happened, and was extremely worried about his new friend. However, he paused and stared at her. The smoothness of her hair and how it framed her face interested Naruto greatly. He, however, had no idea why. It was when her eyes opened that he understood; her face - from her hair to her flushed cheeks was beautiful. Naruto felt himself staring at her awakening from her fainting spell and saw her face slowly flush further.
"Are you okay, Hinata?" he asked with a small blush of his own.
She nodded rapidly without saying anything. He helped her stand up on her own two feet. She looked down at the floor and linked her fingers behind her back nervously. Naruto could not take his eyes off her behavior, finding it both interesting and appealing to him.
"She's the first person my age that has actually cared enough to train and eat ramen with me." he thought. "Even someone as important as her would spend time on me. She is one of the people that I'll fight for." Naruto determined resolutely.
"Naruto-kun?" she asked nervously, wondering why he seemed to be staring a hole into her face. His mouth slowly turned into a foxy grin.
"Hey, let's continue training. I need to work on my fuinjutsu and taijutsu. I can help you out with your stamina." he said.
"H-Hai!" Hinata said, regaining her composure.
The two ran off deeper into the training field. Their disappearance did not go unnoticed though. The Inuzuka that had been tracking Hinata could not believe what he had seen. The dead-last in their class hanging out with Hinata?
"Why does she like him anyway?" Kiba asked himself.
Akamaru barked impatiently.
"Alright, boy. You win. Let's go get some dinner." he said with a toothy smile. However, despite his jovial behavior, his thoughts were plagued with anger, disappointment and jealousy.
~CHAPTER END~