Chp 2 – Ramen Boys

Kunoichi Village

Both TenTen and Hinata arrived at Tsunade's office and saw the rest of their team already there. The atmosphere inside seemed tense. "Come in, Hinata. TenTen. Close the door behind you if you would." The two walked inside nervously, closing the door behind them. Usually Tsunade was upbeat, and was always drinking but the Tsunade they saw in front of them was sober and serious.

Lining up with the rest of the girls, the team stood silent. Tsunade looked up at them all. She smiled. "Minna! Congratulations. You did well in beating Jiraiya's boys in the tournament." The girls sighed relieved thinking that something terrible had happened. "Because of your outstanding victory in the Tournament, you're all being promoted to Chunin." They all cheered congratulating each other.

Tsunade turned to Hinata. "Hinata, you did especially well taking down two of them. You're not just being promoted to Chunin but to Jonin as well." The girls crowded around Hinata patting her on the back.

Tsunade's smile then disappeared. "Now that you've all graduated from being genin…" She paused. "You're to return to Konoha immediately."

The girls stopped cheering. They looked at Tsunade shocked. "We're…going to Konoha?" The girls stared at each other. All of them had left Konoha years ago. All of them had been only about five years old when they left Konoha so memories of the place were hazy. They had practically lived in kunoichi village their entire lives but they knew waiting back home for them were family that they had all left behind in order to come train here at Kunoichi village.

"Your training here is complete. There is nothing more that I can teach you. You're all to report to Konoha where -."

"No!" Hinata shouted. Everyone turned to her surprised. "This is OUR home! We can't just leave it and our -."

"Hinata!" Tsunade shouted furiously. "You're a Jonin now. Start acting like one!" Hinata bit her lip. Tsunade sighed. "Like I said, all of you are to report Konoha in the morning. Dismissed." Tsunade said sitting down. The girls turned around and began to leave. "Hinata. Stay here." Hinata watched as her team look back concerned wondering why she didn't want to leave. They all wanted to see their fathers again. Didn't she? She gave them a little wave to let them know that she would be fine. "Sit down."

Hinata took a seat but kept her face down trying to avoid Tsunade's gaze. Tsunade looked at Hinata. "Hinata." Hinata looked up at the sound of her name. "Why are you so against leaving Kunoichi village? Don't you want to go back?"

"It's…it's because this is our home! We grew up here!"

Tsunade knew that this wasn't true. "Hinata." She said sternly. "What's the real reason?" Hinata sat there silently.

*Flashback*

Hyuga Compound - Konoha

"Hah!" cried Hinata. Hiashi walked back as his daughter tried to attack him. "Hah! Hah!" she yelled. He frowned in displeasure. Hinata was already 5 years old and yet this was all that she was capable of? He aimed a low kick at her legs expecting her to dodge it. "Yah!" she cried as she was lifted into the air and fell back into the ground. Thud!

Hiashi shook his head and walked away. He was disappointed in her. "Hyuga has no need of a weak family member." he said as he walked away. Hinata sat there crying as her mother ran towards her.

The next day, Hiashi and Hinata were sparring again. Hiashi was grinding his teeth in anger. Nothing had changed since yesterday. "Hah! Hah!" Hiashi watched his daughter. "Sloppy." He thought. Hiashi jabbed Hinata twice in the shoulders causing her arm to go limp. "Ah!" she cried in pain. Tears were already in her eyes. "Otou-sama…?" she whimpered. Hiashi didn't stop there. He slammed his palm into her stomach causing her to go flying in the air. She cried out in pain as she hit the ground.

"Get up." Hiashi said in a stern voice. Hinata struggled to get up. Hiashi walked over to Hinata. "Otou-sama…?" Hinata whimpered again looking up at her father. Hiashi kicked Hinata in the stomach causing her to lose her breath and sent her flying again. Hinata hit the ground crying, coughing up blood. Hinata!" her mother cried running towards her. Hiashi walked away ignoring the two. "We will resume your training tomorrow."

*End Flashback*

Hinata just asked "Will Hanabi and my mother be coming along with me?" Tsunade shook her head. "Hanabi still needs to complete her training as a Genin and I'm sure Haruka would want to stay and support her just as she supported you." Hinata sat frozen. By some strange miracle, she managed to lift herself from the seat and stumble out of Tsunade's office.

Hyuga Household -Kunoichi Village

Hinata walked inside, still shocked about moving to Konoha. "Hinata!" her mother called. Hinata looked up to see her mother holding a bag. "I knew this day would come. I already packed you all your belongings for you." Hinata once again froze remembering that she would be living with her father again. Tears fell from her face. Her mother ran towards her and held her knowing the reason behind Hinata's tears. "I….I don't want to go to Konoha…" she whispered to her mother.

"Hinata. Look at me Hinata." Hinata looked into her mother's eyes. "It's going to be alright. You are not the same little girl you were 11 years ago. You are strong and powerful." Hinata nodded taking in her mother's words. "The fact that you are already a Jonin is proof of your strength. Your father can't hurt you anymore." Haruka brought Hinata's face closer to her chest. "Don't forget that most importantly you have friends who love and would die to protect you." Hinata nodded once more as she lay in her mother's arms and fell asleep.

Path to Konoha

Hinata fingered the necklace her mother had given her.

*Flashback*

"Hinata. Take this." Her mother said placing a small item in her hands. Hinata stared at the small necklace. It had a simple metal chain but at the end was a blue turquoise butterfly made of what seemed like glass. "Oka-sama…" Hinata whispered. She moved to give it back but her mother stopped her. "Whenever you feel down or you begin to doubt yourself, then hold this and think of me. Think of what I said to you last night." Hinata nodded. "Now go Hinata. Your friends are waiting for you." She slipped the necklace under her shirt. She quickly hugged her mother and said "I'll miss you…"

Haruka smiled. "Don't worry Hinata. We'll come as soon as Hanabi finishes her training. We won't be separated for long." As they released each other, Hinata looked at Hanabi who looked like she would begin crying at any moment. "Are you going to cry now, you big baby?" Hinata joked. "No!" Hanabi sniffled. "Take care of Mom now, K?" Hinata said walking away. Hanabi wiped her face unwilling to let her sister see her tears.

*End Flashback*

Hinata placed the necklace under her shirt. She took a deep breath. "It's ok Hinata. Don't be afraid. Mother's right. You're not the same little girl you were 11 years ago." She thought to herself thinking about her father, Hiashi Hyuga.

Konoha

Inoichi Yamanaka was pacing back and forth. "Where are they?" he wondered nervously. "They should have been here by now!" He gasped. "What…what if something happened to them? Gah! I'm going to go find them!"

"Calm now Inoichi." Said Haruno Norio. "They'll be fine, I'm sure of it." Inoichi turned around. "Calm down? I haven't seen my daughter for 11 years, 5 months, 14 days, 7 hours and 34 seconds!" *gasp* "What…what if she doesn't recognize me? What…what if she forgot all about me! " Norio sighed.

"Have a bit more faith in them." said TenTen's father. "They are our daughters after all. I'm sure they've all grown into young fine capable women." Temari's father nodded agreeing with him. Hiashi stood there silently ignoring them all.

The girls soon came within seeing distance of Konoha. "Look there it is." said Ino looking at the gate. Looking closer she saw her father walking back and forth. Unable to control herself anymore, she cried "Dad!"and ran towards him. "Hey wait up!" the rest cried eager to see their own fathers whom they had not seen in years. "Girls will be girls." Their mothers chuckled as they watched their daughter run away. Only Hinata remained. Tsunade and Shizune both looked at her concerned.

Inoichi turned around at the sound of his daughter's voice. "Ino?" For a moment he saw a vision of a five year old Ino running towards him. "Ino!" he cried. Tears were falling down his face. He smiled happily thinking that she was still his baby girl and that she hadn't changed one bit in eleven whole years. But as they got closer, his vision of the five year old Ino running towards him disappeared was replaced with a 16 year old Ino running towards him. His jaw dropped. "Ino?" he cried shocked. "Dad!" Ino screamed jumping on her father.

Hinata watched as the rest of the families reunited. She walked towards her father who was expressionless. "Otou-sama." She said bowing her head. Hiashi said nothing and turned around. Everyone watched quietly as Hinata simply followed her father back home. "Hinata…" Sakura whispered in concern.

Hyuga Household – Konoha

Hinata stood nervously in front of her father in her combat form. Not even five minutes home and she was already being tested by her father. "Byakugan!" Hinata breathed in and out. "I can do this." She said to herself. Hiashi jumped back surprised as Hinata made the first move. She instantly began a full scale attack on her father. Sweat dropped from Hiashi as he ducked left and right from Hinata's attack. Of course, that was only because he didn't have byakugan activated. "Byakugan!" he said.

Minutes passed as Hiashi continued to assess Hinata's performance. "Sloppy." He thought. He aimed a low kick at her feet hoping to see what kind of reaction she would have. Exhausted, she saw the kick but was unable to dodge and was lifted into air for a moment until she fell to the ground.

She got back up and continued her attack. Hiashi frowned. He slammed his palm into her stomach causing her to lose her breath for a moment. However, he didn't wait for her to recover. He used his foot to kick her across the practice floor. Hinata stayed down coughing. Hiashi sighed thinking that Hinata would have had more to show. He watched her as she struggled to get up. He longed to walk over and comfort her as any other normal father, but he was the head of the Hyuga clan. He could not afford to show her any kindness as long as she remained weak in the eyes of her fellow clansmen.

Hinata felt a sense of déjà vu. As she looked up she saw her father walking away. Hinata looked down disappointed thinking that she had failed to receive her father's recognition. "Hinata!" Hinata looked and saw Sakura running towards her. "Tsunade wants us all to meet up at Yakiniku. You hungry?" Hinata looked down as her stomach growled. "Yeah…sure…"

Yakiniku – The BBQ

At Yakiniku there was a long line of people waiting outside. The girls moaned. "What? There's a line? I'm so hungry!" Tsunade paid no attention to the line and walked straight in. "Wait…Tsunade-sama, there's a line." Tsunade said nothing only waving her hand telling them to follow her. A waitress walked towards them. "Sorry but the wait time is 45 minutes. Please wait outside." Tsunade edged closer to the waitress. "We actually have a reservation with someone already." "Oh?" whispered the waitress. "Godaime Hokage, Jiraiya." Tsunade whispered into the waitress's ear. She nodded and said "Right this way then." The girls were wondering what Tsunade was whispering about but paid no attention to it. All that they knew is that they didn't have to wait in line. "Let's eat!" the girls cried.

As the girls turned around the corner, they saw Jiraiya, Neji, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and Sai all sitting at a table. "You!" everyone seemed to cry pointing fingers. Tsunade smiled expecting this. However, what she had not expected was to see Kiba and Choji. She grabbed Jiraiya by the ear. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" she seemed to growl. She turned back to everyone. "Minna. Feel free to sit down and start without us!"

Hinata watched as Tsunade drag Jiraiya around the corner. "Hey." said a voice. She looked back to see Kiba looking at her. "I'm Kiba. What's your name." he said as he inched closer to her. "Hi-Hi-Hinata…"she managed to say while resisting the urge to break his face.

Sakura watched as everyone seemed to couple up. TenTen was trying to get closer to Neji who in turn seemed like he was trying to escape. Shikamaru and TenTen seemed to be arguing over something while Ino just watched Sai paint in his book. Even Hinata was getting some action although it looked like she wasn't enjoying it. She sighed "Which leaves me with…" she stared at Choji who was too busy paying attention to the meat to pay any attention to her.

Tsunade swung Jiraiya by the ear. "Ow! What was that for?" She pointed a finger in the direction of the Choji and Kiba. "I didn't ask for those two! What happened to those two ANBU guys from last time." Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders. "They're busy. Why do you think I entered those two in the tournament instead?" Tsunade poked a finger into his chest. "Jiraiya. I'm not going to have you ruin everything -."

"Ruin what?" Sakura asked. Both Jiraiya and Tsunade jumped. "Nothing, nothing." They both laughed nervously. Sakura frowned. Tsunade noticed her leaving. "Sakura? Where are you going?" Sakura just shrugged. "I'm… not really hungry." She lied. Hinata seeing her chance to escape jumped to. "Yeah…me neither! Let's go Sakura." "Wait you two!" Tsunade cried as the two ran out of the restaurant. She turned to Jiraiya. "It's all your fault that this is a failure!"

"Well, it not a complete failure…"Jiraiya said point at the rest of the group. Tsunade sighed. "C'mon, let's go eat."

Streets of Konoha

Hinata's and Sakura's stomachs were rumbling as they walked in the street. "Ugh…I'm so hungry…maybe we shouldn't have left…" Sakura complained. Hinata nodded her head in agreement. Suddenly they smelled something. They followed the smell to a small ramen shop. "Ichiraku?"

The two walked in. "Welco-."Naruto started to say. Sakura watched as he stared at Hinata. "Wha-What can I get you two fine ladies?" Two customers who were already there complained "Yo. Naruto? What about us? We were here first." Naruto gave them a small wave with his hand. "Don't worry, Sasuke's got you guys. Right Sasuke?"

"You doob. It's first come, first serve. That's the rules."

"Yeah, Yeah. You and your rules." Naruto turned his attention back to Hinata and Sakura. "So what can I get you?" Sakura stared at the menu unsure of what to get not knowing what was good and what was bad. "Don't worry Sakura. I'll order for you." She turned to Naruto. "Two Miso Ramen please."

Naruto clutched his chest. "A girl who loves Miso Ramen? I think I'm in love?" he joked. "What's your name miss?" she asked smiling. Hinata frowned. This guy was starting to piss her off. Sasuke threw a book at Naruto. "Ow!" he said "C'mon doob. We've got orders to fill."

Hinata sighed. Sakura stared at her. "Hinata. Do you got something against men? Hinata turned to her shocked. "No. Why?"

"Well it looks like every guy that you meet, well…it seems like you always want to smash their face in."

"What? I do not -." Hinata started to defend herself. "Oh my god…" Hinata realized. "I…I think you're right…"

Sakura stared at her. "Think that it might have something to do with your dad?" she asked. "What? Why do you say that?" Sakura stared at Hinata wondering. An awkward silence occurred. Hoping to break the silence, Sakura said "Can you believe that we met those guys again? What a coincidence, right?"

Hinata moaned. "Don't even get me started." Oh?" Sakura asked. "Not liking the attention you're getting from dog boy?" They both laughed. "Speaking of meeting people, think we'll ever see those two again?"

"Oh I hope so. And when we do it's payback time."

"You said it." Sakura said giving Hinata a high five. "But you know, it's going to be hard to find those two."

"Hmm?"

Sakura took a sip from her her tea. "Well think about it. WE don't even know what they look like. All we know is that one has blond hair while the other has like -." Sasuke came back and handed two bowls of ramen to the gentleman next to them. "Two beef ramen." Sakura stared at Sasuke. "long, spiky black hair…" Sasuke saw her staring at him. "Hmm?" She imagined Hebi's ANBU mask on him. "You!" She screamed. She pulled him over the counter and began to punch him.

"Sakura! What are you doing?" Hinata cried. "His hair!" she said stopping momentarily to show Hinata. Long, spiky hair just like Hebi's!" Hinata stared at Sasuke thinking that she was right. "Sasuke! What's going on!" Naruto yelled. Hinata stared at him and imagined Kitsune's mask on him. "Gah! I'll kill you!" she screamed as she too pulled him over the counter.

The two gentleman sitting next to them jumped up. "Someone! Someone call the cops!" The guy next to him asked "What's a cop?" "I don't know. Just-just get help!" Then two men walked in. "Naruto, Sasuke. Wanna hook us up? We're starving!" they laughed. Everyone froze. Sakura and Hinata stared at Kitsune and Hebi who in turn stared back. "Oops…wrong restaurant." They said as they ran away. Both Hinata and Sakura stared at each other, then at Naruto and Sasuke and then ran outside. But at that point, both Kitsune and Hebi were gone.