Disclaimer- Naruto is not of my making, cuz if it was Sasuke would prob have been killed off within the first 10 eps ^^'
THANKS TO: kutoki, blueorange, Flightless Bird, Bettybrite, Kingkakashi, Holen-Snape, ImTooLazyToThinkOfAPenName, UchihaUzumaki baby, KagomeGirl021, LovelySinner7, starlightscribe, madamadadanechibisuke, CrimsonPleasure, and last but not least: Moiraine Damodred fan FOR REVIEWING AND CASTING THEIR VOTES!!!
ALSO MANY THANKS TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY!!! ^^
My apology for taking so long to update is in the author's note at the end -_-'
Which by the way! You should read, because I put in some info you may/may not wanna read!
Chapter 2: Off
~*~
Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you.
~Every Breath You Take by Police
~*~
It is very well known that the line between "stalking" and "shadowing obsessedly" is so thin a line that it indeed seems invisible to the naked eye. Hinata Hyuuga, however, felt she knew what was crossing said line very well. (Then again, Hinata Hyuuga had very good eyes.)
That being said, Hinata felt she had yet to cross that same line as she watched one Naruto Uzumaki train for behind a large oak tree. In no way could this be considered stalking, at least in her opinion, because she had not followed him here, she just happened on to him by chance. For one thing, the blonde wasn't even in an actual training field. The boy was in the forest, hitting a tree with everything he had. Could Hinata be blamed for having stopped to watch the blonde? She had been previously been looking for flowers and herbs for her medical ointments that she made in her spare time, a task that was far less entertaining or attention grabbing than seeing Naruto train. (It may also be prevalent to add that that same girl could also not be blamed for the fact that he was training shirtless.)
Even though the Hyuuga heiress felt that she had not yet crossed that thin line, she was extremely relieved that she didn't have a stalker of her own this fine, sunny day. Usually, her father had a branch member trail her whenever she went on any kind of expedition, even one as small as this one that was barely outside village limits. Today, however, she'd convinced her cousin to convince him otherwise. (One might think it'd have been simpler to go straight to her father to ask, but if one was to take in account the time wasted by Hinata running away at the last second and stuttering you'd see that going through Neji was infinitely quicker, though far less entertaining.) The white eyed girl would certainly be in trouble if she was found watching the teen boy…again. Her father had a hissy fit, for lack of a better description of his conniption, when he'd been given a report that included a detailed description of his daughter staring at a blonde boy with a blush on her face for the entirety of said boy's daily training. Hiashi was heard throughout the compound as he lectured her about indecently watching a member of the opposite sex when she was suppose to be a symbol of the clan as heiress. (Thankfully Hinata never was one for talking, for she may have had the urge to interrupt with the well known fact that many already considered the Hyuugas to be perverts due to the very nature of their eyes, and those eyes' abilities.) That being said, it didn't take more than a couple of seconds for Hinata to realize she was forbidden from ever "stalking" the boy again.
It's easy to see, this ban didn't stop her.
So there she was; lost in thoughts about how he father would react to the current occupation of her time. She, however, did not get to dwell on those thoughts much longer as a loud scream of frustration brought her harshly back into reality.
Finally the blonde Uzumaki had ceased from hitting the tree that he'd been punching since she'd commenced her watch, and had fallen to the ground in what she guessed to be exhaustion. After all, in all the time Hinata had known Naruto, he didn't stop training willingly unless he was to the point he could barely stand. (It helps convey just how certain Hinata was of this inference by saying that the Hyuuga girl had known the boy in question since their days in the academy and she had "obsessedly shadowed" him for near that many years.) As she continued to observe him she also noted that his hands were bleeding, unsurprisingly so considering the damage he'd made to the tree, and felt the pull within her to go help him. Still, Hinata mentally held herself back, unwanting the attention she'd receive if she abruptly walked from her shelter behind the tree and into his visibility, and thus reverted back to pushing her forefingers up against one another. (A habit she'd long ago thought she'd gotten rid of that consistently returned during stressing or nerve racking situations, making those around look at her weirdly because, after all, it is a peculiar habit.)
As she willed herself to become rooted the ground, another sound caught her attention. At first one would pass it off as a hiccup or a soft groan of pain, guessing the noise was just muffled by the ground the young man was lying face down on. However, the noise continued and worry began to fill the Hyuuga girl. Sure enough, the sound become distinct sobs as the blonde righted himself shakily onto his side, before they were again muffled when he burrowed his head into his knees as he brought them to his chest.
Naruto had always found new ways to shock the Hyuuga heiress, but this was on an entirely different level of surprise. She had not once seen her love cry, though she was sure he had at one point. Yet, there he was, not 15 feet in front of her, sobbing in the fetal position. Her forefingers shook as they remained pressed against one another, frozen in mid action and no longer concentrating on being rooted to the ground, she took a single step forward.
"I know you're there." Naruto's clear, albeit a bit hoarse, voice rang through the opening shocking Hinata so much that she was indeed pulled out of her previous shock. As he spoke, the young man's face had turned to face her at the edge of the clearing. The fact that Naruto, a trained shinobi, had sensed Hinata who was in plain site, wasn't what had shocked the young girl. What in fact shocked her was the lack of tears or puffiness of the eyes that were coincident with crying; however, she had no doubt the earlier noises she'd heard were sobs.
Now that she'd been caught, she wasted no time making her way across the clearing to her crush, though she became hesitant as she sat next to him. Now within arm's length she could see the extent of how tired Naruto seemed. The boy's whiskered cheeks had sunken into face since she'd last seen him, more than could be considered healthy, though certainly not enough for one to become alarmed. Rings of black had formed beneath his eyes and had the smallest of red lines streaking the outer white of eyes. But for active ninja that was to be expected after long missions or harsh training, and the one thing that truly frightened her was how dead the boy's eyes seemed to be. The cerulean eyes of Uzumaki Naruto shined in the darkest of days, and were small beacons of hope to all those with lonely eyes that things did not have to be that way. Now they seemed to be enveloped in a fog.
As alarming as that lost of light was, physically the boy seemed in perfect condition. The lack of clothing on his upper body allowed the girl to easy see that he still had layers of muscle that tensed with each breath and movement he made, as well as a tan washboard stomach.
"Does my being half naked bother you?"¹
Instantaneously the girl's face shot up and a loud squeak of embarrassment escaped her mouth. Naruto's mouth curved into a mischievous smirk as he chuckled evilly. Red spread across Hinata's checks like the plague and again her fingers began to press against each other.
"Aw, don't be embarrassed Hinata! I know I'm f-ing smexy!" Again the fox like boy laughed, though now that her embarrassment began to die off she could tell that it was halfhearted, if best.
"Um, Naruto-kun?"
"Yeah?"
"Um…um…"
"Aw, come on Hinata! You can ask me anything!" The boy's eyes closed and a forced smile crossed his features, fueling her need for the answer to the question she'd been attempting to ask.
"What's wrong?" As innocent as her words had been, the blonde next to her tensed. The mask fell ungracefully from his face, leaving a surprised and confused young man.
"What do you mean?"
"I was, um, watching you, um, train—"
"Oh! That's nothing! I just have to get stronger! Teme," the word came harshly between grit teeth, "is already becoming a jounin. Can you imagine that?"
The clearing had become silent after Naruto spoke, and the air was thick with the emotions of both parties. On Hinata's side anxiety, surprise, and worry caused her fingers to quicken as they fought against each one another, just as she fought herself to say something, though they pushed with equal force. Naruto's words, however, had made emotions more fearsome and worrisome come to view: anger, betrayal, hurt. What was truly frightening was that the boy had been speaking of his own teammate who he had once dedicated his life to returning him to the village.
Finally, the pregnant silence was broken. What was truly surprising was the fact that for once it was not by the noisy blonde.
"Na-naruto-kun…shouldn't you be happy for Sasuke-san?"
Again, the white-eyed girl's words were innocent, and the question was justified due to the shocking nature of his previous response. Still, the blonde's face twisted into one of pure pain as though she'd physically hurt him. Once more there was silence, save for a couple birds that flew from the trees beside them. The sound of fluttering wings seemed to snap the young man from whatever had been troubling him, however, because when he'd opened his eyes Hinata could tell something had changed.
"Of course I am, Hinata-chan! Ne, ne! That reminds me, I've been out here for a while, and it's probably almost time for our celebration dinner!" Suddenly, he swore and jumped to his feet. "I still need to buy Sasuke-teme a present!" The blonde boy looked down at a shocked Hinata, and she could see that his eyes were still as dull as they'd been when she first reached him, despite the energy in his voice. Naruto must have sensed her confusion, because his smile fell and was replaced by a smaller, sadder one.
"It was really nice talking to you Hinata. We'll need to have a conversation like this again." Had anyone else heard his reply, they wouldn't have thought anything of it. Hinata, however, heard the need in the blonde's voice and for the n number of times that day, she was surprised.
"Ha—hai." The whiskered boy's mask fell back into place and he gave her the "good guy" pose before trotting off into the forest.
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Sasuke stopped to swear when he still hadn't found his best friend after an hour's worth of searching. He'd searched all of Konoha from the Hokage's faces to the village's exit. He'd gone to Naruto's house, the ramen stand, and every training ground and he still hadn't even seen anyone he'd seen him! The raven haired teen sighed, his fists clenching and unclenching in irritation. The only place left to check was outside the village and there was no point in him standing here doing nothing. Without further ado, the jounin ran at top speed towards Konoha's exit.
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The Uchiha had been about ready to throw in the towel when he heard talking.
"Na-naruto-kun…shouldn't you be happy for Sasuke-san?"
Said mentioned boy tensed. Whoever it was speaking was talking about him…to Naruto. Pivoting on his heel, the boy raced toward the voice at a speed even trained shinobi strained to accomplish. Sasuke was jumping through the trees so fast, in fact, that when he reached the clearing he had to grab onto the branch above him to make sure he wasn't visible to the two below. Though he went unnoticed by the people in the clearing, his presence was not ignored by the birds previously sitting the branch he'd landed on and they flew up into the sky.
The youngest surviving member of the Uchiha clan frowned. As he'd previously heard, it was indeed Naruto in the clearing with none other than Hinata Hyuuga. Thinking back at the question he'd heard earlier, he shouldn't have been surprised it was Hinata, due to the stuttering in the question. Still, the fact that she'd struck up the courage to talk to her obvious crush by herself was surprising. An unfamiliar feeling stirred within him, but he pushed it from his mind. Naruto had opened his eyes and begun talking.
"Of course I am, Hinata-chan! Ne, ne! That reminds me, I've been out here for a while, and it's probably almost time for our celebration dinner!" Sasuke's only true friend jumped up and swore bringing a smile to the raven's face, though he felt there was something off about the whole ordeal.
"I still need to buy Sasuke-teme a present!" At that, Sasuke was getting ready to leave, content with seeing he was no longer upset and having decided he'd question Naruto about what had upset him in the first place later. But before he could go, he saw the blonde's mood change as rapidly as it had this morning.
"It was really nice talking to you Hinata. We'll need to have a conversation like this again."
Again, something was wrong. Sasuke thought he knew Naruto better than anybody and he'd only heard him use this town of voice when something was extremely serious. Life or Death serious. The Uchiha's brows furrowed as he stared intently at the other teen, uncaring if he sensed him or not. The blue eyed boy in turn seemed intent on Hinata, or rather intent on her reply. For the first time, Sasuke noticed that the other boy's hand was bleeding and he caught sight of a tree which had been recently pulverized.
"Ha—hai." Hinata finally replied, making Sasuke's head snap back to the Hyuuga. She too seemed uneasy. The blonde standing above stuck his thumb out in a "good guy" pose before dashing off into the forest.
Sasuke paused, giving the blonde boy a head start, and then the new jounin too dashed back towards Konoha, though not to follow the blonde. Sasuke had to think.
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Sasuke had planned on going somewhere quiet he could think, however that wasn't an option when he realized he only had half an hour before it was time for his "celebration" dinner. Instead, he decided to settle for going home and hoping he was lucky and that his aniki wasn't there.
"Hello Little Brother."
Apparently Lady Luck was not one of his fangirls.
"Hey Itachi," the raven haired boy sighed, and then tensed. "What's that?"
Just as he'd earlier predicted, there indeed was a cat in their house, more specifically in Itachi's lap. Though he was not a currently active ninja, Itachi normally had an air about him that warned anyone within a five mile radius that he was not someone to meddle with, however, that whole image was destroyed in Sasuke's eyes, seeing as he was currently sitting in a bathrobe, stroking a small kitten.
"He is a kitten, the young form of a cat."
"I'm not stupid, what is it doing here?" His brother smirked at his younger brother's annoyance, and the younger teen scowled.
"He is the newest member of the Uchiha clan."
"IT'S A CAT!"
"Cat's are quite intelligent otouto." Sasuke glared at the older male.
"Please don't tell me you just got it because I said I liked cats."
"Perhaps." Again, the younger Uchiha scowled, and he began to march out of the room, but his brother stood to block his way. "Any news?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. It was obvious he'd have to tell his brother that he'd become a jounin eventually, if he didn't already know so, but he had other things occupying his mind and didn't have to patience to deal with his older brother at the moment. Still, the look on Itachi's face told the younger sharingan wielder he wasn't going anywhere, and he knew that Itachi could keep him there by force if that's what the situation came to…even if he was holding a struggling cat.
"I've been promoted to jounin." He finally replied, begrudgingly.
"You don't sound happy about it." Sasuke shrugged, hoping that snippet of information was enough get his brother to move, but Itachi continued. "Is something bothering you…or perhaps someone?"
The shorter teen glared again, somewhat shocked that he had known. Itachi smirked at his brother's reaction, stepping aside to grant him passage while simultaneously handing him the cat.
"That was all I needed to know. He still needs a name by the way." Still glaring at his aniki, Sasuke walked through the doorway as quickly as possible and closed the door to his room behind him with a snap. Once again, he sighed as he dropped onto his bed. Angrily the cat in his arms meowed and began to struggle out of the raven haired's grasp. Annoyed, he held the cat above his head and watched it struggle once more.
"Stupid cat," he muttered as it stopped struggling. The kitten was extremely small, smaller than he would've expected a kitten to be, and couldn't be more than a couple of months old. Its tan fur was soft in his hands and big blue eyes stared back at him angrily. Again, the kitten began to struggle, staring with determined eyes to get out of the shinobi's hands though it was obviously impossible. The sides of the boy's mouth twitched with amusement at the cat's effort, unable to not be reminded of someone else just as stubborn. After a couple of more seconds, the kitten seemed ready to give up, but with one last effort it scratched the Uchiha's hand.
"Ow!" Taking advantage of Sasuke's loosened grip, the cat jumped with ease onto the bed right beside his head. With one flick of his tail, right at Sasuke's face might I add, the cat jumped from the bed and onto the ground. The onyx eyed boy swore as he sat up, glaring at the cat. Said kitten didn't even look at him as he explored the new room with curiosity. Again, Sasuke couldn't help but smile a bit.
"I'll call you Na…to. Nato²." In response, the newly crowned Nato meowed. Taking that as an okay, the raven haired boy sat up and began getting ready for the dinner he was suppose to go to in 15 minutes.
"I never should have said anything to Itachi."
¹ - Quotation by Jacob Black, owned by Stephenie Meyer : P
² - Nato means a lot of things. It's a Japanese bean (apparently it tastes disgusting too), it stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (from WWII), but the main reason I used it cuz I just took out the ru from Naruto XD (Actually, knowing it was a disgusting bean actually concreted my decisions cuz I HATE cats! Oh, and they hate me back -_-')
Sorry it took me so long to update everyone! I've had so much to do, plus there was whole fiasco with my parents banning me from writing (which is why this story was bumped down from the higher rating, or else I wouldn't be able to continue writing it O.o) and so yeah… I swear it's not even funny, I think the writing spirit CURSED ME!!!!!!! T-T
Also, I'm suppose to be working on my homework right now (2 projects, a review sheet, and a worksheet all due by Mon! PLUS another project is due Fri…), but I am PROCRASTINATING!!! ^^ (So thank procrastination for this update!)
ON A SIDE NOTE ABOUT THIS STORY:
So, if anyone noticed how my writing style seems different with each person, than GOOD FOR YOU! YOU ARE OBSERVANT! Though everything's written in 3rd person POV, I actually have 3 set of styles for the 3 main characters: Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata.
Naruto will, of course, be pretty serious and it'll be through the style I usually write.
Sasuke is also my style of writing, though less serious and with more "jokes" (cough, cough) thrown in.
Hinata is my more formal form of writing, also with "jokes" because, I'd get bored if I had to write like that all day!!! XD
Voting is still in progress, and right now:
SASUNARU is WINNING! ^^
All you NaruHina fans, REVIEW LIKE MAD if you don't wanna read Yaoi.
Sasunaru fans, REVIEW OR THEY'LL OVERCOME YOU!
I'll be closing the poll either next chap or chap 4. : D
Also, if you wanna see what Nato looks like, go to my profile for the link. (It's at the very end)
Remember:
Review, because if you move from the page without it the super virus will take over your comp!!! O.o