Hime Murasaki

Chapter 2: Moonlight Shadow

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or Guilty Gear, people. Let's move along.

AN: The outcome of my first chapter was something unexpected. And I do apologize for leaving it in a cliffhanger because I am such a jackass. At any rate, I left this second chapter in a not-so-cliffy ending to satisfy those who truly despise the art of cliffhangers. Yeah, I kind of hate them myself, but I could live without commenting on them. In all honesty, I don't give a fuck.

A lot of people from my other stories have been asking me why I seem to be so delightful back then and now I am such a cynical bitch. Life is a cycle of endless changes, and I started to dislike my own course of living more and more as the years go by. This is not the mentality of a young person, no. I think this is from someone who can't stand those annoyingly optimistic people who believe optimism can do anything. You know what, if everything can be solved through endless optimism, then why am I negative? I am not negative for no reason, and none of you need to know why I am that way. I don't need to share it.

Your reviews were comforting to read. I want to apologize ahead of time for this chapter. Just to be on the honest side, I didn't think that I did a good enough job in description this time. In fact, I don't think my grammar was that great either. I just wasn't really in that kind of mood unlike the last chapter. Well, I think action, for me anyway, really kills that descriptive tension that I need to write. And like most stories I deal with, I won't write that many action scenes because, man, do I suck.

Thank you all for your support so far. OpForce truly appreciates it.

(Let the games continue)

This was not possible. This couldn't be happening to me! I was more than terrified; the emotions that were practically exploding in my heart, they were killing me in more ways than one. And it was all because I heard my own name! Everything I thought of, all the things I had done in order to prevent this from happening all became in vain because this young woman, who was still embracing me with no will to remove herself anytime soon, recognized me immediately in spite the drastic changes. How I wanted to take Seraphim and stab her already! Yet, even though my plan was first priority above anything else, I couldn't go against the moral code of honour. Hinata was not my enemy, she was just an obstacle, therefore, using overly lethal methods when she had no will to fight was more than, if not ridiculously, dishonourable. Curse my indoctrinated sense of honour; I knew it served more as a trouble than it did good!

At this point, what could I do now? My cover was blown, and this attractive young woman, who evolved from her timid shell, was still attached to me affectionately. When I thought about it more clearly, why was Hinata hugging me? No girl would do that so… what was that word I was searching for… yes, impulsively. Multiple questions flared at the back of my head, and yet I truly wondered if I should be asking her at all. Even if I was a dear friend, in which I wasn't thank God, that inquiry could create some gaps in any friendship. If I must say, that sounded a lot like a rejection than a question. And now as a stranger, if I dared to ask what Hinata's motives were that would be utmost unkind and inconsiderate.

Even so, that didn't mean I was going to remain in her embrace forever. Using my left hand, I forcefully separated Hinata from my body before I used the least amount of strength as possible to remove her without actually inflicting an ounce of damage. Due to my unexpected brashness, Hinata gasped lightly to find herself no longer claiming what she wanted, whereas I, on the other hand, leapt back to create a formidable distance as I held onto Seraphim more calmly once she was not touching, or probably feeling, me.

"What the hell were you doing, kunoichi-ojo-san," I scolded unintelligently. To the very least, I didn't start brushing myself like I was cleaning my leather armour from coodies or anything. That altogether would look quite pathetic. "A shinobi doesn't go around hugging people like it is okay, you know! I could've killed you!"

Hinata's serene kindness did not fade. In fact, she smiled tenderly. I didn't know why this was affecting me… but her gentle nature was somehow fearful to aggressors, people very much like myself. "But you didn't though," she reasoned.

"That happens to go against my moral code of honour, ojo-san," I reminded. "Attacking you when you had no intention to fight is not much different from a savage attacking a helpless civilian."

"You didn't want to, or you couldn't bring yourself to, Naruto-kun?"

I refused to answer her not because her question was something in the bounds of impossible, but I wondered how I should be responding when she called out my name. Should I deny the fact and run away or probably do a little bit of improvisation to get myself out of this mess. The first choice would be way too cowardly, and it would be even worse if Hinata went back to town to call for reinforcements for my capture –especially if the suspect was a former comrade of Konoha who was assumed to be MIA for six years. My capture would make anyone look like a hero, and that wouldn't be wise by the slightest. In addition, in spite my improvements, was I good enough to take on twenty chunnins? I seriously knew my luck. Scratching out the impossible, I fell to my backup plan; okay, so I was left with improvisation. Sure, that was a plan, no doubt, but how was I supposed to pull it off? My knowledge told me that there were only so many things acting could do, and in other words, it usually didn't do enough. Simultaneously, having Hinata realizing my identity caused way too many other problems to crawl out from their formidable graves.

Stating the sheer obvious, I believed that I now needed another plan. Easier said than done, in all honesty; how was I supposed to think up another one just as thorough, if not better, if it took me at least days and now I was offered with merely minutes? Worse, I only had seconds. I needed, no, demanded, an award as an acknowledging intellectual and man of wisdom if I was able to come out with an ingenious outline if I could do it with just seconds, but sadly to say I was not that good. Powerless to do anything, and with any luck, there might be that slight chance that I could alter this hopeless dilemma into something favourable…

Yeah, what were the chances?

No, please don't answer… I was stating that metaphorically.

"I know you're Naruto-kun," she insisted with no hostility despite that I pushed her away. Damn it… she was starting to bug me.

"Really now," I began things coolly. "What makes you so sure that I am this person that you speak of? Assumptions do lead to mistakes, kunoichi-ojo-san, I think you should know that better than anyone."

"You smell like him…" she shyly admitted, turning her eyes away by a bit as a blush crept to her cheeks as she gave her confession. Sincerely speaking, could anyone give me a method of digesting her statement without choking? I smell like… myself… and so she classified me as a Naruto… Right… "And… I remember how it felt like to hug you… I wouldn't forget it…"

Deep down, I was kind of disgusted, yet I had a soft side, and so I forced my emotions to remain neutral for the time being. Of course, that was not meant to last if I heard another freaky comment from her. "Don't you think there are better things to be remembering, ojo-san? Having such a indoctrinated memory of hugging a boy is not something a shinobi like yourself should be taking that much pride in when you should be more focussed on other things."

"Don't tell me what to do," she said, but not actually scolding, "I have my own nindo, just like you have yours, Naruto-kun."

"You keep calling me Naruto, and what if I am not that person?"

"You would have said something long ago then," she wisely countered sweetly, and I hated how she used her unique traits like a slow poison of some sort to fully neutralize her enemies. I still had much to learn it seemed, and I prayed to God that I lived through this to learn the lesson. "Besides, you didn't hurt me when you clearly could have. I know you are him."

"Is this what you normally do to anyone? Do you really hug them like that all the time?"

"Not if I am not deadly certain,"

"Ojo-san, that has to be one of the most dementedly retarded justifications…" I grunted, clutching my face with my left hand hopelessly.

"Stop calling me ojo-san, Naruto-kun," she said, now taking steps closer as I groaned to myself. "Did you forget my name? You know I would never forget yours."

Once I noticed her subtle advance, although I was sure she no longer had any evil intent behind it, but I was going paranoid, I instantly rose my guard and held Seraphim defensively with the sword pulled back like I would do to a Frisbee if I was tossing it underhand. "Don't get any closer," I ordered sternly and narrowed my eyes sceptically. "Stay where you are."

"Are you afraid me?" she inquired with her hand slightly above her highly promising breasts. In spite my threats, she was still advancing little by little, and in the end I was the one being pressured to step back. "There is no need for you to be, Naruto-kun. I won't hurt you… I just want to talk… Please, allow me to talk to you..."

Suddenly, I powered up Seraphim to surround it with lightning energies. "Stun-" I instantly stopped my strike before I launched it. Forcefully calming down, I purged my mind with some rationality before commencing something more logical. Panic always did its damage in one way or another, and despite my efforts in redeeming my faults, it usually left irreparable scars. What I was trying to say was, well, I guess it wasn't a mystery Sherlock Holmes couldn't discover just by glimpsing at it. By attacking Hinata, although it ended to be a premature assault, displayed a great deal of fragility of incompetence. There was a Chinese saying, "A real gentlemen only moved their mouths and not their hands," and I certainly did not match its requirements. By doing that, I failed to keep up that intellectual, the calm and collected dark exterior, and that only meant I needed another plan.

"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked me, snapping out of my thoughts like a divine lightning strike. "Why did you stop? Are you holding back?"

"Ojo-san…" I hissed, now panting heavily as hysteria initiated its horrific torment. "Shut up…"

"What?" she continued to question with that brilliant innocence. "What's wrong?"

"I said shut up… Ojo-san… if you are not here to battle, then leave me alone. I do not wished to be disturbed. You will have my gratitude if you would do that much for a stranger."

"But, Naruto-kun-"

"I already said I am not that-"

She silenced me by starting her own statements. "Naruto-kun, do you not remember who I am?"

Fine, I knew her by name and all the other courageous acts she showed during the chunnin exams and several other random missions we had with another. Aside from that, I really did not know her but I still considered her as a friend. Believe it, in spite that I had a great prejudice over Konoha, my memory over the people did not easily fade, and yet I never recalled Hyuuga Hinata this persistence. In fact, she had so much of it that I disliked it more than I cherished it. Then again, she probably had that side deep within her but never dared to show it to anyone or others would have thought bad of her. Who knew, really… I wasn't there at all when the changes started to kick in. Hell, I was pretty sure I missed enough weddings to make me look like a bastard, and hell, I didn't even know who ended up with who these days. Yes, isolation did a lot, and I meant a lot, of damage.

"It's quite obvious that I don't care who you are," I told her with no hint of kindness and a lot of direct sincerity –not in a good way, of course. "I just want you to leave me alone. Please, ojo-san…"

"Have you really forgotten who I am? And stop calling me ojo-san when you know my name."

I clenched my left hand into a fist, relaxed it by unfolding my fingers, and then formed into another fist once more. I did this repeatedly for a several seconds, then took a breath to rest my emotions to stop them from getting too high. Lastly, I raised my eyes to look at Hinata's, and she blushed up like I thought she would when she noticed how directly my sight was piercing into hers. "You're right… I do know your name, Hyuuga Hinata." As if on cue, my waist felt imprisoned and restricted when Hyuuga Hinata easily took me into another embrace and again buried her head in my chest before actually nuzzling to arouse my senses. How did she get there? I didn't even pick up anything and yet there she was. Maybe I dozed off, or worse I went blind, who knew? "Oi, Hinata, quit it. What's gotten into you? Quit hugging me… we are shinobis."

"Gomen…" she apologized as she slowly, almost valuing and cherishing the warmth from my chest in the process. "I got c-carried away…"

"Really now," I sighed, my anger diminishing rather quickly as I held onto her shoulders while looking into her strikingly alluring eyes carefully. "You are so… touchy… It's almost like as if you actually like me or something. Geez…" Her face reddened slightly at my comment, and then a second later she couldn't even bring herself to look at me as her blush simply grew deeper as every second went by. Did she take my words seriously? She didn't have to, in all honesty, for I was just joking. Somehow, I knew she didn't take it as a joke…

"Naruto-kun…" I heard her murmur again timidly.

"What?"

"You do remember me…" she said, nearly lovingly if I wasn't mistaken.

"Yeah, who could forget those eyes…" I replied, somewhat in a dreaded grunt. "I was always afraid of them…"

"You don't have to be afraid of me, Naruto-kun,"

"Who said I was?"
"But you said-"

"I was referring to Neji, Hinata-ojo-san,"

"Hey, that has a nice ring to it,"

"I guess it does," I pretended to agree with her in her delight. I realized that I was still holding her by the shoulders, but for what? Still, that didn't mean I let go though.

"Ne, Naruto-kun," she called when she found me staring, where in which I wasn't because my eyes were glaring at nothing but the grass from behind her. I snapped out of it in a small, unnoticeable jolt and gave my attention to her. "It's been so long… too long even…"

"It's only six years,"

"And you make it sound like it's a short time. You've changed so much,"

"And so have you," I complimented to make her flush up a bright crimson knowingly. Wow, did my words always had this effect on her? I barely knew. This was like pressing a button to control a robot, and definitely good amusement to pass time.

"I-in a g-good way or bad way?" she questioned innocently.

"Both…" I replied, almost regretting being so brutally honest.

"Is it bad then?"

"I didn't say that," I told her silently. "Overall, it's a fantastic change for your shinobi career." At least I avoided telling her the bad things I was referring to, since they were all qualities that proved to be a problem for me. Rationally speaking, I wouldn't be telling my opponent which attacks worked better than others, just like I wouldn't be telling other enemies that I was a good shinobi except when my enemies were facing me.

Hearing that from me made Hinata smile gratefully, and it was more than clear that the negatives were already forgotten. Foolish girl… never take on a stranger with that much trust…

"It's been so long," Hinata said, not able to control herself anymore and broke my neutral hold to perform something more intimate. She didn't kiss me, no, but she knew I wouldn't refuse a hug since I didn't object it when she did it before. Deep down, however, I did carry some resentment, yet I was too nice of a person to simply do that to crush her hopes. Besides, I could desecrate them later, and patience was always a crucial factor to get the goods. "God, I thought we lost you forever…"

As she busied herself with me, in a clean fashion, of course, I was focussing on something in the far distance. Just a several hundred meters before me, I saw a pair of red concentrated lights flashing, as though calling me. I clearly recognized this as Kera's vision Morse Code; so that was where she was hiding. As my demonic master, she was often very masterful when it came to hiding and lowering her spiritual energies so her presence would be difficult to detect.

Without Hinata seeing anything, I radiated my eyes to send off a similar light. Not red though, but blue.

This was how our conversation, although using no words, went.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" Kera's eyes flashed rapidly, displaying disbelief. "You're going soft!"

"She is a difficult one," I returned my share of opinions with my flashing eyes blinking. "Much more than I anticipated, in fact,"

"What are you going to do then?"

"I can't kill her…

"And why not? You were determined a moment ago, am I right?"

"I think I have a better use than to waste her life, Kera,"

"Really? Like what?" she inquired, if not a little interested unless she used sarcasm. I couldn't detect it that well if all I could see were flashes.

"I make her feel like that she has a friend, and then I take it away. Uzumaki Naruto is no friend to anyone."

"Sounds like a plan. Just move on with haste though. I don't like that girl clinging onto you like that… that's my spot."

I snickered for a second, literally, and wiped it off my face in an instant. "Oh, let her. The more she thinks that she has me, the harder she is going to fall when she realizes that all of it was for nothing. I'll play with her a little more; I wouldn't want this whole operation to be too unexciting."

"Very well, then. We'll talk later, okay?"

"Youkai, (Roger) and I suggest for you to return to my body. Trust me, we will need a greater plan now more than ever."

"Understood," Kera transformed herself back into an aura of essence before she silently, completely undetected, slipped her spirit back into my form despite the distance.

And our vision conversation ended right there.

"Naruto-kun," I heard Hinata faintly as my mind went back to my surroundings than Kera. "Naruto-kun, are you okay?"

"Nanda (What?)" I mumbled, half out of it. "What is it, Hinata?"
"I called you for a minute, and yet you didn't answer. I was getting worried…"

"Sorry for that… I was deep in thought…" Technically, I was. "And you are still hugging me… Goodness, for a kunoichi, you are very touchy…"

Hinata pouted slightly, and then she held me tighter in response to my teasing. She took it the wrong way… She thought of it as a joke. "Oh, Naruto-kun, I missed you. It has been so long… where have you been anyway? Many of us thought you were dead… especially after hearing that Jiraiya-sama got killed in a mission. Why didn't you come back?"

"One question at a time, Hinata," I said, somewhat forcefully prying her off my body. No, I was not gay, so I actually appreciated female company if I received any –just not from her. I continued when my efforts gained me some success. "Did you say Jiraiya got killed in a mission? When did my letter say that? I said he was killed from over-dosage of alcohol or had STDs or whatnot. Perhaps he did drugs, who knows! He, my friend, did not have an honourable death."

Hinata looked at me confusedly, and my God she was adorable despite being eighteen. She was definitely a woman, yes, and yet that unique feature that represented her so well just didn't leave with age. Quite a shocking development to enhance her physical outlook, I must say, and it was surely doing her wonders to capture my attention –although I wouldn't admit it.

"But Tsunade-sama said that you wrote that down as a joke for the sake of pride…"

"Pride? What do you mean?"

"Pride as in you had an image to keep up," she elaborated sweetly. "You wouldn't simply write down some things because it goes against your nature, and so you wrote down something mean and yet we knew you had the right heart and intentions behind it."

At this point, sadly to say, I was just looking at her queerly with no intention to switch my look until I was satisfied enough after absorbing what she said. What the hell was she talking about? Image? Pride? I had a face to keep up? Fuck that shit. I was sincere and strikingly honest, and people actually thought that I was kidding because they thought I wanted to keep up the image of being a… what… I didn't know… jackass? Bastard? Unpredictable ninja? What a load of shit. Did Tsunade ever took me seriously at all during my genin years? Hell, did the other genins like Lee and Neji found me to be a joker above being a shinobi? Right now, I was pretty convinced that they expected me to end up as either a comedian or one big fucked up, yet professional, liar just because I was such a funny man.

Hinata, no doubt, was now feeling very uncomfortable under my stare. "Naruto-kun? N-Naruto-kun… you're scaring me… Stop that… H-Hey… don't mock me…"

"You disappoint me, Hinata," I told her, my voice soaked with sincerity over my feelings. Indeed, I was saddened, and I expected more from her. Out of everyone, I always thought Hinata was special, very much like that crucial somebody that didn't stand out yet carried an unbelievable amount of potential to heal people's hearts. She always seemed to be that person that understood me in one way or another through listening, or perhaps even during those times where she would answer back despite her speeches being timid and brief. I valued them back then; they were some of the things that kept me going because there were indeed some people in Konoha who did understand, and they were the only ones that I could actually rely on despite the lack of them. After six years, however, instead of standing up from the crowd, Hinata didn't evolve and thought like them, too. If not even Hinata could differentiate my words as mockery or sincerity, then I didn't need a friend like her.

She was no different from the rest who I wanted to eliminate if they stood in my way.

And right now, she was annoying me.

"What?" she queried, fearfully.

I had sheathed Seraphim earlier when I felt no need to hold it, but at this instant though, I wanted to cut something. Hinata just had to do. My right hand grabbed the handle, and then I pulled out Seraphim from its case without warning at the same time Hinata picked up my dangerous aura at the nick of time to prevent herself from getting sliced. If it weren't for her speed, she would've been finished by then –but that wouldn't be any fun, would it?

"What are you doing, Naruto-kun?" Hinata yelled back ten meters before me in a panic and sadness. Her voice was trembling, as though she wanted to cry. "Why are you doing this? Weren't we talking just fine? I don't want to fight now… please… I am sorry… I'm really sorry if I did anything to upset you!"

"I don't feel like talking all of a sudden," I narrowed my eyes seriously as I pointed the tip of Seraphim towards her using only one hand. "I got bored."

"But… But… you don't have to fight… we don't have to fight… I don't want to fight you... Naruto-kun… onegai (Please)…"

"Don't worry, I am a nice man," I said, smirking dangerously, "If you manage to defeat me, then we will do whatever you want. I respect the victor, after all. In fact, if you do beat me, then I would surrender to any question you may have, and I will do anything that you want –even if you want me to have sex with you."

That statement got her to blush up hard. Actually, the way I said it so seriously without breaking my expression for a second made her shades deepen further, since she wasn't able to control it. "I'm not going to ask you that!" she squeaked as loud as she could, in which sounded like a high screeched gibberish.

"I'm just saying," I reminded, still keeping myself in tact. "The options are open."

She fought hard over her timidity, in which was not something easy to go against when she was always so full of it. As hard as it might, it was never quite right, yet I gave her a bit of credit for actually trying. "I am not that shameless!"

"Geez, can't you take a joke?" I inquired, snickering away a little cruelly, if I must insist. "Oh, whatever… Just to remind you, though, if you do lose this match, well, I have the right as the victor to ask whatever I may from you. Be afraid, Hinata, for my interrogations are definitely far from innocent." That didn't please her for a second. In fact, she cursed seriously. "Anyhow, prepare yourself." I wielded Seraphim just like how I was about to strike Hinata before, moving my right hand so it blocked my nose and mouth and holding my sword nearly parallel to my left cheek, but this time I was more than willing to attack. "Stun Edge!" I shouted as I swiped forward with my blade charged with lightning energy, resulting in a boomerang like projectile that had the ability to shock its prey badly.

And it wasn't travelling at a slow pace, either.

Hinata's first impulse was to jump out of its way, which was fine by all means. If that already managed to hit her, then she would really stand no chance whatsoever.

"No fair," she whined despite in battle as she took on a more defensive stance, in which I assumed was more of a reversal stance if she managed to block. "You're using a weapon!"

"I am more of a swordsman than a shinobi," I answered, although I shouldn't have, "You don't tell a boxer to just use kicks in a fight, do you? Whether I do know a vast knowledge in hand to hand combat, I think it's more of a privilege for you to know how a swordsman battles. If you still see it as an unfair advantage, in which I promise you it isn't, you can use a weapon as well if you have one."

"Kunais just don't do the job…" she kindly stated, but filled with negativity.

"You're not mistaken," I laughed evilly, "But any rate… Let us continue…" Then I charged, or rather glided, forward in a blinding speed and slashed a very low swipe. "Impale Hunt!" Before my sword swiped the grass, Hinata already made a back flip, literally, to dodge. She was like an acrobat with grace and agility, but I had a set of that of my own as well; just packed with a good touch of rage. In spite her good evasion, however, she was in my arm's reach. And so I yanked out my left arm and grabbed her roughly by the jacket, and thank God I didn't brush over her breasts, before I pulled her back towards me.

She gasped at the turn of events, where she first thought that she had the upper hand, but now the tables have turned. I always made my opponents look like they were winning… and then I take it away.

"Ahhh!" she yelped helplessly as she fell on my body, like a saviour would do for his people. The difference was, sadly to say, that I was far from being a saviour.

I immediately stood back up after my pulling, and as Hinata was still leaning on me involuntarily I rammed my knee right into her gut. This was the first step of my Hiza Geri. I heard a whimpered choke from her, and I liked it –a lot. My left hand held onto her back tightly, trying to control her from moving away as I smashed my knee into the same spot again. This time, blood escaped from her mouth, and yet she gave great effort to resist herself from vomiting. I wanted to break her. She needed to know who was in control, and it was definitely not her. If I wanted her to vomit, then she would do it –by any means necessary. In that spirit, I jammed my knee into the very same spot for a third time.

And just then, she coughed out freely as the pain kicked in.

"See, wasn't that just so much better?" I questioned, although it came out more or less as a dark statement. I gave another kick just to see more blood, and soon I moved behind her, using my left hand to hold onto her wrists firmly where my right hand had Seraphim ready to slit her throat. Of course, I wouldn't be just ending her life like that because that would kill the fun. Besides, I didn't think I could be cutting things open if electricity was still running through Seraphim. "Elegant ni Kiru!" I declared out loud and ran my blade across her upper chest area, sending frighteningly powerful jolts of lightning energies that had greater damaging effects than my Stun Edge. Hinata screamed as loudly as her body could allow her, and when I released her she didn't even show any resistance.

"Kuso…" I heard her swear although her lips were practically eating grass.

"What… it's over already?" I looked at her coldly as I grunted. Then I raised Seraphim with one hand above my hand. "You are not even worth interrogating. I might as well end your pathetic life for you. See you in hell, Hinata."

Then I heavily sliced down, hoping that she would just die. Her death would solve everything, after all, and so why did I even bother to preserve her life earlier. Whatever, she was going to get it and it was all fine with me. My face became shocked as she suddenly rolled to the left, completely making my attack a dead miss. "What…" I heard myself spoke out when I failed to annihilate her as I wished. Little bastard… she was making this annoying.

In an unexpected turn of events, Hinata flipped back to her feet from her rolling and suddenly, in a very un-Hyuuga way, she shoulder rushed me –meaning performing a high speed tackle using her shoulder like a football combatant. Due to the initial speed, I took the hit dead on as I started to lose my balance. Luckily for me, I forced myself to move my right leg back just quick enough that when it touched the ground first I instantly established a firm foundation for the sake of a reversal. Reversals usually came after a block, and there was no way for me to give off counters if I was now getting beat. After the shoulder rush, Hinata went on the offensive. Although the Jyuuken was not used yet, probably she wanted to preserve her chakra than to waste it because if her energized attacks were to be dodged, parried, blocked, then she would just be wasting her ki.

To warm things up, she twisted her body to the side and raised her leg with her knees bent, in which was almost appeared that she was readying herself for a series of rapid kicks. She did kick indeed, but a very direct and forceful forward kick that had the power to crush ribs if that was where I was hit. Fortunately for me, though, I moved the back of Seraphim just in the nick of time to defend against her smashing foot. In the end, I was still moved back due to her force, and to make it worse she immediately swiped her other leg once she found her first attack practically deflected. Like I said… she was one persistent woman.

After her second strike, I planned to commit my reversal. As soon as I blocked, I summoned up the strength required to give her a taste of her own medicine. "Vapour Thrust!" I yelled out my attack, leaping upward and giving a 210-degree angle electrified slice uppercut, like a very typical anti-air attack with great priority due to its speed. Hinata, however, was prepared. In order to stand an equal chance, she powered her right palm, thus activating the Jyuuken (Gentle Fist) and slammed it into the lightning slash to parry it fully. In fact, her attack was more than sufficient to stop my body from moving upward, therefore prematurely disrupting my elegant reversal. Well, that meant her own set of offensive moves were much more graceful, beautiful, and worth praising than mine, and I didn't like it. If she wanted things the hard way, then she shall receive it.

I was a giving soul, and it always shattered my heart if I didn't donate a good death if that was all they were asking.

Oh, yes, this bitch was going to die.

My body reacted immediately by leaping back to create some distance, but in an immediate turn of events I commenced my rushing and pressuring by keeping myself close to Hinata. I made things difficult when I picked to begin with "Impale Hunt."

I grinned evilly to have my swipe hitting both her legs, and as a result, I had her to trip very ungracefully as a powerful flow of electricity shocked her as Seraphim made contact.

"Shimata!" she gasped as her rear hit ground. The next one was soaked with fear when she raised her head to see my standing in my full height; eyes narrowed emotionlessly and probably uncaringly, too; my right hand had Seraphim held in another devastating striking pose; and the next second I gave a merciless slash that had the strength to hack off a torso. Needless to say, Hinata reacted rather quickly, and moved her entire body to a sleeping position, kind of, anyway, to experience the whiff of air that I managed to attack. Although it ended up as a dead miss, again, it served as a sign of my potentials, and I made sure to tell her that it was nowhere close to low if she ever thought I was an easy opponent.

In her lying position, I spun Seraphim skilfully a several times before I held it upside down, having my tip pointing downward. Obviously, my intent was to stab her –and hard, too. Knowing me, that was exactly what I did. Once again, sadly to say, Hinata shifted away just at the right time, like a bitch, to have Seraphim stabbing at the spot which was now next to her skull. I didn't even make a scratch mark…

I realized my attack left a huge opening –especially given that I couldn't pull Seraphim out when it was stuck to the soil. What would Hinata do in this case, I wonder? No, she was such a nice girl and watch me pull out my sword so I could slice her faster. Forget that, in her lying down position, she smashed her foot into my chin and did it with a raw passion to wound and inflict. When she found her kick didn't send me flying yet, she just tried again. I didn't budge much because I still held onto Seraphim, but by holding it caused my stamina to receive a significant drop as each kick made forceful contact to my skull. If I released however… no, I couldn't even imagine myself abandoning my sword. By now, I felt my jaw had dislocated, but then again I might have exaggerated due to the sheer pain of it all. Even so, that didn't mean I could continue to take a ridiculous amount of hits. At the final kick, I quickly moved my head out of the way and grabbed her foot with my right hand… and I crushed it.

"Iiiiiieeeee!" she screamed as the pain exploded in her foot. What music she could create with those vocal cords of hers! I was sure I was going to hear more if I had the brutality to rip people's limbs apart. Unfortunately, I lacked that kind of strength, so this just had to do the job –not that I was complaining in any fashion. "Let go! Let go, Naruto-kun! You're hurting me!"

"Still so kind to call me Naruto-kun?" I inquired, laughing out loud to send shivers down her spine, provided that my darkness worked, "This makes my torment that much sweeter." Without warning, my right hand yanked her away from the ground violently, where I didn't even realize I could lift someone who weighed more than a hundred pounds with just one hand alone, and threw her powerfully away in an overhand throw. At last, I pulled Seraphim out from the ground, and pulled it in the same position that was needed to launch out my projectile. "Stun Edge!"

My lightning bolt travelled faster than the velocity of my throw, and of course without any further adieu the lightning struck her cleanly on the back before purging her painfully. At the same time, I readied myself for another one and whipped it out as quickly as my body could muster. My eyes cringed noticeably when I saw Hinata recover already, and even worse when she flipped herself back into a steady position and slapped the Stun Edge away with her Jyuuken. This was not looking good.

With renewed spirits, Hinata dashed at me immediately after she landed safely with her two feet. I knew I was in for it, since her strikes were always quicker than the slashes I could perform with Seraphim. My first instinct, needless to say, was to block –and efficiently. Her hand slammed into the back of Seraphim as hard as I imagined her to, or if not harder. Judging from the angered expression on her face, Hinata was annoyed at my defensive movements, and ironically, she was supposed to be the Queen of Defence with her Kaiten. Once she struck my blade, I returned the favour with a small reversal push to create just the right amount of distance in order to pursue my next attack.

"Charging Stun Edge!" This time I actually gave in more effort to power up Seraphim before it radiated an extremely powerful fluorescent light blue glow. A second later, I released it in a light swipe after its tiring channelling, and a wide, fully-charged, concentrated lightning beam fired off from my weapon before travelling at a moderate speed, primarily used for trapping. Hinata made a back flip, obviously attempting to evade such a slow beam; but unlike her intentions, I wasn't going to let her dodge like that.

She would never think that I was planning to get her from behind with the Charging Stun Edge up front.

"Ray Divider!" my mouth called out, my right hand holding Seraphim above my head as my left hand energized my whole weapon by swiping it once. I slammed the blade downward without actually hitting the ground, crouched my body fully, and lastly it released an dangerous charge of negative energies in rays that reached eight to ten yards before me. At those ten yards, however, revealed a small fortified electric divider that zapped anything in its way; in addition, it had the power to nullify beams, and the best of all, the portal appeared right behind Hinata as she flipped.

She would never know what hit her.

And she didn't.

The Ray Divider struck her utmost beautifully as the painful jolting sensations seared through her gorgeous body. Her delectable, tortured screams only complimented my efforts. Simultaneously, the Charging Stun Edge that she was trying so hard to avoid finally reached her stomach, jamming, drilling, and electrocuting anything that stood in its path. Now completely trapped in front and back, I held Seraphim tightly in an offensive stance to prepare myself for the best treat I could ever give Hinata while in combat. I had quite the unorthodox style of combat up close, and at last it was my turn to show it off and show her how deadly a real swordsman could really be. To ensure my plan would end in success, I powered up another Ray Divider so she wouldn't manage to escape.

Finishing off an opponent was always considered an art to Kera and myself. There were just too many ways to end off hindrances, and no matter how honourable, tasteful, graceful, elegant the process was, it still brought on an unspeakable delight –the happiness of getting rid of obstacles that deserve to be killed. In that spirit then, should I overdo it, be conservative, go completely berserk, or do just enough to make her suffer. Whatever the situation, I didn't think that I would be playing that safe against an enemy with incredible potentials. Besides, she would pay for wounding my jaw.

In less than an instant, I had both my legs bent down, twisted my body to the right slightly, and finally carried Seraphim with both my hands and held it back as far as I could in a striking pose. Then I dashed at her imprisoned form with no hesitation on my part whatsoever.

"Light of Justice!" I announced my next art, and ironically, my actions were far from just. I leapt six feet to the skies and dived downward as Seraphim was charged up with its lightning power. With no effort, I slashed Hinata's shoulder with my two hands, and she shrieked louder than all the other times. Switching to only one hand, I swiped heavily against her torso. Once my sword slashed across her torso, in a smooth motion, I raised Seraphim lightly before I sliced a diagonally downward to my right. Now levelling Seraphim higher, I performed a crushing cut at her left shoulder using a vertical swipe; then I practically struck her like how I would be high-sticking someone in hockey; next, I front flipped at Hinata, striking her skull lightly as one of my knees got in the way, and finally slammed my blade critically from above at her left shoulder once more.

Lastly, I finished it off with a Vapour Thrust at her chest, sending her defencelessly to the air with no means of retaliation.

Despite my powerful art, I still detected some chakra left in her. I couldn't allow that now, could I? If I was going to beat Hinata, then I dedicated to beat her down so badly that she wouldn't be able to get up again. Sure, whatever didn't kill you always made you stronger (and that is such pure shit,) but if something killed you… I was certain that I wouldn't even need to see you a second time, ne? Having that sense of negativity indoctrinated in my senses, my body quickly generated a massive amount of chakra around it to prepare for one of my ridiculously dangerous overdrives.

"Aegis of Light!" My whole body, by now, was encircled with bright blue orbs of lightning, and protected with another shell of, well, electric energies. At the same time, the attack itself allowed me to ascend to the air with a great boost, thus it had me catching up to Hinata as I planned to crash into her to end the duel. I was so certain that victory was mine, but that didn't turn out to be the case. Just moments when I thought that the glory would be all mine, Hinata instantly recovered in the air with perfect vitality, as though she was unaffected by them all along. In addition, she definitely had enough time for her reversal, and since she saw me ascend with such ridiculously high speeds Hinata only guessed that if her counter attack had equal amount of projectile force... I was sure to suffer.

Like how she would kick a soccer ball during a free-kick, Hinata swung her right foot for a spinning kick right at my face just when my whole body was right within her reach. In a blink, I crashed landed with an explosion like impact, my whole body totally devastated as the initial shock seared through too thoroughly. I felt my mouth coughing and vomited a great deal of blood –not only once, but twice even.

Hinata then used the Replacement Technique to warp back onto the ground twenty yards from behind me as I shook off the effects of my game-ending crash. If I needed Seraphim to support me while I tried to get up, then I had a great problem. Despite that, however, I recklessly powered up my weapon again for my second overdrive. Wielding Seraphim with my right hand, raising it above me but having my hand aimed downward by a slightest bit so my sword would serve as a small shield before me, it began to shine powerfully that deserved praise from low calibers.

"Sacred Edge!" I yelled out, swinging Seraphim wildly in a slash as I called forth a crushing beam of light that had over ten times the force of my Charging Stun Edge right at the Hyuuga girl. She was sure to die this time.

Or so I thought.

"Kaiten!" I heard her gentle voice from the other end as my Sacred Edge crashed right into her like I predicted. I didn't know how it happened, but with her perfect defence she was actually causing my overdrive attack to diminish, and it wouldn't take too long before she completely neutralized it. No attack could be that perfect, and I just knew if I packed another fierce assault I might just be able to penetrate through that glorious attack of hers and crush any remnants of her undeserving confidence. My own sense of confidence in my planning was still high, and judging from Hinata's tired expression under her Kaiten, well, I might just stand a chance.

Hastily, I wasted no time to initiate my final overdrive, and it took an equal amount of power out of me to ready this one like how I commenced the Sacred Edge. Instead of energizing Seraphim, I was strengthening myself. At the next second, I leapt forward, and suddenly my entire body was surrounded with the same lightning energies that were used in my Aegis of Light.

"Ride the Lightning!" I screamed my final, and most powerful, deathblow, and simultaneously I bolted forward with a killing intent to crush her in her Kaiten. Travelling at a hundred kilometres an hour (sixty miles approximately,) I was certain that my force was something to be reckoned with, or, with any luck, I would destroy them. Not even a shinobi could survive that sort of impact, but unlike a station wagon travelling at a speed of one hundred kilometres per hour, my attacks were meant to have a degree of 'lethalism' to carry that senseless belief of self-control. The lightning energies, despite that they were awesomely strong, only weakened the impact, but with a good cause. If I were to be crashing into someone with that agility without my barrier, then call it a suicide attack, for I knew I wasn't going to survive once I made impact.

I knew everything was finished when my Ride the Lightning landed on her Kaiten. Our energies were on an equal peril, if not more on my part, when we collided. Although it appeared that the upper hand was mine to claim, I realized that I had no control to keep up with my overdrive where as Hinata could always pump up more chakra to continue with her defence. Within five seconds, where my lightning started to die down, it was all over for me. Once I had no energy surrounding my body any longer, her shield struck my chest critically, then forcefully flung me out of it radius as I helplessly flew back just to be waiting for something in the way so I would actually stop.

Hinata had other means to stop me though. Gathering chakra into her feet, she excelled her movement rate and ran past me before she halted some distances behind me, in which I was still flying with no means of fighting back. Although I did not see what she was planning from my rear, but I had a very, and I mean very, good idea of what it was when she suddenly generated a massive amount of chakra and aura around her like a volcanic eruption. I didn't want to know what was happening with her, but I knew I had no power whatsoever to make a difference.

My body paralyzed when I heard her attack; it was like a blast from the past.

"Jyuuken: Divination Field Sixty Four Strikes," she announced serenely as she took her pose.

Everything was done for; for me. In less than a moment, my back was stabbed with her two hands, and at the same time my world went black.

(Hours Later)

I felt edgy, but I felt no pain. I knew I went unconscious after that last attack of hers, or why would I have been dreaming just now? No, I didn't recall what happened in my dreams, but to the very least I knew I was rested. In fact, I haven't slept this well in ages. Not having a need to fear for my life actually felt good… somehow I found peace in Konoha knowing that there weren't any poachers and vengeful individuals that had a passion to claim Seraphim for themselves. My decision to steal Seraphim had brought me nightmares, but overall, if I were good enough to eliminate all threats, then I suppose it was all worth it in the long run. In Konoha, however, I knew the words of the legendary weapon were not known, and when I slept… there wasn't an ounce of hesitance and fear. I was sure that Kera agreed with me as well…

Then again, where was I? Just because I happened to have rested beautifully did not mean I was out of my current dilemma. I tried moving my legs and there were no shackles binding them. I fidgeted slightly just to discover that my wrists were entangled or chained. With some rationality in my dozed off condition, I realized that I was not imprisoned or shackled. The only thing that was missing was the feel of Seraphim, and surprisingly, that was good enough to force myself to wake up. It was strange that the importance of my sword stood greater than my own life.

"Where the hell am I?" I choked out with a gasping voice. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that I was leaning on a tree. I haven't done that in ages, since sleeping on the ground these days no longer proved to be that safe. It was night still, but the skies have grown that much darker and the moon, in its crescent shape, was shining down onto Mother earth it all its glory. A beautiful sight to be mesmerized, yes, but I was no mood to do that when I needed to know where Seraphim had gone to

"You're awake," I heard a gentle voice coming from behind the tree I was leaning on. I quickly recognized this as Hinata's voice. She then stepped out from her hiding spot, took two steps to stand next to me and kneeled down to my level. Without my permission, she felt my forehead with her, strangely enough, cool hand. "Good, you don't have a fever."

"What makes you so sure that I might be sick?" I inquired, my temper temporarily suppressed.

"Just to be sure, actually," she replied, kindly.

"Where is my sword?" I questioned her rudely than thanking her. "Where is Seraphim?"

"Is that what you call your weapon?"

"It doesn't matter what it's called, where is it? I demand that you return it at once."

She grew angry, and had plenty of reason to do so. "Aren't you going to at least thank me for saving you? I am not asking you to hug me, or kiss me, or have sex with me in return for the favour, you know. I am just asking for a small, audible, and sincere thank you. Is that too much to ask?" At the end of it all, she was shouting at me, and somehow her yelling actually managed to silence me before I had minor reflections of my past attitude. Hell, her genuine rage, so to speak, nearly had me apologizing; but I had too much pride to do that, of course.

"Fine…" I grunted, slumping back onto the tree wearily. "Thanks for not killing me… I wouldn't have minded if you did, however,"

"I would never kill you," she admitted, giggling for no apparent reason. But I knew her anger subsided at this point, in which was always a good sign. "You're Naruto-kun, after all,"

"Not when this Uzumaki Naruto just tried to kill you and called you a bitch or whatnot…"

"You called me a bitch?" she asked, not angry but surprised. "I didn't notice…"

"Maybe you were to in pain to realize it… Hinata…"

"What is it, Naruto-kun?"

"Why didn't you just kill me? I lost fair and square. What, do you plan to ask me a series of questions so my life is actually worth something for now? Come on, let's get it over with."

Hinata shook her head gently, smiling sweetly in return. I blinked a several times, wondering why ailed her to be so affectionate and patient, "I didn't keep you alive for that reason. Yes, you are right about the fact that I want to ask you many things, but there are just other ways to get that out from you than following a principle of victor-and-loser. If you really want to share your personal things, then you would simply tell me out of your free-will, right? It's your right and freedom, Naruto-kun."

I smiled weakly, but to Hinata, that was the most beautiful grin she had ever seen. "You are too considerate…" I commented. "You are not even taking the privileges of interrogation despite being the victor, and even when I am surrendering myself…"

"Don't get me wrong, Naruto-kun," she quickly intervened again, this time with more power and authority. "Although I am not asking for your personal things, there are other things that I must confirm. To the very least, what makes me so sure that your return to Konoha is one with a pure intent?"

"Pure intent? What do you mean by that?"

"Will it cause jeopardy to Konoha?"

"Who knows…" I replied, sneering and laughing. "I don't see how a small visit back to my home for the sake of remembrance could be a bad thing." This was the point where I lie like a motherfucker. "I had been travelling a lot, doing a lot of missions, and now I wanted to get some peace. You know… grab a break from it all like a vacation or something, and sooner or later I would be out there again to live out the life I want to live. I just thought this place would be the ideal spot for a vacation. It is where everything began for me, and it does bring back a lot of memories. I suppose this relaxation would do me some good."

"Then why did you run away when I tried to reason with you?" she inquired, now sitting next to me with our upper arms brushing against another as she moved. "You didn't have to, Naruto-kun, and we should not have fought with another like that… It hurts me…"

"I just wanted it to be private, that's all," I said, patting her thigh with assurance. She blushed not too furiously when my hand touched a part of her body repeatedly for three seconds. "No need for a big commotion or anything, since I don't like it. Besides, it's not like I would be staying here for too long, and if I leave with everyone knowing… then I would feel guilty for leaving. After weighing the ups and downs, I decided to simply lay low for a several days and then I would get going as if I never came here to begin with. It's simple, really. And you just had to show up… talk about a day-ruiner…"

"I thought it was great to find you alive and well. Correct that… you are alive… I don't know about well…" Hinata bit her lip at the last words. "Naruto-kun, I missed you. Things have been so much more different without you around… Do you realize that? You should've came back sooner… there were so many things that you missed out on where everyone wanted you to be there for."

I raised my brow at that news. In spite that my kindness to Hinata at the moment was quite feigned and untrue, this was something that was worth knowing. "Such as what, Hinata?"

"Many of us now, except Ino, who went to the college for shinobi learning, became jounins. You missed our chunnin exam six years ago, the one where Kiba-kun, Sakura-san, Ino-san, Chouji-san, Lee-san, and I passed. Coincidentally, all of us, and I mean everyone, except you and Sasuke-san, passed our jounin examination just two years ago or was it last year… We had such a great ceremony and parties for both exams, too, but more so on our jounin one because we were all legal to drink and such… It took place at my place, if you must know. You really should've been there… Naruto-kun, you were part of us, and Sakura-san misses you both so much, too… She's been so lonely without you, and she knew you would've made a wonderful jounin."

"Me? A jounin? Get real, Hinata," I said, laughing at her joke, in which it wasn't.

"You would've passed for certain," she assured with hope and delight.

"Seriously?"
"Seriously," she answered, pinching my cheek as a way of encouragement. In all honesty, that was an awful, awful way of push someone. "You were good just now."

"Good? Wait, did we have sex when I was unconscious? And during that party when you passed your jounin exam… did you have sex?"

I knew this would get her to blush furiously. Her timidity was such a good thing to tease.

"No and hell no!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, in which nearly caused me to suffer from being deaf. "I won't let anyone else take my virginity away! I saved it for one and only person!"

Somehow, this sparked up some curiosity and interest within me. For an eighteen year old human male, the issue of sex was something that fascinated me, and at the same time, it became a subject that I always yearned to know more. I did receive a lot of pointers, in a way, from Kera, and we loved to talk about it whenever possible. Despite Kera was a very good candidate to have an intelligent conversation with, sometimes it was comforting to be speaking to another human being with another set of opinions different from Kera or myself.

"And whoever might that be?"

And she stopped right in her tracks.

"Ano…" she mumbled, her shade of pink never leaving her face. In fact, it got more detectable. "that person is… well… he's… ano… this person is… well, he's…"

"How about I guess who it is? Is it… Shino?"

"No…"

"Kiba?"

"He doesn't like me that way,"

"Shikamaru?"

"No way,"

"It can't be that fatass Chouji… I don't think it could be Lee either…"

"It's not them, Naruto-kun…"

"Could it be… is it Hyuuga Neji?"

She gasped –loudly. "Are you insane? How could you suggest something like that? I love Neji, yes, but not romantically!"

"I kid, I kid," I grinned as I calmed her down with a several pats on her shoulder. "Well, I named everyone already. Who else is left? What, is that secret person me?"

Blood immediately rushed to her cheeks. "Sore wa… (That's…)"

I silenced her briefly by laughing. "Me? Give me a break!" I continued to laugh some more. "Yeah, right, never in hell would it be me. I mean, how could anyone want to have sex with someone who they haven't met for six whole years? What are the chances, right, Hinata? Just so you know, about that sex thing I said if I was going to beat you, forget about it. I was just kidding. I don't think I have the heart to take that precious thing away from you when you have someone special. You should share it with him if you are that ready, or her if you happen to be a lesbian…"

Hinata's blushing had met its end. "I am not a lesbian, thank you,"

"Hey, how would I know?" I said, shrugging.

"You used to be funny, Naruto-kun," she told me with a sense of sadness and a pout. That pout of hers made me wonder if she was truly that depressed. My first thoughts were, obviously, that she was merely trying to be cute.

"I am funny," I reminded confidently before I laughed again softly, "In a negative sense, no doubt,"

"You are just cynical…" she dully recalled.

"That is my way of being a jackass. Well, looks like I still need more work in discovering who you might be speaking of, ne? Well, whatever. It's not really my business, anyway. I am sure, knowing your standards, that this person is great, isn't he?"

Hinata shyly nodded before she spoke; almost gratefully. "I think he is absolutely wonderful. He was back then and he still is now… such a good person…" I knew she was now staring at me. Hell, she had been watching me the whole time ever since we started talking. Only I had been switching my gazes from her, the sides, the skies, and the moon occasionally, but somehow in the back of my head, I knew Hinata's eyes never changed their direction, nor did they seem to want to look at anything else but me. Furthermore, her eyes paid even more attention to me once I discussed about sex. Wow, this was surely going to be one of the only times I openly talk about this with her. Whether I liked attention or not, this was not a very skilful way, or wise, I should say, of receiving it. To be honest, it was kind of creepy.

"Really now…" I whispered to no one in particular. "I may even know him then…"

"I'm sure you do," she said back joyfully, "You might have just forgotten about him after so long…"

"And can you do me two favours, Hinata?" I suddenly requested. Hinata nodded immediately, fully willing to offer some kindness for me despite that we were just acquaintances. Perhaps she already saw me as a friend. "Firstly, tell me where Seraphim is, please,"

Hinata pointed behind her, which was the tree we were both lying against. "It's just behind this tree. I was observing it when you were sleeping. I have to say it looks absolutely beautiful, like a wonderful enchantment. Seraphim… it's such a nice name, too. And what is the second favour?"

"Mind keeping my presence in this town a low profile for me? You know me; I wouldn't do anything to Konoha. I just want to rest here in peace for a several days, really. We are friends, are we not? Okay, maybe I didn't act like it when we first met another in Ichiraku's, but I was just trying to be secretive and left alone. I didn't mean the things I did… or said… I really wanted my space… It would be deeply appreciated if you did that for me, Hinata, honestly, and-"

I was quieted down with her right index finger, which was soft and lovable all at the same time, on my lips and then she even pressed it gently. "Consider it done."

My eyes opened more to hear her say that so quickly, as though she complied without having a need to rethink about it. And when the hell was she bold enough to silence me? No, it wasn't the silencing part that shocked me, since she interrupted me before already; but how she did it was the real factor of my initial surprise. Damn it all, this woman was full of it, full of that hidden potential that made fear her than like her.

"Really?" I questioned, my outer appearance showing none of the feelings my depths felt within.

"Really," she replied caringly. "But I want to ask something of you though… if you don't mind…"

"I wouldn't, Hinata. What is it then?"

"May I sleep next to you like this?" she asked, taking my right arm with her hands like it was a pillow for her to fondle around, "And use your arm like a pillow? I am tired… and it's really late, too." I took this chance to look at the dark skies, and I couldn't agree more with her that it was probably past midnight. I checked my watch, and it was exactly as I assumed; it was twelve-thirty in the morning.

"As long as I don't need to have sex I am fine," I said, secretly keeping the fact that Kera loved to do whatever Hinata was doing as well in her sleeps. As if I was going to tell her my daily lifestyles now; she would need to earn my trust, in which was very unlikely, before I would do something that drastic.

"Naruto-kun… that person is-"

"I am going to help you save it, Hinata," I joked as I rested my head onto the tree trunk. "I am sure that person truly deserves you." Without my control, my mouth yawned tiredly. In spite the rest I had, I guessed it just wasn't enough to fully charge my batteries. As long as I knew where Seraphim was everything seemed to be fine. Suddenly, my shoulder felt heavier. As I slowly turned to my right to check what was going on, I nearly jolted when I saw Hinata's head claiming that spot and with her eyes still watching me. She was cute, very adorable indeed. "Give me some warning first next time…"

"Gomen…" she apologized sheepishly. "I think I have been awake for too long…"

"Same,"

"You don't mind if I do this, right?" she asked once more for permission just in case I backed out. I couldn't resist her blinking lavender eyes; it trampled all the resistances and defences I had like it were nothing. If affection could kill, then I would naturally hire Hinata to do my bidding.

"It's sort of too late for me to object," I chuckled as tiredness, like a disease, had reached my senses. "Besides, having you around is comfortable. I hope I am not making things difficult for you."

I felt my right arm behind held more warmly than before. "You would never be," Hinata whispered to my ear. "I like it here, too. Goodnight, Naruto-kun. Sweet dreams."

My lips formed a slight grin. "Goodnight to you, too, Hinata. Have a nice night." Before I knew it, she was already asleep. Seeing how it was useless to speak to her now, I closed my eyes and did some mental reflections before I truly drifted to slumber. Hinata had no idea how hard it was for me to laugh at that moment.

This session gave me two valuable lessons: one; Hinata was a gullible moron, and two; there was no way that I wouldn't use Hinata until she was utterly useless. This was one opportunity that I would never pass up, and all I had to do was offer up my free time while pretending to be her friend! It was no different from taking candy from a baby; if not better.

Perhaps meeting Hyuuga Hinata turned out to be a blessing of its own. She would be the one to make my master plan a total success; and she wouldn't even realize it until Konoha is in ruins. This fact could destroy her, and that was exactly how devious I was with Kera by my side.

AN: The word 'Lethalism' is not a real word. It's just something I made up to describe the intensity of the brutality. Just think of it as a term OpForce made up for the sake of… being lazy? I hope my chapter was bearable, and I truly pray that my next instalment would be more rich and promising.

Now, I need to remind you all of my inability to update. Guess what, people, I have work until the end of August now. So, horray to no updates (or very infrequent)! If I have the time, then I would do whatever it takes to update my chapters. If not, then blame my workplace for their ridiculous amount of work. I am really starting to hate it –but I need the money. Please take this in an understanding fashion, because not even threats could make me quit my job.

Anyhow, sayonara, minna-san. I am glad that Hime Murasaki turned out just fine.