07 March 2007

A word from Starry: Thanks for the awesome reviews! I'm glad that you guys liked it. It's really fun to write and I'm already on chapter five! yay! This is an AU story 'cause the kids are 16 and Sasuke hasn't gone off with Orochimaru and Akatsuki isn't after Naruto... yet. Well, I think I'll shut up now so go ahead and enjoy the second chapter!!

Kind of a warning: I'm a big Naruto fan and I'm reading the Manga and watch the Anime series, but I'm human so I'm bound to make mistakes here and there. I'm not a computer so I don't memorize everything that is said so if I say or write something that is not correct, please bare with me! Thanks! Also, if they seem out of character, forgive me.

Oh, Brother – Ni – Surprise Surprise!

"Finally! I can go home and relax!" Ino pushed back her bangs and placed her other hand on her hips. "Just thinking about getting into my nice and warm bed after a hot and bubbly bath makes me get chills."

Hinata stood and straightened up, thinking of what Ino had just said. That idea did sound nice and just imagining the feeling of being in her bed made Hinata blush a bit. How long had it been since she'd been home? A month? This mission had really taken a lot of time because they had been tracking down a criminal that was never in one village. Finally they had caught the culprit not far from the Village of the Sand. It was all thanks to Kiba and Akamaru's nose as well as Shikamaru's brain and Hinata's Byakugan eyes. Ino was now a high level medical ninja so she was asked to go along to complete the four man cell.

"Well, it might sound troublesome, but I think it's better if we start heading back to Konoha. Unless you guys want to rest here for the night resume our way back home in the morning." Shikamaru turned to face his team and waited for them to reply.

Ino made a face and shook her head, obviously showing that she wanted to go home as soon as possible.

Kiba gave her an annoyed look before turning to look at Shikamaru. "I think we should rest for the night and go back home in the morning, but that leaves us with an opening to be attacked. One of us would have to stay up guarding and the person who was left to guard would be tired the next day. So I vote for going home today before the sun sets."

Akamaru barked beside Kiba, letting everyone know that he agreed with his master.

"Alright, what about you, Hinata?" The Jounin ninja asked, turning to face the quiet girl.

She did want to go home right away but she was already tired from having to chase and fight with the enemies. 'I'm pretty sure if something were to happen along the way, they would do anything to help me. Right?' Hinata looked back at Shikamaru and said, "I agree with everyone else. I think it would be best to go home before the sun sets. We're not far from home so I'm pretty sure we'll be there around dinner time."

"So it's back home, ne?" Ino asked, looking at her teammates with a pleased smile. She would be able to go home and take a bath before going to bed. How delicious! Oh… she had to go and report the medical status to Sakura, and that would take a few hours. The blonde girl groaned in her head and hoped that the stupid 'senpai' wasn't too busy by the time she arrived.

"Yes, let's head back." With that, Shikamaru nodded and jumped off the ground to the tree branches in the direction of Konoha with the rest of the team following him.

--

The moment that Naruto had entered the Hyuuga residence, a bubble of fear had risen up inside of him. He didn't really know why but all he knew was that he was to behave here or else… who knew what would happen. Lucky for him, Neji had been waiting for him to lead him to where he would be spending the night. Naruto had not unpacked because he was told he would be given his own room once the princess of the house came back from a mission.

The blonde only nodded and followed his now cousin out to meet his new father… Hyuuga Hiashi. Swallowing hard, Naruto stood up straight and brushed off his clothes to make a good impression. Sure he'd told himself not to feel insecure about this but deep down he couldn't help but feel it.

Neji knocked on the sliding door and waited for an answer. A 'come in' was heard from behind the doors and the dark haired boy turned to face Naruto and nodded. He opened the doors and the two boys stepped in.

Hiashi sat in front of a table that had two tea cups on it and two small saucers. Noticing the lack of a tea cup and plate, Neji nodded to his uncle before excusing himself out of the room. The head of the Hyuuga clan nodded to his nephew before turning to look at Naruto. "Please have a seat."

Obediently, Naruto made his way to the small table and sat on the floor the same way Hiashi was sitting, on his knees. The blonde wanted to look around but found that his attention and head didn't want to move from the older man's vision. It was strange, he thought, because to him it seemed as though no other adult could 'tame' him or control him but with just one look, Hiashi managed to keep him in line… so far.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Hiashi said, breaking the now long silence that had built up. "I am Hyuuga Hiashi and this is your new home."

Naruto nodded.

"I have been informed that you may move back to your home once you've turned into an adult, so I'm not going to assume that you will stay here for a long time. I am not going to ask you to drop your surname, Uzumaki, and add the Hyuuga name to it because I believe you are who you are and a new name would do you no good at this age. If you wish to add Hyuuga to your name, you may do so. From now on though in the legal papers that the Hokage has you will appear as Naruto Uzumaki Hyuuga." Hiashi paused to take a small sip of his tea.

There was no expression on his face but Naruto noticed that he didn't seem to look mean and strict like he'd heard from peers out in the street. That was something that Naruto was happy about, because now he could relax a little and not be so stiff.

"The Hyuuga residence is a big place so there are many rooms and a lot of outside space, but there aren't that many people living here. Neji, Hanabi, Hinata, myself and now you will be the only ones that reside here. You will have your own room but we can't decide where it is until my daughter returns from her mission. I don't know when she'll return but for the moment you can stay in the guests' room near the front door." The clear eyes of Hiashi never left Naruto's as he spoke and it was now making Naruto a bit nervous.

His fingers were now fidgeting under the table and he really wanted to move his leg but he didn't want to disrupt the calmness of the room. Why'd he end up in this house? Had it been Tsunade-obasan the one who put him here as an evil joke? He'd have to go talk to her when he was able to get out of here. The younger boy's thoughts were broken when he heard the other person begin to talk once more.

"We all eat dinner together at eight o' clock and that ends at nine. After dinner, you all have an hour to finish your daily doings before going to your room and going to rest. In the morning, we have breakfast at seven until eight and afterwards you have the whole day to do your tasks. If you are in the residence around noon, then lunch is available from one to two. We have Abarai-san from the Abarai clan who comes everyday to prepare our meals and keep the house clean when the girls aren't here to keep the place neat."

Was this almost over? Naruto thought, as he sat there, his fingers twirling around and his legs now numb from having to hold his weight too long. He could hear Hiashi talking but at the moment nothing the older man was saying was registering in his head. All he wanted to do was get up and stretch his legs and then go eat. He was thankful that his stomach wasn't growling and making him look bad in front of the head of the Hyuuga clan. Right! Hinata also lived here. He'd forgotten that she was also a Hyuuga, so when she was mentioned earlier he remembered that she was Neji's cousin and now… she was his sister.

"Is that clear, Naruto-san?" Hiashi gave him a look that didn't really mean anything threatening but it was an expression that meant order and intellect.

What was clear? Naruto swallowed hard and nodded. "Hai, it's clear, sir." Great, he hadn't heard the last part of the old man's speech!

"Alright then, I suppose that is all you had to hear from me. Neji will explain anything that I did not go over. Oh, yes, tomorrow in the afternoon I'd like for you to go to the center yard. That is all," Hiashi nodded towards Naruto, signaling him that he was free to stand up and go.

At this, Naruto slowly stood up and nodded to Hiashi before making his way out of the room. His legs felt funny and his head was buzzing with the new information that he'd just received. Was Sasuke being treated like this?? 'I hope that idiot is having it worst than me!'

"Hey, Naruto! Over here."

The blonde turned his attention to where his name had been shouted from. Neji stood in the doorway of a dark room that was beside the room he had come in through. Naruto guessed that was probably the guest room where he would be staying in until the princess of the house arrived.

"So how was it?" Neji asked, a ghost of a smile on his face. He'd heard the same thing when he had first moved into the head family house from the branch family house.

"Very… un-Naruto-ish." The boy scratched the back of his head before walking into the room to find a corner to lie down in.

Neji shook his head and laughed a small laugh. "I see, well then, I'll leave you to rest. I have to finish training. See you at dinner." Neji turned around and walked out of the room before sliding the doors closed to leave a tired Naruto to sleep.

--

It was exactly eight o' clock when Shikamaru's team arrived at the gates of Konoha. The four of them smiled and felt relieved to know that tonight, they'd be sleeping in their beds.

Shikamaru thanked and congratulated them for completing the mission before going off to inform the Hokage of their completed task. He'd told them that there was no need for them to go with him and that they could go home and eat before it was too late.

Ino complained about how she had to go and report the medical status to Sakura and had to wait a few more hours before going home. She hugged Hinata goodbye and turned around to head to the Konoha hospital where a pink haired kunoichi was waiting for her.

Kiba offered to walk Hinata home so both Team eight members walked together towards the Hyuuga residence.

Hinata was tired and didn't really want to eat, so she was going to go and lie and say she'd already eaten. All she wanted to do was take a hot bath and then go to bed and sleep. She already had plans on what she was going to do the following day so she didn't need to worry about what was going to happen.

Arriving at the front gates of her house, Hinata thanked Kiba and waved goodbye before turning around to walk inside the house. Once inside, the house was dark and quiet like always. She took off her ninja sandals as well as her hoodie sweater and placed it by the door where she always did when she came home. The aroma of teriyaki chicken met her nose and it made her stomach grumble a bit. Blushing, Hinata patted her stomach and walked towards the dinner area where she knew everyone was.

It didn't really bother Naruto the fact that it was quiet while eating dinner. The only thing he was curious about was why it was only Neji, Hiashi and himself eating dinner. Where was the other girl? What was her name? Halite? Hannah? Hanabi? Why weren't they having ramen! Rice was okay but he needed his daily bowl of ramen…

"Sumima-" Hinata didn't finish her phrase because right there and then she noticed the boy she really really liked sitting in the spot where she always sat to eat dinner with her family.

"Hinata-sama, welcome back home." Neji stood up from the table and walked over to one confused and embarrassed Hinata.

What was Naruto doing in her house!? Hinata couldn't move and she was pretty sure her face was as red as a tomato. She wasn't dressed appropriately and her hair was a mess! Plus, she was dirty and probably smelled of sweat mixed with dirty. "What's this?" she managed to ask, looking at her father then at Neji and lastly at Naruto.

Neji now stood beside his cousin and with a small smile that only she saw, said, "Hinata-sama, Naruto is now your brother."

'WHAT!?'

Starry: How'd you guys like it? I hope it pleased you all:) Please review and tell me what you thought about it. Thanks!

For those of you that don't know Japanese or don't watch the Japanese audio anime and don't know what some words mean, here they are:

Hai - Yes

Sumimasen - Excuse Me, Sorry, Pardon Me