Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 2:

The rain was getting heavier as the boy leapt from rooftop to rooftop on his way home. 'What was I thinking? I can't believe I did that!' His cheeks were still burning at the thought of what had happened just a few moments ago. He barely noticed the freezing wind as it whipped around him. 'She must think I'm totally weird, I mean she just stood there staring right through me.' Soon his apartment building emerged out of the darkness. He made the last jump, landing in front of his doorway. 'I just hope I don't run into her anytime soon; it would be so awkward,' he thought, as he opened the door and stepped in.

He locked the door behind him, shook some of the water out of his hair and moved to take off his jacket, only to realise he wasn't wearing it. Confusion turned to panic when he suddenly remembered where it was. 'Aw great, she still has my jacket!' He slumped his shoulders and groaned, realising he was going to have to see her again a lot sooner than he would like.

The first rays of dawn filtered through the curtains stirring Hinata from her slumber. She didn't want to wake up. She'd been having the most wonderful dream... or was it a dream?

She awoke with a start. She was in her room, lying in her own bed, but something didn't quite feel normal. She sat up and pulled back the covers to find that she was still wearing her clothes from the night before. Her heart fluttered and her cheeks warmed as the memories came flooding back. 'It really happened! He really... kissed me!' Gingerly she touched her forehead. She could almost feel it still; the gentle caress of his soft lips.

Stumbling out of bed, she made her way to her vanity mirror. She looked terrible. Her hair was dirty, her clothes were wrinkled, and her face was still stained with tears. The girl spent the next hour in a daze as she bathed and dressed, unable to think about anything other than the night before... and him. She barely even noticed the wound in her side; the pain eclipsed by the memory of that one beautiful moment.

Once again it was a knock at the door that jolted her back into reality. She opened it to find her cousin, Neji, standing in the hallway.

"Good morning, Lady Hinata."

"G-good morning," she squeaked in reply, half hiding behind the door. He rarely used her official title, and something about it made her uncomfortable.

"I hope you are feeling well today." He fixed her with a penetrating stare. She nodded, trying to retreat further behind the door. "Good, I was afraid you may have caught a cold. After all it was rather unpleasant out there last night when I found you lying unconscious in the street." Hinata tensed. "Would you mind explaining to me what you were doing out there?"

She squirmed under his gaze, blushing uncontrollably as she tried to come up with a reasonable answer. "Well... I... I m-must have... p-passed out," she mumbled.

"Hmm... your injuries must be rather serious then," he said with a raised eyebrow. "I suppose I should leave you to rest."

"Th-thank you, Neji." She inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to leave.

"Oh, one more thing." He quickly turned back to face her. "Perhaps you would be so kind as to explain this?" he asked in mock confusion as he pulled something out from behind his back.

Hinata gasped, covering her mouth as she recognised the familiar black and orange jacket in her cousin's hand... his jacket! She knew there was no way around it. She'd never been very good at lying, especially to her supremely perceptive cousin, so she told the truth. "Um... I... I ran into N-Naruto, and... he w-walked me home. I-it was cold, so..." Her words faded to a mumbled whisper. She didn't dare tell her cousin about the other thing Naruto had given her.

"So he gave you his jacket? How generous of him." A rather disturbing smile crept across Neji's usually serious face. "I shall have to... thank him, for his kindness the next time I see him." He began flexing his fingers deliberately. "In fact, why don't I go and return this to him right now?"

"No!" she squeaked, snatching the jacket from his hand. "Th-thank you, but I... I can return it to him myself."

Neji continued to smile in a disturbingly knowing fashion. "Very well then, I'll leave it to you, Lady Hinata. Although you really should wait until you're feeling better." His smile spread even wider. "Of course if I should happen to run into him before then, I will be sure to show him my... gratitude."

Hinata bit her lip as he turned and began making his way down the hall. 'Did he see us last night? What if anyone else knows?' An all consuming feeling of dread came over her. 'Oh no! What if my father knows?'

"Uh, N-Neji?" she called after him. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Um, did you say anything to my f-father?"

He paused for a moment, then his expression softened somewhat. "I didn't think it was necessary to trouble Lord Hiashi with such a... trivial matter. Good day, Lady Hinata." He flashed a knowing yet comforting smile, before continuing on his way.

Hinata shut her door, leant back against it and breathed a huge sigh of relief. She hugged the jacket close to her. 'Smells like ramen,' she thought with a giggle. 'Smells like him.'

Naruto pushed aside the empty ramen cup and stared out the window. 'Looks like it's still pretty cold out there,' he thought with a sigh. 'I'm going to freeze without my jacket.' The boy rubbed his eyes and tried to shake off some of the drowsiness. He'd barely slept. He just couldn't stop thinking about it, trying to figure it all out. Why she'd ran off, why he'd kissed her, and just what on earth he was going to say the next time he saw her.

'Just what is the deal with her, anyway?' he pondered as he gazed off into nothing. 'She's always so quiet and shy, always fidgeting and looking the other way. And last night she ran off and hid and didn't want to talk to me. It's like... like she's afraid of me.'

He felt a sudden weight in the pit of his stomach. 'That's it.' He held his head in his hands as realisation struck him. 'That must be it. She's afraid of me, just like everyone else.'

He heard a knock at his front door "Hey, Naruto, you awake yet?" a familiar voice called out.

The boy dragged himself out of his chair, yawning. "That you, Iruka Sensei?" He pulled the door open to see his old teacher standing there with a sly grin on his face. "Hey, uh what's up?"

"Well I thought I'd come over and congratulate you on passing the chunin exam."

"Oh thanks, Iruka Sensei." he yawned again. "Come on in."

"Long night?" Iruka asked with a raised eyebrow, still grinning as he stepped inside.

"Uh yeah, kinda. Hey what's that?" he asked groggily when he noticed the package in Iruka's hand.

"Well I missed your last few birthdays while you were away with Master Jiraiya, and this is a special occasion, so..." Iruka handed him the large gift wrapped bundle.

"A present?" Naruto suddenly perked up. "Thanks, Iruka Sensei." He began furiously tearing at the wrapping. His jaw dropped when he saw what was inside.

"Now that you're a chunin, you get to wear one of these," Iruka said proudly. "I figured green wasn't your colour, so I had this one custom made for you."

A smile spread its way across Naruto's face as he held it in his hands; a mat black ninja tactical vest, with orange flame design on the back. "It's just like yours and Kakashi Sensei's," he beamed, "only cooler! This is awesome, Iruka Sensei." He slipped it on and moved around to test the feel of it.

"Looks good on you," Iruka commented. Then his smirk returned. "So, how'd it go last night?"

"Huh?" Naruto paused and gave him a puzzled look. "How'd what go?"

"You know," Iruka nudged him in the ribs, "you and Miss Hyuuga. You did fix things up with her, didn't you?"

"Oh, you mean Hinata. Well I walked her home... and then... uh..." he trailed off, scratching his head sheepishly.

"And then..." Iruka leaned forward expectantly.

He slumped forward. "I did something kinda... stupid."

The smirk quickly dropped from Iruka's face. "You blew it, didn't you," he droned.

"I think she's afraid of me," the boy said into his chest.

"Afraid?" Iruka gave him a puzzled look.

"Yeah, you know; the way she's always fidgeting and acting all nervous around me."

'I don't believe it. He still hasn't figured it out.' Iruka rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Naruto, I don't think that's the problem."

"Huh?"

Iruka slapped a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Trust me. She's not afraid of you."

Naruto looked up in puzzlement. "Uh, then why does she act all weird around me?"

The smirk returned to Iruka's face. "That's something you're going to have to figure out on your own." He headed for the door. "Well, I've got a class to teach. See you later, Naruto."

"Hey wait... uh..." He stared after his old teacher, utter confusion written across his face. 'If she's not afraid of me then... Aw man, just what is the deal with her?'

"Lady Hokage," Shizune stepped into the room. Immediately, Tsunade could tell what it was about from her assistant's tone. "I have the latest casualty reports".

Tsunade sighed. "Alright, let's see them." She rested her temples on her fingers as Shizune placed the report before her. She hated paperwork, everyone knew that. But this was the only kind of paperwork that she truly dreaded. She almost had to force herself to look at the page in front of her. 'Several minor injuries, a handful of serious injuries, three critical... and two dead.'

"At least it's not as bad as last month," Shizune commented half heartedly.

Tsunade ignored her. Two gennin, both killed during the second stage of the chunin exam. "Their files," she said quietly, her voice tinged with sorrow. Shizune handed her the folders. Tsunade opened them both and laid them on her desk. Both on the same team, first time they'd taken the exam. Barely thirteen years old. She studied their pictures, burning their images into her memory, along with their names. She never told anyone, but she made a personal commitment to memorise the names and faces of every single ninja that died under her command as Hokage. "And their team mate?" she asked.

"Critical condition," Shizune noted as she handed her the third folder.

She opened it and checked the photograph. She recognised him as one of those she'd treated personally. With a lot of time and a little luck he would recover, at least physically. But she hated to think of the damage done to his mind after having seen his companions cut down in front of him. Part of her wished that this would be the last battle he would face, that he would give up on being a ninja. But she knew that the village needed every shinobi they could muster.

Tsunade sighed again. "How long have we been doing this, Shizune?"

"Three years, Lady Hokage."

"Feels like thirty," she groaned, massaging her brow. "And at this rate, that's how long it's going to take to bring The Leaf back up to its former strength." She took one last look at the three photographs before closing the folders.

"We're pushing them too hard, Shizune. All of them, all of our shinobi are overworked."

"What else can we do?" Shizune asked with a shrug. "Between Orochimaru, Akatsuki, troubles in the Land of Lightning, and all our other enemies, we just have too many problems and not enough shinobi to cover all of them."

"Well at least we have one new chunin that's worthy of the title," Tsunade said with a weak smile. "Sometimes I almost wish we had more like him." She allowed herself a light chuckle. "Almost..."

It was still cold as Naruto was making his way through Konoha's streets toward the Hyuuga Mansion. Though despite having no sleeves on it, he found his new vest was surprisingly warm. He was taking his time, something unusual for him. He still needed to get his jacket back from Hinata, but he had no idea what he was going to say when he saw her.

'If she's not afraid of me, then why did she run away?' He'd been trying to figure things out all morning. 'If she was hurt, then why did she run off into the woods and hide?' He walked slowly down the winding paths, hands thrust deep into his pockets.

All too soon, he found himself turning the last corner. The main gate of the Hyuuga manor was just a few yards away. He stopped and looked over to the awning they had sheltered under the previous night. 'Aw great, I'm here already. What am I going to say?' He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the person stepping up behind him.

"Good morning, Naruto."

The blonde almost jumped out of his skin. Spinning around he found a rather serious looking Neji standing just inches away. He paused to catch his breath as the Hyuuga glared at him, arms folded firmly across his chest. "Uh... hey, Neji," Naruto said with a half smile. Something about that look made him very uncomfortable.

Neji continued to glare at him, looking him up and down. He seemed to focus on his vest for a moment before he finally said something. "So... I understand that you have been promoted to chunin... Congratulations." His face remained completely expressionless.

"Uh, yeah... thanks." Naruto scratched his head and looked around, trying to avoid the Hyuuga's cold, piercing eyes.

There was another moment of silence before Neji spoke again. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Naruto swallowed. "Well actually, I was kinda hoping to talk to Hinata."

"Ah yes, of course." His eyes narrowed, and a rather disturbing smile cracked his façade. "Thank you so much for seeing her home from the hospital last night. That was very... generous of you." Naruto shrunk back slightly. "Unfortunately," Neji continued, "Lady Hinata's injuries are quite serious; as I'm sure you are aware. I expect she will not be fit to receive visitors for some time. Perhaps you should leave her to rest for now." He turned to walk past Naruto, toward the gate.

"Uh, wait, I just wanted to..." Naruto stopped short when Neji's Icy stare snapped back to him. He was sure he could see the veins around his eyes starting to bulge. "Uh to... to tell her I uh... hope she gets better soon," he stammered, forcing a laugh.

"I shall be sure to tell Lady Hinata that you stopped by." Neji's disturbing smile returned. "Good day, Naruto."

"Uh yeah, see yah." Naruto gave him a hesitant wave as Neji stepped through the gate and out of sight. 'Man, that was creepy.' The boy hugged himself and shuddered. 'What was going on with him, anyway?' The wind picked up a bit, prickling his whiskered cheeks with cold. He looked down at his new vest. 'Well, I guess I could go without my jacket for a little while.'

"DAMN IT!" Tsunade roared. The entire office shook as her fist descended forcefully onto her desk. "How the hell could they have gotten away with it?"

"Reports are sketchy at best," Shizune answered from the other side of the office, where she was busy cowering. "Our intelligence in the land of Water has never been that good."

Tsunade growled through her teeth in frustration. "As if we weren't already stretched to our limits..." She took a deep breath in a vain effort to calm herself. "Alright, we need more information and fast. Who do we have available?"

Shizune frantically flicked through the files in her hands. She gulped audibly before answering. "I'm afraid the only unassigned squad is team Kakashi, and this isn't exactly their kind of mission."

"Damn," Tsunade cursed again. "What about team Kurenai, aren't they back yet?"

"They'll be another week at least."

"We need someone with surveillance skills. Team Kakashi was never intended for that role." Tsunade frowned. "Wait, wasn't one member of team Kurenai on medical leave?"

Shizune rummaged through her notes again and soon found the file she was looking for. "Yes, Hinata Hyuuga. She was discharged two weeks ago. But I'm not sure if she's ready for active duty yet."

Tsunade closed her eyes in contemplation for a moment. "Hmm... Alright, summon team Kakashi immediately, and Hinata as well. We'll have to let her decide for herself if she's up to this."

"Yes, Lady Hokage," Shizune nodded before rushing out the door.

'Well,' Tsunade thought, 'I know Naruto will be happy about this. It'll be his first mission as a chunin. It's Hinata that I'm worried about. If she accepts, it'll be her first official A rank mission.'