Naruto and any of its affiliations are not owned by me
"Talking"
'Thinking'
'Writing' or 'Emphasis'
"Evil Talking"
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previously…
It was a photograph of … herself.
She closed the wallet immediately and systematically put it into her own trouser pocket. It was too much. Far too much for her to try to understand. Picking up Naruto once again she bound down the street to the nearest hotel she could find. Blushing all the way.
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'Promise of Change'
Chapter 2: Lavender! Upon a Bearskin Rug!
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"Ano … Excuse me, I would very much like to rent a room," Hinata spoke as sweetly and as pleasantly as she could muster.
The innkeeper looked down at the scene, a young, pale-faced teen covered in blotches of mud and wearing a horribly torn white/blue jacket was carrying on her back a much larger boy who wore a bright orange and black jumpsuit also torn and dirty, his head actually leaning on the top of the girls bowl cut fringe, creating an odd mix of dirty blonde and neatly cut blue hair.
"Ano…"
"Oh! Yes! Sorry, I was elsewhere," the man smiled warmly, "How many nights?"
"One please," The man's eyebrows perked slightly, a motion Hinata did not miss and was about to speak up when …
"M'afraid there's only the one room left, it's a little more expensive, but as I can see you're ninja, 'with big fat ninja pay checks,' that shouldn't be a big problem for just the one night. Yes?"
"That's fine! Arigatou," taking the key from the man she proceeded up the stairs. the key read DOUBLE – 3A. She couldn't help but notice the ten's of other keys labelled SINGLE that stood on hangers behind the man. She chose to believe that the man was only trying to make some extra money off of her and not suggesting pre-marital, underage relations, … especially not when one was unconscious.
The room was easy enough to find, third floor closest to the stairs. The room was not cheap, she admitted to herself, it would have been cheaper to break Naruto's door and buy him a new one. But she could never do that.
She lay the boy down gently on the bed, which she quickly realised was formed in the shape of a heart. For a moment she ignored that, and lay him down straight like setting up for dinner. Then took a good look around the room she had bought for his night. She bit her lip at the sight.
'A honeymoon suite!!!'
Large scented candles were scattered around he room, already lit with a small protective lamp over each to avoid fire. Everything was red, or gold, or reflective. Hovering over the bed itself was a full-length mirror. Hinata cringed at the thought.
'What … What will he think when he wakes up here?'
Beneath her feet was a large woolly rug which tickled her toes around her open shoes. A bear skin lay at the foot of the bed. She ventured into the next room, a bathroom. There was an enormous porcelain bath in there, even the Hyuuga household didn't have an indoor bath this big! A strange array of exotic oils and lotions were neatly placed around the sink. She picked one up curiously.
"Lavender?" She eyed the bath again, suddenly feeling incredibly dirty.
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"Hinata's sensei?" Jiraiya asked curiously.
"Yes. Yuhi Kurenai!" the woman stepped in through the hospital doorway, eyeing her two sleeping team mates.
"I'm glad you could make it, Sujin-san," Tsunade smiled politely at the woman ushering her attention.
She was very skinny, but very muscular, Tsunade needed no proof that this woman was a fierce physical fighter, rivalling herself as far as brute force was concerned. The woman wore her typical ninja gear that she had come accustomed to, tight fitting white/light grey trousers in a camouflage pattern, a white long sleeved leather shirt which hugged her thin naval, a ninja vest which she had somehow gotten in a white/grey camouflage pattern, and a set of white gloves and boots.
Tsunade honestly didn't understand why she wore a camouflage patterned outfit when her clothes were so 'glaringly' white. She was a middle aged woman, in her forty's now at least, unlike herself Sujin made no attempt to hide her age, she honestly couldn't imagine the woman ever wearing make up. She had pale skin and blue eyes, her eyebrows were actually a faded grey colour and her hair was held into a frayed blonde ponytail which ended at the back of her neck. A few hairs stuck out of place making an ill-conceived fringe.
"Yuhi Kurenai …" Jiraiya drifted into thought, "That's really not very funny y'know? YOU slapped me earlier for even mentioning THAT."
Tsunade scratched her head with her forefinger and muttered an embarrassed apology, then attempted to drift into a new conversation, "So Sujin, did anything interesting happen here while we were away?"
"Konohagakure was attacked by an army of Rock Ninja," she stated bluntly.
"NANI!!!!" the two sannin's spoke in unison.
Unfazed Sujin continued, "They have been defeated and eradicated, they underestimated us and sent a mere party of two-hundred members."
"NANI! Two hundred ROCK ninja?!" Tsunade simply couldn't believe this, "Why isn't there any damage?"
"They didn't reach within a kilometre of the village walls, the few ninja's left behind and myself defeated what we could manually. But I was forced to resort to a Kuchiyose technique to remove the rest of them. There were no Leaf casualties."
Tsunade and Jiraiya were left dumbfounded. This woman's physical strength was legendary. They were both well aware of that. She reportedly had an extremely powerful animal contract which she had not passed down to either of her students, she would never reveal with which animal however … To defeat an entire army …
"Excellent work, Sujin. For a 'plain-looking-old-woman you are truly a credit to Konoha!" Jiraiya gave an enthusiastic thumbs up, while Tsunade said nothing, still lost in thought.
"Arigatou Jiraiya-sama," either she had not heard his words properly or she didn't care, "How are my team-mates."
"They'll heal," Tsunade was still recovering from hearing that her village had almost been destroyed in her absence, "But what I'm more concerned about is their fate, … a correctional institution seems like a distinct possibility." Tsunade trailed off, she did not want such great ninja confined.
"Taisan-kun must pay for betraying Konoha, as an example, it's only logical." Sujin stated, at this point Jiraiya began to realise a pattern in her speech, … she had no visible emotion.
"No,… not Taoru-san"
If Sujin was puzzled she didn't express it in her face. Jiraiya came to believe that she must be a strict follower of the book of 'Ninja Know How.' Her lack of emotion made a mockery of his earlier attempts with Tsunade.
"Taoru was under … orders to join the Missing Nin, it was an infiltration mission, the events got out of control and led to this situation.
'A ninja must not show any emotion in any circumstance.' How he hated that book.
"I see, Taisan is a good student after all," Tsunade looked into her eyes searching for an answer to this, "Following the mission is the most important thing to a ninja, for the betterment of your country, even betrayal."
Silence.
"I'm glad you're taking this so well," Tsunade smiled unsurely.
"So? Hokage-sama. Who would the correctional institution be for?"
Silence.
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Hinata liked it quiet. At the Missing Village, it was always noisy, either from the drunken men who stayed out late in the castle corridors, to the wind which howled across the walls like a rabid dog. A bath was always quiet. She closed her eyes and drifted back into thought. Amazed that she actually had enough space to float in the lavender scented water and extend her fingertips to just barely touch the edges.
Yes she liked it quiet, but especially she loved how it was warm. Running in the rain at night had not been a pleasant experience, by the time it had stopped raining, her clothes were in a state far beyond waterlogged. The warmth of the bath seemed to ease her muscles slightly. Her thoughts drifted back to the boy laying unconscious in the next room.
'He's going to hate me… ' she thought bitterly.
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The storm was violent, the rain stung against her face and the wind pulled on her jacket violently, lightning crackled through the night sky behind her. Activating her blood limit she observed the scene around her. They were hiding. Everyone was fighting, but they were hidden. Hidden deep between the rocks below her. She had been sent to the East of the Main fortress with every available ninja to fend off the Leaf invasion, Taisan had gone to the West to combat the invading Sand. She knew this wouldn't be a pleasant meeting. Before long he stood before her.
"Why?" his raised voice shot at her through the lightning which ricocheted endlessly against the clouded sky behind her.
She said nothing.
"Tell ME!!!"
He stood precariously atop a boulder below her, she did the same, she felt relatively safe from other ninja, her Byakugan could easily sense any projectiles an enemy might throw. Him she wasn't sure of.
"Na-Naruto-kun …. I-I don't know w-why… I don't un- understand why y-you're attacking us …" She cursed herself, she hadn't stuttered in anyone's presence for the better part of a year.
"Don't give me that CRAP!!" he was so angry, why was he angry at her? She wouldn't allow herself to show her fear, so she assumed a blank expression, anyone looking would have thought she were dead inside.
"Na-Naruto-kun …" This was her chance, … possibly her last … to prove that she had changed. She moved into stance, one leg forward, opposite arm raised, the other at her side.
"Let us fight … honourably."
"KU-SO!!! KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!!!"
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Hinata allowed herself to sink beneath the surface for a moment, the water filled her nostrils and she floated once more for breath.
'I don't want to remember that.'
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"…ku-so….." he hid between the rocks, many of his tenketsu were closed, and he had several deep gashes along his back. She saw him there. Hiding, just like everyone else. Many bunshin's were amongst the rocks as well, pretending to support similar wounds. Her eyes were clever though, she could notice the subtle differences between Kage Bunshin and real bodies unlike her cousin, working with Tai-sensei had helped her hone these skills.
"Na-Naruto-kun!" she spoke as loudly as she dared, "I-I do not wish to fight any more, please I can heal you."
"Ha, like I'll fall for that, you think I'm an idiot! BAKA!"
"Na-Naruto-kun, please don't make your clones speak for you," She saw the true Naruto twitch in surprise.
"I'm c-coming to get you now," Hinata made a few seals and disappeared. Invisible.
She walked past several of his clones on the way to his side, they were looking about, confused, she noticed one using a vision enhancing jutsu, and smiled when it still couldn't see her. Another attempted to release what it thought had to be a Genjutsu, it cursed bitterly when nothing happened.
"Did she run away?" she was next to him now. And he was completely oblivious to her presence
'Just like … when we were in the academy'
Even in the rain, she could create this effective invisibility jutsu, Tai-sensei would be proud.
"… na-naruto-kun," she barely whispered his name and quickly found a kunai flying in her direction, she dodged it smoothly, still maintaining the invisibility, although with great difficulty.
She silently crept before him, he was still looking in confusion over to where he had heard her voice. She swallowed loudly and held his wrists in her own, releasing the jutsu.
"Nani!!"
"Pl-please calm down, Naruto-kun."
THWACK!!!
Hinata didn't move in time as a strong hand collided with her head in an open handed fashion. She winced as a surge of chakra burned her face and she was pushed several feet backward.
"Father …." she didn't need the Byakugan to know, she didn't even need to look up, she recognised the pain, Juuken, … Gentle fist.
It was a blow only her father was capable of. She looked up anyway, into his burning eyes. Neji stood behind him, an unchained hatred in his eyes as he glanced at her, his pupil-less eyes still scared her. They're intensity faded slightly as he helped Naruto to his feet. Her father's eyes scared her more. They weren't in hatred, they were in revulsion. This was far from the family reunion she had hoped for, instead of swapping stories over tea, she lay on the hard graphite, drenched, with a numbed cheek and ripped clothing with various sharp blades protruding from her elbows and knees.
This was horrible. But now, another set of eyes were frightening her even more than her family's. Deep blue ones, … they looked at her in a way she had never seen before, from anyone. Ever. It wasn't hatred, or anger, or disappointment ….
'…betrayal?'
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When Hinata finally opened her eyes she received a terrible shock, another pair staring back at her.
"AA-glllrgh" her scream was choked as she sunk like a rock beneath the water flailing her arms and legs comically in horror, swallowing several mouthfuls of Lavender scented bathwater. Desperate for air she rose again, spat out what was in her mouth and quickly grabbed a towel to cover herself. She looked up again to the ceiling. She didn't like seeing herself naked, and a mirror above a bath seemed the closest thing to a natural enemy.
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"I can't go 'home' tonight," she sighed to herself, "they will be there when I wake up," she thought miserably.
After tonight, it was more than possible she wouldn't be welcome to even call it home.
A thought struck her, she tried to dismiss it. 'No I can't stay here, I'll never make it through the night"
She held her undergarments after thoroughly washing them in her bath until she decided they were clean and promptly sat them upon a fireplace she hadn't noticed earlier in the main room. She lit it and grasped the fuzzy white dressing gown against her chest that she had found in the bathroom it had large red print letters that read 'HERS' across her back. She sat there hunched over for a few moments, mesmerised by the flames which flickered like flowers in a breeze. She stood up slowly and looked at the boy still sleeping soundly in the bed. A large humorously shaped clock on the wall read 3:00am. She smiled at his sleeping figure and absently wandered over to his side. She found him much more mesmerising than the fire.
A few minutes passed before Hinata realised that her right hand had been stroking his hair and tracing the outline of his jaw. She recoiled it sharply and blushed crimson at her inability to control herself.
'I could always sleep on the floor …. There's probably a spare blanket in one of the cupboards.'
She walked to the bathroom, as she couldn't see any cupboards within the bedroom, but stopped short when she heard a soft cough behind her. She stood rigid, like she had done when his breath hit her ear. She gazed around at him, finding him still asleep. He coughed again. She was already at his side with a hand over his forehead, it was warm, very warm. Her other hand accidentally brushed his jacket, noticing the moisture, she squeezed it tightly as several cups of freezing cold water drained through her fingers. Realizing what she 'ought do' she blushed again, this time an impressive scarlet. Keeping him warm and dry … would be an unexpected guilty pleasure.
Breathing deeply she stepped forward again and gently unzipped his jacket, she placed one hand behind his head and propped him up so that she could get his arms out of the sleeves. Proudly she took the jacket and laid it on the rug by the fireplace to dry. A trophy of her accomplishment, she thought. She then picked the boy himself up and did likewise.
'The shirt's mostly dry … and the trousers will dry by the fire ….'
She quickly brought the blankets and cushions over as well. She held him up again so that she could bring the cushion below his head and the blanket around his body. As she began to lay him back down on the pillow she found herself falling as well.
'How!! ….How did this happen!?'
She was now lying next to him, Uzumaki Naruto, the no# 1 loudest konoha ninja, her idol, and she was laying in nothing but a hotel bathrobe next to him, her arm beneath his head. Trapped. She did what she always did. She blushed. She found herself thinking …
'W-Well you did say you were going to sl-sleep on the fl-floor.' She thought it out immediately, wondering why even her dark side stuttered so horribly.
"na-naruto-kun….," her body was moving naturally now, if she ever told her sensei or her old team mates of this incident she would surely blame it on a combination of hormones, fatigue and lavender scented bath oils. His face was getting closer, no, wait, her face was getting closer to his, she couldn't stop herself now, she was lost. Caught by her own ingenious trap.
Her hand slipped beneath his black shirt which bore the konoha emblem on his chest, she stroked his abdominals appreciatively.
'He's so toned…' Hinata thought, thinking of her own form in comparison.
Some small abdominals were present on herself, but her body relied more on a system of perfected chakra control, an ability Tai-sensei had taught her where, by using chakra, your chakra actually created more chakra, easily multiplying stamina and strength. She wasn't skinny, not like Sakura or Ino had been, she was always curvier than they were, fatter she presumed. She blushed even more deeply as her hand raised further, until it rest on his chest, hard yet smooth. She cringed at the thought of her own chest, unlike a REAL female ninja's chest, which was supposed to be small and pointed allowing for a much more slender and feminine figure, her own were plump and round, with little to no muscle protruding through the skin. She sighed, still admiring the fearless nature of her hands compared to her mind. When she awoke from her thoughts she realised that the blonde boy was no longer wearing his shirt, she was even more surprised to see it burning in the fireplace.
'He's going to kill me ….!!' her face was but only a few millimetres from his now.
Her blush was proceeding through all humanly possible shades of red. His eyes were closed lost in his dreams. She could feel the breath on her lips now, she dare not blink as she stared at him, waiting for his eyes to shoot open and surprise her. But she simply could not stop now, now that she was so close. And then it happened.
She touched his lips with her own, still wide eyed, she held them there for a few moments in awkward silence before pulling away. It was strange and weird, but she told herself that she had enjoyed it. She could feel her self losing consciousness now, she hadn't fainted in two years, but she recognised the feeling immediately as great surges of blood rushed to her head and then fled in quick sporadic fashions.
Suddenly he moved! His mouth opened slowly as a word slipped out … Hinata yelped softly, certain she had awoken him. Certain she had been caught.
"Sakura?" his voice spoke from his dreams, and it crushed the kunoichi beside him.
This was as far as she could go. She brought her face into his chest and allowed herself to sob gently before falling out of this world and into one where Naruto said her name after she kissed him. A few small tears dripped down her chin.
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"I understand."
Sujin had been briefed entirely on everything the Hokage could recall from the incidents at the Missing-Village, her voice once again didn't betray her as emotion seemed as water in a desert.
"It seems .. so cruel … in a way that they were such good friends, but … I'm not sure if friendship can survive something like this" Jiraiya had learned a few things from Tsunade's briefing also
"Auron will pay for his past mistakes. I will ensure that Taisan does not attempt any rash decisions while waiting for your judgement."
Sujin had been glancing at Jiraiya when she said this, perhaps perplexed by his understanding of cruelty, Tsunade couldn't be sure. The woman was impossible to read.
"Might I recommend, however, that Auron's punishment be considered … after reviewing his mission success ratings."
This said, Sujin turned to leave the dimly lit room.
"Don't you want some time alone with them?" Tsunade asked surprised.
"No, I will see them tomorrow, when they are awake," she stood in the corridor now, a bright light emanated into the room, her white clothes blending perfectly into the pure hospital fluorescents, "May I recommend, that you put them in separate rooms overnight, I don't want my partners killing each other in the morning."
The sound of footsteps was the only inclination Tsunade have that the woman had left.
"Jeez, if that's their partner how strong are these two," Jiraiya asked uncomfortably.
"To be honest with you, I'm not entirely sure, … all three are truly amazing ninja."
"How so?" Jiraiya was clearly out of the loop so Tsunade didn't mind telling him.
"Auron has a mixed bloodline," Tsunade pointed out, "A combination of the two greatest Doujutsu users in the Country of Fire."
"The two greatest doujutsu users … GET OUT!" Jiraiya had begun by mumbling to himself but discovered his voice was raised when realisation hit him.
"He uses this ability to perfect his accuracy, he is one of the few ninja marksmen, …he has two revolvers which he uses to shoot either real bullets or pure chakra into his enemy."
"A gun fighter?"
Tsunade nodded.
"Auron is a swordsman, who wields the massive blade you saw"
"And carried!" Jiraiya pointed out aggressively, he wasn't going to forgive her anytime soon for that, that thing was easily five foot in length, maybe six with the handle, and had to be at least thirty centimetres wide. The blunt part of the blade was easily three of his Come Come paradise books thick. Simply put, it was heavy.
"He has several different nicknames you may have heard in your travels, the 'Invisible Ninja' is a popular one as he perfected a jutsu which even the Byakugan cannot see, or perhaps you know him as the 'Kamikaze Shinobi,' for his explosive shadow clones, or perhaps" "Tsunade swallowed long and hard, "…the 'Kyuubi Bunshin'."
Jiraiya's head looked down at the boy before him, the one whom he carried from the battlefield.
"…That's not possible."
And yet Jiraiya could clearly see now three barely visible whisker marks across the young man's cheeks.
'Another Jinchuuriki? Of the Nine-Tails!? Impossible!'
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The hotel room received a warm glow as sunlight shone brilliantly into the luxurious room. The hue of the room completely changed, the candles burned out as if automatically in the presence of the sun. Rather than the violent pink and purples that the room had taken on before, the room was now a gentle brown hue, only interrupted slightly by the colour of the deep red cushions and blankets which surrounded the two sleeping teens.
Hinata's first thoughts upon waking up was that her pillow was moving, pushing her head up and down slowly upon itself. Up … down … up …. down. Slowly opening her eyes she realised where she was. She squeaked as she shot upright only to realise that her hand still lay beneath his head. He rose slightly at this sudden movement and then fell again. He grunted quietly and began to roll his shoulders gently, licking his lips and half yawning.
'He's waking up!…'
Hinata took a moment to seriously consider her current predicament, … the boy was shirtless, lying in a pile of red, heart-shaped pillows and blankets, on top of a bearskin rug, in front of a fireplace, in a honeymoon suite, … with her!! … Hinata couldn't move, sheer terror had claimed her now! Hormones claimed her the night before! And terror was claiming her now!
She watched as various body parts began to stir, he opened his mouth and closed it a few times, he furrowed his brow.
'Move ….. Move ….. MOVE!!!!'
Quickly Hinata crawled toward the fireplace, leaning on her rear she pulled on her underwear beneath the bathrobe, which she was now thankful was quite short. She was about to reach for her brassiere when she realised that her robe had opened while putting on her panties, she quickly closed and tightened the rope around her waist when ….
"Hinata-Chan?"
She could feel it again, the urge to pass out, but it wouldn't come, god why wouldn't it come, the only situation she would ever want to leave with her crush and she couldn't faint.
"H-Hai, Naruto-kun?" he was definitely awake now, she 'daren't' turn around.
He chuckled softly "I remember that little finger prodding thing you used to do. Why do you do that?"
This was not the question she expected, he was looking at her from behind so her tightening her robe might have looked a little like her old habit, … she guessed. She felt ridiculous she was sitting directly in front of him, practically naked and he was asking about an old nervous habit she had lost a long time ago. She thought she had at least, she found herself mimicking it, just to see what it felt like.
'What an odd question.'
Steel grazed her neck, Hinata widened her eyes in shock, in his right hand Naruto was holding a Kunai at the left side of her neck. It shimmered slightly in the morning light. He pushed it backward against her skin, motioning for her to move.
It had been a distraction, the silly question. It had been to occupy her while he crawled closer and drew a weapon. She said nothing and closed her eyes as the brandished steel forced her to lay back on the bearskin rug, her long dark indigo hair flowing behind her.
"Spread out your arms," his voice was without the angry passion she remembered from the mountains, but she obeyed without hesitation, the blade still wavered dangerously at her throat. In a single movement he brought one leg over her body, resting his left knee against the side of her right thigh. His left elbow followed suit leaning down just above her right arm.
'I'm being straddled!' she thought, annoyed by her own blush in this dangerous situation, eyes still closed.
His face was very close to her own, she could feel his breath against her chin, it by far overpowered the steel which was still threatening her neck.
"I have some questions," he said calmly, "I want you to answer me truthfully Hinata-chan, Okay?"
"…chan?" Hinata barely whispered.
"Okay!?" he said it a little louder than last time, demanding response.
"Hai," she opened her eyes slowly, silently thanking whatever spirit may or may not have been watching out for her that she had tightened her robe so well before this situation had occurred. He was about half an arms length away from her, steadied by his left arm.
"Why? … Why did you defect?"
"…na-naruto-kun…."
"Answer the question!"
She closed her eyes and turned her head away, it was quickly brought back again by a gentle stroke on the side of her neck with hard metal. She still couldn't look at him, so instead she looked at his bare shoulder.
"..ano… I wanted to change … I think…Taisan-sensei … helped me change, when h-he came here … I-…I"
She stole a glance back to him, he didn't look angry, no, not angry. Concerned. She returned to his shoulder
"… I came with him." She concluded.
"Why did he defect then?" he said this quickly, a little annoyed now.
"…I …I thought he defected at first … but…" She swallowed, slowly desperate for time to come up with a way out of this, "Tsunade said that, he was ordered to fake a defection, as a spy in the village."
"Why did baa-chan attack you guys then, huh?"
Hinata didn't have an answer for this, Tsunade had briefly tried to explain it to her, but she honestly couldn't recall the reason. She was too relieved that her sensei was still alive to really listen.
"I don't know …" she said truthfully.
Naruto was clearly not satisfied with this. Hinata gazed at him long enough to see him furrow his brow in annoyance and drift into thought for a moment, before attacking her again with another question.
"How did you get so strong!" he demanded.
Hinata face flushed a deeper shade of red, he had just acknowledged her strength. This went unnoticed by the male ninja.
"Answer the question!"
"… ano… I-I told you, I w-wanted to change, so I trained with T-Taisan-sensei,"
Hinata bit her lip as Naruto slightly adjusted his position over her bringing himself even closer down to her body, their hips were actually brushing against each other now.
'He may as well be laying ON me!' a frightened, but disbelieving voice cried in her mind.
"Why is he so strong?" Naruto didn't look at her as she said this, lost in thought.
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He was in pain, his tenketsu were almost all completely closed, he had a deep gash across his back and he was suffering from extreme exhaustion. All the same he ran for the castle. He burst through the large shrine doors, and deja-vu struck him like a train. Before him stood two men. One was covered in deep purple chakra, which seeped through his skin like boiling oil. His eyes were purple as well with deep slits. His cheeks had three embedded whisker marks which stained his face like scars. In one hand swirled a large ball of rotating chakra.
The other man, stood slightly taller, his long white hair flowed down his back in sharp scrunches, his skin was a dark grey colour, his teeth protruded in a vampire fashion and he had long sharp fingers which held a familiar lightning chakra which hummed like a thousand birds. His eyes though struck the young boy the most.
'Impossible!'
Each eye was a light pink colour, a very pale pink, and in a soft grey outline stood the iris with three light grey symbols creating an eye he'd seen only in three other men before. Hatake Kakashi. Uchiha Itachi. And Uchiha Sasuke. … The Sharingan.
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Thankfully Hinata didn't seem to have to answer his last question. As he replaced it with another.
"Why did that guy have a curse seal …" Naruto muttered quietly to himself. Hinata wasn't sure if she was supposed to respond. Instead she looked at him in confusion.
"Who was that FUCKING guy?! And why did he have a FUCKING Curse Seal?!" He was yelling at her now, Hinata squealed in discomfort closing her eyes again, cringing.
He seemed to react to this, "Tell me!" his voice was calmer now but it was no less compelling.
"T-T-The man … his n-name is A-Auron-san … and he's T-Taisan-sensei's team mate…" Hinata stopped there, unaware that she hadn't fully answered his question.
"And …" he tried to help her, his voice was still menacing but it had lost its previous rage.
"…"
"You have one don't you?" Naruto's expression was a sorrowful and contemplative one. Hinata's was confused, she had no idea what a 'Curse seal' was, … other than that branch house members had them. She looked at his face again, almost seeing the gears turning in his head.
His eyes flashed open suddenly, excitement on his face, he was actually smiling.
"Where is Sasuke?" he demanded, the excitement was gone and replaced with his earlier demeanour.
'This is an interrogation technique!'
"..S-Sas….uke-san?"
He brought his face dangerously close now, his nose touched hers when he spoke, accusation and suspicion bounced readily in his expression.
"You got your curse seal from Orochimaru! That's how you've gotten so strong! That means you've seen Sasuke!" Hinata couldn't begin to try to decipher that sentence, she realised briefly how little she actually knew about Naruto's life.
'Orochimaru ….curse seal ….'
"E-eh?" she tried to smile thinking it might calm him down, she found it had the opposite effect.
"DON'T mess with me!" he was angry again, "Where is that BAKA Sasuke?"
"I-I don't know what y-you're talking a-about, Na-Naruto-kun."
"Roll over!"
"Eh?"
"Roll over!" he repeated twirling his left finger in the manner he intended. He was no longer holding himself up with his left hand, finding his knees and elbows did that for him when he was so close.
Slowly Hinata followed his request. He rose slightly to allow her space but kept the kunai close. It was probably the slowest she had ever turned in her life. She was confused, and now a little bit scared. This was far more serious than just embarrassment as she had originally feared.
He stroked her hair gently out of the way, before roughly pulling at the back of her robe.
"Wh-what are you doing!" Hinata's words were a mix of a shriek and a squeal, a funny combination Naruto had not heard from her before.
"Shush! A minute!"
After thoroughly checking her left shoulder and neck he turned to the right one pulling it down over her shoulder in the same rough fashion and began to check that one as well. Nothing. Smoothest skin he'd ever felt in his life, but definitely no curse seal.
Naruto grinned as he remembered another man he had fought with a Curse Seal, Kimimaro, … desperate for a clue to Sasuke he ordered without properly thinking.
"Roll over"
"a-ano, …. a-again?"
"Roll over!"
Again Hinata complied, even slower this time, readjusting her robe as she did so that it covered her shoulders once more. Once her arms were again spread at her sides, Naruto took no time reaching for her robe, he was about to pull it down in the same fashion as he'd done her shoulders when he found both arms being tightly gripped by the small woman he had been straddling. Hinata was not going to let him see her bra-less chest.
"I can't allow you to see there, Naruto-kun," her voice was determined and completely free of the usual stutter. Naruto tightened his legs grip on her thighs with his own, as he tried, to no avail to pull his wrists free. Hinata simply pushed down on a vein which numbed his fingers slightly.
"So you do have a curse seal HUH? Is it the Earth seal like that Kimimaro-BAKA."
He was angry again, but it didn't have the same effect on her this time, he'd gone too far.
"As a WOMAN, I can't allow you to see there, Naruto-kun," she repeated adding the first three words.
Naruto was dumbstruck for a moment. In his mind the person beneath him disappeared and was replaced by the extremely shy twelve year old he remembered her as. Her ears turned pink underneath her neatly cut blue hair, and her eyes looked away innocently. She smiled nervously and muttered a few inaudible syllables before turning back into the young woman with long dark hair, and determined eyes which looked at him in absolute confidence. Then his gaze wandered down to her chest, and his eyes widened in shock.
"Gomen, Hinata-chan, I-I wasn't thinking," Naruto smiled apologetically and opened his fingers in an attempted surrender.
"Th-that's alright, Na-Naruto-kun," Hinata had seen his eye movement, and although a little embarrassed, was briefly haunted by the realisation that Naruto hadn't even been thinking of her as a girl, … as a woman, until she had pointed it out. It was true she thought, the opposite to love was indifference.
"May I help you up, Hinata-chan?" Hinata looked up at him again with dreary eyes, it seemed odd that he would ask if she needed help, when his wrists were in fact trapped in her grasp.
She didn't say anything but released his hands all the same, standing and stepping backwards a few steps without his help. The boy's face was tinged slightly red as if only just having noticed her attire.
"I'm really sorry, Hinata, … I didn't mean to… I wasn't … I …Gomen," he decided was the only thing he could say and decided that the bear rug floor needed his utmost attention.
"It's alright, Naruto-kun," she stepped backward and away in a lazy fashion. As if still in a dream, now looking toward his feet, her confidence lost. "You thought I was the enemy."
"Hai! Right! But you're not! … Right?"
Hinata nodded her head slowly, refusing to look him in the eyes, realising that Naruto was having trouble figuring out what that meant she replied, "I'm not the enemy."
"Alright then … ano …" Naruto was embarrassed he'd never been in a situation anything like this before.
"Naruto-kun?"
"Hai"
"I think … we should go see the H-Hokage"
"Err, why?"
"We need to see my sensei," Naruto mechanically agreed incapable of saying no after such an embarrassing situation, he didn't stop to consider why 'he' had to go to visit 'her' sensei … he would later decide it was for company.
"…, Hinata-chan?" Hinata blushed slightly, he'd used the Chan suffix a few times now, even while threatening her.
"H-Hai? Na-Naruto-kun" she was still painfully aware of her attire, and was now incredibly embarrassed by how short the robe fell, showing far too much of her legs.
"Errr …Where's my shirt?"
Hinata simply bit her lip, while the plastic residue of the shirt's Konoha emblem continued to melt in the fire.
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End Chapter 2
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A/N
Dedications. (This whole fic will have references to one thing or another)
The bit where Hinata is telling herself to MOVE! Is directly from Sasuke in Naruto.
Jiraiya's sombre attitude through most of this chapter is all from his first meeting with Tsunade with Naruto, where he actually threatens to kill her if she betrayed the leaf. (you see where his thought pattern might have been going with this?)
The Ninja Know How, that's the stuff Sakura was talking about in the episode where she thinks Sasuke died … I think?
The entire scene with Hinata looking after an unconscious Naruto was based on another (crack) fanfiction where Hinata found an unconscious Naruto took him home and we don't find out what happens to him. This got me wondering what might, and that's how that whole scene came about.
The bit where Hinata asks Naruto to "let us fight .. honourably" is a quote from her fight with Neji, with the honourably added on at the end.
Hinata in the short 'shorty' robe (which she changes her mind on how much she likes), was a bit of a reference to Will and Grace.
And finally, the fight between the two men which Naruto witnessed, is an obvious reference to the Naruto-Sasuke fight with Rasengan-Chidori.