Why Do You Hide?

The next day, Naruto woke up early to talk to the Hokage about what happened once more. Slowly, he put on his usual garb, ate breakfast, and put his newly equipped hitai-ate around his head. "Where you headed?" Kaje asked, appearing in the window with a backpack.

"To the old man's. Got to talk to him." Naruto smiled before looking at his backpack. "Got a mission?"

Kaje nodded, "A-rank." Naruto lost some color in his face, but tried to hide it with a smile. "I'll be fine, Otouto, don't worry…I'm in ANBU remember? I'll be gone for a few months so make sure to take care of yourself, okay?" Even with his fake smile on, Kaje could see his hurt and worry. "Why do you do that…?" He whispered, looking at him sadly.

"Do what?" Naruto asked dumbly.

"Heh, nothing kid." The older man sighed, shaking his head. "Oh, got you some family scrolls on the counter as a congratulations; some jutsus and some of Mom's clan History. It's pretty deep, Naruto, so take that in strides, but study and memorize them. It will help later on."

"YATTA!" Naruto yelled hugging his brother. "Thank you!"

"No problem." Kaje smiled. "I have to get going, but I'll see you later, okay?" He nodded, truly smiling. "I'm proud of you, ya know? Mom and Dad would have been too." With a puff of smoke, Kaje was gone.

Sarutobi was not one to use certain things heavily, such as gambling, alcohol, and in his case, smoking. It was a practice that many shinobi unfortunately fell into after long years of service, on that Sarutobi tried his hardest to avoid. But the incident last night had put a heavy toll on his mind. Only three minutes after the search was called off and the situation explained, half of the Chunin called for Naruto to be killed immediately or locked up. This caused Kaje to accidentally activate his curse mark and attack the men- all of which ended up in the hospital with broken limbs- and had to be restrained by his teammate Matarashi Anko. Those two were now being sent on a mission to assassinate a cooperate tycoon named Gato who had disappeared from Konoha's radar.

A lot of things discussed the previous night were very helpful, most of which was the reason of the Kyubi's attack. According to Naruto, from what the demon said, someone whom smelt like snakes had entered his home and put him under a binding jutsu, then killed his Mate and children. Before leaving, the man said, "If you want to kill me, come find me in the Village Hidden in Tree Leaves."

He took another drag of his pipe and sighed before turning to look at the Monument of the Hokages. 'It is falling out of my hands Yondamie.' He thought sadly, looking at his old friend and successor. "I guess we couldn't hide the truth forever, eh, Naruto?"

"No, not forever, Old Man…" Turning around, Sarutobi saw Naruto sitting in his chair behind his desk with his trade-mark grin.

"So what do you need- HEY, DON'T TOUCH THAT!" He grabbed an orange book from the boy's hand with speed only a Hokage had and shoved it messily into a random drawer.

"You know I hate perverts, right?" Naruto asked, with a disapproving frown. "But for you, I'll make an exception." He smiled.

"This coming from the creator of a henge of a naked woman, I'm honored." The Sandamie laughed sarcastically. "I wonder how you got that image in your head, hm?" His smile deepened as he saw Naruto's embarrassed face, even with the boy trying to cover it with a glare.

After a few seconds, the young boy's face made a dramatic change, dropping to a business like look. "What are you going to do about me, then, Hokage-sama?" His voice was full of authority and his look was that of a commander, a sure fire leader in the future. "I know you sugar coated some things for Hinata-chan's sake, but now it's just us. So, what are you going to do?"

The old man's face mirrored the boys before turning into a large grin. "Nothing." He said simply, causing the boy to stare at his leader in surprised shock. It made him chuckle knowing he could still surprise people, even with the simplest of things.

"WHAT?"

"That's right, nothing." The Hokage smiled. "As far as I'm concerned, you're a shinobi of the village and are a respected member of our military. Last night's activities were marked as a B-rank mission and your pay has been put into your personal account. You're now one step closer to becoming Hokage."

"Heh, thanks, Old man." He smiled with his habitably fake smile.

"Naruto, why do you do that?" Concern etched the older man's face, as he watched the young boy. It pained Hiruzen knowing that Naruto hid his potential when he had so much to give.

"Do what?"

"Have- " Just then, the door burst open and a young boy of nine ran into to room with a kunai in hand. He was wearing a yellow shirt with the village symbol on it, a blue scarf, and pants with a helmet-like thing on his head.

"Today's the day I surpass you old man!" The boy yelled before quite gracefully falling flat on his face.

"Hello Konohamaru." Was the Hokage's deadpan reply, while he massaged his temples. 'That's number twenty-seven this week…'

The boy, Konohamaru, got up with a groan and looked around. "Hey, you tripped me!" He yelled at Naruto with an accusing finger.

"You tripped over your own feet, idiot!" Naruto shot, picking the boy up by the shirt. The two children glared at one another before another voice was heard.

"Honorable Grandson!" A male's voice yelled from the hall.

"He's in here, Ebisu." Sarutobi replied. As he finished, a man with a dark blue Gai suit and sunglasses walked in panting heavily.

"There you are-Put him down this instant!" The man, Ebisu yelled at Naruto. 'It's the demon-boy!'

"Sorry," Naruto apologized dryly. 'I hate that look…'

"Ha! You can't do anything because I'm the Hokage's Grandson!" Konohamaru boasted with a smug grin on his face.

Naruto looked at him with disgust before knocking him in the head and dropping the boy like a sack of bricks. "Like I care…Later, old man!" He sighed before strolling out of the room.

Naruto was walking in the park a few minutes later, a thoughtful look on his face. 'Why do I do what?' he asked himself, thinking of what Kaje and now the Hokage both asked. Before he could dwell more on the thought, a large rock with feet caught his attention. "Konohamaru, rocks don't have feet." As soon as he finished, the boy leapt out of his disguise, smiling.

"I'd expect nothing less from my rival!" He exclaimed.

"Rival?" He asked. "I'm no-"

"Teach me something!"

"W-what?"

"You fooled grandpa so you must be strong!"

"Ah, well, I don't like to brag…well, okay, follow me." Naruto smiled and walked towards the village with Konohamaru in toe. After a few minutes, they stopped in front of a small shack with books lying on shelves around the outside. "Hey Gon," he shouted at the clerk. "You still got that book that I looked at a few days ago? You mind if I borrow it?"

"Yeah, sure, just bring it back!" The man said tossing him an orange book.

"Great, I will!" He then turned to Konohamaru. "Let's go to the forest…so we won't be interrupted." He whispered as he watched a shadowy figure hide behind a building again. With that, the two ran off.

Two hours later, in a small clearing, the young boy sat panting heavily but smiling none the less. "I think you've got it down." Naruto said proudly. 'If pushed hard enough, this kid could go pretty far…' He thought. "Hey Konohamaru, do you have a dream?" He asked sitting down next to the boy.

Instantly the boy jumped up and pointed a proud finger into the air. "My dream is to be recognized as Sarutobi Konohamaru, not as the grandson of the third Hokage, and to become the next Hokage!"

"Ha ha, well you're going to have to beat me in order to do that." Naruto laughed as he stood. "Just remember, Konohamaru," he took on a serious look. "There are NO shortcuts to reach your dreams, especially one to become Hokage. Only hard work and dedication can get you there. Even dead last can do great things."

"Right, Boss!"

"And you have my admiration and respect. You're Sarutobi Konohamaru to me, not just-"

"-Honorable Grandson, get away from him!" a voice shouted. Landing in front of the two, Ebisu rushed to the boy's side. "You shouldn't associate yourself with people like him." He said disdainfully.

"Good thing there aren't that many, huh?" Naruto laughed behind his mask. 'Prob'ly only around nine…'

"Don't talk about Naruto-Nii-san like that!" Konohamaru yelled. "Take this!" With a puff of smoke, a young naked woman with short brown hair and smoke covering her…areas, stood before the man.

"You'll have to do better, AND HOW DARE YOU TEACH THAT CHILD SUCH AN AWFUL TRICK!"

"So you're gay?" Naruto asked, causing the Jonin's face to twist into a look of horror and sputter incoherently for a moment.

"I am NOT gay!" The man yelled after his mouth began to work properly once more. "I can just resist my perverted urges well." He finished with a sagely nod.

"Really now…" Naruto smiled slyly while forming hand seals. Then hundreds of Naruto's stood in the clearing. "Close your eyes, Konohamaru." The boy nodded and did so. "HENGE!" Hundreds of naked blonde women filled the area.

The Sunglasses wearing man couldn't take it and, with blood shooting from his nose, was sent flying into a free and blissful unconsciousness. Naruto dispelled the Henge, laughing while waving goodbye to his new friend and, apparently, little brother.

An hour later, he found himself sitting in another clearing with logs sticking into the ground. As he got up to leave, a voice caught his attention. "H-Hello, Naruto-k-kun…"

Naruto stiffened before slowly turning around. Hinata stared at the young Jinchuriki with a light dusting of pink on her face. She was partially hidden behind a tree a few feet away. Truth be told, Naruto had not been prepared for a meeting with the young girl and frankly wanted to ignore her part in last nights events. Sadly it seemed fate had other plans. "H-hello…Hinata-ch-san" he stuttered, correcting his slip at the last second. It wouldn't do for the village pariah to use such a familiar term with the village princess.

Despite his cover, her cheeks glowed darker and a slightly larger smile appeared on her face. She took a few hesitant steps away from her hiding spot and walked towards the boy. A slight wind breezed between the two, causing her short bluish hair to gently caress her face. A sight that caused the young man's breath to catch for a moment before he mentally kicked himself for thinking such things. He quickly steeled himself and opened his mouth before a loud growl came from below.

Surprisingly it was Hinata who reacted by dropping her arms to her stomach and turning a deep crimson in embarrassment. Naruto could help but laugh as she stepped from one foot to the other, completely at a loss of what to say. "Would you like to get something to eat with me?" He ventured with a smile, which was quickly returned with a smile and a sharp nod.

. "Why did you do that, Hinata?" Naruto asked as Ayame placed down his and Hinata's ramen. Naruto decided for the two to eat at the Ichiraku Ramen eatery, if only to ease the tension the two felt.

"Ano…do what?" She asked nervously as she ate. She knew what he was talking about, but for the life of her, could not vocalize her thoughts; her feelings towards this wonderful young man beside her. The rejection would kill her.

"Why did you jump in front of that shuriken? In fact, why were you there at all?" He hadn't touched his food and pushed it away to look at Hinata as she spoke.

"Ano, I…um…I-" She began to tap her fingers together. She couldn't do it! Despite all her metal kicks, she could not-

"Are you afraid of me…?" Naruto whispered head dropping to look at the ground in sadness and shame.

"NO!" She shouted causing many to look over at the two. "I could never be afraid of you Naruto-kun." She could hear the silent whisperings of some people and see the glares in Naruto's direction, but she didn't care about them. They meant nothing to her right now. She was horrified that he would ever think that she would be afraid of him for any reason. "Ano…I went to help because I…well; you see…I care about you…." She blushed deeply before shyly looking up at him.

He was smiling, a true smile as he looked at her. It surprised him, really, the emotion he saw in her eyes when she spoke. It was real. She truly cared about him. "Thank you…" he whispered, wiping away stray tears from his eyes. "Apart from Kaje, nobody has every really said…that they cared."

The Hyuga Heiress smiled widely. "Well, you better believe it, Naruto-kun…" she giggled.

Naruto laughed softly as he looked down at someone he could now consider a friend. He then caught some of the words someone near the two was saying to another. "What's the Hyuga Heiress doing over there with the demon brat…?"

As he put some money down, he put on his fake-smile and began to turn away and get up casually. "Well, I've got to go, so I'll see-" He stopped getting up when he felt her hand on his. He looked to see her sad eyes looking into his own.

"Why do you hide your pain behind that mask of fake happiness?" she whispered.

'Why do you do that?'

His face dropped and his eyes darkened. "I-I don't know anymore…" he whispered before getting up and walking away down the street. He got a good few dozen feet before he felt arms gently and nervously wrap around him. Naruto was shocked at first, but gently placed his arms on top of the persons.

"I'll see you later, okay, Naruto-kun?" Hinata whispered. He could tell by her voice that she was completely red. Yet, something in her voice had changed. A resolve of some sort broke through.

"I'll see you at the team assignments." Naruto spoke back, a small grateful smile appearing on his lips. "I've got a lot of things I need to sort through." He whispered. "Good night…Hinata-chan…" He let her arms slip away from his waist and continued onwards as she watched him disappear into the distance.

Later that night, Naruto lay in bed thinking of what had happened over the day. "Why do I hide?" He whispered to himself. After a few moments he looked to the Hokage Monument with a determined look. "No more…" he said aloud. "I'll play the fool no more…"

Well, here is chapter two for your viewing pleasure. Just to let everyone know, I do NOT own Naruto in any way, shape, or form. If I did, I wouldn't name the damn five-tails Son Goku! Too much DBZ in my mind...

As always, Reviews, Questions, Comments and Flames are welcome!

~Kingdom219