Note to self: upload file well night before so if I get busy, I can update. Sorry this is so late. Well, this is the second part of the fic. Just one more after this. ^_^ I'm very glad people like this so far (hope I don't lose my audience now!).
Yes, Hatsu has a very twisted mind as you'll see in this part. Cold and takes quite a lot of pleasure in the suffering of his victims. Inazuma and Minariko are more professional. Actually, you'll see a softer side to Minariko here! Meanwhile, Team 7 investigates Naruto's apartment and learn quite a bit from it while Naruto is still scared to face Hinata. Can the two of them manage to get out of this mess?
And I hope this is all believable...well, as believable as the Naruto manga/world can be!
Title: Do You Hate Me?
Genre: Drama, Angst, AU
Timeline: Post-Tsunade Arc
Summary: When Hinata and Naruto are kidnapped by Cloud Ninja; certain secrets come out, causing both young ninja to think the worse of the other. Could Naruto really hate Hinata? Or could Hinata hate Naruto?
Pairings: Naruto/Hinata
Rating: G
Sakura glanced around Naruto's apartment. The door had been unlocked, which surprised the three ninja investigating. Everything else, however, appeared the same, at least as far as Sakura could tell. The room was surprising clean, better than she thought considering this was Naruto's apartment.
In the kitchen, the only oddity was a cup of instant ramen spilled over on the table, dry, but it clearly had been dripping to the floor. The chair was pulled out as if Naruto had gotten up for something and his headband lay on the table.
Kakashi-sensei turned in a circle, giving everything in the room a once over. He picked up the spilled ramen container and turned it in his hand. Putting it down, he stepped closer to the wall and spun around in the direction of the bedroom.
After a moment, he turned to his two students. "Well, do you two have anything to say?"
Sakura could not think of anything. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary, but Sasuke looked their teacher straight in the eye, his face serious. "Something happened to Naruto."
Gawking at him, Sakura looked around the room more to see what she could have missed, but Kakashi-sensei just nodded his head. "What gave it away?"
Sasuke walked up to the table and picked up Naruto's headband. "When we're away on missions, Naruto would always fold his forehead protector and place it in one of the outer pockets of his pack. I would think he would take equal care of this at home as well."
"Very good, Sasuke."
Something dawned on Sakura. It really did not matter if Naruto was neat or not. If there was one thing she was sure he would never leave in a mess, it would be ramen. After all, he consumed how many bowls clean at Ichiraku? "His ramen! Naruto wouldn't leave his ramen spilled like that."
Kakashi-sensei tilted his head and picked up the ramen cup. "It appeared he knocked it over while getting up. You can't see it right off, but a close look reveals a tiny hole in it."
Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened. "Naruto was poisoned?" exclaimed Sasuke, unable to believe in the possibility.
But Kakashi-sensei shook his head. "I doubt it. If he were poisoned, then we would have found him here. No one would make an effort to move him if they killed him by poison…" He trailed off, but then pointed to the chair. "It appears Naruto ate at least half of the ramen and then realized he was being drugged. He pushed out of his chair and knocked over the cup. I suppose he collapsed soon afterwards if he consumed enough."
"So what do we do now?" asked Sakura. "We don't know when he was drugged; it would have happened anytime between when he left training yesterday and this morning. They could be anywhere."
However, Sasuke shook his head. "Actually, we do have a timeline…sort of." He waved his hand over the dried ramen. "If Naruto had been kidnapped late in the morning, then the ramen wouldn't be this dry."
Kakashi-sensei nodded in agreement. "Which narrows it down to when he left training to early morning, however, I'm willing to bet he was taken late last night in order to take advantage of the darkness."
Sasuke made a fist with his hand and growled. "So that means they've gotten nearly a half a day's head start. How are we going to find them?"
A grin appeared on Sakura's face as an idea came to her. "Kiba and Akamaru! Couldn't they help us?"
Kakashi nodded. "Good idea, Sakura. Let's go find Team 8."
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It was with great surprise that Team 7 found Team 8 missing a member as well. Kurenai explained to Kakashi that Hinata had been late for training and they were tracking her with Akamaru as well. Kiba and Shino were shocked to learn Naruto was missing as well.
"Is it possible the disappearances are connected?" commented Shino.
Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "I can't see how. Naruto's definitely looked fishy, but if we don't even have a place to start with Hinata... And what connection is there between the two?"
However, for Kakashi, one look at Kurenai told him that there was a connection. Since she did not volunteer her thoughts, Kakashi did not ask. He would ask later, when the genin were away since clearly it was not something she had told them.
As he thought this, Kiba filled in Sasuke and Sakura on their search of Hinata, how they started at the Hyuuga compound and went from there. "Akamaru was leading us toward the ninja academy," he finished.
"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Sakura, surprising everyone. "I remember I saw Hinata on my way to the bridge! And before that, I thought, and I say thought because a crowd of people got in my way, I saw blond hair right before that."
"Naruto?" inquired Shino.
Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I thought it was, but since I couldn't tell, I don't know."
"Well, it's a place to start," said Kurenai.
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Uncertain at what he would find, Naruto opened his eyes.
Hinata had not turned her back on him again. Instead, she stared at him with…? What was it? It was not hate, he knew all too well what hate looked like. No, this was something else. Something different…
Naruto sighed, very difficult to do since he was taped up. At the very least, she could see him. He stared Hinata, hoping she understood him what he was trying to say. Then he closed his eyes and focused his chakra on the simple jutsu he had learned at the academy.
When the smoke cleared, Naruto had disappeared. In his place, the rope that bound his hands remained tied. It looked as if Naruto had just slipped out.
It was a simple plan; if they transformed into the rope, it would look like they slipped out and ran away. When Hatsu came around to check on them, he would only see the rope and, hopefully, get angry. At that point, Naruto or Hinata would take advantage of whatever Hatsu did, whether it be leaving them alone to warn the others or leaving a weapon for them to use to cut themselves free.
Hinata's white eyes widened, but she understood what she had to do. Focusing on her chakra as well, she, too, transformed into the rope used to tie her hands together.
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Hatsu had not had this much fun since he and the others fought their way out of Cloud. Well, at least he had been having fun. He took great pleasure in tormenting his opponents, be they able to fight or prisoners. However, this assignment, watching over two children, was uninteresting.
He was supposed to wait for Minariko and Inazuma to come back from watching the outskirts of the forest for possible Konoha Nin. If any came nearby, they would give a signal and likely hide. That was what he was supposed to do, anyway. Unlike his two companions, he would prefer a fight between him and a couple of Leaf. This waiting around bored him greatly.
He really did not see the need in keeping a close eye on the Junchuuriki boy. The drug was still keeping his chakra down so he could not perform any high level jutsu or access the fox's chakra, if he even knew how. At least, the boy's relationship with the fox explained why he regain consciousness so quick.
Swinging his kunai on his finger, he decided to pay the two children a visit, just to amuse himself so he would not die of boredom. He would likely taunt the girl more. And the boy as well, given how pale he went when they tested him to see if he really did contain the Nine-Tails. Mocking people was such fun.
Entering the clearing where the two lay tied up, Hatsu stopped swinging his weapon, grinning wickedly. But that grin faded when all he found were two pieces of tied rope.
"Wha…" He felt panic grip him as he stared at the rope, no Hyuuga heir or Junchuuriki in sight. "How did they get out?" He turned back to where he was supposed to stand guard, his knees shaking at what Inazuma would say when he found out. However, that fear quickly gave way to anger and Hatsu threw his kunai to the ground, growling his frustration at being tricked by two children.
What Hatsu did not see was the rope move to where the kunai was thrown. The ninja weapon sliced through the rope and in a flash, Naruto reappeared and moved behind the unknowing captor.
Before Hatsu could react, Naruto swung his leg and hit the ninja in the head. He fell to the ground, unconscious, while Naruto, grinning and very pleased with himself, rushed over to Hinata, who had already reversed the jutsu, and untied her.
"Ano…" muttered Hinata meekly. "Tha – thank you, Na – aruto-kun."
"No problem, Hinata. Let's get out of here."
Taking her hand, Hinata flinching at the contact, Naruto led her away from their imprisonment and the downed ninja.
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Kakashi and Kurenai fell behind their teams as they entered the woods outside of the ninja academy. Akamaru led the way with Kiba and Sasuke, the latter with his Sharingan active and alert for possible movement, following. Shino had ordered his insects to scan the area. Sakura hung back, resorting to the old-fashioned way of searching, glancing around, moving bushes and hoping she saw something.
Suddenly, Akamaru barked and Sasuke and Kiba stopped in a small clearing. "Akamaru says he smells Hinata right here with another person," explained Kiba. "The scent goes through this brush."
"Can he tell who the other person is?" asked Sasuke.
Kiba shook his head as he entered the brush with his dog. "No, he doesn't know who it is…hey!" Akamaru began to bark again, running up to a tree and placing two paws on it. "Naruto? Are you sure?"
Sasuke and Shino approached the pair. "What is it, Kiba?" asked Shino. "Does Akamaru smell Naruto?"
As Sakura and the teachers joined them, Kiba nodded. "Yeah, he smells him on this tree. And he smells two other people as well as Hinata and the person from over there."
"Hmm? So we have three strangers that Akamaru cannot identify and Naruto and Hinata meeting at his tree." mused Kakashi.
"What is going on?" asked Sakura. "Why would they bring Naruto here? And why Hinata?"
Shino tensed up. "Is it possible that these are ninja after Hinata's Byakuugan?"
"That doesn't explain why the loser was captured as well," said Sasuke.
Kurenai flinched at that, Kakashi noticed again. He was sure there was a connection now. Clearly, Naruto was used to lure Hinata, but why? Why Naruto and not one of Hinata's teammates? It was something Kakashi knew Kurenai was keeping to herself.
Suddenly, Shino turned around. "My insects are informing me that Naruto and Hinata are running right behind us!"
As one, the two teams turned, staring into the forest for their missing friends. A half mile out, Naruto ran out from behind a tree dragging Hinata behind him. Sakura shouted out to them, but they did not hear it because they continued running. Moments later, two ninja followed them and Kakashi caught the symbol on their headbands.
"Kumo Shinobi!" he told the others. Kurenai's red rimmed eyes widened. "Come on. We have to help them now."
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Naruto and Hinata had hidden in a tree when Minariko and Inazuma came running past. Once the two ninja passed, they had jumped out and ran for it, knowing it would only take seconds for the two captors to realize they were gone and begin chasing after them.
Sure enough, the two gave chase after the two genin. Naruto thought he heard Sakura call his and Hinata's name at some point, but could not be sure or in what direction. He could not stop to find out because then their captors would catch up.
So they kept running.
The sounds of a stream made its way to Naruto. He headed toward it, hoping they could jump across and get a good way ahead of Minariko and Inazuma. However, they reached a small cliff where a wide, raging river blocked their way. Naruto's heart fell. There was no way they could jump that.
"Naruto-kun," whispered Hinata in a worried voice, "We're trapped."
Turning around, Naruto pulled her behind him as Inazuma approached the area, frowning. "Now that your escape has ended, let's go back. We have no intention of harming you for this."
Naruto snorted. "You really think we're going to hand ourselves over just like that? You've got another thing coming!"
Minariko frowned. "You believe you can still escape?"
Naruto let a grin light up his face. "Yeah. Hinata! Jump!" He pushed her over the cliff as he jumped into the river. Hinata screamed as they both fell into the dangerous water.
The cold liquid pulled both genin under and Naurto kicked upwards to breath. He looked back at the cliff and cringed as he did so.
There, facing the two Kumo Ninja was his own sensei and a woman he recalled was Hinata's teacher. Right behind them, heading in the direction the river was taking Naruto and Hinata, were their teammates.
Naruto cursed as the water pulled him under again. If I had just waited…
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Idiot! screamed Sasuke in his head as he watched Naruto and Hinata jump off the cliff into the water. Sure, Naruto may have not known they were coming, but that did not excuse such a stupid plan, jumping into a furious river.
Kakashi barked orders, not giving away any displeasure at Naruto's idea, "Sasuke! Sakura! Kiba! Shino! Go rescue Naruto and Hinata!"
Kurenai nodded her approval. "We'll take care of our guests!"
At the sound of their teachers' voices, the Cloud Shinobi turned around and entered battle stances. The four genin ran away from the battle, Sasuke leading the way to where Naruto and Hinata were being carried away by the raging river.
"How are we going to get them out?" shouted Kiba.
Sasuke processed the situation. There was no way anyone of them could get into the river to pull them out, the tide way too strong. At the same time, he did not see anything Naruto and Hinata could grab a hold of, at least nothing non-slippery. And walking on the water was out of the question, the rapids too intense to allow it. Throwing a line to them could work, a lot could go wrong there.
There was only one way. Reaching into his pack, Sasuke pulled out a rope. Tying one end to a kunai, he ran ahead past Naruto and Hinata. He threw the kunai and the rope across the river where it hit a tree.
The other three genin pulled on the rope, Sakura, Kiba and Shino in that order behind him, holding the rope so when one of them grabbed it, it would not fall.
Both Naruto and Hinata were having trouble keeping above the furious rapids. Naruto tried to swim toward Hinata, however, when they reached a small waterfall, the momentum sent him ahead of her. Sasuke heard him curse when he missed.
"Does Naruto see the rope?" asked Shino. "He'll miss it if he hasn't seen it."
"No, he hasn't," replied Kiba, sounding a mix of frustration and confusion. "He's too focused on getting Hinata."
"Hey!" shout Sasuke, struck by sudden inspiration. "Loser! Grab the robe!"
The insult had the reaction he had wanted. Naruto turned in the water, a furious expression on his face. He jumped up, grabbed the line and shook his fist at his rival, cursing him. "When I get out of here…" he shouted.
Sasuke smirked as Naruto ranted on. In the beginning, Sasuke had not thought much of the dead last who considered him a rival. However, over their missions and the Chuunin exam, Sasuke had to reevaluate that view. He considered Naruto as a rival now, someone he wanted to fight. The taunts Sasuke so often threw in Naruto's direction made him fight harder, it appeared. And with Naruto growing stronger, well, Sasuke had to get stronger as well, through he would never actually admit that.
Hinata began to approach the rope. Naruto held out his hand, yelling at her to grab it. However, just as she came up to him, the water pulled her under so she only brushed his fingertips and the current carried her away.
"Hinata!" screamed Naruto as the other genin watched in shock. To make matters worse, Naruto let go of the rope and began to swim after her.
"Naruto!" shrieked Sakura in disbelief as the others dropped the rope and ran after the two. "What are you doing?"
Sasuke pulled his kunai out of the tree and began to run after the others. He heard Naruto shout out, "I've got to get her!"
"Idiot!" he shouted. "We can get her! Why are you so stubborn?" However, Naruto ignored him this time and continued to swim with the current. To Sasuke's horror, he heard the distinctive sound of a huge waterfall up ahead. The others heard it, too, judging from the look on their faces.
They speed up, hoping to find another chance for getting the two out. Naruto had gotten a hold of Hinata by this time, clutching her side as if his life depended on it, and tried to swim in the opposite direction. However, they had come too close to the waterfall and Naruto could not swim against the current. They were being pulled toward the cascading falls.
"Here!" shouted Kiba and Sasuke threw his kunai at the tree closest to the river. They were right at the falls, it would be tricky for Naruto and Hinata to grab it, but if anyone could do it, Sasuke figured, it would be Naruto. Once again, the other four held the rope and waited for the two to come.
Naruto still had a hold of Hinata as they approached the edge of the waterfall. He reached out for the rope, but to the others' dismay, he could not get a hold of it; the current was too fast and he could not jump for it. It was too high up! The four genin tried to loosen the rope in time, but it was too late. Naruto and Hinata screamed as they went over the waterfall.
A black cloud buzzed by Sasuke. Shino's insects, he realized dimly. He barely heard Sakura's sobs or Akamaru's howls next to him.
All he could do was stare into the mist at the bottom of the falls.
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Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, gazed at the two genin teams standing before her. On one side was team 8, led by Yuhi Kurenai, but they were missing one member of their team. Hyuuga Hinata, the self-conscious white eyed heir to the Hyuuga clan.
On other side was team 7, led by Hatake Kakashi, but they were missing one member as well, one she knew all too well. Uzumaki Naruto, a loudmouth prankster who vowed to become Hokage.
Both teams looked disheartened and she could not blame them at all. Losing one of their own was the worst blow any team could take. No, she thought to herself; closing her eyes, they are not gone yet. We'll find them.
Behind Team 7, guarded by two ANBU, were two of the Kumo Ninja Kakashi and Kurenai captured, the only bright side to the whole ordeal. In front of her, she had their papers detailing each ninja. The only one missing was the teenager.
"Minariko, 35, an elite jonin that worked in special operations of the Hidden Cloud Village. Inazuma, 38, another elite jonin who worked along side the old Raikage until he was replaced by the current one." The respective ninja stared wide eyed at the amount of information Tsunade had on them. If this were any other day, the only female member of the Sannin would have found their reactions funny.
"Hatsu, 18, a recently promoted jonin. Highly dangerous. Noted to be reckless on missions." Tsunade tossed aside the teenager's paperwork and picked up the letter from the leader of the village. "All three of you left Hidden Cloud due to the new Raikage's appointment. Like the last Raikage before him after the failed kidnapping, this one decided to forget about retrieving the bloodline trait of the Hyuuga clan and keep to the agreement made in the aftermath."
Tsunade glared at the captive Shinobi. "However, you decided to get it anyway and, as a result, your leader tried to have you arrested. You fought your way out, that young jonin of yours caused quite a mess in the progress, and came out to Konoha."
Minariko glared at her. "So you know all of this?"
"The Raikage felt your obsession demanded a warning for me. I, in turn, warned the head of Hyuuga." Tsunade sighed and placed her hand on her head. "However, since I just got the letter this morning, Hiashi clearly wasn't able to warn Hinata before she left."
"What about Naruto and Hinata?" asked Shino, his expression unreadable in his sunglasses and high collared coat, but his voice filled with grief.
"We have ANBU searching the river at this moment," reported Kakashi, his voice weary. "It's getting late, through."
At that moment, Hiashi himself stormed into the office. Tsunade had not had the pleasure of meeting the clan leader herself; however, she had not heard too many good things about him. Yes, he was a good leader, but from what Kurenai had told her, Hinata had suffered greatly under him.
She had also been told things were improving, after her cousin, Neji, lost a fight to Naruto where all the frustration and anger at the main family the young prodigy of the branch family had was expressed to nearly everyone watching. However, Tsunade knew that even through things might get better, did not mean everything would be prefect now. After all, things take time to heal and the wounds of the Hyuuga have not had time to do so.
"Hokage-sama?" asked Hiashi and before she could respond. "Where is my daughter?"
"We don't know at this time. We last saw her swept away over a waterfall. We currently have teams searching now," reported Kurenai.
Haishi narrowed his eyes at Kurenai. "And where were you when she was kidnapped? We both know Hinata is not capable of even defending herself."
Shock rippled through the room. Even Minariko of the Cloud expressed interest in the scene before her while Inazuma just regarded the sight with mixed curiosity. Kiba and Shino regarded Hiashi with incensed glares, but both, shockingly in Kiba's case, held their tongues. Their teacher met Haishi's stare and retorted, "She did not report to training this morning. From what we learned, she was lured to the Cloud Ninja."
"And how was she lured?" he demanded.
Kurenai appeared very reluctant to answer, something Tsunade found strange. However, Sasuke responded instead, causing Kurenai to squirm, "Naruto was kidnapped the night before and a Cloud Ninja impersonated him to lure Hinata away."
Hiashi blinked. "That…boy? Why was that boy used to lure my daughter into a trap?"
Sasuke shrugged, not knowing the answer. Haishi looked toward Hinata's teacher, who appeared very stony. "Well? Is anyone going to answer?"
Tsunade found this to be a very intriguing scene. Clearly, Kurenai knew something about this, but did not want to answer. Kakashi had the look in the eye that said he knew Kurenai knew something, but felt it was an answer that could wait. None of the genin appeared to know at all from their confused looks. She would bet the Cloud Ninja knew since they used Naruto in the first place, but they stayed silent as well.
"Well?" commanded Hiashi. Silence answered him, which only served to further infuriate him even more.
"Don't you know?" asked Minariko, breaking her silence. Everyone in the room turned to the prisoners. From her earlier reaction, Tsunade figured Kurenai was sending death glares at Minariko. "The girl likes that boy. In love with him. Why do you think she blushes and faints when she gets near him?"
Kurenai's shoulders slumped while Kiba's jaw dropped. Kakashi stiffened in surprise while Sasuke's face became shocked. Sakura looked astonished, but she stared at the ground looking thoughtful. Even Tsunade did not expect something like that.
Hiashi appeared to shake with rage. "She…what?"
Minariko rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Oh, boy. Does such a concept really bother you? You think your daughter is weak. You don't like her liking this boy, which I can guess why, too. You're just like all clan leaders."
Haishi blinked at the words. "And what do you mean by that?" he asked.
I really should stop her, thought Tsunade, but did not. Talking against the clan heads was generally a very bad taboo and Tsunade, through outspoken, did not want to test her authority just yet. Minariko was a prisoner who would be sent back to Cloud. Hiashi had no way to deal with her.
"Let me guess, your daughter doesn't perform the way you expect her to and you berate her and generally crush her confidence." She shook her head back and forth in a mocking gesture. "I've seen your kind. You blame your child heir for their lack of excellence instead of prizing them for what they are. You are your child's weakness. Your inability to accept her and boost her confidence has made her weak, not anything she had done."
Tsunade was enjoying the scene. The genin were gawking. Kurenai stared at Minariko with a mixture of shock and appreciation. Kakashi had taken out his book to read. Hiashi…Hiashi was at a complete loss as to what to do.
"Most children with fathers like you do one of three things, run away, kill themselves or…well, I won't tell you that one. You might have a heart attack if I did."
Okay, now I'll put an end to it. "That's it. Guards. Keep the prisoner quiet." She placed her hand on her head, closed her eyes and sighed. "Hyuuga-sama, we have ninja looking for your daughter right now. They are combing the riverside even as we speak."
Sakura had her hands folded in front her of chest, her eyes mournful. "But what if they're…" she trailed off; unable to finish what Tsunade knew she wanted to asked. What if they're dead?
"We don't know that for sure. Let's think positively." She smirked, surprising all in the room, except Hiashi, who continued to stare at the Minariko. "After all, Naruto told me he wasn't going to die until he became Hokage. If he breaks his promise now…well, I'll kick his dead body from here to the Land of Waves! As for Hinata, if Naruto's alive, he won't let her die. I know that for sure. He's not one to let his comrades die on him."
The atmosphere in the room lightened considerable. Sasuke adopted his usual smirk. Sakura's smile was back. Kiba grinned, baring his fanglike teeth. Shino and Kakashi, through most of their faces were covered, appeared much happier and a small smile graced Kurenai's face.
Everyone knew Tsunade spoke the truth; Naruto was a stubborn one.
The doors to the office opened and a ninja burst in. "Hokage-sama! We have reports…We've found them!"
Well, I guess you know Minariko's pet peeve: overbearing fathers! :p Granted, I actually like Hiashi and I know he changed after the Chuunin exam. But he's worried about Hinata and the panic has manifested itself by falling back in his old mindset and lashing out. I actually think this is why I tried writing this in the first place. I wanted to write Hiashi reverting to his old habits and it turned into a NaruHina fic. How typical. XD
I'm horrible at measurements so I apologize if that half mile is too far out for Teams 7 and 8 to see Naruto and Hinata. Or too close for that matter. I couldn't think of another way to rephrase, but I suppose I made my point. They were too far to notice the others.
Will update with the final part next week...if I'm not being lazy or busy. ^^;;
Thanks for reading - NessaMoon