More from mah brainmeats: 4 ½ pages of story alone this time! It might get a bit bigger next chapter... maybe. I'm glad people have liked 21 and 24, it was a bit easier to picture them as ANBU than I thought. They won't really be central to the plot, but they will be around to inject some fun into the story. I'll make Sire Wars references here and there as well, but probably not as often as 21 and 24 showing up. A note about honorifics: Hinata only just met Naruto last chapter, and wasn't that familiar with him. Won't take long for that to change, though! And yay for getting the Ackbar joke! Last thing: While Land of Waves and the Chuunin exam will happen, you can forget it being some copy/paste job. I've got some changes for that in mind! Anyways, please review, and lemme know what you think!
Disclaimer: Naruto, Star Wars, and Venture Brothers all belong to balding, fat men. 21 and 24 in an even more dangerous job, as well as an adventure long ago, in a kingdom far, far away? Totally my idea.
To Hold the Sun
Chapter 2: Ch-ch-ch-changes
And the years went by. Naruto actually had to pinch himself after Akemi and Hinata returned in the morning. Part of him believed that they wouldn't return. Any doubt he had was instantly squashed when they walked up to the orphanage, himself right outside, eagerly waiting for them. He was equally surprised when they both greeted him as Naruto-kun. New parents normally called the boys they adopted by that term, so Naruto himself was delighted that someone, anyone, would call him that. Most of the time, he'd either get demon-child, teme, or, at least from some of the more scary men, piece of shit.
Naruto decided that Akemi and Hinata needed to know this particular gem of information.
Akemi herself was rather shocked that Naruto even knew such a word, let alone be shunned by the entire village. She had thought that someone would try to be nice to the boy before passing judgment, besides the Hokage himself, but that seemed to not be the case. The caretakers at the orphanage would feed and care for him, when absolutely needed, but beyond that... they ignored him. The wife of the clan head, however, knew that they wouldn't willingly change their opinion, at least not easily, even with a stern talking-to from a member, let alone the wife of the clan head, of one of the most prestigious clans in Konoha. They would simply have to see his nature for their own.
Hinata herself certainly did. For all of her short life, she never could get over her shyness around, well, everyone, and many embarrassing situations put a real damper on her confidence.
Naruto didn't care. Sure, she blushed a lot, sometimes tripped, and couldn't form a complete sentence without stuttering, but he didn't mind. He had a friend. And he would be there for her.
It was with this that Hinata started coming out of her shell. For the first few days, she ended up passing out if Naruto held on her hand for too long, or decided to give her a hug.
Her mother wondered exactly how the poor girl stayed conscious on the first night they all met. The child was probably just stunned when Naruto was nice to her, and completely out of it when he hugged her.
The fainting wasn't a problem for too long, however, and the passing months soon had Hinata being able to talk to Naruto normally. She still couldn't handle other people too well, though, and with Naruto or not, she somehow still found ways to blush.
Not that Naruto minded. He was starting to think it was cute.
Eventually, after enough prodding from his wife, Hiashi Hyuuga decided to visit the boy himself, if only to see proof that his daughter was actually becoming able to properly socialize. Seeing the hyperactive boy and Hinata playing together peacefully came as a welcome surprise to him. He was never sure when exactly Hinata would get over her shyness, and definitely didn't think this boy would be responsible for it. While the majority of the village had condemned the child at the start, he took on a wait-and-see approach, the only reason why he allowed his daughter and Naruto to play in the first place.
Not that his wife would care about that decision, but it was nice to agree on something.
The boy did seem trustworthy, for now, so Hiashi decided to give Naruto that trust. He would always be secretly vigilant, but it was necessary. To not be would be of detriment to his clan, to his family.
Some days, all of them days Hiashi was present, Naruto would get a glimpse of Hinata's training. At the age of 5, however, it was nothing more than basic Juuken stances, as well as Hinata trying to use the Byakugan properly. Naruto made a point to never, ever make the Hyuuga heiress mad. Veins bulging around your eyes can makeanyone look scary.
Of the visitors Naruto received, Sarutobi himself was the least frequent. The Sandaime Hokage made a point of seeing the boy as often as possible, but with all the work that came with the title Hokage, he never had as much time as he wanted to visit. The Hokage was pleasantly surprised when he first saw Akemi at the orphanage front, Naruto and Hinata playing nearby, even more so when he noticed that Hiashi sometimes appeared. He learned that Akemi was taking her time, every day, teaching Naruto about the world in general, of manners and how people should act. She told the tale of Naruto learning just what "-chan" meant, and how Naruto immediately began calling Akemi's daughter Hinata-chan.
That play-date had to end rather early that day, the little girl just wouldn't wake up after that.
With all the days that had passed, Naruto would repeat his dream to be respected by the village: becoming Hokage. While many would consider it to be a fool's dream, Akemi and Sarutobi knew otherwise. Hinata never thought it was impossible for Naruto either; she wanted to make certain that he would become Hokage, whatever the cost might be.
Unfortunately, some things are taken, without any mention of a cost.
Only a few months after Hinata turned seven, tragedy struck.
Hinata's birth was problem-free. The medic-nins on call had said that there was no need for them to be there.
On the day Hanabi was born, there would never have been enough aid to help Akemi. What was a natural birth turned into a C-section. From there, it turned into a disaster. Hanabi was extracted with no injury to the child, but her mother was another story. Every time they tried to close the incisions, they would instantly re-open. No matter what was tried, more blood would be lost.
The day Hanabi Hyuuga would celebrate her birthday... would be the day people would mourn the loss of her mother.
Hiashi was devastated. However, one would not notice, as he almost completely rid himself of emotion, besides anger and annoyance. From now on, the Hyuuga clan would be strong, no matter what.
But Hinata, apparently, was not. After her mother's death shook her to her very core, Hiashi immediately began to push her fiercely into her training, reprimanding her every time she did something that was not up to par.
For some reason, this was most of the time.
As per Akemi's wishes before her ill-fated surgery, Hinata was still allowed to visit Naruto. She would, however, be escorted by a random branch family member, dropped off, and be left with Naruto on her own, until Hiashi determined it was time for her to return home. Their time together was drastically shortened.
Besides that, Naruto was affected as well. Why wouldn't he? Akemi was like a mother to him, and taught him so much. The Hyuuga head he had respected turned into an cold, hard, wall of steel. His only friend would spend much of her time cursing herself for being weak, and crying for things she had no control over.
He had to do something. Naruto had already promised to keep Hinata from crying, ever since they first met. So he did the only thing he could do.
He made her laugh.
Only days after Akemi's death, Naruto began establishing a reputation as the #1 prankster in all of Konoha. Slippery floors, gunk on the head, and plain old generic mayhem was soon commonplace in the village. Many would try to prevent his tricks. None would succeed. Many would chase him. Few would catch him. The Hokage would never be too strict. It was simple to figure out. Akemi's death before any of these pranks happened, the Hyuuga girl's tearful face following the boy as he was dragged to his judgment. Naruto never intended to pull a prank for himself.
He did it for Hinata.
Now Naruto and Hinata, at the age of eight, stood in front of the Konoha Ninja Academy. Both wanted to become shinobi. Naruto, to become Hokage. Hinata, to please her father, and to help Naruto. The time had come to take that first step.
The prankster himself was wearing an orange jumpsuit, blue sandals, as well as the goggles he now always wore, a birthday gift from Hinata. It was something that would have people immediately recognize him, as well as the whole getup proving his inability to grasp the concept of stealth.
Or fashion. Or taste.
The Hokage had allowed Naruto to begin living on his own as soon as he turned 8, selecting an apartment and giving the boy money to buy food, clothing, and other necessities. It was because of this that Naruto was able to select his current choice in fashion... partly from his own tastes, and partly due to the lack of stores he could actually enter, which increased from none to a few in the last 3 years.
Having the favor of Akemi Hyuuga did help him in more ways than one.
Hinata herself was wearing a light, bulky jacket under a dark blue undershirt, as well as matching blue pants, and sandals identical to Naruto's. She also began to wear her hair long, as a tribute to her mother. While still sad over her death, and always rather sore about her father, Hinata had mostly recovered to how she was before her sister's birth, and the loss that came with it.
Naruto did like her new hairstyle. He may have been a bit biased, however, as he had run into a ninja that had a haircut similar to her old one...
Who seemed to possess a lack of most of the lessons on behavior that Akemi had taught Naruto.
And sanity.
And wore all green for some reason.
Of course, had Naruto voiced his thoughts on Maito Guy, someone would have replied along the lines of "Calling the kettle black", or something similar.
Bleh, forget that goof. It's time. "Hey, Hinata-chan, are you ready?"
"Um, yes. Let's go, Naruto-kun."
Obligatory fist in the air. "Yeah, let's do it!"
The both of them went forward, anxious, possibly even scared... but determined.
Watching them with a calm, judgmental face was how Sarutobi found Hiashi. Ever since his wife died, the man was an enigma to the Hokage. He never knew what the man was thinking, unless told up front. Even then...
"Do you have doubts, Hiashi-san?"
"While my daughter is weak, she is still a Hyuuga. She will not fail."
At least he has a small appreciation for his daughter. "Then you think a concern lies with Naruto?"
Hiashi, still looking ahead, narrowed his eyes. "The boy is unskilled, untrained. He is not ready. I question when he will be."
The Sandaime had to sigh. "Many people did not seem ready, yet made it through. Have faith."
Silence.
Sarutobi continued. "You need to mourn properly, and try to move on. Your daughter is trying to do so herself. Help; do not be ruined by the past."
With nothing more than a small grunt, the Hyuuga head left Sarutobi and headed for the gathered parents, waiting for the opening ceremony of the year to start. Hiashi knew all too well that dwelling in the past would do nothing for him.
He would rather work... for the future.
The Hokage himself, however, was stalled by the arrival of a certain ANBU captain...
"Please, Hokage-sama! I'll do anything!"
Sarutobi had never seen Kakashi so desperate. "Are you certain? To step down from the ANBU, being a captain, no less, is a rather big decision."
Kakashi couldn't believe his ears. Was the Sandaime really that cruel? Or did he really not know? "Hokage-sama, I'm absolutely certain! Now please, before they..."
"24, it is so obvious. Greedalox shot first. Goblin had it coming."
"No way! 21, I saw Han Solo shoot first. Classic Mongolian behavior."
"Then why did they change it for further releases? Obviously, Sir George's vision was to paint Han as a noble savage."
"Please, it was censorship. Someone didn't like one of the good guys being crossbow-trigger-happy. So they changed the scene!"
"Lies!"
Kakashi saw his life flash before his eyes, as the two ANBU he had been assigned to bickered like a Yamanaka against a Haruno. Dear Kami, they just won't stop...
The pieces fit together easily for Sarutobi. "Well, Kakashi, you said anything, right?"
Konoha's Copy Ninja couldn't believe his luck. "Yes, anything! I beg of you!"
The Hokage just smiled. "Hmm... there are a few things that need to be done. We're lacking Jounins, you see..."
Next chapter: Naruto and Hinata go through the Academy, befriending Iruka along the way. Naruto does what he can to pass as a Genin, and nearly gets himself and Hinata killed! At the end of it all, Sarutobi might just have to get some help...
Stuff you should know:
-kun: Honorific, meant to show familiarity or affection to men and boys.
Teme: Stands for "bastard". Sometimes used as an honorific.
Juuken: Called "Gentle Fist" in the dub, this is the taijutsu style favored by the Hyuuga clan.
-san: Honorific, meant to show respect to most people. Mostly used for politeness.
-sama: Honorific, meant to show great respect, such as a worker to an employer.
