Authors Note: I would like to thank all those who reviewed, followed, and added this story to their favorites. :)
I do not own Naruto.
2: Melons!
Neji left the room slightly astonished.
Raising the curtains aside, he partly opened the glass window to let some cool air in. He turned to leave for the nurse station soon after he placed the bed tray over Hinata's lap, sure that she was conscious enough to eat, so she could start her very first meal for the whole five days. As he pulled the door close, his cousin spoke for the very first time that day and said, "Thanks, Neji." He just couldn't figure out which one required his utmost concern- her idiotic grin, the peace sign, or the fact that the polite Hinata suddenly forgot her honorifics.
'She must have hit her head too hard. Poor Hinata-sama,' he mumbled.
He also shrugged off the thought that her stupid grin looked awfully familiar.
oooxXxooo
'This is delicious!' Naruto said to himself as he took a spoonful of what he thought as the best hospital food ever. 'Is that shrimp?' He guessed as he checked out the contents of his food.
'Good morning, Hinata-sama.'
The words disappeared as quickly as it crossed his mind. Naruto continued to savor the rich taste of mixed mushroom broth and seafood. 'I can definitely feel things, so that means I didn't die.' He thought as he chewed on a small piece of asparagus.
But Neji's voice inside his head continued indistinctly, like a ghost calling from afar.
'Are you feeling well?'
'Neji said the others are doing fine. I'll go check out on them later. Especially, Hinata.' He stopped eating as he recalled his last few images of Hinata before he had passed out. He gripped the spoon tighter knowing that she risked her life again for him.
'Good morning-' The voice inside his head was getting louder.
"Hinata.. I hope she's okay." He uttered.
'Hinata-'
"Wait." Eyes wide with bewilderment, Naruto said out loud to no one in particular.
'- sama.'
"Did Neji just call me 'Hinata-sama'?!" He abruptly covered his mouth realizing how sweet and soft-spoken his voice was.
His heart beat faster, and he could feel his palm sweating. He looked at the spoon he was holding and noticed his new set of long slender fingers. And how come he didn't notice sooner that he had fringe just above his eyes? He held the silver spoon firmly, slowly, close to his face. He forgot to breathe when he saw his upside-down reflection- pale skin, white eyes, dark blue hair.
"Are you kidding me?"
He got up from his bed and walked a little unsteadily heading to a door to what seemed to be the bathroom. He opened the door and got inside, where he was greeted by a full length mirror, his reflection showing someone else's face.
Naruto pulled his incredibly soft cheeks apart. "No way." He tugged on his long dark hair and was sure it wasn't artificial hair. "No way!" One hand anxiously groped down to feel his crotch...
...and found it 'empty'. "No waaayyy!" He held on to the towel rail to make sure he wouldn't pass out because of despair. "My... my... It's gone!" He said as he sniffed back imaginary tears.
"Am I really in Hinata's body?" He took a deep breath and examined himself closely. 'Such a nice skin,' he thought. He lifted his arms, bent sideways, and jumped- his new body was moving perfectly according to what he desired. "Oh my god, I am Hinata! B-but how?" He stuttered just like Hinata, too. He turned his head sideways to inspect faintly bruised neck, then his gaze slowly moved down to his bulging chest. He swallowed hard and sheepishly looked around to make sure no one's watching. 'Well.. I'm.. umm, just making sure.' He nervously grabbed the neckline of his hospital gown, completely unaware of the two figures that entered the room. 'Just a little more..' He bowed his head down lower and saw...
"Melons!"
"Gaaaahhhh!" Naruto shrieked as he heard someone shouted from behind. Naruto was too occupied exploring his new body that he didn't notice Kiba and Shino entered his hospital suite and headed to the bathroom when the Hinata they were looking for was not on her bed.
"I didn't see anything! I didn't see everything! I'm sorry!" Naruto was shouting frantically.
"What do you mean? Here, I brought you melons, Hinata." Kiba raised the bag holding two round melons. "How are you feeling?"
Naruto grabbed Kiba's shoulders and looked straight to his eyes. "Kiba! You got to help me!"
"Huh? Hey, calm down. Didn't you just wake up? You should be resting, Hinata." He gently put the arms down, surprised that the 'kun' after his name was missing and that Hinata was uncharacteristically aggressive. He glanced over to Shino as if asking for help.
"He's right, Hinata. You haven't fully recovered-" Shino said, but he was immediately cut-off.
"No! I woke up and I'm in this body! My real body- it's missing! You got to help me find it!" Naruto said, not even thinking if asking Kiba was a good idea.
"Y-your body?" Kiba sounded surprised. "Aren't you just looking at it so pervertedly a while ago?" It was supposed to be an innocent joke, but to Naruto, it was like hitting the nail on the head, and his face turned red.
"N-n-n-o, I wasn't!" Naruto said furiously.
Kiba laughed at how 'Hinata' blushed and stuttered just like she used to, not knowing the reality of the situation.
"Stop laughing, you shit! I'm serious! I got to find my real body!"
'S-shit?' Kiba blinked twice, thrice, or maybe more, not sure if the word really came out from his friend's mouth. He glanced over to Shino once again and saw him just as surprised. "A-alright..?"
Sure that he had Kiba and Shino's attention now, Naruto continued. "Okay, first we have to find Hinata!" He walked around the room looking for some clothes to get changed to, while Shino and Kiba just looked at him dumbfounded.
"Did you hit your head too hard? You are Hinata!" Kiba exclaimed, but he still sniffed Naruto behind his back once again just to be sure. "Yeah, you are Hinata!"
"I told you, dog-breath! When I woke up, I'm in Hinata's body-"
'Dog-breath?!' Kiba's eyebrows twitched, and he felt his blood boil.
"I'm Naruto-" Naruto bent down to pick up a lavender jacket and when he turned to face Kiba, the dog-user was already half-way through the air, sharp teeth and claws about to pounce on him.
Shino just silently watched them fight, his hands holding the two big melons near his chest. "I hate being ignored."
oooxXxooo
Neji knew well enough the depth of friendship Team Kurenai had. Shino, Hinata, and Kiba had known each other since the Academy, and the numerous times they had fought together during their genin days to present only made their bond grow stronger. He also knew that Kiba and Shino cared for Hinata just as much as he did, that was why when he entered Hinata's hospital suite, he couldn't understand the reason why his cousin was mummy-wrapped with a blanket, with Kiba's foot stepping over her to make sure she couldn't move. Shino was on the other side of the room eating melons by himself.
"So you are saying that you are Naruto?" Neji asked the person in front of him. Naruto was no longer wrapped with a blanket, but his hands were still tied behind his back for "safety purposes". Naruto only nodded his head, tired of his previous brawl with Kiba. He was seated at the edge of his bed as the other three men in the room cross-examined him.
Neji activated his Byakugan and examined him. "But your chakra signature is definitely Hinata's, although a bit disrupted."
"She definitely smells like Hinata, too! I think this person is an impostor, or a white zetsu trying to confuse us." Kiba shouted.
"Calm down, Kiba. Being called dog-breath should not be a cause of irrational behavior." Shino calmly said.
"That has nothing to do with this!" Kiba said in defense.
"I don't know how it happened either, so don't try asking me. I woke up and I'm already like this! But I'm telling you, I'm Naruto!"
"You have to prove it, then, that you are Uzumaki Naruto." Neji crossed his arms.
Shino agreed. "That is a good plan."
"P-prove? How would I do that?"
"It would be a good start to tell something that you and I, or you and Kiba, or Shino, only know. Then we'll decide if you are telling the truth or not." Neji challenged him.
"What?! You guys expect me to know something like that?"
"Well, we need to know if you're telling us the truth!" Kiba said.
"Hmm, alright! I'll give it a try. Neji..." Naruto fixed his gaze to Neji, giving him a very serious look. The room became seriously quiet as the three interrogating ninjas anxiously waited for his answer.
"Neji.." Naruto repeated, which caused Neji to flinch unnoticeably. "You.. you have a mark on your forehead."
The silence ran for five seconds more, they heard crickets.
"Was that supposed to be a joke?! Everybody knows that!" Kiba was comically enraged, veins popping out on his forehead. He tried to grab Naruto but Neji stopped him.
"I couldn't think of anything else!" Naruto said while evading Kiba's hostile hands.
Neji only sighed at how stupid the answer was, but thought to himself that that kind of an answer was very much Naruto-like. "That's enough, Kiba. If he's telling the truth then that means it's still Hinata's body that you're going to hurt, and I can't let you do that. And you," His gaze focused on Naruto again. "If you do realize the gravity of the situation, then stop giving us foolish answers."
"Tch," was only Naruto's response. He was thinking of giving up and let destiny take its course, when his eyes glanced at the unexpressive face of Aburame Shino and decided to try one more time. "I'm sorry, Shino, but I don't have any other choice."
Shino didn't respond, but the slight shift in his stance showed that he had a bit of idea of what Naruto was about to do.
"You shouldn't fight! Neither of you should fight! My senses are that of a gold sniffing fox!(1)" Naruto started to sing and move his butt in a tune unfamiliar to everyone but Shino. He was about to sing some more when a bug 'accidentally' shoved its way to his throat. Naruto hacked, coughed, and gasped for breath while rolling uncontrollably on the bed.
"Hinata-sama!" Neji panicked.
"What the hell was that? Are we supposed to know that song, Shino?" Kiba didn't notice Shino's killing intent behind his glasses.
"That's Naruto alright." Shino concluded.
"Whoa! That fast?! How did you know?" Kiba asked, but Shino didn't bother to answer him.
"We should stop wasting time. You know why? Because I already found where Naruto's real body is."
"You did?!" Kiba and Naruto said in unison.
OooxXxooo
Shino's bug lead them to a room a couple doors away from Naruto's. The group was pretty surprised to see another familiar face open the door.
"Shikamaru?" Kiba asked surprised.
Shikamaru gave all four of them his signature lazy expression, then his gaze fell on Naruto. He looked at him head to toe as he invited them to come in. "Ugh, finally. What took you guys so long?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" Kiba asked again.
"I suppose you already know the situation. Where's Naruto?" Neji said, looking around the room.
Shikamaru leaned back on the closed door behind him, arms crossed on his chest. "If you're asking for his body, then it just actually went to the bathroom. Is that you, Naruto?" He asked, addressing the question to the Naruto inside Hinata's body.
"Whoa! That's Shikamaru for you, you dumb nuts!" Naruto blurted out, "How did you know?"
"I dropped by to check how you were doing and when entered the room, I found your body lying outside the bathroom door. When it woke up and talked, I just knew that the person I was with wasn't Naruto, or it could be Naruto with a severe head injury. And when you suddenly barged in, it came to me that one of you might be looking for your real body. Since you're the oddest one.." He studied Naruto again from head to foot- dark hair all over the place, stance that lacked the femininity and finesse of a Hinata Hyuuga, and that foul mouth.. Shikamaru sighed. "This is going to be very troublesome."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Naruto said, his fists flying around.
"So, Hinata-sama, I mean, Naruto was telling us the truth then." Neji figured.
"This is crazy!" Kiba exclaimed. "How did this happen? Or more imporantly, where's the real Hinata?"
As if on cue, they heard a girlish scream from the bathroom, and Naruto's form came into view. Its face was blushing red, hands covering its cheeks. "N-Naruto-kun?" Its eyes were still fixed on the bathroom mirror when it suddenly passed out, its body lay just outside the bathroom door.
They only stood there for a moment with their mouths hanging open.
"T-That's definitely Hinata." Kiba's expression was of disbelief and awe.
Neji's was of pure pity. "Poor Hinata-sama..."
"That would be the fifth time." Shikamaru shook his head.
Sweatdrops formed on Naruto's forehead. "Uh, Hinata, if possible, I would like to get my body back in one piece."
oooxXxooo
Hinata sipped a cup of hot tea to calm her nerves down. The drink made her body warm, but her face only became warmer when she saw her reflection in the cup. 'I'm inside Naruto's body.' The thought made her pass out again, and she dropped the cup and all its hot content on her lap. She woke up wincing at the pain and wiped her hospital gown in a very prim and reserved manner.
The boys inside the room just watched her dumbfounded.
"I never thought I would see Naruto so... proper." Kiba's mouth was still left hanging open.
"Shut up!" Naruto snorted.
"How do you think this happened, Hinata-sama?" Neji asked.
"I-I'm sorry, but I really don't know. Last thing I remember was that I was fighting Octopus-san, something struck me, and I lost consciousness."
Naruto bit his lip and looked away. He was occupied with his own thought when Shikamaru called him.
"How about you, Naruto?"
He tried to concentrate, thinking of an answer. "I can't remember either. But I do remember using my Rasheshuriken multiple times before I passed out."
"Hmm. This is going to be difficult. But isn't this ninjutsu the same as the Yamanaka clan's Mind Body Switch Technique?" Neji said.
"This one is entirely different. The Mind Switch Body Technique deliberately possesses and controls someone, and the body of the user, most of the time, would be left unconscious. But judging from Naruto and Hinata's statements, none of them used a ninjutsu that caused the switch, and both of them are awake and responsive." Shikamaru responded with much knowledge about Ino's ninjutsu.
"What should we do then?" Kiba asked.
"We should ask someone who has a remarkable knowledge about ninjutsus and the human body. Why? Because-" Just before Shino could finish his statement, the door opened and a woman with hairbuns on both side of her head showed up.
"Naruto?" Tenten called. It confused her for a moment that both Naruto and Hinata answered 'yes' at the same time, but she just disregarded it, continuing on with the important message she's about to tell. "Oh, good thing you're both awake. Hokage-sama wants to see us."
1 from Naruto Episode 186: Laughing Shino
