Don't let the title of this chapter confuse you. I aim to type with the name of the song. Naruto also isn't as alone as one might think. Read on and you'll see. Hopefully this is acceptable! (there are no OCs yet) This is a NaruHina again.
Virtuous Heart, Chapter 3
To his unfortunate luck, he didn't find that girl throughout the remainder of the weekend. There were so many buildings to scope out and not enough time in the day. He tried to become a daybreaker, but it didn't turn out well. Admittingly, he did get all types of frustrated in his attempts. It was thanks to his Master that he thought it thoroughly and rationally. Perhaps he'd see her in school. He'd be getting a new teacher and homeroom after all!
When Monday finally rolled around, Naruto was up at earlier than when he'd normally wake up, his heart beating in excitement. He did everything he could and got ready fast, leaving his apartment in a swift haste. 'I hope she's there in my new class!' The excited child thought as he jumped the last five stairs from the apartment complex and sped off. He checked to make sure he was all set; Bento? Check. Shirt? Check. Orange vest? Check. Green shorts? Check. Sandals? Che—whoa! Naruto screeched to a halt and looked down.
He was missing a sandal! How'd that happen? He wiggled the toes on his left foot, the one without the sandal. Did he really make such an elementary mistake? Blast it all! "Aw man, have to go back!" Naruto huffed irritably before turning around and running back from whence he came, ignoring the stares of the people that were around. He couldn't go and meet his cognoscente unprepared and definitely not tardy. The blond knew he had to hurry if he wanted to potentially see her again and meet his new teacher and homeroom classmates. He didn't want to give off a bad impression!
"Back already, Naruto?"
The boy whipped around as soon as he barged into his apartment to find the source of the voice. Sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal was another boy that looked identical to him in every way; same unruly blond hair, same whisker marks on his cheeks, same skin complexion and age. The only thing that set him apart was his attire, how deep of a blue his eyes could get and his attitude.
Contrary to popular belief, Naruto never grew up too alone or without companionship. He always had one other person with him nearly everywhere he went. This one person that was given the same "treatment" from the villagers and teachers at school. The identical kid was volumes smarter than Naruto, inherited by their shared parentage, and was more shrewd than playful. But he did have a soft spot for Naruto. And sadly, sometimes this smart boy could be as lazy as Shikamaru Nara, much to Naruto's annoyance.
"You're STILL here, nii-san?" Naruto countered, glowering at his brother.
The other blond haired boy shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat. "I'm in no hurry to get to the classroom today. The new teacher will most likely react like the others and make us stand outside the room." He took a bite from his cereal once he finished speaking. The more hyperactive of the pair rolled his eyes and moved in to grab the other kid.
"Put a lid on it Menma and let's go! You already know another reason why I want to get there early! You should too! You might find 'the one' you're searching for!"
Menma, as he was called, just sighed heavily and rose from his chair. He knew his twin could get away with anything and being a bothersome child was one of them. He was glad he inherited his shrewd mind from their father; without it, they wouldn't have learned the Kage Bunshin from the Old Man. Doing a regular Bunshin was impossible for them. Not to mention, they both couldn't do a henge. At all. That was the only thing stopping them from getting better marks. Well, stopping him from getting better marks; he knew his twin was on the failing side no matter how much he tried to help him.
"Fine, just let me finish get ready. I'll meet you at the Academy."
"Great! Just don't be late! This world can't afford to have two Shikamaru." Naruto said as he slipped on his other sandal and left yet again with much gusto. Menma watched his twin race out with so much energy in his step. It was typical of him to. However, he did know why he was excited. His brother told him last night of his encounter with his possible cognoscente.
It surprised him a little. Naruto found his Maven, All he had to do was connect with her and they could begin their ascent. Their Master did warn they might share a Maven since they were genetically identical. One half of the same weapon. It was a good thing Naruto found them first. Menma, in all honesty, didn't want to share and wanted his own Maven. He hoped the girl Naruto helped couldn't be synchronized with him. If so, it would suck for him.
A small smile found its way to his face. 'Reach high, Naruto.' He thought as he took one last bite out of his cereal then went to their shared bedroom to finish getting ready.
-x-
"Hinata-sama, remember I will be here to pick you up after the class session is over," Kō Hyūga, her guardian, said as they arrived to the Academy building. The girl nodded and quietly thanked the man for escorting her. He bowed before taking his leave. As he left, Hinata turned and entered the school, finding her homeroom easily. She took her normal seat in the back row, watching idly as the classroom began filling up with students.
Once the room filled up with the appropriate amount of students, their teacher, Iruka Umino, came in. "Good morning, class."
"Good morning Iruka-sensei!" The students chanted in unison.
"I hope everyone had a good weekend?" He asked and was met with various expressions and sounds. He laughed a little before picking up a clipboard with a sheet of paper on it. "All right, all right. We have mixed feelings about it. I do hope everyone practiced over the weekend as we'll be starting on taijutsu starting from today." He paused as he grabbed a writing utensil. "I'll be doing roll call now. Please raise your hand or say 'here' when I call your name."
The brown haired man chūnin began listing through his students' names one after another, marking on the sheet if they were present or absent. Most were excited about the taijutsu lessons they would be undergoing today. Some weren't, which were mostly the females in the class. If this day couldn't get any weirder though. However, later today, the class would be in total surprise; they would be getting three new classmates. They didn't know that though.
"Sakura Haruno."
The pink haired girl with a red ribbon on her head, sitting next to a blonde girl with short hair raised her hand and said, "Here!" Iruka saw and heard her before marking her down. His eyes scanned to the next name.
"Hinata Hyūga."
The dark haired girl raised her hand without saying much and Iruka marked her down. He knew she was mostly quiet. He went through the next few names, marking them down. The white-eyed Hyūga had her mind busy on thinking about the encounter with Naruto the other day. Unknowingly to him, she had tried to find him as well, searching through stores or the like, having ditched her guardian a couple times. She hadn't been too successful at either of those; Kō would either find her after five minutes or her search would turn up empty-handed. She held her hands on her desk where her notebook and pencil sat, ready for note taking.
'Naruto-kun... Are you even attending the Academy? I hope so... Maybe I can try and find him here.' She thought. Ever so slightly, she ignored most of her surroundings, concentrating on the "what-ifs" of the lecture they would have on taijutsu today.
-x-
With Iruka, he was at the last of his student roster. "Sasuke Uchiha," he called and saw the brooding, dark-haired boy raise his hand slowly. A lot of the female population in the class had stars in their eyes when his name had been called. He was the epitome of "cool" and succeeded at everything he did. What the students didn't know so well was that he lost his entire family not too long ago. Ninja higher up than the Genin rank were told the story of the Uchiha Massacre and to remain normal around the only living Uchiha, Sasuke.
Well, there was another that survived; they had been over a friend's house when the event took place. That kid was one of the three new students. The next name he glanced over he looked at fondly. It was amazing he could teach this individual and was glad the Hokage allowed it. He was his young cousin after all.
"Tobio Umino."
The boy that was called had identical brown hair in the same style as Iruka. His skin complexion was a bit fairer but not by a lot. His eye shape was different than the teacher's though it was expected due to his mother's eyes. The student smirked and waved his hand, "I'm here, Iruka-sensei." Despite the familial connection, the chūnin knew he couldn't play favorites and hadn't for as long as he had been teaching. Which was for only a few months at most. Iruka marked him down and went to the last name on the roster.
"Ino Yamanaka."
The short-haired blonde next to Sakura smiled, "Here!"
"Excellent, everyone is here." Iruka said as he glanced over the class and the room itself. There were four spots left; three in the top left back row and one on the row below it. He mentally nodded in approval before sighing. Two of the three children he would be assigned to teach were...trouble. Well, one was more trouble than the other, but telling them apart physically would be a chore and a half.
They were also physical reminders of what happened to the village almost seven years ago. When the mighty and fierce demon, the Nine-Tails appeared and caused destruction upon Konoha. They had been saved by the Fourth Hokage and his wife; how that had been was classified. But those of chūnin and jōnin rank were told that the Fourth and his wife used a high leveled sealing technique to split the Kyūbi, sealing one half each into two infants. The jutsu cost both of them their lives.
The bakegitsune was the one responsible for Iruka's parents' deaths. Tobio, his cousin, also lost his parents that day. Both had been orphans. The then twelve year old Iruka couldn't care for his then infant cousin because he was too young.
The names of the two children he was suppose to teach, the ones that reminded him so much of the Kyūbi, were going to be in his class. The Hokage assigned him to this task because he had faith in him. The other teachers told him to just act natural or ignore the children like many would do when handling the Uzumaki boys.
Iruka sighed. He just hoped today would go by smoothly.
"Listen up class. We'll be having three new students join us today," majority of them blinked in wonder, confusion and awe. New students? Cool! "As I've noticed, you're all wondering who they could be," the teacher paused, sensing the new chakra signature was outside the door. "Let me introduce you to one of them." Here was the moment of truth.
The sliding door opened and stepping in was a girl with wavy, purple hair that reached her shoulders, dark round eyes similar to Sasuke's and coincidentally wore a high collared shirt in the dark maroon shade. Her shorts were a light grey color and her sandals partially matched her shirt. She seemed to look bored and cool, very much in akin to Sasuke. The only difference was that her air of coolness wasn't suffocating.
"Class," Iruka started, his eyes roving over them as they analyzed the new girl. He kept his eyes mostly on Sasuke however. This would affect him the most. "This is Naori Uchiha," As expected, gasps were heard all around. Sasuke went from bored and inattentive to rigid and surprised instantly upon hearing his family name. "Please treat her well as a fellow classmate."
Naori took this moment to bow. "Thank you for having me." She said politely. Everybody was too baffled or shocked (mostly Sasuke) to respond. Iruka asked her to take a seat. The other known Uchiha did so, taking the only seat in the row before the back row. Most noticed how Sasuke's eyes followed her. Iruka sought the children's attention to him again. It looked like the other two weren't coming. Hm, that was good. Perhaps the pair didn't want to come. In all honesty, that was good for him. The last bell rang, signaling the real start of class time.
Iruka began his lesson on the review from last week, making sure his students had their texts opened and were paying attention. This moment of peace lasted for a good five minutes before the sliding door opened with a powerful slam.
"Yosh! The Uzumaki Duo have arrived!" A loud voice shouted, accompanied by a brightly colored boy. The surname caught the attention of one Hyūga who snapped out of her reveries. 'It couldn't be, could it?' She thought but hoped hard. Her hopeful wish was answered generously. Stepping in with a wide grin on his face was none other than Naruto Uzumaki. The blond haired boy blinked as everyone stared at him in utter disbelief. However, he wasn't paying much attention to them and glared outside the sliding door.
"Oi! Nii-san, come on! You're being so slow!" He hissed.
"Ugh, I'll get there whenever I feel like it." Another voice that sounded the same as the orange wearing boy replied, but more bored in tone. Stepping in was another boy, very identical to the one that came in first. He was wearing literally the same thing except his shorts were a dark grey instead. One other thing that set him apart was how he seemed more subdued than the other. Other than that... well they were the same!
He closed the sliding door behind him and stood next to his obvious twin, who was smiling bright. Iruka stared at them impassively; he was already getting a headache.
"Are you two Menma and Naruto Uzumaki?" He asked, keeping his emotions back and displaying an air of professionalism. He'd follow his Hokage's orders of course but... This one seemed impossible. Before the loud one replied, the more subdued of the pair answered him.
"Yes, we are."
"You do realize you're both late?" He questioned sternly. Both boys flinched simultaneously at his tone. Good.
"Unfortunately. It will not happen again." The calm one spoke up again.
Iruka only nodded before quickly introducing the pair to the class and instructing them to call him "Iruka-sensei" from now on. Afterwards, he told them to take a seat anywhere available. The twins made their way to the top row seats as everyone still stared at them with various expressions. The only ones that didn't were Shikamaru, Chōji and Kiba. The aforementioned shot one of the boys a smirk and thumbs up, who reciprocated it. The other twin sighed in exasperation; Iruka couldn't help but mentally agreed with him.
"All right now that everybody is here, let's continue with the review." The brown haired chūnin returned to his lecture. Five minutes in, he looked up to see if his students were paying attention, especially the new ones. What he saw hardly surprised him. One of the twin boys had his head down on his desk in a similar manner worthy of Shikamaru Nara, who also had his head down on his desk. The other twin was staring intently at the Hyūga heiress that was just a seat and aisle away from him. The girl in question was trying her best not to fidget under his scrutiny. Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose; kami help him...
'This is going to be a LONG four years...'
-x-
When lunch time came around for Iruka's and another instructor's class, all the students hurried out to finally relax. Their first taijutsu spars would be held at the last hour before class session ended. Naruto beamed in delight at the prospect of this freedom. His last teacher, along with his brother's, didn't let them outside so much for stupid reasons. He was also surprised that Iruka-sensei hadn't sent him nor his twin outside the classroom when they weren't paying attention; instead they were called upon and scolded for being distracted.
That was surprisingly better than being sent outside the classroom.
But! That wasn't the reason for his huge smile right now. When he had sat down in his seat, that sensation funneled through him again. The presence that his cognoscente was nearby! He held his breath and had looked around the classroom from where he was until he found his head turning to his left. Staring right back at him were familiar white eyes, dark hair and fair skin of a girl. Naruto couldn't help but have wide eyes; it was her! She DID go to the Academy after all!
She seemed as shocked as him, too. Did she remember him from the other day?
"Hina?" He had whispered her name. The girl gasped slightly before slowly nodding.
"N-Naruto-kun." She had whispered back, acknowledging him.
After that, she did her best to stay focused on the lecture. But for him? He was focused on HER. He really wanted to connect with her, to finally realize his true power. He had remembered something and side glanced at his twin sibling. The boy had been staring intently ahead of him, not blinking or looking like he was paying attention to Iruka-sensei either. Naruto had followed his brother's gaze and spotted a girl with purple, wavy hair sitting in the row before them next to another girl with simple black hair.
He knew that stare—it was the one of recognition. His twin apparently found HIS cognoscente. Hah! Well, it looked like they wouldn't be sharing a Maven after all like Kyūbi-sama said. Then again, their Master did say there was a chance they might or might not.
So! Here was the lunch hour and as he expected, Menma was watching the purple haired girl walk away to eat her lunch somewhere in seclusion probably. Naruto elbowed him. "Weeeeell? Arent'cha gonna follow her and connect?" He was hoping to make his brother splutter in nonsense. He was partially awarded.
"Wh-What? That's ridiculous." Menma hissed under his breath. Naruto shook his head though.
"Come on. The Master said we had to get in contact with them. This will be our first step in getting the Master's favor." Hearing about the favor again changed Menma's mind. Like his twin, he too wanted to experience his true power. The Master had given their father's parents life and had favored their father to give them life. The man didn't only have one offspring but surprisingly two with their mother. It was in his best interests to also be granted the gift of the favor, too.
Still, his brother was teasing him. It was best to tease back.
"So? What about you, hm? Have any plans on getting her to connect with you?"
To his credit, Naruto flushed in total embarrassment. He opened his mouth to retort but couldn't come up with a good counter. So he shut his mouth, pouted and looked down. Menma smirked a winning grin. "Thought so," he said.
"Shut up. It's not like YOU have any ideas."
A figurative lightbulb 'pinged' above Menma's head just as his brother finished that sentence. He had an idea. Quickly, he relayed it to his brother in hushed tones, giving out the details in a simple way so his twin could comprehend it. Naruto nodded his head once the information was passed, agreeing to it wholeheartedly. They would wait until the session was over before making their move. Their Master also seemed pleased with their idea and approved it. That was a bonus.
So, for the rest of the lunch hour, the boys found a spot to sit down and eat their lunches. All the while, their eyes were heavily and intently focused on their respective future Mavens. Today would be the day.
-x-
When class was dismissed—the last of the taijutsu matches over with—the boys set their plan in motion. Menma was the first one to make his move; before the purple haired girl, Naori Uchiha, could leave the classroom, he hurried over and grabbed her left hand with his own left hand and ran out the room. For an Uchiha, however, she certainly was loud and accentuated her voice by yelling out: "What are you doing?!" That was enough incentive to draw attention to them from majority of the class. When the focus was clearly on that scene, Naruto made HIS move.
He tapped Hina on her shoulder, garnering her curious attention before doing virtually the same as his twin. Instead of yelling out like Naori did, the dark haired girl squeaked in surprise as he ushered her out another exit of the Academy, completely dodging adults and especially her guardian. "N-Naruto-kun?" Hina gasped in shock, wondering where he was taking her. They were bypassing many shops in a rapid hurry, ignoring the villagers along the way.
He simply grinned at the call of his name again, liking the apparent affection of the suffix after his name. "Don't worry! I know what I'm doing!" He told her, truly excited. He could feel his soul wavelength sparking up against hers in antsy anticipation of their soon-to-be connection. She had no idea what that feeling was or why it happened of course. Before she knew it, they were leaving the village proper and entering a rather secluded area filled with pine trees. Naruto released her hand and waited for her to catch her breath. She hadn't ran that much before!
"Sorry about that Hina! I just wanted to talk to you but didn't know how I'd be able to without anyone watching us," Naruto admitted, smiling at her. Hinata was still panting but curiously eyed him, a silent notion for him to continue. And continue he did. "There's something I have to tell you and show you but only you. What do you say?"
The Hyūga finally caught her breath, albeit not completely, but was calmed enough to nod. "Y-Yes. U-Um and Naruto-kun?"
"Yeah?"
She smiled a little. "M-My name is Hinata, n-not 'Hina'... But if y-you want to call me 'Hina' it's o-okay." The only one to call her "Hina" had been her mother. Only a short few years ago she had lost her mother, Megumi Hyūga, after she gave birth to baby sister, Hanabi. It had been a terrible time for her but... She had to get used to it. Especially since her father started being different towards her. Naruto's expression went from that cheery smile to a wonky one.
"Oh... Haha, sorry! See, last time you only said 'Hina' when you introduced yourself. Before that guy came along and took you away."
"O-Oh... That w-was Kō. He's my g-guardian," Hinata replied. Remembering that day, she thought to finally give him the thanks he deserved. "Naruto-kun. I... Um, th-thank you for helping me that d-day. From those... B-Bullies."
The whiskered blond grinned wide and rubbed the back of his head. "No problem, Hinata! I hate to see people getting bullied like that." When she smiled at him, the warm feeling he felt returned twofold. It was time. His Master was moving around in anticipation himself, having witnessed it before when his mother and father became partners. It was his turn. "Hey, Hinata. Remember, I have something to tell and show you."
She stared at him, giving him her undivided attention. As a brave soldier would in a war, he spoke again. "I'm not entirely human," that caught her slightly off guard but he didn't pause there, "I'm apart of a race called a Ruin. They were created by the Kyūbi no Kitsune a long time ago. They were capable of shape shifting into weapons for those bonded to them, called Mavens, to wield them. As such, Ruin serve the Kyūbi. Um," now he paused to scratch his left cheek and laugh a little, "I don't remember the entire story but they were all wiped out a long time ago. My dad was the last one left. But he married my mother and had me and my brother. So, we inherited the ability from our dad."
He watched her face shift through several expressions ranging from shock to confusion and recycling them until it settled on simply wonder. As a potential Maven, they would understand easily since their potential Ruin was the only thing they would see when spoken to about such a topic. Naruto hoped she understood clearly and ask the question he wanted her to ask. He mentally crossed his fingers as he continued watching her in the tense silence. 'Does she believe the story?' He wondered to himself. Suddenly, he frowned, attitude partially deflated and sighed, 'What if she doesn't? The village portrays the Master as some evil demon that caused intentional havoc on Konoha out of spite. And that's not the entire truth. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't. Those lies were told as history and such.'
He looked up from his reverie and noticed Hinata had her hands in a seal. "Huh? Hinata, what are you doing?"
"Byakugan," the girl whispered as the veins around her eyes bulged visibly on her skin. She stared at Naruto for only a few seconds before gasping in shock. People would have their chakra cycling through them from one focal point, their core, and when they started molding it, it would begin cycling faster like how blood flows through the body. What she was seeing in her classmate was anything but what she thought. His chakra, a serene aquamarine color, was plastered EVERYWHERE through his body. It was as if someone had filled a pitcher of water to the brim but continued to pour into it. While it was normal that people had blue chakra, what caught her more off guard was that there seemed to be two red energies within the aqua color. One red was in the center of Naruto and the other red parts, that seemed more orange, was spread apart, funneling through him easily like a wave.
She had no idea what the central red chakra was about but the orange-red chakra circulating through him... It seemed to make sense. That part being everywhere in him. He did say the Ruin race were created by the Kyūbi, the demon fox that had terrorized Konoha years and months before her own birth. If that was true—which it certainly was looking that way—then he'd have some odd energy coursing through him.
She deactivated her dojūtsu and looked at Naruto in a different light. He looked at her, wondering what she did and why. He didn't seem upset; more like confused.
"Um..." She twiddled her fingers together, unsure what to really say. "Y-You have t-two different chakra running th-through you."
Naruto blinked before understanding. The eye bulging thing she did was a bit weird but he shrugged it off. "Oh, yeah! That's supposed to be that way. My human herit—uh... The part that makes me human should be a blue chakra. The red part is the weapon form of me. But it's not stabilized yet because I don't have my partner yet. When I do get one, it's supposed to take a solid form and remain in the core until used." He replied, hoping he was being simple enough. That and Menma said, 'if YOU can't understand what you're saying then it's no good.'
He grinned at her again. "And that's where you come in Hinata!"
"M-Me?" She blinked, a little nervous.
"Yeah! The day I met you, I knew you were 'the one' I'm destined to connect with! You're my cognoscente! I felt it!" He chirped happily, his heart bubbling in excitement. He could almost taste his true power being unleashed! The blond stared into her white eyes, getting another read of her soul and chakra. The sync was still off balance but it was slowly and surely trying to link together. They just had to connect. It was so CLOSE!
"Do you trust me, Hinata?" Naruto suddenly asked still staring into her eyes. The girl 'eeped' softly from the abrupt question and could only get lost into his deep pools of eyes. She was transfixed and he was entranced by her movement. The hypnotic sensation his Master informed him his own father had felt around his mother. She didn't know when he held out his right hand, as if wanting her to take it.
The information, all of it was mind blogging. The boy she started admiring was something entirely different but that didn't make him any less of a person. No—he was just special. She rationally realized. Of course, as young as she was, she wondered why this was slowly making sense. It seemed VERY absurd but Naruto didn't appear to be lying. His chakra, strange as it was, appeared to be the only concrete evidence of his claim. And, he was genuine when he told her his story.
He was a Ruin.
He was technically a weapon.
And he wanted her to become his cognoscente it seemed like.
She watched his facial expression. It didn't seem like that smile was going to fade anytime soon. And, so far, she did trust him. She would put her faith into this. If she didn't believe him then who would? Beside his own brother? Timidly she reached out her left hand and clasped it around his right. Naruto's eyes widened in light shock before his smile grew. He closed that hand around her before a sudden flash surround him and her left arm!
Hinata squeaked in fright and shut her eyes tight, just as something literally engulfed her arm almost entirely! The flash was over just as it started and she slowly opened them. Her vision adjusted to the afternoon-evening sunlight, and she scanned her surroundings. She was still in the area where Naruto took her. But, where was Naruto?
"N-Naruto-kun?" She called out.
'Hey Hinata!' The aforementioned boy's voice called out from...somewhere close by. But, from where?! She soon heard his voice again, saying, 'I'm right here!'
"I... I don't see you..." Hinata replied, looking around from where she was, her heart beat accelerating.
'On your left arm,' he said then let out a huge sigh and laugh. 'Wow! So THIS is what it feels like to be transformed! This feels so much better!' Hinata was flabbergasted by his response and even more by what he just said. However, she looked at her left arm and was even in more shock. It was covered completely up to her shoulder, like some sort of armor, twirled around like a fashionable double helix. Her fingers were left free like a half glove of sorts, but around each finger, there were metal rings. They seemed like brass knuckles. There was a chain wrapped around the arm guard thing and at the end was a hook of sorts, like it could grapple anything.
Hinata was such in surprise, she couldn't help but poke it to make sure it was real. This incited a giggle that sounded suspiciously like Naruto.
'Ha ha ha ha! Please, that tickles! Hey wait, I'm still ticklish in this form?!'
Suddenly, some claw like extension shot out of the knuckles part of the guard! Whoa! Was... Was this Naruto's weapon form? And did that just happen because he was being tickled? He seemed to allude to it. Hinata blinked a few times before seeing half an astral form of Naruto floating above the arm guard. The strange thing was that he seemed to be missing his shirt. What's going on? Oh, wait... She had to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.
"Naruto-kun?"
The astral projection of her classmate smiled at her and shot her a thumbs up. 'It's me! Yatta! This is super awesome, Hinata! Now we're synchronized partners! We'll never be apart now! We can get stronger together from now on!' Naruto's smile was infectious because soon Hinata began smiling. But she was still rather baffled by all this. What kind of weapon did he transform into?
He seemed to sense her question and adopted a light thinking pose. 'As for what form I took... Well the form depends on the Maven's fighting style! So if you're a close range fighter, you get something like a kodachi. If you're more of a long ranged fighter, you get something like a bow.' He examined himself over and nodded. 'This means you must be a close range fighter, Hinata. Or you're training to be one. So my weapon form adjusted to that. As for what exactly I am...' He paused to think for a moment.
'Hm, yeah. I'm an Adamant Vambrace Knuckle. Those claw things are probably tiger claws. The chain wrapped around me must be responding to my hiden that my brother and I discovered a year ago. The Adamantine Grappling Chain. I think I could make more but uhhh... I'm not THAT skilled right now.' Naruto's astral form rubbed the back of his head again. 'Sorry I'm not awesome yet, Hinata.'
She finally found her voice to reply. "I-It's all right Naruto-kun," Hinata said with honesty, "We can w-work on getting stronger t-together like you said."
This brightened him up. 'Yeah! You're right! Hm hold on...' He said and closed his eyes. There was another flash like before and there stood Naruto in his usual form. The one that obviously was human. "Whew... I guess I couldn't stay like that for TOO long." Hinata couldn't help but laugh. She decided to put the information to the side and enjoy the time with Naruto. It was too mind boggling after all.
"Hey Hinata?"
"Hm?"
"Could you...not tell anyone about this?" She seemingly asked 'why' with her eyes so he hurried to explain. "It's just... The Master had once long ago told Ruin to hide their identity so we wouldn't be possibly corrupted by the Pure Insanity. What that is... Well it makes a Ruin twisted. It also has a connection to how they are forcibly contained in their weapon forms forever. If a Ruin remains like that for so long, their humanoid spirit is crushed and they die. They remain as inanimate weapons, like everyday kunai. I don't want that to happen to me or my brother..."
Oh. Hinata became a bit shaken up after that. Naruto could possibly die if he was changed by this Pure Insanity thing? Was it like a curse that couldn't be broken? How terrible!
"I p-promise Naruto-kun. I will not t-tell a soul."
"Thanks Hinata."
"Hinata-sama!"
Uh-oh. The guard was back. Naruto and Hinata shared one last look of understanding before the boy started on his escape. "See you at school tomorrow Hinata!"
"B-Bye Naruto-kun...!"
Just before Kō arrived, the blond haired boy was already gone and out of sight. He was jittery and jumping in glee all the way back to his apartment. He couldn't believe he did it! He found his Maven, connected AND experienced his first transformation ever! He felt so alive! He also couldn't wait to do that again. Boy oh boy, wait until his brother heard of this! Naruto bounded to the apartment, unlocked and opened it—to find his twin at the table again.
"How'd it go?" Menma asked. His eyes flashed red and a smile appeared on his face. Naruto kicked their door closed and approached his brother. His own eyes flashed red as he smiled too.
"Went great! How about you?"
"Just as well, although she was a little hard to convince. We're one step closer to gaining Master's favor." Both glanced at Naruto's stomach before slowly being greeted by a familiar, warm presence. The feeling of their Master's approval made them excited. He approved of their encounters. Yes! One step close to earning it!
"Yeah," Naruto replied. "One step closer."
Yep, Menma is in here but not really a main. Naori isn't an OC and Tobio is the troll genin that makes Naruto fall on Sasuke and they kiss in part 1. His last name also isn't Umino. I made it up so he could be related to Iruka lol. They're a supporting role and it adds some mystery. You'll see.
Megumi, obvious made up name for Hinata's mother. "Adamant Vambrace Knuckle" is a made up weapon. Menma's attitude is akin to Dark Pit's from Kid Icarus: Uprising. His profile also says his attitude was more like Minato's as Naruto's is more like Kushina's. So yeah. "Virtuous Heart" is from SCV, too. MinaKush chapter is next!
Review if you like. Don't review if you don't like.
Revised: 7/30/2015
