NaruHina: Petals

Chp 4:

Naruto woke up and was surprised to see that there was no one else in the cart. He looked around and saw that everyone were looking at a huge gate he quickly jumped out and ran over to them. "Hey! What is this place?" Katashi stepped forward to examine the door on the gate more closely.

"This is the entrance to the Village of Smiths."

"Okay then why aren't we going?" Katashi turned back and glared at him.

"Do you have a disease or are you really that stupid?" Sakura stepped behind him.

"Trust me, we all wonder that everyday…."

"Sakura-chan!" Katashi just rolled his eyes. Neji trace his finger along the door.

"Here just examine these markings." Naruto walked over and looked at the door closely, he was shocked at the craft. He was looking at a huge piece of faded copper, with great detail pressed into it. He pressed his hand to the door and moved his fingers along it's strange carvings.

"Okay I give up what am I looking at?" Katashi stepped forward.

"This is the beloved masterpiece of the Village of Smiths. They call it "Death of the Silver Mooned Fang." It was created by the founder of this Village. He made it in honor of all the souls they lost during the first of the Great Ninja Wars." Naruto looked at the door again and squinted.

"Eh…..I still don't see it. Are you sure this guy knew what he was doing?" Katashi lowered his head.

"Wow…you really are an idiot aren't you….." Naruto scowled at him.

"Na-Naruto-kun…" Naruto turn and noticed Hinata standing a little ways away, starting at the door. She signaled him to come over. He went over and stood next to her. She pointed at the door. "Try and look at it from this angle." Naruto turned to look at the door, his eyes grew huge.

"Whoa…" He was looking at a huge field with what appeared to be broken weapons and armor scattered along the ground. Along the center crease of the door there was a single sword stuck in the ground. Wrapped around its hilt the was what appeared to be a burned piece of clothing. While behind it there appeared to be the sun rising over some mountains. Naruto couldn't even speak the detail of the copper door was unreal. He just started with amazement in his eyes. He didn't know why or how but the door had put him in some sort of trance. He was brought back to reality by a gentle shake on his shoulder. He looked down into the pale eyes of Hinata.

"Naruto-kun…everyone is waiting on us. It is time to go…" Naruto took one more look at the door and nodded.

"Yeah…ok….." Naruto quickly went running back to the rest of the team.

As they road into the village Hinata noticed something amazing. Each one of the buildings had a different significant from the one before it. It appeared that all of them were created from a different metal and were crafted to their own unique style. What was odd to her was that even though the building didn't seem to match the others, they were still able to combined in one great masterpiece. She watched as merchants set up stands for food, games, and kimonos. "Um…..Katashi?

"Hmmm?"

"What is going on here? A festival?"

"Yea they are celebrating the completion of there village."

"Completion?"

"Yes well the saying goes that when the founder found this place it was nothing but baron land no crops, metals, or even water for miles but he told everyone that he was to build a great nation on that exact spot. He worked hard and turned the rock hard land into a prospering salivation. There was only one thing missing. They had no metal for weapons, armor, or buildings and they were completely lacking because of this. They were threatened by enemies at the time and they were lacking in equipment to defend themselves. So Legend has it that once his son was old enough to take over as the leader of the village, the founder went to a near by cave and merge his soul with the earth. The next morning the people were surrounded by ores for tons of different metals from all over the world. People say that it is impossible for some of the metals to be found in such an area. Thanks to him, his people were able to create weapons and defend themselves from there opponents and that is what everyone is celebrating." Hinata nodded and admired the rest of the amazing village.

After awhile Naruto grew bored of sightseeing so he did large one large stretch and laid down in the straw on the floor of the cart, closed his eyes and yawned. Just a he was getting comfortable he felt the wagon come to a stop. He sat up and was looking up at a huge fortress made from tons of different metals. It appeared to be the tallest in the area and had multiple walls surrounding its main building. It seemed to be heavily armed with no weak spots. Katashi jumped out and tide the oxen to a near by post and made they had food and water before turning to them. "Okay I must meet with the leader and make arrangements for the prize and while I meet with him you all can enjoy the festival tonight. Think of it as a thank you for all your help so far." Naruto jumped out of the cart.

"Alright! I can't wait to see all the food, maybe they even have ramen…."

"However I would like if one of you could meet the head with me." Neji stepped forward.

"If you don't mind I would like to accompany you." Katashi gave him a nod of appreciation.

"Well the festival should be open by now so the rest of you can go and shop." The girls eyes grew wide.

"Shop?" Katashi nodded again

"I saw multiple stands selling some rare clothing, only made by lone tailors who take residence somewhere near by." The girls jumped up and down in excitement while Naruto just groaned. Laughing, Sakura took Naruto's right arm, Ino on his left and TenTen pushed his back. All three of them then dragged a reluctant Naruto, kicking and complaining, in the direction of the festival. Leaving a giggling Hinata to follow closely behind.

Hinata stood wearing a beautiful, strapless dress that ended just above her knee. Snow white at the top and leading down past her stomach. It faded into a pale violate, getting darker until the bottom corner was such a dark rich shade of purple, it was nearly black. Something about the dress just seemed to draw her attention more than all the others. She turned around look at the back and was about to do another full turn until she heard someone knock on her door. "Hinata? Do you have the dress on?" Ino sounded just as excited as she was to see the dress.

"Uh Yea I do."

"Well get out here, we want to see it!" Hinata gave a half laugh.

"O-ok ok I'm coming.:" She opened the door to the changing room and was face to face with a smiling Ino.

"Ahhh Hinata it is perfect!." She spun Hinata around to get a full look. "I am so jealous! This dress is absolutely you. Come on lets show the others." Ino went behind her and pushed her to where the other girls were looking through tons of clothes. " Everyone look at this dress on Hinata!" TenTen and Sakura turned and squealed and ran up to her. They moved around trying to get the best view of her. She noticed Ino giving Sakura a sly smirk. Hinata was confused until they grabbed her arms and started pulling her. "Oh Naruto!" Hinata blushed and franticly try to free her self.

"Ino-chan please no!" But they all just laughed and tightened their grip and kept dragging her. When they couldn't find him Sakura whispered to Ino and TenTen who smiled and nodded. Sakura then ran ahead of them. She made a few turns and then signaled them. TenTen and Ino then push Hinata in that direction while Sakura ran to get someone. After they made the final turn Hinata saw a complaining Naruto being push straight towards them. As soon as he saw her, he stopped and started.

"Wow…You look amazing!" Hinata looked down at her feet.

"T-thank you Naruto-kun….." The more he started the deeper shade of red her cheeks turned. Hinata then realized she still hadn't paid for the dress so she excused herself and ran back to pay.

Hinata was watching as TenTen held up a kimono that had all the colors of the ocean. "Well Hinata what do you think? Or this one?" TenTen switched it for an identical one but it faded into a glorious reddish orange, the same as a sunset.

"I think the bluish-green." TenTen took a better look at the ocean colored one.

"Yea…I think you're right." Hinata gave a smile and nodded. TenTen paid for it and quickly ran to Naruto. He was standing of to the side away from all the shops, holding all the shopping bags that the girls, except Hinata, gave him to hold. He had an odd look on his face, a mix of pain, boredom, and annoyance. TenTen raced over and put the bag on one of Naruto's arms even though both had at least ten bags each. He gave her a little glare but held it anyway. TenTen then ran off to find more shops. Hinata knew she was done shopping so she quickly went over to Naruto and took about twelve shopping bags that were on his left arm. He gave her a surprised look but she just responded with a blush and a smile. Naruto grinned back at her, thankful that he now had someone to talk to.

After awhile the rest of the girls visited all of the shops so they deiced it was time for dinner. After dropping off the shopping bags at the cart they all went to find something they would all like to eat. Unfortunately none of them could decide on anything. Ino and TenTen wanted to go to a stand that sold dumplings while Sakura was up for Shiratama Anmistu. Naruto's vote was still for ramen and Hinata stayed quiet. She would try to find something she would like at any stand. Sakura gave up and was fine with having dumplings but Naruto was persistent. The girls told Naruto he could go by himself if he wanted and he seemed very content by that agreement. Naruto then turned to Hinata.

"Hey you've been pretty quiet Hinata-chan, you up for ramen with me?" Hinata blushed and pure red and nodded.

"S-sure Naruto-kun." He grinned back and then they were off to the ramen stand. Naruto sat down and didn't even need to look at the menu. Hinata however had no clue what to get. Naruto seeing her confused look laughed to himself.

"You need some help?" Hinata got a little flustered.

"Oh w-well I don't get ramen very often so I don't exactly know what is good…" Naruto pointed to what he was getting.

"This is my personal favorite, it is even better with an egg, sound good to you?" Hinata smiled.

"Sounds perfect." Naruto nodded and ordered for them when Hinata got her food she was surprised at how big it was. After awhile Hinata couldn't help but giggled as Naruto slurped the remain of his ramen and set the bowel down rather loudly. Hinata smiled and slid her bowl towards him, it still had a little less then half. "You want the rest of mine? I am pretty full." Naruto gave her a happy look.

"You sure?" She smiled and placed it in front of him.

"Go ahead." He gave her a smile of appreciation and finish what was left in the bowl. After he finished they paid and were on their way. After walking for awhile they came a man holding a sign sponsoring fireworks for tonight. Naruto asked Hinata to wait for a minute as he ran up to the man.

"Hey what time are the fireworks?" The man looked at his watch.

"Ummm in forty minutes."

"Ok so where is the best spot to see them?"

"Well The absolute best spot is right up there." The man pointed to a ledge on the side of a mountain. "almost no one knows about that but it is the perfect spot."

"How long does it take to get up there?"

"Well there is a path that takes you right up there it take around…twenty minutes."

"Hmmmm Thank you so much."

"No problem." Naruto ran back to Hinata and grabbed her hand, causing her entire face to turn a deep red.

"Here follow me." He then started to lead her to the spot the man pointed out to him. It took them about ten minutes to fined the path and twenty to climb. They stood there gazing at the stars and talking to each other. All of a sudden the fireworks started, they were far closer then the expected and it caused Hinata to stumble back and Naruto caught her. For some reason Naruto could bring himself to let her go and she was grateful her didn't. Hinata gazed at them with wonder and amazement. She looked at Naruto who was in a trance with a grin on his face which made her smile to. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her smiling at him and turned to face her. Suddenly he got lost in her pale eyes, every explosion was reflected in them. He leaned forward and he watched as she did the same they were only a few inches apart. As Naruto started to close the rest of the distance they heard a voice from behind them.

"Aw that's sweet it hurts that we have to break up this moment but we need to talk." They both turn around fiercely to find about five large men. All had black mask except the largest one in the middle. "We need to talk about the boy you're traveling with. Don't try to deny it. We know you are escorting the prize to the Hidden Cloud Village." Naruto stood up

"Not again…..how special could this prize really be?" The one in the middle chuckled and then signaled his men. they moved so fast Naruto could only see a blur until he felt something heavy land on him and he was force to lay on his stomach. He looked up and on his back sat the leader of the group. The men's feet pined Naruto's hands to the ground. Naruto looked over and saw two of the men holding Hinata's arms and forced her to her knees. The men sitting on Naruto's back threw Naruto's item pouch to on of the men watching them.

"Here check this. See if you can fin anything of value. Do the same with the girl." One of the two men holding Hinata threw her puoch to the other man who did the same. Naruto started to squirm free. The man tightened his hold on Naruto. "I don't think you should do that." he signaled to the men holding Hinata who nodded. One pulled out a kunai spun it around and held it to her throat. Naruto saw the fear in her eyes and immediately stopped. The man patted Naruto's head. "Good choice." Naruto watch as the men rummaged through what they had in their pouches. Then man with Naruto's pouch held up a Hidden Leaf headband with a along scratch through it. "Oh that is interesting." Naruto tried to get free once more.

"No Don't you dare touch that!" Then Leader smirked.

"Well I think we have what we're looking for." The other men nodded. "Well we are going to go but if you want to see the little head band again then you need to bring us the boy from the Cloud Village. They call him Katashi Kimura. Am I clear?" Naruto snarled at him who only chuckled. "I will take that as a yes." He got off Naruto to who flew straight for the one holding the headband. He made a punch straight at the man's chest. As his hand hit the mans chest a shot of pain flew through his arm he doubled over slightly gripping his hand.

"Naruto-kun!" the men nearly laughed and the leader threw a crumpled up piece of paper at Naruto.

"Here. These are direction to our site if you don't bring the boy before midnight tomorrow we will track you down…" The men let go of Hinata and all five ran into the woods, holding Sasuke Uchiha's headband. Naruto stood up and made a move to follow them.

"Naruto-kun wait!" Naruto stopped and looked at her.

"We can't just let them take his headband! We need to follow them!"

"We will Naruto-kun but we need to alert the others and get help." Naruto glared in the direction that the men ran and nodded.

"Yeah…you're right. Come on we need to hurry." He grabbed her hand and ran to go find the others.

The End

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