Of Foxes and Fireworks
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.
Chapter 4
Hands resting rigidly on her knees, Hanabi stared down at Naruto's unmoving body with worry. Her feet were tucked tightly underneath her, and her back remained at a straight ninety-degree angle.
Shortly after fighting and defeating the Akatsuki soldiers, she and Naruto had walked for nearly five hours to make it to their current location. It had been a bit hard to find with Naruto's slurred and jumbled directions, but eventually, the wooden shrine that would be their home for the next few days had appeared.
It didn't seem all that safe, and it wasn't that tough to find if you knew what you were looking for, but she trusted that Naruto knew what he was doing––even if he was delirious and bleeding out at an alarming rate. What other choice did she have?
However, there was one factor that she didn't account for.
"He's not going to wake up just because you stare at him," a female voice from behind her sighed.
Hanabi turned her head and frowned at the older woman, eyes smoldering with annoyance. Did she think she was stupid? Of course staring at Naruto wouldn't wake him up, but what else was there to do? She couldn't leave without him, and she really didn't trust her own abilities well enough to scout the area.
"Mind your own business. Why are you still here, anyway?"
The woman walked over until she was standing directly next to the Hyuuga, arms crossed and face fixed into a scowl. "Who's the one that gave you food? Clean clothing? A place to stay?" she asked, voice soft but with a noticeably dangerous edge.
Hanabi angrily opened her mouth to say something in response, but a second later, she realized that there really was nothing she could say. The woman was right; if it wasn't for her help, things would be significantly tougher than they were right now.
In other words, both she and Naruto would probably be dead.
Water wouldn't have been much of a problem given the small well she'd found behind the shrine, but food was another story. There was absolutely nothing edible in the area unless she wanted to backtrack four or so hours to try her hand at fishing, but to be quite honest, she wasn't all that eager to go back to the river alone––especially since she was pretty much completely ineffective in a fight.
She dropped her head and looked back down at Naruto, ignoring the triumphant smirk of her "savior." It wasn't worth arguing with her over something so pointless. A quiet grunt from the man in front of her caused her to jump, and she leaned forward to get a closer look at his face.
"Naruto?" she hesitantly asked, feeling the woman behind her also lean forward.
Naruto turned his head in the direction of her voice. "I'm thirsty," the blond mumbled, eyes creaking open to look at her.
Hanabi gasped. "O-of course! Hold on!" She stood up and ran out of the room, bare feet barely making a sound on the wooden planks.
As soon as she'd left, the woman who had been quietly standing by during the exchange decided to make herself known. She kneeled down next to Naruto's futon and placed her hand on his forehead, a bright smile stretched across her face.
"Glad to see you're alright, Naruto-san."
Naruto fully opened his eyes to look up at the woman, and when he did, his eyebrows lifted into his hairline. "Sasame-chan? Is that you?!"
"You remember me!" Sasame exclaimed, clasping her hands in front of her chest.
The man grinned widely. "How could I forget? You're as cute as ever."
"Hey, you grew up pretty well yourself. I almost didn't recognize you when I first arrived."
He smiled widely at her statement, but a second later, it dropped into a sheepish one. "Sorry about this. We ran into some unexpected trouble during a mission."
Sasame shook her head. "Not at all. It was worth it to see your face again."
Stepping back into the room with a small cup of water, Hanabi watched their interaction with disgust. Oh, sure, he could smile and laugh when around Sasame, but he was as quiet as a mouse whenever he was around herself.
As if noticing her for the first time, Naruto turned his light blue eyes on Hanabi's frowning face.
"What the hell happened to your face?" he inquired, staring at the yellowing spot around her right eye.
Before Hanabi could say anything, Sasame quickly interjected. "Ah, sorry, that was me. She suddenly attacked me when I was coming to clean the shrine a couple of days ago, and I accidently gave her a shiner. She probably thought that I was one of the enemies that are trailing you two. I have to say, though––for a chuunin of the Leaf, she's kind of pathetic."
Hanabi frowned and lowered her gaze. Her first reaction was to deny the woman's words, but what could she say? Everything Sasame had said was true. She'd been downed in just under a minute, left clutching her face in agony while the redhead smirked down at her.
Feeling bad for the Hyuuga, Naruto smiled and lightly poked Sasame on the arm. "It's not her fault. Her fighting style relies heavily on chakra, and at the moment, we're both running on fumes." Shortly after he finished his sentence, he began to break down into a fit of dry coughs.
Quickly kneeling next to his body, Hanabi gently lifted his head and began to pour some of the cool water she'd grabbed earlier into his mouth. After he got a few mouthfuls of the cool liquid down, he leaned back and closed his eyes, breathing deeply to catch his breath.
"You shouldn't try to talk with a dry throat," Hanabi admonished, eyebrows lightly furrowed with worry.
Naruto nodded and clutched at the girl's forearm, pulling the cup back to his mouth for another sip.
The corners of Sasame's lips turned downward. "I bet you're hungry, hm? I'll get you something to eat."
"I am, actually. Thanks." When Sasame stood up and walked out of the large room, Naruto opened his eyes to stare at Hanabi.
"You should defend yourself more," he frowned.
Feeling anger begin to well up in her chest, she subconsciously narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean that thing with Sasame-chan. She put you down twice, and twice you let her get away with it."
Hanabi's eyebrows lifted as she looked at him. She hadn't known he was awake during the first exchange. Immediately getting a grip on her surprise, she frowned. "Well, excuse me for not having limitless wit."
Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "You don't have a problem talking back to me."
Hanabi blinked. Now that she thought about it, he was right. She was unusually outspoken whenever she was around him. Words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them, and more often than not, she didn't even notice. Wanting to change the subject, she dropped her eyes to his bandaged wound.
"You heal fast," she said, waving her hand towards his chest.
The blond sat up, looked down at his chest, and pulled down the wrappings, seeing that the gaping wound that had been there three days before was now only a large scar. It still ached a bit, but it was nothing he couldn't ignore. He touched the back of his head, finding that while it was still a little sore, the wound there had also healed up nicely.
"That's a good sign. It means that the Kyuubi's chakra isn't as affected by the poison––though a wound like this would usually heal within a few hours." He paused slightly in his speech, face taking on a thoughtful expression.
The Hyuuga watched his eyes darken as he thought, and she couldn't help but wonder what was going through his mind. Whatever it was, it didn't look good.
After a few awkward seconds of silence, he cut his eyes back up to her and put on a small smile.
"How long have I been out?"
Without batting an eyelash, she answered. "Three days."
Naruto's jaw dropped. "Three days?! I've been asleep for three days?! Why the hell didn't you try to wake me?!"
Hanabi cringed under his anger, lowering her head as if the maneuver would protect her from his acerbic glare. "I just thought you'd want the time to let your body recover. It seemed reasonably safe here, and I didn't know what else to do." She dropped her head even more, large, white-violet eyes staring at her hands with something akin to shame.
Naruto groaned inwardly. He hated that. It had to be a Hyuuga clan technique, since Hinata had often done the exact same thing whenever he had scolded or yelled at her. Not for the first time, he realized that Hanabi was more like his sister than he'd originally thought. From his experience, only one thing would work to make her happy again.
"I'm sorry. Do you want a hug?" he asked, widely opening his arms to her.
Hanabi's head snapped up to stare at him, eyes widened as far as they could go. She looked at him as if he'd grown a second head. Her hands tightly gripped her knees until her knuckles turned a pasty shade of white.
"W-what did you say?!"
The blond sighed and opened his arms a little wider, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "I'm asking if you want a hug. It'll make you feel better."
Having made sure that she'd heard him right, she leaned back until she was just out of his reach––just in case he tried something. "A ... hug? How will that make me feel better?"
"Come here and I'll show you."
Hanabi glared mistrustfully at him for a few seconds, but when she saw no malice in his expression–the Hyuuga were masters at reading people, after all––she gradually softened her face into a simple frown. She slowly, unsteadily walked forward on her knees, eyes looking everywhere but at him. As she neared the ANBU officer, she felt her body begin to heat up and sweat, causing her to wonder if she looked as nervous as she felt.
Naruto wrapped his arms around the much smaller girl, a bit surprised at exactly how thin she was underneath the ugly, loose-fitting clothes she'd been given. With a bit more pressure, he was certain he could crush her even in his weakened state. "There. Don't you feel better?"
At first, her body remained rigid and tight. Gradually, though, she began to relax, and after one or two minutes, she found that she really did feel better. All of the worries and fears that had been building up over the last couple of weeks began to melt away, leaving only a warm, comfortable feeling in her chest. She shyly lifted her arms to return the hug, resting her head on the area between his neck and shoulder.
"Mmhmm," she murmured, closing her eyes and exhaling through her nose.
As far as she could remember, he was only the third person to ever hug her. Her sister had made it a point to hug her at least once a week (after she'd started dating Naruto, anyway), and Tenten had given her a couple of friendly hugs whenever she came to the Hyuuga mansion to visit Neji. However, Naruto was the first male to ever hug her, and the more she thought about it the more her cheeks began to heat with embarrassment.
It wasn't embarrassing enough for her to let go, though.
Before she knew it, slow, salty tears began to roll down her cheeks. She quickly lowered her head to hide them, but she couldn't hide the soft sniffle that slipped from her nose.
"Oh god, are you crying? Please tell me you're not crying."
"I'm not crying," Hanabi mumbled, discreetly lifting her sleeved arm to wipe her nose.
Naruto inwardly groaned. He was bad with tears. Having been alone for the first twelve years of his life left him positively dumbstruck when it came to seeing people at their weakest, and consoling others was a concept he'd not fully grasped.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked after a couple of seconds, voice sounding decidedly uncomfortable.
His words barely registering in her mind, she lifted her head to mumble out a response. "Talk about what?"
Naruto paused. Now that she was relaxed and already starting to get some of her repressed feelings out, it was as good of a time as any to talk. "About Hinata-chan. I know I haven't exactly been open about my feelings, but I was wondering if you wanted to get it all out. It'll help you."
The mood was instantly ruined. Hanabi's body once again grew rigid, and she instantly began to pull away from him.
Rushing to explain himself, Naruto quickly elaborated. "I mean, we've been on the run for the better part of a week, and it's not good to keep everything inside."
"I'm fine, thank you. Onee-sama was a shinobi, and I came to terms with the fact that she might die in the line of duty a long time ago. Crying won't bring her back, and I'm certain Onee-sama wouldn't want me to dwell on her death forever. Now, if it suits you, I'd rather not talk about it."
The blonde's grip on her shoulders tightened. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"I step out of the room for five minutes and this is what happens?" Sasame sighed, a plate of food in her hands. Hanabi jumped back as if she'd been burned, face turning a bright pink. Now that she was away from Naruto, her common sense came rushing back.
Turning to look at the frowning redhead, she stammered and stuttered over herself to explain. "I-I...t-this...this isn't––"
"It's only a hug, Sasame-chan. Would you like one too?" Naruto asked, feeling sorry enough for the Hyuuga to help her out.
Hanabi noticeably bristled at his so-called "help." Her fists lightly clenched with annoyance, and she struggled not to say something that could cause further embarrassment.
Noticing this, Sasame smiled and kneeled down next to the younger girl, handing Hanabi the plate of onigiri, tamagoyaki, miso soup and pickled vegetables. "I think I would, actually. I never did get to fully thank you for your help with finding Arashi-niichan."
The woman leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Naruto, resting her head in the exact same place as Hanabi had only a second ago.
Hanabi noticed with some satisfaction that he didn't hug Sasame nearly as tightly as he'd held her, but she still didn't like Sasame touching Naruto so familiarly. He belonged to her Onee-sama, and no one else.
"You should eat before your food gets cold," Hanabi insisted, rudely interrupting their hug.
The woman glanced over her shoulder at Hanabi and frowned. "Hey, you got at least a minute of hug-time in. Let me get mine."
"I'm his girlfriend's younger sister. I'm supposed to get longer hugs."
Sasame smiled wryly, but let go. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised––though it is strange how both her boyfriend and little sister are on such a tough mission together. She must be worried sick. How long have you been going out with her?"
"It's complicated," he frowned, glaring at Hanabi.
The chuunin looked down at the plate of food in apparent shame. Even if she had done it for the honor of her sister, it was still a low blow.
She held the food out for Naruto to take. "You should eat," she mumbled, purposefully avoiding his gaze. The way he acted when he was disappointed reminded her vaguely of her father, but surprisingly enough, the blonde's despondency seemed much more intense. She could clearly feel his smoldering blue eyes on her face, and by association, she could also feel Sasame's confused ones.
He took the plate with a grunt, finally letting the girl off the hook. With a quiet "Itadikimasu," he lifted the black, wooden chopsticks from the plate and began to ravenously shovel the food into his mouth. He hadn't realized exactly how hungry he was until he'd taken that first bite, but now that he'd had a taste, he couldn't stop eating.
Sasame leaned forward with a barely contained grin. "What do you think? Good?"
"Good? This is the best thing I've had in years," he mumbled around a mouthful of rice, completely ignoring the disbelieving stare of Hanabi.
"I made the vegetables," she chimed in, fists balling up in her lap. It was true; Hinata had taught her how to prepare them years ago, almost around the time that Hanabi had become a genin. It was also true that that Hinata was ten times better at cooking than Sasame.
"Really? You did a good job."
Hanabi lifted her head and smiled, missing the astonished stare of the other woman in the room.
The redhead raised a hand to her mouth, amused eyes shifting between Naruto and Hanabi. "Oh. My. God."
"What's up, Sasame-chan?"
Sasame quickly shook her head and stood to her feet, hastily backing towards the kitchen. "Nothing, I just remembered that I left something on the stove. I'll be right back." Her eyes cut between the two shinobi one more time before she finally turned and walked out of the room.
"Weird," the blond murmured, stuffing more food into his mouth. At the pace he was going, it didn't take too long to get through the plate food, and after eating, Naruto lie back down on the futon in an attempt to get some more sleep.
Hanabi tried her best to remain patient and wait for him to wake up, but after only two or three minutes, she couldn't contain herself.
"What are we going to do about getting home?" she asked, eyes boring into his closed ones.
He cracked an eye open to look at her. "Nothing for today. We should both get some sleep tonight, and tomorrow, we'll work on teaching you a new taijutsu style."
Feeling herself become defensive, Hanabi's fists curled tighter in her lap. "What's wrong with my taijutsu style?!"
Naruto sighed. "It's useless without chakra."
"Oh. Right." She felt stupid for getting so defensive when the answer was so obvious. If her father was here, he'd be positively furious that she was even considering learning something other than the Gentle Fist.
Luckily for both of them, he was hundreds of miles away in Konoha.
"Are you going to teach me the style you used to beat those three guys?" She was well aware that her voice sounded way too excited, but the quick, efficient way he'd taken the Akatsuki grunts down was amazing. Before that moment, she'd thought that only the jyuuken could take someone down in only one hit.
Naruto shook his head, shaggy blond hair falling in front of his eyes. "Unfortunately, your body is frail, light, and weak. Your kicks and punches won't do much of anything to anyone at this point, and it'd take at least a year of rigorous training for you to build up the strength needed for such a hard style."
Hanabi frowned but swallowed her anger. "So?"
"So, you'll need a style that doesn't rely solely on your strength. Are you familiar with jujutsu?" When she shook her head, he continued. "It's a style that relies on using your opponent's strength and momentum against them. You would be able to lock up and then kill your enemy with either a weapon or your bare hands. Just like the gentle fist, jujutsu is a soft style of fighting. I have very little doubt that you'll be able to pick up the basics right away. My goal is to make you strong enough to fend for yourself."
Naruto paused to take a swig of water, glancing at her from over the rim of his cup. He was pleased that she wasn't against learning a new style, and was even a little surprised to see that she seemed excited about it. There was something feral in the way her eyes shined, and it was all he could do not to break out into a cold sweat. Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all.
Luckily, Sasame chose that moment to make her reappearance, a small tray with three steaming cups on top in her hands. She handed them each a cup of the tea and settled down in between the two shinobi, earning herself an annoyed glare from Hanabi.
"So, what are your plans for the next few weeks?"
The blond took a tiny sip from the tea, discreetly swishing it around in his mouth to check it for poison. It wasn't that he didn't trust the woman, but she had tried to poison him in the past. "Well, I was kind of hoping we could go to your town. We need food, water, weapons, and if possible, some camping supplies."
The redhead's face dropped. "I don't know. This is Sasuke's territory, and his men are everywhere. It's too risky. You'd be caught and identified within minutes of walking into town."
Naruto's eyes visibly darkened at the mention of his former friend and teammate, and noticing this, Hanabi quickly offered up her suggestions in a weak attempt to change the flow of conversation.
"What if he dyed his hair and wore some contacts? Since he can't use chakra, we could also use make up to cover his whisker marks. I doubt the enemy would give a second glance to a black-haired, brown eyed peasant, and even if they did stop and question us, it's not like anyone actually knows what Naruto looks like."
Both Sasame and Naruto snapped their heads around to look at her. It was an incredibly obvious ploy, but that was exactly why it could work.
Naruto shot Hanabi a small, appraising grin. "I like that idea. How about it, Sasame-chan? Do you think you can get us the stuff we need to sneak in?"
Sasame paused in thought, mentally running the idea through her mind. "I believe so. It shouldn't be too hard since the majority of the people in my clan lack the ninja training necessary to perform even a basic henge. We have tons of extra clothing and makeup." She turned her eyes on Hanabi for the second time in thirty seconds. "What about her? Won't she need a disguise?"
The ANBU officer also began to scrutinize the Hyuuga, making the thin girl shift uncomfortably under his piercing blue gaze. "Probably contacts. Something dark, though, like a brown or hazel. Are you okay with that, Sparky?"
Hanabi smiled grimly. "While I'd rather not have to resort to such crude methods, it's not like I really have a choice. There aren't any Hyuuga outside of Konoha, and the Akatsuki have most likely been told to be on the lookout for me." She paused to shoot Naruto an annoyed stare. "And don't call me Sparky."
"It's settled, then. It'll take me at least a day to get everything together––probably even longer to convince my clan members to house you two. I'm sure they remember what you did for us in the past, though, so they'll come around with a little persuading," Sasame said.
"Thanks, Sasame-chan. I'll be sure to have Konoha reimburse you for your troubles."
"Damn right you'd better! Contacts aren't cheap, you know!" Despite her words, the kunoichi continued to smile warmly at the blond, a twinkle of something mischievous floating around in her light brown eyes.
It was plain to see that Sasame had a thing for Naruto––if only a fleeting feeling. Logically, something so small shouldn't bother her. Logically, she should simply turn a blind eye to their obvious mutual attraction. Unfortunately, logic was failing her horribly at that moment.
Hanabi once again balled her fists in her lap, large brown shorts wrinkling and twisting under the pressure.
She didn't like Sasame. She didn't like her one bit.
––––––––
Yawning widely, Hanabi slowly made her way down the ridiculously long staircase of the shrine, pale eyes half closed and dark brown hair a convoluted mess. After getting used to traveling by moonlight, being forced to wake up at the break of dawn again was a nearly impossible task.
Personally, she didn't understand why it was so important to get up so early. Sure that's when the sun came up, but who said that human beings had to work on the sun's schedule? Why was a huge, flaming ball of fire allowed to dictate when they had to rise and when they had to rest? Why didn't people rise with the moon and sleep with the sun?
And while she was on the subject, why did the Earth have to revolve around the sun? Why did everything have to revolve around the sun?! Who was this sun, anyway, and why did it demand such obedience and admiration?!
She roughly shook her head to clear her thoughts, finding her internal self begin to degenerate into nonsense. She could debate the problems, philosophies, and inconsistencies of life all day if given half a chance, but now wasn't the time for such an admittedly trivial task.
Today was her first day of training.
"Hey, Sparky, ready to get started?" a bright and cheery voice called from her left, nearly startling the girl out of her half-awakened state. She squinted her eyes in the direction the voice had come from, only to see an annoyingly chipper Naruto working his way through a seemingly complex sequence of stretches.
"Don't call me Sparky," she murmured in his general direction, tired annoyance slipping into her tone. Hanabi lifted her hands to smooth down her wayward hair, but after a couple of seconds of futile effort, she shrugged and dropped her arms back to her sides. It was only she and Naruto here, so there really was no need to make herself look presentable.
Still feeling as if she'd just downed five bottles of sake––an event she never wanted to relive––the chuunin tiredly placed her hands on her tiny waist. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."
The blond nodded his head, pausing in his routine to shoot her a small smile. "Good. First of all, we need to get your blood pumping and your body nimble. Watch me and repeat what I do."
After making sure that she was paying attention, Naruto immediately began to start from the beginning of his warm up, doing each maneuver slow enough for her to catch on. To his pleasant surprise, though, Hanabi was matching him pose for pose, almost as if she'd been doing it for her entire life.
There was no denying that her body was nearly twice as flexible as his own, and as he watched her fold herself in half to wrap her arms around her legs, he couldn't help but let out an amused chuckle. Even half-asleep she was able to hold her own.
Standing up straight, Naruto rested his hands on his hips. "Alright, that's enough. How do you feel? Awake yet?"
"You'd have to be dead to not be awake after doing all that," she muttered dryly, also standing up to meet his gaze.
"Cheer up, Sparky! This is where the fun stuff starts!"
"The fun stuff? Training and fun don't go together. Never has, never will." She paused for a second to frown in his direction. "And will you stop calling me Sparky?! I have a name."
Naruto narrowed his eyes."You're not a very positive person, are you?" Not giving her a chance to reply, he continued. "Like I was saying before, jujutsu is a soft style of fighting. Rather than focus on strength, power, or speed, it uses the principles of balance, leverage, and momentum to defeat opponents. Normally, you'd learn by watching me use the moves on another person. However, since there are only two of us here, I'll have to demonstrate the moves on you."
Hanabi nodded, feeling the excitement she'd felt the day before begin to creep back into her body. This style really did sound perfect for her, especially since her strength and power were nearly nonexistent.
"What do I need to do?" she asked, standing a little straighter than she had a minute ago.
The blond grinned and walked over to her, easily wrapping his large hand around her tiny forearm. "Just stand there and look pretty."
Once again interrupting her before she could comment, he flipped her up and over his back, causing her to land back first on the ground.
"The first art of jujutsu: throwing."
Her eyes wide and her back throbbing with pain, Hanabi couldn't but feel as though today was going to be a very long day.
Nearly eleven hours later, the two shinobi were quietly relaxing in the main room of the shrine, both tired from a full day of training. Naruto had demonstrated every possibly throw that he knew––which was quite a few, as Hanabi had painfully found out. Not only that, but he'd gone through great pains to demonstrate them at least ten or so times until he felt like she knew them by heart.
Naruto looked over at her from his place on the floor, a bowl of crackers and a cup of tea resting at his side. "Hey, Sparky, you okay?"
"Fine," she croaked, staring up at the ceiling. Her arms and legs were splayed out at her sides, and her loose, brown clothing was soaked with sweat and clung to her body for dear life. "Why do you ask?"
Naruto shrugged his shoulders and swallowed a mouthful of cracker. "You looked like you were in pain. Are you sure you don't want to take a hot bath? I just got out, and it's probably still hot."
"Are you suggesting that I take a bath in the same water you just used?!" she shrieked, finally sitting up to stare at him.
The blond raised his eyebrows. "What? Isn't that normal?"
"No! That's disgusting!"
"Huh. Well, okay. Have fun drawing, heating, and scenting some fresh water, then," he said, rolling over to grab another cracker.
Hanabi paused in thought. That actually wasn't such a bad idea. She could walk down the stairs of the shrine, get the fresh water from the well started by vigorously pumping the handle, make a whole new fire to heat the tub, and wait twenty or so minutes for the tub to get to the right temperature.
Yeah, right.
Shooting him a last scathing glare, the girl painfully stood to her feet and walked gingerly down the hall, wincing with each step. Her body ached all over, and the more she walked, the less she minded taking a bath after Naruto. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She had been the one on the ground all day, so it was possible that the man had barely broken a sweat.
She stepped into the changing room and peeled off her sweaty clothes, wincing at how black and disgusting they looked. Yeah, skipping a bath wasn't an option at this point.
Hanabi walked further into the large room, finding that the bathroom was split into three large areas. One area housed the tub, another housed the toilet and a sink, and the last area was completely alien to her.
A simple wooden stool sat over a large drain, and there were tons of different oils, soaps, and shampoo bottles shoved against the wall. It looked like a washing area, but isn't that what the tub was for? Furrowing her eyebrows, she reluctantly threw on one of the yukatas hanging on the wall and backtracked towards the living room, unable to believe what she was about to do.
"Uh, hey, Naruto," she mumbled, poking her head around the corner to look at him.
The blond rolled over from his place on the floor to glance in her direction, a half eaten rice cracker hanging from his mouth. "What?"
The girl shuffled her feet and toyed with her hands, acting more like her older sister in that moment than she ever had in her entire life. It didn't help that her cheeks were already flushed with embarrassment. "Well...can you help me take a bath?"
The cracker dropped from Naruto's lips. "Huguh-wha?!" he gasped, eyes wide as he stared at her in disbelief.
Instantly realizing what her words implied, she smacked her hand over her face. "Wait! No! Dammit! I mean, can you show me how to take a bath? I've never used this particular setup before!"
"Oh," Naruto sighed, looking relieved. "Yeah, sure, no problem." He followed the young Hyuuga down the hallway and into the bathroom, being careful to keep his attention on the top of her dark head rather than the way-too-large yukata tied around her body. The last thing he needed was for her to accuse him of trying to sneak a peek, which was laughable in itself considering how pathetically endowed she was.
He made sure that he was paying attention before speaking. "Okay, so, first you want to take all your clothes off," he drawled, demonstrating by removing his loose-fitting brown shirt.
Hanabi quickly covered her eyes and turned her head, backing towards the bathroom entrance. "What are you doing?! I didn't mean for you to literally show me how to take a bath!" she shrieked.
Naruto blinked. "I know. I need to take my shirt off to keep it from getting wet."
She sheepishly opened her eyes, feeling slightly embarrassed that she'd overreacted. "Oh."
"As I was saying," he continued, shooting her an annoyed frown, "Take all of your clothes and put them in a basket. Then, walk over to the tub and get some water." He walked over to the tub followed closely by an interested looking Hanabi.
Although she'd never had much of an interest in learning how to take a bath the traditional way before, watching him go through all of the little steps was somewhat intriguing. The way he so expertly maneuvered around the room was kind of cool, and she almost couldn't wait to try it on her own.
Naruto bent down and grabbed a small wooden bucket sitting next to the bathtub before scooping out a large helping of the piping hot liquid. "After you get some water, walk over to the bathing area and sit down on the stool."
"Why don't you just get in the tub?" Hanabi asked, an amusingly confused frown on her face.
"Because that's disgusting. Other people have to use the bathtub too, you know." He sat down on the wooden bench and held it up over his head. "Next, pour the water you just grabbed over yourself to rinse your body and get rid of any loose dirt. If you're especially dirty, you can do this two or three times." Rather than dump the water over his entire body, he leaned forward and dumped it over his head, causing his surprisingly long, spiky hair to loosen and fall down around his face.
Some excess water began to drip down his shoulders and chest, and finding herself staring, the Hyuuga quickly averted her gaze towards the tub. "So, now do we get in?" she mumbled, eyes focused squarely on the steaming clear water.
The blond roughly shook the water out of his hair, almost as if he were some kind of dog. Drops of water went everywhere, sparing nothing and no one.
"Hey!"
"Sorry," he said, not looking very sorry at all, "I forgot to grab a towel. You're getting in the bath soon anyway, so it doesn't matter." Not giving her a chance to complain some more, he walked over to the tub and sat down on the edge. "But, yeah, now you get in the tub. Don't bring anything in, though, and whatever you do, don't use any soap. This thing is just for soaking, and nothing else."
He stood up again and returned to the stool, this time facing backwards to look straight at her. "After ten or so minutes of soaking, get out of the tub and wash your body and hair. It's a good idea to bring along a bucket of water before you sit down, since trying to maneuver with soap in your eyes is a hard and painful experience. Kind of like the first time you have sex."
Her mouth opening wide and face glowing a bright pink, Hanabi. "Was that really necessary?" she spat, face scrunched up with annoyance.
Naruto grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "No, but I like to see you squirm. Anyway, make sure you rinse off well and get all the soap and stuff out of your hair. I usually prefer to get in the tub again for another quick soak, but at this point, you can dry yourself and put your clothes back on if you wish. That's pretty much all there is to it. Easy, right?"
Hanabi slowly nodded her head, grudgingly agreeing with the older shinobi. "I could've done without the demonstration and annoyance, but thanks."
"Anytime, Sparky. Feel free to let the water out when you're done!" With that, he walked out of the bathroom at a leisurely gait, shirt thrown haphazardly around his neck.
She watched him leave with an annoyed scowl. How her sister could stand to be around him for more than five seconds was beyond her. He was immature, selfish, and an incorrigible pervert to boot. All he had going for him was his strength, but that was hardly enough to cover up his obvious personality flaws. Just what had her sister seen in the idiot blind?
Shaking her head, she let the yukata pool around her ankles and walked over to the bathing area. She dumped a huge amount of water over her head to rinse off like Naruto had done a few minutes ago, and finding the sensation kind of nice, decided to do it a second time.
When she felt that she was reasonably free of any loose dirt or sweat, she carefully walked over to the tub and began to slide in feet first, wincing as the piping hot water scorched her sensitive skin. Unfortunately, Naruto chose that exact moment to make his reappearance.
The door slid open just as she'd gotten halfway into the tub and a mop of blond hair appeared in the opening. "Oh, yeah, one more th––"
"GET OUT!" Hanabi shrieked, throwing the wooden rinsing bucket at his surprised face. Annoyingly enough the bucket missed its target, but at the very least it had done its job. Just as quickly as it had appeared, Naruto's face vanished from the crack in the door.
He slammed the piece of wood behind him, eyes still closed even though he was outside of the room. "Sorry! I just wanted to tell you to be careful not to overheat! A girl your size is easily susceptible to the extreme temperatures the bath can reach. If you start to feel tired, get out right away, okay?" He waited a few beats for her to answer, and when she didn't, he hung his head and sighed. "Sorry, I really didn't think you'd get undressed so quickly."
"Just go away!" She waited until she heard the slow, light sound of footsteps disappear before she allowed herself to relax.
Her ears burning and her pride thoroughly manhandled, Hanabi slunk down in the steaming hot water, leaving only her chin visible above the tub. She closed her eyes and sighed.
"Idiot."
AN: Thanks to Amrun for beta'ing!