Hiroshi was a proud member of the Hyuga clan's main family, his father was the clan head's, Hyuga Hiashi, second cousin, since a young age he was trained by his father in the juken taijutsu style that was the trademark of the Hyuga clan.
As a member of the main family, Hiroshi enjoyed many of the liberties and statuses that the branch family members lacked, also as the son of a minor member of the main family he enjoyed some liberties a more prominent member, like Hinata-sama or Hanabi-sama, would lack. Hiroshi himself thought his position was ideal, he could choose his own destiny without bringing shame to his clan.
He still chose to become a shinobi, but not because that was what everyone expected of him but because he wanted to be able to help those who couldn't defend themselves, he had always admired the tale of the Fourth Hokage and how he gave his life to save Konoha, Hiroshi knew he would never be able to save the whole village but if he could save at least one life he'd be satisfied, not that he would stop at one.
Some people would think Hiroshi's dream to become a hero as childish, Hiroshi sometimes wondered if they were right.
It had been three years since he had become a genin, and today, his team, team Kakashi, had been assigned an "A-rank" mission near Konoha; a group of 'bandits' had been attacking merchants going between Konoha and the neighboring village of Shimakami; these bandits where Jinto 'the fear Demon' a Konoha missing-nin that specialized in genjutsu, Sojuro a former bandit that had been receiving training from Jinto, and Gihei a Kuma shinobi known for his brutal sadism and his use of fire jutsu.
They weren't exactly high threats, at least not enough that an ANBU or a chunin team needed to be dispatched, so the Hokage had decided to send the most experienced genin team he had at his disposal. The real problem with this group was that they were surprisingly crafty and had so far avoided capture by other teams. Most likely they had a hideout in the nearby forest.
The plan that Yu had come up with was as simple as it was effective. Hiroshi would board an ox-carriage that traveled between Konoha and Shimakami until they were attacked, he then would mark one of the attackers with a tracking tag and follow them to their hideout.
He donned a simple black cloak, to hide his Hyuga bloodline, and boarded the first carriage towards Shimakami, a merchant and his son joined him, and about ten minutes before the carriage had to depart, the curtain opened and a pretty blond girl, not older than Hiroshi, entered the carriage, she was wearing a simple yukata with flower print, it looked handmade, it caught Hiroshi attention how the girl smiled gently and how she bowed as a means of greeting. It was rare for a girl who wore handmade clothes to be so well mannered or wear clothes that modest. She certainly didn't look like she was from a ninja family or from a rich civilian family. Who was she? For some reason, she seemed familiar but Hiroshi couldn't remember ever meeting a girl that cute.
Wait, what?
She certainly was attractive, her glossy blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her green eyes sparkled with the morning sun, and her facial features were soft and pleasing to the eyes. She had an air of femininity but at the same time, Hiroshi felt she was someone with a strong will.
When she sat, the merchant instantly tried to talk to her, but the girl, quite skillfully deflected every attempt, she seemed uncomfortable under the old man's stare, for some reason that made her more attractive in Hiroshi's eyes.
As the carriage made its way towards Shimakami, Hiroshi observed the girl who seemed lost in thought, He wanted to know what was bothering her, he would help her if he could.
They arrived at Shimakami and the girl quickly disappeared. Hiroshi continued his rounds between Konoha and Shimakami waiting for the bandits to attack the carriage. The memory of the girl never leaving his mind completely.
He wondered if he would ever see her again. His chest tightened a bit.
The next day early in the morning Hiroshi meet the girl again on the same cart. She was now hauling a rather big rucksack, and again, they were accompanied by the merchant and his son, also an elderly man with a balding head. Hiroshi hoped this trip wasn't the one which the bandits decided to attack.
Just as he thought that he heard the yell from the cart driver. He quickly cleared his mind and sat still activating his bloodline. When Jinto opened the cart's curtain two things happened; Hiroshi surged his chakra as he felt Jinto's fear-inducing genjutsu, blocking it, and Hiroshi's blood boiled as Jinto leered at the blond girl, she started to shake as she fell into Jinto's genjutsu. It was Hiroshi's shinobi training and the mission ahead that stopped him from murdering Jinto right then and there.
When Jinto ordered everyone down, Hiroshi used a genjutsu to trick everyone into thinking that Jinto had killed the old man, he helped the girl down hoping that that would stop Jinto from harming her. Hiroshi tried to ignore how soft her arm felt or how she smelt of flowers and rice.
When Jinto kicked the girl after she tried to escape, Hiroshi's hand jerked towards his kunai holster only the idea of failing the mission stopped him from driving a kunai on Jinto's head.
After Jinto and Sojuro left with the girl and the spoils, his team descended next to him, Yu and Shigeno quickly looked after the other victims while Hiroshi reported to Kakashi
"Jinto took a hostage, a young blond girl. I set a tracking tag on her yukata so we can follow her" said Hiroshi with a clipped voice
"Good job. Hiroshi-kun, are you all right?" Hiroshi didn't respond immediately, but he knew Kakashi noticed how anxious he was.
"Yes, Sensei," he said nervously looking at the direction Jinto had disappeared to
"You go first, wait for us there, just mark where their hideout is" Hiroshi nodded curtly at Kakashi-sensei and in a burst of speed he started chasing the chakra trace the tag left behind.
O=O=O=O
Kakashi was surprised at Hiroshi, the usually stoic Hyuga was all fidgety and worried, and he wondered if he knew the hostage. Well, it didn't really matter, Hiroshi was already a competent shinobi and wouldn't have a problem dealing with any of the targets even though Gihei had an B rank in the bingo book and Jinto a C Rank. After Yu and Shigeno made sure the other hostages were fine they followed the tag's chakra trace.
Once they reached the clearing Hiroshi was hiding on the treetops, as soon as the three of them fell beside him he jumped down and made a hand seal that opened the ground to reveal a flight of stairs that went into a cavernous path illuminated by chakra lights. Yu whistled.
"So that's why nobody ever found trace them." Said Shigeno
"Yu, trace the tag and make sure no harm comes to the hostage, Shigeno, and Hiroshi-kun you come with me"
"Sensei, I want to track the tag myself," said Hiroshi surprising everyone, Kakashi tilted his head in a questioning manner "from what we read from the reports, she probably will be held by Jinto" Kakashi noticed how Hiroshi's hands became tight fists until his knuckles were white or how his explanation sounded more like an excuse. "And to be honest, Yu is really crap with genjutsu" Yu protested with an 'oi', Kakashi considered Hiroshi for a moment, it felt as if this whole thing was something personal for him. Still, he couldn't find fault in his logic. Yu was indeed shit with genjutsu.
"Fine, Yu, Shigeno with me."
They went down the stairs, Hiroshi disappeared as he rushed to follow the tracking tag. Yu and Shigeno looked at each other and frowned, even they noticed there was something wrong with their teammate.
They made their way towards what looked the main area of the hideout, it was there where the targets were. As they ran through the corridors Kakashi heard the sound of kunai flying just in time to see Yu block one that was directed towards Shigeno's head. They both went ahead and engaged a brown skinned bald man that Kakashi recognized as Sojuro, Jinto's apprentice. While both Yu and Shigeno were more than capable of dealing with a C-Rank ninja, there was no reason not to overwhelm him. Unfortunately, another man blocked his path when he tried to help his students. Gihei of the Fire Lotus.
Gihei sent a stream of fire that Kakashi blocked with a chakra infused kunai; in the same motion he uncovered his sharingan, the world around him became clearer as he started to notice things he couldn't before. Kakashi launched himself at Gihei making the seals for the same fire jutsu he used. From the corner of his eye, he could see how Sojuro was barely able to deflect Shigeno's and Yu's flurry of kunai and shuriken with his short sword.
Kakashi jumped backwards, a pillar of fire erupted from the ground where he was standing seconds before, Kakashi palmed a Kunai and sent it flying towards Gihei, he deflected it with a slash of his flame-covered hand, not noticing the explosive tag attached to it before the explosion enveloped him his mangled body falling to his knees before falling face first into the packed dirt ground. Kakashi approached him as he saw both Yu and Shigeno land a decisive blow into Sojuro, each one driving a kunai at each side of the wannabe shinobi.
Then Gihei exploded in a puff of smoke, it was a clone, he watched with horror as he appeared behind him wielding a katana made of fire, before he could react he drove the firebrand through his back, looking down, Kakashi could see the fiery sword stick out of his abdomen, he looked up and saw his students' horror-filled eyes, before he too disappeared in a puff of smoke, the real Kakashi fell from the ceiling where he had been watching his shadow clone fight Gihei. He was a bit disappointed he expected someone with such a nickname put a better fight.
He fell on the red-haired man like a bird of prey embedding both of his kunai on the body of the fire ninja; one on his skull and the other on his heart making sure the man would never wake up again.
"Way to go sensei! I was worried for a bit!" said Yu in his usual cheerful manner
"I wasn't," said Shigeno blushing a bit and letting out a sigh of relief that made Kakashi smile.
They set their way towards where Hiroshi had gone, hoping that the stoic boy hadn't gotten over his head.
O=O=O=O
Kakashi was shocked when he looked at the young girl, at first he thought she looked like Naruto's Sexy Jutsu but the girl looked more like a female Minato with some of Kushina facial features, she had Naruto's whisker marks.
"Whoa! Hiroshi-kun who is the pretty lady?" said Yu, he walked forward and bowed deeply to the girl offering a hand "Hello, miss, I am Hasumi Yu, but you may call me Yu or dear" Kakashi smiled and cringed preemptively, Shigeno raised her hand and with more force than was politely necessary, punched him on the top of his head making his face meet the ground.
"You damn perverted playboy! Can't you see the girl is distressed? Read the damn atmosphere!" Shigeno said this while stepping on Yu's head. Kakashi didn't comment that Yu looked like he was enjoying the current turn of events. Hiroshi-kun was still looking at the girl with his byakugan active, Kakashi eyebrows raised a bit at that.
"Hiroshi-kun?" Kakashi asked him
"Kakashi-sensei" he answered as he deactivated his byakugan "nothing to report sensei, as we had planned I eliminated Jinto before he could harm the hostage" for anyone else Hiroshi's answer would sound deadpan, but Kakashi knew the boy since he was eleven and for him, he sounded like he was angry. Kakashi turned to the girl and when their eyes met Kakashi covered his sharingan with his forehead protector.
"Are you hurt?" the girl shook her head, Kakashi heard Hiroshi let out a sigh "Who are you miss?" The girl looked scared, but then her face was filled with resolution, Kakashi couldn't stop himself from remembering seeing that same determined look in the red-haired Kushina.
"My name is Haruko Uzumaki" Kakashi's heart skipped a beat, Shigeno stopped grappling with Yu and even Hiroshi-kun frowned, the girl looked confused, when none of them said anything she continued "I was on my way to Konoha to visit my brother, when the cart I was traveling was attacked by bandits, they killed everyone." she sniffled and her body started to tremble again "even the little kid"
Yu was the first one to talk "Don't worry! Everyone is fine!" he said giving her his most winning smile the girl didn't react which made Yu flatter a bit and Shigeno snicker, even Kakashi smiled a bit under his mask.
"I used a genjutsu to make the missing-nin believe they had killed everyone in the cart" he paused for a moment "I'm sorry my genjutsu affected you." everyone turned to look at Hiroshi who generally was silent and rarely spoke unless he was spoken to, Kakashi smile widened as he realized why Hiroshi-kun was acting so strange, Yu had a silly smile and Shigeno was frowning at Hiroshi.
"Haruko-san," Kakashi called the girl, "you said your destination was Konoha to meet your brother, is by any chance his name Naruto Uzumaki?"
The girl hesitated for a second before nodding, there was a small gasp from Shigeno. Kakashi mind was racing, the probabilities were high that she was saying the truth, she looked way older than Naruto, Kakashi would guess about fifteen or sixteen; that would mean Kushina had her at nineteen. But, why would Minato and Kushina keep her a secret it didn't make sense.
"Do you know him? My brother?" Yu snorted and Kakashi threw him a glare
"Yes," he said "he is a rather infamous prankster," he didn't mention how he was the son of his sensei, who had been Konoha's Yellow Flash and Fourth Hokage or how Kushina was like the big sister he never had. "We better leave this talk for later," His team nodded and the girl tried to stand but failed, falling back on her bum, when Yu reached to help her Hiroshi put himself between the girl and Yu and lifted her carrying her princess style, the girl protested but when Hiroshi narrowed his eyes the girl nodded, Kakashi smiled again behind his mask.
The girl was being bashful, her face and ears reddening, but she still put her arms around Hiroshi's neck. Hiroshi looked stoic as always if not for the happy aura that emanated from him. As they were leaving the hideout with a grumbling Yu and a frowning Shigeno the girl spoke again.
"Err… sorry, but did any of you see a lavender rucksack?"
"I saw one of them leave a bag in one room Haru-chan" Hiroshi frowned at the familiar way of address or maybe at how much Haruko beamed at Yu.
"Uh, there is some really important stuff there, can I go back and retrieve it?"
"No," said Hiroshi, Kakashi's raised one eyebrow at him "Yu, you bring the rucksack" Yu looked at Kakashi as if to complain and Kakashi gave him back a look and a shrug of his shoulders, he looked at Shigeno who simply rolled her eyes.
As they got out of the hideout Kakashi resealed the entrance and committed to memory the location so they could send an ANBU team to retrieve the bodies and investigate the place, it seemed like an excellent point to launch raids to Konoha itself, if it was necessary it would be demolished.
A few minutes later they were jumping through the treetops, Hiroshi setting a slower pace than they were normally used. Yu was carrying Haruko-san's bag and Hiroshi Haruko-san herself. The girl seemed unaffected by the speed they had set even though she seemed to be a civilian. Kakashi would say she seemed to enjoy the speed and high altitude.
In less than an hour, they reached Konoha's gates. The mission had been a success and if what the girl was saying was the truth they probably had saved some of the Fourth's legacy. If she was lying they had captured a dangerous spy who knew of Naruto, when they reached Konoha's gates Haruko insisted that she was able to walk. Hiroshi reluctantly put her down, Yu gave her back her bag and she rummaged through it and pulled out an old looking scroll with a chakra seal with the Uzumaki crest in it.
"I'm supposed to give this to the current Hokage" the girl offered the scroll to Kakashi and when he grabbed it he could feel Kushina's chakra in it.
"Hiroshi." Kakashi said, Hiroshi activated his byakugan for a moment before nodding "Yu, go ahead and Inform the Hokage that we are bringing Haruko-san" Yu nodded his face all business and disappeared in a gust of wind and leaves. "Shigeno can you try to bring Naruto to the Hokage's tower?" Shigeno nodded but because how Kakashi had looked at her, he knew she understood the undertone of his request, then Kakashi beckoned the girl to follow him
As they approached the gate the two chunin guarding it gave a respectful nod to Kakashi and a curious look to Haruko, she still looked a little bit shaken. As they walked through Konoha's streets Kakashi noted how people looked at her before they noticed him, they quickly gave a respectful nod and looked away.
Hiroshi was shouldering Haruko-san's rucksack as he threw her side glances, interestingly the girl seemed to be unaware of this. Just as they rounded a corner Kakashi made a hand seal for a sleep-inducing genjutsu as Haruko-san fell backward Kakashi caught her before she hit the ground.
"Kakashi-sensei?!" Hiroshi said with a surprised look
"We need to make sure she is telling the truth" When Kakashi looked at Hiroshi's surprised look he wondered if his infatuation was making his usually sharp pupil dumber than Naruto. Kakashi realized the power a woman wielded was stronger than any Jutsu he knew.
"We are taking her to Ibiki" Hiroshi calm mask broke in as his eyes widened in fear at the mention of the interrogation specialist. Kakashi lifted Haruko in princess style just as Hiroshi had done earlier; Hiroshi looked jealous. Kakashi let out a sigh before muttering "kids"