This is just a quick chapter I wanted to get out. I suppose its filler but I'd like a couple chapters to be more upbeat. There will be plenty of time for them to suffer later.
To say Team 8 was talkative when they arrived at training ground 24 would not do justice to the scene any on looker would have observed if they had been standing there when all three members of the rookie Jounin's team had gathered. Their night had been an eventful one and naturally, being only just shy of their teen years, the three rookie Genin wanted to go over every minute detail. The minute detail Uzumaki Naruto, the most hyperactive of three, wished to obsess over was how he managed to get past the most secure compound in Konoha, second only to the ANBU facility. This had become his latest point of pride and he insisted on his teammates basking in his glory.
"You shoulda seen me, Hinata," Naruto said to the quiet Hyuuga. The girl was smiling as she looked at her feet. Eye contact had always been difficult for her. "I was super quiet," the girl's crush continued. "Cats wish they had feet like mine. I got my clones to distract them," Naruto began to skirt around the small group as if reenacting his late night infiltration of the Hyuuga compound. "so I could get around without anyone noticing me."
"That-that was really clever, Naruto-kun," whispered Hinata who couldn't keep the smile or blush off her face. She could never help smiling when Naruto was happy.
"As I told you before, that was a foolish thing to do." Aburame Shino did not share his teammate's rose tinted version of the previous night. He'd thought of several instances where Naruto had blundered and was determined that each one receive as much if not more consideration than the blond Genin's outbursts. "By allowing your clones to be seen, you alerted the whole of the Hyuuga Clan that there was an intruder on the premises. It is obvious that the Hyuuga would have elite guards waiting by any place of value in case such an alarm was tripped. The rooms where Hyuuga Hiashi's daughters slept would, and, I would like to stress were, given higher priority than other rooms. You botched the mission from the get go."
Naruto was not a Genin of much patience nor was he one that enjoyed being undermined as often as Shino seemed to want to today. "Look, Shino," began the jinchuuriki. "I've been there before and there's no fucking way you can get more than 10 feet into the place without being spotted. I dunno how they do it, but I swear they can see through rock. I had to give them something to focus on so I could get by. Besides, the job wasn't to get in undetected. It was to get Hinata her phone which I fucking did, no thanks to you." The small blond yawned as he pointed at the taller boy. "You were sitting back there not doing a damn thing while I was putting my ass on the line. Besides," said Naruto remembering something. "It was your stupid idea in the first place!"
Even without her Byakugan it was plain to Hinata that Shino was rolling his eyes at their teammate. Had Naruto seen the Aburame's display of annoyance it would have meant at least another hour of this. "Shino," said the Hyuuga so softly had they all not been within a few feet of each other she would have gone unheard. "It was wrong to send Naruto into my family's compound like that. He-He could've been really hurt." Here Naruto stuck his tongue out at his trench coat wearing teammate. "Naruto, it was- it was- you- you shouldn't ever break into someone's home like that," she finished finally. Hinata blushed deeply entirely avoiding the gaze of her blond teammate.
"Gomen," apologized Naruto in an uncharacteristically meek voice. For once he seemed as nervous as the blue haired girl sitting a few feet away. "You- you were really pretty, 'Nata-chan," he said in what must have been meant as a way to put last night's fiasco behind them. But as we know intent is not magic so all the Uzumaki's words did was make the girl blush deeper, let out a small "meep!" and cause himself to want to beat his head against a wall until whatever brain cell had thought that was the best thing to say ceased to exist. " 'Nata, I'm really sorry. I really didn't wanna see any of that." Every last one of you is fired, decided Naruto completely shocked at his brain's inability to come up with something that wouldn't make the situation worse. "Th-that's not what I meant, Hinata!"
So this is why Sakura is always hitting him, observed Shino as Naruto dug from Konoha to every one of the Elemental Nations. While he did not know the specifics, the Aburame could guess at what happened. Naruto had come upon Hinata while she was in a compromising position and was now failing at making amends for it. He has less tact than an exploding kunai. A very different thought came to Shino as he checked his watch. "Kurenai-sensei is late," he said drawing the attention of his teammate (both eager to focus on anything else). "It is almost a quarter pass seven."
"You sure she said Training Ground 24?" asked Naruto his cheeks returning to a more normal color.
"Completely," Shino replied curtly. The bug user looked around the empty training ground searching for some sign of their Jounin-sensei. "Strange," he said slowly.
"Maybe-Maybe Kurenai-sensei- maybe she's running late," the young Hyuuga suggested as she stood.
"Yeah," agreed Naruto as he scratched the back of his head. "She was hella late yesterday too."
"That is a possibility…" It was as the Aburame spoke that the three Genin heard a loud scream coming from the tree line. "What was that?" Another loud scream and all of Team 8 were on their feet. "It's coming from there! Hinata, use your byakugan, see if you can see what's going on." The girl put her two forefingers together and activated the bloodline that had lead to her family's unquestioned dominance in taijutsu.
"Huh?" said a confused Naruto as he turned to look at his teammate. "Wo-ah!" he gasped as the blood vessels around her eyes bulged and what little color was in them left. "H-Hinata?"
The world through the Byakugan was a strange one. If Hinata were asked to describe it she would say it was as if one were looking down at a cube made of thousands of glass panes each a different shade of grey. If you focused intently on a particular shade you would see that pane clearly and no others. But this, she would admit, didn't do justice to the unique perspective her clan's bloodline gave her. The Byakugan didn't allow one to see through things so much as it allowed one to see… around them? It was something you had to experience and experience often to understand. Young Hyuugas new to using the Clan's Kekkei Genkai often complained of severe headaches, a side affect far less horrifying than the madness that had befallen the few thieves clever enough to incapacitate a Hyuuga long enough for an eye transplant.
"There!" said the young Hyuuga girl to her teammates. Her voice seemed strained. "A-A massive spider. It has a woman. She-she isn't moving."
"We have to help her!" Naruto had drawn a kunai and was about to rush the tree line when Shino stepped in front of him. "Move!" ordered Naruto in voice that was half a growl.
"Wait!" hissed the Aburame through gritted teeth. He too had drawn his weapons, a pair of kanas whose metal seemed decorated with hundreds of small veins.
"She needs help!" Naruto seemed to be becoming more animalistic by the moment. Shino couldn't help but notice that his whiskers became more pronounced and that his canines seemed to be growing. What is this? He asked forgetting their situation for a moment. And what's this that I'm feeling? Like I'm standing at the foot of a mountain that stretches off in all directions without limit. Naruto's voice snapped him back to his senses. "There's no time for your bullshit, Shino!"
"Running off without knowing what we're getting into is a death sentence. Hinata," the big user turned back to his teammate, her Byakugan still active. "What else do you see?"
"It-it's carried her off," Hinata replied as she pushed more chakra into her eyes, straining her vision for some sign of the massive arachnid. "I've lost it," she said releasing her doujutsu and turning to her teammates. "It moved so fast." The girl swallowed. You're useless, she told herself, not meeting either boy's eyes. "I-I'm-I'm sorry."
Naruto's canines shrunk and his expression soften. He placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You're fine Hinata." The young Hyuuga looked up to see the jinchuuriki's sapphire eyes. "C'mon. Team 8 has a job to do," he said giving her one of his trademark grins. You're so strong, Naruto, thought Hinata taking comfort in the boy's smile.
"Hinata," Shino's voice was what it always was when he was in a strange or unfamiliar situation, impassive. "Can you take us to where you saw the woman being attacked? Perhaps we can still track the creature to its layer. Arachnids of that size give up the potency of their smaller cousins' venom so there is a good chance we can still save her. It will be difficult, however. Because they require much larger meals to sustain their mass they are ambush predators and scavengers. Its layer will be well hidden. Do either of you have signal tags?"
"H-hai!" said Hinata reaching into her jacket. "Otou-san insists we carry these."
"Now can get moving?" asked an irritated Naruto. Shino looked at and did something rare for an Aburame. The trench coat wearing Genin smiled. Without another word Team 8 took off at a full sprint toward the tree line, Shino sharing his thoughts as they did so. They would search the scene for clues, hints as to the spider's movement and approach with extreme caution. Their odds in a straight fight were slim but if he could identify what type of spider this was he could devise a strategy for bringing it down. Regardless of how they ended up approaching it, Hinata would send a distress flare to alert nearby Shinobi Grounds Watch to their location. "Yeah," said Naruto as he climbed a tree to give himself a better vantage point. "That spider's gonna need all the help it can get when I get my hands on it."
Needless to say neither member of Team 8 shared the blond Genin's confidence. Still, it was reassuring that there was at least one of them who wasn't in any danger of balking or freezing up during their makeshift operation. "There!" Naruto shouted. The other two looked up from their position to see Naruto jumping down to their level. "It's not swinging through trees," he informed them. "It's jumping, I think. You can see how it's jacked up all the bushes and branches it's landing on."
"Jumping spiders rely heavily on their vision to the detriment of their other senses. Naruto…" But Shino didn't need to finish his sentence. His blond teammate knew what to do.
Deep inside the large woods that lay just outside the many training grounds of The Village Hidden in the Leaves, away from tunnels and any bodies of water, a behemoth of a spider inspected the figure of a woman tightly wound in its silk. Clicking its mouth together it retreated to a remote part of its web high above the ground. It seemed to be growing restless as its jittering movements would indicate. There were very few times in its memory where it willingly ventured so far from its home but this had been extenuating circumstances. Spiders, like snakes, were forever weary of all creatures (each other most of all) since they understood anything could be predator or prey. Of course that did not mean they were unable to step outside their comfort zones.
The woman, her long black hair reaching for the ground that was so very many feet away, was proof of that. Like with anything it was just a question of playing to instincts, needs and wants. Once you understood those three keys in anything be it man, beast or monstrously large spider, you could predict how they would behave. Every action a person took boiled down to an intersection of the three. And more than anything, this spider needed to get on with this. The woman had only been hung up for a few moments, not even an hour or half of one but by the massive spider's behavior you would guess it had been closer to a full day.
It was as its impatience was mounting that the high pitched yell of a girl could be heard. Somewhat confused the spider searched the surface of the forest for whatever had caused this disturbance in its normally still woods. Clicking its mouth it moved further up its web, wary of whatever might be approaching, when something, or several somethings, kicked it clean off its web. The monstrous spider flipped in the hair and caught itself on a pair of trees before it could crash into the ground below. With a terrifying hiss, it looked up to see the three identical blue haired girls that had attacked it jumping down after it. "Hey, ugly!" the girls yelled. "Wanna know what it feels like to get beat by a twelve year old girl?"
Releasing another horrid hiss, the spider hoisted itself up on its four rear legs and aimed its rear at the three girls. A web large enough to cover an elk shot out, catching the three blue haired girls mid fall. They yelled, each pulling against the sticky net they now found themselves trapped in. A futile attempt as the spider well knew. That was spider silk and while it didn't produce the best quality, not even a human claymore would be able to cut through that. Which is why it became so confused when the three girls simply disappeared leaving its web to fall softly onto the ground. And its confusion only grew when those same three girls appeared on the tree two of its legs were perched on. This state of confusion only grew worse when it realized three more had appeared on the other tree it was using for support. Twelve childlike hands reached for the monstrous spider's legs grasping at empty air and the wood they had been resting on as once again the spider jumped.
But it was always the same. It found a place to perch itself and half a dozen of that girl would be there stabbing or pushing at it. Finally the creature dropped to the ground, something it loathed to do, ready to tear however many of this girl there were to shreds. Angrily the spider raised its front legs driving them at the dozen copies of the same girl in front of it. They all scattered around it, slashing with kunai each hoping to do some damage. None did. The spider's exoskeleton was as hard as rock and nothing the girl did pierced more than a millimeter into the Spider's pitch black body. With a hiss eerily similar to a laugh, it swept one massive leg in front of itself catching four of the girls in the chest. In a puff of smoke they disappeared leaving only twenty more of the blights to deal with.
Wait- TWENTY?!
Bushes, logs, rocks, all of them became that girl. It didn't matter how many the spider destroyed there were always more and they were getting smarter. At first it had been easy enough to hit them but as the fight drew on the spider was finding it harder and harder to land a clean blow. Being somewhat near the latter half of its life cycle the massive arachnid had seen others like this. The trick was to end the fight as soon as possible before they came up with a strategy that would actually work. There were two reasons that was out of the question. First and foremost that only applied against a finite number of enemies which this was clearly not (if the damned rocks themselves were just more copies of the cursed vertebrate). And secondly the fight had only been going on in earnest for a few minutes.
Another inhuman screech echoed across the still forest as the monstrous spider felt something strike its underside. This had hurt. Where the blows of the girl generally did little more than irritate, the last blow had been in its spinner. The spider might not have been able to see it what had happened but it knew its web was out of commission. For a while at least. The same would not be said for the blue haired girl the spider saw trying to sneak away. Not if the monster caught her. It had several painful plans for her that were going to be realized even if it had to tear up a whole acre of these woods. They would not be. As it began its mad dash, eight or nine of those girls descended on the spider's head. Jerking wildly the arachnid tried to get them away but they had clamped on tight.
"Take that!" the high pitched girls said in unison.
"Uncle! Uncle!" hissed the massive spider. "You damn brats win! Now get off me!"
Naruto's clones did so, dispelling themselves and revealing him, Shino and Hinata standing where the huge crowd of them had been. "Eh?" The blond who was no longer disguised as the blue haired Hyuuga blurted out. "Y-y-you talk?!"
At Naruto's side, Shino sighed. He didn't need to be told any more. He knew exactly what was going on. "Kurenai-sensei, you are going to have to stop doing this," he said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Team 8's Jounin-sensei appeared beside the spider a grin across her face.
"Don't worry," she said. "This'll be the last time I trick you all. For training purposes, anyway," Kurenai managed through giggles. "You all work very well as a unit!" she added. The three rookie Genin looked up at her with looks of complete exasperation on their faces. "Oh, chin up! We only have one more training event for the day. A quick debrief on the way back to the training ground and you have the rest of the day off. Thanks for all the help, Kiito!"
"You got a good bunch," hissed the spider. "Later." And it vaulted back into the tree Naruto had worked so hard to knock it off of.
Kurenai listened intently as Shino explained the plan they had devised. Naruto, because of his amazing stamina and henges would take on the guise of Hinata. Naruto would attack the creature forcing it away from its nest and onto the ground where the real Hinata accompanied by dozens of Naruto's clones would be waiting. Once the creature touched down the Hyuuga would wait for openings and attack before disappearing back into the mayhem the blond's clones would be causing. Shino had known none of their weapons were good enough to cause the think exoskeleton of such a large arachnid any real hurt. Hinata's Juken however would easily be able to reach the delicate insides of the anthropod causing damage to its organs and hopefully driving it away.
"Myself, as you know, Kurenai-sensei," said Shino in his impassive voice. "would free the captive and administer the anti-venom. I lack the durability of Naruto and the power of Hinata so my immediate engagement with the target was not essential. Once you were freed I set off the signal tag and adopted the same disguise as Naruto. Not wanting to give myself away I chose to keep my kanas hidden."
"That was very well executed." Kurenai couldn't help but feel proud of her team. When she first submitted her requests for a team, the Spider had envisioned a tracker team. Naruto's incredible stamina reserves, Hinata's Byakugan and Shino's Aburame Clan techniques would make it impossible for anything to evade them for long. But watching them perform today, even if it was against an opponent only giving it half her strength, the Jounin realized Team 8 could easily be a miniature ANBU hit squad. Not only did they have Naruto's inhuman grit and Hinata's defense- negating Juken, Shino was an amazing poisoner. Sure the boy had told her he only studied venoms so he could develop cures to the many poisonous insect bites there were but the fact that his insects could actually produce the anti-venom or venom at his behest meant the boy had incredible potential as an assassin. And his mode of delivery would be entirely innocuous. He could immobilize a whole ninja village over the course of a few days if he chose to really develop that skill.
And Naruto! The boy had in moments filled the entire forest with clones of himself convincingly disguised as rocks, roots and bushes. Not a single one of his henges would have been recognizable as anything but the foliage one would expect to see in Forests as old as this one by anyone short of a Genjutsu specialist like her. Kurenai couldn't help but marvel at the boy's instincts. He just knew what things were out of place and where things would naturally be. That was something a good number of Chuunin struggled with. Normally it didn't matter because targets never made the connection quick enough but having such a skill developed to the point he had opened up whole new kinds of missions. Long term reconnaissance, high level assassinations, long term infiltration, hell it was one of the chief skills required of Missing-Nin Hunters! And this 12 year old had it down like someone who'd actually been training it for years.
Then there was Hinata. The girl didn't just blend into crowds, she vanished all together. A lifetime of trying to seem smaller than she was, of trying to be ignored, of looking for ways to stay inside those blind spots had made the girl virtually invisible. Yes the clones had all been copies of her but copies or not, Kurenai had actually lost sight of her several times during the fight. That was the last thing you ever wanted to do against a Juken user. When they could literally stop your heart with a single strike, you could not afford that degree of error.
And the real cherry on top of all this was that each child's skills translated perfectly into straight combat.
Getting ahead of yourself, Kurenai, the Jounin told herself. They're still just Genin with no real world experience. If they were that good already they wouldn't need you.
"Very smart thinking," said the boy's sensei as she walked alongside her three charges. "You've all made me very proud today. So tell me, what did you all learn today?"
"That I oughtta keep my mouth shut and listen to Shino," laughed Naruto. The shortest member of Team 8 had been butting heads with the Aburame for most of the day but he couldn't argue with results. "Shino knows his shit," he said giving his teammate an approving nod.
"Thank you for the praise," replied the group stoic. He smiled at his teammate. "After watching you today, I no longer think your stories of evading ANBU capture are quiet so ludicrous."
"And ya can't forget 'Nata-chan." Naruto gave the girl a look of complete awe. "You're so quiet I had no idea you were that strong. You only hit it once but that spider- it cried like someone had cut off its balls! I'm glad you're on my team, Hinata."
"A-arigatou. It's not- it's just my Clan's jutsus. I-It – It was nothing special, Naruto-kun." Kurenai saw the young girl blushing but also noticed the satisfied smile on her face. In her own way, Hinata enjoyed praise as much as Naruto did. Soak it up, thought Konoha's spider. You deserve it. It's not like your dad is ever gonna give you any.
"It's wonderful to see you all bonding," Kurenai's voice carried a very obvious level of amusement. "But my question was more directed towards the battle itself and team operations. Can any of you tell me why I chose to not tell you the place we would meet today or why I took Hinata's phone?"
"We have to be able to communicate with each other," answered Shino with a shrug. It was the obvious conclusion and a fundamental lesson. "If we are each doing something different, the group is not as effective and someone might end up out of place."
"Very good." Kurenai moved a branch out of her way and stepped onto Traning Ground 24. She watched the three Genin step onto the field after her and gestured for them to sit once they'd reached a shaded patch of grass. "Be it for missions, debriefings or just about anything we ninja do it's important that no one who should be in the know is outside the loop. But there's more to that lesson."
"Ya gotta watch out for each other." Naruto had his hitae-ate in his hands slowly polishing the metal with a rag he'd withdrawn for his pocket. The blond Genin's voice was uncharacteristically serious. "People are gonna try to fuck you before you even get started. Yesterday it was Hinata. Today it might be me or Shino. We're all each other got so there's no me and you. There's only us." Shino raised a curious eyebrow while the Hyuuga smiled. She stole a look at Naruto before moving her gaze back to the grass they sat on.
"That's a very interesting way to put it, Naruto. Teamwork extends beyond knowing what combinations work well together," The Jounin elaborated. "Ninjas have made their careers around isolating enemy shinobi or trying to sow distrust between them. You cannot always identify it, you can't always stop them. But you can look out for your team and place each other's well being before anything else. What about today?"
" Intelligence," answered Shino. His two teammates turned to look at the stoic. "You chose an enemy who's abilities I would be familiar with so that I- we-" the Genin corrected himself. "would be better able to fight it."
"Something you won't have on missions." Konoha's spider looked at her three charges with a level of gravitas that it would have rivaled Hiashi's. "Even something as simple as escorting a merchant to the next village can turn deadly if you don't know the terrain or what to expect. Preparation is more than just something you get drilled into you in school. An enemy who knows what you can do is more dangerous than any building sized spider. So guard your secrets, mask your abilities and never let a ninja fight you more than once."
"Hai!" the three children said together.
"Hey, Hinata! Wait up!" The Hyuuga girl turned to see her crush running towards her. It was amazing how quickly she could turn from near porcelain white (it was considered a mark of beauty within the Hyuuga and several of the older clans, so to appease her elders Hinata kept it that way) to tomato red. The short blond responsible for this amazing feat stopped a few feet from the now still as a statue girl. "Ya wanna hang out tonight? I'm watching Princess Mononoke at my place!"
You can do this, Hinata, the girl told herself. Just nod- yes, just like that. Still blushing to the very tips if her dark blue hair, Hinata nodded slowly. This movement seemed to worry Naruto who took a step forward and placed a hand on her forehead. Ok, he's touching you. Don't freak out. However calm this inner voice might be it did not reflect Hinata's actual mood. "I-I-I'm fine, N-N-Naruto-kun. I-I-Is it just the-uh –the-uh t-two of us?"
Naruto frowned, or at least made his equivalent of a frown. It oddly resembled the grimacing of a large jungle cat. "I tried getting Shino but he said he had stuff to do with his mom. Something about getting him started on creating poisons with his bugs." Oh no! thought Hinata desperately. I have Juken practice tonight. But I already agreed to go with Naruto… Outo-san will be cross… The girl had resolved to tell her teammate she wouldn't be able to come after all but then he smiled at her and started talking about how great all the Miyazaki films were and how awesome it would be. Under those ocean blue eyes the Hyuuga's resolve melted. She pushed thoughts of how angry her father will be to the back of her mind. "It's gonna be awesome, 'Nata-chan!" he said and the girl knew she'd feel no regret. "You'll be at my place at 7?"
"Y-y-yes," said Hinata. The two Genin smiled at each other and parted. They would not see each other again until 6:40 that evening when Hinata stepped in front of what looked like an abandoned building. The Hyuuga checked the address again. Did I copy it down wrong? She wondered. This was one of the many manifestations of the girl's fear of failing and disappointing others. While you might see a problem with a quick fix, she saw mounting evidence there was nothing she could do right. "N-N-Naruto-kun!" she called out in a voice she must have thought loud but barely qualified as normal speaking volume. "N-N-Naruto!" Hinata called again starting to worry somewhere there were people staring at her wondering if she was a freak. "N-naruto-kun…" she said again her voice once again its normal whisper.
It was as the girl was beginning to despair that Naruto poked his head out of his window. The small blond was almost as anxious as the Hyuuga. He had once in his whole life had guests over (His former sensei, Iruka, had wanted to see how the boy lived.) and he had not had to entertain them. So at just short of a quarter until 7 he was peering down at the dark street, looking for the girl who'd agreed to watch movies with him. Naruto didn't entirely expect to see her (much less so soon) but he needed something to occupy the time and checking the window every five minutes seemed as good a time occupier as any. "Hinata?" he called out to the blue haired girl waiting in the street.
"Naruto-kun?" Hinata replied looking up. The two preteens looked at each for a moment neither entirely convinced this was really happening. Hinata was unable to truly accept that she would soon be in the apartment (and possibly snuggling) against her long time crush. Naruto was just flabbergasted anyone would actually show up to his place. The Genin couldn't count how often he'd been blown off but here was one of the nicest girls he knew at his doorstep. It was Hinata who recovered first. "N-Naruto! May- May I come in?" she said in a voice she hoped was loud enough for him to hear. It was, if the barely five foot tall blond haired boy who'd leapt out of his window and onto the street next to her was any indication.
"Glad ya made it!" said Naruto as he took Hinata by the hand. "Come on! I got everything set up for us!"
I suppose this is the first chapter that's really NaruHina. I'm trying to stay away from the idea that Naruto loves Hinata because she pays attention to him (kinda like she's a consolation prize) and that Naruto is everything Hinata ever wanted so... I dunno. I might make this first date a lot less idyllic and a bit more illusion shattering. Anyway, later. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed.
