Power – Redefined
Chapter 6 – Finding Happiness
The bathroom door opened and Naruto walked out, like Hinata he had opted for a change in sleeping clothes, she had chosen a set of black pyjamas with a blue swirl on the front and a green one on the back, Narutos where also black but on the front of his was the image of a fox and the back had an image of a pearl, he had said that the fox represented him and the pearl represented her, when she had protested about him describing himself as a fox he had replied that whilst he wasn't the Kyuubi, the god of foxes did reside within him and besides that he was the primary fox summoner so it made sense regardless of how you looked at it so she had conceded.
Naruto walked over to the bags, put his clothes away and took out a fresh set ready for the morning, then he walked over and lay on his bed, Hinata then stood up, walked over to his bed and lay down next to him putting her arm round him as she lay down. Naruto was surprised to say the least he quickly turned round to face her
'What's the matter Hinata?' he asked worried that there was something wrong he could see a mixture of sadness and happiness in her eyes, her emotions seemed to be at war. For Hinata that was exactly what was happening, she was happy lying next to him, but she also felt that she didn't deserve him and that she should just get up and go back to her bed and not even think about this sort of thing ever again, she decided that the only way to calm her emotions was to let him make the decision
'C-Can we stay l-l-like t-t-this, at least for a little while?' she asked him, sacred he would say no and sacred he would say yes. Naruto pondered the question for only a moment, at least for the moment it took to sink into his brain, but for Hinata it seemed like hours had passed since she asked the question
'Sure, anything for you' he said putting his arm round her and pulling her closer, he could feel her body pushing up against his and it felt nice. Hinata couldn't have been happier, she pressed her body as close to his as she could, her eyes where closed and her face had a smile of pure bliss on it. They stayed like that and ended up falling asleep holding each other, at some point in the night Naruto awoke and found Hinata still holding on to him, so he used his feet and pulled the quilt up from the bottom of the bed and covered them with it.
The next morning
Hinata awoke to find herself in Narutos arms, which was the last thing she expected and something she'd dreamed of and thus promptly fainted. Around 10 minutes later Naruto awoke to find that he was still holding Hinata, as she was him, and along with the smile that she'd had when she went to sleep, she now also had a heavy blush on her face, the only reason he could think of for this was that she had woken up first not to long before and, on realising the situation, had in fact fainted, he decided to wait and see if she'd wake up soon and if she did what her reaction would be.
After about 5 minutes Hinata came round again but whilst she was at least a little prepared to see a sleeping Naruto in front of her before she opened her eyes, when she opened them to see Narutos own brilliant blue eyes looking right into hers, with the love she had never expected to see in them apparent as the nose that sat just below them, it was again to much to take and again she passed out with a blush and a smile. Naruto watched her reaction and smiled, he had seen in her eyes the love he had yearned for all his life and never known and now he was fairly confident that he was returning that love at least a little as he was still unsure as to exactly what love felt like.
He decided that he should probably wake her so that they could get ready and sort the clothes out to be taken away, they where to be delivered to the Hyuga residence with instructions that only Hinata or Naruto could open them, the fox hand been kind enough to teach Naruto a seal that required the same blood that had been used to create the seal to open it, apparently it wanted to see the look on Haishis face as much as Naruto and Hinata did, Naruto had decided that there really was only one suitable way to wake Hinata up, the same way he always did now, he lightly kissed her on the lips, waited for her to return it and then pulled away after a few moments.
Hinata still thought that it was the best possible wake up she could ever have and after Naruto pulled away she slowly opened her eyes, then her mind gradually put everything together from the last 2 times she had woken up but fortunately this time she didn't faint
'D-D-Did w-we s-s-s-sleep, l-l-like t-this?' she asked, not entirely sure that Naruto hadn't just brought her over earlier to give her a great wake up, she wasn't bothered if that was all he'd done but she had to know for sure
'Mmmhhhmmm, did you sleep well my Shinju?' he asked, Hinata suddenly felt very light headed even though she was lying down, she had slept in the same bed as Naruto, holding him the whole night, to say she felt like she was on cloud nine was an understatement, cloud nine seemed to be along way down from where she was
'Y-Y-Yes, thank you Naruto' she replied, she could hardly believe that she had slept right next to him
'Glad to hear it, now come on we've got to get ready, they'll be coming to pick up the bags soon and we have to get ready to go' he said starting to get out of bed, he then thought about the weights that where still around his wrist and ankles "If only there was some way to get them off quickly if I need to" he thought, then he heard a small chuckle in his head
"I may have a solution to that, there is a jutsu I came across a few centuries ago, I've only ever known one clan to use it and it would seem, from what I've gathered of the world today, that those methods have been lost along with the clan, the clan name was Namikaze and I've not heard any mention of them in your entire life, or for that matter for the last hundred years before I was sealed in you which is a shame really, they where a clan that had even earned my respect and that is not something easily done" said the voice, as he said this Hinata got out of bed, collected her things and went into the bathroom
"Where they that powerful?" asked Naruto, he was curious as to how a clan could have gained the respect of this, most powerful of demons
"They where of a reasonable strength, I've come across more powerful, but there were 2 things that really set them apart, first was they're skill for improvisation, never have I seen a group of people so capable of adjusting to a situation as it unfolded quite like they where, the second was that they where willing to try and talk with and understand anything, they believed that fighting should be the last resort and they even reasoned with me, it was the only time I found a human that actually seemed worth talking to, he challenged me to a game of my choosing and as long as he was given time to understand the rules properly he asked that it should take the place of the battle, if he could win then I was to leave and never harm the village, if he lost then it was my choice as to what happened whether I left the village harming none or left it as a ruin" said the voice, apparently lost in the memory
"So what happened?" asked Naruto, he had never heard the beast speak of anything fondly but it seemed quite fond of this
"We played a game that he hadn't heard of called chess, I took it easy the first game playing it quickly to allow him to get used to the rules, then we played for real, the game lasted for several days and nights and it ended in a stalemate, he should have lost several times but as I said they where a people capable of great improvisation and he always found some way to keep me at bay, but that's enough of my reminiscing. Now then the jutsu is very simple requiring only three hand seals and a burst of chakra to release them, but it also requires that the hand seals and a small amount of your chakra be put into the weights before you need to use it, so if you put it in now then it will be there to use when you need it, it's called the Kaju Kaijo jutsu" said the voice
"So are you saying I have to do the jutsu twice to make it work?" asked Naruto somewhat confused
"Not exactly, you do it once at a time like now when you don't need it and put just a small amount in, then when you actually need to use it you perform it the second time letting out a bigger burst of chakra, the first burst finds the release method for the weights and gets it ready so that it can be released at a moments notice, the second burst then causes the first to release it and depending on how much chakra you put in will do anything from just release them to pushing them so far from your body you've no chance of ever finding them again" the voice explained
"Oh, so it's a 2 stage method, it makes sense now, I'm guessing that it could be done with just one use of the seals and one burst of chakra but it would take longer to release them, right?" replied Naruto
"Got it in one" replied the voice, Naruto then performed the hand seals that came into his head and pushed a small amount of chakra into the weights on his ankles and wrists
"Should I teach it to Hinata?" Naruto asked, he thought it best that she knew it as well
"Yes, she may need it more than you" replied the voice.
Naruto then started gathering the bags together whilst he waited for Hinata to come out of the bathroom. Around 5 minutes later he finished putting the bags together and then he heard the click of the bathroom door.
The door opened and Hinata walked out wearing the forest camouflage uniform, she walked up to Naruto and gave him a light peck on the cheek
'Your turn' she said walking past him to her backpack
'Hold on Hinata, I've got something to teach you' said Naruto quickly turning around, she was surprised but always happy to learn something new, particularly when Naruto was her teacher
'What is it?' she asked
'Well I gave some thought to quickly releasing these weights, right now it would take too long to take them off, so the fox decided to teach me something he knew to take them off quickly, it works in 2 stages, the first is to do 3 hand seals and put a small amount of chakra into the weights, this gets them ready to be released quickly without actually releasing them, the second is to do the same thing when you need to take them off but instead of only putting a small amount in you put a bigger burst in, depending on how much you put in depends on how far from your body they move, not much chakra and they only release, a lot of chakra and they fly a long way and you mightn't be able to find them again' he explained
'Ok then, show me' she said, determined that she would learn this technique in case she had to help him, she wanted to make sure that if she had to help him she would do everything she possibly could to do so, she would go to the end of the earth or master an advanced jutsu in a moment, whatever it took to save him. Naruto then slowly showed her the three hand seals needed for the jutsu, once he'd finished she repeated the seals and pushed a small amount of chakra into the weights on her wrists and ankles.
'This technique is called the Kaju Kaijo jutsu, if we were going to listen to Jiriayas advice without this we might as well not wear them because they would more likely cost us our lives, at least with this we can take them off in an instant' said Naruto he then turned around and went into the bathroom to get himself ready for the day, unlike Hinata he had chosen not to wear the camouflage uniform, figuring that it wouldn't do much good in a head on fight and instead elected for some clothes he'd gotten at a shinobi store, there was only one in the small town but all the equipment it carried was very rare and of the highest quality
FLASHBACK MODE ACTIVED
Naruto and Hinata where looking around the store. Naruto had already selected several types of shuriken and collected over 100 of each, he had also found some very interesting kunai, from what he could gather from the tag under them they where made of a metal that was designed to allow chakra to follow easily through it and gather in it meaning that less was needed, he had added around 50 of those to the steadily growing pile of equipment, which also include; high tensile trap wire, 3 leg holsters for his kunai, a belt capable of holding his weight, Hinatas, Jiriayas, Tsunades, Shizunes and Kakashis if it had too, as well as three kunai holsters, 2 shuriken holsters and 2 utility pouches for it.
He had also found a selection of clothes including a particular type that caught his eye, the information with them said they where as strong as steel and lighter than cotton, it also said they would adapt to the wearer and fit them almost like a second skin, Naruto had decided that he would buy 7 sets for himself and another 7 for Hinata, he had also had some customisations made to 2 sets of each, the front of his had a four tailed fox on the right breast and kanji reading fox summoner on the back, whilst Hinatas had a pearl on the left breast pocket and the words 'Kagayaku Hikari' or Shining Light on the back.
In the store there was also a selection of other weapons, Naruto had carefully looked through and found several weapons to be of interest, first there was the jo staff, it went up to about the height of his chest but he could tell that it would be of more use when he was older, the second weapon was unusual to him but he thought it looked like it could be a fine weapon and failing that a good wall ornament, it was around the same height as the jo staff but unlike the jo it curved round to fit comfortably round the hips, the owner of the shop said it was called a kyokukan staff.
He then found 2 weapon sets right next to each other and figured (rightly) that they where probably well suited to work as a set, to him the tantos didn't looked to be much use being quite short, not much longer than a big kunai in fact, but decided to get one set of the wakazashis as they looked like they would be very effective. Whilst he was walking round he noticed that Hinata kept quickly moving round and going back to the spot stood there for around 5 minutes and then would walked round again for 2 minutes hardly paying attention to anything and end up back in the same spot.
He decided to go and see what she was looking at so when she got back to the same spot after another 2 minute walk he went to the row behind her which the top of was lower than his head, he saw her looking up at something on the wall and followed her gaze which lead him to a beautifully crafted scythe, the handle was a mat black with spirits carved into it running from top to bottom, the handles where curved and crafted to sit comfortably in the hand, each had a skull carefully crafted into the end, the blade was also very well crafted and made from a strange black metal that looked, to Naruto at least, as though it absorbed light.
Naruto waited patiently for Hinata to finish looking and begin her walk again, then he slowly made his way to it, taking care to make it seem as though he actually was looking, he could already tell that Hinata was trying to not let him know she was interested in it so she made sure to stay away from it and him so as not to arouse suspicion. Naruto arrived at the scythe and found the information, according to the card it was a unique design that was very hard to craft, it adjusted to the height of the user and continued to do so throughout their life, the blade was made from a metal called Fuseihikari which absorbed a small amount of light but could take chakra used in an opponents attack and when done correctly allowed the wielder to use that chakra for a jutsu of their own.
Naruto moved away and found another item of use to him, it was a pack of small cards that when you focused some chakra into them would tell you your elemental chakra affiliation, he decided that it would be a good idea to get a pack so that he and Hinata could check their elements, then he walked over to the counter and spoke to the manager about the scythe, he asked the manager how many they had in, the manager said they had three, then he asked how much they cost, the manager had replied that they normally cost around 2,500,000ryo but since Naruto was already buying a lot he would give him a special discount and it would only be 1,500,000ryo, Naruto then asked if the manager had said they had 3 in stock, the manager had replied that yes they did, to which Naruto then replied no they didn't and promptly handed over the 7,500,000ryo that everything cost(like I said when all you buy is ramen because no one will sell you anything and you get high level missions your money tends to stack up).
He and Hinata then left the store and went to get some food, Hinata asked if they could have another look in on their way back because she had decided to get an unusual kunai design to try, Naruto had replied that they could if he could buy them for her, Hinata felt a bit guilty for not even letting him know she had an interest in the scythe and so agreed, when they went back she looked at the place where the scythe had been from the row behind where she picked up some long kunai, Naruto noticed that she had quite a sad look on her face and couldn't wait to see it when he showed her that he hadn't just got her one but three.
FLASKBACK MODE DEACTIVATED
Naruto decided that once he'd finished getting ready he'd give Hinata one of the scythes and tell her he had 2 more for her, he couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he did. He quickly got a shower and dried himself off, his body was already becoming far more defined than it had been but still remained quite boyish looking.
Around 15 minutes after he went into the bathroom he came out dressed and ready for battle, the clothes he bought where indeed very light weight and had adapted to him so that the top was tight fitting on the arms but loose fitting on the chest and hung down low enough to tuck into the trousers which fitted his waist exactly and where loose till they reached his ankles where they tightened around his ankles without leaving any part of the cloth folded back on it's self. Around his waist he wore the belt with one kunai and one shuriken pouch just above where a pocket would be, one utility pouch was at the start of each ass cheek and the last kunai holster for the belt was right at the back in line with his spine.
Most would look at the way he wore the kunai holsters on his legs and think it was strange but he had thought very carefully and decided that the best set up was to have one on each leg in the same place as the original had been and then the others sat on each leg upside down just below the knee so that if he had to kneel he could still get quick access to a kunai rather than having to get one out past his upper body as well as that it took less time to lift his hand to his knee than it did to get it to his thigh.
He then walked over to the items that where going to be picked up and taken to Konoha ahead of them and picked up a box around 7 and a half feet long, 2 feet wide and 3 inches deep. Hinata was sitting on her bed cross legged trying to think how she was going to arrange her weapons and equipment in her pouches, she looked up when she saw Naruto approaching, he was standing at the side of her bed holding out a large box, she took it curious as to what was in it, it weighed a considerable amount but not as much as she had first expected, she laid it on her lap and carefully opened it, when she saw the scythe her jaw dropped, she couldn't believe he had bought it for her she looked at him speechless, he smiled broadly and genuinely
'I knew you wanted it because you kept going back and spending a long time looking at it, the shop had 3 in stock, they're out of stock now because you own them all' he said the smile never leaving his face, Hinata looked back at the scythe and picked it up, it instantly shrank to a more suitable size for her, then she noticed the note in the bottom of the box, it read 'Smear your blood on the skull on the end of each handle and this weapon will be yours alone, it will seek your hand and harm another that would use it. Choose wisely once done it may only have 2 masters at any one time, the second master must put their blood on the skulls along with your own, it will know when a master dies and the a new master can only be added by adding their blood to the remaining masters and repeating the process'
She did as the instructions said and then placed the scythe by her bed and tackled Naruto to the floor in a hung, nuzzling into the crook of his neck and crying in happiness. After 5 minutes she kneeled up over the top of Naruto and decided that they only way she could really think of to thank him was to kiss him, so she did, she quickly leaned down and kissed him on the lips. After a few moments she pulled back and stood up helping Naruto to his feet, then she reached over to the box and pulled out the piece of paper and handed it to Naruto, he read through it carefully and understanding replaced the confused look he had gotten when she handed him the paper
'Would I be right in thinking that you want me to be the second master for the scythe?' he asked, to which her reply was a single sharp nod of her head so he bit his thumb and she did the same then just as she had done he followed the instructions and wiped his blood combined with hers on the skulls at the end of the staff, then he looked at her and a thought seemed to flash through his brain before he spoke again
'So are you going to name any of them?' he asked sincerely, Hinata seemed to contemplate this for a moment before replying
'I think I'll name this one and leave the other 2 unnamed for the moment' she replied
'So do you know what you're going to call it?' he asked, again Hinata seemed to go into thought at this before coming to a conclusion
'I think I'll call it Owari' she replied happily, seeing her so happy Naruto felt the happiest he had ever felt, he almost felt that he wouldn't care if he died right now, but on a second thought realised that he would actually be devastated, he couldn't bare the thought of either not being there to protect her or failing to protect her, he could only just bare the thought of losing her because of old age.
For around the next half hour Hinata practised with the scythe whilst Naruto carefully selected the layout for his weapons and equipment, in his left shuriken holster he had 20 three pointed curved shuriken (Think Itachis Mangekyo Sharingan) and his right holster held 40 standard shuriken in his utility pouches he carefully packed some things he thought he might need, including 1 barbed kunai, designed to stick into things so that it could be used to climb up, some high tensile trap wire but he only took around 25 feet of the 300 feet he bought and one of the chakra enhancing kunai, he wasn't sure why but he had a feeling he would need it.
At the end of the half hour there was a knock at the door, Naruto finished putting the last of his kunai in holsters and answered the door while Hinata attached some cord to Owari and then slung it over her back. At the door where the delivery men to take the items to Konoha, they had to be dropped off at the Hyugas compound because Naruto lived alone, but Naruto had thought ahead to send a small amount of the more selective clothes, that he was pretty sure Haishi would kill him for buying for Hinata to the Third to keep safe till he came to pick them up.
By the time they had finished sorting out the bags it was 7.30am and they had to meet Jiriaya, Tsunade and Shizune at 8am for breakfast and finalise how the plan was going to work leading up to the battle, they all knew it wasn't going to be easy and it could potentially cost them their lives but they also knew that if they could take him out now he would never be a threat again and it was a risk worth taking, more so for Naruto, Jiriaya and Tsunade.
To Naruto he was a threat to his best friend Sasuke, to Jiriaya and Tsunade he was the comrade that betrayed them and nearly cost themselves and their mentor their lives. Hinata knew one thing, Naruto was willing to risk his life for it and she would risk her life to make sure he succeeded, she knew there was little Naruto would put his life on the line for if he could avoid it because it would put his dream of being Hokage on the line, so if he was willing to risk it then so was she.
'Anything you want to do whilst we wait Shinju?' asked Naruto, as soon as he asked her one thing came to mind and the thought caused her to blush lightly
'Could we just lie on the bed together?' she asked quietly, though her stutter was now almost completely gone and only surfaced when she was either nervous to just above the point of fainting or scared, however the blush was almost permanently on her face when she was around Naruto though it had lessened from the once heavy blush to a light blush. Despite this her confidence was still low and Naruto had resolved to do everything he could to increase her confidence
'Of course' replied Naruto smiling, he had hoped she would want to do that as he had never felt so comfortable and happy as he did the previous night and when he awoke to find her in his arms.
He then lay down on the bed and opened his arms towards her, she quickly walked over and wrapped her arms around him as he enclosed her in his embrace, but there was something she wanted to hear from him she had thought she'd seen it in his eyes but wanted to know for sure so she gathered up her courage and steadied herself to ask the question
'Naruto, how do you feel about me?' she asked quietly, looking into his eyes, she could see the love but wanted to be sure it was for her
'I don't really know in truth, I've never had a mother or farther or been shown any emotion other than anger and hatred, all I do know is that when I'm with you I feel so happy and content, it's a feeling I've never known before in my entire life' he replied, wishing he could give her a better answer but not really knowing what the answer really was or what he was feeling
"I can tell you what you're feeling, but in return I'd like you to stop referring to me as 'the fox' or 'Kyuubi' I have a name you know" said the voice in his head
"Please tell me, if I had known you had a name I would have called you it sooner" replied Naruto almost pleading
"Very well, my name is Akahito, the Red Messenger and as you suspected the emotion you're feeling is love but it is pure love capable of lasting a life time, if I didn't know that fate isn't predetermined I would think you 2 cut from the same stone" said Akahito
"Thank you, Akahito" said Naruto happily he then decided to give this new information to Hinata
'According to Akahito it is love, he said that if he didn't know better he would think we where made for each other' Naruto told Hinata smiling broadly. On hearing this Hinata blushed deeply, nuzzled in to the crook of Narutos neck and started sobbing softly, Naruto got worried when he heard her start crying thinking he might have said something wrong, he pulled her up and looked at her with a very worried look on his face, Hinata had her head lowered so he couldn't see the smile on it or the look of pure happiness in her eyes
'What's wrong Hinata?' he asked worriedly, Hinata quickly jerked her head up and looked him in the eye, she had pulled her hands up to her chest when he had told her he loved her, she heard the worry in his voice and saw the worry plainly across his face then she realised, he didn't understand that she was crying in happiness, he had only ever known tears for sadness
'Nothing's wrong, in fact it couldn't be more right' she said, Naruto got a very confused look on his face, if things couldn't be more right then why was she crying, she again saw his face and realised he still didn't understand, she threw herself at him wrapping her arms tightly around his neck
'I love you Naruto, these tears are from happiness not sadness' she whispered into his ear
I think I need to end this chapter here it's long enough and the next chapter will be the one you've been waiting for: the big fight
Next Chapter: Truth be told, Chasing Tsunade, Orochimarus accomplice, Naruto snaps: Chapter 7 – Revelations of the Past