Hey, Everyone! Thanks to my Thanksgiving break, i finally had some free time to really get some writing done. Honestly, though, there is no way i can stop this story now. Every day I am bombarded by emails telling me people are watching my story or Favorited it. It's a nice feeling when people like your writing. Anyway, this chapter was a lot more fun to write than the last one. I had to stick to the cannon for that fight, cause it helps the story. God, it was so boring to write, though. It felt like i was copying an essay rather than writing a story. This chapter, though, i got creative with. So, if i remember right, when we last left off Hinata was standing in front of Kyuubi.
The nine-tailed fox was the horror of the ninja world. It destroyed all in its path without discrimination or restraint. Wherever human malice and evil collected, it would show up like an emissary from hell. The entire ninja world had heard of its evil and feared it.
And it was standing in front of Hinata.
The fox looked down at her with, to her amazement, a smile on its face. "At last, they are both together."
Hinata decided that if it had wanted to hurt her, the fox would have already. Something else was going on. "What do you mean? W-Why are you inside Naruto's mind."
The fox chuckled. "I think you have the answer to that already."
Hinata felt Naruto's memories surging through her mind. Heard several people calling him "Fox" "demon" or "monster", but the big one was a memory of her old sensei Mizuki, telling Naruto that he had the nine tailed fox sealed in him. It all finally clicked to Hinata. Why that horrible woman from the orphanage was blaming him for the death of her family. Why people looked at Naruto like the very sight of him boiled their blood.
Hinata shook her head back and forth, a rage building in her like she had never felt before. "That's the reason he has suffered so much; because he was forced to be a hero?! All the beatings and cold stares because he held you inside him! This isn't fair! He never had any choice!"
The fox's eyes turned warm. "I know. But that's why you are here, is it not?"
Hinata forced her anger down for a second in order to ask about something that was bothering her. "How can you be so kind when you are supposed to be a demon?"
The fox sighed loudly. "Where is it written that I called myself a demon, exactly?"
Hinata felt like her mind was on the verge of a huge discovery. "But you show up wherever human evil is. We have records of it happening. You would show up and level everything."
The fox goaded her along, wanting her to figure it out. "Everything? Then where did the stories come from, I wonder."
Hinata gasped as the truth finally dawned on her. "You left most of the people alive and the stories came from them. You only showed up to destroy whatever evil had shown itself. You were trying to stop it."
The fox smiled. "Exactly. This world was left to me and my family to protect, and I could not allow those evils to keep threatening it."
Hinata felt another burst of memories run through her head. Including one where Hiroko sat Naruto down and told him a story about the ten-tailed beast and the sage of six paths. How he was the first bijuu host and made the nine bijuu from the ten-tailed beast's chakra. And how he treated them all with the same kindness and love as his own flesh and blood sons. "The sage… he was your father!" She spoke in a shocked whisper.
A look of sadness crossed his face. "Yes. He made me, my brothers and my sisters out of the chakra of the original beast and charged us with acting as the guardians of this world. Unfortunately, the world didn't see us that way."
The field around them changed to a fiery battlefield and Hinata could see a much younger and smaller Kyuubi being chased by a hoard of ninja.
The fox spoke as Hinata watched the younger kyuubi running with tears in his eyes. "You humans began to see us as power sources instead of sentient beings. From me down to my brother, Shukaku, humans began to hunt us down and seal us away inside of other humans in an attempt to claim our power as their own. Instead of being your protectors, we became your prey."
Hinata walked up to the fox and, feeling brave, placed a hand on it's paw. "Being sent from prison to prison by the people you were supposed to protect. I'm so sorry."
The fox looked down at Hinata, amazed at the girl's bravery. "All these centuries of being spoken to like a mindless beast by the legends of the ninja world, and now two ninja who are seen as disappointments are the one who see past that."
The environment changed again, this time they were in some kind of underground sewer. In front of the two, a large metal cage stood with dozens of pipes running on the ceiling from it. The walls were stone and looked water logged and cracked and very little light was in the place. Hinata looked at the cage and saw a tiny Naruto sitting in front of it and the nine tailed fox on the other side glaring down at him.
The fox spoke again to Hinata. "Watch, little one."
In front of the cage, Naruto, only about nine years old at the time, was smiling at the sight of the giant fox snarling at him from behind his cage. "My mama told me about you. She said you were really lonely, so I wanted to talk to you."
The fox roared and slammed his claws through the cage, the tips coming an inch from Naruto's face. But Naruto didn't even flinch. "Curse this dammed seal that keeps me here. How I wish to feast on your bones!"
Naruto looked on past the claws in his face and disarmed the fox with one sentence. "It hurts when your forced to be all alone, doesn't it?"
The fox in the memory stopped snarling and just stared at Naruto. "What?"
Naruto gave a sad smile. "I'm the same. I was all alone back home before mama and my big sisters came to get me. They were so nice to me. The played with me, fed me, and Kagome even reads these cool stories to me almost every night. I'm not alone anymore, why should you be?"
The kyuubi in the memory drew back his claws and looked at the young Naruto with new eyes. "You expect us to be friends, Boy?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I know it'll take a little while, but I'll be your friend."
Kyuubi leaned down to get his eyes on Naruto's level from the other side of the cage. "Do you not know who I am?"
Naruto shook his head and chuckled. "How can I when you haven't told me your name yet?"
The kyuubi looked on in shock as little Naruto cocked his head like he had heard someone and stood up to walk away.
Naruto stopped to look at the kyuubi with a smile. "Sorry, my mama is calling me. She says I can only stay in here for little bits at a time at first. But I'll be back tomorrow to talk some more." He looked around at the sewer setting and grimaced. "And I'll ask mama if I can give you a nicer place to live."
As Naruto vanished into thin air the scene changed back into a lush green field, but this time a massive ornate castle stood on the horizon. The walls grey stone covered in carved seals and symbols from top to bottom. At it's front a massive wood gate stood taller than the kyuubi and two large fiery stone foxes stood at the gate of it. Hinata felt like the castle should have been imposing and ominous, but she felt drawn to it. Like it was calling her home.
The kyuubi gently put a claw in front of her to stop her. She hadn't even realized it, but she had begun walking toward the wood gate since it materialized. "Wait, little one. You need to know what you are doing before you make your decision."
Hinata stopped and looked up at the fox, giving him his full attention.
The fox looked toward the castle. "What you see here is the entirety of Naruto's mind. This castle is his conscious and subconscious all given form. If you enter, then your path will be set. You will be unable to leave until you find the center of Naruto's mind and take your place beside him. Then you two will truly be one." Seeing the look of amazement come over her, he decided to explain further. "Naruto is waiting for you there. Waiting at the center of the castle. All you need do is find him and sit by him and the bond is set. Your minds bound as fully and completely as two rivers forming into one. All his thoughts, feelings….and pain will be yours and yours his." He gently used his claw to lift her chin, making her look him in the eyes. "Do you still wish this after learning what he is and the burden he bears? You could just walk away now. You have awakened the moon sage chakra, after all. You don't need to do this."
A fire lit in Hinata's eyes and she spoke with a voice more confident than she knew she could muster. "I wish it more now than ever." Hinata turned to look up at the fox. "Naruto went for years being beaten and humiliated by the village without even knowing why. All those years of pain. All those years of loneliness and tears… and he still wants to be the hokage. The leaf has hurt and betrayed him and he still wants nothing more than to be our greatest protector. He stands when anyone else would fall, fights when anyone else would run, and he smiles when he has every reason to cry." A warm smile came over her face. "How could I ever not want someone like that by my side?"
The kyuubi gave a wide smile and banged one paw on the wooden doors, making them slowly open up to Hinata. "That was exactly what I wanted to hear! Go! Find Naruto, become the true moon sage… and tell him I look forward to our next talk."
Hinata nodded, let the urge to enter the castle fill her and walked in, the doors closing shut behind her.
The inside of the castle was beautiful. A large, lush green courtyard stood before her with a large cherry blossom tree in the center with golden colored petals instead of the usual bright pink. A small shrine sat at the bottom of the tree in front of a small pond with koi fish swimming about in it. All around her, Hinata could see foxes running, playing, and napping in the warm sun. The courtyard was surrounded by large marble walls with three doors leading off to separate hallways.
Hinata couldn't help the smile that came over her face. "Warm, inviting and happy. This is definitely Naruto's mind."
Hinata walked toward the small shrine at the base of the tree and saw a small statue on top of it. A beautiful woman with hair so long it reached her calves was smiling brightly with a small baby in her hands. Standing beside her, with his arms wrapped around her and the young baby was a man with spiky hair and a bright, familiar smile. Below the statue, engraved in finely polished stone were words that Hinata would always remember: "Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. Loving parents of Naruto Uzumaki and Hero's for all time." Hinata knew the name. Everyone knew the name of Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage of the hidden leaf.
Hinata slowly reached a hand toward the stone. "That's why he sealed the Kyuubi in you, isn't it? Because you were his son, Naruto."
The second her hand touched the stone, an image of a tiny Naruto flashed through her mind. He was cradled in the arms of Lady Hiroko who looked at the young boy with a mothers love in her eyes. In his hands, Naruto held a picture of his real mother and father at their wedding.
Hiroko tightened her arms around Naruto and kissed him on top of his head. "Your momma and daddy loved you very much, Naruto. They never wanted to leave you."
Little Naruto sniffled and looked up at Hiroko with tears in his eyes. "B-But, does that mean you're not my momma?"
Hiroko turned little Naruto around on her lap and wiped his tears from his cheek. "I may not be you're real momma, Naruto, but you are still my son. And I'll always love you, sweetie."
Naruto threw his arms around Hiroko in a bone crushing hug and spoke through sobs. "I love you, too, momma." After a few seconds Naruto looked up at Hiroko with a new fire in his eyes. "My daddy was the yellow flash, right?"
Hiroko nodded. "That's right, sweetie. He was the fastest ninja ever. Not even we could catch him if he didn't want us to. Why?"
Naruto smiled. "I want to be just as fast as my daddy! I want to be the new orange flash!"
A curious looked crossed Hiroko's face. "Why orange, sweetie?"
Naruto smiled brighter than Hinata could ever remember. "Because that's what color you get when you mix yellow and red."
The memory left her and Hinata stood in front of the small shrine with her hands over her mouth. She could feel the joy that Naruto felt in the memory. The joy of learning that he did have parents. That he did have someone who cared about him from the start.
Hinata gave a small bow to the shrine. "Thank you for protecting, Naruto. I'll take it from here."
A small breeze went through the courtyard, pushing her toward the northern corridor. Hinata started to walk down the hallway, and noticed the pictures on the walls. There was one where Naruto was sitting with Kagome, reading a scroll of seals. Another where he was running with Kagome and Rika in their small fox forms playing tag. There was another where he was being hugged by Hiroko at some festival, with Naruto holding a large cotton candy in his hand. With every memory she passed, a little more of Naruto became part of her, till Hinata felt stronger than she ever had.
Till she came to a large portion of wall that just had a picture of Naruto smiling painted on it.
Something was wrong with it, though. It took a second for Hinata to figure out what was off about the picture, but it came to her when she remembered all the pictures she had seen of Naruto smiling up to that point. It was an infectious smile. Looking at those pictures of Naruto's smile had made her unable to keep a grin from coming onto her face. This one didn't. She felt nothing from the smile she saw now. Then she noticed it, the slightly pained expression around Naruto's eyes.
Hinata's eyes narrowed. "This isn't his real smile. This is that smile he puts on so no one will see how much pain he is in."
Hinata put a hand on the painting, and the wall rippled and gave under her fingers. "It's just paper."
Hinata used both her hands to tear down the fake paper smile, and felt a blast of cold air hit her like a wall. She looked on to see a snowy wasteland behind the paper smile. The air coming through the doorway hurt to breath and, when she turned to look behind her, all the foxes that were normally playing and happy had their ears back against their head and were backing away from the cold doorway. But Hinata knew that this was the way she had to go. She could feel it. She took a deep breath and walked through the frozen doorway.
Hinata found herself in the frozen ruins of the castle from before. The courtyard was covered in snow with a dead tree clawing it's way through the ground in the middle. The walls around where old and broken with piles of rubble strewn about at random. The air she breathed was so cold it hurt her lungs and made her pull her hood over her head and zip up her coat. The worst part, however, wasn't the frozen ground or the painful air. The worst part was the shadows.
Where before there had been foxes running around and playing, this part of Naruto's mind had these terrifying beings made of shadow that seemed to glide just on top of the snow. She didn't know if they where male or female. The looked like the shadows of mannequins that glided around the landscape. But it was their eyes that sent a chill through Hinata's spine. They all had these horrible glowing red eyes that seemed to radiate hatred and rage. They never came toward Hinata, but they always had their eyes on her as she made her way through the snowy landscape. Every now and then, she heard one of them speak in a gravelly whisper. It was always short phrases like "Monster", "Freak", or "Beast".
Till one glided by and she heard it whisper "No one would care if you died".
Hinata looked back at the phantom, and suddenly the faceless shadow was the old woman from the orphanage that had beaten Naruto when he was little. Rage filled Hinata at the sight of the woman, and she flung herself at her. Driving her into a wall and holding her by the throat.
Hinata didn't know where that strength had come from, and she didn't care. She just wanted to beat that woman into dust. "How could you do that to him?" She yelled, throwing a palm strike at the woman's face as she did. A palm strike that she failed to notice was glowing silver.
The second her hand made contact with the woman's face, a large bang burst out and the woman exploded into wisps of smoke… with the wall behind her shattering like glass. Hinata stopped, looked at her hand, and struck the wall behind her to see if she could do it again. The stone didn't give and all that happened was her hand stung a little from striking the stone. Then she put little chakra into her hand and saw how it glowed as silver as moonlight. Hinata went to touch her glowing hand, but found that when her hand touched the glowing light, it bounced off like it had been pushed.
Hinata remembered what Hiroko had said about the moon sage being all about defense and thought about the nature of the moon itself. Then the answer came to her. "The moon only shines because it reflects the light of the sun. That's what made the moon sage so dangerous: She could reflect everything! I have the ultimate shield! I must have forced the wall to reflect away from my hand when I touched it back there, and that was why it shattered like that."
Hinata felt a rush of confidence go through her. These shadows couldn't even touch her, anymore. With a will, Hinata began walking again, the shadows now nothing more than an annoyance to her. Along the way, she saw more pictures on the wall, but these were not the same as before. One had Naruto, alone in his apartment, curled up in a ball and crying. Another had him staring at a group of kids at a playground as their parents came to pick them up, and he was left alone. Another was of a starving Naruto digging through the garbage can at the orphanage, looking for something to eat. Every one just made her walk faster. She wanted to get to Naruto more than ever. So she could hug him and not let go till they woke up in that bed in the tower.
Hinata shook her head. "No. I'll just have him move over so I can lie beside him and keep hugging him. He will not spend this night alone."
Seeing a strangely whole picture on the wall, Hinata stopped to take a look. This picture was framed in iron, unlike the others which were just scraps of paper pinned to the wall with rusted kunai knifes. In it Naruto was glowing orange with the aura of the sun sage with a fiery look in his eyes. Hinata reached out to touch it, and suddenly found herself in a room with Naruto and Hiroko. Naruto was pacing around, looking somewhere between angry and crying.
Naruto stopped and looked up at Hiroko, his eyes almost pleading for answers. "Is this really what the world of ninja is all about? Us hating and killing each other over no big difference but different symbols on our headbands!"
Hinata suddenly knew what Naruto was angry about as more of his memories flooded her mind. In his travels, Naruto, in disguise, had come across a family of earth ninja that had let him, Rika and Kagome into their home for a few weeks of rest. Naruto came to be attached to the small daughter the husband and wife of the house had, Looking at her as almost a little sister. Naruto truly felt happy with that rock ninja family…Till the man went out on a mission and didn't come back alive. And Naruto found out that he had died in a fight with ninja from the hidden leaf. Hinata could feel all the sadness and pain Naruto felt as he stood at the funeral, listening to that little girl scream for her daddy to wake up. It had broken his entire view on the honor of being a ninja.
Hiroko nodded. "If those leaf ninja hadn't won the fight, then some poor child in the leaf village would have been the one crying for their parent that night. This is the way things are, Naruto."
Naruto was breathing heavy and had balled his hands into fists so tight that his knuckles had turned white. "It's not right. This whole damn system is wrong!"
Hiroko stepped forward and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Yes, Naruto, it is. All ninja see the cycle of hatred they are trapped in, but can't escape the darkness of it. That is the fate of those who follow the ninja way."
Hinata saw Naruto's aura burst out from him, covering the entire room in the orange light. He looked toward Hiroko with his eyes now looking like there was blue fire burning behind them. "Then that's what I'll destroy: the entire ninja way! You say that there is no way for them to escape the darkness? That's what the sun is for: To drive away the shadows and darkness, no matter how black. I'll become Hokage, and I'll find a way to change the ninja way. I swear it!"
Hinata saw it then; a future hokage was standing before her. A revolutionary who would stand against the world. Someone she would walk beside into hell itself.
The memory faded, and Hinata was back in the snowy courtyard. She took a breath and walked on to find Naruto.
Eventually, Hinata came out to another courtyard to see a circle of statues surrounded by an army of the black shadows. They didn't seem to be able to cross the threshold of the statues and were clawing and gnashing at the air around it. She looked up to see that they where statues of Rika, Kagome, Hiroko, Iruka, that man with the white hair, Jiraiya, Kushina and Minato. All the people that Naruto looked up to and cared for like family where keeping the shadows away from something. Then one of the shadows moved, and Hinata saw a small stone bench with seals all over it standing in the center of the circle of statues…With Naruto sitting in it.
Hinata took off running toward Naruto, a silver light coming over both her hands. "Get out of my way!" She yelled when she got close enough to the shadows, and before they could turn, Hinata had already blown threw a huge chunk of them.
Hinata kept pushing forward toward the circle, groups of shadows being blown away from the shockwaves she made when her hands flew through the air, all the while her eyes were focused on Naruto. Till finally, she had made it passed the circle of statues, and stood in front of a smiling Naruto.
Naruto looked up at her, with a weak stare. Obviously still feeling the effects of his chakra running wild through his system. "Hey there, Hinata. Glad you came."
Hinata bent down and hugged Naruto with all her might. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner."
Naruto tried to hug her back, but his arms felt so heavy that he could barely lift them. "It's alright. I learned a lot while you were on your way here."
Hinata smiled and sat down on the bench beside Naruto, the symbols carved into the stone immediately lighting up. "I'll bet you did. I learned a lot about you on my way here, too."
Naruto swallowed nervously. "Listen, Hinata. I'm sorry for not telling you about the Kyuubi before. It's just that… I mean, I was…"
Hinata took one of his hands into hers and interlaced her fingers with his. "You were scared that I wouldn't want to sit here after I learned the truth." Hinata leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. "But this is right where I want to be."
Naruto gave a bright smile and leaned back against the chair to rest. "I'm glad. I'm really glad it was you who turned out to be the moon sage, Hinata."
Hinata snuggled into his side. "So am I, Naruto. I'll never let you feel alone again. I promise. I'll always be there for you, even when we are apart you'll still hear my thoughts with you. Just us two outcasts taking on the world."
Naruto smiled and looked up at the sky to see a bright full moon piercing the darkness of the frozen wasteland. "I can't wait till our date, Hinata."
Hinata blushed and looked up at him. "I can." She giggled at Naruto's confused expression. "I waited this long for you to notice me, so I can wait a week or so for our first date. We're together. The rest is just icing on the cake."
Naruto gave a warm smile
As the two sat on the bench, feeling wonderful in each others company, an orange glow came over Naruto and a silver one over Hinata. The light of both mixed into the symbols behind them on the chair and spread over the ground at their feat. As the light spread, the snow vanished from the ground and the shadows faded from sight. On and on the light went, repairing the walls and fading away the sad memories on the walls till they were barely noticeable. The light eventually reached the dead cherry blossom tree which suddenly erupted in silver petals that shined in the light of the moon. Eventually, the light stopped, and the snowy wasteland had been transformed into a peaceful paradise.
A giant castle spilt in half. On one side, a happy, warm place where just to be there made you smile and on the other a calm, peaceful spot where all troubles seemed to melt away. One side covered in sunlight, and the other bathed in moonlight.
This was the inner world of the Sun and Moon sages.
Outside in the real world, the sun was beginning to set, and all the teams were still waiting to see what happened with Naruto and Hinata. Sakura and Sasuke were with Shikamaru's team, Hinata's team, and the newly arrived team of Lee, Neji and Ten-Ten just outside the room where Hinata was still with Naruto, the mass of chakra now died down enough that Jiraiya could just set up a stable barrier instead of having to constantly keep adding chakra.
Ino leaned over to Sakura. "You really don't know what was up with those weird foxes, Sakura?"
Sakura shook her head. "Wish I did, Ino. But they are just as big a mystery to me as everything else going on today."
Neji sat in the corner, scowling at Hinata and Naruto in the room "Whatever is going on, Hinata should know better than to disgrace the Hyuuga name by agreeing to date a failure like that."
A stern voice came from near the door. "That is my son you are talking about, boy." All turned to see Lady Hiroko, still in her elegant kimono, standing with a stone expression on her face. "And you will watch your mouth when you speak about him in my presence."
Kiba stood up with a smug grin on his face. "Look, lady. We can't help it if your son is a loser. Maybe it's hard for you to realize that when you adopted him you got sold the most broken merchandise in the store, but…"
With a voice that all the gennin in the room could feel run through their very souls, Hiroko snarled out. "SILENCE!"
There was a burst of air, and when Kiba tried to speak again, no sound came out. He tried again, still nothing. His voice was gone.
Hiroko smirked at the young boy's shocked expression at finding his voice gone. "You will regain your voice in little over an hour's time, but I suggest you learn to speak to ladies with respect, boy."
She walked into the room where Naruto and Hinata lay, phasing through the barrier like it wasn't even there, ignoring the angry looks and soundless yelling Kiba was throwing at her.
Shikamaru spoke up then. "Kiba, that woman just sealed your voice away without using hand signs, written seals, or even touching you. I really don't think you want to push her buttons anymore than you have."
Shino stood next to his teammate. "Agreed. She seems far more powerful than she looks."
While this was going on, Gaara, Kankuro and Temari where off in a separate room, having their own conversation.
Gaara had his back to the wall with his eyes closed in a serious expression. Temari was sitting on a coach and Kankuro was busy working on his puppet, crow.
Temari spoke up to Gaara. "We have to tell him, Gaara. We owe him that much."
Gaara shook his head. "I agree, but I still don't like it. There is no reason for any of this."
Kankuro didn't look up from his puppet. "Baki-sensei did tell us the reason for all this, remember? This is for the pride of the sand village."
Gaara started pacing at that. "So, we are going to attack an ally, a very powerful ally mind you, because it will bring the sand back some "Pride"? We are going to kill so many mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers for pride? We will forever mark the hidden sand as "back stabbing traitors" for pride? This doesn't add up, Kankuro."
Temari stood up and stopped her little brothers pacing. "I agree, but it doesn't change the fact that it is happening, Gaara. We'll find out what is going on later. We'll make sure to try and keep casualties we cause to a minimum if we cause any at all. But, we need to tell Naruto about this. We need the whole family to help get through this, Gaara."
Gaara sighed and nodded. "You're right, Temari. Either way, he deserves to know what's coming. But how about we wait till after he has his date with Hinata. Let him at least have that before we drag him into this mess."
Temari nodded. "Agreed."
From outside the door, Rika could be heard running by and yelling "Something's finally happening in there!"
Gaara immediately took off out the door, followed by Temari and Kankuro and stood with the rest of the crowd outside of the door to Naruto's room. Through the barrier, they could see a silver and orange light surrounding both Naruto and Hinata. Over their heads, a blazing orange sun and a silvery crescent moon formed and began to swirl around each other. Soon enough the light faded and Naruto and Hinata could be seen stirring.
Jiraiya was standing their, gave a look to Hiroko inside the room who nodded with a smile, and let the barrier down. Immediately, all the rookies flooded the room, questions pouring from their mouths, till Hinata spoke up.
Hinata held up a hand. "Everyone, I'm sorry, but I'm very tired and I would like to know how Naruto is doing. So, could all the questions wait till tomorrow, please?"
Kagome, in human form, walked through the crowd then and immediately began running a diagnostic jutsu on Naruto. Hinata stood beside his bed, taking his hand into hers while Kagome worked.
Kagome sighed with relief. "He's gonna be weak for the next couple of days and we'll have to make sure he gets plenty of rest, but he will be fine."
Hinata smiled down at Naruto, and then looked over at Rika and Mai by the door. Mai was now in a human form as well. A pretty twenty something woman with the trademark kitsune hourglass figure and light brown hair done up in a short ponytail at the back. Instead of a kimono, she wore a pair of baggy pants strapped at the ankles and waist and a long sleeved, red Chinese style shirt.
Hinata smiled at the two. "Would you two mind helping me find a bed we could wheel in here, please? I'd rather not leave him alone tonight."
Rika nodded. "Sure, there's one in the next room. Mai and I will grab it for you real quick."
"Thank you."
Neji stepped forward then, a scowl on his face. "There will be none of that. It is bad enough that you agreed to a date with this failure, but you won't be disgracing us further by sleeping in the same room as him."
Hinata crossed her arms. "What I do is none of your concern or the concern of the Hyuuga clan. I will be sleeping in this room tonight and every night we are in here. If it bothers you so much, then I suggest you find a room on a different floor then."
From behind Neji, Temari could be heard cheering for Hinata. "That girl is my new best friend!"
Neji went to say something else, when the Hokage stepped up beside him and gave him a look.
The Hokage looked down at Neji. "Hinata has a point, Neji. The Hyuuga clan has no business in her affairs after her Father disowned her as his successor when she became a gennin. So that will be the end of that argument. Am I clear?"
Neji clenched his fists and bowed his head. "Y-Yes, Lord Hokage."
The hokage turned toward everyone as Rika and Mai carried a bed into the room for Hinata to sleep on. "Hinata will tell you all you need to know tomorrow. Right now both her and Naruto need some rest. As do you all."
With that everyone emptied out of the room, leaving Hinata alone in the room with the four fox spirits, the Hokage and a half awake Naruto. And after Hinata had gotten into her pajamas for the night and Kagome and Rika helped a weak and tired Naruto into his, Hinata was ready to get some sleep.
Naruto groaned as he looked at all the people gathered around his bed. "Sorry, if I worried anyone."
He made to sit up, but Hinata stopped him with a hand on his chest on gently pushed him back into bed. "Easy, Naruto. You need to rest."
It was then that Naruto noticed that the sun had gone down already. "God, it's night already."
While Mai was moving the bed closer to Naruto's, Rika moved to stand beside Naruto's bed. "Yep, the newly awakened moon sage here spent hours sitting beside your bed to help you get your chakra under control. Seriously, Naruto, we're talking about that date later. This girl deserves something special."
Suddenly, Naruto heard Hinata's voice say "I already have something special". But he never saw her mouth move.
Naruto leaned forward, looking toward Hinata with a smile and a light blush. "I heard that, Hinata."
Hinata looked on curiously. "I didn't say anything, Naruto."
Hiroko stepped up then. "No, but you thought it. You two are one now, Hinata. He can hear your thoughts."
Hinata blushed slightly, but got a warm smile and looked at Naruto. "Well, I wasn't lying."
Rika got a big smile on her face watching Naruto blush. "Awww. He's blushing. How cute."
Naruto groaned a little in the bed, still smiling despite Rika's teasing. "I'd yell at you, sis, but I'm to tired and happy to even start."
With that, Rika turned back into small fox form and jumped onto Naruto's bed, curling up by his side, with Kagome following suit. Hinata couldn't help the warm smile that came to her face at seeing the three together, but also had something she wanted to know about.
Hinata looked up at Hiroko. "Is there a way to keep our thoughts private, Lady Hiroko? That might get distracting on a mission."
Hiroko nodded. "Good catch. Picture yourself talking to Naruto in your mind when you want to speak to him. Your thoughts only drifted to him now because your bond is still fresh and you are right next to him. It'll be under control in the morning." Hiroko saw Hinata yawn, and started directing her to the bed less than an arms length away from Naruto's. "Get some sleep, dear. You've got a lot to look forward to tomorrow."
She turned to look at Naruto with a smirk. "Like helping me keep my son from doing anything other than resting for the next couple of days."
Naruto groaned. "Am I really that bad about it?"
Hinata giggled from her bed, reaching over and taking one of Naruto's hands into her own. "Yes, you are, Naruto. But I'll help make it easier for you to relax, I promise."
With a bounce, Mai in her own light brown fox form jumped up onto Hinata's bed and curled up beside her. Hiroko chuckled at that. "Those three will watch over you tonight. I would feel better knowing there are some people I can fully trust guarding you two."
Hinata nodded and as Hiroko and the hokage left the room, turned to look at Naruto. "Goodnight, Naruto."
Naruto yawned. "Goodnight, Hinata. Oh, and goodnight Rika, Kagome and Mai."
As everyone fell asleep for the night, deep in the bowels of the tower, Kabuto was strolling into a dark room. All around him stood towering stone pillars with small torches spread randomly around the room. And as he stood there, he sensed a powerful chakra in the room.
Kabuto gave a smirk. "I have the information you want, Lord Orochimaru. And some extra that you may find interesting."
From the shadows behind him, Orochimaru appeared. His long tongue going over his lips. "Oh, really. Well, that extra bit can wait for now. What about Sasuke? Did you get the info I needed on him?"
Kabuto reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. "Every bit. Your fight with him didn't offer as much as I had hoped, but we have enough to go with now."
Orochimaru smiled at the info on the ninja card. "Splendid work, Kabuto. Now, what is this other business you mentioned?"
Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "There was some big commotion today over that boy Naruto and the young Hyuuga girl. Seems those foxes are interested in both of them."
Orochimaru gave a devilish chuckle. "Well, now. I suppose that means we'll have to keep an eye on them. We could always use more subjects for experimentation."
Kabuto gave a dramatic sigh. "Guess that means I'll have to kill them at some point. Shame. Naruto is kind of entertaining. In a naïve idiot kind of way."
Orochimaru began to walk away. "Quite. But that fun can wait. Sasuke is more important at the moment. We'll look into them when the need arises." In a puff of purple smoke, Orochimaru vanished, leaving Kabuto alone in the room.
Kabuto again pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Shame for you, Naruto. You have entered the big game, now."
The next morning, Hinata woke up feeling better than she had in years. After quietly getting out of bed so as to not wake up a peacefully sleeping Naruto, She got one with her morning routine in the bathroom and walked down to the kitchen with a human Mai walking beside her.
Hinata looked up at her. "I apologize if I woke you up, Mai."
Mai just shrugged her shoulders. "No worries, Hinata. I'm actually happy I get to get to know the moon sage a little."
Hinata smiled at yet, feeling warm at the idea of being the moon sage. "Yes. I'm glad to get to know you to, Mai."
Of course, Hinata already knew plenty about Mai from Naruto's memories. She was a kitsune who excelled more in defense and barrier jutsu than any kind of overly offensive jutsu. She had a natural tendency toward cooking and had, in fact, made sure to cook Naruto as many healthy meals as she could while he was growing up. Hinata was especially happy about that last part. She herself liked to cook and was glad that she finally had someone who shared her hobby. She was going to put that hobby to use that morning by cooking Naruto breakfast in bed. Mostly to help keep him resting in bed that day, and because she couldn't get the image of little starving Naruto out of her head.
When Hinata and Mai walked into the café area, all the teams where in there with their own breakfasts made.
Sakura immediately got up and walked up to Hinata. "Hinata, thank goodness. Please, you have got to tell us what is going on with Naruto and these weird fox, human things."
Mai held up a hand and cleared her throat.
Sakura looked ashamed at her remark. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just…we don't know what's going on here and we would like to know a few things."
Hinata just smiled. "They are called Kitsunes, Sakura. Like in the old stories. They are actually Naruto's family."
Kiba chuckled at a table. "Cause no human would call him their family."
Mai groaned. "God, it's too early to deal with dickheads."
Hinata just smirked. "Don't mind him. He's just angry cause Naruto has a girlfriend and he doesn't"
Ino walked up to Hinata, ignoring Kiba's shocked expression completely. "But what was that yesterday with all the lights and chakra going crazy?"
Hinata put up her hands and chuckled. "Hold on, guys. Let me get started on Naruto's breakfast and I'll answer questions while I do. Okay?"
With that, Hinata went to work preparing a big breakfast for Naruto and explained everything she felt she should to the teams present. She didn't tell them any jutsu Naruto could do or any the foxes or herself could do. She basically just told them about Hiroko as Naruto's mother and his sisters Rika, Kagome and Mai. Told them about how the seal put on him yesterday caused his chakra to go haywire and she was just helping it flow better. She never told them about the sage arts or how she could feel the natural energy of the world constantly coursing through her. She figured that would be a nice surprise for later on in the exam. The conversation went smoothly and Kiba even kept his mouth shut.
Then Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai and Asuma walked in and Hinata's mode changed.
Kakashi walked over to Sakura and put a hand on her shoulder. "Sasuke is going to be out of it for a few days, but that seal shouldn't give him any more problems."
Sakura gave a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness."
Then Kakashi turned to see Hinata silently working with Mai to put some breakfast onto a couple different plates for Naruto, Hinata and the foxes to eat together.
Kakashi smiled at Hinata. "So, I take it Naruto is doing better."
Hinata didn't even look up at him. "Why does that matter to you?"
Kakashi looked stunned and slightly insulted. "Because he is my student, Hinata."
Sakura looked on shocked at Hinata. "Why would you say something like that, Hinata?"
Hinata looked up with a cold glare at Kakashi. "Because I know who Naruto's parents where Now, Kakashi sensei. And I know who they where to you."
Kakashi walked up to the small counter that separated the cooking area from the dining area and place his hands on the counter. "Naruto's parents where close to me, yes. But where do you come from saying something so disrespectful?"
Hinata slammed her hands down and screamed at Kakashi. "Because you weren't there when he was suffering! With his parents being what they are to you, you should have been the first one to know Naruto was being mistreated by that… thing that ran the orphanage!"
Kurenai stood up then, shocked at the display of anger her normally shy student. "Hinata, he is a jonin. He has other duties."
Hinata shook her head viciously. "No! I don't care how many missions he had to go on! Naruto didn't even know who he was before he became a gennin! He just left him to fend for himself against those horrid people who abused him!" Hinata gestured at all the rookies. "They at least have an excuse for ignoring him: they didn't know and they were told to ignore him. It's not a great excuse but at least they have one." She pointed at all the Jonin. "All of you knew who he was and none of you lifted a finger to help him!" Hinata walked out into the dining area, standing right in front of Kakashi with murder in her eyes. "But you… You're the worst of them all. You not only knew who he was, you knew his parents personally and you never bothered to help him!"
Kakashi couldn't deny it and could feel guilt pooling in his stomach. "I had no choice."
Hinata's eyes went wide and she pushed Kakashi with her newfound sage strength. Knocking him back into the tables, and causing all the rookies jaws to drop. "No! You chose to ignore him! You chose to turn a blind eye when he was digging through garbage cans for food! You chose to ignore him when he truly hated everyday he had to wake up still being him!" Hinata's eyes narrowed and she delivered the final blow to Kakashi. "For someone who brags about never abandoning their friends, you sure did abandon Naruto easily."
With that, Hinata went back to Mai and picked up all the plates of breakfast for all of them and began to walk back toward their room. When Kakashi stood up.
"I know I have made some mistakes with Naruto, but I'm working to fix them all now."
Hinata didn't even break stride. "Work harder. You have a lot to make up for. The entire leaf village does."
Kurenai was still shocked at her student. "Hinata, what's gotten into you?"
Hinata gave a sigh and turned to look at her sensei with sad eyes. "Someone has to stand up for him, sensei. There's only so much he can do by himself. If Naruto attacks anyone in the village for all the horrible things they say or do to him, all that happens is that it proves them right. He has to put on a smile and pretend like nothing bothers him just to be seen as human in this village." Hinata's eyes turned fierce. "I, however, can yell. I can hit and I can fight back. So that's what I'll do. I'll stand by him against all of it."
With that, Hinata and Mai strolled out of the café and into Naruto's room. Kakashi just picked himself up and walked out of the room, ignoring the other jonin and Sakuras pleas to come back. For all he wanted to deny it, Hinata had cut him to the core. He couldn't deny it: He had truly failed Naruto. He just wanted to be alone with his thoughts for a while.
Back in the room, Naruto had just woken up to see Hinata and Mai carrying in a several plates of breakfast for everyone. Naruto was still feeling very weak and wanted to help them with carrying all the plates.
Hinata saw him moving to get up, and decided to test out their new link. Focusing on an image of Naruto in her mind, Hinata spoke to him telepathically. "Ah, ah, ah. You lay back down. You are resting for the next couple of days, Naruto. I know you prefer to be the one taking care of everyone else, but you better get used to this. I'm going to be around from now on."
Naruto spoke back to her as he laid back down, smiling. "You know, I kinda like the sound of that."
Rika perked up from her spot beside Naruto after a few seconds, sniffed the air, and stared at the plates. "Is that deep fried tofu on those plates?"
Mai held up three plates. "Yep. Hinata insisted she make us all some."
Kagome also woke up at that and both her and Rika morphed into their human forms, grabbed a plate of breakfast and one of the chairs in the room and, after thanking Hinata, began happily eating breakfast.
Seeing Hinata about to sit on her bed, Naruto scooted over and spoke in her head. "No you don't, Hinata. Come sit by me." Hinata felt herself blush, but nodded and took a seat next to Naruto. But before she could start eating her breakfast, Naruto surprised her by kissing her on the cheek. "Thanks for breakfast, Hinata. It's really nice of you."
Hinata couldn't help the smile that came over her face and she leaned into Naruto a little bit more. "Wow, maybe I should tell Sakura to try and be a moon sage to. Seems to come with your crush becoming your boyfriend."
Naruto laughed at that. "Yeah. She'd probably beg mom to make her a moon sage to. God, imagine how Sasuke would react to that."
With a straight face, Hinata said. "He'd scowl, grunt and feel superior to everyone else."
Naruto almost choked on his food. But managed to swallow it down before he gave a loud laugh. "Oh, that was perfect! You are awesome, Hinata."
She smiled and picked up a fork to eat her food. "I try."
The rest of the meal went on in relative silence, with everyone enjoying the meal Hinata had made for them. Till, eventually, Rika, Kagome and Mai left the room to go check in with Hiroko. Naruto knew it was a lie, but he accepted it since he was alone with Hinata for a little while.
Hinata snuggled into Naruto. "See, relaxing isn't so bad."
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, this isn't bad, but promise you'll at least let me sit out on a deck or something later today. I'm gonna go stir crazy without some fresh air."
She nodded. "I figured you would."
Naruto decided to touch on something important. "I know what you told everyone just now, Hinata." Hinata froze against him, but let him keep talking. "I never blamed Kakashi or any of the other Jonin for what happened…but thank you for standing up for me like that."
Hinata let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Someone should stick up for you, Naruto."
"Yeah, Guess I'm just used to handling it myself."
Hinata wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "That's the problem. You had to handle too much by yourself. I should have been your friend from the start, but I was to shy."
Naruto hugged her back. "Stop, Hinata. You know as well as I that thinking about what could have been won't change anything. We're here now, so we just have to keep moving forward."
"I like the sound of that. For now, though, I think I'll just stay in this bed with you for a while. I like it here."
Everything was comfortably quiet after that. Both Hinata and Naruto just sat in that small room and enjoyed the others company. It was nice and peaceful. No doubt life was going to throw its fair share of troubles. But, for that day, the sun and moon sages forgot their troubles and enjoyed the fact that neither of them would ever be alone again.
Seriously, Kakashi: He is your sensei's son! Where you that busy that you couldn't check up on him every once in awhile? That always bugged me in the original story, so i wanted Hinata to call him out on his bull. As you can see, Hinata is a lot more confident now, without being bitchy about it. I can't tell you how much i hate it when I see a character like Sakura who the writers show is confident by making them a supreme bitch. A person can be assertive and confident without being nasty about it, after all. Hats off to Kishimoto for making the Bijuu really good guys the whole time. I freaking loved that twist! It shows exactly the problem with the ninja world in Naruto: They make there own problems and try to blame them on everyone else. Oh, and trust me, Naruto is going to put Kiba in his place soon enough :). As always, reviews are always welcome. Happy Holiday's, everyone.
