The sound of small bells could be heard across that area of the practice field.
Hinata shook her head. Naruto was playing that game again? It certainly seemed that he was a creature of habit.
She didn't mind. She was a creature of habit too. But, that didn't mean that she wouldn't learn from her experiences, or react accordingly.
"Ha! Hinata!" Naruto jumped up to stand at the top of one of the wooden posts. "Before I begin teaching you today, you need to snatch at least one of the bells from me." He put his hands on his hips. "If you want to succeed, you need to come at me as if you intend to kill me."
Hinata bit her lip. She still had trouble with that concept when it came to sparring with Naruto. Even though he was very good, she feared that she might accidentally injure him severely. The two of them had been training together for a number of months now, ever since she had worked up the courage to meet him at the Happy Crab that first time.
Somehow, she had managed to tell him how she felt. He must have been as uncomfortable as she had been, however. His response had been: 'Huh! We shouldn't talk about something like that over lunch!' He had stared at her and ended up knocking over his stack of bowls. He had also been very brusque, and tried to feign disinterest. But, in the end, he had happily agreed to train with her when they were both free of missions and assigned practice sessions.
Practice had led to post-training meals. Post-training meals had led to more talking. While the chatter had been mostly on Naruto's part, she didn't mind. He had a lot of stories, and they all seemed wonderful to her. Well, all of them except for some of the ones with Jiraiya.
The time the two of them had spent talking together had broken down barriers, and before they knew it, the two of them had begun dating.
"Naruto-kun, what jutsu were you planning on teaching me today?" Hinata had begun to be selective. In the beginning, she would do anything that Naruto suggested, just to be with him, and to make certain that he didn't lose interest. But, once he had begun seeing her differently, she had begun standing up for herself more and more. They were both learning a great deal.
"Hey! The best of the best! I think you may finally be ready for it!" He jumped to the ground. "Watch carefully, I will only demonstrate this once." Smiling, he shouted "Oiroke no Jutsu!" The specialized variation of the Henge no Jutsu left him looking like a naked and curvaceous babe that he had seen in one of the adult magazines Jiraiya had given him in the hospital.
Hinata closed her eyes. She felt the heat rushing to her cheeks. While she had slowly gotten used to certain of Naruto's habits… and to the Hokage's great relief had even been able to get him to act more wholesomely… she was still the same proper girl at heart.
Just the same, she had begun to develop a small mischievous streak of her own, much to Naruto's delight.That did not sit nearly as well with Tsunade. "Ummm. OK, Naruto-kun" Hinata knew what to do. "But…… well…."
"What! Too shy to try it, Hinata?" Naruto took up one of his boastful poses. That had Hinata grinning, which lead to Naruto preening even more.
"No, Naruto-kun." Hinata put her hand behind her neck, imitating one of Naruto's gestures. "To be fair, I will need… ummm… one of the magazines that… ummm… some of the girls look at…." It hadn't been easy, but she got it out. That ought to catch him off guard.
Naruto's mouth fell open. He hadn't expected Hinata to want anything to do with that jutsu. No doubt she was only joking. But picturing her as a nude male centerfold had his skin crawling. "Never mind!" He said. "We can select the jutsu later. First, you need to get the bells. I promise that I won't put them down my pants again!"
Hinata blushed. She had not gotten the bells that time. Most definitely not! When she related the story to Kurenai, her teacher had done something to Naruto that neither of them would talk to her about. "OK, Naruto-kun." She picked up the bag she had brought with her. Grinning, she took out two boxes.
Bento lunches.
"Bells first, lunch second!" Naruto said, ringing the bells again. His thoughts went back to the day that he, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi had come to this very site. He had ended tied up to one of the posts, after trying to sneak one of the box lunches.
"That is correct, Naruto-kun." Hinata took the lid off of her box and began eating. "If you give me the bells, I will give you some lunch." She smiled a shy smile.
"HINATA!" Naruto said, shaking a fist at her. "That's a dirty trick!" He smiled. "I'm very proud of you." He tossed her the bells. Before she knew it, he was sitting next to her with the box in his lap.
"Do you think they look good, Naruto-kun?" Hinata blushed, still a bit awkward when it came to joking around. She held one bell up to each ear, like an earring.
Naruto smiled, a piece of octopus tentacle hanging from his lips before he sucked it in. "Mmm Hmmm. That's a good idea. They put bells on cats to keep track of them, right?" He chuckled. "That way, I could warn you when to stay out of the lecture room."
Hinata blushed, fumbling her bento and almost dropping it.
She had gotten into the habit of tracking Naruto down during the day, needing to see his face, and wanting to sneak a quick kiss when no one was watching. A few weeks ago, she had something else to deliver… an invitation for him to join the Hyuugas for dinner. She had been very excited, and was in such a hurry to give it to give the nicely decorated card to him, that she had walked into one of the lectures for male shinobi.
The lecturer had been in the middle of a graphic description, part of the sexual education talk. Kiba had shouted out "Here's our model!" Everyone else had burst out into laughter, or had whistled and howled. Furious, Naruto had schooled Kiba… and about half of the guys in the room… but Hinata hadnot stayed there to see it. Unfortunately, the fight became an instant legend, which meant that everybody learned the reason for the fight.
Before Naruto knew it, his bento box was gone. He grimaced. Most of the time he was very pleased at Hinata's growing skills. Most of the time.
"OK… OK… no more troublesome stuff…." He did a perfect imitation of Shikamaru, ending up staring at the clouds. That had Hinata giggling and returning his lunch. The memory of that one particular day had him remembering Hinata's invitation, and the events that followed. "Maybe you should keep the bells. You can ring them, letting me know when to calm down."
"Naruto-kun?" Hinata looked curious. What did her boyfriend mean? In many people's minds, he needed to calm down every minute of every day.
"I don't think your father will be inviting me back for dinner anytime soon." Naruto shook his head. "I'm surprised he even allows you to see me."
"Oh." Hinata grinned, even though there were some sharp edges to the memory. "I think you are wrong, Naruto-kun. I know that was hard for you; but Father was secretly pleased."
"Huh?" Naruto frowned.
"Not about the secret," she quickly clarified.
One of the Hyuuga elders had taken offense to Naruto's presence at the gathering, and had broken the unofficial law by mentioning Kyuubi and his living prison. That had not been easy for Naruto. It had come as a tremendous shock to Hinata.
"What the?" It was Naruto's turn to look curious. What possible good could have come out of that debacle?
"Father was pleased with the way that you talked elder Hizami down. He had wanted to do that for years, but cannot do so as clan head." Hinata pictured the event. Naruto had gotten up on a table full of beautiful dinnerware and countless platters of food, and had marched over to read the riot act to the startled elder.
Things could have gotten very ugly, if it hadn't been for Hanabi. "Can you take the fox out, so I can pet it?" Her innocent question had Naruto's jaw dropping at first. But, he jumped down off of the table, sat next to her sister, and began telling her about Kyuubi, as if nothing had happened.
To say the least, the dinner guests had been stunned by the whole series of events.
"He was also pleased with the gifts you sent" Hinata said, looking fondly at her Naruto. She reached over and squeezed his hand. "The elder's actions were a stain on the family honor; but, you didn't make an issue of that. Instead, you worried about how you had behaved. He respected that."
Naruto had actually made an effort to write an apology to Hiashi. He had also included a small promissory note, one which said that he would bring noodles for everyone if he was ever asked to dinner again. Not only that, but he had also sent along a cute stuffed fox for Hanabi.
"Of course, he was furious with you at first." Hinata shivered for a moment. "That changed as he thought things over." Hinata leaned up against Naruto. "Hanabi has a terrible crush on you. She wants to marry you some day."
"Oh yeh? What girl wouldn't?" Naruto scowled when Hinata started giggling. "Besides, I have already done my duty to the Leaf. Somebody had to date a Hyuuga girl! One's definitely enough!" He lifted his chin and looked away.
Hinata didn't play along with the joke. She had stiffened, and performed Byakugan.
"What's wrong," Naruto asked, immediately sensing the change in her.
"We are being watched. It's…." She never finished what she was going to say.
Vengeance is a terrible drive. The Hero of the Hidden Falls had spent months wandering alone, his life in shambles. He had given out much of the holy water, which was only collected every one hundred years. His orders had led to the death of six of the village's strongest ninja, and skilled shinobi were in short supply. All that, plus the drastic political fall-out, had prompted his ouster. There had been one thing on his mind after that. Revenge. More than anything, he needed to kill the girl who was at the root of his problems. That would have been enough. But, he had been ecstatic to see who she was sitting with, unawares, eating lunch together.
That outfit. That loud and boisterous behavior. It matched the description that underground sources had provided him with. The boy was one of the ninjas who had thwarted his daring plan.
He would kill both of them.
With Hero Water coursing through his system, he was a frightful adversary, a ninja stronger than those he had sent out before. But, his arrogance and blind thirst for retribution proved his undoing. He had chosen the wrong pair to attack. Especially when each realized that the other was in danger.
So, it was later in the day that a battered, bruised, and bloody Naruto kicked open the door to the Hokage's office, accompanied by a rather tattered looking Hinata. Tsunade looked up in surprise when the two shinobi walked into the room.
Naruto threw something down to the carpet, off of his shoulder. It was the unconscious form of the former Hero. Hinata jingled slightly as she limped along, bells hanging from her ears.
Tsunade listened, receiving a detailed report about the fight. During the commentary, she called for a number of ANBU, who were given the task of bringing the captive to the prison facilities.
After the masked ninja had left, the Hokage stared at Hinata and Naruto, marveling not only at their unparalleled ability to stumble into trouble, but also at the way that the two of them had subdued a rather fearsome foe. Hearing the bells again, her attention focused on the white-eyed girl's odd choice of earrings.
"Why?" Tsunade touched her own ears, meeting Hinata's eyes.
"Ummm. Hokage-sama…." Hinata twiddled her fingers in lieu of offering an explanation. "I will tell you in a moment…." She was blushing, but there was a clear spark of mischief in her eyes. "First, before I forget, I must ask you an important question."
"Oh?" Tsunade wondered just what the younger woman needed to know.
"Do you…… ummm…… do you have any of the… ummm… special magazines?" Hinata began turning red. She was amazed at how far she was willing to go to tease Naruto.
"Magazines?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. Just what was Hinata up to? No doubt she was trying to score points against the boy at her side. "What kind of magazines?"
"You know. Ummm. Those kind of magazines…." The inflection in the white-eyed girl's voice had the Hokage's eyes going wide."
"Hey! Old Lady! Our report is done. We have delivered the criminal." Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and began pulling her from the room. "We need to go to the treatment area. Later!"
Tsunade watched as they left, the sound of the bells growing fainter. Did she really want to know what that was all about?
What a pair….