Family
AngolMoaChan
Hello all and welcome to another wonderful chapter of Family! I spent the past two and half hours researching and building character profiles just for this chapter, so I hope you all enjoy it:)
Naruto is not mine. If it was, Tsunade and Jiraiya would kick Kabuto's sorry Orochimaru-bringing-back…I'm gonna shut up now, don't need to spoil you anime watchers:D
--
The sun had set many hours ago over the tops of the stone faces, stars dotting the black canvas of the sky. However, a total of three people in the large house atop of those faces were still wide awake. The first was Arashi, poring over the cipher intently. The second and third were sitting together on the rooftop, staring up at the stars.
Naruto looked over at Hinata, who seemed transfixed by the glimmering lights. He smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, earning him a quiet squeak from the shy Hyuga, "What's on your mind, Hinata-chan?"
She sighed and leaned into his embrace, folding her hands in her lap, "M-my father…and N-Nanashi-sensei…and m-my mother, too…"
He frowned, "Let's see…your father's a jerk, kaa-san is kinda crazy and…wait, your mother? What about her?"
"I just…I n-never really knew her, th-that's all…" Hinata smiled up at him, "N-Nanashi-sensei said she knew h-her well though…"
"Hmm…maybe you could ask kaa-san about her."
"Oh, w-well, I don't k-know about that…" she blushed, "It d-doesn't matter…"
"If it's important to you, it does matter." He played with her hair and frowned, "Hey, Hinata-chan?"
"W-what is it, Naruto-kun?"
"Uh, well…" Naruto blushed slightly and asked quickly, tumbling over the words, "DoyouthinkIcouldcallyouHina-chan?" Hinata blinked and slowly digested what he had said, while he mumbled, "Uh, I mean if that's okay… calling you that and all…"
She smiled at him, "I would l-love that, Naruto-kun."
"Kay, good…Hina-chan." He grinned brightly, "I like it!"
"Me too, Naruto-kun…"
The two sat and talked for a long time after that, Naruto telling his many slightly exaggerated stories and Hinata giggling and listening patiently. Time passed and Naruto noticed Hinata had fallen asleep on his shoulder, her pale eyes closed and a small smile on her rosy cheeks. He smiled and scooped her up bridal-style, hugging her close to his chest, "I…love you Hina-chan…" he murmured, before kissing her forehead and carrying her back inside.
-xx-
A dark shadow crept into Naruto and Hinata's shared room, sliding under the closed door before reforming to the shape of a person. Said person quietly muttered, "Kage no Henge," and was engulfed by the dark shadow on the floor. When the shadow melted off, it revealed the person from before disguised as Naruto. "Naruto" walked over to Hinata and asked quietly, "Hinata-chan?"
She mumbled, "MmmNaruto-kun…?"
"Yeah, it's me…" he grimaced and asked, "Hey, wanna go out for a little while?"
"Sure…" Hinata stood up sleepily and followed "Naruto" outside. The second she realized that it was still dark, Hinata started making handsigns and muttered, "Byakugan!"
"Naruto" whirled around, "You're smarter than the others."
"You're not Naruto-kun!" she quickly got into a fighting stance, "Show y-yourself!"
There was a puff of smoke: the person turned out to be a small girl. She looked to be five or six years old, and had thick black swirls around her pale blue lightless eyes. Her face was gaunt and framed by messy, tangled black hair, "My name is Kuroi Nekozawa."
Hinata looked at the small girl in a mix of amazement and mother-like worry, "What are you doing h-here? A-and why did you t-try to…"
"I'm lost." Kuroi's monotone whisper echoed through the clearing, "Can you take me home?"
"W-why me?"
"You look like my mother." She stated simply, "Please?"
She looked back at the house anxiously, "W-well…I sh-should tell A-Arashi-sensei and N-Nanashi-sensei before I-"
Suddenly, there was a puff of smoke behind her, and she heard a deep male voice say, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that."
The sharp edge of a kunai was pressed against her throat and Hinata gritted her teeth, "…this was all a trap…"
"Bravo. Now then." The man from behind her lifted the kunai and cut a thick lock of her indigo hair before binding it with a band and dropping it on the ground, "The boss wants to meet you, Miss Hyuga. You're coming with us."
"And if I say no?"
"There's no option." A hand hit the back of her neck and Hinata fell limp, the last words on her lips floating into the breeze.
"Naruto-kun…help me…"
--
Arashi startled awake at the sound of crunching footsteps from outside. He jumped up, pulling a kunai from a holster and quietly stepped through the hallway and outside into the night. He looked around, scanning the area carefully before stepping into a shaft of silvery moonlight. Arashi noticed something glinting on the ground and he cautiously stepped towards it before reaching down and grabbing the item. It was a lock of hair, tied with a blue rubber band, which had a tag attached. Arashi studied the tag: it was the exact same cipher from the scroll. He swore, and turned quickly, racing inside.
-xx-
"Mm…not there Arashi-kun…no, okay, there is fine…"
Arashi sighed and shook Nanashi's shoulder. As sexy as he found his wife dreaming about him, there was no way he would let her sleep through this, "Nana-chan."
"…I said stop that…"
"Nanashi."
She blinked awake and murmured, "…Eh?"
"You have to get up, it's urgent."
Nanashi sat up and rubbed her head, "…Arashi? What's going on?"
He held out the lock of hair from before, "Take a look at this."
She complied and studied the object through half lidded eyes. As she turned it over in her hands, her blue eyes shot open, "This is-"
"I'm going to wake up Naruto, okay? Get dressed, and hurry!" He quickly headed out of the room, muttering curses until he reached Naruto's room.
Much to his surprise, he found his son already wide awake and holding a kunai, "…Oh, tou-san, it's you…where's Hina-chan?"
Arashi grimaced, "…She's gone, Naruto."
"Oh…did she go back to the village or something? Did I scare her off?" He blinked, then started waving his arms around "Waah! No! Tou-san! I scared her off didn't I? What am I supposed to-"
"Naruto!"
"She probably hates me, ugh, I'm a terrible boyfriend, I must have…hey wait. Tou-san? Did I do something wrong?"
"No you didn't! Naruto, Hinata was taken."
"WHAT?!" Naruto started to run past Arashi, a look of death in his deep blue eyes, "I'll kill her father! GAH!"
"It wasn't him!" Arashi sighed, "Calm down and go meet your mother downstairs. She'll tell you."
"Uh…alright…" he blinked and headed down the stairs, "Kaa-san? What happened?"
"H…Hinata-chan…she was kidnapped…" Nanashi's hands were trembeling as she held onto the small tag: the look of horror in her blue eyes rang volumes around the room, "…And I know…well, I think I know who did it…"
"What?" Arashi had just come down the stairs, and he quickly asked, "Nana-chan, who?"
"If my memory serves me correctly…" her voice dropped to barely a whisper and her shoulders shook, "Hiro Nekozawa…"
"Nekozawa…?" Arashi cursed and retreived the kokeshi from his desk, "Nanashi, can you read the cipher?"
She took the scroll and whispered, "Yes…it was my nii-chan and Hiro-chan's secret language…"
"Your…nii-chan? Nanashi…" Arashi pulled her close and Naruto looked on cluelessly, the anger growing in his features, "You never told me about a brother…"
Looking away in shame, Nanashi replied, "…I'll tell you on the way…listen, do we have a map of the world around here?"
"Yeah, why?" he quickly reached into the desk and unfurled a large map on the surface, "Here you go."
She started to read the cipher out loud, "It says 'You were so young, and I al…"
"I what, kaa-san?" Naruto exclaimed, getting frustrated.
Her voice dropped to a whisper, "I…almost had the pleasure of killing you, Nanashi-chan…' and then it has two numbers, 35 and 111"
"Coordinates…?"
"R-right." Nanashi traced the lines on the map and her two fingers met directly in the center of Tsukikagure, "This must be where they're holding Hinata-chan…"
"Let's go already!" Naruto growled, throwing a packed bag over his shoulder. He was practically brimming with anger, his blue eyes clouded over in absolute fury, "They took Hina-chan…"
Arashi nodded, "Grab the map and the kokeshi…while we're at it, what does the tag say?"
"It says…" Nanashi gasped as she read over the contents, "It says 'Won't Hyuga-san's picture look nice in our murder book?'. That must be the kokeshi…"
"This could just be part of it." Arashi gritted his teeth and muttered, "Let's go. We need to get to Tsukikagure, and fast."
"Right!" Both Naruto and Nanashi followed him out of the door and into the woods.
-xx-
After the trio had traveled back a ways, Arashi looked to Nanashi and asked quietly, "Nana-chan?"
"…I know, you want to hear the story, right? Both of you listen up." Her normally bright eyes darkened over with shadows and she sighed. Naruto moved closer, so the three of them were leaping through the branches in a tightly packed line, "…When I was a little kid, I was the pampered princess of the Kazuma clan, so to speak. I had everything I wanted, whenever I wanted. The reason for this was my family's kekkei genkai: the Tsubasagan. It only shows up in certain children of the clan, and I was supposedly one of these kids."
"…So it's kind of like the Sharingan?" Naruto questioned
"More or less…anyway, the family had the shock of their lives." She smiled bitterly, "I wasn't a 'blessed child' like they thought. The second they found out, I was beaten by…by my father."
-xxflashbackxx-
"Alright Nanashi, do just like toto-san does." Nanashi's father, a tall balding man with the same blue eyes as her started making slow handsigns, "Nezumi, Ushi, O-hitsuji, Tora, Buta, Ushi."
"Nezumi, Ushi, O-hitsuji, Tora, Buta, Ushi!" a ten year old Nanashi repeated proudly, "Now what toto-san?"
"Now, I want you to say "Tsubasagan!" really loud! Okay, sweetheart?"
A crowd of anxious elders watched as Nanashi shouted, "Tsubasagan!"
There was silence, as the clan members stared at her in horror. Nanashi blinked questioningly, "Hey…nothing happened! Why didn't anything-"
A hand shot out and slapped Nanashi across the face: she flew backwards and slammed into a wall, "You had us all going, didn't you, you little wench? Played us like a fiddle! Well…you'll never be doing that again!" her father advanced towards her and she raised her small arms, tears streaming down her cheeks, "I'll show you what you have done! You've embarrased me! You've embarrased the clan! But most of all…you've embarassed yourself! You make me sick!"
Nanashi screamed in horror as her father began making handsigns…
-xxendflashbackxx-
"After that…" Nanashi sighed, and leapt to another branch, keeping her eyes focused ahead of her, "My brother, Ichiro, saved me from that bastard, and we left the clan. Ichiro-niichan taught me how to fight, how to defend myself, along with everything else I know…he was seventeen at the time, and acting like a true dad. After that…well, my father began sending assassins after me…one of these assassins was my brother's double crossing, no good traitor of a friend-"
Arashi finished her sentence, "…Hiro Nekozawa?"
She nodded, "Bingo. He kidnapped me, and held me in a dungeon for two days with no food…he came down once and told me that he was going to make me part of his clan…" Nanashi reached up and brushed her whisker marks with her thumb, "He carved these on my cheeks, and I would have bled to death, if not for nii-chan…"
"Your brother found you? And saved you?" Naruto asked numbly, his blue eyes wide in shock, "So…what happened to him?"
"Be patient, Naruto. Let her finish." Arashi chided.
"Thanks, Arashi…" Nanashi smiled halfheartedly, "Anyway…Ichiro-niichan came to save me. We were almost out of that hellhole, when Hiro-chan intercepted us. He started to attack me...but nii-chan jumped in front of me and took the killing blow." she stated in a monotone, "I had to leave his body there...I ended up using one of the jutsu he taught me and escaped..."
"Nanashi..."
"Kaa-san..."
"Nii-chan…he was such a good person, and I still don't understand how anyone would want to hurt him...he was so kind..." Nanashi blinked back tears furiously, and stopped jumping for a moment, glaring down at the path in front of them, "This is the second time he's tried to take someone precious from me, and there's no way in all nine hells that he's going to get to Hinata-chan. No way."
"Damn right he won't!" Naruto growled, clenching his fists until his nails dug into his palms, blood dripping onto the tree branches and down to the forest floor, "We're gonna beat that guy into the ground!"
Arashi nodded, "Yes we will." He pulled a scroll from his vest as well as an ink pen, "We need to get a message to Tsunade, so we can get reinforcements. Nanashi, would you do the honors?"
She nodded, "Hell yes I would."
"Wait, what? Kaa-san, you're gonna leave?"
"No, Naruto." Nanashi bit her thumb and ran through a sequence of familiar handsigns, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
There was a puff of smoke, and sitting in front of them was a fennec fox with three tails. Naruto blinked, "A fox...?"
"Yup. This is one of the techniques nii-chan taught me." She turned to the fox and gave it the scroll, "Take this to Tsunade, okay Sanbi?"
The fox wrapped the scroll in one of its tails, "I'll do my best, Nanashi-sama."
"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly, "Hey, uh, Sanbi-shi? Could you please tell Tsunade-baachan to send Sasuke Uchiha?"
"We foxes do not take orders from just any brat. Who is this, Nanashi-sama?"
Nanashi sighed, "Sanbi, Naruto. Naruto, Sanbi. He's my son, and the Kyuubi retainer."
"The Kyuubi?!" a look of awe crossed the vixen's face: she nodded, "Whatever you wish, Kyuubi-sama." before dashing away.
I told you most things cower before me, you brat.
Naruto rolled his eyes. Suure...former lover or something, stupid fox?
...Shut up, insolent child.
That's what I thought. He turned to Arashi and yelled, "Let's go already!"
Arashi nodded, and the three of them leapt off into the night. Naruto looked ahead pensively, frowning, Don't worry Hina-chan…we're coming to help!
--
Nanashi's back story was hard for me to write... ;-; My keyboard died from me pressing on it so hard while I was typing--if you've read any of my other stories, you might know that I tend to be an "action typer" XD.
I'm putting Sasuke in it just for one of my most faithful read and reviewers, Cameo-chan! X3 (I don't have Internet on this computer, so I couldn't look up the full pen name...gomen nasai! XD;;;;;) See, if you ask me for stuff, you will receive! XD
All grisly torture knowledge is from Criminal Minds. X3 Man I love that show. Speaking of which...the next chapter or two might include some more of those grisly torture moments, in both flashbacks and real time...Oo Just warning you all now, the weak stomached will want to skip those parts.
Japanese
Sanbi-three tail
Tsubasagan-winged sight (I promise I will explain more about the Tsubasagan. ((evil cackle))
(blank)-shi- a slightly more formal version of "san"
nii-chan- brother
Hina-chan- This serves as a shortening/pet name of "Hinata"--however, it also means "doll"
I don't know why I'm mentioning this, but I made a Nanashi sock puppet. XDDDD
Next time on Family...
"You're so beautiful, Hyuga-san. Do you mind if I call you Hina-chan?" the mysterious man leered at Hinata, his yellow catlike eyes amber with lust.
She looked away and grit out, "No one calls me that...no one but Naruto-kun..."
"We'll see about that... now then. Asuka! Hiro! Get her changed, and have her meet me in my quarters..."
--
There won't be lemon/smut/rape or anything, I promise. I won't do that to Hinata.
...Maybe.
(cue evil theme music and cackling authoress in Evil Witch costume fading away)
